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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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Qualifying Offers: Tuesday

June 30th, 2015 at 9:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Here are the latest qualifying offer decisions to come in..

Earlier Updates:

  • The Sixers declined to offer guard Glenn Robinson III a qualifying offer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.  However, Philly has shown an inclination to revisit a longer-term deal for Robinson this summer, according to those same sources.  In 35 games as a rookie, Robinson averaged 2.1 PPG.
  • The Hornets will not make a qualifying offer to guard Jeffery Taylor, according to a source that spoke with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (on Twitter).  Taylor will now become an unrestricted free agent.
  • Pero Antic, who was rumored to be going overseas, was given a qualifying offer by the Hawks, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).  If the Hawks need to maximize their cap space, Pincus adds (link), they can revoke the qualifying offer to Antic and renounce him.
  • As expected, the Magic have extended qualifying offers to both Tobias Harris and Kyle O’Quinn, according to John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com (on Twitter).
  • The Rockets made Patrick Beverley and K.J. McDaniels restricted free agents by extending QOs to them, Pincus tweets.
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Celtics Rumors: Ainge, Jerebko, Bass, Crowder

May 2nd, 2015 at 9:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics are looking forward to having cap space this summer for the first time in recent memory, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. The team has to renounce some trade exceptions and cap holds (including Stephon Marbury and Shaquille O’Neal) to get there, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is enjoying the thought of having some ammunition — possibly as much as $33.2MM — to chase free agents. “We need to use that space wisely,” Ainge said. “We can’t just spend it just because we have it.”

There’s much more from Boston:

  • The Celtics have important decisions to make on unrestricted free agents Jonas Jerebko and Brandon Bass, Forsberg writes in a separate story. He says Boston would like to keep Jerebko, who became an important bench player after being acquired in a trade with the Pistons. However, Jerebko’s large cap hold could make that problematic, and a decision will have to be made before the Celtics can start pursuing free agents. Forsberg adds that the team’s depth at power forward will likely make Bass expendable.
  • Ainge wouldn’t commit to bringing back Jerebko or Bass — or restricted free agents Gigi Datome and Jae Crowder — but he had encouraging words for all four, writes Brian Robb of Boston.com. “I would just say that we like all of them to some degree,” Ainge replied. “Some of it’s going to be dependent on numbers and roster spots and draft and trades and everything else.” 
  • To become a contender, the Celtics need to find a rim protector, more size and depth in the frontcourt and a true superstar, contends Rich Levine of CSNNE.com. He also touts Crowder and Marcus Smart as the only current Celtics worthy of being locked up to long-term deals.
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Atlantic Notes: Love, Knicks, Valanciunas

April 25th, 2015 at 11:36am CST by Eddie Scarito

Brad Stevens would be a great coaching fit for Kevin Love if the big man chose to opt out of his deal with the Cavs and sign with the Celtics this offseason, Tim Welsh of CSNNE.com opines. “He fits in as a guy that can score, an up-front scorer. They [the Celtics] don’t have that. They’re built on guys, a lot of wing players … they’ve got the two tough guards out front with Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart that can really defend,” Welsh said. “And I think the thing with Kevin Love, too — and other free agents will obviously look at — is what Brad Stevens has done. He’s kind of resurrected a lot of different guys here in a short period of time.” Welsh cited Evan Turner, Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko as examples of players whose games Stevens has elevated.

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • The Raptors have a decision to make regarding Jonas Valanciunas, who is eligible to sign an extension this offseason, Eric Koreen of The National Post writes. The reference point for a new contract would be the four-year, $53MM extension that the Magic inked with Nikola Vucevic last offseason, Koreen notes. If the Raptors do indeed sign Valanciunas to a long-term deal, they have to commit to integrating him a bit more in the offense, because Valanciunas does not provide the defensive value that justifies a salary similar to Vucevic’s, Koreen concludes.
  • Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes that Gigi Datome has a place in the NBA, though he isn’t sure if the team will have a roster spot for the Italian next season, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. “This is a really hard business,” Ainge said. “There’s 400 players in this league, and 60 more who get drafted each year. You’ve got a former NBA player of the week in Jordan Crawford who can’t get back in the league the next year. Now he’s leading [the Fort Wayne Mad Ants] to the D-League finals. So you don’t know. But in my eyes Gigi has proven that he’s an NBA player.” Datome can become a restricted free agent if Boston tenders him a qualifying offer this summer worth $2,187,500.
  • Since James Dolan purchased the Knicks the franchise has continually tried to sell its fanbase on the promise of the future, a trend that continues under team president Phil Jackson, Johnette Howard of ESPNNewYork.com writes.
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Celtics Rumors: Turner, Thomas, Datome

April 19th, 2015 at 9:39am CST by Arthur Hill

After being booed in Philadelphia and ignored in Indiana, Evan Turner is enjoying his chance in Boston, according to Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com. He signed with Celtics before the start of training camp and has become a starter and leader for the young team. However, life in the NBA hasn’t been easy for the second overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft. He was scorned by Sixers fans when his production didn’t match his lofty draft status, and he played sparingly with the Pacers after a midseason trade last year. When Indiana refused to extend an $8.7MM qualifying offer last summer, the Celtics pounced, giving him a fully guaranteed two-year deal worth $6.7MM. “I didn’t even feel like we were taking a chance,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “I felt Evan was a good player, especially if he was utilized in a certain way.”

There’s more from Boston on a playoff Sunday:

  • The Celtics became a playoff-quality team when they acquired Isaiah Thomas from the Suns, MacMullan writes in a separate story. The 5’9″ guard brought creativity and scrappiness and raised the team’s level of play, she contends. “It’s a lot of fun playing with him,” said teammate Marcus Smart. “His ability to get into the paint and doing some of the things he does out there … it’s fun to watch. He makes the game so much easier for the rest of us.”  Thomas is signed through the 2017/18 season.
  • Gigi Datome, who has become a fan favorite in Boston since coming over in a trade from the Pistons, discussed his upcoming free agency with Brian Robb of CBS Boston.  “I hope during my free agency, hopefully the Celtics, hopefully other teams make a call or offer, because it means that this month, I did something good,” Datome said. “It’s really early now and the focus is on the playoffs.”
  • Managing partner and co-owner Wyc Grousbeck is happy to be headed to the playoffs, but he told Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald that he plans to keep tinkering with the team this summer. “Every summer we’re looking to do something,” he said. “The summer of ’07 was the biggest I’ve ever seen. Last summer we tried, just like we will next summer.”
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Atlantic Notes: Garnett, Robinson, Datome

April 2nd, 2015 at 10:33am CST by Chuck Myron

Nets players aren’t saying so on the record, but they’re a looser, happier bunch since the team traded Kevin Garnett at the deadline, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. It’s an odd juxtaposition, since the Timberwolves made it clear that they brought him in with the idea that he’d be a positive influence on their locker room. The Nets, though they have a number of young pieces, are more a team of veterans than the Wolves are, so that seems as plausible an explanation as any for the split opinions. While the KG-less Nets look to secure a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, here’s more from their Atlantic Division rivals:

  • Thomas Robinson has bounced around quite a bit since he became the No. 5 overall pick in 2012, but with unrestricted free agency looming in the summer, he hopes he’s found his niche with the Sixers, and he tells Andy Jasner of Sixers.com that he’s “all in” with the team. “I’m getting a lot of minutes and the coaching staff has shown incredible trust in me,” Robinson said. “I know we haven’t won a lot of games here, but I’m getting my chance. To get this kind of opportunity is a great feeling. I want to be as consistent as possible and hopefully be able to stay here for the long term.”
  • Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was unsure a month ago of how soon-to-be free agent Gigi Datome fit into the team, but it sounds at this point like coach Brad Stevens is sold, notes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. “He’s our best shooter, and one of the better shooters I’ve seen,” Stevens said. “I hope we can continue to find opportunities for him, because he’s earned that. I really like him. I’m in his corner, and I’ve had that conversation with all of our people in the front office as well.”
  • Sixers rookie Nerlens Noel clarified earlier remarks he made about Ish Smith that seemed to serve as an indictment of Michael Carter-Williams, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. “Nah, I’d never do that,” Noel said of the idea he would take a cut at his former teammate. “He’s a playmaker. There are times when you need a scoring point guard that’s going to get in the lane, create and make scoring opportunities.” Noel’s numbers are up since the team traded Carter-Williams at the deadline and claimed Smith off waivers two days later, Pompey notes.
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Celtics Notes: Datome, Larranaga, Zeller

March 17th, 2015 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge isn’t insisting on a development-focused approach from Brad Stevens, who’s instead doing what he can to help the team win now and grab a playoff berth, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald details. So, soon-to-be free agent Gigi Datome has taken 2014 first-rounder James Young‘s place in the rotation, Bulpett writes. That leads right into other news from Boston, as we detail:

  • Datome says he’s having a “fantastic” time as a member of the Celtics, who’ve given him the sort of playing time he never saw with the Pistons, observes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Datome is set for restricted free agency this summer.
  • Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga wouldn’t leave the Celtics for a college job, but he’ll consider interviewing for George Mason’s open head coaching position out of respect for the program, which used to employ his father in that job, a source tells Murphy for the same piece. The school had yet to reach out to Larranaga by midday Monday, a source told Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link), and both Bulpett and Mannix hear that Larranaga is happy in Boston. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported early Monday that the school was eyeing him for the gig.
  • The Celtics pulled off a steal when they landed Tyler Zeller from the Cavs this past summer, opines Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com. Boston gave up only a protected second-round pick that the team is unlikely to ever have to actually convey to Cleveland, and the C’s also took back Marcus Thornton and a first-rounder, which they flipped to the Suns at the deadline for Isaiah Thomas, further sweetening the deal. Zeller scored a career-high 26 points Monday.
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And-Ones: Kobe, Draft, Hard Cap, Datome

March 11th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Kobe Bryant thought for a moment after he found out he’d torn his rotator cuff that he might be done with the game, but he insisted he’s never seriously considered not playing next season, as he told reporters Tuesday, including Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Bryant left open the possibility that he’ll play beyond 2015/16, the last year of his contract with the Lakers, and he added that he probably won’t decide whether to play in 2016/17 until next season is through, as Holmes notes. Here’s more from around the league:

  • Prominent agent Arn Tellem, in a piece for Grantland, argues that teams have begun to regard the back end of the draft’s second round as less about finding the best available player and more about acquiring the rights to prospects willing to play overseas. Among Tellem’s proposals is to move to a system of draft-eligibility similar to baseball’s in which all players would be automatically eligible at age 18. Tellem would also like to see a rule that would require teams to tender guaranteed minimum-salary offers to retain the rights to second-round picks, though that salary would be cut in half if the draftee instead spends the season playing in the D-League. His ideas likely have an influential audience, since Tellem’s Wasserman agency has close ties to Adam Silver and D-League president Malcolm Turner, notes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter links).
  • Silver, meanwhile, tells Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune that he continues to support a harder salary cap in the wake of the league’s proposal for one in the last round of collective bargaining in 2011, arguing that it would create more parity.
  • The Celtics appear lukewarm about soon-to-be free agent Gigi Datome, and while he told Italian media that he’d like to receive more offers from NBA teams than he does from overseas, clubs from Spain, Russia and Turkey are ready with proposals, sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
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Atlantic Notes: Young, Datome, Chris Smith

March 3rd, 2015 at 5:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nets GM Billy King wants to keep Thaddeus Young beyond this season and make him a building block for the team, writes Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. Young, who has a player option worth nearly $10.222MM for next season, is seeing fewer minutes per game since the trade to Brooklyn than in any season but his rookie year, but he’s nonetheless glad to be a part of the team’s plan for the future.

“It means a lot,” Young said. “It means that I’m definitely a player that has come into his own and being able to go out there and do a lot of things to help my team win basketball games. Sometimes I can go out there and be a game-changer with the energy I bring to the table.”

There’s more on the Nets amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Celtics seem to want a long-term future with Jonas Jerebko, but while president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said he likes Gigi Datome and that the Celtics aren’t looking to release or arrange a buyout with him, he also said that it’s unclear just how he fits with the team. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald has the details. The Celtics executive is focused more on player evaluation than wins and losses even as his team sits just a game and a half back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Bulpett notes.
  • A season of prolific roster turnover has challenged Celtics coach Brad Stevens, but he’s shined amid the team’s many moves, navigating the club into contention for a playoff spot, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com examines.
  • Deron Williams believes all the trade rumors surrounding him and other high-profile Nets before the deadline affected the performance of the team, which has played better since February 19th passed, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com observes.
  • KB Peja of Kosova has released ex-Knicks guard Chris Smith, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter). The 27-year-old brother of J.R. Smith signed overseas last month but struggled to make an impact during his brief time playing in southeastern Europe.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

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Atlantic Notes: Robinson, Nets, Datome

February 22nd, 2015 at 8:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Lakers coach Byron Scott told reporters, including Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter), that he dislikes the Celtics so much that he wouldn’t coach them had they ever been interested.  It’s been years since Scott donned a purple and gold jersey, but his hatred of Boston doesn’t seem to have died down very much. Here’s tonight’s look at the Atlantic Division..

  • Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (via Twitter) doesn’t expect to see the recently-waived Thomas Robinson wind up with the Nets.  The Nets, along with the Spurs, Suns, Heat, and Hornets, were said to be one of the teams that have checked in with the former No. 5 overall pick, but Bontemps (link) hears that Brooklyn doesn’t have interest.
  • The Celtics were heavily connected to Gigi Datome a couple of years ago but told reporters today, including A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (on Twitter), that Boston never made him an offer.  The C’s acquired Datome from the PIstons in last week’s Tayshaun Prince trade.
  • Iman Shumpert is no longer a member of the Knicks, but he believes prospective free agents will still want to come to New York this summer, Adam Zagoria of SNY writes. “Without a doubt, I mean it’s New York and I think that the guys in their locker room are happy to be playing here,” Shump said before the Cavs beat the Knicks, 101-83.
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