Knicks Sign Jericho Sims To Two-Way Deal
The Knicks have added forward Jericho Sims on a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). The deal will cover two seasons, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.
Sims, selected with the No. 58 pick out of Texas, will be eligible to appear in 50 games with New York while on his two-way contract. If the Knicks want to play Sims in more than 50 games, his contract would need to be converted to a standard deal.
As a two-way player, Sims also figures to spend time with the Knicks’ Westchester affiliate during the season for further development. A four-year college player, the 22-year-old was honored with an All-Big 12 Team selection during his final season in Austin.
The 6’10” big man averaged 9.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 1.1 BPG across 27 games for the 2020/21 NCAA regular season, including 26 starts. He also connected on 69.6% shooting from the field, the second-best field goal percentage in UT’s history for a single year.
It was previously rumored that Sims, currently with New York’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas, would most likely join the Knicks on a two-way deal. The Knicks still have a second slot in which to ink a two-way player for the upcoming 2021/22 season.
Dwayne Bacon Waived By Magic
Veteran shooting guard Dwayne Bacon has been waived by the Magic, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
Bacon had joined Orlando on a two-year minimum deal during the 2020 offseason, but his $1,824,003 salary for the 2021/22 season was not yet guaranteed, so Orlando won’t carry any dead money as a result of the move.
The 6’6″ Bacon played in every single game for the Magic during the truncated 72-game 2020/21 NBA season, including 50 starts. He averaged 10.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.3 APG and 0.6 SPG across 25.7 MPG, with a shooting line of .402/.285/.824.
The 25-year-old was selected with the No. 40 pick in the 2017 draft out of FSU, and had spent his prior three seasons in the league with the Hornets, also moonlighting with Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, during that time.
Bacon’s proven reliability during a compressed season and his positional fluidity could make him an appealing player for a playoff club looking to take a minimum-salary or partially-guaranteed contract flyer on a young wing with remaining upside.
Heat Notes: Lowry, Offseason, Yurtseven, Investigation
New starting Heat point guard Kyle Lowry discussed his expectations for this offseason’s revamped Miami club with media on Friday and Saturday, as Couper Moorhead of Heat.com details.
“On paper it looks great,” Lowry, a 2019 title winner with the Raptors, said of Miami’s new-look roster. “But you have to put the work in on the floor. I don’t ever try to say we can do this, we can do that. At the end of the day you have to go out there, lace ‘em up and do your job. Play defense, put the ball in the hole.”
Miami’s sign-and-trade deal with the Raptors that sent Lowry to the Heat is currently being investigated by the NBA, as the league is cracking down on violations to its anti-tampering stance on free agency.
There’s more out of South Beach:
- In his latest notes roundup, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses the re-signing of Victor Oladipo, plus the departures of Kendrick Nunn (after the team made him an unrestricted free agent) and Andre Iguodala (after the Heat did not pick up the second year of his contract). Winderman notes that Oladipo, Lowry, and new Heat power forward P.J. Tucker were all potential trade targets for Miami during the 2020/21 season, though Miami was unwilling to part with young players Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson. Winderman adds that Miami’s decision to move on from Nunn speaks to the team’s preference for Herro, regarded as having higher upside.
- Now that the Heat have inked a two-year minimum deal with center Omer Yurtseven, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel examines the seven-footer’s fit as with a Miami team hungry to contend. After Yurtseven’s promising NBAGL 2020/21 season for the Oklahoma City Blue, Miami signed him for the rest of the year. He posted encouraging averages of 26 PPG and 13.5 RPG in two California Classic Summer League this year, and ultimately opted to return to Miami.
- Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald has further details on the NBA’s investigation into the Heat’s Lowry sign-and-trade with the Raptors. Chiang writes that the investigation is most likely being conducted as a result of at least one other NBA team complaining about the expediency of the deal, while Winderman tweets that it’s more about “gun-jumping” than tampering.
- Within Chiang’s story, Bobby Marks of ESPN said the sign-and-trade for Lowry almost certainly won’t be voided. “I would say highly, highly unlikely that the trade will be voided and that Kyle is a free agent all of a sudden,” Marks said. “I think what will happen is if they’re found guilty, there will be some financial penalty and draft picks will be lost here.” Marks anticipates the investigation could last for around two weeks.
Hornets Notes: Oubre, I. Smith, Li. Ball, Summer League
Kelly Oubre‘s two-year deal with the Hornets, which was completed using cap space, is worth $12MM and $12.6MM in year two, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. That second year is only partially guaranteed for $5MM, however, so the agreement includes just $17MM in total guaranteed money.
Meanwhile, Ish Smith‘s two-year contract with the Hornets uses most of the club’s room exception, according to Smith (Twitter link). It starts at $4.5MM in 2021/22, while the $4.725MM salary for ’22/23 is non-guaranteed.
Here’s more on the Hornets:
- LiAngelo Ball, who is playing for the Hornets’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, said he’s “very thankful” for the opportunity and isn’t taking it for granted, as Rod Boone of SI.com writes. Ball was supposed to play for Oklahoma City’s G League affiliate in March 2020 before the pandemic stopped the season. He impressed Charlotte’s brass while working out in the gym with his brother LaMelo Ball in recent months, Boone writes.
- Ball’s performance in Las Vegas is one of a handful of Hornets Summer League storylines to watch, according to Jonathan M. Alexander of The Charlotte Observer, who says he’ll also be keeping an eye on James Bouknight‘s three-point shooting and how much time Kai Jones spends at center.
- In case you missed it, the Hornets are still believed to be eyeing restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen, despite no longer having the cap room necessary to sign him to an offer sheet.
Wizards-Pacers Summer League Game Postponed Due To COVID-19 Protocols
8:02pm: The game has been scheduled for Monday at 1:00pm CT, according to the NBA.
12:44pm: The first day of the NBA’s 2021 Las Vegas Summer League has already been impacted by the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
The league has postponed tonight’s Wizards–Pacers Summer League contest in Las Vegas as a result of COVID-19 health and safety protocols, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
It was announced yesterday that Wizards Summer League players Cassius Winston, Issuf Sanon and Isaiah Todd were being placed in the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocols.
Washington is unable to supply enough players to field a full club, per Charania (via Twitter). Other players beyond that initial report have joined their comrades in entering the health and safety protocols as a result of contact tracing.
The NBA had to cancel the 2020 Summer League after concerns surrounding the ongoing pandemic precluded a safe environment in which games could be played. With safe and effective vaccines on the market, the league felt confident that Summer League could resume this year, though it appears the NBA continues to monitor players’ potential exposure to the coronavirus, as it did during the 2020 “bubble” NBA resumption and the 2020/21 season.
Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files reports that the Pacers will opt to practice instead of suiting up against the depleted Wizards.
Pelicans, Hornets Eyeing Lauri Markkanen
The Pelicans have displayed interest in restricted free agent forward Lauri Markkanen, sources tell veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).
As Stein notes, New Orleans just generated a trade exception worth more than $17MM in the team’s three-way trade that sent Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe to Memphis. That newly-created exception could be used to accommodate a contract worth more than the mid-level for Markkanen.
The Pelicans and Bulls also haven’t officially completed their Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade deal yet, so it’s possible a Markkanen sign-and-trade could be looped into that agreement. However, that’d be more complicated, and the Ball agreement is currently being investigated by the NBA.
The Bulls are believed to be seeking a first-round pick in order to facilitate a Markkanen sign-and-trade, says Stein. The Pelicans can’t use their trade exception to sign Markkanen to an offer sheet, so they’d need Chicago’s cooperation in order to offer him more than the mid-level.
Meanwhile, Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report says (via Twitter) that the Hornets, who were rumored earlier in the week to be considering an offer sheet for Markkanen, remain in the hunt as a potential “sleeper.” However, that scenario is difficult to envision.
The Hornets have used up their cap room and would almost certainly have to acquire Markkanen via sign-and-trade, as Schultz tweets. Charlotte doesn’t have a trade exception that would work in such a deal and would therefore have to match salaries.
The only salaries on Charlotte’s books that would really make sense as primary matching pieces, given Markkanen’s salary expectations, are Terry Rozier‘s ($17.9MM) or Mason Plumlee‘s ($9.25MM). Rozier is more valuable to the Hornets than he would be to the Bulls, who just agreed to acquire Ball and Alex Caruso. And Charlotte just traded for Plumlee a few days ago to address the team’s hole at center.
It’s possible the Hornets will find a way to get creative and land Markkanen, perhaps using smaller salaries, but it would be a challenge.
Markkanen, meanwhile, continues to explore his options around the NBA in the hopes of joining a new team. He told a Finnish journalist earlier this week that he’s seeking a “fresh start” after four years in Chicago.
Sixers Notes: Lillard, Hill, Henry, Springer
With Damian Lillard heading home from the Olympics, the most important part of the Sixers‘ offseason is getting under way, writes Derek Bodner of The Athletic. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey is hoping Lillard makes his long-rumored trade request to the Trail Blazers, and Bodner believes Philadelphia is in a good position if that happens.
Lillard held a press conference last month to deny a report that a trade request was imminent. However, he has expressed an urgency to Portland’s management about the need to improve the roster, and the Blazers’ most significant additions so far have been the free agent signings of Tony Snell, Cody Zeller, and Ben McLemore.
Bodner adds that two potential competitors for Lillard are less of a threat than they were a few weeks ago. The Knicks used their cap space without acquiring another star player, while the Heat added Kyle Lowry and are now facing a hard cap for the upcoming season. It would be virtually impossible for Miami to match Lillard’s $43.75MM salary in a trade anytime soon, according to Bodner.
There’s more from Philadelphia:
- The Sixers will receive a financial benefit now that George Hill has signed with the Bucks, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Hill, who was waived by Philadelphia on Tuesday, received a two-year, $8MM contract in Milwaukee. The Sixers will get a $1.255MM set-off on the money they still owed Hill, which will take effect after the 2021/22 season.
- Rookie small forward Aaron Henry was more comfortable finding a team in free agency than he would have been as a late-round draft pick, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Henry agreed to a two-way contract with the Sixers shortly after the draft ended and is ready to prove himself in Summer League. A quadriceps strain forced him to be held out of the combine in Chicago, but he worked out for 12 teams in 19 days. One of those sessions was with the Sixers, who liked what they saw. “Since we got him, you can see his versatility,” said assistant Brian Adams, who’s handling head coaching duties for the Summer League team. “He can defend multiple positions. He can defend one-on-one and in the schemes we have. He’s picked up everything really fast.”
- Sixers first-round pick Jaden Springer hopes to succeed with the same franchise that drafted his father in 1984, Pompey adds in a separate story. A knee injury prevented Gary Springer from playing in the NBA, but he believes his son has a bright future.
Western Contract Details: Gay, Conley, Graham, Nunn, SGA
Originally reported as a two-year deal with a second-year player option, Rudy Gay‘s new contract with the Jazz actually covers three years, with a third-year player option, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). The full three-year value of the contract, which was officially announced on Friday, comes in at about $18.55MM.
Smith has details on several other newly-signed contracts from around the Western Conference, so let’s dive in and round up some of the highlights (all links are courtesy of Smith)…
- Mike Conley‘s three-year deal with the Jazz includes some unlikely bonuses and has a partial guarantee on year three (Twitter link). The 2023/24 salary of $24.36MM is only guaranteed for $14.32MM.
- Devonte’ Graham‘s four-year contract with the Pelicans starts at $11MM and features 5% annual raises (Twitter link). The fourth year salary of $12.65MM is only partially guaranteed for $2.85MM.
- The Lakers used most of their taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Kendrick Nunn (Twitter link). His deal is worth $5MM in 2021/22, with a $5.25MM second-year player option.
- The Mavericks used the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Reggie Bullock to a three-year deal worth slightly over $30MM (Twitter link). The contract, which includes a 5% trade bonus, is only guaranteed for $5.45MM (of $10.49MM) in the final year.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s five-year, maximum-salary extension with the Thunder includes a 15% trade kicker (Twitter link).
Scottie Barnes Signs Rookie Contract With Raptors
The Raptors have signed Scottie Barnes to his first NBA contract, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.
The Florida State forward was something of a surprise pick at No. 4, but Toronto was attracted to his potential to be a difference-maker on defense. He was named ACC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year during his lone season with the Seminoles, averaging 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Assuming he gets 120% of the rookie scale, Barnes will make $7.28MM during his first season. His contract could be worth up to $33MM over four years.
Barnes will play his first Summer League game later today, Lewenberg adds.
New York Notes: Knight, Durant, Vildoza, Walker
Former lottery pick Brandon Knight is trying to work his way back into the NBA with the Nets‘ Summer League team, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Knight’s career was derailed by knee injuries, and he hasn’t played in the NBA since splitting 25 games with the Cavaliers and Pistons in 2019/20.
Knight worked out for the Bucks in March, but Milwaukee decided against signing him. The 29-year-old says his knees are no longer an issue and he’s eager to show that he still has an NBA future.
“The narrative of my knees, that I’m not healthy, that’s not right,” Knight said. “So for me, the narrative is just to show that I’m healthy. I’m ready to play. And I’m here. Most importantly, I’m here to serve these young guys. Summer league is not about me. … My goal is to serve to serve these young guys, give them wisdom, and try to help them and be a servant in any place that I can be.”
There’s more from New York:
- Nets star Kevin Durant was named MVP of the Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament, FIBA announced in a press release. He capped off a brilliant performance with 29 points in the gold medal game against France. Australia’s Patty Mills, who agreed to a two-year deal with Brooklyn in free agency, was named to the all-tournament team.
- The Knicks will get their first look at Luca Vildoza when Summer League play starts today, notes Marc Berman of The New York Post. The Argentinian point guard signed a four-year, non-guaranteed contract in May, but he wasn’t used in any games. Vildoza’s future with New York seems less certain after the team drafted point guards Miles McBride and Rokas Jokubaitis, Berman adds. “I’m trying to work hard. I’m trying to show myself,” said Vildoza, who just returned from the Olympics. “I just want to show who I am. If after that, I can’t get onto the team, that’s OK. At least I gave everything.’’
- The Knicks‘ offseason appears successful, but there are some risks involved, states Steve Popper of Newsday. The most significant one involves whether Kemba Walker‘s knee can hold up for an entire season.