2021 March | Hoops Rumors

James Bouknight, Ziaire Williams Entering 2021 Draft

March 31st, 2021 at 11:34am CST by Luke Adams

UConn sophomore guard James Bouknight is entering the 2021 NBA draft pool and intends to hire an agent, he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

In his second season with the Huskies in 2020/21, Bouknight increased his averages to 18.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 15 contests (31.7 MPG). He currently ranks 18th on ESPN’s big board of 2021 prospects and is viewed as a potential lottery pick.

Another one of ESPN’s top 25 prospects for 2021, Stanford freshman forward Ziaire Williams, also plans to enter the draft, announcing his intentions today on Instagram. While Williams didn’t explicitly say that he’ll forgo his remaining college eligibility, the wording in his post suggests that’s the plan.

Williams had an up-and-down freshman season, averaging 10.7 PPG on an underwhelming .374/.291/.796 shooting line in 20 games (27.9 MPG).

However, ESPN draft guru Mike Schmitz notes that the 6’8″ forward has good size and length for a wing, is a strong off-ball defender, and has shown “major shotmaking potential.” Williams ranks 23rd on ESPN’s board.

Southeast Notes: Williams, Reddish, Zeller, Magic

March 31st, 2021 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

Having announced last week on Instagram that he contemplated retirement after being traded to the Hawks, Lou Williams expanded on that subject during his Tuesday media availability, explaining that it “hurts” to have been traded by the Clippers.

“I had a lot of investment there. We had some success,” Williams said, per Paul Newberry of The Associated Press. “We were gearing up for another deep run, a championship run. That was my mentality. I thought I would finish the season there.

“… (But) I don’t want to look back and say I retired prematurely, be asking myself what could have been or what I could’ve done. This is an opportunity to finish out the season with this team (Atlanta) and go from there.”

Williams was cleared to play on Tuesday night, but didn’t take the court. Having just met most of his teammates, he wanted to take a game to get his bearings before entering the fray, Newberry writes.

“I want to get an understanding of how they play,” Williams said. “See their sets, get a feel for their rotations, understand how this group of guys mesh, see where I might fit. It would be unfair to this group of guys to just throw me out there.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

The Hawks provided a minor update on Cam Reddish (Achilles) on Tuesday night, announcing in a press release that he has increased his lower limb weight room work and will add limited low level impact work. Reddish isn’t close to returning and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
After falling out of the Hornets‘ starting lineup and seeing his minutes dip, Cody Zeller resolved to try to earn back those minutes rather than sulking, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “My high school coach used to say, ‘If you want to play more, play better,'” said Zeller, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds in just 24 minutes on Tuesday. The big man has assured head coach James Borrego that he’ll remain engaged regardless of how much playing time he gets, Bonnell adds.
With the Magic in position to get a high lottery pick in this year’s draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic identifies Cade Cunningham, Jalen Suggs, and Jalen Green as the top prospects the team should target if given the opportunity. Evan Mobley has positional overlap with Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba, but he and Jonathan Kuminga would both be good fallback options too if Orlando gets a top-five pick and those first three prospects aren’t available, Vecenie says.

2020/21 NBA Reverse Standings Update

March 31st, 2021 at 8:07am CST by Luke Adams

Throughout the 2020/21 NBA season, Hoops Rumors is maintaining a feature that allows you to keep an eye on the tentative 2021 draft order. Our 2020/21 Reverse Standings tool, which lists the NBA’s 30 teams from worst to first, is updated daily to reflect the outcomes of the previous night’s games.

Our Reverse Standings are essentially a reflection of what 2021’s draft order would look like with no changes to lottery position. We’ve noted each club’s odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick, based on the league’s current lottery format.

In instances where two non-playoff teams or two playoff teams have identical records, the order in our standings isn’t necessarily definitive — for draft purposes, the NBA breaks ties via random drawings, so those drawings would happen at the end of the year.

Of course, the 14 non-playoff teams all draft before the 16 playoff teams, even if some non-playoff teams have better records than those that made the postseason. Our reverse standings account for playoff seeding, though for now they assume that the Nos. 7 and 8 teams in each conference will earn those final two postseason spots. Since the NBA’s new play-in format opens the door for the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds to sneak into the postseason, we may have to account for a little movement in the draft order at season’s end.

Traded first-round picks are included via footnotes. For example, the note next to Golden State’s pick says the Warriors will send their pick to the Thunder if it’s not in the top 20. As of today, the Warriors’ pick projects to be exactly 13th, meaning the Dubs would hang onto it.

The Timberwolves are currently in the driver’s seat at the “top” of our reverse standings — their 11-36 record giving them a 2.5-game cushion on the league’s next-worst teams, the 13-33 Rockets and Pistons.

The league’s bottom three teams will all have an equal chance at the No. 1 overall pick (14.0%) and a top-four selection (52.1%), and the Wolves and Rockets are likely especially invested in claiming one of those top lottery positions. Minnesota will send its first-round pick to Golden State if it falls outside of the top three, while Houston will have to swap its pick for a lesser first-rounder (likely Miami’s) if it lands outside of the top four.

Our Reverse Standings tracker can be found at anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu. It’s a great resource not just for monitoring a team’s draft position, but also for keeping an eye on whether or not traded picks with protections will be changing hands in 2021. So be sure to check back often as the season progresses!

Note: Mobile users are advised to turn their phones sideways when viewing the Reverse Standings in order to see team records and lottery odds.

Central Notes: Windler, Garland, Sexton, Teague, Markkanen

March 30th, 2021 at 10:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers swingman Dylan Windler has been experiencing knee pain recently and will undergo further evaluation in the next few days, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Windler, a late 2019 first-round pick, didn’t play at all last season due to injury. He’s seen action in 31 games this season off the bench, averaging 5.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 1.1 APG in 16.5 MPG.

Windler suffered a hand fracture in the season opener, which kept him out of action for nearly a month. The Cavs picked up their $2,239,200 third year option on the 24-year-old in December.

We have more on the Central Division:

Utah’s backcourt of Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell provides a blueprint of how the Cavaliers’ backcourt Darius Garland and Collin Sexton might eventually work, Fedor writes. Thus far, it’s been a work in progress. In 821 minutes with Sexton and Garland, the Cavs have an offensive rating of 106.4 and a defensive rating of 115.5, for an overall net rating of -9.1, Fedor notes. However, it’s tough to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the backcourt pairing due to a lack of continuity in the frontcourt, mainly due to injuries, Fedor adds.
Jeff Teague will have a much different role with the Bucks than he did in Atlanta with Mike Budenholzer as his head coach, Eric Nehm of The Athletic notes. Milwaukee simply needs him to be a competent backup point guard for 10-15 minutes in postseason games. Teague has agreed to join the Bucks after being waived by the Magic.
Lauri Markkanen has been relegated to the second unit with the addition of Nikola Vucevic but the Bulls’ big man doesn’t want to be considered a backup, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago writes. Markkanen will be a restricted free agent this summer, if Chicago extends a qualifying offer in excess of $9MM. “I know I’m a starter in this league but I’m going to play my role,” he said.

Daniel Gafford Out At Least 10 Days

March 30th, 2021 at 8:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Big man Daniel Gafford, acquired by the Wizards last week, has been diagnosed with a right ankle sprain following an MRI, the team’s PR department tweets. He’ll be re-evaluated in approximately 10 days.

The Wizards play six games during the first 10 days of April and will be in the midst of a six-game West Coast trip, so it’s a safe bet that Gafford won’t be back in action at least until the team returns home. That would mean he’d miss a minimum of eight games.

Gafford was acquired from the Bulls in a three-team deal that also involved the Celtics. He made an immediate impact, contributing 13 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 14 minutes against Detroit on Saturday. He had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes against Indiana on Monday before suffering the injury.

Coach Scott Brooks was excited to have the rim-running Gafford join the rotation. “We’re going to keep working with him. He’s definitely a keeper,” Brooks said. “He has a chance to be good for a lot of years with his skill set.”

A 2019 second-round pick, Gafford has a $1.78MM salary next season that doesn’t fully guarantee until next January.

Pistons Notes: Diallo, Cook, Weaver, Lee, Joseph

March 30th, 2021 at 7:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hamidou Diallo gave the Pistons an example of why GM Troy Weaver coveted him so much during their victory over Toronto on Monday, James Edwards III of The Athletic writes. Diallo sparked the club with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Diallo, a restricted free agent after the season, was acquired earlier this month from Oklahoma City for swingman Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round pick. From all accounts, the Pistons want to retain Diallo, Edwards adds.

“He’s an athletic young man who is just scratching the surface of what he can be in this league,” coach Dwane Casey said.

We have more on the Pistons:

Casey said that energy and communication are two big things he looks for from a player on a 10-day contract and Tyler Cook has fulfilled those requirements, Edwards tweets. The Pistons signed the forward to a second 10-day deal on Sunday. Detroit will have to decide by April 6 whether to offer Cook a standard contract or look at another player.
Weaver acquired two second-round picks along with Cory Joseph in the trade that sent Delon Wright to Sacramento and that made the Kings’ offer attractive, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “A lot of times people see those as throwaway picks. I don’t see them as throwaway picks,” Weaver said. “I see them as picks you can use in a variety of ways.” The Pistons don’t have their own second-round pick until 2027, but they have three from Toronto, Charlotte and the Los Angeles Lakers this season, plus Sacramento’s 2024 pick.
Saben Lee will likely have his two-way deal converted into a standard contract this offseason, Rod Beard of the Detroit News speculates. Lee, a rookie second-round pick, had a 19-point outing as a starter on Monday
Casey hasn’t hesitated to use Joseph, who is averaging 11.3 PPG and 3.7 APG in 24 MPG in his first three outings with the club. Joseph is set to earn $12.6MM in 2021/22, but the contract is only partially guaranteed ($2.4MM) until August 1, so the Pistons may opt to waive or trade him before next season.

Pacific Notes: Dinwiddie, Oubre, Craig, George, Rondo

March 30th, 2021 at 6:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors turned down pre-deadline overtures from the Nets for Kelly Oubre with Spencer Dinwiddie as the bait, Marc Stein of the New York Times reports in his latest newsletter. Dinwiddie, who is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a partially torn ACL, holds a $12.3MM player option on his contract next season. There’s been speculation he’ll opt out, which made him an attractive trade option.

However, the Warriors’ declined the Nets’ offers because they still want to make the playoffs this season. Golden State wouldn’t give up Oubre and his expiring contract unless the team got a healthy, productive player in return.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns were interested in small forward Torrey Craig last offseason, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. Phoenix acquired Craig on March 18 from the Bucks for cash considerations. After spending his first three NBA seasons with the Nuggets, Craig spurned Phoenix’s overtures and signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract with the Bucks during the 2020 offseason.
Paul George has been in the NBA since 2010 but he believes he can learn a thing or two from trade deadline acquisition Rajon Rondo, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets. “I’m looking forward to learning from him,” the Clippers forward said. “He has one of the most beautiful basketball minds. It is going to help me down the road and evolve my game and open my game up to see the floor and read teammates better.”
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank hated to give up Lou Williams but felt Rondo filled a crying need, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register writes. Frank said the team required an “orchestrator” and “someone who can really help elevate everyone’s game.”

Lakers Notes: Drummond, Gasol, Open Roster Spot

March 30th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

New Lakers center Andre Drummond will make his debut for his new team on Wednesday vs. Milwaukee, he said today, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link). League sources told Buha that Drummond is expected to slide into the starting lineup, displacing incumbent starter Marc Gasol, and head coach Frank Vogel confirmed as much today (Twitter link).

Despite some leaguewide speculation that Drummond’s arrival could lead to a buyout of Gasol, the Spaniard is unlikely to be waived, Buha writes in the same story. Vogel also confirmed that today, telling reporters that the club hasn’t spoken to Gasol about a possible buyout (Twitter link). The Lakers’ coach praised the 36-year-old for handling Drummond’s arrival like a “true pro” (Twitter link).

While Vogel said this week that the Lakers anticipate using Drummond, Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell, there likely won’t be enough minutes to go around for everyone, especially when everyone is healthy, and Gasol looks like the probable odd man out, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

After sitting out for nearly a month-and-a-half, Drummond told reporters on Monday that he can’t wait to return to action, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “You can imagine the hunger and excitement I have to play and step on the court,” Drummond said. “I had an incredible month of work where I’m ready to play today.” The big man added that his goal is to “cause havoc in the paint” and that he believes he can further solidify a unit that already ranks first in the NBA in defensive efficiency.
Having signed Drummond to fill their 14th roster spot, the Lakers want to add a three-and-D wing to fill their final opening, according to Jovan Buha and Jared Weiss of The Athletic. It’s not clear which players the Lakers may be targeting, as there aren’t many current free agents who can reliably produce on both ends of the court.
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said on Stephen A.’s World on ESPN+ on Monday that she welcomes the Nets’ efforts to load up their roster and knock off the defending-champion Lakers. “It brings out the best in us,” Buss said, per Royce Young of ESPN. “When teams identify us as the team to beat and they gear up to go at us head-to-head, that makes us work harder. So, bring it on.”
Earlier today, we relayed a report on Dennis Schröder‘s extension talks with the Lakers and broke down the point guard’s contract situation.

Latest On Dennis Schröder’s Contract Situation

March 30th, 2021 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

3:54pm: Marc Stein of The New York Times hears from two sources that Schröder has turned down extension offers in the range of $80MM over four years.

1:54pm: Discussing his contract situation last week, Lakers guard Dennis Schröder strongly hinted that he intends to reach free agency rather than signing an in-season extension, noting that he wants to see his options on the open market. In today’s episode of his Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirmed that Schröder and the Lakers appear unlikely to agree to a deal prior to free agency.

“From what I understand, they’ve had contract talks and they couldn’t agree to an extension,” Windhorst said. “The maximum he can sign for (during the season) is four years, $84MM. … What I have been told – and this is rumor is pretty widely out there, so I doubt this is very surprising – is that the Lakers did indeed offer him that $84MM over four years.

“Now, this is where we get into gray area,” Windhorst continued. “Was it fully guaranteed? Was it partially guaranteed? Were there incentives? I don’t know. But I believe he was offered a contract in that realm and he said no to it.”

Windhorst’s caveats are important. If the Lakers’ offer to Schröder included a non-guaranteed final season or a significant amount of incentives, it’s not nearly as strong as that reported $84MM figure suggests.

Even if the Lakers’ offer was fully guaranteed, there are reasons to believe that Schröder would pass on it for now. Malcolm Brogdon and Fred VanVleet signed deals in the four-year, $84MM range in the last two years, and Schröder’s 2019/20 production compared favorably to what those players did in their contract years (his numbers have dipped a little in ’20/21). If the Lakers are prepared to offer his maximum in-season extension amount, it stands to reason they might be willing to go a little higher once he officially reaches free agency.

Additionally, since Schröder signed his current deal as a rookie scale extension with Atlanta in 2016, he has never gotten a chance to experience free agency. So even if he feels the Lakers’ offer is fair, his comments about wanting to explore his options indicate that he wants to go through the process at least once.

As Windhorst reiterated on the Hoop Collective podcast, the Lakers were readily offering Schröder in pre-deadline trade discussions for Kyle Lowry, an indication they aren’t necessarily locked into the 27-year-old as their long-term point guard. However, letting Schröder walk in free agency won’t open up any cap room for Los Angeles, so the team will be motivated to either get something done with him or get something back in a sign-and-trade.

Kings Notes: Wright, Davis, Harkless, Bagley

March 30th, 2021 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

There was speculation in the weeks leading up to March 25 that the Kings could be major sellers at the trade deadline, with players like Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield, and Richaun Holmes frequently mentioned as possible candidates to be on the move.

However, general manager Monte McNair chose another direction, making a series of smaller-scale deals to add talent to the current roster, rather than dealing away established veterans for long-term assets. While Sacramento didn’t go all-in, the team’s deadline deals made clear that the playoffs are still a goal in 2021.

“I think really we saw this year that there were maybe some traditional buy/sell moves, but I think where we categorize ourselves was like, value buyers,” McNair said, per James Ham of NBC Sports California. “We kinda explored all opportunities and this is what came to the forefront.”

As Sean Cunningham of ABC10 tweets, McNair said the Kings entered the deadline hoping to add depth and defense, and he felt like they did that by acquiring Delon Wright, Terence Davis, Maurice Harkless, and Chris Silva.

Here’s more on the Kings:

The Kings’ deadline deals are paying dividends so far, with Wright, Davis, and Harkless helping the team extend its winning streak to five games on Monday night in San Antonio, Ham writes for NBC Sports California. “Delon does a great job of making sure our pace is good. TD adds an aggressiveness on both sides of the ball. Moe is just savvy, smart, knows where to be,” center Richaun Holmes said of his new teammates. “Those guys came in ready to fit in and ready to help the team.”
Kings big man Marvin Bagley III has remained away from the team while he recovers from his left hand fracture, but he has remained in constant communication with the Kings and the plan is for him to rejoin the club as he gets closer to returning to action, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
In case you missed it, an earlier report indicated that Holmes’ price tag in free agency this summer could be upwards of $20MM per year, with Charlotte among the teams expected to challenge Holmes for free agent center.

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