- Warriors guard Stephen Curry was both surprised and delighted that DeMarcus Cousins signed with the club in free agency, according to an Associated Press report. “It’s interesting because nobody going into free agency thought about DeMarcus as an option then all of a sudden he found his way onto our team,” Curry said. “So for us to have a new dynamic, a new look, whenever he’s fully healthy it should be amazing. I think we got better.”
- The addition of LeBron James has made the Lakers national TV darlings once again, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register notes. The team will have 43 nationally-televised games, three more than the two-time defending champion Warriors.
While the NBA won’t announce its full schedule for the 2018/19 regular season until this Friday, the league revealed some marquee matchups today, announcing its schedule for opening night, Christmas Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, along with some additional nationally-televised opening week games (link via Sam Amick of USA Today).
The opening night of the 2018/19 NBA season will feature the Sixers vs. the Celtics in the early game, followed by the Thunder vs. the Warriors. For our purposes though, the most crucial detail of opening night is the date it will happen — Tuesday, October 16. That means that Monday, October 15 represents an important deadline for a number of contract-related decisions.
Teams will have until 5:00pm central time on October 15 to finalize any rookie scale extensions for 2018. Currently, Devin Booker is the only player to sign a rookie scale extension so far this offseason, leaving 22 players still eligible. Of those players, Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves), Larry Nance (Cavaliers), Justise Winslow (Heat), Bobby Portis (Bulls), Kristaps Porzingis (Knicks), Myles Turner (Pacers), Terry Rozier (Celtics), and Trey Lyles (Nuggets) are among the extension candidates worth keeping an eye on.
October 15 will also be the last day for teams to complete a Designated Veteran Extension, though Kawhi Leonard was the only legit candidate for such a deal and he’s no longer eligible now that the Spurs have traded him. Additionally, October 15 will be the last day for teams to extend a veteran contract with more than one season left on it. Expiring veteran deals can still be extended during the season.
Other deadlines on October 15? It’s the last day for teams to complete sign-and-trade transactions during the current league year. And it’s the final day that an Exhibit 10 contract can be converted into a two-way deal for the coming season.
Finally, October 15 is the deadline for teams to cut their rosters down to 15 players (not counting players on two-way contracts) for the 2018/19 regular season.
AUGUST 8, 8:10am: The Rockets will host the Thunder to round out the Christmas Day schedule, tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
AUGUST 7, 8:02pm: Some of the more popular games of the 2018/19 NBA schedule will be announced tomorrow at 2:00pm EST. At that time, the NBA will announce the schedule for the opening week of the 2018/19 regular season along with the slate of games for Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
However, Marc Stein of The New York Times is already reporting matchups for three of the Christmas Day games. The Celtics will play the Sixers, the Knicks will host the Bucks, and the new-look Lakers will travel to Oakland to take on the Warriors. Chris Haynes of ESPN is also reporting that the Jazz will host the Trail Blazers.
This will be the fourth consecutive season that a LeBron James-led team will face off against Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and the Warriors. James’ Cavaliers teams went 1-2 against Golden State over the last three seasons.
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has the best chance to win the Rookie of the Year award, according to an ESPN panel. Doncic will fill up the stat sheet and might wind up with the ball more often than second-year guard Dennis Smith Jr., according to Mike Schmitz. Top overall pick Deandre Ayton ranks second on the poll, with Schmitz noting that the Suns big man likely to get more playing time than any other rookie. Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Cavaliers point guard Collin Sexton and Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. round out the top five.
We have more from around the league:
- Retaining Paul George in free agency and dumping Carmelo Anthony‘s contract while receiving projected sixth man Dennis Schroder in return earned the Thunder the top spot on NBA.com’s David Aldridge’s offseason rankings. The rankings are based upon what teams have done during the offseason. The Lakers ranked No. 2 by virtue of signing LeBron James and handing out one-year contracts to other players, thus allowing them to be a force again in next year’s free agent market. The Nuggets gained the No. 3 spot by locking up Nikola Jokic and making trades that cleared roster spots and eased their luxury-tax situation.
- Forwards DJ Hogg (Texas A&M) and Malik Pope (San Diego State) and swingman BJ Johnson (LaSalle) are among the top 10 prospects at the G League Invitational, according to Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. The invitational takes place Sunday in Chicago and over a dozen of last year’s prospects received training camp invites afterward.
- The Warriors’ over-under odds for wins next season is 62.5, according to Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. The Celtics ranked second overall with a 57.5 over-under win total with the Rockets third at 54.5. The Hawks have the lowest projected win total at 23.5. The odds for each NBA team were passed along by ESPN’s Ben Fawkes.
- Asked by Yahoo Finance (video link) whether he expects to coach in the NBA again, Jason Kidd replied, “One day.” The former Nets and Bucks head coach, a San Francisco native, said he’d be interested in coaching in the Bay Area at some point at any level, joking that he’d be ready to take over when Steve Kerr moves on as head coach of the Warriors.
The Sixers’ much-anticipated offseason fell far short of expectations, Marc Stein of the New York Times opines in his latest newsletter (Sign-up link).
Philadelphia didn’t come close to signing either LeBron James or Paul George in the free agent market and couldn’t swing a deal with the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard, Stein continues. With Leonard landing in Toronto, the Sixers no longer have a clear path to the conference finals. They’re also still looking for a GM and the most consequential moves they made were re-signing J.J. Redick and dealing for Wilson Chandler, Stein adds.
We have more of Stein’s insights:
- The Warriors were the biggest winners in the offseason. They not only stunned the NBA world by signing DeMarcus Cousins but they also made some underrated moves, such as locking up coach Steve Kerr to a long-term contract and signing serviceable forward Jonas Jerebko.
- The Rockets’ offseason has been unfairly criticized. Re-signing Clint Capela to a team-friendly contract was a major coup and they should extract more production out of Carmelo Anthony than any other team in the league could.
- The Nets will be active on the free agent market next summer but they won’t spend money simply because they’ll have a lot of cap space. Kyrie Irving will be a target if he declines his player option and becomes a free agent.
- The Warriors are unlikely to pick up center Damian Jones‘ fourth-year option, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Golden State must make a decision on the $2.3MM option prior to the start of the season. If it’s declined, Jones will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Patrick McCaw is one of just two restricted free agents left on the market, and his free agency is expected to end with him accepting his qualifying offer to return to the Warriors, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Because he only has two years of NBA experience, McCaw was eligible for restricted free agency this offseason and the Warriors made him an RFA by issuing a qualifying offer worth approximately $1.71MM. While that offer gives Golden State the right of first refusal in the event that McCaw agrees to an offer sheet with another team, it also serves as a one-year contract offer the shooting guard can sign outright.
Assuming McCaw signs that QO, he’d put himself on track to reach free agency again in 2019. Unlike players coming off rookie scale contracts, who become unrestricted free agents a year after accepting a qualifying offer, McCaw would be eligible for restricted free agency again next season, since he’d still have just three years of NBA experience under his belt.
Still, McCaw would receive one notable benefit from signing his qualifying offer — since he’d be re-signing on a one-year deal and would have Bird rights at the end of his contract, he’d have the ability to block any attempts to trade him during the 2018/19 league year.
McCaw, 22, had a promising rookie season in 2016/17 for the Warriors, but took a step backward last season and battled multiple injuries. In 57 games (16.9 MPG), he averaged just 4.0 PPG on .409/.238/.765 shooting. Golden State still views him as a promising – and inexpensive – young prospect with the ability to bounce back in 2018/19, however.
Besides McCaw, Cavaliers swingman Rodney Hood is the only other restricted free agent who still has a standard NBA qualifying offer on the table.
Kevin Durant is not only one of the top players in the NBA, he’s also one of the league’s most outspoken figures. Whether it’s his blunt honesty on social media or weighing in on social issues, Durant’s comments are never far from the forefront.
Durant spoke to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated on LeBron James‘ decision to sign with the Lakers, praising the three-time NBA champion’s move.
“I thought it was the perfect decision, the perfect move,” Durant said. “He did everything you’re supposed to do in Cleveland, the perfect next step for him. He’s kind of breaking down the barriers of what an NBA superstar is supposed to be. You feel like you’re supposed to just play it out in one spot. I think he did a good job of giving you different chapters. And it’s going to make his book more interesting when it’s done.”
Durant also weighed in on Golden State signing All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, a move that drew a wide range of criticism from around the NBA.
“It was expected. Nobody likes a great thing. Greatness is rare, it’s different, and people don’t like different, so I get it,” Durant said. “But I think for DeMarcus I liked his approach, our approach to it, coming in, wanting it just to be about basketball, once you look at it that way, it works out perfectly.”
Check out more Warriors notes below:
- Ethan Strauss of The Athletic (subscription required) looked at how the Warriors’ current ownership group came into power and how the current team has been formed.
- Tim Kawakami of The Athletic (subscription required) writes about why the Warriors are not concerned about the possibility of having to pay upwards of $300MM for their roster due to luxury tax penalties. “I feel like we’ll do whatever we can to keep winning,” Warriors’ president Bob Myers said. “And I think the players will do whatever they can to keep winning — not knowing what that will exactly look like.”
- Warriors forward Draymond Green isn’t participating in the USA Basketball minicamp, Spears tweets. He joins many other stars, including LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who decided to skip it.