New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Contract Details: Dunn, Merrill, Leonard, Keels

March 16th, 2023 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz dipped into their mid-level exception in order to sign Kris Dunn to his new contract, Hoops Rumors has learned. If Dunn had signed for the veteran’s minimum, he would’ve made $356,646 for the rest of the season, but he instead received more than double that amount ($735,819) via Utah’s MLE.

Dunn’s two-year deal also includes a minimum salary ($2,586,665) for 2023/24, but that figure is entirely non-guaranteed. The veteran Jazz guard would get his full guarantee if he isn’t waived on or before October 23.

Here are more details on contracts recently signed around the NBA:

The Cavaliers‘ new contract agreement with Sam Merrill covers three seasons, Hoops Rumors has learned. Cleveland used a portion of its mid-level exception to give Merrill a third year and to pay him $850K for the rest of this season, well above the minimum. The Cavs will control Merrill at the veteran’s minimum rate in 2023/24 and ’24/25, with both of those years non-guaranteed.
As expected, Meyers Leonard‘s new deal with the Bucks is worth the veteran’s minimum and covers only the rest of this season, so he’ll return to unrestricted free agency again this summer. As we noted on Wednesday, Leonard’s rest-of-season contract will pay him $409,916, while the Bucks will take on a cap hit of $284,911 (though the actual cost of the signing will exceed $1MM due to tax penalties).
Trevor Keels‘ new two-way contract with the Knicks is just a rest-of-season deal, so he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency if he finishes the season with the club.

Knicks Sign DaQuan Jeffries To Second 10-Day Deal

March 16th, 2023 at 7:58am CST by Luke Adams

12:05pm: The Knicks have officially signed Jeffries to his second 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter).

7:58am: The Knicks will re-sign swingman DaQuan Jeffries to a second 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Jeffries’ initial 10-day deal with the team expired on Tuesday night.

Jeffries, who previously suited up for the Kings, Rockets, and Grizzlies, has spent nearly the entire 2022/23 season with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate.

He started 15 games for Westchester in the fall’s Showcase Cup, averaging 18.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .482/.280/.769 shooting in 32.9 minutes per night. Since the NBAGL’s regular season began, he has appeared in 21 more games (20 starts), putting up 19.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 2.0 APG with a shooting line of .490/.363/.678.

The Knicks have only been carrying 13 players on standard, full-season contracts since the trade deadline passed and have periodically been filling their 14th roster slot by promoting a two-way player — first Trevor Keels and now Jeffries. Neither one has actually played for New York upon being promoted, so those deals are more about meeting the NBA’s minimum roster requirements than anything else.

Still, Jeffries is certainly benefiting financially from being on a pair of 10-day contracts rather than continuing on his two-way deal. He’ll earn another $109,318 on his second 10-day pact, while the Knicks carry a cap hit of $105,522.

Once Jeffries’ second 10-day contract expires, he’ll be ineligible to sign a third with New York, so the team will have to either let him walk or bring him back on a rest-of-season contract (standard or two-way).

Atlantic Notes: McBride, Noel, Pritchard, R. Williams

March 15th, 2023 at 9:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Miles McBride has been reinserted into the Knicks‘ rotation over the past six games with Jalen Brunson sidelined due to a foot injury. The second-year guard has been making an impact on both ends of the court as of late, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post.

During Sunday’s road victory over the Lakers, McBride recorded eight points (on 3-of-5 shooting) and three steals in 17 minutes, finishing plus-15 in the four-point win.

“It’s huge. … But, honestly, if I didn’t score a point and we win, I’d still be happy. Just being able to impact the game however I can always is the number one thing,” McBride said. “I think the second unit knows that when we get in, our job is just look at the score, understand what we have to do as a unit and move the needle. And I think we came in and did that.”

The 22-year-old followed that strong performance with a career-high 18 points (on 6-of-8 shooting), three assists, two blocks and one steal in 25 minutes in Tuesday’s victory at Portland, Botte adds in another story. It remains to be seen if McBride will get minutes once Brunson returns, but he’s certainly building a strong case for himself.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Veteran center Nerlens Noel averaged 14.3 minutes in his three games with the Brooklyn, but a source tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post that the Nets will not bring him back for a second 10-day contract (Twitter link). Noel’s initial deal expires on Wednesday, Lewis notes. Head coach Jacque Vaughn previously suggested that he expected Noel to stick around.
Payton Pritchard has switched agents and will now be represented by CAA Sports, the agency announced on Instagram. “At the end of the day, it’s a business decision,” Pritchard told Souichi Terada of MassLive.com. “I think when you’re going into making choices on your future and your business, you want somebody that you believe is going to represent you in the best way and really help you. I’m not dissing my previous agent or anything like that. At the end of the day, it’s a nerve-wrecking time so you want to go with somebody that you really believe.” The third-year Celtics guard, who is currently sidelined with a heel injury, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason. Pritchard previously expressed disappointment that he wasn’t traded ahead of last month’s deadline, as he’s looking for more playing time.
Celtics big man Robert Williams could return to action “within the next week or so,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said prior to Wednesday’s matchup with Minnesota (Twitter video link via NBC Sports Boston). Williams has been dealing with a left hamstring strain, but has responded well to treatment and said he was “feeling good” over the weekend.

Pacific Notes: Curry, Hartenstein, Brown, Russell

March 14th, 2023 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors star Stephen Curry turned 35 years old on Tuesday, but he’s not even close to thinking about retirement, as he told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. He’s hoping to play into his 40s, if all goes well.

“How I feel right now is not how I thought I’d feel at 35. That number sounds crazy, but in my head, I feel like I got a lot left,” he said. “The work I put into this I still enjoy. Who knows how [the future] looks?

“I talked to Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and other guys who have been on the other side of the halfway point. I know quarterbacking is different, but you can check yourself [mentally] into not fast-forwarding too far. They really did a good job of disciplining themselves for what is happening in real time. They’re 40 feeling like they can still play. I’m trying to stay in that mode. Thirty-five is a big milestone, but the next one is 40. The way I feel right now, who knows?””

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Knicks big man Isaiah Hartenstein suggested that if the Clippers had offered him the taxpayer mid-level exception last summer, he would have taken it, Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.com reports. Hartenstein wound up signing a two-year contract worth up to $18.1MM with New York. “I mean, they gave the only thing they really could’ve offered me to John Wall. I was — I can’t take that big of a pay cut,” he said. “I think I was actually gonna come back, but I can’t take that big of a pay cut. So they picked John Wall over me and I got to live with that.”
Head coach Mike Brown has raised the bar for the Kings and they’ve responded, as Sam Amick of The Athletic details. Brown ripped his team for giving up 23 offensive rebounds to the Knicks on Thursday, even though Sacramento won. Holding his players accountable has paid off. “That’s why we’re in the position we’re in right now, because he wants us to be perfect,” guard Malik Monk said. “He knows we can’t be perfect, but he wants us to be perfect. So I think that’s why we’re succeeding right now. He’s pushing us, coming in and telling us that was B.S. You would’ve thought we lost if you heard what was going on, but he just wants the best for us, man. Like I said, he wants us to be perfect in a world that’s not perfect.”
D’Angelo Russell is hopeful of re-signing with the Lakers this offseason when he hits free agency, Jacob Rude of SilverScreenAndRoll.com relays. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said at halftime of the Knicks-Lakers game on Sunday night that Russell wants to extend his second stint with the franchise. “D’Angelo Russell very much wanted a second chance in LA with the Lakers and you’ve seen the impact he made coming back against Toronto the other night, playing great in a win, and again (Sunday). He wants to be the point guard of the future for this organization.”

New York Notes: Brunson, Hartenstein, Nets’ Defense, O’Neale

March 13th, 2023 at 5:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jalen Brunson seems likely to miss the Knicks’ game on Tuesday in Portland. He was spotting wearing a walking boot on Sunday night, according to Peter Botte of the New York Post.

“Just continue to do his treatments and we’ll see where he is. When he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of the Knicks’ star guard. “It’s not Jalen by himself. It’s Jalen with the medical. So he’s got a say in it, but the medical has to clear him. So there’s a number of people involved in a decision. We’re not going to put him in harm’s way.”

Brunson said the boot isn’t as ominous as it might appear. He wore it during the Lakers game as a protective measure in case it got kicked or stepped on and isn’t wearing it away from the court, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.

We have more from the New York teams:

Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein earned a $350K bonus by hitting his minutes requirement for the season, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. He needed to play at least 1,350 minutes to earn the bonus and surpassed that in the win over the Lakers. Hartenstein reached another $350K bonus threshold with the Knicks winning their 40th game on Sunday, New York Basketball tweets. He can collect one more $350K bonus in his contract if the Knicks make the playoffs.
The Nets have won five of their last six games, thanks to an improved defense, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “We had to challenge that group to shift the mentality of not thinking you have to score but to first of all let’s be a defensive-oriented team,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “I think we’ve responded, started to form an identity with this group and hopefully they realize that.”
In another Lewis story, The Post’s beat writer notes that Royce O’Neale has exceeded the franchise’s expectations after acquiring him from Utah. He’s averaging career highs in points (9.0) and assists (3.7) per game while playing superior defense. “Whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, no matter how many minutes I’m playing, I’m going to play as hard as I can, do things that I got to do for us to win the game, and just be myself,” O’Neale said. His $9.5MM contract for next season is partially guaranteed for $2.5MM.

Knicks Waive Moses Brown, Re-Sign Trevor Keels

March 12th, 2023 at 7:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks are waiving center Moses Brown, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. They’ll replace him by bringing back guard Trevor Keels on a two-way contract, Steve Popper of Newsday tweets.

The Knicks have made the moves official, announcing them in a press release, Popper adds in a separate tweet.

Keels appeared in two games with the NBA’s Knicks this season, most recently on March 1. Keels was on a two-way contract with New York, then was signed to a standard 10-day contract on Feb. 23.

Brown was signed to a two-way contract on Wednesday. Brown appeared in one game for the G League’s Westchester Knicks, where he enjoyed an 18-point, 17-rebound game.

Keels has spent most of the season with the Westchester club. The second-round pick out of Duke has averaged 15 points and 3.4 assists in 22 games with the NBAGL squad.

Brown, a 23-year-old center, began this season on a two-way contract with the Clippers. He appeared in 34 games, averaging 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per night, before being waived on February 17.

Brown began his NBA career with the Trail Blazers in 2019 after going undrafted out of UCLA. He also had short stays with the Thunder, Mavericks and Cavaliers.

The Knicks had a two-way slot open after promoting DaQuan Jeffries to a 10-day contract a week ago.

Checking In On Active, Expired 10-Day Contracts

March 12th, 2023 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Lester Quinones‘ 10-day contract with the Warriors expired after Saturday’s game, opening up a spot on Golden State’s 15-man roster.

Quinones remained with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League for most of the 10 days he spent under contract with Golden State. He was recalled to the NBA on Saturday and was technically active for last night’s game vs. Milwaukee, but didn’t play at all and has yet to make his NBA debut.

As we outlined when Quinones first signed his 10-day deal, his addition to the 15-man roster allowed the Warriors to continue using both of their two-way players, Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome. Lamb has since reached his limit of 50 games on the active roster, while Jerome is now at 47 games and will be ineligible to play his final three unless Golden State fills its 15th roster spot again.

It will be interesting to see how the Warriors manage their two-way contracts and their 15-man roster going forward. Promoting Lamb to the standard roster would make him eligible to play in the rest of the team’s regular season games and in any postseason contests, in addition to freeing up Jerome for three more games. However, it would limit Golden State’s roster flexibility going forward and would force the club to waive a player on a guaranteed contract in order to sign anyone else before the end of the season.

Quinones is one of two players whose 10-day contract expired this week, joining Willie Cauley-Stein of the Rockets. Houston is now carrying just 13 players on standard deals and must add a 14th man (Cauley-Stein again or someone else) by March 23 to meet the NBA’s minimum roster requirements.

Three more players on 10-day contracts will see their deals expire tonight, while two others will expire on Monday night. Here’s the breakdown of the 10-day contracts currently active around the NBA:

Jamaree Bouyea, Wizards (runs through 3/12)
Sam Merrill, Cavaliers (3/12)
Eugene Omoruyi, Pistons (3/12)
Kris Dunn, Jazz (3/13) *^
Meyers Leonard, Bucks (3/13) *
DaQuan Jeffries, Knicks (3/14) ^
Nerlens Noel, Nets (3/15)

Players marked with an asterisk (*) are on their second 10-day deals with their respective teams. That means Dunn and Leonard would have to be signed for the rest of the season if their clubs want to retain them beyond Monday night, since they aren’t permitted to sign three standard 10-day contracts with the same team.

Players marked with a caret (^) are on clubs that don’t currently have full 15-man rosters. The Jazz are actually currently carrying just 13 players and will need to get back up to at least 14 by March 18. So even if they lock up Dunn to a full-season contract, they’ll need to sign one more player before next Saturday.

The Knicks, meanwhile, would be at 13 players on their standard roster if they don’t re-sign Jeffries to a second 10-day deal and would have up to two weeks to add a new 14th man.

Injury Notes: Brunson, Wagner, Zeller, Mathurin, Kuminga, Duren

March 11th, 2023 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

X-rays on Jalen Brunson‘s sore left foot were negative, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters before Saturday’s game that Brunson is feeling “a little better” and is considered day-to-day. He added that the injury has officially been diagnosed as a bruise.

“When he’s healthy enough, he goes,” Thibodeau said. “So just do the rehab, talk to the medical people and when he gets cleared, he’s cleared and then he’ll play.”

Brunson has missed three of the team’s last four games, playing just 19 minutes Thursday in Sacramento. The Knicks have now dropped three in a row, and it’s uncertain if Brunson will be available as their road trip continues Sunday against the Lakers and Tuesday vs. the Trail Blazers.

There’s more injury news to pass along:

X-rays on Magic forward Franz Wagner were negative after he left Saturday’s game with a right ankle injury, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Wagner has been diagnosed with an ankle sprain.
Heat center Cody Zeller left the same game with a broken nose after a collision with Orlando’s Jalen Suggs in the first quarter, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami was already missing Caleb Martin, who sat out the game with knee soreness, and Duncan Robinson, who was placed in health and safety protocols.
Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin sat out Saturday after spraining his ankle this week and has already been ruled out of Monday’s game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Coach Rick Carlisle said Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and T.J. McConnell will also be held out Monday.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Jonathan Kuminga is considered day-to-day after spraining his ankle during warmups on Thursday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kuminga didn’t play Saturday, but he was on the team’s bench without a walking boot, Slater adds (Twitter link).
Pistons rookie center Jalen Duren feels fully recovered from the bilateral ankle soreness that caused him to miss six games, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “Just being out a couple weeks, I was itching to get back and trying to play and finish out the season strong,” Duren said. “I’ve been working, I don’t know if y’all can tell but I got a little bigger. I feel good.”

New York Notes: Reddish, Brunson, Bridges, Nets

March 11th, 2023 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

Now a member of the Trail Blazers, forward Cam Reddish spoke to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News about his disappointing stint with the Knicks, explaining that he felt as if the decision to bench him for his final 33 games with the team wasn’t about his on-court performance.

“It was tough but at the same time, it ain’t even about basketball,” Reddish said. “It had nothing to do with basketball. It was all the politics, all the favoritism. S–t like that. That’s why I wasn’t too worried about it.”

Reddish didn’t expand in any detail on that response, repeatedly telling Bondy that he’s simply happy to be in a better situation following the deadline deal that sent him to Portland. Reddish has started 10 of his 12 games for the Blazers, averaging a career-high 13.8 points per game on .464/.382/.857 shooting in 30.8 minutes per night. The 23-year-old added that he felt as if he had very little margin for error when he was a Knick.

“I can shoot a shot — and in New York, I feel like I HAD to make it,” Reddish said. “I know I’m not the only person that felt like that. I was putting too much pressure on myself. Now I can relax and play my game. You’re going to see it. The more I’m on the court, the more I’m going to grow and play. I’m happy.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (left foot soreness) has been ruled out for Saturday’s game vs. the Clippers and it’s unclear whether he’ll be available for either of the last two contests of the team’s road trip (on Sunday and Tuesday), writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Brunson’s status going forward is a real cause for concern, Botte notes, given that the Knicks are far from locking up a top-six spot in the East and Brunson has been the team’s most indispensable player this season.
The Nets knew they were adding a talented player when they acquired Mikal Bridges as the centerpiece of their return for Kevin Durant, but they weren’t expecting the kind of offensive production they’ve gotten so far from the fifth-year forward, says Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Bridges has put up 25.8 PPG on .514/.492/.900 shooting in 12 games (34.0 MPG) since arriving in Brooklyn. “I don’t think anybody knew that Mikal was this amazing offensively. Just being completely real,” new teammate Spencer Dinwiddie said. “It’s our job that he can get to his spots and get his shots and continue to stack up these (30-point nights) as much as he possibly can.”
In last month’s trades of Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets were focused on getting back as many current and future assets as possible. Soon, they’ll need to make some major decisions about their direction, including which of their current players are keepers and whether they plan to shop or hang onto their newly acquired first-round draft picks. In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Lewis takes a closer look at the decisions on tap in Brooklyn.

And-Ones: Team USA, Referees, Most Improved Player, Oden

March 10th, 2023 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Team USA will play a pair of exhibition games in Abu Dhabi in August, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The U.S. national team will face Germany on August 18 and Greece on August 20 in the World Cup tune-ups.

As Windhorst outlines, the exhibition games seem to be part of a concerted effort by the NBA to further establish itself in the Middle East. The Bucks and Hawks played a pair of preseason games in Abu Dhabi this past fall, and the league opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Abu Dhabi in 2022.

Additionally, foreign sovereign wealth funds are now permitted to become minority shareholders in NBA franchises by purchasing stakes of up to 20%. According to Windhorst, Mubadala (Abu Dhabi’s fund) has reportedly displayed interest in making that sort of investment in an NBA team.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

After blasting the league’s officiating – and singling out referee Ben Taylor – Raptors guard Fred VanVleet received a relatively light fine, which will give players the “green light” to continue criticizing the game’s officials, Windhorst stated during a Get Up segment on Friday (YouTube video link). VanVleet could have been fined up to $50K, but was only docked $30K, which Windhorst notes is less than Ja Morant and Marcus Smart were penalized earlier in the season for “heat-of-the-moment” curses at referees during games.
Josh Robbins, Kelly Iko, and Eric Nehm of The Athletic debated the frontrunners for Most Improved Player and weren’t in total agreement on which player deserves the award at this point. Robbins and Iko like Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, while Nehm favors Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. All three writers have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder as their current runner-up.
Mirin Fader of The Ringer takes an in-depth look at former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden‘s efforts to continue finding joy working in basketball following his brief, injury-marred NBA career.
Bill Duffy‘s BDA Sports is being acquired by WME Sports, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who explores what the purchase means for the two agencies, Duffy, and BDA’s clients (a group that includes Luka Doncic).