Jodie Meeks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Woelfel On Bucks, Przybilla, Meeks

July 29th, 2012 at 5:25pm CST by Sean Highkin

Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times has a notebook about the Bucks' plans for the remainder of the offseason, including several players they have interest in:

Woelfel writes that the Bucks remain interested in Joel Przybilla, as was reported earlier this week. They view him as a fit to back up Samuel Dalembert.
The Bucks have explored the possibility of signing free-agent guard Jodie Meeks, Woelfel writes.
Woelfel notes that the Denver Nuggets attempted to move ahead of the Bucks in June's NBA Draft to select John Henson, Milwaukee's eventual selection.

Odds & Ends: Celtics, Alonzo Gee, Randy Foye

July 26th, 2012 at 10:14pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Celtics and Heat will kickoff the upcoming season as the NBA released the schedule for 2012/13 on Thursday. In another notable matchup, the Nets will host the Knicks on opening night in the inaugural basketball game at the Barclays Center. Among the highlights of the five Christmas Day contests include the Thunder taking on the Heat in Miami and the Knicks heading to the Staples Center to battle the Lakers. Here's the latest news and happenings from around the league…

The Celtics may appear to have a complete roster as the calendar turns to August, but general manager Danny Ainge is always looking for another piece that may make his team better, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. "I'm always looking for ways to improve the team," Ainge said. "I like our team; I like our guys. But I'm always looking. You're never going to hear me say, 'I'm done.' Because you never know what may open up down the road or in the near future."
Talks are slow but steady between the Cavaliers and Alonzo Gee, says Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Sulia link). Gee's agent, Andre Buck, won't rule out accepting the Cavs' qualifying offer if that's the best contract his client receives from Cleveland.
The Jazz wanted Randy Foye more than any other team and that made the former Villanova star's decision easier when it came time to sign a contract, writes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. "I felt," Foye said, "I could come in and contribute and help these guys."
The Wizards have invited former Gonzaga guard Steven Gray to attend the team's training camp, reports HoopsHype (via Twitter). Gray spent the 2011/12 season in Europe playing for Latvian club BK Ventspils where he averaged 11.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG.
The Lakers continue to have interest in Jodie Meeks as the two sides are in talks about a potential contract, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.

Free Agent Rumors: Flynn, Heat, Mahinmi

July 10th, 2012 at 10:15pm CST by Luke Adams

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:

Grizzlies Shopping With Mini Mid-Level Exception

July 10th, 2012 at 8:42am CST by Luke Adams

At the start of this year's free agent period, the Grizzlies were pursuing relatively big-name free agents such as Ray Allen, willing to offer the full mid-level exception. At the time, I expressed some skepticism that Memphis could offer the full $5MM mid-level if the team hoped to re-sign Darrell Arthur and Marreese Speights.

Sure enough, since agreeing to terms with both Arthur and Speights, the Grizzlies have turned their focus to the $3MM taxpayer MLE, says Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. According to Tillery, Memphis is eyeing players like Jodie Meeks, Willie Green, and Jordan Farmar.

Odds & Ends: Hinrich, Bulls, Meeks, Mayo, Tolliver

July 7th, 2012 at 9:51pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago reported earlier that the Bucks presented Kirk Hinrich with an offer of about $4 MM per year, while the Bulls have made an offer somewhere between the veteran's minimum and around $2 MM per year. The proposed length of either deal is still unknown. Although the Bulls have been relatively quiet at this point during the offseason, Sam thinks that Chicago could eventually become financially viable for free agent point guards such as Ramon Sessions, Raymond Felton, Jerryd Bayless, and Delonte West, who could be available if they are not acquired during the first wave of free agent signings. Derek Fisher and Jonny Flynn were also mentioned as potential additions.

We are currently less than four days away from the end of the NBA's moratorium period, and here is the rest of what we've heard around the league this evening…

Ersan Ilyasova plans to meet with Bucks owner Herb Kohl on Tuesday, which is seen as an important opportunity in the team's effort to retain the 6'10'' forward (Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times reports). Earlier this week, we reported that Milwaukee offered a deal worth around $40MM over five years.

Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweeted that the Lakers are scheduled to meet with unrestricted free agent Jodie Meeks early next week. In another tweet, Amico says that the Celtics have reportedly stepped up their interest in O.J. Mayo, but thinks Boston would likely have to add him via a sign-and-trade.
Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweeted that although the Timberwolves express interest in Anthony Tolliver, the team has not made any promises. Zgoda also added via Tolliver's agent that there are five other teams that have shown interest.
Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer answered some questions from Cleveland fans about the Cavaliers' offseason. While the team appears committed to keeping Anderson Varejao, Boyer thinks that his name will be brought up by other teams during trade discussions. With regards to free agency, she believes that Anthony Tolliver, Sonny Weems, Jonny Flynn, and Royal Ivey could be targets.
Ben Golliver of the BlazersEdge wonders if there are more front office changes coming after the resignation of Larry Miller, considering that the Trail Blazers still have executives held over from two prior regimes (Twitter link).
Carmelo Anthony publicly endorsed the Knicks' efforts to recruit Marcus Camby, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday.
Bulls forward Taj Gibson told Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago that he'd like the team to keep Omer Asik and would be ecstatic if the team somehow found a way to bring unrestricted free agent Kirk Hinrich back to Chicago. The two had been teammates during Gibson's rookie season.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes about Austin Daye and Charlie Villanueva as two players who will look to stake their claim as the stretch-four in Lawrence Frank's rotation. Both are in Orlando participating in summer league practices, but only Daye will compete on the Pistons' summer league team.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel talked about Jameer Nelson's return to the Magic and what it means for his leadership role moving forward.

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Free Agent Rumors: Meeks, Sessions, Gee, Cavs

July 6th, 2012 at 10:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The Rockets are now in play for free agent guard Ramon Sessions, a source tells Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com. The 26-year-old is said to be seeking a starting job and the security of a multiyear deal, something that the Mavericks seem prepared to offer. We ran down the day’s free agent rumors earlier today, here’s the latest batch..

Meeks, Young, Silas To Become Unrestricted FAs

June 30th, 2012 at 3:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The 76ers did not extend formal qualifying offers to Jodie Meeks, Sam Young, or Xavier Silas, meaning all three players will become unrestricted free agents, says John Finger of CSNPhilly.com. Having played in the NBA for three years or less, each Sixer was eligible for restricted free agency, had Philadelphia made the necessary qualifying offers.

Meeks, who met the starter criteria, would have required a one-year offer of close to $2.7MM, while the other offers for the other two players would have been more modest — about $1.48MM for Young and $962K for Silas.

Sixers Rumors: Williams, Hawes, Thorn, Iguodala

June 12th, 2012 at 8:20am CST by Luke Adams

Multiple reports have indicated Lou Williams will be opting out of the final year of his contract with the 76ers, though not necessarily to leave Philadelphia. Williams himself seemed to be laying the groundwork for such a decision yesterday, tweeting "Quick note. Opting out doesn't necessarily mean you're leaving. It's getting out of one contract to begin a new one." The Sixers will be faced with a number of free agent decisions besides Williams this summer, and Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News has updates on a few of those players and on the executives that will be making the roster moves….

Sixers Rumors: Williams, Brand, Iguodala, Meeks

May 29th, 2012 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

Plenty of 76ers-related news, rumors and speculation has surfaced since the team lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Saturday night in Boston. I wrote about the team's offseason outlook yesterday, and today Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld shares a few more Sixers updates. Here are the highights:

Lou Williams is expected to opt out of his contract and seek a new deal similar to the five-year, $43MM Thaddeus Young signed with Philadelphia in December, according to Kyler.
Kyler hears that Elton Brand would be open to exercising his early termination option and eliminating the final year of his contract. However, the Sixers would have to be willing to sign him to a new multiyear deal. I have a hard time seeing this one happening. Brand would have to receive a pretty hefty commitment in a new contract to make up for the $18MM+ he'd be giving up, and that would hinder Philadelphia's future cap flexibility. It makes more sense for the Sixers to simply amnesty him and eliminate the bad contract, rather than inking an expensive new deal.
Andre Iguodala is expected to be available in trade talks this summer, though only if a suitor wants to make a "significant offer."
Jodie Meeks and Lavoy Allen will be free agents, and while Kyler writes that the 76ers can extend both players $1MM qualifying offers to make them restricted FAs, that's not quite accurate. The new CBA means a qualifying offer for Meeks, who met the "starter criteria" over the past couple seasons, would actually be worth about $2.7MM. I'll have more on this topic later today.

Money Time: Upcoming Free Agents In The Playoffs

May 12th, 2012 at 2:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Last week we looked at some players on the cusp of free agency who were making some surprising postseason impressions, both positive and negative, on prospective employers. With the first round almost over and the conference semifinals about to begin, let's check in with some more soon-to-be free agents in the playoffs:

Winners

Reggie Evans, Clippers: Anyone who can spark a 27-point comeback in the playoffs, as he did in Game 1, deserves to be on this list, and his energy throughout the first round has been critical for the Clippers. His already superb number of rebounds per 36 minutes has jumped from 12.7 in the regular season to 13.7 in the playoffs, and, for what it's worth, has his team's best defensive rating in the playoffs, per Basketball-Reference.

Andre Miller, Nuggets: It's easy to forget about Miller sometimes, particularly since he's been coming off the bench for Denver. Yet the NBA's 10th leading assist-maker all-time reminded everyone, including the Lakers, of what he can do with a 24-point, eight assist performance full of clutch shots in Tuesday's Game 5. He's the team's third leading scorer in the postseason at 12.7 PPG, outdoing Arron Afflalo, who signed a $36.75MM deal before the season.

Jordan Hill, Lakers (restricted): He had his breakthrough in the final week of the regular season against the Thunder, and he's continued to justify coach Mike Brown's decision to use him as the primary backup to both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the playoffs. He's pulling down more rebounds per game than Gasol in significantly fewer minutes, and has 25 offensive boards, more than anyone else in the postseason. Hill's rebounds-per-36-minutes number (13.4) nearly equals that of Reggie Evans.

Losers

O.J. Mayo, Grizzlies (restricted): The postseason is a terrible time to go through a shooting slump, but that's exactly what's happened with Mayo, who's hitting on just 31.4% of his field goal attempts against the Clippers. He went a combined 3-for-20 in Games 3, 4 and 5, and took only three shots in Game 6. His inability to efficiently handle the backup point guard duties — he's got 13 assists and 17 turnovers — isn't helping his cause, either.

Randy Foye, Clippers: Foye's minutes are up but his scoring is down for the playoffs, which is about as inauspicious as it gets for a free agent wing player. The culprit appears to his inability to get off shots and get to the line. His attempts in both categories are off while his postseason shooting percentage of 37.8% is not that far down from the 39.8% he shot in the regular season. His excuse may be that he's being guarded by Tony Allen, an elite defender, but Allen isn't with him on every possession. His Basketball-Reference defensive rating is the second worst on the team, so his struggles aren't limited to one end of the floor.

Jodie Meeks, Sixers (restricted): He started 50 games this season and played 24.9 minutes per contest, but barely got off the bench once he was removed from the starting five after Game 1 against Chicago. He took a total of three shots from the floor, missing each of them, in 32 minutes during the first round.