Kevin Love Rumors: Friday
The draft is less than a week away, and while the event itself will be a game-changer for many teams, there’s a decent chance that the most noteworthy move Thursday night will involve six-year veteran Kevin Love. Here’s the latest as trade talk around the Wolves star grows ever louder:
- The Warriors have pulled into the lead in the race for Love, sources tell Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe, though no deal is imminent, and the Wolves are in no hurry to make a trade, Holmes also hears.
- The Wolves have interest in Harrison Barnes as they discuss various scenarios with the Warriors, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- The Celtics have so far offered a package of Kelly Olynyk, picks Nos. 6 and 17 in this year’s draft, and a future first-round pick, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Boston is willing to discuss different combinations as it seeks to satisfy the demands of the Wolves, but so far Minnesota hasn’t engaged in “true back-and-forth negotiation” with the Celtics, Bulpett writes.
- If the Celtics can’t land Love, they’ll likely shift gears into a longer rebuilding that would eventually see them trade Rajon Rondo, Bulpett says in the same piece. A source tells Bulpett that an opposing team is ready to trade for Jeff Green if the Celtics are willing to let him go.
- Still, in an appearance Thursday on ESPN, Rondo, who like Love can become a free agent next year, said he wouldn’t be upset if the Celtics didn’t end up with the Minnesota power forward, as Holmes notes in his piece. “No. I can’t go to sleep every night wanting to try to play with Kevin Love,” Rondo said. “Right now I’ve got to go with what we have now in our locker room and coach [Brad] Stevens, so that’s what I’m focused on now.”
- The Bulls remain more zeroed in on Carmelo Anthony than Love, Stein writes in his piece, and the same goes for Houston, as Stein examines in a separate article. The Rockets are also readying a pitch to LeBron James should he be willing to listen, Stein adds.
And-Ones: Cavs, LeBron, Monroe
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is open to hiring a “big-name team president” who would have authority over GM David Griffin, but the team has not been considering David Blatt for that role, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Cleveland will also explore trading Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson this summer, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Neither are on the trading block, but Amico adds that the Cavs are listening and evaluating their options.
Here’s are some more miscellaneous news and notes to pass along tonight:
- One NBA team president said that Pat Riley appeared nervous when talking about keeping LeBron James during his media presser today, adding that more teams will now be in pursuit of the superstar forward (Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports via Twitter).
- ESPN’s Chris Broussard says that the Cavs should have met with LeBron in free agency first before making a coaching hire, implying that David Blatt’s lack of NBA coaching experience doesn’t help their case of luring the Akron native back home (Twitter link).
- According to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, Pistons coach/president Stan Van Gundy has been in consistent contact with restricted free agent forward Greg Monroe and Monroe’s agent, David Falk.
- The Hawks, Pelicans, and Wizards are expected to be potential suitors for Monroe this summer, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. While Stan Van Gundy maintains that keeping Monroe is a “high priority,” he also appears prepared for other scenarios. “We have ideas on who might offer (Monroe) what…You weigh what’s out there because once you give him a qualifying offer, he can sign it or get an offer sheet. What level of an offer would we match? We’re prepared for that and doing due diligence for people who want to sign-and-trade for him.”
- Tom Moore of Calkins Media (via Twitter) hears that a Southeast Division team offered the 76ers more in a trade package than the Pacers did for Evan Turner; that team didn’t hear back from Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie before the trade deadline ended and Turner was eventually dealt to Indiana.
- Le Mans of the Ligue Nationale de Basket has signed former NBA guard Rodrigue Beaubois, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 6’2″ guard’s deal reportedly includes an opt-out clause that will allow him to sign with an NBA team before July 25.
Cavs Offer Head Coaching Job To Blatt
10:56pm: The Cavs want to add Tyronn Lue as an assistant to Blatt’s coaching staff, but there’s a slim chance of Lue leaving Doc Rivers’ staff in Los Angeles at this point, tweets Wojnarowski.
10:19pm: According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard and the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, the Cavaliers will virtually eliminate any chance of bringing LeBron James back to Cleveland if they finalize a deal with Blatt (Twitter links).
10:11pm: A source tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that an announcement of a deal could come as early as tomorrow morning.
8:39pm: The two sides have “a long way to go” in these contract talks, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
8:06pm: An NBA source tells Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer that the Cavs and Blatt are currently in negotiations.
6:52pm: A Cavs source insists that the team has not yet offered the job to Blatt, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
6:38pm: Per league sources, the Cavaliers have offered Blatt their head coaching job, reports Wojnarowski. The two sides are reportedly in the process of negotiating terms of a deal, but no agreement has been reached.
6:10pm: Eurobasket.com’s David Pick hears from Blatt himself that “a decision is coming soon” (Twitter link).
3:54pm: The Cavs have not made a formal offer to Blatt, but resolution could come as early as tonight, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
3:35pm: The Cavs have identified Blatt as their choice and are expected to begin discussions about a deal soon, Wojnarowski reports. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears that approval from owner Dan Gilbert is the final remaining obstacle (Twitter link).
2:59pm: Blatt is the strong favorite for the Cavs job, and an offer is imminent, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).
1:37pm: The Cavs are believed to be deciding between Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue and former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt for their head coaching vacancy, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That means that fellow Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, who like Lue received a second interview, is apparently out of the running.
Blatt received his first face-to-face interview with the Cavs this week after having earlier spoken with GM David Griffin via telephone about the job. He’s also a candidate for an assistant coaching gig in Golden State, and people close to him have advised him to take the Warriors gig rather than go straight into head coaching for his first-ever NBA job, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Cleveland is still trying to gather information about the Massachusetts native who played under Pete Carril at Princeton, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
The Cavs apparently are high on Lue because of his ability to connect with young players, Windhorst notes in his full story, and that would be a commodity on an already youthful roster that’s poised to add the No. 1 overall pick in this month’s draft. A report earlier this week indicated the team was quietly continuing to pursue marquee college coaches, and Nate McMillan‘s name surfaced last week as a latecomer to the race, but it sounds at this point like the team’s focus is narrowing.
Pat Riley On LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Tax
Heat president Pat Riley today characterized last year’s amnesty waiver of Mike Miller and the January trade that offloaded Joel Anthony to the Celtics as moves that were about creating cap flexibility for this summer and not about sparing the team luxury tax penalties. James doesn’t see it that way, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link), who reported yesterday that James feels some bitterness about the maneuvers. Riley pointed to the contracts for Miller and Anthony, which run through next season, as the motivationm and the architect of the past four Eastern Conference champions had plenty more to say in his press conference, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel details. We’ll hit the highlights here:
On the notion that owner Micky Arison wants to curb spending:
“He will do anything to get those guys to come back. There has been a perception he doesn’t want to pay the tax. That’s B.S. He isn’t asking anyone to take a cut to pay the tax. That’s a voluntary thing from the player. We are not asking them to do that. Micky will do whatever he has to do to keep this team together.”
On whether he’d ask James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to take discounts:
“I’m not going to get down on my knees. I wouldn’t do that to a player.”
On the prospect of adding a fourth star:
“That’s a pipe dream. But everybody thought 2010 was a pipe dream, too. I don’t harbor that thought. That’s not where we are headed. That’s not what we’re thinking about.”
On how the team can return to championship form:
“All of a sudden, people say we need to improve at every position. We need to get our core back, OK? We need to organically grow from within. The Spurs, after they lost last year, went home, licked their wounds, went off into the summer and they made one move. They got [Marco] Belinelli, who had a great year for them, didn’t have much impact in the Finals except for one three[-pointer] that he hit against us that was big. But it was Patty Mills from within the organization. It was Boris Diaw from within the organization. It was [Manu] Ginobili being better at [36] years old this year than he was last year. It was Kawhi Leonard all of a sudden, the bloom was off the rose for him from that standpoint. He was given the green light and he showed what he could do. I think first and foremost, we want to try and do that. And whatever and what’s available out there that will complement our players and our style is who we’re going to go after. You can always upgrade your talent. You can never have enough.”
Amico’s Latest: LeBron, Sixers, Cavs, Draft
LeBron James said this week that if his family is happy, he’s happy, and Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears that James’ wife, Savannah, doesn’t have Miami atop her list of places she’d like to live. Sources tell Amico that she’d rather live in the couple’s hometown of Akron or in San Diego. Of course, neither place has an NBA team, but they’re relatively close to Cleveland and Los Angeles, respectively. One place Savannah doesn’t want to move to is New York, Amico also hears. As the anticipation regarding LeBron’s decision heats up, Amico has more on potential factors in the four-time MVP’s decision-making and other topics, and we’ll hit the highlights:
- The general belief is that Dwyane Wade is likely to opt in to his contract with the Heat, but what he and Chris Bosh decide to do with their deals won’t affect what James decides to do about his option, according to Amico. That’s in spite of James having told reporters that all three stars will meet and discuss their futures.
- The Sixers have reportedly inquired with the Cavs about the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, but Philadelphia has yet to make a “concrete offer” for the selection, Amico reports. Still, Cleveland is confident that the Sixers will follow through with an offer in advance of the draft, Amico adds.
- The Cavs are exploring the notion of packaging the 33rd overall pick with another asset in an attempt to acquire a first-round pick, and clubs with picks in the back end of the first round have been receptive to the idea, Amico writes.
- Byron Scott has pulled into the lead for the Lakers head coaching job, according to Amico, echoing his Twitter report from late Wednesday.
Latest On LeBron James
LeBron James came to Miami in 2010 believing he’d sign a second long-term contract with the Heat, and the team had been holding out hope that a new deal would be a formality by this point, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. It’s no certainty that James will stay with the Heat for next season, though most reports have given Miami strong odds of keeping him, and a source echoes that sentiment, telling Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that it’s highly likely the four-time MVP will stay put.
Still, the chances that he’ll opt out and hit free agency are better than those that he’ll opt in, Windhorst writes, and James is somewhat bitter about Heat owner Micky Arison’s decision to cut back on spending over the past year, the ESPN scribe reports. James is nonetheless cognizant of how leaving a championship-caliber team would affect his image, given the way he was pilloried for leaving Cleveland four years ago, Deveney hears.
Deveney suggests that opting out and re-signing with the Heat to a three-year deal with a player option for the final season would fit the bill for James. That would give him an opportunity to continue to vie for the title in Miami with a chance to leave in two years should the team fail to remain a contender, as Deveney explains. However, that’s less contractual flexibility than he’d have if he opted in, since he has a player option after next season on his deal, giving him a chance to make a year-by-year assessment of the Heat’s title hopes. Opting in would probably give James a slightly higher salary than he could make on a new contract, depending on where the NBA sets the maximum salary after the July Moratorium, but it wouldn’t give him the chance to meet with other teams.
Texas Rumors: Nowitzki, Rockets, Spurs
Dirk Nowitzki has said he wants the Mavs to keep in mind that he’s still a productive player when they negotiate a new contract for him this summer, but he doesn’t foresee a stumbling block, as he tells Brian Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com. The 2014 All-Star, who turns 36 on Thursday, hits unrestricted free agency July 1st.
“We all know that [owner Mark] Cuban took care of me for a long time. He was loyal to me,” Nowitzki said. “This deal is not going to be about squeezing out the last dollar. This is about being respected as a player that I still am, and that’s about it. There’s nothing more that we’re trying to squeeze out. We’ll just have to wait and see what the years and the final number are. I’m sure it’ll be very respectable for both sides.”
There’s more on the soon-to-be free agent who’s probably more likely to return to his current team than other player on the market amid the latest from the Texas Triangle:
- Signing a deal that reduces Nowitzki’s nearly $23.9MM cap hold before the end of the July Moratorium will be crucial for the Mavs, and Nowitzki looks ready to cooperate in that regard, too, as Gutierrez notes in the same piece. Nowitzki also dismisses the idea that he couldn’t play with Carmelo Anthony and urges Mavs to consider signing ‘Melo, who reportedly has Dallas on his list of preferred destinations.
- Anthony is also on the mind of Dwight Howard, who says he’d love to play with him or LeBron James but isn’t planning to recruit the stars to the Rockets, as he tells USA Today’s Sam Amick.
- Gregg Popovich, who retains Spurs front office power in tandem with GM R.C. Buford, doesn’t plan on following up the championship with a splashy summer of moves, as Raul Dominguez of The Associated Press chronicles. “I haven’t sat down with R.C. and talked about what we want to do, but one would think it’s logical to not make major changes with the group,” Popovich said. “Usually we don’t make major changes anyway, so, I wouldn’t anticipate any.”
Heat Rumors: LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Allen
LeBron James can have as much say in the Heat’s roster construction as he wants to, as Erik Spoelstra told reporters at Miami’s press conference today, including Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). Here’s more on the dethroned champs:
- Spoelstra expressed support for potential free agent Dwyane Wade, saying, “I’ll go in that foxhole with Dwyane, any day. It’s funny how the narrative changes in a matter of days,” as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel quotes the coach.
- Winderman notes that Wade skipped the press conference altogether.
- Chris Bosh maintained what he has been saying in recent weeks, that he wants to return to the Heat along with the other two thirds of the Big Three.
- LeBron was less committal, saying that he hasn’t begun to think ahead to the prospect of opting in or out, or luring other free agents to bolster the Miami lineup. “Being able to have flexibility as a professional, that’s what we all would like,” he said. “I understand what this team, this franchise, brings to the table.”
- LeBron said he wasn’t sure where Wade’s thought process is at the moment, but that the Big Three will gather to get on the same page as planned. “It’s only right. We’ve earned that from each other to have a conversation and see what could happen,” Lieser quotes James as saying (via Twitter).
- All indications are that Ray Allen would put off retirement another season for the chance to play with James again in 2014/15, Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick tweets.
- Earlier, we passed on word of Kyle Lowry‘s interest in Miami and the Mavs’ interest in Chris Andersen.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Heat Rumors: James, Riley, ‘Melo
It would take an epic comeback for the Heat to win their third straight title, as the Spurs’ lights out shooting and ever-impressive fundamentals have put Miami on the ropes heading into game five. Let’s round up the latest on the reigning champs..
- LeBron James has grown to appreciate the way Micky Arison runs the Heat, and he trusts that Pat Riley has the know-how to put forth championship caliber clubs year in and year out, hears Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Lawrence thinks James’ fondness of the executive pairing will lead the All-Star forward into sticking around in Miami next season.
- In the same piece, Lawrence suggests it would be a mistake for the Heat to pursue Carmelo Anthony this summer since the team doesn’t have a problem putting up points in bunches, and ‘Melo’s ability to score is his biggest asset.
- Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel thinks that the Heat need to find a way to add an off-the-dribble scoring threat to complement James this offseason. James had a minutes burden due to a Miami rotation heavy on spot-up shooters and Dwyane Wade‘s regimented rest days.
- Michael Beasley says his second stint in Miami has helped him mature as a player, observes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Beasley is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Heat Notes: LeBron, Carmelo, Allen, Anderson
It remains to be seen whether these are the last days that Miami’s star trio will spend as members of the Heat, but there seems little chance that the team’s run as NBA champions won’t come to an end soon. The Spurs have run the Heat off the floor twice in a row, and San Antonio has three chances to dethrone the champs. Here’s the latest on a downtrodden bunch from South Beach:
- The outcome of the Finals won’t affect the thinking of LeBron James as he faces a decision on whether to opt out of his contract this month, a source tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. That seems to indicate that he’s already made up his mind, though that’s just my speculation.
- James said Thursday that he had no knowledge of reported plans to recruit Carmelo Anthony to the Heat, as Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News details, and Anthony told TMZ Sports that the idea was news to him, too.
- Ray Allen isn’t sure how much longer he’ll play, but while he can envision coaching at some point, he doesn’t want to jump right into the profession after he stops playing, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Allen said in February that though he wouldn’t rule out retirement this summer, he’s not planning on it.
- Potential lottery pick Kyle Anderson worked out for the Heat this week, and was impressive in doing so, as Adam Zagoria notes via Twitter.