Latest On Cavs, Tristan Thompson
JULY 8TH, 9:10am: The sides made a bit of progress Tuesday, sources told Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who includes the tidbit at the end of a broader story on Amico Hoops.
JULY 6TH, 1:02pm: Talks between the sides continue, but the dialogue isn’t producing much of substance at this point, Haynes hears. Other teams are keeping a keen watch on the Thompson dialogue, given that LeBron James reportedly won’t talk to the Cavs about re-signing until Thompson’s deal is done, as Haynes details.
1:10pm: The gap isn’t vast, and there’s no animosity between the sides, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group hears (Twitter link).
JULY 2ND, 12:05pm: A gap remains between the sides in spite of the progress they made Wednesday, Windhorst tweets.
JULY 1ST, 2:09pm: The Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson are close to an agreement on a deal that would pay him north of $80MM, report Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It appears that would be about the maximum that he could receive in a five-year arrangement. LeBron James made it clear this spring that he wanted his fellow Rich Paul client back with the Cavs, months after Thompson and Cleveland didn’t come to terms on an extension this past fall.
A deal for Thompson would be yet another significant commitment for Cleveland, which will retain Kevin Love, reportedly for the max, and almost certainly will do the same with LeBron. The team has already had internal discussions about a payroll of $100-110MM next season with a tax payment of some $75MM, as Windhorst previously reported.
Thompson turned down a four-year, $52MM extension offer this past fall, betting that he could do better this summer, even though the Cavs had brought in Kevin Love at his position. Thompson came off the bench most of the time, but he excelled as a starter in the playoffs when Love was injured. Still, a max deal is quite a high price to pay for the 24-year-old who averaged only 8.5 points per game this past season, particularly with Love coming back, too.
Cavs Rumors: Smith, Crawford, Love
The Cavaliers struck deals on the first day of free agency with Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert, and they were reportedly close to doing the same with Tristan Thompson the same day, but their pace has slowed considerably since then. The Thompson talks have reportedly bogged down, with LeBron James apparently unwilling to talk about a deal for himself until Thompson, a fellow Rich Paul client, is taken care of. The Joe Johnson trade discussions with the Nets appear to be in limbo, too. Still, there are plenty of rumors, as we’ll pass along:
- The Cavs don’t see the wisdom in giving J.R. Smith the long-term deal he’s seeking, and Smith “pretty much signed his exit papers” from Cleveland when he opted out, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. That’s in spite of Smith’s apparent inclination to remain in Cleveland and LeBron’s desire to have the former Sixth Man of the Year back. Still, James is a fan of Johnson, and Pluto suggests the Nets swingman as a possible replacement for Smith on the wing. Those talks with the Nets about Johnson appear to be stagnant, however.
- Pluto hears rumors linking the Cavs to Jamal Crawford, and the Plain Dealer scribe suggests Crawford as another possible trade target with the Brendan Haywood contract. The Clippers were reportedly exploring trades for Crawford shortly before the draft.
- The Cavs and Love had a verbal agreement in place before July 1st, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group hears. That would technically violate collective bargaining agreement rules, since the sides weren’t allowed to talk contract until this month, but the practice of engaging in clandestine early negotiations wouldn’t exactly be unprecedented, Haynes notes.
Central Notes: James, Jackson, Bucks
LeBron James won’t begin contract talks with the Cavaliers until negotiations with Tristan Thompson are completed, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Cleveland is trying to reach a new deal with the 24-year-old, but talks are currently stalled. Thompson and the Cavaliers discussed a deal this week worth more than $80MM.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Free agent guard Reggie Jackson was part of the crowd for the Pistons‘ summer league opener today in Orlando, writes Terry Foster of The Detroit News. Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said there is no indication Jackson is negotiating with other teams and the team hopes to meet with him soon to work out a new contract. He took Jackson’s presence today as a positive step. “It is a sign he wants to be here,” Van Gundy said.
- After they agreed to terms with Greg Monroe earlier this week, Zach Lowe of Grantland believes the Bucks will look to trade away one of their frontcourt players.
- The agreement between Khris Middleton and the Bucks came together so fast that other teams didn’t even get a real chance to speak with the 23-year-old, Lowe writes in a separate piece.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post
Cavs, Wizards Pursue Mike Dunleavy
11:39pm: The Cavs are indeed in pursuit, as well as the Wizards, but the Bulls are still the favorites, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter).
9:26am: LeBron James would like the Cavs to sign Mike Dunleavy, but the small forward is highly likely to re-sign with the Bulls, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). James, though he’s opting out of his deal, has been very much engaged with Cavs management about the roster and is expected to re-sign. Dunleavy is also reportedly drawing interest from the Clippers.
Chicago apparently wants Dunleavy back, though there’s a limit to how much the Bulls would pay the client of outgoing Wasserman agent Arn Tellem. The Bulls are also highly likely to retain Jimmy Butler, whom they’ve made a maximum qualifying offer. Should Butler end up signing for the max, it’s likely the Bulls will have already exceeded the projected $81.6MM tax line even without a contract for Dunleavy.
The Cavs will probably end up paying an even heavier tax burden, and they’ll almost certainly be limited to offering Dunleavy the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception. The Bulls have Early Bird rights to Dunleavy, so they’ll likely be able to pay him as much as about $6MM next season if they want to.
Free Agency Rumors: LeBron, Cavs, Leonard
A league source told Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group that the Cavs “do not value” pending free agent J.R. Smith. LeBron James reportedly wants the Cavs to re-sign the guard, so one has to wonder if that could outweigh the team’s reservations about him. Vardon adds that it is not known if the Cavs will immediately submit offers to James, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson when the clock moves past midnight. Here’s more as we get set for the start of free agency..
- There’s a growing belief that Thompson’s postseason performance coupled with his ties to LeBron could earn him a max contract or something close to it, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal writes. Lloyd also writes that the Cavs were aware that Iman Shumpert would be seeking a ~$10MM per year deal this summer when the acquired him.
- Spurs star Kawhi Leonard is on track for five-year, ~$90MM max deal after San Antonio takes care of other free agency business, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News tweets. It was previously believed that Leonard was in line for a lucrative four-year deal rather than five.
- Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki will join the team’s recruiting contingent in Wednesday’s meetings with DeAndre Jordan and LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets.
- James Harden will join coach Kevin McHale, GM Daryl Morey and executive VP Gersson Rosas in the Rockets‘ meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge Tuesday night in Los Angeles, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- The Knicks‘ selection of Kristaps Porzingis may scare free agents away, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “They took a Latvian guy who may or may not be good,’’ an individual connected to a free agent said. “It’s very strange. They should’ve taken more of a tried-and-true guy, even a Justise Winslow. Top free agents are looking at winning now. It’s fun to go the playoffs and have a chance to compete for the Finals. They’re not going to win this year.’’
Mutual Interest Between Cavs, Mo Williams
JUNE 30TH, 2:50pm: Williams anticipates that he’ll meet with the Cavs, and Cleveland is “very interested” in signing him, a source tells Haynes (on Twitter).
JUNE 19TH, 2:56pm: Soon-to-be free agent Mo Williams has strong interest in playing with the Cavs again, and he’d also like to re-sign with the Hornets, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. The point guard and Cleveland are expected to talk if Williams, who’s seeking a multiyear deal, is willing to take the limited amount the Cavs have to spend, and LeBron James would welcome the return of his former teammate “with open arms,” Haynes also hears.
The Cavs are almost certain to have no more than the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level to spend this summer. The full amount of that would represent a slight pay cut for the 12-year veteran who made more than $3.965MM on the one-year deal he signed this past summer with the Timberwolves. The contract originally called for him to make $3.5MM, but a trade kicker lifted that amount when Minnesota sent him to the Hornets in a February swap.
Cleveland is seeking a facilitating guard who can either back up or play alongside Kyrie Irving, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported this morning. Williams, 32, would presumably fit that mold, having played alongside Chris Paul with the Clippers a few years ago in spite of spending most of his career as a point guard and having averaged 5.0 assists per game for his career. He was the starting point guard for the Cavs for two and a half seasons beginning in 2008, sharing the floor with James during the first two years. The Mark Bartelstein client averaged 14.2 points, 6.2 assists and 29.1 minutes per game this past season, split between Minnesota and Charlotte.
The Hornets have non-Bird rights with Williams, so they could give him a 20% raise without dipping into another exception. Charlotte is also likely to have the $5.434MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level at its disposal.
LeBron James Opts Out
TUESDAY, 1:17pm: James has officially opted out, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
SUNDAY, 2:53pm: LeBron James will opt out of his contract with the Cavaliers and become a free agent for the second straight summer, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Sources tell Chris Broussard of ESPN.com that James will not visit other teams and will re-sign with Cleveland later this summer (Twitter link). A report earlier this week said James will take his time and see what moves Cleveland makes before becoming “the last domino to fall.”
James, who turned down more than $21.5MM for next year, is expected to sign another one-year contract with a player option and then command a longer deal once the cap rises with the new TV contract in 2016, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Kennedy reassures Cavs fans that they shouldn’t worry, saying James’ plan from the start has been to maximize his earnings potential and power within the franchise (Twitter link). A source close to James said, “I expect him to sign back,” according to Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. The deadline for James to agree to the option on his current contract was Monday, and the earliest he can sign a new deal is July 9th.
Cleveland GM David Griffin said recently that the team had been in contact with James about roster decisions since the NBA Finals ended, Windhorst writes. However, he cited sources who said James will remove himself from the free agency process while the Cavaliers make decisions on Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and others. James’ new deal will be worth around $22MM, but the exact amount won’t be determined until the July moratorium ends.
The potential value of a long-term contract should escalate dramatically in 2016, tweets Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders. If James had accepted a full max deal when he left Miami for Cleveland last summer, it would have been four years at about $89MM. By waiting until next summer, those figures will be five years and $170MM (Twitter link), although the amount is just an estimate.
Eastern Rumors: Cavs, DeRozan, Celtics, Monroe
Some sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that they think LeBron James will ask the Cavs to change coaches (Twitter link), though he has no intention of pushing the team to fire David Blatt, as ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported last week. Blatt has made it clear on multiple occasions that he expects he’ll be back. Still, we’ll see what happens this summer in Cleveland. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Chatter continues to indicate that DeMar DeRozan will opt out and seek a maximum-salary deal next summer, and “there is no way” that the Raptors would be willing to pay him that much, reports Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. For this summer, the Raptors will probably have particular interest in Marc Gasol and Paul Millsap, Wolstat also writes.
- Celtics don’t find their chances to land a star encouraging, as Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe hears. Himmelsbach confirms earlier reports of interest in Greg Monroe and Millsap, though he hears from several team sources who say the team didn’t offer Marcus Smart in trade proposals to other teams on draft day.
- Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com believes the new regime in Atlanta isn’t as enamored with Monroe’s game as the team’s last set of higher-ups was (Twitter link). The Hawks, who have a new principal owner in Tony Ressler and have formally cut ties with GM Danny Ferry, aren’t among the teams reportedly meeting with the soon-to-be free agent big man.
- Jimmy Butler would like to sign a one-year offer sheet with the Lakers, a league source tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, but that would be impossible since offer sheets must be for at least two years and at least three if, as the Bulls have long planned, Chicago makes a five-year max offer. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported a couple of weeks ago that Butler’s interest in the Lakers had increased, but the Bulls have the right to match any offer and are expected to do so, Medina notes.
- Reggie Jackson turned down an offer worth more than $12MM a year in extension talks with the Thunder last year because he wanted out of Oklahoma City and onto a team where he could start, a source told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Jackson will probably demand the max if the Pistons want him to sign for five years, the same source said to Ellis.
- Mario Hezonja and Barcelona, his Spanish team, have reached a deal on a buyout that will allow him to part ways with the club and sign with the Magic, who drafted him fifth overall Thursday, reports Jose Ignacio Huguet of Mundo Deportivo (translation via Sporando’s Enea Trapani). The buyout is worth 1.6 million euros, the equivalent of about $1.79MM at today’s exchange rate. Orlando will presumably cover the maximum $625K of that amount.
LeBron James To Opt Out, Not Planning Quick Deal
LeBron James will turn down his player option worth more than $21.573MM, and he doesn’t plan to immediately re-sign with the Cavs, preferring to wait and see how the team goes about its other business in July, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Chances are “slim” that James leaves Cleveland again, Haynes writes, but waiting to re-sign gives him a chance to go into a deal with full knowledge of what will surround him, and it keeps pressure on the organization, Haynes writes. The Rich Paul client plans to be “the last domino to fall,” league sources tell Haynes.
GM David Griffin said James is “very much engaged” with the team as he speaks with management on almost a daily basis about the roster, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Still, it’s widely known that James won’t meddle in front office affairs or with coach David Blatt and his staff, according to Haynes. The four-time MVP believes other coaches would be better equipped to lead the Cavs to a title, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson among them, but he nonetheless has no intention to push for a coaching change, as Chris Broussard of ESPN.com said this week (video link).
That James would opt out is not at all surprising, since opting in would entail a financial sacrifice. James will be able to make a salary of at least $21,676,620 next season on a new deal, slightly more than his option would give him, and that figure could grow higher, depending on where the league sets the maximum for a player with 10 or more years of experience. James is likely to re-sign with Cleveland on a max deal for two years with a player option on year two, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group wrote months ago.
James wants the Cavs to re-sign Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith, though he won’t actively recruit any of them, Haynes writes. Griffin has said that he’d like to keep the team together, though he expressed guarded interest in Smith as he confirmed Smith has opted out, saying the Cavs want him back “if it’s the right situation for us,” as Haynes notes.
Heat Shop Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen?
THURSDAY, 11:20pm: Heat president Pat Riley says that there is no truth to the reports that the team is shopping Andersen and Chalmers, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post tweets.
8:34pm: Wade and the Heat do not have a meeting scheduled, a source told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, contradicting the previous report. Any meeting with Wade would like come after the start of free agency on July 1 when the Heat could discuss contract parameters with him, the same source informed Winderman.
2:58pm: Wade is angry at the Heat as they draw a hard financial line, and he doesn’t feel like the team regards him as a priority, a friend of his tells Jackson. Associates say the Heat have damaged Wade’s trust in the organization, Jackson also hears.
MONDAY, 12:49pm: The Heat are shopping Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen in an attempt to clear salary that they could use on a new contract for Dwyane Wade, report Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. They’ll meet with Wade within the next week as the June 29th deadline for him to formally decide on his $16.125MM player option looms, Shelburne and Windhorst write. Wade, in addition to apparent mutual interest in the Lakers, is interested in the Clippers, too, and LeBron James has expressed interest in Wade joining the Cavs, but both are extreme long shots to land the shooting guard given their cap constraints, as the ESPN scribes explain.
Anderson is set to make $5MM next season and Chalmers $4.3MM as each enters the final year of his respective contract. Clearing their salaries would help the team afford to keep its starting lineup intact without going over the projected $81.6MM tax line, note Shelburne and Windhorst. Doing so would set up the Heat to pay the stiffer repeat-offender tax penalties at the end of next season if they remain over the tax line come the final day of the regular season. Miami isn’t a taxpayer this season, but repeater penalties come into play when a team pays the tax three out of four seasons.
The Heat and Wade had been discussing a new contract for $10MM for as many as three seasons beyond his current deal, sources told the ESPN scribes. A friend of Wade’s told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald recently that the Heat would like Wade to opt in and sign a deal next summer for $10MM each year for two more seasons. Wade instead prefers to opt out and would welcome $20MM salaries on a new three-year deal, as Jackson also reported.
Wade’s preference remains to stay in Miami, according to Shelburne and Windhorst. That was the case last month when Jackson broke the story that Wade is nonetheless open to leaving the only NBA franchise he’s ever played for. Many league execs believe Wade and the Heat will ultimately resolve their differences, Shelburne and Windhorst write. The Lakers have the cap space to give Wade $20MM a year, but the Heat have Bird rights that would allow them to do so, too. Miami is reportedly planning an offer of less than the max to Goran Dragic, one that would further help the team avoid the tax, or at least pay less of it. Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers and Cavs GM David Griffin have expressed they’re prioritizing new deals with their own marquee free agents, and thus wouldn’t have the cap space necessary to sign Wade for the sort of salary he’d apparently like.