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Atlantic Notes: Smart, Sixers, Thomas

July 14th, 2022 at 11:24pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Fresh off his first Finals appearance, Celtics guard Marcus Smart is excited for the on-court fit of the newly-acquired Malcolm Brogdon and recent free agency signing Danilo Gallinari, per Jay King of The Athletic.

“I love it,” Smart told Kang. “You’ve got two veteran guys who can feed off each other, who can rotate and help this team in multiple ways. I think it’s going to fit perfect. Not one of us will have all the pressure of running the team. We’re doing this together… Of course, we all know what Malcolm brings to the table, we know what Gallo brings. And it’s just exciting to add those guys.”

According to King, team president Brad Stevens, Smart’s head coach with Boston from 2014-21, talked to Smart about both new Celtics and about the team’s evolution during their shared tenures with the franchise.

Though Smart served as Boston’s starting point guard throughout the club’s 2022 playoff run, he’s not a traditional pass-first ball-handler. The scoring and passing touch of the 6’5″ Brogdon, who can play either guard spot and defend at a high level when healthy, could make him an excellent complement to Smart in Boston’s backcourt rotation.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

As the Jazz field conversations with rival front offices for All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, the Sixers may actually reap some ancillary rewards, writes Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. Should the Jazz continue to offload their older players, Neubeck notes that proven veteran Utah guards like Patrick Beverley, Malik Beasley and Jordan Clarkson could be solid fits for Philadelphia as the team continues to build out its depth.
Second-year Nets shooting guard Cam Thomas is prioritizing on his own Summer League development and not Brooklyn’s potential upcoming personnel turnover, specifically regarding the futures of All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, writes Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “Anybody can get traded,” Thomas, the No. 27 pick out of LSU in 2021, acknowledged. “So, I try to stay away from them as much as I can, and just keep working on what the coach wants me to work on, even though that might change depending on who we have. I just want to keep working on what I’ve been working on, honestly.” Through four games in Las Vegas thus far, Thomas’s hard work has been paying off. He’s averaging 28.0 PPG, 3.8 APG, 1.8 RPG and 0.8 SPG.
In case you missed it, we previously relayed the contract details for new Knicks Jalen Brunson, Mitchell Robinson, and Isaiah Hartenstein.

Contract Details: Kornet, Wall, Jokic, Garland, Reed, More

July 13th, 2022 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Luke Kornet‘s new two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Celtics includes multiple salary guarantee dates this year, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Currently, Kornet’s $2.13MM salary for 2022/23 is only partially guaranteed for $100K, but that guarantee would increase to $300K if the big man remains under contract through August 15. If Kornet makes Boston’s regular season roster, half of his salary (approximately $1.07MM) would become guaranteed.

Kornet’s deal with the Celtics doesn’t include any guarantee triggers beyond that, so his ’22/23 salary would become fully guaranteed after the league-wide salary guarantee deadline in January. His ’23/24 salary is non-guaranteed and would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through January 7, 2024.

Here are a few more details on newly signed contracts:

The second year of John Wall‘s two-year deal with the Clippers is a team option, Hoops Rumors has learned. Los Angeles used its full $6,479,000 taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Wall.
Nikola Jokic‘s super-max extension with the Nuggets and Darius Garland‘s new maximum-salary extension with the Cavaliers both feature 15% trade kickers.
Davon Reed‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Nuggets is fully guaranteed in year one and non-guaranteed in year two. Reed’s second-year salary will become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived by July 8, 2023.
The Magic used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign second-round pick Caleb Houstan to a four-year contract that includes guaranteed $2MM salaries in each of the first two seasons. The third and fourth years are worth the minimum and are non-guaranteed — there’s also a team option on the fourth year.
As expected, the Lakers signed second-rounder Max Christie to a two-year, minimum-salary contract. That deal will be fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned. L.A. couldn’t offer Christie more than two years or more than the rookie minimum after using the full taxpayer mid-level exception on Lonnie Walker.
Michael Foster Jr.‘s deal with the Sixers is an Exhibit 10 contract, meaning the team has the option of converting it into a two-way contract before the season.

Atlantic Notes: McBride, Randle, Stevens, Tucker

July 12th, 2022 at 9:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The addition of Jalen Brunson could make playing time scarce for Miles McBride but he’s trying to remain confident, Zach Braziler of the New York Post writes. The 2021 second-round pick played in 40 games last season and projects as the Knicks’ third-string point guard behind Brunson and Derrick Rose. “Doing whatever I can to be on the floor [is my mindset],” he said. “If that means making shots, bringing the ball up, finding the open man, playing defense, I’m doing anything I can to be on the floor.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Julius Randle showed his leadership by inviting young players Jericho Sims and Feron Hunt to summer weight and cardio sessions in Dallas, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News notes. “It was cool. He wanted me to come down, so I said, ‘Hey, he’s a big-time player, why not get close to him, build that relationship,’” Sims said. Randle is trying to improve an image that was tarnished during a disappointing season for him and the Knicks. He’s at the beginning of a four-year extension.
Brad Stevens is happy with his current status as the Celtics’ top executive but he’s not ruling out coaching again someday, as he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I’ve enjoyed both roles I’ve been in. I love the people I’ve worked with in both roles, and my family loves it, so, yeah, we’re really happy,” he said. “I’m not going to try to predict the future. I have no idea. No idea. I don’t know if I’d ever coach again. We’ll see.”
Toughness, durability and 3-point shooting are among the attributes that P.J. Tucker brings to the Sixers. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com breaks down all the aspects of Tucker’s game and the intangibles he adds to the table as the veteran forward transitions from one Eastern Conference contender to another.

Sixers Sign Michael Foster Jr.

July 10th, 2022 at 8:13pm CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers have signed undrafted rookie Michael Foster Jr., the team announced today in a press release.

Shams Charania of The Athletic indicated last month that Foster was heading to Philadelphia, so the news was expected. He’s currently a member of the Sixers’ Summer League squad.

Foster, a forward who played for the G League Ignite in 2021/22, is the No. 3 prospect on ESPN’s list of undrafted rookies. The former five-star recruit recorded 14.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.9 BPG in 13 games (29.8 MPG) for the Ignite.

The terms of Foster’s agreement are unclear, but if it’s an Exhibit 10 deal, it’ll be a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract that could be converted into a two-way deal before the regular season begins. A player on an Exhibit 10 contract is also eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and then becomes an affiliate player for his team’s G League squad.

Sixers Notes: House, Petrusev, Winston, Springer

July 10th, 2022 at 5:53pm CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers recently signed forward Danuel House as a free agent, giving him all of their bi-annual exception worth $8.4MM over two years, including a player option in the second season. With that in mind, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com explores what House can bring to Philadelphia’s roster.

As Neubeck details, most of House’s offensive value lies in his ability to hit outside shots, which he’s done inconsistently to this point in his career. Since he’s more of a ceiling-raiser rather than a floor-raiser, House tends to shoot much better when he doesn’t have to create for himself, which could portend well for the Sixers, since he’ll be reunited with James Harden.

For example, in 16 games with the rebuilding Rockets last season, House shot just 29.4% from three-point range, but that figure jumped up to 41.5% in 25 games with Utah. Overall, he holds a career mark of 36.6% from deep, which is definitely respectable (for context, the league average was 35.4% in 2021/22 and 36.7% in ’20/21).

The other side of the ball is where House has made most of his impact, Neubeck writes. The Jazz were significantly better defensively when House was on the court and he’s shown to be capable of guarding multiple positions, as well as playing multiple schemes.

Ultimately, Neubeck believes that if House can find consistency, he’ll have a good chance to outperform his contract and help the Sixers.

Here’s more on the Sixers:

Filip Petrusev has a strong desire to transition to the NBA, but there might not be room on the roster in ’22/23, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I think every player wants to come as soon as possible,” Petrusev said. “I wanted to come last year, if you asked me. Yeah, for sure, whenever the time is, I’ll be ready.” Philadelphia selected the Serbian big man with the 50th pick of the 2021 draft and then stashed him overseas last season. He said he plans to keep signing one-year deals in Europe to ensure he’s available every offseason if things don’t work out this summer, per Pompey.
Cassius Winston, the 53rd pick of the 2020 draft out of Michigan State, struggled to make an impact during his first couple of seasons in the NBA, both of which were played on two-way contracts with the Wizards. League rules prevent players from staying on two-way deals with the same team for more than two seasons, and the Wizards weren’t interested in converting him to a standard deal, so he’s trying to make the most of his opportunity with Philadelphia’s Summer League squad, as Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays (subscriber link). “It happens,” Winston said of the end of his time with the Wizards. “I feel like I had a really good season last year. I feel like they thought so, too. It’s just some things just don’t work out that way. Now I’m back in an opportunity where I get to go out here and just find a good organization, find a good team — somebody who believes in me, somebody who trusts me to throw me out there. That’s what I’m here for.”
In another story for PhillyVoice.com, Neubeck shares his Summer League observations thus far. According to Neubeck, 2021 first-rounder Jaden Springer has looked rough around the edges and hasn’t shown he’s capable of masking his weaknesses of dribbling and driving, so he’s going to have to improve his shot to have a chance to get minutes going forward. Springer only appeared in two games for a total of six minutes as a rookie last season, spending most of his time in the G League, where he shot just 24.1% from deep in 20 regular season games with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s affiliate.

James Harden Plans To Sign Two-Year Deal With Sixers

July 8th, 2022 at 2:16pm CST by Luke Adams

After turning down a $47.4MM player option for the 2022/23 season, star guard James Harden will accept a starting salary about $15MM below that on a new deal with the Sixers, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). That would result in a ’22/23 salary in the $32-33MM range.

According to Charania, Harden intends to sign a two-year contract with Philadelphia that includes a player option for ’23/24. While the exact terms of the deal aren’t yet known, Charania’s reporting suggests a total value in the neighborhood of $66-68MM.

When Harden declined his option last week, reports at the time indicated that he planned to sign a new contract with the Sixers that included a lower first-year salary in order to help the team accommodate other roster moves.

Philadelphia has since used its full mid-level exception to sign P.J. Tucker and its bi-annual exception to sign Danuel House, hard-capping team salary at approximately $157MM for the season. Harden’s new deal should leave the 76ers with about $2MM in wiggle room below that hard cap, tweets Derek Bodner of The Daily Six.

According to Charania (Twitter link), Harden’s close relationships with key figures in the Sixers organization, including president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and minority owner Michael Rubin (who is selling his stake in the franchise but is expected to remain involved), were major factors in establishing trust between the two sides during negotiations.

There was a sense after Harden declined his option that he’d be rewarded with a long-term contract that would give him more total guaranteed money, but the one-plus-one structure will give him the chance to opt out and sign a new maximum-salary contract next summer. It will also give him veto power on any trade during the 2022/23 league year.

Harden, who was traded from Brooklyn to Philadelphia midway through the 2021/22 season, had a down year by his standards and was hampered by a hamstring injury. The 10-time All-Star finished the season with 22.0 PPG, 10.3 APG, and 7.7 RPG on .410/.330/.877 shooting in 65 total games (37.2 MPG) for the Nets and Sixers.

Charania reported last week that the former MVP has resumed his workout and on-court program much earlier than usual this offseason and has communicated to Sixers officials that he’s focused on winning a championship in 2023.

Rockets Notes: Frontcourt, Tate, Gordon, Martin

July 7th, 2022 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Whether or not they hang onto Boban Marjanovic, the Rockets would like to add one more big man to their roster, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who says the club may use a two-way contract slot to add more depth up front. Trevor Hudgins currently occupies one of Houston’s two-way slots, but the other is empty.

Iko names Moses Brown, Freddie Gillespie, Bruno Fernando, and Mfiondu Kabengele as players who could be of interest to the Rockets as they look to add another frontcourt player.

According to Iko, Houston had some interest in Isaiah Roby after he was waived by Oklahoma City, but the Spurs ultimately claimed him off waivers. The Rockets were ahead of San Antonio in the waiver order and had a trade exception available to claim Roby, but they already have 18 players on guaranteed contracts for 15 spots, so they likely weren’t eager to bring in another.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

The $500K annual bonus in Jae’Sean Tate‘s new three-year contract are tied to the Rockets winning at least 35 games, Iko reports. So Tate would earn an extra $1.5MM if Houston wins 35 or more games in each of the next three seasons.
The Rockets were close to trading Eric Gordon on draft night, possibly to the Sixers, but the deal fell apart, according to Iko, who says the Heat, Bucks, and Suns also pursued Gordon before the draft. Sources tell The Athletic that Philadelphia re-engaged Houston on the veteran shooting guard at the start of free agency, but there’s certainly no guarantee he’ll be moved before the season begins.
The Rockets aren’t in any rush to trade Kenyon Martin Jr. either, says Iko, noting that Martin may “need to mend some internal relationships” if a trade doesn’t materialize and he remains in Houston.

P.J. Tucker Gets Player Option In New Contract

July 6th, 2022 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers gave P.J. Tucker a player option for the final season of his three-year, $33MM contract, tweets Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

Fischer’s Latest: Ayton, Durant, S. Barnes, Kyrie

July 6th, 2022 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

Deandre Ayton appears to have been the free agent most directly affected by the ongoing Kevin Durant sweepstakes, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

As Fischer outlines, Ayton’s restricted free agency has been stalled in part because he could theoretically be an outgoing piece in a Suns deal for Durant and also because teams with interest in both players – including Toronto – won’t want to give up assets in a sign-and-trade for Ayton before seeing what happens with Durant.

According to Fischer, the Pacers and Raptors have been the teams most frequently linked to Ayton, with the Jazz described as a less likely destination for the young center. The Pacers and Spurs are the only teams that have the cap flexibility necessary to realistically extend an offer sheet to Ayton. It’s unclear whether he’d rather try to pursue a deal with one of them or wait for a possible sign-and-trade opportunity to a team closer to contention, Fischer says.

One hypothetical scenario is a multi-team trade that sends Durant to Phoenix; Ayton to Indiana in a sign-and-trade; and Myles Turner, multiple Suns wings, and draft capital to Brooklyn. However, Fischer hears from sources that such a package is unlikely to meet the Nets’ high asking price for Durant.

Here’s more from Fischer:

League personnel have begun to discuss the possibility of the Nets simply hanging onto Durant and Kyrie Irving into the regular season, according to Fischer. “Rudy Gobert getting traded for an arm, a leg and two mountains is helping their cause. There’s no way the Nets will ever trade Kevin Durant for anything less than what Rudy Gobert got Utah,” a Western Conference executive told Fischer. “If nothing comes, I can see them saying (to the players), ‘We just all have to come back.’ If I’m them, I just try to string this out as long as possible.”
As has been previously reported, there’s skepticism that the Suns will be able to build a package that appeals to the Nets without getting at least one more team involved. “Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and five picks still isn’t enough to me for KD,” one GM said to Bleacher Report.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell Fischer that the Raptors remain unwilling to part with Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes.
Fischer’s league sources “strongly discounted” the idea that either the Mavericks or Sixers is a serious suitor for Irving. The Lakers remain Brooklyn’s most obvious trade partner for Kyrie, but there’s a sense that they may need to involve a third team to meet the Nets‘ asking price — a package of Russell Westbrook and draft assets wouldn’t maximize Brooklyn’s chances of contending in the short term, Fischer explains.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Durant, Brogdon, Melton, Knicks

July 5th, 2022 at 10:56pm CST by Rory Maher

The potential price tag for acquiring Kevin Durant isn’t what should matter most to the Raptors, argues Scott Stinson of The National Post, who says that determining whether Durant would actually be motivated and invested in playing for Toronto should be the most important factor for the team’s lead decision-makers.

As Stinson writes, Durant’s motivation in asking for a trade out of Brooklyn remains a bit nebulous, especially since he just signed a four-year extension last August. That should concern vice chairman and president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, because dealing for a superstar who might not be engaged or on the same page as the club could be disastrous, according to Stinson.

Drawing parallels between Ujiri’s trade for Kawhi Leonard in the 2018 offseason to the Durant sweepstakes now doesn’t make sense, per Stinson, because the situations aren’t similar.

Leonard was coming off an injury that caused him to miss almost the entire 2017/18 season, was on an expiring contract, and the Raptors teams led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had been given ample time to breakthrough in the East, but couldn’t get past LeBron James. The Raptors finished second in the East in the two years after Leonard left Toronto, so obviously the team remained competitive and didn’t mortgage its future to acquire him, Stinson writes.

Durant, on the other hand, has four years remaining on his deal, so obviously it will cost significantly more to land him, plus the current version of the Raptors is ascendant, with Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr., and Precious Achiuwa among the new additions who made significant contributions to a team that improved its win total from 27 to 48. Dealing away from an emerging core only for Durant to balk at the idea of staying could put Toronto in a hole that would be difficult to climb out of, says Stinson.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Could a lesser role on the Celtics benefit Malcolm Brogdon from a health perspective? “The knock against him coming out of college is that he had terrible knees,” a rival general manager told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I mean, some of the examinations were really suspect in terms of how long his lower body would be able to take NBA pounding. So that’s why he ended up going in the second round, because he was damn near red-flagged. So the fact of the matter is he’s probably better off coming off the bench with limited minutes, trying to be impactful in 18 rather than trying to play 30 and always being injured. The question becomes how he’ll accept that.” Boston reportedly views Brogdon as a sixth man, and he said shortly after the deal was announced that he’s motivated to win a championship and is willing to sacrifice his individual stats for the betterment of the team.
De’Anthony Melton believes he’s a “great fit” for the Sixers, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link). “Once I saw the team, I’m like, ‘OK, that’s a great spot,'” Melton told The Inquirer by phone last week. “That’s a great fit for me. … I understand what this team needs. I understand what this team is trying to do. I’m ready for the task at hand. I’m ready for whatever’s to come.” Melton was acquired from the Grizzlies in exchange for the No. 23 pick (David Roddy) and Danny Green in a draft-day swap.
Signing free agent guard Jalen Brunson was a solid move for the Knicks but they still look like a play-in team on paper, Ian O’Connor of The New York Post opines. According to O’Connor, while Brunson is a good player and the best point guard the Knicks will employ in years, neither he nor RJ Barrett or Julius Randle are capable of being the best — or second-best — players on a championship-caliber team, and unless something drastic changes, New York will begin 2022/23 as “just another barely relevant club.”

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