Luka Doncic (left heel contusion) has been ruled out for the Mavericks‘ game vs. the Clippers on Thursday, while Kyrie Irving (right shoulder soreness) is questionable to play, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link).
There was some good news on the injury front for Dallas, however, as neither Naji Marshall nor Maxi Kleber is on the injury report for Thursday’s game. Marshall has missed five of the Mavs’ past six games while battling an illness; Kleber was unavailable for the past three due to an illness and a rib injury.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., has put forth a proposal for the city to buy Capital One Arena from Monumental Sports, the Wizards‘ parent company, according to Michael Brice-Saddler and Sam Fortier of The Washington Post.
The plan proposes the city buy the arena for $87.5MM, with that money coming out of a $515MM fund that city council approved earlier this year for renovations and expansions to the building. The idea would be to lease the arena back to the Wizards, with that lease extending through at least 2050.
D.C. already owns the land under Capital One Arena, Brice-Saddler and Fortier write, and if Monumental maintains control of the building, Ted Leonsis‘ company would be required to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes back to city on the money it receives for arena renovations, which are projected to cost $800MM in total (with at least $285MM being contributed by Monumental). That wouldn’t be the case if the arena is sold to the city.
“This is the deal that was always contemplated when Mayor Bowser and the D.C. Council approved a $515 million improvement in Capital One Arena,” deputy mayor for planning and economic development Nina Albert said in a statement. “This is the best structure to effectuate that; it is what enables an efficient use of public money to be fully reinvested in this project.”
Here’s more on the Wizards:
Although the Warriors think Jonathan Kuminga has All-Star potential, they weren’t willing to sign him at this time to the kind of long-term rookie scale extension he was seeking without a more concrete belief that he’ll reach that level, writes Monte Poole of NBC Bay Area.
[RELATED: No Extension For Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors]
As Poole explains, no one on Golden State’s roster besides Stephen Curry is making $30MM+ per year and Kuminga was seeking a deal that was worth “well beyond that amount.” While the Warriors aren’t opposed to making that sort of commitment to the fourth-year forward, they want to see more from him this season before signing off on such a significant contract.
“He took a leap last season,” one source told Poole. “They want to see another one before they make that investment. He’s still under their control. If Kuminga has a strong season, I know they’ll take care of him.”
Without a rookie scale extension in place, Kuminga will be a restricted free agent in 2025, giving the Warriors the right to match any offer sheet he signs with a new team.
Here are a few more notes from around the NBA on the contract extensions that did and didn’t get done on Monday:
5:16pm: Kispert’s extension is official, the Wizards announced in a press release.
“Corey is someone who positively impacts our environment daily. He consistently shows up for the organization as both a player and a teammate, embodying the passion and professionalism we value,” Dawkins said in a statement. “We are excited that he has the opportunity to continue his growth and development in Washington. He’s a relentless worker who has added to his game each season. We look forward to his further evolution in the coming years.”
3:53pm: The Wizards are signing swingman Corey Kispert to a four-year, $54MM rookie scale extension, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The deal will include a team option on the fourth year, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Kispert, 25, has been a regular part of Washington’s rotation since being selected out of Gonzaga with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft. He averaged a career-high 13.4 points per game last season while also chipping in 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.8 minutes per night across 80 outings (22 starts).
Kispert’s calling card is his ability to knock down outside shots. Over the past two seasons, he has converted 40.2% of 5.6 three-point attempts per contest, making him a valuable floor-spacer.
Since Kispert was drafted by the Wizards’ previous front office, it wasn’t clear leading up to Monday’s extension deadline whether the current decision-makers would value him highly enough to sign him to a long-term deal.
However, president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins showed last fall in extending Deni Avdija that they’re willing to lock up young talent if the price is reasonable, even if that player was a carryover from the previous regime and isn’t necessarily a lock to be in the team’s long-term plans — Avdija was traded this July.
It’s possible Kispert could eventually emerge as a trade candidate too for the rebuilding Wizards, though moving him in 2024/25 would be tricky due to the poison pill provision.
A full four-year mid-level exception contract in 2025 is projected to be worth just over $60MM, so Kispert’s contract will come in a little below that figure.
The deadline for teams to sign players to rookie scale contract extensions falls on Monday and will force several clubs to make tough decisions.
The Warriors have two players under consideration for rookie scale extensions: Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. As we relayed Friday evening, Moody appears more likely than Kuminga to receive an extension by Monday. Moody is in line to receive minutes at the wing spot in the wake up Klay Thompson‘s departure, and NBA insider Jake Fischer reports he could earn more than $10MM per season on his extension (Threads link).
However, Kuminga is seeking a near-max contract that would pay him north of $30MM annually. According to Fischer, the Warriors have “never seemed intent” on paying the forward that kind of money ahead of the season. That tracks with earlier reporting, which suggested that both sides are content to wait to see if Kuminga takes another step forward in 2024/25 and helps propel the team back into contention as its second- or third-best player. In that scenario, he would presumably be rewarded in restricted free agency next offseason.
Moody averaged 8.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last season while Kuminga broke out, averaging 16.1 PPG on 52.9% shooting from the field.
We have more on this year’s rookie scale extension candidates:
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, new Hawks big man Larry Nance Jr. singled out Jalen Johnson and Vit Krejci as players who have impressed him in training camp, tweets Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com.
“He dominated practice today,” Nance said of Johnson. “He was awesome. He was knocking down threes in transition. He’s been really, really impressive, and I’m trying to push him into speaking some more and leading the group and breaking the huddles and stuff like that, because he’s going to be a guy in this league and with that comes ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown.’ He’s going to wear the crown one day, and he is being groomed for that.”
Nance, who was acquired from the Pelicans this offseason in the Dejounte Murray trade, said he wasn’t very familiar with Krejci’s game before he joined Atlanta, but that has quickly changed.
“The dude can really play,” Nance said of Krejci. “He passes, he dribbles, he can shoot it. He’s shooting the heck out of it. And he defends. … Vit has been super impressive.”
Johnson is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason ahead of the final season of his rookie contract, while Krejci just signed a new four-year contract with Atlanta over the summer.
Here’s more from the Southeast:
Exploring a potential deal for Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma on Wednesday, the Kings discussed a framework that would have sent their No. 13 overall pick to Washington as part of the package and moved Sacramento down to No. 26, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. If that deal had happened, the Wizards would’ve had a third lottery pick to go along with No. 2 and No. 14, but no agreement was reached and Washington ultimately traded up from No. 26 to No. 24 instead.
Still, after agreeing to trade Deni Avdija to Portland on Wednesday, it seems safe to assume the Wizards will continue to listen to inquiries on their veteran players, including Kuzma, Fischer writes. Fischer has also heard that fourth-year Washington sharpshooter Corey Kispert is generating trade interest from rival teams (Twitter link).
Here are a few more trade and draft rumors as we prepare for day two of the 2024 draft:
As rumors continue to swirl about his future with the Hawks, Trae Young has changed agents, announcing (via Twitter) that he has signed with CAA Sports. He was previously represented by Klutch Sports.
Marc Stein reported last month that Young’s father Rayford Young recently became a certified NBA agent, but it’s unclear if Rayford will be part of his son’s group of reps at CAA.
A three-time All-Star, Young is coming off another strong statistical season, having averaged 25.7 points and a career-high 10.8 assists in 36.0 minutes per game across 54 starts for Atlanta. However, the Hawks have posted a sub-.500 record across the last three seasons and have only won three total playoff games during that stretch, so there’s an expectation that major changes are coming to the roster this summer, possibly affecting Young or backcourt mate Dejounte Murray.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
There was some positive news on the Heat’s injury report on Monday. Kevin Love has been upgraded to questionable for Tuesday’s game, Anthony Chiang of The Athletic tweets. Love, who holds a $4MM option on his contract for next season, hasn’t played since Feb. 27 due to a heel injury.
Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson will remain sidelined for the Heat’s game against the Warriors.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
It’s been difficult for Wizards guard Jordan Poole to adjust to Washington on the court, as he’s averaging 17.5 points on 40.8% shooting from the floor while taking 15.1 field-goal attempts per game. However, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes, he’s been an excellent fit off the court for his new team.
“He’s always got a smile on his face,” teammate Corey Kispert said. “He can talk to anybody. Off the court, he’s just a ray of light. He always brings good energy, and it’s good to see Jordan every single day when I walk into the building. I know I can count on him to pick me up if I’m not feeling great.”
While Poole has been rough on defense and inconsistent on offense, he’s approaching this season with a positive outlook, Robbins writes.
“This is the most that they’ve been on me other than the playoffs or the finals,” Poole said. “I think it’s awesome, honestly, just to feel that over the course of the game how teams are over and over and over night-in, night-out coming out with physicality because that’s what’s in their game plan. That’s what coaches think would be a good way to slow me down. So, I’m embracing it, learning from it, growing from it.”
It’s evident that despite their 5-23 record as of Saturday, Poole and his teammates have established solid chemistry.
“Porzingis was the same way — kind of a pleasant surprise in the same way,” Kispert said. “We all heard a lot of rumors of him coming from Dallas and the things that happened there. And then when he showed up in our locker room, he immediately took me by surprise, and he treated everyone great. Anybody off the team or in my circle of friends back home who were asking me about him — I could only say positive things about him. And Jordan’s been the same way: [He’s] been an absolute pleasure to be a teammate of and to get to know.”
In another story about Poole’s acclimation, The Washington Post’s Ava Wallace writes about the guard’s specific adjustments to his game and the switch from Golden State to Washington. Wallace points out that Poole is no stranger to this, as it took him two years to find his groove with the Warriors.
“You’ve got to just keep going, every day. The plan is the plan,” Poole said. “Someone just told me that the other day, and I kind of like it. Everything will pan itself out, you know? You’ve just got to keep doing what you’re doing as long as you’re doing it with the right intent, which I believe in 100 percent. It’s just a matter of time.”
We have more from the Wizards: