2014 June | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Trying To Move Dalembert, Larkin

June 25th, 2014 at 5:55pm CST by Cray Allred

The Knicks are trying to move Samuel Dalembert and Shane Larkin after agreeing to acquire both in a trade with the Mavs today, tweets Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal. New York is receiving both players alongside Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington and both of Dallas’s second round draft picks in the first deal.

Herring doesn’t identify any teams New York is targeting with the duo. The Knicks have been seeking a first round pick, as well as cap flexibility for the 2015/16 season. Both Dalembert’s and Larkin’s contracts can come off the books by then, so presumably New York would be seeking a draft pick and not a player out of the pair, although that’s just my speculation. The Knicks could package both players and/or one or both of their newly acquired second-rounders to try and break into the first round.

There is the possibility that the Knicks/Mavs trade signals a shift from the aforementioned strategy in New York, however. Calderon is an upgrade at point guard whose contract will carry into the 2016/17 season, and Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (video link) suggests that the move could be the first of many to turn the Knicks into a playoff team in 2014/15. In that case, a deal from president Phil Jackson could target win-now type pieces.

Larkin was selected No. 18 overall in the 2013 draft, and spent time playing point guard between Dallas and their D-League affiliate throughout the season. He averaged 10.2 MPG in 48 NBA contests. Dalembert has played with different teams in each of the last four seasons, and the center appears on his way to play for his fifth team in five years.

Garnett Plans To Return For 2014/15

June 25th, 2014 at 5:30pm CST by Cray Allred

Kevin Garnett plans to return for his 20th NBA season next year, a league source tells Ohm Youngmisuk. The Nets have been planning as if the future Hall-of-Famer would not retire, and GM Billy King reiterated as much to reporters including Youngmisuk today. “I think he’s preparing earlier this year than he did last summer,” said King.

Garnett will play out the final year of his contract in Brooklyn, drawing a $12MM salary. Garnett and Paul Pierce were traded to the Nets before the season as the Celtics kickstarted a rebuilding effort, and they helped Brooklyn advance to the second round for the first time since the 2006/07 season. Now the question will become whether this is his final year as a pro, or whether he will consider signing at a significantly lower salary next offseason.

At age 37, Garnett played the fewest games and total minutes of his career under the cautious approach of coach Jason Kidd in the 2013/14 season. While the dip in playing time accounted for decreased production, he was also less effective in the minutes he did play. He turned in a career-low .441 shooting percentage and per-36 scoring average. Still, he remains an elite rebounder and a post defense presence, and is lauded as one of the best teammates and fiercest competitors in the league.

Nick Young Opts Out, Will Become Free Agent

June 25th, 2014 at 5:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 5:06pm: Young has officially opted out, the team announced.

TUESDAY, 12:52pm: Nick Young has let the Lakers know that he’s opting out of his contract for next season to become a free agent in July, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The news is not at all surprising, as Young has appeared likely to opt out since at least March, even as he danced around the issue without giving a definitive answer. He’ll hit the market rather than collect the minimum for next season, but there’s mutual interest in a return.

Still, Young wants the Lakers to make him a “priority” this summer, according to McMenamin, suggesting that he’s angling for a significant raise. Just how much interest the Lakers will have in giving him more than the minimum will likely hinge on their pursuit of marquee targets in free agency. The team has reportedly been considering ways to pair LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in purple-and-gold, and acquiring stars of that ilk would likely erase the cap space necessary to give Young a hefty raise. The Lakers would probably be limited to giving Young a 20% raise via his Non-Bird rights or using the $2.732MM room exception on him.

The 29-year-old Los Angeles native gave his hometown team a discount when he joined the Lakers in free agency last summer, and his numbers benefited from an otherwise injury-hit roster. He averaged a career-high 17.9 points in 28.3 minutes per game as a sixth man, and he shot 38.6% on 5.5 three-point attempts per contest.

Bucks Tell Jabari Parker They’ll Draft Him?

June 25th, 2014 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

5:00pm: The Bucks have told Parker that they’re quite high on him, but they haven’t given him a promise, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

11:45pm: Jabari Parker says the Bucks told him they’d draft him at No. 2 if he’s available, as he said to reporters, including Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Parker would prefer to play for Milwaukee rather than the Cavs, who hold the No. 1 pick, as Jeff Goodman and Chad Ford of ESPN.com report, though, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets, he refutes the notion that he tanked his workout with Cleveland, a notion that one source raised to the ESPN scribes.

Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry indicated this week that the team would take either Parker or Andrew Wiggins, though GM John Hammond wouldn’t confirm that when asked Tuesday. The Cavs are reportedly conflicted as they attempt to decide between Parker and Wiggins, so Milwaukee will probably only be left with one of them to choose from.

Hammond said Thursday that while it would take a “very special” offer to trade the No. 2 pick, he’s nonetheless listening to offers for it. So, there’s no guarantee that Parker, who’s from Chicago, will end up an hour north in Milwaukee, particularly given the uncertainty surrounding the No. 1 overall pick.

Mavs, Knicks Close To Chandler, Calderon Deal

June 25th, 2014 at 4:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:04pm: The 51st overall pick in Thursday’s draft would go to the Knicks, too, Wojnarowski tweets.

4:01pm: The Mavs would also send the 34th overall pick in Thursday’s draft to New York, Wojnarowski adds (on Twitter).

3:58pm: The deal will be finalized today, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

3:36pm: The teams are on the verge of an agreement, Stein writes in his full story. Wayne Ellington and future second-round draft considerations would also go to New York, Stein adds. The deal could be finalized before July 1st with the inclusion of Ellington, who allows it to meet salary-matching requirements.

3:19pm: The Mavs and Knicks are in advanced discussions on a trade that would send Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler to Dallas in exchange for Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert and Shane Larkin, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Dallas would have to give up additional players in order for the trade to become official before July 1st, though it seems likely the teams envision completing the trade after the July moratorium, when it wouldn’t send the Mavs over the luxury tax line and trigger stiffer salary-matching constraints.

Such a proposal in its current form would allow the Knicks to clear a significant amount of salary, though it probably wouldn’t be enough to clear cap room if Carmelo Anthony re-signs. It would similarly crimp the Mavs’ pursuit of Anthony and other top-tier free agents, though it seems reasonable to suspect there may be other players involved.

Dallas has coveted Chandler, whom the team gave up in 2011 after he helped the Mavs to their only NBA title. Knicks president Phil Jackson denied a report that he told Felton to expect a trade this summer, but the point guard is coming off a subpar season and agreed this week to plead guilty to a felony gun charge in a plea agreement that will allow him to avoid jail time. Other reports have linked the Knicks to soon-to-be free agent point guards.

The deal would remove some of New York’s flexibility for the summer of 2015, since Calderon’s deal has him making more than $7.4MM in 2015/16 and more than $7.7MM in 2016/17. Still, it would be the only guaranteed salary on the books for New York past this season, though J.R. Smith has a player option worth nearly $6.4MM. Similarly, the move would allow Dallas more cap flexibility for that summer, since Chandler’s contract is up after next season and Felton’s player option for 2015/16 is about $3.95MM.

Dalembert’s approximately $3.867MM salary is partially guaranteed for $1.8MM next season. He also has a 15% trade kicker on his deal that the Mavs would be responsible for paying. Chandler would receive $500K from the Knicks thanks to a trade kicker in his deal.

Broussard’s Latest: LeBron, Griffin, Harden

June 25th, 2014 at 2:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers aren’t among the top choices for LeBron James, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com, who nonetheless wouldn’t rule them out completely. Broussard doubts that James would head there until Donald Sterling is formally ousted as owner of the club, and there’s also concern about how well James would fit on the court with friend Chris Paul, though Broussard doesn’t specify if that’s a concern of James’. Still, Heat president Pat Riley believes acquiring Blake Griffin via sign-and-trade would be the best outcome if James decides to leave Miami, Broussard reports. The ESPN scribe identifies the Heat, Cavs, Rockets, Knicks and Nets as having better chances than the Clippers do of landing James, given the four-time MVP’s preferences, and he has a few bombshells in his report, as we detail.

If the Rockets clear enough cap room to sign one of LeBron and Carmelo Anthony, their next step would be to dangle James Harden to acquire the other via sign-and-trade. The Knicks and the Heat would be receptive to trading for Harden in that scenario, Broussard adds.
Chris Bosh appears sold on Miami, but it’s questionable whether he’d want to stay if James leaves, Broussard writes.
Riley is planning a run at Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, according to Broussard. I’d assume it would involve pursuing him via free agency in the event that Oklahoma City amnesties him, rather than pursuing him via trade, though that’s just my speculation.
Broussard hears there’s a decent chance that the Warriors would be willing to acquire Jeremy Lin if he’s part of a package with Chandler Parsons.
The Nets would prefer trading Deron Williams rather than Joe Johnson in an effort to clear room for James, Broussard says.

Nets Seeking New Deal With Alan Anderson

June 25th, 2014 at 2:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

GM Billy King told reporters, including Tim Bontemps of the New York Post, that he’d like to re-sign Alan Anderson (Twitter link). King confirmed earlier today that Anderson will opt out of his minimum-salary deal for next season, and the GM added that he was expecting the move.

Bringing Anderson back will be a tall order, since the Nets only have his Non-Bird rights. Those will allow Brooklyn to give him no more than a 20% raise without dipping into the mid-level exception, which the team likely has set aside for fellow Non-Bird free agent Shaun Livingston, whom King has identified as the team’s top priority.

Anderson started a career-high 26 games this past season and averaged 7.2 points in 22.7 minutes per contest. The Mark Bartelstein client is a year removed from notching 10.7 PPG for Toronto and figures to draw interest at more than the minimum this summer.

Cavs Make Lue Highest-Paid Assistant Ever

June 25th, 2014 at 1:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

The agreement that the Cavs struck with one-time head coaching candidate Tyronn Lue to convince him to join the team as an assistant coach is the most lucrative ever given to an assistant in NBA history, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It’s a four-year, $6.5MM deal that includes a $2MM team option for the fourth season, according to Wojnarowski.

Lue is leaving his job as a Clippers assistant to join the staff of David Blatt, who beat out Lue for the head coaching job in Cleveland. Clippers coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers was reluctant to let Lue go, but Cleveland’s money proved overwhelming, Wojnarowski writes.

The 37-year-old spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach under Rivers with the Celtics and Clippers following an 11-year playing career. He’ll be the lead assistant, with the title of associate head coach, under Blatt in Cleveland.

Dario Saric To Stay Out Of NBA For 2 More Years

June 25th, 2014 at 11:52am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 11:52am: Saric said today that he’s definitely opting out of his deal in 2016 and coming to the NBA at that point, Sportando tweets.

10:05pm: The NBA buyout on Saric’s new contract is $800K, reports Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net, who confirms that the third year is an option. That amount is larger than the amount NBA teams are allowed to pay without the money counting against the cap. The deal also nets him the equivalent of only roughly $2.72MM over the course of the three seasons, much less than the $8.27MM figure cited when he and the team were rumored to have a deal in March.

TUESDAY: 9:39am: Saric has officially signed his deal in Turkey, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).

MONDAY, 9:42am: The Nuggets are hesitant to draft him, Ford writes in his full story, as are the Sixers and Magic, who hold picks Nos. 10 and 12, respectively. Conversely, the Hawks, Celtics, Suns and Bulls, who all hold picks in the 15-19 range, are comfortable with drafting him and waiting for him, according to Ford. The ESPN scribe also says the deal includes a player option for the third season of the deal, so it’s not entirely clear if there would be a buyout involved if an NBA team wanted to bring him over for the 2016/17 season.

9:21am: Dario Saric has an agreement in principle with Anadolu Efes Pilson of Turkey on a three-year deal that would keep him out of the NBA for at least the next two seasons, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Ford echoes his report from March indicating the same, though later dispatches put the brakes on that idea. Agent Misko Raznatovic also denied that initial report was true, but it appears as though he and Saric have indeed decided to keep the talented forward out of the NBA for now.

There’s a strong chance that the Nuggets will take Saric anyway with the No. 11 pick, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia, who notes that Efes will pay a $1.2MM buyout to pry Saric from KK Cibona, his current team. Saric will likely end up in the NBA in 2016, but the NBA club that selects him in this year’s draft would have to pay a buyout to extract him from his deal with Efes, Carchia tweets. The terms of that buyout for 2016 are unclear.

The notion of whether Saric would declare for this year’s draft was the subject of much back-and-forth, fueled in part by his father and a former agent. Still, Saric entered the draft, and he remained in past Monday’s deadline to withdraw. The 6’10” 20-year-old is the eighth-ranked prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress listings, while Ford has him at No. 9.

Alan Anderson To Opt Out

June 25th, 2014 at 11:49am CST by Ryan Raroque

WEDNESDAY, 11:49am: Nets GM Billy King says that Anderson will indeed opt out, as he told reporters, including Newsday’s Roderick Boone (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 6:56pm: Tim Bontemps of the New York Post also confirms Anderson’s plan to opt out, adding that it doesn’t preclude the 6’6 guard from coming back to the Nets (Twitter links).

5:49pm: Nets shooting guard Alan Anderson plans to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer, a league source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). The five-year veteran signed a two-year deal worth $2.01MM last summer and would have earned $1.06MM in 2014/15 had he opted in.

In 78 games played last year, Anderson averaged 7,2 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 22.7 MPG while shooting 40.0% from the field overall and 33.9% from beyond the arc.

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