Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Luol Deng

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.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Heat Frontrunners For Luol Deng?

July 13th, 2014 at 8:40am CST by Eddie Scarito

8:40am: The Heat and Deng are still significantly apart on salary, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Deng has been turning down $10MM per season offers for months, notes Windhorst.

8:11am: In the wake of losing the talents of LeBron James to the Cavaliers, the Heat are scrambling to fill their void at small forward. Their primary target looks to be free agent Luol Deng, who James technically replaced in Cleveland. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Miami has emerged as the frontrunner to land the veteran’s services.

Heat president Pat Riley and Deng’s agent Ron Shade spent significant time negotiating on Saturday and plan to reconnect this morning to continue working towards an agreement, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The two sides are reportedly discussing a a two-year, $20MM contract, per the article. Miami is competing with several teams, including the Hawks, Suns and Mavericks, to sign Deng.

Deng’s career numbers are 16.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.5 APG over ten NBA seasons. His career slash lines are .457/.329/.773.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Free Agency Notes: Deng, Augustin, Mavs

July 12th, 2014 at 10:08pm CST by Cray Allred

The Pacers organization is presenting a united in front in their attempts to convince Lance Stephenson to re-sign with Indiana, reports Michael Marot of The Associated Press. Indy brass, coaches, and players are hopeful they can challenge again in the East with Stephenson back aboard now that LeBron James has fled Miami. Here are more of the night’s free agency rumblings:

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Eastern Rumors: Knicks, Miller, Deng, Ariza

July 12th, 2014 at 9:32pm CST by Cray Allred

With Carmelo Anthony set to re-sign with the Knicks, New York can now focus on setting up a supporting cast to play alongside him. One name they’re interested in re-signing is Toure’ Murry, tweets Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal. Here’s more from around the East:

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

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.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

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.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Southeast Rumors: Stephenson, Deng, Wade

July 12th, 2014 at 5:42pm CST by Charlie Adams

Lance Stephenson will be targeted by multiple teams in the coming days, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The Hornets had their offer sheet for Gordon Hayward matched by the Jazz, and a league source tells Deveney that Charlotte’s secondary plans of upgrading their roster will bring a Stephenson pursuit to the forefront of the free agency landscape. Here’s more out of the Southeast..

  • The Heat are making progress in their pursuit of Luol Deng, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Deng doesn’t have an offer from Miami yet but expects to talk with the team today, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
  • Meanwhile, the Hawks, who were rumored to have interest in Deng, likely won’t be making a deal with the small forward, since the two sides are a ways apart on the dollar amount of a potential contract, reveals Amick (on Twitter)
  • Both Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are negotiating the length and salary of deals to return to the Heat, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report. The pair are expected to remain in Miami on multi-year contracts after opting out to restructure around LeBron James, who left for Cleveland.
  • The Hornets pursuit of Marvin Williams was put on hold while Charlotte waited for the Jazz to officially match their offer sheet for Hayward, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Presumably, those negotiations will resume now that Utah has matched the Hayward deal.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Rockets Rumors: Parsons, Deng, Ariza, Pierce

July 12th, 2014 at 11:12am CST by Cray Allred

After striking out on signing Chris Bosh, the Rockets are in scramble mode, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston might have some major rebuilding to do after shipping out Jeremy Lin in a cap-clearing move, and Omer Asik is still set to depart as soon as the Pelicans create room to finalize that separate agreement. Here’s the latest on Houston’s latest turbulence, including more from Feigen’s article:

  • The Rockets have been in contact with free agent small forwards Luol Deng and Trevor Ariza, a sign that they are considering alternatives to matching the Mavs offer sheet signed by Chandler Parsons, writes Feigen. Houston was prepared to pay Parsons a max salary as a piece in a premier lineup featuring Bosh, but is less eager to do so now.
  • Paul Pierce recently showed interest in joining the Rockets, although Feigen is unsure if that interest was contingent on Houston obtaining Bosh.
  • The talks with Deng and Ariza were described as “advanced” by Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (on Twitter). McMahon considers the development a good sign for Dallas’ hopes of acquiring Parsons, but notes that nothing is yet certain.
  • However, Houston appears out of the running for Deng, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Stein says the Rockets are “still in the hunt” for Ariza.
  • The Rockets have joined the Heat, Cavs, and Mavs in pursuit of Chris Andersen, tweets Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report.
  • Earlier, we passed along news that the Rockets have reached a snag in contract negotiations with No. 25 pick Clint Capela.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Eastern Notes: Hairston, Bazemore, Heat

July 11th, 2014 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

First-round draft pick P.J. Hairston told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that he had no idea his agent, Juan Morrow, wasn’t union-certified, as Kami Mattioli of The Sporting News reported Thursday. It’s unclear if the Hornets, who acquired Hairston in a draft-night trade with the Heat, engaged in negotiations with Morrow, but they’d be subject to a $50K fine if they did, as Mattioli notes.

More from out of the east:

  • The Cavaliers pursuit of free agents Ray Allen and Mike Miller has intensified over the last few hours, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
  • Miller has a serious interest in joining the Cavaliers, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
  • The Bulls and Hornets are in pursuit of Kirk Hinrich, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • The Heat are engaged in discussions with free agents Trevor Ariza and Luol Deng for their job opening at small forward, tweets Wojnarowski.
  • Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets that the Hawks and the Hornets are showing serious interest in Kent Bazemore.
  • There is a strong market for Heat free agent Chris Andersen, but he remains “very loyal” to the Miami organization, and hasn’t made a decision about where he’ll sign, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Rockets Receive Mavs Offer Sheet For Parsons

July 10th, 2014 at 6:03pm CST by Cray Allred

6:03pm: The three-day clock on the Parsons offer sheet will begin tonight at 11pm CDT, reports Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (Twitter link), giving the Rockets until Sunday at that time to match. In a separate tweet, Price reports that the deal will pay Parsons $14.7MM next season, $15.36MM in 2015/16 and $16.02MM in 2016/17 for a total of $46.08MM over three years. Price also confirms the third year is a player option.

1:59pm: The Rockets have received the signed offer sheet from the Mavs, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports, so the possibility of a sign-and-trade is out and Houston’s three-day window to match will begin (Twitter link).

1:24pm: Parsons indeed signed the offer sheet, Wojnarowski clarifies, but it simply hasn’t been delivered to the Rockets, meaning it’s not official yet, and the clubs can continue to work toward a sign-and-trade (Twitter link).

12:55pm: Dallas and Houston are indeed in talks about a sign-and-trade involving Parsons, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Wojnarowski also says Parsons has yet to sign an offer sheet, repeating what Nelson told reporters earlier today. That’s in spite of the earlier report to the contrary and photos of Parsons signing paperwork that Mavs owner Cuban posted to a social media site, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News observed.

11:57pm: Nelson told reporters that the plan is to submit the offer sheet by the end of the night, notes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com (on Twitter), so it appears that’s the deadline for working out a sign-and-trade.

11:52pm: A possible sign-and-trade is in play for the Mavs and Rockets regarding Parsons, which is why Dallas is hesitating to submit the offer sheet, tweets Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

11:36am: Mavs GM Donnie Nelson said the team hasn’t submitted any offer sheets, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. That suggests that while Parsons may have indeed signed the offer sheet, the Mavs haven’t officially given the Rockets notice, as required, to begin the three-day matching period.

10:37am: If the Rockets sign Bosh, they intend to match the offer sheet for Parsons if they can before their time to do so runs out, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). If they don’t sign Bosh, Houston is undecided on matching, Feigen adds.

THURSDAY, 8:04am: Parsons has signed the offer sheet, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com writes, but there’s been no announcement from the Mavs, so it’s unclear whether the Rockets have been officially notified and their three-day window to match the offer sheet has begun. The value of the trade kicker is the maximum 15%, according to Spears (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 8:06pm: The deal includes a trade kicker, tweets Spears.

5:56pm: The Mavs and Chandler Parsons have reached an agreement on an offer sheet for three years and approximately $46MM. The third year is a player option, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Marc Stein of ESPN.com was the first to report the agreement (on Twitter), and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has confirmed the pending deal (via Twitter). The max salary for a player of Parsons’ status on a three-year deal would be $46,228,710, as we learned earlier today, so Dallas has offered the max or close to it to the small forward.

Parsons will sign the offer sheet when the league moratorium is lifted at 12:01am EDT, a source tells Spears (Twitter link), and the Rockets will have three days to match the deal for their restricted free agent. Houston will be faced with a 72-hour window to resolve its pursuit of Chris Bosh if they want to retain both Parsons and add the Heat veteran, as Parsons currently minuscule cap hold will turn into a massive amount of salary if they match Dallas’ offer. The Rockets would no longer have room to sign Bosh at the max level in that scenario.

Houston chose to decline the slender $960K team option for Parsons this season in a move that preserved their right to match offers for the third-year forward in restricted free agency rather than see him become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Houston has planned on retaining Parsons through this process, although the outcome of their respective pursuits of Carmelo Anthony, Bosh, and LeBron James could have altered those plans. GM Daryl Morey has been in contact with the agents for Trevor Ariza, Luol Deng, and Paul Pierce today, tweets Wojnarowski and Sam Amick of USA Today, three small forwards that would make sense as contingency plans in the event Houston doesn’t match Dallas’ offer. As it stands, Houston hasn’t been notified that they are out of the running on Anthony or James, but don’t appear to be front runners for either star.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts