Portland Trail Blazers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Acquire Courtney Lee

July 20th, 2012 at 10:08pm CST by Luke Adams

5:49pm: The second-round picks the Blazers will get are both for 2013, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. They'll receive the Celtics' own selection, along with the Timberwolves' pick that the C's acquired in an earlier deal. Freeman also passes along word from Blazers GM Neil Olshey, who says he is hopeful Pavlovic will make the team out of camp (Twitter link). Freeman confirms, via Twitter, that the Celtics will send the Blazers cash to cover Pavlovic's salary, which will likely be the veteran's minimum. Pavlovic's 2012/13 contract is non-guaranteed, so he could be waived without the Blazers taking a cap hit, Freeman confirms in an email to Hoops Rumors.

4:05pm: In making their own official announcement about the trade, the Trail Blazers noted that they'll acquire two future second-rounders from the Celtics, rather than just one (Twitter link).

2:12pm: The Rockets have officially announced the Lee sign-and-trade agreement in a press release. Based on the team's announcement and a tweet from Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, the deal looks like this:

Celtics receive: Courtney Lee (sign-and-trade from Rockets)
Rockets receive: JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Sean Williams, Bobcats' 2013 second-round pick (from Celtics), and the rights to Jon Diebler (from Trail Blazers)
Trail Blazers receive: Sasha Pavlovic, second-round pick (from Celtics)

According to ESPN.com's John Hollinger (via Twitter), Lee will earn exactly $5MM in his first year, making his total contract worth the same as the maximum mid-level exception (four years, $21.35MM). The Rockets, meanwhile, are expected to waive Moore and Williams in the very near future. Diebler, the player whose rights Houston receives from Portland, was selected by the Blazers 51st overall in 2011 and spent last season overseas.

12:01pm: Lee will receive a fully guaranteed four-year, $21.5MM contract in the sign-and-trade, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. That's a little more than he could have earned with the mid-level exception, so his starting salary figures to be slightly over $5MM.

11:30am: Lee figures to earn a first-year salary of about $4.6MM, while the Celtics will pay Pavlovic's salary for Portland and will also send the Blazers a second-round pick, tweets John Hollinger of ESPN.com. It's unclear what exactly the Blazers are giving up in this deal, but it doesn't seem like it'll be anything of significance.

FRIDAY, 12:17am: The Trail Blazers are expected to step in as a third team to facilitate the Lee sign-and-trade, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). It sounds as if Portland will receive Sasha Pavlovic from the Celtics.

THURSDAY, 9:50pm: Even though the deal has yet to be completed, Lee will join the Celtics and the Rockets' end of the sign-and-trade will not change, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The Rockets will receive JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, and Sean Williams, but do not plan on keeping the latter two. Houston will also get the Bobcats' 2013 second-round pick in the deal.

9:30pm: The Suns and Hornets are the teams that were, and still may be, involved in the trade talks, tweets Bulpett.

7:35pm: JaJuan Johnson hasn't requested a trade from Houston, but would welcome it if he winds up there given the number of power forwards the Rockets have, tweets Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.

6:19pm: If the trade goes down, it will involve at least three teams, Bulpett tweets.

5:52pm: JaJuan Johnson will request a trade if he is sent to the Rockets, a source told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).

5:42pm: The trade for Lee still expected to go through, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Blakely adds that the Rockets will waive Moore upon acquiring him.

5:05pm: The trade appears to be in trouble but both sides are working to keep it alive, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald tweets.

4:30pm: The deal will send E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson, Sean Williams, and a second-round pick to the Rockets, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.

3:41pm: The Celtics have agreed to acquire Courtney Lee in a sign-and-trade deal with the Rockets, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Details are still being worked out, but JaJuan Johnson will be heading to Houston, says Spears.

As John Hollinger of ESPN.com points out (via Twitter), for salary-matching purposes, it's "inconceivable" that the Celtics could acquire Lee for Johnson alone. It's likely that the non-guaranteed contract of E'Twaun Moore will be involved as well, along with at least one other player, and perhaps cash or draft picks. The deal figures to require some maneuvering from the Rockets, who are already shuffling their roster around to create a spot for Omer Asik's offer sheet.

The Timberwolves, Bulls, and Suns were also believed to be in the running for Lee, and the Rockets could have re-signed him as well, since they'd yet to renounce his rights. The 26-year-old averaged 11.4 points per game for the Rockets in 2011/12, on 43.3% shooting (.401 3PT%).

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Blazers Rumors: Aldridge, Batum, Hibbert, Canales

July 20th, 2012 at 8:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

It was a busy day for the Blazers, who officially welcomed Nicolas Batum back after matching his offer sheet from the Timberwolves. They also were involved in a three-team trade, picking up Sasha Pavlovic, the cash to cover his salary, and two second-round picks in exchange for 2011 second-round pick Jon Diebler. There's also encouraging news from LaMarcus Aldridge, who says he's "98 percent" healed from hip surgery and expects to be playing five-on-five again in a week, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. There's plenty more going on in the Rose City, and we've got it here:

Batum addressed some of the comments he and others made during his contentious restricted free agency. In a video on CSNNW.com and transcribed by Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Batum said it was true that he wanted to go to Minnesota, but never ruled the Blazers out. "Minnesota was a good situation for me, but I never said it was better than Portland," he said. "I told Portland, 'If you really want me, match. If you don't want me, I'll go.'"
Aldridge told reporters, including Chris B. Haynes of CSNNW.com, that he was communicating with Roy Hibbert throughout the Blazers' courtship of the restricted free agent center who ultimately chose to re-sign with the Pacers (Twitter links). "I was disappointed," Aldridge said of Hibbert's decision. "I definitely felt like he would put us over that hump of being on the next level."
Aldridge said he hasn't been paying attention to the team's head coaching search, but reiterated his endorsement of interim coach Kaleb Canales, as Freeman notes, via Twitter.

Blazers Match Offer Sheet For Nicolas Batum

July 20th, 2012 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 12:08pm: The Blazers have now officially announced the Batum signing (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 6:24pm: The forward will earn $10.7M in each of the first two seasons while year three is worth $10.9MM and year four is $11.2MM, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.

6:20pm: Batum's deal includes a $1.5MM signing bonus, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter).

4:49pm: Olshey informed reporters, including Joe Freeman of the Oregonian (Twitter link), that Batum's offer sheet wasn't quite as high as the $46.5MM that had been reported. The Blazers GM explained that some of the incentives included in the deal were rejected by the NBA, and said Portland would still have a little cap room left after signing Batum and Ronnie Price (Twitter link).

4:16pm: The Trail Blazers have officially matched the Timberwolves' offer sheet for Batum, the team announced today. The Blazers' contract with Batum will be for four years and $46.5MM. It includes a 15% trade kicker, and could be worth up to $50MM if Batum reaches certain incentives.

Trail Blazers Sign Claver, Lillard, Leonard

July 19th, 2012 at 9:07pm CST by Luke Adams

9:07pm: All three years of Claver's deal are guaranteed and without options, tweets Mark Deeks of Sham Sports. Claver will receive $1.3MM in year 1, $1.33MM in year 2, and $1.37MM in the final season.

JULY 11, 11:00pm: The deal for Claver is for three years and a total of $4MM, tweets Jason Quick of The Oregonian.

4:23pm: Claver's deal is for three years, according to GM Neil Olshey (Twitter link via Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com). That means the Blazers likely signed him using cap space rather than the rookie scale.

Free Agent Rumors: O’Neal, Bulls, Wallace

July 19th, 2012 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have made a handful of signings so far this summer, but every contract agreement they've reached has been for one of their own players — unrestricted free agents Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw will return, along with restricted free agents Danny Green and Patty Mills. Even the team's one new addition, Nando De Colo, wasn't a free agent, since San Antonio held his NBA rights exclusively. The Spurs are standing relatively pat this offseason, not pursuing outside free agents, and that's just fine with coach Gregg Popovich, as he tells Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.

So while the remaining free agents on the market aren't likely to draw a ton of interest from San Antonio, there are plenty of other potential destinations out there. Here's the latest on a few available players:

The Bucks are taking a "long look" at Jermaine O'Neal's workout today, tweets Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld.

Earlier updates:

The Bulls are eyeing shooting guards such as Marco Belinelli, Randy Foye, Delonte West, and Willie Green, according to Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com.
Despite indicating earlier this year that he intended to retire, Ben Wallace would like to return to the Pistons for the 2012/13 season, says Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. The Pistons have a full roster, so they'd have to make a move to clear a spot to sign the unrestricted free agent.
The Warriors and Bobcats are still pursuing Carl Landry, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Charlotte, which could offer Landry more money, is attempting to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Hornets.
A number of teams have expressed interest in Mickael Pietrus, but the Celtics are still "very much in the picture," says A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com adds (via Twitter) that Pietrus has a "huge" offer from an overseas team, but that he wants to play for an NBA contender on more than a minimum-salary deal.
The Clippers have reached out to Ryan Hollins and Darko Milicic, in hopes of adding a backup big man for the minimum salary, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Darko's agent Marc Cornstein says playing time will be a bigger factor for his client than money, since the Timberwolves are still sending him pay checks.
A big-name free agent came off the market yesterday when the Trail Blazers matched Nicolas Batum's offer sheet. As Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld writes, Blazers GM Neil Olshey stressed that reports suggesting Batum didn't want to return to Portland were orchestrated by the Timberwolves and Batum's agent. "Nic never said that," Olshey said. "Let’s be very clear. Nic made a couple of comments at the behest of the Minnesota Timberwolves and his agent. That was their agenda; it was never Nicolas’s agenda."

Knicks Acquire Raymond Felton From Blazers

July 19th, 2012 at 1:42pm CST by Daniel Seco

THURSDAY, 1:42pm: Mark Deeks of ShamSports clarifies that Felton's deal with the Knicks is for four years and about $14.86MM, with a fourth-year player option.

MONDAY, 4:13pm: The trade is official, according to a Blazers press release. The Knicks receive Felton and Thomas, while the Blazers get Jeffries, Gadzuric, Papanikolaou, Printezis, cash, and a 2016 second-round pick. As ESPN.com's John Hollinger points out (via Twitter), the Knicks can't be sending more than $1MM to Portland, since they already sent $2MM to Houston in the Marcus Camby deal.

MONDAY, 7:59am: A few more details of the swap, courtesy of Jason Quick of the Oregonian and Howard Beck of the New York Times: The Blazers will acquire Jeffries, Gadzuric, Papanikolaou, and Georgios Printezis, and cash from the Knicks, with New York also paying for Jeffries' 2012/13 salary, which appears to be for the veteran's minimum (Twitter links). Felton, meanwhile, will earn $10.5MM on his three-year deal (Twitter link).

SUNDAY, 11:37am: According to a tweet from the Oregonian's Jason Quick, the Knicks might be sending Kostas Papanikolaou to Portland along with an undetermined amount of cash to help pay Jared Jeffries' $3.1MM salary. Papanikolaou is a Greek forward who was selected by New York in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft.

SATURDAY, 9:53pm: The Knicks are set to acquire Raymond Felton from the Trail Blazers in a sign-and-trade deal, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). The Blazers will sign Felton to a three-year, $10MM contract prior to completing the trade. Forward Kurt Thomas will be joining Felton in New York as the Knicks will send Jared Jeffries, Dan Gadzuric and a 2016 second round pick to Portland to round out the deal.

In addition to receiving Thomas and Felton from the Trail Blazers, the Knicks will also acquire the rights to two players currently in Europe. The Knicks now face the decision of matching the Rockets' offer sheet to Jeremy Lin or allowing the former Harvard star to leave for Houston as Felton becomes New York's latest starting point guard.

The acquisition of Felton will provide the Knicks with a seemingly cheaper alternative to Lin as the third year of his offer sheet from the Rockets was designed to be cost prohibitive. While it appeared Lin was destined to return to the Knicks regardless of price, the Knicks may simply not believe that the 23-year-old is worth the money being offered to him by the Houston. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News suggests that Lin may not even want to play in New York, which would be reason enough for the Knicks to reconsider making such a heft investment in the young guard (via Twitter).

Felton, 28, enjoyed success with the Knicks during his first stop with the team during the 2010/11 season before being trade to the Nuggets as part of a package to acquire Carmelo Anthony. The former Tar Heels star averaged 17.1 PPG and 9.0 APG in 54 starts with the Knicks under then head coach Mike D'Antoni's tutelage. Felton's play fell off after landing in Denver and continued to struggle when he was traded to the Trail Blazers after the 2010/11 season. His time in Portland saw the veteran guard average a career-low 11.4 PPG as he started nearly all of his team's games.

For the Trail Blazers, receiving anything for Felton, an unrestricted free agent, serves as an added benefit for the franchise as it crafts a new identity. Look for Portland to waive Gadzuric and use Jeffries as a defensive specialist off the bench.

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Trail Blazers Waive Dan Gadzuric

July 19th, 2012 at 12:27pm CST by Michael Pina

THURSDAY, 12:27pm: The Trail Blazers have officially requested waivers on Gadzuric, the team announced today (Twitter link). The big man will become an unrestricted free agent, assuming he goes unclaimed.

MONDAY, 5:33pm: Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey has announced that the team will waive center Dan Gadzuric, tweets CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes. Gadzuric was involved in the sign-and-trade deal that officially went through today sending Raymond Felton back to the Knicks.

Standing 6'11" and 33 years old, Gadzuric has played in just 33 games over the last two seasons. Should he clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent, it's unclear whether the 10-year veteran will catch on with another NBA team this offseason.

Blazers Notes: Cap Room, Batum, Sampson

July 18th, 2012 at 9:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, the Trail Blazers announced that they have officially matched the Timberwolves’ offer for forward Nicolas Batum. It always seemed like Portland was going to keep the restrictred free agent this summer, but Minnesota made the Blazers dig deep in order to do so. The offer sheet for Batum was reportedly $46.5MM over four years and includes incentives and a 15% trade kicker that could increase the overall value to $50MM. Here’s more out of Portland..

General Manager Neil Olshey says that the Blazers have a $3.5MM trade exception from the Raymond Felton deal with the Knicks, meaning that they are still technically over the cap, tweets Jeff Kramer of Storyteller’s Contracts.
Olshey told reporters, including Ben Golliver of Blazer’s Edge (via Twitter) that the offer sheet wasn’t for as much as reports indicated, though he did not give a figure for its actual value. The GM also acknowledged that the club did its due diligence and talked sign-and-trade with Minnesota before opting to retain Batum.
Olshey reiterated that he is in “no rush” to hire a head coach and said his search will extend beyond the summer league period, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian.
Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson says ‪that the Blazers‬ inquired about him in regards to the head coaching job but hasn’t been asked to interview, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Earlier this week it was reported that the club will interview Patrick Ewing for the job, but it is believed to just be a courtesy.

Trail Blazers To Sign Ronnie Price

July 18th, 2012 at 4:40pm CST by Luke Adams

4:40pm: The Blazers will sign Price to a minimum-salary deal, Olshey confirmed (Twitter link via Blazers' Edge).

4:31pm: The Trail Blazers will sign Ronnie Price to a contract, perhaps as soon as today, according to Portland GM Neil Olshey (Twitter link via Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge). After they matched the Timberwolves' offer sheet for Nicolas Batum, I don't believe the Blazers have any leftover cap space, so the team figures to sign Price using either the room exception or the minimum salary exception.

Price, a seven-year NBA veteran, played for the Suns in 2011/12 after spending time with the Kings and Jazz in previous years. The 6'2" guard averaged a career-high 14.4 minutes per game in Phoenix, but provided limited production, averaging 3.6 PPG and 1.9 APG to go along with .377/.295/.800 shooting.

The 29-year-old Price, who was an unrestricted free agent, will likely see time behind Damian Lillard at the point in Portland.

Free Agent Rumors: Timberwolves, Rush, Mills

July 17th, 2012 at 8:42pm CST by Luke Adams

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:

Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com clarifies that Spurs guard Patty Mills re-signed with San Antonio for the value of his qualifying offer of about $1.08MM with a $1.13MM player option for 2013-14 (Twitter link).
Jason Quick of The Oregonian says that the Trail Blazers could target free agent point guard A.J. Price (Twitter link), also mentioning that Price's agent, Jeff Schwartz, declined to comment.
The Cavaliers, Rockets, Timberwolves, Hornets, 76ers, Suns, Trail Blazers, Kings, and Raptors are all eligible to make a bid on recently amnestied Andray Blatche (Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets). Mannix also says (via Twitter) that although doesn't expect a team to bid, Blatche will draw interest as an unrestricted free agent.
Mike Trudell of KCAL-9 in Los Angeles tweets that owner Jim Buss has reiterated GM Mitch Kupchak's comments that the team would like to re-sign Jordan Hill.
John Reid of the Times Picayune writes that the Hornets are interested in Ryan Hollins.
The Clippers' agreement with Hill likely takes them out of the running for Marco Belinelli, but Belinelli is still drawing interest, says Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. Pincus names the Bulls, Magic, Warriors, and Knicks as potential suitors.
Mavericks VP of basketball operations Donnie Nelson says the Mavs are still interested in bringing back Delonte West, who has "other options on the table he's going through." Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News has the details.
Raja Bell, who is attempting to work out a trade or buyout from the Jazz, hasn't heard from the Heat, but has drawn interest from six other teams, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
Anthony Randolph has "more than piqued" the Nuggets' curiousity, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
Nuggets coach George Karl has a standing offer out to unrestricted free agent Anthony Carter to become an assistant coach under Karl whenever his playing career is over, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Sulia link). However, Carter still believes he can help a team as a third point guard and hopes to play for a couple more years, according to Tomasson.
Despite rumors of overseas interest, Sonny Weems continues to seek an NBA contract, agent Roger Montgomery tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (via Twitter).
The Nets' next move might be signing Nazr Mohammed or Ryan Hollins as a backup center, tweets TNT's David Aldridge.
The Clippers are also looking to add a big, and are eyeing Hollins and Darko Milicic, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
In a piece for ESPN Deportes, Andres Nocioni confirms he'll continue playing for Caja Laboral in Spain next season rather than returning to the NBA (hat tip to Sportando for the translation).

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