Miami Heat Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Intensify Pursuit Of Chris Bosh

July 7th, 2014 at 11:54am CST by Zachary Links

MONDAY, 11:54am: Conversations between Bosh’s camp and the Rockets continue today even as Bosh’s preference remains to continue playing with James on the Heat, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Part of the pitch the Rockets want to make to Bosh is that he wouldn’t have to play center with Dwight Howard next to him, according to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News.

SUNDAY, 10:28pm: Bosh still hasn’t spoken directly with the Rockets, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

10:26pm: The Rockets have ramped up their pursuit of Chris Bosh and are “heavily engaged” in trying to convince the All-Star power forward to leave the Heat in free agency, sources tell Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.

The Rockets haven’t been formally told that they’re out of the running for Carmelo Anthony but they have gotten more serious about Bosh in the hope that LeBron James will leave the Heat. It’s widely assumed throughout the league that Bosh will only be willing to leave Miami if James goes first. However, the ESPN duo says that the Heat remain the favorites at this time to sign Bosh.

Sources say Bosh remains willing to take slightly less than his value on the open market to return with the Heat if James and Dwyane Wade are also coming back and if Heat president Pat Riley can upgrade the current roster. But nearly a week into free agency, sources say Bosh has felt compelled to consider other options himself. He won’t come cheap, though. Bosh would expect a four-year maximum offer of $96MM to leave Miami for Houston or any other suitor.

LeBron’s Agent Keen On Cavs Return

July 7th, 2014 at 11:12am CST by Chuck Myron

11:12am: There’s still confidence within the Heat organization that James will re-sign with them as there’s difference between Paul’s agenda and that of James, Wojnarowski tweets.

9:14am: It’s at the urging of agent Rich Paul that Cleveland is looking to clear cap flexibility for a max contract for LeBron James, as Paul has given the Cavs the belief they have a strong chance to sign the four-time MVP, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Paul has been telling people for years that it’s been “something of a mission” for him to bring James back to Cleveland, Wojnarowski writes.

James hasn’t been a part of Miami’s recruitment of talent this summer, and that’s sparked some worry surrounding the Heat, as Wojnarowski details. For Cleveland, the ability to sign James would also play a role in rookie scale extension talks with Tristan Thompson this summer, since he’s also a client of Paul’s. Thompson would have increased leverage, with the Cavs in position to pay back Paul for delivering James to Cleveland, Wojnarowski surmises.

The Cavs will try to split their max cap room among second-tier free agents, including targets Channing Frye and Trevor Ariza, if they’re unable to sign James, sources tell Wojnarowski. Cleveland is still thinking about tendering an offer sheet to Gordon Hayward, but the organization expects it wouldn’t extend a max offer to Hayward, and the Jazz plan to match any such offer, Wojnarowski hears.

James still has hard feelings about Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s sharply worded public letter in response to James’ 2010 departure from the team, as Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier. That letter, which had been up on the Cavs official website for the past four years, has apparently been removed, Windhorst tweets.

LeBron James Increasingly Mulling Cavs Return

July 7th, 2014 at 8:20am CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James is thinking more and more about the Cavs as he decides where to sign, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Cleveland’s brass is confident that James is receptive to the pitch they made to agent Rich Paul last week, as the ESPN scribes detail. Still, the player atop our 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings harbors lingering ill feelings over Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s reaction to his 2010 departure, despite a degree of reconciliation between the two as time has passed, according to Windhorst and Stein.

The Cavs are centering their case for LeBron on their capability for growth and improvement not just this summer but in years to come, with as many as three first-round picks in 2015 and young, team-controlled talent, like Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins, Windhorst and Stein write. Cleveland is planning to point to Brendan Haywood‘s contract as another of their weapons, as the ESPN duo explains. Haywood, who’s headed to Cleveland via trade, has a salary of more than $2.2MM for 2014/15, but the final season of his contract is a non-guaranteed salary of more than $10.5MM, a vestige of Haywood having been claimed off amnesty waivers in 2012. That bloated non-guaranteed salary makes Haywood’s deal a valuable expiring contract this coming season or, as Windhorst and Stein point out, a weapon for a sign-and-trade next summer.

The Cavs don’t possess the cap flexibility to give James a max contract as their books currently stand. Rather than waiving Anderson Varejao‘s partially guaranteed contract to create the necessary cap space, they prefer to deal Jarrett Jack, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported Sunday. They have a deal in place to trade Jack to the Nets provided the teams can find a third club willing to absorb Marcus Thornton, according to other reports.

Heat president Pat Riley will reportedly meet this week with James in an effort to keep him in Miami. The Heat have eyed significant free agents along the lines of Marcin Gortat, Kyle Lowry, Luol Deng and even Carmelo Anthony, but they don’t think they need to add a star to convince James, Wade and Bosh to re-sign, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Instead, they’re merely looking for upgrades in the roles that Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier have played in the past few years, Deveney writes.

Cavs Trying To Clear Cap Space For LeBron

July 6th, 2014 at 10:38pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cavs are working to clear cap space in order to carve out a max slot for LeBron James, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Sources tell Wojnarowski that Cleveland is looking for a team to take Nets guard Marcus Thornton in a deal to unload their own Jarrett Jack.

Moving Jack’s $6.3MM/year salary would enable the Cavs to clear room for LeBron while keeping LeBron’s friend Anderson Varejao in the fold (link). Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (on Twitter) has heard from multiple sources that Paul has told the Cavs he’s impressed with what they’ve done and what they can still do with their roster, so a return back home doesn’t sound so far fetched at this point for LeBron.

Meanwhile, James has had minimal contact with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and the longer that goes on, the more unsettled the two are becoming about Miami’s future (link). “They’re reading the tea leafs,” a source tells Wojnarowski. LeBron and agent Rich Paul will meet with Pat Riley in person this week, Sam Amick of USA Today reports, so everyone involved might gain some clarity in a matter of days.

Latest On LeBron, Bosh, Wade

July 6th, 2014 at 7:13pm CST by Zachary Links

Teams are awaiting direction from LeBron James‘ agent Rich Paul today to find out if the four-time MVP will proceed to free agent meetings this week, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). James has yet to meet with any club face-to-face and has been using Paul as a proxy.

As we learned last week, Paul has been telling clubs that James will take a more serious look at other teams if Miami president Pat Riley doesn’t act quickly in building a stronger supporting cast for the league’s best player. Of course, the caliber of talent that Riley can bring in will hinge greatly on what Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decide to do.

There’s been speculation that Bosh is fishing for a max deal, but agent Henry Thomas scoffed at that notion in a chat with Michael Wallace of ESPN.com. Thomas would not say if Bosh or Wade, both of whom are his clients, are considering meeting with other teams and added that he does not believe James, Wade, and Bosh have met collectively since they got together in late June to initially discuss their free agency plans.

“This is a process — really a different process for each one of them,” Thomas said. “It just has to play out. But what I can tell you is that nothing’s changed.”

Thomas insisted that Bosh and Wade are operating under separate circumstances, but expects them to reach decisions on new deals “within the next couple of days.”

And-Ones: Deng, Mavs, Ariza

July 5th, 2014 at 11:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Luol Deng is apparently sticking to his desire for $12MM per season, notes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link). Deng has spoken with the Heat who are unsure about how much cap space they will have until LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade make their decisions, and the Hawks who are currently unwilling to pay that amount, according to the tweet. Deng’s best chance might be with the Mavericks who he is scheduled to meet with soon, opines Amico.

Here’s more from around the league:

Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders runs through the best and worst performances from the first day of Summer League action, including some lottery picks making their debuts.
The Rockets and the Cavaliers are getting closer to creating max contract slots, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Rockets are discussing deals for Jeremy Lin, and the Cavs have been shopping Jarrett Jack packaged with a draft pick, notes Wojnarowski.
Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders looks at the Mavericks cap situation after the reported signing of Devin Harris.
Trevor Ariza met with the Heat on Thursday, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post (Twitter link).

Eastern Notes: Hamilton, Anthony, Deng

July 5th, 2014 at 6:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Justin Hamilton is mulling a guaranteed two-year contract from a team in Zagreb, reports Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Hamilton is signed to a non-guaranteed contract with the Heat for 2014/15. Hamilton has an unusual contract in that he is scheduled to make a base salary of $816,482, and if he is not waived before August 1st $408,241 becomes guaranteed, and if he’s not waived by December 1st, then $612,362 of that contract becomes guaranteed. You can check out our Schedule of Contract Guarantee Dates for more info on Hamilton and non-guaranteed contracts throughout the league.

And-Ones: Deng, Novak, Rockets, Bazemore

July 5th, 2014 at 4:58pm CST by Zachary Links

Erik Spoelstra joined Pat Riley to meet with Luol Deng in Chicago today, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Heat are said to have interest in Deng, but they might not be willing to take on the reported $12MM annual price tag for the forward. Here’s more from around the NBA:

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has indicated that second round pick DeAndre Daniels will be stashed in Europe for a year to get some much-needed playing time, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
The Thunder are bringing aboard Darko Rajakovic as an assistant coach, the team announced via press release. Rajakovic has spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Tulsa 66ers, OKC’s D-League affiliate.
Steve Novak will bring some much needed shooting to the Jazz, writes Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune. Novak is a career 43.9% shooter from 3-point range over eight seasons, almost exactly the same figure as Kyle Korver. The money owed to him over the next two years (about $7.5MM) was enough to make the Raptors want to dump his salary, but it wasn’t prohibitive for Utah.
Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow extended a two-year, €3MM offer to free agent guard Nando De Colo, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. That figure translates into roughly $4.08MM.
Put the Rockets on the growing list of teams interested in Kent Bazemore, says Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
Ike Diogu has signed with Dongguan in China on a deal that allows him to jump ship to the NBA anytime between now and August 15th, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
A rumored agreement between Andres Nocioni and Real Madrid is not a done deal, according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (on Twitter). The forward is still receiving interest from NBA teams (link).

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Free Agent Rumors: Bosh, LeBron, ‘Melo

July 5th, 2014 at 3:32pm CST by Charlie Adams

So far today we’ve heard that Devin Harris struck a deal to remain in Dallas, while the Bucks are trying to find a way to pry one of Eric Bledsoe or Greivis Vasquez away from their respective clubs. Let’s have a look at even more happenings around the free agency front:

Chris Bosh is the key to keeping the Big Three together in Miami, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Unfortunately for the Heat, there are rumblings around the league that Bosh might actually prefer to take a max-salary contract elsewhere rather than stay in Miami for a discount.
At this point, some teams actually believe LeBron James is more likely to leave the Heat than Carmelo Anthony is to depart from the Knicks, passes along Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
A source tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that the Bulls would hope to engage the Lakers in sign-and-trade possibilities should they get a verbal commitment from Pau Gasol. The Bulls would dangle the expiring $16.8MM contract of Carlos Boozer and likely would have to include sweeteners, possibly in the form of draft picks.
If ‘Melo re-signs with the Knicks, expect Phil Jackson to make a run at trading for Kevin Love, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Still, Wolfson doesn’t see a good match between the Wolves and Knicks.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Latest On Heat, Chris Bosh, LeBron James

July 5th, 2014 at 12:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Chris Bosh‘s representatives have made recent calls around the league to reconfirm that max slots would be available to him, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The answer his camp has received is yes.

The biggest issue for Miami right now could be that they might not be able to meet Bosh’s salary desires and still maintain space for free agents, Wojnarowski tweets. Getting Bosh to take a discount might not be as easy as once thought. If LeBron James wants a short-term deal in Miami, it doesn’t seem likely that Bosh would want to commit long-term at a steep discount only to possibly get left behind later (link). Meanwhile, Pat Riley has been unable to give the reps for free agents concrete offers because he doesn’t have the precise figures on Bosh and Dwyane Wade yet (link).

That doesn’t mean the Heat are waiting on any member of the Big Three to talk shop, however. Team execs will be meeting in Chicago with representatives for Luol Deng today, reports Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link), and Riley will be in attendance according to Wojnarowski (on Twitter). David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter) adds that they’ll be meeting with Anthony Morrow‘s reps as well.