NBA Free Agency

[SouthernComfort]

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that the Utah Jazz decided to match the four-year, $32 million offer sheet Paul Millsap signed with the Trail Blazers.

A day ahead of the deadline to do so, the Jazz decided they will keep Paul Millsap by matching the four-year, $32 million offer sheet the restricted free agent forward signed with Portland, a source close to the team said Thursday.

The Jazz's move was widely expected, although they must make a $10.3 million upfront payment to Millsap under the terms of the offer sheet he signed with the Trail Blazers last Friday.
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well atleast we screwed the Jazz outta alot of money

 

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Restricted free agents David Lee and Nate Robinson have spoken to each other during the July free-agency period and feel "disrespected" by the Knicks' lack of urgency in retaining their services, according to a source.

 

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If the Jazz can't complete a three-team deal involving one of the few teams possessing cap space when they ultimately move Boozer, they'll either be trying to work with a team that has a good-sized trade exception (Miami, New Jersey and Denver all qualify) or looking for a conventional trade that includes a contract like those possessed by Sasha Pavlovic or Greg Buckner. Only $1.5 million of Pavlovic's $5 million contract next season is guaranteed. Only $1 million of Buckner's $4.1 million deal is owed, with the stipulation that he be waived Nov. 30.

hese options, though, are just concepts for now. The Suns are not in the Boozer market at all, and the Mavs' interest is tepid at best, for a few reasons. Besides the fact that the Mavs can't aggregate Buckner's freshly acquired contract with other players until mid-September, they have reservations about how Boozer's low-post game would fit into an offense filled with scorers who need touches. A combination of Boozer and Dirk Nowitzki would also lack a real rim presence defensively, which often hurt Utah when it rolled out its tag team of Mehmet Okur and Boozer.

 

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The Knicks would love to arrange a three-team deal for Boozer, who has one year left on his pact, with Lee a pawn. Utah plans to match Portland's offer sheet for Paul Millsap, which would leave the Trail Blazers cap room to snag Lee in a three-team deal. Utah is bent on unloading Boozer's contract.

 

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It's believed that the Pistons, as of Thursday, have Rasho Nesterovic and Chris Wilcox ahead of Drew Gooden as their next free-agent targets, since it appears that they can't assemble an offer sheet rich enough for Glen Davis to keep the Boston Celtics from matching.

 

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Kings interested in Sean May, but there is no offer. He will likely be a one-year, minimum guy if he eventually comes.

 

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There are meetings with agents as just about every one is in attendance and special workouts. Former first round pick Sean May had one this week the Bulls attended with several teams, though I get the sense the Bulls likely will bring back Aaron Gray as their insurance big man.

“I’m going to do what’s best for me and the organization,” Gray said. “There’s other interest out there. I love the city of Chicago. I’m just going to play basketball and worry about getting better and whatever happens happens. Right now my responsibility is working on my basketball and my agent is handling that stuff. I feel I can help the team. It’s a good young team and I feel we’re going to be better next year. Hopefully, I’ll make a decision soon. My agent told me, ‘I’m going to put you in a good situation. Just worry about basketball. You’re going to be in the NBA next year and a good position.’ That’s all I need to know. I love Chicago. If there’s a better opportunity who knows at this point.”

 

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The Detroit Pistons have agreed to a two-year deal with free agent Chris Wilcox, a source told ESPN.com.

 

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Former Piston Ben Wallace, who recently reached a $10 million buyout with the Phoenix Suns, is among the most likely players Detroit will add to its roster. Other possibilities include Rasha Nesterovic and Drew Gooden.

 

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Chicago and Miami have emerged as the frontrunners for Boozer, while the Jazz would like to add a shot-blocker or shooter. The Jazz also are expected trim their payroll from the current $82 million, $12 million over the luxury-tax threshold. The deal is for $6 million over the next two years according to sources

 

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Ron Artest is lobbying for the defending NBA champs. The former St. John's star says he has reached out to fellow Queens star Lamar Odom, who has yet to re-sign with L.A. and turned down a four -year, $36 million offer. And Artest thinks their home-borough connection will do the trick. "I hope that helps," said Artest, who drew a crowd as he made an impromptu appearance with the Queensbridge team in the Hoops in the Sun tournament at Orchard Beach in the Bronx Saturday. "I hope he comes back to play with us. I already reached out to him and will (again)."

 

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Clippers owner Donald Sterling wants Allen Iverson, but not many of his top basketball people are thinking along those lines. "It's out of our control," complained one Clipper executive this past week. "This is owner-driven."

But it's pretty clear that Iverson, a free agent one GM called "our league's Barry Bonds," isn't in coach Mike Dunleavy's plans. Dunleavy wants to build around second-year guard Eric Gordon and No. 1 pick Blake Griffin. He has no use for a veteran superstar who can divide a locker room and cause headaches on any given night. That's one of the reasons he shipped Zach Randolph to Memphis earlier this summer for Quentin Richardson.

 

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Brandan Wright and Belinelli, both deep in Nelson's doghouse as they head into their third seasons, could be unofficial Dead Warriors Walking after Oct. 31. That's the deadline for the Warriors to pick up their fourth-year options. No pick-up means the player becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. It's your basic shout of no-confidence. Even if one or both players' options are picked up, look for Nelson and Riley to try to move both.

 

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Olympiacos have set their eyes on Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza. The club is looking for a replacement for Giorgos Printezis who signed with Unicaja and Kleiza looks like a good option. Redplanet.gr reports that the player is asking for 3.5 million euros per season which is more than Olympiacos are willing to pay to secure his services.

 

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"My hope is that we get (Anthony Carter) and (Linas Kleiza) back in a happy manner," Karl said. "Free-agency right now, both of them are looking for a better deal than what is out there. Maybe they'll get it, maybe they won't. I would like to keep our team fairly intact from last year along with (Arron) Afflalo and Ty. I think that would be a good step. Our improvement is going to come with our younger players mostly meaning Nene, Melo and J.R (Smith). People don't understand that we are a fairly young basketball team. The nucleus, we have four or five guys under the age of 25 or 26 years of age. They made some big steps last year, but there is still a window of improvement there."

 

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Most significantly, O'Connor again didn't deny that the Jazz are looking to trade Carlos Boozer. He said the Jazz did not "guarantee" Boozer that he would be traded, but both sides seem to acknowledge that a deal is in their best interests. O'Connor's also expressed concern about setting the precedent of trading a disgruntled player who has gone public with his feelings. He voiced similar concerns after Andrei Kirilenko made his trade demand in the summer of 2007.

 

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The Knicks are trying to reel in Lee for $7 to $8 million per season. Lee's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said of the Knicks negotiations: "We're not close to a deal right now."

 

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The Indiana Pacers will not match the four-year, $20 million offer the Toronto Raptors made to restricted free agent Jarrett Jack, Jack told The Indianapolis Star in a telephone interview late Sunday night. "It took a minute, but I was able to secure a contract for four years," Jack said. "I'm looking forward to playing with Chris (Bosh) again. It will be like our freshman year (at Georgia Tech) all over again."

"I wanted to be a Pacer come next season," Jack said. "I'm indebted to coach (Jim) O'Brien for what he did for me last season. Not only him, but also (team president) Larry Bird and (general manager) David Morway. They put me in the position to play well and get a long-term contract. I'll always be indebted to them."

 

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David Kahn heads for Spain today and meetings presumably with Ricky Rubio and his DKV Joventut team in a trip that Kahn says his only mission is to be “helpful” in facilitating Rubio’s contract buyout so he can play in the NBA this fall. The Wolves, by NBA rules, can pay only $500,000 of a buyout that could cost as much as $6.6 million. But with European teams everywhere suffering financially from the global economic downturn — and DKV Joventut in particular financial trouble — it seems more and more likely a deal eventually will get done. If it happens and Rubio signed by the Wolves by fall, it probably will because Rubio’s Spanish club is desperate for that buyout money and because Rubio’s representatives will have lined up enough endorsement deals to pay for that buyout, and then some.

 

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They're talking to teams about Andrei Kirilenko, according to some people

why is that bum makin $17 million a year
a career avg of 12ppg doesnt justify that kind of contract