Knicks, Nets, Heat Are Donovan Mitchell’s Preferred Destinations If He’s Traded
Donovan Mitchell hasn’t asked the Jazz to trade him, but if he were to be dealt, he would prefer to end up with the Knicks, Nets, or Heat, sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic.
The Knicks, of course, are viewed as Mitchell’s top suitor, and while Brooklyn and Miami have also been mentioned as possible landing spots, those teams aren’t as well positioned to swing a trade for the All-Star guard. The Nets can’t trade for Mitchell as long as Ben Simmons remains on the roster due to the designated rookie extension rule, while the Heat “simply don’t have the assets that the Jazz are looking for,” according to Jones.
The Jazz are said to be seeking a significant haul of first-round picks in any Mitchell deal, which is why the Knicks are viewed as a frontrunner. New York has acquired four protected first-rounders from other teams and also has all of its own picks available.
The Heat, on the other hand, don’t have any extra first-rounders and have traded their own 2025 pick to Oklahoma City. Given the restrictions imposed by the Stepien rule, Miami could only offer three first-round picks in a package for Mitchell, while New York could trade up to eight.
Although the Knicks have long been linked to Mitchell and have had ongoing trade discussions with the Jazz, the two teams aren’t close to a deal, says Jones.
Utah has also spoken to other suitors and has multiple offers on the table that the front office feels are worth exploring if talks with the Knicks don’t work out, sources tell The Athletic. The Hornets, Wizards, and Cavaliers are among the other teams that have been reported by multiple outlets as possible suitors for Mitchell.
If the Jazz don’t get an offer they like from the Knicks or one of those other potential trade partners, they’re comfortable entering the season with Mitchell on their roster. According to Jones, the club believes it’s in a good position to retool the roster around Mitchell and is more inclined to take that route than to accept “90 cents on the dollar” for the three-time All-Star.
Celtics Sign Bruno Caboclo To Camp Deal
AUGUST 24: The Celtics have officially signed Caboclo, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
AUGUST 1: Free agent forward Bruno Caboclo has reached an agreement on a training camp deal with the Celtics and will get the opportunity to compete for a roster spot this fall, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The 20th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Caboclo appeared in a total of 105 NBA regular season games across seven seasons with the Raptors, Kings, Grizzlies, and Rockets. While the Brazilian forward had tantalizing physical tools, he never put them together at the NBA level, averaging 4.2 PPG and 2.6 RPG on .403/.308/.836 shooting in 12.3 minutes per contest.
Caboclo finished the 2020/21 season in France, then returned to his home country for the ’21/22 campaign, signing with Sao Paolo FC. Caboclo, who is still just 26 years old, led the club to a BCL Americas title and earned MVP honors in the Novo Basquete Brasil, which is Brazil’s top basketball league.
Caboclo worked out for the Jazz in June and played for Utah’s Summer League teams in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas in July, but will be heading to camp with the Celtics, who still have at least a couple regular season roster spots up for grabs. Boston is currently carrying just 12 players on standard contracts, plus a pair on two-way deals.
Bulls Reportedly Interested In Kostas Antetokounmpo
The Bulls are showing interest in former NBA big man Kostas Antetokounmpo, according to Christos Tsaltas of SDNA.gr.
Antetokounmpo spent the 2021/22 season with LCLC ASVEL, the champion of the French LNB Pro A league that also competes in the EuroLeague. However, he’s interested in an NBA return, and after a strong recent performance with the Greek national team in a victory over Turkey, Antetokounmpo was contacted by Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, Tsaltas reports, per Google Translate.
According to our roster count tracker, Chicago currently has 15 players signed to guaranteed standard deals, with undrafted rookie Justin Lewis, who underwent surgery last week for a torn ACL, on a two-way contract. The Bulls also have Malcolm Hill as a two-way restricted free agent.
Antetokounmpo only has three years of NBA experience, so he’d be eligible for a two-way deal for one more season, assuming the two sides are interested in that arrangement.
The 60th pick of the 2018 draft after one season at Dayton, Antetokounmpo spent his rookie season on a two-way deal with the Mavericks. He only appeared in two games at the NBA level, spending most of the season with Dallas’ G League affiliate, the Texas Legends.
Dallas waived the 24-year-old in the summer of 2019, but he was claimed by the Lakers, winning a title with L.A. in 2020 as a two-way player. In 20 games with the Lakers from 2019-2021, he played just 76 total minutes, having spent most of his time with South Bay, the team’s NBAGL affiliate.
It’s worth noting that Chicago’s reported interest in Antetokoumpo comes on the heels of his older brother, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, stating that he might be open to playing for the Bulls in the future.
The Greek national team has a couple of upcoming qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup before heading to Italy for the EuroBasket tournament, which tips off on September 1, as Tasos Kokkinidis of GreekReporter.com relays.
Tacko Fall Signing With Chinese Team
Free agent Tacko Fall is signing a one-year contract to play in China with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
After going undrafted in 2019 out of Central Florida, the 7’6″ center initially signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics which was later converted to a two-way contract. He spent his first two professional seasons in Boston on two-way deals, appearing in 26 NBA games (6.5 MPG) with averages of 2.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG.
Fall signed a two-way contract with the Cavaliers last season, appearing in 11 games before being waived in January.
Despite his modest impact at the NBA level, the 26-year-old has been a G League standout, earning a spot on the All-Defensive Team last season for the Cleveland Charge. In 26 regular season games (26.5 MPG) with the Cavs’ affiliate, he averaged 14.8 PPG, 10.7 RPG and 2.7 BPG.
Fall most recently suited up for the Jazz during Summer League action.
Jazz Notes: Mitchell Trade Market, Miller Family
With Kevin Durant and the Nets agreeing to “move forward” with their partnership, Ryan McDonald of The Deseret News wonders whether the news might have an impact on the trade market for Jazz star Donovan Mitchell.
As McDonald observes, while it’s possible that some potential Durant suitors might turn to Mitchell instead, based on Utah’s return for Rudy Gobert, the team seems focused on a package centered on draft picks. Thus, the Knicks remain the most logical trade partner for Mitchell due to their ability to offer several first-rounders for Mitchell, according to McDonald.
Here’s more from Utah:
- Along the same lines, Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune explores which potential Durant suitors might pivot to Mitchell, and what those teams could potentially offer in deals for Utah’s three-time All-Star guard. According to Walden, even if teams like the Raptors, Celtics, Suns and Grizzlies aren’t all-in on Mitchell, perhaps they might give the Jazz more leverage in negotiations with the Knicks, which might help facilitate a trade sending Mitchell home to New York.
- The Miller family announced in a press release that it is selling a share of its minority stake in the Jazz. In a separate story for The Salt Lake Tribune, a source tells Walden that the move was tied to the recent news that Arctos Sports Partners is becoming a minority shareholder in the Jazz, with the intention of bringing a third professional franchise to Utah. The Millers owned the Jazz for 35 years, but sold the team to Ryan Smith in 2020 while retaining a 20% stake in the franchise. However, the initial deal stipulated that the Miller family would eventually sell all of its shares to Smith’s ownership group, and now a portion has been sold off to Arctos, with the Millers making a nice profit, Walden writes.
- In case you missed it, the Cavaliers have reportedly “touched base” with the Jazz about Mitchell in recent days. You can find more details right here.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Westbrook, Randle, Suns, Curry
Now that Kyrie Irving is reportedly off the table for the Lakers, Jovan Buha of The Athletic breaks down the team’s other potential options for dealing Russell Westbrook.
As Buha writes, a trade with the Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield makes sense for the Lakers, but they’d likely have to include both their 2027 and 2029 first-rounders to make that happen, which hasn’t transpired to this point. Buha wonders if Indiana would be interested in the move if the Lakers put protections on the ’29 pick or perhaps include a pick swap instead.
Turner and Hield would instantly become the Lakers’ “third- and fourth-best players on the roster, upgrading the starting lineup, depth and collective shooting,” Buha states, adding that Turner would complement Anthony Davis in the frontcourt due to his defensive versatility and ability to space the floor (.349 career 3PT%).
The Lakers could also get involved as a third team in a potential Donovan Mitchell trade, or target Jazz veterans like Bojan Bogdanovic, Patrick Beverley, Jordan Clarkson and Jarred Vanderbilt, Buha notes.
Here’s more from the Pacific:
- Within the same piece, Buha says the Lakers aren’t interested in a potential reunion with Knicks forward Julius Randle, whom L.A. drafted No. 7 overall in 2014, due to his long-term contract and “less-than-ideal fit” with Davis and LeBron James. According to Buha, New York, Charlotte and San Antonio are all unlikely trade partners for Westbrook for various reasons, even though the three teams theoretically make some sense.
- With Kevin Durant said to be sticking with the Nets, at least for now, a trio of Suns players whose names were floated in trade talks for the star have a big opportunity entering 2022/23, per Greg Moore of The Arizona Republic. Moore thinks Mikal Bridges likely won’t be affected by the rumors, but wonders if Cameron Johnson and Deandre Ayton should have bigger offensive roles next season to improve the team’s versatility as Phoenix looks to win its first championship.
- Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area details why Warriors star Stephen Curry, the reigning Finals MVP, is underpaid despite having the largest salary in the league in ’22/23 ($48.1MM). Golden State’s franchise valuation has increased a little more than 12-fold over the past 12 years ($450MM to $5.6 billion), the team is immensely popular both locally and nationally, and the Warriors have won the championship four times in the past eight years largely due to Curry’s impact, making him worth more than double his current contract, according to Poole.
Nets Notes: Durant, Collins, Outlook, Nash
A number of rival NBA executives subscribe to the theory that the Rudy Gobert trade made it more difficult for the Nets to move Kevin Durant, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. As Scotto explains, there was a sense that if the Nets couldn’t get more in exchange for Durant than the Jazz got for Gobert, Brooklyn’s front office would’ve looked “foolish.”
[RELATED: Kevin Durant, Nets Agree To “Move Forward” With Partnership]
Within his story on the Nets and Durant, Scotto also reports that multiple members of Brooklyn’s front office are fans of Hawks big man John Collins. A report earlier this week stated that Atlanta offered Collins, De’Andre Hunter, and a draft pick in exchange for Durant. However, Collins wasn’t viewed as the sort of star who could headline a KD package, Scotto says.
Here’s more on the Nets in the wake of this week’s Durant-related developments:
- Multiple general managers who spoke to Scotto predicted that the Nets will be a top-four team in the East this season, though one acknowledged that there’s a wide range of conceivable outcomes for the club. “There’s a very predictable unpredictability, a predictable chaos, a predictable waffling,” the GM said. “What really would surprise you at this point?”
- While Brooklyn’s high asking price was one major reason why Durant is still a Net, one league executive who spoke to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today suggested that suitors may have been turned off by the aggressive way the star forward pushed for a trade. “Teams don’t want to overpay for someone who has proven he will burn your house down,” the exec said.
- During a segment on ESPN’s Get Up (video link), Brian Windhorst referred to the truce between Durant and the Nets as a “tentative” one, while Adrian Wojnarowksi said that things will “continue to be fragile” in Brooklyn going forward. Sam Amick of The Athletic agrees that it would be naive to consider the Durant saga over, given that “this kind of discontent doesn’t just disappear overnight.”
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post and Alex Schiffer of The Athletic each list five questions facing the Nets now that they’ve decided to hang onto Durant.
- Within his story at The Athletic, Schiffer says that a possible new look in 2022/23 from head coach Steve Nash – who has several new assistants on his staff – has been a “selling point” in Brooklyn during free agency. Schiffer suggests that the Nets have the personnel necessary to run a faster-paced offense this season after leaning on an isolation-heavy system during Nash’s first couple years in Brooklyn.
Western Notes: Wieskamp, Lakers, Jazz, Wolves, Rockets
Joe Wieskamp‘s new two-year deal with the Spurs, which was officially announced today, includes a guaranteed $2,175,000 salary for 2022/23 and a non-guaranteed $2,200,000 salary for ’23/24, Hoops Rumors has learned. The team completed the signing using cap room in order to give Wieskamp a greater raise than his Non-Bird rights allowed.
If Wieskamp remains on the contract through the 2022/23 league year, he’ll be in line to receive a partial guarantee of $500K for year two on August 1, 2023. His full second-year salary would become guaranteed at the start of the 2023/24 season.
Here are a few more items from around the Western Conference:
- Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show (video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic said that Jazz guard Patrick Beverley and forward Bojan Bogdanovic are two potential trade targets worth keeping an eye on for the Lakers. With a Kyrie Irving trade looking less likely than ever, the Lakers will likely focus on scenarios where they could potentially move Russell Westbrook and draft compensation for two or three solid rotation players, Charania notes.
- The Timberwolves have officially confirmed that Jon Wallace is their new director of player personnel and GM of the Iowa Wolves, announcing the hiring today in a press release. The Timberwolves’ deal with Wallace, who worked with Tim Connelly in Denver, was first reported earlier this month. “I have spent many years with Jon and know his basketball acumen is going to benefit the Timberwolves organization as a whole,” Connelly said in a statement.
- The Nets’ truce with Kevin Durant isn’t great news for the Rockets, who own several Brooklyn first-round picks and swaps in the coming years, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. While the Nets’ long-term future remains far from certain, the value of those picks in the short term will probably be limited as long as Durant and other stars are still on the roster, Feigen observes.
Thunder Fear Chet Holmgren Has Torn Ligaments In Foot
No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren is undergoing further evaluation on his injured foot, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links), who says the Thunder fear Holmgren has suffered ligament damage.
As Charania explains, exams on Holmgren’s foot have shown potential torn ligaments, and the big man is getting additional opinions to determine the severity of the injury and to set a recovery timetable.
Holmgren’s injury occurred during a pro-am game in Seattle on Saturday — he left the contest after rolling his ankle. Reports at the time indicated the injury didn’t appear serious, but it sounds like there’s cause for real concern now that the young center has undergone more tests. That pro-am game had to be stopped early due to slippery court conditions that were deemed unsafe.
Holmgren, 20, was drafted behind only Paolo Banchero this June after averaging 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game in 32 appearances (26.9 MPG) for Gonzaga during his first and only college season.
Holmgren’s ability to protect the rim and knock down three-pointers (.390 3PT%), along with his rare blend of length and athleticism, made him perhaps the most tantalizing prospect of the 2022 draft class, but his slender build raised questions about his ability to stay healthy going forward.
The Thunder aren’t expected to be a playoff team in 2022/23, but view Holmgren as one of the foundational pieces of their franchise in the long term, alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey. We’ll provide more info on his foot injury once we know more.
Spurs Re-Sign Joe Wieskamp To Two-Year Deal
AUGUST 24: The Spurs have officially re-signed Wieskamp, the team announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 22: Free agent swingman Joe Wieskamp is re-signing with the Spurs on a two-year, $4.4MM contract, his agents Kyle McAlarney and Mark Bartelstein told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wieskamp, 22, appeared in 29 games as a rookie last season, averaging 2.1 PPG in 7.1 MPG. The University of Iowa product was the No. 41 overall pick of the 2021 draft.
Wieskamp was a restricted free agent after receiving a qualifying offer. He spent the bulk of the season on a two-way contract but was signed a standard contract in early March.
He was ruled out of Summer League action due to an ankle sprain.
On a rebuilding team, Wieskamp will fight for minutes at both wing spots. He was a 41.2% 3-point shooter in three seasons with the Hawkeyes and could be a rotation factor if he provides that threat in the NBA.
The terms of Wieskamp’s contract indicate he’ll be earning more than the minimum on his new deal, but it’s unclear whether both years are fully guaranteed.