Jerry Sloan Withdraws Interest In Trail Blazers
Nearly a day after interviewing for Portland's coaching position with GM Neil Olshey, Jerry Sloan decided to remove himself from the Trail Blazers' list of coaching candidates (Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida reports). Although he declined to give reasons why the job no longer interested him, Sloan conceded that "it just didn't work out on my part" during a phone interview.
Winning Bid For Brand To Be Announced Friday
The winner among teams that place a bid on recently-amnestied forward Elton Brand will be announced on Friday after 4:00pm CST (Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas reports). Only teams below the salary cap have the opportunity to bid. The Mavericks are expected to be "aggressive" suitors for the 13-year-veteran, who have high hopes of paring Brand with Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman. Other teams with cap space, such as the Suns and Trail Blazers, also have a chance to vie for Brand's services.
In the unlikely situation that no team places a bid, Brand would become an unrestricted free agent and could then sign with any team.
Odds & Ends: Nets, Brooks, Heat, Turiaf, Blazers
It's been another busy day of NBA free agency, and no team has been busier than the Nets, who've either signed, re-signed, acquired or traded 13 players today, according to the count of New York Times reporter Howard Beck (Twitter link). Many of those moves came as the team finalized earlier deals, like the swap for Joe Johnson, but some of the news was fresh, like the four-year extension for Brook Lopez. It doesn't appear GM Billy King and company are finished, either, as they're reportedly discussing a sign-and-trade deal for Antawn Jamison. We have plenty more on the moves to come here:
Latest On Nicolas Batum
10:51pm: If the Blazers and Wolves fail to work out a trade and the Wolves sign Batum to an offer sheet, the Wolves will have to make a series of moves to do so, given what's expected to be a $10MM first-year salary in Minnesota's offer to Batum, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
The moves would include buying out Brad Miller and Martell Webster and using the amnesty clause to waive Darko Milicic, Zgoda says, adding the Wolves may also have to trade a player. Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea and Wesley Johnson are possible trade candidates in that scenario. Ridnour or a draft pick could be headed to the Bulls in a deal that would send Kyle Korver to the Blazers.
6:33pm: Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com has Olshey's comments on the possibility of a sign-and-trade for Batum.
You don't close the door to anything in this league,” the Blazers GM said. "But, from what I can see, as far as what they can viably offer as of today, I would think Nicolas would have more value than what they can put in a sign-and-trade.”
Free Agent Rumors: Nets, Pacers, Green
The July moratorium came to an end late last night, and a number of teams didn't waste any time in finalizing moves. The Lakers' acquisition of Steve Nash was the first transaction to become official, followed closely by the Knicks' signing of J.R. Smith, Deron Williams' contract with the Nets, and Blake Griffin's five-year extension with the Clippers. We're expecting more deals to be formally announced today, but there are plenty of free agents still on the market too. We'll be tracking the latest news on those guys right here, with the newest items added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- The Nets are considering Kenyon Martin and Craig Smith and discussing a sign-and-trade for Antawn Jamison, clouding Kris Humphries' future with the team, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Pacers are targeting unrestricted free agent Gerald Green as their wing player off the bench, and are expected to offer him a three-year, $10MM contract, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. O.J. Mayo and Courtney Lee are out the team's price range at the moment (All Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
Trail Blazers Buy Out Shawne Williams
JULY 11, 9:16pm: The Blazers have placed Williams on waivers, the team announced via Twitter. Teams will now have a week to place a claim on him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
JULY 6, 1:33pm: The Trail Blazers have reached an agreement to buy out the final year of Shawne Williams' contract, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick. Williams, who exercised his player option for 2012/13, was slated to earn $3.135MM in the coming season.
Nets Sign Brook Lopez To Four-Year Extension
8:33pm: Howard Beck of the New York Times has the details on Lopez's contract, which includes a player option in the fourth year. Lopez will get $13.668MM for the coming season, $14.694MM in 2013/14, $15.719MM in 2014/15 and, the option is for $16.774MM in 2015/16. (Twitter links)
7:47pm: The Nets have announced the contract is official, via Twitter.
Nets Nearing Max Contract With Brook Lopez
4:34pm: Lopez is still considering signing Charlotte's four-year offer sheet, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski says the Nets will match any offer sheet Lopez signs, but matching an offer sheet would prevent Brooklyn from trading Lopez for a full year (Twitter links). It looks to me as if Lopez is seeking a little leverage with the Nets, perhaps hoping to increase his fifth-year guarantee.
2:59pm: With trade talks for Dwight Howard dead, the Nets are now expected to finalize a contract with Lopez, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick.
Dwight Howard Rumors: Wednesday
In yesterday's round of Dwight Howard rumors, we learned that the Cavaliers had pulled out of the complicated four-team talks that included the Nets and Magic. The Nets are still in the mix for Howard, but are focusing more on one-on-one talks with Orlando now. Meanwhile, the Magic continue to talk with other teams, including the Rockets, Lakers, and Hawks, about a variety of trade scenarios involving the star center. What will today bring? We'll track the latest right here….
- According to SI.com's Sam Amick, the Magic could simply let the Nets fall out of the race for Howard and seek another trade partner. Amick adds that the Rockets have been calling around looking for a taker for Luis Scola, in an effort to allow the Magic to clear more cap space in a Howard deal.
- Among the Nets' reasons for accelerating the Howard talks: They're concerned that the Trail Blazers will step in and sign Brook Lopez to an offer sheet after missing out on Roy Hibbert, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein. The Rockets represent another threat to the Nets if their offer sheet for Omer Asik is matched, adds ESPN.com's Chad Ford (via Twitter).
Earlier updates:
Free Agent Rumors: Flynn, Heat, Mahinmi
We're less than 14 hours away from the July moratorium coming to an end and this season's signing period beginning in earnest. As of 11:00pm central time tonight, teams can officially sign free agents, trades can be consummated, and players can sign contract extensions. In the meantime, free agents have one more day to try to reach contract agreements before clubs start finalizing the moves they've agreed to over the last week and a half. We'll track today's rumors on free agents here, with the newest updates up top:
- Jonny Flynn has worked out for the Hawks and will visit the Bulls on Friday, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Count the Cavs as another team interested in the point guard's services.
- Look for the Heat to add a minimum-scale big man, such as Kwame Brown or Joel Przybilla, as they finish up their offseason spending, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) hears from NBA officials that the Bucks have some interest in Ian Mahinmi.
Earlier updates: