Brian Roberts

And-Ones: McRoberts, Ledo, Fisher

The Heat‘s expectation when they signed Josh McRoberts to a four-year deal this past offseason was that he would earn a spot in the starting lineup, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. But offseason surgery on his toe and the solid play of Shawne Williams has thrown a bit of a twist into those plans and cut into McRoberts’ minutes since his return from injury, notes Winderman. “I think I’m getting more comfortable. The more minutes that I’m on the floor, I’m more getting back into things,” McRoberts said. “I think we’ll gradually increase minutes. But I feel like my conditioning is fine.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Mavericks have assigned guard Ricky Ledo to the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com reports (Twitter link). This is Ledo’s second assignment this season to the Legends. The 22-year-old appeared in two contests during his first D-League stint and is averaging 12.5 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Legends.
  • With the Hornets off to a slow start to begin the season, one bright spot has been the play of Brian Roberts, whom the team inked to a two-year, $5.5MM deal this offseason, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “It’s getting there. I’m feeling pretty good out there on the floor, getting to play with these guys and know their strengths, and they get to know my strengths, too,” Roberts said. “I think that’s going to translate to help this team get some wins. Individually, it’s OK, but we’re trying to get some wins.” In 16 games thus far, Roberts is averaging 6.7 points and 2.5 assists per game.
  • Knicks head coach Derek Fisher still holds the respect of his former Oklahoma City teammates, Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman writes. “He was huge for us,” Nick Collison said. “Really a unique voice. I haven’t ever played with a guy like that who could address the team so much, but do it in a way that everyone gets behind. It’s not preachy. He has a very good feel of what to say and when to say it. Just had all the respect from all the players. One of my favorite teammates.”

Eastern Rumors: Love, Knicks, Douglas-Roberts

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.

Contract Details: Nelson, Tucker, Roberts

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.

Hornets Sign Brian Roberts

JULY 23RD: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

JULY 13TH: The Hornets are set to sign Brian Roberts to a two-year, $5.5MM+ deal, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

Late last week, Wojnarowski reported that Roberts was No. 1 on Charlotte’s wish list as they searched for a backup to point guard Kemba Walker.  The Pistons and Grizzlies were also said to have had interest.

In two seasons with New Orleans, Roberts has averaged 8.2 PPG and 3.0 APG in 19.9 minutes per contest while shooting 37.2% from the outside.  The former University of Dayton standout has a slightly below-average PER of 14.0 for his NBA career.

Western Notes: Blazers, Parsons, Cunningham

Agent Mark Bartelstein told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com last week that there remained a chance that Mo Williams would re-sign with the Blazers, but the door is largely closed to that possibility, leaving a disappointed Damian Lillard, as Haynes writes.

“He’s someone who I can say will be a friend forever,” Lillard said. “We got that close in a year. He’s was the one guy I wanted back the most but that’s not in my power and I understand that. We still talk and plan to link up down the road but it’s tough to know he’s not coming back.”

Still, Lillard added that he likes Portland’s additions of Chris Kaman and Steve Blake. Here’s more from around the West:

Hornets Notes: Hayward, Roberts, Delany

Somewhat lost amid the shuffle of a three-team trade and the latest updates on LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony is Tuesday’s late-night agreement between the Hornets and restricted free agent Gordon Hayward on a max offer sheet. The Jazz are reportedly determined to match, so it doesn’t seem as though Hayward will end up in Charlotte. Still, the net effect could be a jump in the value of fellow restricted free agent small forward Chandler Parsons, making it harder for the Rockets to hang on to him, argues Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Here’s more on Hayward and the Hornets:

  • Hayward intended to meet with the Suns before he decided instead to commit to the offer sheet from the Hornets, a source tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
  • The Hornets are planning a visit with free agent point guard Brian Roberts, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. He’s No. 1 on Charlotte’s wish list as it searches for a backup point guard to Kemba Walker, Wojnarowski adds.
  • Pat Delany has officially joined the team as an assistant coach, the Hornets announced. He had been serving as the coach of the Heat’s D-League affiliate.

Eastern Notes: Love, Rondo, Stephenson

The Celtics and Timberwolves haven’t spoken in more than a week about a Kevin Love trade, two sources tell Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Three GMs tell Bulpett that if the Celtics changed gears and attempted to trade Rajon Rondo, they would have a hard time finding full value for him on the trade market at present, though it’s unclear precisely why. There’s more on the C’s from Bulpett’s piece amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Celtics have yet to contact Lance Stephenson or agent Alberto Ebanks, according to Bulpett, despite Monday’s report that the C’s had interest.
  • The Hornets and Wizards are the front-runners for Kris Humphries while the Celtics seem like they’re removing themselves from the pursuit, a source tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
  • A source tells Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com that Garrett Temple isn’t weighing any offer from the Heat. A Monday report indicated that the point guard was leaning toward signing with Miami.
  • The Pistons have jumped into the running for Brian Roberts, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, who reiterates his earlier report that the Grizzlies are interested, too.
  • The Heat‘s path to signing Carmelo Anthony would be complex and hard to configure financially, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com details, while Mark Deeks of ShamSports, writing for Hoop365, outlines a much more palatable scenario that lands ‘Melo with the Bulls.
  • The Knicks have officially named Kurt Rambis as the team’s lead assistant coach, the team announced. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com first reported the deal, and Marc Berman of the New York Post reported that the Knicks offered four years at an annual salary of $1.2MM to lure him from his job as a Lakers assistant coach.

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Nelson, Butler

Earlier today, I joined Zach Burke, Craig Smoak, and Q on 1660 ESPN Radio in Central Texas to talk LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, the latest on the Mavericks and Rockets, and much more.  If you missed out, you can listen to the interview here.  Here’s more from around the league..

Qualifying Offers: Saturday

The start of the NBA’s 2014 free agency period is just a little less than two days away, and teams continue to extend qualifying offers to their eligible free agents. The offers are rarely accepted, but the player becomes a restricted free agent as a result of the tender. Choosing not to extend an offer to a player who’s eligible for one means the player becomes an unrestricted free agent, prohibiting the player’s current club from matching offer sheets from rival suitors. For a full explanation, check out the Qualifying Offers entry in the Hoops Rumors Glossary. We’ll track today’s qualifying offer updates right here:

  • The Wizards haven’t made their final decision, but are likely to extend a qualifying offer to Kevin Seraphin, tweets Michael Lee of The Washington Post.

Earlier updates:

Southwest Notes: Roberts, Hamilton, Machado

Here’s a look at the latest out of the Southwest Division..

    • Brian Roberts achieved a key milestone Sunday, starting his 41st game for the Pelicans this season. That means he’s met the NBA’s starter criteria for restricted free agents, and the value of his qualifying offer surged from $1,115,243 to $3,450,156, as we detailed. It’ll be interesting to see if that prompts New Orleans to decline to make that qualifying offer for a player who’d likely return to a backup role behind a healthy Jrue Holiday next season. Without the qualifying offer, Roberts would become an unrestricted free agent.
    • The Nuggets did not pick up the fourth-year option on Jordan Hamilton’s contract before the season, assuring he will be a free agent this summer, but he’s making the most of his situation now with the Rockets. “It’s a contract year, so I’m definitely auditioning for whoever,” Hamilton said, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I just have to come out every day and just play my ‘A’ game every chance I get when I’m out there. This is a great team, a great group of young guys. I’m young (24), as well. I think I would fit right in next year. I need to stay in shape and do all the little things they want me to do. This is a good situation.”  Hamilton, who came to Houston in exchange for Aaron Brooks, went on to say complimentary things about coach Kevin McHale and the rest of the staff for helping him grow as a player.
    • Former Rockets guard Scott Machado has signed in France with ASVEL Basket, according to a tweet from Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The team has also confirmed the signing via press release (French link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.