Celtics Waive Jabari Parker
3:34pm: The Celtics have officially waived Parker, according to the team (Twitter link).
1:39pm: The Celtics are set to waive veteran forward Jabari Parker ahead of the 2021/22 regular NBA season, writes Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.
Parker signed a multiyear deal with Boston last season, but his salary for ’21/22 was only partially guaranteed for $100K. By moving on from Parker, the Celtics will open up a spot on their regular 15-man roster. The team also still has an open two-way contract slot.
Jared Weiss of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Boston, which projects to be a taxpayer this season, intends to keep its 15th roster spot open for the time being.
After being selected with the second draft pick out of Duke by the Bucks in 2014, Parker showed plenty of promise as a versatile scorer before being felled by two ACL tears, the first during his 2014/15 rookie season with Milwaukee and the second during the 2016/17 season.
Since being made a free agent by the Bucks in 2018, Parker has logged time with his hometown Bulls, then the Wizards, Hawks, and Kings before joining the Celtics during the spring of 2021. He appeared in just 10 games with the Celtics last year, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.6 RPG across 13.8 MPG with Boston.
The 6’8″ power forward, 26, will hope to catch on with his seventh NBA club for an eighth NBA season.
Wizards Pick Up Options On Hachimura, Avdija
The Wizards have picked up their 2022/23 rookie scale contract options on forwards Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link).
Selected with consecutive ninth overall picks in the 2019 and 2020 drafts, respectively, Hachimura and Avdija are among the intriguing lottery picks with which Washington hopes to construct its supportive core around All-Star Bradley Beal and $54MM point guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
A 2019/20 All-Rookie Second Teamer, Hachimura holds averages of 13.7 PPG and 5.8 RPG across two years of NBA action. Avdija averaged 6.3 PPG and 4.9 RPG during his 2020/21 rookie season.
Hachimura, currently entering his third season in the NBA, will be eligible for a contract extension in 2022, while Avdija would be extension-eligible in 2023 if the Wizards exercise his 2023/24 team option next year.
2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Golden State Warriors
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves, examine what still needs to be done before opening night, and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Golden State Warriors.
Free agent signings:
Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.
Nemanja Bjelica: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.- Andre Iguodala: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Otto Porter: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Chris Chiozza: Two-way contract.
Trades:
- Acquired the Grizzlies’ 2026 second-round pick (top-42 protected) from the Jazz in exchange for Eric Paschall.
Draft picks:
- 1-7: Jonathan Kuminga
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $24,855,347).
- 1-14: Moses Moody
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $17,024,109).
Contract extensions:
- Stephen Curry: Four years, $215,353,662. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2022/23.
Departing players:
- Kent Bazemore
- Nico Mannion
- Kelly Oubre
- Eric Paschall
- Alen Smailagic
Other offseason news:
- Klay Thompson continues to recover from an Achilles tear and will miss the start of the season.
- James Wiseman continues to recover from knee surgery and will miss the start of the season.
- Hired Kenny Atkinson, Dejan Milojević, and Jama Mahlalela as assistant coaches; lost assistant coach Jarron Collins.
Salary cap situation:
- Remained over the cap and above the tax line.
- Carrying approximately $174.2MM in salary.
- Full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,890,000) still available.
- Three traded player exceptions available, including one worth $2.25MM.
Lingering preseason issues:
- The Warriors have 14 players on fully guaranteed contracts, plus Damion Lee on a partial guarantee ($500K).
- Avery Bradley, Gary Payton II, Jordan Bell, and Mychal Mulder are on non-guaranteed contracts, vying for a roster spot, but Golden State could open the season with an open roster spot to save some money.
- The Warriors have an open two-way contract slot.
- Andrew Wiggins is eligible for a veteran contract extension until October 18.
- Kevon Looney is eligible for a veteran contract extension all season.
The Warriors’ offseason:
The Warriors look considerably different than they did the last time they made a deep playoff run, when they fell to the Raptors in six games during an injury-riddled 2019 NBA Finals matchup. The club is hoping that its revamped depth – including some talented young prospects, a couple solid three-point shooters on minimum deals, and one old, old friend – will be enough to help its veteran core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and, at some point, Klay Thompson make another deep postseason run.
Most prominently, Golden State added two new lottery picks to its stable of veterans and youth, selecting 6’8″ forward Jonathan Kuminga from the G League Ignite and 6’6″ shooting guard Moses Moody out of Arkansas.
Those two picks – the seventh and 14th overall selections in the 2021 draft – were the subject of frequent trade speculation leading up to draft day, but the Warriors ultimately decided it made more sense at this point to hang onto them than to try to package them for a star, given the lack of viable options on the trade market.
Both Kuminga and Moody are viewed as intriguing long-term additions, though the Warriors probably aren’t counting on either teenager to make a significant contribution to a 2022 playoff push. Kuminga is already dealing with a knee injury that will likely sideline him to start the season.
2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala has returned to Golden State, following two seasons spent with the Heat and, technically, the Grizzlies, though he never suited up in Memphis. How much the 37-year-old can reasonably be expected to contribute on the floor in his 18th NBA season remains to be seen. The Warriors also took flyers on a pair of veteran wing shooters in Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter.
The forwards’ on-paper fit alongside Curry is intriguing, although there is a reason both were available on veteran’s minimum contracts. Bjelica is a career 38.7% shooter from deep, while Porter has connected on an impressive 40.2% of his triples. Last year, Bjelica struggled to stay on the floor for a competing Heat team that could have desperately used his floor-spacing during the 2021 playoffs, while Porter has appeared in just 42 games across the past two seasons due to fitness issues. If they can stay healthy and display some consistency, both vets could be useful rotation pieces.
The Warriors also let swingman Kelly Oubre join the Hornets in free agency after trading for him following the news of Thompson’s season-ending Achilles tear during the 2020 offseason. A solid athlete, Oubre never managed to develop a consistent outside shoot during his one-year tenure in Golden State, connecting on just 31.6% of his 5.2 long-range looks per night. The Warriors had hoped that Oubre would provide dependable help for Curry on the perimeter.
The Warriors’ upcoming season:
Thompson has missed two consecutive seasons with two of the worst injuries a player could suffer in basketball, an ACL tear and an Achilles tear. No one is expecting him to return to his All-Defensive peak when it comes to guarding the opposition’s best perimeter players, but the Warriors will need him to at least approximate his scoring output of years past if they hope to really threaten the top teams in the West this year.
With Thompson not expected to return until possibly December, the starting shooting guard position on the team remained up for grabs entering training camp. Jordan Poole has all but locked up the spot, averaging 23.3 PPG in four preseason contests.
Hyper-athletic second-year center James Wiseman, the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft out of Memphis, flashed plenty of promise during his rookie season, but also missed nearly half the year after suffering a season-ending right meniscus tear that required surgery. The seven-footer appeared in just 39 contests last season, and appeared very much to be a raw prospect still in need of development. The timeline for his return, in addition to Thompson’s, remains fairly murky, and it’s unclear how much he’ll even be able to contribute to winning games during his age-20 season.
After initially refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, small forward Andrew Wiggins listened to his wallet and got the shot. He’ll be available for Golden State come opening night, and will be heavily leaned upon to score on the wing until Thompson’s return. Though he’s technically eligible for a veteran contract extension until October 18, a new deal for Wiggins seems very unlikely unless he’s willing to take a pay cut.
Hoops Rumors readers just barely voted in favor of Golden State besting an over/under of 48.5 wins, which feels somewhat optimistic. The team is riddled with question marks beyond its All-NBA point guard.
Last season, buoyed by outrageous scoring outbursts from Curry and the all-defense/no-shooting output of Green, Golden State was able to achieve a 39-33 regular season record, eighth in the West, but failed to secure a playoff spot in the play-in tournament. Stretched to an 82-game schedule, that record translates to 44 wins, which feels about right. Green himself, in a recent podcast, expressed his uncertainty regarding the championship pedigree of the team’s current roster.
Each member of Golden State’s core big three is on the wrong side of 30, and all have dealt with injury issues in recent years. It may be unfair to expect Curry, in his age-33 season, to replicate the 32.0 PPG, 5.8 APG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.2 SPG he averaged last year across 63 games, on typically eye-popping shooting percentages (.482/.421/.916).
Golden State is hoping that its new supporting cast, including several not-ready-for-prime-time players, will be enough to support Curry on offense until Thompson returns, ideally as a reasonable facsimile of the five-time All-Star who helped lead the Warriors to five consecutive Finals appearances.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post. Luke Adams contributed to this report.
Malcolm Brogdon Has Grade 1 Left AC Sprain
OCTOBER 13: Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle downplayed the severity of Brogdon’s injury, referring to it as a “day-to-day” issue and confirming that the guard participated in non-contact work on Wednesday (Twitter link via Agness).
OCTOBER 12: Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon has sustained a Grade 1 left acromioclavicular joint sprain, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (via Twitter).
This is a shoulder separation, typically low-grade enough to not require surgical intervention, and can take a few weeks to fully heal, though the Pacers haven’t confirmed a recovery timeline for Brogdon. Agness says the veteran is a scratch for tonight’s preseason contest against the Grizzlies. The Pacers are set to play their first game of the 2021/22 regular season against the Hornets on October 20.
Brogdon’s name has been a popular one on the trade market this summer, as the Sixers have apparently had conversations with Indiana about including him and/or promising swingman Caris LeVert in a package for Philadelphia’s disgruntled All-Defensive First Teamer Ben Simmons.
Though Brogdon has yet to be named to an All-Star team, he is an above-average starter with two-way ability at one of the most valuable positions in the NBA on a reasonable contract, which makes him a key attribute in a lot of trade chatter. The 28-year-old has one year and $21.7MM left on his current deal. In 56 games last season, Brogdon averaged 21.2 PPG, 5.9 APG and 5.3 RPG, while logging a stellar shooting line of .453/.388/.864.
Pacific Notes: Green, Ayton, THT, Clippers
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr wants All-Defensive First Team power forward Draymond Green to shoot more, writes Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Simmons reports that, ahead of Golden State’s 2021 preseason, Kerr told Green that he hopes the former three-time All-Star can average two or three three-point looks a night. “If you’re open, let it fly,” Kerr said. Green connected on just 27.0% of his 2.0 attempts per night during the 2020/21 season. He has not shot better than 31% from deep since the 2015/16 season.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Suns center Deandre Ayton has expressed his frustration that he has yet to secure a rookie contract extension with Phoenix, per Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “I love Phoenix, but I’m really disappointed that we haven’t gotten a deal done yet,” Ayton said. “I mean we were two wins (away) from a championship (last season) and I just really want to be respected, to be honest. To be respected like my peers are being respected.” Several players among Ayton’s 2018 draft class, including Hawks All-Star point guard Trae Young, Mavericks All-Star point guard Luka Doncic, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Nuggets power forward Michael Porter Jr., have been signed to maximum contract extensions this summer. The deadline for Ayton to complete an extension is October 18. Although Ayton initially seemed hopeful to get a deal done ahead of the season, reports last week suggested that talks were at an impasse — a separate report indicated that negotiations were still continuing.
- Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker had a surgery to address a right thumb tear, and is set to miss at least the next four weeks of action, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). It was reported that Horton-Tucker injured the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb earlier this week. This is a significant blow for the Lakers’ perimeter depth. The club has high hopes for Horton-Tucker this season, having inked him to a three-year, $32MM contract during the summer.
- Clippers forward Marcus Morris and big man Serge Ibaka are set to rejoin the club for their first full-contact practices following injuries suffered during L.A.’s 2021 playoff run, per Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times. “This will be his first opportunity to change ends of the floor, play with some contact, trying to get acclimated to what we are trying to do,” head coach Tyronn Lue said of Morris. “Serge is a great man, he’s happy all the time, I think he’s almost back,” starting center Ivica Zubac said of reserve Ibaka.
Melvin Frazier Joins Thunder On Training Camp Deal
Free agent swingman Melvin Frazier has joined the Thunder on an Exhibit 10 training camp deal, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (via Twitter).
After being selected with the No. 35 pick in the 2018 NBA draft out of Tulane by the Magic, Frazier appeared sparingly for Orlando, logging time in just 10 games with the Magic during his rookie season in 2018/19. The 6’5″ 25-year-old played in 19 contests for Orlando during the 2019/20 season.
Frazier had a better showing with Orlando’s G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic. He averaged 12.2 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 18 games during the 2018/19 season and 18.1 PPG and 6.6 RPG across 23 games in 2019/20.
After failing to develop in Orlando, Frazier next appeared in 12 games for the Oklahoma City Blue during the Orlando “bubble” NBAGL season in 2021, averaging 6.8 PPG and 3.4 RPG. His new deal with the Thunder suggests the plan is for him to return to the Blue in 2021/22.
Southeast Notes: Hachimura, Magic, Huerter, Walker
Wizards power forward Rui Hachimura has returned to D.C. after a weeks-long excused absence due to personal reasons, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Hachimura, 23, averaged 13.8 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 57 games for Washington during the 2021/22 season.
Hughes notes that the 6’8″ third-year player, a 2019 lottery selection out of Gonzaga, will now have to wait to clear COVID-19 protocols. He missed several weeks with the Wizards during the club’s 2021/22 training camp/preseason. The team expects him to return within a few days.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- The Magic have announced several promotions within their front office, per a team press release. Matt Lloyd and Anthony Parker have been promoted to prominent roles for the club, with Lloyd upgraded to the title of vice president of basketball operations and Parker to assistant GM.
- Hawks shooting guard Kevin Huerter appears to be confident he’ll receive a rookie contract extension before the October 18 deadline, following a terrific showing in the Eastern Conference playoffs with Atlanta, writes Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Kirschner notes that, during the 2021 offseason, Huerter had a left ankle procedure to treat long-term soreness that had afflicted him throughout the 2020/21 season. “I think both sides are saying the right things and want to get something done,” Huerter said. “I’m as confident as I’ve ever been. I think both sides want to get something done. It’s obviously just coming up with the right value.” The 23-year-old, drafted with the No. 19 pick out of Maryland in 2018, averaged 11.9 PPG, 3.5 APG, 3.3 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 69 games for Atlanta last year. He posted a shooting line of .432/.363/.781.
- The Capital City Go-Go, NBA G League affiliate of the Wizards, will add rookie small forward Kyree Walker, tweets Jordan Schultz of Boardroom. Schultz mentions that Walker could be considered for the Wizards’ open two-way player slot. The Wizards previously had been preparing to add Walker to their training camp roster and may still sign him to an Exhibit 10 contract to secure his NBAGL rights.
Pelicans Waive Wenyen Gabriel, Malcolm Hill, James Banks
The Pelicans have waived three players, per a team press release. New Orleans has cut training camp players James Banks and Malcolm Hill, plus the non-guaranteed contract of power forward Wenyen Gabriel. As Andrew Lopez of ESPN notes (Twitter link), this move reduces the team’s current roster to 15 players, plus two players on two-way contracts.
The Pelicans announced the additions of Banks and Hill over the weekend. Gabriel saw action in 21 games during the 2021/22 season.
It was generally considered an uphill battle for either Banks, a 6’10” center out of Georgia Tech, or Hill, a 6’6″ wing out of Illinois, to make the opening night roster for New Orleans. Both players had been inked to Exhibit 10 training camp contracts, and will now mostly likely join the Pelicans’ NBAGL affiliate club, the Birmingham Squadron.
After going undrafted in 2018 out of Kentucky, the 6’9″ Gabriel joined the Kings on a two-way deal for the 2018/19 season. His contract was converted to a standard deal ahead of the 2019/20, and he was eventually dealt to the Trail Blazers. He signed with the Pelicans as a free agent during the 2020 offseason. In his 21 games with the club, he averaged 3.4 PPG and 2.6 RPG across 11.5 MPG.
Al Horford Tests Positive For COVID-19
Celtics center Al Horford has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced today in a press release. Per the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols, Horford is now isolating from players and team personnel.
The Celtics’ first regular season game will be an October 20 tilt against the Knicks in New York. It remains to be seen whether or not Horford will clear league protocols in time to return to the floor by then. Boston has two more preseason games on its slate — one tomorrow against the Magic and one on Friday against the Heat.
Horford was traded to the Celtics from the Thunder as part of the Kemba Walker deal earlier in the 2021 offseason. The 35-year-old big man last suited up for Boston during the 2018/19 season, before joining the Sixers in free agency. Horford will earn $27MM during the 2021/22 season, and is guaranteed to make at least $14.5MM of his $26.5MM salary in 2022/23, the final year of his deal.
In 28 games last season, Horford averaged 14.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 3.4 APG in just 27.9 MPG for the rebuilding Thunder, before Oklahoma City opted to shut him down for the home stretch of the season.
This news arrives on the heels of a recent announcement that All-Star Celtics wing Jaylen Brown also tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.
Dillon Brooks Has Fractured Left Hand, To Be Reassessed In 2-3 Weeks
The Grizzlies have announced that swingman Dillon Brooks is still recovering from a left hand fracture and will be reassessed in 2-3 weeks.
According to the team, after normal imaging was conducted on players ahead of the 2021/22 season, the Grizzlies decided that Brooks should undergo further treatment for the hand to heal. The 25-year-old was originally sidelined for eight weeks earlier this summer after breaking his hand in two locations.
The 6’7″ wing out of Oregon averaged a career-best 17.2 PPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.2 SPG last season, to go along with 2.9 RPG, playing 67 out of 72 games for Memphis. He also posted a shooting line of .419/.344/.815.
Brooks has missed all of the Grizzlies’ four preseason contests thus far as a result of a sore right thigh.