Free Agent Rumors: ‘Melo, Gasol, Hayward, Jazz
The Knicks made a call to Carmelo Anthony shortly after free agency began overnight to remind him of their desire to keep him in New York, as Al Iannazzone details. That’s not surprising, of course, and while the Knicks feel confident in their ability to reel Anthony back to the Big Apple, his first face-to-face is today with the Bulls. Here’s more from the first day of free agency:
- The Lakers, Bulls, Mavs and Warriors made the first calls to Pau Gasol, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter).
- The Jazz spoke with restricted free agent Gordon Hayward tonight, a league source tells Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (on Twitter). Both sides are expected to continue talks later today. Utah also has high interest in retaining Marvin Williams, Jones says (Twitter links).
- A league source tells Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (on Twitter) that the meeting between the Blazers and Spencer Hawes “went very well.”
- The Lakers, Heat, Bulls and Thunder all reached out to Caron Butler, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link).
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune adds Kirk Hinrich to the list of free agents with whom the Bulls have had contact since last night (Twitter link).
- After the Hawks called Kent Bazemore and the Celtics followed suit, the Mavs, Lakers and Suns also made contact with him, in that order, Kennedy tweets.
- The Celtics contacted Jordan Hill directly and also spoke to his reps at BDA Sports Management, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (on Twitter).
- The Rockets will meet with James Johnson, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Free Agent Rumors: Melo, Love, Henry, Sessions,
The Knicks are still viewed in league circles as the favorites in the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The team is confident that it will get the final sales pitch with Anthony, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The latest free agent rumors from around the league..
- The Rockets, Suns, Bulls, and Warriors are all expected to make plays for Kevin Love if they miss out on LeBron James and/or Anthony, tweets Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press.
- The Pacers are targeting Xavier Henry in free agency to replace Evan Turner, tweets Shaun Powell of Sports On Earth.
- Bucks free agent guard Ramon Sessions‘ camp received calls from three teams in the first hour of free agency, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
- The Grizzlies, Nets, Spurs, and Thunder have expressed in free agent point guard Sebastian Telfair, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). Telfair played in China last season. For the Nets, Telfair could be a potential replacement for Shaun Livingston if he goes elsewhere.
- The Nets reached out as soon as the negotiating window opened to their own free agents Paul Pierce, Livingston, and Alan Anderson, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
- The Blazers have strong interest in signing a stretch four, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Spencer Hawes, Boris Diaw, and Josh McRoberts are among their targets.
- Blazers GM Neil Olshey met with Hawes and his agent, Greg Lawrence, tonight in Los Angeles, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
- Channing Frye would be open to returning to the Blazers, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. “Of course coming back would be an option,” Frye wrote in an e-mail. “I love the city, the fans, and the players they have are top notch.”
- Nick Young was contacted by the Lakers and a number of other teams, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter).
Clippers Confident They Can Sign Paul Pierce
The Clippers believe they have a real chance of stealing Paul Pierce away from the Nets now that Jason Kidd is no longer coaching in Brooklyn, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Of course, it has been long speculated that Pierce could be tempted by a reunion with former coach Doc Rivers.
Besides the Clippers, the Blazers, Grizzlies, Bulls, Mavericks, and Rockets all reached out to Pierce tonight, Stein tweets.
Kidd was dealt to the Bucks this week in exchange for a pair of second round draft picks. The guard-turned-coach reportedly made a power play for personnel control and possibly a more lucrative contract and was denied. At that stage, the Nets granted Kidd permission to talk with the Bucks about their opening. It wasn’t long before Bucks co-owner and former Nets minority owner Marc Lasry had a framework in place for Kidd to replace coach Larry Drew.
Pierce has made nearly $185MM in his career, per Basketball-Reference, so he could certainly afford to take less money to head west and join the Clippers.
Heat Interested In Luol Deng
12:25am: In addition to the previously reported Heat, Mavs, and Hawks, the Clippers, Lakers and Bulls have all registered interest with Deng, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
12:06am: Miami’s Pat Riley has called Luol Deng‘s reps and registered his significant interest, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Mavericks were the first team on the horn with Deng early this morning but, apparently, Miami wasn’t far behind.
Earlier this week it was reported that the Hawks are thinking about making a run at Luol Deng this summer. The Hawks have $15MM+ to spend on free agents this offseason after their trade with the Raptors and Deng appears to be one of their prime targets. However, it may be another team out of the Southeast Division that comes away with the Man from Sudan.
In 63 games for the Bulls and Cavs this year, Deng averaged 16.0 PPG and 5.7 RPG. He finished with a combined 15.2 PER and, unsurprisingly, the numbers show that he performed better in Chicago.
Bulls, Mavs, Wolves Eyeing Chandler Parsons
The Bulls and Mavs are among the teams to register interest tonight in Rockets’ restricted free agent Chandler Parsons, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The general rule of thumb, Stein says, is that any team interested in Carmelo Anthony also seems to be interested in Parsons. Meanwhile, Stein adds that the Wolves continue to monitor the forward in the event that the Rockets decide to make a run at Kevin Love. So far, Anthony has been the Rockets’ focus.
We heard earlier tonight that the Cavs are also eyeing Parsons. In the last three years with the Rockets, Parsons has averaged 14.1 points per night and shot 47.3% from the floor. The former second round pick played more minutes than any member of the Rockets last season. The Rockets presumably want to keep Parsons, but they also have their eye on bigger fish – like Melo – this summer.
Central Notes: Kidd, Frye, Stephenson, Nelson
Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry apologized to the fired Larry Drew over the Jason Kidd saga, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. I’m sure that made everything all better. Here’s the latest from the Central Division..
- One free agent target for the Cavs is expected to be Channing Frye, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto also expects the Cavs to bring back unrestricted free agent Spencer Hawes.
- Several sources have indicated to Candace Buckner of the Indy Star (on Twitter) that the Pacers will give Lance Stephenson the star treatment as they try to convince him to re-sign. The Pacers have even produced a movie in his honor to be shown once free agency officially kicks off at midnight ET.
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com (on Twitter) fully expects Pistons president and coach Stan Van Gundy to reach out to Jameer Nelson in free agency. Both have tremendous respect for one another. With homes in Orlando and Philadelphia, Denton (link) expects him to consider teams close to those places like the Heat, Nets, Knicks, 76ers, and Wizards.
- Nelson is prioritizing winning and wants to sign with a contender, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
- If forward Nikola Mirotic is done with his team in Spain and headed this week to meet with the Bulls, that’s news to the team, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. According to one source, Chicago was not informed that Mirotic had grown disenchanted with Real Madrid and was ready to join them, as one international report indicated.
Lowe’s Latest: Kidd, Blatche, Hammond, Profits
Departing Nets coach Jason Kidd planned to eventually fire most if not all of the team’s front office as he sought control of the club’s basketball operations, several league sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe. The Grantland scribe has plenty more revelations on Kidd’s shocking change of address as well as insight on revenue and profitability for several NBA franchises. We’ll hit the highlights here:
- Kidd suggested to Nets ownership at midseason that they replace GM Billy King, though he didn’t pitch himself for the job at that point, Lowe writes. The Bucks sought permission to talk to Kidd earlier this month, and when the Nets hesitated to respond, Kidd made his push to assume control of Nets front office.
- The Nets publicly termed Andray Blatche‘s midseason absence a product of “personal reasons,” but it was instead because Kidd had essentially suspended him out of concerns over the big man’s conditioning and preparation, according to Lowe. Kidd’s move impressed Nets brass, Lowe adds.
- The jobs of Bucks GM John Hammond and assistant GM David Morway are safe for the time being, Lowe hears, adding that those two nonetheless had no knowledge of ownership’s negotiations with Kidd.
- The Nets are projected to have lost a league-high $144MM this year, Lowe reports. The Wizards are next on that list, projected to have lost just $13MM.
- The Bucks are set to make about $18MM from the league’s revenue sharing program and $3MM from luxury tax payouts, making up for the $6.5MM the team is projected to have lost this year.
- The Hornets are projected to have lost almost $34MM while taking in only about $22MM in revenue sharing income. The Pistons are set to tally $26MM in losses and recoup only $10.6MM.
- The Lakers lead the league with a $100.1MM projected profit, followed by the Bulls at $61MM, Rockets at $40.7MM, Celtics at $33.1MM and Thunder at nearly $29MM. The Spurs, Jazz and Nuggets also are in line to profit.
- The high-revenue Knicks are expected to have lost $3.5MM.
Free Agent Rumors: Lowry, Gasol, Parsons, Ariza
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is likely to make a strong push to re-sign Kyle Lowry just as free agency begins tonight to prevent the Heat and Rockets from having a chance to jump in, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Here’s more free agency chatter with 11 hours left to go until negotiations can begin:
- Pau Gasol will meet with the Thunder, Bulls and Warriors, reports Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, who suggests the big man hasn’t ruled out a meeting with Lakers brass, either.
- Chandler Parsons would be on board with a sign-and-trade to the Wolves if the money is on the mark, a source close to Parsons tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Minnesota reportedly has interest in Parsons as a fallback trade target in a Kevin Love swap.
- The Rockets, Mavs, Lakers, Clippers, Cavs, Raptors, Suns and Pistons are all suitors for Trevor Ariza, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter link).
- The Rockets and Mavs are gearing up to sign Jordan Hill, as are the Lakers, Hill’s incumbent team, Wojnarowski tweets.
- The Magic are likely to make a play for Rodney Stuckey, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes.
- Kent Bazemore is anticipating interest from the Suns, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).
- Matt Bonner is interested in a return to the Spurs, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News observes (Twitter link). “I’d love to be back, especially if everybody is coming back.”
- Damian Lillard would like to see the Blazers go after Channing Frye, Vince Carter, Spencer Hawes and Ariza after re-signing Mo Williams, the point guard tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Carter would be open to signing with Portland, Haynes hears.
Latest On Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony is confident that the Knicks will offer him a maximum-salary contract to entice him to stay, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The team is reportedly willing to do so in spite of Phil Jackson‘s repeated public attempts to persuade the star forward to re-sign for less. Anthony is eligible for a deal worth more than $129.1MM over five years, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors explained.
The sought-after free agent is set to meet with the Bulls on Tuesday, Mavs and Rockets on Wednesday, and the Lakers at some point this week, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The visit with Lakers brass is likely to happen Thursday, Isola writes. The Knicks are nonetheless apparently upbeat about their chances to keep the 2012/13 scoring champ.
The Bulls appear to be in the lead to snatch him away from New York. Derrick Rose reiterated his stance that he doesn’t feel that it’s his place to recruit stars to the team while nonetheless praising Anthony’s game in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. A source close to Rose told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that Anthony understands that Rose would like to have him in Chicago and denied that Rose would prefer that the Bulls acquire Kevin Love instead of Anthony.
Western Notes: Lakers, Parsons, Honeycutt
If they are unable to land Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James, the Lakers are also expected to have a strong interest in Wizards free-agent forward Trevor Ariza, Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Pistons center Greg Monroe, and Suns forward Channing Frye, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
More from out west:
- Potential suitors are beginning to line up now that the Rockets have declined their team option on Chandler Parsons. Teams that are potentially interested in pursuing Parsons are the Timberwolves, Bulls, Mavericks, and Lakers, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Houston will have the opportunity to match any offer sheet that Parsons signs.
- Spears also notes that if the Timberwolves aren’t able to work out a trade that sends Kevin Love to the Warriors for Klay Thompson, then Minnesota might attempt to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Rockets for Parsons.
- Former NBA player, Tyler Honeycutt is weighing overseas offers versus making an NBA comeback, reports David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link). He has already auditioned for the Jazz, Rockets and Warriors.