Jeremy Lin Opts In For 2018/19 Season
Oft-injured Nets point guard Jeremy Lin has opted into his $12.5MM option for next season, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. Lin went down with a season-ending ruptured patellar tendon on opening night and has been rehabbing since.
The 29-year-old has only appeared in a combined 37 games with the Nets in his first two seasons. A series of hamstring injuries and setbacks limited Lin to just 36 games in 2016/17. It was widely expected that Lin would opt-in to the final year of his contract as he would likely not receive a comparable salary as a free agent this summer due to his injuries.
Lin spoke to reporters for the first time since he went down with the injury last week. He said his recovery is going smoothly and that he expects to be ready for training camp next season, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.
“Shoot, if I am not [ready by training camp], there’s issues,” Lin said.
There has been speculation Lin may tone down his game when he returns to avoid another major injury. However, the Harvard product put that speculation to rest during his chat with reporters as he plans on playing the same way once he returns to full strength.
“I am not going to change the bread and butter of who I am, which is downhill, attacking, dynamic playmaking. I will always be that player,” Lin said. “Maybe the type of risks … I don’t know, I never really saw them as risks, but what we will see is probably a similar style but in a safer way.”
With Lin on board for next season, Brooklyn will enter 2018/19 with a surplus of point guards as D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie are under contract.
Cavs Acquire Rodney Hood, George Hill In Three-Team Trade
7:57pm: The trade is official, according to press releases from the Jazz and Cavaliers. The terms of the deal are as follows:
- Cavaliers acquire George Hill (from Kings), Rodney Hood (from Jazz), and the draft rights to Arturas Gudaitis (from Kings).
- Jazz acquire Jae Crowder (from Cavs), Derrick Rose (from Cavs), and the right to swap 2024 second-round picks with the Cavs.
- Kings acquire Iman Shumpert (from Cavs), Joe Johnson (from Jazz), the Heat’s 2020 second-round pick (from Cavs), cash ($2.1MM from Cavs; $1.1MM from Jazz), and the draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis (from Cavs).
1:41pm: ESPN’s Brian Windhorst adds more details on this complex three-team deal, tweeting that the Kings will receive $2.1MM from the Cavs and $1.1MM from the Jazz. Utah will have the option of swapping second-round picks in 2024 with the Cavs. Cleveland also acquired the draft rights to Arturas Gudaitis from the Kings and surrendered the draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis.
12:03pm: A busy day in Cleveland continues, as the Cavaliers have agreed to acquire Rodney Hood from the Jazz in a three-team trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). The Cavs will also receive George Hill from Sacramento in the deal, with the Jazz acquiring Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose.
The Kings will get Joe Johnson and Iman Shumpert, per Woj (Twitter link). TNT’s David Aldridge tweets that Sacramento will also acquire a future draft pick and cash considerations, with Sam Amick of USA Today providing some details (via Twitter), reporting that the pick will be Miami’s 2020 second-rounder from Cleveland. The Kings will also get a little over $3MM in cash, Amick adds.
The move, which comes on the heels of the Cavs reaching a deal with the Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr., further reshapes a Cleveland roster that will look a whole lot different by the end of the day than it did at the start of it.
By surrendering Crowder, Rose, and Shumpert in exchange for Hood and Hill, the Cavaliers will take on about $4MM in extra salary, and far more than that in projected tax payments. However, the cost of the deal may be worth it for the on-court impact, as Crowder, Rose, and Shumpert have all underperformed and/or battled injuries this season.
Hood will give the Cavs a young, perimeter scorer who has fought through some injuries of his own, but has enjoyed a career year when he’s been on the court. In 39 games, the 25-year-old has averaged 16.8 PPG on .424/.389/.876 shooting. As for Hill, the veteran point guard has struggled mightily in Sacramento this season, but has historically been a good shooter (.454/.384/.800 career shooting line) and a solid defender. His ability to play off the ball should make him a good fit to play alongside LeBron James.
Hood will be a restricted free agent this summer, while Hill remains under contract for two more years beyond this one. He’ll earn $19MM in 2018/19, and has a $18MM salary in 2019/20 that only features a very small partial guarantee.
From Utah’s perspective, the trade will allow them to get out from under Johnson’s $10.5MM salary — the veteran forward was viewed as a buyout candidate if he had remained on the roster through the deadline, and will likely remain a buyout candidate in Sacramento. The Jazz had to give up Hood as part of the deal, but he had been mentioned frequently in trade rumors in recent weeks and no longer appeared to be part of the club’s long-term plans.
In exchange, Utah will acquire Crowder, who has a reputation as a solid three-and-D wing on a team-friendly contract despite his struggles this season, and Rose, who may not be in the team’s plans. Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets that the Jazz will likely release Rose.
As for the Kings, they’ll get out from under Hill’s expensive multiyear deal, acquiring Johnson’s expiring contract as well as Shumpert, who has a $10.3MM+ player option for next season. The deal creates nearly $9MM in 2018/19 cap flexibility for the Kings, and also nets them that aforementioned 2020 pick and some cash. Sacramento had committed to playing its young players over its veterans down the stretch this season, so Hill’s playing time had been sporadic.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Acquire Emmanuel Mudiay In Three-Team Trade
7:51pm: The three-way trade is now official, according to press releases issued by the Knicks and Nuggets.
1:09pm: Denver, New York and Dallas have reached agreement on a three-team trade that will send Emmanuel Mudiay to the Knicks, Devin Harris to the Nuggets and Doug McDermott to the Mavericks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The deal also includes a swap of second-round picks, Woj adds, with Denver receiving the Clippers’ 2018 second-rounder from the Knicks. The Mavericks will be getting the Trail Blazers’ 2018 second-round pick from the Nuggets.
The Knicks are adding to their options at point guard by taking on Mudiay, who was the seventh player selected in the 2015 draft. He was given the starting spot as a rookie, but has drifted into a reserve role as shooting problems have slowed his progress. He joins 2017 first-rounder Frank Ntilikina in New York’s backcourt, along with veteran Jarrett Jack and Trey Burke. Mudiay is owed nearly $4.3MM for next season and is eligible for a rookie contract extension in the summer of 2019.
Harris, who will turn 35 later this month, brings a veteran presence to Denver’s backcourt for the rest of the season. He is averaging 8.5 points in 44 games and has an expiring contract worth a little more than $4.4MM.
McDermott, part of the package the Knicks received in exchange for Carmelo Anthony, averaged 7.2 points and shot .387 from 3-point range in 55 games for New York. This is the third trade in the past 12 months for McDermott, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bulls Notes: Paxson, Lopez, Holiday, Allen, Dunn
The Bulls were relatively quiet as the trade deadline passed on Thursday, completing a pair of minor deals involving Noah Vonleh and Jameer Nelson. Chicago’s major move came when the team dealt Nikola Mirotic to the Pelicans, which netted the team highly-coveted draft picks.
Vice president of basketball operations John Paxson, is happy with the Bulls’ moves and is excited about the future, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes. Paxson compared draft picks to gold for teams as his franchise restocks for the future. In particular, Paxson likes having future high picks to go along with the young talent already on the roster.
“We look at it this way: We got the three young guys [Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn] when we made the [Jimmy Butler] trade for last year, we’re going to have two [first-round] picks most likely in this draft, and we’ve got Bobby [Portis] and Denzel [Valentine] as young guys,” Paxson said. “That’s seven young pieces, and we just need to continue to develop them, grow, and make the smart decisions, not get in a rush.’’
Check out other Bulls news and notes below:
- Paxson said that the Bulls were offered several multiyear bad contracts in trade talks, but the team was not comfortable taking on significant money that went beyond the 2018/19 season, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Paxson added that the Bulls were comfortable taking Omer Asik in the Mirotic trade because he is set to make just $3MM in 2018/19.
- While the Bulls could have traded Robin Lopez and/or Justin Holiday, Paxson said their value as veteran leaders and teammates was too important to the club, Johnson tweets.
- Tony Allen, who was acquired as part of the Mirotic trade, was reportedly set to be waived by Chicago. However, Paxson said the team will have a discussion with Allen’s agent before deciding on his future, Nick Friedell of ESPN tweets.
- Point guard Kris Dunn is out of concussion protocol but he is still not ready to return, per the Associated Press. Dunn has missed the Bulls’ past eight games; he’s averaging 13.7 PPG and 6.4 APG for Chicago this season.
Lakers Notes: Magic, Deng, Ball, Hart, Lopez
The Lakers had a busy trade deadline, swinging a blockbuster deal that sent Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson to the Cavaliers for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and Cleveland’s first-round pick. With the trade, the Lakers created significant cap space that enables them to pursue two top-tier free agents this summer.
Speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, on Thursday, team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka spoke about the team’s moves. Both Johnson and Pelinka stated that the team’s goal is to acquire elite talent and make a run at the playoffs next season.
“There’s so many different ways you can use that [cap space],” Pelinka said, “And then, of course, the obvious way is we now have in July of 2018 and July of 2019, we now have real 100 percent space to do two max players if that’s what we decide to do, or one in 2018 and then following it up with another one in 2019. So the flexibility is really amazing.”
The Lakers 22-31, are currently 6.5 games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference, so a playoff appearance seems out of the cards. However, Johnson reiterated that Thursday’s moves were made with the intention of getting better.
“I don’t want to stay where we are. I don’t want to be on the outside of the playoffs looking in,” Johnson said. “We have to take another step, right? So this move allows us to position ourselves to hopefully take that next step.”
Check out other news and notes surrounding the Lakers:
- Johnson was asked by reporters if the Lakers had any substantiative talks at the deadline about moving Luol Deng and his albatross contract. Johnson was brutally honest as he lets out a few laughs and said “we wish, right?” tweets Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. Deng has appeared in just one game with the Lakers this season.
- Lonzo Ball has not played since January 13 as a knee injury has sidelined the Lakers’ rookie point guard. Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes that Ball is progressing well but that he still cannot sprint or jump at full strength. Until that happens, Ball will remain a spectator — and may miss the 2018 Rising Stars Challenge.
- The Lakers won their last three games with Josh Hart — the 30th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft — starting. Hart has played well for the Lakers and is showing himself to be a draft steal, Mike Trudell of NBA.com writes. “I don’t think you ever plan on counting on a late first round pick in their rookie season,” head coach Luke Walton said. “You try to get them minutes where you can, and develop them. But he’s done a nice job every time he’s been called on, being ready, and helping us win.”
- Despite the Lakers being out of contention, center Brook Lopez does not plan on pursuing a buyout to latch on with a contender, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Lopez is personally having the worst season of his career, and while his plans may change, he is set on playing out the final year of his contract in purple and gold.
Bogut, Diaw Drawing Interest From Playoff Teams
With the trade deadline gone, now is the time when teams scour the market for veteran help to aid a playoff run. Two players who are currently receiving interest from contending teams are Andrew Bogut and Boris Diaw.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (via Twitter), Diaw, who is currently with the French team Paris-Levallois, has “touched base” with several playoff teams. The 35-year-old is a 14-year NBA veteran with 119 games of postseason experience, including the 2013/14 championship Spurs team. MacMahon notes that teams like Diaw’s locker room presence and unselfish role play.
Diaw last appeared in the NBA with the Jazz last season, averaging 4.6 PPG in 73 games.
As for Bogut, he has yet to latch on with a team since the Lakers released him in early January. Bogut’s agent, David Bauman, tells Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter) that the Australian big man is considering four playoff-bound teams and that,”the good news is Andrew will be in the playoffs.” Bogut is expected to sign next week, Bauman tells Woelfel.
Bogut played sparingly for the Lakers, appearing in just 24 games while averaging 1.5 PPG. However, the 33-year-old brings his own postseason pedigree as he was part of the Warriors‘ 2014/15 championship team. The 13-year veteran has been consistently regarded as a steady veteran presence and defensive asset.
Hawks Waive Sheldon Mac
As expected, the Hawks have waived injured guard Sheldon Mac after acquiring him from the Wizards in a trade earlier today. Atlanta announced in a press release that it has requested waivers on Mac.
As we detailed in our earlier story on the Mac deal, the 25-year-old was on a non-guaranteed salary with the Wizards this season, but suffered a torn Achilles in the fall, which essentially guaranteed that he’d receive his full-year salary. Washington reduced its projected luxury-tax bill and opened up a roster spot in the deal that sent him to Atlanta.
Mac is the second player today that the Hawks have acquired and subsequently waived. The team also traded for Okaro White in a deal with the Heat and then released him. After today’s moves, Atlanta will have one open roster spot.
Trail Blazers Trade Noah Vonleh To Bulls
5:13pm: The trade is now official, the Blazers announced in a press release.
1:26pm: The Trail Blazers have agreed to trade Noah Vonleh and cash to the Bulls in exchange for the draft rights to Milovan Rakovic, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). While the deal will hardly be the biggest blockbuster of the day, it’s an important one for Portland — the team will get under the luxury tax as a result of the move.
Vonleh, 22, was the ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, but hasn’t developed into the sort of impact player that the Hornets – and then the Blazers – hoped for. In 2017/18, he has appeared in 33 games for Portland, starting 12. In 14.4 minutes per contest, Vonleh averaged 3.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG.
While the Blazers sneak below the tax line as a result of dumping Vonleh’s $3.5MM salary, the Bulls will move closer to the salary floor by taking on the rest of that contract. If Chicago likes what it sees from Vonleh down the stretch, the club will have the option of making him a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer this offseason.
Portland also created a trade exception worth $3,505,233 (Vonleh’s salary) in the transaction.
Kemba Walker Replaces Kristaps Porzingis On All-Star Team
Hornets point guard Kemba Walker has been named as a reserve from the Eastern Conference for the 2018 NBA All-Star game, the team announced in a press release. Walker joins Team LeBron, replacing Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL on Tuesday.
Walker, 27, is in his seventh NBA season and will appear in his second consecutive All-Star game. In 51 games this season, Walker has averaged 22.6 PPG, 5.8 APG, 3.4 RPG for Charlotte. Walker’s name circulated in trade rumors leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline but he ultimately stayed put with the Hornets.
Injuries have hit Team LeBron hard as Walker is now the fourth replacement to join the squad. Kevin Love (broken left hand) was replaced by Heat guard Goran Dragic; DeMarcus Cousins (torn Achilles) was replaced by Thunder forward Paul George; and John Wall (knee surgery) was replaced by Pistons center Andre Drummond.
Kendrick Perkins Expected To Rejoin Cavs
4:47pm: Despite Perkins’ enthusiastic tweet, he hasn’t officially signed with the Cavs yet, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, who tweets that the team may let the dust settle and head into the All-Star break before filling their open roster spots.
4:32pm: There has been no official announcement yet from the Cavaliers, but Perkins has published a tweet announcing, “I’m back!” with a #Cavs hashtag, suggesting that he’s claiming one of the team’s open roster spots.
2:55pm: The Cavaliers may sign veteran center Kendrick Perkins to fill one of their newly open roster spots, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. He adds that Cleveland’s front office values Perkins’ strong leadership and believes it will be needed to bring the team together after today’s roster shakeup (Twitter link).