Atlantic Notes: Gasol, Lin, Poirier, Erman
Raptors center Marc Gasol is thankful that the Grizzlies didn’t agree to his request not to be traded, relays Alex Madrid of Eurohoops. Gasol had been with Memphis for more than a decade before the team committed to rebuilding and sent him to Toronto in a deadline deal. The move led to Gasol collecting his first NBA championship ring.
“There have been few players that haven’t been traded over the years in the NBA,” Gasol said. “If it had been dependent on me, I wouldn’t have been traded. I always thought I could reverse the situation there (in Memphis) and bring the team to the top. But, thank God, they ignored me.”
Gasol will be part of the remaining foundation as the Raptors try to stay in contention without Kawhi Leonard. The 34-year-old will earn $25.6MM this season in the final year of his contract.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Jeremy Lin appears distraught about his free agency situation in a video tweeted by Daily Sports Dosage. “Free agency has been tough,” Lin says. “Because I feel like in some ways the NBA has kind of given up on me.” The Raptors signed Lin in February to provide backcourt depth, but he shot just 37% in 23 games and was barely used during the playoffs.
- French center Vincent Poirier could have made more money in Europe, but he wanted the challenge of playing in the NBA, tweets Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. Poirier was the EuroLeague’s top rebounder last season, and the Celtics believe his athleticism will translate well.
- Former Celtics assistant Darren Erman will become head coach of the organization’s G League affiliate in Maine, according to Jay King and Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Known as a defensive specialist, Erman has spent the past four seasons with the Pelicans.
Heat Notes: Salary Guarantees, Two-Way Players, Westbrook, Adebayo
The Heat face three roster decisions this week that will determine how much flexibility they will have heading into training camp, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Thursday is a salary guarantee date for Derrick Jones Jr., Kendrick Nunn and Yante Maten, and with Miami operating under a hard salary cap, every dollar the team spends will be important.
Jones’ $1.6MM salary will become fully guaranteed August 1, and the Heat are almost certain to keep him, according to Winderman. Jones, 22, has made great strides since joining the organization as a two-way player in December of 2017. He was a rotation player last season, averaging 7.0 PPG in 60 games, and his promising future and low salary appear to make this an easy decision.
Nunn also seems likely to be retained, Winderman adds. He was signed on the final day of the regular season and played well in Summer League in both Sacramento and Las Vegas. He cashed in a $50K guarantee on his $1.4MM salary on July 1 and will have that guaranteed bumped to $150K on Thursday, then to $450K if he makes the opening-night roster.
Maten has already received a $100K guarantee and is due for another $50K on Thursday ($150K in total). Because he is already guaranteed more than $50K, he is ineligible for two-way status, and a shaky Summer League performance may make him expendable.
There’s more this morning from South Florida:
- The Heat are one of just two teams that haven’t filled any two-way slots yet, and Winderman suggests they could go to two of the three players who will come to camp on Exhibit 10 contracts — Chris Silva, Jeremiah Martin and Kyle Alexander. All three were signed at the end of Summer League.
- Even if the Heat had increased their offer for Russell Westbrook, it may not have been enough, Winderman observes in a separate story. The Thunder were willing to give Westbrook his first choice, which was to play alongside his long-time friend James Harden in Houston. Also, the Rockets parted with a generous package of draft picks that was better than what Miami had available.
- The invitation to Team USA’s World Cup camp gives more exposure to Bam Adebayo, which should boost his trade value at least slightly, Winderman writes in another story. Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk will both have the chance to improve through this summer’s international competition.
Community Shootaround: Kawhi Leonard
It only lasted five days, but it seemed much, much longer at the time. In a summer where many of the NBA’s top free agents announced their agreements suspiciously close to the official start of free agency, Kawhi Leonard‘s decision seemed to linger forever.
While we all waited, the rumor mill got wacky. First came reports that he was definitely joining the Lakers, followed by other reports that he was definitely staying with the Raptors. The Clippers were presented as an afterthought and were rumored to be out of consideration. Intrepid reporters tracked a flight from Los Angeles to Toronto without knowing for sure that Leonard was on board. And Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter somehow became an NBA insider.
Tension was high all week for the three teams involved in the chase as other free agents came off the board. When Leonard announced his decision late on the night of June 5, there was jubilation at Clippers headquarters and severe disappointment across town and throughout Canada.
Hard feelings in the Lakers’ camp led to accusations that Leonard had “played” them in the process. There were also reports that he asked for extreme considerations from the Raptors before abandoning an organization that had just won its first NBA title. The grumblings grew so loud that Leonard felt compelled to address them at his introductory press conference this week.
“I didn’t lead anyone on,” he said. “I took my time in free agency, as I should, to make sure I made the best decision for myself and my family. I feel like some of the media coverage over it made it feel that way, with people saying I’m signing with Toronto 99 percent or I’m going to the Lakers 99 percent. I don’t ever want to have that bad karma come back on me trying to make the Lakers miss out on players they should have gotten or vice-versa with the Raptors.”
Leonard added that all the teams were free to change their strategy if they thought waiting was too risky.
“If they didn’t want to wait for me, they didn’t have to,” Leonard said. “They had a big opportunity to sign me. [The Lakers] were close, but I ended up on the other side.”
Leonard isn’t the first free agent to take his time in reaching a decision. In 2016, Kevin Durant waited until July 4 to announce that he was joining the Warriors. A year later, Gordon Hayward picked the same date to confirm his agreement with the Celtics. LeBron James took until July 11 before releasing the Sports Illustrated article proclaiming his return to Cleveland in 2014.
We want to get your opinion on Leonard. Do you believe he did anything to intentionally hurt the Raptors or Lakers in free agency or is this just sour grapes from the teams that didn’t sign him? Please leave your responses in the space below.
Pacific Notes: Ballmer, Wright, West, Warriors
Steve Ballmer’s actions over the past year should end any speculation that he has a long-term strategy to move the Clippers to Seattle, writes Arash Markazi of The Los Angeles Times. Ballmer has strong ties to the Pacific Northwest, where he made his fortune as CEO of Microsoft. He tried to buy the SuperSonics in 2008 and had a deal in place to move the Kings to Seattle in 2013 before it fell through.
However, Ballmer recognizes that the Clippers would drop in value if they were moved from the nation’s second-largest media market and has been taking steps to ensure their long-term future in Los Angeles. The team formally announced plans Thursday for a new 18,500-seat arena in Inglewood that will be built without public money. Ballmer also approved two bold moves this summer to acquire Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, making the Clippers legitimate contenders for the NBA title.
“We’re not moving the team to Seattle,” Ballmer declared recently. “We’re building a new billion-dollar-plus home in Inglewood.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Clippers made an addition to their coaching staff this week by hiring Todd Wright, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Wright served as head of strength and conditioning as well as an assistant coach for the Sixers for the past four seasons.
- The Lakers will part with director of player personnel Ryan West, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic (Twitter link). The son of NBA legend Jerry West had been with the team since he was hired as a scout in 2009 and is given credit for identifying D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson in their respective drafts. West’s departure was a mutual decision that was reached in the past few days, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. His contract had expired and he and the organization agreed that he had “reached a ceiling” in his current role.
- Salary cap expert David Kelly, who serves as general counsel for the Warriors, shares his perspective on an eventful offseason with Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Klay Thompson had assured Golden State officials that he was staying, which eliminated one worry when they got official notice that Kevin Durant was leaving for the Nets. The focus immediately shifted to Russell, whom the team had targeted as a potential option several months before. Kelly had to work through a complex series of maneuvers before a sign-and-trade with Brooklyn could be legally completed.
Ben Simmons Won’t Play In Australia’s Exhibition Games
Ben Simmons has changed his mind about playing in exhibition games with Australia’s World Cup team, relays Roy Ward of The Age.
The Sixers‘ star never planned to participate in the tournament, but he indicated that he wanted to work out with the Boomers and suit up for exhibition contests, including a pair against Team USA. However, Basketball Australia issued a statement today citing Simmons’ “professional obligations,” along with a desire to have the actual World Cup team together for those games.
“After talking with coach Andrej (Lemanis), we both agreed it was better for me to not participate in this year’s 2019 World Cup and exhibition games,” Simmons said. “With our focus being to win a medal at the 2020 Olympics, the Boomers’ preparation in the lead up to the world championships is of the utmost importance and me not playing allows the team to create the chemistry they need to compete at the highest level and qualify for the Olympics. I want to thank Basketball Australia for their continued support and I’m committed and excited to compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.”
Fellow Australian Patty Mills of the Spurs predicts a bright future for Simmons in international play, but said it’s important to focus on the upcoming competition.
“We appreciate his continued support and willingness to still be a valuable part of the team as we prepare for our ultimate goal of winning a medal at the World Champs for the first time,” Mills said. “… Ben will be next in line to play a significant leadership role in carrying on the legacy of our team and what it means to represent the Green and Gold as a Boomer with pride, which we all have done for so long.”
Simmons’ departure follows a long string of withdrawals from Team USA that includes some of the NBA’s biggest stars. Several new invitations to training camp were announced Thursday.
Inside The Rockets’ Trade For Russell Westbrook
Two days before the agreement that brought Russell Westbrook to Houston was completed, Rockets GM Daryl Morey was pessimistic that it would get done, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes in a retrospective of the deal. Feigen traces the steps that led to the Rockets’ latest high-stakes gamble and the Thunder’s decision to part with their franchise player.
Everything began late on July 5 when Kawhi Leonard announced he was joining the Clippers, followed by the news that Oklahoma City was trading Paul George there as well. Morey sent text messages to owner Tilman Fertitta and his son Patrick suggesting that a huge shakeup could be in the works in OKC. Other team officials were included in the discussion the next morning, then Morey talked to James Harden, who had already spoken to Westbrook.
“The discussion at that point among the basketball staff was, ‘Hey, we need to check in and see if this changes the direction.’ I guess there was a thought they might trade other guys like Russell,” Morey said. “You never know. At this point, it was pretty unknown.”
Morey placed a call to Thunder GM Sam Presti, but their early discussions remained general. They spoke frequently over the next few days as international prospects and other players were considered in a deal that eventually became Westbrook for Chris Paul and draft picks. Morey alerted Paul and his representatives that a potential trade was brewing. He also tried unsuccessfully to get a third team involved, although he wouldn’t reveal who he talked to.
“It didn’t seem that there would be a fit for both parties,” Morey said. “I told them (Tilman and Patrick Fertitta) quite a bit that it wasn’t going to happen because that’s what I believed. I didn’t think the pieces lined up. That’s why a three-team deal made sense. And I thought other teams would be more involved than we were; teams that had more fits.”
A day before the deal was completed, Presti expressed a preference for a two-team trade that was heavy on draft picks. The Thunder wound up with Houston’s top-four-protected selections in 2024 and 2026, along with two pick swaps that include top-four protection in 2021 and and top-10 protection in 2025. Once an agreement was reached, Morey tried to expand the deal by involving other teams, but he found interest was low. He said the hardest part was having to tell Paul that their partnership was over after two seasons.
“I hated that call,” Morey said. “I’m sure he hated it more. He’s been such a great player for us. We were moments away from winning a title with him.”
R.J. Hunter To Play In Turkey
R.J. Hunter, a former first-round pick who finished last season with the Celtics, has reached an agreement with Turk Telekom Ankara of the Turkish BSL and Basketball Champions League, relays Nicola Lupo of Sportando.
Hunter got into just one NBA game after signing a two-way contract with Boston in January, but posted an 18.4/5.2/4.0 line in 44 G League games. He became an unrestricted free agent last month when the Celtics decided not to extend a qualifying offer.
Boston took Hunter with the 28th pick in the 2015 draft, but he was never able to make an impact. He played 36 games as a rookie before being waived after one season, then had brief stays with the Bulls and Rockets. He’s got a career average of 3.0 points per night in 45 games.
Pelicans Sign Nicolo Melli
JULY 25: The Pelicans have officially signed Melli, the team announced today in a press release. New Orleans used its room exception to complete the signing.
JUNE 30: The Pelicans are finalizing a deal with Italian power forward Nicolo Melli, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. It’s a two-year, $8MM deal, according to Wojnarowski, who confirms (via Twitter) that the two sides are in agreement.
Will Guillory of The Athletic confirms the report, adding that the Pelicans see the 6’9″ Melli as an efficient passer who can space the floor (Twitter link). The 28-year-old played for Fenerbahce this season and was the leading scorer in the EuroLeague Finals.
Melli has been playing professionally in Europe for more than a decade. He also has extensive international experience, starting with Italy’s Junior National Team in 2007.
He will be part of a revamped team in New Orleans as the Pelicans build around No. 1 draft pick Zion Williamson and No. 8 selection Jaxson Hayes, along with the package of players they’re getting from the Lakers in the Anthony Davis trade.
Shelvin Mack Signs With Olimpia Milano
JULY 25: Mack has officially signed a two-year contract with Olimpia Milano, the team announced today in a press release.
Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported earlier today that Mack had reached an agreement in principle to join the Italian club. Carchia also noted that James was expected to be bought out.
JULY 24: Shelvin Mack, who played for both the Grizzlies and Hornets last season, is drawing interest from Olimpia Milano, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. Mack could replace former NBA point guard Mike James, even though James is still under contract with the Italian team.
Mack signed with Memphis last summer and appeared in 53 games, averaging 7.9 points per night, before being traded to the Hawks in February. Atlanta waived him immediately and he was claimed by Charlotte, but saw limited playing time in just four games.
The 29-year-old also spent time with the Wizards, Sixers, Jazz and Magic in an eight-year NBA career.
Zylan Cheatham Signs Two-Way Deal With Pelicans
JULY 24, 3:24pm: The Cheatham signing is official, according to a team press release.
JUNE 21, 12:59am: The Pelicans are signing Arizona State forward Zylan Cheatham to a two-way contract, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype, and will pick up a couple more undrafted free agents as well.
Aubrey Dawkins of Central Florida has agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), and Javon Bess of St. Louis will sign with New Orleans as well, relays Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Cheatham averaged 12.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his first season with the Sun Devils after two years at San Diego State. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony lists him as the fifth-best available player after the draft.
Dawkins is best known for his outstanding performance against Duke and his new teammate, Zion Williamson, in the NCAA Tournament. Dawkins poured in 32 points as the Knights lost at the buzzer in the second round.
Bess is an older prospect at 23, but he is coming off a strong senior season with the Billikens, averaging 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.