July 2015 – Page 26 – NBA Blog

Blazers, Al-Farouq Aminu agree to deal

Al-Farouq Aminu is an excellent hustle player, but so far in his NBA career he’s considered backup material. Good backup material, with the potential to do bigger things thanks to his hustle and defense. But the Portland Trail Blazers are reportedly willing to pay him more than expected. Here’s the Oregonian reporting:

The Trail Blazers did not waste any time plugging their hole at small forward.

Shortly after NBA free agency opened at 9:01 p.m., the team agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Al-Forouq Aminu, his agent, Raymond Brothers, confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The deal, first reported by Yahoo Sports, is valued at $30 million over four years.

Aminu, 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, averaged 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game last season for the Dallas Mavericks and is entering his sixth NBA season.

The No. 8 overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft, Aminu features high-level defensive ability and a high-energy style, but a below-average long-range shot.

Report: Lakers will meet with Kevin Love

Would Kevin Love leave the Cleveland Cavaliers? He may not have had a dream season with them, taking a back seat to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and then watching the team enjoy success without him throughout most of the 2015 NBA playoffs, but he was still their third best player this season and surely enjoys being a part of a winning team, right? It’s still expected he remains with the Cavs, but, conversations elsewhere are being had. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

The Los Angeles Lakers will meet with free agent Kevin Love later this week, according to league sources.

One source said the Lakers have heard Love is likely to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they still want to sit down with him. The meeting will be part of a busy week for the Lakers, who also will meet with LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe.

Besides securing a top-flight power forward, either Aldridge or Love, the Lakers hope to add a center. In addition to Jordan and Monroe, the Lakers have interest in Tyson Chandler and Robin Lopez, Aldridge’s teammate in Portland the past two seasons, sources said. The Lakers also will place a call to Marc Gasol, although the All-Star center is widely expected to re-sign with Memphis.

Report: Spurs will keep Kawhi Leonard

Report: Spurs will keep Kawhi Leonard

The San Antonio Spurs are built around their famous “big three” of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, but Kawhi Leonard has been just as important as all of them for several seasons now. And it appears he’s sticking around for Duncan and Ginobili to try to squeeze out another championship or two before hanging the sneakers up and calling it a career in the coming few seasons. Here’s the San Antonio Express News Blog reporting:

As expected, Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs have agreed to the general framework on a maximum contract extension that could pay him more than $90 million over five years, a league source told the Express-News on Tuesday.

A source close to Leonard has said for several months that the discussion on his extension would be quick. That it was, with news breaking just minutes after the NBA’s annual free agent period began at 11 p.m. CST on Tuesday.

Leonard, 24, will not immediately sign the deal to preserve his cap hold of $7.2 million, which will aide the Spurs in their pursuit of coveted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge.

Grizzlies extend qualifying offer to Nick Calathes

The Memphis Grizzlies have extended a qualifying offer to guard Nick Calathes, General Manager Chris Wallace announced today.

By extending a qualifying offer to Calathes prior to the June 30 deadline, Memphis holds the right to match any offer sheet he may sign with another team after becoming a restricted free agent on July 1.

Calathes (6-6, 213) averaged 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.09 steals in 14.4 minutes in 58 games (zero starts) for Memphis last season. The 26-year-old posted a 92.2 defensive rating, leading all NBA players who appeared in at least 55 contests.

Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (45th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft following a two-year collegiate career at the University of Florida, Calathes owns NBA career averages of 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.00 steals in 15.6 minutes in 129 games (seven starts) in two seasons, both with the Grizzlies.