- If the Magic don’t reach a new deal with free agent center Nikola Vucevic once he reaches the open market, the Celtics and Lakers are two candidates to pursue the big man, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link via Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype). Both Boston and L.A. project to have cap room available, and the C’s expect to lose starting center Al Horford.
11:07pm: The trade is official, according to the Magic, who announced that the pick they acquired is a 2020 second-rounder.
10:42pm: The Lakers, rumored to be interested in purchasing their way back into this year’s draft, have acquired the No. 46 overall pick from the Magic, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. The Magic will receive a future pick and cash considerations from the Lakers in return.
The Lakers need to get over the cap to finalize the Anthony Davis trade with the Pelicans in order to complete the deal on July 6.
With the No. 46 overall selection, the Magic selected Iowa State swingman Talen Horton-Tucker for the Lakers.
The Pelicans’ decision to move the No. 4 pick to the Hawks today makes it likely that the Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers will be finalized on July 6, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The Lakers emerged from the lottery with the No. 4 pick and agreed to trade it to the Pelicans as part of the Davis deal. New Orleans reached an agreement to forward the pick to the Hawks just prior to the draft.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and the Pelicans’ top executive, David Griffin, agreed that if a third team was looped into the Davis trade, the teams would make the deal official on July 6.
The Davis deal could theoretically be delayed until July 30, as newly-drafted players can’t be dealt for 30 days after signing a contract. Waiting those 30 days would be advantageous to the Lakers for cap-related reasons. However, it would have been unrealistic for the Lakers to expect the Pelicans and Hawks to wait that long to bring in those traded players.
Pelinka was already on board with making the trade official on July 6 before New Orleans came to an agreement with Atlanta, according to Wojnarowski.
Thus, the Lakers won’t be able to count the No. 4 pick’s salary slot for salary-matching purposes in the AD trade. In order to maximize their cap room, they’ll have to use the cap room first by signing free agents, then make the Davis deal as an over-the-cap team under salary-matching guidelines.
The Lakers are offering the contracts of Moritz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones, and Isaac Bonga to teams as part of the Davis deal in order to make the salaries match up. The Hawks don’t necessarily have to be part of the Davis deal, since the Pelicans could make that trade separately after the trade with the Lakers becomes official.
Davis could also waive most or all of his $4MM trade bonus, something that he’s not necessarily expected to do. In a scenario where the Lakers get Davis to agree and find a taker for each of the three aforementioned players as part of a larger AD deal, Los Angeles could have roughly $32MM in cap space.
Houston intends to aggressively pursue Jimmy Butler in free agency and Kelly Iko of The Athletic hears that the Rockets will be just as determined to land Butler now as they were in prior to Minnesota dealing him to the Sixers. GM Daryl Morey reportedly offered four first-round picks in exchange for Butler during the season.
It’s no secret that the Rockets are looking to shake up their roster this offseason. They continue to discuss trades involving Clint Capela, and Iko hears that they’ve discussed sending him to the Pelicans for the No. 4 overall pick. In that scenario, Houston would look to insert that pick into a package in order to land another player.
Here’s more from Houston and rest of the Western Conference:
- The Rockets had interested in trading for Anthony Davis and reached out to the Pelicans prior to New Orleans making the deal with the Lakers. Houston was aware that it wasn’t high on Davis’ preferences and that a trade was not likely to happen.
- The Lakers could have asked Davis if he’d waive his trade bonus of roughly $4.1MM in order to make salary-matching easier, but they never broached it during negotiations, league sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Los Angeles is still attempting to maximize its cap room for an additional star after agreeing to the Davis deal.
- Several NBA executives are skeptical that the Lakers can build a title-winning team around Davis and LeBron James after the haul they just gave up, Beck relays in the same piece. “[The] Lakers overpaid by a significant margin, given the conditions,” one executive said, adding, “Never let your GM be in a spot where he needs to make a trade to save his job.”
- The Suns are not interested in Aaron Holiday, Phoenix-based radio host John Gambadoro tweets. J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star identified the Suns as one of a handful of teams that has interest in acquiring the Pacers point guard, mentioning the Timberwolves, Bulls, and Hawks as well.
Although they brought in Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland for a last-minute workout today, the Knicks remain locked in on selecting Duke forward R.J. Barrett with the No. 3 overall pick, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
With just over 24 hours to go until the 2019 NBA draft, rumors continue to trickle in about which prospects other teams might be targeting with their first-round picks. Jeremy Woo and Jake Fischer of SI.com suggest that league sources believe the Celtics – who hold Nos. 14, 20, and 22 – have serious interest in Kentucky sharpshooter Tyler Herro. The SI duo also reports that the Spurs – who pick at 19 and 29 – are among the teams with real interest in Croatian forward Luka Samanic.
Woo and Fischer share a few more tidbits in their latest mock draft, writing that the Hornets, Heat, and Celtics are all showing “a degree of interest” in USC’s Kevin Porter Jr., who could be in play to come off the board near the end of the lottery.
League sources also tell SI.com that the Magic have put the No. 46 pick on the trade block and could sell it, with the Lakers, Wizards, and Trail Blazers among the teams believed to have interest in purchasing a second-rounder.
Here’s more on the draft:
- Kevin Porter Jr. (USC), Nicolas Claxton (Georgia), and Mfiondu Kabengele (Florida State) have received last-minute invites to the Green Room for Thursday’s NBA draft, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter links). That increases the number of prospects expected to be in attendance in the Green Room to 23, Givony notes.
- Speaking today to reporters, including Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link), Texas center Jaxson Hayes said he only worked out for two teams, the Bulls and Hawks, during the pre-draft process. Those clubs hold three top-10 picks between them.
- UNC guard Coby White also confirmed his pre-draft workouts today, as Gina Mizell of The Athletic relays (via Twitter). White worked out for four lottery teams, including the Suns and Bulls, who are both believed to be in the market for a point guard.
- Terry Harris, the younger brother of pending free agent Tobias Harris, is seeing his stock rise, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays (Twitter link). The younger Harris has worked out for the Suns and Thunder, among many other teams.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
4:01pm: Asked by Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News if the report on Horford and the Mavericks is accurate, a league source replied, “Not really.” However, that source didn’t offer any further clarification, tweets Townsend.
1:40pm: Al Horford is expected to leave the Celtics for a new team in free agency, and according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, league sources consider the Mavericks the favorites to land the veteran big man.
As O’Connor writes, the Lakers and Clippers are also said to have interest in Horford, but they’ll likely be setting their sights on higher-end targets such as Kawhi Leonard. The Nets have also been cited as a potential suitor for Horford.
Dallas would be an intriguing landing spot for the 33-year-old center. The Mavericks have the cap flexibility necessary to make a competitive offer to Horford without compromising their ability to extend Dwight Powell or lock up Kristaps Porzingis to a long-term contract. Those three bigs would provide balance and versatility at both ends of the floor for the Mavs.
Horford will reportedly seek a four-year contract on the open market, and one report indicated that he may even be looking to surpass $100MM on his new deal. That’d be a significant investment for a player entering his mid-30s who battled some nagging health issues last season, but the Mavs have shown in the past that they’re not shy about committing big money to second-tier free agents. They signed Wesley Matthews and Harrison Barnes to four-year, maximum-salary contracts in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
As the Lakers weigh their options for filling out their roster beyond LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma, the team is exploring the trade market for possible purchases of second-round draft picks, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks.
Unlike first-round picks, which count against the cap for 120% of the rookie scale amount whether or not the player has actually signed his contract, a second-round pick doesn’t have a cap hold until a player officially signs. Even then, many second-rounders ink minimum-salary deals that would have the same cap hold as an empty roster charge.
In other words, second-round picks could provide the Lakers with a path to acquiring young talent that doesn’t compromise the club’s cap flexibility, as Wojnarowski and Marks point out.
Teams are limited in the amount of cash they can trade in a given league year, but the Lakers still have $3.743MM at their disposal for 2018/19, and their total will reset to about $5.6MM once the new league year begins in a couple weeks. That will give the club some flexibility as it attempts to buy second-rounders and/or to find takers for players like Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and Jemerrio Jones.
[RELATED: Lakers looking to move additional players in Anthony Davis deal]
As Marks reports in a separate ESPN.com story, the Pelicans are believed to be unwilling to wait until July 30 to complete the Davis trade. Waiting until that date would allow the Lakers to maximize their cap room, since they could use the signed No. 4 pick for salary-matching purposes once his 30-day window of trade ineligibility expires. With New Orleans apparently not on board though, L.A. is exploring ways to maximize its cap room on July 6, when teams can officially begin making moves.
The scenario the Lakers are looking into would involve the team using up about $32MM in cap room on a free agent (or multiple free agents) immediately, then completing the Davis trade as an over-the-cap team. In order for the No. 4 pick to be dealt on July 6, he’d have to remain unsigned, which would mean counting as a $0 player for salary-matching purposes.
As such, the Lakers would have to include some combination of Wagner, Bonga, Jones, and/or a signed-and-traded player to match Davis’ salary. Those players would have to be involved in the same transaction as AD, but could be sent to a team (or multiple teams) besides the Pelicans.
The man that bet on himself this season is in position to cash in. The Lakers, Clippers, Jazz, Bucks, Magic and Knicks are among the teams expected to have interest in Bobby Portis, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports reports.
Portis turned down an extension with the Bulls earlier this season and was rumored to be seeking a deal worth $16MM annually. While it’s not clear what kind of deal Portis receive in restricted free agency, it will certainly be a raise on his 2018/19 salary of approximately $2.5MM.
The Wizards are likely to extend a qualifying offer to Portis, which will be worth about $3.6MM.
The Bulls—the franchise that drafted Portis with the No.22 overall pick in the 2015 draft—traded him to the Wizards along with Jabari Parker for Otto Porter Jr. prior to the trade deadline. Washington is expected to decline Parker’s $20MM team option for next season, though even if both players signed elsewhere, the Wizards will have trouble carving out cap room.
[RELATED: 2019 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Washington Wizards]
The franchise is looking at approximately $89MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season. The team will have a version of the mid-level at its disposal (the taxpayer’s MLE if over the projected $132MM) and the bi-annual exception will be available if it can stay below that tax line.
The Lakers are trying to expand the Anthony Davis trade in order to carve out maximum salary room, sources tell ESPN duo Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Los Angeles is offering the contracts of Moritz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones, and Isaac Bonga to teams as part of the Davis deal in order to make cap room.
The Lakers would likely still need Davis to waive most or all of his trade bonus, something that he’s not necessarily expected to do. In a scenario where the Lakers get Davis to agree and find a taker for each of the three aforementioned players as part of a larger AD deal, Los Angeles would be looking at roughly $32MM in cap space. The Lakers would use the cap space before officially completing the Davis deal.
Players like Jimmy Butler and Kemba Walker are eligible to receive a projected $32.7MM starting annual salary on a max deal. Under the projected $109MM salary cap, the Lakers will likely need a third star to make a slight financial sacrifice regardless of any additional moves, as I previously detailed.
Two major factors related to the Anthony Davis deal will contribute to how much cap room the Lakers have available in free agency this summer. One is the timing of the trade’s completion, while the other is Davis’ trade bonus.
While we don’t yet have definitive word on when the Lakers and Pelicans will finalize the AD blockbuster, early reports suggest it will likely happen on July 6, which would cut into L.A.’s projected cap space by several million dollars. If Davis chooses not to waive his trade bonus, that would reduce the Lakers’ flexibility by about another $4MM, and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne views that as the most likely scenario, as she said on The Jump on Monday (video link).
“My understanding is he doesn’t intend to waive that [bonus],” Shelburne said. “He’s due the $4MM and he’s going to keep it.”
Shelburne acknowledges that “things could change” before the deal is officially completed, but if the Lakers finalize the trade on July 6 and Davis gets his $4MM trade bonus, it would leave L.A. with about $23.7MM in cap room, not nearly enough for a maximum-salary contract.
Let’s round up a few more notes and updates from around the Western Conference…
- While Harrison Barnes will turn down his $25MM+ player option for the 2019/20 season, the Kings are confident they’ll be able to keep Barnes in the mix with a new long-term contract, a source tells James Ham of NBC Sports California.
- Kelly Iko of the Athletic examines and downplays the rumors of discord between Rockets stars James Harden and Chris Paul. “If it’s the middle of September and issues aren’t resolved, then that would be different, but it’s not,” a team source told Iko. “Chris and James want to win a championship.”
- After Spurs assistant Ettore Messina accepted a job running Olimpia Milano as their president and head coach, veteran guard Marco Belinelli was asked if he’d consider joining Messina in Italy, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Belinelli didn’t rule out the possibility down the road, but said he’d like to sign at least one more NBA contract after his deal with San Antonio expires in 2020.
- Tony Jones and Omari Sankofa II of The Athletic dig into whether there’s a match for a Mike Conley trade between the Jazz and Grizzlies.