Tony Bradley

Pistons Likely To Waive Zhaire Smith

The Pistons are reportedly trading for Sixers wing Zhaire Smith but it’s unlikely they’ll keep him. They plan to waive Smith and use the stretch provision on his contract, Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports tweets.

However, while they will likely do so, it’s not definite, according to The Athletic’s James Edwards III (Twitter link). The Pistons would like to either keep that roster spot open and/or they have something else in the works, Edwards adds.

Smith was due to make $3.2MM during the upcoming season but that was the only guarantee left on his rookie contract. His $4.915MM salary for the 2021/22 season includes a team option. If the Pistons stretch his contract for three years, the cap hit would be around $1MM per season.

Detroit’s new GM Troy Weaver has executed a flurry of moves in recent days to completely reshape the roster. In one of those moves, he acquired center Tony Bradley from the Jazz, a trade that became official on Sunday. He then reached an agreement with the Sixers to ship Bradley to Philadelphia for Smith.

As we noted earlier, Smith has barely seen the court during his first two professional seasons, mainly due to health issues. He’s appeared in just 13 total NBA games. The Pistons seemingly have no interest in reviving Smith’s career and were just seeking to clear a frontcourt logjam by trading Bradley.

Jazz Ship Tony Bradley, Saben Lee To Pistons

NOVEMBER 22: The Jazz have officially announced their deal with the Pistons, confirming in a press release that they received cash from the Pistons in exchange for Bradley and the rights to No. 38 pick Saben Lee. Detroit has already agreed to flip Bradley to Philadelphia in a separate deal.


NOVEMBER 18: The Jazz have agreed to trade center Tony Bradley and the No. 38 pick to the Pistons for cash considerations, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links).

Bradley, 22, appeared in 58 regular-season games last season, averaging 4.9 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 11.4 MPG. Bradley will be entering his fourth season after spending most of his first two seasons in the G League.

Bradley has a $3.54MM guaranteed contract for the upcoming season and could be a restricted free agent if Detroit extends a $5.277MM qualifying offer next offseason.

Utah’s motivation for the trade was to open more cap room and increase roster flexibility, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The Jazz have made re-signing unrestricted free agent guard Jordan Clarkson a top priority.

[UPDATE: Jazz, Jordan Clarkson agree to four-year deal]

Detroit has been arguably the busiest team this week, with new GM Troy Weaver completely reshaping the roster by acquiring assets and adding young players. The Pistons made three first-round selections, via their own lottery pick and a pair of draft-night trades.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 10/31/19

Every night during the NBA G League season, Hoops Rumors provides the assignments and recalls for each team. With training camps now open, here are Thursday’s assignments and recalls from around the G League:

  • The Mavericks have assigned Isaiah Roby to the Texas Legends, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News relays (Twitter link). Roby was selected in the second round by Dallas this past summer.
  • The Jazz are sending three players to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Tony Bradley, Dante Exum, and Miye Oni are all headed to the G League.

Jazz Exercise 2020/21 Options On Mitchell, Bradley

The Jazz have officially picked up their 2020/21 rookie scale options on Donovan Mitchell and Tony Bradley, the club announced today in a press release. Tony Jones of The Athletic reported on Thursday that Bradley’s option would be exercised, and Mitchell’s was never in doubt.

Mitchell, who has emerged as one of the NBA’s top young guards since being drafted 13th overall in 2017, will now have his fourth-year cap hit of $5,195,501 locked in for the 2020/21 season. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2020 offseason and would be a restricted free agent in 2021 if he doesn’t get a new deal next year.

Bradley’s contract situation is similar to Mitchell’s, since he was part of the same draft class, though the former 28th overall pick is obviously not nearly as strong a candidate for an early extension in 2020. For now, his fourth-year cap charge of $3,542,060 for ’20/21 is fully guaranteed.

We’re tracking all of this year’s rookie scale option decisions for the 2020/21 season right here.

Jazz To Pick Up Tony Bradley’s 2020/21 Option

The Jazz are picking up Tony Bradley‘s fourth-year option, Tony Jones of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). Bradley will make roughly $3.54MM during the 2020/21 season.

Bradley was the No. 28 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of UNC. The center hasn’t played much since joining Utah, appearing in just 12 contests for the club over his first two seasons with the team.

Bradley was a candidate to be released this offseason, but his strong play during Summer League secured his spot on the roster. He’ll now be a free agent during the 2021 offseason.

Jazz Notes: Bradley, Oni, Brantley, Wright-Foreman

Jazz center Tony Bradley may have saved his NBA career with his Summer League performance, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. It’s unusual for a first-round pick to still be playing Summer League games going into his third season, but Bradley has done little to establish himself as an NBA player so far. After being taken with the 28th pick in 2017, he has appeared in just 12 games, with only three of those coming last season.

Bradley said he was aware of the stakes heading into Las Vegas, and he responded by leading the league in rebounding with 11.3 per game. He also averaged 19.7 PPG and shot 56% from the field. He appears to have won a roster spot and is expected to be third on the depth chart at center behind Rudy Gobert and Ed Davis.

“It was important for me,” Bradley said of the experience. “I knew that I had to go out there and play well.”

There’s more from Utah, all courtesy of Jones:

  • Versatility was the key to Miye Oni earning a fully guaranteed contract as a rookie. The Jazz consider him to be the best defender among their three draft picks, and his ability to play several positions gives him another advantage. However, rookie power forward Jarrell Brantley will probably need more time to develop. Jones states that he took bad shots and made bad decisions during Summer League and has a lot to learn before he’s ready for the NBA.
  • The Jazz want two-way player Justin Wright-Foreman to develop into a point guard. He was a high-scoring combo guard at Hofstra, but he will be asked to focus on one position during his time in the G League. He also needs to show some improvement on defense, but Jones adds that he has the talent to improve in that area.
  • The organization has two years to experiment with the roster before it becomes financially restrictive. Gobert and Donovan Mitchell will both be eligible for new contracts in the summer of 2021, and decisions will have to be made on Mike Conley, Dante Exum and Joe Ingles as well. That’s why they used three second-round picks this summer and gambled on William Howard and Stanton Kidd, hoping to find some future contributors while they still have flexibility.

Northwest Notes: Wiggins, Coaching Additions, Bradley

Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman makes a case for the Thunder to trade Chris Paul to the Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins. Paul would elevate the team’s immediate ceiling in Minnesota, providing Karl-Anthony Towns with arguably the best point guard he’s played with at the professional level.

Tramel believes OKC may provide Wiggins with an environment that would allow him to improve. Wiggins has played under four head coaches in Minnesota and the organization doesn’t have the recent track record for developing players that OKC does.

Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

  • The Thunder have named David Akinyooye, Dave Bliss, Mark Daigneault, Brian Keefe, and Mike Wilks as assistant coaches, the team announces on its website. The group will join head coach Billy Donovan and assistant coaches Maurice Cheeks and Vin Bhavnani on the bench.
  • The Timberwolves are close to adding Pelicans assistant Kevin Hanson to their coaching staff, as Chris Hine of the Star Tribune reports. Hanson spent the past four seasons in New Orleans.
  • Tony Bradley, who was selected in the 2017 draft, had a Summer League that saved his roster spot on the Jazz, Tony Jones of The Athletic explains. Third-year first-rounders don’t typically play in the Summer League and the front office told the center that it wanted to see him be the best player on the team. Bradley shined and will be the third center behind Rudy Gobert and Ed Davis.

Jazz Planning To Make A Run At Tobias Harris

Tony Jones of The Athletic is the latest reporter to hear that the Jazz plan to pursue Sixers forward Tobias Harris in free agency. In a column looking ahead to important offseason dates, Jones states that Harris will consider coming to Utah if Philadelphia doesn’t offer him a full maximum-salary contract over five years.

Harris would give the Jazz another perimeter scorer to team with Donovan Mitchell after averaging a career-best 20.0 PPG this season in 82 games with the Clippers and Sixers. As a 6’9″ combo forward, he would bring more flexibility to Utah’s frontcourt.

We’ve heard other reports that the Jazz plan to target Harris when July 1 arrives, with the Grizzlies, Mavericks and Nets also expected to get involved. It appears the Sixers are going to need to come up with a max offer to keep Harris in a summer where Jimmy Butler and J.J. Redick will also be unrestricted free agents.

There’s more on the Jazz, all courtesy of Jones:

  • Management will address the team’s point guard situation this summer, starting with a decision on whether to re-sign free agent Ricky Rubio. The Jazz could try again to acquire Mike Conley from the Grizzlies, but Jones notes that Utah won’t have the same matching contracts to offer that it had in February. Consideration will also be given to making Mitchell the point guard and possibly moving Royce O’Neale into the starting lineup.
  • The Jazz are willing to trade away their first-round pick if they get an offer they like. This year’s draft is considered top-heavy, and Utah may not be able to find an impact player at No. 23. If they keep the pick, Jones identifies Villanova’s Eric Paschall, Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke, Belmont’s Dylan Windler and Louisville’s Jordan Nwora as potential picks.
  • Grayson Allen and Tony Bradley have the most at stake in summer league. Allen played sparingly as a rookie, but got more time late in the season. He has a chance for an increased role next year, depending on which free agents return. He has proven he can shoot, but significant questions remain about his defense. Jones believes Bradley may be fighting for a roster spot this summer. A first-round pick in 2017, Bradley has been stuck in the G League, playing just 12 NBA games in two years and only three this season. There’s a chance he’ll be the backup center next year, but he has a lot to prove against summer league competition.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/14/19

Here are Thursday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:

  • The Raptors assigned forward Malcolm Miller to the Raptors 905, G League affiliate of the team, announcing the news on social media. After playing for the Raptors 905 earlier today, Miller was recalled by Toronto and suited up for the NBA team against the Lakers.
  • The Celtics have recalled Robert Williams from the Maine Red Claws, the team announced on social media. Williams was drafted by Boston with the the No. 27 pick in 2018, spending part of this season with Maine.
  • The Jazz assigned center Tony Bradley to their G League team in Salt Lake City, announcing the move in a press release. Bradley has seen action in 17 games with the team’s G League affiliate, averaging 13.6 points per game on 56% from the field.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/9/19

Here are today’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Jazz assigned Dante Exum, who has been sidelined since January 5 with an ankle injury, to their Salt Lake affiliate, along with Grayson Allen and Georges Niang, the team announced on Twitter. All three players were recalled after today’s practice.
  • The Jazz also recalled Tony Bradley, according to a tweet from the team.
  • The Bucks assigned Christian Wood to the Wisconsin Herd for tonight’s game with Canton (Twitter link).
  • The Rockets recalled Isaiah Hartenstein from Rio Grande Valley to add some center depth heading into a back-to-back, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
  • The Sixers assigned Amir Johnson and Justin Patton to play for Delaware in tonight’s game, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Both will be recalled after the game.