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Pistons Hire J.B. Bickerstaff As Head Coach

July 3rd, 2024 at 10:38am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 3: The Pistons have officially confirmed that Bickerstaff will be the team’s new head coach, announcing the hiring in a press release (Twitter link).

“I am pleased to have J.B. joining our franchise and commend our front office team on leading an extensive search,” team owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “This is a pivotal time, and we need a leader who can immediately instill a culture of growth, development, and inspiration. After spending time with J.B., it’s clear he is a passionate teacher with a competitive spirit who knows what it takes to win in today’s NBA. He’s also a strong communicator, which provides great synergy with Trajan and the front office team we have assembled. He will be an outstanding partner in helping our players maximize their potential and compete consistently.”

JUNE 30: J.B. Bickerstaff will be the Pistons‘ next head coach, agreeing to a five-year contract with the team, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The first four seasons of the deal will be guaranteed, tweets James L. Edwards of The Athletic.

The 45-year-old coach lands his next job just weeks after being fired in Cleveland. He inherits a talented young roster, much like the one he had when he took over the Cavaliers in 2020.

Bickerstaff was one of three candidates who reportedly interviewed for the position in Detroit, as our head coaching search tracker shows. The competition thinned out on Friday when Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego opted to pull his name out of the search and remain in New Orleans.

Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney was the other finalist for the job, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

The Pistons are looking for a new direction after a disastrous season under Monty Williams, who guided them to a franchise-worst 14-68 record before being dismissed earlier this month. New head of basketball operations Trajan Langdon made the decision to fire Williams, who still had five seasons remaining on his six-year, $78.5MM contract, along with general manager Troy Weaver.

The mission to turn the franchise around now belongs to Bickerstaff, who led the Cavs to playoff appearances in the past two seasons. He compiled a 170-159 record in four-plus years in Cleveland, but players reportedly expressed doubts behind the scenes about his “strategies, game management, practice habits and accountability measures.”

Bickerstaff, the son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, broke into the league in 2004 as an assistant with Charlotte. He moved onto assistant jobs in Minnesota and Houston, then was promoted to head coach of the Rockets early in the 2015/16 season. He wasn’t brought back despite posting a 37-34 record and reaching the playoffs. He moved onto Memphis as an assistant and later became head coach, compiling a 48-97 record.

Bickerstaff will be expected to build a winning team around Cade Cunningham, something the franchise has been unable to do since he was the overall No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft. The new coach will have a roster filled with recent lottery picks, including Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and this year’s first-round selection Ron Holland. The Pistons also have more than $58MM in cap room, allowing them to be aggressive when free agency gets underway this evening.

Lakers’ Bronny James Signs Standard Contract

July 3rd, 2024 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 3: James has officially signed a four-year contract with the Lakers, Charania confirms (via Twitter). According to Charania, it’s a $7.9MM deal, which means it’s almost certainly worth the rookie minimum — a four-year, minimum-salary deal for a rookie would work out to $7,895,796.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the first two years will be guaranteed, with a partial guarantee of $1.3MM in year three. The fourth year is a team option.

JULY 2: No. 55 overall pick Bronny James will sign a standard contract with the Lakers that includes multiple guaranteed seasons, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.

This has been the expectation for James once it became clear that the Lakers were targeting him at No. 55 in last week’s draft. Reports ahead of the draft indicated that Rich Paul was focused on getting Bronny a guaranteed 15-man roster spot rather than a two-way contract, which the agent later confirmed on the record.

Additionally, as John Hollinger of The Athletic observes, it’s not uncommon for potential luxury tax teams to sign late second-round picks to standard contracts for money-saving purposes, since they only count for the rookie minimum (about $1.16MM this season) instead of the veteran’s minimum of $2.09MM.

The Lakers will almost certainly use the second-round pick exception to sign James to a contract that covers either three or four seasons. The deal will include a team option on the final year.

Lakers To Hire Nate McMillan, Scott Brooks As Assistant Coaches

July 3rd, 2024 at 10:26am CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers plan to hire a couple of veteran head coaches to be the top assistants on J.J. Redick‘s staff, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks are joining the team.

McMillan and Brooks are the first assistants confirmed to be joining Redick’s staff. The Lakers had been looking for experienced coaches as former NBA sharpshooter Redick is a first-time head coach. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin recently reported (via Twitter) that Dwane Casey, another longtime coach who is currently in a front office role with Detroit, withdrew from consideration for an assistant job with L.A., as he “did not want to uproot his family at this time.”

One of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders during his 12-year playing career with the Sonics, McMillan transitioned to coaching after he retired from playing, including multi-season head coaching stints with Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta. The 59-year-old holds a career regular season record of 760-668 (.532 win percentage) and 28-48 record in the postseason (.368%). McMillan took a year off to reportedly spend time with family after he was fired by the Hawks in 2023.

Brooks is another former NBA player turned coach, spending 10 years in the league as a backup point guard from 1988-98. He was the lead coach of the Thunder for seven seasons and the Wizards for five, compiling a 521-414 regular season record (.557%) and 49-48 mark (.505%) in the postseason. The 58-year-old has been an assistant with Portland the past three seasons.

Rajon Rondo, Sam Cassell, Jared Dudley, and Jacque Vaughn are among the other names that have been floated as possible candidates for Redick’s staff, though Cassell (Boston) and Dudley (Dallas) may not be available.

Knicks, Alex O’Connell Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal

July 3rd, 2024 at 10:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks intend to sign former Duke and Creighton wing Alex O’Connell to an Exhibit 10 contract, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

O’Connell, who went undrafted in 2022, spent his first professional season with the Stockton Kings, appearing in 48 G League games and averaging 9.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 21.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .476/.379/.769.

The Westchester Knicks acquired O’Connell’s rights from Stockton last September, but he ended up playing in Italy with Reyer Venezia in 2023/24, competing in the Lega Basket Serie A (Italy’s top league) and the EuroCup.

The 25-year-old impressed the Knicks at a recent free agent mini-camp and will be with the team for Summer League play, according to Begley. O’Connell appears likely to end up with the Westchester Knicks as a returning-rights player, though if he continues to impress this summer and fall, he could be a candidate to have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal that doesn’t count against a team’s cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. It can be converted to a two-way contract before the season begins or can put a player in line to earn a bonus of up to $77.5K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate.

Bulls Sign Matas Buzelis To Rookie Contract

July 3rd, 2024 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

Rookie forward Matas Buzelis, the No. 11 pick in the 2024 draft, has signed his first NBA contract with the Bulls, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

A 6’10” forward who played for the G League Ignite in 2023/24, Buzelis averaged 14.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in 31.0 minutes per game across 34 NBAGL outings. While there’s optimism among NBA evaluators about his ability to improve as a shooter, he made a modest 45.3% of his field goal attempts and 26.1% of his three-pointers for the Ignite.

Viewed as a possible top-five pick, Buzelis slipped out of the top 10 and will head to a Chicago team that’s in the midst of retooling its roster. The Bulls have already traded Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey, are prepared to lose DeMar DeRozan in free agency, and are looking to move Zach LaVine.

As our breakdown of this year’s rookie salaries shows, Buzelis will earn approximately $5.2MM in his first NBA season and nearly $24MM over the course of four years, assuming he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale (which virtually every first-rounder does). The third and fourth years of the deal will be team options.

FA Rumors: DeRozan, Kings, Hield, Warriors, Martin, Heat, Hezonja

July 3rd, 2024 at 9:19am CST by Luke Adams

Assuming DeMar DeRozan doesn’t sign with a cap-room team, it will almost certainly require a sign-and-trade to land him, per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (video link). As Haynes explains, DeRozan has no interest in settling for a mid-level offer.

“For the teams that might be calling or gauging interest in DeMar taking a full mid-level exception, which is around $13MM, I’m told that is not even being considered right now,” Haynes said on Tuesday.

The Bulls won’t bring back DeRozan, but they’re open to working with him on a sign-and-trade to help him get where he wants, Haynes confirms. Still, negotiating that sort of deal will be a challenge, given that some of the forward’s suitors (like Miami) aren’t in a great financial position to make a sign-and-trade. I’d also expect Chicago will be reluctant to take back much salary, since the team projects to be about $13MM below the luxury tax line, though that number is fluid and would move up or down if other moves are made.

Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today on Tuesday (Twitter video link), Marc J. Spears of Andscape identified the Kings as one “dark horse” suitor to watch for DeRozan. Sacramento has reportedly made Harrison Barnes, Kevin Huerter, and draft capital available in trade talks (in general, not for DeRozan specifically) as the team looks to upgrade its roster around Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox. Previous reporting has indicated that the Bulls like Huerter.

Here are a few more free agency updates from around the NBA:

Buddy Hield doesn’t have an agreement in place with the Warriors yet, but the two sides are “tracking toward” a deal, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links), who says that a sign-and-trade would likely see the Sixers receive second-round draft capital in return. If Golden State doesn’t send out additional salary, the club would have to absorb both Hield and Kyle Anderson into a trade exception created by sending Klay Thompson to Dallas, or complete all three of those moves as one multi-team mega-deal in order to maximize Thompson’s outgoing salary as a matching piece (John Hollinger of The Athletic briefly explored this more complex possibility on Tuesday night).
While Caleb Martin‘s return to the Heat is still considered unlikely, it shouldn’t be entirely ruled out, according to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang, who suggest in a pair of stories for The Miami Herald that the team’s interest in re-signing Martin hasn’t waned as long as the price is right. Jackson and Chiang also say that Miami remains in the mix to sign Haywood Highsmith, though his return is “far from guaranteed.”
The Heat had initial discussions with DeMar DeRozan on Tuesday and expect to follow up on Wednesday, but there have been no indications that the club will “move mountains” (ie. shed significant salary) in order to land him, Jackson tweets.
Although Real Madrid has officially announced its new five-year contract with Mario Hezonja, the veteran forward has an NBA-opt out until July 20 with a modest buyout figure and has received interest from “numerous” NBA teams, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. The 29-year-old, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, appeared in 330 NBA regular season games but has been out of the league since 2020.

Checking In On Top Remaining NBA Free Agents

July 3rd, 2024 at 7:09am CST by Luke Adams

A handful of this year’s top free agents came off the board during the exclusive window for teams to negotiate with their own players between the end of the NBA Finals and the official start of free agency on June 30. Many more have reached deals with their own teams or new clubs since Sunday at 5:00 pm CT.

But there are still many starter- and rotation-caliber players left unsigned — only 33 of our top 50 free agents have reached contract agreements so far, leaving 17 up for grabs. Here are those players who don’t yet have new deals in place:

LeBron James, F
DeMar DeRozan, F
Miles Bridges, F
Tyus Jones, G
Gary Trent Jr., G
Isaac Okoro, F (Cavaliers RFA)
Caleb Martin, F
Buddy Hield, G
Simone Fontecchio, F (Pistons RFA)
Luke Kennard, G
Malik Beasley, G/F
Haywood Highsmith, G/F
Precious Achiuwa, F/C
Markelle Fultz, G
Saddiq Bey, F
Cedi Osman, F
Gordon Hayward, F

Now, this isn’t 2010, 2014, or 2018. No one expects James to leave Los Angeles. It’s presumably just a matter of time until he and the Lakers agree to terms on either a new maximum-salary contract or something below that, if it helps L.A. acquire an impact player.

But even if we take the four-time MVP off this list, there are some intriguing names here, starting with DeRozan, a player believed to be the only free agent still available whom LeBron would take a pay cut to accommodate. As we relayed on Tuesday, the Lakers have interest in DeRozan, as do the Heat, but Miami can’t offer more than the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.2MM) and L.A. would almost certainly have to move at least one eight-figure contract to make a competitive offer for the star forward.

There’s reportedly some mutual interest between the Clippers and Bridges, though that interest may be stronger from the player’s side than the team’s. Jones, meanwhile, is said to be seeking starter-level money, with a sign-and-trade considered a possibility, but we haven’t really heard much about which teams are involved for the steady veteran point guard.

It’s interesting that Trent, Hield, Kennard, and Beasley are among the top free agents without a deal. All four provide valuable floor-spacing on offense, but aren’t elite defenders. Teams may be wary about investing big money in outside shooters who could be targeted (especially in the postseason) on the other end of the court. The Warriors are reportedly discussing a potential sign-and-trade deal for Hield, while Kennard is considered likely to return to the Grizzlies.

As long as there’s no team pursuing an offer sheet for Okoro or Fontecchio, the Cavaliers and Pistons can afford to be patient in those negotiations, since they have most of the leverage over their respective restricted free agents. The Knicks and Hawks don’t have the same leverage with Achiuwa and Bey after declining to issue them qualifying offers, but even as unrestricted free agents, both players appear open to re-signing with their previous teams.

I’m a little surprised that neither Martin nor Highsmith has come off the board yet. The longer the stay out there, the more the door cracks open for a possible return to the Heat, though that’s considered more plausible for Highsmith than Martin.

As for Fultz, Osman, and Hayward, the rumor mill has been pretty quiet on those players so far.

One factor that’ll make it more difficult for all of these players to get favorable contracts? Keith Smith of Spotrac tweeted on Tuesday morning that the Jazz, Pistons, Magic, and Sixers were the only teams with cap room remaining, and Orlando has since used most or all of that leftover space by agreeing to re-sign Moritz Wagner and agreeing to renegotiate Jonathan Isaac‘s contract to give him a pay raise for 2024/25.

Utah and Detroit could still add another free agent or two, but it may be prudent for them to keep much of their cap room open for now in order to be able to jump into trade talks as a third team willing to take on salary that comes with assets attached. Philadelphia is also a possible landing spot for some of these free agents, but the 76ers also seem to be exploring ways to use their remaining cap room on the trade market, with Dorian Finney-Smith mentioned on Tuesday as one potential target.

If they can’t land a deal from one of those cap-room teams, many of the best free agents left on the board will have to find a team willing to hard-cap itself at the first tax apron by acquiring them via sign-and-trade or by signing them using more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception. That may not be easy, and could result in some of the players on the back end of our top 50 ultimately settling for the minimum or something close to it.

All of the free agent deals agreed upon so far can be found within our 2024 free agent tracker. The full list of free agents still available can be found right here (or here, if you prefer to sort by team rather than by position/type).

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Hoops Rumors Originals

Warriors Pursuing Buddy Hield Via Sign-And-Trade

July 2nd, 2024 at 11:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are engaging in serious discussions about a sign-and-trade that would send sharpshooter Buddy Hield to Golden State, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that the Warriors and Sixers are working on the details of a potential deal.

While Golden State is parting ways this offseason with Klay Thompson, who ranks sixth all-time in made three-pointers (2,481), Hield isn’t far behind him on that all-time list, coming in at No. 22 with 1,924 three-pointers of his own. Over the course of his eight-year career, Hield has knocked down 40.0% of 7.6 three-point attempts per game.

In 2023/24, Hield appeared in a league-high 84 regular season games, exceeding the typical 82-game limit as a result of a midseason trade that sent him from Indiana to Philadelphia. He averaged 12.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 25.7 minutes per game for the Pacers and Sixers, with a .386 3PT%.

Hield’s elite shooting made him the No. 24 free agent on our top-50 list, though as I wrote within that article, his game doesn’t really stand out in many other areas. His value also took a bit of a hit this year, as he was essentially dumped for non-rotation players and a couple second-round picks by a Pacers team that eventually made it to the Eastern Conference finals, then barely saw the court in the Sixers’ first-round playoff series vs. New York.

Still, depending on the cost – in terms of both his salary and the piece(s) going to Philadelphia – that outside shot could make him a worthwhile investment for the Warriors.

It’s unclear if Golden State would be sending out any salary in the proposed sign-and-trade. There are ways for the team to pull it off with little to no outgoing money as long as Hield’s starting salary isn’t too high, but moving off an expiring contract – such as Gary Payton II and/or Kevon Looney – would give the Warriors more flexibility under their first-apron hard cap and could allow for a more lucrative contract for Hield. A third team might be required in that scenario if the Sixers aren’t interested in taking on salary from the Warriors. But to be clear, this is all hypothetical, since no other details on the talks have been reported so far.

Central Notes: Smith, LaVine, Mitchell, Rivers, Bucks’ Staff, Wright

July 2nd, 2024 at 10:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

On the surface, the Bulls’ three-year agreement with free agent Jalen Smith may not seem like a big deal. But The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry believes the former Pacers big man could be due for a breakout season.

Smith fits into the Bulls’ aim of getting younger and more athletic. He’s adept at rim-running and offensive rebounding and he’ll improve their interior defense, Mayberry writes, adding that Smith could even become the starter if Nikola Vucevic is dealt.

We have more from the Central Division:

An NBA insider tells The Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley that the relationship between Zach LaVine and the Bulls’ top brass is completely shattered and “filled with mistrust.” The Bulls are trying hard to move LaVine and his big contract. If they fail in those efforts before training camp, the front office and ownership would consider that the worst-case scenario.
With the Cavaliers getting Donovan Mitchell to agree to an extension, the gamble they made in agreeing to that blockbuster 2022 deal with Utah has paid off for the team and the city, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic opines. Mitchell’s presence in the Cleveland lineup will keep it in contention for the foreseeable future, he adds.
The Bucks have salary-cap issues and will have to rely more on their younger players to fill in the gaps. Coach Doc Rivers isn’t fazed by that prospect, he told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We wanted young talent. We did,” Rivers said. “We think that skill development in our league is becoming more and more important. The more of the young talent you can get to bring up with the veteran talent, the better. And that’s what we’re going to do all summer. Free agency is here right now, and now we’re looking for other guys, more veterans, to add to the mix. I like the mix of guys I think we’re going to end up with and it’s exactly the ratio that we want right now.”
The Bucks have finalized their coaching staff, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets. The Bucks have hired Darvin Ham, Greg Buckner, Jason Love and Spencer Rivers as additions to the staff this summer. Dave Joerger, Rex Kalamian, Pete Dominguez, Joe Prunty and Vin Baker will remain on Rivers’ staff.
The Bucks are adding veteran guard Delon Wright on a one-year deal and Nehm takes a closer look at what he could bring to the rotation.

Suns Sign Jalen Bridges To Two-Way Contract

July 2nd, 2024 at 8:56pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 2: Bridges has officially signed his two-way contract with the Suns, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

JUNE 27: Baylor forward Jalen Bridges, who was ranked No. 53 on ESPN’s big board but ultimately went undrafted, has agreed to a two-way contract with the Suns, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Charania hears Bridges was coveted by “several” suitors before accepting a two-way deal with Phoenix.

Bridges, who spent his first couple seasons with West Virginia before transferring to Baylor in 2022, averaged 12.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 1.1 SPG while converting 41.2% of his three-point looks in 35 games for the Bears in 2023/24 (31.7 MPG).

According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Bridges has a sturdy frame and solid potential as a three-and-D role player if he can continue to make shots at a high level while minimizing mistakes on both ends of the court. However, he doesn’t provide much as a ball-handler or passer.

Bridges was ranked No. 3 on ESPN’s best available list among players who went undrafted.