Donald Sloan To Play In G League
Donald Sloan has signed a contract to play in the G League, Chris Reichert of The Step Back reports (Twitter link). Sloan previously played in the G League during the 2012/13 season. However, no team currently owns his rights, which means he’ll enter the league’s player pool.
Sloan turned down several international offers to join the Wizards for training camp. He was hoping to not only make the team’s opening night roster but to also contribute as a member of their rotation.
“I came [to Washington] to be a part of what they’re trying to do here. I came to be that guy off the bench to give them what they need. I came to be that guy with backup minutes,” Sloan said earlier this month.
The Wizards waived the point guard just days before their first contest of the season, opting to keep Carrick Felix on as the team’s 15th man. Felix hasn’t seen any minutes for this Wizards this season, though he was suspended one game for leaving the team’s bench during an on-court altercation last week.
Sloan has played for five NBA teams since arriving in the league back in 2011. He spent time with Pacers, Nets, Cavs, Pelicans, and Hawks, averaging 5.5 points per game while sporting a player efficiency rating of 11.9.
Clippers Decline Brice Johnson’s Third-Year Option
The Clippers have declined to pick up Brice Johnson‘s 2018/19 team option, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Johnson was set to make $1.5MM next season.
Los Angeles selected Johnson with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2016 draft, but the team hasn’t gotten much return on its investment. The North Carolina product has appeared in just five games for the Clippers since coming into the league.
Jahlil Okafor May Push For Buyout
The Sixers have decided not to pick up the 2018/19 option on Jahlil Okafor‘s contract, something that will render the big man an unrestricted free agent this summer. Yet, sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links) that Okafor prefers to not have to wait to change teams and may push for a buyout agreement with Philly.
Stein hears that Okafor is convinced that the team has had several workable deals on the table, though the Sixers have declined to make a move.
Okafor’s 2018/19 option was set to pay him $6.3MM and any team that acquires him in a trade this season wouldn’t be able to offer him a starting salary that goes beyond that figure in negotiations this summer.
The Duke product has seemingly been on the trade block since his rookie season with the club and his perceived trade value has fallen every year since.
Okafor has only seen action in one game this season—a game Joel Embiid sat out—and he made four of seven shots on his way to 10 points. The organization seems confident that Embiid can be the team’s center for the foreseeable future, evidenced by the unique long-term five-year extension it doled out to him earlier this month. Richaun Holmes and Amir Johnson also present barriers to playing time in Philadelphia, as Johnson has seen action at the five this season and Holmes should as well once he returns from his wrist injury.
The decision to decline Okafor’s option wasn’t solely based on his fit on the court. The Sixers are reportedly angling to make a splash next offseason and they want to maintain flexibility in order to do so.
Entering the 2015 draft, Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns were widely considered the two best prospects in the draft class and his fall to Philadelphia at three was a shocking development for many. Okafor has played 104 games with the Sixers since being drafted and it’s possible we’ve seen the last of him in a Philly uniform.
Stay tuned to Hoops Rumors for the latest on the Sixers, Jahlil Okafor, and potential landing spots for the big man.
Magic Will Decline Mario Hezonja’s 2018/19 Team Option
Orlando will decline the 2018/19 team option on Mario Hezonja‘s contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com tweets. The swingman was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2015 draft.
Earlier today, we learned that the Sixers would not be picking up Jahlil Okafor‘s 2018/19 option, which makes the 2015 draft the first since the 2009 class to have a pair of players in the top six see their final season’s options declined, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes on Twitter. Back in 2011, the Grizzlies decided against keeping Hasheem Thabeet, while the Wolves turned down Jonny Flynn‘s fourth-year option.
The Magic are reportedly exploring the trade market for Hezonja, having discussed a deal with multiple teams. The Kings were one of the clubs and a proposed arrangement would have seen Malachi Richardson and a second-round pick head to Orlando. However, a deal has yet to materialize.
Hezonja was set to make roughly $5.17MM next season. Instead, he’ll hit the free agent market this summer as an unrestricted free agent in search of a new deal.
Clippers To Pick Up Sam Dekker’s Fourth-Year Option
The Clippers will pick up Sam Dekker‘s team option for the 2018/19 season, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). As a result, the Wisconsin product will make slightly over $2.76MM next season
Dekker came to Los Angeles as part of the Chris Paul trade. He hasn’t been a major cog in the Clippers system this season, earning a total of 32 minutes over his five games played with the club. The combo forward has made 41.7% of his shots this season while sporting a player efficiency rating of 11.6.
Dekker has played a total of 89 games in his career, which includes four postseason contests with Houston last season. He was the No. 18 overall pick in the 2015 draft.
Bucks Picking Up Maker’s Option, Declining Vaughn’s
The Bucks are exercising their third-year option on Thon Maker for 2018/19 in advance of today’s deadline, but will turn down their fourth-year option on Rashad Vaughn, reports Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Decisions On 2018/19 Rookie Scale Team Options]
The decision on Maker was an easy one for the Bucks, who used the 10th overall pick in the 2016 draft to nab the 7’1″ center. Maker, whose 2018/19 option will count against the cap for about $2.8MM, played a modest role for Milwaukee in his rookie season, but showed flashes of potential and is already playing more significant minutes this year, having started all six games at center for the club.
Vaughn, meanwhile, was one of several players I identified during the preseason as being at risk of having their rookie scale options declined. Although the value of Vaughn’s 2018/19 option is fairly modest, at $2.9MM, the 21-year-old guard has failed to have a real on-court impact through 114 games in Milwaukee.
Vaughn will become an unrestricted free agent in 2018, and while the Bucks will be eligible to re-sign him, they won’t be able to offer him more than what his option would have been worth.
Sixers Won’t Pick Up Jahlil Okafor’s 2018/19 Option
Just over two years after using the third overall pick to draft him, the Sixers have elected not to exercise Jahlil Okafor‘s team option for 2018/19, a team source tells Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) confirms that the 76ers will turn down Okafor’s fourth-year option.
Okafor, one of the most highly-regarded prospects of the 2015 draft class, enjoyed a solid rookie season with the Sixers back in 2015/16, averaging 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 53 games (48 starts). However, he saw his role with the club begin to decrease last season.
Even after Philadelphia traded Nerlens Noel to the Mavericks in February, the center position remained crowded, with Joel Embiid looking like a franchise player when he was healthy and Richaun Holmes emerging as a viable backup. This season, Amir Johnson and even Dario Saric have earned minutes at center, leaving no room in the rotation for Okafor.
As Neubeck details in his report, multiple members of the Sixers have “insisted privately” that creating cap flexibility for 2018 is a top priority for the club. Embiid’s new extension will kick in, and Robert Covington is expected to receive a significant raise as well, so declining Okafor’s option, which would have been worth about $6.3MM, will help the 76ers retain cap room for potential free agent targets.
While it’s possible Okafor will play out the year with the Sixers before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2018, the club has been working with the big man’s camp in an effort to find a viable trade. Today’s move may complicate those efforts.
With his option for 2018/19 not exercised, Okafor will be on an expiring contract, which figures to have an impact on what potential suitors are willing to offer for him. Unlike Noel, who was also traded in the final year of his contract, Okafor won’t be eligible for restricted free agency. Whichever team has him on its roster at the end of the season also won’t be able to offer Okafor a higher salary than $6.3MM, the value of his declined option.
Okafor’s rookie scale option was one of five that the Sixers had to decide on by today. Philadelphia exercised its 2018/19 options on Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, Justin Anderson, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wizards Won’t Exercise Chris McCullough’s Option
The Wizards won’t pick up their 2018/19 team option on power forward Chris McCullough, sources tell Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The decision will result in McCullough becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency next July.
McCullough, 22, was selected with the 29th overall pick in the 2015 draft and spent most of his first two NBA seasons with the Nets before being sent to Washington along with Bojan Bogdanovic in a deadline deal earlier this year.
Even in Brooklyn, on a rebuilding squad, McCullough didn’t see much playing time, with the Nets frequently assigning him to the G League for further development. The young forward’s minutes dwindled further after he joined the Wizards — he only has only played 15 total minutes in three games since arriving in D.C. in February.
While the Wizards aren’t necessarily giving up on McCullough, they’ve decided not to guarantee his 2018/19 salary, which would have added $2,243,326 to team payroll. After exercising Kelly Oubre‘s option earlier this month, Washington is currently projected to carry approximately $116MM in guaranteed salary next year, putting the club at risk of ending up in tax territory again.
Warriors Exercise Damian Jones’ 2018/19 Option
The Warriors have exercised Damian Jones‘ third-year option for 2018/19, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Mark Medina of The Bay Area News Group had reported on Monday night that Jones’ option would be picked up.
Jones, the 30th overall pick in the 2016 draft, is one of two Warriors players who has rookie scale team option for 2018/19. The other, Kevon Looney, won’t have his option exercised by Golden State, as we learned on Monday.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2018/19 Rookie Scale Team Options]
Neither Jones nor Looney has a real role for the Warriors, but there are a couple key differences between the two players. For one, Looney is already in his third season, so Golden State management has had an extra year to decide whether or not he’s in the club’s long-term plans — Jones is coming off an injury-plagued rookie season, meaning the Dubs haven’t had a chance to take a long look at him yet.
Additionally, Jones’ third-year option will count against the cap for just $1,544,951 in 2018/19. Looney’s fourth-year option would have had a cap charge of $2,227,081. While that might not seem like a significant difference, every dollar will be important for the Warriors going forward, since they project to be in luxury-tax territory for the foreseeable future.
Celtics Pick Up 2018/19 Options On Brown, Rozier
The Celtics have picked up a pair of 2018/19 team options, locking in Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier for next season, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.
Brown’s third-year option will count against the Celtics’ cap for about $5.17MM in 2018/19, while Rozier’s fourth-year option is worth approximately $3.05MM. The Celtics will eventually have to make a fourth-year option decision on Brown, but the team’s next decision on Rozier will be whether or not to extend him during the 2018 offseason. If Rozier doesn’t sign an extension, he’ll be on track for restricted free agency in 2019.
Brown and Rozier are two of just four Celtics who finished last season in Boston and remained on the club’s opening night roster, joining Al Horford and Marcus Smart as the lone holdovers. With Gordon Hayward expected to miss the entire season and players like Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder no longer in the mix, both Brown and Rozier figure to be leaned on for increased roles in 2017/18.
So far this season, Brown has averaged 15.4 points in 33.3 minutes per contest, while Rozier has recorded 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game. Each player averaged approximately 17 MPG last year.