NBA PM: The Latest Free Agency Rumors

Today has been a crazy day for free agency news and rumors, with plenty of deals being agreed upon and meetings going on. Here’s a recap for those of you who haven’t been able to refresh Twitter every few seconds.

Suns Make Interesting Pitch to Aldridge

When LaMarcus Aldridge announced the teams that he’d be meeting with in free agency, one of the surprising names on his list was the Phoenix Suns. They hadn’t been linked to Aldridge like the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers had, so they were a bit of a shock.

Well, today they unveiled their plan to woo Aldridge and it’s actually pretty brilliant.

Early on Wednesday, the Suns agreed to terms on a four-year, $52 million deal with free agent center Tyson Chandler, according to reports.

Then, they brought Chandler to their free agent meeting with Aldridge and had him play the role of recruiter.

Anyone who knows Aldridge knows that he prefers to play power forward next to a center who is defensive-minded and a strong rebounder. That’s why the Portland Trail Blazers went out and acquired Robin Lopez last year, because that’s exactly the type of big man that Aldridge prefers to play alongside.

And that perfectly describes Chandler, which is why Phoenix’s plan is so smart.

Another wise play by the Suns was bringing newly hired assistant coach Earl Watson to their meeting with Aldridge. As Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports noted, Watson is close with Aldridge. Moves like this are why the Suns could emerge as a dark horse for the All-Star big man, despite early doubts that they’d have a legitimate shot.

It remains to be seen whether the Suns can move ahead of the Spurs to sign Aldridge, but the Chandler move (as well as the Watson hire) definitely helps their chances.

One issue is that Phoenix would likely have to acquire Aldridge in a sign-and-trade with the Blazers, since they used their cap room on Chandler. That means they may have to give up a piece of their promising core – which includes Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Markieff Morris, P.J. Tucker, Devin Booker and Alex Len among others – in order to land the big man. But that would seemingly be worth it for the chance to land a franchise-changing talent like Aldridge.

The other issue is that the Suns may be too young for Aldridge’s liking. Adding Chandler helps, but remember, two years ago Aldridge was upset with the Blazers when they traded away many of the team’s veterans and decided to go young because he wanted to compete for a championship right then. Now, he’s two years older (he’ll be 30 years old later this month), and he wants to win more than ever. The Suns have a talented team, but they’re also very young and it’s unclear if Aldridge would have the patience to join their squad.

The San Antonio Spurs still seem like the frontrunner to add Aldridge, since no team can match their championship pedigree and they can put Aldridge in a situation where he can compete for a title as early as the 2015-16 season. They have the league’s best coach in Gregg Popovich, talented veterans and a fellow star to grow alongside Aldridge in Kawhi Leonard (who has agreed to a long-term extension with the Spurs). It will be hard for any team to top the Spurs’ pitch to Aldridge (especially since reports have indicated he was very impressed with their presentation earlier today), but give the Suns credit for their approach.

As far as the other suitors for Aldridge goes, it’s tough to imagine him joining a team like the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Knicks with how far away they are from contending.

In fact, there have been reports that Aldridge has already ruled out the Lakers (and that the forward didn’t jell with Kobe Bryant during the Los Angeles Lakers meeting and he wasn’t blown away by their presentation, which focused more on off-court opportunities instead of how the team would become a contender).

The Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets could have a shot, but the former seems to be zeroing in on DeAndre Jordan and the latter would have to make some moves in order to free up the necessary cap space to add Aldridge.

It’s possible that he could return to the Portland Trail Blazers (he hasn’t informed the organization that he’s leaving, despite reports saying otherwise) and they can offer the most money, but it’s seeming somewhat unlikely at this point.

For now, it seems like Aldridge to the Spurs is a very realistic possibility, but the Suns may be a dark horse and they certainly have better odds than when the day started.

Mavericks Get Back-to-Back Meetings With Jordan

By now, everyone knows that the Dallas Mavericks moved up their meeting with DeAndre Jordan to last night and got the chance to give him their pitch before any other team. Jordan didn’t meet with any other teams last night, according to sources.

Initially, it was believed that Dallas had gotten their turn and that today Jordan would just meet with the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks (with a final meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers scheduled for Thursday).

However, it turns out, the Mavericks met with Jordan again this morning, before the Lakers and Knicks. Their dinner last night was just the start of their courting, and they picked up right where they left off in a meeting with the big man this morning.

That means the Mavericks had the chance to sit down with Jordan twice and woo him before any other team got to pitch to him once.

Now, this signifies that Jordan is seriously interested in Dallas (and he’s from Texas and attended college at Texas A&M), but it’s also worth noting that Jordan’s agent, Dan Fegan, is very good friends with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, which may be why Dallas was given this advantage and opportunity to pitch first.

It remains to be seen what Jordan will do, but it’s interesting to see the mutual interest between Jordan and the Mavs.

With that said, a return to the Clippers isn’t out of the question. They can offer him the most money (although Texas not having a state income tax does help the Mavs’ pitch), and they can offer him a five-year deal whereas other teams can only offer four years. Also, Jordan is very close with Blake Griffin and Doc Rivers, has benefitted from playing with Chris Paul (and sources have denied the rumors that there was a feud between the two players) and he likes Los Angeles.

Also, keep in mind, the Clippers really have no way of replacing Jordan if he leaves given their cap situation, so they’re going to do everything in their power to keep him around (including offering a max deal with some player-friendly additions and possibly making promises about his role, as some other teams have done). If Jordan leaves, the best that L.A. could do to replace him would be signing a player using their mid-level exception, which likely wouldn’t even yield a starting-caliber big man.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Jordan, who led the league in rebounding and field goal percentage last year, while finishing on the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team. His decision will greatly impact a number of franchises.

Some Smaller Free Agency Notes

Here are some additional notes to keep in mind:

– The Dallas Mavericks were one of the first teams to reach out to unrestricted free agent Jeremy Lin last night, but the New York Knicks also made contact with the point guard, according to league sources. Basketball Insiders first reported New York’s plan to pursue Lin and their contact with him. Nothing is imminent, but Lin has a number of suitors showing interest in him.

– One of the first teams to contact restricted free agent Iman Shumpert last night was the Los Angeles Lakers, per league sources. It’s looking like the Lakers may miss on some of the star free agents in this class, but they’re doing their due diligence and reaching out to quality role players (such as Shumpert) as well. Because Shumpert is restricted, the Cleveland Cavaliers can match any offer sheet that Shumpert signs.

– Patrick Beverley had a busy night, as he received calls from the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings among others, according to sources. Like Shumpert, Beverley is restricted so the Houston Rockets can match any offer sheet that he signs.

– The Brooklyn Nets were the first team to contact unrestricted free agent Thomas Robinson last night. Robinson is an interesting free agent to watch, as he’s still just 24 years old and played well after being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers last year (averaging 8.8 points and 7.7 rebounds in 18.5 minutes).

– The Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks were among the teams to express interest in unrestricted free agent C.J. Watson last night. The 31-year-old point guard spent last season with the Indiana Pacers and a number of teams have been in contact with his camp.

– Corey Brewer has received interest from a number of teams, but the Houston Rockets were the first team to make contact with the guard last night. They’re determined to re-sign him after he played a huge role in their success during the 2014-15 season.