Xavier Silas To Sign Camp Deal With Wizards
Free agent guard Xavier Silas is set to join the Wizards for training camp, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com (via Twitter). Silas will be Washington's camp invitee, joining Josh Childress, who reportedly reached an agreement with the team over the weekend.
Silas, 25, went undrafted out of Northern Illinois in 2011 after averaging 22.3 PPG in his senior year. Since then, he has had stints overseas and in the D-League, and briefly saw NBA action for the Sixers during the 2011/12 season, appearing in two games for Philadelphia.
As I noted on Friday, the Wizards are one of a handful of teams with 15 or more players on fully guaranteed contracts. That makes it unlikely that camp invitees like Childress or Silas will make the regular-season roster, but Washington has seen Chris Singleton and Emeka Okafor go down with injuries — if the team is concerned about depth, it could open the door for a small roster shakeup.
Pacific Notes: Wesley Johnson, Suns, Kings
The Lakers didn't land their top free agent target this July, but the team made a handful of smaller, under-the-radar signings to bring in talent and bolster a bench that was thin in 2012/13. Among those incoming free agents is Wesley Johnson, and the new Laker spoke extensively to Laker Nation about the upcoming season, playing with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, and how excited he is to play in L.A.
"It's really a dream come true for me," Johnson said, according to Alex Lambeth and Jory Dreher. "I've wanted to play here since I was younger. My family really respects the Lakers for all they stand for…. My mom loved Magic [Johnson]. Being able to play for the Lakers and with my mom being able to see me play for them, it's going to be fun."
Here's more from around the Pacific Division:
- Goran Dragic spoke to Mark Woods of ESPN.com about the Suns' offseason and the direction of the team, praising the trade for Eric Bledsoe and the drafting of Alex Len. "Of course, we still have a lot of salary cap," Dragic said. "Probably next year, we'll go for big names, one of the superstars."
- Shaquille O'Neal's involvement in Kings ownership could have an effect on a new Sacramento arena, according to Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee. As the Bee report suggests, Shaq's presence may help sell Sacramentans on the proposed $258MM public subsidy for the arena.
- Earlier today, we heard that DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings are moving toward a contract extension.
Pacers, Paul George Finalizing $90MM+ Deal
MONDAY, 1:15pm: While George has been talking about his extension as if it's a done deal, Pacers president Larry Bird tells Michael Pointer of the Indianapolis Star that it's close, but not quite finished.
"That’s why I’m not playing golf today," Bird told Pointer, during an appearance before a Pacers Foundation golf outing at Brickyard Crossing. "I’m going back to the office to work on it."
Even as Bird pumps the brakes a little, it sounds to me as if it will just be a matter of days before we hear an official announcement from the team.
SUNDAY, 9:21pm: The Pacers and Paul George are finalizing a five-year deal worth more than $90MM, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. George is represented by Aaron Mintz of CAA Sports, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
George, 23, was scheduled to become a restricted free agent following the conclusion of the 2013/14 season. While there wasn't a ton of concern that George would flee the Pacers, fans were able to breathe even easier thanks to the star's comments over the summer. Last week, George said point blank that a contract extension was "going to get done" between him and the club.
The forward was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for 2012/13, when he set career-highs in PPG (17.4), RPG (7.6), PER (16.8), and several other categories. He also helped lead the Pacers to within one game of the NBA Finals, even without the services of Danny Granger.
George boosted his scoring average from 17.0 PPG in the regular season to 19.2 PPG during the Pacers' playoff run. He made himself a household name in the postseason and he could make himself known even more on a global scale if he's part of USA Basketball's 2014 team and the 2016 Olympic team in Brazil.
With George under contract for the forseeable future, the Pacers can now turn their focus to finishing what they started last season. George will spearhead an improved team this season that will feature a healthy Granger and an improved bench with offseason additions Luis Scola and Chris Copeland off the bench.
Indiana re-signed David West to a three-year, $36MM extension in July and locked up Roy Hibbert with a four-year, $58MM deal last summer. The Pacers had until October 31st to hammer something out with George, but it looks like they can use the next few weeks to go candy shopping instead.
DeMarcus Cousins, Kings Nearing Extension
Following up on his story on Shaquille O'Neal joining the Kings' ownership group, Sam Amick of USA Today asked owner Vivek Ranadive about whether the team will lock up DeMarcus Cousins with a contract extension before next month's deadline.
"I don't want to say anything premature," Ranadive said. "But I've been constant in my support for DeMarcus."
While Ranadive was noncommital, ESPN.com's Marc Stein hears from sources that the Kings and Cousins are on track to reach an extension agreement in the coming weeks. A deal could even be finalized before the Kings open camp, according to Stein.
Cousins, 23, is coming off a season in which ne nearly averaged a double-double, with 17.1 PPG and 9.9 RPG, to go along with a 20.2 PER. Stein indicates that the mercurial big man is said to be seeking a five-year max contract, similar to the one John Wall inked with the Wizards. Such a deal would make Cousins the Kings' designated franchise player, though he almost certainly won't qualify for the Derrick Rose Rule max, which I discussed in relation to Paul George earlier today.
It's unclear whether the Kings are willing to give Cousins that fifth year or to go as high as the max, but Stein writes that the club is determined to get something done as soon as possible so that Cousins' contract situation doesn't become a distraction. Additionally, as Amick notes, O'Neal hopes to take the Kentucky product under his wing as part of his involvement with the Kings.
"You hear people say all the time that he's probably the most talented big man in the league, so now if you've got that behind your name, then everything else must follow," O'Neal said. "I'm going to teach him a few things to add to his game."
Assuming Cousins and George officially complete their deals in the near future, they'll become the third and fourth players to sign rookie-scale extensions this offseason. Wall and Larry Sanders have also agreed to new long-term deals.
Heat To Bring Larry Drew II To Camp
Former Hawks head coach Larry Drew has a new job this season, taking over as the Bucks' new coach, and now his son will have an opportunity to compete for an NBA job of his own. The Heat announced today (via Twitter) that Larry Drew II has signed a contract with the team.
Drew, 23, manned the point at UCLA last season, averaging 7.5 PPG and 7.3 APG in 35 contests for the Bruins. A quad injury prevented him from participating in Summer League action in July, but the Heat still kept an eye on him in recent weeks.
Given Miami's payroll and roster situation, Drew's deal is almost certainly a non-guaranteed camp invite, and is likely a long shot for the club's regular season roster. It's possible that he eventually lands on the Heat's D-League squad — for the first time, the NBA club will have a one-to-one affiliation with the Sioux Falls Skyforce this season.
New York Notes: Davis, Knicks, Jay Z, Nets
There's been a little news out of New York already today, as we heard Ike Diogu will join the Knicks next week when training camp opens. We've got a few more Monday links related to New York's two teams to round up, so let's dive in and check out the latest on the Knicks and Nets….
- While Diogu and Josh Powell received camp invites from the Knicks, another player who worked out for the team last week remains a free agent: Ricky Davis. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets that Davis looked solid during the workout, but adds that otherwise there's nothing new to report on that front.
- In grading the Knicks' offseason, Begley awards the highest marks for the club's two mid-level signings: Pablo Prigioni and Metta World Peace.
- Jay Z has given the NBPA proof that he sold his stake in the Nets and is now officially certified as an NBA agent, reports Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal. We heard a similar report from Mullen back in June, but that story may have been premature, since it appears the rapper hadn't officially divested himself of his Nets share at that point.
- One of the most interesting storylines to watch during October will involve the Nets, according to Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld. Brigham writes that Brooklyn's veteran additions probably won't get a ton of minutes before the regular season gets underway, but the preseason should provide some clues about how they'll fit together, and whether the team will be a real threat in the East.
Ike Diogu To Join Knicks For Camp
The Knicks will add veteran forward Ike Diogu to their training camp roster, according to Al Iannazzone of Newsday (Twitter link). Diogu will occupy one of the three remaining open spots on New York's offseason roster.
Diogu, 30, was one of several free agents who worked out for the Knicks last week in the hopes of landing a camp invitation. New York is also expected to bring another one of the participants in that audition, Josh Powell, to camp, as we heard over the weekend.
Diogu was drafted ninth overall in 2005 by the Warriors and had a solid rookie season, including 7.0 PPG and a 15.8 PER. However, early in his second NBA season, he was sent to Indiana in an eight-player swap that landed Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson in Golden State. Diogu was traded twice more in the next two years, and never had another season as productive as his rookie year. He last appeared in two games for the Spurs during the 2011/12 campaign.
With Diogu on board, the Knicks will have six players on partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed deals, to go along with their 12 guaranteed contracts. C.J. Leslie, who has a $200K guarantee, figures to be a lock for a regular-season roster spot, while Diogu, Powell, Chris Smith, Toure Murry, and Jeremy Tyler will compete for the last two openings.
Shaquille O’Neal Buys Stake In Kings
Over a decade ago, when Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and the Lakers won three consecutive championships, the team eliminated the Kings from the playoffs during each of its title runs. Now, putting a spin on an old cliche, after beating them, O'Neal is joining them. Sam Amick of USA Today reports that Shaq has bought a stake in the Kings, becoming a minority owner of the Sacramento franchise.
O'Neal joins a new ownership group in Sacramento that includes Vivek Ranadive and Mark Mastrov, among others. Mastrov and O'Neal have a long-standing friendship, according to Amick, that dates back to when Shaq frequented Mastrov's 24-Hour Fitness gyms during his playing days in Los Angeles. Mastrov introduced O'Neal to Ranadive, who had been seeking a buzzworthy addition to the team's ownership group.
"I wanted to find somebody to add to the ownership group who truly represented 21st century basketball," Ranadive said. "[Someone] who represented my vision of NBA 3.0, which is having an understanding of technology, wanting to build a global brand and being global in their thinking, and really being committed to having an impact in the community."
For his part, Shaq is interested in turning the franchise he once dubbed "the Queens" from a perennial lottery team into a club that players are "knocking on the door" to join.
"Hopefully Vivek, with Mr. Mastrov and myself and the team and organization can get it back to where it used to be," O'Neal said. "I'm telling you these new plans, oh my. You're going to be like, 'Sacramento is doing what?' That's what we want people to say."
Amick suggests that O'Neal intends to be actively involved with the Kings, starting today. Shaq is set to meet with players and coaches in Sacramento today before having dinner with "new protege" DeMarcus Cousins, according to the USA Today scribe. Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee adds (via Twitter) that the Kings will introduce the former Laker as a member of the ownership group tomorrow.
Examining A Max Extension For Paul George
Word broke yesterday that the Pacers and Paul George are putting the finishing touches on a five-year, max extension for the rising star, a deal that should be done well before the regular season gets underway. Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported that George's new contract is expected to be worth more than $90MM, a figure that's noteworthy for a couple reasons.
First, given the fact that the small-market Pacers were willing to work out an extension rather than taking their chances in restricted free agency, where they'd still have a final say in the process, I assumed George would take a modest discount, and sign for slightly less than the max. When I posed the question in a poll last week, I predicted that he'd land a five-year contract worth in the neighborhood of $70MM, while most of you correctly predicted he'd get a five-year max instead.
There doesn't seem to be much incentive for the Pacers to get a deal done so early if they're willing to commit the most possible money to George. The team could do that at any point, and it would be a safer bet to do so next summer. Then, if George were to suffer a serious injury or a dip in production during the 2013/14, Indiana wouldn't already be on the hook for that five-year max.
Still, by finalizing a deal early, the team is sending a signal to George that he'll be the centerpiece in Indiana for the next several years. That emotional factor is one that Mark Deeks of SBNation.com wrote about last week, and it shouldn't be understated.
However, there's likely a more significant factor in play in extension negotiations between the two sides. As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors wrote when he examined George as an extension candidate, it behooves the 23-year-old to ink a max extension before Halloween because it makes him eligible for the Derrick Rose Rule, a wrinkle in the CBA that allows players with less than seven years of experience to receive a salary worth 30% of the cap instead of 25%.
In order to qualify for that 30% max, a player signing a rookie-scale extension must achieve one of the following during his first four NBA seasons:
- Win the MVP award.
- Make an All-NBA team twice.
- Make the All-Star Game as a starter via fan balloting twice.
George has yet to be voted an All-Star starter, so unlike Blake Griffin a year ago, he can't qualify for the Rose Rule max that way. And unlike Rose himself, George seems unlikely to win the MVP award while on his rookie contract. But George has a realistic route to the 30% max by making another All-NBA team, after being named a Third Team All-NBA player in 2012/13.
Griffin's and James Harden's new contracts, which will take effect in 2013/14, show that the difference between the 25% max and 30% max becomes significant over the course of an extension. Here's how those max deals break down:
The NBA's maximum salaries will increase next season, meaning that even if George only receives the 25% max, his overall salary will still be higher than Harden's; if he earns the 30% max, he'll earn more than Griffin. But the $90MM+ figure reported by Wojnarowski and Spears appears to assume that George will qualify for the Rose max. After all, in order for a player to make $90MM+ on the 25% max, the league's max salaries would have to increase by nearly 15%, which seems like an unrealistic jump, considering they only increased by about 1% this past year.
So when you hear George's extension being reported as a $90MM+ deal over the next few days, take that figure with a grain of salt. We won't know the exact numbers until next July, and George's ability to repeat his All-NBA 2012/13 season figures to dictate whether he actually qualifies for the sort of max extension that would take the overall value beyond $90MM.
Lakers Have Yet To Start Negotiations With Kobe
While the talk of Los Angeles is how Kobe Bryant will look on the court this season as he rebounds from his Achilles injury, it's possible that the real focus should be on what happens in 2014/15. The Lakers haven't opened contract negotiations with Bryant and will take a wait-and-see approach as he recovers from his injury, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
The Lakers star will earn an eye-popping $30.45MM in his walk year and many have wondered if he would be willing to take a pay cut beyond this season to help give the club the necessary breathing room to build around him. It's a tricky situation for the Lakers on a number of fronts. While the Lakers undoubtedly have Bryant as their top priority, they have no possible way of gauging his readyness after suffering a devastating Achilles injury late last season. Only time will tell what the future will hold for Bryant and it appears that Mitch Kupchak & Co. will take that cliche to heart.
Bryant could receive a maximum 5% raise over his current salary, bringing him to $32MM for 2014/15. However, that would eat up nearly half of the club's cap space for that season as Bresnahan notes that the early estimates have it at $62.5MM. If he took a major pay cut and asked for, say, $10-$12MM, that could give the Lakers enough breathing room to add two strong free agents in the summer of 2014.