Spurs Rumors

And-Ones: T. Scott, 2023 Draft, ’23 Cap, Freedom

August 1st, 2022 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA and G League veteran Tre Scott is headed overseas for the 2022/23 season, having signed with Fos Provence Basket, the French team announced in a press release.

Scott, who went undrafted out of Cincinnati in 2020, has spent most of his first two professional seasons in the NBAGL, playing for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, and the Cleveland Charge.

The 6’8″ forward earned a call-up to the NBA last December during the league’s COVID-19 outbreak, signing a 10-day hardship deal with the Cavaliers. He appeared in two games for the Cavs during his brief NBA stint, scoring six points and grabbing a couple rebounds in 11 total minutes of action.

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

Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report shares his first 2023 mock draft, headed by French big man Victor Wembanyama and G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson. Overtime Elite wing Amen Thompson, Duke swingman Dariq Whitehead, and Villanova forward Cam Whitmore round out Wasserman’s initial top five.
Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype takes a look at the teams currently projected to have the most cap room in 2023, including the Spurs, Rockets, Pistons, and Magic.
In an interview with Israeli outlet Walla, free agent center Enes Freedom said he hasn’t received any offers from NBA teams this offseason (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops). Freedom attributed that lack of NBA interest to the comments he has made denouncing China, though it’s worth noting that his minutes were already on the decline due to his subpar outside shooting and defense.

Thunder Hiring Chip Engelland As Assistant Coach

July 27th, 2022 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder are hiring longtime Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland as an assistant on Mark Daigneault‘s staff, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Engelland has spent the last 17 years in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich after beginning his coaching career as a shooting consultant with the Pistons (1999-2000) and a player development coach with the Nuggets (2003-05).

As Wojnarowski writes, Engelland is widely viewed as the NBA’s top shooting coach and is thought to have had a significant impact on players like Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard during his time with the Spurs. He has a preexisting relationship with Thunder head of basketball operations Sam Presti, who previously worked in San Antonio’s front office.

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report tweeted earlier this month that Engelland was leaving the Spurs “at the conclusion of his contract” — while Fischer’s report didn’t make it clear, it sounds as if Engelland’s contract expired this offseason, clearing a path for him to accept a new position in Oklahoma City.

The Spurs and Engelland, who has long been one of the NBA’s highest-paid assistants, couldn’t agree to terms on a new deal, Wojnarowski explains.

In his new role, Engelland will have the opportunity to work with a promising young Thunder core that includes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, and Ousmane Dieng, among others.

Blake Wesley Ready To Sharpen Point Guard Skills

July 23rd, 2022 at 3:39pm CST by JD Shaw

Ethan Fuller of BasketballNews.com interviews Blake Wesley, who was drafted No. 25 overall by the Spurs last month. Wesley appears ready to sharpen his point guard skills. “I see myself as a point guard, so going into the NBA I feel I’m gonna be a point guard,” Wesley said. “A big key to the Spurs is [being] 6-foot-5, long [and] athletic, so to get guys open is gonna be good for me. I’m gonna get to the paint and find guys.”

Trade Breakdown: Dejounte Murray To Hawks

July 22nd, 2022 at 9:50am CST by Rory Maher

This is the sixth installment in our series breaking down the major trades of the 2022 offseason. As opposed to giving out grades, this series will explore why the teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into a deal that saw an All-Star head from the Spurs to the Hawks…

The day before free agency opened, the Spurs agreed to send Dejounte Murray and Jock Landale (later dealt to the Suns for cash considerations) to the Hawks in exchange for the Hornets’ 2023 first-round pick (top-16 protected), the Hawks’ 2025 first-round pick (unprotected), the Hawks’ 2027 first-round pick (unprotected), the right to swap first-round picks with the Hawks in 2026, and Danilo Gallinari.

The Spurs’ perspective:

Why would the Spurs part with a first-time All-Star who was runner-up for the Most Improved Player Award?

After making the playoffs for an NBA-record 22 consecutive years from 1998-2019, winning five championships in the process, the Spurs have been stuck in mediocrity for the past three seasons, finishing with records of 32-39 in 2019/20 and 33-39 in ‘20/21.

Last season, with Murray as the team’s best player, the Spurs finished with a 34-48 record and the 10th seed in the West — below average, but not bad enough to have a real puncher’s chance at the top pick. The team went just 4-10 in games Murray missed.

Sometimes bottoming out is the best way to improve a franchise in the long run, as unpalatable as it might be for owners, front offices, coaches, players and fans alike. The 2023 draft class features French phenom Victor Wembanyama, a player whom some talent evaluators consider the best prospect the NBA has seen since LeBron James turned pro in 2003. You can connect the dots.

Murray was a developmental success story for the Spurs. He gradually transformed from a raw prospect, selected 29th overall in the 2016 draft, into an All-Star.

The Spurs received a substantial return for him. Unprotected first-round picks are one of the most valuable commodities in the NBA, and San Antonio gained two of them with the possibility of a third if the Spurs are better than the Hawks in 2025/26.

San Antonio also gained another first-rounder with a reasonable chance of conveying at some point in the next three years – the Hornets’ 2023 pick will be lottery-protected in 2024 and 2025 if it doesn’t convey next year, then would turn into two second-round picks if it hasn’t conveyed by that point.

Gallinari, who received a partial guarantee of $13MM on his $21MM+ expiring contract, was only included in the deal for salary-matching purposes and has already been waived and subsequently signed with Boston as a free agent.

For San Antonio, the move was less about a lack of faith in Murray’s abilities and more about having a chance at the top pick in 2023 and extracting maximum value for a player coming off a career season. In ‘21/22, he averaged 21.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 9.2 APG on .462/.327/.794 shooting in 68 games (34.8 MPG).

Keep in mind that Murray enters free agency in 2024, the season before the first unprotected pick from Atlanta conveys to San Antonio. Considering Murray just had the best season of his six-year career, it’s possible he could continue to get better, but if the Spurs waited until next summer, he’d be on an expiring contract and would likely be seeking a maximum-salary deal in free agency, diminishing his trade value. If things don’t work out between Murray and the Hawks, or they simply don’t want to pay him a max deal in two years, the Spurs are the clear beneficiary.

Are the Hawks appreciably better by making the trade entering ‘22/23? Yes. Can Murray push them over the top in an increasingly competitive East? I’m a little skeptical.

The Celtics, Heat, Bucks, Sixers, Raptors, Bulls, Nets and Cavaliers all finished with better records than the Hawks (43-39) last season, and the Hornets had the same record before getting blown out by Atlanta in the play-in tournament (the Hawks advanced as the eighth seed after beating Cleveland in the second play-in game).

So maybe, optimistically, the Hawks finish as a top-four or top-five seed in the East. They still have to get past the Bucks, Sixers, Celtics and Heat, who eliminated Atlanta in a five-game first-round series last season. There are roadblocks.

The Nets have a formidable roster if it remains intact. The Raptors will be better with another year of experience. The Bulls and Cavaliers could be too.

There’s a reason the Spurs pushed for the unprotected picks to be years down the line, when the Hawks are much less certain to be a perennial playoff team. Even if those selections are “just” lottery picks and not highly-coveted top-five picks, they would still have considerable value. They’d have even more trade value leading up to those drafts if Atlanta doesn’t look like a good team in the future.

It’s worth noting that Murray and Atlanta’s star point guard, Trae Young, were both very ball-dominant players last season, and Young hasn’t shown much inclination to play an off-ball role. Young has been extremely effective as an offensive engine, with the Hawks ranking eighth and second in offensive rating during the last two seasons.

If Young remains the primary ball-handler, that could reduce Murray’s effectiveness. His breakout season came in the aftermath of DeMar DeRozan, San Antonio’s previous leading scorer and primary play-maker, heading to Chicago in a sign-and-trade last summer.

For as stellar as he was last season, and make no mistake, he was very good, Murray’s 53.3% true shooting percentage was below league average, his career true shooting percentage (51.5%) is even worse, and he holds just a 33% mark from beyond the arc. His career percentage on corner threes is 32.3%, including just 28% last season.

None of those percentages scream “I can spot-up when I have to and make shots consistently.”

Atlanta’s roster could also get very expensive in the future, depending on how much money the team invests to keep the players it has drafted in recent years. De’Andre Hunter is eligible for a rookie scale extension that would kick in starting in ‘23/24, and Onyeka Okongwu will be eligible for an extension next summer that would begin the following year.

Those extensions would be in addition to the major contracts already on the books for Young, John Collins and Clint Capela, all of whom are under contract through at least ‘24/25. If Murray re-signs with the Hawks on a max deal as a free agent, those four players alone could cost $140+MM, depending on how much the cap goes up. The Spurs are betting the Hawks will be hesitant to pay such a hefty price tag if they don’t find more postseason success in the next couple years.

The Hawks’ perspective:

How many times do you have an opportunity to trade for an All-Star who is just entering his prime? Not only that, but Murray, who turns 26 years old in September, has team-friendly salaries of $16.57MM in ‘22/23 and $17.71MM in ‘23/24.

Atlanta didn’t give up any win-now pieces from next season’s team. Prior to the trade, Gallinari’s partial guarantee was only $5MM, so there was no chance the Hawks were going to guarantee the remainder of that sizable deal, given the forward’s declining play and advancing age. Moving off that contract was a bonus.

It was clear the Hawks needed to make moves after an uneven regular season and a disappointing playoff exit which saw the Heat stymie Young, forcing him into more turnovers per game (6.2) than assists (6.0) and drastically reducing his scoring (15.4 PPG on .319/.184/.788 shooting vs. 28.4 PPG on .460/.382/.904 shooting in the regular season).

To aid their star, the Hawks acquired Murray, a player who has consistently improved various aspects of his game every season. General manager Landry Fields recently said they’re betting on the “character makeup” of the two All-Stars and their will to win together.

I’m very curious to see how Young and Murray complement each other on offense, since it will take significant adjustments from both players to get the best out of each other’s talents.

If Young can become much more active away from the ball – coming off screens, setting back-screens, drawing attention away from teammates — that would allow Murray to handle the ball more, and he had a lot of success as a lead ball-handler last season, ranking fourth in the league in assists (9.2), one spot below Young (9.7). Murray also posted a much better assist-to-turnover ratio than his new teammate (3.48-to-1 vs. 2.43-to-1).

I suspect that head coach Nate McMillan will experiment with staggering their minutes somewhat to give Murray more opportunities to run the show with the second unit.

Murray is a pretty significant defensive upgrade over Kevin Huerter, who was dealt to Sacramento in a trade that we’ll cover next week. Murray led the league in deflections (4.0) and steals (2.0) per game last season and is an effective point-of-attack defender.

Having said that, I do think his All-Defensive nod back in ’17/18, prior to his torn ACL, has given him a reputation that has exceeded his actual play on that end of the court the past few seasons. For example, the Spurs’ defensive rating was better when he didn’t play last season (113.4 on vs. 111.9 off), but he was still an overall net positive (+2.3) because they were much better offensively when he was on the court (114.4 on vs. 110.6 off).

Young, of course, is one of the league’s worst defenders, so it’s not as though placing him on a shooting guard instead of having him up top makes things any easier for the Hawks. They will likely still try to hide him on the opposing team’s worst offensive player.

Murray has been an excellent rebounder throughout his career, and he pulled down a career-high 8.3 boards per game last season. Atlanta ranked just 20th in the league in rebounding last season, so that’s another area in which he will definitely help the team.

The Hawks are also betting on a return to health for three players who were all hampered with various injuries last season: Collins (foot/finger), Capela (Achilles soreness/knee) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee). All three were key contributors during the team’s surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, but none were healthy in the 2022 postseason.

The Hawks have youth on their side. Of the projected starting lineup of Young, Murray, Hunter, Collins and Capela, the veteran center is the eldest at 28 years old.

Okongwu, who could eventually replace Capela, won’t turn 22 until December. Atlanta’s 2021 first-rounder, Jalen Johnson, turns 21 in December. 2022 First-rounder AJ Griffin won’t turn 19 until August.

The Hawks control their own first-rounders in 2023 and 2024, have an additional lottery-protected pick from the Kings in 2024 (via the Huerter deal), and control five second-rounders over the next two drafts.

The reason I mention the youth and draft equity is because it’s not as though trading for Murray was a death knell for the future. There are still multiple pathways for the Hawks to pivot if things go south, and if they get better, they have some additional assets to continue to improve, if needed.

If Young and Murray form a dynamic backcourt and the roster continues to develop, and if the aforementioned trio return to health and form, Atlanta has the talent to potentially make another deep playoff run, but it won’t be easy.

Even if all those things go right, questions remain. The team’s defense, which ranked 26th last season and hasn’t been better than 21st over the past five years, has to get much better. Young will have to guard someone. Murray will have to make teams pay for leaving him open from behind the arc on offense.

Can Hunter be the player who can defend the big wing scorers like Kevin Durant (if he remains in the East), Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jimmy Butler, and Khris Middleton? Who is guarding the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid? For as good as Capela was two years ago, and he was excellent, he could not stop Brook Lopez down low when Antetokounmpo was injured in the Conference Finals, so he is definitely not stopping either of those two superstars. And that’s only in the East.

The Hawks know all that. They know the fit isn’t seamless, and asking their new backcourt to make major adjustments when they’ve already had individual success isn’t ideal. But they’re betting that Young and Murray can make those adjustments and that the team will become a sustainable winner in part due to their efforts.

The Hawks gave themselves a timeline by trading away first-round picks with no protections. If everything clicks, they have a chance to be very good. But the clock is ticking, and the Spurs are waiting.

Extension Rumors: Hunter, C. Johnson, Poole, G. Williams, More

July 19th, 2022 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the players eligible for rookie scale extensions this offseason, Spurs forward Keldon Johnson became the first to sign a new deal worth less than the maximum. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), Johnson’s new four-year contract will have a base value of $74MM, with $1.5MM in annual unlikely incentives that could push the total value of the deal to $80MM.

Johnson’s contract will serve as a point of comparison for many of the other extension-eligible players who will be negotiating with their respective teams this summer and fall, Fischer writes in a full story for Bleacher Report.

For instance, representatives for De’Andre Hunter figure to seek a similar deal for their client, though the Hawks may be reluctant to invest heavily in a player who has appeared in just 76 games in the last two seasons due to injuries. One cap strategist who spoke to Bleacher Report said Hunter’s injury concerns “are very real,” and sources tell Fischer that the 24-year-old and Atlanta are approximately $20MM apart in their discussions about a four-year extension.

Johnson’s extension with San Antonio is worth roughly the same amount annually as deals signed by sharpshooters like Davis Bertans, Duncan Robinson, and Joe Harris, and all four of those deals will be reference points when Cameron Johnson and the Suns discuss a new deal, according to Fischer, who suggests an extension for Johnson could easily surpass $15MM per year.

Here are a few more notes from Fischer on rookie scale extension candidates from around the NBA:

There’s a sense that the Warriors may be best off waiting on an extension for Jordan Poole unless they can get a team-friendly rate this offseason, Fischer writes. “What’s the upside in locking him in now?” the team cap strategist said. “He’s not Luka Doncic or Donovan Mitchell, who’ve proven they can carry a team. He’s close. If he does it again, you pay him. But prior to this year he was a borderline rotation player.”
Cap experts who spoke to Fischer believes that the Celtics‘ four-year extension for Robert Williams (worth $48MM, plus $6MM in incentives) will be a benchmark for their extension talks with Grant Williams. However, rival executives don’t think the C’s will want to spend much more on Grant than they did on Robert.
The Trail Blazers and Nassir Little may both be motivated to work out a new deal this summer. As Fischer explains, Little could increase his value (and his price tag) in 2022/23 if he’s part of Portland’s new-look starting lineup, but his injury history might make him inclined to take a guaranteed payday sooner rather than later.
There has been no traction on extension talks between the Sixers and Matisse Thybulle, sources tell Bleacher Report. Fischer also classifies Bulls guard Coby White as a player who is unlikely to sign an extension before the season.

And-Ones: Brazdeikis, Hall, Harden, Johnson, Lofton Jr.

July 18th, 2022 at 7:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

After finishing the 2021/22 season in Orlando, Ignas Brazdeikis remains on the free agent market and he’s drawing interest from two EuroLeague teams, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Zalgiris Kaunas are the teams pursuing Brazdeikis, though he’d prefer to stay in the NBA. Both Zalgiris and Baskonia are desperately looking for a perimeter player, according to Urbonas. Baskonia is trying to replace Simone Fontecchio, who is signing a two-year deal with the Jazz. Brazdeikis appeared in 42 games with the Magic last season.

We have more from the basketball world:

Former NBA forward Donta Hall has signed a three-year extension with AS Monaco, the team announced in a press release. Hall’s last NBA action came during the 2020/21 campaign, when he played 13 games with Orlando.
James Harden is a bargain? If he takes a pay cut and signs a two-year contract worth approximately $68MM with the Sixers, he’d rank as the best free agent value this offseason, Keith Smith writes in a Spotrac article. Keldon Johnson‘s four-year, $80MM extension with the Spurs and Kevon Looney‘s three-year, $25.5MM deal with the Warriors are also among the summer’s most team-friendly deals, in Smith’s estimation.
There were some eye-popping performances and some clunkers in the final Summer League games played over the weekend. Ethan Fuller of Basketball News takes a look at the “Studs,” including Kenneth Lofton Jr.’s 27-point, 12-rebound performance for the Grizzlies, and “Duds” from those contests.

Keldon Johnson Signs Four-Year Extension With Spurs

July 18th, 2022 at 3:14pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 18: The Spurs have officially announced Johnson’s new deal, issuing a press release to confirm the move.

JULY 15: Keldon Johnson is signing a four-year, $80MM extension with the Spurs, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Johnson was the 29th pick of the 2019 draft. As a former first-round pick entering his fourth season, he was eligible for a rookie scale extension, and he has agreed to a lucrative deal to remain with San Antonio.

Johnson spent most of his rookie season in the G League, but emerged as a potential building block during the team’s run in the Orlando bubble. He started to put things together nicely during his second season in 2020/21, showing glimpses of upside while averaging 12.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 1.8 APG on .479/.331/.740 shooting in 69 games (28.5 MPG).

The 22-year-old was one of San Antonio’s best players last season, appearing in 75 games (31.9 MPG) with averages of 17.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 2.1 APG on .466/.398/.756 shooting. Nicknamed “Big Body” for his strong frame and hard drives to the rim, Johnson showed improvement as an outside shooter in ’21/22, with his three-point percentage increasing by nearly seven percent.

The young small forward figures to see an increased role during the upcoming season after All-Star Dejounte Murray was traded to the Hawks for first-round picks.

For the sake of comparison, Johnson’s extension is in between what a couple of other small forwards received for their rookie extensions: OG Anunoby got $72MM over four years from the Raptors in 2020 (the last year being a player option), while Mikal Bridges received $90MM over four years from the Suns last summer. Johnson hasn’t been the defender that either of those two were through their third seasons, but he’s been a more productive offensive player — part of that is due to opportunity, but he’s still a talented player with plenty of room for improvement.

Johnson’s extension will kick in during the ’23/24 season. As our extension tracker shows, he is the first player to receive a rookie scale extension that isn’t a maximum-salary deal.

Spurs Notes: Sochan, Branham, Hall, Days

July 17th, 2022 at 9:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Most of the NBA’s top draft picks saw at least some playing time in Las Vegas, but not Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan, whose Summer League plans were derailed by COVID-19, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. The ninth overall selection tested positive for the virus shortly after the draft and couldn’t practice with the Summer League squad. He agreed with the team’s decision to not have him try to play in any games.

“I didn’t have any injuries, but COVID still affects you, affects your lungs,” Sochan said.“I didn’t practice, and I was out of shape. … It made sense for me not to play here and I am always going to listen to the people in the organization.”

Sochan said he “stayed in bed and slept a lot” after contracting COVID, but he felt better after three days. He has spent most of his time in Las Vegas doing weight training and working with Summer League coach Mitch Johnson to learn the team’s playbook. He has also been a prominent cheerleader during the games and has been impressed by fellow first-round picks Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley.

“I think both have done great,” Sochan said. “There are some areas where they could have done better, but it’s a learning experience for everyone. (Two-way player) Dominick Barlow has also done well. I think it’s been a learning experience for them. They just want to learn and win.”

There’s more on the Spurs:

Branham turned in his best performance Saturday in San Antonio’s final Summer League game, Orsborn notes in a separate story. The 20th pick in the draft scored 23 points while hitting 8-of-15 shots from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range. “Him being decisive is going to be the key,” Johnson said. “He gets in between sometimes with, ‘Should I drive it? Should I shoot it?’ Or he’s thinking, ‘I missed the last one.’ When you are as versatile and as skilled as he is, you just need to play and be aggressive. … That’s going to be one of his strengths (three-point shooting), so he needs to try to score.”
Jordan Hall, an undrafted rookie out of St. Joseph’s, declared for the draft in 2021 but took the Spurs’ advice and returned to school for another year, Orsborn states in another piece. Hall, a combo forward who’s competing for an open two-way slot, reminds a lot of people of former Spur Kyle Anderson.
Johnson called it “bittersweet” to have Darius Days sign a two-way deal with the Heat after a strong performance with the Spurs, but he said that’s one of the purposes of Summer League, Orsborn tweets. “It’s all about these guys either finding jobs or trying to promote themselves within their current job,” Johnson said. “So that’s good on him.”

Spurs Notes: K. Johnson, Primo, Wesley, Branham, Engelland

July 16th, 2022 at 5:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs are locking up one of the keys to their rebuilding project by agreeing to a four-year, $80MM extension with Keldon Johnson, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Even though Johnson is only 22, he’s among the most experienced players on the roster following the trade of Dejounte Murray to Atlanta.

“I kind of have been in the system the longest,” Johnson said after the Murray deal was announced. “So just lead these guys, tell them the ins and outs. We are all going to have learning moments in the upcoming years, but just stay even-keeled throughout it.”

After earning an Olympic gold medal last summer, Johnson turned in his best NBA season so far, posting career highs with 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game and shooting 39.8% from three-point range. With Murray and Lonnie Walker both gone, Johnson will have to become an on-court leader for a team with the league’s second-youngest roster.

“Definitely a big opportunity,” he said. “We lost some big pieces, but it’s time to step up. You got to keep evolving, keep getting better, keep grinding. I am ready.”

There’s more on the Spurs:

San Antonio is counting on a pair of 19-year-old guards to play major roles this season, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. The Spurs were hoping to get a long look at 2021 lottery pick Joshua Primo during Summer League, but he was limited to two games after testing positive for COVID-19. Blake Wesley, the 25th overall pick this season, had issues with shooting and turnovers in Las Vegas, but ranked 14th in scoring coming into today’s games. “Blake Wesley and Josh Primo are the modern-day guards,” Spurs Summer League coach Mitch Johnson said. “They are not classic throwback point guards. They are not classic throwback shooting guards in terms of how we used to define those things years ago. They are attacking guards, so that’s going to be a thing we will continue to develop, evolve, grow, teach, partner with them on.”
Summer League has been a learning process for another young guard, Malaki Branham, who was taken with the 20th pick last month, Orsborn adds. “I would rate myself grade-wise probably a C, C-plus,” Branham said. “I feel I need to be more aggressive. I’m looking for my shot but also creating for others. Just learning every game and learning every play as well.”
Assistant coach Chip Engelland, who has been with the team since 2005, will leave after his current contract expires, tweets Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

Kevin Durant Rumors: Price Tag, Raptors, Pelicans, Warriors

July 12th, 2022 at 8:58am CST by Luke Adams

Reporting from the Las Vegas Summer League, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype says there’s skepticism among league insiders that a Kevin Durant trade will happen anytime soon, and a sense that the situation could linger into training camp.

According to Scotto, five executives he spoke to in Vegas felt as if Minnesota overpaid to acquire Rudy Gobert and increased the Nets‘ asking price for Durant in the process, creating a larger gap between what Brooklyn wants and what potential suitors are willing to give up. One GM told Scotto that he believes Durant is worth “a James Harden-type package.” It’s unclear if that’s a reference to the price paid for Harden by the Nets or the 76ers.

Scotto suggests it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Nets hang onto Durant for a while and wait for a “Godfather offer.” If that offer doesn’t come, the Nets may hope the former MVP changes his mind about wanting a trade and is satisfied to remain in Brooklyn at least for the time being.

Here’s more on the Durant market from Scotto:

The Raptors are still “hesitant” to include Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes in any offer for Durant, league sources tell HoopsHype. Scotto speculates that a package centered around Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. could be Toronto’s starting point, but notes that the Nets would want more. Scotto is unsure how willing the Raptors are to put OG Anunoby in a package for Durant.
According to Scotto, multiple executives are skeptical that the Pelicans will make a strong push for Durant instead of seeing how a healthy Zion Williamson meshes with the promising roster that made the playoffs in 2021/22. Scotto adds that some execs also believe Durant wouldn’t want to be dealt to New Orleans.
The Warriors wouldn’t be inclined to give up all of their promising young players – Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga, and Moses Moody – in a trade for Durant, says Scotto.
According to Scotto, some rival executives think the Spurs and Pacers are preserving their remaining cap room to see if they can be a salary-dumping ground in a multi-team Durant trade, netting draft assets in the process.

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