3:53pm: Perkins has officially been waived, the Jazz announced.
3:27pm: A buyout arrangement has been reached, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Perkins intends to sign with the Cavaliers if he clears waivers, which he is expected to do, Wojnarowski adds.
1:48pm: Perkins has narrowed his choices to the Cavs and the Clippers, and the big man is expected to make his decision on Sunday, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports (Twitter link).
10:51am: The Clippers are not out of the running for Perkins, but are considered long shots to sign him, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 10:28am: The Cavaliers have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Perkins if he is indeed waived by Utah, Wojnarowski reports. The Bulls, Rockets, and Hawks are also in the mix for the big man, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal tweets.
FRIDAY, 9:24am: Perkins is interested in playing for the Mavs, Wojnarowski writes, but the team doesn’t share that interest, as Cuban said (below). Conflict in the past with Joakim Noah wouldn’t keep Perkins from joining the Bulls, a source tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
11:25pm: Mark Cuban said that Dallas is set in its frontcourt, and that the Mavs would not be interested in Perkins if he is waived, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman tweets.
10:18pm: The Bulls and the Cavs are the frontrunners to sign Perkins when and if he clears waivers, David Aldridge of NBA.com reports (Twitter link).
6:08pm: The Mavericks have also expressed interest in Perkins, should he be waived, Wojnarowski tweets.
THURSDAY, 3:55pm: The Jazz and Kendrick Perkins are headed for a buyout, reports Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Utah agreed to take on his expiring contract, worth more than $9.654MM, as part of a three-way deal with the Pistons and Thunder. The Cavs and Clippers are teams to watch should Perkins indeed hit free agency in the coming days, Young says, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports calls those teams strong contenders to sign him (on Twitter). The Bulls will be very much in the mix for Perkins, too, Wojnarowski also tweets.
The 30-year-old Perkins is making $9.654MM this season on an expiring contract, and it’s not immediately clear how much he would give up in a buyout. He was much-maligned throughout his tenure in Oklahoma City after having been hailed as key to the Celtics’ 2008 championship and subsequent run to the Finals in 2010. He had a PER of 15.0 in 2009/10, but he never had a double-digit PER for the Thunder after a trade sent him there in the middle of the 2010/11 season.
His name was part of a proposal that would have sent him to the Nets for Brook Lopez, but that trade didn’t pan out. In any case, he’s an odd fit for Utah, a team focused on the future, so a quick parting of ways makes sense. The Jazz will have to waive him no later than March 1st for him to be eligible to play for another team in the postseason.
Raptors should be all over this, Perkins helped transform Steven Adams into a solid Center, maybe he can make JV a more aggressive defender
I’ll go out on a limb and say the Cavs land him. Best chance for him to go to the finals.
Why would the bulls be interested? They need a wing or anybody besides Dunleavy that can nail threes.
A legit backup C/big body that can bang with Washington in the playoffs. It’s purely a depth move, but I get it.
I wonder what this says about their feeling on Noah’s health. Obviously, Taj Gibson would likely slide into the 4 spot and play next to Pau in that scenario, but Perkins would give them some depth. I think you’re probably right though. They could use a wing player
Bulls need a big also. It would be nice against Cleveland and Washington. Why would Perkins not want to come here?
With Kanter gone they should keep him. They need someone to soak some minutes up, not really your saving money by buying out, Gobert can use mentoring and the Jazz as a team are soft.