Odds & Ends: Calderon, Suns, Magic, Howard
Ever since the Raptors' acquisition of Kyle Lowry, there has been a steady flow of rumors revolving around Jose Calderon's future, or lack thereof, in Toronto. Calderon, who will run the point for Spain's Olympic team later this month in London, has already expressed his discontent with the thought of being relegated to back up duties, but according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, he may not have a choice.
Wolstat caught up with Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo who said, “We have had a few more trade inquiries regarding Jose (but) the scenario doesn’t seem to present itself to a trade today, but we’ll continue to monitor that and just try to determine whether it’s going to work in the long run.” Colangelo also implied that amnestying Calderon is not in the plans.
Here are some more updates from around the league on Sunday night:
Suns Amnesty Josh Childress
The busy Suns have amnestied Josh Childress, according to a tweet from SI.com's Sam Amick. Posting the worst scoring and rebounding averages of his career over the past two seasons, the 28-year-old will end a disappointing campaign with Phoenix with $13.68MM guaranteed over the next two years, and a $7.31MM player option for the 2014/15 season.
O.J. Mayo Meets With Suns
SATURDAY, 6:03pm: Beyond the Suns, Mayo is attracting interest from the Lakers, Bulls and Mavs, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Look for Mayo to make his decision on where he wants to play next season within the next 10 days.
FRIDAY, 6:02pm: Unrestricted free agent O.J. Mayo met with the Phoenix Suns on Friday, according to AZCentral.com's Tariq Lee. News on Mayo has been quiet as of late, and despite this being his first meeting with an organization, he's one of the more talented players left on the free agency market and should command some serious attention once a few other shooting guards officially sign with their respective teams.
The Suns currently have an offer sheet extended to Eric Gordon that was signed on Wednesday, but the Hornets still have until tomorrow to match, and they're expected to do so.
Hornets Match Gordon’s Offer Sheet From Suns
3:52pm: The Hornets have matched the offer sheet, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports, via Twitter. In a statement released by the Hornets (via John Reid of The Times-Picayune) Gordon backtracked from his earlier comment that "Phoenix is just where my heart is now."
"There is always a business element to the NBA when dealing with contracts, but I never lost my appreciation for the New Orleans Hornets,'' Gordon said in the statement. "I look forward to going on the court this season to make our team successful.''
SATURDAY, 3:17pm: The Hornets are about to release a statement announcing that they've matched Gordon's offer sheet, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 5:07pm: Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports Gordon has signed the offer sheet, according to the Suns (Twitter link).
Odds & Ends: Fields, Scola, Blazers, Gordon
The Knicks’ deadline to match Landry Fields’ 3-year, $18.7MM offer sheet from the Raptors is tonight at 11pm CDT. If they match Lin and Fields, the Knicks will have roughly $86MM committed to those two plus Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler for the 2014-15 season, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Include Jason Kidd and Steve Novak and it’s more than $92MM committed to seven players. The luxury tax penalties really start to get stiff in 2013/14 and that could make the Knicks' decision on Fields a difficult one. Here's more from around the Association..
Suns Meeting With O.J. Mayo
While the Suns wait to see if their offer sheet for Eric Gordon is matched by the Hornets, Phoenix is already working on Plan B. The Suns are meeting with O.J. Mayo today, as reported by Craig Grialou of ArizonaSports.com. Mayo himself confirmed today via Twitter that he has arrived in Phoenix to visit the club.
Winning Bid For Brand To Be Announced Friday
The winner among teams that place a bid on recently-amnestied forward Elton Brand will be announced on Friday after 4:00pm CST (Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas reports). Only teams below the salary cap have the opportunity to bid. The Mavericks are expected to be "aggressive" suitors for the 13-year-veteran, who have high hopes of paring Brand with Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman. Other teams with cap space, such as the Suns and Trail Blazers, also have a chance to vie for Brand's services.
In the unlikely situation that no team places a bid, Brand would become an unrestricted free agent and could then sign with any team.
Latest On Magic Coaching Search
With the Nets, who had been the leading contenders for Dwight Howard, out of trade talks for now following the re-signing of Brook Lopez, the team has begun to focus on its head coaching search. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports former Pistons coach and current Sixers assistant Michael Curry has been added to the list of candidates for the position.
Free Agent Rumors: Nets, Pacers, Green
The July moratorium came to an end late last night, and a number of teams didn't waste any time in finalizing moves. The Lakers' acquisition of Steve Nash was the first transaction to become official, followed closely by the Knicks' signing of J.R. Smith, Deron Williams' contract with the Nets, and Blake Griffin's five-year extension with the Clippers. We're expecting more deals to be formally announced today, but there are plenty of free agents still on the market too. We'll be tracking the latest news on those guys right here, with the newest items added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- The Nets are considering Kenyon Martin and Craig Smith and discussing a sign-and-trade for Antawn Jamison, clouding Kris Humphries' future with the team, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Pacers are targeting unrestricted free agent Gerald Green as their wing player off the bench, and are expected to offer him a three-year, $10MM contract, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. O.J. Mayo and Courtney Lee are out the team's price range at the moment (All Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
Suns To Strongly Pursue O.J. Mayo?
O.J. Mayo wasn't the Suns' top target when free agency began, but he may become the team's number one priority very soon. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that if the Hornets match the Suns' offer sheet on Eric Gordon, Phoenix is expected to aggressively court Mayo.
There seems to be little doubt that the Hornets intend to match the Suns' offer sheet and keep Gordon, as both Ric Bucher of ESPN.com and John Reid of the Times Picayune reported earlier on Tuesday. As such, the Suns figure to have a good chunk of cap space left over to use on Mayo, who is seeking a contract worth more than the mid-level exception.
The Pacers are also said to be very interested in Mayo.