- Appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio this week, agent Warren LeGarie said that his client Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni is perfectly happy to enter the 2019/20 season – the final year of his deal – without a contract extension (Twitter link via Howard Beck of Bleacher Report). “It’s not even something we’re considering right now,” LeGarie said of a potential extension. “We have a contract.”
JULY 17: The Nets have officially signed Nwaba, the team confirmed today in a press release.
JULY 14: David Nwaba has agreed to a two-year contract with the Nets, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The deal includes a team option for the second season, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, who adds that the Pacers, Kings, Rockets and Suns all had interest in Nwaba (Twitter link).
It’ll be a minimum-salary deal for Nwaba, who will make approximately $1.7MM for the upcoming season and $1.8MM in 2020/21 with a July 7 deadline for the option decision, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The Nets now have 15 players with guaranteed contracts.
Brooklyn will be the fourth stop in four years for the 26-year-old shooting guard, who spent his first three seasons with the Lakers, Bulls and Cavaliers. He appeared in 51 games for Cleveland this year, averaging 6.5 points in about 19 minutes per night.
The Cavs opted last month not to tender a $1.9MM qualifying offer to Nwaba, making him an unrestricted free agent. Even so, Cleveland had expressed some interest in bringing him back.
The addition of Nwaba continues an impressive summer for Brooklyn, which hit the free agent jackpot by signing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan.
JULY 17: The Rockets have officially re-signed Rivers, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 1: The Rockets will re-sign point guard Austin Rivers on a two-year deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The second season in the agreement contains a player option. Rivers’ new deal will be worth the minimum, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Rivers, 26, first signed with Houston on a free-agent deal in December. He provided production off the bench behind Chris Paul and James Harden in 47 games, averaging 8.7 points and 2.3 assists per contest.
“I’m just very excited,” Rivers said, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26. “Happy to be on a playoff team.”
Rivers, the No. 10 pick in 2012, spent time with the Pelicans, Clippers and Wizards before joining the Rockets. Houston already came to terms with free agents Gerald Green and Danuel House during the first day of free agency.
Because he’s re-signing with his previous team on a two-year deal with a second-year option, Rivers will have the ability to veto trades in 2019/20, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).
Five days after agreeing to terms on the blockbuster trade that sends Russell Westbrook to Houston and Chris Paul to Oklahoma City, the Rockets and Thunder officially completed that deal on Tuesday night. Now that the trade has been finalized, we know exactly what the language looks like on the draft picks – and swaps – sent from Houston to OKC in the agreement.
Via ClutchFans (Twitter link) and Keith Smith of RealGM (Twitter links), here are the details on the draft assets the Thunder acquired in the deal:
- Rockets’ 2024 first-round pick (top-four protected)
- If this pick falls in its protected range, the Thunder will instead receive Houston’s 2024 and 2025 second-round picks.
- Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected)
- If this pick falls in its protected range, the Thunder will instead receive Houston’s 2026 second-round pick and $1MM in cash.
- While that $1MM is conditional, it technically must count toward the Rockets’ traded-cash limit for the 2019/20 league year, notes David Weiner of ClutchFans (via Twitter).
- The right to swap first-round picks with the Rockets in 2021 (top-four protected)
- Since the Thunder also own the Heat’s unprotected 2021 first-round pick, Houston will receive the least favorable of those three first-rounders, while the Thunder will receive the two most favorable picks (unless the Rockets’ pick falls in the top four).
- The right to swap first-round picks with the Rockets in 2025 (top-10 protected)
- This pick swap was originally reported as top-20 protected, but ClutchFans and Smith both indicate that the protection is actually 1-10, meaning it could still end up being a lottery pick.
- The Thunder also have the right to swap first-round picks with the Clippers in this draft, so they won’t necessarily swap with Houston even if the Rockets’ pick falls outside the top 10 and is more favorable than Oklahoma City’s pick. For instance, if the Clippers’ pick is No. 12, the Rockets’ is 15, and the Thunder’s is 20, OKC would swap with L.A. and Houston would remain at 15.
JULY 17: The Rockets have made it official, formally announcing in a press release that they’ve re-signed House. Head of basketball operations Daryl Morey welcomed House back on Tuesday night (via Twitter).
JUNE 30: The Rockets and free agent forward Danuel House have agreed to a three-year deal worth $11.1MM, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
The deal represents a victory for House, who turned down a guaranteed three-year, minimum-salary offer from the team when he was on a two-way contract. House reached his 45-day allotment and spent several weeks in the G League before having his deal converted to a standard NBA contract in mid-March.
The 26-year-old was placed on waivers twice this year before blossoming with the Rockets midway through the season. He appeared in 39 games, starting 13, and averaged 9.4 PPG while shooting 42% from 3-point range.
Houston is well over the cap and only holds Non-Bird rights on House, so it will have to use part of its exception to sign him.
David Weiner of Clutch Fans (Twitter link) estimates a first-year salary for House of $3.524MM, which would leave the Rockets with $2.194MM remaining if they use the taxpayer mid-level exception or $5.734MM if they opt for the non-taxpayer MLE. The team is close enough to the tax line that either option is feasible.
The Pacers were thrilled to see Goga Bitadze still available when the team picked at No. 18, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star relays. The scribe hears that many within the league were surprised Bitadze was still available at that spot. However, several executives told Michael that had they been running the Pacers, they wouldn’t have taken the center unless they planned on trading either Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis.
Most of the executives Michael spoke to believe that if the team decides to trade either Turner and Sabonis, the latter will be the one to go. Turner is entering the first season of a four-year, $80MM contract, while Sabonis is entering the last year of his rookie deal.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Pelicans were Derrick Favors‘ preferred destination once it was clear the Jazz were moving him, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Utah needed to trade Favors in order to accommodate the Bojan Bogdanovic signing.
- Former Rockets center Zhou Qi plans to play in Europe next season, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Zhou has not yet picked a team.
- Milos Teodosic will make slightly over €5MM during his three-year contract with Virtus Bologna, Carchia passes along in a separate piece. Teodosic last played for the Clippers during this past season.
JULY 16: The trade is official, according to a Thunder press release.
“We recently had conversations with Russell about the team, his career, and how he sees the future,” GM Sam Presti said. “Through those conversations we came to the understanding that looking at some alternative situations would be something that made sense for him. As a result, and due to his history with the Thunder, we worked together to accommodate this,” said Presti. “Our ability to have these types of conversations and work so closely with Russell and his agent Thad Foucher is only possible because of the depth of the relationship that has been built over the last 11 years.
“Russell Westbrook is the most important player in the brief history of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has left an indelible mark on this team, city and state. None of us could have anticipated the player he has become, and we are all deeply proud of what he has contributed to the success of the franchise and to our community. Russell and his wife Nina, their three children, his brother and his parents will always remain part of the Thunder family. We wish them nothing but happiness and success in the future.”
JULY 11: The Rockets have acquired Russell Westbrook. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Houston will send Chris Paul, two first-round picks and two pick swaps to Oklahoma City in exchange for the eight-time All-Star.
The Thunder will receive the Rockets’ first-round picks in 2024 and 2026, according to Wojnarowski. Shams Charania of the Athletic tweets that those selections are each top-four protected.
Oklahoma City will also have the right to swap first-round picks with the Rockets during the 2021 and 2025 drafts, though those have protections as well. The 2021 swap is top-four protected, while the 2025 swap is top-20 protected, per Charania.
GM Sam Presti worked with Westbrook and his agent to send the point guard to Houston, which was his preferred destination, Wojnarowski tweets. Westbrook will reunite with James Harden, whom he previously played with on the Thunder (before the team traded Harden to the Rockets). Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) hears that the push for a reunion came from both sides.
The Paul George trade request opened the door for another superstar to move this summer. The Thunder began an unexpected retooling process in the wake of trading George, leaving Westbrook in a curious position.
Rumors of the Paul-Harden relationship souring popped up this summer, with a report from Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports describing the relationship as “unsalvageable” and suggesting that CP3 wanted a trade. Both Paul and GM Daryl Morey shot down that report, but there was still widespread speculation that the team would try to move Paul.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets that Presti has spoken to Paul’s agent, Leon Rose. Rose, who also represents Carmelo Anthony, worked with the team last summer on an exit strategy for ‘Melo.
The Thunder’s plan as of now is to keep Paul alongside Danilo Gallinari and remain competitive, Sam Amick of The Athletic hears (Twitter link). Still, Amick cautions that at this stage in his career, the point guard isn’t going to be patient.
Paul, whose contract runs through 2021/22, will make $38.5MM in the 2019/20 season, with roughly $86MM due to him over the following two seasons. Westbrook will also make $38.5MM this upcoming season and he’ll take home $132.6MM over the ensuing three seasons. The two deals are essentially identical, with Westbrook’s running for an extra season. Both of the point guards also have a player option on the end of their contracts, though it’s unlikely that either will decide to hit the open market a year early.
Westbrook has a 15% trade bonus in his contract, but because he’s already earning a maximum salary, the bonus will be voided, ESPN’s Bobby Marks adds on Twitter.
Paul, 34, slowed signs of slowing down during the 2018/19 season. Injuries limited him to just 58 games, and his 15.6 PPG and .419 FG% were both the lowest marks of his 14-year career. However, he still chipped in 8.2 APG and 2.0 SPG while helping to lead the Rockets to the Western Semifinals.
As for Westbrook, his scoring average (22.9 PPG) was his lowest in five years and he went through some major shooting slumps en route to a .428/.290/.656 line. The 30-year-old still managed to average a triple-double for the third consecutive year though, contributing 11.1 RPG and a league-leading 10.7 APG to go along with 1.9 SPG.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The blockbuster trade between the Thunder and Rockets that will send Russell Westbrook to Houston and Chris Paul to Oklahoma City has yet to be technically finalized, but OKC’s head of basketball operations Sam Presti continues to explore potential destinations for Paul.
Although the Heat appear to be the most likely suitor for Paul, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald continues to be skeptical of Miami’s level of interest in the veteran point guard. According to Jackson, the Heat are listening to the Thunder and won’t rule anything out, but they’re not actively pursuing CP3.
Appearing on SportsCenter on Monday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst outlined some of the obstacles in the way of a deal between the Heat and Thunder, as Chris Grenham of NESN.com relays.
“When you talk about [Paul] potentially going to the Miami Heat, which is his preference, one thing I’ve been told in the talks; the fact that the Thunder hold the two of the Heat’s first-round picks in the future — unprotected 2021, protected 2023 — makes this a difficult conversation because the Heat want those picks back,” Windhorst said (video link). “The Thunder have expressed an interest in giving one of those picks back, but they would want another pick farther off into the future.
“So I do think that these two teams have a lot to talk about, but because of those picks, it’s something that could get complicated, and the Thunder have let it to be known they are in no hurry.”
In his analysis of the potential trade discussions between the two clubs, Jackson conveyed a similar sentiment, suggesting that the Heat would want their draft picks back from the Thunder and cautioning that he wouldn’t expect Presti to be on board with that. Jackson also speculated that the Heat might want Paul to agree to decline his 2021/22 player option to help the club maintain future cap flexibility — that would be a lot to ask of the nine-time All-Star, whose option will be worth $44.2MM.
As cap expert Albert Nahmad notes (via Twitter), the Thunder acquired two first-round picks by swapping Westbrook for Paul. If Oklahoma City were to surrender two first-rounders to move Paul, the club wouldn’t really be coming out ahead in terms of assets, and would have little to show for giving up its former MVP. Presumably, the Thunder will be prepared to hang onto Paul into the season if Miami (or another team) isn’t willing to meet their asking price.
While the Heat still look like the best potential fit for Paul, there are so many complicating factors involved – including both teams’ cap and tax concerns – that it’s hard to imagine Miami and Oklahoma City quickly bridging the gap and agreeing to terms. It will be interesting to see if the Thunder and Rockets finalize their part of the trade this week, or if they continue to hold off on making it official in case it can be turned into a three-team deal.
- The league has also fined Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta $25K for making public comments about the Russell Westbrook–Chris Paul swap before it was officially completed, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
Loyalty and friendship were a big part of the equation in the Rockets’ acquisition of Russell Westbrook, Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports. The Thunder wanted to grant Westbrook his preferred destination once OKC decided to go into full rebuild mode. His friendship with James Harden proved vital, according to Iko, and put Houston over the top compared to the Heat, the other main bidder for Westbrook. The Rockets’ front office believes the Westbrook and Harden pairing will work out, especially since they’ll be surrounded by shooters, a luxury that Westbrook didn’t have with the Thunder.
- Rockets reserve big man Isaiah Hartenstein will pass on the FIBA World Cup this summer in order to focus on next season, Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas tweets. Hartenstein, a 21-year-old 7-footer, informed the German national team that he has prioritized his NBA career. “I will need to prove I can belong here,” he told Urbonas.