Tag: Maurice Evans

Spurs flirting with free-agent small forwards

At some point today, Richard Jefferson is expected to report to the Spurs’ practice facility for a pre-training camp physical exam. If he times his visit just right, he might bump into a couple of players auditioning to replace him.

According to multiple reports, free-agent small forwards Caron Butler and Josh Howard are scheduled to be in town today to hear recruiting pitches from Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and other team officials.

For Jefferson, for now still the Spurs’ starting small forward, it could mean a change of address is imminent. Or it could mean nothing at all.

Butler, 31, averaged 15 points in 29 games for Dallas last season, which ended prematurely when he ruptured his right patella tendon on New Year’s Day in Milwaukee.

Howard, like Butler, is 31 with a recent history of knee problems. He averaged a career-low 8.4 points in 18 games with Washington while recovering from an ACL tear sustained the year before.

The Spurs’ apparent fascination with free-agent small forwards — the team is also believed to be interested in Washington’s Maurice Evans, former New Jersey swingman Bostjan Nachbar and Phoenix’s Vince Carter, should the Suns waive him — gives rise to natural speculation about Jefferson’s future in San Antonio.

To get either Butler or Howard, the Spurs would likely need to clear enough payroll to trigger full use of the $5 million mid-level exception. The most obvious way to get there would be to waive Jefferson under the NBA’s forthcoming amnesty provision, wiping his nearly $9.3 million off the rolls.

His pay having outstripped production since a ballyhooed arrival in the summer of 2009, Jefferson would seem a prime candidate for amnesty.

He has averaged 11.6 points in two seasons, and though he did shoot a career-best 44 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in 2010-11, he was benched for the entire second half of the Spurs’ Game 6 ouster in Memphis.

Yet it is far from certain the Spurs will opt for amnesty with Jefferson. It might make more sense for them to wait until the summer to waive Jefferson, when Tim Duncan’s nearly $21.2 million will also come off the books, giving the Spurs a deeper war chest with which to chase a more bountiful 2012 free-agent crop.

The Spurs could also look to find a trade partner for Jefferson, though they might have to search far and wide to find a willing taker for the three years and nearly $30.5 million left on his deal.

It is also possible, and perhaps probable, Jefferson opens this season in the same place he began the last two — as the Spurs’ starting small forward.

Whatever the Spurs’ intentions are, they should become clearer in the coming days.

Teams cannot begin signing free agents until Friday. With training camps across the league allowed to open the same day, there will be urgency to fill out the roster.

“(We’re) trying to decide who we want to sign and what free agents to go after, and do we want to make any trades?” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “That’s the emphasis between now and training camp opening. For all teams, really, because everybody’s got to put their team together.”

If the Spurs aim to land either Butler or Howard, they will face competition.

Butler met with representatives from Chicago and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, and will head to New Jersey and possibly Detroit after departing San Antonio. Disinclined to offer more than a one-year deal, Dallas remains a longshot to retain Butler.

In addition to the Spurs, Howard is also scheduled to meet with Chicago, New Jersey and Washington, which still harbors hope of bringing him back.

Amnesty for Jefferson still on table

With the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement still days away from official ratification, front offices across the league are not yet fully open for business. Still, for teams hoping to upgrade their roster, there is still much work to be done between now and Dec. 9, the date when the starters’ pistol simultaneously sounds on free agency and the opening of training camps.

At his news conference Friday afternoon, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich detailed some of the task at hand.

“That’s what we’re doing now: Trying to decide who we want to sign and what free agents to go after and do we want to make any trades,” Popovich said. “That’s all going on right now and that’s the emphasis between now and training camp opening.”

It’s safe to say the Spurs have many balls in the air, and many scenarios in play. One they appear to be seriously considering, based on their free-agent target list so far: Using the amnesty provision on Richard Jefferson.

The Spurs are believed to have been in contact with representatives of at least four free-agent small  forwards: Dallas’ Caron Butler, former New Jersey Net Bostjan Nachbar and Washington Wizards Josh Howard and Maurice Evans.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the Spurs have already decided to waive Jefferson, who has three years and nearly $30.5 million left on his deal . It only means that option is on the table, and general manager R.C. Buford is apparently preparing for that contingency.

Using amnesty on Jefferson, who has mostly underwhelmed in two seasons in San Antonio but did shoot a career-best 44 percent from beyond the arc last  year, would allow the Spurs to get well below the luxury tax line.

That would give them access to the full mid-level exception, worth $5 million, and the only shot they’d have at Butler, who is said to prefer Chicago anyway. The Spurs could probably keep Jefferson and still chase Howard, Nachbar or Evans, but after claiming losses last season, team chairman Peter Holt might have extra incentive to move below the tax line anyway

If the Spurs are going to make a significant roster splash, they might be more likely to do it via the trade market than free agency. Antonio McDyess’ $5.2 million contract is only guaranteed for $2.6 million. He could bring back decent value from a team looking to slice payroll, especially since he could retire anyway.

As it stands, the Spurs will have as many as 13 players under contract if and when they sign their two first-round rookies, Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph.

“Everybody’s got to put their team together,” Popovich said. “Some people have a lot of guys signed, like we do. Some teams don’t have very many guys. And of course we’re all calling the same agents about the same free agents.”

The upshot, as training camp approaches?

“I don’t know how it’s going to look or who’s going to be here Friday,” Popovich said.

NBA marathon session ends after 15 hours

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press

NEW YORK — NBA owners and players ended a marathon negotiation session early Thursday after meeting for more than 15 hours in talks aimed at ending the lockout.

They’ll return to the table Thursday afternoon.

“We were able to work through a number of different issues today regarding our system,” union president Derek Fisher said. “We can’t say that major progress was made in any way, but some progress was made on system issues. Obviously enough for us to come back.”

NBA Commissioner David Stern said he hopes to build upon the progress made.

“We’re not going to talk about the particular progress,” he said. “The energy in the room has been good; the back and forth has been good.”

Union executive director Billy Hunter said the two sides did not discuss the distribution of basketball revenue, which has been one of the biggest obstacles to a deal.

The revenue split emerged as such a roadblock last week that Hunter said they should “park” the issue and turn the discussions back to the system, saying that players might be willing to take a lower number if they found the system rules more favorable.

“I think we’ll turn to the split when we finish with the system,” Stern said. “Right now, it has been profitable to turn to the system.”

Seeking greater parity among their 30 teams, owners are looking to reduce the ways that teams can exceed the salary cap so that big markets won’t have a significant payroll advantage. Players have feared that changes owners have been seeking would result in what would essentially be a hard salary cap, restricting player movement and perhaps even eliminating most guaranteed contracts.

“We are united on the NBA side in wanting a system that makes all teams competitive,” Stern said. “We have some strong views on what the best way to do that is.”

The sides returned to bargaining with a small group meeting less than a week after three intense days of mediation didn’t produce a new labor deal. Wednesday’s negotiations marked the second-longest bargaining session since the lockout began July 1. The talks stretched into early Thursday morning, the first time bargaining has gone past 3 a.m.

The first two weeks of the season already have been canceled, and there’s little time left to save any basketball in November.

Both Fisher and Hunter expressed hope that a full 82-game schedule could still be played if a deal is reached by Sunday or Monday.

Stern said the league intends to play as many games as possible.

“Whether that gets to be 82 games or not is dependent upon so many things that have to be checked,” he said. “We just think we’ve got to do it soon.”

He insisted the league never wanted to miss any games.

“It’s sad that we’ve missed two weeks, and we’re trying to apply a tourniquet and go forward,” Stern said. “That’s always been our goal.”

Talks broke down last Thursday when players said owners insisted they agree to a 50-50 split of revenues as a condition to further discuss the salary cap system.

The players have lowered their proposal to 52.5 percent of basketball-related income, leaving the sides about $100 million apart annually, based on last season’s revenues. Players were guaranteed 57 percent of BRI under the previous collective bargaining agreement.

Stern rejoined the talks Wednesday after missing last Thursday’s session with the flu. He was joined by Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, owners Peter Holt of San Antonio, Glen Taylor of Minnesota and James Dolan of New York, and a pair of league office attorneys.

The union was represented by Hunter, Fisher and vice president Maurice Evans of the Wizards, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

The sides also are struggling over items such as the length of the deal, players’ contract lengths and the size of their raises.