Carmelo Anthony Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Anthony, Bucks, Magic

May 30th, 2014 at 8:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Marc Berman of The New York Post notes that Carmelo Anthony has until June 23rd to decide if he will opt out of his contract with the Knicks and become an unrestricted free agent. Most NBA players have until June 30th to decide. It was reported earlier that Anthony is considering opting in and putting off free agency until next summer.

Knicks Rumors: Kerr, Jackson, Shaw, Felton

May 30th, 2014 at 11:27am CST by Chuck Myron

Phil Jackson said Steve Kerr told him he’d take the Knicks coaching job the day before the Warriors fired Mark Jackson, notes Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal (Twitter links). Jackson acknowledged that he told Carmelo Anthony that Kerr would coach the team, Herring also tweets, so Kerr’s decision left the Zen Master in quite a spot. Anthony reportedly supports Mark Jackson as a would-be Knicks coach. However, the man Kerr replaced in Golden State wouldn’t fit Phil Jackson’s desire for a coach with whom he has a prior relationship, a quality which the Knicks president identified today as one he’ll look for, observes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).

We passed along Jackson’s comments about Anthony’s contract situation earlier, and we’ll round up the rest from the Zen Master’s confab with reporters here:

Jackson said he’d be interested in coaching the team himself, but he added that “unless the Lord heals me,” he wouldn’t be physically capable of doing so, as Herring and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com pass along (Twitter links). Jackson added that the notion of coaching for just one season on a temporary basis “doesn’t sit right” with him, as Herring tweets.
Some “unnamed people” have interviewed with Jackson for the coaching job, but none of them were Derek Fisher or Brian Shaw, the Zen Master said, as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone observes (Twitter link).
Jackson isn’t interested in trying to pry Shaw from the Nuggets, Herring notes (on Twitter). “Denver has everything we’ve owned [already],” Jackson said.
Jackson said he has yet to tell any players that they’ll be jettisoned this summer, contradicting a report that he’d informed Raymond Felton that he’s going to trade him, Herring tweets.

Carmelo Anthony Thinking About Opting In

May 30th, 2014 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks team president Phil Jackson asked Carmelo Anthony to opt in for next season, and the star forward told the Zen Master he’d think about it, as Jackson told reporters, including Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal (Twitter link). Anthony has said several times, since before the start of the season, that he intends to exercise his early termination option and hit free agency, but it appears he’s at least considering the idea of remaining on his deal for next year.

Opting in would be a more lucrative move for Anthony in the short term, since his contract calls for him to make more than $23.333MM in 2014/15 if he did so. The most he could get for next season in a new deal, from the Knicks or any other team, would be close to $22.5MM. Still, it would be a risky move for Anthony, who turned 30 this week, since his chances of scoring a max deal in free agency will lessen as he ages.

The Knicks would almost certainly end up in tax territory if Anthony opted in, and they’d pay the tax for a third straight year if they didn’t clear salary by the end of next season, triggering brutal repeat-offender penalties. Still, New York and owner James Dolan have never shown an aversion to spending, and the franchise has made retaining Anthony its top priority.

Jackson said today that he’s “not losing sleep” over the notion of Anthony leaving in free agency this summer, but added that he’s “definitely concerned” about the possibility, noting that “it only takes one bidder,” as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News observe (Twitter links). Jackson has previously indicated the team is prepared to move forward no matter what happens with Anthony, and the first-time executive expressed hope that Anthony would be “true to his word” about a willingness to take less on his next deal to remain with the Knicks.

It would be a blow to teams looking to make a splash in free agency this year if Anthony were to opt in. The Bulls have appeared to be the strongest contender for his services outside of the Knicks, but the Mavs, Lakers and others seem to have doubts about the wisdom of giving Anthony a max deal. That would provide further motivation for Anthony to take the lucrative payday on his existing contract for next season and hope that a bounceback year for the Knicks will raise his free agent stock. Many teams are planning to eschew a heavy pursuit of free agents this summer in favor of next year’s more star-studded class, so while Anthony might have more competition from his peers, there may also be more bidders.

Eastern Rumors: ‘Melo, Griffin, Pistons, Saric

May 29th, 2014 at 4:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

A source tells Ian Begley of ESPN.com that Carmelo Anthony would “embrace” playing for Mark Jackson, but that doesn’t mean he only wants to play for Jackson or would feel uncomfortable playing for anyone else, Begley cautions. Knicks president Phil Jackson hasn’t ruled out hiring the former Warriors coach, but it doesn’t appear as though there are plans for an interview. Jackson appears to be a leading candidate for the Cavs job, though no interview has been scheduled with Cleveland, either. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Adrian Griffin impressed the Cavs during his interview for the team’s coaching job this week, with one source telling Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that the performance as “fantastic” (Twitter link).
Spurs assistant GM Scott Layden, former Heat GM Randy Pfund and former Pelicans GM Jeff Bower are among the candidates for the Pistons GM job, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Stu Jackson, who’s completed an interview for the job, and Otis Smith are the previously reported names.
Dario Saric reportedly would come to the NBA for next season if the Celtics or Lakers were to draft him, but the C’s consider him a candidate for their pick at No. 17, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, indicating that he’s not in the mix to go at No. 6.
Marcin Gortat is likely in line for $10-12MM salaries while Trevor Ariza will look for $8-9MM as both Wizards hit free agency this summer, writes Michael Lee of The Washington Post.

Central Rumors: Cavs, Draft, Bulls, ‘Melo, Bucks

May 27th, 2014 at 1:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com heard conflicting reports about Cleveland’s plans for the No. 1 overall pick on the night of the lottery, and the confusion appears to persist. One source tells Ford for his latest Insider-only piece that Cleveland has already let Andrew Wiggins know that he’s in the lead to become the top pick, while another says the Cavs have narrowed their choices to Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid. The Bucks, meanwhile, don’t have Wiggins in their top two, Ford believes, but there’s plenty of time for that to change, as well. Here’s more from the Central Division:

Ford clarifies that Tellem and the Cavs are confident not just that they’ll be able to arrange a meeting between Embiid and the team, but that they’ll work out a deal that will allow Cleveland to put Embiid through a physical exam (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

People close to the Bulls maintain doubt that owner Jerry Reinsdorf would allow the team to couple an amnesty of Carlos Boozer, which would still require Reinsdorf to pay him, with a max contract for Carmelo Anthony, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. That jibes with an earlier report that the Bulls will look to trade Boozer before amnestying him.
The Cavs and agent Arn Tellem are in discussions, but both sides believe they’ll come to an agreement that will allow the team a look at Embiid, as Ford writes in the same piece. Presumably, that means Cleveland is likely to get a chance to have its doctors check out Embiid’s troublesome back, but Ford doesn’t specify just what Tellem would allow, so perhaps that’s still a matter of negotiation.
Even if they don’t get a chance to check him out medically, there’s a chance the Cavs will have access to that sort of information from other teams, as Kyler also writes in his piece. Kyler hears that clubs will often share such intel to prevent agents from wielding too much control.
That’s probably one reason why the Bucks are confident they’ll enter draft night with all the knowledge they’ll need, as Kyler writes, noting that sources tell him the Bucks expect to meet with and work out each of the top prospects.

Eastern Notes: ‘Melo, Calipari, Sixers, Erden

May 26th, 2014 at 8:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

Reports downplaying the Lakers’ interest in Carmelo Anthony have been around for months, but apparently Phil Jackson‘s arrival in New York created another reason why Anthony is unlikely to end up in purple-and-gold. Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss, who’s engaged to Jackson, doesn’t like the idea of poaching Anthony from her fiance’s team, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. As a bicoastal romance threatens to play a role in NBA free agency, here’s more from Jackson’s half of the NBA:

The Cavs went so far as to reach out to rumored coaching candidate John Calipari, but he’s still a long shot to coach the team, notes Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.
Sixers draft-and-stash prospect Furkan Aldemir has agreed to a new three-year deal for the equivalent of more than $5.3MM with Galatasaray in Turkey, Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi reports. It’s unclear what sort of NBA escape clauses, if any, are part of the arrangement.
Another Turkish team, Anadolu Efes, has opted out of its contract with former NBA center Semih Erden, tweets Ismail Senol of NTV Spor (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Erden, now a free agent, last played in the NBA with the Cavs in 2011/12.

Knicks Maintain Hope Of Landing Brian Shaw

May 22nd, 2014 at 9:35am CST by Chuck Myron

Brian Shaw would be Knicks president Phil Jackson‘s first choice to coach the team if he could somehow find a way to shake him loose from the Nuggets job, and Jackson hasn’t given up hope of managing to do so, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. Shaw nonetheless reiterated his commitment to Denver on Tuesday, and a report from earlier this week indicated that the Knicks worry they won’t be able to meet the Nuggets’ demands for compensation if they were to let Shaw out of his contract, which runs two more years.

Jackson would prefer Shaw to Derek Fisher, but the executive would be even more motivated to find a way to land Shaw if he can’t lure Fisher, Berman suggests. Fisher won’t speak with the Knicks until he’s done playing for the Thunder this season, and Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks says the 39-year-old hasn’t ruled out continuing to play next season, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News wrote this weekend. That jibes with Wednesday’s report that there’s a legitimate possibility that Fisher will re-sign with the Thunder as a player and serve as a de facto assistant coach as he sits on the bench. Fisher is also a Lakers coaching candidate, and Berman, who’s pointed to concern about a bidding war between the Knicks and Lakers over the longtime Kobe Bryant teammate, raises the notion that the Lakers would give Fisher a front office role rather than the coaching job.

Berman also mentions previously reported candidate Tyronn Lue as a fallback option for the Knicks, noting that Lue is friends with Carmelo Anthony, who intends to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer. Mark Jackson, Mike Dunleavy, Kurt Rambis, Jim Cleamons, Nate McMillan, Fred Hoiberg and Luke Walton are other candidates rumored to be on the Knicks radar in the aftermath of Golden State’s hiring of Steve Kerr.

The Knicks are light on draft picks and can’t give up more than $3.2MM in cash in trades between now and June 30th, and the NBA doesn’t allow teams to give up players as compensation for hiring coaches under contract with other teams. Jackson has planned to trade cash for a draft pick, so that would further reduce the Knicks’ flexibility in prying Shaw from the Nuggets, unless they intend to wait to do so until July, when teams will have a fresh pot of $3.3MM in cash to use in trades.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Bobcats, Pistons

May 18th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Eddie Scarito

Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times thinks Lance Stephenson or Thabo Sefolosha would be good backup targets for the Bulls if Chicago makes a failed attempt at signing Carmelo Anthony in free agency.

Hawks Pursue Omer Asik As Rockets Shop Lin

May 16th, 2014 at 10:19am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks are among the teams pursuing Rockets center Omer Asik as Houston attempts to trade Asik and Jeremy Lin to clear cap room for Carmelo Anthony, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com, who works the news into his weekly mailbag column. Still, Rockets GM Daryl Morey recently said he doesn’t expect to trade Asik or Lin in pursuit of a marquee player, and he’s downplayed the notion of trading his backup center ever since his self-imposed December deadline for swapping Asik passed.

Rumors have persisted nevertheless, particularly given a March report that identified Houston as one of two non-New York landing spots atop his list of preferred free agent destinations. The Rockets have roughly $57MM in commitments beneath the projected $63.2MM cap for next season. Shedding the cap hits for Asik and Lin would give the team an additional $16.7MM in flexibility, putting them in range of the nearly $22.5MM maximum salary for which Anthony is eligible. It would still be difficult, if not impossible, to find teams willing to absorb both Asik and Lin without giving up salary in return, particularly given their balloon payments of $15MM each for this season, as I explained in November.

The cap figure for Asik, like Lin, will be slightly less than $8.4MM, significantly less than what they actually make next season. Still, I’m not certain Asik would be the proper fit on a team that liberally launched three-pointers this season and found success with that strategy in the playoffs against the Pacers, particularly if the Hawks envision moving Al Horford to power forward, as Smith suggests. That would be similar to the sort of situation in which Asik found himself this year next to Dwight Howard on a Houston team that prioritizes floor spacing.

Asik is nonetheless a highly skilled interior defender whose contract would expire after next season, giving Atlanta the chance to go after the juicy 2015 free agent class. It’s unclear what the Hawks would be willing to surrender in return, but I’d imagine the Rockets would prefer that it center on draft compensation, given their apparent desire to clear salary for this summer.

Knicks Coaching Rumors: Van Gundy, Walton

May 15th, 2014 at 3:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The best offer the Knicks made Steve Kerr was for four years and $20MM with incentives, reports Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter links), well short of the five-year, $25MM deal he wound up with from the Warriors. It was even farther away than the five years and $30MM the Mike Tannenbaum client reportedly would have liked. The Knicks insist team president Phil Jackson, and not owner James Dolan, held the line on their offer, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post, who adds that while Dolan wasn’t pleased with Kerr’s lack of coaching experience, he would have approved the hire. A friend of Kerr’s told Berman that the new Warriors coach likes the Spurs flow offense, leading Berman to suggest that Jackson’s insistence on the triangle might have been a stumbling block for Kerr.

In any case, it’s on to Plan B for New York, and here’s the latest on who might coach the team now that Jackson’s No. 1 choice is no longer an option:

Jeff Van Gundy indicated that he would consider coaching the Knicks, as part of his remarks in an appearance today on ESPN Radio with Colin Cowherd, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Still, he doesn’t appear to fit the profile of the sort of young coach with ties to Phil Jackson that the team is seeking.

Earlier updates:

The Knicks will also consider Luke Walton, report Shelburne and ESPN.com colleague Marc Stein. The team is mostly likely to hire a younger coach with whom Phil Jackson has worked in the past.
The Knicks will also see if there’s a compensation package that would interest the Nuggets in allowing Shaw out of his contract, Shelburne and Stein write in the same piece. Shaw would have been even with Kerr, if not higher, in the eyes of the Knicks had he not already been employed in Denver, the ESPN scribes hear.
There’s no indication that Phil Jackson will pursue an established coach like Mark Jackson or Tom Thibodeau, despite the fondness that some in the Knicks organization have for the Bulls coach, according to Stein and Shelburne.
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg is on the Knicks radar, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard (Twitter link).
The Knicks will consider Clippers assistant coach Tyronn Lue for their opening, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, seconding a report from colleague Marc Stein on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis and Thunder guard Derek Fisher will also draw a look from the Knicks, as we passed along earlier.
Brian Shaw, a former Lakers assistant under Jackson, tells Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post that he will remain as head coach of the Nuggets and won’t pursue any opportunity with the Knicks (All Twitter links).
A source told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com last month that Carmelo Anthony, set to hit free agency in July, is high on playing for Mark Jackson. It’s also not out of the question that Phil Jackson would coach the team, Begley writes, though the Zen Master has said repeatedly that he won’t do that.