San Antonio Spurs Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Aldridge, Chandler, Booker

July 9th, 2015 at 11:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Blazers executive Neil Olshey said the team found out LaMarcus Aldridge was signing with the Spurs after his second meeting with San Antonio on July 3rd, Mike Tokito of The Oregonian writes. Olshey also took offense to the suggestion that he and the Blazers were trying to hide Aldridge’s pending departure from fans and the media, calling it “patently false,” Tokito adds. “More than anything, what was the upside to lying? What? What did we buy? Five days of peace? I can guarantee you there was no peace,” Olshey said. “What was our motivation to lie for 96 hours? It wasn’t like there was some big season ticket holder push during that 96 hours. There wasn’t some sponsorship that was up, it wasn’t that we were recruiting some other free agents that were only going to come if LaMarcus was going to be here.”

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

Olshey also fielded questions regarding whether or not the team considered trading Aldridge last season, Tokito tweets. The GM relayed that it would have been extremely difficult to trade Aldridge in final year of his contract, and that teams wouldn’t be willing to deal for the forward without knowing if he’d re-sign with them, Tokito adds.
The Mavericks have expressed interest in former Wizards big man Kevin Seraphin, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops reports (Twitter link).
The Suns are thrilled with their signing of center Tyson Chandler to a free agent deal, Matt Petersen of NBA.com writes. “The first thing I think of when I think of Tyson Chandler is a winner and winning,” GM Ryan McDonough said. “His teams in New York won a lot. His teams in Dallas won a lot, including a championship. The World Championship [with USA Basketball] in Istanbul when I was there five years ago won the gold. He’s always won everywhere he’s gone.”
The Blazers have promoted Jim Moran to assistant coach to replace the recently fired Kim Hughes, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian tweets.
The Jazz are likely to keep Trevor Booker on the roster for next season, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune relays (on Twitter). Only $250k of the $4,775,000 Booker is set to earn in 2015/16 is guaranteed.

Celtics Sign Amir Johnson

July 9th, 2015 at 7:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA: Toronto Raptors at Minnesota Timberwolves

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 9TH, 7:58pm: The signing is official, the Celtics announced. Since it’s not a sign-and-trade, and the amount is too large to fit within the mid-level exception, that means Boston is using cap space and has lost its long list of trade exceptions, including one worth $12,909,090 left over from the Rajon Rondo trade.

3:47pm: The second year is non-guaranteed, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (Twitter link).

JULY 1ST, 2:36pm: The Celtics and Amir Johnson have agreed to a deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). It’ll be worth $24MM over two years, a fairly significant outlay. The incumbent Raptors, as well as the Knicks, Celtics, Mavericks, Pacers, Lakers and Spurs also expressed interest in the Kevin Bradbury client, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reported earlier (on Twitter).

Chris Mannix of SI.com reported Tuesday that Boston was expected to show interest. Johnson said in 2013 that he wanted to play for Toronto the rest of his career, but declining numbers this past season seemed to make that proposition less likely.

Nets Rescind Qualifying Offer To Mirza Teletovic

July 9th, 2015 at 3:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets have withdrawn their more than $4.21MM qualifying offer to Mirza Teletovic, the team announced (hat tip to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post). He’s now an unrestricted free agent, as Brooklyn has forfeited its right to match offers for him. The move is somewhat surprising, since GM Billy King said this morning that the sides had been in talks and that he was hopeful that the client of Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman would sign, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com passed along (Twitter link).

They can still strike a deal, but the Nets can’t stop him from joining another NBA team. King had said this spring that he would let the market dictate the terms of the forward’s next contract. Teletovic, who’s expressed a desire to return, has received plenty of interest from overseas, but it doesn’t appear as though other NBA teams are biting just yet. Still, Grantland’s Zach Lowe, as he did in April, mentions the Spurs in connection to him (Twitter link), though it’s not clear in either case whether that’s simply an educated guess or if San Antonio indeed has interest.

The Nets are poised to once more exceed the tax threshold, set at $84.74MM for this season, though King said today that the team will probably make moves designed to bring the team under that line or at least lessen the amount by which it is over, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). Drawing a hard line on Teletovic, who could have simply accepted his qualifying offer, falls in line with that philosophy.

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Spurs Acquire Ray McCallum

July 9th, 2015 at 3:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports

3:27pm: The deal is official, the Kings and Spurs announced via press releases. Sacramento will receive a 2016 second round pick in return for the guard.

10:01am: The Spurs and Kings have agreed to a deal that sends Ray McCallum to San Antonio and a future second-round pick to Sacramento, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). McCallum is making the minimum, but he’s on a three-year deal, so the Spurs can’t take on his salary without using cap space or a trade exception unless they end up sending salary to the Kings when the deal is finalized. That doesn’t appear to be happening, and the Spurs don’t have any trade exceptions. San Antonio is poised to go under the cap to sign LaMarcus Aldridge and others, so the use of cap space seems most likely for this McCallum deal.

The point guard, whose salary is non-guaranteed, ostensibly replaces free agent Cory Joseph, who’s agreed to join the Raptors, as Stein notes. McCallum is set for restricted free agency a year from now, but he at least provides temporary depth. The 24-year-old started 30 games for the Kings last season.

Sacramento has agreed to sign Rajon Rondo, and Darren Collison‘s still on the roster, so McCallum wouldn’t have been in line to do that again this year. The Kings picked the former Detroit Mercy standout 36th overall in 2013.

Spurs Sign LaMarcus Aldridge

July 9th, 2015 at 2:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 9TH, 2:39pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

JULY 4TH, 11:21am: The Spurs and unrestricted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge have reached an agreement that will bring the talented forward to San Antonio, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter links). The arrangement will be for four years, and approximately $80MM, Wojnarowski notes, almost assuredly a max deal. The pact also includes a player option for the final season, the Yahoo! scribe relays.

The deal between San Antonio and Aldridge brings his nine year career with the Trail Blazers to a close. The 29-year-old appeared in 71 games for Portland during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 35.4 minutes of action per contest. His shooting numbers last season were .466/.352/.845. Aldridge’s career numbers through 648 games, all with the Blazers, are 19.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 1.9 APG, with a slash line of .485/.276/.796.

The departure of Aldridge doesn’t come as surprise to the Blazers, who were informed by the forward on Friday night that he had narrowed his choices down to either the Spurs or the Suns, Wojnarowski tweets. A source told David Pick of Eurobasket.com as early as Wednesday that Aldridge would sign with the Spurs and turn down the hard-charging Suns (Twitter links), though he continued to take meetings in the days that followed. Aldridge had two sit-downs with the Lakers, and also met with the Heat, Rockets, Raptors, and Mavs during the free agent process. He cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Knicks, who never appeared to be serious contenders to land the big man.

Aldridge’s signing will have an impact outside of lining the forward’s pockets and giving the Spurs a new star to pair alongside Kawhi Leonard, who reached an agreement on a five year, estimated $90MM contract of his own with the team on Wednesday. Popovich, who has mulled calling it quits when Tim Duncan decides to hang up his sneakers and retire, is now looking to coach for the four remaining years on his contract, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. San Antonio is now aggressively pursuing unrestricted free agent David West as it reloads for 2015/16, tweets Wojnarowski.

Phoenix is likely heartbroken over missing out on the star forward, as it had reportedly made a strong impression on Aldridge, and he would have been the star the team so desperately seeks to acquire. The Suns would have instead focused on trying to convince Kevin Love to come to Arizona if Aldridge had simply stuck to his pledge of a year ago to re-sign with the Blazers, Jake Fischer of SI Now relays (via Twitter). Love has reportedly agreed to a five-year deal for about $110MM with Cleveland. While the agreement cannot be finalized until July 9th, it would indeed have been a shocking turn of events for Love to spurn the Cavs for the Suns, so Phoenix will have to settle for Tyson Chandler as its lone coup on the big man market.

Spurs Re-Sign Tim Duncan

July 9th, 2015 at 1:52pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Spurs have formally re-signed Tim Duncan, the team announced. The sides had been working toward a two-year deal that would pay him $5MM this season with a player option for year two, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported.

Duncan last week confirmed his return for this coming season, which was reportedly in line with San Antonio’s expectation throughout the spring. Little, if any, doubt existed that he would re-sign with the Spurs as long as he indeed decided to play a 19th season in the NBA, but the question has been just how much of a discount the still-productive 39-year-old would give the team.

The Jim Tanner client made nearly $10.362MM this past season, but Aldridge’s report would indicate that his pay has been cut in half. The Spurs will open cap room to sign LaMarcus Aldridge and others, so a $5MM salary for Duncan would give him a lower cap hold and facilitate the addition of San Antonio’s newest star power forward. The $70MM salary cap, nearly $3MM higher than expected, will help, and it could mean Duncan gets a larger salary this season than he otherwise would have.

Latest On Tim Duncan, Spurs

July 9th, 2015 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 12:14pm: Duncan and the Spurs are making progress toward a two-year deal worth $5MM in the first season, with a player option for year two, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (on Twitter).

JULY 2ND, 12:52pm: Tim Duncan will “be on the court next year,” he tells Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News, ostensibly signaling that he will return to the Spurs rather than retire (Twitter links). The Spurs have been operating on the premise that the legendary big man would indeed be back, as Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com made clear in May reports, though the most recent dispatch indicated that Duncan still hadn’t made up his mind.

Duncan is still a free agent, though he said to Monroe that he spoke to Spurs president/coach Gregg Popovich in recent days as the team prepared its pitch to LaMarcus Aldridge. Duncan’s willingness to take a discount will play heavily into San Antonio’s ability to offer Aldridge a max deal, though the Jim Tanner client has long shown a willingness to sacrifice for the betterment of the Spurs, and he seems poised to play for less than the nearly $10.362MM he saw this past season.

Duncan’s longtime teammate Manu Ginobili has yet to announce his decision about retiring or coming back to play, though Tony Parker recently expressed confidence that both Duncan and Ginobili would be back. However, Ginobili’s return seems less of a safe bet than Duncan’s was, as Bucher and Berger’s reports conflicted on whether the Spurs thought the Argentinian swingman would retire.

Hawks Acquire Tiago Splitter

July 9th, 2015 at 11:11am CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

11:11am: The deal is official, the Hawks and Spurs announced via press release. The rights to Georgios Printezis and a protected 2017 second-rounder go to San Antonio, according to the statements.

“We’re excited to bring Tiago to Atlanta. He’s played an important role in a winning environment, has a great understanding of our system and will add to our core character,” Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said as part of the statement. “Tiago also brings championship experience and we look forward to adding his interior presence to our team.”

JULY 9TH, 10:36am: The trade is expected to become final today, with the Hawks sending the rights to a draft-and-stash player and a heavily protected future second-round pick, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).

JULY 1ST, 10:49am: The Spurs will trade Tiago Splitter to the Hawks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). The move comes just after San Antonio agreed to re-sign Danny Green, so the Splitter move will presumably allow San Antonio to preserve the cap flexibility to compete for LaMarcus Aldridge and other marquee free agents, Wojnarowski adds. The deal can’t become official until July 9th, after the July Moratorium, and details of the swap are still in flux, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who suggests other components would allow the Hawks to retain Paul Millsap if they can keep him away from the Magic. Atlanta is expected to absorb Splitter into cap space, as Windhorst writes in a full story.

The arrival of Splitter, who was set to make $8.5MM this coming season and $8.25MM in 2016/17, has a 15% trade kicker in his deal, so he’ll see a bonus of about $2.5MM, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Still, with DeMarre Carroll off to Toronto, the Hawks can afford that and still make a max bid for Paul Millsap.

The Spurs had made Splitter available, but it seemed as though there was a scenario in which San Antonio could sign Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili while still keeping Splitter, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote. That probably didn’t involve the lucrative deal that San Antonio reached with Green, however.

And-Ones: Matthews, Stoudemire, Kanter

July 8th, 2015 at 11:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

As the drama regarding DeAndre Jordan‘s free agency decision seemingly concludes, the Mavericks can breathe easier knowing that Wesley Matthews still intends to sign with the team regardless of Jordan’s choice, Jason Quick of The Oregonian writes. Matthews reached a verbal agreement with Dallas on a sign a four-year deal worth approximately $13MM per season, and he is expected to officially sign the agreement and be introduced to the Dallas media on Thursday, the first day the NBA moratorium ends, Quick adds.

Here’s more from around the league:

With Jordan deciding to remain with the Clippers, signing unrestricted free agent Amar’e Stoudemire will be an option for the Mavericks, Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report relays (Twitter links). Stoudemire is also strongly considering the Heat, Zwerling adds.
There is growing speculation around the league that the Pacers will approach the Mavs about a trade for Roy Hibbert now that Dallas has missed out on Jordan, Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers tweets. That’s apparently even though Indiana has committed to trade Hibbert to the Lakers.
With the free agent moratorium set to end on Thursday, league sources believe that restricted free agent Enes Kanter will either re-sign with the Thunder or sign an offer sheet that the team would then match, Royce Young of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
Forward Livio Jean-Charles, the No. 28 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, won’t be joining the Spurs for the 2015/16 campaign, according to Tony Parker, Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News relays. Parker is not only a potential future teammate of Jean-Charles’, but he is also the president and owner of ASVEL Basket, the French team Jean-Charles currently plays for.
The Thunder sent the Raptors $250k as part of the trade that landed Luke Ridnour in Toronto, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Celtics have a vested interest in where Jordan ends up, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets. Boston owns the rights to the Dallas 2016 first-rounder from the Rajon Rondo trade, which is top seven protected. With the Mavs whiffing on signing Jordan, a blow to the team’s chances of winning this coming season, the pick becomes more valuable, as long as the Mavs don’t sink too far and end up keeping it.

Southwest Rumors: Villanueva, Gasol, Conley

July 8th, 2015 at 1:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Southwest Division free agent bounty might take a hit if DeAndre Jordan indeed reverses course on his decision to sign with the Mavericks, as the Clippers are trying to convince him to do, but he’s not the only free agent the Mavs and Clippers have fought over. There’s more on that amid the latest from around the Southwest:

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers put in a recruiting call to Charlie Villanueva, who also spoke with Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld, as Villanueva reveals on his own website (hat tip to TNT’s David Aldridge). The forward also indicates that the Kings were in the mix, too, but Villanueva made it clear that he’s pleased to have agreed to a deal with the Mavs.
Marc Gasol hinted that Mike Conley assured him he’ll be just as committed to re-signing with the Grizzlies next summer, when he’s a free agent, as Gasol was this year, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal writes in a subscription-only piece. Gasol said it never got to a point where he could envision himself playing outside of Memphis. “I was just sitting on it. I wanted to talk to Mike Conley,” Gasol said to Tillery. “Once I knew Mike Conley was on board, that sealed the deal. We both talked about the future. Once I knew he was on board it was a done deal.”
Some people within the Spurs wondered in retrospect if the team would have been better off giving some of Manu Ginobili‘s minutes to Marco Belinelli, but Ginobili remains valuable to the team and around the league, as Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News chronicles. Someone from another NBA team told Harvey that if he thought Ginobili would ever sign with a franchise other than the Spurs, his team would have pursued him. The veteran swingman has reportedly agreed to re-sign with the Spurs for what appears to be the $2.814MM room exception. Belinelli committed to the Kings.