- Jeff Green’s versatile offensive game, which is built around 3-point shooting and elite finishing around the rim, should be a major boost for the Nuggets’ second unit, Eric Spyropoulos of the team’s website writes. The veteran big man signed a two-year deal with Denver in free agency.
Free agent swingman Lance Stephenson is holding a private workout for NBA teams in Las Vegas on Friday morning, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
According to Haynes, the Bucks, Nuggets, Sixers, and Nets are among the teams expected to have representatives in attendance at the workout.
Stephenson, who has appeared in over 500 regular season NBA games and another 57 playoff contests across nine seasons, hasn’t played in the league since 2018/19, when he made 68 appearances for the Lakers.
In his prime, Stephenson was a secondary scorer and play-maker who provided toughness and defensive versatility on the wing. Despite his two-year absence from the NBA, the 6’6″ guard/forward hasn’t given up on trying to get back into the league and believes he’s still capable of helping teams.
While it remains to be seen whether any of the four teams mentioned above – or any others – will seriously consider bringing Stephenson to training camp, it’s worth noting he was one of the players on Denver’s radar last spring when the club was seeking backcourt help following injuries to Jamal Murray and Will Barton, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post. The Nuggets ended up signing Austin Rivers instead.
- David Adelman will be the lead assistant for the Nuggets, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets. Jordi Fernandez will be the second assistant under Michael Malone while Popeye Jones, whose addition to the staff was previously reported, will be the third assistant on Malone’s bench.
Mohamed Bamba won’t play for the Magic when Summer League starts on Sunday, but he’s practicing with his teammates in Las Vegas, writes Chris Hays of The Orlando Sentinel. The third-year center got a path to regular minutes for the first time in his career when Orlando unloaded its veteran centers last spring and turned the position over to Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr.
“For me it was no-brainer,” Bamba said of his decision to come to Las Vegas. “We got a new coach, new system, new guys and I just wanted to get well acclimated way before training camp.”
Jamahl Mosley, who has taken over as head coach, said this week that it was encouraging to see Bamba join the team on his own. Bamba said he’s looking forward to playing under Mosley.
“He’s made it clear that my presence (on the floor) is needed, is wanted and it’s just all about getting out there and putting in the right amount of work,” Bamba said. “Practicing with the team only helps the chemistry of the team. Coming out here … I had a choice, either to stay in Orlando and work with the coaches that didn’t come to Summer League or come here and add in these good deposits from the team.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Free agent forward Kelly Oubre received offers from eight other teams before deciding to sign with the Hornets, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Oubre’s agent, Torrel Harris of Unique Sports International Management, says the Knicks, Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, Nuggets, Nets, Trail Blazers and Cavaliers all presented offers to Oubre.
- Today marked the guarantee date for Wizards power forward Anthony Gill, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. Gill will make $1,517,981 in 2021/22, giving Washington 13 fully guaranteed contracts. That doesn’t include center Daniel Gafford, whose $1,782,621 won’t be guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date of January 7.
- Wizards Summer League players Cassius Winston, Issuf Sanon and Isaiah Todd have all been placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Their replacements include former NBA players Cheick Diallo and Derrick Walton Jr. (Twitter link)
The Jazz’s free agent moves were designed to make them a more complete playoff team, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes. Signing Rudy Gay in free agency and trading for Eric Paschall will allow Utah to match up better against small-ball lineups. The was something the Jazz struggled with when the Clippers went small against them in the postseason. The Jazz are also looking to sign their own restricted free agent, Trent Forrest, to a two-way deal, according to Jones.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Nuggets began their summer league mini-camp on Friday following a COVID-19 related pause, Kyle Frederickson of the Denver Post reports. Denver’s first three practices were canceled due to health and safety protocols after a positive test and subsequent contact tracing.
- Kenyon Martin Sr. is back in the NBA as an assistant coach with the Nuggets’ summer league team, Marc Spears of The Undefeated tweets. He’s hoping to remain in the league in a coaching capacity.
- In a detailed interview with the Timberwolves‘ buyers, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tells of how former baseball All-Star Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore made their deal with Glen Taylor. The transfer of ownership will be gradual process and Lore prefers it that way. “Glen had the team for almost 30 years. We’re thinking similarly,” Lore said. “We’re going to have this team for at least the next 30 years. … We don’t think we have all the answers. We’re not ready, quite frankly, to be making all the decisions right now.”
Bones Hyland, taken with the 26th pick in last week’s draft, has signed a rookie contract with the Nuggets, according to the NBA.com transactions page.
Hyland was a high-scoring guard who spent two years at Virginia Commonwealth. He earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors as a sophomore, averaging 19.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Most first-year players receive 120% of the rookie salary scale, so Hyland will likely earn a little more than $2MM in 2021/22 and can get up to $10.76MM over the next four years. We track all of this season’s rookie scale salaries here.
AUGUST 3, 7:37am: Young’s extension will include an early termination option after the fourth year, according to RealGM (Twitter link). An ETO is similar to a player option, so Young will have the ability to opt out and sign a new deal in 2026.
AUGUST 2, 11:02pm: The Hawks and Young are in agreement on a five-year, maximum-salary extension, agent Omar Wilkes tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski pegs the projected value of Young’s deal at $207MM, which would mean a starting salary worth 30% of a $119MM cap in 2022/23. That suggests that Atlanta has indeed put Rose Rule language in the deal, but Young will still need to meet the criteria to earn that amount. If he fails to earn All-NBA honors next season, the extension would be worth a projected $172.55MM.
AUGUST 2, 3:59pm: The Hawks and star guard Trae Young are expected to finalize an agreement on a maximum-salary contract extension shortly after he becomes extension-eligible on Monday night, reports Jeff Schultz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The move had been widely expected, as Young has emerged as the cornerstone of a Hawks team that made a surprising Eastern Conference Finals run this season.
He averaged 25.3 PPG, 9.4 APG, and 3.9 RPG in 63 regular season games (33.7 MPG) in 2020/21, then helped lead Atlanta past the Knicks and Sixers in the first two rounds of the playoffs before suffering a foot injury in the Eastern Finals vs. Milwaukee.
Young remains under his rookie contract for one more season and will earn $8.33MM in 2021/22. His extension would go into effect in ’22/23.
The exact value of that deal would depend on where the cap lands for the 2022/23 season. However, a conservative estimate would result in a five-year deal of approximately $168MM.
That number could increase to about $201.5MM if the Hawks include Rose Rule language that would bump Young’s starting salary to 30% of the cap instead of 25%. However, he’d have to earn an All-NBA spot this coming season to trigger that increase.
Young is one of a number of young stars entering the final year of their respective rookie contracts who could receive a maximum-salary extension shortly after the NBA’s new league year begins.
Luka Doncic, who has already qualified for the 30% max, is in line to get a five-year extension, though it likely won’t be finalized until after the Olympics. Multiple reports have indicated the Thunder will likely lock up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a max-salary extension, and Marc Stein identified Deandre Ayton (Suns) and Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets) as other strong candidates for max extensions.
Free agent swingman Kelly Oubre received interest from the Heat after free agency began, but didn’t set a meeting with Miami because he is hoping to net a contract “well above” the mid-level exception, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (via Twitter).
Now that Miami has committed to using most of its mid-level exception on P.J. Tucker, Oubre is almost certainly off the table for the Heat, even if his asking price drops.
Here are more free agency rumors from around the NBA world:
- Free agent sharpshooting combo guard Patty Mills has received interest from the Lakers and Nets, per Marc Stein of Substack (via Twitter). Anthony Slater of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Warriors could also pursue Mills and posits that he may fetch a deal that within range of the taxpayer mid-level. Jordan Schultz of ESPN tweets that the Nets are apparently a distant third in the sweepstakes to sign Mills.
- Jordan Schultz of ESPN reports (Twitter link) that free agent point guard Spencer Dinwiddie appears unlikely to sign with the Mavericks.
- 37-year-old free agent forward Carmelo Anthony continues to weigh interest from the Lakers and Knicks, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link).
- Before Alex Caruso finalized his four-year agreement with the Bulls, Caruso’s camp checked back in with the Lakers and was told L.A. wouldn’t be putting a counter-offer on the table, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Sam Amick of The Athletic.
- Newly re-signed Nuggets reserve power forward JaMychal Green fielded richer offers in free agency than the two-year, $17MM contract he ultimately signed to remain in Denver, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Singer says the Pelicans, Timberwolves, and Spurs were the other teams most interested in Green.
Luke Adams contributed to this report.
AUGUST 12: Ten days after agreeing to terms with the Nuggets, Green has officially signed his new contract, the club announced in a press release.
“We are very excited to welcome Jeff and his family to Denver,” Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said in a statement. “He brings a wealth of experience to our team; his impact will be felt both on the court and in the locker room.”
AUGUST 2: Free agent big man Jeff Green is leaving the Nets and joining another contender. He’s agreed to a two-year, $10MM deal with the Nuggets, agent Jason Glushon informed ESPN’s Malika Andrews (Twitter link).
The deal will include a player option in the second year, Andrews adds. The Nuggets will likely use a portion of their $9.536MM mid-level exception to sign Green.
The well-traveled Green has passed through 10 organizations in a career that began in 2007 with the Seattle SuperSonics. Green, who will turn 35 this month, has revived his career after Utah waived him during the 2019/20 season.
He had a successful run with Houston the remainder of that season, including several productive playoff performances. In his lone season with Brooklyn, he averaged 11.0 PPG and 3.9 RPG while making a career-high 41.2% of his 3-point tries in 68 regular-season games, including 38 starts.
Denver also agreed to re-sign JaMychal Green on Monday. That increases the possibility that another one of its free agent big men, Paul Millsap, will sign elsewhere.
AUGUST 11: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
AUGUST 2: Free agent Nuggets swingman Will Barton is set to return to Denver on a two-year, $32MM deal, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Barton, 30, was originally drafted by the Trail Blazers in 2012 out of Memphis with the No. 40 pick. He has been a core role player in Denver since being sent to the Nuggets during the 2014/15 season.
The 6’6″ wing averaged 12.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 3.2 APG last season while shooting 42.6% from the field, 38.1% from three-point range, and 78.5% from the charity stripe. He missed most of Denver’s postseason run due to a hamstring injury.
Barton last inked a four-year, $53MM deal with Denver ahead of the 2018/19 season. Earlier this summer, he declined his $14.7MM player option for the 2021/22 season in the hopes of nabbing a pay raise and more guaranteed long-term money.
The Nuggets, led by reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and guard Jamal Murray, are hoping to rebound from a disappointing 2021 playoffs, in which they were swept out of the second round by the Suns in part due to the absence of Murray, who continues to recover from a left ACL tear.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.