2021 July | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Issue QOs To Mathews, Winston; Will Make Bonga UFA

July 31st, 2021 at 2:11pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Wizards will not issue a qualifying offer to Isaac Bonga, thereby making him an unrestricted free agent, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

The 6’8″ point forward saw his playing time cut nearly in half from the 2019/2020 season to last year. Despite the flashes of potential he showed, the Wizards now find themselves with a logjam of forwards, and Bonga appears to be the odd man out. His QO would’ve been worth about $2.08MM.

The Wizards are, however, extending qualifying offers to guards Garrison Mathews and Cassius Winston, according to a tweet from The Athletic’s Fred Katz. Both players finished the season on two-way contracts with Washington.

Mathews, who went undrafted in 2019, was a revelation as a feisty sharp-shooter for the Wizards this season, and even started 24 games. Winston, last year’s No. 53 overall pick, wasn’t able to crack Washington’s rotation in a major way during his rookie year, but the accomplished collegiate point guard has potential as a shooter and pick and roll play-maker, and the Wizards have need of guards.

Mathews’ qualifying offer will be a standard minimum-salary contract with a small partial guarantee, while Winston’s will be another two-way deal.

Pelicans Extend Qualifying Offers To Ball, Hart

July 31st, 2021 at 1:52pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Pelicans have extended qualifying offers to Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, making them restricted free agents this summer, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.

Ball’s qualifying offer is worth about $14.36MM, while Hart’s is approximately $5.24MM. Those are one-year contract offers that could theoretically be accepted, but Ball and Hart will likely earn more lucrative multiyear deals in free agency.

As long as the Pelicans keep those qualifying offers on the table, they’ll have the ability to match any offer sheet signed by Ball or Hart, and would have the leverage necessary to negotiate a sign-and-trade.

It remains unclear whether either Ball or Hart will return to New Orleans. The Pelicans’ agreement to trade Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams creates some cap flexibility for a bigger free agent acquisition, and the team is said to be eyeing Kyle Lowry and other point guards, including Spencer Dinwiddie.

Ball is unlikely to return if the Pelicans land one of those targets, since he’d probably need to be renounced to clear the necessary cap space. But if New Orleans strikes out on the free agent market, it will be interesting to see how the club handles Ball’s situation. He has been linked to the Bulls, Celtics, Raptors, Pacers, and Knicks, among other teams.

The Pelicans could potentially clear enough space to land a top free agent point guard without renouncing Hart, so he looks – for now – like a decent bet to return to the team.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

Celtics Rumors: Richardson Trade, Fournier, Thompson, Parker

July 31st, 2021 at 1:39pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Celtics may have been quiet on draft night, but they’re making noise now. After agreeing to trade Tristan Thompson for the Hawks’ Kris Dunn and Bruno Fernando and sending Moses Brown to the Mavericks for Josh Richardson, the Celtics have given themselves some extra flexibility from both a financial and roster perspective, writes The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.

Evan Fournier‘s market seems to be in the range of $12-$20MM per year, according to Weiss, who points out that dealing for Richardson affords the Celtics the option of walking away if the bidding war gets too rich for them. It sounds like that’s a very realistic possibility, as Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald hears from a source that Boston is unwilling to meet Fournier’s asking price of $80MM over four years.

“It’s not looking good,” Murphy’s source said of the Celtics’ negotiations with Fournier.

Meanwhile, there’s no guarantee that the Celtics will hang onto Dunn, according to Weiss, who says the former lottery pick could be flipped again. Weiss suggests that two viable options for dealing Dunn could be to the Cavaliers – along with one of the Celtics’ young players – in a deal for Larry Nance Jr., or to the Pelicans – with Marcus Smart – in a Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade.

We have more rumors on the Celtics:

According to Weiss, while Thompson was beloved by teammates, he butted heads with the coaching staff and the organization throughout the year and was widely expected to be moved this offseason.
In the same piece, Weiss cites The Athletic’s Danny Leroux, who explains that the Celtics now project to be about $4.36MM below the tax line if Jabari Parker (who has a non-guaranteed contract) is waived.
The Celtics wanted to send more guaranteed money to the Mavericks in the Josh Richardson deal, but Dallas initially didn’t want to take any money back, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Moses Brown was the compromise found, given the low guarantee on his deal ($500K).
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets that the Celtics’ front office, especially Brad Stevens, has long been a fan of Richardson, who will be looking to get back on track in Boston after a down year in Dallas.

Bucks’ Bobby Portis Declining 2021/22 Player Option

July 31st, 2021 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Bucks forward/center Bobby Portis won’t pick up his player option for the 2021/22 season, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

If Portis had opted into the final year of his deal, he would’ve earned a $3,804,150 salary. Instead, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent in search of a new contract.

Portis, 26, took a modest offer worth the bi-annual exception in free agency last fall in order to join the Bucks and played a key role in the team’s championship run. The veteran big man averaged 11.4 PPG and 7.1 RPG on .523/.471/.740 shooting in 66 regular season games (20.8 MPG), then contributed 8.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 20 postseason contests (18.3 MPG).

Declining his second-year option doesn’t preclude a return to the Bucks for Portis, who emerged as a fan favorite in Milwaukee. However, the club’s ability to offer him a raise will be limited.

The Bucks only hold Portis’ Non-Bird rights, which would allow them to offer a starting salary worth up to about $4.2MM. If they want to dip into their taxpayer mid-level exception, the Bucks could go up to about $5.9MM in year one. Portis will likely receive more lucrative offers on the open market.

Still, the former first-round pick accepted a discount to sign with Milwaukee once and could be open to doing so again if he wants to try to earn a second consecutive title with Giannis Antetokounmpo and company. The Bucks and Portis reportedly have mutual interest in a new deal.

Northwest Notes: Wolves, J. Butler, Mudiay, Favors

July 31st, 2021 at 12:51pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Timberwolves‘ second stint with former No. 5 overall pick Ricky Rubio wasn’t the fairy tale reunion either side hoped for, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic in a breakdown of the team’s trade with Cleveland and what it means for the Wolves moving forward.

While the Wolves are receiving solid three-and-D wing Taurean Prince as the return for Rubio, Krawczynski writes that Prince isn’t viewed as the solution to the team’s long-running search for a starting power forward, but rather as a rotation wing.

One benefit to the deal is an added $4.8MM in cap flexibility, which could allow the Wolves to use their entire taxpayer mid-level exception while possibly adding last year’s first round pick Leandro Bolmaro as well. Kracwzynski writes that the team explored trades into the draft and for Hawksforward Danilo Gallinari, but in the end were satisfied with the return of Prince.

We have more news from around the Northwest Division:

Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune details the Jazz‘s excitement upon trading down in the draft to land Baylor guard Jared Butler with the 40th pick, as well as two future second rounders. Butler, whom Utah was initially targeting in the first round, is viewed as someone who can play off the bench immediately, or even fill in should the Jazz lose Mike Conley to free agency.
Veteran point guard Emmanuel Mudiay will play for the Trail Blazers during Summer League, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The former No. 7 pick has bounced around the league since being traded from the team that drafted him, the Nuggets, to the Knicks in 2018, but the 25-year-old will be looking for a chance to get his career back on track with a strong showing in Las Vegas.
Derrick Favors was caught off-guard by the trade that will send him from the Jazz to the Thunder,writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. “Honestly, I’m still trying to process what happened,” Favors said. “It was tough to go to New Orleans, but I thought that there was a chance that I would come back to Utah. Now, I know this is it. So, there’s a lot to think about and a lot to work out.”

Mavs Trade Josh Richardson To Celtics

July 31st, 2021 at 12:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 31: The Celtics will send Moses Brown – recently acquired from Oklahoma City – to Dallas in the deal for Richardson, tweets Charania. A simple one-for-one swap, the trade is now official, according to an announcement from the Mavs.

JULY 30: The Mavericks are finalizing a trade that would send swingman Josh Richardson to the Celtics, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Richardson will exercise his $11.6MM option in order to make the deal happen, Charania adds.

The Celtics are using a $11.05MM trade exception acquire in the Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade last year in order to make the deal, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Richardson made $10.86MM this past season, so Boston will finalize the deal on Saturday before the league calendar flips. The Mavericks will generate a trade exception worth the same amount.

Dallas could have up to $34MM in cap room entering free agency, though creating that much space would require renouncing Tim Hardaway Jr.‘s cap hold, Marks adds.

Richardson averaged 12.1 PPG and 2.6 APG in 59 regular-season games with Dallas this past season, including 56 starts. He’s a career 35.8% 3-point shooter and 83.2% free throw shooter with the reputation of being a quality perimeter defender.

The Celtics also agreed to a three-way deal on Friday in which they shipped big man Tristan Thompson to the Kings and acquired guard Kris Dunn from the Hawks. However, Dunn could be moved as part of another trade, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Colangelo, Love, Irving, 2022 Draft, Bleijenbergh

July 31st, 2021 at 11:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

Jerry Colangelo, managing director of USA Basketball, admitted that adding Cavaliers big man Kevin Love to the 12-man roster was a mistake, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports. Speaking to reporters this week, Colangelo was blunt in his assessment of Love, stating that the 2012 gold medalist was not in shape when he showed up to camp. Love eventually withdrew from Team USA before the squad headed to Tokyo.

“I didn’t think Kevin Love was going to play. I wasn’t even sure he had much left to play,” Colangelo said. “He reached out to us and said he was in shape and said he felt he owed us. And on the basis of that, we’re looking at someone with international experience who at one time was a heck of a rebounder and could still shoot the ball. You know, being like a 12th man on a roster. Well, it didn’t work out. He wasn’t in shape. And he was way behind as it turned out. So you move on. Call it a mistake.”

We have more from the basketball world:

Nets guard Kyrie Irving has fired Roc Nation as his representative, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. It’s unclear why Irving, who can opt out of his contract after next season, made the move. He did rip Nike on social media for its shoe design and marketing of the upcoming Kyrie8 brand.
Just hours after the completion of this year’s draft, Jonathan Givony of ESPN released his 2022 mock draft. Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren heads the list, followed by Duke’s Paolo Banchero and the G League Ignite’s Jaden Hardy.
Belgian guard Vrenz Bleijenbergh was a candidate to be a second-round pick, but went undrafted on Thursday. Bleijenbergh explained on Twitter that none of the teams interested in selecting him were willing to offer a guaranteed contract and thus, he couldn’t get out of his European deal. “I had multiple teams offering me two-way deals. But because of my contract in Europe, I wasn’t be able to sign them, it was against the rules,” he wrote. “The only option was a guaranteed contract, I didn’t receive it. It really hurts, I was really close.”

Rockets Make Avery Bradley Unrestricted Free Agent

July 31st, 2021 at 11:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets will not pick up their $5.9MM option on Avery Bradley, making the veteran guard an unrestricted free agent, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The move was expected, as Houston is in full rebuild mode. Bradley is expected to draw interest from multiple playoff contenders once he hits the open market on Monday.

Bradley wound up in Houston as a result of a deadline deal with the Heat during an injury-riddled season. Following the trade, Bradley averaged 5.2 PPG (while shooting 31.4% from the field and 27.0% from deep), 2.3 RPG and 1.9 APG across 23.0 MPG in 17 contests with the team.

Bradley, 30, has also played for Boston, Detroit, Memphis and both Los Angeles teams. He was on the Lakers’ roster in 2019/20 but opted not to play in the Orlando bubble when the Lakers won the NBA title.

Southwest Notes: Silas, Stone, Williams, Moore, Hayes

July 31st, 2021 at 11:14am CST by Dana Gauruder

Rockets coach Stephen Silas didn’t attend Friday’s introductory news conference for the team’s draft picks because he’s been placed under the NBA’s health and safety protocols, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Silas has “very minor” coronavirus symptoms and is fully vaccinated. He was involved in the team’s draft preparations, including the workout of Jalen Green, whom the Rockets chose with the No. 2 pick.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets kept their three first-round picks on Thursday and also acquired a fourth pick to select big man Alperen Sengun in the first round. The team’s GM, Rafael Stone, said the rookies now must show they were worthy of the front office’s faith in them, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle writes. “It’s going to be on Jalen and on us to prove it out, but not just him,” Stone said. “It’s all these guys and the guys on our current roster, we’re all in it together. We got to grow. We’ve got to help each other and we’ve got to get better.”
Ziaire Williams was hoping the Grizzlies would use the No. 10 pick on him, Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. “I kept it a secret because I didn’t want to mess it up,” Williams said. “But truthfully, my family will tell you, (VP of basketball affairs) Tayshaun Prince, (GM) Zach (Kleiman), everyone, this is where I really wanted to be.”
Ben Moore will play on the Grizzlies’ summer league team, Nicola Lupo of Sportando tweets. Moore, who spent last season in Australia with South East Melbourne, played two games with the Pacers in 2017/18.
Jaxson Hayes was shocked twice with a stun gun and may have had force applied to his neck during an altercation with Los Angeles police, Ramon Antonio Vargas of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets. An investigation into whether officers’ use of force was appropriate is underway while Hayes faces a count of resisting arrest, Vargas adds. The Pelicans center was arrested early Wednesday following a domestic dispute call. He was charged with a felony.

Free Agent Rumors: J. Collins, Lowry, Z. Collins, Forbes, Celtics, More

July 31st, 2021 at 10:51am CST by Luke Adams

In his latest rumor-packed article for Bleacher Report, Jake Fischer echoes a Marc Stein report from Friday, writing that John Collins is viewed as increasingly likely to return to the Hawks despite anticipated interest from the Mavericks and Spurs, among others.

Collins’ new deal may exceed $120MM in total value, Fischer notes, though it’s not clear if that’d be for four years or five. Collins’ projected maximum with Atlanta is about $126MM over four years (or $163MM over five), whereas his max with a new team would be approximately $121MM over four years.

Here are a few other rumors on 2021 free agents, including several more updates from Fischer:

With the Pelicans, Mavericks, and Heat all expected to make a strong push for Kyle Lowry, the point’s guard ultimate landing spot could come down to which team includes the most guaranteed money in the third year of its offer, says Fischer.
The Raptors, Pelicans, Thunder, and Spurs are among the teams known to have interest in big man Zach Collins, sources tell Fischer. Collins isn’t getting a qualifying offer from Portland, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent.
The Nets may be the leading candidates to sign free agent sharpshooter Bryn Forbes, according to Fischer, who also names the Bulls, Cavaliers, Mavericks, and Pelicans as teams to watch.
Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) hears that the Celtics have a list of about seven or eight top free agent targets, including veteran Spurs guard Patty Mills.
Otto Porter‘s representatives have been targeting a mid-level type contract for their client, but that’s probably a long shot unless a front office bids against itself, says J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter links). The veteran forward is coming off a four-year, $106MM+ deal.
The Nuggets are expected to add a backup center in free agency, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who tweets that a new deal with JaVale McGee is one possibility to address that spot.

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