San Antonio Spurs Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Wembanyama, Lively, Mocks, Lewis, Warriors, Wizards

June 6th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Las Vegas is a glitzier setting for Victor Wembanyama‘s first game with the Spurs, but the NBA won’t be upset if it happens in Sacramento instead, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. San Antonio is one of six teams involved in the California Classic Summer League, which will take place during the first week of July — shortly before the Las Vegas showcase that includes all 30 teams.

“All summer leagues are NBA Summer Leagues,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “I’m very supportive of the Sacramento summer league. I remember when (Kings owner Vivek Ranadive) first came to the league and said this was something he wanted to do. I said, ‘As long as you have enough other teams who support it and players who want to play in it, it’s a good thing.’”

Reynolds points out that the Hornets will also be playing in Sacramento, so the top two picks in this year’s draft could be on display.

There’s more draft news to pass along:

Dereck Lively II may be the second-best shot blocker in the draft outside of Wembanyama, per Christian Clark of NOLA. The Duke center has reportedly been rising up draft boards and could be under consideration for the Pelicans at No. 14. Clark notes that Lively’s skills are still raw and he’s coming off a disappointing season with the Blue Devils, but he points out that New Orleans has a history of gambling on players with size and athleticism.
Lively is mentioned among the risers in the latest mock draft from Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports. Joining him are Wembanyama’s teammate, Bilal Coulibaly, and UCLA’s Amari Bailey.
Ausar Thompson might be a better fit than his brother for the Rockets with the No. 4 pick, according to Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link). In their latest mock draft, the authors consider team fit as well as talent in projecting the first round. Among the surprises with fit factored in are Gradey Dick going No. 6 to the Magic and Amen Thompson slipping to the Wizards at No. 8.
Pepperdine’s Maxwell Lewis will hold a workout with the Pelicans this week after already having sessions with the Mavericks and Thunder, who are also in the lottery, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. In addition, Lewis has worked out for the Hawks at No. 15, the Lakers at No. 17 and the Rockets at No. 20.
The Warriors hosted Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson and Kansas’ Jalen Wilson for a workout on Monday, tweets Adam Zagoria.
The Wizards are holding a workout on Tuesday with Arkansas’ Ricky Council, Memphis’ Kendric Davis, Marist’s Patrick Gardner, Overtime Elite’s Jazian Gortman, Alabama-Birmingham’s Trey Jemison and Providence’s Noah Locke, the team announced in an email.

Spurs Players To Get Cap Distribution

June 2nd, 2023 at 9:44pm CST by Rory Maher

As Mike Vorukov of The Athletic writes, the Spurs were the only NBA team in ’22/23 to finish below the league’s salary cap floor, coming in at about $14MM under the threshold. Because that amount is then distributed to the players, each member of the roster will be getting a check for more than $700K, sources tell Vorkunov. San Antonio might be the last team to go under the salary floor for quite a while, Vorkunov adds, since the new CBA penalizes teams for not spending enough.
LJ Ellis of SpursTalk.com recently took a look at San Antonio’s roster following the news that Victor Wembanyama will be in the fold. Ellis likes the fit between Wembanyama and big man Zach Collins, but thinks the Spurs will likely wait to see how they play together before contemplating a possible extension for Collins.

Lakers Notes: D-Lo, Kyrie, Walker, Reaves, Harrison, Beasley, Bamba, Draft

June 2nd, 2023 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

In a conversation on the HoopsHype podcast about the Lakers‘ free agency situation, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that he still believes a new deal with Los Angeles is the most likely outcome for D’Angelo Russell, though if it’s far from a lock.

A previous report stated that Russell was hoping for a four-year, $100MM contract before being traded from Minnesota to L.A. Given that he had an up-and-down postseason and there aren’t a ton of obvious suitors for his services this offseason, Russell may be hard-pressed to get four years or $25MM annually, Buha observes, suggesting that a two- or three-year deal, perhaps around $20MM per year, might be more realistic.

While the Lakers may also explore the sign-and-trade market for Russell, neither Buha nor Scotto views Kyrie Irving as a serious option for the club, even though Scotto has heard there’s no truth to the idea that Irving and the Mavericks have a “handshake” deal in place. Buha suggests it’s hard to imagine the Lakers making a compelling offer for Irving that Dallas would accept.

Elsewhere on the free agency front, Buha and Scotto agree that Lonnie Walker could get offers in the $4-7MM range and might seek a larger role with a new team.

As for Austin Reaves, Buha continues to hear that the Lakers will match any offer sheet for the guard, but he names the Spurs as a possible “dark horse” suitor for Reaves, while Scotto identifies the Rockets and Magic as two other cap-room teams who could have interest in testing the Lakers’ limits.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

In a mailbag for The Athletic, Buha says that Shaquille Harrison is expected to be waived this offseason and adds there are doubts about whether Malik Beasley ($16.5MM team option) and Mohamed Bamba ($10.3MM) will be retained. Beasley and Bamba would be on expiring deals and might be useful salary-matching pieces in trades, but they’re not bargains on their current contracts and could be cut loose to help accommodate new deals for free agents like Reaves, Russell, and Rui Hachimura.
The Lakers are more likely than not to hang onto the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft, sources tell Buha within that same mailbag. That might change if the team is able to use the pick as part of a trade package to land a starting-caliber player, Buha notes.
None are likely to receive consideration as early as No. 17, but the Lakers hosted six prospects for a pre-draft workout on Friday, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link): Nadir Hifi (France), Jalen Wilson (Kansas), Morris Udeze (New Mexico), Cameron Shelton (Loyola Marymount), Terquavion Smith (NC State), and Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky).

Kings To Host 2023 California Classic Summer League

May 31st, 2023 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

After ceding hosting duties to the Warriors in 2022, the Kings will once again host the California Classic Summer League this July, announcing today in a press release that the event will take place on Monday, July 3 and Wednesday, July 5.

The California Classic, which is held days before the league-wide Las Vegas Summer League, was launched by the Kings in 2018, and took place again in Sacramento in 2019 and 2021 before shifting to San Francisco in 2022.

In each of those four years, the Kings, Warriors, Lakers, and Heat were the only four teams to participate, but the event will expand to six teams this summer, and the two new additions are noteworthy: the Spurs and Hornets will also take part and are scheduled to face each other on July 3.

Given that San Antonio and Charlotte hold the top two picks in this year’s draft, we could see Victor Wembanyama and either Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller make their Summer League debuts in Sacramento, though it’s entirely possible Wembanyama won’t end up playing at all in July, as John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets.

Each team will play two games — one on the Monday and one on the Wednesday. The California Classic will essentially serve as an opening act for the Vegas Summer League, which will run from July 7-17 and will feature all 30 NBA teams.

And-Ones: Team USA, Summer League, Draft, E. Lewis

May 30th, 2023 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball announced today in a press release that the men’s national team will face Puerto Rico in Las Vegas on August 7 as part of its exhibition schedule in advance of the World Cup.

Team USA now has five World Cup tune-ups on its schedule before this year’s event tips off. The squad will also go up against Slovenia and Spain on Aug. 12 and 13 in Spain, then play Greece and Germany on Aug. 18 and 20 in Abu Dhabi.

The 2023 World Cup will begin on Aug. 25, with the U.S. team playing its first game on Aug. 26 against New Zealand. With the international competition less than three months away, we should find out in the not-too-distant future which 12 players will be playing for Team USA this summer.

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

James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link) has heard rumblings that the Spurs and Hornets will take part in this year’s California Classic Summer League. The annual event – which has been hosted in past years by the Kings or Warriors – serves as a brief four-team warm-up for the Las Vegas Summer League. It could draw far more attention this year if San Antonio and Charlotte are involved, given that they control the top two picks in the draft. The Lakers and Heat joined the Kings and Warriors at last year’s event.
Michael Scotto updated HoopsHype’s aggregate 2023 mock draft with commentary that includes several of the tidbits he has heard about this year’s top prospects.
The NBA has opened an investigation into a possible Twitter burner account run by veteran referee Eric Lewis, according to reports from Marc Stein (Twitter link) and ESPN. The Twitter account, which has since been deleted, responded to many posts about NBA officiating to defend Lewis and other referees (Twitter thread). NBA rules prohibit referees from publicly commenting on the officiating without authorization.

2023 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 27th, 2023 at 8:36am CST by Luke Adams

Two of the biggest winners on draft lottery night last week were the Hornets and Pacers. Charlotte moved up two spots from the pre-lottery standings to claim the No. 2 overall pick. The Pacers, meanwhile, stayed put in the lottery, but because San Antonio leapfrogged Houston in the first round, Indiana moved up 18 spots from No. 50 to No. 32 in the second round due to a convoluted set of trade criteria.

The Hornets and Pacers have something else in common: Charlotte and Indiana are the only teams that control more than three picks in the 2023 NBA draft. In fact, the two clubs own five selections apiece, accounting for 10 of the 58 total picks in this year’s event.

Nine additional teams each have three 2023 picks, joining the Hornets and Pacers to control nearly two-thirds of the draft — those 11 teams hold 37 of this year’s 58 picks, leaving the other 19 clubs to divvy up the remaining 21 selections.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, three teams don’t own any 2023 draft picks. The Bulls, Knicks, and Sixers will sit out this year’s event unless they acquire a pick via trade.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2023 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 58 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

Charlotte Hornets (5): 2, 27, 34, 39, 41
Indiana Pacers (5): 7, 26, 29, 32, 55
San Antonio Spurs (3): 1, 33, 44
Portland Trail Blazers (3): 3, 23, 43
Orlando Magic (3): 6, 11, 36
Washington Wizards (3): 8, 42, 57
Utah Jazz (3): 9, 16, 28
Oklahoma City Thunder (3): 12, 37, 50
Brooklyn Nets (3): 21, 22, 51
Sacramento Kings (3): 24, 38, 54
Memphis Grizzlies (3): 25, 45, 56

Teams with two picks:

Houston Rockets: 4, 20
Detroit Pistons: 5, 31
Atlanta Hawks: 15, 46
Los Angeles Lakers: 17, 47
Los Angeles Clippers: 30, 48

Teams with one pick:

Dallas Mavericks: 10
Toronto Raptors: 13
New Orleans Pelicans: 14
Miami Heat: 18
Golden State Warriors: 19
Boston Celtics: 35
Denver Nuggets: 40
Cleveland Cavaliers: 49
Phoenix Suns: 52
Minnesota Timberwolves: 53
Milwaukee Bucks: 58

Teams with no picks:

Chicago Bulls
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers

Southwest Notes: Williams, Bufkin, Spurs, Rockets

May 25th, 2023 at 7:22pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Grizzlies reserve small forward Ziaire Williams, a lottery pick in 2021, finished the 2022/23 NBA season out of Memphis’ rotation. Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that a preseason injury seemed to derail the 6’8″ swingman’s second year as a pro, and he failed to evolve as a shooter or playmaker.

Though Williams has been solid when it comes to converting his looks around the rack and in the mid-range, Cole opines that the wing’s shot diet is weighted too heavily toward his poor three-point shooting, which is impacting his overall efficiency on offense.

In his 37 games with Memphis last year, Williams averaged 5.7 PPG on .429/.258/.773 shooting.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

Michigan combo guard Kobe Bufkin could be a perfect fit for the Pelicans with the No. 14 draft pick next month, opines Christian Clark of NOLA.com. The athletic, positionally versatile lefty took a giant leap during his sophomore college season, and projects as a solid two-way contributor at the next level.
The Spurs have added San Antonio businesswoman Kimberly Lewis, founder of investment management group KSL Resources, to their ownership group, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “Kim Lewis’ business acumen and deep-rooted knowledge of our community brings immeasurable value to our organization,” managing partner Peter J. Holt said in a statement. “We look forward to learning from her as we strive to strengthen our organization and embark on our shared mission of enhancing community impact.”
Having likely missed out on the opportunity to select one of the consensus top three prospects in this year’s draft, the rebuilding Rockets may decide to expedite their rebuild and move on from their No. 4 pick in this year’s draft. Kelly Iko of The Athletic brainstorms some hypothetical deals that could benefit Houston. “The biggest thing is we now have certainty about the pick number,” general manager Rafael Stone told Iko. “This is a super busy month for us and the two times trades happen are around the trade deadline and the draft. We can start to evaluate various trade options, we can really think through free agency.” Iko considers deals for targets like Raptors swingman OG Anunoby and Hawks vets Dejounte Murray and John Collins, among others.

International Notes: Wembanyama, Darlan, Schröder, Yao

May 25th, 2023 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Victor Wembanyama‘s overwhelming popularity is creating a lot of new basketball fans in France, writes Sam Borden of ESPN. Borden notes that it has long been a “niche sport,” far behind soccer in the French sporting landscape, but Wembanyama has been drawing massive crowds, especially as his time in the French league nears its end.

Nearly 16,000 people attended his most recent game in Accor Arena — the largest venue in Paris, which has been hosting Metropolitans 92 games in light of Wembanyama’s celebrity status — and tickets were selling for hundreds of dollars on the resale market. The Wembanyama phenomenon figures to create a huge crop of new NBA fans in France when he begins playing for the Spurs in the fall.

“We’ve had this traditional setup in France — you are going to play the sport your dad played, or the sport he watches,” said Maxime Raynaud, who plays at Stanford. “And so for the past 100 years, everyone just picked up a soccer ball. Now, we have access to basketball. We have role models for basketball. And Victor is going to be the face of that.”

Wembanyama has a crucial playoff game today as his team’s best-of-three series with Cholet is tied at 1-1. Beyond winning an LNB Pro A title and making an impact in the NBA, he has his eyes on the 2024 Olympics, which will take place in Paris.

“My goal,” he said, “is to beat Team USA in the final.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

After officially signing with G League Ignite, Thierry Darlan hopes to prove that Africa can produce NBA-level guards as well as big men, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Darlan hails from the Central African Republic and graduated from the NBA Academy Africa. “When they talk about basketball in Africa, they always talk about the center, the big,” Darlan said. “It’s a big challenge to change that to talking about (a) point guard. In Africa, we’re not just known to run the floor and get rebounds. We can do many things, too. We can pass the ball. Create for others. That is my mission to show that African players can do more.”
Lakers guard Dennis Schröder, who is entering free agency, said he plans to play for Germany this summer in the FIBA World Cup, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Hall of Famer Yao Ming has stepped down as head of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an Associated Press report. No official explanation was given, but the league has been plagued by allegations of corruption, including match fixing.

Stein’s Latest: Duncan, Spurs, Mavericks, Ayton, Draft

May 20th, 2023 at 1:50pm CST by Rory Maher

Hall of Fame big man Tim Duncan joined the Spurs‘ coaching staff in 2019/20 at Gregg Popovich‘s request. As Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article, one season was enough to convince Duncan that a full-time coaching gig wasn’t for him.

However, when the Spurs are in San Antonio, there’s an expectation that Duncan will “regularly visit” their practice facility to mentor projected No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama, reports Stein.

Duncan, of course, was the Spurs’ last No. 1 pick (back in 1997), and you could say they had some success with the U.S. Virgin Islands native. He was named to 15 All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive teams, and won two regular season MVPs and three NBA Finals MVPs en route to five championships in his 19 seasons.

Here’s more from Stein:

The Mavericks were able to keep their first-round pick after it landed No. 10 overall (it would have been sent to the Knicks had it landed No. 11 or later). It has been reported multiple times that they’re expected to gauge the value of the pick in an effort to improve the roster. Stein’s sources say the Mavs have been posturing like they plan to explore their options for the prospects who might be available at that slot before deciding whether or not to trade it. Still, rival teams expect Dallas to try to package the pick (perhaps with some combination of Tim Hardaway Jr., Davis Bertans, JaVale McGee) in a win-now move.
The Suns are expected to “aggressively” explore the trade market for center Deandre Ayton this summer, and the former top pick has been linked to the Mavericks. However, Dallas’ interest in Ayton has been “overstated,” according to Stein, who suggests the team might not view his contract favorably. Stein reports that there are some Ayton fans within the Mavs, but he doesn’t “get any sense” the 24-year-old is atop the their trade wish list.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported a few days ago that one topic of discussion during the annual GM meetings was the possibility of turning the NBA draft into a two-day event. While some viewed that as a potential money-grab for the league, Stein hears only one team broached the subject and the idea was meant to benefit front offices around the league — presumably to give everyone more time to make trades and other roster decisions in an event that can feel rushed, especially the second round. The idea hasn’t gained much traction yet, says Stein.

Southwest Notes: Rockets, Mavs, Whitmore, Wembanyama, Pelicans

May 20th, 2023 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

Rival NBA executives anticipate that both the Rockets (No. 4) and Mavericks (No. 10) will dangle their first-round picks in trade talks, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports within a post-lottery mock draft. Both clubs have playoff aspirations in 2023/24 after missing out this season.

Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News explores what a Mavericks trade involving the No. 10 pick might look like, speculating that Suns center Deandre Ayton and Raptors forwards OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam may be targets. While those players make some sense from Dallas’ perspective, I’d expect Toronto to seek a more substantial return for either of their forwards, while Phoenix likely won’t be prioritizing draft assets in an Ayton trade.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Which player might the Rockets select at No. 4 if they end up keeping their lottery pick? Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) explores whether Villanova wing Cam Whitmore might be the choice, noting that adding the 18-year-old would make a young Houston roster even younger. Whitmore said at this week’s combine that he can envision himself playing alongside Rockets guards Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. “They’re athletic-type guards who can score offensively and are the type of people who can get guys involved, guards who can rotate one through five,” Whitmore said. “I think it’s a great fit with athletic-type young guys who can get the job done.”
In a column for The San Antonio Express-News, Mike Finger digs into the comparisons between former Spurs big man Tim Duncan and the team’s next franchise player, Victor Wembanyama. As Finger observes, even though Wembanyama has the potential to match what Duncan did on the court, it will be impossible in the social media era for him to stay out of the spotlight to the extent that Duncan and the Spurs did in the early 2000s.
Christian Clark of NOLA.com identifies five prospects who could be fits for the Pelicans with the No. 14 pick in the draft, including Kansas wing Gradey Dick, Duke big man Dereck Lively II, and Central Florida forward Taylor Hendricks.