Sixers Sign Furkan Korkmaz To Rookie Contract
JULY 4, 3:41pm: The Sixers have officially signed Korkmaz to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release.
JUNE 30, 1:25pm: The Sixers aren’t quite ready to confirm an agreement with Korkmaz, with both Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Jessica Camerato of CSPhilly.com reporting (via Twitter) that the team is still working on the details of his FIBA clearance and buyout. However, both Pompey and Camerato hear that it “very well” may happen.
12:51pm: A cryptic tweet from Furkan Korkmaz‘ agent today appears to signal that the 2016 first-rounder will be coming to Philadelphia for the 2017/18 season. Agent Misko Raznatovic took to Twitter to announce that Sixers fans will have a reason to drink Turkish beer, a reference to his client Korkmaz, who is a Turkish shooting guard. Anadolu Efes, Korkmaz’ current team in Turkey, has since confirmed that he’ll be headed to the NBA, according to David Pick (Twitter link).
Korkmaz had expressed a strong desire to come stateside this year, and head coach Brett Brown indicated after last week’s draft that he expected the 19-year-old to make the leap to the NBA. Korkmaz, who spent the 2016/17 season on loan to Banvit, averaged 10.8 PPG and shot 39.8% on three-pointers in 21 Turkish League games.
Korkmaz’ buyout with Anadolu Efes was believed to be a roadblock in the way of his potential move to the Sixers. That buyout is reportedly worth two million euros, and NBA teams are only allowed to pay up to $675K of an international buyout. For Korkmaz to officially sign with the Sixers, he’ll have to pay off the rest of the buyout himself, likely in installments. Eurohoops reports that the two sides are in negotiations now on that buyout.
Assuming Korkmaz finalizes a deal, he’ll be subject to the 2017/18 rookie scale. As the 26th overall pick last year, Korkmaz would be in line for the same contract as Caleb Swanigan, this year’s No. 26 pick. As I detailed last week, that deal figures to be worth $1,465,920 in 2017/18, and a total of $8,904,867 over four years.
While Korkmaz is poised to sign with the Sixers, one of the team’s 2017 first-rounders, Anzejs Pasecniks, is said to be staying in Spain for the upcoming season.
JaMychal Green Considering Offer Sheet, Sign-And-Trade Scenarios
3:33pm: The Grizzlies made an offer to Green when free agency opened and are now awaiting an offer sheet, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. That doesn’t contradict Hodges’ account (noted below) — it sounds like the Grizzlies haven’t had discussions with Green’s camp since making their initial offer, and will consider their options when he brings them an offer sheet or sign-and-trade scenario from another team.
In the wake of Randolph’s departure, I’d be surprised if the Grizzlies don’t strongly consider matching an offer sheet for Green, as long as the price isn’t exorbitant.
2:59pm: JaMychal Green may be the next player to leave the Grizzlies, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Green appears headed out of Memphis either in a free agent deal or a sign-and-trade.
“I’m looking at two offer sheets and sign-and-trades,” said Green’s agent, Michael Hodges. “Seems to us Memphis is going in a different direction.”
Hodges adds that he hasn’t spoken to the Grizzlies about a new contract for his client since free agency began on Saturday (Twitter link). However, Green is a restricted free agent, so even if he does sign an offer sheet with another team, Memphis would still have the opportunity to match it.
The Timberwolves have talked to Green, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, but they aren’t among the teams Hodges referenced.
A 6’9″ power forward, Green signed two 10-day contracts with Memphis in February of 2015 and has been with the team ever since. He appeared in 77 games this season, starting 75, and averaged 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds.
The Grizzlies saw another free agent power forward, Zach Randolph, strike an agreement with the Kings earlier today.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Gordon Hayward Decision on Hold?
2:34pm: Hayward has changed his mind four times since Saturday, a source tells Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). Agents are speculating to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that a sign-and-trade or possibly a separate Celtics deal is holding up a formal announcement (Twitter link).
2:25pm: Boston’s offer is $127.8MM over four years, with a player option likely after the third season, reports A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.
2:05pm: The leak regarding Hayward’s decision may lead to a delay in his announcement, Himmelsbach tweets, with Bartelstein suggesting the situation may not be resolved today. “That was the goal,” he said, “but now we’ve got to kind of regroup here a bit.”
Jazz president Steve Starks has tweeted a statement that reads, “We trust Gordon and his agent that no decision has been made. Good communication all day and a great relationship.”
1:50pm: The Celtics haven’t heard from Hayward yet, but they aren’t denying the report from ESPN, tweets Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Sources are telling Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe that the move is a formality and the teams just need to be notified (Twitter link).
1:40pm: Conflicting information is beginning to filter out concerning Gordon Hayward. David Aldridge of TNT claims Hayward has not reached a decision and is still weighing his options (Twitter link). Hayward’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, says the same thing to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. “Gordon hasn’t made a decision yet,” Bartelstein said. “We are still working through it.” (Twitter link).
1:19pm: Gordon Hayward will announce today that he’s signing with the Celtics, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com.
The All-Star forward, who spent his first seven NBA seasons in Utah, was considered the top prize left on the free agent market. The Celtics, Jazz and Heat all held meetings with him over the past three days. The move will reunite him with Brad Stevens, his college coach at Butler.
Boston’s belief that it had a shot at Hayward affected its decision to be conservative in its pursuit of Jimmy Butler and Paul George, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
With about $27MM in cap space, the Celtics don’t have quite enough cap room to sign Hayward to a full max deal. Hayward could agree to accept a little bit less, or the Celtics could try to move some salary before the moratorium ends on Thursday. One path, Blakely tweets, is to pull their qualifying offer for Kelly Olynyk, renounce all their free agents, waive Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson and trade away one other contract.
Hayward, 27, is coming off his best season, setting careers highs with 21.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He gives the Celtics another dangerous shooter who can stretch defenses and share the scoring load with Isaiah Thomas.
Top Pick Markelle Fultz May Sign Today
Markelle Fultz, the first player selected in last month’s draft, could sign with the Sixers today, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
However, the signing may be delayed if Fultz’s mother, Ebony Fultz, is unable to attend. She is expected to be in Las Vegas this weekend to watch her son in the Las Vegas Summer League, but Philadelphia’s team is currently playing in the Utah Summer League in Salt Lake City.
As the top pick, Fultz is slotted to make $5.8MM as a rookie, but Pompey notes that the Sixers are permitted to pay him up to 20% more than that and are expected to reach the full figure. Pompey points out that teams sometimes require players to perform community service or play an extra year in the summer league to receive their 20 percent.
As our rookie-scale contract chart shows, Fultz is eligible for a little more than $7MM in his first season and more than $37.4MM over four years. Like all contracts for first-rounders, Fultz’s deal will include two guaranteed seasons and two team options. He will be eligible for an extension in 2020.
A 6’4″ point guard, Fultz averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds during his lone season at Washington.
Pacific Notes: Hill, Young, Collison, Clippers
The Lakers believe George Hill could provide backcourt depth, improve their outside shooting and serve as a locker room veteran, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. The 31-year-old free agent met with L.A. officials on Monday, although no deal was reached. Hill could be used as a backup to rookie point guard Lonzo Ball or could be shifted to shooting guard. He averaged a career-high 16.9 points with the Jazz last season and shot .403 from 3-point range.
In their quest for backcourt help, the Lakers also met with Dion Waiters on Sunday and have had several phone conversations with Rajon Rondo. L.A. has spoken to several coaches and players who have worked with Rondo to see how he might handle a mentor’s role with Ball.
There’s more news from the Pacific Division:
- The Timberwolves are the latest team to reach out to Lakers guard Nick Young, Medina notes in the same story. They join the Warriors, Thunder and Pelicans, who have also been linked to the 10-year veteran. Young revived his career this season, becoming a full-time starter and averaging 13.2 points per game.
- The Clippers, Knicks and Magic all contacted Darren Collison before he agreed to a two-year deal with the Pacers Monday night, tweets Sean Cunningham of ABC 10 in Sacramento. The Kings made no effort to keep Collison, he adds.
- A proposed three-team trade that would bring Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers would push the team closer to the repeater tax, posts Bobby Marks on ESPN Now. Adding Gallinari would give L.A. 10 players under contract with $110.4MM in guaranteed salary. The Clippers would hit the repeater tax if their salary tops $119M, so they will have to be careful in assembling the rest of their roster.
- Gary Sacks has resigned as Clippers assistant GM, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Sacks’ contract expired Friday.
Warriors Considered Front-Runners For Jamal Crawford
11:15am: The Cavaliers and Spurs are also interested in Crawford if the buyout goes through, Haynes tweets, although Atlanta would prefer to trade him. Crawford has more than $17.2MM in guaranteed money over the next two seasons, and the Hawks would want him to give up a significant portion of that before agreeing to a buyout, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
9:24am: Once Jamal Crawford gets bought out by the Hawks, there’s a good chance he will sign with the Warriors, according to Chris Haynes and Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com.
Crawford is part of a proposed three-team trade that would send Paul Millsap to the Nuggets and Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers. Crawford would be shipped to the Hawks, along with Diamond Stone, and will petition Atlanta for a buyout, sources told ESPN.
Once he hits the market, Golden State would be favored to sign him with its $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception.
Crawford, 37, played for the Warriors during the 2008/09 season and often talks about how much he enjoys the Bay Area, according to Haynes and Spears. The three-time Sixth Man of the Year appeared in all 82 games for the Clippers this season, averaging 12.3 points per night. He has said he will only consider playing for contenders once the buyout is complete.
The Warriors are also pursuing Nick Young, the authors add, with Draymond Green and Kevin Durant playing a part in the recruiting. The 10-year veteran is also in talks with the Pelicans, who can offer more playing time, but Golden State could give Young his first chance to win a title.
The Warriors probably don’t have the resources to add both Crawford and Young, but the ESPN story says there is a “strong possibility” they will land one of them.
Josh Jackson Signs Rookie Contract With Suns
The Suns have signed first-round pick Josh Jackson, according to the Associated Press. As with all rookie deals for first-rounders, Jackson received two guaranteed years with team options for the following two seasons.
As the fourth overall selection, Jackson will make a little more than $5.09MM in his first season. The full deal would give him more than $27.12MM, assuming he stays with the Suns for four years, as our rookie-scale chart shows. Jackson will become eligible for an extension in 2020 or could be a restricted free agent in 2021.
A 6’8″ forward out of Kansas, Jackson averaged 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in his only season as a Jayhawk. Scouts raved about his versatility, athleticism and defensive prowess heading into the draft.
Fans can get their first look at him in a Phoenix uniform starting this weekend as part of the Suns’ summer league team in Las Vegas.
Knicks Contact Jonathon Simmons
The Knicks have reached out to Spurs restricted free agent Jonathon Simmons, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
Begley adds that Simmons is also talking to two other teams, but doesn’t identify them. The Clippers have been mentioned in the past as possible suitors for the 6’6″ forward, but that may have changed with the expected addition of Danilo Gallinari.
Simmons, 27, has spent his first two NBA seasons in San Antonio, and averaged 6.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 78 games this year. His role expanded in the playoffs, where he put up 10.5 points in 15 games.
A report last week said the Spurs were preparing a $9MM offer for Simmons, but an offer from the Knicks or another team could raise his price considerably. Another story said Simmons’ most likely strategy will be to obtain a deal from another team and see if the Spurs will match it.
Clippers, Nuggets, Hawks Discuss Gallinari Sign-And-Trade
JULY 4, 12:25am: The Nuggets are expected to receive some form of draft compensation in the proposed deal – assuming it gets done – for their willingness to facilitate a sign-and-trade of Gallinari, Wojnarowski says in his full ESPN report. It would likely come in the form of a second-round pick from the Hawks, according to Sam Amick of USA Today, who tweets that Atlanta would receive cash in the deal.
JUNE 3, 11:40pm: Crawford has “no plans” to play in Atlanta if this three-way trade gets finalized, so a buyout or another trade of Crawford is considered necessary for the Hawks if they acquire him, tweets Amick.
11:27pm: The proposed sign-and-trade would send Gallinari to the Clippers and Millsap to the Nuggets, with Jamal Crawford, Diamond Stone, and a first-round pick heading to the Hawks, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The first-rounder would likely be the pick L.A. acquired from Houston in last week’s Paul trade, tweets Wojnarowski.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggests (via Twitter) that Crawford may want a buyout if he ends up in Atlanta, though with $14MM+ on his cap hit for 2017/18 and a partial guarantee on his deal for the following year, that could be tricky.
11:16pm: Free agent forward Danilo Gallinari is leaning “strongly” toward committing to sign with the Clippers, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). If Gallinari reaches a deal with L.A., it’s expected to be a three-year pact worth $65MM, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
According to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), the Nuggets and Hawks would both be involved in the agreement if Gallinari and the Clippers strike a deal, with the former No. 6 overall pick heading to Los Angeles in a sign-and-trade scenario. The involved parties are still working through the details, but Atlanta would land a first-round pick in the proposed deal, tweets Amick.
The Clippers don’t currently have the cap flexibility to accommodate a market-value Gallinari signing without a sign-and-trade, but the Nuggets won’t be eager to take much – if any – salary back in a sign-and-trade, since they’ve earmarked most of their cap space for Paul Millsap. As such, it makes sense for a team with cap room like the Hawks to enter the mix — they could absorb some outgoing salary from the Clippers, getting a draft pick in the process as a sweetener. And, with Denver involved, they could also include Millsap in the deal.
We’ll wait to see whether the three teams – and Gallinari’s camp – can all come to an agreement, but if the Clippers finalize a deal, they’d be hard-capped for the 2017/18 season at $125.266MM, and would still have their mid-level exception available. Los Angeles shook up its roster last week by trading Chris Paul to the Rockets, but picked up a few interesting pieces in that trade, such as Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and Sam Dekker. The Clips also agreed to re-sign Blake Griffin over the weekend, so there’s still a decent amount of talent on the roster.
Gallinari, who turns 29 next month, has had some trouble staying on the court in recent years, appearing in just 175 total games over the last four seasons. However, he has been a versatile and effective scorer when he plays, averaging 18.2 PPG with a shooting line of .447/.389/.902 in 2016/17.
The Clippers reportedly met with both Gallinari and Rudy Gay over the weekend as the team aggressively sought out a small forward.
Free Agent Rumors: Rose, Hayward, Randolph, Bogut
Free agent point guard Derrick Rose wants to play for the Bucks, a source close to Rose told Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link). Milwaukee will have to shed salary to make it happen. The team is over the salary cap and can only offer the $8.4MM mid-level exception unless it moves a big contract or two. Rose met with the Bucks on Monday. The Knicks are interested in bringing back Rose but it’s possible that New York could do a sign-and-trade with the Bucks.
In other free agent developments:
- Gordon Hayward will “sleep on” it before deciding which team he’ll sign with, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets. The highly-coveted Jazz small forward met with Utah for 3 1/2 hours on Monday after meeting with the Heat on Saturday and the Celtics on Sunday.
- The Kings don’t have much hope of signing veteran power forward Zach Randolph, sources informed Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). The Cavaliers have a strong interest in Randolph, though he may have to leave money on the table to play for the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions.
- Andrew Bogut and his agent will talk to more than 10 teams as he seeks to come back from a fractured tibia, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com reports. Bogut suffered the injury in his Cavaliers debut on March 6. He did not require surgery and Bogut shed his cast a few weeks ago, Aschburner continues. The veteran center expects to begin full basketball workouts within the next three weeks, Aschburner adds.