- Josh Okogie‘s busy workout schedule includes visits to the Suns, Jazz, Clippers, and Pacers, with possible returns to the Lakers and Celtics also possible, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. Okogie is considered a potential first-round pick.
The long-anticipated offseason meeting between Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and star forward Kawhi Leonard figures to happen sooner rather than later, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
As Wojnarowski outlines, the two men may actually have a series of conversations as they determine whether “a lasting trust and partnership can be rebuilt.” They’ll also discuss Leonard’s medical care and treatment going forward, his relationships with teammates and the coaching staff, and – of course – a possible contract extension.
While Leonard will be eligible for a super-max extension this offseason, that eligibility wouldn’t necessarily carry over to the 2019 offseason unless he once again earns an All-NBA spot – or wins the MVP or Defensive Player of the Year award – in 2018/19. That’s one reason why those extension talks will be so important, and why the Spurs not putting an offer on the table could theoretically prompt Leonard’s camp to push for a trade.
Here’s more on Leonard:
- The Celtics made a trade offer for Leonard prior to the February trade deadline, but the Spurs turned it down and didn’t make a counter-offer, league sources tell Wojnarowski. So far, San Antonio’s unwillingness to discuss trades involving the club’s standout forward has carried over to the offseason.
- If the Spurs do become open to making a deal, expect the Lakers and the Sixers to be among the teams expressing interest, says Wojnarowski. The Celtics may be a less likely suitor at this point, given the strides their young core made during the 2017/18 season — and postseason.
- Popovich wants to coach Leonard for the rest of his Spurs tenure, but the question of how much longer the veteran coach plans to stick around could be a factor in Kawhi’s decision on a long-term extension. According to Wojnarowski, few in Popovich’s “orbit” expect him to continue coaching the Spurs beyond the 2020 Summer Olympics.
- In a separate report for ESPN.com, Wojnarowski and Michael C. Wright provide details on a story related to Leonard, writing that his former agent – Brian Elfus – is suing Impact Sports for allegedly withholding commissions on multiple contracts, including Leonard’s current deal. Elfus claims he’s owed up to $5MM in damages.
Despite being eligible for a contract extension this summer, Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving is apparently not interested, reports Chris Forsberg of ESPN. Irving is quoted as saying he is “pretty sure management and I will have a talk, but that talk won’t happen now,” because “contractually, financially, it just doesn’t make any sense.”
Irving is instead focused on getting healthy for next season and helping Boston take another step towards an NBA Championship, saying that he intends to deflect focus off of his contract situation.
“The focus is solely on winning a championship next year. I don’t think [impending free agency will] necessarily have an effect. I’m doing my best to kind of deflect all that and focus on what’s in front of us.”
As for the extension-related issue, Irving’s logic is financially sound, as the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the players’ association caps the length of veteran extensions to five seasons, including the seasons remaining on the current contract. Moreover, it limits the salary in the first year of the actual extension to 120% of the player’s salary the previous season.
Irving, who is under contract next season for $20.1MM and holds a player option for the 2019/20 season worth $21.3MM, could choose to forgo exercising his option and sign a four-year extension worth about $108.1MM. Clearly, that figure is substantial; however, if Irving were to opt out next summer and become an unrestricted free agent, he would be eligible to utilize his Bird rights and sign a five-year deal with the Celtics worth upwards of $188MM, based on the latest salary projections for the 2019/20 season.
Irving, whose current contract is virtually identical to Spurs’ superstar Kawhi Leonard, is not eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension like Leonard because he hasn’t met the Designated Veteran Player 35% Max Criteria, nor has he remained with the same team throughout his current contract.
Irving was also asked about the prospect of potentially being reunited with former Cavaliers teammate LeBron James, saying that “in this business, I’ve experienced it all and I’ve seen a lot, so we’ll see what management decides.”
Irving further added that he’s navigating his rehab with caution but that he’s excited about his targeted return date of mid-to-late September.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert cannot offer LeBron James a stake in the franchise in an effort to retain his services, Michael McCann and Jon Wortheim of Sports Illustrated point out. The Collective Bargaining Agreement prohibits players from holding direct or indirect interest in the ownership of a team, thus the NBA would not approve a contract with any type of ownership provision, the story continues. The league has also been vigilant in preventing players and owners from intermingling their business interests, the SI duo notes. James can opt out of his contract or try to force a trade to a desired destination this summer.
Here’s some other interesting notes regarding the possibility of James playing elsewhere next season:
- The Rockets would need to either gut their roster or make a trade with the Cavaliers to add James, but the latter option is complicated by the team’s roster composition, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. The Cavaliers would likely want quality young talent to kick-start a rebuild in any James trade and the Rockets don’t have enough of those players while trying to match up salaries to absorb James’ $35MM contract, Feigen adds. The most desirable option for the Rockets is to dump Ryan Anderson‘s contract ($20.4MM next season and $21.3 MM in 2019/20) on a team with ample cap room, according to Kevin Pelton of ESPN. But Houston probably doesn’t have enough first-round picks to package with Anderson to get a third party to bite, Pelton adds.
- There are major obstacles to any possible pursuit of James’ services by the Celtics, DJ Bean of NBCSports.com notes. It’s highly unlikely that Boston would include Gordon Hayward in any deal, considering the high-level free agent chose Boston last summer and hasn’t even played a full game with the franchise, Bean continues. There’s also the sticky problem of trying to reunite James with Kyrie Irving, who asked out of Cleveland last summer. Acquiring James now would likely damage the team’s long-term prospects for being the dominant team in the league, given the assets they’d likely have to trade, Bean adds. Logically, the only big contract the Celtics would be willing to move is Al Horford‘s deal, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
- James’ decision will have more to do with his family than basketball, former teammate Dwyane Wade predicts, as Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald writes. “I don’t really think for him the basketball decision is ‘Oh, let me go team up with three All-Stars.’ I think at this point in his life it’s more so of a lifestyle thing,” Wade said. “Where is my family going to be the most comfortable at? Where am I going to be the happiest at? Because basketball-wise he’s so great, he can take along whoever.”
- The Lakers and Sixers are the favorites to land James while the Cavs are just a 5-1 shot to retain him, according to Bovada sports book, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The odds rundown can be found here.
Celtics swingman Abdel Nader underwent a right wrist arthroscopy and ulnar osteotomy on Friday to correct lingering issues from a fracture he suffered in high school, according to a team press release.
Nader is scheduled to return to basketball activities in approximately 2-3 months, and is expected to be at full strength for the start of training camp, the release adds.
Nader, a 2016 second-round selection, appeared in 48 regular-season games this past season. He averaged 3.0 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 10.9 MPG. The 6’6” Nader also appeared in 11 playoff games.
Nader is signed for three more seasons, but his $1.38MM salary next season is non-guaranteed.
Michael Porter Jr. was impressive at Friday’s pro day in Chicago, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Although there’s no question about his talent, several teams are concerned about Porter’s physical condition in the wake of back surgery that cost him nearly his entire freshman season at Missouri. Porter’s representatives will decide over the next few days which teams they plan to hold meetings with and who will receive his medical records.
Kyler adds that most scouts view Porter as a top three to five talent in the draft (Twitter link), but the back problems may scare some teams away. Even so, Kyler speculates that he won’t fall lower than the Bulls at No. 7 (Twitter link).
There’s more news as the draft draws closer:
- The Knicks are among several lottery teams that will travel to Chicago next week to meet with Porter, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link).
- The Suns are trying to arrange a workout with Oklahoma’s Trae Young, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Team officials are expected to meet with Young before the draft, but scheduling conflicts may prevent the Suns from working him out. Because Phoenix holds the No. 1 pick and Young is unlikely to be taken that high, Wasserman cites the report as evidence that the team is trying to acquire a second top 10 selection.
- Anfernee Simons, who worked out today for the Magic, has been among the most active pre-draft prospects, tweets Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Simons has already been to sessions with the Bulls, Suns, Trail Blazers, Lakers and Jazz and has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Grizzlies and Bucks.
- The Cavaliers brought in Alabama’s Collin Sexton for a workout today, tweets ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
- The Nuggets have six players scheduled for a session on Monday, according to a story on the team’s website. Expected to attend are Idaho’s Brayon Blake, Georgetown’s Marcus Derrickson, UNLV’s Brandon McCoy, USC’s Jordan McLaughlin, Wake Forest’s Doral Moore and Northern Colorado’s Andre Spight.
- Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez will work out tomorrow for the Spurs, Zagoria writes. The Mavericks will see him Tuesday, followed by the Raptors, then then Lakers on June 20. Rodriguez has also worked out for the Knicks, Nets, Suns, Thunder, Celtics, Bucks and Kings.
- The Nets have already held sessions with about 60 players, roughly the same amount the team saw through the entire pre-draft process last year, according to a story on NetsDaily.
LeBron James would still like to finish his career in Cleveland, but the events of the past year have him wondering if he can ever win another title there, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
A second straight lopsided Finals is only part of the picture, Windhorst notes, as the past 12 months have seen the loss of GM David Griffin, the trade of Kyrie Irving, a health scare for coach Tyronn Lue and two extreme roster makeovers. Mental mistakes from teammates in the Finals, highlighted by J.R. Smith‘s error at the end of Game 1, led to James wonder this week, “How do you put together a group of talent but also a group of minds to be able to compete” with the Warriors.
Cleveland enters this summer with no cap room and a once-promising draft pick that landed in the middle of the lottery. The Celtics and Sixers both took huge steps forward this season and appear to be the powers in the Eastern Conference for years to come, presenting a significant obstacle for James to ever reach the Finals again if he stays in Cleveland.
On top of that, Windhorst notes, there’s a trust issue with owner Dan Gilbert and a limited relationship with GM Koby Altman, who is barley older than James. In theory, the Cavs have the advantage of being able to offer a longer and richer contract than anyone else — five years at more than $200MM. However, James hasn’t inked a deal longer than two years since returning to Cleveland and seems to prefer the power he holds with short-term arrangements.
There’s more on LeBron as free agent speculation heats up:
- Expect the Cavaliers to see what they can get for a package of Kevin Love and the No. 8 pick in an attempt to convince James to stay, reports ESPN’s Zach Lowe. The team passed on chances to deal Love at close to maximum value and will have a hard time obtaining even half of that at this point, Lowe adds.
- Matt Goul of Cleveland.com is running through several potential scenarios involving James and the team’s future. His first story involves James staying in Cleveland and the Cavs trying to improve by drafting a starter at No. 8 and adding a free agent with their $5.4MM mid-level exception. Goul identifies several unrestricted free agents 30 or younger who may be available at that price: Celtics center Greg Monroe, Nets center Jahlil Okafor, Suns center Alex Len, Mavericks center Nerlens Noel, Nuggets guard Will Barton and Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans.
- Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype examines eight potential free agent destinations for James: the Clippers, Heat, Spurs, Warriors, Rockets, Lakers, Sixers and Celtics, as well as a potential future with the Cavaliers.
Georgia Tech’s Josh Okogie is drawing plenty of interest from teams with middle or late first-round picks, according to Adam Zagoria of the New York Times. Okogie has already worked out for the Grizzlies, Nets, Celtics, Hawks, Lakers, Nuggets, Bulls and Spurs. He’s got a second workout scheduled with the Spurs, along with visits to the Warriors and Trail Blazers, Zagoria adds (Twitter links). The 6’4” shooting guard is currently ranked No. 26 overall by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
In other draft-related news with the big day less than two weeks away:
- Duke big man Marvin Bagley III believes Deandre Ayton is being disrespectful by stating that he knows he’ll be the top pick, Bob Baum of the Associated Press reports. Bagley feels the Suns, who own the top pick, should bestow him that status. “I definitely believe I’m the No. 1 pick and if the Suns take me I’ll definitely show them why,” Bagley said after working out for Phoenix on Friday.
- The Bulls not only worked out Okogie on Friday but also Aaron Holiday (UCLA), Chimezie Metu (USC), Kameron Chatman (Detroit), Giddy Potts (Middle Tennessee) and Scottie Lindsey (Northwestern), according to a team release. Holiday was the headliner, as he’s rated No. 17 by Givony.
- The Hawks were among the teams at Michael Porter Jr.‘s workout in Chicago on Friday, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Atlanta owns the No. 3 overall pick.
After having stocked up in draft picks in many recent seasons, the Celtics head into this month’s draft with only one selection at No. 27 overall. That allows Boston to narrow its focus during its pre-draft preparations, and the club is doing just that as it weighs its options at No. 27, according to director of player personnel Austin Ainge (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com).
“I think there are about 10 guys that we’ve kind of narrowed it down to that we think have a chance to be there,” said the Celtics’ executive. “Like I said, we evaluate the whole draft all the time. But we’ve kind of tried to laser focus in to about 10.”
While no trades are likely to be completed until closer to – or during – draft night, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports believes there could be a lot of movement in this year’s draft, with several teams looking to trade up or down. Appearing today on Chris Mannix’s podcast, Charania pointed specifically to the Clippers as a team that has weighed the possibility of moving up. With the Nos. 12 and 13 picks currently in hand, L.A. could put together an intriguing package, and they’ve looked “heavily” at Real Madrid star Luka Doncic, according to Charania.
Here are more highlights from Charania’s appearance on the Yahoo Sports NBA podcast:
- Addressing the Kawhi Leonard situation in San Antonio, Charania indicated that an extension or a trade are the probable outcomes for the star forward this summer — it’s unlikely that the Spurs would keep him for next season without a new deal in place. However, both sides are interested in mending fences and clearing up last season’s miscommunications. Leonard is also nearing 100% health and should be ready to go to start next season, Charania adds.
- In a look at the restricted free agent market, Charania identified Magic forward Aaron Gordon and Bulls guard Zach LaVine as two players who could command max or near-max deals and are unlikely to change teams. He also speculated that the Suns, Kings, and Pacers are among the clubs with cap room who could be fits for Celtics RFA Marcus Smart, and said that there seems to be mutual interest between the Mavericks and Julius Randle.
- Raptors guard Fred VanVleet and Bulls swingman David Nwaba are two under-the-radar restricted free agents in line for sizable raises, in Charania’s view. He expects both players to land deals worth more than $5MM, noting that Toronto may have to use its full Early Bird exception (approximately $8.5MM) to retain VanVleet.
- While outside observers around the NBA remain skeptical about the Thunder‘s chances of re-signing Paul George, Oklahoma City is still exuding confidence, according to both Charania and Mannix. Charania observes that George and Russell Westbrook have become “really close,” which could factor into the forward’s decision.
- Many people around the league don’t expect former Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo to get another NBA job anytime soon, if at all, per Charania.