|
 The four-time NBA MVP agreed Thursday to a two-year deal worth a
maximum $46.9 million with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James holds a player option for 2016-17, according to reports -- a
structure expected with contract values projected to balloon next
summer upon renegotiation of the collective-bargaining agreement.
James opted out of a two-year deal on June 29 to reach free agency.
Meanwhile, forward Kevin Love said Thursday morning that his
contract with the Cavaliers was "inked and official." He signed a
five-year, maximum contract worth $113 million. He announced eight
days earlier that he would return to Cleveland, dousing rumors about
a trip to Los Angeles to meet with the Lakers.
---DeAndre Jordan is returning to the Los Angeles Clippers with a
four-year contract, backing out of a similar deal with the Dallas
Mavericks.
Last week, Jordan agreed to a four-year, $80 million contract with
the Mavericks after meeting with several teams. But the Clippers
convinced him to return during a meeting Wednesday evening that
included forward Blake Griffin and owner Steve Ballmer.
The deal with the Clippers is worth about $88 million, although
Jordan can opt out after three years.
---Jimmy Butler, the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2014-15, signed a
five-year deal worth $95.3 million with the Chicago Bulls. The deal
includes a player option for the fifth year.
"I like our chances like I liked them last year. We've just got to
go out and get it and prove we're the best team in the league,"
Butler said.
Butler, also voted an All-Star for the first time, led the Bulls in
scoring and was second in the NBA in minutes played.
---Point guard Goran Dragic signed a five-year, $85 million contract
with the Miami Heat, who also reportedly reunited Dragic with former
Suns teammate Gerald Green.
Green reportedly signed a one-year deal worth the NBA minimum $1.4
million. The 29-year-old averaged 11.9 points last season with the
Suns.
In 2014-15, Dragic averaged 16.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5
rebounds in 33.8 minutes while shooting 50.1 percent.
---Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and the San Antonio Spurs
completed a four-year, $84.1 million contract.
Aldridge is from Dallas and played at the University of Texas. He
spent the first nine years of his career with the Portland Trail
Blazers. Aldridge's deal has an opt-out after the third year.
In nine seasons with the Blazers, Aldridge has played in 648
regular-season games and averaged 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds. In
2014-15, he averaged a career-best 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds.
---Tim Duncan signed a one-year, $5 million deal with a player
option for the 2016-17 with the Spurs.
Duncan took a 50 percent paycut to return to the Spurs. Duncan, 39,
has spent his entire career in San Antonio, the franchise that
drafted him first overall in the 1997 draft.
Duncan averaged 13.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and two blocks per game
last season.
---Forward Draymond Green signed his five-year, $82 million deal to
remain with the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
"This is home for me," he said. "At no point did I feel I was ready
to leave this organization."
Green and the Warriors had reached agreement on the deal last week;
the Warriors were determined not to let the restricted free agent
leave.
---The Atlanta Hawks completed a trade for center-forward Tiago
Splitter, re-signed All-Star Paul Millsap and signed free-agent
guard Justin Holiday.
The 30-year-old Millsap, an unrestricted free agent, reached an
agreement last week with the Hawks on a three-year, $58.9 million
contract. The two-time All-Star played for Atlanta the past two
seasons and helped the Hawks reach the Eastern Conference finals
this year.
The Hawks obtained Splitter last week from the San Antonio Spurs in
a deal for the draft rights to Georgios Printezis and a future
second-round pick.
The Hawks cleared roster space for Splitter by waiving forward
Austin Daye. Atlanta also lost starting guard DeMarre Carroll to
Toronto in free agency but acquired guard Tim Hardaway Jr. in a
trade with New York.
---Forward DeMarre Carroll signed a four-year, $62 million contract
with the Toronto Raptors.
Carroll, one of the top two-way players in the league, averaged a
career-high 12.6 points per game with the Hawks in 2014-15 while
regularly checking the opponents' top scorer.
Forward Luis Scola and guard Cory Joseph also signed with the
Raptors.
---DeAndre Jordan bailed on the Dallas Mavericks to re-sign with the
Los Angeles Clippers, but shooting guard Wesley Matthews plans to
keep his word.
The free agent from the Portland Trail Blazers said Thursday he will
sign the four-year deal with the Mavericks he agreed to last week.
Matthews will earn $13 million in the first year of a contract with
an early opt-out clause.
Matthews, 28, averaged 15.9 points per game last season but was
injured in the team's 60th regular-season game and missed the
postseason. He could miss early-season games with the Mavericks but
should be ready to play in December.
---The Portland Trail Blazers reportedly signed restricted
free-agent center Enes Kanter to a four-year, $70 million offer
sheet on Thursday.
The fourth year would be at the player's option, Yahoo Sports
reported.
Kanter, the No. 3 overall pick in 2011, averaged 18.7 points and 11
rebounds per game last season after being traded from the Utah Jazz
to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder will have three days to match the offer once they
receive it, and they are expected to make room to do so.
---The Phoenix Suns confirmed that free-agent center Tyson Chandler
signed a multiyear contract with the team.
According to reports last week, the Suns lured Chandler away from
the Dallas Mavericks with a four-year, $42 million deal.
In 75 games with the Mavericks last season, Chandler averaged 10.3
points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks and also shot 66.6 percent.
[to top of second column] |
---The Los Angeles Lakers signed forward Brandon Bass, NBA Sixth Man
of the Year Lou Williams and second-round draft pick Anthony Brown
to multiyear contracts and completed a deal to acquire center Roy
Hibbert from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a future
second-round draft pick.
Williams, 28, averaged a career-best 15.5 points for the Toronto
Raptors off the bench last season. The 10-year veteran hit a
career-high 152 3-pointers. Bass is a 10-year veteran who played for
the Boston Celtics the past four years. Last season, he averaged
10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
The 7-foot-2 Hibbert spent seven years with the Indiana Pacers and
is a two-time All-Star. He averaged 10.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and
1.6 blocked shots last season.
---Vlade Divac, the Sacramento Kings' vice president of basketball
operations, acknowledged the strained relationship between coach
George Karl and center DeMarcus Cousins but said Thursday that he's
working to mend fences.
Divac expects Karl and Cousins to remain with the Kings next season.
Cousins expressed his displeasure after Karl was hired earlier this
year.
"Well, I'll be honest with you, it's not pretty right now, but I'm
focused on bringing a better team this year and I think I did a
pretty good job in this free agency and now I'm going to be focused
on the two of them," Divac said on "The Jim Rome Show" on CBS Sports
Radio. "I think they should think about how they can do the best for
this team, and I hope everything goes well."
---Free agents Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez re-signed with the
Brooklyn Nets.
Lopez said he never considered leaving the team. Former coach Jason
Kidd, now with the Milwaukee Bucks, did reach out to express
interest but Lopez said he was determined to stay. The 10th overall
pick in the 2008 draft, Lopez is the longest-tenured Net on the
roster.
Young was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves on
Feb. 19. In 28 games (20 starts) with the Nets, Young finished
second on the team in points per game (13.8) and rebounds (5.9).
---The Washington Wizards signed guard Gary Neal to a one-year deal
reportedly worth $2.1 million and acquired forward Jared Dudley from
the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Wizards gave up a protected future second-round draft pick to
obtain Dudley, an eight-year veteran who averaged 7.2 points and 3.1
rebounds with the Bucks last season.
Neal averaged 10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists while
shooting 30.5 percent on 3-point attempts in 35 games last season
with Charlotte and Minnesota.
---Jeremy Lin officially signed with the Charlotte Hornets. The deal
is reportedly for the Hornets' biannual two-year, $4.3 million
exception.
Lin spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 11.2
points and 4.6 assists per game. The Dallas Mavericks had also been
hopeful of signing Lin, who earned nearly $15 million last season.
"Going into my first true free agency as an NBA player this
offseason, the one thing that mattered to me the most was finding a
team that would be a good fit for me," Lin wrote on Facebook on
Wednesday. "I wanted to be on a team where I would be able to play
freely and truly play the game I love with joy again. That has
always been the most important thing to me. After a LOT of prayer
and long discussions with family and friends, I wanted to personally
let you guys know I'll be joining the Charlotte Hornets."
---Forward Marcus Morris, guard Reggie Bullock and forward-guard
Danny Granger were traded to the Detroit Pistons from the Phoenix
Suns in exchange for a 2020 second-round draft pick.
Morris, 25, appeared in 81 games (35 starts) with Phoenix last
season averaging career highs in points (10.4), rebounds (4.8),
assists (1.6) and minutes (25.2).
Bullock was the 25th overall pick in 2013. He averaged 1.9 points,
1.4 rebounds and 9.4 minutes in 36 games (two starts) with Phoenix
and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Suns acquired Bullock on Jan. 15.
Granger averaged 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 30 games (six
starts) with the Miami Heat last season before being acquired by the
Suns in the Goran Dragic trade.
---The Orlando Magic sent forward/center Kyle O'Quinn to the New
York Knicks in a sign-and-trade deal.
In return, the Magic received cash and the option to swap
second-round draft picks in 2019.
The Magic also officially signed C.J. Watson to a three-year deal
reportedly worth $15 million. O'Quinn's deal is worth a reported $16
million over four years. O'Quinn and Watson reportedly agreed to the
deals on July 4.
---Point guard Ray McCallum was traded to the San Antonio Spurs from
the Sacramento Kings for a future second-round pick.
McCallum started 30 games last season when the Kings lost Darren
Collison to an abdominal injury. He could be used to fill a backup
role for the Spurs, who lost Cory Joseph to the Toronto Raptors,
behind starter Tony Parker and backup Patty Mills.
McCallum was a second-round pick (36th overall) by the Kings out of
Detroit in 2013. He appeared in 113 games for Sacramento, averaging
6.9 points and 2.7 assists.
---Traded four times in a week last month, point guard Luke Ridnour
was waived by the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. Ridnour, 34, expected
the move because of his $2.75 million non-guaranteed contract.
The week of the NBA draft, Ridnour's rollercoaster began.
The Orlando Magic traded Ridnour to the Memphis Grizzlies for Janis
Timma, a 2013 second-round draft pick on June 24. The next day,
Ridnour was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for forward Matt Barnes.
Only three hours later, Ridnour was sent to the Oklahoma City
Thunder for Jeremy Lamb and an undisclosed draft choice. On June 30,
Ridnour went to the Raptors in exchange for Croatian power forward
Tomislav Zubcic.
-----------------------------------------------
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
