- The Magic will not host the All-Star Game until at least 2024, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports. The franchise put in a bid to host the 2023 All-Star Weekend and were informed by league officials that another location will be selected, Robbins continues. The sites for the next three All-Star Games have already been set, starting with Charlotte next season, and Orlando can’t host in 2022 because of a major convention in the city, Robbins adds.
Sixers rookie guard Shake Milton was recently cleared to resume limited basketball activities, according to an update on the team’s website. Milton was held out of summer-league action due to a stress fracture in his back. Another update on his status will be provided in approximately four weeks. The former SMU standout signed a two-way contract in late July. Another first-year guard, Landry Shamet, has resumed light basketball activities. The 26th overall pick suffered a right ankle sprain during summer league action.
In other developments from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks have a strong interest in former Magic scouting coordinator John Halas, Ian Begley of ESPN tweets. Halas worked with current GM Scott Perry in Orlando and would likely be added to the Knicks’ scouting department, Begley adds.
- Kevin Knox doesn’t have his attention set on being Rookie of the Year, as he told Marc Berman of the New York Post. Knox was one of the most impressive rookies in Las Vegas but the Knicks’ first-round forward more concerned with team wins. “I’m pretty confident I can be one of the top rookies. But one of my goals this year is just to win in New York,” he said. “I’m not really worried about winning the rookie award. I just want to win as a team, take road games, play some of the top teams and beat them to make the playoffs.”
- Robert Williams says his recovery from a knee injury is going well and the Celtics rookie big man expects to be 100% by training camp, Chris Forsberg of ESPN tweets. Williams’ summer league schedule was cut short by left knee soreness.
With Thunder second-rounder Devon Hall set to spend the upcoming season playing in Australia, 56 of 60 players selected in the 2018 NBA draft have now made plans – in the NBA or elsewhere – for the 2018/19 campaign.
As our 2018 draft pick signing tracker shows, that leaves four players whose status for 2018/19 has yet to be reported or announced. Here’s what we know – or can deduce – about those four rookies:
- Justin Jackson (Magic): According to our roster counts, the Magic have used both of their two-way contract slots and have 16 players on NBA contracts. However, only 14 of those NBA deals are fully guaranteed, meaning there could be a path for Jackson to claim the 15th spot. Still, Isaiah Briscoe looks like he’ll have an opportunity to make the team despite not having a guaranteed salary. Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel expects Jackson, who is coming off a major shoulder injury, to spend the 2018/19 season with the Lakeland Magic, so perhaps he’ll sign a G League contract with an eye toward joining Orlando’s 15-man squad in 2019.
- De’Anthony Melton (Rockets): The Rockets only have 10 players on fully guaranteed salaries, meaning there’s plenty of room for Melton to join the mix. It’s possible Houston is waiting to sign Melton in order to keep him trade-eligible — as soon as he signs, he can’t be dealt for one month, and the Rockets may want to keep their options open as they scour the market for a wing player. Assuming Melton remains with the Rockets, they’ll likely lock him up for at least three years using part of the taxpayer mid-level exception, like they did with Isaiah Hartenstein.
- Chimezie Metu (Spurs): The Spurs have a lone opening on their projected 15-man roster, with 14 players on guaranteed deals. It’s possible Metu could slot into that spot, but he’s not the only option. Former two-way player Darrun Hilliard is a candidate to be promoted to a standard NBA contract, and 2017 second-rounder Jaron Blossomgame could also be signed. The Spurs are very comfortable stashing draft picks, as they currently retain the NBA rights to 11 players who aren’t playing in the NBA. We’ll see if Metu becomes the 12th or if the Spurs held onto part of their mid-level exception this summer in order to sign him to a long-term deal.
- Kevin Hervey (Thunder): Hall’s move overseas looks like it could be good news for Hervey. The Thunder have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, leaving no clear path to OKC’s regular season roster, but the club only has Deonte Burton on a two-way deal. That leaves the Thunder’s other two-way contract slot open, and it would make sense for Hervey to fill it, as four other 2018 draftees in the 54-60 range have inked two-way deals so far this summer.
AUGUST 7: The deal between the Magic and Jefferson is now official, per a team release.
JULY 27: The Magic have reached a two-way contract agreement with forward Amile Jefferson, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.
The former Duke power forward was on the Timberwolves’ roster last season. He signed a two-way contract in January, then received a standard contract late in the regular season. However, Jefferson never appeared in any games.
Jefferson, 25, went undrafted last June and joined the Timberwolves for training camp. After being waived by the team prior to the start of the regular season, Jefferson joined the G League’s Iowa Wolves.
In 47 games, Jefferson averaged 17.8 PPG and 12.8 RPG for Iowa, making shots at a 62.4% rate. He set a new NBAGL record by racking up 36 double-doubles.
Orlando now has both of its two-way slots filled. The other one is occupied by point guard Troy Caupain.
The NBA will be returning to Mexico City once again during the 2018/19 regular season, with the Magic set to play the Bulls and Jazz at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico on December 13 and December 15, respectively. Orlando announced the news today in a press release.
It will be the third consecutive season that the NBA has played two regular season games in Mexico City. In 2016/17, the Suns played a pair of games in Mexico, while the Nets did so during the 2017/18 season. In those cases though, Phoenix and Brooklyn gave up one home game apiece — both Mexico City games in 2018/19 will count as Magic home games, as John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com notes.
“Any time we have the opportunity to travel and represent the league internationally it is very attractive,” Magic CEO Alex Martins told Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. “It helps us to expand our brand in certain cities around the world. It certainly helps in relation to the promotion of our ownership’s interests in Amway, and that’s certainly the case with Mexico City as Mexico is a growing market for the Amway Corporation. So it’s a great brand-building opportunity for the Orlando Magic but also for the Amway Corporation.”
According to Robbins, Magic officials aren’t concerned about the Mexico City games general travel or rest issues for the team, since they believe the league has created a schedule that will allow for extra rest around that time. Martins also tells Robbins that the club won’t lose any revenue as a result of giving up two home games, and may even come out ahead.
The NBA projects to continue playing two games per year in Mexico City through at least the 2020/21 season, according to Orlando’s press release. This year’s games will mark the 27th and 28th games played in Mexico since 1992, and that figure will increase to 32 by ’20/21.
- Magic shooting guard Evan Fournier is happy with the offseason moves made in Orlando, relays Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel. Specifically, he thinks the team got a steal in being able to draft big man Mohamed Bamba at No. 6 and was particularly happy to see teammate Aaron Gordon re-sign a long-term deal.
We’re a month into the 2018/19 NBA league year, and nearly all of this year’s draft picks have deals lined up for the coming season. Of the 60 players selected on draft day in June, 52 have signed NBA contracts, while three intend to play overseas. That leaves just five unsigned 2018 NBA draft picks whose outlook for the ’18/19 season remains unclear.
Here’s a quick breakdown of those players, along with their options:
43. Orlando Magic: Justin Jackson, F (Maryland)
The highest draft pick without a contract in place, Jackson doesn’t necessarily have a clear path to a roster spot in Orlando.
The Magic only have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, but 15th man Isaiah Briscoe received a partial guarantee and a three-year contract, suggesting Orlando doesn’t simply plan to waive him once the preseason ends. Additionally, both two-way contract slots in Orlando have been accounted for now that the club has reached a deal with Amile Jefferson.
Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel recently tweeted that he expects Jackson to play in the G League with the Lakeland Magic in 2018/19 after missing most of last season with a torn labrum. Robbins didn’t specify what sort of contract Jackson will get, but perhaps he’ll follow the Isaiah Hartenstein route — last year’s 43rd overall pick spent a season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s NBAGL affiliate, before signing a standard contract with the Rockets this summer.
46. Houston Rockets: De’Anthony Melton, G (USC)
The Rockets will still have multiple roster spots open even after signing Carmelo Anthony later this week, so Melton should sign with the team at some point and spend the year on Houston’s 15-man roster. The club may be exploring the trade market in an effort to put the finishing touches on its roster before making things official with its second-round pick.
When Melton does sign, it’s possible he’ll get a portion of the Rockets’ taxpayer mid-level exception. That would allow the team to give him a three-year deal rather than a two-year pact.
49. San Antonio Spurs: Chimezie Metu, F/C (USC)
The Spurs‘ looming decision on Brandon Paul may have an impact on Metu’s future. If Paul is retained and has his 2018/19 salary guaranteed, it would give San Antonio 15 players on guaranteed contracts, and it’s hard to see who Metu might replace, barring a trade.
Still, it’s worth noting that – according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks – the Spurs used their bi-annual exception to sign Dante Cunningham rather than using the rest of their mid-level exception to complete the signing. That’s a signal that the team has plans for its MLE — perhaps a three- or four-year deal for someone like Metu, since the BAE only would’ve allowed for a contract up to two years. If Paul is waived, Metu looks like the favorite to be the Spurs’ 15th man.
If the Spurs determine there’s no room on their 15-man roster for Metu, a two-way deal could be a possibility. San Antonio has yet to officially sign any players to two-way contracts for 2018/19.
53. Oklahoma City Thunder: Devon Hall, SG (Virginia)
57. Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Hervey, SF (Texas-Arlington)
Even after signing Hamidou Diallo last week, the Thunder have a pair of second-rounders without contracts. It will be interesting to see if Oklahoma City is willing to enter the season with a full 15-man roster, given the club’s luxury tax concerns. Carrying just 14 players would save some money, but would mean signing neither Hall nor Hervey.
Currently, counting Diallo and recently-acquired wing Abdel Nader, whose salary will become guaranteed on Wednesday, the Thunder have 15 players on guaranteed deals. They could reduce that number to 14 by waiving Kyle Singler.
If the Thunder opt not to add Hall or Hervey to their NBA roster, a two-way contract would probably be in play for one of the two — the club has already given one two-way deal to Deonte Burton. The odd man out in that scenario could play overseas or sign a G League contract, with OKC retaining his NBA rights.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- Longtime Magic draft-and-stash player Fran Vazquez has signed yet another contract in Spain, according to Keith Smith of RealGM.com, who tweets that the veteran center is joining Tecnyconta Zaragoza. Vazquez was the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft, but the 35-year-old has spent his entire professional career overseas.
- The Magic completed a pair of trades within the last week, acquiring cash in both deals. According to Bobby Marks of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Orlando received $2MM from the Thunder and $1MM from the Grizzlies. In addition to the money they acquired, the two trades allowed the Magic to turn Rodney Purvis and the draft rights to 2015 second-rounder Tyler Harvey into Jarell Martin.
As we detailed at length back in March, the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement made some changes to the trade rules related to non-guaranteed contracts.
Under the NBA’s old CBA, which was in effect through the 2016/17 season, a player’s full salary (not including unlikely incentives) was used for trade purposes, whether or not it was guaranteed. If a player had a $10MM salary with a partial guarantee of $1MM, his outgoing salary in a trade was the same as it would have been for a player who had a fully guaranteed $10MM contract.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Traded Player Exception]
That’s no longer the case under the league’s new CBA, however. While contracts signed under the old agreement still operate by the old rules, contracts signed after July 1, 2017 are subject to the rules of the current CBA. And under the current CBA, only the guaranteed portion of a player’s contract counts for outgoing salary purposes in a trade, limiting the appeal of non-guaranteed salaries as trade chips.
In the example above, the player with a $10MM salary and a $1MM guarantee would now only count for $1MM for outgoing salary purposes in a trade, but the team acquiring him would still have to consider him a $10MM player.
These new rules have perhaps put a damper on the trade market for players on non-guaranteed contracts this offseason, but there have still been a handful of moves involving those players. Here’s a breakdown of this month’s trades that have featured a non-guaranteed salary, and how the new rules impacted each deal:
Bulls acquire Julyan Stone ($1,656,092 non-guaranteed salary) from Hornets in three-team trade
The Hornets also sent Timofey Mozgov to the Magic for Bismack Biyombo in this deal, and Mozgov’s salary was large enough to match Biyombo’s. As such, it didn’t matter from Charlotte’s perspective that Stone counted as $0 for outgoing salary purposes.
Stone’s inclusion in the trade allowed Chicago to acquire an incoming piece without taking on any guaranteed salary. If Stone hadn’t been a part of the deal, the Bulls would have to receive a draft pick or the NBA rights to a draft-and-stash player just to ensure that they were getting something in the deal. Chicago waived Stone shortly after acquiring him.
Thunder acquire Rodney Purvis ($1,378,242 non-guaranteed salary) from Magic
Purvis was swapped for Dakari Johnson in this deal and both players were on two-year minimum salary contracts. That meant that each team could acquire its incoming player using the minimum salary exception without having to worry about matching salaries.
Under the old rules, each club would have created a $1,378,242 traded player exception in the deal — that’s the amount of Purvis’ 2018/19 salary as well as Johnson’s. Under the new rules, however, only the Thunder could create such an exception, since Johnson’s salary was guaranteed. Purvis counted as $0 for Orlando’s outgoing salary purposes, so the Magic were unable to create a TPE as a result of the swap.
Thunder acquire Abdel Nader ($450,000 of $1,378,242 salary guaranteed) from the Celtics in exchange for Rodney Purvis ($1,378,242 non-guaranteed salary)
This is the most interesting deal of the three. Although Nader is technically earning the minimum salary, his deal runs longer than two years, meaning the Thunder couldn’t use the minimum salary exception to acquire him. They also couldn’t match salaries using Purvis, since he counted as a $0 outgoing salary.
So how did the Thunder acquire Nader? Using that traded player exception they’d just created in their deal with the Magic. Because Johnson and Nader had equal $1,378,242 salaries, Oklahoma City used up the entire trade exception just three days after it was created, making it the rare TPE to be used in full.
Meanwhile, the Celtics acquired Purvis using the minimum salary exception, but were only able to create a $450K trade exception for Nader — that’s the amount of his partial guarantee, so that was his outgoing-salary amount from Boston’s perspective.
Note: Richaun Holmes and Isaiah Whitehead, both on non-guaranteed contracts, were also involved in trades this month, but they were signed under the old CBA. As such, their contracts operated under the old rules.