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Raptors CEO On Carter, Nash, Title Aspirations

July 8th, 2014 at 2:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment group that owns the Raptors, believes the franchise is poised for a “growth spurt” with the unique advantage of having an entire country behind it, as he tells USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt. Leiweke points to the team’s willingness to spend, the acumen of GM Masai Ujiri, and the organization’s commitment to competing for championships as selling points for free agents. He also speaks about the effect that former Raptors star Vince Carter had on Canadian basketball, remarks made all the more interesting by Carter’s status as a free agent and reports indicating that the team is in the mix to sign him. Zillgitt’s entire piece is a must read for Raptors fans, but we’ll share a few particularly relevant snippets here:

On Vince Carter and his influence on back-to-back No. 1 overall picks Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins, both of whom are Canadians:

“That is Vince Carter. I give him an enormous amount of credit. That [Raptors] team and that era is the era that is beginning to produce the Wigginses, the Bennetts. He inspired those kids to play basketball at the highest level. Now we get a chance to do that with our era, but we won’t see the results of that for another 10 years.”

On Steve Nash:

“There are probably few people who admire and like Steve Nash like I do. I had the privilege of getting to know him when he came to the Lakers. I love Steve Nash. I hope whenever his career ends, and I hope it’s not today, I hope a great player like that gets to go out on a high. That said, I definitely would hope there’s day in time where Steve Nash is playing a role here somehow.”

On the team’s Atlantic Division title this season, which it celebrated with the hanging of a banner:

“Personally, I wouldn’t have done the banner. They didn’t ask me, but if they did I would’ve told them that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t go in the locker room and congratulate the guys because we haven’t done anything yet. Our guys know that. It’s not that I don’t love our guys and I won’t fight for them. But we haven’t done anything yet. I don’t understand why everyone’s happy. We have work to do here. For me, are we on the right path? Yes. Do we have a chance to do something great? Yes. Talk to me when we do it. I’m not happy. Masai’s not happy.”

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Mavs Notes: Anthony, Hayward, Gasol

July 6th, 2014 at 8:28am CST by Eddie Scarito

A source told Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Carmelo Anthony is going to re-sign with the Knicks and that his inclusion of the Mavericks on his recruiting trip was a “charade.” Anthony has also met with the Lakers, Bulls, and Rockets.

More from Dallas:

  • Price also tweets that between Vince Carter and Shawn Marion, the Mavs have a better chance at re-signing Carter, but they would like both players back.
  • The Mavericks still have Gordon Hayward on their free agent shopping list, reports Price  (Twitter link), but the Jazz have maintained they will match any offer sheet that Hayward signs.
  • The Mavs are also keeping a close watch on Pau Gasol, and envision him backing up both Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler, tweets Price.
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And-Ones: Bogdanovic, Blatt, Anthony

July 5th, 2014 at 8:56am CST by Eddie Scarito

Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, the 27th overall pick of the Suns,  is finalizing four-year deal with Fenerbahce, reports David Pick of Eurobasket. The deal contains an NBA escape clause after the second year, according to Pick.

Here’s more from around the league:

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And-Ones: Raptors, Mayo, Prince, Lin, Rivers

July 2nd, 2014 at 1:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

I appeared Tuesday on WWL radio’s Sports Talk With Bobby Hebert and Deke Bellavia in New Orleans to discuss NBA free agency, and already the tenor of the market is taking shape. Lucrative deals for shooting guards Jodie Meeks, Avery Bradley and Ben Gordon have dominated headlines so far, and Gordon’s deal in particular has many free agents optimistic about their own market values, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. The Raptors were already worried they were being priced out of retaining restricted free agents Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson before news of the Gordon deal hit, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Here’s more from around the league.

  • Executives from multiple teams have been offered O.J. Mayo of the Bucks, Tayshaun Prince of the Grizzlies, Jeremy Lin of the Rockets, and Austin Rivers of the Pelicans in trade scenarios, league sources tell tell Kennedy.
  • The Pacers have reached out to Rodney Stuckey, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. He’s presumably a backup plan in case the team can’t reach a deal with Lance Stephenson.
  • The Warriors could have signed Stuckey, who was willing to sign with the club for the mid-level exception, but they gave that money to Shaun Livingston instead, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link).
  • Spencer Hawes “likes everything about the Blazers” and is “very interested” in signing with them, a source tells The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman. Portland has made Hawes their top target among sharpshooting big men, but he’s still in no rush to come to deal, Freeman writes.
  • Vince Carter is receiving a steady stream of pitches from the Heat and others, but the Mavs maintain strong interest in re-signing the swingman, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
  • The Magic claimed Willie Green off waivers Monday, and while they still had the chance to put him back on waivers before his non-guaranteed minimum salary became fully guaranteed, they didn’t do so before Tuesday’s deadline, so his money will stay on the books.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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Western Rumors: Nowitzki, Frye, Sefolosha, Love

July 1st, 2014 at 1:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavs have had advanced discussions with Dirk Nowitzki but both sides have agreed to put off sealing a deal until after Wednesday’s meeting with Carmelo Anthony, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears. That’s to let the team keep maximum flexibility, the same desire that also prompted the sides to decide against an extension. The Mavs and Nowitzki engaged in extension talks before he became a free agent, so Dallas has a strong idea of what the perennial All-Star wants, Stein writes. There’s more on the Mavs amid the latest from the Western Conference:

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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Heat Eyeing Marion, Carter, Blake

June 30th, 2014 at 11:20pm CST by Zachary Links

The Heat will pursue Shawn Marion, Vince Carter, and Steve Blake this summer, sources tell Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Marion, 36, wants to continue living in Dallas after his playing career is through, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that will retire in Dallas. Carter, 37, was mentioned as a possibility for Miami earlier today along with the Thunder, Blazers, Raptors, and the incumbent Mavericks. The Knicks and Wolves appear to have interest in Blake, too.

The Mavs have been worried that interest from other teams in Carter and Marion would compromise their cap space. The Warriors don’t seem to have keeping Blake a high priority, despite the way he quickly warmed to the franchise. Blake can also envision a return to the Lakers, who traded him to Golden State at the deadline.

Miami’s star trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have given team president Pat Riley a window of time to upgrade the team, and it appears Riley’s first forays will be with veterans. Blake, at 34, is the youngest of the three free agents that Deveney reports the Heat have an eye on.

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West Rumors: Sterling, Williams, Afflalo, Miller

June 30th, 2014 at 8:02pm CST by Zachary Links

A new doctor has declared Clippers owner Donald Sterling mentally fit after a comprehensive medical examination in Las Vegas over the weekend, a source with knowledge of the situation told Shelby Lin Erdman of CNN.  The testing was arranged by one of Sterling’s attorneys and conducted with one of the top dementia and Alzheimer’s disease specialists in the country.  More out of the West..

  • Free agent Mo Williams has no meetings set with other teams and his “only goal” is to sign a new deal with the Blazers, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (on Twitter).
  • New Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo sounds intent on exercising his opt out after the 2014/15 season.  “It’s probably something that I always anticipated, even beyond when I first signed this deal with Denver,” Afflalo told Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “I knew my game, I knew my maturity, I knew I would grow as a player. And I wanted to have that option as I got older and I progressed as a player. So hopefully I’ll out-perform my contract and put myself in a better situation. That was my intent from the beginning, even before this year, was to play out the four years and progress as a player.”
  • Grizzlies swingman Mike Miller tells Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (via Twitter) that he’s meeting with his agent tomorrow in Los Angeles before talking with four or five clubs.  Meanwhile, the Grizzlies can prevent him from looking around if they come to him with the right deal.
  • A source tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (on Twitter) that there are four or five suitors out there for Jordan Hill, including the Rockets and Mavs.  He’s not ruling out a Lakers return and will take his time through the process with an eye on a longer deal.
  • Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak says the club is putting Julius Randle through a series of physicals this week to test his foot though, right now, he doesn’t expect surgery, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
  • There is strong mutual interest in Vince Carter‘s return to the Mavericks, but several playoff teams are expected to express interest in the 37-year-old swingman, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.  The Heat, Thunder, Blazers, and Raptors are among the playoff teams that are seen as potential fits for VC, according to a source.
  • Warriors coach Steve Kerr is discussing an assistant coaching job on the staff with Luke Walton, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
  • Lakers unrestricted free agent Kent Bazemore is expected to draw interest from the Hawks, Celtics, and Suns among others, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
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Free Agent Rumors: Lowry, Gasol, Parsons, Ariza

June 30th, 2014 at 12:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is likely to make a strong push to re-sign Kyle Lowry just as free agency begins tonight to prevent the Heat and Rockets from having a chance to jump in, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Here’s more free agency chatter with 11 hours left to go until negotiations can begin:

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Mavs To Pursue ‘Melo, Tyson Chandler

May 6th, 2014 at 10:46am CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavs are optimistic that they’ll be on the list of teams that Carmelo Anthony plans to meet with this summer and that he’ll give them legitimate consideration, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Dallas will also try to acquire another Knick, with Stein asserting that they’ll be first in line should New York make Tyson Chandler available via trade. The Mavs will attempt to court LeBron James, too, though Stein suggests that’s a longshot effort.

Dallas only has about $28.2MM in commitments for next season, but that doesn’t include the roughly $2MM non-guaranteed portion of Samuel Dalembert‘s contract or new deals for Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Vince Carter and Devin Harris. The team has expressed interest in keeping all of them, and the team’s “working assumption,” according to Stein, is that Nowitzki will sign for $10-12MM per year. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room for a max offer to Anthony, who can draw a starting salary of up to $22,458,401. Still, Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com wrote Monday that the Mavs wouldn’t have interest in ‘Melo if he demands his max.

While the Mavs could net Chandler as part of a sign-and-trade involving Anthony, that would be extremely difficult, given Chandler’s salary of nearly $14.6MM next season. The reacquisition of the center who was the defensive anchor of the Mavs’ 2011 title team would probably preclude Anthony from heading to Dallas, and it would make it difficult for the Mavs to accommodate any other marquee free agent this summer. Stein reiterates McMahon’s report from yesterday indicating that the Mavs will likely target Luol Deng but take a pass on any pursuit of Lance Stephenson.

The Mavs have some concern about their ability to keep a couple of their own free agents, too, according to Stein. They’re worried that they’d have to cut deeply into their cap flexibility to fend off suitors for Vince Carter and, in particular, Shawn Marion. Carter and Marion have expressed their preference to re-sign, though such statements are commonplace for soon-to-be free agents at this time of year, and they don’t always translate into a new deal that keeps them in place.

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Raptors Rumors: Carter, Casey, Ujiri

May 5th, 2014 at 9:34pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raptors weren’t able to knock off the Nets in their first round matchup, but there’s no denying that things have changed in Toronto.  The energy that the Raptors crowd had for Game 7 hasn’t been seen since reign of Vince Carter and we learned earlier today that a reunion could be in the works.  Here’s tonight’s look at the Raptors..

  • Carter wants to remain with the Mavericks and was surprised to learn of a report that the Raptors could be interested in him, according to Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram.  Carter, 37, was one of the most productive Mavs players this season. The 15-year veteran averaged 11.9 points in only 24.4 minutes per game this season while shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from 3-point range.
  • Raptors coach Dwane Casey wasn’t GM Masai Ujiri‘s hire, but the two worked together previously and have been on the same page in Toronto, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports.  Earlier today, the Raptors gave Casey a brand new three-year pact.
  • The new deal wasn’t a surprise to the Raptors players who basically said Casey would be back when asked if he should return in 2014/15, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
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