Bucks Sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo
JULY 16: The Bucks have officially signed Antetokounmpo, the team announced today in a press release.
“Thanasis is a young player with great experience at the top level overseas,” Bucks GM Jon Horst said in a statement. “He brings toughness, athleticism, character and a high IQ. We are thrilled to have him join the Bucks.”
JULY 7: Thanasis Antetokounmpo has agreed to a two-year contract to join his brother in Milwaukee, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Greek outlet Gazzetta.gr reported earlier in the week that Antetokounmpo and the Bucks were finalizing a two-year guaranteed deal.
Charania confirms (via Twitter) that Antetokounmpo will get a guaranteed two-year minimum-salary deal. I’ll be worth about $3.15MM over two years, including $1.45MM in 2019/20.
An older sibling of reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis has brief NBA experience, playing two games for the Knicks on a 10-day contract during the 2015/16 season.
The 26-year-old spent this season with Panathinaikos, leading the team to a second straight Greek Basket League title. He was also MVP of the Greek All-Star Game in 2018. Before returning to Greece Thanasis spent three years in the G League, playing for both Delaware and Westchester.
And-Ones: Pacers, Favors, Zhou, Teodosic
The Pacers were thrilled to see Goga Bitadze still available when the team picked at No. 18, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star relays. The scribe hears that many within the league were surprised Bitadze was still available at that spot. However, several executives told Michael that had they been running the Pacers, they wouldn’t have taken the center unless they planned on trading either Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis.
Most of the executives Michael spoke to believe that if the team decides to trade either Turner and Sabonis, the latter will be the one to go. Turner is entering the first season of a four-year, $80MM contract, while Sabonis is entering the last year of his rookie deal.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Pelicans were Derrick Favors‘ preferred destination once it was clear the Jazz were moving him, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Utah needed to trade Favors in order to accommodate the Bojan Bogdanovic signing.
- Former Rockets center Zhou Qi plans to play in Europe next season, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Zhou has not yet picked a team.
- Milos Teodosic will make slightly over €5MM during his three-year contract with Virtus Bologna, Carchia passes along in a separate piece. Teodosic last played for the Clippers during this past season.
Pelicans Notes: Hart, Ball, Ingram, Melli
Josh Hart spoke with EVP of basketball operations David Griffin shortly after the Anthony Davis, pleading with the executive not to trade him, as he wanted to play for the Pelicans. During a press conference today that introduced Hart, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, Griffin said that it “meant a lot” to the team to have players who were “equally committed” to the franchise.
“We’re deep with selfless winners,” Griffin said (via Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register). “We’re deep with selfless high-character guys who wanna play any role they need to.”
Rival teams have called the Pelicans about all three former Lakers, according to Griffin, but the franchise has turned down inquiries for each player. The front office feels the trio can be part of the team’s future.
Here’s more from New Orleans:
- Ball said it was “tough” dealing with trade rumors last season but he learned to deal with those distractions and others while playing in Los Angeles, Will Guillory of The Athletic relays on Twitter. Ball added that he’s excited to get back to playing the style of basketball he’s accustomed to.
- Ingram said he is “pretty close” to resuming regular basketball activities, as ESPN relays. Ingram is recovering from surgery on his right arm that was performed to address a blood clot. Ingram added that he hasn’t played basketball since March. “I’m eager to pick up a basketball,” the forward added (via Guillory’s Twitter feed).
- Nicolo Melli, who signed with the Pelicans this offseason, underwent knee surgery this offseason, Emiliano Carchia of Sportnado passes along. Melli agreed to sign with New Orleans via the room exception.
Thunder, Rockets Swap Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul
JULY 16: The trade is official, according to a Thunder press release.
JULY 11: The Rockets have acquired Russell Westbrook. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Houston will send Chris Paul, two first-round picks and two pick swaps to Oklahoma City in exchange for the eight-time All-Star.
The Thunder will receive the Rockets’ first-round picks in 2024 and 2026, according to Wojnarowski. Shams Charania of the Athletic tweets that those selections are each top-four protected.
Oklahoma City will also have the right to swap first-round picks with the Rockets during the 2021 and 2025 drafts, though those have protections as well. The 2021 swap is top-four protected, while the 2025 swap is top-20 protected, per Charania.
GM Sam Presti worked with Westbrook and his agent to send the point guard to Houston, which was his preferred destination, Wojnarowski tweets. Westbrook will reunite with James Harden, whom he previously played with on the Thunder (before the team traded Harden to the Rockets). Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) hears that the push for a reunion came from both sides.
The Paul George trade request opened the door for another superstar to move this summer. The Thunder began an unexpected retooling process in the wake of trading George, leaving Westbrook in a curious position.
Rumors of the Paul-Harden relationship souring popped up this summer, with a report from Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports describing the relationship as “unsalvageable” and suggesting that CP3 wanted a trade. Both Paul and GM Daryl Morey shot down that report, but there was still widespread speculation that the team would try to move Paul.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets that Presti has spoken to Paul’s agent, Leon Rose. Rose, who also represents Carmelo Anthony, worked with the team last summer on an exit strategy for ‘Melo.
The Thunder’s plan as of now is to keep Paul alongside Danilo Gallinari and remain competitive, Sam Amick of The Athletic hears (Twitter link). Still, Amick cautions that at this stage in his career, the point guard isn’t going to be patient.
Paul, whose contract runs through 2021/22, will make $38.5MM in the 2019/20 season, with roughly $86MM due to him over the following two seasons. Westbrook will also make $38.5MM this upcoming season and he’ll take home $132.6MM over the ensuing three seasons. The two deals are essentially identical, with Westbrook’s running for an extra season. Both of the point guards also have a player option on the end of their contracts, though it’s unlikely that either will decide to hit the open market a year early.
Westbrook has a 15% trade bonus in his contract, but because he’s already earning a maximum salary, the bonus will be voided, ESPN’s Bobby Marks adds on Twitter.
Paul, 34, slowed signs of slowing down during the 2018/19 season. Injuries limited him to just 58 games, and his 15.6 PPG and .419 FG% were both the lowest marks of his 14-year career. However, he still chipped in 8.2 APG and 2.0 SPG while helping to lead the Rockets to the Western Semifinals.
As for Westbrook, his scoring average (22.9 PPG) was his lowest in five years and he went through some major shooting slumps en route to a .428/.290/.656 line. The 30-year-old still managed to average a triple-double for the third consecutive year though, contributing 11.1 RPG and a league-leading 10.7 APG to go along with 1.9 SPG.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Anthony Davis Focusing On This Season, Not Future
Anthony Davis is expected to re-sign with the Lakers once his contract is up next summer. Yet, Davis was given the chance to confirm that outcome in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols (h/t Kurt Helin of NBC Sports) and he chose not to go full Kyrie in reaffirming his commitment to the franchise.
“I’m just focused on this season. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Davis said. “I have one year here, so I’m going make the best of this year. And when that time comes around in the summer or, you know, whenever the season’s over — hopefully, around, you know, mid-June, after we just had a parade, and I need a couple days to think — then we can talk about that. But until then, I’m trying to do whatever I can to help this team win this year.”
Regardless of being noncommittal when asked about his future with the club, Davis is unlikely to leave. Los Angeles was a destination he pushed for while in New Orleans and – alongside LeBron James – he’s in a position to compete for a championship.
Davis recently spoke about the “relief” he felt after the Lakers traded for him and discussed his high regard for the roster in L.A during his introductory press conference with the team.
“I like every player that we have, from one through 14. I’m excited about it. I would put our roster against anybody. I think that in a seven-game series we would come out victorious,” Davis said.
Jazz Sign Jarrell Brantley, Justin Wright-Foreman To Two-Way Deals
The Jazz have filled both of their two-way contract slots, inking Jarrell Brantley and Justin Wright-Foreman to deals, per the team’s Twitter feed.
Brantley was the No. 50 selection in the 2019 draft and Utah acquired his draft rights in a trade with the Pacers. Brantley spent four years at the College of Charleston before coming to the league, averaging 19.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 2.4 APG in 33 games as a senior.. The 23-year-old wing recently played for the Jazz’s Summer League squads.
Wright-Foreman was selected with the No. 53 overall pick in this year’s draft. He spent four years in college as well, appearing in 125 games for Hofstra and ranking second in the nation in 2018/19 with 27.1 PPG. The 21-year-old guard also played for Utah’s 2019 Summer League teams.
Utah didn’t have any first-round picks in this year’s draft, but loaded up on selections in the back half of the second round. In addition to selecting Brantley and Wright-Foreman, the club also nabbed Miye Oni at No. 58 — he signed a standard NBA contract earlier this week.
Eastern Notes: Simmons, Smith, Sexton
Ben Simmons‘ near-$170MM extension with the Sixers may sound like an exorbitant amount for the 22-year-old, but Derek Bodner of The Athletic argue that the deal could turn into a bargain.
Simmons’ 2020/21 salary (estimated to start at $29.25MM) currently places him 30th among his NBA peers that season. Surely other players will sign top-end deals next summer, dropping him lower in the rankings.
The point guard still needs to further develop his jumper to become great, Bodner cautions. However, Simmons has all the tools to easily become a top-10 talent for the Sixers and should that happen, he would be severely underpaid.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- If J.R. Smith signs with another team, the Cavaliers will recoup the $500K they agreed to give him for extending his guaranteed date via setoff, ESPN Bobby Marks notes on Twitter. Cleveland waived Smith on Monday.
- The Cavaliers didn’t play Collin Sexton in Summer League because the point guard didn’t have much to gain from the experience, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com explains. The level of competition in Las Vegas and Utah isn’t very high and it was much more prudent to allow Sexton to join the team in those locations but not risk injury during live action.
- The Cavaliers are fans of Jaron Blossomgame, who played for their Summer League team, Fedor relays in the same piece. Blossomgame spent time with the club under a two-way deal in 2018/19 and is a candidate for a roster spot this upcoming season.
Checking In On 2019’s Unsigned Draft Picks
The 2019 NBA draft took place less than a month ago, but the majority of the players selected on the night of June 20 have already signed their first NBA contracts. That includes all but one of the 30 players drafted in the first round, as well as more than half of 2019’s second-rounders.
The following players have not yet signed contracts with their new NBA teams:
- Orlando Magic: Chuma Okeke, F (Auburn)
- New Orleans Pelicans: Didi Louzada, G/F (Brazil)
- Charlotte Hornets: Cody Martin, F (Nevada)
- Detroit Pistons: Deividas Sirvydis, G/F (Lithuania)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Jaylen Nowell, G (Washington)
- Denver Nuggets: Bol Bol, C (Oregon)
- Dallas Mavericks: Isaiah Roby, F (Nebraska)
- Utah Jazz: Jarrell Brantley, F (Charleston)
- Boston Celtics: Tremont Waters, G (LSU)
- Charlotte Hornets: Jalen McDaniels, F (San Diego State)
- Utah Jazz: Justin Wright-Foreman, G (Hofstra)
- Brooklyn Nets: Jaylen Hands, G (UCLA)
- Sacramento Kings: Vanja Marinkovic, G (Serbia)
Louzada will reportedly spend the 2019/20 season in Australia, so we can safely remove his name from this list — he won’t be signing an NBA contract this offseason. I’d expect Marinkovic to remain overseas too, and it sounds like Sirvydis is a draft-and-stash candidate as well. Waters, meanwhile, has reportedly agreed to terms on a two-way contract with Boston, though it’s not yet official.
That would leave just nine players from 2019’s draft class who still seem likely to sign at some point. Of those nine players, Okeke is the most interesting. He tore his ACL in March and is expected to miss a good chunk – if not all – of his rookie season. It may just be a coincidence that he’s the last first-round pick to sign a contract, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the Magic were exploring possible alternatives to the traditional 120% of the rookie scale for him.
The Hornets (Martin), Timberwolves (Nowell), Nuggets (Bol), and Mavericks (Roby) all have fewer than 15 guaranteed contracts on their books and a portion of their mid-level exceptions available, so those other top-45 draftees look like good bets to sign multiyear deals at some point.
The players selected in the 50s may be candidates for two-way contracts. Not counting Waters, four players selected in the 49-57 range have already signed two-way deals. Hands, in particular, makes sense in a two-way slot, since the Nets currently project to have a full 15-man roster.
[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
The outlook for McDaniels (Hornets), Brantley (Jazz), and Wright-Foreman (Jazz) is cloudier. Charlotte has an open two-way slot and Utah has two, but those clubs also have multiple potential openings on their 15-man rosters, so it remains to be seen what the future holds for these late second-rounders. We should find out in the coming weeks.
Sixers Sign Ben Simmons To Five-Year Extension
JULY 16: The Sixers have officially signed Simmons to his new extension, the team announced today in a press release.
“Ben Simmons is an important piece of our core and he is one of the NBA’s most dynamic and talented young players,” GM Elton Brand said in a statement. “It was a priority for our organization that we finalize a contract extension with Ben this summer. He was Rookie of the Year in his first season, an All-Star in his second and we expect him to continue grow and succeed for seasons to come. Ben positively impacts the game in so many ways and we look forward to continuing our championship pursuits with him as one of our leaders.”
JULY 15: The Sixers and Ben Simmons have reached a deal on a five-year, maximum-salary contract extension, agent Rich Paul tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The agreement had been anticipated after Philadelphia put a max extension offer on the table for Simmons near the start of free agency.
Based on the NBA’s current cap projections for 2020/21, which is when Simmons’ new deal will begin, a five-year, maximum-salary contract will pay him $169.65MM.
The Sixers and Simmons could agree to language that would push that figure as high as $203.58MM in the event that he earns an All-NBA spot next season, but there’s no indication yet that those Rose Rule conditions will be included in the agreement. For what it’s worth, Charania pegs the value of the contract at $170MM.
Simmons, who will turn 23 on Saturday, has established himself as one of the NBA’s most dynamic young play-makers since being selected first overall in the 2016 draft. After missing his rookie season for health reasons, he has averaged 16.4 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 7.9 APG, and 1.6 SPG in 160 regular season contests for Philadelphia over the last two years.
While Simmons is one of the league’s most dangerous creators in transition and can go off for a triple-double on any given night, the Sixers will be looking for him to expand his half-court game and to add a more consistent jump shot to his repertoire going forward.
With a lucrative new deal for Simmons hitting their books in 2020/21, the Sixers will have to take their long-term luxury tax outlook into account when making roster moves. Having made major financial commitments to Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Al Horford too, Philadelphia already projects to be $6MM+ over the tax line for ’20/21 with only 11 players under contract so far, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights.
Siegel also observes (via Twitter) that Simmons and Embiid are both now “designated rookies” for the Sixers, having signed five-year extensions before their rookie contracts expired.
An NBA team is permitted to have up to two designated rookies on its roster at a time (including no more than one via trade), so the Sixers wouldn’t be able to add a third until Embiid’s contract expires in 2023, unless they trade away Simmons or Embiid. It’s the same rule that prevented the Celtics from acquiring Anthony Davis last season while they were carrying Kyrie Irving.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA, EuroLeague Teams Eyeing Dragan Bender?
The Cavaliers and Raptors are among the teams that have inquired on free agent power forward Dragan Bender, tweets international reporter Orazio Cauchi. According to Cauchi, EuroLeague clubs like CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce are also keeping an eye on Bender and have “some level of interest.”
Bender, 21, was the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and spent the last three seasons with the Suns. However, he has failed to develop into a regular rotation player, averaging 5.3 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .394/.321/.647 shooting line in 171 games in Phoenix.
A source tells Cauchi (Twitter link) that there some NBA teams still believe Bender’s potential could be worth a roll of the dice. At this point though, the young big man seems unlikely to receive more than minimum-salary offers, and even then, it’s not clear he’d get any sort of guarantees.
If Bender had played out his rookie contract, he would have been on track to earn a $5.9MM salary in 2019/20. The Suns turned down their fourth-year team option though, allowing the Croatian to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.