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Fournier, Plumlee, Frazier Receive Qualifying Offers

June 29th, 2016 at 11:55am CST by Luke Adams

If an NBA team intends to turn a player eligible for restricted free agency into a restricted free agent, that team must issue a qualifying offer before the new league year begins on July 1st. Clubs are gradually making those qualifying-offer decisions official, with Evan Fournier among the latest group of players to receive a QO from his team.

The Magic announced today in a press release that they’ve extended a qualifying offer to Fournier. That one-year offer figures to be worth about $4.434MM, a salary the 23-year-old will easily exceed on the open market, either on a new deal with Orlando on an offer sheet from another team. The Magic also confirmed within their press release that they’ve given Dewayne Dedmon a QO, as reported yesterday. The team won’t issue a QO to Andrew Nicholson, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Other players receiving qualifying offers from their respective teams include Miles Plumlee, who got a QO from the Bucks, per Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link), and Tim Frazier, who received a QO from the Pelicans, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Plumlee’s offer will be worth about $3.113MM, while Frazier’s will be worth a modest $1.18MM.

A restricted free agent who receives a qualifying offer is welcome to sign that QO and return to his current team on a one-year deal. However, many RFAs will sign offer sheets with another suitor or work out a multiyear agreement with their current team. The club issuing the QO has the right of first refusal, meaning that team can match any offer sheet the RFA signs.

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Eastern Notes: Grunfeld, Harris, Plumlee, Marks

April 14th, 2016 at 10:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld was disappointed by the failure to make the playoffs but insists his team has a strong foundation for the future, according to Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Washington fired coach Randy Wittman shortly after the 41-41 season came to a close. “The players tell you what to do, and I thought we were very inconsistent this year,” Grunfeld said. “That’s probably the only consistent thing about us: We went up and down. And there was no sense of urgency. I don’t think we played with the type of energy on a nightly basis that you need to achieve the kind of goals that we had. We had high expectations internally and externally.” Grunfeld will lead the search for the Wizards’ next coach and says he has already heard from agents for several interested applicants.

There’s more tonight from the Eastern Conference:

  • The trade that brought Tobias Harris to the Pistons emerged right before the deadline, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “His name wasn’t even out there for us until two days before we did the deal,” said coach/executive Stan Van Gundy. “We were really surprised.” Harris averaged 16.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game after arriving from Orlando, helping Detroit secure its first playoff spot since 2009 and the first of Harris’ career.
  • Center Miles Plumlee is looking forward to next year after the late-season surge that made him a key part of the Bucks‘ rotation, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel. “I’m just really thankful for the opportunity to get out there and play,” Plumlee said. “I love the game. I love the team here. I think we’re building something really special and I hope to continue to be a part of it.” Plumlee completed his four-year rookie scale contract and will enter restricted free agency this summer.
  • Sean Marks started fining players for showing up late after taking over as Nets GM, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Several players confirmed to Lewis that frequent lateness was a problem with the team.
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Central Notes: Butler, Noah, Antetokounmpo

March 30th, 2016 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Several executives around the NBA say the Magic are a team to watch in regard to Jimmy Butler, The Vertical’s Chris Mannix reports. The swingman is in the first season of a five-year contract with the Bulls, but the tension between him and coach Fred Hoiberg, who’s just starting a five-year deal of his own, led several teams, including the Celtics, to ask the Bulls about trading for Butler before last month’s deadline. Orlando, with enough cap flexibility to add Butler and another maximum-salary player this summer, has several intriguing young players and coach Scott Skiles, a defensive taskmaster with similarities to former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

See more from the Central Division:

  • Many expect Joakim Noah to leave the Bulls in free agency this summer, Mannix writes in the same piece. Noah has also been linked to the Magic, though only speculatively.
  • Bucks coach Jason Kidd said a few days ago that Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t be guarding point guards and alluded to the need for a traditional point guard like Michael Carter-Williams to fill that duty, but Kidd on Tuesday said Antetokounmpo will be the team’s primary ball handler next season, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Antetokounmpo and Carter-Williams will both be eligible for rookie scale extensions in the offseason.
  • Miles Plumlee is fond of the Bucks organization and Kidd admires the center’s perseverance, Gardner notes in the same piece. Plumlee is set for restricted free agency at season’s end.
  • Some Thunder players still have raw feelings about Reggie Jackson, who pushed his way off the team and into the trade that sent him to the Pistons last season, as Royce Young of ESPN.com details. Russell Westbrook disapproved of Jackson’s animated celebration at the end of Detroit’s win Tuesday over Oklahoma City. “Yeah, I did actually,” Westbrook said. “Honestly, I think that was some real [expletive]. I don’t appreciate it for our team and our organization. I don’t like it at all. But it is what it is. We’ll see him down the line. We’ll take care of that when we get there.”
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Central Notes: Meeks, Antetokounmpo, Plumlee

March 21st, 2016 at 5:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jodie Meeks probably won’t return to the court before the end of the season, Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy acknowledged today, according to Aaron McMann of MLive. Meeks hasn’t played since October, and though it appeared recently that he would make his debut, a shoulder injury he suffered in practice last week has made that possibility remote, as McMann details. Meeks had come almost all the way back after suffering a broken foot in the team’s second game of the season. The Pistons activated him for games on March 12th and 14th, though he didn’t see any action in those contests, McMann points out. Van Gundy didn’t have plans to use Meeks in the rotation anyway, so his continued absence shouldn’t be a killer for Detroit, which is just percentage points behind Chicago for the last playoff spot. See more from the Central Division:

  • The development of a midrange game and a corner 3-point shot is what stands between Giannis Antetokounmpo and an All-Star selection, GM John Hammond contends to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. Hammond also told Varlas he sees the former 15th overall pick as a forward, not point guard, the position the team has him playing extensively down the stretch. Antetokounmpo becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
  • Bucks coach Jason Kidd was reluctant to go with John Henson and Miles Plumlee on the floor together much of the season, but as the season winds down and the coach has become open to experiments, he’s liked what he’s seen with both Henson and Plumlee in the game, observes Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Plumlee, the subject of trade rumors last month, is set for restricted free agency this summer, while Henson is poised to start drawing from the four-year extension he signed in the fall.
  • Soon-to-be free agent Solomon Hill distinguished himself as one of Indiana’s best defenders battling Paul George in practice this season, and that’s led Pacers coach Frank Vogel to give Hill a place in the rotation, as Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star details. The Pacers declined their rookie scale team option on him for next season, so they can’t re-sign him to a contract that would pay him more for 2016/17 than $2,306,019, the value of the option.
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Southeast Notes: Jennings, Payton, Plumlee

February 17th, 2016 at 12:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

The acquisition of Brandon Jennings in Tuesday’s trade with the Pistons doesn’t mean the Magic have wavered in their belief in Elfrid Payton, GM Rob Hennigan said, though coach Scott Skiles has been looking for more lately from Orlando’s incumbent starting point guard, notes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Still, the trade was about creating flexibility to chase stars in the summer, as Schmitz sees it, suggesting Jennings and Ilyasova will merely be rentals if the right marquee player comes calling. The deal reduced the Magic’s guaranteed salary commitments by $16.8MM for next season, bringing their total down to $44MM. See more from Orlando amid news out of the Southeast Division, where three teams have made trades within the last 24 hours:

  • It appears as though the Wizards had talks with the Bucks about Miles Plumlee, as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports, citing sources, writes that Washington could revisit discussions about the big man if Milwaukee isn’t hung up on other business.
  • The Wizards see the return of Alan Anderson as a de facto trade deadline acquisition, and a decent chance exists that he’ll be playing by week’s end, reports Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. The Wizards signed him to a one-year, $4MM deal this past summer thinking he’d be ready for the start of the regular season following ankle surgery in May, but a follow-up procedure has kept the swingman on the shelf all season so far, as Castillo details.
  • Heat team president Pat Riley pointed to the importance of upgrading Miami’s point guard position in the wake of Tyler Johnson‘s injury as he addressed Tuesday’s trade to acquire Brian Roberts, according to his remarks in the team’s statement. Johnson has said there’s no guarantee he returns to play this season.
  • It’s likely that the Hornets will use the roster spot they opened in Wednesday’s Courtney Lee trade to sign a third point guard out of the D-League, GM Rich Cho said, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
  • The Magic are down to four cities in the running to play host to their one-to-one D-League affiliate in 2017/18, CEO Alex Martins told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. All are in Florida: Jacksonville, Kissimmee, Lakeland and an Orlando location not far from where the NBA club plays, as Robbins details.
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Timberwolves Interested In Miles Plumlee

February 15th, 2016 at 10:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves are interested in acquiring center Miles Plumlee from the Bucks, a source told Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The club is trying to move shooting guard Kevin Martin and power forward Adreian Payne and is also willing to deal point guard Ricky Rubio, the source also told Broussard.

Plumlee was moved into Milwaukee’s starting lineup just before the All-Star break in an effort by coach Jason Kidd to shake things up on his disappointing club. Otherwise, Plumlee’s role has been limited most of the season. He’s averaging 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9.5 minutes over 33 games. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported in December that the Bucks were shopping Plumlee.

It would be the second time in as many seasons Plumlee would be moved just before the trade deadline if the Timberwolves acquire him. Plumlee was part of a three-way deal involving the Bucks, Suns and Sixers last season that included Brandon Knight and Michael Carter-Williams. He made 107 starts in 134 games with Phoenix after playing 14 games during his rookie campaign in 2012/13 with the Pacers.

The Timberwolves have paired up Gorgui Dieng and rookie sensation Karl-Anthony Towns in their lineup but have lacked depth up front because of nagging foot issues plaguing former starting center Nikola Pekovic.

Previous reports have indicated that Martin, Payne and Rubio were available, with Martin also drawing buyout interest if he’s not dealt. The Bucks appeared to have at least passing interest in Martin as of about a month ago.

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Eastern Notes: Caldwell-Pope, Anthony, Mayo

February 6th, 2016 at 11:19am CST by Eddie Scarito

Pistons shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is expected to be out of action until after the All-Star break due to a strained core muscle, David Mayo of MLive relays (Twitter links). The team is still awaiting the results of an MRI, but Detroit coach/executive Stan Van Gundy didn’t rule out making a deal before the trade deadline as a result of Caldwell-Pope’s injury woes, Mayo adds. If the young swingman’s injury is deemed to be a long-term one, it would significantly increase the chances that the Pistons will make a move, though it is doubtful that any deal will net a significant player in return, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press relays (on Twitter).

Here are the latest happenings in the East:

  • Hawks director of international scouting Himar Ojeda has left the team to accept a position with the German club Alba Berlin, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta-Journal Constitution writes. The team issued an official statement that read, “On behalf of the Hawks organization, we want to congratulate Himar Ojeda on his new position with Alba Berlin. Personally and professionally, we are thankful for the significant contributions and tireless commitment Himar made to the Hawks as our Director of International Scouting. We’d like to wish Himar the best and congratulate Alba on an outstanding hire.”
  • The Bucks would likely find suitors willing to acquire shooting guard O.J. Mayo prior to the trade deadline if the team is willing to take back a player-friendly contract in return, Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports writes in his deadline primer for the franchise. Mayo, who is earning $8MM this season, will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Also having trade value is Miles Plumlee, who could fit the bill for a team seeking bench depth, Marks adds.
  • Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony has been dealing with knee issues, but a recent MRI revealed no structural damage and the team says the knee is merely sore and not a new injury, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes. “There’s no injury or new injury in terms of a traumatic or acute situation,” coach Derek Fisher told reporters. “I think he’ll be fine long term. We just have to get into these next set of days into the [All-Star] break and hopefully we can kind of re-evaluate him from there in terms of it not being something that’s reoccurring.“
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Bucks Willing To Deal Miles Plumlee

December 10th, 2015 at 4:09pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bucks are willing to trade center Miles Plumlee and have let other teams know that he is available, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). This is in advance of December 15th, which is the date that the majority of players around the league become eligible to be traded, Stein adds. It’s unclear what the Bucks are seeking in return for Plumlee, or what teams would potentially have interest in the big man.

Plumlee, who is earning $2,109,294 this season, is eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer, provided a qualifying offer worth $3,113,318 is made. Milwaukee is currently over the cap, which will likely make it difficult to receive any significant value in return for the former No. 26 overall draft pick. With Plumlee not much of a factor in the rotation currently, the Bucks would likely be satisfied to move him for a future second-rounder and some cap relief, though that is merely my speculation.

The 27-year-old has played sparingly thus far this season, appearing in 15 games and logging 1.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in just 6.3 minutes of action per contest. His career numbers through 182 career regular season games are 5.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks to go along with a slash line of .516/.000/.549.

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Suns Acquire Brandon Knight

February 19th, 2015 at 9:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

9:16pm: The trade is official, the Suns have announced. In addition to Knight, Phoenix receives Marshall, who will be waived, from the Bucks. Milwaukee gets Ennis and Plumlee from the Suns, and Carter-Williams from Philadelphia, and the Sixers garner the Lakers’ top-5 protected 2015 first-round pick from Phoenix. By the looks of it, the component involving the Celtics will go as a separate transaction.

4:31pm: Phoenix will waive Marshall, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Coro sums up Phoenix’s side of the deal. It’s Knight, Thornton, Marshall and the Cavs’ top-10 protected 2016 first-round pick, which Cleveland had owed to the Jazz (Twitter links). The Suns are sending Ennis and Plumlee to the Bucks, Thomas to the Celtics, and the Lakers’ top-five protected 2015 first-round pick to the Sixers, Coro tweets.

4:10pm: Kendall Marshall, who’s out for the season, is headed to the Suns in the deal, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). It’s undecided whether the Suns will keep him or waive him, Charania adds.

2:30pm: The Celtics will send Marcus Thornton to the Suns and the Cavaliers’ first round pick in 2016 to the Suns, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

2:25pm: The breakdown, according to Stein (on Twitter) is as follows: Knight will go to the Suns.  Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis, and Miles Plumlee will go to the Bucks.  The Celtics will acquire Isaiah Thomas.  Meanwhile, the 76ers will acquire draft picks.

The Sixers will get the Suns’ protected first round pick via the Lakers, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (on Twitter).

2:15pm: Thomas is headed to the Celtics, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, in what essentially functions as a four-way deal with the Bucks, Suns and Sixers (Twitter link).

2:00pm: The Bucks are trading Brandon Knight to the Suns, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). There are conflicting reports regarding other details Michael Carter-Williams and Tyler Ennis are going to the Bucks, and Isaiah Thomas and picks go to the Sixers (Twitter link), according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, while Wojnarowski has Thomas heading from Phoenix to the Celtics (Twitter link). Miles Plumlee is also headed to Milwaukee, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Sixers are getting the Lakers’ protected first-round pick that they owed to the Suns, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

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Goran Dragic Rumors: Wednesday

February 18th, 2015 at 11:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

The ultimatum that Goran Dragic‘s agent, Bill Duffy, issued to the Suns late Wednesday when he told them his client wouldn’t re-sign with the team this summer set in motion of flurry of trade rumors surrounding the league’s reigning Most Improved Player. We’ll round up the rest of today’s Dragic news here, with any additional updates added to the top:

  • The Suns are trying to attach Zoran Dragic to any trade packages involving his brother, Goran, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. The Suns signed Zoran to a two-year contract last summer, largely as a way to make Goran feel more comfortable with re-signing with the organization, Wojnarowski notes.

11:20pm update:

9:18pm update:

8:20pm update:

  • The Suns’ asking price for Dragic is a young player with significant potential and a first-round draft pick or two first-round picks, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.

7:24pm update:

  • Coro’s full piece has more of Dragic’s input. “They give promises, OK. It’s hard. But at the same time, I wish them all the best,” Dragic said of the Suns. “They were great to me the past five years. I’m always going to have a good memory about Phoenix fans and the city. I just hit that point of my career that it’s better for me and my family to move on.”

3:53pm update:

  • The Suns are still resisting any Dragic deals and remain active in their attempts to trade Thomas instead, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Still, Dragic’s camp has complained to GM Ryan McDonough multiple occasions this season, Deveney hears.

2:01pm update:

  • Dragic told reporters today that he wants out of Phoenix because his role changed, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter links). “I don’t feel comfortable with the situation,” Dragic said. The guard also called out the Suns front office. “I don’t trust them anymore,” he said.

1:39pm update:

  • The Knicks and Lakers lack the motivation, as well as the assets, necessary to make a competitive offer for Dragic because they know they have the cap flexibility to sign him in free agency this summer even without his Bird rights, Wojnarowski writes.

12:43pm update:

  • The Suns are more focused on talking with the Celtics, Rockets, Kings and others than with any of Dragic’s preferred destinations, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

11:47am update:

  • There’s a decent chance the Suns would attach Miles Plumlee to Dragic in a trade, Stein reports (on Twitter). The Knicks and Lakers reportedly have interest in both Dragic and Plumlee.

10:55am update:

  • Teams that have spoken with the Suns remain unconvinced the team will trade him, as it appears Phoenix is willing to call Dragic’s bluff and tempt him with the five-year deal that no other team could offer if the Suns keep him through the deadline, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter links).

10:15am update:

  • The Lakers and Knicks top Dragic’s preferred locations, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Phoenix offered Isaiah Thomas instead to the Lakers last week after the purple-and-gold made a pitch for Dragic, but the Lakers rejected that idea, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com adds to Stein’s story. The Suns this week showed a willingness to talk about a Dragic deal with the Lakers if they removed the top-five protection on the pick L.A. owes Phoenix, but the Lakers turned down that idea, too, Shelburne also reports.
  • The lack of minutes that the Suns are giving Zoran Dragic is believed to be part of Goran’s frustration with the team, Stein writes in the same piece.

8:34am updates:

  • The Pacers are conveying the sense that they want to stand pat, and while the prospect of a Dragic trade will be tempting, it’s hard to see Indiana putting together a package that convinces the Suns to trade him there, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Wojnarowski on Tuesday noted interest from the Pacers and heard that they were a team that Dragic might be willing to commit to.
  • Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report hears a somewhat different story on the Pacers, whom his sources say are instead looking to move one of their high-salaried veterans to create the cap flexibility necessary to sign Dragic this summer. They’re believed to be willing to trade anyone aside from Paul George to accomplish that, Bucher writes. Bucher suggests that the team would be less willing to trade Roy Hibbert than David West or George Hill.
  • The Suns want a first-round pick as part of any package for Dragic, sources tell Bucher for the same piece.
  • Dragic is the No. 1 target of the Rockets, Bucher hears. It’s likely that the Rockets would give up Patrick Beverley in a trade for Dragic, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
  • Assuming Beverley wouldn’t head out in a trade that brings Dragic to Houston, Beverley’s free agent stock would go down, and Beverley and Dragic are both BDA Sports clients, Wojnarowski notes (Twitter link). Dragic has signaled an unwillingness to make a long-term commitment to the Rockets.
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