Heat Sign Duncan Robinson To Two-Way Contract
3:10pm: The deal is now official, according to a press release from the team.
12:43pm: The Heat will sign Duncan Robinson to one of their two-way contract slots, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link). League sources tell Scotto that Robinson has agreed to a one-year two-way deal with Miami.
[RELATED: 2018/19 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
After starting his college career at D-III school Williams College, Robinson headed to Michigan and spent the last three years with the Wolverines.
The 6’8″ guard/forward averaged a modest 9.3 PPG in his three seasons at Michigan, but showed off an impressive outside stroke, converting 41.9% of his three-pointers. During his time with the Wolverines, 565 of Robinson’s 785 field goal attempts came from beyond the arc.
Robinson has been playing for Miami’s Summer League squad and is averaging a team-high 14.0 PPG in two Las Vegas contests. He also looked good in the Sacramento Summer League last week, averaging 11.3 PPG on 57.1% shooting.
The Heat carried Derrick Jones and Derrick Walton as their two-way players in 2017/18, but opened up one of those slots when they signed Jones to a standard NBA deal last week. The team currently has a qualifying offer out to Walton, so it’s possible he’ll return alongside Robinson in that other two-way slot.
15 Notable Unrestricted Free Agents Still Available
Most of the players on our list of the top 50 free agents of 2018 have found deals during the first 10 days of July. Of the top players who remain unsigned, many are restricted free agents who have been unable to secure lucrative offer sheets, such as Clint Capela, Jabari Parker, Marcus Smart, and Rodney Hood.
However, there are still a number of intriguing unrestricted free agents on the board. These players could be signed outright by teams looking to fill holes on their roster, though it’s unlikely that any of them are in line for significant paydays at this point in free agency.
With the help of our full list of available players, here are 15 notable names to watch during the current wave of free agency:
Isaiah Thomas, PG
After putting up MVP-type numbers in 2016/17, Thomas battled hip issues and failed to make a major impact for the Cavaliers and Lakers last season. He claims he’s fully healthy now, but teams still appear hesitant to invest in the standout scorer.
Shabazz Napier, PG
Napier enjoyed a breakout year for the Trail Blazers in 2017/18, establishing new career-highs in PPG (8.7), RPG (2.3 RPG), SPG (1.1), 3PT% (.376), and several other categories as the first guard off Portland’s bench behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
Jamal Crawford, G
Linked to the Warriors, Sixers, and Wizards – among other contenders – early in free agency, Crawford has yet to find a home. And those three teams, at least, no longer have exception money available to offer him more than the minimum.
Wayne Ellington, SG
Perhaps the most surprising name on the list of available players, Ellington made 2.9 three-pointers per game last season at a 39.2% clip, and is still just 30 years old. It’s a little unexpected that less accomplished shooters like Doug McDermott and Mario Hezonja have secured deals in the $6-7MM-per-year range while Ellington is still unsigned.
Dwyane Wade, SG
Like fellow free agent Dirk Nowitzki, who we didn’t include on this list, Wade is only technically available. In actuality, if he decides to continue to career, it will almost certainly be with the Heat.
Nick Young, G/F
A Monday report indicated that Young has received interest from the Kings, Grizzlies, Rockets, Cavaliers, Jazz, and Timberwolves, among others. The money, role, and odds of contending those teams can offer vary significantly, so we’ll see what Young’s priorities are after winning a title in Golden State.
Corey Brewer, G/F
Brewer was a key part of the Thunder’s rotation after joining the team late in the 2017/18 season. However, clubs considering him this offseason are probably skeptical that he can replicate the .359 3PT% he posted in 24 regular season and playoff games with Oklahoma City.
James Ennis, SF
The Pistons, Sixers, Rockets, Nets, Pelicans, and Timberwolves were said to have interest in Ennis last week, but some of those teams have addressed their wing and frontcourt needs since then.
Treveon Graham, SF
The Hornets’ decision not to tender a qualifying offer to Graham, a 24-year-old wing who made 41.2% of his three-pointers, was somewhat surprising. He’s generating interest and should find a home on an NBA roster.
Michael Beasley, F
When the Knicks opted to sign Mario Hezonja, it essentially closed Beasley’s path to returning to New York. Beasley poured in 13.2 PPG in just 22.3 MPG last season off the bench, so he should appeal to a club in need of a scoring punch off the bench.
Trevor Booker, PF
Booker’s lack of an outside shot limits his value in the modern NBA, so he certainly won’t match the $9MM+ salary he earned in 2017/18. He’d make a solid third or fourth frontcourt piece for a lot of teams around the NBA though.
Dante Cunningham, PF
While stretch fours like Ersan Ilyasova, Anthony Tolliver, and Nemanja Bjelica found homes last week, Cunningham remains available. He’ll likely will have a more modest price tag than those other veteran forwards.
Alan Williams, F/C
A meniscus injury kept Williams sidelined for nearly all of the 2017/18 campaign and may be diminishing his market this summer. If he’s healthy though, Williams is one of the league’s best rebounders — he has averaged 15.0 boards per 36 minutes over the course of his NBA career.
Alex Len, C
Another former Suns big man who finds himself without an NBA home, Len can provide some rebounding and rim protection for a team in need of a backup center. If he’s seeking a starting role somewhere, the five-year veteran may have to wait for a team to get hit with the injury bug.
Greg Monroe, C
Monroe posted decent per-minute numbers in Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Boston last season, averaging 10.3 PPG and 6.9 RPG in just 20.4 minutes per contest. But he’s a low-post scorer in a league that doesn’t place a ton of value on that skill these days — he wasn’t a major part of the Celtics’ rotation in the playoffs.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lakers Sign Lance Stephenson
JULY 10: The Lakers have officially signed Stephenson, according to a press release from the team.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have Lance join our team,” GM Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Lance is playoff-tested and will bring a certain edge, confidence and toughness to our roster. His multi-positional versatility and open-court playmaking abilities are key ingredients for the basketball style we designed for next season.”
By signing Stephenson now, the Lakers have elected to use most or all of their remaining cap room to complete his deal, leaving the $4.449MM room exception available for another move.
JULY 1: The Lakers have agreed to a deal with Lance Stephenson, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. The 27-year-old swingman and notorious rival of LeBron James will head to Los Angeles after a career-reviving 14-month stint with the Pacers.
The pact, which ESPN’s Chris Haynes reports is worth $4.5MM over one season, will give the Lakers an additional veteran as they gear up to transition from a rebuilding young squad to a genuine Western Conference contender.
[RELATED: LeBron James to sign four-year deal with Lakers]
Stephenson, 27, had his 2018/19 team option turned down by the Pacers after he averaged 9.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.9 APG last season, appearing in all 82 games. While his shooting numbers (.427/.289/.661) were all below his career marks, it was still somewhat surprising to see the Pacers let Stephenson go. His option salary would have been $4.36MM, so he’ll get a slight raise on his new deal.
Based on the terms reported by Haynes, it appears the Lakers will use their room exception to sign Stephenson once they’ve used up all their cap room. The room exception is worth $4.449MM for 2018/19.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lakers Sign Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk To Three-Year Deal
1:18pm: The Lakers have officially signed Mykhailiuk, the team announced today in a press release.
12:27pm: The Lakers are in the process of finalizing a contract for second-round pick Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). According to Charania, it’ll be a three-year deal worth approximately $4.6MM, and will include a team option.
Mykhailiuk, the 47th overall pick of this year’s draft, is coming off a successful senior year at Kansas in which he averaged 14.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.7 APG while shooting 44.4% on three-pointers. The 21-year-old shooting guard has looked good in Las Vegas so far, averaging 16.0 PPG on 52.2% shooting in two Summer League contests.
If the terms Charania reported are accurate, it’s an impressive deal for Mykhailiuk. Fellow second-rounder Isaac Bonga only received about $4.1MM on his new three-year deal with the Lakers, and Bonga was selected eight spots earlier at No. 39 overall.
The Lakers still have cap room available, so they’ll use some of that space to finalize Mykhailiuk’s contract.
Pacers’ Pritchard Talks Offseason, Young, McMillan
The Pacers‘ free agent shopping for 2018 is all but over, with the team having used up its cap space on Doug McDermott and Tyreke Evans before committing its room exception to Kyle O’Quinn. While the team may make some tweaks around the edges of its roster, it won’t be able to offer more than the veteran’s minimum to any more free agents.
With his roster for 2018/19 nearly set, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard spoke to J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star about this summer’s free agent signings, an increased focus on three-point shooting, and several other Pacers-related topics. The conversation is worth checking out in full, but here are a few highlights from Pritchard:
On considering making a trade during last month’s draft:
“We had a couple of guys that we really liked in the draft and to move up we were going to have to take on some contracts. Some teams wanted to get off contracts. We were able to move up but it would’ve taken us completely out of free agency. What happens is you evaluate what you think can happen on July 1 in free agency, which you have no clue, or do you move up and get a young guy that’s up and coming? As we analyzed it, what we felt like was important was this team last year made a jump like we weren’t expecting. We wanted it to be a good team, but adding a really good rookie (chosen higher in the draft) is a good thing but sometimes that’s a future’s play.”
On Thaddeus Young‘s decision to exercise his player option:
“We were thrilled because we wanted to keep that starting five in place. Now we’ve kept the top seven guys (from last year’s team) in terms of minutes played and adding a few players that we feel like could come off our bench to be effective. Thad means everything to us. The continuity of that, what he brings in the locker room — it feels like we over-talk about that stuff — but it’s important. We know what Thad is. He’s going to be a great leader and he’ll have a heck of year. I have no doubt.”
On the contract status of head coach Nate McMillan, who is entering the final year of his deal:
“We’re talking right now. We value what he’s done. We understand how important he is and we’ll have conversations over the summer with him.”
On what it will take for a star free agent to seriously consider the Pacers:
“If we win a series or get a little deeper into the playoffs with our flexibility, that’s our ultimate goal. A good core we believe in and then ultimately some flexibility to go after something like that. We may not get him, but you have to at least try. For me, having some success on the court, having our players enjoy the way we play and winning, that’s the best thing Indiana can provide. If you want to come, have success, have a chance to win in the playoffs, we can provide that.”
Latest On Sixers’ GM Search
After working their way through the NBA draft and the first wave of 2018 free agency without a general manager, the Sixers figure to shift their focus to filling that open front office position in the coming weeks. However, principal owner Josh Harris cautions that the search may not be completed quickly, as Keith Pompey of Philly.com details.
“I think it’s going to take a while to find the right person,” Harris said on Monday. “I hate to keep talking about it, but we really need to find the right person who can develop the special culture. It’s very consensus-oriented.
As Pompey explains, the Sixers want to take a collaborative approach to key personnel and roster decisions, meaning any serious candidate for the GM opening will have to be willing to surrender total power on those decisions. The team’s goal is to find a candidate that will mesh with head coach Brett Brown, vice president of basketball operations Ned Cohen, and other front office executives like Alex Rucker and Sergi Oliva.
“Certainly there are other ways to do it, where there’s a big, strong leader,” Harris said. “He or she makes every decision, and there’s many roads to run. That’s just not the road we are going to take.”
The Sixers’ reluctance to give total decision-making control to their next GM may turn off some top candidates, but Pompey still identifies a handful of noteworthy names receiving consideration. Multiple sources tell Pompey that former Nets and Nuggets GM Kiki VanDeWeghe has expressed interest in the job. Spurs GM R.C. Buford has also been cited as a possible target, according to Pompey, who notes that it would be difficult to lure Buford out of San Antonio. Of the Sixers’ internal candidates, Cohen probably has the best case, Pompey adds.
Harris suggested that the Sixers would like to hire a general manager who has previous GM experience, adding that a proven “track record” is a plus, though he acknowledged that’s not necessarily a deal-breaker.
Philadelphia has been on the lookout for a new general manager since a scandal involving multiple burner Twitter accounts ultimately led to Bryan Colangelo‘s ouster. Brown is serving as the team’s interim GM.
Contract Details: CP3, MCW, Nurkic, Anderson
The Rockets‘ four-year max deal for Chris Paul includes a player option in year four, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). While that added detail on CP3’s new agreement with Houston is interesting, the possibility of an opt-out probably won’t be a factor in 2021 when a decision is due. Paul will be 36 years old when he has to decide on that $44MM+ option, so he seems unlikely to turn it down.
Pincus has several more specific details on recently-signed contracts, so let’s round them up…
- Michael Carter-Williams‘ one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Rockets isn’t fully guaranteed. The deal, worth $1,757,429 in total, has a $1.2MM partial guarantee for now (Twitter link).
- The Trail Blazers‘ agreement with Jusuf Nurkic can be worth up to $54MM, but has a base value of $48MM, with $6MM in unlikely incentives. The fourth and final year is also currently only partially guaranteed for $4MM (Twitter link).
- Kyle Anderson‘s new four-year contract with the Grizzlies features a 15% trade kicker (Twitter link).
- Bruce Brown (Pistons) and Keita Bates-Diop (Timberwolves) got three-year, minimum-salary deals with two guaranteed seasons from their respective teams (Twitter link).
- Of the two-way contracts signed so far this offseason, Billy Preston‘s deal with the Cavaliers is the only one confirmed to be for two years rather than just one (Twitter link).
Rockets Rumors: Capela, Luxury Tax, Anthony
In the wake of multiple reports suggesting that the Rockets and Clint Capela aren’t close to reaching a new deal, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com provides some specific details on the negotiations between the two sides.
Sources tell MacMahon that Houston’s initial offer to Capela was in the neighborhood of $60MM for four years. However, the young center is believed to be seeking a deal similar to the one Steven Adams signed with the Thunder — $100MM over four years.
Accepting an offer in the $60-70MM range would mean earning a lower annual salary than several lesser centers around the NBA, so it makes sense that Capela would be seeking a larger deal. Still, he’ll have to be careful about overplaying his hand. Only the Hawks and Kings still have the cap room necessary to top a $15MM-per-year offer, and neither club seems eager to use its remaining space on a center.
Capela could accept his qualifying offer and hope for stronger outside offers as an unrestricted free agent next summer, but that’s a risky move. That qualifying offer is worth less than $5MM, so if Capela suffers a major injury during the 2018/19 season – like DeMarcus Cousins did in a contract year – he’d regret not having accepted Houston’s best long-term proposal.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Although the Rockets have already lost Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute in free agency, new team owner Tilman Fertitta is adamant that the luxury tax isn’t influencing Houston’s roster decisions, as MacMahon details. “We know we’re going to be in the luxury tax, and if you want to compete for a championship, I feel like unless you get real lucky, you’re going to be in the luxury tax,” Fertitta said on Monday. “So it is what it is. … It never even came up in any discussion.”
- General manager Daryl Morey acknowledged that the Ariza and Mbah a Moute departures will hurt, but sounds optimistic that the team will find a way to fill those newly-created roster holes. “Both Trevor and Mbah a Moute were a big part of our team,” Morey said, per MacMahon. “That’s part of my job and our staff’s job is to put together a new group for this year. We feel confident. We need our best team on April 15. We’re going to either sign or trade or something to get us back to where we need to be, and we also really like our group.”
- Fertitta also expressed confidence about the Rockets’ roster: “We feel like we were a Chris Paul injury away from being in the Finals, and we feel really good about this year. I think come opening night, I think everybody’s going to be really impressed with the team that we have on the floor.”
- Within MacMahon’s piece, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms that the Rockets plan to pursue Carmelo Anthony once he’s waived or bought out by Oklahoma City. Many executives around the NBA reportedly view Houston as the frontrunner to land Anthony, and Wojnarowski noted in a tweet that the Rockets are “determined” to sign him.
Kings Preparing Offer For Marcus Smart?
JULY 10, 8:11am: A source tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that there’s “nothing to” the report of the Kings’ interest in Smart, suggesting that no offer sheet is imminent (Twitter links).
Over the last couple weeks, Sacramento has been linked to Smart, Rodney Hood, and Jabari Parker, all of whom remain available. There was also a report indicating that the team planned to focus on the trade market using its cap room, so it appears there’s no clear consensus on which direction the Kings will go with that remaining space. The club currently has about $19.5MM available.
JULY 9, 8:30pm: The Kings are preparing an offer sheet to Celtics restricted free agent guard Marcus Smart, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston tweets.
The Kings have been aggressive in free agency, giving Bulls guard Zach LaVine a four-year, $78MM offer sheet that Chicago opted to match. They are apparently intent on upgrading their off-guard position.
It’s unlikely Smart will get an offer anywhere near that amount but it’s also less likely that Boston will match a large multi-year deal. Smart has been frustrated with the lack of offers and by the Celtics’ unwillingness to reach out to him to negotiate a new contract.
Blakely reported on Saturday that Smart was likely to accept the Celtics’ $6.1MM qualifying offer and try his luck as an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Kings’ interest in Smart could change that dynamic.
Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe recently reported that teams are willing to give Smart about $9MM annually, but he is looking for much more.
Smart battled through injuries last season, appearing in 54 regular-season games while averaging 10.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 4.8 APG.
Grizzlies Sign Swingman Kyle Anderson
JULY 9, 10:55pm: The signing is official, according to a Grizzlies press release, after the Spurs declined to match.
JULY 6, 8:27pm: Spurs swingman Kyle Anderson has signed a four-year, $37.2MM offer sheet with the Grizzlies, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. San Antonio has 48 hours to match the offer, which includes a 15 percent trade kicker, on the restricted free agent.
The Grizzlies will use their full mid-level exception on Anderson and become hard-capped if San Antonio fails to match, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
The Grizzlies targeted Anderson in their quest to upgrade at small forward, Wojnarowski continues. Anderson averaged 7.9 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 26.7 MPG last season. He started 67 of 74 games with Kawhi Leonard sidelined for all but nine games with a quad injury.
The 6’9” Anderson is entering his fifth season in the league and the Spurs have been positive about retaining him, Wojnarowski adds. He’s been a rotation player the last three seasons but has never posted big numbers. He is considered a superior defender, which attracted Memphis’ attention as it tries to restore a defensive mindset.