2017 July | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Inquire On Boris Diaw

July 13th, 2017 at 11:49am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have reached out to the Jazz to inquire on Boris Diaw, reports Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter links). Jones describes the contact – and any talks between the two teams – as “strictly preliminary.”

As we noted this morning, the Jazz are expected to waive Diaw within the next couple days if they can’t find a trade partner for him. His $7.5MM salary is set to become guaranteed for 2017/18 if he remains under contract beyond Saturday.

Given Diaw’s contract situation, the Raptors’ interest is somewhat confusing. Once the DeMarre Carroll trade is finished, Toronto would have a trade exception big enough to accommodate Diaw’s salary, but that would push the team into the tax, and it’s not clear why the Raptors would be willing to cross back over that threshold for a player who will likely be waived by Utah anyway.

As such, it makes sense that the Raptors would be sending out some salary of their own in any deal involving Diaw. With Carroll ticketed for the Nets and Cory Joseph on the verge of being sent to Indiana, the only salary-dump candidate left on Toronto’s roster is Jonas Valanciunas. However, I’m skeptical that the Jazz would have much interest in him, particularly since acquiring him compromise the team’s ability to finalize deals with Thabo Sefolosha, Jonas Jerebko, and Ekpe Udoh, based on the terms reported.

It’s possible the Raptors are interested in somehow pulling Diaw into the Joseph deal with the Pacers or the Carroll deal with the Nets — neither of those trades has been officially finalized yet. I don’t see any obvious motivation for that either though, so I’d be surprised if the Raptors and Jazz worked out anything involving the French forward.

Southwest Notes: Mavericks, Pelicans, Rockets

July 13th, 2017 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have liked what they’ve seen from Chinese swingman Ding Yanyuhang in limited Summer League minutes, but may not be able to keep him stateside with a low-paying two-way contract, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. As Sefko details, if the Mavs want to keep Ding around, it will likely require an NBA contract offer, even if the 23-year-old may not be NBA-ready quite yet.

Within his story on Ding, Sefko also suggests that Nicolas Brussino‘s time with the Mavericks may be coming to an end. Brussino’s salary guarantee deadline for 2017/18 is next Thursday, and the Argentinian swingman seems unlikely to remain in Dallas beyond that date, per Sefko.

Here’s more from around the Southwest division:

The Pelicans remain in the market for an impact guard and an outside shooter, but would likely need to shed salary to add both, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. As Kushner notes, it will be complicated for New Orleans to accomplish all three goals.
In an interview with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Chris Paul explained why he felt it was time to move on from the Clippers, and what drew him to the Rockets.
Isaiah Taylor, who has a non-guaranteed minimum salary for 2017/18, will likely spend the majority of the season with the Rockets rather than the team’s G League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, per head coach Mike D’Antoni (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle). Of course, that assumes Houston doesn’t use Taylor’s non-guaranteed contract to help accommodate a trade.

Jazz Expected To Waive Boris Diaw

July 13th, 2017 at 9:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz are expected to waive veteran forward Boris Diaw before his 2017/18 salary becomes guaranteed this weekend, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. The team had been exploring trades involving Diaw’s non-guaranteed contract, and a deal is still possible, as MacMahon acknowledges (via Twitter). But an outright release appears to be the more likely outcome.

A 14-year NBA veteran, Diaw joined the Jazz in a trade last offseason, and appeared in 73 games for the team, making 33 starts. However, 2016/17 was one of the worst seasons of Diaw’s long career — his 4.6 PPG was his lowest mark since his rookie year, and his numbers in several other categories, including FG% (.446) and 3PT% (.247), were far below his career averages.

Diaw is entering the final year of his contract and had been slated to earn $7.5MM in 2017/18. However, that figure is fully non-guaranteed for two more days, meaning Utah could waive him and not be on the hook for any of it.

While Diaw’s contract would make a good trade chip, any deal involving the veteran forward would likely involve the Jazz taking back a chunk of salary. That scenario no longer looks as viable for Utah, since the club has agreed to a handful of free agent contracts that appear to require cap room.

Within the last couple days, the Jazz have agreed to sign Thabo Sefolosha (two years, $10.5MM), Jonas Jerebko (two years, $8.2MM), and Ekpe Udoh (two years, $6.5MM). Based on the reported terms, those three deals look a little too expensive to fit into the team’s mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, signaling that Utah will instead use cap space – and probably the room exception – to finalize them. Waiving Diaw would clear the necessary room.

Mavericks Sign Maxi Kleber

July 13th, 2017 at 7:34am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 13, 7:34am: The Mavericks have officially signed Kleber, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 12, 4:29pm: The Mavericks have reached a deal with German forward Maxi Kleber, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. It will be a minimum contract containing a partial guarantee, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.

The 6’9″ Kleber averaged 8.9 points and 5.3 rebounds last year for Bayern Munich in German League action, and 9.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in EuroCup play.

Kleber, 25, is from Wurzburg, the same hometown as Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki.

FA Rumors: Muhammad, Farmar, Mbah a Moute, Allen

July 12th, 2017 at 10:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks, Nets, Bucks, Knicks and Magic have all expressed interest in swingman Shabazz Muhammad, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The Bulls are on that list as well, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype. Muhammad became an unrestricted free agent last week when Minnesota pulled his qualifying offer to create enough cap room to sign Taj Gibson. He has been with the Wolves for all four of his NBA seasons and averaged 9.9 points in 78 games last year.

There’s more tonight on the free agent front:

Jordan Farmar is hoping to return to the NBA and spoke to Lakers coach Luke Walton today about a possible opportunity, Kennedy relays (Twitter link). The 30-year-old point guard played two games for the Kings in November of last season.
The Raptors have talked about making a play for former Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute, reports Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet (Twitter link).
The Clippers and Timberwolves are both considering Tony Allen, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Coaches Doc Rivers in L.A. and Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota have connections with Allen from their time with the Celtics.
Veteran point guard Beno Udrih is talking to several teams in Las Vegas, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Now 35, Udrih believes he can play for several more years. He got into 39 games with the Pistons last season.
Former Baylor standout Royce O’Neale is considering several NBA offers, according to Kyler (Twitter link). The 24-year-old forward went undrafted in 2015 and has been playing in Lithuania, but he has an NBA opt-out in his contract through July 20th.

NBA Adopts New Rules To Speed Up Play

July 12th, 2017 at 10:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

In addition to the earlier trade deadline that Luke Adams wrote about this morning, the NBA approved several other significant rules changes today. Reducing the number of timeouts per game and moving the mandatory stopping points are among the alterations outlined by Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.

To speed up the pace of play, especially in the final few minutes, the league’s Board of Governors has cut the maximum number of timeouts from 18 to 14. Also, mandatory TV timeouts have been moved to the seven- and three-minute marks of each quarter, and overtime timeouts have been reduced from three to two for each team.

The 20-second timeout has been eliminated, as Bontemps notes that they actually lasted 60 seconds while regular timeouts stretched to 90 seconds. The new rules consider all timeouts to be “team timeouts” that will last 75 seconds.

Other moves to speed up the game include enforcing the 15-minute limit for halftime and imposing delay-of-game penalties on shooters who walk behind the 3-point line between free throws.

“I would say, in this case, we’re pretty happy with the length of our game,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said at a news conference today. “We were more focused here on the pace and flow of the game. What we heard from our fans and heard from many of our teams was that the end of the games in particular were too choppy. I think since I was a kid, that’s an issue people have been talking about, the last two minutes of our game. . . . We think these new changes will have a significant impact, especially at the end of the game.”

Silver also announced an earlier start date to the season to cut down on back-to-back games. This year’s opening night will be October 17th.And although several stars moved from the Eastern to the Western Conference this summer, there are no immediate plans to shift the conference alignment or change the playoff format, relays Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com.

Knicks Contact Phoenix About Eric Bledsoe

July 12th, 2017 at 8:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks believe they can trade for a veteran point guard and have contacted the Suns about Eric Bledsoe, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Jeff Hornacek is well acquainted with Bledsoe after coaching him in Phoenix, Berman notes, but outside of Courtney Lee and possibly a first-round pick, the Knicks don’t have many assets to offer. Bledsoe, 27, still has two years and $29.5MM left on his current contract. He averaged 21.1 points and 6.3 assists last season, but was shut down in mid-March after playing in 66 games.

Bledsoe has reportedly been on the trade market, with the Suns talking to the Nuggets and Bulls about possible deals prior to the draft.

The Knicks are among a “multitude” of teams that have reached out to Ramon Sessions, Berman adds. The 31-year-old spent last season with the Hornets, who declined their option on him last month. New York only has $1.5MM in cap space remaining, but can go up to $2.3MM under the veterans minimum exception, which applies to players with at least 10 seasons of experience.

Another possibility Berman lists is Donald Sloan, who spent last season in China after playing for the Nets in 2015/16. In 61 games with Brooklyn that year, Sloan averaged 7.0 points and 4.4 assists per night.

Hornets Targeting Jordan Hill

July 12th, 2017 at 7:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets could be the next team for journeyman center Jordan Hill, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

Hill, who has played for five franchises in his eight-year career, was waived by the Timberwolves in late June before his 2017/18 contract became guaranteed. A free agent addition last summer, Hill played in just seven games for Minnesota.

Charlotte is a little more than $2MM below the luxury-tax line with 14 players under contract. A source told The Sporting News the team would like to add one more low-cost, veteran big man to its roster. Deveney lists Ersan Ilyasova, Terrence Jones and Willie Reed as other possibilities.

Hill played for Hornets coach Steve Clifford in 2012/13 when Clifford was an assistant with the Lakers. The eighth pick of the 2009 draft by the Knicks, Hill has also spent time with the Rockets and Pacers. If he does sign with Charlotte, Hill will serve as a backup to Dwight Howard, who was acquired from the Hawks in a trade last month.

Kyle Korver Re-Signs With Cavaliers

July 12th, 2017 at 7:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 12, 8:28pm: The signing is official, the Cavaliers announced on their website.

JULY 2, 3:09pm: Kyle Korver has agreed to a new three-year, $22MM contract with the Cavaliers, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The final season is only partially guaranteed, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

The 36-year-old came to Cleveland in a January deal and provided a needed outside threat. He averaged 10.7 points in 35 games and shot .485 from 3-point range.

The Cavs acquired Korver’s Bird rights when they brought him over from Atlanta, which is fortunate because they don’t have any available cap room to use to re-sign him. The 14-year veteran will get a nice raise from the little more than $5.2MM he made this season.

Several other teams expressed an interest in Korver, including the Pelicans and Bucks, but he decided to remain with the Eastern Conference champions and take another shot at a ring.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Warriors, Omri Casspi Agree To Deal

July 12th, 2017 at 6:43pm CST by Luke Adams

6:44pm: It’ll be a one-year, minimum salary contract for Casspi, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Casspi’s minimum will be worth about $2.1MM, though it’ll only count against the Warriors’ cap for approximately $1.47MM.

Minimum salary deals can be finalized during the July moratorium, so Golden State doesn’t have to wait until Thursday to make the signing official.

6:23pm: The Warriors have lined up a deal to add another shooter to their roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that free agent forward Omri Casspi has agreed to sign a one-year deal with the team. Sam Amick of USA Today first reported (via Twitter) that Golden State was in talks with Casspi.

[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

Casspi, 29, opened the 2016/17 season with the Kings, but quickly saw his role in Sacramento’s rotation reduced by new head coach Dave Joerger. Casspi was included in the trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans, and while the Pelicans were excited to get him as part of that deal, his stint with the team was short-lived, as he suffered a broken thumb in his first game as a Pelican. Casspi was subsequently waived by New Orleans and later finished the season with the Timberwolves after getting healthy.

Although the 2016/17 season didn’t really give him a chance to show off his talents, Casspi enjoyed the best season of his career in 2015/16 with the Kings, averaging 11.8 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 69 games (21 starts), making a career-high 40.9% of his three-pointers. If he can regain that form, he should have a very nice year with a Warriors team that will get him plenty of open looks.

Financial terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but the Warriors could only offer a minimum salary contract unless they’re willing to dip into their $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception for Casspi. A minimum deal seems likely.

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