Grizzlies Trade For No. 21 Pick Brandon Clarke
JULY 6: The trade is official, the Thunder announced today in a press release. Clarke and Bazley will now get the opportunity to join the Grizzlies and Thunder, respectively, in Las Vegas Summer League.
JUNE 21: The 2024 pick going to the Thunder in the trade is Memphis’ own pick, Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian clarifies (via Twitter). This deal won’t be officially completed until the new league year begins, since the No. 23 pick is tied up in the Mike Conley trade that’s not yet official.
JUNE 20: The Thunder and Grizzlies have reached an agreement to swap first-round picks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Memphis is sending a 2024 second-round pick to Oklahoma City in order to move up from No. 23 to No. 21. The Grizzlies have used that 21st overall pick to select Gonzaga forward Brandon Clarke.
The Thunder had reportedly been exploring the trade market in deals that might have reduced their team salary for 2019/20, using the No. 21 pick as a sweetener. This trade won’t help the club shed salary, though the cap hold for the No. 23 selection will be slightly smaller than that of the No. 21 pick. Oklahoma City used that pick to select Darius Bazley.
The Grizzlies, meanwhile, added a player in Clarke who was viewed as a potential lottery pick heading into the night. He averaged 16.9 PPG and 8.6 RPG with a .687 FG% in his first season with the Zags in 2018/19 before he declared for the draft. In Memphis, he’ll team up Ja Morant, whom the Grizzlies drafted with the No. 2 overall pick earlier in the evening.
Sixers Acquire No. 20 From Celtics For Nos. 24, 33
JUNE 21: The trade is now official, per an NBA press release.
JUNE 20: The Celtics and Sixers have agreed on a draft-night trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Philadelphia is acquiring the No. 20 pick and using it to draft Washington forward Matisse Thybulle.
In exchange for the pick, Boston will acquire the 24th and 33rd overall selections from the 76ers.
The Sixers had made a promise to Thybulle with the No. 24 pick, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets. They apparently had concerns another team also had their eyes on Thybulle, whom O’Connor notes is a multi-positional defender who can blend his offensive game with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Thybulle, a senior 6’5” guard, averaged a modest 9.1 PPG in his final college season. However, his defensive stats were impressive, as he averaged 3.5 SPG and 2.3 BPG.
He averaged 11.2 PPG as a junior.
The trade at least temporarily gave the Celtics three first-round selections.
Draft Rumors: Wolves, Pistons, Hornets, Knicks
While the Timberwolves were exploring trades involving the No. 6 pick after acquiring it from Phoenix, they plan on hanging onto Jarrett Culver, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Still, it’s safe to assume Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will continue to be aggressive in exploring trade options, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that Rosas seems to be open to discussing anyone except Karl-Anthony Towns.
Here are a few more draft-night notes and rumors:
- Sekou Doumbouya was higher than No. 15 on the Pistons‘ draft board, so the team was happy to snag him, a source tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Ellis hears that the Pistons were also seriously considering big man Goga Bitadze at No. 15 (Twitter link). Pistons executive Ed Stefanski said that Detroit explored trading up, but teams wanted too much, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
- The Hornets were close to trading up from No. 12, but felt like the price was excessive compared to what their options at No. 12 were, Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said tonight (Twitter link via Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer). Kupchak added that Charlotte views PJ Washington as both a small forward and power forward.
- Jalen McDaniels, Miye Oni, Zylan Cheatham, and Jaylen Nowell are among the prospects receiving consideration from the Knicks at No. 55, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who tweets that New York likely won’t draft Tacko Fall.
Draft-Night Notes: Bazley, Thunder, Bulls, Suns
Some teams holding mid-first-round picks have expressed interest in forward Darius Bazley and he could go earlier than projected, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. A McDonald’s All-American, Bazley didn’t go to college and instead spent the year preparing for the draft.
We have more draft nuggets:
- The Thunder are engaged in trade talk with teams to move back in first round from the No. 21 pick, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
- The Bulls didn’t shop shooting guard Zach LaVine when they explored ways to move up in the lottery, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Chicago wound up holding onto the No. 7 pick and selecting North Carolina point guard Coby White. LaVine has three years and $58.5MM remaining on his contract.
- The Suns’ selection of North Carolina power forward Cameron Johnson at No. 11 after trading down from the No. 6 pick earlier in the day was the surprise of the lottery. According to SInow’s Jake Fischer, it was an even bigger surprise due to injury concerns. Several teams red-flagged Johnson out of the first round due to his history of ailments on both hips (Twitter link).
- The Sixers are trying to move up from the No. 24 pick, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. They’re hoping to snag either UNC small forward Nassir Little or USC shooting guard Kevin Porter Jr. and could wind up with one of them even if they don’t make a deal, Pompey adds.
Hoops Rumors’ 2019 NBA Draft Live Chat
The 2019 NBA Draft is here! In addition to our standard coverage of the NBA, we’ll be hosting a live chat to discuss all the player movement and selections from around the league.
Believe a team is drafting a prospect too high? Concerned that your favorite player has been overlooked? Feeling good about a trade (looking at you Pelicans fans) or upset with your team for making a move?
We’ve got you covered on everything going on around the NBA! We’re starting at 6:30 pm CT through the first round!
Anthony Davis Trade Likely To Become Official July 6
The Pelicans’ decision to move the No. 4 pick to the Hawks today makes it likely that the Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers will be finalized on July 6, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The Lakers emerged from the lottery with the No. 4 pick and agreed to trade it to the Pelicans as part of the Davis deal. New Orleans reached an agreement to forward the pick to the Hawks just prior to the draft.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and the Pelicans’ top executive, David Griffin, agreed that if a third team was looped into the Davis trade, the teams would make the deal official on July 6.
The Davis deal could theoretically be delayed until July 30, as newly-drafted players can’t be dealt for 30 days after signing a contract. Waiting those 30 days would be advantageous to the Lakers for cap-related reasons. However, it would have been unrealistic for the Lakers to expect the Pelicans and Hawks to wait that long to bring in those traded players.
Pelinka was already on board with making the trade official on July 6 before New Orleans came to an agreement with Atlanta, according to Wojnarowski.
Thus, the Lakers won’t be able to count the No. 4 pick’s salary slot for salary-matching purposes in the AD trade. In order to maximize their cap room, they’ll have to use the cap room first by signing free agents, then make the Davis deal as an over-the-cap team under salary-matching guidelines.
The Lakers are offering the contracts of Moritz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones, and Isaac Bonga to teams as part of the Davis deal in order to make the salaries match up. The Hawks don’t necessarily have to be part of the Davis deal, since the Pelicans could make that trade separately after the trade with the Lakers becomes official.
Davis could also waive most or all of his $4MM trade bonus, something that he’s not necessarily expected to do. In a scenario where the Lakers get Davis to agree and find a taker for each of the three aforementioned players as part of a larger AD deal, Los Angeles could have roughly $32MM in cap space.
Draft-Night Rumors: Cavs, Suns, Wolves, Nets, Knicks
The Cavaliers remain active in trade discussions, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Cleveland is exploring deals involving J.R. Smith‘s expiring contract in addition to possible trades of the No. 5 pick. Barring a trade, Cleveland remains focused on Darius Garland at No. 5, Woj adds (via Twitter).
Here a few more draft-night rumors worth rounding up:
- According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), the Suns felt that the ability to land a starting power forward trumped the opportunity to draft a developmental point guard at No. 6, which is why they made their trade with the Timberwolves for Dario Saric. Phoenix plans on rolling with Tyler Johnson and a free agent signing at the point guard spot, Gambadoro adds.
- The Timberwolves have engaged in multiple conversations about that No. 6 pick since agreeing to acquire it from the Suns, league sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
- Two high-ranking sources have told Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link) that the Nets remain “very interested” in signing Kyrie Irving with or without Kevin Durant. Lewis had previously reported that Brooklyn was weighing whether to sign Irving if the team couldn’t get Durant too.
- Things could change, but for now it looks like Frank Ntilikina may not be traded tonight by the Knicks, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday.
Knicks Select R.J. Barrett With No. 3 Overall Pick
The Knicks have officially used the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft to select Duke forward R.J. Barrett.
Once viewed as the potential No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Barrett’s stock dipped slightly during his freshman year with the Blue Devils. However, he still put up huge numbers, averaging 22.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 4.3 APG in 38 games for Duke.
The Knicks’ No. 3 pick has been involved in trade rumors almost constantly since the team landed it in last month’s lottery, but with Anthony Davis no longer available, it appears that Barrett will stay put and begin his NBA career in New York.
Based on the projected rookie scale for 2019/20, Barrett is expected to earn a first-year salary of approximately $7.8MM.
For the rest of tonight’s picks, be sure to check out our full story on 2019’s NBA draft results, which will be updated consistently throughout the evening.
Grizzlies Draft Ja Morant With No. 2 Overall Pick
The Grizzlies have made a long-awaited decision official, formally using the No. 2 overall pick to select Murray State point guard Ja Morant.
Morant, who declared for the draft after his sophomore season, had a huge year at Murray State, averaging a double-double with 24.5 PPG and 10.0 APG. He also chipped in 5.7 RPG and shot .499/.363/.813 in 33 games.
The Grizzlies reached an agreement with the Jazz earlier this week on a trade that will send longtime point guard Mike Conley to Utah. That deal will pave the way for Morant to step in as Memphis’ point guard of the future.
The Grizzlies are expected to move forward with Morant and Jaren Jackson as their long-term franchise cornerstones, building around those two youngsters. Memphis could have the opportunity to add another young player to that core tonight, as the club currently holds the No. 23 overall pick.
Based on current cap projections, Morant will be in line for a 2019/20 salary of about $8.7MM on his NBA rookie contract.
Pelicans Select Zion Williamson With Top Pick
Zion Williamson‘s ascension as the top prospect in the draft became official when the Pelicans selected him with the No. 1 pick on Thursday night.
Williamson has been regarded as the best player in the draft since early in his lone college season at Duke. He’s the most highly touted prospect to enter the league in several years and with good reason. Williamson often looking like a man against boys with the Blue Devils, averaging 22.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.1 SPG and 1.8 BPG in 30.0 MPG over 33 games.
He had a minor setback late in the season when his shoe infamously came apart against arch-rival North Carolina on February 20. He suffered a knee injury but returned to action in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
With the impending trade of franchise player Anthony Davis to the Lakers, Williamson will immediately become the face of the New Orleans franchise. He’ll join a mostly young core that includes Jrue Holiday and three players in the agreed-upon deal with the Lakers, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram.
Under the rookie scale wage, Williamson can earn a max of $9,744,840 in his first year, according to RealGM. The base salary for the top pick is $8.12MM but players can receive up to 120% of the scale salary.
Williamson is the first Blue Devil selected with the top pick since Kyrie Irving in 2011. Prior to that, a Duke player hadn’t been taken with the No. 1 pick since Elton Brand in 1999.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.