NBA Rumors: Latest Free-Agent Intel on Gerald Henderson, Timofey Mozgov and More

At this point in the NBA calendar, we've nearly reached the point where each passing day is just another tick off the countdown to Oct. 29—the date the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls open the 2013-14 schedule.

Nearly every notable offseason move has already gone down, less than a month into the Association's vacation period. Dwight Howard is a Rocket. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are Brooklyn bound. We know Mike Miller prefers Memphis barbecue to Oklahoma City. 

Hell, even summer league is over. With teams across the NFL and college football opening up their training camp sessions over the coming days and weeks, the NBA is on a fast track to irrelevancy in the national lexicon barring a major trade.

So, what does that mean for you, Mr. NBA Consumer? It means enjoy these last few notable free agents while you can. Notable names like Greg Oden and Brandon Jennings have yet to decide their 2013-14 destinations yet, and the coverage over those two players may reach Howard-like levels from the NBA literati over the next week or so. 

But there are also some underliers who deserve attention. Guys who might not move the needle in the slightest when they sign but will provide solid minutes wherever they go next season—the exact type of guys you'd expect to be on the market as we almost reach August. 

With that in mind, here is a quick breakdown of the latest intel on a few role players looking to find new homes. 

Spurs, Kings In on Mozgov?

It's kind of funny (read: hilarious) that Timofey Mozgov was once the New York Knicks' breaking point in their attempt to trade for Carmelo Anthony. That stance seemed rather inane when New York put it in place, and now makes me instantly go to the Google GIF search looking for the perfect reaction a couple years later.

The Knicks (of course) eventually caved and gave Mozgov to the Denver Nuggets, at which point everyone in that organization went "ohhhhh..." and quickly looked to move on. Mozgov is now a restricted free agent, a guy who is 27 years old and played exactly half of the 2012-13 NBA season.

So it's no surprise the market on his services has been near-glacial. The Nuggets would be more than happy to bring him back at a qualifying offer, but there is no impetus on offering a long-term deal. There were reports that the Sacramento Kings had expressed interest earlier this month. But with Sacto firmly engorged in the Greg Oden chase—cue the "they wouldn't have to run very far" jokes—the market on Mozgov is seemingly in a state of inertia.

At least it was. In his free-agency roundup earlier this week, Hoopsworld's Steve Kyler noted the San Antonio Spurs have joined the Mozgov chase.

It's likely that the Spurs would need the Nuggets to make a sign-and-trade for a potential deal to work. San Antonio has already used nearly its entire mid-level exception this summer signing Jeff Pendergraph, with only $650,000 remaining—the NBA equivalent of peanuts. The team also has 14 players on the roster at the moment, one short of the league maximum. So it's likely that any deal with Denver would have to include a player-for-player swap, or even a third team coming into the mix to take someone like Aron Baynes off the Spurs' hands.

Should the two sides find an amenable ground, Mozgov could help in limited minutes. He's best known in his career for getting embarrassed on national television by Blake Griffin, but the Ruskie is a solid bench defender who can hold his own in the post—opposing players shot just 34.5 percent against him last season, in an admittedly minuscule sample size.

At the very least Mozgov would represent an upgrade over Baynes at the end of the bench and could take regular-season minutes formerly handed to DeJuan Blair, likely headed elsewhere this summer.

Bobcats and Gerald Henderson Still at an Impasse?

While most (myself included) have reached a near-obsession with Brandon Jennings' future with the Milwaukee Bucks, another less notable impasse has been reached on the restricted free-agent market.

The Charlotte Bobcats and Gerald Henderson find themselves in much the similar situation. There isn't animosity festering on the level of Jennings-Milwaukee, but these two sides have been negotiating for about a month without much movement.

Henderson's representation waited out the market initially, eventually landing on the $8 million per season level. Their reasoning behind that number was it was what O.J. Mayo, a player with a relatively similar resume, got from the Milwaukee Bucks.

So far Charlotte has completely balked at that number, and the movement has been nonexistent since. Sources close to the situation told Kyler that the Bobcats' preference remains to bring Henderson back—just not at anything resembling that price. They've spoken with other teams about a potential sign-and-trade but gotten nothing worth moving the needle—especially when Henderson is still locked in for next year. 

As per usual, I'm not sure why the Bobcats have taken such a hard-line stance with Henderson. He's one of a very select few players on that roster who can, you know, play basketball on both ends of the floor. The former Duke standout is a solid wing defender who can guard both 2s and 3s, and while he's not a great three-point shooter, he has a little Richard Hamilton in his game. His mid-range game coming off screens is strong and he's only getting better.

The Bobcats didn't suddenly turn into a juggernaut or anything when he was on the floor, but they were better and he would have made $7 million per season had he hit the open market.

And it wouldn't be prudent for Charlotte to allow Henderson to walk into next season on a qualifying offer. Henderson and his representation could very easily make life for the Bobcats hell. One of the rarely spoken of wrinkles in the NBA's collective bargaining agreement is that you cannot trade a restricted free agent without his permission after he signs his tender. That puts Henderson in an underrated position of power, able to dictate his next location or force Charlotte to lose him for nothing.

These situations often get figured out late. Restricted free agency lends itself to glacial movement, which means the likeliest scenario remains Henderson taking a new deal in Charlotte. There's just no reason for this situation to push its way into August.

DeJuan Blair Pushing for $3 Million Per Season?

As early as the 2011-12 season, DeJuan Blair looked like the Spurs' latest draft-day pilfering. The undersized big man pushed his way to regular starter status in 2010-11 alongside Tim Duncan and was in Greg Popovich's starting five for 62 games the next campaign. To put it another way, there was a time where Popovich deemed Blair more worthy than Tiago Splitter.

Seeing as the Spurs just gave Splitter $9 million a season, the whole "what a difference a year makes" saying applies here. While his former backup is out spending his abundant riches, Blair fell out of favor in San Antonio and is now scrounging his way through the offseason for offers.

Not that he's struggling to get nibbles. Plenty of teams have reached out to the former Pitt standout's representatives this summer, but no substantial negotiations have taken place. Blair is looking for a multi-year contract and has been rebuffed every step of the way. What's more, ESPN's Jared Zwerling spoke to a source who put Blair's per-season asking price a little higher than expected.

"He's in the $3 million range," the source said.

I hope you're noticing the little pattern here. Restricted free agents—unless your name is Tyreke Evans—tend to walk into an offseason expecting unrestricted paydays. When those don't instantly come about on the market, their representation decides it's a good idea to hold out and wait for the best offer to come on. The problem with that scenario is that all restricted offers are usually tentative, as the offer sheet process scares teams away until their other options are exhausted.

Hence you have situations like this. It's possible that Blair could find some salvation if the Spurs renounce his rights the way they did Gary Neal's. But all accounts have San Antonio looking for at least one more piece on the market, with Blair possibly working as a sign-and-trade negotiating ploy.

Even with his nonexistent ACLs and lack of favor in the Spurs rotation, teams like Blair's banging ability down in the post and his rebounding skills off the bench. The problem as the number of teams with even their mini mid-level dwindles, Blair could be stuck back in San Antonio—a result no one seems to want at the moment. 

Follow Tyler Conway on Twitter: