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Ekpe Udoh Considering Return To EuroLeague

June 3rd, 2019 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Jazz center Ekpe Udoh will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and there’s no guarantee he’ll remain in the NBA. According to Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News, Udoh is drawing significant interest from a handful of EuroLeague teams.

A source tells Woodyard that Udoh has “up to four or five multi-million-dollar offers” on the table from teams in Spain, Italy, and Turkey. Woodyard adds that if Udoh is interested in playing overseas, he could look to reach an agreement within the next week.

Udoh, who began his career with the Warriors in 2010 after being selected sixth overall in that year’s draft, remained in the NBA through the 2014/15 season, then joined Turkish team Fenerbahce for two years. He won a EuroLeague title with the club in 2017 and was named the EuroLeague Final Four MVP before heading back to the NBA with the Jazz.

Now that his contract with Utah is set to expire, the veteran big man could be intrigued by a return to Europe, where he’d have a more sizable role than the one he has had in the NBA. In 114 total games for the Jazz over the last two seasons, Udoh averaged 2.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 0.9 BPG in limited minutes (9.9 MPG). He’s open to staying in the NBA, depending on his role, sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

If Udoh remains in the NBA, he and his representatives will be able to talk to and meet with potential suitors beginning at the end of June. There’s nothing stopped European teams from reaching out to his camp before then, since they’re not subject to the NBA’s anti-tampering rules.

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Jazz Could Pursue New Starting Point Guard In Free Agency

June 2nd, 2019 at 8:33pm CST by JD Shaw

With Ricky Rubio set to become an unrestricted free agent on June 30, the Jazz could be in the market for a new starting point guard moving forward, Kincade Upstill of the Deseret News writes.

The Jazz could pursue other available point guards in free agency such as Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Malcolm Brogdon, D’Angelo Russell or Derrick Rose if the franchise mutually agrees to part ways with Rubio, who has served as the team’s starting point guard over the last two seasons. However, Jazz vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey went on the record to state that Ricky could still re-sign on a new contract.

“He’s got a decision to make on his end and we’ve got a decision to make on our end, but there’s a lot of scenarios I can see Ricky back. … We really appreciate who he is and we think we can get him better from a health perspective and skill standpoint,” Lindsey said, according to Upstill. “We know who he is — he has Jazz DNA. So he’ll have options, we’ll have options and we’ll talk to him and his agent.”

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Ricky Rubio Not Counting On Return To Jazz

June 2nd, 2019 at 5:29pm CST by JD Shaw

Jazz guard Ricky Rubio doesn’t appear to be counting on a return to the team for another season, with the veteran point guard making some rather interesting comments this week on his upcoming free agency period.

“Utah has already let me know I’m not a priority for them,” Rubio said, according to Ernest Macia of Catalunya Radio (Twitter link).

Rubio appeared in 68 games with the Jazz this season, averaging 12.7 points, 6.1 assists 1.3 steals in 27.9 minutes per contest. He’s set to join a talented free-agent group that includes point guards such as Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, D’Angelo Russell, Malcolm Brogdon and more, giving the Jazz several options to consider outside of Rubio.

Rubio, 28, was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He has served as the team’s starting point guard over the last two seasons, spending six years with the Timberwolves before being traded to Utah in June of 2017.

In addition to Rubio (who made $14.9MM last season), the Jazz also have wing Thabo Sefolosha and center Ekpe Udoh to address in unrestricted free agency this summer. Utah finished with the fifth-best record in the Western Conference at 50-32 during the regular season, but the team lost to Houston 4-1 in the opening round of the playoffs.

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Jazz To Work Out Bruno Fernando, Others

June 1st, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams
  • Maryland’s Bruno Fernando, who also projects as a potential first-round pick, also worked out for the Celtics, and will do the same for the Hawks, Pacers, Timberwolves, Spurs, and Jazz, tweets Robbins. Workouts with Charlotte, Detroit, and Orlando had been previously reported for Fernando.
  • After visiting the Lakers on Friday, French center Darel Poirier had workouts lined up with the Heat, Sixers, Jazz, and Timberwolves, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando (Twitter link). Poirier played in the G League in 2018/19 with Washington’s affiliate, but remains draft-eligible for 2019.
  • According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (via Twitter), the workout list for Indiana forward Juwan Morgan includes the Suns, Pacers, Bulls, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Jazz, and Kings.
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Notes On Jazz Draft Workouts, No. 23 Pick

May 30th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams
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Exum Staying Positive During Latest Rehab

May 24th, 2019 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Injured Jazz point guard Dante Exum is trying to focus on the positives as he goes through another rehab process, per Aaron Falk of UtahJazz.com. “It’s frustrating to go into an offseason injured,” said Exum, who underwent knee surgery in March. “But I’ve thrown a lot of my energy and time into planning what my offseason will look like so I can be the best player I can be coming out of it.”
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Rudy Gobert Eligible For Designated Veteran Extension in 2020

May 23rd, 2019 at 7:58pm CST by clarkcrum

Jazz center Rudy Gobert was named to the All-NBA Third Team earlier today, and while he was not named to an All-NBA team last season, he will still be eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension in the summer of 2020, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN, because he was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2017/18 season.

It’s always been clear that to be eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension, a player must:

  • have 7 or 8 years of service at the time the extension is signed;
  • have 1 or 2 years remaining on his current contract;
  • play with the same team continuously since entering the league, unless he was traded during his first four years in the league; and
  • meet the 35% Max Criteria

Gobert clearly meets the first three requirements. In the summer of 2020, he will have played seven seasons in the NBA, all for the Jazz, and have one year left on his contract. The fourth requirement wasn’t so clear. Before today, it seemed to be generally understood (h/t to Larry Coon’s NBA Salary Cap FAQ) that a player qualified for the 35% Max Criteria if:

  • He was named to the All-NBA First, Second, or Third team in the most recent season, or both of the two seasons that preceded the most recent season;
  • He was named the Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or both of the two seasons that preceded the most recent season; or
  • He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in any of the three most recent seasons.

Gobert was named All-NBA Third Team this season, but did not make an All-NBA team last season. Gobert was named Defensive Player of Year last season, but that award hasn’t been handed out yet for this season. So how does Gobert meet the 35% Max Criteria?

Bobby Marks of ESPN provides the answer, tweeting that the NBA is allowing players to combine DPOY and All-NBA when factoring in whether a player met the criteria in “both of the two seasons that preceded the most recent season” (here, the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, as Gobert’s extension would kick in after the 2019/20 season).

So, because Gobert earned DPOY or All-NBA in both 2017/18 and 2018/19, he meets the 35% Max Criteria and is eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension in 2020.

If the Jazz are willing to put that super-max extension on the table for Gobert, it would go into effect in 2021/22 and would add five years and an estimated $247MM to his current contract.

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Jazz Workout Notes: Bowen, Murphy, Brissett, More

May 23rd, 2019 at 4:18pm CST by Luke Adams
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NBA Announces 2018/19 All-NBA Teams

May 23rd, 2019 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has formally announced the All-NBA First, Second, and Third Teams for the 2018/19 season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden leading the way as the two unanimous selections for the First Team.

The full All-NBA teams are listed below, with their vote totals in parentheses. Players received five points for a First Team vote, three points for a Second Team vote, and one point for a Third Team vote, so Antetokounmpo and Harden scored a perfect 500 — First Team nods from all 100 voters.

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

As we detailed in March, this year’s All-NBA selections have significant financial implications for several players. Here’s a breakdown of how several All-NBA candidates were impacted:

  • Giannis Antetokounmpo is now eligible for a super-max extension with the Bucks, which he can sign in 2020. It would start at 35% of the cap in 2021/22 and would extend his contract by five years.
  • Damian Lillard is now eligible for a super-max extension with the Trail Blazers, which he can sign in 2019. It would start at 35% of the cap in 2021/22 and would extend his contract by four years.
  • Kemba Walker is now eligible for a super-max contract with the Hornets, which he can sign in 2019. It would start at 35% of the cap in 2019/20 and would be for five years.
  • Bradley Beal, Klay Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, and other super-max candidates who didn’t earn All-NBA honors aren’t eligible for super-max contracts (or a super-max extension, in Beal’s case). Thompson’s and Vucevic’s maximum contracts this summer would start at 30% of the cap.
  • Karl-Anthony Towns‘ extension with the Timberwolves, which goes into effect in 2019/20, will start at 25% of the cap, rather than 30%, because he didn’t earn All-NBA honors.

Beal and Thompson received the most All-NBA votes of any guards who missed out on the All-NBA teams, receiving 34 and 27 points respectively. Sixers guard Ben Simmons got seven points, while no other guards had more than four.

LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs) and Danilo Gallinari (Clippers) were the runners-up at forward, receiving 17 and seven points, respectively. Pascal Siakam (Raptors) had four points, while no other forwards had more than three.

At center, Towns received 20 points, followed by Vucevic at four and Pistons center Andre Drummond with three.

Interestingly, the 15 players named to the All-NBA teams for 2018/19 were the same 15 players that Hoops Rumors readers voted for in our end-of-season All-NBA polls last month. The only differences were George swapping places with Durant and Irving flipping spots with Westbrook.

The full and official All-NBA voting results can be found right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Grizzlies Notes: Jasikevicius, Valanciunas, Conley

May 22nd, 2019 at 4:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

It looks like the Grizzlies will have to scratch one name off their list of potential head coaches. Lithuanian basketball journalist Donatas Urbonas is reporting that Zalgiris Kaunas is confident Sarunas Jasikevicius will return to coach the team next season (Twitter link). Memphis, the only NBA team currently without a head coach, reportedly has interest in Jasikevicius if he decides to leave Europe.

“Today it seems like everything is OK and Saras is staying in Zalgiris,” team executive Robertas Javtokas said in a TV interview. “I think last year we had even bigger headache due to Saras’ future status. Of course, if [an] NBA offer comes, we will be very glad for him. It would be an issue for us, but we know Saras won’t be here forever and we must be ready for this.” (Twitter link)

Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin was the latest candidate to interview for the Grizzlies’ vacancy. He joins former Suns coach Igor Kokoskov, Trail Blazers assistant Nate Tibbetts, Jazz assistant Alex Jensen and Warriors assistant Jarron Collins.

There’s more out of Memphis:

  • By conducting a thorough coaching search, the Grizzlies are making up for their mistake last summer when they didn’t talk to anyone outside the organization before giving the job to interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, writes Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian. Herrington recommends that the team look for someone relatively young who has head coaching experience at some level and a track record of player development.
  • Center Jonas Valanciunas recently indicated that the coaching hire will affect whether he decides to opt in to a $17.6MM salary next season, Herrington notes. Valanciunas, who averaged 19.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game after being acquired from the Raptors midway through the season, has a June 13 deadline to make his decision.
  • A Mike Conley trade is more likely to happen after July 1 because more teams will have cap room to absorb part of his salary, Herrington writes in a separate story. The Grizzlies will be well stocked at point guard if they draft Ja Morant and keep free agent Delon Wright, so Herrington expects the club to focus on players who get drafted next month, along with future draft picks and young players with affordable contracts for the next few years. The Timberwolves, Heat, Pistons, Jazz and Pacers are considered the most likely landing spots for Conley, according to Herrington, but the Knicks, Lakers, Clippers and Celtics are candidates to enter the mix depending how free agency turns out.
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