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Northwest Notes: Clingan, Shannon, Juzang, Braun

July 14th, 2024 at 9:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Donovan Clingan didn’t do much offensively in his Trail Blazers Summer League debut but the former UConn center showed off his defensive prowess, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report notes. Clingan had 13 rebounds and five blocks while altering numerous other San Antonio shots.

“I thought he was awesome,” Portland Summer League coach Jonah Herscu said. “I thought he protected the paint. His size really impacts the other team at the offensive end.”

The lottery pick was less impressed by his outing than his coach was.

“I feel like there were a couple shots around the rim that I could have contested better or blocked,” Clingan said. “There were some floaters they made that I’m not happy with. I wish I’d rebounded the ball a little bit better in the first half.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. isn’t guaranteed a rotation spot with the Timberwolves but he had a solid showing in his Summer League debut. Shannon, selected with the No.27 pick, played with force and physicality while racking up 25 points. “I was just proud of how he handled the game, managed it. He took great shots; he didn’t force anything,” Summer League coach Chris Hines told The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. “But one of the things that I loved about him was he competed on defense.”
The Jazz‘s decision to offer restricted free agent Johnny Juzang a four-year contract shows that they are looking within the organization to round out the roster, Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune writes. There are better players on the free agent market than Juzang, Larsen notes, but the Jazz feel he can play a spot role. They filled Juzang’s two-way slot with Taevion Kinsey, who played last season for the G League Salt Lake City Stars.
Christian Braun is the logical successor to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — who left for Orlando as a free agent — as the Nuggets’ starting shooting guard, but he’s not taking that for granted, according to Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. “We have a lot of similarities, I think,” he said. “Defensively, kind of being pests. Offensively, we both fit alongside Nikola (Jokic). And it’s the reason we were brought in. I was brought in to play with those guys, and so was he. … I think I’m gonna do a great job the same way he did a great job. And I’m excited for that. I’m excited for the opportunity to, like I said, go out and earn it.”

Raptors Notes: Mitchell, Vezenkov, Agbaji, Diallo, Dick

July 13th, 2024 at 9:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors believe Davion Mitchell will bring a perimeter defensive presence they lacked last season, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN. The 25-year-old was acquired from the Kings in a trade on the second night of the draft to fill Toronto’s need for a backup point guard.

“I’m trying to bring leadership, defensive mindset, being that dog, just doing the little things on the floor,” Mitchell said. “Over my career playing basketball, every team that I’ve been on, the guy that’s on the ball brings that energy. I think that me putting pressure on the ball up top, a lot of people are gonna want to play just as hard. No one wants to stand out by not playing hard. So, me bringing that energy is going to show.”

Mitchell’s defensive prowess convinced Sacramento to select him with the ninth pick in 2021, but he struggled to find playing time in a crowded backcourt. Even though he appeared in 72 games last season, he dropped to a career-low 15.3 minutes per night and his other numbers declined across the board. The Kings were looking to unload his contract to provide cap relief, and Toronto welcomed the opportunity to increase its toughness level on defense.

“It’s not just about him, it’s all the guys,” coach Darko Rajakovic said. “Everybody has to step up. We’re working a lot during the summer to really improve on-ball defense, aggressiveness. We’re really, really trying to – as you can see in the draft class as well – find as many possible two-way guys. We call them the most important guy. Most important guy is the guy who’s guarding the ball. He makes it easier for everybody else. And we’re really trying to develop everybody on our roster to be able to do a better job.”

There’s more on the Raptors:

Toronto hasn’t resolved the situation regarding Sasha Vezenkov, who was acquired from Sacramento in the same trade, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet. Vezenkov reportedly reached a deal with Olympiacos in Greece, but there’s one year left on his NBA contract, plus a team option for 2025/26. “We’re still having that conversation,” team president Masai Ujiri said today on a broadcast of the Raptors’ Summer League game. “He had a tough time in the NBA last year. We are trying to figure it out, and what he wants to do. The right decision will be made. … I think he’s a phenomenal player, had a tough season last season, those things happen, great shooter. Whatever happens, we’re going to make the best out of this situation. We support him in every way and we know where our team is going. So hopefully soon.”
Even though it’s somewhat rare for former lottery picks with two full years of experience to participate in Summer League, Ochai Agbaji and Raptors officials both believed it would be beneficial, per Lewenberg (Twitter link). Agbaji appeared in 27 games with Toronto after being acquired from Utah in February.
The Raptors hosted a private scrimmage on Friday in Las Vegas that involved representatives of the Clippers, Trail Blazers and Rockets, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). Iko hears that the standout performer was free agent swingman Hamidou Diallo, who played two games with Washington last season.
In an interview with Eric Koreen of The Athletic, Gradey Dick talks about the challenges of his rookie season.

Groups Revealed For 2024 NBA Cup

July 12th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The NBA has announced the five-team groups for this year’s in-season tournament, now renamed the Emirates NBA Cup, the league announced in a release on Friday (Twitter link).

Like last year, there are six groups — three each from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference — and each conference was split into five groups based on last year’s standings. One team was selected at random from each group to determine the group round matchups.

The results are:

West Group A: Timberwolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets and Trail Blazers
West Group B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Spurs
West Group C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies
East Group A: Knicks, Magic, Sixers, Nets and Hornets
East Group B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors and Pistons
East Group C: Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, Hawks and Wizards

The NBA Cup begins with group play, which runs from Nov. 12 to Dec. 3. Each team plays one game against each of the four opponents in its group. The NBA released a matchup matrix to help fans follow along (Twitter link).

Just like last season, the winner of each group advances to a knockout round alongside the team with the best record in each conference that didn’t win a group. The semifinals and finals will again be played in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Last year, the Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament over the Pacers. LeBron James was named the tournament MVP after dropping 24 points in the title game.

The full game and broadcast schedule for group play will be announced next month.

Northwest Notes: Murray, Nuggets, Trent, Joe, Sharpe, Markkanen

July 12th, 2024 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

Shams Charania reported back on June 27 that the Nuggets and Jamal Murray were “working toward” a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension, with the team expected to make the offer and the star guard expected to accept it. Over two weeks later, there’s still no deal in place.

A report earlier this week indicated that the Nuggets and Murray will likely wait until after the Olympics to finalize an agreement, and the 27-year-old Canadian essentially confirmed as much when asked this week by Troy Renck of The Denver Post about his contract situation.

“When we get there, we get there,” Murray said after the Canadian team lost an exhibition game to Team USA in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “I’m playing games right now for Canada, so that’s not on my mind.”

A maximum-salary extension for Murray, who is entering the final year of his current deal, would be worth a projected $207.85MM over four seasons.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Gary Trent Jr. isn’t a viable target for the Nuggets in free agency, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link), who hears that the 25-year-old swingman isn’t interested in accepting a minimum-salary contract and that there may not be much interest on Denver’s side anyway.
Isaiah Joe‘s new four-year, $48MM contract with the Thunder includes a fourth-year team option and has a descending salary structure, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Joe’s cap hit in 2024/25 will be $12,991,650 before dipping to $12,362,338 in ’25/26, with third- and fourth-year salaries of $11,323,006.
Although he attended Team Canada’s pre-Olympic training camp this summer, Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe wasn’t in the mix for a spot on the 2024 Paris roster. But Sharpe, who has been medically cleared following his core muscle surgery in February, is in Canada’s future plans, head coach Jordi Fernandez tells Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “We value him as an important player in the future, being a big part of this program,” Fernandez said. “We don’t only care about this tournament. We care about AmeriCup and the World Cup and L.A. in 2028. We want Shaedon to be a part of that.”
Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune takes a closer look at the Lauri Markkanen situation in Utah, exploring why the Jazz might be motivated to move the star forward and what they could reasonably expect to get in return.

Trail Blazers Sign Bryce McGowens To Two-Way Contract

July 11th, 2024 at 6:12pm CST by Rory Maher

6:12pm: McGowens’ two-way deal with the Blazers is official, according to the team (Twitter link).

2:22pm: The Trail Blazers are signing free agent wing Bryce McGowens to a two-way contract, agents Kyle McAlarney and Mark Bartelstein tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

McGowens, 21, was the No. 40 overall pick of the 2022 draft after spending one college season at Nebraska. He spent his first two NBA seasons with the Hornets, who waived his non-guaranteed contract on Saturday to create more salary cap flexibility.

In 59 games with Charlotte in 2023/24, McGowens averaged 5.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG and 0.9 APG with a .439/.333/.776 shooting line in 14.9 MPG.

As our tracker shows, Portland currently only has one player — Justin Minaya — signed to a two-way contract. McGowens will fill the second of three total two-way spots.

If he stays on a two-way deal for the entire ’24/25 season, McGowens will earn a little under $579K. He will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2025, assuming he isn’t released before then.

Western Notes: Morant, Klay, Wiggins, Barnes, Avdija

July 9th, 2024 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been cleared for all basketball activities, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Morant, who missed the first 25 games of the 2023/24 season due to a suspension, returned to action in December and immediately provided a spark for the Grizzlies, who won six of nine games with the star point guard in the lineup. However, a labral tear in Morant’s right shoulder ended his season after those nine games. He has been recovering from surgery in the months since then.

The Grizzlies were one of the NBA’s most injury-plagued teams in ’23/24, but head coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters back in April that only Morant projected to have a recovery timeline extending well into the offseason. With a fully healthy roster, there’s optimism in Memphis that the club can bounce back from a 27-55 year and look more like the club that went 107-57 over the previous two regular seasons.

We have more from around the Western Conference:

Referring to his deal with the Mavericks as a “fresh start,” Klay Thompson told reporters on Tuesday that he’s optimistic about “kind of being rejuvenated” in Dallas, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN details. “Feeling just wanted again, like I bring great value, it just gets me excited to go out there and even work out after this press conference and get shots up,” Thompson said. “Yeah, there was times last year where it was tough, where it wasn’t as joyful as it was in the past. It’s nice to kind of shed that and have a whole new fresh start, whole new group of guys to get to know, co-workers, whole new city. It’s really cool, and I’m going to embrace the heck out of this opportunity.” In a story for The Athletic, Tim Cato takes a look at how Thompson will fit in on the Mavs’ roster.
Aaron Wiggins‘ new five-year contract with the Thunder is worth $45MM, with $2MM in bonuses that could push it up to the initially reported total of $47MM, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The deal has a descending structure and includes a fifth-year team option, Scotto adds.
New Spurs forward Harrison Barnes confirmed on Tuesday that he waived his $3.7MM trade kicker to facilitate his move to San Antonio, calling it a “pretty easy decision” and adding that he’s excited about playing for head coach Gregg Popovich, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
New Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija admitted on Monday that he was surprised to be traded by the Wizards, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “I think they really love me,” Avdija said of his old team. “I’ve done a lot for that organization. It was just not the timeline, I guess.” Now that he has gotten past that initial surprise, the 23-year-old is “excited” about the new opportunity in front of him. “They’ve welcomed me very well, so it’s a good start,” he said. “I’m glad to be in a place where people embrace me and love me. I’m going to bring my competitiveness, and we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

Wizards Trade Deni Avdija To Trail Blazers

July 6th, 2024 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The trade is official, according to press release from the Wizards and the Trail Blazers. The terms are outlined below, with the rights to No. 14 pick Carlton Carrington headed to Washington along with Brogdon and the three future draft picks.

JUNE 26: The Wizards and Trail Blazers have agreed to a trade that will send forward Deni Avdija to Portland, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

In exchange for Avdija, Washington will receive guard Malcolm Brogdon, the No. 14 pick in Wednesday night’s draft, a 2029 first-round pick, and two second-rounders, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 2029 pick will be the second-most favorable of the three first-rounders Portland controls, per Wojnarowski. Besides their own pick, the Blazers hold the Celtics’ and Bucks’ first-rounders in ’29.

The two second-rounders will be 2028 and 2030 picks, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The ’28 second-rounder could be either the Blazers’ own pick or the Warriors’ pick (Portland controls both), while the ’30 second-rounder will be either the Blazers’ own pick or the Knicks’ pick.

Avdija, who was selected ninth overall in the 2020 draft, has spent his first four NBA seasons in Washington and enjoyed a breakout year in 2023/24. In 75 games (all starts), he established new career highs in points (14.7), rebounds (7.2), and assists (3.8) per contest, as well as FG% (.506) and 3PT% (.374). The performance earned him a sixth-place finish in the Most Improved Player vote.

The 23-year-old is also on a very team-friendly contract for the next several seasons. He signed a four-year, $55MM rookie scale extension last offseason that will go into effect in July and will run through the 2027/28 season. It has a declining structure, starting at about $15.6MM and dipping to $11.9MM by year four.

While it’s a little surprising to see the retooling Trail Blazers as an aggressive buyer on the trade market, Avdija’s age and contract make him an ideal long-term fit in Portland. The deal will also create some financial flexibility for the Blazers, who projected to be over the first tax apron in 2024/25. As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, moving off of Brogdon’s expiring $22.5MM salary and the No. 14 pick (which had a cap hold of about $4.5MM) will move team salary out of luxury tax territory.

Brogdon has appeared in more than 56 games just once in the past five seasons due to injuries and only played 39 times in 2023/24. However, he remains effective when he’s available, averaging 15.7 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 3.8 RPG in 28.7 MPG with a .440/.412/.819 shooting line in his first and only season as a Blazer. The 31-year-old won the Sixth Man of the Year award with Boston in 2023 but was sent to Portland in the Jrue Holiday trade last fall.

Still, it’s safe to assume that the draft pick were the primary motivator for the rebuilding Wizards, who were rumored for much of the spring to be eyeing a third first-round pick. While Avdija would have fit Washington’s timeline too, he was part of the roster that the current front office – led by team president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins – inherited, so it seems they weren’t especially attached to him. Winger and Dawkins have reportedly made it a priority to build the new-look Wizards’ roster through the draft.

It’s unclear if the Wizards will keep Brogdon for the 2024/25 season or look to flip him to a new team. The veteran would make a logical trade chip, given his expiring contract and his age, and sources indeed tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) that he’ll be a candidate to be traded again. But Brogdon could also provide depth and veteran leadership in Washington’s backcourt if the team loses point guard Tyus Jones in free agency.

Due to the poison pill provision, the trade can’t be completed until July, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). That means the Blazers will make their pick at No. 14 tonight on behalf of the Wizards.

Warriors Acquire No. 52 Pick Quinten Post From Blazers

July 6th, 2024 at 12:09pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 6: The trade sending Post’s rights from Portland to Golden State in exchange for cash is now official, according to announcements from both the Trail Blazers and Warriors.

JUNE 27: The Warriors have agreed to reacquire the No. 52 pick from the Trail Blazers in exchange for cash considerations, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports and Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Twitter links).

The Warriors used the pick to select center Quinten Post out of Boston College.

As Highkin notes, Portland shipped out its No. 34 selection the Knicks for three future second-rounders, received cash from the Thunder to move down from No. 40 to 52, and have now moved off the No. 52 pick as well.

After starting the draft Wednesday with four draft selections, a rebuilding Portland club finishes with just one pick, No. 7, which it used on center Donovan Clingan. The Trail Blazers have $46.4MM in salaries committed to veteran centers Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III.

Sending out cash to obtain the No. 52 selection will hard-cap Golden State at the NBA’s second apron for the 2024/25 season. The No. 52 pick was dealt by the Warriors to the Thunder in a trade for Lindy Waters earlier today, was sent from Oklahoma City to Portland, and has now has landed back in Golden State.

Trade Rumors: DeRozan, Kings, Lakers, Grant, Cavs, Finney-Smith, Okoro, More

July 5th, 2024 at 11:05pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Kings are among the teams believed to have some interest in Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, there has been a growing sense entering the weekend that Sacramento is more focused on free agent forward DeMar DeRozan, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Earlier reporting from Adrian Wojnarowski named the Kings as a legitimate suitor for DeRozan, who would need to be acquired via sign-and-trade, with a third team likely taking on salary from Sacramento in the deal.

Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link) confirms there’s “mutual interest” between DeRozan and the Kings, while James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link) confirms Sacramento has talked to the Bulls about a sign-and-trade and suggests that a third team has been “lined up.”

However, there continues to be competition from rival suitors for the 34-year-old’s services, Ham adds. As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, it also won’t be easy to construct a three-team trade that gets DeRozan the type of salary he wants, ensures the Bulls don’t take back much money, and has the Kings sending out enough assets to Chicago and a third team to incentivize them to make the deal.

Although there are other teams who could open up a little cap room, Detroit and Utah are the only two teams with significant space still available, and the Pistons are rumored to be keeping their room open for trade opportunities, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Chicago and Sacramento have been talking to Detroit in relation to a possible DeRozan deal.

Here are a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA:

The Trail Blazers and Lakers have had conversations about Jerami Grant, but if the Blazers are going to send him to Los Angeles, they’d want both of the future first-round picks the Lakers can trade (2029 and 2031), along with matching salaries, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. The Lakers have been unwilling to meet that price and Portland isn’t in any rush to move its top forward, so the talks haven’t gotten far, Highkin writes, noting that – outside of Rui Hachimura – the Blazers wouldn’t have much interest in the players L.A. could put in a package for Grant.
After Zach Lowe reported earlier today that Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith is a possible trade target to watch for the Cavaliers, Scotto confirms that Cleveland likes Finney-Smith and has monitored him since Brooklyn acquired him in 2023. Scotto adds that Cavs restricted free agent Isaac Okoro is viewed as a potential sign-and-trade candidate (in general, not specifically for Finney-Smith).
Nuggets forward/center Zeke Nnaji and Sixers free agent KJ Martin are two trade candidates to keep an eye on, according to Scotto. Nnaji is beginning a four-year, $32MM contract after not playing a regular role in Denver last season, so his value on the market would be limited. As for Martin, his small cap hold could allow the Sixers to get creative by signing-and-trading him in order to take back more salary than they would be able to accommodate with the cap room they’ll have left over once their major signings are complete.
Speaking of the Sixers, they’re on track to add Paul George as a straight free agent signing rather than in a sign-and-trade, according to Marc Stein at Substack. That comes as no surprise, since acquiring George via sign-and-trade would hard-cap Philadelphia at the first tax apron, potentially limiting the team’s flexibility for the rest of 2024/25.

And-Ones: Team USA, Bonuses, Summer League, Draft, Tavares

July 5th, 2024 at 7:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The members of the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Paris this summer have arrived in Las Vegas, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Team USA will hold a pre-Olympic camp in Vegas from July 6-8 and will be joined by a 15-man Select Team for scrimmaging purposes.

Led by LeBron James (two Olympic gold medals, 20 All-Star berths) and Kevin Durant (three gold medals, 14 All-Star berths), the 12-man Olympic roster is as formidable as any team USA Basketball has fielded in the 21st century, with 84 combined All-Star nods. It will make picking a starting lineup a challenging task for head coach Steve Kerr.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Kerr said on Friday, per Reynolds. “I’m guessing that all 12 players on this roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday. So, how do you pick five out of 12? The idea is, you find combinations that click, and you find two-way lineups that can be effective at both ends. Our big job in Las Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit and to just ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who’s playing.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Expect NBA teams to include unlikely incentives less frequently in player contracts going forward, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Those unlikely bonuses don’t count against the cap if they’re not earned, but they do count when determining a team’s position relative to the tax aprons, giving high-spending teams less wiggle room below those aprons. For instance, the Heat – who are operating in between the first and second aprons – would presumably prefer not to have to account for the $1.5MM unlikely bonus Tyler Herro would earn for winning Defensive Player of the Year.
With the Bulls, Magic, Nets, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, and Hawks among the teams announcing their Summer League rosters on Friday, Brett Siegel of Clutch Points has updated his tracker of the Summer League squads from around the NBA.
While no concrete decisions have been made yet about next year’s draft schedule, the expectation is that the NBA will want the second round (ie. the second day) to start in the evening instead of the afternoon, Marc Stein writes at his Substack. The second day of the 2024 draft began at 4:00 pm Eastern time on June 27 so as not to compete with the U.S. presidential debate that was scheduled for that evening.
There had been some speculation in the spring that Walter Tavares might try to make an NBA comeback this summer, but the former Hawks and Cavaliers big man – who has been a star in Europe since 2017 – won’t be going anywhere, having signed a five-year contract with Real Madrid, the Spanish team announced in a press release. The all-time EuroLeague blocks leader, Tavares has won a pair of EuroLeague championships with Madrid in 2018 and 2023.