Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Notes: Rivers, Leonard, Patterson, Robinson

August 4th, 2019 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Doc Rivers will be in the spotlight with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both joining the Clippers, but his training for dealing with superstars dates back to his early days as a coach in Orlando, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Rivers had just completed his first year as a head coach in the summer of 2000 when the Magic signed both Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady, forming what was expected to be a super-team of that era.

“(Clippers president of basketball operations) Lawrence Frank did more research than any human being is possible to do,” Rivers said. “And I thought (former Magic general manager) John Gabriel did the same thing. That’s why we were successful in Orlando getting Tracy and Grant, and that’s why we’ve been successful today.”

In both cases, the free agent jackpot was preceded by a decision to trade a franchise player — Anfernee Hardaway in Orlando and Blake Griffin in L.A. Rivers insisted that both franchises remain competitive rather than tanking after the deals, believing that was the best way to lure free agents. George confirmed the value of that decision.

“You could just see their connection on the court,” he said of last year’s team. “Everybody pulling for one another, everybody elevated their games to be part of that camaraderie. That’s what made it such an attractive spot.”

There’s more Clippers news to pass along:

In the same story, Rivers offers an inside look at the negotiations with Leonard, saying the focus never strayed from how the team could compete for a title. “All the other stuff that people think matters in the recruitment, I don’t think Kawhi wanted to talk about that, and so I didn’t,” Rivers said. “I talked about winning, and basketball. Kawhi is a serious man and I think you felt that with him. I think he felt the seriousness of me and how serious I am about winning and how serious he is about winning and he felt good about that match.”
In his buyout with the Thunder, Patrick Patterson gave back $3.5MM of the $5.7MM he was owed, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. He will earn another $2.3MM with the Clippers this season.
Jerome Robinson didn’t see much playing time as a rookie, but he’s counting on a greater role in his second season, relays Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Mathias Lessort, whose rights were acquired from the Sixers in the Jimmy Butler trade, will play for German Bundesliga champion FC Bayern Munich this season, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. A 2017 draftee, Lessort spent last season in Spain.

Southeast Notes: Gordon, Wizards, Miller

July 30th, 2019 at 7:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Aaron Gordon jumped on Sirius XM NBA Radio to talk about the Magic‘s NBA offseason and he portrayed optimism about Markelle Fultz‘s future with the club.

“[Fultz] is a sleeper. If he wakes up and if he’s awake and woken up, he’s a monster,” Gordon said.

Fultz, whose return to the court has yet to be determined, will have a chance to win the team’s starting point guard spot. Incumbent starter D.J. Augustin, who has one season left on his deal, and Michael Carter-Williams, who re-signed with Orlando on a one-year deal, will be the former No. 1 overall pick’s top competition for the role.

Orlando didn’t make major additions in the backcourt this offseason. The team re-signed a few members of its core (Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross) and brought in Al-Farouq Aminu with its mid-level exception. Gordon is excited about the addition of Aminu, as well as the continuity the team will experience next season.

“We got Al-Farouq, which is dope,” Gordon said. “[He’s] another 3-and-D guy. Tenacious, hard noise, long-defender and that’s the most beautiful thing. Nothing has changed from this year to last year.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington examines whether the Wizards can make a quick turnaround. Hughes argues that if Washington is going to contend sooner than later, the team needs its young talent to show improvement. That would increase each players’ trade value and give the Wizards an avenue to place an immediate difference maker next to Bradley Beal.
The Hawks have promoted Tori Miller to assistant GM of the College Park Skyhawks, according to the G League affiliate’s website. Miller spent the last two seasons as the Skyhawks’ Manager of Basketball Operations. She broke into the NBA as an intern with the Suns from 2014-16.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel envisions Pat Riley remaining with the Heat for the foreseeable future, as the scribe details in his latest mailbag. Winderman adds that Miami’s team president remains determined to get the team back to contention and the franchise’s young players are suited to help them achieve that goal.

Magic Officially Sign Jeffries, Law, Jefferson

July 30th, 2019 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have officially completed a series of signings, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who tweets that DaQuan Jeffries, Vic Law, and Amile Jefferson are now under contract with the team. Jeffries and Law signed Exhibit 10 deals, while Jefferson finalized a two-way pact.

Orlando’s agreements with undrafted rookies Jeffries and Law were reported shortly after the draft ended last month. Both players joined the Magic for Summer League action earlier this month.

Jeffries, a 6’5″ wing out of Tulsa, was ranked by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony as the fourth-best prospect who wasn’t drafted in 2019. He posted 13.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG, and 1.0 SPG in his final college season, shooting .502/.366/.755.

Law, a 6’7″ forward, who played four full college seasons at Northwestern, averaged 15.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.0 APG as a senior. Like Jeffries, he also averaged at least one block and steal per game.

As for Jefferson, his new two-way deal with the Magic was reported on July 18. He spent the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with Orlando and saw the majority of his playing time for the Lakeland Magic, the club’s G League affiliate. The former Duke Blue Devil averaged 18.1 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 3.4 APG in 34 G League games (33.2 MPG), earning a spot on the All-NBAGL Third Team.

The Magic now have 13 players officially on guaranteed contracts, plus Jeffries and Law on Exhibit 10 deals and Jefferson and Josh Magette on two-way contracts. The team also still needs to officially sign first-round pick Chuma Okeke and reportedly reached an agreement on a camp deal with Dererk Pardon. If and when those signings are finalized, it would leave one opening on Orlando’s 20-man roster.

Team USA Updates: Millsap, Plumlee, Harrell, Select Team

July 25th, 2019 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has issued a press release announcing a series of updates relating to the team it’s putting together for the 2019 World Cup in China, as well as the training camp that will take place in August before that event. Here are the highlights of that announcement:

More withdrawals:

Nuggets big man Paul Millsap has joined the ever-growing list of players from Team USA’s initial 20-man roster who have decided not to participate in this year’s World Cup. As expected, Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love has also withdrawn from Team USA’s 2019 roster.

Millsap and Love join Bradley Beal, Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, James Harden, Tobias Harris, Damian Lillard, and CJ McCollum among the original invitees who have removed their names from World Cup consideration.

New invitees:

Team USA confirmed that Thaddeus Young, Marcus Smart, Julius Randle, and Jaylen Brown will join the training camp roster for next month, as previous reports indicated.

In addition to those four players, two big men will join the roster as well, with Clippers center Montrezl Harrell and Nuggets center Mason Plumlee have received invitations from USA Basketball. Assuming the remaining 11 players from the original 20-man roster remain committed, that would bring the roster back up to 17.

[UPDATE: Harrell may turn down his invitation]

Those 11 other players are Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, P.J. Tucker, Myles Turner, and Kemba Walker.

Select Team:

For the first time, USA Basketball confirmed the players who will make up the Select Team at next month’s training camp in Las Vegas. The members of the 13-man Select Team will practice and scrimmage with Team USA’s training camp invitees, and will be coached by Jeff Van Gundy.

It’s possible that a player could be elevated from the Select Team to the primary roster and eventually find his way onto the 12-man squad that will play in China, but that’s probably a long shot.

The 13 players who will play for the Select Team are as follows:

Jarrett Allen (Nets)
Marvin Bagley III (Kings)
Mikal Bridges (Suns)
Jalen Brunson (Mavericks)
John Collins (Hawks)
Pat Connaughton (Bucks)
De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
Joe Harris (Nets)
Jonathan Isaac (Magic)
Mitchell Robinson (Knicks)
Landry Shamet (Clippers)
Derrick White (Spurs)
Trae Young (Hawks)

Team USA’s training camp will take place during the week of August 5, while the World Cup itself is scheduled to run from August 31 to September 15.

Magic Sign Josh Magette To Two-Way Deal

July 23rd, 2019 at 1:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 23: The signing is official, the Magic announced.

JULY 17: Guard Josh Magette has agreed to a new contract with the Magic, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Magette will join the team on a two-way contract, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 29-year-old guard had his only NBA experience as a two-way player with the Hawks during the 2017/18 season. He appeared in 18 games and averaged 2.6 points and 3.2 assists in 12 minutes per night.

Magette spent time this season with Cedevita Zagreb in Croatia and CB Gran Canaria in Spain. He was part of the Spurs‘ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Michael Carter-Williams Contract Details

July 21st, 2019 at 2:31pm CST by clarkcrum

More contract details continue to trickle in as the 2019 free agency period winds to a close. Below are some additional reports regarding signings for the Jazz, Magic, Thunder, and Wizards:

Per Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports, Michael Carter-Williams’ one-year deal with the Magic is a fully-guaranteed, veteran’s minimum contract.

Magic To Re-Sign Amile Jefferson To Two-Way Deal

July 19th, 2019 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

11:18am: Jefferson’s new contract with the Magic will be another two-way deal, tweets Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel. Josh Magette will reportedly fill Orlando’s other two-way contract slot.

9:25am: The Magic and free agent forward Amile Jefferson have agreed to a new one-year deal, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Orlando made Jefferson an unrestricted free agent by withdrawing his two-way qualifying offer, but will bring him back anyway.

Jefferson, who spent the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Magic, saw the majority of his playing time for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s G League affiliate. The former Duke Blue Devil averaged 18.1 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 3.4 APG in 34 G League games (33.2 MPG), earning a spot on the All-NBAGL Third Team.

The details of Jefferson’s new deal aren’t yet known, but I wouldn’t expect the 26-year-old to get much – if any – guaranteed money from the Magic. An Exhibit 10 contract or even another two-way deal seem to be the likeliest possibilities.

Magic Withdraw QO For Amile Jefferson

July 18th, 2019 at 9:10pm CST by clarkcrum

According to RealGM’s transactions log, the Magic have withdrawn their qualifying offer to two-way player Amile Jefferson. As a result of the move, Jefferson becomes an unrestricted free agent, free to sign outright with any team.

The Magic’s decision on Jefferson isn’t altogether surprising given the unlikelihood of him grabbing a spot on the 15-man roster, but the team does still have one of its two-way slots open after signing Josh Magette yesterday.

Jefferson, 26, was a two-way contract recipient last season, appearing in just 12 games with Orlando. He spent much of his time in the G League for the Lakeland Magic, where he was named Third-Team All NBAGL.

Khem Birch Signs With Magic

July 10th, 2019 at 8:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 10: Birch’s deal with the Magic is now official, according to a press release from the team (h/t to Josh Robbins of The Athletic).

JULY 9: Khem Birch will return to the Magic on a two-year, $6MM deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

Adding Birch on a modest deal will allow Orlando to remain under the tax. After applying his $3MM salary, the team is approximately $672K below the luxury tax line.

Prior to free agency, it was reported that Birch would draw substantial interest, though the market may have been slow developing because of his restricted free agency status — with cap room and exceptions drying up around around the NBA, few teams were in position to put together an aggressive offer sheet.

Birch showcased a developed game during his sophomore season in Orlando, seeing a role after 2018 No. 6 overall pick Mohamed Bamba injured his leg and was lost for the season. Birch improved his true shooting to 64.0% and his player efficiency rating to 19.2. He’ll turn 27 before the start of the season.

The Magic have now reached deals with all of their most important free agents — they’ll retain Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross, and Michael Carter-Williams in addition to Birch.

Magic Re-Sign Michael Carter-Williams

July 10th, 2019 at 7:40pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 10: Carter-Williams’ new deal with the Magic is official, per a press release from the team (Twitter link). Terms were not disclosed, but it figures to be a minimum-salary arrangement with Orlando up against the tax line.

JULY 1: The Magic have agreed to a one-year contract with free agent point guard Michael Carter-Williams, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Carter-Williams, who turns 28 in October, joined Orlando on two 10-day contracts in March and impressed the team with his play. He signed for the remainder of the season on April 4 and was a key cog off the bench entering the playoffs.

Carter-Williams joins D.J. Augustin and Markelle Fultz as current point guards in the Magic’s projected rotation, with the club also reaching free-agent agreements with Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross and Al-Farouq Aminu during the first day of free agency.

Named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2014, Carter-Williams has played for the Sixers, Bucks, Bulls, Hornets, Rockets and Magic across his six year-career. He was selected 11th in the 2013 draft by Philadelphia.