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Western Notes: Barton, Buycks, Blazers

June 23rd, 2015 at 10:49pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nuggets have tendered Will Barton a qualifying offer worth $1,181,348, making the guard a restricted free agent this offseason, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The move was expected since both sides have previously expressed a desire for the player to return to Denver next season. The 24-year-old saw sparse playing time with the Blazers over his first two and a half seasons in the league, but the deadline trade that sent him to Denver this February provided him with more opportunities to get on the court. He averaged 11.0 points in 24.4 minutes per game over 28 appearances for the Nuggets.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Warriors are exploring options regarding trading up from the No. 30 overall pick in the draft, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com tweets. Which player the team could be targeting with such a move is unknown, Howard-Cooper adds.
The chances that the Lakers will select Duke big man Jahlil Okafor with the No. 2 overall pick have increased since last week, Chad Ford of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Ford pegged the odds at 70% last Friday, and now has them at 80% that Los Angeles nabs Okafor on Thursday night.
The Lakers have informed free agent guard Dwight Buycks that they are interested in re-signing him for next season, David Pick of Eurobasket.com tweets. Buycks, who inked a single 10-day deal with the team this past season, was reportedly set to be signed for the remainder of the 2014/15 campaign before a hand injury knocked him out for the remainder of the team’s contests.
The Blazers will work out UNLV shooting guard Rashad Vaughn on Wednesday, reports Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times.
Woelfel adds the Warriors to the list of teams that have worked out UNLV big man Christian Wood.
Working out for Portland today were Darion Atkins (Virginia), Javonte Green (Radford), Charles Jackson (Tennessee Tech), Jordan Railey (Washington State), Satnam Singh (India), and Gary Bell Jr. (Gonzaga), the Blazers announced.
Virginia swingman Justin Anderson is scheduled to work out for the Grizzlies on Wednesday, Chris Vernon of ESPN 92.9 FM relays (Twitter links). Vernon also dispels the notion that Memphis made a draft promise to LSU big man Jarell Martin, and says that Martin shut down scheduling any further workouts for other reasons.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: NBPA, Hackett, Stoudemire

June 20th, 2015 at 2:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The way teams discuss their own pending restricted free agents is under fire from the National Basketball Players Association, which has officially taken the position that the traditional “we’ll match any offer” comments so often made by NBA executives are a circumvention of the salary cap in their intent to discourage potential rival bidders, Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes. The league had issued a memo back in November warning teams that, while the NBA itself doesn’t agree with the NBPA’s stance on the matter, league officials see enough potential merit in the union’s stance to advise those who continue with match-any-offer comments that they could be opening themselves up to legal action, Stein notes.

The ESPN scribe’s sources informed him that this impetus stems from Klutch Sports agents Rich Paul and Mark Termini, who urged the NBPA to challenge the way that teams have historically dropped none-too-subtle hints about their plans to match offers in an attempt to depress the market for restricted free agents. This movement stems from the willingness of new NBPA head Michele Roberts to aggressively speak up for the players, Stein adds. It’s not too surprising to see Paul and Termini at the center of this, given that they represent Eric Bledsoe, whose restricted free agency dragged on for months last year after the Suns pledged to match any offer. The duo also represent Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph and Norris Cole, all of whom could become restricted free agents this offseason.

Here’s more from around the league:

Unrestricted free agent Amar’e Stoudemire said that he’d love to return to the Mavericks next season, but is also potentially interested in returning to play for the Suns or Knicks, Jared Zwerling of BleacherReport tweets.
Euroleague guard Daniel Hackett intends to void his contract with Emporio Armani Milano in order to pursue an NBA contract, David Pick of Eurobasket.com relays (Twitter link). The 27-year-old out of USC went undrafted back in 2009.
The Blazers held workouts on Friday for Gary Bell Jr. (Gonzaga), Seth Gearhart (Rice), Jelani Hewitt (Georgia Southern), Dakari Johnson (Kentucky), Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga), and Thomas van der Mars (Netherlands), the team announced.

And-Ones: Alexander, Greene, Williams

June 2nd, 2015 at 10:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kansas big man Cliff Alexander suffered a knee injury during his workout with the Lakers earlier today, Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times reports. The injury is being called a mild ACL sprain, and will likely keep Alexander out of action for three to five days, according to his agent, Mark Bartelstein, Chad Ford of ESPN.com tweets. Alexander did complete the bulk of his workout before getting hurt, Pincus notes. If the injury is more serious than a simple sprain it would certainly come as a major blow to Alexander’s chances of being selected this June. The freshman had already watched his draft stock slip over the course of his lone collegiate season, with Alexander beginning the campaign as a potential lottery pick and ending it as a marginal second-rounder. Alexander is currently the No. 32 overall prospect according to ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) and the 47th best according to DraftExpress.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Thunder have reached an agreement with former Pelicans coach Monty Williams that will make him the top assistant on new head coach Billy Donovan‘s staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Donovan will keep Oklahoma City assistant Mark Bryant and Darko Rajakovic on his staff, and will likely make former Alabama coach Anthony Grant his No. 3 assistant coach, Wojnarowski adds.
The Suns held workouts today for Bobby Portis (Arkansas), Kevon Looney (UCLA), Pat Connaughton (Notre Dame), Gary Bell (Gonzaga), and Shannon Scott (Ohio State), Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets.
St. John’s guard Phil Greene, who worked out for the Nets today, also has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Jazz and the Suns, Scotto relays (Twitter link). Greene and Steve Lavin, his college coach, recently spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors.
With the Mavericks set to make wholesale roster changes this offseason, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News runs down some free agents who the team could look to target this offseason, including DeMarre Carroll, Rodney Stuckey, and Greg Monroe.

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Freeland, Jenkins

June 2nd, 2015 at 8:47pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Blazers‘ offseason will revolve around whether LaMarcus Aldridge re-signs with the franchise or departs as an unrestricted free agent, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com writes in his season review for the talented forward. Aldridge hopes to make his free agency decision as quickly as possible, and though he has expressed warm feelings toward Portland, the veteran hasn’t committed to returning, Young adds. “I’m definitely not one to prolong things and drag it out,” said Aldridge. “That’s not really my personality. I think if me and my agents can figure it out fast, then of course we will,” Aldridge continued, saying, “I love being here and [am] thankful for everything that this city has given me,” he said. “I am thankful for my time here. It’s been an amazing nine years, of course I’m not trying to have that end, so when the time comes we’ll sit down with my agent, [Blazers GM Neil Olshey] and [owner Paul Allen] and we’ll just figure it out.”

Here’s more from the NBA’s Northwest Division:

The Jazz have workouts scheduled on Wednesday for Gary Bell Jr. (Gonzaga), T.J. McConnell (Arizona), Askia Booker (Colorado), Shaquielle McKissic (Arizona State), R.J. Hunter (Georgia State), and Nick Paulos (UNC Greensboro), the team announced (via Twitter).
Michael Jenkins, who was in training camp with the Thunder prior to the 2014/15 season, signed a two-year, $1MM deal with the Turkish club Turk Telekom, David Pick of Euorbasket.com tweets. The deal includes an NBA out clause, Pick adds.
Euroleague club CSKA Moscow is interested in signing Blazers big man Joel Freeland, Chema de Lucas of Gigantes.com reports (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Freeland can become a restricted free agent this summer if Portland tenders him a qualifying offer worth $3,766,890. The 28-year-old appeared in 48 contests for the Blazers this past season, averaging 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game.