Pacific Rumors: Bryant, Johnson, Kings, Clippers
Earlier this evening we asked which team is having the best offseason so far, and right now more readers believe it's the Lakers than any other team. That stands to reason, given their sign-and-trade for Steve Nash and re-signing of backup big man Jordan Hill, along with their ability to convince Antawn Jamison to sign a deal for the veteran's minimum, well below market value. Here's what we're hearing from the Lakers and their Pacific Division rivals:
- Kobe Bryant's influence in the Nash acquisition demonstrates Bryant's improved relationship with the Lakers front office, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times writes. Last year, the Lakers hired coach Mike Brown without consulting their star, while Bryant criticized the team on its decision to trade Lamar Odom and for not being more up-front about Pau Gasol's future.
- Marcus R. Fuller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press looks at what's gone wrong the past two years for 2010 No. 4 pick Wesley Johnson, whom the Timberwolves traded to the Suns today as part of a three-team deal.
- The Kings must show maturity and learn to play with more cohesion for the team to improve, opines Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- The Clippers have hired Bob Ociepka as an assistant coach, according to the team's website. The longtime NBA assistant spent last year with the Blazers.
Odds & Ends: Harden, Lin, Brooks, Hawks, Bulls
Earlier this month, Kevin Durant tweeted that teammate James Harden wouldn't be "hitting the market" next summer, suggesting the Thunder would lock Harden up to a long-term extension before then. Today, he backed off that assertion, as Sean Deveney of the Sporting News tweets. "I may be wrong," said Durant. "I don’t sign contracts, I don’t negotiate contracts."
An extension for Harden is certainly one of the Thunder's top priorities this offseason, but the reigning Sixth Man of the Year will be a restricted, rather than unrestricted, free agent next summer, so the team can afford to exercise a little patience for now. Here are a few more Friday notes from around the NBA:
- Carmelo Anthony dismissed the notion that he helped push Jeremy Lin out of New York, telling Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that he was one of Lin's "true supporters."
- According to a Sports Exchange report (link via HoopsWorld), Rockets GM Daryl Morey believed his offer sheets to Lin and Omer Asik would be matched by their respective clubs.
- Kings coach Keith Smart tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld that he was surprised Sacramento was able to sign Aaron Brooks: "Based on what we had heard from his standpoint is that he had a contract on the table with a lot more than we could offer him. And yet knowing the situation where we have a team, we’re trying to develop to get ready to start being in playoff contention and he didn’t hesitate. He thought about it for a while and within a couple hours he called right back and said he wanted to be a King."
- Josh Smith has long been rumored to be on the trade block, but new Hawks GM Danny Ferry sounds open to building around the 26-year-old. "He's excited for next season," Ferry said of Smith. "We've talked about how we're going to play. We've talked about other players. His ideas, my ideas. I'm just trying to establish a relationship" (link via Yahoo! Sports).
- Sam Smith fields a number of questions about the Bulls' offseason and future plans in his latest mailbag for Bulls.com.
Kings Exploring Trading Jimmer Fredette?
Earlier this week, the Kings agreed to sign Aaron Brooks to a two-year deal, adding a third point guard to a roster that already included Isaiah Thomas and Jimmer Fredette. While the acquisition of Brooks doesn't mean another roster move is imminent, the Kings have "entertained some trade discussions" involving Fredette, according to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.
It seems unlikely that the Kings would be ready to part ways with last year's 10th overall pick after one unspectacular season. However, Fredette's camp has "made it known" it would like to either get an idea of the 23-year-old's role in Sacramento, or get a trade to somewhere where he'd see more playing time, according to Kyler.
SI.com's Sam Amick acknowledged this week that Fredette's camp was "clearly surprised" by the addition of Brooks, but Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (Sulia link) feels trade speculation involving Jimmer is overblown. According to Jones, the Kings didn't want to rely on two second-year players to handle the point, and Fredette is often at his best when he's not the primary ballhandler anyway. Considering Brooks may not even be back in Sacramento next season (the second year of his deal is a player option), his signing doesn't necessarily hurt Jimmer's long-term future with the Kings, says Jones.
Free Agent Rumors: Timberwolves, Rush, Mills
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:
Odds & Ends: Gordon, Cavaliers, Vazquez
- Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago discusses why the Bulls' title window will shrink over the next two seasons.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer describes the progress that Byron Mullens appears to be making with the Bobcats based on his performances at the Las Vegas Summer League.
- 76ers head coach Doug Collins says he feels "very good" about what the team has accomplished during this offseason, writes John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com.
Kings Waive Hassan Whiteside
The Kings have waived Hassan Whiteside in order to clear a little more cap room to finalize the Aaron Brooks signing, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick. Whiteside's minimum-salary contract was non-guaranteed for this season.
While some contract databases suggest the deadline to waive Whiteside without guaranteeing his 2012/13 salary was yesterday, I would assume Sacramento let him go in time to avoid paying him for the coming season. The 23-year-old was drafted with the 33rd overall pick by the Kings in 2010, but barely saw any NBA playing time in his two seasons with the team, appearing in a total of just 19 games.
Kings Agree To Sign Aaron Brooks
4:33pm: Brook's deal averages $3.3MM annually, with a second-year player option, according to SI.com's Sam Amick (via Twitter).
4:21pm: Brooks' contract is expected to be worth about $3MM annually, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (via Sulia).
Contract Details: Novak, Green, Miller, Thompson
While most players' contracts include annual raises, or at the very least, identical annual salaries, Steve Novak's new contract with the Knicks is a little different, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains (Twitter link). Novak's deal starts at a little over $4MM, dips to below $3.5MM by 2014/15, then rises back up to $3.75MM for 2015/16. The unusual structure of the deal provides the Knicks a small amount of savings in the years when the rest of the team's roster will get extremely expensive.
Deeks shared a number of other contract details from around the league, via Twitter, so let's round them up….
- The Spurs' deal with Danny Green is for three fully-guaranteed years and $11,287,500, with no options.
- Andre Miller will earn $5MM in each of the next two seasons with the Nuggets. The third year of his deal is partially guaranteed for $2MM of $4.625MM.
Earlier updates:
Kings Acquire James Johnson From Raptors
12:14pm: The deal is now official, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (Sulia link).
7:28am: The Kings and Raptors have agreed to a trade that will send James Johnson to Sacramento in exchange for a future second-round pick, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein. The second-rounder heading to Toronto is for 2014, according to SI.com's Sam Amick (via Twitter). Stein adds that the deal could be made official as soon as today.
Geoff Petrie Talks Kings, Offseason
Jason Jones from the Sacramento Bee talked to Kings president Geoff Petrie about the hectic offseason as well as the Kings plans as we get deeper into the summer. Petrie had the following to say:
"A lot of the hot money goes out early. There still players out there who are quality players and there’s still the possibility for trades are certainly still pretty active. We’ve had quite a few conversations on different things and I’m hopeful we’ll get some things done in the next few days."