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NBA Investigating Lowry, Ball Sign-And-Trades For Possible Tampering

August 7th, 2021 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has launched investigations into two of the sign-and-trade deals that were agreed upon early in free agency, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

Those two deals are the one that sent Kyle Lowry from the Raptors to the Heat – which was officially announced on Friday – and the one sending Lonzo Ball from the Pelicans to the Bulls, which hasn’t been officially completed yet. The NBA is set to investigate possible violations of its tampering policy.

According to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, the league is expected to look into any contact that may have occurred prior to the opening of the free agency negotiating period on Monday at 5:00pm CT. Both agreements were reported within minutes after the negotiating period began.

It’s an open secret that teams and agents begin free agent discussions before the negotiating period officially starts, but the NBA generally frowns on any deals that blatantly violate those rules. Sign-and-trades receive even more scrutiny since they’re more complex and typically require more time to complete than a typical free agent negotiation, Wojnarowski and Shelburne note.

Last year, for instance, an alleged sign-and-trade agreement involving the Bucks, Kings, and Bogdan Bogdanovic was reported several days before free agency officially began. The league ended up taking away Milwaukee’s 2022 second-round pick after investigating that situation, while Bogdanovic – who claimed he never agreed to terms with the Bucks – landed in Atlanta instead.

We’ll see what the investigation into the Lowry and Ball sign-and-trades turns up this year. It’s unlikely that the league would nix either deal, but fines and/or draft-pick penalties don’t seem out of the question, given the manner in which the deals were publicly reported.

One Monday report outlined the specifics of the Lowry sign-and-trade to the Heat nearly three hours before free agency began, though there was some uncertainty for much of the week about whether the deal would involve more pieces than just Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa. Lowry’s commitment to Miami was confirmed just minutes into free agency and his agency announced his destination shortly thereafter.

Ball’s deal with the Bulls was reported literally the minute the negotiating window opened, with the full terms of the trade agreement – including another sign-and-trade involving Garrett Temple – surfacing just seven minutes later.

As Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter), the NBA adopted new anti-tampering measures two years ago, giving the league the power to fine teams for up to $10MM, suspend executives, take away draft picks, or even void deals altogether if proof of tampering is found.

The Bucks’ second-round pick forfeiture is the most significant penalty we’ve seen since then. However, as Wojnarowski and Shelburne point out, the NBA’s decision in that case took into consideration that Bogdanovic didn’t end up signing with Milwaukee, so the league could come down a little harder on Miami and/or Chicago.

Heat Sign P.J. Tucker

August 7th, 2021 at 11:47am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 7: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

“P.J. Tucker is the perfect addition to this team,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “He brings both shooting and most importantly, the ability to defend a lot of perimeter players. We love his versatility in order to put a defensive team on the court, where all five guys can defend, while also having enough shooting and scoring to win games.”

AUGUST 2: The Heat have agreed to a deal with free agent forward P.J. Tucker, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania (Twitter link), Tucker will get a two-year, $15MM contract from Miami, which suggests the team is putting a chunk of its mid-level exception toward the signing. The deal will feature a player option in year two, Charania adds (via Twitter).

Tucker doesn’t bring much to the table on offense besides the occasional corner three (he’s a career 35.9% shooter from beyond the arc), but he’s a physical, versatile defender who is just as willing to battle in the post with centers as he is to guard quicker guards and wings on the perimeter.

Tucker will fit in nicely on a Heat squad that already features tough defenders like Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Kyle Lowry.

The Heat had been looking to address their power forward position with their mid-level exception and will likely remain on the lookout for at least one more player who can play minutes at the four, though their cap flexibility is now limited. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reports (via Twitter) that the club has an offer out to veteran forward Markieff Morris.

Jimmy Butler Signs Max-Salary Extension With Heat

August 7th, 2021 at 9:38am CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 7: Butler has officially signed the extension, according to a team press release.

“Jimmy is the anchor and face of our franchise along with Bam (Adebayo) and Kyle (Lowry),” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “With Jimmy, we get an All-NBA player, an All-NBA Defensive player, tough as nails and a complete player across the board. He’s very deserving of this contract as he continually puts himself at the top of the league at his position. Having him in the HEAT organization has been a great, great coup for us.”

AUGUST 6: The Heat and Butler are in formal agreement on a new four-year extension, reports Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The extension will include a player option for the 2025/26 season, according to Winderman, who says the deal is worth a projected $184MM.

AUGUST 2: Jimmy Butler is expected to sign a four-year max extension with the Heat, Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic report (Twitter link).

Butler can officially sign the extension on Friday. Based on the projected 2022/23 salary cap, the extension will be worth approximately $186.6MM.

The acquisition of Butler in a sign-and-trade with Philadelphia in 2019 propelled the club to the 2020 Finals and he’s looked upon as the leader of a team built on toughness and defense.

There was growing optimism that Butler and the franchise would agree to an extension and that has apparently come to fruition. Butler’s extension is part of a frenzy of planned moves designed to get Miami back to the Finals next season, according to Marc Stein of Substack.

Miami is also acquiring veteran point guard Kyle Lowry and re-signing sharpshooting wing Duncan Robinson.

Injuried limited Butler to 52 regular season games this past season but he still put up big numbers — 21.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, a career-high 7.1 APG and 2.1 SPG.

Raptors Notes: Lowry, Achiuwa, Dragic, Birch, TPE, Ujiri

August 7th, 2021 at 8:12am CST by Luke Adams

There was some speculation leading up to free agency that Toronto would make an effort to re-sign veteran point guard Kyle Lowry, but comments made on Friday by the six-time All-Star and by Raptors general manager Bobby Webster suggested both sides felt the time was right to move on, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

“I think the direction Toronto is going in is they want to give the opportunities to (Fred VanVleet), Pascal (Siakam), OG (Anunoby), a couple young guys, the young draft picks they have,” Lowry told reporters. “They have some great core pieces. They’re in great hands and great shape. It was a situation for me where it was an opportunity to do something different… It’s time to turn the page in the book.”

Webster conveyed a similar sentiment: “You probably could see (during the 2020/21 second half) the direction the team was going in, and jumping up in the draft to get the fourth pick, philosophically, I think going young became kind of a more desirable path.”

Once they recognized Lowry would be moving on, the Raptors could’ve decided to let him walk in order to open up cap room to pursue a free agent. However, that path offered less certainty, especially if the team made an offer sheet to a restricted free agent (such as Jarrett Allen) not knowing whether it would be matched. The Raptors preferred to acquire Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa via a sign-and-trade with the Heat, Lewenberg writes.

“Precious is a huge part of this deal for us,” Webster said. “We really liked him last year in the draft so I think that was a huge get in the sense of a young player that we like and fits.”

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Throughout the week, there were rumors that Toronto may try to flip Dragic to a third team after acquiring him via sign-and-trade. Webster said on Friday that’s not Plan A. “Obviously, if we got an offer that was too good to refuse we’d listen but ultimately we want Goran here,” the Raptors’ GM said, per Lewenberg. “He’s happy to be here, obviously he’s been able to carve out a very nice career for himself. Talking to (team president) Masai (Ujiri), talking to everyone here, we’ve watched him a ton and I know a lot of people have seen him kill us. As a basketball player, as a vet, he provides a lot of value to us.”
After his new three-year deal with the Raptors was formally announced on Friday, Canadian center Khem Birch told reporters he was focused throughout free agency on returning to the team, as Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes. “It feels like a dream come true,” Birch said. “It’s so surreal right now … just one of those free agencies where I knew where I wanted to go. I don’t even know what other teams were interested in me. I just wanted to come here regardless of the price or the years or anything. I just knew this was a great fit. I’m just happy I’m here.”
The Raptors will generate a traded player exception as a result of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade to Miami. It’ll be worth somewhere between $4.8MM and $7.7MM, depending on the specific structure of Lowry’s new contract, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic.
Speaking to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum confirmed that Masai Ujiri‘s new vice chairman title won’t give him an ownership stake in the franchise, but said it reflects his standing in the organization. “I chair the Raptors, but it’s just a recognition that we’re really working together,” Tanenbaum said. “We’re partners.”
Tanenbaum added in the same interview that the team’s plan is to have Lowry retire as a Raptor down the road and to retire his number. “He will retire as a Raptor and his number will absolutely go up there,” Tanenbaum said. “The honor will be the first one (for the Raptors) and I love Kyle.”

Heat, Raptors Finalize Kyle Lowry Sign-And-Trade

August 6th, 2021 at 5:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have officially acquired point guard Kyle Lowry from the Raptors via sign-and-trade, Miami announced today in a press release. Toronto received point guard Goran Dragic and big man Precious Achiuwa in the deal.

Lowry was one of the first free agents to make a commitment when the negotiation period opened on Monday evening, but it took all week for the details of the sign-and-trade to be confirmed. Dragic and Achiuwa were always believed to be part of the deal, but there were rumors that Dragic would be flipped to a third team or that the Raptors would receive additional pieces. Ultimately, it’s just a two-for-one swap.

Lowry’s new, fully guaranteed contract with the Heat was initially reported to be worth $90MM over three years, but it’ll actually come in at $85MM, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Miami would’ve needed to include more salary in addition to Dragic and Achiuwa for matching purposes in order to accommodate that $90MM figure, notes Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Heat, who have been after Lowry since at least the trade deadline in March, will unite the six-time All-Star with his close friend Jimmy Butler, who has agreed to sign a lucrative new contract extension of his own with Miami.

While a guaranteed three-year, $85MM investment is a risk for a player who is entering his age-35 season, Lowry has championship experience and is an ideal fit on virtually any roster due to his ability to handle the ball, knock down outside shots, and provide strong defense. He averaged 17.2 PPG, 7.3 APG, and 5.3 RPG on .436/.396/.875 in 46 games (34.8 MPG) in his final season as a Raptor.

“Kyle Lowry is a great leader and an exceptional defender,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “As a point guard, he will bring important skills to run the offense, score the ball and defend with the very best.”

The Raptors, meanwhile, still could theoretically flip Dragic to another team in the coming days, weeks, or months. However, Marc Stein reported earlier today that Toronto has “resisted external interest” in the Slovenian guard from the Mavericks and other teams.

Barring further trades, Dragic will join the Raptors’ backcourt alongside Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn, and Gary Trent Jr., while Achiuwa will battle for minutes in a frontcourt rotation that includes Khem Birch and Chris Boucher.

Omer Yurtseven Signs Two-Year Contract With Heat

August 6th, 2021 at 4:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Omer Yurtseven, who has excelled in summer league play, has signed a two-year contract with the Heat, according to a team press release.

Luke Glass, the son of Yurtseven’s agent Keith Glass, told ESPN’s Bobby Marks of the big man’s agreement with the team (Twitter link). Yurtseven will receive about $3.5MM across two seasons, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets, which likely means it’s a minimum-salary deal. Just the first year is guaranteed, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets.

Yurtseven averaged 26 PPG and 13.5 RPG in two California Classic Summer League games. Glass received multiple phone calls from other teams during and after those games, according to Jackson. However, remaining with Miami was always Yurtseven’s first choice.

Miami declined its $1.5MM option on Yurtseven, a 23-year-old center, at the beginning of free agency. However, that was at the seven-footer’s request.

“I asked them when we signed to not exercise the August 1 option, so that when they gave me the option, they could go back to me and do a new deal,” Glass said to Jackson. “They kept their word.”

Miami signed Yurtseven at the end of the last season, allowing him to travel with the team for its first-round series against Milwaukee in May. Yurtseven, a member of Turkey’s national team, went unselected in the 2020 draft.

Yurtseven appeared in 14 G League games last season with Oklahoma City, averaging 15.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. He also recorded five double-doubles during that span.

Heat Officially Re-Sign Duncan Robinson

August 6th, 2021 at 1:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have officially re-signed sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, the team announced today in a press release. The five-year, $90MM deal, which reportedly includes an early termination option after the fourth year, was one of the first agreements reached during the free agent period on Monday.

“Duncan is the epitome of everybody who’s ever had a dream about being a great NBA player,” team president Pat Riley said in a statement. “I have never been around a player who worked as hard, fastidiously working on what he needed to do in order to improve his game. Not just his shooting, but his overall game. Having Duncan back was very critical for us.”

Robinson, 27, has been a full-time starter for the Heat over the last two seasons, averaging 13.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.6 APG with an impressive .454/.427/.878 shooting line in 145 games (30.5 MPG) during that time. Miami made him a restricted free agent prior to the start of free agency by extending him a $4.7MM qualifying offer.

If the Heat had used cap room this summer, it would have made sense for them to keep Robinson’s small cap hold on their books while they used up all their space, then go over the cap to finalize his deal. However, the club will operate over the cap instead, having agreed to acquire Kyle Lowry via sign-and-trade rather than signing him with cap room. As such, there was no reason not to complete Robinson’s contract right away when the moratorium lifted today.

That Lowry deal is not yet official, as the Heat and the Raptors have spent much of the week negotiating the terms of the sign-and-trade, but it should just be a matter of time before the two teams figure it out and make an announcement.

Eastern Notes: Love, Livers, Heat, D. Robinson, Drummond

August 5th, 2021 at 12:20pm CST by Luke Adams

After drafting Evan Mobley with the No. 3 overall pick and agreeing to re-sign Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100MM contract, the Cavaliers appear to have locked up their frontcourt of the future, prompting Jason Lloyd of The Athletic to suggest that if Kevin Love is going to remain in Cleveland, he should be prepared to accept a role off the bench.

According to Lloyd, the Cavaliers have already spoken to Love about his minutes and role moving forward. The first step will be getting the veteran power forward healthy following the calf strain that has nagged him for much of the year, but even if that calf injury is no longer an issue in the fall, Cleveland will have to closely manage Love’s minutes, writes Lloyd.

While a buyout could ultimately be in both sides’ best interests, those discussions have not yet taken place, according to Lloyd, who suggests Love would likely have to be willing to give back at least $12-15MM for the Cavs to consider buying him out. He’s owed just north of $60MM over the next two seasons.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Rookie Pistons forward Isaiah Livers, who was selected 42nd overall in last Thursday’s draft, continues to recover from the right foot surgery that ended his college career, but remains optimistic that he’ll be fully cleared around the start of the 2021/22 season, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “For five-on-five, I expect to be fully cleared, hopefully, at some point in October,” Livers said. As Beard observes, Detroit will likely play it safe with Livers and have him start the season with the Motor City Cruise in the G League.
Although the Heat might not get much out of Victor Oladipo in 2021/22, their minimum-salary agreement with the two-time All-Star will put them in good position to re-sign him next summer if he earns a raise, since they’ll hold his full Bird rights, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald details. Oladipo is recovering from surgery on his quad tendon and the Heat aren’t expecting him to be ready to return until sometime in 2022.
After agreeing to a five-year, $90MM deal with the Heat as a restricted free agent, sharpshooter Duncan Robinson said on The Long Shot podcast that he entered the week focused on getting a deal done with the only NBA team he has ever played for. “Miami ultimately, for me, felt like it was going to be the best situation because it was something I was really familiar with,” Robinson said, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I felt like I had built equity with an organization, the coaching staff, the front office, the fans even, the city.”
Despite their past squabbles on and off the court, new Sixers center Andre Drummond doesn’t anticipate teaming up with Joel Embiid will be an issue, he told reporters today. “For me, there was never any real beef,” Drummond said (Twitter link via Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com). “The way we play, sometimes we talk. I don’t think it goes any further than that. … We’re on the same team now.”

Eastern Rumors: Dinwiddie, Wizards, Avdija, Oladipo, Knicks, Bitadze

August 4th, 2021 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards continue to work through their complicated sign-and-trade acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie, according to multiple reports.

Quinton Mayo (Twitter link) has heard the Bulls and Thunder mentioned as teams that could end up getting involved in a multi-team trade involving Dinwiddie. Mayo also reports that the Nets asked the Wizards for Deni Avdija during those negotiations, which Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News (twitter link) corroborates.

If and when the Wizards, Nets, and other potential trade partners figure out a deal, Dinwiddie is expected to get a three-year, $62MM deal from Washington, reports Winfield (Twitter link).

Here are a few more updates from around the East:

Although Victor Oladipo‘s camp is optimistic that he’ll be able to return to action sometime between late December and early February, some Heat people believe March is a more realistic target, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Oladipo, who underwent quad tendon surgery in May, agreed to a minimum-salary contract with Miami.
Following up on an Ian Begley report that stated the final year in the Knicks‘ deals with Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, Derrick Rose, and Evan Fournier aren’t guaranteed, ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link) clarifies that all four deals are expected to have standard team options in their last years. Noel, Burks, and Rose will have those options in year three, while Fournier’s will be in year four.
Pacers big man Goga Bitadze wanted to play for the team in Summer League this month, but he missed Indiana’s first two SL practices due to back soreness and is now away from the club due to a personal matter, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.

Trade Rumors: Kings, Siakam, Raptors, Dragic, Spurs, Markkanen

August 4th, 2021 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings “definitely” have trade interest in Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, Sam Amick of The Athletic said during an appearance on The Deuce & Mo Podcast (video link).

There have whispers this offseason – particularly since the Raptors used the No. 4 overall pick to draft Scottie Barnes – that Siakam is available via trade, but Amick says the Kings have been waiting for clarity on just how willing Toronto might be to move him. Sacramento would likely pursue Siakam if given the chance, though it’s unclear how much interest the Raptors would have in possible trade chips like Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley.

Here are a few more trade-related rumors and notes from around the NBA:

It’s looking more and more like Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa – the two primary outgoing pieces in the Heat‘s Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade – will end up with the Raptors, at least for the time being, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. The Raptors are believed to be exploring flipping Dragic to a third team, such as the Mavericks, but apparently haven’t found a deal they like yet.
Dragic, for his part, offered the following update on Slovenian television on Tuesday, per Iztok Franko of Mavs Moneyball (Twitter link): “I haven’t heard from Toronto yet, I’m still waiting for the news. Everything depends on the third team, we’ll have the news in the next few days.”
Before agreeing to acquire Thaddeus Young and Al-Farouq Aminu in their DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade with the Bulls, the Spurs were interested in landing Lauri Markkanen via sign-and-trade, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the latest episode of his Hoop Collective podcast. However, according to Windhorst, Markkanen sought a larger contract than the Spurs were comfortable offering, prompting the team to pivot to the veterans on expiring contracts. Windhorst believes there’s a “decent chance” Markkanen – a restricted free agent – will end up returning to Chicago.