NBA Thread

[GM Franchise]

Carmelo Anthony to opt out of deal

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/11119636/carmelo-anthony-new-york-knicks-opt-contract

Carmelo Anthony has decided to opt out of the final year of his contract with the New York Knicks and become an unrestricted free agent, according to multiple sources.

Anthony has until Monday to officially inform the team of his plans.

Knicks president Phil Jackson said recently that he hoped Anthony would consider opting into the final year of his contract and testing free agency in the summer of 2015. Jackson has privately expressed that hope to Anthony several times since the end of the regular season.

The Chicago Bulls are one of several teams with whom Anthony would consider signing, according to sources.

According to league sources, Anthony has talked to at least one high-profile person who lives in Chicago about what it's like to be famous in the Windy City.

The Bulls also have reportedly done their due diligence on Anthony in recent days. According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has reached out to some of Anthony's former coaches to inquire about the seven-time All-Star.

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

I am not sure Anthony is the guy we want, depends what we have to give up for him. I cant see that he has made any team better since he has been there.

We got two 1st round picks this year and I wouldnt want to lose too many of the roster that was Rose-less and still got to the playoffs.

[J-Reb]

I am not sure Anthony is the guy we want, depends what we have to give up for him. I cant see that he has made any team better since he has been there.

We got two 1st round picks this year and I wouldnt want to lose too many of the roster that was Rose-less and still got to the playoffs.

The same problem he had a New York, he'd have in Chicago. He couldn't share the ball while he was on the Knicks, and the Bulls are going to run their offense to Derrick Rose no matter what. It would be better off putting together a package for Kevin Love.

[Justin]

I am not sure Anthony is the guy we want, depends what we have to give up for him. I cant see that he has made any team better since he has been there.

We got two 1st round picks this year and I wouldnt want to lose too many of the roster that was Rose-less and still got to the playoffs.

He has lead his team to the playoffs every season except this past one.  Sure, he is all about me on the offensive end, but he has been able to put his team on his back and carry them to the playoffs despite inferior talent.  I don't think he has a problem sharing with Rose.

[J-Reb]

He has lead his team to the playoffs every season except this past one.  Sure, he is all about me on the offensive end, but he has been able to put his team on his back and carry them to the playoffs despite inferior talent.  I don't think he has a problem sharing with Rose.

Those first round picks are going to be critical. They should have a chance to draft Rodney Hood and Adrian Payne, which would improve that their shooting tremendously. Gibson should be a upgrade over Boozer, but as always Rose will Be  the x-factor.

[GM Franchise]

Those first round picks are going to be critical. They should have a chance to draft Rodney Hood and Adrian Payne, which would improve that their shooting tremendously. Gibson should be a upgrade over Boozer, but as always Rose will Be  the x-factor.

I agree with this. They should be able to get one or both of those players and have a cloud overall team even if Rose is still out.

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

On paper though I am pretty happy with our team. As suggested elsewhere, I'd be more interested in us getting Kevin Love than Anthony.

I can see the argument for Gibson to come into the starting lineup, but I'd rather leave him as the 6th man at the moment, go for Love and begin the devlopment of Snell/Butler. Add to that these lovely first round picks and the Bulls have to be a serious contender again...provided Rose remains healthy.

[GM Franchise]

Tim Duncan exercises $10.3M option

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11124946/tim-duncan-exercises-103-million-contract-option-san-antonio-spurs-2014-15-season

Tim Duncan has decided to continue his career for an 18th season with the San Antonio Spurs and has exercised his $10.3 million player option for next season, the team announced Monday.

Duncan, 38, had a strong season, averaging 15.1 points and 9.7 rebounds in 74 regular-season games and then putting up 16.3 points and 9.2 rebounds over 23 playoff games.

The Spurs are now assured to have their three-player core of Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker back for their title defense. All three are entering the final season of their contracts.

[GM Franchise]

Sources: Byron Scott tops Lakers' list

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/11127014/byron-scott-favorite-los-angeles-lakers-coach-search

LOS ANGELES -- While the Lakers remain focused on Thursday's draft and the start of free agency July 1, sources tell ESPN.com that former star Byron Scott has emerged as the leading candidate for the head-coaching job after impressing in three interviews with the team.

Talks with the former Nets and Cavaliers coach have not progressed to the contract stage, as the Lakers continue to weigh whether to hold off on hiring a coach before they make their pitches to free agents.

The possibility of soliciting opinions of free agents before making a hire is a large part of the reason the Lakers have taken such a deliberate approach to their coaching search since Mike D'Antoni resigned after the season.

Scott, former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, former Suns coach Alvin Gentry and former Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy have had formal interviews with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and vice president of player personnel Jim Buss.

Gentry signed on to become the associate head coach for Steve Kerr in Golden State.

Hollins remains in contention for the job after a strong interview, sources said. Hollins also has had conversations with the Houston Rockets about an associate head-coaching role under Kevin McHale.

[GM Franchise]

Bye, bye Lebron...

Agent to Heat: LeBron opting out

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/11127329/lebron-james-opt-contract-miami-heat

LeBron James' agent, Rich Paul, has informed the Miami Heat that James will exercise his early termination option and become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Opting out does not mean that James has decided to leave the Heat, sources said.

James, a four-time NBA MVP, had until June 30 to decide whether to opt out of the final two years of his contract with Miami. He was scheduled to make $20 million next season and had two years and about $42.7 million remaining on his deal.

After Miami's season-ending loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, James told reporters he would take a vacation with his family before considering his contract options.

James did indicate that he welcomed the opportunity to become a free agent and have the same level of flexibility he was afforded in 2010, when he signed with Miami after spending his first seven years in Cleveland.

"Being able to have flexibility as a professional, anyone, that's what we all would like," James said last week. "That's in any sport, for a football player, a baseball player, a basketball player, to have flexibility and be able to control your future or your present. I have a position to be able to do that. ... There's a lot of times that you're not in control of your future as a professional."

In his four seasons in Miami, the Heat have gone to the NBA Finals four times, winning two championships. James could join Shaquille O'Neal as the only players in league history to lead the NBA Finals in total points scored and then play for a different team to start the following season, according to Elias Sports Bureau. O'Neal played for the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers, who lost to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, and then was traded to the Heat in the offseason.

If James departs, he would also be leaving a historic opportunity on the table. Only one team in NBA history has appeared in at least five consecutive NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics, who reached 10 straight from 1957 to '66.

With James and Carmelo Anthony officially opting out of their contracts, multiple teams -- including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Lakers -- have begun the process of exploring roster moves that would create sufficient salary-cap space to try to sign 2014's marquee free agents in tandem, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com

Meanwhile, the other two Miami stars with early termination options -- Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- have not yet told the Heat or publicly revealed whether they will join James as free agents this summer. Bosh and James both said last week that the three would meet before deciding anything about their respective futures, and it's been widely speculated that they might have to rework their deals to keep the "Big 3" together in Miami.

Each signed six-year deals when they famously teamed up in Miami in 2010, and all of those deals came with options to become free agents either this summer or in the summer of 2015. Together, they've won four Eastern Conference titles and two NBA championships, winning more games than any other team in the league over that span.

"There's a conversation that will be had between the three of us," James said last week. "I think it's only right. I think we've earned that for each other, to have a conversation and see what could possibly happen."

News of James opting out Tuesday also impacted Las Vegas, where several sports books there, including the Wynn, took the drastic measure of pulling all future odds on all NBA teams to win next year's title.

[GM Franchise]

Teams eye LeBron, Melo pairing

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11128345/nba-teams-gear-runs-lebron-james-carmelo-anthony

With LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony officially opting out of their contracts, multiple teams have begun the process of exploring roster moves that would create sufficient salary-cap space to sign 2014's marquee free agents in tandem this summer, according to sources close to the situation.

In addition to the Miami Heat's obvious desire to retain James by any means necessary and pursue Anthony if he urges them to do so, sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks are among the teams mulling potential trades designed to clear enough cap space to be able to recruit the two stars and close friends.

The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, had begun exploring such machinations even before the opt outs of James and Anthony had become known, according to ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne.

The Lakers have been trying in recent days to package the No. 7 overall pick in Thursday's draft with the expiring contract of Steve Nash (who's owed $9.7 million next season) to free up enough room to offer James and Anthony at least $16 million each next season to join forces with Kobe Bryant, Shelburne reported.

As of now, no team that is believed to have any sort of shot at luring James away from the Heat has enough cap space to add both him and Anthony at representative salaries. But more than 15 teams are projected to have significant salary-cap space this summer, raising the possibility that several will try to offload multiple players in conjunction with the draft to create flexibility in the same manner the Heat did in 2010 to make room for their historic free-agent haul.

James' Heat teammates from that haul, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, have until Monday to notify Miami whether they will follow suit and opt for free agency on July 1 or opt in for next season's salaries.

Sources say the timing of James making his opt out known six days before his deadline of Monday was done in part to give teams that may want to recruit him enough notice to pursue the needed roster alterations. This includes a Heat team less than two weeks removed from a lopsided NBA Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs that had James calling for upgrades to the roster "at every position."

Last week, Heat president Pat Riley acknowledged that team officials had begun discussing the idea of trying to recruit Anthony to join James, Wade and Bosh on South Beach and turn Miami's Big Three into a Big Four, but Riley conceded that the ambitious concept was a "pipe dream" given the pay cuts it would require to make it happen.

Other teams, however, have been anticipating this contingency for months, which could lead to a flurry of activity around the league in conjunction with the draft and during the first few days of free agency in July, when teams can begin to formally pitch themselves to James and Anthony.

If the Lakers were to successfully shed the No. 7 pick and Nash's contract without taking any salary back, such moves would potentially open more than $33 million in cap space for the Lakers to chase James and Anthony.

The Cavs, meanwhile, have numerous nonguaranteed contracts on their books and extra draft picks they could attach to players in trades to free up money. There are scenarios where the team believes it could clear in excess of $30 million in cap space without having to trade young star Kyrie Irving or the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday's draft, sources said this week.

But if Wade, Bosh and teammate Udonis Haslem follow James' lead and opt out of their contracts, Miami could create an NBA-record $50-plus million in cap space, which the Heat could use to remake their roster and include James and Anthony.

Atlanta has one of the most flexible rosters in the league, with multiple options to move attractive players to other teams to create space. The Hawks, however, have been somewhat reluctant to completely gut their roster as they hope to build off some success from last season.

James and Anthony have been friends since they met at a USA Basketball event in 2001 and, according to a recent report from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, have expressed a mutual desire to play together on the same team full-time before their careers are over. James and Anthony are expected to be in contact during their free-agent process, since this is the first time they will have been unrestricted free agents at the same time.

In an interview with Vice Sports this week, Anthony said family considerations and the size of the market will be factors in where he chooses to sign this summer, which could affect the feasibility of certain teams being able to land both players.

[Cory]

Id like to see him go back to Cleveland, if they would welcome him, to kinda stick to his word to leave, get 'ships then come back...would make him VERY less loathable in my books.

Plus, if they can keep Irving, develop Bennett draft Wiggins and get James....that'd be sick as a Canadian fan.

[Gravedigger]

As a Celtics fan I'd kill some fools to get LeBron in green, but it's not happening.

If the C's don't get Love, and it's a long shot at this point, then it's going to be ugly for a while....

[GM Franchise]

I heard he was "intrigued" by going to the Clippers so he could play with Chris Paul.

[Cory]

I heard he was "intrigued" by going to the Clippers so he could play with Chris Paul.

That would be fucking epic, if they could somehow have Paul/Riddick/Griffin/Lebron/Jordan if they could finanacially swing that.

Or maybe,

#Lebronto