NBA Free Agency Rumors: Lakers Contacted Spurs Again About Acquiring Kawhi Leonard
Days before free agency officially starts, NBA teams are already making moves and shedding salaries to create cap space to sign an intriguing crop of free agents.
Decisions still have to be made for some players who can opt in or out of the final year of their contracts.
LeBron James, Paul George and DeAndre Jordan are among the stars who must make a decision by Friday concerning player options.
• NBA Free Agency 2018: Top 50 Players Available
Unrestricted free agents can agree to deals on July 1 but can't officially sign contracts until 12 p.m. on July 6.
Here are the latest news and rumors from around the league.
3 p.m.
• Free agent Amir Johnson is finalizing a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers (Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN)
10 p.m.
• The Lakers contacted the Spurs on Wednesday about pursuing Kawhi Leonard. This is the first contact between the teams after the Spurs "shut the door" on the Lakers initially. (ESPN)
• The Cavaliers have picked up Kendrick Perkins's option for the 2018-19 season, but his contract is not guaranteed for the time being. Cleveland would have to guarantee Perkins's contract if they wanted to include it in a trade. (ESPN)
6 p.m.
• The Suns will not re-sign point guard Elfrid Payton or center Alex Len, making them free agents. This will free up $10 million in cap space for the Suns. (Scott Bordow, azcentral.com)
• The Raptors extended qualifying offers to Fred VanVleet, Malcolm Miller and Nando De Colo to retain their restricted free agent rights. (Toronto Raptors)
• Fred VanVleet wants to come back to the Raptors, and the team wants him to return. The Suns and Magic are interested in VanVleet. (Josh Lewenberg, TSN Sports)
• Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors has set up a few free agency meetings for after July 1. Favors would like to return to Utah, but he wants to see what comes out of the meetings to determine what is best for him. (Eric Woodyard, Deseret News)
2 p.m.
• The Mavericks withdrew their qualifying offer to Doug McDermott to make him an unrestricted free agent, but they still have interest in keeping him. (Zach Lowe, ESPN.com)
• The Mavericks could create as much as $26 million in cap space through moves including declining Dirk Nowitzki's $5 million option, and they could be in contention for unrestricted free agents DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan and restricted free agents Clint Capela, Aaron Gordon and Julius Randle. (ESPN.com)
12 P.M.
• The Los Angeles Lakers are facing pressure to make a deal to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs. (ESPN.com)
• LeBron James could sign with the Los Angeles Lakers before their expected roster overhaul. (Sporting News)
• The Portland Trail Blazers have sent center Jusuf Nurkic his qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent. (Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN.com)
• After being traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Washington Wizards for Marcin Gortat, Austin Rivers opts into the final year of a three-year deal for $12.65 million. (Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN.com)
• Derrick Favors says he wants to re-sign with the Utah Jazz. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• The Golden State Warriors extended a $1.7 million qualifying offer to guard Patrick McCaw. (Chris Haynes, ESPN.com)
• The Celtics are expected to re-sign Aron Baynes. (NBC Sports Boston)
• The Rockets are "all in" on LeBron James despite James Harden's comments on the team's personnel, "We're great with what we have." (Sam Amick, USA Today)
• DeAndre Jordan contemplating opting into $24.1 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers and facilitating a trade. The Dallas Mavericks are among the teams interested. (Marc Stein, New York Times)
• The Rockets proposed during an April meeting to flip the dates of start of free agency and the NBA draft. (Zach Lowe, ESPN.com)
