Magic’s Chuma Okeke Won’t Sign Rookie Deal Until 2020
4:44pm: Okeke will sign a G League contract to play for the Magic’s affiliate in Lakeland, according to Charania and Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
9:41am: Chuma Okeke has long been the only 2019 first-round pick who has yet to sign his rookie scale contract, and now we know why. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), Okeke won’t sign his rookie deal with the Magic until the 2020 offseason.
[RELATED: 2019 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
As Charania explains (via Twitter), the Magic intend to redshirt Okeke during his first professional season as he continue to recover from the ACL injury he suffered during this year’s NCAA tournament while playing for Auburn.
Postponing Okeke’s first NBA contract by a year could be a win-win for both Orlando and the young forward, who was the 16th overall pick in this year’s draft. Although he won’t earn an NBA salary in 2019/20, the 21-year-old projects to sign a rookie contract worth an extra $1MM or so in 2020 due to the rising value of the league’s rookie scale, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
When he signs in 2020, Okeke will earn the same salary as the 16th pick in the 2020 draft — the exact amount will depend on how much the cap increases, but based on the latest projection, his starting salary should be about $3.32MM.
Meanwhile, the Magic are currently just $3.8MM below the luxury tax line and would’ve been right up against that threshold if they’d signed Okeke to a rookie contract worth 120% of his rookie scale amount. He would’ve earned about $3.1MM in 2019/20 in that scenario. The franchise will now have him under control for an extra year as well, as his four-year rookie contract will run through the 2023/24 season. The rest of the 2019 first-rounders will hit restricted free agency during the summer of ’23.
[RELATED: Rookie Scale Salaries For 2019 First Round Picks]
It’s not clear whether Okeke will remain unsigned or if he’ll sign a G League contract for the 2019/20 season. A G League contract might make sense for both sides, since it would allow him to rehab within the organization while at least earning a modest salary. In either scenario, the Magic will retain his NBA rights.
The move will also open up an extra spot on the Magic’s 15-man regular season roster for the coming season. The team is currently carrying 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so there should be one one or two openings available heading into training camp.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Andre Iguodala
Andre Iguodala hasn’t said much publicly since being sent from Golden State to Memphis at the start of July in a cost-cutting trade the Warriors had to make to accommodate the acquisition of D’Angelo Russell. However, he spoke to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday, with Poole suggesting it was “evident” that Iguodala isn’t exactly excited to join the Grizzlies.
“We’ll see,” Iguodala said when asked about his situation. “OK, maybe I shouldn’t say we’ll see. But we’re trying to figure out things on both sides. They’re trying to figure out some things, and I’m trying to figure out some things. As of today, we’re on the same page. Camp opens the next week. We’ll see. We’re on the same page though.”
As Iguodala hints, it seems safe to assume that neither he nor Memphis expects him to still be on the team’s roster when the 2019/20 season ends. But it remains to be seen whether he’ll move on in a trade or a buyout — and when exactly it might happen. Reports have indicated that the Grizzlies aren’t eager to buy out the former Finals MVP, while his potential trade suitors appear willing to be patient.
Asked about the possibility of a buyout, Iguodala explained to Poole his thoughts on the concept.
“At this point, the only buyout that makes sense — if I’m speaking on someone else’s behalf, thinking as an agent — is you don’t leave money on the table,” Iguodala said. “Especially in this league. Because you’ll never get it back, no matter what people say. Negotiations are a tactic, so you’ve got to be careful how you approach it, or how you verbalize what you would do going forward. But you can’t leave anything on the table.”
If Iguodala is approaching buyout negotiations with that stance, the stalemate between him and Memphis makes some sense. As Sean Deveney of Heavy.com notes, the Grizzlies likely want Iguodala to give back a decent chunk of his $17MM+ salary if they’re going to give him a clear path to join a contender without getting an asset in return.
If the two sides can find common ground on a buyout agreement, expect the Clippers, Lakers, and Rockets to be in hot pursuit, according to Deveney, who names the Nuggets and Nets as potential dark horses. In the meantime, training camps will get underway very soon, and Iguodala will have to remember that he won’t be reporting to the Warriors this fall.
“I forget that I’m not on the same team,” Iguodala told Poole. “I was texting with Loon (Kevon Looney) and asking him what he was eating and talking about Jiu-Jitsu training. And then, it’s like, ‘Oh, I forgot. We’re not even on the same team anymore.’ I laugh about that all the time.”
Rockets Sign Thabo Sefolosha
SEPTEMBER 23: The Rockets have officially signed Sefolosha, per a tweet from GM Daryl Morey.
SEPTEMBER 20: Thabo Sefolosha will sign with the Rockets, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The veteran swingman is participating in a mini-camp with Houston players and other unsigned veterans this week in Las Vegas.
Sefolosha’s contract will be fully guaranteed, tweets Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic, who adds that the 35-year-old had an impressive performance at Houston’s mini-camp.
Sefolosha spent the past two seasons in Utah, where injuries limited him to a combined 88 games. He appeared in 50 games last season, averaging 3.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in about 12 minutes per night. He has also played for the Bulls, Thunder and Hawks during his 13 years in the NBA.
The defensive specialist has plenty of ties to the Rockets organization, notes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). He was a former teammate of James Harden and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, and coach Mike D’Antoni was hoping to bring him to Phoenix in the 2006 draft.
Sefolosha will sign for one year at the veteran’s minimum, according to Feigen (Twitter link). With just 10 guaranteed contracts heading into training camp, the Rockets have been looking for veteran help to fill out their roster.
Zach Randolph: “I Ain’t Retired Yet”
Zach Randolph was technically under contract for most of the 2018/19 campaign, spending much of the season with the Kings before he was traded to Dallas at the deadline and was subsequently waived by the Mavericks. However, he didn’t appear in a single game all year.
Now more than a year removed from playing in a regular season contest, Randolph acknowledged to David Cobb of The Memphis Commercial Appeal that he has “a lot of stuff going on outside of basketball” and has considered transitioning to the next phase of his career.
“I’ve been working on some things, just really trying to see what I want to do with the next part of my life,” Randolph said. “I’ve been thinking about hanging it up and seeing what’s going on and what I want to do in the next phase of my life.”
However, the 38-year-old isn’t ready to officially call it a career at this time, telling Cobb, “I ain’t retired yet.”
While Randolph may not be ready to announce his retirement, it would be a little surprising if he returns to the NBA. The longtime power forward added a decent three-point shot to his arsenal in 2017/18, when he made 34.7% of 147 attempts for Sacramento, but his skill set otherwise isn’t an ideal fit for the modern NBA and there are only a small handful of players still in the league who are older than him.
If Randolph does decide to formally retire, he’d be a candidate to sign a one-day contract with Memphis to go out as a member of the Grizzlies. He spent eight of his 17 years in the NBA with the franchise, earning a pair of All-Star nods and an All-NBA spot during that stretch.
Antonio Blakeney Expected To Play In China
Former Bulls guard Antonio Blakeney is expected to continue his career overseas, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who hears from a source that Blakeney has agreed to terms with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Blakeney, who will turn 23 next month, has spent the last two years with Chicago, playing on a two-way contract in 2017/18 and a standard contract in 2018/19. In 76 total games (15.0 MPG) for the club, he averaged 7.5 PPG and 1.8 RPG with a shooting line of .406/.357/.696.
Although Blakeney’s contract for the 2019/20 season was guaranteed, the Bulls opted to move on from him. He was released earlier this month, opening up a spot on the 15-man regular season roster that’s expected to be filled by Shaquille Harrison. Blakeney gave up $100K of his salary in a buyout agreement with the team.
As our roundup of this year’s notable international signings shows, many players who spent last season in the NBA are taking their talents to China for the 2019/20 campaign. However, Blakeney will be the first player on that list to join Jiangsu.
Former NBA Player Andre Emmett Dies At Age 37
Former NBA swingman Andre Emmett has died at age 37, according to multiple reports.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter links), Emmett was shot and killed this morning in Dallas. The Dallas Police have issued a statement with more details on the circumstances of Emmett’s death (Twitter link via Eric Kelly of KAMC).
A standout at Texas Tech from 2000-04, Emmett was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 35th overall pick in the 2004 draft and was traded to Memphis on draft night. He only ended up playing 14 total regular season games in the NBA – eight for the Grizzlies and six for the Nets – but Emmett had a long professional career in the D-League and in international leagues.
Emmett’s career included stops in Lithuania, Belgium, France, Venezuela, China, Puerto Rico, Lebanon, Mexico, Korea, and the Philippines. The Dallas native also earned D-League All-Star honors twice in 2012 and 2015 as he attempted to make it back into the NBA.
Emmett suited up for Puerto Rican club Capitanes de Arecibo earlier this year and has spent the last two years playing in the BIG3, emerging as one of the leading scorers in Ice Cube‘s 3-on-3 league. Only Joe Johnson scored more points during the 2019 BIG3 season than Emmett.
We at Hoops Rumors send our condolences to Emmett’s friends and family.
Charania’s Latest: Nets, Heat, CP3, Noah, Clippers
Despite the fact that multiple Nets players are reportedly pushing for the team to sign Carmelo Anthony, Brooklyn appears very unlikely to do so at this point, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to Charania, the Nets are more likely to fill their 20-man offseason roster they’ve worked out in recent weeks, including perhaps veteran forward Lance Thomas and swingman C.J. Williams. Dante Cunningham and Luol Deng are among the other free agents who have emerged as viable targets for Brooklyn, Charania adds.
With Wilson Chandler facing a 25-game suspension, the Nets could theoretically move on from the former Nugget to open up a spot on their 15-man regular season roster, but they currently have no plans to do so. As Charania points out, keeping Chandler on the suspended list during his 25-game ban will allow the franchise to recoup some of his salary. Plus, team executives believe Chandler would be quickly scooped up by another team if he were released later in the season.
Here are a few more items of interest from Charania’s latest round-up:
- The Heat still have some level of trade interest in Thunder point guard Chris Paul, according to Charania. Miami is expected to wait to see how the start of the season goes before seriously considering whether to renew its pursuit of CP3, who would reciprocate the Heat’s interest.
- Free agent big man Joakim Noah intends to join the Clippers for workouts this week, sources tell Charania. Noah’s father first suggested earlier this month that his son would be working out for the Clippers.
- Nuggets guard Malik Beasley, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension up until October 21, has hired Rich Paul and Lucas Newton of Klutch Sports for representation, says Charania.
- Although DeMarcus Cousins is only a one-year contract and seems likely to miss the entire 2019/20 season due to his torn ACL, the Lakers aren’t ready to move on from him yet. The Lakers wants to integrate him into the club’s culture, according to Charania, who notes that Cousins is expected to be around the team during its mini-camp in Las Vegas this week.
Klay Thompson Talks New-Look Warriors, ACL, Durant
For the first time since they landed Kevin Durant in free agency in 2016, the Warriors won’t enter a season as the overwhelming favorites to win the title. Still, despite the fact that Durant is no longer on the roster and Klay Thompson isn’t expected to be back on the court until sometime after the All-Star break, Thompson is enthusiastic about Golden State’s future, as he tells Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic.
Singling out newly-added free agents D’Angelo Russell and Willie Cauley-Stein and expressing excitement about Kevon Looney‘s development, the veteran sharpshooter suggested he’s not worried about fans or experts writing off the Dubs.
“That’s fine. That’s sports,” Thompson said. “I don’t just think we’re going to be nice this year. I think we’ve got a five-year window. We’re still so young, man. People get lost thinking, ‘Oh, they’re 30 now.’ I feel younger than ever.”
In addition to publishing a full-length feature on Klay, Marcus Thompson also relayed a few leftover quotes that didn’t make it into his full story, so there are plenty of noteworthy comments to pass along from the five-All-Star. Here are a few of them:
On tearing his ACL during Game 6 of the NBA Finals:
“I think about that every day. That’s just the humbling part of sports — when you feel like you’re at your best, something traumatic can happen. But I honestly felt like I was at the peak of my NBA career up to that point. I was at my best. The way I was shooting the ball, the way I was playing defense. I felt like I was one of the best players out there. In past series, or Finals, you know, I’ve been able to defer. But in that series, I felt like I was just, like, as close to unstoppable as I’ve ever been.”
On whether the Warriors would have won the Finals if not for his ACL injury:
“In my mind, yes, we would’ve won if I didn’t get hurt. But that’s just the nature of sports, you know? What-ifs. It doesn’t matter. It’s if you do your deed or not. In my mind, I think we would’ve. But you never know. That’s the hard part you’ve got to accept. I look at all the guys who had bad luck getting injured against us the last few years, and I’ve honestly become so much more sympathetic. Yeah. That’s just the nature of the beast.”
On Durant leaving the Warriors for the Nets:
“It was no hard feelings, man. I know Kevin. It sucks because we go from the most dominant team ever to — a really good team, but that’s still a big drop-off, you know. I just enjoyed playing with him, man. It’s fun to play with him every day. He’s such a hard worker and he’s fun to watch. He really is just a great basketball player. I’ll miss that.”
Eastern Notes: Heat, Spoelstra, Mokoka, Osman
With the NBA declaring it will strongly enforce free agency rules pertaining to tampering going forward, Ira Winderman examines what this message means and how it could affect the Heat‘s 2021 summer plans in a story for the Sun Sentinel. Miami is expected to have enough salary-cap space to sign a second max player by then, with several expensive contracts set to expire.
Many league observers believe the Heat had Jimmy Butler locked up ahead of the June 30 free agency start this summer, but as seen with players such as Kemba Walker (Celtics), Kyrie Irving (Nets) and Kevin Durant (Nets), several other teams around the league took a similar approach with free agents.
The rules, as explained by Winderman, are simple: Teams are not allowed to contact players until the official start of free agency.
Tampering has been an increasingly prevalent issue in today’s NBA, with members of the league office actively exploring how to improve the problem. The NBA’s Board of Governors unanimously voted on new rules to reportedly make tampering penalties stricter going forward, as noted in a recent Hoops Rumors story.
Miami was also thought to have LeBron James and Chris Bosh committed to deals before the free agency period opened back in 2010, but as Winderman notes, officials inside the organization denied these claims and investigations outside the team didn’t lead to any evidence of tampering.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference tonight:
- The Heat could benefit from head coach Erik Spoelstra effectively selling bench roles to certain players this season, Winderman notes in a separate story for the Sun Sentinel. Spoelstra will have a number of options to choose from in his rotation, including whether to star Justise Winslow or Goran Dragic at point guard, Kelly Olynyk or James Johnson at power forward and more.
- Mark Strotman of NBC Sports Chicago previews what Adam Mokoka could bring to the Bulls this season, with the 21-year-old currently on a two-way contract. Mokoka averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in summer league with Chicago, playing in a total of five games.
- Joe Gabriele of NBA.com examines Cedi Osman‘s mindset entering his third season with the Cavaliers. Osman, 24, is looking to build off an international experience with Turkey in the FIBA World Cup this summer. The young forward, who is extension-eligible, averaged 13 points, 4.7 rebounds and 32.2 minutes in 76 games with Cleveland last season.
Western Notes: Caruso, Looney, Robinson lll
Lakers guard Alex Caruso drew interest from roughly a dozen teams in restricted free agency this summer, including the Grizzlies and Warriors, according to Leo Sepkowitz of Bleacher Report.
Caruso, 25, signed a two-year contract worth $5.5MM to re-join the Lakers in July. He showed promise in limited time with the club last season, averaging 9.2 points on 45% shooting in 25 games.
“Especially from where I come from, the path to get there,” said Caruso, “it hit me in little waves, little shocks here and there, where I’d be talking to my mom or dad or sisters or my buddies back home, and like, having to type out, Yeah, I signed a two-year, $5.5MM with the Lakers. To actually say that out loud is a pretty cool feeling.”
Caruso is expected to provide backcourt depth with the Lakers this season. He could compete in training camp for a starting role or come off the bench for a third straight year, with head coach Frank Vogel having several options to sift through as the regular season nears.
There’s more from the Western Conference tonight:
- NBA.com examines the story and upcoming season of Kevon Looney, who’s set to enter his fifth campaign with the Warriors this fall. Looney, 23, holds career-averages of 4.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 14 minutes per contest. “As the game goes on and players get tired, Loon gets more and more rebounds,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He just has a knack for the ball. Really long arms. Great feel for the game. And so his rebounding… really a big key for us.”
- Glenn Robinson III is set to bring hops and an offensive spark to Golden State in his first year with the team, as detailed in a separate article from NBA.com. Robinson signed a free-agent deal to join the Warriors this summer after concluding his fifth NBA season. “When I was with the Pacers, I guarded the best player on the court whenever they came on, and I look forward to doing that this year with a defender like Klay [Thompson] (recovering from injury),” Robinson said.