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Trade Rumors: Lillard, Harden, Brogdon, Fournier, Rockets

July 2nd, 2023 at 12:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Trail Blazers told rival teams that they are “open for business everywhere in the league” regarding a Damian Lillard trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (YouTube link).

Lillard, who asked for a trade on Saturday after weeks of speculation, reportedly hopes to end up in Miami, where he could be part of a title contender. However, the Heat may not be able to offer the best trade package, and Portland GM Joe Cronin intends to focus on the team’s needs rather than Lillard’s preference while negotiating a deal.

“For Portland, they’re going to go out into the marketplace and try to find the best deal they can,” Wojnarowski said, “a combination of young players, draft picks, salary cap relief, all the things you want when a star of Damian Lillard’s magnitude asks to be traded.”

Woj adds that he doesn’t expect a Lillard deal to be completed quickly and that Miami doesn’t have any advantage because Lillard wants to go there. The Blazers haven’t told Lillard whether they intend to comply with his request to join the Heat, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

There are more trade rumors to pass along:

The Sixers‘ asking price for James Harden has been “really high,” Wojnarowski said in the same segment, noting that president of basketball operations Daryl Morey tends to seek a lot in return when a star player wants to be traded. Harden picked up his $35.6MM player option this week, and reports have indicated that he wants to be dealt to the Clippers. Wojnarowski adds that it’s “not an easy trade to make” because Philadelphia has to get value in return to pair with MVP Joel Embiid and keep the team in title contention. Woj speculates that trade talks could extend beyond Summer League action.
The Celtics aren’t trying to trade Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, a source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Brogdon was involved in an early version of the Kristaps Porzingis deal, but that fell through when the Clippers pulled out due to medical concerns about Brogdon. Himmelsbach adds that Brogdon is expected to be ready for the start of next season, even though he’s considering surgery for a right elbow injury he suffered in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks will continue to explore trades involving Evan Fournier, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv, but they don’t need to open any more cap flexibility to add Donte DiVincenzo after agreeing to send Obi Toppin to the Pacers. New York doesn’t seem to be actively pursuing either Lillard or Harden, according to Begley.
David Weiner of ClutchFans.net (Twitter link) suspects the Rockets will fold multiple reported trade agreements into their sign-and-trade deal for Dillon Brooks in order to maximize their cap room. After acquiring Patty Mills and using up their remaining cap space, Weiner posits, Houston will package Josh Christopher (to the Grizzlies), Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington (to the Hawks), and Mills (destination TBD), whose combined salaries will be enough to match Brooks’ expected first-year salary (approximately $21.6MM) without requiring room.

Stein’s Latest: Mavs, D. Powell, VanVleet, Schröder, D. Hall

June 30th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks “fully intend” to re-sign center Dwight Powell in free agency, Marc Stein reports in his latest rumor round-up at Substack. According to Stein, the Cavaliers and Rockets are also expected to show interest in Powell once he hits the open market, but the Mavs value him both on and off the court and are confident about their chances to retain him.

With Powell, Richaun Holmes, and lottery pick Dereck Lively II expected to be in the mix at center in Dallas, it didn’t make sense for Andre Drummond to turn down his player option with the Bulls in the hopes of signing with the Mavericks, Stein explains, following up on a previous rumor. If the Mavs had been able to trade Holmes, it might’ve been a different story, but Drummond opted for the guaranteed money and a clearer path to rotation minutes in Chicago.

Here’s more from Stein:

Fred VanVleet‘s current plan is to meet with both the Raptors and Rockets in person in Los Angeles when free agency opens on Friday, Stein tweets, reiterating in today’s article that Houston looks like a serious threat to sign the point guard away from Toronto.
The Lakers are “eager” to bring back point guard Dennis Schröder and would like to give him a raise, but will have a limited ability to do so with his Non-Bird rights. Echoing ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Stein says there’s a scenario in which Los Angeles commits a portion of its mid-level exception to Schröder and uses the rest on another player.
Former NBA big man Donta Hall, who is in the midst of a multiyear contract with AS Monaco in Europe, has an NBA opt-out in his deal and is attracting some interest from teams stateside, according to Stein, who names the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers as a couple of the clubs eyeing Hall.
One Western Conference front office executive was surprised by how many potential free agents exercised their player options. “I’ve never seen this many good players opt in,” the executive told Stein.

Warriors Rumors: Green, DiVincenzo, Kuminga, Poole, Paul, Thompson

June 30th, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors are optimistic about re-signing Draymond Green and have been discussing a three-year deal with his representatives, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Slater says trading for Chris Paul was a win-now move that the team wouldn’t have made without a level of confidence that Green will return. He projects a new contract for Green starting close to the range of the $27.6MM player option that he declined, but adds that every $1MM the Warriors can save is important because of their inflated tax bill.

There may not have been a realistic market for Green in free agency, Scotto adds. The Kings were floated as a possibility because their head coach is former Warriors assistant Mike Brown, but Scotto points out that they’re hoping to sign Kyle Kuzma and had to work out a new deal with Harrison Barnes. The Pistons and Grizzlies were also mentioned, but Slater states that Memphis dropped out of consideration with the Marcus Smart trade.

There’s more on the Warriors:

Donte DiVincenzo is expected to sign elsewhere and may be able to land a non-taxpayer MLE, which would be more than twice what Golden State can offer him, according to Scotto. Sources tell C.J. Holmes of The San Franciso Chronicle that the Knicks have emerged as the favorite to land DiVincenzo, who prefers to play on the East Coast and is hoping to receive a contract starting at $9-12MM. However, Scotto isn’t convinced that DiVincenzo would be a good fit in New York considering the number of guards already on the roster.
The Pacers were among the teams that inquired on Jonathan Kuminga, offering mainly draft assets in return, sources tell Scotto. Slater also cites interest from the Raptors and says Golden State began asking about OG Anunoby before the trade deadline. However, Slater doesn’t believe the Warriors have been shopping Kuminga, saying the organization still has confidence in him and he’ll likely be on the team when next season begins.
The decision to part with Jordan Poole in the trade for Paul was necessary to unload his contract, but coach Steve Kerr welcomed the chance to move on from a player who was fourth in the league in turnovers last season and often took poor shots, Slater states. Slater envisions Paul as the leader of the second unit, helping to develop young players such as Kuminga and Moses Moody.
Getting rid of Poole’s contract increases the chances for a Klay Thompson extension, according to Slater. Paul’s $30MM salary for 2024/25 is non-guaranteed, so more long-term money is available for Thompson. Slater doesn’t believe the Warriors have started negotiating a salary with Thompson yet, but he expects the veteran guard will have to accept a reduction from his current $43MM.

Free Agent Rumors: Brown, Mavs, Lakers, Gordon, Yurtseven, Kuzma, Barnes

June 29th, 2023 at 6:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Unrestricted free agent Nuggets forward Bruce Brown plans to meet with the Mavericks at the start of free agency on Friday, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Many teams appear primed to pursue Brown, according to MacMahon (Twitter link), who anticipates his market to be around the $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, if not higher. The Lakers are one suitor said to be confident about their chances. MacMahon adds that Brown may be open to taking a discount to return to the champs, who only have his Non-Bird rights available, which would cap them at a $7.8MM offer for next season.

The 6’4″ vet proved invaluable as a versatile, defense-first sixth man during Denver’s 16-4 run to the title this spring. Across 20 playoff games off the bench, he averaged 12.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.1 SPG and 0.5 BPG.

Here are more of the latest free agent rumors from around the league:

After opting not to retain shooting guard Malik Beasley and center Mohamed Bamba, the Lakers now project to remain well below the $172MM tax apron for 2023/24, which will enable them to use the full $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN, suggesting that Brown and Brook Lopez will be among Los Angeles’ targets. According to McMenamin (via Twitter), the Lakers may also consider adding more than one player with its mid-level exception money. In that scenario, point guard Dennis Schröder and shooting guard Eric Gordon could be targets, sources tell McMemamin.
Gordon is looking to land with a contender that will have a defined rotation gig for his services, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Beyond the Lakers, sources tell The Athletic that the Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Bucks, Suns, and Trail Blazers have some interest.
After declining to tender a qualifying offer to center Omer Yurtseven, the Heat don’t appear to be focused on trying to re-sign him to a minimum-salary deal, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). “We’re grateful we got a chance to be there,” agent Keith Glass said, per Jackson. “We’ll try to find a place that values him and helps him reach his potential.”
Free agent power forward Kyle Kuzma appears more likely to end up with the Rockets than the Kings, but Sacramento shouldn’t be ruled out entirely as a Kuzma landing spot, per James Ham of Kings Beat. Sources inform Ham that the Kings’ own incumbent free agent starting power forward, Harrison Barnes, is hoping to earn a deal that pays him $20MM annually.

Southwest Notes: Irving, Wembanyama, Rockets, Morant, Hawkins

June 28th, 2023 at 4:33pm CST by Luke Adams

There will likely be an “extremely limited” market for Kyrie Irving outside of Dallas, Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Tuesday (YouTube link). According to Wojnarowski, that’s why the “full expectation” is that Irving will re-sign with the Mavericks.

“The question will be what kind of a deal does he goes back on,” Wojnarowski said. “How many years on a contract? I don’t think the money will be as much of an issue as how many fully guaranteed years are there for Kyrie Irving. I think that’s where the negotiation is going to be between he and the Mavericks.”

While there are no obvious non-Mavericks suitors for Irving at this point, it sounds like Kyrie intends to explore all his options. Appearing on NBA Today on Wednesday (Twitter video link), ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said Irving plans to take meetings when free agency opens on Friday. According to Shelburne, the mercurial guard hopes to end up somewhere that “feels like home” and where he can spend the rest of his playing career.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama won’t take part in the California Classic Summer League in early July, but will be joining the Spurs when they travel to the Las Vegas Summer League, the team announced today. Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee has the story.
Under new Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, players will have to earn their minutes, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, who writes that winning will be prioritized over player development in “phase two” of the team’s rebuild. “A lot of the (playing) time and positions, those things have been given, so to speak, with the young guys,” Udoka said on Monday. “There’ll be changes now in phase two. We are adding some more young pieces but also adding some veterans. So I think this will kind of raise the level of competition. Nothing is handed out anymore.”
Lucas Finton of The Memphis Commercial Appeal has the details on Ja Morant‘s latest dealings with the legal system. According to Finton, the Grizzlies guard has filed a motion to dismiss an ongoing civil suit related to the punch Morant threw at a then-17-year-old during a pickup basketball game last summer.
The Pelicans believe they got the “best shooter in the draft” when they used the No. 14 overall pick on Jordan Hawkins, general manager Trajan Langdon told reporters, including Christian Clark of NOLA.com, on Tuesday.

Grizzlies Pursuing Sarunas Jasikevicius For Assistant Role?

June 27th, 2023 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

International reporting suggests that the Grizzlies are attempting to hire former NBA player and FC Barcelona coach Sarunas Jasikevicius as an assistant. According to Home of Glory (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando), Memphis offered Jasikevicius a three-year deal worth an estimated $6MM.

Grizzlies Exercise Option On Xavier Tillman’s Contract

June 26th, 2023 at 6:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Grizzlies have exercised their contract option on Xavier Tillman for next season, the team’s PR department tweets.

It was a mere formality for a rotation player who will make $1,930,681 in 2023/24.

Tillman averaged 7.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 19.3 minutes per game last season while appearing in 61 contests, including 29 starts. He had an expanded role in the playoffs, averaging 8.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 30.7 minutes against the Lakers in the opening round of the conference playoffs.

Tillman’s role expanded in the second half of the season when Steven Adams was sidelined by a knee injury.

The second-round pick in the 2020 draft will be an unrestricted free agent next summer unless the team reaches an extension agreement with the 6’8” big man.

Stein’s Latest: Green, Kings, Grizzlies, Brooks, Harden

June 25th, 2023 at 7:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While there’s speculation the Kings might make a run at Draymond Green in free agency, it would be shocking if Green didn’t re-sign with the Warriors, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst floated the idea that Sacramento could pursue Green with the additional cap space it opened up by shedding Richaun Holmes‘ contract on draft night. Sacramento could have $33MM or more in cap room to play with and Sacramento’s coach Mike Brown was Steve Kerr‘s top assistant with the Warriors. Owner Vivek Ranadivé has always had a deep admiration for the Warriors and acquiring Green would be a proverbial feather in his cap.

However, Green remains intent on retiring as a Warrior, despite declining his $27.6MM option, with a three-year deal considered the most likely outcome, according to Stein.

Stein provides some additional tidbits:

Despite limited resources, the Grizzlies were planning to make a run at Green until they traded for Marcus Smart in a draft-night blockbuster. Memphis could only dangle its $12.4MM mid-level exception — which seems like a non-starter, given the money Green is leaving on the table — yet the team had serious interest in him until acquiring another defensive stalwart, says Stein.
The addition of Smart makes it more obvious the Grizzlies won’t bring back Dillon Brooks, Stein writes. Despite some poor playoff performances that included an ejection during the Grizzlies-Lakers series, Brooks is still expected to seek a contract with a starting salary above the non-taxpayer mid-level.
It’s increasingly likely that James Harden will remain with the Sixers rather than bolt in free agency and return to Houston. Harden apparently had a positive introductory meeting with new coach Nick Nurse and was intrigued by Nurse’s vision for making the Sixers a championship team, per Stein.

Grizzlies Notes: Bane, Smart, Morant, Jackson, Adams, Clarke

June 23rd, 2023 at 11:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Desmond Bane believes Marcus Smart is a perfect addition for the Grizzlies‘ style of basketball, writes Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. Memphis acquired the former Defensive Player of the Year from the Celtics in a three-team deal that was finalized late Thursday night, and Bane is thrilled to welcome him to the team.

Bane sees Smart as a replacement for free agent Dillon Brooks, who Memphis isn’t expected to re-sign. Bane said Brooks’ defensive prowess relieved him of the burden of having to guard the opponent’s best player, and he expects Smart to do the same.

“Marcus Smart brings a lot to the team,” Bane said. “I mean I think you guys are going to love him. He kind of brings that Dillon edge, a little bit more playmaking. It’s going to be fun.”

Bane added that he’s making progress after having toe surgery in mid-May, and he hopes to resume shooting soon. He’s expected to receive a rookie-scale extension after averaging a career-best 21.5 PPG this season.

There’s more from Memphis:

At a post-draft press conference, general manager Zach Kleiman offered the Grizzlies’ first public statement on Ja Morant since his 25-game suspension was announced last week, Cole states in a separate story. Kleiman said team officials have maintained a dialogue with Morant and the relationship isn’t strained, but the troubled guard has to prove he can change his behavior. “We’re going to continue to pour into him, we’re going to continue to hold him to account for everything that he’s doing day-to-day,” Kleiman said. “It’s on him to follow through, but he’s going to have every opportunity to do so.”
Second-round pick G.G. Jackson will likely receive a two-way contract and spend most of the upcoming season in the G League, Cole adds in another piece. The 18-year-old forward out of South Carolina was taken with the 45th pick Thursday night. “We see someone who for his size is incredibly skilled,” Kleiman said. “We see someone who is a hard worker and is committed to doing the hard work. … G.G. is going to have to put in the work to achieve his potential.”
Kleiman expressed confidence that Steven Adams will be ready for the start of next season, Cole tweets. The team’s starting center wasn’t able to return after suffering an injury to his right knee in January. Kleiman believes Brandon Clarke will be available for a “good portion” of the season after tearing his left Achilles in March.

Porzingis To Celtics, Smart To Grizzlies, Jones To Wizards In Three-Team Trade

June 23rd, 2023 at 1:16am CST by Rory Maher

JUNE 23: The three-team blockbuster is official, according to a press release from the Celtics.

As our draft recap shows, the No. 25 and No. 35 draft picks included in this deal were both flipped to new teams in separate draft-night trade agreements.

JUNE 21: After their three-team framework with the Clippers was scrapped, the Wizards and Celtics have reached a new agreement to send Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.

The Grizzlies will also be involved in the revamped three-team deal, with point guard Tyus Jones heading to Washington and Celtics guard Marcus Smart headed to Memphis, per Wojnarowski.

Celtics big men Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari will be sent to the Wizards in the trade, according to Adam Himmselbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter links). Muscala has a $3.5MM team option, which will be exercised as part of the deal.

The Celtics will be receiving Memphis’ first-round pick (No. 25) and Golden State’s top-four protected 2024 first-round pick (via Memphis) for Smart, while the Wizards will acquire No. 35 from Boston for Porzingis.

Although Boston still found a way to acquire Porzingis, who picked up his $36MM player option for 2023/24 as part of the agreement, the incoming and outgoing packages are significantly different than the ones the team discussed with Washington and the Clippers earlier on Wednesday.

Rather than sending out Malcolm Brogdon, the Celtics will lose Smart, the longest-tenured player on the roster who had appeared in nearly 700 total regular season and playoff games for the franchise since 2014. It was widely known that Boston was looking to clear a logjam in its backcourt, but it’s a surprise that Smart will be the odd man out rather than Brogdon or Payton Pritchard. Derrick White appears likely to become the new starting point guard in Boston.

According to NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link), the Clippers had concerns over Brogdon’s injury status. The veteran guard tore a tendon in his right elbow this year and is reportedly hoping to avoid surgery.

Having agreed to give up Smart instead of Brogdon, the Celtics will acquire a pair of first-round picks in addition to Porzingis, who is coming off perhaps the best season of his career. He averaged 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 65 games (32.6 MPG) in 2022/23, posting a shooting line of .498/.385/.851.

According to Stein, Porzingis is hoping to sign an extension with the Celtics and there’s a “strong expectation” that he’ll get two years tacked onto his current contract once he becomes eligible for a new deal in July.

Assuming the Celtics hang onto the No. 25 pick, their projected 2023/24 team salary will increase by about $10MM as a result of this deal, pushing their payroll toward the second tax apron, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. It will be interesting to see what the financial outlook – and the addition of Porzingis – means for restricted free agent Grant Williams, who is hardly a lock to re-sign.

The Wizards, meanwhile, continue their roster reset following the hiring of Michael Winger to run their front office. The team previously agreed to trade Bradley Beal to Phoenix and has focused on avoiding multiyear salary commitments in both deals — Jones ($14MM expiring contract), Gallinari ($6.8MM), and Muscala ($3.5MM) are all on track to reach unrestricted free agency by 2024.

While Gallinari and Muscala look like mere salary-matching inclusions, Jones and the No. 35 overall pick are positive assets.

The Wizards could probably accumulate more draft picks if they were to flip Jones to another team, but it sounds like the plan is to make him their starting point guard in 2023/24, per ESPN’s reporting. Monte Morris and Delon Wright are also in that point guard picture for the time being, as is Chris Paul, though he may be traded to a new team or bought out.

It’s an especially interesting move for the Grizzlies, who will be without star point guard Ja Morant for the first 25 games of 2023/24 while he serves a suspension. Jones, one of the league’s top reserve point guards in recent years, projected to be the starter in Morant’s absence, but now that job may belong to Smart.

Besides being able to handle point guard duties, Smart – the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year – will provide the Grizzlies with the sort of perimeter stopper they’ll be losing when Dillon Brooks departs in free agency this offseason. As Stein writes, he should also bring some veteran leadership and stability to Memphis’ locker room.

Smart will receive a $1MM trade bonus as a result of the deal, according to Marks (Twitter link). That money will be spread out across the remaining years on his contract, slightly bumping his cap hits for each season.

The Grizzlies now project to be about $20MM below next season’s tax line, so they should have the full mid-level exception available to spend in free agency if they so choose, Marks adds (via Twitter).

Luke Adams contributed to this story.