Delon Wright Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Sign-And-Trade Delon Wright To Mavericks

July 8th, 2019 at 7:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8, 7:17pm: The deal is official, according to a Dallas press release. The Mavs sent the draft rights to 2015 second-rounder Satnam Singh to the Grizzlies in addition to two second-round picks. A Memphis press release confirms the deal.

JULY 7, 3:47pm: The Mavericks, Grizzlies, and restricted free agent guard Delon Wright have reached an agreement on a sign-and-trade deal that will send Wright to Dallas, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Memphis will receive two second-round picks from the Mavs in the deal, according to Wojnarowski.

Agent Greg Lawrence tells Woj (Twitter link) that Wright will be receiving a three-year, $29MM contract from the Mavericks.

We’d heard since Thursday that Dallas, one of the only teams that still had cap flexibility, was planning an offer sheet for Wright. As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, the Grizzlies didn’t want to lose him for nothing but also weren’t committed to matching an offer sheet at any cost. The Mavs, on the other hand, were likely wary of having Memphis match their offer — or of having to overpay Wright to avoid that scenario.

The sign-and-trade agreement represents a compromise for the Southwest rivals, and is the latest example of what has become a summer-wide trend around the NBA — no restricted free agent has signed an offer sheet, but six RFAs have reached deals to join new teams via sign-and-trade.

The 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Wright spent the first three and a half seasons of his NBA career with the Raptors before being dealt to Memphis in the Marc Gasol trade at this year’s deadline. After never averaging more than 20.8 minutes per game in Toronto, the 27-year-old saw that number bumped to 30.8 MPG in 26 games with the Grizzlies and responded by averaging 12.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.3 APG, and 1.6 SPG.

In Dallas, Wright figures to share ball-handling duties with the likes of Jalen Brunson, J.J. Barea (when he’s healthy), and – of course – Luka Doncic.

After accounting for Wright’s contract, the Mavs project to have no more than $14.6MM in cap room, tweets cap expert Albert Nahmad. Dallas’ contract agreements with Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, and Kristaps Porzingis would eat up that room once they become official since their new salaries are much higher than their cap holds.

If the Mavs don’t have any other deals on tap, it’s possible they’ll remain an over-the-cap team, taking Wright into their $21.3MM trade exception and using the mid-level exception to sign Seth Curry. That would leave the team with the rest of that big trade exception to use during the season.

As for the Grizzlies, they’ll move forward with No. 2 pick Ja Morant handling point guard duties, but we’ll see if they look to add more depth after losing Wright. De’Anthony Melton is the other point guard on the roster. Memphis has about $115MM in projected team salary on its books and will create a trade exception worth half of Wright’s 2019/20 salary in this sign-and-trade, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Southwest Notes: Chandler, Conley, Mavericks, Erman, Turner

July 7th, 2019 at 4:01pm CST by clarkcrum

Sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN that veteran big man Tyson Chandler is a likely target for the Rockets in their search for a center to backup starter Clint Capela.

Chandler, who turns 37 later this year, had an effective 2018/19 season with the Lakers as a defender, rebounder, and veteran mentor. Per MacMahon, he is known as a good locker room guy and has a strong relationship with Rockets’ point guard Chris Paul from their days as teammates with the New Orleans Hornets.

There’s more from the Southwest Division this afternoon:

The Grizzlies will retire No. 11 in honor of longtime franchise point guard Mike Conley, per an official release from team owner Robert J. Pera.
After missing out on Danny Green, owner Mark Cuban says that the Mavericks 2019 free agency is probably done except for an opportunistic situation like a potential offer sheet to restricted free agent Delon Wright, reports Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
- The Mavericks have since agreed to acquire Wright via S&T.
Should they change their mind about free agency, the Mavericks no longer need to worry about the cap hold for Petteri Koponen after the league office permitted Dallas to remove the hold amount for the 2019/20 season (per RealGM transactions log).
According to Scott Kushner of The Advocate, associate head coach Darren Erman is leaving the Pelicans coaching staff. Per Kushner, Erman remains a candidate for other NBA coaching jobs.
Elston Turner has officially been hired as the Rockets new lead assistant coach under Mike D’Antoni, per a press release from the team. Turner previously worked for the Rockets under Rick Adelman and has spent the last three seasons in Sacramento working for the Kings under former head coach Dave Joerger.

Mavericks Preparing Offer Sheet For Delon Wright

July 6th, 2019 at 10:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks are targeting Grizzlies restricted free agent Delon Wright and could have his signature on an offer sheet by the end of the night, a league source tells Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Memphis will have 48 hours to decide whether to match the offer once it’s submitted to the league office.

The 27-year-old point guard took advantage of increased playing time after he was shipped from the Raptors to the Grizzlies in February as part of the Marc Gasol trade. In 26 games with Memphis, Wright posted career highs with 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists.

Earlier in the night, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told Townsend that the team was virtually done in free agency outside of an “opportunistic” situation, which turned out to be Wright (Twitter link). ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweeted that the Mavs are waiting to finalize their deals from the past week while they search the trade market for ways to utilize their cap space, which goes away when all the transactions become official. That doesn’t include the Seth Curry signing, which is being done with cap room, and the extension for Dwight Powell, which doesn’t take effect until next season.

The Grizzlies have been making an effort to clear salary to better position themselves to keep Wright without going into tax territory. Their latest move came earlier today when they waived Avery Bradley.

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Green, Grizzlies, Ingram

July 5th, 2019 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

On the latest episode of his “Inside the Green Room” podcast, free agent shooting guard Danny Green confirmed that the Clippers, Lakers, and especially the Mavericks are among the teams trying to pry him away from the Raptors.

“I’ve known [Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban and [head coach] Rick Carlisle for a long time. They have a really good interest in me,” Green said (link via SportsDayDFW.com). “I like what they have to offer. They’re coming on strong. Mark Cuban is a strong bidder. He’s putting the pressure on me to make a decision soon.”

The Mavericks could have up to about 23MM in cap room available, so it makes sense that they’d want a decision from Green soon, with the July moratorium set to end on Saturday. That cap room could be used on other targets, including perhaps restricted free agent Delon Wright.

When he reported on Thursday that the Mavericks were planning on offer sheet for Wright, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News said it wouldn’t affect the team’s pursuit of Green. Today, Townsend clarifies (via Twitter) that’s because the Mavs hope to have an answer from Green by the time the moratorium ends at noon on Saturday, so they should have an idea of how much cap space they’d have left for Wright at that point.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Speaking to Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas (Twitter link), Jonas Valanciunas explained why he agreed to terms quickly with a retooling Grizzlies team on a three-year, $45MM deal after free agency opened. “I wanted to settle down in one place for a longer time,” Valanciunas said. “[The] Grizzlies had hopes on me and I’m happy to be part of this. We’re young, we’re rebuilding, but we have high aims. It’s interesting to see how we’re gonna look among the other teams.”
Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian takes stock of where the Grizzlies‘ offseason stands, closing the book on the Chandler Parsons era, breaking down the roster situation, and suggesting that the club appears unlikely to guarantee Avery Bradley‘s $12.96MM salary for 2019/20. Bradley’s contract would become guaranteed if he remains under contract through July 8.
Will Guillory of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at how Brandon Ingram might fit into the Pelicans‘ short- and long-term plans after the team made deals to add J.J. Redick and Derrick Favors to its roster this week.

Mavs Planning Offer Sheet For Delon Wright

July 4th, 2019 at 7:24pm CST by JD Shaw

The Mavericks have increased their interest in restricted free agent Delon Wright and plan to give the 27-year-old an offer sheet, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).

Wright could sign an offer sheet with Dallas or another interested team before the moratorium period ends on July 6, although Memphis’ two-day window to match the offer sheet wouldn’t technically start until the moratorium is officially lifted.

The Grizzlies are expected to match any “reasonable” offer sheet for Wright, sources tell ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link). Memphis has a lot of moving pieces in play, as trades with Utah, Golden State, and Phoenix still need to be made official. Once the dust settles, the Grizzlies would likely have to waive Avery Bradley‘s non-guaranteed contract, flip Andre Iguodala, or make another salary-shedding move to avoid going into tax territory to retain Wright.

Wright, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, appeared in 75 total games with the Raptors and Grizzlies this season. He was traded to Memphis as part of a deal centered around Marc Gasol in February, holding per-game averages of 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.3 rebounds in 26 games for the Grizzlies to end the regular season.

The Mavs’ decision to pursue Wright won’t change the team’s stance on free agent Danny Green, Townsend adds. Dallas projects to have up to about $23MM in cap room, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), so the team could theoretically make eight-figure offers to both players. Green remains undecided on where he’ll play next season, as he and agent Joe Branch wait for Kawhi Leonard to make his own free-agent decision.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Free Agent Rumors: Kawhi, Bender, Cousins, Mejri

July 2nd, 2019 at 2:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Despite some buzz on social media that Kawhi Leonard is leaning toward the Lakers, the reigning Finals MVP hasn’t reached a decision, tweets Cris Carter of Fox Sports 1. Carter – who has been an unexpectedly plugged-in source on Leonard since the forward’s days in San Antonio – adds that anyone thinking the Lakers have an edge on the Clippers or Raptors would be “wrong.”

Leonard is the last big star available in free agency, and his decision will have a long-lasting impact on all three franchises. Whichever club lands him will be a contender for the NBA title, while the other two teams will be scrambling to fill out their rosters. Leonard still hasn’t given any indication of when he plans to announce his choice.

Here are some more notes on the third day of free agency:

Now that the Suns have added Frank Kaminsky, they will part ways with Dragan Bender, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Bender had a disappointing three years in Phoenix after being selected with the fourth pick in the 2016 draft. He is an unrestricted free agent because the Suns declined his fourth-year option before the start of the season.
The Warriors can’t make an offer similar to the $6.4MM MLE that landed DeMarcus Cousins last summer, notes Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Golden State is so close to the hard cap that it cannot go much above minimum deals to complete its roster.
Salah Mejri was working out today with the Mavericks‘ Summer League players and remains a possibility to re-sign, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.
As cap space dries up, restricted free agents such as Kelly Oubre, Delon Wright and Tyus Jones may benefit by accepting their teams’ qualifying offers and becoming unrestricted next summer in a weaker free agent class, suggests Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

Free Agent Rumors: P. Gasol, Mavs, Wolves, Wright, More

July 1st, 2019 at 6:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Pau Gasol, whose contract with the Bucks is up, continues to recover from a procedure on his left foot, but he wants to continue his NBA career next season, he tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

“My recovery from surgery has been smooth and I expect to be fully cleared for basketball activities in early August,” Gasol said. “I cannot wait to start training again.”

Gasol, who is an unrestricted free agent, is the only one of Milwaukee’s free agents who has yet to reach an agreement this week. There has been no indication that the Bucks are seeking a reunion.

Here are a few more free agency notes and rumors:

The Mavericks are among the teams that have expressed “strong interest” in Delon Wright, league sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Darren Wolfson of SKOR North tweets that the Timberwolves have also inquired on Wright. Wright is a restricted free agent, so the Grizzlies would have the chance to match an offer sheet.
The Timberwolves continue to kick the tires on free agent point guard T.J. McConnell, according to Wolfson, who tweets that the Sixers, Heat, Lakers, Grizzlies, Suns, Wizards, and Pacers have also checked out McConnell. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (via Twitter) notes that McConnell could be a target for Miami if the team trades Goran Dragic.
The Thunder are among the teams that have expressed some interest in veteran guard Jodie Meeks, a league source tells Brett Dawson of The Athletic (Twitter link). Dawson’s report came shortly before Oklahoma City agreed to terms with Alec Burks, so it’s not clear if the club remains interested in Meeks.
In a text message to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link), Enes Kanter explains that he considered re-signing with the Trail Blazers, but didn’t feel as if they gave him enough time to make his decision. Kanter agreed to a two-year deal with Boston.

Oubre, Wright, Finney-Smith, Kleber Receive QOs

June 26th, 2019 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

With the qualifying offer deadline just a few days away, several more players have been tendered QOs by their respective teams, which will ensure that they become restricted free agents (rather than unrestricted) on the evening of June 30. Those players are as follows:

Kelly Oubre Jr., Suns ($4,915,726), via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link)
Delon Wright, Grizzlies ($3,635,375), via Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link)
Dorian Finney-Smith, Mavericks ($1,931,189), via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link)
Maxi Kleber, Mavericks ($1,818,486), via MacMahon

Oubre’s name is the most interesting one in the bunch. Wojnarowski suggests that the former Wizard will be a candidate for a significant offer sheet, especially from a team with cap room that misses out on a high-profile unrestricted free agent.

As long as Oubre remains on the Suns‘ books, he’ll carry a cap hit in the neighborhood of $9.63MM, which will cut into the club’s projected cap room. Once they acquire Aron Baynes and Dario Saric and move T.J. Warren, the Suns project to have about $14MM in cap space. That number would increase to about $23MM if Phoenix were to renounce Oubre.

Wright had a strong finish to the season for the Grizzlies after being acquired in the Marc Gasol trade at the deadline, averaging 12.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 5.3 APG in 26 games for Memphis. With Mike Conley headed to Utah, Wright could be re-signed to share point guard duties with No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant.

As for Finney-Smith and Kleber, the Mavericks view them as quality role players who will fit in well with franchise cornerstones Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, says MacMahon. Because both players have such modest cap holds, they won’t compromise the team’s flexibility on the open market.

Dallas could keep those holds on the team’s books and eventually go over the cap to re-sign Finney-Smith and Kleber to new deals. The Mavs have Bird rights for Finney-Smith and Early Bird rights for Kleber.

Grizzlies Notes: Bickerstaff, Conley, FAs, Anderson

April 11th, 2019 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

J.B. Bickerstaff‘s first full season with the Grizzlies may have been a little underwhelming in terms of the team’s win-loss record (33-49), but given all the injury problems that plagued the team throughout the year, it seems the team is happy with his performance. General manager Chris Wallace said as much today, telling reporters that Memphis plans to bring Bickerstaff back for next season, according to David Cobb of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“J.B. and his staff did a great job keeping everybody together and improving both individually and team-wise down the stretch,” Wallace said.

As for his own future, Wallace said he and owner Robert Pera have yet to sit down for their end-of-season meeting. However, he didn’t sound particularly concerned about his job security, per Cobb.

“That’s between me and Robert,” Wallace said. “I don’t want to go into that publicly. I’m very comfortable here and comfortable working with him and really not worried about my situation at all.”

[UPDATE: The Grizzlies have fired Bickerstaff and re-assigned Wallace]

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

According to Cobb, Wallace said today that he expects the Grizzlies to continue listening to trade offers for point guard Mike Conley this offseason, though that doesn’t mean Conley will be moved. “Teams are going to continue to knock on our door leading up to the draft and into the summer,” Wallace said. “We value Mike. We’d love to keep moving forward with him. We’ll see where it goes.”
The Grizzlies would like to retain the players they acquired in exchange for Marc Gasol at the trade deadline, including Jonas Valanciunas and Delon Wright, Wallace said today (via Cobb). Valanciunas has a player option for 2019/20; Wright will be eligible for restricted free agency. According to Wallace, Valanciunas is “a true Memphis Grizzly” who has loved playing in Memphis, while Wright “fit in very well both on and off the floor.”
Forward Kyle Anderson will undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery next week on his right shoulder, the Grizzlies announced in a press release. He’s expected to make a full recovery and should be ready to go for the 2019/20 season, according to the team.
Joakim Noah will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and there’s no guarantee he’ll stick with the Grizzlies, but he appreciates that the club was willing to take a chance on him following his disastrous stint in New York. “Memphis was the only team that showed me any consideration,” Noah told ESPN’s Zach Lowe. Asked if he expects to remain on an NBA roster next season, Noah replied, “F— yeah.”

Southwest Notes: Capela, Noah, Wright, Doncic

February 13th, 2019 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets are optimistic that injured center Clint Capela will be ready to return after the All-Star break, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Capela, who missed his 15th straight game tonight, hasn’t played since Jan. 13 when he injured ligaments in his right thumb.

He has been working out for several weeks and will start practicing with the team after the break concludes. Capela is the Rockets’ top rebounder at 12.6 per game and ranks third in the league in field goal percentage at 63.1%.

“He’s doing everything without contact,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I guess those two practices will determine whether he will play the first game (after the break) or not.”

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Joakim Noah calls the opportunity to resume his career with the Grizzlies “a blessing” after a disastrous experience with the Knicks, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Noah wasn’t always sure that he wanted to keep playing after becoming an outcast in New York, but he has been rejuvenated by a second chance in Memphis. “I didn’t want to leave the game like that,” he said. “I’ve worked too hard my whole life. I’ve always been somebody who loves basketball, loves to compete. I wanted to find that again.” (Twitter link)
The Grizzlies traded offense for defense at the backup point guard position in a pair of deals last week, writes David Cobb of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Memphis sent Shelvin Mack to the Hawks and replaced him by picking up Delon Wright in a trade with the Raptors. Wright can’t match Mack’s outside shooting prowess, but he made the Pac 12 All-Defensive Team twice in college and has the size to guard several positions. The Grizzlies can make Wright a restricted free agent this summer by extending a a $3.64MM qualifying offer.
An online gambling site has stopped taking wagers on the Rookie of the Year race, figuring Mavericks guard Luka Doncic already has the award wrapped up, relays Joey Hayden of The Dallas Morning News. David Strauss of MyBookie said the site is ready to pay out more than $150K to bettors who put money on Doncic.