Knicks Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Johnson, Crawford

August 21st, 2015 at 6:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers center Joel Embiid underwent a second surgical procedure on his injured right foot this week, and he is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign as a result. While the news that the 2014 No. 3 overall pick will miss his second consecutive campaign is bad enough, there’s also a strong chance that Embiid will also miss the beginning of the 2016/17 season, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (video link), with a hat tip to Chris Walder of TheScore.com.

“Talking to my sources, they want to see him return around October – not this October, but the next October, for that season,” Pompey said. “And he may not even return for the start of that season. He may miss a couple games. But that’s their goal.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Raptors will miss Amir Johnson ‘s intangibles and hustle this season, with the forward having signed a two-year, $24MM pact with the Celtics this offseason, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. “He went from a role player to a very big piece of what we were doing,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said of his former player. “He became the core of what we were doing in Toronto. We went from a young, up and coming team to grow. We’ll miss his leadership, his toughness. He has a quiet toughness about him that we will miss with our team.”
The Knicks reportedly have interest in acquiring Jamal Crawford from the Clippers, and Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders believes that landing Crawford would take additional pressure off of Carmelo Anthony on the perimeter and also provide good spacing for the entire Knicks offense overall. Greene also notes that trading for the guard wouldn’t have a negative impact on the Knicks’ salary cap since Crawford is in the final season of his current deal.

Latest On Carlos Boozer

August 21st, 2015 at 12:26am CST by Chuck Myron

7:54am: The Shandong Lions, another Chinese team, are also going after Boozer, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia indicates via Twitter.

12:26am: The Sichuan Blue Whales and other Chinese teams are expressing interest in Carlos Boozer, and while the Rob Pelinka client is intrigued, he’s still pursuing NBA deals, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). News regarding the 33-year-old has been scarce since a late-July report indicated that the Knicks, Rockets and Mavericks were eyeing him. The 33-year-old has lingered in free agency since July, when the lucrative five-year deal he signed with the Bulls expired. He made $16.8MM last season as a member of the Lakers, though Chicago paid all but the $3.251MM figure the Lakers bid when they claimed him via amnesty waivers.

Few NBA teams have more than the $2.814MM room exception to spend at this point. The Mavs have that amount available, though they already have deals with 20 players, the offseason maximum. The Knicks spent the room exception on Kevin Seraphin and have only the minimum to offer. The Rockets have about $2.274MM worth of their mid-level that they could spend, though doing so would leave the team hard-capped and without the means to give No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell a market-value contract. Boozer and the Clippers reportedly had mutual interest in July, but they only have the minimum to spend, and while the Spurs, Raptors, Pelicans, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers and Heat have all apparently had interest over the course of the summer, it’s unclear if that’s the case now. Thus, I’d speculate that Boozer is only receiving minimum-salary offers from NBA teams at this point.

Andray Blatche signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal with China’s Xinjiang Flying Tigers this past spring, and a few weeks ago Shavlik Randolph inked a contract for at least $4.5MM over three years, numbers that suggest that Boozer, if he went to China, stands a decent chance to top the $1,499,187 he’d see on an NBA minimum deal. Still, Metta World Peace wound up with less than that in his deal with Sichuan last summer. A Chinese team would nonetheless offer Boozer a chance to double-dip, since the Chinese Basketball Association ends well in advance of the NBA season, giving players an opportunity to latch on with NBA teams at prorated salaries for the stretch run.

Will Joseph of Hoops Rumors examined Boozer’s free agent stock in depth earlier this month.

Where do you think Boozer ends up? Comment to tell us.

Trade Candidate: Jamal Crawford

August 19th, 2015 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jamal Crawford apparently wishes he were a free agent, as he said on Twitter earlier this summer, but he still has one more season left on his contract. However, if he wants to leave the Clippers, he seems to stand a decent chance of having that happen for him before next July. The Clippers aren’t eager to trade the two-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner, but they reportedly explored the idea around draft time, and they’ve spent the summer upgrading on the wing, with newcomers Lance Stephenson, Paul Pierce and Wesley Johnson. The Knicks have expressed interest, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported Tuesday, and the Heat and Cavs were apparently interested as of earlier this summer. Crawford is 35 years old and coming off his fewest minutes per game since the 2002/03 season, but it appears there’s still a market for him.

The Heat called the Clippers about Crawford in early July, as Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com reported then, but as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel points out, that was before Miami signed Gerald Green. Bringing in Crawford and his $5.675MM salary would likely commit the team to paying repeat-offender tax penalties this season, Winderman also asserts, though that would probably depend on the nature of the trade they’d make. The Clippers, like the Heat and the Cavs, are above the tax threshold for now, and that would complicate any move, since the salary-matching constraints are stricter for tax teams.

The Knicks are well outside of tax territory, for a change, but they face other challenges. The Knicks don’t have any trade exceptions, so they’d have to send players to the Clippers to make a trade work. Only four Knicks players — Carmelo Anthony, Jose Calderon, Langston Galloway and Cleanthony Early — are currently eligible for inclusion in trades. First-round picks Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant join them later this month, but that’s still not much to choose from. Calderon seems like the most logical candidate, given that the Clippers would be somewhat short on backup point guard options if Crawford weren’t there anymore, but the Clips would have to send additional salary to New York to make that a match. Porzingis would be an intriguing option for a Clippers team that doesn’t have much young talent coming up the pipeline, but the Knicks would be ill-advised to trade this year’s No. 4 overall pick for a 35-year-old who’s a year away from free agency. As Isola suggested, the involvement of a third team might be necessary if the Knicks are to somehow end up with Crawford.

The Cavaliers also only have four players eligible to be traded — Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao, Timofey Mozgov and Joe Harris — but they have a trade exception worth $10,522,500 that they can use to take in Crawford without giving up a player in return. That trade exception is a vestige of the Brendan Haywood contract that the Cavs were thinking about sending to the Clips when Cleveland looked into trading for Crawford in early July, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported then. The exception makes it easier for the teams to facilitate a deal, since the Clippers would have had to include additional salary along with Crawford to take in Haywood’s contract. Still, it would be difficult for the Clippers to give up Crawford without receiving a player who can help them in their quest for a championship this year. Teams only get so many legitimate cracks at a title, and the Clips would surely be loath to downgrade their talent just as they seem as close as they’ve ever been to the Larry O’Brien trophy.

That’s ostensibly why the Clippers aren’t anxious to trade Crawford in the first place. They’re probably not going to do a deal unless it benefits them on the court, and while Crawford could always pout or become a disruptive force in the locker room, he has yet to air his grievances beyond relatively innocuous social media interaction. The Clippers could nonetheless use some size behind DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. They added Cole Aldrich through free agency, but Aldrich hasn’t proven to be the sort of player who could fill in as the starter for a championship-level team if Jordan or Griffin is injured for any significant stretch of time. That would make Varejao, despite injury concerns of his own, intriguing for the Clippers. It’s unclear just what sort of role a healthy Varejao would play for the Cavs this season, especially with Tristan Thompson‘s free agency still unresolved, but if Thompson comes back, Varejao would be relatively expendable. Of course, the Brazilian is also tight with LeBron James, and the Cavs would have to question the wisdom of sending one of LeBron’s friends to a contending team in a major market with warm weather. The Clips would also have to send additional salary to Cleveland to make a Varejao deal work.

Josh McRoberts and Chris Andersen offer no such salary-matching concerns, and they, like Varejao, would help deepen the Clippers up front. The Heat have no shortage of big men, with McRoberts, Andersen, Chris Bosh, Hassan Whiteside, Amar’e Stoudemire and Udonis Haslem all on the roster, so it would seem fertile ground for a trade is there. I’d contend that if the Heat were to trade McRoberts or Andersen for Crawford, they’d be no more committed to paying the tax than they otherwise would be, since it would entail an almost even exchange of salaries, and Crawford would appear to be a more intriguing trade chip to offer around the league if the Heat can’t find another way to slip under the tax line before the trade deadline. Crawford would give the Heat a strong alternative at shooting guard on the nights that Dwyane Wade can’t go. The addition of Crawford would make it easier for the team to play more small-ball lineups and for Miami to trade Mario Chalmers, currently Miami’s only proven option at the point behind Goran Dragic.

Regardless, it’s a seller’s market for Crawford. The Clippers wield the power, and if they want to mend fences with him, they can always pursue extension talks, as I pointed out earlier. Teams like the Heat, Cavs and Knicks will have to come to Clips coach/executive Doc Rivers, and not the other way around.

What do you think a good trade idea for Crawford might be? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Knicks Interested In Jamal Crawford

August 18th, 2015 at 12:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:54pm: Isola clarifies that the Knicks would have to be creative in constructing a deal for Crawford, suggesting the involvement of a third team would be a possibility (Twitter link).

11:51am: The Knicks have expressed interest in Clippers sixth man Jamal Crawford, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). The veteran guard is under contract with the Clippers but has emerged as a trade candidate, with the Clips reportedly having explored Crawford trades around draft time and the Cavs and Heat apparently having been suitors last month. The 35-year-old who spent more than four seasons with the Knicks between 2004 and 2008 is a favorite of Knicks owner James Dolan, GM Steve Mills, assistant GM Allan Houston and Isiah Thomas, a Dolan confidant and WNBA New York Liberty executive who was president of the Knicks during Crawford’s time there, Isola adds (Twitter link). Current team president Phil Jackson would presumably have the final say about a deal that would return Crawford to New York.

The Clippers haven’t been anxious to trade the two-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner, but the trade rumors from earlier this summer, his exclusion from the team’s recruitment of DeAndre Jordan, and new players at his position cloud Crawford’s future, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register wrote a few weeks ago. Crawford has also signaled his concern via social media, as Woike noted. Still, trade acquisition Lance Stephenson, one of L.A.’s additions on the wing, expressed enthusiasm about the idea of playing with Crawford, as Ben Bolch relayed late Monday (Twitter links).

New York has spent its cap room and doesn’t have a trade exception, so it would have to relinquish salary for a Crawford trade to work. The Clippers would no doubt want a player who can help them make a push for the title this year if they were to relinquish Crawford, though that’s just my speculation. Crawford is due to make $5.675MM this coming season, so salary matching would be based on that figure. Tax considerations may well come into play, since the Clips are about $11MM above the $84.74MM tax line. Conversely. the Knicks are roughly the same distance under the tax line.

Players who signed new contracts are off-limits for a trade until at least December 15th, so the only Knicks eligible for inclusion in a deal for now are Carmelo Anthony, Jose Calderon, Langston Galloway and Cleanthony Early. Anthony, who has a no-trade clause, almost certainly wouldn’t be included. First-round picks Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant become trade-eligible later this month, and the Knicks are allowed to trade draft-and-stash signee Thanasis Antetokounmpo as soon as early September.

Given the constraints, do you see a workable deal that could land Jamal Crawford with the Knicks? Leave a comment to share your ideas.

Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Celtics, McCullough

August 17th, 2015 at 9:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks president Phil Jackson expects lottery pick Kristaps Porzingis to play approximately 20 minutes a game in his rookie season, he told Charley Rosen in Part 8 of a nine-part series posted on ESPN.com. “It’s entirely up to [coach Derek Fisher], but it would be great if KP could get as much as 20 minutes a game early in the season, plus maybe a few more later when he’s acclimated to the NBA game,” Jackson said to Rosen. “It also has to be determined whether he’ll be more comfortable at power forward or center.” Jackson is concerned that Porzingis may have trouble putting on enough muscle to play in the low post. “His core strength might never be good enough, and he might not be able to get low enough to get himself into prime defensive position to body power rebounders or drivers,” Jackson told Rosen. Jackson added that Jerian Grant, who was acquired in a draft-day trade with the Hawks for Tim Hardaway Jr., will compete with Langston Galloway for playing time at either guard spot.

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

Tyler Zeller has a better chance than Celtics teammates Jared Sullinger and Perry Jones III to receive a contract extension before the start of the regular season, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reports. Out of the trio from the 2012 draft, Zeller was the most effective player last season, averaging 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds with an above-average 19.01 player efficiency rating, Blakely continues. Sullinger has battled weight and conditioning issues during his career while Jones, who was traded by the Thunder to Boston in July, has to establish his value after receiving limited playing time in his three seasons with Oklahoma City, Blakely adds.
Nets draft pick Chris McCullough may return as early as November from the torn right ACL he suffered while playing for Syracuse last season, according to Brandon Bennett of NetsDaily.com. While there is no timetable for McCullough’s return, a November target appears to be right on track, Bennett adds. McCullough was expected to miss the upcoming season when he was selected with the No. 29 overall pick.
Cory Joseph, who left the Spurs and signed a four-year, $30MM deal with the Raptors, wants to display his two-way game while playing for Team Canada in next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.com reports. “Obviously everybody knows I’m a defensive player,” Joseph said to Lewenberg. “I take pride in my defense. Last year, I was able to show a little bit of my two-way game when [Patty Mills] and [Tony Parker] were out early in the season. So I’m looking to continue to show that I’m a two-way player.”

And-Ones: Jordan, Rondo, Kings

August 16th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Will Joseph

The Knicks did not ultimately factor in DeAndre Jordan‘s decision this summer, but Jordan said it had nothing to do with the team’s presentation, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports. Jordan met with the Knicks but re-signed with the Clippers.

“The Knicks had a great presentation,” Jordan said. “Phil Jackson speaks for himself with his resume. [Coach Derek Fisher] did a great job. The whole team, I felt like they had a plan — for the organization, and they had a plan for me, which was cool. But nothing was wrong with their presentation. It was great.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Rudy Gay believes his friend and new teammate Rajon Rondo is motivated to prove doubters wrong, Berger writes in the same piece. Rondo signed a one-year, $10MM pact with the Kings in July. Rondo will be coming off a down year in terms of production.
The Kings have hired longtime NBA sabermetrician Roland Beech to head up their analytics department, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. Beech replaces Dean Oliver, who was let go in July.

Eastern Notes: Smith, Thompson, Benson

August 16th, 2015 at 9:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

With few options remaining, J.R. Smith will probably re-sign with the Cavaliers for next season, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Smith realizes he made a mistake by declining a $6.4MM option, Pluto asserts, but he’s unlikely to get the offer he wants at this stage of free agency. Only the Sixers and Blazers have enough cap room remaining to give Smith a raise, and neither is likely to come calling. Smith’s best option, according to Pluto, is to take the Cavs’ offer and try to get a better deal when the salary cap soars next summer.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference …

As Tristan Thompson and the Cavs continue to wait each other out, it becomes increasingly likely that the power forward will remain on Cleveland’s roster next season, Pluto notes in the same story. The restricted free agent hasn’t received an offer from another team, and no one has contacted the Cavs about a sign-and-trade deal. If Thompson accepts the team’s qualifying offer, he can’t be traded without his permission. Pluto estimates the sides are at least $10MM apart.
The Heat are reportedly set to sign unrestricted free agent center Keith Benson and the move has more to do with stocking the team’s D-League than bolstering the rotation at power forward and center, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reports. Benson is expected to be signed to a non-guaranteed contract for training camp, Winderman adds.
Carmelo Anthony is exhibiting a Phil Jackson-like calm when it comes to accepting all the changes in New York, writes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Anthony has watched Jackson replace all of his teammates and his coach over the past 18 months. Still, the Knicks‘ star accepts the turnover, confident that something better is being built. “The guys that we brought in are great pieces to have on the team,” Anthony said. “They all know their roles. They know what they have to do,” Anthony continued. “It’s just a matter of us coming together.” Anthony also denied rumors that he opposed the drafting of Kristaps Porzingis.

Will Joseph contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Afflalo, Hollis-Jefferson

August 15th, 2015 at 10:41pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Joel Embiid will undergo a second surgery on his right foot is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 season. The center will make slightly more than $9.05MM over his first two seasons, presumably without ever playing an NBA game, and Darren Rovell of ESPN.com reports that the Sixers will not be reimbursed for any of Embiid’s salary via the league’s insurance plan.

Every team has the contracts of its five highest salaried players included on the policy, so Embiid’s contract is insured. However, the big man’s right foot was excluded from the policy because it was a pre-existing injury. The Cameroon native originally injured his foot prior to being drafted by the Sixers. Embiid’s contract contains a team option after each of the next two seasons. It’ll be interesting to see if Philadelphia is willing to shell out over $4.8MM during the 2016/17 season and then $6.1MM during the 2017/18 season to see if Embiid can get onto the court.

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Arron Afflalo, who signed a two-year, $16MM deal with the Knicks last month, believes he can be a great oncourt complement to Carmelo Anthony, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “Just being able to shoot, ready to shoot, creating space for him,’’ Afflalo said of the ways he wants to complement Anthony. “I want to be a guy who can draw some attention and the guy has to leave him and make the game easy for him. More importantly, helping him with leadership, mentoring the younger guys, keeping everyone consistent and hungry and focused. Now he’s got another guy who will be on board with him for leadership. I think it will help him.’’
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson believes he can be a leader on the Nets, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily writes. “Basketball, you got to show that you can be out there,” this year’s No. 23 overall pick said. “Show that you can do those things. If you show those things, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are, people follow good things and I feel with that, on top of that, I got a good smile. and I got a good personality. that they will follow and I’m willing to do what it takes to help, make it easier for everybody. So it should be a smooth transition, I believe.”

Atlantic Notes: Randolph, ‘Melo, Nets, Dawkins

August 13th, 2015 at 9:08am CST by Chuck Myron

9:08am: The total value of Randolph’s deal is only $4.5MM, and it includes no NBA outs, according to overseas journalist David Pick (Twitter link). The third season is a team option, Pick adds.

8:59am: Shavlik Randolph is set to earn at least $7MM over three years on his new deal with the Liaoning Flying Leopards of China, one that’s second only to Andray Blatche‘s three-year $7.5MM contract on the list of the most lucrative pacts in Chinese Basketball Association history, reports Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders (All Twitter links). The value of Randolph’s arrangement could swell to $8MM if he triggers bonuses, according to Camerato. Unlike Blatche’s deal, it includes an NBA out after each season, and Randolph, who saw his last NBA action as a member of the Celtics this past season, hopes to again return to the NBA this spring at the end of the abbreviated Chinese season, Camerato adds. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

Part of Carmelo Anthony‘s willingness to stick up for Knicks team president Phil Jackson includes the understanding that ‘Melo’s friends aren’t off-limits for a trade, as was the case in the January deal that sent Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cavs, observes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. “On one side,” Anthony said, “guys that we got rid of were close to me and my friends, and on the flip side of that, it’s a business at the end of the day. So I think he had to do that in order to put us in the position we’re in right now from a business standpoint. From a friendship standpoint, if those are my guys, if those are my friends, I’m going to always feel some type of way about losing guys that I played with that I formed a bond with. But I know this is a business and I know he had to do what he had to do to put us in this position.”
The Nets are carrying a lot more partially guaranteed money than they used to, as NetsDaily examines. The difference between the partial guarantees for five Nets players and their full salaries comes to more than $3.4MM, as NetsDaily notes.
Former Celtics 10-day signee Andre Dawkins has inked with Italy’s Auxilium CUS Torino, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Dawkins signed a pair of 10-day pacts with Boston this past season, though he only appeared in games for the team’s D-League affiliate.

Lakers Work Out Jeremy Tyler

August 12th, 2015 at 10:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Forward Jeremy Tyler worked out for the Lakers this week, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). Ricky Ledo, Toure’ Murry, Sean Kilpatrick, Bobby Brown, Eric Moreland and D.J. Kennedy are also among those reportedly trying out this week for a spot on the Los Angeles roster. The Lakers currently have a roster count of 16 players, 12 of whom possess fully guaranteed pacts, with two other players owning partial guarantees, making it a long shot for any of the previously mentioned players to remain with the team come the regular season, even if they sign.

The 24-year-old’s last NBA regular season action came during the 2013/14 campaign when he played in 41 contests for the Knicks, averaging 3.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks in 9.7 minutes per outing. The Lakers signed him for the preseason last fall, waiving him shortly before opening night. His career numbers through 104 regular season games are 3.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 0.4 BPG to accompany a slash line of .450/.000/.557. Tyler was the No. 39 overall pick back in 2011.

Tyler played for the Mavericks’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League this year, notching averages of 11.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 1.8 SPG in six contests.

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