Utah Jazz Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: George, Nuggets, Lillard, Holmgren

July 13th, 2023 at 8:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rookie Jazz shooting guard Keyonte George, the No. 16 pick in this summer’s draft out of Baylor, injured his ankle midway through a Wednesday Summer League contest against the Nuggets, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News.

There is no official diagnosis of the ailment as of this writing, but there’s also no indication to suggest it will adversely impact his status for training camp in the fall.

“It’s a gut punch for us, but the absolute biggest gut punch for him, especially with how well he was playing,” Utah’s Summer League team head coach Evan Bradds said. “It’s terrible, it sucks. Whenever you see somebody go down it sucks no matter where you’re at, what you’re doing.”

Sources have informed Todd that George won’t be available for the rest of Summer League.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

The reigning champion Nuggets‘ Summer League run has been a bit of mixed bag. The team has gone 0-3 thus far in Las Vegas, but the performance of Peyton Watson in particular has given president Calvin Booth hope that he can help replace the output of Bruce Brown, who left Denver in free agency, per Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post. “Really excited about Peyton Watson,” Booth said. “I think we have some guys that can come in and try to replace some of what Bruce did.”
As Damian Lillard trade chatter continues, Pelicans executive David Griffin weighed in on how the Trail Blazers can take advantage of their All-Star’s demand to be moved, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald relays. The Heat are known to be Lillard’s preferred destination. “I want people to invent as many different scenarios as they can and put them out into the universe because it gives you leverage,” Griffin told Amin Elhassan and Justin Termine of SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter video link). “If there’s actually a chance that you would trade him somewhere other than Miami, you get a much better deal.”
A right foot surgery postponed Thunder lottery pick Chet Holmgren‘s NBA debut for an entire season. Ahead of 2023/24, the 7’1″ big man seems to be gearing up for an impactful rookie run, says Mark Medina of Sportsnaut.

Northwest Notes: Lillard, T. Brown, Milton, J. Collins, OKC

July 11th, 2023 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter (YouTube link) on Monday night to provide an update on the Damian Lillard trade talks, Adrian Wojnarowski said it’s still “very early” in the process, pointing out that there’s no deadline looming to force the Trail Blazers into action — or to push potential Lillard suitors to submit their best offers.

While the Clippers would “love to be part of this process,” they don’t necessarily have the sort of assets the Blazers are seeking for Lillard, according to Wojnarowski. Portland also isn’t particularly moved by what what the Heat has to offer, but that Miami package may be the best the Blazers can get, Woj suggests.

“Now it’s going to be a process over perhaps this month, August, maybe into September, for Portland to try to extract as much as they can from Miami,” Wojnarowski said. “It isn’t like Miami comes to the table and says, ‘Here’s everything we have for Damian Lillard. Here you go.’ It doesn’t start that way. They’re gauging what Portland has (had) offered to them elsewhere.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Troy Brown‘s two-year, $8MM deal with the Timberwolves is only guaranteed for one year, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Brown’s $4MM salary for 2024/25 is non-guaranteed. The Wolves used the same structure when they signed Shake Milton, whose $5MM salary for ’23/24 is guaranteed while his $5MM salary for ’24/25 isn’t, Hoops Rumors has learned. Nickeil Alexander-Walker‘s two-year, $9MM contract, on the other hand, is fully guaranteed.
After being the subject of trade speculation for years in Atlanta, John Collins is looking forward to getting a fresh start with the Jazz, he said during an interview on the team’s official website. “I was excited going to a place that I knew really wanted me and was trying to have me in the organization,” Collins said. “It’s always very nice to hear and know coming to a place that really wants you and really wants you to excel here. It’s a big sigh of relief knowing that all the trade talks are over and I can go to my new home and start anew.”
The Thunder‘s decision to use their cap room to accommodate salary dumps like Davis Bertans, Victor Oladipo, and Patty Mills this offseason reflected the team’s focus on its young core, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes. As Mussatto explains, with potentially pricey extensions coming down the road for players like Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City didn’t want to compromise future cap flexibility by signing a free agent to a long-term deal.

Sixers Match Jazz’s Offer Sheet To Paul Reed

July 9th, 2023 at 9:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers are matching the Jazz‘s offer sheet to restricted free agent Paul Reed, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Philadelphia put out a press release confirming the decision.

Utah offered a unique three-year, $23MM contract to Reed, who was Joel Embiid‘s primary backup last season.

Only the first year of the contract is guaranteed. The Jazz used their $7.7MM room exception to complete Reed’s offer sheet.

The last two years of the contract, totaling $15.7MM, will become guaranteed if the Sixers reach the conference semifinals next season. The same unusual contract clause of reaching the conference semifinals would have applied to the Jazz if Philadelphia had declined to match.

Considering that the Sixers have gotten past the first round in five of the last six seasons, it’s more likely they will advance past the first round next season than the Jazz — though Utah is on the upswing after shaking up its roster last offseason.

The approach used by the Jazz certainly gave Philadelphia more pause to match the offer sheet but the team ultimately decided to hold onto a valuable reserve.

By matching, the Sixers have created more luxury tax issues for themselves. They’ll exceed the $165MM luxury tax threshold at a cost of an estimated $14MM in tax penalties. Reed will also have the option to veto trades for a year, due to the Sixers’ decision to match.

The Sixers now have a crowded frontcourt behind Embiid after agreeing to re-sign Montrezl Harrell and signing free agent Mohamed Bamba.

Reed saw his role expand in his third NBA season as he averaged 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 69 regular-season games.

Contract Details: Brooks, Bane, DiVincenzo, Ball, Clarkson

July 9th, 2023 at 6:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dillon Brooks will receive even more money from the Rockets, thanks to their complex five-team sign-and-trade, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Brooks’ four-year, front-loaded contract agreement with Houston was originally reported to be worth $80MM. He’ll now receive at least $86MM through the life of the contract and can reach $90MM if he reaches certain incentives.

The sign-and-trade involving Memphis, Houston, and three other teams was finalized on Saturday.

The four guaranteed years are spread out in this fashion: $22.6MM next season; $22.3MM on 2024/25; $21.1MM in 2025/26; and $20MM in 2026/27, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.

We have more contract-related news:

The five-year rookie scale extension that the Grizzlies gave Desmond Bane isn’t quite a max contract because it includes some incentives. Bane will receive $197.2MM in guaranteed money and can make an additional $8.7MM if he reaches certain incentives, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.
Unlike Brooks, Donte DiVincenzo‘s four-year contract with the Knicks includes typical raises. He’ll receive $10.9MM next season; $11.4MM in 2024-25; $12MM in 2025-26; and $12.5MM in 2026/27, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets. The contract, which is guaranteed for $47MM, also includes $750K per year in unlikely bonuses, including Defensive Player of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man of the Year and All-NBA.
LaMelo Ball‘s five-year max designated rookie extension with the Hornets doesn’t include a player option, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The pact does, however, feature a 15% trade kicker.
Jordan Clarkson renegotiation and extension deal with the Jazz begins with a salary of $23.5MM for next season, MacMahon tweets. It drops down to $14.1MM in 2024/25 and inches up to $14.3MM for the 2025/26 season. The contract also has $1.1MM in incentives.

George Scores 33 In First Game; Jazz Withdraw QO For Juzang

July 9th, 2023 at 9:05am CST by Arthur Hill

Jazz guard Keyonte George is one of the early stars in Las Vegas with 33 points and 10 assists in his debut, per Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. The rookie out of Baylor has a lock screen on his phone with a graphic listing the concerns that scouts had about him as an NBA prospect. “I wake up every morning with this on my phone,” he said. “Each time I’m going into a game or I’m going into workout, that’s my main focus, each and every day, each and every game. Let’s take care of all this — take good shots, even if they’re not falling, just make sure we take great shots, play with the basketball … and that’s what I feel like I did tonight.”
The Jazz have withdrawn their qualifying offer to Johnny Juzang, making him an unrestricted free agent, according to RealGM’s transactions log.

NBA Reveals Dates, Groups For In-Season Tournament

July 8th, 2023 at 7:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA has announced the five-team groups that will used for the league’s first-ever in-season tournament, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The unveiling took place Saturday during a special episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today” held at “NBA Con” in Las Vegas.

The groups were determined in a draw similar to what is used in soccer’s World Cup. There are six groups — three each from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference — and each conference was split into five pots based on last season’s standings. One team was randomly selected from each of the pots to determine the opening-round matchups.

The results are:

Group 1: Sixers, Cavaliers, Hawks, Pacers and Pistons.
Group 2: Bucks, Knicks, Heat, Wizards and Hornets.
Group 3: Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Bulls and Magic.
Group 4: Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Trail Blazers.
Group 5: Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks and Rockets.
Group 6: Kings, Warriors, Timberwolves, Thunder and Spurs.

The tournament will start with group play, which will match each team with the other four in its grouping. Those games will take place on Nov. 3, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28.

The winner of each group will advance to a knockout round, joined by the team with the best record in each conference among those who didn’t win a group. Quarterfinal games will be played Dec. 4 and 5, hosted by the higher-seeded teams. The four winners in that round will move on to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the Dec. 7 semifinals and the Dec. 9 championship game.

Bontemps points out that all teams will play within their conference until the last game, which guarantees an East vs. West matchup, just like the NBA Finals.

“Everybody’s not going to buy in right away,” admitted Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations. “So that can’t be the goal that everybody’s going to buy in from day one. These things take time. And I think, as time goes on, I think you can build this up and people can really get into it.”

The championship trophy will be called the NBA Cup, and players will receive $500K each for winning it. Other prize money includes $200K for second place, $100K for losing in the semifinals and $50K for losing in the quarterfinals. The league opted not to provide other incentives, such as a guaranteed playoff spot, for the tournament winner.

We passed along more details on the in-season tournament right here.

Jazz Trade Damian Jones To Cavaliers

July 8th, 2023 at 12:39pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 8: The trade is official, according to the Cavaliers, who announced in a press release that they sent cash to the Jazz to complete the deal.

JULY 1: The Jazz have agreed to trade center Damian Jones to the Cavaliers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

It’s not yet clear what Utah will receive in the deal, but according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), Cleveland is acquiring Jones without sending out a player of its own. That’s possible because the big man is in the second year of a two-year, minimum-salary contract, so his salary can be taken on using the minimum salary exception.

Jones picked up his $2,586,665 player option for the 2023/24 season last week.

A former first-round pick, Jones signed with the Lakers last offseason after playing for five different teams in his first six NBA seasons, then was sent to the Jazz in the three-team trade-deadline deal involving D’Angelo Russell, Russell Westbrook, and Mike Conley.

Jones saw more regular playing time in Utah than he had in Los Angeles, averaging 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per contest in his 19 appearances for the Jazz. In total, he played in 41 regular season games and averaged 3.5 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 11.6 MPG.

The Cavaliers have been active in the last 24 hours, but their moves have focused on the wing (Caris LeVert, Max Strus) and forward (Georges Niang) spots. Jones will provide some additional size in the frontcourt behind starting bigs Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

Paul Reed Receives Offer Sheet From Jazz

July 8th, 2023 at 10:32am CST by Arthur Hill

Restricted free agent Paul Reed has signed an offer sheet with the Jazz worth $23MM over three years, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Sixers will have until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday to match the offer if they want to keep Reed.

Sources tell Wojnarowski that the offer contains a unique provision that guarantees the first season of the new contract, while the other two will only become guaranteed if his team reaches the conference semifinals in 2023/24. That would total $15.7MM over two years, and Wojnarowski points out that Philadelphia is much more likely than Utah to advance in the playoffs during the upcoming season.

Woj also notes that the Sixers will exceed the $165MM luxury tax threshold if they match Reed’s offer, which would cost them an estimated $14MM in tax penalties. Reed would have the option to veto trades for a year if he stays with Philadelphia.

The Jazz will use their $7.7MM room exception to complete Reed’s offer sheet, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. He points out that Utah used its cap space in its trade for John Collins and its renegotiation-and-extension with Jordan Clarkson, whose salary for 2023/24 rose from $14.3MM to $23.5MM.

Reed saw his role expand in his third NBA season as he averaged 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 69 games. He emerged as the primary backup to Joel Embiid as the season wore on and appeared in all 11 playoff contests.

The Sixers are re-signing Montrezl Harrell and are adding free agent center Mohamed Bamba, so Reed’s role might not be as secure if he stays in Philadelphia for another season.

Stein’s Latest: Wood, Saric, Bol, Mavs, Pelicans, Reed

July 7th, 2023 at 10:50pm CST by Rory Maher

Christian Wood and Dario Saric are two of the top unrestricted free agents who have yet to find new teams. There’s a good reason for that, according to Marc Stein at Substack: Both big men have only received contract offers for the veteran’s minimum thus far and are presumably looking for more money.

Stein says Saric will likely land with the Warriors if he’s unable to find a higher-paying offer. The Croatian big man is reportedly Golden State’s top remaining target.

Here’s more from Stein:

The Magic released Bol Bol on Tuesday and he cleared the waiver wire despite having a relatively modest $2.2MM salary. The Suns have a “level of interest” in the 7’2″ big man, according to Stein. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM said on Thursday (via Twitter) that he believed Phoenix might “take a hard look” at potentially signing Bol. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported when Bol was waived that the Suns contemplated trading for him on the night of last month’s draft.
The Mavericks aren’t done reshaping their roster this offseason, Stein reports. Dallas is expected to trade Tim Hardaway Jr. at some point, with JaVale McGee another candidate to be on the move, whether it’s via trade or being waived. Stein also hears Theo Pinson‘s time with the Mavs is likely over. The veteran guard remains an unrestricted free agent.
The Pelicans are just above the luxury tax threshold and have reportedly been active in trade talks for weeks. Like Fischer, Stein hears New Orleans is shopping guard Kira Lewis Jr. and center Jonas Valanciunas, with Lewis’ name surfacing more frequently in recent days. The Pelicans also unsuccessfully attempted to pry Jarrett Allen away from the Cavaliers, according to Stein.
There hasn’t been much buzz about possible offer sheets for restricted free agent Paul Reed, but Stein writes that the Jazz are worth monitoring. However, the Sixers are reportedly keen on retaining Reed, so it’s unclear if that might work out for Utah. The Jazz also already have several frontcourt players, so Reed would be a bit of an odd fit from a roster standpoint.

Hawks Trade John Collins To Jazz For Rudy Gay, Second-Rounder

July 7th, 2023 at 7:37pm CST by Rory Maher

July 7: The trade is official, both teams announced. The second-rounder heading to Atlanta is conditional. It will be Memphis’ 2026 pick and will only convey if it lands between 31 and 42.

June 26: The Hawks are trading forward John Collins to the Jazz in exchange for forward Rudy Gay and a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Gay had a $6.48MM player option for 2023/24 that he exercised as part of the deal, his agent Sam Permut of Roc Nation Sports tells Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Collins had been in trade rumors for multiple seasons, and now he’s finally on the move. Utah will be acquiring Collins using cap room, so the deal can’t be officially completed until July 6.

It’s essentially a salary-dump move to dip under the luxury tax line for Atlanta, much like the Kevin Huerter trade last offseason (the Hawks did get a protected first-rounder for Huerter, but it was mostly to avoid the luxury tax). Collins is owed $78MM over the next three seasons, including a $26.58MM player option in ’25/26.

In addition to significant financial flexibility, the Hawks will also generate a $25.34MM trade exception — equivalent to Collins’ salary for ’23/24 — as part of the deal, Wojnarowski reports. That will be the league’s new largest trade exception, surpassing the $18.1MM TPE the Nets created as part of the Kevin Durant deal in February.

Bobby Marks of ESPN clarifies (via Twitter) that the Collins TPE will be created by Atlanta absorbing Gay’s salary into an existing trade exception, worth $6.29MM. As Anil Gogna of Thread Sports Management tweets, the new CBA has a $250K allowance for TPEs (as opposed to $100K in the old CBA), which is enough to accommodate Gay’s deal.

It’s an interesting buy-low acquisition for the Jazz, who already have Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Kelly Olynyk and first-round pick Taylor Hendricks in their frontcourt.

Collins had a down season in ’22/23, averaging 13.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG on .508/.292/.803 shooting in 71 games (30.0 MPG). Still, he’s only 25 years old and holds career averages of 15.8 PPG and 8.0 RPG on .551/.356/.783 shooting across 364 games (29.2 MPG). The Jazz will be hoping he can rebuild his value under head coach Will Hardy.

According to Wojnarowski, the two teams have discussed “numerous iterations” of a Collins trade for “over a year,” but Atlanta finally decided to move on due to a salary-cap crunch. The Hawks are expected to remain active in trade conversations and GM Landry Fields has ownership’s permission to go above the tax threshold if it improves the roster, says Woj.

Atlanta’s newfound financial flexibility could be used to negotiate long-term extensions for Dejounte Murray, Onyeka Okongwu and Saddiq Bey, whom Wojnarowski refers to as “core players.”

Gay was a very good player for a long time, but age and injuries seemed to catch up with him last season. He posted career lows in points (5.2), rebounds (2.9) and minutes (14.6) per game in 56 appearances. He’s about to enter his 18th season and will turn 37 in August.