2014 June | Hoops Rumors

Carmelo Anthony Leaning Toward Leaving Knicks

June 14th, 2014 at 11:19am CST by Cray Allred

Carmelo Anthony is leaning toward signing with a new team as a free agent this summer, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski’s sources tell him that the Bulls and Rockets are the front-runners to land the All-Star forward. Anthony has been expected to exercise his early termination option on the final year of his deal and become a free agent, but has previously stated an openness to remaining with the Knicks despite their disastrous season.

Last night, Anthony met with Knicks president Phil Jackson, GM Steve Mills, and new coach Derek Fisher to hear their plan to build a contender around him, as first reported by Al Iannazzone of Newsday. The meeting wasn’t persuasive to Anthony, per Wojnarowski’s sources. Jackson has asked ‘Melo to consider sacrifice and patience in helping the team build toward the 2015 free agent class, when the severe cap inflexibility currently hampering New York will subside. It appears that Anthony finds the prospect of joining a contender for an immediate shot at a title more appealing than waiting at least another year to see if the same opportunity will materialize with the Knicks.

Wojnarowski’s sources suggest that Anthony has been turned off by Jackson’s public comments about his future with the team, and there is some doubt around Anthony’s camp and the league that Jackson genuinely wants the All-Star to stay in New York. Anthony is only willing to accept a reduced salary if it is directly tired to a significant, immediate acquisition of talent, writes Wojnarowski.

The Yahoo! scribe reports that the Chicago and Houston front offices are working diligently to arrange for a signing of Anthony, which would require significant maneuvers for both teams. If the Bulls are willing to amnesty Carlos Boozer, their path to clearing the necessary cap space is easier, since the other biggest piece for the Bulls to unload would be Taj Gibson, a valuable, starting-caliber power forward. The Rockets would likely need the Knicks or another team to find it agreeable to take on the expiring contracts of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin to make room for Anthony.

Southwest Notes: Duncan, Randolph, Draft

June 14th, 2014 at 9:59am CST by Cray Allred

The Spurs hope to wrap up a fifth NBA Championship tomorrow night in San Antonio. It will be interesting to see how a dominant Finals might sway the plans of Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich for next season. The thought of going out on top could be appealing, but maybe not as much as chasing a sixth ring. Here’s a rundown of the Southwest Division:

Duncan’s player option for the 2014/15 season has been increased from $10,000,000 to $10,361,446 in order to meet the CBA’s requirement that a player option not pay less in salary than the year preceding it, multiple sources tell Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
Zach Randolph also owns a contract that was approved despite violating the same restriction, but Deeks writes that no change has been made to Randolph’s deal at this point. As we mentioned in our Free Agent Stock Watch piece on Randolph, his steeper decrease in salary (from $18.2MM to $16.9MM) for next year’s player option could be a significant factor in his decision-making process heading into the offseason.
Deeks speculates that the league may have opted not to adjust Randolph’s deal because it was signed under the 2005 CBA which is no longer active, whereas Duncan’s deal was signed under the current CBA.
Adi Joseph of USA Today covers the draft needs of the Grizzlies, Spurs, and Rockets.

Rod Higgins Resigns From Hornets

June 14th, 2014 at 8:29am CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 8:29am: Jordan tells Bonnell that his contract offer to Higgins was not technically a demotion, but that he did propose moving some of Higgins’ responsibilities over to Cho. Higgins viewed the arrangement as a practical demotion, and was given the choice of immediately stepping down or waiting until after the draft to do so, and he chose the latter.

“Rod’s strong points are working with the coaches and the trainers, traveling with the team,” Jordan said. “He was my buffer zone with the coaches. I didn’t want to overwhelm them with ideas, so I’d work with Rod on that. One of (Higgins’) strong points is not negotiating, leveraging teams. Sometimes when teams would call [proposing trades], they’d bypass Rod to get to Rich… [That arrangement caused] confusion over who reported to whom. It created a contentious environment where I had to step in.”

Jordan said that Cho will step into running basketball operations in place of Higgins, and that the Hornets will hire an assistant GM moving forward.

FRIDAY, 10:56am: Higgins turned down a new contract from the Hornets that would have kept him with the organization, a source tells Bonnell. It’s not clear whether the deal would have kept him as president of basketball ops or shifted him to a different role.

8:51am: Hornets president of basketball operations Rod Higgins has stepped down from his post, the team announced. The move puts GM Rich Cho exclusively in charge of the team’s player personnel. He’ll report to owner Michael Jordan and vice chairman Curtis Polk, who handles the team’s business affairs.

“I would like to thank Rod for his seven years of dedication to this organization,” Jordan said in the team’s statement. “Rod has been a consummate professional throughout his time with the team. Thanks to his hard work and commitment, we have an improved roster and we are poised for success in the future. Rod was of great help to me as I navigated my first four years as majority owner of this franchise. I wish him all the best.”

The announcement, which came shortly after midnight Charlotte time, is oddly timed, and not just because of the overnight hour. The draft is 13 days away, and free agency starts in less than three weeks. The Hornets hold the ninth, 24th and 45th picks in the draft, and they’re poised to be one of the most active teams on the free agent market, with only about $41MM in commitments, not counting their pair of first-rounders. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer called the timing of Higgins’ departure “bizarre” and took the Hornets to task for what he deems a “dysfunctional” move (Twitter links). Still, it’s unclear whether Higgins left entirely of his own volition or whether the team had any influence on his decision.

The amount of control Higgins asserted in the front office following the hiring of Cho in 2011 has also been difficult to ascertain. Higgins had held the GM title for the club prior to that move, having assumed that role in 2007, before Jordan bought the majority stake in the team. Still, Higgins was one of the team’s first hires after Jordan purchased a minority share in 2006, having worked under Jordan when he owned part of the Wizards and having been a teammate of Jordan’s on the Bulls. Higgins played a key role in the signing of Al Jefferson last summer, Bonnell writes.

Cho is familiar with oddly timed front office changes from his time in Portland. He became Blazers GM in July 2010, replacing Kevin Pritchard, whom the team had fired on draft night that year. Portland dismissed Cho less than a year later, in May 2011.

And-Ones: Cavs, Draft, Pelicans, Wolves

June 13th, 2014 at 10:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Cavs coaching search may be down to just three candidates, writes Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal. While some names are still being mentioned, Finnan (hat tip to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders) believes the finalists are Clippers assistant coaches Alvin Gentry and Tyronn Lue and former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt.

Here’s more from around the association:

The Nuggets are planning to bring in Tyler Ennis, Zach LaVine, James Young, Clint Capela, Casey Prather and Tarik Black for workouts on Saturday, reports Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (Twitter link).
The Timberwolves tweeted that Adreian Payne, Justin Cobbs, Kyle Anderson, Cory Jefferson, Markel Starks and Jamil Wilson all have workouts scheduled with the team.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reports (Twitter link) Russ Smith, Jahii Carson, and Jordan Morgan worked out for the Wolves on Wednesday.
Adi Joseph of USA Today looks at the draft needs of the Pelicans. The team currently doesn’t have any picks, but they are reportedly trying to acquire one. According to the article, the team’s biggest needs are at small forward, center, and point guard.
In a separate article, Joseph looks at the draft needs of the Timberwolves. According to Joseph, the team’s priorities should be at point guard, and both forward spots.
The crew over at Basketball Insiders (video link) analyze the 2014 free agent class and where each player may end up.
In a separate article, the latest mock draft from Basketball Insiders has them split over who will be the first-overall pick–Andrew Wiggins or Joel Embiid.

Draft Notes: Nuggets, McGary, Kings, Knicks

June 13th, 2014 at 9:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Adi Joseph of USA Today breaks down the Nuggets‘ biggest draft needs. According to the article, the team has enough depth to afford to take a best-available approach, and may consider attempting to move up in order to get the elite-tier star their roster so desperately needs. Joseph also thinks the team needs to add help in the backcourt, and mentions Gary Harris, Nik Stauskas, Elfrid Payton, and Kyle Anderson as fits with the team’s system.

NBA Poised To Countersue Donald Sterling

June 13th, 2014 at 8:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:40pm: A confidant of Donald Sterling claims the investigative firms already have uncovered allegations of racial discrimination by NBA officials that are as bad as comments Sterling made suggesting he did not want to see blacks at Clippers games, reports James Rainey of The Los Angeles Times.

11:58am: There’s a “good chance” that the NBA will file a countersuit against Donald Sterling, who’s pushing forward with a $1 billion lawsuit against the league, sources tell Michael McCann of SI.com. The league is set to respond to Sterling on June 23rd, according to McCann. It’s unclear precisely what the league would seek from Sterling in the suit.

Donald Sterling has hired four private investigation firms to try to uncover evidence of misconduct among the NBA and owners of the other 29 clubs, as Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press and Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com report. The firms received budgets in excess of $100K to pore over the league’s finances and its compensation for David Stern and Adam Silver, examine previous allegations of discrimination, and look into whether any other owners have made insensitive remarks, Abdollah writes. The league is prepared to argue that it has a strong record of promoting diversity in the workplace, a source tells McCann.

Sterling’s lawsuit against the NBA seeks only monetary relief, and it’s not directly aimed at allowing him to remain as owner, as McCann points out. Sterling’s attempt to continue to control the Clippers centers on a probate court hearing next month that will determine whether his wife acted within her rights to unilaterally agree to sell the Clippers to Steve Ballmer via the Sterling family trust, as previous reports have detailed.

If the court rules that Shelly Sterling did not have that right, the NBA will seek to strip control of the Clippers from the Sterlings, as McCann details. The league would likely invoke a clause in its constitution that would allow the NBA to take over the franchise itself if three-quarters of the league’s other owners vote to take the team away from the Sterlings, according to McCann. The league would then look to sell the team to new ownership, and sources tell McCann that the NBA might invite other bids rather than simply turn the team over to Ballmer. The proceeds from the sale, minus expenses the NBA incurred as it conducted the bidding, would still eventually wind up going to the Sterlings, McCann writes.

Western Notes: Clippers, Jones, Adams

June 13th, 2014 at 8:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Clippers won’t allow the ownership and legal situation involving Donald Sterling impact their offseason moves, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Reynolds points out the situation is different from the one in New Orleans a few years ago when the league ran the team. Of the situation, commissioner Adam Silver said, “It’s not a level of concern for us. Doc Rivers is the head of basketball operations of the Clippers. We’ve installed Dick Parsons as the interim CEO. He’s on the same page as Doc. They’re working together. Dick Parsons has the absolute authority from the league office to operate the Clippers in the best interest of the organization.“

Eastern Notes: Pistons, Smart, Singleton

June 13th, 2014 at 6:43pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Adi Joseph of USA Today breaks down the Pistons‘ draft needs. Joesph opines that the team needs to focus on obtaining a backup center, mentioning Mitch McGary as a good fit. He also believes the team needs outside shooting help, with DeAndre Daniels and Jordan Adams listed as possibilities. Lastly, Joseph thinks the team needs a stretch four that can help spread defenses, and lists Adreian Payne as the ideal fit, though it is unlikely Payne will be available when the Pistons are on the clock with the 38th pick.

Here’s more news from the east:

Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe writes that Marcus Smart wouldn’t mind being drafted by the Celtics, despite the presence of Rajon Rondo as a starter. Smart said, “Rondo is one of the greatest point guards to ever play this game. If I’m fortunate enough and Boston picks me, and that means I have to sit on the bench and play behind Rondo, that’s an honor, to learn from one of the greatest point guards of that position, especially me playing the point guard position.”
Smart really impressed the Celtics in today’s workout, reports Brian Robb of Boston.com. Smart has embraced the competition in these joint pre-draft workouts, which is a departure from a number of lottery prospects who have stuck to individual workouts, notes Robb. Smart said, “I told my agent, you see all these guys dodging. My biggest attribute, to me, I’m a competitor. I show my best skills when the game’s on the line, when somebody’s guarding me, and there’s competition. Whoever you put in front of me, I’m not going to back down. I’ve never backed down from a challenge. That’s not me. That’s not what my makeup is. In a sense, it’s kind of showing the teams that it doesn’t matter [who I face]. I’m supposed to be ranked one of the top guards here, but I’m still playing against guys that’s lower [ranked] than me that might have a chance – if they do this, if they do that – to move up in the rankings. But that doesn’t scare me because of who I am.”
The Wizards declined to pick up Chris Singleton’s fourth-year option prior to this past season making him an unrestricted free agent this summer. Brandon Parker of The Washington Post looks at some important statistics from Singleton’s 2013/14 campaign.

And-Ones: Lakers, Thibodeau, Duncan, Embiid

June 13th, 2014 at 4:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers never asked the Bulls for permission to interview Tom Thibodeau, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who reported last month that they would. The L.A. brass is “all but sure” the Bulls would have asked for this month’s No. 7 overall pick, which the Lakers would be unwilling to give up, according to McMenamin. The ESPN scribe also believes that L.A.’s concerns about paying Thibodeau a lavish salary to coach a mediocre roster next season played a role, and suggests the Lakers are wary of the way their fans might react if Thibodeau rejected the team’s pursuit. Here’s more from around the league:

The deadline for Tim Duncan to decide on his $10MM player option for next season is June 24th, but the Spurs are operating under the assumption that Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich will return, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Most option clauses give players until June 30th to decide, though Duncan’s date can be pushed back if he and the team decide to do so, Stein notes, adding that Popovich’s contract runs through next season.
A source tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Joel Embiid checked out fine when he took a physical this week for the Cavs, contradicting an earlier report from Tony Rizzo of ESPN Cleveland, who hears that the exam raised serious concerns (Twitter links).
It appears as though the Bucks will work out Andrew Wiggins twice, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com hears that he’s auditioning for the team today in California and again next week in Milwaukee (Twitter link).
A handful of top European teams have interest in soon-to-be free agent Nando De Colo, and it seems like they’re willing to give the Raptors guard a raise on the $1.463MM he made in the NBA this season, reports Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net.
The Timberwolves have hired Sidney Lowe as an assistant coach, the team formally announced (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report. He spent last season as an assistant with the Jazz.

Offseason Outlook: Phoenix Suns

June 13th, 2014 at 2:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

Guaranteed Contracts

Goran Dragic ($7,500,000)
Alex Len ($3,649,920)
Gerald Green ($3,500,000)
Markieff Morris ($2,989,239)
Marcus Morris ($2,943,221)
Miles Plumlee ($1,169,880)
Archie Goodwin ($1,112,280)
(Michael Beasley $777,778)*

Options

Channing Frye ($6,800,000, Player)

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

Shavlik Randolph ($1,227,985)
Ish Smith ($992,435)**
Dionte Christmas ($816,482)***

Free Agents / Cap Holds

Emeka Okafor ($19,181,750)****
Eric Bledsoe ($6,566,183)
P.J. Tucker ($2,875,131 – QO)*****
No. 14 pick ($1,627,600)
No. 18 pick ($1,325,600)
No. 27 pick ($930,500)
Leandro Barbosa ($915,243)

Draft Picks

1st Round (14th overall)
1st Round (18th overall)
1st Round (27th overall)
2nd Round (50th overall)

Cap Outlook

Guaranteed Salary: $23,642,318
Options: $6,800,000
Non-Guaranteed Salary: $3,036,902
Cap Holds: $33,997,032
Total: $67,476,252

The Suns entered the 2013/14 season as a sleeping giant of sorts, with a wealth of draft picks and future cap flexibility and a warm climate to attract free agents but without a roster necessary to compete in the near term. That giant quickly awoke once the season began, and though Phoenix came up short of a playoff berth, the Suns are positioned to be a team to reckon with for years to come.

The next step in the resurgence of the Suns will almost assuredly come at this year’s draft, as the Suns clutch three first-round picks. GM Ryan McDonough months ago expressed a willingness to package those picks in a trade for a star, and it seems unlikely that Phoenix wants to end up with a logjam of rookies on next year’s roster. The Suns couldn’t find a suitable trade partner for any of their first-rounders at the deadline this year, but draft night will offer ample opportunity. Phoenix also has another pair of extra first-round picks coming its way as soon as next year, giving McDonough plenty of ammunition in his bid to land Kevin Love.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports identified the Suns as a strong candidate to trade for the Second-Team All-NBA power forward, and multiple reports have confirmed Phoenix’s pursuit. The Wolves are apparently more likely to target veterans than draft picks in a deal for Love, but first-rounders are as coveted as they’ve ever been around the league, so perhaps the Suns could involve a third or fourth team in a deal to bring Love to the desert. As tempting as a package built entirely with first-round picks would be to many teams, the Suns would probably have to include a little more to reel in a superstar like Love, even in a multiteam swap. Alex Len, last year’s No. 5 overall pick, would no doubt be intriguing to several potential trade partners, but his appeal is probably too similar to that of the future first-round picks.

McDonough may ultimately be forced to consider including Goran Dragic in a trade for Love or any other superstar. Dragic is coming off a career year, so there’s reason to think that trading him this summer would be a wise choice. Still, the way he thrived and carried the team in Eric Bledsoe‘s absence this past season suggests that his performance had much to do with a proper fit, and that he may have more value as a member of the Suns than he would with any other team. Minnesota, in particular, would probably have reservations about acquiring Dragic because of the presence of Ricky Rubio. Dragic thrived in the same backcourt with Bledsoe this past season, but such a dual point guard attack might not be so successful in a different context. Plus, the Wolves would risk losing both after next season, when Rubio can become a restricted free agent and Dragic can opt out of his contract.

Still, Love isn’t the only superstar whose name has been in trade chatter of late. McDonough is probably more familiar with the Celtics’ thinking about Rajon Rondo than any other rival GM in the NBA, with the possible exception of fellow former Boston executive Daryl Morey. McDonough is only 13 months removed from having been the assistant GM of the Celtics. Much has changed for Boston in that time, since McDonough’s departure for Phoenix predates the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett trade. Yet if anyone knows whether Danny Ainge is telling the truth when he denies the countless reports suggesting Rondo is on the trade block, it’s probably McDonough, who spent a decade working under Ainge in the Celtics front office.

These days, McDonough has a star point guard of his own with a pending contract situation. Eric Bledsoe didn’t take long this season to prove his value as a top-of-the-line talent. He’d played only 24 games for the Suns when owner Robert Sarver made it clear that the team would match any offer for him in restricted free agency this summer, presumably up to the maximum salary. Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby seconded that stance not soon after, even as Bledsoe was sidelined with a torn meniscus in his knee that limited him to 43 games this season, his first as a full-time starter after coming in via trade from the Clippers. The Mavs and Lakers are eyeing runs at the 24-year-old, with the report about the Lakers suggesting that the purple-and-gold are thinking of overpaying for Bledsoe in an effort to pry him from the Suns. It seems like he’s in line for the maximum salary this summer, and perhaps a max offer sheet would test the resolve of the Suns, who might have sent out repeated warnings that they intend to match all offers to try to soften the market for the Rich Paul client. We’ll take Sarver and Babby at their word and presume that Bledsoe ends up back in Phoenix next season, and if he’s not on a max contract, it’ll more than likely be a deal that’s mighty close to it.

McDonough also has key negotiations with P.J. Tucker, Channing Frye and the Morris brothers on the docket. Tucker wants a raise, and indeed he’s merited a significant one from his minimum salary. He nonetheless feels a sense of indebtedness to the franchise that revived his NBA career, one that seemed long since over when he signed with Phoenix in 2012. The Suns wield the hammer of restricted free agency, but his combination of rebounding and outside shooting will no doubt have other clubs again trying the limits of Phoenix’s resolve to match offers. Tucker also makes for an intriguing sign-and-trade candidate if McDonough makes significant progress in his star search.

Frye is clamoring for an extension even as he possesses a player option next season for a higher salary than the market would probably bear on a new contract. McDonough has expressed interest in keeping the 31-year-old around, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Frye decides it’s worth capitalizing on his bounce-back year by adding seasons onto his deal at reduced salaries that guarantee him NBA paychecks for years to come.

Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris are both up for rookie scale extensions this summer, but even though they’re twins who were drafted with back-to-back selections, there’s a decent chance they’ll start down divergent paths this offseason. Markieff proved the more valuable of the pair this season, playing more minutes, scoring at a more efficient rate and recording an 18.4 PER that was significantly higher than the 14.8 mark that Marcus posted. Markieff finished fourth in the balloting for Sixth Man of the Year while Marcus didn’t receive a single vote. Rookie scale extensions usually end up going to players with greater chances of ending up as stars than either of the Morris twins have, but Markieff seems like a candidate to receive a deal akin to the four-year, $14MM extension that the Grizzlies gave Quincy Pondexter last fall. Marcus appears inextricably destined for restricted free agency in a year, whether or not his brother joins him.

The Suns have missed the playoffs four straight years and five out of the last six, and while it’ll be tough to leapfrog any of the Western Conference’s eight playoffs teams this year, the Suns needn’t improve much to make it back to the postseason. Of course, the point of the playoffs isn’t merely to qualify for them, and the months ahead will determine just how fast and how far Phoenix will go.

Cap footnotes

* — Beasley agreed to a buyout when the Suns waived him in September 2013 in which he gave up all but $7MM of the remaining $9MM in guaranteed salary on his contract, which was to run through 2015. The Suns paid off $4,666,667 of that $7MM this past season. The remaining guaranteed salary is spread evenly over the next three seasons via the stretch provision.
** — Smith’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he isn’t waived on or before July 15th.
*** — Christmas’ salary becomes fully guaranteed if he isn’t waived on or before July 31th.
**** — Okafor’s cap hold will be equal to the maximum salary for a veteran of 10 or more seasons. That figure won’t be determined until July. The figure in place here is last season’s maximum for a veteran of 10 or more years.
***** — Tucker’s cap hold would be $915,243 if the team declined to extend a qualifying offer.

ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.

Month: November 2024