Ian Mahinmi

Pacers Rumors: Granger, Green, Augustin, Mahinmi

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star shares a number of noteworthy tidbits from his conversation with Pacers coach Frank Vogel, including word that Danny Granger will be brought along slowly in training camp after a left knee issue that arose over the summer. He'll only play in some of the team's preseason games, but the Pacers don't expect it to become a major issue, Wells writes. Here's more from the coach of the team that held a 2-1 lead on the eventual champion Heat in the conference semis this spring:

  • Vogel is impressed with new acquisitions Gerald Green and D.J. Augustin. "Gerald Green is doing things everyday I didn’t think was possible for human beings to do," he said. "D.J. has really blown me away in the limited time that he’s been here in terms of his ability to create and make others better. That’s a unique talent to have. Literally on almost every possession he makes somebody better with his passing."
  • The coach also shed some light on the team's decision to let go of Louis Amundson, who signed today with the Wolves, and commit $16MM over four seasons to Ian Mahinmi in the sign-and-trade that sent away Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones. "We felt like Lou did a great job last year, but we also felt like we got lucky with injuries to (Andrew) Bogut, (Al) Horford(Brook) Lopez and (Dwight)  Howard," Vogel said. "We think Mahinmi will size up and give us more depth against those elite centers better than Lou did."
  • Lance Stephenson is the early favorite to backup Paul George at shooting guard, Wells writes, a role filled by current free agent Leandro Barbosa when last season ended. "Lance Stephenson has challenged for playing time for two years," Vogel said. "Now he’s playing with more confidence than he ever has. So he’s going to challenge the starters."

 

Contract Details: Novak, Green, Miller, Thompson

While most players' contracts include annual raises, or at the very least, identical annual salaries, Steve Novak's new contract with the Knicks is a little different, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains (Twitter link). Novak's deal starts at a little over $4MM, dips to below $3.5MM by 2014/15, then rises back up to $3.75MM for 2015/16. The unusual structure of the deal provides the Knicks a small amount of savings in the years when the rest of the team's roster will get extremely expensive.

Deeks shared a number of other contract details from around the league, via Twitter, so let's round them up….

  • The Spurs' deal with Danny Green is for three fully-guaranteed years and $11,287,500, with no options.
  • Andre Miller will earn $5MM in each of the next two seasons with the Nuggets. The third year of his deal is partially guaranteed for $2MM of $4.625MM.

Earlier updates:

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Pacers Trade Collison, Jones To Mavs For Mahinmi

THURSDAY, 4:51pm: Indiana announced the deal through an official press release

WEDNESDAY: The Pacers have traded Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones to the Mavs for Ian Mahinmi, who will sign a four-year, $16MM contract as part of the deal, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter links). Jones is due $2.9MM next season and Collison about $2.3MM, so, as John Hollinger of ESPN.com points out, that eats into the amnesty bid the team could make for Elton Brand (Twitter link). Presumably, this also takes Dallas out of the running for Aaron Brooks.

The Pacers are expected to either match Roy Hibbert's offer sheet from the Blazers or sign him outright, so Mahinmi will likely be the backup center for the team. Indiana also has 7'0" Miles Plumlee, the team's first-round draft pick. 

 

Free Agent Rumors: Flynn, Heat, Mahinmi

We're less than 14 hours away from the July moratorium coming to an end and this season's signing period beginning in earnest. As of 11:00pm central time tonight, teams can officially sign free agents, trades can be consummated, and players can sign contract extensions. In the meantime, free agents have one more day to try to reach contract agreements before clubs start finalizing the moves they've agreed to over the last week and a half. We'll track today's rumors on free agents here, with the newest updates up top:

  • Jonny Flynn has worked out for the Hawks and will visit the Bulls on Friday, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Count the Cavs as another team interested in the point guard's services.
  • Look for the Heat to add a minimum-scale big man, such as Kwame Brown or Joel Przybilla, as they finish up their offseason spending, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. 
  • Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) hears from NBA officials that the Bucks have some interest in Ian Mahinmi.

Earlier updates:

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Free Agent Rumors: Mavs, Dragic, Orton, Blazers

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:

Earlier updates:

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Free Agent Rumors: Lakers, Mavs, Cavs, Crawford

It's past midnight on the East Coast, and that means teams may negotiate with free agents from other clubs, as the NBA's offseason gets under way in earnest. Players can't officially sign contracts until July 11, and trades can't be made official until that date either. That doesn't mean there won't be plenty of talk and agreements in principle between now and then, and if this evening is any indication, we're in for a busy couple of weeks ahead. There are several bits of news rolling in on free agents as July begins, so we'll round up what we're hearing around the late-night rumor mill here.

Earlier updates:

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Mavericks Rumors: Mahinmi, West, Williams, Kidd

Here's the latest on the Mavericks, who are expected to be one of the NBA's busiest teams this summer:

Mavs Notes: Odom, Mahinmi, Kidd, Williams

There's been plenty of news out of Dallas today after the defending champion Mavs were swept out of the playoffs by the Thunder. Let's round up what we've heard today, with the latest news on top:

  • Mavs players decided not to give Lamar Odom a share of the nearly $282K in playoff money the team earned in its first round loss to the Thunder, reports Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  • Ian Mahinmi probably isn't atop the lengthy offseason to-do list of the Mavs, but the unrestricted free agent center says he'd like to return to Dallas, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com (Twitter link).
  • Despite speculation to the contrary, Jason Kidd says he won't have any influence on where fellow free agent Deron Williams signs, but Shawn Marion has a to-the-point recruiting message he hopes will inspire the Nets point guard to come to Dallas, as Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes
  • Jason Kidd plans to continue his career with the Mavs and hopes that he can recruit Deron Williams to join him and Nowitzki in Dallas, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. There is speculation, though, that Kidd will sign wherever Williams ends up even if that means returning to the Nets organization in Brooklyn. Kidd and Williams share the same agent in Jeff Schwartz, which would seemingly make negotiations easier.
  • Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News says Nowitzki wants the Mavs to sign players that can create their own shots and do something dynamic on the court like the Thunder's Big 3. "We need some guys that can make plays for themselves," Nowitzki said. "That's pretty obvious. If you look at all the top teams now, they have at least two-three guys they can throw the ball to and they do their thing."
  • Jason Terry may have played his last game for the Mavs after spending eight seasons with the team, reports Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com. The former Arizona star is set to become a free agent for the first time in his career and will explore his options before settling on a new home. Terry, 34, was traded to Dallas in 2004 by the Hawks after spending five seasons in Atlanta where he was the team's first-round pick in 1999.

Sefko On Mavs’ Summer Moves

SportsDayDFW's Eddie Sefko answered some questions in a two-part mailbag (part 1 here, part 2 here) about the Dallas Mavericks' future moves, including which players may or may not be brought back.

  • Among the current Mavs players Sefko speculates will not be in Dallas next season are Ian Mahinmi, Vince Carter, Delonte West, and Brian Cardinal, in addition to the all-but-guaranteed departure of Lamar Odom.
  • Sefko thinks there's a chance Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, and Brendan Haywood remain in Dallas. Terry will be an unrestricted free agent, Marion has been discussed often in trades, and Haywood is widely believed to be a candidate for Dallas' amnesty clause.
  • In addition to Deron Williams, whom it is common knowledge the Mavs will pursue heavily this offseason, Sefko is intrigued by Utah's C.J. Miles as a possible backcourt partner.
  • Haywood isn't a sure thing to be amnestied, but the Mavs are still banking on Dwight Howard being in play at some point, at which time it's a lock that they will cut ties with him.
  • Sefko believes that if the Mavs sign Williams and retain Marion, free agents will be interested in signing in Dallas for below market value.