Otto Porter Claims Wizards Promised Not To Trade Him
Otto Porter said Wizards management held a private meeting with him before the trade deadline and assured him that he would remain with the team, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. Washington’s front office changed its mind sometime before Wednesday night when Porter was shipped to Chicago in exchange for Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker.
Porter was expected to be part of the Wizards’ future when he agreed to a rookie-scale extension in 2017. However, his production never matched his lofty new salary and he had settled into a sixth-man role since returning from an injury last month. He was owed $27.25MM next year and has a player option worth nearly $28.5MM for 2020/21, which created a luxury tax bind for a Wizards team that may not make the playoffs.
Katz notes that owner Ted Leonsis did a radio interview about a week ago in which he promised that Moore, John Wall and Bradley Beal would all stay with the organization past the deadline.
There’s more Wizards and Bulls news as the teams met tonight, just three days after the trade:
- Parker contends his relationship with Jim Boylen did “a complete 180” after Boylen replaced Fred Hoiberg as Chicago’s head coach in December, relays Madeline Kenney of The Chicago Sun-Times. “[Before that,] we never had controversy,” Parker said. “I always had his back, you know, with things that we had in-house problems with.” Displeased with Parker’s effort and commitment to defense, Boylen took him out of the rotation and Parker appeared in just one of 13 games in the first month that Boylen ran the team. “I’m happy,” Parker said of the deal that sent him to Washington. “I haven’t smiled in a while, but it’s great.”
- Portis said he learned of Wednesday’s trade about 20 minutes prior to a game against the Pelicans and his “stomach dropped,” according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Portis seemed shocked about being dealt away from the team that drafted him in 2015. “Everybody knows how much I prided myself in playing for the Bulls and how much I really loved playing for the city of Chicago,” he said. “It’s a business and I finally got my first taste of it.”
- Porter enjoyed the chance to provide inside information about his former team heading into tonight’s game, tweets Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. “Yeah, I was telling coach everything there was to know about Washington,” he said. “Everything. … I was snitching, yeah.”
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/9/19
Here are Saturday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Bulls assigned shooting guard Antonio Blakeney to their Windy City affiliate, according to a tweet from the team. Blakeney has appeared in 41 games in his second NBA season and is averaging 7.6 points per night while shooting 45.7 from 3-point range.
Five Key Stories: 2/2/19 – 2/9/19
If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Below are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:
In a week dominated by the trade deadline, the most significant story is a deal that wasn’t made. The Lakers made numerous attempts to get Anthony Davis from the Pelicans, but New Orleans decided to wait until summer to see if better offers emerge. The Celtics reportedly promised an “explosive” offer, while the Knicks and several other teams are expected to get involved.
The week’s most surprising trade came in the early hours Wednesday with most of the nation sleeping. The Clippers sent Tobias Harris to the Sixers, shaking up their lineup and giving Philadelphia possibly the best starting five in the East. L.A. wasn’t sold on giving Harris a max offer this summer and wanted to open up more cap room to be aggressive in free agency.
The Grizzlies said goodbye to another veteran from their Grit ‘n Grind glory days when they traded Marc Gasol to the Raptors. The former Defensive Player of the Year is still a presence in the middle, averaging 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per night. However, he has a $25.6MM player option for next season and Memphis had luxury tax concerns.
The Wizards did an about-face on their promise to compete for a playoff spot by sending Otto Porter to the Bulls. Owner Ted Leonsis had vowed that the organization would do all it could to reach the postseason, but its deals at the deadline were focused on escaping the luxury tax. Porter is owed nearly $56MM over the next two seasons.
The Sixers decided to give up on 2017 No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz, trading him to Orlando for Jonathon Simmons and a pair of draft picks. After making aggressive trades this season to acquire Harris and Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia has decided to take a win-now approach and no longer wanted the distraction of Fultz’s physical problems and shooting woes.
Here are 10 more notable NBA headlines from the past week:
- The All-Star draft was televised for the first time, with LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo making their selections for the February 17 game in Charlotte. The proceedings ended with an unexpected trade, as James sent Russell Westbrook to Antetokounmpo in exchange for Ben Simmons.
- Participants were also announced for the All-Star weekend 3-Point, Skills and Dunk contests. The 3-point competition may have the most drama as hometown favorite Kemba Walker faces off against veteran Dirk Nowitzki and a pair of brothers in Stephen Curry and Seth Curry.
- Enes Kanter didn’t get either part of the play-me-or-trade-me request he made, but he did get to become a free agent when the Knicks waived him Thursday. After beginning the year as the starting center, Kanter saw his minutes steadily reduced.
- Wesley Matthews, who was also waived by the Knicks this week, has committed to joining the Pacers.
- Nets guard Caris LeVert made a much faster than expected return from a severe right foot injury he suffered in November. Originally feared to be out for the season, the 24-year-old returned to action last night.
- Already sidelined for the season because of heel surgery, Wizards guard John Wall fell in his home and suffered a rupture of his left Achilles tendon that is expected to sideline him for an additional 12 months.
- Kevin Durant lashed out at the media for what he considers to be excessive speculation about his free agent future. The Knicks and Clippers both cleared cap room this week and are expected to aggressively pursue the Warriors star.
- There was an angry exchange in the Lakers‘ locker room after last Saturday’s loss to the Warriors with coach Luke Walton singling out players for a selfish approach to the game and veterans Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee lashing back over their inconsistent roles. Beasley was traded to the Clippers before the week ended.
- The Knicks remain the NBA’s highest-valued franchise, topping $4 billion for the first time.
- Lamar Odom is the latest former NBA star to sign up for the BIG3 league this summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Thunder Waive Alex Abrines
7:34pm: Abrines agreed to give back almost all of the $1.8MM he was still owed, according to Charania (Twitter link), who adds that he and the team “parted ways amicably.”
4:20pm: Oklahoma City has placed Alex Abrines on waivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Thunder will still be responsible for the remainder of his $5,455,236 salary, which will continue to count against the team’s cap.
The third-year guard has appeared in just 31 games this season, averaging 5.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 19 minutes per night. Abrines was a second-round draft choice in 2013, but didn’t come to the NBA until three years later.
The 25-year-old has only appeared in two games over the past six weeks and is dealing with an undisclosed personal situation, according to Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Abrines and team officials came to a mutual decision that he needed time away from basketball to work on those issues, adds ESPN’s Royce Young.
“He’s still battling through some things and wasn’t able to be here tonight,” coach Billy Donovan said after Tuesday’s game. “Honestly, we go day-by-day with him and continue to be supportive with him. He’s around the team, we always talk and communicate.”
The Thunder were already one player short of the roster minimum of 14 after the deadline, so OKC will have to make at least two additions. They will have two weeks from today to replace Abrines.
John Wall Talks About Injury, Recovery
A disastrous injury to John Wall got even worse this week with the news that he developed an infection from heel surgery, then fell in his home and ruptured his left Achilles tendon, which is expected to sideline him for an additional 12 months.
Still, Wall was in good spirits as he joined his teammates for Friday’s win over the Cavaliers and as he talked to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post about his upcoming operation, which is set for Tuesday morning.
“You never want to hear it, but it is what it is, and [I’m] kind of glad that it happened now instead of when I’m four or five months ahead in recovery and I’m trying to get back to being on the court,” Wall said. “… It’s not like I’ve started my process of getting back, so it’s not too much to kind of dwell on.
“I guess God is telling me something: ‘Sit down and get yourself fully healthy.’ I’ve played through injuries my whole career. I know a lot of people who’ve played through injuries and don’t sit down; that’s one thing I don’t like to do. If something is nagging or not broken, I want to play. And I guess it kind of caught up to me. Something I can’t control, but my love for the game is still there, and I’ll come back and conquer this like it was just a little step in the road.”
“We added some great pieces; you see how well those guys played today,” Wall said in assessing the trades. “The franchise made some changes the last couple days, made some adjustments, and I think these guys that we added have a great mind-set even though it was only one game. Just take it one step at a time. For me, all I can do is sit back and watch film . . . [so] that I can come back and be able to play injury-free and just have fun without playing through nicks and bruises every night.”
Hoops Rumors Originals: 2/2/19 – 2/9/19
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Below are the original segments and features from the past seven days:
- Luke Adams examined every team’s roster in the aftermath of the trade deadline.
- We held a live chat on deadline day to answer readers’ questions about all that was happening.
- Fantasy basketball expert Chris Crouse identified which players will get better and worse as a result of this week’s trades.
- We conducted a poll on who will win the Eastern Conference.
- In this week’s Community Shootaround post, we asked if the Pelicans should have accepted the Lakers‘ latest trade offer for Anthony Davis.
- This week’s Mailbag took questions on Davis, Julius Randle and George Hill.
Rockets Trade Stauskas, Baldwin To Pacers
10:00pm: The Pacers have officially completed their trade with the Rockets, acquiring Stauskas, Baldwin, Milwaukee’s 2021 second-round pick and the rights to Maarty Leunen for cash considerations, the team announced.
Indiana also waived Anigbogu to make the agreement official.
1:05pm: The Pacers are waiving second-year center Ike Anigbogu to make room for their incoming players, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
12:16pm: A day after acquiring Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin, the Rockets have reached an agreement to send them to the Pacers, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Houston will also ship a second-round pick to Indiana, Woj adds, and the Pacers plan to waive both players (Twitter link).
The Pacers only have one roster opening, so they will have to get rid of someone before they can take on Stauskas and Baldwin, notes Keith Smith of Real GM (Twitter link). The Rockets are making the deal for tax purposes, so it’s unlikely they will be getting anyone in return.
A flurry of trades over the past two days has put Houston $634K under the luxury tax, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Rockets are down to 12 players, two below the league minimum, but are expected to be active on the buyout market. They will have two weeks to get their roster back to at least 14. Owner Tilman Fertitta has been saying that he wanted to get under the tax this season to avoid repeater penalties in the future, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Indiana will drop down to 13 players once if it follows through with plans to waive Stauskas and Baldwin and will also have two weeks to get back to the 14-player minimum.
The Rockets acquired both players last night in a three-team deal that also brought them Iman Shumpert. Houston had to take both players from the Cavaliers to help Cleveland stay below the luxury tax. This is the third trade in four days for Stauskas and Baldwin, who were also sent from the Trail Blazers to the Cavs in the Rodney Hood swap.
Clippers Waive Milos Teodosic
8:09pm: Having completed their trade with the Lakers, the Clippers have officially released Teodosic, the club announced in a press release.
“We feel privileged that Milos chose to play for the Clippers after a fantastic career in Europe,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement. “He has been a terrific playmaker and we are grateful for his contributions to the organization.”
Teodosic will clear waivers this weekend and is a strong candidate to return overseas if he doesn’t receive immediate NBA interest.
1:56pm: The Clippers are waiving Milos Teodosic, according to a tweet from Eurohoops. The Clips need to open a roster spot to complete the two-for-one deal that brought Ivica Zubac and Michael Beasley from the Lakers. The move was confirmed by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Teodosic was a star in Europe who was highly sought after when he came to the NBA, but his experience in L.A. never worked out like he had hoped. He averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in 45 games last year in an injury-plagued season, but has only appeared in 15 games this year as those numbers have dropped to 3.2 PPG and 2.1 APG.
Teodosic was already frustrated by his decreased playing time in November, when he talked about going back to Europe. A report in December indicated that a team in Turkey was “seriously pursuing” him if he could get out of his NBA contract.
Knicks Waive Enes Kanter
3:54pm: The Knicks have officially waived Kanter, the team announced today (via Twitter). He’ll clear waivers on Saturday.
2:35pm: Enes Kanter won’t have to worry about a negotiating a buyout in New York, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Knicks plan to release the unhappy center, meaning they will owe him the balance of his $18.6MM contract. The move could be finalized by the end of the day (Twitter link).
Kanter has been frustrated about his reduced playing time under first-year Knicks coach David Fizdale. Kanter began the season as the starter, but dropped down the depth chart as Fizdale created more minutes for Mitchell Robinson and Luke Kornet. Last week’s Kristaps Porzingis trade brought DeAndre Jordan to New York and left Kanter as the fourth-string center.
Kanter was outspoken about his situation and asked management for a trade if he wasn’t going to be used. Madison Square Garden fans have been vocal in their support of Kanter, chanting his name at recent games, but that may have been part of the reason the Knicks decided to act so quickly to get rid of him.
“I don’t know if the organization wants to hear that every game because it’s a little embarrassing,” Kanter said in an ESPN story. “Because after all this [Porzingis] trade and everything that the fans still want me to go out there and play. I don’t know if they wanna hear that chant every game.”
Several teams should be interested in the 25-year-old, who averaged 14.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in 44 games.
Kings, Blazers Swap Skal Labissiere, Caleb Swanigan
The Kings have sent Skal Labissiere to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Caleb Swanigan in a swap of little-used power forwards, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
A late first-round pick in 2016, Labissiere has barely played this season, appearing in 13 games and averaging 8.7 minutes per night. The Kings already picked up his option for next season, which will pay him $2,3MM.
Swanigan is averaging 8.1 minutes in 18 games. He will make a little more than $2MM next year.