Grizzlies Sign Anthony Tolliver For Remainder Of Season
JUNE 23: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
JUNE 22: The Grizzlies and forward Anthony Tolliver have reached a verbal agreement on a deal that can be officially completed once the NBA’s transaction window opens on Tuesday, league sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).
Stein first reported over the weekend that Tolliver was drawing interest from a handful of teams, but appeared likely to rejoin the Grizzlies. According to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link), the veteran free agent ended up deciding between the Grizzlies and Raptors, opting to return to Memphis.
Tolliver, 35, appeared in 33 games for the Trail Blazers this season and another nine with Sacramento before he was bought out by the Kings. In five games on his initial 10-day contract with the Grizzlies, he averaged 5.4 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .381/.412/1.000 shooting in 19.2 minutes per contest.
Tolliver’s last 10-day deal, signed on March 2, had been set to expire on March 11, the night the NBA officially suspended its season. So even if the league had carried over active 10-day pacts once the season resumes, Tolliver would have needed to sign a new contract. He figures to get a rest-of-season deal that will put him on track to reach unrestricted free agency in the fall.
Teams Viewing July 1 As Deadline For Players To Opt Out Of NBA Campus
When the NBA announced its plans to resume the season in Orlando, one of the caveats was that players were not required to go. June 24 was announced as the date that players needed to notify their team of that choice. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link) hears that teams view Wednesday as a soft target date for the players’ decisions.
Franchises are treating July 1 as a deadline, per Woj. NBA teams are required to submit their roster of eligible players to the league by then.
Players are technically allowed to opt out of the league’s restart up until the playoffs, ESPN’s Bobby Marks explains on Twitter. Teams are allowed to replace the excused player with a substitute, though if that’s done after the teams arrive in Orlando, the substitute would have to quarantine for 10 days upon traveling to Florida.
Davis Bertans and Trevor Ariza are the only players whose decisions to skip the NBA’s return have been reported so far.
Southeast Notes: Fournier, Bertans, Gordon
Evan Fournier is not a fan of Wizards forward Davis Bertans sitting out of the NBA’s return. The Magic wing tweeted, “This is what’s wrong with the NBA nowadays” in response to the report that Bertans wasn’t going to Orlando.
“Seriously tho. If you think its ok to sit and watch your teammates play while you re perfectly healthy its says a lot about you,” Fournier continued in a second tweet.
Bertans, who is one of multiple NBA players expected to sit out the resumed season in Florida, will be a free agent at the end of the season, though the Magic are not expected to have the cap space to make a reasonable offer to the 27-year-old power forward, so Fournier will not have to worry about Bertans joining his team.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Heat swingman Derrick Jones plans to play when the NBA returns, as Anthony Chang of The Miami Herald relays. Jones will hit free agency after the season and figures to be in line for a significant raise after earning the minimum during his first four NBA seasons.
- Trading Aaron Gordon for a perimeter threat could be the best way to maximize the talent on the Magic, John Hollinger writes for The Athletic. Trading away Gordon would allow Jonathan Isaac more playing time.
- Clint Capela, who was traded to the Hawks at the trade deadline, recently spoke about what it takes to win in the league, which is something he’ll look to help his young teammates learn. “The main goal is really to be a winning team, have this winning mentality, be able to night in, night out go get wins,” Capela said (via Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “…It doesn’t matter if you play good or bad, but you have to have that dog mentality to make stops, to at least get a win.”
New Dates Set For Option Decisions, Salary Guarantees, More
As part of the revised Collective Bargaining Agreement terms that the NBA and NBPA have agreed to, a series of option decision deadlines, salary guarantee dates, and other offseason dates and deadlines have been pushed back.
We don’t yet have a full list that outlines how every date and deadline will be adjusted, but in cases where a deadline fell slightly before or after the start of the 2020/21 league year, those dates have been pushed back to coincide with the new start date for the league year, which will begin on October 19 rather than July 1.
For instance, as Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets, player option decisions for Gordon Hayward (Celtics), DeMar DeRozan (Spurs), Mike Conley (Jazz), and Andre Drummond (Cavaliers) will now be due on October 17 instead of June 29. Lakers big man Anthony Davis will have to decide on his 2020/21 player option by October 14, one day after a potential NBA Finals Game 7, Charania adds.
[RELATED: Re-Examining NBA Player Options For 2020/21]
Meanwhile, the salary guarantee date for four Knicks veterans – Reggie Bullock, Taj Gibson, Wayne Ellington, and Elfrid Payton – who currently have $1MM partial guarantees for 2020/21 will be October 17 at 3:00pm eastern time, rather than on June 28, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Additionally, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) reported over the weekend, traded player exceptions that were set to expire in early July will have their expiry dates moved to corresponding dates in October. For example, since the free agency moratorium will now expire on October 23 instead of July 6, the Warriors‘ $17.2MM TPE that would have expired on July 7 will instead do so on October 24.
[RELATED: Outstanding NBA Trade Exceptions]
There are other deadlines that figure to be closely tied to the new league year as well. For instance, the deadline to tender a qualifying offer to a potential restricted free agent will likely be on October 17 rather than June 29.
Some date adjustments may be trickier to determine and will require further clarification. For instance, some players had been scheduled to receive full or partial guarantees if they remained under contract through August 1. That date may simply be shifted to November 19, one month after the ’20/21 league year begins. But the NBA has proposed opening training camps for next season on November 10, complicating that timeline.
Nikola Jokic Tests Positive For Coronavirus; U.S. Return Delayed
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus last week in Serbia, delaying his return to the United States, report Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (via Twitter).
According to the ESPN duo, Jokic has been asymptomatic since testing positive. The All-Star big man is expected to be cleared to travel to Denver within the next week, per Woj and Windhorst.
We learned last week that Jokic may have been exposed to COVID-19, having been in close proximity to KK Partizan center Nikola Jankovic, who tested positive shortly thereafter. Tennis star Novak Djokovic, who was at the same event, announced earlier today that he has tested positive for the coronavirus as well.
While Jokic’s return to Denver will be delayed, it doesn’t sound as if he’s suffering from any symptoms, and it seems likely he’ll be recovered before the Nuggets travel to Orlando in July. Assuming that’s the case, the 25-year-old will be able to participate in training camp with the team and should be good to go for the eight seeding games and the postseason.
Nuggets Likely To Fill Open Roster Spot
There’s a good chance the Nuggets will use the open spot on their 15-man roster to add a player this week, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Although Denver has no pressing needs, the team will likely fill that opening for insurance purposes, Singer notes.
[RELATED: What To Expect During This Week’s Transaction Window]
The Nuggets, who haven’t had a ton of breathing room below the luxury tax line for much of the season, have carried 14 players (not including their two-way players) for most of 2019/20, maintaining roster flexibility.
Given the extra financial flexibility the club created at the trade deadline and the modest cost of a free agent signing at this point in the season, Denver wouldn’t be in any danger of going into the tax by filling that open roster spot with a minimum-salary player.
Singer doesn’t identify any specific players the Nuggets might be targeting, but they’ll be able to choose from anyone who is currently a free agent and didn’t play in an international league this season.
Denver would also have the option of converting PJ Dozier‘s two-way contract into a standard deal, having him become the team’s 15th man. In that scenario, the Nuggets would be able to sign a new player to a two-way contract, starting Saturday. That player would need to have between zero and three years of NBA service — that same restriction wouldn’t apply to a player signing a standard contract.
Kings Sign Corey Brewer
JUNE 23: The Kings have officially signed Brewer, the team confirmed today in a press release. Sacramento now has a full roster, with 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.
JUNE 22: Free agent swingman Corey Brewer plans to sign with the Kings, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Beginning on Tuesday, all teams will have a one-week transactions window to waive and sign players. Only players on the team’s eligible roster on July 1st will be allowed to travel to Orlando.
Brewer, who did not play in the NBA this season, had multiple offers, according to Charania. The Kings have an open roster spot and thus can add Brewer without waiving another player.
Brewer played a combined 31 games for Philadelphia and Sacramento last season and has averaged 8.7 PPG in 23.0 MPG over 814 career games. During his 24-game stint with the Kings, he averaged 4.1 PPG in 14.7 PPG.
His representatives tried in vain to find him a place to play this season prior to the suspension of play. Earlier this month, Brewer told HoopsHype he was hopeful to could find a place to play.
“We had some talks with a few teams, but nothing really happened. My agent is still working on it, so we’ll see,” he said. “I feel like I can still help a team and I feel like I have a few good years left.”
Brewer turned 34 in March and has worn the uniform of eight different teams.
International Notes: Shved, Monroe, A. Antetokounmpo, More
Despite some speculation that he might return to the NBA, veteran guard Alexey Shved has agreed to a new three-year contract extension with Khimki, his team in Russia, sources tell Sportando.
Shved, who appeared in 182 NBA games for four teams from 2012-15, has excelled over the last few years for Khimki in EuroCup and EuroLeague play. While he’d certainly draw interest if he looked to make an NBA comeback, it appears that he has decided the upside of such a move is outweighed by playing a starring role on one of Europe’s best teams in his home country.
Here are a few more international basketball updates:
- Veteran big man Greg Monroe spent the 2019/20 season with Bayern Munich in Germany, but isn’t expected to remain with the club for a second season, per the team’s sporting director Daniele Baiesi. “I don’t think (he) is going to come back,” Baiesi said of Monroe (Twitter link via Robert Heusel of BIG Basketball). “He deserves a much bigger stage. I think he’s a luxury that we cannot afford.”
- Alex Antetokounmpo, the youngest brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo, has signed a three-year contract with Spanish team UCAM Murcia, according to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. Giannis’ brother recently decided to prepare for the NBA by playing professionally in Europe rather than joining an NCAA program in the United States. According to Varlas, Alex’s new deal includes an NBA out clause after each year.
- Former NBA guard Aaron Harrison has agreed to a deal with Greek team Olympiacos after spending last season with Galatasaray in Turkey, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Harrison spent time with Charlotte and Dallas from 2015-18.
- Veteran guard Darrun Hilliard, who appeared in 91 NBA game from 2015-18 for Detroit and San Antonio, is expected to remain with Russian club CSKA Moscow for one more season, tweets Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas.
Teams Bracing For COVID-19 Cases; Two Suns Test Positive
With the second phase of the NBA’s return-to-play plan getting underway today, mandatory coronavirus testing will begin for players on teams who will be part of the Orlando restart this summer, and those clubs are bracing for a “significant” number of positive tests, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Full training camps won’t officially begin until July 11, after teams have reported to Orlando. Players who take part in group workouts at that time will have tested negative for COVID-19 at least twice upon arriving at Walt Disney World. During the two weeks before teams travel to Orlando, those clubs will look to identify and quarantine any players who have contracted the virus to ensure that they don’t bring it with them into the bubble.
According to Wojnarowski, one Western Conference playoff team had four positive coronavirus tests within the past few weeks. Meanwhile, Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic reports that two Suns players have tested positive, prompting the team to temporarily shut down voluntary workouts at its Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum practice facility.
While an increasing number of positive tests in the coming days will likely prompt questions about the NBA’s restart plan, the league remains hopeful that by the time teams are ready to travel to Orlando around July 7, any affected players will either be fully recovered or will remain quarantined as they recover.
Kris Dunn Meets Starter Criteria, Increases Value Of QO
Bulls guard Kris Dunn has been deemed to have met the starter criteria as a result of the shortened season, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). As a result, Dunn will receive a qualifying offer of $7,091,457 instead of $4,642,800 this offseason if Chicago wants to make him a restricted free agent.
We broke down Dunn’s situation in greater depth earlier this month, but the abridged version is this: A player eligible for restricted free agency receives a more lucrative qualifying offer if he starts 41 games or plays 2,000 minutes in the season before he reaches free agency, or if he averages 41 starts or 2,000 minutes in the two seasons before his free agency.
Dunn, who started 32 games this season and 76 in total over the last two years, fell slightly short of the 41-game-per-season requirement, but the criteria became prorated due to the Bulls only playing 65 of their 82 games this season. As a result, the former No. 5 overall pick was considered to have met the starter criteria, increasing the value of his qualifying offer.
As we’ve previously pointed out, the $2.5MM difference could have a real impact on Dunn’s free agency. It’s possible the Bulls will be less inclined to tender a qualifying offer now that it’s worth $7.1MM instead of $4.6MM. If they do move ahead with the QO, it’s possible Dunn will be more inclined to accept it.
If Chicago doesn’t tender a qualifying offer to Dunn, he’d become an unrestricted free agent.
As Marks and ESPN have previously reported, the NBA and NBPA also agreed to prorate the criteria for bonuses and incentives available to players in 2019/20, based on the shortened season. As a result, the following players have now achieved bonuses, according to Marks (Twitter link):
- Rudy Gobert (Jazz): $250K for a rate of one rebound per 2.52 minutes in 62 games played.
- Original criteria: A rate of one rebound per <3.2 minutes in 67 games.
- Solomon Hill (Heat): $532K for 992 minutes played.
- Original criteria: 1,000 minutes.
- Jrue Holiday (Pelicans): $255K for 1,922 minutes played; $255K for 55 games played; $255K for 4.9 RPG in 55 games.
- Original criteria: 2,075 minutes played; 66 games played; 3.15 RPG in 67 games.
- Tyus Jones (Grizzlies): $858K for 32 wins.
- Original criteria: 33 wins.
- Kyle Lowry (Raptors): $200K for All-Star berth and 52 games played.
- Original criteria: All-Star berth and 65 games played.
- Patty Mills (Spurs): $250K for 149 three-pointers made.
- Original criteria: 185 3PM.
- T.J. Warren (Pacers): $250K for 184 three-pointers made and .375 3PT%.
- Original criteria: 185 3PM; .370 3PT%.