Free Agent Rumors: Lucas, Camby, Lewis
Jeff Green reached an agreement to remain with the Celtics on Saturday, while Aaron Brooks became an unrestricted free agent after the Suns withdrew their qualifying offer to the guard. What will Sunday bring? Here are the latest rumors on a number of free agents still on the market:
- The Heat have interest in unrestricted free agent point guard John Lucas III, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
- Marcus Camby's meeting with the Knicks today was "very positive," a source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com, and Zwerling hears that Camby is drawn to the Knicks because of his "great relationship" with GM Glen Grunwald.
- "Everything went well" during the Heat's meeting with Rashard Lewis today, as Lewis' agent tells David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). Lewis has yet to make a decision, with the Knicks and Hawks still in the running, Aldridge says.
Earlier updates:
Free Agent Rumors: Redd, Camby, Stiemsma
Brandon Roy, Jason Kidd, and Jamal Crawford were among the players to reach agreements with new clubs yesterday, while Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lin agreed to lucrative offer sheets that their current teams are expected to match. What will Friday bring? Here are the latest rumors on a number of free agents still on the market:
- The Suns and Bulls are the two teams "most heavily in the mix" for Michael Redd, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
- Marcus Camby will meet with the Heat tomorrow and the Knicks next, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Feigen adds that Camby likely won't meet with the Rockets until there's resolution on Omer Asik.
Earlier updates:
Free Agent Rumors: Hill, Dragic, McGee, Shved
Happy Fourth of July to all of our American readers! Even though it's a holiday, we're expecting more free agent developments, so we'll be providing our usual updates all day long. Here are a few of Wednesday's more minor free agent rumors, with the latest items added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweets that Grant Hill will either join Steve Nash in signing with the Lakers or retire.
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic tweets that the Suns are unwilling to offer Goran Dragic the $10MM per year he is reportedly seeking.
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) hears that negotiations between JaVale McGee and the Nuggets are "going well."
Earlier updates:
Steve Nash Rumors: Wednesday
The race for Steve Nash got awfully interesting yesterday, with a handful of developments making Nash's decision cloudier than ever. The Raptors agreed to sign Landry Fields to a hard-to-match offer sheet, removing the Knicks' best sign-and-trade chip from the equation. Meanwhile, the Lakers are making a push to land Nash in a sign-and-trade deal of their own, while the Mavericks, having missed out on Deron Williams, figure to turn their attention to Nash now. With all that in mind, we'll track today's Nash updates right here, with the latest developments added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- According to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, the Mavericks have made Nash a massive offer that rivals the Raptors' proposal.
Earlier updates:
Free Agent Rumors: Lakers, Mavs, Cavs, Crawford
It's past midnight on the East Coast, and that means teams may negotiate with free agents from other clubs, as the NBA's offseason gets under way in earnest. Players can't officially sign contracts until July 11, and trades can't be made official until that date either. That doesn't mean there won't be plenty of talk and agreements in principle between now and then, and if this evening is any indication, we're in for a busy couple of weeks ahead. There are several bits of news rolling in on free agents as July begins, so we'll round up what we're hearing around the late-night rumor mill here.
- The Lakers are seeking a point guard in free agency, and in addition to reaching out to Ramon Sessions, they're also targeting veterans like Chauncey Billups, Jameer Nelson, and Kirk Hinrich, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- In search of a center, the Mavericks have shown some interest in Hasheem Thabeet and Joel Przybilla, says Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com.
- The Cavaliers have expressed interest in Jonny Flynn, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. They're also eyeing Sonny Weems, according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
Earlier updates:
Grizzlies Plan To Offer Ray Allen Full Mid-Level
Earlier today, we heard that the Heat intended to aggressively pursue Ray Allen when free agency begins late tonight. However, Miami isn't the only team with Allen atop its wish list. Sources familiar with the Grizzlies' plans tells Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal that Memphis will go hard after Allen, and intends to offer him the team's full $5MM mid-level exception.
Clippers Rumors: Griffin, Paul, Martin, Evans
Blake Griffin doesn't hit free agency this summer, but the Clippers figure to make his future a top priority in the coming days nonetheless. According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, when free agency begins, the Clippers are expected to offer Griffin a five-year extension, with an opt-out after four years. Griffin is expected to agree to either that offer or a four-year extension, says Turner. Here are the rest of the Clippers rumors from Turner's piece:
Odds & Ends: Foye, Teletovic, Claver, Roy
It's still not entirely clear whether the players' union's victory in this month's Bird Rights ruling will withstand the NBA's appeal, but for now at least, it appears the Knicks will have a $3MM mid-level exception to sign outside free agents this summer. According to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com, one player who is interested in signing for that MLE is Randy Foye. Zwerling hears from a source that Foye is expected to receive a handful of offers at or around $3MM, but that the guard's top choice is New York.
Here are a few more Tuesday afternoon odds and ends from around the NBA:
Odds & Ends: Bird, Dwight, Kerr, Shaw
- According to a series of tweets by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis star, Pacers owner Herb Simon hopes that Larry Bird will continue to work with the franchise in some capacity if Bird decides to step down as president, and that no meeting has been arranged between the two yet.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel believes that Dwight Howard must align himself with a winning team in order to repair his tarnished image and should therefore expand his list of preferred trade destinations. Also, Schmitz briefly discusses the idea of Steve Kerr and Brian Shaw joining the Magic as GM and head coach respectively. When recently asked about the GM vacancy, Kerr asserted that he is currently happy with his job as a TNT analyst, although the Magic are expected to still make inquiries. Shaw would accept the head coaching opportunity in a heartbeat, according to Schmitz.
- Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld presents a list of this year's top-shooting free agents. Ray Allen, Jason Terry, Steve Novak, and Randy Foye were listed as some of the top unrestricted free agents who displayed solid three-point shooting percentages along with a high volume of attempts this year.
- Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press writes that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is confident in the team's chances to make the playoffs next season. Taylor also said that the team is "going to try" the free agent market.
Money Time: Upcoming Free Agents In The Playoffs
Last week we looked at some players on the cusp of free agency who were making some surprising postseason impressions, both positive and negative, on prospective employers. With the first round almost over and the conference semifinals about to begin, let's check in with some more soon-to-be free agents in the playoffs:
Winners
Reggie Evans, Clippers: Anyone who can spark a 27-point comeback in the playoffs, as he did in Game 1, deserves to be on this list, and his energy throughout the first round has been critical for the Clippers. His already superb number of rebounds per 36 minutes has jumped from 12.7 in the regular season to 13.7 in the playoffs, and, for what it's worth, has his team's best defensive rating in the playoffs, per Basketball-Reference.
Andre Miller, Nuggets: It's easy to forget about Miller sometimes, particularly since he's been coming off the bench for Denver. Yet the NBA's 10th leading assist-maker all-time reminded everyone, including the Lakers, of what he can do with a 24-point, eight assist performance full of clutch shots in Tuesday's Game 5. He's the team's third leading scorer in the postseason at 12.7 PPG, outdoing Arron Afflalo, who signed a $36.75MM deal before the season.
Jordan Hill, Lakers (restricted): He had his breakthrough in the final week of the regular season against the Thunder, and he's continued to justify coach Mike Brown's decision to use him as the primary backup to both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the playoffs. He's pulling down more rebounds per game than Gasol in significantly fewer minutes, and has 25 offensive boards, more than anyone else in the postseason. Hill's rebounds-per-36-minutes number (13.4) nearly equals that of Reggie Evans.
Losers
O.J. Mayo, Grizzlies (restricted): The postseason is a terrible time to go through a shooting slump, but that's exactly what's happened with Mayo, who's hitting on just 31.4% of his field goal attempts against the Clippers. He went a combined 3-for-20 in Games 3, 4 and 5, and took only three shots in Game 6. His inability to efficiently handle the backup point guard duties — he's got 13 assists and 17 turnovers — isn't helping his cause, either.
Randy Foye, Clippers: Foye's minutes are up but his scoring is down for the playoffs, which is about as inauspicious as it gets for a free agent wing player. The culprit appears to his inability to get off shots and get to the line. His attempts in both categories are off while his postseason shooting percentage of 37.8% is not that far down from the 39.8% he shot in the regular season. His excuse may be that he's being guarded by Tony Allen, an elite defender, but Allen isn't with him on every possession. His Basketball-Reference defensive rating is the second worst on the team, so his struggles aren't limited to one end of the floor.
Jodie Meeks, Sixers (restricted): He started 50 games this season and played 24.9 minutes per contest, but barely got off the bench once he was removed from the starting five after Game 1 against Chicago. He took a total of three shots from the floor, missing each of them, in 32 minutes during the first round.