Aron Baynes To Work Out For Teams Friday
Free agent center Aron Baynes, who suffered a serious injury during the Tokyo Olympics last summer, will work out for NBA teams Friday in Las Vegas, Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports.
It’s the next step in a remarkable recovery by the 35-year-old Baynes. He suffered a spinal cord injury after a freak fall while playing for the Australian national team.
As he revealed in January, Baynes ran to the bathroom between the third and fourth quarters of Australia’s game against Italy but didn’t return, prompting a concerned staff member to look for him. That staffer found Baynes in the locker room near the bathroom, sprawled on the floor with blood on his uniform and two puncture marks in his upper arm (possibly caused by two towel hooks on the wall).
Baynes, who had landed on his head and neck after slipping off the rim during a dunk attempt in warmups three days earlier, may have hit his head again when he fell on his way to the bathroom. He was unable to stand up or walk under his own power and was quickly rushed to a Japanese hospital, where he stayed for the rest of Australia’s Olympic run, worried that he might be paralyzed. Scans showed internal bleeding was putting pressure on his spine.
Baynes was in hospitals in Tokyo and Brisbane for nearly two months last summer as he learned to walk again, according to Windhorst. He began playing basketball again in January after regaining his strength through daily physical therapy.
Baynes has played nine seasons in the NBA and averaged 6.1 PPG and 5.2 RPG with the Raptors during the 2020/21 season.
Bucks Sign MarJon Beauchamp To Rookie Contract
The Bucks have signed shooting guard MarJon Beauchamp to his rookie scale contract, according to the NBA’s transactions log.
Beauchamp, who averaged 15.1 PPG in 12 games for the G League Ignite last season, was the 24th pick in the draft.
Assuming Beauchamp signed for the usual 120% of the rookie scale amount, his four-year contract would be worth $12,544,796 with a first-year salary of $2,420,400.
Grizzlies, John Konchar Finalize Three-Year Extension
5:00pm: Konchar’s extension is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
11:54am: The Grizzlies are signing John Konchar to a three-year, $19MM extension, his agent George Landberg tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
According to Wojnarowski, the deal will be fully guaranteed, and Konchar will now be locked up through the next five seasons, as he still has two years left on his current contract.
As we relayed a few days ago, Konchar’s $2.3MM salary for 2022/23 became guaranteed once he remained on the roster through this past Sunday. He had already been owed a partial guarantee of $840K.
Konchar, 26, went undrafted out of Purdue-Fort Wayne in 2019 after a four-year college career. As shown by Basketball Reference, Konchar is the only known former Mastodon to reach the NBA.
He was a solid role player for the Grizzlies in ’21/22, averaging 4.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.5 APG on .515/.413/.551 shooting in 72 games (17.9 MPG). An excellent rebounder for a guard, Konchar holds a career mark of 8.9 boards per 36 minutes.
In addition to his rebounding prowess, Konchar holds impressive career shooting percentages of 61.2% on twos and 40.6% on threes in 134 games (52.2% from the field overall). He’s also an intelligent ball-mover and solid defender, with a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.3:1.
De’Anthony Melton, another backup guard, was traded to Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago, so it’s possible that Konchar could have a bigger role next season. Either way, clearly the Grizzlies value his contributions, as evidenced by the fact that Konchar is under contract through ’26/27.
Once the extension becomes official, Konchar won’t be trade-eligible for six months.
And-Ones: Schuler, Musa, Canaan, FA Bargains
Former Trail Blazers head coach Mike Schuler has passed away at age 81, the team announced in a press release. Schuler compiled a 127-84 record over parts of three seasons with the Blazers from 1986-1989, winning NBA Coach of the Year in 1987/88, when Portland went 53-29 in the regular season.
A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, who graduated from Ohio University in 1962, Schuler was a college coach for 16 years before transitioning to the pros. His NBA coaching career spanned 24 years and included stops with the Nets, Bucks, Warriors, Clippers (head coach from ’90-92), Kings and Timberwolves.
Our condolences go out to Schuler’s friends and family.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Former Nets wing Dzanan Musa, who was named the Most Valuable Player of Liga ACB, Spain’s top basketball league, back in May, is close to signing with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, according to a report from Eurohoops.net. The 29th pick of the 2018 draft, Musa appeared in 49 games over two seasons with Brooklyn from 2018-20. He’s excelled since returning to Europe, playing for teams in Turkey and Spain over the last two years. Musa averaged 20.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 3.1 APG on .494/.381/.787 shooting in 29 Liga ACB games (32.0 MPG) for CB Breogan this past season.
- Isaiah Canaan, who holds six seasons of NBA experience with the Rockets, Sixers, Bulls, Suns, Timberwolves and Bucks from 2013-19, is signing with Greek team Olympiacos, sources tell Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net. Canaan spent two seasons with Russian team UNICS Kazan, but left the club when it was suspended from EuroLeague action following the invasion of Ukraine. He finished out last season with Turkish club Galatasaray. Across 235 NBA games (20.4 MPG), Canaan has career averages of 8.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 1.9 APG on .371/.351/.836 shooting.
- Jared Dubin of FiveThirtyEight.com explores which teams have leveled up in free agency thus far, and which clubs have found bargains. Adding Danilo Gallinari and trading for Malcolm Brogdon means the Celtics have leveled up, according to Dubin, who also points to the Nuggets, Clippers and Sixers as teams that improved. The Bucks, Raptors, Blazers, Warriors, Kings and Lakers are teams that have found bargains, Dubin writes.
Raptors Re-Sign Chris Boucher To Three-Year Deal
JULY 7: Boucher has officially re-signed with the Raptors, the team announced (via Twitter).
JUNE 30: The Raptors have agreed to bring back big man Chris Boucher on a three-year contract worth a reported $35.25MM, agent Sam Permut tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Toronto is using Boucher’s Bird rights to re-sign him to a deal worth a little more than the full mid-level exception. It’s a fully guaranteed deal, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.
After going undrafted out of Oregon in 2017 at age 24, Boucher has slowly emerged as one of the best player development stories in the NBA. He was the G League MVP and Defensive Player of the year in 2018/19 with the Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate, then emerged as a rotation regular in ’19/20, averaging 6.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 1.0 BPG in just 13.2 MPG (62 games).
His development led to a two-year, $13.5MM deal in 2020, which he easily outperformed the last couple of seasons. Boucher averaged 13.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 1.9 BPG on .514/.383/.788 shooting in ’20/21 (60 games, 24.2 MPG). His numbers fell off to 9.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 0.9 BPG on .464/.297/.777 shooting in 80 games (21.1 MPG) last season, partially as a result of finger surgery during preseason.
Boucher is an athletic, energetic big man who can block shots and limited opponents to 43.9% shooting this past season. He’s an unusual player in a lot of ways, standing 6’9″ but weighing just 200 pounds. Although Boucher often plays center, he’s capable of switching across multiple positions on defense using his speed and 7’4″ wingspan.
Clearly, the Raptors value Boucher highly, despite his down shooting year and limitations (he has 116 career assists in 123 games). Yet those limitations haven’t been a hindrance, as the team been markedly better when he’s on the court over the last two seasons.
Rockets Notes: Frontcourt, Tate, Gordon, Martin
Whether or not they hang onto Boban Marjanovic, the Rockets would like to add one more big man to their roster, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who says the club may use a two-way contract slot to add more depth up front. Trevor Hudgins currently occupies one of Houston’s two-way slots, but the other is empty.
Iko names Moses Brown, Freddie Gillespie, Bruno Fernando, and Mfiondu Kabengele as players who could be of interest to the Rockets as they look to add another frontcourt player.
According to Iko, Houston had some interest in Isaiah Roby after he was waived by Oklahoma City, but the Spurs ultimately claimed him off waivers. The Rockets were ahead of San Antonio in the waiver order and had a trade exception available to claim Roby, but they already have 18 players on guaranteed contracts for 15 spots, so they likely weren’t eager to bring in another.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- The $500K annual bonus in Jae’Sean Tate‘s new three-year contract are tied to the Rockets winning at least 35 games, Iko reports. So Tate would earn an extra $1.5MM if Houston wins 35 or more games in each of the next three seasons.
- The Rockets were close to trading Eric Gordon on draft night, possibly to the Sixers, but the deal fell apart, according to Iko, who says the Heat, Bucks, and Suns also pursued Gordon before the draft. Sources tell The Athletic that Philadelphia re-engaged Houston on the veteran shooting guard at the start of free agency, but there’s certainly no guarantee he’ll be moved before the season begins.
- The Rockets aren’t in any rush to trade Kenyon Martin Jr. either, says Iko, noting that Martin may “need to mend some internal relationships” if a trade doesn’t materialize and he remains in Houston.
Pelicans Notes: McCollum, Nance Jr., Zion, Graham
It sounds like the Pelicans might be interested in extending the contracts of a couple of mid-season additions. Speaking on his latest Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said he’s heard that New Orleans is interested in coming to agreements with CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr., who were both acquired from Portland in February prior to the trade deadline.
“It sounds like CJ McCollum is having some contract extension talks with the Pelicans,” said Windhorst. “I’m not sure when he can actually sign that. I know he signed his last contract extension in 2019.”
“I believe it is next month when they can start talking about that,” said ESPN’s Andrew Lopez. “I know it’s before the season…”
“Maybe they haven’t ‘talked’, but I heard they ‘talked’, don’t tell anybody,” Windhorst replied in a hushed voice.
“I think the Pelicans are also interested in extending Larry Nance’s contract,” Windhorst added. “We’ll see if that gets done.”
McCollum, who turns 31 in September, is under contract for the next two seasons at a combined $69.13MM, while Nance, who turns 30 in January, has one year left on his deal at $9.67MM.
Here’s more from New Orleans:
- Zion Williamson offically signed his five-year, designated rookie max extension on Wednesday. At the press conference to announce the deal, he said he’s determined to show the world that he’s a winning player, Lopez relays in a story for ESPN.com. “I want to prove that I’m a winner,” Williamson said. “It’s as simple as that. I want to win with coach. As well as with my teammates. The ultimate goal is to win the championship. I feel like that’s what we’re all striving for. Like Griff (executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin) said, we’re hungry. Y’all saw this past year what the team did and I’m just excited to add to that.”
- With Williamson locked in for the next six years, the Pelicans could be ‘scary’ for the rest of the NBA, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “Now it’s going to take work to get there,” head coach Willie Green said at Williamson’s press conference. “What groups play well together? How can we take advantage of different mismatches? How can we put all of our guys on the floor and give them an opportunity to be successful? That takes work. But it all comes together at some point throughout the course of the season, and when it does I think we can be a scary team.” Adding Williamson to a group that made an impressive turnaround to reach the postseason after a miserable start will certainly make the Pelicans an interesting team to follow in 2022/23.
- Guard Devonte’ Graham, whom the Pelicans acquired in a sign-and-trade last summer, was arrested for driving while impaired on Thursday morning, Clark writes in a separate piece for NOLA.com. The incident occurred in Raleigh, North Carolina, Graham’s hometown. The 27-year-old averaged 11.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 4.2 APG on .363/.341/.843 in 76 games (63 starts, 28.3 MPG) with New Orleans last season. He was limited to just 10 MPG in the team’s first-round playoff loss to Phoenix. Graham is under contract through ’24/25 for a total of $36.3MM, but the final year is only partially guaranteed at $2.85MM, making the guaranteed portion of his deal $26.5MM.
Pistons Sign Jalen Duren To Rookie Contract
The Pistons have signed No. 13 overall pick Jalen Duren to his rookie contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move comes less than 24 hours after Detroit officially completed its draft-night trade with New York to acquire Duren’s rights.
Duren averaged 12.0 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in 29 games (25.3 MPG) during his first and only college season at Memphis, earning AAC Freshman of the Year honors and making the All-AAC First Team.
As our rookie salary chart shows, Duren is set to earn $4.12MM as a rookie and would make $19.47MM over the course of his four-year deal, assuming he received the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, which virtually every first-rounder does.
Twenty-three of this year’s 30 first-round picks have now officially signed their rookie contracts, including Duren and his new Pistons teammate Jaden Ivey.
Celtics Notes: Bryant, Trade Exception, Tax, Horford, Davison
The Celtics had an open offer out to Thomas Bryant to fill the backup center spot in the rotation, team sources tell Jared Weiss of The Athletic, but Bryant opted to join the Lakers on a one-year, minimum-salary deal because he has a chance to become the starting center. Other teams that were interested in Bryant’s services included the Raptors, Bucks and Jazz, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who reported that Bryant was signing with Los Angeles.
Weiss writes that Bryant was taking a wait-and-see approach to how the Kevin Durant situation might play out in case another opportunity arose, but he decided to accept the Lakers’ offer before it disappeared. As Weiss relays, with Bryant off the board and the free agent center options either aging or relatively unproven, it remains to be seen which player Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens might find to fill the backup role.
Here are a few more notes from Weiss about Boston’s plans for the rest of the roster:
- The Celtics are still considering ways to use the $17,142,857 traded player exception (created by the Evan Fournier sign-and-trade to New York last summer) that expires on July 18, as our tracker shows. However, Weiss reports that the team is unlikely to use it on a high-salary player due to luxury tax concerns. According to Danny Leroux of The Athletic, Boston is $20.2MM over the tax line with 12 players on the standard roster, which amounts to a $45.8MM tax bill. If the team used the full $17.1MM trade exception, that bill would nearly triple, per The Athletic.
- The backup center spot will be important for next season because the Celtics plan to limit Al Horford‘s minutes in the regular season, including sitting out “most” back-to-backs, team sources tell Weiss. Horford turned 36 last month and appeared in 92 games last season (regular season and postseason combined), so ensuring that he’s as spry as he was in the playoffs in 2021/22 is certainly a logical move for a team that hopes to compete for a title again next season.
- JD Davison, whom the Celtics selected 53rd in the draft a couple of weeks ago, will sign a two-way deal with Boston, but sources tell Weiss that Davison will be given the opportunity to earn a standard roster spot over the coming months. Brodric Thomas, who was on a two-way contract with the Celtics last season and is currently a restricted free agent, will also be given a chance to win one of the final roster spots, according to Weiss.
Western Notes: Wolves, Morant, Preston, Mahlalela
When Rudy Gobert first heard about the proposed deal sending him to the Timberwolves, he told his agent Bouna Ndiaye that he needed a day or two to think about it, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. After some deliberation, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year got fully on board with the move.
“After one day, I told him it was probably the best, most exciting situation in terms of basketball for me,” Gobert told reporters on Wednesday.
As Michael Rand of The Star Tribune details, the deal will deplete the Timberwolves’ depth to some extent, but the trade-off should be worth it, as Minnesota will have one of the NBA’s best starting fives.
The deal has major boom-or-bust potential, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who notes that the Wolves are betting big on “big ball” by pairing Gobert with Karl-Anthony Towns. If the twin-towers approach works for Minnesota, it could “quickly spawn imitators,” says Hollinger. If it doesn’t, it’ll be a costly mistake that could set the franchise back for years to come.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Ja Morant‘s new maximum-salary extension with the Grizzlies includes a 15% trade kicker, but it doesn’t feature a fifth-year player option, Hoops Rumors has learned. That means Morant will remain under team control through the 2027/28 season.
- Jason Preston will be available for the Clippers‘ Summer League team after missing his entire rookie season due to right foot surgery. According to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times, about three weeks after the Clippers’ season ended, Preston was able to start participating in 5-on-5 scrimmages without restrictions.
- The Warriors are promoting assistant coach Jama Mahlalela to the front of their bench for the 2022/23 season, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Mahlalela will fill the opening created by Mike Brown‘s departure to Sacramento, while Kenny Atkinson – who nearly departed for Charlotte himself – will replace Brown as Steve Kerr‘s lead assistant.