Budenholzer Named Coach Of Year
The Bucks’ Mike Budenholzer was named Coach of the Year at NBA’s annual awards show on Monday.
The former Hawks coach was hired last summer and guided Milwaukee to the league’s best record. The Bucks became an offensive juggernaut under his watch, scoring a league-best 118.1 points per game.
The Nuggets’ Michael Malone and Clippers’ Doc Rivers were the other finalists.
Budenholzer was also named Coach of the Year in 2015 with Atlanta. He was also Hoops Rumors’ consensus choice this year.
Lou Williams Named Sixth Man Of Year Again
For the third time in five seasons, Clippers guard Lou Williams was named the league’s Sixth Man of the Year. The announcement was made at the NBA’s annual awards show on Monday.
There was little suspense that Williams would gain the honor for the second straight year. While the other finalists, Williams’ teammate Montrezl Harrell, and Pacers’ big man Domantas Sabonis, had plenty of big games, no bench player made a bigger impact than the veteran guard, who seems to get better with age.
Williams, 32, averaged 20.0 PPG and a career-high 5.4 APG in 26.6 MPG, more than six minutes less per game than the previous season when he averaged a career-high 22.0 PPG. He’s signed for two more seasons, though his $8MM salary for 2020/21 is not guaranteed.
He was Hoops Rumors’ unanimous choice for the award as well.
Pascal Siakam Named Most Improved Player
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam earned the league’s Most Improved Player award. The announcement was made at the annual NBA awards show on Monday.
Nets guard D’Angelo Russell and Kings guard De’Aaron Fox were the other finalists.
Siakam emerged as a major component for Toronto in his third season, as he averaged 16.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 3.1 APG for the champions. He posted averages of 7.3/4.5/2.0 in the same categories while mainly coming off the bench in 2017/18. He also became a 3-point threat, connecting on 36.9% of his long-range tries compared to 22% in his second NBA season.
Siakam was also Hoops Rumors’ choice for the award.
Luka Doncic Claims Rookie Of Year Honors
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was named Rookie of the Year at the league’s annual awards show on Monday.
The flashy Euro playmaker held off a late charge by Hawks point man Trae Young. Suns center Deandre Ayton, the top pick in the 2018 draft, was the other finalist for the prize.
Doncic was a triple-double threat on a nightly basis, posting averages of 21.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 6.0 APG in 32.2 MPG. Doncic and Young, who averaged 19.1 PPG and 8.1 APG in 30.9 MPG, will forever be linked since they were essentially traded for each other in last year’s draft.
Dallas moved up to the No. 3 pick to select Doncic. Atlanta moved down two slots and chose Young and also got the Mavs’ first-rounder this year, which it used to select Duke forward Cam Reddish.
Doncic was also Hoops Rumors’ unanimous choice for the award.
Knicks Notes: Free Agency, Fine, Iguodala, Kings Trade
The Knicks are hoping to land at least one of the marquee free agents — Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard or Kyrie Irving — but if they come up short, they won’t eat up their cap space with multi-year contracts, Ian Begley of SNY TV reports. They don’t want to take on a bad contract in order to accumulate more assets. It’s uncertain if they’d trade for a player with a big contract in his walk year.
Instead, they will most likely sign free agents to one-year deals, much like the Lakers did last summer after LeBron James committed to them, in order to retain cap flexibility. The New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy reiterates that sentiment, adding that the Knicks could shift gears and go after Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Draymond Green, Ben Simmons and Pascal Siakam next summer.
We have more on the Knicks:
- The team was fined $50K by the league for violating rules regarding equal access for media, according to a league press release. The Knicks did not allow Bondy access to their post-draft press conference on Friday while allowing all other credentialed media who cover the team to attend. The organization has agreed to comply with media access rules in the future.
- Warriors forward Andre Iguodala took a jab at the organization and its pursuit of major free agents, including his teammate Durant, Ethan Sears of the New York Post relays. In an interview with CNBC, Iguodala said, “Nobody’s gonna sign with the Knicks, sorry.”
- The Knicks gave up $1MM in cash along with the No. 55 pick to the Kings on Thursday, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. New York moved up to the No. 47 spot and chose University of Michigan forward Ignas Brazdeikis. The Kings selected Virginia’s Kyle Guy.
Blazers, Hawks Swap Evan Turner, Kent Bazemore
6:07pm: The trade is official, according to a league press release.
2:55pm: The Trail Blazers and Hawks have agreed to a trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the teams are swapping veterans Evan Turner and Kent Bazemore.
Turner and Bazemore signed nearly identical four-year, $70MM contracts during the summer of 2016, so both players will be on expiring deals during the 2019/20 season. Since Bazemore’s contract was a little more backloaded, he’ll be slightly more expensive next season, earning a salary of $19.27MM compared to Turner’s $18.61MM.
For Portland, Bazemore will be a three-and-D piece who could help space the floor around the team’s play-making guards. The veteran swingman struggled in 2018/19, battling some health issues and finishing with just 11.6 PPG on .402/.320/.726 shooting in 67 games (24.5 MPG). However, he has been a more reliable rotation player in the past, having made 36.5% of his three-pointers in his first four years in Atlanta, including 39.4% in 2017/18.
Bazemore should be a good fit on a Trail Blazers roster that could use another three-point marksman on the wing. In the postseason, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Meyers Leonard were fairly reliable from outside, but the only wings making threes for Portland were Seth Curry and Rodney Hood — both players are free agents this summer.
Turner, on the other hand, has never been much of an outside threat, but can be a secondary play-maker, having taken on a good deal of ball-handling responsibilities on the Trail Blazers’ second unit last season. He averaged 6.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.9 APG on .460/.212/.708 shooting in 73 games (22.0 MPG).
The Blazers believe that 2018 first-rounder Anfernee Simons can take on a bigger play-making role off the bench next season, tweets David Aldridge of The Athletic.
With sharpshooter Allen Crabbe arriving in a trade with Brooklyn, Atlanta views Turner’s skill set as more of a fit than Bazemore’s on this year’s roster. The Hawks envision Turner in the backup point guard role and want to open up some minutes for young players like De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, and Kevin Huerter as well, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
The Blazers and Hawks won’t have to wait until the new league year begins to consummate this deal, since Turner’s and Bazemore’s cap charges are so similar.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Arcidiacono To Get Qualifying Offer From Bulls
The Bulls will extend a qualifying offer to guard Ryan Arcidiacono but don’t plan to give one to Wayne Selden, Cody Westerlund of 670TheScore.com tweets.
In his second season with the Bulls, Arcidiacono appeared in 81 games and started 32, averaging 6.7 PPG and 3.3 APG in 24.2 MPG while shooting 37.3% from long range. His qualifying offer is a modest $1,818,486 and the Bulls, who hold his Early Bird rights, can now match any offer for the 6’3” Villanova product.
Selden appeared in 43 games, including 13 starts, with the Bulls after being acquired in early January from the Grizzlies. The Kansas alum averaged 8.0 PPG and 1.7 APG in 22.9 MPG. His qualifying offer was $1,931,189 but now he’ll head into unrestricted free agency unless the Bulls have a last-minute change of heart.
By making efforts to retain Arcidiacono and drafting point guard Coby White, Kris Dunn‘s status on the team is all the more precarious.
Sixers Waive Haywood Highsmith
The Sixers have waived swingman Haywood Highsmith, Serena Winters of NBCSPhilly tweets.
That opens up a two-way contract slot, since Highsmith was signed in that manner during January.
The 6’7” Highsmith got a taste of NBA action, appearing in five games and averaging 1.8 PPG in 8.0 MPG. The 22-year-old Highsmith, a former Division II standout who played his college ball at Wheeling Jesuit, spent most of last season with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate. He appeared in 46 G League contests, averaging 12.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 2.7 APG in 32.2 MPG.
NBA Dates, Deadlines To Watch This Week
The 2019 NBA draft is behind us, but the offseason fun is just beginning. With free agency right around the corner, here are the key NBA dates and deadlines to watch for this week:
NBA Awards Show
It has been about two months since we were seriously debating whether James Harden or Giannis Antetokounmpo deserved the 2018/19 MVP award. Now, with the postseason in the books and NBA fans focused on the offseason, the league is circling back to finally answer the Harden vs. Giannis questions and others in its curiously-timed awards broadcast.
The 2018/19 NBA awards show will air tonight (June 24) at 9:00pm eastern time on TNT.
To refresh your memory on who is in contention for tonight’s awards, here’s our story on this year’s nominees. We also made our own picks for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and the rest of the NBA’s individual honors.
Qualifying Offers
Not every player eligible for restricted free agency this summer will actually become a restricted free agent. A team has to issue a qualifying offer to make a player restricted.
That qualifying offer serves as a one-year contract offer which a player can accept. It also gives his team the right of first refusal. So if (and when) the Mavericks tender a QO to Kristaps Porzingis, they’ll gain the ability to match any offer sheet he signs with another team.
So far, the Raptors are the only team to tender a qualifying offer, having done so for Patrick McCaw and Nando De Colo. But many other teams will follow suit this week. The last day to issue a qualifying offer is June 29.
Team and Player Options
Many of this year’s player option and team option decisions have already been officially made — or at least reported.
However, there are still several outstanding decisions to be made on option seasons, including the Nuggets‘ $30MM+ team option on Paul Millsap.
All player and team option decisions are due by June 29.
Certain Non-Guaranteed Contracts
Players with non-guaranteed salaries for 2019/20 won’t necessarily have those salaries become fully guaranteed until next January. But many players who have non-guaranteed ’19/20 salaries have guarantee dates that arrive much earlier than that — some will even happen within the next week.
J.R. Smith (Cavaliers) and Shaun Livingston (Warriors) are among the veteran players whose salaries for next season will become fully guaranteed if they remain under contract through June 30, per Basketball Insiders‘ data. Smith is expected to be waived or possibly traded, but it’s not clear what Golden State’s plans are for Livingston.
Free Agency
In past years, the NBA’s new league year and free agent period officially got underway on July 1 at 12:01am ET. That won’t be the case in 2019.
The NBA has adjusted the start of its free agent period, announcing last month that teams will be permitted to start negotiating with players as of 6:00pm ET on June 30. It’s safe to assume that contract agreements will start being reported early and often that evening.
The league will also now allow teams to begin communicating with players and/or their agents on 6:00pm ET on June 29 for the sole purpose of scheduling free agent meetings. Those meetings can’t take place until at least 24 hours later, when free agency officially opens, but it’ll be interesting to see if deals start leaking during that 24-hour window.
Be sure to check out our full lists of free agents by position/type and free agents by team.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Suns To Decline Jimmer Fredette’s Team Option
As expected, the Suns will decline Jimmer Fredette‘s team option for the 2019/20 season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The option would have paid Fredette a salary of $1,988,119 if it had been exercised, per Basketball Insiders.
Warriors assistant GM Larry Harris confirmed earlier today that Fredette would be a part of Golden State’s Summer League roster in July. It wouldn’t have been possible for the former BYU standout to play for the Warriors in Summer League if he were still under contract with Phoenix.
Fredette, 30, returned to the NBA near the end of the 2018/19 campaign after spending multiple seasons in China. The sharpshooter struggled in six games with Phoenix down the stretch, averaging 3.7 PPG on 27.6% shooting in six games (10.8 MPG). He missed all 13 of his three-point attempts.
Fredette had been lighting up in China in recent years, putting up massive scoring numbers for the Shanghai Sharks. While he has never developed into a particularly effective NBA rotation player since being drafted 10th overall in 2011, his Summer League agreement with the Warriors suggests that he’s going to keep trying to make his way onto an NBA roster for 2019/20.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.