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And-Ones: Hezonja, Lemon Jr., Summer League, Expansion

April 14th, 2022 at 7:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA forward Mario Hezonja has no interest in returning to the league, Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net relays. Speaking to Russia’s Tatar-inform, Hezonja said, “I didn’t get the respect I deserved. Also, in my opinion, the NBA is more a show than the game itself.”

Hezonja, who is playing for UNICS Kazan this season, spent five seasons in the NBA, most recently on a 53-game stint with Portland in 2019/20.

We have more from the basketball world:

  • Free agent guard Walt Lemon Jr. is signing a summer contract in the Canadian Elite Basketball League with the Ottawa BlackJacks, Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw tweets. Lemon holds NBA experience with the Pelicans and Bulls. He played 42 games with Fort Wayne, the Pacers’ G League affiliate, this year.
  • The Salt Lake City Summer League will be held on July 5-7, according to a Jazz press release. The Grizzlies, Thunder and Sixers will be the other participants along with the host Jazz.
  • Tamika Tremaglio, the new executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, favors expansion, Andrew Cohen of SportTechie.com reports. “We do want more teams, I think it’s good for the business,’’ she said. “Ideally, we hope that there will be more teams popping up in the U.S.’’ In a Spotrac piece, Keith Smith outlines a few compelling reasons for expansion, including the amount of cities interested in having an NBA team, the deep talent pool, and the cash infusions from expansion fees. 
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Lakers Rumors: LeBron, Westbrook, M. Jackson, Coaching Candidates

April 12th, 2022 at 12:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James may be leaning toward playing out his current contract and making a decision on his future next summer, sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic. In August, James will become eligible for a two-year extension that would pay him $97.1MM and tie him to the Lakers through the end of the 2024/25 season.

Although that’s more than he could get from any other team, the organization’s turmoil and lack of success on the court could make him think twice about extending him commitment to the Lakers. James, who said in February that he would like to someday be on the same team with his son, Bronny, could return to playing on one-year contracts the way he did during his second stint in Cleveland, Amick adds, citing sources close to the situation.

James is intrigued by by the idea of setting the all-time scoring record in a Lakers’ uniform, but he also wants to contend for championships, which may be out of reach in L.A. When asked about the extension on Monday, he didn’t offer a direct answer.

“The conversation hasn’t been talked about,” James responded. “Technically it’s because (with) the collective bargaining agreement (it) cannot even be discussed until later on in the year. So, you know, I know what’s out there. But we can’t even — myself and (agent) Rich (Paul) — can’t even begin to talk with (GM) Rob (Pelinka), or the front office at all, because of the collective bargaining agreement. So (when) we get to that point, we’ll see.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

  • If Russell Westbrook remains with the team next season, there will be “significant pressure” for him to become a sixth man, according to Amick, who states that “some key Lakers figures” thought that should have been his role this year. Westbrook clashed repeatedly with just-fired head coach Frank Vogel, so it’s possible that he would be more accommodating to a new coach.
  • James would be “very enthused” to see Mark Jackson become the team’s next head coach, Amick adds. Jackson, a broadcaster for ABC and ESPN, has been out of coaching since the Warriors fired him after the 2013/14 season. Amick notes that the Lakers haven’t always taken coaching advice from James, who preferred Tyronn Lue and Jason Kidd before Vogel was hired in 2019.
  • Many of the prominent names mentioned in the Lakers’ coaching search are already under contract and may be out of reach, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Quin Snyder‘s deal with the Jazz runs for at least another year, and sources tell Turner that Snyder has less interest in the L.A. job after seeing how the organization mishandled Vogel’s firing. Nick Nurse has two years left on his contract in Toronto and it’s assumed around the league that the Raptors won’t let him leave, Turner adds, while Juwan Howard reportedly wants to stay at Michigan and coach his sons. However, even though he has three years left on his contract with the Sixers, Doc Rivers “should not be discounted as a candidate,” a source familiar with the situation tells Turner.
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Contract Details: Gabriel, K. Edwards, Cannady, More

April 12th, 2022 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

During the final three days of the regular season, five NBA players who had been on two-way contracts were promoted to their respective teams’ 15-man rosters.

[RELATED: 2021/22 NBA Two-Way Contract Conversions]

Three of those five players – Jazz guard Trent Forrest, Suns forward Ish Wainright, and Cavaliers Moses Brown – received straight conversions, having their contracts turned into one-year, minimum-salary contracts, Hoops Rumors has learned. Forrest, Wainright, and Brown will be eligible to play in the postseason with their respective teams, but won’t be under contract beyond the 2021/22 season.

The other two – Lakers forward Wenyen Gabriel and Nets forward Kessler Edwards – signed two-year, minimum-salary deals that include team options for the 2022/23 season. Their clubs will have the opportunity to bring them back for another year if they pick up those options before the June 29 deadline. Gabriel’s salary will remain non-guaranteed even if his option is exercised.

Here are a few more details on contracts signed in recent days:

  • The Magic used a portion of their mid-level exception to give Devin Cannady a three-year deal and a $100K rest-of-season salary on Sunday, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. A minimum-salary contract would’ve been limited to two years and would’ve resulted in a rest-of-season salary of just $8,558. Smith adds that Cannady’s second- and third-year salaries (worth the minimum) are non-guaranteed, with a team option on the 2023/24 season.
  • The Bucks dipped into their mid-level exception in order to give Rayjon Tucker a three-year, minimum-salary deal, according to Smith (Twitter link). The contract is non-guaranteed beyond this season.
  • Juwan Morgan‘s new two-year deal with the Celtics includes a minimum-salary team option for 2022/23, tweets Smith. Morgan’s salary will remain non-guaranteed even if the option is exercised.
  • Chaundee Brown‘s new two-way contract with the Hawks is a two-year deal, while the two-ways signed in recent days by Mac McClung (Lakers) and RJ Nembhard (Cavaliers) were just rest-of-season agreements, Hoops Rumors has learned. The majority of the players on two-way deals will be free agents this summer, but Brown is one of 13 who is also under contract for 2022/23, as our tracker shows.
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Jazz Convert Trent Forrest’s Two-Way Contract To Standard Deal

April 10th, 2022 at 1:24pm CST by Arthur Hill

1:24pm: The transaction is official, according to a team press release.

10:25am: Two-way player Trent Forrest will receive a standard contract from the Jazz, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The move will make him eligible to participate in the playoffs, which two-way players cannot do.

The 23-year-old point guard is in his second season as a two-way player with Utah. He has appeared in 60 games so far in 2021/22, making six starts, and is averaging 3.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 12.8 minutes per night.

Undrafted out of Florida State in 2020, Forrest reached a two-way agreement with the Jazz in November of that year and appeared in 30 games as a rookie. He signed another two-way deal before the start of this season’s training camp.

Once the move is official, Utah will have a full 15-man roster heading into the postseason. The Jazz are currently tied for fifth in the West at 48-33 and hold a tiebreaker advantage over the Nuggets.

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Gobert: DPOY Race Shouldn't Be Close

April 7th, 2022 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Jazz guard Trent Forrest has been diagnosed with a left mid-foot ligament sprain after undergoing an MRI on Thursday, according to Eric Walden of the Salt Lake City Tribune (Twitter link). Forrest, who played 12 minutes against Oklahoma City on Wednesday, will be reevaluated in a week. He’s appeared in 60 games this season, averaging 3.3 PPG in 12.8 MPG.
  • While many people consider the Defensive Player of the Year race to be wide open, former winner Rudy Gobert believes he should be a lock. In an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews on NBA Today, the Jazz center said, “If anybody else not named Rudy Gobert was doing what I do this year and having the impact that I have this year, they would be the frontrunner and it would be clear. … Why should I be penalized for being consistent year after year?”
  • The Jazz are headed for a roster shakeup, with a breakup of the Gobert-Donovan Mitchell duo almost an inevitability, John Wilmes of RealGM opines. Though the Jazz could win 50 games, there remains a lot of acrimony between the stars of the team.
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Wolves Sign Greg Monroe For Rest Of Season

April 7th, 2022 at 6:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:04pm: Monroe has officially signed a contract for the rest of the season, the team announced in a press release.

8:12am: Veteran center Greg Monroe will sign a contract with the Timberwolves that covers the final days of the regular season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The move will cap off an active season for Monroe, who signed a 10-day contract with Minnesota in late December and spent time with the Wizards, Bucks and Jazz as well. He just completed a 10-day deal in Utah that expired Wednesday night. He has played 13 total games, averaging 5.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per night.

Wolves owner Glen Taylor indicated last month that the Wolves had interest in bringing back Monroe to help with rebounding. Minnesota has a roster opening, so no other move will be necessary. Monroe will be postseason-eligible.

The expected signing removes an option for the Jazz as they look to fill a roster spot ahead of the postseason, notes Ryan McDonald of The Deseret News. Utah added Monroe after injuries to backup centers Hassan Whiteside, who has since returned, and Udoka Azubuike, who is out for the season.

McDonald adds that one possibility for Utah is converting the two-way contract of Trent Forrest so he would be eligible for the playoffs.

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Adam Silver Concerned About Star Players Missing Games

April 6th, 2022 at 8:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the media on Wednesday following a two-day meeting of the NBA’s Board of Governors, and he said one of his primary concerns at the moment is “a trend of star players not participating in a full complement of games,” according ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

“I’m not standing here saying I have a great solution,” Silver said. “Part of the issue is injuries. One of the things we have focused on at the league office and we’re spending — we had begun to spend a lot of time on pre-pandemic — are there things we can do in terms of sharing information, resources around the league to improve best practices, rehabilitation?

“The other way we can get at it, in terms of player participation, is creating other incentives. The play-in tournament, I thought, was a beginning of creating renewed incentives for teams to remain competitive and be fighting for playoff position. It may be through in-season tournaments and changes in format where we can get at it.”

Silver also said the league could look at shortening the 82-game regular season, if necessary.

“I also have said in the past, if we have too many games, that’s something we should look at as well,” Silver said. “It’s something, as we sit down and we’re looking at new media deals and looking at a new collective bargaining agreement, we will be studying. There wasn’t any banging of the table or anything like that.

“From my discussions with players, they recognize it’s an issue, too. The style of the game has changed in terms of the impact on their bodies. I think we’ve got to constantly assess and look at a marketplace going forward and say, what’s the best way to present our product and over how long a season?”

Here are some more highlights of Silver’s press conference, courtesy of Bontemps:

  • Silver said there was no concrete conversation regarding Ben Simmons‘ pending arbitration to recoup lost salary from the Sixers, and the league would not be involved in the litigation process.
  • The league has not discussed moving the All-Star game from Utah next season despite an anti-LGBTQ law recently passing. When asked the difference between this situation and Charlotte in 2017, Silver said, in part, “Every situation is unique…I would just say I have tremendous respect for (Jazz owner) Ryan Smith. I think he stood up against this bill. We’ve joined him in opposing this bill. But we also want to be realistic, too, in terms of the impact we can have. In the case of HB2 in North Carolina, I think it was our collective view, we working with the Hornets, that we could have an impact on that legislation. I think in the case of what’s happening in Utah right now, that bill is established.”
  • Silver said there was no update on the investigation into Suns owner Robert Sarver‘s alleged misconduct, other than to say it’s still ongoing and “closer to the end than the beginning, but it’s hard to put a precise timeline on it right now.” He also said the league was monitoring Donnie Nelson‘s lawsuit against the Mavericks.
  • The commissioner reiterated that he’s pleased with the play-in tournament and expects it to stay, but it could see a few tweaks moving forward.
  • The league is focused on trying to eliminate “take fouls” to prevent fast breaks, and changes could come as soon as next season, but there are obstacles to that happening. “That is something, as you know, we’re very focused on and considering making a change for next season,” Silver said. “We still have some work to do with our competition committee. We’ll be meeting with the board again in July, which would be a possible time to change that rule. But as we’re seeing sort of a pretty dramatic increase in take fouls, we don’t think it’s a great part of our game. International basketball has another way of getting at it, but that is something that potentially we’d like to tweak.”
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Jazz Held Players-Only Meeting On Monday

April 6th, 2022 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, two days after they blew yet another fourth-quarter lead en route to a loss in Golden State, the Jazz held a players-only meeting in their practice facility, center Rudy Gobert told Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic.

According to Gobert, the meeting was the first of its kind for the team this season and gave the players a chance to “sit together and just be honest with each other” after losing six of seven games. “Everyone talked” during the meeting, Gobert said.

“That’s what was great about it,” he said. “I think a lot of teams have those (meetings). It’s man to man. It’s great. We all need that, whether it’s your wife or your teammates or your friends, sometimes. It’s great to just express yourself.

“… For us, it’s about communication during the game when things go wrong. We felt like we were just getting disconnected. And other teams could see with our body language and everything. So for us, just embrace the moment and embrace the opportunity. And at the end of the day, we’re making the playoffs, and no matter who’s in front of us, we’ve got to give it our best shot.”

On Tuesday, prior to Utah’s game vs. Memphis, head coach Quin Snyder – who has been the subject of plenty of speculation himself – came to his media session armed with a stat sheet and attempted to push back against a pair of narratives that have recently plagued the Jazz — the perception that the team can’t hold a fourth-quarter lead and the idea that Donovan Mitchell rarely passes to Gobert.

As Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune details, some of the stats Synder cited weren’t entirely accurate and not all of his arguments were convincing. A couple of Snyder’s comments perhaps even raised more questions than they answered, including his statement that Gobert and Mitchell “sit at the same table when they eat sometimes.”

Still, Gobert believes Monday’s players-only meeting will help the Jazz move forward and pointed to Tuesday’s result – an overtime win against the Grizzlies – as one that might not have happened a week ago when the team was struggling to communicate and to play for one another.

“I think we both realize that it’s about helping each other out and embracing the moment,” Gobert said of his relationship with Mitchell, per The Athletic. “If we do that, we know that good things will happen. Once again, it’s never going to be perfect. But if I do things to try to lift him up, and he does those things to try to lift me up.

“Some nights, things can go wrong. It’s basketball. You don’t win every game every night. Sometimes you have some bad nights. But if the trust is there, you’re in great shape. And that’s what we pretty much told each other.”

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Lakers Rumors: Coaching Change, Davis, Westbrook, THT, Nunn, Monk

April 5th, 2022 at 12:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

An offseason coaching change seems inevitable for the Lakers, who could see their hopes for the play-in tournament end as early as tonight, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

Sources tell Fischer that L.A. is expected to fire Frank Vogel after the end of the season. Vogel has reportedly been on the hot seat for some time, and only received a one-year contract extension last summer.

There will be a long list of potential replacements, but Fischer identifies Jazz coach Quin Snyder and Sixers coach Doc Rivers as the most intriguing names to watch. Marc Stein of Substack recently linked Snyder to the Lakers’ job, and possibly to the Spurs as well. Snyder responded by calling it “disrespectful” to the teams involved to discuss rumors while those coaching positions are filled.

Snyder was a Lakers assistant 10 years ago, and Utah may decide to make a coaching change of its own after a late-season slide, but Fischer cites skepticism around the league that he’ll wind up in Los Angeles. The feeling is that Snyder would prefer to wait for the San Antonio job, even if Gregg Popovich returns next season.

Rivers could become available if Philadelphia has an early playoff exit, and he would be considered by the Jazz as well, Fischer adds. Rivers had a long history in Boston with Utah CEO Danny Ainge.

Fischer has more news regarding the Lakers:

  • Some rival teams have wondered if Anthony Davis might be available in a trade this summer, but multiple sources told Fischer that won’t be an option the Lakers seriously consider. Davis has been severely limited by injuries the past two years, playing 39 games so far this season and 36 in 2020/21, but L.A.’s front office still believes it has the makings of a championship contender when Davis and LeBron James are healthy.
  • The Lakers will try again to trade Russell Westbrook, but they still may not have any options other than a deal with the Rockets for John Wall that would likely also cost them a future first-round pick. Talen Horton-Tucker, who Fischer said was nearly sent to the Raptors at the deadline in a three-way deal that would have included the Knicks, will also be on the market, along with Kendrick Nunn, who is expected to pick up his $5.25MM player option.
  • Malik Monk was the Lakers’ best offseason signing, ranking third on the team in points scored and minutes played on a minimum-salary contract, but he may be somewhere else next season. L.A. only holds Non-Bird rights on Monk and will be limited to a contract that starts at the taxpayer mid-level exception, which is projected to be $6.4MM. Rival executives expect him to get offers with a starting salary as high as $10MM, says Fischer.
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Checking In On Active 10-Day Contracts

April 5th, 2022 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

With just six days left in the 2021/22 season, no more standard 10-day contracts will be signed this spring.

Teams looking to fill open 15-man roster spots will do what the Pistons did with Carsen Edwards or what the Bucks are doing with Luca Vildoza, signing players to rest-of-season contracts, ideally with at least one extra non-guaranteed year tacked onto those deals.

It is possible that one or two more “10-day” contracts will be signed by teams eligible for hardship exceptions. Those clubs have full 15-man rosters but are hardship-eligible either because a player tested positive for COVID-19 or because several of their players are injured.

Those hardship 10-days, like the one the Thunder completed with Georgios Kalaitzakis on Monday, are technically just rest-of-season contracts that don’t give the team any form of Bird rights this offseason. Kalaitzakis will become a free agent immediately after the season ends, and Oklahoma City won’t be able to use the Non-Bird exception to re-sign him in the summer.

Here are the remaining active 10-day contracts, which will expire in the coming days:

The Mavericks, Thunder, and Trail Blazers have full 15-man rosters, so they won’t create any openings on their respective rosters when their current 10-day agreements expire.

However, the Jazz, Celtics, Pacers, and Magic are each using a roster spot on a 10-day player. When those contracts expire, those clubs could either bring back the same player on a rest-of-season contract or use that 15th slot on someone else. For instance, Utah might want to promote two-way player Trent Forrest to its standard roster to ensure that he’s playoff-eligible.

Nearly any free agent signed to a rest-of-season deal using a 15-man roster spot will be playoff-eligible, so the Jazz and Celtics will have plenty of options. Semi Ojeleye, Kyle Guy, Joel Ayayi, Luka Samanic, and Chris Smith are the only players who have been placed on waivers since March 1, making them ineligible for the postseason.

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