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Coaches, Scouts, Execs Weigh In On NBA Offseason Moves

July 29th, 2024 at 3:05pm CST by Rory Maher

While there are still some noteworthy free agents who have yet to find new teams, we’re currently in a relatively slow period for NBA transactions, as most teams have a pretty good idea of what their rosters will look like ahead of the 2024/25 season.

With that in mind, Tim Bontemps of ESPN (subscription required) recently spoke to 18 NBA coaches, scouts and executives to solicit their (anonymous) opinions on the biggest moves made so far in the 2024 offseason.

Here are some highlights from Bontemps’ survey, which is worth reading in full for those who subscribe to ESPN+:

Which team had the best offseason?

Sixers (8 votes), Knicks (5), Thunder (3), Celtics.

“They took themselves to the next level,” an East executive said of the 76ers. “We’ll see if it’s good enough, but you went from Point A to Point B.”

Which team had the worst offseason?

Nuggets (6 votes), Bulls (5), Clippers (4), Lakers (1), Knicks (1), Pistons (1).

As Bontemps writes, Denver (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope), Chicago (Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan) and the Clippers (Paul George) received the majority of the votes for losing key players in free agency and/or trades.

Interestingly, while Philadelphia signing George to a four-year, maximum-salary contract received the most votes (six) for the best offseason move, it also tied for the most votes (three) for worst move. A total of 10 different answers were given for worst move, including the Bulls and Kings receiving three votes apiece for their parts in the DeRozan sign-and-trade.

As for the most surprising move, the Knicks’ blockbuster trade with the Nets for Mikal Bridges received the most votes (five) in Bontemps’ survey, followed by George leaving Los Angeles (three) and the swap of Caruso for Josh Giddey (two). Eight other moves each received one vote.

Bontemps also asked questions about the top offseason trend, the effectiveness of the new CBA, and whether there will be an increase in tanking ahead of the 2025 draft.

Clippers Sign Trentyn Flowers To Two-Way Deal

July 25th, 2024 at 12:10pm CST by Rory Maher

The Clippers have signed undrafted rookie free agent Trentyn Flowers to a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s official transactions log.

A 6’7″ guard/forward, Flowers was reported in late June to be landing with L.A.. The type of contract was not specified at the time, but the 19-year-old was called by president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, owner Steve Ballmer and head coach Tyronn Lue, indicating he likely agreed to something more significant than a summer league deal.

Flowers was considered a potential late second-round pick (No. 56) on ESPN’s big board before going undrafted in 2024. He was the fourth-best prospect available on the open market following the draft, per ESPN.

An American prospect who spent the 2023/24 season in the NBL’s Next Stars program, Flowers averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds on .458/.421/.613 shooting in 18 games (12.7 minutes) with the Adelaide 36ers. Flowers is considered a top-tier athlete with scoring upside, but the rest of his game isn’t very well rounded at this stage of his development.

As our two-way contract tracker shows, the Clips had a pair of two-way vacancies before signing Flowers — they now have one.

Sixers Notes: George, Maxey, Embiid, McCain

July 23rd, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters at his introductory press conference on Tuesday, new Sixers forward Paul George expressed gratitude to the Clippers for the “amazing” time he spent with his hometown team and said he had “no ill will” toward the franchise over how his five-year run ended, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. George believes “everything just aligned perfectly” for him to make the move to Philadelphia this summer.

“Where they’re at and where they’re trying to go and where I’m trying to get to, as well. I think we got a real legitimate shot,” George said of the Sixers’ ability to contend in the East. “I’ve always been a fan of Tyrese (Maxey) and Joel (Embiid) from afar, and Joel has secretly been one of my closest All-Star Game friends. And so, it kind of felt inevitable that at some point we would link up and be teammates. So, I’m all-in. My family’s here all-in, and I’m excited, and looking forward to this next opportunity.”

Acknowledging that injuries to himself and his teammates were a factor in the Clippers ultimately not making the sort of deep playoff runs they’d hoped for, George expressed optimism that sharing the workload with Maxey and Embiid in Philadelphia will help all three stars stay healthier.

“I think just taking the pressure off Joel,” George said. “I think I can kind of help him get through a season healthy. And again, it’s just not putting so much pressure on him. Regardless of how good you feel, I think pressure causes a lot of injuries as well, and you think you have to get overplayed, you have to touch every possession, that kind of just wears you down, especially for how physical he is. So that’s the key. Everybody do their part, make sure we’re working on our bodies, and that we don’t just put that pressure on one individual to go out and win games for us.”

Here’s more out of Philadelphia:

The Sixers also held a press conference on Tuesday in honor of Maxey’s new five-year, maximum-salary deal. The guard could have pushed to receive that contract a year ago but was willing to wait until this summer to allow Philadelphia to maximize its cap room, earning praise from president of basketball operations Daryl Morey for his patience. “This offseason wouldn’t be possible without him,” Morey said, per Jeff Neiburg of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He was very clearly on his way to being what he has become, an All-Star, one of the great future stars of this league, and by being patient he allowed us to put this offseason together, to really put us in this position to be one of the very few legitimate contenders in the league this year.”
Speaking to David Marchese of The New York Times on an episode of The Interview podcast, Embiid suggested he believes he could be in the conversation for the NBA’s greatest player of all time if not for the injuries that have cost him so many games over the years. “I think I’m that talented. Obviously you need to win championships, and to win championships you need other guys,” Embiid said. “… If you think about it, the thing that stopped me all these years is just freak injuries. Every single playoffs, regular season, people falling on my knee or breaking my face — twice. It’s always freak injuries at the wrong time.”
It was a tough Summer League experience for first-round pick Jared McCain in both Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, as he made just 28.6% of his shots from the field in his eight games for the Sixers, including 25.5% of his three-point tries. As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays, McCain is determined to view the summer as a learning experience and not to let his July struggles shake his confidence. “One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Whatever you’re going through, you are growing through,'” McCain said. “So whatever I’m doing in life, it’s always a learning lesson from it.”

Dunn's Third Year Isn't Guaranteed

July 22nd, 2024 at 8:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers signed Kris Dunn to a three-year, $16,279,200 contract which is non-guaranteed in the final year, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The third year can become fully guaranteed if Dunn is named to the All-Defensive First or Second Team during either the 2024/25 or 2025/26 season — if he doesn’t earn All-Defensive honors, his guarantee date for the third-year salary would be June 30, 2026. Los Angeles acquired Dunn in a sign-and-trade with Utah.

Nets’ Jalen Wilson Named Summer League MVP

July 22nd, 2024 at 6:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets forward Jalen Wilson has been named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League, the league’s communications department tweets.

Wilson averaged 21.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.6 steals while shooting 47.3% from the field and 55.0% from 3-point range in five games in Vegas.

His performances should solidify his spot on the team’s roster this upcoming season. The 23-year-old has a $1.89MM minimum-salary contract for 2024/25 that is currently just partially guaranteed for $75K. It increases to a partial guarantee of $325K if he makes the opening night roster.

Oddly, Wilson was only named to the All-Summer League Second Team. The First Team included the Grizzlies‘ GG Jackson II and Scotty Pippen Jr,, the Clippers‘ Jordan Miller, the Rockets‘ Reed Sheppard and the Heat‘s Kel’el Ware.

The Grizzlies and Heat reached the Summer League championship game. Sheppard, the No. 3 pick in last month’s draft, averaged 20.0 points, 5.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals in four Las Vegas outings.

Along with Wilson, the Second Team included the Wizards‘ Carlton Carrington, the Trail Blazers‘ Donovan Clingan, the Heat‘s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the Pacers‘ Jarace Walker (Twitter links).

California Notes: Bronny, Post, Podziemski, Clippers

July 21st, 2024 at 2:01pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Following a pair of promising Summer League outings, Lakers rookie point guard Bronny James sat out the team’s Las Vegas finale, a 107-81 blowout of the Bulls, writes Mark Anderson of The Associated Press.

Across his last two available games, the 6’2″ USC alum scored 25 points while shooting 10-of-21 from the floor, including going a respectable 3-of-8 on three-pointers after missing all 15 of his outside attempts prior to that.

“He had two pretty good games last two,” Summer League head coach Dane Johnson said. “I think it’s just going to help him going into the summer so we can work on different things with him. Just that confidence and knowing he can play at this level. It’s still going to take a lot of time and a lot of reps.”

There’s more out of California:

After dealing with a leg injury, rookie Warriors big man Quinten Post had a stellar Summer League debut on Friday, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We wanted to make sure he was healthy before he got on the floor, so he was on a minutes restriction, from 12 to 15,” assistant general manager Larry Harris told Poole. “The biggest thing we saw right away is that offensively he was what we’re hoping he can be… Moves well, can run up and down the floor and he can pass. He handles the ball for a big guy and, obviously, shoots the three well. The offensive side, we feel pretty good about.” The seven-footer was selected with the No. 52 pick out of Boston College. In a 90-83 win, Post notched 10 points while shooting 4-of-7 from the floor (2-of-4 from long range), three rebounds, one dime and one steal in just 14 minutes of action.
Speaking to Chris Haynes on ESPN’s Summer League broadcast on Saturday (YouTube video link), rising second-year Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski discussed Klay Thompson‘s decision to depart the team for the Mavericks in free agency. “So for me, just appreciating his presence, appreciating everything he shared with me from an on-court and off-court perspective, and getting a call from him a couple days ago and just, him telling me I’ll always have a brother in him for life is pretty cool,” the All-Rookie First Teamer said.
The Clippers will debut on owner Steve Ballmer‘s brand-new home court, the Intuit Dome, at the start of the 2024/25 season. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN revealed details of the new $2 billion arena, which includes a state-of-the-art video halo called the “Halo Board.” Ballmer is looking forward to having far more scheduling flexibility than he had previously experienced while sharing space with the Lakers and the NHL’s L.A. Kings at Crypto.com Arena. “We got to build a place that is our house,” Ballmer said. “We got to put the energy in our house. We didn’t want to play too many Monday nights against Monday Night Football. We don’t want to play as many Saturday games.”

Clippers’ Steve Ballmer Talks Losing Paul George, New-Look Roster

July 20th, 2024 at 9:49am CST by Tristan Tucker

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer wasn’t thrilled to lose Paul George to the Sixers this offseason, but he was emphatic in his belief in the retooled roster when speaking to reporters on Friday, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes.

“I love Paul,” Ballmer said. “Let’s start with Paul as a human being. Paul is a great human being, and I’ve really enjoyed my opportunity to get to know Paul’s family. So on a personal level, I hated it. I hated it.

“From a basketball perspective, Paul is a fantastic player, future Hall of Famer. But we knew we needed to continue to get better. And with the new CBA, what tools, what flexibility [can be restricted], we made Paul what I consider a great offer. But it was a great offer in terms of us thinking about how to win championships. It wasn’t what Paul wanted.”

George’s interest in a deal that matched or exceeded the three-year, $150MM deal Kawhi Leonard received has been well-covered. The Clippers declined to include a fourth year in any contract offer for George and opted not to give him the no-trade clause he sought on a three-year deal. George wound up accepting a four-year maximum-salary contract with Philadelphia.

After losing George, the Clippers turned their attention to replenishing their depth. The team re-signed James Harden before adding role players like Nicolas Batum, Derrick Jones Jr., and Kris Dunn, among others.

“I think we’re going to be a very, very good team,” Ballmer said. “We’re going to contend. We’ll see how far it takes us. There’s a lot of good teams in the West, let alone you’ve got the Celtics, etc. in the East. But there’s a lot of good teams. I think we are one of them, and if we stay healthy, if we play well, I think every team’s got to get a little bit of luck.

“Our two guys at the top are pretty good, and I’ll take our guys that we flank around them. Just take a look at Dallas. They rode the backs of two great players and a bunch of other very, very good players, and we certainly have that.”

Ballmer believes that sooner or later every team will be faced with a decision like the one the Clippers had to make in their negotiations with George.

“Guys like me who’ve been very willing to pay the luxury tax — it’s not about the luxury tax anymore,” Ballmer said. “It’s about the penalties in terms of how you get better. I’m not willing to sacrifice getting better. Still willing to pay the money. But it’s more than money now.“

Pacific Notes: Leonard, Clippers, DeRozan, Roddy

July 19th, 2024 at 11:30am CST by Rory Maher

Law Murray of The Athletic explores some offseason questions related to the Clippers, starting with the health of Kawhi Leonard.

The six-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP was removed from Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics, leading to speculation about the status of his right knee, which has caused him issues over the years, including battling inflammation in the playoffs. According to Murray, both Leonard and the Clips seem confident in the 33-year-old’s health, even if some reports suggested otherwise.

President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said he and the Clippers were “very disappointed” in USA Basketball’s decision to replace Leonard.

“He wouldn’t be out there and we wouldn’t put him out there if we weren’t confident that he’d be able to go through the entire Olympic experience,” Frank said. “I get it from USAB’s perspective; no one has a crystal ball. … Ultimately, they decided after the third practice that they didn’t feel as confident as we felt. That’s their right. It’s their team.”

Here’s more from the Pacific:

The Clippers are now 4-0 at the Las Vegas Summer League after dispatching the Jazz on Thursday, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Second-year players Kobe Brown (20 points, three rebounds, six assists) and Jordan Miller (19 points, five rebounds, four assists) were the top individual performers for the Clips, who have to wait until Friday’s games conclude to determine whether or not they’ll advance to the semifinals, Carr notes.
DeMar DeRozan has been a veteran leader for the Bulls the past three seasons and he plans to continue that with the Kings, he told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “I take pride in that,” DeRozan said. “Just giving whatever experience in life that I’ve been through, sharing that and giving any type of gems that I can give to help avoid any type of pitfall that someone else could go through if they haven’t been through something. I’ve been through a lot on and off the court that I feel like I can share. Any experience that I can give, I’ll try to give it all because I want the best for anybody I work with or play with and I want them to thrive the best way they can.”
Suns forward David Roddy has been hoisting up three-pointers during Summer League action, and he’ll likely need to show he can convert them at a high level if he wants to earn minutes under new head coach Mike Budenholzer, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. As Rankin notes, Budenholzer’s teams ranked between second and eighth in the NBA in three-point attempts from 2018-23, while former first-rounder Roddy has converted just 30.1% of his outside looks over his first two NBA seasons.

And-Ones: Flopping, Tiebreakers, Gill, Aprons, Team USA, Durant

July 18th, 2024 at 9:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s Board of Governors voted this week to make the in-game flopping penalty a permanent part of the league rules, according to a press release. The rule, which charges the offending player with a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul and gives the opposing team a free throw attempt, was adopted ahead of the 2023/24 season on a one-year trial basis and will remain in place going forward.

The Board of Governors also approved a tweak to the tiebreaker rules for the NBA Cup (in-season tournament), removing overtime scoring for the purposes of the point differential and total points scored tiebreakers.

There were scenarios last season in which it would have benefited the winning team to play for overtime – where it could build a bigger margin of victory – rather than trying to win in regulation by a smaller margin. That won’t be the case under the new rules, as an NBA Cup group-stage game that goes to overtime will result in a point differential of zero for both teams, regardless of how the extra period plays out.

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

Anthony Gill is drawing interest from a pair of EuroLeague teams, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando, who says that Barcelona and Anadolu Efes are eyeing the veteran free agent forward. Gill has spent the past four seasons with the Wizards, appearing in 179 regular season games during that time, almost exclusively as a reserve.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports takes a closer look at how the NBA’s new tax apron rules are impacting teams’ decisions this offseason, suggesting that players whose contracts are heavy on unlikely incentives may become harder to trade going forward. Wizards guard Jordan Poole, Heat guard Tyler Herro, and Nets forward Cameron Johnson are a few of those players, Fischer writes — their deals each include between $2.5MM and $4.25MM in annual incentives. Whether or not they’re earned, those incentives are counted when determining where a team is operating relative to the aprons.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recaps Team USA’s Wednesday win over Serbia, while Joe Vardon of The Athletic provides a handful of takeaways from the squad’s time in Abu Dhabi, which also included an exhibition victory over Australia. Kevin Durant (calf strain) didn’t practice with the club in Abu Dhabi, but is hoping to get on the court in London during Team USA’s final stop before heading to Paris, Vardon writes. The U.S. will face South Sudan on Saturday and Germany on Monday in its last pre-Olympic tune-up games.
The Clippers sent $4.3MM to the Jazz in the Russell Westbrook/Kris Dunn trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), more than covering Westbrook’s $4.03MM salary for the 2024/25 season.

Pacific Notes: Hield, Knecht, Hyland, Eubanks, Suns

July 18th, 2024 at 8:28pm CST by Luke Adams

New Warriors sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who ranks 22nd all-time among NBA players in career three-pointers, will be the de facto replacement for the player who ranks sixth on that all-time list (Klay Thompson). Asked this week if he feels pressure to replicate the production and the outside shooting that Thompson provided for years in Golden State, Hield downplayed that idea.

“There’s no pressure,” Hield said, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Just come and do my job. What Klay has done for this organization has been tremendous. I love Klay a lot. I’ve watched him over the years. He’s special. The way he can get hot and the way he can just change the game and be the two-way player that he is, and the champion that he is. So, I don’t look at it as pressure. I think it’s fun just being in that role and seeing if I can get the same looks he got.”

Hield has never been as effective an all-around player as Thompson was in his prime years, and he certainly can’t match the former Warriors’ postseason accomplishments, having appeared in a playoff game for the first time this spring. However, the two players’ career shooting numbers are quite similar — Thompson has made 3.1 of 7.6 three-pointers per game (41.3%) in 793 contests, while Hield has knocked down 3.0 of 7.6 per game (40.0%) in 632 outings.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Dalton Knecht has been the best player on the Lakers‘ Summer League roster and already looks like a potential steal as the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says the rookie forward projects to be in the top nine of L.A.’s rotation in the regular season. Entering Thursday’s contest, Knecht has averaged 22.0 PPG with a .412 3PT% in his first two games in Vegas.
Bones Hyland saw more playing time for the Clippers during the final month-and-a-half of the 2023/24 season and won’t have Russell Westbrook ahead of him on the depth chart in ’24/25. However, with Kris Dunn and Kevin Porter Jr. now in the mix in a Los Angeles backcourt that also features James Harden, Norman Powell, and Terance Mann, there’s still no clear path to regular playing time for Hyland, who remains on the trade block, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Although Drew Eubanks decided well ahead of his player option deadline to opt out of his deal and become a free agent, he wasn’t necessarily set on leaving the Suns, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays. “The interest was always there for me to return (to Phoenix),” said Eubanks, who ultimately agreed to a deal with Utah. “The notion of it being a ‘mutual split’ is just factually false. There were a lot of conversations about me coming back this next year from the moment the season ended and into free agency. At the end of the day, there were other opportunities and I had to make the best decision for myself and my family. Loved my year in Phoenix.”
The Suns will hire John Little as the head coach of their new NBA G League affiliate, the Valley Suns, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Little was previously part of G League coaching staffs with Maine and Wisconsin.