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International Notes: Lopez, Mooney, Bacon, Maledon

August 9th, 2024 at 4:15pm CST by Rory Maher

Mexican guard/forward Karim Lopez, who is ESPN’s top-ranked international prospect in the 2026 draft class and a potential lottery pick, has signed with the New Zealand Breakers as part of the NBL’s Next Stars program, he told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link), Lopez signed a two-year deal with the Breakers. The 17-year-old is known for his two-way versatility, basketball instincts and competitiveness, Givony adds.

Here are a few more international notes:

Former NBA guard Matt Mooney has also signed a contract with the Breakers, the team announced in a press release. Mooney played four games with Cleveland and one with New York in two different NBA seasons. The 28-year-old, who is known for his shooting ability, spent the 2023/24 campaign in Italy with Trento after playing in Turkey and Spain the previous two seasons.
Dwayne Bacon, who played four NBA seasons with Charlotte and Orlando from 2017-21, has signed with Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg, according to a team press release (hat tip to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando). The veteran guard/forward has spent the past few seasons playing in Monaco, Greece and China.
Free agent guard Theo Maledon is nearing a contract agreement with ASVEL in his native France, reports Gabriel Pantel-Jouve of BeBasket (Twitter link). The 34th pick of the 2020 draft, Maledon has appeared in 177 NBA games over the past four seasons with Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Phoenix. He has been a free agent since he was released by the Suns in March, later suiting up for Orlando’s Summer League squad. The 23-year-old started his professional career with ASVEL in 2017.

Pelicans Notes: Ingram, Roster, Jazz, TV Deal, Training Camp

August 9th, 2024 at 2:38pm CST by Rory Maher

The trade market for Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram remains “limited” due to his contract situation, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link).

“Right now, from what I’m told, Brandon Ingram’s trade market is limited,” Charania said. “I think the sense around New Orleans is he’s going to be there. They are fully expecting Brandon Ingram to be a part of the team going into next season.”

According to Charania, Ingram is seeking $45-50MM annually in a possible extension. There have been multiple reports indicating the Pelicans aren’t comfortable going that high. The former All-Star and Most Improved Player winner will earn $36MM in 2024/25, which is the final season of his current contract.

Charania hears the Pelicans are leery of adding a fourth major long-term contract to their books without first seeing how they perform after trading for Dejounte Murray this summer. CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson are the other Pels on lucrative long-term deals, Charania notes.

Here are a few more notes from New Orleans:

While the trade for Murray indicated the Pelicans are willing to be aggressive, they’ve had a pretty quiet offseason otherwise. Christian Clark of The Times-Picayune (subscription required) says people around the league expect the Pelicans to look for a center upgrade, with the Jazz considered a potential match for Ingram. As Clark writes, Utah has a couple of big men (Walker Kessler and John Collins) who have been in trade rumors, though Collins is more of a power forward than a center.
The Pelicans have reached a multiyear agreement with Gray TV to broadcast the grand majority of their regular games for free over the air in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Clark reports for The Times-Picayune (subscriber link). Local Pelicans games were previously broadcast on Diamond-owned Bally Sports. According to Clark, Diamond told the Pelicans last month they planned to drop their coverage as part of bankruptcy proceedings, freeing the team to explore other options. Sources tell Clark Diamond Sports reengaged with the Pelicans last week and presented a more lucrative offer than the deal with Gray, but the Pels wanted to broaden their fan base and have a long history with Gray.
In a press release, the Pelicans announced that they will hold their training camp this fall at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., from Oct. 1-6. The Pelicans’ training facility, the Ochsner Sports Performance Center, is in the final stages of being renovated. Media Day will be held on Sept. 30 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, per the team.

Spurs To Hire Scott King As Head Coach Of G League Team

August 9th, 2024 at 12:42pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs plan to hire Knicks player development coach Scott King to be the new head coach of their NBA G League affiliate in Austin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).

According to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link), King has been discussed in league circles as a potential future head coach in the NBA.

King, whose title with New York this past season was technically assistant director of player development, played Division I basketball in college at Stony Brook and Fairfield before graduating in 2016. He got his start with Pacers’ former G League team, the Mad Ants, then was hired by the Pistons as a video intern for the 2018/19 season, as Eduardo Villalpando of VAVEL.com writes.

King has been with the Knicks since 2019, initially being hired as assistant video coordinator prior to being promoted. He was in charge of reviewing questionable plays and determining whether or not they should be challenged, among other responsibilities, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link).

King was held in high regard by Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who confirms Wojnarowski’s reporting.

The Austin Spurs were looking for a new head coach after Will Voigt left the organization to join BYU as an assistant under Kevin Young.

Nuggets Granted Disabled Player Exception

August 9th, 2024 at 10:27am CST by Rory Maher

The Nuggets have been granted a disabled player exception in the wake of DaRon Holmes‘ season-ending torn Achilles tendon, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The exception is worth $1,532,820, half of the rookie’s $3,065,640 salary for the 2024/25 season.

Holmes, who starred in college at Dayton, sustained the injury in his Summer League debut with Denver on July 12. The Nuggets traded three second-round picks to Phoenix to move up six spots in the 2024 draft (from No. 28 to No. 22) to acquire the rights to the 21-year-old big man.

A disabled player exception gives an over-the-cap team some extra spending power – but not an additional 15-man roster spot – when it loses a player to an injury deemed likely to sideline him through at least June 15 of the upcoming season.

We go into more detail on who qualifies for disabled player exceptions and how exactly they work in our glossary entry on the subject. But essentially, if a team has a player suffer a season-ending injury prior to January 15, the exception gives that team the opportunity to add an injury replacement by either signing a player to a one-year contract, trading for a player in the final year of his contract, or placing a waiver claim on a player in the final year of his contract.

Since the DPE for Holmes is so small, there’s a good chance it won’t be used by March 10; the Nuggets have 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts, and the exception doesn’t create a roster spot. Still, there was no downside to applying for the DPE, even if it may not prove very useful.

Timmy Allen Signs With Team In Belgium

August 9th, 2024 at 9:03am CST by Rory Maher

Free agent forward Timmy Allen, who played five games with the Grizzlies at the end of the 2023/24 season while on a 10-day contract, has signed with BC Oostende, the Belgian team announced in a press release (hat tip to Keith Smith of Spotrac).

Allen, 24, played college basketball at Utah and Texas prior to going undrafted last year. He spent most of his first professional season playing for the Grizzlies’ NBA G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, averaging 9.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.0 SPG on .432/.341/.738 shooting in 46 Showcase Cup and regular season games (26.4 MPG).

In his five games with the injury-ravaged Grizzlies, who cycled through numerous young players last season via 10-day hardship contracts, Allen averaged 2.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.0 APG in 25.0 MPG, going 6-of-23 (.261%) from the floor.

Oostende is the most successful domestic club in Belgium’s history, having dominated the county’s top basketball league until 2021, when the PBL was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League.

Oostende won 10 straight PBL titles before the BNXT was formed and was champion of the ’23/24 season in the new league, which combined the top basketball divisions of Belgium and the Netherlands.

Spurs Sign Malachi Flynn To Exhibit 10 Contract

August 8th, 2024 at 9:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

AUGUST 8: Flynn’s deal with the Spurs, which is an Exhibit 10 contract, is now official, per RealGM’s transaction log.

AUGUST 7: Malachi Flynn has agreed to a one-year contract with the Spurs, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s a non-guaranteed deal, a league source tells Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 26-year-old point guard made headlines with the Pistons in April when he scored 50 points off the bench in a game against Atlanta. The scoring spree was out of character for Flynn, who has averaged 5.5 PPG in 213 games throughout his NBA career.

Flynn played for three teams last season, starting the year with the Raptors, who selected him with the 29th pick in the 2020 draft. After 31 games, he was shipped to New York in late December as part of the OG Anunoby trade. He saw limited time in 14 games with the Knicks before being dealt to Detroit at the February deadline.

Flynn got a greater opportunity to play after joining the Pistons and responded by averaging 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 24 games while logging 14.3 minutes per night. He became a free agent when his rookie scale contract expired after last season, and Detroit elected not to tender a qualifying offer, making him unrestricted.

San Antonio already has 15 players with fully guaranteed deals, plus all three of its two-way contract slots are filled, so Flynn faces a difficult road to win a job at training camp.

Christmas Day Games Include Sixers-Celtics, Lakers-Warriors

August 8th, 2024 at 9:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA’s leaked slate of Christmas Day games will feature several heavy hitters.

Sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that, as usual, five games will be broadcast, highlighted by a marquee matchup between two longtime Eastern Conference foes, the revamped Sixers and the Celtics. Boston, the reigning league champion, will host.

The schedule will be rounded out by several clashes between starry clubs, from veteran-laden squads to young up-and-comers. The Spurs will travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks. A Western Conference Finals rematch is also on the docket, as the Mavericks will host the Timberwolves.

The newly Klay Thompson-less Warriors will host the Lakers, and the Nuggets will travel to Phoenix to face the retooled Suns.

Philadelphia almost completely overhauled its roster around incumbent All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The new additions are headlined by nine-time All-Star combo forward Paul George, who departed the Clippers to sign a four-year, maximum-salary deal with the Sixers. Philadelphia also signed seasoned free agents like forward Caleb Martin, center Andre Drummond, and shooting guard Eric Gordon while bringing back wing Kelly Oubre Jr.

The Celtics retained all of their own key players after going 64-18 in the regular season and 16-3 in the playoffs. A pair of new extensions for All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum and All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White highlighted the team’s transactions, though longer-term uncertainty looms as owner Wyc Grousbeck is looking to sell the franchise.

Led by Defensive Player of the Year and impending Olympic medalist Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs figure to improve on their paltry 21-61 record in 2023/24. The team signed 12-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul to a one-year deal this summer, and traded for veteran combo forward Harrison Barnes. San Antonio also used its No. 4 pick in the lottery on NCAA championship-winning UConn guard Stephon Castle, the 2023/24 Big East Freshman of the Year.

The Knicks, meanwhile traded for former All-Defensive small forward Mikal Bridges this summer to maximize their ability to switch on the wing. The team also re-signed free agent forward OG Anunoby to a long-term contract and free agent center/power forward Precious Achiuwa to a shorter-term deal, inked All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson to a contract extension, and brought aboard veteran point guard Cameron Payne for extra depth.

Fresh off its first NBA Finals appearance with star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Dallas added future Hall of Famer Thompson away from the Warriors as part of a sign-and-trade, while also acquiring young guard Quentin Grimes from the Pistons. Dallas also signed free agent wing Naji Marshall to a three-year deal.

After winning their first (two) playoff series in 20 years this spring, the Timberwolves traded for the draft rights to No. 8 pick Rob Dillingham and retained several of their own free agents.

While Golden State did lose out on Thompson, the Warriors quickly pivoted on the perimeter, signing free agent guard De’Anthony Melton and signing-and-trading for free agent wings Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. The team is hoping to rebound from a finish as the West’s No. 10 seed and a quick play-in tournament exit.

Denver let free agent starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency and brought in reserve guard Russell Westbrook.

The Suns hired title-winning head coach Mike Budenholzer and signed Tyus Jones to a steal of a veteran’s minimum contract. Phoenix also brought back several of its own free agents, including wings Josh Okogie and Royce O’Neale and Damion Lee. The team also inked free agents Mason Plumlee and Monte Morris to minimum-salary contracts.

The most questionable omission from all this Christmas scheduling is clearly the Thunder, who claimed the West’s No. 1 overall seed last season and added ex-Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein via a lucrative three-year, $87MM deal. Oklahoma City also dealt guard Josh Giddey – who fell out of the starting lineup in the playoffs – to Chicago for All-Defensive wing Alex Caruso.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having finished as the MVP runner-up last year and young pieces Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams set to develop, the Thunder look poised to contend for the West’s top seed once again.

Hornets, Raequan Battle Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal

August 8th, 2024 at 8:27pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Free agent former West Virginia swingman Raequan Battle has agreed to an Exhibit 10 training camp contract with the Hornets, sources tell Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

A 6’5″ swingman, Battle averaged 16.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per contest across 22 games with the Mountaineers as a fifth-year senior in 2023/24, posting a shooting line of .408/.339/.835. He played on Charlotte’s Summer League squad in July.

As Boone notes, Battle’s training camp deal may signify the Hornets’ interest in making him an affiliate player with their G League squad, the Greensboro Swarm.

Battle could also see his training camp contract converted to a two-way deal with the Hornets up until the day before the regular season begins. Charlotte currently has one open two-way slot available, with the other two committed to point guard KJ Simpson and center Moussa Diabate.

It’s more probable that Battle will be cut prior to the start of the year and will then become an affiliate player with the Swarm. Should a player be waived from an Exhibit 10 deal and then spend at least 60 days with that team’s NBAGL affiliate, he’d stand to earn a bonus worth as much as $77.5K.

Pacific Notes: DeRozan, Robinson, Abbott, Kuminga

August 8th, 2024 at 7:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With six-time All-Star swingman DeMar DeRozan joining the Kings this offseason (and veteran forward Harrison Barnes no longer on the roster), Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee speculates as to what the club’s new starting lineup will look like.

Anderson expects 2023 All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis to be joined by Keegan Murray at a forward slot, with DeRozan also in the first five. Anderson notes that Sacramento head coach Mike Brown has some flexibility in terms of which player he wants to be his fifth starter, depending on whether DeRozan lines up at shooting guard or small forward.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Newly-signed Kings reserve big man Orlando Robinson‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the team features a partial guarantee of $500K, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Robinson will earn his full $2.09MM salary if he remains under contract through January 7.
First-year Lakers head coach J.J. Redick is adding more depth to his coaching staff. According to the agency CSE (Twitter link), Los Angeles has brought on Ty Abbott as its lead player development coach. Abbott previously served as the Bulls’ player development coach/coordinator from 2020-24.
Warriors wing Jonathan Kuminga is hoping to earn a maximum-salary deal in his rookie scale extension with the team, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reveals in a new episode of the “No Cap Room” podcast. “Jonathan Kuminga is entering the final year of his rookie deal where — according to… various sources — Kuminga and his representatives are looking for a full max extension,” Fischer said. A projected five-year max deal for Kuminga would be worth approximately $224MM.

France To Face Team USA For Olympic Gold

August 8th, 2024 at 4:03pm CST by Rory Maher

Host nation France pulled off its second consecutive upset by defeating 2023 World Cup champion Germany in the semifinals of men’s basketball at the 2024 Olympics, writes Kyle Hightower of The Associated Press.

Led by Guerschon Yabusele (17 points, seven rebounds, two assists), Isaia Cordinier (16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals), and a stifling defense anchored by Victor Wembanyama (11 points, seven rebounds, three blocks), France edged Germany, 73-69.

While reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Wembanyama struggled with his shot (4-of-17) for the second consecutive game, his impact was felt all over the court, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

“Of course, it’s part of a dream come true,” Wembanyama said, per ESPN. “We can be part of a goal that we set for ourselves months back. We can write history, even more. A once-in-a-lifetime dream.”

The French national team will advance to its second consecutive Olympic final after finishing with the silver medal in Tokyo three years ago.

In fact, Saturday’s Olympic final will be rematch, with France set to face the United States, which won gold in Tokyo. Team USA trailed by as many as 17 points in its semifinal matchup with Serbia and was down 13 entering the final frame, but mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback to secure a 95-91 victory.

Stephen Curry (a game-high 36 points, eight rebounds, two assists), Joel Embiid (19 points, four rebounds, two assists), and LeBron James (16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) were instrumental down the stretch for the Americans, while Serbia was led by Bogdan Bogdanovic (20 points, four rebounds, three assists), Nikola Jokic (17 points, five rebounds, 11 assists), and Aleksa Avramovic (15 points, four rebounds, three assists).

In a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final, Germany will face Serbia for the bronze medal on Saturday at 5:00 am ET. France will face the U.S. for gold at 3:30 pm ET.