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Lakers Sign Thomas Bryant To One-Year Deal

July 6th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

4:02pm: The Lakers have officially signed Bryant, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The big man told reporters today that he’s fully recovered from the ACL tear he suffered in early 2021.

“(It feels) 100 percent great,” Bryant said (Twitter link via Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group). “Not good. Great.”

6:01am: The Lakers have reached an agreement with free agent center Thomas Bryant and will sign him to a one-year contract, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Haynes doesn’t provide any specifics on the financial terms, but given that Los Angeles has committed to using its taxpayer mid-level exception on Lonnie Walker and is ineligible to acquire a player via sign-and-trade without shedding significant salary, it’s safe to assume it will be a minimum-salary deal.

Bryant, who will turn 25 later this month, began his NBA career with the Lakers, having been acquired from Utah in a draft-night deal in 2017. The 42nd overall pick appeared in just 15 games as a rookie with L.A. and was waived in the summer of 2018.

The Wizards claimed Bryant off waivers and the big man spent the next four seasons in D.C., though his time there was marred by injuries. After a promising 2019/20 season in which he averaged 13.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in 46 games (36 starts), Bryant suffered a torn ACL early in the ’20/21 campaign. That injury resulted in him playing just 37 games over the last two seasons.

Now fully recovered from his ACL tear, Bryant drew interest from the Raptors, Celtics, Bucks, and Jazz this offseason, sources tell Haynes.

The former Indiana Hoosier could be an intriguing bounce-back candidate entering the 2022/23 season. According to Haynes, he’ll be given the opportunity to earn a spot in the starting lineup with his new team in Los Angeles.

Fischer’s Latest: Ayton, Durant, S. Barnes, Kyrie

July 6th, 2022 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

Deandre Ayton appears to have been the free agent most directly affected by the ongoing Kevin Durant sweepstakes, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

As Fischer outlines, Ayton’s restricted free agency has been stalled in part because he could theoretically be an outgoing piece in a Suns deal for Durant and also because teams with interest in both players – including Toronto – won’t want to give up assets in a sign-and-trade for Ayton before seeing what happens with Durant.

According to Fischer, the Pacers and Raptors have been the teams most frequently linked to Ayton, with the Jazz described as a less likely destination for the young center. The Pacers and Spurs are the only teams that have the cap flexibility necessary to realistically extend an offer sheet to Ayton. It’s unclear whether he’d rather try to pursue a deal with one of them or wait for a possible sign-and-trade opportunity to a team closer to contention, Fischer says.

One hypothetical scenario is a multi-team trade that sends Durant to Phoenix; Ayton to Indiana in a sign-and-trade; and Myles Turner, multiple Suns wings, and draft capital to Brooklyn. However, Fischer hears from sources that such a package is unlikely to meet the Nets’ high asking price for Durant.

Here’s more from Fischer:

League personnel have begun to discuss the possibility of the Nets simply hanging onto Durant and Kyrie Irving into the regular season, according to Fischer. “Rudy Gobert getting traded for an arm, a leg and two mountains is helping their cause. There’s no way the Nets will ever trade Kevin Durant for anything less than what Rudy Gobert got Utah,” a Western Conference executive told Fischer. “If nothing comes, I can see them saying (to the players), ‘We just all have to come back.’ If I’m them, I just try to string this out as long as possible.”
As has been previously reported, there’s skepticism that the Suns will be able to build a package that appeals to the Nets without getting at least one more team involved. “Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and five picks still isn’t enough to me for KD,” one GM said to Bleacher Report.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell Fischer that the Raptors remain unwilling to part with Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes.
Fischer’s league sources “strongly discounted” the idea that either the Mavericks or Sixers is a serious suitor for Irving. The Lakers remain Brooklyn’s most obvious trade partner for Kyrie, but there’s a sense that they may need to involve a third team to meet the Nets‘ asking price — a package of Russell Westbrook and draft assets wouldn’t maximize Brooklyn’s chances of contending in the short term, Fischer explains.

Latest On Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving

July 6th, 2022 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

Both Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (appearing on NBA Today) and Shams Charania of The Athletic (appearing on The Pat McAfee Show) stressed on Tuesday that the Nets‘ trade of Kevin Durant could take some time, with the team in no rush to make a deal.

While Wojnarowski observed that being able to have face-to-face conversations with other teams at the Las Vegas Summer League starting this week could help the Nets gather some momentum toward an agreement, he and Charania both noted that many past superstar trades – such as James Harden to Brooklyn or Anthony Davis to Los Angeles – have taken several months to come together.

There has been no indication that Durant will rescind his trade request and happily report to Brooklyn in the fall if the Nets have trouble finding a deal they like, says Charania. However, the Nets have been telling teams that until their asking price (All-Star caliber players and a “boatload” of draft picks) is met, they won’t move the former MVP, according to Charania.

Here’s more on Durant and his teammate and fellow trade candidate Kyrie Irving:

Wojnarowski said on NBA Today that he views the Raptors as the most “seamless” one-on-one trade partner for the Nets with Durant, since other suitors like the Suns and Heat would probably require a third team to get anything done. Wojnarowski said that “people should be watching” the Raptors, while ESPN’s Bobby Marks said during an NBA Today appearance of his own (video link) that he considers Toronto the “leader in the clubhouse.”
Appearing on Sportsnet The Fan’s Morning Show in Toronto (audio link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst expressed some skepticism that the Raptors will be willing to put Scottie Barnes into an offer for Durant.
Wojnarowski views the Nets’ Tuesday deals with T.J. Warren and Edmond Sumner as another signal that they aren’t looking to rebuild and will want “good players” in any Durant trade. Marks, meanwhile, believes those agreements are a sign that no Durant deal is imminent and the Nets recognized they needed to start filling out their roster rather than waiting for a 5-for-1 type trade to materialize.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer makes a case for why he views New Orleans as the most logical landing spot for Durant and why he thinks the Pelicans have more than enough assets to get a deal done.
According to Wojnarowski, the Nets and Lakers are engaged in a “dance” over the Irving negotiations and don’t appear to have made serious inroads toward a deal. On The Pat McAfee Show (video link), Charania agreed, suggesting that it’s not a lock Kyrie will end up in L.A. “There’s no traction on any type of a Lakers deal for Kyrie Irving,” Charania said. “There’s nothing new on that. I’m not quite sure we’re going to see that take place.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Durant, Brogdon, Melton, Knicks

July 5th, 2022 at 10:56pm CST by Rory Maher

The potential price tag for acquiring Kevin Durant isn’t what should matter most to the Raptors, argues Scott Stinson of The National Post, who says that determining whether Durant would actually be motivated and invested in playing for Toronto should be the most important factor for the team’s lead decision-makers.

As Stinson writes, Durant’s motivation in asking for a trade out of Brooklyn remains a bit nebulous, especially since he just signed a four-year extension last August. That should concern vice chairman and president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, because dealing for a superstar who might not be engaged or on the same page as the club could be disastrous, according to Stinson.

Drawing parallels between Ujiri’s trade for Kawhi Leonard in the 2018 offseason to the Durant sweepstakes now doesn’t make sense, per Stinson, because the situations aren’t similar.

Leonard was coming off an injury that caused him to miss almost the entire 2017/18 season, was on an expiring contract, and the Raptors teams led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had been given ample time to breakthrough in the East, but couldn’t get past LeBron James. The Raptors finished second in the East in the two years after Leonard left Toronto, so obviously the team remained competitive and didn’t mortgage its future to acquire him, Stinson writes.

Durant, on the other hand, has four years remaining on his deal, so obviously it will cost significantly more to land him, plus the current version of the Raptors is ascendant, with Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr., and Precious Achiuwa among the new additions who made significant contributions to a team that improved its win total from 27 to 48. Dealing away from an emerging core only for Durant to balk at the idea of staying could put Toronto in a hole that would be difficult to climb out of, says Stinson.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Could a lesser role on the Celtics benefit Malcolm Brogdon from a health perspective? “The knock against him coming out of college is that he had terrible knees,” a rival general manager told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I mean, some of the examinations were really suspect in terms of how long his lower body would be able to take NBA pounding. So that’s why he ended up going in the second round, because he was damn near red-flagged. So the fact of the matter is he’s probably better off coming off the bench with limited minutes, trying to be impactful in 18 rather than trying to play 30 and always being injured. The question becomes how he’ll accept that.” Boston reportedly views Brogdon as a sixth man, and he said shortly after the deal was announced that he’s motivated to win a championship and is willing to sacrifice his individual stats for the betterment of the team.
De’Anthony Melton believes he’s a “great fit” for the Sixers, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link). “Once I saw the team, I’m like, ‘OK, that’s a great spot,'” Melton told The Inquirer by phone last week. “That’s a great fit for me. … I understand what this team needs. I understand what this team is trying to do. I’m ready for the task at hand. I’m ready for whatever’s to come.” Melton was acquired from the Grizzlies in exchange for the No. 23 pick (David Roddy) and Danny Green in a draft-day swap.
Signing free agent guard Jalen Brunson was a solid move for the Knicks but they still look like a play-in team on paper, Ian O’Connor of The New York Post opines. According to O’Connor, while Brunson is a good player and the best point guard the Knicks will employ in years, neither he nor RJ Barrett or Julius Randle are capable of being the best — or second-best — players on a championship-caliber team, and unless something drastic changes, New York will begin 2022/23 as “just another barely relevant club.”

Atlantic Notes: Harden, T. Young, Celtics, Joe

July 5th, 2022 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

One of this summer’s top free agents, star guard James Harden, still doesn’t have a new deal in place, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on SportsCenter on Tuesday (video link) that Harden and the Sixers will likely agree to terms sooner rather than later. The two sides reportedly met in the Hamptons over the weekend and will resume negotiations early this week.

“Those (talks) are expected to pick up today, tomorrow,” Wojnarowski said. “You can expect Harden and his representative and (president of basketball operations) Daryl Morey in Philly to really sit down and hammer that deal out here, perhaps as soon as the next 24 hours.”

Harden turned down a $47MM+ player option for 2022/23 and is expected to finalize a longer-term deal with a lower starting salary in order to allow the Sixers to maximize their cap flexibility this season.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Thaddeus Young‘s new two-year contract extension with the Raptors has a base value of $8MM per season, with $150K in annual likely bonuses and another $350K in annual unlikely bonuses, Hoops Rumors has learned. Year one is fully guaranteed, while Young’s 2023/24 salary is partially guaranteed for $1MM — he would receive his full ’23/24 guarantee if he remains under contract through June 30, 2023.
Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston considers the remaining decisions on the Celtics‘ offseason to-do list, including whether or not to use their $17MM+ trade exception and who will get the final spots on their projected 15-man roster.
Sixers shooting guard Isaiah Joe, whose minimum salary for 2022/23 is non-guaranteed, will be trying to show during the Salt Lake City Summer League this week that his game can translate to the NBA level, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “The thing I really want to build is consistency, especially for a contending team,” Joe said. “They don’t have any time for inconsistent players. So they are really looking for consistency out of me just like they are looking for consistency out of Joel (Embiid) and James.”

Eastern Notes: Pistons, Sixers, Raptors, Haliburton

July 4th, 2022 at 7:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons entered last week with plenty of cap space and used a good portion of it on their impending trade with the Knicks for Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel and their free agent deals with Marvin Bagley and Kevin Knox. They have a full roster but still need more shooting, plus they have an overload of big men, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press notes. It’s possible the Pistons could get involved in another trade, rather than dipping again into the free agent market.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Sixers added grit and toughness by securing commitments from P.J. Tucker and Danuel House in free agency but there’s more work to be done, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. They still need to replace starting wing Danny Green and they’re still too dependent on Joel Embiid‘s health and a bounce back from James Harden to reach the top of the Eastern Conference.
Going all in for a spirited run at Kevin Durant is far from a no-brainer for the Raptors, Eric Koreen of The Athletic argues. While the Raptors have the pieces to make the Nets a substantial offer, they have been built around draft successes and development. They have to decide whether to risk the future for another championship run or count on incremental growth to keep open their window of opportunity for several more seasons.
By agreeing to trade Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics, the Pacers essentially gave Tyrese Haliburton the keys to the franchise, according to James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star. It was a clear signal that they’re building around their potential All-Star guard. He is now the team’s unquestioned backcourt leader and the Pacers could potentially have three first-round picks next year. They also now have the cap flexibility to make a max contract offer to restricted free agent Deandre Ayton, if they choose that route.

13 Trade Exceptions Set To Expire In July

July 4th, 2022 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 13 traded player exceptions created during the 2021 NBA offseason are set to expire this month if they go unused.

A trade exception is an NBA salary cap exception that can be generated when a team trades a player away. It allows that team to acquire a certain amount of salary without sending out any in return for one year after the exception was created. The club is permitted to trade for a player earning the amount of the exception, plus $100K.

For instance, the Trail Blazers are set to use their $20,864,198 trade exception, created in February’s CJ McCollum trade, to acquire Jerami Grant, who is earning $20,955,000 in 2022/23. Grant narrowly fits into that TPE after accounting for the $100K in wiggle room.

Most trade exceptions expire without being used, but teams can sometimes find a use for them — especially the bigger ones like Portland’s. So it’s worth keeping tabs on which ones are still available.

Here are the 13 exceptions set to expire this month:

Boston Celtics: $17,142,857 (expires 7/18)
Los Angeles Clippers: $8,250,000 (expires 7/18)
Indiana Pacers: $7,333,333 (expires 7/7)
New Orleans Pelicans: $6,382,262 (expires 7/7)
Chicago Bulls: $5,000,000 (expires 7/7)
Memphis Grizzlies: $4,054,695 (expires 7/7)
Brooklyn Nets: $3,246,530 (expires 7/6)
Toronto Raptors: $3,070,052 (expires 7/6)
Atlanta Hawks: $1,782,621 (expires 7/7)
Golden State Warriors: $1,782,621 (expires 7/7)
Milwaukee Bucks: $1,517,981 (expires 7/7)
Boston Celtics: $1,440,549 (expires 7/7)
Brooklyn Nets: $118,342 (expires 7/6)

The Celtics’ $17MM exception, created in last year’s Evan Fournier sign-and-trade, is the most noteworthy one here, but it appears unlikely to be used. Boston reached a deal last week to acquire Malcolm Brogdon without having to use the exception, and now appears to be a long shot to strike another major trade agreement.

The third exception on this list, the Pacers’ $7.3MM TPE, will disappear if Indiana decides to operate under the cap. The team would have to renounce the exception in order to actually make use of its cap room.

While it’s possible some of the other exceptions on this list will be used before they expire, they won’t accommodate any of the deals that have been agreed upon to date.

The full list of outstanding trade exceptions can be found right here.

Atlantic Notes: Porter, Raptors, Knicks, Celtics, Reed

July 4th, 2022 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

Otto Porter Jr.‘s two-year contract with the Raptors, which includes a player option for 2023/24, will have a total value of $12.4MM, reports Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link).

Because Porter’s first-year salary will only be about $6MM, Toronto isn’t using more than the taxpayer portion ($6.48MM) of the mid-level exception to complete his deal and won’t be hard-capped as a result of the signing.

However, if the Raptors want to give second-round pick Christian Koloko a starting salary higher than the minimum and/or a deal longer than two years, they would need to use a portion of the MLE, meaning they’ll exceed the taxpayer MLE limit and would have a hard cap of $156.98MM for the 2022/23 league year.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

In assessing the Knicks‘ offseason moves to date, Zach Braziller of The New York Post suggests that the club could still use one more wing after trading Alec Burks to Detroit. Here’s our list of the free agent wings who are still on the board.
Ethan Fuller of BasketballNews.com takes a look at how Malcolm Brogdon will fit in with the Celtics and what the acquisition means for the team going forward.
Sixers big man Paul Reed won’t be on the team’s Las Vegas Summer League roster, but he’s suiting up for the 76ers at the Salt Lake City Summer League this week and will look to show he deserves a regular spot in the team’s rotation next season. “I mean it’s an opportunity for me to get better, honestly,” Reed said, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I feel like going into next season, I have a chance to show them what I’ve been working on, so I can prove my value. That’s kind of my mindset. I just want to get better.”

Nets Rumors: Durant, Trade Request, Edwards, Irving

July 3rd, 2022 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agency has stalled as teams wait to see what will happen with Nets star Kevin Durant, but the situation could be resolved when general managers gather this week in Las Vegas for Summer League, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Owner Joe Tsai and GM Sean Marks are making their way through a flood of offers and are focused on getting the best package in return rather than making a quick decision.

The Heat and Suns are reportedly Durant’s preferred destinations, and while Lewis says the Nets are willing to work with Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman on finding the right deal, they won’t be “held hostage” by Durant’s wishes.

The Pelicans and Raptors may provide the best options to trade Durant without having to rely on a third or fourth team to make the deal work, Lewis adds. Both teams have full control of their future draft picks and they have young stars in Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes to build a trade package around.

There’s more news from Brooklyn:

Durant made his first public comment since his trade request, Lewis states in the same piece, with a tweet on Saturday that read, “The ones who were locked in that gym with me know what it is, they know what I’m about. If u haven’t been in there with me, ask around.” Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated responded with specific questions about Durant’s intentions, but Durant answered, “Keep dreaming robin lmao.”
The Nets pulled their qualifying offer to Kessler Edwards this week, but they still have interest in bringing him back, Lewis adds. Brooklyn holds Edwards’ Non-Bird rights and is talking to the 21-year-old forward about a new deal.
Other teams have little interest in trading for Kyrie Irving because they know he wants to end up with the Lakers, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Twitter link from Hoop Central). “In talking to league executives over the last couple of hours, the value of Kyrie Irving in a trade has absolutely plummeted,” Windhorst said. “They know he’s going to be a pure rental. If he doesn’t want to go to the situation he is [traded] to, it’s unclear what he’ll do.”

Scotto’s Latest: Jazz, Raptors, Nets, DiVincenzo

July 2nd, 2022 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Before they reached an agreement to send Rudy Gobert to Minnesota on Friday, the Jazz asked the Raptors about the possibility of acquiring forward OG Anunoby and swingman Gary Trent Jr., league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Toronto was linked to Gobert repeatedly during the first half of the offseason. Still, as great as the three-time Defensive Player of the Year is, it was never clear how badly the Raptors wanted to break up their core to acquire a big man who didn’t fit the versatile, switchable, and positionless brand of basketball the team has adopted. Whether the Raptors balked at Utah’s asking price or the Jazz simply preferred Minnesota’s offer, Gobert is off the table for Toronto.

Here’s more from Scotto:

The Celtics, Bucks, Nets, and Bulls are among the teams that expressed interest in Chris Boucher before he agreed to re-sign with the Raptors, while forward Thaddeus Young – who is also returning to Toronto – drew interest from the Celtics and Pacers, according to Scotto.
The Nets made it a priority this offseason to land a wing defender capable of guarding multiple positions, which was why they agreed to trade for Royce O’Neale even as news of Kevin Durant‘s trade request was breaking. As Scotto explains, the Nets and Jazz previously explored a deal involving O’Neale and Joe Harris prior to the in-season trade deadline.
In addition to receiving interest from teams willing to give him the full taxpayer mid-level exception, Donte DiVincenzo also received an offer from a team with cap space that would’ve exceeded the two-year, $9.3MM contract he’s signing with the Warriors, says Scotto. The second-year player option Golden State gave him and DiVincenzo’s belief that the Warriors give him the best opportunity to play for a contender were factors in his decision to accept less money, Scotto adds.