LeBron James Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Big Three Will Give Riley Time To Upgrade

July 1st, 2014 at 12:48am CST by Zachary Links

12:48am: In an update to his story, Wojnarowski writes that Bosh, Wade, and Udonis Haslem have the framework of deals in place to remain with Miami, arming Riley with his limitations within the salary cap to sign talent, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

“Everybody has their [contract] number and has left a little bit of room to let [Riley] maneuver,” one source briefed on the contract discussions said.

With that bit of space, Riley plans to look into free agents including Marcin Gortat and Marvin Williams.

8:16pm: As free agency starts, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade plan to give Pat Riley a window to enact his plan for upgrading the team’s supporting cast, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

Of course, much of what Riley can do will depend on how much breathing room he has to operate with. There was some hope that James would take less than the max deal to help the Heat reload, but earlier today we learned that’s not in the cards. LeBron met with Wade and Bosh to discuss salaries over the weekend, so it will be up to Wade and Bosh to take discounts if the Heat are going to add a free agent of note this summer. Both Bosh and Wade, along with LeBron, took less than the max to sign with Miami in 2010, so it remains to be seen if they’ll take another pay cut.

Teams will be blowing up all three of their phones when the clock strikes midnight tonight, but LeBron, Wade, and Bosh will give Miami an opportunity to prepare a battle plan before they consider going elsewhere.

Los Angeles Rumors: LeBron, Melo, Meeks, Hawes

July 1st, 2014 at 12:45am CST by Zachary Links

The Clippers continue to have interest in LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter). The Clips also placed calls to Luol Deng, Darren Collison, and Trevor Ariza tonight. The Clippers don’t have meetings scheduled with James or Anthony but remain interested and will continue to pursue both of them, Shelburne tweets. More out of L.A..

Mark Medina of the Daily News (on Twitter) hears that Jodie Meeks received calls from a “number of teams” including the Lakers. It’s unclear who those other teams are, however.
Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter) hears that Spencer Hawes might be too expensive for the Clippers. The big man is seeking $8MM per season, a raise over the $6.5MM he made in 2013/14.
The Clippers are interested in free agent Ed Davis, sources Turner (via Twitter).

Southwest Rumors: ‘Melo, Deng, Harris, Lowry

July 1st, 2014 at 12:02am CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavs are prioritizing a meeting with Carmelo Anthony before locking in a date with LeBron James, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. That speaks to the belief around the league that LeBron is staying in Miami, Berger adds. There’s more on the Mavs within the latest from the Southwest Division:

The Mavericks were the first team on the phone with Luol Deng‘s representatives tonight, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The Mavs‘ first face-to-face meeting tonight is between owner Mark Cuban and point guard Devin Harris, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey has traveled to Philadelphia to meet with free agent guard Kyle Lowry tonight, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Coach Kevin McHale is also there for the pitch, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link).
Andray Blatche has been telling people around the league that he may end up with the Pelicans, sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard the Nets big man linked to New Orleans.

Lakers Call LeBron James’ Agent

June 30th, 2014 at 11:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lakers called LeBron James‘ agent Rich Paul early this morning, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter). James, of course, will not be taking face-to-face meetings with teams at this time and is allowing Paul to handle talks with teams.

While there is a growing belief in league circles that James will wind up returning to the Heat, that’s not going to stop teams from building ambitious plans to make a run at the top player in the NBA. James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh will field pitches from other clubs this week, but they’ll reportedly wait to hear what Pat Riley has in mind before getting in advanced talks with anyone else.

Bosh and Wade might take pay cuts to make things work in Miami, but James reportedly is only interested in a max deal.

And-Ones: Suns, Summer League, Kidd

June 29th, 2014 at 5:54pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jason Kidd met with members of the Bucks on Friday, and a resolution to the situation is expected within the next 24 hours, reports Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links). Gardner also notes that Kidd was discussing only a coaching position, and the Nets were asking for a first-round draft pick, while the Bucks are offering a second-rounder as compensation.

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh Opt Out

June 29th, 2014 at 4:05pm CST by Charlie Adams

SUNDAY, 4:05pm: Pat Riley was informed today by agent Henry Thomas that Bosh is exercising his early termination option and will become an unrestricted free agent, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports (Twitter link).

5:28pm: Bosh is “on the verge” of opting out, and will do so before the deadline on Monday, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.

3:18pm: Bosh has not yet decided whether he’ll opt out or not, his agent tells David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link).

SATURDAY, 2:37pm: Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will opt out of their current deals and enter free agency this summer, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Chris Broussard of ESPN (Twitter links). Wade and Bosh become the latest members of Miami to opt out of their deals, following news that LeBron James and Udonis Haslem had done the same.

Wade’s decision to exercise his early termination option and pass on the final two years of his deal means that he’ll forfeit over $41.8MM in guaranteed salary. He’s unlikely to garner an offer worth a higher annual value in free agency, given his age and concerns about his health.

Bosh, who’s sacrificing a guaranteed $42.6MM, will likely be able to fetch a higher salary than Wade, and Broussard hears the big man is seeking a five-year pact worth $15-$16MM per year. Such a deal would be worth less than what Bosh would have made had he chosen not to opt out.

The duo’s motivation to sacrifice so much money is a result of their desire to make a future work with LeBron, who’s seeking a max contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Although LeBron’s priority remains to find a way to make a future work with Miami, a failure by the organization toward improving their roster to his satisfaction could mean the four-time MVP leaves Miami, says Wojnarowski.

If the Heat renounce the Bird Rights of their free agents, they will have a record $55MM in cap room this summer, with only Norris Cole‘s contract guaranteed on the books next season. To no surprise, Pat Riley has already confirmed to reporters, including Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post, that he hopes to bring back Wade and Haslem for the 2014/15 campaign (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Lakers, Parsons, Honeycutt

June 29th, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Eddie Scarito

If they are unable to land Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James, the Lakers are also expected to have a strong interest in Wizards free-agent forward Trevor Ariza, Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Pistons center Greg Monroe, and Suns forward Channing Frye, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Lakers Don’t Give Qualifying Offer To Bazemore

June 28th, 2014 at 6:46pm CST by Charlie Adams

6:46pm: Despite the Lakers deciding against making Bazemore a restricted free agent, there is mutual interest between the team and guard in his return to LA next season, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

2:01pm: The Lakers have chosen not to extend a qualifying offer to Kent Bazemore, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). As a result of the team’s decision, Bazemore will become an unrestricted free agent, and Los Angeles will receive a cap hold of $915,243 on their books.

Bazemore was shipped from Golden State to LA near the deadline last season, and he proved to be a valuable rotation piece for the Lakers. He averaged 13.1 points in 28.0 minutes per game while shooting 45% from the field.

Los Angeles wants as much cap flexibility as possible to increase their odds at signing Carmelo Anthony and/or LeBron James this summer, according to Pick (Twitter link). It’s unlikely that the decision to refrain from extending a qualifying offer to Bazemore will be the deciding factor in landing either of the superstars, but the move will provide slightly more breathing room nonetheless.

Haslem Opts Out, Wade And Bosh To Follow?

June 28th, 2014 at 10:13am CST by Cray Allred

Udonis Haslem has opted out of the the final year of his contract, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report. Skolnick suggests that the move is a part of a concerted strategy by the Heat’s Big Three to provide cap flexibility in Miami, and that Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will exercise their early termination clauses for the same purpose. Haslem will forgo $4.6MM in salary for 2014/15 in hopes of re-signing a multi-year deal that rewards him financially while giving the Heat some much needed breathing room as it seeks to retain and build around its championship core (all Twitter links).

As soon as LeBron James terminated his contract with Miami for this season, the onus shifted to the Heat management and players to find a way to convince the league’s best player of their viability as a long-term contender. Haslem shares representation with Wade and Bosh, and had the trio opted to remain on their original contracts, there would have been virtually no room for team president Pat Riley to significantly improve the roster outside of re-signing aging veterans.

While Bosh has maintained his willingness to accept a reduced deal in order to keep the team in tact, Wade has been mum on his decision. Wade stands to sacrifice the most by terminating his deal, as he would give up over $41.8MM over the next two years in salary. That’s a number he is very unlikely to fetch on the open market, especially after a poor showing in the Finals despite regimented rest to keep him fresh throughout the year.

Eastern Rumors: Rondo, Love, ‘Melo, Bucks

June 27th, 2014 at 9:02am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters Thursday night that he intends to keep Rajon Rondo around in spite of the team’s decision to draft fellow point guard Marcus Smart at No. 6, observes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Rondo’s name has come up frequently in trade rumors, but Ainge, as usual, did his best to dispel such talk, also dismissing the idea that Smart’s arrival is a harbinger of soon-to-be restricted free agent Avery Bradley‘s departure.

“Absolutely. No question,” Ainge said of whether Smart and Rondo could share the floor. “And [Smart] and Avery. No question. [Smart]’s a very versatile player. He can play off the ball. He can handle the ball. With his length and his size, he can probably play against a lot of small forwards — 6’3″, long wingspan, 230 pounds. He’s a very versatile player. Easily those guys can play together, and I think they would really thrive playing together, all of them.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Kevin Love is “100%” on board with the notion of signing a long-term deal with the Cavs if LeBron James returns to Cleveland, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Trade talk between the Cavs and Wolves had reportedly halted when Love made it clear he wouldn’t remain in Cleveland past his current deal if Minnesota sent him there.
Knicks president Phil Jackson reiterated his desire for Carmelo Anthony to take less than the maximum salary to re-sign with the club, notes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. “I think it puts limitations on a team,” Jackson said of a maximum-salary contract. “What happens is then you end up having two or three players that have big contracts and everybody else’s is either veteran minimums or young players coming in. You don’t have that middle ground for a player that’s veteran, comfortable leadership-quality people. Miami explored it. I think they got the most out of it.”
The Bucks are looking to acquire a veteran big man, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times, who believes that Larry Sanders would be a part of any deal to acquire one (Twitter links).