New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Poll: Should Cavs Deal Wiggins For Love?

July 27th, 2014 at 10:51am CST by Eddie Scarito

Heading into this offseason, the chances of Kevin Love heading to the Cavaliers were slim. But that was before LeBron James decided to return his talents to Cleveland. When LeBron announced his decision to sign with the Cavs, he preached patience, and in a move to lower expectations, implied that the team wouldn’t expect to contend for a championship this coming season.

But acquiring a player of Love’s caliber could certainly accelerate that timetable, which is one reason that Cleveland has seemingly been burning up the phone lines trying to work out a deal to acquire the stat-sheet-filling power forward. The feeling is apparently shared by Love, who, as recently reported, may have formally requested a trade to Cleveland via his agent.

Numerous other teams have been attempting to work out a deal, including the Warriors, Celtics, Lakers, Bulls and Knicks. Golden State still appears to be Cleveland’s main competitors for Love, but the Warriors have expressed an unwillingness to include Klay Thompson as part of the deal, which has stalled talks between the two franchises.

The potential blockbuster deal between the Wolves and the Cavs is being complicated by the insistence of Minnesota coach and president of basketball operation Flip Saunders that Cleveland include No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins as part of any package for Love. Wiggins recently signed with the Cavs, so they will have to wait 30 days before they can officially deal him away. But that is only a minor issue if both franchises are serious about making a trade.

Should the Cavs relent and include Wiggins if it nets them Love? Wiggins has a wealth of potential and could turn out to be a superstar, and the type of player you can build a champion around, but he has yet to play a minute of regular season action. Whereas Love has career averages of 19.2 PPG, 12.2 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He’s also only 25 years old and just entering his prime. The knock on Love of course is that in six seasons he has yet to lead his team to the playoffs, and that he is a subpar defender.

As for Wiggins, his value is more theoretical at this point. There have been numerous players, including first overall draft picks, who enter the league being touted as franchise changing talents, only to disappoint and underperform. The ceiling on the rookie appears to be incredibly high, but is holding onto him and gambling he’ll turn out to be a better player than Love worth the risk?

The other aspect to factor in is the leverage that Cleveland may have gained in the trade talks if Love indeed told the Timberwolves that he would opt out after the 2014/15 season and would not re-sign with the team. And if Love also specifically requested a trade to Cleveland, that could complicate matters further.

Cleveland could also decide to hold off on depleting its young assets and simply play out this season with its current roster, then try to clear enough cap room to sign Love next summer outright. This might allow them to keep Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and whichever other pieces, including draft picks, that they would have had to ship to Minnesota to get this deal done, but it would still be a challenge. The Cavs already have more than $48MM in commitments for 2015/16, assuming James opts in and the team picks up its option on Dion Waiters.

So now it’s time for you to step into Cavs GM David Griffin‘s shoes and make the call. Do you relent and include Wiggins if it will bring Love’s talents to Cleveland? Or do you draw a line in the sand and refuse to offer Wiggins, even if it potentially costs you a LeBron-Love pairing?

Eastern Rumors: Love, Knicks, Douglas-Roberts

July 25th, 2014 at 10:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks made a longshot trade offer for Kevin Love that the Wolves immediately turned down, reports Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal. The offer was Amar’e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert, and Tim Hardaway Jr., a package well shy of the value Minnesota is looking to secure in any potential deal for Love. Stoudemire and Shumpert have apparently been on the block of late, but while Hardaway is reportedly “virtually untouchable,” New York’s shot in the dark at least shows its willingness to part with him for the right return. Here’s more from around the East:

A Wolves official disputes the notion that the Knicks ever made an offer for Love, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press reports (on Twitter).

Earlier updates:

Chris Douglas-Roberts is among the free agents who interest the Heat as they look for veteran wing players, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Agent Wallace Prather has reached out to the team about client MarShon Brooks, but it’s unclear whether the Heat have any interest in him. The Heat are among 11 teams limited to paying no more than the minimum salary to free agents from other clubs, as I noted earlier today.
Miami is remaining non-committal about bringing back free agents Michael Beasley and Greg Oden, as Jackson writes in the same piece. The agents for both veterans tell Jackson that the Heat have been in contact regarding their clients, but that they are receiving interest from other teams as well.
The Hornets didn’t necessarily sign Brian Roberts for the room exception, as originally thought, when they made his deal official Wednesday, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. It appears as though they have enough cap space to use on Roberts and preserve the exception to use on someone else, should they choose.

And-Ones: ‘Melo, Irving, Rockets, Mavs

July 25th, 2014 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony spent his free agency largely debating between signing with either the Knicks or the Bulls, though the Lakers were briefly his top choice, as he told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. New York gave him much more lucrative contract than the Bulls could have, but the star forward insisted money wasn’t his primary motivation and said he believes the Knicks are closer to contention than widely assumed, as Goodman writes. Anthony also hinted that he wants to remain with the Knicks for the rest of his career. Here’s more from around the league:

Kyrie Irving‘s extension with the Cavs will only provide for a starting salary equal to approximately 27.5% of the cap, rather than the maximum 30%, if he triggers the Derrick Rose Rule this coming season, reports Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter link). It’s similar to the concession Paul George made when he, too, signed an otherwise maximum-salary extension with the Pacers last year.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey called the protected 2015 first-round pick he acquired from the Pelicans in the Omer Asik deal “the best draft pick in the league for someone to trade for,” as the GM said to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. It’s protected for the top three and the bottom 11 picks each year through 2018 and the top three and the bottom six picks in 2019 and 2020, as RealGM details.
The Mavs were among the NBA teams that invited undrafted Syracuse combo forward C.J. Fair to training camp, but none of them offered any guaranteed money, which is apparently behind Fair’s decision to change agents, writes Mike Waters of The Post-Standard. Fair dropped Torrel Harris in favor of Joel Bell for his representation, as Guido Guida of La Gazzetta Dello Sport was first to report (Twitter link).
The Knicks invited summer league power forward Cameron Moore to training camp, but he agreed to terms earlier this month with Venezia of Italy, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter).
Andres Nocioni has signed with Real Madrid of Spain, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). The eight-year NBA veteran had reportedly been receiving interest from teams interested in bringing him back to the Association, but he’s decided to remain overseas.

Contract Details: Nelson, Tucker, Roberts

July 24th, 2014 at 9:24pm CST by Charlie Adams

Wednesday was the last day that teams with outstanding qualifying offers out to restricted free agents could unilaterally withdraw them. Clubs can still withdraw qualifying offers, but doing so would require the player’s consent, and it would require the team to renounce any form of Bird rights on the player. No team withdrew a qualifying offer before the deadline, though that’s not entirely surprising, since there are only five unsigned restricted free agents left. We ran down the latest news on each of them earlier this week, and not much has changed since then.

As we wait for the last of the restricted free agents to make their decisions on where to sign, let’s have a look at the latest contract details that have leaked out from around the NBA..

As expected, Jameer Nelson is slated to make $2,732,000 for the Mavs next season, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Nelson’s deal features a $2,854,940 player option for the 2015/16 campaign, adds Stein.
The three-year contract P.J. Tucker signed with the Suns will pay him $5.7MM in 2014/15, passes along Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, who goes on to reveal that the deal is worth $5.5MM and $5.3MM during the following two seasons, with only $1.5MM guaranteed in year three (Twitter link).
Brian Roberts‘ two-year, $5.6MM contract with the Hornets will be fully guaranteed without any player or team option, reports Pincus (via Twitter).
James Ennis signed a three-year deal with the Heat that’s mostly non-guaranteed, save for a $200K partial guarantee for this season, according to Mark Deeks of Sham Sports. The first year will become fully guaranteed if he sticks through opening night.
The Knicks gave Cole Aldrich one year at the minimum salary when they signed him earlier this month, Deeks reveals.
Grant Jerrett‘s contract with the Thunder runs four years at the minimum salary, with full guarantees on the first two seasons and no guarantees for the last two, Deeks notes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Contract Details: LeBron, Deng, Carter, Gasol

July 24th, 2014 at 10:04am CST by Chuck Myron

The idea that the Cavs would trade LeBron James sometime during his two-year contract is outlandish, but just in case it happens, the deal includes a 15% trade kicker, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports. Deeks has updated his salary database with plenty of new information on deals signed within the past few weeks, so we’ll pass along some of his noteworthy findings. All links to go the relevant salary page at ShamSports.

Luol Deng, LeBron’s replacement with the Heat, also has a 15% trade kicker, as do new Grizzlies swingman Vince Carter and Knicks signee Jason Smith.
The last year of Pau Gasol‘s three-year deal with the Bulls is a player option.
The final season of the contract Joe Harris signed with the Cavs is non-guaranteed.
Eric Griffin‘s three-year, minimum-salary contract with the Mavs is non-guaranteed, with the exception of a $150K partial guarantee for this coming season.
Jodie Meeks‘ deal with the Pistons was originally reported to be more than $19MM, but it actually checks in at $18.81MM.
Damjan Rudez will make $3.449MM over the life of his three-year deal with the Pacers, which includes a team option for the final season. Shayne Whittington‘s partial guarantee with the team this year is worth $25K.
Russ Smith‘s deal with the Pelicans runs three years at the minimum salary, but only the first season is fully guaranteed. Fellow Pelicans rookie Patric Young‘s two-year deal is non-guaranteed, save for a $55K partial guarantee this year.

Knicks Waive Shannon Brown

July 23rd, 2014 at 3:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks have waived Shannon Brown, the team announced (via Twitter). His non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary was to have become fully guaranteed if the Knicks hadn’t waived him by the end of August 1st.

The move is somewhat surprising, given Brown’s ties to Knicks team president Phil Jackson, who was Brown’s coach when they were together with the Lakers. New York gave Brown his deal this past March soon after hiring Jackson, though Brown initially joined the club on a pair of 10-day contracts that predated Jackson’s arrival.

Brown, 28, averaged just 2.1 points and 7.8 minutes per game in 19 appearances for the Knicks this year, having seen only slightly more playing time in a 10-game stint with the Spurs earlier in the season. He had a much larger role the previous two seasons with the Suns, including a career-high 11.0 points per game in 2011/12, but Phoenix sent him to Washington in the Marcin Gortat trade, and the Wizards promptly waived him to get down to 15 players before opening night. The eight-year veteran spent the first three months of the season without an NBA deal.

And-Ones: Love, Wiggins, Sterlings, Durant

July 21st, 2014 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs aren’t dangling Andrew Wiggins in trade talks with the Wolves about Kevin Love, at least for the time being, a source tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald, who was the first to report last week that Cleveland was open to the idea of parting with Wiggins. So, while no one involved would guarantee Finnan that Wiggins wouldn’t wind up in a Love deal, it sounds like that idea is on the backburner for now. Here’s more from around the Association:

Testimony has resumed today in the probate trial between Clippers owners Donald and Shelly Sterling after the judge made a pair of decisions Friday that appear to help Shelly Sterling’s case, as USA Today’s David Leon Moore details. The judge has the power to allow Shelly Sterling to go forward with her sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, if he rules in her favor, even if Donald Sterling decides to appeal, according to Moore.
A member of the players association’s executive committee told TNT’s David Aldridge that the union will discuss the idea of taking action should the Sterlings continue to own the Clippers at the start of next season, as Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
Thunder assistant coach Brian Keefe, whom Knicks head coach Derek Fisher has reportedly lured to serve as a Knicks assistant, was the member of the Oklahoma City staff whom Kevin Durant trusted the most, Aldridge notes in the same piece.
A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that Knicks GM Steve Mills recently pulled his name from contention for the union’s executive director vacancy. Mills re-emerged as a candidate this spring after having been the apparent front-runner last summer prior to taking the Knicks job.
The final two seasons of the four-year contract between Devin Harris and the Mavs are a little more lucrative than previously reported. He’ll make nearly $4.728MM in year three and nearly $4.903MM in the final season, which is partially guaranteed for almost $1.34MM, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports details on his Mavs salary page.

Knicks Open To Trading Smith, Shumpert

July 20th, 2014 at 4:44pm CST by Zachary Links

As the Knicks work to clear out the logjam in their backcourt, they’re discussing potential trade options involving Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, and Shane Larkin, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Tim Hardaway Jr., however, has been deemed virtually untouchable according to one source.

President Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills have mentioned the Knicks’ surplus in the backcourt, with Mills saying last week the Knicks are “heavy” at shooting guard. What they can get in return for Smith, Shump, and Larkin remains to be seen, however.

The Knicks tried to include Shumpert in deals earlier in the offseason in an effort to unload the contracts of Andrea Bargnani ($11.5MM) and Amar’e Stoudemire ($23.4MM) but no deal materialized for either player. Smith has a player option in his contract for $6.4MM for the 2015/16 season and is coming off of a down year. Larkin was recently acquired from the Mavericks in the trade that also netted Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert.

The Knicks have four shooting guards on the roster as of today and they also haven’t ruled out re-signing free agent PG/SG Toure’ Murry.

And-Ones: Bledsoe, Love, Hinkie, Murry

July 20th, 2014 at 12:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Eric Bledsoe is the top remaining player still unsigned, though as a restricted free agent the Suns have the right to match any offer sheet that Bledsoe agrees to. Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic looks at why Bledsoe hasn’t received any offers, and examines the player’s options going forward. Bickley also opines that Bledsoe is risking alienating the fans in Phoenix by turning down the Suns’ four-year, $48MM deal.

Here’s more from around the league:

George Karl told Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune that the Wolves can’t afford to pass on trading Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, if the Cavs are truly offering that package (via Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer’s tweet). Karl coached through a tumultuous season with the Nuggets when Carmelo Anthony eventually received his desired trade to the Knicks.
Every year when the dust settles and the free agent signings begin to wind down there are winners and losers. Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today weigh in on this year’s successes and disappointments.
The Thunder‘s Josh Huestis might become the NBA’s first domestic “draft-and-stash” player, writes Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman. If Huestis does skip signing with the Thunder and heads directly to the NBA D-League, it could signal a major shift in the future of the D-League and how it’s utilized, notes Mayberry.
Sixers GM Sam Hinkie‘s rebuilding plan might not be popular in Philadelphia as the losses keep piling up. Jason Wolf of USA Today profiles the GM, as well as takes a look at the moves he’s made so far in his efforts to retool the franchise.
The Jazz are interested in signing free agent Toure’ Murry, tweets Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune. Falk notes that Murry might be waiting for an offer from the Heat. The Knicks had also expressed interest in bringing Murry back, but currently have a logjam in the backcourt.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Wiggins, Allen, Brooks

July 19th, 2014 at 12:56pm CST by Cray Allred

Kobe Bryant told reporters including Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that he was happy with the Lakers offseason efforts, even though they didn’t yield a star addition like Carmelo Anthony (Twitter links). “I think [GM Mitch Kupchak] has responded quite efficiently [from missing on ‘Melo and Pau Gasol] by picking up some of the pieces he has,” said Bryant, who was not as supportive of the front office’s tactics earlier this year. Here’s more from around the league:

Andrew Wiggins tells Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk that he’s unfazed by the rumors swirling around his name and a potential Kevin Love trade (Twitter links). “I let my agent and my support system handle [rumors]; I just love playing the game of basketball and I know the NBA is a business,” said the Cavs No. 1 pick. “I just play basketball, man, wherever I go.”
Marc Stein of ESPN.com (video link) speculates that the Cavs will ultimately wind up landing Kevin Love. Stein believes Cleveland is currently debating whether or not to sign Wiggins before a deal, since his salary would help even the trade, but would delay the process for trading him another 30 days.
Ray Allen isn’t in a rush to make a decision on retiring or returning for another year, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
The Knicks are considering offering Metta World Peace a training camp invite on a non-guaranteed deal to give the veteran a chance at making the team this year, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post. World Peace is eager to reunite with Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher in New York after being coached and playing alongside the duo during his time in Los Angeles.
The Bulls have renounced Kirk Hinrich in a maneuver to help provide wiggle room for Chicago’s influx of signings, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com. Hinrich’s agreement to re-sign with the team will be unaffected by the move.
Free agent MarShon Brooks has hired a new agent, Wallace Prather, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The shooting guard was formerly represented by Seth Cohen of the Original Creative Representation agency.
Brooks tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that he’s trying to prove he’s an NBA player this summer, after earning a reputation as an undisciplined offense-only talent over his first three years in the league.