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Raptors Rumors: Kawhi, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Green

July 10th, 2019 at 9:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors were confident entering free agency about their chances to re-sign NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, but that confidence began to waver after they met with Leonard and his uncle Dennis Robertson in Toronto last Wednesday, sources tell Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

According to Lewenberg, Leonard and his camp asked for a lot from the Raptors during that meeting — “things players don’t generally ask for in standard contract negotiations,” writes Lewenberg. One of Lewenberg’s sources describes those requests as “unreasonable,” suggesting that Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri wouldn’t have been able to meet them all even if he’d wanted to.

The requests caused the Raptors to question whether Leonard was seriously considering them at all, according to Lewenberg. A belief that Kawhi was eyeing the Clippers all along prompted the Raptors to not get too invested in potential trade discussions with the Thunder. Lewenberg suggests that those preliminary talks included Paul George, but not Russell Westbrook, and didn’t even reach the team’s highest-ranking executives.

Within his own look at the Leonard situation, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca conveys many of the same sentiments that Lewenberg did. According to Grange, as Leonard’s requests became more difficult to meet and communication became less constant, it became more clear that the Raptors weren’t his top priority, as one person close to the talks described it.

Grange adds that the Raptors’ contact with the Thunder in the hours leading up to Leonard’s announcement “may have been somewhat exaggerated.” Toronto tapped out fairly early once it was evident OKC was using talks with the Raptors as leverage.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

One Clippers official who spoke to Grange was relieved that his team was still able to land Kawhi after the success he enjoyed in Toronto in 2018/19: “The Raptors did everything right. We saw the parade, saw those pictures and figured that was it. We were done.”
Speaking to reporters, including Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun, Ujiri suggested on Tuesday that he’s not exactly reeling from losing Leonard: “I think we got a great deal out of this. We won a championship, so we’re happy. And, honestly, it’s on to the next. This is the NBA and this is how it works. You can’t hide under the table and cry. Honestly, I’ve lost no sleep, I’m not disappointed. It’s on to what’s next. I’m telling Raptors fans and everybody, don’t lose one day of sleep, one second of sleep. We’re going to be just fine. We’re going to be alright.”
Don’t expect the next steps for the Raptors to involve an immediate tear-down. Sources tell Lewenberg that the team has no intention of moving veterans on expiring contracts – such as Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka – before the season. Of course, it’s possible that stance could change by the trade deadline if the Raps don’t have a great first half.
While there was a belief that Danny Green would lean toward re-signing with the Raptors and trying to defend their title if Leonard returned, that may not have been the case after all. According to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (via Twitter), Green told the Mavericks that he wouldn’t be returning to Toronto, and his choice came down to the Lakers vs. the Mavs.

Terrence Ross Says He Received Interest From Mavs

July 9th, 2019 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

As John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com details, Ross said he received either serious interest or a contract offer from the Lakers, Jazz, Mavericks, Pacers, and Kings while he was a free agent. Like teammate Nikola Vucevic though, Ross preferred to stick with the Magic.

Grizzlies Sign-And-Trade Delon Wright To Mavericks

July 8th, 2019 at 7:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 7:17pm: The deal is official, according to a Dallas press release. The Mavs sent the draft rights to 2015 second-rounder Satnam Singh to the Grizzlies in addition to two second-round picks. A Memphis press release confirms the deal.

JULY 7, 3:47pm: The Mavericks, Grizzlies, and restricted free agent guard Delon Wright have reached an agreement on a sign-and-trade deal that will send Wright to Dallas, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Memphis will receive two second-round picks from the Mavs in the deal, according to Wojnarowski.

Agent Greg Lawrence tells Woj (Twitter link) that Wright will be receiving a three-year, $29MM contract from the Mavericks.

We’d heard since Thursday that Dallas, one of the only teams that still had cap flexibility, was planning an offer sheet for Wright. As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, the Grizzlies didn’t want to lose him for nothing but also weren’t committed to matching an offer sheet at any cost. The Mavs, on the other hand, were likely wary of having Memphis match their offer — or of having to overpay Wright to avoid that scenario.

The sign-and-trade agreement represents a compromise for the Southwest rivals, and is the latest example of what has become a summer-wide trend around the NBA — no restricted free agent has signed an offer sheet, but six RFAs have reached deals to join new teams via sign-and-trade.

The 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Wright spent the first three and a half seasons of his NBA career with the Raptors before being dealt to Memphis in the Marc Gasol trade at this year’s deadline. After never averaging more than 20.8 minutes per game in Toronto, the 27-year-old saw that number bumped to 30.8 MPG in 26 games with the Grizzlies and responded by averaging 12.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.3 APG, and 1.6 SPG.

In Dallas, Wright figures to share ball-handling duties with the likes of Jalen Brunson, J.J. Barea (when he’s healthy), and – of course – Luka Doncic.

After accounting for Wright’s contract, the Mavs project to have no more than $14.6MM in cap room, tweets cap expert Albert Nahmad. Dallas’ contract agreements with Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, and Kristaps Porzingis would eat up that room once they become official since their new salaries are much higher than their cap holds.

If the Mavs don’t have any other deals on tap, it’s possible they’ll remain an over-the-cap team, taking Wright into their $21.3MM trade exception and using the mid-level exception to sign Seth Curry. That would leave the team with the rest of that big trade exception to use during the season.

As for the Grizzlies, they’ll move forward with No. 2 pick Ja Morant handling point guard duties, but we’ll see if they look to add more depth after losing Wright. De’Anthony Melton is the other point guard on the roster. Memphis has about $115MM in projected team salary on its books and will create a trade exception worth half of Wright’s 2019/20 salary in this sign-and-trade, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Missing On Danny Green May Spell End Of Free Agency

July 7th, 2019 at 4:01pm CST by clarkcrum

The Mavericks have since agreed to acquire Wright via S&T.
Should they change their mind about free agency, the Mavericks no longer need to worry about the cap hold for Petteri Koponen after the league office permitted Dallas to remove the hold amount for the 2019/20 season (per RealGM transactions log).

Latest On Russell Westbrook

July 7th, 2019 at 10:38am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat and Pistons are expected to be the top contenders to land Russell Westbrook if the Thunder decide to trade him, according to Sam Amick and Brett Dawson of The Athletic.

Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti will meet this week with Westbrook and his agent, Thad Foucher, to plot out the future for the former MVP. All three were blindsided by Paul George‘s trade request, which was the result of Kawhi Leonard‘s successful lobbying effort to join him on the Clippers.

The Thunder are motivated to move Westbrook, not only because he’s the lone star left in OKC and will make $171MM over the next four years, but also because he plays the same position as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the centerpiece of their return in the George deal.

Miami would like to pair Westbrook with Jimmy Butler and could offer a package built around Goran Dragic, who has one year left on his contract at $19.2MM, and Dion Waiters, who is owed a combined $24.7MM over the next two seasons. Detroit’s offer might include Andre Drummond ($27MM in 2019/20 with a $28.75MM player option the following season), Reggie Jackson (one year left at $18MM) and Tony Snell ($11.39MM next season followed by a $12.18MM player option).

Some executives believe the Rockets could get involved as well, given GM Daryl Morey’s penchant for star chasing. However, pairing Westbrook with James Harden and Chris Paul, two other guards who like to control the ball, may prove awkward, and matching salary wouldn’t be easy. Houston would almost certainly have to part with Clint Capela ($14.9MM next season), Eric Gordon ($14MM), and P.J. Tucker ($8.35MM) in any deal if Paul isn’t included.

Sources with knowledge of Houston’s thinking confirmed to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com that the Rockets have interest in Westbrook. However, one team source described a potential deal as a “long shot,” says MacMahon.

There’s more today on the Westbrook front:

The Knicks have been mentioned as a possible suitor for Westbrook, but will have to wait until December to make a move, notes Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York no longer has the cap room to absorb Westbrook’s $37.5MM salary for next season after reaching deals with six free agents, and those new players can’t be traded before December 15. If the opportunity is still there, Elfrid Payton, Reggie Bullock, Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson will all have expiring contracts that could interest the Thunder as they try to reduce a league-high tax bill. The Knicks can also offer the 2021 and 2023 first-rounders they acquired from Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis deal, Berman adds.
Michael Shapiro of Sports Illustrated mentions the Timberwolves, Celtics and Magic as other possibilities. A swap with Minnesota would be easy if OKC would accept Andrew Wiggins in return, he states, while the Celtics could offer Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown or wait a year and trade newly acquired Kemba Walker. Orlando has been seeking a point guard for years and has a lot of wings and big men to offer.
The Bulls, Mavericks, Nuggets, Bucks, Spurs and Raptors all have the assets to get involved as well, according to Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com.

Mavericks Preparing Offer Sheet For Delon Wright

July 6th, 2019 at 10:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks are targeting Grizzlies restricted free agent Delon Wright and could have his signature on an offer sheet by the end of the night, a league source tells Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Memphis will have 48 hours to decide whether to match the offer once it’s submitted to the league office.

The 27-year-old point guard took advantage of increased playing time after he was shipped from the Raptors to the Grizzlies in February as part of the Marc Gasol trade. In 26 games with Memphis, Wright posted career highs with 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists.

Earlier in the night, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told Townsend that the team was virtually done in free agency outside of an “opportunistic” situation, which turned out to be Wright (Twitter link). ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweeted that the Mavs are waiting to finalize their deals from the past week while they search the trade market for ways to utilize their cap space, which goes away when all the transactions become official. That doesn’t include the Seth Curry signing, which is being done with cap room, and the extension for Dwight Powell, which doesn’t take effect until next season.

The Grizzlies have been making an effort to clear salary to better position themselves to keep Wright without going into tax territory. Their latest move came earlier today when they waived Avery Bradley.

Lakers To Sign Danny Green To Two-Year Deal

July 6th, 2019 at 1:29am CST by Luke Adams

While his longtime teammate Kawhi Leonard heads to the Clippers, free agent shooting guard Danny Green had opted to sign with Los Angeles’ other team, announcing on Twitter that he’ll join the Lakers.

Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter) that the Lakers have reached a deal with Green, while ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski provides the financial details, tweeting that it’ll be a two-year, $30MM contract.

Green, 32, was part of the trade package last summer that sent Leonard to the Raptors, and enjoyed one of his best seasons as a pro in Toronto. Green averaged 10.3 PPG and knocked down a career-best 45.5% of his attempts from beyond the arc in 80 games (all starts), establishing a career high with 2.5 made threes per game. He also nearly earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive team for his work on perimeter scorers, and helped Toronto win its first-ever championship.

Although he generated plenty of interest on the open market within the last week, Green opted to wait out Leonard’s decision before deciding on his own team. If Kawhi had chosen to re-sign with the Raptors, Green likely would have had interest in running it back and trying to defend their title.

However, with Leonard on track to become a Clipper, Green’s decision came down to the Lakers and Mavericks, both of whom put big offers on the table, tweets David Aldridge of The Athletic. The Clippers were also believed to be in the mix for Green earlier in the week, but landing Kawhi reduced their ability to offer the veteran shooting guard a market-value deal.

The Lakers, who had earmarked $32MM in cap room for Leonard, will now use that space on Green and other players, adding some depth to a roster headlined by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma.

The club has already reportedly reached new deals with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee in addition to agreeing to terms with Green.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mavs Pushing Danny Green To Make Decision

July 5th, 2019 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

When he reported on Thursday that the Mavericks were planning on offer sheet for Wright, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News said it wouldn’t affect the team’s pursuit of Green. Today, Townsend clarifies (via Twitter) that’s because the Mavs hope to have an answer from Green by the time the moratorium ends at noon on Saturday, so they should have an idea of how much cap space they’d have left for Wright at that point.

On the latest episode of his “Inside the Green Room” podcast, free agent shooting guard Danny Green confirmed that the Clippers, Lakers, and especially the Mavericks are among the teams trying to pry him away from the Raptors.

“I’ve known [Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban and [head coach] Rick Carlisle for a long time. They have a really good interest in me,” Green said (link via SportsDayDFW.com). “I like what they have to offer. They’re coming on strong. Mark Cuban is a strong bidder. He’s putting the pressure on me to make a decision soon.”

The Mavericks could have up to about 23MM in cap room available, so it makes sense that they’d want a decision from Green soon, with the July moratorium set to end on Saturday. That cap room could be used on other targets, including perhaps restricted free agent Delon Wright.

When he reported on Thursday that the Mavericks were planning on offer sheet for Wright, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News said it wouldn’t affect the team’s pursuit of Green. Today, Townsend clarifies (via Twitter) that’s because the Mavs hope to have an answer from Green by the time the moratorium ends at noon on Saturday, so they should have an idea of how much cap space they’d have left for Wright at that point.

Mavs Planning Offer Sheet For Delon Wright

July 4th, 2019 at 7:24pm CST by JD Shaw

The Mavericks have increased their interest in restricted free agent Delon Wright and plan to give the 27-year-old an offer sheet, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).

Wright could sign an offer sheet with Dallas or another interested team before the moratorium period ends on July 6, although Memphis’ two-day window to match the offer sheet wouldn’t technically start until the moratorium is officially lifted.

The Grizzlies are expected to match any “reasonable” offer sheet for Wright, sources tell ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link). Memphis has a lot of moving pieces in play, as trades with Utah, Golden State, and Phoenix still need to be made official. Once the dust settles, the Grizzlies would likely have to waive Avery Bradley‘s non-guaranteed contract, flip Andre Iguodala, or make another salary-shedding move to avoid going into tax territory to retain Wright.

Wright, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, appeared in 75 total games with the Raptors and Grizzlies this season. He was traded to Memphis as part of a deal centered around Marc Gasol in February, holding per-game averages of 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.3 rebounds in 26 games for the Grizzlies to end the regular season.

The Mavs’ decision to pursue Wright won’t change the team’s stance on free agent Danny Green, Townsend adds. Dallas projects to have up to about $23MM in cap room, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), so the team could theoretically make eight-figure offers to both players. Green remains undecided on where he’ll play next season, as he and agent Joe Branch wait for Kawhi Leonard to make his own free-agent decision.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Grizzlies Exploring Trade Market For Iguodala; No Buyout Planned Before Season

July 4th, 2019 at 12:35am CST by Luke Adams

Once they officially acquire Andre Iguodala from the Warriors after the July moratorium ends, the Grizzlies won’t buy him out right away, reports ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

According to MacMahon, Memphis is actively exploring the potential trade market for the veteran forward, with the Rockets and Mavericks among the interested teams. The Grizzlies don’t intend to give Iguodala a buyout before the season begins, MacMahon adds.

The fact that the Grizzlies will receive a lightly-protected future first-round pick from Golden State in their deal for Iguodala doesn’t suggest that he has significant value, but that trade was a necessity for the Warriors, who had to clear salary to accommodate D’Angelo Russell‘s new maximum-salary deal under a hard cap of $138.9MM.

With no similar cap crunch of their own, the Grizzlies will have far more leverage in their own trade discussions involving Iguodala. They shouldn’t expect a huge return, given his age (35) and his cap charge ($17.2MM), but there’s reason to believe that the former Finals MVP would appeal to contending teams. According to MacMahon, he has drawn “significant interest.”

Whether they use cap room or remain an over-the-cap team and retain their $21MM+ trade exception, the Mavericks would have the ability to acquire Iguodala without sending out any salary. The capped-out Rockets would have to get more creative, particularly if they don’t want to part with one of their current starters in a trade.

While MacMahon doesn’t mention the Lakers as a team with trade interest in Iguodala, they’d also have the cap room necessary to make a play for him if Kawhi Leonard decides to sign elsewhere. As MacMahon notes, Rob Pelinka was Iguodala’s agent before he became the Lakers’ general manager.