Bulls Sign Nikola Mirotic
JULY 18TH: Mirotic’s contract is official, the team announced in a press release.
“We feel Nikola will be a great addition to our frontcourt where he he’ll be able to space the floor with his outstanding shooting ability,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said. “We’ve known Nikola for several years and we are confident he will be a great fit for our team both on and off the court. He’s a player with great potential.”
JULY 13TH: 5:48pm: Mirotic’s deal will be for $17MM+ over three years, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
5:33pm: The Bulls and Nikola Mirotic have reached agreement on a multi-year deal, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. The terms of the deal are not yet known. Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com reported last week that the two sides were nearing agreement.
The 6’10” forward has to make good on his buyout of Real Madrid, but that’ll be easier than once thought since the $3MM+ can be paid out over the course of multiple years. Mirotic is the most intriguing of the NBA’s draft-and-stash prospects, with interest only growing since he became the 23rd overall pick in the 2011 draft. He put up modest numbers of 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per game for Real Madrid this past season, but he shot 40.9% from behind the three-point line.
The Bulls aren’t bound by the rookie scale, since it’s been three years since Mirotic was drafted, but they can only pay $600K of his buyout this season, meaning the rest would have to come out of Mirotic’s salary. Still, since Real Madrid is willing to spread the buyout payments, it might not require a salary larger than the $5.305MM mid-level exception to bring him stateside. Estimates have varied from well above that amount to only $3MM.
Central Rumors: Bulls, Udoh, Oden, Jones
Pau Gasol said he has no worries about the health of Derrick Rose and added that the Knicks had only long shot to sign him as part of an interview with Jesus Sanchez of Marca.com, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune translates (Twitter links). The Bulls are scheduled to introduce Gasol and Nikola Mirotic to fans in a press conference today after agreeing to deals with both this past weekend, and there’s more from Chicago amid the latest Central Division rumors:
- There appears to be mutual interest between the Bulls and point guard Aaron Brooks, as Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com details. Sam’s story reveals that Brooks is considering the team, while the headline and Sam’s tweet indicate that Chicago is eyeing the 29-year-old point guard.
- The Lakers’ winning bid for Carlos Boozer was $3.251MM, not just $3.25MM as previously reported, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, giving the Bulls slightly more savings than previously thought. The Bulls will be on the hook for $13.549MM of the $16.8MM remaining on Boozer’s contract, which expires next summer, but it won’t count against the salary cap for Chicago.
- Ekpe Udoh has his sights set on joining a contender, and was close to a deal with the Clippers before they struck a deal with Glen Davis, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports (on Twitter). That wouldn’t appear to bode well for any chance the Bucks have of re-signing the big man, who became an unrestricted free agent when Milwaukee declined to make him a qualifying offer.
- The Cavs have interest in Greg Oden, but it’s not clear if they’ve spoken with him or have any plans to do so, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Still, it appears that either the Cavs, LeBron James, or both have been in touch with the free agent center this summer, Amico writes.
- A lack of playing time with the Heat was one reason why James Jones decided to bolt for the Cavs, as Jones said in a radio appearance on The Ticket Morning Show in Miami, tweets Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald.
Renounced Players: Thursday
We may be no longer in the early stages of free agency, but teams continue to clear cap space by renouncing their Non-Bird, Early Bird or full Bird rights to their own free agents to remove their cap holds from the books. Teams that renounce those rights no longer have the ability to exceed the cap to re-sign those players unless they use an exception like the mid-level or the biannual. Some of those decisions are more notable than others, but for completion’s sake, we’ll track the latest of these cap-clearing moves right here:
- The Bulls have renounced their rights to Daequan Cook, Vladimir Radmanovic, Nazr Mohammed, Brian Scalabrine and Jimmer Fredette, reports Mark Deeks of Sham Sports (via Twitter).
- The Mavericks have expunged the cap hold of Petteri Koponen and renounced their rights to Bernard James, reports Deeks (via Twitter).
- The Lakers have renounced their rights to MarShon Brooks and Andrew Goudelock, according to Deeks (via Twitter).
- The Lakers have also renounced the rights to John Salley, Karl Malone, Brian Shaw and other players not on the team last season, according to ESPN salary cap guru Larry Coon (via Twitter).
- As Coon explains, the old CBA allowed Bird rights of players not on a team the previous year to be used in sign-and-trades. With that no longer the case under the current CBA, the rights to players like Salley, Malone and Shaw are no longer useful. The teams must still go through the formality of renouncing the rights, but tend not to do so until they actually need the cap space which, like in this case, could be years later (Twitter links are here).
- With Salley’s rights renounced, Coon believes the oldest Bird rights still on the books might be Roshown McLeod with the Celtics (Twitter link).
Lakers Claim Carlos Boozer Off Waivers
10:52pm: The Lakers have officially announced the addition of Boozer via a team release.
“Carlos is an established veteran and a proven all-star, who will be a welcome addition to our team,” said GM Mitch Kupchak. “We’re very pleased to have won the bidding process and to have gained his rights, and look forward to his contributions next season.”
5:29pm: The Lakers secured Boozer with a winning bid of $3.25MM, reports Stein (via Twitter). Consequently, the Bulls will owe Boozer the difference of $13.55MM.
4:08pm: The Lakers submitted the winning bid to secure Carlos Boozer off amnesty waivers, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s not immediately clear how much the Lakers bid, but it is a partial claim of his $16.8MM salary, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Lakers will be on the hook for the amount of their bid and the Bulls will have to pay the rest, though L.A.’s amount will count against the cap and Chicago’s won’t.
The Bulls had tried to fold Boozer into what would have been a sign-and-trade for Pau Gasol, but the Lakers turned Chicago away, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes (on Twitter), only to secure Boozer at a lower cost. Chicago wound up amnestying Boozer to clear the cap space necessary to sign Gasol and Nikola Mirotic.
The Hornets and Hawks appeared to be the early favorites to submit partial waiver claims for Boozer, but Charlotte took itself out of the running after agreeing to a deal with Lance Stephenson. Teams with cap room were the only ones eligible to submit a bid, encompassing about a third of the league. The Lakers could have opened up as much roughly $3MM for Boozer while still retaining Kendall Marshall‘s non-guaranteed contract and the rights to restricted free agent Ryan Kelly.
The specter of a Boozer amnesty hung over the Bulls all season, particularly once Carmelo Anthony reportedly identified the team among his top choices in free agency. Amnestying Boozer appeared to be the easiest path toward clearing the necessary cap room for a splashy upgrade. Chicago made a pitch to Anthony and also reportedly met with Rich Paul, the agent for LeBron James. The Bulls apparently gauged Chicago native Dwyane Wade‘s interest in a homecoming, too, but all the while, they seemed to prefer trading Boozer rather than amnestying him.
Chicago wound up with neither a superstar free agent nor a willing trade partner for Boozer, so notoriously thrifty owner Jerry Reinsdorf will be stuck paying him even though he’ll be playing elsewhere. Still, the robust market that developed for the 32-year-old power forward as soon as he hit waivers meant he wasn’t likely to hit free agency, and the Lakers end up relieving some of Reinsdorf’s obligation with their bid.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
And-Ones: Boozer, Blair, Williams, Mavs
With the Bulls using their amnesty provision on Carlos Boozer on Tuesday, only seven NBA players remain amnesty-eligible as noted in our 2014 Amnesty Primer. But the five teams that haven’t used the provision will have to wait until next summer, as Wednesday marked the deadline for this offseason.
Boozer was snatched up by the Lakers earlier today for a manageable price of $3.25MM, though as ESPN’s Marc Stein reports (via Twitter), the Duke product had strong interest in the Rockets had he gone unclaimed and cleared waivers. Meanwhile, Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times speculates that Boozer’s presence might signal a more complimentary role for rookie Julius Randle unless the playoff-hungry Lakers consider June’s No. 7 pick a small forward (Twitter links are here).
Here’s more from around the league on Thursday night:
- DeJuan Blair‘s starting salary in his new deal with the Wizards is $2MM, Hoops Rumors has learned, so that leaves just $16K on the Eric Maynor trade exception the team reportedly used to absorb him via sign-and-trade from the Wizards. That effectively exhausts the Maynor exception, which expires this coming February 20th, since the remaining $16K wouldn’t be enough to absorb another player.
- Louis Williams left his exit interview with Hawks officials expecting to be traded, as he told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who writes in a subscription-only piece. The instinct was correct, as the Hawks shipped Williams to the Raptors late last month, but Williams said he harbors no ill feelings toward the Atlanta brass.
- Multiple reports have linked Mo Williams to Dallas in recent days, but a source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that the Mavericks are pursuing another free agent whom they would prefer to spend their room exception on.
- The Mavs‘ deal with Devin Harris, which became official earlier tonight, is for four years and $16.55MM, reports Dwain Harris of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (via Twitter). Meanwhile Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News has the yearly breakdown, reporting that Harris will make $3.878MM next season, followed by $4.053MM in 2015/16, $4.228MM in 2016/17 and $4.403MM in what is a partially guaranteed fourth year in 2017/18.
- Metta World Peace would love to play for the Lakers, Clippers or Knicks, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News hears, adding that it seems any conversation World Peace may have had about a return to the Lakers wasn’t too serious (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Carmelo Anthony To Re-Sign With Knicks
2:22pm: Marc Stein of ESPN.com has the figures for all five seasons (on Twitter): It’s the maximum $22,458,401 in year one, followed by a discounted raise to $22,875,000 for year two, and maximum raises that bring Anthony’s salaries to $24,559,380, $26,243,760 and $27,928,140 in the final three years. That brings the total value to $124,064,681, exactly $5,071,124 less than the maximum for which he could have signed.
8:42am: Anthony will receive his maximum salary in the first year of his deal, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. That precise max is $22,458,401, and it allows for a raise worth $1,684,380 each season. However, Anthony’s raise for the second season of the deal is $400K, Berman reports, adding that the contract will also include a 15% trade kicker should Anthony decide to waive his no-trade clause.
7:19pm: The deal also includes a no-trade clause, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 7:00pm: Anthony’s contract will be for $124MM over five years, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who adds that Anthony will have an early termination option after the fourth season. The deal – which starts at $22.5MM in the first year – includes a “slight increase” in the second year followed by “larger increases” thereafter (Twitter links).
MONDAY, 10:05am: Anthony took a discount, Jackson confirms, and while the deal is for an estimated $122-123MM, the total value remains unclear, as Marc Berman of the New York Post details.
SUNDAY, 11:54am: Phil Jackson also confirms the pending agreement via the Knicks official Twitter account (Twitter links). Jackson said, “After 3 months of questions around Carmelo Anthony’s return to the NY Knicks we are now happy to know that we have the cornerstone of what we envision as a team of excellence. Steve Mills and I have assured Carmelo through our conversations, that we share the vision and the determination to build this team.”
SUNDAY, 11:28am: Anthony has confirmed he will be returning to New York via his website. In his announcement, ‘Melo said, “This organization has supported me and in return, I want to stay and build here with this city and my team.” Contract details have not been announced yet.
1:10pm: The deal is for five years and more than $120MM, but the final amount is undetermined, and Anthony may still accept less than the max, sources tell Wojnarowski.
SATURDAY, 12:05pm: Carmelo Anthony will inform the Knicks of his decision to re-sign in New York within the coming hours, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Frank Isola of The New York Daily News first reported Anthony’s intention to return to New York earlier this week, but the former scoring champ appeared to fluctuate over the last few days in deciding between the Knicks, Lakers and Bulls. ‘Melo will sign a five-year contract. The deal will presumably be for a maximum salary of $129MM, although Knicks president Phil Jackson has suggested that there were multiple salary structures on the table for Anthony.
Anthony, ranked second in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, was encouraged by the momentum Jackson had garnered the franchise, which included hiring Derek Fisher as head coach and acquiring Jose Calderon via trade. The Bulls offered ‘Melo the best opportunity to contend in the upcoming season, but were unable to offer nearly as much annual salary or as many years as New York, who exercised their Bird Rights to extend the winning bid to retain the All-Star.
The client CAA client will remain in New York for the duration of his prime, after coming to his home state in a 2011 trade from Denver. Since joining the Knicks, ‘Melo has put up some of his most effective seasons as an individual, but seen mixed results as the centerpiece for a blockbuster team. The Knicks have won a single playoff series since obtaining Anthony.
A series of poor decisions had turned the Knicks from hopeful contenders to a laughing stock to many last season, in which they finished 37-45. The hefty contracts for Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, and Andrea Bargnani left the team with no cap flexibility, and a history of parting with draft selections and prospects had them headed toward the 2014 draft with no picks. However, Jackson was able to swing a series of moves that sent Chandler to Dallas and earned New York multiple second round picks.
‘Melo will hope Jackson, who has managed some of the game’s greats to many titles as a coach, can work some of the same magic as an executive. Jackson will work with Fisher to implement his triangle offense around Anthony’s strengths. Anthony’s belief in the future of New York will likely play a large part in determining his legacy, and whether he ever finds prolonged success in the playoffs. Anthony has standout averages of 25.3 PPG and 6.5 RPG for his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bulls Offer Contract To Cameron Bairstow
The Bulls have offered a three-year contract to Cameron Bairstow, a source told David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link). The 6’9 big man is currently playing for Chicago’s summer league team in Las Vegas, and is averaging 8.3 PPG, 6.3 PPG, and 58.8% shooting in 27.7 MPG through three games.
The Australian native played for four years at the University of New Mexico and had a breakout year in 2013/14, posting 20.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 1.5 BPG while shooting 55.6% from the field; this marked a considerable improvement from his 9.7/5.9/0.6/45.6 line in 2012/13. Chicago selected Bairstow with the 49th overall pick in this year’s draft,
Bulls Waive Amundson, Brewer, James
The Bulls have waived Lou Amundson, Ronnie Brewer and Mike James, the team announced via press release. The move wipes their non-guaranteed salaries from Chicago’s books. All three were on minimum-salary deals to which Chicago signed them at the end of last season in the hopes they could end up helping the Bulls aggregate salaries in a trade. Instead, Chicago opens up the cap space necessary to complete their deals with Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic.
The trio will hit free agency unless another team picks them up off waivers. The trio combined to play a total of three minutes for the Bulls after the team signed them, but each isn’t too far removed from a more prominent role. James finished the 2012/13 season as the starting point guard for Dallas, Brewer started 34 games for the Knicks that year, and Amundson, though long a reserve, was well-regarded enough to merit deals with three teams that season.
Bulls Amnesty Carlos Boozer
4:15pm: The Bulls have officially announced the move, via press release.
3:49pm: The Bulls have used the amnesty provision to waive Carlos Boozer, reports Sam Smith of Bulls.com (Twitter link). His $16.8MM salary will no longer count toward the salary cap for Chicago, which has needed room to accommodate its deals for Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, as I explained earlier this week. Boozer will nonetheless continue to receive paychecks from the Bulls, though Chicago’s financial obligation will be reduced if a team puts in a partial bid for Boozer as allowed in the amnesty waiver process.
Chicago had preferred to work out a trade for the 32-year-old power forward. Even though his name came up in conjunction with the Knicks if Carmelo Anthony were to decide to play for Chicago, ‘Melo remains in New York and no serious trade market for Boozer appeared to develop. Bulls GM Gar Forman and company were also working against a deadline, since Wednesday is the final day of the amnesty period.
The Rob Pelinka client remains a productive player, if not a star, and he would attract plenty of interest on the free agent market were he to clear waivers. That’s not a given, since teams with cap room figure to register bids. He’d go to the highest bidder if multiple teams do so, and if multiple bidders submit equivalent amounts in the blind bidding process, he’ll go to the team among them that posted the worst record last season.
Heat Notes: LeBron, Bosh, Chalmers, Wade
The Bulls were among the teams with which agent Rich Paul took meetings to discuss LeBron James during the first week of free agency, as Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reveal in a behind-the-scenes look at LeBron’s choice. Regardless, James was no longer willing to accept being underpaid, as Windhorst examines in a separate piece. James decided before free agency began that he’d take a max contract, and no matter where he would end up, he would demand a deal with a player option after year one, Windhorst writes. James wants to continue to sign short-term deals for the foreseeable future to maintain flexibility in case the maximum salary jumps or is eliminated in the next collective bargaining agreement, as Windhorst explains. He also wants to keep the pressure on Cavs brass to improve the team around him, the ESPN scribe adds. Here’s more on the Heat as they pick up the pieces after LeBron’s departure:
- It wasn’t merely a two-team race between the Rockets and Heat for Chris Bosh, as the Nuggets, Suns and Lakers all made offers to the No. 3 player in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, reports Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com.
- The Heat’s contract with Mario Chalmers calls for him to make $4MM for this coming season and $4.3MM in 2015/16, Windhorst tweets. The ESPN scribe pegs the likely salary for Dwyane Wade at $15MM based on the Heat’s other moves this summer and the cap space the team still has available (Twitter link).
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Miami renounced its rights to Ray Allen, Udonis Haslem Michael Beasley, Toney Douglas, James Jones, Rashard Lewis, Greg Oden and the retired Shane Battier and Juwan Howard, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. That’ll make it difficult to re-sign Allen, but the team continues moving toward a new deal with Haslem, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The Heat would likely use either cap space or the $2.732MM room exception on Haslem.