Jazz Sign Donovan Mitchell To Rookie Deal
The Jazz have signed No. 13 overall pick Donovan Mitchell to a rookie scale contract, according to the team’s website. The team did not disclose the terms of the contract, but he’ll take home roughly $14.6MM over the next four seasons assuming he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
Utah traded Trey Lyles and the No. 24 overall pick, which ultimately became Tyler Lydon, to the Nuggets for the rights to Mitchell on draft night. The Jazz may need Mitchell to step up right away, as they look to fill the void left by Gordon Hayward‘s departure. The team also lost George Hill in free agency but gained Ricky Rubio via a trade with Wolves.
Mitchell, who played two seasons at Louisville, was considered one of the best perimeter defenders in his draft class. He averaged 15.6 points and 2.1 steals per contest during his final season playing for Rick Pitino.
Free Agent Rumors: Celtics, Heat, Cavs, Wolves
Having landed Gordon Hayward, the Celtics have shifted their focus to adding a rim-protecting big man, and are showing interest in several free agents who fit that bill, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. Currently, the Celtics could only offer the $4.3MM room exception, but if they clear more than the minimum space necessary for Hayward’s deal, they could potentially make a bigger offer.
Speaking of Hayward, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News talked at length with agent Mark Bartelstein about how and why his client’s free agency announcement turned into such a mess on Tuesday. As Genessy details, via Bartelstein, Hayward went back and forth between the Jazz and Celtics before making his final decision.
Here are more free agency updates from around the NBA:
- Having reached a deal with Dion Waiters, the Heat have interest in bringing back James Johnson and Luke Babbitt as well, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Bartelstein, who is also Johnson’s agent, will talk to Pat Riley tonight, according to Jackson.
- While Richard Jefferson, who is under contract for 2017/18, plans to return to the Cavaliers, James Jones may not, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Agent Joel Bell says that neither the Cavs nor Jones have made any decisions, but a source tells Vardon that Jones – who is a free agent – won’t be back in Cleveland next season.
- The Timberwolves have touched base with veteran free agent Vince Carter, but there’s nothing “concrete” happening with him for now, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
- The Mavericks are considering adding German power forward Maxi Kleber, per Sportando (Twitter link). Kleber expects to continue playing for Bayern Munich if he doesn’t make the jump to the NBA.
Wizards Sign Mike Young To Two-Way Contract
The Wizards have signed Michael Young to a two-way contract, according to a team announcement. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Washington also announced that Young will play for the organization’s Summer League team in Las Vegas.
Young played at the University of Pittsburgh and was named All-ACC Third Team in each of this final two seasons at the school. The Pennsylvania native scored 19.6 points per game while pulling down 6.8 rebounds during his senior season with the Panthers.
Each team is allowed to sign two players to a two-way contract, which is a feature of the new CBA. Players signed to these deals will spend most of the 2017/18 campaign playing in the NBA G-League since they cannot spend more than 45 days with their NBA team, as our glossary page on two-way contracts shows.
The Wizards do not have a G-League team of their own, so Young will have to play for another club via the league’s flex assignment rule. Candace Buckner of The Washington Post notes that the power forward will likely spend most of his time with the Delaware 87ers.
Knicks Sign Frank Ntilikina To Rookie Contract
The Knicks’ new point guard has a new contract, according to the team, which announced today (via Twitter) that Frank Ntilikina has officially inked his four-year rookie deal. As Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets, Ntilikina’s mother was in attendance to witness the event.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
As the No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ntilikina is in line for a first-year salary of about $3.5MM, with a four-year total of $18.69MM on his new deal. The third and fourth years will be team options.
While Ntilikina projects to be the Knicks’ point guard of the future, it’s not clear whether he’ll get a chance to play major minutes right away. The club has been fairly quiet in free agency, but continues to seek a veteran point guard to act as a mentor for Ntilikina, who will turn 19 later this month.
Pacers Waive Monta Ellis
5:03pm: The Pacers have officially waived Ellis, per the NBA’s transactions log. According to David Aldridge of TNT (via Twitter), Indiana will use the stretch provision on Ellis, stretching his cap hit across five years.
That will create nearly $9MM in extra 2017/18 cap room for the Pacers, which they could use to make an offer to Kelly Olynyk or another free agent.
4:16pm: Confirming that Ellis is being waived, Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star tweets that there’s no buyout involved in the transaction, meaning Indiana will remain on the hook for Ellis’ 2017/18 salary unless another team claims him, which is extremely unlikely.
4:06pm: The Pacers are waiving veteran guard Monta Ellis, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Charania’s report doesn’t include any additional details yet, but the two sides were said to be discussing a buyout earlier this week, so it seems they’ve reached an agreement.
Ellis entered the 2016/17 season having started 677 of 710 regular season games since his rookie season, but saw his role with the Pacers reduced last season, and started just 33 of 74 games. The 31-year-old averaged 8.5 PPG and 3.2 APG in 27 MPG, which all represented the lowest marks since his rookie season back in 2005/06.
The contract Ellis signed with Indiana back in 2015 called for him to make $11.227MM in 2017/18 and featured a player option worth $11.69MM in 2018/19. Ellis’ player option is currently non-guaranteed, however, so the Pacers will only be on the hook for his ’17/18 salary if no buyout was reached.
Ellis will be suspended for the first five games of next season for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, but that shouldn’t have a substantial impact on his market as he seeks his next team. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after he officially clears waivers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Rumors: Rondo, Point Guards, Smart
The Knicks have been in touch with free agent point guard Rajon Rondo, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). However, the two sides haven’t set up a meeting at this point, per Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link).
While a report on July 1 indicated that New York had reached out to Rondo’s camp, Marc Berman of The New York Post suggests that the club didn’t formally make contact until today (Twitter link). Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who initially reported the team’s contact with Rondo on Saturday, reiterates that account, though he acknowledges that “no substantive conversation” happened over the weekend.
Regardless of when the Knicks first touched base with Rondo and his reps, it’s clear that the team continues to explore all its options as it contemplates adding a veteran guard to the roster. Here’s more on that search:
- Some people who have been in contact with the Knicks recently got the impression that the team’s interest in Rondo isn’t particularly strong, per Begley.
- The Knicks have heard from the Celtics, who are open to trading Marcus Smart, but it’s not clear whether or not New York is interested in Smart, writes Begley.
- Derrick Rose and Shelvin Mack remain on the Knicks’ radar, according to Begley, who hears that the team is on the lookout for a mentor for rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina.
Bulls Sign Lauri Markkanen To Rookie Contract
The Bulls have made it official with first-round pick Lauri Markkanen, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed the former Arizona big man to his rookie contract.
Markkanen, this year’s seventh overall pick, was acquired by the Bulls from the Timberwolves in the Jimmy Butler blockbuster, heading to Chicago along with Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine in exchange for Butler and the 16th overall pick (Justin Patton).
Markkanen’s new deal, which will feature two guaranteed years followed by two team options, figures to pay him $3.822MM in year one, and about $20.39MM over the full four years, as our rookie scale chart shows. Those figures assume he signed for 120% of the rookie scale amount, which virtually every first-rounder does.
Assuming he plays out his full deal, Markkanen will be eligible for an extension in the 2020 offseason, and could become a restricted free agent in 2021 if he doesn’t re-up the year before.
Clippers, Grizzlies Discuss Tony Allen Sign-And-Trade
The Clippers have engaged the Grizzlies in discussions about a possible sign-and-trade deal involving Tony Allen, reports David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). As Aldridge observes, Los Angeles is in the market for help on the wing after losing J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford this week.
The Clippers’ roster remains somewhat in flux, with several moving parts involved in this week’s transactions, but the most logical outgoing piece in a sign-and-trade for Allen would probably be Wesley Johnson, who is earning $5.88MM in 2017/18 and has a player option worth $6MM+ for the following season. If Johnson were included in a deal with the Grizzlies, the Clippers would likely need to attach some form of draft-pick compensation as incentive for Memphis.
The Clippers will already be hard-capped at $125.266MM as a result of their tentative sign-and-trade deal for Danilo Gallinari, and completing a sign-and-trade for Allen would allow L.A. to hang onto its mid-level exception. In a hypothetical deal, Allen’s contract would have to run at least three seasons, though not all those years would have to be guaranteed.
Allen, 35, is coming off his 13th NBA season, and has spent the last seven of those years in Memphis. His production has remained remarkably consistent during that seven-year stretch — he has never averaged fewer than 8.4 PPG or more than 9.8 PPG, and continues to provide the club with solid defense on the wing, earning a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team last month.
We heard back in April that Allen wasn’t looking to “break the bank” in free agency, which suggested it may be possible for the Grizzlies to get him back on a hometown discount. However, a June report indicated that Memphis may only be open to offering the minimum, and it’s not clear if the veteran swingman is willing to take that much of a pay cut.
Mavs Sign Dennis Smith Jr. To Rookie Contract
The Mavericks have signed this year’s lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr. to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release. Smith is one of several first-round picks who has officially signed with his new club this week.
Smith, 19, was the fifth point guard selected in the 2017 draft, and the ninth player off the board overall. As the No. 9 pick, he’ll be in line for a $3.218MM salary in his rookie season, and his four-year rookie contract will be worth more than $17MM overall, assuming his third- and fourth-year options are exercised. His year-by-year salaries are outlined in our chart of this year’s rookie scale.
Smith, who played his first and only season of college ball at North Carolina State, averaged an impressive 18.1 PPG and 6.2 APG for the Wolfpack, shooting 50.9% from the field and chipping in 1.9 SPG.
Despite being linked to several free agent point guards this offseason, the Mavericks have stayed out of the fray so far this week. The team seems likely to pick up a veteran at some point, but the fact that the Mavs didn’t pursue any top-tier options suggests that they’re confident in Smith’s ability to take on a substantial role sooner rather than later.
Pacers, Nets, Others Interested In Kelly Olynyk
The Pacers, Nets, Kings, and Jazz are among the teams “coming on strong” for Kelly Olynyk, according to Sam Amick of USA Today, who reports (via Twitter)
Gordon Hayward‘s decision on Tuesday likely helped jump-start the market for several other free agents, but none were impacted as directly as Olynyk. In order to help create cap room for Hayward’s maximum salary contract, the Celtics withdrew Olynyk’s qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent rather than an RFA.
Olynyk is now eligible to sign outright with a new team, which has created significant interest around the league. The Pacers, Nets, Kings, and Jazz all have cap room left over, and would each likely be able to offer more than the mid-level exception, though Brooklyn may want resolution on Otto Porter‘s offer sheet first, and Indiana is trying to shed some salary, per Amick.
Olynyk, 26, appeared in 75 regular season games for the Celtics last season, averaging 9.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG and once again showed off an ability to make an outside shot (.368 career 3PT%). His most memorable performance in Boston came in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Wizards, when he helped the C’s seal the series with a 26-point outburst.