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Warriors To Explore Trades For Star Wing In Offseason?

February 14th, 2024 at 5:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors sources confirm to Sam Amick, Anthony Slater and Jovan Buha of The Athletic that Golden State made an unsuccessful run at Lakers superstar LeBron James prior to last week’s trade deadline. However, there’s “zero indication” the Warriors came close to acquiring James, per The Athletic’s report.

Still, the fact that Golden State tried to pry James out of L.A. shows the Warriors are willing to take big swings to try and capitalize on Stephen Curry‘s still-excellent form, despite his advancing age (he turns 36 next month). And it opened the door to a possible pursuit again this summer, when James could hit unrestricted free agency if he declines his $51.4MM player option.

According to The Athletic, James won’t be the only marquee player the Warriors will explore going after, assuming they’re even available. Their “dream scenario” would be trading for Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, with Clippers wing Paul George and Suns forward Kevin Durant among the other star wings on their wish list.

Antetokounmpo has only ever played for Milwaukee and signed a long-term extension before the season began that has him under contract through at least 2027, with a player option for 2027/28. George holds a $48.8MM player option for ’24/25 and has openly said he hopes to sign an extension with the Clippers (he’d have to decline the PO to sign an extension). Durant, who won back-to-back titles with Golden State in 2017 and 2018, could hit free agency in 2026.

The emergence of Jonathan Kuminga — whom GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. called “virtually” untouchable after the deadline — has given the Warriors an internal pathway to a possible star running mate for Curry. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. Depending on what route Golden State takes, Kuminga could also be an enticing headliner in a blockbuster trade, The Athletic’s authors note.

As Amick, Slater and Buha write, only one of the Warriors’ future first-round picks (2030) is tied up in a trade beyond this year’s draft, and the team will have some financial flexibility as well, with Klay Thompson on an expiring $43.2MM contract and Chris Paul on a pseudo-expiring deal (his $30MM salary for ’24/25 is non-guaranteed).

Elton Brand Doesn’t Intend To Pursue Hornets’ Job

February 14th, 2024 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers general manager Elton Brand had been referred to as one of the early frontrunners to take over the Hornets‘ front office in the wake of Mitch Kupchak‘s reassignment, but he doesn’t intend to pursue that position in Charlotte, a league source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

According to Pompey, Brand – who is the second in command in Philadelphia’s front office under president Daryl Morey – signed a long-term extension with the 76ers around the holidays and is committed to the team for the foreseeable future.

Brand has been with the Sixers’ front office since 2016, when he was named a player development consultant after his 16-year playing career ended. He was promoted to general manager of Philadelphia’s G League affiliate a year later, then became GM of the NBA club in 2018. Brand headed up the 76ers’ basketball operations department for two years before Morey was hired by the team in 2020.

Even with Brand reportedly removing his name from consideration, the Hornets should have no shortage of targets as they consider replacements for Kupchak.

Veteran executives like Mike Gansey, Trent Redden, Milt Newton, Jeff Peterson, Frank Zanin, Travis Schlenk, Marc Eversley, and Wes Wilcox have all been named as candidates Charlotte might consider, while Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon was identified – along with Brand – as a potential frontrunner.

Cavs Sign Craig Porter Jr. To Four-Year Contract

February 14th, 2024 at 12:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

FEBRUARY 14: Porter’s deal is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

FEBRUARY 13: The Cavaliers are converting Craig Porter Jr.‘s two-way contract into a standard deal, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (via Twitter). Porter will receive a four-year contract.

Porter has been one of the more pleasant surprises for the Cavs this season. The former Wichita State point guard went undrafted after playing three seasons with the Shockers. He agreed to a two-way deal with Cleveland shortly after the draft.

The 23-year-old point guard has appeared in 32 NBA games in his rookie year, including five starts. He’s averaged 6.5 points, 2.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game.

Porter unexpectedly played a rotation role earlier in the season when primary backup point guard Ricky Rubio left the team for mental health reasons and third-string point guard Ty Jerome suffered an ankle injury. Porter continued to see regular minutes when Darius Garland missed several weeks due to a broken jaw, though his playing time has been cut back as of late now that the roster is healthier.

Cleveland has an open roster spot despite signing Zhaire Smith to a 10-day contract on Sunday.

Porter’s deal will come out of the mid-level exception. The Cavs used a portion of it during the 2023 offseason to sign Georges Niang, but still have more than enough left to accommodate a new deal for the rookie.

Clippers’ Tucker, Hyland Away From Team; Expected Back After All-Star Break

February 14th, 2024 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

10:42am: The Clippers sent home both Tucker and Hyland ahead of Wednesday’s game vs. Golden State, Charania confirms (via Twitter). Like Tucker, Hyland is expected to rejoin the team after the All-Star break.

9:54am: Clippers forward P.J. Tucker won’t be with the team for its final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday in Golden State, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that the forward’s absence will give him an opportunity to “reset” ahead of the home stretch of the season.

Tucker is expected to rejoin the Clippers after the All-Star break, sources tell Charania. The club’s post-All-Star schedule begins with a back-to-back road set in Oklahoma City and Memphis on February 22 and 23.

As Charania notes, Tucker – who was sent along with James Harden from Philadelphia to Los Angeles at the start of November – has been unhappy with his situation in L.A. for much of the season.

The 38-year-old hasn’t seen action since November 27 after initially playing a rotation role for the Clippers. He averaged just 1.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game across 12 appearances off the bench for his new team, making 4-of-14 field goal attempts (28.6%).

Reports of Tucker’s discontent first surfaced in December. In the days and weeks that followed, he repeatedly expressed frustration with his lack of playing time, and the Clippers reportedly made an effort to trade him at last Thursday’s deadline. However, he presumably had negative value on the trade market due to the $11.54MM player option on his contract for next season, and L.A. didn’t find a deal.

Because Tucker isn’t on an expiring contract, a buyout isn’t an option receiving consideration, according to Charania, who hears from sources that the Clippers and Tucker had “productive” and “much-needed” discussions this week about the forward staying ready to potentially reenter the club’s rotation.

Asked about Tucker’s situation following the trade deadline last week, head coach Tyronn Lue downplayed the veteran’s dissatisfaction and told reporters that he’ll “get an opportunity.”

Neither Charania nor Lue offered any specific details on a plan or timeline for Tucker to rejoin the rotation, so it’s unclear when exactly that might happen. Given that the Clippers have gone 28-8 since Tucker last played, they’re likely not eager to mess too much with what’s working.

For what it’s worth, Bones Hyland – another Clipper who has been out of the rotation and whose name surfaced in trade rumors ahead of the deadline – was added to the injury report along with Tucker last night. They’re both listed as “not with team” for Wednesday’s game vs. the Warriors.

Suns To Become 30th NBA Team With G League Affiliate

February 14th, 2024 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have announced in a press release that they’ve acquired the right to own and operate a G League team, which will debut in 2024/25.

Phoenix had been the only NBA team without an NBAGL affiliate, so barring an unexpected development, all 30 NBA clubs will be affiliated with a G League team beginning next season. The league, which also features the unaffiliated G League Ignite and Mexico City Capitanes, will feature a total of 32 franchises in ’24/25.

Suns owner Mat Ishbia stated after he took over majority control of the team a year ago that establishing a G League affiliate was a priority and formally announced last July that he intended to do just that. Today’s announcement confirms that the Suns are officially moving forward with that plan and are on track to have the team begin competing this fall.

“Bringing a G League team to Phoenix was one of my first priorities as owner,” Ishbia said today in a statement. “Adding a G League team creates another area for us to compete to be the best and will be a vital tool to help develop players and coaches. Just like the Suns and Mercury, our G League team will serve as a community asset and make a positive impact on and off the court.”

The Suns’ new G League team will play its home games in the Phoenix metro area, but more details beyond that aren’t yet known. Announcements on the venue, team name, and logo, will come in the spring, with a contest being held during the next two weeks giving fans an opportunity to name the franchise.

“To get the team going as quickly as we are, we’re probably going to have to find some temporary,” Ishbia told Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “The plan is to have an arena and place and a venue for the G League team to play. We plan on it being close enough to our current place that players aren’t driving four hours like I think a lot of other teams have set up.”

Phoenix actually had a G League affiliate known as the Northern Arizona Suns from 2016-21, but former team owner Robert Sarver sold the franchise to the Pistons, who relocated it to Michigan and rebranded it as the Motor City Cruise.

As a result, the Suns haven’t had a G League team for the past three seasons, meaning any player they want to send to the NBAGL has had to report to another NBA club’s affiliate. That will no longer be the case beginning this fall.

Hassan Whiteside Reportedly Intends To Retire

February 14th, 2024 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran center Hassan Whiteside has informed Piratas de Quebradillas – his team last season in Puerto Rico – that he intends to retire from basketball, according to a report from the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia.

Although Whiteside hasn’t made an official, public announcement himself, he did re-post several social media stories about his reported retirement on his Instagram account.

Whiteside, 34, was the 33rd overall pick out of Marshall in the 2010 draft and spent his first two professional seasons playing in Sacramento. However, he saw limited minutes in just total 19 appearances for the Kings and subsequently played in the G League, China, and Lebanon from 2012-14 before catching on with the Heat.

The best stretch of Whiteside’s NBA career came in Miami from 2014-19, as he averaged 14.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks across 324 appearances (259 starts) in 27.2 minutes per night. He made the All-Defensive Second Team and led the NBA in blocked shots in 2015/16, then was the league’s top rebounder in ’16/17.

Whiteside was traded from the Heat to the Trail Blazers entering the final season of a four-year, $98MM+ contract in 2019 and once again led the NBA in blocked shots in his first and only season in Portland. He was a backup center with the Kings in 2020/21 and the Jazz in ’21/22 before playing in Puerto Rico in 2023.

For his career, Whiteside averaged 12.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 2.2 BPG in 511 NBA regular season games (24.7 MPG). Despite his gaudy stats, the big man sometimes faced criticism due to the perception that he pursued individual numbers over team success and that his effort fluctuated on the defensive end of the court.

According to El Nuevo Dia, Whiteside will be replaced on Piratas de Quebradillas’ roster this season by another former NBA player: 7’6″ center Tacko Fall.

Warriors Attempted To Get Lakers To Consider LeBron Trade

February 14th, 2024 at 7:21am CST by Luke Adams

Prior to last Thursday’s trade deadline, the Warriors tried – unsuccessfully – to convince the Lakers to consider sending superstar forward LeBron James to Golden State, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

The Warriors’ pursuit of James occurred at multiple levels, per ESPN’s reporting. Klutch Sports client Draymond Green contacted agent Rich Paul in an effort to solicit his help getting LeBron on board with a move to Golden State, while Warriors owner Joe Lacob reached out to Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. touched base with Lakers GM Rob Pelinka.

Ultimately, the same answer came back from all involved parties — the Lakers had no interest in trading James, and the four-time MVP had no interest in going anywhere, as Paul stated six days ahead of the deadline.

As Wojnarowski and Shelburne outline, the Warriors’ pursuit stemmed from the fact that James seemed to be frustrated by the Lakers’ up-and-down first half. He hinted at those frustrations in some comments to the media and posted a cryptic tweet consisting only of hourglass emoji.

When Lacob reached out to Buss, she told the Warriors owner that while she had no interest in trading LeBron, that she would check in with him and Paul to gauge their thoughts.

Sources tell ESPN that Buss has “operated with the mindset that she wants her star players content with the franchise,” so if he had been unhappy with his situation in Los Angeles, the team would have been open to changing its stance. That wasn’t the case, however, as Paul told both Lacob and Dunleavy that his top client wanted to remain a Laker.

ESPN’s report doesn’t include any details about the package the Warriors would have offered for James, but since the goal was to pair him with Stephen Curry and Green was involved in the recruiting, we can at least safely assume those two wouldn’t have been on the table. Beyond that, there are many permutations Golden State could have explored — an offer involving Chris Paul and/or Andrew Wiggins, plus prospects and draft picks, seems most likely, given that the Dubs reportedly weren’t interested in moving Klay Thompson.

According to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, the Warriors weren’t the only team to check in on James prior to the trade deadline. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey also inquired on LeBron’s availability, though that’s a common practice for Morey, who also contacted the Suns to ask about Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and/or Bradley Beal, per ESPN.

As ESPN’s duo explains, the Warriors situation was a little different because it began at the ownership level and included a conversation with Paul, whereas Morey is known around the league for making “bold” long-shot trade inquiries. When Morey asked the Lakers about LeBron, Pelinka responded by inquiring about the availability of reigning MVP Joel Embiid, which ended their brief conversation, sources tell Woj and Shelburne.

James will have a decision to make this summer on a 2024/25 player option worth $51.4MM. While he’s considered likely to either pick up that option or sign a new deal with the Lakers, suitors like the Warriors and Sixers may get a chance to pursue him again at that time.

Kyle Lowry Officially Signs With Sixers

February 13th, 2024 at 6:19pm CST by Luke Adams

After clearing waivers on Tuesday, free agent guard Kyle Lowry has officially signed with the Sixers as planned, Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports confirms (via Twitter). President of basketball operations Daryl Morey published an Instagram photo showing Lowry signing his contract.

Lowry was traded from Miami to Charlotte for salary-matching purposes in the January deal that sent Terry Rozier to the Heat. The veteran point guard never suited up for the Hornets, who explored the possibility of flipping him to a new team prior to the trade deadline, but couldn’t find a taker due to his $29.7MM cap hit.

Lowry reached a buyout agreement with Charlotte a couple days later and was officially waived on Sunday.

A six-time All-Star and former NBA champion, Lowry will turn 38 next month and is no longer the impact player he was earlier in his career. He averaged just 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 28.0 minutes per game across 37 appearances (35 starts) with Miami this season. All of those averages are his lowest since 2008/09.

Still, Lowry is a tough, savvy veteran who is hitting three-pointers at a 38.5% clip this season. He’ll provide some depth in a Sixers backcourt that no longer features Patrick Beverley or Jaden Springer, who were sent out in deadline deals. Lowry and new addition Cameron Payne figure to back up Tyrese Maxey at the point and will likely spend some time playing alongside Maxey.

As Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets, Lowry gave up $1,138,964 in his buyout agreement with Charlotte. That’s the exact amount he’d receive on a prorated minimum-salary deal for the rest of the 2023/24 season, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Saturday that the guard’s rest-of-season contract will actually be worth $2.8MM, which suggests it’s coming out of the 76ers’ mid-level exception.

Knicks Intend To Protest Controversial Loss To Rockets

February 13th, 2024 at 6:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks are filing a protest with the league, disputing their controversial 105-103 loss to the Rockets on Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Both the NBA’s L2M (last two minutes) report and crew chief Ed Malloy acknowledged that the foul call on Jalen Brunson in the final second, leading to Aaron Holiday’s two winning free throws, was erroneous. Had the call not been made, the game would have gone to overtime.

Teams have 48 hours to file a protest with the league office and five days to provide evidence of the protested action. The league office has five more days to make a decision.

Only six protests in league history have been upheld. It’s unlikely the Knicks’ will be the seventh, since a successful protest requires the team to prove that a rule was misapplied, not just that the officials got a judgment call wrong, notes Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).

An example of that is the last protest that was upheld. Miami protested a Dec. 19, 2007 loss to Atlanta, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link). Shaquille O’Neal was removed from the game when he supposedly fouled out with 51.9 seconds left overtime. Upon review, he only had five fouls, not six, and those last 51.9 seconds were replayed.

New York and Houston are not scheduled to play again this season, so there could be complications with rescheduling the OT session in the unlikely event that the Knicks win the protest.

North Carolina Court Dismisses Three Counts Against Miles Bridges

February 13th, 2024 at 4:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hornets forward Miles Bridges had three criminal counts against him dismissed by the Mecklenburg County (N.C.) Superior Court on Tuesday due to “insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps report.

The court filing revealed that prosecutors believed “the state would not be successful at trial” due to conflicting statements made by Bridges’ former girlfriend.

The incident occurred in October. Summons were issued against Bridges for violating a domestic violence protective order, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property.

During a custody exchange at Bridges’ residence in Charlotte, the 25-year-old allegedly threw billiard balls at his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle while their two children were inside it, which smashed the windshield and dented her car. The summons also stated that Bridges threatened his former girlfriend, saying that if she called the police “he would take everything from her and withhold child support.”

Subsequently, the woman gave conflicting statements to police and later said she was unsure how the damages were caused.

“The evidence was going to show Miles was innocent and we were going to win a trial,” Bridges’ attorney, Allen Brotherton, said in a statement. “Our local prosecutor has great integrity and people should appreciate the courage to do the right thing.”

In Bridges’ previous domestic violence case, he originally facing three felony charges after being accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in front of their two children. He entered a plea of no contest — accepting punishment without formally admitting guilt — to one felony count of injuring a child’s parent in November 2022. He received three years probation and no jail time as part of the plea deal.

Bridges didn’t play last season and served a 10-game league suspension prior to this season. He signed a $7,921,300 qualifying offer during the offseason and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Hornets retained him through the trade deadline and have indicated they hope to re-sign him in the offseason.