Pacers Re-Sign Shayne Whittington
1:59pm: The deal is official, the Pacers announced.
“Shayne has been with us for more than a year and shown us a lot of good things,” said Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird. “He has grown as a player, has improved and we expect him to continue to do so to be a part of what we do. He’s a hard worker with a variety of skills for a big man.”
JULY 27TH, 10:37am: It’ll be a two-year deal with the first season fully guaranteed, Shade tells Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
JULY 12TH, 7:56pm: The Pacers and forward Shayne Whittington have agreed to a one-year, guaranteed contract, reports RealGM’s Shams Charania, who spoke with Whittington’s agent, Ron Shade (Twitter link).
Whittington is a restricted free agent. In April, the Pacers assigned Whittington to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League. It was the forward’s second trip to Fort Wayne last season.
Whittington, 24, averaged 2.9 points per game and only appeared in 20 games without making a start.
Heat Waive Henry Walker
1:37pm: The move is official, the team announced.
1:14pm: The Heat plan to waive Henry Walker today, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). A reunion is nonetheless possible should he clear waivers, Charania adds. His salary is to become guaranteed if he remains under his existing contract through Saturday, as our schedule of salary guarantee dates shows. The move would be no surprise, as the forward’s release had been a matter of speculation. Miami has let Walker know that he’ll go on waivers, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Walker first joined the Heat on a 10-day contract in February, later signing another 10-day deal before finally inking a deal that covered the rest of the season plus a non-guaranteed 2015/16 salary. He saw his first regular season NBA action since 2011/12 in his time with the Heat, averaging 7.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in 26.2 minutes per game with 34.1% three-point shooting across 24 appearances. The Mike Naiditch client made 13 starts, an uncommonly high number for a late-season pickup, yet it apparently wasn’t enough to ensure his place on the roster for this coming season.
The release of Walker would take Miami down to 14 players, leaving a spot for the team to sign shooting guard Josh Richardson, this year’s No. 40 overall pick, whom the Heat have been trying to clear room for. Miami only has to carry 13 players into the regular season, but the Heat are still reportedly trying to trade Mario Chalmers. Regardless, subtracting Walker would keep $100K from the Heat’s books, a number that would be multiplied many times over if the Heat don’t end up below the $84.74MM tax threshold by season’s end. Miami currently has about $89.2MM in guaranteed salary on its books.
Do you think that Walker will stick in the NBA this time? Leave a comment to let us know.
Cavs Re-Sign Matthew Dellavedova
1:35pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
12:13pm: It is indeed the qualifying offer that Dellavedova will sign, McMenamin writes in a full story, which puts his reporting in agreement with that of Mannix.
10:56am: The Cavaliers will re-sign Matthew Dellavedova to a one-year deal worth about $1.2MM, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Chris Mannix of SI.com indicates that the Bill Duffy client is taking his qualifying offer (Twitter link), which is worth $1,147,276. Either way, it’ll likely cost the Cavs nearly four times as much in luxury tax penalties. The restricted free agent nonetheless appears to be taking a sharp discount from the $4MM he was reportedly seeking.
Dellavedova, who went undrafted in 2013, quickly established himself as an NBA player and further proved his worth in this year’s playoffs, and especially in the Finals, when he served as a fill-in for the injured Kyrie Irving. GM David Griffin made it clear he wanted him back, but Cleveland’s tax concerns appeared to slow negotiations. Dellavedova wanted to move on a deal at this point in part because of a desire to have his future settled before he starts playing for the Australian national team this summer, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). The Cavs can make him a restricted free agent again next summer, since he’ll only have three years of service.
The deal puts a further squeeze on J.R. Smith, who remains unsigned, though Dellavedova’s willingness to sacrifice ostensibly leaves more flexibility for the team to pay Smith what he would like to make, depending on just how much tax owner Dan Gilbert wants to shell out. The Cavs sliced their projected luxury tax bill to little more than $4MM when they agreed to trade Mike Miller along with Brendan Haywood to the Trail Blazers, but that doesn’t include what they’d have to pay for Dellavedova’s salary, nor does it take into consideration a new deal for Tristan Thompson, who remains a restricted free agent.
Is this a fair deal for Dellavedova, or should he have held out for more? Leave a comment to tell us what you think.
Blazers Acquire Brendan Haywood, Mike Miller
MONDAY, 12:55pm: The deal is official, the Cavs and Blazers announce. Miller receives $428,241 from Cleveland thanks to his 15% trade kicker, though that amount will apply to Portland’s cap, lifting Miller’s total cap hit to $3,283,181, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
8:49pm: The Cavs will not receive draft picks in the deal, Wojnarowski tweets. The Blazers, however, will send cash, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 8:19pm: The Cavs have agreed to trade Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller to the Blazers, reports Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski (on Twitter). Cleveland is set to gain two trade exceptions in the deal — one for $10.5MM and another for $2.85MM — Wojnarowski tweets.
The Cavs are also set to send the better of the 2019 second-round picks that they own from the Lakers and Timberwolves plus their 2020 second-round pick, according to ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst (on Twitter).
Haywood’s contract is non-guaranteed for next season at $10,522,500. It will become guaranteed on August 1st and therefore the Blazers are expected to waive him, Windhorst writes in a full story. The Cavs, of course, had been shopping Haywood and his sizable contract for months to no avail.
The Cavs are still interested in making deals with Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova, but at the moment, are set to cut their luxury tax bill from a little more than $32MM to just over $4MM by shedding the salaries of Haywood and Miller, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein tweets.
Celtics To Waive Zoran Dragic?
12:21pm: A source who spoke with Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the Celtics will try to flip Dragic in another trade rather than waive him (Twitter link). Either way, he won’t be playing for Boston. The Celtics can’t aggregate Dragic’s salary with others in a swap for two months, though they can work a trade that sends him out by himself.
11:17am: The Celtics intend to release the newly acquired Zoran Dragic, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). That means the Celtics are prepared to eat Dragic’s salary of more than $1.706MM, assuming he goes unclaimed off waivers. The Heat sent along enough cash in the trade that sent Dragic to Boston to cover his salary, however. Phoenix, which originally signed Dragic, advanced $200K of Dragic’s salary, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (on Twitter), so the cash from Miami will take care of the rest.
Dragic, the brother of Goran Dragic, saw action in just 16 games split between the Suns and Heat last season. Zoran came with his brother in the trade that sent them to Miami at the February deadline, but Goran was apparently on board with today’s move that sent his brother to Boston. The Heat are ineligible to re-sign Zoran until next July because of the trade. This season was to have been the last on Goran’s two-year contract, and the Heat can’t sign him until its scheduled expiration.
The Celtics had little room for the extra player, as they had already been in line to carry 16 guaranteed contracts before today’s trade. Boston will instead pocket the 2020 second-round pick it acquired in the transaction, adding it to its robust stockpile of future draft assets. It’s the eighth extra second-rounder the Celtics have coming their way.
Do you think Zoran Dragic will latch on with another NBA team this season? Leave a comment to let us know.
Magic Acquire Shabazz Napier
MONDAY, 11:46am: The trade is official, both teams announced via press release. It’s a 2016 second-rounder going to Miami. Orlando receives cash in addition to Napier.
2:52pm: The deal is expected to be formally announced Monday, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The second-round pick is heavily protected, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The Magic will keep the pick unless they have a top five record next season.
SUNDAY, 12:23pm: The Magic will acquire Shabazz Napier from the Heat, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Heat will receive a protected future second-round pick, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Miami was aggressively trying to deal Napier in addition to Mario Chalmers because of luxury tax concerns, according to previous reports. Napier set to make roughly $1.3MM this season and has a team option on his salary for the 2016/17 season. Thus, the deal as reported will allow the Heat to create a trade exception worth $1,294,440, the precise value of Napier’s salary this season.
Orlando will now have 10 players on its roster who were drafted since 2011 with four players coming via trade, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link). Napier will presumably be the team’s third string point guard behind 2015 rookie of the year candidate Elfrid Payton and new addition C.J. Watson.
Napier was reportedly a favorite of LeBron James, and his addition to the Heat last summer seemed like a play to retain the four-time MVP, who instead returned to Cleveland. Miami came away with Napier’s rights in a 2014 draft-night deal with Charlotte, which used the No. 24 pick to take the point guard last year. Miami gave Napier 10 starts, and he averaged 19.8 minutes per game, but he played in only one game after March 9th as he battled a sports hernia that ultimately ended his season prematurely.
Celtics Acquire Zoran Dragic From Heat
11:13am: The trade is official, the Celtics and Heat announced. The second-rounder going to Miami is a protected 2019 selection, according to the Heat.
11:07am: The Heat are sending enough cash in the deal to cover Dragic’s salary, reports Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
10:49am: The second-rounder going to Boston is for 2020, reports Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
10:11am: The Celtics are acquiring Zoran Dragic from the Heat, reports Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald and ESPN (Twitter link). He’s the brother of Goran Dragic, who’s OK with the deal, Le Batard adds. The Heat are also sending out a second-rounder, with another heavily protected second-rounder heading from Boston to Miami, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It looks like the Heat aren’t taking salary back in the deal, so they’ll be able to reap luxury tax savings on top of the more than $1.706MM owed to Dragic for this coming season.
Miami has been carrying about $90.9MM in guaranteed salary, above the league’s $84.74MM tax threshold. The Dragic deal won’t take the team under that figure, and the Heat continue to look for takers for Mario Chalmers and his $4.3MM salary, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). Miami would be subject to repeat-offender tax penalties if it’s above the tax threshold at the end of the regular season.
The Celtics use cap space to take in Dragic. Boston is set to complete the David Lee trade later today, but as that move has lingered as unofficial, the C’s have been able to operate as a team with cap space, making moves like the Perry Jones III trade and signing Jordan Mickey for more than two years. Boston had already been in line to carry 16 fully guaranteed contracts for the season ahead, so it would seem Dragic’s place on the opening night roster for the Celtics is not assured.
Miami also whittled its tax bill down with Sunday’s agreement to trade Shabazz Napier to the Magic. The Napier and Dragic deals stand to save the Heat around $11MM in salary and tax penalties combined, depending on other transactions, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
Celtics Acquire David Lee
JULY 27TH, 11:10am: The deal is finally official, the Celtics announce. It’s Babb and Wallace headed to Golden State, with Lee going to Boston.
“We are excited to welcome David as a member of the Celtics family,” Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. “His proven skill set and experience on a championship team will add valuable depth to our frontcourt and a veteran presence to our locker room.”
The Warriors followed with their own press release to confirm the deal.
“On behalf of the entire Golden State Warriors organization, we thank David Lee for his contributions both on and off the court over the last five years,” Warriors GM Bob Myers said. “Throughout his time with the Warriors, David was a great player, competitor and presence in our locker room as well as in the community and was a stabilizing force during a period that saw many positive changes within the organization. Most importantly, he leaves Golden State as an NBA champion. We wish him nothing but the best in the next chapter of his career.”
4:09pm: The teams are still considering “several different ways” to structure the trade and are in no rush, a source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). In any case, the Celtics have no intention of flipping Lee to another team, Himmelsbach also hears (on Twitter).
3:03pm: Babb is most likely the player headed to the Warriors, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, who nonetheless won’t rule out that it’ll be Pressey going to Golden State instead.
2:43pm: Berger clarifies that no picks or cash are headed to Golden State in addition to Wallace, but a “filler contract” will go from the Celtics to the Warriors, he says (Twitter link).
2:11pm: Boston will send another player to the Warriors, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link), which conflicts with Berger’s report. That’s perhaps a signal that the Celtics will seek to stay over the cap, a maneuver that would allow them to keep their trade exceptions. In any case, the extra player who would be going to Golden State would be on a make-good deal, Amick adds. Phil Pressey and Chris Babb are Boston’s only players on non-guaranteed contracts.
JULY 7TH: 1:46pm: The Celtics have agreed with the Warriors on a trade that will send David Lee to Boston, reports Tommy Dee of Charged.fm (on Twitter), and as Marc Stein of ESPN.com confirms (Twitter link). Gerald Wallace will head to Golden State, Stein adds (on Twitter). Part of the efficacy of the deal for Golden State is that it can use the stretch provision to waive Wallace and spread his nearly $10.106MM salary, while Lee’s contract is ineligible for the provision because he signed it under the previous collective bargaining agreement, notes SB Nation’s Mike Prada (Twitter link). The Celtics can open cap room, so it won’t matter that Lee’s salary of nearly $15.494MM is more than $5MM in excess of Wallace’s. Indeed, no other players are involved in the deal, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Boston, despite its multitude of trade exceptions, doesn’t possess one large enough to absorb Lee’s salary, and trade exceptions can’t be combined.
The Warriors plan to keep Wallace, despite the tax savings the team could reap if they waive him, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), though they have until August 31st to change their minds and spread his salary in equal thirds over the next three seasons. Golden State was poised to have a payroll in excess of $100MM before their agreement on this deal, and while bringing in Wallace would take that figure closer to $96MM, that’s still well in excess of a tax line projected to fall around $82MM.
Lee provides the Celtics a player who’s shown more production in the last two seasons than Wallace has, even though Lee receded from Golden State’s rotation for stretches this year. He isn’t the superstar or the rim-protector that the Celtics have long sought, but he averaged 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds in 33.2 minutes per game for a playoff-bound Warriors team in 2013/14.
The Knicks and Lakers had reportedly considered trading for the 32-year-old former All-Star as Lee’s representatives and the Warriors sought takers for his contract, which expires next summer. However, record gate receipts from the team’s run to the Finals left Golden State with greater comfort in paying at least a moderate amount of tax, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported. Lowe suggested that it meant the Warriors had become more likely to swing a trade that brought back salary in return, as is the case with this deal.
Boston had reportedly been willing enough to trade Wallace that it would have parted with a first-round pick to make it happen, but it looks like the Celtics won’t have to pay that price. The forward turns 33 later this month and saw only 8.9 minutes per game this past season. His contract, like Lee’s, runs only through 2015/16.
Clippers To Bring Yanick Moreira To Camp
The Clippers have an agreement with undrafted center Yanick Moreira for training camp, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia first reported and as Fiba.com confirms. Moreira said last week during a press conference in his native Angola that he wouldn’t play for the national team this summer, and Angola’s coach indicated that his decision came because of the opportunity to play in the NBA, as Fiba.com details. It’s a partially guaranteed arrangement, according to Carchia, and it has to be for the minimum salary, since that’s all the Clippers have to give.
Moreira, who attended SMU, was the 95th-best prospect in this year’s draft class, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranked them, but he was unranked on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider listings. The Clippers weren’t among a group of teams reported to have worked him out prior to the draft, one that was composed of the Celtics, Jazz, Suns and Nets, but he was a starter on the Clippers summer league team, averaging 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 25.1 minutes per game.
The Clippers have a fairly uncluttered roster, with 13 full guarantees and Jordan Hamilton‘s non-guaranteed salary. That would seemingly give Moreira, who turns 24 this week, a better shot than most camp invitees to make it to opening night, though the team will surely make other signings between now and the start of camp.
Do you think Moreira will see regular season action in the NBA at some point, either with the Clippers or some other team? Leave a comment to let us know.
Latest On Mike Miller
MONDAY, 8:04am: Miller asked the Cavs to move him, one source tells Lloyd, who writes in a full story.
SUNDAY 8:35pm: Mike Miller, who was reportedly traded from the Cavs to the Blazers tonight, will likely be released by Portland soon, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Miller, who is owed $2.8MM in the final year of his contract, is a strong candidate to negotiate a buyout with the Blazers, according to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski (on Twitter).
The Grizzlies, Thunder and Mavericks are three teams already interested in Miller, Stein tweets. LeBron James was OK with the Cavs dealing Miller, reports the Akron Beacon Journal’s Jason Lloyd (on Twitter), who cites a source who said Miller wanted out and a chance to play again. James was upset when the Heat cut Miller two years ago, as ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst points out (via Twitter), but does not feel that way about this move.
If Miller is waived by the Blazers, the veteran sharpshooter is prohibited from signing with the Cavs for one year, former Nets executive Bobby Marks tweets. Miller is coming off his worst season and only played 13.5 minutes per game in 52 appearances.