O’Connor’s Latest: LeBron, Cousins, Lakers, Wizards
Within his latest piece for The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor focuses primarily on DeMarcus Cousins‘ free agency and his possible fit with the Lakers. Along the way, he relays a few tidbits of note, so let’s dive in and round them up…
- The Lakers are still viewed by O’Connor’s sources as the favorites to sign LeBron James, though they aren’t considered locks. O’Connor notes that some executives believe James has already decided on the Lakers and that his “indecision is all theater.”
- According to O’Connor, James “remains interested” by the idea of playing with Cousins. If that happens, it would almost certainly be with the Lakers, since no other team has the cap room to sign both players.
- If the Lakers make Cousins a contract offer, league sources expect it to be a one- or two-year maximum-salary deal, says O’Connor. That would allow both sides to test out the fit on a trial basis, though it might not be enough to lure Cousins away from the Pelicans if New Orleans makes a longer-term offer.
- The Wizards are considered a possible sign-and-trade spot for Cousins, but O’Connor’s sources classify such a deal as a long shot. Alex Len is a more realistic target for Washington, O’Connor adds.
Lakers To Meet With Clint Capela
The Lakers will meet with Clint Capela today, David Aldridge of NBA.com reports (Twitter link). Aldridge adds that the team is working on multiple scenarios in regard to its free agency planning.
The Rockets are also meeting with the big man today in Los Angeles. The center is widely expected to return to Houston, as the team has the ability to match an offer sheet he receives.
The five spot appears to be a position of priority for the Lakers, as they reached out to DeMarcus Cousins just hours after free agency began. While no date has been set, a formal meeting is expected to be held between the two parties.
President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson promised to bring top talent to the Lakers and he’s leaving no stone unturned in his quest to do so. However, the team has yet to reach an agreement with any of the top free agents. Los Angeles saw Paul George shun the franchise and though the Lakers are considered the favorites to land LeBron James, it’s no lock that he comes to town, as the Sixers are courting him and using the potential Kawhi Leonard pairing as a selling point.
Capela had his most efficient season to date during the 2017/18 campaign, making 65.2% of his attempts while sporting a player efficiency rating of 24.5. Only five players rank ahead of the 24-year-old in our 2018 Free Agency rankings.
Mavs Likely To Use Remaining Cap Room To Re-Sign Dirk Nowitzki
After reaching an agreement to sign DeAndre Jordan to a one-year deal using a significant chunk of their cap space, the Mavericks will likely use their remaining room to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
According to Charania, that would result in a salary of about $5MM for Nowitzki, who initially had a $5MM team option on his contract for the 2018/19 season. The Mavs turned down that option in order to maximize their cap flexibility for the new league year.
While Nowitzki was always a lock to remain with Dallas, it wasn’t clear how exactly it would get done from a cap perspective. By using the rest of their cap space to sign Jordan and Nowitzki, the Mavs will retain their $4.4MM room exception for another player.
Nowitzki, who just turned 40 in June, remained a productive rotation member for the Mavericks in 2017/18, averaging 12.0 PPG and 5.7 RPG with a .456/.409/.898 shooting line in 77 games (all starts). The Mavs are hoping to get him back to the playoffs once more before he retires, having made a couple big splashes so far this summer — before reaching a deal with Jordan, Dallas traded up to No. 3 in the draft to nab Luka Doncic.
Devin Booker Upset With Suns’ Front Office
1:25pm: Booker wasn’t upset with the Suns’ front office over the fact that Ulis was waived, but the “lack of communication” regarding the move upset him, a source tells Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links).
12:22pm: The Suns waived guard Tyler Ulis on Saturday before his salary for 2018/19 could become guaranteed, and the move isn’t sitting well with one noteworthy Sun. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), Devin Booker is upset with Phoenix’s front office over the release of Ulis, his best friend.
Booker, who is entering his fourth NBA season, is now eligible for a contract extension for the first time in his career. He and the Suns could come to an agreement anytime between now and the start of the 2018/19 regular season, and a new deal would keep Booker off the restricted free agent market in 2019.
It remains to be seen whether Booker’s unhappiness with the front office will have any real impact on those contract negotiations. While it probably isn’t a great time for the franchise to upset its star scorer, players eligible for rookie scale extensions generally don’t turn down maximum-salary offers, as Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic observes (via Twitter). And Phoenix is expected to put that sort of offer on the table.
It would be a surprise if Ulis’ release creates an irreparable rift in the relationship between Booker and the Suns, but it’s still something worth watching as the club looks to lock up the 21-year-old to a long-term deal.
Pistons Sign Glenn Robinson III
JULY 7: The signing is official, the Pistons announced on Twitter.
JULY 1: The Pistons are finalizing a deal to bring Glenn Robinson III to Detroit, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The pact will be for $8.3MM over two seasons with only the first year guaranteed.
Detroit will be using part of its mid-level exception to accommodate the deal. The franchise is over the cap, committing approximately $115.7MM in salary for the 2018/19 season before factoring in Robinson’s deal.
The University of Michigan product showed some promise during his time with the Pacers over the past three seasons, though injuries robbed him of consistency. He played in just 23 games during the 2017/18 campaign.
The 24-year-old is a career 38.1% marksman from behind the arc. That figure that includes shooting 41.2% on 34 attempts last season. He should be able to compete for a spot in Detroit’s wing rotation, an area that proved to have its issues after the team traded away much of its depth in the Blake Griffin deal.
Knicks Make Offer To Mario Hezonja
12:50pm: The Knicks have an offer on the table for Hezonja, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who reports that the one-year deal would be worth a portion of the team’s mid-level exception. While Hezonja is considering the offer, he had been seeking a multiyear contract.
If Hezonja ultimately accepts the Knicks’ proposal, it would signal the end of Michael Beasley‘s time in New York, Berman adds.
8:25am: The Knicks appear to the early favorites to sign free agent forward Mario Hezonja, tweets ESPN’s Ian Begley.
Several league executives told Begley that Hezonja sees New York as his best option, However, the Knicks are only handing out one-year deals to preserve their 2019 cap space, so another organization could trump that with a longer offer. The Kings are among the teams with interest in Hezonja (Twitter link).
The Croation forward had a disappointing three years in Orlando after being the fifth player taken in the 2015 draft. However, he’s coming off his best season, averaging 9.6 points and 3.7 rebounds and starting 30 of the 75 games that he played.
Heat Sign Derrick Jones Jr.
The Heat have signed Derrick Jones Jr. to a two-year deal, according to a team press release. The pact will be a minimum salary arrangement with Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reporting (Twitter link) that the second year is non-guaranteed.
Jones Jr. played with Miami on a two-way deal last season, seeing action in 13 games for the team’s G League affiliate and in 14 with the NBA club. During his time with the Heat, he averaged 3.7 points in 15.2 minutes per game.
Most signings cannot be made official during the league’s moratorium. However, minimum salary deals are an exception to that rule, as we outline in our Glossary section. Other transactions that are allowed include signing first-rounders to their rookie scale contract and a restricted free agent signing his qualifying offer or a max deal with his current team.
Marreese Speights Set To Play In China
Unrestricted NBA free agent Marreese Speights has reached an agreement to join China’s Guangzhou Long Lions and will continue his playing career overseas, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link).
It’s a six-month, $2MM deal for Speights, according to Pick, who first reported two weeks ago that the big man was close to reaching a deal with the Chinese club.
[RELATED: 2018 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Speights, who will turn 31 next month, has bounced around among several NBA teams over the course of his 10-year career, spending time with the Sixers, Grizzlies, Cavaliers, Warriors, Clippers, and Magic. In Orlando in 2017/18, he averaged 7.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG. The veteran has also improved his three-point shooting in recent years, making 1.7 threes per game at a 36.9% clip last season.
Since the Chinese season ends before the NBA season does, Speights could have the opportunity to collect $2MM and then return stateside to catch on with an NBA contender down the stretch in 2018/19.
Bucks Push Back Brandon Jennings’ Guarantee Date
12:25pm: The Bucks are pushing back Jennings’ guarantee deadline, according to Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). As such, Jennings’ 2018/19 salary will remain non-guaranteed for now.
Spears adds (via Twitter) that Jennings had been under the impression that his salary would become guaranteed. However, his new guarantee date is August 1 (Twitter link).
10:03am: The Bucks can get off the hook for Brandon Jennings‘ 2018/19 salary if they waive him today, but they won’t do so, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). By keeping him on their roster through July 1, the Bucks will guarantee Jennings’ $2,222,803 salary for next season.
Jennings, a former 10th overall pick, returned to Milwaukee down the stretch last season and appeared in 14 regular season contests for the club, averaging 5.5 PPG, 3.1 APG, and 2.2 RPG with a .375/.273/1.000 shooting line.
While Jennings’ numbers for the Bucks in 2017/18 weren’t great, he has shown over the course of his career that he’s a capable scorer and playmaker. An Achilles injury derailed his career early in 2015, but the 28-year-old is now a few years removed from that injury, and should be a solid addition to Milwaukee’s bench at the veteran’s minimum.
Malcolm Brogdon‘s 2018/19 salary ($1,544,951) will also become guaranteed after today, and the Bucks will – of course – keep the former Rookie of the Year under contract.
Free Agent Notes: Stephenson, Tolliver, McGee, O’Quinn
Plenty of teams will have interest in Lance Stephenson once the higher-profile free agents are signed, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. The Pacers remain open to bringing back the 27-year-old swingman after declining their team option on him this week. Wolfson lists the Timberwolves, Knicks, Sixers and Lakers as other interested teams, but says there are more.
Stephenson appeared in all 82 games for Indiana this season, averaging 9.2 points per night. He would have made $4.36MM in 2018/19 if the Pacers had picked up his option.
There’s more free agent news to pass along:
- Timberwolves coach/executive Tom Thibodeau has talked to Pistons free agent Anthony Tolliver, according to Wolfson (Twitter link). Tolliver shot 44% from 3-point range this season, and Minnesota sees him as a possible replacement for Jamal Crawford. The Wolves also like his locker room presence, which could be valuable if Cole Aldrich doesn’t come back.
- JaVale McGee has said he wants to return to the Warriors, but he is also getting interest from the Lakers, Pelicans and Thunder, tweets TNT’s David Aldridge. Because of luxury tax concerns, Golden State is unlikely to offer more than a veteran’s minimum contract, while the other teams have more financial flexibility. McGee averaged 4.8 PPG and 2.6RPG this season, but his numbers rose after he became a starter after the All-Star break. This is the third straight summer of free agency for McGee, who has spent the past two seasons with the Warriors.
- The new contract for Luke Kornet is a sign that Kyle O’Quinn won’t return to the Knicks, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. He adds that the Sixers are showing “heavy interest” in O’Quinn, who spent the past three years in New York as a backup center.
- The Knicks are hoping to re-sign Isaiah Hicks, who was on a two-way contract this season, tweets ESPN’s Ian Begley. New York gave him a qualifying offer last week, making him a free agent and giving the team the right to match any offer. Hicks appeared in 18 NBA games, averaging 4.4 points per night.
- A scheduled meeting between Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the Clippers has been moved from today to Monday, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.