NBA roundup: Nets still in the hunt for Howard
Despite trading for guard Joe Johnson, the Brooklyn Nets are still reportedly in pursuit of All-Star center Dwight Howard.
A day after sending five players and a draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Johnson, the Nets and Orlando Magic are discussing a blockbuster deal that would include Brooklyn trading Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, Marshon Brooks and first-round picks in 2013, 2015 and 2017 to Orlando for Howard, ESPN.com reported Tuesday.
Brooklyn would also be willing to take back Hedo Turkoglu, who is owed $11.4 million this season and has a player option for $12.2 million next season as part of the deal, according to SI.com.
The Nets reportedly can exceed the salary cap to re-sign Lopez and Humphries because they have "Bird rights" and then deal them to the Magic.
Howard has said in recent days that he is seeking a trade to only one team and that team is believed to be the Nets. It was then thought that the Nets would not have enough pieces to pull together a deal for Howard after they acquired Johnson.
With forward Gerald Wallace reportedly agreeing to a four-year, $40 million deal with the Nets and if free agent point guard Deron Williams re-signs, they would instantly become Eastern Conference contenders.
-- Free-agent guard Jason Terry is close to agreeing to a three-year contract with the Boston Celtics that would pay him the full mid-level exception of about $5 million per year.
The deal was reported Tuesday by ESPN Boston. Sources also told ESPN Dallas that the Mavericks are unlikely to match the Celtics' offer.
Terry, 34, spent the past eight seasons in Dallas, which included winning the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2009 helping the Mavericks win the NBA title in 2011. He averaged 15.1 points per game last season.
---Free agent guard Ray Allen plans to visit the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers later this week.
Allen, who helped get the Boston Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals this past season, will meet with the NBA champion Heat on Thursday and the Clippers on Friday, according to ESPN The Magazine.
Miami can only offer Allen the mini mid-level exception of just over $3 million a year.
The Memphis Grizzlies have reportedly made an offer of the full mid-level exception worth about $5 million for two years to Allen. The Clippers can also offer Allen the full mid-level exception.
The Celtics, however, can re-sign Allen for up to a two-year, $12 million contract.
--The Toronto Raptors agreed to a three-year contract worth nearly $20 million with restricted free agent guard Landry Fields, ESPN.com reported Tuesday.
Fields cannot sign the deal until July 11, the first day NBA players can sign new contracts.
Fields scored nearly nine points per game for the New York Knicks this past season. The Knicks have three days to match the offer.
The final year of the contract includes a sharp pay increase, similar to what the Houston Rockets offered restricted free agent Omer Asik, who played with the Chicago Bulls.
---New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, who is a restricted free agent, will visit the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, ESPN.com reported Tuesday.
The Knicks would like to retain Lin, who was a media sensation midway through the season, and they could keep him by matching any offer Lin gets. But, according to the report, if a team offers him a backloaded multiyear contract that pays him more than $10 million in the third and fourth seasons, the Knicks might be reluctant to match it.
Taking on that big salary when the tougher luxury tax kicks in during the 2013-2014 season may not be in the Knicks' best interest.
--- Wes Wilcox, who was the Cleveland Cavaliers director of player personnel this past season, has been named the Atlanta Hawks assistant general manager and will work under new Hawks' GM Danny Ferry.
Wilcox joined the Cavaliers in 2003, and held the roles of advance scout, college scout and pro personnel scout. Ferry was the Cavaliers' general manager from 2005 through 2010.
