Tag: 2009 NBA free agents (Page 10 of 18)

      Lakers pull offer to Odom off the the table

      July 15, 2009 /

      It seems that Lamar Odom and the Lakers have reached something of a stalemate.

      Sources told ESPN.com that Odom and the Lakers had reached an accord entering the weekend on a per-season wage of $9 million for the 29-year-old. But Odom balked at L.A.’s unwillingness to extend an offer spanning more than three years in length and spent the past few days weighing his options.

      Yet it’s believed that Odom has indeed received offers from the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks that — because neither Florida nor Texas imposes state taxes — are not as far away in value from the Lakers’ presentation as it would seem.

      Odom would have the ability with either the Heat or the Mavericks to sign a three-year, $19 million contract and negotiate a new deal with full Larry Bird rights in the summer of 2012 or take a five-year deal worth $34 million to bank more overall money, along with the state-tax benefits, than he could in a new three-year deal with the Lakers.

      It’s funny how certain things come to light as these deals are made, or in this case, not made. California’s tax rate for people making more than $1 million is 10.3%, while Florida and Texas do not tax personal income. That means that the Lakers’ three-year offer is worth about $8 million per season after state taxes, or just over $24 million total. Compare that to the deals that the Mavs and Heat could offer ($19 million for three years or $34 million for five years) and a mid-level deal in a state with no income tax isn’t too far off.

      Still, why would Odom reject the Lakers’ offer if everyone knows it’s the best that he has available? Portland isn’t interested, though that could change if the Jazz match the Blazers’ offer sheet to Paul Millsap. None of the other teams with cap space seem too eager to make a run at Odom, so it seems strange that he is playing hardball here. It’s not like he has a history of playing consistent basketball year in and year out. As far as his on-court performance is concerned, the guy is kind of a flake.

      My guess is that Odom’s camp waits to see what happens with Portland then come back to the Lakers and accept this three-year deal. But one wonders if Jerry Buss is sick of playing games and might decide to stick it to Odom if/when he comes crawling back.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Surprisingly, Orlando matches offer sheet for Gortat

      July 13, 2009 /

      When the Mavs signed backup center Marcin Gortat, it seemed like a done deal that the Magic would let him go. But Orlando elected to match the offer.

      The Orlando Magic will keep Marcin Gortat by matching the five-year, $34-million offer sheet extended to him by the Dallas Mavericks, the Orlando Sentinel first reported Monday.

      “Having quality big men is an absolute must in our league, and Marcin has worked very hard to fit into that category,” Magic general manager Otis Smith said in a statement. “He provides tremendous depth to our frontcourt and we’re happy to bring him back.”

      Gortat’s agent, Guy Zucker, told the Dallas Morning News his player is “very, very disappointed.”
      The decision is a bold and costly one for the Magic, who will plunge further into luxury-tax territory than many rivals anticipated after their recent trade for Vince Carter by first signing Brandon Bass away from Dallas to a four-year deal worth a reported $18 million and then matching on Gortat.

      Retaining Gortat and adding Bass will likely take the Magic’s payroll into the $80 million range for next season, which would force Orlando to cut a luxury-tax check of more than $10 million in July 2010 barring roster moves between now and June 30 of next year to lower that figure.

      I don’t get it. They’re willing to give Gortat almost $5 million a season, but they refused to give Hedo Turkoglu — the player mainly responsible for handling and distributing the ball during the Magic’s run to the Finals — the $10 million per season that he was asking for? I don’t mind the Gortat signing by itself, but the Magic may have ruined a good thing by trading for Vince Carter (and in the process, trading away Courtney Lee) and letting Turkoglu get away. Clearly, they are willing to spend — why not keep the most consistent star and main ball handler from last year’s conference champs?

      But back to Gortat. It’s understandable why he would be upset. He was penciled in as the starter for the Mavs, but now he has to play behind Dwight Howard for the foreseeable future, limiting the upside of his next contract. But whining through his agent isn’t going to do him any good, is it?

      The Magic really screwed the Mavs over on this one. They took their sweet time to match Gortat’s offer sheet, and at the same time they agreed to terms with Brandon Bass, ensuring that Dallas wasn’t going to be able to sign either player. This is a huge blow to the Mavs’ title hopes and is more evidence that the NBA should shorten the time span for a team to match an offer sheet for a restricted free agent.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Allen Iverson struggling to find a home

      July 13, 2009 /



      Allen Iverson continues to explore his options on the free agent market, but it’s not like he has teams tripping over each other for his services. There’s mutual interest between AI and the Heat, but Miami doesn’t want to pony up.

      Allen Iverson asked for the $5.8 million midlevel exception from the Heat in a one-year deal, but Miami has been reluctant to pay him much more than $2 million, if that. Iverson also is exploring Memphis and Charlotte, but Miami would be his preference if money is equal. The Heat spoke with the agent for Andre Miller — who’s in a stalemate with Philadelphia — but hasn’t pursued a sign-and-trade, and Miller wants more than the midlevel.

      Memphis is also interested and Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley speculated about why the Heat aren’t willing to offer Iverson a mid-level deal.

      Heisley indicated Sunday that Iverson is “only looking for a one-year contract,” which actually would mesh with Miami’s intent to add no players with contracts stretching past next season to preserve maximum flexibility to re-sign Wade and land him at least one marquee teammate in the summer of 2010. Yet it’s believed that the Heat are reluctant to come close to the $5 million for next season that the Grizzlies are reportedly prepared to pay, since Miami is already in luxury-tax territory.

      The Heat are sitting at about $69.86 million which is a hair below the threshold of $69.92 million. If they sign Iverson, they’ll go into luxury tax territory and will have to essentially pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on AI’s entire salary. Not only would they miss out on the reward for being under the luxury tax, but they’d have to pay the tax themselves. Therefore, a contract worth $2 million could perhaps cost the Heat $5.5 million (or more), depending on how many teams are over the threshold and how big the payout turns out to be.

      It’s strange to see a player of Iverson’s stature fighting for table scraps on the free agent market. He was once a franchise player, but his disastrous stint in Detroit (resulting from his distaste for coming off the bench) and his ball-dominant style has created an environment in which most teams are extremely leery of utilizing his services. True contenders don’t want to participate in an experiment that has a good chance of backfiring while the lower echelon playoff teams don’t see Iverson as the game-changer needed to put them over the top.

      He has proven that he is not willing to what’s best for the team (by coming off the bench), so why would a good team want to add him? The Heat are interested because he’ll put butts in the seats and would probably add a few wins, which might help to convince Dwyane Wade to stay in Miami.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Blazers sign Millsap to offer sheet

      July 11, 2009 /

      Portland is making a push for Utah forward Paul Millsap.

      The Portland Trail Blazers elected Friday not to wait on trade possibilities, deciding instead to offer Utah Jazz restricted free agent Paul Millsap a four-year contract worth an estimated $32 million-to-$36 million, according to sources with knowledge of the Blazers’ plans.

      This is more compelling than your average, run-of-the-mill restricted free agent signing because a few days ago the Blazers were rumored to be involved in a three-way trade involving Chicago and Utah where the Bulls would have acquired Carlos Boozer, sending Kirk Hinrich to Portland and Tyrus Thomas to Utah.

      But those trade talks stalled in part because the Bulls were not prepared to surrender Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas (who would have been Utah-bound) without getting back promising Portland guard Jerryd Bayless in return in addition to Boozer.

      Since the Blazers didn’t want to give up Bayless, they’ve made the decision to extend an offer to Millsap, which puts the pressure on the Jazz to move Boozer. The contract is frontloaded, so if Utah were to have both players on the roster it would put the team deep into luxury tax territory.

      Another interesting thing about this move by the Blazers is that Millsap plays the same position as LaMarcus Aldridge, so either they (1) plan on playing Aldridge at center, (2) plan on bringing Millsap off the bench or (3) aren’t optimistic that they can keep Aldridge, who is eligible for an extension this summer. The bad news for the Blazers is that the Jazz have seven days to decide whether or not they’ll match the offer, and during that time Portland’s cap space is tied up, so they can’t make an offer to another free agent. But other than Lamar Odom, Allen Iverson and Andre Miller, there isn’t much out there in the way of unrestricted free agents, so it doesn’t make sense to hold onto the cap space if they aren’t going to use it elsewhere.

      If the Blazers can pry away Millsap for $8-$9 million per season, it will be a great move. That’s a good value for a young power forward has proven that he has a potential to be an All-Star-caliber player. But I’d expect that the Jazz will be able to trade Boozer and get a good young player (of Tyrus Thomas’s caliber) in return. There are a number of teams that are interested, including the Bulls, Pistons, Heat and Knicks.

      I’d also expect this deal to bring David Lee’s contract expectations back to Earth. I think he and Millsap are about on the same level value-wise, with Millsap having a small edge due to his ability to score in the post.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Orlando catches a Bass

      July 10, 2009 /

      Sorry, I couldn’t resist the fish reference…

      The Magic signed Brandon Bass to a four-year deal.

      The Orlando Magic are trying to keep up in the arms race in the competitive Eastern Conference, agreeing to terms on Friday with free agent forward Brandon Bass on a four-year deal believed to be worth $18 million.

      The Mavericks tried to keep him, but Dallas’ commitment to Magic free agent center Marcin Gortat to an offer sheet made money scarce. New Orleans, Bass’s first team, and Cleveland also were working to sign him.

      With Hedo Turkoglu gone to Toronto, there may be an opportunity for a starting job at power forward in Orlando for Bass, with the Magic moving Rashard Lewis back to his normal small forward position. But even if he doesn’t start, Bass will provide toughness and size for an Orlando team that now has to contend with Shaquille O’Neal and re-signed forward Anderson Varejao in Cleveland and the return of Kevin Garnett and newly signed Rasheed Wallace in Boston.

      Sometimes GMs target productive bench players that play behind All-Stars and they turn out to be good starters. The Mavs signed Dwight Howard’s backup, Marcin Gortat, and the Magic turned around and signed Dirk Nowitzki’s backup to shore up their power forward position. Though I wasn’t a big fan of the Magic’s decision to acquire Vince Carter at the expense of Hedo Turkoglu and Courtney Lee, I do like this signing. This will allow the Magic to go big with Lewis at small forward and Bass at power forward, or utilize Bass off the bench.

      I think Bass is starter quality and it will be interesting to see how the 24-year-old develops after posting two seasons with a PER of 16.00 or more.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

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