Category: In the News

Daily roundup: Ferry executes major facelift in Atlanta

Freshly-minted Atlanta GM Danny Ferry hasn’t wasted any time putting his stamp on his new team. The former Spurs administrator pulled off a pair of major moves on Tuesday, for a mass of expiring contracts while .

In addition to freeing the Hawks from the $90 million remaining on Johnson’s deal — one that had been considered virtually untradeable — Ferry also put the Hawks in position of clearing cap space to go after both Chris Paul and Dwight Howard in next year’s free agency sweepstakes. It’s a slim hope at best — Paul has a great situation with Blake Griffin and the Clippers, and Howard would likely have little interest in the Hawks without him — but it’s better than being stuck with the dead weight that is Johnson’s contract.

Brooklyn, meanwhile, has given Deron Williams another reason to consider staying with the Nets, while still retaining some of its assets. Williams is expected to make his decision between Brooklyn and Dallas as early as today. But the Nets would also seem to have , leaving the Orlando center’s future even more murky after reportedly demanding a trade to the Nets, and only the Nets. That could seemingly open the door for another suitor, such as the Lakers, or force Howard to play out a lame-duck season with the Magic before hitting the open market.

If Williams bolts for Big D, the Nets will reportedly .

Elsewhere:

* The Suns are to restricted SG Eric Gordon.

* Former Spur George Hill

* The Kings are taking a

* Small forward Grant Hill’s services are

* Small forward Nicolas Batum has

* The Rockets are ready to 

* The Clippers want to

Miami finds way to get big leg up

MIAMI — LeBron James better get well fast. He’s about to play for a championship.

Hardly able to move, James returned from a left leg injury to make the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:54 remaining, and the Miami Heat held off Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 104-98 victory on Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

With James watching the final moments, Mario Chalmers finished off a standout 25-point effort that matched Dwyane Wade. James had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, only missing a triple-double because he was on the bench at the end after hurting his leg with a fall to the court.

“Whatever it takes. No excuses,” Wade said. “You don’t want to leave this arena saying you missed opportunities.”

Game 5 is Thursday night, and James will have a chance to finish a championship chase that started in Cleveland before he famously — or infamously — left for South Florida. No team has blown a 3-1 lead in the Finals.

Westbrook scored 43 points for the Thunder, who wasted an early 17-point lead but were never out of the game because of their point guard. Kevin Durant had 28 points, but James Harden threw in another clunker, finishing with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. Westbrook and Durant were the only Thunder players to score in the last 16:46.

James stumbled to the court on a drive midway through the fourth quarter, staying on the offensive end of the floor as the Heat regained possession on a blocked shot, and he made a short jumper that made it 92-90. After Westbrook missed a jumper, the Heat called time out as James gingerly went to the court. Unable to walk off, he was carried to the sideline by a pair of teammates.

He returned to a huge roar with a little over four minutes left, and after Chris Bosh tied it, James slowly walked into a pull-up 3-point attempt — perhaps doing so knowing he couldn’t drive by anyone.

That made it 97-94, and when Wade followed with a layup with 2:19 left, the Heat finally had enough room to withstand Westbrook, who kept coming all night.

His counterpart, Chalmers, scored more points than he had in the previous three games.

Free agency: What to expect from the Spurs

As you are standing around your computer today, Spurs fans, frantically refreshing Twitter and breathlessly awaiting news of what your favorite team is doing in the nascent stages of Free Agency 2012, here is a table you might find handy.

It is a look at the Spurs’ major free agency-related related moves since winning their most recent NBA championship in 2007:

Summer 2007: Sign Ime Udoka and Ian Mahinmi

2008: Sign Roger Mason Jr., re-sign Kurt Thomas.

2009: Trade for Richard Jefferson, sign Antonio McDyess and Keith Bogans

2010: Sign Tiago Splitter, re-sign Matt Bonner

2011: Sign T.J. Ford

When considering the question of how active the Spurs might or might not be in free agency, it is instructive to look back how they’ve spent previous summers.

With the exception of 2009, when the Spurs traded for Jefferson and signed McDyess, summertime for the Spurs has not been about making a marquee splash. It has been about cherry-picking value to fill a specific need, often late in the summer after the big names have already committed elsewhere.

That approach is by necessity. With a trio of All-Stars (see: Duncan, Parker, Ginobili) eating up cap space for the better part of a decade, the Spurs simply haven’t had room on the payroll to take on other high-dollar additions.

Even with free agent Tim Duncan set to perhaps take a 50-percent pay cut from the $21.2 million he was on the books for last season, this summer promises to be quiet as well. Last year’s salary cap was $57 million; before Duncan makes another cent, the Spurs are already on the hook for nearly $50 million in salaries for 2012-13.

Once Duncan signs, the Spurs are all but certain to be over the salary cap again, leaving them with only the mid-level exception, biannual exception and veteran minimum contracts with which to lure other free agents.

That’s not going to get you, say, Roy Hibbert. The Indiana All-Star center is poised to sign a maximum offer sheet with Portland. Or even Nicolas Batum, who could be looking at a $50 million pay day in Minnesota or elsewhere. Spurs fans pining for either player were dreaming anyway.

Expect a free agency period much like last December for the Spurs, when they looked into MLE-type wing players (Caron Butler and Josh Howard), before ultimately signing just one veteran free agent: backup point guard T.J. Ford, for the league minimum.

A reasonable expectation for the Spurs’ offseason is this: Re-sign Duncan to a deal that is substantially less than what he made last season, but still starts in the $10 million range; re-sign Danny Green and (perhaps) Patrick Mills; use the mid-level exception to re-sign Boris Diaw and perhaps bring Erazem Lorbek over from Spain or Nando de Colo from France.

As for outside free agents, expect the Spurs to bring in a veteran minimum guy or two as we get closer to training camp.

Expect the team that takes the court opening night in October to look almost identical to the one bounced from the Western Conference finals last month.

Of course, all of this is just a guess. But based on the Spurs’ past history and cap situation this summer, a reasonable one.