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Goran Dragic Apologizes For Comments On Trade To Raptors

August 9th, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran point guard Goran Dragic, who was traded from the Heat to the Raptors in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade deal last week, apologized on Monday for comments he made in his home country of Slovenia about the trade, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.

A clip that surfaced on Twitter on Monday of Dragic speaking to Slovenian reporters was accompanied by the English caption, “Toronto is not my preferred destination. I have higher ambitions.” While there was some uncertainty about whether something may have been lost in translation, Dragic didn’t claim he was misquoted. He did tell Grange, however, that the context of the quote was missing.

“I was in the center of the city and the journalists were there and I was asked about Toronto and it was basically taken out of context,” Dragic said. “I told them that I had spent seven years in Miami and that would be the preferred destination for me because my family is there and everything, not Toronto.”

Dragic, who is on an expiring $19.5MM contract, was always expected to be part of the Raptors’ return for Lowry after the Heat picked up his team option, but there was speculation for much of last week that he might be flipped to a third team. The Mavericks were frequently mentioned as a potential destination, since Dallas had been on the lookout for a point guard in free agency and joining the Mavs would give Dragic the opportunity to team up with fellow Slovenian Luka Doncic.

It’s still possible Dragic will be moved to the Mavs or another team at some point, but no deal appears imminent, and he told Grange he’s prepared to spend the 2021/22 season in Toronto.

“My message basically, to all Toronto fans, is I would like to apologize,” Dragic said. “It didn’t come out the right way. I know they love their team, and they should be proud, it is one of the best organizations in the NBA. They’ve already won a championship and I didn’t, so what I said, it really was not appropriate.

“… I’ve always been professional. You can ask a bunch of people. Everywhere I’ve played, wherever I’m going to play, I’m going to be professional and do my job,” he continued. “I love basketball, I love to play and I’m going to give 100% wherever I play. Right now I’m (with) Toronto and that’s my main thing to think about.”

Asked during an appearance on 590 The Fan in Toronto about Dragic, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster cautioned that the 35-year-old’s comments were translated to English and he’d want to “get it directly” from the point guard to understand what he meant, Grange writes. Webster also stressed that the Raptors aren’t a rebuilding team looking to jettison veterans.

“We feel like we’re gonna be competitive, we have a core — as we’ve talked about — that’s been around for a while and has won at the highest level as well,” Webster said. “So think that we’ll just give it some time here to see how (Dragic) would fit in and if he likes it here or not. I think he’s a pro and he’s been around a lot and he’s obviously entitled to wanting to make the most of his years as his career comes down here … so I don’t think it’s in any way a slight or anything like that.”

The Lowry sign-and-trade was officially completed on Friday, so it can no longer be expanded to include a third team, but Dragic could be flipped to a new team immediately as long as his salary isn’t aggregated with another player’s in the deal.

Kings, Warriors, Clippers Eyeing Pascal Siakam

August 9th, 2021 at 9:04am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings, Warriors, and Clippers are among the teams believed to be especially “enamored” with forward Pascal Siakam, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.

A source with knowledge of the situation tells Anderson that Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri has received numerous trade inquiries on Siakam and is “listening like a good negotiator.” However, while a deal is possible, Anderson’s source doesn’t believe it’s likely, noting that Siakam has no desire to be moved.

Siakam’s name has popped up in trade rumors throughout the offeason. John Hollinger of The Athletic first suggested in June that the former All-Star was on Golden State’s radar, and multiple subsequent reports referenced a leaguewide belief that Siakam could be had, particularly in the wake of Toronto using the No. 4 pick to draft Scottie Barnes.

Sam Amick of The Athletic said last week that Sacramento “definitely” has interest in Siakam, and Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report stated that the Trail Blazers engaged in some preliminary discussions involving the veteran forward.

If the Kings were to make an offer for Siakam, it would likely include Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III, and at least one future first-round pick, per Anderson. While that would be a perfect salary match, it’s not clear if such a package would be enough to seriously entice Toronto, Anderson acknowledges.

Siakam is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and will likely miss a little time at the start of the 2021/22 season.

The Kings have also displayed interest in Sixers star Ben Simmons, Anderson confirms, adding that GM Monte McNair seems motivated to make a major roster move as the pressure to win begins to build. Outside Sacramento, there’s a sense that McNair and his front office – installed just a year ago – are already “feeling the heat” from Kings owner Vivek Ranadive to take a significant step forward, says Anderson.

Raptors Sign David Johnson To Two-Way Contract

August 8th, 2021 at 9:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors issued a press release on Sunday night announcing that they’ve signed former Louisville guard David Johnson to a two-way contract.

Johnson, the 47th overall pick in July’s draft, played college ball for the Cardinals for two years before declaring for the draft following his sophomore season. In 19 games (35.1 MPG) in 2020/21, he put up 12.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 3.2 APG with a .411/.386/.700 shooting line.

The Raptors previously signed undrafted free agent Justin Champagnie to a two-way contract, so both of the team’s two-way slots have now been filled.

No. 46 pick Dalano Banton is the only one of Toronto’s three 2021 draft picks who remains unsigned, as Scottie Barnes finalized his rookie deal earlier today. The Raptors still project to have some openings on their 15-man regular season roster, so Banton seems likely to sign a standard multiyear contract at some point.

Eastern Contract Details: Lowry, Birch, Heat, Dinwiddie, Niang, More

August 8th, 2021 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Kyle Lowry‘s new three-year, $85MM contract with the Heat is a standard increasing deal, starting at about $26.98MM and rising annually by 5%, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.

Based on Lowry’s 2021/22 salary, we now know the value of the traded player exception the Raptors created in their sign-and-trade deal with the Heat, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic. That TPE will be worth $4,832,848, which is the difference between Lowry’s new salary and the combined cap hits of Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa.

Murphy also confirms that Khem Birch‘s three-year, $20MM deal with the Raptors is a standard increasing contract with no options or partial guarantees — it eats up about $6.35MM of Toronto’s mid-level exception, leaving $3.187MM on that MLE.

Here are more contract details from around the East, courtesy of Smith:

As expected, the new deals for Max Strus, Omer Yurtseven, and Gabe Vincent with the Heat are each two-year, minimum-salary contracts with one year guaranteed and the second year non-guaranteed (Twitter link). P.J. Tucker, meanwhile, got a two-year, $14.35MM contract that uses $7MM of Miami’s mid-level exception in year one. Tucker’s second year is a player option (Twitter link).
Spencer Dinwiddie‘s three-year contract with the Wizards only has a base value of $54MM, rather than the previously-reported total of $60MM+ (Twitter link). The deal, which features unlikely incentives that could push its value higher, has a partial guarantee worth $10MM (of $18.86MM) in year three.
Georges Niang‘s deal with the Sixers came in at $6.765MM over two years, both of which are fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
Trae Young‘s five-year, maximum-salary extension with the Hawks includes a 15% trade kicker (Twitter link).
The numbers are also in for the finalized deals between Jarrett Allen and the Cavaliers (Twitter link), Bobby Portis and the Bucks (Twitter link), George Hill and the Bucks (Twitter link), and Danny Green and the Sixers (Twitter link), with no surprises among that group. As expected, Green’s second year is non-guaranteed and Portis has a second-year player option, while Allen and Hill have fully guaranteed salaries.

Heat Notes: Lowry, Offseason, Yurtseven, Investigation

August 8th, 2021 at 2:50pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New starting Heat point guard Kyle Lowry discussed his expectations for this offseason’s revamped Miami club with media on Friday and Saturday, as Couper Moorhead of Heat.com details.

“On paper it looks great,” Lowry, a 2019 title winner with the Raptors, said of Miami’s new-look roster. “But you have to put the work in on the floor. I don’t ever try to say we can do this, we can do that. At the end of the day you have to go out there, lace ‘em up and do your job. Play defense, put the ball in the hole.”

Miami’s sign-and-trade deal with the Raptors that sent Lowry to the Heat is currently being investigated by the NBA, as the league is cracking down on violations to its anti-tampering stance on free agency.

There’s more out of South Beach:

In his latest notes roundup, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses the re-signing of Victor Oladipo, plus the departures of Kendrick Nunn (after the team made him an unrestricted free agent) and Andre Iguodala (after the Heat did not pick up the second year of his contract). Winderman notes that Oladipo, Lowry, and new Heat power forward P.J. Tucker were all potential trade targets for Miami during the 2020/21 season, though Miami was unwilling to part with young players Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson. Winderman adds that Miami’s decision to move on from Nunn speaks to the team’s preference for Herro, regarded as having higher upside.
Now that the Heat have inked a two-year minimum deal with center Omer Yurtseven, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel examines the seven-footer’s fit as with a Miami team hungry to contend. After Yurtseven’s promising NBAGL 2020/21 season for the Oklahoma City Blue, Miami signed him for the rest of the year. He posted encouraging averages of 26 PPG and 13.5 RPG in two California Classic Summer League this year, and ultimately opted to return to Miami.
Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald has further details on the NBA’s investigation into the Heat’s Lowry sign-and-trade with the Raptors. Chiang writes that the investigation is most likely being conducted as a result of at least one other NBA team complaining about the expediency of the deal, while Winderman tweets that it’s more about “gun-jumping” than tampering.
Within Chiang’s story, Bobby Marks of ESPN said the sign-and-trade for Lowry almost certainly won’t be voided. “I would say highly, highly unlikely that the trade will be voided and that Kyle is a free agent all of a sudden,” Marks said. “I think what will happen is if they’re found guilty, there will be some financial penalty and draft picks will be lost here.” Marks anticipates the investigation could last for around two weeks.

Scottie Barnes Signs Rookie Contract With Raptors

August 8th, 2021 at 10:47am CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors have signed Scottie Barnes to his first NBA contract, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.

The Florida State forward was something of a surprise pick at No. 4, but Toronto was attracted to his potential to be a difference-maker on defense. He was named ACC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year during his lone season with the Seminoles, averaging 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Assuming he gets 120% of the rookie scale, Barnes will make $7.28MM during his first season. His contract could be worth up to $33MM over four years.

Barnes will play his first Summer League game later today, Lewenberg adds.

NBA Investigating Lowry, Ball Sign-And-Trades For Possible Tampering

August 7th, 2021 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has launched investigations into two of the sign-and-trade deals that were agreed upon early in free agency, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

Those two deals are the one that sent Kyle Lowry from the Raptors to the Heat – which was officially announced on Friday – and the one sending Lonzo Ball from the Pelicans to the Bulls, which hasn’t been officially completed yet. The NBA is set to investigate possible violations of its tampering policy.

According to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, the league is expected to look into any contact that may have occurred prior to the opening of the free agency negotiating period on Monday at 5:00pm CT. Both agreements were reported within minutes after the negotiating period began.

It’s an open secret that teams and agents begin free agent discussions before the negotiating period officially starts, but the NBA generally frowns on any deals that blatantly violate those rules. Sign-and-trades receive even more scrutiny since they’re more complex and typically require more time to complete than a typical free agent negotiation, Wojnarowski and Shelburne note.

Last year, for instance, an alleged sign-and-trade agreement involving the Bucks, Kings, and Bogdan Bogdanovic was reported several days before free agency officially began. The league ended up taking away Milwaukee’s 2022 second-round pick after investigating that situation, while Bogdanovic – who claimed he never agreed to terms with the Bucks – landed in Atlanta instead.

We’ll see what the investigation into the Lowry and Ball sign-and-trades turns up this year. It’s unlikely that the league would nix either deal, but fines and/or draft-pick penalties don’t seem out of the question, given the manner in which the deals were publicly reported.

One Monday report outlined the specifics of the Lowry sign-and-trade to the Heat nearly three hours before free agency began, though there was some uncertainty for much of the week about whether the deal would involve more pieces than just Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa. Lowry’s commitment to Miami was confirmed just minutes into free agency and his agency announced his destination shortly thereafter.

Ball’s deal with the Bulls was reported literally the minute the negotiating window opened, with the full terms of the trade agreement – including another sign-and-trade involving Garrett Temple – surfacing just seven minutes later.

As Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter), the NBA adopted new anti-tampering measures two years ago, giving the league the power to fine teams for up to $10MM, suspend executives, take away draft picks, or even void deals altogether if proof of tampering is found.

The Bucks’ second-round pick forfeiture is the most significant penalty we’ve seen since then. However, as Wojnarowski and Shelburne point out, the NBA’s decision in that case took into consideration that Bogdanovic didn’t end up signing with Milwaukee, so the league could come down a little harder on Miami and/or Chicago.

And-Ones: Smith, Biyombo, Spurs, Hall, Almansa, Trade Market

August 7th, 2021 at 10:45am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons officially renounced their rights to Wayne Ellington, who has signed with the Lakers, and Dennis Smith Jr., according to the RealGM transactions log. The Hornets renounced four players, including Bismack Biyombo, while the Spurs renounced their rights to a whopping 13 players. San Antonio’s list includes Donatas Motiejunas and David Lee, who haven’t appeared in an NBA game for years. Renouncing those rights allows teams to maximize their cap room in free agency.

We have more from the basketball world:

Donta Hall has signed with France’s Betclic Elite side AS Monaco, Sportando relays. Hall, who turns 24 on Saturday, played 13 games with the Magic this past season on two 10-day contracts and an end-of-the-season deal via the hardship exception. The power forward also played a total of nine games for the Pistons and Nets in 2019/20.
Overtime Elite has added another top European prospect. Izan Almansa has signed with the league, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. The 6’9” Almansa, a 16-year old Spanish power forward, is the second player OTE has signed from Real Madrid’s youth program and seventh international prospect.
While free agency is winding down, the trade market could continue to percolate in the coming weeks, John Hollinger of The Athletic writes. Ben Simmons and Damian Lillard top the list of stars who could be on the move, while the Raptors and Magic are teams to watch, with the latter possibly taking on an onerous contract in order to acquire future assets.
The ESPN duo of Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks also take a look at unresolved storylines this month involving free agency, the trade market and potential extensions.

Aron Baynes Could Miss Next Season

August 7th, 2021 at 10:00am CST by Dana Gauruder

Free agent center Aron Baynes could miss next season due to a neck injury, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Baynes, who played for the Raptors last season, has severe nerve damage in his neck and is currently in the hospital, says Charania. Baynes, a member of the Australian national team that took the bronze medal at the Olympics, initially injured his neck in a victory over Italy. He suffered a more significant injury slipping in the team bathroom.

The Raptors waived Baynes on Wednesday before his $7.35MM salary for 2021/22 would’ve become fully guaranteed.

Baynes signed a two-year contract with the Raptors during the 2020 offseason after enjoying a career year in Phoenix. He averaged 6.1 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 53 games (18.5 MPG) with Toronto and his shooting percentages (.441/.262/.707) were significantly below his career rates.

However, Baynes was expected to attract interest in the open market from teams looking to add to their frontcourt depth.

Raptors Notes: Lowry, Achiuwa, Dragic, Birch, TPE, Ujiri

August 7th, 2021 at 8:12am CST by Luke Adams

There was some speculation leading up to free agency that Toronto would make an effort to re-sign veteran point guard Kyle Lowry, but comments made on Friday by the six-time All-Star and by Raptors general manager Bobby Webster suggested both sides felt the time was right to move on, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

“I think the direction Toronto is going in is they want to give the opportunities to (Fred VanVleet), Pascal (Siakam), OG (Anunoby), a couple young guys, the young draft picks they have,” Lowry told reporters. “They have some great core pieces. They’re in great hands and great shape. It was a situation for me where it was an opportunity to do something different… It’s time to turn the page in the book.”

Webster conveyed a similar sentiment: “You probably could see (during the 2020/21 second half) the direction the team was going in, and jumping up in the draft to get the fourth pick, philosophically, I think going young became kind of a more desirable path.”

Once they recognized Lowry would be moving on, the Raptors could’ve decided to let him walk in order to open up cap room to pursue a free agent. However, that path offered less certainty, especially if the team made an offer sheet to a restricted free agent (such as Jarrett Allen) not knowing whether it would be matched. The Raptors preferred to acquire Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa via a sign-and-trade with the Heat, Lewenberg writes.

“Precious is a huge part of this deal for us,” Webster said. “We really liked him last year in the draft so I think that was a huge get in the sense of a young player that we like and fits.”

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Throughout the week, there were rumors that Toronto may try to flip Dragic to a third team after acquiring him via sign-and-trade. Webster said on Friday that’s not Plan A. “Obviously, if we got an offer that was too good to refuse we’d listen but ultimately we want Goran here,” the Raptors’ GM said, per Lewenberg. “He’s happy to be here, obviously he’s been able to carve out a very nice career for himself. Talking to (team president) Masai (Ujiri), talking to everyone here, we’ve watched him a ton and I know a lot of people have seen him kill us. As a basketball player, as a vet, he provides a lot of value to us.”
After his new three-year deal with the Raptors was formally announced on Friday, Canadian center Khem Birch told reporters he was focused throughout free agency on returning to the team, as Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes. “It feels like a dream come true,” Birch said. “It’s so surreal right now … just one of those free agencies where I knew where I wanted to go. I don’t even know what other teams were interested in me. I just wanted to come here regardless of the price or the years or anything. I just knew this was a great fit. I’m just happy I’m here.”
The Raptors will generate a traded player exception as a result of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade to Miami. It’ll be worth somewhere between $4.8MM and $7.7MM, depending on the specific structure of Lowry’s new contract, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic.
Speaking to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum confirmed that Masai Ujiri‘s new vice chairman title won’t give him an ownership stake in the franchise, but said it reflects his standing in the organization. “I chair the Raptors, but it’s just a recognition that we’re really working together,” Tanenbaum said. “We’re partners.”
Tanenbaum added in the same interview that the team’s plan is to have Lowry retire as a Raptor down the road and to retire his number. “He will retire as a Raptor and his number will absolutely go up there,” Tanenbaum said. “The honor will be the first one (for the Raptors) and I love Kyle.”