NBA notebook: After buyout from Nets, Howard eyes Wizards

Per the report, Howard, who averaged 16.6 points -- his highest figure since
2013-14 -- along with 12.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game with the Hornets
last season in 81 games, will join Washington via the taxpayer mid-level
exception, worth $5.4 million over one year.

The Nets sent two future second-round picks, cash considerations and center
Timofey Mozgov to the Charlotte Hornets for Howard on June 20, and reports
emerged the following day that Howard and the Nets were working on a buyout to
remove his $23.8 million 2018-19 salary from their books.

--The Philadelphia 76ers acquired forward Wilson Chandler and a future
second-round pick from the Denver Nuggets for cash considerations, according
to multiple reports.

According to ESPN, the Nuggets will save a combined $50 million in salary and
luxury tax from the deal, including lowering their tax bill from $51.3 million
to $14.3 million. Denver has been trying to unload salary to lessen its tax
penalty after signing Nikola Jokic and Will Barton to extensions earlier this
week. Chandler is due $12.8 million in 2018-19 after he opted into the final
season of a four-year, $46 million pact last month.

Chandler, 31, averaged 10.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 74 games (71 starts)
last season, marking his lowest scoring average over a full year (minimum 40
games) since his rookie campaign of 2007-08.

--The Wizards have agreed to sign former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jeff
Green to a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum, according to multiple
reports.

Green, who made $2.33 million on a minimum contract with the Cavs last season,
will earn $2.39 million in 2018-19.

The 31-year-old averaged 10.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 78 games (13 starts)
last season, his 11th in the NBA. He added 7.7 points per game and 2.4
rebounds in 22 postseason games (two starts).

--The Utah Jazz agreed to multi-year extensions with restricted free agent
guards Dante Exum (three years, $33 million) and Raul Neto (two years, $4.4
million), according to Yahoo Sports and other reports. The signings come a day
after Utah retained forward Derrick Favors on a two-year, $36 million deal,
keeping together the team that won 48 games last season.

Exum, who turns 23 on July 13, averaged 8.1 points and 3.1 assists in 14 games
in March and April, after missing the majority of the campaign due to surgery
to repair a separated left shoulder. In a small sample size, those figures
were comfortably the best of his career, even though he played fewer minutes
(16.8) than his career average (20.2).

Neto, 26, averaged 4.5 points and 1.8 assists in 12.1 minutes per game last
season, making 41 appearances off the bench after being recalled from Utah's G
League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars.

--Former NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams agreed to a one-year
deal with the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN. Carter-Williams's contract
is for the veteran's minimum, $1.76 million, according to spotrac.com.

Carter-Williams averaged a career-low 4.6 points and 16.1 minutes in 52 games
(two starts) for the Charlotte Hornets last season.

He averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds in 2013-14 when he was
the top rookie while playing for the 76ers. Carter-Williams was traded to the
Milwaukee Bucks midway through this second season and has also played for the
Chicago Bulls during his five NBA seasons.

--Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler has "no intentions" of signing an extension
in Minnesota and is "all but fed up with the nonchalant attitude of his
younger teammates," according to a Chicago Sun-Times report, which
specifically named big man Karl-Anthony Towns.

Butler said he feels like "he's being recruited harder by other teams" than by
his own, and Butler is trying to find a way to team up with Boston Celtics
guard Kyrie Irving on a team somewhere in the Eastern Conference. Butler and
Irving each can opt out of the final year of their contracts next summer and
become unrestricted free agents. Minnesota reportedly intends to offer Butler
a four-year, max-level extension worth $110 million once he is eligible on
July 9.

The 28-year-old appeared in 59 games in his first year with the Wolves,
missing time late in the season due to right knee surgery. He averaged 22.2
points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists -- all slightly lower than the figures he
posted with Chicago the previous season.

--The Indiana Pacers have agreed to sign free agent guard Tyreke Evans to a
one-year, $12 million deal, according to an ESPN report.

Evans had previously visited with the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City
Thunder, and reports say he was a target of the Golden State Warriors before
they used their mid-level exception on DeMarcus Cousins.

The 28-year-old spent the 2017-18 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, whom he
joined on a one-year, $3.3 million deal in free agency last summer. Evans
boosted his value by averaging 19.4 points -- his best mark since his rookie
campaign in 2009-10 -- 5.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 30.9 minutes per game
in 52 contests (32 starts).

--Point guard Avery Bradley agreed to a two-year, $25 million deal to return
to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to multiple reports. Bradley was
acquired in the deal that sent Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons last
season.

The Clippers traded backup point guard Austin Rivers to the Washington
Wizards. Bradley appeared in six games with the Clippers, averaging 9.2 points
before suffering a season-ending sports hernia.

Recognized as a top wing defender, Bradley, 27, averaged 12.3 points over his
first eight NBA seasons.

--The same group that bought and named a racehorse after New England Patriots
star Rob Gronkowski has done the same with new Los Angeles Laker LeBron James.

Phoenix Thoroughbreds purchased the 2-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro, who
produced 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, and got permission to name
the colt LeBron J.

He'll train under Doug O'Neill in California with an eye toward next year's
Triple Crown races.

--Field Level Media