Southeast Notes: Bradley, Adebayo, Gallinari, Pasecniks, MCW
Introduced on Tuesday as a newly-signed member of the Heat, guard Avery Bradley cited the oft-lauded “Heat culture” as one of the key reasons why he wanted to join the team, as Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald write.
“I always felt like if I ever got an an opportunity to play here, I would fit in perfect,” Bradley said. “Once the opportunity presented itself, I knew I would take advantage of it. I’m excited because I do feel like I’m a perfect fit. We all know what it means to be a Miami Heat player — the passion, the dedication it takes to be a part of this culture. I think our team is going to be really good. I’m excited to be part of Miami and part of a great culture like this. I felt wanted.”
Maurice Harkless, who also officially signed with Miami this week, said talking to former Portland teammate Meyers Leonard helped convince him to join the Heat.
“The big thing that Meyers said and he talked about all the time was just the people in the organization and how everyone carried themselves and how everyone came to work every day,” Harkless said. “It’s just what everybody else talks about, the culture. He really embraced it and he spoke highly of everything that goes on in this organization. Hearing that from him, it made my decision a lot easier.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- After reaching an agreement with the Heat on a maximum-salary extension on Tuesday, Bam Adebayo told reporters – including Chiang and Jackson – that he never really had a conversation with the team about waiting until next year to sign his new deal. “Me and (Heat president Pat Riley) met one on one, and we kind of talked through it,” Adebayo said. “We both thought it was the right decision.”
- The third year on Danilo Gallinari‘s new $61.5MM contract with the Hawks will only be partially guaranteed, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, who tweets that the forward will be assured of $5MM of his $21.4MM salary in that final year (2022/23).
- The Wizards and big man Anzejs Pasecniks have agreed to push back his salary guarantee deadline from this week to February 1, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Pasecniks, who currently has a $350K guarantee on his $1.5MM salary, may have been waived if Washington had been forced to make an immediate decision.
- Michael Carter-Williams‘ new two-year deal with the Magic features two fully guaranteed seasons worth $3.3MM apiece, according to Marks (Twitter link).
Pistons Made Exploratory Call About Potential Griffin/Wall Trade
The Pistons made an exploratory call to the Wizards in recent weeks to ask about the possibility of a trade involving Blake Griffin and John Wall, sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.
However, Detroit’s level of interest in that sort of deal is unclear, according to Lowe, who says that conversations didn’t go anywhere.
Lowe speculates that the Pistons likely would’ve wanted extra assets in any swap involving the two former All-Stars, since the team values Griffin. Plus, Wall has an extra year left on his slightly-pricier contract. He’s due about $133MM over the next three years, while Griffin “only” has about $75.8MM left over two years.
While a deal between the two teams would be an interesting one, it doesn’t appear to have any momentum, and the Wizards don’t seem to be actively exploring the market for Wall. A report last week indicated that former No. 1 overall pick had made it clear he wants to be traded out of Washington, but general manager Tommy Sheppard denied on Monday that Wall had asked him for a trade, and said the team has no plans to move its starting point guard.
Fred Katz of The Athletic wonders if the Wizards will take a similar approach to Wall that the Thunder did last year with Chris Paul. Oklahoma City would’ve had a tough time getting any positive value for Paul in 2019, but after he rebuilt his value with a strong ’19/20 performance, teams were more willing to roll the dice on him, particularly with just two years left on his oversized contract. If Wall comes back strong in ’20/21, it may increase the odds of an eventual deal.
For what it’s worth, Wall was asked at a community event on Tuesday if he had requested a trade and replied, “No comment” (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post).
Jazz Sign Draft Picks Azubuike, Hughes
NOVEMBER 25: Hughes signed a two-year, minimum-salary deal that will be fully guaranteed, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
NOVEMBER 24: The Jazz have signed first-round pick Udoka Azubuike and second-rounder Elijah Hughes, according to a team press release.
Selected 27th overall, the 7-foot Azubuike was a four-year collegiate player at Kansas. He posted averages of 13.7 PPG, 10.5 RPG and 2.6 BPG in 31 games as a senior en route to being named Big 12 Player of the Year.
Assuming Azubuike received 120% of the rookie scale amount, he’ll make $1.977MM in his first season and a total of $10.15MM over four seasons. Hughes will likely get the $898,310 minimum salary for a first-year player.
Hughes, a small forward who played for Syracuse, was drafted with the 39th overall pick that Utah acquired on draft night. He led the ACC in scoring last season at 19.0 PPG to go along with 4.9 RPG, 3.4 APG and 1.2 SPG.
Kings Decline To Match Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic Offer Sheet
11:26pm: The Hawks have issued a press release officially announcing the addition of Bogdanovic.
“Bogdan has a great feel for the game, and we expect him to be a great fit for us with his high-level offensive skill set, experience and toughness,” team president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “It’s no secret that one of our biggest areas of focus in free agency was adding shooting and quality depth. With Bogdan as part of our incoming group, we feel those are now areas of strength.”
8:03pm: The Kings have elected not to match Atlanta’s four-year, $72MM offer sheet for restricted free agent swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic, clearing the way for him to join the Hawks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Bogdanovic enjoyed arguably the best season of his three-year NBA career in 2019/20, averaging 15.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 3.4 APG on .440/.372/.741 shooting in 61 contests (29.0 MPG). He earned a promotion to the starting lineup in January, displacing Buddy Hield, and helped lead the Kings to a 16-12 record during his 28 games as a starter.
While the Kings’ roster moves at last season’s trade deadline – which included dumping some 2020/21 salary – indicated they were prepared to retain Bogdanovic in restricted free agency, the team underwent a front office overhaul after the season, with Monte McNair replacing Vlade Divac as Sacramento’s general manager.
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the new front office, led by McNair, “labored” over whether or not to match Bogdanovic’s four-year offer from the Hawks, which includes a fourth-year option and a 15% trade kicker. Ultimately, Woj says, the Kings prioritized retaining roster flexibility and felt that bringing back Bogdanovic would hinder their ability to continue building around cornerstones De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley, and Hield.
Wojnarowski says (via Twitter) that the Tyrese Haliburton pick in last week’s draft was a factor in Sacramento’s decision too, since the No. 12 pick gives the franchise another long-term building block in the backcourt.
The Kings also had the Hield/Bogdanovic dynamic to consider. Hield, who is just starting a lucrative four-year extension himself, didn’t appear thrilled to be moved to the bench last season, and Bogdanovic was believed to be seeking a change of scenery, having reportedly felt that he had been “de-prioritized” in recent months by the Kings. Bringing back both players may not have been great for team chemistry.
Still, it’s somewhat surprising that the Kings are letting a talented young player walk for nothing. They had hoped to salvage some value in a sign-and-trade, having initially reached an agreement with the Bucks last week that would have sent Bogdanovic and Justin James to Milwaukee for Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson, and Ersan Ilyasova. However, a couple days after it was first reported, that deal fell apart amid rumors that Bogdanovic himself hadn’t agree to sign with Milwaukee.
Since word of the agreement broke several days before free agency opened, there was speculation that the NBA may have intervened due to perceived tampering and/or circumvention. That hasn’t been confirmed at all, though the league did open an investigation into the situation. In any case, the Kings moved onto other sign-and-trade possibilities when free agency opened on Friday, but the Hawks had the cap room necessary to sign Bogdanovic without requiring Sacramento’s cooperation.
The Kings’ loss will be the Hawks’ gain, as an eventful week in Atlanta continues with the addition of the 28-year-old Serbian. We heard last month that the Hawks – who entered the offseason with the most cap space in the NBA – intended to be aggressive this fall, since they badly want to make it back to the playoffs next season. They’ve delivered on that promise.
After drafting USC center Onyeka Okongwu with the No. 6 pick in last Wednesday’s draft, the Hawks reached free agent agreements with Danilo Gallinari, Kris Dunn, Rajon Rondo, and Solomon Hill. Now they’ll add Bogdanovic to that group.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Atlanta’s new additions will join a core headed by Trae Young and John Collins, along with promising youngsters Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, and Kevin Huerter. Clint Capela will also be joining the mix — the former Rockets center was acquired at last season’s deadline but has yet to appear in a game for the Hawks due to a foot injury.
With Bogdanovic now officially off the board, there are only four restricted free agents who have yet to secure new deals, and all four are two-way players. There are also only three players on our list of top 50 free agents who have yet to strike deals — and one of those three, Anthony Davis, is a lock to return to his current team. The other two are Hassan Whiteside (No. 17), who has reportedly received interest from the Kings, and Reggie Jackson (No. 50).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rockets Notes: Harden, Westbrook, Diop, Caboclo, Green
The Rockets are likely to start training camp and the regular season with James Harden and Russell Westbrook on the roster, Adrian Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s SportsCenter (video link). Houston has not engaged on trade talks involving Harden. The team has tried to find a taker for Westbrook but his contract, which has three years and $132.5MM remaining, makes it very difficult. “That’s not an easy trade to make,” Wojnarowski said.
We have more on the Rockets:
- DeSagana Diop has joined Stephen Silas’ coaching staff, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Diop, who appeared in over 600 games as an NBA player, had been a Jazz assistant coach the last four years.
- The Rockets’ front office would like to re-sign free agent big man Bruno Caboclo, according to The Athletic’s Kelly Iko. Caboclo, 24, was dealt from Memphis to Houston at the trade deadline in February, but didn’t see much action after joining the Rockets. He appeared in just eight regular-season games and made two postseason cameos.
- Gerald Green remains hopeful the Rockets will re-sign him, Mark Berman of KRIV tweets. “Everybody knows how much I feel about this city and what this city feels for me,” Green said. The veteran swingman missed the entire 2019/20 season due to a broken foot and has been training privately in Houston.
- ICYMI, Sterling Brown agreed to a one-year deal with the Rockets on Sunday.
Suns Sign Lottery Pick Jalen Smith
The Suns have signed lottery pick Jalen Smith, according to a team press release.
Assuming Smith received the usual 120% above the rookie scale, he’ll make $4,245,720 in his first season and a total of $19,328,334 over the next four seasons.
He’ll look to get some minutes at the power forward and center spots on a team with playoff aspirations. He played two seasons at Maryland.
The 6’10” Smith averaged 15.5 PPG on 53.8% shooting from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range, plus 10.5 RPG and 2.4 BPG as a sophomore. He finished third in the nation with 21 double-doubles last season.
Clippers Waive Center Justin Patton
The Clippers have waived center Justin Patton, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
Patton was part of a three-team swap among the Clippers, Nets and Pistons that became official on Thursday. Los Angeles also acquired Luke Kennard, the draft rights to Jay Scrubb and four second-round picks in the deal.
Patton was signed by the Pistons to a non-guaranteed contract early in the summer but didn’t make a notable impression during workouts. By waiving him, the Clippers will avoid being on the hook for his $1.82MM salary in 2020/21, creating some extra wiggle room below their hard cap.
Patton, the 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft, was plagued by injuries during his first two NBA seasons with the Timberwolves and Sixers, breaking bones in both feet and appearing in just four total games. He signed with Oklahoma City last summer, playing in five games for the Thunder before being traded to Dallas and subsequently waived.
Lakers Waive Jordan Bell
The Lakers have waived recently-acquired big man Jordan Bell, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets.
Bell was thrown into the deal that sent veteran center JaVale McGee to the Cavaliers for salary-matching purposes. The Lakers made the move to open up extra space under the hard cap for Marc Gasol.
Bell had a non-guaranteed salary of $1,762,796 and the Lakers needed to only guarantee a portion of that figure to make the trade number work. John Hollinger of The Athletic suggests (via Twitter) that Bell’s guarantee was about $580K, which will likely now be stretched across three seasons.
After spending his first two seasons with Golden State, Bell played in a total of 29 games with Minnesota and Memphis last season. He never played a game in Cleveland, as he signed with the Cavaliers in June.
Brantley Signs Two-Way Deal With Jazz
Jarrell Brantley has signed a two-way contract with the Jazz, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets.
The small forward played under a similar deal last season and became a restricted free agent when Utah extended a qualifying offer last week.
A second-round pick in 2019, Brantley excelled at the G League level last season, as he was named to the All-NBAGL First Team. The former College of Charleston star averaged 18.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 3.7 APG in 33 starts with the Salt Lake City Stars. He played nine NBA games in his rookie season.
The Jazz have reportedly filled their other two-way slot with guard Trent Forrest.
Gallinari Acquired By Hawks In Sign-And-Trade
The Hawks have officially acquired forward Danilo Gallinari as part of a sign-and-trade with the Thunder, according to a team press release.
The Hawks also received cash considerations from the Thunder. Oklahoma City received a conditional 2025 second-round pick and create a large traded player exception through the transaction. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, it’s a $19.5MM exception (Twitter link).
The Thunder also created a $27.5MM exception by officially trading Steven Adams to New Orleans earlier in the day, though they’ll have to use it to take on Al Horford from Philadelphia (creating a new $15.4MM TPE for sending out Danny Green).
Gallinari signed a three-year contract reportedly worth $61.5MM. He reached an agreement with Atlanta on Friday, the first day of free agency.
“Danilo checks a lot of boxes for what we have prioritized,” Hawks GM Travis Schlenk said in the release. “We wanted to add productive veterans and high-level shooting to our group and he provides both. At his size, he is one of the league’s most versatile and efficient scorers and he has proven to be the type of veteran you want in your locker room.”
Gallinari, 32, had a strong season in Oklahoma City in 2019/20, averaging 18.7 PPG and 5.2 RPG on .438/.405/.893 shooting in 62 games (29.6 MPG). He’ll slot in at small forward, though he could also see extensive action the “four” in smaller lineups.