- Steve Hetzel is expected to join Chauncey Billups’ Trail Blazers’ staff, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report tweets. Hetzel had been on the Magic’s staff under former head coach Steve Clifford.
Ben Simmons and his agent – Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul – are “in step” with the Sixers‘ efforts to trade the 25-year-old to a new team, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Sources tell Wojnarowski that the 76ers continue to canvass the NBA exploring potential trades involving Simmons and have established a “steep” asking price. While a draft-night trade is a possibility, the discussions may continue into the summer, according to Wojnarowski.
It remains unclear which teams will emerge as the most serious suitors for Simmons. A report earlier today indicated that the Heat, Wizards, and Raptors are possibilities. However, a subsequent report threw cold water on the Miami scenario, and Washington is likely only a realistic landing spot if Bradley Beal is going to Philadelphia — so far, there’s no indication Beal wants out of D.C.
Toronto’s interest in Simmons has been reported by multiple outlets, though it’s unclear if there’s a realistic match between the two division rivals.
Matt Moore of ActionNetwork.com reported earlier this week that the Sixers proposed a framework that included Kyle Lowry (via sign-and-trade), Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and the fourth overall pick, which Toronto obviously rejected. If that report is accurate and Philadelphia’s asking price remains anywhere near that high, it’s probably safe to assume the Raptors will look elsewhere for roster upgrades.
Meanwhile, as Jeff Garcia of News 4 San Antonio relays, Kevin O’Connor said on The Ringer’s The Mismatch podcast that the Sixers are rumored to have asked the Spurs for four first-round picks, three pick swaps, and a young player in exchange for Simmons.
O’Connor added that he doesn’t expect Simmons to be moved unless Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey drastically lowers his asking price or a player like Beal or Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard becomes available and Philadelphia uses Simmons as the centerpiece of an offer.
Of all the trade and free agent scenarios the Lakers are rumored to be considering, a deal with the Kings for Buddy Hield seems to be the “most promising” so far, a source tells Sam Amick of The Athletic.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Hield is the Lakers’ top target this offseason, but it indicates that a trade with the Kings is a more realistic option for L.A. than acquiring a higher-level player like Chris Paul or Kyle Lowry, given the team’s cap constraints. A Hield trade would involve Kyle Kuzma and may require Montrezl Harrell to exercise his $9.7MM player option in order to be included in the package, writes Amick.
Here’s more on Hield, along with a few other tidbits from Amick related to free agency and the trade market:
- The Lakers aren’t the only team with some interest in Hield. A source with knowledge of the trade discussions tells Amick that the Sixers have also displayed interest in the veteran sharpshooter (unrelated to a Ben Simmons deal), and other teams are believed to have talked to the Kings about him as well. Amick believes Hield is a good candidate to be on the move this summer.
- It looks increasingly likely that the Sixers will move Simmons will this offseason, according to Amick, who says one source identified the Heat, Raptors, and Wizards as some of the most likely landing spots for Simmons. Washington would probably only be a realistic trade partner if Bradley Beal is in play, however. Meanwhile, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com expresses skepticism that any deal sending Simmons to Miami would be a good fit for both the Heat and Sixers.
- Sources tell Amick that Damian Lillard is expected to continue focusing on earning gold with Team USA for the time being and will reassess the Trail Blazers‘ roster later in the offseason before making any decisions about his future.
Having claimed earlier in the week that the Sixers hadn’t really been able to get in touch with Ben Simmons this offseason, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report clarifies in his latest article that the team’s brass has maintained contact with Simmons and his representatives. However, the 76ers have been “unable to collaborate” so far on a summer development plan for the former No. 1 pick.
Although league executives who have spoken to Fischer speculate that the Sixers may try to hang onto Simmons in the hopes that Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard will eventually ask out of Portland, the “overwhelming” expectation is that Simmons will be dealt before the start of the 2021/22 season. Of the early discussions Philadelphia has had about the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, talks with the Raptors are thought to be the most advanced, Fischer adds.
Here’s more from Fischer:
- As Bradley Beal continues to weigh his future with the Wizards, there’s a growing expectation around the league that the All-Star guard might still decide he wants to stay in D.C., says Fischer.
- The Mavericks have explored trade scenarios involving Josh Richardson, according to Fischer. Richardson still has to make a decision on his $11.6MM player option for 2021/22, but if he opts in, his expiring contract represents a logical trade chip if Dallas wants the flexibility to make a run at a top free agent.
- After previously identifying Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, and Royce O’Neale as potential trade candidates if the Jazz look to trim team salary, Fischer now says O’Neale is likely to stick around, but Bogdanovic and/or Ingles could still be moved. Utah has also explored the possibility of trading Derrick Favors along with the No. 30 pick, Fischer adds.
- The Thunder‘s front office believes it should be able to flip Kemba Walker for assets this summer if his medicals are good, according to Fischer (Twitter link). Walker’s contract, which has two years and $73.7MM left on it, isn’t favorable, so Oklahoma City would likely need to take on an equally bad deal – or multiple unwanted contracts – in order to acquire assets with positive value.
Trail Blazers forward Derrick Jones Jr. is set to exercise his $9.7MM player option for 2021/22, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The 6’5″ forward, 24, was a role player during his first season with Portland. After going undrafted out of UNLV in 2016, the athletic Jones first caught on with the Suns before eventually linking up for a three-season stint with the Heat, which included a 2020 NBA Finals run.
Jones’s offensive contributions with the Trail Blazers this past season were fairly modest, but he made an effective impact as a versatile defender. He averaged 6.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 0.9 BPG across 22.7 MPG during the regular season. Jones suited up for 58 contests with the team, including 43 starts, falling out of the rotation down the stretch.
With Jones now in the fold, the Trail Blazers have eight players on fully guaranteed contracts for the upcoming season. Center Jusuf Nurkic‘s $12MM deal with the club is partially guaranteed, but he’s unlikely to be waived, despite being healthy for just 45 of a possible 146 games during his last two seasons with Portland.
Starting Portland shooting guard Norman Powell, who had an $11.6MM player option ahead of the 2021/22 season, declined his player option last week.
The Trail Blazers decided to not extend a $7MM qualifying offer to injury-prone power forward Zach Collins, thus making him an unrestricted free agent. Collins has appeared in just 154 of a possible 310 games across his four NBA seasons.
Despite a pair of weekend reports suggesting that Wizards guard Bradley Beal is contemplating his future with the franchise, he has not yet requested a trade, according to multiple reports.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (video link) said on the Woj & Lowe special on ESPN on Sunday that Beal hasn’t asked the Wizards to be dealt; Fred Katz of The Athletic says there hasn’t been a demand, a request, or even a “timid suggestion” for a trade; and Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes that the All-NBA guard has remained in contact with the Wizards’ front office and has given the team no signs that he’s unhappy.
Previous reports from Bleacher Report and The Athletic suggested that Beal might make a decision on whether he wants to remain in D.C. before Thursday’s draft. A trade would be easier to put together before that draft, since it would allow potential suitors to offer 2021 picks and give the Wizards the opportunity to select the players they want with those picks.
However, Hughes cites one source who pushed back on the idea that Washington needs to decide its course within the next four days, pointing out that Beal is under contract next season and not every trade offer would center around 2021 draft picks.
One team whose offer would be heavy on 2021 picks is Golden State, and Wojnarowski (video link) views Beal as the primary target for the Warriors, who don’t seem inclined to get too involved in the Ben Simmons sweepstakes. If Beal isn’t made available via trade, Wojnarowski expects the Warriors to use their picks at No. 7 and No. 14 this Thursday.
Of course, even if Beal is available, there will be other teams in the mix besides Golden State, as ESPN’s Zach Lowe observes (video link). Lowe believes the Wizards would seek more than Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, and the Nos. 7 and 14 picks from Golden State in any Beal deal, suggesting that Washington would likely also ask for the Warriors’ 2026 first-rounder and a pick swap or two.
Here’s more on Beal:
- Beal has always looked for reasons to stay in D.C. rather than to leave, according to Wojnarowski. “He loves that organization,” Woj said. “He loves that city.”
- While the Wizards said Beal would have a say in the team’s head coaching search this offseason, the star guard was a little frustrated that his top pick for the job – Sixers assistant Sam Cassell – didn’t get a second interview, sources tell Katz. It’s unclear, however, if that will be a major factor in Beal’s decision on his future.
- If Beal does request a trade, the Sixers, Heat, and Hawks are among the teams that could join the Warriors in the bidding, sources tell Katz. Hughes, meanwhile, suggests that the Warriors, Heat, Celtics, Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Mavericks are some of the clubs that would likely intrigue Beal.
- The Thunder have made it known around the NBA that they’d be interested in participating in a Beal trade as a third team, according to Hughes.
- The Wizards haven’t received any indication that their other star guard – Russell Westbrook – wants out of Washington, a team source tells Hughes.
There has been little movement on the Ben Simmons situation, as none of the interested teams are offering an All-Star level player to the Sixers in return, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. He adds that many observers believe president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is waiting for Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard to return from the Olympics to see if he makes a trade request.
The Cavaliers, Pacers, Timberwolves, Kings and Raptors have all shown interest in trading for Simmons, sources tell Fischer. Executives from several of those teams said they view him as a play-making forward, rather than a point guard as he has been used in Philadelphia.
Simmons remains under contract for four more seasons, so there’s no urgency for the Sixers to make a move right away. Still, the “overwhelming expectation” across the league is that he will be traded during the offseason after struggling with his shot during the playoffs.
Fischer shares more inside information from around the NBA:
- The Warriors would like to swap their two lottery picks for veteran help, but president of basketball operations Bob Myers isn’t finding many impact players available on the trade market. The Jazz could emerge as a possibility, Fischer adds, as Utah is hoping to shed some salary before re-signing point guard Mike Conley. Joe Ingles might be moved in such a deal, and Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O’Neale are also possibilities.
- The Kings, who hold the No. 9 pick in Thursday’s draft, may be the highest option for teams hoping to trade into the lottery. Sacramento and the Pelicans, who have the 10th selection, have been active in trade talks involving those picks, sources tell Fischer, as both teams are looking for veterans who will give them a better chance to make the playoffs next season. New Orleans, which is hoping to unload Eric Bledsoe‘s salary, has talked to the Grizzlies about a deal that would send the veteran guard and the No. 10 pick to Memphis in exchange for the 17th choice.
- The Hornets at No. 11 and the Pacers at No. 13 may also make their picks available. Fischer confirms that Indiana has talked to the Rockets about a deal involving Eric Gordon and the 23rd pick, and Myles Turner is believed to be on the trade market as well.
- In two meetings with president of basketball operations Neil Olshey since the Trail Blazers were knocked out of the playoffs, Damian Lillard has emphasized the need to add more talent, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. Portland doesn’t have any picks in this year’s draft and re-signing Norman Powell will be the priority in free agency, so Olshey will likely have to be aggressive on the trade market. Teams have offered picks in the top half of the draft in exchange for CJ McCollum, Quick adds, but the Blazers have been refusing because that wouldn’t help with their urgency to improve right away. They are expected to try to purchase a pick in the second round.
The Warriors’ star players are pushing management to acquire a top-level talent in pursuit of another championship, with Bradley Beal as the top target, Marcus Thompson of The Athletic reports.
The Warriors have the No. 7 and 14 picks in next week’s draft to dangle and would likely have to add more picks along with Andrew Wiggins‘ salary to make the salaries match. Golden State would prefer to keep last year’s No. 2 overall pick, James Wiseman, but it’s speculated that Washington would also want the young center as part of any package.
Of course, Beal has never indicated he wants to be traded and the Wizards have repeatedly said they’re not interested in dealing their high-scoring All-Star. In fact, Washington is hoping to sign Beal to another extension. His current one begins in 2021/22 — it’s a two-year deal worth $71.8MM with a player option in the second year.
Beal and the Wizards would need to have a change of heart quickly with the draft just a week away.
Golden State’s trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green has made it clear to the team’s front office it wants a player who can help the franchise make another serious run at a title.
Beal, who was chosen for Team USA but didn’t travel to Tokyo after entering health and safety protocols, is viewed as the ideal player for Golden State’s offense due to his scoring and play-making ability. That would ease the load on Curry, who edged Beal for the league scoring title this season.
Damian Lillard could also fit that mold, but multiple sources told Thompson it’s unlikely the Trail Blazers’ perennial All-Star would want to join the Warriors. Beal is preferred over Raptors star forward Pascal Siakam, another player rumored to be a potential trade target for the Warriors.
Teams are calling the Trail Blazers to inquire on guard CJ McCollum and offering the opportunity for Portland to move into the “top part of the draft,” according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. However, Quick reports that the Blazers aren’t seriously considering those offers, since they’re in win-now mode and are seeking veteran help rather than rookies.
As Quick details, the Blazers are open to a trade that would allow them to acquire an upgrade on McCollum. However, there are no obvious opportunities out there. A swap revolving around McCollum and Ben Simmons has long been the subject of speculation, but Quick suggests the Sixers likely wouldn’t be enticed by such a deal, even if Portland adds a young player like Anfernee Simons or Nassir Little to its offer.
Here’s more on the Blazers from Quick:
- Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey has met twice with Damian Lillard since the season ended. They had a three-hour sitdown on June 19 at the team’s practice facility and then met in Las Vegas with new head coach Chauncey Billups last Friday, per Quick. During those meetings, Lillard conveyed his publicly-stated preference that the Blazers act with more urgency in upgrading their roster.
- Despite Lillard’s call for urgency, it remains to be seen whether Portland will do anything drastic with its roster this summer. Quick says “there appears to be an inclination to run this group back again” in the hopes that Billups’ influence and a full season of Powell raise the Blazers’ ceiling. Quick acknowledges that exercising patience would be a risky approach, given Lillard’s unease, but points out there are some similarities to 2018, when the club made few roster changes after being swept in the first round and then reached the Western Finals in 2019.
- Re-signing Norman Powell is the Blazers’ top priority in free agency. Billups recently met with Powell in Las Vegas and “communicated his vision” to the veteran swingman. The team hopes the hiring of Billups helps convince Powell to remain in Portland.
- Olshey recognizes that building a bench led by Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter contributed to the team’s defensive shortcomings and will aim to add “long, rangy” players who can guard multiple positions and comfortably switch on defense, according to Quick.
- The Blazers will likely try to buy a second-round pick in next Thursday’s draft, says Quick.