By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The NBA offseason seems to be in full swing and free agency hasn't even begun yet! Since the draft, there have been multiple reports of league stars intending to move on to new homes and while not too many deals have gone through yet, things are getting close. Paul George is still trying to leave the Pacers, Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks are at a stand still and one player is already on the move. Let's take a look at the league's headlines from the last day or so…
Chris Paul traded to the Rockets: With all of the trade winds swirling around Paul George, the Clippers and Rockets made a deal on Wednesday as L.A. sent their veteran All-Star point guard to Houston for Patrick Beverly, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, a 2018 first-round pick and some more players to make the money match in the deal.
The trade came as a bit of a surprise as Paul was planning to opt-out of his contract and become a free agent in a few days, but he will instead play out the final year of his contract with James Harden and the Rockets. While both Harden and Paul have been primary ball handlers, Adrian Wojnarwoski of The Vertical reports that the two have been determined to play together, so it doesn't seem like they are too concerned.
According to Tim McMahon of ESPN, the Rockets are gearing up to acquire either Carmelo Anthony or Paul George, according to multiple reports.
Meanwhile, with Chris Paul gone, the Clippers will have more cap room to make sure Blake Griffin remains in Los Angeles. For full details on the trade, head over to HoopsRumors.
Knicks, Phil Jackson part ways: If you even casually follow the NBA, you probably know that the Knicks front office is a mess. The organization has been known not to treat their players well recently, with Carmelo Anthony's relationship with Phil Jackson and the Kristaps Porzingis saga taking center stage. Well, the Knicks have made a significant move to alleviate some of the tension, they hope. On Wednesday morning, the team announced that they were parting ways with Phil Jackson. Here's a statement from Knicks' owner James Dolan:
“After careful thought and consideration, we mutually agreed that the Knicks will be going in a different direction,” Dolan said. “Phil Jackson is one of the most celebrated and successful individuals in the history of the NBA. His legacy in the game of basketball is unmatched. We wish him the best and thank him for his service to the Knicks as both a player and an executive.”
Knicks owner James Dolan is targeting Toronto's Masai Ujiri to replace Phil Jackson as the team President, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Jackson made some very questionable moves during his tenure and while the public feud with Carmelo is the biggest story, his decision to sign Joakim Noak to a $72 million contract was a head-scratcher and his attempt(s) to trade Kristaps Porzingis after the Latvian big man skipped an exit interview was very surprising.
Celtics aiming to land Paul George, Gordon Hayward: Ever since Paul George told the Pacers he intends to leave Indiana after this season, the team has been trying to find a suitor to meet their trade demands. George has been mentioned in trade reports with the Lakers, Cavaliers and Celtics, who also plan to target Utah's Gordan Hayward in free agency. Here's the latest from The Vertical:
The Boston Celtics are pursuing an aggressive summer plan of sequencing the signing of free agent Gordon Hayward and relinquishing the assets needed to complete a trade for Paul George, league sources told The Vertical.
For salary-cap purposes, Boston wants a Hayward commitment before it can finalize a trade for George and secure the most dynamic free-agent coup in franchise history, league sources said.
If the Celtics do indeed lure Heyward, they will need to make plenty of moves to get cap space to acquire George from the Pacers.
The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski is headed to ESPN: There had been some rumblings of Woj heading to ESPN in February and the network finally announced it today. Wojnarowski, one of the most well-known NBA reporters across the country with join ESPN as an NBA Insider. Here's part of the statement from ESPN:
Prolific and highly respected NBA journalist Adrian Wojnarowski is joining ESPN as an NBA Insider. Wojnarowski will break news, report stories and features and provide insights from across the NBA and around the basketball world for ESPN’s multiple media, including digital, television, audio and print. He will begin at ESPN on July 1, making his debut on SportsCenterwith Scott Van Pelt at Midnight and will then also join the NBA Free Agency Special hosted by Rachel Nichols (ESPN2, Midnight – 2 a.m. ET).
Woj has spent 10 years with Yahoo! and the last two years as the editor of The Vertical.
Durant waiting to resign with Warriors: If the Warriors plan on repeating, they will obviously need their star power to return, but a big part of the reason they were so successful during the entire year and postseason was because their reserve players contributed in a variety of different ways, making Golden State a threat from so many different angles. In order to create cap space to resign some free agents (Andre Iguodala, Shawn Livingston), forward Kevin Durant is waiting until the end of July to resign to let Golden State make the moves they need to make. Here's the latest from ESPN:
Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant plans to wait until after the team completes the bulk of its summer business before re-signing with the NBA champions, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN that Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman intend to work with the club in providing the necessary discounts on Durant's expected new two-year deal to help them retain free agents such as Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
The story goes on to say that Durant will waive his $27.7 million player option and become a free agent, but will not field offers from any teams as he intends to stay in Golden State.
Sixers interested in reunion with Iguodala: One of the impending free agents for Golden State is former Sixer, Andre Iguodala. While many believe the two-time NBA Champion will return to the Warriors, a handful of teams have expressed interest in the veteran forward. Here's some of the details from yesterday's story on Sports Talk Philly:
The Sixers have made their intentions clear in the last months, especially as the regular season came to a close that they planned on looking into veteran free agents this offseason in order to better compliment their younger players.
One name has been rumored to be floating around ever since he decided to test the market instead of re-signing right away with Golden State. That would be Andre Iguodala. Well, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN, that dream might turn into a reality after he reported that the Sixers were one of the teams interested in the 33 year-old small forward.
A reunion between the Sixers and Iguodala would be nice as he would not only offer the team veteran leadership, but also provide what he's given the Warriors over the past few years – stellar defense, an improved three-point shot and great court vision. The main issue is that Iguodala could command upwards of $20 million a year. With Joel Embiid's contract decision coming up and the Sixers perhaps looking to lure a bigger free agent in the coming years, they may want to hold off on signing a 33-year-old forward.
Kings sign draft-and-stash F Bogdan Bogdanovic: In the age of the draft-and-stash players, the Sacramento Kings have made a deal with their first-round pick from the 2014 draft in Bogdanovic, the younger brother of the Wizards' RFA Bojan. Here's the latest from HoopsRumors:
The Kings have struck a deal with draft-and-stash prospect Bogdan Bogdanovic, according to Jason Jones and Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Bogdanovic – not to be confused with Wizards RFA Bojan Bogdanovic – is expected to sign a three-year contract with Sacramento worth $36MM.
A 6’6″ sharpshooter, Bogdanovic was named the MVP of the Turkish League this year after averaging 14.7 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.5 RPG. The 24-year-old also earned All-EuroLeague honors and helped lead Turkish team Fenerbahce to its first ever EuroLeague title.
An interesting tidbit about Bogdanovic is that because it has been more than three years since he was drafted, the Kings had to spend cap room money on him because he technically "aged out" per se of the rookie scale.
