Pacers Notes: Young, Sabonis, Turner, Future
While many saw the Thunder’s acquisition of Paul George for Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo as a heist for the ages, Pacers forward Thaddeus Young has a differing viewpoint, Jim Ayello of The Indianapolis Star writes.
Sabonis posted 16 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting in Wednesday’s season-opener against the Nets. Indiana defeated Brooklyn 140-131 and Young — after watching Sabonis’ performance — feels the team made out well in the trade.
“Honestly,” Young said, “I think we stole him from them.”
Sabonis, selected 11th overall by the Magic last season, was acquired by the Thunder in a draft night deal with Orlando. He did not see as much improvement as he would have liked last season, averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 81 games. However, playing for the rebuilding Pacers will give him that opportunity. Whether or not Sabonis can have a George-like impact on Indiana remains to be seen.
Check out other news surrounding the Pacers:
- Pacers center Myles Turner has been diagnosed with a concussion, the team announced. He missed yesterday’s game against the Trail Blazers and will miss tonight’s contest in Miami against the Heat.
- Pacers owner Herb Simon discussed a succession plan for the team once he is no longer in charge of the team, Gregg Doyle of The Indianapolis Star writes. Simon’s 53-year-old son, Steve, is likely to take over the team. He also spoke in-depth about the future of the team, including his thoughts on Paul George’s departure.
Pacific Notes: Ball, Paul, Divac, CP3, Randle
Lonzo Ball looked overmatched during his NBA debut against the Clippers as Patrick Beverley aggressively shut him down. Ball, 19, returned last night to post 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the Lakers‘ win against the Suns. Team president Magic Johnson spoke to USA Today before Ball’s debut and addressed his mindset before the game.
“He’s nervous,” Johnson said. “But he has a demeanor where you don’t know he’s nervous. But tonight, he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.”
It did not take long for Ball to show a glimpse of why he was one of the most highly-anticipated rookies in recent memory. His near triple-double in the Lakers’ 132-130 win over Phoenix show his potential is off the charts. While one game does not define Ball or what his career will be like, it’s clear that he still has support from Lakers brass and it will stay that way for years to come.
“Last year he was the most efficient college basketball player,” Johnson said. “And now that he’s come to the pros, he’s been — ever since we drafted him — he’s been a great young man, a great teammate. His teammates, they love him. Love him. Those were the things I was looking for (before drafting him).
Check out other news around the Pacific Division:
- Chris Paul has been mostly silent on why he left the Clippers to play for the Rockets. However, in a recent documentary, Paul said his former team’s “culture” is one reason he left, claiming the team did not do enough to compete with Golden State, Elliot Teaford of The Orange County Register writes. Clippers coach Doc Rivers fired back, saying, “I don’t think you have to try to burn the house down or justify why you left. That’s what I would say to it. I like our culture.”
- Julius Randle looked lackadaisical on defense and offense in the Lakers’ season-opener, which led to a stern talk from head coach Luke Walton, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes. Whether it’s frustration over losing the starting spot or not being in game shape, Randle’s performance on Thursday was alarming.
- Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee spoke with Kings‘ general manager Vlade Divac, who gave his thoughts on every player on Sacramento’s roster.
- The Kings hired former WNBA coach and player Jenny Boucek as an assistant player development coach, according to the Associated Press.
New York Notes: Porzingis, Knicks Roster, Lin
In less than one year, Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis will be eligible for the designated rookie scale maximum extension. In recent weeks, Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid signed their extensions, coming out at five years and $148MM. After years of wanting to play basketball due to the possible financial prosperity, Porzingis tells Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News his focus is to win, be happy and play up to his ability.
After an opening night loss to the Thunder, and former teammate Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks are off to a bad start. However, Anthony advised the Daily News that the 22-year-old should take the money. Yet, being a losing culture could prove burdensome later on.
“He’s young. He’s young enough where if he wanted to take that deal, take it. You still got years. New York is his now,” Anthony said. “But on the flip side, with the way the game is going, people want to win. And there’s going to have to come that point where he makes that decision. As players, we all go through that. It’s a tough decision because you want to be there, you want to commit to him. The ball is in your hands. The onus is on you now. But on the flip side, I know him personally, so I know how bad he wants to win by any means.”
Check out additional basketball news surrounding New York’s two teams:
- The Knicks’ logjam at center will be key to monitor moving forward, Alex Squadron of the New York Post writes. Willy Hernangomez logged just four minutes on Thursday while Kyle O’Quinn played 22 minutes and Enes Kanter started. Once Joakim Noah returns from suspension, that logjam will be even greater.
- Jeremy Lin underwent successful surgery on his ruptured patella tendon and is expected to miss the rest of the season. The Nets point guard is also expected to make a full recovery, per the team.
- Lin’s injury will force players into starting roles and others to play consistent minutes they otherwise would not have had, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.
And-Ones: Lottery Ideas, White, BIG3
While the NBA recently voted to approve changes to the league’s draft lottery rules, Mavs owner Mark Cuban had a pair of other ideas to dissuade teams from tanking. Neither gained traction but the details that Cuban shared with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon are admittedly intriguing.
One of Cuban’s proposals would see the NBA draft eliminated outright with teams, instead, getting an allotted budget from the league to sign draft eligible players as free agents. The teams with the worse records would have the biggest budgets but wouldn’t necessarily be a lock to land the top talent if they don’t position themselves as an appealing destination.
“The team with the worst record gets the most money and the team with the best record gets the least money,” Cuban said. “It’s like a free agency. It makes it a lot harder to tank because you don’t know if you get the best players if you’re horrible all the time. Nobody liked that at all, not a single person.”
Cuban pitched the idea to the league’s board of governors but the concept didn’t have much of an impact.
The other idea that Cuban had was to lock the team with the worst record into a single draft position, potentially third or fourth. Doing so, Cuban argues, would give teams incentive to compete down the stretch to ensure that they didn’t finish the regular season with the worst record. By avoiding finishing 30th of all 30 teams, a team would effectively keep their chances of snagging the top pick in the draft alive.
Tuck the two Cuban ideas up on a shelf beside The Wheel for future speculation, however, considering that the league moved quickly and enthusiastically to adopts its relatively modest rejigging of the traditional draft lottery format.
There’s more news from around the league:
- The NBA didn’t set a record for international players on opening day rosters but it came close. A total of 108 international players from 42 countries suited up for Game 1, Michael Yuan of ESPN writes, that’s down from 113 international players from 41 countries in 2016/17.
- The G League returning rights to Heat forward Okaro White were acquired by the Long Island Nets in a trade with the Memphis Hustle, a press release on the Nets’ affiliate’s site reports.
- The BIG3 will expand its rosters ahead of its second season of operation, the league announced. This year teams will have one additional slot for a co-captain… which could come in handy.
Bulls Notes: Pondexter, Portis, Dunn
After a tumultuous two years on the sidelines, Bulls forward Quincy Pondexter made an emotional return to the court in Chicago’s season opener, Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago writes. The 29-year-old missed the last two seasons recovering from a knee injury, as well as a life-threatening MRSA infection.
Just last January one of Pondexter’s knee surgeries went south, resulting in the guard nearly dying in a New York hospital due to the antibiotic-resistant infection. “It wasn’t looking good,” Pondexter said. “It was tough. Being able to play basketball again in less than a year is crazy. This journey has been amazing.”
Pondexter scored eight points in his return but despite a prolific three-point shot, the veteran’s biggest contribution to the young Bulls will likely be his leadership. Pondexter has served as a valued role player for the Pelicans and the Grizzlies and will look to continue where he left off in 2014/15.
There’s more from Chicago:
- Head coach Fred Hoiberg told Nick Friedell of ESPN that Bobby Portis apologized to his teammates in a recent team meeting.
- There are too many variables at play for Bulls President of Basketball Operations John Paxson to put a timeline on the team’s rebuild, Cody Westerlund of 670 The Score tweets.
- If the Bulls were hoping for a quiet 2017/18 season to develop young players and establish a new culture, that vanished the moment Bobby Portis punched Nikola Mirotic, Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago writes. Now the club in transition will be viewed under a microscope.
- Second-year guard Kris Dunn could make his season debut as early as next week, NBA writer Sean Highkin tweets. Dunn had been expected to be sidelined 2-to-4 weeks as recently as last week.
2017 Offseason In Review: Chicago Bulls
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Chicago Bulls.
Signings:
- Cristiano Felicio: Four years, $32MM.
- Nikola Mirotic: Two years, $25MM. Second-year team option.
- Justin Holiday: Two years, $9MM.
- Antonio Blakeney: Two-way contract. Two years, $50K guaranteed for each season.
- Ryan Arcidiacono: Two-way contract. One year. $50K guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Diamond Stone: Two years, minimum salary. $50K guarantee. (Waived)
- Bronson Koenig: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10. (Waived)
- Jaylen Johnson: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract. (Waived)
- Jarell Eddie: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract. (Waived)
Waiver claims:
- Claimed David Nwaba off waivers from the Lakers.
- Claimed Kay Felder off waivers from the Cavaliers.
Trades:
- Acquired Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen (No. 7 pick) from the Timberwolves in exchange for Jimmy Butler and the draft rights to Justin Patton (No. 16 pick).
- Acquired cash ($3.5MM) from the Warriors in exchange for the draft rights to Jordan Bell (No. 38 pick).
- Acquired Quincy Pondexter, the Pelicans’ 2018 second-round pick, and cash ($2.5MM) from the Pelicans in exchange for the draft rights to Ater Majok.
Draft picks:
- 1-7: Lauri Markkanen — Signed to rookie contract.
Departing players:
- Jimmy Butler
- Isaiah Canaan (waived)
- Michael Carter-Williams
- Joffrey Lauvergne
- Anthony Morrow
- Rajon Rondo (waived)
- Dwyane Wade (bought out)
Other offseason news:
- Hired Doug Collins as senior advisor of basketball operations.
- As a result of a punch thrown by Bobby Portis, Nikola Mirotic expected to be out until late November with facial injuries; Portis suspended for eight games.
- Cameron Payne out until at least December with a foot injury.
Salary cap situation:
- Operating over the cap, but can create more than $17MM in cap room if necessary. Carrying approximately $81.4MM in guaranteed team salary. Portion of mid-level exception ($3.79MM) and full bi-annual exception ($3.29MM) still available.
Check out the Chicago Bulls’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
With mounting pressure to commit to an inevitable rebuild, the Bulls finally opted to ship lone star Jimmy Butler westward for a handful of intriguing young building blocks.
To say that Chicago fans have grown skeptical that Gar Forman and John Paxson are the men to lead them into the next great era of Bulls basketball is an understatement. Nevertheless, the executive team has accepted the ambitious task and attempted to make the most of a less-than-stellar chapter in franchise history.
While the Bulls may be a way off from their next postseason appearance, we can give the organization credit for hopping off the treadmill of mediocrity. Baby steps, people.
Bucks Sign Joel Bolomboy To Two-Way Contract
5:16pm: The Bucks have officially announced the signing over Twitter.
5:00pm: The Bucks are signing Joel Bolomboy to a two-way contract, Chris Reichert of 2 Ways, 10 Days tweets. The forward was the last cut by the Jazz in preseason after they selected him in the second-round of the 2016 NBA Draft.
While the Weber State product didn’t spend much time in the NBA during his rookie campaign he was particularly dominant with Utah’s G League affiliate in Salt Lake City. The 23-year-old will look to build upon a solid stat line in his first season with Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.
In 22 games with the Stars in 2016/17, Bolomboy averaged 16.6 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. After his release from the Jazz last week he was expected to be the first-overall pick in the annual G League draft on Saturday.
When Bolomboy does get a chance to suit up for the big league club in Milwaukee, he’ll compete with the likes of Mirza Teletovic and John Henson for reps off the bench.
G League Notes: Bolomboy, E. Millsap, Tavares
The 2017 NBA G League draft will take place on Saturday, and former Jazz forward Joel Bolomboy is expected to be the first overall pick, a source tells Dakota Schmidt of Ridiculous Upside (Twitter link).
Phoenix’s G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, made a trade earlier today with the Iowa Wolves that saw the Suns acquire the No. 1 overall pick in exchange for the returning rights to Elijah Millsap, among other pieces. However, Schmidt suggests (via Twitter) that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that first overall pick change hands again in the next 24 hours.
Here are a few more G League notes and updates, with a focus on more former NBA players like Bolomboy and Millsap:
- Edy Tavares, whose returning rights are held by the Raptors 905, is headed back to the G League after being waived by Cleveland, according to a report from Gigantes (English link via Sportando).
- The Rockets‘ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, sent a first-round pick to the Long Island Nets in exchange for R.J. Hunter‘s returning rights. Hunter, a former first-round pick, intends to suit up for the Vipers, his agent confirms to Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days (Twitter link).
- The Long Island Nets acquired the returning rights to Okaro White and Jamaal Franklin in a trade with the Memphis Hustle, according to a press release. White is still on the Heat‘s NBA roster and recently had his 2017/18 salary guaranteed, so Brooklyn’s affiliate seems unlikely to get its hands on him this season.
- The Texas Legends, the affiliate of the Mavericks, has acquired Will Bynum‘s returning rights, suggesting the veteran guard could join the organization for the G League season, tweets Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News.
- Cliff Alexander, who was in camp with New Orleans earlier this month, had his returning rights traded to the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks‘ G League affiliate, per a team release. “Cliff is a highly-skilled big man who is among the best in the league at his position,” Herd GM Dave Dean said in a statement. “He has a tremendous upside and we are excited to add him to the Wisconsin Herd family.”
Pelicans’ Alexis Ajinca Expected To Miss 4-6 Weeks
Pelicans center Alexis Ajinca is expected to be sidelined for the next four to six weeks after undergoing successful bilateral knee injections on Thursday, the team announced today in a press release. The Pelicans classify Ajinca’s knee ailment as patellar tendonitis.
Ajinca, 29, battled injuries last season as well and also fell out of the rotation for stretches — he appeared in just 39 games (15 starts). Ajinca was a solid contributor when he played, averaging 5.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG for the Pelicans in 15.0 minutes per contest, but expressed some frustrations with his role.
With Ajinca and fellow big man Omer Asik sidelined, we got a glimpse in the Pelicans’ opener on Wednesday what the frontcourt rotation might look like for the club. Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins will, of course, see significant minutes up front, with Dante Cunningham and Cheick Diallo also worked into the mix.
The Pelicans may apply for a hardship exception, which would grant the club an extra roster spot, following their third game of the season. Teams that have at least four players who have missed three or more games due to injury or illness are eligible to apply for the exception. Currently, Ajinca, Asik, Rajon Rondo, Solomon Hill, and Frank Jackson are all on the shelf for New Orleans.
With team salary inching close to the tax line and the hard cap, the Pelicans will have to decide if it’s worth it to add some extra depth this early in the season.
2017 Offseason In Review: Portland Trail Blazers
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Portland Trail Blazers.
Signings:
- C.J. Wilcox: Two-way contract. One year. $50K guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Isaiah Briscoe: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10. (Waived)
- Archie Goodwin: One year, minimum salary. Exhibit nine. (Waived)
- Anthony Morrow: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract. (Waived)
Trades:
- Acquired the draft rights to Zach Collins (No. 10 pick) from the Kings in exchange for the draft rights to Justin Jackson (No. 15 pick) and Harry Giles (No. 20 pick).
- Acquired cash ($100K) from the Rockets in exchange for Tim Quarterman.
- Acquired Andrew Nicholson from the Nets in exchange for Allen Crabbe.
- Note: Nicholson was later waived.
Draft picks:
- 1-10: Zach Collins — Signed to rookie contract.
- 1-26: Caleb Swanigan — Signed to rookie contract.
Departing players:
- Allen Crabbe
- Festus Ezeli (waived)
- Tim Quarterman
Other offseason news:
- Extended president of basketball operations Neil Olshey through 2021.
Salary cap situation:
- Operating over the cap and over the tax line by approximately $3MM. Carrying approximately $122MM in guaranteed team salary. Full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.192MM) still available.
Check out the Portland Trail Blazers’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Most NBA teams head into the offseason looking to improve their respective rosters by spending money, but that wasn’t necessarily the case for the Trail Blazers, whose primary goal over the summer was to trim their projected team salary.
The summer of 2016 loomed large over the 2017 offseason for the Blazers, who handed out lucrative long-term contracts to several free agents in ’16. Not all of those deals look awful a year later, but the team probably wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to take many of them back, including huge multiyear investments in Meyers Leonard, Evan Turner, and Allen Crabbe.
Portland entered the offseason with $133MM+ in guaranteed team salary on the books for 2017/18, not including cap holds for the club’s three first-round picks. By the time the dust settled and the regular season roster was set, the Blazers had sliced that number by more than $10MM, exponentially reducing the franchise’s projected luxury tax bill. So, in at least one sense, the club’s offseason was a success.
