Raja Bell Close To Buyout With Jazz
JULY 30: Bell's buyout with the Jazz hasn't been finalized and there's a holdup in negotiations, a league source tells Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter). Utah would like to sign off on Bell's buyout and move on from last season's drama while Bell's camp has yet to agree to the terms, Smith tweets.
JULY 8: Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets that Raja Bell is on the verge of a buyout with the Jazz. The 6'5'' shooting guard averaged 6.4 PPG and shot 39.1% from three point range in 34 games last season. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo (via Twitter) says that Bell could be interested in returning to his hometown to play for the Heat. The Lakers could also be a possibility, as the 35-year-old guard would be reunited with former-Suns teammate Steve Nash.
Smith also mentions that Bell holds no ill-will toward the Jazz and greatly respects GM Kevin O'Connor. The 12-year-veteran elaborated further on his current situation with Smith (Sulia link):
"We typically play it pretty close to the vest. [Agent] Herb [Rudoy] and I are pretty private. But, in essence, [I'm] pretty much a free agent. I don't think the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed. But we've been given the greenlight by Utah to go ahead and find something that works for us. We've agreed to the terms. So I think it's safe to say now we are in the market again and we're entertaining our options at this point."
During the summer of 2010, Bell signed with Utah despite heavy interest from the Bulls and Lakers. In May of this year, we documented Bell's intentions of moving on from the Jazz and recalled the tension brewing between him and head coach Tyrone Corbin over the course of the season. Although Utah made the playoffs this year, Raja did not play in any of team's postseason games.
Free Agent Rumors: Timberwolves, Rush, Mills
A couple more notable names came off the free agent market this morning, when Kris Humphries landed a two-year deal from the Nets and Grant Hill agreed to sign with the Clippers. While a number of solid rotation players are still available, the market is rapidly thinning for teams in search of starters. As clubs continue to jockey to sign the remaining available players, we'll track many of today's free agent rumors right here:
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune lists who the Timberwolves will target with nearly $14MM in cap space if they lose out on Nicolas Batum, specifically highlighting Courtney Lee, Jordan Hill, and Greg Stiemsma.
- Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times says that despite the delay on an official decision regarding Brandon Rush's future, the Warriors are still likely to retain him.
Earlier updates:
Raja Bell, Jazz Agree To Contract Buyout
After reporting last night that the Jazz were close to reaching a buyout agreement with Raja Bell, Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune confirms that the two sides have reached a verbal agreement on a contract buyout. Once the deal is made official and Bell becomes an unrestricted free agent, he'll be free to sign with any team in the league, and the veteran says he intends to explore all his options.
Raja Bell Not Expecting To Return To Jazz
Raja Bell is under contract with the Jazz for one more season, but he doesn't expect to return to Utah next season, according to Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter). Bell says he hopes the Jazz "do the right thing" and trade him, tweets Smith.
Although Bell didn't formally request a trade this year, he was the subject of some deadline rumors and clashed with coach Tyrone Corbin. According to Bell, Corbin was "unprofessional" and made things personal toward the end of the season (Twitter link). The 35-year-old adds that, if the Jazz don't move him before the 2012/13 campaign, he'll "cross that bridge" when he comes to it (Twitter link).
Bell is entering the final year of a three-year contract, and will be owed $3.48MM in 2012/13. In 34 games this season, Bell played just 23.4 minutes per game, his lowest average since 2002/03.
Buyout Rumors: Jamison, Bell, Diaw, Kaman
With the trade deadline behind us, the next deadline to look forward to is next Friday. Players must be bought out or must clear waivers by March 23rd if they hope to change teams and be eligible to play in the postseason. A number of trade candidates who weren't moved could now become buyout candidates, so let's take a look at the latest rumors on a few of those players:
- The Cavaliers have no plans to buy out the remainder of Antawn Jamison's contract, according to Tom Reed of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- Raja Bell won't attempt to negotiate a contract buyout with the Jazz, reports Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- The Bobcats "want [Boris] Diaw gone yesterday" and are involved in buyout talks, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.
- While GM Dell Demps didn't entirely rule out a buyout for Chris Kaman, he said last night that it was very unlikely. I expect if the Hornets weren't owned by the league, the situation would be different, but the NBA probably doesn't want Kaman going to a team where he could potentially have an impact on the Finals.
- The Blazers don't plan to buy out Raymond Felton, as we covered earlier.
Kyler On Smith, Magic, Bulls
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld passed along a few goodies on Twitter, so let's take a look (all Twitter links, of course):
- The Magic are one of multiple teams trying to get the Hawks to change their minds about keeping Josh Smith, even though it's a long shot. One potential scenario would have the Magic sending Jason Richardson to the Wolves and Ryan Anderson to the Hawks while Michael Beasley would go to Atlanta. Ownership would be reluctant to do that deal because they believe Smith is worth twice that price. David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets that no such talks between the Magic and Hawks have taken place.
- The rumored three-team trade involving the Lakers, Wolves and Blazers is just one of the options the Wolves have.
- The Bulls are eyeing Courtney Lee, and would look to Raja Bell as a fallback.
- Kyler is much more confident about the Mavs' chances of landing Deron Williams now that Dwight Howard is close to committing to the Magic for next season.
Clippers, Jazz Discussing Raja Bell Trade?
WEDNESDAY, 7:47am: While some sources insist the Clippers and Jazz are discussing Bell, sources close to the Clippers deny that the team has interest, reports Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld.
TUESDAY, 11:33pm: Alex Kennedy reports that the Clippers and Jazz have discussed a deal involving shooting guard Raja Bell. (Twitter link)
In 31 starts, the 11-year veteran has averaged 6.7 PPG in 23.9 MPG and is on par with his career three-point shooting average at 40.7%. After recently clearing the air with Jazz brass following a clash with coach Tyrone Corbin, Bell looked ready to move forward and continue contributing to the team. Meanwhile, the Clippers have a record of 8 and 10 since losing Chauncey Billups to injury and are looking to replace his veteran experience at the 2-guard spot.
Bell is scheduled to make $3.4MM on the final year of his contract next season.