Doc Rivers To Have Final Say On Clips Personnel
It appears Clippers coach Doc Rivers will have the final say within the team's basketball operations department, according to Gary Sacks, the team's vice president of basketball operations. Rivers was given the title of senior vice president of basketball operations upon his hiring this week, and as Phil Collin of the Los Angeles Daily News points out, that title indicates that Rivers is one spot above Sacks on the team's organizational hierarchy. Sacks said he believes Rivers "will have the final say," though everyone in the front office will contribute to decision making.
Sacks, who had taken over the role of primary decision maker in September, also said his role would remain the same, though I assume he's simply talking about his capacity as someone who works on player personnel. Former coach Vinny Del Negro had played a role in the Clippers front office prior to the team's decision not to renew his contract this spring. Sacks, Del Negro, and team president Andy Roeser formed a triumvirate that collaborated on the team's moves last summer after former GM Neil Olshey left for the Blazers.
As coach and primary front office decision maker, Rivers assumes a role similar to that of Mike Dunleavy, who was in charge of Clippers personnel decisions in the final two years of his coaching tenure, in 2008/09 and 2009/10.
Carl Landry Opts Out, Will Become Free Agent
7:22pm: The Warriors confirmed via press release that Landry has declined his player option.
2:20pm: Carl Landry has decided to turn down his 2013/14 player option and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, reports Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. Landry tells Thompson that he would like to stay with Golden State, which made the decision, which was due by today, a tough one.
By opting out of the final year of his contract, Landry will forgo a guaranteed $4MM in search of a larger deal. The decision doesn't necessarily preclude a return to the Warriors, but given the team's proximity to the tax line and its desire to re-sign free agent point guard Jarrett Jack as well, Golden State may not have the cap flexibility to bring back the veteran forward.
An in-season report suggested that the Raptors would have interest in pursuing Landry this summer, though Toronto will likely have plenty of competition. I would guess that Landry will be seeking a slight upgrade in his annual salary, and will prioritize multiyear offers.
Agent Mark Bartelstein had confirmed last week that Landry was leaning toward opting out.
Trevor Ariza To Opt In
Trevor Ariza told the Wizards last night that he will exercise his $7,727,280 player option for next season to remain with the team, a source tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post (Twitter link). Lee reported back in April that Ariza and Emeka Okafor both intended to exercise their options for the coming season, so today's news comes as no surprise.
Ariza came to the Wizards in a trade from the Pelicans that became official almost exactly a year ago. The veteran small forward averaged 9.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game last season, and would have been hard-pressed to find an annual salary equal to the value of his option on the open market.
The move, when official, will give the Wizards about $42.5MM in commitments for next season. Okafor's option, worth $14,487,500, would eat up most of the rest of the team's cap room.
Knicks Extend Qualifying Offer To Pablo Prigioni
The Knicks have formally extended a qualifying offer to Pablo Prigioni, ensuring that he'll be a restricted free agent next month, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday. The offer, which comes a day after the team extended a QO to Chris Copeland, is worth the same as Copeland's one-year offer: $988,872.
By making the qualifying offer, the Knicks will have the opportunity to match any rival offers for Prigioni up to $3.18MM, the taxpayer's mid-level exception. The Knicks reportedly would like to bring both Prigioni and Copeland back, but will only have that $3.18MM available for both players. Using that MLE on one or both of them would also rule out the possibility of using it on an outside free agent, so the Knicks will have some decisions ahead of them in the coming weeks.
In his first year in the NBA, the 36-year-old Prigioni averaged 3.5 PPG and 3.0 APG in 78 contests for the Knicks (16.2 MPG)
Heat Exercise Option On Mario Chalmers
4:32pm: The Heat have officially picked up their option on Chalmers, according to a press release from the team.
11:27am: The Heat will exercise their option to bring back Mario Chalmers for the 2013/14 season, team president Pat Riley confirmed today to reporters, including Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Twitter link). Once the club formally picks up the option, Chalmers will be in line for a guaranteed $4MM salary in the final year of his contract.
Word came in yesterday that James Jones and Rashard Lewis have exercised their respective player options, so with Chalmers on board as well, that ensures that 12 members of this year's NBA champions remain under contract for next season. Ray Allen has a player option to decide on, while Chris Andersen and Juwan Howard will be unrestricted free agents.
Riley addressed Allen's and Andersen's situations, telling reporters that the team loves the Birdman and would like to have him back next year (Twitter link). Riley also confessed he doesn't know what Allen will decide, indicating the club will have to wait until the end of the week to find out, though he hopes the veteran sharpshooter will return (Twitter link).
Speaking generally about free agency, Riley downplayed the likelihood of the Heat being too involved, or even using their mini mid-level exception, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). The team is more likely to try to "cannibalize the market" in August and September, says Riley (Twitter link via Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald). The team president also suggested that the Heat are unlikely to amnesty Mike Miller this summer, according to Tomasson (Twitter link).
Lakers Extend Qualifying Offer To Robert Sacre
The Lakers have extended a qualifying offer to Robert Sacre, making him a restricted free agent, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Because Sacre only has a single year of experience under his belt, Sacre's qualifying offer is worth $988,872.
The qualifying offer from the Lakers ensures that L.A. will be able to match any rival offer for Sacre, up to the mini mid-level exception ($3.18MM). For most restricted free-agents-to-be, the qualifying offer is simply a formality, with the expectation being that they'll receive larger multiyear offers and won't consider accepting the one-year QO. In Sacre's case though, I wouldn't be surprised if the 24-year-old accepts the offer to return to the Lakers.
In 2012/13, Sacre split time between the Lakers and the D-League's D-Fenders. In 32 NBA games, he averaged 1.3 PPG and 0.8 RPG, appearing in just 6.3 minutes per contest.
Lakers Exercise Team Option On Jodie Meeks
The Lakers have exercised their 2013/14 option on Jodie Meeks, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (via Twitter). The move will keep Meeks under contract for one more season for a salary worth $1.55MM.
Meeks, 25, averaged 7.9 PPG and shot 35.7% on three-pointers in 78 games during his first season with the Lakers. Depending on what roster moves the team makes this offseason, Meeks could be relied upon for a few more minutes per game, with Kobe Bryant not expected to be ready to return from his Achilles injury by the fall.
Now that Metta World Peace has opted in for 2013/14 and Meeks' $1.55MM salary is guaranteed, the Lakers have over $77MM in commitments on their books for next season. That doesn't include the non-guaranteed portion of Chris Duhon's salary or the cost of bringing back Dwight Howard.
James Jones Exercises Player Option
Heat guard James Jones has exercised his player option for the 2013/14 season, remaining with the two-time defending champions for at least one more year, according to the team's official Twitter account.
Known solely for his ability to knock down three-point shots, other areas of Jones' game aren't seen as strengths. He played just 221 minutes last season, and only 33 in the playoffs.
James is set to make $1.5MM next season.
Kings Extend Qualifying Offer To Tyreke Evans
The Kings have made a qualifying offer to Tyreke Evans, ensuring that he'll be a restricted free agent this offseason, the team announced today in a press release. The one-year offer is worth $6,927,157.
As I noted earlier today when it was reported that the Knicks extended a qualifying offer to Chris Copeland, we'll be seeing plenty of these QOs over the next several days, as teams formally make free agents restricted. By extending an offer to Evans, the Kings will have the opportunity to match any rival sheet he signs with another team.
In the unlikely event that Evans were to accept the one-year offer from the Kings, he would become eligible for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2014.
Rashard Lewis To Exercise Player Option
Rashard Lewis' agent, Colin Bryant, confirmed today what Lewis himself told Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld two weeks ago, telling Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link) that the Heat forward will pick up his 2013/14 player option to remain in Miami.
Lewis' option for next season will only pay him the minimum salary for a veteran with 10+ years of experience ($1,399,507). Still, he'd probably have trouble finding more than the minimum with another club, so giving up the chance to compete for another title in Miami never really made much sense for the 33-year-old.
In his first season with the Heat, Lewis appeared in 55 games (14.4 MPG), averaging 5.2 PPG and 2.2 RPG while shooting 38.9% on three-pointers.