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Here's a look at all the NBA's news from this past week. 

• The Nets are expected to sign Andray Blatche. 
• The Heat will re-sign Terrel Harris. They also signed Jarvis Varnado and Mickell Gladness. 
• The Rockets will sign Scott Machado. 
• The Lakers sign Robert Sacre. They also signed Greg Somogyi, and added Reeves Nelson. 
• Justin Timberlake joined the bid to purchase the Grizzlies. 
• The Nuggets signed Quincy Miller. 
• The Pacers signed Sundiata Gaines and Sam Young. 
• The Magic signed E'Twaun Moore. 
• The Hawks signed Mike Scott.
• The Hornets signed Darius Miller. 
• Jason Kapono has been working out with the Spurs. 
• Brian Scalabrine turned down a job serving as an assistant coach for the Bulls. 
• The Raptors are scheduled to sign Jamaal Magloire. 
• James Singleton might sign in China. 
• The Clippers promote Gary Sacks.
• The Bulls remain in the mix when it comes to signing Anthony Tolliver. 
• The Bobcats are looking at Tracy McGrady. 
• Allen Iverson is considering playing in China. 
• The Bulls are exploring an extension for Taj Gibson. 

Today we detailed the significant moves that a half-dozen new NBA executives made in their first summer on the job. It's been an offseason of change for NBA front offices, as seven clubs have replaced the man in charge of player personnel since the end of the regular season. We haven't had much of a chance to evaluate Dennis Lindsey, who became Jazz GM just over a month ago, but all the other new hires have already made several significant decisions. That includes Gary Sacks, who didn't formally take over as Clippers GM until this week, but was part of a three-man committee with team president Andy Roeser and coach Vinny Del Negro starting in June.

Vote below to let us know which executive you think is off to the best start.

The front office carousel has been spinning quickly since the end of the regular season, as seven teams have come up with someone new in charge of player personnel. The Pacers, Clippers, Magic, Trail Blazers, Hawks, Warriors and Jazz have all undergone front-office reshufflings, and the Sixers appear poised to do so as well. There could have been even more movement. The Knicks removed the interim tag from GM Glen Grunwald's title, while the Wizards ended doubts that Ernie Grunfeld would return by extending his contract. There were rumors that the Bucks could make a change, with GM John Hammond a candidate for Portland's opening, and a report cited Kings GM Geoff Petrie was also in the running for the Blazers job.

With the offseason nearing its completion, here's a look at what each new front office executive has done this summer. We'll leave out Dennis Lindsey of the Jazz, who took over the GM role from Kevin O'Connor just a month ago, after most of the player movement had already taken place.

• Pacers: Donnie Walsh replaced Larry Bird as president of basketball operations on June 27th, the same day Kevin Pritchard took over as GM for David Morway. The Walsh-Pritchard team, with Walsh having the final say, was able to keep a couple of the cornerstones of the team built by the previous regime, re-signing restricted free agents Roy Hibbert to a maximum contract and George Hill for five years and $40MM. Both deals were finalized on July 13th. The most significant changes new management undertook were the signing of Gerald Green to a three-year, $10.5MM deal and the trade of Darren Collison for Ian Mahinmi, who got a new four-year, $16MM contract.
• Clippers: GM Neil Olshey agreed to stay on with the team on June 1st, but abruptly reversed course and bolted for Portland three days later. That left team president Andy Roeser, coach Vinny Del Negro and director of player personnel Gary Sacks to jointly run the team's basketball operations in his stead. The team promoted Sacks to vice president of basketball operations exactly three months later, putting him solely in charge. The triumvirate of Roeser, Del Negro and Sacks had a busy summer, beginning June 29th with the acquisition of Lamar Odom in a four-team trade that sent away Mo Williams. They gave Blake Griffin a five-year maximum contract extension on July 11th. They inked Jamal Crawford the same day, and re-signed Chauncey Billups on the 13th. The team amnestied Ryan Gomes on July 17th, the day before Grant Hill came aboard. 
• Magic: Orlando parted ways with Otis Smith on May 21st and hired Rob Hennigan as his replacement on June 20th. Hennigan oversaw the biggest move of the summer, pulling off the Dwight Howard blockbuster on August 10th, giving the team cap room and draft picks in the future. Hennigan also sent Ryan Anderson away to the Hornets in a sign-and-trade on July 11th, but made a long-term commitment to one veteran holdover, signing Jameer Nelson on July 16th to a three-year, $25.2MM contract. The new GM also inherited a coaching vacancy, and filled it with Jacque Vaughn on July 30th.
• Blazers: Olshey jumped from the Clippers on June 4th, replacing interim GM Chad Buchanan. The June 28th draft was his first major test, and Olshey spent the Blazers' pair of lottery picks on Damian Lillard, who went sixth overall, and Meyers Leonard, the 11th overall selection. Restricted free agent Roy Hibbert agreed to sign a maximum-salary offer sheet on July 1st, but when it became clear the Pacers would match, the deal fell through, and the signing never took place. Olshey signed one of his own big men instead, inking J.J. Hickson on July 13th to a one-year, $4MM deal, several days after failing to tender Hickson a qualifying offer of approximately the same value, thus making him an unrestricted free agent. The Blazers did make a qualifying offer to Nicolas Batum, but still had more trouble retaining him than they had with Hickson, getting in a bitter tug-of-war with the Timberwolves until July 20th, when they finally matched the four-year, $46.122MM offer sheet Batum signed with Minnesota. Olshey also sent Raymond Felton packing on July 16th in a sign-and-trade with the Knicks.
• Hawks: Danny Ferry became president of basketball operations and GM for the Hawks on June 25th, replacing former GM Rick Sund. It didn't take Ferry long to make his mark, as he agreed to trade Joe Johnson to the Nets on July 2nd, the same day he OK'd a swap of Marvin Williams for Devin Harris with the Jazz. Both moves were finalized on July 11th, and they gave the Hawks cap space and flexibility for the future. With an eye toward the present, Ferry used the mid-level exception to sign Lou Williams to a three-year, $15.675MM contract on July 12th, and traded for Kyle Korver on July 16th.
• Warriors: The team promoted assistant GM Bob Myers to GM on April 24th, replacing Larry Riley, who was reassigned as Golden State's director of scouting. He addressed the team's need for a new starting small forward through the draft, taking Harrison Barnes with the seventh overall pick, and spent free agency tinkering with the bench. He finalized a three-way trade on July 11th that brought in backup guard Jarrett Jack from the Hornets and sent Dorell Wright, the incumbent starter at the three, to the Sixers. Myers added more depth on August 1st, the day he finalized identical two-year, $8MM deals for Carl Landry and Brandon Rush.  

The 2005 draft was the last to feature players jumping directly from high school to the NBA, and as time goes by, there are fewer of those players remaining in the league. The NBA, since 2006, has required high schoolers to wait at least a year after their class graduates before entering the draft, sending would-be draftees to the college ranks and a few, like Brandon Jennings, to professional leagues oversees.

There are still about two dozen players currently on NBA rosters who had no college or international experience prior to being drafted. That contingent includes the man who started a decade-long influx of high school players, Kevin Garnett, the fifth overall pick out of Farragut Career Academy in 1995. Most of these players are doing well financially, though the list obviously doesn't include those who washed out of the league early in their careers. All the remaining preps-to-pros are listed by team below, along with the draft statuses and their 2012/13 salaries in parentheses.

Bobcats
DeSagana Diop, drafted eighth overall in 2001 ($7.372MM)

Bucks
Monta Ellis, drafted 40th overall in 2005 ($11MM)

Cavaliers
C.J. Miles, drafted 34th overall in 2005 ($2.225MM)

Celtics
Kevin Garnett, drafted fifth overall in 1995 ($11.566MM) 

Hawks
Josh Smith, drafted 17th overall in 2004 ($13.2MM)
DeShawn Stevenson, drafted 23rd overall in 2000 ($2.240MM)
Lou Williams, drafted 45th overall in 2005 ($5MM)

Heat
LeBron James, drafted first overall in 2003 ($17.545MM)
Rashard Lewis, drafted 32nd overall in 1998 ($1.352MM)

Jazz
Al Jefferson, drafted 15th overall in 2004 ($15MM)

Kings
Travis Outlaw, drafted 23rd overall in 2003 ($3MM)

Lakers
Kobe Bryant, drafted 13th overall in 1996 ($27.849MM)
Dwight Howard, drafted first overall in 2004 ($19.536MM) 

Magic
Al Harrington, drafted 25th overall in 1998 ($6.687MM)

Knicks
Tyson Chandler, drafted second overall in 2001 ($13.604MM)

Pacers
Gerald Green, drafted 18th overall in 2005 ($3.5MM)

Raptors
Amir Johnson, drafted 56th overall in 2005 ($6.05MM)

Rockets
Shaun Livingston, drafted fourth overall in 2004 ($3.5MM)

Sixers
Andrew Bynum, drafted 10th overall in 2005 ($16.889MM) 
Kwame Brown, drafted first overall in 2001 ($2.819MM)
Dorell Wright, drafted 19th overall in 2004 ($4.106MM)

Suns
Jermaine O'Neal, drafted 17th overall in 1996 ($1.352MM)
Sebastian Telfair, drafted 13th overall in 2004 ($1.568MM)

Thunder
Kendrick Perkins, drafted 27th overall in 2003 ($8.301MM)

Wizards
Martell Webster, drafted sixth overall in 2005 ($1.75MM) 

Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this post.

Teams that haven't used their amnesty provision to clear an unwanted salary from their cap won't receive another chance to do so until next July, but it's never too early to preview which players could be on the chopping block.

As our amnesty tracker shows, 15 teams have taken advantage of the rule, clearing a total of more than $350MM from their respective salary cap totals. Since clubs can only amnesty one player over the course of this CBA, that means the other half of the NBA's 30 franchises will still have that opportunity over the next few summers.

You can visit our glossary for a full explanation of the amnesty clause, but the essential information is this: To be an amnesty candidate, a player must have signed his contract under the old CBA, and can't have changed teams since the lockout. So Ben Gordon isn't an amnesty candidate for the Bobcats, since the team acquired him via trade. And Landry Fields can't be amnestied by the Raptors, since he signed his deal under the new CBA.

With all that in mind, here are the remaining amnesty candidates for the 15 teams that still have the clause at their disposal. Outstanding salary (guaranteed or non-guaranteed) left on their deals after 2012/13 is noted in parentheses:

Bulls: Joakim Noah ($36.7MM), Carlos Boozer ($32.1MM), Luol Deng ($14.28MM)
Bobcats: Tyrus Thomas ($18.08MM)
Bucks: Drew Gooden ($13.37MM), Larry Sanders ($3.05MM)
Celtics: Rajon Rondo ($24.86MM), Avery Bradley ($2.51MM)
Grizzlies: Zach Randolph ($34.3MM), Mike Conley ($26.08MM)
Hawks: Al Horford ($36MM)
Heat: LeBron James ($61.77MM), Chris Bosh ($61.77MM), Dwyane Wade ($60.49MM), Mike Miller ($12.8MM), Udonis Haslem ($8.96MM), Joel Anthony ($7.6MM)
Jazz: Derrick Favors ($6.01MM), Gordon Hayward ($3.45MM)
Kings: John Salmons ($14.58MM), DeMarcus Cousins ($4.92MM)
Lakers: Kobe Bryant ($30.45MM), Pau Gasol ($19.29MM), Metta World Peace ($7.73MM), Steve Blake ($4MM)
Pelicans: No players eligible
Pistons: Charlie Villanueva ($8.58MM), Greg Monroe ($4.09MM)
Raptors: Andrea Bargnani ($22.25MM), Amir Johnson ($13.6MM), Linas Kleiza ($4.6MM)
Spurs: Tony Parker ($25MM), Matt Bonner ($3.95MM)
Thunder: Kevin Durant ($56.99MM), Kendrick Perkins ($18.63MM), Nick Collison ($4.83MM), Thabo Sefolosha ($3.9MM)

Additional notes on this list:

• Because the Pelicans have no players on their roster eligible to be amnestied, there are essentially only 14 teams left that can use the provision.
• Many of the players on this list have team options for 2013/14. That makes them unlikely to be real amnesty candidates, barring a drastic injury or decline in production between the option decision and the 2013 amnesty period. If a team wants to get rid of one of these players, it could just decline his option.
• World Peace, Villanueva, and Kleiza all have player options for next season. So if any of them end up being amnestied, it will happen just a couple weeks after they've exercised their options to remain with their respective teams.

Prior to last year's trade deadline, we examined the largest expiring contracts of 2011/12, noting that some of those deals could be valuable chips in deadline swaps. That turned out to be the case in a handful of instances — Marcus Camby, Mehmet Okur, and Leandro Barbosa were among the players whose large expiring deals were moved. Meanwhile, some teams that held onto their expiring contracts, such as the Cavs with Antawn Jamison or the Hornets with Chris Kaman, were able to clear big chunks of cap space after the season.

With that in mind, let's take an early look at the largest expiring deals of 2012/13. These players are entering the last year of their contracts, with no team or player options available next summer. In some cases, the player's current team will simply want to re-sign him (think: Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, and Chris Paul), but many of these guys could be in play at the trade deadline or could allow their teams to create significant cap space in 2013.

Here's the list of all the expiring contracts worth at least $5MM (restricted free agents marked with an asterisk):

Dwight Howard, Lakers: $19.54MM
Chris Paul, Clippers: $17.78MM
Andrew Bynum, 76ers: $16.89MM
Al Jefferson, Jazz: $15MM
Manu Ginobili, Spurs: $14.11MM
Josh Smith, Hawks: $13.2MM
Kevin Martin, Rockets: $12.44MM
Corey Maggette, Pistons: $10.92MM
Jose Calderon, Raptors: $10.56MM
Stephen Jackson, Spurs: $10.06MM
David West, Pacers: $10MM
Paul Millsap, Jazz: $8.6MM
Devin Harris, Hawks: $8.5MM
Mo Williams, Jazz: $8.5MM
Lamar Odom, Clippers: $8.2MM
Chris Kaman, Mavericks: $8MM
DeSagana Diop, Bobcats: $7.37MM
Beno Udrih, Bucks: $7.37MM
Samuel Dalembert, Bucks: $6.7MM
J.J. Redick, Magic: $6.19MM
Luke Walton, Cavaliers: $6.09MM
* James Harden, Thunder: $5.82MM
Nick Young, 76ers: $5.6MM
Jarrett Jack, Warriors: $5.4MM
* Tyreke Evans, Kings: $5.25MM
Zaza Pachulia, Hawks: $5.25MM
Kyle Korver, Hawks: $5MM
Jason Maxiell, Pistons: $5MM

Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this list.

At this point in NBA free agency, intangibles can go a long way toward determining who gets one of the final available spots. Playoff experience is a commodity, and several players remaining on the market possess a wealth of it, led by Derek Fisher and his five NBA championship rings. He's played in 229 playoff games, more than any other current free agent. 

We've broken down the top five free agents at each position with the most playoff experience, and ranked them by the number of career postseason games played. If a player has won at least one championship, we've noted that here as well.

Point Guards
Derek Fisher: 229 — NBA champion in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010
Mike Bibby: 105
Baron Davis: 50
Jannero Pargo: 40
Anthony Carter: 39

Shooting Guards
Leandro Barbosa: 75
Eddie House: 66 — NBA champion in 2008
Marquis Daniels: 62
Maurice Evans: 56
Larry Hughes: 49

Small Forwards
Mickael Pietrus: 69
Josh Howard: 66
James Posey: 65 — NBA champion in 2006, 2008
Matt Barnes: 46
Tracy McGrady: 44

Power Forwards
Kenyon Martin: 100
Juwan Howard: 49 — NBA champion in 2012
Chris Andersen: 31
Brian Cook: 31
Louis Amundson: 29

Centers
Ben Wallace: 130 — NBA champion in 2004
Mehmet Okur: 71 — NBA champion in 2004
Tony Battie: 56
Jamaal Magloire: 46
Francisco Elson: 30 — NBA champion in 2007

A year ago, NBA players were flocking to China, Italy, Spain, and a handful of other countries where professional basketball was actually being played while the Association was locked out. With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, labor issues aren't a concern this year, but that doesn't mean that players aren't still heading overseas.

So far this offseason, a number of players that finished the 2011/12 campaign on NBA rosters have agreed to play in various countries all over the globe. Contract details aren't quite as readily available for these deals, but we're still keeping tabs on many of them using our Free Agent Tracker. Here's the list to date of players that finished the season on an NBA roster and have signed non-NBA contracts this summer:

• Morris Almond: Finished the season with the Wizards. Signed with Red Star Belgrade (Serbia).
• Craig Brackins: Finished the season with the 76ers. Signed with Angelico Biella (Italy).
• Semih Erden: Finished the season with the Cavaliers. Signed with Anadolu Efes Istanbul (Turkey).
• Jordan Farmar: Finished the season with the Nets. Signed with Anadolu Efes Istanbul (Turkey).
• Rudy Fernandez: Finished the season with the Nuggets. Signed with Real Madrid (Spain).
• Vernon Macklin: Finished the season with the Pistons. Signed with Gaziantep (Turkey).
• Craig Smith: Finished the season with the Trail Blazers. Signed with Hapoel Jerusalem (Israel).
• Ben Uzoh: Finished the season with the Raptors. Signed with Cholet Basket (France).
• Von Wafer: Finished the season with the Magic. Signed with Xinjiang Flying Tigers (China).
• Darryl Watkins: Finished the season with the Hornets. Signed with Lukoil Academic Sofia (Bulgaria).
• Shelden Williams: Finished the season with the Nets. Signed with Elan Chalon (France).

Among the other notable international signings: Sonny Weems and Nenad Krstic, who both played overseas during the lockout and decided against returning to the NBA this year. Both players signed with CSKA Moscow (Russia). Former lottery pick Hilton Armstrong also flirted with a return to the Association before eventually landing with Panathinaikos (Greece).

When Ronny Turiaf signed with the Heat for the stretch run last season, he inked a deal that included a minimum-salary player option for 2012/13. At the time of the signing, the option was referred to as an "insurance policy" for Turiaf. Presumably, if he'd suffered a major injury that would hinder his ability to land a new contract this summer, he could have picked up the option and still earned a salary for the year.

Turiaf didn't play particularly well for the Heat late in the regular season and in the playoffs, but he stayed healthy and ultimately declined the option. And this offseason, plenty of free agents have signed deals that appear similar in structure to Turiaf's — two-year contracts with a second-year player option. In many cases, those options seem cheap enough that they're likely to be declined if the player stays healthy and is at least relatively productive this season. But in the event of an injury or a sharp decline in productivity, the option serves as a safety net.

Listed below are this offseason's free agents that signed two-year deals with second-year player options. The value of the 2013/14 option is in parentheses.

• Ray Allen, Heat ($3.23MM)
• Jerryd Bayless, Grizzlies ($3.14MM)
• Aaron Brooks, Kings ($3.4MM)
• Kwame Brown, 76ers ($2.95MM)
• Boris Diaw, Spurs ($4.7MM)
• Aaron Gray, Raptors ($2.69MM)
• Kirk Hinrich, Bulls ($4.06MM)
• Andrei Kirilenko, Timberwolves ($10.22MM)
• Carl Landry, Warriors ($4MM)
• Rashard Lewis, Heat ($1.4MM)
• O.J. Mayo, Mavericks ($4.2MM)
• Jodie Meeks, Lakers ($1.58MM)
• Patrick Mills, Spurs ($1.13MM)
• Brandon Rush, Warriors ($4MM)
• J.R. Smith, Knicks ($2.93MM)
• Marreese Speights, Grizzlies ($4.52MM)
• C.J. Watson ($1.11MM)

Teams will begin training camps at the end of the month, meaning there are only a few weeks left before offseason becomes preseason in the NBA. Traditionally, that's led to more player movement in September than in August, and some significant deals have gone down in Septembers past. That wasn't the case in 2011 because of the lockout, but here are some of the transactions from years past that can give you an idea of what to expect over the next 30 days.

2010

• September 30th: Joakim Noah agrees to a five-year, $60MM extension with the Bulls — Chicago ended an active offseason by locking up their young defensive stalwart at center long-term and keeping him from restricted free agency in 2011. The deal likely saved the Bulls quite a bit, considering Marc Gasol signed for four years and $57.5MM and DeAndre Jordan got four years and $43.04MM as restricted free agents last year.
• September 24th: Andray Blatche signs a five-year, $35.73MM extension with the Wizards — Career highs of 16.8 points and 8.2 rebounds seemed to justify the move in 2010/11, but last year's drastic regression to 8.5 PPG and 5.8 RPG led the Wizards to use the amnesty clause to waive Blatche this summer, less than halfway into the extension. Blatche seems likely to be a part of another September transaction this year, as he's drawing interest from a handful of teams, including the Nets, as we heard today.

2009

• September 22nd: Raymond Felton signs a one-year, $5.5MM qualifying offer from the Bobcats — Felton helped the Bobcats to the only playoff appearance in franchise history that year, but the team's inability to get him to sign long-term allowed him to bolt to the Knicks the following summer for a two-year, $14.56MM deal.
• September 4th: Ramon Sessions signs a four-year, $16.445MM offer sheet from the Timberwolves. The Bucks decline to match — His departure cleared the way for Brandon Jennings in Milwaukee, while the Timberwolves seemed to quickly develop buyer's remorse, shipping Sessions to the Cavs after just one season. The final year of the contract was a player option worth $4.552MM, though Sessions might regret his decision not to opt in and stay with the contending Lakers this summer, as he'll wind up making only slightly more money this season with the woeful Bobcats.

2008

• September 29th: Francisco Garcia signs a five-year, $29.6MM extension with the Kings — Sacramento shackled itself long-term to a player whose scoring, rebounding and assists-per-game averages have declined each season of the extension, which kicked in with the 2009/10 season. He's put up only 7.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 1.1 APG in 20.9 MPG over the life of the extension, which still has one more season left on it plus a $6.4MM team option that the Kings will almost certainly not exercise.
• September 22nd: Goran Dragic signs a four year, $7.616MM deal with the Suns — The Suns brought aboard the Slovenian point guard whose rights they had acquired from the Spurs after San Antonio took him 45th overall in the 2008 draft. Dragic quickly established himself as a solid backup to Steve Nash, and when the Suns withdrew their qualifying offer to Aaron Brooks this summer to clear the way for Dragic to return, they more or less acknowledged the mistake they made when they traded Dragic for Brooks in 2011.