Dallas Mavericks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trade Rumors: Clippers, Mavs, Richardson, Lakers

June 29th, 2018 at 7:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers aren’t overly interested in taking back Wesley Matthews in a trade sending DeAndre Jordan to the Mavericks, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter). Los Angeles’ reluctance to accept Matthews makes some sense — while his salary is a little more affordable than Jordan’s, his contract expires at the same time, and the veteran swingman doesn’t really fill a major need for the Clips.

In order to work out a deal with the Clippers, the Mavericks will have to come up with an alternative trade scenario for Jordan, Stein notes. However, if the two sides can’t reach an agreement, that doesn’t necessarily mean Dallas is out of the running for Jordan, since the standout center could always decline his player option and sign with the Mavs as a free agent. If Dallas can work out a trade for Jordan, the team could theoretically preserve a good chunk of its cap room for another signing.

Here are a few more trade-related rumors from around the NBA:

Several teams called the Heat to inquire about Josh Richardson during the draft, but Miami showed no interest in moving him, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe. If the Heat hope to re-sign Wayne Ellington or use their mid-level exception, they’ll almost certainly have to shed salary, but Richardson isn’t a player the club is willing to lose.
The Suns made Marquese Chriss available in trade talks on draft night, according to Lowe. The ESPN.com scribe adds that the Suns, who are in the market for a point guard this summer, have yet to show any interest in trading for Dennis Schroder of the Hawks.
Multiple sources tell Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post that the Lakers and Nuggets have discussed a trade that would send unwanted salary and a draft pick to Los Angeles. Reports earlier this week indicated that the Lakers were exploring ways to acquire another first-round pick to sweeten a potential offer for Kawhi Leonard.
In a piece for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks examines some of the more intriguing expiring contracts and trade chips around the NBA.

Lowe’s Latest: James, Thunder, RFAs

June 28th, 2018 at 7:56pm CST by Austin Kent

The Lakers may not necessarily need a star in place to lure LeBron James, Zach Lowe of ESPN writes in a massive round-up of free agency notes. If James were to sign in Los Angeles alongside the team’s existing young stars and plethora of cap space they’d immediately become one of the league’s most appealing destinations for the next 12 months.

The comment comes in response to the notion that the Lakers are growing desperate to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs prior to James’ opt-in deadline tomorrow at 10:59pm CST. As things stand, both the Celtics and Sixers appear poised to offer better packages than what Lowe speculates L.A. might.

The King’s decision will have a ripple effect on the rest of the league, especially the Eastern Conference. If the Raptors, for example, were to watch James head to the West, it would make keeping their current core in place more appealing considering that their path to the Finals would be hypothetically easier.

Here’s a taste of the rest of Lowe’s findings:

If the Thunder can convince Paul George to return to Oklahoma City, it will be a monumental victory for general manager Sam Presti. If he leaves, the club would be forced to at least think about blowing the current squad up and trading Russell Westbrook.
Only six teams have notable amounts of potential cap space and half of those – the Hawks, Bulls and Kings – are telling teams that they’re interested in using that space to absorb bad contracts and pick up assets.
It’s unclear that there will be much of a market for Derrick Favors beyond, potentially the Mavs. It may make more sense for the big man to stay with the Jazz after finally starting to click alongside Rudy Gobert in Quin Snyder‘s offense last season.
The two best candidates to sign a qualifying offer this summer and approach next summer as unrestricted free agents are Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic. Lowe writes that Nurkic turned down a “rich” four-year extension last fall but might have a hard time finding a team willing to offer more than the mid-level exception this summer.
It stands to reason that Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker will yield significant offers from the Magic, Bulls and Bucks respectively but none of those teams have reason to offer a max contract right away.
The Pacers could make life harder for the Magic by putting together an offer in the $20MM range for Gordon. Lowe writes that there has been “mild discontent for years” about Gordon’s role in Orlando’s offense.
The Nuggets tried “feverishly” to trade for a second first-round pick last Thursday in the hopes of nabbing Zhaire Smith. Denver’s 2019 first-rounder was on the table in those talks.

For more free agency notes, including some potential contract extension candidates and the reasoning behind Nikola Jokic not getting a player option in the fifth year of his new deal with the Nuggets, check out the full feature at ESPN.

Mavs Withdraw Salah Mejri’s Qualifying Offer

June 28th, 2018 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

For the second time this week, the Mavericks have rescinded a player’s qualifying offer shortly after issuing it. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), the club’s QO for Salah Mejri is no longer on the table, putting the big man on track to become an unrestricted free agent.

Mejri, 32, only has three years of NBA experience under his belt. In 2017/18, he posted 3.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in 61 games (12.0 MPG) for the Mavericks. He’ll be free to sign with any team once he reaches the open market next week, as will teammate Doug McDermott, who also had his qualifying offer withdrawn by Dallas this week.

Mejri’s qualifying offer was worth a modest $1.84MM, so it’s not entirely clear why the Mavs wanted to remove it from their books. As the team explores acquiring DeAndre Jordan, either via trade or free agency, every bit of cap flexibility could help, so perhaps the club didn’t want to risk having Mejri and/or McDermott accept their QOs once the new league year gets underway.

The Mavs still have one qualifying offer on the table for Yogi Ferrell. It’s worth approximately $2.92MM.

Mavs Looking To Acquire DeAndre Jordan

June 28th, 2018 at 1:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JUNE 28, 1:42pm: Jordan is the Mavericks’ primary target as free agency approaches, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. According to MacMahon, if a trade agreement can’t be reached and the veteran center declines his option, Dallas plans to pursue him aggressively as a free agent. The interest between Jordan and the Mavs is mutual, sources tell MacMahon.

JUNE 27, 9:28pm: The Mavericks are engaged in talks with the Clippers to acquire center DeAndre Jordan this week, sources told Marc Stein of the New York Times.

This is a case of forgive and forget, as Jordan notoriously backed out on a free-agent deal with Dallas during the summer of 2015 to stay in L.A.

Jordan has a Friday night deadline to decide whether to exercise his $24.1MM player option for next season. If he opts in, Dallas can trade for him before free agency begins on Sunday. Swingman Wesley Matthews and his $18.6MM contract would likely be the centerpiece of any offer, according to Stein.

If Jordan opts out, Dallas could pursue him in free agency along with two other centers, unrestricted free agent DeMarcus Cousins and restricted free agent Clint Capela.

The Clippers have granted permission to Jordan and agent Jeff Schwartz to explore trade scenarios with other teams. It’s a similar scenario to All-Star guard Chris Paul opting in with the team and then getting traded to the Rockets last summer.

Dallas passed on drafting a big man last Thursday and instead made a deal with the Hawks for EuroLeague guard Luka Doncic.

Free Agent Rumors: Favors, LaVine, Curry, Hezonja

June 27th, 2018 at 10:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jazz forward Derrick Favors has set up a few free agent meetings, Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News tweets. Favors is happy in Utah but wants to go through the free-agent process to determine his best course of action, Woodyard adds. Favors, 26, averaged 12.7 PPG and 7.2 RPG last season. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said recently he’d like to keep the team’s core intact. The Wizards, Bucks and Warriors have been mentioned as potential landing spots for Favors.

In other developments involving players heading to free agency:

At least one Western Conference team is preparing to make a run at Bulls restricted free agent guard Zach LaVine, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Johnson anticipates the Bulls would prefer to re-sign LaVine in the $14-16MM range annually but might balk if he receives an offer sheet worth $20MM or more per year.
Mavericks guard Seth Curry has been medically cleared after missing last season with a left tibia fracture, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Curry, an unrestricted free agent, has been engaged in full basketball-related activities for a month, Wojnarowski adds. Curry had a breakout season with Dallas the previous year, averaging 12.8 PPG and 2.7 APG while starting 42 of 70 games.
The Nets are interested in Magic forward Mario Hezonja, Brian Lewis of the New York Post hears. Hezonja has not lived up to his billing after being the No. 5 pick of the 2015 draft but the Nets think highly of him and aren’t afraid of reclamation projects, Lewis continues. Hezonja, who averaged 9.6 PPG last season, is an unrestricted free agent after Orlando declined to pick up his fourth-year option last year. Brooklyn has pursued top-level restricted free agents in recent years but is unlikely to do so this summer because the front office would like to create room for two max players next summer, Lewis adds.

Mavericks Withdraw QO For Doug McDermott

June 27th, 2018 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Doug McDermott won’t become a restricted free agent on Sunday after all, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the Mavericks have withdrawn their qualifying offer to the four-year veteran.

It’s a quick turnaround for the Mavs, after we heard on Tuesday that the team had extended a qualifying offer to McDermott. According to Lowe, Dallas still has interest in retaining McDermott, but this decision will make the sharpshooter an unrestricted free agent. It will also clear extra cap room for the Mavs, since McDermott’s cap hold as a restricted free agent would have been worth nearly $9.9MM.

McDermott, 26, recorded 9.0 PPG on .478/.494/.857 shooting in 26 games with the Mavericks last season after coming over from New York in a deadline deal. While the former 11th overall pick has never averaged double-digit points in a season, he has been a reliable three-point threat since entering the league, making 40.3% of his outside attempts.

The Mavericks, who added Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson in last week’s draft, have been linked to a number of big men in free agency, including DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan, Julius Randle, and Clint Capela. If they decline Dirk Nowitzki‘s $5MM team option, as suggested by Tim MacMahon and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), the Mavs could get up to approximately $26MM in cap space, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Marks (Twitter link).

If Dallas requires all its available cap room to make a play for one of those bigs, it could offer the $4.4MM room exception to Nowitzki or McDermott. However, since the Mavs will no longer have the right of first refusal, the team won’t be able to stop McDermott from signing outright with another suitor.

Mavericks Extend Qualifying Offers To McDermott, Mejri

June 26th, 2018 at 9:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Mavericks have extended qualifying offers to Doug McDermott and Salah Mejri, Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW tweets. Both players will become restricted free agents.

McDermott’s qualifying is worth approximately $4.3MM. It would have been slightly over $4.5MM had he met the “starter criteria,” but since he did not, he’ll settle for the lower figure.

A player meets the criteria if he plays 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency. A player can also reach this distinction by averaging either of those marks in over the two seasons prior to hitting free agency.

McDermott only started 13 games in his entire career and he came up 232 minutes short of the 2,000 mark during the 2017/18 campaign. Teammate Yogi Ferrell, who also received a qualifying offer from the Mavs, met the starter criteria.

Mejri, whose offer is worth slightly over $1.8MM, did not meet the criteria after playing just 729 minutes this past season.

Mavs Still A Lottery Team?

June 26th, 2018 at 7:14pm CST by clarkcrum

Despite perhaps winning the 2018 NBA Draft with the selection of some pundits’ top-ranked player, Luka Doncic, Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram doesn’t see the Mavericks making the playoffs next season, writing that Dallas will likely end up picking in the NBA Draft Lottery for a second straight summer in 2019.

Despite the hype surrounding Doncic and his experience playing with professionals overseas, he will still be an NBA rookie next season, and as Mavericks’ president Donnie Nelson puts it, that means “he’s going to get his rear end handed to him.” Add in the fact that Smith Jr. is also still only 20 years old, and you’re left with one of the youngest – albeit most talented – backcourts in the NBA, which is probably not enough in the deep Western Conference.

Yogi Ferrell Receives Qualifying Offer From Mavericks

June 26th, 2018 at 5:36pm CST by clarkcrum

The Mavericks have tendered a qualifying offer to guard Yogi Ferrell, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Ferrell now becomes a restricted free agent on July 1.

Ferrell’s qualifying offer is worth $2.92MM as a result of reaching starter criteria this year, which can be reached by starting at least 41 games or playing at least 2,000 minutes during the regular season. Ferrell played 2,282 minutes for Dallas this season.

As we’ve noted before, players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. Rather, their team must extend a qualifying offer, which functions as a one-year contract offer. If Ferrell were to sign the $2.92MM qualifying offer, he’d put himself in line for unrestricted free agency next summer.

Ferrell has stated publicly that he’d like to remain with the Mavericks, so it’s probable that he will either sign his qualifying offer or ink a long-term deal with Dallas barring a substantial offer from another team.

Ferrell, 25, played all 82 contests and averaged 10.2 points and 2.5 assists per game in 2017/18, with a shooting line of .477/.373/.796. His per game numbers were likely somewhat reduced from the 2016/17 campaign due to the addition of rookie first-round pick Dennis Smith Jr.

DeAndre Jordan Mulling Opt-In To Facilitate Trade?

June 26th, 2018 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, one of several players who has yet to decide on his 2018/19 option, is weighing a number of options in advance of Friday’s deadline, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter). According to Stein, one option Jordan is considering involves exercising his option in order to facilitate a trade to another team.

Opting in to accommodate a trade is what Jordan’s former teammate Chris Paul did a year ago, when the Rockets lacked the cap room to sign CP3 outright. If Jordan is interested in joining an over-the-cap team, he could negotiate an agreement with the Clippers that would see him traded to that new team. However, as was the case last year with the Clippers, Rockets, and Paul, all three parties would have to be on board with the arrangement.

The Mavericks are among the teams with potential trade interest in Jordan, according to Stein, though he adds (via Twitter) that one source describes a Jordan-to-Dallas trade as a “long shot.” As we heard earlier this week, the Mavs appear ready to let bygones be bygones in regard to Jordan’s 2015 free agency debacle. A free agent that summer, Jordan committed to Dallas, then backed out of the agreement to re-sign with the Clippers.

Jordan’s player option for 2018/19 is worth $24,119,025, so if he opts in, that figure would need to be taken into account in trade negotiations — a trade partner would have to either match salaries or have the cap room to accommodate that amount.

If Jordan decides to opt out, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.