Andrew Bogut Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Andrew Bogut Has “Strong Interest” In Joining Celtics

February 27th, 2017 at 7:09pm CST by Milo Taibi

Initial reports that Andrew Bogut would sign with the Cavs may have been overblown. According to a report from Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, the Celtics are “very much” in contention for Bogut’s services (article link). Per Himmelsbach, Bogut is looking to speak to a few Celtics players over the phone on Tuesday to get an idea of his potential fit under Brad Stevens.

For what it’s worth, Danny Ainge wouldn’t divulge the team’s interest in Bogut during a phone interview with the Globe on Monday. “I like our team right now,” Ainge said, “and unless something really jumps out to us where I feel like we can get significantly better, I’d just assume keep our team intact.”

Jay King of MassLive.com acknowledged that of all the buyout free agents, Bogut makes the most sense for the Celtics. Sam Amico of Amico Hoops noted that if Bogut signs with Cleveland, Deron Williams will have had something to do with it. Former teammates in Dallas, Williams announced that he’s “been in contact” with Bogut since his buyout.

Andrew Bogut, Jose Calderon Finalize Buyouts

February 27th, 2017 at 4:29pm CST by Milo Taibi

Andrew Bogut and Jose Calderon have completed their buyouts, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter links). Per Marc Stein of ESPN, neither player can sign with a team until clearing waivers Wednesday. While Bogut is likely to join the Cavs, he will hold talks with the Spurs, Rockets, and Celtics before reaching a decision (Twitter links).

Both the Lakers and Sixers have announced the transactions via press release. Now presumed to join the Warriors, Calderon and his agent released a statement commending the Lakers’ accommodation.

“I’m very appreciative of the Lakers doing this,” Mark Bartelstein told Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News. “This is something we had gone to them and talked about since Jose wasn’t playing much…I’m very appreciative of Magic [Johnson] doing this. Jose’s got a lot of basketball left in him and can play at a high level. But with the Lakers being in a rebuilding state, it didn’t make sense from a playing perspective.”

Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com discussed obstacles in Bogut’s path to Cleveland, noting Houston’s interest in the Australian big man. Following their signing of Isaiah Taylor, the Rockets should have more than $3MM of cap space to offer Bogut.

Andrew Bogut Expected To Join Cavaliers

February 26th, 2017 at 2:24pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Andrew Bogut is expected to join the Cavaliers once he reaches a buyout agreement with the Sixers, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Cleveland is expected to add Deron Williams on Monday and it currently has only one open roster spot, so the team will need to make a corresponding move should it plan to add both players.

Bogut was sent to Philadelphia as part of the Nerlens Noel trade, but he hasn’t reported to the team. He must be waived before Wednesday’s deadline in order to be eligible for postseason play, per league rules. He has spoken to Sixer coach Brett Brown, explaining his desire to play for a championship contender and a buyout agreement is considered likely.

Cleveland is among the five teams which reportedly reached out to Bogut’s representatives. The Spurs, Rockets, Celtics and Jazz were also interested in adding the Australian big man.

Bogut has battled injuries this season, but when he’s healthy, he remains one of the better interior defenders in the league. ESPN’s Real Defensive Plus/Minus ranks him as the second-best center in the league on defensive this season.

Five Teams Have Contacted Andrew Bogut

February 26th, 2017 at 9:05am CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers, Spurs, Rockets, Celtics and Jazz have talked to representatives for center Andrew Bogut over the past 24 hours, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical.

The 32-year-center has reportedly been negotiating a buyout with the Sixers ever since Thursday’s trade that sent him from Dallas to Philadelphia. Bogut must be waived before Wednesday’s deadline to be eligible for the post-season with another team.

Bogut hasn’t reported to the Sixers, but Charania relays that he spoke to coach Brett Brown over the phone. Bogut said he has respect for Brown and the culture of the team, but he wants to help a championship contender.

Of the five teams in Charania’s report, Utah has a massive financial advantage with $13.64MM in available cap space. That’s enough for the Jazz to claim Bogut’s entire $11MM contract once he hits waivers. Houston made two deals this week to clear cap room and has about $3.54MM open. Boston is $1.1MM under the cap, while Cleveland and San Antonio are both over.

The NBA ruled on Thursday that Bogut could rejoin the Warriors, even though they traded him in July, but so far there hasn’t been any indication that Golden State is interested in a reunion.

Sixers Notes: Anderson, Okafor, Bogut, Splitter

February 24th, 2017 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

When word broke that the 76ers would likely end up receiving a pair of second-round picks from the Mavericks in the Nerlens Noel trade, rather than a first-rounder, critics were quick to rule the deal a misstep for GM Bryan Colangelo and the Sixers. However, in the view of Mavs GM Donnie Nelson, the draft compensation isn’t even the most important part of the package heading to Philadelphia — Nelson thinks Justin Anderson is that centerpiece.

“Look, they had an extremely difficult situation,” Nelson said of the Sixers, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. “They were overstocked at the center position. You’re looking at basically the possibility of a couple-month rental, and so I think they did the best that they could with the situation they had. It was really a need position for us, and it was taking the best possible deal they could get. They like Justin Anderson a lot. He is the critical piece, and it was hard for us to give them that piece.”

David Murphy of The Philadelphia Daily News agrees with Nelson’s sentiment, writing – even before the Mavs GM spoke to reporters – that the success of the deal from the Sixers’ perspective figures to hinge on the development of Anderson.

Here’s more on the Sixers, who announced earlier today that Ben Simmons will be out for the rest of the season:

The trade market for Jahlil Okafor leading up to the deadline was “much more broad” than the market for Noel, but the right deal didn’t present itself, per Colangelo (Twitter links via Jake Fischer of SI.com). The Sixers GM hinted that the team will probably revisit trade talks involving Okafor at a later date.
Andrew Bogut won’t be with the Sixers for at least a week while dealing with personal issues, but that doesn’t preclude the two sides from negotiating a buyout during that time, says Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links). A buyout is considered likely, so Bogut may never end up reporting to Philadelphia.
Colangelo said today that Tiago Splitter is hoping to get back onto the court this season and the Sixers will help him rehab, but the big man – acquired from the Hawks this week – isn’t part of the club’s long term plans (Twitter links via Fischer and Pompey). Splitter will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Colangelo said today that Ersan Ilyasova will be seeking a long-term deal in free agency this summer, but wasn’t part of the Sixers’ long-term plans, which was why the club felt compelled to move him this week (Twitter link via Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com).
Joel Embiid wasn’t thrilled with the cagey way in which the Sixers handled updates on his knee injury, as Tom Moore of The Burlington County Times writes. “I was told I was going to kind of miss two or three weeks, so I wasn’t happy with the way it was handled,” said Embiid, who was announced as day-to-day when he first went down. “I thought keeping my name out there was going to literally have people think about me all the time instead of just saying when I was going to be back.”

Sixers Trade Nerlens Noel To Mavericks

February 23rd, 2017 at 8:48pm CST by Luke Adams

8:48pm: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Sixers. The announcement suggests that if the 2017 first-round pick from the Mavs isn’t conveyed, Philadelphia will receive Dallas’ second-round picks for 2017 and 2020.

11:58am: According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter links), if the Sixers don’t receive the Mavs’ first-round pick this year, they’ll instead receive 2017 and 2018 second-round picks from Dallas. Since that first-rounder is top-18 protected, it seems very unlikely to change hands, so the conditions on the pick make the deal look even better for the Mavs.

11:30am: There are still some moving parts to sort out in the deal before it becomes official, according to Jake Fischer of SI.com, who tweets that the trade may expand to involve a third team so that the Sixers don’t have to waive a player.

10:46am: The Sixers are in agreement with the Mavericks on a deal that will send Nerlens Noel to Dallas, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Philadelphia will receive Justin Anderson and a first-round pick from the Mavs. ESPN’s Marc Stein adds (via Twitter) that the Sixers will also get Andrew Bogut‘s expiring contract.

According to Stein (via Twitter), the first-round pick heading to the Sixers in the deal will be top-18 protected in 2017, which makes it unlikely that it will change hands this year. As our 2016/17 Reverse Standings show, Dallas currently projects to have the No. 7 overall pick, though Noel should help improve this year’s team. Future protections on the first-rounder have not yet been reported.

Noel, who will turn 23 in April, was frequently mentioned as a trade candidate earlier this season, particularly after he publicly questioned the Sixers’ decision to head into camp with a logjam at center. However, the former sixth overall pick had played well as of late, averaging 8.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and a career-best .611 FG% in less than 20 minutes per game for the season.

Recent trade rumors had focused more on Jahlil Okafor than Noel, so it will be interesting to see if the Sixers end up moving Okafor today as well. In his full report on the trade, Wojnarowski suggests Okafor is now likely to stay put. However, as Jake Fischer of SI.com notes (via Twitter), the Sixers have been “steadfast” this week in their efforts to move Okafor, so it would be a change of direction to hang onto him now.

[RELATED: Latest on Jahlil Okafor]

For the Mavs, Noel represents a substantial upgrade at center, giving the team the sort of athletic, rim-protecting big man it had been seeking. As Wojnarowski tweets, Dallas has “long been intrigued” by Noel, and will look to lock him up this summer. The Kentucky product will be a restricted free agent, so the Mavs will have the opportunity to match any offers he receives from other teams.

From the Sixers’ perspective, the move represents a chance to pick up a young player and a draft pick while also potentially not having to worry about reaching the salary floor. Anderson has yet to make a real impact in his two NBA seasons, but he’s still just 23 years old and won’t be a restricted free agent until the summer of 2019. Meanwhile, the combined salaries for Bogut ($11MM+) and Anderson ($1.51MM) are worth approximately $8MM more than Noel’s salary, allowing Philadelphia to surpass the salary floor.

However, if the Sixers were to flip Bogut in another deadline deal, that could change the equation, and the team has yet to decide what they’ll do with the veteran center, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). ESPN’s Chris Haynes reports (via Twitter) that Bogut and the Sixers are expected to engage in buyout talks, with potential suitors like the Cavs keeping a close eye on the situation. However, TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter links) suggests Philadelphia could reroute the former No. 1 pick to another team, with the Celtics as one possibility.

A couple final bookkeeping notes on the swap: Assuming it’s completed as reported, Dallas should have the opportunity to create a pair of trade exceptions in the deal. One would be worth about $6.64MM (the difference between Bogut’s and Noel’s salaries), while the other would be worth approximately $1.51MM (Anderson’s salary). The Mavs should also now comfortably avoid the luxury tax this season, having previously been about $1MM away from the tax threshold.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA Rules That Warriors Can Sign Andrew Bogut

February 23rd, 2017 at 8:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Today’s trade that sent Andrew Bogut from Dallas to Philadelphia will make him eligible to return to the Warriors right away, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Normally, a player who is traded cannot rejoin his original team for a full year. Golden State shipped Bogut to Dallas on July 7th as a way to clear cap space to sign Kevin Durant. However, the NBA determined that the provisions of its reacquisition rule shifted from the Warriors to the Mavericks when they became the last team to trade him (Twitter link).

The ruling doesn’t mean that Bogut is a lock to go back to the Warriors. First, he must agree to a buyout with the Sixers, which seems likely. Then he must clear waivers, which is also probable as few teams have the cap space to absorb his hefty salary.

Once Bogut hits the open market, the Warriors will have to compete with other suitors. The Rockets, who have $3.54MM in cap space available, will make an effort to sign him, as will the Cavaliers and Spurs. Golden State is well over the cap, but Bogut might be tempted to accept a lesser offer to rejoin the franchise where he won an NBA title and set a league record for victories in a season.

Rockets Will Target Bogut If Sixers Buy Him Out

February 23rd, 2017 at 6:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:10pm: The Warriors could be permitted to join the competition for Bogut, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. Golden State traded Bogut on July 7th of last year, and NBA rules state that players who are traded have to wait a full year before rejoining their original team. However, Bogut was traded again today, which could create a loophole to allow him to sign with the Warriors. The league could determine that Bogut can’t go to Dallas or Golden State, notes Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link), but it may also rule that the restriction only applies to the last team that traded him, which is now the Mavericks.

4:08pm: The Rockets will try to sign Andrew Bogut if he agrees to a buyout with the Sixers, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

Bogut was traded from Dallas to Philadelphia earlier today in a deal involving Nerlens Noel. The veteran center doesn’t fit into the Sixers’ plans and was acquired mainly to get Philadelphia closer to the cap floor. Buyout discussions are expected to begin immediately.

The 32-year-old is making a little more than $11MM this season in the final year of his contract. Injuries limited him to just 26 games in Dallas, where he averaged 3.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per night. He has been dealing with a strained right hamstring that sidelined him for parts of January and February.

The Rockets are well positioned for the buyout market, with more than $3.54MM in cap space available. By contrast, the pro-rated taxpayer mid-level exception is about $2.5MM and the pro-rated room MLE is roughly $2MM. “We have the most money of all the contenders,” Houston GM Daryl Morey said today in an appearance on The Vertical. (Twitter link).

The Rockets opened up cap room and two roster spots with a pair of deals today — sending K.J. McDaniels to the Nets for a future draft choice and Tyler Ennis to the Lakers in exchange for Marcelo Huertas, who is expected to be waived.

The Cavaliers have expressed an interest in Bogut, and the Spurs are expected to join the chase once the buyout is completed, according to Stein (Twitter link). Bogut had a chance to join the Rockets last summer when the Warriors gave him a list of destinations where he could be traded, but he chose Dallas instead.

Stein adds that Houston is not interested in signing point guard Deron Williams, who is negotiating a buyout with the Mavericks (Twitter link).

Trade Rumors: Sixers, Bradley, Tucker, Bogut

February 23rd, 2017 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers are seeking deals for defensive-oriented guards capable of playing alongside Ben Simmons, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Philadelphia has targeted Celtics guard Avery Bradley, but hasn’t gained any traction.

With Marcus Smart playing well lately and Jaylen Brown viewed as a potential star by the Celtics, Bradley could be somewhat expendable in Boston, but Philadelphia and Boston aren’t necessarily a great match in such a trade. Both teams are loaded with future draft picks, which is likely what the Sixers would offer for Bradley — the Celtics don’t really need any more picks, unless they think they could use them in a package for a star.

Here’s more from around the NBA with the trade deadline less than a half-hour away:

At least three teams – the Pelicans, Cavaliers, and Celtics – have opted against meeting the Suns‘ asking price of a first-round pick for P.J. Tucker, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link).
The Sixers don’t expect to flip Andrew Bogut in another trade before the deadline, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides will immediately begin buyout discussions.
At this point, the Nuggets don’t expect to make any moves before the deadline, sources tell Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter link).
The Pacers are still trying to fortify their roster, and remain in talks with the Kings about Arron Afflalo, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.

And-Ones: Cavs, Bogut, Barnes, Holiday

February 23rd, 2017 at 12:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavs won’t make a decision on Larry Sanders until after the trade deadline, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com passes along (ESPN Now link). Cleveland is also keeping an eye on the Andrew Bogut situation. The Cavs would like to bring the center aboard and they’re expected to be in the mix for him.

Here’s more from around the league:

Several teams have expressed interest in Matt Barnes, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets. Sources tell Shelburne that he’s waiting until after the trade deadline to make a decision.
Jarrett Jack will audition for the Pelicans, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. New Orleans is pursuing backcourt help after trading away several players in the DeMarcus Cousins deal.
Point guard and pending free agent Jrue Holiday said the Pelicans “see me as a part of [the future],” the team tweets. The organization is calling Holiday, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis their version of a Big Three.
Mike Bibby and Ricky Davis will be the co-captains of the Ghost Ballers, the fourth official team in the new 3-on-3 league, according to a press release on BIG3.com.
Thunder center Enes Kanter returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing arm surgery, Royce Young of ESPN.com reports. It’s uncertain whether Kanter, who suffered a broken arm punching a chair on the bench on January 26th, will return to action on Friday against the Lakers.
Former Rockets center Yao Ming, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, has been appointed as president of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an ESPN.com report. He gave up ownership of the league’s Shanghai Sharks in order to take over his new role.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post