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James Harden Not At Sixers’ Wednesday Practice

October 18th, 2023 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

10:58am: Harden has been in Houston since traveling there after the Sixers’ practice on Sunday, a league source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

The team plans to give him a chance to explain his unexcused absence from today’s practice before making a decision on potential discipline, tweets Shelburne. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the fine for missing a practice is modest (starting at $2,500), but if Harden skips a game without the team’s consent, he could face fines of $389K per contest.

Meanwhile, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN says (via Twitter) that the gap between the Clippers and Sixers in Harden trade talks remains “sizable.”

10:21am: Sixers guard James Harden is a “no-show” at the team’s Wednesday practice, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Harden hasn’t been with the team since Sunday.

After skipping media day at the start of the month and then missing the first day of training camp, Harden reported to the Sixers and didn’t appear to be making any waves. However, he still wants to be traded after requesting a change of scenery in June and told reporters last week that he didn’t see a path to reconciliation with Philadelphia’s front office.

Charania reported on Tuesday that even though Harden has been professional when he’s been around the team, he hasn’t attended any of the 76ers’ preseason games, skipped at least one shootaround, and has only participated in one five-on-five scrimmage (on October 7) since rejoining the club.

During his media session last Friday, Harden suggested that he still intends to play while he awaits a trade, adding that he might return to the court for the team’s last preseason game. It’s unclear if that’s still the plan or if his mindset has changed in recent days. According to Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link), if Harden is going to play in this Friday’s preseason finale, today would have been an important “ramp-up” day.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports wrote on Tuesday that one reason Harden wasn’t making waves in camp was a belief that the Sixers and Clippers weren’t significantly far apart in their trade talks. However, Fischer reported later on Tuesday that there’s still a gap the two teams haven’t been able to bridge and that Harden appears increasingly likely to still be a 76er when the regular season begins.

According to Fischer (Twitter link), Harden is currently in Houston instead of Philadelphia, as he was on media day. He remains frustrated by the lack of progress toward a trade to Los Angeles, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter link).

Nuggets GM: Comments On Hyland, MPJ Weren’t Intended For “Public Consumption”

October 18th, 2023 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on ESPN2 on Tuesday night, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth was asked about comments he made recently to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer about Bones Hyland and Michael Porter Jr. While he didn’t dispute the accuracy of his quote, Booth indicated he didn’t expect it to show up in O’Connor’s story.

“Under no circumstances would I make or approve of those kind of comments for public consumption,” Booth said (Twitter link via Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports). “It’s not my character as a person or executive, and I think it’s an unfair characterization of Michael and Bones.

“I think Bones is a great kid, has a bright future ahead of him, a charismatic player in our game. And obviously Michael is a core piece of our program with his character and offensive and defensive prowess. So I think that was unfair for those things to be put out there and hopefully it doesn’t happen in the future.”

Addressing the Nuggets’ decision to trade Hyland at last season’s deadline, Booth had candidly explained his thinking to O’Connor.

“I knew you couldn’t have two guys that couldn’t guard, and we couldn’t have two guys that were young and kind of more ‘me guys,'” he said. “Mike makes $30 million. He’s one of the best shooters in the NBA. So, Bones, there’s no place for you.”

While those comments don’t come off as particularly flattering to either Hyland or Porter, O’Connor clarified on Twitter that he didn’t view them, in context, as a shot at either player.

“Being a ‘me guy’ wasn’t a knock,” O’Connor wrote. “You want at least one guy who can shoot without any fear from anywhere. It’s part of what makes MPJ special, there was just too much of the same. Plus MPJ improved (defensively), as written about in the context of the article.”

Based on Booth’s comments on Tuesday, it sounds like he believed he was speaking off the record when he discussed his thinking for trading Hyland. While his frank assessment was refreshing when compared to typical executive-speak, the fact that he’s already walking it back suggests that he’ll be more guarded when talking to reporters in the future.

Thunder Trade Oladipo, Robinson-Earl To Rockets For Porter, Second-Round Picks

October 17th, 2023 at 7:28pm CST by Luke Adams

7:28pm: Both teams have officially announced the trade, the Rockets via a press release and Thunder with a separate news release. The Thunder also announced they have waived Porter.

Houston made a related move, waiving Matthew Mayer in order to open a roster spot to complete the two-for-one deal. Mayer, who signed a camp deal in early August, went undrafted in June out of Illinois and caught on with the Rockets’ Summer League team. He’ll likely wind up with their G League squad, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

11:42am: The Thunder and Rockets have agreed to a trade, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Oklahoma City will receive guard Kevin Porter Jr. and a pair of future second-round picks in the deal, while Houston will get guard Victor Oladipo and forward/center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

The Thunder, who will immediately waive Porter, are acquiring the Timberwolves’ 2027 second-round pick and the Bucks’ 2028 second-rounder from Houston, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

Porter was arrested in September on charges of assault and strangulation after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick. The Rockets began trying to trade the 23-year-old shortly after his arrest and confirmed on media day that he wouldn’t be rejoining the team.

According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), prosecutors dropped a second-degree assault charge against Porter this week due to “insufficient evidence.”

However, Porter still faces charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault, so the dropped charge doesn’t materially affect his NBA outlook. No team is likely to consider picking him up at least until the legal process has played out and the league has completed its own investigation and potentially handed out a suspension.

The Rockets’ goal in shopping Porter was to replace him with a player who could actually contribute on the court this season. It’s unclear what the team’s plans are for Oladipo, who is still recovering from a torn patellar tendon in his left knee, but Robinson-Earl should provide some depth in Houston’s frontcourt.

Once the deal is complete, the Rockets will have 16 players on standard contracts — 14 with fully guaranteed salaries, plus Aaron Holiday and Boban Marjanovic on partially guaranteed deals. The team will have to waive or trade one of those 16 players by Monday to get down to the regular season roster limit.

It’s possible Oladipo will be the odd man out, especially if his injury recovery is expected to extend well into the season. His expiring $9.5MM salary could be useful for salary-matching purposes in a subsequent deal, so the Rockets may try to find a way to hang onto him, but most of their roster consists of promising young players or recent additions, so there aren’t any other obvious candidates to be let go.

The Thunder were facing a roster crunch of their own this fall, with 18 players on standard contracts for 15 regular season roster spots. In trading Oladipo and Robinson-Earl for a player whom they’ll waive immediately, they’ll reduce their roster count to 16 players, meaning only one more cut (or trade) will be necessary before opening night.

Acquiring Porter doesn’t look great from a PR perspective for Oklahoma City, given what he has been accused of, but the team will drop him right away and acquires two more future draft picks in the deal. The Thunder also received two future second-round selections when they took on Oladipo in a salary-dump deal with the Heat earlier this offseason, so they’ve essentially added four second-rounders by taking him on from Miami and then flipping him to Houston.

In waiving Porter, the Thunder will eat $15.86MM in dead money this season, plus a $1MM partial guarantee for 2024/25. The rest of Porter’s four-year, $63MM+ contract was non-guaranteed, so Oklahoma City won’t be on the hook for additional money beyond that $16.86MM. OKC also generates a $1.9MM trade exception in the move, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.

As for the Rockets, they’ll save a little money in the deal and create a new $4.5MM trade exception of their own. It’s also worth noting that Robinson-Earl, who is owed $1.9MM this season, has a $1.99MM team option for 2024/25, so Houston could hang onto him at a near-minimum cost for two seasons.

Robinson-Earl, who will turn 23 next month, appeared in 43 games for the Thunder last season, starting 20. He posted respectable averages of 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in a part-time role (18.9 MPG) and has shown an ability to make an outside shot (.344 career 3PT%), but was buried on OKC’s frontcourt depth chart with Chet Holmgren returning to action.

The Thunder and Rockets have been frequent trade partners in recent years, dating back to their Chris Paul/Russell Westbrook swap in July 2019. They also came together for trades during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons, and they were both involved in the five-team deal sending Dillon Brooks to Houston earlier this year.

Raptors Seek To Have Knicks’ “Baseless” Lawsuit Dismissed

October 16th, 2023 at 4:37pm CST by Rory Maher

The Raptors have filed a motion in New York to dismiss the Knicks‘ lawsuit, which alleges that former employee Ikechukwu Azotam “illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position” with Toronto, according to Mike Vorkunov, Eric Koreen and Fred Katz of The Athletic.

In the motion to dismiss, Toronto called the lawsuit “baseless” and “a public relations stunt by the Knicks,” per The Athletic.

Azotam, head coach Darko Rajakovic, development coach Noah Lewis and are among several defendants in the lawsuit.

“As the Knicks surely expected and presumably intended, the filing of this lawsuit — virtually unprecedented between two members of the NBA or, frankly, two teams in any North American professional sports league — generated significant publicity,” the motion to dismiss states. “The effect of such a public accusation of wrongdoing in federal court was to tarnish the stellar reputations of Messrs. Rajaković, Lewis and Azotam, as well as MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the Raptors’ parent company), and to chill present and future Knicks’ employees from their pursuit of employment with other members.”

To support the claim that the Knicks were seeking publicity rather than something legitimate, the Raptors put out a timeline of events in their filing, The Athletic’s trio writes. On August 18, a day after the Knicks told the Raptors about the allegations, Toronto said it had no interest in the “proprietary” data that Azotam took and would cooperate with New York. The Knicks filed the lawsuit the next business day, August 21.

The Knicks alleged that Rajakovic “recruited and used” Azotam as a “mole.” However, the Raptors’ filing says those allegations are “false and overblown” and that the data was not confidential, but rather “publicly available information.”

“These were not the Knicks’ team and player statistics, play frequency data, player tendencies or play calls, but rather those of other NBA teams — including particularly the Raptors’ own game film — compiled from video of their games accessible to all NBA teams (and, indeed, the general public). In other words, they were far from confidential, let alone trade secrets. The Knicks surely know this,” the motion states, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

“As we have previously stated, given the theft of proprietary and confidential files and clear violation of criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this to federal court and are confident the judicial system will agree,” a Knicks spokesperson said in reply to the filing.

According to Holmes, the Raptors believe that the dispute should be handled by commissioner Adam Silver instead of a federal judge, pursuant to a bylaw in the NBA’s constitution that reads, “The Commissioner shall have exclusive, full, complete, and final jurisdiction of any dispute involving two (2) or more Members of the Association.”

Obviously the Knicks disagreed, arguing the NBA doesn’t have “exclusive authority over criminal matters.” NBA general counsel Rich Buchanan later told the two teams that the league would abide by the judge’s decision on if the lawsuit should be decided by the NBA or the court.

Warriors, Klay Thompson Making No Progress On Extension

October 15th, 2023 at 9:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Extension talks between the Warriors and five-time All-Star wing Klay Thompson are at a standstill, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Speaking on NBA Countdown on Sunday night (Twitter video link), Wojnarowski indicated that Thompson could very well wind up on the free agent market next summer.

“I’m told that there has been absolutely no progress on a Klay Thompson extension in Golden State, that they are still apart on years and money,” he said. “There’s a very real possibility Klay Thompson goes into free agency next summer without a deal.”

Thompson is entering the final season of his current five-year contract worth nearly $190MM. He’ll make $43,219,440 this season. His maximum salary in an extension projects to be upwards of $50MM, but it’s highly unlikely he’ll command the max as he enters his age-34 season. Thompson is eligible to sign an extension until June 30.

Golden State, of course, has salary concerns. While the team has regularly been willing to pay punitive luxury taxes, the creation of the second tax apron in the new CBA puts the Warriors’ front office in a more difficult spot.

Including Chris Paul‘s $30MM non-guaranteed salary, but without counting Thompson, Golden State is at the luxury tax and $20MM below the second apron next year, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.

Major injuries sidelined Thompson for the better part of two-and-a-half seasons. He bounced back last season to start 69 regular-season games, in which he averaged 21.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He made 41.2% of his 3-point attempts, right in line with his 41.6% career average, while knocking down a career-high 301 shots from beyond the arc.

If he can deliver a similar season, Wojnarowski believes Thompson will be valued on the free agent market despite his age.

“You know in the marketplace teams value shooting, they value high-level wing defense,” he said. “For Golden State, this has a chance to become the first real test of keeping together that core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.”

Former top Warriors executive Bob Myers, who also appeared on the show, believes Thompson would like to finish his career with Golden State.

“This is a delicate negotiation,” Myers said. “From what I know and see, he wants to stay and they want him to stay. Doesn’t mean it will happen. But it is a test … and this is probably the first real test.”

Knicks Monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns, Who Says He, Thibodeau Resolved Differences

October 14th, 2023 at 8:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves‘ trip to Madison Square Garden Saturday night carried a lot more intrigue that a normal preseason game. That’s because of a report from Stefan Bondy of The New York Post that the Knicks are monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns‘ situation in Minnesota in case he becomes available on the trade market.

A potential deal with the Wolves would reunite Towns with Tom Thibodeau, who coached him for two-and-a-half seasons in Minnesota. That was early in Towns’ career and their relationship was often tumultuous, but sources tell Bondy that Thibodeau would welcome the chance to coach Towns again.

“Watching the progress he’s made throughout his career, he’s as gifted as they come,” Thibodeau said. “When you look at an offensive player, particularly a big, the skill set that he has, I think we all saw, to win the three-point contest and stuff like that, there’s nothing he can’t do offensively. He has continued to get better, I think. He had some injuries to deal with. I watched him play in FIBA (the World Cup, for the Dominican Republic), he played really well there. He’s really, really gifted.”

Speaking to reporters before Saturday’s game, Towns admitted that he and Thibodeau clashed the last time they worked together, but added that they resolved their differences years ago, Bondy adds in another story. He didn’t go into details of what they talked about, but he expressed a high opinion of Thibodeau’s coaching abilities.

“I got no problems with Thibs. We’ve been squashed that,” Towns said. “I still look at Thibs as one of the best Xs and Os coaches I’ve been able to play for. He breathes winning and I got nothing but respect for him.”

Towns also refused to address any trade speculation, responding to a question by saying, “I don’t really have time to think about that.”

Bondy points out that Towns’ connections to the team and the area make the Knicks a natural destination if the Wolves ever decide to move him. In addition to his familiarity with Thibodeau, Towns is a native of northern New Jersey and team president Leon Rose is his former agent.

Towns is one of the NBA’s best-shooting big men, but his sizable contract and a potential salary crunch in Minnesota could eventually make him available. Towns’ contract extension will kick in next season, paying him roughly $49.7MM, $53.7MM, $57.7MM and $61.6MM over the next four years. Adding that to the extension Anthony Edwards received this summer and the expected new contract for Jaden McDaniels gives the Wolves a very expensive payroll for a team that has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the past two years.

Towns has also proven to be an awkward fit alongside Rudy Gobert, who was acquired in a trade last summer. Gobert is owed nearly $85MM over the next two seasons and has a $46.7MM player option for 2025/26, and he’s not likely to bring the return in a trade that Minnesota could get by dealing Towns.

With a roster filled with young talent and a stockpile of draft assets that can rival anyone in the league, the Knicks are well positioned to pursue the next star that becomes available. If that turns out to be Towns, the organization appears ready to consider an offer.

Derrick Favors To Sign G League Contract

October 14th, 2023 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent big man Derrick Favors plans to sign an NBA G League contract for the upcoming season, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

It’s unclear which team Favors will play for. His returning rights aren’t already held by any NBAGL club, and it sounds like he plans to join the league directly rather than inking an Exhibit 10 contract with an NBA team that wants to make him an affiliate player. If he signs a G League contract in the coming days, the 32-year-old would be eligible to be selected in this year’s NBAGL draft on October 28.

Favors has appeared in 790 NBA regular season games and another 42 playoff contests across 12 seasons with the Nets, Jazz, Pelicans, and Thunder, averaging 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per night. The veteran forward/center was out of the league for most of last season — he signed a 10-day contract with the Hawks in January, but didn’t play at all for Atlanta.

Speaking to Scotto, Favors explained why he has decided to go the G League route as he pursues an NBA comeback.

“I still love the game. I love everything about it,” he said. “I love the whole process of working out, getting better, the weight room and conditioning, and the on-court work. … I’m 32. I want to keep paying until my body tells me I can’t play anymore. I’m playing until the wheels fall off.

“I still feel like I’ve got a lot more years left in me, and I still feel like I can compete at a high level. I still feel like I can help a team. I think I’ve shown in the past that I can adjust to any role that I’m in. I can come into the game on the offensive and defensive end. I can still do a lot of things out there on the court with the right team and the right situation to help a team either win a championship or be a mentor to a younger team.”

According to Favors, he received some interest from teams overseas, but didn’t seriously consider going that route, since he feels the G League represents his best path to get back to the NBA.

Celtics Hire Jeff Van Gundy As Senior Consultant

October 14th, 2023 at 11:12am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have added Jeff Van Gundy to their coaching staff, naming him a senior consultant, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Robb reached out to the team to confirm the hiring after fans noticed that Van Gundy was listed as part of the staff on the Celtics’ official website.

Van Gundy, 61, was a longtime NBA head coach in New York and Houston. He led the Knicks to a 420-248 (.590) regular season record from 1995-2001, winning eight playoff series and making one appearance in the NBA Finals during that time.

He subsequently coached the Rockets from 2003-07, guiding the team to a 182-146 (.555) regular season mark, but failing to get beyond the first round of the postseason.

After being dismissed by the Rockets, Van Gundy transitioned into broadcasting, eventually becoming part of ESPN/ABC’s top three-man team alongside Mike Breen and Mark Jackson. However, Van Gundy and Jackson were let go by ESPN earlier this year as part of the company’s layoffs.

Van Gundy hasn’t been entirely removed from coaching since his time in Houston — he served as Team USA head coach’s at multiple international competitions, including 2017’s FIBA AmeriCup and the qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup.

According to Robb, Van Gundy will be working in the Celtics’ basketball operations department and will spend time with both the NBA team and the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate.

The Celtics have made a series of changes to Joe Mazzulla‘s coaching staff this offseason ahead of his second year at the helm. Charles Lee and Sam Cassell were among the veteran assistants brought in by the franchise.

Harden: I Wanted To Retire A Sixer But Lost Trust In Front Office

October 13th, 2023 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters on Friday for the first time since reporting to training camp, Sixers guard James Harden offered an emphatic “no” when asked if he believes his relationship with the front office and the franchise can still be repaired (Twitter video link via PHLY Sports).

“This is not even about this situation, this is in life,” Harden said when asked to explain why he didn’t see a path to reconciliation. “When you lose trust in someone, it’s like a marriage. You lose trust in someone, you know what I mean? It’s pretty simple.”

While Harden hasn’t been shy about specifically calling out Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey since requesting a trade in June, he didn’t do so during today’s brief media session. He did, however, allude to having his trust betrayed by people that he’d “known for over a decade,” which appeared to be a reference to Morey (Twitter video link via Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports).

“When I got traded here, my whole thing was, I wanted to retire a Sixer,” Harden said. “I wanted to be here and retire a Sixer. And the front office didn’t have that in their future plans.”

As has been reported throughout the offseason, Harden reportedly expected to receive a lucrative multiyear offer from the 76ers in free agency this summer, but when he got no assurances that such an offer was coming, he opted to go in a different direction, picking up his player option and asking for a trade.

Based on Harden’s comments today, it’s clear he won’t be rescinding his trade request anytime soon. However, the former MVP also doesn’t seem inclined to hold out again after skipping media day and showing up a day late to training camp.

Harden has yet to play a preseason game, but said today that he’s still ramping up and plans to play in the Sixers’ preseason finale and beyond, according to Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link).

We passed along a couple updates on the Sixers’ Harden trade talks with the Clippers earlier this week.

Jazz Sign Josh Christopher To Two-Way Contract

October 13th, 2023 at 11:49am CST by Tristan Tucker

OCTOBER 13, 11:49am: The Jazz have officially signed Christopher to a two-way contract, the team confirmed today in a press release.

OCTOBER 12, 8:24pm: Utah has waived Hauser to open up a two-way slot for Christopher, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

OCTOBER 12, 6:32pm: The Jazz are signing former Rockets first-round pick Josh Christopher to a two-way contract, according to Shams Charania and Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Christopher, 21, was selected with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. The former Arizona State wing averaged 6.9 points in 138 games (four starts) in his first two seasons in the league.

The 6’5″ Christopher was waived by the Grizzlies at the end of September after the team acquired him in an earlier offseason trade. Now, he’s heading to Utah after showcasing the ability to score in bunches at the NBA level. He holds career highs of 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

Christopher can provide immediate wing and scoring depth for the Jazz and could look to carve out a role on the bench. He averaged 5.8 points per game last season.

The Jazz already have three players signed to two-way contracts – Joey Hauser, Johnny Juzang and Micah Potter – and will have to waive one to bring in Christopher. Utah has a full 21-man roster as of this moment.

Christopher joins Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington as recent former Houston first-round picks to sign two-way deals with other teams this offseason. Houston traded away the young trio in the same five-team deal that brought Dillon Brooks to the Rockets via sign-and-trade.

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