Knicks Not Expected To Make Any Win-Now Moves
Nearly every team within the Atlantic Division has been busy this offseason by either adding key pieces or retaining their own stars. The Knicks may be the division’s lone exception and a league source tells Adam Zagoria of FanRag that the team isn’t expected to make any moves with the short-term in mind.
“[They are] building around K.P.,” one league source tells Zagoria. “Cleaning up all of Phil’s win-now mistakes.”
The source added that the franchise is “trying to build the right way, not with over-the-hill, oft-injured players that fit an antiquated and unproductive system.” New York added several veterans last offseason with the hope of making the playoffs while running the triangle offense during the 2016/17 campaign.
This offseason, the team appears to be targeting players who are not past their primes. New York was interested in Dion Waiters before the shooting guard re-signed with the Heat and it reportedly reached out to Jonathan Simmons about bringing the small forward to the Big Apple.
The Knicks remain hopeful that it can deal Carmelo Anthony and if a deal materializes, it could signal that the team will tank during the upcoming campaign. However, a source tells Zagoria that we won’t see a dramatic tank project akin to Philadelphia’s scheme with Sam Hinkie. “It looks like a rebuild,” a second league source tells Zagoria. “I do not think that they need to tank because they are not going to be very good anyway.”
Jazz Sign Tony Bradley To Rookie Contract
Shortly after announcing that Donovan Mitchell has signed his rookie contract, the Jazz announced that they’ve also locked up their other 2017 first-round pick. According to a press release from the club, former UNC center Tony Bradley is officially under contract.
Utah clearly had its eye on Bradley on draft night, having traded the 30th and 42nd overall picks to the Lakers in order to move up to two spots and nab the 19-year-old big man with the No. 28 overall selection.
Bradley, who figures to be brought along slowly by the Jazz, will get a four-year deal worth a total of nearly $8.6MM, and will have a modest $1.415MM cap hit in year one. Our chart breaking down this year’s rookie scale has the full details on his annual salaries.
Teams are securing their first-round picks to contracts quickly this year, since cap holds for those first-rounders now count for 120% of the rookie scale instead of 100%, as they did under the old CBA. That leaves little incentive for clubs to wait to sign their first-rounders to 120% contracts.
Eighteen of 30 first-round picks from 2017’s draft have already signed NBA contracts.
Pacers Sign Edmond Sumner
The Pacers have signed Edmond Sumner, according to the team’s website. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports hears (Twitter link) that the deal will be for two seasons and it will be the team’s first ever two-way contract.
Each team is allowed to sign two players to two-way deals, as our Two-Way Contracts Glossary page shows. Players under these contracts will spend most of their time in the G-League since they are only allowed to be with their NBA club for at most 45 days.
The Pelicans selected Sumner with the No. 52 overall selection in the 2017 draft before shipping his rights to Indiana for cash considerations. The Pacers came out of the draft with three prospects, having selected T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu with its two original selections.
Sumner played three seasons for Xavier, scoring 14.3 points per game in his final season with the school. He added 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per contest during his junior season.
Celtics Shopping Crowder, Smart, Bradley
In an effort to clear the cap room necessary to sign Gordon Hayward to his agreed-upon maximum salary contract, the Celtics have been discussing trades involving Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, and Avery Bradley, sources tell Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to the ESPN duo, Boston has discussed “trade concepts” involving those players with at least six teams.
[RELATED: Gordon Hayward to sign with Celtics]
Based on the NBA’s previous salary cap projections, it appeared the Celtics would have enough cap flexibility to move a smaller contract, such as Terry Rozier‘s, in order to create maximum salary room. However, when the cap came in lower than expected, at about $99MM, it all but guaranteed that Boston would have to move one of Crowder, Smart, or Bradley to make a max deal work.
Smart and Bradley are each entering contract years, so Crowder would likely be the most valuable trade chip of the three players. Crowder is under contract for the next three years for a total of about $22MM, making him a bargain. He’s also part of a growing logjam at small forward in Boston, with Hayward joining recent top-three picks Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
According to Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link), the Celtics offered Crowder to late-lottery teams leading up to June’s draft, hoping to acquire a pick and a young player. If the team wasn’t able to land that sort of package then, it’s even less likely now, given Boston’s reduced leverage, but Crowder should still have solid value.
Per Ian Begley of ESPN.com, the Celtics reached out to the Knicks today about Smart, but New York’s level of interest is unclear.
In addition to making a trade, the Celtics will likely have to renounce all their free agents and perhaps part with Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson to make room for Hayward.
Jazz Sign Donovan Mitchell To Rookie Deal
The Jazz have signed No. 13 overall pick Donovan Mitchell to a rookie scale contract, according to the team’s website. The team did not disclose the terms of the contract, but he’ll take home roughly $14.6MM over the next four seasons assuming he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
Utah traded Trey Lyles and the No. 24 overall pick, which ultimately became Tyler Lydon, to the Nuggets for the rights to Mitchell on draft night. The Jazz may need Mitchell to step up right away, as they look to fill the void left by Gordon Hayward‘s departure. The team also lost George Hill in free agency but gained Ricky Rubio via a trade with Wolves.
Mitchell, who played two seasons at Louisville, was considered one of the best perimeter defenders in his draft class. He averaged 15.6 points and 2.1 steals per contest during his final season playing for Rick Pitino.
Free Agent Rumors: Celtics, Heat, Cavs, Wolves
Having landed Gordon Hayward, the Celtics have shifted their focus to adding a rim-protecting big man, and are showing interest in several free agents who fit that bill, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. Currently, the Celtics could only offer the $4.3MM room exception, but if they clear more than the minimum space necessary for Hayward’s deal, they could potentially make a bigger offer.
Speaking of Hayward, Jody Genessy of The Deseret News talked at length with agent Mark Bartelstein about how and why his client’s free agency announcement turned into such a mess on Tuesday. As Genessy details, via Bartelstein, Hayward went back and forth between the Jazz and Celtics before making his final decision.
Here are more free agency updates from around the NBA:
- Having reached a deal with Dion Waiters, the Heat have interest in bringing back James Johnson and Luke Babbitt as well, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Bartelstein, who is also Johnson’s agent, will talk to Pat Riley tonight, according to Jackson.
- While Richard Jefferson, who is under contract for 2017/18, plans to return to the Cavaliers, James Jones may not, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Agent Joel Bell says that neither the Cavs nor Jones have made any decisions, but a source tells Vardon that Jones – who is a free agent – won’t be back in Cleveland next season.
- The Timberwolves have touched base with veteran free agent Vince Carter, but there’s nothing “concrete” happening with him for now, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.
- The Mavericks are considering adding German power forward Maxi Kleber, per Sportando (Twitter link). Kleber expects to continue playing for Bayern Munich if he doesn’t make the jump to the NBA.
Wizards Sign Mike Young To Two-Way Contract
The Wizards have signed Michael Young to a two-way contract, according to a team announcement. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Washington also announced that Young will play for the organization’s Summer League team in Las Vegas.
Young played at the University of Pittsburgh and was named All-ACC Third Team in each of this final two seasons at the school. The Pennsylvania native scored 19.6 points per game while pulling down 6.8 rebounds during his senior season with the Panthers.
Each team is allowed to sign two players to a two-way contract, which is a feature of the new CBA. Players signed to these deals will spend most of the 2017/18 campaign playing in the NBA G-League since they cannot spend more than 45 days with their NBA team, as our glossary page on two-way contracts shows.
The Wizards do not have a G-League team of their own, so Young will have to play for another club via the league’s flex assignment rule. Candace Buckner of The Washington Post notes that the power forward will likely spend most of his time with the Delaware 87ers.
Knicks Sign Frank Ntilikina To Rookie Contract
The Knicks’ new point guard has a new contract, according to the team, which announced today (via Twitter) that Frank Ntilikina has officially inked his four-year rookie deal. As Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets, Ntilikina’s mother was in attendance to witness the event.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
As the No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ntilikina is in line for a first-year salary of about $3.5MM, with a four-year total of $18.69MM on his new deal. The third and fourth years will be team options.
While Ntilikina projects to be the Knicks’ point guard of the future, it’s not clear whether he’ll get a chance to play major minutes right away. The club has been fairly quiet in free agency, but continues to seek a veteran point guard to act as a mentor for Ntilikina, who will turn 19 later this month.
Pacers Waive Monta Ellis
5:03pm: The Pacers have officially waived Ellis, per the NBA’s transactions log. According to David Aldridge of TNT (via Twitter), Indiana will use the stretch provision on Ellis, stretching his cap hit across five years.
That will create nearly $9MM in extra 2017/18 cap room for the Pacers, which they could use to make an offer to Kelly Olynyk or another free agent.
4:16pm: Confirming that Ellis is being waived, Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star tweets that there’s no buyout involved in the transaction, meaning Indiana will remain on the hook for Ellis’ 2017/18 salary unless another team claims him, which is extremely unlikely.
4:06pm: The Pacers are waiving veteran guard Monta Ellis, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Charania’s report doesn’t include any additional details yet, but the two sides were said to be discussing a buyout earlier this week, so it seems they’ve reached an agreement.
Ellis entered the 2016/17 season having started 677 of 710 regular season games since his rookie season, but saw his role with the Pacers reduced last season, and started just 33 of 74 games. The 31-year-old averaged 8.5 PPG and 3.2 APG in 27 MPG, which all represented the lowest marks since his rookie season back in 2005/06.
The contract Ellis signed with Indiana back in 2015 called for him to make $11.227MM in 2017/18 and featured a player option worth $11.69MM in 2018/19. Ellis’ player option is currently non-guaranteed, however, so the Pacers will only be on the hook for his ’17/18 salary if no buyout was reached.
Ellis will be suspended for the first five games of next season for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, but that shouldn’t have a substantial impact on his market as he seeks his next team. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after he officially clears waivers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Rumors: Rondo, Point Guards, Smart
The Knicks have been in touch with free agent point guard Rajon Rondo, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). However, the two sides haven’t set up a meeting at this point, per Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link).
While a report on July 1 indicated that New York had reached out to Rondo’s camp, Marc Berman of The New York Post suggests that the club didn’t formally make contact until today (Twitter link). Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who initially reported the team’s contact with Rondo on Saturday, reiterates that account, though he acknowledges that “no substantive conversation” happened over the weekend.
Regardless of when the Knicks first touched base with Rondo and his reps, it’s clear that the team continues to explore all its options as it contemplates adding a veteran guard to the roster. Here’s more on that search:
- Some people who have been in contact with the Knicks recently got the impression that the team’s interest in Rondo isn’t particularly strong, per Begley.
- The Knicks have heard from the Celtics, who are open to trading Marcus Smart, but it’s not clear whether or not New York is interested in Smart, writes Begley.
- Derrick Rose and Shelvin Mack remain on the Knicks’ radar, according to Begley, who hears that the team is on the lookout for a mentor for rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina.