- On The Vertical’s live show, Wojnarowski identified the Hawks as a team to watch on the trade market, suggesting that new GM Travis Schlenk may be looking to cut costs as he retools the roster. Kent Bazemore could be a trade candidate in Atlanta, per Wojnarowski.
- The Howard trade between Atlanta and Charlotte will leave the Hawks with a modest trade exception. Atlanta’s new TPE will be worth $4,346,942, and will be the fourth – and largest – trade exception available to the team, as our list of TPEs shows.
11:49am: Tyson Chandler is a candidate to go to Atlanta if the Suns are part of a sign-and-trade for Millsap, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 in Phoenix.
11:09am: After trading Dwight Howard Tuesday, the Hawks are exploring their options involving free agent forward Paul Millsap, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (hat tip to Slam Magazine). Windhorst said Atlanta has reached out to teams about a possible sign-and-trade, with the Suns, Kings and Nuggets all expressing interest.
New Hawks GM Travis Schlenk suggested last week that the team may not be willing to make a max offer to Millsap, who turned 32 in February. The Hawks can sign Millsap to a five-year deal worth about $205MM, while other teams are limited to four seasons and about $152MM.
Millsap is coming off his fourth straight All-Star season, averaging 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds in 69 games. He made a little more than $20MM this season.
A Millsap deal would signal a full rebuilding job for the Hawks, who are on a string of 10 straight postseason appearances.
Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell will hold a last-minute workout for the Knicks today, posts Ian Begley on ESPN Now. The sophomore out of Louisville, whose session was originally scheduled for Tuesday, is being considered with the No 8 pick, Begley adds, along with French point guard Frank Ntilikina, Kentucky guard Malik Monk, Arizona big man Lauri Markkanen and others. Team president Phil Jackson is intrigued by Mitchell’s defensive prowess and athleticism and likes the fact that he prefers to work out in a group setting to showcase his defense. Joining Mitchell today will be Villanova’s Josh Hart, Miami’s Davon Reed, Iowa State’s Naz Long and others.
There’s more draft news on the eve of the big event:
- The Celtics have received Josh Jackson‘s medical records, but the Kansas forward still refuses to work out for the team, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Boston appears to be leaning toward Duke’s Jayson Tatum with the No. 3 pick, Ford states, but no decision has been made.
- Ford still has Jackson as the third selection in his latest mock draft, which was released today. Markelle Fultz remains No. 1, followed by Lonzo Ball, with the rest of the top 10 as Tatum, Jonathan Isaac, De’Aaron Fox, Dennis Smith Jr., Monk, Zach Collins and Markkanen.
- Terrance Ferguson recently pulled out of workouts with the Pistons, Hawks and Bucks, tweets Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated. It’s possible that Ferguson received a draft promise from the Nuggets or Nets or he may have been responding to poor workouts (Twitter link).
- A 7-footer with a soft shooting touch, Markkanen is drawing comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki, writes Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders. Some scouts believe the 20-year-old Finnish star is the best 3-point shooter in the draft. “It’s probably not fair to him to have some young guy compared to a Hall of Fame player and champion,” Markkanen said of Nowitzki. “We have similarities because of the height, being from Europe and shooting. But I have a long way to go before I’m in the same category as him. Hopefully, I can get there one day.”
- The Wizards will work out six players today, the team announced on its website. They are French center Alpha Kaba, Cincinnati’s Troy Caupain Jr., VCU’s JeQuan Lewis, Eastern Michigan’s Jalen Ross, Niagara’s Tahjere McCall and East Tennessee State’s Hanner Mosquera-Perea.
1:41pm: In an effort to create cap space, the Rockets are making Beverley, Anderson and Lou Williams all available in trades, Stein writes in a full story. Williams will make $7MM next season in the final year of his contract.
12:33pm: The Rockets will chase several of the top free agents on the market this summer, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Sources tell Stein that Houston plans to pursue Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap and Kyle Lowry.
Paul, who is expected to opt out of a nearly $24.3MM salary, will be the top point guard on the market and is rumored to have strong interest from the Spurs, among others. Griffin is expected to use an early termination option and give up a salary of nearly $21.4MM. The Hawks are reluctant to offer Millsap a maximum deal and have reportedly talked to other teams about a sign-and-trade. Lowry is a former Rocket who was traded to Toronto in 2012.
All four players will be seeking max offers, which mean the Rockets, who currently have a maximum of $11.7MM to operate with, will have to clear significant cap room. Houston reportedly is seeking to trade starting guard Patrick Beverley, which would save about $5.5MM and create a backcourt opening for Paul or Lowry. Finding a taker for Ryan Anderson (nearly $19.6MM next season) or Eric Gordon (more than $12.9MM) would open a lot more.
10:50pm: The trade is official, with the Hornets issuing a press release to formally announce it.
“We are excited to add a player of Dwight’s stature to our roster,” Hornets GM Rich Cho said in a statement. “He has been a very talented player, an elite rebounder and rim protector as well as a physical presence since the moment he entered the league. Howard’s best seasons came alongside Coach Steve Clifford and we believe their familiarity will make an immediate impact for the Hornets this upcoming season.”
8:04pm: The Hawks have agreed to a trade that will send Dwight Howard to the Hornets, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link), Charlotte will receive Howard and the No. 31 pick in this year’s draft from Atlanta in exchange for Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli, and the No. 41 pick.
For Howard, who was a perennial All-NBA center earlier in his career, the Hornets will be his fifth team in the last seven years. Having left the Rockets for his hometown Hawks a year ago in free agency, Howard got off to a solid start in Atlanta, but by season’s end, he was frustrated with his diminishing role. For the season, Howard averaged 13.5 PPG and 12.7 RPG in 74 contests (all starts).
Howard’s move to Charlotte will set him up for a reunion with Hornets head coach Steve Clifford. Howard’s most successful and productive NBA seasons came when he was being coached by Clifford — the former assistant coach was on Orlando’s staff from 2007 to 2012, then joined the Lakers during Howard’s lone season in L.A.
Howard is set to earn guaranteed salaries of $23.5MM (2017/18) and $23.82MM (2018/19) over the next two seasons, so once again, the Hornets are showing a willingness to take on significant money. The team did that at the deadline, sending a pair of smaller expiring deals to Milwaukee in exchange for Plumlee.
Now, the Hornets will flip Plumlee and his $12.5MM annual salary, which looks relatively modest compared to Howard’s cap figure. Plumlee’s contract runs through the 2019/20 season, while Belinelli has one year left at $6.61MM. Although Charlotte adds a little money to its books, the team’s flexibility for this summer won’t be affected — the Hornets would have been an over-the-cap team either way.
As for the Hawks, Travis Schlenk‘s first major move as Atlanta’s general manager will see the team swap Howard for Plumlee, move down 10 spots in the second round, and add a three-point sharpshooter in Belinelli. The move will create a small amount of extra spending flexibility for the Hawks this summer, though it remains to be seen whether they’ll make a strong effort to re-sign their own free agents like Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr., or if they’ll use that room for other moves.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Celtics and Sixers have been active this offseason and are poised to make significant moves both in this Thursday’s NBA Draft and free agency. However, those teams’ upgrades highlight the Wizards‘ potential lack of movement this offseason, Candace Buckner of The Washington Post writes.
Philadelphia acquired Boston’s first overall pick in exchange for its third overall pick and is poised to land Washington’s Markelle Fultz at No. 1. Meanwhile, the Celtics picked up another future first-rounder and are monitoring the free agent and trade market, with names like Jimmy Butler, Paul George, and even Kristaps Porzingis at the forefront. The Sixers also still have last year’s first overall pick, Ben Simmons, who missed 2016/17 due to injury, ready to go.
“If you’re a Philly fan, you’ve got to be thrilled. These are the kinds of moves you want to see, and if you’re a Boston fan, you have to feel great as well,” one longtime Eastern Conference scout said to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. “How that affects [Washington]? It’s like you’re a bystander.”
Here are additional notes around the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks enter Thursday’s draft with the 19th overall pick and while the team may look to move up, general manager Travis Schlenk says it’s not a priority, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.
- Assistant coach Neven Spahija has been granted Mike Budenholzer’s blessing to leave the Hawks and sign as head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv through 2020, according to David Pick (via Twitter).
- The Wizards are set to host their final pre-draft workout and J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic tweets that the attendees will include international prospect Alpha Kaba, Cincinnati’s Troy Caupain, VCU’s JeQuan Lewis., Hartford’s Jalen Ross, Tennessee State’s Tahjere McCall, and East Tennessee State’s Hanner Mosquera-Perea.
- Walt Disney and the Magic have agreed to a three-year agreement to have the Disney logo appear on jerseys starting in 2017/18, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. The Magic become the eight team to secure a sponsorship deal with players wearing logos on jerseys. Check out the full list here.
- Kansas State’s Wesley Iwundu is scheduled to have a second workout with the Magic, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). The Magic have the 25th, 33rd, and 35th picks in the draft.
Although Andre Iguodala has been widely expected to re-sign with the Warriors when he becomes a free agent next month, a return to Golden State isn’t necessarily a lock. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Iguodala intends to seriously consider other clubs in free agency.
The Jazz, Clippers, Bulls, Timberwolves, and Hawks are among the teams that are expected to push the Warriors in the Iguodala sweepstakes, league sources tell Sharania. An earlier report named the Suns as a potential contender as well. The Vertical’s report notes that suitors for Iguodala would need to show “a vision to move toward contention” in order to get the veteran swingman to seriously consider leaving Golden State.
While estimates for Iguodala’s new contract have indicated the Warriors could bring him back for an annual salary in the range of his current $11.1MM+ figure, Charania suggests that number could be much higher if the 33-year-old heads elsewhere. According to Charania, there’s a belief among teams around the NBA that Iguodala could approach $20MM per year on a new deal.
Iguodala’s decision could have a ripple effect on the Warriors’ free agency plans. If he doesn’t return, the team would have more flexibility to re-sign Shaun Livingston, but may not be as inclined to go deep into the tax to keep its players beyond the Big Four. If both Iguodala and Livingston end up signing elsewhere, the Warriors would also have an easier time accommodating a full max contract for Kevin Durant, since they wouldn’t have to keep cap holds for Iguodala and Livingston on their books, and could dip under the cap.
Still, I’d continue to view the Warriors as the odds-on favorites to sign Iguodala until another team blows him away with its pitch or puts a massive multiyear contract offer on the table.
- Point guard Bryce Cotton will play on the Hawks’ summer-league team, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype tweets. Cotton played for the Perth Wildcats in the Australian League last season. The 6’1” Cotton played a total of 23 games for the Jazz, Suns and Grizzlies during the previous two seasons.
It’s that time of the summer, days until the NBA draft, when your favorite team is doing its due diligence and working out every prospect and his brother. Here is the latest in pre-draft workout news:
- Josh Hart (Villanova) worked out for the 76ers on Thursday and did not shoot well, tweets Adam Zagoria. Hart worked out for the Hawks on Friday and will also audition for the Spurs and Suns.
- In addition to Hart, the Hawks auditioned five other players on Friday: Matt Jones (Duke), Peter Jok (Iowa), Jaron Blossomgame (Clemson), Caleb Swanigan (Purdue), and Amile Jefferson (Duke), per the team’s official site.
- Jefferson is also set to work out for the 76ers on Monday, per Keith Pompey of Philly.com (link via Twitter).
- Tony Bradley (North Carolina) worked out for the Hornets on Friday and was also set to put his skills on display for the Heat and Nets, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
- On Thursday, the Heat worked out Dwayne Bacon (Florida State) and TJ Leaf (UCLA) in consideration of their 14th overall pick. The following players also worked out for Miami and are being considered in the second round and/or as undrafted free agents: V.J. Beachem (Notre Dame), PJ Dozier (South Carolina), James Blackmon (Indiana), Marc Loving (Ohio State), Sterling Brown (SMU), Billy Garrett Jr. (DePaul), and Jabari Bird (Cal), reports Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
- The Celtics have scheduled a pre-draft meeting with Dennis Smith Jr. (North Carolina State), according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Begley notes that, even if Boston traded down to No. 3, it would be a shock if Smith was drafted so high. He is projected to be a Top-10 pick, but not Top-3.
- On Sunday, the Hornets will hold their seventh pre-draft workout, featuring two college standouts who played in the state of North Carolina: Luke Kennard (Duke) and Justin Jackson (UNC). Rounding out the group are Bam Adebayo (Kentucky), Troy Caupain (Cincinnati), Tim Kempton Jr. (Lehigh), and Rodney Purvis (Connecticut), per the team’s official website.