Knicks Gaining Momentum In Pursuit Of Jalen Brunson?
The Knicks are “gaining major momentum” in their pursuit of Mavericks free agent guard Jalen Brunson, league sources tell Marc Stein (Substack link).
As Stein notes, the Knicks began shedding 2022/23 salary on draft night when they agreed to send Kemba Walker ($9.2MM) to Detroit and moved off their first-round pick, removing a projected cap hold of $4.5MM from next season’s books. They don’t have enough cap room yet to make Brunson a competitive offer, but there’s a growing belief they’ll be able to get there, Stein writes.
Sources tell Stein that the Knicks appearing to be preparing an offer in the range of $100MM over four years for Brunson.
The Mavericks have long expressed confidence in their ability to re-sign Brunson, with president of basketball operations Nico Harrison repeating that refrain on draft night, telling reporters that the Knicks’ efforts to create cap room didn’t come as a surprise, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
“Until he tells us that he doesn’t want to be here, we’re optimistic,” Harrison said.
However, according to Stein, the Mavs believed at the end of the season that a four-year offer in the range of $85-88MM would likely be enough to retain Brunson. That appears increasingly unlikely to be the case.
Dallas holds Brunson’s Bird rights and has the ability to offer any amount up to the maximum, plus a fifth year — the Knicks are limited to four years. But he’ll be an unrestricted free agent, so the Mavs won’t necessarily be able to retain him by matching or exceeding the Knicks’ offer.
Stein says there’s a growing belief among some people close to the situation that Brunson is interested in making the move to New York, where his former agent Leon Rose runs the Knicks’ front office and his father Rick Brunson was recently hired as an assistant coach.
According to Stein, the opportunity to take on a “new challenge and broadened responsibility” with the Knicks may appeal to the younger Brunson. Stein cites sources who say there’s “growing fear” within the Mavs’ organization about the point guard’s flight risk.
Rose virtually never holds media sessions and wouldn’t be able to publicly discuss Brunson anyway, but it’s worth noting that he put out an official statement on Friday discussing the Knicks’ draft-night moves — the phrase “increased financial flexibility” earned a prominent place in that statement explaining the team’s strategy (Twitter link via Ian Begley of SNY.tv).
Pelicans To Sign Izaiah Brockington to Exhibit 10 Deal
Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington has agreed to join the Pelicans on an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Richard Stayman of MavsDraft.com (Twitter link).
Brockington played four collegiate seasons for three teams. He started out at St. Bonaventure, spent two seasons with Penn State and finished up with the Cyclones. In his senior year, Brockington averaged 16.9 PPG and 6.8 RPG. The 6’4” guard also made 36.1% of his 3-point tries and was second on his team in steals.
An Exhibit 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster.
A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate.
Pacers To Sign Jermaine Samuels To Exhibit 10 Contract
The Pacers are signing Jermaine Samuels, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports tweets. The Villanova product is inking an Exhibit 10 contract, James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star tweets.
Samuels, a 6’7” forward, averaged 11.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG in his senior season for the Wildcats. Samuels played 153 games over five seasons for the perennial Big East power, averaging 8.5 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 24.1 MPG.
College teammate Collin Gillespie is signing a two-way deal with the Nuggets after going undrafted.
An Exhibit 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster.
A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate.
Atlantic Notes: Durant, Harden, Anunoby, Koloko, Celtics
As rumors swirl that Kyrie Irving is entertaining an exit out of Brooklyn that could impact Kevin Durant‘s future with the Nets, Durant himself said on the ETCs podcast that he doesn’t plan to get involved in Irving’s free agency decision.
“This is this man’s livelihood. This is much bigger than me,” Durant said, according to NetsDaily. “Being a free agent, it’s one of the most important times in your career. That can’t be swayed by anybody else. I just do me and wait for the time.
“There’s nothing that can happen right now. I don’t think he can even make a decision on opting out until the 29th, I think. I just let things play out and see what happens, but keep the regular contact up with Kai and see what happens. It’s something that’s so much out of my control that I don’t want to be a part of it. We’ll see what happens though.”
Asked about this week’s reports about him and Irving, Durant downplayed them without dismissing them entirely.
“It’s just reports. You know, that go around this time, the draft, the Finals just ended. You just got to keep that dialogue going, keep that engagement going. So, obviously, it’s an interesting topic,” Durant said. “There’s a lot going on with our team. Uncertainty with Ben (Simmons) not playing with us, us being swept in the playoffs, Kyrie’s situation being a free agent. So there’s a lot of certainty with our team. I understand why there’s so much noise around us, but as individuals, you control what you can. If the time’s right, everything will work out for itself.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Asked about James Harden‘s contract situation on Thursday, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey didn’t offer up any specifics, but expressed optimism about the relationship going forward, writes Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “As you guys have heard, it’s a mutual lovefest, so we feel like we’ll work it out,” Morey said.
- The Trail Blazers engaged in a “full-court press” this week in an effort to acquire OG Anunoby from the Raptors, but Toronto was unmoved, reports Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. While that doesn’t rule out the possibility of Anunoby being traded later in the offseason, head coach Nick Nurse said on Thursday that “guys like him are hard to find in this league.”
- Within the same story, Grange writes that the Raptors‘ No. 33 pick – Christian Koloko – brings the sort of height and rim-protecting ability that the team had been lacking. “It’s something we don’t have,” general manager Bobby Webster said of Koloko’s skill set.
- The Celtics have done their homework on the players that fit into their $17MM+ trade exception and have considered various scenarios, but haven’t found one they like yet, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said during his post-draft media session on Thursday. “If that thing vanishes because we don’t find the right deal, we still have two other (trade exceptions) that don’t expire until the trade deadline,” Stevens said, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links). As our tracker shows, Boston’s $17MM exception will expire on July 18, at which point the team will still have TPEs worth about $7MM and $6MM.
Thunder To Sign Gabe Brown To Exhibit 10 Contract
After going undrafted on Thursday, Michigan State forward Gabe Brown has reached a deal to sign with the Thunder, reports Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). While Zagoria categorizes Brown’s deal as partially guaranteed, Jake Weingarten of StockRisers.com tweets that it’s an Exhibit 10 contract.
An Exhibit 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster.
A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate, which may be the partial guarantee Zagoria was referring to. A player can also have his Exhibit 10deal converted into a two-way contract before the start of the regular season.
Ranked by ESPN as the No. 22 prospect of the undrafted rookies, Brown entered the starting lineup on a full-time basis for the Spartans as a senior in 2021/22, averaging 11.6 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .382 3PT% in 36 games (28.9 MPG). He earned a spot on the All-Big 10 Third Team before going pro this spring.
Brown’s deal with Oklahoma City can become official after the new NBA league year begins on July 1.
Spurs Agree To Deals With Kyler Edwards, Darius Days, Jordan Hall
The Spurs and undrafted rookie guard Kyler Edwards have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal, agent Aman Dhesi tells Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link). Edwards will also play for San Antonio’s Summer League team.
Edwards spent his first three college years at Texas Tech before transferring to Houston for the 2021/22 season. He was a full-time starter for the Cougars as a senior, averaging 13.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game in 37 appearances (34.1 MPG), though his field goal percentage dipped to 36.9%. Edwards opted to forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility and go pro this year.
In addition to Edwards, the Spurs have also reached deals with undrafted rookies Darius Days and Jordan Hall, according to Jake Weingarten of StockRisers.com and Richard Stayman of MavsDraft.com, respectively (Twitter links).
Days, a forward out of LSU, is the No. 24 prospect on ESPN’s list of undrafted rookies after averaging 13.7 PPG and 7.8 RPG with a .350 3PT% as a senior in 2021/22. Hall, a guard out of Saint Joseph’s, put up 14.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 5.8 APG with a .362 3PT% in his sophomore season.
No further details were reported on the deals for Days and Hall, so it’s unclear if they’re Exhibit 10 pacts like Edwards’ agreement. An Exhibit 10 contract can be converted into a two-way deal or can award a player a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived before the regular season and joins his team’s G League affiliate.
The Spurs’ signings can become official after the new league year begins next week.
Lonzo Ball Making Progress, But Status For Camp Is Uncertain
Bulls guard Lonzo Ball is hoping to get past the knee issues that disrupted his season, but general manager Marc Eversley mixed uncertainty with optimism when he talked about Ball’s condition Thursday night, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
Ball was in the middle of his first season with the Bulls when he suffered a torn left meniscus. He was given a six- to eight-week recovery timetable after undergoing surgery on January 28, but a bone bruise that happened before the meniscus tear kept him out of action through the playoffs. A report in late April suggested his recovery was at a “standstill.”
Eversley said he wasn’t sure when asked if Ball would be able to suit up for a game right now.
“That’s something we probably need to talk to the performance staff about,” Eversley responded. “That’s not a call I can make now. I can just tell you that he’s rehabbing and he’s making progress.”
Eversley also couldn’t guarantee that Ball will be ready for the start of training camp, adding, “I certainly hope so.”
Chicago was one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference before its season got derailed by injuries. Losing Ball was among the most costly as his defensive presence and relentless transition attacks were an important part of that early success.
The Bulls were 22-13 with Ball in the lineup, but only 24-23 without him. They slipped into the sixth seed and were eliminated by Milwaukee in five games.
Kofi Cockburn, Darryl Morsell Signing With Jazz
The Jazz will sign Illinois center Kofi Cockburn, tweets Jonathan Givony of ESPN. He will receive an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The seven-footer was a first-team All-American this season and a first-team All-Big 10 selection the past two years. He averaged 20.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game as a junior before declaring for the draft.
Marquette guard Darryl Morsell is also signing with Utah, tweets Jon Chepkevich of Rookie Scale. Like Cockburn, he’ll get an Exhibit 10 contract, per Givony (Twitter link).
Morsell spent his first four collegiate seasons at Maryland and was named Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2021. He averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 31 games for the Golden Eagles.
An Exhibit 10 deal is a one-year, minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. Although it’s not guaranteed, a player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate. An Exhibit 10 contract can also be converted into a two-way deal before the start of the regular season.
L.A. Notes: Clippers’ Draft, Leonard, Kennard, Christie, Westbrook
The Clippers are emphasizing continuity with their roster, which is why they passed on making a draft-night trade for the first time in seven years, writes Mark Medina of NBA.com. The team’s quiet draft was influenced by its two stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who are collaborating with the front office on personnel moves.
“They are great partners. There’s a lot of give and take and talking,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said. “They have great insight. They passionately care. They care about the type of people that are in the locker room. They look for people who work, have great habits, are pros, can contribute to winning and are great in the locker room. Yet at the same time, they are very respectful that at the end of the day it’s our job to make the decision. But their opinions are very, very valuable.”
Frank also offered a medical update on Leonard, who missed the entire season after suffering an ACL injury during the 2021 playoffs. The team is encouraged by Leonard’s progress and expects him to be ready for the start of next season.
“He continues to do great,” Frank said. “He’s maniacal in his work ethic. It’s fun to see. I’m glad we can afford the light bill because he’s putting in the hours.”
There’s more NBA news from Los Angeles:
- Frank dismissed rumors that the Clippers are trying to trade Luke Kennard, Medina adds. Frank said there’s “zero truth” to the report, noting that Kennard is coming off an “unbelievable season” in which he led the league in three-point percentage.
- The Lakers were excited to land Michigan State’s Max Christie after trading into the second round, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “It’s very rare to have a consensus pick,” general manager Rob Pelinka said. “Maybe at No. 1 you can kind of get a room full of scouts and get a consensus pick. But once you get to 35, there’s just so many varying opinions. But very uniquely on this night — it doesn’t happen all the time — but Max was a consensus pick of all the scouts and all the front-office people.” Pelinka believes Christie could have been selected in the top 15 or 20 next year if he had returned to school.
- Pelinka and new coach Darvin Ham have met with Russell Westbrook to set parameters for next season, Medina writes in a separate story. Westbrook became a lightning rod for criticism after being acquired from the Wizards last summer. “We’ve been honest about how we think he fits with this team and what we expect of him next year if he decides to opt in and be here,” Pelinka said of Westbrook, who hasn’t yet officially exercised his $47MM player option for next season. “He’s ready to embrace the philosophy of defense first as well. He made that clear to Darvin and me if he chooses to come back.”
Hornets, Isaiah Whaley Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal
The Hornets and undrafted rookie forward Isaiah Whaley have reached an agreement on an Exhibit 10 deal, a league source tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Whaley spent all five years of his college career at UConn, appearing in a total of 138 games for the Huskies. In 2021/22, he averaged 7.7 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 32 games (28.5 MPG) as a full-time starter.
Although Whaley wasn’t a major offensive threat at UConn, he earned a reputation as a talented defender. He averaged 2.4 blocks per contest across his final two college seasons, and was the co-winner of the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021.
Whaley’s Exhibit 10 contract will put him in line for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived by Charlotte before the regular season begins and joins the Hornets’ G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. An Exhibit 10 deal can also be converted into a two-way contract before the start of the regular season.