Mavericks Rumors

Lakers Request Meeting With Patrick Beverley

8:25pm: The Mavericks and Bulls also contacted Beverley today to set up a meeting, according to Sean Deveney (Twitter link).

6:43pm: The Lakers have contacted the representatives for free agent guard Patrick Beverley, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The team has been rumored as a possible destination for Beverley, who has spent the past two seasons with the cross-town Clippers.

Beverley may be a fall-back option for the Lakers if they can’t land a third star to join LeBron James and Anthony Davis. L.A. has about $32MM in cap room, which it plans to split among several players if the search for another star comes up short. Beverley is reportedly seeking a three-year deal worth about $40MM.

After being limited to 11 games because of injuries in 2017/18, Beverley turned in a solid season this year, averaging 7.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per night and playing the super-aggressive defense that has defined his career. The Kings, Mavericks and Bulls are also believed to be interested in Beverley, while the Clippers would like to bring him back.

Nikola Mirotic To Play In Barcelona

Veteran power forward Nikola Mirotic will sign with EuroLeague club Barcelona, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The terms of his deal have not yet been disclosed.

On the heels of Darren Collison‘s stunning retirement announcement, this is another surprising decision that takes a second high-quality free agent off the market just before the new league year begins.

Mirotic was expected to be in line for a deal worth approximately $45-50MM if he had remained in the NBA, Charania adds. He made $12.5MM during the 2018/19 season, though he was forced to move to Milwaukee when the Pelicans dealt him to the Bucks at the trade deadline.

The 28-year-old’s decision makes the Bucks’ offseason priority a little clearer. Malcolm Brogdon, Brook Lopez, and Khris Middleton are all in need of new contracts and it would have been difficult for Milwaukee to bring back all of their pending free agents.

There were whispers that Mirotic would consider a deal in Spain, as Sportando recently relayed. He had played for Real Madrid prior to coming over to the NBA in 2014.

The Mavericks and Jazz were among the teams expected to have interest in Mirotic. Since coming to the league in 2014, Mirotic has seen action in 319 contests.

And-Ones: Trades, Antetokounmpo, World Cup

Jae Crowder would be a nice contingency plan for the Warriors should they lose Kevin Durant in free agency, Kevin Pelton contends in a piece for ESPN+. Pelton argues a deal that sends Crowder, who has one year left on his contract, to Golden State for Shaun Livingston and a future first-rounder makes sense for both sides.

Other ESPN insiders write about the trade they’d like to see this summer, with Bobby Marks breaking down a Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade that sends Eric Gordon to Philadelphia and Clint Capela to Sacramento. The whole piece is worth checking out.

As we brace for an offseason of change, let’s take a look at some notes from around the league:

  • Giannis Antetokounmpo will play for Greece in the Basketball World Cup, according to Demetris Nellas of the Associated Press“Whether I play the 1 [point guard] or the 5 [center], I don’t care,” the NBA MVP said. “I’m a basketball player. I want to help the team any way I can.”
  • The NBA has announced that the Academy Games will be in the United States for the first time in history. Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com provides a detailed look at the games in Atlanta, relaying that the camp will feature eight teams and approximately 90 players from around the world.
  • Isaiah Whitehead will play for the Trail Blazers‘ Summer League team, The Athletic’s Michael Scotto relays (Twitter link).
  • The Mavericks have announced their Summer League roster and former first-rounder Cameron Payne is among the notable players. Kostas Antetokounmpo, the brother of Giannis, is also playing for the team in Las Vegas.
  • Semaj Christon will play for the Kings‘ Summer League team, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia tweets.
  • Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox has been invited to join Team USA’s Select Team, which will hold training camp in Las Vegas this summer, Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports passes along (Twitter links). Nets center Jarrett Allen has also been invited.

[In case you missed it: Team USA Announces 20-Player Roster For World Cup]

Lowe’s Latest: Walker, Brogdon, Mavs, Rubio, Butler

The Celtics might be the frontrunner for Kemba Walker‘s services but devoting most of their cap space to the All-Star point guard would leave them without any proven frontcourt players and limited ways to acquire them, ESPN’s Zach Lowe writes in an in-depth look at free agency. The addition of Walker would force coach Brad Stevens to use either Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum or Gordon Hayward at power forward, Lowe notes. Walker also ran more pick-and-rolls with the Hornets than Kyrie Irving did with the Celtics, yet Irving was sometimes accused of being a ball hog, Lowe adds.

Here are some other interesting tidbits from Lowe’s column:

  • Bucks restricted free agent Malcolm Brogdon will lose a suitor if the Celtics ink Walker. The Suns, Bulls, Mavericks and Pacers could potentially extend Brogdon an offer sheet but some teams are concerned about his foot issues.
  • The Mavericks are not looking to sign any high-level free agents.
  • The Pacers are looking to make a run at point guard Ricky Rubio. They are also likely to let power forward Thaddeus Young walk and go with a frontcourt of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. Indiana rejected trade offers for Turner at the draft.
  • The Heat could get involved in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes via a sign-and-trade.
  • The Nets have no interest in doing a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves involving restricted free agent D’Angelo Russell if it means taking back Jeff Teague or Andrew Wiggins.

Free Agent Rumors: Wolves, Cousins, Sumner, KP

The Timberwolves don’t project to have cap room, though that won’t stop them from attempting to make major moves this offseason, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic notes. The team will have major stakeholders in Los Angeles for meetings on Sunday with an eye on recruiting free agents.

Karl-Anthony Towns has taken on the role of a recruiter. D’Angelo Russell appears to be a target with Krawcynski citing the two players’ friendship as just part of the reason a pairing makes sense. Much has to be done before Minnesota can truly become a threat to land Russell, as he is still technically a restricted free agent and the franchise can’t compete with some of the other organizations with max cap space already on hand.

As we wait to see what moves the Timberwolves have in store, let’s take a look at some rumors from around the league:

  • Seven teams have expressed “varying levels” of interest in DeMarcus Cousins, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated hears. The Knicks are among the teams with serious interest and the Clippers are “intrigued,” Spears writes.
  • The Pacers have yet to exercise or decline the option on Edmond Sumner, as they are discussing a long-term deal with the point guard, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star relays. The former second-round pick appeared in 23 games for Indiana last season.
  • Sources tell Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) that it’s unlikely that there will be an update on Kristaps Porzingis‘ sexual assault allegations before free agency on Sunday. The Mavericks and Porzingis are still expected to come together on a full, five-year max contract, Townsend adds.

Latest On Malcolm Brogdon

  • League executives believe a team may look to pry Malcolm Brogdon away from the Bucks by putting together an offer sheet that starts at a high number and descends in later seasons, according to Shelburne and Windhorst. A player option and various bonuses could also be added to such an offer sheet, the ESPN duo adds, identifying the Bulls, Suns, Mavericks, and Celtics (if they don’t get Kemba Walker) as possible suitors for Brogdon.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Kings Interested In Patrick Beverley

The Kings are interested in Patrick Beverley, a source tells Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Beverley would help take the pressure off of De’Aaron Fox, serving as the point guard’s backup.

Beverley is reportedly seeking a deal in the three-year, $40MM range. The Kings should have no problem accommodating that type of contract, as the team has just under $53MM in guaranteed salaries on the books for next season.

The Mavericks, Bulls, Clippers, and Lakers are all also expected to have interested in Beverley. Most of those teams seem to have some sort of connection between them and the point guard. Beverley is from Chicago. He shares an agent with Mavs star Luka Doncic and he played in Los Angeles this past season.

Beverley made slightly more than $5MM last season and will almost certainly see a raise on his annual salary next season.

Free Agent Rumors: Knicks, Pelicans, Looney, Satoransky, More

Following up on recent reports that have linked the team to Julius Randle and Bobby Portis, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms that the Knicks will have “strong interest” in those young bigs if they can’t land their top free agent targets. However, as we’ve heard repeatedly in recent days, New York prefers not to offer contracts longer than two years to its secondary targets, according to Begley, who acknowledges that either Randle or Portis could get a longer-term offer from another team.

Begley also confirms that the Knicks have weighed the idea of pursuing DeMarcus Cousins in free agency, as was previously reported. According to Begley though, some in the organization have indicated that going after a younger player like Randle or Portis is a higher priority than pursuing Cousins, who is entering his age-29 season.

  • The Pelicans are among the teams expected to show interest in free agent big man Kevon Looney, writes former Sporting News reporter Sean Deveney (Facebook link). As Deveney notes, New Orleans will have cap flexibility and could use another veteran big man in the frontcourt with Anthony Davis and potentially Julius Randle departing.
  • Tomas Satoransky, who will become a restricted free agent after receiving a qualifying offer from the Wizards, is expected to receive interest from the Mavericks, Pacers, Magic, and Celtics, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. According to Hughes, the Jazz also had Satoransky on their list of targets before swinging a deal for Mike Conley. I’d imagine the Celtics would be out of the running as well if they can land Kemba Walker.
  • Appearing on a recent ESPN podcast with Zach Lowe, Brian Windhorst said he got word a month ago that the Spurs were interested in free agent forward Bojan Bogdanovic. As Windhorst notes though, San Antonio doesn’t have the cap room to make a play for Bogdanovic and would need to make a cost-cutting move for it to be a realistic possibility.

Diallo A Possible Fit; Cuban Downplays Importance Of FA Meetings

  • Cheick Diallo, who shares an agent with Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Mavs free agent target Patrick Beverley, is a potential fit for Dallas, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Diallo reportedly won’t receive a qualifying offer from New Orleans, so he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.
  • Speaking of the Mavericks, team owner Mark Cuban downplayed the importance of face-to-face meetings for free agents, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News writes. “There’s some players that want a presentation and they want the dog-and-pony show,” Cuban said. “And there’s some players, they don’t care. They have a feel and they just want to ask some questions and you don’t really have to have a meeting to do that. … It really depends on the players. I can give you a long list of players we didn’t have meetings with that we signed, and a lot of teams that didn’t have meetings and they signed people. There’s not a lot of secrets. It’s not like all of a sudden you’re going to say something they didn’t know.”

Patrick Beverley Reportedly Seeking Three Years, $40MM

Free agent point guard Patrick Beverley is said to be seeking a three-year deal in the $40MM range, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN (via Twitter). According to MacMahon, the Mavericks, Bulls, Lakers, and Clippers are expected to be among the suitors for Beverley.

Although Beverley earned just over $5MM last season, it’s no surprise that he’ll be seeking a substantial raise. ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks recently suggested that the point guard would likely earn more than the mid-level ($9.25MM), with Marks predicting that Beverley’s annual salary could end up as high as $14-15MM. A three-year, $40MM contract would be worth about $13.3MM annually.

The Mavericks have previously been cited as a probable suitor for Beverley, with one report suggesting that the two sides viewed one another as a “perfect fit.” As MacMahon notes, Beverley’s agent Bill Duffy also represents Luka Doncic and is “intrigued” by the possibility of pairing his two clients in Dallas. The Mavs project to have more than $29MM in cap space.

The Bulls and Lakers have also been linked to Beverley, with reports indicating that there’s mutual interest between the veteran point guard and his hometown team in Chicago. The Bulls project to have about $23MM in cap room and reportedly want to use some of it on a point guard. The Lakers’ situation remains very much in flux, but Beverley would make sense if the club plans to split up its cap room (likely $24-32MM) on two or three players.

The Clippers, of course, would have interest in bringing back Beverley after he averaged 7.6 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.8 APG with a .407/.397/.780 and great defense in 78 games for the team last season. Like the Lakers though, they’ll be pursuing bigger fish, so there may be timing issues if Beverley wants to make a quick decision.