Jalen McDaniels

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.

Central Notes: Pacers, Pistons, Duren, Cavs

May 11th, 2023 at 4:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Indiana will be hosting six prospects on Friday for the team’s first pre-draft workout, the Pacers announced in a press release.

The six players are UConn’s Andre Jackson, UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez, Missouri’s Kobe Brown, Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma, North Dakota State’s Grant Nelson, and Liutauras Lelevicius, a Lithuanian prospect who played for Zalgris II this past season.

Jackson (30), Jaquez (32), Brown (43), Kaluma (90), and Nelson (94) all appear on ESPN’s top-100 prospects list, while Lelevicius is unranked. The Pacers control their own lottery pick, two late first-rounders (26th and 29th), and two second-round picks (either 50th or 32nd, plus 55th).

Here’s more from the Central:

Hiring the right head coach, having a successful draft, and acquiring forward depth in free agency are among the top offseason priorities for the Pistons, according to Mike Curtis of The Detroit News (subscriber link), who thinks the team should pursue Nets restricted free agent Cameron Johnson.
Pistons center Jalen Duren, who was recently named to the All-Rookie Second Team, was mostly pleased with his debut season, but he’s going to work on his conditioning and consistency in year two, Curtis writes in another subscriber-only story. “Consistency is a huge word,” Duren said. “To be great, you have to be consistent. For me, it’s honestly just being locked in and trying to understand what’s going on. ‘Being where my feet are,’ I like to say, and try to take over games, dominate games and affect games in any way possible. … I feel like that will come. I’m excited about what I can be in this league.”
Josh Richardson, Kelly Oubre, Max Strus, Gary Trent Jr. and Jalen McDaniels could be the types of wings the Cavaliers choose to go after in free agency with their mid-level exception, Kelsey Russo states in a mailbag for The Athletic. I don’t see Trent falling to that price point, especially since he could just opt in to his $18.8MM player option if he isn’t confident about getting a better payday, but the other four might be attainable (whether or not they’d be a good fit is another story).

Cavs Notes: Mitchell, Next Season, LeVert, Garland, Wing Upgrades

April 27th, 2023 at 10:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers traded for Donovan Mitchell to make them a true contender. Mitchell felt personally responsible for the team’s 4-1 series loss to the Knicks, according to Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.

“I don’t feel like I was the player I needed to be for this group,” Mitchell said. “That’s what’s gonna keep me up at night. I’ve done it all year. You know what I mean? So I just didn’t deliver like I expected myself to, my teammates and everybody expects me to. And like I said, I take that upon myself, man, like I gotta be better.”

Mitchell averaged 23.2 points — five below his season average — and shot 43.3 percent and 28.9 on 3-point attempts in the series.

We have more on the Cavs:

This year’s playoff flop puts immense pressure on the team to get deeper into the postseason next year, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic opines. Even though Mitchell is signed through the 2025/26 season, he can opt out in the summer of 2025. If the Cavs can’t get a long-term commitment from Mitchell after next season, they may need to trade him, Lloyd writes. They also don’t have many assets to upgrade the roster.
Caris LeVert is headed to free agency but he “absolutely” wants to re-sign, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. LeVert averaged 18 points in the last four games of the series.
Darius Garland learned some lessons during the series, Fedor writes at Cleveland.com. Garland’s eyes were opened by the different tempo and intensity in the playoffs. “The pace is just so fast, it’s just coming to you really quick,” Garland said. “It’s a lot to process. Go back and watch this film, see what we did wrong. Trying to learn from it as much as I can. It hurts, but we know what it feels like. We know how playoff basketball is. We know the physicality of it. We know the mental aspect of it. It’s going to make us work hard and we’re going to remember this feeling.”
How can the Cavs upgrade at the wing? Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype explores that topic in his offseason primer. They could target Josh Richardson, Jalen McDaniels or Kelly Oubre with their mid-level exception. They could also try to trade for a forward with the MLE since the new CBA allows it to be used as a trade exception. Potential targets in that case could include Royce O’Neale, Reggie Bullock or Alec Burks.

Sixers Notes: McDaniels, Embiid, Tucker, Reed

April 27th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

While Sixers forward Jalen McDaniels is enjoying his first playoff experience, he’s also working to improve his prospects in free agency, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. McDaniels reached the play-in tournament a couple of times during his three-and-a-half years with the Hornets, but he got his first opportunity with a contender when Philadelphia traded for him in February.

“That shows I can play at the highest level,” he said. “That I can compete with the best guys. I can stop them. I can get to my spots (on offense and) make plays. … If you play the right way, which I feel I always do, you’re going to stand out in some type of way. Someone’s going to want you, just because you play the right way. Philly came and got me from Charlotte, because they saw I was playing the right way and needed a little piece. … Now I’m on a playoff team. Now I can showcase my game in front of everybody that’s watching. Now everybody can see what’s up.”

That includes teams with cap space this summer who can use an athletic, 25-year-old three-and-D wing. McDaniels likes his new situation in Philadelphia, but he understands that he has the chance to land a big contract when he hits the free agent market.

“It just all depends on what (the Sixers) see from me,” McDaniels said, “and what I see for myself.”

There’s more from Philadelphia:

The Sixers should find out more about Joel Embiid‘s availability for the start of their second-round series in the next day or so, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Embiid is scheduled to meet with his doctors to get an update on the sprained LCL in his right knee, and the team is being cautious as it awaits its next opponent. “He shot a little bit on the side, but not much movement,” coach Doc Rivers said following Wednesday’s practice. “No practice really.”
P.J. Tucker‘s leadership qualities don’t ease up between games, Pompey adds. The Sixers took a gamble by giving a three-year contract to the 37-year-old forward, but he has provided a level of toughness that the team needed. “Today he got angry in practice because it was sloppy and he went off when nobody else did,” Rivers said. “Those are the things that people don’t (see). He just does so many things that are visible only to his team. And that’s why you brought him here.”
The Sixers have engaged in extension talks with backup center Paul Reed, but he’s likely to test the market as a restricted free agent, Shams Charania of The Athletic states on FanDuel TV (video link).
Philadelphia will be among the participants in the Salt Lake City Summer League, along with the Jazz, Grizzlies and Thunder, Pompey tweets. Games are set for July 3, 5 and 6.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Thybulle, Reed, McDaniels

March 12th, 2023 at 9:04am CST by Luke Adams

Already the NBA’s leading scorer, Sixers star Joel Embiid has taken his offensive game to another level since the All-Star break, averaging an eye-popping 35.1 points and 4.4 assists per night on .549/.400/.838 shooting in his last eight games (35.9 MPG). His latest signature performance came on Friday vs. Portland, when he racked up 39 points and made a game-winning basket in the final seconds of the game.

“That’s why he’s MVP of the league this year,” teammate James Harden said.

Much of the Most Valuable Player discourse as of late has focused on Nikola Jokic, who is the best player on the West’s best team and is positioning himself for a third consecutive consecutive MVP award. However, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, Embiid – the runner-up in 2021 and 2022 – is building a strong case of his own, scoring nearly nine points per game more than Jokic and dominating on both ends of the floor.

While Pompey acknowledges that Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, and especially Giannis Antetokounmpo are worthy MVP candidates, he believes it’s once again shaping up to be a two-man race between the Sixers’ and Nuggets’ star centers, and he favors Embiid at this point.

Here’s more out of Philadelphia:

Facing former teammate Matisse Thybulle on Friday for the first time since the fourth-year wing was traded to Portland last month, Embiid said he told Thybulle he “kinda was not happy with some of the comments that were made lately,” according to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. Thybulle has spoken multiple times since being dealt about feeling more comfortable with his new team than he did in Philadelphia. Embiid said on Friday that “playing in Philly is not easy” and comes with a lot of pressure, though as Carlin observes, Thybulle’s comments about his “fear-based play” as a Sixer were more about how the team was handling his minutes than about the championship expectations in Philadelphia.
The Sixers have rotated through multiple players at backup center this season, but Paul Reed has been establishing himself lately as the go-to option in that role. As Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia writes, head coach Doc Rivers believes Reed is building chemistry with his teammates – including Harden – and has a better grasp of his role than he did earlier in the year. Reed will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.
A Sixer for just over a month, Jalen McDaniels is becoming an important rotation player for the club, says Rich Hofmann of The Athletic. As Levick details, Rivers suggested he’s looking for ways to get McDaniels more minutes at different positions, adding that he’s confident in the forward’s shooting ability despite his modest results (3-of-10 three-pointers) since joining the 76ers. “He’s a way better shooter than we thought,” Rivers said. “He can shoot the ball. It’s not great results yet, but you’ll see ‘em. You can just tell by the way he shoots the ball.”

Trade Breakdown: Josh Hart To The Knicks (Four-Team Deal)

March 5th, 2023 at 12:58pm CST by Rory Maher

This is the fifth entry in our series breaking down the significant trades of the 2022/23 season. As opposed to giving out grades, this series explores why the teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into a deal four-team deal involving the Knicks, Trail Blazers, Sixers and Hornets.

On February 9:

The Knicks acquired Josh Hart, the draft rights to Bojan Dubljevic, and the draft rights to Daniel Diez (all from Trail Blazers).
The Trail Blazers acquired Matisse Thybulle, Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, the Knicks’ 2023 first-round pick (top-14 protected), and the draft rights to Ante Tomic (from Knicks).
The Sixers acquired Jalen McDaniels, the Knicks’ 2024 second-round pick (from Hornets), and the Trail Blazers’ 2029 second-round pick.
The Hornets acquired Svi Mykhailiuk, either the Hornets’, Hawks’, or Nets’ 2023 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Sixers), and either the Pelicans’ or Trail Blazers’ 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Trail Blazers).
Note: The Hornets had traded away their 2023 second-round pick in a prior deal.

Note: The Blazers, Sixers and Hornets all generated traded player exceptions in this deal, which can be found here.

The Knicks’ perspective:

Any time you deal away a first-round pick, even if it’s lottery-protected, ideally you want to re-sign the player you’re acquiring, particularly a player who can become a free agent in the offseason like Hart. The Knicks almost certainly would not have made this deal for 25 games of Hart – you can bet that they intend to bring him back, and they have his Bird rights, meaning they won’t require cap room to sign him.

Hart has already said multiple times that he’s looking for a home, is tired of moving, and hopes to remain with New York. That would certainly suggest that there’s mutual interest in the veteran wing sticking with the Knicks, even if the they haven’t publicly said anything about it.

I liked Hart’s fit with the Knicks when the trade was announced, and he has played very well for New York — the team is undefeated in his eight games. He’s averaging 11.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals on .618/.600/.667 shooting in 27.0 MPG thus far.

Obviously, those shooting splits are unsustainable, but Hart has a lot of desirable qualities that mesh well with the players on the roster. One interesting wrinkle is that Hart has been closing games over RJ Barrett, which I think is smart from head coach Tom Thibodeau – Hart is a better defender and doesn’t need the ball on offense. We’ll see if it continues going forward.

Hart has always struck me as a player Thibodeau would love because he plays with maximum effort, chasing after loose balls all over the court. He is a hard-nosed, versatile defensive player. He also is a solid passer on offense, even if he’s fairly limited as a half-court scorer.

The 27-year-old (he turns 28 on Monday) compensates for his relative lack of half-court scoring by being an absolute bull in transition, often pulling down rebounds and going coast-to-coast. He is one of the best rebounders in the league for a wing, particularly for his size (6’5”, 215 pounds), averaging 7.7 boards per game over the past three seasons.

There are two primary knocks against Hart. One is his all-out playing style has led to a number of injuries. He has missed an average of about 19 games per season in his five years leading up to 2022/23, though he has only been sidelined for three this season, not counting the two games missed due to the trade.

The second is that teams are going to dare him to shoot threes, as he’s only at 34.7% for his career from downtown (the league average is 36.0% this season). He was weirdly reluctant to shoot threes with Portland, going through long stretches where he would pass up wide-open shots. That inhibits offensive spacing and can be problematic when paired with a non-shooting big.

Still, he is a valuable role player who does a solid job defending against tough competition, and his ability to make plays for himself and others — especially on fast breaks — is a nice addition to the Knicks. They’re 27^th in pace, so he gives them some extra juice.

Reddish had not played in a game since December 3, and trading a protected first-rounder for him last year didn’t pan out. Arcidiacono and Mykhailiuk rarely saw the court, only playing a combined 66 minutes all season for New York. Trading away three players who weren’t contributing to the team’s on-court success for an impactful role player who almost immediately started closing games is a big deal, especially considering the Knicks have only made the playoffs once in the past nine years.

The Trail Blazers’ perspective:

Portland received a former first-round pick in Reddish and the Knicks’ lottery-protected first-rounder this season for a high-end role player in Hart. Arcidiacono was included for salary-matching purposes and is unlikely to have a role, but he’s not a bad fallback option as a third-string point guard – he takes care of the ball and is a decent shooter.

The Blazers also snagged Thybulle for a second-round pick (to Philly) and sent Charlotte another second-rounder to take a player they didn’t want (Mykhailiuk).

The primary reason the Blazers made this trade is that Hart has an odd contract and is expected to opt out of his player option in search of a long-term raise in free agency. Paying both Hart and Jerami Grant (UFA) would have pushed them into the luxury tax without other cost-cutting moves.

For as solid as Hart is, it’s not like Portland was going anywhere this season whether he was in the lineup or not. It’s a shame, because Damian Lillard has been phenomenal (he’s averaging a career-high 32.3 points with a 65.3 true shooting percentage — he’s at peak Stephen Curry levels of volume and efficiency), but the roster just isn’t good enough to do much beyond fighting for the back end of the play-in tournament.

As previously mentioned, Hart was oddly reluctant to shoot threes this season with the Blazers and I’m not really sure why. However, he will be missed for everything else he provides — most of their problems stem from rebounding and defense anyway, and he was one of their best players in both of those categories.

I like the Thybulle pickup and he looks like a good fit on the roster. He isn’t going to keep shooting 51.6% from beyond the arc like he has through seven games as a Blazer, but he was pigeonholed into a very narrow role with the Sixers and I believe he can provide more all-around value than he showed with them.

Thybulle is an absolute menace on defense and he knows that’s what he’s best at. A part-time wing player earning All-Defensive nods two seasons in a row is practically unheard of, but those awards were well deserved. The Blazers need all the help they can get on that end.

Reddish has now been dealt twice in a little over a year, with his value diminishing pretty drastically – the Knicks gave up a protected first-rounder to acquire him last year, but now moved him and a lottery-protected first to land Hart. The 23-year-old, who was the No. 10 overall pick in 2019, has yet to solidify himself as a solid NBA player.

Like Thybulle, Reddish has played well for Portland so far, averaging 14.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals on .470/.373/.941 shooting in eight games (27.7 minutes). Those numbers far exceed his career averages, which are pretty underwhelming (10.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steal on .398/.327/.849 shooting in 161 games (24.7 minutes).

Both Thybulle and Reddish can be restricted free agents in the summer if the Blazers extend each of them a qualifying offer – I don’t think that’s a lock for either player, particularly Reddish.

The first-rounder Portland acquired from New York would currently land at No. 23 overall, which is decent. Definitely nothing to scoff at for a player on a pseudo-expiring contract whom the Blazers couldn’t reasonably afford to retain given the overall state of the team. If the Knicks go in a major slump to end the season and miss the playoffs — which seems extremely unlikely considering how hot they’ve been lately — the Blazers would instead receive four second-round picks.

Another aspect of this deal from Portland’s side is that it probably made them worse in the short term, which increases the odds of missing the playoffs and keeping their own lottery pick. The Blazers owe their pick to the Bulls if they make the postseason – if it doesn’t convey this year, the protections roll over to 2024 (it’s lottery-protected for several years, which makes it difficult for the team to trade future picks due to the Stepien rule).

The Hornets’ perspective:

Charlotte’s side of things is pretty straightforward. The Hornets were concerned about how much McDaniels would cost in unrestricted free agency and decided to move him and get something of value while they could.

I don’t think they necessarily wanted to trade McDaniels, especially after spending four years working with him on developing his game and seeing it start to pay off. Forwards who are 6’9″ with a bit of two-way versatility aren’t exactly common.

The problem is that Gordon Hayward is under contract through next season, the Miles Bridges situation still isn’t resolved, P.J. Washington will be a restricted free agent this summer, and Kelly Oubre is unrestricted. McDaniels is arguably the worst player of the group, making him relatively expendable.

The Hornets are almost certainly getting back their own 2023 second-rounder in the deal, which Philadelphia previously controlled and would currently land at No. 34 overall. Charlotte sent New York’s 2024 second-rounder to the Sixers as part of the multi-team agreement, which was slightly surprising, but if the Knicks are good again next year, that pick would land in the back half of the second round.

That No. 34 overall selection has real value and could be packaged with other seconds to move into the late first round this June. It could also be paired with Denver’s first-rounder (currently No. 28), which the Hornets control, to move up a little. Either way, it gives them more options in the upcoming draft and for trades.

The Hornets also picked up a 2027 second-rounder from Portland to take on Mykhailiuk’s salary. It’s reasonable to view that as a higher upside pick than the Knicks’ second-rounder they shipped to Philly. President of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak selected Mykhailiuk No. 47 overall back in 2016 when he was with the Lakers, so there is a connection there, but it seems unlikely that the veteran wing will have much of a role going forward.

The Sixers’ perspective:

The key takeaway from the Sixers’ side of things is they moved out of the luxury tax and arguably upgraded on the wing at the same time. I’m not sure I would take McDaniels over Thybulle in a vacuum, but it’s at worst debatable and he certainly provides length and positional size, which the team lacked.

Thybulle is a terrific defensive player, but he wasn’t consistently in the rotation this season due to his offensive limitations. He seemed to fall out of favor with the team after last year’s poor playoff showing, and the Sixers decided to trade him instead of letting him reach free agency.

McDaniels was averaging career highs in all the major counting stats for Charlotte, including points (10.6), rebounds (4.8), assists (2.0), steals (1.2) and minutes (26.7) per game. The 25-year old also hasn’t missed a game this season, which is impressive (he technically did miss one game due to the trade, but that was out of his control).

McDaniels doesn’t stand out in any one particular area, which is sort of a double-edged sword. It means he’s versatile enough to do a lot of different things on the court, but none at an elite level.

The big question mark with McDaniels is essentially the same as it was with Thybulle: can he make enough threes to stay on the court against top teams? With a roster loaded with talented scorers, other types of shots are hard to come by for role players like McDaniels. He is only at 34.1% for his career from deep, including 32.1% this season.

The Sixers picked up his Bird rights as part of the trade, giving them the ability to offer McDaniels more money and years than rival teams. For what they gave up, they likely aren’t committed to re-signing him though, nor should they be. They have the rest of the season to evaluate him and see how he does in the playoffs.

The 25-year-old’s minutes have been cut back pretty significantly since the trade, and his role is more in line with what it would be on a good team (which Philadelphia is). He was getting more run with the Hornets out of necessity due to injuries.

As previously mentioned, the Sixers basically swapped second-round picks with Charlotte, though the one they got back has far less upside. They also received Portland’s 2029 second-rounder for Thybulle — not much of a return, but he was only averaging 12.1 minutes per game with Philly this season and is on an expiring contract.

Sixers Notes: Tucker, Butler, McDaniels, Embiid

March 1st, 2023 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

P.J. Tucker seemed like a perfect fit during his lone season with the Heat, but he couldn’t turn down the three-year, $33MM offer he got from the Sixers last summer, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The 38-year-old forward said he expected to retire with Miami, but the realities of NBA business pushed him toward Philadelphia.

Multiple sources tell Chiang that the Heat wanted to re-sign Tucker, but they only offered $26.5MM over three seasons through their Non-Bird exception. Miami could have used its $10.5MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception to match the offer from Philadelphia, but passed on the opportunity because of Tucker’s age and the limits the deal would have placed on other potential moves.

“I wanted the full mid-level,” Tucker said. “I thought I deserved the full mid-level and that was something that I wanted. They knew that coming out of the gate. I expressed that I wanted that from the beginning. I feel like for what we did, for what we had, I feel like I deserved that and it just is what it is. But I don’t fault them at all. I understand they didn’t want to be hard-capped and wanted to be able to make moves later with whatever they thought the team may need.”

There’s more from Philadelphia:

Jimmy Butler keeps reminding the Sixers why it was a mistake to trade him, observes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Butler knocked Philadelphia out of the playoffs last season, and he contributed several clutch plays on Monday as the Heat pulled out a narrow road win. Pompey notes that the Sixers haven’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs since sending Butler to Miami in 2019.
Jalen McDaniels is learning to adjust after being traded to the Sixers at last month’s deadline, Pompey writes in another Inquirer story. Through six games, McDaniels is seeing less playing time and fewer scoring chances than he did with the Hornets. “I will say when I was in Charlotte, (there were) more opportunities with the ball in my hand more,” he said. “But here you have three guys (Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey) that are going to take most of the shots. So just me playing off them is something I can do that’s probably part of my game as well. So I feel like it’s a plus, even though I’m not touching it as much as I was in Charlotte.”
Joel Embiid has been through a series of demoralizing defeats during his time in Philadelphia, but he hasn’t demanded a trade or lost faith in the organization, as Ben Golliver of The Washington Post details.

Hornets Notes: Deadline Deals, 2023 FAs, Bridges, Rozier, Hayward

February 11th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The fact that both Jalen McDaniels and Mason Plumlee were on track for unrestricted free agency this summer was a major factor in the Hornets‘ decision to trade them at Thursday’s deadline and get what draft assets they could for the duo, president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said on Friday, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

“You don’t know what their value is going to be (in free agency),” Kupchak said. “They are both having great years. You don’t know what the market is going to look like (and) we have a bunch of other players that are also going to be free agents. So, something I’ve learned is you can’t pay everybody and these are hard decisions, especially Jalen.”

As Kupchak alludes to, other key Hornets players who are headed for free agency include forward P.J. Washington, wing Kelly Oubre, and big man Nick Richards. According to Boone, re-signing Washington is a priority and the team would like to retain Oubre. A new deal for Richards will be on Charlotte’s radar too, so the idea of also re-signing both Plumlee and McDaniels didn’t make sense for a team hoping to maintain some cap flexibility.

“When I got to Charlotte, we had, I don’t know, four or five contracts that all went out three or four years,” Kupchak said. “And made it difficult for us to navigate and get through the first two or three years and kind of wean ourselves away from those contracts. We’ve got to be careful that we don’t put ourselves in that same situation.

“Is Jalen a starter if Gordon (Hayward) comes back and we are looking at a very attractive draft pick?”

Here’s more from Kupchak, via Boone:

Although the Hornets could create a significant chunk of cap room this summer, Kupchak says he doesn’t anticipate the club being especially active on the free agent market. “The way we are going to get better is through the draft and player development, and then if we get lucky make a couple of savvy trades,” he said. “Every now and then, you might be able to get into the free agency market and get a player. And I’m hopeful that down the road a little bit we can become a very attractive team, even for a small market, and maybe we can get a big fish. But right now, I don’t think that’s how we have to look at it.”
According to Boone, it looks like the Hornets are waiting for the NBA’s investigation into the Miles Bridges situation to be resolved before they engage in possible contract talks with him. Accused of domestic abuse, Bridges took a plea deal to avoid jail time, but could still face a lengthy suspension depending on the outcome of the NBA’s probe. “I don’t know when the investigation is going to end,” Kupchak said. “When the investigation ends, we will have more information and we’ll go from there.”
Kupchak didn’t explicitly deny that Terry Rozier and Hayward came up in trade talks, but he said the Hornets weren’t actively looking to move either player and recognized well in advance of the deadline that’s not the direction they’d go. The front office was reluctant to majorly reconfigure the roster due in part to how many injuries the club has endured this season. “We’ve got to be careful not to assume that what happened this year is a fair representation of what this team really is,” Kupchak said. “If we were healthy this season relatively, and our team was intact, and we had the season that we are having right now, then it’s something that maybe you’ve got to make a big move, I didn’t feel, we didn’t feel, that the way this season played out to date that this season was something we had to react quickly on.”

Scotto’s Latest: McDaniels, Hornets, G. Williams, Nuggets

February 11th, 2023 at 12:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels drew significant trade interest around the NBA ahead of Thursday’s deadline, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who reports that about half of the league’s teams reached out to express interest in the 22-year-old.

However, after keeping him out of the Rudy Gobert blockbuster last summer, the Timberwolves continued to turn away inquiries on McDaniels. The front office views the third-year forward, who becomes extension-eligible during the coming offseason, as a member of the team’s core, Scotto writes.

McDaniels’ brother Jalen McDaniels was on the move this week, as the Hornets sent him to the Sixers in a four-team deal that also involved New York and Portland. According to Scotto, Charlotte was anticipating a strong free agent market for Jalen this offseason and was concerned about being outbid for the 25-year-old, who will be an unrestricted free agent.

After trading for him at the deadline, the Sixers are hoping to use their Bird rights on the older McDaniels brother to retain him, but they’ll face competition. League sources tell HoopsHype that the Jazz, Pacers, and Spurs are among the clubs expected to show interest in McDaniels in the summer.

Here’s more from Scotto:

With McDaniels no longer on the roster, the Hornets are prioritizing re-signing P.J. Washington this summer, as well as potentially negotiating a new deal with Miles Bridges, says Scotto.
The Celtics turned away multiple teams who expressed interest in trading for forward Grant Williams, Scotto reports. Clubs were interested in acquiring Williams ahead of his restricted free agency to secure his Bird rights, Scotto writes, adding that some executives around the NBA believe Boston will be hesitant to match an offer sheet exceeding $15MM+ per year for the forward this summer. The C’s never offered more than $50MM in guaranteed money over four years last fall when the two sides discussed an extension, Scotto notes.
Before sending him to the Clippers, the Nuggets discussed possible deals involving Bones Hyland with the Hornets (Jalen McDaniels), Timberwolves (Taurean Prince), and Knicks (Cam Reddish), according to Scotto.
In case you missed it, Scotto’s latest story for HoopsHype also included an interesting item on the Grizzlies’ offer for Mikal Bridges and some info on potential suitors for veteran wing Terrence Ross.

Eastern Notes: Korkmaz, McDaniels, Johnson, LeVert, Reddish, Celtics

February 10th, 2023 at 10:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey confirmed that Furkan Korkmaz requested a trade and said he tried find a new home for the sixth-year wing, Derek Bodner of The Daily Six tweets.

“Look, he’s a very good player,” the Sixers’ top exec said. “I think he would be in the rotation of many teams in the league, so we were hoping to help him out. He’s been a great partner with the organization.”

Morey added that Korkmaz has a “great attitude.” The Sixers did swing a deal for the Hornets’ Jalen McDaniels, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Philadelphia would like to retain him, Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice relays. “I think he’s got starter potential. We’d like to obviously have him have a great run, help us win a championship this year, and then re-sign him,” Morey said Friday.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

James Johnson was waived by the Pacers due to a roster crunch in the aftermath of the Kevin Durant multi-team blockbuster. However, Indiana plans to bring back the forward if he clears waivers, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star tweets. Johnson, who appeared in 12 games this season, attended the Pacers’ game on Friday.
Caris LeVert was relieved he wasn’t dealt by the Cavaliers, he told Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Just a feeling of relief,” he said. “Relief that nothing happened and I’m going to be here, having an opportunity to finish out the season and finish it out with this group. We have been playing great basketball. I think we’re all glad that the group stayed together and we’re excited to make this final push. Can’t wait to see how far we can go.” LeVert is headed to free agency after the season.
Cam Reddish fell out of the Knicks’ rotation well before he was dealt to the Trail Blazers this week. New York coach Tom Thibodeau said the “change” may be good for the young forward’s career, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets. “I don’t know if it didn’t work,” he said. “I just think there were some good moments, some moments that probably could’ve been better and that’s part of the league. Sometimes you need a change.”
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said he wasn’t close to making another deal after acquiring Mike Muscala from the Thunder, implying that they weren’t really interested in making another move, Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets.

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