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Trade Rumors: Bulls, Collins, Gobert, Lakers, Hield, More

June 29th, 2022 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls are among the teams that have shown interest in Hawks big man John Collins, sources tell Matt Moore of Action Network. Moore also confirms that Boston and Sacramento are two of the other clubs that have registered some level of interest in Collins, as Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report said earlier today.

Chicago has been linked to a handful of frontcourt players so far this offseason, most notably Rudy Gobert. Moore writes that the Bulls remain in the mix for Gobert, but cautions that the Jazz‘s asking price will be “steep” and says any trade discussions involving the three-time Defensive Player of the Year could drag out, given Danny Ainge‘s reputation as a tough negotiator.

According to Moore, if Gobert is traded, the Bulls are probably the most likely landing spot, with the Timberwolves looming as a dark horse, but there’s no guarantee a deal will be made.

Here are a few more trade notes and rumors from Moore:

Moore reports that the Lakers have “circled back” to Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield after not trading for him a year ago. The Lakers have a clearer path to making an offer for Hield that doesn’t include Russell Westbrook‘s unwanted contract this summer than they did at the trade deadline, given that his salary declines from $23MM in 2021/22 to $21.2MM in ’22/23.
The Sixers are probably unlikely to find a taker for Tobias Harris, given the size of his contract, but Moore suggests the Kings are one team to watch on that front.
The Cavaliers aren’t looking to trade former lottery pick Isaac Okoro after drafting Ochai Agbaji, says Moore.
Moore suggests that the Raptors‘ asking price for OG Anunoby when the Trail Blazers pursued him around the time of the draft was believed to be the No. 7 pick, Josh Hart or Nassir Little, and a future first-round pick. Now that the draft has passed, Moore is skeptical that Anunoby will be on the move this summer.

Magic Aren’t Expected To Tender QO To Bamba

June 29th, 2022 at 12:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

It appears the Magic will let Mo Bamba become an unrestricted free agent, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.

A source tells Price that the team isn’t expected to submit a qualifying offer to Bamba before today’s deadline. That would make the fourth-year center unrestricted and take away the Magic’s opportunity to match any offer he receives in free agency.

Bamba’s qualifying offer would be $10.1MM and it would provide him with the option of signing it and returning to the Magic next season. He has been with Orlando since being selected with the sixth pick in the 2018 draft.

The team remains interested in keeping Bamba when free agency begins, Price adds, but presumably at a lower figure. A sign-and-trade deal also remains a possibility.

Several teams are expected to pursue Bamba on the free agent market, with a source telling Price that the Raptors, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls, Rockets, Heat and Timberwolves have all shown interest.

Bamba is coming off his best NBA season, posting career highs with 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.2 assists per game. He became a full-time starter for the first time in his career, starting 69 of the 71 games that he played.

Raptors Rumors: VanVleet, Young, Boucher, Bamba, Gobert

June 29th, 2022 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors and Fred VanVleet appear on track to reach an agreement on a four-year contract extension that could approach $120MM in total value, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

VanVleet, who will be extension-eligible this offseason, will earn $21.25MM in 2022/23 and has a $22.82MM player option for 2023/24. If he were to decline that option, he could sign a four-year extension worth up to $114.24MM, so Fischer’s $120MM projection looks a little high.

Still, it sounds as if the Raptors will be prepared to offer VanVleet the maximum amount he can receive on an extension. The All-Star point guard would become eligible for a more lucrative contract if he plays out the ’22/23 season, then turns down his player option to become a free agent next summer. But an extension worth $28.5MM per year that locks him up until age 33 may be hard to pass up.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

According to Fischer, Thaddeus Young appears likely to remain in Toronto, potentially on a two-year contract agreement worth at least $10MM. Young was acquired by the Raptors from San Antonio in a trade deadline deal in February.
Young is one of the Raptors’ two key free agents this offseason, along with big man Chris Boucher. Zach Kram of The Ringer makes a case for why he considers Boucher the most interesting free agent on the market due to his unusual combination of skills and physical traits.
The Raptors and Bulls are among the teams that appear to have interest in Magic big man Mohamed Bamba, Fischer reports. However, Bamba will be a restricted free agent and may not leave Orlando — he and the Magic are motivated to work out a new deal, sources tell Fischer.
In considering potential landing spots for Suns restricted free agent center Deandre Ayton, Fischer notes that the Raptors continue to monitor the availability of a handful of top big men, including Jazz star Rudy Gobert. While Ayton may also be on the team’s radar, Toronto won’t have cap room and could only acquire him via sign-and-trade.

Knicks Strong Frontrunners For Brunson, Expected To Offer $110MM

June 28th, 2022 at 10:08pm CST by Luke Adams

10:08pm: The Knicks intend to offer Brunson a four-year contract worth approximately $110MM, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.

4:53pm: The Mavericks have believed for the last couple weeks that Brunson is headed to the Knicks, according to Tim Cato of The Athletic, who tweets that it’s viewed as a virtual “certainty” at this point.

4:01pm: It’s “widely anticipated” that free agent point guard Jalen Brunson will land with the Knicks in free agency on a four-year deal worth more than $100MM, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Marc Stein has heard similar rumblings, tweeting that there’s a “growing resignation” from the Mavericks‘ end that New York is Brunson’s first choice and his inevitable destination.

The Knicks project to have about $17MM in cap room if they waive Taj Gibson and his non-guaranteed salary, so they’d need to make at least one move to create the flexibility necessary to offer $25MM+ per year to Brunson. However, they could realistically get there by trading either Alec Burks or Nerlens Noel — both players have been involved in recent trade rumors, with Ian Begley of SNY.tv suggesting the Nets and Raptors are among the teams to register some interest in Noel.

Brunson and the Knicks have been linked to one another for months. As has been repeated ad nauseam, Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose is Brunson’s former agent, Rose’s son Sam Rose is Brunson’s current agent, and Brunson’s father Rick Brunson was recently hired as a Knicks assistant.

Still, the Mavericks had long projected confidence in their ability to re-sign Brunson. Although the point guard will be an unrestricted free agent, Dallas holds his Bird rights, giving the team the ability to offer him more money and more years than any other suitor. But the Mavs’ confidence appears to be waning with free agency right around the corner.

According to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link), part of the Knicks’ pitch to Brunson is the ability to be the full-time starting point guard. In Dallas, he’s more of a secondary option at the position, with Luka Doncic running the show.

The Knicks don’t view Brunson as a “potential franchise-altering savior,” per Begley, but rather as an important piece of the process. The 25-year-old is considered to be a good fit for the timeline of some of New York’s other young players, Begley adds.

The Mavs project to be far over the cap, limiting their ability to secure an adequate replacement for Brunson if he does head to New York. If Dallas knows Brunson is leaving, the team could attempt to work out a sign-and-trade agreement with the Knicks, but may not have much leverage to do so if New York has cap room available for a $100MM+ offer.

Miles Bridges, Collin Sexton Among Players Receiving QOs

June 28th, 2022 at 3:29pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have issued qualifying offers to a pair of forwards, officially making Miles Bridges and Cody Martin restricted free agents, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

Bridges’ qualifying offer is worth $7,921,300 as a result of him meeting the starter criteria in 2021/22. That one-year offer is essentially a placeholder, giving the Hornets the ability to match any offer sheet Bridges signs as a free agent. He could accept the QO, but will likely receive a far more lucrative long-term contract — perhaps even a max deal.

Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak expressed confidence in the team’s ability to re-sign Bridges today, telling reporters that “we’re going to bring him back.”

As for Martin, his qualifying offer is worth a more modest $2,228,276. He’s coming off a strong season as a rotation player in Charlotte and has earned a raise himself, albeit not one as substantial as the one Bridges will receive.

Bridges and Martin rank sixth and 29th, respectively, on our list of the top 50 free agents of 2022, and will each move up a spot when we officially remove Kyrie Irving.

Here are a few more qualifying offer updates from around the NBA:

The Cavaliers have extended qualifying offers to Collin Sexton and RJ Nembhard, making both players restricted free agents, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter links). Sexton’s QO will be worth $7,228,448 instead of $8,559,357 because his torn meniscus prevented him from meeting the starter criteria. Nembard’s QO is for a two-way deal with a small partial guarantee.
The Raptors made qualifying offers to both of their two-way free agents, Justin Champagnie and David Johnson, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Toronto has reportedly agreed to a two-way deal with Ron Harper Jr., which would leave only one two-way slot for Champagnie or Johnson, so perhaps the team plans to promote one of them to a standard contract.
The Raptors also continued their annual tradition of submitting a qualifying offer to French guard Nando De Colo, who has been out of the NBA since 2014 and continues to play for Fenerbahçe in Turkey, Murphy notes. There’s no indication De Colo will ever return to the NBA, but if he does, the 35-year-old’s RFA rights would be controlled by Toronto. The qualifying offer projects to be worth $2,011,516, based on a $122MM cap.

Atlantic Notes: Durant, Harden, Anunoby, Koloko, Celtics

June 24th, 2022 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

As rumors swirl that Kyrie Irving is entertaining an exit out of Brooklyn that could impact Kevin Durant‘s future with the Nets, Durant himself said on the ETCs podcast that he doesn’t plan to get involved in Irving’s free agency decision.

“This is this man’s livelihood. This is much bigger than me,” Durant said, according to NetsDaily. “Being a free agent, it’s one of the most important times in your career. That can’t be swayed by anybody else. I just do me and wait for the time.

“There’s nothing that can happen right now. I don’t think he can even make a decision on opting out until the 29th, I think. I just let things play out and see what happens, but keep the regular contact up with Kai and see what happens. It’s something that’s so much out of my control that I don’t want to be a part of it. We’ll see what happens though.”

Asked about this week’s reports about him and Irving, Durant downplayed them without dismissing them entirely.

“It’s just reports. You know, that go around this time, the draft, the Finals just ended. You just got to keep that dialogue going, keep that engagement going. So, obviously, it’s an interesting topic,” Durant said. “There’s a lot going on with our team. Uncertainty with Ben (Simmons) not playing with us, us being swept in the playoffs, Kyrie’s situation being a free agent. So there’s a lot of certainty with our team. I understand why there’s so much noise around us, but as individuals, you control what you can. If the time’s right, everything will work out for itself.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Asked about James Harden‘s contract situation on Thursday, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey didn’t offer up any specifics, but expressed optimism about the relationship going forward, writes Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “As you guys have heard, it’s a mutual lovefest, so we feel like we’ll work it out,” Morey said.
The Trail Blazers engaged in a “full-court press” this week in an effort to acquire OG Anunoby from the Raptors, but Toronto was unmoved, reports Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. While that doesn’t rule out the possibility of Anunoby being traded later in the offseason, head coach Nick Nurse said on Thursday that “guys like him are hard to find in this league.”
Within the same story, Grange writes that the Raptors‘ No. 33 pick – Christian Koloko – brings the sort of height and rim-protecting ability that the team had been lacking. “It’s something we don’t have,” general manager Bobby Webster said of Koloko’s skill set.
The Celtics have done their homework on the players that fit into their $17MM+ trade exception and have considered various scenarios, but haven’t found one they like yet, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said during his post-draft media session on Thursday. “If that thing vanishes because we don’t find the right deal, we still have two other (trade exceptions) that don’t expire until the trade deadline,” Stevens said, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links). As our tracker shows, Boston’s $17MM exception will expire on July 18, at which point the team will still have TPEs worth about $7MM and $6MM.

Ron Harper Jr. Agrees To Two-Way Deal With Raptors

June 24th, 2022 at 12:09am CST by Arthur Hill

Rutgers guard Ron Harper Jr. will join the Raptors on a two-way contract, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The son of an NBA player, Harper spent four seasons with the Scarlet Knights before deciding to forego his final year of eligibility and declare for the draft. He averaged 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 39.8% from three-point range as Rutgers returned to the NCAA Tournament after making its first appearance in 30 years last season.

Harper, an honorable mention All-American, also declared for the draft in 2021, but elected to return to school. He is eighth on ESPN’s list of the top undrafted players.

Draft Rumors: Pistons, Duren, Dieng, Mavericks, Raptors, Anunoby

June 23rd, 2022 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons, who already made news this week with their impending trade of Jerami Grant to Portland, could make another significant move this evening. They are holding ongoing conversations to acquire another lottery pick, with Memphis center Jalen Duren believed to be the target, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report tweets.

Detroit already holds the No. 5 selection in the draft. A report earlier today indicated Pistons GM Troy Weaver is a big fan of Duren.

Ousmane Dieng seems destined to be chosen higher than any other international prospect. The French big man, who played for the New Zealand Breakers, has been surging up draft boards and could go as high as No. 8, where the Pelicans are picking, Marc Stein tweets.
The Mavericks are covering all their bases, even though their first-round pick is headed to Houston and their second-rounder is headed to Washington, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News tweets. GM Nico Harrison says they’re are not actively calling teams to trade into the draft, but have done the prep work needed in case they end up with a draft pick in either round.
The Raptors are unlikely to move into the lottery and trade forward OG Anunoby, Michael Grange of Sportsnet tweets. Most of the chatter surrounding Anunoby has come from the Trail Blazers, who are trying to add veterans around Damian Lillard, Grange adds, while Toronto remains in a ‘be patient and grow’ mode.

Fischer Says Raptors Will Only Deal Anunoby For Elite Center

June 23rd, 2022 at 5:31pm CST by Rory Maher

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report says (via Twitter) that he has “consistently heard” the Raptors are only interested in trading OG Anunoby if they can get an “elite center” in return. Toronto is still linked to Rudy Gobert and inquired about Jarrett Allen in February, sources tell Bleacher Report.

Draft Rumors: Pistons, Mathurin, Duren, Eason, J. Smith, More

June 23rd, 2022 at 4:54pm CST by Luke Adams

People around the NBA have been “gossiping” about an incredible workout Bennedict Mathurin had with the Pistons, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, who says there’s chatter that members of Detroit’s front office are “infatuated” with the Arizona guard.

Jaden Ivey and Keegan Murray have long been considered the favorites to join Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren, and Paolo Banchero in the top five, but perhaps the Pistons will upend that expectation by targeting Mathurin. For what it’s worth, however, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) still believes Murray is the favorite over Mathurin at No. 5 if Ivey is off the board.

Within his latest mock draft, Givony also reports that Pistons general manager Troy Weaver is one of Jalen Duren‘s biggest fans in the NBA. While Duren likely won’t be under serious consideration at No. 5, the Pistons could consider trading back into the first round if he slips at all, according to Givony, who points to the Hornets (No. 13 and No. 15) as a possible trade partner for Detroit in a deal involving Gordon Hayward.

Elsewhere in his mock draft, O’Connor writes that the Nuggets (No. 21 and No. 30) and Grizzlies (No. 22 and No. 29) have both made attempts to package their picks in an effort to move up in the first round.

O’Connor suggests Denver’s picks probably aren’t enough to move into the middle of the first round unless the team is willing to include a young player or another future pick. However, he writes that the Grizzlies have been exploring picks as high as the Knicks‘ selection at No. 11. In order to get that high, Memphis would presumably have to take on some unwanted salary or include another asset beyond the team’s two 2022 first-rounders.

Here’s more on the 2022 NBA draft, which is now just hours away:

Executives around the league keep connecting LSU forward Tari Eason to the Rockets at No. 17, according to O’Connor. Meanwhile, Zach Harper of The Athletic has heard from sources that the Celtics are also high on Eason and could try to trade into the first round using a young rotation player to draft him. An earlier report indicated Boston was open to discussing Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard, and Harper adds Aaron Nesmith to that list.
Auburn’s Jabari Smith tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he’ll be surprised if he’s not drafted first overall tonight. Virtually every major sportsbook made Paolo Banchero the favorite to go No. 1 late last night, but those odds have since swung back in the other direction. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report speculates (via Twitter) that the Banchero buzz may have been related to contact he and his camp had with the Magic on Wednesday after a Monday visit was canceled, but Fischer — like ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski — reiterates that Smith remains the favorite to be the No. 1 pick.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv (video link) views Duke’s AJ Griffin as the most likely pick for the Knicks if they remain at No. 11.
The Raptors, who moved down from No. 20 to No. 33 in the draft as a result of their Thaddeus Young trade in February, don’t view the gap between those two selections as significant, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic. As Koreen observes, there’s less of a consensus on prospects further down draft boards than there is at the very top, so several of the players drafted between Nos. 20 and 32 may not be at or near the top of Toronto’s board.