Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 11 a.m. Central time (noon Eastern). Click here to read the transcript.
Brent Barry is moving from a front office role in San Antonio to Phoenix’s bench for the 2024/25 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the Suns are hiring Barry as an assistant coach.
A former NBA sharpshooter who played in the league from 1995-2009, Barry made 40.5% of his career three-point attempts and won a pair of championships with the Spurs in 2005 and 2007.
Following his retirement as a player, Barry initially transitioned into the media space, serving as an analyst with TNT from 2016-18.
He was hired by San Antonio in 2018 as the team’s vice president of basketball operations and has spent the last six seasons with the organization. In addition to his VP role, he was the general manager of the Austin Spurs from 2022-24. However, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported last month that Barry was expected to move on from the club this offseason.
Barry’s move to the sidelines doesn’t come out of nowhere. He previously interviewed for the Trail Blazers’ head coaching job in 2021 — that position ultimately went to Chauncey Billups.
Barry represents the latest addition to a new-look Suns coaching staff under head coach Mike Budenholzer, who was a longtime Spurs assistant earlier in his career and overlapped with Barry in San Antonio from 2004-08. David Fizdale, Chad Forcier, Mike Hopkins, Chaisson Allen, and Vince Legarza are among Budenholzer’s other assistants.
The Hornets are waiving veteran point guard Reggie Jackson, league sources tell Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Boone had previously reported that the move was expected, and it’s now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), Jackson intends to sign with the Sixers once he clears waivers.
Prior to Wojnarowski’s report, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer had tweeted that the 76ers would have interest in Jackson, who played with Paul George in Los Angeles from 2020-23.
A 13-year NBA veteran, Jackson spent the 2023/24 season in Denver, backing up Jamal Murray at the point. He averaged 10.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game, posting a .431/.359/.806 shooting line in 82 outings (23 starts).
Jackson exercised a $5.25MM player option in June, but the Nuggets wanted to go in a different direction with their backup point guard spot and traded the 34-year-old to Charlotte along with multiple second-round picks in a salary-dump deal. Denver is poised to sign Russell Westbrook to fill the backcourt hole created by that deal.
The Hornets, meanwhile, made their trade with Denver in order to acquire those future second-round picks rather than Jackson, who wasn’t in their plans for 2024/25. It’s the second time in the last two years that Charlotte has traded for Jackson and waived him shortly thereafter — it also happened in February 2023, when the Clippers sent him to the Hornets in a deal for Mason Plumlee. Jackson was cut three few days later and caught on with Denver on the buyout market at that time.
Waiving Jackson will create an opening on Charlotte’s 15-man roster, leaving the team with 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts and one (Taj Gibson) on a partially guaranteed deal.
The Sixers, meanwhile, figure to bring Jackson aboard on a minimum-salary contract, since that’s all they can offer to free agents after having used up their cap space and their room exception. The veteran guard will be the 13th man on Philadelphia’s standard roster, providing additional depth in a backcourt that includes rising star Tyrese Maxey, veterans Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, and rookie Jared McCain.
A minimum deal for Jackson will pay him about $3.3MM while counting against the 76ers’ cap for just $2.09MM.
Two more nations have set their 12-man rosters for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris, with Serbia and Greece both officially announcing their squads (Twitter links).
The Serbian roster is headlined by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and includes a few more NBA players beyond the Nuggets center. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, and Heat forward Nikola Jovic will also represent Serbia in Paris.
Jovic’s inclusion is particularly notable, since there was some uncertainty earlier this month about whether he’d be healthy enough to play. He injured his ankle during an offseason workout in Miami in June, but has apparently received medical clearance for the Olympics.
Nikola Milutinov, Ognjen Dobric, Vanja Marinkovic, Marko Guduric, Filip Petrusev, Aleksa Avramovic, Dejan Davidovac, and Uros Plavsic round out Serbia’s roster. Former NBA first-round pick Aleksej Pokusevski, who finished last season with the Hornets, isn’t among the final 12.
Meanwhile, Greece has also confirmed its Olympic roster, which will be led by another former NBA MVP, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is the only Antetokounmpo suiting up for Greece in France at this year’s event, since his brothers Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Kostas Antetokounmpo are both dealing with injuries.
While Giannis is the only active NBA player on the Greek roster, a few others have previously played in the league, including Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, and Kostas Papanikolaou. Former Stephen F. Austin standout Thomas Walkup also signed an NBA contract back in 2016, though he never appeared in a regular season game.
Dinos Mitoglou, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Vassilis Charalampopoulos, Nikos Chougkaz, Dimitris Moraitis, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, and Vassilis Toliopoulos make up the rest of Greece’s roster.
Serbia’s first pool-play game of the Olympics will take place on Sunday vs. Team USA, while Greece’s Olympic schedule will tip off a day earlier, with a Saturday showdown vs. Canada.
Melvin Ajinca, who was selected with the No. 51 overall pick in last month’s draft, won’t be immediately joining the Mavericks. The 6’8″ forward has signed a one-year contract with ASVEL Basket, according to an announcement from the French team.
A native of France, Ajinca has spent the last several years playing in his home country, including the past two seasons with Saint-Quentin. The club played in LNB Pro B (France’s second-tier league) in 2022/23, then earned a promotion to LNB Elite (the top league in the country) for the ’23/24 season.
In 28 games for Saint-Quentin last season, Ajinca averaged 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per contest. The 20-year-old struggled to score efficiently, however, making just 37.5% of his shot attempts from the floor, including 30.9% of his three-pointers. That trend continued this month at the Las Vegas Summer League, where he made just 13-of-44 (29.5%) shot attempts across five games for the Mavs and went 5-of-25 (20.0%) from beyond the arc.
Dallas traded up during the second round of last month’s draft in order to nab Ajinca. The Mavs sent the No. 58 pick and $1MM in cash – along with the draft rights to Petteri Koponen – to the Knicks in exchange for the No. 51 pick, which they used on Ajinca.
There was never likely to be room on the Mavs’ 15-man roster for Ajinca though. Dallas currently has 13 players on guaranteed contracts, with Spencer Dinwiddie set to sign a one-year deal and Markieff Morris widely expected to return to fill out the roster.
Ajinca looked like a possible two-way candidate, but now that he’ll remain overseas for at least one more season, the Mavs will have the flexibility to fill that third two-way slot with another player. Alex Fudge and Brandon Williams are currently on two-way contracts with the club, leaving one opening.
As part of a buyout agreement with the Jazz, veteran guard Russell Westbrook gave up exactly $1.7MM, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Utah waived Westbrook on Saturday.
The buyout reduces Westbrook’s cap hit on Utah’s books from $4,027,525 to $2,327,525, giving the team a little extra salary cap flexibility. No team currently has more cap space than the Jazz, who still have about $33MM in available room.
The Jazz also reportedly received $4.3MM in cash from the Clippers in their trade for Westbrook, so despite being on the hook for about $2.33MM of the guard’s salary, they’ll come out nearly $2MM ahead from a financial perspective.
Westbrook will also come out ahead, since he’s reportedly on track to sign a minimum-salary contract with the Nuggets. That deal with Denver will pay him $3,303,771, increasing his total earnings for the 2024/25 season to $5,631,296, exceeding what he would have made if he had remained on his original $4.03MM contract.
As for the Clippers, they presumably could’ve reached a similar buyout agreement with Westbrook, but trading him to Utah allowed them to give Kris Dunn a more lucrative contract than they otherwise would’ve been able to. Using Westbrook’s $4MM+ outgoing salary for matching purposes, L.A. acquired Dunn via sign-and-trade, giving him a starting salary of $5,168,000 on his new three-year deal.
Westbrook is on track to serve as Jamal Murray‘s primary backup and play a significant role in Denver this season. Nikola Jokic reportedly advocated for the addition of the former MVP.
JULY 23: Reeves’ deal is official, according to the NBA’s transaction log.
JULY 22: The Pelicans and second-round pick Antonio Reeves have agreed on a three-year, $5.41MM contract, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The third year is a team option.
New Orleans likely used the second-round pick exception to sign Reeves at the minimum-salary level. A three-year rookie minimum deal this season is worth $5,408,801.
Reeves averaged 11.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game in five appearances for the Pelicans’ Summer League team in Las Vegas.
Reeves was the No. 47 overall pick and was dealt by Orlando to New Orleans in a draft-night trade. The Magic acquired second-round pick swaps in 2030 and 2031 in the deal.
Adding Reeves puts the Pelicans at 14 standard contracts if Matt Ryan, whose deal becomes guaranteed on opening night, is included in that total, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets.
A Chicago native who spent his first three college seasons at Illinois State, Reeves transferred to Kentucky in 2022 and spent his final two seasons with the Wildcats.
Reeves could emerge as an offensive spark-plug. The 6’4″ guard had a very efficient offensive season in 2023/24, averaging 20.2 points and 4.2 rebounds on .512/.447/.863 shooting in 33 games (31.4 MPG).
Kevin Durant didn’t participate in any of Team USA’s exhibition games due to a right calf strain. Regardless, his spot on the 12-man roster is not in jeopardy as the team heads to Paris for the Olympics, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
“There’s no thought of replacing Kevin,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I was hoping he would get a game in here, but it just didn’t work out that way.”
The current plan for Durant is to practice with the team several times when it gets to France later this week. Kerr said he wants Durant to have some contact and go through a scrimmage before the Suns superstar suits up. His availability for Sunday’s pool play opener against Serbia is uncertain but Durant practiced last week and ramped up his activity level over the weekend.
We have more on Team USA:
- After its stunning close call against South Sudan, Team USA had another tough challenge in its exhibition finale against Germany on Monday. LeBron James came to the rescue, supplying 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. He made several clutch plays and baskets down the stretch of a 92-88 win, scoring the team’s last 11 points. “Just putting the team on his shoulders,” said Jrue Holiday, per Windhorst.
- Joel Embiid had his best exhibition outing on Monday, as he contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. “People who watch me know that every season it takes me a couple of games to get going, and this is no different,” Embiid said. “That’s the reason we’ve got preseason games. I feel like myself and I’m going to keep going and I’m going to be playing at that MVP level I’ve played for the last five or six seasons.”
- Holiday is appearing in his second straight Olympics. He had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists on Monday. “Plug into the gaps where I can,” Holiday told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.com, explaining how he expects to contribute. “Knowing that because of the caliber of the team that we have, the minutes might not be there. Or we might not even play in some games. Whenever you get the chance to shoot, you might just get one or two shots. I feel like somebody like me, it’s not about the shots. It’s about going out there and experiencing the game and doing the things that is a little bit of the dirty work. You can impact the game without scoring. I’d like to think I’ve always been that type of player.”
Gianluca Pascucci has joined the Pistons front office, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Pascucci spent last season as a Bulls scout after a stint as assistant GM with the Timberwolves. He left Minnesota in May 2022 after the organization decided not to pick up its option on his contract.
Pistons first-year president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon previously worked with Pascucci in the Nets’ front office.
Pascucci joins several other hires this summer in Detroit’s revamped front office. Former Mavericks executive Dennis Lindsey was brought in to be their senior VP of basketball operations and former Pelicans executive Michael Blackstone was added as an executive VP of basketball operations.
They also hired former Nets director of player personnel J.R. Holden in an executive role.
Alperen Sengun would like to sign a rookie scale extension this offseason but he admits he may have to wait until next offseason, Eurohoops relays. The Rockets center was asked about his contract situation during a “Sunday Chat with Fatih Altayli” broadcast.
“We are waiting. My managers are negotiating with them,” he said. “I don’t become a free agent next year. This year, teams can’t make offers to me. Next year, other teams can make offers.”
Sengun would become a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t reach an extension agreement this offseason. There has been speculation that the Rockets might follow the Sixers’ approach to this offseason, where they delayed a max extension with Tyrese Maxey until this summer in order to open up as much cap space as possible to pursue top free agents.
Sengun, who finished third in the Most Improved Player balloting, would rather get long-term security sooner than later.
“Right now, they don’t have to sign, but of course, I want to sign. Because then your mind is at ease. You secure your future,” Sengun said.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Clippers signed Kris Dunn to a three-year, $16,279,200 contract which is non-guaranteed in the final year, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The third year can become fully guaranteed if Dunn is named to the All-Defensive First or Second Team during either the 2024/25 or 2025/26 season — if he doesn’t earn All-Defensive honors, his guarantee date for the third-year salary would be June 30, 2026. Los Angeles acquired Dunn in a sign-and-trade with Utah.
- The Nuggets shouldn’t put Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup to fill Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s spot, Sean Keeler of the Denver Post opines. Westbrook is joining Denver after clearing waivers on Monday. Westbrook would be better off anchoring a mostly youthful second unit, providing leadership and a change of pace. He’d be a better backup at the point than Reggie Jackson – who was dealt to Charlotte – was last season, Keeler adds. Westbrook would still get chances to start if and when Murray is unavailable.
- Assuming Brandon Ingram doesn’t get traded, what does the Pelicans’ depth chart look like? Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune explores that topic, projecting a starting five of Dejounte Murray, Herbert Jones, Ingram, Zion Williamson and Daniel Theis. That would leave Jose Alvarado, Trey Murphy, Yves Missi, and – most notably – CJ McCollum as the top reserves.
- Spurs center Charles Bassey gave up his right to veto a trade during the 2024/25 league year, Hoops Rumors has learned. A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract (or a two-year deal with a second-year option) is typically given a de facto no-trade clause for the season, but that right can be waived as part of a contract agreement.