Gerald Henderson

Nets, Hornets Discuss Joe Johnson

10:12pm: A source tells Alex Raskin of The Wall Street Journal that the conversations between the Nets and Hornets have ceased. Still, the door remains open for the talks to pick back up closer to the deadline, and Charlotte has spoken to Brooklyn about Stephenson at least three times, Raskin hears.

MONDAY, 4:15pm: The Johnson talks date back to the three-way negotiations Brooklyn and Charlotte had earlier this month with Oklahoma City about Lopez, and no deal is imminent, a source tells Marc Stein and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com.

SUNDAY, 7:51pm: The talks are somewhere in between exploratory and serious, according to Michael A. Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter).  The Nets could also part with a smaller piece in the deal, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter).

7:45pm: The Nets and Hornets have restarted their trade talks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.  This time, the discussions are focused on Brooklyn guard Joe Johnson.

The two sides are discussing a larger package that would likely include guards Lance Stephenson and Gerald Henderson and forward Marvin Williams.  The Nets have been linked to Stephenson in the past.  A recent report indicated that they didn’t have much interest in the guard, but it would seem that they do in fact have an eye on him.

Hornets owner Michael Jordan has been intrigued with the possibility of acquiring Johnson, who has struggled recently with tendinitis. The Nets, meanwhile, would like to unload the 33-year-old’s lucrative contract.  Johnson is set to make $23.1MM this season and $24.9MM in 2015/16, his walk year.

At the end of the day, the Nets wouldn’t appear to be saving a ton of money with this deal as Stephenson, Henderson, and Williams also have undesirable deals.  Stephenson is making $9MM this season and $9MM in 2015/16.  Henderson is earning $6MM this year with a $6MM player option for 2015/16.  Williams, meanwhile, is scheduled to make $7MM in both 2014/15 and 2015/16.

The Nets revamp could also extend beyond Johnson as they explore deals for big man Brook Lopez.  Wojnarowski hears that the Nuggets, who have long been connected to Lopez, remain an interested trade partner.

Johnson, 33, has been averaging 15.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 3.7 APG per game.  His PER of 14.3 is well below his career average of 16.1.  Overall, the numbers show that he hasn’t been as efficient in his three years in black and white as he was with the Hawks.

Hornets Shopping Gerald Henderson

6:02pm: Sources deny to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops that the Hornets offered Henderson for Afflalo (Twitter link).

3:43pm: As the draft draws near, the Hornets are shopping Gerald Henderson, sources tell Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d).  Sources say Charlotte offered the No. 24 pick and Henderson to the Magic for Arron Afflalo before the guard was shipped to Denver.

That’s not the only rumored trade proposal involving Henderson that we’ve heard today.  This morning, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported that Charlotte was discussing a deal that would have sent Henderson to the Clippers for Jared Dudley, another player, and the No. 28 pick.

Last season, Henderson played in a career-high 77 games and averaged 14.0 PPG with 4.0 RPG in 32 minutes per contest.

Draft Notes: Clippers, Exum, Heat, Stokes

The consensus around the league is that Clippers president Doc Rivers is trying to shop the team’s first round pick at No. 28, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.  Rivers doesn’t want to add a rookie to his roster and would rather have the cap space than pay the guaranteed salary that goes to a first-round draft pick. Officials say that Rivers has offered trade scenarios centering around their pick, plus a wing player — either Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, or Jared Dudley — and reserve guard Willie Green.  One deal that was proposed had Dudley and another Clippers player and the No. 28 pick going to the Hornets for guard Gerald Henderson, but it has gone nowhere so far.  The latest draft news from around the league..

  • Dante Exum declined to fly to Cleveland for a workout today with the Cavs, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
  • In addition to the Clippers, the Suns (No. 27) and Thunder (No. 29) still have picks available via trade, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.  The Nets have tried hard but they look unlikely to get into the first round at this point.
  • Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (on Twitter) hears that Elfrid Payton may have passed Marcus Smart as the first point guard selected.  Presumably, Amico is regarding Australian guard Exum as a shooting guard rather than a PG.
  • The Heat like Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes and he’s an option at No. 26, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.  Miami worked him out multiple times and came away impressed.  Hoops Rumors spoke with Stokes earlier this offseason about his NBA goals and what he can bring to a team.
  • UConn guard Shabazz Napier is also an option for the Heat, but he’s not likely to be on the board when they pick (link).  Napier is rising up draft boards and could go in the teens.
  • The Bulls really like Jordan Adams, Kennedy tweets, and he’s an option at No. 16 and No. 19 if they keep those picks.

Contract Details: Jennings, Grizzlies, Henderson

Details are often scarce when free agents agree to sign with NBA teams, leaving reporters to gather many of the contract specifics later. That's what HoopsWorld's Eric Pincus has done throughout the summer, and last night he passed along information on a handful of players, as we detail below. All links go to HoopsWorld team salary pages. 

  • Brandon Jennings will make precisely $24MM in the sign-and-trade deal that sent him to the Pistons, with a starting salary of $7,655,503.
  • The Grizzlies gave Mike Miller a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum, while their second-round pick, Jamaal Franklin, is making slightly more than the rookie minimum this season on his three-year contract. Pincus also has the figures for Jon Leuer's three-year deal.
  • Gerald Henderson will make $6MM in each season of his three-year, $18MM deal with the Bobcats.
  • Timofey Mozgov's starting salary on his new three-year deal is $4.4MM, with raises in subsequent seasons.
  • Bucks second-round pick Nate Wolters, the 38th overall selection, gets a little more than the minimum salary as part of his three-year deal. The first two seasons are fully guaranteed.
  • The Jazz gave summer league sensation Ian Clark a two-year, partially guaranteed deal for the minimum salary

Bobcats Re-Sign Gerald Henderson

JULY 30TH, 11:01am: The Bobcats have officially re-signed Henderson, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 26TH, 8:04pm: Henderson and the Bobcats have reached an agreement, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.

7:27pm: The Bobcats and restricted free agent Gerald Henderson are putting the finishing touches on a new three-year, $18MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The swingman and agent Arn Tellem turned down Charlotte's offer of $7MM per year to get the team to agree to a third-year player option, according to Wojnarowski.

The two sides are expected to formalize the deal early next week, Wojnarowski adds. The move has appeared likely over the past couple of weeks, though Henderson reportedly drew "heavy interest" from the Wolves before they acquired Kevin Martin. Negotiations between Henderson's camp and the Bobcats seemed to stall a couple of weeks ago, with the sides far apart on financial terms. While Wojnarowski reported then that the Bobcats were seeking sign-and-trade scenarios that would send Henderson elsewhere, his story today identifies the 25-year-old as the franchise's top priority.

Henderson was reportedly seeking a salary of about $8MM a year, but it looks like he'll settle for about $2MM less. The move will leave the Bobcats with less than $1MM worth of cap space, unless they backload Henderson's contract. Charlotte committed its room exception to Josh McRoberts, so re-signing Henderson is probably the club's final major offseason move.

The former 12th overall pick averaged 15.5 points per game last season, up only slightly from his 15.1 PPG in 2011/12. The career 27.2% three-point shooter showed improvement from behind the arc, nailing 33% of his three-point looks in 2012/13, and his 16.4 PER was also a career high by a wide margin.

Odds & Ends: Nash, Oden, Henderson, Cousins

Italian soccer power Inter Milan will give Steve Nash a tryout next week, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes, but it's clear that even after a frustrating season with the Lakers, the two-time MVP won't be giving up on basketball anytime soon. He expressed his eagerness to return to the hardwood even as he prepared to lace up his cleats. We're only about two months away from the start of training camps as we pass along the latest from a whirlwind summer:

  • Greg Oden could decide on his next team by as early as Monday, reports Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, who adds the Mavs to the list of teams that have sent contingents to Indianapolis to watch Oden work out this week. The Spurs, Pelicans, Hawks, Kings and Heat are the others on that list.
  • Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson are on board with the Pelicans' pursuit of Oden, as they tell Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
  • Though the Bobcats were reported to be seeking sign-and-trade options at one point in their negotiations with Gerald Henderson, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets that the team always planned to re-sign him. The two sides agreed to a deal tonight.
  • DeMarcus Cousins and his representatives met with the Kings multiple times recently in Las Vegas, and the team is making it clear that he's a priority, a source tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
  • A lucrative, long-term extension for the volatile Cousins might not strike Kings fans as the wisest move, but SB Nation's Tom Ziller argues that, at worst, there will be plenty of teams eager to trade for Cousins if the Kings eventually want to get rid of him.
  • The Mavs have been talking up their summer acquisitions, but HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram isn't nearly as optimistic, opining in his NBA PM piece that Dirk Nowitzki's supporting cast has never been weaker.

Kyler On Jennings, Henderson, Blair, Mozgov

When I asked a week ago how Brandon Jennings' free agency would play out, over 41% of you predicted that he and the Bucks would ultimately work out a sign-and-trade agreement that sends him to another team. However, according to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, while some sign-and-trade scenarios have been explored, the Bucks aren't about to "sandbag their season" by moving Jennings in a deal that doesn't land them a starting-caliber point guard. Here's more from Kyler's latest NBA AM piece:

  • The Bucks and Jennings continue to maintain a dialogue, and Kyler thinks a deal in the $8MM-per-year range could be worked out, but something that pays Jennings $11-12MM annually is unlikely.
  • Mo Williams is considering a few scenarios, but is still hoping to land a "solid multiyear offer." If one doesn't materialize, he may be willing to take a small one-year contract to join a contender, as we heard last week.
  • Like the Bucks with Jennings, the Bobcats are waiting for a rival suitor to set Gerald Henderson's price. According to Kyler, several teams would be willing to do mid-level type offer sheets for Henderson, but the Bobcats would almost certainly match such an offer. Kyler adds that it appears likely Henderson will return to Charlotte on a multiyear deal, rather than signing his qualifying offer or being traded.
  • "Most of the league" has called about DeJuan Blair "in some capacity," writes Kyler. It sounds as if plenty of clubs would be willing to do one-year, low-money deals, but Blair is still seeking a multiyear pact, or a sign-and-trade that would allow him to keep his Bird rights.
  • Timofey Mozgov's destination remains unclear, with Kyler suggesting that the Spurs may be interested in the Nuggets' restricted free agent.

Odds & Ends: Oden, Henderson, Rockets, Raptors

Here are a few Wednesday odds and ends from around the Association:

  • Although we'd previously heard that the Pelicans hoped to meet with Greg Oden this week, it now appears they'll do so next week, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
  • Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) is hearing that Gerald Henderson is seeking something in the neighborhood of O.J. Mayo money ($8MM annually).
  • The Rockets have some interest in the recently-released Mike Miller and Marcus Camby, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
  • Having amnestied Linas Kleiza and bought out Camby, the Raptors will likely use the rest of their mid-level exception ($2.15MM) to bring in another player, but will probably save their bi-annual exception for next year, says Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter).
  • Pistons GM Joe Dumars recently denied a pair of trade rumors involving his club, but says the door will "continually stay open" on talks that could help improve the roster (link via Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News).
  • Grantland's Zach Lowe spoke to new Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek about taking over a lottery team, playing two point guards at the same time, and how Michael Beasley can save his career.

Eastern Notes: Curry, Henderson, Oden, Joseph

We've already had two amnesty provisions in the East announced tonight in Linas Kleiza and Drew Gooden.  Let's round up the rest of the Eastern Conference news here on Tuesday night:

  • The latest on the Sixers coaching search indicates that the team is no rush to make a decision, but that doesn't bother in-house candidate Michael Curry, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Curry, who conducted the team's pre-draft workouts and coached the Sixers summer league team, is expected to be interviewed and was told from the start by general manager Sam Hinkie that the coaching search would be a long process. 
  • The Bobcats and restricted free agent Gerald Henderson are having ongoing contract discussions about a return to Charlotte, but are still not close financially, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.  Just last week, we heard that the Bobcats and Henderson had reached a stalemate.  It doesn't look like things have changed much, but the report that the sides are still communicating is good news for Bobcats fans.
  • With the Heat now rumored to be the unofficial frontrunner to land Greg Oden, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wonders what type of message it would send if the team used the taxpayer mid-level exception, worth about $3.2MM, on the injury-prone Oden only days after re-signing Chris Andersen, who contributed to their second straight title run, for about half the price.  Winderman also speculates that the Heat could try to move Joel Anthony in a cost-cutting move that would easier allow them to ink Oden (Twitter links). 
  • Kris Joseph, waived yesterday by the Celtics, will likely look to latch on with an NBA team in a training camp this fall.  The Nets, with whom Joseph finished last season, are said to have interest in the forward, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, but are prohibited from signing him for a year after shipping him north in the deal to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett

Eastern Notes: Curry, Henderson, Oden, Joseph

We've already had two amnesty provisions in the East announced tonight in Linas Kleiza and Drew Gooden.  Let's round up the rest of the Eastern Conference news here on Tuesday night:

  • The latest on the Sixers coaching search indicates that the team is no rush to make a decision, but that doesn't bother in-house candidate Michael Curry, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Curry, who conducted the team's pre-draft workouts and coached the Sixers summer league team, is expected to be interviewed and was told from the start by general manager Sam Hinkie that the coaching search would be a long process. 
  • The Bobcats and restricted free agent Gerald Henderson are having ongoing contract discussions about a return to Charlotte, but are still not close financially, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.  Just last week, we heard that the Bobcats and Henderson had reached a stalemate.  It doesn't look like things have changed much, but the report that the sides are still communicating is good news for Bobcats fans.
  • With the Heat now rumored to be the unofficial frontrunner to land Greg Oden, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wonders what type of message it would send if the team used the taxpayer mid-level exception, worth about $3.2MM, on the injury-prone Oden only days after re-signing Chris Andersen, who contributed to their second straight title run, for about half the price.  Winderman also speculates that the Heat could try to move Joel Anthony in a cost-cutting move that would easier allow them to ink Oden (Twitter links). 
  • Kris Joseph, waived yesterday by the Celtics, will likely look to latch on with an NBA team in a training camp this fall.  The Nets, with whom Joseph finished last season, are said to have interest in the forward, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, but are prohibited from signing him for a year after shipping him north in the deal to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett