Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Amnesty Metta World Peace

July 11th, 2013 at 7:42pm CST by Alex Lee

The Lakers have announced that they will use their amnesty provision on Metta World Peace, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN LA (via Twitter). World Peace opted into his 2013/14 contact with the Lakers in late June, which was worth about $7.73MM, making this move all but inevitable. We heard earlier this week the move was likely to happen before July 16th, the deadline for NBA teams to utilize their amnesty provision.

The Lakers signed Nick Young earlier today, which ramped up speculation that World Peace would soon be amnestied. On Tuesday, we heard that World Peace is interested in joining the Knicks, Clippers, Nets, Bulls, Heat, Thunder, Spurs, and Pacers, in that order. Ian Begley of ESPN New York tweets that the Knicks will have interest. According to Ken Berger of CBS, teams with cap room can put in a waiver claim over the next 48 hours to pick up a portion of World Peace's salary, with the highest bid winning. If no team bids, he will become an unrestricted free agent and teams like the Knicks can sign him (Twitter links).

The move is just the latest in what has been a tumultuous offseason in Los Angeles. After the news broke, World Peace tweeted thanking Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak for calling him before he alerted the media. Kupchak released a statement regarding the move, tweeted by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register:

"It's tough to say goodbye to a player such as Metta, who has been a significant part of our team the past four seasons. For anyone who’s had the opportunity to get to know him, it’s impossible not to love him. He has made many contributions to this organization, both in his community work as well as in our games; perhaps no more so than in his clutch play in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals in helping to lead us over the Celtics in one of the greatest playoff wins in Lakers history. We thank Metta for all his contributions and wish him the best of luck in the future."

Mavericks Sign Jose Calderon

July 11th, 2013 at 6:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 11th: The Mavericks announced today, via press release, that they have officially signed Calderon.

JULY 5th: The Mavs and point guard Jose Calderon have agreed to a four-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com originally reported the two sides were closing in on the deal (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com hears that Calderon will get a total of $29MM (on Twitter). The move appears to be the team's first step along its "Plan B" after missing out on Dwight Howard.

Calderon is leaving the Pistons, who acquired him as part of the Rudy Gay trade in January. The team had sought to re-sign him, but his decision to go to Dallas was a matter of timing, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News (Twitter link). The deal is fully guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who adds that Calderon seriously considered a pitch from the Kings as well. The veteran point guard also showed interest in the Lakers, though it's not clear whether L.A. reciprocated that interest.

The 31-year-old saw his assists per game fall to 7.1 this season after averaging close to nine per game the previous two years, but he remains one the league's canniest distributors. His 11.3 points per game in 2012/13 were the second most of his career, behind only the 12.8 PPG he notched in 2008/09.

Nuggets Sign J.J. Hickson

July 11th, 2013 at 2:52pm CST by Zachary Links

JULY 11TH: The Nuggets have officially announced the Hickson signing in a press release.

JULY 7TH: The Nuggets have reached agreement with J.J. Hickson on a three-year, $15MM deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The forward is a client of Andy Miller, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.

The 24-year-old has had multiple stops in the league during his short career and after he was cut loose by the Kings in March of last year, his stock didn't look so hot. However, he was picked up by the Blazers and as a featured player for the final quarter of the season, he averaged 15.1 PPG and 8.3 RPG.

He had another strong season in 2012/13, putting up 12.7 PPG and 10.4 RPG in 80 games, all of which he started.

Bobcats Re-Sign Josh McRoberts

July 11th, 2013 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11TH: The Bobcats have officially signed McRoberts, according to a press release from the team.

JULY 5TH: The Bobcats have reached an agreement to re-sign Josh McRoberts to a two-year contract, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). According to Spears, the deal will be worth $6MM overall, with a player option in the second year. However, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer pegs the overall amount at $5.5MM (Twitter link).

After being acquired by the Bobcats at least year's trade deadline in exchange for Hakim Warrick, McRoberts started 19 of 26 games with the team, averaging 9.3 PPG and 7.2 RPG in 30.8 minutes per contest. All three of those averages would've been career-highs for the 26-year-old forward had he kept them up over a full season.

McRoberts has been on the move multiple times over the last year, having been acquired by the Magic from the Lakers in last August's Dwight Howard blockbuster before being sent to Charlotte in February. By agreeing to re-sign with the Bobcats, the BDA Sports client should have some stability for at least the 2013/14 season.

For the Bobcats, they'll bring back another piece of a frontcourt that has undergone some changes this week. Charlotte has also agreed to a lucrative deal for Al Jefferson, with the intention of amnestying Tyrus Thomas to clear the cap space necessary for the former Jazz center.

Spurs Sign Marco Belinelli To Two-Year Deal

July 11th, 2013 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11TH: The Spurs have officially signed Belinelli, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 4TH: The Spurs have reached an agreement on a two-year deal with Marco Belinelli, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported that the two sides were engaged in serious discussions.

Belinelli, an Excel Sports client, is coming off a one-year deal with the Bulls, having averaged 9.6 PPG while shooting 35.7% on three-pointers in 2012/13. The 27-year-old signed for the bi-annual exception last summer, and will receive a slight raise this year. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the two-year deal will pay Belinelli about $6MM.

Having reached agreements to bring back Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs almost certainly won't have any cap space available during the offseason, though the club should have the full $5.15MM mid-level exception at its disposal. Presumably, part of that MLE will be allocated to Belinelli, but there still should be $2MM+ left to use another player. Alternately, Belinelli could be signed using cap room if the club decides to amnesty Matt Bonner and let Gary Neal walk, but I think that scenario is probably less likely.

Still, it's unclear where the agreement with Belinelli will leave Neal. The Spurs hold the free agent guard's Bird rights, so they have the flexibility to bring him back if they so choose, but Belinelli may be in line to receive many of the minutes that otherwise would have gone to Neal.

Spurs Re-Sign Manu Ginobili

July 11th, 2013 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11TH, 1:55pm: The Spurs have officially re-signed Ginobili, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 3RD, 2:10pm: Ginobili's two-year deal with the Spurs will be worth $14MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

10:35am: While no reporters have the details of the deal yet, Manu Ginobili appears to have reached an agreement with the Spurs to remain in San Antonio. Ginobili, an Interperformances client, announced the news himself on his Twitter account, tweeting: "Thrilled to announce that as I always hoped, I'm gonna stay with the @spurs for two more years. #gospursgo."

We heard just yesterday that Ginobili and the Spurs were in no rush to negotiate a new contract, since there didn't seem to be any interest from either side in exploring alternative options. Perhaps after reaching a long-term agreement with Tiago Splitter, the Spurs decided to move on and lock up Ginobili as well.

Ginobili, 35, is coming off a three-year extension that paid him more than $14MM in 2012/13, so he figures to take a significant pay cut on his new deal. His salary, along with Splitter's first-year salary, will essentially determine whether the Spurs have any cap space available this summer, or whether the club just has the mid-level exception to spend. I expect it will be the latter.

After reaching agreements with Splitter and Ginobili, the Spurs will likely attempt to re-sign Gary Neal, as well as weighing potential uses for their MLE.

Trail Blazers Sign C.J. McCollum

July 11th, 2013 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have officially signed first-round pick C.J. McCollum to a rookie-scale deal, the team announced today in a press release.

McCollum, 21, averaged 23.9 PPG and shot 51.6% on three-pointers during his senior year at Lehigh, and will provide the Blazers with a scorer and outside shooter off the bench. Having been drafted 10th overall, McCollum will earn a salary of about $2.32MM in his rookie season, as our salary chart for first-round picks shows.

The Blazers have also officially signed second-round pick Allen Crabbe, acquired Robin Lopez and Thomas Robinson, and signed free agent swingman Dorell Wright.

Hawks Sign Dennis Schröder

July 11th, 2013 at 11:35am CST by Luke Adams

11:35am: Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution confirms (via Twitter) that the Hawks' rookie point guard will now be referred to by the name Dennis Schröder, rather than Schroeder.

10:45am: The Hawks have officially signed 17th overall pick Dennis Schroeder to a rookie-scale contract, the team announced today in a press release. As our salary chart for first-rounders shows, Schroeder should be in line for a 2013/14 salary worth about $1.62MM.

Although the news was expected, there are a couple of noteworthy details related to the team's press release. For one, a club's rookie signings are often announced simultaneously, so the fact that the Hawks announced Schroeder's deal and haven't said anything about 16th overall pick Lucas Nogueira may mean that the Brazilian big man isn't coming stateside this season — or it could simply mean that a separate announcement is coming at a later date.

Additionally, the Hawks spell Dennis' last name as Schröder in their release, which is the same way the point guard spells it on his Twitter account, where he announced his signing yesterday. We'll wait for confirmation on which spelling will be used for NBA purposes.

Nets Sign Shaun Livingston

July 11th, 2013 at 11:33am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 11TH, 11:33am: The Nets have officially signed Livingston, according to a team release.

JULY 6TH, 5:40pm: League sources reveal to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports (Twitter) that the Nets have reached an agreement for a one-year, minimum deal with Shaun Livingston. As shown in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database, Livingston is repped by CAA's Henry Thomas.

Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, confirms via Twitter. The move to grab the Cavs' back-up point guard this past year, means that the Nets' guaranteed salary equals close to $100.5MM for the coming 2013/14 season. Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld says that adding in the $80.2MM in taxes, the total Nets team payroll next season equals $180.7MM, which is an NBA record (Sulia link).
The acqusition of the point guard Livingston comes on the heels of the Pacers signing last year's Deron Williams back-up, C.J. Watson. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets that with combo guard Jack headed to the Cavs, and Livingston now gone to the Nets, the next player to leave the Cavs will be C.J. Miles.
Livingston averaged 7.2 PPG and 3.6 APG in 49 outings for the Cavaliers last season in primarily a back-up role for Kyrie Irving.

4:50pm: The Nets are nearing an agreement with backup point guard Shaun Livingston, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The client of Henry Thomas at Creative Artists Agency split last season between the Wizards and Cavs, and multiple reports have linked him to the Nets in the past week. Brooklyn is seeking point guard depth with C.J. Watson heading to the Pacers.

If they can't convince him to take the minimum salary, the Nets would have to use part of their taxpayer's mid-level exception to bring the 27-year-old Livingston aboard. Cleveland picked him up off waivers in December, and he exceled in a backup role behind Kyrie Irving, and even started a dozen games. He averaged 7.2 points with a 3.6/1.2 assists-to-turnover ratio in 23.2 minutes per game in Cleveland.

Spencer Lund contributed to this post.

Nets Re-Sign Andray Blatche

July 11th, 2013 at 11:32am CST by Michael Pina

JULY 11TH, 11:32am: The Nets have officially re-signed Blatche, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 2ND, 8:20pm: Blatche's deal includes a player option for 2014/15 worth $1.43MM, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

JULY 1ST, 8:51pm: Andray Blatche has agreed to re-sign with the Nets, according to the New York Times' Howard Beck. The deal is only for one-year at $1.4MM, a relative surprise given Blatche's consistent bench contribution with the team last season.

The timing and price are both curious, especially when factoring in Blatche had other suitors. As reported by ESPN's Chris Broussard, the Warriors and Clippers both had their eye on his services.

Money may not have been a factor, though, as Blatche is still being compensated by the Wizards after they used their amnesty clause on him last year. He averaged 10.3 PPG in just 19 MPG, appearing in all 82 of Brooklyn's regular season games last season.