Northwest Rumors: Harden, Thunder, Layden
If it weren't for the Lakers' 0-3 start, the Nuggets, also 0-3, might be getting a lot more attention. A trendy pick this season (Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors has the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals over both the Lakers and the Thunder), Denver has struggled in its early East Coast trip, though the team might have scored a signature win against the Heat last night if not for Ray Allen's heroics. The Nuggets will be the last team to make their home debut this season, doing so Tuesday, so perhaps that will help them right the ship. Here's other weekend news on their Northwest Division rivals.
- Several teams reportedly had contact with the Thunder about James Harden prior to last week's trade, but Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears the Rockets, the last team standing, were also the first to get involved in discussions. Amico adds that the Cavs weren't in on the trade talks.
- In the same piece, Amico defends Thunder GM Sam Presti for making the trade, and believes the Thunder got just as much out of it as the Rockets did.
- Spurs assistant GM Scott Layden isn't upset he wasn't interviewed for the Jazz GM opening this summer, despite strong ties to the Utah organization, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
Marc Stein On Mike Brown, Josh Smith, Thunder
The start of the regular season means the return of Marc Stein's Weekend Dime feature on ESPN.com, and as usual, there are a few notable tidbits within the piece. Stein praises Lakers coach Mike Brown for his refusal to run from "ridiculously early" questions about his job security despite the specter of available names like Phil Jackson and Mike D'Antoni. In response to the notion of D'Antoni taking over the team, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler calls it overreaction (Twitter link), which would seem to carry over to Jackson as well, especially considering the doubts about his desire to coach again. Here's more of what Stein had to say.
- Josh Smith is in the final season of his deal, worth $13.2MM this year, and he could represent an attractive trade chip. Stein nonetheless hears the Hawks will most likely hang on to Smith this year while retaining cap flexibility for what could be an active summer of 2013.
- One of the reasons why the Thunder traded James Harden is because the team is projected to pay, instead of receive, under the league's revenue-sharing model, despite playing in a small market.
- Seven coaches are in the final year of their contracts, including Larry Drew of the Hawks, Avery Johnson of the Nets, Vinny Del Negro of the Clippers, Lionel Hollins of the Grizzlies, Scott Skiles of the Bucks and Alvin Gentry of the Suns. Frank Vogel is the other member of that group, though the Pacers hold a team option on his deal for 2013/14.
Northwest Rumors: Budinger, Martin, Westbrook
A rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals was the only game on the NBA's slate Thursday night, but it certainly delivered. After hitting a game-tying three with 28 seconds left, Tony Parker hit a buzzer-beater to give the Spurs an 86-84 win over the defending Northwest Division champions. We've got a few Thunder-related links to pass along this morning as they regroup from last night's loss, along with a couple more Northwest notes:
- Despite not playing his first regular-season game with the Timberwolves yet, Chase Budinger tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities he can already picture himself sticking around Minnesota for a while: "I can definitely see myself here (long-term). It's a great city. You can already see how good the fans are here…. I'm excited for the season."
- Wolfson also tweets that Kenyon Martin's camp has checked in a few times with the Timberwolves, but the T-Wolves have said Kevin Love's recovery is going well and they don't have a need at power forward. Since K-Mart is reportedly seeking the mini mid-level, I'm not sure the Wolves are necessarily a match anyway.
- Noting that it felt "surreal" to be dealt to a championship contender like the Thunder, another K-Mart, Kevin Martin, tells Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld that he wasn't surprised by the trade. "With next summer being an unrestricted free agent and them in rebuilding mode," Martin said. "I knew it was going to come at some point."
- One "well-placed" NBA executive tells Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he would've preferred to trade Russell Westbrook than James Harden, if he were running the Thunder (Twitter link).
- Kevin Durant spoke to reporters last night about the Harden trade, and HoopsWorld TV has the video.
Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Smith, D-League, Pippen
Earlier this week, we heard that there were a number of teams that at least touched base with the Thunder about James Harden before he was traded to the Rockets. We can add the Bobcats to that list as well, as owner Michael Jordan tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that his team "made a couple calls" about Harden's availability. Jordan, who says he's "in it for the long haul" as Bobcats owner, adds that he believes Charlotte can still be an attractive destination for free agents down the road, though he acknowledges the team needs to get its house in order first.
Here are a few more notes from around the NBA, as the Thunder and Spurs prepare for the only game on tonight's schedule:
- On the heels of some surprising contract extensions, Tom Ziller of SBNation.com shares his five rules for teams thinking about extending players.
- Nolan Smith tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he understands the Blazers' cap situation and has no problem with the team's decision to turn down his 2013/14 option, adding that he views it as a "blessing in disguise" (Twitter links).
- A few intriguing names will be in camp with the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics' D-League affiliate, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Xavier Silas, Micah Downs, Chris Wright, and Chamberlain Oguchi are among the invitees.
- Nets GM Billy King tells Newsday's Roderick Boone that one of the lessons he learned at his previous job in Philadelphia: "At the end, I was just trying to keep my job. Once you start trying to keep your job and not do it, it's not going to work."
- The Bulls have appointed Scottie Pippen a Senior Advisor to the President and COO of the team, according to an official release.
Extension Fallout: Gibson, Curry, DeRozan, Evans
Five players signed contract extensions on Wednesday's deadline day, and that doesn't even include Ty Lawson's new deal, which was completed on Tuesday. With this year's October 31st deadline behind us, let's round up some of the links relating to this year's class of extended players….
- Taj Gibson's deal with the Bulls is worth roughly $34MM in guaranteed salary, plus up to $38-39MM with incentives, which are both individual- and team-based, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter links).
- Gibson probably could have earned a larger contract on the open market next summer, but wanted to stay with the Bulls because he's happy in Chicago, says Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
- Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group spoke to Stephen Curry about the process of negotiating a new deal with the Warriors. The piece also includes conversations with team owner Joe Lacob and GM Bob Myers.
- DeMar DeRozan was prepared to play out the season with or without a contract extension, but he's happy to have it out of the way, writes Stephen Brotherson of HoopsWorld.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star feels that the Raptors, in locking up DeRozan, bid against themselves when it wasn't necessary.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News examines the consequences of a wild week for the Rockets and James Harden, who finalized a five-year maximum-salary extension yesterday.
- Having not received an extension from the Kings, Tyreke Evans tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee that he's fine with just focusing on his play on the court for the rest of the season.
Extension Rumors: Gibson, Casspi, Curry
This year's deadline for extension-eligible fourth-year players to sign new deals is just hours away, arriving at 11:00pm CT today. Blake Griffin, Serge Ibaka, and Ty Lawson came into the day as the only players with new contracts, while Stephen Curry reached an unexpected agreement with the Warriors this morning and James Harden agreed to a maximum deal with the Rockets this afternoon. Will we see any other extensions signed before the night is out? We'll track today's extension-related rumors and rumblings right here:
- Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago reports Taj Gibson is seeking a four-year extension worth $40MM while the Bulls are offering $32MM. Sam notes a $36MM figure in the middle would be equal to what fellow forwards Ryan Anderson and Jeff Green got over the summer, and less than the $10MM or more Sam believes Gibson could command as a restricted free agent next summer (All Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
Rockets Sign Harden To Five-Year Extension
6:08pm: The team has officially announced the signing via press release.
"James Harden is the foundational-type player we have been looking to add," owner Leslie Alexander said. "He is a tremendous, young player with the ability and skill set to be an All-Star. He is ready to make the next move up to join the elite players in the NBA. As I said when we traded for James, he along with the mix of young players we already have in place, such as Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons and Omer Asik, gives us a solid group of young, talented players who will help get us back to a championship level."
2:10pm: James Harden has agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Rockets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Wojnarowski initially pegs the value of the extension at $80MM, though he adds in a second tweet that it's a maximum-salary deal, meaning the exact figures aren't yet set in stone.
Harden was, of course, acquired by the Rockets over the weekend, at which point it was reported that the two sides would reach an agreement on a five-year, maximum-salary contract. The Thunder, having already designated Russell Westbrook as their franchise player, could only offer Harden a four-year extension, and were said to be offering less than the maximum salary — something in the neighborhood of $53MM for four years.
With Harden under contract through 2018, the Rockets figure to build around a core that includes Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, and the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. Those three players' salaries will amount to a cap hit of more than $30MM in 2013/14. However, the rest of the Rockets' team salary will be made up of rookie contracts or non-guaranteed deals, which should give them the cap space to be a major player in free agency.
As for Harden's new deal, the exact amount of the 2013/14 maximum salary for a player with his experience isn't yet known, but it will likely increase at least a little. Westbrook's five-year, max-salary extension, which uses 2012/13's figures, will pay him about $78.6MM, so Harden's deal is expected to exceed that.
Odds & Ends: Harden, Gay, Wolves, Mavs, Gibson
We're a few days removed from the Rockets' acquisition of James Harden, but that doesn't mean that reaction pieces or additional details have stopped rolling in. Today, Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel wonders if the Thunder got as much for Harden as the Magic did for Dwight Howard, and DeMar DeRozan talks to Eric Koreen of the National Post about how he, Harden, and other members of the 2009 draft class approach their contract situations. Meanwhile, Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game hears from one GM that Sam Presti didn't canvass the entire league for the best deal for Harden, presumably since Presti didn't want to create an avalanche of rumors (Twitter link). And finally, Bill Simmons of Grantland adds that Harden and his agent were seeking a 15% trade kicker as part of extension talks with the Thunder.
Now that we've rounded up today's Harden-related links, let's turn to the afternoon's non-Harden notes:
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld examines a few players who could be trade candidates between now and the deadline, including Rudy Gay, who Kennedy says would be open to a move.
- The Timberwolves have inquired on the recently-waived JaJuan Johnson, but don't figure to be a match, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star Telegram spoke to Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson about a number of topics, including the team's chemistry with so many new players on board.
- Extension talks between Taj Gibson and the Bulls are ongoing and are expected to push up against tomorrow's 11:00pm CT deadline, says Ken Berger of CBS Sports (Twitter links).
- Scottie Pippen is interesting in eventually becoming a head coach in the NBA, as he told The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago (ESPNChicago.com has the details and quotes).
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports tweets the details on a pair of contract buyouts: Jordan Williams will receive $420K from Atlanta after being waived by the Hawks, while Keyon Dooling will receive $400K from the Celtics following his retirement.
- Dionte Christmas, who was released by the Celtics this month, appears headed for CSKA Moscow, according to Eurohoops.net (hat tip to Sportando).
- A Spurs' second-round pick in 2009, Jack McClinton is hoping to earn a spot in the D-League this year and eventually receive an NBA call-up, writes David Pick at Eurobasket.com.
Kyler On Harden, Jennings, Holiday, Rockets
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld shared a few updates on extension-eligible players in his NBA AM column this morning, and also tweeted a few notes about the Rockets' options in free agency next summer. Let's dive right in and round up the highlights….
- James Harden and the Rockets will almost certainly reach an agreement on a five-year extension today or tomorrow. It's just a matter of whether it will be for the true max or slightly below that.
- If Tyreke Evans, who won't be extended this week, struggles early in the season, he could become a trade candidate for the Kings.
- According to Kyler, Brandon Jennings' camp is seeking an extension worth $9-10MM annually, which the Bucks aren't interested in. Those numbers are a little surprising to me — I'd think the Bucks wouldn't mind a deal in that neighborhood, while Jennings would be seeking something closer to the max.
- The Sixers and Jrue Holiday don't appear headed for an extension this week. Kyler says Philadelphia's offer was worth about $8-9MM annually.
- The "broad strokes" are there for an agreement between Ty Lawson and the Nuggets. Now it's just a matter of working out the final value of the contract.
- The odds of Taj Gibson and the Bulls reaching an extension agreement today or tomorrow are about 50/50 at best.
- The Hawks have told Jeff Teague that he's still part of their long-term plans, but the team wants to maintain flexibility next summer, so he won't be extended now. The Bobcats have a similar stance with Gerald Henderson and Byron Mullens.
- In a series of tweets, Kyler says the Rockets are unlikely to be serious players for Josh Smith in free agency next summer, unless they trade for him. The fifth year that the team holding Smith's Bird Rights will be able to offer could be a dealbreaker, according to Kyler, who adds that the forward appears happy with the Hawks for now.
- Kyler expects the Rockets to take a similar approach to what they did this past offseason, pursuing restricted free agents and perhaps making a poison pill offer or two. Paul Millsap could also be a potential target, says Kyler (Twitter links).
Odds & Ends: Tinsley, Martin, Pekovic, Dorsey
- According to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com, Jamaal Tinsley's current contract is completely non-guaranteed.
- Kevin Martin is thrilled to be in a winning situation for the first time in his career, writes the Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry.
- This season should be a breakout year for Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic, writes TwinCities.com's Ray Richardson.
- After posting comments on his Facebook page regarding a pending future in the NBA, former University of Memphis forward Joey Dorsey apologized to his current team, Olympiacos, saying he did not in fact receive any offers from an NBA team, and would like to continue his career in Greece. He'll likely be waived by the team anyway, according to Sportando.net.
- According to a tweet from Yahoo! NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, Scott Machado has made the Rockets final roster. He'll develop in the D-league this season.
- According to a tweet from the team, the Trail Blazers have named Chris McGowan their new President and CEO, replacing Larry Miller.
- Josh Cohen from NBA.com discusses a few possible trade scenarios that could work out for both teams involved.
- Bill Ingram from Hoopsworld.com asks if James Harden is truly a max contract player.