Los Angeles Clippers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clippers Trade Sam Dekker To Cavaliers

August 7th, 2018 at 11:10am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 7: The Cavaliers have officially acquired Dekker from the Clippers, the club announced today in a press release. The Clippers will receive the draft rights to Vladimir Veremeenko in exchange for Dekker, the draft rights to Renaldas Seibutis, and cash.

Veremeenko and Seibutis were drafted in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and aren’t expected to ever play in the NBA.

AUGUST 5: The Cavaliers are finalizing a trade with the Clippers that would see forward Sam Dekker dealt from Los Angeles to Cleveland, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the two teams are still working out the specifics, but the trade will essentially allow the Clips to start clearing their roster logjam.

Dekker, 24, spent his first two NBA seasons in Houston after being selected 18th overall in the 2015 draft by the Rockets. He was included in last June’s Chris Paul blockbuster between the Rockets and Clippers, part of a package that also included Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, and Montrezl Harrell, among others.

Dekker saw his minutes cut back on his new team in 2017/18, averaging just 12.1 MPG in 73 contests for the Clippers. The former Wisconsin standout recorded 4.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG with a .494 FG% for L.A.

Having re-signed several key players and added a few new ones this offseason, the Clippers were carrying 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts, a total that didn’t include Beverley and his non-guaranteed deal. As such, the club had been expected to trade or release a couple veterans before the start of the regular season in October. The Clips will get a head start on that cutdown process by moving Dekker and his guaranteed $2,760,095 salary. The move will also give the team a little extra breathing room below the tax line.

The Cavaliers won’t have to send out any salary in exchange for Dekker, since they have a traded player exception large enough to accommodate his salary. Cleveland created a $5.8MM trade exception last August in their Kyrie Irving trade with the Celtics — it’s the biggest of four TPEs currently held by the club, and is the only one sizable enough to fit Dekker’s salary. The Clips figure to create a new TPE of their own worth Dekker’s salary.

The move to Cleveland will give Dekker a chance at a fresh start, according to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), who hears from one source that “a lack of maturity and focus regarding basketball” have been issues for the young forward early in his career.

It will be interesting to see how the Cavaliers plan to use Dekker — he has served primarily as a four, but has spent a little time at the three as well. There may be a clearer path to playing time for Dekker at small forward, where Kyle Korver and Cedi Osman currently sit atop the Cavs’ depth chart, with David Nwaba perhaps entering the mix as well. But Dekker could potentially play at power forward alongside bigs like Kevin Love or Larry Nance in smaller lineups.

While the Cavs’ team salary will inch a little closer to the tax threshold with the acquisition of Dekker, it shouldn’t be a major concern for the team unless Nwaba is getting a lucrative deal and/or Rodney Hood receives a substantial raise.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rookies Showed Flaws In Las Vegas

August 6th, 2018 at 9:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Clippers lottery picks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson showed flashes of potential in summer league games but they were far from perfect, according to Keith Smith of RealGM. Gilgeous-Alexander has a solid all-around game but needs lot of work with his shot. Robinson has to focus more on the defensive end, Smith continues, while undrafted big man Angel Delgado struggled on the perimeter. However, Delgado displayed strong rebounding instincts and toughness on the interior, Smith adds.

Healthy Gallinari Named MVP Of NBA Africa Game

August 4th, 2018 at 9:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari looked fully healthy in capturing MVP honors in the game, writes Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report. Gallinari, who was limited to 21 games last season because of injuries and finished the season with a fractured right hand, hit nine of 10 shots and scored 23 points in leading the World Team to victory.
Matt Barnes blames “egos” for the Clippers‘ failure to advance past the second round of the playoffs when they had a core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, relays Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. Barnes made the remarks in an appearance on AM 570 L.A. Sports, saying the team lacked the “mental toughness” to put together a championship run.

L.A. Notes: Gallinari, Kalamian, Berry, Kobe

August 2nd, 2018 at 10:25am CST by Arthur Hill

After being slowed by injuries throughout last season, Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari has proclaimed himself healthy as he prepares for this weekend’s NBA Africa Game, relays Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Hand and glute issues limited Gallinari to 21 games in his first season with the Clippers after being acquired in an offseason trade. It’s a familiar story for Gallinari, who has only reached 70 games in a season twice in his career.

“Of course I will play. I got to show you some of the Gallo magic,” Gallinari joked in Wednesday’s conference call with reporters. “Yeah, yeah, everything is good. I’m very excited. I’m healthy now, body is good. So I can’t wait to start.”

Gallinari still has two years remaining on a three-year, $65MM deal he signed prior to a three-team trade that brought him from Denver to L.A. last summer. He will make $21,587,579 this season and $22,615,559 in 2019/20 with no team or player option on the final year. Gallinari fractured his right hand late in the season, but says it has fully healed.

There’s more this morning from Los Angeles:

Former Raptors assistant Rex Kalamian has officially joined the Clippers‘ coaching staff, the team announced on its website. Kalamian, who broke into the NBA as a scout with the Clippers in 1992, worked under Dwane Casey in Toronto for the past three years. L.A. also promoted G League coach Casey Hill to an assistant role with the NBA team.
Lakers guard Joel Berry has a huge goal for a player who wasn’t drafted. In an interview with Drew Ruiz of Hoops Hype, Berry said he hopes to be among the contenders for Rookie of the Year and talks about the feeling of being passed over on draft night. “It was pretty tough,” he recalled. “It’s always a dream to hear your name get called, but honestly, I’ve always taken the path where I was always overlooked and my game is not the flashiest – I just win – and that speaks more than being a flashy player.”
Kobe Bryant‘s wife is quashing any speculation that he might be thinking of a comeback, according to Alysha Tsuji of USA Today. Shaquille O’Neal sparked rumors of a return in a TMZ interview over the weekend, but Vanessa Bryant made it clear that it won’t happen. “Kobe will not be coming out of retirement to play again,” she wrote on Instagram. “He doesn’t want to play again and frankly we really enjoy spending time together as a family without the crazy game schedule interfering with birthdays, holidays and special events.”

Contract Details: Bolden, Carter, Harrell, Smart

July 29th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers forward Jonah Bolden has received the largest contract of any rookie second-round pick this summer, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The 36th player taken in the 2017 draft, Bolden spent a season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel before coming to the NBA. Philadelphia gave him a four-year, $7MM deal with a starting salary of $1.69MM, although the third and fourth seasons are non-guaranteed.

The Nets signed Rodions Kurucs to a similar arrangement, Pincus adds (Twitter link). The 40th pick in this year’s draft, Kurucs will make $1.62MM in his first year and has incentives that could bring the value of his four-year contract up to $6.96MM. The first three seasons are fully guaranteed.

Pincus passes on a few more details about deals signed this summer:

Although Jevon Carter was taken 32nd overall, he signed for just the minimum salary over two seasons, less than others in his draft range (Twitter link). However, he received a full guarantee from the Grizzlies on both years. Jalen Brunson, taken at No. 33 by the Mavericks, makes more per season but is locked into a four-year deal (Twitter link). He will receive $1.23MM in his rookie year, with minimum salaries for the next three seasons. The first three years are fully guaranteed. Elie Okobo, the 31st pick, signed a four-year agreement with the Suns that will pay him $1.24MM in his first year, with three seasons at the minimum to follow. Only his first two years are guaranteed, and Phoenix has a team option on the final season (Twitter link).
Among the two-way contracts handed out this summer, only four players signed multi-year deals. Kostas Antetokounmpo of the Mavericks, Billy Preston of the Cavaliers, Yuta Watanabe of the Grizzlies and Thomas Welsh of the Nuggets all have two-year agreements (Twitter link).
The Clippers will pay Montrezl Harrell $6MM in each season of his two-year, $12MM deal (Twitter link).
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has a base salary of $11.16MM in the first year of his new deal, but $500K of likely incentives place the cap hit at $11.66MM. The incentives remain in effect for each season of his four-year contract.

Williams Is A Perfect Claim Candidate

July 27th, 2018 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics offered at least two of the first-round picks they own from other teams for Kawhi Leonard, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN. Those picks, as Dan Feldman of NBC Sports writes, include the higher of the Kings’ and 76ers’ pick next summer, unless it’s the top overall pick; the Grizzlies’ first-rounder, which is top-eight protected next summer and top-six protected in 2020; and the Clippers’ pick, which is lottery-protected the next two summers and then converts to a second-rounder. The Spurs instead decided to take another All-Star, DeMar DeRozan, in a package for Leonard. The way the Spurs organization treated Leonard may have had more to do with his departure than any issues with his teammates, Feldman notes in a separate piece, relaying reporting from Lowe and ESPN’s Michael C. Wright.
C.J. Williams is a perfect waiver claim candidate, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Williams, who was waived by the Clippers on Friday, is on a $1.4MM non-guaranteed contract with $125K in protection if he’s not waived by opening night, Marks continues. His $1.6MM salary in 2019/20 has a $200K guarantee if he’s not waived by the first game, Marks adds.

Clippers Waive Guard C.J. Williams

July 27th, 2018 at 4:09pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 27: Williams has been waived, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets.

JULY 26: The Clippers are expected to release shooting guard C.J. Williams soon, reports Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). He’ll become an unrestricted free agent if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

Williams, 28, began his professional career in 2012 after going undrafted out of N.C. State. Having played for international and G League teams for the last several years, the 6’5″ guard caught on with the Clippers in 2017, signing a two-way contract with the club last October.

Williams made his NBA debut in November and appeared in 38 overall games for the Clippers, averaging 5.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 18.6 minutes per contest. His solid showing on his two-way deal earned him a standard NBA multiyear contract near the end of the 2017/18 season.

However, Williams’ 2018/19 salary was non-guaranteed, making him a logical roster casualty for the Clippers, whose roster is getting crowded. With Montrezl Harrell back under contract, Los Angeles now has 16 players on guaranteed deals. That roster count doesn’t include Patrick Beverley, whose $5MM+ salary for ’18/19 is non-guaranteed.

Tobias Harris Appreciated Extension Offer

July 26th, 2018 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers forward Tobias Harris appreciated the team’s $80MM extension offer but ultimately decided he’d take his chances as an unrestricted free agent next summer, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports. “I think that as a player you never know, but just to get that offer was an amazing feeling,” Harris told Turner. “For me, I’m a kid who puts everything into the game and to have an organization come to me with that offer and to be able to present that was a really big accomplishment. It showed that the team valued me as a player.”

Clippers Re-Sign Montrezl Harrell

July 24th, 2018 at 9:04pm CST by clarkcrum

July 24: The team has officially re-signed Harrell, according to a team press release.

“Montrezl is a tough, hard-playing, gritty competitor who is committed to winning,” said President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank. “We love his passion and energy, and are very excited to have Trezz back in a Clippers uniform.”

July 19: Restricted free agent center Montrezl Harrell has agreed to a two-year, $12MM deal to return to the Clippers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Harrell’s contract will be fully guaranteed.

Harrell, 24, was one of the last remaining restricted free agents on the market with a reasonable potential to sign a significant deal. Only Clint Capela and Rodney Hood now remain.

An over-the-cap team, the Clippers had already split their entire non-taxpayer mid-level exception on forwards Luc Mbah a Moute and Mike Scott, but were able to re-sign Harrell using his Bird rights.

Harrell had a breakout season in 2017/18, playing in 76 games while averaging 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest and shooting a blistering 63.5 percent from the field. His 24.73 PER was good enough for 12th best in the entire NBA among qualified players.

The Clippers lost big man DeAndre Jordan in free agency to the Mavericks, but did acquire center Marcin Gortat from the Wizards in a trade for Austin Rivers. Accordingly, Harrell and Gortat will now seemingly compete for time at the center position for the Clippers in 2018/19, with Boban Marjanovic providing reserve minutes.

Clippers Acquire Johnathan Motley From Mavs

July 23rd, 2018 at 7:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers have acquired forward Johnathan Motley in a deal with the Mavericks, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Both Los Angeles and Dallas have confirmed the transaction via press releases.

The Clippers also received the rights to Renaldas Seibutis in exchange for the draft rights to Maarty Leunen, plus $50K. Motley is on a two-way contract. It’s the first-ever trade involving a two-way contract, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.

Dallas opened up a two-way contract slot via the transaction.

Motley, 23, averaged 8.7 PPG and 4.5 RPG in 11 games with Dallas last season. The 6’10” power forward went undrafted out of Baylor.

Seibutis was a second-round pick by Dallas all the way back in 2007. Siebutis, 33, is a 6’5” guard who currently plays in Lithuania and is also a member of that country’s national team.

Leunen was drafted in the second round by the Clippers in 2008. The 6’9” Leunen, 32, attended the University of Oregon and is currently playing in Italy.