- In a discussion on this year’s extension candidates (video link), Wojnarowski suggests that Raptors forward Pascal Siakam would be a lock for a maximum-salary offer sheet if he reaches restricted free agency next summer. Woj believes Kings sharpshooter Buddy Hield would get a similar offer and that Jaylen Brown (Celtics) and Domantas Sabonis (Pacers) would do very well too, given the lack of veteran stars expected to hit the free agent market.
The 2019/20 season will only be his fourth NBA campaign and his first with the Pacers, but 26-year-old guard Malcolm Brogdon is Indiana’s bona fide team leader in his inaugural season in Indianapolis, writes Mark Montieth of Pacers.com.
At least one assistant coach has already gone as far as comparing Brogdon to perhaps the greatest player in Pacers’ history, five-time NBA All-Star Reggie Miller. “I haven’t seen anybody like that in practice since Reggie,” said assistant coach Dan Burke, who has been with the Pacers for nearly 20 seasons.
Likewise, head coach Nate McMillan sees an extension of himself on the court with Brogdon, something every coach longs for in a point guard.
“He’s doing a good job of coming in and competing and getting the guys to compete,” McMillan said “He understands the position he’s in and what’s required of that. He’s communicating with all of our guys. He communicates with the guys he’s playing with and the guys he’s playing against (in practice)… it just comes natural for him.”
There’s more tonight out of Indianapolis:
- A versatile player, offseason free agent acquisition T.J. Warren has the ability to line up as a power forward in a small-ball lineup, but the Pacers’ focus for him is to excel at small forward, reports J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star.
- Scott Agness of The Athletic writes that the Pacers have elevated their emphasis on the international game and its players since president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard, who played professionally in Spain, Italy, and Germany, was promoted to run the front office back in 2017. “I like the way Europe does it,” Pritchard said. “They put the emphasis early on learning the game versus playing and winning immediately.”
- As we relayed earlier today and yesterday, the Pacers have made several roster moves in the past 48 hours. In addition to exercising rookie scale options on both Aaron Holiday and T.J. Leaf, the club replaced forward Jakeenan Gant with guard Walt Lemon Jr. on its 20-man roster.
2:01pm: The Pacers have picked up Leaf’s fourth-year option and Holiday’s third-year option, J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star confirms (via Twitter). In total, the two moves add about $6.67MM in guaranteed money to Indiana’s 2020/21 cap.
1:14pm: The Pacers are exercising the fourth-year rookie scale option for forward T.J. Leaf, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The move will lock in Leaf’s $4,326,825 cap hit for the 2020/21 season.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2020/21 Rookie Scale Options]
The 18th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Leaf hasn’t played a major rotation role for Indiana in his first two NBA seasons. The 22-year-old has appeared in a total of 111 regular season games, but has averaged just 3.4 PPG and 1.9 RPG in 8.8 MPG in those contests.
With Thaddeus Young no longer in the power forward mix for the Pacers, Leaf may see an increased role this season, though the team is committed to playing Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis together in the frontcourt. Newly-added forward T.J. Warren could also see some time at the four in smaller lineups.
Leaf will now become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2020 offseason. If he doesn’t sign a new deal at that point, he’d be on track for restricted free agency in the summer of 2021.
The Pacers also face an October 31 deadline on Aaron Holiday‘s third-year option for 2020/21. That option, which will only count against the cap for $2,345,640, is a lock to be exercised, so Indiana will likely announce both moves at the same time.
After opening up a roster spot on Wednesday by waiving Jakeenan Gant, the Pacers filled that spot today, signing Walt Lemon Jr. to their 20-man roster, according to a press release from the team. Indiana’s announcement didn’t any reveal contract details, but it figures to be a non-guaranteed pact for the free agent guard.
Lemon, 27, appeared in five games with the Pelicans during the 2017/18 season and six more with the Bulls in 2018/19. He has spent most of his professional career in the G League, playing a total of 130 games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Maine Red Claws, and Windy City Bulls.
After starting the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Celtics and appearing in 10 contests for Maine, Lemon was released by Boston and had his G League rights acquired by Windy City. He averaged 20.1 PPG, 8.7 APG, and 4.8 RPG in 33 games (33.1 MPG) for the Bulls’ NBAGL affiliate, earning a call-up to Chicago at the end of the season. However, he was cut by the team in July.
It’s not clear what the Pacers’ plan is for Lemon, considering they’re already carrying 15 players with guaranteed salaries and have filled both their two-way slots. In order to have him return to their G League affiliate in Fort Wayne, they’d need to reacquire his returning rights, which are currently held by Windy City.
6:10pm: The Pacers confirmed the move on Twitter.
5:34pm: Jakeenan Gant, who had an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pacers, has been placed on waivers, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic.
The 6’8″ forward signed with Indiana in July after going undrafted out of Louisiana-Lafayette. He was named the Sun Belt’s Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 2.7 blocks per game as a senior.
Gant may end up with the Pacers’ G League affiliate in Fort Wayne, where he can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he remains on the roster for 60 days. There was never a clear path to a roster spot with the Pacers, who already have 15 players with guaranteed contracts and both two-way slots already filled.
- Pacers first-rounder Goga Bitadze is getting off to a slow start in his rookie season. As J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star details, the big man – who missed Summer League due to visa issues – may not play at all in the preseason because of an ankle injury.
- Charania points to Pacers guard Aaron Holiday and Suns center Deandre Ayton as two players who appear to be primed for big sophomore NBA seasons. As Charania explains, Holiday will take over as Indiana’s backup point guard behind Malcolm Brogdon, while Suns officials, coaches, and players have all raved about Ayton’s work ethic leading up to the 2019/20 campaign.
Several NBA teams have shared health updates on their injured players as they report for training camps and attend Media Day sessions, but the Pacers – who held their Media Day on Friday – still aren’t providing a specific recovery timetable for Victor Oladipo. The All-Star guard, who is coming back from a ruptured quad tendon, has been ruled out for the start of the season but participated in everything except scrimmages on Indiana’s first day of camp, writes J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star.
“He spent the first 20 to 30 minutes of practice going through drills,” head coach Nate McMillan said of Oladipo. “Nothing with contact. Basically the warm-up part of practice. That was good enough for me to see him out on the floor with his teammates.”
Oladipo has at least been ruled out for the start of the season. Beyond that, there’s no specific return date that he and the Pacers are aiming for, or at least none that they’re willing to announce publicly. But Michael suggests that December or January might be a good bet for when we can expect to see Oladipo back on the court. Teammate Myles Turner expressed optimism for a December or January return as well, per Michael Marot of The Associated Press.
“I’ve heard some people say after the All-Star break, but I just know how Vic’s wired,” Turner said. “He’s been attacking the whole process. He’s already doing stuff on the court.”
With Oladipo out, newly-signed guard Malcolm Brogdon will be leaned on even more heavily in the first couple months of the season. In the wake of his $85MM payday, Brogdon acknowledged that there’s a “different level of expectations” for him in Indiana than in Milwaukee, writes Michael.
For his part, Oladipo sounds confident that Brogdon and his other Pacers teammates will be just fine in his absence — and that he’ll help elevate them even further when he returns. As Mark Montieth of Pacers.com relays, Oladipo said on Friday that he believes Indiana is “the best team in the East” and that he’s going to play even better upon returning than he did before his injury.
“When I say I’m coming back better than ever, I’m not just saying that because it sounds good,” Oladipo said. “I truly believe that.”
There is still no timetable for when Victor Oladipo will return to the court. Oladipo, who ruptured his quad tendon back in January, continues to make progress and the Pacers are encouraged by his rehab.
“He’s not playing live, but he’s moving. He’s in a good position mentally,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “He feels that everything is going well. I like what I see with him. … He’s doing great. He’s not doing any live contact, still in that rehab stage of working with the trainers.
“I just know [opening night on October 23] he probably won’t be there. The time frame, we have no idea of when he will return.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Romeo Langford has been medically cleared to play, Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops hears (Twitter link). The Celtics rookie had thumb surgery in April.
- Xavier Silas has joined the Delaware Blue Coats’ coaching staff, Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice reports (Twitter link). Silas briefly played for the Sixers back in 2011.
- Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports examines the Celtics‘ most intriguing storylines heading into training camp. Gordon Hayward has worked hard all offseason and Forsberg wonders if the veteran wing will look much better than he did last season.
At this point in the offseason, the majority of the NBA’s teams are carrying either 13 or 14 players on guaranteed salaries. Teams will have to pare down their rosters to no more than 15 players on standard contracts once the regular season begins, so having 13 or 14 players on guaranteed deals now gives those clubs the flexibility to allow one or two non-guaranteed players to make the team — or to carry an open roster spot into opening night.
However, there are currently a dozen teams around the league carrying fewer than 13 guaranteed salaries or more than 14. With the help of our roster counts tool, here’s a look at those teams, with details on what they might be thinking as the 2019/20 season nears:
Fewer than 13 fully guaranteed salaries:
- Houston Rockets (10)
- Miami Heat (12)
- Toronto Raptors (12)
- Utah Jazz (12)
With only 10 players on fully guaranteed salaries, the Rockets may have some competition for their final few roster spots in training camp. For now Isaiah Hartenstein and Gary Clark – each of whom have partial guarantees – look like good bets to earn spots, with Ben McLemore perhaps the frontrunner for the 13th spot. Anthony Bennett, Chris Clemons, Michael Frazier, William McDowell-White, and Shamorie Ponds are candidates to fill out the roster, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Houston eventually acquires a veteran or two with its open spots.
[RELATED: 2019/20 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team]
Duncan Robinson‘s and Kendrick Nunn‘s partial guarantees put them in good position to earn the Heat‘s 13th and 14th roster spots. The hard-capped club won’t have room for a 15th player to start the season.
Royce O’Neale is a lock to make the Jazz, and Georges Niang seems like a safe bet too. William Howard and Stanton Kidd could be the prime contenders for the 15th spot if Utah wants a full roster.
For the Raptors, second-round pick Dewan Hernandez, veteran point guard Cameron Payne, and returning role players Chris Boucher and Malcolm Miller are the top candidates for the final two or three openings on the regular season roster.
More than 14 fully guaranteed salaries:
- Brooklyn Nets (15)
- Dallas Mavericks (15)
- Indiana Pacers (15)
- Memphis Grizzlies (15)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (15)
- New York Knicks (15)
- Phoenix Suns (15)
- San Antonio Spurs (15)
The Grizzlies were the only team carrying more than 15 guaranteed salaries, but a buyout agreement with Dwight Howard changed that. If they reach a similar deal – or find a trade – involving Andre Iguodala, their roster count would dip to 14 fully guaranteed contracts.
The Nets, Mavericks, Pacers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Suns, and Spurs could shake things up with roster moves before the season begins, particularly if any of those teams is impressed by a non-guaranteed camp invitee. But for now, their regular season rosters look pretty set with their 15 players on guaranteed salaries.