Week in Review News & Rumors

A look back at the week that was..

• The Kings and Rudy Gay agreed to a three-year, $40MM contract extension.  The deal includes an opt out after the second year when Gay will be only 31 and the league figures to be flush with money from the new TV deal.
• The Nets and Sixers have had preliminary talks on an Andrei Kirilenko deal.  There appears to be a rift between AK47 and Brooklyn at the moment.
• The Wolves had some discussions about trading Corey Brewer, but those talks appear to have quieted down.
• Goran Dragic isn’t sold on re-signing with the Suns.
• The Rockets are eager to pull off a trade soon.
• Aaron Gordon will be out for up to eight weeks.
• Jeff Taylor won’t appeal his 24 game suspension.
• The Lakers are eyeing a number of players, including Gal Mekel and Jordan Hamilton.
• The Grizzlies re-signed Kalin Lucas and Hassan Whiteside before waiving them again a day later.
• The Lakers will audition Roscoe Smith.
• Bernard James is headed to China.
• John Lucas III turned down a workout with the Lakers to sign in China.
• Jason Collins decided to retire.
• Scotty Hopson‘s deal with a Turkish club fell through.

A look back at the week that was..

• A report indicated that Kevin Love still has interest in playing for the Lakers, but Love issued a denial soon after.
• The Clippers are keeping an eye on Metta World Peace, though Doc Rivers seems to be publicly downplaying a connection.
• Kevin Garnett has interest in buying the Wolves.
• NBPA executive director Michele Roberts made some waves.
• Tobias Harris is interested in joining the Knicks.
• The Grizzlies are looking at Kenyon Martin, but it’s not clear if it’s as a coach or a player.
• The Lakers were set to work out Quincy Miller.
• The Lakers have been granted a disabled player exception after losing Julius Randle on opening night.
• The 76ers re-signed Drew Gordon and waived Malcolm Thomas.
• Nemanja Nedovic had lots of overseas interest after being waived by the Warriors and landed with Valencia.
• The Sixers signed Robert Covington to a four-year deal.  To make room, the 76ers dropped Chris Johnson.
• The Sixers have been in contact with free agent Arinze Onuaku.
• The Grizzlies and Lakers auditioned Tyrus Thomas.
• Former Suns guard Dionte Christmas has signed with Paris-Levallois of France.
• Multiple teams are talking with Dwight Buycks, though there’s a strong chance he lands in China.
• The Lakers are bringing in Ater Majok for a series of workouts to see if he might be a fit for their D-League affiliate.

Here’s a look back at the (busy) week that was..

• Steve Nash will miss all of 2014/15 due to recurring nerve damage in his back.  The Lakers will apply for the Disabled Player Exception.
• In a surprise turn, the league voted against lottery reform.
• The Warriors and Klay Thompson still have a bridge to cross.  Thompson’s camp wants a max level deal and the Warriors don’t want to go that high.
• The Nets traded Marquis Teague and a 2019 second-round pick to the Sixers for Casper Ware, who they waived soon after.  Philly will receive the more favorable of Milwaukee’s and Sacramento’s second-round picks in 2019.
• There’s a big gap between the Bulls and Jimmy Butler as they discuss an extension.
• The Pelicans exercised their fourth year team option for Anthony Davis.
• The Cavaliers exercised their fourth-year contract option on Dion Waiters.
• The Magic exercised their team options on Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Maurice Harkless, and Andrew Nicholson.
• Tobias Harris isn’t planning to sign an extension with the Magic before the deadline.
• The Celtics could waive Will Bynum.
• The Wizards added John Lucas III and later waived him.
• The Celtics will exercise their team options to keep Tyler Zeller, Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk on their rookie scale contracts through 2015/16.
• The Knicks may or may not be picking up Shane Larkin‘s option.
• The Jazz exercised their third-year team options for Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert.
• The Sixers waived Drew Gordon, Malcolm Lee, and Ronald Roberts Jr.
• Jeremy Tyler is headed to China.  The Lakers waived him so that he could pursue the deal.
• The Mavs signed and waived Renaldo Balkman on Saturday in an effort to secure his D-League rights.
• The Nuggets waived Quincy Miller, Marcus Williams, and Jerrelle Benimon.
• The Sixers will sign Malcolm Thomas.
• The Grizzlies waived Earl Clark and Hassan Whiteside. Clark was later claimed by Houston.
• The Rockets waived Clark and Akeem Richmond, shortly after claiming and signing each.  Geron Johnson and Akil Mitchell were also waived and Josh Powell was let go.
• The Heat waived Khem Birch along with Larry Drew II, Tyler Johnson and Shawn Jones.  Drew was signed earlier in the week.
• The Celtics waived Jarell Eddie, days after claiming him off waivers.
• The Knicks will waive forward Travis Outlaw and that’s probably a sign that Travis Wear will make the team.
• The Hawks waived Eddie and Dexter Pittman on Tuesday.
• The Clippers waived Joe Ingles.
• The Knicks waived Langston Galloway and Jordan Vandenberg.
• The Grizzlies waived guard Patrick Christopher.
• The Pistons have picked up their 2015/16 team options on Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
• The Pistons waived Hasheem Thabeet, Brian Cook, Lorenzo Brown and Josh Bostic.
• The Celtics waived Rodney McGruder, Erik Murphy, Tim Frazier, and Christian Watford.
• Dee Bost is going to Italy.
• The Spurs signed Robert Vaden and Fuquan Edwin, then waived them along with JaMychal Green.
• The Mavs released point guard Yuki Togashi.
• The Mavs waived swingman Eric Griffin.
• The Magic waived Kadeem Batts, Drew Crawford, Seth Curry, and Peyton Siva.
• The Grizzlies waived Kalin Lucas.
• The Nets exercised their team options to keep Mason Plumlee and Sergey Karasev on their rookie scale contracts through 2015/16.
• The Lakers said farewell to Jabari Brown and Roscoe Smith.
• The Wolves waived center Kyrylo Fesenko.
• Jamil Wilson is set to sign with the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League.
• The Jazz waived Brock Motum.
• The Hornets waived Justin Cobbs.
• The Pacers waived C.J. Fair, Arinze Onuaku, Chris Singleton and Adonis Thomas.
• The Mavs waived Bernard James, Ivan Johnson, and Doron Lamb.
• The Wolves cut Brady Heslip.
• The Kings released Trey Johnson.
• The Wizards waived Rasual Butler, Damion James, and Xavier Silas.
• The Hornets waived big men Dallas Lauderdale and Brian Qvale.
• The Jazz waived Dahntay Jones and Jack Cooley.
• The Thunder waived camp invitees Michael Jenkins, Richard Solomon and Talib Zanna.
• The Pelicans waived Kevin Jones and D.J. Stephens.
• The Cavs waived Shane Edwards.
• The Thunder exercised their options on Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, Perry Jones III, and Jeremy Lamb.
• The Suns waived Earl Barron.
• The Blazers waived Diante Garrett and Darius Morris.
• The Raptors waived Will Cherry and Jordan Hamilton.
• The Nets waived power forward Willie Reed.
• The Warriors waived Aaron Craft, Jason Kapono, Sean Kilpatrick, James Michael McAdoo, and Mitchell Watt.  Kilpatrick was signed earlier in the week.
• The Knicks waived center D.J. Mbenga and power forward Orlando Sanchez.
• The Knicks signed center Jordan Vandenberg.
• The Spurs waived Josh Davis and Bryce Cotton.
• The Lakers waived Keith Appling.

Remember all that speculation over Frank Vogel‘s job security in Indiana?  We can put that to rest, for now, as Vogel has inked a contract extension with the Pacers.  It’s not known how many seasons the deal covers, but we do know that he’s now under contract beyond 2014/15.    More from the week that was..

• The NBA landed a new TV deal with their partners that will pay a reported $24 billion.  Players are already wondering how they can get a larger piece of the pie and rumblings of a labor stoppage have started.
• The Nuggets and Kenneth Faried agreed to an extension despite having to rework it a bit.  It’s a four-year, $50MM extension that could increase to $52MM through incentives.
• The Warriors and Klay Thompson haven’t made progress towards an extension in recent weeks.
• The proposal for changes to the NBA lottery has “overwhelming support.”
• Talks between the Nets and Guggenheim have hit a snag.
• The Wolves appear to have upped their offer to Ricky Rubio.
• The Cavs were the most fervent suitor of Chandler Parsons early in free agency this summer, viewing him as a plan B if LeBron James didn’t return.
• The Pacers up their 2015/16 team option on their rookie scale contract with small forward Solomon Hill.
• Kevin Durant has a fracture in his right foot and is expected to miss at least six to eight weeks.
• Michael Beasley left the Grizzlies for a deal in China.
• Warriors GM Bob Myers acknowledged that the team engaged in discussions with Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg this spring before hiring Steve Kerr.
• Nets GM Billy King insists the team is still doggedly pursuing a championship and isn’t focused on making financial cutbacks.
• The Rockets will waive Robert Covington.
• The Jazz have waived swingman Kevin Murphy and point guard Dee Bost.
• The Pelicans waived Vernon Macklin.
• Second-round draft pick Semaj Christon has agreed to play for the Thunder’s D-League affiliate this year.
• The Sixers signed Malcolm Lee and Drew Gordon and waived Keith Bogans and Jarvis Varnado.
• The lack of state income tax in Texas led Trevor Ariza to taking a four year, $32MM deal from the Rockets rather than an identical offer from the Wizards.
• Bradley Beal is likely out for six to eight weeks.
• The Bucks agreed to release Chris Wright so that he can play overseas instead.
• The Knicks signed center D.J. Mbenga.
• Former Grizzlies shooting guard Jamaal Franklin has signed a two-month deal with the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.
• The Mavs have signed undrafted point guard Yuki Togashi.
• John Holland is close to signing a deal with a Turkish team.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban alleged that Rockets GM Daryl Morey relies heavily on math and cares very little about team chemistry.  Morey quickly fired back at Cuban’s comments and added that he’ll “never trade” his core of Dwight Howard and James Harden.    Here’s more from the week that was..

• Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Guggenheim (Dodgers) are in talks to merge forces, which would form a sports empire worth $8 billion.
• The Magic want extensions with Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris and the interest is reciprocal.
• The Bulls and Jimmy Butler have talked about a new deal.
• The Jazz opened extension talks with both Enes Kanter and Alec Burks.
• No surprise here, the Blazers have exercised their option on Damian Lillard for the 2015/16 season.
• The Suns signed the Morris twins to four-year extensions.  President of basketball operations Lon Babby negotiated a total figure for Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris with agent Leon Rose, letting the twins decide how to split what turned out to be a $52MM pot.
• The Rockets plan to exercise their fourth-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of both Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas.
• The league will likely vote on changes to the lottery and the proposal is gaining support.
• The Hawks are up for sale and commissioner Adam Silver says they’ll stay in Atlanta.
• The Wizards waived Vander Blue and David Stockton.  Among the new signings still in camp are Xavier Silas, Rasual Butler, Damion James, and Daniel Orton.
• Josh Howard is attempting an NBA comeback.
• Rookie K.J. McDaniels has an unusual arrangement with the Sixers.
• Pops Mensah-Bonsu signed on with the Nuggets but left training camp for personal reasons.
• The Pelicans signed D.J. Stephens for camp.
• The 76ers waived Pierre Jackson.
• Shawn Marion says that he turned down more lucrative offers from other clubs to sign with Cleveland because they landed Kevin Love.
• Finally, the Rockets inked Francisco Garcia to a new deal.
• The Nuggets and Alonzo Gee struck agreement on a deal.
• The Nuggets called off their deal with Joe Alexander.
• The Thunder signed power forwards Richard Solomon and Talib Zanna.
• The Celtics re-signed Christian Watford.
• Earl Watson is calling it quits.
• Jason Kapono‘s deal with the Warriors is done.

The Eric Bledsoe saga has finally come to a close.  The guard and the Suns came to terms on a five-year, $70MM deal this week and while Bledsoe didn’t get the max deal he was after, he still got a handsome payday.  Meanwhile, Phoenix hopes to also lock up backcourt mate Goran Dragic for the long-term.  Here’s more from the week that was..

• The Warriors want to extend Klay Thompson.
• The Rajon Rondo trade speculation continues as owner Wyc Grousbeck said that Rondo isn’t the easiest player to coach.
• The Suns signed Spanish league shooting guard Zoran Dragic.  The 25-year-old will join older brother Goran on the Suns, and the addition will ostensibly aid Phoenix in its efforts to retain him long-term.
• The Cavs acquired Keith Bogans, then sent him to the Sixers in a separate deal.
• The Magic want extensions with Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris.
• The Grizzlies are bringing former No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley to camp.
• The Cavs still hope to sign Ray Allen.
• Joe Alexander will join the Nuggets for training camp.
• The Wizards signed David Stockton, John Stockton‘s son, for training camp.
• The Lakers signed Wayne Ellington to a partially guaranteed deal.
• The Kings waived Scotty Hopson.
• The Mavericks have signed shooting guard Doron Lamb.
• The Nuggets signed Marcus Williams.
• The Wizards are planning to bring Daniel Orton to camp.
• Josh Bostic will go to camp with the Pistons.
• Three-year NBA veteran Josh Harrellson has signed with China’s Chongqing Flying Dragons.
• The Nets are bringing Willie Reed to camp.
• The Lakers have added Jeremy Tyler and Jabari Brown to their roster for training camp.
• Scotty Hopson may or may not be headed to Italy.
• The Jazz signed Dahntay Jones to a non-guaranteed deal.
• The Bulls re-signed Nazr Mohammed.
• The Hornets have signed former University of Montana center Brian Qvale.
• The Wizards and Rasual Butler agreed to a camp deal.
• The Cavaliers waived Chris Crawford, then reached a deal to bring him back.
• Free agent shooting guards Jamaal Franklin and Vander Blue auditioned for the Wizards. Blue was signed to a training camp deal.
• Undrafted former Seton Hall swingman Fuquan Edwin worked out for the Spurs.
• The Cavs are bringing A.J. Price to camp.
• The Celtics are waiving power forward Christian Watford.  They also waived Chris Babb and Chris Johnson. Boston intends to re-sign Watford this week.
• The Spurs signed former Boston University shooting guard John Holland.
• The Bulls have signed one-year NBA veterans Kim English and Ben Hansbrough.
• The Sixers and power forward Drew Gordon have agreed to a deal.
• Chicago also inked Solomon Jones.
• The Thunder signed free agent shooting guard Michael Jenkins for training camp.  He reportedly had a deal in place with the Nets at one point but it appears that fell through.
• The Rockets signed former Virginia power forward Akil Mitchell.
• Golden State signed free agent Jason Kapono to a training camp deal.
• The Hornets signed big man Jason Maxiell to a non-guaranteed contract.
• Frank Vogel and the Pacers have had discussions about an extension.
• The new-look Wolves and Ricky Rubio began talks in regards to a contract extension.
• Cleveland inked Shane Edwards for training camp. The Cavs also added Stephen Holt earlier in the day.