It's past midnight on the East Coast, and that means teams may negotiate with free agents from other clubs, as the NBA's offseason gets under way in earnest. Players can't officially sign contracts until July 11, and trades can't be made official until that date either. That doesn't mean there won't be plenty of talk and agreements in principle between now and then, and if this evening is any indication, we're in for a busy couple of weeks ahead. There are several bits of news rolling in on free agents as July begins, so we'll round up what we're hearing around the late-night rumor mill here.
- The Lakers are seeking a point guard in free agency, and in addition to reaching out to Ramon Sessions, they're also targeting veterans like Chauncey Billups, Jameer Nelson, and Kirk Hinrich, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- In search of a center, the Mavericks have shown some interest in Hasheem Thabeet and Joel Przybilla, says Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com.
- The Cavaliers have expressed interest in Jonny Flynn, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. They're also eyeing Sonny Weems, according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
Earlier updates:
- The Mavericks are interested in Anthony Randolph, according to Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com.
- Jamal Crawford was contacted by six teams tonight, with Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld identifying the Celtics, Suns, 76ers, Timberwolves, and Clippers, while Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com says the Pacers were also in touch.
- Seven teams contacted Ian Mahinmi when free agency opened, but the Mavericks weren't one of them, says Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com.
- The Kings have reached out to Terrence Williams, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- There are five or six teams ready to make Lou Williams a contract offer, tweets John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has already called Ramon Sessions to open dialogue about a new contract, says Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports clarifies an earlier item on Omer Asik (linked below), tweeting that a Blazers contingent met with Asik tonight, but that GM Neil Olshey was meeting with another player.
- After his meeting with the Rockets tonight, Omer Asik will sit down with Blazers GM Neil Olshey, who plans to make him an offer, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
- Rockets free agent Goran Dragic wants to be the starter no matter where he winds up, Wojnarowski also tweets.
- The Clippers will talk with Nick Young, Randy Foye and Jamal Crawford, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
- Lakers unrestricted free agent Jordan Hill will meet with the Wolves on Monday, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Nets are committed to reaching a deal with Mirza Teletovic but are waiting to find out what happens with Deron Williams first, reports Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
- Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak contacted Devin Ebanks via text message about re-signing him, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times.
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey is meeting tonight with Bulls restricted free agent Omer Asik, and K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune hears the Rockets are prepared to offer Asik a deal worth $8MM a year (Twitter link).
- The Mavs may have interest in Wolves unrestricted free agent Michael Beasley, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
- The Clippers had contact tonight with Chauncey Billups' representatives, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
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Billups to the Lakers could be very good for them.