Nene Back On Free Agent Market
12:08pm: The Rockets remain optimistic that they’ll be able to work something out with Nene, tweets Spears. Houston could increase its offer to Nene by using part of the mid-level exception rather than his Non-Bird rights.
11:38am: Upset at the prospect of losing one year – and approximately $4MM – from his initially-reported agreement with the Rockets, Nene is “back at square one” in free agency, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter links). According to Spears, the market for the veteran center is back open.
JULY 1, 9:36am: The Rockets’ deal with Nene will actually only be for three years, since the team can’t sign him to a four-year deal with his Non-Bird rights due to the over-38 rule, says Bobby Marks of ESPN.com. Nene’s three-year contract figures to be worth $10,954,440, which is the maximum allowable using his Non-Bird rights.
Albert Nahmad (Twitter link) was among the cap experts to point out late last night that Nene’s reported agreement appeared to be in conflict with the over-38 rule.
JUNE 30, 10:16pm: The Rockets have agreed to a four-year deal with Nene, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. The deal is said to be worth $15MM, Feigen notes.
Despite rupturing his groin in the postseason, the 34-year-old veteran fully expected to return to the Rockets. Now with Chris Paul on board and speculation that there could be further deals in the works, the franchise will presumably delight in the opportunity to add a cheap option that’s already familiar with the organization.
Adding context to the deal is Zach Lowe of ESPN who tweets that it looks as though the Rockets used Nene’s Non-Bird rights. That means the franchise will retain its mid-level and biannual exceptions for further moves.
In 67 games for Houston last season, the greybeard posted 9.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Magic Sign First Round Pick Jonathan Isaac
The Magic announced today that the club has signed first-round pick Jonathan Isaac. According to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft is set to make $4,186,320 next season, which is 120% rookie-scale contract figure. As our chart of rookie scale salaries shows, Isaac’s rookie deal will be a four-year pact worth $22,324,406.
Isaac’s salary for the first two seasons will be guaranteed and after two team options for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, he’ll be eligible to reach restricted free agency in 2021 barring an extension.
Earlier today, the Heat agreed to terms with first-rounder Bam Adebayo. As we noted in that story, with cap holds on unsigned first-rounders at 120% rather than 100% under the new CBA, teams will likely sign their picks sooner rather than later.
Pacers Name Chad Buchanan New GM
JULY 1: The Pacers have officially named Buchanan as their new general manager, per a press release from the team. The club also promoted VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie to senior VP of basketball ops.
JUNE 29: Hornets executive Chad Buchanan will be the new GM in Indiana, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. He will report to Kevin Pritchard, the Pacers’ president of basketball operations.
Buchanan came to Charlotte in 2014 and has served as assistant GM under Rich Cho for the past two seasons. Before that, he spent 10 years with the Trail Blazers, where he served as director of college scouting. Buchanan and Pritchard were in the Portland organization together, notes Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
Indiana’s GM position has been open since the beginning of May, when Pritchard was promoted to replace Larry Bird, who resigned as team president. Buchanan joins the organization just in time to help oversee free agency and possibly work out a trade involving star forward Paul George.
Free Agent Rumors: Durant, Hayward, Gay, Kings
The defending NBA champion Warriors started free agency off with a bang, agreeing to terms with two-time Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry to the richest pact in league history. The team will reportedly sign Curry to a five-year deal worth $201MM+ and now the focus turns to retaining the remainder of Golden State’s championship-winning roster.
Last year’s prized acquisition, Kevin Durant, led the team to a championship and is now a free agent. However, Chris Haynes of ESPN (via Twitter) reports that teams have not reached out to Durant’s camp to gauge his interest in leaving because they see it as a “waste of time.” Earlier this week, it was reported that Durant will wait to re-sign with the Warriors to allow the team to finish other offseason business, and he will not meet with other teams during that stretch.
Below are additional rumors surrounding this year’s free agency period:
- If the Heat’s pursuit of Gordon Hayward falls through, the team may turn its attention to fellow free agent Rudy Gay, according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical (via Twitter). Mannix adds that Gay told the outlet he should be ready for the start of the season as he recovers from a torn Achilles.
- The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor (via Twitter) cites three league sources who believe the Heat are the frontrunners for Hayward. The sunny beaches and warm weather of Miami, a popular coach in Erik Spoelstra, and a prominent role in which he can be the team’s primary scorer are all lucrative incentives, O’Connor notes. However, O’Connor acknowledges that it’s a fluid situation, and a lot could change based on Hayward’s meetings.
- Restricted free agent Alan Williams is a “serious” candidate to sign with the Knicks, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link). While the Suns could match any offer for Williams, their willingness to do so may hinge on who else they’re able to land in free agency.
- The Kings are intent on landing a power forward in free agency, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, who tweets that Zach Randolph, Patrick Patterson, and Taj Gibson are all on Sacramento’s radar. We had previously heard about the team’s interest in Randolph and Patterson.
- According to Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter), the Pistons have been in contact with Reggie Bullock, Aron Baynes, and restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope since free agency opened late on Friday night.
Bucks Looking To Trade Greg Monroe
The Bucks are once again exploring the trade market in search of a Greg Monroe trade, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Monroe has been the subject of on-again, off-again trade rumors over the last year, and Begley suggests that Milwaukee is once again looking to move the big man at the moment.
A former seventh overall pick, Monroe set a new career low in minutes per game in 2016/17, averaging just 22.5 MPG for the Bucks. Still, he was productive and efficient in his reduced role off the bench, recording 11.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 1.1 SPG with a .533 FG% in 81 regular season contests.
Although Monroe continues to be an effective scorer, he isn’t the sort of rim-protecting, floor-stretching big man that NBA teams are prioritizing these days. He’s also fairly expensive for the 2017/18 season, having exercised a player option worth nearly $17.9MM.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s new extension kicking in, and Tony Snell having agreed to a lucrative new deal, it makes sense that the Bucks would once again be looking for ways to move Monroe’s salary.
Celtics ‘Stunned’ By Thunder’s Paul George Trade
Like the rest of the NBA world, the Celtics were “stunned” by Friday’s news that the Pacers agreed to send Paul George to Oklahoma City in a trade for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.
[RELATED: Pacers to trade Paul George to Thunder]
Boston had been planning to put a formal, competitive offer on the table for George, but the team wasn’t ready to try to finalize a deal with the Pacers until Gordon Hayward made a decision, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (link via RealGM).
According to Wojnarowski, the Pacers were interested in a package of Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, and multiple picks from the Celtics. Sources told Bulpett that the Celtics were “more than ready” to propose a deal that included multiple players and picks, suggesting that Boston’s best offer probably would have been Crowder, Smart, and three future first-rounders (likely some combination of the Celtics’ own picks and the Grizzlies’ and Clippers’ picks).
Previous reports had suggested that the Celtics were unwilling to include their 2018 Nets and Lakers first-rounders, or recent lottery picks Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Between Wojnarowski’s and Bulpett’s accounts, there seems to be a little ambiguity about whether what was actually on the table for the Pacers from the Celtics. I get the impression that Boston likely would’ve been willing to offer Crowder, Smart, and multiple first-rounders eventually, but weren’t prepared to make a commitment yet, prompting the Pacers to move on to make a deal with the Thunder.
According to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, many NBA executives he has spoken to believe that Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard was too “hell-bent” on keeping George out of the Eastern Conference. Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) confirms that he has heard this too, though he adds that some Western teams are confused because they felt their offers were better than Oklahoma City’s.
According to Wojnarowski, one scenario involving a Western team that the Pacers turned down was an offer of Gary Harris and a protected first-round pick (which likely would’ve become a second-rounder) from the Nuggets. George would have gone to Cleveland in that scenario, with the Nuggets getting Kevin Love.
Heat Sign Bam Adebayo To Rookie Contract
The Heat have officially signed former Kentucky big man Bam Adebayo to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release. Adebayo was the 14th overall pick in last week’s draft.
Because the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for cap holds for unsigned first-round picks to count for 120% of their rookie scale amount rather than 100%, there’s now little reason for teams to wait to sign their first-rounders. As such, I expect we’ll see most of them signed earlier this year than they have been in the past. Adebayo is the first to make it official.
As the No. 14 pick, Adebayo will likely receive a contract worth $14,015,772 over four years. He’ll earn about $2.49MM in 2017/18, as our chart of rookie scale salaries shows. Those figures are based on Adebayo receiving the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale amount.
Knicks Maintain ‘Serious’ Interest In Derrick Rose
With several potential point guard options falling off the board, the Knicks maintain interest in Derrick Rose, league sources tell ESPN’s Ian Begley. Begley’s ESPN colleague Jeff Goodman classifies Rose as a “serious option” for the team as targets Ricky Rubio (traded to Jazz), Jeff Teague (agreed to sign with Timberwolves), and Jrue Holiday (agreed to re-sign with Pelicans) are no longer available.
Just yesterday, Stefan Bondy and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News called a Rose reunion in New York a “long shot.” The 28-year-old Chicago native posted solid numbers in his first season with the Knicks in 2016/17, averaging 18.0 PPG and 4.4 APG in 32.5 MPG through 64 contests. However, Rose’s defense and outside shooting was suspect, and his season included going AWOL in early January and suffering a torn meniscus toward the end of the year.
Begley has reported that free agent George Hill is a possible target in free agency for New York. Also, Marc J. Spears of ESPN indicated today (via Twitter) that free agent Michael Carter-Williams has received interest from the Knicks. However, the team would need to clear out cap space to entice Hill with a competitive offer and Carter-Williams has struggled to regain his Rookie of the Year form in the three seasons since winning the award.
Considering the Knicks hold Rose’s Bird rights, the former MVP makes some sense from a cap perspective. The Knicks would have about $15MM in cap room if they were to renounce their rights to him. If more point guards are traded and/or sign elsewhere, the oft-injured Rose may return to New York and possibly serve as a mentor for eight overall pick Frank Ntilikina.
Paul Millsap To Meet With Timberwolves
Free agent big man Paul Millsap is set to meet with the Timberwolves today, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). It’s one of two reported meetings for Millsap, who is said to be sitting down with the Suns on Sunday.
Millsap, 32, would be a fascinating addition for a Timberwolves team that has already added Jimmy Butler this offseason and is poised to finalize a contract for point guard Jeff Teague as well. However, taking into account Butler’s salary and Teague’s three-year, $57MM agreement, it doesn’t appear Minnesota would be able to offer Millsap a max contract. Still, if the veteran big man decides he wants to join the Wolves, the team could dump some salary or Millsap could accept a more modest starting salary.
[RELATED: Timberwolves agree to sign Jeff Teague]
Minnesota was named in a Friday night report as a possible frontrunner with Millsap, along with the Nuggets. Phoenix and Sacramento are also believed to be in the mix for the four-time All-Star, who appears increasingly unlikely to return to Atlanta.
The Timberwolves are actively scouring the free agent market for roster reinforcements, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that the team has also inquired on Justin Holiday.
Six Teams Interested In Michael Carter-Williams
Michael Carter-Williams received a call from the Rockets last night, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link), who says that Houston is one of at least six teams with interest in the free agent point guard. Spears identifies the Knicks, Thunder, Mavericks, Pelicans, and Hornets as other clubs eyeing Carter-Williams.
Carter-Williams, the NBA’s Rookie of the Year back in 2013/14, has seen his usage and his production fall off since his days with the Sixers. After being acquired by Chicago in a preseason trade for Tony Snell last fall, Carter-Williams appeared in 45 games for the Bulls in 2016/17, averaging just 6.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 2.5 APG on 36.6% shooting (18.8 minutes per game). The Bulls didn’t tender him a qualifying offer this week, so he’s an unrestricted free agent.
While Carter-Williams appears to be drawing some interest, it remains to be seen whether he’ll prioritize joining a contending team or finding a situation where he’d have a larger role.
The Rockets, Thunder, Pelicans, and Hornets all have standout starting point guards, while the point guard situations in New York and Dallas are a little more in flux — the Knicks and Mavs addressed the position in last week’s draft by selecting Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr., respectively, but those those rookies likely won’t take on huge minutes right away.