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Southeast Notes: Wizards, Heat, Bobcats

August 6th, 2013 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few Tuesday morning items from around the Southeast Division….

While most major free agents have found teams since the start of July, Wizards coach Randy Wittman rightly points out that there's still plenty of time left in the offseason to make moves. "We're not done," Wittman tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "[GM] Ernie [Grunfeld]’s not done, and we’re trying to explore [upgrades], whether it’s through trades or free agency."
The Heat aren't likely to pursue Stephen Jackson, add another big, or retain Jarvis Varnado, opines Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in his latest mailbag.
Joel Anthony (Heat) and Shelvin Mack (Hawks) are two of the potential "odd men out" identified by Lang Greene of HoopsWorld as possible trade candidates.
After re-signing with the Bobcats this summer, Gerald Henderson speaks to Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer about wanting to a part of the solution in Charlotte, rather than a part of the problem.

Eastern Notes: Ivan Johnson, Wizards, Pistons

August 4th, 2013 at 9:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Eastern Conference has been the weaker side of the NBA for more than a decade, but the teams at the top of the conference should rival their counterparts from the West this season. The Bulls, Pacers and Nets all figure to be tougher competition for the Heat in 2013/14, with the Knicks right behind. As we wait to see how it plays out, here's the latest news related to Eastern teams:

Agent Jeremiah Haylett tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype that he's exploring overseas options for Ivan Johnson (Twitter link). The Knicks are one of six NBA teams who've spoken to the burly power forward, and though the Hawks were reportedly interested in bringing him back as of mid-July, they've since renounced his rights.
Wizards coach Randy Wittman is glad the team locked up John Wall, who became the 15th NBA player to have a maximum-salary contract on the books when he signed his extension this week. J. Michael of CSNWashington.com has Wittman's thoughts on the team's offseason.
The gamble that Brandon Jennings will be better than Brandon Knight in the long run is the latest in a series of risks that will decide Joe Dumars' fate, opines Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press. Of course, Dumars and the Pistons might already be plotting to move on from Jennings, according to a report we passed along earlier today.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Wizards, Heat, Hawks

August 2nd, 2013 at 7:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks acquired five players in the Joe Johnson trade last summer, and with their release of DeShawn Stevenson today, none of the five remain on the team's roster, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution points out via Twitter. GM Danny Ferry has radically reshaped the club in little more than a year, and the Stevenson move wasn't Atlanta's only transaction of the day, as we detail amid other news from the Southeast Division:

Magic owner Rich DeVos is 87 years old, but he has no plans to sell the club, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes in an early Eastern Conference preview. Instead, he has given his four children shares of the Magic with the intent that the family will continue to own the team for decades to come.
The Magic would like to pursue a one-to-one affiliation with a D-League team that would be stationed in Florida, but obstacles are in the way, Robbins reports in the same piece. Orlando will be one of six teams sharing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. Ideally, the Magic want to have a "hybrid" partnership, wherein they'd run the D-League team's basketball operations while local ownership took care of the business side.
The Wizards seem likely to push for one of the final three playoff spots in the East, and owner Ted Leonsis believes a postseason berth would be a significant help to the team's hopes of signing a marquee free agent, observes Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel believes that with so many teams with an eye on the lottery, buyouts could come earlier than usual this season. Winderman figures the Heat will be active in the market for bought-out players.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer completed his staff Friday, hiring Jim Thomas as an assistant, the team announced. Thomas had been serving as a scout for the Thunder.

Wizards Owner Discusses Wall’s Max Extension

August 1st, 2013 at 10:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

Perhaps most surprising about John Wall's maximum-salary extension with the Wizards is the timing of the deal. The team could have waited to re-sign him in restricted free agency next summer. GM Ernie Grunfeld and company could also have saved negotiations for later this offseason, since most rookie-scale extensions aren't signed until the October 31st deadline approaches.

Instead, as soon as the team was eligible to make an offer, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis hopped on a plane to Los Angeles, where Wall makes his offseason home, to begin talks. Leonsis spoke to the media today about the deal, and J. Michael of CSNWashington.com rounds up several of his remarks. We'll pass along a few here:

On what Wall has proven in his career:

"John and I talked about what we had to do the day we drafted him. It was going to be very painful. Rebuilds are hard. We've had 100% turnover of our team. We owe a lot to our fans for the patience that they've shown and also to the players because it was going to be messy. We're through that point now. I felt that John earned this because of what he'd been through and his level of commitment. Ernie and the staff crunched a lot of numbers. There's a lot of analytics that go into it to show where John ranks and what his upside his. … I thought he was our foundational player and that he deserved to be a max player."

On the challenge of rebuilding and what the deal means for the franchise:

"We’re very, very fortunate that John embraced that challenge early on. Also frankly, (agent) Dan Fegan believed in that was well. John would be a very highly sought-after player around the league. He has probably the most upside of all of the point guards that are out there. To be able to secure his services for five years plus the year that he’s playing this year (for $7,459,925) really gives the fan base, the team, the coaching staff the wherewithal to know that we’ll have stability and we’ll continue to build systematically around what John’s gifts and skills are."

On the benefits of locking up Wall so early:

"By doing this, it should send a message to John and the team that we're about team results, not about individual stats. Everyone has their contract, everyone is taken care of. There is nothing to worry about. There are no distractions. I also made a commitment to having a drama free off-season. I think this organization has had enough drama."

Eastern Notes: Wall, Monroe, Sixers, Humphries

August 1st, 2013 at 4:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few Thursday items from around the Eastern Conference….

John Wall's five-year extension with the Wizards is fully guaranteed, with no player or team options involved, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Wall spoke to Monumental Sports Network about his new deal, and the additional pressure it will put on him over the next few years.
According to Grantland's Zach Lowe, the Pistons don't seem overly enthusiastic about signing Greg Monroe to a maximum-salary extension. If the team "falls in love" with a frontline of Josh Smith and Andre Drummond, Monroe could be dangled at some point, Lowe suggests.
Monroe, Paul George, and Larry Sanders are among the Eastern players who could follow in Wall's footsteps and sign lucrative long-term extensions this offseason, as Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld writes.
Spurs assistant Brett Brown continues to be a frontrunner for the Sixers' head coaching job, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). A report last month indicated Philadelphia would likely choose between Michael Curry and Brown, who Pompey calls "the preferred candidate."
The Knicks would be interested in Kris Humphries if he's bought out by the Celtics, but that appears unlikely at this point, says Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter).
The Hawks have yet to make a final decision on where Lucas Nogueira will play next season, but it still looks as if he'll return to Spain, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brett Koremenos of Grantland speculates that if Gigi Datome has success with the Pistons, it could inspire other NBA teams to look more closely to Europe for inexpensive outside shooters.

Odds & Ends: Wall, James, OKC, Haddadi

July 31st, 2013 at 9:05pm CST by Alex Lee

With John Wall's long-awaited max contract finally on the books for the Wizards, NBA writers around the league have already begun to weigh in. Sean Highkin of USA Today writes that Wall is definitely worth the risk for the Wiz, while J. Michael of CSN Washington crunches the numbers to show why the team values Wall like they do. There is sure to be more where that came from. Until then, let's take a look at what else is going on in the Association on Wednesday night:

Free agent point guard Mike James, who spent last season with the Mavericks, will not retire at age 38 and is determined to play his 12th NBA season next year, tweets Chris Haynes of CSN Northwest. James emerged as a viable backup, starting 23 of the 45 games he appeared in last season for Dallas and averaging 6.1 points and 3.1 assists per contest.
The Thunder have named Robert Pack and Mike Terpstra as assistant coaches, the team announced today in a press release. Pack spent the past three years on the Clippers staff after a year in New Orleans. This will be Terpstra's NBA coaching debut, but he has experience working in the D-League. “We’re excited to add Robert and Mike to our coaching staff for the upcoming season,” said head coach Scott Brooks in the release. “These additions bring diverse backgrounds to our group that will help the further development of our players.”
The Knicks have shown interest in center Hamed Haddadi, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday, adding that nothing is imminent. Only able to offer minimum salary contracts, we heard today the Knicks were hoping to land Beno Udrih and yesterday that they had some interest in Delonte West. Haddadi finished last season in Phoenix after more than four years with the Grizzlies.
Alan Anderson, who signed with the Nets yesterday, says he took less money to join a winner, writes Iannazzone. At 30 years old, it sounds like the veteran guard was more concerned with contention than playing time and therefore agreed to a contract in Brooklyn for the league minimum. He was a double-digit scorer in Toronto last season for the first time in his career, but the Raptors missed the playoffs. In his four NBA seasons, Anderson has yet to see the postseason.

Wizards Sign John Wall To Five-Year Extension

July 31st, 2013 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

4:03pm: The Wizards have officially signed Wall to an extension, the team announced in a press release. According to Lee (via Twitter), a press conference is planned for tomorrow.

"[Wall] is the cornerstone of our team, and we have clearly expressed our desire to build around him well before making it official by re-signing him today," owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement. "We are extremely confident in his leadership abilities and are excited to see the continued improvement of the team."

3:04pm: The Wizards and John Wall have officially reached agreement on a five-year maximum contract extension, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post (via Twitter). The deal is expected to worth in the neighborhood of $80MM.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported last week that the Wizards and Wall were closing in on an agreement for a max extension, while other reporters, including Lee, added that the deal would likely be finalized this week. ESPN.com's Marc Stein noted yesterday that the Wizards hoped to hold a press conference on August 1st, and that timetable still appears to be on track, with J. Michael of CSNWashington.com tweeting that the team will make the official announcement tomorrow.

Agreeing to a five-year contract, rather than a four-year pact, will make Wall the Wizards' designated player, meaning the team can't sign any of their current players, such as Bradley Beal or Otto Porter, to a five-year extension when their rookie contracts expire. It will also make Wall the only NBA player under team control through 2019. The exact amount the Dan Fegan client will earn won't be known until next summer, but James Harden's similar max deal is worth about $78.78MM. So assuming the maximum salary increases a little again next July, $80MM is a reasonable estimate for Wall.

Wall, 2010's first overall pick, hasn't yet developed into the superstar many were expecting, but had his best run as a pro during the second half of 2012/13. In his final 26 games of the season, the 22-year-old averaged 22.7 PPG, 7.8 APG, and 4.8 RPG to go along with shooting percentages of .465/.344/.796. While the deal certainly isn't without risk, it's a risk the Wizards believe they have to take, as Lee wrote earlier today.

With Emeka Okafor's and Trevor Ariza's contracts set to expire next summer, the team will still maintain some cap flexibility even as Wall's new deal takes effect. If Wall earns a salary in the ballpark of $14MM in the first year of his extension, the Wizards should still only have a little over $50MM on their books for 2014/15.

Although Wall is set to become the first player from the 2010 draft class to ink a long-term extension, there are still plenty of eligible candidates. DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, Eric Bledsoe, Derrick Favors, and Larry Sanders are among the other players expected to engage in extension talks this offseason, if they haven't already.

John Wall Close To Max Contract Extension

July 30th, 2013 at 11:44am CST by Michael Pina

JULY 30TH, 11:44am: Wall's max extension remains on track to be completed by the end of this week, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Stein tweets that the team originally targeted a date of August 1st for a press conference, but it's not clear if that's still the goal.

JULY 25TH, 12:25pm: The Wizards and Wall aren't expected to finalize an agreement until at least next week, says Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

JULY 24TH, 9:47pm: John Wall and the Wizards are closing in on a five-year, $80MM maximum contract extension, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Yahoo! NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal will make Wall Washington's designated franchise player, which allows a fifth year on the deal, as opposed to four.

The deadline on such an extension is October 31st, but the Wizards and Wall appear to be closing in much earlier than that. Wall is 22 years old and is entering his fourth season next year. The former number one overall pick has yet to lead his team to the playoffs, and is coming off an injury shortened campaign last year.

Eastern Notes: Price, Magic, Antic, Raptors, C’s

July 26th, 2013 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Ronnie Price's minimum-salary contract with the Magic was originally reported as a one-year deal, but in his latest update of the team's books at ShamSports.com, Mark Deeks notes that Price will actually be locked up for two years. The second season will be non-guaranteed, with Orlando having the chance to avoid Price's cap hit if he's released on or before July 10th, 2014. Here are more Magic notes, more contract details from Deeks, and more items from around the Eastern Conference:

While it's been a fairly quiet offseason for the Magic, the team still needs to resolve a few outstanding issues, says Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Among Robbins' tidbits: The team is making sure there are no possible trades involving Hedo Turkoglu and Al Harrington before getting serious about buyouts; the club's $17.8MM Dwight Howard trade exception will likely go unused; and the Magic were never as interested in Eric Bledsoe as various reports suggested.
Pero Antic's contract with the Hawks is worth a guaranteed $1.2MM for 2013/14 and a non-guaranteed $1.25MM in '14/15, notes Deeks.
In his latest update of the Raptors' salaries, Deeks points out that the second and third years of Quentin Richardson's new contract with Toronto will become guaranteed if he's not waived by January 1st, 2014. In other words, there's no chance that Richardson sticks on the team's roster all season. The Raps will likely release the veteran prior to opening night.
J. Michael of CSNWashington.com explores a few possible options for the Wizards' 15th roster spot.
New Celtics head coach Brad Stevens appeared on WEEI's Green Street podcast, and provided plenty of interesting quotes on a variety of Celtics-related topics. Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com passes along the highlights.

Eastern Notes: Wall, Cartier Martin, Antic

July 25th, 2013 at 7:47pm CST by Ryan Raroque

SB Nation's Tom Ziller isn't totally convinced that the Wizards need to offer a maximum contract to John Wall this summer, pointing out that at worst, he'd be no more expensive to retain as a restricted free agent one year from now. He mentions Stephen Curry and Jrue Holiday as perfect examples where their respective teams were able to get good discounts by negotiating early extensions, but in Washington's case, offering a max extension now would eliminate potential negotiating leverage next summer in the event that Wall has a subpar season in 2013-14. Though Ziller understands why Wall deserves a maximum contract now, he argues that there'd be little risk and tangible potential benefit in waiting until next year to offer that type of deal.

Here are a few more news and notes out of the Eastern Conference:

In addition to their interest in free agent center Greg Oden, the Heat are also keeping their eye on Mo Williams, says Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld.
Emiliano Carchia of Sportando passes along a report that Cartier Martin is close to a deal with Olympiacos (hat tip to Eurohoops). The 28-year-old swingman spent last season with the Wizards.
Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that new Hawks addition Pero Antic had previously passed up an offer to join the Magic in 2008.
After bringing back Kenyon Martin, the Knicks are still in the market for one more point guard and possibly another big man, notes Newsday's Al Iannazzone.
Josh Newman of SNYNets.com reports that Brooklyn forward Tornike Shengelia will have surgery next Wednesday to repair a damaged meniscus in his left knee and will most likely miss the FIBA Eurobasket Games in September at the very least.
With the departure of Mike Miller, Heat reserve James Jones is looking for an opportunity at an expanded role next season (NBA.com via the Associated Press).