- The Nuggets‘ trade of Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks in 2011 set the standard for what teams expect in return for a star like Kyrie Irving, writes Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post. He believes Denver is among the reported 20 teams that have reached out to the Cavaliers since the news broke that Irving wanted to be dealt. However, Kosmider suggests the Nuggets would have to part with Gary Harris, Jamal Murray and several other pieces to make a deal work, which he states is too high a price for Irving.
Nearly a month has passed since the Thunder offered an extension to Russell Westbrook, writes Fred Katz of The Norman Transcript. Oklahoma City is hoping the reigning MVP will agree to extend his current contract by five years in a deal that would start with the 2018/19 season. Westbrook is eligible to receive 35% of the salary cap — currently projected at $102MM for that season — along with 8% raises each year. The deadline to accept the offer is October 16, the day before the regular season begins. Katz says the organization remains “cautiously optimistic” that Westbrook will agree to the extension.
There’s more news from the Northwest Division:
- Extension talks continued this morning between the Timberwolves and Andrew Wiggins, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Wolfson doesn’t believe Minnesota would include Wiggins in a trade offer for Kyrie Irving.
- Former Nuggets forward Mike Miller thinks Irving would be a good fit in Denver, relays Ashish Mathur of Amicohoops. In an appearance Wednesday on Altitude Radio, Miller, who spent a year with Irving in Cleveland, said the point guard is “definitely interested” in being traded to the Nuggets. “I’ve already asked that question,” Miller said. “… I think he will. I really do. Like anything else, when people look at cities, Denver’s an unbelievable city we all know that. And with what the organization has built there, he would be crazy not to and he’s definitely, definitely interested in it and I told him by putting this thing out there he has no choice.” Mathur speculates that Denver would have to offer Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Wilson Chandler and a draft pick to make the deal work.
- Unless they can pull off a trade, the Nuggets are looking at only “minor tweaks” before the season starts, writes Christopher Dempsey of NBA.com. Denver’s roster is virtually filled with not much cap space remaining. Dempsey adds that the team achieved its top offseason priority of signing Paul Millsap.
Jarnell Stokes, who played briefly for the Nuggets last season, has signed with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to Dario Destri of Sportando.
The 23-year-old center/power forward signed with Denver shortly before last year’s training camp and appeared in two games before being waived in mid-November. He joined the Sioux Falls franchise in the G League in March.
Stokes was selected 35th overall by Utah in 2014 and traded to Memphis on draft night. He played 19 games as a rookie, then had short stints with the Grizzlies and Heat in 2015/16. Stokes has spent most of his career in the G League and won both regular season and playoff MVP honors in 2016.
There’s little chance that the Cavaliers will salvage their relationship with Kyrie Irving, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who says the team is “acting as if a trade is almost inevitable.” Per Lowe, the Cavs also seem confident that they’ll be able to land a significant haul for Irving, despite the fact that stars like DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, and Jimmy Butler have returned underwhelming hauls so far this year.
Lowe’s latest piece on Irving explores possible trade scenarios involving the Suns, Celtics, Heat, Knicks, Hawks, Bucks, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and more. While many of those proposed scenarios appear to be speculation on Lowe’s part, they give the impression that the Cavs certainly won’t be limiting themselves to Irving’s reported wish list of four teams as they seek out the best possible deal.
Here’s more from Lowe, along with other updates on Irving:
- The Cavaliers‘ highest priority in an Irving trade is to get a “blue-chip” young player in return, sources tell Lowe. Cleveland’s ideal scenario would be a deal that nets the club that blue-chip player, plus a veteran or two, plus draft picks. In other words, the Cavs are aiming for a trade package that provides the best of both worlds — players that can help the team contend for a championship in the short term, and valuable long-term assets.
- Since Irving made his trade request, the Cavaliers‘ front office has studied every trade involving a star player over the last decade, per Lowe. One particular deal that caught the club’s eye was the one that sent Goran Dragic from Phoenix to Miami for a package that included multiple first-round picks.
- Many teams, including the Celtics, have called the Cavaliers to let them know they want to be kept in the loop as trade talks progress, writes Lowe.
- The Nets still have a chunk of salary cap room remaining and could be an interesting trade partner in a multi-team scenario, but there have been no rumblings yet about their potential participation, according to Lowe.
- The Kings have no interest in moving De’Aaron Fox in a deal for Irving, reports James Ham of CSNBayArea.com.
- One Western Conference team executive tells Chris Mannix of The Vertical that he thinks the Cavaliers may end up having to wait until after December 15 to make a deal, after this year’s free agent signees become trade-eligible. If that happens, it might create an awkward few months in Cleveland, with Irving still on the roster when the season begins.
The Cavaliers nearly landed Paul George in a three-team deal in late June, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Dave McMenamin and Brian Windhorst.
The trade would have sent Kevin Love to Denver and Gary Harris and other assets to Indiana, but Pacers president Kevin Pritchard reportedly backed out before everything was finalized.
Prior to the draft, Cleveland made trade offers to the Pacers for George and to the Bulls for Jimmy Butler. Once the Wolves acquired Butler on draft night, the Cavs stepped up their efforts for George, with the Nuggets agreeing to send Harris and the No. 13 pick to Cleveland, which would include those assets in a deal with Indiana. However, the Pacers put the trade on hold as they talked to the Trail Blazers about a deal to acquire all three of Portland’s first-rounders in exchange for George. Both proposals eventually fell through.
The Cavs continued to work on the trade following the draft, and an agreement was reached on June 30th. All three teams tentatively okayed to the deal on a conference call, and Cleveland began targeting free agents to fit with George. However, Pritchard changed his mind and the news broke soon after that George was headed to Oklahoma City.
The failed trade was part of a tumultuous offseason for the Cavaliers, as the ESPN authors examine in a lengthy piece. Cleveland also parted ways with GM David Griffin and was unable to land Chauncey Billups, who interviewed twice as a potential replacement. The team missed out on marquee free agents and had to settle for Jose Calderon and Jeff Green. Then star guard Kyrie Irving held a meeting with owner Dan Gilbert on July 7th where he issued a request to be traded.
Irving was reportedly angry that his name had been included in offers for Butler and George, and has been unhappy for some time with how much James dominates the ball. He also believes the team defers too much to James, noting that LeBron’s friend, Randy Mims, was given a position as executive administrator and flies on the team plane, while none of Irving’s friends has a similar arrangement.
The front office and the players have been aware of Irving’s intentions for two weeks, and there is confidence in the organization that the team can get enough assets for Irving to remain a contender. The Cavs have been inundated with calls from interested teams since the story broke on Friday.
The Nuggets have signed second-round pick Monte Morris to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. It’s the second two-way deal for Denver — the club confirmed earlier this week that forward Torrey Craig received the other one.
[RELATED: 2017/18 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Morris, 22, played his college ball at Iowa State, averaging 16.4 PPG, 6.2 APG, and 4.8 RPG in his senior year. The young point guard was selected 51st overall in the 2017 NBA draft last month, so he’ll become the highest pick so far to agree to a two-way contract rather than an NBA deal.
Two-way contracts are a new addition to the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, so it has been interesting to see how teams have been using them for second-round picks in particular. So far, the four players drafted between Nos. 51 and 54 have all reportedly agreed to two-way deals.
For more information on how two-way contracts work, be sure to check out our FAQ.
JULY 19: The Nuggets have officially signed Craig to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 16: The Nuggets and Torrey Craig have agreed to a deal to add the small forward to the team, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando reports. The deal will be a two-way contract, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
Players on two-way deals will spend most of their season in the G-League since they cannot spend more than 45 days with an NBA club, as our glossary page on two-way contracts shows.
Craig, who has had an impressive Summer League for Denver’s squad, played abroad over the last several seasons. He earned the NBL Best Defensive Player Award as well as All-NBL Second Team honors while playing for the Brisbane Bullets during the 2016/17 season.
JULY 14, 9:13am: As the Knicks regroup on the Anthony front, the team’s primary hope is that Carmelo will consider expanding his wish list beyond Houston and Cleveland, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.
Anthony, who has a no-trade clause, could veto any deal, but has expressed a willingness to waive that NTC for the Rockets or Cavaliers — the Knicks have been unable to work out a deal with either of those teams, so adding more clubs to the list could increase their chances of getting something done.
Berman also notes within his story that the Nuggets were among the clubs who explored getting involved in three- or four-team trade talks when those discussions were active.
JULY 13, 9:04pm: The Knicks have paused Carmelo Anthony trade talks with both the Rockets and Cavaliers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. New York would like to reopen dialogue with Anthony about “reincorporating him into the organization.”
It was previously reported that Anthony’s representatives wanted to see a deal get done this week. The Rockets and Knicks were looking to pull off a multi-team trade and were searching for a fourth team to help facilitate a deal. The two sides discussed a three-team deal last weekend, but those talks reportedly “stalled.”
Scott Perry’s pending arrival as GM has made team executive Steve Mills reconsider his stance on trading Anthony, the pair of scribes add. Perry, who currently is the Kings VP of basketball operations, and the Knicks have agreed on a deal to make the executive the team’s new GM. However, Sacramento and New York still need to work out compensation in order to finalize Perry’s hiring.
The Knicks would like Anthony to meet with the team’s new front office as well as coach Jeff Hornacek soon, but the pair of ESPN scribes add that it’s unlikely Anthony will respond with eagerness to stay with the franchise.
The Rockets acquired Chris Paul two weeks ago and since the trade, Houston has been cited as a potential landing spot for Anthony. In order to bring the 10-time All-Star aboard, Houston would presumably need to move Ryan Anderson, who will earn more than $19.5MM during the 2017/18 campaign. New York has no interest in adding Anderson to the team.
JULY 13, 12:38pm: The Nuggets have officially signed Millsap, the team announced today (via Twitter).
JULY 3, 10:05am: Millsap’s third year will be a team option, Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post confirms. We’ll have to wait for Millsap to officially sign to see whether it’s a true team option, or whether that third year will just be non-guaranteed (perhaps with a buyout attached).
JULY 2, 10:00pm: The Nuggets have reached a deal with Paul Millsap, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The agreement is said to be for three years and $90MM. Matt Moore of CBS Sports suggests (via Twitter) that the third year is a team option, which would be a coup for the Nuggets, though that hasn’t yet been confirmed.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Millsap entered free agency as one of the most talented players available and will join a Nuggets squad currently anchored by promising youngsters Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray.
In Millsap, the suddenly dangerous Nuggets will add a reliable veteran on the heels of four consecutive All-Star seasons. In 2016/17, the 32-year-old averaged a career high 18.1 points to go along with 7.7 rebounds and over a three-pointer per game. He ranked fifth on our list of 2017’s top 50 free agents.
Prior to committing to the Nuggets, Millsap had engaged in talks with the Kings and Suns, according to Charania in his full report for The Vertical. Charania suggests that the forward was ultimately intrigued by the young core that the Nuggets have assembled. The Timberwolves also reportedly had interest in Millsap, but would have needed to move contracts to create space for him, and opted instead to sign Taj Gibson to a more affordable deal.
Millsap’s move to Denver makes him the latest Eastern Conference star to head west. Three of this year’s Eastern All-Stars have joined Western Conference clubs in the last couple weeks, with Jimmy Butler traded to Minnesota and Paul George landing in Oklahoma City.
The Nuggets had attempted to make a splash in the free agent market a year ago, meeting with Dwyane Wade and making a strong pitch to the veteran guard. While Denver struck out in 2016, the team got its man this time around, and the timing is good for the franchise — Gary Harris is extension-eligible this offseason, and Nikola Jokic may be a restricted free agent next summer, so the window to sign a max free agent may have closed quickly. Millsap had been on Denver’s radar for some time, with reports suggesting the team was close to trading for him last offseason and prior to the 2017 trade deadline.
As for the impact Millsap will have on Denver’s free agency plans this summer, it looks as if the Nuggets still have enough room for Mason Plumlee‘s qualifying offer after their commitment to Millsap, which will allow the team to match any offers for Plumlee.
However, the club seems likely to renounce Danilo Gallinari‘s cap hold to fit in Millsap, which would eliminate the possibility of a new deal in Denver for the longtime Nugget. Of course, during the moratorium, discussions are always fluid, so it’s possible Denver could make trades to clear other contracts and maintain Gallinari’s cap hold.
As things stand right now, Millsap’s deal will eat up most of the rest of the Nuggets’ cap room, but the club will still have a little space, and will be able to use its $4.3MM room exception once that space is used.
Meanwhile, the Hawks will have a new-look frontcourt under new GM Travis Schlenk, who also traded Dwight Howard last week. Atlanta will lose a key big man in free agency for the second offseason in a row, with Millsap departing a year after Al Horford left for Boston. Still, Schlenk never sounded overly enthusiastic about making an aggressive offer for Millsap, and letting him walk will leave the team with more than $30MM in cap room to use elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.
The Nuggets have parted ways with Mike Miller, announcing today that the veteran guard has been waived from the roster (Twitter link). Miller’s salary for 2017/18 would reportedly have become fully guaranteed if he remained under contract beyond Wednesday.
Miller, 37, appeared in just 20 games for the Nuggets last year in his second season with the club. The veteran sharpshooter played a career-low 7.6 minutes per game, averaging just 1.4 PPG and 1.9 RPG. During his very limited playing time, Miller still exhibited an ability to shoot from outside, making 40% of his three-pointers (albeit on just 20 attempts).
Miller’s contract with the Nuggets called for him to earn a $3.5MM salary in 2017/18, but that entire figure was non-guaranteed, according to Basketball Insiders. As such, cutting Miller allows Denver to clear that amount from its cap, opening up a little more room.
Assuming Mason Plumlee‘s cap hold stays on the Nuggets’ books and Paul Millsap‘s deal is finalized soon, the team should have about $5.5MM in cap space, plus its $4.3MM room exception. Those figures can’t be combined to use on a single player.