Carmelo Anthony Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Contract Details: Andersen, Young, Roberson

July 18th, 2013 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

The specific figures on several of this summer's contracts continue to trickle in, so we'll keep passing along any notable details or changes related to those deals. Here's the latest:

Chris Andersen will be getting the minimum salary in his deal with the Heat, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter link). Previous reports indicated he'd receive 120%, the most the Heat could give him via Non-Bird rights.
Eric Pincus updated several team salary figures at HoopsWorld, including the Pacers, Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Knicks, Thunder, Magic, 76ers, and Suns.
Nick Young's deal with the Lakers includes a 15% trade kicker, tweets Pincus.
According to Pincus, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Carmelo Anthony, and Kendrick Perkins all saw their cap hits for next season increase or decrease, based on having met or failed to meet incentives (all four Twitter links).
While most of this year's first-round picks will sign for 120% of their rookie-scale amount, it appears Thunder first-rounder Andre Roberson signed for just 80% of his, tweets Pincus.
It seems as if Dwight Buycks received a portion of the Raptors' mid-level exception rather than the minimum salary. Deeks tweets that he'll get a guaranteed $700K from Toronto. Buycks reportedly signed a multiyear deal, so it's not clear if his second-year salary exceeds the minimum or includes a guarantee.

Lakers Eyeing LeBron, Carmelo For 2014

July 17th, 2013 at 10:06am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers may not have landed their top target in 2013 free agency, but they're already planning to aim high again in 2014. According to Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, the Lakers are eyeing LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, who both have the opportunity to opt out of their respective contracts next summer.

The fact that the Lakers will be targeting the top free agents on the market doesn't come as any surprise, considering the team only has two players (Steve Nash and Robert Sacre) on its books beyond this season. The Lakers have frequently been cited as a potential suitor for LeBron, along with the Heat and Cavaliers, while plenty of outlets have speculated recently that L.A. will pursue Carmelo.

Whether the Lakers actually have a good chance to sign either player is another issue altogether. Shelburne's and Windhorst's sources have divided opinions on how likely either superstar is to make the jump to Los Angeles, with one source calling it "realistic" while another says it's "far-fetched at this point." According to ESPN.com's sources, LeBron isn't even considering his options for next summer yet, so it's impossible to handicap the odds right now.

"It's all wishful thinking at this point," said the league source. "Teams are doing more wishing than LeBron is wanting right now."

In order to have room for two maximum-salary players, the Lakers would need Kobe Bryant to take a significant pay cut, an idea Kobe didn't seem overly enthusiastic about when he was asked recently. However, if the possibility of landing an elite player or two becomes more realistic, I'd expect Kobe to reconsider that stance when the time comes.

Glen Grunwald Talks Smith, Anthony, Point Guard

July 16th, 2013 at 7:45pm CST by Alex Lee

While the Nets have stolen the NBA headlines in New York for the most part this offseason, the Knicks have been busy as well lately. Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald met with the media today, after adding Metta World Peace and re-signing J.R. Smith in the past week.

Grunwald said Smith's knees shouldn't be a long-term issue, which is why he had no qualms committing four years and $24.7MM to the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN New York. SNY's Adam Zagoria adds that the team is hopeful that Smith will be ready for the start of the regular season. Grunwald was no doubt responding to the concern that was expressed after news broke that Smith underwent knee surgery less than a week after the Knicks re-signed him. Grunwald said that the decision to hold off on the surgery came from Smith, who probably didn't want news of his surgery to impact free agency.
Grunwald also addressed the possibility of Carmelo Anthony opting out of his deal after the upcoming season, writes Zagoria, who opines that the situation could loom over the team like a black cloud. To no one's surprise, Grunwald stressed the team's desire to keep Anthony in New York long-term, saying, "We obviously love Carmelo. We think he's great for New York and New York's great for him." Anthony's player option for 2014/15 is for $23.5MM. Should he opt out, he would be eligible for a new five-year contract from the Knicks, adds Zagoria.
Grunwald confirmed that the team is looking to add a point guard to go behind Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni. Zagoria lists Aaron Brooks, Sebastian Telfair, Toure Murry and J.R.'s younger brother Chris Smith as possibilities to fill the role, but adds that Grunwald expressed interest in waiting until training camp to let it play out.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Salmons, Lakers, Scalabrine

July 9th, 2013 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few Tuesday morning items out of the Pacific Division….

Having missed out on Andre Iguodala, the Kings are still seeking a small forward, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. Within his piece, Jones notes that the Kings haven't shown interest in Andrei Kirilenko or Corey Brewer, and explores some trade possibilities for the club.
The Kings continue to have interest in Monta Ellis, and ESPN.com's Marc Stein points out in a tweet that the team could potentially amnesty John Salmons to create the cap space necessary to sign Ellis. Of course, that would create an even bigger hole at small forward.
Marc Berman of the New York Post is the latest to speculate that Carmelo Anthony might decide to sign with the Lakers next summer, especially if the Knicks underachieve in 2013/14. However, Tom Ziller of SBNation.com is skeptical about the Carmelo-to-L.A. rumblings, explaining in his latest piece why he thinks it's a comical idea.
Warriors head coach Mark Jackson tweeted word last night that the team has brought Brian Scalabrine aboard as an assistant.

Atlantic Notes: Melo, Celtics, Rondo

July 6th, 2013 at 11:51pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Celtics are in the process of rebuilding, and never was that more evident than in the hiring of 36-year-old Butler coach Brad Stevens. Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald writes that Celtics' management was impressed with Stevens' charm. They weren't the only ones, it appears.

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe contends that unlike other college-to-professional coaching jumps, like that of former Celtics coach Rick Pitino, Stevens is different. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge tells Washburn that he has complete confidence turning the reigns of the Celtics' future over to the fresh-faced Stevens whose only coaching experience lies in his six years as head coach at Butler, after seven previous seasons as a Butler assistant coach.

Washburn went on to add that Stevens wowed assembled media personnel during his introductory press conference on Friday displaying "confidence, humility, and passion." But the Celtics have a lot more to do as they begin to reassemble a squad that had been at the forefront of the Eastern Conference since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce in the summer of 2007.

Below are some more Celtics links about moves they might make involving Rajon Rondo and others, as well as other tidbits from the rest of the Atlantic Division.

Nate Duncan of HoopsWorld believes now is the time for the Celtics to trade their All-Star point guard despite a contract that's considered frugal after he signed a five-year extension for $55MM in October of 2009. Rondo's also been said to be keeping an open mind after the hiring of Stevens.
With so much of the Celtics' future still up in the air, it's natural that Celtics' players still on the roster would be stressed. But guard Courtney Lee isn't sweating all the summer wheelings and dealings with his team this summer, writes the Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett.
One player who knows Brad Stevens all too well, is former Gonzaga big and Celtics rookie, Kelly Olynyk. The rookie Olynyk's 8th-ranked Gonzaga team lost to Stevens' 11th-ranked Butler squad back in January, writes ESPNBoston's Chris Forsberg.
Brad Stevens wasn't the only head coach without any prior NBA head coaching experience hired this summer. The recently retired Jason Kidd, and former off-guard Brian Shaw, will also be rookie NBA head coaches this coming NBA season, writes the New York Daily News' Mitch Lawrence.
Lawrence's fellow colleague at the Daily News, Frank Isola, writes that the recent Knicks trade for embattled Raptors power forward Andrea Bargnani provides "Il Mago" with a second chance in the NBA after coming over from Italy as the number one pick in the 2006 draft.
Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com notes that Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire will meet with Hakeem Olajuwon over the summer to train, but mentions in a tweet that Tyson Chandler won't be joining them.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Sullinger

June 8th, 2013 at 6:14pm CST by Spencer Lund

Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com talked with two NBA scouts who said the Knicks might need an offensive-minded assistant to help head coach Mike Woodson. The Knicks small ball lineup with Carmelo Anthony at power forward, had them playing well in a run of wins to start and end the 2012/13 season.

Unfortunately, those wins didn't come about with the Knicks' two ostensible superstars sharing the front court together. Amar'e Stoudemire was out with an injury to start the season, and in the month leading up to the playoffs when the Knicks won 10-straight to secure the 2nd playoff seed in the East.

But if the Knicks are going to take advantage of their two highest-paid players–Anthony and Stoudemire, who are set to make $23.742MM and $23.411MM next season–they'll have to find a way to share the ball on offense from their naturally overlapping high-block positions on the court.

A couple of the candidates offered by Zwerling include David Blatt and his Princeton offense, which has been successful with Maccabi Tel Aviv, and former Lakers assistant during the 2011/12 season and an assistant with Woodson on the title-winning 2004 Pistons team, John Kuester. Kuester's "early offense" approach as an offensive assistant with the Cavs from 2007-2009 helped another point forward led team, with LeBron James initiating a lot of that early offense.

Here are some more notes surrounding two of the three Atlantic division playoff teams:

Tony Mitchell, the power forward out of North Texas, thinks he’s the answer for the Knicks’ front court problems this past season, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. He’s expected to be a mid-first round pick, and the Knicks have the 24th pick in this year's draft.
The Knicks also looked at Providence combo guard, Ricky Ledo, during a workout on Friday, which he told Zwerling was his best during the run-up to the draft. The Knicks might use him as a replacement for the recently retired Jason Kidd.
The Celtics have a lot of questions that need answering this offseason regarding franchise cornerstones, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, but they’ve also got to figure out what to do with their younger players as well, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
One of those younger players on the Celtics’ roster was last season’s rookie from Ohio State University, Jared Sullinger. He wasn’t able to play for the Celtics in the playoffs because of a back injury before the season ended, but ESPNBoston.com has tracked his recovery and Sullinger told MassLive.com his back is “completely fixed.”
A reader asked ESPNBoston.com’s Chris Forsberg if the Spurs’ success in this year’s finals will persuade Danny Ainge the Celtics can compete for a title with the aging Pierce and Garnett. Forsberg says the Spurs’ fate in the Finals will have no impact on Ainge’s decision making process.

Knicks Notes: Camby, Carmelo, Woodson

May 20th, 2013 at 8:33am CST by Zachary Links

The Knicks' offseason is now underway after the blue-and-orange were downed by the Pacers. Now, the aging Knicks have a whole lot of questions to answer as they look to take another step ahead in 2013/14. Here's the latest out of MSG..

Marcus Camby's agent told Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter) that his client was healthy enough to play in the playoffs and has been ready to go for some time now. When asked about the big man's future, he said, "He's under contract and there is no question they can use him, so one would expect he'd be back," (link). Camby is set to earn roughly $7.5MM over the next two seasons.
More from Zwerling, who has four key questions facing the Knicks this summer. One scout told Zwerling that New York will have to target athletic, rebound-minded big men and a few available options include Al-Farouq Aminu, Louis Amundson, Dante Cunningham, and Gani Lawal, who played with Iman Shumpert at Georgia Tech.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (on Twitter) hears that Carmelo Anthony's right knee appears to be fine, two months removed from having fluid drained from it. His shoulder, on the other hand, is another story.
Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops is scratching his head after some questionable decisions from coach Mike Woodson.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Colangelo, Bulls

May 19th, 2013 at 10:56pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Knicks season ended last night when the Pacers defeated them in Indiana to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks were the oldest team in NBA history for the 2012/13 season, and they have a lot of offseason decisions to reach in lieu of their loss to the Pacers.

The first such decision concerns the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year, J.R. Smith. Smith recently reiterated his desire to remain in a Knicks uniform next year despite the popular consensus he'll opt out of the contract that will pay him $2.9MM next season. He tweeted about wanting to return (Twitter link) today as SheridonHoops.com's Ben Baroff pointed out. But Smith isn't the only question mark as the Knicks head into the offseason after their best playoff performance in more than a decade.

Despite a postseason showing that saw them get out of the first round for the first time since the 1999/00 season, Howard Beck at the New York Times writes that with very little cap flexbility, the Knicks' window for continued postseason magic may have run out.
Ian Begley at ESPNNewYork.com brings readers through five pressing issues the Knicks face this summer, including what to do with Amar'e Stoudemire, who didn't start a single game this season after Carmelo Anthony agreed to play power forward in Mike Woodson's small-ball lineup. Begley also discusses whether the Knicks will continue to go small next season.
One of the injuries hampering Knicks franchise star Carmelo Anthony this postseason, was his left shoulder. Frank Isola of New York Daily News says Anthony will have his injured left shoulder examined.
Another Eastern Conference team that was eliminated in the conference semifinals, the Bulls, are looking to get healthy this offseason while figuring out what to do in free agency, writes Aggrey Sam at CSNChicago.com. The free agency questions center around their backcourt, since Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli are free agents this summer and the Bulls are not likely to pick up Richard Hamilton's $5MM option next year, but will have to pay him the $1MM that's guaranteed.
Aggrey Sam at CSNChicago.com also writes that the Bulls' draft picks, they hold the 20th and 49th overall selections this June, could be a lot better than expected in what is considered a down draft year. A lot of players predicted to be selected in the later rounds of the draft performed well in Chicago's predraft combine this past week.
Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun, says it's time for Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo to go, and with reports the Raptors are pursuing current Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri, the end appears close for Colangelo. The Raptors are expected to make a decision about their future general manager some time tomorrow after Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reported the Raptors have until Monday to exercise or decline their option on Colangelo for the 2013/14 season.

Atlantic Links: Bynum, Knicks, Green

March 21st, 2013 at 8:11pm CST by Ryan Raroque

With an All-Star appearance and two championships on his resume, Andrew Bynum looked primed to stake his claim as the Eastern Conference's premier center after joining the 76ers last summer. Unfortunately, injury setbacks have kept Bynum from suiting up in a regular season game in Philadelphia, and a huge question mark looms over his future as he approaches free agency this summer. ESPN's Chris Broussard, who originally thought that the 76ers were the biggest beneficiaries of the Dwight Howard trade, spoke with six other NBA executives about how they would handle the 7-foot center's contract situation this summer (Insiders only). Although they each offer unique approaches, it's not much of a surprise that none would offer a max contract. Here's more out of the Atlantic Division:

Jared Zwerling and Ian Begley of ESPN New York discussed the latest on the Knicks, most notably about the health of Carmelo Anthony and Iman Shumpert. Begley also added that he thinks that the team will revisit adding another player before the playoffs start, being that it would be a big gamble to start the postseason with three players unavailable due to season-ending injuries.
Newsday's Barbara Baker says that Shumpert appears healthy today after a scare during last night's game against the Magic, when the second year guard said he felt a "pop" in the same knee that he suffered an ACL injury almost one year ago.
Tim Smith of the New York Daily News talks about Kenyon Martin's resurgence with the Knicks as the former number one pick fills in for the team's injured big men.
Danny Ainge told Salk and Holley of 93.7 WEEI FM that Celtics swingman Jeff Green is starting to prove that he deserves to be on the court for "most minutes of the game" (Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com reports).

New York Notes: Deron, Chandler, Carmelo

March 16th, 2013 at 8:05pm CST by Ryan Raroque

With the Knicks set to face the Clippers during what has been a dreary road trip and the Nets hosting the Hawks in Brooklyn, both teams could find itself in a virtual tie for first place in the Atlantic Division tomorrow if Los Angeles wins and Atlanta loses. While Manhattan deals with the uncertainty of Carmelo Anthony's knee, Brooklyn finds Deron Williams in the middle of what appears to be his second wind, as Newsday's Roderick Boone observes that the point guard looks to be past the ankle pains that limited him early on this season. Here's more out of New York tonight:

Tyson Chandler, who joins Anthony in recovering from an injury, views this as an opportunity for both of them to get enough rest to prepare them for a last season push, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. In addition to calling it a "blessing in disguise," Chandler also told reporters: "I feel like (Carmelo) will fully heal and be back over the next couple of games…I know I will be back in the next couple of games. So we won with this lineup at the beginning of this year. That's when we went on our tear, and there's no reason why we can't get right back to that."
In reading a Wall-Street Journal piece about Carmelo, Marc Berman of the New York Post points out the impact that the Knicks star had on J.R. Smith, who credits Anthony for reigning in his focus this year (Sulia link).
Despite the two teams being finished with their regular season meetings, Howard Beck of the New York Times breaks down the remaining challenges that the cross-town rivals face in the race for the Atlantic Division.