Orlando Magic Owner Richard DeVos Dies at 92
Orlando Magic senior chairman Richard DeVos, who has owned the franchise since 1991, died this morning at age 92, the team announced on its website. “Complications from an infection” was listed as the cause of death.
DeVos, who made his fortune as a co-founder of Amway, purchased the team for $85MM. The Magic are currently worth $1.225 billion, according to the latest Forbes report. He turned to the NBA after a failed bid to bring a Major League Baseball expansion team to Orlando and owned three teams in the International Hockey League as well.
The Magic won five division championships and made two trips to the NBA Finals with DeVos as owner. An author and philanthropist, he was inducted into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame in 2016.
“Mr. DeVos’ boundless generosity, inspirational leadership and infectious enthusiasm will always be remembered,” said Alex Martins, chief executive officer for the Magic. “Simply, he was the team’s No. 1 cheerleader and the best owner that a Magic fan could ever want for their team. When the DeVos Family purchased the Magic, his vision was that the team and organization would serve as a platform to improve the Central Florida community. That legacy will certainly live on, both in the Orlando Magic’s community efforts and philanthropic contributions, as well as in the way we strive to play the game with passion, a strong work ethic and integrity, while also bringing people together from all walks of life.”
Celtics Sign Bibbs, King, Roberson To Training Camp Deals
The Celtics have signed three players to training camp contracts, tweets Keith Smith of RealGM.com. The new additions are Justin Bibbs, Nick King and Jeff Roberson, all of whom agreed to Exhibit 10 deals. All three are rookies who weren’t selected in June’s draft.
A 6’5″ guard from Virginia Tech, Bibbs played for the Celtics’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 5.0 points in six games. King, a 6’7″ forward out of Middle Tennessee State, was with the Lakers this summer and played 10 games in the Las Vegas and Sacramento leagues, averaging 8.6 PPG and 4.7 RPG. Roberson, a 6’6″ forward from Vanderbilt, saw limited action with the Warriors’ Summer League team and posted 1.6 PPG in five games in Las Vegas.
The signings give Boston a full 20-man roster heading into training camp. The Celtics have 15 players with fully guaranteed contracts, along with the three Exhibit 10 deals and P.J. Dozier and Walt Lemon on two-way contracts.
Southwest Rumors: Gasol, Nowitzki, Lauvergne, Finney-Smith
Spurs center Pau Gasol hopes to play for Spain in the FIBA World Cup next summer, according to a Sportando report. Gasol told the Spanish website El Dia he’ll wait until after the NBA season to make a final decision whether he’ll play for his home country as it attempts to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. “I am about to turn 39,” Gasol said. “I love playing with the national team and I would like to continue, and qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and help the team with my presence, if I am physically well my belief and my wish is to be in the World Cup.”
We have more from around the Southwest Division:
- Dirk Nowitzki scrimmaged with his Mavericks teammates for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery in April, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. Coach Rick Carlisle said Nowitzki should be available for training camp, which opens September 21, Sefko continues. Lottery pick Luka Doncic and J.J. Barea were among the other players in the scrimmage, Sefko adds.
- Former Spurs big man Joffrey Lauvergne said he would have stayed in San Antonio if he didn’t get an offer to play with Turkey’s Fenerbahce, he told Fenerbahce TV in an interview relayed by Sportando. Lauvergne declined a $1.656MM player option to sign a two-year deal overseas with the anticipation of getting more playing time. “I wanted to come back to Europe and the team that I wanted to play is Fenerbahçe,” he said. “I accepted the offer without thinking but if Fenerbahçe didn’t offer me i would probably stay in Spurs for one more season.”
- Mavericks swingman Dorian Finney-Smith should find more playing time in the frontcourt rather than the crowded backcourt, Sefko writes in a separate story. The club hopes he can develop into a 3-and-D player and he’ll earn more minutes if his outside shot improves, Sefko continues. It’s a pivotal year for Finney-Smith, who will become a restricted free agent after the season if he receives a qualifying offer or unrestricted if the club declines to do so, Sefko adds.
Clippers Match Offer Sheet For Tyrone Wallace
The Clippers have matched the Pelicans’ offer sheet for guard Tyrone Wallace, according to a team press release.
“We identified Tyrone as a versatile, competitive and tough-minded player who adds to the organizational culture,” Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement. “Ty worked hard with our staff at Agua Caliente and Los Angeles, and his growth has been a reflection of his commitment to getting better. Together with our team’s player development program, Ty demonstrated impressive improvement and contributed meaningfully to our team last season. We are excited to welcome Ty back to the Clippers.”
The Pelicans signed Wallace on Monday to an offer sheet worth the veteran’s minimum, approximately $2.9MM over two years. The Clippers had two days once Wallace signed the offer sheet to decide whether to match it or let him go.
It was generally assumed the Clippers wouldn’t match the offer sheet for the 6’5” restricted free agent, who played last season on a two-way deal. With Wallace back in the mix, the Clips now have 15 players with guaranteed deals, plus non-guaranteed contracts for Wallace and Patrick Beverley, so they’ll have to trade or release a couple of those players by the end of the preseason.
Still, as ESPN cap expert Bobby Marks points out (via Twitter), even though retaining Wallace doesn’t help the Clippers clear their roster logjam, there’s little risk involved in bringing him back for the time being. His new deal features a partial guarantee of $300K (as of September 12), but won’t become fully guaranteed until the new year, and the second season is fully non-guaranteed, with no trigger dates.
The Clippers will now have the opportunity to evaluate Wallace and the rest of their roster in training camp, and will only be out $300K if they decide that the second-year guard isn’t part of their plans after all. That wouldn’t be a terrible outcome for Wallace either, as he’d have the opportunity to reach unrestricted free agency after having collected $300K for a few weeks of work.
With 17 players now vying for 15 spots in L.A., Jawun Evans‘ roster spot becomes even more precarious. The 6’0″ Evans has a guaranteed contract, but it’s only worth the minimum and doesn’t feature any guaranteed money beyond 2018/19. The Clippers also have numerous point guard options, including Patrick Beverley, Avery Bradley, Milos Teodosic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nets Notes: Napier, Dinwiddie, Faried, Russell
The opportunity to frequently play off the ball was the selling point that convinced Shabazz Napier to sign with the Nets, according to Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily.com. Napier would seemingly have a limited role on a team that already has D’Angelo Russell at Spencer Dinwiddie to run the offense but coach Kenny Atkinson plans to give Napier the chance to play both guard spots. Napier was the primary backup guard with the Trail Blazers last season and shot 45% on catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts and 37.7% overall from long range, Puccio notes. “I don’t need to be on the ball,” Napier said. “I proved that when I was in Portland.”
In other news concerning the Nets:
- Speculation that Dinwiddie could be dealt is reasonable, given his modest contract, but the Nets like him a lot and may re-sign him, according to a Net Income post. The Suns are searching for a starting point guard and the chance to acquire Dinwiddie, who will make $1.65MM during the upcoming season, on an expiring contract would be attractive. However, the Nets could also offer Dinwiddie a four-year extension in December or try to re-sign him next summer at a bigger number than others can offer due to owning his Bird rights.
- Forward Kenneth Faried pled not guilty on Wednesday after being charged with unlawful possession of marijuana in the fourth degree last month, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. Faried was arrested in Bridgehampton on the misdemeanor for allegedly possessing more than two ounces of the drug. The Nuggets traded Faried and his expiring $13,76MM contract to Brooklyn in mid-July.
- Should the Nets give Russell an extension? We examined the pros and cons in our Extension Candidate series. Check it out here.
Community Shootaround: Lakers’ No. 2 Option
The Lakers will have enough salary-cap space to sign another top-level free agent next summer and there’s sure to be plenty of speculation about who will join LeBron James in Los Angeles. Will it be Kevin Durant? Kawhi Leonard? Jimmy Butler? Klay Thompson? DeMarcus Cousins?
However, there’s still a full season to be played before those stars hit the market. Someone will have to emerge as the No. 2 scoring option from the current roster and establish himself as a top-level performer in his own right.
After securing a commitment from James, the Lakers front office brought in an eclectic mix of free agents on short-term deals. It’s more likely that James’ right-hand man will be one of the young holdovers.
Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma are the most obvious candidates. Ingram, the second overall pick of the 2016 draft, showed significant improvement in his second season. He averaged 16.1 PPG and shot 47% from the field and 39% from long range. He also display playmaking ability by averaging nearly four assists per contest.
Kuzma made an immediate impact despite lasting until the 27th pick of the 2017 draft. The stretch four also averaged 16.1 PPG last season while connecting on 45% of his attempts and 36.6% from deep.
It’s logical to assume they’ll play together when the Lakers go small; in more conventional looks, one or the other will be on the bench when James is on the court.
That could open up the possibility of a guard becoming the secondary option. If that’s the case, then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could wind up as the second-leading scorer. Caldwell-Pope averaged 13.4 PPG in his first season with the Lakers and re-signed on a one-year deal. He’s improved steadily as a 3-point threat, making a career-best 38.3% last season.
And while Lonzo Ball‘s first year in the league didn’t go as smoothly as planned, the Lakers thought enough of him to use the No. 2 overall pick last summer on him. His shot needs a lot of work but he’s always a threat to post a triple-double and he’ll play more off the ball with the additions of James and Rajon Rondo.
That leads us to our question of the day: Who will emerge as the Lakers’ No. 2 scoring option during the upcoming season?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
Josh Huestis Receives Camp Invite From Spurs
Former Thunder swingman Josh Huestis has received a camp invite from the Spurs, Fred Katz of MassLive.com tweets. The news was confirmed by Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
There’s been little news regarding Huestis since he entered unrestricted free agency this summer. The Thunder didn’t pick up his fourth-year option prior to last season.
Huestis wasn’t able to establish a steady rotation role with Oklahoma City until his third and last season with that organization. He saw action in 69 games and averaged 2.3 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 14.2 MPG but shot just 28.7% from long range. He also saw spot duty in four postseason games.
The Spurs currently have 14 players with contract guarantees, so there is a roster opening if Huestis shines in training camp. The Spurs have Rudy Gay, Lonnie Walker and Dante Cunningham as small forward options but the retirement of Manu Ginobili could open the door for Huestis.
The 6’7” Huestis was a late first-round pick in 2014 out of Stanford and spent the bulk of his time in the G League prior to last season.
Magic Sign Gabe York, B.J. Johnson To Exhibit 10 Deals
The Magic have added a pair of players to their 20-man offseason roster, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel, who reports (via Twitter) that Gabe York and B.J. Johnson have signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the team. The Magic have confirmed the signings in a pair of press releases.
Both players figure to ultimately end up with the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s G League squad, Robbins notes. Exhibit 10 contracts allow an NBA franchise to give bonuses worth up to $50K to players who are released from the team’s NBA roster and spend at least two months with the team’s G League affiliate.
York, who played his college ball at Arizona, went undrafted in 2016 and has since played for teams in the G League, Italy, and Germany. In 44 career NBAGL games for the Erie BayHawks, the 6’3″ guard averaged 15.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 3.7 APG with a .436/.361/.837 shooting line. He participated in a free agent camp with the Jazz earlier this summer.
As for Johnson, he completed his college career this past spring, so this deal with the Magic will be his first professional contract. In his senior year at La Salle, the 6’7″ shooting guard recorded 20.8 PPG and 8.3 RPG, earning Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors.
The Magic had two openings on their roster prior to signing York and Johnson, so they’re now at the offseason max. The club is carrying 14 players on fully guaranteed salaries, two on two-way contracts, one (Isaiah Briscoe) with a partial guarantee, and three on non-guaranteed deals.
Celtics’ Brad Stevens Talks Rotation, Injuries, Smart
The Celtics will enter the 2018/19 season widely viewed as the odds-on favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference. However, during an appearance at the ABCD Hoop Dreams fundraiser on Tuesday, head coach Brad Stevens said he doesn’t want his players entering the season even taking for granted that they’ll be a playoff team, let alone a title contender.
“Nobody’s played a game yet; nobody’s lost a game yet,” Stevens said, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. “We have to go back and earn all that.”
Besides addressing expectations for the Celtics in 2018/19, Stevens touched on a number of other topics of note, including the perception that Boston’s depth could work against the team by limiting playing time for veterans who believe they’ve earned more minutes. Here, via Blakely, are a few of the highlights from Stevens:
On concerns over whether there are enough minutes to go around:
“We have a really good locker room. It’s no secret to anybody that there’s 240 minutes in a game. (It’s) human nature of being disappointed if you’re taken out — that’s OK. But if we struggle with that, we won’t be pretty good. If we don’t (struggle with that), we have a chance to be pretty good.”
On whether he has a plan in mind for the Celtics’ rotation:
“I’m more focused on how we want to play and not necessarily how we’re going to rotate. Things can change, your rotation can change in a heartbeat. Bottom line is, we have an idea of who will play together and who best fits together. But we’ll see how it all shakes itself out.”
On Daniel Theis and the other injured Celtics:
“I’ve been told that everybody is gonna be ready to go. Daniel was in the gym this morning. He looks great. He has not been cleared for 5-on-5 play yet, but the anticipation is he will by the start of training camp, September 25.
“(Gordon Hayward) looks good. I saw him a couple weeks ago in San Diego. I went out there and watched him work out. He looked really good. … He’ll be cleared to (play) some 5-on-5 like very, very soon, anytime soon.”
On bringing back Marcus Smart after an extended restricted free agency:
“Marcus knows how we all feel. Restricted free agency is restricted free agency; there’s pluses and minuses to that. Obviously, we’re thrilled to have him back for a long time. … We went into free agency hoping that would be the case. And we all know what Marcus brings to the table. I keep going back and one of the moments where you have chills when you reflect back on a season was when he entered the game against Milwaukee and the first thing he did was dive on the floor. Everybody says they want it and want to do that type of stuff. He’s a guy that does it every day. We appreciate the way he competes. We love having him around. I’m glad he’s here for the long term.”
2018 Offseason In Review: Atlanta Hawks
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2018 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2018/19 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Atlanta Hawks.
Signings:
- Standard contracts:
- Alex Len: Two years, $8.51MM. Signed using room exception.
- Vince Carter: One year, minimum salary.
- Daniel Hamilton: One year, minimum salary.
- Two-way contracts:
- Camp contracts:
- Thomas Robinson: One year, minimum salary.
Trades:
- Acquired the draft rights to Trae Young (No. 5 pick) and the Mavericks’ 2019 first-round pick (top-5 protected) from the Mavericks in exchange for the draft rights to Luka Doncic (No. 3 pick).
- Acquired the Hornets’ 2019 second-round pick and the Hornets’ 2023 second-round pick from the Hornets in exchange for the draft rights to Devonte’ Graham (No. 34 pick).
- Acquired Jeremy Lin, the Nets’ 2025 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2023 second-round picks with the Nets from the Nets in exchange for the draft rights to Isaia Cordinier and the Trail Blazers’ 2020 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
- Acquired Carmelo Anthony, Justin Anderson, and the Thunder’s 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected) in a three-way trade with the Thunder and Sixers in exchange for Dennis Schroder (to Thunder) and Mike Muscala (to Sixers).
- Note: Anthony later waived.
Draft picks:
- 1-5: Trae Young — Signed to rookie contract.
- 1-19: Kevin Huerter — Signed to rookie contract.
- 1-30: Omari Spellman — Signed to rookie contract.
Departing players:
- Tyler Cavanaugh (waived)
- Antonius Cleveland (waived)
- Malcolm Delaney
- Damion Lee
- Josh Magette (two-way)
- Jaylen Morris (waived)
- Mike Muscala
- Dennis Schroder
- Isaiah Taylor (waived)
- Andrew White (two-way)
Other offseason news:
- Hired Lloyd Pierce as head coach to replace Mike Budenholzer; finalized new coaching staff.
- Promoted Rod Higgins, Larry Riley, others to new front office roles.
- Lost Malik Rose to Pistons’ front office.
- Established NBA2K eLeague expansion team for 2019 season.
- Reached deal with State Farm for arena naming rights.
- Tyler Dorsey charged with DUI.
Salary cap situation:
- Used cap space. Now over the cap, carrying approximately $106.2MM in guaranteed salaries. Used room exception to sign Alex Len ($99K remaining).
Check out the Atlanta Hawks’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Having torn down the Hawks’ roster in his first summer as the team’s general manager a year ago, Travis Schlenk was in no hurry to accelerate the rebuild in his second offseason.
Rather than using the No. 3 overall pick on a player many experts viewed as the top prospect in the draft (Luka Doncic), Schlenk traded down to No. 5, selecting a more divisive prospect (Trae Young) and acquiring an extra 2019 first-rounder in the process.
Instead of using Atlanta’s excess cap room to pursue a promising young restricted free agent or two, Schlenk used it to absorb Carmelo Anthony‘s $28MM salary, acquiring a draft pick that the Hawks won’t receive until at least 2022. On top of that, the Hawks included their most productive player (Dennis Schroder) in the trade, leaving the roster without anyone who averaged more than 14.1 PPG in 2017/18.
The Hawks’ roster-building strategy might not be quite as extreme as “The Process” used in Philadelphia, but it’s not far off. So it made sense that the team hired a Sixers assistant, Lloyd Pierce, to replace Mike Budenholzer, a veteran coach who didn’t have much interest in a lengthy rebuild.
Pierce will be tasked with taking on a Brett Brown-esque role in Atlanta, focusing on developing the organization’s young prospects and building a positive culture rather than trying to turn the club into an immediate contender.