2017 June | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Magic, Adebayo, Satoransky

June 25th, 2017 at 10:01pm CST by Austin Kent

While he may be years away from reaching his true potential, the Magic are pleased with their Jonathan Isaac pickup in Thursday’s draft, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes.

In order to fully develop the sixth-overall choice, however, Orlando’s new front office will need to avoid some of the mistakes that their predecessors made, namely giving prospects playing time before they earn it.

Robbins adds that president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond should look to add quality players that will be able to compete with Isaac for minutes, something current and past Magic players like Victor Oladipo, Tobias Harris and Elfrid Payton could have benefited from over the course of the last few seasons.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

A particularly impressive workout helped Bam Adebayo convince the Heat to take a chance on him with their 14th pick in Thursday’s draft, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes. “We had already seen enough after 20 minutes. But he wanted to stay out there. He was the last one in the gym. We notice things like that,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Magic would be wise to mind the tone of their fan base and field a decent roster as soon as possible, Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes. While a new front office may be just embarking on a five-year tenure with the organization, fans of the franchise have already endured five years of losing seasons.
On the surface, the Wizards trading for a backup point guard would appear to hurt Tomas Satoransky‘s stock with the franchise but Tim Frazier is a short-term solution, Chase Huges of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes. Satoransky remains the only guard on Washington’s bench signed past 2018/19.
In a podcast with Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype, Wizards point guard John Wall that he’s like to remain with Washington for the rest of his career. The eight-year veteran and All-NBA Third Team guard also says that he still feels as though he’s underrated.

Kings Notes: Joerger, Fox, Giles

June 25th, 2017 at 8:58pm CST by Austin Kent

With as many as five rookies on board for 2017/18, the only way to gauge head coach Dave Joerger‘s performance as the club’s head coach will be with time.

Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes that the the 43-year-old bench boss will need to show discipline and patience with his young roster, traits that would have serve him well during his stint as a minor league coach in the G League.

It could be years before Kings fans see just what players like De’Aaron Fox and Justin Jackson are capable of and that’s never a good thing for coaches at the professional level. As Jones notes, Joerger’s three predecessors didn’t even last two seasons.

Still, there’s been a culture shift in Sacramento and, in addition to this year’s rookie crop, the roster boasts numerous development projects ranging from 2016/17 mid-season acquisition Buddy Hield to sophomore Greek big man Georgios Papagiannis.

“There aren’t many teams who have had nine players in the first or second years of their contract,” Joerger said. “It hasn’t been done, but you have to give them time and keep our expectations that guys go out and compete hard every night and they get better everyday in practice.”

There’s more from the Kings:

When fifth-overall pick De’Aaron Fox goes to work with his new Kings teammates he’ll do so with one big advantage; he actually knows his fellow rookies well already. Fox spoke with the Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones in a recent media scrum.
It didn’t take long for the basketball world to notice that the Kings brought home a good haul from the NBA Draft and, unsurprisingly, general manager Vlade Divac is happy with who they got. Divac spoke with the media, including Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
For better and worse, 20th-overall pick Harry Giles is drawing comparisons to former Kings forward Chris Webber, Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee writes.

Stein’s Latest: George, Rockets, Spurs, Nuggets

June 25th, 2017 at 7:31pm CST by Austin Kent

News broke Sunday that the Cavaliers, Nuggets and Pacers had discussed a three-way deal that would have sent Paul George to the Cavs and Kevin Love to Denver ahead of the draft. As we wrote about earlie, one variation of the potential deal would have sent Kenneth Faried to Cleveland as well.

In an article published at ESPN shortly thereafter, Marc Stein – who sent the initial tweet Sunday night – goes into more details, sharing information about the pre-draft conversations that took place surrounding the Pacers forward.

Here are some highlights from Stein’s latest piece, co-written with Haynes:

While the conversations between the Cavaliers, Nuggets and Pacers didn’t amount to anything before the draft, Cleveland haven’t abandoned its pursuit of the two-way All-Star. The Cavs legitimately believe that they could convince George to abandon his dreams of playing for his hometown Lakers, something he is expected to pursue when he hits free agency in 2018.
In addition to Cleveland’s ongoing pursuit and the Celtics discussions that came to light on draft day, Stein and Haynes note that the Rockets and Spurs both aggressively pursued George deals before the draft as well.
The Nuggets are looking to upgrade at power forward and it’s the reason why Love was included in the possible three-team deal. Denver similarly intends to make plays for pending free agents Blake Griffin and Paul Millsap.
All of Faried, Wilson Chandler and Emmanuel Mudiay are said to be available. Big man Nikola Jokic and second-year guard Jamal Murray are supposedly untouchable.
The pair also confirm what we wrote about on Friday following a Joe Vardon column at Cleveland.com; the Cavs are expected to pursue Carmelo Anthony should he be bought out by the Knicks.

Cavs, Pacers, Nuggets Discussed George, Love

June 25th, 2017 at 7:12pm CST by Austin Kent

7:32pm: Nothing appears imminent, as the aforementioned Vardon tweet implied, but Stein and Haynes have published an article with more information about what went down and some of the underlying motives. We’ve recapped it here.

7:12pm: An article published by Haynes and Stein over at ESPN specifies that the Cavs, Nuggets and Pacers discussed Love and George leading up to last Thursday’s draft. The Nuggets, the article states, were brought in to supply Indiana with young assets.

Stein and Haynes note that while this particular discussion didn’t end in a deal, the Cavs won’t abandon their pursuit of the Pacers All-Star.

6:48pm: The clubs are said to have had discussions involving Denver on draft night, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com tweets. Vardon also adds that his source said it was “nothing serious”.

6:31pm: The Cavaliers, Pacers and Nuggets are in the midst of trade discussions involving Paul George and Kevin Love, Marc Stein of ESPN tweets. The three clubs have discussed a deal that would land George in Cleveland and Love in Denver.

Per Stein and ESPN’s Chris Haynes, the Cavs have “continued to pursue” George, something they were initially reported to be doing prior to the draft.

In one version of the potential deal, the Cavaliers could land forward Kenneth Faried, Haynes tweets.

News of the ongoing discussion comes after a week of speculation following George’s declaration that he would not be returning to the Pacers when he hits free agency next summer. When he informed Indiana president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard of his intentions, he revealed that he’d like to sign with his hometown Lakers in 2018.

Unless the Lakers make a move for him before then, however, a number of other clubs – including the Cavaliers – will eagerly look to acquire him as a one-year rental, the Celtics being a notable example that has already made an aggressive push to land him.

Jazz Possible Frontrunners For Teodosic

June 25th, 2017 at 5:58pm CST by Austin Kent

The Jazz could be the frontrunners to land the services of international free agent Milos Teodosic, Jody Genessey of the Deseret News writes. A Serbian publication recently declared as much and Genessey suggests that the point guard’s ties to head coach Quin Snyder could help facilitate a deal.

As we wrote about last week, Teodosic is said to be seeking a three-year contract worth between $25MM and $30MM. That’s a considerable raise over what he would likely receive from his current CSKA Moscow squad in Russia.

In addition to the fact that Snyder was CSKA Moscow’s assistant coach in 2012/13, the Jazz boast another connection in current assistant coach Igor Kokoskov, a native of Teodosic’s Serbia.

Finally, Genessey notes that of the three teams previously linked to Teodosic by ESPN – Utah, Brooklyn and Sacramento – the Nets have since traded for a point guard in D’Angelo Russell. Similarly, it’s worth noting that the Kings drafted point guard De’Aaron Fox fifth overall in Thursday’s NBA Draft.

Ramon Sessions Appears Finished In Charlotte

June 25th, 2017 at 4:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Ramon Sessions‘ brief stay in Charlotte seems certain to end by Thursday, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

That’s the deadline for teams to make decisions about options for next season. Sessions is due to make $6.27MM, and Bonnell doesn’t think the Hornets want to commit that much cap space to him.

The veteran guard, who turned 31 in April, signed a two-year, $12.27MM deal last summer that included a team option. He will probably be kept on the roster until Thursday in case Charlotte wants to use him in a trade, Bonnell adds.

Sessions played just 50 games this season before being sidelined in February with a meniscus tear in his left knee. Even before that injury, which required surgery, Sessions’ numbers were declining. He averaged a career low in minutes at 16.2 per game and assists (2.6), while his scoring average of 6.2 points per game was the second worst of his career.

Sessions has played for seven organizations during his 10 years in the NBA, including both the Bobcats and Hornets in Charlotte.

GM Rich Cho has limited options to find a new backup for Kemba Walker. The Hornets took shooting guard Malik Monk and swingman Dwayne Bacon in the draft, and although Monk may be given some minutes at the point in summer league, it’s not his natural position. Briante Weber, who will also be on Charlotte’s summer league squad, is a potential option.

The Hornets have their mid-level exception, worth about $8.4MM, and could find a decent backup on the free agent market in that price range. Bonnell suggests Darren Collison, Patty Mills, Shaun Livingston, Brandon Jennings or Raymond Felton.

Weekly Mailbag: 6/19/17 – 6/25/17

June 25th, 2017 at 4:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com. Here are this week’s inquiries:

What happens to LaMarcus Aldridge? — Terrance, via Twitter

Words like “unhappy” and “frustrated” were used this week to describe Aldridge, who signed with San Antonio two years ago in hopes of winning a title, but now appears to be looking for a way out of town. The Spurs made some calls ahead of the draft to see if they could land a top 10 pick in exchange for Aldridge, but came away empty. That’s not surprising, as lottery teams in the midst of rebuilding don’t have much need for a 31-year-old who might be a short-term rental. If San Antonio can get a commitment from Chris Paul, look for Aldridge and his $21.46MM contract to be shipped somewhere, along with a generous sweetener, to clear cap room. More likely, he spends another unhappy season with the Spurs, then opts out next summer.

Who will Gordon Hayward sign with? — Peter Chiu, via Twitter

The Celtics and Heat are the top threats to the Jazz. Boston offers an instant contender, along with a reunion with his college coach, Brad Stevens. Miami has a clear need at small forward, a history of swinging for the fences in free agency and no state income tax, which lessen’s Utah’s financial advantage. It’s going to be interesting to watch how many big-name free agents leave the Western Conference over the next few years if the Warriors continue to dominate. Hayward might lean that way, but he reportedly likes the security of a five-year deal that only the Jazz can offer. The best guess is he stays in Utah.

The Timberwolves were clearly the draft day winners with the acquisition of Jimmy Butler. With Butler in the fold, is Minnesota a legitimate free agent destination? If so, what are some potential free agent targets to complement the trio of Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins? — Matt Trapp

The Wolves plan to pursue point guards, with Kyle Lowry as the top choice, followed by Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague and George Hill. Lowry will demand a maximum deal for sure, and the others will be at least close. Minnesota needs to shed roughly $10MM in salary to be able to afford that, and the obvious candidate is Ricky Rubio, who will make $14.25MM next season. If they can’t find a taker for Rubio and don’t want to part with Gorgui Dieng, the Wolves will have to find someone willing to deal for Cole Aldrich ($7.3MM) and Jordan Hill (a little more than $4M).

Southeast Notes: Porter, Wall, Magic, Hornets

June 25th, 2017 at 2:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

Re-signing Otto Porter and working out an extension with John Wall are the Wizards‘ top priorities for the offseason, relays Chase Hughes of CSNMidAtlantic. The first order of business involves Porter, who is headed toward free agency after four seasons in Washington. The Wizards have until Friday to submit a qualifying offer of about $7.4MM to make him restricted, which means the franchise could match any offer he receives. Team president Ernie Grunfeld views the 24-year-old as part of the future in Washington. “We’ve said all along that we want to keep our core group of young players together and Otto is an important part of what we’re trying to do,” Grunfeld said. “When free agency starts, we’ll see what we can do and work things out to keep him here.”

After earning third-team All-NBA honors, Wall is eligible for a Designated Player Veteran Exception that would pay him about $167MM over four seasons. Wall is already signed through 2018/19, so the extension would carry him through 2022/23. “At the appropriate time, we will sit down with John. We want John to finish his career here,” Grunfeld said. “He’s a franchise guy.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Poor drafting over the past five years has turned the Magic into a consistently bad franchise, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. There’s no one on the roster who projects as an All-Star, Robbins claims, even though Orlando picked second in 2013, fourth and 12th in 2014 and fifth in 2015. Former GM Rob Hennigan had planned to build through the draft, but the front office didn’t have the eye for talent to make it work.
Euroleague star Darius Miller will have an upcoming workout with the Magic, tweets international writer David Pick. Miller formerly played for Brose Bamburg in Germany, and Barcelona is making a strong bid to sign the 27-year-old forward. Miller was drafted by New Orleans with the 46th pick in 2012 and stayed with the team until he was waived in 2014.
The Hornets will have to search for bargains in free agency, notes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte is over the cap for next season, but under the luxury tax, and will have its mid-level exception worth about $8.4MM and a bi-annual exception of around $3.3MM to spend. Bonnell suggests Darren Collison, Dante Cunningham, Raymond Felton, Patty Mills and Anthony Tolliver as possible targets.
The Hornets received $1.8MM from the Pelicans when they agreed to swap the 31st pick for the 40th on draft day, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.

Five Key Offseason Questions: Golden State Warriors

June 25th, 2017 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors set a new NBA record by winning 73 regular-season games in 2015/16, but 2016/17 was truly their scorched-earth season. Golden State kicked off the NBA’s new league year last summer by landing Kevin Durant, the top free agent on the market, then cruised to a 67-win regular season and turned it up another notch in the playoffs — the Dubs won 16 of 17 postseason contests en route to their second title in three years.

In the wake of the Warriors’ NBA Finals win over the Cavaliers, NBA observers fretted over Golden State’s dominance, wondering if it’s even worth it for 80% of the league’s teams to make win-now moves this summer. That means this offseason should be a cakewalk for the Warriors, right? Well… maybe not. Although they don’t expect to lose any stars, the Dubs only have five players under contract heading into July, so there’s still plenty of work to do.

Here are five key questions facing the Warriors this offseason:

1. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant will definitely be back, right?

Yes. As fun it would be to have either of these guys lining up a handful of free agent meetings like Durant did last July, they’re not going anywhere. Both former MVPs will technically become unrestricted free agents on July 1, but they’ll quickly come to terms on new deals with the Warriors. It’s just a matter of figuring out what those new agreements will look like.

For Curry, who is eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension, there’s no reason to think that the Warriors will offer him any less than the full super-max, which currently projects to pay him just over $200MM for five years. The two-time MVP has been one of the NBA’s best bargains on his current four-year, $44MM contract, and the Warriors won’t gain any additional cap flexibility by asking him to accept less than the max.

Durant’s case is a little trickier, but it sounds like he’s willing to settle for less than a maximum salary contract in 2017/18. A true max for Durant is currently projected to be worth $34.5MM next season, but the Warriors would have to create cap room to make such a deal work. By signing another short-term deal and settling instead for about $31.85MM, a 20% raise on last year’s salary, the 28-year-old would let the Warriors to stay over the cap. That would allow the team to hang onto its Bird rights for key contributors like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.

2. So will Iguodala and Livingston be back too?

Neither Iguodala nor Livingston is a mortal lock to return, but assuming Durant signs on for a 20% raise, the Warriors have no limitations on what they could offer the duo. It would simply be a matter of determining how high they’re willing to go for players who will be, at best, the fifth and sixth options on the roster.

While Iguodala is probably the better bet to re-sign, he’ll receive plenty of interest in free agency, and a recent report suggested that he may receive offers worth upwards of $20MM annually. The same report indicated that Iguodala will seriously consider other suitors, and if they’re willing to go that high, he’d be crazy not to. But all indications are that he loves playing in Golden State, so if the Warriors are willing to make a competitive offer – even if it’s not the biggest offer – I expect the veteran swingman will be back.

Livingston may not be as high a priority for the Warriors, though he figures to be less expensive than Iguodala. The veteran point guard will turn 32 in September, making this summer one of his last chances at a big payday. If another team makes an offer worth the full mid-level exception (approximately $8.4MM) for two or three years, I could see the Warriors bidding him farewell. If Golden State could get him back for something in the range of $5-6MM per year, a return would be more realistic.

3. Who else will be along for the ride?

Golden State has several more rotation players eligible for free agency, including Zaza Pachulia, David West, JaVale McGee, and Ian Clark. However, the Warriors don’t have Bird rights for most of those players, limiting their ability to offer raises.

The Warriors would certainly like to have some of those players back, but they won’t break the bank for any of them, and it’s not clear if veterans like Pachulia and West – having won the championship they were chasing – will continue to stick around at a discounted rate. Certainly, a younger player like Clark should find a larger payday elsewhere.

If the Warriors’ current contributors don’t want to accept discounts, the team should have no problem finding players that will. Golden State will head into the 2017/18 as a massive favorite to win next year’s title, and free agents in search of a championship will want to get on the fun. Even if Pachulia and West aren’t back, there will likely be new versions of that type of veteran willing to come on board for the minimum.

4. Will Steve Kerr be good to go to start the 2017/18 season?

Kerr’s back issues forced him to miss a good chunk of the postseason this spring, which was just about the only thing that went wrong for the Warriors during the playoffs. The Golden State head coach was able to return to the sidelines for the club during the NBA Finals, and GM Bob Myers said after winning that series that there’s “no doubt” will take his place on the bench again next season. Kerr will be given time off this summer to explore various options for relieving his back pain, and to find answers for why he’s still experiencing issues related to old procedures.

The Warriors showed no signs of slowing down when Mike Brown took the reins during the postseason, and given the talent on their roster, they might still win 60 games with Riley Curry as their head coach. But Kerr has been an impressive presence and leader in Golden State, and it’d be great to see him get to a point where he can avoid another health-related hiatus down the road.

5. How long will the Warriors’ reign last?

Okay, so this isn’t a question that the Warriors can – or should – answer this offseason. But with mega-contracts for Curry and Durant around the corner, there’s a good chance the club dips into luxury-tax territory for the first time this summer, especially if Iguodala and Livingston return.

Team ownership will be fine with pay those penalties in order to keep a championship roster intact, but some long-term planning will be required to determine how long the Warriors can be a taxpayer and how deep into the tax they’re willing to go. Klay Thompson will be up for a mega-contract of his own in 2019 and Draymond Green‘s next payday will come in 2020.

The Warriors won’t have to make decisions on those guys yet, but if they plan to keep them both beyond their current deals, that may affect this offseason’s moves — the club may look to avoid signing players (besides Curry and Durant) for longer than two years, with another max salary (for Thompson) on tap for that third year.

These are first-world NBA problems, but a team that aggressively pursued Durant after winning 73 games is exactly the sort of franchise that will already be thinking about how to win the next five or six titles — not just the next one or two.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Warriors financially:

Guaranteed Salary

Klay Thompson ($17,826,150)
Draymond Green ($16,400,000)
Kevon Looney ($1,471,382)
Damian Jones ($1,312,611)
Patrick McCaw ($1,312,611)
Jason Thompson ($945,126) — Waived via stretch provision.
Total: $39,267,880

Player Options

None

Team Options

None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

None

Restricted Free Agents

James Michael McAdoo ($1,724,305 qualifying offer / $1,724,305 cap hold)
Total: $1,724,305

Cap Holds

Kevin Durant ($31,848,120) — Played option declined.
Stephen Curry ($18,168,539)
Andre Iguodala ($16,697,052)
Shaun Livingston ($10,986,655)
Zaza Pachulia ($3,477,600)
Matt Barnes ($1,471,382)
Ian Clark ($1,471,382)
JaVale McGee ($1,471,382)
David West ($1,471,382)
Total: $87,063,494

Projected Salary Cap: $99,000,000

Maximum Cap Room: $5,637,386

Our max cap room scenario for the Warriors assumes that the Warriors renounce all their free agents except for Curry and Durant. Five guaranteed salaries, along with cap holds for Curry, Durant, and five empty roster rosters, would bring team salary to $93,362,614. In that scenario, the team could afford a max contract for Durant, but wouldn’t have any cap room left to sign other players. The more likely outcome – which would give the team a better chance to re-sign Iguodala and Livingston – involves staying over the cap and Durant accepting a 20% raise rather than a true max salary.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mavericks To Decline Option On Dirk Nowitzki, Negotiate New Deal

June 25th, 2017 at 12:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks will decline their $25MM option on Dirk Nowitzki for next season and work out a new contract, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

The team is considering a two-year deal for the veteran forward, although one source tells Stein that Dallas will do “what Dirk wants.” He has previously indicated that he wants to continue his NBA career on a year-by-year basis.

Nowitzki signed a two-year deal last summer worth $50MM that contained a team option for 2017/18. Turning down that option will give Dallas more financial flexibility when free agency starts on Saturday.

The move leaves Dallas with $64.4MM in guaranteed contracts for next season, along with $55MM in cap holds for Nowitzki and Nerlens Noel, tweets Bobby Marks of The Vertical. The team could have as much as $21MM to work with, but only if Nowitzki agrees to take the $4.3MM room mid-level exception (Twitter link).

Sources tell Stein that Dallas plans to re-sign Noel and focus on its young core and won’t pursue Pelicans free agent Jrue Holiday, who has been linked to the team in past rumors.

Nowitzki has played 19 NBA seasons, all in Dallas. He remained productive this year, averaging 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in 54 games after returning from an early-season Achilles injury.

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