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Cavs President Believes Mitchell Will Sign Extension

July 1st, 2024 at 4:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman expressed optimism that the club will reach an extension agreement with star guard Donovan Mitchell this offseason, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Altman and new head coach Kenny Atkinson visited Mitchell this past weekend in Los Angeles when the guard hosted a summer camp.

“We feel good about Donovan,” Altman said. “He’s in a great space mentally. He’s healthy. He was out there with those young high school players, hooping in a really good space. Really enjoyed the fact that him and Kenny could sit down and talk about the future, talk about the team. He is still under contract right now, so I think we can talk about him as a Cavalier. He’s invested. He’s really invested in what we’re doing, and hopefully soon we’ll have more of a decisive answer on [a contract extension] for you. But he’s been great. He’s been super involved and super collaborative and very, very much pro-Cleveland.”

Mitchell is eligible to sign a four-year, $200MM+ extension as early as Saturday (July 6), when the league’s moratorium ends. A new deal would see the see the 27-year-old decline his $37.1MM player option for 2025/26. He’ll make $35.41MM in ’24/25.

Mitchell’s involvement with the franchise this offseason included his input during the Cavs’ coaching search. He had a conversation with Atkinson and at least one other candidate during the search, according to Fedor. Mitchell endorsed the hiring of the former Warriors assistant.

Atkinson said they connected on a personal level. That’s a key, since Mitchell reportedly was unhappy with former coach J.B. Bickerstaff last season over a number of issues.

“We had a great sitdown,” Atkinson said. “We also have a little bit of East Coast, similar backgrounds. We didn’t grow up far from each other really, if you think about it.”

If Mitchell decides not to sign an extension, Cleveland would look into potential trades, Fedor writes. However, he says all the momentum is headed in the other direction.

Jazz Waive Omer Yurtseven

July 1st, 2024 at 3:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 1: The Jazz have officially waived Yurtseven, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll become a free agent on Wednesday if he goes unclaimed.

JUNE 30: The Jazz are planning to waive center Omer Yurtseven, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Yurtseven, who spent one season with Utah after two years with the Heat, had a non-guaranteed $2.66MM contract. Yurtseven appeared in 48 games this past season, including 12 starts, and averaged 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per game.

With the Jazz drafting Kyle Filipowski in the second round, Yurtseven became more expendable, though it’s certainly not out of the question they could re-sign Yurtseven on a more cap-friendly deal. A new minimum-salary pact would have a lower cap hit than his previous contract.

Yurtseven became an unrestricted free agent last summer when the Heat opted not to give him a qualifying offer. He had a promising rookie year, but was limited to nine games in 20222/23 after undergoing ankle surgery.

With a glut of centers on the free agent market, it wouldn’t be surprising if he looked at overseas options. He received interest from two Turkish teams before deciding to sign with the Jazz last year.

Heat Officially Sign Zyon Pullin To Two-Way Contract

July 1st, 2024 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have officially signed undrafted rookie free agent Zyon Pullin to a two-way contract, the team confirmed in a press release. Reporting after last week’s draft indicated the two sides had reached an agreement.

A 6’4″ guard out of Florida, Pullin played for UC Riverside from 2019-23 before transferring to the Gators for his super-senior year. He was an All-SEC honoree in 2023/24 after averaging 15.5 points, 4.9 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per contest in 33 games (27 starts), with a shooting line of .444/.449/.847.

Miami also reportedly reached a two-way agreement with Arizona forward Keshad Johnson, so he and Pullin appear poised to fill two of the team’s three two-way slots heading into the fall.

While many transactions can’t be completed during the NBA’s ongoing moratorium period, two-way signings are among the moves that can be officially finalized, so we’ll likely see plenty of them announced in the coming days.

Trade/FA Rumors: Markkanen, Westbrook, DeRozan, Achiuwa, Trent

July 1st, 2024 at 3:44pm CST by Rory Maher

Appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed a report from his ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst stating that the Warriors are among the teams with interest in trading for Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (YouTube link).

“Utah is not sure it wants to trade (Markkanen), but they have to listen; they’ve been listening,” Wojnarowski said. “And a lot of the teams that missed out on Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn have transferred over to try and see if they can land Lauri Markkanen from Utah. Golden State is one of those teams.”

Here are a few more trade and free agency rumors from around the NBA:

According to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link), three-time MVP Nikola Jokic has “pushed behind the scenes” for the Nuggets to trade for Clippers guard Russell Westbrook, himself a former NBA MVP. Wind hears Jokic has wanted to play with Westbrook for multiple seasons. Joey Linn of Sports Illustrated confirms (via Twitter) Wind’s reporting, adding that DeAndre Jordan has been supportive of the idea of adding Westbrook as well. According to Linn, the Clips are exploring “several” trade possibilities for Westbrook, and even if he isn’t traded to Denver directly, it’s possible he might eventually land with the Nuggets.
The Bulls and DeMar DeRozan appear destined to part ways, with a source telling Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times that the six-time All-Star will be landing elsewhere. According to Cowley, DeRozan made up his mind to leave once Chicago traded Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City for Josh Giddey. The Bulls have been targeting younger players in free agency, re-signing restricted free agent Patrick Williams and agreeing to a three-year deal with big man Jalen Smith.
While the Knicks chose not to tender a qualifying offer to forward/center Precious Achiuwa, they are still open to a potential reunion with the 24-year-old, a source tells Fred Katz of The Athletic. Ian Begley of SNY.tv hears (via Twitter) interest in a reunion is mutual, but the young big man is also drawing interest from “several” contenders, so he could have multiple options to choose from.
There hasn’t been much news related to Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr., a 25-year-old unrestricted free agent who earned $18.6MM last season. As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes, GM Bobby Webster said before free agency opened that a return to Toronto was still possible, assuming the terms were agreeable for both sides. “You want to be strategic about what’s tradable, what’s not tradable,” Webster said of Trent. “We have some big contracts coming up in the future, so it’ll just have to be something that makes sense for everyone.”

Bucks Sign Stanley Umude To Two-Way Contract

July 1st, 2024 at 2:58pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 9: Umude has officially signed with the Bucks, according to the NBA’s transaction log.

JULY 1: The Bucks are signing free agent wing Stanley Umude to a two-way contract, confirms Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Will Whitson of The Walk Pod first reported (via Twitter) that Umude was heading to Milwaukee.

A former Arkansas Razorback, Umude went undrafted in 2022 and spent the majority of his first pro season in the NBA G League with the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s affiliate. He appeared in one game with the Pistons as a rookie in 2022/23 while on a 10-day contract.

Umude returned to the Pistons on an Exhibit 10 training camp deal last summer, receiving a promotion to a two-way contract just before the ’23/24 season opened. The 25-year-old played well in his limited minutes, averaging 5.2 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 45.3% in 24 games (12.8 minutes), earning another promotion to a two-year standard contract in February.

Umude sustained a fractured ankle in March, ending his ’23/24 season a few weeks early. The Pistons declined their minimum-salary team option on Umude a couple days ago, making him an unrestricted free agent.

While Umude has good size for a guard/forward and is known for playing hard, he has struggled with scoring efficiency with the Cruise over the past two seasons, seemingly making his (small sample size) NBA three-point percentage more of an aberration. Still, two-way contracts don’t count against the salary cap and Milwaukee needs help on the wing, so it’s a low-risk signing.

Rockets Re-Sign Aaron Holiday

July 1st, 2024 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The Rockets have officially re-signed Holiday, per the NBA’s transaction log.

JULY 1: The Rockets and veteran guard Aaron Holiday have struck a new deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Holiday is signing a two-year, $10MM contract to remain in Houston. The second year will be a team option, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

The younger brother of fellow NBAers Jrue Holiday and Justin Holiday, Aaron played a regular rotation role off the bench in Houston last season, averaging 6.6 points, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game across 78 appearances. He posted a solid shooting line of .446/.387/.921.

After spending his first three NBA seasons in Indiana, Holiday has bounced around the league in recent years, spending time in Washington, Phoenix, and Atlanta in addition to Houston. This will be the first time since his Pacers days that the 27-year-old will return to a team for a second season.

Because he signed as a free agent with the Rockets last season, Holiday only has Non-Bird rights this summer, meaning the team can’t give him a deal worth more than 20% above the veteran’s minimum without using a different exception. As a result, Houston has to dip into either its mid-level exception or bi-annual exception to complete the signing.

Using the non-taxpayer MLE to sign Holiday to a starting salary worth a little less than $5MM would leave the Rockets with about $8MM of that exception left over. Using the bi-annual exception would result in a maximum two-year total of about $9.57MM for Holiday and would leave the MLE untouched. Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears the club plans to take the latter route, using the BAE to bring back the reserve guard.

Warriors Sign De’Anthony Melton To One-Year Contract

July 1st, 2024 at 2:04pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 8: Melton has officially signed his contract with the Warriors, the club confirmed today in a press release (Twitter link).

JULY 1: The Warriors are signing free agent guard De’Anthony Melton to a one-year, $12.8MM contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observes (via Twitter), Golden State can complete the deal by using either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or via sign-and-trade. Either scenario will hard-cap the Warriors at the first apron, which is set at $178.1MM in 2024/25.

$12,822,000 is the full value of the non-taxpayer MLE for next season.

According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Warriors have long been fans of Melton and believed he wasn’t optimally utilized when they faced Memphis in the playoffs a couple years ago.

A 6’2″ combo guard with a 6’8″ wingspan, Melton earned $8MM last season in the final campaign of a four-year, $35MM contract that declined over time. He’ll earn a raise next season with Golden State and an opportunity to boost his value ahead of 2025 free agency if he performs well with the Warriors.

Melton has been a valuable role player over the past four seasons, averaging 10.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.5 SPG while shooting 38.3% from three-point range in 240 regular season games over that span (24.5 MPG). The primary reason the 26-year-old only received a one-year deal is he was limited to just 38 games last season with the Sixers due to a back injury, making the signing somewhat risky for Golden State.

Still, if Melton is healthy, he could provide an infusion of youth, defense and athleticism to the Warriors. And his salary is large enough that even though they’ll only have his non-Bird rights a year from now, they could still make him a competitive offer in 2025 free agency, assuming things go well for both sides.

The 46th pick of the 2018 draft, Melton has played for Phoenix, Memphis and Philadelphia over the course of his six NBA seasons.

Clippers Sign Nicolas Batum To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2024 at 1:42pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 9: Batum’s new deal with the Clippers has been finalized, per the NBA’s official transaction log. In case you missed it, the veteran forward said he received interest from 17 teams as a free agent.

JULY 1: Free agent forward Nicolas Batum is returning to Los Angeles, having agreed to a two-year, $9.6MM contract with the Clippers, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Veteran reporter Marc Stein first reported (via Twitter) that the Clips were a “strong contender” to land the 35-year-old, who also drew interest from the Spurs and Warriors, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links).

Based on the reported terms, it seems very likely that L.A. will use the bi-annual exception to sign Batum. If that’s the case, the exact value of the two-year pact will be $9,569,400.

Batum has long been a highly versatile player who can fulfill multiple roles on both ends of the court. He has a great feel for the game and is a very smart ball-mover and passer, on top of being a strong three-point shooter — he has converted 39.8% of his long-distance looks over the past four seasons.

After an ill-fated yet highly lucrative stint with Charlotte from 2015-20, Batum had a career renaissance with the Clippers from ’20-23. He spent most of last season with Philadelphia, however, after he was traded to the Sixers in the James Harden deal. Kelly Iko of The Athletic reported yesterday that Batum would not be returning to Philly.

The 25th pick of the 2008 draft, Batum spent his first seven NBA seasons in Portland. The 16-year veteran will be playing for his native France in the Paris Olympics later this month.

Celtics’ Ownership Group To Put Team Up For Sale

July 1st, 2024 at 12:37pm CST by Rory Maher

12:37pm: The Celtics confirmed in a press release that the majority ownership group plans to sell of its shares in the team (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston).

“The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable thought and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations. The managing board of the ownership group expects to sell a majority interest in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028, and expects Wyc Grousbeck to remain as the Governor of the team until the second closing in 2028.”

12:13pm: On the heels of their record-setting 18th NBA championship, the Celtics will be hitting the market, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Sources tell Wojnarowski that the team’s majority ownership group, led by Wyc Grousbeck, intends to make the franchise available for sale.

Grousbeck has been the team’s Governor since his Boston Basketball Partners group purchased the Celtics for $360MM back in 2002. Boston has won two NBA titles under his stewardship, in 2008 and just a few weeks ago.

A source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe that while Grousbeck is selling his stake in the Celtics, other minority shareholders are expected to remain invested in the team (Twitter link).

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, the Celtics could be the most expensive team in NBA history in 2025/26, when a potential super-max extension for Jayson Tatum kicks in. Grousbeck will be looking to sell his stake just as severe roster-building restrictions are implemented in the new CBA.

As of December, Sportico had the Celtics ranked as the fourth-most valuable franchise in the NBA, with a valuation of $5.12 billion. That figure seems likely to have risen in the past eight months, given the team’s on-court success.

Grousbeck, 63, is a Massachusetts native who has built his wealth through various investments over the past few decades. His father, Irving, is a billionaire who co-founded Continental Cablevision.

Bucks Sign Delon Wright To One-Year Deal

July 1st, 2024 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: Wright has officially signed with the Bucks, according to the NBA’s transaction log.

JULY 1: The Bucks and free agent guard Delon Wright have agreed to a one-year contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski pegs the value of the deal at $3.3MM. As a second-apron team, Milwaukee has no access to the mid-level or bi-annual exception and can only offer veteran-minimum contracts to outside free agents. Since Wright has nine years of NBA experience, his contract figures to actually be right around $3MM, as our breakdown of this year’s minimum salaries shows.

Wright, 32, has played for eight teams across his nine NBA seasons, including the Wizards and Heat in 2023/24. He averaged 4.5 points, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game across 47 total appearances for the two clubs last season, then took on an increased role in the postseason for Miami, averaging 8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 26.8 MPG while making 6-of-10 three-pointers.

While Wright is a solid ball-handler and will make the occasional outside shot (.354 career 3PT% on 1.9 attempts per game), his value stems more from his play on the other side of the ball. His size and length are above average for a guard, and he’s comfortable switching and defending multiple positions.

While there’s no confirmation yet that Patrick Beverley won’t be back with the Bucks, Wright could end up playing a similar role to the one Beverley did, providing the team with a defensive-minded backup for Damian Lillard at the point.