2012 July | Hoops Rumors

Nicolas Batum Signs Timberwolves’ Offer Sheet

July 14th, 2012 at 7:46pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY 7:46pm: The Trail Blazers' unwillingness to work out a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves may stem from the two teams' ongoing discussions to resolve a dispute involving a prior trade for Webster, reports Ric Bucher of ESPN.com.

FRIDAY 6:15pm: After waiving Martell Webster and trading Brad Miller earlier today, the Timberwolves will not be able to submit their offer sheet to Nicolas Batum until Sunday, writes Jaynes.

THURSDAY 9:51pm: Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com writes that Minnesota added a 15% trade kicker to Batum's offer sheet in which a hefty 15% tax is imposed on the team that trades him during his new contract. This essentially makes it more difficult for Portland to match the deal, however, since the Timberwolves have not submitted the offer sheet to the league yet, there still remains the possibility of a sign-and-trade with the Trail Blazers.

7:13pm: Joe Freeman of OregonLive.com tweeted that the Trail Blazers have not received a signed offer sheet from Batum yet. Freeman also added that GM Neil Olshey did not indicate whether or not Portland and Minnesota were engaged in sign-and-trade talks (Twitter link).

6:24pm: Jason Quick of The Oregonian reiterated a point that the Timberwolves would have to waive Martell Webster and Brad Miller before Minnesota can extend an offer sheet to Nicolas (Twitter link).

1:29pm: Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor says the Timberwolves will submit Batum's offer sheet to the NBA by the end of the business day, giving Portland one last chance to work out a sign-and-trade, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Zgoda adds (via Twitter) that the T-Wolves are offering draft picks, but won't give up Derrick Williams or Nikola Pekovic.

11:53am: Nicolas Batum has officially signed a four-year, $46.5MM offer sheet with the Timberwolves, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. In order to make room for Batum's offer sheet, the Timberwolves officially announced that they have amnestied Darko Milicic.

Batum's signing gives the Trail Blazers three days to either match the offer or let the young forward head to Minnesota. It also means that a sign-and-trade is no longer an option for the Blazers and T-Wolves.

Batum and his agent have both indicated that the 23-year-old would like to move on from Portland, leading to speculation that the Blazers and Timberwolves could work out a sign-and-trade deal that would net Portland some assets for letting Batum go to Minnesota. However, it appears the two sides were unable to work out a deal, so the Wolves will take their chances with the offer sheet and hope they've called Neil Olshey's bluff — the Portland GM has said the Blazers will match any offer for Batum. If Portland does officially match the deal, the club can't trade Batum for the next year without his consent.

The Bulls, meanwhile, had been involved in three-way trade talks with the Wolves and Blazers about a Kyle Korver deal, but those discussions are now dead, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Johnson speculates that the Bulls could revisit Korver discussions with the Hawks.

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O.J. Mayo Meets With Suns

July 14th, 2012 at 6:03pm CST by Michael Pina

SATURDAY, 6:03pm: Beyond the Suns, Mayo is attracting interest from the Lakers, Bulls and Mavs, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Look for Mayo to make his decision on where he wants to play next season within the next 10 days.

FRIDAY, 6:02pm: Unrestricted free agent O.J. Mayo met with the Phoenix Suns on Friday, according to AZCentral.com's Tariq Lee. News on Mayo has been quiet as of late, and despite this being his first meeting with an organization, he's one of the more talented players left on the free agency market and should command some serious attention once a few other shooting guards officially sign with their respective teams.

The Suns currently have an offer sheet extended to Eric Gordon that was signed on Wednesday, but the Hornets still have until tomorrow to match, and they're expected to do so.

Lakers To Re-Sign Devin Ebanks

July 14th, 2012 at 5:42pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY, 5:42pm: Ebanks has yet to sign the Lakers' qualifying offer because the team asked him to wait as he may be signed-and-traded to the Magic, reports Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter). Once Ebanks signs, he cannot be traded until December 15.

TUESDAY, 3:59pm: Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times reports that Ebanks has agreed to accept Los Angeles' qualifying offer and will receive about $1.4MM for the coming year. As I wrote below, I believe Ebanks' qualifying offer was only worth about $1.05MM ($1,054,389). So that may be a typo on Medina's part, or Ebanks may have received a slightly larger guarantee from the Lakers.

Timberwolves Amnesty Darko Milicic

July 14th, 2012 at 5:08pm CST by Luke Adams

5:08pm: Count the Celtics, Nets and Clippers among the frontrunners to acquire Milicic, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).

SATURDAY, 4:15pm: Milicic has cleared waivers and is now an unrestricted free agent, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 11:55pm: The Timberwolves have officially waived Milicic and designated him as their amnestied player, the team announced (via Twitter). Teams with cap space can place bids on Darko, starting at a minimum of about $2.5MM, according to SI.com's Zach Lowe (via Twitter). If he goes unclaimed, he'll become an unrestricted free agent.

Bobcats Claim Brendan Haywood

July 14th, 2012 at 4:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:55pm: Aldridge confirms, via Twitter, that the 'Cats will pay Haywood $2.05MM a year for the next four seasons. The Mavs will pay the rest of the money on his deal, but it won't count against Dallas' salary cap.

4:37pm: The winning bid was for $2.05MM, tweets TNT's David Aldridge. Though the tweet is unclear, I'd assume that's the per-season salary.

4:11pm: The Bobcats have claimed Brendan Haywood off amnesty waivers, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The Mavericks used the amnesty clause Wednesday to erase the final four seasons and $37.7MM left on his deal. It's unknown how much the winning bid was for, but since the 'Cats were the only team we heard about with a possible interest in the big man, it probably wasn't for too much.

Hornets Match Gordon’s Offer Sheet From Suns

July 14th, 2012 at 3:52pm CST by Michael Pina

3:52pm: The Hornets have matched the offer sheet, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports, via Twitter. In a statement released by the Hornets (via John Reid of The Times-Picayune) Gordon backtracked from his earlier comment that "Phoenix is just where my heart is now."

"There is always a business element to the NBA when dealing with contracts, but I never lost my appreciation for the New Orleans Hornets,'' Gordon said in the statement. "I look forward to going on the court this season to make our team successful.''

SATURDAY, 3:17pm: The Hornets are about to release a statement announcing that they've matched Gordon's offer sheet, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 5:07pm: Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports Gordon has signed the offer sheet, according to the Suns (Twitter link).

Joel Freeland Signs Deal With Trail Blazers

July 14th, 2012 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY, 3:44pm: The team has announced the signing is official (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).

WEDNESDAY, 9:30pm: Freeland is expected to sign his deal Thursday or Friday, according to Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune (Twitter link).

1:06pm: Freeland's agent, Rafa Calvo, confirmed to Joe Freeman of the Oregonian that his client and the Blazers are close to a deal and that a buyout with Freeland's Spanish club is in the works (Twitter links). Freeman adds that Freeland and Calvo are trying to negotiate a lower buyout so that Freeland won't have to pay 1MM euros himself (Twitter links).

9:48am: Freeland's three-year, $9MM deal is contingent on getting his buyout finalized with Unicaja Malaga, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. However, it doesn't appear that will be a major obstacle.

8:36am: Ian Whittell of the Wardle Whittell Agency passes along word, via Spanish reports, that Freeland has agreed to a three-year, $9MM deal with the Trail Blazers (Twitter link). We'll wait for confirmation, but it appears Freeland is a good bet to join the Blazers soon.

8:10am: Unicaja Malaga officially announced that Freeland has asked to leave the club for the Trail Blazers, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The buyout for the British forward is still being negotiated.

7:50am: The 2006 draft was an eventful one for the Trail Blazers, who came away with two of the best players of the class in LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. Six years later, another of the team's first-round picks appears poised to finally head to Portland. According to a Tubasket.com report (translation via Sportando), Joel Freeland will buy out his contract with Spain's Unicaja Malaga and head stateside to sign a deal with the Trail Blazers.

Tubasket's report indicates that Freeland has informed Malaga of his decision, and that his buyout will be worth about 1.5MM euros. The 6'11" forward averaged 12.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game over 31 contests in Spain's ACB League in 2011/12, according to DraftExpress.

When a player signs with a team holding his draft rights more than three years after the draft, he can sign for either the rookie scale amount on a four-year deal or for a larger salary on at least a three-year deal. Tubasket suggests Freeland will sign for three years, which makes sense given his large buyout and the Trail Blazers' free cap space. If Freeland were to sign for 120% of the rookie scale amount for the 30th overall pick, he'd be in line for just a $1.02MM first-year salary.

Portland GM Neil Olshey spoke in late June about meeting with Freeland and watching him in international play, and indicated there was mutual interest between the team and the 25-year-old. Victor Claver is also expected to leave his Spanish club and sign with the Blazers this offseason.

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Mavericks Sign Chris Kaman To One-Year Deal

July 14th, 2012 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY, 3:27pm: The Mavericks have officially signed Kaman, the team announced in a press release.

WEDNESDAY, 5:21pm: The Mavs and Kaman have agreed on a one-year, $8MM deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

4:25pm: The Mavericks are on the verge of reaching a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Chris Kaman, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). Having missed out on Deron Williams and other top free agents, the Mavs still have a chunk of cap space, and it appears they'll use a portion of it to bring Kaman aboard.

Bobcats Sign Ramon Sessions

July 14th, 2012 at 3:26pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY, 3:26pm: The Bobcats have officially signed Sessions, according to a team release.

FRIDAY, 6:07pm: According to Yahoo! Sports reporter Marc J. Spears, Ramon Sessions will earn $5MM per season in his two-year deal (Twitter link).

Blazers Sign Will Barton

July 14th, 2012 at 2:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Blazers have signed 40th overall pick Will Barton, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). Monday we heard the team had reportedly agreed to ink him to a guaranteed contract, a rarity for a second-round pick. My guess would be the deal is for the rookie minimum of $473,604, if not slightly higher. The contract may also include a second non-guaranteed year, but that's just my speculation.

Barton averaged 18.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists for the University of Memphis as a sophomore this past season, prompting him to declare himself the best wing player in the draft.

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