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Kemba Walker Commits To World Cup; Anthony Davis Considered Probable

June 1st, 2019 at 9:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

A pair of players who have other important things going on this summer will likely be part of Team USA’s entry in the FIBA World Cup, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Hornets guard Kemba Walker has already committed to play in the tournament in China, while Pelicans big man Anthony Davis has offered “strong indications” that he would like to be involved.

Walker will be part of a stellar class when free agency begins at the end of the month, while Davis hasn’t budged on his desire to be traded and will probably be involved a blockbuster deal at some point during the offseason.

Team USA officials would also like to add James Harden to the roster (Twitter link). Zion Williamson, expected to be the first selection in this year’s draft, will be contacted as well (Twitter link).

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will guide the team in the tournament, which will run from August 31 to September 15. That leaves a small gap until NBA training camps, which open September 27 for teams making overseas trips and September 30 for everyone else (Twitter link).

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Spurs To Work Out Naz Reid, Bruno Fernando

June 1st, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams
  • LSU big man Naz Reid said on Friday that he has worked out for the Celtics and also has sessions on tap with the Nets, Cavaliers, Sixers, and Spurs, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Previous reports indicated that Reid also auditioned for Detroit, Utah, and Orlando.
  • Maryland’s Bruno Fernando, who also projects as a potential first-round pick, also worked out for the Celtics, and will do the same for the Hawks, Pacers, Timberwolves, Spurs, and Jazz, tweets Robbins. Workouts with Charlotte, Detroit, and Orlando had been previously reported for Fernando.
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Nets Hire Andy Birdsong As Assistant GM

May 27th, 2019 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets continue to reinforce their front office after losing a pair of key executives this spring, announcing today in a press release that they’ve hired Andy Birdsong as a new assistant general manager. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Birdsong, who started his career in San Antonio in 2011, headed to Atlanta in 2012 and served three years as the Hawks’ manager of basketball operations. He later returned to the Spurs as their director of basketball operations before being promoted to director of player personnel and G League GM in 2016. He has served in those roles for the last three years.

“Andy is an accomplished basketball executive who brings a wealth of experience in talent evaluation and roster construction to our front office team,” Nets GM Sean Marks said in a statement. “The knowledge he has garnered from his time as a member of such exemplary organizations as the Spurs and the Hawks will greatly benefit our group.”

Birdsong is the second executive to join the Nets’ front office on this long weekend, as the team also hired Jeff Peterson in an assistant GM role on Saturday. The duo will help replace top Marks lieutenants Trajan Langdon, who was hired by the Pelicans, and Gianluca Pascucci, who accepted a job with the Timberwolves.

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Kawhi Leonard’s Uncle Discusses Spurs, Raptors, Free Agency

May 26th, 2019 at 7:03pm CST by JD Shaw

The uncle of Raptors star Kawhi Leonard discussed a variety of topics with Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes on Sunday, including why Leonard requested a trade from San Antonio, his success with Toronto this season and his upcoming free agency period.

Dennis Robertson, widely known as “Uncle Dennis” to many NBA figures, played a key role in getting Leonard out of San Antonio after his relationship with the team started to deteriorate.

Leonard dealt with a significant quad injury last season, missing several games and looking elsewhere for a second opinion despite being cleared by the Spurs‘ medical staff. This decision quickly caused a rift in the organization.

“I think it just became a lack of trust,” Robertson told Haynes. “They didn’t believe Kawhi couldn’t play and that caused a lack of trust in us and then us not believing in them. Any time a player says he’s not capable of playing, you should believe him. Why would Kawhi just stop playing all of a sudden? He’s a competitor. Sometimes you get these team doctors telling you what you can and cannot do, and Kawhi was just in too much pain to get out there. This was a serious issue. They didn’t believe him, and after that, the relationship couldn’t recover and we decided we had to move on.”

Robertson led the way for Leonard and the group requested a trade from San Antonio, listing Los Angeles as a preferred long-term destination. The Spurs wound up shipping him to the Raptors in a larger trade that featured DeMar DeRozan last July.

Leonard has since dominated with the Raptors, leading his team to the NBA Finals while averaging 31.2 points in 18 playoff games. Getting traded to Toronto might’ve been a tough pill to swallow at first glance, but Leonard has thoroughly enjoyed his time with the franchise this season, as Robertson explained.

“When you are initially traded somewhere you didn’t asked to be, you don’t want to accept it,” Robertson said, according to Haynes. “But once you get through that period, the focus then turns to giving your all and performing at a high level. It never had anything to do with the city of Toronto. It wasn’t. Toronto is a beautiful city. Kawhi has often spoke highly of Toronto. It’s a beautiful place. That was just an initial reaction, which is normal. But we’re enjoying this run and looking forward to the Finals.”

For the Raptors, Leonard is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on June 30. The team acquired him with full intentions of re-signing him to a lucrative contract in free agency, though for the time being, his focus only lies on competing in the NBA Finals.

“I can’t get into other free agents and other teams, but for Kawhi, he’s going to take it one day and one game at a time,” Robertson said. “We have a championship opportunity in front of us. We’re not thinking about free agency; it’s the Warriors [right now]. Once we get through the season, we’ll turn our attention to free agency. But we’re just having fun right now. This has been a great year.”

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NBA Announces 2018/19 All-Defensive Teams

May 22nd, 2019 at 1:29pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced its All-Defensive teams for the 2018/19 season, with Jazz center Rudy Gobert once again coming in as the leading vote-getter.

Gobert, a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, was listed on 99 of 100 ballots, with 97 of those ballots giving him a First Team vote, for a total of 196 points (two points per First Team vote; one point per Second Team vote). The All-Defensive nod ensures that the big man receives a $500K bonus, which had been considered likely since he was named to an All-Defensive team last season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Gobert was closely followed by fellow Defensive Player of the Year candidates Paul George (Thunder) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), who received 195 and 193 total points, respectively.

[RELATED: NBA Announces 2018/19 All-Rookie Teams]

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday secured a $100K bonus by earning a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team, notes Marks (via Twitter). Like Davis, he was an All-Defensive player last season as well, so that bonus had been considered likely — his cap hits for this year or next won’t be impacted by him earning it.

Here are the full voting results for the All-Defensive First and Second Teams, with each player’s point total noted in parentheses:

First Team:

Second Team:

Raptors guard Danny Green actually totaled 66 points, including 19 First Team votes, while Clippers guard Patrick Beverley had 48 points (14 First Team votes). However, All-Defensive teams are determined by position, so they didn’t make the cut because they ranked fifth and sixth in voting among guards.

Pacers center Myles Turner (39 points), Rockets forward P.J. Tucker (38), Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (24), and Spurs guard Derrick White (15) were the other leading vote-getters.

You can find the full voting results right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Draft Notes: Reddish, Clarke, Paschall

May 16th, 2019 at 10:47pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Cam Reddish met with the Lakers during the draft combine, Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). Los Angeles owns the No. 4 overall pick and the organization apparently sent all stakeholders to the meeting. When asked who was there, Reddish replied, “Everybody, you name it.”

Reddish also sat down with the Bulls this week, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets.  He has a meeting set up with the Cavaliers on Friday, as we passed along earlier today.

There are more draft notes to pass along:

  • Brandon Clarke (Gonzaga) met with the Timberwolves today and the forward feels like they had a “really, really good talk,” as Dane Moore of Zone Coverage tweets. “Obviously, I think I would love playing with KAT,” Clarke said. The 22-year-old will work out for Minnesota in June.
  • Clarke’s first workout will be with the Hornets and Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports (Twitter link) that the team “clearly” has interest in him. Clarke, who met with Charlotte during the combine, will also meet with the Suns, per Gina Mizell of The Athletic (Twitter link).
  • Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets that Clarke will work out for the Celtics. The forward also has a workout set up with the Heat, per Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
  • Villanova’s Eric Paschall is performing some personal PR, checking through his social media to make sure he hasn’t tweeted out anything a team might deem as a red flag. “I thought I was in the clear… In today’s age, social media is everything,” Paschall said, as Mike Vorkunov of the Athletic passes along (Twitter link). Paschall has met with the Suns, Wizards, Spurs, Warriors, Nuggets and Lakers. He’ll add the Pacers to that list on Friday.
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2019 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 15th, 2019 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Sixers and Celtics suffered disappointing losses in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and face uncertain futures, both teams can at least fall back on the fact that they’re still loaded with draft assets. Philadelphia and Boston are two of only three NBA teams – the Hawks are the other – that possess at least four picks in the 2019 NBA draft.

As our full 2019 draft order shows, there are five other teams that more than two selections in this year’s draft. On the other end of the spectrum, nine teams own just one pick in 2018, while two teams – the Nuggets and Rockets – don’t have any selections.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2019 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

  • Atlanta Hawks (5): 8, 10, 35, 41, 44
  • Philadelphia 76ers (5): 24, 33, 34, 42, 54
  • Boston Celtics (4): 14, 20, 22, 51
  • New Orleans Pelicans (3): 1, 39, 57
  • Charlotte Hornets (3): 12, 36, 52
  • Brooklyn Nets (3): 17, 27, 31
  • San Antonio Spurs (3): 19, 29, 49
  • Sacramento Kings (3): 40, 47, 60

Teams with two picks:

  • New York Knicks: 3, 55
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 5, 26
  • Phoenix Suns: 6, 32
  • Chicago Bulls: 7, 38
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: 11, 43
  • Detroit Pistons: 15, 45
  • Orlando Magic: 16, 46
  • Indiana Pacers: 18, 50
  • Utah Jazz: 23, 53
  • Golden State Warriors: 28, 58
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 48, 56

Teams with one pick:

  • Memphis Grizzlies: 2
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 4
  • Washington Wizards: 9
  • Miami Heat: 13
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: 21
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 25
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 30
  • Dallas Mavericks: 37
  • Toronto Raptors: 59

Teams with no picks:

  • Denver Nuggets
  • Houston Rockets
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2019 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: San Antonio Spurs

May 8th, 2019 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

After a tumultuous offseason that included the departures of three longtime core players – Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker – the revamped Spurs did what they always do and earned a playoff spot for the 22nd consecutive year. The current roster may not have the same upside as the title-winning squads led by Tim Duncan, but with Derrick White on the rise and Dejounte Murray on the mend, there’s still room for San Antonio to improve.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Spurs financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000

Offseason Cap Outlook

  • Realistic cap room projection: $0
  • Barring a cost-cutting move or two, the Spurs project to have $103.8MM on their books for 11 guaranteed salaries plus two first-round picks. Working as an over-the-cap team and retaining their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions makes more sense than renouncing those exceptions for a mere $5.2MM in potential cap room. If they want to re-sign Gay, going under the cap becomes even less realistic.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Mid-level exception: $9,246,000 3

Footnotes

  1. Milutinov was the 26th overall pick in the 2015 draft. His cap hold (the equivalent to the 26th overall pick in the 2019 draft) will remain on the Spurs’ books unless the team receives permission to remove it, which would ensure Milutinov won’t be signed in 2019/20.
  2. Lauvergne’s, Costello’s, and Hilliard’s cap holds remain on the Spurs’ books because they haven’t been renounced after going unsigned in 2018/19. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
  3. This is a projected value. In the unlikely event the Spurs risk going into the tax, they may forfeit the bi-annual exception and have to use the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,711,000) rather than the full mid-level exception.

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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And-Ones: Summer League, Stretch Candidates, Sloukas

May 7th, 2019 at 10:06am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League now features all 30 of the league’s teams and is the epicenter of NBA activity in July, but it’s not the only Summer League that remains active.

According to a press release, the Spurs, Grizzlies, and Cavaliers will join the Jazz for the 2019 Salt Lake City Summer League, which is scheduled to take place in Utah from July 1-3. Each of the four participating teams will play the other teams once, for a total of three games, before moving onto Vegas.

While Utah’s Summer League generally flies under the radar, it will represent an opportunity for young players and recent draftees on those four teams to get a head start on their professional careers. If the Cavaliers luck out in the lottery, we could even see a top prospect like Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, or R.J. Barrett make his debut that week in Salt Lake City.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Which players around the league are the best candidates to be waived and stretched this offseason? Danny Leroux of The Athletic identifies several of them, including players with small partial guarantees – such as George Hill and Avery Bradley – and vets with overpriced contracts, like Tyler Johnson and Bismack Biyombo.
  • Jeremy Woo of SI.com takes a closer look at the stability of the eight remaining playoff teams, exploring which of those clubs could be in for major changes this summer once they’re eliminated from the postseason.
  • Greek guard Kostas Sloukas is said to be drawing interest from a pair of NBA teams, tweets journalist George Zakkas (hat tip to Sportando). Sloukas, who went undrafted back in 2012, has had an impressive career with Olympiacos and now Fenerbahce — the 29-year-old has three EuroLeague championships and three Turkish League titles under his belt.
  • The NBA recently issued a press release announcing that its 2019 Global Camp will take place in Monaco from May 30 to June 2. The event is a pre-draft showcase focusing on the top draft-eligible prospects from outside America.
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Draft Notes: Hampton, Elite Camp, Celtics, Simonds, Hawks

May 5th, 2019 at 9:56pm CST by JD Shaw

RJ Hampton has decided to graduate high school early and reclassify to the Class of 2019, he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Hampton is the No. 4 player in ESPN’s top-100 class of early 2020 rankings, explaining his major decision to reclassify to Givony.

“I’ve decided to reclassify to the 2019 class,” Hampton told ESPN. “I am doing this because I feel that from a development standpoint, this is the right move for me at this time in order to play against the highest level of competition possible. I am eager to test myself against older and more physically developed players in order to help improve my weaknesses and prepare me for reaching the ultimate goal of playing in the NBA.”

With his decision, Hampton will enroll for college this summer and be eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft. A 6-foot-5 versatile player at 188 pounds, Hampton is one of the most promising young point guards in high school, now shifting his focus to interested schools such as Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis and Texas Tech, according to ESPN.

“This is a move we’ve been contemplating for some time and we don’t take lightly,” Hampton’s father, Rod, told ESPN. “As someone that played in college as well as professionally in Europe, I know that you can’t skip steps in a player’s development. Thankfully, because of the hard work that RJ has put in in the classroom — achieving a 3.75 GPA and a 1280 SAT — he was able to have this option. This weekend playing against the top players in high school basketball at the Nike EYBL, as well as earlier this month at USA Basketball, my wife, Markita, and I realized that RJ is ready to take the next step and challenge himself by taking the next step in level of competition.”

Here are some other draft-related notes today:

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