Chandler Parsons

Southwest Rumors: Daniels, LeBron, Parsons

The Rockets would like to re-sign Troy Daniels, but he’s also receiving interest from the Mavericks, Spurs, Grizzlies, and Pelicans, according to sources that spoke with RealGM’s Shams Charania.  Daniels became a playoff hero for Houston after he was called up from the D-League but they could be seeing plenty of him on the opposing side this season with the entire Southwest Division in pursuit.  Here’s the latest out of the Southwest..

  • The Mavericks, Rockets, and Suns are among the teams that are set to meet with LeBron James‘ agent, Rich Paul, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
  • Several teams are thinking of signing Chandler Parsons to a high-dollar offer sheet if only to burden the Rockets with an unwieldy cap hold while they decided whether to match, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes.
  • The Grizzlies are split on what to do with free agent forward James Johnson, writes Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal.  The coaching staff sees Johnson as a mistake-prone player and is frustrated by him.  Meanwhile, some of the team’s execs see him as a wild card worth keeping.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Rumors: ‘Melo, Waiters, Pierce, Blatche

As Carmelo Anthony is set to visit with the Bulls today, two sources tell Marc Berman of the New York Post that Anthony’s wife is quite satisfied with living in New York and doesn’t want him to leave the Knicks. ‘Melo and Tom Thibodeau are in agreement that the Bulls shouldn’t trade Taj Gibson in any scenario, even as the Bulls attempt to clear salary to sign the Knicks star, Berman also writes. Many around the league reportedly see the Knicks as having the inside track to retain Anthony, though the Bulls appear to have the lead among teams looking to take him away from New York. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • The Celtics have made contact with about 30 players in the hours since free agency began, with Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons among them, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
  • Cavs GM David Griffin said Friday that he sees No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins as “a big two-guard,” leading some executives to believe that the Cavs will look to trade Dion Waiters this summer, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). This also explains Cleveland’s push to sign Trevor Ariza, Kennedy surmises (on Twitter).
  • The Clippers loom as the largest threat to sign Paul Pierce away from the Nets, but the Nets still seem optimistic about their chances of keeping him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
  • Nets GM Billy King reached out to all of the team’s free agents except Andray Blatche, as King told reporters today, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (Twitter link). That signals Blatche’s imminent departure from Brooklyn, Bondy concludes.
  • Suitors believe they can pry restricted free agent Mike Scott from the Hawks with an offer sheet at the right amount, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • The Pistons are expected to meet with Anthony Morrow soon, according to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
  • Head coach David Blatt and lead assistant Tyronn Lue helped sell Kyrie Irving on signing the $90MM extension with the Cavs in their overnight meeting, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Pacific Rumors: Gasol, Clippers, Lakers, Kings

Pau Gasol won’t be having any in-person meetings tonight, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The big man will be taking calls at his home in Los Angeles instead. The market for him will take shape over the first week of free agency as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James make their choices.  Of course, many free agents will find themselves in a holding pattern until those two decide on where they’ll sign. In the meantime, here’s more news from the Pacific Division:

  • The Lakers registered interest in Carmelo Anthony tonight and will be meeting with him on Thursday, a source tells Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).
  • Spencer Hawes is a free agent target for the Clippers, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.  The Clips targeted him at the trade deadline.
  • The Clippers are interested in bringing back Darren Collison, Glen Davis, and Danny Granger in that preferred order, Markazi also reports (on Twitter).
  • One of the top off-season priorities for the Clippers is upgrading at small forward and they will reach out to Paul Pierce and Trevor Ariza, Markazi tweets. Clippers coach/president Doc Rivers will recruit his former pupil Pierce while Chris Paul will work on his former teammate Ariza (link).
  • The Lakers like Ariza, Kyle Lowry, Luol Deng, and Chandler Parsons, but won’t offer any of them deals longer than one or two years, tweets Mark Medina of the Daily News.
  • The Kings will look to add a point guard even if they re-sign restricted free agent Isaiah Thomas, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.

Bulls, Mavs, Wolves Eyeing Chandler Parsons

The Bulls and Mavs are among the teams to register interest tonight in Rockets’ restricted free agent Chandler Parsons, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.  The general rule of thumb, Stein says, is that any team interested in Carmelo Anthony also seems to be interested in Parsons.  Meanwhile, Stein adds that the Wolves continue to monitor the forward in the event that the Rockets decide to make a run at Kevin Love.  So far, Anthony has been the Rockets’ focus.

We heard earlier tonight that the Cavs are also eyeing Parsons.  In the last three years with the Rockets, Parsons has averaged 14.1 points per night and shot 47.3% from the floor.  The former second round pick played more minutes than any member of the Rockets last season.  The Rockets presumably want to keep Parsons, but they also have their eye on bigger fish – like Melo – this summer.

Qualifying Offers: Monday

Teams must decide today whether to tender qualifying offers to their players eligible for restricted free agency or lose the right to match offers from other teams. We’ll round up all of today’s qualifying offer decisions here:

  • The Pacers declined to tender a qualifying offer to Lavoy Allen, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Still, there’s mutual interest in a new deal, Buckner adds (on Twitter).
  • The Hawks extended a qualifying offer to Mike Scott, notes Mark Deeks of ShamSports (on Twitter).
  • No surprise here: Chandler Parsons got his QO from the Rockets, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
  • The Pacers won’t extend a QO to Evan Turner, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
  • Kevin Seraphin officially got his qualifying offer from the Wizards, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.
  • As expected, the Warriors won’t extend a QO to Jordan Crawford, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
  • The Hawks have extended a qualifying offer to Shelvin Mack, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • The Bucks have told forward-center Ekpe Udoh he will not be tendered an offer thus making him an unrestricted free agent, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (on Twitter).
  • The Grizzlies have passed on making a qualifying offer to Ed Davis, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Davis was reportedly a favorite of former CEO Jason Levien, but with Zach Randolph having agreed to an extension, it appears that Davis isn’t quite as highly valued in Memphis as he once was. His qualifying offer would have been worth $4,268,609, a slightly smaller amount than he was originally in line for, as I explained.
  • No shock here, but the Pistons extended a qualifying offer to Greg Monroe, tweets Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, preserving their right to match offers for the fifth-rated player in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings. The qualifying offer is worth nearly $5.5MM, but he’ll command much more than that.
  • The Pelicans will not give Darius Miller a qualifying offer, reports John Reid of The Times Picayune. The offer would have been worth more than $1.115MM.
  • The Spurs have tendered a qualifying offer to Aron Baynes, notes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter). It’s worth more than $1.115MM, the same amount as Miller’s would have been.
  • The Knicks have elected not to make a qualifying offer to Toure’ Murry, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). They’d like to re-sign him nonetheless, Stein adds in a second tweet, but other teams have interest, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt says (on Twitter). The offer would have been worth more than $1.016MM.
  • Othyus Jeffers and Robbie Hummel won’t receive qualifying offers from the Wolves, the team announced (on Twitter). The offers would have been for amounts slightly greater than $1.148MM and $1.016MM, respectively.

Cavs Eyeing Marcin Gortat, Chandler Parsons

The Cavs are expected to make a run at Chandler Parsons and Marcin Gortat once free agency begins tonight, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.  Parsons, of course, is a restricted free agent.

There appears to be mutual interest in a return between the Wizards and Gortat.  In fact, the Wizards are so intent on keeping the 30-year-old that coach Randy Wittman and senior vice president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard are traveling to his native Poland to convince him to re-sign.  Gortat, who was traded to the Wizards in a surprising October deal, enjoyed a strong debut season in the nation’s capital, averaging 13.2 PPG with 9.5 RPG.

In three years with Houston, Parsons has averaged 14.1 points per night and shot 47.3% from the floor.  He’s proven himself to be one of the most valuable players selected in the 2011 draft, despite slipping out of the first round.  Parsons played more minutes than any member of the Rockets last season.  The Rockets presumably want to keep Parsons, but they also have their eye on bigger fish this summer.

Free Agent Rumors: Lowry, Gasol, Parsons, Ariza

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is likely to make a strong push to re-sign Kyle Lowry just as free agency begins tonight to prevent the Heat and Rockets from having a chance to jump in, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Here’s more free agency chatter with 11 hours left to go until negotiations can begin:

Rockets Decline Option On Troy Daniels

The Rockets have turned down their team option on postseason revelation Troy Daniels, the team announced. The team intends to extend a qualifying offer to the swingman today, just as it will with Chandler Parsons, to make both of them restricted free agents in hopes of retaining them for next season, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rockets brass will pitch marquee free agents on the idea of having both Daniels and Parsons back, Feigen adds (Twitter links).

Daniels was set to make the one-year veteran’s minimum of $816,482 on the option next season. His qualifying offer will be worth $200K more than that. There’s a decent chance he’ll command more than the minimum after emerging as a key rotation player in the playoffs, averaging 7.8 points on sizzling 53.3% three-point shooting in the final four games of Houston’s first-round loss to the Blazers. Even if that sample size proves too small to merit a raise, the qualifying offer means he’ll represent a slightly larger cap hit on Houston’s books as the team chases LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other stars in free agency.

The Rockets signed Daniels shortly after the trade deadline, cutting Ronnie Brewer to make room. He only appeared in five regular season games, but dazzled in the D-League, putting up 21.9 PPG and shooting 40.1% from behind the arc.

Rockets Decline Chandler Parsons’ Option

MONDAY, 8:19am: Houston has officially declined the option, the team announced.

SATURDAY, 12:58pm: The Rockets have informed Chandler Parsons that they’ve declined his team option for the 2014/15 season, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The news doesn’t come as much of a shock since we heard earlier this month that the team had planned on making such a move and letting Parsons hit restricted free agency.

It’s very likely that Parsons will be back in Houston next season. If the team had picked up their 2014/15 option worth roughly $960K, Parsons would hit unrestricted free agency during the summer of 2015, and Houston would risk losing the sharpshooting wing to a rival suitor. Electing to decline the team option will make Parsons a restricted free agent this summer, meaning the Rockets can match any offer sheet presented to him.

In three years with Houston, Parsons has averaged 14.1 points per night and shot 47.3% from the floor. He’s proven himself to be one of the most valuable players selected in the 2011 draft, despite slipping out of the first round. Parsons played more minutes than any member of the Rockets last season.

By declining the team option, Houston will likely have to pay Parsons significantly more next season than they would have otherwise, but it appears they’re willing to sacrifice a bit of flexibility in order to keep Parsons on the squad long-term.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Lakers, Parsons, Honeycutt

If they are unable to land Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James, the Lakers are also expected to have a strong interest in Wizards free-agent forward Trevor Ariza, Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Pistons center Greg Monroe, and Suns forward Channing Frye, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

More from out west:

  • Potential suitors are beginning to line up now that the Rockets have declined their team option on Chandler Parsons. Teams that are potentially interested in pursuing Parsons are the Timberwolves, Bulls, Mavericks, and Lakers, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Houston will have the opportunity to match any offer sheet that Parsons signs.
  • Spears also notes that if the Timberwolves aren’t able to work out a trade that sends Kevin Love to the Warriors for Klay Thompson, then Minnesota might attempt to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Rockets for Parsons.
  • Former NBA player, Tyler Honeycutt is weighing overseas offers versus making an NBA comeback, reports David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link). He has already auditioned for the Jazz, Rockets and Warriors.