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Kevin Love Rumors: Friday

June 20th, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The draft is less than a week away, and while the event itself will be a game-changer for many teams, there’s a decent chance that the most noteworthy move Thursday night will involve six-year veteran Kevin Love. Here’s the latest as trade talk around the Wolves star grows ever louder:

The Warriors have pulled into the lead in the race for Love, sources tell Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe, though no deal is imminent, and the Wolves are in no hurry to make a trade, Holmes also hears.
The Wolves have interest in Harrison Barnes as they discuss various scenarios with the Warriors, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
The Celtics have so far offered a package of Kelly Olynyk, picks Nos. 6 and 17 in this year’s draft, and a future first-round pick, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Boston is willing to discuss different combinations as it seeks to satisfy the demands of the Wolves, but so far Minnesota hasn’t engaged in “true back-and-forth negotiation” with the Celtics, Bulpett writes.
If the Celtics can’t land Love, they’ll likely shift gears into a longer rebuilding that would eventually see them trade Rajon Rondo, Bulpett says in the same piece. A source tells Bulpett that an opposing team is ready to trade for Jeff Green if the Celtics are willing to let him go.
Still, in an appearance Thursday on ESPN, Rondo, who like Love can become a free agent next year, said he wouldn’t be upset if the Celtics didn’t end up with the Minnesota power forward, as Holmes notes in his piece. “No. I can’t go to sleep every night wanting to try to play with Kevin Love,” Rondo said. “Right now I’ve got to go with what we have now in our locker room and coach [Brad] Stevens, so that’s what I’m focused on now.”
The Bulls remain more zeroed in on Carmelo Anthony than Love, Stein writes in his piece, and the same goes for Houston, as Stein examines in a separate article. The Rockets are also readying a pitch to LeBron James should he be willing to listen, Stein adds.

And-Ones: Cavs, LeBron, Monroe

June 19th, 2014 at 11:28pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is open to hiring a “big-name team president” who would have authority over GM David Griffin, but the team has not been considering David Blatt for that role, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Cleveland will also explore trading Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson this summer, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Neither are on the trading block, but Amico adds that the Cavs are listening and evaluating their options.

Here’s are some more miscellaneous news and notes to pass along tonight:

One NBA team president said that Pat Riley appeared nervous when talking about keeping LeBron James during his media presser today, adding that more teams will now be in pursuit of the superstar forward (Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports via Twitter).
ESPN’s Chris Broussard says that the Cavs should have met with LeBron in free agency first before making a coaching hire, implying that David Blatt’s lack of NBA coaching experience doesn’t help their case of luring the Akron native back home (Twitter link).
According to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, Pistons coach/president Stan Van Gundy has been in consistent contact with restricted free agent forward Greg Monroe and Monroe’s agent, David Falk.
The Hawks, Pelicans, and Wizards are expected to be potential suitors for Monroe this summer, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. While Stan Van Gundy maintains that keeping Monroe is a “high priority,” he also appears prepared for other scenarios. “We have ideas on who might offer (Monroe) what…You weigh what’s out there because once you give him a qualifying offer, he can sign it or get an offer sheet. What level of an offer would we match? We’re prepared for that and doing due diligence for people who want to sign-and-trade for him.”
Tom Moore of Calkins Media (via Twitter) hears that a Southeast Division team offered the 76ers more in a trade package than the Pacers did for Evan Turner; that team didn’t hear back from Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie before the trade deadline ended and Turner was eventually dealt to Indiana.
Le Mans of the Ligue Nationale de Basket has signed former NBA guard Rodrigue Beaubois, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 6’2″ guard’s deal reportedly includes an opt-out clause that will allow him to sign with an NBA team before July 25.

Pat Riley On LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Tax

June 19th, 2014 at 4:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Heat president Pat Riley today characterized last year’s amnesty waiver of Mike Miller and the January trade that offloaded Joel Anthony to the Celtics as moves that were about creating cap flexibility for this summer and not about sparing the team luxury tax penalties. James doesn’t see it that way, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link), who reported yesterday that James feels some bitterness about the maneuvers. Riley pointed to the contracts for Miller and Anthony, which run through next season, as the motivationm and the architect of the past four Eastern Conference champions had plenty more to say in his press conference, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel details. We’ll hit the highlights here:

On the notion that owner Micky Arison wants to curb spending:

“He will do anything to get those guys to come back. There has been a perception he doesn’t want to pay the tax. That’s B.S. He isn’t asking anyone to take a cut to pay the tax. That’s a voluntary thing from the player. We are not asking them to do that. Micky will do whatever he has to do to keep this team together.”

On whether he’d ask James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to take discounts:

“I’m not going to get down on my knees. I wouldn’t do that to a player.”

On the prospect of adding a fourth star:

“That’s a pipe dream. But everybody thought 2010 was a pipe dream, too. I don’t harbor that thought. That’s not where we are headed. That’s not what we’re thinking about.”

On how the team can return to championship form:

“All of a sudden, people say we need to improve at every position. We need to get our core back, OK? We need to organically grow from within. The Spurs, after they lost last year, went home, licked their wounds, went off into the summer and they made one move. They got [Marco] Belinelli, who had a great year for them, didn’t have much impact in the Finals except for one three[-pointer] that he hit against us that was big. But it was Patty Mills from within the organization. It was Boris Diaw from within the organization. It was [Manu] Ginobili being better at [36] years old this year than he was last year. It was Kawhi Leonard all of a sudden, the bloom was off the rose for him from that standpoint. He was given the green light and he showed what he could do. I think first and foremost, we want to try and do that. And whatever and what’s available out there that will complement our players and our style is who we’re going to go after. You can always upgrade your talent. You can never have enough.”

Amico’s Latest: LeBron, Sixers, Cavs, Draft

June 19th, 2014 at 8:22am CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James said this week that if his family is happy, he’s happy, and Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears that James’ wife, Savannah, doesn’t have Miami atop her list of places she’d like to live. Sources tell Amico that she’d rather live in the couple’s hometown of Akron or in San Diego. Of course, neither place has an NBA team, but they’re relatively close to Cleveland and Los Angeles, respectively. One place Savannah doesn’t want to move to is New York, Amico also hears. As the anticipation regarding LeBron’s decision heats up, Amico has more on potential factors in the four-time MVP’s decision-making and other topics, and we’ll hit the highlights:

The general belief is that Dwyane Wade is likely to opt in to his contract with the Heat, but what he and Chris Bosh decide to do with their deals won’t affect what James decides to do about his option, according to Amico. That’s in spite of James having told reporters that all three stars will meet and discuss their futures.
The Sixers have reportedly inquired with the Cavs about the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, but Philadelphia has yet to make a “concrete offer” for the selection, Amico reports. Still, Cleveland is confident that the Sixers will follow through with an offer in advance of the draft, Amico adds.
The Cavs are exploring the notion of packaging the 33rd overall pick with another asset in an attempt to acquire a first-round pick, and clubs with picks in the back end of the first round have been receptive to the idea, Amico writes.
Byron Scott has pulled into the lead for the Lakers head coaching job, according to Amico, echoing his Twitter report from late Wednesday.

Latest On LeBron James

June 18th, 2014 at 2:34pm CST by Chuck Myron

LeBron James came to Miami in 2010 believing he’d sign a second long-term contract with the Heat, and the team had been holding out hope that a new deal would be a formality by this point, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. It’s no certainty that James will stay with the Heat for next season, though most reports have given Miami strong odds of keeping him, and a source echoes that sentiment, telling Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that it’s highly likely the four-time MVP will stay put.

Still, the chances that he’ll opt out and hit free agency are better than those that he’ll opt in, Windhorst writes, and James is somewhat bitter about Heat owner Micky Arison’s decision to cut back on spending over the past year, the ESPN scribe reports. James is nonetheless cognizant of how leaving a championship-caliber team would affect his image, given the way he was pilloried for leaving Cleveland four years ago, Deveney hears.

Deveney suggests that opting out and re-signing with the Heat to a three-year deal with a player option for the final season would fit the bill for James. That would give him an opportunity to continue to vie for the title in Miami with a chance to leave in two years should the team fail to remain a contender, as Deveney explains. However, that’s less contractual flexibility than he’d have if he opted in, since he has a player option after next season on his deal, giving him a chance to make a year-by-year assessment of the Heat’s title hopes. Opting in would probably give James a slightly higher salary than he could make on a new contract, depending on where the NBA sets the maximum salary after the July Moratorium, but it wouldn’t give him the chance to meet with other teams.

Texas Rumors: Nowitzki, Rockets, Spurs

June 18th, 2014 at 10:03am CST by Chuck Myron

Dirk Nowitzki has said he wants the Mavs to keep in mind that he’s still a productive player when they negotiate a new contract for him this summer, but he doesn’t foresee a stumbling block, as he tells Brian Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com. The 2014 All-Star, who turns 36 on Thursday, hits unrestricted free agency July 1st.

“We all know that [owner Mark] Cuban took care of me for a long time. He was loyal to me,” Nowitzki said. “This deal is not going to be about squeezing out the last dollar. This is about being respected as a player that I still am, and that’s about it. There’s nothing more that we’re trying to squeeze out. We’ll just have to wait and see what the years and the final number are. I’m sure it’ll be very respectable for both sides.”

There’s more on the soon-to-be free agent who’s probably more likely to return to his current team than other player on the market amid the latest from the Texas Triangle:

Signing a deal that reduces Nowitzki’s nearly $23.9MM cap hold before the end of the July Moratorium will be crucial for the Mavs, and Nowitzki looks ready to cooperate in that regard, too, as Gutierrez notes in the same piece. Nowitzki also dismisses the idea that he couldn’t play with Carmelo Anthony and urges Mavs to consider signing ‘Melo, who reportedly has Dallas on his list of preferred destinations.
Anthony is also on the mind of Dwight Howard, who says he’d love to play with him or LeBron James but isn’t planning to recruit the stars to the Rockets, as he tells USA Today’s Sam Amick.
Gregg Popovich, who retains Spurs front office power in tandem with GM R.C. Buford, doesn’t plan on following up the championship with a splashy summer of moves, as Raul Dominguez of The Associated Press chronicles. “I haven’t sat down with R.C. and talked about what we want to do, but one would think it’s logical to not make major changes with the group,” Popovich said. “Usually we don’t make major changes anyway, so, I wouldn’t anticipate any.”

Draft Notes: Clippers, Vonleh, Hornets, Hairston

June 17th, 2014 at 8:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Clippers are interested in trading up from pick No. 28, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne’s piece centers on a profile of former University of Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who can’t work out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL. Dinwiddie’s nonetheless had meetings with the Bucks, Wizards, Bulls and Celtics, and he’s scheduled interviews and physicals with the Clippers, Heat, Hawks and Thunder, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also says that he’ll interview and take a physical for the Jazz, advancing an earlier report that he was set to interview with the team. Here’s more on the draft:

Julius Randle is set to work out for the Jazz tomorrow, tweets Utah’s radio announcer David Locke.
Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton are expected to work out for the Lakers on Friday for the second time, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports Spears advises his readers to “keep an eye” on Payton (via Twitter) in light of the second workout.
Nik Stauskas is expected in for his first workout with the Lakers, who have struggled to get Stauskas in, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
Rodney Hood had to sit out most of his Hornets workout today due to illness, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Gary Harris and Zach LaVine will work out for the Hornets tomorrow, tweets Bonnell, who adds Charlotte’s other new workout appointees in a separate tweet: Rion Brown; Ronald Roberts Jr.; and Markel Brown, who missed an earlier workout due to travel issues.
The Rockets worked out Shabazz Napier, Xavier Thames, Patric Young, Nick Russell, and Kadeem Coleby, tweets Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
Sim Bhullar, Earnest Ross, Ian Chiles, Cameron Clark, Philipp Neumann, and Jordan Bachynski will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

Earlier updates:

Noah Vonleh will work out for the Sixers on Thursday, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Elfrid Payton, Josh Huestis, James Bell and Jordan Clarkson are the previously unreported prospects performing for the Hornets today, as Chris Littmann of The Sporting News tweets.
P.J. Hairston will audition for the Hawks, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, who also reports that Hairston will show off for the Grizzlies, Lakers and Bulls (Twitter links).
Kyle Anderson will work out for the Suns, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, as well as the Grizzlies, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links). A previous report indicated that the Suns were set to audition Anderson a week ago, so this appears to be his second workout with Phoenix.
Anderson will also perform for the Bulls, as will Clint Capela and DeAndre Daniels, Zagoria tweets.
Jordan Adams, Devyn Marble, Sean Kilpatrick, C.J. Wilcox and Jarnell Stokes are working out for the Raptors today, the team announced. A report from last month indicated that Stokes had already worked out for Toronto, but given that the dispatch came in the middle of the draft combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually an interview between Stokes and the club, rather than a workout.
The Wizards are auditioning Semaj Christon, Nick Johnson, Deonte Burton, Alec Brown and Khem Birch today, according to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).

Heat Rumors: LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Allen

June 17th, 2014 at 5:46pm CST by Cray Allred

LeBron James can have as much say in the Heat’s roster construction as he wants to, as Erik Spoelstra told reporters at Miami’s press conference today, including Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). Here’s more on the dethroned champs:

Spoelstra expressed support for potential free agent Dwyane Wade, saying, “I’ll go in that foxhole with Dwyane, any day. It’s funny how the narrative changes in a matter of days,” as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel quotes the coach.
Winderman notes that Wade skipped the press conference altogether.
Chris Bosh maintained what he has been saying in recent weeks, that he wants to return to the Heat along with the other two thirds of the Big Three.
LeBron was less committal, saying that he hasn’t begun to think ahead to the prospect of opting in or out, or luring other free agents to bolster the Miami lineup. “Being able to have flexibility as a professional, that’s what we all would like,” he said. “I understand what this team, this franchise, brings to the table.”
LeBron said he wasn’t sure where Wade’s thought process is at the moment, but that the Big Three will gather to get on the same page as planned. “It’s only right. We’ve earned that from each other to have a conversation and see what could happen,” Lieser quotes James as saying (via Twitter).
All indications are that Ray Allen would put off retirement another season for the chance to play with James again in 2014/15, Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick tweets.
Earlier, we passed on word of Kyle Lowry‘s interest in Miami and the Mavs’ interest in Chris Andersen.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Draft, Spurs, Hornets, Hollins, Wolves

June 17th, 2014 at 4:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jarnell Stokes‘ representatives are excited about his performance against Adreian Payne in a workout for the Raptors today, with auditions for the Spurs and Clippers still to come, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors reports (Twitter links). Zach also hears that Rodney Hood has rescheduled workouts with the Wolves and Kings this week after withdrawing from earlier auditions for the teams (Twitter link). Justin Jackson showed off twice for the Hornets last week, with the Hawks, Heat and Suns on his upcoming workout agenda, Zach also tweets. Here’s more from around the league:

A Western Conference executive who spoke with Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News suggests that teams will be wary of the poor performance that soon-to-be free agent Boris Diaw turned in for Charlotte preceding his tenure with the Spurs. Monroe also hears doubt from an exec about Patty Mills‘ ability to succeed outside of San Antonio.
The Hornets are interviewing Blazers director of college scouting Chad Buchanan for their assistant GM post, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The assistant GM will serve under GM Rich Cho, who gained full control of the front office when president of basketball operations Rod Higgins resigned last week.
The Rockets are aggressively seeking Lionel Hollins to serve as an assistant coach even though they know it will be difficult to land him as he seeks head coaching jobs, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Hollins has interviewed to become the head man for the Cavs and Lakers.
The Timberwolves named Sam Mitchell an assistant coach today, the team announced (on Twitter). Mitchell interviewed for the head coaching job and was reportedly a favorite of owner Glen Taylor.

Heat, Kyle Lowry Share Interest In Deal

June 17th, 2014 at 1:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

There’s mutual interest between the Heat and Kyle Lowry, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who spoke this morning in an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter (video link; scroll ahead to the 3:45 mark). Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote in late December that the Heat would “love a shot” at the Raptors point guard. Still, Lowry’s comments have indicated a preference to remain with the Raptors, though he hasn’t explicitly said so.

The Heat would target Lowry as an addition should LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all opt out of their contracts and re-sign for lower salaries, as was rumored with regard to Miami’s interest in Carmelo Anthony, Windhorst says. The latest estimates have pegged Lowry’s value at around $11MM per year, which would require the Heat’s trio of stars to accept not much more if Miami is to accommodate an attractive deal for Lowry under the salary cap.

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri and CEO Tim Leiweke have identified Lowry as a priority, and Leiweke answered affirmatively when asked in April if the team would re-sign the Andy Miller client. That’s no guarantee, of course, but given the affection that Lowry and the Raptors seem to share for one another, the Raptors look well-positioned to retain him. Considering the long shot nature of the idea that all three of Miami’s stars will agree to deep discounts, it would be a surprise if the top point guard in this year’s free agent class winds up in South Beach.