Wizards Sign Mike Young To Two-Way Contract
The Wizards have signed Michael Young to a two-way contract, according to a team announcement. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Washington also announced that Young will play for the organization’s Summer League team in Las Vegas.
Young played at the University of Pittsburgh and was named All-ACC Third Team in each of this final two seasons at the school. The Pennsylvania native scored 19.6 points per game while pulling down 6.8 rebounds during his senior season with the Panthers.
Each team is allowed to sign two players to a two-way contract, which is a feature of the new CBA. Players signed to these deals will spend most of the 2017/18 campaign playing in the NBA G-League since they cannot spend more than 45 days with their NBA team, as our glossary page on two-way contracts shows.
The Wizards do not have a G-League team of their own, so Young will have to play for another club via the league’s flex assignment rule. Candace Buckner of The Washington Post notes that the power forward will likely spend most of his time with the Delaware 87ers.
Community Shootaround: Sixers Draft
What the Sixers decide to do with the No. 3 overall pick could shape the entire draft, as I suggested in the team’s offseason preview. While it’s not a forgone conclusion that Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball go in the top-2, counting on any other outcome would be unwise.
Philadelphia has a tough decision to make with No. 3 and that leads us to tonight’s topic: Assuming Fultz and Ball are off the board, what should the Sixers do with their first round pick?
Malik Monk seems like a great fit because of his outside shooting, though it’s likely that he’ll be available in the latter half of the top-10, so trading down may be the best maneuver. If the team stays put, Josh Jackson could be the selection because of his tremendous upside or team president Bryan Colangelo could opt for the explosive skill-set of De’Aaron Fox.
Jayson Tatum is arguably the most pro-ready player in the draft and he could step in from day one alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to form a special young nucleus. If the team intends on playing the 2016 No. 1 overall selection at the point guard spot, having a slasher with Tatum’s repertoire on the wing will only help his development.
Philly could go in multiple directions on draft night and we’re putting you on the clock in tonight’s community shootaround. Tell us what you would do with the No. 3 overall pick in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!
Draft Notes: Mitchell, Hart, Cleveland
The Knicks will work out Donovan Mitchell, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Begley notes that New York is “highly intrigued” by the Louisville product’s defensive ability and versatility. It was previously reported that the team is considering Mitchell as an option for the No.8 overall selection.
Here’s more on the upcoming draft:
- Josh Hart will work out for the Kings on Monday, James Ham of NBC Sports reports (Twitter link). Sacramento owns the No. 5, No.10, and No. 34 selections in the upcoming draft.
- Isaiah Briscoe has a workout with the Jazz today, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog tweets. Zagoria adds that the Kentucky product will go through drills with the Lakers on Monday.
- Antonius Cleveland will work out for the Blazers on Monday before heading to Charlotte to work out for the Hornets on Tuesday, Begley adds (via a separate ESPN Now link). The Southeast Missouri star also plans on going through drills with the Celtics and Jazz later in the week. Begley notes that several NBA executives from teams with picks in the second round have been impressed with the combo guard.
- The Lakers worked out Tyler Lydon earlier today, Zagoria adds in a separate tweet.
Heat Notes: Hayward, Johnson, Draft
The Heat may be a threat to pry Gordon Hayward away from the Jazz, but adding the All-Star wing won’t be enough to propel Miami into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. The franchise will need to add other talent and Heat Hoops outlines how it could create upwards of $11MM in cap space after signing Hayward to a max deal.
The team would need to waive Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder, and Okaro White, and ideally, find a taker for Josh McRoberts on the trade market, though it’s more likely that the organization will have to use the stretch provision on the big man. Doing that while renouncing all of the team’s free agents will give the Heat enough cap room to bring in an impact player in the $10-11MM annual salary range.
Here’s more from Miami:
- The time to go after major free agents is now, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel explains. The team has the cap space to offer someone a max deal, but with Tyler Johnson‘s deal on the books, it’ll be a more difficult feat next offseason. Johnson will make slightly over $5.88MM this season before making roughly $38.5MM over the following two seasons.
- Miami can’t afford to be patient and build through the draft since they will likely be without a pair of first-rounders over the next few seasons, Winderman notes in the same piece. The Heat will ship their 2019 first round pick to the Suns if it falls outside the top seven as well as their 2021 selection as a result of the Goran Dragic deal.
And-Ones: James, 2003 Draft, Wanamaker
Many have compared Kevin Durant‘s decision to join Golden State to LeBron James‘ move to Miami back in 2010, but LBJ doesn’t see it as the same situation, as Steven Ruiz of USA Today relays.
“I don’t think our careers are the same, as far as changing teams,” James said. “Their team was already kind of put together. And you just implement a guy who’s ready to sacrifice – a great talent, a guy who’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win. But that team, they already knew what they were all about, and he just had to come in and do what he had to do. And that’s what he’s been doing.
“For me, when I left [Cleveland] to go to Miami, we had to build something. We brought in eight or nine guys, and we had to build something. And when I came back [to Cleveland] we had to build something again.”
Ten players were already on the Warriors roster when Durant arrived in town compared to just two—Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem—on the Heat when James came to South Beach.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Former Cavaliers GM Jim Paxson admits that he made moves during the 2002/03 season with the 2003 draft in mind, as he tells Sam Smith of NBA.com. “That season before [in 2002] we traded Andre Miller to the Clippers because he was up for that rookie extension for Darius Miles and some parts,” Paxson recalled. “I told ownership even though there is no guarantee [for the top pick], we need to take one more step back because this [2003] draft is going to be special [Paxson said their draft order was LeBron, Carmelo and then Bosh]. Andre was good enough to keep us in the 27 to 31-win range, which would take you out of that top three to four picks. We tied with Denver [for the most lottery balls] when we won the last game of the season. Then we got lucky to get the No. 1.”
- Paxson added that he knew right away he had to surround James with shooting, Smith passes along in the same piece. The Cavaliers took Jason Kapono in the second-round of the 2003 draft.
- Dan Fegan denies any ties to the new Dynasty Sports Group agency that was founded by former ISE agent Aylton Tesch, according to Liz Mullen of Sports Business Daily. Tesch left ISE shortly after the company fired Fegan.
- CSKA Moscow plans to pursue Brad Wanamaker, who played collegiate ball at the University of Pittsburgh before flourishing in Europe, in the event that Milos Teodosic leaves for the NBA, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link).
Northwest Notes: Hill, Favors, Workouts
Keeping Gordon Hayward in Utah is the top priority for the Jazz this offseason, but re-signing him alone isn’t going to help the team climb in the Western Conference standings, Benjamin Mehic of the Deseret News writes.
The team must also shore up its point guard position. George Hill will be a free agent this summer and the team will have trouble finding a top-notch point guard replacement should he bolt. Hill has expressed a desire to return, as Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors mentioned in the team’s offseason preview. However, many players say flattering things about their current team as they head into free agency only to leave for another club.
If Hill is lured away, the most likely option for the Jazz is promoting Dante Exum to the starting unit, though that could hurt the team in the win column since Exum hasn’t quite proven himself in the league yet.
Here’s more from the Northwest:
- Derrick Favors doesn’t appear to be in the Jazz’s long-term plans and if they look to deal him this summer, the Lakers could be a good fit, Mehic contends in the same piece. The scribe believes Jordan Clarkson, who is reportedly on the trade block, would be a nice addition for Utah and he envisions Favors along with one of the team’s draft selections to be enough to get a deal done.
- The Nuggets held a pre-draft workout earlier today, according to their website. Laurynas Birutis, Amida Brimah, Terrance Ferguson, Isaiah Hicks, Amile Jefferson, and Matt Jones were all in attendance.
- The Blazers have brought in several prospects for workouts, according to the team’s website. Antonio Blakeney, John Collins, Josh Hart, T.J. Leaf, Sindarius Thornwell, and Paris Bass all took part in drills for the club.
Draft Notes: Giles, Allen, Swanigan
Wondering how many picks your team has? Check out our 2017 NBA Draft Picks page. The Sixers have the most selections with five, though they are looking to deal at least one of their second-rounders. The draft is just two weeks away. As we wait for the big night, check out some notes on some of the prospects expecting to hear their name called on June 22:
- Harry Giles has plans to work out for the Pistons, Bulls, Heat, and Pacers before the draft, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian tweets. The Duke product has already met with the Kings and Blazers.
- Jarrett Allen will work out for the Nuggets on Friday, Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post tweets. Allen is the 17th best prospect in the upcoming draft, per Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
- Allen will go through drills with the Kings on Saturday, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee passes along (Twitter link).
- Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post chronicles the hurdles that Caleb Swanigan has had to overcome to make his dream of playing basketball professionally a reality. The Purdue big man is expected to be taken in the second round of this year’s draft.
- Swanigan is scheduled to work out for his hometown Jazz on Saturday, sources tell Tony Jones of the Salt Lake City Tribune (Twitter link).
Eastern Notes: Hornets, Bulls, Knicks, Nets
The Hornets have six players on the roster who will make $12MM or more next year and that leaves the team without much flexibility heading into the offseason, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. The franchise has roughly $102MM on the books for the 2017/18 campaign, as we outlined on the team’s Salary Digest page.
Bonnell believes GM Rich Cho needs to find a way to improve the team’s depth. The 2015/16 squad was able to make the playoffs because of a deep rotation, but after losing several contributors to free agency, Charlotte fell in the standings.
Cho will have the No.11 and No. 41 overall picks in this year’s draft as well as two exceptions (the highest mid-level exception—approximately $8.4MM —and the bi-annual exception, which is projected to be around $3.3MM) to work with as he looks to add talent.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Donovan Mitchell recently met with the Bulls and Vincent Goodwill of Comcast Sportsnet (Twitter link) hears that the team was impressed with the guard’s workout. Goodwill notes that there is a good chance that Mitchell is off the board by the time Chicago picks at No. 16.
- Steve Vasturia worked out for the Knicks, Dennis Chambers of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old shooting guard has plans to work out for the Nets as well.
- Isaac Hamilton will work out for the Knicks, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). Begley notes that the UCLA product fits the mold that team President Phil Jackson is looking for and the shooting guard could be an option for the team in the second round. New York owns the No. 44 and No. 58 overall selections in addition to the No.8.
Sixers Looking To Sell/Trade Second-Round Picks
Four of Philly’s league-high five selections are in the second-round and an anonymous executive tells Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the front office will look to sell one of their selections.
Another executive told Pompey that Philadelphia has been in contact with other teams regarding a trade for a couple of its picks. “Their last two second-rounders are in play [for possible trades]. The word is out there,” the second anonymous executive said.
Philadelphia owns the No. 36, No. 39, No. 46 and No. 50 overall picks in addition to the No. 3 overall selections. It’ll be difficult to add that many rookies to a team that will look to improve upon its 2016/17 record, as I discussed in the team’s offseason preview.
The front office is also considering taking a draft-and-stash prospect who would play overseas for at least one season. The team used this vehicle with prospects in the past, such as Dario Saric and Furkan Korkmaz.
Rosters will expand to 17 next season with a pair of two-way contracts being added to each team’s arsenal. It shouldn’t be assumed that the team will use both of those contracts on rookie players. Pompey notes that Alex Poythress, who played six games for Philadelphia near the end of last season, is a candidate to receive one of those two-way deals.
It’ll be tough for Philadelphia to add five rookies to a squad full of young talent, so it’s likely that the team makes some sort of move. Stay tuned to Hoops Rumors for the latest on the Sixers’ situation.
Knicks Draft Notes: Smith Jr., Mitchell, Williams-Goss
Dennis Smith Jr. met with Knicks team president Phil Jackson and according to the prospect’s trainer, he would love a chance to play with Carmelo Anthony, as Adam Zagoria of Fan Rag relays.
“Those guys are proven, USA [Basketball], Olympic players, I think he would mesh well. And Junior wants to learn now, too,” Smith’s longtime trainer Shawn Farmer. “He doesn’t just want to go in and think he knows everything. He wants to get up under those guys’ wing and learn from those guys.”
Farmer added playing in the triangle wouldn’t upset Smith. “He saw it was successful prior years with Kobe [Bryant] and all of those kids [on the Lakers]. So Junior is one of the smartest basketball players I’ve ever been around and I’ve played professionally in Europe. I’ve been around a lot of pros and not being biased, he’s such a smart kid,” Farmer said.
The NC State product was expected to work out for New York on Wednesday, but that never took place, Ian Begley of ESPN.com reports (ESPN Now link). The point guard also met with the Magic on Wednesday, so it’s possible that he received a draft promise from Orlando and decided not to go through drills with the Knicks, though that is merely my speculation.
Here’s more from the Big Apple:
- New York is considering Donovan Mitchell as an option for the No. 8 overall selection, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Berman adds that the Louisville product is expected to work out for the team this week.
- Nigel Williams-Goss is on the Knicks‘ radar, Begley adds in a separate ESPN Now link. The Gonzaga star is expected to come off the board in the second round and New York owns the No. 44 and No. 58 selections.
- The Knicks have worked out Jaron Blossomgame, Ike Iroegbu, and Erik McCree, according to Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).