Bulls, Jabari Parker Discuss Possible Offer
JULY 14: The Bucks did not rescind their qualifying offer to Parker by Friday’s deadline, tweets Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel. While Parker remains a restricted free agent, it remains unlikely that he returns to Milwaukee given Chicago’s expected offer, Velazquez adds.
JULY 13, 6:49pm: Chicago is close to signing Parker on a short-term deal, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
5:17pm: The Bulls are progressing on an offer sheet to Bucks restricted free agent forward Jabari Parker, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. A number of topics are still been discussed by Chicago’s front office and Parker’s representatives, Wojnarowski adds.
The Bucks would have 48 hours to match any offer that Parker might receive. However, it appears that if Chicago truly wants Parker, Milwaukee won’t go to great lengths to keep him. The Bucks are unlikely to match an offer sheet for Parker, according to a follow-up story by Wojnarowski. In fact, Milwaukee has mulled the possibility of pulling Parker’s qualifying offer and making him an unrestricted free agent.
This would go a long way toward explaining the Bulls’ recent moves. Chicago has been clearing cap space in recent days by trading Jerian Grant, waiving Sean Kilpatrick, and withdrawing David Nwaba‘s qualifying offer. The Bulls could open up as much as $20.6MM in cap space if they also renounced Noah Vonleh‘s rights and waive Paul Zipser and Julyan Stone, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
The Bucks would have to clear salary in order to avoid moving into luxury-tax territory if they chose to match a competitive offer sheet to Parker, Marks notes in another tweet.
Parker is a Chicago native and has been linked to the Bulls in multiple reports.
With Lauri Markkanen entrenched at power forward, the Bulls apparently view Parker as a solution at small forward. The 6’8” Parker, who has suffered two major knee injuries in his young career, averaged 12.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 31 games last season after returning from his latest injury.
Mavs Rescind Qualifying Offer To Yogi Ferrell
The Mavericks rescinded their qualifying offer to point guard Yogi Ferrell, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. However, Dallas intends to re-sign Ferrell and they are “on the one-yard line” of finalizing a deal, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
By rescinding Ferrell’s qualifying offer, Dallas’ plan is likely a cap room maximization. The team can increase its cap space to $6.5MM by replacing Ferrell’s $2.9MM qualifying offer with a $1.5MM cap hold as an unrestricted free agent, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. Dallas has yet to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki, but the team can use its increased cap space or room exception on the veteran and then go over the cap to ink Ferrell.
Ferrell, 25, enjoyed his best full season in 2017/18 as he played in all of the Mavericks’ 82 games while accumulating 21 starts. The former Nets averaged 10.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 2.5 APG for Dallas.
The Indiana University product previously stated he would like to stay in Dallas which explains his willingness to re-sign despite his qualifying offer being rescinded. The Mavericks will enter the 2018/19 season with a stacked backcourt as the roster already includes 2018 first-rounder Luka Doncic, 2017 first-rounder Dennis Smith Jr., and J.J. Barea.
Atlantic Rumors: Gaines, Nurse, Celtics, Knox
Clarence Gaines Jr. is no longer with the Knicks’ organization, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reports. Gaines was the team’s VP of player personnel under former team president Phil Jackson, who credited Gaines for lobbying to select Kristaps Porzingis in the 2015 lottery. Gaines did scouting for the current regime last season. Several newcomers have been hired by the front office and Gaines did not have strong ties to GM Scott Perry, Ian Begley of ESPN notes. Gaines’ contract expired after last season.
In other developments around the Atlantic Division:
- Challenging DeMar DeRozan to become a better defender is just one of the things new Raptors coach Nick Nurse has in mind for next season, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes. Nurse is trying to devise ways to play two smaller guards, Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet, together and still minimize the issues that it presents defending pick-and-rolls, Wolstat continues. Playing Serge Ibaka more often at center is another wrinkle Nurse plans to employ, Wolstat adds.
- The Celtics are planning to hold onto their $8.641MM mid-level exception for the balance of the offseason, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets. Their priority is to re-sign restricted free agents Marcus Smart and Jabari Bird and see what develops during the season, Smith adds.
- Strong summer-league showings by first-round pick Kevin Knox and second-rounder Mitchell Robinson have made the Knicks look wise in their selections, ESPN’s Andre Snellings writes. Knox should jump right into the Knicks’ starting lineup at small forward, while Robinson could eventually work his way into the rotation. While neither player shows superstar potential, they both have skill sets that should translate to the league, Snellings adds.
- The Nets have positioned themselves to make a big splash next summer, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype notes. They can create enough salary-cap room to sign two first-tier free agents to go along with two first-round picks, provided that the protections on the pick the Nuggets sent them don’t kick in.
- Knicks coach David Fizdale will head off to Latvia on July 22nd to visit with Porzingis and check on his progress from knee surgery, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports.
Warriors Sign Kendrick Nunn To Camp Deal
JULY 13: Nunn has officially signed a contract with the Warriors, per RealGM’s transactions log. It’s a one-year deal.
JUNE 22: Undrafted free agent Kendrick Nunn will make the move from one Oakland to another, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Nunn has agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with the Warriors.
Nunn, who will join the defending champions in the Bay Area, spent the final season of his college career at Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Averaging 37.9 minutes per contest, the 6’3″ guard racked up 25.9 PPG on .435/.394/.838 shooting, chipping in 4.7 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG.
Nunn earned a spot on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, coming in as the 99th-ranked prospect in this year’s draft class.
While reporting on agreements reached at this time of year can be ambiguous, Begley’s note that Dunn will receive a partial guarantee suggests he’ll come to camp with the Warriors in the fall. The team will be able to finalize his signing after the new NBA league year begins in July.
Pelicans’ Draft Pick Tony Carr Headed To Italy
Pelicans second-round pick Tony Carr has agreed to a deal with Italy’s Fiat Torino, William Guillory of the New Orleans Times-Picayune relays. The news was first reported by Sportando.
Carr has been playing for the Pelicans’ summer-league team. He’ll be coached by longtime NBA and college coach Larry Brown, who took the job with the Italian club last month.
Brown is notoriously tough on point guards, so Carr will get plenty of guidance on how to be a floor leader for a professional team. He’s struggled in summer-league play, averaging 7.0 PPG and 3.8 APG.
The 6’5” Penn State product, the 51st overall pick, averaged 19.6 PPG, 5.0 APG and 4.9 RPG as a sophomore last season before declaring for the draft.
New Orleans has three other point guards on the roster, Jrue Holiday, Elfrid Payton and Frank Jackson.
Jazz Sign Georges Niang To Multi-Year Deal
8:47pm: The signing is official, according to a Jazz press release.
8:10pm: It’s a three-year, $5MM contract with a first-year guarantee, according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News.
7:11pm: The Jazz have agreed to a multi-year deal with forward Georges Niang, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets.
Niang was a restricted free agent after Utah extended a qualifying offer late last month. He played on a two-way contract last season.
Niang received the two-way deal in January after playing for the Warriors’ G League team in Santa Cruz. He made nine brief appearances with Utah last season, averaging 1.0 PPG and 1.o RPG in 3.6 MPG.
The 6’8” Iowa State product saw action in 23 games with the Pacers the previous season.
Nuggets Trade Faried, Arthur, Picks To Nets
JULY 13, 8:42pm: The trade is official, according to a Nets press release.
JULY 12, 5:18pm: The Nuggets have found a team willing to take on their unwanted contracts, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports that Denver is sending Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, a protected 2019 first-round pick, and a 2020 second-round pick to the Nets in exchange for Isaiah Whitehead.
It’s a salary-dump deal for the Nuggets, who intend to waive Whitehead after acquiring him, Wojnarowski adds. Whitehead’s salary guarantee deadline was recently pushed back, so his $1.54MM salary for 2018/19 remains non-guaranteed — Denver won’t be on the hook for it.
Having reached a deal with Isaiah Thomas earlier in the night, the Nuggets were poised to have 16 players on guaranteed NBA contracts and were well into luxury-tax territory. Their deal with the Nets will solve both issues, reducing their roster count to 14 players after Whitehead’s release and getting their total team salary below the tax threshold.
Bobby Marks of ESPN.com has the full details, noting that the Nuggets should be about $8.7MM below the tax line after the trade, giving the team room to use the rest of its mid-level exception to fill the last spot on its roster, if it so chooses. So far, Denver has committed $2MM of its MLE to Torrey Craig and is believed to have used about another $1MM on Jarred Vanderbilt.
As Marks observes, trading Faried, Darrell Arthur, and Wilson Chandler (to Philadelphia) projects to save the Nuggets approximately $90MM in salary and tax payments. The team gave up a first-round pick and two second-rounders in those two deals.
The Nuggets have also created three sizable traded player exceptions to work with — those TPEs are equivalent to the salaries for Faried ($13.76MM), Chandler ($12.8MM), and Arthur minus Whitehead ($5.92MM)
Meanwhile, from the Nets’ perspective, they’ll rent their cap room in order to add a pair of draft assets. The big prize is the 2019 first-rounder, which is top-12 protected, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Coming into the day, Brooklyn didn’t have the cap room necessary to absorb both Faried and Arthur, but the club created that space by trading Jeremy Lin to the Hawks in another deal. It’s not clear whether Faried and/or Arthur are in the Nets’ plans for 2018/19 or if they’ll become buyout candidates.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mavs Sign Kostas Antetokounmpo To Two-Way Deal
The Mavericks have signed second-round draft pick Kostas Antetokounmpo to a two-way contract, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
The brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo was the No. 60 selection in the draft. The Mavericks acquired his draft rights, along with the rights to Raymond Spalding, from the Sixers in exchange for the draft rights to Shake Milton.
Kostas is a 6’11” power forward who will get a chance to develop his game in the G League.
The younger brother, who turns 21 in November, played college ball at Dayton. In his lone season with the Flyers, he averaged 5.2 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 15.1 MPG.
Raptors Rescind Qualifying Offer To Malcolm Miller
The Raptors have withdrawn their qualifying offer to forward Malcolm Miller, making him an unrestricted free agent, according to RealGM.
The 6’7” Miller played on a two-way contract with Toronto last season. He appeared in 15 games, including four starts, and averaged 2.5 PPG in 8.4 MPG.
A summer-league injury may have played into the Raptors’ decision. Miller suffered a dislocated shoulder in Las Vegas.
Miller, 25, went undrafted in 2015 after playing college ball at Holy Cross.
Wayne Ellington Re-Signs With Heat
JULY 13, 6:53pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
JULY 12, 8:35pm: Free agent guard Wayne Ellington will re-sign with the Heat, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Ellington will receive $6.27MM for one year, the same amount he made in 2017/18. Negotiations lasted almost two weeks because the organization didn’t want to go too far into luxury tax territory, Jackson adds.
The Heat will officially become a taxpaying team, according to Bobby Marks on ESPN Now. As Marks details, a total team salary of $127MM puts Miami over the tax threshold by $3.2MM and gives the club a projected tax bill of $4.9MM so far.
With 12 guaranteed contracts on their books so far for the upcoming season, the Heat still have their $5.3MM taxpayer mid-level exception available. Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are candidates to return and fill a couple of the club’s open roster slots.
The Heat will continue to try to trim salary, with Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Johnson among the players being made available in trade, a rival executive tells Jackson. Ellington isn’t a trade candidate, but for what it’s worth, he’ll be able to veto any deal this season because of the one-year Bird rights restriction.
Ellington, 30, has been a deadly shooter off the bench in his two seasons with the Heat. He averaged a career-best 11.2 PPG during the 2017/18 season, sinking 227 3-pointers and shooting 39% from long distance.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.