10:26pm: Mavericks President Donnie Nelson, on the night his father was inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, said nothing is close to happening with Hettsheimeir, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. The Mavericks roster is full with 15 guaranteed contracts, so a move for Hettsheimeir would necessitate another deal.
8:53am: Around the time the moratorium on free agent signings lifted in early July, we heard a few rumors linking NBA teams to Brazilian big man Rafael Hettsheimeir. The Mavericks, Rockets, Spurs, and Hawks were said to be among the teams displaying interest.
Two months later, there's still a chance that Hettsheimeir could begin the season on an NBA roster. A TuBasket.com report (Spanish link) suggests that the Mavs are still interested in the 26-year-old, and the Cavs have interest as well. According to TuBasket, both teams could be willing to offer the CAI Zaragoza center a partially guaranteed, one-year deal.
It's not clear whether it would take more than the rookie minimum (about $473K) to land Hettsheimeir, but if he was seeking a larger deal, it could make Cleveland the favorite — the Cavs still have over $11MM in cap space at their disposal.
In ACB League play in 2011/12, Hettsheimeir averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, with shooting percentages of .512/.339/.745.