Mike Dunleavy Jr. Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls Re-Sign Mike Dunleavy

July 14th, 2015 at 5:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 14TH, 5:21pm: The deal is official, the Bulls announced via a press release.

9:08am: The sides have reached agreement, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’ll be $14.4MM over the course of the three years with a partial guarantee on the final season, Wojnarowski also tweets.

JULY 1ST, 8:16am: The Bulls and Mike Dunleavy are close to a three-year, $15MM deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Chicago has remained the favorite even as other teams were poised to give chase. LeBron James apparently prompted the Cavaliers to pursue the client of outgoing Wasserman agent Arn Tellem, while the Wizards and Clippers also reportedly had interest.

Chicago has Early Bird rights on Dunleavy, and it would seem they’re putting them to use here. The Cavs were likely limited to no more than the taxpayer’s mid-level of $3.376MM, and while the Wizards could have spent their $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level, the Bulls appear to have come up with a comparable figure. That’s even though Chicago is poised to pay the tax, too.

Cavs, Wizards Pursue Mike Dunleavy

June 30th, 2015 at 11:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

11:39pm: The Cavs are indeed in pursuit, as well as the Wizards, but the Bulls are still the favorites, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter).

9:26am: LeBron James would like the Cavs to sign Mike Dunleavy, but the small forward is highly likely to re-sign with the Bulls, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). James, though he’s opting out of his deal, has been very much engaged with Cavs management about the roster and is expected to re-sign. Dunleavy is also reportedly drawing interest from the Clippers.

Chicago apparently wants Dunleavy back, though there’s a limit to how much the Bulls would pay the client of outgoing Wasserman agent Arn Tellem. The Bulls are also highly likely to retain Jimmy Butler, whom they’ve made a maximum qualifying offer. Should Butler end up signing for the max, it’s likely the Bulls will have already exceeded the projected $81.6MM tax line even without a contract for Dunleavy.

The Cavs will probably end up paying an even heavier tax burden, and they’ll almost certainly be limited to offering Dunleavy the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception. The Bulls have Early Bird rights to Dunleavy, so they’ll likely be able to pay him as much as about $6MM next season if they want to.

Free Agent Rumors: Wright, Belinelli, Barea

June 29th, 2015 at 6:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

Dorell Wright is unlikely to return to the Trail Blazers, Jabari Young of CSNNW.com reports. Wright, who was born in Los Angeles, would like to return home and play for either the Clippers or Lakers, Young continues. The Lakers are the more likely suitor for the unrestricted free agent, who made $3.135MM last season, unless the Clippers fail to secure the services of Paul Pierce, Young adds. The Raptors could also make a run at Wright but Young believes the Heat, who were previously thought to be interested in Wright, probably won’t pursue him since Luol Deng exercised his player option.

In other free agent news around the league:

Spurs swingman Marco Belinelli could be targeted by the Bulls if they fail to re-sign Mike Dunleavy, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The Bulls have made retaining Dunleavy a priority and he’s comfortable playing in Chicago, Johnson adds. Both players are unrestricted free agents.
The Clippers are interested in C.J. Watson, Lavoy Allen, Darrell Arthur and Gerald Green, among others, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter links). They’d like to find a true point guard to serve as a backup, a league source tells Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter).
The Raptors could be a landing spot for Bismack Biyombo, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. Biyombo will be an unrestricted free agent because the Hornets decided not to make him a qualifying offer.
The Heat, Bulls, Lakers and Mavericks are among teams interested in signing J.J. Barea, a source told Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). Barea is seeking a multi-year contract in the $3MM per year range, MacMahon adds.
The only incumbent free agents the Pelicans don’t appear to have at least some interest in re-signing are Jimmer Fredette and Toney Douglas, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune details.

Eastern Notes: Crowder, Sixers, Dunleavy

June 27th, 2015 at 5:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics have completed the paperwork to make Jae Crowder a $1.1MM qualifying offer, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports. The deadline is Sunday. Crowder has expressed a desire to return to the Celtics but is expected to test the free-agent market, Murphy adds.

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Mario Hezonja’s buyout with his Barcelona team will be finalized as early as Monday, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. Barcelona had reduced the NBA escape clause for Hezonja, whom the Magic drafted with the No. 5 pick, to 1.5 million euros, or roughly $1.675MM, in order to retain his Euro rights, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com. (Twitter link). Agent Arn Tellem had been negotiating for a lower amount, as Pick reported previously. The most the Magic, who drafted him fifth overall, can pay toward a buyout is $625K, with the rest having to come from Hezonja. Orlando wound up drafting Hezonja despite a report that teams felt his camp might be steering him toward the Pistons. Tellem is leaving the Wasserman Media Group to take an executive position with the Pistons organization later this year.
The Sixers received second-round picks in 2020 and 2021 from the Knicks in the draft-night trade for Spanish big man Guillermo Hernangomez, according to Derek Bodner of PhillyMag.com. The Knicks had already traded away their own second-round picks through 2019, with the picks in 2018 and 2019 potentially headed to the Sixers. Bodner continues. Philadelphia will get a second-rounder from either the Knicks or Clippers in 2018, whichever is higher, Bodner adds.
The Bulls are hopeful of re-signing Mike Dunleavy, according to a tweet from Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. There’s interest from both sides but it depends on how much money the unrestricted free agent is seeking, Friedell adds.

Clippers Explore Potential Jamal Crawford Trades

June 22nd, 2015 at 4:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 4:33pm: Chandler is indeed an object of the Clippers’ interest, Markazi clarifies via Twitter. He’s on a lengthy list of Clippers small forward targets that includes soon-to-be free agents Pierce, Mike Dunleavy and Al-Farouq Aminu, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 12:10pm: The Clippers are investigating the possibility of trading Jamal Crawford, sources tell Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who writes amid a story about the impact of Monday trade acquisition Lance Stephenson. One option would be to trade Crawford and C.J. Wilcox to the Nuggets for Wilson Chandler, according to Markazi, though it’s unclear from the report which side, if either, has interest in such a deal.

Crawford’s salary of $5.675MM is only guaranteed for $1.5MM if he’s waived by the end of June 30th, though he remains a productive player who doesn’t seem like a candidate for a purely salary-clearing move. Still, the arrival of Stephenson, who plays Crawford’s positions, would appear to give L.A. less of a need for the two-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner.

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers told Fred Roggin of The Beat 980 this week that he’s looking for a starting small forward to replace Matt Barnes, whom the team sent out in the Stephenson trade, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times relayed via Twitter. The team is reportedly interested in Paul Pierce should he opt out from the Wizards. Chandler, who’ll make nearly $7.172MM on an expiring contract next season after the Nuggets let his partial guarantee date pass this spring, would probably fit that bill, too, though this past season was only the second in his eight-year NBA career in which he started at least 70 games.

Crawford switched agents recently, joining the Wasserman Media Group, and while his contract runs through next season, it’s perhaps a sign that he anticipated change in the nearer future. Wilcox, last year’s 28th overall pick, saw only 101 total minutes this past season, and while he has a guaranteed salary of nearly $1.16MM coming his way for 2015/16, a decision is due by October 31st on the $1.2MM-plus third-year team option attached to his rookie scale contract.

Clippers Notes: Rivers, Douglas-Roberts, Farmar

January 17th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Eddie Scarito

Austin Rivers is now a member of the Clippers and playing for his father, Doc Rivers, as a result of the recent trade. Bulls swingman Mike Dunleavy Jr. was in a similar situation years ago when he almost ended up being dealt to Los Angeles to play for his father, former coach Mike Dunleavy, something the younger Dunleavy wanted no part of, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “My concern was more with the locker room dynamic with the guys,” Dunleavy said. “It just seemed to me to be an awkward situation.“

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

Dunleavy is hopeful things will work out for the Rivers father-son tandem, but he’s far from convinced it will, Blakely adds. “I think there are only two ways it really works,” Dunleavy said. “You’re either the best player or the worst player. Those are the two extremes. Somewhere in between? That seems to me to be the greater challenge.“
Sam Amick of USA Today tweeted that a locker room or chemistry issue led to the Clippers cutting ties with Jordan Farmar and Chris Douglas-Roberts. This drew a response via Twitter from Douglas-Roberts, who acknowledged there were chemistry issues in Los Angeles, but he denied being a negative influence in the locker room. Douglas-Roberts also tweeted his gratitude for the trade.
Farmar was disappointed that things didn’t work out for him with the Clippers, but the player acknowledged that he and the team weren’t a great fit, Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times writes. “I just never felt I had a real role,” Farmar said. “We talked in the offseason about what my job was going to be. The opportunity just wasn’t the same. It was never time for me to really ever get going and feel comfortable and feel like I had a place on the team.”
When the elder Rivers contacted his son about potentially coming to L.A., Austin needed time to consider the proposition, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. “The first thing I did was call my mom,” Austin Rivers said. “She’s going to have to deal with this. She was a wreck the first night. She was calling me, ‘What if this happens and what if that happens?’ I was like, ‘Mom, it’s not on anybody but me and him.’ At the end of the day, my job is to play and compete and that’s it. It’s not like in the last second of the game I’m going to have the ball in my hands. I know my role here. I know Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are the leaders.“

Bulls Rumors: Fredette, Thibodeau, Granger

February 28th, 2014 at 2:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls appear on the verge of a deal with Jimmer Fredette, and although coach Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t address the soon-to-be former King specifically with reporters, he dropped strong hints that Fredette is the sort of player the team wants to add. Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com rounds up the coach’s remarks.

“We could always use shooting so we’ll see,” Thibodeau said. “I know (Bulls executives are) looking at a number of guys right now. But any time we could add shooting, we’re interested. I think the more shooting you have the more it opens up the floor. It’s just to create the space, too. We want to open things up where we could attack off the dribble with our cuts, things of that nature. But it’s also how you complement your primary scorers, so we feel that’s an area of need.”

There’s news about Thibodeau himself amid the latest from Chicago:

Bulls vice president of basketball John Paxson operations issued another dismissal of rumors that Thibodeau will leave the team this summer over disagreements with the front office, notes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “He is not going anywhere. … I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that our team is the best prepared in the NBA with Tom as our head coach,’’ Paxson said Thursday on WGWG-FM 87.7.
Sources close to the Bulls tell Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald that they didn’t have strong interest in Danny Granger or Caron Butler, despite reports putting them in the mix for both.
Trade chatter surrounded Mike Dunleavy and Kirk Hinrich before the deadline, but the Bulls never engaged in serious talks to deal away either of them, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com, who answers reader questions in his latest mailbag column.

Central Rumors: Turner, Bulls, Pacers, Cavs

February 20th, 2014 at 7:38pm CST by Zachary Links

NBA executives are praising the Pacers for their acquisition of Evan Turner because it improves their team, reduces payroll, and gives them leverage with Lance Stephenson when he’s a free agent next summer, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. This may prove to be just a short-term rental for the Pacers as they swapped one pending free agent for another, but it’s definitely an upgrade for their club in the here and now. Here’s more out of the Central..

Despite some rumors to the contrary, the Bulls showed no desire to move Mike Dunleavy because he’s an affordable rotation player who fits next season, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. For his part, Tom Thibodeau is satisfied with what was a quiet deadline for the Bulls.
The Cavs have a vacant roster spot and will fill it through free agency or a D-League signing, but GM David Griffin says that he’ll take his time to identify the club’s biggest need, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
With the Turner deal, the Pacers have sent a strong message to the Heat that they are ready to take it all this season, writes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Turner will allow the Pacers to play small at times, matching up with teams that use quick lineups. More importantly, he brings serious ball-handling skills to the table, which should help round out the Indiana offense nicely.
While the addition of Turner could be a boost on paper, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders fears that the Pacers could be making a mistake by messing with their chemistry.
With the smart (but painful) trade, the Pacers put themselves in great position for the remainder of the year, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
If Roger Mason Jr, clears waivers, he could be a candidate for the Bulls when Jarvis Varnado‘s 10-day pact expires, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
In today’s presser, a reporter asked Griffin if he considers Cavs star Kyrie Irving an untouchable. He explained that his philosophy is that no one is untouchable, tweets the Plain Dealer. Meanwhile, Griffin says that he wasn’t close to a deal for Luol Deng, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio, but he added that if he didn’t listen, he wouldn’t be doing his job.
Amico gives Griffin a thumbs up for his first trade deadline as Cavs GM.

Amick’s Latest: Rondo, Love, Asik, Ilyasova

February 18th, 2014 at 8:06pm CST by Charlie Adams

Despite the high asking price set by Celtics GM Danny Ainge, Rajon Rondo is still being pursued by several teams, most actively by the Raptors, Knicks, and Kings, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. Ainge is seeking multiple first round picks and a young prospect in exchange for Rondo, and no team has been able to present a deal that meets such a hefty cost. Here’ more from Amick:

The Timberwolves are willing to listen to offers for any player on their roster besides Kevin Love, says on league executive. It’s a common belief Love will part ways with Minnesota in the summer of 2015 to seek out a deal with the Lakers, and the Wolves want to do everything they can to help prevent such a scenario.
Omer Asik has been asking for a trade since the Rockets signed Dwight Howard, but Amick hears it’s unlikely the disgruntled big man gets moved this week. It’ll be interesting to see where Asik is come Thursday, since this news contradicts an earlier report stating the Sixers might be in play to land him.
The Bucks have emerged as a possible “longshot destination” for Asik, as the Rockets would be interested in a swap involving Ersan Ilyasova. The Bucks remain hesitant to take on Asik, who will receive a steep pay increase next season, despite word that Ilyasova is unhappy in Milwaukee.
Amick reiterates earlier reports that suggest Mike Dunleavy is unlikely to be traded away from the Bulls.
Jeff Teague might emerge as a fallback option for clubs that are unable to trade for Rondo, as rival executives believe Teague will be available to teams if the price of the package coming their way is high enough.

Bulls Rumors: Varnado, Dunleavy, ‘Melo

February 18th, 2014 at 6:35pm CST by Charlie Adams

News broke this morning that the Bulls officially signed big man Jarvis Varnado to a 10-day contract. The shot-blocking specialist is a logical fit for Tom Thibodeau‘s defensive system, and K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune passes along that the coach is happy to have Varnado aboard. “We followed him in college and of course in the D-League, Boston and Miami,” Thibodeau said. “He’s gotten better. He has a lot of the qualities that we’re looking for. We’re excited to have him.” More out of Chicago..

Mike Dunleavy has been targeted by the Rockets, among other teams, but he seems to be staying put with the Bulls for the time being, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
Chicago has been labeled as possible destination for Carmelo Anthony during this summer’s free agency period, but in order for the Bulls to sign Melo for the salary he’s probably looking for, the club would most likely need to amnesty Carlos Boozer and trade Taj Gibson. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders examines Anthony’s odds at landing in Chicago compared to a few other cities come this July. Sources tell Kyler it’s highly unlikely the Bulls would meet Anthony’s maximum-salary asking price.
Speaking of Anthony, Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune opines the Bulls would be better off if they avoided signing last year’s scoring leader (subscriber link). Rosenbloom doesn’t think Melo has proven he can succeed as a team’s primary option.