Richardson To Join Raptors Via Sign-And-Trade
Quentin Richardson will head to the Raptors through a sign-and-trade deal that will complete the Andrea Bargnani swap, according to Newsday's Al Iannazzone (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com speculated last night that Richardson or Earl Barron would likely be signed-and-traded to the Raptors to make the numbers in the Bargnani deal work. It's unclear exactly how much Richardson will earn, but it probably won't be the hefty $5MM payday that Keith Bogans is getting to be part of the Celtics/Nets blockbuster.
Still, it seems Richardson is in line for more than the prorated minimum salary he earned after signing with the Knicks at the end of the regular season. The client of Jeff Wechsler spent most of 2012/13 out of the NBA after the Magic cut him at the end of training camp. The 13-year veteran made just one regular season appearance for the Knicks, and got in five of the team's playoff games for a total of only 14 minutes.
Mavericks Decline To Make QO To Collison
Point guard Darren Collison is a free agent after the Mavericks refused to make him a qualifying offer, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The QO would have paid him just over $4.5MM for 2013/14.
The move was expected as the Mavericks want to clear up as much space as possible in their pursuit of Dwight Howard. Collison started 47 games for Dallas last season, averaging 12.0 PPG with 5.1 APG and 2.7 RPG. The soon-to-be 26-year-old could still re-sign with the Mavs, but he’ll have to wait and see how things play out with their offseason first.
Hawks Won’t Extend QO To Ivan Johnson
The Hawks won’t extend a qualifying offer to Ivan Johnson, making him a free agent this summer, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Hawks GM Danny Ferry was very noncommital in a recent interview when asked if he would give Johnson a QO rather than allowing him to become a restricted free agent.
While Johnson won’t necessarily be back with Atlanta next season, we learned earlier today that teammate Jeff Teague has received the QO from Ferry & Co. Teague’s deal will be worth more than $4.5MM, but the club has apparently decided that the ~$1.2MM needed for Johnson just wasn’t worth it.
Knicks Waive James White
SUNDAY, 1:20pm: The Knicks officially announced that they have waived White.
SATURDAY, 3:32pm: White is negotiating with several teams in China for better money than he could find in the NBA, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.
2:56pm: The Knicks will let go of James White and his non-guaranteed salary for next season, agent Bill McCandless tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter link). The report indicates the Knicks will be declining a team option on White, but White is listed as having a non-guaranteed deal at ShamSports.com. White's deal was to have become fully guaranteed if he weren't waived on or before June 30th, so that amounts to a team option anyway.
Several other NBA teams are interested in the 30-year-old small forward, and White's representatives are in talks with a team in Europe, Charania writes. White's camp expects additional overseas interest to develop as well.
"I don't know what it will be, but I am sure that James will make more money in 2013-14 than he has in any prior season," McCandless said. "James loved his time with the Knicks, and he’s looking forward to a new team, where assuredly he would play more."
White, who made the two-year veteran's minimum of $854,389 this year, was set to make only the minimum salary for next season, but the team's decision doesn't come as a complete surprise considering White's limited role with the Knicks. White averaged 2.2 points in 7.6 minutes per game over 57 contests in New York this season, though he did make 16 starts when the team was dealing with injuries to its regulars. White and the Knicks had spoken about extending the guarantee deadline on his deal, but when the team came away with Tim Hardaway Jr. in Thursday's draft, that dissuaded the Knicks from changing the terms of the contract, according to Charania.
Nets To Acquire Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce
SUNDAY, 12:52pm: The trade can't be made official until July 12th because of a hang-up related to Kris Joseph, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Players typically can't be traded within three months of signing a free agent contract, and Joseph signed with the Nets on April 12th, so presumably that's the reasoning.
FRIDAY, 9:11am: Chris Broussard of ESPN.com has the full breakdown of the trade, via Twitter:
The Nets will receive Garnett, Pierce, and Terry. The Celtics will receive Humphries, Wallace, Brooks, Joseph, Bogans, and 2014, 2016, and 2018 first-round picks. The '14 pick will be the Hawks or Nets selection, whichever is worse. The '16 and '18 picks will be unprotected. The Celtics also have the ability to swap first-rounders with Brooklyn in 2017.
Based on these pieces, Bogans figures to get a 2013/14 salary of more than $2MM in the sign-and-trade part of the deal, by my math, which works out nicely for him.
7:41am: According to Josh Newman of SNYNets.com, Evans has been informed he won't be included in the deal, but MarShon Brooks will be sent to the Celtics instead. Because Brooks' salary is smaller than Evans, that would mean a larger starting salary for Bogans in the sign-and-trade portion of the deal, unless Shengelia is involved in the final agreement.
Meanwhile, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that Nets GM Billy King, head coach Jason Kidd, and point guard Deron Williams all reached out during the draft to pitch him on the trade.
FRIDAY, 12:53am: Because Bogans needs to be signed-and-traded, no deal between Brooklyn and Boston can be made official until July 10th, but the agreement appears on track to be approved by all involved parties.
By my math, if Shengelia is not in the trade, Bogans will need to be signed to a starting salary of $1,731,294 in order for the Nets to send out as much outgoing money as the CBA requires for Garnett, Pierce, and Terry.
THURSDAY, 10:20pm: Kris Joseph will be included in the deal, heading to Boston, and the Celtics will also have the option to swap 2017 first-round picks with Brooklyn, tweets Wojnarowski. Joseph's contract is non-guaranteed, so the C's could waive him after acquiring him if they so choose.
10:10pm: Shengelia is not part of the latest version of this deal, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). I'll have to double-check the math, but I believe the Nets would need to include at least one more player to make the salaries work if they're taking on Terry as well.
9:58pm: Kevin Garnett will agree to waive his no-trade clause to accommodate a deal that will send him and Paul Pierce to the Nets, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). As part of the agreement, Brooklyn will guarantee KG's full salary for 2014/15, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Garnett's $12MM salary for that season had only be guaranteed for $6MM up until this point.
It's not entirely clear which players will be involved in the deal, but it looks like Jason Terry will be headed to the Nets along with Garnett and Pierce. Boston is expected to acquire Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, Keith Bogans (via sign-and-trade), Reggie Evans, and Tornike Shengelia. The Celtics will also receive 2014, 2016, and 2018 first-round picks, with no protection on the '16 or '18 selections, according to today's earlier reports.
Due to all the moving pieces involved, the two sides won't be able to formally complete the deal until July 10th, when the July moratorium lifts. When it becomes official, it will mark the next step in a full-scale rebuilding process for the Celtics, who also allowed Doc Rivers to join the Clippers in exchange for a 2015 first-round pick.
Rockets Waive Delfino, Brooks
JUNE 30TH: Houston has waived Delfino and Brooks, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, taking his cue from Rockets GM Daryl Morey, who bid them farewell via Twitter. The Rockets were reportedly trying to trade both of them before their contracts became guaranteed at the end of today, but apparently found no takers.
JUNE 16TH: The Rockets have told the agents for Carlos Delfino and Aaron Brooks that the team will not pick up the options on their contracts for next season, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The same is true for Francisco Garcia, as Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston reported last month that the team will decline his option as well. The result is a savings of $11.908MM that the Rockets plan to put toward their pursuit of a marquee free agent.
Technically, Delfino and Brooks have non-guaranteed contracts for next season that would become fully guaranteed if they're not waived by June 30th, according to ShamSports.com. Essentially, that amounts to a team option on both. Delfino was set to make $3MM and Brooks $2.508MM, while Garcia's team option is worth $6.4MM next season.
The moves could be some of the last under the current phase of the team's roster construction, as Feigen details. If the team signs a big-time free agent this summer, with Dwight Howard as its primary target, it will shift toward an emphasis on veterans. The Rockets would prefer to avoid the luxury tax in coming seasons, but they're willing to go deep into the tax to keep many of their own players who are set to hit free agency in 2015, including Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverley.
GM Daryl Morey and company will emphasize to free agents that the team has all of its future first-round picks, after having given up this year's first-rounder, and note that those draft choices can be traded for veterans. They'll also point to the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions the team will have once it goes over the cap as a means to acquire additional veterans.
In the past few seasons, Houston has turned over its roster in pursuit of superstars, but the team appears confident it will soon have a core it can build around for the long haul. The team pursued a similar veterans-first strategy in the early days of Morey's leadership, when Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming were star players.
Hawks Extend QO To Jeff Teague
The Hawks have made a $4,531,459 qualifying offer to Jeff Teague, making him a restricted free agent, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The team hasn't officially announced the move, but Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is also reporting the news (Twitter link). The offer was thoroughly expected, and it's largely a formality for a point guard who figures to be one of the most sought-after restricted free agents this summer.
Teague has shown steady improvement since Atlanta took him 19th overall in 2009. He averaged career highs in points (14.6) and assists (7.2) this past season while playing slightly fewer minutes per game than in 2011/12. Teague, who was originally in line for a qualifying offer of $3,469,568, met the starter criteria, which triggered a jump in his QO. Still, it's unlikely he'll take the offer, as he's expected to command a multiyear deal for much more.
The client of the ASM agency is one of many Hawks hitting free agency this summer. Only Al Horford, Louis Williams and John Jenkins are under guaranteed contracts for 2013/14 among the players currently on Atlanta's roster. Ivan Johnson is also eligible to receive a qualifying offer, for $1,202,744, but there's no word on whether the Hawks have decided to tender that to him.
Celtics Waive Terrence Williams
The Celtics have waived Terrence Williams, the team announced. Williams' salary was non-guaranteed, but would have become partially guaranteed for $200K if the Celtics had not waived him by the end of today. If he had spent all of 2013/14 on Boston's roster, he would have made $947,907, the minimum salary for a four-year veteran.
Williams spent the first part of last season in China, and earned a 10-day contract with the Celtics upon returning stateside. That turned into a deal for the rest of the season and beyond, but Williams finds himself back on the unrestricted free agent market. The team also signed D.J. White and Shavlik Randolph after their stints in China last season, though it appeared the Celtics were highest on Williams, who received his rest-of-the-season deal after only one 10-day contract instead of the pair of 10-day trials that White and Randolph had to pass. White and Randolph's contracts for 2013/14 are non-guaranteed until August 1st.
Williams, an Aaron Goodwin client and former 11th overall pick, notched 4.6 points in 13.3 minutes per game over 24 regular season contests for the Celtics this past year. Boston has made a host of changes since they were bumped in the first-round of the playoffs, allowing Doc Rivers to head to the Clippers while agreeing to a deal that will send Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to the Nets.
Shawn Marion Opts In
Shawn Marion has declined his early-termination option and will remain under contract with the Mavericks for 2013/14, as expected, reports Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Marion will make $9,316,796 in the final year of his deal. The move makes Marion eligible to be traded, and his name has come up frequently in rumors, most recently regarding the Mavs’ pursuit of Rajon Rondo.
Even with Marion opting in, the Mavs appear to have just enough cap room to sign Dwight Howard. If the Mavs land Howard in free agency, the team will most likely make an unbalanced trade involving Marion, and receive no or little salary in return, according to McMahon. Presumably, such a move would take place so that Dallas could surround Howard with another attractive free agent or two.
Marion, 35, remains a useful defender, and he started all 67 games in which he appeared this past season. He averaged 12.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per game.
Cavs Will Not Extend Wayne Ellington QO
The Cavs have elected to set free guard Wayne Ellington, reports Jason Lloyd of Akron-Beacon Journal. Ellington could have been given a qualifying offer of around $3.8MM, and he would have been a restricted free agent this summer, with the team able to match any offer for Ellington's services.
But Lloyd cautions that the Cavs would like Ellington to remain with the team, despite his status now as an unrestricted free agent. The Cleveland-Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer expressed surprise (twitter) at the decision not to extend Ellington a QO, but the Cavs remain high on him moving forward while viewing the decision as a strategic move to free up cap space, Lloyd notes.
The Cavs weren't expected to extend a qualifying offer to Omri Casspi either, and they haven't notes Boyer (Twitter). They Cavs are also unlikely to bring back Luke Walton.