Hoops Rumors' list of 2012 restricted free agents has fewer than a dozen names left on it, and a couple more (Jeremy Lin, Nicolas Batum) are set to come off the board as soon as we get resolution on their respective offer sheets. With a number of players having signed new deals and a few others having become unrestricted, it might not be long before there are no restricted free agents left on the market. But for now, there are still a handful looking for work, and we have updates on a couple of them within today's round-up of free agent rumors….
We're less than 14 hours away from the July moratorium coming to an end and this season's signing period beginning in earnest. As of 11:00pm central time tonight, teams can officially sign free agents, trades can be consummated, and players can sign contract extensions. In the meantime, free agents have one more day to try to reach contract agreements before clubs start finalizing the moves they've agreed to over the last week and a half. We'll track today's rumors on free agents here, with the newest updates up top:
- Jonny Flynn has worked out for the Hawks and will visit the Bulls on Friday, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Count the Cavs as another team interested in the point guard's services.
- Look for the Heat to add a minimum-scale big man, such as Kwame Brown or Joel Przybilla, as they finish up their offseason spending, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) hears from NBA officials that the Bucks have some interest in Ian Mahinmi.
Earlier updates:
Earlier this afternoon, the 76ers saw one of the mainstays of their 2011/12 rotation agree to sign with an Eastern Conference rival, when Lou Williams reached an agreement with the Hawks. The Sixers continue to do free agent shopping of their own, however. As the team prepares to ink Nick Young to his one-year deal and amnesty Elton Brand, here's the latest out of Philadelphia:
Tony Parker is seeking $20MM in a lawsuit against the New York nightclub where he sustained an eye injury during a fight involving singer Chris Brown and members of hip-hop star Drake's entourage, the Associated Press reports (via the New York Daily News). Parker isn't expected to miss any time for the Spurs because of the incident. There's plenty of other off-the-court news happening with Southwest Division teams that figures to have a greater on-court impact, as we detail here.
The Celtics make their third appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in the last five years when they open up against the Heat tonight. Here's the latest from other teams in the division hoping to build toward that kind of consistent success.
- If the Sixers decide to use the amnesty clause to wipe the $18.16MM due Elton Brand next year off their cap, Nets power forward Kris Humphries will be their No. 1 target to replace him via free agency, writes John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Carl Landry is also the kind of power forward the Sixers like, Mitchell says.
- Mitchell, in the same piece, says he doesn't put too much stock in Lou Williams' comments suggesting he'll be back with the Sixers, and hears that the 25-year-old combo guard will seek "a nice, long-term deal" after turning down his $5.35MM option for next season.
- Giorgos Printezis, a 6'9" forward who hit the game-winning shot for Olympiacos of Greece in the Euroleague championship earlier this month, told Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops he would entertain offers this summer from the Knicks, who hold his NBA rights (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
- Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld believes the Knicks, who officially removed the interim tag from coach Mike Woodson's title Friday, were the only "real option" for luring Phil Jackson out of retirement (Twitter link).
- Luke Adams looked at the summer ahead for the Sixers earlier today in the latest installment of our Offseason Outlook feature.
While New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson will certainly make some changes to the Hornets organization, it seems that he will be keeping his coach and general manager. Benson plans to keep Monty Williams as coach and Dell Demps as general manager, a league source told John Reid of The Times Picayune. Both Williams and Demps were hired by the Hornets in 2010.
With the ownership situation resolved, the Hornets may now have a better chance of keeping forward Carl Landry in the fold. Landry said that he agreed to only a one-year deal last year because of the ownership uncertainty but will now look at committing to the Hornets long term.
"Being a free agent again this summer, the Hornets are a team I’ve been with the last two years and have grown accustomed to. And with the owner now, that definitely will help with re-signing with the team.”
Landry signed a one-year, $9MM deal with New Orleans this offseason.
Shortly after yesterday's trade deadline, we rounded up a few near-deals that didn't quite get done. Reports continue to trickle out about offers that were turned down and trades that were close, so let's cover a few more:
- Appearing on KNBR in San Francisco, Ric Bucher of ESPN.com reported that the Nets offered Brook Lopez to the Bucks for Monta Ellis shortly after Milwaukee acquired Ellis from Golden State (hat tip to RealGM.com). Unsuprisingly, the Bucks turned it down, according to Bucher.
- Bucher added that the Warriors could have acquired Chris Kaman from the Hornets in exchange for Brandon Rush, Kwame Brown's expiring contract, and a second-round pick, but chose to land Bogut instead (link via RealGM).
- The Pistons were also in on Kaman, offering the Hornets one of their big contracts along with a future first-round pick, says Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Ben Gordon is the only Piston whose contract would've worked in a one-for-one deal.
- After turning down that offer, the Hornets countered with Carl Landry for Jason Maxiell and an unprotected 2012 first-rounder, says Goodwill. The Pistons rejected that one.
You've read about the trades that were completed prior to the deadline, but there were also plenty of moves that didn't quite work out. Here are a few that have been reported so far:
- The Lakers had been in talks to acquire Michael Beasley in a deal that would've sent Jamal Crawford and Derek Fisher to the Timberwolves, with Dallas' first-round pick going to the Blazers, says Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (on Twitter).
- Crawford also could've gone to the Lakers, but the Blazers didn't want to take on Derek Fisher, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- Before they acquired Nick Young, the Clippers talked extensively with the Rockets about trading for Courtney Lee, tweets Sam Amick of SI.com.
- The Clippers were also "this close" from acquiring Ray Allen, according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
- The Celtics had serious talks with several teams about both Allen and Paul Pierce, but nothing came together, says Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
- Another interesting tidbit from Amick: He says the Nuggets tried to engage the Kings on Nene/DeMarcus Cousins swap about a month ago, but the Kings weren't interested (Twitter links).
- The Bucks made a "strong late push" for the Hornets' Carl Landry, but couldn't work anything out, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
- GM Otis Smith told John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com that the Magic explored many deals to bring in help around Dwight Howard, but that the risk/reward factor didn't make sense (Twitter link).
New Orleans forward Carl Landry announced via Twitter that he has suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain. The injury is expected to keep him out for several weeks, and is likely to have a significant impact on moves the Hornets make in the coming weeks.
The Hornets will sign Lance Thomas to a 10-day contract on Monday as a short-term fix, it was reported earlier today.
More importantly, Landry's injury makes the prospect of New Orleans trading center Chris Kaman even more unlikely. After Kaman was shelved by the Hornets until they found a trading partner, it was reported that the Pacers and Rockets were pursuing the veteran center aggressively.
However, on Friday the Hornets appeared to take Kaman off the market. Landry's injury leaves New Orleans in need of frontcourt help, making it harder for them to have a change of heart and deal Kaman. The 29-year-old is in the final year of a contract that will pay him approximately $14MM for 2011/12. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.