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Pacers, Mavs, Clippers Discuss Trade For Hibbert

July 4th, 2015 at 12:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pacers have contacted the Mavericks about a possible sign-and-trade deal involving center Roy Hibbert, Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). The proposed deal would also include the Clippers, Turner notes. In the proposed deal, Indiana would send Hibbert to Dallas in exchange for Monta Ellis, who would then ship Hibbert to the Clippers in exchange for DeAndre Jordan, Turner relays (on Twitter). A source within the Mavericks’ organization doubts that the team would agree to such a transaction, since Dallas has no desire to help the Clippers improve their roster, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com relays (via Twitter). Indiana is also exploring other trade options involving the center, MacMahon adds.

Hibbert, who is scheduled to earn $15.514MM next season after exercising his player option, is no longer in the Pacers’ long-term plans, as the team is looking to implement a faster style of play. Indiana had reportedly been aggressive in their attempts to trade Hibbert prior to the 2015 NBA draft. Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel signaled this spring that they wanted to move on from the 28-year-old.

The big man’s contract has a 15% trade kicker included, and even though the starting salary in his deal was for the max, the kicker still has value, as he’s since accrued seven years of service and is eligible for a max worth roughly 30% of the salary cap instead of just 25%, noted Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The kicker would add more than $2.327MM to his base salary, which the Pacers would be required to pay, though it would count toward his cap hit for whichever team were to take him on.

This potential three-way deal would benefit the Pacers the most financially, as the Mavs have already agreed to a deal with Jordan, and don’t need to free up cap space to accommodate his addition. The Pacers can likewise fit in Ellis’ new deal under their cap figure, but would certainly love to have Hibbert’s player-friendly deal off of its books for next season. As for the Clippers, in the wake of losing Jordan and the team not having sufficient cap space to sign an impact player, agreeing to the trade would allow the franchise to add a starting-caliber big man without requiring additional cap clearing moves. That last point is why the Mavs would be hesitant to agree to such a trade, and Indiana or Los Angeles would likely need to add further compensation for Dallas to consider such a trade, though that is merely my speculation.

Hibbert made 76 appearances for Indiana last season, all as a starter, and averaged 10.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game. His shooting numbers were .446/.000/.824.

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DeAndre Jordan To Sign With Mavs

July 3rd, 2015 at 3:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:33pm: The deal includes a player option after year three, tweets Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

3:20pm: The Clippers have been told of Jordan’s decision to sign with Dallas, too, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2:55pm: DeAndre Jordan has told the Mavericks he’s signing with them, sources tell Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The sought-after center plans to announce the news tonight, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that it’ll be a four-year, $80MM deal (Twitter links). Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) reported minutes earlier that the Dan Fegan client was on the verge of accepting an offer from the Mavericks, pegging it at that same four-year, $80MM mark, which appears to represent the max. Dallas has been extremely optimistic, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweeted shortly after Stein’s report. It would be a profound disappointment for the Clippers and represent a miss for the Lakers, too. Jordan’s representatives have already told the Knicks they’re out of the running, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

The options for the Clippers are limited, since they couldn’t generate a trade exception for the full value of Jordan’s starting salary even if they could convince the Mavs to work a sign-and-trade, because he’s getting a raise of better than 20%, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). It’s a vestige of the base-year compensation rules that would cap the value of the exception at Jordan’s previous salary of slightly more than $11.44MM. That wouldn’t be enough for the Clippers to trade for David Lee, Roy Hibbert or Nene without matching salaries. The Clippers don’t have enough cap flexibility to sign a comparable replacement.

MacMahon first reported Jordan’s extreme interest in signing with Dallas back in April. That was in spite of Jordan’s clear affection for Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers. Still, Jordan made it clear even in the spring that the Clippers weren’t necessarily the favorites as he approached unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career. Jordan was concerned about how the Clippers roster would age over time, and Blake Griffin‘s ability to reach free agency himself in two years, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reported overnight. The center also reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with Chris Paul, though there were conflicting reports on just how much of a factor that was. Jordan was also apparently tired of playing third wheel behind Griffin and Paul.

The Clippers nonetheless seemed to impress in their meeting with him Thursday, but so did the Mavs, and owner Mark Cuban and recruiter extraordinaire Chandler Parsons met with Jordan again this morning, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com. Dallas, once the deal becomes official following the July Moratorium, will land the sort of star free agent target it’s missed out on ever since it won the title in 2011. The Mavs will take him into cap space, barring any sign-and-trade developments. Jordan’s deal, put together with the roughly $13MM that Wesley Matthews will reportedly see this coming season on his contract with Dallas, likely closes off the team’s cap flexibility, limiting it to the $2.814MM room exception for outside free agents who want more than the minimum.

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DeAndre Jordan Rumors: Friday

July 3rd, 2015 at 2:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

DeAndre Jordan appears torn between the Clippers and Mavericks, though he’s ruled out neither the Lakers nor the Knicks, as the last reports from Thursday indicated. We’ll round up today’s latest here, with any new information added to the top throughout the day:

  • Jordan’s representatives have told the Knicks he won’t sign with them, Wojnarowski reports (on Twitter), so Lopez looks like he’ll end up in New York.

1:11pm update:

  • Jordan has narrowed his list to just the Clippers and Mavs, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski, who writes in a story on New York’s tentative deal with Robin Lopez. That Lopez deal still seems tied to Jordan’s decision, however. So, it would appear that the Knicks haven’t abandoned hope, remote as their chances might be. The Clippers are confident, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter links).

11:11am update:

8:16am update:

  • The Dan Fegan client has concerns about the Clippers‘ roster and doesn’t know that it’ll age well, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’s worried about what will happen when Blake Griffin can opt out of his contract in two years, Shelburne adds.
  • Jordan entered free agency giving the Clippers a slight edge, a league source Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Other reports indicate that it’s a 50-50 proposition now, and Dan Woike of The Orange County Register has heard that it’s been that way for a while (Twitter link).
  • Those around Jordan have downplayed tension between him and Chris Paul, Medina writes in the same piece.
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Latest On DeAndre Jordan

July 2nd, 2015 at 11:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

11:03pm: Jordan remains torn between the Clippers and the Mavericks after meeting with Los Angeles earlier this evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). However, the Lakers and Knicks have not been completely ruled out by the big man, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com.

4:26pm: The Mavs and the Clippers are the only legitimate candidates for Jordan, a source told Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News today.

4:01pm: The Mavs made a strong impression on Jordan during their meeting, but if they don’t land him, they’ll seriously consider signing Kosta Koufos, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.

10:41am: New York is still a long shot for Jordan, people connected to the center said this morning to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).

9:31am: The Clippers were confident about retaining DeAndre Jordan going into the start of free agency Wednesday, but they felt they had only 50-50 chances as of Wednesday night, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Lakers were nonetheless “somewhat underwhelming” in their presentation to him, sources told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Jordan sensed the Lakers had been through a whirlwind day after meeting earlier with LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe, according to Turner (on Twitter), and the nighttime start may have hampered the visit, as both the team and Jordan’s camp were tired, as Chris Mannix of SI.com hears (Twitter links). Still, a source close to Jordan who spoke with Mannix called the meeting “very professional” and disputes the idea that he took any issue with it.

The meeting with the Lakers lasted about two hours, less than half the time Jordan spent with the Mavs, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News details. Dallas impressed the Dan Fegan client, according to Medina, and a full contingent from the Mavs was on hand. The Lakers didn’t have Kobe Bryant present for their meeting, and no members of the Buss family, the owners of the team, were there either, Turner tweets. That’s in contrast to the meeting that Aldridge took with the Lakers, which included Bryant, Jeanie Buss and Jim Buss.

Jordan is meeting with the Knicks today and the Clippers this evening, Turner hears (Twitter links), and he doesn’t plan to make a decision until after he completes those visits, sources also told Turner.

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Free Agent Rumors: Stoudemire, Hill, Butler

July 2nd, 2015 at 9:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The free agent signing period is now in its second day, and here are the latest rumblings from around the league:

  • The Clippers, Rockets, Mavericks, Lakers, and Suns all have expressed interest in signing Amar’e Stoudemire as a backup big man, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Stoudemire is only interested in signing with the Clippers if DeAndre Jordan departs and he could become the starter, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
  • The Mavs will shift focus to pursuing unrestricted free agent Jordan Hill if the team misses out on signing Jordan, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Having missed out on Greg Monroe, one of their prime free agent targets, the Knicks have been in contact with Hill’s representatives, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes.
  • Caron Butler, who was waived by the Bucks shortly after they had acquired him from the Pistons, is on the Knicks‘ radar thanks to his shooting ability and potential fit in the triangle offense, Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets. The Cavaliers have also been in constant contact with Butler, though no signing appears imminent, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • Unrestricted free agent Quincy Acy is garnering interest from the Magic, Kings, Pelicans, Hawks, and Spurs, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
  • Free agent Gigi Datome is split on whether to return to the NBA next season or to play in Europe, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. The forward’s primary concern is playing time, not money, adds Himmelsbach.
  • The Mavs are back in play for J.J. Barea after he was leaning toward signing with the Heat Wednesday, TNT’s David Aldridge relays in a series of tweets. The point guard is seeking a three-year deal, Aldridge adds. Dallas is optimistic it can land Barea but is waiting for other free agents to make their decisions first, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (on Twitter).
  • Unrestricted free agent Joel Freeland said that he will sign with a European team if he doesn’t agree to an NBA contract by July 10th, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (via Twitter).
  • Center Kosta Koufos has received interest from the Mavs, Lakers and Kings, Kennedy tweets. The Bucks had shown interest as well, prior to signing Greg Monroe, Kennedy adds.
  • Free agent forward Derrick Williams is scheduled to meet with the Knicks and Mavericks today in Los Angeles, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
  • The Pistons and Suns both made hard pushes to sign DeMarre Carroll, who instead inked a deal with the Raptors, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Carroll was blown away by Toronto’s offer, its environment, and is a big fan of coach Dwane Casey, Arnovitz adds.
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Knicks, Mavs Tentatively Consider Roy Hibbert

July 2nd, 2015 at 3:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:32pm: The Knicks would also target Hibbert if they miss on Jordan and Robin Lopez, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).

11:56am: The Mavericks remain hopeful about luring DeAndre Jordan from the Clippers, but if they don’t, they would consider trading with the Pacers for Roy Hibbert, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). It would be a “salary-dump deal,” MacMahon says, presumably meaning that Dallas would absorb Hibbert into cap space instead of taking back players from Indiana. The Clippers’ chances at keeping Jordan are reportedly 50-50, though the Lakers and long shot Knicks also loom as threats.

Indiana seems eager to part with Hibbert, having reportedly been aggressive in their apparent attempts to trade him before the draft. Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel signaled this spring that they wanted to move on from Hibbert, who nonetheless picked up his player option worth more than $15.514MM.

Hibbert has a 15% trade kicker in his deal, and even though the starting salary in his deal was for the max, the kicker still has value, as he’s since accrued seven years of service and is eligible for a max worth roughly 30% of the salary cap instead of just 25%, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links here). So, the kicker would likely add more than $2.327MM to his salary. The Pacers would have to pay that, though it would count toward his cap hit for whichever team were to take him on.

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Pacific Notes: Davis, Shumpert, Brewer, Hill

July 1st, 2015 at 8:52pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Clippers are set to ink Paul Pierce to a three year, $10MM deal, which will eliminate a major roster weakness of a season ago. Los Angeles is also looking at Wesley Johnson, Jeremy Lin, Corey Brewer, and Willie Green, Sam Amick of USA Today notes (on Twitter). Though it’s not clear if the addition of Pierce will end the Clippers’ potential pursuit of Brewer and Johnson, both of whom can man the three spot.

Here’s more out of the Pacific Division:

  • The Lakers were one of the first teams to reach out to restricted free agent Iman Shumpert, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. Shumpert is set to ink a four-year, $40MM deal to return to the Cavaliers.
  • Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers has reached out to representatives of free agent Glen Davis, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Davis appeared in 74 games for Los Angeles in 2014/15, averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per contest. Rivers also has been in contact with Caron Butler‘s representatives, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times adds (via Twitter).
  • If the Kings are unable to land Rajon Rondo, the team could look to sign Brewer, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays (Twitter link). There is some measure of support to ink Brewer within Sacramento’s front office, Mannix adds. Two other teams have contacted Rondo, Mannix adds, though Sacramento still is the frontrunner.
  • The Clippers’ hope was that re-signing center DeAndre Jordan would aid the team in landing Pierce, notes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’s unclear if the team promised Pierce that Jordan would return, prompting him to sign, or if the veteran decided to join L.A. regardless of whether or not the big man will be his teammate next season.
  • The Lakers have expressed interest in re-signing center Jordan Hill, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. Hill’s representatives also fielded several calls from other interested teams, Medina adds. Los Angeles declined its $9MM team option on Hill for 2015/16.
  • The Clippers had checked with Brewer’s representatives if the mini-mid level amount would be enough to sign him, and were told they had no shot at that amount, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
  • The Kings, Clippers, and the Knicks have all expressed interest in free agent forward Dahntay Jones, Kennedy tweets.
  • In addition to the Lakers, teams showing interest in free agent Ed Davis are the Knicks, Pistons, Trail Blazers, and Celtics, Medina relays (Twitter link).
  • Free agent Leandro Barbosa said that he and the Warriors have mutual interest, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group tweets, translating a story from from Folha da Região in Barbosa’s native Brazil.
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Free Agency Rumors: LeBron, Cavs, Leonard

June 30th, 2015 at 10:51pm CST by Zachary Links

A league source told Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group that the Cavs “do not value” pending free agent J.R. Smith.  LeBron James reportedly wants the Cavs to re-sign the guard, so one has to wonder if that could outweigh the team’s reservations about him.  Vardon adds that it is not known if the Cavs will immediately submit offers to James, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson when the clock moves past midnight. Here’s more as we get set for the start of free agency..

  • There’s a growing belief that Thompson’s postseason performance coupled with his ties to LeBron could earn him a max contract or something close to it, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal writes.  Lloyd also writes that the Cavs were aware that Iman Shumpert would be seeking a ~$10MM per year deal this summer when the acquired him.
  • Spurs star Kawhi Leonard is on track for five-year, ~$90MM max deal after San Antonio takes care of other free agency business, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News tweets.  It was previously believed that Leonard was in line for a lucrative four-year deal rather than five.
  • Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki will join the team’s recruiting contingent in Wednesday’s meetings with DeAndre Jordan and LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets.
  • James Harden will join coach Kevin McHale, GM Daryl Morey and executive VP Gersson Rosas in the Rockets‘ meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge Tuesday night in Los Angeles, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • The Knicks‘ selection of Kristaps Porzingis may scare free agents away, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.  “They took a Latvian guy who may or may not be good,’’ an individual connected to a free agent said. “It’s very strange. They should’ve taken more of a tried-and-true guy, even a Justise Winslow. Top free agents are looking at winning now. It’s fun to go the playoffs and have a chance to compete for the Finals. They’re not going to win this year.’’
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Pacific Notes: Calipari, Lakers, Chandler, Love

June 30th, 2015 at 10:02pm CST by Zachary Links

Despite his denials, people close to Kentucky coach John Calipari tell Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (on Twitter) that he wants another shot at the NBA as a coach/GM.  This week, Coach Cal was heavily connected to the Kings‘ head coaching job but both sides have since denied such talk.  Of course, Calipari’s last run in the NBA with the Nets did not go well.

  • Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) has heard rumblings of both Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love joining up with the Lakers.  Both players are represented by Excel Sports Management.
  • Even if the Lakers roster were to consist of just Kobe Bryant and no one else, the Lakers could not afford both DeAndre Jordan and LaMarcus Aldridge at their market value, Larry Coon of CBA FAQ writes.  On Tuesday, it was reported that the Lakers could be trying to corral both players this summer.
  • It was reported on Tuesday afternoon that Jim Buss would not be in attendance for the Lakers‘ pitch meeting with Aldridge, but plans have changed and he will in fact be there, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter).  The meeting will also include Bryant, team president and governor Jeanie Buss, GM Mitch Kupchak, assistant general manager Glenn Carraro, coach Byron Scott, senior vice president of finance Tim Harris, as well as representatives from Time Warner Cable and AEG.
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Western Rumors: Clippers, Chandler, Davis

June 30th, 2015 at 7:10pm CST by Zachary Links

If DeAndre Jordan leaves for the Mavs, the Clippers will try to sign and trade for Tyson Chandler, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter).  However, the Clippers are still “hopeful” that they’ll retain Jordan. Here’s more from the West..

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