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And-Ones: Smith, Biyombo, Spurs, Hall, Almansa, Trade Market

August 7th, 2021 at 10:45am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons officially renounced their rights to Wayne Ellington, who has signed with the Lakers, and Dennis Smith Jr., according to the RealGM transactions log. The Hornets renounced four players, including Bismack Biyombo, while the Spurs renounced their rights to a whopping 13 players. San Antonio’s list includes Donatas Motiejunas and David Lee, who haven’t appeared in an NBA game for years. Renouncing those rights allows teams to maximize their cap room in free agency.

We have more from the basketball world:

Donta Hall has signed with France’s Betclic Elite side AS Monaco, Sportando relays. Hall, who turns 24 on Saturday, played 13 games with the Magic this past season on two 10-day contracts and an end-of-the-season deal via the hardship exception. The power forward also played a total of nine games for the Pistons and Nets in 2019/20.
Overtime Elite has added another top European prospect. Izan Almansa has signed with the league, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. The 6’9” Almansa, a 16-year old Spanish power forward, is the second player OTE has signed from Real Madrid’s youth program and seventh international prospect.
While free agency is winding down, the trade market could continue to percolate in the coming weeks, John Hollinger of The Athletic writes. Ben Simmons and Damian Lillard top the list of stars who could be on the move, while the Raptors and Magic are teams to watch, with the latter possibly taking on an onerous contract in order to acquire future assets.
The ESPN duo of Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks also take a look at unresolved storylines this month involving free agency, the trade market and potential extensions.

Pelicans Officially Acquire Valanciunas, Graham In Three-Team Trade

August 7th, 2021 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have officially announced a pair of previously–reported trades, having combined their acquisitions of center Jonas Valanciunas and point guard Devonte’ Graham into a single transaction involving both the Grizzlies and Hornets. Memphis and Charlotte have put out press releases as well.

The details of the three-team deal are as follows:

To Pelicans:
- Valanciunas (from Grizzlies)
- Graham (sign-and-trade; from Hornets)
- The draft rights to Trey Murphy (No. 17 pick; from Grizzlies)
- The draft rights to Brandon Boston (No. 51 pick; from Grizzlies)
  - Note: Boston will be rerouted to the Clippers in a subsequent trade.
To Grizzlies:
- Eric Bledsoe (from Pelicans)
- Steven Adams (from Pelicans)
- The draft rights to Ziaire Williams (No. 10 pick; from Pelicans)
- The draft rights to Jared Butler (No. 40 pick; from Pelicans)
  - Note: Butler will be rerouted to the Jazz in a subsequent trade.
- The Lakers’ 2022 first-round pick (top-10 protected; from Pelicans)
To Hornets:
- Wesley Iwundu (from Pelicans)
- The Pelicans’ 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected; from Pelicans)
  - Note: If the Pelicans’ 2022 first-rounder falls in the top 14, the Hornets will instead receive New Orleans’ 2022 and 2024 second-round picks, per Rod Boone of SI.com.
- Cash (from Pelicans)
- The draft rights to Tyler Harvey (from Grizzlies)

The details of the three-team trade essentially line up with what was previously reported, with two new pieces added — Iwundu going from New Orleans to Charlotte and Harvey’s draft rights going from Memphis to Charlotte. Harvey was presumably only included to ensure that the Grizzlies and Hornets were “touching,” since otherwise Memphis would only have been exchanging assets with the Pelicans.

Looping their sign-and-trade acquisition of Graham into the trade suggests the Pelicans will operate over the cap, using Bledsoe’s and Adams’ outgoing salaries in order to match both Valanciunas and Graham instead of signing Graham into cap space.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), it also allows New Orleans to generate a $17MM+ trade exception in the deal. Only Bledsoe’s and Iwundu’s outgoing salaries are needed for matching purposes to take on Valanciunas and Graham, meaning the Pelicans’ new TPE is worth Adams’ salary ($17,073,171).

Graham reportedly signed a four-year, $47MM contract with the Pelicans as part of the trade. He and Tomas Satoransky appear set to play the majority of the minutes at point guard in New Orleans, barring further roster changes. The team is sending Lonzo Ball to Chicago in a separate sign-and-trade deal.

Graham made just 37.7% of his field goal attempts in 2020/21, but his three-point mark was a very respectable 37.5%. In addition to his ability to make threes, Graham is an above-average play-maker (6.5 APG over the last two seasons) and a respectable defender.

Swapping out Adams for Valanciunas should allow the Pelicans to improve their frontcourt spacing. Valanciunas isn’t exactly a long-distance marksman, but has a solid mid-range game and will shoot the occasional three-pointer, which should create more room for Zion Williamson to operate. The former No. 5 overall pick averaged an impressive 17.1 PPG and 12.5 RPG with a .592/.368/.773 shooting line in 62 games (28.3 MPG) this past season.

From the Grizzlies’ perspective, the deal was a way to improve their draft assets in both 2021 and 2022 as a result of their willingness to take on Adams’ and Bledsoe’s pricey contracts. The team moved up from No. 17 to No. 10 to snag Williams, and later flipped the No. 40 pick (Butler) to Utah in a separate trade to move up to No. 30 for Santi Aldama.

[RELATED: 2021 NBA Offseason Trades]

The Hornets, meanwhile, decided to move on from Graham and got a protected first-round pick from New Orleans in exchange for waiving their right to match an offer sheet for the restricted free agent. Iwundu’s guaranteed $1.82MM salary for 2021/22 will eat up a small amount of Charlotte’s cap room, but the team will still have enough flexibility to complete its signing of Kelly Oubre to a two-year deal in the range of $12-13MM per year.

Rookie JT Thor Signs With Hornets

August 6th, 2021 at 1:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets have signed second-round draft pick JT Thor, according to a team press release.

Thor, a 6’9” forward, was officially acquired from the Pistons along with center Mason Plumlee on Friday in exchange for the draft rights of Balsa Koprivica.

[RELATED: 2021 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Terms of the contract are undisclosed, but the club is under the cap and has the ability to give him a starting salary worth more than the rookie minimum and/or a contract that covers more than two years.

Thor, the 37th overall pick, averaged 9.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 1.4 BPG in his lone season with the Tigers. Thor projects to spend most of his rookie season in the G League.

Pistons Trade Mason Plumlee To Hornets

August 6th, 2021 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: The trade is now official, according to press releases from both the Hornets and Pistons. Charlotte received Plumlee and the rights to No. 37 pick JT Thor in exchange for the rights to No. 57 pick Balsa Koprivica.

JULY 29: The Pistons and Hornets are finalizing a trade that would see Mason Plumlee sent to Charlotte along with the No. 37 pick in tonight’s draft in exchange for the No. 57 pick, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

The Hornets had been expected to be one of the NBA’s most aggressive teams in pursuit of a center this offseason and will get an early start on addressing that position by acquiring Plumlee, who averaged 10.4 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG in 56 games (26.8 MPG) during his first and only season as a Piston.

Plumlee had been set to earn $8.1MM in 2021/22 and will receive a 10% trade bonus as a result of the deal, bumping up that cap hit by $830K, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Even at close to $9MM, Plumlee’s deal isn’t particularly onerous, especially since it’s only partially guaranteed in 2022/23. So it’s somewhat surprising that the Pistons were willing to drop down 20 spots in the draft to move off of it, especially since GM Troy Weaver just signed Plumlee to that deal last offseason.

Still, Detroit will gain cap flexibility as a result of the trade and could open up about $20MM in space rather than operating over the cap this summer, tweets Nate Duncan. The move will also create additional playing time for promising young big man Isaiah Stewart.

The deal will have to be completed once the new league year begins, when the Hornets can take Plumlee into their cap space. They’ll still have about $13MM in projected cap room, according to Marks, so they could pursue another center in free agency.

Free Agent Rumors: Iguodala, Oubre, Williams, Smith

August 5th, 2021 at 9:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

A reunion between the Warriors and defensive specialist Andre Iguodala could be in the works. Iguodala has narrowed his choices to his former team along with the Nets and Lakers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Iguodala, 37, played 63 regular-season games with the Heat this past season and averaged a modest 4.4 PPG in 21.3 MPG, with a majority of his field-goal attempts coming from beyond the arc. Iguodala won three rings in six seasons with the Warriors.

We have more free agent buzz:

Free agent forward Kelly Oubre is in discussions with the Hornets, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets. Oubre averaged 15.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG for Golden State last season but only made 31.6% of his 3-point attempts. The Hornets are also reportedly pondering an offer sheet to Bulls free agent Lauri Markkanen — with approximately $14MM in cap room remaining, they wouldn’t be able to sign both players unless one accepted a very team-friendly rate.
Before Lou Williams chose to return to the Hawks, the Lakers, Warriors and Bucks showed interest in the three-time Sixth Man of the Year award, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Williams opted for a one-year, $5MM agreement with Atlanta.
Free agent guard Dennis Smith Jr. won’t return to the Pistons, Marc Berman of the New York Post tweets. That’s no surprise, considering Detroit drafted Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 pick and reached an agreement with Cory Joseph after declining its team option on him.

Hornets Considering Offer Sheet For Lauri Markkanen

August 5th, 2021 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets, one of the NBA’s only teams that still has cap space available, have “strong” interest in a potential offer sheet for Bulls restricted free agent forward Lauri Markkanen, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

By my unofficial count, Charlotte currently has about $14MM in projected cap room and could increase that number slightly by waiving one or more of the non-guaranteed contracts on the team’s books (Cody Martin, Caleb Martin, and Jalen McDaniels). That would likely be enough space to make a competitive bid for Markkanen and put pressure on the Bulls, who have the ability to match any offer sheet he signs.

Chicago will be hard-capped as a result of the club’s sign-and-trade deals for Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan. Accommodating a significant salary for Markkanen would potentially push the club into the tax and close to that hard cap. ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) said following the DeRozan agreement on Tuesday that the Bulls’ team salary was about $19.5MM below the tax line and $26MM below the hard cap, with six open roster spots.

The seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, Markkanen showed a ton of promise during his first two NBA seasons, posting a career-high 18.7 PPG and 9.0 RPG on .430/.361/.872 shooting in 52 games (32.3 MPG) in 2018/19. However, his development trajectory has leveled off since then, as he has battled a series of injuries and given the Bulls up-and-down production.

Still, the Finnish forward is only 24 years old and is a legitimate floor-spacing big man, having knocked down 40.2% of his three-point attempts this past season. Charlotte has plenty of talent in its backcourt (LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, James Bouknight) and on the wing (Gordon Hayward, Miles Bridges, P.J. Washington) and may view Markkanen as a nice fit up front.

If the Hornets is worried about a potential offer sheet being matched and the Bulls don’t want to risk losing Markkanen for nothing, the two sides could engage in sign-and-trade talks to ensure the seven-footer ends up in Charlotte and Chicago gets a minor asset or two in return for agreeing to let him walk. However, if Markkanen officially signs an offer sheet with the Hornets, a sign-and-trade would no longer be possible.

A restricted free agent can sign an offer sheet during the moratorium period, but the two-day matching clock doesn’t begin until the moratorium ends, so there’s no rush for Charlotte to get Markkanen to sign on the dotted line today.

For what it’s worth, a report earlier this week stated that the Spurs had interest in Markkanen in the DeRozan sign-and-trade, but weren’t comfortable meeting his asking price.

Trail Blazers Sign Cody Zeller

August 4th, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 4: The Trail Blazers have issued a press release formally announcing the signing of Zeller. Because it’s a one-year, minimum-salary contract, it can be completed during the free agency moratorium.

AUGUST 2: Free agent center Cody Zeller has agreed to a one-year deal with the Trail Blazers, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. It’ll be a minimum-salary contract, reports Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (via Twitter).

Zeller has spent his entire eight-year career with the Hornets. He averaged 9.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 1.8 APG in 20.9 MPG last season, though he only appeared in 48 games due to a hand fracture suffered during the season opener.

Zeller admitted prior to free agency he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I think the biggest thing is just being somewhere where I’m valued. I just want to win,” Zeller said.

Zeller will presumably back up Jusuf Nurkic, unless Portland makes some other moves.

Hornets Sign Scottie Lewis, Arnoldas Kulboka

August 3rd, 2021 at 7:54pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Hornets have signed Scottie Lewis and Arnoldas Kulboka to two-way deals, per a team press release.

Lewis is a 6’5″ defensive specialist out of the University of Florida whom the Hornets selected 56th in this year’s draft. As a sophomore, Lewis averaged 7.9 PPG, 1.5 SPG and 1.0 BPG but failed to take much of a step forward as an offensive prospect. He is considered one of the better defensive and athletic players in this year’s draft.

Kulboka was the 55th pick in the 2018 draft and has been a draft-and-stash prospect since then. The 6’10” forward averaged 9.2 PPG and 4 RPG while shooting 42.5% from three on 4.6 attempts a night for Bilboa Basket, and has played for the Hornets during the past two Summer Leagues (2018/19 and 2019/20).

Lewis and Kulboka will supplant Nate Darling and Grant Riller as Charlotte’s two-way players.

Hornets Sign James Bouknight, Kai Jones

August 3rd, 2021 at 7:35pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Hornets have officially signed their two first-round picks, finalizing deals with former UConn guard James Bouknight and former Texas big man Kai Jones, according to a team press release.

Bouknight was taken with the 11th pick after averaging 18.7 PPG and 5.7 RPG in his sophomore season as an athletic shooting guard carrying a major offensive load. He showcased tough shot-making ability, elite athleticism and a nose for getting himself open off cuts and off-ball movement. The highlight of his season was a 40-point game against the ninth-ranked Creighton.

Jones, another sophomore, gained steam as a first-round pick throughout the season, and was at times even considered a potential lottery pick, due to his combination of athleticism, fluidity, and burgeoning offensive skillset, including a promising-looking jump shot. The Hornets traded a protected future first round pick to the Knicks to get the No. 19 pick to select Jones.

According to the team’s press release, Jones became just the fifth Bahamian player ever selected in the NBA draft.

Bouknight’s deal is expected to start at approximately $4.1MM and be worth approximately $19.1MM over its duration, while Jones’ is expected to start at around $2.7MM and will be worth approximately $13.4MM.

Hornets Sign Ish Smith To Two-Year Deal

August 3rd, 2021 at 5:32pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 7: The Hornets have officially signed Smith, the team announced today in a press release. Based on the order in which Charlotte completed its roster moves this week, it looks like the team signed Smith using its room exception after using up all its cap space.

AUGUST 3: The Hornets have agreed to sign free agent point guard Ish Smith, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Charania reports (via Twitter) that it’s a two-year deal, with a team option on the second year. Smith will earn $4.5MM in the first year, Charania adds.

Smith, a Charlotte native, has spent the last two seasons in D.C. as a backup point guard for the Wizards. The 33-year-old averaged 6.7 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 3.4 RPG in 44 games (21.0 MPG) in 2020/21, with a shooting line of .434/.367/.576.

While the Hornets have LaMelo Ball atop their point guard depth chart and Terry Rozier as a strong second option, those two guards often share the court, so Charlotte needed to add a reliable backup after agreeing to send Devonte’ Graham to New Orleans in a sign-and-trade deal. It looks like the team has landed on Smith to fill that role.

The Wizards, meanwhile, are making major changes to their point guard position this offseason, as Russell Westbrook will be traded to the Lakers and Smith won’t be back. Washington has agreed to acquire Aaron Holiday from Indiana and is also finalizing a sign-and-trade deal to acquire Spencer Dinwiddie.