DeMarcus Cousins Leftovers: Blazers, Celtics, Warriors’ Recruitment
Before DeMarcus Cousins agreed to join the defending-champion Warriors on a one-year, $5.3MM contract, the Trail Blazers and Pelicans discussed the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal that would have sent the star center to Portland, reports Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link). However, according to Haynes, the fact that Cousins and Jusuf Nurkic share the same agent was one roadblock in those talks.
Even if not for that issue, it would have been tricky for the Pelicans and Blazers to reach a deal that worked for both sides. Acquiring a player via sign-and-trade would have hard-capped the Blazers, who were already well over the cap, so they likely would have had to send at least one or two players to New Orleans. It’s not clear if talks progressed to the point where the two sides were discussing specific players.
Here’s more on the free agency decision that has practically made LeBron James‘ move to Los Angeles an afterthought tonight:
- Cousins had narrowed down his choices to Golden State and Boston before opting for the Warriors, according to Haynes (Twitter link). The Celtics could have comfortably matched Golden State’s offer and would have been a fascinating destination for Cousins — with LeBron out of the East, the C’s already look like a favorite to represent the conference in the Finals in 2019, so the team’s status as the frontrunner would have been cemented with Cousins in the mix.
- Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports takes a look at the Warriors‘ recruitment of Cousins, which was led by his USA Basketball teammates Draymond Green and Kevin Durant, along with GM Bob Myers. Cousins also had “positive phone calls” with head coach Steve Kerr, league sources tell Charania.
- The Warriors were initially reluctant to believe in Cousins’ interest, according to Charania, who adds that the big man also received interest from the Pelicans, Mavericks, and Wizards. Golden State’s agreement with Cousins came together so quickly that some members of the organization were “stunned” when word of the deal broke, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe.
- Speaking to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter links), Cousins called his decision to join the Warriors the “smartest move ever,” and said he’s still hoping to return from his Achilles injury for training camp. Reports tonight suggested the Dubs may be eyeing a December or January return to action for their latest acquisition.
- Cousins also told Spears that he received no significant contract offers when free agency began, but was prepared for that possibility due to his Achilles injury (Twitter link).
- While it’s not impossible that Cousins could end up hurting the Warriors more than he helps, the addition – combined with the Rockets’ loss of Trevor Ariza – appears to have further widened the gap between Golden State and the rest of the NBA, writes Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com in his breakdown of the deal.
Jazz Sign First-Round Pick Grayson Allen
Guard Grayson Allen has signed his rookie contract with the Jazz, the team tweets.
The 6’6” Duke star was the 21st pick of the draft. Allen will receive approximately $2.07MM in the first year of the deal.
Allen averaged 15.5 PPG and 4.7 APG in his senior year and made 38% of his 3-point attempts during his college career.
Primarily a shooting guard, he will compete for minutes at both guard spots behind Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell and perhaps get some playing time at small forward in smaller lineups.
Timberwolves Sign First-Round Pick Josh Okogie
The Timberwolves have signed first-round pick Josh Okogie, the team’s public relations department tweets.
Okogie, who was selected with the No. 20 overall pick, will receive approximately $2.16MM in the first year of his rookie contract. Okogie, a 6’4” shooting guard, departed Georgia Tech after his sophomore year, in which he averaged 18.2 PPG and 6.3 RPG. He turns 20 in September.
He’ll compete for minutes behind starter Jimmy Butler.
Trail Blazers Sign First-Rounder Anfernee Simons
The Trail Blazers have signed first-round pick Anfernee Simons, according to the team’s website.
Portland used the 24th overall pick on the 19-year-old Simons, who attended IMG Academy last year. The 6’4” Simons will receive approximately $1.8MM during his rookie year.
Simons could see playing time in his rookie season, even though the Trail Blazers just came to terms with free agent Seth Curry. Portland is still somewhat thin at the guard spots behind starters Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Sixers Sign First-Rounder Zhaire Smith
The Sixers have signed first-round pick Zhaire Smith, according to the team’s website.
Smith, whose rights were acquired in a draft-night trade with Suns, will receive approximately $2.6MM in his first season.
The 6’5” swingman was selected No. 16 overall after playing one season at Texas Tech, where he averaged 11.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.1 BPG and 1.1 SPG in 28.4 MPG.
Smith is unlikely to receive significant playing time in his first season for one of the Eastern Conference’s top clubs. He will play on the Sixers’ summer league team.
Seth Curry Signs With Trail Blazers
JULY 6: Curry’s agreement with the Blazers is official, according to a press release from the team. “We expect Seth to be an impactful addition to our backcourt as his skill set will translate immediately,” president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said. “He is an elite shooter with the ability to play on or off the ball.”
JULY 2: Mavericks free agent guard Seth Curry has agreed to a two-year contract with the Trail Blazers, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Curry will receive $2.75MM in the first year and have a player option on the second year, Wojnarowski adds.
Curry missed the entire 2017/18 season due to a stress fracture in his lower left leg. He underwent surgery in early February but has been medically cleared to play. He has participated in full basketball-related activities for over a month.
There’s a path for Curry to jump right into the rotation. Portland is currently thin at the guard spots behind starters Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. The team allowed Shabazz Napier, a rotation player last season, to become an unrestricted free agent after declining to give him a qualifying offer.
Curry enjoyed a breakout season in 2016/17 with Dallas, playing in 70 games (42 starts) and averaging 12.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 2.7 APG.
The Trail Blazers figure to be well over the cap for 2018/19, so they’ll need to use an exception to sign Curry. The mid-level seems likely — Curry’s deal would fit in the bi-annual exception, but using the BAE would hard-cap Portland for the year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lakers Renounce Julius Randle
5:51pm: Randle asked to be renounced once it became clear his role could dramatically change and the franchise wouldn’t make a long-term commitment to him, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets.
4:19pm: The Lakers have renounced Julius Randle, making him an unrestricted free agent, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). As we detailed earlier today, the move increases the club’s projected cap room to nearly $14MM.
Randle, a former seventh overall pick, enjoyed the best season of his four-year NBA career in 2017/18, averaging 16.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.6 APG, and a .558 FG% in 26.7 minutes per game. The 23-year-old is now free to sign with any team, though there aren’t a ton of clubs around the league that still have cap room available.
A Monday morning report had indicated that the Lakers were set to meet with Randle’s representatives today, with his camp hoping for a contract offer from the team. That seemed like a viable possibility, since L.A.’s first few moves in free agency seemed to accommodate Randle’s cap hold.
However, it appears the two sides couldn’t find common ground during that meeting, clearing the path for the big man to land elsewhere and for the Lakers to open up cap room.
It seems the Lakers will use a significant chunk of their newly-created space to sign Rajon Rondo. The veteran point guard has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $9MM contract with the club.
Free Agent Rumors: Crawford, Ellington, Bjelica, Williams
The Sixers are interested in veteran free agent guard Jamal Crawford, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Crawford could fortify a bench that has lost Ersan Ilyasovaand Marco Belinelli since the start of free agency. Crawford, 38, averaged 10.3 PPG in 20.7 MPG for the Timberwolves last season. The Pelicans, Cavaliers, Warriors and Nuggets are also reportedly in the mix for Crawford, who opted out of his contract with Minnesota and left $4.54MM on the table.
In other news regarding the free agent market:
- Unrestricted free agent shooting guard Wayne Ellington has drawn significant interest but he’s viewed as a good bet to re-sign with the Heat, Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports tweets. Miami has a cap hold of $8.15MM on Ellington, who appeared in 77 games and averaged 11.2 PPG in 26.5 MPG while shooting 39.2% from long range.
- The Jazz have a strong interest in Nemanja Bjelica, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. The Timberwolves pulled their qualifying offer to the power forward in order to sign Anthony Tolliver, thus making Bjelica an unrestricted free agent.
- The Knicks are interested in Alan Williams if he clears waivers, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Suns waived the power forward/center on Monday. The Knicks have also reached out to free agent power forwards Amir Johnson and Trevor Booker, Berman adds.
- Williams hasn’t ruled out a return to the Suns but his agent has already heard from a handful of teams interested in his services, according to Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic. Williams, who appeared in only five games last season due to a knee injury, had a non-guaranteed salary of $5.5MM for next season and will likely get through waivers.
- The Lakers have renounced their free-agent exception rights to guard Andre Ingram and power forward Travis Wear, according to the RealGM transactions log. The Lakers had a cap hold of $1.338MM on Ingram and $1.5MM on Wear. Ingram appeared in two games with Los Angeles last season, while Wear saw action in 17 games.
- The Suns renounced their free-agent exception rights to center Alex Len, according to the RealGM transaction log. The Suns had a $7.96MM cap hold on Len. He appeared in 69 games last season but became expendable when they drafted Deandre Ayton.
Pacers Waive Center Al Jefferson
The Pacers have waived veteran center Al Jefferson, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets.
Jefferson had a partial guarantee of $4MM on his $10MM salary for next season. Indiana gains $6MM in cap space by the move and could use the stretch provision to create even more room for thie summer.
Though the Pacers declined their $4.33MM option on Lance Stephenson‘s contract, they have added plenty of salary in recent days. They guaranteed Bojan Bogdanovic‘s $10.5MM salary and Darren Collison‘s $10MM deal.
Indiana also made a surprising three-year, $22MM free agent splurge for forward Doug McDermott and agreed to terms with first-round pick Aaron Holiday.
Jefferson, 33, has played for Indiana the past two seasons. He saw spot duty in 36 games last season as the No. 3 center, averaging 7.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 13.4 MPG.
Suns Waive Alan Williams
4:17pm: The move is official, with the Suns issuing a press release to announce that they’ve waived Williams.
12:19pm: The Suns are waiving big man Alan Williams, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Williams will become an unrestricted free agent if and when he clears waivers.
Williams, 25, played well for the Suns in 2016/17, averaging 7.4 PPG and 6.2 RPG in just 15.1 minutes per contest (47 games). His performance earned him a three-year, $16MM+ deal with Phoenix last summer, though only the first year’s salary was fully guaranteed.
Williams’ 2017/18 season was derailed before it began, as a meniscus injury sidelined him for nearly the entire year. He appeared in just five games for the Suns down the stretch.
By waiving Williams, the Suns will no longer be on the hook for his $5.52MM salary for 2018/19. According to Basketball Insiders’ data, the language in the contract called for a $1MM partial guarantee if Williams met certain minute, weight, and body fat requirements, but considering he only played 70 minutes in 2017/18, he presumably didn’t meet those criteria.
Williams’ release will create enough cap room for the Suns to finalize Trevor Ariza‘s reported one-year, $15MM deal, but not much beyond that. By my count, if Phoenix also cuts Shaquille Harrison, who has a non-guaranteed salary, the team could get up to about $4MM in space after signing Ariza.
According to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic (via Twitter), the Suns haven’t ruled out the possibility of re-signing Williams to a smaller deal after he clears waivers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.