Jabari Parker Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavaliers Notes: White, Doncic, Parker, Love

July 12th, 2018 at 5:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Okaro White has a chance to win a roster spot with the Cavaliers, but first he has to overcome the effects of a broken left foot he suffered in November, writes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. White’s foot has fully healed, but he is still struggling with the psychological aspects of the injury and admits he’s “babying” it.

“I just gotta get through,” said White, who is part of the Cavaliers’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League. “I’m old enough, I’m not young anymore, so I gotta get over it [mentally] and try to find a way to showcase my ability.”

White started four games for the Heat before the injury, but it wound up ending his season. He was shipped to the Hawks at the trade deadline, then signed with the Cavs in March, but never took the court for either team. The 25-year-old forward has a non-guaranteed $1,544,951 contract for 2018/19.

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

The Cavaliers passed on an opportunity to trade up on draft night and snag Luka Doncic, Vardon reports in a separate story. A source tells Vardon that Cleveland had an offer from Atlanta that included the No. 3 pick and Kent Bazemore, who will make more than $18MM next season with a $19.27MM option for 2019/20. However, the Cavs wanted Collin Sexton and were confident they could get him at No. 8.
With LeBron James gone, the Cavaliers should take a gamble on Jabari Parker, according to Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report. The second player taken in the 2014 draft, Parker could become a dynamic scorer and rebounder if he can fully bounce back from his second ACL surgery. Swartz suggests Cleveland should use its $8.6MM mid-level exception to offer Parker a two-year contract. That would give him $13.3MM more in guaranteed money than if he accepts his $4.3MM qualifying offer with the Bucks, and it would put him back on the open market in 2020 when he’ll only be 25. Swartz recommends a few other moves for the Cavs, including re-signing Rodney Hood, working out an extension with Larry Nance Jr., trying to trade veterans such as J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson and taking on unwanted contracts to stockpile draft picks.
Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com suggests several trades involving Kevin Love, listing the Trail Blazers, Heat, Lakers, Suns and Jazz as possible destinations.

Bucks Notes: Ilyasova, Parker, Lopez, Zeller

July 8th, 2018 at 8:37pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Bucks are thrilled to have Ersan Ilyasova back on the squad after three seasons without the former second-round pick.

“Ersan is a high IQ player, he can shoot the ball so he gives Giannis and the rest of the team space,” GM Jon Horst said (via the Behind the Buck Pass’ Twitter feed). “He’s competitive, he’s tough, and he knows our system, he knows our community, he knows our players. He was a guy we focused on in free agency, and we’ll be excited to add him.”

Milwaukee agreed to terms on a three-year, $21MM deal as free agency began last weekend. Here’s more from Milwaukee:

Horst discussed the Jabari Parker‘s pending restricted free agency during an appearance on NBATV (h/t Adam McGee of Behind the Buck Pass). “We’ve had great conversations [with Parker and his agent], we’re in contact every day. I think the market will dictate some of it, but we’ll continue to work on it and we’ll see how it turns out,” Horst said.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com examines why Brook Lopez didn’t fetch a more lucrative deal than the one-year, $3.4MM contract he agreed to with the Bucks. While Lopez will provide Milwaukee with a proven scorer in the paint, his lack of foot speed will make it difficult for him to have a defensive impact. Pelton notes that the big man’s ability to shoot from behind the arc will help the team space the floor on offense.
The arrival of Lopez likely means Tyler Zeller‘s time in Milwaukee will come to an end, Pelton speculates in the same piece. Zeller’s $1.9MM salary is non-guaranteed and the Bucks will have to be careful in the margins if they plan on making an offer to Parker without going into the luxury tax. If the Bucks waive both Zeller and Brandon Jennings, whose $2.2MM salary does not become guaranteed until August 1, they’d have approximately $11.5MM of financial wiggle room below the luxury tax line.

Central Notes: Robinson, Pacers’ Plans, Thomas, Bucks Cap

July 8th, 2018 at 4:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The addition of swingman Glenn Robinson III filled the Pistons’ biggest need this offseason, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. The Pistons didn’t anticipate an early commitment but a phone call from new coach Dwane Casey as the start of free agency helped to seal the deal with the ex-Pacers wing. Robinson received a two-year, $8.3MM contract. “We didn’t expect we would get Glenn that quickly,” senior advisor Ed Stefanski said. “We felt getting the two-year commitment was huge to us. To find a young wing who can make a shot, they’re hard to find in the league. When the opportunity came up that quickly, we felt we had to make a move. If it wasn’t for him, we would still be out there looking for a guy.”

In other news involving Central Division teams:

Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard hopes to use a majority of next summer’s cap space on his own free agents, Mark Monteith of Pacers.com reports. Rotation players Thaddeus Young, Darren Collison, Cory Joseph, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Tyreke Evans could all be free agents next summer, which would free up as much as $57MM in cap space, Monteith notes. But Pritchard would prefer to use most of the money to re-sign some of those players, as he told Monteith. “We have the season like we want to have, our free agents will be the priority,” he said. “I think this team has a chance to grow this year. … We already know these guys. They become our priority in free agency.”
Rookie second-round pick Khyri Thomas could get playing time with the Pistons through his defensive prowess, Rod Beard of the Detroit News writes. The swingman out of Creighton views himself as a defensive specialist. “When I was younger, I didn’t get the ball a lot playing with older people so I just stole the ball to get it,” he told Beard.
The addition of center Brook Lopez gives the Bucks 13 guaranteed contracts for next season but they’re still $15MM away from being hard-capped, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Lopez reportedly agreed to a one-year deal on Sunday. Milwaukee still has to deal with restricted free agent Jabari Parker‘s status, as he remains unsigned, but they could gain more flexibility since the contracts for Tyler Zeller and Brandon Jennings are not guaranteed, Marks adds.

FA Rumors: LaVine, Parker, Jefferson, Beasley

July 6th, 2018 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Bulls and Zach LaVine aren’t necessarily close to a deal, the team has had communication with LaVine and his representatives, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. According to Johnson, the Bulls assured LaVine that speculation they wanted to do a $14MM-per-year deal wasn’t accurate, and have “proactively” negotiated in good faith with his camp on a deal that could be in the range of $18MM annually.

That seems like a very reasonable number for LaVine, particularly since only two other teams can currently offer a deal worth anything close to that, and neither of those teams seems to be pushing hard for the Bulls guard. As Johnson details, the Bulls don’t want to let LaVine get away and aren’t eager to have him play on his qualifying offer, so it seems like there’s a good chance the two sides will eventually get something done.

Here are a few more free agent notes and rumors from around the NBA:

The market for Bucks RFA Jabari Parker hasn’t materialized like he hoped, tweets Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports, noting that there may be some league-wide concern about Parker’s attitude and health.
After being waived by the Pacers, Al Jefferson is considering playing overseas for the 2018/19 season, Indiana president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said today (Twitter link via Tony East of 8 Points, 9 Seconds).
Michael Beasley hasn’t heard from the Knicks since free agency began, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. A source tells Berman that Beasley, who is drawing interest from a couple teams, is “disappointed” in the lack of interest from the Knicks, but understands that they’re “going young.”
Longtime NBA forward Dorell Wright is finalizing an agreement to sign with Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia, tweets international basketball reporter David Pick.

Kings To Focus On Trade Market With Cap Room?

July 6th, 2018 at 9:43am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are one of three NBA teams with significant cap room still available and have been linked to big-name restricted free agents like Jabari Parker and Zach LaVine within the last week or two. However, rather than making a bid for an RFA, Sacramento may take another route with its cap space.

According to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, the Kings intend to focus on the trade market, hoping to use their cap room to absorb an unwanted contract or two and collect extra draft assets. The ideal scenario for the team, Jones suggests, would be to acquire a veteran small forward in a trade and pick up a 2019 first-rounder, since Sacramento’s own 2019 pick is headed to the Celtics or Sixers.

While Jones confirms that Sacramento has expressed interest in Parker and LaVine, the prospect of reshaping the roster around either player, plus the uncertainty surrounding an offer sheet – which could be matched by the Bucks and Bulls, respectively – may ultimately discourage the club from pursuing either RFA. The Kings also view Parker as a power forward and aren’t looking to add more players at that spot, Jones notes.

The Kings have been on the lookout for a small forward in free agency, offering slightly more money to Mario Hezonja than the $6.5MM he’ll reportedly receive from the Knicks. However, if the team can add a small forward in a trade that also includes another asset or two, it may be a win in both the short- and long-term for the franchise.

While Jones doesn’t identify any specific trade partners the Kings may talk to, Bobby Marks’ list of clubs with the highest projected 2018/19 team salaries gives us a pretty good idea of which teams might be looking to cut costs.

The Thunder are one possible trade partner, though Alex Abrines and Kyle Singler may not appeal much to the Kings, and Carmelo Anthony is unlikely to approve a trade to Sacramento. The Raptors could be an intriguing fit if they’re looking to get out of the tax, or at least to reduce their projected tax bill — Norman Powell is believed to be available, and C.J. Miles could be too.

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Knight, Kings

July 5th, 2018 at 10:08pm CST by Austin Kent

There’s pressure on the Lakers to get a second star, but it’s far from urgent, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes. So long as the franchise continues to practice patience, they’ll remain flexible enough to have options.

As things stand, the club has $5.7MM in cap space. That figure could grow to as much as $15.5MM if the club waives and stretches Luol Deng‘s contract over three seasons. They can get as high as $22.8MM if they can unload the deal altogether with “at least a first-rounder attached,” Pincus says. That flexibility would make a Brandon Ingram-for-Kawhi Leonard swap financially feasible.

Of course the Lakers could wait to see if a different trade for a star beckons, as reports suggest with Jimmy Butler and as is at least borderline conceivable with Damian Lillard.

An alternative to making a move this season would be giving center Brook Lopez the Lakers’ remaining $5.7MM of cap space on a one-year deal, retaining all of their young players in an audition to see who best fits with LeBron James, then going out shopping for a star next summer.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:

The Suns may have their go-to point guard already on the roster. Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic writes about how head coach Igor Kokoskov has referred to Brandon Knight as their starter and that the guard seems to already have a better relationship with Kokoskov than he did with Earl Watson.
The Suns are making progress in their rookie scale extension negotiations with Devin Booker, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets, noting that they could have something finalized by the end of the weekend.
Signing either Zach LaVine or Jabari Parker would require the Kings to reshape their roster, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. The club currently has plenty of young players they’d like to develop. The Kings already have Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield at the two while they just drafted Marvin Bagley to play the four.

Free Agent Notes: Bucks, Parker, Anderson, Bjelica

July 5th, 2018 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

When they agreed to sign Ersan Ilyasova to a three-year, $21MM contract early in free agency, the Bucks committed to hard-capping themselves for the 2018/19 league year. Teams that acquire a player via sign-and-trade or use more than $5.337MM of the mid-level exception will have a hard cap of $129.817MM this year, and Milwaukee will have to take one of those paths to add Ilyasova.

In hard-capping themselves, the Bucks essentially drew a line in their negotiations with Jabari Parker, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes during an appearance on Adrian Wojnarowski’s Woj Pod. As Marks explains, with that hard cap in place, the Bucks likely won’t be able to offer Parker more than about $15-17MM, which essentially caps the negotiations between the two sides at that point.

Marks observes that the situation is similar to what the Pistons did last year with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Detroit also had a hard cap after using most of its MLE, and could only go up to a certain point for Caldwell-Pope, who reportedly turned down an offer worth a total of $80MM-ish and ended up settling for a one-year, $18MM deal with the Lakers. If Parker can’t find a lucrative offer sheet with another team, he’ll have to be wary of ending up in a similar spot, so it will be interesting to see whether he can work out a multiyear deal with the Bucks or if he’ll consider signing his one-year qualifying offer.

Here are a few more free agent notes and rumors:

The Spurs want to retain restricted free agent Kyle Anderson and intend to work on a deal for him, Wojnarowski said in his podcast.
Nemanja Bjelica had six total offers that were all somewhat comparable to the one he agreed to with the Sixers, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. According to Wolfson, head coach Brett Brown and the opportunity to make a deep playoff run were factors in Bjelica’s choice.
While there were rumblings that Greek forward Kostas Papanikolaou was mulling an NBA return, he’ll remain with Olympiacos. The team officially announced a new deal for Papanikolaou today (hat tip to Sportando).

Free Agent Rumors: Parker, Kings, O’Quinn, Howard

July 2nd, 2018 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are no longer believed to be pursuing restricted free agent forward Jabari Parker, a league source tells Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Reports from last week indicated that Parker was one of several free agents on the radar for the Kings, who were also linked to Zach LaVine and others.

Sacramento was one of the few NBA teams with cap room available, so if the Kings are out of the running for Parker, it will be interesting to see if the former No. 2 overall pick can find a lucrative offer elsewhere. The Bucks’ reported agreement with Ersan Ilyasova appears likely to hard-cap them, so a team could put pressure on Milwaukee with an aggressive offer sheet for Parker, but it remains to be seen which club might put such an offer on the table.

Here are a few more rumors from around the league on day two of free agency:

The Sixers continue to express interest in free agent center Kyle O’Quinn, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, who reports (via Twitter) that the Clippers and Pelicans are also in the mix for O’Quinn.
Dwight Howard still has to be traded and then bought out before he officially becomes a free agent, but he could hit the market in about a week. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets that he keeps hearing the Wizards and Warriors as potential landing spots for Howard. Sam Amick of USA Today reported over the weekend that the former No. 1 pick has interest in the Pelicans, Warriors, and Wizards, though Amick and others have suggested Golden State may not be sold on Howard’s fit.
Former All-EuroLeague big man Nicolo Melli had a chance to pursue NBA opportunities this offseason, but has elected to return to Turkish team Fenerbahce, reports international basketball journalist David Pick (via Twitter). According to Pick, the Nets had “serious interest” in Melli, who figures to field NBA offers in 2019.

Free Agency Notes: George, MCW, Booker, Parker

July 1st, 2018 at 3:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Thunder and Paul George agreed to a four-year deal worth $137MM at the start of free agency and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the team will have the option to offer George an even bigger raise in two years.

Under the new CBA, the team can offer George an extension after the second anniversary of the deal, meaning PG13 can sign a four-year max deal in 2020 that locks him in for seven seasons. The total value of the potential seven-year pact would come in at an estimated $290MM based off of future salary cap projections.

The team’s ability to re-sign George was shocking to some, as many expected the 5-time All-Star to leave OKC for Los Angeles, a city he’s been linked to for quite some time. It’s possible that the team’s ability to offer the max extension at the halfway point of the four-year contract was part of George’s motivation to stick around, though that’s merely my speculation.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Rockets will meet with Michael Carter-Williams, league sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). While Houston appears to be looking into ancillary parts for its team, the franchise hasn’t given up hope on pursuing LeBron James.
The Jazz and Pelicans have both expressed interest in Trevor Booker, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype reports (Twitter link). The Wolves, Rockets, Knicks, and Spurs also have an eye on the big man.
The Bulls have interest in Jabari Parker, Kennedy tweets. Chicago is one of several teams expected to pursue the former No. 2 overall pick.
The Wolves are looking to sign Dante Cunningham, sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Minnesota has eyes for a bevy of veteran free agents to fill it’s five open roster spots.

Jabari Parker Likely To Leave Bucks?

June 30th, 2018 at 1:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Kings are just one of the teams expected to make a run at Jabari Parker, and some executives within the league view the former No. 2 overall pick to be among the small tier of players below stars such as LeBron James and Paul George.

“Hey, he’s a good player; I mean he’s a really good player,’’ an NBA executive told Gary Woelfel (via Woelfel’s Press Box). “And he’s young.’’

Parker is a restricted free agent, meaning the Bucks can match any rival offer he receives. One longtime NBA executive expects the 23-year-old to see a rather lucrative deal.

“I think some teams will give him $20MM [per season] and there might be some teams that will make it tough on Milwaukee to match and offer him even more,’’ the NBA official tells Woelfel.

“I think Milwaukee would like to keep him for $16MM or something around that figure, trying to use his injury situation to their advantage. But there are teams that need a big-time scorer and nobody doubts he’s a big-time scorer.’’

Another NBA executive speculated that the Sixers could make an offer for Parker should they fail to land a bigger target like James, George or Kawhi Leonard. Woelfel names the Bulls, Jazz, Pacers, Hawks, Suns, and Nets as possibilities as well.

Other NBA executives who spoke with Woelfel believe a sign-and-trade is a more likely scenario for the combo forward. That route would be Milwaukee’s preference rather than being forced to decide between signing Parker to a player-friendly contract or losing him for nothing. “It’s no secret” that the Bucks would be open to receiving an upgrade at point guard or center in such an agreement, Woelfel adds.

The Rockets and Clippers are both high on Parker and could be possibilities if a sign-and-trade were to occur, though it would be hard for Houston to complete a deal and stay under the tax apron if the team retains its own key free agents. Los Angeles and Milwaukee had discussions about Parker at last year’s trade deadline.

Parker likes Milwaukee and he reportedly paid around $1.5MM to redo the warehouse he currently lives in, according to Woelfel’s sources. Those same sources tell the scribe that despite Parker being comfortable in his current situation, it’s more likely he leaves then stays.

“He loves the people there; he loves the city,” the source said. “But I don’t see him staying there. If you’re asking me, it’s 75-25 he goes to another team.’’

Many dominos, such as James coming out of his decision cave, are likely to fall before Parker inks his next contract with a source estimating that a deal won’t take place until late-July or early-August.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.