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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.

More from the east:

  • Carmelo Anthony is expected to make a decision where he will be playing next season shortly, perhaps within the next 24 hours, reports Fred Kerber of The New York Post.
  • Luol Deng sat down with the Heat‘s Pat Riley today to discuss the possibility of Deng bringing his talents to South Beach, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The meeting was described as “preliminary,” and Deng reportedly will not take a salary significantly below his market value, believed to be above $10MM per season, to sign with the Heat.
  • Danny Ainge hasn’t given up on trying to work out a trade that would bring Kevin Love to the Celtics, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
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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.

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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.

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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.

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And-Ones: Bogdanovic, Blatt, Anthony

July 5th, 2014 at 8:56am CST by Eddie Scarito

Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, the 27th overall pick of the Suns,  is finalizing four-year deal with Fenerbahce, reports David Pick of Eurobasket. The deal contains an NBA escape clause after the second year, according to Pick.

Here’s more from around the league:

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And-Ones: Clippers, Williams, LeBron

July 4th, 2014 at 11:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link) wonders what the Clippers recent signing of Spencer Hawes will mean for the extension chances of DeAndre Jordan and Jamal Crawford with the team.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Unless the Clippers are willing to trade J.J. Redick or first-round picks to the Nets for Paul Pierce, a sign-and-trade is unlikely, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • Free agent forward Marvin Williams has been in discussions with the Spurs, Heat, Wizards, Hornets, Clippers, Magic, and Suns, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter link).
  • Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman breaks down the Thunder‘s Summer League roster.
  • The Lakers indeed met today with Rich Paul, the agent for LeBron James, as expected, Aldridge tweets.
  • Talks are advancing between Luol Deng and the Hawks, though no agreement is pending, notes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
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Western Notes: ‘Melo, Mavs, Bledsoe, Kaman

July 4th, 2014 at 1:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

The offer the Mavs are making to Carmelo Anthony involves a starting salary of slightly more than $18MM, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). That would mean a max of $77MM over four years, though McMahon pegs the likely value of the offer at $75MM. In any case, that’s significantly less than the nearly $96MM over four years the Lakers are reportedly offering in a max deal, and about $50MM less than the five-year max that the Knicks have apparently put on the table. There’s more from MacMahon on the Mavs amid the latest from the Western Conference:

  • The Mavs have confidence they’ll strike a deal to re-sign Devin Harris, presuming they don’t land Anthony or LeBron James, even if some of the inflated agreements around the league this week have pushed his market value higher, MacMahon writes. The team sees Isaiah Thomas as its primary fallback option should Harris sign elsewhere, and Dallas has also been in contact with the agent for Wasserman client D.J. Augustin, MacMahon adds.
  • There are some who believe that agent Rich Paul’s talks with teams about LeBron are instead intended to pitch clubs on Suns restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, whom Paul also represents, tweets USA Today’s Sam Amick.
  • The Blazers came to terms with Chris Kaman believing they wouldn’t be able to sign Spencer Hawes or Channing Frye, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link).
  • The Warriors have officially hired Alvin Gentry, Ron Adams and Luke Walton as assistant coaches, the team announced. Gentry, who spent last season as a Clippers assistant, was a candidate for multiple head coaching vacancies this summer. Adams was an assistant with the Celtics last season while Walton was an assistant for the Lakers D-League affiliate.
  • Marcus Camby, 40, still harbors aspirations of returning to the NBA after missing last year as he recovered from left foot surgery, an injury that prompted the Rockets to waive him just before the start of the regular season.
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Eastern Rumors: Wade, Bosh, ‘Melo, Gasol

July 4th, 2014 at 10:31am CST by Chuck Myron

Happy Fourth of July to our American readers! It remains to be seen if there will be any free agency fireworks today, but with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh hesitant to take discounts, prompting a disconnect between them and LeBron James, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the fuse has been lit. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference as the market waits to see what James and Carmelo Anthony will do:

  • The Bulls remain confident that they’re still in the running to end up as Anthony’s choice, but they sense they’ve lost momentum with the Knicks prepared to offer the max, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Pau Gasol learned when he met with the Bulls on Thursday that he would be a starter if he signed with the team, as Cowley, writing in the same piece, also hears.
  • The Raptors have had preliminary talks with Patrick Patterson as they concentrate on securing depth behind Amir Johnson, reports Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. They’re willing to wait before shopping for a physical, defensive-minded wing this summer, Smith adds. Concerns about Johnson’s ability to stay healthy also likely played a role in the team’s decision to fully guarantee Tyler Hansbrough‘s contract, Smith believes.
  • The Hornets have expressed interest in signing Ramon Sessions, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). A report late Thursday indicated the opposite, so perhaps Charlotte reached out within the last several hours.
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And-Ones: Thomas, Deng, Granger, Carmelo

July 3rd, 2014 at 11:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Some items from around the league as we get ready for tomorrow’s fireworks and plenty of free agency fireworks to come..

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Latest On LeBron James

July 3rd, 2014 at 10:52pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the LeBron James sweepstakes officially underway, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com is reporting (Twitter link) that officials from the Cavs, Mavs, Rockets, and Suns have already met with LeBron’s agent Rich Paul this week in Cleveland.

More on the four-time MVP:

  • Rich Paul invited three teams – the Cavs, Mavs, and Suns – to the offices of his Klutch Sports headquarters to listen to pitches.  In those meetings, Paul suggested that if Pat Riley cannot quickly put a strong supporting cast together in Miami, LeBron could meet face-to-face with other suitors, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.  Meanwhile, Rockets officials were not granted a meeting with Paul and therefore have decided to focus on Carmelo Anthony.
  • ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports that Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak is flying to Cleveland to meet with James’ agent, Rich Paul (link via Chris Broussard of ESPN on Twitter).
  • One team official who met with James’ agent in Cleveland tells Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that he believes LeBron’s reported exploration of other teams is a “smoke screen.”  Presumably, that team official sees this as something of a power play for James to get the players that he wants around him in Miami.
  • Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link) confirms “without question” that the Cavaliers were one of the teams that had a sit down with Paul.
  • The three finalists for James’ services could return to Cleveland early next week to make presentations with Paul and LeBron present, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
  • Wojnarowski also tweets that an official who was part of meetings says “There’s clearly a breakdown in communication between LeBron and (Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh).“
  • In another tweet, Wojnarowski also reports that unless Pat Riley lines up talent appealing to James within the Heat’s cap structure soon, “LeBron seems ready to explore [the] market.”
  • Suns owner Robert Sarver was in Cleveland yesterday to meet with Paul, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The possibility of teaming up James with either Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh was discussed, notes Broussard.
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