Devontae Cacok

Pacific Notes: Kings, Cook, Warriors, Clippers

The Kings will place more than one third of their full-time workers on four-month furloughs beginning June 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee reports. The employees were informed in an email from President of Business Operations John Rinehart.  The furloughs will impact approximately 100 workers but the front office, health and performance, and scouting/analytics staffs will not be affected.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Lakers guard Quinn Cook detailed all the precautions being taken at the team’s practice facility after it was reopened. In an Instagram post relayed by The Los Angeles Times’ Tania Ganguli, Cook said even his shoes were not exempt. “We had to leave whatever we wore, whatever shoes and flip-flops we wore, we had to leave them outside,” he said. “We had to wash our hands as soon as we walk in the door. Once we get inside, all of our stuff is kind of right there on the court.” Cook and Devontae Cacok were the only two players to use the facility on Saturday, according to Ganguli. Veterans Jared Dudley and Danny Green were planning to use the facility on Monday.
  • Guards Derrick Rose, Tomas Satoransky and Reggie Bullock are among the guards the Warriors could target with their $17MM trade exception, Grant Liffmann of NBC Sports Bay Area opines. The Warriors obtained the large exception in the Andre Iguodala trade with Memphis last summer.
  • The Clippers’ workout plan during the stoppage of play should have them well-prepared whenever practices and games resume, as Jovan Buha of The Athletic details. The Clippers held weekly group workouts over Zoom as well as chats with famous athletes, along with creating personalized home workout rooms for each player. The organization ordered equipment to ensure each player could work out from home via video calls with individualized player-coaches and strength trainers.

And-Ones: E. Okafor, Trade Season, 2020 Draft, Cacok

Former No. 2 overall pick Emeka Okafor made an NBA comeback during the 2017/18 season, appearing in 26 regular season contests for the Pelicans after being out of the league for nearly five years. Although Okafor made 19 starts for a New Orleans team that ultimately made it to the Western Conference Semifinals, the veteran big man hasn’t appeared in the NBA since then.

Still, that doesn’t mean Okafor is giving up on his professional career. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays, the former UConn star has found a new home in South Korea, where he has already appeared in a pair of games for Mobis Phoebus. At age 37, Okafor may not return to the NBA again, but he’s averaging a double-double so far in the KBL, with 11.5 PPG and 10.5 RPG.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) shares his comprehensive and invaluable trade guide for 2019/20, while John Hollinger of The Athletic provides five reasons why the ’19/20 trade season may turn out to be a dud.
  • Within his article, Hollinger makes a case for why the Warriors may push hard to get out of luxury-tax territory before the end of the season, noting that doing so would allow the team to avoid repeater penalties in 2020/21. It won’t be easy for Golden State to sneak below the tax line, but if the team is willing to discuss a Kevon Looney trade, that could open up one path, Hollinger observes.
  • Jeremy Woo of SI.com and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic have published their first big boards for the 2020 NBA draft. Georgia freshman guard Anthony Edwards tops both lists, but they diverge from there, with LaMelo Ball coming in at No. 2 in Woo’s rankings, while Vecenie has UNC’s Cole Anthony at No. 2.
  • Devontae Cacok‘s new two-way contract with the Lakers is a two-year agreement, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Cacok is one of six two-way players who is in the first year of a two-year deal.

Lakers Waive Zach Norvell Jr., Sign Devontae Cacok

7:30pm: The Lakers have officially signed Cacok to a two-way contract and waived Norvell, the team announced in a press release.

3:38pm: The Lakers are making a change to one of their two-way contract slots, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the club is waiving guard Zach Norvell Jr. and signing big man Devontae Cacok.

[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]

Norvell, who went undrafted earlier this year, signed a two-way contract with the Lakers on the first day of the league year in July. He has logged just five minutes in two games with the NBA club this season, spending most of his time with the South Bay Lakers. In 23 G League games (24.7 MPG), he averaged 13.3 PPG on .353/.340/.867 shooting.

Cacok, meanwhile, was in camp with the Lakers this fall on an Exhibit 10 contract but was cut at the end of the preseason when the team set its regular season roster. He reported to South Bay as an affiliate player and has been productive as a member of the Lakers’ G League squad, recording 16.3 PPG and 11.7 RPG with a .669 FG% in 12 games (22.8 MPG).

Because he’s signing his two-way contract partway through the regular season, Cacok will be eligible to spend up to 33 days with the Lakers, a prorated portion of the usual 45-day limit.

Kostas Antetokounmpo is the Lakers’ other two-way player. His status remains unchanged.

Lakers Cut Devontae Cacok, Demetrius Jackson

The Lakers have finalized their roster for the regular season, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived Devontae Cacok and Demetrius Jackson.

Los Angeles took the decision down to the wire, but Cacok and Jackson were always the most likely players to be released. The Lakers have 14 players on fully guaranteed salaries, with Dwight Howard and his non-guaranteed contract set to occupy the 15th and final slot on the standard roster.

Cacok or Jackson could have received a two-way contract, but the Lakers have already filled both of those slots as well, with Zach Norvell Jr. and Kostas Antetokounmpo starting the season as the club’s two-way players.

Although Cacok and Jackson had non-guaranteed contracts, the Lakers will be on hook for two days’ worth of their minimum salaries, since they won’t clear waivers until the second day of the regular season.

Lakers Sign Devontae Cacok, Aric Holman

The Lakers have signed rookie free agents Devontae Cacok and Aric Holman, according to a team press release. Both contracts are Exhibit 10 deals, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Cacok went undrafted out of UNC Wilmington. Back in the 2016/17 season, the big man shot an NCAA-record 80.0% from the field. He posted a double-double (15.2 PPG, 12.3 RPG) in 33 games in 2018/19, his senior season.

Holman spent four years at Mississippi State and was also not drafted. The power forward blocked at least two shots in 61 of his 124 collegiate games, per the Lakers. He averaged 9.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.6 BPG with a .473/.429/.701 shooting line in his senior year.

Cacok’s agreement with the Lakers was first reported by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, while Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports broke word of Holman’s deal.

Lakers Agree To Sign Zach Norvell, Devontae Cacok

The Lakers have reached deals with a pair of undrafted free agents following the conclusion of the 2019 draft. Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the team will sign Zach Norvell Jr. to a two-way contract, while ESPN’s Jonathan Givony tweets that Devontae Cacok will ink an Exhibit 10 contract with L.A.

Norvell was a player viewed by many draft experts as a strong candidate to be selected on Thursday night after he left Gonzaga following his sophomore season. He ranks 15th on ESPN’s list of prospects who went undrafted. The shooting guard was a top perimeter threat for the Zags in 2018/19, averaging 14.9 PPG and shooting 37.0% from outside the three-point line (2.6 makes per game).

Two of Norvell’s teammates, Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke, were first-round picks on Thursday, so Norvell will become the third Gonzaga player to enter the NBA as a rookie this year.

As for Cacok, the UNC Wilmington forward isn’t as notable a name as Norvell, but he had a solid senior season in 2018/19, posting a double-double in 33 games (15.2 PPG, 12.3 RPG). His Exhibit 10 deal will make him a candidate to either become an affiliate player for the South Bay Lakers or to have his contract converted into a two-way pact.

Pacific Notes: Barnes, Suns, Rajakovic, Kings

Harrison Barnes can hit the open market if he turns down his $25.1MM player option and the Kings would like to have him on the roster next season one way or another. If Barnes stays with Sacramento, it could be an indicator that the organization is on the upswing after years of perceived dysfunction, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes.

Kings’ management envisioned Barnes playing the small forward position when they traded for him at last season’s deadline. Dave Joerger had different plans, playing Barnes heavy minutes at the four spot next to Bogdan Bogdanovic at the three. Barnes at power forward also took time away from Marvin Bagley and made it more difficult for the rookie to rise to the starting lineup. Joerger has since been fired.

The Kings are hoping that their switch to Luke Walton as well as a renewed alignment between the coaching staff and front office will be viewed favorably around the league, particularly with agents. Here’s more from around the Kings and the Pacific Division:

Southeast Draft Notes: Hornets, Hawks, Magic, Heat

The Hornets are one of multiple Southeast teams that has been busy this week scouting draft-eligible prospects. According to a pair of press releases from the club, Charlotte brought in six prospects for pre-draft workouts on Friday and will take a closer look at six more on Saturday.

Nassir Little (UNC) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Virginia Tech) were the headliners in Friday’s group for the Hornets, joined by Devontae Cacok (UNC-Wilmington), Tyler Cook (Iowa), Jordan Davis (Northern Colorado), and Matt Morgan (Cornell).

On Saturday, the Hornets will work out Jordan Bone (Tennessee), Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), C.J. Massinburg (Buffalo), Isaiah Roby (Nebrasaka), and Simisola Shittu (Vanderbilt).

Here are a few more draft-related updates from out of the Southeast: