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Kobe Bryant On Retirement, Cap, Lakers

August 4th, 2015 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kobe Bryant continued to leave the door ajar for playing beyond this coming season in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, saying that he thinks it’s a decision that he’ll need to make after this season is through and not before it. It jibes with what he said in March, when he wouldn’t rule out continuing to play but said he probably wouldn’t decide until his contract is up at season’s end.

“[GM Mitch Kupchak and I] haven’t set anything in stone and I’ve talked about it before. But could this be the last [season]? Absolutely,” Bryant said to Spears. “It’s tough to decide. It’s really tough to make those types of decisions. Players I have spoken to say, ‘Kobe, you will know.’”

The ability to tap into the rising cap next summer for a new contract will have “zero” bearing on his decision, Bryant told Spears. The 19-year veteran, who turns 37 this month, will once again make the NBA’s highest salary this season, with $25MM coming his way.

The end of his NBA career might not be the end of his time as a player, as Bryant said in response to a question that he can envision himself playing in Italy or China at some point. For now, Bryant is optimistic about the Lakers’ chances of making the playoffs and praised the team’s offseason, as Spears relays.

“They have really set themselves up for a promising future going on years.” Bryant said. “I think they drafted very well. The free agents that we picked are extremely solid, [Roy] Hibbert, [Brandon] Bass, Lou [Williams]. We have a very good mix of young and veteran leadership. The challenge is going to be blending the two and cutting down the learning curve. How quickly can we get going? How quickly can we bring up [D’Angelo] Russell, [Julius] Randle. [Jordan] Clarkson got valuable experience last year in playing that will benefit us tremendously. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to running with these young guns.”

Hibbert was a trade acquisition, not a free agent signing, but it nonetheless seems like Bryant is on board with what the front office is doing, and it appears that Bryant’s spirit of cooperation extends to the coaching staff, too. Lakers coach Byron Scott said recently that Bryant, who turns 37 this month, will probably see time at power forward, and while Spears asked Bryant’s thoughts about playing small forward, the Mamba made it clear that position matters little to him.

And-Ones: D-League, Kaminsky, Towns

August 2nd, 2015 at 5:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look around the Association..

Adam Johnson of D-League Digest looked at the D-League’s salary structure. As Johnson learned from multiple league sources and agents, the league has a three-tiered salary system for the simplicity of making deals with players. The “A” salary is $25K, “B” salaries are $19K, and “C” salaries are $13K. Interestingly enough, players are sometimes asked to downgrade to accommodate a signing. “If a player is designated an “A” contract but the team wants to bring on an additional “B” player, they might ask the “A” player to reduce their salary to a “B” level to compensate for the difference,” according to a league source. “It’s a balancing act. You can have four “A” contracts at one point in the season, but that team will need to correct that amount of salary at some point with more “C” contracts so they don’t go over the salary cap.”
The numbers say that rookies Frank Kaminsky and Delon Wright are poised to make a noticeable impact in 2015/16, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d) writes. Unsurprisingly, it’s Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns who is projected to have the best year of any first-year player. Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell and Knicks rook Kristaps Porzingis round out the top five.
Steve Ilardi and Jeremias Engelmann of ESPN.com ran down the winners and losers in free agency this summer. Of course, the Spurs are among the offseason’s biggest winners after landing ex-Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge and former Pacers forward David West. The ESPN duo also gave a tip of the cap to the Celtics for their savvy under-the-radar moves.

Eastern Notes: Jerebko, McRae, Dedmon, Hornets

August 2nd, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jonas Jerebko said he got several free agency phone calls after the clock struck midnight on July 1st, but he was glad that one of them came from Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Jerebko, who inked a two-year, $10MM contract with the Celtics, wanted to stay in Boston after being acquired from the Pistons in a February trade. “It was like proof that you had a good year,” Jerebko said of the calls from other organizations. “I had other teams interested, but after talking to Danny and the way we worked stuff out, this is where I wanted to be and we worked it out.” Jerebko averaged 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game after the deal, both up from his numbers in Detroit.

There’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Sixers will have Jordan McRae for training camp, tweets Jake Pavorsky of Liberty Ballers. He cites an unidentified league source and says no formal deal has been reached yet.
Dewayne Dedmon had his non-guaranteed minimum salary become fully guaranteed when the Magic elected not to waive him by Saturday’s deadline, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows. Jordan Clarkson, Erick Green and Tyler Johnson all had their guarantees of varying amounts picked up, too, as had been expected.
Tyler Hansbrough‘s deal with the Hornets is fully guaranteed for one year at the minimum salary, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The camp deal between the Hornets and Elliot Williams covers two seasons at the minimum salary, as Pincus shows (Twitter link).

Cavaliers Rumors: Varejao, Dellavedova, Jones

August 2nd, 2015 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

In two years, the Cavaliers’ Anderson Varejao could be a trading chip similar to Brendan Haywood, according to Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. The frequently injured Varejao received a contract extension last summer partially for that purpose, Pluto reports. His salaries of $9.6MM for next season and $9.3MM for 2016/17 are fully guaranteed, but the $10MM he is scheduled to receive in 2017/18 is not guaranteed, making him an attractive pickup for a team looking to shed salary. Haywood, who had a non-guaranteed salary of $10,522,500 next season was dealt to the Blazers along with Mike Miller for trade exceptions worth $10.5MM and $2.85MM and was subsequently waived by Portland.

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

With the trade exceptions in hand, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report identifies five players who could be useful pickups between now and February’s trading deadline. They are the Pistons’ Danny Granger, the Nets’ newly signed Andrea Bargnani, the Wolves’ Kevin Martin, the Magic’s Channing Frye and the Lakers’ Nick Young.
The one-year deal between the Cavs and Matthew Dellavedova is equivalent in value to his qualifying offer, but it also includes a 15% trade kicker that he’d receive if he waived his de facto no-trade clause, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows (Twitter link).
James Jones is indeed making the minimum on his one-year deal with the Cavs, according to Pincus.

Central Notes: George, Granger, Pistons

August 2nd, 2015 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The Paul George injury that occurred one year ago Saturday essentially ended an era in Indiana, according to Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports. Playing in a USA Basketball scrimmage, George suffered a broken right tibia and fibula, knocking him out for most of the 2014/15 season. The Pacers began assembling a younger, faster roster, and the moves culminated with this summer’s trade of Roy Hibbert to the Lakers and the loss of David West in free agency. Monta Ellis, who was signed as a free agent, is now Indiana’s oldest player at age 30.

There’s more from the Central Division:

The Pacers have built a talented roster filled with athletic wings and combo guards, but still need a healthy season from George to be contenders, writes Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. George was able to return for six games at the end of last season, aiding a late Pacers push toward the playoffs, and the team is optimistic about his outlook for next season. Indiana’s roster overhaul has brought seven new players to the team since the end of last season.
Danny Granger will probably be the first player trimmed from an overcrowded Pistons roster, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The recent signing of Adonis Thomas for camp gave Detroit 18 players with guaranteed contracts, and all except Thomas appear to be fully guaranteed. Granger, 32, played in just 30 games for the Heat last season, averaging 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds. He was traded to Phoenix in February and went from the Suns to the Pistons in a July 9th deal.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy displayed unusual patience this summer, writes Sean Corp in the Detroit Free Press. Instead of throwing a max offer at another free agent after missing out on early targets Danny Green and DeMarre Carroll, the Pistons waited for an opportunity. Their patience paid off when they were able to cheaply acquire a package from Phoenix that included Marcus Morris. Van Gundy credits GM Jeff Bower for pushing the patient approach.

Heat Rumors: Boozer, Ennis, D-League

August 2nd, 2015 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Miami could have interest in free agent Carlos Boozer if the Heat deal one of their big men for luxury tax relief, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The Heat cut their tax bill with last week’s trade that sent Shabazz Napier to the Magic, but Chris Andersen and Josh McRoberts remain candidates to be moved to slash the potential payment even further. If that happens, Miami may pursue Boozer on a veteran’s minimum salary to be a replacement, although Winderman isn’t sure how much the veteran free agent has left to offer. Boozer, 34, averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 71 games with the Lakers last season.

There’s more this morning from South Florida:

Another team may pounce on James Ennis if he doesn’t make the Heat’s 15-man roster, Winderman speculates in the same piece. The 25-year-old guard got into 62 games with Miami last season, averaging 5.0 points in 17 minutes of playing time. Even with Napier and Zoran Dragic (traded to the Celtics) gone, Ennis faces a crowded backcourt situation. Winderman contends the Heat should carry the maximum of 15 players on their roster to keep as much talent as possible on hand.
The Heat have done a good job of taking of advantage of the league rule that lets teams retain the D-League rights to as many as four players cut in training camp, Winderman notes in a separate story. That applies only to players who clear waivers and have agreed to play in the D-League. Last season, Miami offered partial guarantees to Tyler Johnson, Khem Birch and Larry Drew II to get them into camp and establish an affiliation. They later added Andre Dawkins to the list. Players who end up in the D-League in this manner can be signed by other NBA teams during the season, as Drew (Sixers) and Dawkins (Celtics) were last year.
Napier was the first player involved in a trade between the Heat and Magic during their 28-year rivalry, Winderman points out in the same story. The teams’ only previous deal sent coach Stan Van Gundy from Miami to Orlando in 2007 for a second-round pick.

Lakers To Guarantee Jordan Clarkson’s Contract

July 30th, 2015 at 2:39pm CST by Zachary Links

No surprise here, but the Lakers will keep Jordan Clarkson and allow his contract to become guaranteed for a year, a team spokesman confirmed to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Contractually, the Lakers had the option of waiving Clarkson on or by August 1st (Saturday) without penalty before his deal was locked in. Because Clarkson played with the Lakers’ summer league team, the guarantee date of his contract moved up from around Halloween to the first day of August, Pincus explains.

Clarkson became the team’s primary point guard for most of the second half last season. In that time, the guard averaged 15.8 PPG, five APG, and 4.2 RPG, earning a spot on the NBA’s all-rookie first team. Pincus notes that this season, Clarkson may slide over to the two next to rookie D’Angelo Russell, with veteran Kobe Bryant moving to the three, though Byron Scott recently said his rotation will be determined in training camp.

Back in May, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak opined that Clarkson compares similarly in terms of athleticism and style of play to Russell Westbrook.

“If there’s a player in the league that plays like him, it’s Russell Westbrook,” Kupchak said. “Now, I’m not saying for a second that Jordan Clarkson is the next Russell Westbrook, but he’s that kind of a ball-handling guard.”

Northwest Notes: Durant, Thunder, Blazers

July 29th, 2015 at 3:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Blazers acquired Mike Miller from the Cavs earlier this week but he’s probably not sticking around for long. The veteran is a “strong candidate” to negotiate a buyout with Portland, Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears, and the Grizzlies, Thunder, and Mavs already appear to be interested. While we wait for more on that, here’s more from the Northwest Division..

The Thunder remain the front-runners for Kevin Durant‘s 2016 free agency, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News sizes up the chances that the Wizards, Warriors, Rockets, Heat, Clippers, Mavericks, Celtics, Knicks and Lakers all of have of convincing the former MVP to leave OKC.
The Thunder viewed Kevin Seraphin as a possible fall-back option if they did not re-sign Enes Kanter, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. At this point, a one-year deal is more likely for Seraphin than a long-term pact, Castillo writes. OKC, of course, has retained Kanter. The Knicks, Lakers, and Wizards are showing interest in Seraphin at this time.
The SI.com staff debated which team took the biggest step back this summer and multiple writers cast their ballots for the Trail Blazers. The Blazers, of course, have watched Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez wind up elsewhere this summer. Damian Lillard has been surrounded with some promising young talent, but they seem likely to take a big step back in 2015/16.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Hibbert, Crawford, Cousins, Evans

July 28th, 2015 at 3:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers trade acquisition Roy Hibbert is excited to play for coach Byron Scott, and while he cautioned that he has nothing against Pacers coach Frank Vogel, the center made it clear as he spoke with TNT’s David Aldridge that his preference this summer was to end up on a team with a former player as coach. Hibbert also expressed his unwavering sentiment for Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird, even though Bird strongly signaled to the media this spring that he was ready to move on from the former All-Star.

Larry was very up front with me,” Hibbert said. “He said before the press conference that I can’t promise you minutes next year, and they wanted to go in a different direction. So it wasn’t like what happened came out of nowhere, what he said. I’ll always say that Larry changed my life. I was on the phone with my agent in the office during the [2009] draft process and Larry said ‘If Roy’s there at 17, we’ll take him.’ That meant a lot to me. I know that things change and the NBA is ‘What have you done for me lately?,’ but I could never say a bad thing about Larry or the Pacers organization.”

We had more on Hibbert’s old team earlier today, and now here’s the latest on his new team’s division rivals:

The Clippers aren’t anxious to trade Jamal Crawford, but trade rumors from earlier this summer, his exclusion from the team’s DeAndre Jordan recruiting effort, and the addition of newcomers at his position are inauspicious signs for his future with the team, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register examines. Crawford seems to be wondering about whether the Clippers still appreciate him, and that doesn’t auger well for team chemistry if he’s still on the roster at the start of the season, Woike believes.
DeMarcus Cousins is a major fan of Reggie Evans, notes Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, who writes amid a look at the top remaining free agents. Evans, who spent the last season and a half with the Kings, remains unsigned.
Quincy Acy has a non-guaranteed salary on the second season of his new two-year deal with the Kings instead of a player option, as had previously been reported, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Undrafted rookie Duje Dukan‘s two-year deal with the Kings is for the minimum salary, Pincus shows on the same page.

Knicks, Others Eye Kevin Seraphin

July 28th, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks, Lakers and Wizards continue to show interest in Kevin Seraphin, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported interest from the Lakers early this month, and Scotto added the Wizards a few days later, but this appears to be the first time New York has come up in connection with the center.

The Knicks are also among the teams with interest in Carlos Boozer, but it’s not clear if New York sees the pair of big men as an either-or proposition. The Knicks and Lakers have their $2.814MM room exception available, but the Wizards have his Bird rights, so they can outbid other teams.

The Wizards were expected earlier this month to attempt to find a team willing to sign-and-trade for Seraphin, a maneuver that would ostensibly allow Washington to create a trade exception. In any case, Seraphin seemed a long shot to return to the Wizards at season’s end, as he’s reportedly been looking for a chance to compete for the starting job, though, according to Scotto, Washington at least touched base with him this month. The Wizards have Marcin Gortat entering year two of a five-year deal to man the pivot. Starting would also be a difficult proposition for Seraphin in New York, where free agent signee Robin Lopez seems firmly entrenched, and the same is probably true of the Lakers, who traded for Roy Hibbert.

The Suns and Mavericks also reportedly showed interest earlier this month, though it’s unclear if they’re still in the mix. The Spurs apparently had tentative interest in case David West signed elsewhere, but West took the minimum to play for San Antonio.

Which team needs Seraphin the most: The Knicks, Lakers or Wizards? Leave a comment to let us know.