Dwyane Wade Hints Buyout Talks Likely Coming
Dwyane Wade reportedly hasn’t spoken to the Bulls’ front office for the last couple months, and hasn’t publicly indicated that he wants to be bought out of his contract. However, he’s aware that there’s plenty of speculation about a possible buyout, and seemed to acknowledge on Thursday in an NBA TV interview that those discussions figure to happen at some point (link via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel).
“When the time is right for me and the Chicago Bulls organization to sit down and talk about the future, we will do that,” Wade told NBA TV’s David Aldridge. “The time hasn’t been right, obviously, to this point. But I’ll be in Chicago soon enough and hopefully we’ll get an opportunity to sit down and just talk about the future and the direction and go from there. I’m 35 years old. I’m a grown man. I can definitely sit across the room from you and listen to your truth and hopefully hear mine and go from there.”
[RELATED: Wade to consider Miami, L.A. if bought out?]
While Wade didn’t state outright that a buyout from his current contract is probable, it isn’t hard to read between the lines and deduce that he wouldn’t mind moving from the rebuilding Bulls to a team with a better chance of contending.
“It’s no secret,” Wade said, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, when asked if he’d like to be part of a team that could contend for a title. “And everyone knows that. I’ve been lucky. I’ve been to five Finals. So If I never go to another one, I can’t complain. But I would love to. I would love to because I feel I can add to something a team that’s in that position. That’s not something I can focus on or something I can worry about right now.”
For now, Wade says he plans to be in attendance when training camp opens for the Bulls in less than three weeks, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. While the veteran guard may not relish the idea of spending most of the season with a team not expected to make the playoffs, buyout talks won’t necessarily move quickly — the Bulls indicated earlier this summer that any buyout would have to be “advantageous” to the franchise, meaning Wade would likely have to give up a substantial portion of his $23.8MM salary.
Prokhorov Looking To Sell Nets In Two-Part Process?
Over the course of the 2017 NBA offseason, there have been conflicting reports on whether Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov intends to sell just a minority share of his franchise, or if he’s seriously considering selling a controlling interest. In his latest report, Josh Kosman of The New York Post reiterates that Prokhorov plans to offload his controlling interest in the Nets, but may do so in a two-part process.
According to Kosman, Prokhorov will look to sell a minority stake in the team first, but will give that buyer a window to purchase the entire franchise — perhaps within three years or so. One source suggested to Kosman that “there will be a new (Nets) owner in the next few years.”
While the idea of selling 49% of the club may sound appealing to Prokhorov, who could retain control while receiving a huge boost to his bank account, there likely aren’t many investors out there interested in spending upwards of $1 billion on less than half of an NBA franchise and not receiving any real power. However, if there’s a clear path to becoming the controlling owner of the Nets, that scenario figures to be much more appealing to potential buyers.
Sources tell Kosman that the Nets believe they can demand a price of at least $2 billion after seeing the Rockets sell for $2.2 billion. Of course, that Rockets sale included operation of the Toyota Center Arena, and Prokhorov doesn’t plan to sell the separately owned Barclays Center, according to Kosman. So it remains to be seen how that will impact the sale price.
[RELATED: Tilman Fertitta Buying Rockets For Record Price]
As for who might be in the mix as a potential buyer, Kosman reports that Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai has expressed some interest, though reps for his family office, Blue Pool Capital, deny that interest. Other potential suitors – including some “Wall Street types” – have also been doing due diligence on the franchise, according to Kosman, who says that would-be buyers are waiting for clarification on various details before submitting formal offers.
Unlike the Rockets, who made a public statement earlier this summer announcing the franchise was up for sale, the Nets have not officially announced that Prokhorov is looking to sell controlling interest in the team. In fact, according to a NetsDaily report, a spokesman for Prokhorov downplayed the idea that the Russian owner is looking to offload the franchise, at least in the short term.
“We have received multiple offers with varying formats for buying a part or all of the Nets,” that spokesman said. “We are not considering any proposals that preclude our ongoing participation in the Nets for years to come. Mikhail continues to be an enthusiastic supporter of the team and remains committed to the Nets.”
Northwest Notes: Butler, Hernangomez, Lillard
A comprehensive feature on Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler has shed some light on how the 30th overall draft pick has changed over the course of his ascent to stardom. Michael Pina of Vice Sports spent a day with the swingman, who describes himself as a difficult person to be around.
This season Butler has been reunited with former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, the man at the helm in Chicago when Butler evolved from a fringe roster player to a key rotation piece into a star. For the last two years, however, Butler played under a different coach.
“I’m confrontational. I feed off of confrontation. It makes me go,” Butler said. “Not everybody’s like that. [Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg] is not that coach, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are different coaching styles and people are gonna say—which is what they did say—’It’s gonna be Jimmy’s team or it’s gonna be Fred’s team.’ Two total opposite ends of the spectrum.”
Be sure to check out the long-read for fresh perspective on the Timberwolves guard’s backstory and mentality heading forward.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division tonight:
- After playing the 2016/17 campaign at 200 pounds, Damian Lillard has dropped down to 190. The Trail Blazers star has adopted a vegan diet, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes.
- Limited to a small role in his rookie season with the Nuggets, Juan Hernangomez has gotten plenty of chances to strut his stuff with the Spanish National Team at EuroBasket 2017. A report on Denver’s official team site has more.
- After two years of plying his trade in the G League, Dakari Johnson is ready to suit up for the Thunder. As Erik Horne of the Oklahoman writes, the second-round pick is settling in to his duties with the big league club.
Hornets Notes: Howard, Monk, Zeller
The Hornets added a pair of players who will factor into their core rotation this season and with change comes curiosity. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer recently answered a handful of fan questions in a mailbag article, suggesting that he doesn’t anticipate seeing Malik Monk in the starting lineup barring a significant injury ahead of him.
Monk is an undersized shooting guard who will help shoulder some of the offensive load but his diminutive stature begets defensive shortcomings that may be compounded by the fact that any Monk promotion into the starting lineup would force somebody like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to the bench.
Bonnell also weighs in on another reader’s suggestion that Dwight Howard could be used off the bench. Despite Cody Zeller‘s strong performance at the five, Bonnell says that it’s unlikely Howard would come off the bench. Howard is familiar with being a starter (he’s only come off the bench once in his career) and will earn $23MM this season.
There’s more out of Charlotte:
- In the same Q&A article, the Bonnell writes that the Hornets can only expect so much improvement in their three-point shooting. While the addition of Monk will help and veterans like Marvin Williams and Nicolas Batum should bounce back slightly, there’s only so much fans can expect when the club’s core features Howard and Kidd-Gilchrist.
- There’s no inclination that he would sell the franchise any time soon, but Michael Jordan‘s investment in the Charlotte Hornets has been a lucrative one thus far, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. The agreed-upon value of the franchise when Jordan bought out founding owner Robert Johnson was said to be $287MM. These days, given the Clippers‘ $2 billion sale in 2014 and the Rockets‘ sale for $2.2 billion this year, the Hornets ought to be worth at least $1 billion.
- While it’s been rather easy to overlook Zeller given the fact that players drafted after him – like Giannis Antetokounmpo, C.J. McCollum and Rudy Gobert – have blossomed into stars, the sharp-shooting big man has been one of the game’s most efficient centers, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype writes. Zeller also provides intangible contributions that make life easier for his teammates.
Knicks Notes: Jack, Burke, Dotson
When the Knicks drafted Frank Ntilikina, they expected to bring him along slowly so that he could develop from a raw prospect into a dangerous core piece down the road. The loss of Derrick Rose via free agency, however, suddenly cleared room on the depth chart.
With nobody standing between Ntilikina and a significant workload early, New York went out and signed veteran reserve Ramon Sessions. It turns out, however, that there a few more playmakers the Knicks have been keeping their eye on. Per Ian Begley of ESPN, the club views Jarrett Jack and Trey Burke as potential adds as well.
This isn’t the first time that Jack’s name has been brought up by the New York media – in August Ohm Youngmisuk, also of ESPN, linked the Knicks to Jack and Archie Goodwin.
While Jack had a solid season across town with the Nets as recently as 2014/15, he has been besieged by injuries ever since.
Burke, in contrast, has simply seen his role decrease from season to season as his four-year career has drawn on. Though the former NCAA Tournament star is still just 24 years old, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be anything but a bit player for the next team that he finds himself on.
If the Knicks are going to make a move to shore up their playmaking corps, they may want to act sooner than later. Begley’s tweet actually came in response to the news that the Trail Blazers had signed the aforementioned Goodwin to a training camp deal.
There’s more from the Knicks:
- This isn’t the first time that New York’s point guard dilemma has been discussed lately. Frank Urbina of HoopsHype took a deep dive into the options the Knicks have available to them.
- Houston-native Damyean Dotson was among those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Marc Berman of the New York Post caught up with the first-year Knicks guard to talk about the storm that he lived through.
- A number of Knicks executives are in Europe watching their young players perform at EuroBasket 2017, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas are all currently playing for their respective national teams.
NBA Contemplates Draft Lottery Reform
3:43pm: An update to Wojnarowski’s original article details the currently proposed legislation and we have the highlights here:
- Teams would be able to drop four spots in the lottery. Currently teams can drop no more than three spots.
- The three worst teams would have equal probabilities of landing the first pick.
- The odds for those three worst teams would be flattened, closing the gap between their odds of landing the top pick and the subsequent teams’ odds of landing the top pick.
Another idea that the Competition Committee came up with is to prohibit teams from picking in the top three in consecutive years.
2:37pm: The NBA’s Competition Committee could potentially vote on draft lottery reform prior to the 2017/18 season, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN writes.
Commissioner Adam Silver is a strong advocate of discouraging tanking and could do so by lowering the odds that basement-dwelling teams have of snagging the top picks.
While legislation for reform could be voted on and put in place prior to the season, that doesn’t mean that any changes would necessarily affect next year’s draft. More realistically, Wojnarowski writes, modifications to the lottery process would be phased in over time.
The NBA’s Competition Committee is expected to vote on the idea of sending a formal recommendation to the league’s Board of Governors next week. If the vote goes through, the committee will be able to decide whether to pass the league office’s recommendations on to the next stage of the process or modify them and send them along.
Ultimately it will be team owners with the final say when they, if necessary, hold their own vote on whether or not to implement the recommendations at the Board of Governors meeting in September.
Currently the draft process gives the team with the fewest wins a 25% chance of landing the first pick and a 64.3% chance of staying in the top three.
The team with the second fewest wins has a 55.8% chance of staying in the top three while the third-worst team in the league has a 46.9% chance of staying there.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the five best lottery teams have only a 1.8% to 4% chance of landing in the top three.
Modifications to the weighting system could tip the scales in favor of teams who finished with better records, lessening the temptations of blatant futility.
Magic Re-Sign Damjan Rudez
The Magic have re-signed 31-year-old forward Damjan Rudez, the team announced in a press release. His deal, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, is non-guaranteed.
In 45 games with Orlando last season, Rudez played just 7.0 minutes per game but his largest contributions to the young roster will presumably come in other areas. The forward is regarded as a positive influence in the locker room and his skillset as an adept three-point shooting big man is in vogue.
The addition of Rudez brings Orlando’s roster to 19 players but his stiffest competition for the 15th spot will likely be summer signing Khem Birch, Robbins writes.
Pacers Sign DeQuan Jones To Camp Deal
SEPTEMBER 7: The Pacers have officially signed Jones, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.
SEPTEMBER 6: DeQuan Jones will sign a training camp deal with the Pacers, tweets Chris Reichert of 2 Ways and 10 Days.
The 27-year-old small forward has previous NBA experience with the Magic in 2012/13. He appeared in 63 games, averaging 3.7 points in 12.7 minutes per night.
Jones has a history with the Pacers, playing for their entry in the Orlando Summer League in 2014. He was with the Hawks for training camp last fall, but was cut before the season started and signed with the Chiba Jets in Japan. He later joined Lille Métropole in France. Jones has also played in Italy and the G League.
Pacers Sign Trey McKinney-Jones
SEPTEMBER 7: The deal is now official, according to RealGM’s NBA transactions log.
SEPTEMBER 6: The Pacers will sign 6’5″ shooting guard Trey McKinney-Jones to a training camp contract, tweets Chris Reichert of 2 Ways and 10 Days. This comes after news just broke that DeQuan Jones will be part of Indiana’s camp.
McKinney-Jones, 27, has never appeared in an NBA regular season game and spent most of his career with the Pacers’ G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. He has also played overseas in France, Israel and Hungary.
The two signings will bring the Pacers up to 19 players in camp, one under the league maximum. Only 13 have guaranteed salaries, so there will be opportunities for both Joneses to earn a roster spot.
Poll: Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2017/18 Win Total
The Thunder slipped in the Western Conference standings last season following the departure of Kevin Durant, but a super-human performance from Russell Westbrook ensured that the drop wasn’t as precipitous as many expected. Westbrook averaged over 15 PPG more than any of his teammates, and his 10.4 assists per game were more than the combined total of Oklahoma City’s next six top passers. Buoyed by Westbrook, the Thunder finished with a 47-35 record.
Heading into 2017/18, Westbrook will have a little more help, with the Thunder having sent Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Indiana in exchange for Paul George. The club also made one of the more impressive under-the-radar free agent signings of the summer, locking up Patrick Patterson on an inexpensive three-year deal. Oklahoma City capped a solid offseason by re-signing elite defender Andre Roberson and adding Raymond Felton to shore up the point guard position.
Given their impressive roster moves, the Thunder are viewed by oddsmakers as a good candidate to improve this season. Offshore betting site Bovada.lv has placed their over/under at 50.5 wins, which would represent an increase of at least four wins over last year’s total.
While that may seem like a lock with a dynamic two-way player by George now on the roster, there’s no guarantee that Westbrook will continue to provide heroics at the same pace he did a year ago — the reigning MVP single-handedly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the final minutes of games several times, allowing the team to finish a few games ahead of its expected record.
What do you think? Will the Thunder finish over or under 50.5 wins in 2017/18? Vote below and jump into the comment section to share your thoughts!
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Previous over/under voting results:
- Golden State Warriors: Over 67.5 (53.57%)
- Boston Celtics: Over 55.5 (63.5%)
- Houston Rockets: Over 55.5 (65.57%)
- San Antonio Spurs: Over 54.5 (67.74%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Over 53.5 (68.82%).