Transactions Rumors | Hoops Rumors

David West To Opt Out Of Contract

June 13th, 2016 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

David West will turn down his player option with the Spurs for the 2016/17 season, making him an unrestricted free agent next month, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The option would have been worth $1,551,659, the minimum amount allowed for a player with West’s NBA experience.

According to Charania, West will “evaluate [his] playing future” after opting out of his contract. That wording suggests that retirement may be one option considered by the 35-year-old forward, who has 13 NBA seasons under his belt. Assuming he does want to continue his career, the Xavier alum may also re-evaluate his priorities in free agency, after taking a huge pay cut to join the Spurs a year ago.

West, who spent four seasons with the Pacers before signing with the Spurs last summer, played just 18 minutes per game for San Antonio, his lowest mark since his rookie year in 2003/04. He was still fairly effective in that limited role, however, recording a career-best .545 FG%.

West is one of three Spurs veterans facing decisions on player options and possible retirement this offseason — the other two, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, are among the franchise’s all-time greatest players. Duncan and Ginobili have yet to make announcements regarding their decisions on player options for 2016/17, but both players are viewed as candidates to call it a career.

Pistons Sign GM Jeff Bower To Extension

June 13th, 2016 at 9:27am CST by Dana Gauruder

MONDAY, 9:27am: The Pistons have officially announced their new deal with Bower.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the job Jeff has done for our organization,” Van Gundy said in a press release. “He’s been at the forefront of all the moves we’ve made over the last two seasons and has implemented much of the strategy and structure throughout our basketball operations department. The confidence I have in his ability allows me to go out and coach during the season knowing that he’s always looking to make our team better.”

SUNDAY, 11:25 am: The extension is for one year, meaning that Bower is under contract until June 30, 2018, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets.

10:55 am: The Pistons have reached a multiyear contract extension with GM Jeff Bower, league sources told The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Bower has been Stan Van Gundy‘s right-hand man since Van Gundy was named head coach and president of basketball operations in the summer of 2014. Bower was entering the final year of a three-year contract.

Bower, 55, has negotiated several trades that have transformed the Pistons’ roster, including the acquisitions of forwards Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris and point guard Reggie Jackson. The Pistons made the Eastern Conference playoffs as the N0. 8 seed after a six-year absence and lost to the Cavaliers in the first round.

Bower was the GM for the New Orleans Hornets from 2001-03 and 2005-10, and was the head coach of Marist College from 2013-14 before Van Gundy hired him. Van Gundy has deflected credit for the team’s deals to Bower and other members of the front office, indicating that he simply rubber stamps or nixes the trade proposals that Bower and his staff negotiate.

Van Gundy praised Bower’s roster-building skills in an interview with Detroit Free Press columnist Jeff Seidel this spring.

“I think that’s where Jeff Bower is really at his best,” Van Gundy told Seidel. “It’s not just one big splash. He really understands how to put a team together. I think we have a lot of good people in our organization, but he is the one who has run a team before, and he is a guy who understands team building and how to put it together.”

Bucks To Sign Ronald Roberts

June 12th, 2016 at 6:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks have reached an agreement with D-League standout Ronald Roberts, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. The 6’8″ power forward averaged 18.1 points and 12.1 rebounds last season with Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate in the D-League.

Roberts, 24, went undrafted out of St. Joseph’s in 2014. He signed contracts with the Sixers and Raptors, but was waived by both teams and has yet to appear in an NBA game.

Roberts is recovering from a patellar tendon strain in his right knee that cut short his 2015/16 season. He is an undersized power forward with a reputation as a relentless rebounder, and Woelfel writes that several teams were interested in signing him. The Bucks plan to use Roberts on their summer league team.

Raptors, Dwane Casey Agree To Extension

June 7th, 2016 at 8:09am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have agreed to a new three-year extension with head coach Dwane Casey, the team officially announced today in a press release. The agreement was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowksi of The Vertical, who noted that the Raptors and Casey “essentially tore up” the remaining year on his previous contract, so the new three-year deal only runs through 2019, rather than 2020.

While at least one report indicated that Casey’s job would have been in jeopardy if the Raptors hadn’t defeated the Pacers in the first round of this year’s playoffs, Toronto ultimately squeezed past Indiana in seven games and did the same against Miami in the second round. The Raptors then became the only team so far to win a game against the Cavs in this year’s postseason, ultimately falling to Cleveland in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

On the heels of that playoff run – the most successful in Raptors history – reports surfaced indicating that the team would offer Casey an extension, which GM Masai Ujiri later confirmed. ESPN’s Marc Stein suggested that there was optimism in Toronto about Casey’s new deal getting done by the end of last week.

A longtime assistant coach in Seattle and Dallas, Casey also had a brief stint as the Timberwolves’ head coach before he was hired as the Raptors’ coach for the 2011/12 season. Toronto has increased its win total every year since Casey arrived, going from 23 wins in 2011/12 to a franchise-record 56 this year. Overall, in his five seasons as the Raptors’ head coach, Casey has a 210-184 regular-season record, three playoff appearances, and a 13-18 postseason mark.

Casey’s three-year contract will be worth $18MM, according to Wojnarowski. Prior to the agreement, Stein had wrote that Casey’s deal figured to be similar to the one Terry Stotts received from the Trail Blazers after their playoff run. Stotts, who also had a year left on his contract, agreed to a three-year extension worth approximately $5.5MM per season.

Dave Zarum of Sportsnet.ca first reported that the Raptors and Casey were closing in on an extension agreement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cole Aldrich To Opt Out Of Contract

June 2nd, 2016 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

On Wednesday, reports indicated that both Wesley Johnson and Austin Rivers would turn down their player options, opting out of their contracts with the Clippers. That left one Clipper, Cole Aldrich, with an option decision to make, and according to Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times, Aldrich has elected to opt out of his deal as well.

Aldrich, 27, only averaged 13.3 minutes per game in 60 contests for the Clippers last season, but was a decent depth piece for the club, averaging 5.5 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a career-best .596 FG%. Aldrich signed a two-year, minimum-salary deal with Los Angeles a year ago, with a player option on the second year of that contract.

Since that 2016/17 option is worth the minimum (approximately $1.23MM), there’s little to no downside for Aldrich in declining it. Even if he’s unable to find a team offering him a raise, he should certainly be able to land another minimum-salary contract, perhaps one that’s structured in a similar way to his last deal, giving him some flexibility to opt in or out again in 2017. With the NBA salary cap on the rise, it’s also possible Aldrich will find a team willing to pay him a little more than the minimum.

With Johnson, Rivers, and Aldrich all planning to opt out, the Clippers won’t have to carry those player options on their books when free agency begins in July. However, the team will continue to have cap holds for all three players until they’re renounced or re-signed. For his part, Aldrich has interest in re-signing in L.A., according to Turner.

Shane Larkin To Opt Out Of Contract

June 2nd, 2016 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

Shane Larkin has decided to opt out of his contract this summer, turning down his player option for 2016/17, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). Larkin’s option with the Nets would have paid him $1.5MM next season — instead, he’ll hit the open market in search of a new deal.

Larkin, the 18th overall pick in the 2013 draft, has played for three different teams since entering the league, spending a season apiece in Dallas, New York, and Brooklyn. In 2015/16, he set new career highs in PPG (7.3), APG (4.4), and FG% (.442), among other categories.

While it appears that Larkin could be on his way to joining his fourth team in four years, it sounds like he would prefer to find a home that’s not just a short-term stop. Back in April, before he had made a decision on whether or not to exercise his player option, Larkin told reporters that he doesn’t want to “play a 10-year career with eight different teams.”

“I just turned 23, so I’m still young,” Larkin said. “Being able to get with a team on a two-year deal or three-year deal saying, ‘This is what we want you to be. We want you to spark our offense, push the tempo, be this guy and this is what we feel you can do for the team,’ then that’s perfect. Whether I’m a starter or whatever, it’s cool either way.”

Larkin figures to consider plenty of factors in free agency this offseason – notably his annual salary and his role – but it sounds he like he’ll favor suitors who are willing to offer him a multiyear contract and potentially view him as a part of their future.

Because he only has three years of NBA experience under his belt, Larkin will be eligible for restricted free agency — the Nets would have to submit a qualifying offer worth $1.875MM if they want the flexibility to match any offer for the point guard.

Knicks Hire Jeff Hornacek

June 2nd, 2016 at 10:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Tim Fuller / USA TODAY Sports Images

JUNE 2, 10:04am: The Knicks have officially confirmed the hiring of Hornacek as their new head coach (Twitter link).

JUNE 1, 10:50pm: The pact will pay Hornacek $15MM over three seasons, Ian Begley of ESPN.com confirms.

2:17pm: Nearly two weeks after first being offered the team’s head coaching job, Hornacek has reached an agreement on a three-year contract with the Knicks, sources tell Wojnarowski. A news conference to formally announce the hiring is expected to happen later this week.

MAY 19, 4:35pm: The Knicks have formally offered the job to Hornacek and the two sides are engaged in contract discussions regarding the length of the deal and annual salary, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (Twitter links).

MAY 18, 7:15pm: A source close to Hornacek confirms that negotiations are still ongoing and nothing has been finalized, tweets Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. Jackson has apparently decided to hire Hornacek, Isola adds, but no contract is in place (Twitter link). Berman describes the process as “mutual interest,” but in the “very, very early stages.” (Twitter link).

6:43pm: Jeff Hornacek will be the next coach of the New York Knicks, tweets Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. Hornacek, who was fired by the Suns in February, became a candidate late in the process after team president Phil Jackson reportedly pushed to keep interim coach Kurt Rambis.

Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt and recently fired Pacers coach Frank Vogel were believed to be the other finalists for the position. The Knicks didn’t contact Hornacek about the job until three weeks after the search began, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post.

The deal is not fully complete, Beck cautions, though a source tells him it’s “as close as humanly possible.” (Twitter link). Barring any last-minute complications, a formal announcement is expected soon.

Hornacek doesn’t fit the profile that would be expected of a Jackson coach. He’s not part of Jackson’s coaching lineage and he has never run the triangle. The hiring suggests that Jackson’s influence with owner James Dolan might be waning.

Hornacek comes to New York with a 101-112 career coaching record that he compiled in two and a half seasons in Phoenix. His only other coaching experience came in three years as an assistant in Utah. He had also talked to the Rockets about their head coaching position and was considered to be a candidate for the openings in Memphis and Orlando. ESPN’s Marc Stein reported this week that the Warriors had “strong interest” in hiring Hornacek as a lead assistant.

Celtics Extend Danny Ainge, Brad Stevens

June 1st, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Before the NBA offseason gets underway in earnest, the Celtics have given new contracts to two key members of their organization, announcing today in a press release that general manager Danny Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens have signed extensions. Terms of those new deals have not yet been disclosed.

“A major job of ownership is to find the right people to run the basketball side,” Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck said in a statement. “We believe we have found them in Danny and Brad. Once you find your people, you need to support them in their efforts and create a work environment that enables them and the team to succeed. If all of that is in place, the topic of extending contracts becomes an easy one, because everybody wants to keep moving forward together.”

Stevens, who took over as the Celtics’ head coach in 2013, has a losing record overall, but the team has made tremendous strides under his watch. After winning just 25 games in 2013/14, Boston won 40 and 48 in Stevens’ next two seasons, earning playoff berths in both years. Stevens’ contract with the Celtics was a six-year pact and wasn’t set to expire until 2019, so the team has made a very early decision to extend it, signalling how pleased the franchise is with its coach.

“Brad has demonstrated the ability to get the very best out of his players,” Grousbeck said. “A number of guys have had career years playing for him: Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder, for example. And our young players have been developing very nicely. [Stevens] is a natural leader and a very skilled, strategic coach who is the right man to coach the Celtics.”

As for Ainge, he has been the Celtics’ GM since 2003, so his latest extension doesn’t come as a surprise. As a result of Ainge’s maneuvering, Boston holds eight picks in this year’s draft – including the No. 3 overall selection from Brooklyn – and has an excess of picks lined up for future years as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wesley Johnson To Decline Option For 2016/17

June 1st, 2016 at 6:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Clippers swingman Wesley Johnson has elected not to exercise his player option for the 2016/17 campaign and he will hit the open market this offseason, Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times reports (via Twitter). Johnson will join teammate Austin Rivers, who also elected to opt out, as an unrestricted free agent.

Johnson would have earned $1,227,286 next season had he chose to opt in, but with the salary cap set to increase to $92MM-$95MM he likely anticipates improving upon the figure via free agency. Team president and coach Doc Rivers has said that he wants to re-sign as many of the Clippers’ free agents as possible, and Johnson noted that he would prefer to remain in Los Angeles, Turner adds.

The 28-year-old appeared in 80 games for the Clippers in 2015/16, averaging 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 20.8 minutes per outing to accompany a slash line of .404/.333/.652.

Austin Rivers To Opt Out Of Deal

June 1st, 2016 at 5:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

In a move that was widely expected, Clippers guard Austin Rivers has elected not to exercise his player option for the 2016/17 campaign and he will hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent this offseason, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports (on Twitter). The combo guard was set to earn $3,344,106 next season, but with the cap set to increase significantly, Rivers obviously believes he can improve upon that figure.

The 23-year-old made 67 appearances for Los Angeles this past season, averaging 8.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 21.9 minutes per outing to accompany a shooting line of .438/.335/.681. Rivers, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, has career averages of 7.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists through 273 contests.

Team president and coach, Doc Rivers, who is Austin’s father, has said that he wants to re-sign as many of the Clippers’ free agents as possible, which ostensibly includes the younger Rivers. Los Angeles doesn’t have much in the way of cap flexibility this summer, having nearly $77MM in salary already on the books against a projected cap in the range of $92MM-$95MM for 2016/17. Austin is represented by ASM Sports, whom he hired last July. He was previously represented by Relativity Sports, who negotiated Rivers’ two-year deal for nearly $6.455MM last July.