Portland Trail Blazers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Notes: Lillard, Hill, Henry, Springer

August 8th, 2021 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

With Damian Lillard heading home from the Olympics, the most important part of the Sixers‘ offseason is getting under way, writes Derek Bodner of The Athletic. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey is hoping Lillard makes his long-rumored trade request to the Trail Blazers, and Bodner believes Philadelphia is in a good position if that happens.

Lillard held a press conference last month to deny a report that a trade request was imminent. However, he has expressed an urgency to Portland’s management about the need to improve the roster, and the Blazers’ most significant additions so far have been the free agent signings of Tony Snell, Cody Zeller, and Ben McLemore.

Bodner adds that two potential competitors for Lillard are less of a threat than they were a few weeks ago. The Knicks used their cap space without acquiring another star player, while the Heat added Kyle Lowry and are now facing a hard cap for the upcoming season. It would be virtually impossible for Miami to match Lillard’s $43.75MM salary in a trade anytime soon, according to Bodner.

There’s more from Philadelphia:

The Sixers will receive a financial benefit now that George Hill has signed with the Bucks, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Hill, who was waived by Philadelphia on Tuesday, received a two-year, $8MM contract in Milwaukee. The Sixers will get a $1.255MM set-off on the money they still owed Hill, which will take effect after the 2021/22 season.
Rookie small forward Aaron Henry was more comfortable finding a team in free agency than he would have been as a late-round draft pick, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Henry agreed to a two-way contract with the Sixers shortly after the draft ended and is ready to prove himself in Summer League. A quadriceps strain forced him to be held out of the combine in Chicago, but he worked out for 12 teams in 19 days. One of those sessions was with the Sixers, who liked what they saw. “Since we got him, you can see his versatility,” said assistant Brian Adams, who’s handling head coaching duties for the Summer League team. “He can defend multiple positions. He can defend one-on-one and in the schemes we have. He’s picked up everything really fast.”
Sixers first-round pick Jaden Springer hopes to succeed with the same franchise that drafted his father in 1984, Pompey adds in a separate story. A knee injury prevented Gary Springer from playing in the NBA, but he believes his son has a bright future.

Southeast Notes: Bamba, Oubre, Gill, Wizards

August 7th, 2021 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mohamed Bamba won’t play for the Magic when Summer League starts on Sunday, but he’s practicing with his teammates in Las Vegas, writes Chris Hays of The Orlando Sentinel. The third-year center got a path to regular minutes for the first time in his career when Orlando unloaded its veteran centers last spring and turned the position over to Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr.

“For me it was no-brainer,” Bamba said of his decision to come to Las Vegas. “We got a new coach, new system, new guys and I just wanted to get well acclimated way before training camp.”

Jamahl Mosley, who has taken over as head coach, said this week that it was encouraging to see Bamba join the team on his own. Bamba said he’s looking forward to playing under Mosley.

“He’s made it clear that my presence (on the floor) is needed, is wanted and it’s just all about getting out there and putting in the right amount of work,” Bamba said. “Practicing with the team only helps the chemistry of the team. Coming out here … I had a choice, either to stay in Orlando and work with the coaches that didn’t come to Summer League or come here and add in these good deposits from the team.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Free agent forward Kelly Oubre received offers from eight other teams before deciding to sign with the Hornets, tweets Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Oubre’s agent, Torrel Harris of Unique Sports International Management, says the Knicks, Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, Nuggets, Nets, Trail Blazers and Cavaliers all presented offers to Oubre.
Today marked the guarantee date for Wizards power forward Anthony Gill, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. Gill will make $1,517,981 in 2021/22, giving Washington 13 fully guaranteed contracts. That doesn’t include center Daniel Gafford, whose $1,782,621 won’t be guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date of January 7.
Wizards Summer League players Cassius Winston, Issuf Sanon and Isaiah Todd have all been placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Their replacements include former NBA players Cheick Diallo and Derrick Walton Jr. (Twitter link)

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Lillard, Jazz, Butler

August 7th, 2021 at 6:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas is urging fans to be patient after the team’s slow start to free agency, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Minnesota hasn’t made any significant additions since the signing period began on Monday, but Rosas said the plan is to keep the core of the team intact and try to build on the momentum from late last season. The Wolves had a .500 record over their final 22 games.

“We just want to see this team come together,” he said. “As well as this team played down the stretch last year, we didn’t have Malik Beasley available because of injury. This group, the value of continuity, the value of growth together and just repetition together as a team, we’re excited about what that growth might mean.”

The immediate concern will be keeping restricted free agents Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan McLaughlin, Krawczynski adds. Both are facing a market where teams are left with limited resources and limited roster spots. Rosas spoke to them and their agents shortly after the signing period began.

Head coach Chris Finch foresees an expanded role for both players if they return. McLaughlin may become the primary backup at point guard now that Ricky Rubio is on the way to Cleveland, while Vanderbilt is one of the team’s most versatile defenders.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard helped Team USA capture a gold medal despite playing with an abdominal injury, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He will require further testing once he returns from Tokyo. Lillard, who was determined to keep playing despite the injury, logged 27 minutes and scored 11 points in Friday’s gold medal game.
The Jazz were shopping for versatility in this year’s free agent market, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. General manager Justin Zanik said that’s what the team was lacking in the playoffs, which is why it pursued Rudy Gay and Hassan Whiteside, while trading for Eric Paschall and rookie Jared Butler. Zanik added that he’s likely done with significant moves for the offseason, and Walden points out that means Joe Ingles will probably remain with the team.
The Jazz won’t have Butler as part of their Summer League squad, Walden adds. The rookie had a health issue during the pre-draft process and hasn’t been in a contact setting for a long time. Zanik said management might have let him play if the games were “10 days later,” but they opted to be safe.

Blazers Notes: Lillard, Free Agency, Roster, McCollum

August 6th, 2021 at 10:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked on Friday in Tokyo about the Trail Blazers‘ moves in free agency, star point guard Damian Lillard suggested that the team missed out on some of its top targets, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic relays.

“You never know where guys are going to end up and why they go there. You just try to have conversations and convince guys to be a part of our team,” Lillard said. “And obviously, this go around, we weren’t able to go out there and just get some of the guys that we would have liked.

“(So) you go down the list and you go through the guys that are out there that you like who haven’t committed to a team or were a part of your plans in free agency and you get the ones that want to be a part of what you’re doing. And I think that’s what we did.”

The Trail Blazers’ free agent additions include Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, and Ben McLemore. According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, the team also had interest in Nicolas Batum, and made an effort to lure Kelly Oubre to Portland with the taxpayer mid-level exception. Oubre ended up elsewhere even though Damian Lillard made a pitch to him at the end of the regular season.

“It wasn’t anything deep other than ‘Would he be open to it?’ and he said he was,” Lillard told Quick. “I liked Oubre as a complement to other guys I thought we would be able to get. We didn’t get them.”

As Quick outlines, the Blazers’ “real” offseason will begin when Lillard finishes his Olympics run and returns to Portland to evaluate the roster and assess his options. There are three roads the rest of the Blazers’ summer could take, in Quick’s view: Portland convinces Lillard that running it back and being patient is the right approach; the team makes a major trade that changes Lillard’s view of the Blazers’ trajectory; or the All-NBA guard asks to be traded.

Here’s more on the Blazers:

Quick confirms that the deals Zeller, McLemore, and Snell are signing are all worth the veteran’s minimum. The Blazers still have the taxpayer mid-level exception available, but aren’t aggressively pursuing any players left on the market and will likely hang onto that exception for now, Quick adds.
The Blazers have 13 players projected for the regular season roster for now. They plan to enter the season with 14, but they’re keeping that 14th spot open for now to maintain flexibility, according to Quick, who notes that the spot may be useful for a trade in which Portland takes back more players than it sends out.
While CJ McCollum is perhaps the most obvious trade candidate on the Blazers’ roster, it doesn’t sound like he’s being actively shopped, says Quick. Quick isn’t sure whether other teams simply don’t value McCollum like the Blazers do, but says the club won’t move him just to shake up the roster — a deal would have to improve the roster. So far, no opportunities fit that bill.

Blazers Sign Norman Powell To Five-Year Deal

August 6th, 2021 at 5:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 6: Powell has officially signed the contract, according to a team press release.

“Re-signing Norm was a priority this offseason and we are pleased that he chose to make a long-term commitment to Portland,” president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said. “We look forward to him building off his career year and are confident he will play an integral role in the future success of our franchise.”

AUGUST 2: The Trail Blazers have struck a deal with their top free agent, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who hears from agent Thaddeus Foucher that Norman Powell has agreed to a five-year, $90MM contract to remain in Portland.

Ahead of the 2021 free agency period, Powell decided to not exercise his $11.6MM player option for the 2021/22 season, confident (and rightfully so) that, as one of the best wings on the free agent market, he was in line for a major raise.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports adds (via Twitter) that the fully-guaranteed deal has no player options for the conclusion of the contract.

Powell was selected by the Raptors with the No. 46 pick out of UCLA in the 2015 draft. He won a title with the team in 2019. After spending his entire career in Toronto, the 6’3″ swingman was shipped to Portland in a deadline deal during the 2020/21 season.

With both clubs, Powell averaged 18.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.2 SPG across 32.0 MPG on the year. Powell, 28, will remain a key contributor as the small forward for the Trail Blazers.

His positional height deficiencies on the wing are not out-of-place in Portland, where he will line up next to the similarly-undersized 6’3″ shooting guard CJ McCollum.

Luke Adams contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trail Blazers Sign Ben McLemore

August 5th, 2021 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 5: The team has officially signed McLemore, according to a team press release. It’s a one-year, minimum-salary deal.

AUGUST 2: The Trail Blazers will sign free agent shooting guard Ben McLemore, his agent Rich Paul has informed Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

The athletic swingman flashed significant promise during his first few seasons with the Kings, who selected him with the seventh pick in the 2013 draft out of Kansas. He next proved himself to be a valuable role player while with the Grizzlies, and then suited up for an encore 2018/19 Sacramento season.

Armed with quickness and a reliable three-point shot, McLemore served as a helpful wing contributor on the Rockets’ most recent playoff team, operating as a role player to support All-Star guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook, during the 2019/20 season.

After the Rockets began a midseason 2020/21 fire sale, they sent McLemore to the Lakers. McLemore averaged 8.0 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 21 contests for Los Angeles, connecting on 36.8% of his 5.4 three-point attempts a night. He should prove a valuable floor-spacing role player on the perimeter for Portland.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trail Blazers Sign Cody Zeller

August 4th, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 4: The Trail Blazers have issued a press release formally announcing the signing of Zeller. Because it’s a one-year, minimum-salary contract, it can be completed during the free agency moratorium.

AUGUST 2: Free agent center Cody Zeller has agreed to a one-year deal with the Trail Blazers, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. It’ll be a minimum-salary contract, reports Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (via Twitter).

Zeller has spent his entire eight-year career with the Hornets. He averaged 9.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 1.8 APG in 20.9 MPG last season, though he only appeared in 48 games due to a hand fracture suffered during the season opener.

Zeller admitted prior to free agency he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I think the biggest thing is just being somewhere where I’m valued. I just want to win,” Zeller said.

Zeller will presumably back up Jusuf Nurkic, unless Portland makes some other moves.

Blazers Sign Tony Snell To One-Year Deal

August 3rd, 2021 at 3:39pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 10: The Blazers have officially signed Snell, the team announced today in a press release. Portland is now carrying 12 players on standard contracts, with Trendon Watford on a two-way deal and second-round pick Greg Brown still unsigned.

AUGUST 3: The Trail Blazers and free agent wing Tony Snell have agreed to a one-year contract, agent Austin Brown tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Snell, 29, will provide additional shooting on the wing for a Portland team that also reached deals with Norman Powell and Ben McLemore early in free agency.

Snell shot an otherworldly 56.9% on three-point attempts in 47 games (21.1 MPG) for Atlanta in 2020/21, albeit not on a particularly high volume (2.3 attempts per game). He has now knocked down at least 40% of his three-point attempts in four of the last five seasons, and narrowly fell short of that mark in 2018/19 (39.7%).

Terms of Snell’s new deal aren’t yet known, but I’d be a little surprised if it’s worth more than the veteran’s minimum.

Western Notes: J. Jackson, Gasol, Blazers, Kings, Christie

August 3rd, 2021 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

A total of 56 free agents reached contract agreements with teams around the NBA on Monday, but not a single one of those players is signing with the Grizzlies. That’s by design though, according to Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, who writes that Memphis’ plan was always to have a quiet free agent period and focus on negotiating a potential contract extension with Jaren Jackson Jr.

One of 24 players eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, Jackson won’t get a maximum-salary deal like Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But Grizzlies head of basketball operations Zach Kleiman has suggested that the former fourth overall pick remains very much in the franchise’s long-term plans.

“I think we’re going to be our best selves over time with Jaren,” Kleiman said after the draft, per Barnes. “Spacing the floor, attacking, creating, defensively taking advantage of the versatility he brings to the table.”

Here’s more from around the West as we wait for day two of free agency to start heating up:

When Marc Gasol signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Lakers last summer, there was some speculation that he might decide to retire after the 2020/21 season. That’s not his plan though. As Brian Windhorst of ESPN tweets, Gasol told reporters following Spain’s elimination from the Olympics on Tuesday that he intends to continue his NBA career and finish his contract with L.A.
The Trail Blazers formally announced Chauncey Billups‘ coaching staff in a press release on Monday, confirming that previously-reported assistant coaching hires such as Scott Brooks, Roy Rogers, Steve Hetzel, and Edniesha Curry are now official. Former Long Island Nets assistant Milt Palacio will also be part of Billups’ staff, according to the team.
Doug Christie is moving from the broadcast booth to the sidelines, as the Kings officially announced the former NBA player and veteran TV analyst will be joining Luke Walton‘s staff as an assistant coach. Christie, who played for Sacramento from 2000-05, said in a statement that coaching for the Kings has been a “dream of mine.”

Spurs Sign Zach Collins To Three-Year Contract

August 2nd, 2021 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 11: The signing is official, the team confirms in a press release.

AUGUST 2: The Spurs have decided to roll the dice on injury-plagued free agent forward Zach Collins.

Collins is departing the Trail Blazers on a three-year, $22MM deal, agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 10th pick of the 2017 draft, Collins has seen his career sidetracked by injuries. The Trail Blazers decided not to extend him a $7MM qualifying offer, making Collins an unrestricted free agent.

Collins has only appeared in 11 games the past two seasons due to shoulder, foot and ankle injuries.

Collins had a major setback in late June when another fracture was discovered in his left foot. He underwent a second revision surgery to repair a left medial malleolus stress fracture and will require another 4-6 month recovery period.

“Obviously with me being a free agent, it makes it tough,” Collins said last month. “But I’m less concerned about what type of deal I’m going to get, or how many years it’s going to be, or who I’m going to play for … I’m more focused on this rehab and getting this ankle right.”

Bartelstein was confident he could land a multi-year contract for his client, even though Collins will miss at least a portion of next season.

San Antonio is adding at least one other free agent forward, as it also reached a three-year agreement with Doug McDermott.