Portland Trail Blazers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Lawson, Wolves, Montero

July 16th, 2015 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets were requesting a first-round pick and a young player in trade talks about Ty Lawson days before his latest DUI-related arrest, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Opposing teams were showing little to no interest, Spears adds, advancing a report from Yahoo Sports colleague Adrian Wojnarowski, who said that clubs were waiting for Lawson’s price to come down. Now, after the arrest, the Nuggets are in a position where they’re better off waiting for Lawson’s value to bounce back, an assistant GM tells Spears. We asked for your feedback about Lawson on Wednesday night. There’s more on the Nuggets amid the latest from around the Northwest Division:

Denver is scanning for trades that provide greater financial and roster flexibility, league sources tell Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The search is unrelated to Lawson, as Dempsey makes clear. In any case, the report would suggest that the Nuggets are looking to unload a player in a deal that doesn’t bring back anyone in return.
Coach/executive Flip Saunders, with the $2.139MM biannual exception and roughly $1.7MM left on the mid-level exception, sounds open to adding a veteran point guard to the Timberwolves, according to Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune (Twitter link via Tribune scribe Jerry Zgoda).
The Timberwolves had their choice of three trade exceptions with which they could take in Damjan Rudez from the Pacers, and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders says they used the $1.5MM Ronny Turiaf exception to do so (Twitter link). That reduces the Turiaf exception, which expires December 19th, to $350,500, essentially exhausting its value.
The Oregonian’s Mike Richman chronicles the unusual journey of Luis Montero to his partially guaranteed contract with the Blazers, adding the Knicks, Sixers, Suns and Thunder to the list of teams that previous reports indicated he worked out for prior to the draft.
A virtually unusable $88K sliver of the Thunder‘s Thabo Sefolosha trade exception expired Wednesday. Oklahoma City used most of what was originally a $4.15MM exception to trade for Dion Waiters in January.
Jazz power forward Trevor Booker‘s salary, which had been partially guaranteed for $250K, is now fully guaranteed for $4.775MM, as our list of salary guarantee dates shows.

Western Notes: Cousins, Levien, Montero

July 15th, 2015 at 10:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kings coach George Karl admits talking hypothetical DeMarcus Cousins trades “behind closed doors,” but Karl tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that he rejects the notion that he was actively trying to trade the center. “As a coach, in meetings every year and maybe four or five times a year, you talk about what-ifs,” Karl said. “And 99% of what-ifs never happen. But isn’t it our job to talk about what-ifs? Does this make us better? Does this get us in a better place? That’s our job. There was never a discussion in that area even close to happening, in my opinion. … Never in the whole time of this experience did I ever think that I wasn’t going to coach Cuz.”

Here’s what else is happening around the Western Conference:

Jason Levien has become an unofficial adviser to Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com tweets. Levien was formerly the CEO of the Grizzlies, as well as a former Sacramento assistant GM, Howard-Cooper notes.
The Wolves were able to create a traded player exception worth $5MM as a result of dealing Chase Budinger to the Pacers, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link).
Danny Green said that LaMarcus Aldridge contacted him during the free agent process to pick his brain about the Spurs, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express News tweets. Green also noted that the possibility of playing alongside Aldridge factored heavily into his decision to re-sign with the Spurs, McDonald adds.
The Trail Blazers‘ deal with Luis Montero is a three year arrangement with the first season partially guaranteed, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter links).
The Thunder have removed forward Steve Novak from the trading block, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays. OKC was reportedly seeking financial relief and was willing to flip Novak in exchange for a future draft pick.
Wilson Chandler‘s contract renegotiation and extension with the Nuggets will pay him $10.4MM in 2015/16, $11.2MM for 2016/17, $12.0MM in 2017/18, and $12.8MM during the final season, Pincus notes (Twitter links).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Blazers Acquire Maurice Harkless From Magic

July 14th, 2015 at 3:58pm CST by Will Joseph

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

3:58pm: The Blazers have followed with a press release of their own, identifying the pick going to Orlando as a 2020 second-rounder. That pick is top-55 protected, according to Casey Holdahl of Trailblazers.com. It’s Portland’s own pick, and if it doesn’t convey to Orlando that year, the Blazers don’t have to give the Magic anything, as RealGM notes.

TUESDAY, 3:46pm: The deal is official, the Magic announced via press release. Orlando refers to its acquisition as a conditional second-round pick, suggesting that the protection on it is such that it may never convey to the Magic.

SUNDAY, 5:27pm: The Magic are trading forward Maurice Harkless to the Blazers for a future second-round pick, reports Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski (on Twitter).

The move does not come across as a complete shock because Orlando was reportedly willing to deal Harkless at the deadline. However, at that time, the team was seeking a first-round pick or talented young player in return. The 22-year-old former first-rounder out of St. John’s is set to earn $2,894,059 during the 2015/16 campaign. Despite being a high draft pick, Harkless has not met his full potential. In his third year, Harkless averaged only 3.5 points per game and only received 15 minutes of playing time per game.

Both Orlando and Portland are below the cap, so it’s a move that essentially transfers a measure of cap flexibility from one team to the other. It’s another move in a busy offseason for the Blazers. With LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews gone, Portland has done a decent job of retooling with athletic young players. Portland signed Al-Farouq Aminu and signed Ed Davis.

Joel Freeland To Play In Russia With CSKA Moscow

July 13th, 2015 at 8:05am CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 8:05am: The deal is official, the team announced (hat tip to Pick).

FRIDAY, 11:05pm: Freeland has signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow, and the pact contains no NBA out clause, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).

1:33pm: A source tells Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops that Freeland hasn’t agreed to a deal just yet, and will decide within the next two days (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 8:51am: Joel Freeland has agreed to sign a guaranteed deal with Russia’s CSKA Moscow, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Freeland had reportedly set a deadline of Friday to find an NBA deal before he committed to playing overseas, but it appears he’s making the jump a day early. The British big man’s contract with the Blazers ended last month, and Portland didn’t make a qualifying offer.

The Rafa Calvo client didn’t expect the Blazers to make that offer, but he expressed a preference to stay in the NBA. He’ll instead move to one of Europe’s most prominent clubs. Chema de Lucas of Gigantes del Basket first reported CSKA Moscow’s interest.

Freeland, 28, didn’t have much of a role during his three seasons with the Blazers, though he did make eight starts this past year while averaging 3.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.

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Thunder Match Blazers’ Offer For Enes Kanter

July 12th, 2015 at 8:10pm CST by Will Joseph

8:10pm: Oklahoma City has announced the move is official via press release.

7:40pm: The Thunder have informed the Trail Blazers they have matched Portland’s $70MM offer sheet for restricted free agent Enes Kanter, reports Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski (on Twitter). Enes’ deal includes a player option on the fourth year and a 15% trade kicker bonus, Wojnarowski reports in a full story.

The expectation around the league was that the Thunder would match, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deadline is today. The Blazers signed Kanter on Thursday to an offer sheet worth the max over four years, with a player option on year three. It was an easy decision to match, Wojnarowski tweets, because Oklahoma City offered Kanter about $62MM and always planned for the possibility of a max offer sheet.

Oklahoma City has about $79MM in salary commitments for this coming season. That puts them well above the $70MM cap, and the new deal for Kanter pushes the team far beyond the $84.74MM tax threshold. If they don’t make any other moves, the Thunder would have roughly a $24MM luxury-tax payment due at the end of next season, Young writes in a full story. The Thunder, according to Young, who cites league sources, are likely to shop forwards Steve Novak and Perry Jones III to help alleviate some of the pending financial hit.

Kanter, 23, excelled after Oklahoma City acquired him from the Jazz. He averaged 15.9 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game last season with the Thunder and Jazz. Thunder GM Sam Presti had expressed interest in re-signing the big man.

“We traded for Enes last season with the intention of keeping him as a member of the Thunder for several years to come, and we are excited that he will continue with us,” Presti said the press release. “He adds valuable depth to our roster, diversity to our frontcourt and the dimension that he brings offensively will positively impact our team.”

Blazers Sign Enes Kanter To Max Offer Sheet

July 12th, 2015 at 2:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:14pm: The deadline is today, but Oklahoma City still hasn’t notified Portland about its intentions, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

JULY 12TH, 1:50pm: The Thunder intend to match the offer to Kanter, tweets David Aldridge of TNT.

JULY 9TH, 4:17pm: Oklahoma City has received Kanter’s signed offer sheet from the Blazers, and have until Sunday to make a decision regarding the player, Wojnarowski tweets.

3:02pm: The offer sheet is worth the max over four years, with a player option on year three, Aldridge reports (on Twitter). It’s expected to include a trade kicker, too, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link). That means a starting salary of $16,407,500 this season and a total value of around $70MM.

2:22pm: The Trail Blazers are set to sign Thunder restricted free agent Enes Kanter to an offer sheet, as TNT’s David Aldridge reports and as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports confirms (Twitter links). The expectation around the league is that the Thunder will match, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Grantland’s Zach Lowe suggests that the Thunder will also intensify their efforts to trade Perry Jones and Steve Novak to clear salary (Twitter link). Lowe also mentions D.J. Augustin along with Jones and Novak, but it’s not clear if that’s just speculation.

USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt reported last week that the Blazers were eyeing the big man. Thunder GM Sam Presti told Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman this spring that he was committed to re-signing his team’s trade deadline acquisition, and while they met to discuss a deal approaching the max, and both sides were reportedly eager to complete a deal, it appears Oklahoma City has let the market dictate his terms. The Knicks were also reportedly in contact with the Max Ergul client.

Oklahoma City has roughly $79MM in salary commitments for this coming season, counting the team’s deal with Kyle Singler. That puts them well above the $70MM cap, and a new deal for Kanter would likely push the team far beyond the $84.74MM tax threshold. The Blazers have nearly $30MM in cap flexibility after the exodus of LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Hummel, Garnett

July 12th, 2015 at 10:12am CST by Dana Gauruder

Damian Lillard said there was no way to prevent LaMarcus Aldridge from bolting the Trail Blazers for the Spurs, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports. Lillard told Spears that Aldridge wanted a change and was seeking a franchise that was closer to winning a championship. Lillard added that Aldridge had no issues with him. “We basically exchanged texts about how much admiration we have for each other,” Lillard told Spears. “That change wasn’t about me. I did express that I wanted him to be back. I told him I respected his decision. I respected that he told me before the news broke and I saw it on TV.”

In other news around the Northwest Division:

The Trail Blazers and Nuggets are among the teams interested in signing Robbie Hummel, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets. The Kings and Cavaliers are also in the mix, Wolfson adds, but the two Northwest teams are the ones with the greater interest. Hummel became an unrestricted free agent when the Timberwolves pulled their $1.147MM qualifying offer.
Kevin Garnett has a full no-trade clause in his new contract, thanks to his service time during his first stint with the Timberwolves, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Players can only get full no-trades in a new contract, not extensions, and must have at least eight years service time and four with the same team, Stein adds in a separate tweet. Garnett agreed to a two-year, $16.5MM deal.
The Timberwolves should receive a trade exception for all of Chase Budinger‘s $5MM salary, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Minnesota agreed to deal Budinger to the Pacers on Saturday.
The Nuggets didn’t waive Randy Foye by the end of Saturday, so his non-guaranteed salary of $3.135MM is now fully guaranteed (hat tip to former Nets executive Bobby Marks; Twitter link).

Blazers Sign Luis Montero

July 11th, 2015 at 4:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

Luis Montero, a 6’7″ swingman out of the Dominican Republic, has signed with the Trail Blazers, President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey announced today (hat tip to The Oregonian’s Mike Richman). Montero, 22, worked out for Portland before the draft and is part of the Blazers’ summer league team.

Terms of the agreement were not released. However, RealGM lists Montero as eligible for restricted free agency in 2018, a signal that he’s on a three-year deal.

Montero last played in 2013-14 at Westchester Community College. He averaged 15.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Northwest Notes: Connaughton, Huestis, Singler

July 10th, 2015 at 11:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Josh Huestis has no regrets about making a D-League arrangement with the Thunder last season, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes. “I think it was a great decision,” Huestis told Mayberry. “I think it was the best decision that I could make in terms of my own career. I think having an opportunity to play in the D-League for a year has really taught me a lot and has prepared me to move forward in my career. And I think if I had to make the decision again I would make the exact same one.”

The forward’s verbal arrangement with the Thunder should have him in line for a roster spot this season, but OKC currently doesn’t have an opening for Huestis, Mayberry notes. Also complicating matters is the torn right pectoral muscle the player suffered eight weeks ago while working out, the Oklahoman scribe adds.

Here’s more out of the NBA’s Northwest Division:

The Trail Blazers gave Pat Connaughton, the 41st overall pick in this year’s draft, a three-year, $2.5MM deal. It’s worth $625,100 this season, about $100K more than the rookie minimum. The third season is non-guaranteed at the minimum, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link). Pincus doesn’t say if it’s worth more than the minimum in year two, but if it’s like most contracts for second-round picks, it’s not.
The 2016 second-rounder headed to the Thunder in the Jeremy Lamb trade is bottom-five protected, and it would be unprotected for 2017, RealGM shows.
Kyle Singler‘s five-year deal with the Thunder is worth $24.3MM, though the fifth year is non-guaranteed, Pincus tweets.
The Jazz are giving Raul Neto $840K this season, about $315K more than the minimum, as a part of three-year deal. He’s in line for slightly more than the minimum in year two and a non-guaranteed minimum salary in year three, for a total of $2.7MM, as Pincus relays (on Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Northwest Rumors: Kanter, Aldridge, Matthews

July 10th, 2015 at 9:58am CST by Chuck Myron

Thunder GM Sam Presti said shortly before receiving official notice of Portland’s max offer sheet to Enes Kanter that he intended to match any offer for him and had planned in advance for the sort of offer sheet to which the Trail Blazers signed the big man, as Presti told The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater. Presti added that Kanter, during a meeting with the Thunder on Tuesday, had expressed a desire to remain in Oklahoma City. The Thunder have until Sunday to follow through and exercise their right to pull their prize trade deadline acquisition back to OKC. Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

Other teams simply weren’t interested in doing sign-and-trades for LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews, according to Blazers GM Neil Olshey, as Mike Tokito of The Oregonian relays (on Twitter). Aldridge and Matthews have officially signed outright with the Spurs and Mavericks, respectively.
Olshey also said that an extension for Meyers Leonard was a subject of discussion but made it clear that he wants the former lottery pick around for the long term, Tokito tweets. It’s unclear if the Blazers are having internal conversations about an extension or have begun talks with Leonard’s reps at the Creative Artists Agency. The sides have until October 31st to sign a rookie scale extension or Leonard will be set for restricted free agency next summer.
The Blazers renounced their Non-Bird rights to Alonzo Gee, among other players who’ve since signed elsewhere or have already retired, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The Jazz have arranged to pay the maximum $625K toward the buyout of draft-and-stash prospect Tibor Pleiss from his contract with Barcelona of Spain, as José Ignacio Huguet of Mundo Deportivo reports (translation via Rick Saldaña; hat tip to Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune). Pleiss traveled to Utah and engaged in contract talks with the Jazz, though his trip ended before a deal could be struck, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link). Still, Pleiss and the Jazz maintain mutual interest, according to Genessy (on Twitter).