Heat Apply For Disabled Player Exception
The Heat have applied for a disabled player exception in light of the recent injury to forward Justise Winslow, tweets Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald. The news comes on the heels of Winslow’s successful but presumably season-ending procedure to repair a torn labrum that he suffered last week.
Although the surgery went well according to a release published on the team’s website, the club will look to add an extra body heading into the second half of the season. Teams have until January 15 to apply for one of the disabled player exceptions and if approved are free to sign a replacement player making up to either 50% of the injured player’s salary or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, whichever is lower.
In Miami’s case, should the application be granted, they’ll be free to sign somebody worth up to approximately $1.3MM due to Winslow’s $2.6MM deal without it using up cap space. Though not applicable in this scenario, the non-taxpayer mid-level exception for 2016-17 is $5.6MM.
The Heat are currently down a roster spot already considering that Chris Bosh has yet to be medically cleared to play for the team. In Bosh’s case, the Heat retain the option to apply for a disabled player exception worth the full non-taxpayer MLE, but appear instead to be holding onto Bosh with the intent of waiving him and potentially clearing his contract from their books altogether. More on Bosh’s contract situation in this October feature by USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt.
With Winslow out, one potential replacement that has been mentioned by The Palm Beach Post’s Anthony Chiang is Briante Weber. Weber has thrived this season with Miami’s D-League affiliate and was one of the last cut from the team after training camp. As of Thursday, Chiang notes, teams have been eligible to sign players to 10-day contracts.
Salary information from HoopsHype was used in this report.
Hawks Waive Ryan Kelly
The Hawks have parted ways with Ryan Kelly, per ESPN’s Marc Stein on Twitter. In five games with the club this season, Kelly posted 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds per game, never truly breaking into the team’s rotation.
Though opportunities were limited during his time in Atlanta, Kelly averaged 6.5 points in over 20 minutes per game across three seasons with the Lakers from 2013-16.
Since the summer, the 25-year-old has been in and out of a job. In September the Hawks first signed the forward but ultimately waived him, he then signed on briefly with Boston only to be cut the following day.
Signed again by Atlanta on October 31, Kelly was set to make $1MM this season, with a modest raise in 2017/18.
Nuggets Waive Alonzo Gee
The Nuggets have waived Alonzo Gee, according to a team press release. Denver’s roster count is now at 14 players, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates.
Gee joined Denver in November and his deal was partially guaranteed, though had he remained on the roster through Saturday, it would have became fully guaranteed. The cap hit for the move is $418K, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical tweets.
Gee played sparingly for the team, appearing in only 13 contests. The veteran has played for six different franchises in his seven-year career.
Cavaliers Finalizing Deal For Kyle Korver
JANUARY 6, 2:11pm: The Cavs are shipping out Mo Williams as part of the deal, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal confirms (Twitter link).
JANUARY 6, 9:08am: The Hawks and Cavs are working on finding a third team for Dunleavy, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. If they can’t find a taker, Atlanta will keep the small-forward.
JANUARY 5, 8:13pm: The trade has not yet been finalized, but the way things appear to sit now involve the Cavaliers sending Mike Dunleavy Jr. and a 2019 first-round pick to the Hawks in exchange for Kyle Korver. It’s also been reported that Dunleavy could be flipped to a third team prior to Friday’s trade call. Earlier updates had Mo Williams and possibly Cedi Osman involved.
In a separate trade, the Cavaliers are sending their 2017 first-round pick to the Trail Blazers in order to re-acquire their own 2018 first-round pick that, per The Oregonian’s Tim Brown, they gave up in the Anderson Varejao deal last February.
JANUARY 5, 7:36pm: According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Cavaliers have also made a separate trade with the Trail Blazers. They’ll trade their 2017 first-round pick to Portland in order to get their 2018 first-round pick back. He also tweets that Cleveland’s 2019 first-round pick will be on its way to Atlanta.
JANUARY 5, 7:28pm: Wojnarowski now reports that the Cavs will send Mike Dunleavy Jr. to the Hawks and that he’ll likely move on to a third team, though it’s not clear what team that will be. Dunleavy Jr. makes $4.8MM this season, with a team option for next season.
JANUARY 5, 7:15pm: Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets that he hears that the retired – but still tradable – Mo Williams is Atlanta-bound, along with a heavily protected first-round pick from the Cavaliers. He also confirms on Twitter, that the Cavs can absorb Korver’s salary if they wish, via the Anderson Varejao trade exception.
JANUARY 5, 7:08pm: According to Hawks beat writer Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Hawks hadn’t confirmed the deal as of 6:47pm CST, but coach Mike Budenholzer had pulled Korver aside. Vivlamore adds that a Cavaliers executive was in Atlanta last week to watch the sharpshooter. Finally, Vivlamore tweets that Cedi Osman could be among the package going to Atlanta. The 2015 second-round pick is currently playing in Turkey.
JANUARY 5, 6:56pm: The Cavaliers are finalizing a deal that will land them Kyle Korver, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski. While the exact terms being discussed aren’t currently available, what’s known now is that wheels are in motion for the 35-year-old veteran to join the reigning champions.
Over the course of the last five years with the Hawks, Korver has established himself as an elite deep threat and was even named to the All-Star team in 2015. He’ll now join a Cavaliers team that’s seen three-point specialists like Channing Frye and J.R. Smith thrive thanks to the spacing created by its stars.
Korver is on the final year of a contract worth $5.3MM and while the Cavaliers are currently well over the cap, it’s worth noting that they hold four outstanding trade exceptions, including one worth $9.6MM that is set to expire in February.
According to Justin Verrier of ESPN, as of 6:52pm CST, Korver was still warming up on the court prior to Atlanta’s Wednesday night game against New Orleans.
Suns Waive John Jenkins
The Suns have waived John Jenkins, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Twitter link). The move will bring the team’s roster count to 14 players.
Jenkins’ minimum salary contract was partially guaranteed and this year’s salary would have became fully guaranteed had he remained on the roster through Saturday. He hasn’t seen much playing time for the Suns this season, scoring a total of seven points in 13 minutes of action.
Phoenix had claimed Jenkins off waivers after the Mavericks let the shooting guard go during the middle of last season. He was originally drafted by the Hawks with the No.23 overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Suns Notes: Knight, Barbosa, Ulis
It’s looking more likely that the Suns will trade away Brandon Knight before the deadline, Paola Boivin of The Arizona Republic writes. Knight has seen his playing time decreased because of injuries as well as his defensive mistakes. Boivin wonders if the combo guard’s frustration with his role is causing him to put forth lackluster effort on the defensive end.
Here’s more from Phoenix:
- The Suns should prioritize developing their young talent rather than focusing on winning games, Boivin argues in the same piece. The scribe believes coach Earl Watson should increase the minutes for the team’s prospects and reduce the minutes of its veterans.
- Free agent addition Leandro Barbosa is giving the Suns a nice spark off the bench and the team is thrilled about the 34-year-old’s production, as Doug Haller of The Arizona Republic relays. “He’s a professional scorer,” Watson said. “He’s one of the best to do it since I’ve been in the league, and he’s done it for a long time at a high level. He has three things that he’s mastered offensively, and you can’t take away all three in one possession.”
- Rookie Tyler Ulis is making the most of his playing time on the Suns, Haller writes in a separate piece. The play of Ulis could make it easier for the team to deal Knight.
Latest On Paul Millsap
12:42pm: The Sixers, Nuggets and Raptors have also expressed interest in Millsap, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
9:01am: Add the Pelicans to the list of teams that have expressed interest in trading for Paul Millsap, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The Hawks are in active trade talks with several teams including the Kings.
Atlanta would like to move Millsap “sooner rather than later,” according to an earlier report by Shams Charania of the Vertical. It was reported earlier in the week that if the team dealt the power forward, it would be looking to add players who would help the team win this season. However, the team’s Kyle Korver trade may indicate that the organization is willing to take on draft picks and enter into a rebuild.
The Hawks nearly dealt Millsap last year on two separate occasions. They had a deal lined up with the Nuggets at the trade deadline, but opted against trading him away. They were set to deal him to the Raptors over the summer had Al Horford re-signed with the team. Horford signed with the Celtics, which prompted the team to keep the Louisiana native. Millsap can opt out of his current deal and become a free agent, though there are conflicting reports about whether or not he will take that route.
LeBron James Pushing For Cavs To Add Point Guard
The Cavs agreed to acquire Kyle Korver from the Hawks on Thursday, but LeBron James wants the team to do more, as Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal writes. James believes the team isn’t ready for another championship run until it adds another point guard.
“We still got a couple more things we need to do,” James said. “We got to get a point guard. It’s my last time saying it. We need a point guard.”
“I think that’s the next step. You look at our league, most teams have three point guards. We only have two with [Kyrie Irving] and our rook in [Kay Felder]. I think just having that security blanket. Every NFL team has three quarterbacks. Having that security blanket in case of a [situation like Derek Carr’s, Oakland’s QB who broke his leg]. We’ll see what happens, but, we’re happy with our team right now.”
It was reported on Thursday that the team is likely to make another move with an eye on obtaining a veteran point guard. The team’s two biggest needs were arguably a back-up point guard and a scoring wing.
Coach Tyronn Lue likes the acquisition of Korver and believes the 35-year-old will be a good fit on the team. “Especially a guy who can move without the ball the way he moves coming off screens and things like that, there’s no better guy,” Lue said. “You put him on the floor with Channing, RJ, LeBron and the floor will open (up) wide, so now you got to pick your poison when you try to help off Kyrie and LeBron.”
Lue added that the shooting guard will come off the bench, a decision that will leave DeAndre Liggins in the starting line-up. The team likes Liggins in that spot because of his ability to defend opposing point guards.
There’s 47 days to go until the NBA trade deadline. Be sure to check Hoops Rumors frequently for the latest on the Cavs and their quest to add a point guard.
Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Luwawu-Cabarrot, Jennings
The Raptors own the second best record in the Eastern Conference, but executives around the league are skeptical that they can truly compete for a title, according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. One executive told Ding that Toronto is “one-and-a-half” players away from being title contenders.
Skepticism surrounds the team’s title chances, but there’s no denying the franchise’s stranglehold on the division, as the Raptors are in great position to take home the Atlantic for the third consecutive year. Here’s more from the division:
- The Sixers waived Hollis Thompson on Wednesday, which left Nerlens Noel as the last player left on the roster from when The Process began, Jessica Camerato of Comcast Sportsnet writes. With Thompson off the team, first-round pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot will see more playing time. “Having Timmy now here and trying to play him more, you’re going to see an athleticism on the wings, you’re going to see a fearless mindset attacking the rim,” coach Brett Brown said. “He is an elite athlete if he is anything, and he’s different than all of our other wings. He really, really is different. I think his catch-shot game is coming around. I feel like [president of basketball operations] Bryan Colangelo did a really good job of selecting him.”
- Brandon Jennings said the Knicks need more accountability, adding that the team needs to get comfortable with each other, as Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays. “Guys are still together. I just wish we would hold guys, we would hold each other a little more accountable for what we do on the court,” Jennings said. “I definitely like confrontation. I definitely like being coached and being told when I’m doing something wrong. So those are things that I really think we need to start doing within each other and the team because that’s what good teams do.”
Kings Very Interested In Paul Millsap
JANUARY 5, 8:31pm: Sources have confirmed Vivlamore’s tweet that the Kings have expressed interest in Millsap, tweets Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy.
JANUARY 5, 8:11pm: The Kings are “very interested” in Paul Millsap tweets Hawks beat reporter Chris Vivlamore. The reporter’s comments come in light of the Wednesday night Kyle Korver trade and the ensuing comment from The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the Hawks are in active trade talks with several teams.
In an article about the Korver trade, The Vertical’s Shams Charania echoed the sentiment:
Atlanta is engaged in discussions with several teams on forward Paul Millsap, and the organization is motivated to move him sooner rather than later, sources said. Toronto, Denver, Sacramento and Philadelphia have expressed an interest in Millsap, who can become a free agent in July.
Millsap’s name has been a staple in rumors this season, but the Korver deal proves to be the biggest indication that the team is ready to officially begin their rebuild. Jeff Schultz, also of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, suggested as much in a feature Wednesday night.
In a separate article from Tuesday, Vivlamore wrote that Atlanta was doing its due diligence on all of Millsap, Korver, Thabo Sefalosha, Kris Humphries and Tiago Splitter so as to gauge their trade value.
Still, the Korver trade is notably significant because it represents a deviation from the path the team was publicly said to be pursuing. Per Vivlamore in a third feature, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer told Millsap as recently as Tuesday that the team’s main focus was on winning games now.