Southeast Notes: Heat, Gasol, Ferry, Hairston
More NBA players will hit waivers in the next week than at any other time of the year, but the Heat and Wizards are bucking the trend and bringing new players aboard. The Heat signed Larry Drew II on Monday and the Wizards are poised to do the same with John Lucas III. Still, both teams will have to make cuts, too, and it appears Washington already has three players destined for the waiver wire. Here’s more from around the Southeast Division.
- Pau Gasol admits that Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade recruited him heavily but says that the Heat‘s situation was too “unclear” at the time he made his decision to sign with the Bulls, notes Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report (on Twitter).
- Danny Ferry seems unlikely to return to the Hawks from his leave of absence, but Jeff Teague is the latest player to come out in support of the embattled GM after Ferry made racially derogatory remarks about Luol Deng, as Sekou Smith of NBA.com chronicles. “Me, knowing Danny, he’s a good dude,” Teague said. “He’s never said or done anything disrespectful like that to me. So when those things came out I didn’t overreact or think he was a racist or anything like that. It’s a mistake that anybody could make. And he’s dealing with it right now. And hopefully, he can come back from it.”
- P.J. Hairston is considering switching agents for the second time since becoming a pro, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter). Former UNC-Greensboro player Rodney Blackstock is among those the Hornets‘ rookie is considering, Bonnell adds. Hairston switched to Jonathan Stahler of Upside Media Group after the discovery that his first agent, UMG’s Juan Morrow, wasn’t union-certified.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Central Rumors: LeBron, Gasol, Pistons
Before the Cavs preseason loss last night, LeBron James told reporters including Joe Vardon of the Plain Dealer that his return to Cleveland had little to do with his new teammates. “It was more about these fans and the city and the people here,” James said. “So, the team didn’t mean much. I felt like me coming, we could hopefully add some pieces, [but] obviously it happened quicker than I thought.” Here’s more from around the Central Division:
- Pau Gasol tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post that it was tough to leave the Lakers and Kobe Bryant this summer, when he signed with the Bulls as a free agent. “[Bryant] wanted to pretty much retire together,” said Gasol, who feels he made the right choice for his career. “That was an attractive option. One part of me wanted to stick with him and try to turn it around. But deep inside of me, I felt it was time after everything that I’d been through that I wanted to put myself in a position where I was highly stimulated…I feel energized. I feel rejuvenated.”
- Gasol confirmed to Lee that he weighed cultural factors when choosing a team, in addition to the on-court outlook. “To me, it was important on a personal level because I’m not just a basketball player,” said Gasol, who was reportedly concerned about Oklahoma City’s lack of diversity when the Thunder chased him this summer. “I have other interests, other desires than basketball, and Chicago had a lot to offer from that aspect.”
- In a session with reporters (video link at Basketball Insiders), Stan Van Gundy said he traded for Joel Anthony to bring a more “defensive-oriented culture” to the Pistons, citing Anthony’s experience as a rotation player in multiple postseason runs with the Heat.
- Van Gundy praised Detroit’s new director of strategic planning Pat Garrity, saying he was an obvious hire. Garrity originally sought a coaching job with the Pistons before Van Gundy steered him to the team’s front office.
- Will Bynum tweeted a thankful goodbye to Pistons fans (H/T Vincent Ellis of Detroit Free Press). “It has been a great run in Detroit,” said Bynum, who was traded to the Celtics on Friday afternoon. “You have all been so supportive for me throughout my time with the Pistons. Goodbyes are painful but are signs of great memories.”
Western Notes: Nedovic, Gasol, Faried
Nemanja Nedovic said that the Warriors haven’t given him any indication on whether or not the team’s third-year option on his contract will be picked up, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. Golden State has until October 31st to decide on Nedovic’s option.
Here’s more from out west:
- Pau Gasol doesn’t have fond memories of being a free agent this past summer, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Talking about the process that led him to sign with the Bulls, Gasol said, “It was a difficult decision; it was a difficult process to go through and I don’t wish to go through it again because it was just very stressful. My phone was blowing up. It got to points in the day where I just didn’t want to be by my phone so I just put it away. I don’t know who called at those times. I tried to return the calls and the messages as much as I could, because I was trying to be respectful and appreciative of the people that had interest in me. I did not expect nor anticipate that it was going to be that hectic and that stressful. So first it was hard for me to make the decision to move on from the team that I’ve been a part of and been through so much with – the Lakers. Then, after that, it was, ‘Okay, where do I want to play?’”
- The Kings have hired David Arseneault Jr. as head coach of the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento’s D-League affiliate, the team announced via a press release. Arseneault was previously working as an assistant at Grinnell College, a Division III program. The Kings presumably hired him to implement and teach Grinnell’s high-scoring offensive system, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports notes.
- One of the big worries with signing players to big dollar contracts is if the pressure to live up to the numbers will hamper the player. Kenneth Faried isn’t letting his new windfall from the Nuggets affect him, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. When asked if he was feeling added weight because of the contract extension, Faried said, “No, I really don’t care. There’s no pressure, it’s just money. It’s not a big deal. I love the game so I’m going to continue to play the game like I’ve been playing. My mind has been at ease and I’ve been grinding.”
Hawks Rumors: Friday
It had been a quiet offseason for the Hawks, but they wound up making waves in undesirable fashion this week as racially charged language from controlling owner Bruce Levenson and GM Danny Ferry plunged the franchise into turmoil. We’ll track today’s developments here, and any additional updates will be added to the top.
5:03pm update:
- Players union interim executive director Ron Klempner issued a statement acknowledging Ferry’s public apology to Deng. USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt provides a full transcript of the statement via Twitter. “The NBPA deplores the insensitive & thoroughly inappropriate remarks by Danny Ferry,” Klempner said in part. “We are pleased to learn that Ferry acknowledges his statements were offensive, has extended a personal apology to Luol Deng and the other Atlanta Hawks players and that the Hawks organization has determined that discipline of Ferry was warranted.”
3:49pm update:
- Kyle Korver says Deng told him he doesn’t believe Ferry or anyone with the Hawks organization is a racist, and Korver also expressed his own support for the team in an interview with Vivlamore. “My thoughts are, when I got traded to the Hawks, I didn’t want to come here because all I knew was what I had heard, about bad culture and no fans and no excitement in the city,” Korver said in part. “So I didn’t want to come to Atlanta. At all. I was bummed to leave Chicago. But by the next summer, I chose to re-sign and come back to Atlanta. After a year of watching what Danny (Ferry) was doing and the people he was bringing in. Everything I saw, was so attractive to me and I really believed in it. I believed that he was going to turn things around. I saw that Atlanta was an incredible city, and that there was so much potential here to both raise my family and help build a great basketball culture.”
- Ferry is taking an indefinite leave of absence, as we covered in a full story.
2:46pm update:
- The copy of the scouting report, as hosted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that Ferry is to have read indicates that the information came from someone associated with the Cavs. “Con isn’t bad, but it’s there. African-like store front looks great but there’s a black market section in the back,” the report reads in part. It also attributes a “sense of entitlement” to Deng and suggests that Deng held back while with the Cavs last season to protect himself from injury before he hit free agency in the summer, and that Deng “treated Cleveland like a pit-stop.” Still, the report indicates that he’d be welcome to return to the Cavs.
1:17pm update:
- The snippet of the report that Vivlamore has posted closely resembles some of what Ferry said on the recording of the conference call. “He is a good guy on the cover but he is an African. He has a little two-step in him = says what you want to hear but behind closed doors he could be killing you,” the report stated in part.
1:08pm update:
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV in Atlanta have obtained a copy of the scouting report on Deng that Ferry is to have read during the conference call, Vivlamore tweets. So, that further confirms the report’s existence and casts doubt on the notion that Ferry came up with the disparaging remarks about Deng on his own. The report does reference Deng’s African heritage, according to Vivlamore, but it’s not clear exactly what the report said at this point.
12:34pm update:
- An NBA investigator has seen the report from which Ferry is to have read the remarks about Luol Deng that touched off the controversy, a source tells USA Today’s Sam Amick. The league isn’t punishing Ferry, whom the Hawks have already disciplined, and commissioner Adam Silver has said he doesn’t think Ferry deserves to be fired. Thursday’s release of the audio from the conference call in which Ferry recited insults with racial overtones about Deng prompted widespread speculation that Ferry made the comments off the cuff, and that he wasn’t reading from a scouting report. The investigator also heard the audio before it became public, Amick reports.
- Levenson sent a sharply worded response to a letter that co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. sent to him in June in which Gearon called for Ferry’s ouster, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution documents within a timeline of the controversy. Levenson cited “false and misleading comments” within Gearon’s letter, and Levenson expressed reservations about continuing his partnership with Gearon. Levenson announced this past weekend that he’s selling his stake in the team.
- Boris Diaw, Channing Frye, Pau Gasol, Greg Monroe and Thabo Sefolosha were among the other players the Hawks discussed during that conference call, as Vivlamore notes in the same piece. Of those names, Sefolosha was the only one who signed with the Hawks.
Derrick Rose On Bulls, Gasol, Carmelo
Bulls star Derrick Rose looks well and confident about his upcoming return to NBA action this season after a long recovery from knee surgery, observes Sam Smith of NBA.com. In addition to saying that he has no fears and has developed into a more controlled player, the one-time MVP shared his thoughts on the upcoming season and some of the player movement this summer. You can find a handful of the highlights from the above piece below:
On the Bulls roster for 2014/15:
“I think we have a solid team. We’re definitely contenders in the East. But we know it’s a long year and we have to gel pretty quickly, knowing that we’re not going overseas like we did at the beginning of the season with Brazil like we did last year. I think we’re going (staying here) so we get a lot of time here to really go at it in training camp.”
On the team’s highly-touted free agent signing, Pau Gasol:
“We needed him. Pau (adds) another dimension to our team that we didn’t have and I think I never had since I’ve been in the NBA. I think (Taj Gibson) did a great job last year (being) a low post presence. But with (Pau) being seven feet (and) (Joakim Noah) with Taj on the other side cleaning up everything else, I think that we just need shooting and just one other playmaker. But I think we have that.”
On losing out on Carmelo Anthony in free agency:
“I always say when a player like Carmelo doesn’t sign with you, of course you’re going to be kind of devastated. But at the same time, the world (doesn’t) end and basketball (doesn’t) end just because someone doesn’t come to your team. I think (Bulls management) did a great job with pursuing Pau. And we got it done.”
On LeBron James heading back to the Central Division:
“ (I feel the) same way I would if anyone else was in my division. Just because it’s him it’s not going to get me to play even harder. I know that every night that I step on the floor, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win the game no matter who is on the floor. Just knowing how great he is and the game, I hope the fans appreciate the game even more.”
On Kevin Love likely being traded to Cleveland:
“(That’d be a) great move (to get) a player like KLove. He’s very, very skilled (for) a big. I work out with him every summer. I didn’t work out with him this summer. But every summer I’ve been in the league, I’ve worked out with him in the offseason. If he does go (to the Cavs), I’m just happy he gets an opportunity to go somewhere and actually play and feel good about playing to win. I think that he deserves it. I think they should have a great team if he was to go there.”
Durant On Gasol, LeBron, 2016 Free Agency
Following a Team USA training camp session earlier today, Kevin Durant answered a few notable questions from the media about the free agent movement this offseason as well as the summer of 2016, when he’ll be set to hit unrestricted free agency. The Thunder made a few ripples this summer after reeling in Sebastian Telfair and Anthony Morrow on the free agent market, but neither compare to the wave that would have resulted from netting Pau Gasol, who ultimately decided on joining the Bulls. When asked how close he thought Oklahoma City was to signing the two-time NBA champion, Durant told Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles that the chances were slim.“Obviously (it wasn’t) that close, (but) I did my work. That was my first time recruiting.” (Twitter link).
You can read more of Durant’s answers below, courtesy of a separate piece from Shelburne.
On LeBron James‘ decision to return to Cleveland:
“I thought it was well-thought-out. It was classy. It was a great move to do it as a letter…That was pretty cool. It’s funny seeing guys think about more than just basketball for once. He thought about the city where he comes from, about Northeast Ohio and how he can affect so many of the kids just being there playing basketball. I love that. So many guys get criticized for making the decision that’s best for them instead of what’s best for everybody else.
On becoming a free agent in 2016 and possibly choosing to return to his hometown of Washington D.C. and play for the Wizards:
“I’m going to do what’s best for me…It’s hard to talk about that right now when I’ve got two years left in Oklahoma City. I’m just going to focus on that. I’m not going to make a decision based on what anybody else does.
On his ties to Washington D.C. and people asking him about a potential homecoming:
“I grew up watching the Bullets/Wizards. I grew up taking the train to that arena, all the time, to watch Georgetown, the Bullets, the Washington Mystics. That whole city is a part of me. It’s in my blood. I love going back home, seeing my family and playing there, but I love Oklahoma City, too.”
“(The idea of me coming home has) been talked about. Everybody’s asked me about it every time I go on Instagram or Twitter. All my friends ask me about it…So I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m naïve to the fact that people think about that stuff. But I just tell everybody that I’m here in Oklahoma City, I love it here. Who knows what will happen. I never close the door on anything. But I like where I’m at right now. So I can’t answer that question.”
Contract Details: LeBron, Deng, Carter, Gasol
The idea that the Cavs would trade LeBron James sometime during his two-year contract is outlandish, but just in case it happens, the deal includes a 15% trade kicker, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports. Deeks has updated his salary database with plenty of new information on deals signed within the past few weeks, so we’ll pass along some of his noteworthy findings. All links to go the relevant salary page at ShamSports.
- Luol Deng, LeBron’s replacement with the Heat, also has a 15% trade kicker, as do new Grizzlies swingman Vince Carter and Knicks signee Jason Smith.
- The last year of Pau Gasol‘s three-year deal with the Bulls is a player option.
- The final season of the contract Joe Harris signed with the Cavs is non-guaranteed.
- Eric Griffin‘s three-year, minimum-salary contract with the Mavs is non-guaranteed, with the exception of a $150K partial guarantee for this coming season.
- Jodie Meeks‘ deal with the Pistons was originally reported to be more than $19MM, but it actually checks in at $18.81MM.
- Damjan Rudez will make $3.449MM over the life of his three-year deal with the Pacers, which includes a team option for the final season. Shayne Whittington‘s partial guarantee with the team this year is worth $25K.
- Russ Smith‘s deal with the Pelicans runs three years at the minimum salary, but only the first season is fully guaranteed. Fellow Pelicans rookie Patric Young‘s two-year deal is non-guaranteed, save for a $55K partial guarantee this year.
Central Notes: Harris, Gasol, Mirotic, Pacers
Cavs second-rounder Joe Harris has been impressing Cleveland team officials during summer league play, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. The team can envision signing Harris and using him as a sharpshooter off the bench in a similar role that Mike Miller and James Jones will likely possess, says Pluto. More from the Central..
- Pau Gasol‘s contract the Bulls will pay him $22,346,280 over three years, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. His first year salary is set at $7,128,000, but it’ll increase to $7,448,760 and $7,769,520 in his second and third seasons, respectively.
- Both Gasol’s new deal and Nikola Mirotic‘s recent pact for the Bulls will carry a 15% trade kicker, relays Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
- In addition to their escalating talks with free agent Aaron Brooks, the Bulls are also eyeing John Lucas III, reports Stein (on Twitter). Lucas has previously spent time in Chicago, having appeared in 51 games over parts of two seasons.
- Pacers VP of Basketball Operations Peter Dinwiddle was considered a top candidate to land the Grizzlies’ GM job, but he’s opted to retain his current position in Indiana rather than move forward with Memphis, reveals Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Bulls Notes: Mirotic, Gasol
With the addition of Pau Gasol and the return of Derrick Rose this year, the Bulls will hope to ascend from the middle of the playoff pack toward the number one seed, where they finished during Rose’s last two full, healthy seasons. Here’s the latest from Chicago:
- Nikola Mirotic‘s contract with the Bulls is for three years, $16.6MM plus incentives, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The initial report had the contract exceeding $17MM, so the incentives could be for $500,000 or more, although that’s just my speculation.
- We already knew the Bulls had received an offer of a top-10 pick for the rights to Mirotic before the 2014 draft, but Chicago GM Gar Forman told ESPN 1000’s “Waddle and Silvy Show” that the team received two such offers for the forward (transcription via Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com).
- Gasol told reporters including Friedell and Jon Greenberg of ESPNChicago.com that Joakim Noah and Rose helped pitch Chicago to him, and that he turned down more lucrative offers to sign with his new team. “I turned down bigger offers, and I prioritized being on a championship-caliber team and being in a position where I can hopefully put that team over the top with my game,” said Gasol, noting that “how humble [Noah and Rose] are, being able to not have big egos, makes things a lot easier. Their passion and hunger, as well; they’re hungry to win. I want to be a part of a hungry team that will do whatever it takes.”
Pau Gasol Signs With Bulls
JULY 18TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
“We are really excited to add such a versatile player to our roster who has been both an All-Star and an NBA Champion,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said in the team’s statement. “Pau is a skilled player with a high basketball IQ and is a true pro and a proven winner.”
JULY 13TH, 10:46pm: It’ll be a three-year, $22MM+ deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
JULY 12TH, 4:35pm: Pau Gasol will be leaving Los Angeles to play for the Bulls next season, the big man announced on Twitter (hat tip to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News). Terms of the contract haven’t been released, but the Spaniard won’t be heading to Chicago via sign-and-trade, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN had noted earlier.
A hot name in the free agent market, the Arn Tellem client reportedly drew interest from the Spurs, Knicks, Thunder, and Heat, among others. The Lakers surely would have liked to work out a sign-and-trade for Gasol, but apparently the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, and Gasol walks away from LA with the Lakers having nothing to show for it.
An earlier report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports indicated the Bulls would give Gasol a starting salary in the neighborhood of $6MM if they couldn’t come to terms with Lakers on a sign-and-trade. Given that Chicago is over the cap, they’d actually only be able to offer Gasol a maximum salary of $5.305MM using the non-taxpayers mid-level exception.
If the team uses the amnesty provision to shed Carlos Boozer‘s contract before signing Gasol, they’ll be able to give him a higher payday, and it would give them greater flexibility to sign Nikola Mirotic. There have been conflicting reports on whether or not the club intends to use their amnesty, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf has a reputation as being cost-conscious, and he might not be willing to pay a player who’s not going to be playing on his team.
At 34 years old, Gasol is beyond his prime playing days, but he’s still able to put up more than respectable numbers. He was able to average 17.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game last season over 60 games.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.