The Spurs, Raptors, and Trail Blazers are all vying for free agent big man Pau Gasol, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, who reports (via Twitter) that San Antonio and Toronto are considered the frontrunners. A report late on Sunday night suggested that the Spurs would be a good bet to sign Gasol if they don’t land Kevin Durant, but that’s no lock yet. Neither the Spurs nor the Raptors has a ton of cap room at the moment, but perhaps Gasol won’t be seeking a huge payday if he has the chance to join a contender. Both teams also have movable assets if they need to create additional space.
The market for Pau Gasol appears to be around $18-22MM per year with the Raptors, Bulls, Blazers, Wolves and Spurs among the teams talking with him, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Of those teams, the Wolves have made an “aggressive” two-year offer to reunite Gasol with his former coach Tom Thibodeau, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports. It is unclear whether or not Gasol will wait for Kevin Durant to make a decision before pulling the trigger on his own move, Shelburne adds. The Blazers may have a two-year deal worth $40MM out there for Gasol, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Here’s more news from around the league:
- Manu Ginobili, who announced he intends to play this season, plans to re-sign with the Spurs, but the two sides have yet to begin negotiations, Ginobili’s agent Herb Rudoy told Jeff McDonald of of the San Antonio Express-News. Rudoy has fielded calls from multiple teams gauging interest in his client since Ginobili’s announcement, McDonald reports. However, most teams strongly believe the veteran will reach a deal with the Spurs, McDonald adds.
- Matt Barnes has received interest from the Clippers, Kings, Mavs and Warriors, Shelburne reports.
- Derrick Williams‘ future with the Knicks is uncertain because New York could have only about $5MM in available cap space and Williams would likely be able to fetch a larger sum elsewhere, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays.
With the salary cap set for the new league year, the NBA has finalized its luxury-tax calculations for the 2015/16 season, and the champion Cavaliers will be on the hook for a hefty bill. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, owner Dan Gilbert and the Cavs, having spent well beyond the luxury-tax threshold last season, owe a tax payment of $54MM.
Here’s the complete list of taxpaying teams for the 2015/16 season, per Stein:
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $54MM
- Los Angeles Clippers: $19.9MM
- Golden State Warriors: $14.8MM
- Oklahoma City Thunder $14.5MM
- Houston Rockets: $4.9MM
- San Antonio Spurs: $4.9MM
- Chicago Bulls: $4.2MM
The tax payments owed by those seven teams total nearly $120MM, and according to Stein, half of that money will be used to fund the NBA’s revenue-sharing program. The other half will be split up equally among the league’s 23 non-taxpaying teams, with each franchise receiving about $2.5MM.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Trail Blazers and Magic were the only teams to fall short of the $63MM floor, per Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). They’ll have to make up the difference by cutting checks to the players who finished the season on their respective rosters.
Kevin Durant has told teams he is meeting with that his decision will be made within the next 24-36 hours, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Durant’s meeting with the Celtics, one that reportedly featured Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, ended just after 6:30pm, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com. Aldridge also tweets that Durant will meet with the Heat Sunday before meeting again with the Thunder. He is then expected to decide. According to Broussard, however, no decision has been made on whether Durant will meet again with the Thunder (Twitter link). Durant has also met with the Warriors, Spurs and Clippers.
Here’s more from a busy day around the league …
- The Raptors have emerged as another suitor for Pau Gasol, who may look to make a decision after Durant finds a home, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. The Wolves, Blazers and Spurs have expressed interest in Gasol, too, Stein relays (on Twitter).
- Al Horford‘s four-year, $113MM deal with the Celtics includes a player option after the third year, according to his agent Jason Glushon, Shelburne reports (ESPN Now link).
- The Clippers formally offered Jamal Crawford a contract on Saturday, according to Shelburne (ESPN Now link). The Wolves checked in on Crawford Saturday, but they are not close to offering, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
- After losing Horford in free agency, the Hawks are expected to halt trade talks and will keep Paul Millsap, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
- The Kings hold a team option for the second year on both of the two-year agreements for Arron Afflalo and Anthony Tolliver, James Ham of CSNBayArea.com tweets.
- The Pelicans have expressed interest in Raymond Felton and New Orleans could be competition for the Mavs, who would like to re-sign Felton, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Mavs, Wolves, Pelicans and Spurs are among the teams that have expressed interest in unrestricted free agent Thomas Robinson, Kennedy tweets.
- The Nets spent plenty of time on Friday weighing whether or not to sign Trail Blazers RFA Allen Crabbe to an offer sheet, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Nets are big fans of Crabbe, but an offer sheet could tie up the team’s cap for three days after the moratorium ends, which could backfire if Portland matches it. The Blazers are probably less likely to match a big offer for Crabbe now that they have an agreement with Evan Turner, but it’s still not out of the question.
Kevin Durant‘s meeting with the Clippers has concluded, and Durant was “blown away” by the team’s presentation, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (via Twitter). It’s hard to know yet exactly what that means, since Durant was also reportedly impressed with the Warriors‘ pitch earlier in the day — it would probably be more newsworthy if Durant had been unimpressed by one of the teams’ presentations. In any case, the former MVP has sit-downs with the Spurs and Celtics on tap for tomorrow, then is expected to meet with the Heat on Sunday – and possibly the Thunder again after that – before making his decision.
Let’s check in on a few more free agent updates from across the NBA…
- The Raptors had a meeting today in Los Angeles with free agent forward Ryan Anderson, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Times. Toronto inquired on Anderson at the trade deadline as well, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca tweets, but the team would have to clear salary from its cap – and possible let Bismack Biyombo go – in order to have any shot at signing him.
- Ian Mahinmi won’t return to Indiana, with the Pacers set to add Al Jefferson, but Mahinmi has no shortage of suitors, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter links). Aldridge identifies the Spurs, Wizards, Timberwolves, Hornets, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Magic as clubs in the mix for the free agent center.
- The Nets have put a two-year, $18MM offer on the table for Jared Dudley, who is still receiving interest from the Jazz and Suns, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link).
- The Spurs, Nets, and Bulls have expressed interest in free agent big man Jordan Hill, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter link).
- The Timberwolves have been very active, reaching out to many free agents during the first day of July. Jamal Crawford and Randy Foye were among the players to receive a call from the Wolves today, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune, respectively (Twitter links).
- Veteran big man Kris Humphries is a strong candidate to return to the Nets, a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). Brooklyn was one of six teams mentioned as a potential Humphries suitor earlier today.
In an interesting interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Evan Turner explained how he ended up reaching an agreement with the Trail Blazers earlier today, expressing confidence that he’ll be a great fit in Portland. Turner suggested that he’d “play in Boston every single day of the week” if all other factors were equal, but the Celtics would have only have offered him about half what the Blazers did, and the C’s likely would’ve reduced his role as well.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Hassan Whiteside‘s max salary isn’t set in stone yet, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald, who tweets that the young center would be willing to take a little less if Kevin Durant wants to sign with the Heat.
- Chandler Parsons called his decision to sign with the Grizzlies the toughest of his life, calling Portland “incredible” and citing Memphis’ coaching staff as a major factor in his choice. Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com has the quotes from Parsons.
- Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press is skeptical that the Timberwolves will trade Ricky Rubio this summer, tweeting that head coach Tom Thibodeau wants to work with the point guard. Krawczynski expects Rubio to be on Minnesota’s roster when training camp rolls around.
- Dubbed last week as the favorites to reach a deal with Spanish point guard Sergio Rodriguez, the Nets are are still trying to get a deal done with Rodriguez, but sources tell Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that an agreement looks “unlikely.”
- The Thunder issued a press release today confirming the hiring of Adrian Griffin as an assistant on Billy Donovan‘s staff, as was reported last month. Vin Bhavnani and former NBA guard Royal Ivey also received promotions and are now assistant coaches, per the team.
JULY 7th, 12:22am: The deal is official, the team announced.
JULY 1st, 2:30pm: With Chandler Parsons no longer in play, the Trail Blazers have landed another one of their top perimeter free agents, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports that Portland has reached an agreement with Evan Turner on a four-year deal worth about $70MM. As ESPN’s Kevin Pelton tweets, that’s about the most the Blazers could have offered a player without renouncing any of their own key free agents.
A former second overall pick, Turner has never developed into a star player, but the 27-year-old has been a solid role player for the Celtics over the last couple years. In 2015/16, he averaged 10.5 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and a .456 field-goal percentage.
The Knicks, Bulls, Pelicans, Mavericks, Lakers, Grizzlies, and Celtics had been mentioned as potential suitors for Turner, with Portland’s interest having been kept relatively under wraps. As noted above, Turner appeared to be a fallback option for the Blazers after Parsons turned down a max offer from the team.
Even after reaching a big-money agreement with Turner, the Blazers aren’t done free agent shopping. According to Wojnarowski, Portland has also made an “aggressive” offer to big man Pau Gasol. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com first reported that the Blazers had interest in Gasol.
If Portland lands Gasol, it seems likely that at least a couple of the club’s restricted free agents will end up elsewhere. The Blazers currently have qualifying offers out to Allen Crabbe, Meyers Leonard, and Maurice Harkless.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Unrestricted free agent Kris Humphries, who split time last season between the Wizards, Suns and Hawks, is one of the players the Celtics are considering making a run at this offseason, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com relays (on Twitter). The Hawks, Nets, Wolves, Spurs and Hornets are also interested in the big man, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets.
With free agency now underway, here’s the latest happening from around the league:
- The Trail Blazers intend to make a strong push to ink both Chandler Parsons and Dwight Howard this offseason, Jason Quick of CSNNW.com tweets. Parsons and Howard were former teammates with the Rockets and have remained friends, the scribe notes.
- The Hawks made a strong impression on Howard during their meeting with him today, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. The scribe adds that the possibility of D12 joining Atlanta is gaining traction.
- The Warriors are looking to bolster their bench and have expressed interest in unrestricted free agent Andrew Nicholson, who spent the past four seasons with the Magic, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link).
- Former Wyoming head coach Larry Shyatt is joining Rick Carlisle‘s staff with the Mavericks, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com tweets.
- Former Nets forward Sergey Karasev signed a three-year deal with the Russian club BC Zenit Saint Petersburg, the team announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The 22-year-old made 40 appearances for Brooklyn this season and averaged 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.0 per contest while shooting .405/.297/.929 from the field.
- Former Wizards forward Chris Singleton has signed with the Greek club Panathinaikos, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter). Singleton last appeared in the NBA during the 2013/14 season.
- The Wolves have reached out to free agent power forward Brandon Bass to gauge interest, Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN tweets.
- With the Pacers reportedly reaching an agreement with Al Jefferson, unrestricted free agent big man Ian Mahinmi won’t be returning to the team next season, Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star relays (via Twitter).
- The Mavericks have no immediate plans to target Bismack Biyombo or Howard after missing out on Hassan Whiteside, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link).
Free agents Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons have talked several times about teaming up in Memphis, posts Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Parsons, who already has a maximum offer on the table from the Blazers, will meet with Grizzlies officials later today in Los Angeles. Conley has a meeting scheduled with the Mavericks, but MacMahon says Conley and Parsons haven’t talked about becoming teammates in Dallas.
- With more than $60MM to spend, the Sixers are targeting guards as free agency begins, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. He names the Thunder’s Dion Waiters, the Clippers‘ Jamal Crawford and the Blazers‘ Allen Crabbe as players that Philadelphia has interest in.
- Several teams are expected to pursue Blazers restricted free agent Maurice Harkless, posts Marc Spears on ESPN Now. A source tells Spears that the Wizards, Pistons, Lakers, Mavericks and Jazz are all interested.