Cauchi cites a report out of Spain that Baskonia, where Larkin played two seasons ago, is interested in a reunion. The team is trying to make its roster as strong as possible in preparation for the 2019 EuroLeague Final Four in Vitoria, Spain. Anadolu Efes in Turkey and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel would also like to add Larkin, according to Cauchi.
The 25-year-old is an unrestricted free agent after signing a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Celtics last summer. He appeared in 54 games and posted a 4.3/1.7/1.8 line. He put up similar numbers in the playoffs before being sidelined by a sprained left shoulder in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
A first-round pick by the Hawks in 2013, Larkin never suited up for Atlanta but spent one season each with the Mavericks, Knicks and Nets. His best season came in 2015/16 when he averaged 7.3 points in 78 games for Brooklyn.
Tony Parker‘s decision to sign with the Hornets won’t change Kawhi Leonard‘s desire to leave San Antonio, tweets Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports. Schultz notes that Leonard “remains irate” with Parker over what he considers a downplaying of his quad injury. However, the locker room dysfunction goes beyond the relationship between Leonard and Parker, Schultz adds.
A rival GM tells Schultz that the Spurs haven’t relented at all on their asking price for Leonard (Twitter link). The organization doesn’t care if Leonard is unhappy in San Antonio and is refusing to consider reduced offers to resolve the situation. Schultz speculates that the Leonard trade drama could last through most of the summer, just as Carmelo Anthony‘s did a year ago.
There’s more news on Leonard to pass along:
Parker tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated that his reported feud with Leonard was blown out of proportion. “I have no problem with Kawhi Leonard,” Parker said. “We never had an argument. When the journalist asked me if my injury was worse than Kawhi’s, I said yes because it was true. But that didn’t lessen the significance of his injury. He took over the franchise and I gave up the torch of the franchise willingly. It’s very sad that the media took one quote and made it sound like I didn’t want to play with him. He was the face of the franchise.”
If he gets traded to the Eastern Conference, the Sixers are the only team Leonard would consider re-signing with, ESPN’s Chris Haynes said in an appearance on The Jump. Los Angeles remains Leonard’s first choice, Haynes adds, but he would be open to a long-term deal in Philadelphia if he winds up there. He notes that Leonard would not be interested in a similar arrangement with the Celtics, who are another reported suitor.
ESPN’s Michael C. Wright is the latest observer to say that the Clippers have overtaken the Lakers as Leonard’s preferred destination. Speaking on his podcast, Wright says “someone who would know” tells him that Leonard doesn’t want to be “second fiddle” to LeBron James with the Lakers. Wright adds that the Spurs aren’t impressed with anything the Clippers have to offer in a potential trade.
Up to eight teams have done background work on a possible trade for Leonard, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The Lakers, Clippers, Sixers and Celtics have been most prominently mentioned in trade rumors, but Kyler states that others are weighing the risks of a potential “rental” deal.
Two officials from teams that were interested in signing Smart tell Blakely they now expect him to return to Boston for another season. One of them adds that Smart’s restricted status is the reason he hasn’t received an offer sheet, as teams are convinced the Celtics will match it.
Smart has been frustrated with the free agent market so far and by the Celtics’ unwillingness to reach out to him to negotiate a new contract. Boston’s front office would like to keep Smart, Blakely adds, but it wants to do so based on his market value.
The Celtics also have to keep an eye on the luxury tax, which they will be close to paying, depending on the size of Smart’s contract. Team officials are content to let Smart and his agent find someone willing to give him an offer sheet, then make their decision based on that.
Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe reports that teams are willing to give Smart about $9MM annually, but he is looking for much more. A source close to Smart says he may wait until October to sign the QO from the Celtics, just in case another team decides to clear cap room in an effort to sign him. That same source adds that Smart feels betrayed by the Celtics and there’s a “95% chance” that he won’t sign a long-term deal with them this summer.
Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe provides an update on the Marcus Smart situation in Boston, confirming that Smart is frustrated by the negotiations – or lack thereof – with the Celtics so far. However, according to Himmelsbach, the C’s still consider Smart an “integral” part of their future and don’t view the current situation as a “standoff.” Himmelsbach also reports that there’s interest around the league in Smart at a price point of about $9MM per year, but he wants more, and could ultimately sign his $6MM qualifying offer if the offers don’t improve.
The Celtics extended their $6MM qualifying offer to Marcus Smart in the days leading up to free agency but haven’t been in touch since, Mark Murphy of The Boston Heralds writes. That’s left the 24-year-old guard feeling “hurt” and “disgusted.”
The Sixers have not made Markelle Fultz available in Kawhi Leonard trade talks with the Spurs, and the Celtics haven’t been willing to include Jaylen Brown in their discussions with San Antonio, ESPN’s Zach Lowe confirms in his latest article.
We’ve heardvariations on Lowe’s report for the last week or two, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link) recently suggesting that the Sixers don’t want to discuss Fultz, Joel Embiid, or Ben Simmons in Leonard talks, and adding that the Celtics’ top five players have been “off-limits” in negotiations with the Spurs — presumably, Woj was referring to Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and Al Horford.
Lowe’s full piece on the Leonard situation features several more tidbits of note, including some items only tangentially related to a possible Leonard trade. Let’s round up the highlights…
LeBron James isn’t pressuring the Lakers to add a second star for now, according to Lowe, who says that James “has faith in the combined powers of his supernova talent and the Lakers brand.” LeBron also recognizes that Brandon Ingram has considerable upside and is aware that many star free agents could be on the market in 2019, Lowe notes.
Lowe classifies rumors that Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irvingwant to play together as “credible chatter.” However, the Celtics remain confident that they’ll be able to re-sign Irving next year, per Lowe.
Details of Mike Scott‘s contract agreement with the Clippers have yet to surface, but Lowe indicates the deal will use part of the team’s mid-level exception rather than being a minimum-salary signing.
Lowe’s piece is worth checking out in full, particularly for a section in which he brainstorms hypothetical wild-card suitors for Leonard, exploring whether the Raptors, Trail Blazers, Wizards, Timberwolves, Thunder, Heat, Rockets, Bucks, Nuggets, Warriors, Pistons, or Kings might be fits — many are quick “no”s, but some generate some intriguing hypothetical deals.
The Celtics have officially signed first-round pick Robert Williams to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release. It’ll be a four-year deal worth a total of approximately $9.28MM, with third- and fourth-year team options.
Williams, considered a potential lottery pick heading into the draft, slipped further than expected and landed in Boston at No. 27 overall. While one reason for that fall may have been a lack of medical information available to some teams, there were also reported character concerns about the big man coming out of Texas A&M.
Williams didn’t exactly quiet those whispers to start his NBA career. After sleeping through an introductory conference call on the day after the draft, the rookie missed his flight to Boston for the start of Summer League practices over the weekend. Upon eventually arriving, he called it a “real wake-up call” and took responsibility for the mistake.
With Williams under contract, 24 of 30 first-round picks have now formally signed their rookie contracts. No real negotiations are involved for those deals due to the rookie scale, and teams have no reason to wait on them, since they can be finalized during the July moratorium.
Incoming first-round pick Robert Williams hasn’t made a great impression on the Celtics but an Associated Press report suggests that the big man won’t face any discipline for missing several team commitments less than a week into his NBA career. Not formal discipline, at least. “They discipline you with words,” the 20-year-old said. “More than you may know.“
Dante Exum‘s new contract with the Jazz may complicate the Celtics‘ negotiations with Marcus Smart, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Although he believes it’s “highly likely” that Smart returns to Boston, the news that Exum received $33MM over three seasons could make contract talks more difficult. They were drafted back-to-back in 2014, but Smart has played 99 more games and his career scoring average is more than four points higher.
There have been plenty of huge NBA headlines during the first few days of July, with LeBron James agreeing to become a Laker, Paul George deciding not to become a Laker, and DeMarcus Cousins lining up a deal with the defending-champion Warriors, among others.
However, for the most part, all has been quiet on the Kawhi Leonard front.
After Leonard’s camp made a public trade request earlier in mid-June, the Spurs forward seemed likely to dominate the offseason rumor mill, but for now, the primary suitors for the two-time Defensive Player of the Year may be playing it safe.
As Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports tweets, the Celtics and Sixers appear to be “playing the long game” on the Leonard front, not wanting to do anything rash with their rosters in great shape and LeBron finally out of their conference.
As for James’ new team in Los Angeles, the Lakers‘ other deals this offseason have suggested the club is retaining flexibility for the 2019 offseason, leaving the door open for Leonard to sign as a free agent and for the Lakers to keep all their young players and picks.
While the Lakers – wary of being too patient after what happened with George – may increase their efforts to land Leonard in a trade at some point, they “aren’t keen” on giving up Brandon Ingram, tweets Schultz. Meanwhile, the Celtics won’t give up Jayson Tatum and aren’t enthusiastic about moving Jaylen Brown, and the Sixers prefer to keep Markelle Fultz, Schultz adds.
While Schultz believes Leonard – who is unhappy in San Antonio and reportedly wants to play in Los Angeles – will be dealt eventually, he’s not sure where the star forward will end up. So we’re opening up that question to you.
What team to do you expect Leonard to be with to start the 2018/19 season? Will he get his wish to join the Lakers? Can the Spurs convince him to stick around a little longer? Will a budding Eastern powerhouse like the Celtics or Sixers go all-in for him? Could L.A.’s other team, the Clippers make a surprise play to land him? Or will a wild-card suitor enter the fray and steal him away?
Vote below in our poll and jump into the comment section to share your thoughts!