Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Trade Pascal Siakam To Pacers, Waive Christian Koloko

January 17th, 2024 at 9:56pm CST by Rory Maher

The Raptors have traded star forward Pascal Siakam to the Pacers for Bruce Brown, Kira Lewis, Jordan Nwora, two 2024 first-round picks, and a top-four protected 2026 first-rounder, Indiana announced in a press release.

“We’re incredibly excited to welcome Pascal to Indiana,” said president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard. “As a two-time All-NBA selection and two-time NBA All Star, Pascal is a player that our organization has long admired and respected. We feel that his unique offensive skillset will complement our style of play, while his defensive versatility will be a valuable asset to our team.”

The Raptors also announced the trade is complete in their own press release.

“Pascal is a champion, an integral part of winning teams and an example of what can be achieved with dedication, perseverance, hard work and tenacity,” said Raptors vice chairman and president Masai Ujiri. “We’re lucky to have seen Pascal develop into the man and player that he is today – and we are grateful for everything he has done for our city and for our franchise. We wish him all good things.

“This is a time of change for our team, and we welcome Bruce, Jordan and Kira to the Raptors and to Toronto. Bruce is a world champion, and we look forward to his two-way play and added toughness on the court. We continue the work of getting better every day, and continue moving forward in our quest to win here in Toronto.”

The Raptors needed to release a player to complete the deal, and that roster casualty was second-year center Christian Koloko, who has yet to play this season due to a respiratory issue. Assuming he clears waivers, Toronto will be on the hook for Koloko’s full 2023/24 salary, which comes in at $1,719,864. His salary for next season was non-guaranteed.

As a rookie last season, Koloko showed promise as a rim protector, averaging 3.1 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 1.0 BPG in 58 games, including 19 starts (13.8 MPG).

According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), the Raptors are still “very high” on Koloko, but since there’s no timeline for his return to action, he was the odd man out. Murphy wouldn’t be surprised if Toronto signs Koloko to a G League contract or re-signs him to an NBA deal in the future.

Echoing that last point, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca believes there’s “a good chance” Koloko will remain with the Raptors in some capacity (Twitter link). Grange also hears Koloko has been ramping up his activity lately, but it’s unknown when the Cameroonian big man will be cleared to play again.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, all four players involved in the deal can be traded again prior to the February 8 deadline but cannot be aggregated with other salaries. The Raptors also created a $10.2MM traded player exception in the deal, per Marks (Twitter link).

The Raptors now have a full 15-man roster, while the Pacers have 13 players on standard deals. Teams aren’t permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for more than 14 days at a time, so Indiana will have two weeks to re-add a 14th man.

For more details on the blockbuster trade, check out our story from earlier in the day, before it became official.

Josh Giddey Won’t Face Criminal Charges Following Allegations

January 17th, 2024 at 8:30pm CST by Rory Maher

8:30pm: In a press release (Twitter link), the Newport Beach Police Department confirmed that Giddey won’t face criminal charges.

7:40pm: The Newport Beach Police Department has concluded its investigation into Thunder guard/forward Josh Giddey and he will not be charged with a crime after no corroborating evidence was found, as first reported by TMZ Sports. Shams Charania of The Athletic later confirmed the news.

In November, a series of posts on social media accused Giddey of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl who is a student at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach. That prompted both the NBA and the Newport Beach Police Department to open investigations into the claims.

However, TMZ reported at the time that the alleged minor and her family were unwilling to cooperate with law enforcement officials. Now, the case is considered closed, according to TMZ.

The NBA’s investigation is technically still active, but it seems unlikely to turn out differently considering Giddey won’t face criminal charges.

The sixth overall pick of the 2021 draft, Giddey is averaging 11.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 4.6 APG in 39 games this season for Oklahoma City (24.8 MPG).

Pelicans Trade Kira Lewis Jr. To Pacers

January 17th, 2024 at 6:24pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans have traded fourth-year guard Kira Lewis Jr. and a 2024 second-round pick — the least favorable of New Orleans’ and Chicago’s second-rounders — to the Pacers in exchange for cash considerations, the two clubs confirmed in press releases.

Indiana waived James Johnson to create a roster spot for Lewis.

Lewis won’t be staying in Indiana. He’ll be part of the package heading to Toronto in the Pascal Siakam blockbuster. Lewis will be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer if the Raptors give him a qualifying offer.

By trading Lewis’ $5.7MM contract, the Pelicans moved under the luxury tax line — they’d previously been over and have never paid the tax — so it’s a straightforward salary dump from their perspective.

A former lottery pick (13th overall in 2020), the 22-year-old was unable to carve out a regular spot in New Orleans’ rotation over the past two seasons after returning from a torn ACL in 2022/23. He has appeared in just 15 games this season for an average of 9.8 minutes per night.

The Pacers are acquiring Lewis using cap room, which means they’ll be able to immediately aggregate his salary in the Siakam trade. Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round picks will also be sent to the Raptors in that deal.

The Pelicans now have 13 players on standard contracts. Teams aren’t permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard deals for more than 14 days at a time, so they’ll have two weeks to re-add a 14th man.

Pacers Waive James Johnson

January 17th, 2024 at 5:09pm CST by Rory Maher

As expected, the Pacers have officially waived veteran forward James Johnson, the team announced in a press release.

Indiana needed to open a roster spot to acquire Kira Lewis Jr. from New Orleans. Lewis — along with Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks — will then be sent to Toronto in a separate deal for Pascal Siakam.

According to Tony East of SI.com (Twitter link), the Pacers hope to re-sign Johnson, assuming he clears waivers in a couple days. After the three-for-one trade is complete, Indiana will have two open roster spots.

Interestingly, Johnson was waived as part of a blockbuster trade last year as well, but the Pacers re-signed him a few days later. It sounds like that will be the case again in 2024.

If he clears waivers and becomes an unrestricted free agent, the Pacers will owe Johnson about $2.2MM — the prorated version of the veteran’s minimum — while the team will carry a $1.4MM cap hit, according to Spotrac. The 36-year-old signed a one-year deal with Indiana last month after going unsigned over the offseason, which is why his salary is prorated.

Johnson, who has played for 10 different different NBA teams, averaged 4.8 minutes per game across five appearances in 2023/24. He played 18 games for the Pacers last season.

While he hasn’t contributed much on the court the past two seasons, the Pacers clearly value Johnson’s leadership and professionalism, which is why they keep bringing him back.

Warriors Assistant Dejan Milojevic Dies At Age 46

January 17th, 2024 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic has passed away at age 46, according to reports from several outlets in Milojevic’s native Serbia. The team has confirmed the tragic news in an official press release (Twitter link).

Having accompanied the Warriors to Utah for a Wednesday game vs. the Jazz (which has since been postponed), Milojevic was rushed to the hospital in Salt Lake City on Tuesday after experiencing a medical emergency during a private team dinner with players and coaches.

The Warriors didn’t initially release any details on the nature of Milojevic’s health issue, but confirmed in their latest statement that he suffered a heart attack.

“We are absolutely devastated by Dejan’s sudden passing,” head coach Steve Kerr said in a statement. “This is a shocking and tragic blow for everyone associated with the Warriors and an incredibly difficult time for his family, friends, and all of us who had the incredible pleasure to work with him.

“In addition to being a terrific basketball coach, Dejan was one of the most positive and beautiful human beings I have ever known, someone who brought joy and light to every single day with his passion and energy. We grieve with and for his wife, Natasa, and their children, Nikola and Masa. Their loss is unfathomable.”

A former star player in Europe and the longtime head coach of Mega Basket in Serbia, where he coached future NBA MVP Nikola Jokic from 2012-15, Milojevic made the move to the NBA in 2021. He joined Kerr’s staff in Golden State and won a title in 2022 to cap off his first year with the franchise.

Milojevic previously worked with the Hawks, Spurs, and Rockets during Summer Leagues from 2016-18 and was in his third season as a Warriors assistant. As a player, he primarily competed for teams in Serbia, but also spent time in Spain, Turkey, and Montenegro. He was a three-time MVP of the ABA League from 2004-06.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Milojevic’s friends and family.

Pacers Finalizing Trade For Pascal Siakam

January 17th, 2024 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers and Raptors are finalizing an agreement on a trade that will send star forward Pascal Siakam to Indiana, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The deal, whose framework was previously reported by Shams Charania and Jake Fischer, will send Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round picks to Toronto, according to Wojnarowski. The Pelicans will also be involved, Wojnarowski notes, with fourth-year guard Kira Lewis headed to the Raptors.

Earlier reporting indicated that Indiana would likely include either Jalen Smith or Obi Toppin in their package for salary-matching purposes. However, by acquiring Lewis from New Orleans using their cap room, the Pacers will be able to immediately aggregate his salary with Brown’s and Nwora’s, making him the missing matching piece. As a result, the “three-team” deal will technically consist of two separate trades, ESPN’s Bobby Marks confirms (via Twitter).

The three first-rounders going to Toronto will be the Pacers’ own 2024 pick, a second ’24 first-rounder (via Oklahoma City), and Indiana’s 2026 pick, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The 2024 pick from OKC will be the least favorable of the Thunder’s, Clippers’, Rockets’, and Jazz’s first-rounders. The 2026 pick will include top-four protection, according to Charania (Twitter link).

In the Pelicans/Pacers swap, New Orleans will receive cash from Indiana and will send a second-round pick to the Pacers, per ESPN’s Andrew Lopez and Wojnarowski (Twitter link). That will be a 2024 selection, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com, which means it’ll be the least favorable of the Pelicans’ and Bulls’ second-rounders.

The blockbuster deal is the culmination of several months of trade rumors involving Siakam. He was also at the center of speculation over the 2023 offseason, at which time the Raptors reportedly spoke to the Hawks and others about the two-time All-Star. The Mavericks, Warriors, Pistons, and Kings are among the teams that have been linked to him in recent weeks.

After getting a limited return for Kyle Lowry in a sign-and-trade deal in 2021 and then losing Fred VanVleet for nothing in 2023 free agency, the Raptors were more proactive this season in moving key players on expiring contracts ahead of February’s trade deadline. Toronto sent OG Anunoby and two other players to New York at the end of December in exchange for Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and a second-round pick.

The Pacers reportedly made an effort to acquire Anunoby before the Knicks landed him, but Siakam had been at the top of their wish list for over six months, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. While the Raptors were believed to be seeking a return headlined by a young player or two – like the one they got from the Knicks for Anunoby – Indiana was able to get the deal done with a pick-heavy package that didn’t include recent lottery selections Bennedict Mathurin or Jarace Walker.

By virtue of being traded, Siakam will no longer be eligible for a super-max contract in the event he makes an All-NBA team for a third time this season. Additionally, he won’t be able to sign an extension of more than two years with Indiana prior to free agency, since a longer-term extension deal isn’t permitted for six months after the trade.

However, the 29-year-old is excited to join the Pacers and is expected to be “eager” to figure out a new contract with the team this summer, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The Pacers will hold his Bird rights, giving them the ability to offer up to five years once he becomes a free agent. They’ll have plenty of financial flexibility to make Siakam a part of the long-term core alongside star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.

“I’m excited that Pascal is getting a first class opportunity with the Pacers, being paired with Tyrese and Myles (Turner) and being coached by a great coach in Rick Carlisle,” Siakam’s agent Todd Ramasar said in a statement to Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). “His future there looks bright there.”

The Raptors will now control at least two first-round picks in the 2024 draft, along with an early second-rounder from the Pistons that currently projects to be 31st overall. They traded their own ’24 first-rounder away to the Spurs in last season’s Jakob Poeltl deal, but it has top-six protection, so it’s not a lock to change hands — Toronto’s 15-25 record is tied for the sixth-worst mark in the NBA.

It’s unclear what Toronto’s plans are for Brown, who played an important role on the Nuggets’ championship team last season and could be a popular target for contenders on the trade market in the coming weeks.

Brown is on a pseudo-expiring $22MM contract — he has a $23MM club option for 2024/25, so if he remains a Raptor, the club could create in excess of $30MM in cap room by declining that option, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Nwora ($3MM) and Lewis ($5.7MM) are also on expiring deals.

While the Pacers’ 2023/24 team salary will increase beyond the cap once they officially acquire Siakam, the Raptors and Pelicans will gain significant cap relief. After being only slightly under the luxury tax line prior to the trade, Toronto will have about $9MM in breathing room below that threshold, tweets cap expert Yossi Gozlan.

New Orleans, meanwhile, will move from above the tax line to about $2.8MM below it, Gozlan adds (via Twitter). That will give the Pelicans – one of two NBA teams to never pay the tax – more room to operate on the trade market or in free agency in the coming weeks.

The Pacers will have to waive a player in order to acquire Lewis from New Orleans. Veteran forward James Johnson will be that roster casualty, per Tony East of SI.com (Twitter link). The Raptors, who currently have one open spot on their 15-man roster, will also need to make a cut in order to accommodate their three-for-one deal with Indiana.

Both the Pacers and Pelicans will end up with 13 players on standard contracts once the two trades are completed. Teams aren’t permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard deals for more than 14 days at a time, so both clubs will have two weeks to re-add a 14th man.

NBA Postpones Wednesday’s Warriors/Jazz Game

January 17th, 2024 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has elected to postpone the game between the Warriors and the Jazz that had been scheduled for Wednesday night, the league announced in a press release (via Twitter).

The postponement is due to the medical emergency affecting Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic. As we detailed this morning, Milojevic suffered a “sudden and serious” health issue on Tuesday during a private team dinner with Golden State coaches and players.

The exact nature of Milojevic’s health issue isn’t known, but the postponement of tonight’s game is a clear indication of how significant it is. He has been hospitalized in Salt Lake City.

[UPDATE: Milojevic has passed away at age 46]

According to the NBA, a new date for the game between the Warriors and Jazz will be announced at a later time.

The next game on Golden State’s schedule is a Friday contest at home vs. Dallas.

James Harden Hopes To Remain With Clippers Beyond Season

January 17th, 2024 at 10:11am CST by Luke Adams

Because James Harden is on a two-year deal and an NBA contract must cover at least three seasons to be extended, the Clippers star won’t become extension-eligible before he reaches free agency this summer. However, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes, Harden indicated on Tuesday that he’s enjoying his time in Los Angeles and hopes to remain with his hometown team beyond this season.

“I’m here, home,” Harden said. “We have an opportunity. I want to be able to keep the core together for a few years and I haven’t had those opportunities the last few years. So things are going well and I’m happy.”

It took a few games for the Clippers to hit their stride following the acquisition of Harden on November 1, but the club has been on a roll since getting off to a 3-7 start, winning 23 of its past 30 games. L.A. now holds a 26-14 record, good for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference.

Harden’s 16.9 points per game this season would be his lowest mark since he was a sixth man in Oklahoma City in 2011/12, but he’s among the NBA’s assist leaders with 8.4 per night, and his 41.9% three-point rate would represent a career high.

Prior to Harden’s postgame comments, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT reported during Tuesday’s TV broadcast that the former MVP would like to sign a long-term contract and spend the rest of his career with the Clippers. That suggests that Harden is conveying that desire both publicly and privately.

Still, as Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report observes, this wouldn’t be the first time that Harden’s desire to spend the rest of his career with his current team was reported by the media or expressed by the guard himself, only for that not to come to fruition. Similar reports surfaced during Harden’s time in Houston, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia, and he ultimately asked to be traded out of all three spots.

Harden acknowledged on Tuesday that he “thought the same thing last year” about signing long-term in Philadelphia, per Youngmiusk, which is why he “did all those sacrifices” — that’s presumably a reference to the pay cut he took in 2022, as well as the role he accepted in the Sixers’ offense, which he later said felt like being “on a leash.”

Still, as long as his relationship with the Clippers’ front office doesn’t break down as dramatically as his relationship with Sixers president Daryl Morey did, it sounds Harden plans on remaining in L.A. past 2023/24. For what it’s worth, after Kawhi Leonard signed a three-year contract extension with the Clippers last week, he expressed a belief that “everybody is coming back,” while Paul George said he’s optimistic about reaching an agreement on a new deal of his own with the franchise.

Clippers Center Ivica Zubac Out At Least Four Weeks

January 16th, 2024 at 7:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers center Ivica Zubac will miss at least a month due to a right calf strain, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The team says Zubac will be reevaluated in four weeks.

Zubac has been one of the most durable players in the league over the last five seasons. He has appeared in at least 72 regular season games in each of the past four seasons, but it looks like that streak will come to an end in 2023/24.

In 38 starts this season, Zubac has averaged 12.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 27.1 minutes per game. He’s in the second season of a bargain three-year, $32.8MM contract.

It’s a huge blow for the Clippers, who are 17-4 over the last 21 games. Without him, the Clippers will have to rely on veterans Daniel Theis and Mason Plumlee to pick up the slack. The front office could also explore trade options to fortify the position.

Kings’ Mike Brown Fined $50K By NBA

January 16th, 2024 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Kings head coach Mike Brown has been fined $50K for “aggressively pursuing” a referee during the team’s Sunday loss in Milwaukee and for publicly criticizing the officiating after the game, the NBA announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Brown was ejected in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game when he confronted and berated referee Intae Hwang to express his displeasure with how the game was being called (Twitter video link via Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 Sacramento).

During his postgame press conference, Brown brought the team’s video coordinator and a laptop to show reporters specifically which calls led to his ejection (Twitter video link via Carmichael Dave).

“The referees are human, and they’re going to make mistakes, but you just hope that there’s some sort of consistency and there’s some sort of communication between the refs,” Brown said. “The refs tonight, they were great, they communicated with me all night. But in terms of consistency, you guys saw it right here. In my opinion, the consistency wasn’t here tonight.”

It’s a significant penalty for Brown relative to other fines that players and coaches have received for criticizing the officiating, which suggests that the league wasn’t pleased by the Kings coach’s on-court outburst — or by the extra preparation that preceded his postgame comments and the visual examples that accompanied them.

By comparison, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic was fined $25K for a postgame rant ripping the officiating earlier this month.