- Erik Horne of The Oklahoman assesses the market for Paul George, suggesting that the Lakers and Sixers look like the biggest threats to pry the All-Star forward away from the Thunder.
- Although George is the Thunder‘s most important free agent, the club will have decisions to make this offseason on several other contributors, says Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. As Dawson details, Jerami Grant figures to be Oklahoma City’s most sought-after free agent besides George, so it will be a challenge for the Thunder to bring him back.
The lack of salary cap space around the NBA this offseason has resulted in a substantial uptick in veterans exercising player options. In 2016, just three players picked up those options, while five followed suit in 2017. So far in 2018, 16 players have elected to opt into their contracts for 2018/19, and Spurs swingman Danny Green is expected to increase that number to 17.
Player option decisions are due by June 29, this Friday, and there are still several noteworthy decisions to come. Here’s a quick breakdown of the ones we’re still waiting on:
LeBron James, Cavaliers ($35,607,968): While it seems like a lock that James would opt out to reach free agency, exercising his option makes more sense if he wants to join certain over-the-cap teams, as we explained here. I still expect LeBron to opt out, but if he picks up this option, he’ll likely be doing so with a specific trade destination in mind.- DeAndre Jordan, Clippers ($24,119,025): Jordan is unlikely to get a $24MM starting salary in free agency, but if he could get a three- or four-year contract with an average annual value of $15-20MM, that might be preferable to opting in. His decision will have a huge impact on the Clippers’ offseason, since the club would be well over the cap with Jordan’s salary on its books.
- Paul George, Thunder ($20,703,384): Of all the options on this list, George’s looks like the easiest call. Even if he wants to stay with the Thunder, he’s more likely to opt out and sign a new deal that starts at his max, $30.3MM. This option is a virtual lock to be declined.
- Enes Kanter, Knicks ($18,622,514): Picking up the option is probably the right move for Kanter, who wouldn’t get an $18MM+ salary on the open market, but he has talked about opting out. As in Jordan’s case, turning down the option could mean accepting a lesser salary in 2018/19 in exchange for greater long-term security.
- Thaddeus Young, Pacers ($13,764,045): Young is said to be strongly considering declining his option, and he’s another player who could seek a longer-term deal that increases his overall payday. For example, a new three-year, $30MM contract might appeal more to Young than finishing out a one-year, $13MM+ deal.
- Garrett Temple, Kings ($8,000,000): Temple is coming off a solid year in Sacramento, but he’s 32 years old and isn’t a starting point guard, so opting in for an $8MM guarantee appears to be the right call.
- Joffrey Lauvergne, Spurs ($1,656,092): Lauvergne is reportedly considering turning down his option. If he does so, there’s little downside — he’d simply have to find another minimum salary offer in order to match his option salary. The big man may not want to risk following in the footsteps of former Spur David Lee, who declined a minimum-salary player option last summer and then didn’t sign another NBA contract, but at age 26, Lauvergne should a safe bet to receive an offer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
There’s a “strong sense in Rockets circles” that Chris Paul isn’t go anywhere this offseason as a free agent, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. While a recent report from Chris Broussard of Fox Sports hinted at possible tension between Paul and the Rockets, Amick spoke to two sources with knowledge of the situation who disputed the idea that there’s any friction there.
Broussard’s report suggested that there might be a disparity between what sort of free agent contract Paul expected when he accommodated a trade to Houston last summer and what the Rockets are willing to offer now. According to Amick, there was indeed a “mutual understanding” in 2017 of what Paul’s next contract would look like, and it’s not clear if a five-year, maximum-salary agreement will be on the table. However, it seems likely that the two sides will reach an agreement, per Amick.
Here are a few more items of interest from Amick:
- When it comes to Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs seem determined to either fix the situation or trade him to an Eastern Conference team, according to Amick, who says that Western clubs inquiring on Leonard have “been told, in essence, to get lost.” We heard earlier this week that the Spurs “basically shut the door” on the Lakers when they called about Leonard.
- The Cavaliers have contacted the Spurs to ask about Leonard, but there’s no traction toward a potential deal, per Amick. San Antonio has welcomed offers for its All-Star forward, but hasn’t engaged in any trade negotiations.
- Amick is the latest reporter to suggest that there’s a real possibility of Paul George remaining with the Thunder, writing that George has strong relationships with Russell Westbrook and Billy Donovan. Interestingly, Amick adds that there’s “pessimism in [LeBron] James‘ camp” that George would leave Oklahoma City — that could work against the Lakers, who are expected to try to land both George and James.
When he was selected with the 45th overall pick in the draft on Thursday night, Hamidou Diallo technically became a member of the Nets. However, Brooklyn had already agreed to send that pick to the Hornets, who have subsequently agreed to flip it to the Thunder.
Neither of those trade can become official until after the July moratorium ends on July 6, but we now know what the Hornets will receive from the Thunder in exchange for Diallo. Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports (via Twitter) that Oklahoma City will send its 2019 second-round pick and cash considerations to Charlotte as part of the swap.
Carmelo Anthony has told the Thunder that he won’t exercise his Early Termination Option, sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). He will be under contract for approximately $27.9MM this upcoming season.
The move was widely expected, as the market for Anthony’s services didn’t appear to match the lofty figure he’ll receive during the final season of the five-year deal he signed with the Knicks during the summer of 2014. Marc Stein of the New York Times reported on Friday that Melo would take this route.
Anthony averaged a career-low 16.2 PPG this past season, adding career lows in assists per game (1.3) and minutes per game (32.1). He was an afterthought during the team’s short playoff run, often hitting the bench during crucial moments.
Anthony had previously indicated that he wanted a larger role and a buyout agreement between Anthony and Oklahoma City could be forthcoming. After this week’s draft, GM Sam Presti said he was in contact with the future Hall-of-Famer.
The trade market may a difficult one for the Thunder to navigate, but with many teams lacking cap space and holding contracts from the summer of 2016 on their books, it’s possible a deal gets done. That’s based solely off of speculation, yet with the contracts of Timofey Mozgov (two years, slightly over $32MM remaining) and Dwight Howard (one year, $23.5MM remaining; likely to reach a buyout agreement with the Nets) on the move this week, it appears that no contract is untradable under the right circumstances.
Carmelo Anthony won’t exercise the early termination option on his contract before Saturday’s deadline, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times. As Stein writes, that means Anthony is opting into the final year of his contract with the Thunder, which will put him in line for a salary of $27,928,140 in 2018/19.
Despite any lingering issues he has with the club over his role last season, Anthony wasn’t going to leave that much money on the table. Oklahoma City and Anthony can pursue a buyout, which would allow the veteran forward to try to find another team where he could get more playing time and touches. Anthony said after Oklahoma City was eliminated from the playoffs that would not accept a limited role again, Stein notes.
Anthony averaged 16.2 PPG and 1.3 APG in 32.1 MPG during the regular season, all career lows. His production dipped to 11.8 PPG and 0.3 APG in the Thunder’s six playoff games and he was often off the floor during crunch time.
The Thunder could, of course, try to trade him but moving Anthony’s salary would be nearly impossible.
Anthony’s decision to decline the ETO has major implications in regard to the team’s luxury-tax situation as it seeks to re-sign Paul George. The Thunder’s tax bill could approach $80MM if George were re-signed to a max contract with a first-year salary of $30.3MM, as Stein points out.
The Thunder general manager Sam Presti told the media after Thursday’s draft that the club has been talking with Anthony’s representatives.
With his free agency just over a week away, the Thunder are keeping the lines of communication open with Paul George, general manager Sam Presti said on Thursday night, per Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman.
“Paul and his representation, we built a relationship built on transparency, trust and collaboration,” Presti said. “I’m happy to say that that’s continued during the period of time that the season ended to now, which I think speaks a great deal about Paul George and just who he is as a guy. It’s just how he operates. Things don’t change.”
Meanwhile, Presti confirmed that the Thunder have also been having conversations with Carmelo Anthony‘s representatives in recent weeks. Although it’s viewed as a virtual lock that Anthony will opt into the final year of his contract, Presti wasn’t willing to make any assumptions on Thursday, as Erik Horne of The Oklahoman writes.
“I can’t speak to necessarily what he’s gonna to do with respect to the early termination option, but we have been in touch with him and tried to provide him with as much information as we can so he can make the most informed decision possible,” Presti said. “But it’s pretty well-documented, we have a lot of balls in the air, and it’s still June. It’s not even July. So, we’ll have to see what it is that he chooses to do, and we’ll continue to have conversations from there.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Following Thursday’s draft, Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said the club made an effort to use its No. 24 pick and trade exception to land an “impact rotation guy,” but couldn’t find a suitable deal (Twitter link via Joe Freeman of The Oregonian). “(This draft) wasn’t about existing players,” Olshey said, referring to the fact that no veterans were traded on Thursday. “It was about the draft.”
- The Timberwolves were active on the phones throughout the draft considering potential trades, but ultimately decided that keeping the 20th and 48th picks was their best option, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Minnesota had spoken to the Pacers, Trail Blazers, and Hawks about moving down from No. 20, but with a run on wings happening, didn’t want to risk losing out on a player like Okogie, Krawczynski notes.
- Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said the club had “countless” conversations about trading up in the draft, but was thrilled that Michael Porter Jr. fell to No. 14. Connelly added that the Nuggets will be cautious with Porter and won’t play him until the team is confident that he’s “perfectly healthy” (Twitter links via Gina Mizell of The Denver Post).
Having appeared on a pair of draft specials on ESPN on Monday night, Adrian Wojnarowski shared several interesting tidbits related to the draft and free agency during his segments. We’ve already passed along a few of those notes and rumors in a pair of posts this morning, but we’ve got more to round up in the space below, so let’s dive in…
- Chris Paul still appears to be a virtual lock to return to the Rockets, and is focused less on his own free agency than on recruiting LeBron James to Houston, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link via Sagar Trika). Meanwhile, the Rockets would also love to re-sign Trevor Ariza, but the veteran forward will be a popular free agent who draws interest from multiple contenders, per Woj (Twitter link via Trika).
- Wojnarowski is the latest to report that the Thunder still have a good chance to re-sign Paul George, despite the club’s underwhelming showing in the postseason (Twitter link via Trika).
- After Wojnarowski reported that the Suns‘ No. 16 pick could be in play for a trade, GM Ryan McDonough confirmed as much during an appearance on ESPN, suggesting that his team would be willing to package the selection and another asset or two in order to acquire a second lottery pick (Twitter links via Trika).
- The Mavericks are high on Luka Doncic, and are weighing whether they’ll have a shot to select the Real Madrid star at No. 5, says Wojnarowski (link via The Dallas Morning News). The Mavs have previously indicated that they have no plans to move up, but it sounds like they’d at least consider the possibility if it means landing Doncic.
- According to Wojnarowski, the Sixers aren’t expected to hire a new general manager anytime soon — Woj reports the team will likely interview candidates deep into July (Twitter link via Trika).
- Kerem Kanter, the younger brother of NBA veteran Enes Kanter, was in Oklahoma City on Monday to work out for the Thunder, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. The younger Kanter brother isn’t considered likely to be drafted.
- The Thunder are hoping to hit big with their two late draft picks, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes, noting that the fact that they’ll fall so late in the draft (No. 53 and No. 57) means they’ll come with less of a financial burden and less pressure to pan out.