After the opening day of free agency, the rumor mill has been relatively quiet for the San Antonio Spurs. There weren’t any rumors of who the Spurs contacted on Saturday and Sunday, but, early Monday morning, it seems Spurs restricted free agent Jonathon Simmons has another potential suitor – the New York Knicks.
Knicks ‘reached out’ to Simmons (7/4/17, 12:52 AM CST)
According to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, the Knicks ‘reached out‘ to Simmons, who is in ‘active’ discussions with two other teams.
The Knicks have up to $16.9 million in cap space at the moment while just keeping the qualifying offer for Ron Baker on their books. Since Simmons is under the Arenas provision, the most the Knicks can offer him in the first year of a deal is $8.4 million, however, the other years of that deal can be beyond that amount, up to a max offer ($25.5 million).
For the Spurs, since they have Simmons’ early bird rights, which they are using since they tendered him a $1.6 million qualifying offer, they can match any offer sheet a team provides to Simmons, if they choose to do so after 48 hours. However, if Simmons did sign an offer sheet and depending on the amount, this would possibly make San Antonio question just how high they’re willing to pay to keep Simmons.
Other teams that reportedly have interest in Simmons are the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings.
The Clippers likely aren’t Simmons suitors anymore now that they’re reportedly working on a deal to sign Danilo Gallinari. The Wolves only have the room exception of $4.3 million to offer Simmons, but, the Kings could have up to $45.4 million in cap space.
Spurs Inquire about Crawford (07/04/2017, 11:41 AM CST)
The Los Angeles Clippers are currently involved in a three-team sign-and-trade that would allow Gallinari to go to the Clippers, Paul Millsap to go to the Denver Nuggets, and to make the financial aspects of the deal work, Clippers guard Jamal Crawford would go to the Atlanta Hawks.
According to ESPN, Crawford has no intention of playing for a rebuilding team like the Hawks, so he would seek a buyout if traded there. The Hawks though may be unwilling to facilitate a buyout since Crawford is still owed nearly $28.7 million over the next two seasons. The Hawks instead would prefer a trade for Crawford.
The report states the Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans, and Milwaukee Bucks would all have interest in Crawford if he was dealt to Atlanta.
If it was through trade, the Spurs and Hawks would have to find a deal where San Antonio could bring in the $14.2 million of Crawford’s deal for next season. If Crawford was waived through a buyout with Atlanta, it’s unknown if he’d choose to sign with the team that could offer him the most money or if he’s going straight for a chance at a title, which is why there’s a ‘strong possibility’ he could end up on the Warriors.
Crawford, 37, averaged 12.3 points last season while playing in all 82 games for the Clippers.
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