In a statement that may make some Mavericks fans scoff, Chandler Parsons told the media during his introductory press conference today that he wants to be active in attracting free agents to the Grizzlies, The Associated Press relays. “Being the first big-name free agent to come here, I think that’s special, and I want to be a trendsetter here,” Parsons said. “I’m going to work extremely hard to be the best basketball player I can be. But … next summer you best believe I’m going to be with him [GM Chris Wallace] recruiting more talent to Memphis.”
Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports Images
JULY 7th, 6:42pm: The signing is official, the Grizzlies announced via press release.
JULY 1st, 2:27pm: The Grizzlies and Chandler Parsons have reached an agreement on a multiyear deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). The pact will cover four years and will pay Parsons the league maximum, the Vertical scribe notes. The Blazers also reportedly offered him a max deal, but instead Parsons is headed to Memphis.
Parsons becomes the first upper-tier free agent to choose Memphis in free agency, Wojnarowski notes (on Twitter). Though, the small forward’s status as a star is certainly up for debate given his statistical track record. The only other free agent signed by the franchise for above the mid-level exception prior to Parsons was Darko Milicic, adds Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). I’d wager that Memphis and its fans are certainly hoping this addition provides more of an impact given the dollar figures involved.
With Parsons in the fold, the team will turn its attention to retaining point guard Mike Conley, who is an unrestricted free agent. The addition of Parsons may be the deciding factor for Conley, with Sam Amick of USA Today noting (via Twitter) that Parsons is confident that the point guard will return to Memphis next season.
The 27-year-old reportedly eliminated the Mavs from consideration after team balked at offering him max dollars, a not unreasonable stance given Parsons’ injury history. He made 61 appearances this past season for Dallas, notching averages of 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 29.5 minutes per outing. He shot .492/.414/.684 from the field on the campaign.
In five NBA seasons, Parsons has averaged 14.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and three assists. He was the No. 38 overall pick of the Rockets in the 2011 NBA draft.
JULY 7: The Hawks have sent out a formal press release announcing their new deal with Bazemore.
JULY 1: The Hawks have secured one of their own free agents, according to Michael Scotto of The Associated Press, who reports (via Twitter) that Atlanta and Kent Bazemore have agreed to terms on a four-year, $70MM contract, which will feature a player option on the final year.
It’s the second big-money deal the team has struck today — the Hawks also reached an agreement with Dwight Howard on a three-year contract worth $70.5MM. The two deals for Bazemore and Howard will almost certainly take Atlanta out of the running for Al Horford, meaning he’ll likely find a new home within the next few days.
Bazemore, who went undrafted out of Old Dominion, emerged as a reliable three-and-D player for the Hawks last season, averaging 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc.
We heard early in free agency that it might take an offer in the $19-20MM-per-year range to land Bazemore, and the Hawks will ultimately pay a little less than that — his reported deal averages $17.5MM annually. According to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter), Bazemore turned down four-year, $72MM offers from the Lakers and Rockets to return to Atlanta.
In addition to Los Angeles and Houston, the Bucks, Grizzlies, Nets, and Pelicans were among the rival suitors for Bazemore, and were in touch with him before he made his decision, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. There had been speculation that Bazemore would take a few days before deciding on his team — instead, he agreed to a contract with the Hawks on the day of his 27th birthday. Not a bad gift.
The value of Bazemore’s new deal is right in line with the four-year, $70MM deal agreed to by Evan Turner and the Trail Blazers earlier today.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Grizzlies announced via press release that the organization has hired Keith Smart and Adam Mazarei as assistant coaches on head coach David Fizdale’s staff. Smart spent the last two seasons working with Fizdale as an assistant coach for the Heat, while Mazarei was a player development assistant for Memphis the past three years.
The Pelicans could still make a push for signing Rajon Rondo even after securing an agreement with E’Twaun Moore, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. Reid acknowledges that there are other teams in the mix for Rondo and New Orleans appears to be a long-shot. There were conflicting reports on Friday as to whether the team was interested in Rondo.
Reid confirms an earlier report that the Pelicans were interested in Jeremy Lin, but the point guard’s price was too steep for the team. Lin signed a three-year, $36MM deal with Brooklyn on Friday.
Here’s more from around the league during this crazy start to free agency:
- The Wolves had interest in Luol Deng before he signed with the Lakers and they made calls to both Pau Gasol and Kent Bazemore before the latter signed with Atlanta, Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune writes. The team would also like to add depth and has interest in Randy Foye, Willie Reed, Courtney Lee, Kris Humphries, Jamal Crawford, Brandon Bass, and Ian Mahinmi.
- The Thunder have also expressed interest in Reed, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
- Amar’e Stoudemire would be interested in returning to the Knicks, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets. “If they want to bring me back, that would be a nice opportunity,” Stoudemire said.
- The Lakers bumped up Deng’s offer to $18MM per season after Bazemore turned down the same offer, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter link).
- Ish Smith‘s new deal with the Pistons will pay him $5.7MM in year one, $6MM in year two and $6.3MM in the final season, per Rod Beard of the Detroit News (Twitter link).
- Former first-round pick Jan Vesely has interest from NBA teams, but it will take a starting salary of $11-12MM to bring him stateside, Net Income of SB Nation tweets.
- Rade Zagorac is negotiating a deal to play overseas with Red Star Belgrade, international journalist David Pick tweets. The Grizzlies acquired the No.35 overall pick in a deal with the Celtics on draft night.
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News takes a look at who the Mavericks can still get in free agency.
In an interesting interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Evan Turner explained how he ended up reaching an agreement with the Trail Blazers earlier today, expressing confidence that he’ll be a great fit in Portland. Turner suggested that he’d “play in Boston every single day of the week” if all other factors were equal, but the Celtics would have only have offered him about half what the Blazers did, and the C’s likely would’ve reduced his role as well.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Hassan Whiteside‘s max salary isn’t set in stone yet, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald, who tweets that the young center would be willing to take a little less if Kevin Durant wants to sign with the Heat.
- Chandler Parsons called his decision to sign with the Grizzlies the toughest of his life, calling Portland “incredible” and citing Memphis’ coaching staff as a major factor in his choice. Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com has the quotes from Parsons.
- Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press is skeptical that the Timberwolves will trade Ricky Rubio this summer, tweeting that head coach Tom Thibodeau wants to work with the point guard. Krawczynski expects Rubio to be on Minnesota’s roster when training camp rolls around.
- Dubbed last week as the favorites to reach a deal with Spanish point guard Sergio Rodriguez, the Nets are are still trying to get a deal done with Rodriguez, but sources tell Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that an agreement looks “unlikely.”
- The Thunder issued a press release today confirming the hiring of Adrian Griffin as an assistant on Billy Donovan‘s staff, as was reported last month. Vin Bhavnani and former NBA guard Royal Ivey also received promotions and are now assistant coaches, per the team.
7:43pm: The Grizzlies only have about $8MM+ in cap room, but would make an effort to clear more space if Gordon decides he wants to sign with the team, tweets ESPN’s Marc Stein.
6:58pm: Gordon is expected to finalize an agreement tonight, according to Scott Agness of VigilantSports (Twitter link), who says Gordon’s choice is down to the Knicks and Grizzlies.
1:42am: The Knicks are reportedly nearing an agreement with one of the top free agent bigs on the market, Joakim Noah, and have now identified a top perimeter target as well. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter), the Knicks are focusing on Eric Gordon and are discussing the parameters of a possible contract.
Marc Berman of The New York Post reported earlier in the evening that Derrick Rose has reached out to Gordon in an attempt to recruit him to New York. A source informed Berman that the idea of pursuing the veteran shooting guard is gaining traction within the organization.
Gordon, 27, is a talented scorer when he’s healthy, having averaged 16.6 PPG with a .383 3PT% over the course of his eight-year NBA career. However, in those eight seasons, he has played just 417 total games, or about 52 per year. During his five seasons in New Orleans, Gordon never played more than 64 games in a season, having dealt with multiple injuries.
While Gordon’s injury history will likely scare some potential suitors away, those health concerns could also help keep his price down. Even if they finalize a deal with Noah, the Knicks should have in the neighborhood of $15MM in cap space available to address their backcourt or wing spots.
The Magic are also expected to have interest in Gordon, along with the Rockets, Pelicans, and Grizzlies.
As they attempt to re-sign veteran point guard Mike Conley, the Grizzlies are prepared to put a full five-year, maximum-salary contract offer on the table, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. It’s not clear whether that fifth year would be fully guaranteed, but even a partial guarantee would make Memphis’ offer to Conley much more lucrative than what any other team could give him. Multiple sources expect the Grizzlies and Conley to have an agreement in place by Saturday morning, tweets ESPN’s Marc Stein.
A Thursday report indicated that Conley’s decision would likely come down to the Grizzlies and the Mavericks, who got an opportunity to meet with the 28-year-old earlier today. Sam Amick of USA Today wrote that the threat Dallas poised to Memphis may be “nominal,” and the Grizzlies likely increased their chances of retaining Conley by reaching a long-term agreement with Chandler Parsons.
Multiple reports in recent weeks had suggested that Conley wanted to see signs from the Grizzlies that they were willing to be aggressive when it came to upgrading and fortifying their roster. He and Parsons have also reportedly spoken to one another about teaming up in Memphis. With Parsons expected to sign with the Grizzlies, and a five-year offer on the table for Conley, it’s hard to imagine the point guard leaving.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, headed into free agency having identified Conley and Hassan Whiteside as their top priorities. With Whiteside returning to Miami, and Conley appearing increasingly likely to re-sign with the Grizzlies, Dallas may soon have to move on to secondary targets.
Several teams have contacted Pacers free agent small forward Solomon Hill, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. The Jazz, Grizzlies and Bulls are all interested, with Utah needing a replacement in case Gordon Hayward leaves in free agency next summer.
The Mavericks are also expected to aggressively pursue Hill (Twitter link). Dallas small forward Chandler Parsons seems likely to sign elsewhere, and the Mavericks’ top target to replace him, Nicolas Batum, re-signed with the Hornets this morning.
The 6’7″ Hill is a three-year veteran out of Arizona who has spent his entire career in Indiana. He averaged just 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds, with a .324 3PT%, in 59 games this season, but increased those averages to 7.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and a .579 3PT% in the playoffs, when he was relied on more heavily.
Free agents Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons have talked several times about teaming up in Memphis, posts Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Parsons, who already has a maximum offer on the table from the Blazers, will meet with Grizzlies officials later today in Los Angeles. Conley has a meeting scheduled with the Mavericks, but MacMahon says Conley and Parsons haven’t talked about becoming teammates in Dallas.