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Just over two weeks remain before we find out the expansion protection lists for all 30 NHL teams and things are already starting to heat up.
Who will be the latest victim of Chicago’s cap problems? Will Anaheim be able to protect all of their young defensive depth, or be forced to take a last minute deal? Which goaltender will be the starter in Vegas next season?
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Latest On Bucks’ GM Search
Milwaukee will begin formal interviews for its open GM position on Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports.
The team has been granted permission to speak with Blazer assistant GM Bill Branch, Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, and Pistons assistant GM Pat Garrity, according to Wojnarowski.
The scribe adds that the Bucks have reached out to the Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon about the opening. Hammon has been working under coach Gregg Popovich for three seasons.
Milwaukee previously reached out to Indiana and gained permission to speak with the team’s VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie. Wojnarowski adds that the franchise also has permission to speak with Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski and Hawks special advisor Wes Wilcox.
Justin Zanik, who is currently running the team as its assistant GM, remains a strong candidate for the position. Zanik is gathering “significant support” inside and outside the organization, Wojnarowski writes. He joined the team with the expectation that he would be the GM-in-waiting once John Hammond‘s contract expired. Hammond recently left the franchise to become Orlando’s GM.
Kings Waive Anthony Tolliver
Sacramento has waived Anthony Tolliver, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Tolliver’s $8MM contract was only guaranteed for $2MM unless he remained on the roster past today, The Vertical’s Bobby Marks tweets. The Kings will save $6MM from the move.
Marks adds that the team could choose to stretch the $2MM cap hit over the next three seasons. In that scenario, the Kings would have approximately $667K on each season’s cap sheet.
Tolliver, who turned 32 today, signed a two-year, $16MM deal with the Kings last offseason. He played in 65 games, scoring 7.1 points per contest during his lone season in Sacramento.
Pistons Interested In C.J. Miles
The Pistons have interest in adding C.J. Miles this offseason, a source tells Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Miles will reportedly opt out of his deal with the Pacers to become a free agent this summer.
Ellis cautions that any additions will depend on what happens with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock. Detroit already has nearly $95MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season, so even if the team lets each one of its free agent wings walk, it won’t have much flexibility to add a sizable deal.
KCP and Bullock are both restricted free agents, so it’s likely coach/executive Stan Van Gundy opts to retain at least one of the two. If the team goes over the salary cap, which is projected to come in at $101MM, it will have the $8.4MM mid-level exception to work with and a new deal for Miles could fit into that slot. The swingman would have made roughly $4.77MM had he decided to stay on his deal with Indiana.
Miles, who spent the last three seasons with the Pacers, shot 43.4% from downtown on 8.5 attempts per contest last season. Detroit will certainly look to add shooting after making just 33.0% of its shots from behind the arc as a team last season, a figure which ranks 28th in the league.
And-Ones: Teague, Blatt, Hayward
The Mavericks own the No. 9 pick in the upcoming draft and if they go with a frontcourt player, it could signal that the team is planning on adding a point guard this offseason. Jeff Teague could be a realistic option for Dallas this summer, the staff at The Dallas Morning News speculates. Teague will turn 29 next month and he could help Dirk Nowitzki make the playoffs one last time before leading the team’s younger players for the next few seasons.
Here’s more from around the league:
- David Blatt won’t return as the coach of Darussafaka Dogus, the Turkish team he led this past season, Sportando’s E. Carchia relays. International Journalist David Pick reports (Twitter feed) that several other international teams have interest in Blatt.
- ESPNs Michael B. Schwartz believes there’s a real possibility that Gordon Hayward joins the Celtics this summer. Boston can carve out the max space necessary to offer Hayward an estimated four-year, $130MM deal if it says goodbye to a few role players.
- Blake Griffin joining the Thunder isn’t a likely scenario due to the team’s financials, Schwartz contends in the same piece. Oklahoma City handed out massive extensions to Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo last fall and those deals will kick in this summer. Schwartz added that a sign-and-trade would represent the best way for OKC to acquire a top talent like Griffin.
Thunder Notes: Grant, McDermott, Presti
The Thunder will have trouble adding talent around Russell Westbrook this summer, as I discussed in our Five Key Offseason Questions piece on the team. The front office dished out lucrative deals to several contributors over the last two seasons and it left the team without much financial flexibility. If Oklahoma City hopes to make it further than the first round of the playoffs next season, the team will need some of its young talent to make significant improvements.
Here’s more from Oklahoma City:
- Jerami Grant has worked with the Thunder on many aspects of his game since the season ended, as he tells Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. “I think they’re doing a great job here of getting me stronger in certain areas. I think they’re specific to what we want to do with my body. And on the court, being able to read the defense, slow my game down a little bit, not moving 100 miles an hour,” Grant said. His contract with OKC contains a team option worth slightly over $1.52MM for next season and it appears that the team will opt to keep him around.
- Doug McDermott, who was traded to the Thunder at this year’s deadline, said he’d “love to be” in OKC long-term, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes. McDermott has one year left on his rookie deal and he’ll be eligible to sign an extension with the franchise this offseason.
- GM Sam Presti is preparing this offseason as if McDermott will play more minutes at the four spot, Dawson adds in the same piece. “[McDermott] has the versatility to play a little [power forward] for us,” Presti said.
Atlantic Notes: Weltman, Fox, Ilyasova
Masai Ujiri knew the day would come where Jeff Weltman would take the reins of another front office and the Raptors GM did everything he could to keep the executive in-house, Mike Ganter of the National Post passes along.
“I tried to fake it [by giving Weltman the] GM title last year and give him a raise and everything, but it didn’t fake anyone out, I guess. But a phenomenal opportunity for an unbelievable person,” Ujiri said.
Weltman was hired by Orlando to be the team’s president of basketball operations. Ujiri added that the move was “a great loss to the [Raptors] organization.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- De’Aaron Fox met with the Sixers at the draft combine to discuss how he would fit playing off the ball alongside Ben Simmons, Jessica Camerato of Comcast Sportsnet writes. Camerato can envision Philadelphia staying put at No. 3 and selecting Fox, but she could also see the team trading down and drafting Malik Monk while picking up another asset.
- Ersan Ilyasova fit in nicely last season before the Sixers traded him away, though Camerato (same piece) cautions that despite the good synergy, the power forward is unlikely to return to Philadelphia in free agency. The 30-year-old should attract several teams this offseason and he’ll likely look to secure a long-term deal, which isn’t something that’s in Philadelphia’s best interest.
- Jaylen Brown gained valuable experience playing for the Celtics and he believes his role on a playoff team this season will help him be successful down the road, as A. Sherrod Blakely relays. “Being on a winning team and developing good habits, learning how to win, play the game the right way … learning that at a young age is really going to help me,” Brown said. “A lot of young guys, they don’t learn that early. They have to figure it out three, four, five years in. I’m happy I learned it now.”
Celtics To Target Frontcourt Upgrade This Offseason
The Celtics are focused on landing “an All-Star caliber talent” in the front court, multiples sources tell A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet. Blakely adds that Gordon Hayward remains a target, but he’s likely to re-sign with the Jazz this summer.
Blake Griffin could be another target. The power forward is expected to re-sign with the Clippers, but he would be a good fit alongside Al Horford if Boston can convince him to sign with the team. Horford, who signed a four-year deal with the Celtics last offseason, is excited to see where the franchise goes this year.
“We had such a good year. A lot of positive things. It’ll be interesting to see what Danny [Ainge], the organization feels is going to be the next step,” Horford
Ainge could always make a trade to bring in talent, but Blakely notes that he’s more inclined to make major additions via the draft and free agency. Several of the team’s players have faith that the front office will make the right moves this summer.
“It’s always a good thing when you have the opportunity to add value to your team and don’t have to change your team too much,” said Gerald Green, who will be a free agent this summer. “I’m going to be very interested to see what they do as far as building a team. We’re in a good place right now as far as being where we want to be organization-wise. I feel like we’re one or two steps away from actually being at the Finals. I think Danny has some things to think about, but I’m sure he’s going to do the job. I’ve seen Danny go to work in these situations. He always makes the team better. I’m pretty sure he’s got something planned that, at the end of the day, is going to make this organization better.”
Blakely adds that the team could look to extend Isaiah Thomas this offseason rather than waiting until the point guard is a free agent in 2018. Thomas sounds like Boston is a place he doesn’t want to leave.
“Boston’s changed my career, changed my life,” Thomas said. “I would love to be here long-term and win championships here. But as you guys know, it’s a business and anything can happen. I know that and understand that. But I would love to be here. This has been everything to me. This city, this organization … it’s been good.”
Turkey Issues Arrest Warrant For Enes Kanter
Enes Kanter has been accused of belonging to a “terror group” by Turkish officials and the country has issued an arrest warrant for the NBA big man, Yahoo News relays.
Kanter previously backed Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen via Twitter hoping the effort would help to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey claims that Gulen ordered the movement, though he denies the claim.
The warrant was issued after an Istanbul prosecutor started an investigating whether or not Kanter belongs to “an armed terrorist organization.” The arrest warrant references Kanter’s alleged use of an encrypted messaging app, Bylock, which Turkey believes was created for Gulen supporters.
Kanter was detained in Romania last weekend after being informed that Turkey had canceled his passport. He has previously been critical of the country’s president, comparing him to Adolf Hitler. The center believes his passport’s status was a result of his criticism and he told U.S. reporters earlier in the week that he hoped to gain American citizenship.
Western Notes: Baldwin, Clippers, Rose
Wade Baldwin won’t be given the Grizzlies backup point guard role, but he has a chance to earn it this offseason in summer league, Michael Wallace of NBA.com writes. Baldwin, who the team selected in the first round of last year’s draft, is an excellent athlete and he has the potential to have a promising future in the league.
- If the Clippers are going to bring Luc Mbah a Moute back next season, it will likely mean finding a taker for Wesley Johnson on the trade market, Bobby Marks of The Vertical speculates. Marks notes that Johnson, who has two years and slightly over $12MM remaining on his contract, no longer has a meaningful role on the team.
- The Clippers should learn a lesson from the Knicks and avoid giving Blake Griffin or Chris Paul no-trade clauses in their respective contracts, Marks cautions in the same piece. Carmelo Anthony received the clause in his deal and it has suppressed his trade value on the market.
- Derrick Rose is more likely to join the Spurs than Chris Paul is, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports contends. Helin notes that the Spurs will have difficulty carving out max cap room in order to bring Paul to the team.