Jalen McDaniels Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spurs’ McDaniels Among Wednesday’s Cuts

October 17th, 2024 at 9:37am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs waived forward Jalen McDaniels on Wednesday, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

San Antonio acquired McDaniels earlier this week from the Kings in a salary dump. The deal sent McDaniels, cash, and the Kings’ unprotected 2031 second-round pick to San Antonio in exchange for the Bulls’ top-55 protected 2025 second-round pick.

At the time of the deal, it was reported the Spurs did not intend to keep McDaniels. San Antonio will be on the hook for McDaniels’ $4.74MM expiring contract, which it absorbed using its $8MM room exception. The Spurs have one of the lowest team salaries in the NBA and still have plenty of room below the tax line after eating his contract.

We have more waiver moves from Wednesday:

The Nuggets waived Andrew Funk, Will Richardson and Charles Bediako. That trio was signed to Exhibit 10 deals last week. They’ll each earn a bonus worth $77.5K if they join Denver’s G League club, the Grand Rapids Gold, and remain with the team for at least 60 days.
The Bucks waived guard James Akinjo. He was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract in late August. The guard split time last season between the Stockton Kings and Wisconsin Herd. He’ll be eligible for $77.5K bonus if he rejoins the Herd and remains with them for at least 60 days.

Kings Trade Jalen McDaniels, Second-Round Pick To Spurs

October 16th, 2024 at 7:09am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 16, 7:09am: The Spurs and Kings officially completed their trade on Tuesday, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

As outlined below, the deal sent McDaniels, cash, and the Kings’ unprotected 2031 second-round pick to San Antonio in exchange for the Bulls’ top-55 protected 2025 second-round pick. Sacramento also created a $4.74MM trade exception.

The Spurs, who cut Isaiah Miller in order to complete the trade, also intend to waive McDaniels but haven’t officially done so yet.

OCTOBER 14, 5:15pm: The Kings are sending their 2031 second-round pick to San Antonio along with McDaniels and cash, Charania writes in his full story at ESPN.com.

The Spurs will send Sacramento the Bulls’ top-55 protected 2025 second-rounder, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. If it lands in the top 55, which is highly likely, San Antonio will keep the pick.

OCTOBER 14, 3:02pm: The Kings and Spurs have agreed to a trade that will send forward Jalen McDaniels and a second-round pick to San Antonio, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter links).

It’s a salary-dump deal for Sacramento, while San Antonio will take on McDaniels’ $4.74MM expiring contract in order to acquire that second-round draft pick. According to Charania, the Spurs intend to waive McDaniels after the trade is official, so his salary will remain on their cap as dead money for the rest of 2024/25.

The 52nd overall pick in the 2019 draft, McDaniels showed some promise during the first four years of his career, which he spent primarily in Charlotte. His height (6’9″), wingspan (7’0″), and athleticism made him a versatile piece on defense, and he displayed a little outside shooting ability, making 34.2% of his three-point tries with the Hornets. The Sixers traded for him at the 2023 trade deadline.

However, McDaniels’ production and playing time cratered last season in Toronto after he signed a two-year, $9.26MM contract with the Raptors. He was sent to Sacramento in another Kings salary dump at the start of the 2024 offseason — in that trade, the Kings sent Sasha Vezenkov and Davion Mitchell to the Raptors, trimming over $8MM in salary by moving off two players who were each due salaries over $6MM.

The Kings still had financial constraints entering the preseason though, with a total team salary of about $169.7MM for 14 players. That gave them just over $1MM in breathing room below the luxury tax line, making it impossible to open the season with a full 15-man roster while staying out of tax territory. They also have some players who have unlikely incentives in their contracts, so their team salary could rise higher if those bonuses are earned.

Last month, when we identified five teams who could make cost-cutting moves, we mentioned the Kings, singling out McDaniels as a trade candidate, given his contract situation and his place on the team’s depth chart. At the time, we suggested it would likely take a second-round pick to move off his deal, which turned out to be the case.

Once the trade is official, the Kings will be carrying 13 players on standard contracts (11 fully guaranteed) and will have enough spending room below the tax line to fill out their 15-man regular season roster with minimum-salary players. Of course, they could still choose to open the season with fewer than 15 players in order to maximize their flexibility, if they so choose.

Sacramento will also create a trade exception worth McDaniels’ $4.74MM salary.

For their part, the Spurs can comfortably take on McDaniels’ contract using a portion of their $8MM room exception, so no outgoing matching salary is required. The Spurs have one of the lowest team salaries in the NBA and will still have plenty of room below the tax line after eating that contract.

For their troubles, they’ll add another second-round pick to their growing collection of draft assets. The incoming pick from the Kings will be unprotected, while the Spurs will send back a heavily protected future second-rounder to make the trade legal, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.

San Antonio has a full 21-man roster, so a player will have to be waived in order to make room for McDaniels — one of the Spurs’ camp invitees on an Exhibit 10 deal figures to be the roster casualty.

Kings Trade Davion Mitchell, Sasha Vezenkov To Raptors

June 28th, 2024 at 2:36pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 28: The trade is official, the Raptors announced in a press release, confirming the details outlined below. Toronto used the No. 45 pick to select Houston Cougars guard Jamal Shead on Thursday.

“This trade provides us with a mix of young and veteran players, as well as future flexibility and draft assets, as we continue our quest to win, and so we’re pleased to welcome Davion, Sasha and Jamal to the Raptors and to Toronto,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said in a statement. “We thank Jalen for his contributions, and we wish him all the best in the future.”

Because the trade was completed before the new league year began, Toronto completed it using salary-matching and the Siakam trade exception (as explained below) rather than using cap room, which is a signal that they intend to operate over the cap this offseason.

JUNE 27: The Kings have agreed to trade guard Davion Mitchell and forward Sasha Vezenkov to the Raptors, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Toronto is also receiving the No. 45 pick in tonight’s draft, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link), as well as Portland’s 2025 second-round pick, according to Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link).

Sacramento will acquire forward Jalen McDaniels from Toronto in the swap, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

The ninth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Mitchell averaged 11.5 points per game as a rookie but is primarily known as a defensive specialist. In 2023/24, he averaged 5.3 points and 1.9 assists in 15.3 minutes per game across 72 appearances for the Kings, almost exclusively in a reserve role.

Keon Ellis‘ emergence last season and the arrival of No. 13 pick Devin Carter created a crowded backcourt picture in Sacramento and it appears Mitchell will be the odd man out.

Vezenkov, the 2022/23 EuroLeague MVP, was selected 57th overall in the 2017 draft but didn’t make the move to the NBA until last summer, when he signed a three-year, $20MM contract with the Kings. It was an up-and-down NBA rookie year for the 28-year-old, who converted 37.5% of his three-point tries but averaged just 12.2 minutes per game in 42 contests, contributing 5.4 PPG and 2.3 RPG.

A series of June reports suggested that a trade involving Vezenkov was a possibility for the Kings, who projected to be up against the luxury tax after agreeing to re-sign Malik Monk to a four-year, $78MM contract. As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, swapping out Vezenkov’s $6.66MM salary and Mitchell’s $6.45MM cap hit for McDaniels’ incoming $4.74MM salary will give Sacramento about $7MM in spending flexibility below the tax heading into free agency.

The move will also open up a spot on the Kings’ 15-man roster and should generate a pair of trade exceptions for Sacramento, including one worth Vezenkov’s salary ($6.66MM).

McDaniels had a poor season in Toronto in 2023/24, averaging just 3.4 PPG on .344/.169/.730 shooting in 50 games (10.8 MPG). But the athletic 6’9″ wing is only one year removed from scoring a career-high 9.4 PPG, and he had a career shooting line of .465/.345/.784 prior to last season.

As for the Raptors, they’ll take on some extra salary for 2024/25 but neither Mitchell nor Vezenkov is owed guaranteed money beyond next season, and both players could vie for rotation minutes if they remain on the roster. Mitchell is extension-eligible this offseason before potentially reaching restricted free agency in 2025, while Vezenkov’s deal includes a $6.98MM team option for 2025/26.

Toronto now controls the No. 31 and No. 45 picks on Thursday after selecting Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter at No. 19 on Wednesday.

The Raptors have multiple options for how to complete the deal. If they intend to operate over the cap, they could use McDaniels’ outgoing salary to match Vezenkov’s incoming figure, then take Mitchell’s salary into a $10MM+ trade exception they created in January’s Pascal Siakam deal. If they plan to operate under the cap, they’ll simply absorb the two incoming salaries using their room. Taking the former route would hard-cap them at the first tax apron for 2024/25.

Raptors Notes: Boucher, Brown, Trade Deadline, Temple

February 6th, 2024 at 10:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Chris Boucher has fallen out of the Raptors rotation and he’d be “cool” with a change of scenery, he told Michael Grange of Sportnet.

“I mean, everything has to end, right? So if that’s what’s gonna happen, then cool,” Boucher said. “Hopefully it will [put me] in a better position. But … you never know what could happen. With what’s been going on this year, obviously, I just got to wait my turn, I guess. If a better situation shows up and they decide to send me somewhere else, so be it.”

Boucher has another year left on his contract. Bruce Brown, recently acquired from Indiana, is more likely to be moved. He’s trying to ignore the trade rumors.

“Not even thinking about it, to be honest,” Brown said. “I’m just trying to control what I can control, and I can’t control that end of it.”

We have more on the Raptors:

Speaking of the trade deadline, Blake Murphy of Sportnet believes Brown is the player most likely to be dealt. He speculates that Toronto would take a decent second round pick to shed Boucher’s contract. Murphy also evaluates the potential market for Dennis Schröder, Gary Trent Jr, Otto Porter Jr. and Thaddeus Young.
Eric Koreen of The Athletic argues the Raptors should take whatever they can get for the above-mentioned players, as well as Kira Lewis Jr, Jalen McDaniels and Garrett Temple.
In a separate story, Koreen emphasizes the need for the organization to avoid a lengthy rebuild and developing a loser’s mentality.
Temple would like to keep playing beyond this year but knows that at age 37, he may have difficulty getting another contract. “I know people around the team understand how important veterans are, and I think teams (across the league) do honestly. But at the end of the day, it’s still a numbers game, and I learned that part of the business in my first year,” he told Grange.

Sixers Notes: Nurse, McDaniels, Maxey, Embiid, Melton

October 28th, 2023 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Making his return to Toronto tonight, Sixers coach Nick Nurse explained why he decided to leave after five years with the Raptors, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Nurse’s time with the organization included a championship in his first season, a Coach of the Year award and a 227-163 record. However, he hadn’t won a playoff series since 2020 and the team’s progress was stagnating.

“It felt like it was time from both sides,” Nurse told reporters before Saturday’s game. “It still feels that way to me, just looking around. I look at them play and they look like they’re playing great and I’m really enjoying coaching this team. So everybody is where they’re supposed to be.”

There were complaints in Toronto that Nurse was overplaying his starters and neglecting player development while pursuing every possible win, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Players were also unhappy with the level of communication, Grange adds, with some saying they learned about changes to their roles through the media instead of directly from Nurse.

Nurse was complimentary toward his former team at tonight’s press gathering, saying, “They look good to me. It’s a new coach, a new system and they’re going to need some growth time. But I think in general they seem like they’re playing really hard, they’re playing really well together, they seem really focused and they’re doing a lot of good things.”

There’s more on the Sixers:

Jalen McDaniels got a much better offer when he decided to leave the Sixers and sign with the Raptors this summer, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). McDaniels landed a two-year, $9.2MM contract in Toronto, while Philadelphia was only offering a minimum-salary deal. “Yeah, I couldn’t do that, you know?” McDaniels said.
Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid have shown off a much crisper two-man game early in the season, observes Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports. With James Harden still out of action, the Maxey-Embiid connection has become the focus of Philadelphia’s offense, and Neubeck states that Maxey has become a noticeably better passer over the summer. Neubeck also wonders how much the Sixers’ front office really wants Harden to return, since it would bring a ball-dominant guard into an equation that’s working well without him.
P.J. Tucker and De’Anthony Melton appear “lost in the shuffle” in Nurse’s offense, Neubeck adds. While Tucker was expected to decline without Harden creating shots for him, Neubeck sees Melton’s slow start as a greater concern. He believes Melton has been miscast as a lead guard when Maxey is on the bench and suggests he would be more comfortable off the ball if the Sixers can sign a backup point guard.

Raptors Notes: Dowtin, Boucher, Trent, Flynn

October 16th, 2023 at 8:21pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The status of Raptors guard Jeff Dowtin is a curious case to watch as teams begin cutting down rosters ahead of the official October 23 deadline, Sportsnet.ca’s Blake Murphy writes. Dowtin has an uncertain future with the organization, given he doesn’t own a guaranteed contract and Toronto has 15 others who do.

As Murphy details, the guard had an impressive run at the end of the 2022/23 season, making a case to have his prior contract converted to a standard deal last season. He was on a two-way deal last year before being re-signed to a separate, non-guaranteed standard contract in July. Even though he was a rotation piece at times, Dowtin wasn’t converted to a standard deal last season, and he was thus ineligible for postseason play.

It was presumed that Toronto would quickly re-sign Dowtin to a standard deal in free agency this year, according to Murphy, but that didn’t happen as the Raptors fleshed out the rest of the roster.

Murphy notes the Raptors could theoretically waive or trade another player in order to keep Dowtin, but he has limited time to prove he’s worth doing so in the preseason. If he’s cut, the Raptors don’t own his G League rights, which were acquired by the Sixers’ affiliate, so funneling him to their developmental system isn’t an option.

Dowtin is also a candidate to be claimed by another team if he were to be waived, which makes waiving him and then signing him back to a two-way (after waiving an incumbent two-way player) an unappealing option, and it’s unclear if he’d be willing to do that, Murphy adds.

If Dowtin makes the opening-night roster, his contract is guaranteed for $900K. It becomes guaranteed for $2.02MM if he remains on the roster through January 10.

We have more from the Raptors:

Forward Chris Boucher is drawing rave reviews for his play during preseason, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes in a piece evaluating the stocks of Raptors players. Boucher is expected to be a regular part of the rotation, having impressed as a cutter. Koreen writes that Jalen McDaniels, Precious Achiuwa and Thaddeus Young have improved their standing with the team while Dowtin, Garrett Temple and Otto Porter have failed to stand out.
It appears that Dennis Schröder has supplanted Gary Trent Jr. as a starter for the Raptors. Trent had been a starter almost exclusively since arriving in Toronto in 2021/22, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Trent has expressed a desire to be a member of the starting lineup but said he wanted to help the team in whatever way possible (Twitter link). “Obviously the first two games I’ve been coming off the bench; practices I’ve been with the second unit … so the writing’s on the wall,” Trent said.
Malachi Flynn appears to be breaking into the rotation, according to Grange. Head coach Darko Rajakovic is committed to using a 10-man rotation and it appears Flynn will be a part of that. Josh Lewenberg of TSN relays (Twitter link) that the point guard dedicated extra time in the weight room this offseason, having put on five-to-seven pounds. According to Lewenberg (Twitter link), Flynn knows he has a big season ahead in the final year of his rookie deal and thinks the coaching change could be a “reset” for him.

Contract Details: Poeltl, Strus, Love, Robinson, Walsh, R. Lopez

July 7th, 2023 at 7:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Jakob Poeltl‘s four-year contract with the Raptors has a flat base value of $19.5MM per year, for a total of $78MM, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. There are $500K in annual incentives currently considered unlikely to be earned — if Poeltl maxes out those bonuses, it’ll be worth $80MM. As previously reported, the fourth year is a player option.

Murphy adds that Jalen McDaniels‘ two-year deal is, as expected, worth the full amount of the bi-annual exception and is fully guaranteed, with no options on the second year.

Here are a few more details on recently signed contracts that Hoops Rumors can confirm:

Max Strus‘ four-year contract with the Cavaliers, which has a total value of $62.3MM, has a first-year salary of $14,487,684. That means the trade exception created by the Heat in the sign-and-trade deal is worth $7,243,842, half of Strus’ salary, due to base year compensation rules.
Kevin Love‘s two-year deal with the Heat is worth the full Non-Bird amount — $3.84MM in year one and $4.03MM in year two (with a player option). That represents 120% of his minimum salary.
Orlando Robinson‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Heat is only partially guaranteed for $75K in 2023/24. That guarantee will increase to $425K if he remains under contract through the start of the regular season and to $850K if he’s not waived on or before December 1. Because Robinson’s current guarantee is only $75K, he’d be eligible for a two-way deal if he’s waived before the regular season.
Jordan Walsh‘s four-year deal with the Celtics is worth the minimum in all four seasons. It’s fully guaranteed in the first two years, with a $200K partial guarantee in year three.
Robin Lopez‘s minimum-salary contract with the Bucks is for one year.
We’re continuing to update our free agent tracker and our list of draft pick signings with contract details as we learn them.

Scotto’s Latest: Beasley, Bucks, Plumlee, Spurs, McDaniels, McLemore

July 6th, 2023 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Before he agreed to join the Bucks on a minimum-salary deal, free agent swingman Malik Beasley received interest from several teams, including the Mavericks, writes Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. According to Scotto, Dallas considered the possibility of acquiring Beasley from the Lakers via sign-and-trade, but it didn’t work out.

New Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin was a factor in getting Beasley to Milwaukee, having spoken to the veteran wing during the team’s recruiting pitch, sources tell Scotto.

The Bucks currently have 12 players pencil in for standard contracts in 2023/24. Scotto hears that Thanasis Antetokounmpo and No. 36 pick Andre Jackson are candidates to end up on the 15-man roster. The team also needs to decide what type of contract No. 58 pick Chris Livingston will sign, Scotto notes. Currently, Lindell Wigginton and Omari Moore are on two-way contracts with Milwaukee, leaving one open two-way slot.

Here’s more from Scotto:

Veteran center Mason Plumlee drew interest in free agency from a number of playoff teams, including the Warriors and Hawks, before deciding to remain with the Clippers, league sources tell Scotto.
The Spurs, having already agreed to get involved in deals that will land them Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens, and Reggie Bullock, remain open to taking on unwanted contracts in order to add more draft assets, reports Scotto.
Before signing forward Jalen McDaniels as a free agent, the Raptors tried to trade for him multiple times, including at the 2023 deadline, according to Scotto, who says Toronto has been closely monitoring McDaniels since he was at San Diego State.
Veteran guard Ben McLemore, who was out of the NBA last season, will work out for multiple NBA teams during the Las Vegas Summer League, per Scotto. McLemore played in China last season after averaging 10.2 PPG in 64 games for Portland in 2021/22.
In case you missed it, we also rounded up several Knicks-related rumors from Scotto.

Raptors Sign Jalen McDaniels To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2023 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The Raptors have officially signed McDaniels, per a team press release.

“Jalen is a hard-working, defensive-minded player who we believe has tremendous potential for growth,” team president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “He brings versatility to both ends of the floor, and we’re excited to see him develop as a member of the Raptors.”

JULY 1: The Raptors have reached an agreement on a deal with free agent forward Jalen McDaniels, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania, McDaniels will sign a two-year, $9.3MM contract with Toronto. Those figures suggest the team will complete the signing using its bi-annual exception, which starts at about $4.5MM.

A former second-round pick, McDaniels spent his first three-and-a-half seasons in the NBA with the Hornets before being traded to the Sixers at the February deadline. The 6’9″ forward is a 34.5% career three-point shooter and has the length and athleticism to guard multiple positions, so he should fit right in with the Raptors and their collection of rangy wings.

The No. 34 free agent on our top-50 list, McDaniels averaged 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steal in 23.9 minutes per game (80 appearances) for Charlotte and Philadelphia in 2022/23.

The Raptors suffered a major loss on the first day of free agency when Fred VanVleet opted to leave Toronto for Houston. That generated some spending flexibility below the luxury tax line for the Raps, who committed their full mid-level exception to point guard Dennis Schröder.

With their bi-annual exception ticketed for McDaniels, the Raptors will be limited to minimum-salary signings and/or trades for the rest of the offseason.

Eastern FA Rumors: Kuzma, Kyrie, Bridges, Crowder, Sixers

June 30th, 2023 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward Kyle Kuzma is seeking a contract “well above the mid-level exception,” according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, but it’s unclear which cap-room team might give him that sort of offer, especially if the Rockets and Pacers use their space on other players.

As Fischer writes, the Jazz were viewed as a legitimate suitor for Kuzma, but that option is almost certainly off the table following Utah’s deal for John Collins. People around the league have begun to consider it increasingly likely that Kuzma could re-sign with the Wizards, according to Fischer. While the Wizards are in the process of reshaping their roster, they’ll have Kuzma’s Bird rights and could view him as a future tradable asset as long as they don’t overpay him.

Here are more free agent rumors from around the Eastern Conference:

Following up on a report stating that Kyrie Irving had the Heat on his list of teams to meet with in free agency, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) cites a source who says the Heat have no meeting scheduled with the star point guard. Irving will, however, meet with the Rockets, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Interestingly, Fischer writes that the Hornets “don’t appear to have a straightforward path to re-sign” restricted free agent forward Miles Bridges. According to Fischer, Bridges and his representatives have broached the idea of Charlotte pulling its qualifying offer to make him unrestricted. Based on Fischer’s report, it sounds like Bridges’ camp may not feel confident about its leverage in talks with the Hornets entering the summer. The forward isn’t eligible to be signed-and-traded because he wasn’t on Charlotte’s roster last season.
Although Jae Crowder is considered likely to re-sign with the Bucks, the veteran forward has also drawn interest from the Heat, league sources tell Fischer.
While the Sixers may be fairly quiet at the start of free agency, it’s possible it won’t take the team long to come to an agreement with restricted free agent Paul Reed, according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. The team’s odds of bringing back Georges Niang, Jalen McDaniels, or Shake Milton don’t appear as strong. A source tell Neubeck that Niang may get “a nice chunk of money” from a rival suitor on the first day of free agency. Milton is unlikely to return to Philadelphia, while McDaniels’ free agency could take some time to play out, Neubeck adds.