Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Re-Sign Udonis Haslem

July 18th, 2014 at 3:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 3:54pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

“Udonis Haslem has been a fixture in Miami over the last 11 years,” Heat president Pat Riley said in the team’s statement. “He’s a team player, an encompassing all-purpose player, that would play just about any position or role in order to win. It’s been such a privilege and honor to have him with the organization and I’m so happy that he decided to come back.”

TUESDAY, 2:57pm: The Heat and Udonis Haslem have agreed a deal, a source tells Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Miami will use its $2.732MM room exception, Winderman adds, so presumably that will be Haslem’s first-year salary on the deal. The room exception allows for a contract of up to two years, but it’s unclear if Haslem’s getting a second season.

The 34-year-old Miami native had appeared close to a deal in recent days, but there always seemed little chance he would leave the Heat. He winds up with little more than half of the salary he would have made if he had opted in for $4.62MM in June, but he chose to opt out in an apparent attempt to give the Heat a better shot at re-signing LeBron James. That didn’t happen, but Haslem will return as the Heat welcome Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others who were a part of the team during LeBron’s tenure in Miami.

The Heat’s commitment to the client of Henry Thomas, who also represents Wade and Bosh, didn’t waver even as they renounced Haslem’s Bird Rights to clear cap room. Haslem had a reduced role for Miami this past season, averaging 3.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game, but he made 18 starts in the regular season and six in the playoffs as coach Erik Spoelstra juggled his rotation.

Mavs Sign Eric Griffin

July 18th, 2014 at 2:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:53pm: Shams Charania of RealGM has it as a three-year contract, so if that’s the case, the Mavs used a portion of the meager cap room they had left, leaving their $2.732MM room exception untouched, since room exception deals can run no longer than two seasons.

TUESDAY, 2:01pm: It’s a non-guaranteed one-year deal, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link).

1:47pm: The Mavs have signed Eric Griffin, the team announced via press release. Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside reported earlier this week that Dallas had offered the swingman a partially guaranteed deal. The 24-year-old Griffin, who’s yet to make his official NBA debut, has been playing for the Mavs in summer league this week. The amount of his partial guarantee isn’t clear, but he’ll likely receive no more than the minimum salary if he sticks with the team.

It’s the third straight summer that Griffin has taken part in NBA summer league play after going undrafted out of Campbell in 2012. He joined the Heat for training camp this past fall, and spent time playing overseas in Venezuela and Puerto Rico this past season.

Griffin averaged 9.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game this week for the summer Mavs. He used his 6’8″ height to control the boards in college, grabbing 8.7 RPG in 30.3 MPG during his senior year.

Lakers Waive Kendall Marshall

July 18th, 2014 at 2:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:30pm: The move is official, the team announced.

12:51pm: The Lakers have decided to waive the non-guaranteed contract of Kendall Marshall, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The team nonetheless has interest in re-signing him should he clear waivers, Wojnarowski adds. The move appears tied to the team’s deal with Xavier Henry, as dropping Marshall allows the Lakers to open $915,243 more in cap room after they used much of their available space on their winning amnesty bid for Carlos Boozer.

The move appears to signal that the team is prepared to make Jeremy Lin the starting point guard. Marshall would have provided stiff competition for Lin, having come off a strong performance for the Lakers, who signed him in December. The 22-year-old averaged 8.0 points and an impressive 8.8 assists in 29.0 minutes per game across 54 appearances, helping revive a career that had gone south seemingly ever since the Suns made him the 13th overall pick in the 2012 draft.

The addition of Boozer at $3.251MM against the cap for next season meant the Lakers didn’t have enough cap space to fulfill their agreement with Nick Young on a four-year, $21.5MM deal, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times noted late Thursday (Twitter link). That means the team would either have to renounce its rights to Ryan Kelly, whom the Lakers are interested in re-signing, or waive Marshall. I wouldn’t be surprised if another team picked his minimum-salary contract off waivers, given his cheap cost, youth, and production last season.

Wizards Re-Sign Drew Gooden

July 18th, 2014 at 2:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 2:04pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

“The addition of Drew was a big part of our success late last season and we are excited to have him back with us,” Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld said. “His skills will help to solidify our front court rotation and his experience will help us continue to grow as a team.”

TUESDAY, 4:56pm: It’s a one-year deal for the minimum salary, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

2:34pm: Drew Gooden has agreed to remain with the Wizards, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, who believes the deal is for one year (Twitter link). It’s not clear just how much the veteran big man will receive, but Washington, which is capped out and has already committed its mid-level exception to Paul Pierce, has Gooden’s Non-Bird rights, so it can give him a 20% raise on his minimum salary from last season.

Gooden was a late-season revelation after signing a pair of 10-day contracts before inking a deal that covered the rest of the season. The Dan Fegan client averaged 8.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game for the Wizards in 22 regular season appearances after spending most of the season at home following Milwaukee’s decision to cut him via the amnesty provision last summer.

Pau Gasol Signs With Bulls

July 18th, 2014 at 1:10pm CST by Charlie Adams

JULY 18TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

“We are really excited to add such a versatile player to our roster who has been both an All-Star and an NBA Champion,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said in the team’s statement. “Pau is a skilled player with a high basketball IQ and is a true pro and a proven winner.”

JULY 13TH, 10:46pm: It’ll be a three-year, $22MM+ deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

JULY 12TH, 4:35pm: Pau Gasol will be leaving Los Angeles to play for the Bulls next season, the big man announced on Twitter (hat tip to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News). Terms of the contract haven’t been released, but the Spaniard won’t be heading to Chicago via sign-and-trade, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN had noted earlier.

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Detroit Pistons

A hot name in the free agent market, the Arn Tellem client reportedly drew interest from the Spurs, Knicks, Thunder, and Heat, among others. The Lakers surely would have liked to work out a sign-and-trade for Gasol, but apparently the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, and Gasol walks away from LA with the Lakers having nothing to show for it.

An earlier report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports indicated the Bulls would give Gasol a starting salary in the neighborhood of $6MM if they couldn’t come to terms with Lakers on a sign-and-trade. Given that Chicago is over the cap, they’d actually only be able to offer Gasol a maximum salary of $5.305MM using the non-taxpayers mid-level exception.

If the team uses the amnesty provision to shed Carlos Boozer‘s contract before signing Gasol, they’ll be able to give him a higher payday, and it would give them greater flexibility to sign Nikola Mirotic. There have been conflicting reports on whether or not the club intends to use their amnesty, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf has a reputation as being cost-conscious, and he might not be willing to pay a player who’s not going to be playing on his team.

At 34 years old, Gasol is beyond his prime playing days, but he’s still able to put up more than respectable numbers. He was able to average 17.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game last season over 60 games.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hornets Sign Lance Stephenson

July 18th, 2014 at 12:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 12:09pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release:

“We are extremely excited to add Lance to our team,” Hornets GM Rich Cho said. “He is a great up-and-coming player with an incredibly high ceiling. He is an exceptional athlete who has the versatility and skill to play multiple positions on both offense and defense. We believe he will be an outstanding addition to our roster.”

WEDNESDAY, 8:07am: The Hornets will sign Lance Stephenson to a three-year deal, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. It’s worth $27.5MM, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. The value of the deal is $9MM in the first two seasons and $9.5MM in the final year. Both Bonnell and Charania refer to that third season as a team option, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a non-guaranteed year instead, since few veteran free agent deals include team options.

The agreement is for fewer years and less money than the five year, $44MM offer the Pacers made, but the average annual value is slightly greater. There were conflicting reports about Charlotte’s interest in Stephenson immediately after talks between thee Pacers and the Alberto Ebanks client hit a snag. In any case, the Hornets made a push late Tuesday, as owner Michael Jordan, GM Rich Cho, coach Steve Clifford and other Hornets officials met with Stephenson in Las Vegas, and the sides quickly came to a deal, as Charania details.

Stephenson came close to signing with the Mavs, and he was finalizing a deal with them before the Rockets decided against matching the Dallas offer sheet for Chandler Parsons, Charania reports. The Pistons, Bucks, Lakers and Bulls all made contact with Stephenson, too, according to Charania.

The news is a blow to the Pacers, and president of basketball operations Larry Bird in particular, who had reportedly been fond of the temperamental 23-year-old shooting guard. Bird hinted during the season that re-signing Stephenson was a priority for the club, and Stephenson made plenty of indications that he intended to come back. Still, the Pacers set a price ceiling that they steadfastly wouldn’t exceed, and once talks with Stephenson came to an impasse, they made a series of agreements that largely eliminated their space beneath the luxury tax threshold, a line the team has refused to cross in recent years.

The Hornets are using cap room to come to the agreement. They had reportedly been likely to make an amnesty waiver claim on Carlos Boozer using their cap space. The Stephenson deal probably takes them out of the running for Boozer, though that’s just my speculation.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bulls Sign Nikola Mirotic

July 18th, 2014 at 11:17am CST by Zachary Links

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.

Renounced Players: Thursday

July 17th, 2014 at 11:30pm CST by Alex Lee

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

July 17th, 2014 at 10:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

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.

Suns Guarantee Shavlik Randolph’s Contract

July 17th, 2014 at 9:08pm CST by Alex Lee

9:08pm: Randolph’s deal for 2014/15 is for $1.23MM, the minimum for a seven-year veteran, reports Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic.

7:02pm: The Suns will fully guarantee the 2014/15 contract of Shavlik Randolph, writes Shams Charania of RealGM, citing Randolph’s agent Joel Bell in the report. The terms of the now-guaranteed contract are not yet known, though Randolph is likely on a minimum-salary deal as our schedule of contract guarantee dates indicates. Charania adds that today was the final day the Suns could guarantee Randolph’s deal before releasing him.

The Suns signed the 30-year-old power forward last March after the former Dukie put up some impressive numbers in China. The deal covered the remainder of last season and included a non-guaranteed year in 2014/15, which the team has now guaranteed. Randolph averaged 6.8 minutes in 14 contests in Phoenix, contributing 1.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

The Suns are the fifth team Randolph has played for in seven seasons in the NBA. He spent a few years overseas before latching on with the Celtics in 2012/13, where he averaged 4.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 16 games. He will likely provide depth inside in Phoenix behind fellow Duke product Miles Plumlee and Markieff Morris.