- The Nets‘ NBA G League affiliate in Long Island recently announced a series of coaching changes. Shawn Swords, who was an assistant last season, has been promoted to associate head coach under Mfon Udofia, while Travis Voigt, Andrew Cobian and L.D. Williams were named assistant coaches.
With Josh Hart under contract well into the future, the Knicks could turn to extending another core member of their rotation, SNY’s Ian Begley writes. An Immanuel Quickley extension is the logical next step for the Knicks to take before he becomes a restricted free agent next summer. Begley notes that if Quickley and the Knicks are able to come to an agreement on an extension, it would give the Knicks seven players under contract through at least 2024/25, all of which are rotation pieces.
The deadline for the two sides to reach an agreement on an extension is on the eve of the ’23/24 season.
Signing Quickley would put the Knicks on track to surpass the luxury tax line, according to Begley, but owner James Dolan has never shied away from spending luxury tax money in the past.
The Knicks are hard-capped at the first tax apron this season, meaning they can’t spend more than a total of roughly $172MM in team salary. The Knicks are roughly $6.6MM shy of that apron at the moment, according to Begley, which they could use to augment the roster further. If Quickley signs an extension, it would be difficult to trade him until his extension kicks in. Hart is ineligible to be traded until the 2024 offseason.
Begley notes that while Hart’s $81MM of total salary appears large, it won’t account for more than 14% of the team’s salary cap in any year of his deal, which Begley argues is fair value for a starting-level rotation piece.
We have more from the state of New York:
- Peter Botte of the New York Post also writes that the Knicks should sign Quickley to a new deal before he becomes a restricted free agent. Quickley, a Sixth Man of the Year finalist, is in the final year of his rookie contract, which is worth approximately $4.17MM. The 6’3″ guard averaged 14.9 points and 3.4 assists per game last season while knocking down 37% of his 5.6 attempts from downtown per game.
- Hart’s new four-year, $81MM extension with the Knicks includes a team option on the fourth and final year, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). That means just $58MM of the contract is guaranteed, with the option being worth $22.3MM in 2027/28. Hart’s extension kicks in during the 2024/25 season.
- In a recent article, CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn ranked every traded future NBA first round draft pick. In total, Quinn ranks 56 picks that have shifted hands via various trades. The 2029 Suns first round pick grades out as the most valuable in Quinn’s eyes and that pick belongs to the Nets by virtue of the Kevin Durant trade at last season’s deadline. Quinn argues that it’s hard for teams to win championships and that Phoenix doesn’t have much room to improve beyond the next couple of years since the franchise traded virtually every pick it owned in exchange for Durant and Bradley Beal. In total, Quinn ranked two incoming Nets picks in the top three, and Brooklyn controls four of the top six picks Quinn ranks. The 2029 Mavericks first round pick that now belongs to the Nets via the Kyrie Irving trade comes in at No. 3, while the Suns also owe Brooklyn their unprotected 2027 first round pick and a 2028 first round pick swap, which rank No. 5 and No. 6 in Quinn’s list.
For the last few seasons, all the attention on the Nets was focused on their star players.
Now that James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have been dealt away, the spotlight on the franchise has dimmed. However, Brooklyn did make the playoffs last year after the blockbuster trades of Durant and Irving. The Nets got swept by the Sixers in the opening round but they have enough quality players to claim another postseason spot next season.
Coach Jacque Vaughn will have a major challenge trying to fit all the pieces together. Mikal Bridges, acquired in the Durant trade, is the closest thing the team has to an All-Star talent.
Cameron Johnson received a huge contract after entering the summer as a restricted free agent. Nic Claxton stands out at the center spot.
From there, it gets cloudy. Spencer Dinwiddie will likely reclaim the starting point guard spot but if Ben Simmons comes back strong, that could change. Royce O’Neale was a starter most of his career until the trades brought an influx of wings and forwards.
Dorian Finney-Smith started regularly after being acquired Dallas, but it’s no lock he’ll remain a part of the first unit. Simmons could be the starting power forward if he doesn’t displace Dinwiddie.
First-round picks Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead could also be part of the mix, though Whitehead is recovering from foot surgery.
The Nets added Lonnie Walker on a one-year deal in free agency and Cam Thomas, a 2021 first-rounder who’s had some big offensive nights, will also be pushing for a rotation spot. Brooklyn also signed Dennis Smith Jr., who could back up Dinwiddie if Simmons plays another position.
Day’Ron Sharpe could serve as Claxton’s backup if Vaughn opts against smaller lineups.
That brings us to our topic of the day: How do you think the Nets’ rotation will shake out this season? Which players will start? Who do you feel will be left out of the rotation?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Trendon Watford‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Nets is non-guaranteed for the time being, but the third-year forward could earn partial guarantees if he makes the opening night roster and holds his spot on the team for at least a couple months.
Watford will receive a partial guarantee of $200K if he isn’t waived on or before the first day of the regular season in October, Hoops Rumors has learned. That partial guarantee would increase to $700K if he remains under contract through December 19.
Watford’s full $2.02MM salary would become guaranteed if he isn’t cut on or before January 7. That’s the date that all players on non-guaranteed contracts must be waived by if their teams want to avoid paying their full salaries.
Here are a few more details on recently signed contracts:
- The one-year, minimum-salary deal that Frank Ntilikina signed with the Hornets is partially guaranteed for $200K, Hoops Rumors has learned. Ntilikina would have to remain under contract through the league-wide salary guarantee deadline of January 7 in order to earn his full $2.53MM salary.
- Souley Boum‘s non-guaranteed training camp contract with the Nuggets includes Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Boum would receive a bonus worth $75K if he’s waived before the regular season begins and then spends at least 60 days with the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s G League affiliate.
- In case you missed it, Anthony Davis‘ three-year, maximum-salary contract with the Lakers includes a third-year player option for the 2027/28 season, as Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported on Sunday when the deal was officially finalized.
After being limited to 19 games in 2021/22 — his rookie season — due to a right foot stress fracture he sustained in college, Pistons forward Isaiah Livers now realizes he may have done more harm than good with his strenuous workout regimen last offseason. He appeared in just 52 games during his sophomore campaign in ’22/23, having dealt with multiple injuries.
As Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press writes, Livers has taken a different, more measured approach this summer in an effort to prepare his body for an 82-game schedule.
“I’ve built a new friendship with the weight room,” Livers told Sankofa. “I feel a lot more explosive, bouncier, and I feel more in control of my body. It’s no secret, the No. 1 thing about me is just avoiding injuries. It’s been some small injuries. I tweaked my workout plan to the point where I won’t have those wear-and-tears, those nagging injuries. I’ve been put on a smart plan where I’m not overworking myself. This is the season. I’m excited and we have big things to look forward to.”
A relentless worker, Livers admits it hasn’t been easy to take a step back, but he knows ’23/24 will be a key season for his future. As Sankofa notes, the former second-round pick will be headed to restricted free agency next summer after Detroit exercised its team option on his contract at the end of June.
Livers also spoke to Sankofa about the return of Cade Cunningham and new head coach Monty Williams, among other topics. It’s an interesting, thoughtful interview and worth checking out for Pistons fans.
Here’s more from the East:
- Both Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson are thrilled to be able to represent Team USA in international competition, and the Nets are fully supportive of their choices, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes in a subscriber-only piece. “It seems so much fun,” Johnson said. “You know, I’ve talked to people that have played, I’ve talked to people that have been a part of it. They said it’s such a valuable experience for your career, and you can learn a lot from it. And then you just get the experience to see high level basketball across the world in a different type of environment. So I’m really looking forward to it.”
- Knicks guard Jalen Brunson believes playing for Team USA in the World Cup this summer will be beneficial for him entering the 2023/24 season, according to Ethan Sears of The New York Post. “I think it’s another way to get ready for training camp,” Brunson said. “You gotta look at it and see the positives that come out of this, going towards the NBA season. I know I’ll be ready for that. I think for me, my mindset is focused on this and not really worrying about what’s going on ahead right now.”
- Brian Robb of MassLive.com covers a number of Celtics topics in a mailbag article. Most of the questions are centered around how the team should fill out the end of the roster. Robb would take a patient approach and thinks free agent big man Christian Wood is an unlikely target for a variety of reasons.
Cameron Johnson is optimistic that Ben Simmons will look more like the player he used to be when the Nets open training camp in two months, writes Ethan Sears of The New York Post. Johnson said he was encouraged after talking to Simmons, who is working out this summer in Miami.
“He sounds good,” Johnson said. “He’s in a good place. He says it’s progressing and he’s excited for the season. Looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table this year. I expect him to be, if not full form, pretty close to it.”
Simmons only played 42 games in his first full season with Brooklyn and wasn’t on the court at all after February 15. When he did play, Simmons was dealing with back and knee issues that limited his effectiveness, as the three-time All-Star averaged just 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists. He also appeared reluctant to shoot, Sears observes, with the confidence problems that plagued him in Philadelphia continuing to affect his game.
Simmons was the centerpiece of the return Brooklyn got when it traded James Harden to the Sixers in February of 2022. Injuries kept him from playing for the remainder of that season, and he hasn’t really been effective since 2020/21.
Sears points out that Simmons is the only current Net ever to appear in the All-Star Game, and at age 27 he has the potential to become a veteran leader for an otherwise young team. He’s under contract for $37.9MM this season and $40.3MM in 2024/25, so it’s vital for Brooklyn that his production begins to approach his salary.
“He’s very important to us,” Johnson said. “There’s things that he does on the court that not many players in the NBA can do. And he adds something that is very valuable to myself, Spencer (Dinwiddie), Mikal (Bridges) and being able to set us up and get us shots and play in flow like that. With him on the court, it’ll make us a better team.”
When Simmons reports for training camp, he’ll have to get used to a new group of teammates. Sears notes that he only played three games after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were traded in February. The Nets are now built around Johnson and Bridges, who were acquired from Phoenix in the Durant deal, along with Dinwiddie and fifth-year center Nic Claxton.
Simmons has the talent to bring that group together, but only if he can overcome the physical and psychological issues that have derailed his career.
“We’ll have to learn how to play in a manner that suits him on the court,” Johnson said. “He allows for me, Mikal, Spence to run around and find opportunities. Always head up, always looking. We’ll have to fully develop how that scheme will look. “Defensively, we’ll have a unique advantage of having Ben and (Claxton), who can guard everybody on the court. Definitely a lot of positives there.”
- The signing of big man Trendon Watford is yet another indication that the Nets are embracing a youth movement this offseason, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. Brooklyn selected a pair of teenagers in the first round of the draft (Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead), a 22-year-old (Jalen Wilson) in the second round, and has signed free agents Dennis Smith Jr., Lonnie Walker, Darius Bazley and now Watford, all of whom are 25 years old or younger.
- Free agent big man Harry Giles is holding a workout on Saturday in Miami and the Nets will be in attendance, agent Daniel Hazan tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). As Bondy notes, Giles is eligible for a two-way deal after a clause in the new CBA was named after the former first-round pick, who missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. Brooklyn holds one open two-way slot, as our tracker shows. Giles also held a workout in Las Vegas last month, with at least five teams in attendance.
Although reserve big man Montrezl Harrell tore the ACL and medial meniscus in his right knee this summer, the Sixers intend to keep him on their roster, at least for the time being, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Though Pompey notes that Harrell, who inked a one-year, minimum-salary contract to return to the Sixers, most likely will not recuperate in time to play for the team in 2023/24, he believes retaining the former Sixth Man of the Year is the right play. Pompey suggests the Sixers could look to package his salary in a trade later.
Given that Harrell was the third or possibly fourth center on the club’s depth chart, he wasn’t likely to have played major minutes anyway. The 6’7″ vet averaged 5.6 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 2022/23, his lowest numbers since his 2015/16 rookie season.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets still have three roster spots – including one two-way slot – open ahead of training camp this fall, Net Income of Nets Daily writes. Net Income notes that the team still has its bi-annual exception and full mid-level exception at its disposal, and its $157MM in cumulative player salary puts it $9MM beneath the NBA’s $165MM luxury tax threshold. The free agent market at this point is a bit threadbare, so one wonders if Brooklyn would opt to use more than a veteran’s minimum on any of the still-available personnel.
- Knicks swingman Josh Hart becomes extension-eligible on August 9, but as Fred Katz of The Athletic notes, that isn’t stopping him from partaking in Team USA during this month’s FIBA World Cup. Katz writes that the typical move these days for players with big money potentially on the line is to preserve their bodies and avoid possible offseason injuries until a deal is done, but Hart is happy to buck that trend. An extension of his current deal could net him, at most, a four-year contract worth up to $81.3MM.
- Although he inked a new five-year, maximum-salary contract extension this offseason, All-Star Celtics wing Jaylen Brown still has one glaring issue in his game: protecting the ball. As Jared Weiss of The Athletic notes, Brown coughed up the ball 66 times during the 2023 playoffs, including eight incredibly costly turnovers in a Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals defeat against the Heat. Weiss takes a look at how Brown might be able to limit this particular problem going forward.
Former Nets swingman Terrence Williams has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for defrauding the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan for former players, per Priscilla DeGregory of The New York Post.
In 2021, Williams and 17 other ex-NBA pros were charged for an elaborate plot to steal $5MM from the league. Last year, he pled guilty to coordinating the scheme, which required he and his fellow ex-players cumulatively submit at least that amount in phony claims between 2017 and 2021. Williams also earned $346K in kickbacks for setting up the operation, DeGregory notes.
The most notable name on the list of additional players charged was former six-time All-Defensive Team shooting guard Tony Allen, who won a title with the Celtics as a reserve in 2008.
As part of an already established plea agreement, Williams was also ordered to pay $3.1MM in restitution and forfeitures. $2.5MM of that sum will be doled out in restitution to the league’s health care plan, while $650K will be forfeited to the federal government.
“Williams recruited medical professionals and others to expand his criminal conspiracy and maximize his ill-gotten gains,” the case’s prosecutor said, per DeGregory. “Williams not only lined his pockets through fraud and deceit, but he also stole the identities of others and threatened a witness to further his criminal endeavors.”
The then-New Jersey Nets selected Williams with the No. 11 pick in the 2009 draft out of Louisville. He spent just a year-and-a-half with the Nets, and subsequently bounced around during a brief four-season NBA career. Across 153 regular season games with the Nets, Rockets, Kings and Celtics, Williams averaged 7.1 PPG on .412/.317/.659 shooting splits, 3.6 RPG, 2.4 RPG and 0.5 SPG.
In addition to a later stint with the Lakers’ NBAGL affiliate, then called the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the 6’6″ shooting guard/small forward also played for international clubs in China, Turkey, the Dominican Republic, the Philipines, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Israel, and Venezuela.
3:25pm: Watford’s contract is non-guaranteed, per NetsDaily (Twitter link).
2:27pm: The Nets have signed free agent forward/center Trendon Watford, the team announced (via Twitter).
According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, Watford received a standard contract (Twitter link). It’s unclear if the deal is guaranteed.
Watford was surprisingly waived by the Trail Blazers at the end of June before his minimum-salary contract for 2023/24 became guaranteed. He went unclaimed and became an unrestricted free agent a couple days later.
The 22-year-old averaged 7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists with a shooting line of .560/.391/.720 in 62 appearances (19.1 MPG) in 2022/23.
Watford, who played two seasons of college ball at LSU, went undrafted in 2021 and caught on with the Blazers, initially signing a two-way deal. His contract was converted to a standard deal in February 2022 during his solid rookie season.
After officially signing Watford, the Nets are now carrying 17 players on their roster — 15 on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.