JaMychal Green Declines Player Option, Hits Free Agency
Athletic Clippers forward JaMychal Green is turning down his $5MM player option and will hit the open market as a free agent, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium tweets. Green had inked a two-year, $10MM deal with the starry Clippers, with an opt-out clause for this season, last year ahead of an anticipated deep postseason run.
Green now joins fellow Clippers forwards Montrezl Harrell and Marcus Morris in free agency as Los Angeles weighs options for how to reshape its front court, following a disappointing 2019/20 postseason that saw the Clippers falling in seven games to the Nuggets during the conference semifinals.
Though the 6’8″ Green did not provide the scoring punch or positional versatility of Morris or Harrell, he carved out a consistent rotation role with the Clippers last season nevertheless. In 20.7 MPG, Green averaged 6.8 PPG and 6.2 RPG. He could be an intriguing option for many contenders as an affordable, floor-spacing big man. He connected on 38.7% of his 3.8 three point attempts per game and shot 75% from the charity stripe.
Austin Rivers Declines Player Option For 2020/21
NOVEMBER 19: As expected, Rivers is opting out of his contract and will reach the free agent market on Friday, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).
NOVEMBER 12: Rockets guard Austin Rivers will opt out of his veteran’s minimum $2.4MM player option for the 2020/21 season and enter the 2020 free agent market, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), Rivers fielded offers close to the $5.7MM mid-level exception last summer, but opted to re-sign with the club at a discount last summer in the hopes of competing for a title.
Rivers apparently will try not to let the fates of his All-Star teammates James Harden and Russell Westbrook, who reportedly expressed frustration with the team’s direction, impact his own decision making in free agency.
“They have their own decisions to make,” he said. “I’m a guy that wants to go places and play and help teams win. That’s all I’m about, is just competing and helping teams.”
Rivers had praise for new team head coach Stephen Silas, Berman noted in another tweet. “The most important thing, he’s a guy who knows the game of basketball and he’s been around it his whole life,” Rivers said.
Rivers, 28, averaged 8.8 PPG on .421/.356/.703 shooting in 68 games (23.4 MPG) for the Rockets in 2019/20.
In his comments today and earlier this week – when he strongly hinted he’d be opting out of the final year of his contract – Rivers stressed that he hasn’t ruled out a possible return to Houston and simply wants to consider all his options.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Central Notes: Fiserv Forum, Pacers, Avdija, Hayward
Bucks team president Peter Feigin has indicated that the club will not allow any fans into its home arena Fiserv Forum for the start of the 2020/21 NBA season due to strict indoor gathering restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Jabari Young of CNBC. Once fans are allowed inside Fiserv, the arena will exclusively employ mobile ticketing and concessions ordering, per Feigin.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files details how the Pacers have approached the 2020 draft while dealing with coronavirus pandemic-dictated hurdles. The club has used Zoom for weekly “town halls” as well as interviewing over 100 draft prospects. Though the league permitted teams to travel to see up to 10 individual player workouts, the Pacers opted to stay all-virtual this season, Agness notes.
- The Cavaliers have deep organizational ties with international lottery prospect Deni Avdija. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com wonders whether this could ultimately lead to Cleveland using the No. 5 pick in today’s draft to select the 6’9″ wing.
- Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets that there is “mutual interest” between Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, beloved for his college tenure at Butler, and the Pacers. The clearest path to adding the former All-Star would be a sign-and-trade, which would require Hayward opting out of his $34.2MM player option for the 2020/21 season.
Dorell Wright Announces Retirement From Basketball
In a new Instagram post today, 11-year veteran NBA forward Dorell Wright appears to have officially announced his retirement from basketball, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
“Reflecting on my 16 year career, something I’ve been doing more than half my life, I walk away from the game of basketball with a huge smile on my face and with the feeling of completion,” Wright wrote in part. “The game blessed me with the ability to support my family and friends, to give back to my community and to use my voice & expertise for the next generations to come.”
Drafted by the Heat in 2004 with the No. 19 selection out of high school, Wright played for six seasons in Miami. He won a title with the team in 2006, though he was not a part of the club’s regular rotation at that point.
Wright also logged stops with the Warriors, Sixers, and Trail Blazers. Wright’s final NBA game was an April 2016 playoff appearance for the Heat, during a blowout first-round game against the Hornets. He played two preseason games for the Clippers ahead of the 2016/17 season, before ultimately being waived by Los Angeles.
Since the conclusion of his tenure with the league, the 34-year-old Wright has played for various clubs throughout China and Europe.
Wright holds career NBA averages of 8.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.5 APG. He shot 36.5% from long range and 80.6% from the free throw line.
Pacific Notes: Suns Practice Facility, Kings, No. 10 Pick, Rubio
In addition to acquiring new All-NBA point guard Chris Paul, the Suns have also started to work out in the team’s brand-new $45MM practice facility, the Verizon 5G Performance Center, for the 2020/21 season, as Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic details.
The 53,000 square foot facility will be used by both the Suns and the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. Verizon will equip the facility with “performance analytics and biometric innovations,” per Rankin, which will help the team assess its players during practices.“Verizon’s powerful 5G technology is seamlessly incorporated throughout our facility in a way that is unprecedented in the NBA and American professional sports today,” general manager James Jones commented in a statement.
“That cohesion provides our staff with unparalleled opportunities to efficiently unlock each athlete’s fullest potential,” Jones continued. The Suns, hot off an 8-0 run during the NBA’s Orlando-based seeding games, look to finally make a playoff return thanks to the expected improvement of young stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, plus the addition of Paul.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- There has been developing buzz that point guard Killian Hayes might fall to the Kings with the No. 12 pick, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. The 6’5″ guard has been projected as falling to Sacramento in mock drafts today from Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, Jonathan Givony of ESPN, and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic and Tankathon.
- Were the Suns to retain their No. 10 lottery pick tonight, they could benefit from an addition across several positions, per Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. Point guards Kira Lewis Jr., Killian Hayes and Tyrell Terry could serve as solid understudies for the 35-year-old Chris Paul, while forward Aaron Nesmith might also be an intriguing fit.
- New Thunder point guard Ricky Rubio, a key part of the Suns‘ trade to acquire Paul, was not expecting to be traded this offseason, according to a recent interview with Spanish outlet Marca.com recapped by Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “It was a surprise, especially because of the communication that there has been,” Rubio said. “When [I heard] the rumors about my transfer, I called my people and they told me that my name was not on the table.” Rubio inked a three-year, $51MM contract with Phoenix last summer.
Magic Trade No. 45 Pick To Bucks
The Magic have traded their No. 45 pick in today’s draft to the Bucks in exchange for two future second-rounders, the team’s official PR account tweets.
One of the second-rounders headed to Orlando is a Pacers pick and will be conveyed in either 2022, 2023, or 2024. The other is the Bucks’ second-round pick in 2026. Should MVP forward Giannis Antetokounmpo opt to depart Milwaukee next summer, that pick could end up landing fairly high in the second round.
The Pacers owe their 2021 second-round pick to the Nets, but it has 45-60 protection in both ’21 and ’22, meaning it may not change hands until it becomes unprotected in 2023. The Magic will get a Pacers second-rounder one year after the Nets get theirs.
The Bucks appear to be interested in adding second-round picks this year because, due to a CBA quirk, those picks will only count for $898K against both the luxury tax and hard cap if they sign for the minimum. Undrafted rookie free agents, meanwhile, would count for $898K against the cap but about $1.62MM against the luxury tax.
These small savings are imperative for Milwaukee since the Bucks will lack much wiggle room after their Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic trades are finalized and will likely surpass the luxury tax line, approaching their hard cap.
The Magic also hold the No. 15 selection in today’s draft, while the Bucks also have the No. 60 pick. There are conflicting reports on whether or not Milwaukee will also receive the No. 42 pick from New Orleans in the Holiday deal, which is not yet official.
Luke Adams contributed to this report.
Grizzlies Extend QO To Melton, Making Him RFA
The Grizzlies have opted to extend a qualifying offer to backup point guard De’Anthony Melton ahead of his third season, making him a restricted free agent, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and USA Today Sports (Twitter link).
Melton’s qualifying offer is worth $1,820,564. The Rockets drafted Melton with the No. 46 pick in the 2018 draft, but traded him to the Suns for his rookie season. The 22-year-old guard out of USC played 60 games, including eight starts, during his first year with Memphis in 2019/20. He averaged 7.6 PPG, 3.7 APG, and 2.9 APG across 19.5 MPG.
With Melton now a restricted free agent, the Grizzlies have the right to match any offer sheet the 6’2″ guard signs during the coming offseason.
Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Knicks, Morey, Celtics
Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri faces several intriguing free agent decisions this Friday, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN. The choice that could indicate how Ujiri intends to approach what could be a loaded free agent class in 2021 — even without Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo — is how Ujiri and his front office intend to approach a potential contract extension for fourth-year small forward OG Anunoby.
Anunoby is eligible for a rookie contract extension this season. Depending on how much his play improves this season, he could be more affordable were the Raptors to extend him now than if they were to let him hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2021. An extension now, however, would cut into the team’s cap space ahead of next summer.
The club also has to consider valuable free agents Fred VanVleet, Serge Ibaka, and Marc Gasol, as well as promising young center Chris Boucher. There has been chatter for a while that the 35-year-old Gasol may head soon to Spain to finish his basketball career, making Ibaka that much more valuable to retain for the Raptors.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division ahead of the NBA draft today:
- After packaging the Nos. 27 and 38 picks to the Jazz for the No. 23 pick in this year’s draft, the Knicks may be looking to use the No. 23 pick to help them trade up even further. The Knicks have talked with the Cavaliers about trading their Nos. 8 and 23 for Cleveland’s No. 5 pick. However, Kelsey Russo of The Athletic tweets that Cleveland is holding out for more value.
- New Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has five draft picks to play with for his first draft with his new club. Rich Hoffman and Derek Bodner of The Athletic take a look at several realistic options the team could draft.
- With a current commitment to 16 players on their roster, the Celtics are looking to offload some of their three draft picks this season, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. The Celtics would could achieve this by packaging their Nos. 14, 26, and 30 picks to move into the top 10. As we previously detailed, Boston could be looking to move as high as the top three. Alternately, the team could perhaps look to flip the No. 14 pick for a future first-rounder and use the lower two picks as draft-and-stash options, or trade the lower picks along with little-used role players.
Thunder Decline Option On Deonte Burton
The Thunder will not exercise their $1,663,861 third-year team option on 6’4″ wing Deonte Burton, making him an unrestricted free agent, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.
The move will enable Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti to open up a roster spot and generate a little added cap flexibility, as the team might be very active in draft-day dealmaking. Haynes notes that the Thunder may be open to bringing the 26-year-old Burton back.
Burton went undrafted in 2017 out of Iowa State. He had been on the Thunder roster since the 2018/19 season, when he started out by signing a two-way contract with the club before agreeing to a standard contract in March 2019. Burton played 39 games with the club last season, averaging 9.1 minutes per night.
Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman notes that, with Burton clearing their books, the Thunder now have only 13 players under contract for next season, including third-year wing Hamidou Diallo, for whom they have an identical $1,663,861 team option, and veteran big man Mike Muscala, who has yet to exercise his $2,283,034 player option.
Draft Notes: Tyrell Terry, Isaiah Joe, LaMelo, Hayes
Stanford point guard Tyrell Terry has worked out for the Nets and Grizzlies, in addition to conducting Zoom meetings with Brooklyn and the Knicks, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post (Twitter link). Lewis notes that Terry has not worked out in person for any other clubs as of earlier today. Brooklyn has the No. 19 and No. 55 picks in tomorrow’s draft, while Memphis owns the No. 40 pick.
There’s more in the the lead up to the big day tomorrow:
- According to Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), there is buzz that the Sixers may have promised to draft 6’5″ Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe with either the No. 21 or No. 34 pick tomorrow.
- Ahead of tomorrow’s draft, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reflects back on LaMelo Ball‘s 2018/19 tenure with SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio before heading overseas before his NBA eligibility. “It was great for a time and it was helpful to our brand and it was good for the program and it was interesting, but I don’t think that’s something we want,” SPIRE chief operating officer Jeff Orloff said.
- 6’4″ Ratiopharm Ulm combo guard Killian Hayes reflected on his international career prior to this season’s NBA draft with Sean Deveney of Forbes.com. “It wasn’t easy at all,” Hayes said. “The physical part was very tough for me.”