Nicolas Batum Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nicolas Batum Signs Timberwolves’ Offer Sheet

July 14th, 2012 at 7:46pm CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY 7:46pm: The Trail Blazers' unwillingness to work out a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves may stem from the two teams' ongoing discussions to resolve a dispute involving a prior trade for Webster, reports Ric Bucher of ESPN.com.

FRIDAY 6:15pm: After waiving Martell Webster and trading Brad Miller earlier today, the Timberwolves will not be able to submit their offer sheet to Nicolas Batum until Sunday, writes Jaynes.

THURSDAY 9:51pm: Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com writes that Minnesota added a 15% trade kicker to Batum's offer sheet in which a hefty 15% tax is imposed on the team that trades him during his new contract. This essentially makes it more difficult for Portland to match the deal, however, since the Timberwolves have not submitted the offer sheet to the league yet, there still remains the possibility of a sign-and-trade with the Trail Blazers.

7:13pm: Joe Freeman of OregonLive.com tweeted that the Trail Blazers have not received a signed offer sheet from Batum yet. Freeman also added that GM Neil Olshey did not indicate whether or not Portland and Minnesota were engaged in sign-and-trade talks (Twitter link).

6:24pm: Jason Quick of The Oregonian reiterated a point that the Timberwolves would have to waive Martell Webster and Brad Miller before Minnesota can extend an offer sheet to Nicolas (Twitter link).

1:29pm: Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor says the Timberwolves will submit Batum's offer sheet to the NBA by the end of the business day, giving Portland one last chance to work out a sign-and-trade, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Zgoda adds (via Twitter) that the T-Wolves are offering draft picks, but won't give up Derrick Williams or Nikola Pekovic.

11:53am: Nicolas Batum has officially signed a four-year, $46.5MM offer sheet with the Timberwolves, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. In order to make room for Batum's offer sheet, the Timberwolves officially announced that they have amnestied Darko Milicic.

Batum's signing gives the Trail Blazers three days to either match the offer or let the young forward head to Minnesota. It also means that a sign-and-trade is no longer an option for the Blazers and T-Wolves.

Batum and his agent have both indicated that the 23-year-old would like to move on from Portland, leading to speculation that the Blazers and Timberwolves could work out a sign-and-trade deal that would net Portland some assets for letting Batum go to Minnesota. However, it appears the two sides were unable to work out a deal, so the Wolves will take their chances with the offer sheet and hope they've called Neil Olshey's bluff — the Portland GM has said the Blazers will match any offer for Batum. If Portland does officially match the deal, the club can't trade Batum for the next year without his consent.

The Bulls, meanwhile, had been involved in three-way trade talks with the Wolves and Blazers about a Kyle Korver deal, but those discussions are now dead, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Johnson speculates that the Bulls could revisit Korver discussions with the Hawks.

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Timberwolves Amnesty Darko Milicic

July 14th, 2012 at 5:08pm CST by Luke Adams

5:08pm: Count the Celtics, Nets and Clippers among the frontrunners to acquire Milicic, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).

SATURDAY, 4:15pm: Milicic has cleared waivers and is now an unrestricted free agent, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports (Twitter link).

THURSDAY, 11:55pm: The Timberwolves have officially waived Milicic and designated him as their amnestied player, the team announced (via Twitter). Teams with cap space can place bids on Darko, starting at a minimum of about $2.5MM, according to SI.com's Zach Lowe (via Twitter). If he goes unclaimed, he'll become an unrestricted free agent.

Northwest Rumors: Batum, Tolliver, Randolph, Roy

July 14th, 2012 at 1:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wolves' courtship of Nicolas Batum took another unusual turn last night, when Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reported that the league has ruled the offer sheet he signed with the team is invalid, since the Wolves don't have enough cap space to accommodate the four-year, $46.5MM deal. Minnesota moved to clear cap space Friday by waiving Martell Webster and trading Brad Miller to the Hawks. They also renounced the rights to free agents Anthony Tolliver and Anthony Randolph, as fellow CSNNW.com scribe Dwight Jaynes reported. But, as Jaynes noted, Webster won't clear waivers until Sunday at 4:00pm Central, at which time the Wolves can finally submit a new signed offer sheet from Batum. That's not the only news from the Northwest, and we've got the rest here:

Blazers Notes: Sloan, Joerger, Griffin, Batum

July 13th, 2012 at 4:49pm CST by Luke Adams

We heard yesterday that Jerry Sloan withdrew his name from consideration for the Trail Blazers' head coach opening. Today, GM Neil Olshey revealed that Sloan was more seriously considered than we originally thought. Olshey told reporters, including Mike Tokito of the Oregonian, that he offered Sloan the job, but the former Jazz coach declined the offer after sleeping on it (Twitter links). Here are a few more Blazers updates, primarily involving the team's coaching search….

Latest On Nicolas Batum

July 11th, 2012 at 10:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

10:51pm: If the Blazers and Wolves fail to work out a trade and the Wolves sign Batum to an offer sheet, the Wolves will have to make a series of moves to do so, given what's expected to be a $10MM first-year salary in Minnesota's offer to Batum, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

The moves would include buying out Brad Miller and Martell Webster and using the amnesty clause to waive Darko Milicic, Zgoda says, adding the Wolves may also have to trade a player. Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea and Wesley Johnson are possible trade candidates in that scenario. Ridnour or a draft pick could be headed to the Bulls in a deal that would send Kyle Korver to the Blazers.

6:33pm: Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com has Olshey's comments on the possibility of a sign-and-trade for Batum.

You don't close the door to anything in this league,” the Blazers GM said. "But, from what I can see, as far as what they can viably offer as of today, I would think Nicolas would have more value than what they can put in a sign-and-trade.”

Offer Sheets To Watch

July 10th, 2012 at 3:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Restricted free agents that have agreed to sign offer sheets with new teams can begin doing so as soon as 11:00pm CST tonight. When a player officially signs an offer sheet, his old team has a three-day window to decide whether or not to match it and bring him back.

When a player formally signs an offer sheet, it means only two options are in play for him: He either ends up on the team whose offer he signed, or returns to his old club. Sign-and-trades are no longer an option. So, for restricted free agents like Eric Gordon and Nicolas Batum, who seem to prefer to change teams, it may be worthwhile to explore sign-and-trade possibilities once more before locking into those offer sheets and putting their futures in the hands of the Hornets and Trail Blazers, respectively.

Here are a few restricted free agents that reportedly agreed to sign offer sheets whose situations are worth keeping an eye on:

Roy Hibbert
Current team: Pacers
Agreed to sign with: Trail Blazers
Terms: Four years, Maximum salary
It sounds as if Hibbert may not even ink an offer sheet with the Trail Blazers after all. With the Pacers planning to match the deal, it makes more sense for Hibbert to just sign outright with Indiana. That way, perhaps the team could tack on a non-guaranteed fifth year — at the very least, it would give the Pacers increased flexibility to try to improve the roster around him.

Eric Gordon
Current team: Hornets
Agreed to sign with: Suns
Terms: Four years, Maximum salary
It seems Gordon's clear preference is to play with the Suns. After agreeing to the team's offer sheet, he released a statement indicating that "Phoenix is where my heart is now," and later told the Times Picayune that if the Hornets match the offer, he'll play in New Orleans, but won't be happy about it. It's a tough spot for the Hornets, who clearly don't want to lose the primary piece of last year's Chris Paul trade, but also probably don't want an unhappy player in New Orleans long-term. Maybe these two teams could negotiate a sign-and-trade, but I'd expect the Hornets to simply match the Suns' offer sheet and hope Gordon warms to New Orleans. John Reid of the Times Picayune confirmed today that New Orleans is expected to match the offer.

Nicolas Batum
Current team: Trail Blazers
Agreed to sign with: Timberwolves
Terms: Four years, $45MM
While Batum, like Gordon, appears to want to move on from his current team, it seems Batum's agent Bouna Ndiaye is pushing that stance more than the player himself, as his comments over the weekend suggested. Still, Batum told David Aldridge of TNT today that Minnesota is where he wants to be. Batum also mentioned, interestingly, that the two teams are working on a possible sign-and-trade deal. According to one earlier report, the T-Wolves pitched a sign-and-trade deal involving Derrick Williams, but the Blazers weren't interested in a trade involving the younger, more affordable Williams. I wouldn't be surprised if Portland reconsiders that stance before all is said and done — a sign-and-trade that sends Batum to Minnesota and Williams to Portland could be a win-win for the involved teams and players alike.

Jeremy Lin
Current team: Knicks
Agreed to sign with: Rockets
Terms: Four years, $28.8MM (fourth-year team option)
We've already heard that the Knicks, predictably, are expected to match this offer sheet. Another team could have more pressure on New York with a more significant third-year raise and a guaranteed fourth year, so the Knicks will get off relatively easy when they match this offer.

Omer Asik
Current team: Bulls
Agreed to sign with: Rockets
Terms: Three years, $25.1MM
Here's a trickier case. The Bulls have said all year that they don't want to lose Asik and that they expect to match any offer for him, but Daryl Morey and the Rockets are making it difficult with a third-year salary of nearly $15MM. Still, I think there's a good chance the Bulls match this offer sheet. Asik's first- and second-year salaries are in the $5MM range, which is manageable, and allows the Bulls a couple seasons to figure out how to clear long-term salary off their books for 2014/15. This decision could easily go either way though.

Landry Fields
Current team: Knicks
Agreed to sign with: Raptors
Terms: Three years, $19MM
When Fields and the Raptors agreed to this offer sheet, it seemed like a savvy tactical move to block the Knicks from making a sign-and-trade deal for Steve Nash. Now, with Nash headed to Los Angeles, it just looks like an overpay. The Knicks are unlikely to match this one, so the Raptors are likely stuck with Fields, but that's not the end of the world for Toronto. Fields just turned 24, and while he experienced a bit of a sophomore slump in 2011/12, he still has the makings of a solid, if slightly overpriced, rotation player.

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Free Agent Rumors: Lucas, Camby, Lewis

July 8th, 2012 at 10:20pm CST by Daniel Seco

Jeff Green reached an agreement to remain with the Celtics on Saturday, while Aaron Brooks became an unrestricted free agent after the Suns withdrew their qualifying offer to the guard. What will Sunday bring? Here are the latest rumors on a number of free agents still on the market:

The Heat have interest in unrestricted free agent point guard John Lucas III, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
Marcus Camby's meeting with the Knicks today was "very positive," a source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com, and Zwerling hears that Camby is drawn to the Knicks because of his "great relationship" with GM Glen Grunwald.
"Everything went well" during the Heat's meeting with Rashard Lewis today, as Lewis' agent tells David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). Lewis has yet to make a decision, with the Knicks and Hawks still in the running, Aldridge says.

Earlier updates:

Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter) identifies the Nets and Knicks as the frontrunners in sign-and-trade talks to land Marcus Camby. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News says that in addition to meeting with the Knicks in Houston, Camby held a conference call with the Nets (Twitter link).
Ken Berger of CBS Sports tweets that Brandon Rush could be an option for the Timberwolves or Trail Blazers, whichever team loses out on Nicolas Batum. Also, Berger includes Shannon Brown in the mix of suitors for Courtney Lee, O.J. Mayo, and Lou Williams once the two-guard dust clears (Twitter link).
Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas says that the Mavericks will resume talks with Ramon Sessions on Monday. Along with Dallas, the Rockets appear to interest the free agent point guard because of the opportunity to start.
According to CBSSports.com's Ken Berger, the Knicks had a "very productive" meeting with Marcus Camby today.
The Magic still do not know if Spaniard Fran Vasquez will be joining the team next season,tweets CBSSports.com's Ken Berger. Vasquez was a lottery pick in 2005.
The Bulls will not pick up C.J. Watson's option, and are attempting to deal him before July 10th, tweets Hoopsworld.com's Alex Kennedy.
The Mavericks, Rockets, Knicks, Hawks, Suns, and Bucks are all interested in signing guard Randy Foye, tweets CBSSports.com's Ken Berger.
According to a tweet from the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn, Greg Stiemsma's agent said his client did not receive a $3MM offer sheet from the Timberwolves.
The Celtics are interested in Courtney Lee after meeting with the free agent shooting guard on Saturday night, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Even with the addition of Hinrich, the Bulls have Michael Redd and Gerald Green on their radar, tweets Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald.
Brooklyn head coach Avery Johnson says the Nets' focus is to re-sign Brook Lopez as trading for Dwight Howard remains out of their control, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. The team has begun negotiating with Lopez on an extension, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
With Camby postponing a meeting with the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel considers the likelihood of signing Greg Oden similar to how the team added Eddy Curry last season.
The Knicks brass will meet with Marcus Camby in Houston on Sunday with hopes that the big man will land in New York to serve as a backup for Tyson Chandler, says Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Look for the Celtics to explore internal options to replace Ray Allen rather than spend excess money on players who may not prove to be a good fit in Boston, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
The Bucks have emerged as a potential landing spot for Kirk Hinrich as they look to improve their backcourt depth, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio, but Milwaukee will have to look elsewhere as Hinrich reached a verbal agreement with the Bulls earlier on Sunday.

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Batum Wants To Move On From Portland

July 7th, 2012 at 10:31pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Despite averaging a career high in points (13.9), rebounds (4.6), blocks (1.0), and steals (1.0) last season, Nicolas Batum has expressed his desire to leave the Trail Blazers. He and his agent, Bouna N'Diaye, met with Portland GM Neil Olshey, scouting director Chad Buchanan, and capologist Joe Cronin on Thursday in an attempt to persuade the team not to match the Timberwolves' offer sheet, writes Chris Haynes of CNNSW.

Odds & Ends: Kobe, Stiemsma, Batum, Allen

July 7th, 2012 at 11:30am CST by Zachary Links

After Team USA's first practice Friday afternoon, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant told reporters, including Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter), that he's not so sure that the team is done making trades. "I don't think that they're done. The moves they make just seem to come out of nowhere," Bryant said. Here's some more Saturday afternoon linkage..

Nicolas Batum, Timberwolves Agree To Offer Sheet

July 5th, 2012 at 10:49pm CST by Daniel Seco

Nicolas Batum and the Timberwolves have agreed to terms on a four-year, $45MM offer sheet with bonuses that could push the total value of the deal to $50MM, reports Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press (via Twitter). Once the offer sheet is signed, Portland will have three days to decide whether it wants to retain Batum or allow the forward to leave and join the Timberwolves.