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Latest On Kawhi Leonard

July 2nd, 2019 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

After seemingly all of the rest of the top NBA free agents came off the board on Sunday night, the basketball world continues to wait on Kawhi Leonard, who is mulling whether to sign with the Raptors, Lakers, or Clippers. Here’s the latest on Kawhi:

Leonard has completed his meetings with the Lakers and Clippers, and is meeting with the Raptors today, a league source tells Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link).
Team officials for the Lakers and Clippers “appear determined” to say as little as possible about the process to avoid upsetting Leonard or his reps, since Kawhi’s camp has “insisted on total silence,” tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Despite that apparent insistence on silence, much of the Leonard-related chatter this week has focused on the Lakers. Stein tweets that the Lakers believe they’re “firmly in the lead” for the Finals MVP based on LeBron James‘ and Magic Johnson‘s recruiting efforts. An earlier report suggested that no frontrunner has emerged.
The Raptors haven’t backed off at all in their efforts to re-sign Leonard, according to Stein, who tweets that rapper – and Raptors global ambassador – Drake may be “mounting his own recruiting campaign” outside of Toronto’s formal pitch.
The general belief throughout free agency has been that Danny Green will wait on Leonard’s announcement before making his own free agency decision. However, Green’s podcast co-host Harrison D. Sanford said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas today that Green is “considering not waiting” on Kawhi (Twitter link via Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News). Green and his agent are scheduled to discuss things tonight, Sanford added. The Mavericks, Raptors, Lakers, and Clippers are believed to have interest in the veteran sharpshooter.

Free Agent Rumors: Kawhi, Bender, Cousins, Mejri

July 2nd, 2019 at 2:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Despite some buzz on social media that Kawhi Leonard is leaning toward the Lakers, the reigning Finals MVP hasn’t reached a decision, tweets Cris Carter of Fox Sports 1. Carter – who has been an unexpectedly plugged-in source on Leonard since the forward’s days in San Antonio – adds that anyone thinking the Lakers have an edge on the Clippers or Raptors would be “wrong.”

Leonard is the last big star available in free agency, and his decision will have a long-lasting impact on all three franchises. Whichever club lands him will be a contender for the NBA title, while the other two teams will be scrambling to fill out their rosters. Leonard still hasn’t given any indication of when he plans to announce his choice.

Here are some more notes on the third day of free agency:

Now that the Suns have added Frank Kaminsky, they will part ways with Dragan Bender, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Bender had a disappointing three years in Phoenix after being selected with the fourth pick in the 2016 draft. He is an unrestricted free agent because the Suns declined his fourth-year option before the start of the season.
The Warriors can’t make an offer similar to the $6.4MM MLE that landed DeMarcus Cousins last summer, notes Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Golden State is so close to the hard cap that it cannot go much above minimum deals to complete its roster.
Salah Mejri was working out today with the Mavericks‘ Summer League players and remains a possibility to re-sign, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
As cap space dries up, restricted free agents such as Kelly Oubre, Delon Wright and Tyus Jones may benefit by accepting their teams’ qualifying offers and becoming unrestricted next summer in a weaker free agent class, suggests Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

Clippers Guarantee Lou Williams’ 2020/21 Salary

July 2nd, 2019 at 9:33am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers and Lou Williams have reached an agreement to fully guarantee the Sixth Man of the Year’s salary for the 2020/21 season, agent Wallace Prather tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Williams has two years left on his current contract, with a fully guaranteed $8MM salary for 2019/20. Previously, the final year of that deal had only been partially guaranteed for $1.5MM. As a result of this agreement, the full $8MM for ’20/21 will now be guaranteed.

As Charania notes in a follow-up tweet, it’s rare for a team to agree to increase a player’s guarantee without any real impetus to do so, since it reduces the club’s flexibility. But Williams’ contract is already one of the most team-friendly deals in the league and it’s unlikely that the Clippers would have taken advantage of the partial guarantee to waive him in 2020, so it makes some sense to reward him early.

Of course, the move also comes at a time when the Clippers are courting free agents, including Kawhi Leonard — a gesture of goodwill toward one of their top players probably won’t hurt the perception of the franchise in the eyes of players considering joining the team.

In 2018/19, Williams averaged 20.0 PPG and posted new career bests in APG (5.4) and RPG (3.0), with a shooting line of .425/.361/.876. Although he came off the bench for all but one game, he was Los Angeles’ leading scorer (not including Tobias Harris, who departed in a midseason deal).

Free Agent Rumors: Cousins, Kawhi, D. Green, Ennis

July 2nd, 2019 at 8:07am CST by Luke Adams

Big man DeMarcus Cousins is perhaps the biggest name left among free agents besides Kawhi Leonard, but there doesn’t appear to be much of a market for him, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on the network (video link). According to Wojnarowski, it’s not even necessarily a lock that Cousins will exceed the one-year, $5.34MM deal he signed with the Warriors a year ago.

In a separate appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (video link), Woj suggested that a one-year deal below $10MM for Cousins appears to be the most likely scenario, while ESPN’s Tim Bontemps pointed to the Lakers as one team that might be a fit in terms of cap room — but only if they fail to land Leonard.

Here’s more on some of the remaining free agents:

Former NBA player Kendrick Perkins (Twitter link) hears that Kawhi Leonard met with the Clippers on Monday night, though Perkins believes the Lakers have the “upper hand” of the two L.A. teams. After meeting with the Clippers and Lakers, Kawhi is expected to give the Raptors the chance to make the final pitch before he finalizes his decision.
The Mavericks are in “strong position” to land free agent shooting guard Danny Green, regardless of what happens with Leonard’s free agency, tweets his podcast co-host Harrison D. Sanford. According to Sanford (via Twitter), Dallas views Green as a valuable floor spacer and locker-room presence.
With approximately $4MM in cap space and their $4.8MM room exception still available, the Knicks have checked in on free agent wing James Ennis, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. According to Begley (via Twitter), the Lakers and Clippers are also among the clubs that have touched base with Ennis since free agency started.

Western Notes: Russell, Suns, Beverley, Kings, Rivers, Blazers

July 1st, 2019 at 11:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves, led by D’Angelo Russell‘s close friend Karl-Anthony Towns, were confident about their ability to get a commitment from Russell in free agency and went into their Sunday meeting with him ready to make the trades necessary to make a deal work, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Minnesota was just waiting for the green light from D-Lo to move forward on those trades, but the All-Star point guard instead opted to join the Warriors.

The Suns were viewed as a team that might try to get into the mix for Russell, who has another good friend – Devin Booker – in Phoenix. However, despite Booker’s campaign, Phoenix chose not to pursue the RFA guard, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. According to Rankin, the Suns “apparently felt Russell wouldn’t have been a good influence on Booker off the court.”

The Warriors, with their veteran leaders, apparently had no such qualms about D-Lo, who – by all accounts – matured considerably during his time in Brooklyn.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

After agreeing to sign a three-year, $40MM deal with the Clippers, Patrick Beverley tells Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times that he turned down a more lucrative offer from the Kings to return to L.A. “I got a bigger offer from Sacramento and I took $9-10 million less to come here,” Beverley said. “… It was the right decision. Of course, the human part of you wants to take as much money as you see, but all money isn’t good money. I did what was best for me and my family and I did what was best to stay on a winning team, and I feel like I made the right decision.”
Despite Beverley’s comments, Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link) hears that the Kings offered the veteran guard a guaranteed total of $35MM over three years, with a partial guarantee in year three. Theoretically, it’s possible that Beverley’s claim could still be accurate if that third-year partial guarantee was very small and he’s including the non-guaranteed money as part of Sacramento’s bid.
Before he agreed to return to the Rockets for the veteran’s minimum, Austin Rivers had offers in the range of the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. “Now that the league is wide open, I just saw an opportunity,” Rivers said. “You can’t really put a price on happiness. The goal was to come back to Houston all along. I think we have the team to beat.”
The Trail Blazers have announced Terry Stotts‘ coaching staff for the upcoming season, with Nate Tibbetts replacing David Vanterpool as the team’s associate head coach. Portland has also promoted Jim Moran to the front of the bench and hired former NBA guard Jannero Pargo as an assistant.

Heat’s Jimmy Butler Sign-And-Trade Deal To Include Clippers, Blazers

July 1st, 2019 at 7:58pm CST by Luke Adams

7:58pm: The 2023 first-round pick being sent from the Heat to Clippers will be lottery-protected through 2025, then unprotected in 2026, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

5:00pm: The Clippers will receive a protected 2023 first-round pick from the Heat in the deal, according to ESPN’s full report.

4:17pm: The sign-and-trade deal that will send Jimmy Butler to the Heat and Josh Richardson to the Sixers has been agreed upon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe (Twitter link).

As Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter), the trade between the Trail Blazers and Heat that will send Hassan Whiteside to Portland is becoming part of the transaction, with Maurice Harkless being re-routed to the Clippers to make it a four-team deal.

The Clippers will also receive a future first-round pick from Miami, according to Wojnarowski. Since the Heat have already traded their 2021 first-round selection to the Clippers and can’t give away consecutive future first-rounders, the next one that is trade-eligible would be the 2023 selection, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

As part of the four-team swap, the Sixers will send the draft rights to 2017 second-rounder Mathias Lessort to the Clippers, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

As of now then, this is what the deal would look like:

To Heat: Jimmy Butler (via sign-and-trade, getting a four-year, $141MM contract) and Meyers Leonard.
To Sixers: Josh Richardson
To Clippers: Maurice Harkless, a future Heat first-round pick, and the draft rights to Mathias Lessort.
To Trail Blazers: Hassan Whiteside

After acquiring Harkless, the Clippers will still have a maximum-salary slot available in the event that Kawhi Leonard decides to join them, tweets Marks. It would be a tight fit though, notes ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who tweets that the club might have to renounce a couple of small cap holds. Obviously, if Leonard decides to go elsewhere, that wouldn’t be necessary.

As for the Heat, they had let Goran Dragic‘s camp know that they’d likely to need to move the point guard in order to complete the Butler acquisition, but that shouldn’t be necessary after all, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

Still, as Marks points out (via Twitter), Miami will have to make an additional move to make sure it gets below the hard cap $138.9MM that applies to teams that acquire a player via sign-and-trade. Waiving and stretching Ryan Anderson‘s contract looks like the most logical path for the Heat.

We have more details in other stories on the Butler/Richardson aspect of this deal, as well as the Blazers’ Whiteside acquisition.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Rumors: Dudley, Beverley, McGee, Green

July 1st, 2019 at 12:05am CST by Arthur Hill

The new-look Nets may be close to bringing back one of their locker room leaders, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic. Jared Dudley is interested in signing up for another season in Brooklyn, a source tells Scotto.

Dudley, who will turn 34 next month, also contributed on the court in his first season with the Nets, averaging 4.9 PPG in 59 games and shooting 35% from 3-point range. Dudley is also drawing interest from the Pistons and met with Detroit officials today, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link).

There’s more free agent news to pass along:

The Mavericks’ planned discussion with Patrick Beverley didn’t happen tonight, relays Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link), who speculates that it was because of the team’s involvement in a three-way trade with the Heat and Sixers. Townsend adds that the Mavs’ chances of landing Beverley seem less likely than they were earlier.
Dallas is optimistic about reaching a deal with restricted free agent Maxi Kleber, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. He cites “productive discussions” between the Mavericks and the power forward/center.
JaVale McGee has a meeting set with the Pistons tomorrow, relays Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The free agent center talked to the Rockets today.
Danny Green spoke on his Instagram account about meeting with the Mavericks, Lakers and Clippers and Raptors, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic. “Being patient, man,” he said of the process. “Being patient.”
The Wizards would still like to re-sign Tomas Satoransky, but are looking into other options at point guard, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Hughes states that they are interested in Quinn Cook and notes that Shams Charania of The Athletic has reported an inquiry about Cory Joseph.

Kawhi Leonard Won’t Hold Meetings On Sunday

June 30th, 2019 at 8:33pm CST by JD Shaw

Free agent Kawhi Leonard has decided not to hold any meetings with interested teams on Sunday night, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Leonard’s process is expected to ramp up in the coming days, Haynes adds, with the Clippers, Lakers and Raptors widely considered to be the front-runners for his services.

Leonard spoke with former Lakers president Magic Johnson earlier on Sunday and had a positive discussion, according to Tania Ganguli and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. He’s currently in Southern California preparing for free-agent meetings this week.

Sunday marked the first official day of free agency, where players could reach verbal agreements with interested teams during the moratorium period. Contracts can be officially signed when the moratorium ends on July 6.

Kevin Durant To Nets A Done Deal?

June 30th, 2019 at 3:43pm CST by clarkcrum

Marc Stein of The New York Times is reporting that the Nets are emanating an “undeniable vibe of confidence” that Kevin Durant will join his friend Kyrie Irving and announce tonight that he plans to sign with the Nets.

Brian Lewis of the New York Post adds that there are individuals within the Brooklyn organization – both players and front office employees – that are “quietly confident” that Durant will choose Brooklyn over the Warriors, Knicks, and Clippers.

Finally, Chris Broussard of Fox Sports hears that a team who was in the hunt to sign Durant now thinks that Durant is heading to Brooklyn as well.

As we noted earlier, we won’t have to wait much longer to find out if Brooklyn’s confidence is well-placed, as Durant will announce his decision online when free agency opens this evening.

Durant To Make Decision Via Instagram

June 30th, 2019 at 2:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JUNE 30, 2:37pm: Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (link), Durant will announce his free agent decision tonight on Instagram, via his “The Boardroom” platform.

JUNE 28, 8:50pm: Kevin Durant is planning to speak with the Nets, Clippers and Knicks as well as the Warriors when free agency begins on Sunday night, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Durant probably won’t make a quick commitment. His decision-making process is expected to extend well into next week, according to Wojnarowski.

There are no surprises on Durant’s list. Both New York teams have been clearing cap space for years in order to pursue high-level free agents. The Clippers have taken the same approach the past two seasons, though they’ve been more often linked to Kawhi Leonard.

The process could be somewhat more informal than the last time Durant shopped himself in free agency during the summer of 2016. Durant is in New York after undergoing surgery on his torn Achilles tendon and plans to talk to teams there, Wojnarowski continues. He’ll conduct some combination of face-to-face meetings and other forms of communication with assistance from business manager Rich Kleiman.

Durant formally declined his $31.5M player option this week to become an unrestricted free agent. The Warriors are planning to offer him a five-year, $221MM max contract, while other teams can offer a four-year, $164MM deal.

Durant is expected to miss all of next season as he recovers from the injury suffered during the Finals.