Rockets To Trade Royce White To Sixers
7:50pm: Furkan Aldemir is headed to Philadelphia as well, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, identifying the international prospect in the deal.
7:02pm: The Rockets have agreed to trade Royce White to the Sixers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Houston will receive future draft considerations from Philadelphia, and the Rockets will throw in the draft rights to an international prospect as well as cash.
White, the 16th pick in the 2012 draft, never appeared in a regular season game for the Rockets because of his battles with the team concerning accomodations for his psychological disorders. He averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 16 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston's D-League affiliate.
The move clears White's $1,719,480 guaranteed salary from Houston's books, though as HoopsWorld's Eric Pincus points out (on Twitter), the Rockets still probably need to clear a little more room to fit in a max contract for Dwight Howard. That could entail simply cutting one of a few players on a non-guaranteed deal. Greg Smith, James Anderson, Patrick Beverley and Tim Ohlbrecht all have deals that aren't fully guaranteed, though Beverley would figure to be the least likely among them to go.
Bird Rights For Millsap, Jack To Be Renounced
The Warriors and the Jazz have been at the center of a pair of major deals this afternoon, including agreeing to a trade that will send a handful of draft picks and about $24MM in salaries to Utah. However, as a result of that trade and Golden State's subsequent agreement with Andre Iguodala, two major free agents will almost certainly no longer re-sign with their respective teams.
According to TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter), the Jazz will need to renounce their Bird rights to Paul Millsap in order to clear the necessary cap room to absorb all the incoming salary. That means that the Jazz could no longer offer Millsap more than the $2.65MM room exception to re-sign in Utah.
Meanwhile, the Warriors find themselves in a similar boat with Jarrett Jack. To create space for Iguodala's salary, Golden State will renounce its Bird rights to Jack, as Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Like Millsap, Jack now won't be eligible for more than the $2.65MM room exception if he hopes to re-sign with his former team.
Although it's still technically possible for both players to re-sign with their respective clubs, the odds are strongly in favor of both free agents finding new homes within the next few days or weeks.
Acie Law To Re-Sign With Olympiacos
Former NBA lottery pick Acie Law has agreed to re-sign with Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Law's deal will be for two years and $2.8MM, says Wojnarowski.
Law, 28, was drafted 11th overall in 2007 by Atlanta, and spent parts of four NBA seasons with the Hawks, Warriors, Bobcats, Bulls, and Grizzlies. He has played for Olympiacos for the last two years, most recently averaging 8.1 PPG in 30 Euroleague contests in 2012/13.
Wojnarowski reports that Law's deal will include an out clause that will allow him to accept an NBA deal prior to July 25th. It's not clear whether that out clause just applies to this season, or whether he'll receive the same opportunity next summer.
Tyreke Evans To Sign Pelicans’ Offer Sheet
9:03pm: Evans has officially given a verbal commitment to the Pelicans that he will sign their offer sheet on July 10, tweets USA Today's Sam Amick. David Aldridge of NBA.com confirms Amick's report via Twitter. The Kings will have three days to match the four-year, $44MM offer.
8:41pm: Stein is now hearing that the Pelicans and Evans are finalizing an offer sheet (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Jason Jones reports that Evans planned on giving the Kings until today to make an offer or he'd agree to the New Orleans offer sheet. There have been conflicting reports regarding where Evans would like to end up, as can be typical when it comes to restricted free agents.
6:07pm: Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee tweets that Evans is waiting on the Kings to make him an offer before committing to New Orleans, presumably in response to the ESPN report. Jones also tweets that while Evans is aware the Kings can always match the offer sheet, he wants to give them every chance to beat it. It is worth noting that it was Jones who reported earlier that Evans would prefer to sign in Sacramento.
5:41pm: We heard earlier today that there was no guarantee that restricted free agent Tyreke Evans would sign the four-year, $44MM contract offer extended to him by the Pelicans, and that a comparable offer from the Kings would ensure he stays put in Sacramento. Now, per a report from Marc Stein and Jeff Goodman of ESPN, it appears that Evans is "ready for a change" and plans to sign in New Orleans. The report cites sources "familiar with his thinking."
Evans has been frustrated by the negotiations with the Kings and is "determined" to leave the organization and sign with the Pelicans on the first day possible, according to the report. Evans has yet to verbally agree to the deal with New Orleans, but it is an "inevitability" for that to happen this week. Evans apparently plans to sign the Pelicans' offer sheet on July 10 – the first day possible per NBA restrictions – and giving the Kings three days from then to either match the offer or pass.
After Sacramento drafted Ben McLemore last week and extended a big offer to Andre Iguodala yesterday, before withdrawing it today, Evans seems to be hurt that the team, and new owner Vivek Ranadive, has yet to make a realistic attempt at bringing him back. According to the source, the Kings could have retained Evans had they showed interest earlier.
Celtics Hire Brad Stevens As Head Coach
7:54pm: Stevens' deal with the C's is six years, for $22MM, per Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
6:13pm: Stevens will get a six-year contract with the Celtics, reports Steve Bulpett from the Boston Herald, citing a league source (via Twitter).
4:41pm: The Celtics have officially reached an agreement to hire Brad Stevens as their head coach, the team announced today in a press release. Stevens had served as the head coach at Butler University for the past six seasons.
"Brad and I share a lot of the same values," team president Danny Ainge said in a statement. "Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic. His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court. Brad is a coach who has already enjoyed lots of success, and I look forward to working with him towards Banner 18."
A report last week indicated that the Celtics intended to target lower-profile coaching candidates, and Stevens certainly qualifies. While he has had success at the NCAA level, the 36-year-old Stevens hadn't been publicly linked to any of the NBA's 12 other head coaching openings this offseason, though Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that another NBA club considered hiring him a few weeks ago.
After releasing Doc Rivers from the three years and $21MM left on his contract, the Celtics will presumably be paying significantly less to Stevens, though the terms of the agreement aren't yet known. As Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports notes (via Twitter), the Celtics front office has put a greater emphasis on analytics, which Stevens incorporated at Butler.
Pacers Sign Solomon Hill
The Pacers have officially signed first-round pick Solomon Hill, selected 23rd overall, to a rookie-scale contract, the team announced today through their website. During the July moratorium, first-round picks are permitted to sign contracts with their respective clubs.
The 22-year-old Hill will likely receive a 2013/14 salary worth about $1.25MM, as our Luke Adams outlined in our breakdown of salaries for first-round picks. Hill, who spent three years at Arizona, was a surprise selection by the Pacers at 23. The team also reached a deal with free agent Donald Sloan earlier today.
Donald Sloan, Pacers Agree To Multiyear Deal
The Pacers have agreed to terms on a multiyear contract with Donald Sloan, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). It's already the third agreement the Pacers have reached this month, on the heels of deals for C.J. Watson and David West.
Sloan, 25, is a combo guard that has played primarily at the point in the NBA, including a brief and productive run in Cleveland filling in for the injured Kyrie Irving. Assuming the Pacers view him as a point guard as well, Sloan figures to be the third-stringer, behind George Hill and Watson.
Terms of Sloan's deal aren't yet known, but I'd be a little surprised if it was for more than the minimum. Depending on how they signed Watson though, the Pacers should have either the mid-level exception or the bi-annual exception available if necessary.
Sloan is represented by Impact Sports Basketball.
Nets Sign Mason Plumlee
The Nets have officially signed first-round pick Mason Plumlee to a rookie-scale contract, the team announced today in a press release. During the July moratorium, first-round picks are permitted to sign contracts with their respective clubs.
Plumlee, 23, will likely receive a 2013/14 salary worth about $1.3MM, as I outlined in our breakdown of salaries for first-round picks. The 22nd overall pick spent four years at Duke, averaging 17.1 PPG and 10.0 RPG in his senior season, and figures to be a big man off the bench for the Nets this season.
Tyler Hansbrough Becomes Unrestricted FA
The Pacers have agreed to rescind Tyler Hansbrough's qualifying offer, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). That makes Hansbrough an unrestricted free agent and means there are only 11 restricted free agents left on the market.
The one-year qualifying offer the Pacers extended to Hansbrough prior to free agency getting underway was worth $4,135,391. Even if Indiana has interest in retaining the free agent forward, the Pacers' agreements with David West and C.J. Watson have limited the team's flexibility to continue adding contracts.
Hansbrough will now be free to sign outright with any team, rather than having to sign an offer sheet and waiting to see if Indiana will match.
Pacers Extend QO To Tyler Hansbrough
The Pacers have made Tyler Hansbrough a qualifying offer, The Associated Press reports. The one-year offer is worth $4,135,391 and allows the Pacers to match offers for the power forward in restricted free agency.
Indiana's primary offseason goal will be to re-sign David West, but once that's taken care of, the team will attend to other matters, like retaining Hansbrough, his backup. The Pacers enter the offseason with about $49MM in guaranteed salary, though they'll have Hansbrough's full Bird Rights if they wish to go over the cap to re-sign him.
Hansbrough, the 13th pick in the 2009 draft, was originally in line for a QO worth $4,225,423, but because he failed to meet the starter criteria, his offer is slightly smaller.