- Although Avery Bradley is considered likely to land elsewhere, the Clippers do have interest in re-signing him, a source tells Spears.
[SOURCE LINK]
The Clippers aren’t overly interested in taking back Wesley Matthews in a trade sending DeAndre Jordan to the Mavericks, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter). Los Angeles’ reluctance to accept Matthews makes some sense — while his salary is a little more affordable than Jordan’s, his contract expires at the same time, and the veteran swingman doesn’t really fill a major need for the Clips.
In order to work out a deal with the Clippers, the Mavericks will have to come up with an alternative trade scenario for Jordan, Stein notes. However, if the two sides can’t reach an agreement, that doesn’t necessarily mean Dallas is out of the running for Jordan, since the standout center could always decline his player option and sign with the Mavs as a free agent. If Dallas can work out a trade for Jordan, the team could theoretically preserve a good chunk of its cap room for another signing.
Here are a few more trade-related rumors from around the NBA:
- Several teams called the Heat to inquire about Josh Richardson during the draft, but Miami showed no interest in moving him, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe. If the Heat hope to re-sign Wayne Ellington or use their mid-level exception, they’ll almost certainly have to shed salary, but Richardson isn’t a player the club is willing to lose.
- The Suns made Marquese Chriss available in trade talks on draft night, according to Lowe. The ESPN.com scribe adds that the Suns, who are in the market for a point guard this summer, have yet to show any interest in trading for Dennis Schroder of the Hawks.
- Multiple sources tell Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post that the Lakers and Nuggets have discussed a trade that would send unwanted salary and a draft pick to Los Angeles. Reports earlier this week indicated that the Lakers were exploring ways to acquire another first-round pick to sweeten a potential offer for Kawhi Leonard.
- In a piece for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks examines some of the more intriguing expiring contracts and trade chips around the NBA.
The Clippers have tendered a qualifying offer to forward Montrezl Harrell, RealGM’s Keith Smith tweets. The third-year big man averaged 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on the season but saw his production climb steadily and significantly over the course of the campaign.
Harrell, a 2015 second-round pick, joined the Clippers in the flurry of deals prior to the Rockets’ acquisition of Los Angeles guard Chris Paul last June. The 24-year-old now stands to be a prominent part of L.A.’s rotation heading forward.
The extension of the $1.8MM qualifying offer will make Harrell a restricted free agent on July 1, giving the Clippers the opportunity to match any offer sheets that come in for his services.
The Clippers also tendered an offer to two-way guard Tyrone Wallace, Smith reports.
JUNE 28, 1:42pm: Jordan is the Mavericks’ primary target as free agency approaches, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. According to MacMahon, if a trade agreement can’t be reached and the veteran center declines his option, Dallas plans to pursue him aggressively as a free agent. The interest between Jordan and the Mavs is mutual, sources tell MacMahon.
JUNE 27, 9:28pm: The Mavericks are engaged in talks with the Clippers to acquire center DeAndre Jordan this week, sources told Marc Stein of the New York Times.
This is a case of forgive and forget, as Jordan notoriously backed out on a free-agent deal with Dallas during the summer of 2015 to stay in L.A.
Jordan has a Friday night deadline to decide whether to exercise his $24.1MM player option for next season. If he opts in, Dallas can trade for him before free agency begins on Sunday. Swingman Wesley Matthews and his $18.6MM contract would likely be the centerpiece of any offer, according to Stein.
If Jordan opts out, Dallas could pursue him in free agency along with two other centers, unrestricted free agent DeMarcus Cousins and restricted free agent Clint Capela.
The Clippers have granted permission to Jordan and agent Jeff Schwartz to explore trade scenarios with other teams. It’s a similar scenario to All-Star guard Chris Paul opting in with the team and then getting traded to the Rockets last summer.
Dallas passed on drafting a big man last Thursday and instead made a deal with the Hawks for EuroLeague guard Luka Doncic.
The traded player exception created by the Clippers in their Chris Paul trade with the Rockets one year ago is set to expire if it goes unused today. The exception is worth $7,273,631.
[RELATED: Outstanding NBA Traded Player Exceptions]
As we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, traded player exceptions can be used to acquire one or more players whose salaries fits within the amount of the exception. Using their TPE, the over-the-cap Clippers wouldn’t have to send out any salary if they were to acquire a player earning $7MM.
Most trade exceptions ultimately go unused, but this is a noteworthy one. As we detailed earlier this month, it’s one of just five TPEs around the NBA worth $7MM or more. The Clippers have reportedly been engaged in DeAndre Jordan trade talks with the Mavericks and have talked to the Spurs about Kawhi Leonard, but neither of those scenarios would present the club a great chance to use its TPE.
The Clippers will have three other smaller TPEs available beyond today, ranging in value from $1.33MM to $1.58MM.
- The Clippers have worked out several free agents who had been playing overseas, a source tells international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). In addition to Chris Babb, whose workout was previously reported, the club also took a look at Quincy Miller, Victor Rudd, and others, according to Pick.
Clippers shooting guard Avery Bradley is high on the Grizzlies‘ list of free agent targets, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
Memphis is expected to lose Tyreke Evans in free agency, and Bradley would be an upgrade over the team’s remaining collection of shooting guards. That list includes Wayne Selden, Ben McLemore and MarShon Brooks, though Selden’s contract for next season is not guaranteed.
The Grizzlies are over the cap, so they’d have to hope their mid-level exception with a starting salary of $8,567,770 would be enough to snag Bradley’s services.
Bradley had an injury-filled 2017/18 season after being dealt from the Celtics to the Pistons last offseason. He missed playing time with a groin injury after a strong first month, then was included in the Blake Griffin blockbuster in late January. He underwent season-ending sports hernia surgery in mid-March.
Bradley only appeared in six games with the Clippers after playing 40 games with Detroit. He averaged 14.3 PPG in 46 games last season.
He enjoyed a career year in Boston the previous season, his seventh and final with that organization. The 6’2” Bradley, 27, averaged a career-best 16.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 2.2 APG in 55 games.
Bradley has long been considered a superior perimeter defender and solid 3-point shooter (36.6% career average).
Pressure appears to be mounting on the Lakers to make a deal for Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard before LeBron James makes his free agent decision, according to Adrian Wojnarowski, Brian Windhorst, and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
As ESPN’s report explains, there’s a belief that James would be reluctant to commit to the Lakers in free agency if he’s the only star headed to Los Angeles. With Paul George no longer viewed as a lock to land in L.A., Leonard may represent the Lakers’ best bet to acquire another star to help convince James to head west.
James’ player-option decision due on Friday, so there’s a race to acquire Leonard by then, per Woj, Windhorst, and Shelburne. The Celtics, Cavaliers, Sixers, and Clippers are among the teams that have made offers for Leonard, and multiple teams in that group figure to be in the mix for James too. If the Lakers were to lose out on Leonard to, say, the Sixers or Cavs, it could reduce L.A.’s chances of recruiting LeBron to L.A.
Of course, the Spurs have stated they won’t rush into any trade involving Leonard, since their preference would be to retain him. It’s possible that they receive an offer this week that they simply can’t refuse, but the Spurs likely won’t be eager to improve another team’s chances of landing James.
Here are several other key updates related to the Lakers, Cavaliers, James, Leonard, and more:
- Although the Lakers came away from their initial conversation with the Spurs feeling like San Antonio “shut the door” on them, ESPN’s trio reports that the Spurs haven’t ruled out trading Leonard to any destination in the Eastern or Western Conference.
- The Lakers have been on the lookout for a future first-round pick on the trade market and are willing to take on 2018/19 salary, per ESPN. The Lakers could keep a max-salary slot open for a free agent even if they take on some salary, and that pick could be used to sweeten a larger trade package.
- While the Cavaliers have been actively exploring ways to upgrade their roster via trades or free agency, they haven’t been given the chance to meet with or discuss scenarios with James, league sources tell ESPN. With LeBron unwilling to commit to the Cavs, it will be tricky for the front office to execute a major trade in the interim. For instance, if George were to consider picking up his player option to accommodate a trade to Cleveland, he’d want to know that James was sticking around.
- Although the Cavaliers have inquired about Leonard, they probably don’t have the assets to pull off a deal, given their competition for the star forward, per ESPN’s report.
- James is hoping to decide on his free agent destination fairly quickly, according to ESPN.
- Some league executives who spoke to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News believe that James would be willing to sign with the Lakers even if the team hasn’t made any other impact moves yet. “They’re doing enough research to suggest that he’s going to be willing to take that plunge and let the roster come together,” one GM told Deveney. “It’s what happened in Cleveland four years ago.” When James signed with the Cavaliers in 2014, he did so before the team had finalized a trade for Kevin Love.
- Free agent shooting guard Chris Babb, who spent last season with Russia’s Lokomotiv Kuban, has received a workout invite from the Clippers, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link).
10:29pm: Both teams have now officially announced the trade.
6:29pm: The Clippers are trading guard Austin Rivers to the Wizards in exchange for center Marcin Gortat, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, making it perhaps even more likely that center DeAndre Jordan is on his way out of L.A.
It was reported earlier today that Jordan, who has yet to decide on his 2018/19 player option, is considering exercising his option in order to facilitate a trade to another team, a la former teammate Chris Paul last season. While nothing has been reported officially, it seems odd that the Clippers would trade for Gortat if they have any expectation of keeping Jordan in Los Angeles.
After drafting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson in the lottery last week, Rivers appears to be a casualty of the Clippers’ guard heavy roster moving forward, especially given his price tag of $12.65MM, which is approximately twice the amount that the Clippers will pay their two rookies combined.
Meanwhile, it had already been reported that the Wizards were hoping to move on from Gortat. The Wizards needed a proven reserve guard to give John Wall and Bradley Beal some backup and, as detailed by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, to move on from Gortat from a locker room standpoint. As was highly publicized, Gortat and Wall had an inconsistent relationship, culminating in a public social media spat last season.
The Wizards now figure to enter the free agent period this weekend in search of a center. Ian Mahinmi and Jason Smith are currently under contract for next season.
From a salary cap perspective, the salaries of Rivers and Gortat match nicely, with Gortat scheduled to make $13,565,218 next season, only $915,218 more than Rivers. Assuming the swap is made official before the new league year begins on Sunday, the Wizards will create a trade exception worth $957,609, the difference between the two players’ 2017/18 salaries.
The Wizards will also save about $1.4MM in luxury tax penalties by taking on Rivers’ salary in exchange for Gortat’s, as noted by ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Both Rivers and Gortat are in the final year of contracts, and will become unrestricted free agents next summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.