Los Angeles Clippers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jabari Parker Likely To Leave Bucks?

June 30th, 2018 at 1:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Kings are just one of the teams expected to make a run at Jabari Parker, and some executives within the league view the former No. 2 overall pick to be among the small tier of players below stars such as LeBron James and Paul George.

“Hey, he’s a good player; I mean he’s a really good player,’’ an NBA executive told Gary Woelfel (via Woelfel’s Press Box). “And he’s young.’’

Parker is a restricted free agent, meaning the Bucks can match any rival offer he receives. One longtime NBA executive expects the 23-year-old to see a rather lucrative deal.

“I think some teams will give him $20MM [per season] and there might be some teams that will make it tough on Milwaukee to match and offer him even more,’’ the NBA official tells Woelfel.

“I think Milwaukee would like to keep him for $16MM or something around that figure, trying to use his injury situation to their advantage. But there are teams that need a big-time scorer and nobody doubts he’s a big-time scorer.’’

Another NBA executive speculated that the Sixers could make an offer for Parker should they fail to land a bigger target like James, George or Kawhi Leonard. Woelfel names the Bulls, Jazz, Pacers, Hawks, Suns, and Nets as possibilities as well.

Other NBA executives who spoke with Woelfel believe a sign-and-trade is a more likely scenario for the combo forward. That route would be Milwaukee’s preference rather than being forced to decide between signing Parker to a player-friendly contract or losing him for nothing. “It’s no secret” that the Bucks would be open to receiving an upgrade at point guard or center in such an agreement, Woelfel adds.

The Rockets and Clippers are both high on Parker and could be possibilities if a sign-and-trade were to occur, though it would be hard for Houston to complete a deal and stay under the tax apron if the team retains its own key free agents. Los Angeles and Milwaukee had discussions about Parker at last year’s trade deadline.

Parker likes Milwaukee and he reportedly paid around $1.5MM to redo the warehouse he currently lives in, according to Woelfel’s sources. Those same sources tell the scribe that despite Parker being comfortable in his current situation, it’s more likely he leaves then stays.

“He loves the people there; he loves the city,” the source said. “But I don’t see him staying there. If you’re asking me, it’s 75-25 he goes to another team.’’

Many dominos, such as James coming out of his decision cave, are likely to fall before Parker inks his next contract with a source estimating that a deal won’t take place until late-July or early-August.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Warriors Interested In Jordan, Mavs Remain Favorites

June 30th, 2018 at 8:50am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors intend to make a run at Clippers center DeAndre Jordan in free agency despite their salary-cap restrictions, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

Jordan would have to accept their $5.3MM taxpayer mid-level exception, a huge drop from the $24.1MM he left on the table when he decided to opt out on Friday. While Jordan’s salary would be modest, such a move would wind up costing the Warriors closer to $27MM due to luxury taxes, Stein notes (Twitter link). Jordan is close friends with Kevin Durant and a former client of Golden State GM Bob Myers.

Dropping Jordan, one of the league’s premier rebounders, into the Warriors’ starting five would complete a star-studded lineup and ensure they’d be championship favorites once again no matter where LeBron James winds up.

Jordan would have to sacrifice a boatload of money for the opportunity to chase a ring. The Mavericks have made Jordan their top priority and have approximately $28MM to offer him. That makes Dallas a strong favorite to land him, Stein adds (Twitter link).

The chances of Jordan returning to the Clippers, as he did during his last free agent foray in 2015, seem remote. The team even tweeted a ‘Thank You, DeAndre!’ after his opt-out decision. They acquired veteran center Marcin Gortat from the Wizards earlier this week.

DeAndre Jordan To Opt Out, Become Free Agent

June 29th, 2018 at 5:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan will opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Jordan can negotiate a long-term contract with the Mavericks, who were engaged in trade talks with the Clippers to acquire him if he opted in. Dallas was unwilling to give up draft picks in a potential trade and preferred to pursue the veteran big man in free agency, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

Jordan’s decision to leave $24.1MM on the table still doesn’t give the Clippers a large amount of cap space. In fact, as Bobby Marks of ESPN points out, the maximum amount of room they could open up is $13.6MM but they’d have to waive two point guards, Milos Teodosic and Patrick Beverley, to make that happen. If the Clippers stay over the cap, they’d still their $8.6MM mid-level and $3.4MM bi-annual exceptions at their disposal.

However, they could have as much as $60MM in cap space next summer, Marks adds in another tweet.

Of course, the Mavericks have been down this road before with one of the league’s premier rebounders. Jordan, who averaged 12.0 and a career-best 15.2 RPG last season, famously reneged on a verbal agreement with Dallas in the summer of 2015 to remain in L.A. However, the Mavericks are intent on getting a premier center and probably won’t have a lot of competition to get him to sign the dotted line the second time around.

DeAndre Jordan Still Weighing Option Decision

June 29th, 2018 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

3:53pm: Marc Stein of The New York Times, who initially reported that the Clippers were resistant to taking on Matthews in a trade with the Mavericks, now hears from one source that L.A. wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to the idea (Twitter link). That should keep the trade talks between the two teams alive.

3:25pm: With tonight’s deadline looming, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is still weighing whether or not to exercise his $24.12MM option for 2018/19, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

As we’ve detailed throughout the week, the Clippers and Mavericks have engaged in discussions on a trade that would involve Jordan picking up his option and being sent to Dallas. However, the two sides have been unable to agree on the terms of that deal, with one report suggesting that Los Angeles isn’t interested in taking on Wesley Matthews, who would be the preferred outgoing piece from the Mavs’ perspective.

According to Wojnarowski, trade talks between the Clips and Mavs could pick up again, but they’ve been “dormant” today. That could leave Jordan with a decision to make before tonight 11:59pm ET deadline, and two potential roads to take.

One path would be to opt out of his contract and explore a new deal with the Mavs – or another team – in free agency. Jordan could lock in a longer-term agreement in that scenario, but would likely have to accept a more modest starting salary than his $24MM+ option salary. Additionally, Dallas would have to use most or all of its available cap room to sign the big man as a free agent. If they were instead able to trade for him using another sizable contract like Matthews’, the Mavs could retain cap space for another move.

The alternative for Jordan would be to pick up his option today, even without a trade agreement in place. In that scenario, he and his representatives could continue to work with the Clippers on a potential trade, or he could simply prepare to return to L.A. for one more season before reaching the open market in 2019.

Jordan is the last veteran with a player option decision to make, as our tracker shows. So far, 20 of 27 players holding options have decided to exercise them, a stark contrast from the last two offseasons, when just eight of 53 players opted in.

Clippers Have Interest In Re-Signing Avery Bradley

June 29th, 2018 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Although Avery Bradley is considered likely to land elsewhere, the Clippers do have interest in re-signing him, a source tells Spears.

[SOURCE LINK]

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.

Montrezl Harrell, Tyrone Wallace Receive Qualifying Offers

June 28th, 2018 at 10:15pm CST by Austin Kent

The Clippers have tendered a qualifying offer to forward Montrezl Harrell, RealGM’s Keith Smith tweets. The third-year big man averaged 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on the season but saw his production climb steadily and significantly over the course of the campaign.

Harrell, a 2015 second-round pick, joined the Clippers in the flurry of deals prior to the Rockets’ acquisition of Los Angeles guard Chris Paul last June. The 24-year-old now stands to be a prominent part of L.A.’s rotation heading forward.

The extension of the $1.8MM qualifying offer will make Harrell a restricted free agent on July 1, giving the Clippers the opportunity to match any offer sheets that come in for his services.

The Clippers also tendered an offer to two-way guard Tyrone Wallace, Smith reports.

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.

Clippers’ $7MM+ Trade Exception Set To Expire

June 28th, 2018 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The traded player exception created by the Clippers in their Chris Paul trade with the Rockets one year ago is set to expire if it goes unused today. The exception is worth $7,273,631.

As we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, traded player exceptions can be used to acquire one or more players whose salaries fits within the amount of the exception. Using their TPE, the over-the-cap Clippers wouldn’t have to send out any salary if they were to acquire a player earning $7MM.

Most trade exceptions ultimately go unused, but this is a noteworthy one. As we detailed earlier this month, it’s one of just five TPEs around the NBA worth $7MM or more. The Clippers have reportedly been engaged in DeAndre Jordan trade talks with the Mavericks and have talked to the Spurs about Kawhi Leonard, but neither of those scenarios would present the club a great chance to use its TPE.

The Clippers will have three other smaller TPEs available beyond today, ranging in value from $1.33MM to $1.58MM.

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Los Angeles Clippers

Clippers Work Out Several International Free Agents

June 28th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have worked out several free agents who had been playing overseas, a source tells international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). In addition to Chris Babb, whose workout was previously reported, the club also took a look at Quincy Miller, Victor Rudd, and others, according to Pick.