It's been a busy day in Boston, and that's not even counting the doubleheader between the Red Sox and Yankees. You can head over to MLB Trade Rumors for baseball news, but we've got the Celtics covered right here. Already today they've reached an agreement with Jeff Green, and we've heard that negotiations between C's restricted free agent big man Greg Stiemsma and the Timberwolves are on hold, perhaps allowing Boston a chance to woo him back. Stiemsma's agent, however, says his client prefers the Timberwolves and is willing to be patient with them, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). Here's more of what we're hearing:
After Team USA's first practice Friday afternoon, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant told reporters, including Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter), that he's not so sure that the team is done making trades. "I don't think that they're done. The moves they make just seem to come out of nowhere," Bryant said. Here's some more Saturday afternoon linkage..
Brandon Roy, Jason Kidd, and Jamal Crawford were among the players to reach agreements with new clubs yesterday, while Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lin agreed to lucrative offer sheets that their current teams are expected to match. What will Friday bring? Here are the latest rumors on a number of free agents still on the market:
- The Suns and Bulls are the two teams "most heavily in the mix" for Michael Redd, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
- Marcus Camby will meet with the Heat tomorrow and the Knicks next, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Feigen adds that Camby likely won't meet with the Rockets until there's resolution on Omer Asik.
Earlier updates:
Happy Fourth of July to all of our American readers! Even though it's a holiday, we're expecting more free agent developments, so we'll be providing our usual updates all day long. Here are a few of Wednesday's more minor free agent rumors, with the latest items added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweets that Grant Hill will either join Steve Nash in signing with the Lakers or retire.
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic tweets that the Suns are unwilling to offer Goran Dragic the $10MM per year he is reportedly seeking.
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) hears that negotiations between JaVale McGee and the Nuggets are "going well."
Earlier updates:
Day 3 of NBA free agency is underway, and the July free agent period hasn't lacked for action so far. We'll use this space to track a number of updates on second- and third-tier free agents as the day continues. Here's the latest:
- The Warriors, Lakers, and Bobcats are all interested in Antawn Jamison, tweets Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc J. Spears.
- The Mavericks might clear cap space for next summer when Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are unrestricted free agents, tweets Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski.
- Ersan Ilyasova's agent has said his client is seriously considering a "big offer" from a European club, according to HoopsHype.com.
- The Timberwolves continued negotiation with Nicolas Batum, Greg Stiemsma, and Jordan Hill on Tuesday, but no deal was reached, writes TwinCities.com's Ray Richardson.
Earlier updates:
While a report surfaced last night suggesting that the Knicks may be reluctant to match a backloaded offer to Jeremy Lin, it doesn't appear that such an offer will come from Brooklyn. According to TNT's David Aldridge, the Nets haven't reached out to Lin, and appear to be viewing Steve Nash as Plan B if they can't lock up Deron Williams. Let's round up a few more free agent tidbits from around the league….
- While an earlier report (linked below) from K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune suggests the Bulls will only offer the minimum to Kirk Hinrich, Johnson says he's now emerging as the team's top target (Twitter link).
- Chris Kaman had a "positive" meeting with the Pacers today, but no offer was made, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News believes Lin and Nash may be an either/or proposition for the Knicks.
Earlier updates:
Earlier this afternoon we learned that the Raptors have offered Steve Nash a three-year, $36MM deal. The aging point guard is also being courted by the division rival Nets, Knicks, as well as the Mavericks. Here's the latest out of the Atlantic..
The Northwest has certainly been the NBA's most active division on the restricted free agent market so far today, with the Trail Blazers extending Roy Hibbert a maximum offer and the Timberwolves making a hard push for Nicolas Batum. According to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), Portland's four-year offer to Hibbert is worth $58.4MM. I assume that's based on 2011/12's maximum-salary figures, which are likely to stay the same for 2012/13. Hibbert is leaning toward signing the offer sheet when the moratorium ends, which would give the Pacers three days to match it, says Berger.
Here are a few more Sunday updates out of the Northwest:
With the NBA's 2012 free agent period just two days away, teams continue to extend qualifying offers to free agents in order to make them restricted. If a qualifying offer is not tendered to a player eligible for restricted free agency, he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Players who are tendered qualifying offers have the option to accept the one-year contract and hit unrestricted free agency a year from now, but the primary purpose of the offers are to ensure that the player's team can match any offers for him this summer. We'll track today's qualifying offer updates right here, with the latest added to the top of the page….
- The Cavs have made a qualifying offer to Luke Harangody, according to the joint Twitter account of Plain Dealer writers Mary Schmitt Boyer and Jodie Valade. The tender is expected to be around $1.05MM.
Earlier updates:
The Thunder have an opportunity to make it four wins in a row tonight against the Spurs as the series heads back to Oklahoma City for Game 6. A victory would send Kevin Durant and company to the NBA Finals and further validate general manager Sam Presti's experiment in which the team has generally been constructed through NBA lottery picks like Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Let's check in around the league to catch up on the latest news and stories making headlines on this Wednesday afternoon…