Kevin Love Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Gasol, Love, Mavs, Deng

July 13th, 2014 at 9:56pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lakers have officially renounced the rights to Pau Gasol along with an entertaining list of long-retired players, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports (via Twitter). Prepare for a stroll down memory lane. The Lakers renounced the rights to Horace Grant, Ron Harper, Jim Jackson, Karl Malone, Ira Newble, Theo Ratliff, Mitch Richmond, John Salley, Brian Shaw, Joe Smith, and Shammond Williams. The Lakers had to drop the rights to those players in order to help make the Jeremy Lin trade possible. For more on cap holds, check out our cap holds entry in the Hoops Rumors Glossary. More out of the West..

The main holdup in the Kevin Love talks between the Wolves and Warriors is obviously Klay Thompson, but there’s more to it, as Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News explains. The Wolves don’t regard David Lee and Harrison Barnes as highly as Golden State does, thanks to Lee’s hefty contract and Barnes’ down season in 2013/14.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told reporters, including Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, that he wasn’t banking on landing Carmelo Anthony this summer. “We always felt like it was a longshot,” Kupchak said. “We gave it our best shot and we’re happy to accomplish what we did and we still have more work to do.”
Lance Stephenson could prove to be this summer’s Monta Ellis for the Mavericks, tweets Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. The Mavs weren’t necessarily high on Ellis last summer but he fell to them at a great price after everyone else passed.
The Cavaliers’ re-signing of James complicated Deng’s situation, as sign-and-trade options that could have led to a bigger payday for him were no longer available and James’ decision to sign a two-year deal set a new precedent on the market that came into play, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. The Mavericks‘ preference to go after Stephenson if they can’t land Chandler Parsons also limited Deng’s options.

Western Rumors: Love, Deng, Stephenson, Suns

July 12th, 2014 at 8:24pm CST by Cray Allred

There has been no movement on a Kevin Love deal between the Wolves and Warriors, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. A source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com that Love’s willingness to re-sign with the Cavs is unlikely to be squelched by news that LeBron James‘ contract only runs two years (Twitter link). Here’s a rundown of tonight’s Western notes:

While Luol Deng is advancing in talks toward a roughly two-year, $20MM with the Heat, Sam Amick of USA Today hears (Twitter links) that the free agent is waiting to see what happens with the Mavs offer sheet to Chandler Parsons before making a final decision. If Dallas missed out on Parsons, Deng would likely be their next target.
However, the Mavs are considering pursuing Lance Stephenson on a short term deal at a higher salary before chasing Deng, should Houston match their offer sheet for Parsons, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Mark Cuban acknowledged to reporters including Candace Buckner of The Indy Star that Stephenson was “on the list” if the Mavs are unable to land Parsons.
The Suns addition of Isaiah Thomas does not mean that the team is looking to move on from Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Tyler Ennis, or Archie Goodwin, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. While each guard can play the point, the Phoenix system allows for shooting guards to facilitate as well, leaving the opportunity for each to continue to contribute or develop.
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro told Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that the team could add another ball handler to the roster, but not necessarily a point guard (Twitter links). D’Alessandro said the Kings are also seeking ways of reducing salary as they approach the luxury tax line.
Gordon Hayward‘s agent believes his performance last year was impacted by feeling the pressure of his looming restricted free agency, and expects the forward to be better now that he has secured a long-term deal with the Jazz, tweets Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Central Rumors: Wiggins, Pacers, Mirotic

July 12th, 2014 at 7:47pm CST by Cray Allred

The Central Division has been reshaping the past few days, with LeBron James and Pau Gasol arriving to the Cavs and Bulls, respectively. Here’s a rundown of the division:

If Andrew Wiggins is set to be traded in a deal for Kevin Love, David Blatt doesn’t know anything about it, reports Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter). “He’s not going anywhere, as far as I’ve heard,” said the Cavs‘ soon-to-be first-year coach.
LeBron’s two-year contract with the Cavs is purely a business decision and doesn’t indicate any hesitancy from James to finish his career in Cleveland, a source tells Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Zillgitt explains how James could maximize his earnings with a series of short-term deals in the coming years.
The Cavs renounced their rights to Luol Deng, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. The move clears Deng’s cap hold with Cleveland and forfeits their right to exceed the cap to sign him, but it clears the cap room necessary for Cleveland to sign LeBron. Deng has long been expected to sign elsewhere this summer, and is in serious talks with the Heat.
The Pacers are interested in obtaining Suns point guard Goran Dragic, potentially in a sign-and-trade agreement involving Lance Stephenson, writes Mitch Lawrence of New York Daily News.
The Pacers would also be interested in Carlos Boozer, should he get amnestied by the Bulls, writes Lawrence.
The Bulls were offered a late top-10 2014 draft pick for Nikola Mirotic and declined, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Cavs Rumors: Love, Andersen, Irving, Miller

July 12th, 2014 at 2:29pm CST by Charlie Adams

Cleveland has had nothing to complain about so far this offseason, landing the first overall selection in the draft, securing Kyrie Irving to a long-term deal, and signing the league’s best player in LeBron James. Let’s have a look at the latest from the Cavs’ camp..

Kevin Love is “intrigued” by the notion of being traded to the Cavs, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com, in a report that confirms the All-Star would still be willing to re-sign in Cleveland now that LeBron will be present.
The Cavs have been in contact with Chris Andersen‘s agent, but haven’t entered into serious talks yet, reports Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Amico adds that the Heat are determined to keep the big man from landing in Cleveland.
Irving holds an early termination option for the fifth year on the max extension he recently inked with the Cavs, and the deal will also include a 15% trade kicker, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Talks between the Cavs and Mike Miller are not yet imminent, but Cleveland is Miller’s top choice, hears Amico (Twitter links).

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Latest On Kevin Love

July 11th, 2014 at 6:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

6:16pm: Sources told Broussard that the Cavs made an offer of Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett and a first-round pick for Love, but that framework is a no-go, Broussard writes.

3:49pm: The Cavs have told Wiggins he won’t be traded, but the Wolves continue to insist on his inclusion if they’re to give up Love, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com, who says that the Cavs would have to bring a third team into the deal to find a workable solution.

2:36pm: The Warriors would be willing to trade David Lee, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and a future first-round pick in a deal that would net them Kevin Love, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Still, Klay Thompson remains off-limits, and the Warriors remain steadfastly against taking Kevin Martin in any such deal, Wolfson adds in a second tweet.

Golden State faces plenty of competition for the league’s top trade candidate. Love, who can hit free agency next year, is seemingly “100%” on board with the idea of staying in Cleveland long-term, should the Wolves deal him there, now that LeBron James is back with the Cavs, so Cleveland seems like a major player. Most reports have indicated that the Cavs wouldn’t give up No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins to acquire Love, as the Wolves are demanding, but multiple executives from around the league told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that they believe Wiggins will be in play in those talks, as we noted earlier.

Still, the Warriors maintain that they won’t give up Thompson even if the Cavs make a strong push for Love, a source tells Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Thompson is eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer, and co-owner Joe Lacob has vowed to lock him up, though Lacob didn’t specify whether he envisions doing so via extension or next summer in restricted free agency.

Cavs Pursuing Kevin Love

July 11th, 2014 at 12:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:33pm: Multiple executives from around the league indicated to Ken Berger of CBSSports that Wiggins would be in play in a Cavs trade for Love, which runs counter to earlier reports (Twitter link).

FRIDAY, 8:09am: Belief that the Cavs wouldn’t part with Wiggins in a trade for Love continues to grow, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, and a Cavs source told Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio on Thursday that Wiggins is untouchable (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 5:07pm: Rival executives tell Chris Mannix of SI.com that the Wolves are giving no indication that they are in a rush to make a deal with Cleveland (Twitter link).

4:24pm: Wiggins would have to be part of any deal for Love, Krawczynski tweets.

4:01pm: The Cavs are indeed pursuing a trade for Love contingent on their ability to sign James, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

1:24pm: The Cavs spoke to agent Rich Paul, the representative for LeBron James, about trade scenarios that would allow Cleveland to acquire Kevin Love, report Sam Amico and Zac Jackson of Fox Sports Ohio. Cavs officials told Paul that engineering such a trade wouldn’t be easy, a source tells Amico and Jackson, and the source added that Cleveland is reluctant to include Andrew Wiggins in a Love trade. Wiggins’ camp doesn’t believe the Cavs are considering trading him, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (Twitter link).

Cleveland and Minnesota have reportedly engaged in exploratory discussions regarding Love, but those apparently came to an end when the Cavs learned that Love, who can hit free agency next year, wouldn’t re-sign with them. That would change if the Cavs can sign James, as Love is “100%” on board with the idea of staying in Cleveland long-term to play with the four-time MVP, as ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported late last month.

There’s plenty of competition for Love, and Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders seems in no rush to deal his star power forward, even though it’s clear he wants to leave Minnesota. It’s indeed difficult to imagine Saunders giving the OK to deal with Cleveland that didn’t include Wiggins, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press observes (on Twitter), but the Cavs aren’t without other intriguing trade assets, one of which I explained Tuesday.

Celtics Notes: Love, Rondo, Trade Exception

July 10th, 2014 at 10:44am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes that Kevin Love would like to play in Boston, but he also understands that the presence of Rajon Rondo isn’t enough to attract the power forward, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald hears. Instead, it seems Love may be casting his eye southward. An NBA GM told Bulpett that his players have been talking about the possibility that if the Wolves don’t trade Love, he’ll opt out of his contract next summer and sign with the Heat.

“I don’t know what to think anymore, but guys are saying there’s no way Love stays with Minnesota,” the GM said. “And if they don’t trade him, he’ll just opt out next summer and go play with LeBron [James] in Miami.”

That assumes, of course, that James would still be in Miami himself. Love has been a hot topic of conversation in Boston ever since his weekend getaway to the Hub a month ago, and there’s more on Love and an incumbent Celtics star amid the latest on the C’s:

The Wolves haven’t given the Celtics the names of any players they’d like Boston to get to sweeten the Celtics’ offer for Love, Bulpett writes in the same piece. Minnesota reportedly isn’t attracted to any combination of assets the Celtics currently hold.
Rajon Rondo isn’t certain if he’ll mimic Carmelo Anthony‘s multi-city free agency tour when it’s his turn to hit the market next summer, as he tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe. For now, Rondo seems committed to the Celtics. “Obviously everybody is waiting on [Anthony] and LeBron, so I’m not anxious at all,” Rondo said. “I have a lot going on here. I can only worry about what I can control — that’s myself and my game. Obviously, nothing’s happened, but I still trust Danny [Ainge]. Danny wants to win, so we’ll make something happen.”
Regardless of whether they can hook Love, the C’s will hold off on trading Rondo unless they receive an overwhelming offer, Bulpett hears.
The Celtics deftly used every bit, and then some, of the $10,275,136 trade exception they had left over from last summer’s Nets trade to facilitate their three-way trade with the Nets and Cavs that became official this morning. The salaries for Marcus Thornton and Tyler Zeller, the players headed to Boston, total $10,278,760, but the NBA allows teams to exceed their trade exceptions by up to $100K to get deals done.

Western Notes: Mavs, Dirk, Calathes, Woodson

July 9th, 2014 at 7:57pm CST by Cray Allred

The Mavs‘ top three free agent targets for next summer are LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, and Kevin Love, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas. Here’s more from out West:

Dirk Nowitzki has already agreed to re-sign with the Mavs at a discounted rate, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the Rockets have a standing max offer with the future Hall-of-Famer.
Nick Calathes says he hasn’t asked the Grizzlies to release him, even though it would be to his financial benefit if they did, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal details. He’s on a non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary this season, and the team seemingly intends to keep him, Two European teams loom with three-year, $6.5MM offers, but Calathes is undecided about whether he prefers to remain with the Grizzlies or sign overseas, as he tells Tillery. “Once you see a big offer on the table you’re going to think about it,” Calathes said. “You think about it always. That kind of money obviously can change your life. I’m playing the game I love so I’m real blessed. Whichever way it goes, I’m going to be happy.”
Mike Woodson will return to the bench next season as a member of Doc Rivers‘ assistant coaching staff with the Clippers, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Since being fired by the Knicks at the close of this past season, Woodson has maintained his interest in returning to the bench, but hadn’t been linked with any teams seeking a head coach this offseason.
Chris Mannix of SI.com suggests that patience on the part of the Wolves could pay off regarding Love, as additional suitors with better assets could surface once the biggest free agent movements are done (via Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Love, Rondo, Stephenson

July 8th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics and Timberwolves haven’t spoken in more than a week about a Kevin Love trade, two sources tell Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Three GMs tell Bulpett that if the Celtics changed gears and attempted to trade Rajon Rondo, they would have a hard time finding full value for him on the trade market at present, though it’s unclear precisely why. There’s more on the C’s from Bulpett’s piece amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:

The Celtics have yet to contact Lance Stephenson or agent Alberto Ebanks, according to Bulpett, despite Monday’s report that the C’s had interest.
The Hornets and Wizards are the front-runners for Kris Humphries while the Celtics seem like they’re removing themselves from the pursuit, a source tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
A source tells Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com that Garrett Temple isn’t weighing any offer from the Heat. A Monday report indicated that the point guard was leaning toward signing with Miami.
The Pistons have jumped into the running for Brian Roberts, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, who reiterates his earlier report that the Grizzlies are interested, too.
The Heat‘s path to signing Carmelo Anthony would be complex and hard to configure financially, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com details, while Mark Deeks of ShamSports, writing for Hoop365, outlines a much more palatable scenario that lands ‘Melo with the Bulls.
The Knicks have officially named Kurt Rambis as the team’s lead assistant coach, the team announced. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com first reported the deal, and Marc Berman of the New York Post reported that the Knicks offered four years at an annual salary of $1.2MM to lure him from his job as a Lakers assistant coach.

Western Notes: LeBron, Warriors, Mavs

July 6th, 2014 at 8:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Warriors could have dealt Harrison Barnes to the Magic for Arron Afflalo and a future first-round pick, a source tells Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (on Twitter). The Warriors passed, but such a deal would have eased losing Klay Thompson in a Kevin Love trade.