Wolves Notes: Towns, Gobert, Edwards, Spagnolo
Karl-Anthony Towns‘ super-max extension will keep him with the Timberwolves through the end of the 2027/28 season, and the star center has plans to stay even longer. At a press conference Friday formally announcing the extension, Towns indicated that he wants to spend the rest of his career in the Twin Cities, tweets basketball writer Christos Tsaltas.
“My dream is to retire here (in Minnesota),” Towns said. “I’m very comfortable spending my time here. This place has a special energy.”
If that happens, Towns will be among a select group of modern elite players to spend their entire career with one team. He has been a cornerstone of the franchise since being taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft, and the Wolves appear to be on the rise after reaching the playoffs last season and completing a huge offseason trade to acquire Rudy Gobert.
“I expect a lot of winning here,” Towns told reporters. “I want to win.”
There’s more from Minnesota:
- Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today (video link), Towns said he was in London when the trade with Utah happened. When his girlfriend told him, “You guys got Rudy,” he thought the team signed Rudy Gay. When she explained that it was actually Gobert, Towns started thinking about the possibilities of having two big men on the court together. “I just saw the vision of us both twin towers out there,” Towns said. “What he can do defensively, what I can do offensively, and we all putting that together for one organization, I think it’s going to be very different. The NBA hasn’t seen something like this (for years). It’s going to be unique and it’s going to be scary.”
- In the same interview, Towns expressed supreme confidence in teammate Anthony Edwards and said the two of them need to “go out there and play at a level that hasn’t been seen since Shaq and Kobe, if possible” (Twitter link).
- The Wolves have confirmed that second-round pick Matteo Spagnolo will play overseas next season, according to Cody Taylor of USA Today’s Rookie Wire. Spagnolo, the 50th overall selection, spent last season with Vanoli Cremona of Lega A, Italy’s top professional league. He played for Minnesota in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 3.2 points, 1.8 assists and 1.4 rebounds in five games.
Tremont Waters Signs With French Team
Tremont Waters, who played briefly for both the Raptors and Wizards last season, has signed with a one-year deal with Metropolitans 92, the French team announced in a press release.
The 24-year-old point guard will spend a full season overseas for the first time in his career. He was with the Grizzlies’ squad in the Las Vegas Summer League, but appeared in just one game.
Waters played most of last season in the G League, but was able to land a pair of 10-day contracts during the height of the NBA’s COVID-19 outbreak. He signed a 10-day deal with Toronto on December 22 and another with Washington on January 1, getting into three total games.
A second-round pick by the Celtics in 2019, Waters spent his first two seasons in Boston on two-way contracts. He signed with the Bucks last September, but was waived before the start of the season.
With Metropolitans 92, Waters will team up with Victor Wembanyama, who is projected to be the top pick in the 2023 draft.
Raptors Sign Jeff Dowtin To Two-Way Deal
4:00pm: The Raptors have officially signed Dowtin to a two-way contract, the team confirmed in a press release.
12:46pm: Free agent guard Jeff Dowtin will sign a two-way contract with the Raptors, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Dowtin is coming off a strong Summer League performance with Toronto, averaging 16.0 PPG while shooting 57.1% from the field in four games in Las Vegas.
The 25-year-old signed with the Magic last September, then was claimed off waivers by the Warriors before the start of the season. He played four games for Golden State before being waived again, then signed 10-day contracts with Milwaukee and Orlando.
Ron Harper Jr. holds the Raptors’ other two-way contract, so both slots will be filled once Dowtin’s signing becomes official.
Jaylin Williams Signs Four-Year Contract With Thunder
JULY 19: The Thunder have officially signed Williams, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 9: The Thunder have reached an agreement with second-round pick Jaylin Williams, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Williams’ new contract will be worth $8.2MM over four seasons, per Charania. The team will use part of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception to complete the signing.
Oklahoma City took the 20-year-old big man – not to be confused with Thunder first-rounder Jalen Williams – with the 34th pick in last month’s draft. He was among four draft-night selections for OKC and should compete for playing time in the front court.
Williams played two years at Arkansas and averaged 10.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He was a first-team all-SEC selection by the coaches this season and earned a spot on the conference’s All-Defensive Team.
Atlantic Notes: G. Williams, Duke, Koloko, Mitchell
The Celtics have a recent history of reaching extensions with their first-round picks, and Grant Williams hopes to be next, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Weiss reports that Boston has already started extension talks with Williams, who displayed his value during the team’s run to the NBA Finals. He provides a strong defensive presence off the bench and shot 39.3% from three-point range during this year’s playoffs.
Williams talks about wanting to play his entire career for the Celtics and help the organization add more banners to the rafters. Weiss notes that negotiations might be tricky in light of recent deals for similar players, but Williams expressed confidence that management will be fair with him.
“Just making sure that the extension works for both sides. My number one focus is winning,” Williams said. “You take care of the good guys. You take care of the guys that provide value to your team, both on and off the floor. I feel like the Celtics are feeling the same way. I’m not too stressed about the negotiations because I feel like both parties want to get a deal done.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- David Duke Jr. improved his chances for a standard contract after turning down a two-way offer from the Nets prior to Summer League, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Duke, who also had a Summer League offer from the Raptors, showed the most improvement among Brooklyn’s second-year players in Las Vegas, Lewis observes. “The great thing is I haven’t noticed anything other than complete professionalism and dedication to playing well and doing everything we asked of him: Attacking and being aggressive within the team framework,” coach Adam Caporn said. “I just love what he’s doing defensively, picking the ball up, setting the tone. He’s doing everything the right way.”
- The Raptors may be saving part of their mid-level exception to sign second-round pick Christian Koloko, Eric Koreen of The Athletic suggests in an overview of Toronto’s roster. Koreen adds that the team might also be waiting to to see if the Arizona center’s draft rights are needed in a trade package before officially signing him.
- The Knicks‘ collection of young players and draft assets makes them seem like a logical landing spot for Donovan Mitchell, but Fred Katz of The Athletic looks at why Jazz CEO Danny Ainge and New York’s front office might night not be perfect trading partners.
Heat Notes: Days, Jovic, Highsmith, Allman
After spending most of Summer League with the Spurs, Darius Days was surprised to get a two-way contract from the Heat, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Days, who averaged 13.7 points and 10.0 rebounds in three games in Las Vegas, said he didn’t work out with Miami prior to the draft.
“It definitely caught me by surprise,” he said. “It was an exciting feeling. They gave me the call and I was excited. I was just trying to play my way into something this past week.”
An undersized big man at 6’7″, Days compares himself to P.J. Tucker, who just left the Heat to sign with the Sixers. Days, who said he’s versatile enough to play anywhere in the front court, has studied Tucker’s game to understand what makes him effective.
“He can rebound the ball, he can guard bigger guys,” Days said. “He definitely switches and plays great defense. He talks on defense. He just does the little things. I mean, he’s a champion for a reason. So I like to model my game after the little things that he does.”
There’s more on the Heat:
- First-round pick Nikola Jovic saw limited playing time in Las Vegas because of a quad contusion, but he appears to be a long-term project rather than someone who will help right away, Chiang states in the same story. Jovic, who recently turned 19, had one great shooting game in the California Classic, but struggled with his shot in the other three Summer League games that he played.
- Haywood Highsmith showed promise throughout Summer League and could be a part of the Heat’s rotation next season, Chiang adds. Highsmith only has a $50K guarantee on his contract for now, but his versatility on defense may make him valuable enough to keep on the roster.
- Kyle Allman Jr. finished off the Heat’s Summer League schedule with a 26-point outing Saturday night as Miami rallied past the Clippers, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The 24-year-old guard was the team’s best offensive player this summer, Winderman adds, but he already has a contract in France and may earn more money by returning to Paris Basketball.
Latest On Donovan Mitchell
When the Suns matched the Pacers’ offer sheet for Deandre Ayton on Thursday, the move increased the chances that Donovan Mitchell will wind up with the Knicks, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (hat tip to Adam Zagoria in a piece for NJ.com).
Windhorst explained that there were scenarios in place where Mitchell could have gone to the Nets and Kevin Durant could have ended up in Phoenix in a three- or four-team trade. Now that Ayton is ineligible to be moved until January 15, those potential deals are off the table.
“So I think this moves the Knicks even further into the favorite spot for Donovan Mitchell,” Windhorst said. “It’s really going to come down to negotiation. The Knicks are very interested, they are talking to the Jazz, but the Jazz have an extremely high bar that they’re setting early in these talks and it’s really just a question of how much can they get the Knicks to pay.”
A report on Friday set that price at three young players and six first-round picks. New York countered that offer and no progress in trade talks has been reported since then.
There’s more news on a potential Mitchell deal:
- Tim MacMahon of ESPN believes Mitchell will likely end up in New York, but negotiations might take some time, Zagoria relays in the same story. MacMahon points out that Utah is focused on getting draft assets to help with rebuilding, and the Knicks own 11 first-rounders in the next seven years. He adds that team president Leon Rose has to be careful not to bid against himself as the teams work out the specifics of a trade.
- Mitchell heard plenty of appeals from Knicks fans during an appearance Saturday at a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Mitchell threw out the first pitch and took batting practice with the minor league team, but refused to speculate on trade talks. “We’re not talking basketball,” he told reporters. “Ain’t nobody talking basketball.”
- In a separate story, Braziller talks to an NBA scout who believes the price for Mitchell is too high considering that he’s never led the Jazz past the second round of the playoffs. Another league source agrees, questioning whether Mitchell is too similar to free agent addition Jalen Brunson to form an effective backcourt.
- Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News examines options for getting Mitchell to New York, including a package based on draft picks, another one built around RJ Barrett, and potential multi-team deals.
Spurs Notes: Sochan, Branham, Hall, Days
Most of the NBA’s top draft picks saw at least some playing time in Las Vegas, but not Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan, whose Summer League plans were derailed by COVID-19, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. The ninth overall selection tested positive for the virus shortly after the draft and couldn’t practice with the Summer League squad. He agreed with the team’s decision to not have him try to play in any games.
“I didn’t have any injuries, but COVID still affects you, affects your lungs,” Sochan said.“I didn’t practice, and I was out of shape. … It made sense for me not to play here and I am always going to listen to the people in the organization.”
Sochan said he “stayed in bed and slept a lot” after contracting COVID, but he felt better after three days. He has spent most of his time in Las Vegas doing weight training and working with Summer League coach Mitch Johnson to learn the team’s playbook. He has also been a prominent cheerleader during the games and has been impressed by fellow first-round picks Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley.
“I think both have done great,” Sochan said. “There are some areas where they could have done better, but it’s a learning experience for everyone. (Two-way player) Dominick Barlow has also done well. I think it’s been a learning experience for them. They just want to learn and win.”
There’s more on the Spurs:
- Branham turned in his best performance Saturday in San Antonio’s final Summer League game, Orsborn notes in a separate story. The 20th pick in the draft scored 23 points while hitting 8-of-15 shots from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range. “Him being decisive is going to be the key,” Johnson said. “He gets in between sometimes with, ‘Should I drive it? Should I shoot it?’ Or he’s thinking, ‘I missed the last one.’ When you are as versatile and as skilled as he is, you just need to play and be aggressive. … That’s going to be one of his strengths (three-point shooting), so he needs to try to score.”
- Jordan Hall, an undrafted rookie out of St. Joseph’s, declared for the draft in 2021 but took the Spurs’ advice and returned to school for another year, Orsborn states in another piece. Hall, a combo forward who’s competing for an open two-way slot, reminds a lot of people of former Spur Kyle Anderson.
- Johnson called it “bittersweet” to have Darius Days sign a two-way deal with the Heat after a strong performance with the Spurs, but he said that’s one of the purposes of Summer League, Orsborn tweets. “It’s all about these guys either finding jobs or trying to promote themselves within their current job,” Johnson said. “So that’s good on him.”
LeBron James Declares Himself “100 Percent Healthy” At Drew League
LeBron James got a hero’s welcome at the Drew League on Saturday, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN, but Lakers fans will be more interested in what he said than what he did on the court.
“I’m 100 percent healthy,” James told ESPN in an interview during his game.
It was James’ first time playing in public since the start of April. He missed 26 games this season, including seven of the Lakers’ last eight regular season contests with a sprained left ankle, as the team dropped into 11th place in the West and failed to qualify for the play-in tournament.
James showed no lingering effects from the ankle injury as he thrilled an overflow crowd at the Drew League, a Los Angeles tradition in pro-am basketball for nearly 50 years. He had 42 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and three assists as his team rallied to win a close game. James played alongside another NBA star, DeMar DeRozan, who posted 30 points and 14 rebounds.
Kyrie Irving was also rumored as a possible Drew League participant, but he spent the day at a girls basketball skills camp run by Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy.
James’ presence caused fans to start lining up around 7:00 am Pacific Time, even though his game didn’t start until 1:45 pm, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The standing-room-only crowd reacted to everything he did, gasping when he missed his first shot and cheering loudly when he followed that by sinking a three-pointer.
“The day was crazy. A guy everybody wanted to come watch, it was already packed early in the morning,” said former NBA player Casper Ware Jr. “I [was] trying to find a way to get people in, my close friends and all this and a lot of them couldn’t even get in. He just brought that type of atmosphere where there’s no room on the baseline to stand or anywhere. It’s just the energy he brings everywhere he goes.”
Central Notes: Ingles, Nwora, Terry, Travers
Free agent addition Joe Ingles hopes to be back on the court by mid-December and is optimistic that he’ll be able to start playing for the Bucks soon afterward. Ingles, who underwent surgery for a torn ACL in February, made the comments in an interview in his native Australia (Twitter link).
Speaking with Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst said that’s roughly the timeline the organization expects for Ingles, but cautioned that the rehab process for an ACL tear can be unpredictable.
“The other factor is just going to be, ‘What do we need? And when?’ Joe can really help us in the regular season and deep into the playoffs and can fit with us and maybe have a future with us going forward beyond this year,” Horst added. “So we’re not going to just rush him on the floor just to get a couple extra regular season games out of him. It’s a bigger-picture play with Joe, so that’ll factor in also. I think we’ll take a pretty patient approach.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Horst also discussed second-year small forward Jordan Nwora, who is a restricted free agent after the Bucks extended a qualifying offer of roughly $2MM. Horst believes restricted free agency “is really just starting to open now” and said the team is working with Nwora’s agent to find the best solution. “I think restricted free agency is tricky, so there’s no other way to do it. Except to be honest with him and just work through it with each other,” Horst said. “We have a roster spot. We’ll have an option to have him if we want and we’ll figure it out together.
- First-round pick Dalen Terry had to leave the Bulls‘ Summer League game today after suffering a right hamstring injury when he slipped on a wet spot on the court, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. There’s no word on the severity of the injury.
- Cavaliers swingman Luke Travers left a strong impression in his final Summer League game before returning to Australia, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The 56th overall pick, who’s expected to play overseas next season, had 14 points and hit a pair of three-pointers. “I think the future is very bright for Luke,” Summer League coach Mike Gerrity said. “He can impact the game in so many ways. I’m happy we got him.”