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Suns Rumors: McConnell, Johnson, Ishbia, Ayton, Lowry

September 29th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns are believed to have maintained their interest in Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports said in the latest episode of the No Cap Room podcast (YouTube link).

Phoenix’s interest in McConnell was reported by multiple outlets earlier in the summer, but at that time, the team had no clear path to acquiring him due to his $8.7MM cap hit. Following their trade of Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara for four players, the Suns have more potential pathways to acquiring McConnell, with either Nassir Little ($6.25MM) or Grayson Allen ($8.93MM) as a logical salary-matching piece.

While Fischer points out that the Suns are extremely short on point guard depth, he admits he’s not sure if the team will be eager to sacrifice its wing depth by moving a player like Little or Allen. Allen, in particular, had been on Phoenix’s radar for a while, as Fischer noted on Wednesday.

Here’s more on the Suns:

During the same podcast, Fischer reiterated that Keon Johnson‘s days in Phoenix are likely numbered. “I don’t think they’ve officially waived Keon Johnson yet, but from my understanding, they plan to waive him,” Fischer said. The former first-round pick was sent from Portland to the Suns in Wednesday’s blockbuster deal.
Suns owner Mat Ishbia was “very involved” in the trade that landed Allen, Little, Johnson, and Jusuf Nurkic in Phoenix, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. As Amick explains, the Suns view the move as one that not only adds depth but gives them players who better fit around their stars. Nurkic was a longtime target for the club, which is “thrilled” to have landed him, Amick adds.
While he’s not an All-Star like Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday, Ayton is the only player in Wednesday’s blockbuster who is a former No. 1 overall pick, so his departure represents the end of an era, of sorts, in Phoenix. Doug Haller of The Athletic and Gerald Bourguet of GoPHNX.com take a look back at Ayton’s tenure with the franchise and, in Bourguet’s words, the “polarizing, complicated” legacy he’ll leave behind.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 has shot down a report claiming that the Suns had interest in acquiring Kyle Lowry from the Heat as part of a three-team trade if the Trail Blazers had decided to send Lillard to Miami. There’s “absolutely no truth” to that claim, according to Gambadoro (Twitter link), who says Phoenix was “totally focused” on Nurkic and the smaller pieces they could get with him.

Raptors Sign, Waive Darryl Morsell

September 29th, 2023 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

3:54pm: The Raptors have waived Morsell, according to Murphy (Twitter link). They once again have an open spot on their 21-man roster.

9:48am: The Raptors have signed free agent shooting guard Darryl Morsell to an Exhibit 10 contract, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).

Morsell played for the Salt Lake City Stars and Raptors 905 in the G League last season after going undrafted out of Marquette in 2022. In 44 total games for the two teams, he averaged 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 18.2 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .393/.220/.750.

While Morsell’s offensive numbers have never jumped off the page, dating back to his college years, he’s a talented perimeter defender who earned Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2021 while playing for Maryland.

As Murphy explains, Morsell may be in training camp with Toronto, but appears likely to return to the Raptors 905 once the regular season begins. Assuming he’s cut and then spends at least 60 days with the Raptors’ NBAGL affiliate, he’ll earn an Exhibit 10 bonus that can be worth up to $75K.

The Raptors waived Kevin Obanor on Thursday in order to make room on the roster for Morsell.

Hawks Sign Jarkel Joiner, Keaton Wallace

September 29th, 2023 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks confirmed a pair of additions to their training camp roster on Friday, issuing a press release to announce that they’ve signed guards Jarkel Joiner and Keaton Wallace to contracts.

Joiner’s agreement with Atlanta was reported in June shortly after he went undrafted out of North Carolina State. The 24-year-old averaged 17.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game in his lone season with the Wolfpack after transferring from Mississippi. Joiner, a second-team All-ACC selection last season, suited up for the Hawks at the Summer League in July.

Wallace, 24, was on a two-way contract with the Clippers for about a week last season, but has spent most of his two professional seasons playing for Los Angeles’ G League affiliate, the Ontario Clippers. In 49 games at the NBAGL level last season, he averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.5 APG, 3.6 RPG, and 1.7 SPG with a shooting line of .463/.382/.745.

Joiner and Wallace will almost certainly be waived at some point before the regular season starts and report to the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s NBAGL team. College Park acquired Wallace’s returning rights from Ontario this summer, while Joiner will be a newcomer to the G League, meaning he can be designated as an affiliate player.

Assuming Joiner and Wallace both signed Exhibit 10 contracts, which is expected, they’ll be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the Skyhawks.

Atlanta now has 20 players under contract with training camps around the corner.

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Minimum Salary Floor

September 29th, 2023 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s salary cap primarily serves as a way to restrict the amount a team can invest in player salaries in a given year. However, because the league has a soft cap rather than a hard cap, there’s technically no specific figure that clubs are prohibited from exceeding once they go over the cap to re-sign players. As long as a team doesn’t use certain exceptions or acquire a player via sign-and-trade, that team doesn’t face a hard cap.

There is, however, a specific threshold on the lower end that teams must meet in each NBA season. The league’s minimum salary floor requires a club to spend at least 90% of the salary cap on player salaries. For instance, with the 2023/24 cap set at $136,021,000, the salary floor for this season is $122,418,000.

For the purposes of calculating whether a team has reached the minimum salary threshold, cap holds and international buyouts aren’t considered, but players who suffered career-ending injuries or illnesses are included in the count, even if they’ve since been removed from the club’s cap.

Under the NBA’s previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, the penalties levied against a team whose salary was below the minimum floor at the end of the season weren’t very harsh — the franchise was simply required to make up the shortfall by paying the difference to its players.

However, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has made those penalties for teams below the minimum salary floor significantly more punitive. Here are the changes introduced in the latest CBA:

A team is now required to reach the minimum salary floor by the start of the regular season, rather than the end of the regular season.
A team whose salary is below the minimum floor at the start of the 2023/24 regular season will only be entitled to 50% of its end-of-season share of the NBA’s luxury tax payouts. Beginning in 2024/25, a team whose salary is below the minimum floor at the start of the regular season won’t receive a share of the end-of-season luxury tax payouts.
A team whose salary is below the minimum floor at the start of the season will have a cap hold added to its salary in order to reach the minimum floor. For instance, a team with a $117,418,000 salary on opening night in 2023/24 would have a $5MM cap hold added to its salary to reach the $122,418,000 floor and would be unable to immediately access that $5MM of cap room.
A team that begins the season below the floor cannot reduce the shortfall amount it will owe at the end of the season by spending on player salaries during the season. For example, a team that starts the season $5MM below the floor would owe no less than $5MM at the end of the season. The shortfall amount that club owes could increase if its team salary dips further than $5MM below the floor by the end of the season.

As noted above, the previous CBA called for a team that finished the season below the floor to pay the shortfall to its own players. Under the new agreement, however, that shortfall money is sent to the NBA, which then redirects it to all players. That shortfall money will generally be disbursed to each player in the league in proportion to his salary for that season.

Based on these changes, it’s easy to understand why all 30 of the NBA’s teams have already surpassed the minimum salary floor in 2023/24 and it’s probably safe to assume that trend will continue in future seasons.

After all, essentially every incentive a team has to remain below the floor by the time the regular season begins has been eliminated. A team in that boat wouldn’t be able to access all of its cap room, would forfeit an end-of-season tax payment, and wouldn’t even be able to award its shortfall amount exclusively to its own players.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Information from ESPN’s Bobby Marks and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2018, 2020, and 2021.

Celtics Notes: Brogdon, Holiday, Porzingis, Defense

September 29th, 2023 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

After a three-team deal that would have sent Malcolm Brogdon to Los Angeles fell through in June, the Clippers have continued to engage the Celtics in trade discussions for the veteran guard throughout the offseason, league sources tell Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Weiss’ report comes within an article exploring whether it might be possible for the Celtics to obtain trade candidate Jrue Holiday. As Weiss writes, Brogdon would almost certainly have to be included in a deal for Holiday, and the Clippers are the one team known to have serious interest.

However, the Clippers may be more inclined to make a play for Holiday themselves – or to try to work out a three-team trade with the Sixers involving James Harden – than they would be to participate in a multi-team deal that sends Holiday to Boston and Brogdon to Los Angeles. As Weiss notes, adhering to the new salary-matching rules will also be a challenge for the Celtics if they pursue Holiday, since they can’t take back more than 110% (plus $250K) of their outgoing total.

Here’s more out of Boston:

Multiple executives and coaches who spoke to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com about the Brogdon situation believe that being honest and transparent with the 30-year-old will be crucial if he remains on the roster and there are fences in need of mending. “The one thing that characterizes (Brogdon) more than anything is his intelligence, his intellect,” one front office source told Bulpett. “If you appeal to him on that basis, if you appeal to his rationality, then he’ll understand. I have no doubt that (president of basketball operations Brad) Stevens will handle this the right way — and he has to, because Boston needs Brogdon even more than they did last year.”
Kristaps Porzingis took part on Wednesday in his first scrimmage since he was shut down due to the plantar fasciitis in his foot, a source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). According to Himmelsbach, Porzingis looked good and didn’t experience any setbacks.
Jared Weiss of The Athletic outlines the effect that the offseason departures of Marcus Smart and Grant Williams will have on the Celtics’ toughness and defense, and considers how the team might try to fill that void.

Warriors Sign Jerome Robinson To Two-Way Deal

September 29th, 2023 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have signed free agent guard Jerome Robinson to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). Golden State now has a full 21-man roster.

The 13th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Robinson appeared in 113 regular season games for the Clippers and Wizards from 2018-21, averaging 4.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 14.2 minutes per night. He hasn’t played an NBA game since the 2020/21 season, when he made 17 appearances with Washington.

Robinson has spent the past two seasons playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate. In 2022/23, he averaged 14.6 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 4.1 RPG with a .455/.353/.909 shooting line in 38 games (29.4 MPG) for Santa Cruz.

Robinson’s agreement with Golden State was initially reported back in July, over two months ago. At that time, the expectation was that he’d sign a training camp deal. Instead, he’ll fill out the 21-man preseason roster by claiming the team’s third two-way slot alongside Lester Quinones and Usman Garuba. However, Anthony Slater of The Athletic suggests (via Twitter) that Robinson may have to battle in training camp to hang onto that spot.

Two-way deals only come with a small partial guarantee, while players on Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted to two-way contracts prior to the regular season, so it would be simply enough for Golden State to make a preseason change.

Pelicans Notes: Alvarado, Nance, Zion, Big Three

September 29th, 2023 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado and forward/center Larry Nance Jr. won’t be able to participate in training camp next week, the team announced in a press release on Thursday.

According to the team, Alvarado is expected to resume basketball activities in approximately two or three weeks after spraining his right ankle during an offseason workout. Alvarado’s ankle injury was reported earlier this month.

As for Nance, he received a biologic injection to stimulate the healing process in his left ankle, according to the Pelicans. Nance, who missed the final game of New Orleans’ 2022/23 season (a play-in loss to the Thunder), is expected to make a full recovery before the ’23/24 season begins, per the team, and should also return to basketball activities in two or three weeks.

Here’s more on the Pelicans:

Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com explores what the Pelicans should expect from Zion Williamson in 2023/24, citing multiple sources who say the former No. 1 overall pick was playing pickup games with teammates earlier this month and that he has been working with trainers this summer to get his lower body ready for the 82-game season.
Lopez also writes that some people around the Pelicans organization are hoping that the embarrassment from being at the center of some off-court drama this summer will provide extra motivation for Williamson to have a big year on the court.
Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum have only been on the court for 172 minutes together as Pelicans. William Guillory of The Athletic considers what the club should expect from its big three, assuming they stay healthy.
The odds of Giannis Antetokounmpo remaining with the Bucks beyond his current contract look better following the club’s trade for Damian Lillard. However, if things go south in Milwaukee, the Pelicans stand to benefit, notes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. As a result of 2020’s Jrue Holiday trade, the Bucks still owe the Pelicans first-round pick swaps in 2024 and 2026, along with an unprotected first-rounder in 2027. New Orleans would also get Milwaukee’s 2025 first-rounder if it lands in the top four, which is a long shot.

NBA Announces Four-Game Suspension For Joshua Primo

September 29th, 2023 at 10:36am CST by Luke Adams

Former Spurs guard and current free agent Joshua Primo has been suspended for four games for conduct detrimental to the league, the NBA announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Primo was waived by San Antonio last October due to allegations that he had exposed himself to women, including a sports psychologist who was employed by the Spurs. That employee filed suit against Primo and the Spurs last fall and settled a few weeks later.

The NBA’s announcement on Primo on Friday said that the league conducted its own investigation into the allegations against the former lottery pick.

“Following that process, the league found that Primo engaged in inappropriate and offensive behavior by exposing himself to women,” the league’s statement reads. “Primo maintains that his conduct was not intentional, and the league did not find evidence that he engaged in any sexual or other misconduct apart from these brief exposures. Nevertheless, this behavior does not conform to league standards and warrants discipline.”

Primo, who appeared in four games at the start of last season before being cut, didn’t catch on with another team following his release from the Spurs. However, unlike when the NBA suspended Miles Bridges, the league didn’t announce a longer suspension and rule that it would be reduced based on “time served” — Primo’s ban is simply for four games. Unlike Bridges, Primo earned a salary last season after being cut by San Antonio.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a new rule that allows players to serve their suspensions even when they’re not under contract with a team. That rule states that every one-and-a-half regular season games played by his most recent team is equivalent to one game served on the player’s suspension.

In this case, for example, three Spurs regular season games would count as two games toward Primo’s suspension. As such, even if Primo doesn’t sign a contract before the regular season begins, his suspension would be considered served after San Antonio’s sixth game of the season (on November 5) and he would be able to play immediately if he signed with any team after that point.

Under the previous CBA, Primo wouldn’t have been able to serve his four-game ban until he signed with a new team. As Marks explains (Twitter link), this rule change was made so that free agents facing multi-game suspensions wouldn’t be passed over indefinitely by NBA teams seeking players with immediate availability.

Primo, 20, was the 12th overall pick in the 2021 draft. He averaged 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 50 games (16 starts; 19.3 minutes per night) as a rookie, but struggled with efficiency, posting a .374/.307/.746 shooting slash line. He was the youngest player drafted in his class.

Lakers Notes: Russell, Starters, Davis, LeBron, Wood, Pelinka

September 29th, 2023 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

After the Lakers signed Gabe Vincent to a three-year, $33MM contract in July, there was some speculation that he might supplant D’Angelo Russell as the team’s starting point guard. However, that’s not the plan to open the season, head coach Darvin Ham told reporters on Thursday.

“He’s our starting point guard,” Ham said of Russell, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I’m going to encourage him to be assertive. He’s a highly intelligent basketball player who’s coming back with a chip on his shoulder. He chose us, we believe in him and he’s one of those guys who has a ton of pride and passion about not only his individual performance, but those of his teammates as well.”

Ham also confirmed that Austin Reaves will start alongside Russell in the backcourt, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis obviously penciled in for starting roles in the frontcourt. The fifth spot in the starting lineup will be up for grabs heading into training camp, as Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Every Lakers player is healthy and is expected to be fully available entering camp, according to Ham (Twitter link via Buha).
Although James and Davis have battled injuries in recent years, the Lakers are optimistic about the stars’ chances of staying healthy in 2023/24. Head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka acknowledged that “unexpected” injuries are always a possibility, but said that Davis has been focused this offseason on getting “leaner, stronger, quicker, (and) more explosive,” while James has taken his training regimen to a new level. “It’s staggering for a player who has 20 years under the hood already and is preparing for 21 like he’s a rookie,” Pelinka said of LeBron (link via Mark Medina of Sportskeeda). “He’s been doing 6 a.m. workouts. Probably been in our building as much as any player this offseason.”
Pelinka told reporters, including McMenamin (Twitter link), that he spoke to Christian Wood‘s agent almost daily for much of the summer and that the big man ultimately chose Los Angeles’ offer over others from contenders. Pelinka likened Wood to Malik Monk and Dennis Schröder, who each signed a minimum-salary contract with the Lakers and parlayed a strong season into a bigger payday the following year.
Pelinka spoke during Thursday’s press conference about prioritizing continuity and “trying to improve around the edges” this offseason, which is an approach that Ham appreciated, as Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group writes. “The sustainability of bringing back the main part of our core, and also adding to that – Rob used the phrase of not just going after star players, but players that star in their roles,” Ham said. “I thought we did a phenomenal job doing that, executing that.”
In a column for the Los Angeles Times, Bill Plaschke refers to Pelinka as the Lakers’ “most improved player,” praising him for admitting to and correcting his mistakes (such as the trade for Russell Westbrook) and for making a series of moves that have turned the club into a legitimate contender.

Magic Sign D.J. Wilson To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 29th, 2023 at 8:37am CST by Rory Maher

SEPTEMBER 29: The Magic have issued a press release officially confirming that they’ve signed Wilson.

SEPTEMBER 28: The Magic plan to sign free agent forward D.J. Wilson to an Exhibit 10 contract, reports Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).

A former first-round pick (17th overall in 2017), Wilson played in 146 regular season games (12.3 MPG) with the Bucks, Rockets and Raptors from 2017-22. The 27-year-old holds career averages of 4.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG, with a .419/.327/.618 shooting line.

Last summer, Wilson signed a two-year deal with the Raptors, but he only had a $250K partial guarantee and was released before 2022/23 began. He spent most of last season in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s affiliate.

According to Beede, Orlando’s affiliate — the Osceola Magic — acquired Wilson’s returning player rights in February. He also played for the Magic’s Summer League squad a couple months ago, Beede adds.

While Exhibit 10 contracts can ordinarily be converted into two-way deals, that won’t be the case for Wilson. Since he has five years of NBA experience, he’s ineligible for a two-way contract.

The former Michigan big man will likely be waived before the season starts and headed to the Osceola Magic. In that scenario, he could receive a bonus worth up to $75K — on top of his G League salary — if he spends at least 60 days with Osceola.

Once the deal is official, the Magic’s offseason roster will be full, with 21 players under contract.