The July moratorium came to an end late last night, and a number of teams didn't waste any time in finalizing moves. The Lakers' acquisition of Steve Nash was the first transaction to become official, followed closely by the Knicks' signing of J.R. Smith, Deron Williams' contract with the Nets, and Blake Griffin's five-year extension with the Clippers. We're expecting more deals to be formally announced today, but there are plenty of free agents still on the market too. We'll be tracking the latest news on those guys right here, with the newest items added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- The Nets are considering Kenyon Martin and Craig Smith and discussing a sign-and-trade for Antawn Jamison, clouding Kris Humphries' future with the team, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Pacers are targeting unrestricted free agent Gerald Green as their wing player off the bench, and are expected to offer him a three-year, $10MM contract, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. O.J. Mayo and Courtney Lee are out the team's price range at the moment (All Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
- Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group reports (via Sulia) that the Warriors have expressed interest in C.J. Watson, who is expected to become an unrestricted free agent soon. However, some members of the Warriors' organization, including coach Mark Jackson, prefer Nate Robinson to Watson (Twitter link).
- The Knicks have some interest in Maurice Evans, who is willing to sign for the veteran's minimum, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Evans has also drawn interest from the Wizards, but would like to join a team that "has a chance to do something special," says Begley.
- After tweeting earlier that the Knicks would likely make an offer to Spanish League point guard Pablo Prigioni today, Marc Berman of the New York Post passes along a report out of Argentina indicating that Prigioni plans to accept it (Twitter link).
- The Pacers will sign Roy Hibbert outright rather than matching an offer sheet from the Blazers, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. That way the Pacers can control the timing of the move, and the Blazers won't have to tie up their cap for three days.
- On the other hand, the Suns will go through with their plan to sign Eric Gordon to an offer sheet, even though the Hornets will almost certainly match it, tweets Berger.
- The Clippers are eyeing free agent shooter Marco Belinelli, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Los Angeles has committed its mid-level exception to Jamal Crawford, but could sign Belinelli using the bi-annual exception or explore a sign-and-trade deal. Shelburne suggests that the Clips and Hornets have discussed a sign-and-trade that would send Ryan Gomes and a draft pick to New Orleans for Belinelli.
- Michael Redd continues to draw interest from the Suns and Bulls, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Sulia link). The interest from those clubs should only grow if they don't lock up Eric Gordon and Kyle Korver, respectively.
—–
O.J. Mayo? Whats next, the Pacers sign Lemonade Mustard?