Bulls Plan To Amnesty Carlos Boozer?
10:33pm: The Bulls told Boozer it’s a possibility he will be amnestied or used in a sign-and-trade but have made no final decisions, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
10:00pm: Carlos Boozer may have played his last game in a Bulls uniform. A source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that Boozer’s departure is a “done deal” and says that the forward’s camp has been informed of the decision.
Under the amnesty provision, Boozer still will be paid the $16.8MM he’s due next season, but it won’t count against the salary cap. The Bulls, of course, would have preferred to use Boozer’s expiring contract in a sign-and-trade scenario but they haven’t found any suitable offers. The Bulls obviously don’t want to pay Boozer for nothing, but they want to reallocate that space for something better, even if it’s not Carmelo Anthony.
As we learned last night, even if they’re able to convince Melo to come to Chicago, the Knicks have zero interest in taking on Boozer in an S&T deal. Even though others in the Knicks’ front office were warmer to the idea since Boozer’s contract could be used in a mid-season deal for someone like Kevin Love, Phil Jackson didn’t want to entertain the idea.
Of course, nothing has officially happened with Boozer just yet. The amnesty window runs from July 10th through the 16th.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raptors Re-Sign Kyle Lowry
JULY 10TH: Lowry has officially re-signed, the team announced via press release.
“We made it known that our top priority heading into the offseason was to re-sign Kyle,” GM Masai Ujiri said in the team’s statement. “He was a key to our success last season and we are delighted that he wants to be here in Toronto to help us continue to build a championship program.”
JULY 2ND: Kyle Lowry has agreed to a four-year, $48MM deal to stay with the Raptors, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Lowry has been heavily courted by the Heat, Rockets, and others, but it appears that he’ll be staying put with the club that helped resurrect his career. The deal includes a player option for the fourth year (link).
It was expected that the Raptors would pitch Lowry on a deal with an average annual value of $12MM a year but the club was reportedly considering making it a five-year offer to help keep him away from other suitors. For one reason or another, a fifth year wasn’t necessary and the Raptors got to keep their standout guard on a deal that is probably much more comfortable for them. This is strictly speculative on my part, but the opt out clause after year three could have been the compromise that kept Lowry satisfied with four years rather than five.
The Andy Miller client had significant interest from an impressive group of teams including the Heat, Rockets, Lakers, and Mavericks but he’s slated to stay north of the border for at least the next three seasons. It’s easy to see why. After averaging 10.6 PPG and 5.0 APG for the first seven years of his career, Lowry blossomed into a star last year for Toronto, putting up 17.9 PPG and 7.4 APG. The 28-year-old led Toronto to the Atlantic Division crown and although they were bounced by the sixth-seeded Nets in the first round, the Raptors organization reinvigorated Toronto’s basketball fans.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Magic Waive Ronnie Price
The Magic have waived guard Ronnie Price, the team announced via press release. His minimum salary contract was to have gone from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed had Orlando failed to release him by the end of July 10th, as our schedule of contract guarantee dates shows.
Orlando agreed to a two-year, $9MM deal with Ben Gordon earlier today, crowding a backcourt that includes Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Willie Green and rookie Elfrid Payton. The team also acquired swingman Devyn Marble, the No. 56 pick in Thursday’s draft.
Price was little-used last season in Orlando, appearing in only 31 games and averaging 2.4 points in 12.2 minutes per contest. Agent Mike Higgins will now help the 31-year-old look for a deal in unrestricted free agency.
Nets Hire Lionel Hollins
2:32pm: The fourth year is a team option, but Hollins could make as much as $20MM total on the deal if the Nets pick up that option, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).
1:57pm: The Nets have reached a deal with Lionel Hollins making him the head coach, the team announced (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that Brooklyn and the Steve Kauffman client were close to a deal this morning. The sides had been discussing a contract for four years and $18MM, Stein tweets.
Brooklyn moved swiftly to hire Hollins after striking a deal with Milwaukee on Monday to allow Jason Kidd out of his contract so he can coach the Bucks. The Nets reportedly spoke with University of Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, and while George Karl, Ettore Messina and Mark Jackson were also rumored to be candidates, Hollins was seemingly the front-runner even before the Nets had officially let go of Kidd.
Hollins, 60, was also among the favorites for the Lakers vacancy, which is once more the only open head coaching position in the league. He meets Brooklyn GM Billy King‘s desire for an experience coach after the team experimented with the neophyte Kidd last season, having coached the Grizzlies to a franchise-record 56 wins and the Western Conference Finals in 2012/13. He’s 214-201 in parts of seven seasons as an NBA head coach, all of them with the Grizzlies.
The Cavs also met with Hollins about their coaching vacancy this offseason, as did the Wolves. The Jazz and Warriors had interest in him, too.
Pacers Sign Shayne Whittington
11:59am: The deal is official, the Pacers have announced. It’s a minimum salary contract, since it couldn’t otherwise become official during the July moratorium. He suffered his injury, a broken left fibula, in early May, according to the release. That explains why there were no reports of him having gone through predraft auditions for clubs.
11:30am: The Pacers will sign Western Michigan power forward Shayne Whittington to a one-year, partially guaranteed contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That’s in spite of a knee injury that will force Whittington to miss the first half of the season, as Wojnarowski also tweets.
Whittington went undrafted after putting up 16.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game as a senior this past season. The client of Ronald Shade and Herb Rudoy didn’t appear to garner much attention on the predraft workout circuit, but he did impress in the Portsmouth Invitation Tournament, according to Wojnarowski.
Indiana has struck deals with a pair of power forwards today, reeling in Spanish league sharpshooter Damjan Rudez in addition to Whittington. Still, both are untested commodities against NBA competition, and the team has no plans to waive the partially guaranteed contract of Luis Scola, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star reported earlier.
Magic Sign Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton
10:01am: Their contracts are indeed for 120% of the rookie scale, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
9:44am: The Magic have signed No. 4 overall pick Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton, the 10th overall pick, the team announced via press release. Official signings with first-round picks are one of the few maneuvers allowed during the July moratorium. They’re both presumably getting the standard 120% of the rookie scale, so Gordon will likely make slightly more than $3.992MM this season while Payton will probably draw nearly $2.398MM, as our table of salaries for first-round picks shows.
Orlando pulled a surprise with its choice of Gordon, a power forward from Arizona, while Dante Exum and Marcus Smart were still on the board, but the team filled its need for a point guard not long after, swinging a trade to acquire Payton. Orlando gave up No. 12 pick Dario Saric, a 2017 first-rounder and a 2015 second-rounder to the Sixers in exchange for the point guard from Louisiana-Lafayette.
Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors gave the Magic an A for their draft, one in which they also netted No. 56 overall pick Devyn Marble. Still, he pointed to the risk involved with Gordon when he examined him as part of our Prospect Profile Series.
Wizards Re-Sign Marcin Gortat
JULY 10TH: The deal is official, the Wizards announce.
JULY 1ST: The Wizards have agreed to sign big man Marcin Gortat to a new deal, according to teammate and enterprising journalist John Wall on Twitter. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) says that it’s a five-year, $60MM pact. There are no options or early terminations in Gortat’s deal, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com.
The mutual interest in a reunion between Gortat and the Wizards has been widely reported for months now, but there were still a number of suitors that threatened to get in the way. The Heat, for one, were said to be thinking about uniting Gortat with their Big Three this summer. The Cavs were also contemplating a run at the 30-year-old, but the Wizards managed to get on the phone with Gortat just after the clock struck midnight and apparently made quick progress on a deal.
Gortat, 30, averaged 13.2 PPG and 9.5 RPG last season for the Wizards while helping them reach the second round of the playoffs. The five-year, $60MM contract matches up with the deal that the Wolves gave to Nikola Pekovic roughly eleven months ago, though it’s not clear if Gortat has an incentives package like Pek’s ($8MM in total).
As Wall touched on his tweet, the Wizards will now turn their attention to re-signing teammate Trevor Ariza. Ariza has spoken fondly of his time in D.C. but is said to be seeking a deal in the $8-$11MM range and likes the idea of playing in a warm weather city.
Bucks Hire Jason Kidd, Fire Larry Drew
The Bucks today named Jason Kidd their head coach, the team announced. It’ll be a three-year deal for $12-15MM. He replaces Larry Drew, whom the team let go after reaching a deal to pry Kidd from the Nets. Milwaukee relinquishes 2015 and 2019 second-round draft picks to Brooklyn as compensation. The 2015 second-rounder is actually Brooklyn’s own pick, which the Nets owed to the Bucks from a previous trade.
“When you list the characteristics that make a successful head coach, you would include leadership, communication and a competitive drive,” Bucks GM John Hammond said as part of the team’s statement. “Jason used all of those traits to become a 10-time All-Star player in the NBA, and has now translated his on-court success to the bench. We welcome him to the Bucks organization and look forward to building a Championship-caliber team with him as our head coach.”
In spite of Hammond’s remarks, it appears his job is in jeopardy. Kidd is coming over only as coach, but Hammond assistant GM David Morway had no knowledge of the contact between ownership and Kidd, and the prevailing sentiment around the league is that it’s just a matter of time before Kidd takes control of the front office in Milwaukee. Kidd’s pursuit of front office control in Brooklyn led to his departure from the team.
Lionel Hollins appears to be the front-runner to fill the vacated head coaching position in Brooklyn, while he’s also reportedly a serious candidate for the Lakers job. George Karl and Ettore Messina are also in the mix for Brooklyn, according to reports, while there’s conflicting information about whether Mark Jackson is also a candidate.
Kidd’s departure from Brooklyn after a single season as head coach brings a fitting end to a one-year tenure rife with surprises. His hiring had been the first shock, as he’d just finished his playing career that same spring. Kidd and the Nets tapped Lawrence Frank to serve as a highly paid assistant, but Frank was removed from the bench in the first half of the season and instead assigned to write daily reports for the team. Kidd’s Nets rebounded from a slow start to make the second round of the playoffs, but after Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr wound up with more lucrative deals to coach teams in spite of the same lack of experience Kidd carried into the Nets job, the Brooklyn coach sought more power.
Reports this weekend indicated that the Nets turned down his request for control over the front office, and when Kidd’s friend Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Bucks, made entreaties, all that was left for Brooklyn was to work out the compensation. The Nets were holding out for a first-rounder, but settled for the pair of second-round picks. The fallout in Brooklyn appears likely to have an effect on whether Shaun Livingston, who admires Kidd, will re-sign with the team in free agency.
Photo Courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com first reported the Nets and Bucks had a deal (Twitter link). Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, Marc Stein of ESPN.com and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported details of the compensation going to Brooklyn (All Twitter links). Wojnarowski also added that the feeling around the league is that Kidd will eventually take control of the Bucks front office (Twitter link). Beck noted that Kidd was just coming over to coach the Bucks for now (Twitter link). Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported that Drew had been fired (Twitter link). Beck and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had details of the contract that Jason Kidd is signing (Twitter links).
Raptors, Hawks Exchange Salmons, Williams
TUESDAY, 7:13am: The Raptors and Hawks officially announced the trade overnight before the July moratorium began. Williams and the rights to Nogueira go to Toronto while Salmons and a 2015 second-rounder go to Atlanta.
MONDAY, 10:00pm: The snag in the trade has been resolved. The Raptors will also send a 2015 second-round choice to Atlanta in the deal, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
The Raptors should end up with a $2.133MM trade exception for Salmons, Pincus tweets.
8:06pm: The Hawks still aren’t expected to keep Salmons past the new deadline, a league source tells Charania (on Twitter).
8:04pm: The Hawks won’t release Salmons today, and both sides have agreed to extend the waiver deadline to July 10th, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 8:25pm: The Hawks will indeed waive Salmons tomorrow, Wojnarowski reveals in his full story.
7:37pm: The Raptors have agreed to send John Salmons to the Hawks in exchange for Lou Williams and the rights to Lucas Nogueira, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Marc Stein of ESPN first revealed that the two sides were in advanced discussions of such a deal (Twitter link).
Salmons’ $7MM contract is only partially guaranteed for $1MM if he’s waived by the end of tomorrow, as Chuck Myron explained in our recap of upcoming guarantee dates. Given Atlanta’s reported interest in a run at a Carmelo Anthony/LeBron James pairing, it’s probably only a matter of time until Salmons finds himself a free agent. In 78 games for the Kings and Raptors last season, Salmons averaged just 5.0 points per game while shooting 36.8% from the floor.
Williams is a few years removed from his prime, but it’s unlikely the Hawks are giving up the former stud point guard and rights to Nogueira, a 2013 first-round selection, just to get $7MM off of their books. It’s possible, and maybe even likely, that this move is a precursor to a bigger deal, suggests Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). The trade should be finalized sometime tomorrow, tweets David Aldridge of TNT, giving Atlanta the window required to shed Salmons’ contract before it becomes guaranteed.
Cavs Sign Kyrie Irving To Max Extension
JULY 10TH: The extension is official, the team announced.
“We couldn’t be happier to have Kyrie firmly at the core of our Cavaliers team and family for years to come,” Cavs GM David Griffin said in the team’s release. “He’s already proven he’s among the best in the NBA and we’re excited to watch his continued growth and success. To know that he is all in and shares our high expectations and championship goals is something we’re extremely proud of. It is a clear reflection of how we all view our future together, with Kyrie fully vested in this franchise and the city of Cleveland.”
JULY 1ST: The Cavs and Kyrie Irving have agreed to an extension, according to a tweet from owner Dan Gilbert. Irving intends to sign a five-year, $90MM maximum-salary extension with the team, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The commitment came in a meeting which took place early Tuesday morning.
The deal makes Irving the Designated Player for the Cavs, and he can earn a higher maximum salary via the Derrick Rose rule, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe confirms (Twitter link).
There has been some doubt as to whether the Cavs could keep Irving for the long haul or whether the star guard was even wanted in Cleveland after a tumultuous season. However, this bombshell in the early hours of free agency puts an end to that sort of talk. According to Gilbert’s tweet, the deal will be officially signed on July 10th once the moratorium ends.
Irving has had a tumultuous first three years in the NBA after being selected No. 1 overall by Cleveland in the 2011 draft. While he has exhibited the offensive talent that made him worth that selection, the team has failed to make the playoffs or even finish with a .500 winning percentage. Last year’s disappointing 33-win Cavs team was actually the best of the Irving era, and the fallout from a disastrous Andrew Bynum signing, a historically bad rookie year for 2013′s No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett, and continued losing resulted in the mid-season firing of former GM Chris Grant and ex-coach Mike Brown’s dismissal after the season.
Despite the ugly season, Irving is reportedly pleased with the decision to make GM David Griffin the permanent executive after Griffin’s strong run as interim GM during the season. Irving has publicly refuted persistent rumors that he wanted out of Cleveland, but he has stopped short of guaranteeing he will re-sign for the years ahead. Griffin is a believer in the backcourt pairing of Irving and Dion Waiters, and the team experienced a relative turnaround once Griffin took the reigns to foster a positive culture around the two ball-dominant guards.
Cray Allred contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.