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Scotto’s Latest: Suns, Pacers, Knicks, Wright, Hornets, More

July 15th, 2023 at 2:32pm CST by Rory Maher

The Suns, Pacers and Knicks recently had exploratory trade talks on a deal that would have sent Cameron Payne to New York, T.J. McConnell to Phoenix, and Evan Fournier and draft picks to Indiana, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Other iterations of the deal included Jordan Nwora, according to Scotto, though it’s unclear where the Pacers forward would have ended up in that framework.

However, the talks on the three-team trade have stalled, Scotto reports. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was first to report the Suns and Pacers discussed a deal involving Payne and McConnell, and suggested the Knicks may have been involved as well.

Here’s more from Scotto’s latest article for HoopsHype:

League sources tell Scotto that the Hornets are on the hunt for a backup point guard after Dennis Smith Jr. signed with the Nets in free agency. As Scotto previously reported, Charlotte had interest in Aaron Holiday, but he wound up signing with the Rockets. According to Scotto, one player on Charlotte’s radar is Wizards guard Delon Wright, who will make $8.2MM next season in the final year of his contract. The Wizards traded for Tyus Jones and Jordan Poole, and Wright was signed by the previous front office regime. The 31-year-old has already seen his name pop up in a few other trade rumors this offseason.
Scotto recently spoke to a handful of second-round picks at Summer League about their goals entering their rookie seasons. Those players are Nuggets guard Jalen Pickett, Celtics forward Jordan Walsh, and Mouhamed Gueye and Seth Lundy of the Hawks. Walsh, the No. 38 pick of the 2023 draft, has high expectations for himself, he told Scotto. “If I get a chance to play with these guys and help the team, I want to be on the All-Defensive First or Second Team or Defensive Player of the Year,” Walsh said. “My goals are defensively oriented and winning a championship, which is No. 1. If I’m able to accomplish any of those things, I’d feel my rookie year went pretty well.”
In case you missed it, we passed along some Raptors rumors and free agent rumors from Scotto as well.

Raptors Rumors: Herro, Siakam, Point Guard

July 15th, 2023 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors are among the teams that have conveyed “exploratory” interest in Heat guard Tyler Herro as part of the multi-team trade discussions involving the Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Toronto lost Fred VanVleet in free agency, and lottery pick Gradey Dick is just 19 years old and may not be ready for a significant rotation role as a rookie, so it makes sense that the team would be on the lookout for another backcourt player who can make outside shots.

The Raptors’ 33.5% three-point percentage last season ranked 28th in the NBA. The club also possesses the sort of expiring contracts that might appeal more to the Blazers in a Lillard trade than Herro’s four-year deal would.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Given how frequently the Hawks have been frequently linked to Pascal Siakam this offseason, rival executives are curious about how Atlanta might build an offer for the Raptors forward, Scotto says. Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic are currently ineligible to be traded due to recently signed extensions, and Clint Capela likely wouldn’t appeal to a Toronto team that just re-signed Jakob Poeltl. It’s unclear if a package centered around De’Andre Hunter would be strong enough for the Raptors, Scotto notes, especially since the Hawks have limited draft capital to offer after having already traded away multiple future first-round picks.
Although the Magic have been rumored as a possible suitor for Siakam, a league source who spoke to Scotto believes that’s more “noise than substance,” since Orlando has Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner locked into the forward spots and wouldn’t be inclined to move either player.
There was some skepticism among league personnel at the Las Vegas Summer League that the Raptors will ultimately trade Siakam, according to Scotto. “Toronto always does the same thing,” one scout told HoopsHype. “They dangle their guys, and then they pull them back.”
The Raptors are mulling the possibility of adding another point guard in free agency, per Scotto. The team signed Dennis Schröder, who will presumably replace VanVleet in the starting lineup, but doesn’t have a reliable backup at that spot.

Thunder Trade Patty Mills To Hawks For Three Players, Second-Round Pick

July 12th, 2023 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Hawks.

The Thunder’s press release indicates that OKC is receiving a 2026 second-round pick in the deal. Atlanta previously traded away its own ’26 second-rounder, but controlled Golden State’s second-rounder for that year, so that’s presumably the one headed to the Thunder.

JULY 8: The Thunder have agreed to trade guard Patty Mills to the Hawks in exchange for guard TyTy Washington, forward Rudy Gay, big man Usman Garuba, and a second-round pick, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

This trade agreement will likely be separate from the five-team sign-and-trade deal that will send Dillon Brooks to Houston, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.

Mills, Washington, and Garuba – who are all still technically Rockets for the time being – are all expected to be involved in that Brooks trade, with Mills ticketed for Oklahoma City and Washington and Garuba on track to land in Atlanta.

However, they probably can’t simply be rerouted to new destinations within the same transaction, since the Thunder don’t have the cap room necessary to take on the additional salary, Gozlan notes. OKC would be able to salary-match and go over the cap using Mills ($6.8MM) in a separate deal.

Having initially agreed to take on Washington ($2.3MM) and Garuba ($2.6MM) in a salary-dump trade that netted them two second-round picks, the Hawks will still come out ahead by sending one second-rounder to the Thunder and will shed Rudy Gay‘s unwanted expiring contract ($6.5MM) in the process.

Atlanta will end up with Mills – who may or may not remain on the roster and play a role in the team’s backcourt in 2023/24, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link) – and will save a little money while opening up a couple roster spots. The team is now $8.2MM under the tax line with 16 players on standard contracts, including three on non-guaranteed deals, tweets Gozlan.

Mills almost certainly wasn’t in the Thunder’s plans — they’d agreed to take him into their cap room as part of the Brooks sign-and-trade in order to acquire a pair of second-round picks. Those picks will be Houston’s 2029 and 2030 second-rounders, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It’s unclear if the Thunder envision Washington, Garuba, or Gay opening the season on their roster. But even if all three of those players are waived, Oklahoma City will add another second-round pick in this deal, which is presumably the priority.

This will be the third time Mills has been traded this offseason. He was sent from Brooklyn to Houston and will move from Houston to OKC before heading to Atlanta.

A veteran combo guard who will turn 35 next month, Mills was no longer a major part of the Nets’ rotation last season — his 14.3 minutes per game represented his lowest average since the 2012/13 season. He recorded 6.2 points and 1.4 assists per game in 40 appearances, with a shooting line of .411/.366/.833.

Garuba was a first-round pick in 2021 and Washington was a first-rounder in 2022, but neither player has established himself as a consistent, reliable NBA player so far. As for Gay, he has compiled an impressive career résumé across 17 seasons in the league, but he’ll turn 37 in August, so his best days are behind him.

Pacers Pursuing Pascal Siakam

July 10th, 2023 at 3:49pm CST by Rory Maher

There has been increased talk around the NBA about the Raptors moving Pascal Siakam, with the Pacers viewed as a “legitimate trade contender” for the star forward, league sources tell Marc Stein at Substack.

The Hawks are another team that has been repeatedly linked to Siakam, Stein notes, and other unknown teams are likely in the mix as well.

Stein’s read on the situation in Toronto is that the Raptors want to give Scottie Barnes and OG Anunoby a bigger opportunity to expand their offensive games, particularly with Fred VanVleet‘s departure to Houston. Siakam’s heavy usage rate seems to stand in the way of that happening, according to Stein, who points out that Siakam (29) is several years older than Barnes (21) and Anunoby (25).

After a weekend at Summer League, Stein views a trade as a “far more likely outcome” than a contract extension. As of last week, Siakam and the Raptors had yet to formally meet to discuss a possible contract extension.

Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca was first to report the Pacers’ interest in Siakam. He also wrote that the veteran’s absence at Summer League could be viewed as a sign that Siakam might be dealt, with the Raptors hoping to find a deal sooner rather than later.

A two-time All-NBA member, Siakam reportedly doesn’t want to play anywhere but Toronto. He averaged 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 71 games (37.4 minutes) last season, with the points and assists per game representing career highs.

Hawks To Guarantee Bruno Fernando’s 2023/24 Salary

July 10th, 2023 at 2:38pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks intend to guarantee Bruno Fernando‘s $2.58MM contract for 2023/24, reports Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).

Fernando’s salary had previously been fully non-guaranteed, and today was the early salary guarantee deadline for the Hawks to decide whether they wanted to keep his cap hit on the roster. According to Williams, they’ll do just that.

The 34th pick of the 2019 draft, Fernando spent his first two NBA seasons with Atlanta before being traded to Boston in August 2021. The Celtics traded him to Houston six months later, and he spent a year with the Rockets until he was sent back to Atlanta at the February deadline.

In 39 combined games with the Rockets and Hawks in ’22/23, the 24-year-old big man averaged 3.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 0.9 BPG in 10.4 MPG. He was the third string center for Atlanta down the stretch, only receiving 41 total minutes over eight games.

Fernando’s contract is non-guaranteed at $2.72MM for ’24/25, and features a non-guaranteed $2.85MM team option in ’25/26.

Raptors Notes: Siakam, Anunoby, Dick, Wieskamp

July 10th, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Pascal Siakam‘s absence from the Raptors‘ Summer League games could be an indication that his time with the franchise is close to an end, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Las Vegas is typically a gathering place for established NBA players during Summer League action, but Siakam has stayed away amid rumors that he might be dealt soon and Toronto’s refusal to engage in extension talks.

The Hawks have been linked to Siakam and the Pacers have contacted the Raptors as well, sources tell Grange. Toronto officials are still exploring what they might be able to get in return for the 29-year-old forward, but they would prefer to close a deal fairly quickly, according to Grange.

Grange adds that even if Siakam is moved, it won’t be the start of a complete rebuild. Trading Siakam won’t make the Raptors any more likely to part with OG Anunoby, and sources tell Grange that teams who inquire about Anunoby shouldn’t expect to have their calls returned.

There’s more on the Raptors:

Gradey Dick hasn’t lived up to his reputation as a shooter during his first two Summer League outings, but he’s been able to contribute in other ways, observes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. The lottery pick is just 8-for-25 in Las Vegas, but he’s an active cutter and rebounder and seems to know how to get to the basketball. “He’s got an all-around game. I know he came in as a shooter.” Summer League coach Pat Delany said. “That’s what he does. It’s a strength of his. But I also think, too, there are other things that he does offensively as well — the passing, the cutting, the movement without the ball.”
After losing Fred VanVleet with nothing in return, the Raptors have to make sure they’re not in the same position with their free agents next summer, Koreen adds in a separate story. He points out that Siakam and Anunoby will be two of the top names on the 2024 market if they aren’t traded or extended before then.
Joe Wieskamp is literally fighting for his job at Summer League, notes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. The 23-year-old swingman, who signed with Toronto in February, recently agreed to move the guarantee date for his $1.927MM salary for next season from June 29 to July 18. “They saw me throughout the season,” Wieskamp said. “I was there for three months, playing with the G League, in practices with (the Raptors) every day, even though I didn’t get too many opportunities with the Raptors on the main floor. But they’ve seen my game a lot. It’s just an accumulation of things and they just want to keep seeing more of me. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Hawks Sign Dejounte Murray To Four-Year Extension

July 9th, 2023 at 9:01pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

“DJ is someone we want to continue to build with. He’s a dynamic talent with the heart of a leader. He leads by example, is an unselfish teammate, and truly cares about winning,” Hawks GM Landry Fields said.

JULY 7: Murray’s deal will include a fourth-year player option, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

JULY 6: The Hawks and Dejounte Murray are finalizing an agreement on a four-year contract extension, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link).

Murray, who is on an expiring contract, will earn a base salary of approximately $17.7MM in 2023/24, with $500K in likely incentives and another $1MM in unlikely incentives. The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement allows a first-year raise of up to 140% of the player’s previous salary in the first year of an extension, and it sounds like Murray will receive that maximum raise.

Based on a 40% first-year increase, Murray’s new deal would have a base value of approximately $111MM, with nearly $10MM in additional incentives. If he achieves all his bonuses, the four-year contract would max out at around $120.5MM.

There was a sense that Murray might wait until he reached unrestricted free agency in 2024 to sign a new deal, since he’ll be eligible for a far bigger payday at that time. The fact that he’s willing to lock in an extra four years now is a big win for the Hawks, who gave up three first-round picks (two unprotected) and a pick swap to acquire the guard from the Spurs last offseason.

Reports at the time of the trade suggested that San Antonio was concerned about its ability to extend Murray prior to free agency. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports indicated on Wednesday that the Hawks were increasingly optimistic about their own chances of working out a new deal.

In his first year in Atlanta, Murray averaged 20.5 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.3 rebounds in 36.4 minutes per game across 74 contests. He shot a career-best 46.4% from the field, including 34.4% on three-pointers, and provided his usual solid perimeter defense alongside Trae Young in the Hawks’ backcourt.

There were rumors earlier in the offseason that the Hawks were willing to discuss trading anyone except Young, but a new extension for Murray will officially take him off the trade market for the rest of 2023. Never considered a legitimate candidate to be moved this summer, the 26-year-old will become ineligible to be dealt for six months once he signs his new extension.

NBA Reveals Dates, Groups For In-Season Tournament

July 8th, 2023 at 7:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA has announced the five-team groups that will used for the league’s first-ever in-season tournament, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The unveiling took place Saturday during a special episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today” held at “NBA Con” in Las Vegas.

The groups were determined in a draw similar to what is used in soccer’s World Cup. There are six groups — three each from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference — and each conference was split into five pots based on last season’s standings. One team was randomly selected from each of the pots to determine the opening-round matchups.

The results are:

Group 1: Sixers, Cavaliers, Hawks, Pacers and Pistons.
Group 2: Bucks, Knicks, Heat, Wizards and Hornets.
Group 3: Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Bulls and Magic.
Group 4: Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Trail Blazers.
Group 5: Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks and Rockets.
Group 6: Kings, Warriors, Timberwolves, Thunder and Spurs.

The tournament will start with group play, which will match each team with the other four in its grouping. Those games will take place on Nov. 3, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28.

The winner of each group will advance to a knockout round, joined by the team with the best record in each conference among those who didn’t win a group. Quarterfinal games will be played Dec. 4 and 5, hosted by the higher-seeded teams. The four winners in that round will move on to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the Dec. 7 semifinals and the Dec. 9 championship game.

Bontemps points out that all teams will play within their conference until the last game, which guarantees an East vs. West matchup, just like the NBA Finals.

“Everybody’s not going to buy in right away,” admitted Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations. “So that can’t be the goal that everybody’s going to buy in from day one. These things take time. And I think, as time goes on, I think you can build this up and people can really get into it.”

The championship trophy will be called the NBA Cup, and players will receive $500K each for winning it. Other prize money includes $200K for second place, $100K for losing in the semifinals and $50K for losing in the quarterfinals. The league opted not to provide other incentives, such as a guaranteed playoff spot, for the tournament winner.

We passed along more details on the in-season tournament right here.

Rockets Acquire Dillon Brooks In Five-Team Deal

July 8th, 2023 at 7:03pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8: The complex five-team trade that sends Brooks to Houston has been finalized, the Rockets announced in a press release The breakdown of the deal, which combined several separate trade agreements, is as follows:

Rockets acquire Brooks (via sign-and-trade), the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick, the Grizzlies’ 2027 second-round pick (from Clippers), and the draft rights to Alpha Kaba (from Hawks).
Hawks acquire Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington, the Timberwolves’ 2025 second-round pick (from Rockets), the Rockets’ 2028 second-round pick, and cash (from Thunder).
Grizzlies acquire Josh Christopher.
Thunder acquire Patty Mills, a 2024 second-round pick (from Rockets), the Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick, and the Rockets’ 2030 second-round pick.
Clippers acquire Kenyon Martin Jr.

In a separate deal, Oklahoma City will ship Mills to Atlanta in exchange for Garuba, Washington, Rudy Gay and a second-round pick.

6:04pm: The Rockets will acquire Brooks via sign-and-trade, generating a trade exception for the Grizzlies, Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter).

Sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Houston is trading Josh Christopher to Memphis. Although Iko doesn’t specify it will be part of a Brooks sign-and-trade, that seems logical.

The Grizzlies’ trade exception for Brooks would be $11.4MM due to base year compensation rules, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). If Christopher heads to Memphis in the deal, that TPE would shrink to $8.9MM, Gozlan adds.

5:20pm: The Rockets and Brooks have agreed to a four-year deal worth $80MM, agent Mike George tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The deal will have a descending structure, tweets Wojnarowski. It will be fully guaranteed, with no player or team option, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As with VanVleet, Houston’s offer in order to secure a commitment ended up being for more years and more money than initially anticipated.

JULY 1, 4:35pm: The Rockets are close to reaching a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Dillon Brooks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

While Houston has the cap room necessary to sign Brooks outright, the team has been engaged in trade talks around the league, according to Charania, who says a sign-and-trade with the Grizzlies is a possibility if the Rockets reach a deal with the veteran forward.

Brooks was frequently linked to the Rockets in the days leading up to free agency. One report indicated that Houston was preparing to offer him a deal in the range of $14-16MM annually, while another stated the team had a meeting lined up for Friday or Saturday with the 27-year-old.

Brooks is a talented perimeter defender who earned All-Defensive Second Team honors this spring, but he has become an increasingly erratic shooter, making a career-worst 39.6% of his field goal attempts in 2022/23. His three-point percentage dipped to 32.1% on 5.6 attempts per game during the last two seasons after he converted 35.3% of 4.5 threes per game in his first four seasons, all with the Grizzlies.

On top of his offensive struggles, Brooks’ outsized personality and aggressive playing style have gotten him into trouble both on the court and in interviews off it. He received three one-game suspensions this season, once for an on-court altercation with Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell and twice for accumulating so many technical fouls.

Brooks ultimately wore out his welcome in Memphis, with a report after the season indicating that the Grizzlies didn’t plan to bring him back “under any circumstances.” His performance during the team’s first-round loss to the Lakers was reportedly considered to be a breaking point. Brooks referred to Lakers star LeBron James as “old” following Memphis’ Game 2 win, suggesting the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was well past his prime.

He was then ejected from Game 3 for hitting James in the groin, surrendered a pair of key baskets to LeBron in a Game 4 loss, and was eventually fined $25K for declining to speak to reporters after three games of the series (all losses). Offensively, Brooks shot just 31.2% from the field and 23.8% on three-pointers across six playoff games.

A change of scenery could benefit Brooks, and the Rockets have reportedly been prioritizing tough, defensive-minded veterans under new head coach Ime Udoka. Houston has reached an agreement with Fred VanVleet and was said to be aggressive in its pursuit of Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Brook Lopez, who ultimately decided to remain in Milwaukee.

Hawks Trade John Collins To Jazz For Rudy Gay, Second-Rounder

July 7th, 2023 at 7:37pm CST by Rory Maher

July 7: The trade is official, both teams announced. The second-rounder heading to Atlanta is conditional. It will be Memphis’ 2026 pick and will only convey if it lands between 31 and 42.

June 26: The Hawks are trading forward John Collins to the Jazz in exchange for forward Rudy Gay and a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Gay had a $6.48MM player option for 2023/24 that he exercised as part of the deal, his agent Sam Permut of Roc Nation Sports tells Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Collins had been in trade rumors for multiple seasons, and now he’s finally on the move. Utah will be acquiring Collins using cap room, so the deal can’t be officially completed until July 6.

It’s essentially a salary-dump move to dip under the luxury tax line for Atlanta, much like the Kevin Huerter trade last offseason (the Hawks did get a protected first-rounder for Huerter, but it was mostly to avoid the luxury tax). Collins is owed $78MM over the next three seasons, including a $26.58MM player option in ’25/26.

In addition to significant financial flexibility, the Hawks will also generate a $25.34MM trade exception — equivalent to Collins’ salary for ’23/24 — as part of the deal, Wojnarowski reports. That will be the league’s new largest trade exception, surpassing the $18.1MM TPE the Nets created as part of the Kevin Durant deal in February.

Bobby Marks of ESPN clarifies (via Twitter) that the Collins TPE will be created by Atlanta absorbing Gay’s salary into an existing trade exception, worth $6.29MM. As Anil Gogna of Thread Sports Management tweets, the new CBA has a $250K allowance for TPEs (as opposed to $100K in the old CBA), which is enough to accommodate Gay’s deal.

It’s an interesting buy-low acquisition for the Jazz, who already have Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Kelly Olynyk and first-round pick Taylor Hendricks in their frontcourt.

Collins had a down season in ’22/23, averaging 13.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG on .508/.292/.803 shooting in 71 games (30.0 MPG). Still, he’s only 25 years old and holds career averages of 15.8 PPG and 8.0 RPG on .551/.356/.783 shooting across 364 games (29.2 MPG). The Jazz will be hoping he can rebuild his value under head coach Will Hardy.

According to Wojnarowski, the two teams have discussed “numerous iterations” of a Collins trade for “over a year,” but Atlanta finally decided to move on due to a salary-cap crunch. The Hawks are expected to remain active in trade conversations and GM Landry Fields has ownership’s permission to go above the tax threshold if it improves the roster, says Woj.

Atlanta’s newfound financial flexibility could be used to negotiate long-term extensions for Dejounte Murray, Onyeka Okongwu and Saddiq Bey, whom Wojnarowski refers to as “core players.”

Gay was a very good player for a long time, but age and injuries seemed to catch up with him last season. He posted career lows in points (5.2), rebounds (2.9) and minutes (14.6) per game in 56 appearances. He’s about to enter his 18th season and will turn 37 in August.