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Pacers Sign Kendall Brown, James Johnson, Three Others

September 16th, 2022 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have officially announced a series of signings, confirming in a press release that they’ve signed second-round pick Kendall Brown to a two-way contract. Additionally, forwards James Johnson and Bennie Boatwright and guards David Stockton and Gabe York have signed with the club.

Brown, a 6’8″ forward who was selected with the No. 48 overall pick in this year’s draft, was one of the only remaining unsigned players in the 2022 class, besides those who will spend the 2022/23 overseas. The 19-year-old spent his first and only college season at Baylor in 2021/22, averaging 9.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.9 APG on .584/.341/.689 shooting in 34 games (27.0 MPG) for the Bears.

The Pacers were the NBA’s only team that had yet to fill one of its two-way contract slots, so even after signing Brown, the club has another two-way opening available.

Of the four veteran free agents to sign with Indiana, Johnson is the most notable. The 35-year-old spent most of last season in Brooklyn, registering 5.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 62 appearances (19.2 MPG) for the Nets. A 13-year NBA veteran, Johnson has a somewhat limited offensive game, but is considered a versatile, athletic defender. He was waived by the Nets just days before the regular season ended and should have an opportunity to make the Pacers’ regular season roster.

Boatwright and York played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants – the Pacers’ G League affiliate – last season and look like good candidates to return to Fort Wayne in 2022/23. Stockton played in the G League last season for the Memphis Hustle, but his rights were acquired by the Mad Ants last month, so he’s also a good bet to play in Fort Wayne this season.

The Pacers now have a full 20-man roster. Assuming Johnson, Boatwright, York, and Stockton didn’t receive guaranteed contracts, the team has 13 players on fully guaranteed salaries, six on non-guaranteed deals, and Brown on a two-way pact. We can probably expect more roster turnover in Indiana in the coming weeks, since the club has reportedly reached Exhibit 10 agreements with several other players.

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And-Ones: Referees, Harrison, Bitadze, Korkmaz, Hoard

September 16th, 2022 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

There won’t be any labor strife regarding NBA officials for several years. The NBA and the National Basketball Referees Association announced that they have entered into a new collective bargaining agreement that covers the next seven seasons.

That CBA runs through the 2028/29 season. The contract addressed salary, travel, pension and marketing issue rights and was ratified by the overwhelming majority of the NBA referees, the NBRA announced (hat tip to Andrew Lopez of ESPN).

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA guard Aaron Harrison has signed in Slovenia with KK Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Harrison played 38 games with the Hornets and Mavericks from 2015-18. He played in Turkey last season.
  • FIBA officially announced that disciplinary proceedings have been opened for the alleged attack on Sixers wing and Turkish national team member Furkan Korkmaz by Georgia players, including the Pacers’ Goga Bitadze, after Korkmaz was ejected from a EuroBasket contest, Eurohoops.net relays. Both sides agree that an incident happened and FIBA clarifies that they have the security camera footage from that day. What remains unclear is what kind of sanctions can be imposed, Eurohoops adds, as FIBA uses the wording “applicable disciplinary measures.”
  • Hapoel Tel Aviv has elected to retain Jaylen Hoard for the rest of he 2022/23 season, the team announced. Hoard joined the club on a partially guaranteed deal and now will get a full guarantee. After going undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2019, the 6’8″, French-born swingman joined the Trail Blazers on a two-way deal for the 2019/20 season. He then spent the subsequent two NBA seasons bouncing between the Thunder and their NBAGL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.
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Pacers Hire Isaac Yacob As Head Video Coordinator

September 9th, 2022 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams
  • The Pacers have hired Isaac Yacob as their head video coordinator, sources tell Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (subscription required). According to Agness, Yacob – who previously worked for the Kings – built a strong rapport with Tyrese Haliburton in Sacramento.
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2022/23 NBA Over/Unders: Central Division

September 9th, 2022 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

The 2022/23 NBA regular season will tip off next month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to continue an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites – including Bovada, BetOnline, and Betway – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2021/22, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’22/23?

We’ll keep our series going today with the Central division…

Milwaukee Bucks

Cleveland Cavaliers

Chicago Bulls

Detroit Pistons

Indiana Pacers

Previous voting results:

Southeast

  • Miami Heat (50.5 wins): Under (56.6%)
  • Atlanta Hawks (46.5 wins): Over (53.6%)
  • Charlotte Hornets (36.5 wins): Under (63.0%)
  • Washington Wizards (35.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
  • Orlando Magic (26.5 wins): Over (55.3%)

Southwest

  • Memphis Grizzlies (49.5 wins): Over (68.7%)
  • Dallas Mavericks (48.5 wins): Over (63.7%)
  • New Orleans Pelicans (44.5 wins): Over (61.2%)
  • Houston Rockets (24.5 wins): Under (61.8%)
  • San Antonio Spurs (23.5 wins): Under (67.5%)
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And-Ones: Expansion, Seattle, Vegas, Draft Assets, Ignite

September 7th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Is the NBA ready to move forward on its long-rumored plans to expand to Seattle and Las Vegas? Willie G. Ramirez of The Associated Press (Twitter link) says he has heard from multiple sources that the league wants to announce expansion when those two cities hosts preseason games this fall. The Clippers will play in Seattle on September 30 and October 3, while the Lakers are set to play in Vegas on October 5 and 6.

Despite Ramirez’s report, it’s still probably premature to get excited about an impending announcement. Rumors of possible expansion have simmered off and on for years, and the NBA has repeatedly shot them down, indicating that any plans to add more teams are on the back-burner. Still, it seems increasingly likely that expansion is coming sooner or later, with Seattle and Las Vegas atop the league’s list of potential destinations.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • As rumors about expansion resurface, Evan Sidery of BasketballNews.com considers what an expansion draft might look like if the NBA uses the same rules it did for its last expansion draft (the Bobcats in 2004). Of course, Sidery’s hypothetical expansion draft is based on teams’ current rosters, and any expansion team is unlikely to enter the league for a few years, but it’s still an interesting exercise that shows what kinds of players might go unprotected.
  • Following the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell blockbuster trades, the Jazz have the strongest collection of future draft picks of any NBA team, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link), who ranks Utah’s draft assets slightly ahead of the Thunder‘s. The Spurs have the third-best stash of future picks, per Marks. The Pelicans, Rockets, Knicks, Magic, and Pacers round out his top eight, in that order.
  • The G League Ignite have officially announced the additions of Australian prospect Mojave King and Canadian prospect Leonard Miller, confirming the signings today in a press release. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony previously reported that King and Miller would be joining the Ignite.
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Bitadze Allegedly Attacked Korkmaz

September 5th, 2022 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Sixers wing and Turkish national team member Furkan Korkmaz was allegedly attacked by Georgia players after he was ejected from a EuroBasket contest. One of those alleged attackers was Pacers’ big man Goga Bitadze, sportscaster Ismal Senol tweets. Even if that’s true, there’s no precedent for the NBA to dole out punishment to a player for his actions in FIBA games, John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets. Nenad Krstic, Thon Maker and Nicolas Batum were not disciplined by the NBA for past incidents that occurred in FIBA tournaments, Hollinger notes.
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Knicks Rumors: Mitchell, Rosas, Barrett, Grimes

September 3rd, 2022 at 8:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks believe they could have topped the offer that sent Donovan Mitchell to the Cavaliers, but they never got the chance to make a counterproposal, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Talks with the Jazz were on hold after word leaked late Monday night about an extension agreement with RJ Barrett. The Knicks were hoping to resume negotiations, but Utah reached a deal with Cleveland before that could happen.

Some members of the Knicks didn’t feel like they got “a fair shake” in the trade talks, and Bondy wonders whether the experience is related to the team’s high-profile appearance at a Jazz-Mavericks playoff game in April. New York, which was known to have interest in both Mitchell and Jalen Brunson, whom it ultimately signed, sent executives William Wesley and Allan Houston to the game, along with Julius Randle. They all sat at courtside, which reportedly upset officials from both Utah and Dallas.

The Knicks could have offered the Jazz more draft assets than they got from Cleveland, and they believe their early offers that centered on Barrett and first-round picks were better than the final deal. Bondy states that it’s unlikely that Utah executive Danny Ainge would sabotage a deal because of bitterness over the playoff stunt or a feud with CAA, but Bondy notes that Ainge only made one trade with the Knicks during his 18 years in the Celtics’ front office.

There’s more from New York:

  • Gersson Rosas, who serves as senior basketball advisor with the Knicks, handled most of the negotiations with Utah, sources tell Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Rosas has a friendly relationship with Jazz general manager Justin Zanik, so they did most of the talking instead of Ainge and Knicks president Leon Rose, according to Washburn’s sources. Although Rosas didn’t complete the deal, the report shows that he has assumed more than just an advisory role with the franchise.
  • The Knicks’ decision to give Barrett an extension was in reaction to the failed talks with the Jazz, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. A league source tells Berman that under normal circumstances, the team would have preferred to watch Barrett go through training camp before discussing the extension or possibly even wait until he hit restricted free agency next summer. The Knicks drafted Barrett before Rose and Wesley joined the organization. “They didn’t want to pay RJ now, they like RJ, but he’s not one of their guys,’’ Berman’s source said. “The preference was to trade him in a Donovan deal. … If they got Donovan without Barrett in the deal, they weren’t going to pay RJ now.’’ 
  • New York’s priority in trade talks was keeping Quentin Grimes, states David Aldridge of The Athletic. Aldridge recommends that the Knicks should dip into their stockpile of draft assets to try to get Myles Turner and Buddy Hield from the Pacers.
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Goga Bitadze Seeks Greater Role With Pacers

September 3rd, 2022 at 6:48pm CST by Arthur Hill
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Westbrook Trade Might Be Best For Pacers, Lakers; Turner Expected To Seek $20MM Annually

August 31st, 2022 at 7:30pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • The Pacers should aggressively pursue a Russell Westbrook trade with the Lakers, argues Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star. Doyel doesn’t expect Westbrook to become a star again in Indiana, but he says taking on the $47MM expiring contract would be worth it to get L.A.’s first-round picks in 2027 and 2029. Doyel also points to Myles Turner and Buddy Hield as the best return the Lakers are likely to get for Westbrook. Doyel adds that the value of the two first-rounders is that they can be moved in other deals to help build around Tyrese Haliburton.
  • Turner, who’s headed for free agency in 2023, is expected to want more than $20MM a year in his next contract, according to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype. That price will affect his trade value as the Pacers look for potential deals.
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Lakers Rumors: THT, Westbrook, Reaves, Nunn, Carmelo

August 31st, 2022 at 7:50am CST by Luke Adams

Before the Lakers traded Talen Horton-Tucker to the Jazz in the Patrick Beverley deal, the Pacers expressed interest in the 21-year-old wing, Michael Scotto said in the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast.

As Scotto explains, the Pacers were interested in pursuing a deal that sent Buddy Hield, Myles Turner, and Daniel Theis to the Lakers in exchange for Russell Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and Los Angeles’ 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. However, L.A. has been reluctant to include both of those first-rounders in any deal not involving Kyrie Irving, and wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about swapping Horton-Tucker for Theis.

Although Horton-Tucker is off the table, Indiana remains one of the two most likely landing spots for Westbrook, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says a deal involving the Pacers and Westbrook could involve just one of Hield or Turner — the Pacers still have $30MM+ in cap room and could take on Westbrook’s $47MM+ expiring contract without sending out both players. Still, Buha believes that Utah is a more viable destination for Westbrook than Indiana.

Here’s more on the Lakers from the HoopsHype podcast:

  • Scotto has gotten the impression that Austin Reaves and the Lakers have mutual interest in continuing their relationship beyond the 2022/23 season. Reaves will be a restricted free agent next summer and will be seeking a pay bump on his minimum-salary contract.
  • While Kendrick Nunn has been around the Lakers’ facility and has been working out, his ramp-up process has been slowed than anticipated, according to Buha. Nunn said a month ago that he feels 100% healthy, but the acquisition of Beverley gives the team some extra insurance at point guard.
  • A reunion between Carmelo Anthony and the Lakers remains possible, in Buha’s view, but he believes the veteran forward is more likely to land elsewhere. L.A. still needs more shooting, which Anthony could provide, but also wants to continue to upgrade its perimeter defense, which isn’t one of Carmelo’s strengths.
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