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Checking In On Unsigned 2021 NBA Draft Picks

August 18th, 2021 at 3:12pm CST by Luke Adams

When Usman Garuba officially signed his rookie contract with Houston earlier this week, he became the 30th and final first-round pick from the 2021 draft to sign his first NBA deal. There will be no draft-and-stash players among this year’s first-rounders — they’re all now officially on NBA rosters.

As our tracker shows, another 23 second-rounders from this year’s draft class have also signed their first NBA contracts or – in Joe Wieskamp‘s case – agreed to a deal that should be officially completed soon.

That leaves just seven prospects from 2021’s 60-player draft class who have yet to be signed. They are as follows:

New York Knicks: Rokas Jokubaitis, G, Lithuania
Boston Celtics: Juhann Begarin, G, France
Brooklyn Nets: Marcus Zegarowski, G, Creighton
Philadelphia 76ers: Filip Petrusev, F, Serbia
Philadelphia 76ers: Charles Bassey, C, Western Kentucky
Detroit Pistons: Balsa Koprivica, C, Florida State
Brooklyn Nets: RaiQuan Gray, F, Florida State

Of these seven players, at least three appear on track to spend the 2021/22 season in Europe. Jokubaitis returned to his team in Barcelona following his Summer League stint with the Knicks, while Petrusev signed with Turkish team Anadolu Efes after playing for the Sixers in Summer League. Begarin, who also played in Summer League for the Celtics, will likely end up heading back overseas to France

That leaves just four true unsigned second-round picks, including a pair of Nets. It will be interesting to see what Brooklyn’s plans are for Zegarowski and Gray. The team currently has 13 players on guaranteed contracts and one on a two-way deal, so there could conceivably be room for Zegarowski on the 15-man squad, with Gray getting the other two-way deal.

However, DeAndre’ Bembry has a partially guaranteed contract and looks like a good bet to make the Nets’ regular-season roster, and Reggie Perry (free agent) and David Duke (Exhibit 10) are among the other candidates to get a two-way deal from the team. It’s also not clear if Brooklyn intends to carry a full 15-man roster to start the season, since leaving a roster spot open would create major tax savings for the franchise.

I could envision a scenario in which Zegarowski signs a two-way contract and Gray signs a G League deal to play for the Long Island Nets, but that’s just my speculation. There are still a number of ways the Nets could go.

Meanwhile, prospects drafted in the 50s like Bassey (No. 53) and Koprivica (No. 57) are generally good candidates for two-way deals, but the Sixers and Pistons have recently filled both of their two-way openings. Perhaps Philadelphia envisions Bassey taking Anthony Tolliver‘s spot on the 15-man roster, since Tolliver is on a non-guaranteed contract.

It’ll be trickier for Detroit to find a roster spot for Koprivica. The Pistons already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and still may re-sign restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo. Stashing Koprivica overseas or in the G League could be the plan. Koprivica was born and raised in Serbia, so he might be more comfortable spending a season overseas than a typical NCAA draftee would be.

Eastern Notes: Fournier, C. Smith, Windler, Madar

August 18th, 2021 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Originally reported as being a four-year deal that could be worth up to $78MM, Evan Fournier‘s new contract with the Knicks could actually max out at $79MM, but only has a base value of $73MM, according to breakdowns from Bobby Marks of ESPN and Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links). The deal, which has a fourth-year team option, includes $1.5MM in annual unlikely incentives that account for that $6MM difference.

The exact value of Fournier’s first-year salary is $17,142,857, according to Smith. That figure is important because the traded player exception created by the Celtics in their sign-and-trade of Fournier to the Knicks is equivalent to that amount. Boston will have until the 2022 offseason to use that $17.14MM trade exception.

Here’s more from around the East:

The two-way contract that undrafted rookie Chris Smith signed with the Pistons will cover two seasons, according to Keith Smith (Twitter link).
A first-round pick in 2019, Cavaliers wing Dylan Windler tells Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that his NBA career has been a “really bumpy and rough road” so far. Windler, who is recovering from left knee surgery, has been limited to 31 NBA games in two seasons due to various health issues and acknowledges that he may be facing a make-or-break season. “I don’t really want to put that much pressure on myself, but in reality, yeah it is,” Windler said to Fedor. “The league is a hard place to stick around. Not a lot of guys last. I’m just hoping this season I can be fully healthy and pain free and then I will be able to show people what I can do when I’m at 100 percent. If that isn’t enough, then at the end of the day, you have to live with that.”
KK Partizan officially announced the signing of Celtics draft-and-stash guard Yam Madar to a three-year contract. While the Serbian team’s press release doesn’t mention NBA outs, Madar’s new deal will likely give him the opportunity to come stateside if and when Boston is ready to add the 2020 second-rounder to its roster, but it appears that won’t happen in 2021/22.

Atlantic Notes: Smart, Embiid, Madar

August 17th, 2021 at 9:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

Marcus Smart‘s extension with the Celtics puts him at the intersection of being a franchise cornerstone and on the trade block, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

As Weiss observes, the timing of Smart’s deal – during Summer League as opposed to right before the regular season – points to the possibility of his inclusion in a superstar deal, as the usual moratorium on trading players off an extension has been changed from six to five months due to the shortened offeason. As a result, Smart will be trade-eligible before the 2022 deadline.

Weiss adds that the Celtics wouldn’t make this deal strictly for trade purposes, noting that it’s also an indication of their belief in the gritty guard and that Smart and new head coach Ime Udoka are a match made in heaven.

“He has that edge and toughness about him,” Udoka said of Smart soon after being hired. “The things he brings to your team are the things you’d love every player to bring.”

Udoka also called Smart the heart and soul of the team. The four-year, $77.1MM extension is a bet that that’s still true even if he’s given the added responsibility of leading the team’s offense.

We have more news from the Celtics:

Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston has similar thoughts, writing that – rather than preventing the Celtics from adding another big name – the Smart extension actually opens up multiple pathways for a deal to be made. Forsberg adds that despite the Celtics signing Dennis Schroder, Smart should be considered the best bet to be the team’s starting point guard entering the season, and that much of the Celtics’ ceiling as a team will revolve around how the trio of Smart, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown is able to function together with Smart at the helm.
Joel Embiid‘s super-max extension does more than just lock up the Sixers’ All-NBA center through 2027, writes Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice. It also sends a message of stability and desirability to stars around the league as president Daryl Morey continues to shop Ben Simmons and hunt for a second superstar to pair with Embiid. Neubeck adds there were rumors the Knicks hoped to pair Embiid and Damian Lillard once Embiid’s contract ended in 2023, which is now off the table.
Partizan Belgrade is “very close” to a deal with Celtics stash pick Yam Madar to a two-year deal, according to a MozzartSport report (hat tip to Sportando). The Serbian team would pay $250K for Madar’s buyout with current team Hapoel Tel Aviv. It was previously reported that Madar was likely to sign with Ratiopharm Ulm.

Knicks Notes: Walker, Fournier, Dinwiddie, Cash

August 17th, 2021 at 6:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Knicks’ two-year, $18MM offer to Kemba Walker was the only one he needed to consider, the point guard said today during an introductory press conference for him and Evan Fournier.

“Perfect timing. Really motivated,” Walker said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Super excited that these guys have belief in me. That’s all I need. I just need somebody to believe in me. These guys do, and I appreciate that.”

Bontemps also writes that the status of Walker’s knee remains a big question. When asked if he’d play in back-to-backs this season (he didn’t last year), Walker replied with a smile, “You gotta ask (coach Tom Thibodeau).”

Thibodeau responded in a customary fashion. “Playing,” he said, eliciting laughter from those in attendance.

We have more Knicks news here:

Both the Clippers and Lakers were interested in trading for Walker, but couldn’t reach a deal with the Thunder, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Berman runs through what held up the Knicks in their pursuit of other guards, writing that they liked Lonzo Ball but wanted a more ready-made point guard. Berman adds that – given Walker’s and Derrick Rose‘s history of knee injuries – Immanuel Quickley and rookie Miles McBride may be more important than realized to the team’s success.
Spencer Dinwiddie responded to the claim in Berman’s article that he didn’t see the Knicks as “an appealing fit,” tweeting today, “Why y’all still writing this stuff about me? I never said that.” He went on to say he’s just happy to be a member of the Wizards.
The Knicks will send $110K to the Celtics as their return for the Fournier sign-and-trade, reports Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). In addition to the 28-year-old shooting guard, the Knicks will receive two future second-round picks (one heavily protected) for their role in helping the Celtics create a $17.1MM trade exception.

Knicks Acquire Evan Fournier From Celtics Via Sign-And-Trade

August 17th, 2021 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks‘ have turned their free agent agreement with swingman Evan Fournier into a sign-and-trade deal with the Celtics, announcing today in a press release that they’ve officially acquired Fournier and two future second-round picks from Boston in exchange for cash. Fournier received a four-year deal that includes a fourth-year team option and can reportedly be worth up to $78MM.

Turning the transaction into a sign-and-trade will allow the Celtics to create a traded player exception worth Fournier’s first-year salary. That new trade exception will be worth $17.1MM, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

The Knicks, meanwhile, had the cap room necessary to sign Fournier outright, but will pick up some extra draft assets due to their willingness to work with Boston on a sign-and-trade agreement.

According to Himmelsbach (Twitter link), one of the two second-round picks the Knicks are receiving is heavily (top-55) protected — it’s the Hornets’ 2022 second-rounder. The other pick will be a 2023 second-rounder that originally belonged to Oklahoma City, Washington, Miami, or Dallas.

It’s a similar move to the one the Celtics made last fall when Gordon Hayward left for Charlotte in free agency — the Hornets acquired a pair of second-rounders in that deal, while Boston created a $28.5MM trade exception.

Fournier, who had spent six seasons in Orlando entering the 2020/21 season, was traded from the Magic to the Celtics in a midseason deal that used the Hayward trade exception. He dealt with a handful of health issues over the course of the season, but had a solid overall year when he was available, averaging 17.1 PPG, 3.4 APG, and 3.0 RPG on .457/.413/.788 shooting in 42 total games (30.0 MPG) for Orlando and Boston.

The Celtics explored re-signing Fournier, but recognized they’d face competition on the open market and pivoted to acquiring Josh Richardson (using the rest of the Hayward TPE) to address the wing position. The Knicks ultimately outbid Boston to land Fournier.

“We identified Evan as a key addition as we entered free agency and are ecstatic that he’s joining us,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement. “He’s a great teammate, a fierce competitor, and a perfect complement to our returning players. He wants to be a part of what we are building here, and we are happy to have him join our family.”

The Knicks have now officially completed their deals with Fournier, Nerlens Noel, and Kemba Walker. The team still has to announce a few other signings, including Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, and Taj Gibson.

Yam Madar Expected To Play In Germany If Celtics Don't Sign Him

August 16th, 2021 at 8:22am CST by Luke Adams

If the Celtics opt not to sign 2020 second-rounder Yam Madar for the 2021/22 season, the expectation is that he’ll play for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany, according to reports out of Israel (hat tip to Sportando). Madar remains a candidate to come stateside, but Boston already has 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts (plus Jabari Parker on a non-guaranteed deal) for ’21/22, so it may be another year before the Israeli guard signs his first NBA contract.

Celtics Notes: Edwards, Langford, Hauser, Thomas

August 15th, 2021 at 10:53am CST by Arthur Hill

As he prepares for his third NBA season, Celtics guard Carsen Edwards hopes to move into a more defined role, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Edwards has played a combined 68 games in his first two years and saw just 276 minutes last season. An opportunity for additional playing time seemed to arise after Kemba Walker was traded, but that closed when Boston signed Dennis Schröder.

“I feel like, me just being a young player in the league and stuff, I feel like narrowing down on one thing is good,” Edwards said. “I want to improve on everything at the same time, but I’m mostly just working on my pace, shooting it consistently and just being comfortable with the ball.”

Edwards spent the start of the offseason working with a skills trainer, focusing on the sets the Celtics run and breaking down how to attack different defenses. He hopes to carve out a role as a bench scorer this season and give Boston an incentive to pick up his option for 2022/23.

“I think it’s just comfort, man,” Edwards said. “I feel like at times, just being able to slow down for me, just getting repetitions. I feel like just shooting and working out and stuff like that. Training is never the same as being in a game. So just whatever experience I can get just to be comfortable, just being at ease and be able to shoot it and not feel rushed, I think is a big, important part for me.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Romeo Langford, another young guard hoping to increase his playing time, is trying to make the most of his Summer League opportunity, notes Souichi Terada of MassLive. A lottery pick in 2019, Langford was limited to 18 games last season because of injuries. “He’s a very good player who plays the right way,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “There are times when he’s passive maybe, but regardless of whether it’s Summer League or a league game he’s going to be in the right spot and make the right read. He’s going to be a physical defender on and off the ball and it’s something he has to continue to work on.”
Sam Hauser said the Celtics only gave him 10 minutes to decide on their offer of a two-way contract after he wasn’t selected on draft night, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Hauser, who officially signed the deal on Friday, believes he made the right choice. “They said I had a really good workout,” he said of Celtics management. “They said they weren’t sure if I was in their range or not in the draft. But I ended up here so sort of a blessing in disguise, I guess. So. I’m happy with the fit. And I’m glad to be in Boston.”
Free agent guard Isaiah Thomas mentioned the Celtics this week as one of four NBA teams that have expressed interest in him, relays Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Atlantic Notes: Noel, Robinson, Bonga, Begarin

August 14th, 2021 at 1:59pm CST by Eli Cohen

Nerlens Noel had several suitors in free agency, but wanted to return to the Knicks to continue building on the progress from last year, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.

“There were other opportunities but I want to build on that and get this team to the next level,” Noel said. “Guys like Julius (Randle), RJ (Barrett), Derrick (Rose), we had pieces that can really come together. And I’m really confident we can be better.”

Berman also writes that Noel’s three-year, $27.2MM deal presents the Knicks with questions regarding young center Mitchell Robinson, who was one of the more productive young defensive centers in the league before injuries derailed his 2020/21 season. Robinson is eligible for a contract extension, but there has yet to be any indication whether the two sides will be able to get a deal done.

We have more news from around the Atlantic Division:

In the same piece, Berman writes that Robinson has been in Las Vegas, working out with Knicks staffers as he continues to progress from his broken foot. In a tweet, Robinson writes: “I look big asf them weights doing me some good and form looking great thanks Knicks staff.”
Isaac Bonga‘s deal with the Raptors includes a $200K guarantee, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic. The deal is presumed to be a training camp try-out, but the guarantee offers hope that Bonga may be able to stick. If so, the versatile wing could find himself in an ideal developmental situation with a team known for helping young players grow.
The Celtics’ 45th pick, Juhann Begarin, is ready to come over from France, writes Jay King of The Athletic, but team president Brad Stevens has other ideas. “Brad told me I would play in France for one more year,” Begarin said. “I think I’m ready to play with (the Celtics), and I knew summer league was an opportunity to show them I’m ready. I just asked him to play and show I can play with them.”

Celtics Sign Dennis Schröder To One-Year Deal

August 13th, 2021 at 5:40pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 13: The Celtics have officially signed Schroder, according to a team press release.

“We are really excited to welcome Dennis and his family to Boston,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement. “Dennis is a high-level player and competitor, who has consistently impacted winning with his play on both ends of the court.”

AUGUST 10: The Celtics and free agent point guard Dennis Schröder are in agreement on a one-year contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the deal will be worth the $5.89MM taxpayer mid-level exception.

Schröder has officially confirmed in an Instagram story that he’s joining the Celtics.

“This is one of the best franchises in NBA history and it will be a honour to put on the green and white and do what I love!” Schröder wrote. “I’m going out there every night and leaving it all on the floor for the city!! Who’s ready?!”

We first heard last week that the Celtics and Schröder were engaged in contract discussions, with a report earlier today indicating the team had offered him a one-year, $5.9MM deal.

Today’s report suggested Schröder was seeking a second-year player option and the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception (worth about $9.5MM), but the C’s wanted to maintain cap flexibility in 2022 and avoid hard-capping themselves this season. It appears Schröder relented.

Schröder had an up-and-down season for the Lakers in 2020/21 after being acquired from the Thunder last fall. His scoring average dipped to 15.4 PPG, his lowest mark since 2015/16, and his shooting numbers (.437 FG%, .335 3PT%) also fell off a little following a career year in Oklahoma City.

The 27-year-old struggled in the Lakers’ first-round playoff loss to Phoenix, putting up just 14.3 PPG and 2.8 APG on .400/.308/.846 shooting in six games (32.7 MPG), though he was coming off a case of COVID-19 near the end of the regular season.

Despite Schröder’s inconsistent play in Los Angeles, the extent to which his market collapsed is still surprising. He reportedly turned down a four-year extension offer worth in excess of $80MM during the season. When the Lakers agreed to trade for Russell Westbrook, it closed one door for Schröder, and the teams seeking a point guard in free agency didn’t have the German atop their lists of targets.

As a result, the Celtics – who traded away starting point guard Kemba Walker in June – will get a bargain for the 2021/22 season, while Schröder will look to rebuild his value in Boston before re-entering the free agent market in 2022.

As Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston notes (via Twitter), if the Celtics remain committed to not using more than the taxpayer portion of their mid-level exception, they’ll be limited to one- or two-year minimum-salary deals for any other signings, including draft-and-stash prospect Yam Madar.

Largest Trade Exceptions Created This Offseason

August 13th, 2021 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 26 trades have been completed to so far during the 2021 NBA offseason, and many of those deals generated at least one “traded player exception.”

As we explain in our glossary, a traded player exception allows a team to take on salary in a trade without sending out any salary in return. The amount of the exception plus $100K is the amount of salary the team is permitted to take back without salary-matching – either in a single deal or in multiple trades – for one year.

For instance, a team with a $10MM trade exception could acquire a player earning $4MM and a player earning $6.1MM without having to worry about sending out any outgoing salary.

One of the biggest trade exceptions ever created – the Thunder‘s $27.5MM TPE from last November’s Steven Adams trade – expired last week without being used, but Oklahoma City still has a pair of sizeable exceptions to work with, as our tracker shows. The team could also create upwards of $30MM in cap space by renouncing all its exceptions, including the mid-level and bi-annual.

While the Thunder have some big traded player exceptions, they aren’t one of the teams that created sizable new TPEs in offseason deals this year. Here are the largest new trade exceptions generated this summer:

New Orleans Pelicans: $17,073,171 (Steven Adams)
Brooklyn Nets: $11,454,048 (Spencer Dinwiddie)
Dallas Mavericks: $10,865,952 (Josh Richardson)
Boston Celtics: $9,720,900 (Tristan Thompson)
- Note: It’s unclear whether the Celtics absorbed Bruno Fernando‘s salary ($1,782,621) using the Thompson exception or their Kemba Walker trade exception ($6,879,100). We’re assuming for now that Fernando slotted into the Walker exception, reducing its value to $5,096,479. However, if he went into the Thompson TPE, its value would be reduced to $7,938,279.
Utah Jazz: $7,475,379 (Derrick Favors)
- Note: There was an expectation that the Jazz would slot Eric Paschall‘s salary ($1,782,621) into one of two trade exceptions that were set to expire on August 6. However, it appears the deal wasn’t completed until August 7 for logistical reasons, meaning the Favors TPE (originally $9,258,000) would’ve had to be used.
Indiana Pacers: $7,333,333 (Doug McDermott)
Chicago Bulls: $5,000,000 (Daniel Theis)

For a second straight year, a team generated the largest trade exception of the offseason by trading Adams. This time around, it was the Pelicans, who cleverly folded separate trade agreements with the Grizzlies and Hornets into one three-team deal, sending Wesley Iwundu to Charlotte to ensure that Adams’ salary wouldn’t be required for matching purposes.

The Pelicans and Mavericks are the two best candidates on this list to make use of their newly-created exceptions at some point. The larger the exception is, the easier it is to find a use for, and those are two of the three biggest in this group.

The other big TPE belongs to the Nets, but they’re already way over the tax line and will be reluctant to take on more salary unless they have a really good reason to do so. That’s probably true of most of the other teams on this list too — the Celtics and Jazz in particular have to be conscious of luxury-tax concerns as they mull the possibility of taking on additional salary. New Orleans and Dallas have more wiggle room, while the Pacers and Bulls are somewhere in between.

The full list of available trade exceptions can be found here.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.