Free Agency Notes: Raptors, Stephenson, Kyrie, Sefolosha
The defending-champion Raptors will be a different team in 2019/20, with Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and starting shooting guard Danny Green off to Los Angeles. In the wake of Leonard agreeing to join the Clippers and Green committing to the Lakers, Toronto president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri issued a statement thanking the two former Spurs for their contributions to this year’s title team.
“We are very thankful for the year that Kawhi and Danny played with us here in Toronto, and I know the city and the entire country of Canada are grateful for everything they did to help us to win our first NBA Championship,” Ujiri said. “On behalf of the Raptors, I say a very heartfelt thank you to Kawhi and to Danny, and we send them and their families nothing but good wishes. As an organization, the Raptors will focus on the future and continue our pursuit of a second championship.”
After losing two All-NBA caliber defenders in Leonard and Green, the Raptors seem to be seeking out a certain archetype as they peruse the free agent market, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic. As Murphy points out, new additions Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are both versatile forwards with size who should help Toronto maintain its identity as a strong defensive club.
Here’s more on free agency:
- It doesn’t appear there’s anything brewing at the moment for free agent guard Lance Stephenson, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic. According to Agness, Stephenson continues to seek a new contract and may have to settle for a minimum-salary deal.
- While we already know that Kawhi Leonard reached out to Kevin Durant and Paul George before making his free agency decision, ESPN’s Zach Lowe adds Kyrie Irving to the list of players Leonard explored recruiting. Durant and Irving were set on heading to Brooklyn, so those discussions likely didn’t go far.
- The Jazz haven’t completed closed the door on the idea of a reunion with free agent wing Thabo Sefolosha, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic.
- Speaking to Mark Medina of The Mercury News about his decision to join the Timberwolves, Jordan Bell said he was looking for a team that would give him playing time, rather than seeking out the most lucrative offer available. “An opportunity just to play,” Bell said when asked what he prioritized. “Money wasn’t really the issue.” The former second-round pick is getting a one-year, minimum-salary deal from Minnesota.
Lakers Plan To Start LeBron James At Point Guard
With a new-look roster surrounding their star player next season, the Lakers plan to try LeBron James at a new position. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the club will head into 2019/20 with the intention of starting James at point guard.
James had frequently assumed ball-handling duties and operated as a point forward throughout his Hall-of-Fame career, but it sounds like this arrangement will look a little different, since he won’t be opening games alongside a traditional point guard. Sources tell Haynes that James and Danny Green are expected to start in the backcourt for the Lakers.
While point guards like Rajon Rondo, Quinn Cook, and even Alex Caruso should see plenty of action for the Lakers over the course of the season, putting James at the point could allow the club to trot out a starting lineup with a ton of size.
Theoretically, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Kyle Kuzma could fill out the starting five, though I’m not sure that’d be the best way to optimize the rotation. We’ll have to wait to see which direction the team goes — and if the LeBron-as-point-guard plan is one that sticks.
Thunder Receptive To Trade Inquiries On Westbrook
After discussing the situation with Russell Westbrook and agent Thad Foucher, the Thunder are – for the first time – receptive to trade inquiries on their All-NBA guard, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
As Charania explains, all involved parties – Westbrook, Foucher, and Thunder head of basketball operations Sam Presti – are working together to examine possible scenarios. As Charania notes, it could be difficult to find a trade partner for the star point guard at this point in the offseason, with little cap room still available around the league and recently-signed free agents not becoming trade-eligible until at least December.
The Thunder, who entered the offseason expecting to continue trying to build a contender around Westbrook and Paul George, abruptly changed directions last week after George asked to be traded to the Clippers. Oklahoma City has since significantly retooled its roster by moving both George and Jerami Grant, receiving Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and six first-round picks in return.
As a result of this change in direction, Westbrook’s long-term future in OKC no longer appears certain, despite the fact that his super-max contract with the team still has four years and $171MM left on it. He reportedly met with Presti over the weekend to talk about what happens next after the George trade.
We rounded up several Westbrook-related notes and rumors on Sunday, noting that the Heat, Pistons, and Rockets are among the teams believed to have interest. The Knicks, Celtics, Magic, and Timberwolves have also been mentioned as speculative possibilities.
Nets, Warriors Complete Durant, Russell Sign-And-Trade
JULY 8: The first-round pick going to Brooklyn in the deal is the Warriors’ 2020 pick, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, who tweets that it will be top-20 protected. If it falls in that range – and it very well could, given Golden State’s roster changes – the Nets would instead receive the Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick, per Scotto.
JULY 7: The Nets and Warriors have officially completed the sign-and-trade deal that sends Kevin Durant and a protected 2020 first-round pick to Brooklyn in exchange for D’Angelo Russell, Treveon Graham, and Shabazz Napier, the two teams announced in a pair of press releases.
“Kevin is a champion, perennial All-Star and one of the great players of this, or any, generation,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Adding a player of Kevin’s caliber to our organization elevates our ability to compete with the elite teams in this league. His tremendous abilities and dedication to his craft have made him as talented an offensive player our game has ever seen and we, as well as all of Brooklyn, are thrilled to welcome Kevin and his family to the Nets.”
Durant initially agreed to sign with the Nets outright using their cap room, but the Warriors engaged them in discussions last Sunday night and eventually agreed to a deal that would include a pair of sign-and-trades — Durant to Brooklyn and D’Angelo Russell to Golden State. Russell, a restricted free agent, became expendable when the Nets finalized agreements with Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“We’re excited to add a player of D’Angelo’s ability to our roster,” Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said in his team’s announcement. “He’s coming off an All-Star season with the Nets and we feel, at the age of 23, his best basketball is certainly ahead of him in regards to his career trajectory.”
In order to incentivize the Nets to accommodate the Russell sign-and-trade, the Warriors sent a future draft pick to Brooklyn, and will also take on Graham and Napier — those two players will be flipped to Minnesota in a subsequent deal.
Durant, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, isn’t expected to be ready to return until the 2020/21 season, but the Nets have him the long-term — he reportedly agreed to a four-year contract (with a fourth-year player option) that will be worth the maximum salary, or possibly slightly below it to accommodate DeAndre Jordan‘s deal with the club.
Meanwhile, the Warriors will be hard-capped at $138.9MM as a result of acquiring Russell via sign-and-trade, which will limit their ability to make roster moves during the 2019/20 league year. The club already had to send Andre Iguodala and his $17MM+ salary to Memphis in a cost-cutting measure.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kings Re-Sign Harrison Barnes To Four-Year Deal
JULY 8: The Kings have officially announced their new deal with Barnes, issuing a press release to confirm the signing.
JUNE 30: The Kings will finalize a four-year, $85MM deal with free agent forward Harrison Barnes, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal will decline annually, accounting for just 14% of the team’s cap during the final season. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to terms.
Barnes, 27, was traded from the Mavericks to the Kings at February’s trade deadline in the third year of the four-year, maximum-salary contract he signed with Dallas back in 2016. For the season, he recorded 16.4 PPG and 4.7 RPG with a .420/.395/.824 shooting line in 77 games (32.9 MPG).
Barnes had a player option for the 2019/20 season that would have paid him more than $25MM, but opted to turn it down. Based on his new deal, it’s clear why he went in that direction — his new contract won’t be quite worth $25MM annually, but it will give him substantially more long-term security than his option would have.
When the Kings acquired Barnes from Dallas during the season, reports indicated that the team viewed him as its answer at small forward. However, head coach Dave Joerger ended up frequently using his new acquisition at the four. Presumably, Sacramento’s front office and new head coach Luke Walton are aligned on how to best use Barnes going forward.
Even after reaching deals with Barnes, Trevor Ariza, and Dewayne Dedmon today, Sacramento still projects to have up to about $13MM in cap space, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks. However, the team could only create that room by renouncing Willie Cauley-Stein‘s cap hold.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Grizzlies Sign John Konchar To Two-Way Deal
JULY 8: The Grizzlies have officially signed Konchar to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. Memphis opened up a two-way slot by sending Washburn to Golden State in the Andre Iguodala trade.
JUNE 21: Purdue-Fort Wayne guard John Konchar will sign a two-way contract with the Grizzlies, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The senior went undrafted despite participating in a large number of workouts. However, he impressed Memphis enough to get a shot at the NBA on a two-way deal.
Konchar posted a 19.5/8.5/5.4 line this year at IPFW. He is the only player ever to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists and 200 steals during his college career, according to Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype (Twitter link).
Current Grizzlies two-way players Yuta Watanabe and Julian Washburn both have two-way deals that extend into 2019/20. Konchar is expected to replace Washburn in that second slot, with Watanabe returning, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.
Nuggets Rescinding Trey Lyles’ Qualifying Offer
The Nuggets are withdrawing their qualifying offer to free agent forward Trey Lyles, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move will allow Lyles to become an unrestricted free agent.
The timing of the decision makes sense, as word broke this morning that the Nuggets would acquire Jerami Grant in a trade with the Thunder. Grant figures to play most of the power forward minutes that Lyles would have seen if he had returned to Denver. Instead, the 6’10” Canadian will likely sign with another team that might be positioned to give him a larger role.
The 12th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Lyles had his best year as a Nugget in 2017/18, when he averaged 9.9 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a .491/.381/.706 shooting line in 73 games (19.1 MPG). However, he took a step backward this past season, as those numbers slipped to 8.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG and .418/.255/.698 shooting.
Despite his struggles in 2018/19, the Nuggets issued Lyles a qualifying offer worth about $4.49MM this summer, which made him a restricted free agent and gave Denver the right of first refusal if he had signed an offer sheet with a rival suitor. Having decided not to accept that one-year qualifying offer, the former Kentucky Wildcat will now get the opportunity to try to top it on the open market.
International Notes: Bertans, Mozgov, Mirotic, Motiejunas
Having being waived by the Pelicans on Sunday, Dairis Bertans didn’t waste much time in lining up a new home, with a report indicating that he had reached an agreement to sign with Russian club Khimki.
The Moscow Region-based team made it official earlier today, announcing (via Twitter) that Bertans is joining Khimki on a two-year deal. The veteran shooting guard technically hasn’t even cleared NBA waivers yet – that won’t happen until Tuesday – but presumably agent Arturs Kalnitis and Khimki management are both confident that no team will place a claim on Davis Bertans‘ older brother.
Here are a few more international notes related to NBA veterans:
- Bertans isn’t the only player on NBA waivers receiving interest from Khimki. A source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando that the Russian club is also trying to bring center Timofey Mozgov back to his home country, and hopes to reach a deal in the near future. Artem Komarov (Twitter link) first reported the talks between Khimki and Mozgov, who was released by the Magic on Saturday.
- Nikola Mirotic officially signed with Barcelona on Saturday, with the club issuing a press release to announce the deal. According to the team, Mirotic’s contract will span three years, with a fourth-year option for the 2022/23 season. The veteran power forward was expected to receive a three-year offer in the $45MM range from Utah, but opted to return to Spain instead.
- After appearing briefly in three games for the Spurs down the stretch in 2018/19, power forward Donatas Motiejunas appears likely to head back overseas. According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Motiejunas is receiving significant interest from the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. Motiejunas’ former CBA team in Shandong must decide by July 15 whether to make him a restricted free agent, as Carchia explains.
Wolves Sign Jarrett Culver To Rookie Contract
After having to wait a couple weeks to officially acquire him, the Timberwolves have officially signed Jarrett Culver to his rookie contract, tweets Darren Wolfson of SKOR North. The team tweeted out photos of Culver putting pen to paper.
Minnesota agreed to acquire Culver in a draft-night trade with the Suns, parting with Dario Saric to move up from No. 11 to No. 6 for the Texas Tech swingman. Because Phoenix required cap room to absorb Saric’s salary, the two teams had to wait until after the July moratorium to finalize the deal.
Culver, who declared for the draft after his sophomore season, averaged 18.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 1.5 SPG with a .461/.304/.707 shooting line in 38 contests last season for the Red Raiders, leading the team to an appearance in the national championship game.
On his first NBA contract, Culver is projected to earn about $5.8MM in his rookie season and $26.4MM if he plays out the full four-year deal.
As our list of draft pick signings show, 24 of 30 first-rounders have now officially signed their rookie contracts, including every player selected in the top 12.
Grizzlies Sign Tyus Jones To Offer Sheet
11:59pm: Jones officially signed the offer sheet on Sunday, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Minnesota will have two days to match it.
10:51pm: The Grizzlies have agreed to terms on an offer sheet with restricted free agent point guard Tyus Jones, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Once Jones formally signs the Grizzlies’ offer sheet and it’s presented to the Timberwolves, Minnesota will have two days to match it.
According to Charnia (via Twitter), the 23-year-old’s offer sheet is worth $24MM over three years. Malika Andrews of ESPN (via Twitter) pegs the value at $28MM, with agent Kevin Bradbury confirming to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link) that $28MM is the deal’s maximum value via incentives. Bradbury also tells Krawczynski that he and Jones looked elsewhere on the free agent market after they couldn’t find common ground with the Wolves.
“We negotiated in good faith with Minnesota, but did not receive an offer I felt was fair so we had to look elsewhere,” Bradbury said.
The Grizzlies lost a restricted free agent point guard of their own today, having reached an agreement with the Mavericks to send Delon Wright to Dallas in a sign-and-trade in exchange for a pair of second-round picks. That deal left Memphis with little point guard depth beyond Ja Morant and De’Anthony Melton, so it looks like the team will try to add a replacement for Wright on a similar contract after acquiring a couple draft picks in the process.
The Grizzlies will use their mid-level exception to sign Jones, who averaged 6.9 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG last year in 68 games (22.9 MPG) for Minnesota. The club used a similar tactic a year ago, using its full mid-level exception to sign Spurs RFA Kyle Anderson to an offer sheet.
It remains to be seen whether the Timberwolves will match Memphis’ offer. The Wolves entered the offseason reportedly in the market for a point guard, but selected Jarrett Culver in the draft, then missed out on top target D’Angelo Russell. As a result, Shabazz Napier is currently the only point guard on the depth chart behind Jeff Teague, and it’s not clear if Minnesota even plans to keep Napier for the regular season.
The Wolves’ lack of depth would seemingly make them inclined to match Jones’ offer sheet, but as ESPN’s Bobby Marks observes (via Twitter), doing so would only leave them about $1MM below the luxury tax line, reducing their flexibility for the rest of the offseason (and regular season).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.