JaMychal Green Signs Two-Year Deal With Clippers
JULY 18: The deal is official, per a release from the team.
JULY 8: The Clippers are finalizing an agreement with free agent forward JaMychal Green that will bring him back on a two-year, $10MM contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania (via Twitter), Green turned down more lucrative offers from other teams to return to Los Angeles to pursue a championship with the team.
Green’s new deal – which sounds like it’ll fit into the Clippers’ room exception – has a second-year player option, according to Charania. The structure of the contract will give the 29-year-old a de facto no-trade clause for the 2019/20 league year, so the team would need his approval to move him.
Green, 29, has become one of the more underrated stretch fours in the NBA in recent years during his time in Memphis and Los Angeles. Over the last three seasons, he has averaged 9.5 PPG and 7.2 RPG with a .377 3PT% in 197 total contests (25.5 MPG).
In 24 games with the Clippers at the end of last season, Green knocked down 1.4 threes per game at a 41.3% rate — both marks would have been career highs.
With Green back in the fold, the Clippers – who are considered the 2020 title favorites by oddsmakers – could run out a versatile 10-man rotation that features Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Landry Shamet, and Rodney McGruder in the backcourt, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Maurice Harkless, and Green as forwards, and Ivica Zubac and Montrezl Harrell at the five.
Youngsters Jerome Robinson and Mfiondu Kabengele are also in the picture, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Clippers add another veteran or two using the minimum salary exception.
With Green off the board, Kelly Oubre and Jabari Parker are the only two free agents from our top-50 list who have yet to agree to deals.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Western Notes: Jazz, D’Antoni, Clippers, Thunder
After trading away Derrick Favors and signing Bojan Bogdanovic, the Jazz had a little leftover cap room and took advantage of that remaining space by signing Miye Oni, William Howard, and Stanton Kidd to three-year contracts, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Utah would have been limited to two-year deals if the club had exhausted its cap space.
The Jazz intend to have Howard, Kidd, and others compete for the 15th and final roster spot in training camp, per Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links), who notes that both Howard and Kidd received partial guarantees for the 2019/20 season.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio this week, agent Warren LeGarie said that his client Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni is perfectly happy to enter the 2019/20 season – the final year of his deal – without a contract extension (Twitter link via Howard Beck of Bleacher Report). “It’s not even something we’re considering right now,” LeGarie said of a potential extension. “We have a contract.”
- Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show (video link) this week, Clippers consultant Jerry West raved about the team’s ownership and culture, as Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays. “He’s just a great owner and one of the nicest men I’ve ever been around in my life,” West said of Steve Ballmer. “… He’s willing to spend on players. He’s willing to spend on personnel within the front office. And as I mentioned before, I’ve never been around any organization that is better than this one. That’s for sure.”
- In trading Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Jerami Grant, the Thunder appeared to be pivoting toward an all-out rebuild. Brett Dawson of The Athletic explores how that rebuilding process might be impacted if Chris Paul starts the 2019/20 season on Okahoma City’s roster.
Bucks Sign Cam Reynolds To Two-Way Contract
JULY 26: The Bucks have officially signed Reynolds to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release. Milwaukee also confirmed that it has signed Frank Mason to fill its other two-way slot after waiving Colson earlier in the week.
JULY 18: The Bucks and free agent shooting guard Cameron Reynolds have reached an agreement on a two-way deal, agent James Dunleavy tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Reynolds, 24, appeared in 19 games with the Timberwolves last season, having signed a pair of 10-day contracts and then a multiyear deal with the team. He showed some promise as a rotation player by averaging 5.0 PPG with a .412 3PT% in 13.6 minutes per contest, but his 2019/20 salary was non-guaranteed and Minnesota released him just before the start of free agency.
Bonzie Colson, who signed a two-way pact with the Bucks last January, remains under contract with the team on the second year of his contract, though it’s not clear if the club plans to retain him through the start of the 2019/20 season. For now at least, it looks like he and Reynolds will fill Milwaukee’s two-way contract slots.
Suns Sign Tariq Owens
The Suns have signed undrafted rookie Tariq Owens to a one-year contract, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log.
Owens, a 6’10” forward, played college ball at Tennessee and St. John’s before joining Texas Tech for the 2018/19 season. He helped lead the team to the national title game by averaging 8.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.4 BPG in 38 games (25.4 MPG).
The Suns carried Owens on their roster this month for Summer League play, though he didn’t see any action.
The undrafted free agent likely signed an Exhibit 10 contract, so he looks like a candidate to end up with the Northern Arizona Suns, Phoenix’s G League affiliate.
Suns Sign Jared Harper To Two-Way Deal
JULY 18: The Suns have officially signed Harper to a two-way contract, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.
JULY 17: The Suns have reached an agreement to sign undrafted rookie Jared Harper to a two-way contract, reports Gina Mizell of The Athletic (via Twitter).
A 5’11” point guard, Harper declared for the 2019 draft as an early entrant after helping lead Auburn to the Final Four as a junior. In 40 games for the Tigers, he averaged 15.3 PPG and 5.8 APG with a .399/.370/.828 shooting line.
Although Harper wasn’t selected on draft night, he caught on with Phoenix for Summer League play, averaging 10.5 PPG, 2.5 APG, and 2.5 RPG in four games in Las Vegas (21.8 MPG). The Suns liked what they saw from Harper enough to commit one of their two-way contract slots to him.
Phoenix’s other two-way contract slot remains open for now, as our tracker shows.
Celtics, Javonte Green Agree To Deal
The Celtics will sign Summer League standout Javonte Green to a partially guaranteed contract, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Bontemps, Green will get an opportunity to earn Boston’s final regular season roster spot.
Since going undrafted out of Radford in 2015, Green has bounced around among a few international leagues, playing for teams in Spain, Italy, and Germany. In five Summer League games for the Celtics in Las Vegas this month, the swingman averaged 10.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.8 SPG in just 22.6 minutes per contest.
On the heels of that performance, Green was said to be drawing significant overseas interest, according to a report earlier this week. The expectation was that the Celtics wouldn’t be able to bring him to camp and then make him an affiliate player for the Maine Red Claws — by giving him a partial guarantee and a chance to vie for a roster spot, Boston will ensure he doesn’t get away.
The Celtics currently have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with Max Strus and Tremont Waters expected to sign two-way deals. The team could bring in a few more players to compete with Green for the 15th spot on the roster.
Pacers To Sign Amida Brimah
The Pacers have reached an agreement to sign free agent center Amida Brimah, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
Agent Daniel Hazan tells Haynes that Brimah will sign a one-year deal with Indiana. It’s not clear if it will be an Exhibit 10 contract, but that seems probable, since I doubt Brimah will get a significant guarantee.
Brimah, 25, went undrafted out of UConn in 2017 and has signed a pair of contracts with the Spurs since then. Those training-camp deals were designated to secure the big man’s G League rights, and as a result, he has appeared in 95 games for the Austin Spurs over the last two seasons.
In 47 games last year, Brimah averaged 8.8 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 2.9 BPG in 23.3 minutes per contest for San Antonio’s NBAGL affiliate. He also earned G League All-Defensive honors for a second consecutive season.
More recently, Brimah appeared in six Summer League games for the Nets in Las Vegas earlier this month, showing off his rim-protecting abilities by averaging 2.2 BPG in just 12.5 minutes per game.
Poll: NBA’s Best Newly-Formed Star Duo
After NBA teams spent the last decade trying to emulate the 2010 Heat’s “Big Three” approach to roster-building, those clubs didn’t necessarily move away from that strategy during the 2019 offseason. However, when the Lakers came up short in their effort to add Kawhi Leonard to their roster to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it helped create a new storyline.
Rather than teaming up in threes this offseason, many of the NBA’s star players joined up with just one other All-Star, creating a handful of new dynamic duos around the league.
The Lakers acquired Davis – a perennial MVP candidate going forward – to team up with a four-time MVP in James.
In rebuffing the Lakers’ advances, Leonard – a two-time Finals MVP – headed to the Clippers, who also acquired Paul George – third in MVP voting last season – in a trade with Oklahoma City.
The Nets cleared enough cap room for two maximum-salary free agents, and used those slots to land Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who have combined for a total of 16 All-Star berths, 11 All-NBA nods, and three championships.
The Rockets reunited a pair of former MVP winners when they struck a deal to land triple-double machine Russell Westbrook from Oklahoma City, adding him to a backcourt that already featured the league’s leading scorer, James Harden.
Even the Warriors got into the act after losing Durant, acquiring All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade to share the backcourt with two-time MVP Stephen Curry to start the 2019/20 season.
Golden State has two more former All-NBA players in Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, and several other clubs around the league have their own dynamic duos, including Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in Portland, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in Philadelphia, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton in Milwaukee, among others.
Today though, we’re focusing on newly-formed pairings, so we want to know which of the five star duos listed above you’d most like to have on your roster moving forward.
We’re looking at both the short- and long-term here, so injuries like Durant’s Achilles tear should be taken into account — the fact that KD will likely miss all of next season negatively impacts Brooklyn’s duo, but we want you to consider the next few years, rather than just 2019/20.
Players’ contract situations and injury histories matter too — maybe the Clippers’ duo is slightly less appealing due to the fact that both players are only guaranteed to be around for the next two seasons, or because George is coming off two shoulder surgeries. Age is also a factor, since there’s no guarantee how many more All-NBA seasons a 34-year-old like LeBron has left.
With all that in mind, which newly-formed star duo do you like best going forward? Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Which newly-formed NBA star duo would you most want?
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Kawhi Leonard / Paul George (Clippers) 44% (1,033)
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LeBron James / Anthony Davis (Lakers) 35% (811)
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James Harden / Russell Westbrook (Rockets) 9% (215)
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Kevin Durant / Kyrie Irving (Nets) 7% (163)
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Stephen Curry / D'Angelo Russell (Warriors) 5% (123)
Total votes: 2,345
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Pacific Notes: Oubre, Dedmon, Lydon, Kawhi
As the last restricted free agent on the market this summer, Kelly Oubre may have preferred to resolve his free agency situation a little sooner. However, as Gina Mizell of The Athletic relays, Oubre – who didn’t have to wait until the fall to get a new deal like other RFAs have in recent years – had no complaints about the process after signing a new two-year, $30MM contract with the Suns.
“It was a little prolonged due to the things of the business,” Oubre said. “I was blessed enough to be able to watch it happen. Everything works out for people who put the right energy into the world. So I can’t really complain. It’s been a great two weeks.”
The Suns, meanwhile, made Oubre a priority this offseason due to the way he approaches the game, as general manager James Jones told reporters, including Mizell, this week.
“When you watch the games, you watch effort,” Jones said. “You watch the competitiveness. You watch the passion. That’s who you are. (Oubre) was consistent every game, every day. … Those are the foundational characteristics and traits that you look for in players when you talk about building a core, building a foundation.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Dewayne Dedmon‘s ability to shoot three-pointers and run the floor could help maximize the Kings‘ run-and-gun offense in 2019/20, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. For his part, Dedmon is looking forward to fitting into Sacramento’s system. “I had my free agency meeting with my agent and he broke everything down, talked about the teams and whatever, and Sac came with the best offer,” Dedmon said. “Best fit, best offer, everything was good, and it’s somewhere I can call home for the next three years, hopefully.”
- Tyler Lydon‘s new two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Kings is only partially guaranteed for $50K in year one, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. Given how little salary protection he has, the former first-round pick isn’t necessarily a lock to earn a regular season roster spot for Sacramento in 2019/10.
- Nearly two weeks after Kawhi Leonard announced that he’d be joining the Clippers, Michael Lee of The Athletic looks back at the way Leonard wielded his power during the free agent process and the ripple effect the decision had on the Raptors, Lakers, and Thunder, among other teams.
Bulls Re-Sign Shaquille Harrison
1:00pm: The Bulls have officially re-signed Harrison, the team announced today in a press release. The club also confirmed that its deal with Luke Kornet has been completed.
8:11am: Free agent guard Shaquille Harrison will re-sign with the team that waived him earlier this month, having agreed to a one-year deal with the Bulls, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Harrison, 25, appeared in 73 games for Chicago last season, averaging 6.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.9 APG with strong defense in 19.6 minutes per contest. Despite having a regular rotation role, he became a cap casualty when the club needed to clear enough space to finalize its deals with Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky.
The Bulls drafted Coby White, acquired Satoransky via sign-and-trade, and re-signed Ryan Arcidiacono this offseason, so Harrison will join a crowded backcourt that also features Kris Dunn and Antonio Blakeney. K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune tweets that the club has discussed waiving Blakeney and is open to trading Dunn, so it’s possible there will be a 15-man roster spot available for Harrison, but for now it looks like an uphill battle.
One factor working in Harrison’s favor is the Bulls’ head coach. According to Johnson (via Twitter), the former Tulsa standout is a Jim Boylen favorite.
Financial terms of Harrison’s new contract aren’t yet known. Although a minimum-salary deal seems likely, Chicago does have some of its room exception available.