Grizzlies Sign Ben McLemore To Two-Year Deal
JULY 6: The Grizzlies have officially signed McLemore, according to the NBA’s transactions log.
JULY 2: The Grizzlies are finalizing a deal with Ben McLemore, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The pact, Chris Haynes of ESPN adds, is said to be for two years at $10.7MM.
The 24-year-old shooting guard has strung together four underwhelming seasons with the Kings after getting picked seventh-overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. In 2016/17, however, he posted 8.1 points per game in just 19.3 minutes of action.
There isn’t much standing between McLemore and a larger role in Memphis, USA Today’s Jeff Zilgitt suggests, noting that he’ll likely see significant minutes with his new ball club. The swingman does, after all, boast the physical tools to be a decent perimeter defender and is a capable three-point shooter.
McLemore was eligible to be a restricted free agent this summer, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Kings, allowing him to sign with any team as an unrestricted free agent.
Based on the terms of the agreement, it appears the Grizzlies will use the full taxpayer mid-level exception on McLemore — a deal with that MLE would top out at $10,643,600 over two years, and would allow the Grizzlies to avoid being hard-capped.
I doubt Memphis will go too far into the tax, if they even exceed that tax line at all. But if the team wants to try to bring back JaMychal Green, Zach Randolph, and Tony Allen, it will get expensive. The Grizzlies are projected to have more than $98MM in guaranteed salary on their 2017/18 cap after taking McLemore’s deal into account. That doesn’t include Green, Randolph, Allen, or the team’s other free agents.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Latest On Dion Waiters
The Lakers will meet with Heat free agent Dion Waiters tonight, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports. L.A. is just the latest in a long line of suitors for the shooting guard after his breakthrough year with the Heat.
While Waiters played a vital role in Miami’s dramatic turnaround last season, the franchise can’t offer him a lucrative deal so long as their iron remains in the fire for Jazz free agent Gordon Hayward.
During this time, Waiters could stake a new claim with an organization impressed by his 2016/17 resurgence. As Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times notes, Waiters is a former client of sports agent-turned-Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
That this meeting with the Lakers will come after his meeting with the Heat could suggest that Waiters doesn’t imagine the Heat will be in a position to offer a deal that suits him, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel posits.
In 46 games for the Heat last season, Waiters averaged 15.8 points and 4.3 assists per game. While it’s unclear exactly what Waiters will net on the open market, it will inevitably be far more than the $3MM he played for in 2016/17.
We wrote last month that Waiters was open to the idea of giving the Heat a “hometown discount” considering how much he’s benefited from the organization’s culture. Just what that might entail, however, remains to be seen.
Lakers Give Rajon Rondo ‘Strong Consideration’
8:22pm: After reaffirming that Rondo and the Lakers had a mutual interest, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets that L.A. has let it be known that they are only offering one-year deals. Per Turner, Rondo is gauging interest from other teams.
6:31pm: The Lakers have been relatively quiet to start the free agency period but Ramona Shelburne of ESPN notes that the club has given recently waived point guard Rajon Rondo “strong consideration.”
Just yesterday we wrote about how the Lakers had already been in touch with the 31-year-old but it’s worth noting that they’re not the only ones to whom Rondo has been linked, the Clippers and Timberwolves have also been said to be intrigued by the veteran.
In an up and down season for the Bulls, one in which he went from being a prominent free agent signing to out of the club’s rotation altogether, then ultimately re-emerging as a playoff hero, Rondo posted 7.8 points and 6.7 assists per game. It was his mid-season defense of the young players on his roster, however, that may stand out as his most memorable.
With second-overall pick Lonzo Ball now a member of the Lakers, the franchise would be wise to bring aboard a veteran from whom the rookie could learn. Rondo isn’t without his faults but could be a valuable addition to a young locker room eager to improve in 2017/18.
Wolves Pull Muhammad’s Qualifying Offer
As had been anticipated, the Timberwolves officially pulled the qualifying offer they sent to Shabazz Muhammad, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets. Now the swingman will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent.
Earlier today we wrote about how the Taj Gibson signing has impacted the situation in Minnesota. As a result, Muhammad’s representation didn’t waste any time informing other teams of his client’s anticipated status change.
Muhammad has seen his role decrease slightly over the course of the last two seasons and that would have inevitably continued in 2017/18 with Jimmy Butler now on board.
Still just 24-year-old, Muhammad should have no trouble finding suitors after nearly posting a third-consecutive season with double-digit points per game. Per 36 minutes, he averaged 18.3 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Malik Monk Signs Rookie Contract With Hornets
The Hornets have signed 11th-overall pick Malik Monk, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. The 19-year-old will make $2.9MM in 2017/18.
After averaging 19.8 points per game in his one and only season with Kentucky, Monk will set out to provide Kemba Walker with much needed backcourt support, although he may need to scale his way up the depth chart before he does.
For details of Monk’s rookie deal, worth $15.7MM in all, check out our chart breaking down the pay scale for all first-round picks.
Western FA Notes: Muhammad, Holiday, Young
A theme is developing in Minnesota as head coach Tom Thibodeau slowly molds the young Timberwolves into a modern day version of his old team. Consider Justin Holiday the latest former Bulls rotation piece that the T-Wolves have expressed an interest in, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders writes.
Holiday would join Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson with the Wolves, should the organization seek to sign the 28-year-old 3-and-D specialist.
The Bulls and Knicks, the team with whom Holiday averaged 7.7 points per game for in 2016/17, are both said to be interested in retaining the swingman’s services.
There’s more today as free agency rolls along:
- The Timberwolves will likely have to renounce Shabazz Muhammad in the wake of today’s two-year, $28MM agreement with Taj Gibson, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. He adds that Muhammad’s representatives have been notifying teams that he is now an unrestricted free agent (Twitter link).
- Nick Young has emerged as a candidate for the Warriors‘ $5.2MM exception, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Pelicans can offer more playing time and a larger role in the offense, notes David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link), but Young may opt for the chance for a ring.
- Gordon Hayward will meet with Jazz officials in San Diego, not Utah, on Monday, tweets Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. Coach Quin Snyder, GM Dennis Lindsey and team president Steve Starks will be among Utah’s delegation.
- The Rockets‘ interest in Cleveland’s Iman Shumpert is “basically dead,” according to Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The teams had trade discussions regarding Shumpert on Saturday before Houston signed Tucker.
Kings Make Max Offer To Otto Porter
7:26pm: Porter will schedule meetings with two more teams, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets. Then he’ll decide which offer sheet to sign.
5:03pm: The Kings offered a maximum deal today to Wizards forward Otto Porter, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. That would amount to a four-deal contract valued at about $106.5MM.
If Porter formally signs an offer sheet with Sacramento, Washington would have 48 hours to decide whether to match, beginning when the moratorium ends at 11 a.m. Central on Thursday.
The Wizards have proclaimed in the past that they intend to match any offer for Porter. However, he met with Washington officials early Saturday morning without reaching a new deal, indicating that the Wizards were reluctant to pay the maximum — or at least wanted to make sure he could get it on the open market.
The Kings still have more than $43MM in available cap space and a need for a small forward, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. They already missed out on two targets with Andre Iguodala re-signing with the Warriors and P.J. Tucker opting for the Rockets.
Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Ndour, Iguodala
The Knicks have changed their tone with regard to Kristaps Porzingis now that former president Phil Jackson is out of the picture. These days, head coach Jeff Hornacek is confident that the third-year forward will remain in New York, Ian Begley of ESPN writes.
“I think it was out there that Phil was listening, but he wasn’t out shopping KP,” The Knicks bench boss clarifies. “We love KP and what he does, so I don’t see him going anywhere.”
We wrote yesterday about how the Knicks will look to prioritize the 21-year-old more in their offense, something that Jackson had been reluctant to do. They’ve also actually been in touch with the 7’3″ sharpshooter as well, a sign that tension between the two parties following Porzingis’ missed exit meeting is simmering now that his biggest critic is no longer involved.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Recently waived Maurice Ndour may be a victim of bad timing, Marc Berman of the New York Post suggests. The forward was a favorite of Phil Jackson‘s and was cut shortly after the organization and former president parted ways. The Knicks let Ndour go to free up cap space.
- The Sixers have ample cap space and no reservations using it, something that Warriors forward Andre Iguodala may have used to his advantage in his own free agent negotiations. Rob Tornoe of the Inquirer suggests that on some occasion, agents leak meetings with Philly to drive up prices.
- The time is now for Brett Brown to show what he’s capable of as a head coach, Bob Cooney of the Inquirer writes. Brown has done an impressive job of harnessing effort out of his limited roster in the past, now he has legitimate weapons at his disposal.
Celtics Waive Tyler Zeller
Tyler Zeller, whose $8MM salary would have become fully guaranteed today, has been waived by the Celtics, tweets Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com.
The move was expected as Boston is concentrating on opening cap space to provide flexibility in free agency. Zeller now becomes an unrestricted free agent and is free to sign with any team.
The fifth-year center spent the past three seasons with the Celtics after being acquired from Cleveland in a 2014 deal. Zeller, 27, played 51 games this season, averaging 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds.
No Deal Between Milos Teodosic, Bulls
3:43pm: Several outlets are reporting that the story about Teodosic joining the Bulls has not been verified. Tweets from Sean Highkin of TheAthleticChi, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today and Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago have all cast doubt on the rumor.
3:16pm: The Bulls have won the bidding for Serbian guard Milos Teodosic, according to Eurobasket.