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Month: November 2024

Hornets Pursuing Robin Lopez

July 24th, 2012 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

Only four names are left on our list of this summer's restricted free agents, and one is drawing significant interest from the Hornets. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), New Orleans has "worked hard" to complete a sign-and-trade deal for Robin Lopez, but has been unsuccessful so far.

The Suns would like to retain their restricted free agent center, but have so far been unable to come to terms with Lopez, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). If the 24-year-old were to sign an offer sheet with another club, the Suns would likely match it, so the Hornets are looking to avoid that scenario by sending compensation to Phoenix. New Orleans pulled off a similar deal with the Magic, sending Gustavo Ayon to Orlando in exchange for a signed-and-traded Ryan Anderson.

Lopez has averaged just 14.4 minutes per game in his four seasons with the Suns, but has been reasonably efficient in his limited playing time, averaging 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 14.9 PER in 242 career contests.

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Kennedy’s Latest: Howard, Magic, Warriors

July 24th, 2012 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

In addition to listing the best remaining free agents, Alex Kennedy provides some updates on the Dwight Howard situation, the Magic's coaching search, and the Warriors' offseason in his latest NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld. Let's check out the highlights….

  • In recent days, the Magic have shifted their focus away from Howard trade talks and toward convincing the star center to remain in Orlando. According to Kennedy, GM Rob Hennigan and members of the Magic front office will travel to Los Angeles later this week to meet with Howard face-to-face and deliver a presentation that they hope will convince him to stay.
  • Sources within the organization are confident they can make Howard reconsider his standing trade request, says Kennedy. With the Nets out of the picture until January, the Magic believe Orlando ranks favorably alongside other potential destinations for D12. While I think it's possible the Magic decide not to trade Howard, I think convincing him that he wants to stay in Orlando may be a long shot.
  • The Magic are expected to hire a coach within "the next several days." The new hire will likely accompany Hennigan to Los Angeles for the pitch to Howard. According to Kennedy, Jacque Vaughn remains the frontrunner, but Michael Curry and Lindsey Hunter are still in the mix.
  • Kennedy spoke to Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who said he likes where his team is right now and thinks Golden State got a "steal" in Andrew Bogut.
  • Jackson on the Warriors potentially making more moves: "We just want to continue to add depth. Obviously, I think we need another big body. We’re going to pay attention to what’s out there and continue to try to get better by any means necessary."
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Jazz Sign Randy Foye

July 24th, 2012 at 7:39am CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 7:39am: Foye's deal with the Jazz is worth $2.5MM over one year, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter). It appears the team used a portion of its mid-level exception for the signing.

MONDAY, 10:01pm: The Jazz have signed Randy Foye to a one-year deal, according to Ric Bucher of ESPN.com (via Twitter).  Terms of the deal are not yet known.

The Knicks have long been linked to the Tri-state area native, but the shooting guard did not factor into their plans.  The Mavericks, Rockets, Hawks, Suns, and Bucks were all said to be interested in Foye as well but the Jazz were never known to be among his suitors.

Foye, 29 in September, hooked on with the Clippers as a free agent in the summer of 2010 on a two-year, $8.5MM contract.  In two years with Los Angeles, Foye averaged 10.4 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 25. 3 minutes per contest.  For his career, the former seventh-overall pick has put up 11.6 PPG and 3.2 APG.

The Villanova product joined the Clips' starting lineup last season after Chauncey Billups' season ending injury and shot 39% from long range, his best of any full season.  As a team, the Jazz shot just 32.3% from beyond the arc in 2011/12.

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Odds & Ends: Lin, Bulls, Cavs, Nuggets

July 23rd, 2012 at 9:53pm CST by Zachary Links

The craze of Linsanity dominated the pages of Hoops Rumors for several months and extended into the offseason, where the Rockets unexpectedly managed to pry Jeremy Lin away from the Knicks.  Lin admitted to Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group that in some ways, the hoopla went to his head.  However, Lin believes that he is now well-equipped to deal with the hype and isn't concerned about living up to it in Houston.  Here's a look at tonight's news from around the Association..

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Magic May Not Trade Dwight Howard

July 23rd, 2012 at 8:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The Magic have told rival executives that they might not trade Dwight Howard after all, sources told ESPN.com's Chris Broussard.  An executive who has talked with the Magic said that the club only will trade Howard in a deal that is great for the franchise, a stance they have taken for the "last week or so."

Meanwhile, another exec who has had discussions with the Magic believes that they will start the season with the star center and wait until the trade deadline to move him.  However, neither executive would rule out posturing by the Magic.  Sources say that the Lakers and Rockets are also under the impression that the Magic won't trade Howard anytime soon.

In Saturday night's poll, nearly 57% of Hoops Rumors readers said that they believe Howard would wind up as a member of the Lakers.  Meanwhile, just under 14% of those polled predicted that D12 would finish out 2012/13 with Orlando.

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Spurs Interested In Bo McCalebb

July 23rd, 2012 at 6:52pm CST by Zachary Links

The Spurs are seriously interested in signing Lega Basket Serie A point guard Bo McCalebb,  according to Sportando.  However, his club,  Montepaschi Siena, is not presently satisfied with the buyout that the Spurs have offered. 

McCalebb, 27, played his college basketball at the University of New Orleans prior to moving overseas and spending time in Turkey, Serbia, and Italy.  Last season, the point guard was named the Italian League MVP with 16.9 PPG and 2.6 APG.  The 6'0" guard could have a tough time fitting in with San Antonio, however, as they already have a few undersized backcourt players.

So far, the Spurs are the only known NBA team with interest in signing the New Orleans native but a pair of European clubs are reportedly targeting him.  Europe Fenerbahce Ulker and Unics Kazan could offer to Siena a buyout in excess of $1.21MM, according to Sportando.

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Following Specific Players On Hoops Rumors

July 23rd, 2012 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

As we've outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Hoops Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you don't want to follow all the site's updates, you can follow team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don't have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, you can also easily follow all our updates on your favorite player.

If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Carl Landry as he navigates free agency, you can visit this page. If you're interested in whether Jose Calderon might be traded from the Raptors to your favorite team, all Calderon-related updates are located here.

Every player we've written about has his own rumors page. You can find your player of choice by using our search box (located in the right sidebar); by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post where he's discussed; or, by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, Landry's page is located at hoopsrumors.com/carl-landry.

In addition to players and teams, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags we use at the bottom of posts. The latest news on a potential NBA return for Phil Jackson, for instance, can be found on his rumors page, while if you want to check out our Week in Review pieces, those are all available here.

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The Bulls And The Salary Cap

July 23rd, 2012 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Based on recent reports indicating that the Bulls have signed Kirk Hinrich for $8MM over two years, and are close to a deal with Marco Belinelli worth the bi-annual exception, the outlook for the Bulls' 2012/13 cap has changed. Because they've decided to use the BAE and exceed the $3.09MM mid-level allotted to taxpaying teams, the Bulls will now have a hard cap for the coming season. At no point before next July will the club be permitted to exceed about $74.3MM in team salary.

For a better idea of what this means for Chicago, let's check out the team's known salary commitments to date:

Already, the total cost of those seven players brings the Bulls' payroll to $63,334,363, leaving about another $11MM to spend. The team will need to fit in contracts for Hinrich, Belinelli, Vladimir Radmanovic, Nazr Mohammed, and Marquis Teague, so let's take our best shot at calculating the total cap hit for those figures:

We can't be sure these numbers are 100% correct — Hinrich's first-year salary is an estimate based on his reported total, and in the case of Belinelli and Teague, I'm assuming they receive, respectively, the full bi-annual exception and 120% of the rookie scale amount. The league will cover a portion of Radmanovic's and Mohammed's veteran-minimum deals, reducing their cap hit slightly, but these figures still amount to $8,594,178. Add that to the aforementioned total and we're up to $71,928,541 overall. That would leave just $2,378,459 for the Bulls to spend before next July, which will make it challenging to bring aboard replacement players if the team has any injury problems.

Again, we don't know with absolute certainty what the Bulls' books look like, and the reported figures for free agent signings could be slightly off — not only that, but the Belinelli and Mohammed deals haven't even been finalized yet. Based on the numbers we know so far though, it appears Chicago isn't giving itself much wiggle room or roster flexibility for the coming season.

A hard cap would mean that the team absolutely can't match the Rockets' offer sheet for Omer Asik, though that was looking extremely doubtful anyway. It would also mean that the Bulls likely wouldn't be in a position to use their $5MM trade exception (acquired from the Hawks for Kyle Korver) until next July, when the hard cap is lifted.

Perhaps the cap restrictions facing the Bulls won't ultimately matter a whole lot, in a season in which expectations have been lowered due to Derrick Rose's health. While the Bulls' decisions could make it difficult to add salary in 2012/13, it won't affect cap flexibility in future seasons, when the club could be in better position to make a title run.

Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this post.

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Nets Sign C.J. Watson

July 23rd, 2012 at 3:06pm CST by Daniel Seco

MONDAY, 3:06pm: The Nets have officially signed Watson, the team announced today in a press release.

SATURDAY, 8:12pm: The Nets have agreed to terms with point guard C.J. Watson on a two-year deal for the veteran's minimum, reports Peter Vecsey of the New York Post (via Twitter). The former Tennessee star became an unrestricted free agent on Friday after clearing waivers. Watson's second year of the contract will be a player option.

Watson, 28, averaged 9.7 PPG and 4.1 APG in 49 games for the Bulls during the 2011/12 season. He filled in admirably as the starting point guard at different points during the season as Derrick Rose battled various ailments until suffering a season-ending torn ACL during the first round of the playoffs against the Sixers. With the Nets, Watson will serve as the backup to All-Star Deron Williams.

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Odds & Ends: Howard, Celtics, Turiaf, Warriors

July 23rd, 2012 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

While it's always a little dangerous to read too much into Summer League results, it's still worth looking back at the month's top performers in Orlando and Las Vegas. A pair of SBNation.com scribes have done just that, with Mike Prada ranking the drafted rookies, from Damian Lillard to Fab Melo, while Scott Schroeder lists a few of the top "veterans," including Josh Selby, Tobias Harris, and Markieff Morris.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Association:

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