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And-Ones: Summer League, McClung, Motiejunas, NBAGL Showcase

July 21st, 2023 at 10:37pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hornets‘ poor play was one of the worst parts of Las Vegas Summer League, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic.

Despite having eight players on the roster attending (and a ninth, James Nnaji, as one of a handful of remaining unsigned draft picks), Charlotte went 1-6 and was minus-55 overall. No one played particularly well, with Hollinger noting that the team may end up regretting not taking Scoot Henderson instead of Brandon Miller, if their brief Summer League performances were any indication.

Of more immediate concern for the Hornets are the fourth-year team option decisions on 2021 first-round picks James Bouknight and Kai Jones, which are due by late October. Neither looks like a sure bet to have his option picked up, as both players struggled in Vegas despite entering their third seasons, Hollinger adds. Bouknight’s option in 2024/25 is worth $6.1MM, while Jones’ is worth $4.7MM — not exactly team-friendly rates given they haven’t contributed much thus far.

Nnaji showed some defensive promise, but may be a draft-and-stash prospect while he develops his offensive game, says Hollinger.

Among the other players who struggled in Summer League were Pistons center James Wiseman (poor screening and defense), Nets first-rounder Noah Clowney (looked overmatched) and Lakers draft picks Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis, according to Hollinger.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • On the other end of the spectrum, Hollinger also revealed his under-the-radar Summer League standouts for The Athletic, including Javon Freeman-Liberty, who just agreed to a two-way deal with the Raptors, and Cavaliers guards Sam Merrill and Craig Porter Jr., the latter of whom went undrafted and signed a two-way contract with Cleveland. Hollinger says he would have given Merrill, whose contract for next season is non-guaranteed, the Summer League MVP award over Cam Whitmore.
  • Free agent guard Mac McClung, who finished last season on a two-way deal with the Sixers, tells Sean Deveney of Heavy.com he’s focused on making another NBA team, but he’s open to going to Europe if he can’t find a roster spot. “We’ll see,” McClung said. “I am in free agency right now, my agent is talking to some teams, back and forth. We’re just trying to evaluate what is the best situation for me. Hopefully, I will be in the NBA next year and finding my way.”
  • Former NBA big man Donatas Motiejunas has signed a two-year extension with AS Monaco Basket, the team announced (via Twitter). Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com had the scoop on Motiejunas’ extension (Twitter link). The 32-year-old spent six seasons in the NBA, ending with a brief stint with San Antonio back in 2018/19. He was productive on a per-minute basis for Monaco, which won France’s LNB Pro A and finished third in the EuroLeague playoffs.
  • In 2023/24, the NBA G League’s Winter Showcase event will be held in Orlando instead of Las Vegas, league sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Showcase has been held Vegas for several years, but will be moving due to the NBA’s new in-season tournament, as the semifinals and final will be held in early December in Vegas.
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Ben Simmons Receives Service Credit For 2021/22 Season

July 19th, 2023 at 10:16pm CST by Rory Maher

Swingman Ben Simmons has been granted a year of service for 2021/22 despite missing the entire season, league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.

According to Lowe, Simmons’ service-time update came in the form of a side letter when the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was released in late June. The issue was a contentious one, with executives from several NBA teams arguing Simmons should not have received credit for ’21/22 due to his holdout.

Years of service impact how much money players can make, whether it’s the veteran’s minimum or a maximum-salary contract, among other benefits. Simmons now officially has seven years of service under his belt. He has technically only played in five of those seven seasons, with Simmons missing the entire ’16/17 season — which would have been his rookie campagin — due to a foot injury.

Simmons’ service situation for ’21/22 is intended to be viewed in isolation and is not meant to be a precedent for future cases, sources tell ESPN.

As Lowe writes, Simmons requested a trade in the 2021 offseason and refused to play for the Sixers in ’21/22. The three-time All-Star cited mental health issues for not fully engaging with the team.

Simmons was traded to the Nets at the 2022 deadline in the deal that sent James Harden to Philadelphia. He didn’t play for Brooklyn in ’21/22 either due to knee and back problems, undergoing a microdiscectomy surgery in April 2022 to repair a herniated disc.

The Sixers withheld Simmons’ salary in ’21/22, Lowe notes, citing a breach of contract. Simmons and the NBPA filed a grievance to recoup the withheld money, reaching a settlement with the Sixers last summer that paid Simmons a portion of the $20MM that was withheld.

Harden recently requested his own trade out of Philadelphia, but his situation is different because he’s in the final year of his contract. A clause in the CBA says if Harden were to refuse to report to training camp or play in games for more than 30 days, the Sixers could potentially block him from entering free agency and signing with any other team, including international clubs, sources confirmed to Lowe.

That said, a report earlier today indicated that Harden intended to show up to training camp if he was still on the roster at that time, so that could be a moot point. Still, it illustrates that there are potentially severe penalties to holding out in certain scenarios.

Simmons was limited to 42 games with the Nets last season, as knee and back issues continued to hamper the Australian. Brooklyn is hopeful he’ll be healthy by September before training camp begins.

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Contract Details: Yurtseven, Micic, Jones, Craig, Banton, Bazley, Petrusev

July 19th, 2023 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz‘s deal with Omer Yurtseven is a two-year contract that features a partial guarantee for 2023/24 and is non-guaranteed in ’24/25, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

As previously reported, Yurtseven’s first-year salary is $2.8MM. His partial guarantee for the coming season is worth half that amount ($1.4MM), tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. The big man’s deal has a descending structure, Hoops Rumors has learned, so assuming he remains under contract through the first year, his cap hit for ’24/25 will dip to $2.66MM.

Here are more details on a few recently signed contracts from around the NBA:

  • Vasilije Micic‘s three-year, $23.5MM contract with the Thunder includes a team option in the third year, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
  • The Spurs signed Tre Jones to a two-year contract with a descending structure, Hoops Rumors has learned. The guaranteed base salaries are worth approximately $9.9MM and $9.1MM, for a total of $19MM. Jones can earn an extra $1MM in unlikely incentives to increase the total value of the deal to $20MM.
  • Torrey Craig‘s two-year deal with the Bulls, which includes a second-year player option, is for the veteran’s minimum.
  • Dalano Banton‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Celtics is partially guaranteed for $200K in 2023/24. His guarantee will increase to a little over $1MM (50% of his salary) if he remains on the roster beyond the first day of the regular season. His second year is a team option.
  • Darius Bazley‘s one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Nets is non-guaranteed. He’ll receive a $200K partial guarantee if he makes the opening-night roster. That partial guarantee would increase to $700K if he’s still under contract beyond December 15.
  • The Sixers signed Filip Petrusev to a two-year, minimum-salary contract that is non-guaranteed in the second season. The first year is partially guaranteed for $559,782, which is half of the rookie minimum (and the equivalent of the full-season salary for a player on a two-way contract).
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Nets, Cavaliers To Play In NBA’s 2024 Paris Game

July 19th, 2023 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets and Cavaliers will compete in the NBA’s Paris Game in 2024, the league announced today in a press release.

The game will take place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France on January 11, 2024.

After having previously only held exhibition games in Paris, the NBA played its first regular season game at Accor Arena in January 2020, when the Bucks faced the Hornets. Following a three-year layoff due to COVID-19, the league returned to Paris this past January, with the Bulls facing the Pistons.

The contest between the Nets and Cavaliers will be the NBA’s third regular season game in France. It’ll also be the first one that features two playoff teams from the prior season.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing the live NBA experience back to Paris with two exciting teams in the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in a statement. “This game has become a destination for our passionate fans across Europe and will build on the incredible momentum around basketball and the NBA in France and throughout the region.”

The NBA’s popularity in France figures to be on the rise this season due to the stateside arrival of No. 1 overall pick and generational prospect Victor Wembanyama. A previous report indicated that there’s hope that the Frenchman’s Spurs will get a chance to participate in the Paris game in 2025.

The league announced in May that the Mavericks and Timberwolves will take part in a pair of October preseason games in Abu Dhabi, but has yet to confirm any other regular season games that will take place outside of the U.S. or Canada in 2023/24. Last season, in addition to the Paris contest, the Spurs hosted a December game in Mexico City.

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Nets Sign Armoni Brooks To Two-Way Contract

July 18th, 2023 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have signed free agent guard Armoni Brooks to a two-way contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) first reported the agreement.

Brooks, 25, has appeared in 74 games for the Rockets and Raptors since the start of the 2020/21 season, averaging 6.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG on .366/.330/.758 shooting. He was in camp with Atlanta last fall before being waived in October.

Although he hasn’t really shown it at the NBA level yet, Brooks is a solid outside shooter, having made 38.6% of his career three-pointers on 7.2 attempts per game in 86 G League contests. He also played well for the Nets’ Summer League team in Las Vegas this month, putting up 17.8 PPG on a scorching hot .500/.476/.875 shooting line.

Brooks and Jalen Wilson now occupy two of Brooklyn’s three two-way contract slots. RaiQuan Gray had also been on a two-way deal with the team, but was waived this afternoon, so the Nets still have one slot open.

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Nets Waive RaiQuan Gray

July 18th, 2023 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have officially waived forward RaiQuan Gray, the team announced today (Twitter link). Gray had been on a two-way contract with the team.

The 59th overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Florida State, Gray spent his first professional season in the G League with the Long Island Nets. He signed a training camp contract with Brooklyn in the fall of 2022 but didn’t make the regular season roster and was cut before opening night, ultimately spending a second season in Long Island before being promoted to a two-way deal during the final week of the 2022/23 season in April.

After an underwhelming rookie season at the G League level, Gray emerged as a full-time starter this past year, averaging 15.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 2.6 APG with a .578/.382/.629 shooting line in 18 games (30.6 MPG).

Because the two-way deal he signed in the spring included a second year, Gray remained under contract with the Nets when the ’22/23 league year ended and the ’23/24 league year began. However, it seems he wasn’t in the team’s plans for the coming season after all.

With Gray on waivers, Brooklyn now has Jalen Wilson and Armoni Brooks, who signed with the team today, on two-way contracts.

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Mfon Udofia Hired As G League Coach

July 17th, 2023 at 10:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • The G League’s Long Island Nets are hiring Mfon Udofia as the team’s head coach, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Udofia previously coached with the Nigerian National Team and was on the staff of the G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers last season.
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Rockets’ Cam Whitmore Named Summer League MVP

July 17th, 2023 at 2:46pm CST by Rory Maher

Rockets forward Cam Whitmore has been named the Las Vegas Summer League Most Valuable Player, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

The NBA also announced its All-Summer League First and Second Teams, which are as follows (Twitter links):

First Team

Second Team

According to the NBA (Twitter link), Christie and Moon received the same amount of votes, which is why there is an additional backcourt player on the second team.

Whitmore, a projected lottery pick in last month’s draft who fell to Houston at No. 20, averaged 20.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.2 APG and 3.0 SPG on .465/.293/.625 shooting in his five Vegas Summer League games, per NBA.com.

Houston faces Cleveland at 8 p.m. CT tonight in the Summer League championship game. Both teams are undefeated, holding identical 5-0 records.

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Darius Bazley Signs One-Year Deal With Nets

July 16th, 2023 at 4:53pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 16: Bazley has officially signed with the Nets, the team’s PR department tweets.

JULY 14: The Nets are signing free agent big man Darius Bazley to a one-year contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Bazley was the No. 23 overall pick of the 2019 draft. He spent his first three-plus seasons with the Thunder prior to being traded to Phoenix at the February deadline.

Like all former first-round picks who have all four years of their rookie scale contract exercised, Bazley was eligible for restricted free agency had the Suns given him a $6.2MM qualifying offer.

They chose not to, making him unrestricted and free to sign with any team. It wasn’t surprising given that Bazley had limited role with Phoenix, only appearing in seven games and a total of 61 minutes down the stretch.

Overall, the 6’8″ forward/center has averaged 9.1 PPG and 5.3 RPG on .411/.310/.673 shooting in 218 career games (118 starts, 3.6 MPG) with the Thunder and Suns. Bazley is still just 23 years old, a high leaper, and has shown flashes defensively. He also handled his inconsistent playing time last season with Oklahoma City very professionally.

Brooklyn technically hasn’t used any of its mid-level exception or bi-annual exception, but I’m guessing Bazley will be on a minimum-salary deal, given the timing of it (two weeks into free agency) and the Nets’ proximity to the luxury tax.

The Nets have focused on youth and athleticism this offseason, also signing Lonnie Walker and Dennis Smith Jr., two more former first-round picks.

As Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes, Bazley will fill Brooklyn’s 15th and final standard roster spot for now. However, the Nets could have another spot open soon. Guard Edmond Sumner, whose non-guaranteed contract becomes fully guaranteed tomorrow after he agreed to push back the guarantee date, sent out a tweet talking about overcoming adversity.

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Free Agent Rumors: Oubre, Jones, Brooks, Smith, Giles

July 15th, 2023 at 1:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The Mavericks are actively looking to improve their roster and have shown “exploratory interest in several free agent forwards,” including veterans Kelly Oubre and Derrick Jones Jr., league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Although Dallas technically still has a good chunk of its full mid-level exception available, the team has yet to sign first-rounder Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and once that occurs the Mavs will be pretty close to the luxury tax line. They do have an open standard roster spot and could offer a free agent more money than the veteran’s minimum, but not much more unless other moves are made.

On a related note, Scotto confirms that the Mavs continue to shop Tim Hardaway Jr. and JaVale McGee in trade talks. Recent rumors have indicated Dallas tried to package Hardaway and McGee to the Pistons for Bojan Bogdanovic and Killian Hayes.

Scotto hears Detroit was looking for “essentially two first-round picks” in exchange for Bogdanovic last season, though Hayes could available with a glut of guards on the Pistons’ roster.

Here are more free agent rumors from Scotto:

  • Free agent guard Armoni Brooks, who has been playing well for the Nets in Summer League, could be a candidate for a two-way deal from Brooklyn, according to Scotto. However, if that doesn’t transpire, the 25-year-old has also drawn interest from “multiple EuroLeague teams,” Scotto reports. Brooks holds two years of NBA experience with the Rockets and Raptors. He played for Atlanta’s G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, in 2022/23.
  • League sources tell Scotto that the Hornets offered Dennis Smith Jr. more than the veteran’s minimum to return to Charlotte, but the Nets reached out to the point guard right after free agency opened and he saw an opportunity for more playing time in Brooklyn. The fact that he was a priority for the Nets also appealed to the former lottery pick, says Scotto.
  • The Pistons, Cavaliers, Knicks and Bucks were among the teams who watched Harry Giles‘ recent workout in Las Vegas, sources tell Scotto. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News recently reported that members of the Timberwolves attended as well, which Scotto confirms. A former first-round pick, Giles has been out of the league the past two seasons after playing with the Kings and Trail Blazers from 2018-21. Still just 25 years old, Giles recently discussed his attempt to make it back into the NBA.
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