Nuggets Sign Will Barton To Four-Year Deal
JULY 9: The Nuggets have officially signed Barton to his new four-year contract, according to a press release from the team.
“Will Barton is a fearless competitor that never backs down,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said in a statement. “He has continuously pushed himself to be the best player and teammate he can be and gives it his all no matter what role he is asked to play. We are very excited to have gotten this deal done and to keep an important player like Will as a key part of our future.”
JUNE 30: The Nuggets will come to terms on a four-year deal with free agent swingman Will Barton, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports tweets. The news comes an hour before the official free agency period begins.
The four-year contract will be worth $54MM, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets, with a player option in the final year. Per Zach Lowe of ESPN, the final year of the four-year deal will include a player option.
Barton, a 27-year-old shooting guard, is coming off a career year with the franchise. The prolific two guard averaged 15.7 points per game on the season but 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists in games that he started.
It was previously reported that Barton would be meeting with the Pacers later tonight but Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes that that meeting was never scheduled.
With Nikola Jokic‘s recently reported five-year extension factored in, the acquisition of Barton at over $12MM annually will put the Nuggets on pace to shatter the luxury tax line.
Of course club president of basketball operations Tim Connelly will have plenty of time to rectify that and, as we wrote earlier, will be looking to shed contracts in trades.
At the end of the day, while the deal could put the Nuggets over the tax if they can’t unload any of their unwanted contracts, they have $34MM set to expire next summer when Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler and Darrell Arthur all come off their books.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agent Rumors: Mbah A Moute, Hood, N. Young
While Clint Capela may be the Rockets‘ most important free agent remaining, he’s not the only one the team has to worry about. A person close to the situation and with knowledge of negotiations tells Kelly Iko of RocketsWire that Houston also hasn’t progressed toward a deal in talks with UFA forward Luc Mbah a Moute.
According to Iko, Mbah a Moute is seeking more money and long-term security than he received from the Rockets in 2017/18, but the club is offering him another minimum-salary deal. Iko’s source suggests that the Spurs, Lakers, Clippers, Wizards, and Sixers have all expressed some level of interest in Mbah a Moute as well.
Here are a few more free agent notes and rumors:
- Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) describes the Rodney Hood sweepstakes as a three-team race involving the Cavaliers, Kings, and Bulls. Sacramento and Chicago are two of the only teams with the cap room necessary to make a viable offer to Hood — we wrote about the Kings’ interest in the RFA swingman earlier today.
- Free agent swingman Nick Young has received some interest from the Kings, Grizzlies, Rockets, Cavaliers, Jazz, and Timberwolves, among others, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. According to Wolfson, Young views Minnesota as as “good opportunity” but the club’s interest hasn’t been as aggressive as it was a year ago.
- The Cavaliers had a group in Las Vegas this morning to see free agent wing Treveon Graham work out, league sources tell TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). The Cavs have “strong interest” in Graham, who is drawing interest from the Timberwolves too, says Aldridge.
Damian Lillard: “I Love Where I Am”
In the wake of a few cryptic tweets sent from his Twitter account and another round of speculation that the Lakers may want to acquire him, Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard set the record straight during a conversation with reporters on Sunday. As Jason Quick of NBC Sports Northwest writes, Lillard dismissed the idea that he’s dissatisfied in Portland or that he wants to play elsewhere.
“I’m straight up. I’m straight up with coach, I’m straight up with (president of basketball operations) Neil (Olshey), straight up with you all,” Lillard said. “I’m not unhappy. I love where I live. I love the organization. I love our coaching staff. I love where I am.”
The Lillard tweets that fueled speculation about his possible unhappiness were published after word broke that Ed Davis would sign with the Nets on a fairly modest one-year, $4.4MM deal. While the standout point guard admitted that he and the Blazers will miss Davis, along with other free agents like Shabazz Napier and Pat Connaughton, he said he’s eager to see who will step up with those players gone.
“Obviously, I loved Ed,” Lillard said, per Quick. “He was one of my best friends in the league; one of favorite teammates I’ve played with. We lose him – that’s a loss for our team. ‘Bazz played big minutes for us, Pat played big minutes for us – so we lose three rotation players that gave us a lot and contributed to our season last year. But I guess now we look forward to who can come in and replace those minutes and give us that type of quality.”
The Trail Blazers signed Nik Stauskas and Seth Curry in free agency in the hopes of adding more shooting. The team will also lean on second-year big man Zach Collins for a larger role. Lillard said on Sunday that he expects Collins to “make a huge leap” in his sophomore year, and added that rookies Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr. are “both impressive,” as Joe Freeman of The Oregonian details.
Lillard, who has been a Blazers since entering the league in 2012, remains under contract with the franchise through the 2020/21 season, so he’s unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon.
Pacers Sign Kyle O’Quinn
JULY 9: The Pacers have published a tweet welcoming O’Quinn to the team, signaling that the signing is now official.
JULY 6: The Pacers have reached a contract agreement with free agent center Kyle O’Quinn, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, who reports (via Twitter) that O’Quinn will sign a one-year, $4.5MM deal with Indiana.
O’Quinn, 28, enjoyed the most productive season of his career in 2017/18, establishing new career highs in PPG (7.1), RPG (6.1), FG% (.582), and several other categories in 77 games (18.0 MPG) for the Knicks. Coming off a successful year in New York, O’Quinn was one of the few veterans in the NBA who turned down a player option for 2018/19.
That player option was worth approximately $4.26MM, so O’Quinn appears poised to exceed that salary on his new deal with the Pacers. Based on the reported terms, it appears that Indiana will use its room exception, worth $4.449MM, to finalize its deal with the veteran center after using up the rest of its cap space.
The Pacers have been busy this week, striking a three-year, $22MM deal with sharpshooting forward Doug McDermott early in free agency, then agreeing to terms on a one-year, $12MM pact for Tyreke Evans. Those two deals are expected to eat up just about all of Indiana’s cap space, but even after using their room exception on O’Quinn, the club will able to add minimum-salary players.
Before reaching an agreement with the Pacers, O’Quinn reportedly met with the Clippers and drew interest from the Sixers and Pelicans.
In Indiana, O’Quinn will join a talented and versatile frontcourt that features Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, Thaddeus Young, and T.J. Leaf. With Al Jefferson and Trevor Booker no longer in the mix, there should be a regular rotation role available for O’Quinn.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
New York Notes: Robinson, Lin, Nets, Noah
Despite some speculation that he may be a first-rounder, the Knicks were able to nab Mitchell Robinson with the 36th overall pick in last month’s draft. That was never a lock though, and a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that the Knicks mulled the possibility of trading up a few spots in the draft to make sure they’d be able to grab the young center.
Robinson, who signed his first NBA contract on Sunday, looked good in Summer League play later in the day, putting up 12 points and 11 rebounds with a pair of blocks against Utah. As Berman writes in a separate article for The Post, the rookie big man still wants to get in better shape, but is optimistic that he’ll be able to make an impact for the Knicks.
“I feel I really can play in the NBA,” Robinson said. “Nowadays you got the 7-footer who can jump out of the gym. I’m one of them. It will work out great for me.”
Here’s more from out of New York on the Knicks and Nets:
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post checks in on Jeremy Lin‘s recovery from a torn patellar tendon. While the Nets point guard hasn’t played five-on-five ball yet, he anticipates being ready to go for training camp.
- In another story for The Post, Lewis explores what’s next for the Nets now that Dwight Howard‘s buyout has been finalized. That agreement opened up more cap room, but GM Sean Marks doesn’t sound like he’s in a hurry to spend it. “I wouldn’t rule anything out. I’d just say we’re constantly weighing our options,” Marks said. “We’re going to be strategic and see how [free agency] comes. The longer the process is drawn out and going into July, there will probably be better deals out there.”
- Joakim Noah‘s future with the Knicks remains a question mark, but the big man sounds enthusiastic about the idea of staying in New York and playing for new head coach David Fizdale, as he told TMZ this weekend.
- Marc Berman of The New York Post takes a closer look at Juwan Howard Jr., who is playing for the Knicks in Summer League and hopes to get an invite to join the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate. Fizdale, of course, has a good relationship with Howard’s father from their days in Miami.
Kings Have Shown Interest In Rodney Hood
The Kings were unable to secure Zach LaVine‘s services this weekend, with the Bulls officially matching Sacramento’s four-year offer sheet to the guard on Sunday. However, the Kings may still be considering another move on the restricted free agent market.
League sources tell Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that Sacramento has shown interest in Cavaliers RFA Rodney Hood, though Jones cautions that talks haven’t progressed to the point where an offer sheet is imminent.
As Jones notes, the Kings are close to having a full roster, but still have approximately $19.5MM in cap room and remain on the lookout for a small forward. As such, it might make sense for the team to make an aggressive play for someone like Hood, a swingman who is young enough that he could continue to develop along with the rest of Sacramento’s young roster.
Hood, 25, spent his first three and a half seasons in Utah before being sent to Cleveland in a deadline-day trade in February. The former first-round pick struggled with the Cavs, but posted solid overall numbers in 60 regular season games in 2017/18, averaging 14.7 PPG on .429/.381/.860 shooting.
The Cavaliers have $106MM+ in guaranteed salaries on their books so far for 10 players, and certainly won’t want to go back into tax territory this season, so they may not match an aggressive offer for Hood.
If the Kings don’t make a play for Hood or another free agent, they’ll likely turn to the trade market as they look to add a small forward and use their remaining cap room to absorb an unwanted contract or two and pick up extra assets.
Pelicans Sign Julius Randle
JULY 9: The Pelicans have officially signed Randle, per the NBA’s transactions log. The team’s new deal with Ian Clark has also been finalized, according to the league’s list of official transactions.
JULY 2: The Pelicans have reached an agreement with Lakers free agent forward Julius Randle on a two-year, $18MM contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The second year will be a player option, Wojnarowski adds.
The acquisition of Randle would strongly suggest that the Pelicans are not confident in re-signing DeMarcus Cousins. At the very least, adding Randle would give them some insurance if Cousins signs elsewhere. Not only does New Orleans already have superstar Anthony Davis up front but also Nikola Mirotic, who was acquired from the Bulls and jumped into the starting lineup with Cousins sidelined by a season-ending Achilles injury.
Davis was instrumental in recruiting Randle to New Orleans, according to another Wojnarowski tweet. Randle had his rights renounced by Los Angeles per his request earlier on Monday, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Pelicans ironically lost free agent point guard Rajon Rondo to the Lakers shortly before the news of Randle’s agreement broke.
Randle’s opt-out will give him the opportunity to explore the free agent market once again next summer. Randle, a former seventh overall pick, averaged 16.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.6 APG, and a .558 FG% in 26.7 minutes per game last season.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, may be poised to replace Cousins with Randle and Rondo with Elfrid Payton, who reached an agreement with the team on Sunday. The terms of the two deals strongly suggest that New Orleans will use its mid-level exception to sign Randle and its bi-annual exception to bring Payton aboard.
A two-year signing using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception would be worth about $17.7MM, which matches up with Randle’s reported $18MM agreement. The bi-annual exception is worth $3.382MM and would accommodate Payton’s reported $2.7MM salary.
Using either exception would hard-cap the Pelicans at $129.82MM for the 2018/19 league year, so while they could go over the cap to re-sign Cousins, their team salary would have to stay below that $129.82MM threshold. Taking into account Randle’s and Payton’s reported agreements, the Pelicans are at approximately $104MM in guaranteed salary for nine players. That total doesn’t include Cousins or non-guaranteed players like Darius Miller ($2.2MM).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cavs’ Kyle Korver On Trade Block?
The Cavaliers are looking to move Kyle Korver, Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com writes in his latest round-up of Cavs-related notes and rumors. Ashish Mathur of AmicoHoops.net recently reported that Cleveland was exploring the possibility of trading both Korver and point guard George Hill.
While the Cavs have repeatedly insisted that they have no interest in moving Kevin Love, Korver might make more sense as a potential trade chip. His mid-level salary ($7.56MM) would be easier for a potential suitor to absorb, and there’s no shortage of teams around the NBA that wouldn’t mind adding a shooter of his caliber.
Dealing Korver could also clear a path for the Cavs to lock up Rodney Hood to a new multiyear deal without risking going back into luxury-tax territory. The team currently has about $106.4MM in guaranteed money on its books for 10 players. If Hood were re-signed on a salary of about $10-12MM, it would significantly limit the Cavs’ options as they try to fill out the rest of their roster without crossing the tax threshold.
While Pluto doesn’t provide any specifics on what the Cavs might be looking for in exchange for Korver, Mathur suggests the team would like to acquire draft picks. Cleveland has traded its second-round selections for the next two years, and its 2019 first-rounder will head to Atlanta if it doesn’t land in the top 10, so it makes sense that the Cavs would be looking to restock their supply of picks.
Korver, 37, was his usual effective self from three-point range in 2017/18, averaging 9.2 PPG with a .436 3PT%. The veteran marksman is a career 43.1% shooter from beyond the arc and has averaged 2.5 threes per game over his last six seasons.
Korver is under contract for one more year beyond 2018/19, but his 2019/20 salary ($7.5MM) is only partially guaranteed for $3.44MM.
Jazz To Guarantee Ekpe Udoh’s 2018/19 Salary
The Jazz have informed center Ekpe Udoh and his representatives that they intend to keep him on their roster, guaranteeing his salary for the 2018/19 season, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Udoh, 31, returned to the NBA in 2017 after a two-season absence, inking a two-year deal with the Jazz. However, that contract was only guaranteed for the first year. Utah could have avoided the second-year guarantee for Udoh by waiving him today. Instead, his $3.36MM salary will become guaranteed.
Udoh didn’t have a significant role with the Jazz in 2017/18, averaging just 12.6 MPG in 63 contests. However, he showed off his impressive shot-blocking ability in those limited minutes, posting 1.2 BPG. As Jones writes, the big man also provided veteran leadership to younger teammates in the locker room.
With Udoh set to return, Utah’s roster for 2018/19 is all but set, according to Jones. The Jazz entered the offseason with seven players on guaranteed contracts. They’ve subsequently drafted Grayson Allen, re-signed Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, and Raul Neto, and guaranteed salaries for Thabo Sefolosha and Udoh.
Royce O’Neale‘s non-guaranteed salary is also a lock to be guaranteed, which increases the club’s roster count to 14 players, leaving one spot on the projected 15-man roster. For now, David Stockton occupies that spot, but he also doesn’t have a guaranteed salary. If the Jazz do add a 15th man in Stockton’s place, it figures to be a younger player, sources tell Jones.
Georges Niang, who is a two-way restricted free agent for the team, could be a candidate for that last roster spot based on his Summer League play so far.
Rockets Considered Favorites To Land Carmelo Anthony?
Many NBA executives consider the Rockets the favorite to land Carmelo Anthony, according to Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer (Twitter link).
O’Connor also predicts that Melo will sign with Houston but names the Lakers, Heat, and Sixers as other possibilities. It was previously reported that Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami were expected to have interest in the future Hall-of-Famer.
Anthony’s business manager, Bay Frazier, spent a good portion of the Warriors-Rockets summer league game alongside the Rockets’ brass. Frazier was seen with Chris Paul, owner Tilman Fertitta, player development coach John Lucas II, and head coach Mike D’Antoni, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link).
The Rockets were linked to Anthony last summer, having pursued him when the Knicks were looking to make a move. New York wasn’t interested in taking back Ryan Anderson as part of the deal and talks stalled, leading the organization to send Anthony to the Thunder. While Anthony’s latest breakup isn’t yet finalized, a buyout arrangement appears forthcoming, as OKC is unlikely to find a taker on the trade market for his nearly $28MM salary.
The Thunder are facing luxury tax concerns and will be looking to trim as much salary as possible off their books in negotiations. The Rockets have the $5,337MM taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal and if Anthony can line up an offer with Houston or another club, it may expedite the process of him leaving the Thunder.