Wizards To Sign Quenton Jackson, Davion Mintz
The Wizards have reached an agreement with undrafted Texas A&M guard Quenton Jackson, who will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the team, agent Gino Littles tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link).
Jackson, ranked 31st among undrafted rookies by ESPN, earned All-SEC Second Team honors in his final college season in 2021/22, averaging 14.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.8 SPG in 40 games (26.4 MPG) for the Aggies. He posted a solid shooting line of .490/.346/.828.
Washington is also signing undrafted Kentucky guard Davion Mintz to an Exhibit 10 contract, agents Adie von Gontard and Daveed Cohen tell Shaw (Twitter link).
Mintz spent the last two years with the Wildcats after transferring from Creighton. In those two seasons, he averaged 9.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 2.4 APG with a .362 3PT% in 56 games (27.4 MPG).
Their Exhibit 10 agreements won’t necessarily put Jackson or Mintz – who were both fifth-year seniors – in great position to earn a spot on the Wizards’ 15-man regular season roster, but they could be converted to two-way contracts.
If they’re waived before the season and join the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s G League team, Jackson and Mintz would be eligible to earn bonuses of up to $50K.
Hawks To Sign Tyson Etienne To Exhibit 10 Contract
The Hawks are signing undrafted Wichita State guard Tyson Etienne to an Exhibit 10 contract, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).
Etienne, who spent three years with the Shockers, averaged 14.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in 27 appearances (34.3 MPG) as a junior in 2021/22 before declaring for the draft as an early entrant.
Etienne is a talented three-point shooter, making 2.2 three-pointers per game at a 41.1% rate last season, though he was far less effective from inside the arc, converting just 32.6% of his two-point attempts.
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.
Etienne’s deal can be officially finalized once the new league year begins next week.
Knicks, Jean Montero Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal
The Knicks and undrafted free agent guard Jean Montero have reached an agreement on an Exhibit 10 contract, a source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).
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.
Montero, who will turn 19 in July, began his professional career with Gran Canaria in Spain and played for the new Overtime Elite program in 2021/22. The Dominican combo guard is considered a talented scorer and has also exhibited creativity as a passer, according to Givony, who writes in his scouting report that the youngster’s inconsistent defense is a concern.
Montero was the No. 4 prospect on ESPN’s list of players who went undrafted on Thursday night.
Grizzlies Acquire No. 19 Pick Jake LaRavia From Wolves
JUNE 24: The trade is complete, the Grizzlies and Timberwolves announced in a pair of press releases. Officially, LaRavia’s draft rights head to Memphis along with a 2023 second-round pick in exchange for the draft rights to No. 22 pick Walker Kessler and No. 29 pick TyTy Washington.
It’s unclear if that ’23 second-rounder is Minnesota’s own or the Knicks’ second-round pick that the Wolves acquired earlier in the draft.
The Wolves are flipping Washington to the Rockets in a separate trade.
JUNE 23: The Grizzlies have agreed to acquire the No. 19 pick from the Timberwolves and will select Wake Forest forward Jake LaRavia, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). In exchange, Minnesota will receive the No. 22 and No. 29 selections in tonight’s draft, with the Grizzlies also gaining a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
It’s apparently a 2023 second-rounder, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune tweets.
LaRavia, who spent two seasons at Indiana State, moved up draft boards in recent weeks after averaging 14.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 3.7 APG for the Demon Deacons last season. With Kyle Anderson entering free agency, LaRavia could compete for a rotation spot in his rookie campaign.
He improved his stock during workouts, as he was originally projected as a borderline first-rounder.
Parlaying two first-rounders for the No. 19 selection doesn’t seem like great value, as Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian notes, but Grizzlies executive Zach Kleiman is unfazed by perceptions as long as he gets the player he wants. Kleiman has traded up for every pick on his watch with the exception of Ja Morant, Herrington adds (Twitter links).
Rockets Trade Christian Wood To Mavericks
JUNE 24: The trade is now official, the Mavericks announced in the early hours of Friday morning. Wood has officially landed in Dallas in exchange for Marjanovic, Brown, Burke, Chriss, and the draft rights to No. 26 overall pick Wendell Moore. Houston is flipping Moore to Minnesota in a separate deal.
JUNE 15: The Rockets are trading Christian Wood to the Mavericks in exchange for the No. 26 overall pick of the 2022 draft, Boban Marjanovic, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
All five players are on expiring contracts in 2022/23, with the four Mavs players being sent out for salary-matching purposes. Wood will earn $14.3MM next season.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, the trade can’t be officially completed until draft night, which is June 23, because the Mavs owe a protected first-round pick to the Knicks in 2023. Six months after the trade is completed, Wood will be eligible to sign a contract extension worth up to $77MM over four years, says Marks.
Burke holds a $3.3MM player option for ’22/23 and will need to exercise the option in order for the trade to work, Marks notes (via Twitter), adding that rosters expanding to 20 in the offseason will allow the Rockets to take back four players in exchange for one. Burke will receive a trade bonus of $247,500 from Dallas as part of the deal, Marks relays in another tweet.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report indicated on Tuesday that the Mavericks were looking to trade their only draft pick, and they found a match in the rebuilding Rockets, who now control three first-round picks: Nos. 3, 17 and 26. The Rockets have multiple options to explore ahead of the draft. If they want to package Nos. 17 and 26 to move up a bit, they likely could.
The 26-year-old Wood is a very solid return for Dallas, even if he comes with some character concerns. The talented big man averaged 19.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 block in 109 games for Houston the past two seasons, posting a shooting line of .507/.384/.626.
The move definitely comes with risks for the Mavs, because Wood is a subpar defensive player and can be quite inconsistent, especially from an effort standpoint, from game-to-game. However, he’s on an expiring contract, which limits the risk, and is theoretically in a good situation with star Luka Doncic.
Mavs GM Nico Harrison said the team would be looking to acquire a quality big man who could provide rebounding and rim protection after the team lost in the Western Conference Finals. Wood fulfills the first criteria — he’s a good rebounder — but falls a bit short on the second, as he isn’t much of a deterrent at the basket.
According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), the Rockets wanted to move Wood in order to create more playing time for Alperen Sengun, who was a rookie this past season, and the No. 3 pick, who will likely be another big man. They’ll get a look at some veterans on expiring deals, but obviously the main appeal was the No. 26 pick and no long-term salary.
Chriss, who will make $2.19MM next season, underwent knee surgery on Wednesday and will be sidelined while rehabbing for the next couple months, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
2022 NBA Draft Results
The 2022 NBA draft is in the books, and we tracked all of this year’s picks in the space below, taking into account each trade agreed upon over the course of the draft.
Here are 2022’s NBA draft results:
First Round:
- Orlando Magic: Paolo Banchero, F, Duke (story)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Chet Holmgren, F, Gonzaga (story)
- Houston Rockets: Jabari Smith, F, Auburn (story)
- Sacramento Kings: Keegan Murray, F, Iowa (story)
- Detroit Pistons: Jaden Ivey, G, Purdue
- Indiana Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin, G/F, Arizona
- Portland Trail Blazers: Shaedon Sharpe, G, Kentucky
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Lakers): Dyson Daniels, G, G League Ignite
- San Antonio Spurs: Jeremy Sochan, F, Baylor
- Washington Wizards: Johnny Davis, G, Wisconsin
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Knicks): Ousmane Dieng, F, New Zealand Breakers
- Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers): Jalen Williams, G, Santa Clara
- Detroit Pistons (from Hornets via Knicks): Jalen Duren, C, Memphis
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Ochai Agbaji, F, Kansas
- Charlotte Hornets (from Pelicans): Mark Williams, C, Duke
- Atlanta Hawks: AJ Griffin, F, Duke
- Houston Rockets (from Nets): Tari Eason, F, LSU
- Chicago Bulls: Dalen Terry, G, Arizona
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Timberwolves): Jake LaRavia, F, Wake Forest
- San Antonio Spurs (from Raptors): Malaki Branham, G/F, Ohio State
- Denver Nuggets: Christian Braun, G, Kansas
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Jazz via Grizzlies): Walker Kessler, C, Auburn
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Sixers): David Roddy, F, Colorado State
- Milwaukee Bucks: MarJon Beauchamp, G, G League Ignite
- San Antonio Spurs (from Celtics): Blake Wesley, G, Notre Dame
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Mavericks via Rockets): Wendell Moore, F, Duke
- Miami Heat: Nikola Jovic, F, Mega Mozzart
- Golden State Warriors: Patrick Baldwin Jr., F, Milwaukee
- Houston Rockets (from Grizzlies via Timberwolves): TyTy Washington, G, Kentucky
- Denver Nuggets (from Suns via Thunder): Peyton Watson, F, UCLA
Second Round:
- Indiana Pacers (from Rockets): Andrew Nembhard, G, Gonzaga
- Orlando Magic: Caleb Houstan, F, Michigan
- Toronto Raptors (from Pistons): Christian Koloko, F/C, Arizona
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Jaylin Williams, C, Arkansas
- Los Angeles Lakers (from Pacers via Magic): Max Christie, G, Michigan State
- Detroit Pistons (from Trail Blazers): Gabriele Procida, G, Fortitudo Bologna
- Dallas Mavericks (from Kings): Jaden Hardy, G, G League Ignite
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Lakers via Spurs): Kennedy Chandler, G, Tennessee
- Cleveland Cavaliers (from Spurs): Khalifa Diop, C, Gran Canaria
- Charlotte Hornets (from Wizards via Timberwolves): Bryce McGowens, G, Nebraska
- New Orleans Pelicans: E.J. Liddell, F, Ohio State
- New York Knicks: Trevor Keels, F, Duke
- Los Angeles Clippers: Moussa Diabate, F, Michigan
- Golden State Warriors (from Hawks): Ryan Rollins, G, Toledo
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Hornets): Josh Minott, F, Memphis
- Denver Nuggets (from Nets via Pistons and Trail Blazers): Ismael Kamagate, C, Paris
- Memphis Grizzlies (from Cavaliers): Vince Williams, F, VCU
- Indiana Pacers (from Timberwolves): Kendall Brown, F, Baylor
- Cleveland Cavaliers (from Bulls via Kings): Isaiah Mobley, F, USC
- Minnesota Timberwolves (from Nuggets): Matteo Spagnolo, G, Cremona
- Atlanta Hawks (from Raptors via Warriors): Tyrese Martin, F, UConn
- New Orleans Pelicans (from Jazz): Karlo Matkovic, F, Mega Mozzart
- Boston Celtics: JD Davison, G, Alabama
- Washington Wizards (from Mavericks): Yannick Nzosa, C, Unicaja Malaga
- Golden State Warriors: Gui Santos, F, Minas
- Cleveland Cavaliers (from Heat): Luke Travers, G/F, Perth Wildcats
- Portland Trail Blazers (from Grizzlies): Jabari Walker, F, Colorado
- Milwaukee Bucks (from Suns via Pacers): Hugo Besson, G, New Zealand Breakers
Note: The Bucks and Heat forfeited their second-round picks due to free agency gun-jumping. They would have been No. 54 and No. 55, respectively.
Community Shootaround: Draft Winners/Losers
The 2022 NBA draft is officially complete, and it was certainly an eventful night. The first big surprise came right off the bat, when the Magic made Duke big man Paolo Banchero the No. 1 overall pick.
Virtually all reporting leading up to draft night had Auburn forward Jabari Smith as the favorite to go first, with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony suggesting earlier this week that it would be a major surprise to most teams around the NBA if Smith wasn’t Orlando’s pick.
Since Smith unexpectedly fell to the Rockets with the No. 3 pick, and they were able to pick up a couple of highly regarded prospects in Tari Eason and TyTy Washington at Nos. 17 and 29 in addition to a couple of future second-rounders, they seem like one of the clear winners tonight. Smith and Eason, in particular, are long, versatile defenders who should immediately improve Houston’s 29th ranked defense, and a core of Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green, Eason, Smith, and Alperen Sengun sounds pretty intriguing on paper.
The Thunder used a small portion of their war chest of future draft picks to acquire a third lottery pick, used on French forward Ousmane Dieng with the No. 11 pick (via the Knicks). In addition to Dieng, the Oklahoma City snagged Chet Holmgren at No. 2, Jalen Williams at No. 12, and Jaylin Williams at No. 34 (that definitely won’t be confusing).
The Pistons were able to take Jaden Ivey at No. 5, widely regarded as the top guard prospect in the draft, and added a second lottery pick (No. 13 via the Hornets) in Jalen Duren. The Grizzlies and Timberwolves were both very active during the draft as well, maneuvering up and down to select their preferred targets.
Despite rumors that they were interested in moving into the draft, both the Suns and the Jazz left the draft the same way they entered it, with no draft picks. The Sixers traded out of the draft, but landed 24-year-old De’Anthony Melton from Memphis for the No. 23 pick and Danny Green.
There will be a flurry of undrafted free agent signings in the coming hours and days, but we’d like to take a break from transactions for a moment to solicit your opinions on the draft’s winners and losers. Which teams do you think did the best? Which did the worst? Head to the comments section and share your thoughts!
Pistons’ Procida, Cavs’ Diop Among Draftees Expected To Be Stashed Overseas
Italian wing Gabriele Procida, who was drafted 36th overall on Thursday night after spending last season with Fortitudo Bologna, is expected to be stashed overseas by the Pistons, reports James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
While Procida is the highest of this year’s draft picks reported to be a likely draft-and-stash prospect, he’s hardly the only one. Here are a few more updates on 2022’s draft-and-stash candidates:
- After using the No. 39 pick to draft him on Thursday, the Cavaliers intend to keep 20-year-old center Khalifa Diop overseas for the 2022/23 season, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Senegalese big man won the EuroCup Rising Star award playing for Gran Canaria in Spain this past season.
- The Nuggets plan to stash center Ismael Kamagate in Europe next season, a source tells Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). The No. 46 pick on Thursday, Kamagate had an All-Star season playing for Paris in 2021/22.
- Italian shooting guard Matteo Spagnolo, drafted at No. 50 by the Timberwolves, will likely remain overseas next season, per president of basketball operations Tim Connelly (Twitter link via Dane Moore). Spagnolo is still just 19 years old.
- Crotian forward/center Karlo Matkovic, selected 52nd overall by the Pelicans, is expected to join New Orleans’ Summer League roster but will continue playing in Europe for another year or two, general manager Trajan Langdon told reporters, including Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
- Wizards president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard said after the draft that No. 54 pick Yannick Nzosa will be a “stash guy” in the Spanish League next season, according to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
Grizzlies Acquire Kennedy Chandler From Spurs
JUNE 24: The trade is now official, the Spurs announced in a press release. The Grizzlies have also announced the deal, indicating in their press release that they’re sending the Lakers’ 2024 second-round pick to San Antonio.
JUNE 23: The Grizzlies are acquiring Tennessee guard Kennedy Chandler, the No. 38 pick, from the Spurs, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the Spurs will receive a future second-rounder and cash in exchange for the No. 38 pick.
Chandler was ranked No. 20 on ESPN’s big board prior to the draft, so he appears to be a solid value pick for the Grizzlies in the second round. The Memphis native averaged 13.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.7 APG and 2.2 SPG on .464/.383/.606 shooting in 34 games (30.8 MPG) as a freshman this season.
Chandler’s local ties likely played a factor in Memphis’ decision to trade for him, as the team had plenty of opportunities to scout him. Although he’s just 6’0″, likely causing his draft stock to fall, Chandler is an excellent athlete and a strong defender. He’s a true point guard, capable of distributing and getting to his spots at a high level.
The Grizzlies are trading De’Anthony Melton to the Sixers, so they had a hole to fill in the backcourt depth chart. It will be interesting to see if the decision to acquire Chandler has an impact on the impending free agency of backup point guard Tyus Jones.
Dereon Seabron Signing Two-Way Deal With Pelicans
The Pelicans have reached an agreement on a two-way contract with North Carolina State’s Dereon Seabron, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The 6’7″ guard was named Most Improved Player in the ACC and was a second team all-conference choice as a sophomore. Seabron, 22, averaged 17.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals this season while leading the Wolfpack in all four categories.
He is the top shooting guard on ESPN’s list of undrafted players and is ranked sixth overall.