KZ Okpala Signs With Kings
SEPTEMBER 14: The signing is now official, the Kings announced in a press release.
JULY 15: The Kings have reached a two-year agreement with free agent forward KZ Okpala, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The deal was confirmed by Okpala’s agent, Aaron Mintz of CAA.
Okpala spent the past three seasons with the Heat, playing a combined 63 games. He got into 21 games last season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per night, before being traded to the Thunder at the February deadline. Oklahoma City waived him two days later and he has been out of the league since then.
The 23-year-old has experience playing for new Sacramento coach Mike Brown as part of the Nigerian national team, Haynes notes (Twitter link).
Keifer Sykes Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Pistons
The Pistons have signed free agent point guard Keifer Sykes to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets James L. Edwards of The Athletic.
The 28-year-old made it to the NBA for the first time last season, appearing in 32 games for the Pacers and averaging 5.6 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 17.7 minutes per night. Since going undrafted out of Wisconsin Green Bay in 2015, Sykes had made several G League appearances and played for a long list of overseas teams.
He was part of a G League trade in July, being shipped from Indiana’s Fort Wayne affiliate to Detroit’s Motor City affiliate. Now that the Pistons own his rights, they can send him to their G League team if he doesn’t earn a roster spot with the NBA club and signs an NBAGL contract.
Under his Exhibit 10 contract, Sykes will be eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the Motor City team.
Northwest Notes: Towns, Giddey, Vanderbilt, Nuggets
Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t expect to have any issues shifting from center to power forward when he plays alongside new teammate Rudy Gobert in 2022/23. As Towns tells Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports, playing at the four is something he has gotten accustomed to doing over the course of his career.
“The last time I had something like this, obviously I had Gorgui Dieng, I played (power forward) a lot of years in the NBA. Fans forgot that. It’s OK,” he said. “And go back to me in college. This is how I played in college. Willie Cauley-Stein is like 7’2″. I don’t know what they’re missing in that.”
While Towns is far from the league’s most effective perimeter defender, he said he’s looking forward to the challenge of taking on those assignments. The All-NBA big man added that he expects talent to win out as he and Gobert attempt to develop chemistry.
“I think that Rudy’s one of the best defensive players we’ve ever had in the NBA. He has the hardware to prove it,” Towns told Henninger. “I think I’m one of the best offensive players and talents the NBA has ever seen. So putting us together gives us really a whole spectrum of talent to use.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Having appeared in just 54 games as a rookie, Thunder guard Josh Giddey has spent a lot of time in the gym and the weight room this summer preparing his body to withstand the rigors of an 82-game schedule, he told Matthew Sullivan of News.com.au. “It’s a long season so taking care of your body is a really important part of being an NBA player,” Giddey said, adding that he feels “ready to go” after missing the end of last season due to a hip issue.
- New Jazz forward Jarred Vanderbilt spoke to Spencer Davies of BasketballNews.com about his fresh start in Utah, his impressions of new teammate Collin Sexton, and playing alongside Malik Beasley on a third team, among other topics. Vanderbilt said he’s looking forward to getting the chance to “expand and grow” his game with the Jazz.
- In a mailbag for The Denver Post (subscription required), Mike Singer considers whether the Nuggets could realistically claim the No. 1 seed in the West, examines what the second unit might look like, and explains why the team re-signed Vlatko Cancar rather than pursuing a free agent like Juancho Hernangomez.
Community Shootaround: Charlotte Hornets
When I previewed the Hornets‘ offseason in May, I speculated that it would be a busy summer in Charlotte, with James Borrego‘s ouster as the team’s head coach representing the first of many personnel changes likely to occur off and on the court.
As I outlined at the time, the decision to dismiss Borrego suggested that Hornets leadership wasn’t satisfied with the team’s gradual improvement (from 23-42 to 33-39 to 43-39 over the last three seasons) and was preparing to take a big swing to ensure the club was closer to contention in 2022/23.
Instead, Charlotte has been one of the least active teams of the offseason.
The Hornets have inked just one veteran free agent to a standard contract, re-signing RFA forward Cody Martin. They made two trades, but neither brought back a veteran player. The only new player the club has added to its projected 15-man regular season roster so far is former Duke center Mark Williams, the No. 15 overall pick in the draft, who seems unlikely to play a huge role as a rookie.
There are a few possible explanations for the Hornets’ relative inactivity. One is that the club simply hasn’t found many opportunities it liked and continues to bide its time, waiting for an opportunity to make a splash on the trade market. Charlotte was, after all, one of the potential suitors linked to Donovan Mitchell before he was dealt to Cleveland.
Another explanation is that the Hornets aren’t prepared to make major changes to their roster before they see what new head coach Steve Clifford can get out of the current group. If the front office believes that Borrego simply wasn’t maximizing the talent on the roster, it makes sense not to do anything drastic until getting a sense of how the team looks under Clifford.
A third possible explanation is that the domestic violence charges levied against restricted free agent Miles Bridges forced the Hornets to rethink their entire approach to the offseason.
Bridges was one of Charlotte’s two most important players last season, along with LaMelo Ball. Now that his NBA future is up in the air as his legal case plays out, the Hornets may have simply decided that it’s not in their best interest to go all-in on their push for the playoffs, given the extent to which Bridges’ potential absence limits the team’s ceiling.
There’s still a good deal of talent on this Charlotte roster. Ball is a rising star; Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier are quality starters; Cody Martin, P.J. Washington, Kelly Oubre, and Mason Plumlee are solid rotation pieces; James Bouknight, Kai Jones, Jalen McDaniels, and Williams are among the intriguing youngsters who could prove capable of greater roles.
But Bridges will be a big loss if he doesn’t re-sign or if he misses most or all of the season, either on administrative leave or serving a suspension. On top of that, the Hornets are still missing an impact player in the frontcourt who is capable of anchoring the defense and being a pick-and-roll partner to Ball on offense — Williams has the potential to become that player, but the 20-year-old can’t be relied upon to be that guy right away.
We want to know what you think. What’s the next move in Charlotte? Has Bridges played his last game in a Hornets uniform? How can the team continue to make forward progress after making the play-in game in each of the last two seasons?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Jazz Notes: Trade Candidates, Ainge, Rebuild
Having traded away Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Royce O’Neale so far this offseason, the Jazz may still have more moves to make before the season begins, but they’re not feeling any urgency to continue selling off their veteran players, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said this week during an appearance on NBA Today (YouTube link).
“It feels like they have a lot more business to do. The question is when do they do that business,” Shelburne said. “They still have Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley. The sense around the league is that the Jazz at least feel they have deals for all of those veteran players – if and when they want them – where they would return a first-round pick for each of these kind of players. But my sense in talking to people close to these conversations is the Jazz are not in any hurry to make these decisions now.”
The general sense is that the Jazz are hoping to put themselves in position to claim a top pick in the 2023 draft, where they could potentially land a cornerstone player. However, Shelburne suggested that Utah isn’t necessarily in full tanking mode quite yet.
“I was actually assured by somebody close to the situation the other day that if this group gets out there and plays well, if they start off well, they’ll let them play,” she said. “There’s a reset going on and they have players and veterans that have value to teams that are trying to contend this year. But if this group that they have right now – with the new coach Will Hardy and the young players they got that they’re very high on – if they start out well, they’re going to let them play a while. They’re not in any hurry.”
Here’s more out of Utah:
- Within the same NBA Today segment, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst speculated that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge‘s comments earlier this week about the Jazz players not believing in one another were probably toned down by about 50-75% compared to how he really felt — in other words, Ainge really wasn’t high on the team’s current roster and outlook entering this summer, which is why he felt compelled to blow things up.
- Given the sizable hauls the Jazz received in the Mitchell deal and (especially) the Gobert blockbuster, team executives around the NBA are wary of what the trade market will look like going forward, writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I’m just dreading all (the) ridiculous stuff people are going to be asking me for now before we can get down to real business,” one exec said.
- Despite the newfound collection of future draft assets the Jazz hold, not everyone is convinced Utah’s rebuild will be as successful as the one Ainge oversaw in Boston. “He really hit on some of those picks he got, but, remember, they also got (Al) Horford and (Gordon) Hayward to come there as free agents,” a source told Bulpett. “I know Hayward didn’t work out like they wanted; that injury was tough. But those guys were top free agents. I think Danny’s going to find it harder to attract big-time free agents in Utah.”
- Sarah Todd of The Deseret News takes a look at the factors that contributed to Utah’s decision to rebuild, arguing that while the Jazz have enjoyed plenty of regular season success in recent years, it feels as if it’s been a while since they had a legitimate shot at a title.
Robert Sarver Notes: Reactions, Next Steps, More
The NBA’s decision to fine Suns owner Robert Sarver $10MM and suspend him for one year following the conclusion of the investigation into his workplace misconduct is “not nothing,” but it also feels lighter than it should have been, David Aldridge of The Athletic contends.
Aldridge, Sam Amick of The Athletic, and Kurt Helin of NBC Sports are among the writers who expressed confusion about the investigation’s conclusion that it was impossible to determine whether Sarver’s comments and behavior were “motivated by racial or gender-based animus.”
Sarver shouldn’t get to hide behind excuses about his sophomoric sense of humor being misunderstood, Helin writes, while Amick says the Suns owner was “routinely terrible” to women in addition to being “racially insensitive at best and outright racist at worst.”
If the NBA wants to avoid having the situation in Phoenix repeat itself within another franchise, the league should set up more checks and balances in its relationship with its teams, Amick argues. Amick also believes the NBA needs to be responsible for some of the “watchdog work” that the media has shouldered in recent years in exposing some of the league’s most toxic workplaces in Dallas and Phoenix.
Here are several more notes and reactions on the Sarver situation:
- While Sarver should feel fortunate to retain ownership of the Suns, his reported resistance to the idea that he deserved a $10MM fine and one-year suspension is an indication that he hasn’t learned much from the process, says Chris Herring of SI.com. Herring suggests that the league should have implemented a zero-tolerance policy for Sarver going forward in order to “further incentivize” him to legitimately change his behavior.
- A number of the current and former Suns employees who have spoken to Baxter Holmes of ESPN since Tuesday were disappointed that Sarver won’t face a more severe punishment, Holmes said during an appearance on NBA Today (video link). “I had a recent message from a current staffer who said, ‘I cannot express to you how mad and disappointed people are at the spineless nature of the NBA’s decision,'” Holmes said.
- While Sarver’s behavior would have cost any normal employee his job, it’s much easier to fire an employee than to take a business away from its owner, writes Michael Rosenberg of SI.com. Trying to force Sarver out as the Suns’ owner would’ve meant a long legal battle for the NBA with a “murky chance” of winning, Rosenberg adds.
- If the NBA had tried to force Sarver out, his side would’ve almost certainly responded with litigation, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, who observes that the discovery process was something the league and the other 29 team owners likely wanted to avoid.
- Sarver will work with the NBA to appoint an interim governor who will oversee the Suns during Sarver’s one-year suspension, sources tell Holmes (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Top Under-25 Players, Wade, EuroLeague, More
Fifteen NBA executives polled by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype unanimously picked Mavericks star Luka Doncic as the NBA player under 25 years old whom they’d most want to build a team around. While Doncic’s selection comes as no surprise, there are some interesting picks further down Scotto’s list, which was derived from asking those 15 NBA execs to name the five players under 25 they’d most want to build around.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant ranked second and third, with Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley following them at No. 4. Former first overall picks Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves) and Zion Williamson (Pelicans) came in at Nos. 5 and 6, with last season’s Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes (Raptors) rounding out the top seven. You can check out Scotto’s full story to see the other seven rising stars who received votes.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- After spending three years in an analyst role with the network, Dwyane Wade won’t return to TNT for the 2022/23 NBA season, reports Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. According to Marchand, TNT made an offer to retain Wade, but he decided to leave his position to focus on other business ventures.
- Euroleague Basketball has appointed Dejan Bodiroga as its new president and Marshall Glickman as acting CEO, per a press release. They’ll replace Jordi Bertomeu, who served as president and CEO for 22 years and was a co-founder of Euroleague Basketball, which operates and oversees the EuroLeague and EuroCup, two of the world’s biggest non-NBA basketball leagues.
- Former NBA star Baron Davis and ex-NBPA executive director Michele Roberts are among the backers of the new Fan Controlled Hoops league, which is scheduled to launch in February of 2023, as Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic outlines. The league, which will follow in the footsteps of Fan Controlled Football, will feature 4-on-4 games played on an LED floor, with fans getting the opportunity to illuminate parts of the court to create zones where players get extra points when they score.
Players Who Have Signed Designated Veteran Contracts
When the NBA and the Players’ Association introduced the Designated Veteran contract in the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the goal was to help teams keep their very best players by giving those clubs the unique ability to offer more lucrative contracts to stars who met certain performance-related criteria.
The Designated Veteran rule allows a player with between seven and nine years of NBA experience – who would normally qualify for a starting salary worth 30% of the NBA’s salary cap on a new free agent contract or extension – to become eligible for a salary worth up to 35% of the cap if he meets one of the following requirements:
- He was named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
- He was named NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
- He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
The new rule has been somewhat hit and miss. In some cases, it has worked exactly as intended — Warriors guard Stephen Curry, for instance, signed the very first Designated Veteran free agent contract and earned every penny of it, making four All-NBA teams, winning two championships, and earning his first NBA Finals MVP award over the life of the five-year deal.
The ability to offer a Designated Veteran extension also allowed non-marquee franchises like the Bucks and Nuggets to retain their superstars (Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic) with minimal drama.
In other cases, the Designated Veteran rule has been less effective. Players like Paul George (Pacers), Kawhi Leonard (Spurs), and Anthony Davis (Pelicans), among others, were willing to pass on super-max opportunities with smaller-market clubs in order to push for trades elsewhere.
Additionally, two of the first Designated Veteran extensions signed by star players turned sour well before they expired — John Wall was kept away from the team during the fourth year of his super-max deal, then was bought out of the fifth year by the Rockets, while Lakers guard Russell Westbrook has become impossible to trade without sweeteners as he enters the final year of his own DVE.
Although the Designated Veteran contracts signed to date have been something of a mixed bag, there has been no indication that the NBA or NBPA will be looking to remove the rule in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. It seems safe to assume it’s here to stay.
Here’s the full list – as of September 2022 – of the players who have signed Designated Veteran contracts since they were introduced in 2017:
2017
Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- Free agent contract. Five years, $201,158,790. Began in 2017/18.
- Qualified by winning Most Valuable Player award in 2015.
- Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
- Contract extension. Five years, $206,794,070. Began in 2018/19.
- Qualified by making All-NBA teams in 2015 and 2016.
- James Harden (Rockets)
- Contract extension. Four years, $171,131,520. Began in 2019/20.
- Qualified by making All-NBA team in 2017.
- John Wall (Wizards)
- Contract extension. Four years, $171,131,520. Began in 2019/20.
- Qualified by making All-NBA team in 2017.
2018
- None
2019
- Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
- Contract extension. Four years, $176,265,152. Began in 2021/22.
- Qualified by making All-NBA team in 2019.
2020
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Contract extension. Five years, $228,200,420. Began in 2021/22.
- Qualified by winning Most Valuable Player award in 2019.
- Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
- Contract extension. Five years, $205,000,000. Began in 2021/22.
- Note: Gobert’s starting salary was about 31.4% of the 2021/22 cap, rather than 35%. That makes it a Designated Veteran contract, but not a full super-max deal.
- Qualified by winning Defensive Player of the Year award in 2018 and 2019.
- Contract extension. Five years, $205,000,000. Began in 2021/22.
2021
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
- Contract extension. Four years, $213,280,928. Began in 2023/24.
- Qualified by making All-NBA team in 2021.
2022
Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
- Contract extension. Five years, $276,122,630. Began in 2023/24.
- Qualified by winning Most Valuable Player award in 2021.
- Devin Booker (Suns)
- Contract extension. Four years, $220,441,984. Began in 2024/25.
- Qualified by making All-NBA team in 2022.
- Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)
- Contract extension. Four years, $220,441,984. Began in 2024/25.
- Qualified by making All-NBA team in 2022.
2023
- Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
- Contract extension. Five years, $285,393,640. Began in 2024/25.
- Qualified by making All-NBA team in 2023.
2024
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Contract extension. Five years, $313,933,410. Began in 2025/26.
- Qualified by making All-NBA teams in 2022 and 2023.
2025
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Contract extension. Four years, $285,405,792 (projected). Begins in 2027/28.
- Qualified by making All-NBA teams in 2023 and 2024.
2022/23 NBA Over/Unders: Atlantic Division
The 2022/23 NBA regular season will tip off next month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to continue an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites – including Bovada, BetOnline, and Betway – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
In 2021/22, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’22/23?
We’ll keep our series going today with the Atlantic division…
Boston Celtics
- 2021/22 record: 51-31
- Over/under for 2022/23: 55.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Malcolm Brogdon, Danilo Gallinari, Noah Vonleh, Bruno Caboclo
- Note: Gallinari tore his ACL and is expected to miss most or all of the 2022/23 season. Vonleh and Caboclo are among a series of players expected to compete for roster spots; the others haven’t yet officially signed.
- Lost: Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Juwan Morgan, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts
- Added: Malcolm Brogdon, Danilo Gallinari, Noah Vonleh, Bruno Caboclo
Brooklyn Nets
- 2021/22 record: 44-38
- Over/under for 2022/23: 51.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Royce O’Neale, T.J. Warren, Markieff Morris, Edmond Sumner, Yuta Watanabe
- Lost: Bruce Brown, Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Goran Dragic
- Note: The Nets are also expected to have Ben Simmons available after he missed the entire 2021/22 season.
Philadelphia 76ers
- 2021/22 record: 51-31
- Over/under for 2022/23: 50.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Toronto Raptors
- 2021/22 record: 48-34
- Over/under for 2022/23: 46.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Otto Porter Jr., Christian Koloko, Juancho Hernangomez, D.J. Wilson, Josh Jackson
- Note: Wilson and Jackson don’t have fully guaranteed contracts and may not make the regular season roster.
- Lost: Svi Mykhailiuk, Yuta Watanabe, Armoni Brooks, Isaac Bonga
- Added: Otto Porter Jr., Christian Koloko, Juancho Hernangomez, D.J. Wilson, Josh Jackson
New York Knicks
- 2021/22 record: 37-45
- Over/under for 2022/23: 40.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Jalen Brunson, Isaiah Hartenstein
- Lost: Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, Kemba Walker, Taj Gibson, Ryan Arcidiacono
Previous voting results:
- Milwaukee Bucks (52.5 wins): Over (75.5%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (47.5 wins): Over (73.4%)
- Chicago Bulls (44.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
- Detroit Pistons (28.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
- Indiana Pacers (23.5 wins): Under (62.8%)
- Miami Heat (50.5 wins): Under (56.6%)
- Atlanta Hawks (46.5 wins): Over (53.6%)
- Charlotte Hornets (36.5 wins): Under (63.0%)
- Washington Wizards (35.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
- Orlando Magic (26.5 wins): Over (55.3%)
- Golden State Warriors (53.5 wins): Over (69.2%)
- Phoenix Suns (53.5 wins): Over (60.2%)
- Los Angeles Clippers (52.5 wins): Over (58.0%)
- Los Angeles Lakers (45.5 wins): Under (66.6%)
- Sacramento Kings (34.5 wins): Over (62.0%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (49.5 wins): Over (68.7%)
- Dallas Mavericks (48.5 wins): Over (63.7%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (44.5 wins): Over (61.2%)
- Houston Rockets (24.5 wins): Under (61.8%)
- San Antonio Spurs (23.5 wins): Under (67.5%)
Central Notes: Connaughton, Ball, Cunningham
Pat Connaughton believes he could have gotten more money in free agency but he wanted to stay with the Bucks. That’s why he exercised his contract option this summer before signing an extension, Eric Nehm of The Athletic writes.
“I think I have the opportunity to potentially make a little bit more elsewhere, but for me, to prolong my career, how do you keep yourself in a position where they value what I do? I value winning,” he said. “I value my teammates and the culture that we’ve built, the organization, the management, the ownership, all of it.”
Connaughton, who received a three-year extension worth $28.3MM in July, added that the team is hungry after getting bounced in the second round of the playoffs by the Celtics last season.
“I think we have a group of guys that are excited to get back out there and excited to play with a chip on our shoulder and not have that same taste in our mouths,” he said. “It’s one of those things where I’ll never forget sitting in Boston after Game 7. You use that as fuel, you use that as hunger and you take a slow, methodical approach to this offseason to making sure you’re putting yourself in the best position to come out on top again.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Bulls are expected to be without their starting point guard, Lonzo Ball, in the early portion of the season due to lingering pain in his surgically repaired left knee. ESPN’s Jamal Collier takes an in-depth look at Ball’s knee issues. Ball hasn’t taken the court since mid-January after originally receiving a projected recovery timeline of eight weeks.
- The biggest question regarding Pistons guard Cade Cunningham this season is whether he can develop a consistent 3-point shot, James Edwards III of The Athletic opines. Edwards also considers what second-year forward Isaiah Livers and lottery picks Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren must prove in order for Detroit to be a surprise team this season.
- In case you missed it, the Pistons officially signed Micah Potter to an Exhibit 10 contract.