Brooklyn Nets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Brunson, Irving, Raptors

August 5th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

As the NBA continues its investigation into the timing of the Knicks‘ free agent acquisition of point guard Jalen Brunson, Fred Katz of The Athletic parses through the extant evidence. Rumors ahead of 2022 free agency suggested Brunson would leave the Mavericks for the Knicks to the tune of a fresh four-year, $104MM deal. When that chatter proved to be true, the league opted to look into just what transpired, and when.

Katz notes that it’s difficult to discern just what kind of pre-free agency conversations the NBA will frown upon, in part given the fact that Jalen’s father, former New York point guard Rick Brunson, was hired as an assistant coach under Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau in June. Knicks team president Leon Rose, once an NBA agent representing Rick, has known both Brunsons for decades.

Last year, the league opted to penalize the Bulls and Heat for what it perceived to be tampering violations in their 2021 sign-and-trade moves for Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry, respectively. Each team was forced to surrender an upcoming second-round pick. This year, in addition to the Knicks, the NBA is also investigating the Sixers for possible tampering violations.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

When Nets point guard Kyrie Irving returned to his native New Jersey for his pro-am “More Than A Run” All-Star Game at Kean University, Brooklyn made a point to showcase the moment on the team’s official social media platforms. In an effort to read the tea leaves, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com suggests that it appears to be increasingly possible Irving returns to Brooklyn this fall, rather than being offloaded in a trade ahead of the season. Kyrie’s teammates Kessler Edwards, David Duke Jr., and Royce O’Neale were all in attendance at the New Jersey event.
Heat point guard Kyle Lowry, at some point during his successful run with the Raptors, attempted to lure Vince Carter back to Toronto, Lowry revealed on Carter’s podcast The Vince Carter Show (Twitter video link via Uninterrupted Canada). “I tried to get Vince back with us at one point,” Lowry said. “We had conversations,” Carter confirmed. “We tried to get it done, it didn’t work out,” Lowry continued. “I was one of the biggest advocates that tried to get him back in Toronto and Vince was all-in.” It is unclear exactly when this recruitment transpired, but presumably this came fairly late in Carter’s illustrious career. The Raptors originally drafted Carter with the fifth pick out of North Carolina. The 6’6″ wing was named to his first five All-Star teams while with Toronto, before eventually being traded to the Nets in the midst of what was to be his sixth consecutive All-Star season in 2004/05. An eight-time All-Star overall, Carter would go on to play for an NBA-record 22 seasons. He finally retired at age 43 in 2020, following a two-year stint as a bench role player with the Hawks.
In case you missed it, 6’11” Serbian power forward/center Filip Petrusev, who was drafted with the No. 50 pick by the Sixers in 2021, expressed confidence in Philadelphia’s developmental plan for him. Petrusev, a native Serbian, will suit up for Serbian club Crvena Zvezda during the 2022/23 season.

NBA Teams With Open Two-Way Contract Slots

August 5th, 2022 at 2:31pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 18 NBA teams currently have both of their two-way contract slots filled, as our tracker shows.

That doesn’t mean those players will be locked into those slots for the rest of the 2022/23 season, or even until opening night, since two-way deals are low-cost contracts that don’t count against the salary cap, making them easy to replace. But it means those spots are unavailable for the time being.

That leaves 12 teams with at least one two-way slot available. Those teams are as follows:

Atlanta Hawks
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Washington Wizards

The Hawks, Hornets, Mavericks, Rockets, Clippers, the Trail Blazers, and Wizards have fairly straightforward two-way situations at the moment — they’ve each filled one slot and have one open, with no reports indicating that any of those teams has reached an agreement on a two-way deal with a free agent or draftee.

The Nets and Bulls also have one two-way spot filled and one open, but each of them has a two-way qualifying offer out to a restricted free agent — David Duke for Brooklyn and Malcolm Hill for Chicago. If those players simply accept their QOs, neither the Nets nor the Bulls will have a two-way opening.

The Spurs also have one two-way player signed and one spot open, though a Shams Charania report last month indicated that undrafted rookie Jordan Hall will sign a two-way contract with San Antonio. If and when that happens, the Spurs will join the list of teams with both of their two-way slots occupied.

The Pacers and Pelicans are currently the only two teams that don’t have a single player on a two-way contract. A Charania report way back in June suggested that Dereon Seabron would sign a two-way deal with New Orleans, but it hasn’t officially happened yet.

The best candidate for a two-way contract with Indiana, meanwhile, could be 48th overall pick Kendall Brown, who is one of a handful of 2022 draftees still unsigned. Even if Seabron and Brown sign two-way pacts, the Pacers and Pelicans would still each have one slot available.

Latest On Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving

August 5th, 2022 at 10:12am CST by Luke Adams

With no indication that the Nets have made any recent progress on a trade involving Kevin Durant, Ian Begley of SNY.tv says multiple people familiar with those discussions were pessimistic late last month about the odds of a deal getting done anytime soon.

As Begley explains, those sources suggested that teams around the NBA aren’t eager to be the third or fourth team in a trade that sends Durant to another club.

“No one wants to help (Brooklyn get a deal done),” one team told Begley.

While some of Durant’s potential suitors – including the Celtics and Raptors – have the pieces necessary to get a deal done without bringing in a third team, others would be hard-pressed to do so.

The designated rookie extension rule that prevents the Nets from acquiring certain players while Ben Simmons is on their roster further complicate certain straight-up trade scenarios — for instance, even if the Heat are willing to send Bam Adebayo to Brooklyn in a package for Durant, the two teams would likely need to bring in another team to take Simmons.

According to Begley, one source he spoke to near the end of July described the Durant talks as being in a “holding pattern.” It’s unclear if the meeting reported to be taking place between Durant and Nets owner Joe Tsai has occurred yet or if it will help the situation move forward at all.

Meanwhile, there have been no reports as of late indicating that the Nets have been actively pursuing a trade involving Kyrie Irving. According to Begley, a source close to the star point guard said this week that Irving is in a good place with the team and is comfortable remaining in Brooklyn to begin the 2022/23 season.

And-Ones: McCormack, Luxury Tax, OKC Blue, Harrison

August 2nd, 2022 at 10:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

David McCormack has signed with Besiktas in Turkey, according to a team press release. McCormack was reportedly signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Timberwolves but apparently chose to begin his pro career in Europe.

The undrafted big man out of Kansas was a prominent member of the Jayhawks’ national championship team. He spent all four of his college seasons at Kansas, starting 96 of 132 total games. In 2021/22, he averaged 10.6 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 40 contests (21.9 MPG).

We have more from around the basketball world:

A total of 10 teams are currently projected to collectively spend $650MM in luxury tax payments next season, according to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. That would an NBA record for tax penalties. The Warriors, Nets, Clippers, Bucks, Lakers, Sixers, Celtics, Suns, Nuggets and Mavericks all project as taxpayer teams for the time being.
The G League’s Oklahoma City Blue will continue to play the Thunder’s Paycom Center next season, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman reports. The Blue also played there last season, having been the only G League team to host their games in an NBA arena. They often had to play late morning or early afternoon games with the Thunder playing there on the same night.
Former NBA swingman Andrew Harrison has signed with Yukatel Merkezefendi Belediyesi in Turkey, as JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors relays (Twitter link). Harrison has suited up with the Grizzlies, Cavaliers and Pelicans during his NBA career. In his last NBA season, he played a combined 16 games with Cleveland and New Orleans in 2018/19.

Kevin Durant To Meet With Nets Owner Joe Tsai?

August 2nd, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been over a month since star forward Kevin Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn, and with no indication that any deal is imminent, Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com cites a source who says a meeting between Durant and Nets owner Joe Tsai is expected to take place in the coming days.

“What I’m hearing is that KD is going to meet with the owner this week,” Bulpett’s source said. “He’s going to go directly to the owner, Joe Tsai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works.”

Assuming that meeting takes place, it’s unclear what would come of it. It’s possible Durant wants to reiterate his request to be moved and to check in on where things stand. It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that he could back off that trade request if he gets certain assurances from Tsai and the Nets.

“I have no idea what’s going to come of that meeting,” the source told Bulpett. “There are some things that KD is unhappy about, and I’m not sure any of that gets fixed here. But maybe it does.”

The most recent solid rumor we heard related to the Durant sweepstakes surfaced last Monday, when ESPN and The Athletic reported that the Celtics had talked to the Nets about a possible deal and had been willing to include Jaylen Brown in their offer. Subsequent reporting has suggested that the offer in question was weeks old, and Bulpett says some of his sources have pushed back against the notion that it was ever really on the table.

The fact that the Celtics’ interest – and Brown’s potential availability – leaked at all didn’t sit well with some people around the NBA, one personnel executive from another club told Bulpett.

“I think there’s some teams that aren’t very happy that when they talk to Brooklyn it gets in the papers,” the executive said. “That doesn’t help. I’ve talked with a couple of teams that are not happy with the rumors that creep out of there through all this. It’s not a good way to do business.”

The exec added that he the Celtics and Nets “haven’t had any conversations for a while” and expressed skepticism that the two teams will get a deal done, according to Bulpett.

Checking In On Remaining Restricted Free Agents

August 1st, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the players who finished last season on an NBA roster and didn’t have a contract for 2022/23, there are still dozens of unrestricted free agents on the open market. However, the number of restricted free agents is far smaller.

As our list of current free agents shows, there are just eight restricted free agents still unsigned — four who received standard qualifying offers and four who received two-way QOs.

We’re already a month into the 2022 free agent period, but it’s possible that some of these restricted free agents will remain on the market for another month or two. Let’s take a closer look at the RFAs still available…

Standard RFAs:

Miles Bridges (Hornets)
Jordan Nwora (Bucks)
Collin Sexton (Cavaliers)
Joe Wieskamp (Spurs)

It’s no surprise that Bridges remains unsigned. He was arrested just before free agency began and now faces multiple felony charges related to domestic violence. The Hornets will certainly be in no rush to re-sign him as the legal process plays out, and Bridges’ $7.9MM qualifying offer won’t expire until October 1, so he’ll be in no hurry to accept it either. If and when Bridges is back under contract, the NBA would have the option of placing him on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation.

The other three cases here look more like straightforward examples of how restricted free agency often works. In all likelihood, the Bucks, Cavaliers, and Spurs have made preliminary offers to Nwora, Sexton, and Wieskamp, respectively, and have encouraged them to explore the market to see if they can get a more lucrative offer sheet elsewhere. Until that happens, those teams are unlikely to bid against themselves by increasing their offers.

We know, for instance, that the Cavs have reportedly offered Sexton a three-year deal worth roughly $40MM. He’s believed to be seeking a salary closer to $20MM per year.

All three players would have the option of accepting their qualifying offers and heading into the season on a one-year contract, but that may be a more viable path for Sexton, who is coming off a lost season and has a QO worth $7.2MM, than for Nwora ($2.1MM). Wieskamp’s qualifying offer is also relatively modest ($1.8MM), but his NBA résumé is far more limited than Sexton’s or Nwora’s, so it’s unclear if he’ll get a better offer than that.

Two-way RFAs:

David Duke (Nets)
Malcolm Hill (Bulls)
David Johnson (Raptors)
Brodric Thomas (Celtics)

A report in early July suggested that Duke was hoping to earn a standard contract from the Nets, and following a Las Vegas Summer League in which he averaged 19.0 points per game in five appearances, there’s no reason to think his stance has changed. Brooklyn only has 13 players on standard contracts, so a promotion remains in play for Duke, but the team likely wants resolution on the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sagas before locking in those back-of-the-roster spots.

Once Goran Dragic officially signs, the Bulls will have 15 players on standard guaranteed contracts and just one on a two-way deal, so they’d probably like to see Hill accept his two-way qualifying offer to fill that second slot.

It’s unclear what the Raptors‘ plans are for Johnson. The team has filled its two-way slots with new signees (Ron Harper Jr. and Jeff Dowtin) and there will be stiff competition for a spot on the 15-man regular season roster — the team already has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, plus three with partial guarantees and second-rounder Christian Koloko still unsigned. We’ll see if Johnson gets a chance to vie for one of those roster spots.

There may be a cleaner path for Thomas to earn a place on the Celtics‘ 15-man roster. Only 12 of Boston’s regular season roster spots are accounted for so far, so Thomas could get the chance to compete to be the 13th or 14th man. The team has already filled both its two-way slots with new additions (JD Davison and Mfiondu Kabengele).

Community Shootaround: Nets’ Future

July 31st, 2022 at 8:52pm CST by JD Shaw

With the futures of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant unclear, the Nets have a number of important decisions to make in the coming weeks and months. Durant requested a trade from the organization just over a month ago, while Irving reportedly hasn’t asked to be dealt since exercising his player option, but neither player is a lock to open the season in Brooklyn.

Durant and Irving — alongside DeAndre Jordan — first joined the Nets during the summer of 2019. The team has had a championship-caliber roster more than once since then, but injuries, availability and chemistry issues have hampered its chances of winning a title.

According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider-only), many figures around the league believe it’s virtually impossible to trade Durant. The 33-year-old has four years left on his contract and is a consensus top-five player in the world, making it difficult for rival teams to match Brooklyn’s high asking price. The Nets, according to Lowe, are hopeful Durant realizes this and eventually retracts his trade demand.

If the Nets find a way to trade Durant, the team would likely acquire high-level talent and a significant amount of draft capital. They would still have Irving, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, T.J. Warren, Ben Simmons, Nicolas Claxton and others, unless any of the players are included in the deal, of course.

We want to know what you think. If you were the Nets, what would you do? Would you shop around Durant and Irving with hopes of rebuilding, or would you only look to trade one player? Should Brooklyn consider moving any other players? If Durant retracts his request, are the Nets good enough to win a championship? Take to the comments section below and voice your opinions!

Kyrie Irving, Joe Tsai Exchange Pleasantries On Twitter

July 30th, 2022 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Precious Achiuwa could be a strong candidate for Most Improved Player next season, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said in a recent appearance on the Rapcity Keleten-Nyugaton podcast (hat tip to Aaron Rose of All Raptors).

“Wait till this year because every time I see him this summer on the court it’s total focus, total intensity,” Nurse said. “I mean, something happened to him where he now understands what playing in the NBA is about and he is on a mission.”

The 22-year-old center got off to a rough start in his first season with Toronto, but he seemed like a different player after the All-Star break. He averaged 12.2 points per game over the last part of the season and shot 39% from three-point range.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

There may be a thaw in the relationship between Nets management and Kyrie Irving, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Lewis notes that owner Joe Tsai recently retweeted a post praising Irving after the paper reported that he plans to play the upcoming season in Brooklyn. Tsai retweeted another post related to the “NYC Point Gods” documentary that suggested Irving would have excelled in the old era of New York City playgrounds and added the word “truth.” Irving responded with a video of burning sage, which is used by Native Americans to get rid of negative energy.
Thumb and finger surgery prevented Sixers center Joel Embiid from playing for the French national team this summer, per Basket News. Former NBA player Boris Diaw, who serves as general manager for the French team, said Embiid is in the process of being registered as a player for the national team. “His request for naturalization has been accepted,” Diaw said. “We know that he’s still waiting for the French passport. When he obtains it, then he can start the process and apply for a FIBA license for the national team.” Embiid is expected to make his debut with France during the 2023 World Cup.
Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice examines the options for the Sixers‘ fifth starter and compares how the team would look with P.J. Tucker, Danuel House, Matisse Thybulle or De’Anthony Melton in a starting role alongside Embiid, James Harden, Tobias Harris, and Tyrese Maxey.

Latest On Kevin Durant

July 30th, 2022 at 9:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant‘s trade request could push owners to seek new language in the collective bargaining agreement that protects teams with unhappy stars, even if that leads to a lockout, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The NBA is coming off a record-breaking season with $10 billion in revenue for the first time in its history, and neither side wants to see that interrupted. However, owners are determined to do something to stop the trend of players demanding to be traded with multiple years left on their contracts.

The current CBA runs through the end of the 2023/24 season, but either the owners or players can opt out by December 15 of this year. If that happens, negotiations would have to begin on a new deal.

Commissioner Adam Silver said Durant’s trade request wasn’t discussed during this month’s Board of Governors meeting, but Lewis expects it to become a very significant topic for the league. Silver recently commented on the Durant situation, saying contracts should be a “two-way street” and players need to “meet their end of the bargain.”

There’s more Durant news to pass along:

The market for Durant seems to be contracting and the Nets are in no hurry to get the situation resolved, observes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Phoenix appears out of the running after matching an offer sheet for Deandre Ayton, and Toronto remains unwilling to part with Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes. The Heat don’t have the assets to help Brooklyn remain competitive and may have shifted their attention to a potential Donovan Mitchell deal. Washburn adds that unless Durant decides to hold out, the Nets’ best strategy is to let the situation simmer until camps open.
Sources around the league tell Zach Lowe of ESPN that it’s virtually “impossible” to trade Durant because of the difficulty in establishing a fair value. A player of Durant’s caliber with four years left on his contract has never been on the trade market before. Lowe also hears from sources that Brooklyn hasn’t given up hope that Durant will realize this and retract his trade demand. Lowe recommends that the Celtics shouldn’t get too aggressive with trade offers unless they believe Jaylen Brown will leave as a free agent in two years.
Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks of ESPN examine why things became stagnant so quickly after Durant asked to be traded. Marks says the Nets are in a difficult position because they owe so many future draft picks to Houston, teams are generally satisfied with their rosters and aren’t looking for a major deal at this point of the summer, and Brooklyn’s front office is trying to make a “perfect” trade with an asking price that no one can meet.

International Notes: Irving, Adams, Bey, Dominican National Team

July 30th, 2022 at 6:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nets guard Kyrie Irving is already thinking about his career beyond the NBA. In response to a fan’s tweet about “gassing up” for the regular season, Irving speculated about his future several years down the road, saying he eventually expects to play overseas.

“I don’t ever have to Gas myself up,” Irving wrote (Twitter link). “I am going on my 12th year in the best league in the world and I am only getting better. When I am 38 years old and have time to reflect on my career truly, I will do so, but until then, I am enjoying every moment.”

“And no I won’t be done playing basketball at 38 years old lol,” he added (Twitter link). “I’ll be in leagues all over the world playing and teaching the youth all that was taught to me.”

Irving just turned 30 in March, so the future he’s talking about is several years away. He’s under contract to Brooklyn for one more season after picking up his $36.9MM option last month.

Here are some more notes related to international basketball:

Jaylen Adams, the Most Valuable Player in Australia’s NBL last season, has signed with KK Crvena Zvezda in Serbia, according to Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw (Twitter link). Adams, who appeared in seven games with the Bucks during the 2020/21 season, attended a mini-camp with the Lakers last month.
Former NBA small forward Tyler Bey is receiving interest from Ironi Ness Ziona in Israel, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Bey held a two-way contract with the Rockets in training camp last year, but he was waived before the start of the season and wound up playing for Houston’s G League affiliate. A former star at Colorado, Bey played 18 games with the Mavericks in 2020/21.
Al Horford, Karl-Anthony Towns and Chris Duarte are the most prominent names on the Dominican Republic’s preliminary 25-man World Cup roster, according to Cancha Latina. The team has qualifying games next month against Panama and Venezuela. Horford has been a member of the national team since 2008, and Towns has represented the country since 2012.