Kings Close To Signing Andrea Bargnani
JULY 12TH, 2:45pm: The Kings are finalizing the signing today, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.
JULY 11TH, 8:53pm: The Kings are in “advanced discussions” with former Knick Andrea Bargnani, and the two sides are getting close to a deal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN. The nine-year veteran was the overall number one pick in the 2006 NBA draft. He spent seven years in Toronto before being traded to New York in 2013.
Bargnani earlier indicated that he was considering several options in free agency, including signing with a team in Europe. The Knicks were reportedly interested in keeping him, but only on a minimum-salary deal.
Bargnani earned $10.75MM and $11.5MM during his two seasons in New York. His production with the Knicks never matched his salary, as he appeared in just 71 games during his time there, averaging 13.9 points and 4.9 rebounds.
The Kings are in the market for frontcourt help after this week’s trade that sent Carl Landry and Tristan Thompson to the Sixers along with Nik Stauskas. The move helped Sacramento clear enough cap room to sign Rajon Rondo. Bargnani may fit into the team’s remaining salary cap room or he could have to accept a minimum deal, tweets former NBA Executive Bobby Marks.
Southwest Notes: Parsons, Asik, Aldridge
In a candid Q&A session with Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, Mavs forward Chandler Parsons detailed the team’s recruitment of DeAndre Jordan, and expressed his disappointment with the center re-signing with the Clippers. When asked about his reaction to Jordan spurning Dallas, Parsons told MacMahon, “I’m shocked, very disappointed, frustrated, disrespected. This is something that I’ve never seen in my career, and I know that it doesn’t happen very often. When a man gives you his word and an organization his word, especially when that organization put in so much effort and I walked him through this process and was very, very open and willing to work with him, it’s just very unethical and disrespectful.”
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- It’s the Spurs‘ own 2016 second-rounder headed to Sacramento in the Ray McCallum trade, according to RealGM.
- The protection on the 2017 second-round pick headed from the Hawks to the Spurs in the Tiago Splitter trade is for the top 55 picks, as RealGM details.
- The four-year max deal that Wesley Matthews signed with the Mavs includes a player option after year three, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link).
- The final season in Omer Asik‘s five-year deal with the Pelicans is an early termination option. That season is partially guaranteed for $3MM, though he can end up with a larger partial guarantee if he triggers incentives, Pincus notes (Twitter links).
- The Grizzlies used the mid-level exception for their deal with Brandan Wright. Pincus pegs its value at $17.1MM, though he’s probably rounding down from $17,129,640, the full value of the mid-level over three years. Wright also has a 15% trade kicker.
- Alexis Ajinca‘s four-year deal with the Pelicans is worth $19.2MM, tweets Pincus.
- The starting salary in Patrick Beverley‘s deal with the Rockets is $6,486,486, but that’s a function of front-loading. It’s worth a total of $23MM over four years, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
- LaMarcus Aldridge has a 15% trade kicker in his max deal with the Spurs, notes Pincus (via Twitter).
- The Mavs considered trying to swing a trade for Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson before Deron Williams reached a buyout arrangement with the Nets, MacMahon tweets. Williams is expected to sign with Dallas if he clears waivers, which is highly likely given the point guard’s player-friendly contract.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Hibbert, Young, Brown, Davis
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said in an appearance on Time Warner Cable SportsNet that he had the Roy Hibbert trade lined up with the Pacers in advance of the start of free agency as a fallback in case the Lakers fell short with their primary free agent targets, notes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe all passed on the purple-and-gold, so Hibbert it is for the Lakers, who made his acquisition the last of their moves under the cap. That’s key, since it meant that the trade wouldn’t otherwise work unless Hibbert agreed to waive part of his 15% trade kicker. He wouldn’t have been allowed to waive it unless the Lakers were in such a position, but they were, and he gave back all but $78,185 of what otherwise would have been $2.3MM, according to Pincus (Twitter links).
Here’s the latest from the Pacific Division:
- The 2018 first-round pick that the Kings owe the Sixers from this month’s three-player trade is protected only for the top 10 picks, according to salary cap expert Larry Coon (Twitter link). It’s unprotected for 2019. It’s possible that it’ll roll over to 2019 even if Sacramento’s pick ends up out of the top 10 in 2018 if the Kings have to send their 2017 first-rounder to the Bulls as part of a previous trade, Coon notes (on Twitter; also see RealGM).
- The 2020 second-round pick that the Suns will receive from the Pistons as part of the Marcus Morris trade is Detroit’s own selection, according to RealGM.
- Despite Nick Young reportedly being on the trading block, Kupchak said of the forward, “I do see him being a core player this year,” Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times tweets. The GM did stress that Young would need to show improvement on the defensive side of the game, Bresnahan adds.
- Lakers second round pick Anthony Brown‘s contract calls for him to earn $700k for the 2015/16 season, $875k the second year, and $1MM in 2017/18, Pincus relays (Twitter links). The first two years of the deal are fully guaranteed, but the final season is non-guaranteed, Pincus adds.
- Kings executive Vlade Divac said that Sacramento has had discussions with unrestricted free agent point guard Andre Miller, but the team is exploring numerous options, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (Twitter link).
- Brandon Bass‘ free agent deal with the Lakers is for two years and $6.135MM, and includes a player option for the second season, note Pincus and Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter links). Bass was signed using available cap space, which means Los Angeles still retains its $2.8MM room exception, Bresnahan tweets.
- Kupchak said that if unrestricted free agent Ed Davis had waited one more day before signing a deal with the Blazers, the Lakers would have been able to re-sign him, Pincus tweets. Instead, Davis inked a three-year, $20MM pact with Portland.
- The Warriors are considering promoting assistant Luke Walton to replace Alvin Gentry as the associate head coach on Steve Kerr‘s staff, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (via Twitter).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Sixers Acquire Stauskas, Landry, Thompson
6:35pm: The Sixers and Kings have issued press releases announcing the trade is official. Philly gets Stauskas, Landry, Thompson, Sacramento’s 2018 first-round pick and the right to swap first-rounders in 2016 and 2017. Sacramento gets the rights to Gudaitis and Mitrovic.
“Jason, Carl and Nik are all tremendous professionals and we’re grateful for their contributions,” Kings president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac said in Sacramento’s statement. “Jason leaves an indelible mark in Sacramento as the team’s alltime leader in games played, but he was also a champion in the community. Carl and Nik were well regarded as teammates and respected stewards of the organization during their time as Kings. We wish them all great success in the future.”
JULY 10TH, 11:48am: Neither team has made an official announcement, though the RealGM transactions log and salary cap expert Larry Coon (Twitter links) indicate the trade has indeed taken place. Sacramento creates trade exceptions equivalent to the salaries of Stauskas, Landry and Thompson, but those are poised to disappear once the team formalizes its free agent signings.
JULY 3RD, 11:35am: Executives around the league are talking about the notion that the Kings might back out of the deal now that they’ve missed on Ellis and Matthews, though none of those execs truly expect Sacramento to pull out, reports Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link).
JULY 2ND, 8:54am: A future second-round pick is also going to Sacramento, Wojnarowski writes in his full story. The Sixers receive Sacramento’s 2018 first-round pick and the right to swap first-rounders with the Kings in 2016 and 2017, a league source tells USA Today’s Derek Bodner (Twitter link). The overseas assets that the Kings receive are the rights to Arturas Gudaitis and Luka Mitrovic, the 47th and 60th picks, respectively, in last week’s draft, ESPN’s Pablo Torre tweets. Gudaitis just signed a two-year deal with an option for a third year with Lietuvos Rytas of Lithuania, the team announced (translation via Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). The Sixers are interested in keeping Landry, Thompson and Stauskas rather than waiving any of them, a source said to Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News (on Twitter).
10:56pm: The Sixers will receive a protected first round pick from the Kings, and swap rights with Sacramento in the first round of two other drafts, Zach Lowe of Grantland tweets.
JULY 1ST, 10:17pm: The Sixers and Kings have agreed to a deal that would send Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, and Nik Stauskas to Philadelphia, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter links). Philadelphia is expected to send Sacramento the rights to overseas players in return, notes Wojnarowski (on Twitter), though it is unclear which players will be involved.
The deal is a salary dump for Sacramento, tweets Wojnarowski, with the Kings clearing room for pursuing free agents. Thompson is set to earn $6,431,250 in 2015/16, Landry $6.5MM, and Stauskas $2,869,440. Sacramento is clearing the decks for a pursuit of point guard Rajon Rondo, swingman Wesley Matthews, and possibly Monta Ellis, the Yahoo! scribe adds (via Twitter).
Stauskas, 21, is the prize here for the Sixers, who were willing to absorb the contracts of Thompson and Landry to acquire him, Wojnarowski tweets. The young shooting guard failed to impress in Sacramento after being selected with the No. 8 overall pick back in the 2014 NBA Draft. In 73 appearances during his rookie campaign, Stauskas averaged 4.4 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.9 assists, with a slash line of .365/.322/.859. He should have every opportunity to develop on a young Sixers team badly in need of shooters.
Thompson still has two years remaining on his deal, though his salary of $6,825,000 for the 2016/17 campaign is partially guaranteed for just $2.65MM. In 81 contests last season, the 28-year-old averaged 6.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 24.6 minutes per game. Landry, 31, also has two years remaining on his contract, though both seasons are fully guaranteed. He logged 70 appearances last season for the Kings, posting 7.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 0.4 APG in 15.0 minutes per night.
Rockets Re-Sign Patrick Beverley
JULY 9TH, 8:12pm: The deal is official, the Rockets announced.
JULY 3RD, 6:14pm: The Rockets and restricted free agent Patrick Beverley have reached an agreement that will see the point guard return to Houston, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The deal is for four years and $23MM, Wojnarowski relays. The final year of the contract will pay Beverley $5MM, and is non-guaranteed, Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets.
Beverley appeared in 56 games for the Rockets last season, 55 as a starter. His numbers on the year were 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, with a slash line of .383/.356/.750. His career numbers since being selected with the 42nd overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft are 8.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 3.0 APG.
The 26-year-old was reported to be nearing a deal with the Kings by Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders earlier this evening. The Mavericks, Knicks, Bulls, and Cavaliers were also interested in signing Beverley.
Mavericks Sign Wesley Matthews
5:40pm: Matthews’ deal is now for the max, at four years and about $70MM, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets, since DeAndre Jordan pulled his about-face and signed with the Clippers.
JULY 9TH, 5:33pm: The signing is official, the Mavericks announced in a press release. “We just like him as a culture guy — his toughness and work ethic. He’s become a terrific player,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s a different kind of guy than we’ve had here, but he can play both wing positions. He can post up, he’s a great three-point shooter, and he’s developed a post game to where he can both score and make plays out of the post. We think he’s going to bring a lot to our team.”
JULY 3RD, 7:23am: The deal will probably average about $13MM a year, but that’s flexible, pending Jordan’s decision, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Presumably, a commitment from Aldridge would affect the final Matthews numbers as well, but that’s just my speculation.
JULY 2ND, 11:59pm: The Mavericks have an agreement in principle from free agent Wesley Matthews that he’ll play in Dallas next season, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). It will be a four-year arrangement, though the final amount has not been finalized, Aldridge adds. The Mavericks are waiting on word from free agents LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre Jordan before settling on a final amount with Matthews, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Matthews reportedly turned down a four year, $64MM offer from the Kings, who also coveted the swingman, as Aldridge notes (on Twitter). Dallas was reported to be extremely reluctant to meet Matthews’ asking price considering the frightening history of players who came back from torn Achilles tendons, noted Stein. The Mavs wanted to sign Matthews to a deal with salaries in the $10-12MM range annually, the ESPN scribe added. The Raptors were also reported to have interest in Matthews.
The shooting guard tore his left Achilles tendon on March 5th, 60 games into the season. Portland went 41-19 with the guard in the lineup and just 10-12 without him. Matthews’ 2014/15 numbers were 15.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 33.7 minutes per contest, with a slash line of .448/.389/.752. His career numbers through 441 games are 14.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.1 APG, with a shooting line of .443/.393/.825. Not too shabby numbers for a player who went undrafted out of Marqutte back in 2009.
Spurs Acquire Ray McCallum
3:27pm: The deal is official, the Kings and Spurs announced via press releases. Sacramento will receive a 2016 second round pick in return for the guard.
10:01am: The Spurs and Kings have agreed to a deal that sends Ray McCallum to San Antonio and a future second-round pick to Sacramento, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). McCallum is making the minimum, but he’s on a three-year deal, so the Spurs can’t take on his salary without using cap space or a trade exception unless they end up sending salary to the Kings when the deal is finalized. That doesn’t appear to be happening, and the Spurs don’t have any trade exceptions. San Antonio is poised to go under the cap to sign LaMarcus Aldridge and others, so the use of cap space seems most likely for this McCallum deal.
The point guard, whose salary is non-guaranteed, ostensibly replaces free agent Cory Joseph, who’s agreed to join the Raptors, as Stein notes. McCallum is set for restricted free agency a year from now, but he at least provides temporary depth. The 24-year-old started 30 games for the Kings last season.
Sacramento has agreed to sign Rajon Rondo, and Darren Collison‘s still on the roster, so McCallum wouldn’t have been in line to do that again this year. The Kings picked the former Detroit Mercy standout 36th overall in 2013.
Kings, Mavs Interested In Josh Smith
The Kings have a “very strong” interest in Josh Smith, league sources tell Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter links), and the Mavs are in play for him, too, as Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops hears (Twitter link). Still, while six teams have shown interest, “nothing of substance” is in the works for Smith, a source tells Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link), whose report came after the Mavs news but before the report on the Kings. Fischer last week reported that the Kings would soon begin talks with the client of Brian Dyke and Wallace Prather.
Smith has reportedly held mutual interest in re-signing with the Rockets, and he enjoys playing for Kevin McHale, notes Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Still, the Rockets have only Non-Bird rights on the forward who signed at midseason, meaning they can only give him $2,492,400, a 20% raise on the $2.077MM he saw in 2014/15, without clearing cap space or raiding the mid-level exception.
The Clippers and Smith also reportedly had mutual interest, though that surfaced before DeAndre Jordan flipped from his decision to sign with the Mavs to recommit to the Clippers instead. Thus, the Clippers only have the minimum salary to offer. The Mavs have loads of cap room that they were to spend on Jordan, while the Kings have roughly $7MM in cap space.
Southwest Rumors: Villanueva, Gasol, Conley
The Southwest Division free agent bounty might take a hit if DeAndre Jordan indeed reverses course on his decision to sign with the Mavericks, as the Clippers are trying to convince him to do, but he’s not the only free agent the Mavs and Clippers have fought over. There’s more on that amid the latest from around the Southwest:
- Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers put in a recruiting call to Charlie Villanueva, who also spoke with Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld, as Villanueva reveals on his own website (hat tip to TNT’s David Aldridge). The forward also indicates that the Kings were in the mix, too, but Villanueva made it clear that he’s pleased to have agreed to a deal with the Mavs.
- Marc Gasol hinted that Mike Conley assured him he’ll be just as committed to re-signing with the Grizzlies next summer, when he’s a free agent, as Gasol was this year, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal writes in a subscription-only piece. Gasol said it never got to a point where he could envision himself playing outside of Memphis. “I was just sitting on it. I wanted to talk to Mike Conley,” Gasol said to Tillery. “Once I knew Mike Conley was on board, that sealed the deal. We both talked about the future. Once I knew he was on board it was a done deal.”
- Some people within the Spurs wondered in retrospect if the team would have been better off giving some of Manu Ginobili‘s minutes to Marco Belinelli, but Ginobili remains valuable to the team and around the league, as Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News chronicles. Someone from another NBA team told Harvey that if he thought Ginobili would ever sign with a franchise other than the Spurs, his team would have pursued him. The veteran swingman has reportedly agreed to re-sign with the Spurs for what appears to be the $2.814MM room exception. Belinelli committed to the Kings.
Western Rumors: Durant, Cauley-Stein, Lee, Suns
The Mavericks believe they’re legitimate contenders for Kevin Durant next summer, buoyed as they are by their agreements to sign DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com. Of course, they’ll have plenty of competition, as many teams will no doubt line up for a chance at the player atop the 2016 free agent class. The Wizards have reportedly loomed as the top threat to the Thunder for the former MVP. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- One lottery team took Willie Cauley-Stein off its board completely over concerns about his surgically repaired left ankle, while another two teams cleared him, but “just barely,” according to Mannix, who writes in the same piece. The Kings drafted Cauley-Stein sixth overall.
- The Warriors didn’t have any option of moving David Lee for no salary in return when they agreed to take on Gerald Wallace from the Celtics, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. The trade agreement nonetheless shrinks Golden State’s projected outlay from nearly $150MM in combined payroll and tax payments to about $128MM, Kawakami writes.
- Suns coach Jeff Hornacek knows and likes Derrick Favors from his time as a Jazz assistant coach, but Utah is firm in its position to keep the power forward, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, suggesting that Phoenix is more likely to make a major addition via trade than free agency at this point. Speculation linking the Suns to Ryan Anderson doesn’t seem likely to bear fruit, Coro adds.
- The Thunder met with free agent Keith Appling on Tuesday, a visit that could lead to a training camp invitation, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. The former Michigan State point guard was with the Lakers for preseason this past fall.