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Northwest Notes: Dillingham, Wolves, Hendricks, Nuggets

July 19th, 2024 at 2:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham, the No. 8 overall pick of last month’s draft, has been receiving advice from Mike Conley and John Wall as he prepares for his rookie season, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.

Dillingham said he reached out to new teammate Conley for defensive advice. As for Wall, the former All-Star point guard is a North Carolina native who went to Kentucky, just like Dillingham.

“That’s my guy,” Dillingham said of Wall. “He been knowing me, texting me and stuff. At Kentucky, he came to all our games. I just hit him after the [Pelicans] game. I was super mad because I didn’t play that well. I just hit him, and he was just telling me to play my game.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Michael Rand and Hine of The Star Tribune recently discussed which Timberwolves players participating in Summer League have the best odds of becoming rotation members in the future. Despite struggling so far in Las Vegas, Dillingham will be given “every chance” to be Conley’s backup at point guard next season, according to Rand and Hine, who also expect fellow first-rounder Terrence Shannon to carve out rotation minutes in 2024/25. Former second-round pick Leonard Miller has impressed at Summer League, but he’s more likely to contribute in 2025/26 than ’24/25, per Rand and Hine.
Second-year Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks bounced back with a strong performance at Summer League on Wednesday after struggling on Monday, notes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. A lottery pick last year (No. 9 overall), Hendricks contributed 23 points (on 9-of-10 shooting), nine rebounds, one steal and one block. “I think he was just more aggressive and more physical right from the start,” said Summer League coach Sean Shelden. ” … How you stick in a rotation, how you stick in the NBA, is just playing like how he did tonight.”
In a subscriber-only story for The Denver Post, Bennett Durando breaks down the Nuggets‘ projected depth chart for next season. Durando has Christian Braun sliding into the starting lineup at shooting guard, with Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Vlatko Cancar and Dario Saric as Denver’s first five off the bench. Westbrook will reportedly sign with the Nuggets after he finalizes a buyout with Utah and clears waivers.

Clippers, Jazz Complete Trade Involving Westbrook, Dunn

July 18th, 2024 at 8:04pm CST by Rory Maher

8:04pm: The trade is official, according to an announcement from the Jazz, who also acquired the draft rights to Balsa Koprivica (the No. 57 pick in 2021) in the deal.

1:33pm: The Clippers are sending Russell Westbrook, a second-round pick swap, and cash to the Jazz in order to acquire free agent guard Kris Dunn via sign-and-trade, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). The second-round swap will be for 2030, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic.

Westbrook is expected to reach a buyout agreement with Utah and eventually sign with the Nuggets once he clears waivers, according to Wojnarowski.

Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) hears that Dunn will sign a three-year, $17MM contract. The final season of Dunn’s deal with Los Angeles will be a team option, per Woj (Twitter link).

Strangely, this will be the second time that Westbrook will be traded to — and then waived by — Utah in 17 months, with the first instance coming in February 2023. In this case, the Jazz are acquiring a second-round swap and some cash in exchange for using a small chunk of their cap room to take Westbrook’s salary off L.A.’s books.

The 35-year-old will earn a little over $4MM this season, while the minimum salary for a player with his amount of experience will earn about $3.3MM. We’ll have to wait and see how much he gives up in the buyout, but it’s safe to assume he’ll be on a minimum-salary deal with the Nuggets — it’s all they can offer due to their financial situation.

Westbrook exercised his player option this summer but reports came out almost immediately saying the Clips were working with him on a trade. He has essentially only been linked to Denver, which has an opening at backup point guard after salary dumping Reggie Jackson to Charlotte.

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic is reportedly a fan of Westbrook, who also received an endorsement from veteran center DeAndre Jordan. The nine-time All-Star and former MVP averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals on .454/.273/.688 shooting in 68 games with the Clips last season (22.5 minutes per contest).

Haynes reported on July 1 that Dunn would sign with the Clippers, with Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports later stating that the two sides were working on sign-and-trade scenarios to open a wider salary range for the 30-year-old guard. It took a few weeks, but a deal has finally come to fruition.

The fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft, Dunn didn’t live up to his draft billing in Minnesota or Chicago during the early years of his career, but has evolved into a solid rotation piece in recent years. Dunn spent the past two seasons in Utah, where he provided solid, versatile defense in the Jazz’s backcourt and earned praise from head coach Will Hardy for his voice in the locker room.

In 88 total appearances (35 starts) across two seasons in Utah, Dunn averaged 7.4 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .497/.395/.741.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Westbrook, Hendricks, Dozier

July 17th, 2024 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

Asked on ESPN’s broadcast on Tuesday about what holes still need to be filled on the Nuggets‘ roster, head coach Michael Malone pointed to the backup point guard spot, saying that Denver could use “somebody to play behind Jamal Murray,” according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). Malone added that general manager Calvin Booth is “all over it.”

The point guard who has been linked most frequently to the Nuggets this offseason is former MVP Russell Westbrook — he and Denver reportedly have mutual interest, and the Clippers are looking to move the 35-year-old. However, it’s unclear if the Nuggets and Clippers will be able to work out a trade that makes sense for both sides, so Westbrook is considered more likely to join Denver as a free agent.

Westbrook would be a logical fit in Denver if the team can find a way to add him, says Tony Jones of The Athletic. As Jones outlines, Westbrook’s ability to put pressure on defenses off the dribble is something the Nuggets didn’t have enough of last season. The team could also benefit from his passing, his on-court “swagger,” and his ability to play significant rotation minutes, which would allow Malone to lean less heavily on his starters, Jones adds.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Nikola Jokic shouldn’t be happy with the Nuggets‘ offseason so far, according to Sean Keeler of The Denver Post, who argues in an opinion column that the front office has made several missteps in the past year or two and that many of Denver’s conference rivals have improved their rosters while the Nuggets have arguably gotten worse.
Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune is concerned about Taylor Hendricks‘ underwhelming Summer League performance, including a three-point, five-rebound showing on Monday that saw the Jazz forward go 0-of-6 from the floor and fail to make a defensive impact. Hendricks is still just 20 years old, so there’s plenty of time for last year’s No. 9 overall pick to show improvement, but he’ll have to make major strides to warrant a rotation role next season, Larsen contends.
PJ Dozier‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Timberwolves is partially guaranteed for $1MM, reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and SKOR North (Twitter link). Dozier will be assured of his full salary (approximately $2.6MM) if he remains under contract through the league-wide guarantee date of January 7.

Western Notes: Markkanen, Warriors, Podziemski, Strawther, Holmes, Clippers

July 16th, 2024 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

After sharing some reporting on Monday about the trade talks between the Warriors and Jazz concerning star forward Lauri Markkanen, Shams Charania of The Athletic appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio later in the day to provide some additional insight into where things stand between the two Western Conference clubs.

“I don’t think (the Jazz) want to move Lauri Markkanen,” Charania said (Twitter video link; hat tip to Ali Thanawalla of NBC Sports Bay Area). “But if the Golden State Warriors put in a Brandin Podziemski and – from what I’m told – three first-round picks, three or four unprotected pick swaps, three or four second-round picks…”

Asked at that point if Jonathan Kuminga is a player the Jazz are seriously pursuing in their discussions with the Warriors, Charania’s downplayed the forward’s importance in getting a deal done, suggesting that Kuminga – who is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason – isn’t as high a priority for Utah as Podziemski is.

“From everything I’ve been told, the Jazz are more focused on Brandin Podziemski and his inclusion in the deal (and) all the picks being in the deal,” Charania said. “And I think from the Warriors’ perspective, (if) it’s Podziemski, then there’s not all the picks, and if it’s all the picks, then there’s not going to be a Podziemski.

“… Both sides are kind of entrenched right now at where they’re at. (I’m not) saying nothing is going to change. Only time will tell. But I think the Jazz are very comfortable with extending Lauri Markkanen, and at that point you’ll see more suitors potentially as well in on him — not just teams that feel like, ‘OK, we’ll be able to re-sign him.”

As we’ve previously outlined, Markkanen becomes eligible on August 6 for a renegotiation and extension. If the Jazz extend him on that day, he would become trade-eligible on February 6 – the day of the 2025 trade deadline – whereas if he were to sign an extension on August 7 or later, he would be ineligible to be dealt until the 2025 offseason.

Here’s more from around the West:

Tim Kawakami of The Athletic takes a look at where things stand for the Warriors after an eventful few weeks, noting that – with Klay Thompson and Chris Paul gone – Podziemski could have a chance to become the starting shooting guard and Stephen Curry‘s primary backup at point guard. As Kawakami observes, given the significant role the 21-year-old may play in Golden State going forward, it’s no surprise the team would prefer to keep him out of an offer for Markkanen.
Despite dealing with a sore right ankle, second-year Nuggets forward Julian Strawther has been a Summer League standout, averaging 28.5 PPG with a .409 3PT% in two games in Las Vegas. Strawther averaged just 10.9 MPG across 50 appearances as a rookie, but teammate Peyton Watson is optimistic that the 2023 first-rounder will play a larger role in 2024/25. “He obviously has a gift shooting the rock,” Watson told Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “He’s a big-time shooter. That’s gonna be big for us this coming year. I’m super excited for him. He already showed flashes of what he can do this season, and he’s had some big games for us already. So I expect him to have plenty more, and I can’t wait to play a lot more with him.”
The Nuggets confirmed in a brief announcement on Monday that rookie forward DaRon Holmes has undergone a surgical repair of his right Achilles tendon. The team didn’t provide a specific recovery timeline for Holmes, but the expectation is that he’ll miss the entire 2024/25 season after tearing his Achilles in his Summer League debut.
The Clippers will return to Seattle for a third consecutive preseason, having announced on Monday in a press release that they’ll host the Trail Blazers on October 11 at Climate Pledge Arena.

Charania’s Latest: Markkanen, Warriors, Ingram, Bucks, Trent, Westbrook, More

July 15th, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have been the “most engaged” trade suitor for Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen this offseason, but the two teams are divided on what a potential Golden State package would look like, writes Shams Charania of The Athletic.

According to Charania, the Warriors have discussed an offer that would center around Moses Moody and a number of draft assets, including multiple first-round picks, multiple second-rounders, and multiple pick swaps. However, Utah has sought “the bulk of young talent and capital” Golden State controls, including Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga in addition to Moody and draft assets. Sources tell Charania that idea has been a “non-starter” for the Warriors.

Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram is another notable name still on the trade market, but teams around the league believe his market is limited, according to Charania, since some potential suitors (including the Kings and Spurs) made moves for other forwards and most other teams aren’t looking to make a major trade at this point in the offseason. If the market for Ingram remains quiet, New Orleans could assess its current group to open the regular season before deciding whether a trade is necessary, Charania suggests.

With most of the NBA’s other teams focused on tweaking their rosters around the edges, one high-ranking team official told Charania, “It might be one of the more quiet summers.”

Here’s more from Charania:

The Bucks are in the market for help at shooting guard and are among the contending teams pursuing Gary Trent Jr., sources tell The Athletic. However, due to its proximity to the second tax apron, Milwaukee is limited to a minimum-salary offer, and one recent report suggested that Trent isn’t interested in accepting a minimum deal. The Bucks are hosting a free agent workout this week in Las Vegas, Charania notes, with Will Barton expected to be among the participants.
While there has been no action on the Russell Westbrook front as of late, the Clippers and the former MVP still plan to part ways this offseason, says Charania. The Nuggets are considered the favorites to sign Westbrook if he reaches free agency, Charania adds, but Los Angeles is still discussing possible trades.
The Grizzlies are exploring trade possibilities involving former lottery pick Ziaire Williams, sources tell Charania. The Grizzlies aren’t far from the luxury tax line and will likely have to shed some salary if they want to use their full mid-level exception or re-sign Luke Kennard while staying out of tax territory.

Nuggets Rookie DaRon Holmes Tears Right Achilles

July 13th, 2024 at 5:36am CST by Luke Adams

DaRon Holmes‘ rookie season appears to be over before it started. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Holmes sustained a torn right Achilles tendon during his Summer League debut on Friday and is expected to miss all of 2024/25.

It’s a brutal blow for a player whom the Nuggets were so high on that they surrendered three second-round picks in order to move up from No. 28 to No. 22 in last month’s draft to make sure they got him.

While there was no guarantee Holmes would have played rotation minutes in his first NBA season, he likely would have been given the opportunity to earn a regular role on a Denver team that will need contributions from a few of its younger players. Instead, the forward/center’s NBA debut will almost certainly be delayed until the fall of 2025.

Prior to entering this year’s draft, Holmes compiled an impressive résumé in three college seasons at Dayton, earning All-Atlantic 10 honors in all three years, including a First Team spot in 2023 and 2024. He was named the Atlantic 10 co-Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 after averaging 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.1 blocks in 32.5 minutes per game across 33 starts in 2023/24. He also posted a shooting line of .544/.386/.713.

Prior to his injury on Friday, Holmes had been enjoying a solid Summer League debut, with 11 points and seven rebounds. His parents and agent were in attendance at the game, notes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.

With Holmes sidelined for the 2024/25 season, the Nuggets figure to lean more on Zeke Nnaji and newly signed big men Dario Saric and Vlatko Cancar for frontcourt depth. DeAndre Jordan will also be back, though his new deal with the team isn’t yet official.

As Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports observes (via Twitter), Denver could apply for a disabled player exception following Holmes’ injury, but it would be worth just $1,532,820, half of the rookie’s $3,065,640 salary, so it wouldn’t be very useful. You can learn more about how disabled player exceptions work in our glossary.

Groups Revealed For 2024 NBA Cup

July 12th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The NBA has announced the five-team groups for this year’s in-season tournament, now renamed the Emirates NBA Cup, the league announced in a release on Friday (Twitter link).

Like last year, there are six groups — three each from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference — and each conference was split into five groups based on last year’s standings. One team was selected at random from each group to determine the group round matchups.

The results are:

West Group A: Timberwolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets and Trail Blazers
West Group B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Spurs
West Group C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies
East Group A: Knicks, Magic, Sixers, Nets and Hornets
East Group B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors and Pistons
East Group C: Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, Hawks and Wizards

The NBA Cup begins with group play, which runs from Nov. 12 to Dec. 3. Each team plays one game against each of the four opponents in its group. The NBA released a matchup matrix to help fans follow along (Twitter link).

Just like last season, the winner of each group advances to a knockout round alongside the team with the best record in each conference that didn’t win a group. The semifinals and finals will again be played in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Last year, the Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament over the Pacers. LeBron James was named the tournament MVP after dropping 24 points in the title game.

The full game and broadcast schedule for group play will be announced next month.

Dario Saric Signs With Nuggets

July 12th, 2024 at 6:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

July 12: Saric’s deal with the Nuggets is now official, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).

July 6: The Nuggets will add veteran power forward/center Dario Saric on a two-year, $10.6MM deal, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Saric will have a player option on the second season of the contract, Wojnarowski adds.

Denver will use its $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception and will become hard capped at the $188.9MM second apron, according to cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). The Nuggets are currently $12.6MM below the apron with 12 players under contract. They will be limited to minimum signings to fill out the roster.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports revealed last week that Denver had ongoing interest in signing Saric. He reportedly also had an opportunity to join Panathinaikos in Greece if he didn’t receive an NBA offer to his liking.

Saric earned $2.7MM last season with the Warriors on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract. He appeared in 64 games, making nine starts, and averaged 8.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 17.2 minutes per night.

He’ll likely fill a similar role with the Nuggets, who have been looking to add some experience to their roster after suffering significant free agent losses since winning the 2023 championship. His signing may also clear the way for a trade of forward/center Zeke Nnaji, who is reportedly being made available. Nnaji saw limited playing time last season, and his four-year, $32MM contract extension will begin with the 2024/25 season.

Saric, 30, was selected with the 12th pick in the 2014 draft. Before coming to Golden State, he spent time with Philadelphia, Minnesota, Phoenix and Oklahoma City.

Northwest Notes: Murray, Nuggets, Trent, Joe, Sharpe, Markkanen

July 12th, 2024 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

Shams Charania reported back on June 27 that the Nuggets and Jamal Murray were “working toward” a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension, with the team expected to make the offer and the star guard expected to accept it. Over two weeks later, there’s still no deal in place.

A report earlier this week indicated that the Nuggets and Murray will likely wait until after the Olympics to finalize an agreement, and the 27-year-old Canadian essentially confirmed as much when asked this week by Troy Renck of The Denver Post about his contract situation.

“When we get there, we get there,” Murray said after the Canadian team lost an exhibition game to Team USA in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “I’m playing games right now for Canada, so that’s not on my mind.”

A maximum-salary extension for Murray, who is entering the final year of his current deal, would be worth a projected $207.85MM over four seasons.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Gary Trent Jr. isn’t a viable target for the Nuggets in free agency, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link), who hears that the 25-year-old swingman isn’t interested in accepting a minimum-salary contract and that there may not be much interest on Denver’s side anyway.
Isaiah Joe‘s new four-year, $48MM contract with the Thunder includes a fourth-year team option and has a descending salary structure, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Joe’s cap hit in 2024/25 will be $12,991,650 before dipping to $12,362,338 in ’25/26, with third- and fourth-year salaries of $11,323,006.
Although he attended Team Canada’s pre-Olympic training camp this summer, Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe wasn’t in the mix for a spot on the 2024 Paris roster. But Sharpe, who has been medically cleared following his core muscle surgery in February, is in Canada’s future plans, head coach Jordi Fernandez tells Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “We value him as an important player in the future, being a big part of this program,” Fernandez said. “We don’t only care about this tournament. We care about AmeriCup and the World Cup and L.A. in 2028. We want Shaedon to be a part of that.”
Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune takes a closer look at the Lauri Markkanen situation in Utah, exploring why the Jazz might be motivated to move the star forward and what they could reasonably expect to get in return.

Team Canada Finalizes 2024 Olympic Roster

July 10th, 2024 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Canadian national team has formally announced its 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics, making its final cuts ahead of Wednesday’s exhibition games against Team USA.

Team Canada’s 12-man squad is as follows:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G (Thunder)
Jamal Murray, G (Nuggets)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, G (Timberwolves)
Andrew Nembhard, G (Pacers)
RJ Barrett, G/F (Raptors)
Luguentz Dort, G/F (Thunder)
Dillon Brooks, F (Rockets)
Melvin Ejim, F (Unicaja)
Trey Lyles, F (Kings)
Kelly Olynyk, F/C (Raptors)
Dwight Powell, F/C (Mavericks)
Khem Birch, C (Girona)

While the group obviously isn’t as star-studded as the U.S. roster, it’s headed up by a 2024 MVP finalist (Gilgeous-Alexander) and a guard who was the second-best player on the 2023 NBA champions (Murray). In total, it features 10 active NBA players, and all of them played regular roles for their respective teams in 2023/24.

The only two non-NBA players are Birch, who spent six seasons in the league but now plays in Spain, and Ejim, a former Iowa State standout and a Team Canada veteran who has been a productive contributor for several teams in Europe since 2014.

Andrew Wiggins is among the notable names missing from Team Canada’s squad for Paris. He was on the original training camp roster but withdrew right before camp began due to what the Warriors referred to a mutual decision. Various reports, however, suggested that Golden State was the party driving that decision.

Grizzlies rookie Zach Edey also removed his name from the training camp roster in order to focus on Summer League and his first NBA season.

Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe and Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, both of whom were coming off injuries that ended their 2023/24 seasons, were among the players who attended training camp but weren’t in the mix for roster spots for the Paris Olympics. Timberwolves forward Leonard Miller was in that group too.

This will be the first time Canada has been in the men’s basketball event at the Olympics since 2000.