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Knicks Won’t Tender QO To Emmanuel Mudiay Or Luke Kornet

June 26th, 2019 at 10:46pm CST by clarkcrum

The Knicks, setting themselves up to have the maximum amount of cap space available once free agency begins, will not extend qualifying offers to former first-round pick Emmanuel Mudiay or big man Luke Kornet, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Both Mudiay and Kornet will be unrestricted free agents.

Haynes adds that the decision on Mudiay was solely to clear cap space for this summer, and that both Mudiay and the Knicks are interested in a reunion next season. However, because the Knicks will need to renounce the 23-year-old point guard’s Bird rights to clear his free agent cap hold of $12,883,440 off their books, they’ll need to use cap space or an exception to re-sign him.

As for Kornet, it’s unclear whether the Knicks have any interest in re-signing him. He played a significant role towards the end of the 2018/19 season, but the Knicks are clearly not looking at last year’s team as a building block for the future, and they already have a young big in Mitchell Robinson around whom to build.

Tomas Satoransky, Bobby Portis Receive Qualifying Offers

June 26th, 2019 at 10:10pm CST by clarkcrum

10:10pm: The Wizards are not tendering qualifying offers to Dekker or Chasson Randle, tweets Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington. They’ll become unrestricted free agents.

9:29pm: Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports and Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington are reporting that the Wizards have extended qualifying offers to guard Tomas Satoransky and forward Bobby Portis just hours after also tendering a QO to center Thomas Bryant.

The qualifying offers for Satoransky ($3,911,484) and Portis ($3,611,813) are similarly affordable to Bryant’s QO ($3,021,354), so it comes as no surprise that Washington has made all three young players restricted free agents this summer.

Hughes also notes that while forward Sam Dekker has not yet been extended a qualifying offer by the team, they have until June 29 to make a final decision. His QO is similar in amount ($3,916,575) to the three aforementioned players.

Satoransky, 27, took on a larger role later on in the 2018/19 season after starting point guard John Wall went down with injury. He ended up averaging a career-best 8.9 PPG and 5.0 APG while starting 54 games.

Portis, 24 and a former first-round pick of the Bulls, also had a career season in Washington after being traded from Chicago before the trade deadline. He ended up starting 22 of the 28 games he played for the Wizards, and posted 14.3 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and a .458/.403/.809 shooting line.

Pistons Trade For No. 37 Pick Deividas Sirvydis

June 26th, 2019 at 8:51pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 26, 8:51pm: Per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, the deal is official.

JUNE 20, 10:59pm: The Mavericks are receiving the 2020 and 2021 second-rounders that the Pistons acquired earlier in the evening from Cleveland, tweets Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. The 2020 pick is Utah’s and the 2021 selection is Portland’s.

JUNE 20, 10:34pm: The Pistons and Mavericks have agreed to a trade that will send the rights of No. 37 pick Deividas Sirvydis to Detroit, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

According to Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter), Dallas is receiving the No. 45 pick from Detroit tonight, along with two future second-round picks. The Pistons just acquired four second-rounders for the No. 30 pick, so it wouldn’t be surprised if those two of those selections are being re-routed to the Mavs.

Sirvydis, a wing player, is expected to be a draft-and-stash pick for the Pistons, reports Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (via Twitter).

Sirvydis, who declared the draft as an international early entrant, played in the Lithuanian league this season. He projects as a dangerous perimeter threat, as ESPN’s Jonathan Givony tweets.

Cavs Acquire No. 30, Draft Kevin Porter Jr.

June 26th, 2019 at 8:39pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 26, 8:39pm: The deal is official, per an announcement from the Cavaliers.

JUNE 20, 10:58pm: The Pistons are acquiring 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024 second-round picks in this swap, tweets Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. The picks are from Utah (2020), Portland (2021 and 2023), and Miami (2024; top-55 protected), according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who tweets that Cleveland also surrendered $5MM in cash.

JUNE 20, 9:48pm: After agreeing to acquire the No. 30 pick from the Bucks along with Tony Snell, the Pistons are flipping that pick to the Cavaliers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Cleveland will use the newly-acquired first-rounder to draft USC guard Kevin Porter Jr.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Cavaliers are sending four future second-round picks to the Pistons in the deal, along with some cash. Detroit had traded away all of its second-rounders between 2020-23 in previous deals, so this move will help restock the club’s draft assets.

Porter had an up-and-down season at USC in 2018/19, averaging just 9.5 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 21 games. He also face questions about his maturity, which likely contributed to him slipping to the end of the first round. However, NBA evaluators believe he has the physical tools to become a talented shot creator and defender, per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

The Cavaliers have now added Darius Garland, Dylan Windler, and Porter in the first round of tonight’s draft. They don’t have any second-rounders, so their evening will be over unless they make more trades.

Stanley Johnson Won’t Receive QO From Pelicans

June 26th, 2019 at 8:34pm CST by clarkcrum

Not long after it was reported that the Pelicans opted not to extend a qualifying offer to Cheick Diallo, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium is now reporting that New Orleans will also decline to tender a QO to swingman Stanley Johnson. As a result, Johnson will become an UFA when free agency begins on June 30.

As Charania notes, the Pelicans will now have somewhere in the vicinity of $28MM in cap space this summer after renouncing Johnson’s cap hold. Johnson, who failed to meet starter criteria this past season, only had a QO worth $4,485,665, but as a former first-round pick, his cap hold would have cost the Pelicans $11,821,206 (i.e. 300% of his 2018/19 salary) in valuable cap space.

Johnson, 23, was drafted 8th overall by Detroit back in 2015 but has largely under performed his draft position during his first four seasons in the league. Expected to come in and fill a role as a 3-and-D guy, Johnson has only converted on 29.3% of his career three-point attempts. The Pistons traded him to New Orleans last season, where he only averaged 13.7 minutes per contest in 18 games with the Pelicans.

Wizards Extend Qualifying Offer To Thomas Bryant

June 26th, 2019 at 7:27pm CST by clarkcrum

According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, the Wizards have extended a qualifying offer to big man Thomas Bryant, thereby setting him up to be a restricted free agent this summer.

Bryant, still just 21, had a breakout campaign in Washington last season after being waived by the Lakers last summer. Largely capitalizing on injuries to Dwight Howard and other front court veterans for the Wizards, Bryant appeared in 72 games (53 starts) in 2018/19 while recording 10.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.3 APG, and a .685/.333/.781 shooting line in 20.8 minutes per contest.

Because he reached starter criteria last season, Bryant’s qualifying offer will be worth just over $3MM, equal to the amount of the qualifying offer the 21st overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft (Hawks swingman Justin Anderson) would have been eligible to receive had he signed for 100% of the rookie scale instead of 120%.

Re-signing Bryant is a priority for the Wizards this summer, as we touched upon when we passed along the news of Jabari Parker‘s team option being declined.

Pelicans Won’t Make Qualifying Offer To Cheick Diallo

June 26th, 2019 at 6:09pm CST by clarkcrum

The Pelicans will not make a qualifying offer to forward Cheick Diallo, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. As a result, the 22-year-old Malian will become an unrestricted free agent on June 30.

While Diallo projects as a promising young player, the move is not entirely surprising, as the Pelicans have the opportunity to be active in free agency after trading away Anthony Davis. Even though it’s a relatively modest amount, clearing Diallo’s $1.93MM cap hold from their books creates more cap room for the team to pursue top free agents.

Additionally, the Pelicans just drafted Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick and he projects to play the same position as Diallo.

Diallo, a former McDonald’s All-American, was drafted 33rd overall in 2016 by the Clippers, but was acquired by New Orleans on draft night. In three seasons, he’s averaged 12.6 minutes, 5.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest while appearing in 133 games.

Marc Gasol Opts In With Raptors For 2019/20

June 26th, 2019 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors center Marc Gasol has exercised his 2019/20 player option, the team announced today. The move will ensure that Gasol remains under contract through next season, earning a salary of $25,595,700, per Basketball Insiders.

Gasol, who spent the first 10 years of his NBA career in Memphis, was shipped to the Raptors in a deadline deal in his 11th season as the Grizzlies pivoted into rebuilding mode. In 26 regular season games for Toronto, the 34-year-old posted the lowest averages of his career in most categories (9.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 24.9 MPG), but helped anchor the team’s defense and improve its ball movement on offense.

Although Gasol’s postseason numbers (9.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 3.0 APG) were also modest, he played a key role in the Raptors’ championship run, holding Nikola Vucevic and Joel Embiid in check during the first two rounds, then helping to protect the rim against the Bucks and Warriors – two of the NBA’s most dangerous offenses – in the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals.

With Gasol’s salary for next season now locked in, the Raptors are already over the projected $109MM cap, and haven’t yet accounted for potential new deals for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. If Leonard returns, he’d receive a maximum-salary contract ($32.7MM), while Green seems unlikely to take a pay cut on last year’s $10MM salary. In other words, if Toronto wants to bring back its entire core, the team will be way over the projected $132MM tax line.

By picking up his option, Gasol joins several veterans teammates as potential 2020 free agents. Currently, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Fred VanVleet, and Pascal Siakam are all on track to reach free agency in 2020, though Siakam would be restricted. Norman Powell and OG Anunoby are the only Raptors under contract beyond next season.

With Saturday’s deadline looming, only two player-option decisions – Nene (Rockets) and Nerlens Noel (Thunder) – have yet to be reported.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lakers Tender QOs To Alex Caruso, Johnathan Williams

June 26th, 2019 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have ensured that a pair of their players will be restricted free agents this summer, announcing in a press release that they’ve issued qualifying offers to guard Alex Caruso and forward Johnathan Williams. Both players finished the 2018/19 season on two-way deals.

Caruso, 25, has been with the Lakers on a two-way contract since the start of the 2017/18 season. In 2018/19, he appeared in 25 games for the club, primarily after the All-Star break, recording 9.2 PPG, 3.1 APG, 2.7 RPG, and a .445/.480/.797 shooting line in 21.2 minutes per contest.

Because he has spent two seasons with the Lakers on a two-way deal, Caruso’s qualifying offer will be worth the veteran’s minimum (about $1.6MM). The two-way salary portion of that QO must be guaranteed.

As for Williams, the 24-year-old averaged 6.5 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 24 contests (15.5 MPG) for the Lakers last season. His qualifying offer will be a one-year, two-way contract, with a $50K guarantee.

Cap holds for Caruso and Williams will slightly cut into the Lakers’ projected cap room, but if the team needs that space, it won’t hesitate to renounce the duo. If they’re interested, they could each agree to return on new minimum-salary (Caruso) or two-way (Williams) contracts, and could finalize those deals once the Lakers use up their cap room.

Oubre, Wright, Finney-Smith, Kleber Receive QOs

June 26th, 2019 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

With the qualifying offer deadline just a few days away, several more players have been tendered QOs by their respective teams, which will ensure that they become restricted free agents (rather than unrestricted) on the evening of June 30. Those players are as follows:

Kelly Oubre Jr., Suns ($4,915,726), via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link)
Delon Wright, Grizzlies ($3,635,375), via Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link)
Dorian Finney-Smith, Mavericks ($1,931,189), via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link)
Maxi Kleber, Mavericks ($1,818,486), via MacMahon

Oubre’s name is the most interesting one in the bunch. Wojnarowski suggests that the former Wizard will be a candidate for a significant offer sheet, especially from a team with cap room that misses out on a high-profile unrestricted free agent.

As long as Oubre remains on the Suns‘ books, he’ll carry a cap hit in the neighborhood of $9.63MM, which will cut into the club’s projected cap room. Once they acquire Aron Baynes and Dario Saric and move T.J. Warren, the Suns project to have about $14MM in cap space. That number would increase to about $23MM if Phoenix were to renounce Oubre.

Wright had a strong finish to the season for the Grizzlies after being acquired in the Marc Gasol trade at the deadline, averaging 12.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 5.3 APG in 26 games for Memphis. With Mike Conley headed to Utah, Wright could be re-signed to share point guard duties with No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant.

As for Finney-Smith and Kleber, the Mavericks view them as quality role players who will fit in well with franchise cornerstones Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, says MacMahon. Because both players have such modest cap holds, they won’t compromise the team’s flexibility on the open market.

Dallas could keep those holds on the team’s books and eventually go over the cap to re-sign Finney-Smith and Kleber to new deals. The Mavs have Bird rights for Finney-Smith and Early Bird rights for Kleber.