- Spurs center Charles Bassey recently received a promotion to a standard contract, signing a four-year, $10.2MM deal, including $5.2MM guaranteed. Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscriber link) reports that Bassey’s contract features non-guaranteed salaries in years three and four and he was paid $3MM up front for the 2022/23 season. The 22-year-old called it a “surreal” experience. “I’m not going to lie, it felt good,” Bassey said. “I feel like the Spurs believe in me and believe in what I bring to the team. They trust me, and I just appreciate that.”
Devonte’ Graham dropped 15 games and seven spots in the standings by virtue of the deadline-day deal that sent him from New Orleans to San Antonio, but the Spurs guard intends to make the most of his new situation, telling reporters after the trade that he has no problem playing for a rebuilding team.
“Rebuilding, but they play hard,” Graham said of the Spurs, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “I had the same experience in Charlotte, so I kind of know what this feels like, trying to rebuild but just playing the right way, playing hard and continuing to try to get better.”
After seeing his minutes reduced significantly in New Orleans this season, Graham is also welcoming the opportunity to play a more significant role in San Antonio. He averaged 15.3 minutes per game in 53 appearances for the Pelicans — that number has jumped to 29.7 MPG in his first three games with the Spurs.
“It’s a new adventure, new team, new city,” Graham said. “Optimistic about it. I have always been good at adjusting. Grateful to be around this franchise, a legendary coach (Gregg Popovich) and this young group.”
Here’s more on the Spurs:
- Veteran center Khem Birch, acquired from Toronto in the Jakob Poeltl trade, has a right knee issue that will keep him sidelined for the foreseeable future, per Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Birch is with the Spurs on their current road trip, but won’t practice or play until being examined over the All-Star break by the team’s medical staff. “It’s going to be quite a while,” Popovich said of Birch’s timeline to return.
- Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan doesn’t fit the mold of stoic former Spurs stars like Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard, but the team doesn’t mind the rookie’s tendency to “talk crap,” as Popovich puts it. “He’s just so happy to be in the NBA and playing basketball,” Popovich said, according to McDonald. “That’s what he does. It’s his main interest. … Beyond what you see skill-wise out there and IQ-wise, he’s got that heart and courage. He’s not afraid of any situation. He’s not embarrassed to screw up. He just goes on to the next play. It’s a perfect example for how you’ve got to play.”
- Determining how to properly evaluate prospects coming out of the relatively new Overtime Elite program remains a work in progress for NBA scouts. Still, Spurs two-way player Dominick Barlow has no regrets about his OTE experience and believes it helped prepare him for the next level, McDonald writes for The Express-News. “There are pros and cons, like you are not going to be able to play in college and get that kind of experience,” Barlow said. “That wasn’t a big thing for me. I really wanted to work on my game, that the jump I was able to make in a year was good enough to outweigh that (college experience). I was happy with it.”
- In case you missed it, Charles Bassey signed a four-year contract with the Spurs that reportedly includes $5.2MM in guaranteed money.
4:08pm: Bassey’s deal with the Spurs is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.
3:23pm: Spurs big man Charles Bassey isn’t just having his two-way contract converted into a rest-of-season deal with the team. He’ll sign a four-year, $10.2MM pact with San Antonio, agents Adie von Gontard and Daveed Cohen tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Bassey, who joined the Spurs in October on a two-way contract after being waived by the 76ers, has appeared in 25 games for the club so far this season, averaging 4.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per night. The 22-year-old was the 53rd overall pick in the 2021 draft.
Bassey is in position to take on a more significant role following the trade that sent starting center Jakob Poeltl to Toronto. A report on Sunday indicated that he was expected to be promoted to the standard roster to fill the open roster spot created when Stanley Johnson was waived.
The Spurs still have a ton of available 2022/23 cap room and are well below the salary floor, so they’ll be incentivized to front-load Bassey’s contract. We don’t know the exact structure yet, but San Antonio could construct a descending four-year, $10.2MM deal that is worth Bassey’s minimum (about $2.26MM) in year four.
According to Bassey’s agents, the contract will include $5.2MM in guaranteed money, which suggests it’ll probably be guaranteed for this season and 2023/24.
The Spurs have released veteran forward Stanley Johnson, the team announced today in a press release.
Johnson signed with San Antonio in mid-December and averaged 5.8 points and 3.2 rebounds off the bench in 30 games while shooting 45% from three-point range. Despite being drafted in 2015, he’s only 26 and could spark some interest among contending teams on the buyout market.
Johnson was a part-time starter last season with the Lakers, who have a roster spot open after making several moves at the trade deadline. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report isn’t sure if L.A. can bring back Johnson because he was traded to the Jazz in August and subsequently waived (Twitter link), but Pincus believes the language in the collective bargaining agreement is murky enough that it might be worth a phone call to the league to verify.
The Spurs intend to use their roster opening to convert Charles Bassey‘s two-way deal to a standard contract, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio signed Bassey after the Sixers waived him in October, and he’s averaging 4.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 24 games.
Medical imaging conducted on LeBron James‘ injured left foot this week didn’t show any damage, but the Lakers star will miss a second consecutive game due to what the team is calling left ankle soreness, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The Lakers have officially ruled out James for Saturday’s contest vs. Golden State.
Chris Haynes said on his latest #thisleague UNCUT podcast with Marc Stein that LeBron’s foot issue was bothering him quite a bit during Tuesday’s game against Oklahoma City, when he broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record.
“I was told LeBron was severely struggling with that foot injury he has,” Haynes said. “It’s something that’s been nagging him for a few weeks already, but it gets to points where it just gets unbearable, and he plays through it. … The way it was explained to me is that might be something that lingers all season long.”
Although the Lakers will be without James on Saturday vs. Golden State, they’ll get a chance to see several of their newly acquired players in action, with D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Davon Reed all expected to be available, according to McMenamin. Mohamed Bamba is still serving a suspension that he earned while he was with the Magic.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Tim Kawakami of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears from a source that the Warriors actually have until Sunday evening, not Saturday evening, to finalize a decision on whether or not to nix their four-team trade with the Trail Blazers, Pistons, and Hawks due to Gary Payton II‘s failed physical. However, Kawakami notes that the Warriors probably don’t want to drag out the situation any longer than they have to and could make their call sooner.
- Speaking on Friday to reporters, including Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison discussed the Kyrie Irving trade, why he doesn’t think the team needs another ball-handler, and whether the club will be looking to add one more free agent. “We’re going to look at it closely,” Harrison said of the buyout market. “If there’s something we think can help strengthen our bench, then we’ll definitely do it, for sure.” Dallas is reportedly considered a frontrunner to sign Terrence Ross if and when he’s bought out by Orlando.
- Spurs wing Devin Vassell told Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link) on Friday that there’s still no “set date in stone” for his return from a left knee procedure, but he said it definitely won’t happen until sometime after the All-Star break.
Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels drew significant trade interest around the NBA ahead of Thursday’s deadline, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who reports that about half of the league’s teams reached out to express interest in the 22-year-old.
However, after keeping him out of the Rudy Gobert blockbuster last summer, the Timberwolves continued to turn away inquiries on McDaniels. The front office views the third-year forward, who becomes extension-eligible during the coming offseason, as a member of the team’s core, Scotto writes.
McDaniels’ brother Jalen McDaniels was on the move this week, as the Hornets sent him to the Sixers in a four-team deal that also involved New York and Portland. According to Scotto, Charlotte was anticipating a strong free agent market for Jalen this offseason and was concerned about being outbid for the 25-year-old, who will be an unrestricted free agent.
After trading for him at the deadline, the Sixers are hoping to use their Bird rights on the older McDaniels brother to retain him, but they’ll face competition. League sources tell HoopsHype that the Jazz, Pacers, and Spurs are among the clubs expected to show interest in McDaniels in the summer.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- With McDaniels no longer on the roster, the Hornets are prioritizing re-signing P.J. Washington this summer, as well as potentially negotiating a new deal with Miles Bridges, says Scotto.
- The Celtics turned away multiple teams who expressed interest in trading for forward Grant Williams, Scotto reports. Clubs were interested in acquiring Williams ahead of his restricted free agency to secure his Bird rights, Scotto writes, adding that some executives around the NBA believe Boston will be hesitant to match an offer sheet exceeding $15MM+ per year for the forward this summer. The C’s never offered more than $50MM in guaranteed money over four years last fall when the two sides discussed an extension, Scotto notes.
- Before sending him to the Clippers, the Nuggets discussed possible deals involving Bones Hyland with the Hornets (Jalen McDaniels), Timberwolves (Taurean Prince), and Knicks (Cam Reddish), according to Scotto.
- In case you missed it, Scotto’s latest story for HoopsHype also included an interesting item on the Grizzlies’ offer for Mikal Bridges and some info on potential suitors for veteran wing Terrence Ross.
Prior to the trade deadline, 10 NBA teams projected to be taxpayers this season and the 20 non-taxpayers were each projected to receive $17.2MM as a result of those tax penalties, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
However, one of those 10 taxpayers – the Sixers – ducked below the tax line with a deadline deal, and the Nets‘ Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades reduced Brooklyn’s projected end-of-season tax bill by approximately $100MM, Marks notes. As a result of those changes, among others, the luxury tax distribution at the end of the season will now be split among 21 teams and will be worth a projected $14.5MM, based on current team salaries, says Marks.
Danny Leroux of The Athletic also considers the financial impact of a busy trade deadline week, though he’s looking ahead to the offseason, breaking down which teams project to have the most cap room in the summer of 2023.
Leroux anticipates there will be eight teams with the ability to generate significant cap space, ranging from the Rockets at $61MM to the Pacers at $28MM. The Spurs ($40-48MM), Jazz ($31-45MM), Magic ($22-58MM), Hornets ($27-37MM), Thunder ($31MM), and Pistons ($30MM) are also in position to operate under the cap, Leroux writes. The range in projections for some of those teams is related to decisions on options and non-guaranteed salaries.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report has the details on the cash that changed hands at the trade deadline. In a series of tweets, Pincus reports that the Lakers sent $2MM to Magic in the Mohamed Bamba trade, the Suns sent $1MM to the Thunder in the Darius Bazley trade, the Clippers sent $1MM to the Hornets in the Mason Plumlee trade, and the Nets sent $1.36MM to the Pacers in the four-team Durant blockbuster.
- Who will be available on the buyout market in the coming weeks? John Hollinger of The Athletic lists and ranks 32 buyout candidates (or players who have already been cut), starting with veteran guards Russell Westbrook and Reggie Jackson.
- Circling back to a pair of pre-deadline stories: Knicks center Jericho Sims has committed to take part in this year’s dunk contest after Trail Blazers rookie Shaedon Sharpe dropped out, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). And Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue will replace Suns head coach Monty Williams as an assistant on Steve Kerr‘s Team USA coaching staff, per a press release.
- Disney CEO Bob Iger said this week that his company doesn’t plan to sell ESPN, according to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, who adds that Iger expressed a desire for ESPN to retain NBA rights when the league negotiates its next media deal.
Veteran center Gorgui Dieng is once again back under contract with the Spurs, according to a press release from the team announcing that he has signed a rest-of-season deal.
Dieng, who began the season in San Antonio, was waived a little over a month ago to accommodate the team’s acquisition of Noah Vonleh. He subsequently signed a pair of 10-day contracts, and now that the Spurs got through the trade deadline with an open spot on their 15-man roster, he’s back as the club’s 15th man.
Dieng, 33, has played sparingly for the Spurs in 2022/23, averaging 3.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.6 APG in 17 contests (9.8 MPG). However, the organization highly values his veteran leadership and his presence in the locker room.
On his new minimum-salary contract, Dieng will earn $895,743 for the rest of the season while the team takes on a $622,582 cap hit.
With their roster now full, it’s unclear whether more moves could be coming for the Spurs. They acquired Khem Birch and Devonte’ Graham as salary-matching pieces at the trade deadline, and while those two veterans may not be in San Antonio’s long-term plans, they’re both owed guaranteed salary in 2023/24, so they’re not ideal buyout candidates.
After agreeing to acquire Jakob Poeltl from San Antonio, the Raptors didn’t make any additional deadline-day moves, but it wasn’t for a lack of options.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link via The Rally), the Bucks were among the teams expressing interest in Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet in advance of the deadline. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) hears that those talks included Grayson Allen and a future first-round pick. Grange adds that the Clippers talked about Luke Kennard and Brandon Boston Jr. in their VanVleet discussions with the Raptors, but weren’t willing to include a first-rounder.
As for OG Anunoby, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast that the Grizzlies and Pacers were comfortable including three first-round picks in their offers for the Raptors forward, but Toronto was prioritizing young players over future draft picks and neither package included the kind of players they were seeking (hat tip to RealGM).
According to Lowe, the Pacers’ offer also included Houston’s 2023 second-round pick, which Indiana would control if it lands at No. 31 or 32 (it’d be at No. 31 if the season ended today). However, it’s probably safe to assume that two of the first-rounders the Pacers were willing to give up were Boston’s and Cleveland’s 2023 picks, which figure to fall pretty late in the first round.
Lowe also stated on his podcast (hat tip to RealGM) that the Nets briefly pursued Raptors forward Pascal Siakam between their Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant trades, in the hopes of convincing Durant to stay in Brooklyn.
“I think (the Nets) told (Durant), ‘Hey man, in the summer, we can get some big names. There are going to be some big names who might ask out. We are going to collect stuff to give ourselves a shot at it,'” Lowe said. “… They tried to get Pascal Siakam now in the intervening 96 hours because KD made it known he likes Pascal Siakam. He thought he would be a good fit.”
Here are a few more trade deadline leftovers from around the NBA:
- After the Nets agreed to acquire Mikal Bridges in the Durant blockbuster, Bridges drew considerable trade interest from rival clubs, Zach Lowe stated on his Lowe Post podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “I know of one team – and I’ve confirmed this – I know of one team who offered four first-round picks for Mikal Bridges,” Lowe said. “Now, I know of at least three first round picks. I think the fourth one may have had some protections or something, but I’m pretty sure that was a thing.”
- The Bulls, who didn’t make a deadline deal, received inquiries on Alex Caruso and Coby White, but never seriously considered moving Caruso and got “underwhelming” offers for White, says K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Johnson also talked to a source who downplayed the discussions Chicago had with the Knicks about Zach LaVine, characterizing them as “preliminary.” Another source who spoke to Johnson insisted those talks didn’t happen at all, but didn’t rule out the possibility that such a scenario could be discussed in the offseason, depending on how the rest of 2022/23 plays out.
- Spurs big man Zach Collins garnered some deadline-week interest, according to LJ Ellis of SpursTalk, who says from a league source that the Sixers, Nuggets, and Bucks inquired on Collins. Ellis also hears that San Antonio shopped Keita Bates-Diop in search of a second-round pick, but the forward ended up staying put.
- If the 2023 first-round pick the Knicks sent to the Trail Blazers as part of the Josh Hart trade lands in the lottery, New York will instead send Portland the following picks, per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link): The Pistons’ 2024 second-rounder, either the Timberwolves’ or Knicks’ 2026 second-rounder (whichever is least favorable), and the Knicks’ own 2027 and 2028 second-rounders.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies acquired a minor pick swap in the Luke Kennard trade with the Clippers. Memphis now has the ability to swap a 2026 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable of the Celtics’, Heat’s, and Pacers’ picks) for the Clippers’ 2026 second-rounder.
Despite being the subjects of trade rumors for weeks, Mavericks veterans Christian Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr. remained with Dallas beyond this year’s trade deadline. Still, Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News notes that their futures with the club are somewhat unclear.
As Caplan writes, Hardaway’s inefficient play has made him and his remaining contract money tough to trade. Including this season, the veteran wing still has three years and $53.7MM left on his current deal.
Wood, meanwhile, is eligible for a four-year contract extension worth up to $77MM through the rest of the season, after which he will become an unrestricted free agent. A source tells Caplan that the Mavericks’ front office has not offered Wood an extension yet, in an effort to maximize the team’s flexibility this summer.
There’s more from around the Southwest:
- The Spurs opted to ship center Jakob Poeltl to the Raptors, rather than have to pay him in free agency this summer, in part because the team reportedly was not comfortable paying the rim-protecting center more than $65MM over four years, per LJ Ellis of Spurs Talk. Ellis says San Antonio believes the bidding price for Poeltl will go well north of that sum.
- New veteran Rockets additions Danny Green, Justin Holiday and Frank Kaminsky could ultimately be retained by Houston, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The Rockets are set to assess if Green would like to remain on their roster, which has been their general policy with the veterans they’ve traded for in the recent past. Houston likes the possible fit of Holiday even past 2022/23, and Kaminsky has a connection with head coach Stephen Silas, thanks to their shared time on the Hornets.
- The Pelicans made just one trade deadline deal, acquiring swingman Josh Richardson from the Spurs. William Guillory of The Athletic reveals that New Orleans hopes to bring Richardson, an unrestricted free agent this summer, back into the fold next season as well.