Nuggets Sign Giorgi Bezhanishvili To Exhibit 10 Deal
OCTOBER 11: Bezhanishvili has officially signed with the Nuggets, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). Denver waived forward Matt Ryan to open up a spot on the 20-man roster.
SEPTEMBER 12: Free agent power forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili will ink an Exhibit 10 deal with the Nuggets, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). The 6’9″ rookie out of Illinois had previously suited up for Denver’s Summer League team.
The big man’s deal is fairly standard for a training camp invitee. Ostensibly, he could play himself into a rotation on the Nuggets’ 15-man roster to kick off the 2021/22 season. That said, the Nuggets are more likely to try him out on their new G League affiliate club, the Grand Rapids Gold. Bezhanishvili could also be in the mix for Denver’s second two-way player slot, alongside the already-signed Markus Howard.
The Nuggets currently have 14 players under standard guaranteed contracts, plus guard PJ Dozier on a non-guaranteed deal.
Bezhanishvili went undrafted this summer after logging three seasons with the Fighting Illini. The 22-year-old averaged 8.2 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 95 contests with the club, including 57 starts.
He enjoyed his most productive collegiate run as a freshman. During the 2018/19 season, Bezhanishvili averaged 12.5 PPG and 5.2 RPG, in 26.1 MPG, while starting all 33 games. By his junior season, those numbers had declined to 5.1 PPG and 2.7 RPG, while averaging just 14.5 MPG in 31 games as a reserve.
Pacers Sign Brad Wanamaker To Training Camp Contract
OCTOBER 6: Having completed their trade sending Sumner to Brooklyn, the Pacers have officially signed Wanamaker to his camp contract, the team announced in a press release.
OCTOBER 5: The Pacers will sign free agent point guard Brad Wanamaker to a training camp contract, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, but it will most likely be an Exhibit 10 agreement.
As Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets, because the Pacers had a full 20-man roster, the club is likely trading away injured guard Edmond Sumner to open up a roster slot for Wanamaker. Agness suggests that Wanamaker could serve as a third point guard in Indiana’s rotation, behind starter Malcolm Brogdon and chief backup T.J. McConnell, assuming he makes the regular season roster.
Wanamaker, 32, is a journeyman reserve who started the 2020/21 season with the Warriors before being dealt to the Hornets. He averaged 5.5 PPG, 2.9 APG and 1.7 RPG across 61 games for both clubs during the year.
The 6’3″ point guard went undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2011. He played in Europe for a variety of clubs and had stateside cameos for the then-Austin Toros in 2012 and a few Summer League rosters. Wanamaker joined the Celtics as a free agent ahead of the 2018/19 season, and stayed in Boston for two seasons before signing up with Golden State.
Nets Trade Doumbouya To Rockets, Acquire Sumner From Pacers
OCTOBER 6: The Nets have now completed both trades, announcing in a press release that their deal with the Pacers is complete.
As we relayed earlier today, Brooklyn and Houston completed their trade on Wednesday morning, with the Rockets waiving Khyri Thomas in order to finalize the move.
OCTOBER 5: The Nets are making a pair of minor trades, according to reports. Brooklyn will send power forward Sekou Doumbouya (and his $3,613,680 salary) and an unprotected 2024 second-round draft pick to the Rockets in exchange for $110K, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). The Rockets will waive Doumbouya, sources inform MacMahon.
In their other deal, the Nets will receive guard Edmond Sumner and a 2025 Heat second-round draft selection from the Pacers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). The Nets will subsequently waive Sumner, who is set to miss the entire 2021/22 season due to a torn left Achilles tendon. The Pacers will receive the draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet from Brooklyn in the deal, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Both of these transactions are essentially salary dumps. The Nets and Pacers are each attaching a second-round pick in order to avoid paying a player’s guaranteed salary. Both the Rockets and Nets have trade exceptions that will enable them to take on a new player without sending one out in a deal.
The Sumner deal creates extra breathing room below the tax line for the Pacers, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link). The Pacers will save $2.3MM, dipping them to $2.8MM below the luxury tax line.
Meanwhile, Marks adds (via Twitter) that the Nets will save a total of $8.1MM as a result of the two deals: $6.8MM in projected luxury tax payments and $1.29MM in salary. Marks notes that Brooklyn was able to compensate for the outgoing 2024 second-rounder owed to Houston by adding the 2025 second-rounder in the Pacers transaction. So ultimately, the star-studded Nets saved $8.1MM while not losing cumulative draft equity.
The 6’8″ Doumbouya, 20, was selected with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft. Last season, he averaged 5.1 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 56 games with Detroit, including 11 starts.
Marks adds (Twitter link) that Brooklyn now gains a $3.6MM trade exception via the Doumbouya deal, and will probably use the exception to add Sumner. The Pacers have gained a $2.3MM trade exception.
Luke Adams contributed to this report.
Magic Exercise Third-Year Contract Options On Anthony, Hampton, Okeke
The Magic announced in a press release (via Twitter) that they have opted to pick up their third-year team options on second-year players Cole Anthony, Chuma Okeke and R.J. Hampton. This move will keep them under contract through the 2022/23 season.
The conclusion of October serves as the deadline for rookie scale option decisions for 2022/23. The salaries for all three young Magic players through the ’22/23 season are now guaranteed. That year, Anthony will earn $3.6MM, Okeke will make $3.4MM, and Hampton will pull in $2.4MM.
When healthy, the 6’2″ Anthony, showed plenty of promise at the point. The No. 15 pick in the 2020 draft averaged 12.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 4.1 APG across 47 games.
Okeke, the No. 16 selection in the 2019 draft out of Auburn, only made his NBA debut during the 2020/21 season. The 6’6″ power forward averaged 7.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.2 APG in 45 appearances.
Hampton was drafted with the No. 24 pick and kicked off his NBA career with the Nuggets. After failing to carve out meaningful rotation minutes across 25 games with Denver, Hampton was sent to the Magic. In Orlando, the 6’4″ guard averaged 11.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 2.8 APG over 26 games.
You can track all of the rookie scale team option decisions for 2022/23 right here.
Michael Beasley Joins Puerto Rican Team
Longtime NBA power forward Michael Beasley has inked a new deal with Puerto Rican club Cangrejeros de Santurce, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
Carchia notes that Beasley will join the club just in time for the BSN playoffs next weekend.
The second overall selection out of Kansas State in the 2008 draft ahead of future All-Stars Russell Westbrook (the No. 4 pick) and Kevin Love (the No. 5 pick), the well-traveled Beasley suited up for 11 NBA seasons with the Heat, Timberwolves, Suns, Rockets, Bucks, Knicks and Lakers. Los Angeles was Beasley’s most recent regular season NBA destination, during the 2018/19 season.
Beasley had reportedly been under consideration for a training camp invitation from the Trail Blazers, after playing for the club’s 2021 Summer League team.
The 32-year-old is known as a solid jump shooting stretch four who never developed as a defender. Across 609 NBA games, he holds averages of 12.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 1.3 APG, plus a .465/.347/.759 shooting line.
Beasley will suit up alongside fellow former NBA player J.J. Barea, notes Marc Stein of Substack (via Twitter).
Southwest Notes: Thad, Spurs Youth, Wood, Clarke, Tillman
New Spurs forward Thaddeus Young appears to be staying put in San Antonio for the time being. The Suns continue to be intrigued by the versatile veteran, but an immediate move is “doubtful,” per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Twitter link).
Young was sent to the Spurs from Chicago in the sign-and-trade package that netted the Bulls pricey small forward DeMar DeRozan during the 2021 offseason. The 33-year-old Young enjoyed a stellar year with the Bulls in 2020/21, averaging 12.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 4.3 APG while logging time at the small forward, power forward, and center positions for a Chicago team in desperate need of his veteran leadership, passing skills, and defensive savvy.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- With longtime leaders DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay now all gone from the Spurs‘ roster, the club’s young players have developed a strong bond together, writes Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “The Spurs do a great job of picking people who have great personalities off the court,” said 22-year-old shooting guard Lonnie Walker. “We all hang out every other day, going out to eat, doing something as a team… As we continue to build that trust, it starts to lead onto the court, knowing what each other can do, knowing what each other can’t do, what we should be better at.”
- When Rockets center Christian Wood first inked a three-year, $41MM deal with Houston in the 2020 offseason, he was not anticipating that he’d soon find himself on a rebuilding roster. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle details how Wood continues to look on the bright side of his new situation. At the time, the club still sported then-All-Star guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook, along with veteran power forward P.J. Tucker. Now all those players have moved on. Westbrook was subsequently traded to the Wizards later in the 2020 offseason (and has now been rerouted to the Lakers), while Harden forced his way onto the Nets and Tucker was sent to the 2021 title-winning Bucks. “I know what we’re trying to build and develop,” Wood said. “I’m looking ahead at the future at what this team has to offer. I know we have a bunch of young talent. I said before, we’re not going to go in try to be the No. 1 seed or No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. But we’re going to try to play every game like it’s our last.”
- Though they could play together, defensive-oriented 6’8″ Grizzlies bench big men Brandon Clarke and Xavier Tillman Sr. seem poised to compete with each other to carve out rotation roles in Memphis, writes Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian. Herrington suggests that Tillman may have an edge edge over Clarke in the eventual rotation, thanks in part to his solid shooting and half-court passing acumen.
Knicks Notes: Selden, Fournier, 3-Point Shooting, Rookie Guards
In addressing the news that point guard Luca Vildoza has been waived by the Knicks, head coach Tom Thibodeau revealed that he has liked what he’s seen of shooting guard Wayne Selden during the team’s training camp, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
With Vildoza gone, Selden is the only player on a standard non-guaranteed contract on the Knicks’ roster, outside of the team’s Exhibit 10 camp invitees. New York has 14 players signed to guaranteed deals and one player inked to a two-way contract. The 6’5″ journeyman shooting guard out of Kansas, 26, has suited up for the Pelicans, Bulls and Grizzlies since going undrafted in 2016.
There’s more out of the City That Never Sleeps:
- New Knicks shooting guard Evan Fournier applauded Thibodeau and the team’s mix of veterans and young players, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “A coach that’s about working, a coach that’s very intense, that tells you things how they are, keeps it real, and just wants to get better,” Fournier said. “I think he’s very good at making sure you understand what he wants from you. It’s very clear. There’s no gray area and there’s no place for misinterpretation. As a player, especially a new guy, it’s easy because you know what to do.” Fournier likened his experiences thus far with the Knicks to his rookie season – when he played for the 57-win 2012/13 Nuggets under George Karl – and praised Thibodeau’s attentiveness and intensity. Fournier was added to the Knicks on a four-year, $78MM sign-and-trade deal with the Celtics.
- Though the Knicks had a fairly high conversion rate of their three-pointers last year, they took among the fewest long-range shots in the league (30.0). Zach Braziller of the New York Post says New York is hoping to boost its output without losing much accuracy. “We want the right 3s,” Thibodeau said. “Like I don’t want to take random ones where we don’t have floor balance and we can’t get back. So to get the defense to collapse, to attack it before it’s set where we have a numerical advantage, but to take the right ones. So try to get away from the long two.” Earlier in the week, reserve guard Derrick Rose suggested that the Knicks could up their numbers to attempting to shoot between 37 and 40 three-pointers a night, which Thibodeau appeared to support.
- With defensive-oriented guards Frank Ntilikina, Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock now elsewhere, rookie Knicks point guard Miles McBride is hoping to step in as a stopper for New York, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. Rookie shooting guard Quentin Grimes, the No. 25 pick this year out of Houston, also appears to have potential at the defensive end. McBride was the No. 36 selection out of West Virginia. “I love how they compete,” Thibodeau raved. Their toughness, their competitiveness, their basketball IQ. They’re sponges, they’re in here all the time, they’re picking up things. Our veterans have done a great job with them. We’ll find out, but I’m confident when they do get their opportunity they will play well.”
Andrew Wiggins Now Vaccinated, Will Be Available For Home Games
Warriors starting small forward Andrew Wiggins appeared deeply resistant toward being vaccinated against the novel coronavirus COVID-19 as recently as last week, but he has now received the vaccine, according to his head coach Steve Kerr, reports Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Due to strict ordinances pertaining to large indoor events in the city of San Francisco (every attendee over the age of 12 needs to be vaccinated against the coronavirus), it had appeared that the vaccine-resistant, maximum-salaried swingman was in danger of missing all 41 of Golden State’s home games for the 2021/22 season.
Wiggins will now be available to play every home game this season, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle adds (Twitter link) that Wiggins will be able to join his Golden State teammates as early as Monday, in the team’s first preseason game against the Trail Blazers.
The NBA had previously announced it would not compensate unvaccinated players for games missed in markets with indoor vaccination requirements. How much of Wiggins’s $31.6MM salary for this season would be docked per game was unclear.
“He just told me today that he was fine with us acknowledging it and that will be the end of it,” Kerr said of Wiggins’s decision, per Nick Friedell of ESPN (Twitter link). “I’m not going to answer any questions beyond that.”
Southwest Notes: Spurs Roster, Pelicans, Sengun, Porter
Though the 2021/22 Spurs roster may confuse some outsiders, head coach Gregg Popovich indicates that the team was constructed with plenty of intentionality, Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express News writes. Finger notes that the club’s front office appears to be open-minded about the potential of the team this season.
“This was purposeful, what you are seeing,” Popovich said. “It was put together with a lot of foresight and a lot of discussion.”
Finger notes that the keys to the franchise have now been handed to intriguing young players like Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker, Keldon Johnson, and rookie lottery selection Joshua Primo.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- With the first week of Pelicans training camp in the books, Christian Clark, Scott Kushner and Rod Walker of NOLA.com assess the latest news out of New Orleans. The team discussed the unified front presented by injured Pelicans All-Star forward Zion Williamson and head of basketball operations David Griffin, the apparent increased strength of 2020 All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, new head coach Willie Green, and more.
- The rebuilding Rockets appear ready to use the 2021/22 season to develop their youth. Rookie forward Alperen Sengun, the No. 16 pick in this year’s draft, is already leaving his mark with the club, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “He showed he can play in the high post and make plays for other guys, no look passes, all kinds of stuff, which is really good,” head coach Stephen Silas noted after an early practice. “Then, when he catches it in the paint, he has pivots and fakes, and all that. He’s going to be exciting for people to see.”
- Talented swingman Kevin Porter Jr. is ready to grow with the Rockets, his second NBA team so far, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I want to be able to do everything great,” Porter said. During his first season in Houston, Porter averaged 16.6 PPG, 6.3 APG, 3.8 RPG and 0.7 SPG across 26 games.
Lakers Notes: Russ-LeBron, Nunn, AD, Reaves
Pricey new Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook expressed confidence in his fit alongside LeBron James, one of the most ball-dominant teammates with whom the very ball-dominant Westbrook has ever played. The decorated 6’3″ vet also made it clear that Los Angeles is heading into the 2021/22 season with title expectations.
“LeBron out of anybody else, he knows what it takes to win a championship,” Westbrook said during the team’s Media Day on Tuesday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “And that’s the ultimate goal. So anything along the way … we cannot get distracted, cannot get deterred from our ultimate goal.”
The Lakers will be Westbrook’s fourth team in four years, following stints with the Thunder in 2018/19, the Rockets in 2019/20, and the Wizards in 2020/21. Last year, Westbrook was not named to the All-Star team during a relatively healthy season for the first time since 2009/10. His backcourt mate Bradley Beal was the lone Wizards player to earn that honor in 2021.
Though he averaged 22.2 PPG, a league-leading 11.7 APG, and 11.5 RPG (his fourth triple-double in five seasons), Westbrook was relatively inefficient as a shooter during his Wizards tenure. Westbrook posted a shooting line of .439/.315/.656. The Lakers are hoping that the 2017 MVP, 32, can help expedite their offense and relieve 36-year-old LeBron James of his playmaking burden, especially during the regular season.
“He ups our pace right away,” James raved about his new teammate. “He’s always in the top five as far as pace. Whatever team is what he with, so being able to get out and being able to get out on the break and be able to try to get some early buckets before the defense is set. That creates that. But also he’s just a flat-out playmaker. I think what a lot of people don’t talk about in his game is how unbelievable of a passer he is. Everyone sees the rebounds, everyone sees the scoring and things of that nature, but his passing, his ability to make guys around him better, that does not get talked about a lot.”
There’s more out of Los Angeles:
- New Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn has joined many of his L.A. teammates on the decorated roster of Klutch Sports clients, McMenamin reports (via Twitter). Nunn, who faced off against the Lakers in the 2020 Finals as a rookie on the Heat, signed a two-year, $10MM deal with Los Angeles this summer. After going undrafted out of Oakland in 2018, the 6’2″ point guard carved out a role for himself on a veteran-laden Miami squad in the 2019/20 season, and was named to the All-Rookie First Team in 2020. Nunn averaged 15.0 PPG, 3.0 APG, 2.9 APG and 0.9 SPG during his two seasons with the Heat. The 26-year-old boasts an impressive career shooting line of .458/.364/.881.
- Lakers All-Star big man Anthony Davis acknowledged during the team’s Media Day that he has had conversations with head coach Frank Vogel about finally becoming the club’s starting center, per Mark Medina of USA Today (Twitter video link). Los Angeles rebuilt its frontcourt rotation around Davis during the offseason, adding veteran former All-Star centers DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard on minimum deals. “That was discussed and I expect to play center,” Davis said. “Obviously there’s times where Dwight or DJ might get the start at center depending on games, but for the most part, I think the plan is to go with me playing center.” In the past, Davis has preferred to start at the power forward position. He has shared the floor alongside a variety of veteran centers while with the Lakers, though Los Angeles found its most success in the 2020 playoffs with Davis at the center position.
- Further details have emerged concerning the new contract of Lakers guard Austin Reaves, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (via Twitter). Smith reports that the deal is a two-year contract at the league minimum. Reaves has a partial guarantee of $100K for the 2021/22 season, and his full first-year salary will become guaranteed on January 10, 2022. The second year of the agreement is fully non-guaranteed. The 6’5″ rookie, 23, went undrafted out of Oklahoma this summer.