Nuggets Sign Isaiah Thomas
JULY 16: The Nuggets have officially signed Thomas, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 12: The Nuggets will sign free agent guard Isaiah Thomas to a one-year contract, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He will accept a veteran’s minimum deal (Twitter link) and will join forces with head coach Michael Malone, who previously coached Thomas in Sacramento.
Thomas will have a $2,029,463 salary for the upcoming season, while Denver will absorb a $1,512,601 cap hit.
Thomas will try to rediscover the form that made him an MVP candidate in Boston after a brutal season that saw him traded to the Cavaliers and Lakers. He sat out the first half of the season while recovering from a lingering hip injury, then played just 15 games for Cleveland before being moved. The veteran guard was a controversial figure with the Cavs, facing frequent complaints over his attitude and poor defense.
Thomas’ performance was a little better with the Lakers, but he appeared in just 17 games before undergoing minor hip surgery in March. He has since declared himself fully healed from that procedure.
An opportunity may be waiting in Denver, which could use another scorer after trading Wilson Chandler to the Sixers last week. The Nuggets also didn’t have a ton of backcourt depth behind starting point guard Jamal Murray, so Thomas could be a key contributor and offensive play-maker for the club.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Waive Troy Williams
The Knicks have released small forward Troy Williams, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move reduces New York’s roster count to 15 players on NBA contracts, plus a pair on two-way contracts.
Williams, who previously played for the Grizzlies and Rockets, signed two 10-day contracts with the Knicks following last season’s All-Star break and made a good impression, earning a rest-of-year deal. The 23-year-old’s contract agreement included a non-guaranteed salary for 2018/19 — the Knicks won’t be on the hook for any of that $1,544,951 figure.
In 17 games for the Knicks last season, Williams averaged 7.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.1 SPG, with a .490/.333/.704 shooting line. His non-guaranteed salary and the offseason additions of Mario Hezonja and Kevin Knox made Williams expendable.
Williams will clear waivers and become a free agent on Wednesday, assuming he goes unclaimed. It’s possible some team will place a claim, since no cap room or trade exception is required to absorb Williams’ minimum-salary contract.
Kawhi Leonard Now Officially Extension-Eligible
The possibility of a Kawhi Leonard contract extension with the Spurs has been a subject of discussion for much of the year, but Leonard wasn’t officially eligible to sign a new deal until today.
A veteran NBA player who signs a five-year contract becomes eligible to have that contract extended three years after it was signed. Leonard inked his current five-year deal with the Spurs on July 16, 2015, meaning today is the three-year anniversary of that signing.
Because he was named to one of the league’s All-NBA teams in both 2016 and 2017, Leonard is eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension, which means he could earn a starting salary worth up to 35% of the cap – rather than just 30% – on a new deal with the Spurs.
We won’t know exactly what such an extension would be worth until the 2019/20 salary cap is finalized. However, a five-year 35% max contract starting in ’19/20 based on the NBA’s current $109MM cap projection would have a starting salary of $38.15MM and an overall value of $221.27MM, including a fifth-year salary of $50.358MM.
The terms of a potential Leonard extension may ultimately be irrelevant though, since the star forward has shown no interest in staying in San Antonio long term. The Spurs likely won’t be willing to put that $221MM+ offer on the table anyway, since Leonard is coming off an injury-plagued 2017/18 campaign in which he appeared in just nine games. He wouldn’t be able to get the same deal with any other team.
Since the NBA introduced the Designated Veteran Extension in its most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, the only players to sign such a deal are Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall.
Pistons Guarantee Reggie Bullock’s 2018/19 Salary
The Pistons have opted to keep Reggie Bullock on their roster through his July 15 salary guarantee deadline, ensuring that his contract for 2018/19 will become guaranteed, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
While Beard classifies the move as Detroit picking up a “team option” on Bullock, the Pistons didn’t actually have to exercise an option to keep the veteran swingman on their roster. The club simply had to keep Bullock under contract – rather than waiving him by Sunday – to guarantee his $2.5MM salary for next season.
Bullock, 27, enjoyed a breakout year for the Pistons in 2017/18. After averaging just 3.0 PPG in 147 games over his first four NBA seasons, the former first-round pick posted 11.3 PPG on .489/.445/.796 shooting in 62 games (52 starts) last year. His performance made it an easy decision for the club to bring him back at a bargain price of $2.5MM.
Bullock will now be on track for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019. As for the Pistons, their team salary will remain at about $122.4MM, per Basketball Insiders, just shy of the $123.7MM tax line. The club still has room to fill out the last spot on its roster by signing second-rounder Khyri Thomas, but no deal is in place yet for the former Creighton standout.
Clippers To Retain Milos Teodosic
Milos Teodosic will stick with the Clippers after all, according to Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times, who reports (via Twitter) that the Clips “really like” the point guard, who will return on the second year of his two-year deal with the club.
Teodosic and the Clippers agreed to that two-year deal in the summer of 2017, but after a guaranteed first-season salary, the second year was structured a little differently. While the 31-year-old exercised his $6.3MM player option in June, that option was only guaranteed for $2.1MM, and at least one report suggested that Los Angeles may cut the point guard before his July 15 guarantee deadline to save $4MM+.
According to that Sportando report, the Clippers had some concern over the health of Teodosic’s foot. The longtime EuroLeague star a tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot near the end of the 2017/18 campaign, ending his season early.
L.A. also has a crowded backcourt, with Teodosic, Patrick Beverley, Avery Bradley, Lou Williams, Jawun Evans, and Sindarius Thornwell on track to return while lottery picks Jerome Robinson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander join the mix. Retaining Teodosic increases the team’s roster count to 17 players, with restricted free agent Montrezl Harrell still unsigned.
Still, the Clippers apparently liked what they saw from Teodosic in 2017/18 enough to keep him around for another year. Teodosic had a solid NBA rookie season after a successful run in Europe, averaging 9.5 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 2.8 RPG with a .419/.379/.848 shooting line. He was limited to just 45 games due to injuries.
Atlantic Notes: Perry, Ojeleye, Bolden
While Knicks general manager Scott Perry is still relatively new to the job, an impressive second summer at the helm has shown that’s he’s a competent choice to lead the franchise. Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes that the stellar play of second-round pick Mitchell Robinson is the latest example of his prowess.
Not only did Perry nab a useful young big man that could grow to be a part of the Knicks’ core, he did it on the cheap. Robinson signed a four-year deal worth $6.6MM that will keep him under affordable team control.
Hamilton also calls to light Perry’s selection of Kevin Knox in the first round, the hiring of David Fizdale and the 2017 trade of Carmelo Anthony as the general manager’s early portfolio of work with the Knicks.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division tonight:
- The Knicks will look to see Mario Hezonja break out in his fourth year as an NBA pro and, as Marc Berman of The New York Post writes, one of the keys to that will be the swingman maintaining his confidence. A stable coaching staff should help in that regard.
- The Celtics effectively guaranteed Semi Ojeleye‘s contract by not waiving him by today, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets. The second-year forward has stood out for the C’s during summer league.
- Sixers draft-and-stash prospect Jonah Bolden, who hopes to play for the big league club this season, struggled in summer league play. The 2017 pick understands that he didn’t perform as well this year as he did in the previous summer league and, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, attributes it to a lack of organized basketball this spring.
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Jackson Jr., Metu
The Pelicans added a pair of young building blocks in Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton this summer and the new personnel could lead to an even faster pace of play, William Guillory of The Times-Picayune writes.
The addition of two athletic young players – Randle is still just 23 years old while Payton is 24 – will serve the Pelicans well. Guillory writes that New Orleans led the league in pace after DeMarcus Cousins went down with an Achilles injury in January.
“We want to play fast, we want to defend, we want to get out in transition,” Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said. “The other thing is these two guys are very unselfish players, which would fit great with our group.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Grizzlies see fourth-overall pick Jaren Jackson Jr. as a Defensive Player of the Year-type player, J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star writes. “He’s a natural talker and in order to be a great defender you got to be a natural talker. That’s what he is,” Memphis assistant Greg Buckner said.
- The Spurs chose not to withdraw their qualifying offer from Darrun Hilliard before Friday, meaning they won’t be able to do so without Hilliard’s blessing, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes. Hilliard remains a restricted two-way free agent.
- The Spurs have downgraded rookie Chimezie Metu‘s wrist injury from a sprain to a fracture, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes, noting that Metu will wear a cast but will not require surgery.
Pistons Notes: Robinson III, Nori, Hearn
The Pistons nabbed former Michigan Wolverine Glenn Robinson III for two years at just north of $8MM. His goal this season, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press writes, is to contend for a starting gig.
Before joining the Pistons, Robinson III made a name for himself as a sharp-shooting reserve on a Pacers team but an early ankle injury early last season threw a wrench in what could have been a breakout year in 2017/18.
Looming large ahead of Robinson on the Pistons’ depth chart is Stanley Johnson but the new addition could carve out a meaningful role for himself thanks to his long-range shooting regardless.
There’s more out of Detroit this evening:
- The Pistons will bring Micah Nori aboard to join Dwane Casey‘s coaching staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The club will also bring aboard former Warriors analytics ace Sammy Gelfand, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes.
- The Pistons will return a number of key rotation players this season, while integrating a number of fresh faces eager to compete for minutes. Rod Beard of The Detroit News breaks down what fans can make of each player currently on the roster.
- The Pistons retain the rights to 2017/18 two-way player Reggie Hearn, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets and the guard is hopeful to return to the team’s G League affiliate this season.
Grizzlies Sign Jevon Carter To Multi-Year Deal
The Grizzlies have signed 2018 second-round pick Jevon Carter to a multi-year contract, the club announced in a press release.
The 32nd overall pick arrives in Memphis after four seasons at West Virginia and will compete with Kobi Simmons for reps at the backup point guard position.
Carter is currently with Memphis’ summer league squad competing in Vegas and has averaged 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.
Weekly Mailbag: 7/9/18 – 7/15/18
We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com.
Do you think Trae Young will become another Stephen Curry based on their skills? -Greg Dizon
Curry has three championship rings and two MVP awards, so that’s a lot to ask from anyone. The important thing for Young is that the Hawks be patient and not expect him to become a dominant scorer right away. Young obviously patterns his game after Curry, but he’ll need time to adjust to the NBA. College teams were able to figure out how to neutralize him over the second half of the season, and NBA opponents will borrow from those tactics. Curry averaged 17.5 PPG during his rookie season and didn’t become a 20-point scorer until his fourth season in the league. That’s probably a realistic expectation for Young.
What’s the likelihood Jahlil Okafor gets another shot in the league? — Dennis McDaniels, via Twitter
At age 22, Okafor is too young and too skilled to be washed up. He fell completely out of favor in Philadelphia and didn’t produce much in 26 games with Brooklyn, but he’ll definitely get another chance. Okafor’s low-post scoring skills have been devalued as the league puts a greater emphasis on floor spacing and outside shooting, and the concerns about his defense and lateral quickness have been justified. Still, he remains a legitimate weapon on offense if he’s willing to accept a reduced role and goes to a team that knows how to maximize his strengths. It may not happen until much later this summer, but Okafor will get a camp invitation from somebody.
Do you think the Clippers will re-sign Montrezl Harrell? I hope they re-sign Tyrone Wallace as well. — Richard Garcia
Harrell has fallen into the same trap as most restricted free agents. Teams don’t want to tie up their resources early in free agency while waiting for the incumbent franchise to match, then eventually the money dries up and there aren’t many clubs that can afford to make a significant offer to someone like Harrell. His first year with the Clippers was very productive, averaging 11.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG, and his role should expand with DeAndre Jordan now in Dallas. Expect L.A. to re-sign him, probably at a bargain price. Wallace is also restricted and will be much cheaper after playing on a two-way contract last season. If he receives an offer sheet, it shouldn’t cost much for the Clippers to match.