Blazers Free Agent Buzz: Waiting For The Dam To Break

[The top of this post will update regularly as news breaks during the day. For immediate updates, read the comments at the bottom!]

Portland Trail Blazers News and Rumors

- Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports on Twitter: "Spencer Hawes is 'very interested' in joining the Blazers, according to a league source with knowledge of Hawes' thinking. ... It's unclear when Hawes will make his decision, but the source said the free agent center was in 'no rush.'"

- Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports on Twitter that Hornets unrestricted free agent forward Josh McRoberts is generating interest from a number of teams: "Charlotte, Dallas, Cleveland, Miami, Clippers, Knicks, Portland, Phoenix, Spurs and Lakers."

- Former Blazer (and unrestricted free agent) Patty Mills was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, and will be out of action for up to 7 months. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports on Twitter that the Spurs will still look to re-sign Mills.

- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that Blazers scouting director Chad Buchanan has agreed to become assistant GM of the Hornets.

- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports on Twitter that the Blazers haven't yet reached out to Suns unrestricted free agent forward/center Channing Frye, but they have expressed interest in Bobcats unrestricted free agent forward Josh McRoberts.

- Tuesday has otherwise been a very quiet day for news and rumors.

- Ken Berger of CBS Sports updated the Blazers' interest in Hawes:

The Heat also have Spencer Hawes on their radar, but league sources confirmed that the Portland Trail Blazers secured the first meeting with the free-agent center in Los Angeles early Tuesday. Blazers coach Terry Stotts, a creative offensive tactician, holds strong pull with Hawes. The Cavs also registered interest in bringing Hawes back

- Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports on Twitter that the Blazers called Nets unrestricted free agent forward Paul Pierce to express interest.

- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports on Twitter that Blazers GM Neil Olshey and coach Terry Stotts met with Cavaliers unrestricted free agent center Spencer Hawes and his agent on Monday night in Los Angeles. Wojnarowski adds that the Cavaliers are "determined" to keep Hawes.

- Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports on Twitter that Hawes is hoping to earn $8 million per year, which would made it difficult for Portland to land him.

- Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports on Twitter that the Blazers are interested in Spencer Hawes (Cavaliers), Boris Diaw (Spurs) and Josh McRoberts (Hornets), who are all unrestricted free agents. Joe also reported that the Hawes visit "went very well" and that there is "genuine interest" from Hawes.

- Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports on Twitter that the Blazers are interested in Cavaliers unrestricted free agent center Spencer Hawes..

- Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report reports on Twitter: "Mo Williams has big interest in Mavericks, and will plan meeting. Mo has his own hoops center and successful AAU program in Dallas."

- Jeff Caplan of NBA.com reported that the Blazers have interest in the Lakers' Kent Bazemore, who is now an unrestricted free agent.

- Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports: "Unrestricted free agent Channing Frye, who played for the Blazers from 2007-2009, told The Oregonian on Monday he would be open to returning to Portland. 'Of course coming back would be an option,' Frye wrote in an e-mail to The Oregonian. 'I love the city, the fans, and the players they have are top notch.'"

- Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports on Twitter: "I'm told Portland has serious interest in a sign-and-trade for [Pistons forward/center Greg] Monroe."

- Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reports that the Blazers will join the Heat, Thunder and Raptors in pursuing Mavericks guard Vince Carter. Dallas is seen as the favorites to retain him.

- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports that Damian Lillard's free agency "wish list" is: Mo Williams, Channing Frye, Vince Carter, Spencer Hawes and Trevor Ariza.

- Haynes also reports on Twitter that Mo Williams' "only goal" is to reach an agreement to return with the Blazes and that he hasn't yet set up any other meetings.

- [Plug alert: Carter, Hawes and Ariza are all on my top 25 free agents of 2014 list if you're interested. -- Ben]

The Rest of the NBA

- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that Shaun Livingston has agreed to a 3 year, $16 million contract (full MLE) with the the Golden State Warriors. The third year is partially guaranteed.

- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that Marcin Gortat has agreed to a five year, $60 million contract extension with Washington

- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports on Twitter that Jodie Meeks agreed to a 3 year, $19 million+ contract with the Detroit Pistons.

- Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert announced on Twitter that Kyrie Irving has agreed to a five-year rookie extension expected to be worth $90 million.

- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reports that the Heat are interested in Steve Blake, Vince Carter and Shawn Marion.

- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter that the Heat have contacted Cavaliers unrestricted free agent forward Luol Deng to express interest.

- Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports on Twitter that the Mavericks and Bulls are interested in Rockets restricted free agent forward Chandler Parsons.

- David Aldridge of NBA.com reports on Twitter that the Rockets are interested in Raptors unrestricted free agent guard Kyle Lowry.

- Shams Charania of RealGM.com reports that the Spurs have decided to keep forward Austin Daye.

- The Warriors have allowed guard Jordan Crawford to become an unrestricted free agent.

- The Sixers have released guard James Anderson.

- The Bucks have allowed forward Ekpe Udoh to become an unrestricted free agent.

- The Pistons have allowed veteran guard Chauncey Billups to become an unrestricted free agent.

- The Magic have released veteran point guard Jameer Nelson, whose $8 million contract was only guaranteed for $2 million. Orlando has also claimed former Clippers guard Willie Green off of waivers.

- Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports reports on Twitter that the Pacers will allow guard Evan Turner to become an unrestricted free agent.

- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter that Grizzlies power forward Ed Davis will become an unrestricted free agent.

- The Hawks have agreed to trade guard Lou Williams and center Lucas Nogueira to the Raptors in exchange for forward John Salmons, according to multiple reports. Salmons will be waived. [More here]

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At 9pm PDT on Monday, June 30, NBA teams are cleared to have contract discussions with players. No contracts can be signed until a week later, but verbal agreements are common in this stage. With very rare exceptions, verbal agreements are generally considered binding for purposes of news reports.

Cap space available to the Blazers: None.

Barring any trades, they will have the following cash to use:

- Mid-Level Exception: Approx. $5.3 million (can be split among multiple players)
- Bi-Annual Exception: Approx $2 million
- Other players can be signed at the minimum salary

- They can also re-sign Mo Williams without affecting their available cash, using the Non-Bird Exception. Unless he gets a good offer from another team, there's a decent chance he works out a deal with Portland.

Hang out here and chat about all the news and rumors. If any major news involves the Blazers, Dave, Ben or I will have a new post for that as quickly as possible. In the meantime, feel free to discuss here.

For purposes of the next few days, please don't post transaction news in the Fanposts and Fanshots. Post it here in the comments, and we'll add it to this article in a one-stop shop! Thanks! -- Tim