Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls Re-Sign Mike Dunleavy

July 14th, 2015 at 5:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 14TH, 5:21pm: The deal is official, the Bulls announced via a press release.

9:08am: The sides have reached agreement, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’ll be $14.4MM over the course of the three years with a partial guarantee on the final season, Wojnarowski also tweets.

JULY 1ST, 8:16am: The Bulls and Mike Dunleavy are close to a three-year, $15MM deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Chicago has remained the favorite even as other teams were poised to give chase. LeBron James apparently prompted the Cavaliers to pursue the client of outgoing Wasserman agent Arn Tellem, while the Wizards and Clippers also reportedly had interest.

Chicago has Early Bird rights on Dunleavy, and it would seem they’re putting them to use here. The Cavs were likely limited to no more than the taxpayer’s mid-level of $3.376MM, and while the Wizards could have spent their $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level, the Bulls appear to have come up with a comparable figure. That’s even though Chicago is poised to pay the tax, too.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Miller, Ellington, Mickey

July 14th, 2015 at 1:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers, for all their losing on the court, continue to turn a profit, and the value of the franchise has at least tripled since owner Josh Harris and his partners bought the team in 2011, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. Thus, Harris continues to appear patient with a slow, draft-focused rebuild, and even as last month’s draft was going on, the Sixers were in talks with teams in the bottom half of the lottery, seeking to acquire their picks, Lowe hears. Philadelphia is reportedly interested in Norris Cole, but it remains to be seen if that manifests into the first free agent signing of much significance in the tenure of GM Sam Hinkie. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

The Nets appeared likely to waive Quincy Miller shortly after acquiring him from the Pistons on Monday, but a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com that Brooklyn plans to keep him at least through the start of training camp in the fall (Twitter links). It’ll cost the Nets a $50K partial guarantee if they keep him through Wednesday.
Wayne Ellington‘s two-year deal with the Nets is worth $3,067,500, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
The Celtics and No. 33 overall pick Jordan Mickey began negotiations on Monday, reports Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (on Twitter), and confidence about the ability to reach a deal surrounded the opening of the talks, MassLive’s Jay King hears. Still, neither side is in a hurry, Bulpett tweets. Mickey, a client of Matt Babcock, is expected to seek guaranteed money, King writes.
Gigi Datome spoke with the Mavericks, Clippers and Wizards, but those teams wouldn’t promise him that he’d be a part of their rotations, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. The former Celtics forward just signed with Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge doesn’t see deals for veterans like David Lee and Amir Johnson as antithetical to a youth-focused approach, believing that vets can serve important mentorship roles, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald details.

Southeast Notes: Anderson, Millsap, Tavares

July 13th, 2015 at 8:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Alan Anderson, who the Wizards signed to a one-year, $4MM pact using part of the their mid-level exception, said the Nets, Hornets and Hawks were also interested in him, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post tweets. Anderson also said there was one other team that had shown interest during his free agency, but he forgot which team it was.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Paul Millsap‘s salary for next season will be just over $18.67MM, which is below the maximum, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The total value of the forward’s three year deal will be slightly under $60.22MM and it contains a player option in the last season.
Walter Tavares, also known as Edy Tavares, chose Atlanta over several European teams that offered lucrative contracts, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “For me, it’s a dream come true to sign with Hawks,” Tavares said. “It was difficult because I had good offers in Turkey, in Madrid, in Barcelona. It was difficult decision for me but I think I worked every week to be here with the Hawks. The Hawks came to Gran Canaria to talk to me, to speak with me, to motivate me to work. That was part of the decision to come because of the way they support and motivate me.”
Tavares will make slightly over $3.01MM over three years with his new deal, as Basketball Insiders’ Hawks Salary page shows. The last year of his deal is non-guaranteed.

Wizards Re-Sign Drew Gooden

July 13th, 2015 at 7:03pm CST by Eddie Scarito

July 13th, 7:03pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release. “Drew has been an important part of our success the last two years and we are pleased to welcome him back,“ said team president Ernie Grunfeld. “His skills, leadership and outside shooting will continue to add value to our front court rotation.“

JULY 11TH, 6:01pm: The deal is for two years and $6MM, with a $3MM non-guaranteed salary in year two, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (on Twitter).

JULY 9TH, 5:56pm: The Wizards have reached an agreement to re-sign unrestricted free agent Drew Gooden, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The deal is for one year, $3.3MM, David Aldridge of TNT tweets.

Gooden appeared in 51 contests for the Wizards last season, averaging 5.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 16.9 minutes of action per game, His slash line was .399/.390/.773. His career numbers through 13 NBA seasons are 11.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 1.2 APG, with a shooting line of .464/.269/.760.

The 33-year-old will likely see an uptick in his minutes next season with Kevin Seraphin expected to depart via free agency. Gooden had expressed his desire to return to Washington back in early June. “I would love for it to be here but if it is not, this is a business and I can swallow that pill too,” Gooden said of his future. “So we will see what happens.” The big man made more than $1.4MM this past season.

Gooden will be able to veto any trade this year, since he-resigned with the team on a one-year deal. He’d lose his Bird rights if he approved any swap.

Execs Think Kevin Durant Will Stay With Thunder

July 13th, 2015 at 11:48am CST by Chuck Myron

Most of the executives with whom Ken Berger of CBSSports.com has spoken at summer league think Kevin Durant will re-sign with the Thunder in free agency next summer. The Lakers, Mavericks and Wizards are among a small group of teams with any legitimate shot at the former MVP, Berger adds. The Knicks are also on the fringes, though Berger largely dismisses their candidacy.

Dallas had begun to think of itself as a contender for Durant when it had secured commitments from DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews, and while Jordan’s well-publicized flip-flop might have hurt the confidence of the Mavs, it seems they’re still in the picture. An associate of Durant’s recently told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that if Durant were to leave the Thunder, he would do so to sign with the Wizards, the forward’s hometown team. Another person close to Durant told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News several months ago that Durant could envision playing with the Knicks. An NBA GM told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv around that same time that the Knicks had about the same shot as non-Thunder contenders for his services that at that point included the Clippers and Nets as well as the Wizards and Lakers.

The latest projected maximum salary for Durant, who’ll be a nine-year veteran after next season, is $24.9MM, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The surging salary cap means 16 teams have at least $20MM in cap flexibility for next summer as it stands, Marks points out (All Twitter links). The Thunder aren’t among them, but they have Durant’s Bird rights to exceed the cap, and even after matching Portland’s max offer sheet to Enes Kanter on Sunday, they’re not in line to pay the luxury tax beyond 2015/16, even if they re-sign Durant, notes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Wizards Sign Alan Anderson

July 12th, 2015 at 4:41pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 12, 4:41pm: The deal is official, the Wizards announce.

JULY 7, 4:25pm: The Wizards and unrestricted free agent Alan Anderson have reached an agreement on a contract, David Aldridge of TNT reports (Twitter links). Anderson will receive part of Washington’s mid-level exception, which the team held in hopes of signing David West, Aldridge adds. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter) notes that the contract will be a one-year, $4MM pact.

The Nets had reportedly made keeping the forward a priority, but instead lose the 32-year-old to Washington, where he’ll join a team more likely to contend in the Eastern Conference. Anderson bypassed his player option for 2015/16 worth $1,333,484 with the Nets, and was reported to be seeking an annual salary of $3MM-$4MM from a contending team. This deal certainly checks off both of those boxes for the veteran, with the Wizards a team on the rise, and a franchise in need of help at the wing with the departure of Paul Pierce to the Clippers.

Anderson appeared in 74 games for the Nets last season, including 19 as a starter. He averaged 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists, with a slash line of .442/.348/.812. His career numbers through 287 games with the Hornets, Raptors, and Nets are 7.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.2 APG.

Eastern Notes: Seraphin, Heat, Thomas, Mickey

July 12th, 2015 at 2:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Seraphin has drawn interest from the Wizards, Lakers and Mavericks, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The 6’10” center, who has played all five of his seasons in Washington, appeared in 79 games last season and averaged 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds.

There’s more news from the Eastern Conference:

This week’s signings of Amar’e Stoudemire and Gerald Green will lead to some difficult roster decisions for Miami, writes Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald. The Heat now have 17 players on their roster and are looking at a tax penalty in the neighborhood of $30MM. At least two players must be shipped out, and the most commonly mentioned candidates are Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen, Shabazz Napier and Josh McRoberts.
Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas had surgery four weeks ago to remove a cyst in his left hand, according to the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. Thomas also had some minor work done during the procedure on his wrist, which was surgically repaired last summer, Himmelsbach continues. Thomas, who is a left-handed shooter, expects to be fully recovered within a month, Himmselsbach adds.
LSU’s Jordan Mickey is using summer league to prove to the Celtics that he should have been a first-round draft pick, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The Celtics considered Mickey with the 28th pick before opting for R.J. Hunter, and Mickey, whom the Celtics took at No. 33, is using his slide as motivation. He is averaging 11 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots in four summer league games. “I definitely want to show that I have the capability of scoring the ball,” Mickey said. “I hang my hat on defense, rebounding and blocking shots. But I have to show I can score some too, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”

Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.

Central Notes: Love, Bucks, Morris

July 10th, 2015 at 8:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

New Pistons forward Marcus Morris wasn’t initially thrilled with the Suns for dealing him to Detroit, Perry A. Farrell of The Detroit Free Press writes. “I wouldn’t say stunning, but in Phoenix, I would say I didn’t have a great opportunity,” Morris said today. “I kind of wanted to play with my brother [twin Markieff Morris] so much that I kind of took away from myself. I didn’t think I had an opportunity to get better. I don’t think I had the chance to grow as a player over there. I think the opportunity is here for me. Everybody knew how bad I wanted to play with my brother. Phoenix knew. For them to trade me without consent or telling me was like a slap in the face, because of the contract I took from those guys and the money I took from them. I’m happy to be here. I’m a Piston. I’m a Bad Boy. I’m ready to get started.”

Here’s the latest from the Central Division:

The future second-rounder going to Indiana in the Roy Hibbert trade is the Lakers’ 2019 pick, tweets salary cap expert Larry Coon. The Pacers also net a trade exception equivalent to Hibbert’s salary of more than $15.5MM, Coon points out, but that will vanish when Indiana’s deal with Monta Ellis becomes official, unless the Pacers can somehow turn the Ellis transaction into a sign-and-trade.
The second-round pick heading from the Mavs to the Bucks in the Zaza Pachulia trade is Dallas’ 2018 selection, and it’s top-55 protected, according to RealGM. The same level of protection is on the 2020 second-rounder Milwaukee gets from the Wizards in the Jared Dudley deal, as RealGM also reveals. Both swaps produced trade exceptions, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The Bucks get one worth $5.2MM from Pachulia and another for $4.25MM from Dudley.
The salaries in Khris Middleton‘s five-year, $70MM deal with the Bucks fluctuate up and down from year to year, but the starting salary is $14.7MM, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Kevin Love indicated that he and LeBron James had what Love termed, “an honest talk,” prior to Love deciding to re-sign with the Cavaliers, Tom Withers of The Associated Press writes. “He happened to be in Los Angeles the same time I was,” Love said of James. “So, we just talked everything out and a lot of stuff was very honest and we came to a really good place and we agreed on a lot of things, so I think that was also a very big deal when you’re talking to the best player in the world.“

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southeast Notes: Dragic, White, Hawks

July 10th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

All five Southeast Division teams made official moves Thursday. Check out our transactions log for a full recap of the first day following the July Moratorium. Here’s more from around the division:

Goran Dragic never spoke with other teams during his free agency, tweets Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Dragic wanted to remain in Miami and believes in team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra, Lieser adds, and he was willing to give the Heat a discount to make it happen. “I could get more [money], but it doesn’t matter,” Dragic said, as Lieser relays (Twitter links). “The most important thing is that I’m happy, and I’m happy to be here and surrounded with all the coaches and all the players. I don’t want to be miserable on the court.”
The Wizards could receive an outside shooting boost this season from Aaron White, whom the team selected with the No. 49 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, writes Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com. Speaking about being drafted by Washington, White said, “I love this fit for me. Their style fits in my style. It should be a good match.“
The Hawks renounced their rights to Elton Brand and John Jenkins to clear cap space Thursday for their flurry of official moves, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They also renounced DeMarre Carroll and Pero Antic, who’ve signed elsewhere, and Gustavo Ayon, whose rights they’d retained even though he signed a multiyear deal overseas this past September.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Wizards Sign Kelly Oubre

July 9th, 2015 at 11:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

11:59pm: The Wizards have yet to make an official announcement, but the RealGM transactions log indicates that the signing has taken place.

4:55pm: The Wizards have reached an agreement with Kelly Oubre on a rookie-scale contract, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). Washington acquired the rights to Oubre in a draft night trade with the Hawks.

The 19-year-old swingman out of Kansas will likely earn close to $1.920MM this season, the first of his four-year rookie scale contract, assuming he signed for the standard 120% of the rookie scale, as our table of likely salaries for first-round picks shows. Oubre would then be in line to make $2,006,640 in 2016/17, $2,093,040 the following season, and $3,208,630 in the final year.

Oubre appeared in 36 games as a freshman for the Jayhawks, averaging 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals, with a slash line of .444/.358/.718.