Atlantic Notes: Perry, Ojeleye, Bolden
While Knicks general manager Scott Perry is still relatively new to the job, an impressive second summer at the helm has shown that’s he’s a competent choice to lead the franchise. Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes that the stellar play of second-round pick Mitchell Robinson is the latest example of his prowess.
Not only did Perry nab a useful young big man that could grow to be a part of the Knicks’ core, he did it on the cheap. Robinson signed a four-year deal worth $6.6MM that will keep him under affordable team control.
Hamilton also calls to light Perry’s selection of Kevin Knox in the first round, the hiring of David Fizdale and the 2017 trade of Carmelo Anthony as the general manager’s early portfolio of work with the Knicks.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division tonight:
- The Knicks will look to see Mario Hezonja break out in his fourth year as an NBA pro and, as Marc Berman of The New York Post writes, one of the keys to that will be the swingman maintaining his confidence. A stable coaching staff should help in that regard.
- The Celtics effectively guaranteed Semi Ojeleye‘s contract by not waiving him by today, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets. The second-year forward has stood out for the C’s during summer league.
- Sixers draft-and-stash prospect Jonah Bolden, who hopes to play for the big league club this season, struggled in summer league play. The 2017 pick understands that he didn’t perform as well this year as he did in the previous summer league and, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, attributes it to a lack of organized basketball this spring.
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Jackson Jr., Metu
The Pelicans added a pair of young building blocks in Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton this summer and the new personnel could lead to an even faster pace of play, William Guillory of The Times-Picayune writes.
The addition of two athletic young players – Randle is still just 23 years old while Payton is 24 – will serve the Pelicans well. Guillory writes that New Orleans led the league in pace after DeMarcus Cousins went down with an Achilles injury in January.
“We want to play fast, we want to defend, we want to get out in transition,” Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said. “The other thing is these two guys are very unselfish players, which would fit great with our group.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Grizzlies see fourth-overall pick Jaren Jackson Jr. as a Defensive Player of the Year-type player, J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star writes. “He’s a natural talker and in order to be a great defender you got to be a natural talker. That’s what he is,” Memphis assistant Greg Buckner said.
- The Spurs chose not to withdraw their qualifying offer from Darrun Hilliard before Friday, meaning they won’t be able to do so without Hilliard’s blessing, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes. Hilliard remains a restricted two-way free agent.
- The Spurs have downgraded rookie Chimezie Metu‘s wrist injury from a sprain to a fracture, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes, noting that Metu will wear a cast but will not require surgery.
Pistons Notes: Robinson III, Nori, Hearn
The Pistons nabbed former Michigan Wolverine Glenn Robinson III for two years at just north of $8MM. His goal this season, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press writes, is to contend for a starting gig.
Before joining the Pistons, Robinson III made a name for himself as a sharp-shooting reserve on a Pacers team but an early ankle injury early last season threw a wrench in what could have been a breakout year in 2017/18.
Looming large ahead of Robinson on the Pistons’ depth chart is Stanley Johnson but the new addition could carve out a meaningful role for himself thanks to his long-range shooting regardless.
There’s more out of Detroit this evening:
- The Pistons will bring Micah Nori aboard to join Dwane Casey‘s coaching staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The club will also bring aboard former Warriors analytics ace Sammy Gelfand, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes.
- The Pistons will return a number of key rotation players this season, while integrating a number of fresh faces eager to compete for minutes. Rod Beard of The Detroit News breaks down what fans can make of each player currently on the roster.
- The Pistons retain the rights to 2017/18 two-way player Reggie Hearn, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets and the guard is hopeful to return to the team’s G League affiliate this season.
Grizzlies Sign Jevon Carter To Multi-Year Deal
The Grizzlies have signed 2018 second-round pick Jevon Carter to a multi-year contract, the club announced in a press release.
The 32nd overall pick arrives in Memphis after four seasons at West Virginia and will compete with Kobi Simmons for reps at the backup point guard position.
Carter is currently with Memphis’ summer league squad competing in Vegas and has averaged 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.
Lakers Sign JaVale McGee
JULY 10: The Lakers have officially signed McGee, the team announced today in a press release. The move takes L.A. over the cap, but the team still has its $4.449MM room exception available if it wants to make another signing worth more than the minimum.
JULY 1: The Lakers have reached an agreement on a one-year, minimum deal with center JaVale McGee, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets. McGee will join Lance Stephenson and LeBron James in Los Angeles as part of the Twilight Zone Big 3 You Never Knew You Always Wanted.
Though the frequent Shaqtin’ A Fool honoree gets flak for the occasional on-court blooper, he has actually carved out a valuable bit role for himself in two seasons with the Warriors. His length and athleticism, though not always deployable in today’s small ball era, can impact the tone of games off the bench.
McGee averaged 4.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game for the Warriors last year but saw those rates increase to 6.7 and 3.8 respectively in contests in which he played at least 10 minutes. Even if he serves a similar niche role with the Lakers, McGee’s minimum deal – worth $2.4MM with a cap hit of $1.5MM – is an affordable piece for a franchise that us quickly running out of roster spots.
The Lakers currently have McGee, 21-year-old Ivica Zubac, and rookie Moritz Wagner set to man the five, so we’ll see if they consider adding more support at the position.
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Lakers Sign Lance Stephenson
JULY 10: The Lakers have officially signed Stephenson, according to a press release from the team.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have Lance join our team,” GM Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Lance is playoff-tested and will bring a certain edge, confidence and toughness to our roster. His multi-positional versatility and open-court playmaking abilities are key ingredients for the basketball style we designed for next season.”
By signing Stephenson now, the Lakers have elected to use most or all of their remaining cap room to complete his deal, leaving the $4.449MM room exception available for another move.
JULY 1: The Lakers have agreed to a deal with Lance Stephenson, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. The 27-year-old swingman and notorious rival of LeBron James will head to Los Angeles after a career-reviving 14-month stint with the Pacers.
The pact, which ESPN’s Chris Haynes reports is worth $4.5MM over one season, will give the Lakers an additional veteran as they gear up to transition from a rebuilding young squad to a genuine Western Conference contender.
[RELATED: LeBron James to sign four-year deal with Lakers]
Stephenson, 27, had his 2018/19 team option turned down by the Pacers after he averaged 9.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.9 APG last season, appearing in all 82 games. While his shooting numbers (.427/.289/.661) were all below his career marks, it was still somewhat surprising to see the Pacers let Stephenson go. His option salary would have been $4.36MM, so he’ll get a slight raise on his new deal.
Based on the terms reported by Haynes, it appears the Lakers will use their room exception to sign Stephenson once they’ve used up all their cap room. The room exception is worth $4.449MM for 2018/19.
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Nuggets Sign Will Barton To Four-Year Deal
JULY 9: The Nuggets have officially signed Barton to his new four-year contract, according to a press release from the team.
“Will Barton is a fearless competitor that never backs down,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said in a statement. “He has continuously pushed himself to be the best player and teammate he can be and gives it his all no matter what role he is asked to play. We are very excited to have gotten this deal done and to keep an important player like Will as a key part of our future.”
JUNE 30: The Nuggets will come to terms on a four-year deal with free agent swingman Will Barton, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports tweets. The news comes an hour before the official free agency period begins.
The four-year contract will be worth $54MM, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets, with a player option in the final year. Per Zach Lowe of ESPN, the final year of the four-year deal will include a player option.
Barton, a 27-year-old shooting guard, is coming off a career year with the franchise. The prolific two guard averaged 15.7 points per game on the season but 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists in games that he started.
It was previously reported that Barton would be meeting with the Pacers later tonight but Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes that that meeting was never scheduled.
With Nikola Jokic‘s recently reported five-year extension factored in, the acquisition of Barton at over $12MM annually will put the Nuggets on pace to shatter the luxury tax line.
Of course club president of basketball operations Tim Connelly will have plenty of time to rectify that and, as we wrote earlier, will be looking to shed contracts in trades.
At the end of the day, while the deal could put the Nuggets over the tax if they can’t unload any of their unwanted contracts, they have $34MM set to expire next summer when Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler and Darrell Arthur all come off their books.
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Pistons Waive Dwight Buycks
JULY 7, 5:23pm: Buycks has officially been waived, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
JULY 5, 7:39pm: The Pistons will waive backup point guard Dwight Buycks, Michael Scotto of The Athletic reports. The 29-year-old averaged 7.4 points and 2.0 assists per game off the bench for Detroit in 2017/18.
Had he remained on the roster through September 1, his minimum deal for 2018/19 would have become guaranteed.
While Buycks battled for key reserve minutes behind de facto starter Ish Smith last season, the return of a healthy Reggie Jackson bumped him further down the team’s depth chart.
With Buycks out of the picture, the Pistons will rely on Jackson and Smith, with recently signed veteran Jose Calderon available for spot minutes.
As for Buycks, who had been out of the NBA since 2014/15 prior to catching on in Detroit, it’s back to the open market.
DeAndre Jordan Signs One-Year Deal With Mavs
JULY 7, 7:38am: Jordan’s new salary will be $22.9MM, but he won’t actually be taking a pay cut due to the lack of state income taxes in Texas, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. MacMahon also relays comments from Mark Cuban on the signing, with the Mavs owner explaining that Jordan gives the team the best chance to “win now.”
JULY 6, 5:50pm: The signing is official, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
JUNE 30, 11:26pm: According to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports, Jordan’s one-year deal is worth slightly less than the $24.1MM option he turned down in Los Angeles.
11:06pm: The Mavericks have agreed on a one-year deal with DeAndre Jordan, Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets. The verbal agreement is said to approach the $24.1MM mark, the amount Jordan surrendered on Friday when he turned down his player option with the Clippers.
The acquisition of Jordan is a long time coming for the Mavs – like, since Emojigate long – but the idea of the pairing picked up steam when the Texas-born big man shut the door on a return to Los Angeles by turning down his 2018/19 option.
The Mavs ensured that they would have plenty of cap space available with which to convince Jordan to join them when they turned down the 2018/19 team option on Dirk Nowitzki‘s contract.
It’s unclear exactly what the final figure for the one-year deal with Jordan will be, but Dallas had approximately $28MM to offer him. With the former Clipper apparently on track to join the Mavs, the club is probably out of the market for several other noteworthy big men that have been linked to Dallas in recent weeks — that list includes Julius Randle and DeMarcus Cousins, among others.
Jordan, fresh off of his fifth consecutive season averaging a double-double, will slot into Dallas’ suddenly impressive lineup and should give franchise pillar Nowitzki a significantly greater chance of playing competitive basketball in the twilight of his career.
Jordan was the 10th-ranked player on our list of the top 50 free agents of 2018.
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Paul George Re-Signs With Thunder
JULY 6th, 6:46pm: The signing is official, per team press release.
JUNE 30th, 11:19pm: According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the contract will be a four-year pact worth $137MM. The deal will include a player option.
10:45: Free agent guard Paul George has committed to re-signing with the Thunder, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The news comes at the end of a year-long recruitment effort after the franchise acquired the former Pacers star in a stunning 2017 trade.
General manager Sam Presti and the Thunder wagered that the club would be able to convince George to stay in town despite the very public revelation that he had eyes for the Lakers.
While the Thunder didn’t make the playoff run they may have hoped this season, there’s no denying that the presence of George gives the team a higher long-term ceiling.
In 79 games with Oklahoma City, George averaged 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
While he ultimately signed for less, George was eligible for a five-year, $177MM deal as a player with 7-9 years of experience signing with the same team. The 2018/19 cap hit for such a deal will be $30.6MM, per the recently revealed salary cap figures. Prior to the announcement of the deal, reports indicated that the star forward might prefer a shorter-term deal, possibly a two-year pact with a second-year option.
Now that George has signed on for the max, it will push the Thunder deep into luxury-tax territory. Carmelo Anthony, who has a $28MM salary for 2018/19, could be a candidate to be waived and stretched if Oklahoma City needs to cut costs.
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