2018 June | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Extend Qualifying Offer To Clint Capela

June 29th, 2018 at 10:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets extended a qualifying offer to center Clint Capela, making him a restricted free agent, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets.

Capela’s qualifying offer is worth $4,749,591. The move was a mere formality, since Capela has emerged as their most important frontcourt component.

Capela averaged 13.9 PPG, 10.8 RPG and 1.9 BPG in his fourth season. He was a finalist for the league’s Most Improved Player award.

The Rockets might have an easier time than expected locking up Capela. There aren’t many teams who are both looking for a center and have enough cap room to put together a serious offer sheet. The Mavericks, who are in the market for a quality big man, have their sights set on DeAndre Jordan. The Suns were a possibility until they drafted Deandre Ayton.

The Rockets also gave two-way player Markel Brown a qualifying offer, making the 6’3” guard a restricted free agent as well.

Robert Pack Agrees To Join Wizards’ Staff

June 29th, 2018 at 9:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Robert Pack has agreed to join the Wizards as an assistant to Scott Brooks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Pack has been an assistant coach with the Pelicans since the 2015/16 season. He’s also coached with the Clippers and Thunder after beginning his coaching career with New Orleans in 2009.

Pack should be a good influence on Wizards star guard John Wall, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. Pack, 49, had a long NBA career than began in 1991 and included stops with seven different franchises.

Blazers Won’t Give Shabazz Napier Qualifying Offer

June 29th, 2018 at 7:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers will not extend a qualifying offer to point guard Shabazz Napier, making him an unrestricted free agent, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets.

It’s somewhat surprising the Blazers would not make the qualifying offer for a rotation player, given it was a modest $3,452,308, Portland did add 19-year-old guard Anfernee Simons in the draft, so perhaps it feels Simons can step into that role. Portland is well over the cap and the decision to let Napier walk could also help it avoid the luxury-tax threshold.

Napier, who led the University of Connecticut to the 2014 championship, has also played for the Heat and Magic. He had his best season as a pro in his second year with Portland, averaging 8.7 PPG and 2.2 APG in 20.7 MPG while appearing in 74 games, including nine starts.

Mavs Decline Nowitzki’s Option, Will Offer New Deal

June 29th, 2018 at 6:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks will decline Dirk Nowitzki‘s $5MM team option in order to open up more salary-cap space, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Dallas plans to work out a new contract with Nowitzki, who mutually agreed to the decision, Stein adds.

This will give the Mavericks more wiggle room to pursue free agents, with DeAndre Jordan at the top of their wish list after he decided to opt out of his contract with the Clippers.

Dallas could have as much as $28-30MM in cap space, salary-cap enthusiast Albert Nahmad tweets.

Nowitzki has said he’d like to play at least one more season. Among the ways the Mavericks could re-sign him is by using their room-level exception, which is projected at $4.4MM in the first year of the contract.

Magic To Guarantee Khem Birch’s Contract

June 29th, 2018 at 6:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic have decided to guarantee center Khem Birch‘s $1.38MM contract for next season, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

Birch, an undrafted 25-year-old Canadian native, was a pleasant surprise in an otherwise dreary season for Orlando. The 6’9” Birch saw action in 42 games and averaged 4.2 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 13.8 MPG.

Birch, who played for UNLV for two seasons, began his pro career in the G League and then moved on to Turkey and Greece. Orlando signed him last summer.

He’ll be the team’s No. 3 center behind Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo unless one of those high-salaried big men is dealt.

DeAndre Jordan To Opt Out, Become Free Agent

June 29th, 2018 at 5:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan will opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Jordan can negotiate a long-term contract with the Mavericks, who were engaged in trade talks with the Clippers to acquire him if he opted in. Dallas was unwilling to give up draft picks in a potential trade and preferred to pursue the veteran big man in free agency, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

Jordan’s decision to leave $24.1MM on the table still doesn’t give the Clippers a large amount of cap space. In fact, as Bobby Marks of ESPN points out, the maximum amount of room they could open up is $13.6MM but they’d have to waive two point guards, Milos Teodosic and Patrick Beverley, to make that happen. If the Clippers stay over the cap, they’d still their $8.6MM mid-level and $3.4MM bi-annual exceptions at their disposal.

However, they could have as much as $60MM in cap space next summer, Marks adds in another tweet.

Of course, the Mavericks have been down this road before with one of the league’s premier rebounders. Jordan, who averaged 12.0 and a career-best 15.2 RPG last season, famously reneged on a verbal agreement with Dallas in the summer of 2015 to remain in L.A. However, the Mavericks are intent on getting a premier center and probably won’t have a lot of competition to get him to sign the dotted line the second time around.

Sixers Swingman Justin Anderson Undergoes Leg Surgery

June 29th, 2018 at 5:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers swingman Justin Anderson underwent surgery on his left leg Friday to address recurring tibial stress syndrome, according to a team release.

He will be re-evaluated in two weeks and once again in 6-8 weeks. The team will provide another update after the second re-evaluation.

Anderson came off the bench in 38 games last season, his third in the league. He averaged 6.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 13.7 MPG. Anderson began his career with the Mavericks after being selected with the No. 21 overall pick in 2015.

Anderson is still on his rookie contract and has an approximate $2.5MM guarantee next season.

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Lakers Guard Lonzo Ball Has Torn Meniscus

June 29th, 2018 at 5:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers guard Lonzo Ball has a torn meniscus in his left knee, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. Ball is expected to be ready for training camp, Charania adds.

Ball’s injury thickens the plot as the club attempts to sign or acquire superstar talents. LeBron James had decided to opt out of his contract and the Lakers are the favorite to land him. They’re also engaged in talks with the Spurs to acquire Kawhi Leonard. Though it doesn’t appear Ball is part of those trade discussions, the injury increases the chances he’ll stay put.

Ball dealt with left knee issues at various points of his rookie season. A sprained left medial collateral ligament and a left knee bruise limited the point guard to 52 games. Ball was a triple-double threat every time he took the court, averaging 10.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 7.2 APG but shot a woeful 36% from the field.

DeAndre Jordan Still Weighing Option Decision

June 29th, 2018 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

3:53pm: Marc Stein of The New York Times, who initially reported that the Clippers were resistant to taking on Matthews in a trade with the Mavericks, now hears from one source that L.A. wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to the idea (Twitter link). That should keep the trade talks between the two teams alive.

3:25pm: With tonight’s deadline looming, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is still weighing whether or not to exercise his $24.12MM option for 2018/19, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

As we’ve detailed throughout the week, the Clippers and Mavericks have engaged in discussions on a trade that would involve Jordan picking up his option and being sent to Dallas. However, the two sides have been unable to agree on the terms of that deal, with one report suggesting that Los Angeles isn’t interested in taking on Wesley Matthews, who would be the preferred outgoing piece from the Mavs’ perspective.

According to Wojnarowski, trade talks between the Clips and Mavs could pick up again, but they’ve been “dormant” today. That could leave Jordan with a decision to make before tonight 11:59pm ET deadline, and two potential roads to take.

One path would be to opt out of his contract and explore a new deal with the Mavs – or another team – in free agency. Jordan could lock in a longer-term agreement in that scenario, but would likely have to accept a more modest starting salary than his $24MM+ option salary. Additionally, Dallas would have to use most or all of its available cap room to sign the big man as a free agent. If they were instead able to trade for him using another sizable contract like Matthews’, the Mavs could retain cap space for another move.

The alternative for Jordan would be to pick up his option today, even without a trade agreement in place. In that scenario, he and his representatives could continue to work with the Clippers on a potential trade, or he could simply prepare to return to L.A. for one more season before reaching the open market in 2019.

Jordan is the last veteran with a player option decision to make, as our tracker shows. So far, 20 of 27 players holding options have decided to exercise them, a stark contrast from the last two offseasons, when just eight of 53 players opted in.

Pacers To Guarantee Bojan Bogdanovic’s Salary

June 29th, 2018 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 29: The Pacers are guaranteeing Bogdanovic’s $10.5MM salary for the 2018/19 season, league sources confirm to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Today was the deadline for Indiana to waive Bogdanovic in order to avoid that guarantee.

JUNE 24: The Pacers plan to retain veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic through his salary guarantee date later this week, a source familiar with the team’s plans tells Ben Gibson of 8Points9Seconds.com.

Having signed a two-year deal with Indiana last summer, Bogdanovic is under contract for the 2018/19 season, but his $10.5MM salary is currently only partially guaranteed for $1.5MM. The club could clear $9MM from its books for next season by waiving him before June 29, but apparently has no plans to do so.

The Pacers’ intentions for Bogdanovic come as no surprise, since the former second-round pick excelled during his first season with the team, setting new career highs in PPG (14.3), FG% (.474), and 3PT% (.402), among other categories. Bogdanovic started 80 regular season games for Indiana, and the club would be comfortable keeping the 29-year-old in the starting lineup entering the 2018/19 campaign, Gibson writes.

Bogdanovic’s contract is structured similar to Darren Collison‘s, and the Pacers reportedly plan on guaranteeing the point guard’s 2018/19 salary as well. Keeping both players on the roster will reduce Indiana’s potential cap room this July, but the team should still have a good amount cap flexibility.

Even if Bogdanovic’s and Collison’s salaries become fully guaranteed and Thaddeus Young‘s player option is exercised, the Pacers’ guaranteed salaries for 2018/19 would only total about $78.6MM. The club also barely has any guaranteed money on its 2019/20 cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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