After reporting that LeBron James was telling teams he wanted to make a decision by July 5, Ric Bucher is now saying that LeBron not expected to shut down this free agency circus by Monday.
The source said although James wanted the interview process to be finished by the Monday deadline, he may not decide on a franchise until later in the week. Previous reports had James making a decision by Monday, but the source said no specific reason was given for the delay.
Sigh.
It looks like Dirk Nowitzki is staying in Dallas, and he agreed to a deal for less than the max.
With no guarantee the capped-out Mavericks can land the elite sidekick he seeks to keep Dallas relevant in the Western Conference, Nowitzki agreed Saturday night to give a hometown discount to the only team he’s ever known, reaching terms with owner Mark Cuban on what sources close to the talks say is a four-year deal worth $80 million.
That’s $16 million less than the $96 million maximum Nowitzki was eligible to receive and likely would have commanded had he been serious about shopping himself on the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time, given Nowitzki’s stature in the league as a former MVP and the fact that his game is aging well at 32.
Only in the NBA does a player sign a deal for $20 million per season and people say that he gave his team a ‘hometown discount.’ The extra $16 million would allow Mark Cuban to take on some additional contracts since the Mavs are perennially over the luxury tax.
From the start, it was clear that Nowitzki wasn’t going anywhere. Pundits talked about how he’d be a great fit here or there, or with this player or that player, but Nowitzki is a very loyal guy and Cuban has been good to him.
Despite rumors stating that several teams are interested in the ace, the Mariners have yet to put Cliff Lee on the trading block according to the New York Daily News.
“It is the same thing with (Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik) as it has been all along,” the source said. “He knows to contact teams when he’s ready to deal. He hasn’t done that yet, but that could change any minute.”
According to people familiar with the Mets’ thinking, Lee remains the team’s top choice of all potentially available starters. Therefore, the Mets’ pursuit of pitching help will accelerate along with the lefty’s availability. Despite losses by R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi this week, the Mets remain content – for the moment – with the middle of their rotation, and are not interested in Kevin Millwood, Jake Westbrook or any of the other mid-level starters available.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Phillies are also interested in acquiring Lee (or re-acquiring Lee I should say), although GM Ruben Amaro Jr. “will not cut off his nose to spite his face.” In other words, Amaro remains open to the idea of trading for Lee but he’s not going to give up a small fortunate of players for him, which might be exactly what it will take to pry him from Seattle.
He might not be on the trading block now, but I don’t think there’s any chance that the M’s hang onto Lee all season. When they acquired him from the Phillies last offseason, they thought they’d be contenders in 2010. But they haven’t been, and now they need to get something for him before he hits free agency in 2011. It wouldn’t make sense for the Mariners to hang onto him, continue to lose, and not recoup some of the prospects they lost when they made the deal for Lee last winter. (Not the actual prospects that they lost of course, but some prospects.)
You can cross the Bears off the potential list of trade candidates for Vincent Jackson, assuming the Chargers want to deal the receiver.
From the Chicago Tribune:
A source familiar with the Bears’ thinking told the Tribune on Wednesday the team has no plans to pursue a trade for Jackson at this time. Strings attached to Jackson — compensation and a new contract — are factors the Bears do not want to burden themselves with a month before training camp.
The Bears, like many teams, would love to have a 6-foot-5, 230-pound target such as Jackson to throw to, particularly in the red zone. However, Jackson is unhappy with the one-year, $3.268 million tender extended to him by the Chargers and wants a deal closer to the four-year, $47.5 million contract the Dolphins gave Brandon Marshall — a price tag way too high for the Bears.
I’ve heard some people suggest that Jackson wouldn’t be a good fit for Mike Martz’s offense because he doesn’t need a No. 1 for his system to be successful. While he might not need a No. 1 for his system to be successful, suggesting that Martz wouldn’t want a highly productive and multi-faceted Jackson in his offense is re-donkuluss.
That said, I can’t imagine that the Bears would want to give up their first round pick in 2011 after giving up their 2009 and 2010 first rounders for Jay Cutler. It’s even less likely that they would want to pay Jackson as much as Marshall is making after shelling out for Julius Peppers.
This past offseason was the anomaly and not the norm. Let’s keep in mind that this is generally a cheap organization.
Despite a report by the Associated Press on Saturday morning that stated otherwise, the Eagles are not considering releasing quarterback Michael Vick according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen. Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer also denied the rumor.
Earlier today, the AP reported that a person familiar with the “team’s thinking” said that the Eagles were strongly considering releasing Vick. The report even went as far as to say that Vick would be released, “no matter what police conclude during their investigation of a shooting that followed the quarterback’s birthday celebration in Virginia Beach last week.”
But the only thing the Eagles released was a statement that denied the report.
“Any report or speculation that suggests the Eagles are considering releasing Vick are not true.”
Truth be told, if the Eagles eventually do release Vick (maybe they’re waiting to see what the outcome of this investigation is before deciding anything either way) nobody would blame them. They don’t need this one month before training camp opens, especially when it involves a backup player with a history of off-field issues. That said, it sounds as if the AP released a bogus report thanks to an unreliable source and we’ll just see what happens.
For now, Vick’s job seems safe in Philadelphia.
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