DeAndre Jordan

And-Ones: Matthews, Stoudemire, Kanter

July 8th, 2015 at 11:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

As the drama regarding DeAndre Jordan‘s free agency decision seemingly concludes, the Mavericks can breathe easier knowing that Wesley Matthews still intends to sign with the team regardless of Jordan’s choice, Jason Quick of The Oregonian writes. Matthews reached a verbal agreement with Dallas on a sign a four-year deal worth approximately $13MM per season, and he is expected to officially sign the agreement and be introduced to the Dallas media on Thursday, the first day the NBA moratorium ends, Quick adds.

Here’s more from around the league:

With Jordan deciding to remain with the Clippers, signing unrestricted free agent Amar’e Stoudemire will be an option for the Mavericks, Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report relays (Twitter links). Stoudemire is also strongly considering the Heat, Zwerling adds.
There is growing speculation around the league that the Pacers will approach the Mavs about a trade for Roy Hibbert now that Dallas has missed out on Jordan, Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers tweets. That’s apparently even though Indiana has committed to trade Hibbert to the Lakers.
With the free agent moratorium set to end on Thursday, league sources believe that restricted free agent Enes Kanter will either re-sign with the Thunder or sign an offer sheet that the team would then match, Royce Young of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
Forward Livio Jean-Charles, the No. 28 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, won’t be joining the Spurs for the 2015/16 campaign, according to Tony Parker, Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News relays. Parker is not only a potential future teammate of Jean-Charles’, but he is also the president and owner of ASVEL Basket, the French team Jean-Charles currently plays for.
The Thunder sent the Raptors $250k as part of the trade that landed Luke Ridnour in Toronto, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Celtics have a vested interest in where Jordan ends up, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets. Boston owns the rights to the Dallas 2016 first-rounder from the Rajon Rondo trade, which is top seven protected. With the Mavs whiffing on signing Jordan, a blow to the team’s chances of winning this coming season, the pick becomes more valuable, as long as the Mavs don’t sink too far and end up keeping it.

Clippers Likely To Re-Sign DeAndre Jordan

July 8th, 2015 at 9:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

9:19pm: Cuban has begun to notify people within the Mavericks organization that Jordan is remaining in Los Angeles, Stein tweets.

7:33pm: Jordan has indicated to the Clippers that he intends to remain with the team, and team representatives intend to remain with the center until he can put pen to paper on a new deal at midnight, Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com report (Twitter link).

7:13pm: At least three league sources have disputed the claim that Fegan steered Jordan to agree to sign with Dallas, Stein tweets.

5:30pm: The Mavericks are not optimistic about Jordan signing with the team, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.

2:55pm: Jordan won’t decide until he meets face-to-face with the Mavs, as Stein hears (Twitter link).

2:26pm: The idea of Fegan demanding the Clippers trade Paul “is very much not true and ridiculous,” a source told Turner (on Twitter).

2:23pm: The Clippers expect Jordan will pick them, Eaves tweets. On the Dallas side, recruiter extraordinaire Chandler Parsons will indeed be at the Mavs’ meeting with Jordan, as Amick and Zillgitt write, and as Parsons had indicated on Twitter.

1:59pm: Eaves adds that Jordan decided the Clippers were the better option once he sat back and compared their roster against that of the Mavs, according to a source (Twitter link). Ballmer is indeed in the meeting, too, Wojnarowski tweets.

1:54pm: Jordan told Rivers on Monday that he’d made a mistake, and the feeling within Jordan’s family, who want him to stay with the Clippers, is that Fegan pushed him to sign in Dallas, according to SportsCenter’s Michael Eaves. Fegan made an ultimatim to Rivers prior to Jordan’s agreement to sign with the Mavs that the Clippers would have to trade Paul to keep Jordan, a source also told Eaves (All five Twitter links here).

1:42pm: Jordan is increasingly leaning toward the Clippers, Stein and Shelburne write. Paul has been among those pushing hardest to convince the center to stay with the Clips. The Clippers believe they’ll bring Jordan back to L.A. with them tonight, Stein tweets.

12:58pm: The renewed push from the Clippers began when Jordan started having second thoughts on Monday and called Rivers, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

12:50pm: Mavs owner Mark Cuban has traveled to Houston to try to fend off the Clippers’ efforts, sources tell Stein (Twitter link).

12:48pm: Paul Pierce and J.J. Redick will be in the meeting, too, Woike tweets.

12:40pm: Jordan appears to be 50/50 on either forging ahead with his Mavs deal or re-signing with the Clippers instead, Markazi reports (on Twitter).

12:21pm: Some people within the Mavs organization are indeed concerned, as the Clippers pose a legitimate threat, according to Amick (Twitter link).

12:16pm: The Clippers felt Jordan’s representatives were pushing him to sign with Dallas, Markazi tweets. Fegan and the Mavs have long had a close working relationship.

12:07pm: It sounds like Paul will be part of the Clippers’ party traveling to Houston to meet with Jordan, tweets Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. Stein follows with a similar tweet, and it seems like the Clippers contingent will indeed get that meeting with Jordan. The Clippers expect the meeting to happen, according to Amick (Twitter link).

12:00pm: Clippers officials weren’t pleased with the way the Mavs recruited Jordan, part of the reason they’re breaking protocol and continuing to go after him, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. The Clippers weren’t pleased that Jordan had only one meeting with them while Dallas both dined and met with him, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times hears (on Twitter).

11:57pm: The Clippers have gone directly to Jordan, rather than Fegan or other representatives at Relativity Sports, as Stein wrote, and one source close to Jordan called it an underhanded maneuver, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The relationship between Paul and Jordan isn’t perfect, but they have spoken with each other throughout Jordan’s free agency and have a mutual respect, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

11:51am: Jordan and Griffin have already spoken, and it’s possible that Paul joins the recruitment, too, sources tell Stein. Paul and Jordan reportedly haven’t seen eye to eye, though conflicting reports make it tough to get a read on just how much of a factor that’s been in Jordan’s thinking.

11:45am: Jordan started having second thoughts early this week, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports indicates (on Twitter). The Clippers have been pushing to meet with Jordan today in Houston that would involve Rivers and perhaps owner Steve Ballmer, and some Clippers players have been in contact with Jordan as well, sources tell Stein for a full piece. Broussard hears that Jordan has told people close to him that since choosing Dallas, he’s still feeling “torn” and “unsure,” as Stein passes along in the same piece.

11:29am: The Clippers continue to try to convince DeAndre Jordan to sign with them, even though he’s already agreed to sign with the Mavericks, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal between Dallas and the Dan Fegan client can’t become official until the July Moratorium ends at 11pm Central tonight, but it would be highly unusual if Jordan were to reverse course.

The loss of Jordan would be devastating to the Clippers, who are without the cap space necessary to sign a comparable replacement for the defensive stalwart and league’s leading rebounder. Still, an about-face from Jordan would be perhaps equally damaging to the Mavs, who’ve since committed to sign four other players with the thinking that Jordan would be theirs.

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers has told Jordan that he didn’t know he wanted a larger role, and the Clippers are offering to hire a big man coach and increase Jordan’s number of touches, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported June 30th that Jordan was tired of being a third wheel behind Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and wanted a larger role on offense, so Rivers should have been aware when free agency began.

Jordan has financial motivations to choose the Clippers, since they can give him 7.5% raises on the max salary he’s set to receive in his deal with Dallas, as opposed to the 4.5% raises the Mavs are limited to doling out. The Clippers can also tack a fifth year onto the deal, as opposed to the four he’s getting from the Mavs, but Jordan didn’t appear to be seeking a five-year contract.

Fegan also represents Dwight Howard, who’s indecision was a near-daily story before he signed with the Rockets two years ago. He’s also the agent for Austin Rivers, Doc’s son, who’s a free agent this summer, as Arash Markazi of ESPN.com points out (on Twitter).

Southwest Rumors: Villanueva, Gasol, Conley

July 8th, 2015 at 1:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Southwest Division free agent bounty might take a hit if DeAndre Jordan indeed reverses course on his decision to sign with the Mavericks, as the Clippers are trying to convince him to do, but he’s not the only free agent the Mavs and Clippers have fought over. There’s more on that amid the latest from around the Southwest:

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers put in a recruiting call to Charlie Villanueva, who also spoke with Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld, as Villanueva reveals on his own website (hat tip to TNT’s David Aldridge). The forward also indicates that the Kings were in the mix, too, but Villanueva made it clear that he’s pleased to have agreed to a deal with the Mavs.
Marc Gasol hinted that Mike Conley assured him he’ll be just as committed to re-signing with the Grizzlies next summer, when he’s a free agent, as Gasol was this year, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal writes in a subscription-only piece. Gasol said it never got to a point where he could envision himself playing outside of Memphis. “I was just sitting on it. I wanted to talk to Mike Conley,” Gasol said to Tillery. “Once I knew Mike Conley was on board, that sealed the deal. We both talked about the future. Once I knew he was on board it was a done deal.”
Some people within the Spurs wondered in retrospect if the team would have been better off giving some of Manu Ginobili‘s minutes to Marco Belinelli, but Ginobili remains valuable to the team and around the league, as Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News chronicles. Someone from another NBA team told Harvey that if he thought Ginobili would ever sign with a franchise other than the Spurs, his team would have pursued him. The veteran swingman has reportedly agreed to re-sign with the Spurs for what appears to be the $2.814MM room exception. Belinelli committed to the Kings.

And-Ones: Lee, Randle, Bulls, Clippers

July 7th, 2015 at 11:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Clippers guard J.J. Redick vented his frustrations with his team’s offseason during an interview with Bleacher Report Radio, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times relays. When asked to grade Los Angeles’ free agent moves, Redick said, “Is there an F-minus?” The veteran continued expressing his disappointment, saying, “Listen, we had one priority this summer and that was to re-sign D.J. [DeAndre Jordan] and we missed out on that, so barring some miracle, [the] makeup of our team is completely different now.” The center agreed to a four-year, $80MM deal with Dallas last week.

Redick noted the myriad of ways in which the Clippers will miss Jordan, referring to the big man as, “such an integral part of what we did, not just defensively but offensively with his screening, his rolling, his offensive rebounds. His presence down low essentially made teams either commit to the three-point line when Blake [Griffin] or Chris [Paul] penetrated or commit to him, and that either opened up lobs for him or threes for guys like me and Jamal [Crawford] and Matt [Barnes].”

Here’s what else is happening around the league:

Free agent Kevin Seraphin is receiving interest from the Mavericks, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (Twitter link). The 25-year-old center has also had inquiries from the Lakers, Wizards, Suns and Spurs, Scotto adds.
The Lakers‘ first round draft pick of a year ago, Julius Randle, participated in his first organized practice with the team since he suffering a broken leg in his NBA debut last season, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. Randle, who is on track to be recovered by the start of the 2015/16 season, has lost weight while getting stronger, which should improve his quickness and production, Holmes adds. “The credit goes to my coaches for staying on me and not letting this downtime being injured be a step in the wrong direction,” Randle said. “I’m taking advantage of it the most that I could. It’s also me with my drive and will and people supporting me. The credit goes to all of them.“
The proposed trade that would send David Lee to the Celtics can save the Warriors roughly $5MM in salary and an additional $18MM in luxury tax, which makes the deal worth doing for Golden State, even if Lee’s presence will be missed, Daniel Leroux of The Sporting News writes.
The Bulls missed a major opportunity to take advantage of a still developing Cavaliers roster and reach the NBA Finals, a feat that has grown even more difficult with the improvements that Cleveland, not to mention the Bucks and Raptors, made this offseason, Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com writes.

Mavericks Rumors: Lin, Jordan, Cuban, Nowitzki

July 4th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent Jeremy Lin is considering the Mavericks despite the team’s limited remaining cap space, reports Marc Stein of ESPN. Although Lin could likely command a higher salary elsewhere, his desire to play for a contender and his friendship with Chandler Parsons from their days as teammates in Houston could be enough to bring him to Dallas. If the Mavericks get a commitment from Lin, Stein notes, they could waive Raymond Felton and stretch his contract to create a $2.6MM salary slot.

There’s more from Dallas on a holiday weekend:

The expected signings of DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews confirm that Dallas is still a free agent destination, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Sefko contends the two additions make the Mavericks relevant again and hints that a “very functional” point guard may be joining the team soon, possibly referring to Lin.
Owner Mark Cuban described his new center as “Shaq-like” and said he plans to give Jordan a significant role in the team’s offense, according to Melissa Rohlin of The Los Angeles Times. Not being a regular part of the offense was reportedly one of the things that made Jordan want to leave the Clippers. “We see him as ‘Shaq-like’ but never having been given the opportunity,” Cuban said in a radio interview on “The Ticket.” “We told him if he came to the Mavs, he would be a focal point. He would grow into being a franchise player.” Jordan averaged a career-high 11.5 points per game last season and shot a league-best 71% from the floor, but complained that he was never given a large enough role in L.A.
Although Parsons served as lead recruiter, the relationship between Cuban and agent Dan Fegan was key to getting Jordan to Dallas, tweets Zach Lowe of Grantland.com.
Jordan was impressed that Dirk Nowitzki cut short a family vacation to represent the Mavericks in their meeting, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. No Clippers players attended their team’s meeting with Jordan.

Pacers, Mavs, Clippers Discuss Trade For Hibbert

July 4th, 2015 at 12:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pacers have contacted the Mavericks about a possible sign-and-trade deal involving center Roy Hibbert, Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). The proposed deal would also include the Clippers, Turner notes. In the proposed deal, Indiana would send Hibbert to Dallas in exchange for Monta Ellis, who would then ship Hibbert to the Clippers in exchange for DeAndre Jordan, Turner relays (on Twitter). A source within the Mavericks’ organization doubts that the team would agree to such a transaction, since Dallas has no desire to help the Clippers improve their roster, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com relays (via Twitter). Indiana is also exploring other trade options involving the center, MacMahon adds.

Hibbert, who is scheduled to earn $15.514MM next season after exercising his player option, is no longer in the Pacers’ long-term plans, as the team is looking to implement a faster style of play. Indiana had reportedly been aggressive in their attempts to trade Hibbert prior to the 2015 NBA draft. Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel signaled this spring that they wanted to move on from the 28-year-old.

The big man’s contract has a 15% trade kicker included, and even though the starting salary in his deal was for the max, the kicker still has value, as he’s since accrued seven years of service and is eligible for a max worth roughly 30% of the salary cap instead of just 25%, noted Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The kicker would add more than $2.327MM to his base salary, which the Pacers would be required to pay, though it would count toward his cap hit for whichever team were to take him on.

This potential three-way deal would benefit the Pacers the most financially, as the Mavs have already agreed to a deal with Jordan, and don’t need to free up cap space to accommodate his addition. The Pacers can likewise fit in Ellis’ new deal under their cap figure, but would certainly love to have Hibbert’s player-friendly deal off of its books for next season. As for the Clippers, in the wake of losing Jordan and the team not having sufficient cap space to sign an impact player, agreeing to the trade would allow the franchise to add a starting-caliber big man without requiring additional cap clearing moves. That last point is why the Mavs would be hesitant to agree to such a trade, and Indiana or Los Angeles would likely need to add further compensation for Dallas to consider such a trade, though that is merely my speculation.

Hibbert made 76 appearances for Indiana last season, all as a starter, and averaged 10.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game. His shooting numbers were .446/.000/.824.

DeAndre Jordan To Sign With Mavs

July 3rd, 2015 at 3:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:33pm: The deal includes a player option after year three, tweets Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

3:20pm: The Clippers have been told of Jordan’s decision to sign with Dallas, too, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2:55pm: DeAndre Jordan has told the Mavericks he’s signing with them, sources tell Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The sought-after center plans to announce the news tonight, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that it’ll be a four-year, $80MM deal (Twitter links). Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) reported minutes earlier that the Dan Fegan client was on the verge of accepting an offer from the Mavericks, pegging it at that same four-year, $80MM mark, which appears to represent the max. Dallas has been extremely optimistic, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweeted shortly after Stein’s report. It would be a profound disappointment for the Clippers and represent a miss for the Lakers, too. Jordan’s representatives have already told the Knicks they’re out of the running, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

The options for the Clippers are limited, since they couldn’t generate a trade exception for the full value of Jordan’s starting salary even if they could convince the Mavs to work a sign-and-trade, because he’s getting a raise of better than 20%, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). It’s a vestige of the base-year compensation rules that would cap the value of the exception at Jordan’s previous salary of slightly more than $11.44MM. That wouldn’t be enough for the Clippers to trade for David Lee, Roy Hibbert or Nene without matching salaries. The Clippers don’t have enough cap flexibility to sign a comparable replacement.

MacMahon first reported Jordan’s extreme interest in signing with Dallas back in April. That was in spite of Jordan’s clear affection for Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers. Still, Jordan made it clear even in the spring that the Clippers weren’t necessarily the favorites as he approached unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career. Jordan was concerned about how the Clippers roster would age over time, and Blake Griffin‘s ability to reach free agency himself in two years, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reported overnight. The center also reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with Chris Paul, though there were conflicting reports on just how much of a factor that was. Jordan was also apparently tired of playing third wheel behind Griffin and Paul.

The Clippers nonetheless seemed to impress in their meeting with him Thursday, but so did the Mavs, and owner Mark Cuban and recruiter extraordinaire Chandler Parsons met with Jordan again this morning, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com. Dallas, once the deal becomes official following the July Moratorium, will land the sort of star free agent target it’s missed out on ever since it won the title in 2011. The Mavs will take him into cap space, barring any sign-and-trade developments. Jordan’s deal, put together with the roughly $13MM that Wesley Matthews will reportedly see this coming season on his contract with Dallas, likely closes off the team’s cap flexibility, limiting it to the $2.814MM room exception for outside free agents who want more than the minimum.

DeAndre Jordan Rumors: Friday

July 3rd, 2015 at 2:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

DeAndre Jordan appears torn between the Clippers and Mavericks, though he’s ruled out neither the Lakers nor the Knicks, as the last reports from Thursday indicated. We’ll round up today’s latest here, with any new information added to the top throughout the day:

Jordan’s representatives have told the Knicks he won’t sign with them, Wojnarowski reports (on Twitter), so Lopez looks like he’ll end up in New York.

1:11pm update:

Jordan has narrowed his list to just the Clippers and Mavs, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski, who writes in a story on New York’s tentative deal with Robin Lopez. That Lopez deal still seems tied to Jordan’s decision, however. So, it would appear that the Knicks haven’t abandoned hope, remote as their chances might be. The Clippers are confident, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter links).

11:11am update:

A person close to Jordan who was in the Clippers meeting left with a positive impression, saying “they had their stuff together,” as he spoke with Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The Mavs also reportedly impressed in their meeting.

8:16am update:

The Dan Fegan client has concerns about the Clippers‘ roster and doesn’t know that it’ll age well, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’s worried about what will happen when Blake Griffin can opt out of his contract in two years, Shelburne adds.
Jordan entered free agency giving the Clippers a slight edge, a league source Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Other reports indicate that it’s a 50-50 proposition now, and Dan Woike of The Orange County Register has heard that it’s been that way for a while (Twitter link).
Those around Jordan have downplayed tension between him and Chris Paul, Medina writes in the same piece.

Latest On DeAndre Jordan

July 2nd, 2015 at 11:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

11:03pm: Jordan remains torn between the Clippers and the Mavericks after meeting with Los Angeles earlier this evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). However, the Lakers and Knicks have not been completely ruled out by the big man, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com.

4:26pm: The Mavs and the Clippers are the only legitimate candidates for Jordan, a source told Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News today.

4:01pm: The Mavs made a strong impression on Jordan during their meeting, but if they don’t land him, they’ll seriously consider signing Kosta Koufos, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.

10:41am: New York is still a long shot for Jordan, people connected to the center said this morning to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).

9:31am: The Clippers were confident about retaining DeAndre Jordan going into the start of free agency Wednesday, but they felt they had only 50-50 chances as of Wednesday night, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Lakers were nonetheless “somewhat underwhelming” in their presentation to him, sources told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Jordan sensed the Lakers had been through a whirlwind day after meeting earlier with LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe, according to Turner (on Twitter), and the nighttime start may have hampered the visit, as both the team and Jordan’s camp were tired, as Chris Mannix of SI.com hears (Twitter links). Still, a source close to Jordan who spoke with Mannix called the meeting “very professional” and disputes the idea that he took any issue with it.

The meeting with the Lakers lasted about two hours, less than half the time Jordan spent with the Mavs, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News details. Dallas impressed the Dan Fegan client, according to Medina, and a full contingent from the Mavs was on hand. The Lakers didn’t have Kobe Bryant present for their meeting, and no members of the Buss family, the owners of the team, were there either, Turner tweets. That’s in contrast to the meeting that Aldridge took with the Lakers, which included Bryant, Jeanie Buss and Jim Buss.

Jordan is meeting with the Knicks today and the Clippers this evening, Turner hears (Twitter links), and he doesn’t plan to make a decision until after he completes those visits, sources also told Turner.

Free Agent Rumors: Stoudemire, Hill, Butler

July 2nd, 2015 at 9:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The free agent signing period is now in its second day, and here are the latest rumblings from around the league:

The Clippers, Rockets, Mavericks, Lakers, and Suns all have expressed interest in signing Amar’e Stoudemire as a backup big man, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Stoudemire is only interested in signing with the Clippers if DeAndre Jordan departs and he could become the starter, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
The Mavs will shift focus to pursuing unrestricted free agent Jordan Hill if the team misses out on signing Jordan, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets.
Having missed out on Greg Monroe, one of their prime free agent targets, the Knicks have been in contact with Hill’s representatives, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes.
Caron Butler, who was waived by the Bucks shortly after they had acquired him from the Pistons, is on the Knicks‘ radar thanks to his shooting ability and potential fit in the triangle offense, Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets. The Cavaliers have also been in constant contact with Butler, though no signing appears imminent, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Unrestricted free agent Quincy Acy is garnering interest from the Magic, Kings, Pelicans, Hawks, and Spurs, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
Free agent Gigi Datome is split on whether to return to the NBA next season or to play in Europe, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. The forward’s primary concern is playing time, not money, adds Himmelsbach.
The Mavs are back in play for J.J. Barea after he was leaning toward signing with the Heat Wednesday, TNT’s David Aldridge relays in a series of tweets. The point guard is seeking a three-year deal, Aldridge adds. Dallas is optimistic it can land Barea but is waiting for other free agents to make their decisions first, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (on Twitter).
Unrestricted free agent Joel Freeland said that he will sign with a European team if he doesn’t agree to an NBA contract by July 10th, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (via Twitter).
Center Kosta Koufos has received interest from the Mavs, Lakers and Kings, Kennedy tweets. The Bucks had shown interest as well, prior to signing Greg Monroe, Kennedy adds.
Free agent forward Derrick Williams is scheduled to meet with the Knicks and Mavericks today in Los Angeles, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
The Pistons and Suns both made hard pushes to sign DeMarre Carroll, who instead inked a deal with the Raptors, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Carroll was blown away by Toronto’s offer, its environment, and is a big fan of coach Dwane Casey, Arnovitz adds.

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