Hawks Re-Sign Mike Muscala
JULY 25: The Hawks have officially re-signed Muscala, the team announced today in a press release. Finalizing Muscala’s deal cuts into Atlanta’s remaining cap room, suggesting that the club may not have any immediate plans to maximize that space.
JULY 7: The Hawks have agreed to a two-year, $10MM deal with free agent big man Mike Muscala, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The agreement will feature a second-year player option, Charania adds (via Twitter).
Muscala, who turned 26 last Saturday, appeared in a career-high 70 games for the Hawks in 2016/17, setting new career highs in PPG (6.2), RPG (3.4), and several other categories as he saw his role in the rotation expand.
With Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap no longer in the picture in Atlanta, the team was in need of frontcourt depth. While the Hawks figure to add at least one or two more bigs to the roster at some point, Muscala could be in line for even more minutes going forward for the retooling franchise.
The Hawks have a minimum salary cap hold on their books and hold the Bird rights for Muscala, who has spent the last four seasons in Atlanta. So his new agreement won’t affect the team’s remaining cap room until it becomes official. It also won’t have an impact on the club’s ability to match the Knicks’ offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr., though it’s not clear if the Hawks are seriously considering doing so.
Jamal Crawford Talks Trade, Free Agency Decision
While Chris Paul and J.J. Redick were the most notable departures for the Clippers this offseason, the team also lost Jamal Crawford, who became a roster casualty when the club needed to move salary in order to complete a sign-and-trade deal for Danilo Gallinari.
Speaking to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, Crawford spoke about the Clippers’ decision to trade him, his accelerated free agency process, and his decision to sign with the Timberwolves. Kennedy’s whole transcript is worth checking out, as is the corresponding podcast with Crawford, but here are a few of the veteran guard’s notable comments from their conversation:
On whether he was surprised by being traded:
“I did feel somewhat blindsided. I mean, we all knew this could potentially happen. We knew that it could be a very different team. Paul [Pierce] was retiring and we had so many free agents, from Blake [Griffin] to Chris to J.J. to Luc Mbah a Moute – that was four of our five starters. We knew that things might look different, but we didn’t think it would go to this magnitude and play out the way it did. … But this is a business. That’s life in the NBA. You have to just roll with the punches and make the best out of every situation.”
On why he strongly considered the Wizards or Cavaliers before joining the Timberwolves:
“With Washington, I felt like with them almost going to the Eastern Conference Finals last year – going to Game 7 [against the Celtics] – they’re a team on the rise. People don’t know this, but I was actually really close to signing with them last year before I decided to re-sign with the Clippers.
“Then, with Cleveland, they’ve obviously been the best team in the East over the last few years. Obviously having LeBron [James] there, having Kyrie Irving there [makes it attractive]. I’ve known Kyrie for a long time as well. They have all those guys there and they have Ty Lue, who I played for when he was an assistant coach on the Clippers. They also have Larry Drew as an assistant coach and I’ve played for him too. I had a lot of connections there and then just with how good they are, it’s intriguing. I mean, going to the last three NBA Finals speaks for itself.”
On the mutual interest between Crawford and the Lakers:
“They were one of the first teams to reach out once the buyout and everything was clear. They were really, really interested and I was interested too. I feel like they’re a team that’s on the rise and I think Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson are going to do great things.
“It made sense with my family already being in L.A. They wouldn’t have to adjust much and they could have the same routine, the same lifestyle, so that was all interesting to me. But after [the early talks], they started looking other places and I started looking at other teams and it kind of fizzled out a bit. They were a team I was really interested in early on, and they showed interest as well, but they wanted to be patient and see how some things played out. And, as you know, things can move really fast and I didn’t feel that I had the time to be able to wait for them.”
On choosing the Timberwolves:
“It was a tough call, but I knew it was the right call. Once I decided that this was it, I felt really, really good about my decision.
“I think we can be one of the best teams out there. I really do. We have to prove it, and it’s obviously been a long time since they’ve been in the playoffs. We know that we have a lot of work to do and that this won’t be easy because the West is stacked, as everyone knows. But for us, we’re really embracing the journey.”
Nets Acquire Allen Crabbe From Blazers
A year after aggressively pursuing shooting guard Allen Crabbe as a restricted free agent, the Nets have landed their man. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), the Trail Blazers are trading Crabbe to Brooklyn in exchange for forward Andrew Nicholson. Upon acquiring Nicholson, Portland will waive him and stretch his contract, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter).
When Crabbe reached restricted free agency in 2016, he was one of a handful of players to sign an offer sheet with the Nets. That deal, worth nearly $75MM over four years, looked like an awfully steep price to pay for a player with 17 career starts to his name. However, the Blazers thwarted Brooklyn’s attempts to poach Crabbe, matching the Nets’ offer sheet and bringing him back to Portland.
A year later, that decision to match Crabbe’s deal – while retaining other RFAs and adding Evan Turner – looks like it may have been a mistake. The Trail Blazers were in position to pay a huge tax penalty in 2018 if team salary remained as high as it was, and dumping a contract or two appeared to be an inevitability. By swapping Crabbe for Nicholson and stretching the $19MM+ left on Nicholson’s contract over the next seven seasons, the Blazers will clear approximately $16.5MM from their 2017/18 cap, ending up only about $3MM above the tax threshold.
It remains to be seen if the Blazers have another move up their sleeves — the club has been linked to Carmelo Anthony, despite Carmelo’s apparent unwillingness to waive his no-trade clause and accept a deal to Portland. Even if no second deal is coming though, the Blazers should be happy with this trade from a financial perspective. It will allow the club to shed more than $50MM in total projected salary and tax penalties.
From the Nets’ perspective, the deal will allow them to land a player they loved at a slightly lesser cost, albeit a year after they had hoped to acquire him. Once the Blazers matched Crabbe’s offer sheet last July, he was ineligible to be traded to Brooklyn for a full year, but once those 365 days passed, it made sense for the two teams to engage on trade discussions.
By sending out Nicholson in the swap, the Nets appear to have the cap room necessary to absorb Crabbe’s salary without having to make any corresponding roster moves. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Crabbe also waived his trade kicker, making things a little simpler for both teams. That decision will cost the 25-year-old some money, but he’ll have a chance to assume a larger role in Brooklyn than he had in Portland.
In 79 games last season for the Blazers, Crabbe set new career bests with 10.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, a .468 FG%, and a .444 3PT%. While it remains to be seen how Brooklyn’s starting lineup will shake out, Crabbe figures to see plenty of minutes alongside D’Angelo Russell in a new-look Nets backcourt.
The Blazers will generate a trade exception worth $12,969,502 in the deal. That figures represents the difference between Crabbe’s and Nicholson’s salaries for 2017/18.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raptors Sign Lorenzo Brown To Two-Way Contract
The Raptors have filled the second two-way contract opening on their roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve inked free agent guard Lorenzo Brown. Malcolm Miller received the club’s other two-way deal earlier this month.
Brown, a second-round pick in 2013, appeared in 63 total NBA regular season games for the Sixers, Timberwolves, and Suns between 2013 and 2016. Last offseason, the 26-year-old battled for the Pistons’ third point guard spot in training camp, but lost out and was waived by the team.
After failing to earn a spot on Detroit’s regular season roster out of camp, Brown played in Russia and China. He eventually returned stateside and joined the Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons’ D-League affiliate, with whom he averaged 23.6 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 4.0 APG in 11 games down the stretch this season.
For more details on how two-way contracts work, be sure to check out our breakdown here. We also have a tracker that shows how teams are using their two-way openings.
Cavaliers Sign Derrick Rose
JULY 25: The Cavaliers have officially signed Rose, the team announced today in a press release.
“We are very excited to be able to add a player of Derrick’s caliber and experience to the team,” new Cavs GM Koby Altman said in a statement. “Derrick could have gone to a number of other teams, but his specific mindset, goals and total focus and commitment to winning are what resulted in him signing with the Cavaliers. We are confident he will be a very good fit with our organization and we look forward to the many ways he will contribute to the team.”
JULY 24: The Cavaliers will sign Derrick Rose, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). The point guard met with the organization earlier today and Charania adds that Rose has already completed his physical with the team.
The pact will be a one-year, minimum salary arrangement, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. It was previously reported that the two sides were in serious discussions about a one-year deal.
Rumors of Rose earning a max contract swirled earlier this season, but it appeared increasingly unlikely that he would land that kind of offer, particularly after suffering another knee injury late in the 2016/17 campaign.
Rose’s decision to join Cleveland comes just days after news of Kyrie Irving‘s trade demands became public. If the team intends to give Irving a new home, Rose should be able to get an opportunity to win as well as a chance to play a meaningful role.
The 2010/11 MVP was also considering the Lakers, a team in which he met with last week. Los Angeles may have been able to offer him an increased role, but the organization isn’t close to being championship contenders.
The Cavaliers will be Rose’s third team as he enters his 10th season. He spent eight years in Chicago before being dealt to the Knicks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Kyrie Irving
The Suns were “very” close to acquiring Kyrie Irving on draft day, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (via Twitter). Irving’s trade request reportedly didn’t happen until early July, but it appears the Cavaliers were having discussions about their star point guard as they explored ways to upgrade their roster in June, before he formally asked to be moved.
According to Gambadoro (Twitter links), the Suns still have the pieces to land Irving, but any deal would require the team to part with Eric Bledsoe, Josh Jackson, and more. Gambadoro isn’t sure exactly what else the Cavs would ask for in addition to Bledsoe and Jackson, but the price may be too steep for Phoenix.
Here’s more on Irving:
- According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst on The Lowe Post podcast, the Pacers offered Paul George for Kyrie Irving around the time of the draft (hat tip to Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk). Cleveland likely wouldn’t have accepted George straight up for Irving even after he made his trade request, given George’s expiring contract, but if they’d known Kyrie wanted out at that time, it could have made those discussions with Indiana much more interesting.
- The Cavaliers have heard from virtually every team in the league in some capacity, though some are more interested in Irving than others, a source tells Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. According to Kyler, the situation is unlikely to get resolved quickly.
- Kyler also suggests that Cleveland would like to reduce its projected tax bill in an Irving deal, with one source predicting that any team acquiring Irving will have to take on at least Iman Shumpert‘s contract.
- Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com suggests that LeBron James is “eager to see [Irving] off,” but the four-time MVP denied that report in a tweet, suggesting that it needs “another source.”
- Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show on Monday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested that the Irving drama in Cleveland is “not necessarily the kind of drama that the league wants.” Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com has the details and the quotes from Silver, who called the situation “upsetting.”
- Here are several of Monday’s Irving-related notes and updates.
Jazz Re-Sign Joe Ingles
JULY 25: Three and a half weeks after reaching an agreement with him, the Jazz have officially re-signed Ingles, the team announced today in a press release. The delay was a result of Utah using up its cap room before going over the cap to finalize Ingles’ deal.
JULY 1: Restricted free agent Joe Ingles is finalizing an agreement to stay in Utah, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. The deal will reportedly pay him $52MM over four seasons (Twitter link). There are no options for either side, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
Getting Ingles back in the fold could help the Jazz make their case to keep Gordon Hayward, Wojnarowski notes. Ingles and Hayward are close friends and share the same agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports (Twitter link).
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Ingles, a 29-year-old small forward, has spent his entire three-year career in Utah. He appeared in all 82 games this season, and while he averaged a modest 7.1 points per night, he showed an impressive ability to make a three-pointer (.441 3PT%) and provided solid defense.
Ingles reportedly had a meeting scheduled with the Nets on Sunday and there was at least one report indicating that the Magic were preparing a significant offer, though a separate report suggested Orlando’s interest was overstated. The Clippers were also planning to meet with Ingles this weekend.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pelicans Waive Quinn Cook, Axel Toupane
11:55am: Bobby Marks of ESPN suggests that Toupane also had a partial guarantee on his contract that would have increased from $25K to $200K if he hadn’t been cut today. By waiving both Toupane and Cook, the Pelicans will carry a total of $50K in dead money for the duo — that figure would’ve increased to $300K after today.
11:12am: The Pelicans have reduced their offseason roster by two players, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived guard Quinn Cook and swingman Axel Toupane. Cook and Toupane will become unrestricted free agents later this week if and when they clears waivers.
Both Cook and Toupane had been on non-guaranteed minimum salary contracts in New Orleans. According to Basketball Insiders’ data, Cook’s salary became partially guaranteed for $25K earlier this month, and would have become guaranteed for another $75K if he had remained on the roster through July 25. As for Toupane, his deal was fully non-guaranteed until January.
Cook and Toupane both signed contracts with the Pelicans during the final days of the 2016/17 season, allowing the franchise to get a look at both players down the stretch and over the summer before making a determination on their status. Apparently, New Orleans decided that neither youngster was in the team’s 2017/18 plans. The Pelicans still have one player – Jordan Crawford – on a non-guaranteed contract.
Having played well in the G League over the last couple years, Cook and Toupane should be candidates for training camp invites or two-way contracts from other NBA teams once they clear waivers.
Brian Roberts To Play In Greece
JULY 25: According to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link), Roberts’ deal is worth $950K in year one and $1MM in year two, with an NBA out in between. That opt-out comes when we expected, but the value of the deal is smaller than previously reported.
JULY 24: NBA free agent point guard Brian Roberts has signed with Greek club Olympiacos, the team announced this weekend (Twitter link). Roberts will receive a two-year contract from the franchise.
According to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders, Roberts’ new two-year deal will be worth $4MM, and will also include an NBA opt-out. While Scotto doesn’t specify the details on that opt-out clause, I’d expect Roberts would have the opportunity to return to the NBA next offseason, following the first year of the deal.
Roberts, who played his college ball at Dayton, made his NBA debut in 2012 and has spent the last several seasons with New Orleans, Charlotte, and Portland. In 2016/17, he appeared in 41 games for the Hornets, but saw limited minutes, averaging 3.5 PPG and 1.3 APG.
The Hornets, who had been seeking a reliable backup for Kemba Walker, tried Roberts and Ramon Sessions there last season, but both players were free agents this summer and it appears neither will return. Sessions remains on the market, but Charlotte signed Michael Carter-Williams to be Walker’s new backup.
Meanwhile, Roberts will have the opportunity to play a larger role overseas next year for Olympiacos, and will also get a pay raise after earning the minimum in Charlotte. His new Greek club earned a spot in the EuroLeague Final Four in 2016/17, falling in the championship game to Turkish team Fenerbahce.
Hornets Work Out Free Agent Guards
JULY 25, 11:03am: Michael Scotto (via Twitter) fills out the list of free agent guards who worked out today for the Hornets — Demetrius Jackson, Marcus Paige, Jared Cunningham, and Nick Johnson were also part of the group.
JULY 25, 8:16am: The Hornets will also work out free agent point guard Isaiah Canaan, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN, who tweets that the group session will take place on Tuesday.
JULY 24, 2:47pm: Former Georgia guard J.J. Frazier will also take part in the Hornets’ workout this week, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.
JULY 24, 11:48am: The Hornets are bringing in free agent guard Donald Sloan for a workout, according to international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). Another free agent point guard, Norris Cole, will also work out for the club, per Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
While Charlotte’s starting backcourt figures to look the same heading into the 2017/18 season, the team is making some changes on the bench. Backup point guards Ramon Sessions and Brian Roberts aren’t returning, and Marco Belinelli was traded to Atlanta. Belinelli’s roster spot has been claimed by lottery pick Malik Monk, and the Hornets signed Michael Carter-Williams as the probable backup for Kemba Walker at the point, but the club may add one more point guard to its roster for depth purposes.
Currently, Briante Weber holds that third point guard spot on the roster, but his deal is non-guaranteed. Per Basketball Insiders, Weber’s salary is believed to become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through August 1, so the fact that the Hornets are taking a closer look at veteran point guards now may not bode well for Weber’s hold on a roster spot.
Sloan, 29, has more than 200 NBA regular season games under his belt, but spent the 2016/17 season in China with the Guangdong Southern Tigers. His team-high 23.6 PPG and 6.5 APG helped buoy the club to an appearance in the CBA Finals.
As for Cole, the 28-year-old played sparingly for the Thunder last season, but has extensive NBA experience with the Heat and Pelicans, having appeared in 360 total regular season contests since 2011.