Eastern Notes: Sixers, Bucks, MCW, Magic
Jahlil Okafor is preparing himself to be the focal point of the Sixers, and the rookie has already established himself in Philadelphia, Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
“He has brought a whole lot of excitement to this team,” teammate Robert Covington said. “He is a big man who has made his presence known already.”
Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference:
- The Bucks‘ ability to convince Greg Monroe to sign with them over teams in bigger markets such as the Knicks or the Lakers signals that Milwaukee should be considered a major player in free agency and a contender in the years to come, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders writes. Monroe should bring some needed offense to a team that ranked 25th in the league in offensive efficiency last season.
- Milwaukee must figure out whether Michael Carter-Williams can be the team’s point guard of the future, Blancarte writes in the same piece. Blancarte acknowledges the point guard’s flaws but believes there is a tendency to overlook the things he does well. MCW has career averages of 15.7 points, 6.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. He will be eligible for a rookie scale extension after the 2015/16 campaign.
- Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider only) believes Mario Hezonja can contribute to the Magic right away, but he realizes that the 20-year-old’s basketball IQ and decision-making could be serious hurdles in his development.
Southeast Notes: Kaminsky, Hawks’ New Hires
Frank Kaminsky is high on the list of rookies who should be able to contribute to their teams right away, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insiders only) writes. Elhassan acknowledges that Kaminsky might struggle on the defensive end, but argues that his offense is solid and his game complements Al Jefferson‘s, which should allow the rookie to see significant minutes immediately.
The Celtics offered the Hornets a package that included four first-round picks to entice Charlotte to give up the No. 9 pick, but owner Michael Jordan preferred to select a more known commodity in Kaminsky over stocking up on future picks. Readers of Hoops Rumors offered various and conflicting opinions on whether Charlotte made the right call by keeping its selection in Tuesday’s Community Shootaround.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks have hired Michael Blackstone as an assistant GM, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Blackstone previously served as the executive director of basketball operations for the Cavs.
- Atlanta has also hired John Treloar to be the director of player personnel, Vivlamore adds in the same piece. Treloar previously served as the director of player personnel for the Suns and as the coach of the Erie Bayhawks, the Cavs’ D-League affiliate. New Hawks GM Wes Wilcox has worked with both Treloar and Blackstone previously in Cleveland.
- The Hawks also have promoted Jeff Peterson to director of scouting, according to Vivlamore in the same piece.
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Papanikolaou, Jazz
Denver will drop to about $7MM below the salary cap once they officially waive Kostas Papanikolaou, former Nets exec Bobby Marks notes on Twitter. Marks adds that Milwaukee, Minnesota, Cleveland and Golden State have trade exceptions while Philadelphia and Portland have the cap space to claim the forward’s salary, which is worth slightly less than $4.8MM.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- If claimed, the 24-year-old’s contract will become guaranteed should he remain on the roster past October 4th. Any team that claims Papanikolaou off waivers cannot trade him until the 30th day of the regular season, as Marks notes on Twitter. With the season set to kick-off on October 27th, claiming the forward will not provide a potential suitor with the same type of valuable trade chip that the Nuggets previously possessed.
- The Jazz didn’t sign any outside free agents because they didn’t want to block any of their young players’ development, Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM writes. Tjarks argues that most year-to-year improvements come from internal development rather than transactions in the offseason and the Jazz could end up being the team that improved the most due to their up-and-coming, young core.
- Utah knew Enes Kanter was probably not going to be worth the mammoth contract he was set to receive this offseason and with the number of young players on the roster set to earn raises over the next few seasons, the team could not afford to add an ill-advised contract, Tjarks adds in the same piece.
Mavs Sign Justin Anderson
The Mavericks have signed first-round pick Justin Anderson, according to a team press release. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the value of his deal is expected be slightly under $7.06MM over four seasons as our 2015 First Round Picks Salary Page shows. With the news of Anderson signing, all the first-round picks have signed with their teams except for No. 26 overall pick Nikola Milutinov of the Spurs, who has signed with the Olympiacos of Greece.
Anderson had a good showing at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He averaged 17.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 43.4% from the field during his six games of action.
The 21-year-old is a long-armed, stout defender who had the eye of scouts on him during his first couple seasons at Virginia. His improvement on the offensive end during his junior season, in which he averaged 12.2 points and shot 45.2% from behind the arc, vaulted him into the first round. Anderson should get a chance to compete for minutes immediately with Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons as the only players whom are presumably locked into the team’s wing rotation.
Texas Notes: Jenkins, Mavs, Spurs, Fredette
- The deals that Brandon Ashley and Jamil Wilson signed with the Mavericks cover three seasons and each has a partial guarantee of $50K for this year, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- The Mavs also renounced their rights to Bernard James, though they did the same last year and still re-signed him, Pincus points out (on Twitter).
- Jimmer Fredette‘s deal with the Spurs is a one-year, minimum-salary arrangement with $507,711 partially guaranteed, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Celtics Notes: Lee, Crowder, Johnson
After finalizing five transactions on Monday, the Celtics now have 17 guaranteed contracts on the books, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com notes in his latest piece. There were rumblings that the team intended to release Zoran Dragic, whom they acquired on Monday, but a source told Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that the team wouldn’t rule out attempting to trade Dragic for another asset.
Here’s more out of Boston:
- Both David Lee and Golden State knew it was time to move on and Warriors executives worked with Lee to find a suitable fit, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe writes. “I think that the way David handles himself as a pro, and the way we’ve tried to do business with the Warriors, hopefully people give you the benefit of the doubt and want to help you find a win-win situation,” said Lee’s agent, Mark Bartelstein. “And so they tried to do the right thing, and I think that’s what happened here.”
- Although Lee and the Celtics agree that a short-term partnership could be mutually beneficial, it has the potential to blossom into something more, Himmelsbach writes in the same piece. “I’m excited for it now,” Lee said. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t be after this season. I have no future plans other than just competing this year and figuring that out. Once again, I had some options and places to go a couple of weeks ago. I was overwhelmed and thrilled when [the Celtics] called and said, ‘We really want to have you here.’ And I was hyped to do it.”
- Jae Crowder did his homework before re-signing with the Celtics, Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com writes. “I wanted to know everything,” Crowder said. “What’s the direction? You ask everybody. You ask questions, so that’s what I did . . . I don’t like losing. I had to ask. I had to ask our direction moving forward. And [Ainge] responded well, as you can see. I’m pleased with the guys that we brought in and the guys we picked up. And the moves we’re still trying to make.”
- Amir Johnson hopes to become a fan favorite in Boston, Toscano writes in a separate piece. “I’m a team player, I’m a hustler . . . I play hard every game. So I know the fans will definitely love me. I know they’re great fans. I know back in the Detroit days, I’ve seen how rowdy they can get. So I know Boston loves their team for sure,” Johnson said.
Mavs Sign Jamil Wilson To Camp Deal
MONDAY, 2:57pm: The Mavs have officially signed Wilson, the team announced via press release.
SUNDAY, 10:43am: Jamil Wilson will be added to the Mavs’ training camp roster, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. The forward’s deal will be partially guaranteed, according to Charania.
The Marquette product reached an agreement with the Suns prior to last season, which allowed Phoenix to secure his D-League rights. The Suns then waived Wilson and he signed with their D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam. There’s a good chance that Wilson will follow the same path and end up on Texas Legends, the D-League affiliate of the Mavs, although that is just my speculation.
The forward played for the Wizards in this year’s summer league in Vegas. He averaged 7.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 41.7% from the field.
Magic Acquire Shabazz Napier
MONDAY, 11:46am: The trade is official, both teams announced via press release. It’s a 2016 second-rounder going to Miami. Orlando receives cash in addition to Napier.
2:52pm: The deal is expected to be formally announced Monday, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The second-round pick is heavily protected, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The Magic will keep the pick unless they have a top five record next season.
SUNDAY, 12:23pm: The Magic will acquire Shabazz Napier from the Heat, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Heat will receive a protected future second-round pick, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Miami was aggressively trying to deal Napier in addition to Mario Chalmers because of luxury tax concerns, according to previous reports. Napier set to make roughly $1.3MM this season and has a team option on his salary for the 2016/17 season. Thus, the deal as reported will allow the Heat to create a trade exception worth $1,294,440, the precise value of Napier’s salary this season.
Orlando will now have 10 players on its roster who were drafted since 2011 with four players coming via trade, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link). Napier will presumably be the team’s third string point guard behind 2015 rookie of the year candidate Elfrid Payton and new addition C.J. Watson.
Napier was reportedly a favorite of LeBron James, and his addition to the Heat last summer seemed like a play to retain the four-time MVP, who instead returned to Cleveland. Miami came away with Napier’s rights in a 2014 draft-night deal with Charlotte, which used the No. 24 pick to take the point guard last year. Miami gave Napier 10 starts, and he averaged 19.8 minutes per game, but he played in only one game after March 9th as he battled a sports hernia that ultimately ended his season prematurely.
Western Notes: Smith, Kings, Durant
Russ Smith‘s minimum salary became fully guaranteed at the end of Saturday when the Grizzlies elected not to waive him. He’d had a $150K partial guarantee on that salary that he picked up July 15th, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Kings are parting ways with analytics guru Dean Oliver, Bill Herenda of CSN California confirms. This move is not necessarily an indication that the team is moving away from a data-driven approach. Sacramento is looking to hire someone to replace Oliver, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
- The reason behind the move is that vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac wants to assemble his own hand-picked front office cabinet, Stein adds (Twitter link). It was reported yesterday that former Kings star Peja Stojakovic received an offer to join the front office.
- Kevin Durant, who is still recovering from his foot surgery that ended his season, will visit the team USA minicamp next month in Vegas and clearly wants to be part of the program, Sam Amick of USA Today reports (Twitter link). The Olympic games will be in August of 2016, which is roughly a month after Durant is eligible to sign a new contract.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Mavs Notes: Roster, McGee, Jordan
It’s been an active weekend for the Mavs. On Friday, the team signed John Jenkins and Jarrid Famous. The team reached an agreement with Samuel Dalembert as well as Arizona product Brandon Ashley on Saturday and earlier today, Dallas agreed to terms with Jamil Wilson.
Here’s more from Dallas:
- The Mavs have not ruled out signing JaVale McGee, provided he is healthy, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
- Dallas missed out on signing DeAndre Jordan and Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders believes the team is better off in the long-term not having to commit $80MM to the big man. Hamilton believes that part of what makes Jordan so efficient is having Chris Paul on the floor with him. Dallas could not provide a point guard of his caliber and therefore, Jordan wouldn’t have been as effective in Dallas.
- Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders breaks down the Western Conference and believes the Mavs shouldn’t count on making the playoffs. Davis cites the roster turnover and uncertainty surrounding the team’s rotation as reason for the pessimism.