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Wizards Notes: Winger, Coulibaly, Poole, Coaching Staff

September 26th, 2023 at 9:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wizards team president Michael Winger won’t use the word rebuild but he admits the franchise will take meticulous steps to become a perennial contender in the Eastern Conference, according to Ava Wallace of the Washington Post.

“We want to build an organization that develops and can support a sustainably great team. We don’t want to be a flash in the pan,” he said. “We don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. We want to build the right way. We’ve studied all the teams in the league, historically and currently, that have done it what we would characterize as the right way. And it is a very heavy lift. Hard decisions, a lot of patience, an intense focus on player development, an intense focus on research, and that’s what we are going to do.”

We have more on the Wizards:

In the same story, Wallace reports that general manager Will Dawkins believes lottery pick Bilal Coulibaly should jump right into the rotation. “Being the third-youngest player in the league, he’s got a competitiveness on the defensive end that I think will allow him to get on the floor right away,” Dawkins said. “The biggest thing with him is not skipping any steps, not rushing him, allowing him to declare who he is as a player and understanding that his prime is five, six, seven years down the line from now.”
Jordan Poole will see his offensive role expand with the Wizards after playing mostly at the wing with the Warriors, Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network tweets. “You’ll see him play on the ball more,” Dawkins said.
The Wizards have officially announced their assistant coaching staff under Wes Unseld Jr. via a press release. As previously reported, they’ve added Brian Keefe and David Vanterpool as assistant coaches and Sammy Gelfand as assistant coach/analytics. They’ll join returnees Joseph Blair, Mike Miller, Zach Guthrie and James Posey. Landon Tatum will head the player development staff and Daniel Villarreal will serve as Washington’s head video coordinator. Cody Toppert has been named head coach of the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate.

Dunleavy: Paul Trade Came Together Quickly

September 26th, 2023 at 8:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The trade that brought Chris Paul to the Warriors came to fruition in a short span of time, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told The Athletic duo of Sam Amick and Anthony Slater.

The trade was officially completed in early July. The Wizards, who acquired Paul in the Bradley Beal blockbuster with the Suns, received guards Jordan Poole and Ryan Rollins, forward Patrick Baldwin Jr., the Warriors’ 2030 first-round pick (top-20 protected), Golden State’s 2027 second-round pick, and cash.

“The CP stuff developed over maybe a week or 10 days. That was not a long-term deal that we were working on,” Dunleavy said. “It happened fast. (But) I think this league, and this job is all about capitalizing on time horizons. And right now, we’re in the thick of a period where we feel like we can still contend, and we want to take advantage of that.”

The Warriors shed Poole’s four-year, $123MM+ contract in the deal. The 38-year-old Paul has a non-guaranteed $30MM contract for the 2024/25 season, and that factored into the decision to bring in the future Hall of Famer.

“Coming off a championship, you know, just two years ago, I think we all feel like we’re still right there,” Dunleavy said. “And so to make a move to bring in Chris was, I mean, some may see it as short-sighted, short-term. But yeah, it helps us win now and then it gives us some future financial flexibility.”

Dunleavy and other members of the front office began pondering whether to bring in Paul when the Suns considered waiving or buying him out before he was dealt to Washington. They initially thought of pursuing Paul if he was placed on waivers and became a free agent through that process. It eventually morphed into trade discussions with the Wizards.

“We identified him as a guy we thought could help our team. And the reason that was was just his experience, his leadership,” Dunleavy said. “We struggled last year and in years past with taking care of the ball. We struggled sometimes at the end of games with decision-making. So we felt like ‘Yeah, Chris is a little bit older. But he fits with our group, and he can help us in some areas that we’re deficient in. So it started to make sense.”

The team’s core players, including Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, quickly warmed to the idea of bringing in Paul, even though it may create some awkwardness with Curry and Green having been the team’s main play-makers for so many seasons.

“I don’t have a whole lot of worries about that,” Dunleavy said. “But I think just the common thread of competitiveness, intelligence and just being adults, those things make me believe that this thing can work out. I think for those guys, Draymond (and) Steph, especially, like you said, they’ve been through the wars with Chris for so many years and Chris the same way, that I think it came down to just that initial idea of it. There’s a little bit of a shock. And then once you settle in and think about it, and the ways that it would work, I think they quickly came back to, ‘This is kind of a no-brainer.’”

Kai Jones’ Status With Hornets Uncertain

September 26th, 2023 at 6:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kai Jones remains on the Hornets’ roster but there are indications he may not play for Charlotte this season, according to Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer.

Jones has been a no-show during the players’ optional sessions and he’s called out some of his teammates in social media posts in recent weeks.

Jones also made a series of odd social media posts and Instagram Live appearances, claiming in one tweet that he’s better than Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James and then standing by the statement. Hornets head coach Steve Clifford told Boone that “We are aware of the social media posts and it’s a situation that’s been handled internally.”

The club exercised its $3.05MM option on Jones for the coming season last October. The team has a $4.69MM option decision to make on Jones’ contract for the 2024/25 season. The deadline is the end of next month.

Jones was a first-rounder in 2021, acquired on draft night from the Knicks. He has appeared in 67 games during his first two seasons, all off the bench. He averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12 minutes per game during 46 appearances last season.

He was on the Hornets’ Summer League team in July and expressed to Boone back then that “I’m having the most fun ever.”

However, Jones still projects as Charlotte’s No. 3 center behind Mark Williams and Nick Richards.

Pacers GM: Hield Extension Talks Stalled But No Trade Imminent

September 26th, 2023 at 5:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers are in no rush to deal Buddy Hield, according to general manager Chad Buchanan, even though extension talks have stalled, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star reports.

Hield has a base salary of $18.6MM with a cap hit of $19.3MM in the final year of his four-year contract. The news broke last week that the team was exploring trade possibilities after Hield was dissatisfied with Indiana’s extension offer. Buchanan believes extension talks will be rekindled at some point.

“Buddy is somebody that we love having on our team,” Buchanan said. “We want him on our team this year. The business of basketball comes into play at times. We’ve had talks with him about an extension. Those talks are at a halt, I’d say, right now, but that’s not to say that they’re done. We’d like to have Buddy with us.”

Buchanan also downplayed the notion that the team was shopping the sharpshooter wing.

“We have no intention of trying to move Buddy. But it’s also our job to listen if opportunities come to help us improve the team,” he said. “That’s what we have to do as a front office. Our intention is to have Buddy on the team this year and have him be a big part of our group.”

The GM also anticipates Hield will report to camp next week and won’t be distracted by the status of extension talks.

“I think Buddy is going to come in and be professional and be excited to be part of this team. He loves being part of this group,” Buchanan said. “He loves playing with coach Rick (Carlisle.) He and Tyrese (Haliburton) obviously have a connection together. He’s going to come in and play well and we’ll see what happens moving forward with him and the team.”

Hield will likely have to play a different role if he remains a Pacer. He was a starter for most of last season but the Pacers are intent on moving Bennedict Mathurin into the lineup. The Pacers also made a splashy free agent addition in Bruce Brown, who could cut into Hield’s minutes.

Nets Notes: Simmons, Point Guards, Whitehead, Sharpe, More

September 26th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Ben Simmons is taking part in 5-on-5 workouts without any restrictions and is expected to be a full participant in training camp, head coach Jacque Vaughn and general manager Sean Marks said on Tuesday, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“Pretty simple that way which is good for me to say, and I think that fits into an exciting time for me to have this group together,” Vaughn said. “No restrictions at the beginning of the year — get to form an identity together, get to form some relationships at the beginning of the year, a style of play, so really looking forward to the challenge and getting to training camp because of that.”

In addition to discussing Simmons’ health, Vaughn confirmed something the former No. 1 overall pick said last month, telling reporters that the relationship between the two men is in a better place now than it was last season. As Bontemps details, Vaughn also agreed with Simmons’ assessment that he’s a point guard, though the head coach did offer a caveat.

“I would use the word ‘agreement’ more so than ‘commitment,'” Vaughn said when he was asked if he’s committed to playing Simmons at the point this season. “The agreement is if he’s playing at a consistent and high level, then I think our pictures look exactly the same. I think you can kind of put it in that category.”

Asked if Simmons is competing with Spencer Dinwiddie for minutes at point guard, Vaughn said the two guards will share the floor at times, with Dennis Smith Jr. also in the mix for a regular backcourt role, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

Here’s more on the Nets:

There’s no specific timeline for the return of first-round pick Dariq Whitehead, who underwent foot surgery in the spring, but the Nets certainly don’t expect him to miss his entire rookie season, per Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. “We’re definitely not going to rush him,” Marks said. “We love the grit and determination. I wouldn’t put a timeline on when he’ll be back but he will definitely be playing this year.”
While Vaughn still expects to use smaller lineups frequently in 2023/24, he wants to give Day’Ron Sharpe an opportunity to earn a role since he’s one of the team’s best rebounders, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter links). The head coach also said that he expects Simmons and center Nic Claxton to share the floor quite a bit, despite the spacing issues it created last season.
For the first time since 2018, the Nets won’t have any superstar players on their roster entering training camp. That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be open to pursuing a star in the next year or two if the right opportunity arises, but it also doesn’t sound like they feel compelled to do so. “(Team owner) Joe Tsai, myself and (Vaughn) have talked openly about how this team will look in the upcoming years and when’s the right time to go back in,” Marks said, according to Bontemps. “Whether it’s facilitating another deal, whether it’s acquiring more players, whether it’s seeing what these young guys on our team right now can develop, and that’s an exciting piece too that we’re forgetting to mention. We’re certainly not in any hurry, but at the end of the day, we’re going to do our due diligence like we always have over the course of the last six years.”
Over at his Substack, Steve Lichtenstein explores why forward Trendon Watford has the potential to be a solid developmental piece for Brooklyn. Watford is on a non-guaranteed contract with the Nets.

Pacers Sign Craig Sword, Pedro Bradshaw To Camp Deals

September 26th, 2023 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have signed free agent guards Craig Sword and Pedro Bradshaw to training camp contracts, according to RealGM’s transaction log. The club now has 20 players under contract.

Tony East of SI.com (Twitter link) previously reported that Sword would be getting an Exhibit 10 contract from Indiana, while marketing agency RBA Showcase (Twitter link) confirmed Bradshaw’s signing.

In all likelihood, both Sword and Bradshaw will end up as returning rights players for the Indiana Mad Ants (formerly the Fort Wayne Mad Ants), the Pacers’ G League affiliate. Bradshaw played for the team last season, while Sword was a member of the Capital City Go-Go who had his rights acquired earlier this month by the Mad Ants.

An NBAGL veteran who has appeared in more than 200 games at that level, Sword averaged 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 22.2 minutes per game last season in 43 appearances for the Go-Go, with a solid shooting line of .566/.387/.725. Bradshaw was a role player for the Mad Ants, averaging 9.2 PPG and 6.0 RPG on .507/.423/.763 shooting in 45 appearances (20.0 MPG).

Both players will earn bonuses worth up to $75K if they’re waived by the Pacers before the regular season and then spend at least 60 days with the Mad Ants.

Wolves Sign Trevor Keels To Training Camp Deal

September 26th, 2023 at 3:07pm CST by Rory Maher

SEPTEMBER 26: Minnesota has officially signed Keels, according to RealGM’s transaction log.

SEPTEMBER 25: The Timberwolves plan to sign free agent guard Trevor Keels to a training camp contract, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 42nd pick of the 2022 draft after one college season at Duke, Keels spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Knicks, who gave him a qualifying offer in June to make him a restricted free agent. Keels accepted his QO this summer to return to New York on a two-way deal, but his stint only lasted a week, as he was waived to make room for Dylan Windler.

Keels, 20, only appeared in three games for the Knicks in 2022/23 for a total of eight minutes. He was a starter for their G League affiliate in Westchester, however, averaging 13.9 points, 3.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 steal in 25 regular season games (30.2 minutes). He posted a shooting line of .425/.355/.710.

While the terms of the contract were not disclosed, Keels’ agreement with Minnesota likely features an Exhibit 10 clause, which would entitle him to a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves. However, his NBAGL rights are currently held by the Knicks, so Iowa will have to make a trade with the Westchester Knicks — New York’s affiliate — to acquire his returning player rights.

Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals, and the Timberwolves currently have one two-way opening, though they also have a two-way qualifying offer out to RFA Matt Ryan.

Once Keels is officially under contract, the Timberwolves will have 19 players on their roster, as our tracker shows.

Nets Sign Scottie Lindsey

September 26th, 2023 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have signed free agent shooting guard Scottie Lindsey to a training camp contract, according to announcements from the team and marketing agency RBA Showcase (Twitter link).

Lindsey, 27, has played primarily in the G League since going undrafted out of Northwestern in 2018, spending time with the Grand Rapids Drive, Erie BayHawks (now the Birmingham Squadron), Windy City Bulls, and Maine Celtics. He has also played in professional leagues in Portugal and Canada.

Last season, Lindsey appeared in a total of 44 regular season and Showcase Cup games for Maine, averaging 11.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per contest with a shooting line of .435/.332/.860.

The Long Island Nets – Brooklyn’s G League affiliate – announced on Monday that they acquired the returning rights for Lindsey and A.J. Reeves from the Maine Celtics in exchange for the returning rights to Jordan Bowden and Noah Kirkwood, so it’s safe to assume the Nets view Lindsey as a player who will eventually suit up for their NBAGL squad.

Assuming Lindsey’s new deal with the team includes Exhibit 10 language, which is very likely, he’ll earn a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with Long Island after being waived by Brooklyn.

The Nets, who have been busy making roster moves this week with an eye toward the G League season, now have 20 players under contract.

Matt Ryan Returns To Timberwolves On Two-Way Deal

September 26th, 2023 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

2:25pm: Ryan has officially re-signed with the Wolves on a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s transaction log. As we relayed in a separate story, Ryan’s roster spot for the regular season isn’t necessarily safe, as he’ll have to compete with Minnesota’s camp invitees to retain his two-way spot.

7:57am: After remaining on the restricted free agent market for nearly three months, swingman Matt Ryan is signing a two-way contract to return to the Timberwolves, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Ryan opened last season on a non-guaranteed contract with the Lakers, but was waived at the start of December and quickly caught on with the Timberwolves on a two-way deal, finishing the season in Minnesota.

He appeared in 35 total games for the two Western clubs in 2022/23, averaging 3.6 points in 9.1 minutes per game while making 38.1% of his three-point attempts.

Ryan’s ability to hit outside shots – he’s a career 40.1% three-point shooter in 37 G League regular season appearances – helped earn him a qualifying offer from the Timberwolves in June that made him a restricted free agent. He had the option of accepting that QO, equivalent to another one-year, two-way contract, or seeking out an offer sheet from a rival suitor, which Minnesota could have matched.

Given that he’s remaining with the Wolves, it appears Ryan was unable to find a viable offer from another team this summer. He was one of two restricted free agents still on the market, along with fellow two-way RFA Theo Maledon of the Hornets.

Once Ryan officially re-signs, Minnesota will have filled all three of their two-way slots. Luka Garza and Jaylen Clark are the other two Wolves on two-way deals.

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 9/26/2023

September 26th, 2023 at 2:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The transcript of our weekly Tuesday chat can be found here.

Join us on Tuesday, October 3 for our next live chat.