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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.

And-Ones: Howard, Team USA, F. Jackson, Zikarsky

July 7th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA center Dwight Howard was out of the league during the 2022/23 season, which he spent in Taiwan. However, he still believes he can be a productive player in an NBA rotation, he said during a wide-ranging interview with Zion Olojede of Complex.com.

“I know that there’s at least 15 to 20 teams that I could play for,” Howard said. “And I know there’s teams that got great starting centers, but I know I could be a great backup center. I know I can provide a team with 25 minutes of dominant basketball. And that’s not even scoring, that’s just playing defense, locking people up, protecting the paint, rebounding, and finishing around the basket. I’ve had my fun in the game. I just want to go out like a champ like I’m supposed to.”

Referencing a June interview in which Howard said he’d love to join the Kings, Olojede asked the three-time Defensive Player of the Year which five teams he believes would be good matches for him.

“Okay, you got Miami Heat. You got obviously, the Lakers. The Warriors,” Howard said. “The Kings. But the Kings, I would say the Kings got a couple centers so they probably wouldn’t. But the Kings. The Hawks. I’m from Atlanta, go back home with the Hawks.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Discussing his roster for the upcoming FIBA World Cup for the first time on Friday, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr said he plans to lean heavily on Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and Nets forward Mikal Bridges. As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, Kerr envisions Brunson having “a pretty big role” and intends to rely on Bridges defensively to match up against opponents’ high-scoring wings.
Veteran NBA guard Frank Jackson, who had a brief stint with the Jazz this past season, will continue his career overseas, having signed a deal with French team ASVEL, per a press release. Jackson had appeared in 214 career regular season NBA games since being drafted in 2017.
Rocco Zikarsky, a 7’3″ Australian big man, has decided to forgo a move to the NCAA in favor of joining the Brisbane Bullets as part of the National Basketball League’s Next Stars program, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Zikarsky, who will turn 17 next week, won’t be draft-eligible until at least 2025, but is considered one of the world’s best basketball prospects, per Givony.
John Hollinger of The Athletic doesn’t want to go so far as to call them the “losers” of free agency, but has questions about the offseason moves made so far by the Raptors, Pelicans, Kings, Trail Blazers, and Nuggets.

Rockets Notes: Brooks Deal, Green, Harden, Martin

July 7th, 2023 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets‘ multi-team sign-and-trade deal for Dillon Brooks will expand further to include the trade agreement between Houston and the Clippers involving Kenyon Martin Jr., according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

Houston’s deal that sends TyTy Washington and Usman Garuba to the Hawks will also be part of the Brooks sign-and-trade with the Grizzlies. With the Clippers involved and the Thunder set to take on Patty Mills in the complex transaction, it will be at least a five-team trade.

The Rockets, who acquired a second-round pick from Brooklyn for Mills and are getting two more from the Clippers for Martin, will send out five second-rounders in the deal — two to Atlanta and three to Oklahoma City. Those three picks going to the Thunder haven’t been reported yet, so it’s possible they’ll just be the three selections that Houston is receiving from the Nets and Clippers.

As we wait for the Rockets to complete their offseason moves, here are a few more notes out of Houston:

Jeff Green‘s contract with the Rockets, originally reported to be worth $6MM for one year, will actually be for $16MM over two, with a non-guaranteed second year, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Marks adds that Green’s first-year cap hit will be $8MM. If that figure is precise, rather than rounded, it means the forward will have to be signed using cap room rather than the room exception, which maxes out at $7.7MM.
The hiring of Ime Udoka as head coach was a major factor in the Rockets’ decision to pivot away from James Harden and toward Fred VanVleet in free agency, a league source tells Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “From everything we’ve gotten out of there, it was a matter that Ime didn’t want him,” the source said. “At the beginning, were they thinking about Harden? Yeah. But then they hired Ime, and Ime said, ‘It’s not going to work here.'”
Appearing on The IkoSystem podcast, Kenyon Martin Jr. spoke to Kelly Iko of The Athletic about the trade that will send him from the Rockets to the Clippers. Martin said that he appreciates the opportunity the Rockets gave him and added that Houston “will always have a place in my heart,” but admitted he’s looking forward to returning home to Los Angeles, where he was born and raised (Twitter audio clip).

Hawks Sign Second-Rounder Lundy To Two-Way Contract

July 6th, 2023 at 4:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks have signed Seth Lundy to a two-way contract, according to the NBA transactions log.

Lundy was chosen with the No. 46 pick of the second round in last month’s draft. The former Penn State swingman had a highly productive four-year career with the Nittany Lions. Last season, Lundy started 36 games and averaged 14.2 points and 6.3 rebounds while making 40% of his 3-point attempts. He shot a high volume of 3s, making 92 of 230 attempts.

Atlanta currently has an overloaded roster, so it’s not surprising Lundy was given a two-way deal rather than a standard contract.

The Hawks have also officially signed forward Miles Norris to a two-way deal. Norris went undrafted and news leaked shortly after the draft that the Hawks had agreed to sign him a two-way contract.

Norris, who played his college ball at three different schools, spent the last three years at UC Santa Barbara. He averaged 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 35 games last season.

Scotto’s Latest: Beasley, Bucks, Plumlee, Spurs, McDaniels, McLemore

July 6th, 2023 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Before he agreed to join the Bucks on a minimum-salary deal, free agent swingman Malik Beasley received interest from several teams, including the Mavericks, writes Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. According to Scotto, Dallas considered the possibility of acquiring Beasley from the Lakers via sign-and-trade, but it didn’t work out.

New Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin was a factor in getting Beasley to Milwaukee, having spoken to the veteran wing during the team’s recruiting pitch, sources tell Scotto.

The Bucks currently have 12 players pencil in for standard contracts in 2023/24. Scotto hears that Thanasis Antetokounmpo and No. 36 pick Andre Jackson are candidates to end up on the 15-man roster. The team also needs to decide what type of contract No. 58 pick Chris Livingston will sign, Scotto notes. Currently, Lindell Wigginton and Omari Moore are on two-way contracts with Milwaukee, leaving one open two-way slot.

Here’s more from Scotto:

Veteran center Mason Plumlee drew interest in free agency from a number of playoff teams, including the Warriors and Hawks, before deciding to remain with the Clippers, league sources tell Scotto.
The Spurs, having already agreed to get involved in deals that will land them Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens, and Reggie Bullock, remain open to taking on unwanted contracts in order to add more draft assets, reports Scotto.
Before signing forward Jalen McDaniels as a free agent, the Raptors tried to trade for him multiple times, including at the 2023 deadline, according to Scotto, who says Toronto has been closely monitoring McDaniels since he was at San Diego State.
Veteran guard Ben McLemore, who was out of the NBA last season, will work out for multiple NBA teams during the Las Vegas Summer League, per Scotto. McLemore played in China last season after averaging 10.2 PPG in 64 games for Portland in 2021/22.
In case you missed it, we also rounded up several Knicks-related rumors from Scotto.

Fischer’s Latest: Bridges, Washington, Pelicans, Dosunmu, More

July 5th, 2023 at 9:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Prior to signing his $7.9MM qualifying offer, Miles Bridges was seeking around $25MM per year in talks with the Hornets, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. However, Charlotte was unwilling to approach that figure, which is why Bridges’ representatives quickly opted for unrestricted free agency in 2024.

Bridges was ineligible to be included in a sign-and-trade because he wasn’t on the team’s roster last season, having missed all of 2022/23 after facing a felony domestic violence charge. He agreed to a plea deal and was subsequently suspended by the NBA, who will require him to sit out the first 10 games of ’23/24.

Prior to that incident, Bridges was viewed as one of the top free agents of the 2022 class, having averaged 20.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 3.8 APG on 49.1% shooting in 80 games (35.5 MPG) in ’21/22. There was talk of him receiving $30MM annually in an offer sheet last year, according to Fischer, with the Pacers, Pistons and Grizzlies all linked to the 25-year-old forward.

Here’s more from Fischer’s latest story for Yahoo Sports:

Hornets restricted free agent forward P.J. Washington might have to wait a while in order to find the type of contract he’s seeking, and it might have to come via sign-and-trade. Marc Stein first reported that the former first-round pick is seeking around $18MM annually. According to Fischer, Washington is looking for $80MM over four years. Fischer writes that several agents seem to be pointing to Keldon Johnson‘s rookie scale extension with the Spurs as a benchmark of sorts in negotiations.
The Pelicans continue to gauge the trade market for reserve guard Kira Lewis Jr. and starting center Jonas Valanciunas, sources tell Fischer. Lewis is entering the final year of his rookie scale contract and could become a restricted free agent next summer, while Valanciunas’ $15.4MM deal is expiring.
Fischer hears the recent conversations between the Hawks and Raptors haven’t been very productive when it comes to a potential Pascal Siakam deal. On an unrelated note, Fischer also reports there’s optimism within Atlanta’s organization that the team will be able to extend Dejounte Murray.
The Raptors have expressed interest in Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, Fischer reports. However, it’s unclear if they’ll try to make a run at the restricted free agent via an offer sheet or sign-and-trade.
Like other reporters, Fischer has heard there’s mutual interest in a reunion between the Sixers and restricted free agent big man Paul Reed.

Raptors Rumors: Siakam, Anunoby, VanVleet, Ujiri

July 5th, 2023 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Although he reportedly doesn’t want to play anywhere but Toronto, Pascal Siakam and the Raptors have yet to formally meet to discuss a possible contract extension, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who says that trade speculation about the two-time All-NBA forward continues to percolate.

As Grange previously reported, the Hawks, who have been repeatedly linked to Siakam throughout the offseason, attempted to re-engage the Raptors in trade talks this past weekend, while other teams are also believed to have checked in. One possible trade scenario that Grange has heard about would involve both the Hawks and Rockets, though he’s not sure about the specifics.

Despite the rumors and speculation, it remains unclear whether the Raptors are seriously thinking about moving the 29-year-old. According to Grange, sources around the league who had questions about Toronto’s direction entering this offseason still haven’t been able to get a clear read on the front office’s plans.

“They’re not the easiest team to deal with, I’ll just say that,” one source said to Grange.

Siakam isn’t the only Raptors forward who should still be considered a possible trade candidate. OG Anunoby is entering a contract year and isn’t necessarily assured of a long-term future in Toronto. Grange says Anunoby “remains on the watch list for several teams” and singles out the Knicks as one club with considerable interest.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

According to Grange, the Raptors’ veterans – particularly Siakam and Fred VanVleet – were frustrated last season by some of the team’s younger players. VanVleet “let them know about it, something the younger set didn’t appreciate at all,” Grange writes.
In the same story, Grange says that Raptors president Masai Ujiri spoke to players multiple times last season to express his displeasure with “selfish play and poor body language.” According to Grange, former head coach Nick Nurse may have been planning his exit from the franchise during the season, recognizing that he would likely be let go at season’s end.
The best offer the Raptors were prepared to make to VanVleet in free agency was a four-year deal that included a partially guaranteed final year, with $100MM in total guaranteed money, Grange reports. VanVleet opted for the Rockets’ three-year, $128MM+ deal, even though it will reportedly only include two guaranteed seasons.
Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca checks in on a number of Raptors-related topics, including where the team’s 2023/24 cap stands and why the club decided to guarantee Thaddeus Young‘s $8MM salary for the coming season.

Celtics Rumors: G. Williams, Brown, Porzingis, Brogdon

July 4th, 2023 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics still have at least two major pieces of business to deal with in the coming days, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, who hears that team and league sources anticipate resolution on Grant Williams‘ restricted free agency before Jaylen Brown‘s contract extension.

The Hawks, Hornets, Mavericks, Knicks, and Wizards all remain contenders for Williams, says Weiss, noting that either a sign-and-trade deal or a mid-level offer has been considered the likeliest outcome for the RFA forward.

Multiple league sources tell Weiss they believe the Celtics would consider matching any offer worth up to the full non-taxpayer mid-level, but the team may not have the appetite to go much higher than that. If a rival suitor wants Williams badly enough, negotiating a sign-and-trade would ensure there would be no risk of Boston matching an offer sheet, but the Celtics have been seeking a first-round pick in sign-and-trade talks, Weiss reports.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Weiss reiterates a point made by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, writing that even though Brown is eligible for a super-max contract extension, there are details to negotiate, including whether or not the deal will include incentives and whether it will feature a player option. While negotiations are expected to “pick up steam” soon, the sense is that once Williams’ situation is resolved, the Celtics will have a clearer picture of how they’ll build around Brown’s extension, Weiss explains.
Kristaps Porzingis, who will earn $36MM in 2023/24, is expected to earn approximately $28.8MM in ’24/25 and $31.2MM in ’25/26 on his new two-year, $60MM extension. As Weiss writes, that pay drop will help the Celtics manage their tax situation and potentially avoid the second tax apron in future seasons, depending on what happens with Brown and Williams.
While one weekend report indicated the Celtics aren’t trying to move Malcolm Brogdon, Weiss doesn’t believe the possibility of a Brogdon deal has been entirely ruled out. If Boston were to deal Brogdon or Williams (via sign-and-trade), the team would likely prioritize acquiring a ball-handler who could complement Derrick White in the backcourt, Weiss says.