Jazz Notes: Gay, Front Office Changes, Vaccination Rate, Training Camp
Speaking to reporters at the team’s Media Day this week, forward Rudy Gay explained his interest in joining the Jazz this summer after spending four seasons as an effective tweener forward with the Spurs.
“I’ve played with [All-Star point guard Mike Conley] before, and it’s always good to know a guy on the team,” the 6’8″ Gay said of the decision, according to Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter).
Gay also mentioned that Jazz head coach Quin Snyder delivered a heck of a pitch in an effective 45-to-60-minute recruitment discussion, per Walden. Utah inked the 35-year-old to a three-year, $18.6MM deal this summer, with a player option for the 2023/24 season. In his 15th NBA season, Gay averaged 11.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 1.4 APG. He also boasted solid shooting splits of .420/.381/.804 across 63 games.
There’s more out of Utah:
- The Jazz have recently announced a series on front office changes, per Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). The most significant change among these transitions is assistant general manager David Morway‘s decision to become the club’s senior basketball advisor, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Morway, who played a big role in recruiting the aforementioned Gay to Utah, reportedly opted to change his role in an effort to spend more time with his family, Jones adds (Twitter link).
- In some exciting health news for the Jazz, general manager Justin Zanik stated that Utah’s entire organization is vaccinated during his Media Day presser, per Tony Jones of The Athletic (via Twitter).
- The Jazz were off and running for their first day training camp for the 2021/22 season, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “We didn’t spend too much time on teaching much stuff,” Conley reflected following the club’s first practice. “Normally in training camp you spend a good amount of time just walking around and going through detail after detail. With the vets we brought in … we’re allowed to just skip all that and just go straight to live action or working on different things that can expedite our situation as a team. So having that kind of group is huge.” The Jazz were the top seed in the West for the 2020/21 season, but were knocked out in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. This revamped club, boasting more frontcourt flexibility and hoping for better health from its All-Star backcourt of Conley and Donovan Mitchell in the playoffs, appears hopeful to prove itself all over again.
Marques Bolden, Malik Fitts Join Jazz For Training Camp
8:04pm: The Jazz confirmed the additions of Bolden and Fitts in a press release.
4:57pm: The Jazz have agreed to add a tandem of frontcourt players, center Marques Bolden and power forward Malik Fitts, ahead of training camp, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). Though terms of the deals have yet to be divulged, they are most likely Exhibit 10 contracts, generally the standard practice of training camp agreements. This brings Utah’s total training camp tally to 20 players.
After going undrafted in 2020 out of Saint Mary’s, the 6’8″ Fitts joined the training camp roster of the Clippers ahead of the 2020/21 season. He suited up for Los Angeles’s NBA G League affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers, during the 2021 NBAGL “bubble” in Orlando. Fitts averaged 11.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 1.4 APG. He joined Los Angeles on a 10-day contract in the spring of 2021, appearing in just three games, averaging 3.7 MPG.
The 6’10” Bolden, meanwhile, went undrafted out of Duke in 2019. After playing for the Cavaliers’ Summer League club in 2019, he joined Cleveland’s training camp team before ultimately being waived. He then joined Cleveland’s NBA G League affiliate club, the Canton Charge (now the Cleveland Charge). He joined the Cavaliers on a 10-day deal and suited up for one game.
During the 2020/21 season, Bolden served as a two-way player for Cleveland, appearing in six games as a deep bench reserve. Cleveland waived him from its roster, but added him again to its G League affiliate later. Bolden averaged 9.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 2.1 BPG across 10 games for the Charge during the truncated 2020/21 G League “bubble” season.
Both players will be able to compete for roster spots with the Jazz. Utah has 13 players inked to fully guaranteed contracts, although one player, third-year swingman Miye Oni, is on a non-guaranteed deal until January and may have the edge in claiming an eventual roster spot. Both of the team’s two-way contract slots are currently occupied.
Lakers Sign Trevelin Queen To Training Camp Contract
The Lakers have completed a partially-guaranteed training camp contract with guard Trevelin Queen, his agent Daniel Hazan informed Dave McMenamin of ESPN (via Twitter).
The 6’6″ guard went undrafted out of New Mexico State in 2020. He averaged 13.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 2.4 APG on a .471/.387/.814 shooting line during his final collegiate season in 2019/20. Queen was named to the All-WAC Second-Team that year.
Queen joined the Rockets on a training camp deal in 2020 after not being selected by an NBA club in the draft. He was ultimately cut ahead of the regular season and signed on with Houston’s NBAGL affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In 15 games for the Vipers, Queen averaged 10.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.2 APG and 1.2 SPG.
The 24-year-old averaged 13.2 PPG and 2.0 SPG while connecting on 54% of his three-point attempts for Los Angeles’s Summer League club this year.
The addition of Queen brings L.A.’s training camp roster total to 18 players. Los Angeles has 13 players under guaranteed contracts, with guard Austin Reaves in position to become the team’s 14th man after inking a two-year contract earlier this week. Should Queen not make the opening night roster for the new-look Lakers, Los Angeles can get an extended look at his play on the team’s G League club, the South Bay Lakers.
Bulls Notes: Ball, Karnisovas, Domercant, Bradley
New starting Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball anticipates that he will operate more as a “traditional” point guard within Chicago’s offense, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Ball suggested that with his prior team, the Pelicans, he served more as a wing who sought openings for jump shots and defended across a variety of positions than a true point guard.
“Just getting back to being more of a traditional point guard where I’m comfortable at,” Ball said during the Bulls’ Media Day. “Last year was different for me, but whatever coach asks me, I’m going to do to the best of my abilities. This year, it’s looking like I’m going to be playing point guard a lot, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Bulls team president Arturas Karnisovas spoke about hoping that Ball, 6’6″ and athletic could help speed up and diversify the Bulls’ offense. “He likes to play fast,” Karnisovas said. “He likes to advance the ball, to guard. He can be a primary ballhandler, or he can play as a secondary ballhandler.”
There’s more out of the Windy City:
- Karnisovas opined that Chicago’s 2021 trade deadline moves, primarily the addition of All-Star center Nikola Vucevic, signaled that the team was serious about improving the talent around All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). Karnisovas also noted that Chicago’s newfound commitment to creating a winning culture helped draw some of the team’s top free agent targets.
- The Bulls’ NBA G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, have promoted Henry Domercant, an assistant coach on the club since 2018, to become the team’s fourth head coach, per a team press release. Domercant hails from Naperville, Illinois, a suburb about 30 miles away from Chicago — and roughly 30 miles away from the Windy City Bulls’ home arena in Hoffman Estates. “As a lifelong Chicagoland guy, the Chicago Bulls franchise has always been special to me and I’m grateful to the organization for the opportunity to lead the Windy City Bulls,” Domercant said. “Over the last five years, the Windy City Bulls have brought a high level of basketball to the Northwest Suburbs, and I am excited to build upon that success.”
- New Bulls reserve center Tony Bradley appears to be fully aware of his role heading into his first year in Chicago, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “I feel like I play to the best of my ability on defense, the pick-and-roll defense, to protect the rim,” Bradley, 23, said after the team’s first training camp session of the new NBA year. “I know I’m no high-flyer. But I do know how to get shots before they leave the hand instead of all the way up top. So I think I’m pretty good at it, pretty solid.”
Heat Notes: Lowry, Power Forwards, Martin, Camp Questions
New Heat starting point guard Kyle Lowry is looking forward to building an on-court relationship with incumbent stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Lowry, a six-time All-Star and 2019 title winner with the Raptors, inked a three-year, $85MM contract with Miami in a sign-and-trade deal this summer. Butler and Lowry have been friends since winning a Gold medal together for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics. Lowry is the godfather to Butler’s daughter.
“Having that common interest in the love of the game and how hard we work and how much we want to win, that was the first thing of us being on the same page,” Lowry explained of the origins of his relationship with the All-NBA swingman.
Lowry also expressed excitement about what Adebayo brings to the floor. “Bam can handle the ball,” Lowry raved. “He can make plays, super athletic. He’s high energy. He’s competitive.” Lowry expects that his own facilitating abilities will benefit the big man. The 35-year-old hopes that he can help Adebayo “be in better spots” and get “easier looks, layups and dunks.”
There’s more out of South Beach:
- Questions remain about how much three-point shooting the Heat will be able to get out of their power forward corps, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The team’s two new power forward additions, recent champions P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris, have seen their long-range output dip recently. Tucker, 36, is a career 35.9% shooter, but his shooting fell to 32.2% from deep during the Bucks’ 2021 playoff run. Morris connected on 38.6% of his 3.9 triples per game with the Pistons and Lakers during the 2019/20 season, but saw that number fall to 31.1% in 2020/21. KZ Okpala and re-signed big man Dewayne Dedmon could also see time at the power forward position alongside starting Adebayo in Miami’s frontcourt, though both have been unreliable from long range. Dedmon had two seasons with the Hawks, in 2017/18 and 2018/19, in which he averaged 35.5% or better on a decent volume of three point attempts, but has not connected on more than 21% of his threes in a single season since. Seven-footer Omer Yurtseven, meanwhile, is a solid three-point shooter, but Jackson wonders if the Heat will trust him enough to give him meaningful minutes in their rotation.
- With training camp just around the corner, new two-way player Caleb Martin will do his darnedest to prove his mettle as a candidate for legitimate Heat roster minutes, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “At the end of the day, regardless if I’m on a two-way or if I was on an Exhibit 10, it doesn’t matter,” Martin said. “I’m just coming into training camp to try to play the best basketball I can and contribute any way I can and impact enough in a way to where I earn minutes.”
- The Heat are figuring out rotational questions for the fringes of their roster ahead of training camp, says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Winderman notes that, in the absence of Kendrick Nunn (now with the Lakers) and Goran Dragic (traded to the Raptors as part of the Lowry deal), Gabe Vincent looks like he will begin the season as the Heat’s prime backup point guard. 6’5″ backup shooting guard Tyler Herro could see an uptick in ball handling duties. The rotational fate of forward Okpala, on the last season of a three-year deal, could be figured out in the club’s preseason. Winderman anticipates that Micah Potter, Javonte Smart, Dru Smith and D.J. Stewart will have plenty to prove in the preseason, though they will most likely spend the majority of the 2021/22 season with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Each player will hope to intrigue the Heat enough in training camp to encourage a call-up to Miami during the season.
Pacific Notes: Moody, Booker, Jack, Phillips
Rookie Warriors shooting guard Moses Moody, chosen with the No. 14 pick out of Arkansas in the NBA draft this summer, is optimistic heading into his first NBA season, writes Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 6’6″ wing was highly coveted by Golden State, who even considered drafting him with the seventh pick before ultimately selecting Jonathan Kuminga.
“I want to establish the foundation for my career, and I feel like I will be able to do that with this coaching staff and these players,” the 19-year-old Moody said of how he intends to develop with the Warriors.
Moody is a solid defender with an elite 7’1″ wingspan. He averaged 16.3 PPG, including 37% shooting from long range, during his four games in the 2021 Las Vegas Summer League. Simmons observes that, until Klay Thompson‘s anticipated return from an Achilles tear a couple months into the season, there will be something of a competition for the Warriors’ starting shooting guard position, and Moody will certainly make his case for consideration.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Suns All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker has entered the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols and will miss part of the team’s upcoming training camp for the 2021/22 season, per Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. It is unclear whether or not Booker himself has tested positive for the novel coronavirus or has been determined to have been exposed via contact tracing.
- New Suns assistant coach Jarrett Jack had intended to continue his career as a player before he was summoned to the Phoenix bench, he indicated in an interview with Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. The former NBA point guard had most recently served as a veteran leader with the G League Ignite during the 2020/21 season. “I know what they’re about and I know what they want to build and how they want to build it,” Jack said of the Suns. “So now I got to get my head wrapped around this pretty fast.” In the second part of Jack’s conversation with Rankin, he discussed his role with the club. “I believe player development,” Jack said. “I believe I’ll be pretty much with the point guards for the most part.”
- The Clippers have added former Wizards director of athletic performance and rehabilitation Jesse Phillips to their medical staff, reports Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Rockets Re-Sign Tyler Bey On Two-Way Deal
The Rockets have brought back free agent small forward Tyler Bey, signing him to a two-way contract, per a team press release revealing the club’s full training camp lineup.
The 6’7″ swingman out of Colorado will join Anthony Lamb as the club’s second two-way player. It will be Bey’s second straight season in such a capacity.
Bey was selected by the Sixers with the No. 36 pick in the 2020 draft on behalf of Dallas. After the Mavericks decided to not partake in the NBAGL Orlando “bubble” restart for the 2020/21 season, Bey joined the Long Island Nets for a single game, before moving to the Salt Lake City Stars. Overall, he averaged 15.1 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 0.8 SPG on .493/.325/.771 shooting, across 13 games.
In 18 appearances with the Mavericks during the 2020/21 season, Bey averaged a modest 3.9 MPG. He most recently suited up for the Bulls’ 2021 Summer League club, then signed a non-guaranteed contract with Houston. The Rockets waived him last week, but brought him back into the fold after waiving two-way player Matthew Hurt.
Bey racked up significant accolades in college. He was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team in 2019 and the All-Pac-12 Second Team in 2020. He also was honored as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.
Central Notes: Bulls, Bucks, Cavs Coaches, Pistons
The Bulls made a splash in free agency this summer, signing several new veteran players. Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago breaks down the specific ways that costly new additions Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, and Alex Caruso can help Chicago earn its first postseason berth in five years.
Schaefer notes that DeRozan boasted the 21st-best offensive rating in the league last season (110.4) and can help boost the Bulls’ offense in a variety of ways. DeRozan’s ability to get to the free throw line, protect the ball, and create offense when Bulls All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine sits will all help Chicago win, Schaefer contends. Ball should help expedite the pace of Chicago’s offense. On the other end, stingy pick-and-roll defender Caruso should help the team limit opponents at the point of attack.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- The Bucks‘ offseason earned a B grade from Zach Harper of The Athletic. The Bucks upgraded their backcourt depth in signing veteran point guard (and former Milwaukee reserve) George Hill, as well as Tremont Waters. Harper suggests that Milwaukee also improved on the wing by adding solid veterans Grayson Allen and Rodney Hood, who should be able to recover still-injured swingman Donte DiVincenzo. Harper opines that the Bucks regressed in the frontcourt after letting defensive-minded forward P.J. Tucker walk in free agency. Meanwhile, the Bucks stayed the same while preserving their 2020/21 center rotation.
- The Cavaliers have made some new coaching adjustments, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Dan Geriot, formerly an assistant on head coach J.B. Bickerstaff‘s bench, will become the head coach of the club’s NBAGL affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. Recent Charge head coach Nate Reinking, meanwhile, will join the Cavaliers as an assistant.
- The rebuilding Pistons have some intriguing rotation decisions that could be informed by training camp performance, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Langlois recognizes that Detroit’s top six players appear to be fairly established, but that there is room for minutes for the club’s developing young players beyond that.
Wizards Sign Jordan Schakel To Training Camp Contract
8:08pm: The Wizards have officially inked Schakel to an Exhibit 10 deal, the team announced today (via Twitter).
7:40pm: Rookie wing Jordan Schakel has signed a training camp contract with the Wizards, sources inform JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).
The 6’6″ Schakel went undrafted following a four-season San Diego State stint. During his final collegiate season in 2020/21, he averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, and 1.0 SPG on .473/.461/.908 shooting. The 23-year-old was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team and to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team for his efforts.
Shaw notes that Schakel most recently suited up for the Kings’ championship-winning 2021 Summer League squad.
The revamped Wizards have 14 guaranteed contracts on their books heading into the 2021/22 season. The minimum-salary contract of center Daniel Gafford only becomes fully guaranteed on January 7, 2022, but it seems highly likely that Washington will re-up on the springy big man. Washington has one of its two two-way contract openings still available.
Schakel could conceivably compete for the Wizards’ available two-way slot in training camp. Should that not transpire, he could still log time for the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. If Schakel can stick with the Go-Go for at least 60 days, he will earn a $50K bonus.
JD Shaw contributed to this report.
Nets Notes: Extension Talks, Vaccinations, Two-Way Slot, Aldridge
With a week left until training camp commences for the Nets, general manager Sean Marks expressed optimism during a press conference today that the club will be able to come to terms on contract extensions for All-Star guards James Harden and Kyrie Irving, writes Peter Botte of the New York Post.
“Regarding the extension conversations, we’ve had very positive conversations with both those guys and whether it’s family members, (their) people, and so forth, I think it always helps to do these things in person,” Marks said. “We’re looking forward to sitting down with them over the course of the next week, two weeks, and furthering those discussions.”
As Botte writes, Irving is eligible to sign a contract that tacks on an additional four years and $181.6MM to his current agreement. Harden, the better player, can agree to terms on an extension that would pay him $161.1MM over three additional years. All-Star forward Kevin Durant signed a four-year, $197.7MM extension that will keep him on the Nets through the 2025/26 season.
There’s more out of Brooklyn:
- The Nets still need to get a few of their players fully vaccinated for COVID-19 so that they are permitted to practice and play in New York City under the terms of the city’s new vaccine mandate, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I won’t get into who it is, but we feel confident in the following several days before camp everybody would be allowed to participate and so forth,” Marks said about the situation. The Nets’ GM expects everyone to be vaccinated before the 2021/22 regular season begins. Per the new vaccine executive order, individuals over the age of 12 without at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will not be permitted inside certain indoor locations, including the Nets’ and Knicks’ home arenas.
- Marks said today that the Nets will have a “healthy competition” for the team’s current available two-way contract during training camp, per Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link). Big man Devontae Cacok and guard David Duke seem destined to be in the mix for the opening. Brooklyn still has an open spot on its 20-man roster, so the club may yet invite another candidate to compete for the second two-way slot before camp begins.
- During a press conference today, Marks admitted he was initially wary about bringing back center LaMarcus Aldridge, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Aldridge was compelled to retire just five games after joining the Nets during the 2020/21 due to an irregular heart beat issue. “I tried to talk him out of it,” Marks said. “I said, ‘You don’t need this. Why would you come back?’ I think it was important to see his conviction, and it’s not a conviction made without really doing due diligence.” According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post (via Twitter), Marks revealed that Aldridge reached out to the Nets as soon as he was medically cleared to return to the hardwood.