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The Mavericks intend to waive center JaVale McGee and re-sign free agent forward Markieff Morris, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
McGee signed a three-year, $17MM+ contract with Dallas last offseason, but only spent seven games in the starting lineup and subsequently fell out of the team’s rotation altogether. He averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in a career-low 8.5 minutes per game across 42 appearances in his first – and only – season in his latest stint as a Maverick.
The Mavs shopped McGee in various trade talks throughout the offseason, but were unable to find a taker. According to Charania, the plan is to stretch the veteran’s remaining salary when he’s waived. That means that instead of counting against the cap for $5.7MM in 2023/24 and $6MM in ’24/25, McGee’s cap hits would be spread across five seasons at a rate of about $2.35MM per year.
As Charania notes, in order to use the stretch provision on McGee, the Mavericks will have to officially waive him by August 31, which is the deadline to stretch a cap hit for the current league year.
The Mavs currently have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, but releasing McGee will open up a spot on the projected 15-man roster for Morris, who finished last season in Dallas after arriving from Brooklyn in the Kyrie Irving blockbuster.
Morris didn’t have much of a role for the Mavs down the stretch, logging just 70 total minutes across eight regular season appearances, but the organization apparently values his toughness and veteran leadership. The 33-year-old has 12 NBA seasons and 750 regular season appearances on his résumé.
At this time last week, the Thunder were carrying 20 players on standard contracts, meaning they needed to trade or waive five of those players before opening night in order to meet the NBA’s regular season roster requirements.
Oklahoma City is now two-fifths of the way there, having recently waived TyTy Washington Jr. and Usman Garuba, two players who were acquired in salary-dump trades last month. The Thunder signed Lindy Waters and Olivier Sarr to two-way contracts with their newly opened roster spots and now have 18 players on standard deals, with three on two-way pacts.
That leaves three more players for the Thunder to waive or trade before the season begins, and while they have plenty of time to make those decisions, they won’t necessarily be easy ones.
Victor Oladipo and Davis Bertans look like obvious release candidates. Oladipo tore his left knee patellar tendon in the spring and is on an expiring contract, so it seems unlikely that he has a place in the Thunder’s short- or long-term plans. Bertans averaged a career-low 10.9 minutes per game last season and was another salary-dump acquisition whose days in OKC are probably numbered.
However, Oladipo’s $9.45MM expiring salary and Bertans’ $17MM cap hit could be useful if the Thunder want to make a bigger trade before February’s 2024 deadline. Plus, Bertans is owed a partial guarantee of $5MM on his $16MM salary for 2024/25, so Oklahoma City would have to eat that dead money by waiving him now. The club may prefer to hang onto him to see if he can be used as a trade chip down the road.
Theoretically, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Jack White make sense as release candidates. They’re the only three of the Thunder’s 18 players on standard contracts who don’t have guaranteed salaries for 2023/24. Joe and Wiggins have non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals, while White’s minimum salary is partially guaranteed for $600K.
But Joe was one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters in 2022/23, knocking down 40.9% of his outside attempts in a regular rotation role for OKC. Wiggins was a valuable rotation piece too, posting an impressive shooting line of .512/.393/.831 in 70 games (18.5 MPG).
And while White doesn’t have that same track record of success, the Thunder went out of their way to sign him away from the Nuggets this offseason after Denver issued him a two-way qualifying offer. He would be ineligible for a two-way deal with Oklahoma City if he’s cut, so it appears the club is serious about giving him a shot at a 15-man roster spot.
Among the Thunder’s other players with guaranteed salaries, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Aleksej Pokusevski may not have roster spots locked up.
A 2021 first-round pick, Mann had a promising rookie year but took a step backward in 2022/23 as his three-point rate dipped from 36.0% to 31.5% and he saw his role reduced. He’s owed $3.2MM this season and Oklahoma City will have to decide by October 31 whether to exercise a $4.9MM team option for 2024/25.
Robinson-Earl, another 2021 draftee, has been relatively productive in two NBA seasons, averaging 7.2 PPG and 4.9 RPG on .427/.344/.781 shooting in 92 games (20.7 MPG). But his $1.9MM salary would be easy enough to move on from, especially since he’s not owed any guaranteed money beyond this season. Jaylin Williams has passed him on the frontcourt depth chart and Chet Holmgren will also be in the mix in 2023/24.
Pokusevksi, meanwhile, has flashed tantalizing upside since being drafted in the first round in 2020 and boosted his shooting percentages significantly in 2022/23, posting career highs of 43.4% from the floor and 36.5% on threes. However, he still hasn’t really put it all together for an extended period, and he’s on an expiring $5MM contract — it’s unclear if the Thunder envision keeping him beyond his current deal. If he remains on the roster, he’d be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason or restricted free agency next summer.
While no one else on the Thunder’s roster is a legitimate release candidate, it’s possible the team could consider trading someone else – perhaps Kenrich Williams – though a handful of players (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, etc.) are untouchable.
If I had to make a prediction today, I’d project Oladipo and Mann as the first two odd men out, with Bertans, White, or Robinson-Earl as the third roster casualty. It would surprise me if Joe, Wiggins, or Pokusevski is waived, though a trade involving one of those players certainly isn’t out of the question.
What do you think? Which three (or more) of the Thunder players currently on standard contracts won’t be on the team’s 15-man roster when the season begins in October? Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts.
The NBA has fined Sixers star James Harden $100K, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
The fine is in response to Harden’s recent comments in which he referred to Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey as a “liar” and said he had no intention of being part of an organization that Morey is a part of, as well as a follow-up interview in which he stated that he thinks his relationship with the franchise is “beyond repair.”
“(Harden) has been fined $100,000 by the NBA for public comments on August 14 and 17 indicating that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team,” the NBA’s statement reads. “The league’s investigation, which included an interview with Harden, confirmed that these comments referenced Harden’s belief that the 76ers would not accommodate his request to be traded.”
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT first reported (via Twitter) that Harden was on the cusp of receiving a substantial fine from the league, while ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) was the first to report it would be worth $100K.
After Harden called Morey a liar during a promotional appearance in China, the NBA launched an investigation to determine what the former MVP’s comments were referring to and to ascertain whether he intends to hold out this fall.
There had been some speculation that Harden was suggesting he and the Sixers reached a handshake agreement during his 2022 free agency on a contract to be finalized in 2023 and that Morey reneged on that agreement. If the NBA found proof of such an agreement, the 76ers would have faced a significant punishment of their own.
However, there has been no indication that Harden was talking about his contract situation when he said Morey lied. As Shams Charania of The Athletic reports, Harden informed league investigators that he called Morey a liar because the Sixers president told the veteran guard he’d be traded “quickly” after he asked to be moved in June.
That obviously hasn’t happened, and recent reporting has suggested that Philadelphia is no longer engaging in trade talks involving Harden. But since the Sixers have no obligation to trade a player who asks to be moved, they’re not in violation of any league rules and won’t face any discipline from the NBA at this time.
On the other hand, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the league has the ability to fine a player a maximum of $100K (up from $50K in the previous CBA) for “conduct or statements prejudicial or detrimental to the best interests of basketball.” The NBA apparently determined that Harden’s statements fit that bill.
According to The Athletic, Sixers owner Josh Harris said on Monday that he’s working to convince Harden to remain in Philadelphia, but isn’t closing the door on a trade.
“I respect James. I want to, obviously, accommodate what he wants,” Harris said. “At the same time, I have to think about a championship-contending team, what we can get back. I’d love to convince him to stay. I understand that that’s not what he wants to do right now.
“I’m going to keep working to resolve it in a way that everyone can live with and is positive for everyone, whatever that resolution is. … I respect him as a basketball player, and as a person. It’s back to, these are, you’re dealing with people, right? And you’ve got to be there. We’ll see where it comes out.”
Mavericks guard Josh Green, who sat out Australia’s final World Cup tune-up game on Tuesday due to a minor ankle injury, is considered healthy and available for the Boomers’ World Cup opener on Friday, per Basketball Australia (Twitter link via Olgun Uluc of ESPN).
Green, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension with Dallas this offseason, is expected to play a key role for an Australian squad looking to improve upon its fourth-place finish at the 2019 World Cup.
Here are a few more notes on the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which tips off this Friday:
- The Brazilian national team has officially announced its 12-man roster for the World Cup (Twitter link). While no current NBA players are on the roster, former NBAers like Raul Neto, Bruno Caboclo, and Cristiano Felicio will be representing the Brazilians.
- FIBA is permitting each national team to have one “naturalized” player on its roster for the 2023 World Cup, prompting Meliksah Bayrav of Eurohoops to highlight some of the notable players who fall into this group, including Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (Philippines) and Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson (China).
- As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, it’s not just the players who are asked to accept lesser roles than they’re accustomed to when they join Team USA. Vardon takes an in-depth look at a talented U.S. coaching staff under Steve Kerr, noting that accomplished title-winning head coaches like Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue have happily performed the “grunt work” expected of assistants during the lead-up to the World Cup.
Lonzo Ball has confirmed he’ll miss the 2023/24 season, but the Bulls point guard expressed optimism that he’ll eventually overcome his knee issues and return to action, he said on the “From the Point by Trae Young podcast” (hat tip to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago).
Ball underwent cartilage transplant surgery in March.
“I just had a really big surgery—hopefully, the last one I ever have to get. It’s a long process. I’m already out this whole next season,” Ball said. “When I first got hurt, we didn’t really know what it was. I was seeing all type of different doctors and stuff. I was just kind of going up and down. That was really hard for me because I just didn’t know what the next day was going to be like. At least now, I got the surgery. We got a plan moving forward. We’ve been on plan. I’m on track.”
Chicago has already been granted a disabled player exception worth $10.23MM due to Ball’s inability to play in 2023/24.
We have more on the Bulls:
- While many observers believe the Bulls’ current core group has a limited ceiling, general manager Marc Eversley says the front office has faith in the roster they’ve assembled. “I think for us as a front office, how we see our ceiling may be different than others,” he told Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “And the way we have operated is we’re going to operate this with our beliefs. We’ve all been to different places. We’ve seen what success looks like. We can’t run this operation based on what people may think the outcome may be. We trust each other.”
- In the same interview, Eversley said they’d like to work out another contract agreement with DeMar DeRozan, who is heading into his walk year. “I would love DeMar to be part of this program long term. Let’s see how that plays out and what that looks like going forward,” he said. “When those conversations take place, we’ll speak about that more when that happens. But we hope Deebo’s back. He’s been an integral part of this program’s success. We hope he is here long term.” DeRozan will remain extension-eligible through next June 30.
- Eversley also appeared on the Bulls Talk Podcast and hinted that the front office is taking a wait-and-see approach regarding power forward Patrick Williams‘ future, according to Johnson. Williams is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason. “He has shown flashes over the first three years. I want to see him show more instances of flashes, more consistent,” Eversley said. “He’s got it in him. A lot of that comes with growth off of the court. And I can tell you he’s starting to grow. He’s starting to get it. It’s starting to click. And when he puts it together—and he will put it together—we might have something special.”
Pelicans forward Herbert Jones admits he didn’t expect to sign a lucrative long-term contract at this stage of his career, he told Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Jones, the 35th pick of the 2021 draft, inked a four-year, $54MM deal in July.
“It was crazy, to say the least. It was just, like, crazy how quick it happens to be honest. … It just felt like the time had flown by almost,” the third-year Pelicans forward said. “When it happened, I was super shocked it had happened so quickly into my career, given where I was drafted.”
Jones, noted for his defense, averaged 9.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 66 starts for the Pelicans last season.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- Victor Wembanyama is working on his strength and toughness in an unconventional manner. He’s taking lessons from San Antonio boxing great “Jesse” James Leija, according to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “I was shocked he was going to work out with us,” Leija said of the Spurs’ top pick. “I didn’t think he would ever do it because he is new and they want to make sure nothing happens to him. But, nah, he was ready. We wrapped him up and he took to it so fast. I was amazed at how fast he picked it up, his skill level.”
- TyTy Washington has cleared waivers, leaving the Thunder with $2,320,440 in dead money on their salary cap, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets. The 29th pick of the 2022 draft was waived on Friday. Washington played for the Rockets in his rookie season, then was dealt twice this summer. Oklahoma City is off the hook for the $2.43MM and $4.39MM team options on his contract for ’24/25 and ’25/26.
- Reggie Jackson re-signed with the Nuggets last month and the veteran point guard expects to play a significant role as they look to defend their title. “This is a big season for me and for us in general,” Jackson told The Athletic’s Tony Jones. “The understanding that we have to go into the season with is that we have a mark on our backs collectively as a team. But, also, I have to do my part and do everything I can to try and make us as successful as possible.”
The Raptors and the team’s parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, expressed surprise that the Knicks filed a lawsuit against them regarding alleged proprietary violations and issued a denial that the company was involved, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets via a Raptors press release.
The Knicks filed the lawsuit on Monday alleging that former employee Ikechukwu Azotam “illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position” with the Raptors. Azotam, who was hired away by Toronto this offseason, allegedly shared the proprietary information with “several members” of the team, including head coach Darko Rajakovic and player development coach Noah Lewis.
“MLSE and the Toronto Raptors received a letter from MSG on Thursday of last week bringing this complaint to our attention,” Toronto’s response reads. “MLSE responded promptly, making clear our intention to conduct an internal investigation and to fully cooperate. MLSE has not been advised that a lawsuit was being filed or has been filed following its correspondence with MSG. The company strongly denies any involvement in the matters alleged. MLSE and the Toronto Raptors will reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”
The Knicks allege that not only did Rajakovic know what was occurring but that he “recruited and used” Azotam to help him build out the operations for his coaching staff, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz, Mike Vornukov and Eric Koreen.
The lawsuit alleges that the information Azotam forwarded to the Raptors included scouting reports, play frequency reports, a prep book, and a link to third-party licensed software. It also alleges that “Defendant Rajaković and the other Raptor Defendants recruited and used Azotam to serve as a mole within the Knicks organization to convey information that would assist the Raptors Defendants in trying to manage their team.”
The Athletic trio received a written statement from an MSG Sports spokesperson which stated that “we were left no choice but to take this action.”
Former NBA guard Tyreke Evans is mulling a move to Europe in order to continue his professional career, according to Tomer Givati of Israel Hayom (Twitter link).
Evans, 33, was dismissed and disqualified from the NBA in May 2019 for violating the league’s anti-drug program. He was reinstated in February 2022 and subsequently tried out for several teams — and briefly played for the Bucks’ G League affiliate — but has been unable to find another NBA opportunity.
The fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft, Evans was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2009/10 after averaging 20.1 points, 5.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 72 games with the Kings. Unfortunately, he was never quite able to match that debut, but he still played 594 regular season games over 10 seasons with Sacramento, New Orleans, Memphis and Indiana.
We’ll have to wait and see whether Evans catches on with a European team for the 2023/24 season.
Here are a few more international notes:
- Guard Jean Montero, who hails from the Dominican Republic and is representing his country in the upcoming World Cup, is reportedly nearing a deal with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes, reports David Rodriguez of Spanish outlet La Provincia (hat tip to Eurohoops). Montero was one of the top undrafted players in 2022, and part of the reason his Exhibit 10 contract with the Knicks never materialized is because he had a significant buyout clause with Spain’s Gran Carania. According to Rodriguez, Efes is willing to pay Montero’s buyout – worth 500K Euros – in order to sign the 20-year-old.
- Sergei Babkov, who won two World Cup silver medals with Russia in the 1990s and had a lengthy international career, has passed away at age 56, as Eurohoops relays.
- In an interesting story for HoopsHype, Jake Uitti details how the NBA became such a popular game around the globe, with top international players dominating the league in recent years and the percentage of international players continuing to grow over time.
The Knicks filed a lawsuit on Monday alleging that former employee Ikechukwu Azotam “illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position” with the Raptors, which he then shared with his new club, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter thread).
Azotam, who was hired away by Toronto this offseason, allegedly shared the proprietary information with “several members” of the team, including head coach Darko Rajakovic and player development coach Noah Lewis, Begley adds.
The lawsuit alleges Azotam signed a confidentiality agreement with the Knicks which required him “to maintain the secrecy of all confidential or proprietary Knicks information.” A source tells Begley the Knicks contacted both the Raptors and the NBA prior to filing the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York.
According to Begley, the lawsuit also alleges that the Raptors “directed Azotam to misuse his access to the Knicks’ subscription to Synergy Sports to create and then transfer to the Raptors Defendants over 3,000 files consisting of film information and data.”
A Madision Square Garden Sports spokesperson released a statement to Begley regarding the lawsuit (Twitter thread).
“The New York Knicks have sued the Toronto Raptors and several members of their organization, including a former Knicks employee, after the former employee illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position with the Toronto Raptors. These files include confidential information such as play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files and materials and more.
“Given the clear violation of our employment agreement, criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this action.”
[UPDATE: Raptors Respond To Lawsuit]
In addition to Azotam, Rajakovic, and Lewis, 10 other Raptors employees are also accused of wrongdoing, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday. Those employees are currently unknown — they’re listed as John Does “1” through “10.”