Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 7/7/2022
The transcript for our weekly live chat can be found here.
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Jericho Sims Signs Three-Year Deal With Knicks
JULY 9, 9:03pm: The new deal with Sims is official, the Knicks announced (via Twitter).
JULY 7, 11:58am: Sims’ new three-year deal will be worth a little under $6MM, according to Katz (Twitter link). A three-year minimum contract would be worth $5.66MM, so if it’s above the minimum, it’s not by much.
Half the contract is currently guaranteed, Katz adds. There are trigger dates in 2023 and 2024 that would make years two and three fully guaranteed.
JULY 7, 11:39am: The Knicks will promote big man Jericho Sims to their standard roster, having agreed to terms with him on a new three-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Sims spent the 2021/22 season on a two-way deal.
The 58th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Sims played in 41 Knicks games as a rookie, averaging 2.2 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 13.5 minutes per contest. He moved into the team’s starting lineup for five games down the stretch, registering his first career double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds) during the last week of the season vs. Brooklyn.
While the Knicks are trading away Nerlens Noel, the team fortified its frontcourt by re-signing Mitchell Robinson and agreeing to a deal with Isaiah Hartenstein. Sims will provide additional depth up front.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv reported last month that the Knicks would likely negotiate a standard contract with Sims, clearing a path for second-rounder Trevor Keels to take the newly opened two-way slot. Fred Katz of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter) that Keels remains on track to get a two-way deal.
The exact terms of Sims’ new deal aren’t known, but it will likely be a minimum-salary contract or something close to it. The third year will be a team option, per Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link).
As Katz tweets, the Knicks will complete the signing using either some leftover cap room or part of their mid-level exception, depending on whether or not they end up turning their deal with Jalen Brunson into a sign-and-trade.
Nuggets, Vlatko Cancar Complete Three-Year Deal
10:58am: Cancar’s new deal is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
9:30am: Free agent forward Vlatko Cancar has reached an agreement with the Nuggets, according to agent Misko Raznatovic, who tweets that his client will sign a three-year contract. The third year of the deal will be a team option, per Raznatovic.
The 49th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Cancar remained overseas for two more years, then signed with the Nuggets in 2019. He has spent the last three seasons with the team, but has only appeared in 70 games during that time, averaging 2.3 PPG and 1.3 RPG on .484/.333/.742 shooting in 7.2 MPG.
Cancar appeared to be in line for a little more playing time in 2021/22 before his season was derailed by a right foot fracture in January. The injury took about three months to heal — the 25-year-old returned to action in the Nuggets’ regular season finale, then saw some brief action in two playoff contests.
Despite Cancar’s limited role during his first three NBA seasons, the Nuggets issued him a qualifying offer last week, making him a restricted free agent, and have now reached a deal that will keep him on the roster. While the team held the Slovenian’s Bird rights, it would be surprising if his new deal is worth more than the minimum, and it’s unclear how much of it will be guaranteed.
Denver has 11 players currently on guaranteed contracts, with Bruce Brown, DeAndre Jordan, and Davon Reed set to join that group once they officially sign their respective contracts. That puts Cancar in line to fill the 15th and final spot on the team’s standard regular season roster, though it’s possible there will be more changes between now and opening night.
Mavericks On Track To Sign Tyler Dorsey?
10:52am: The Mavericks and Dorsey are in talks on a two-way contract, reports Marc Stein (Twitter link). If the two sides finalize an agreement, Dallas would still have an open spot on its projected 15-man roster.
7:48am: Former NBA shooting guard Tyler Dorsey is reportedly expected to return stateside after spending the last three years in Europe.
Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net first wrote that the Mavericks would make a contract offer to Dorsey following a recent workout, while Alessandro Luigi Maggi of Sportando (Twitter link) says the two sides have agreed to terms.
The 41st overall pick in the 2017 draft, Dorsey appeared in 104 games across two seasons with the Hawks and Grizzlies, averaging 6.7 PPG and 2.3 RPG on .389/.350/.669 shooting in 16.1 MPG.
The former Oregon standout headed overseas in 2019, joining Maccabi Tel Aviv for two seasons and then Olympiacos for one. Dorsey had a hugely successful run in Europe, winning Israeli League titles in 2020 and 2021 and a Greek League championship in 2022. In 2021/22, he averaged 13.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .459/.395/.813 shooting line in 31 EuroLeague appearances (24.0 MPG) for Olympiacos.
According to Barbarousis, Dorsey received an extension offer from Olympiacos as well as a contract offer from Turkish team Fenerbahce, but has turned them down. Although Barbarousis can’t yet confirm Maggi’s report that Dorsey and the Mavericks have a deal in place, he notes that the 26-year-old’s goal has been to return to the NBA.
Dallas is currently carrying 13 players on guaranteed contracts, with JaVale McGee set to become the 14th. If and when Dorsey finalizes a deal with the Mavs, he’d presumably be the frontrunner to fill the final spot on the team’s 15-man regular season roster.
Because the Mavs don’t have the bi-annual exception available and are using their full taxpayer mid-level exception to sign McGee and Jaden Hardy, they’d only be able to offer Dorsey a minimum-salary deal.
Trade/FA Rumors: Mitchell, Durant, Ayton, Pacers
After reporting on The Hoop Collective (video link) earlier this week that Donovan Mitchell inquired about the Jazz‘s plan following the team’s trades of Rudy Gobert and Royce O’Neale, Brian Windhorst said during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Thursday that the star guard is not believed to be on the verge of asking for a trade (video link).
“After the Gobert trade, there was a belief that maybe Mitchell would be next, and maybe at some point he will be,” Windhorst said. “But for now the Jazz are telling people they don’t intend to trade him, and on Mitchell’s side, he’s going to stand pat. He’s not going to force any action right now.”
Reports at the time of the Gobert trade indicated that the Jazz planned to retool their roster around Mitchell, while subsequent reporting suggested teams still believed the 25-year-old could be had for the right price. If Mitchell doesn’t express any desire to leave Utah, it seems very unlikely that the Jazz will move him this offseason.
Here are a few more trade and free agency rumors from around the NBA:
- Although ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski still believes a Kevin Durant trade is likely to happen, he said during an appearance on NBA Today (video link) that it’s “absolutely” possible the former MVP could end up remaining with the Nets into the fall. “Brooklyn, they don’t have to take a deal that they don’t want to do. They don’t have to talk themselves into a deal,” Wojnarowski said. “At the same time, Kevin Durant, as he looks at the situation, could he look at it differently over time? That’s certainly a possibility.” Wojnarowski explained that he believes Durant could have second thoughts about his trade request if his potential new team would have to gut its roster to trade for him.
- During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Thursday (video link), Windhorst said the Durant sweepstakes may not be creating the frenzy the Nets had hoped for. “When the Nets put him on the market, I think they thought there was going to be a tremendous bidding war,” Windhorst said. “And while there’s a lot of interest, from what I can tell that bidding war isn’t really hot right now. The teams have made their offers and they don’t really feel the need to increase them.”
- According to Windhorst, the return Utah received in the Gobert trade has complicated the Durant negotiations: “The Nets responded (to the Gobert trade) by saying, ‘The price for Durant just went higher,’ and the rest of the league is kind of saying, ‘We don’t think so. We don’t want to pay that price. We didn’t like that trade,'” Windhorst acknowledged that talks could heat up when team executives gather at Las Vegas for Summer League starting this week.
- John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) believes we may see action on the Deandre Ayton front before the end of the week, adding that he has heard “rumblings” about the possibility of the Pacers signing the Suns‘ restricted free agent center to an offer sheet.
Heat Re-Sign Victor Oladipo To Two-Year Deal
JULY 7: The Heat have officially re-signed Oladipo, the team announced today in a press release. As we relayed earlier today, his new two-year deal is believed to be worth in the neighborhood of $18MM.
“Victor showed his work ethic and determination to come back and help us win games at the end of the regular season and through the playoffs,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “We are delighted to have him back in a HEAT uniform.”
JULY 6: Victor Oladipo remains on track to officially re-sign with the Heat, but he and the team have agreed to adjust the terms of the contract they negotiated last week, according to reports from Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter links).
Instead of signing a one-year, $11MM contract, Oladipo will receive a two-year deal that includes a second-year player option, per Winderman and Chiang.
While the exact financial terms are unclear, Oladipo’s salary in 2022/23 will be a little lower than $11MM in order to help the Heat remain below the luxury tax line (approximately $150MM) and the tax apron ($157MM).
Miami doesn’t yet have to worry about dealing with a hard cap, since the team hasn’t acquired a player via sign-and-trade, used its bi-annual exception, or used more than the taxpayer portion of its mid-level exception. But if the Heat want to do any of those three things, it would impose a hard cap of about $157MM on team salary, limiting their flexibility. A smaller first-year salary for Oladipo will give Miami more breathing room in that scenario, and may also help team ownership avoid a tax bill.
Oladipo will still have the right to veto a trade during the 2022/23 season. A player who re-signs with his former team on a one-year contract or a two-year deal with a second-year player option is afforded that privilege.
Hoops Rumors’ 2022 NBA Free Agent Tracker
With the July moratorium over, many free agent signings becoming official, and news of contract agreements still coming in frequently, Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep track of which players are heading to which teams this offseason.
To this end, we present our Free Agent Tracker, a feature we’ve had each year since our inception in 2012. Using our tracker, you can quickly look up deals, sorting by team, position, free agent type, and a handful of other variables.
A few notes on the tracker:
- Some of the information you’ll find in the tracker will reflect tentative agreements, rather than finalized deals. As signings become official, we’ll continue to update and modify the data as needed.
- Similarly, contract years and dollars will be based on what’s been reported to date, so in some cases those amounts will be approximations rather than official figures. Salaries aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed either.
- Players who have reportedly agreed to training camp/Exhibit 10 deals won’t be added to the tracker until those deals are official.
- A restricted free agent who signs an offer sheet won’t be included in the tracker right away. We’ll wait to hear whether the player’s original team will match or pass on that offer sheet before we update our tracker, in order to avoid any confusion.
- If you’re viewing the tracker on our mobile site, be sure to turn your phone sideways to see more details.
Our 2022 Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” and it’s also under the “Tools” menu atop the site. On our mobile site, it can be found in our menu under “Free Agent Lists.”
The tracker will be updated throughout the offseason, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.
Our lists of free agents by position/type and by team break down the players who have yet to reach contract agreements.
Contract Details: J. Smith, Oladipo, Co. Martin, Payton, More
Jalen Smith‘s new deal with the Pacers, initially reported as a two-year agreement, is actually a three-year contract with a player option in year three, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). The deal also includes a trade kicker, says Agness.
Hoops Rumors can confirm Agness’ report and add that Smith’s trade kicker is worth 10%. The Pacers gave the big man the highest starting salary they legally could after the 2022/23 option in his rookie scale contract was turned down last year, resulting in a 2022/23 cap hit of $4,670,160 and subsequent 8% annual raises. Smith’s three-year deal has a total value of $15.13MM.
Here are a few more details on recently signed or agreed-upon contracts:
- According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, Victor Oladipo‘s two-year deal with the Heat will be worth in the neighborhood of $18MM. As we relayed on Wednesday evening, Oladipo agreed to lower his 2022/23 salary in exchange for a second-year option. Dewayne Dedmon‘s two-year contract with the Heat, meanwhile, is worth $4.7MM in ’22/23 with a non-guaranteed $4.32MM salary in ’23/24.
- Cody Martin‘s four-year contract with the Hornets is worth a total of $31.36MM, Hoops Rumors has learned. Martin’s $8.68MM salary in the final season of the deal (2025/26) is non-guaranteed.
- Gary Payton II‘s three-year deal with the Trail Blazers has a starting salary of $8.3MM and is worth $26.15MM in total, slightly below its reported value of $28MM, Hoops Rumors has learned. The signing leaves Portland with a small portion of its mid-level exception remaining.
- Jae’Sean Tate‘s three-year contract with the Rockets has a base value of $20.63MM, but can be worth up to $22.13MM if Tate earns all of his unlikely incentives. Kelly Iko of The Athletic previously reported that those incentives are tied to the team’s performance and that Tate’s contract includes a third-year team option.
- Anfernee Simons‘ new four-year, $100MM contract with the Trail Blazers is fully guaranteed, without any incentives, Hoops Rumors has learned. It begins at $22.32MM in 2022/23 and eventually increases to $27.68MM in ’25/26.
- New Raptors forward Otto Porter will earn $6MM in 2022/23, with a $6.3MM player option in ’23/24, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Collison, Monk, Leonard, Wall
The Lakers‘ five additions in free agency were targeted for speed, defense and shooting, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. New head coach Darvin Ham is determined to bring a fresh approach to a team that finished in the bottom third of the league in both offensive and defensive rating last season. All five players who were introduced at today’s press conference talked about how they will blend into that system.
“I think I can fit on any team,” said former Warrior Juan Toscano-Anderson. “I think I can guard one through five. I’ll do whatever it takes to win, and when I say whatever, I mean it. I’ll dive over scorer’s tables. I’ll rebound. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Along with a renewed emphasis on defense, L.A. hopes its free agency moves will provide increased spacing for its star players. Ex-Spur Lonnie Walker is coming off a season where he connected at just 31.4% from three-point range, but he vows to be better.
“Last year, you can look at the percentages, but I kid you not: Leave me open, we’re going to see what’s happening,” Walker said. “I’m honing into what I got to get better on, and I’m not just strengthening my weakness but I’m strengthening my strengths as well. So, I’m ready to show everyone what I’m about.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Free agent point guard Darren Collison worked out for the Lakers again today, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Collison, who was at a mini-camp with the team last month, is interested in returning to the NBA at age 34.
- Malik Monk‘s long friendship with De’Aaron Fox played an important role in his decision to sign with the Kings, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Monk and Fox have been friends since high school and they were backcourt partners at Kentucky. “They speak all the time,” a source told Anderson. “They’re still in their college group chat, so they speak every day. Those guys are real brothers, so I’m excited for them both.”
- Clippers star Kawhi Leonard hasn’t been cleared to play 5-on-5, but he continues to make progress in his return from an ACL injury, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk said on “NBA Today” (video link). Newly signed John Wall will compete with Reggie Jackson for the starting point guard spot, Youngmisuk adds.
Atlantic Notes: Porter, Brunson, Gibson, Tucker, Davison
After winning a ring with the Warriors this year, Otto Porter Jr. is now focused on getting another one with the Raptors, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Porter called it “a tough decision” to leave Golden State and sign a two-year, $12.4MM deal with Toronto.
The 29-year-old forward said he had some other offers, but he was most comfortable with the Raptors. Porter’s wife is from Toronto, which played a role in his choice.
“Winning a championship last year in Golden State, I feel like I can bring that experience here to help the younger guys out,” Porter said. “Being with (Thaddeus Young) again (after being teammates in Chicago two seasons ago), I know he has been there and done it with his leadership and (he is going) to continue to give guidance to the young guys.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The trade sending Kemba Walker to the Pistons was finalized today, but the Knicks still have options if they want to turn their agreement with Jalen Brunson into a sign-and-trade, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. A separate deal that has Detroit acquiring Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel still hasn’t been made official and could be folded into a larger transaction. Katz adds that the Pistons needed to complete the Walker trade so that Jalen Duren will be eligible for Summer League.
- Several teams would be interested in Taj Gibson if the Knicks waive him to create cap room to sign Brunson, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Gibson’s contract for next season is non-guaranteed.
- The Sixers gave P.J. Tucker a player option for the final season of his three-year, $33MM contract, tweets Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
- JD Davison feels like he has something to prove in Summer League after sliding to the 53rd pick in the draft, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Even though the Alabama guard was disappointed to be taken so low, he was happy to wind up with a successful organization like the Celtics. “When I got that call from the Celtics,” Davison said, “when my agent called and said the Celtics got you, it’s an organization where they win. So it was just really important to where I know I can come in here and get better every day and just come here and win. I was very happy.”