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Southeast Notes: Atlanta, Young, Butler, Ware, Hornets

June 28th, 2024 at 10:29pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Hawks‘ trade of Dejounte Murray will make the roster cheaper, more coherent, and a better fit around star guard Trae Young, The Athletic’s John Hollinger writes. However, it’s not clear whether Young remains in the franchise’s long-term plans.

While the roster might fit better together now, the Hawks have gone 161-157 over the past four seasons and don’t necessarily appear any closer to being a contender in the Eastern Conference. However, due to the original acquisition of Murray, the Spurs control the Hawks’ first-round picks for the next three drafts (unprotected in 2025 and 2027 and an unprotected swap in 2026)

That’s why, Hollinger writes, the Spurs are the most logical trade partner for any deal involving Young. San Antonio is looking for an elite point guard to pair with Victor Wembanyama, and the combined salaries of Devonte’ Graham (whose guarantee date was just pushed back), Zach Collins and Tre Jones match Young’s, Hollinger points out.

Outside of Young, offers for the likes of Clint Capela and De’Andre Hunter have been lacking, Hollinger hears from league sources, but more moves out of Atlanta are expected.

For now though, this is Young’s team and the trade of Murray allows for more roster flexibility, including unlocking the non-taxpayer mid-level exception as a result of ducking under the luxury tax line.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Heat star Jimmy Butler is planning to play out the 2024/25 season and then opt out of his contract and hit unrestricted free agency next year, without signing an extension. While it isn’t the ideal outcome for either side, it represents a middle ground that allows Butler to bet on himself and buys the Heat time to figure out their future. As William Guillory of The Athletic writes, Miami understands Butler is the key to any postseason success this season. Still, Guillory wonders if it might make more sense to turn the page on the Butler era as the team quietly continues building a strong young core.
  • The Heat introduced the newest member of that young core to the media on Friday, with No. 15 overall pick Kel’el Ware making his press debut. “We feel very fortunate that we were able to get the specific player we wanted, that can complement our team, can complement Bam [Adebayo],” Heat president Pat Riley said, per the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. Ware immediately becomes the tallest player on Miami’s roster.
  • The Hornets waiving Seth Curry and declining the team option on JT Thor‘s contract suggest they’re preparing to operate as a cap room team if they lose free agent forward Miles Bridges, Hollinger writes in a separate post. The Hornets could create up to $23MM in cap space if they waive the non-guaranteed contracts of Aleksej Pokusevski and Bryce McGowens.
  • The Hornets also introduced draft picks Tidjane Salaün and KJ Simpson on Friday. The duo represents vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson‘s first two pieces of his roster vision and culture. “[Salaün and Simpson] just embody everything that we want to be about,” Peterson said, per The Charlotte Observer’s Roderick Boone. “They are extremely unselfish. They work, they understand the importance of putting the time in. It’s the only way you are going to get the results that you want. They compete and they just have an amazing outlook and approach in terms of how to get better on a daily basis. So these two guys just embody exactly what we want to be about going forward.“
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Hornets Decline Team Option For JT Thor

June 28th, 2024 at 5:02pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Hornets have declined their team option for 2024/25 on forward JT Thor, the team announced (Twitter link). The option would have been worth $1,988,598.

Thor, the 37th overall pick in the 2021 draft, is eligible to receive a qualifying offer since he has just three years of NBA experience, but the Hornets indicated that he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.

Still only 21 years old, Thor never emerged as a reliable rotation piece in Charlotte through the first three seasons of his career. He appeared in 69 games and made eight starts in 2022/23 but averaged just 14.0 minutes, 3.8 points, and 2.2 rebounds per contest. One of the more productive stretches of Thor’s career came in the final 12 games of the ’22/23 season, when he averaged 9.6 PPG and 3.9 RPG while making 40.0% of his threes.

Thor played one collegiate season at Auburn, showing impressive instincts on both sides of the ball that saw him gradually climb up 2021 draft boards.

In all, Thor averaged 3.2 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 165 appearances with the Hornets.

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Hornets Waive Seth Curry

June 28th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

4:00pm: The Hornets have officially waived Curry, the team confirmed (via Twitter).

3:52pm: The Hornets are waiving sharpshooter Seth Curry before his $4MM salary for 2024/25 becomes guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Friday represented the deadline for Charlotte to make a decision on that $4MM — it would have become guaranteed if Curry had remained under contract through today. While the Hornets have opted not to lock that money onto their ’24/25 cap, the two sides have mutual interest in exploring a new deal in free agency, says Wojnarowski.

The younger brother of Stephen Curry, Seth actually has a better career three-point percentage (43.1%) than his superstar sibling (42.6%). However, the 33-year-old – who obviously isn’t Steph’s equal as a play-maker or all-around scorer – is coming off a down year in 2023/24. He appeared in a total of 44 games for the Mavericks and Hornets, averaging just 5.1 points per game on .392/.352/.903 shooting.

The younger Curry, who was sent from Dallas to Charlotte in February as part of the trade package for P.J. Washington, was able to suit up for just eight games down the stretch for his hometown Hornets, as his season ended early due to a sprained ankle.

He’ll clear waivers on Sunday if he goes unclaimed.

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USA Basketball Announces 15-Man Select Team

June 28th, 2024 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has announced in a press release that a 15-man Select Team will train with the U.S. Olympic squad as it prepares for the upcoming Olympics. The Select Team, which is made up mostly of younger players and some who have previous Team USA experience, will work out with the men’s national team in Las Vegas from July 6-8.

The members of the Select Team are as follows:

Perhaps the most notable name on the list is Flagg, who has committed to Duke and will begin his first college basketball season in the fall. He’s viewed as a strong candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Duren, Galloway, Murphy, Murray, and Pritchard were part of the U.S. Select Team that trained with the national team ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

It’s possible some of these players will use their Select Team experience as a springboard to represent Team USA in international competitions down the road. Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, and Tyrese Haliburton are among the players on this year’s Olympic team that were members of a Select Team earlier in their respective careers.

The select team will be coached by Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, who will be joined by assistants Jim Boylen and Matt Painter. Boylen, a former Bulls head coach and current Pacers assistant, was Team USA’s head coach during the qualifying contests. Painter has been the longtime head coach at Purdue.

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Free Agent Rumors: KCP, George, Thompson, Bridges, More

June 28th, 2024 at 6:58am CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is declining his 2024/25 player option and becoming an unrestricted free agent, appears more likely than not to switch teams this offseason, Marc Stein writes at Substack, citing league sources.

Stein, who has previously mentioned the Sixers and Magic as potential suitors for Caldwell-Pope, once again names them as teams who are well-positioned to make runs at the 31-year-old if they so choose, noting that Denver has luxury tax and apron concerns to consider. The veteran wing is considered to be a “strong possibility” for Orlando, per Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

According to Stein, the Mavericks are another potential suitor to watch for Caldwell-Pope, with league sources saying there’s mutual interest between the two sides. However, Dallas is operating over the cap and would need to make a sign-and-trade deal to make a competitive contract offer to Caldwell-Pope. There’s a sense that the Nuggets won’t have interest in accommodating a sign-and-trade with a conference rival, Stein writes, even if it means losing their starting shooting guard for nothing.

Here are a few more free agent rumors and notes from around the NBA:

  • Within a look at Paul George‘s potential free agency, Amick and Slater of The Athletic confirm that the Warriors‘ interest in the Clippers star is “legitimate” if he decides to go the opt-in-and-trade route instead of declining his 2024/25 player option. The Nuggets also recently had interest in George in that scenario, but don’t appear prepared to pursue a deal that would see them give up Michael Porter Jr. and “significant” draft capital, per The Athletic’s duo. For what it’s worth, Denver only has one tradable future first-round pick.
  • Despite a report from their colleague Shams Charania indicating that the Sixers‘ interest in pursuing George has “waned,” Amick and Slater cite a source who advises not to rule out Philadelphia entirely. The 76ers could offer George a maximum-salary deal using their cap room if he reaches the open market.
  • The Sixers also have interest in Klay Thompson, who continues to have little contact with the Warriors as he nears free agency, according to Amick and Slater, who add that the Nuggets also have Thompson on their list of potential replacements if they lose Caldwell-Pope. It’s hard to see how Denver, whose team salary is right at the luxury tax line, could make Thompson a strong offer unless more cost-cutting moves are made.
  • Discussing unrestricted free agent forward Miles Bridges, Hornets head of basketball operations Jeff Peterson confirmed reporting that has suggested the team wants to re-sign Bridges. “I’ve made it very clear to Miles that we want him to remain as a Hornet,” Peterson said (story via Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer).
  • Isaiah Hartenstein and Nic Claxton top John Hollinger’s list of free agent centers at The Athletic by a wide margin over the rest of the class, with Hollinger’s BORD$ formula favoring Hartenstein. Claxton already has a four-year deal lined up to remain in Brooklyn, making Hartenstein the clear top option on the open market.
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Nuggets To Trade Reggie Jackson To Hornets

June 27th, 2024 at 4:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have agreed to trade veteran point guard Reggie Jackson to the Hornets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from a source that Charlotte will also receive three second-round picks in the deal.

The Nuggets will send out their own 2025, 2029, and 2030 second-round picks in the swap, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). They’ll receive cash from the Hornets, tweets Matt Moore of Action Network.

The news comes just three days after Jackson picked up his $5.25MM player option with Denver for the 2024/25 season.

Jackson, who originally signed with Denver on the buyout market in February 2023, struggled down the stretch during the Nuggets’ championship season, making just 38.3% of his field goal attempts (27.9% of his three-pointers) in 16 regular season games before falling out of the rotation for the playoffs.

However, the Nuggets opted not only to retain him for the 2023/24 season but to give him a raise, signing him to a two-year, $10.25MM contract using their taxpayer mid-level exception. The 34-year-old responded with a strong bounce-back season, averaging 10.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .431/.359/.806.

Despite that solid ’23/24 season, the Nuggets are essentially moving Jackson in a salary-dump deal, attaching future draft assets to move him and create some additional breathing room below the tax aprons.

According to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), Denver’s team salary is now right around the $171MM tax line and approximately $19MM below the second apron. If the club wants to remain below that second apron and re-sign veteran wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is declining his $15.4MM player option, additional cost-cutting moves would likely be required.

It’s unclear whether or not Jackson will be in the Hornets’ plans for 2024/25. The team is expected to operate under the cap this offseason, so it could use cap room to take on the guard’s expiring contract. The $8MM room exception can also be used to acquire players via trade now, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets.

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Lee Impressed With Talent Level

June 27th, 2024 at 2:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Charles Lee, the new Hornets coach, said that LaMelo Ball is focused on being durable next season after a couple of injury-riddle campaigns. “I think that he’s just doing all that he can possibly do to make sure that he’s more available this year, a little bit healthier,” Lee told Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Obersver. “Injuries are going to happen, but if you can do a lot of the work on the front end, hopefully you can create some luck where you avoid one or two of these little minor, nagging injuries. And then outside of that, I just think that offensively, he’s going to be a big component or a big part of us being able to play fast.”
  • The Hornets are coming off a 21-win season but Lee is impressed with the talent level within the roster, according to the Associated Press. “We have a very, very good team here,” Lee said. “We’ve been snakebit with some injuries. … But this group is focused on the right things. The expectations are that we are going to compete every night, whether it’s a home game, road game or whoever is playing. This is going to be a group that is together offensively and defensively, no matter who is on the floor.”
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Trade Rumors: Kings, Wizards, THJ, Grizzlies, Rockets

June 26th, 2024 at 10:07pm CST by Luke Adams

In the minutes and hours leading up to their No. 13 pick in tonight’s draft, the Kings were engaged in trade talks involving that selection, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).

Sacramento ultimately used that pick to select Providence guard Devin Carter and it doesn’t appear that there are any plans to trade him, but it seems safe to assume the Kings will remain on the lookout for help on the wing. Anderson says Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma and Nets sharpshooter Cameron Johnson were among the names he heard linked to the Kings, while Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) notes that Sacramento expressed interest in another Net, Dorian Finney-Smith, prior to February’s trade deadline.

Here are a few more draft-day trade rumors:

  • The Wizards have emerged as another “viable” trade partner for the Mavericks with Tim Hardaway Jr., according to Marc Stein (Twitter link), who previously identified Detroit as a possible landing spot for Hardaway. Unlike the Pistons, Washington doesn’t project to have cap room this offseason, so Dallas would likely have to take back some salary in a deal with the Wizards. As Stein points out, the two teams have already made one trade this year, with Washington sending Daniel Gafford to the Mavs in February.
  • Before drafting Ron Holland at No. 5, Detroit talked to the Grizzlies about a trade back to No. 9, but Memphis didn’t present anything “substantial” to convince the Pistons to make a deal, reports James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. The Grizzlies, who were believed to be eyeing Donovan Clingan, also spoke to the Hornets about the No. 6 pick, according to Fischer (Twitter link). Clingan ultimately went to Portland at No. 7, with Memphis opting for another center, Zach Edey, at No. 9.
  • Despite rumors that the Rockets want to turn around and immediately trade the draft assets they got from Brooklyn for a star – possibly Kevin Durant – Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle believes the team will take a longer-term outlook. As Feigen writes in a subscriber-only story, if Houston were prioritizing making a deal in the short term, the Nets picks they gave up would’ve been valuable assets. By kicking those picks down the road, the Rockets created a longer runway to explore the trade market and pursue possible deals.
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Draft Rumors: Hornets, Salaun, Nets, Celtics, Spurs

June 26th, 2024 at 6:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets are considering Tidjane Salaun with the No. 6 pick, sources tell Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The French power forward has been rising up draft boards recently.

Salaun had to cancel workouts with Charlotte and Detroit after spraining his ankle during a recent session in San Antonio, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN. He did work out for the Trail Blazers, who hold the seventh pick, and the Spurs are believed to have interest at No. 8, so there’s a good chance he’ll be selected somewhere in the middle of the lottery. Oklahoma City (No. 12) and Sacramento (No. 13) also hosted workouts with Salaun.

Here are a few more rumors as the draft draws closer:

  • The Nets are “open for business” after reaching an agreement to trade Mikal Bridges to New York, tweets Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith are among the players believed to be available as Brooklyn tries to move into the first round.
  • The Celtics are shopping the final pick in the first round in hopes of acquiring some extra selections later on, a source tells Brian Robb of MassLive. Robb notes that Boston sent out two second-round picks to acquire Xavier Tillman from Memphis and another in the Jaden Springer deal with Philadelphia, so the team is short on second-rounders. A source tells Robb the Celtics are planning offseason extensions with Derrick White and Sam Hauser, so it will be important to fill out the roster as inexpensively as possible.
  • The Spurs will be looking for shooters with at least one of their lottery picks, general manager Brian Wright told Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. The team ranked 28th in three-point shooting percentage this season. “We broke the (franchise) record for (total) three-pointers, but then percentage-wise we’re towards the bottom end of the league, right?” Wright said. “So I think you obviously want to add shooting.” McDonald views Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard as a possible shooting upgrade with the fourth pick if he slips past Houston at No. 3, while Tennessee forward Dalton Knecht is in the mix at No. 8.
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Rockets Rumors: No. 3 Pick, Smart, Williams, Sheppard

June 26th, 2024 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets continue to field inquiries on the No. 3 overall pick in Wednesday’s draft and are seriously considering the possibility of making a move, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who says there are multiple teams with genuine interest in acquiring that pick and some possible trade structures already in place.

That doesn’t mean Houston won’t still ultimately decide to stand pat and make a pick at No. 3, but Iko considers the odds of a Rockets trade higher than they were in any of the previous three lotteries.

While Houston would love to use that No. 3 pick as part of a package to acquire an impact player, there’s no indication that any real progress has been made on a deal along the lines. The expectation, team and league sources tell Iko, is that the Rockets will instead instead prioritize future draft assets (preferably unprotected ones) if they decide to move down from No. 3, like they did in last night’s draft-pick swap with Brooklyn.

According to Iko, the Rockets have received offers that include a 2024 first-round pick and a future pick for No. 3, as well as offers that don’t include a ’24 first-rounder at all. Houston may wait until its on the clock at No. 3 tonight to make a decision in the hopes that those offers improve, Iko adds.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

  • Although team sources have pushed back against a rumor linking the Rockets to Marcus Smart, rival teams still believe Houston would have interest in the Grizzlies guard in a trade-down scenario, says Iko. Smart played for Rockets head coach Ime Udoka in Boston in 2021/22.
  • The Hornets are among the teams that have expressed interest in the No. 3 pick, Iko writes, adding that a Western Conference executive named Charlotte big man Mark Williams as someone who would likely be of interest to the Rockets.
  • In a separate story for The Athletic, Iko and Sam Vecenie break down the Rockets’ draft options at No. 3, with Vecenie explaining why he believes Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard would be a perfect fit in Houston alongside the club’s existing core.
  • Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) also takes a closer look at Houston’s options if the team keeps its current pick, evaluating both Donovan Clingan‘s potential fit and the possibility that Zaccharie Risacher could slip to No. 3.
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