Kyrie Irving Requests Trade; LeBron Blindsided
10:52pm: The Knicks would consider a package involving Carmelo Anthony and future first-round picks, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPN.
4:24pm: Irving has provided a short list of four teams that he would like the Cavaliers to consider dealing with, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets, although it’s worth noting that he doesn’t have a no trade clause. Those teams, Haynes says, are Knicks, Spurs, Heat and Timberwolves.
3:09pm: Kyrie Irving asked the Cavs to trade him during a meeting with owner Dan Gilbert last week, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports. Irving no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James, as he prefers to be more of the focal point of his team, Windhorst adds.
Irving’s bombshell request just adds to a disjointed offseason for the three-time Eastern Conference champions.
Irving’s agent Jeff Wechsler would not confirm the request to Windhorst’s ESPN colleague Adrian Wojnarowski.
“Kyrie and I had a meeting with Cavs leadership where we discussed many different scenarios in reference to Kyrie and his future with the team,” Wechsler told Wojnarowski. “The basis of those discussions and what went on in those discussions are between the Cavs and us. We are respectfully going to keep those private.”
James was ‘blindsided and disappointed’ by the request, sources told Windhorst. Other members of the team became aware of Irving’s request, Windhorst adds.
Irving, who cannot become a free agent until the summer of 2019, had said in a recent interview that the franchise is “in a peculiar place.” It’s hard to imagine the Cavs dealing their second-best player, but it may not have a choice if the relationship between the team’s two best players is irreparably damaged.
Cleveland has been negotiating a one-year contract with a free agent point guard, Derrick Rose, and will meet with him in the coming days, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN (Twitter link).
Cleveland’s offseason got off to a bad start when Gilbert couldn’t come to an extension agreement with former GM David Griffin.
The Cavs also were unable to add another star like Jimmy Butler or Paul George via a trade this offseason, though they added a few minor reinforcements to their bench.
Atlantic Notes: Anthony, Carroll, Nader
The trade kicker built into Carmelo Anthony‘s contract may be a moot point, Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes. The veteran forward is apparently willing to waive the potential $8MM if the Knicks can send him to the Rockets.
According to league sources, the Knicks and Anthony have approached trade discussions under the assumption that the kicker would be waived all along, a testament to how willing Anthony is to leave New York.
Of course Anthony wasn’t always so open to leaving the Knicks. As recently as last season the forward seemed intent on remaining in the Big Apple, a famous point of contention between him and then-team president Phil Jackson.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Recently acquired Nets forward DeMarre Carroll took another shot at the Raptors, telling Brian Lewis of the New York Post in so many words that the roster in Toronto just isn’t built to share the ball. “I had my share of iso already, so team-ball is my forte,” Carroll said. “You got two great All-Stars, two great players. That’s how they play. They were playing that way before I came, and they’re going to be playing that way long after I leave. They’re not changing that for me.“
- One of the big strengths that Brad Stevens brings to the Celtics is his impact on recruiting players from around the league, Chris Forsberg of ESPN writes.
- In his first year with the Celtics, Abdel Nader will make $1.2MM, the 2017/18 deal will then be followed up by two non-guaranteed years and eventually a team option in 2020/21. Basketball Insiders has the full contract details.
Extension Candidate: Andrew Wiggins
Three weeks into the 2017/18 NBA league year, no players eligible for rookie scale extensions have signed new deals. However, that doesn’t mean that none of those fourth-year players are engaged in negotiations with their respective teams.
Timberwolves head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau confirmed this week that Minnesota is indeed working on a new contract for Andrew Wiggins, who is one of those 21 players eligible for a rookie scale extension. The No. 1 overall pick from the 2014 draft and a former Rookie of the Year, Wiggins has easily been the highest-scoring player of his draft class since entering the NBA, and is one of the most worthy candidates for a new deal.
While Wiggins is a good bet to sign a contract extension with Minnesota this offseason, the length and overall value of that new deal remain up in the air. Reports this week from The Star Tribune and ESPN rightly note that Wiggins is eligible for a five-year extension worth just shy of $148MM, based on current salary cap projections for the 2018/19 season. However, it’s not clear if Thibodeau himself confirmed that a five-year deal is the probable outcome.
Neither the Star Tribune nor the ESPN report cites any sources saying that the two sides are discussing a five-year deal, and there are no quotes from Thibodeau suggesting as much. ESPN’s report doesn’t even include a byline. Still, while it’s possible that it’s just speculation, the Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda is very plugged in on the Wolves, so if he suggests a five-year extension is in play, it’s certainly been considered by the organization.
If a team wants to sign a player entering the final year of his rookie contract to a five-year extension, that means making him a “Designated Player” and offering him a maximum salary deal. There’s some wiggle room in regard to what constitutes a “maximum” salary for Wiggins — language could be included in the contract that ensures he receives a max worth up to 30% of the cap starting in 2018/19 if he makes an All-NBA team, as opposed to 25% if he doesn’t. But even if Wiggins doesn’t earn All-NBA honors, a max deal would still start at a projected $25.5MM in ’18/19, increasing by 8% annually up to $33.66MM by 2022/23.
That would be a massive investment for a Timberwolves team that also has to consider Karl-Anthony Towns‘ impending payday. And while it’s possible that the franchise will ultimately be willing to roll the dice on that sort of five-year max for Wiggins, I don’t think it’s a lock.
Star players who receive five-year maximum salary rookie scale extensions from their teams often complete those deals very quickly when the new league year gets underway. In recent offseasons, Kyrie Irving (2014), Anthony Davis (2015), and Damian Lillard (2015) all agreed to max extensions before the July moratorium came to an end. If a maximum salary offer is on the table, little negotiating is required, and those deals generally don’t take long to finalize.
Additionally, it’s worth considering that 2016’s rookie scale extension class didn’t include a single five-year, maximum salary deal. C.J. McCollum, Steven Adams, and Rudy Gobert were among the candidates for max extensions who ended up accepting a little less. Most notably, Giannis Antetokounmpo signed a four-year, $100MM contract that fell short of the max. Antetokounmpo is only two months older than Wiggins and is a far more complete player at this point in his career, so the Wolves’ front office may use that deal as a point of comparison in negotiations with Wiggins.
Conversely, Wiggins’ camp should be able to make a pretty strong case that he’s worth a maximum salary investment. Few young players in the NBA are as talented on offense as Wiggins, who has increased his PPG from 16.9 to 20.7 to 23.6 over the course of his three NBA seasons. He even added a more reliable three-point shot to his arsenal in 2016/17, making a respectable 35.6% of his long-distance attempts.
Of course, as good as Wiggins is on offense, his performance in many other areas of the game has been lacking. In particular, his play on defense last season was frustrating — the Timberwolves’ defensive efficiency numbers with Wiggins on the court were substantially worse, and the eye test confirmed that the former No. 1 pick was getting beat far too often.
Additionally, while Wiggins is hardly expected to be the Wolves’ top distributor or rebounder, his lack of production in both areas was noticeable. No player in the NBA played more overall minutes last season than Wiggins, but his 4.0 RPG average was modest for a 6’8″ forward, and his career-high 2.3 APG average was also low for a player with the ball in his hands so often.
Although Wiggins has been a fairly one-dimensional player through the first three years of his career, his offensive ability and his age are both significant factors working in his favor. Even if he never develops into an above-average defender, he looks capable of averaging 25+ PPG, and there simply aren’t many players in the NBA who have the ability to score like that night in and night out.
Wiggins’ age, meanwhile, suggests that his best is yet to come, and a contract extension with the Wolves figures to cover many of his prime years. Wiggins’ new teammate Jimmy Butler serves as a tantalizing point of comparison for the 22-year-old. When he was Wiggins’ age, Butler was in the midst of struggling through a rookie season in which he only played 359 total minutes.
Butler, who didn’t enter the league as fully formed on offense as Wiggins, also didn’t post great rebounding or assist numbers right away — in his first season as a full-time starter, the ex-Bulls forward averaged 4.9 RPG and 2.6 APG in 38.7 MPG. By comparison, last season, in fewer minutes per game, Butler posted 6.2 RPG and 5.5 APG to go along with impressive production on both offense and defense.
Not all players develop like Butler did, but Wiggins has the advantage of working with the same coach the three-time All-Star played under for several seasons. If Thibodeau’s defensive-minded approach rubs off on Wiggins, he’s capable of becoming one of the game’s elite players and earning every dollar of a maximum salary extension.
Right now though, that sort of commitment would have to be made with confidence in Wiggins’ ability to develop into a more complete all-around player, since the current version of the young forward probably isn’t worth a max investment.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
And-Ones: Dream Teams, Sports Betting, Roberts
Eight of the 12 players who played with Team USA during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London have since changed teams, Tom Haberstroh of ESPN writes. Seven of them either immediately or eventually reunited with a teammate from the same Dream Team squad.
The scribe has published a full feature detailing the impact that international teams have on superteams in the NBA, referring to playing internationally as a form of modern team-building.
The article, of course, touches on the fact that yet another player from that same team – Carmelo Anthony – could be on the move to reunite with Olympic teammates before the end of the summer.
Additionally, Haberstroh points out that five of the players from the 2016 Olympic squad can be free agents next summer. Could more reunions be in the cards?
That’s not all from around the NBA:
- Commissioner Adam Silver remains convinced that sports betting will eventually be legal in the U.S. Ben Fawkes of ESPN breaks down Silver’s opinion on the matter over the years.
- A panel of Sports Illustrated writers discussed who they thought the next superstar to change teams would be. Included in the various hot takes were Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin and even LeBron James.
- Former Hornets guard Brian Roberts is negotiating a deal with EuroLeague powerhouse Olympiacos, international basketball reporter David Pick tweets.
Cavs To Name Koby Altman General Manager
5:53pm: There’s more out of Cleveland’s front office. Per Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, the Cavs have parted ways with cap expert Tony Leotti and are expected to name Mike Gansey their new assistant general manager. Gansey was previously the GM of Cleveland’s G League affiliate.
4:08pm: The Cavaliers will be promoting Koby Altman to general manager, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. After extensive talks, the decision to promote the current assistant general manager is “imminent.”
Earlier this month we speculated that such a move could be in the cards considering that Altman had met with Dan Gilbert to discuss the future of the franchise’s front office.
Already this summer, Cleveland has parted ways with David Griffin and seen an interest in appointing Chauncey Billups to the position fizzle. Throughout the process, Altman has performed the duties of general manager, no small task considering the offseason that has unfolded.
The news of Altman’s impending promotion comes in the midst of commotion that star point guard Kyrie Irving has requested a trade out of Cleveland. Legitimizing Altman’s role as the chief negotiator in such circumstances could help the organization maximize its return.
Central Division: Rose, Bucks, Tolliver
Don’t expect Derrick Rose to make his decision this weekend, contrary to previous reports suggesting that he would. Per Chris Haynes of ESPN, Rose will have a face-to-face meeting with the Cavaliers before ultimately making a decision next week.
After a decent if unspectacular lone season in New York, Rose has narrowed down a list of possible suitors to the Lakers and Cavs. His involvement with the latter could be impacted by recent revelations that starting point guard Kyrie Irving has requested a trade out of Cleveland.
While the parties are said to be engaged in a deal for the veteran’s minimum, the guard could see his role increase substantially if Irving gets his wish and is promptly moved.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Consider Pacers swingman Lance Stephenson among those “heartbroken” that Paul George and the franchise have parted ways. The pair remain friends, Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports writes.
- Among those interviewing for positions in Jon Horst‘s front office with the Bucks is Knicks Director of Pro Player Personnel Mark Hughes, Ian Begley of ESPN writes. Hughes has played a large role in New York’s draft decisions over the course of the past decade.
- The decision to bring Anthony Tolliver back aboard will pay off for the Pistons in veteran leadership, Rod Beard of the Detroit News writes. “He’s one of the highest-character guys in the NBA. What he will do in terms of leadership is important to our team, but it’s important that he’s a guy who can go out and play,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said.
- The Pistons‘ chief goal this offseason was to improve their three-point shooting and Keith Langlois of the team’s official website writes that they’ve added a number of players that can help in that regard.
Dewayne Dedmon Signs With Hawks
July 21: The Hawks have made their contract with Dedmon official, the team announced via press release on its website.
July 11: Free agent Dewayne Dedmon has agreed to a two-year, $14MM deal with the Hawks, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. Dedmon’s deal includes a player option in the second year.
Dedmon, who turns 28 next month, hit free agency after opting out of the second year of his original two-year pact with the Spurs. As it turns out, Dedmon’s decision paid off as he was set to make just $3.028MM in 2017/18 under his player option. Now, he gets a significant raise and security for two seasons.
Strong play for the Spurs last season allowed Dedmon to opt out and pursue a larger deal. In 76 games (37 starts), Dedmon posted totals of 5.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG in 17.5 minutes per game. Now, the 7’0″ center will provide the Hawks with valuable rim protection and defense next season.
Atlanta general manager Travis Schlenk promised his team would seek help at center earlier this week, and if those comments stand, the team is not done adding.
“We’ll sign a third point guard. We are deciding to we get a veteran guy or do we get a young guy that we think has upside,” Schlenk said. “Do we bring in a couple guys and let them battle it out? We are going to sign a power forward for sure. We’ll sign a center for sure. Probably sign three more big guys so we end up with six.”
Dedmon figures to split time with Mike Muscala, who the Hawks signed last week. With Howard shipped out to the Hornets and Millsap heading to Denver, the Hawks will continue to scour the market for size and skill vacated by those departures.
The departures of Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap, and Tim Hardaway Jr. have created the cap space for the Hawks to pursue Dedmon and other free agents.
Thunder Agree To Deal With Yannis Morin
The Thunder have agreed to a deal with 23-year-old international center Yannis Morin, Erik Horne of the Oklahoman writes, confirming a report previously relayed by Sportando.
The French big man played with Oklahoma City’s summer league team and will join the franchise for training camp on a non-guaranteed deal. In five games in the Orlando league, he averaged 2.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for OKC.
Morin has previously played in France’s Pro A and Pro B leagues.
Hawks Re-Sign Ersan Ilyasova
July 21: The Hawks have officially re-signed Ilyasova, the team announced via a press release on its website.
July 12: The Hawks have reached an agreement to bring back free agent power forward Ersan Ilyasova, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). According to Charania, Ilyasova will sign a one-year deal worth $6MM to return to Atlanta.
[RELATED: Notable remaining NBA free agents by position]
Few players have bounced around the NBA more in the last two years than Ilyasova, who has appeared in multiple regular season games for the Pistons, Magic, Thunder, Sixers, and Hawks since the 2015/16 season began. Last season, he was traded from Oklahoma City to Philadelphia early on, then flipped to Atlanta prior to the trade deadline.
Although he hasn’t found a permanent NBA home since leaving Milwaukee in 2015, Ilyasova continues to be an effective stretch four. For his career, the 6’10” big man has averaged 11.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG, converting 36.6% of his three-point attempts.
The Hawks renounced Ilyasova last week in the process of creating cap space, but they still have plenty of room to bring him back without using any form of Bird rights. Their deal with Ilyasova is the third move the Hawks have made to address their lack of frontcourt depth in recent days. The team also agreed to bring back Mike Muscala, and struck a deal with Dewayne Dedmon.
Nick Collison Re-Signs With Thunder, Will Retire In 2018
JULY 21st, 2:40pm: The signing is official, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets.
JULY 14th, 11:31am: The Thunder and Nick Collison have reached an agreement on a one-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). According to Charania, the one-year deal will “end” Collison’s long NBA career with the franchise, so it sounds like he’ll retire at the end of the 2017/18 season.
Collison, who will turn 37 in October, has appeared in 895 total regular season games for Seattle and Oklahoma City, but has an extremely limited role at this stage of his career. In 2016/17, he played just 128 total minutes in 20 games for the Thunder, averaging 1.7 PPG and 1.6 RPG. In what figures to be his final season, he’ll serve more as a veteran mentor on the bench than as a key on-court contributor for the club.
While terms of the deal weren’t reported, the Thunder have used their taxpayer mid-level exception, and won’t use their bi-annual exception to avoid becoming hard-capped. So Collison will be in line for a one-year, minimum salary contract.
That deal will pay Collison about $2.329MM, but will only count for $1.471MM for OKC’s team salary and tax purposes. Our story on this year’s minimum salaries explains the details on those numbers.