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Knicks To Pursue Jackson, Butler, Matthews

February 10th, 2015 at 11:24am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks plan to target Reggie Jackson, Jimmy Butler and Wesley Matthews, among others, this summer, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. Scotto also hears the team will go after Greg Monroe, echoing an earlier report. A pursuit of Matthews would be contingent on the team missing out on Butler, Scotto adds, but Butler is a long shot at best. The Bulls are poised to make a max offer to the soon-to-be restricted free agent and executive VP of basketball ops John Paxson has already said he’ll match any offer sheet he signs. Scotto also names the Knicks as a potential free agent suitor for Draymond Green, though Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob has hinted that he intends to retain Green, who’s also due for restricted free agency, and all signs point to the Warriors matching any offer for the third-year forward.

There are conflicting reports about the likelihood that the Thunder will trade Jackson before the deadline, but the Knicks came close enough to trading for Jackson last month that he thought he was on his way to New York, and the Knicks are likely to make another go at trading for him. Jackson, too, is in line for restricted free agency, but he’s apparently open to signing his qualifying offer, which would give him a discounted salary in exchange for unrestricted free agency in 2016. In any case, the Knicks probably don’t have the assets to make a play for Jackson at the deadline, as I wrote when I examined Jackson’s trade candidacy, so a free agent pursuit makes more sense.

Matthews, the only unrestricted free agent aside from Monroe whom Scotto mentions, has expressed a desire to return to the Blazers based on their winning ways, which contrast sharply from the performance of the 10-42 Knicks this season. Marc Berman of the New York Post mentioned Matthews as an example of the sort of second-tier free agent whom Berman says many believe the Knicks will target this summer, couching the report amid a piece on the team’s plan to go after Tobias Harris, yet another restricted free agent.

The Knicks have a little more than $32.717MM committed for next season against a projected $66.5MM salary cap, leaving room for multiple so-called second-tier free agents. Scotto hears from several GMs who estimate Green will receive salaries anywhere from $10MM to $14MM. Some teams reportedly believed at the beginning of the season that Jackson would command between $13-14MM. It’s unclear just how much it would take to sign the others the Knicks are eyeing, aside from Butler, who appears in line for the max from the Bulls.

Warriors Willing To Pay Luxury Tax In 2015/16

February 2nd, 2015 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group that he’s willing to pay the luxury tax in 2015/16, acknowledging that it’s very likely the team’s payroll will be “substantially” over the tax line. The Warriors have more than $77.5MM in salary committed to just eight players for next season, and that doesn’t include a new deal for soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green, along with other variables. The league won’t set the tax threshold for next season until July, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News wrote in December that the latest projection pegged it at $81MM.

And you know what? We’re OK with that,” Lacob said to Kawakami about the likelihood the team will pay the tax. “I tell [GM] Bob [Myers] all the time; he keeps asking me, ‘Are you sure?’ We’re prepared to do whatever it takes to win a championship; I’ve said that before. You want to do it when the timing is right. Maybe the timing’s right, right? We’re pretty good. And so, I think we need to take advantage of that and go for it. Our fans, that’s what they want to hear. And the truth is, it’s what I want to hear. And what I want to think. And what our management and ownership … there isn’t one owner that I know of or one person in management here that doesn’t think this way. Luxury tax? It’s not something you want to do, it’s very penal. But [we] can’t be worried about that right now. That is really not the issue. The issue is being the best team we can be and we’re going to do whatever it takes.

Lacob was reluctant this fall to commit to the tax for next season as he negotiated an extension for Klay Thompson, as Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com wrote in October. The owner nonetheless consented to an extension that will pay Thompson up to $15.5MM next season. However, Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today wrote last month that all signs pointed to the Warriors matching any offer for Green, even if it forced them to pay the tax. Green is a bargain on the minimum salary this season amidst a career year in which he’s overtaken the starting power forward spot from David Lee, who’s on the books for nearly $15.494MM next season, the final year of his deal.

The owner told Kawakami that he couldn’t say whether he would re-sign Green or how hard he would pursue a new deal with him, citing NBA rules. Still, Lacob offered that Green was “born to be a Warrior,” as Kawakami notes. “And we love him,” Lacob added. “I certainly think today as we look at our team, he’s part of our core and can’t imagine it being otherwise.”

Most executives around the league assume the salary cap will spike to $90MM for 2016/17, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently, and Lacob believes the rising cap, which lifts the tax line with it, will prevent the Warriors from having to pay the tax beyond next season, as he told Kawakami. The Warriors aren’t taxpayers this season and never have been, so they’re in no immediate danger of triggering the onerous repeat taxpayer penalties that would kick in after three years in the tax. Still, Lacob left the door open to continued tax payments if necessary.

“I can just tell you that the team is performing at a very high level here and as long as we have great players that we can hold onto, we’re going to do it,” he told Kawakami. “You don’t try to do these things for one year. We want to be a great team that hopefully wins a championship soon and that can sustain that over a long period of time. So it is our intention to do that no matter what.”

Golden State already has more than $53.9MM on the books for 2016/17, which is the final season on the contracts for Stephen Curry, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala. The next year, the Warriors only have about $17.8MM committed.

Pacific Notes: Green, Barron, Clippers

January 27th, 2015 at 3:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The last time the Warriors won the Pacific Division was the 1975/76 season, the year after they won their only championship since moving west. Golden State has a seven-game lead in the loss column for this year’s Pacific Division title, so it’s not surprising that there’s plenty of optimism about what lies ahead for the team, as we detail amid the latest on the Warriors and their division rivals:

Coach Steve Kerr told KNBR-AM radio Monday that Draymond Green will be a part of the Warriors “for the next eight, 10 years,” notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). That’s seemingly a hint that Golden State intends to match offers for the soon-to-be restricted free agent. All signs point to the Warriors indeed matching any offer for Green, even if it costs them more than they’d like to pay and takes them into tax territory next season, as Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today wrote recently.
Suns camp invitee Earl Barron is signing with the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons of China, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Monday that Barron had drawn an offer from China that was “too good to pass” on (Twitter link). Barron, who’s been playing for Phoenix’s D-League affiliate, is still holding out hope of hooking on with an NBA team after the season ends for the Dragons, Spears tweets, though the Chinese playoffs could last until mid-March
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers remains intent on waiting to sign players until “buyout season,” he said Monday, regardless of whether Matt Barnes has to miss any time with a strained abdominal muscle, according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). That clarifies a report from Markazi last week that indicated that Rivers expected to use the club’s pair of open roster spots on veterans next month. “Buyout season” takes place between the February 19th trade deadline and March 1st, the last day players can hit waivers and remain eligible to play with a new team in the postseason.
We rounded up the latest on the Lakers earlier today.

Knicks Plan Pursuit Of Tobias Harris

January 23rd, 2015 at 11:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks are planning to try to attract soon-to-be restricted free agent forward Tobias Harris, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The 22-year-old downplayed Berman’s November report indicating that he’s interested in signing with New York this coming summer, though a close friend of the Long Island native told Berman on Thursday that Harris wants to win a title with the Knicks. Many around the league believe the Knicks will target second-tier free agents this summer, Berman writes, naming Harris, Wesley Matthews and Draymond Green as examples.

Harris said earlier this season that the Magic will be his first choice in free agency, even though the sides failed to reach an extension before the October 31st deadline. The Magic have reportedly told the Henry Thomas client‘s camp that they’ll probably match any offer sheet he signs, though executives around the league are split on whether the Magic would match a high-dollar offer sheet, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote last week. Orlando GM Rob Hennigan said in October that he couldn’t envision not keeping Harris around. There was some conflicting dialogue about how the sides approached a possible extension, but Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported in early November that Orlando raised the idea of a deal with annual salaries around $9MM in talks with Harris around Labor Day. The sides didn’t negotiate further, Kyler added.

Thomas is an agent with the Creative Artists Agency, the same group that represents Carmelo Anthony and, at least until team president Phil Jackson took over last spring, held widespread influence in the Knicks organization. Harris worked out several times together with Anthony this past summer at Anthony’s gym in New York, as Berman noted in his November report. Harris can’t receive any direct financial incentive in his shoe deal for playing with any particular NBA team, as an October report had indicated, but the NBA does allow endorsement contracts to afford bonuses based on the number of national television appearances.

The NBA moved another Knicks game off national television today with New York still carrying the league’s worst record, though Harris expressed optimism about Jackson’s regime Thursday, as Berman notes. The Knicks have about $32.7MM in commitments for next season against a projected $66.5MM cap.

Harris was a starter for his first 37 appearances with the Magic this season, but he came off the bench for the first time Wednesday after missing five contests with a sprained ankle. He’s averaging a career-high 18.0 points per game fueled in part by an increase in shot attempts and also by 40.7% three-point shooting, a drastic improvement on last season’s 25.4% rate.

Pacific Notes: Rivers, Green, Lin, Boozer

January 19th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

The back-and-forth that preceded Doc Rivers‘ jump from the Celtics to the Clippers in 2013 was the product of a careful approach Rivers took to his Clippers contract, as Rivers tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The coach knew then-owner Donald Sterling had resisted paying guaranteed salary to coaches he’d fired in the past, as Bulpett details.

“That was the delay, the contract,” Rivers said. “People don’t realize it, but the deal could have been done three weeks before it happened. … It’s the longest written contract in coaching history. Five different lawyers had to look at it. Even my lawyer sent it to another lawyer. That tells you the hesitation in who I was going to be working for.”

Rivers is on a different contract with the Clippers now after striking a five-year deal worth more than $50MM with new owner Steve Ballmer. There’s more from Rivers and Bulpett amid the latest from the Pacific Division:

Rivers, who also serves as president of basketball operations for the Clippers, won’t hesitate to admit a mistake and reverse course on a personnel move he’s made in the past if necessary, a lesson he learned from Danny Ainge, as Rivers says to Bulpett.
All signs point to the Warriors matching offers this summer for soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green, even if it means shelling out a little more than they’d like and crossing the luxury tax line, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick write.
The Lakers probably won’t be re-signing offseason acquisitions Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer when both enter free agency this summer, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
Austin Rivers has split with agent David Falk, notes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Rivers, whom the Clippers acquired via trade last week, hits unrestricted free agency this summer.

Western Notes: Curry, Jackson, Green

January 12th, 2015 at 10:15pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Stephen Curry is a legit contender to win the 2014/15 most valuable player award, opines Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. The Warriors have the league’s best record at 29-5 and Curry’s player efficiency rating is 27.13, which ranks fourth best in the league. With those numbers, Curry belongs in the conversation for this season’s MVP award, along with James Harden, Anthony Davis and LeBron James, whose candidacy I briefly wrote about on Sunday.

Here’s more from the Warriors as well as another contender in the Western Conference:

The arrival of Dion Waiters might mean a further diminished role for Reggie Jackson, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Jackson will be a restricted free agent in the offseason and Mayberry speculates that Jackson will garner a contract worth upwards of $12MM annually. For that price, the Thunder might be interested to see if they can get similar production off their bench from Waiters for a fraction of the cost.
The Warriors are constructed to contend for a championship this season, opines Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Golden State is the top ranked team in defensive efficiency this season. However, the window for the team to contend as currently constructed might be closing as key piece Draymond Green is set to become a restricted free agent. The team already has $82.6MM in salary commitments for next season and it will likely be forced to make a move if it wants to re-sign Green.
Warriors center Andrew Bogut says he has no relationship with former coach Mark Jackson, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group writes. “I haven’t heard from him since [his firing]. I know he keeps in touch with some guys on the team, but I’m kind of in a different crowd I think.” The Australian big man has played well this season under new coach Steve Kerr. He is averaging 2.0 blocks per game and sports a player efficiency rating of 16.87.

Western Notes: Murry, Randle, Green

January 5th, 2015 at 5:23pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Jazz waived Toure’ Murry yesterday, and his agent, Bernie Lee, doesn’t think Murry was given a fair chance in Utah, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype reports. “Utah just didn’t see value in giving [Toure’] a real opportunity to prove himself, which is their right,” Lee said. “I had a sense things were working against him early when during the Jazz’s first open scrimmage in the preseason the team-employed radio voice used the forum to crush his future NBA prospects. Just an odd situation through and through. He went to Utah as a young developing point guard who played 51 games for an extremely visible team and today leaves Utah having played his last game as an assigned player in the NBADL [D-League] having been asked to play the four. Perspective and opportunity are a funny thing in basketball.”

Lee also added that Murry will explore free agent opportunities if he clears waivers, Sierra notes. “If there isn’t a spot for him immediately, he will enter the NBA D-League and go on to continue to develop and prove himself as an NBA-caliber PG.”

Here’s more from out west:

Lakers rookie Julius Randle is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday morning to replace the screw in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, the team announced. This injury was a source of concern from NBA teams leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft, and possibly caused Randle’s stock to fall, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes. Randle was already out for the season thanks to a broken leg he suffered during his first regular season game.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has nothing but praise for Draymond Green, who is almost assuredly set to garner a huge pay raise when he hits restricted free agency this summer, Rusty Simmons of The San Franciso Chronicle writes. When asked if Green could be named Defensive Player of the Year, Kerr said, “I wouldn’t argue with that. Draymond has to be mentioned for a lot of different things because of the impact he’s had. Most Improved Player would be a possibility. I don’t know if he’s going to make the All-Star team, but he would have my vote. He’s just been brilliant, and he represents kind of who we are as a team — the versatility, the scrapping, the toughness.”
Spurs rookie Kyle Anderson was expected to spend more time in the D-League than in the NBA this season, but injuries to key players have altered those plans, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes.

Pacific Notes: Bledsoe, Draymond Green, Gay

November 18th, 2014 at 1:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Eric Bledsoe went as far as to put pen to paper on his qualifying offer from the Suns over the offseason, as he tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com, but he never submitted it to the team, leaving open the possibility of the five-year $70MM deal that came to fruition in late September. That’s was a game-changer for the Suns, who still have room to grow with a pair of traded first-round picks coming their way and a handful of recent first-rounders in their nascent stages of development, as SB Nation’s Paul Flannery points out. Phoenix isn’t panicking after a mediocre 6-5 start, Flannery notes, and there’s more on Bledsoe amid the latest from the Pacific Division:

The negotiations between Bledsoe and the Suns appeared contentious, but GM Ryan McDonough insisted to Blakely, who writes in the same piece, that he had “constant communication” with the Rich Paul client’s camp throughout the process. That’s in spite of owner Robert Sarver having said over the summer that the team had gone months without speaking to Bledsoe directly.
Draymond Green understands that the prospect of a significant raise looms in restricted free agency this coming summer, as he tells Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. Still, he’s confident that the Warriors, already with about $77.5MM in commitments for 2015/16, can keep him. “It’d be a lie to say I don’t think about it,” he said. “But I don’t try to do anything different. If I did, everything is going to go wrong because I would be focusing on the wrong thing. I’d be stressed all year. Stress equals bad performances, which then would equal no contract. I really love it here. It’s all I know about this league. As far as the money working out, if they want me to stay here, I know there’s a way to keep me here.”
Hoops Rumors readers overwhelmingly gave the Kings a thumbs-up for agreeing to the Rudy Gay extension, and Darren Collison echoes that sentiment, notes James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom. “I’m extremely excited,” Collison said. “This is a good step in the right direction. You think about how far this organization has come and to have players of Rudy’s caliber and his talent, DeMarcus [Cousins] is stepping up and becoming a household name [and] myself included, wanting to sign here, it just speaks a lot about this organization and what they’re trying to do. And it speaks about our future.”

And-Ones: White, Kerr, Green

November 6th, 2014 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Metta World Peace insisted that he had offers from NBA teams before he signed with China’s Sichuan Blue Whales, as he said today in an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show (video link). World Peace, who turns 35 this month, added that he plans to return to the NBA, perhaps later this season when the Chinese schedule is over, but he said that he’d “rather play in Angola” than sign this season with the Knicks or Lakers, his two most recent teams.

Here’s more from around the league:

The one-month deal that D.J. White signed with Laboral Kutxa Vitoria of the ACB is set to expire this weekend, and the forward is looking to catch on with an NBA team, David Pick of Eurobasket reports (Twitter link). The Sixers are the only team currently rumored to be in the market for another big man, though with the way injuries are piling up this season, that could change in a flash. White’s last taste of NBA action came last season when he appeared in two games for the Hornets.
Rookie head coach Steve Kerr has made a number of risky decisions involving his starting lineups, but they have all worked out thus far, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. The Warriors head man is revitalized by his return to competition, notes Amick. Kerr weighed in, saying, “I’m alive. I love feeling this way. I love the competition. I love being part of the group. I love trying to build something together. The intensity — you can’t even come close to matching. On TV, you’re talking about what somebody else is doing. Now we’re talking about what we’re doing. So we’re in the fight, and that’s what makes it fun.”
ESPN basketball analyst Jeff Van Gundy has nothing but praise for Warriors forward Draymond Green, Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com writes. Van Gundy suggested that Green, who is set to become a restricted free agent next summer, would command an annual salary between $10MM-$12MM, Poole notes. For his part, Green was quick to dispel any discussion of his next contract, saying, “But it’s four games into the season. If I start worrying about $10 (million) or $12MM right now, I’m going to get $2 (million).”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Green, Bryant, Rondo

November 5th, 2014 at 9:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Draymond Green‘s representation switch to the Wasserman Media Group could help the Warriors re-sign the forward, who is set to become a restricted free agent next summer, Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group writes. GM Bob Myers is a former player agent who worked with and was mentored by Arn Tellem, the head of Wasserman, notes Leung. In an interview with 95.7 The Game, Myers said, “So if Arn says, ‘Hey, I got this much money (from another offer),’ he’s not going to lie to me, so there’s value in that. And here’s the other thing I do know. If it’s a tie, we’ll win. Not only just because he’s restricted, but Arn, we’ve known other a long time, so he’s not going to hurt us. If he can help, that’s great.”

Here’s more from way out west:

With the Lakers season seemingly over before it began, talk has turned to the possibility of Kobe Bryant potentially waiving his no-trade clause and being dealt. Chris Mannix of SI.com believes this would be the smart move from a basketball standpoint for both the team and Bryant, but Los Angeles has plenty of business and economic reasons to hold onto their star. Mannix cites the franchise’s high ticket prices and fanbase that isn’t keen on rooting for a team without a marquee attraction as the main reasons the Lakers would keep Bryant.
Despite the Lakers‘ potential interest in signing Rajon Rondo, the point guard will likely realize that the Celtics’ outlook seems rosier, Ben Rohrbach of WEEI 93.7 writes. Boston’s roster has more talent the Los Angeles’, and the Lakers are more likely to deal Bryant than to acquire Rondo, Rohrbach opines.
Not every player who signs to play in Los Angeles and ends up in Salt Lake City would appreciate the move, but Joe Ingles is content after the Jazz claimed him off waivers from the Clippers and paired him with Dante Exum, his teammate from the Australian national squad. Jody Genessy of the Deseret News has the details. “I don’t regret anything about what happened or what I did or anything,” Ingles said. “I did all I can to make the team and wasn’t what they [the Clippers] wanted or good enough or whatever it was, so it worked out perfectly. I’m very happy here (with Utah). It’s been great.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.