Hawks Sign John Collins To Rookie Contract
The Hawks have signed 2017 first-round pick John Collins to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release.
The 19th overall pick in last Thursday’s draft, Collins will be in line for a deal worth more than $11MM over the next four years. His salary in his rookie season will be $1,936,920, as our breakdown of rookie scale salaries shows.
Collins is one of several first-rounders to sign his new NBA contract on the first day he was eligible to do so. Because the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement no longer provides any additional cap flexibility to teams that keep their first-rounders unsigned, several teams are taking care of business with their draftees immediately.
Knicks Reach Out To Rondo, Collison
The Knicks’ search for a veteran point guard to pair with rookie Frank Ntilikina continues, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the club has reached out to Rajon Rondo and Darren Collison.
New York has been linked to a number of free agent point guards since free agency opened and in the weeks leading up to July. Many of the team’s rumored trade of free agent targets – such as Jeff Teague, Ricky Rubio, and Jrue Holiday – are already off the board, but the Knicks appear to have no shortage of candidates for their point guard spot.
The Knicks are said to be considering a reunion with Derrick Rose, and are among the clubs with some reported interest in Michael Carter-Williams. George Hill is viewed as the Knicks’ top target, though he’s probably more of a long shot, given the club’s inability to make him the sort of lucrative, competitive offer he’ll get elsewhere. A source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that the Nuggets and Pacers are a little “further along” on Hill.
It remains to be seen which point guard the Knicks will ultimately land, but expect a veteran addition of some sort — the club doesn’t believe Ntilikina is ready to start, per Berman.
Celtics Sign Jayson Tatum, Ante Zizic
The Celtics have formally signed 2017 first-round pick Jayson Tatum and 2016 first-rounder Ante Zizic to their respective rookie deals, the team announced today in a press release. Both players are now under contract with the club through 2020/21.
As our breakdown of this year’s rookie scale salaries shows, Tatum will be in for a nice payday as this year’s third overall pick. He’ll earn $5,645,400 in his rookie season, and more than $30MM over the life of his four-year contract, assuming his third and fourth team options are exercised.
As for Zizic, the Croatian big man will join the Celtics after spending the 2016/17 season stashed overseas. Zizic’s contract will be worth the same amount as that of OG Anunoby, the 23rd overall pick in this year’s draft. He’ll make $1,645,200 in his first year, and about $9.75MM over four years.
With Zizic now officially a Celtic, it remains to be seen if Guerschon Yabusele, the team’s other draft-and-stash prospect from the 2016 first round, will join him in Boston.
Rockets To Sign 2016 Second-Rounder Zhou Qi
July 6: The signing is official, according to the team’s website.
July 1: Zhou’s deal with the Rockets will indeed be a four-year pact, his agent tells Feigen (Twitter link). That means Houston will dip into its mid-level exception to get it done. The length of the agreement was first reported by David Pick, as noted below.
12:01pm: The Rockets will bring 2016 second-round pick Zhou Qi stateside for the upcoming season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that the team will sign the Chinese center to a multiyear contract. The deal has not yet been finalized, with the structure still undergoing some “final touches,” per Wojnarowski.
Zhou, the 43rd overall pick in the 2016 draft, reportedly remained under contract with China’s Xinjiang Flying Tigers for another four years, but had an NBA out clause believed to be worth $650K, opening the door for him to join the Rockets. The 21-year-old is a promising prospect capable of protecting the rim and stretching the floor a little.
The details of Zhou’s new deal with the Rockets may ultimately hinge on what else Houston does in free agency. The over-the-cap club currently has the mid-level ($8.4MM) and bi-annual ($3.3MM) exceptions at its disposal, and could always sign players using the minimum salary.
As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle noted earlier this week, the Rockets would like Zhou’s deal to span at least three years, but would have to use a portion of the MLE to make that happen — the bi-annual exception and the minimum salary exception limit deals to two years.
According to international reporter David Pick (via Twitter), Zhou’s new deal is expected to run through the 2020/21 season. That would make it a four-year contract, meaning Houston would have to use some of its MLE to complete the signing.
Nene Back On Free Agent Market
12:08pm: The Rockets remain optimistic that they’ll be able to work something out with Nene, tweets Spears. Houston could increase its offer to Nene by using part of the mid-level exception rather than his Non-Bird rights.
11:38am: Upset at the prospect of losing one year – and approximately $4MM – from his initially-reported agreement with the Rockets, Nene is “back at square one” in free agency, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter links). According to Spears, the market for the veteran center is back open.
JULY 1, 9:36am: The Rockets’ deal with Nene will actually only be for three years, since the team can’t sign him to a four-year deal with his Non-Bird rights due to the over-38 rule, says Bobby Marks of ESPN.com. Nene’s three-year contract figures to be worth $10,954,440, which is the maximum allowable using his Non-Bird rights.
Albert Nahmad (Twitter link) was among the cap experts to point out late last night that Nene’s reported agreement appeared to be in conflict with the over-38 rule.
JUNE 30, 10:16pm: The Rockets have agreed to a four-year deal with Nene, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. The deal is said to be worth $15MM, Feigen notes.
Despite rupturing his groin in the postseason, the 34-year-old veteran fully expected to return to the Rockets. Now with Chris Paul on board and speculation that there could be further deals in the works, the franchise will presumably delight in the opportunity to add a cheap option that’s already familiar with the organization.
Adding context to the deal is Zach Lowe of ESPN who tweets that it looks as though the Rockets used Nene’s Non-Bird rights. That means the franchise will retain its mid-level and biannual exceptions for further moves.
In 67 games for Houston last season, the greybeard posted 9.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Magic Sign First Round Pick Jonathan Isaac
The Magic announced today that the club has signed first-round pick Jonathan Isaac. According to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft is set to make $4,186,320 next season, which is 120% rookie-scale contract figure. As our chart of rookie scale salaries shows, Isaac’s rookie deal will be a four-year pact worth $22,324,406.
Isaac’s salary for the first two seasons will be guaranteed and after two team options for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, he’ll be eligible to reach restricted free agency in 2021 barring an extension.
Earlier today, the Heat agreed to terms with first-rounder Bam Adebayo. As we noted in that story, with cap holds on unsigned first-rounders at 120% rather than 100% under the new CBA, teams will likely sign their picks sooner rather than later.
Pacers Name Chad Buchanan New GM
JULY 1: The Pacers have officially named Buchanan as their new general manager, per a press release from the team. The club also promoted VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie to senior VP of basketball ops.
JUNE 29: Hornets executive Chad Buchanan will be the new GM in Indiana, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. He will report to Kevin Pritchard, the Pacers’ president of basketball operations.
Buchanan came to Charlotte in 2014 and has served as assistant GM under Rich Cho for the past two seasons. Before that, he spent 10 years with the Trail Blazers, where he served as director of college scouting. Buchanan and Pritchard were in the Portland organization together, notes Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
Indiana’s GM position has been open since the beginning of May, when Pritchard was promoted to replace Larry Bird, who resigned as team president. Buchanan joins the organization just in time to help oversee free agency and possibly work out a trade involving star forward Paul George.
Free Agent Rumors: Durant, Hayward, Gay, Kings
The defending NBA champion Warriors started free agency off with a bang, agreeing to terms with two-time Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry to the richest pact in league history. The team will reportedly sign Curry to a five-year deal worth $201MM+ and now the focus turns to retaining the remainder of Golden State’s championship-winning roster.
Last year’s prized acquisition, Kevin Durant, led the team to a championship and is now a free agent. However, Chris Haynes of ESPN (via Twitter) reports that teams have not reached out to Durant’s camp to gauge his interest in leaving because they see it as a “waste of time.” Earlier this week, it was reported that Durant will wait to re-sign with the Warriors to allow the team to finish other offseason business, and he will not meet with other teams during that stretch.
Below are additional rumors surrounding this year’s free agency period:
- If the Heat’s pursuit of Gordon Hayward falls through, the team may turn its attention to fellow free agent Rudy Gay, according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical (via Twitter). Mannix adds that Gay told the outlet he should be ready for the start of the season as he recovers from a torn Achilles.
- The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor (via Twitter) cites three league sources who believe the Heat are the frontrunners for Hayward. The sunny beaches and warm weather of Miami, a popular coach in Erik Spoelstra, and a prominent role in which he can be the team’s primary scorer are all lucrative incentives, O’Connor notes. However, O’Connor acknowledges that it’s a fluid situation, and a lot could change based on Hayward’s meetings.
- Restricted free agent Alan Williams is a “serious” candidate to sign with the Knicks, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link). While the Suns could match any offer for Williams, their willingness to do so may hinge on who else they’re able to land in free agency.
- The Kings are intent on landing a power forward in free agency, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, who tweets that Zach Randolph, Patrick Patterson, and Taj Gibson are all on Sacramento’s radar. We had previously heard about the team’s interest in Randolph and Patterson.
- According to Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter), the Pistons have been in contact with Reggie Bullock, Aron Baynes, and restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope since free agency opened late on Friday night.
Bucks Looking To Trade Greg Monroe
The Bucks are once again exploring the trade market in search of a Greg Monroe trade, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Monroe has been the subject of on-again, off-again trade rumors over the last year, and Begley suggests that Milwaukee is once again looking to move the big man at the moment.
A former seventh overall pick, Monroe set a new career low in minutes per game in 2016/17, averaging just 22.5 MPG for the Bucks. Still, he was productive and efficient in his reduced role off the bench, recording 11.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 1.1 SPG with a .533 FG% in 81 regular season contests.
Although Monroe continues to be an effective scorer, he isn’t the sort of rim-protecting, floor-stretching big man that NBA teams are prioritizing these days. He’s also fairly expensive for the 2017/18 season, having exercised a player option worth nearly $17.9MM.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s new extension kicking in, and Tony Snell having agreed to a lucrative new deal, it makes sense that the Bucks would once again be looking for ways to move Monroe’s salary.
Celtics ‘Stunned’ By Thunder’s Paul George Trade
Like the rest of the NBA world, the Celtics were “stunned” by Friday’s news that the Pacers agreed to send Paul George to Oklahoma City in a trade for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.
[RELATED: Pacers to trade Paul George to Thunder]
Boston had been planning to put a formal, competitive offer on the table for George, but the team wasn’t ready to try to finalize a deal with the Pacers until Gordon Hayward made a decision, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (link via RealGM).
According to Wojnarowski, the Pacers were interested in a package of Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, and multiple picks from the Celtics. Sources told Bulpett that the Celtics were “more than ready” to propose a deal that included multiple players and picks, suggesting that Boston’s best offer probably would have been Crowder, Smart, and three future first-rounders (likely some combination of the Celtics’ own picks and the Grizzlies’ and Clippers’ picks).
Previous reports had suggested that the Celtics were unwilling to include their 2018 Nets and Lakers first-rounders, or recent lottery picks Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Between Wojnarowski’s and Bulpett’s accounts, there seems to be a little ambiguity about whether what was actually on the table for the Pacers from the Celtics. I get the impression that Boston likely would’ve been willing to offer Crowder, Smart, and multiple first-rounders eventually, but weren’t prepared to make a commitment yet, prompting the Pacers to move on to make a deal with the Thunder.
According to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, many NBA executives he has spoken to believe that Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard was too “hell-bent” on keeping George out of the Eastern Conference. Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) confirms that he has heard this too, though he adds that some Western teams are confused because they felt their offers were better than Oklahoma City’s.
According to Wojnarowski, one scenario involving a Western team that the Pacers turned down was an offer of Gary Harris and a protected first-round pick (which likely would’ve become a second-rounder) from the Nuggets. George would have gone to Cleveland in that scenario, with the Nuggets getting Kevin Love.