Alfonzo McKinnie Agrees To Deal With Raptors
4:50 PM: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
9:30 AM: The Raptors will sign Alfonzo McKinnie to a multi-year contract with a partial guarantee, according to Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic.
A 6’8″ forward out of Green Bay, McKinnie is currently playing for Toronto’s team in the Las Vegas Summer League. He spent all of last season with the Bulls’ G League affiliate, averaging 14.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in 50 games.
David Griffin Withdraws Name From Knicks’ GM Search
David Griffin spoke with the Knicks about becoming the team’s next GM, but those talks have ended without a deal materializing, Marc. J. Spears of the Undefeated reports (ESPN Now link). Spears adds that Griffin pulled his name from consideration after he and the team couldn’t come to an agreement on the right role.
It was previously reported that the Knicks were opposed to letting Griffin bring in the same front office staff he had in Cleveland. The organization has several longstanding front office members and it didn’t want to displace many of those executives.
Team executive Steve Mills, who met with Griffin over the weekend, has been handling GM duties on an interim basis since the franchise fired Phil Jackson. New York hasn’t made any substantial player personnel moves this offseason with the exception of signing Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year, $71MM deal.
Raptors Sign First-Round Pick OG Anunoby
The Raptors have signed OG Anunoby to a rookie scale deal, according to the team’s Twitter feed. The exact terms were not disclosed, but assuming he signed for 120% of the rookie scale, he’ll make slightly more than $9.75MM over the next four seasons.
The small forward suffered a knee injury part way through his sophomore season at Indiana and it certainly impacted his draft spot. He was expected to be a lottery pick coming into the draft process but ended up going No. 23 overall to Toronto.
It’s unlikely that Anunoby is ready to begin the season, though according to an earlier report, he should be able to get on the court at some point before 2018. Toronto’s wing rotation is currently in flux after losing P.J. Tucker in free agency and trading away DeMarre Carroll to the Nets. The Raptors were able to bring in C.J. Miles via a sign-and-trade, but depth arguably still remains the team’s biggest weakness. Anunoby should be able to help with that once he recovers from his injury.
The Missouri native was impressive on the defensive end during his 16 games with the Hoosiers. He had at least one block or steal in every game he played.
C.J. Miles Headed To Toronto In Sign-And-Trade
The Pacers and Raptors have agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that will send free agent C.J. Miles to Toronto, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. Miles will sign a three-year deal with the Raptors worth about $25MM that contains a player option for the final season.
The trade cannot be completed until Toronto moves some salary by sending DeMarre Carroll to Brooklyn, Wojnarowski notes (Twitter link). That deal is contingent on the Wizards matching the Nets’ offer sheet to Otto Porter, which they have announced they will do. However, provisions for Porter’s physical could delay the matching process to as late as Wednesday.
The Miles trade will send point guard Cory Joseph to Indiana in return, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Joseph, who turns 26 next month, played in 80 games for the Raptors last season, averaging 9.3 points and 3.3 assists, mostly as a combo guard off the bench. He will make $7.66MM next season and has a player option worth $8MM for 2018/19. He’ll team with newly-signed Darren Collison as Indiana looks to replace Jeff Teague at the point guard position.
Miles, a 30-year-old swingman, will serve as a replacement for Carroll and provide Toronto with some additional outside shooting. A 12-year veteran, Miles is coming off another productive season — in 76 games, he averaged 10.7 points and 3.0 rebounds, and shot a career-best 41.3% on three-pointers. He will be getting a raise from the $4.58MM he made last season.
The Raptors will be hard-capped at $125.266MM for the 2017/18 league year as a result of acquiring a player in a sign-and-trade deal, and may also have to rely on a pair of youngsters – Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet – as the backup point guards behind Kyle Lowry.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Shelvin Mack Signs Two-Year Deal With Magic
JULY 9, 12:22: The deal is official, according to a tweet from the Magic.
JULY 7, 6:51pm: The Magic are finalizing a deal with free agent guard Shelvin Mack, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The two-year pact is said to be worth $12MM, at an even $6MM per year (according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune).
In 55 games for the Jazz last season, Mack posted 7.8 points per game, a far cry from the 12.7 he put up in ten extra minutes the year prior.
Over the course of a six-year career, Mack has established himself as a solid backup guard capable of playing both the one and the two. In Orlando he’ll fit in well behind Elfrid Payton, perhaps sharing spot starter duties with D.J. Augustin.
The move could signal that C.J. Watson, the team’s other point guard option, could be waived in the coming days. Watson’s deal isn’t guaranteed for 2017/18 if Orlando waives him prior to July 10, as is laid out in our official NBA Salary Guarantee Dates list.
Sixers Notes: Fultz, Redick, Johnson, Korkmaz
Rookie point guard Markelle Fultz has been diagnosed with a sprained left ankle after being helped off the court in Saturday’s summer league game, tweets Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com. Fultz will be held out of today’s contest and may not play again during summer league. “We will treat him accordingly and be as cautious as we can, making sure he is healthy,” Sixers summer league coach Lloyd Pierce told ESPN Saturday night. “We will know [more] once we get some treatment on him. I haven’t heard anything [more].” Phliadelphia has experienced terrible injury luck with high draft picks in recent years as Ben Simmons missed all of last season and Joel Embiid has played just 31 games in three years. “I’m a little bit punch-drunk with the injuries that we’ve had with our first players selected over the years,” said head coach Brett Brown.
There’s more news out of Philadelphia:
- The Sixers officially added two veteran leaders Saturday with the signings of J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson, relays Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I think I can speak for Amir as well,” Redick said. “We are in the second phase of our career. We’ve been through enough now and have enough wisdom that we can be an effective elder.” The new additions will have important roles on the court as well. Redick, who averaged 15.8 points per game and shot 44% from 3-point range during his four years with the Clippers, is expected to provide a boost to the team’s outside shooting. Johnson will be counted on to solidify the interior defense.
- Furkan Korkmaz is getting his first taste of NBA play in the summer league, writes Benjamin Mehic of The Deseret News. The Sixers believe the 19-year-old Turkish guard, who signed with the team this week, has the talent to eventually become an important contributor. “I think the thing people should zoom in on is how he moves,” said assistant coach Billy Lange. “If you watch his fluidity, his pace, skill and feel for the game, you can see the package. The results will come. The guy just flew across the country. Hopefully he gets more comfortable so we can get him in our gym and get back to work.”
- The Sixers are also high on Jonah Bolden, a second-round pick from 2016, Mehic adds. Being groomed as a stretch four, Bolden spent last season in Serbia trying to improve as a shooter.
- Embiid was fined $10,000 by the league on Saturday for “using inappropriate language on social media,” tweets Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. Embiid’s message was directed at Lonzo Ball‘s father, LaVar.
Nets Notes: Carroll, Free Agents, Aldrich, Draft Pick
Brooklyn GM Sean Marks got Raptors president Masai Ujiri to sweeten the deal involving DeMarre Carroll as they talked during Saturday’s games at the Las Vegas Summer League, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Toronto’s original offer involved just Carroll and a first-round pick, but Marks was able to convince Ujiri to send along a second-rounder and take back the $3MM contract of Justin Hamilton.
The deal provides needed cap relief for the Raptors, while giving the Nets a replacement for Otto Porter after the Wizards announced their intention to match Brooklyn’s four-year, $106.5MM offer sheet. The trade may not be finalized before Thursday while the Nets wait for the Wizards to conduct Porter’s physical and report the results to the league.
There’s more today out of Brooklyn:
- With nearly $17MM left in cap space along with a $4.3MM room exception, the Nets will move on to other targets in free agency, Lewis adds. They were believed to be interested in Pistons’ guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but the Carroll trade prevents them from making a max offer. Caldwell-Pope turned down $80MM over five years from Detroit, but his options may be limited now as fewer teams have cap room to work with. Other possibilities for Brooklyn are C.J. Miles, Dewayne Dedmon, Nikola Mirotic or another restricted free agent in JaMychal Green. Coach Kenny Atkinson sees the value in having an older player around. “I do think [Marks and I] both agree that we don’t want to go in with a totally young roster,” he said. “We do need that veteran support. If it’s the right position where somebody can help us, it’s definitely something [to consider].”
- Saturday’s deal may end the Timberwolves’ hopes of getting the Nets to take on Cole Aldrich’s salary, Lewis notes in the same piece. Minnesota wants to unload Aldrich, who will make $7.3MM in the upcoming season and nearly $6.9MM in 2018/19, to create enough cap room to sign Miles. However, Marks wouldn’t agree to the deal unless the Wolves threw in Oklahoma City’s 2018 first-rounder.
- The second-rounder the Nets will receive in the Carroll deal will probably be the lower of the Magic or Lakers picks, according to a tweet from NetsDaily. Brooklyn already has the rights to the Pacers’ 2018 second-rounder if Indiana misses the playoffs.
Luis Scola Signs With Chinese Team
Veteran forward Luis Scola will play in China next season, according to a tweet from Sportando. The 37-year-old has signed a contract with the Shanxi Brave Dragons in the Chinese Basketball Association.
A 10-year NBA veteran, Scola played 36 games for the Nets last season, averaging 5.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in about 13 minutes per night. He was waived by Brooklyn on February 27th.
An Argentinian star and a veteran of international basketball, Scola was part of the gold-medal winners at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He also played for the Rockets, Suns, Pacers and Raptors.
Knicks Talking To David Griffin About GM Role
The Knicks have begun preliminary talks with David Griffin about becoming the team’s next GM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
The former Cavaliers GM had dinner with team executive Steve Mills on Friday and is expected to meet with owner James Dolan soon. If the Knicks hire Griffin, he will take over day-to-day basketball operations, with Mills moving into the president’s role that was formerly held by Phil Jackson.
However, the Knicks are reportedly opposed to letting Griffin bring in the front office staff he had in Cleveland. New York has an entrenched staff that has been in place for years, and the team is reluctant to make widespread changes, according to the ESPN authors. Sources tell them that Griffin may not accept the job if it means working with an inherited front office.
Griffin had a successful track record in Cleveland, where he served as GM for three years and constructed a championship roster. He was let go at the end of June after his contract expired.
The Knicks are hoping to revamp their roster and are concentrating on players 25 and younger. Their latest move, signing Tim Hardaway Jr. for $71MM over four years, was orchestrated by Mills, according to Wojnarowski and Shelburne.
Bulls Pull Qualifying Offer For Joffrey Lauvergne
The Bulls have rescinded their qualifying offer to Joffrey Lauvergne, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The move makes him an unrestricted free agent, and Charania notes that several teams are already expressing interest.
The qualifying offer was $2,137,149 and Lauvergne had a $3,248,466 cap hold, so Chicago frees up a little bit of money by letting him go.
The Bulls acquired the third-year center/forward from Oklahoma City in a trade at the February deadline. He played 20 games with Chicago, averaging 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in about 12 minutes per night.
Lauvergne was selected by Memphis with the 55th pick in 2013 and was traded to Denver on draft night. He spent two years with the Nuggets before being dealt to the Thunder in 2016. He earned a little more than $1.7MM last season.