2013 March | Hoops Rumors

Dominique Jones Joins Springfield Armor

March 15th, 2013 at 2:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Several days after clearing waivers, Dominique Jones has signed a D-League contract and will join the Springfield Armor, agent Michael Hodges tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Jones was released last weekend by the Mavericks.

Jones, 24, averaged just 9.3 minutes per game in 80 contests during nearly three season with the Mavericks. Dallas explored trades for Jones on multiple occasions, but was unable to find an acceptable deal. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported (via Twitter) last Saturday that the Mavericks' decision to waive Jones was motivated in part by his reluctance to accept a D-League assignment, so assuming that report was accurate, it's a little ironic to see Jones end up on a D-League squad.

Mavs GM Donnie Nelson said earlier this week that the playing time Jones was seeking wasn't available in Dallas, so the stint with the Armor will at least give the 6'4" guard an opportunity to log increased minutes. According to Charania, Jones remains open to signing a rest-of-season deal with an NBA team, particularly if it includes a partially-guaranteed team option for 2013/14.

Knicks, Others To Monitor Delonte West

March 15th, 2013 at 1:42pm CST by Luke Adams

It's been nearly two months since Delonte West was added to the roster of the D-League's Texas Legends, but it appears West is finally ready to make his debut. After not reporting to the team for several weeks, West recently joined the Legends and is expected to play tomorrow, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).

If and when West debuts for the Mavericks' D-League affiliate, there figure to be a number of NBA teams monitoring his progress. We recently heard West cited as a potential target for the Knicks as the club considers adding another point guard, and Stein confirms (via Twitter) that the Knicks will indeed be one of the teams keeping an eye on West.

Regardless of how West performs in the D-League, there will likely still be concerns about his off-court presence and his locker-room influence. But if he shows that he can still contribute on the court, I'd expect at least a couple teams to express some interest, thinking that the pros will outweigh the cons.

Clippers Sign DaJuan Summers

March 15th, 2013 at 12:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 12:39pm: The Clippers have officially signed Summers to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release.

THURSDAY, 6:53pm: Summers will join the Clippers tomorrow, according to Shelburne (Twitter link).

6:31pm: The Clippers will indeed sign Summers, a source tells Kennedy (Twitter link). Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweets further confirmation.

6:14pm: The Clippers plan to sign DaJuan Summers out of the D-League, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). After the team waived Trey Thompkins this afternoon a move appeared imminent, as Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld noted via Twitter that the Clippers would likely fill the roster spot. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com heard the team was after a "youngish point guard," but it appears they're going in a different direction with Summers, a 6'8" forward.

Summers, 25, is averaging 18.0 points and 7.6 rebounds a game over 29 contests for the Maine Red Claws this year. He appeared in 15 games with the Hornets last season after spending two seasons with the Pistons, who made him the 35th overall pick in the 2009 draft. The Georgetown product was in camp with the Bobcats this past fall, and drew interest from Panathinaikos of Greece before opting to go to the D-League.

Terms of Summers' pending deal are unclear, but I'd guess he'll be on a 10-day contract, just like soon-to-be Clippers teammate Maalik Wayns. Since he hasn't been on another NBA team's roster during the regular season this year, Summers would be eligible for the playoffs if the Clippers keep him around for the rest of the season, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors detailed.

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Shaw, Ariza, Hennigan

March 15th, 2013 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams

While Charles Barkley continues to be one of the NBA's most outspoken and entertaining TV analysts, Sir Charles has indicated in the past that he'd love a chance to be hired as general manager of the Suns. If Barkley were running another one of his former teams, the Sixers, he'd be facing a big decision this summer, and he'd prepared to let Andrew Bynum walk in free agency, as John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:

In a Q&A with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Pacers assistant Brian Shaw says his goal is to become a head coach someday. However, Shaw says he's in a "great situation" in Indiana, so he won't pursue a head coaching job that wouldn't be a good fit.
In a week that featured Carmelo Anthony playing in Denver and Dwight Howard playing in Orlando, Trevor Ariza's first game against his former team, the Hornets, unsurprisingly isn't drawing much attention, and that's fine with him. "I’ve been on a number of teams," the Wizards forward told Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "Treat it like it’s a regular game. Not really worry about me, or individual things, but this is not an individual sport. It’s a team sport. Just stick to our game plan and do what I need to do."
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel details the close relationship between Thunder GM Sam Presti and Rob Hennigan, his Magic counterpart and former employee.
Sam Smith's latest mailbag at Bulls.com is predictably heavy on Derrick Rose questions and answers.

Bucks To Offer J.J. Redick Five Years, $40MM?

March 15th, 2013 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

11:07am: Woelfel throws a bit of cold water on his own report, tweeting that Redick replied, "That's news to me," when asked about the Bucks' offer. I wouldn't expect Redick to discuss an offer if it had been made, but his response is still worth noting.

10:52am: Shortly after the Bucks traded for J.J. Redick last month, we heard from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the team was expected to make a strong bid to re-sign him this summer. According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter), Milwaukee's offer may be similar to the one Ersan Ilyasova received from the team last offseason — five years and $40MM.

Woelfel hears from multiple NBA officials who say that the Bucks have already verbally offered those terms to Redick. Teams can't begin formal negotiations with free agents until July, so even if Redick was on board with those years and dollars, a verbal commitment to the Bucks wouldn't stop other clubs from pursuing him when the free agent period begins.

Wojanrowski previously reported that Arn Tellem, Redick's agent, will likely seek at least a four-year, $40MM contract for his client in free agency, although Redick "took issue" with that report, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. If there are teams willing to make that kind of commitment to the sharpshooter, the Bucks may need to make a slightly stronger bid, especially if their offer follows the same structure as Ilyasova's contract, which includes a non-guaranteed fifth season.

Redick, who is earning $6.19MM in his contract year, is having the best season of his seven-year career. The 28-year-old is on track to set career-highs in PPG (15.0), FG% (.454), APG (4.2), and PER (16.0), among other categories.

Luke Walton No Longer Considering Retirement

March 15th, 2013 at 9:26am CST by Luke Adams

Two months ago, Luke Walton told Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida that if his back issues flared up again this season, he'd have to consider retiring at season's end. Since then, however, Walton has played relatively consistent minutes for the Cavaliers, and according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, the former Laker believes he can shelve thoughts of retirement for the near future.

Walton, 32, was acquired by the Cavs a year ago today, as part of the trade that sent Ramon Sessions to the Lakers. At the time, Walton was viewed as a salary throw-in, and Lloyd writes that it wouldn't have been surprising if he had drifted into retirement at the end of his current contract. According to Lloyd, even Walton thought that's how things might play out, but now the veteran forward is optimistic about playing for a couple more seasons.

"With the amount of back pain I’ve had the previous four or five years, I was going to give it everything I had this year, and if my back acted up, I was going to retire," Walton said. "Now that my back has been feeling much better, I’m enjoying this.

"I think this core group of people here and this coaching staff are doing some really good things and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of," Walton continued. "I haven’t really gotten that far into it yet, but I’m still focusing on trying to stay healthy and having fun playing this game and helping this team become better. But I love playing with these guys."

Walton, who is earning $6.09MM this season, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. If he were to return to the Cavs next season, it would probably have to be on a minimum-salary contract, which he recognizes, telling Lloyd, "I've made my money." While he hopes to extend his playing career, Walton also has an idea of what he'd like to do after he retires, telling Lloyd that he hopes to remain on an NBA bench in a coaching role.

"The NCAA makes it really challenging. There’s time limits you can work out with players and you’ve got to baby-sit," Walton said of his experience working with the University of Memphis coaching staff during the 2011 lockout. "I like basketball. I don’t want to go class-check and make sure guys are going to class. I want to be 100% basketball. I think the NBA is what I’d try, and if that didn’t work, high school could be fun back home."

Free Agent Stock Watch: Chris Kaman

March 14th, 2013 at 11:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chris Kaman entered last summer as a 30-year-old coming off a down season, but as a 7-footer just two years removed from an All-Star berth, an $8MM annual salary seemed reasonable. That's what he got from the Mavericks, but surprisingly, his deal is only for one season. Kaman wasn't without other suitors, as the Pacers showed interest, and the Spurs, Jazz and Kings were reportedly in the running as well. Kaman's one-year deal seems even more curious given that earlier this season he told Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida, "Nobody wants to do a one-year deal."

This season has been a prime example of why Kaman and others might be motivated to lock themselves up long-term. The former sixth overall pick, approaching his 31st birthday next month, has missed 14 games so far this season, mostly due to a concussion he suffered in late January. It's the third straight season he's been out at least that many games, and even when he's able to play, he doesn't see much time on the floor. He's seeing a career-low in minutes per game, and his production has taken a commensurate hit. His 11.4 points per game average is his worst since 2006/07, and his 5.9 rebounds per game are the fewest he's collected since he pulled down 5.6 as a rookie.

Still, when Kaman has played, he's performed about as well as he ever has. Only once in his career, during his All-Star season, has he scored more than the 18.5 points per 36 minutes that he's delivering this year. He's posting a 16.4 PER, a better-than-average mark that exceeds his 14.6 career PER. That might explain why Kaman was so upset when coach Rick Carlisle kept him on the bench after only two minutes of playing time Tuesday against the Bucks, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News details. Kaman said he wouldn't let the incident dissuade him from considering another go with the Mavs in free agency this summer, and just last week he praised the organization's professionalism, remarking that he hoped the Mavericks would have him back next season.

Given his lack of minutes and the Mavs' likely pursuit of Dwight Howard this summer, Kaman appears a fallback option at best for Dallas, a team that would probably be just as hesitant to give him a long-term deal as it was last year. Joe Kaiser of ESPN.com (Insider link) came up with a list of teams that could be better fits for Kaman, pointing to the Celtics, Bucks, Sixers, Bobcats and Blazers. Of those teams, I think the Blazers probably make the most sense, as they're set to have plenty of cap room and would give Kaman, who's only been to the playoffs once in his 10 NBA seasons, a chance to join an up-and-coming club. Still, he'd likely only be a Plan B in case Portland can't re-sign J.J. Hickson. Few teams will have Kaman too high on their wish lists during an offseason in which Howard, Andrew Bynum, Al Jefferson, Nikola Pekovic, Tiago Splitter and others are also set to hit free agency, so "Plan B" might become the theme of the summer for Kaman.

That's why I think Kaman may have to settle for the mid-level exception that Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors believed he wouldn't have to take when he looked at Kaman's free agent stock last year. The full non-taxpayer's mid-level would give him four years with a starting salary of $5.15MM, and the total package would be worth up to nearly $22MM. That would open up the bidding to more than just teams with cap space or clubs willing to pursue a sign-and-trade, a maneuver that will be tougher to pull off now that taxpaying teams can't acquire signed-and-traded players. Kaman could go to a contender, or at least a playoff team, and still have the long-term stability he seems to want.

Western Rumors: Grizzlies, Johnson, Smith, Kings

March 14th, 2013 at 10:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Spurs topped the Mavericks tonight for their 50th win of the season, extending their string of 50-win seasons to a league-high 14. The Mavs, who had an 11-year stretch of 50-win seasons snapped in 2011/12, are merely fighting for their playoff lives this time around. Tonight's loss leaves them three games out of the eighth spot in the West. There's plenty more going on around the West this evening, and we've got the latest here:

Along with his leaguewide roundup, Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld shares a video interview with Tony Allen, who points to the Grizzlies' run to the conference semifinals in 2011 as justification for the Rudy Gay trade. Gay missed the playoffs that year with an injured shoulder. "Well, I just think we turned into the team we were two years ago, without the guy we traded," Allen said.
Big man Chris Johnson's deal with the Wolves includes a non-guaranteed season next year, and coach Rick Adelman is calling for the wiry Johnson to improve his strength going into 2013/14, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
Craig Smith, who spent last year with the Blazers, is headed back to the States after his Israeli team cut him loose following a clash with the club's coach, reports Sportando contributor David Pick (Twitter links).
A pair of Sacramento-area attorneys are threatening to petition the city to hold a referendum on whether to provide an expected $250MM in public funding for a new Kings arena, as Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee report. Such a petition would require 20,000 signatures, according to estimates by city officials.
Neither Patrick Patterson nor Cole Aldrich has seen extensive playing time since coming to the Kings at the trade deadline, but they've made positive impressions in their brief stints, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee details in a pair of stories.

Players Who Have Met Starter Criteria

March 14th, 2013 at 8:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

We're a little more than three-quarters of the way through the NBA season, and it's exactly three weeks after the trade deadline, so for the most part, player roles are clearly defined. For soon-to-be free agents, their coach's decision to either start them or bring them off the bench has a significant, if indirect, effect on their next contracts. For restricted free agents, that decision can have a direct effect.

The NBA's collective barganing agreement defines a "starter criteria" that determines the amount of the qualifying offer teams must extend to retain the ability to match offers for their restricted free agents. Any player set to hit restricted free agency who starts at least 41 games or plays 2,000 or more minutes in the final season of his contract meets the criteria. Players may also meet the criteria by averaging those figures over the final two seasons of their contract. Since there were only 66 games in last year's lockout-shortened season, the starter criteria figures were prorated accordingly — so, 33 games started or 1,610 minutes played.

For players drafted in the first round, the size of the QO is determined by the player's draft position. Second-rounders get a QO worth 125% of the their previous salary, or their minimum salary plus $200K, whichever is greater.

But, if a player meets the starter criteria, those figures can go up. Players drafted No. 10 through No. 30 can get a QO equivalent to that of the No. 9 pick in their draft class by meeting the starter criteria. Second-rounders and undrafted players can get a QO equal to the No. 21 pick in their draft class by doing so.

Lottery picks can actually lose money on their qualifying offers if they fail to meet the starter criteria. Anyone drafted No. 1 through No. 14 will see his QO reduced to the level of the No. 15 pick in his draft class if he falls short of the starter criteria.

Usually, restricted free agents don't sign their QOs; they're merely placeholders or starting points for negotiations. But, there's been a rise in the number of players taking their QOs of late, and Brandon Jennings has threatened to do just that to get to unrestricted free agency sooner. Jennings, picked No. 10 in the 2009 draft, has met the starter criteria, but will only get a slight bump in his QO, to $4.531MM from $4.33MM, for doing so.

Most of the soon-to-be restricted free agents have either achieved the starter criteria or appear unlikely to do so. The only one on the fence is Byron Mullens. He's unlikely to get to 2,000 minutes this season, but he needs just one more start to qualify. Unfortunately for Mullens, Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap removed him from the starting lineup this past weekend, a decision that could prove costly for Mullens, the 24th overall pick in 2009, if he remains a reserve. He's due a $3.294MM QO as of now, but he could get the $4.531MM that Jennings is in line for with just one more start.

Here are the players up for restricted free agency in the offseason who've already met the starter criteria:

All players set to hit restricted free agency are denoted with an "(R)" on our list of 2013/14 NBA free agents.

Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

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Charlotte Hornets

Gilbert Arenas Not Planning To Return To NBA

March 14th, 2013 at 6:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

It's been a precipitous fall for Gilbert Arenas, as three years after he averaged 22.6 points per game for the Wizards, it appears there's not much interest in him among NBA executives. For his part, Arenas doesn't have his sights set on a return to the Association after spending this season playing in China, according to comments he recently made to Karan Madhok of SLAM Online.

"Nah!," Arenas said, shaking his head vehemently. "Because after this season I can enjoy my family. You know my kids are getting older. Being in the NBA, you don’t really get to enjoy your family life because you’re always on the road, you’re always gone. So, no. After this season will be the first time I’ll get to be with my kids for a long period of time."

The Chinese season is over, so Arenas, who averaged 20.4 points for the Shanghai Sharks this year, including a 45-point effort against Fujian, could sign with an NBA team and still be eligible for the playoffs, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pointed out earlier today. But, it looks like that's not going to happen, and as Madhok notes, Arenas isn't fully healthy. The three-time NBA All-Star indicated he's fine with continuing his career in China, noting the CBA's shorter season and game lengths.

"Thirty-two games a year," he said. "Maximum 36 minutes. That’s all I need at this point in my career. So as long as China teams want me, I’ll be here."

Arenas last appeared in the NBA with the Grizzlies in 2011/12, notching 4.2 PPG over 12.4 minutes per game in 17 regular season contests. He totaled just 23 minutes in six playoff games for Memphis last year. He signed a six-year, $110MM contract with the Wizards in 2008, who traded him to Orlando in 2010. Arenas is still receiving money from the Magic, who used the amnesty clause to remove him from their roster and salary cap in 2011.

Gilbert Arenas

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