Northwest Notes: Conley, Teague, Roberson
Mike Conley is one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the Jazz and the team is excited to have him around, as Matt John of Basketball Insiders writes. “Watching him play, being around him, seeing how he interacts,” head coach Quin Synder said. “When I say elite, that manifests itself in a lot of different ways.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:
- After a disappointing year in Minnesota, Jeff Teague is ready for a new campaign, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes. Teague missed 40 games with injuries last season for the Timberwolves and the point guard told Hine that he had never endured a season like that before.
- Andre Roberson hasn’t played in nearly two years after rupturing his patellar tendon, but the wing is back on the court for Thunder, as Erik Horne of The Oklahoman passes along. Roberson has been cleared to practice without restrictions.
- The Nuggets have a battle on their hands for the starting small forward position, Mike Singer of The Denver Post relays. “By no means is there a leader in the clubhouse,” head coach Mike Malone said of the competition. Torrey Craig, Juan Hernangomez, Will Barton, and Michael Porter Jr. are among the options at the three.
Kings Notes: Ariza, Centers, Dedmon
Trevor Ariza, who joined the Kings this summer on a two-year, $25MM contract, understands he might not get a chance to see the type of minutes he’s accustomed to while in Sacramento, given the club’s crowded frontcourt.
“As a player, as a competitor, you always believe you can compete at any level, against anybody and I’m one of those players that feels that way,” Ariza told James Ham of NBC Sports. “But I also understand that this is a team sport and a team game and whatever works best for the team is the road that you have to play.”
Here’s more from Sacramento:
- In the same piece, Ariza spoke about why he choose the Kings in free agency. “The main reason I chose Sacramento is because it’s closer to home for me, I’m familiar with the coaching staff and I believe in what [head coach] Luke [Walton] has to offer and what he’s doing,” said Ariza, who was raised in Los Angeles.
- In a separate piece, Ham writes that the Kings’ center position will have its share of healthy competition. “We can go with [Dewayne Dedmon] who can space the floor for us, which can allow [De’Aaron Fox] to have that funnel right to the paint as often as we need him to,” Walton said. “We’ve got [Richaun Holmes], who is one of the most dynamic rollers in-game to play at the five. We have Harry [Giles], who is one of the best playmakers on our team from what I can tell from last year.”
- Dedmon signed a three-year, $40MM contract with the Kings and the big man believes Sacramento’s offensive approach fits his game well. “This definitely fits my style of play,” Dedmon said. “Fast, get up and down, run, it’s going to be fun.”
Marquese Chriss Signs With Warriors
SEPTEMBER 30, 9:35pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
SEPTEMBER 24, 5:40pm: The Warriors and Marquese Chriss have reached an agreement on a one-year deal, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter). Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears that the contract is non-guaranteed.
Chriss is unlikely to make the Warriors’ open day roster, as the team is hard-capped and doesn’t have the room for a 15th contract. However, if Chriss shows promise during camp, the franchise could make a corresponding move to keep Chriss on the squad.
The big man was selected with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2016 draft, though he never lived up to his lofty draft status. Phoenix traded him to Houston in the Ryan Anderson deal back in 2018 and the Rockets declined to pick up his fourth-year option last fall. Chriss also spent time with the Cavaliers, playing in 27 games for Cleveland last season.
Spencer Dinwiddie Talks Investments, Tampering, Nets’ Season
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie will become the first NBA player to turn his player contract into a digital investment vehicle, giving up some future income on his three-year, $34MM+ deal in order to secure a lump sum payment up front. Dinwiddie is confident that the NBA and the Players’ Association will approve the measure.
“What are they going to do, try and stop me? I mean, they could try,” Dinwiddie said (via Brian Lewis of The New York Times). “Then they’d have to have legal standing to do so. Do you really want to do that? Because wouldn’t that be bad PR for them to do that? I would think”
Dinwiddie went on to explain that he isn’t creating a new currency. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel and create a new bitcoin; this is different,” he said. “… I will say this, though: It solves some of the league’s fan engagement issue. It does do that.”
The 26-year-old also touched on tampering in the NBA, something that will have new consequences for as a result of last Friday’s Board of Governors’ meeting. Dinwiddie openly wondered whether it’s a coincidence that the league’s increased focus on tampering comes after teams like his own were big winners in free agency.
“You mean when non-traditional powers like the Nets and the Clippers win?” Dinwiddie added. “What you’re saying is, if it’d been the Lakers and the Knicks that won it wouldn’t be a problem, but because it’s the Clippers and the Nets that won it’s an issue?”
The Nets landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency this summer and Dinwiddie played a role in the recruitment. Brooklyn will have many new faces next season, including Taurean Prince, who came to the team via a trade with the Hawks.
“He’s going to be a pleasant surprise, somebody a lot of people are discounting,” Dinwiddie said of Prince. “[He] can really, really, really shoot it.”
Thunder Sign Markel Brown To Camp Deal
9:20pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
5:31pm: The Thunder will sign Markel Brown to an Exhibit 10 contract, sources tell JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).
Brown was the No. 44 overall pick in the 2014 draft, having been selected by Minnesota and subsequently traded to Brooklyn on draft night. He spent two seasons with the Nets before carving out a career internationally.
The Thunder entered the day with four open spots on their training camp roster and 13 guaranteed deals. Training camp in Oklahoma City begins next Monday.
LaMelo Ball In Conversation For No. 1 Pick In 2020 NBA Draft
Examine ESPN’s latest mock draft and you’ll find a surprising name near the top of the list. ESPN draft guru Jonathan Givony has LaMelo Ball going No. 3 overall in his latest piece and hears that Ball might end up being in contention for the No. 1 overall pick next summer.
“If he keeps this up, I don’t see any way he isn’t in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick,” one NBA executive told Givony. “He completely changed my perception of the type of prospect he is, and all of the background info I gathered here from his coaches and teammates paint a very different story of what I thought about him off the court as well.”
Ball, who is the younger brother of Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball, is spending the year playing for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia’s NBL. Many around the Australian league believed the club was taking a big risk bringing in Ball, whose father has been deemed a media distraction in the past. However, it’s been all positive for Ball in Australia and scouts are raving about his game.
“He reminds me of Luka Doncic,” a scout said. “Just in terms of his size, his feel and his creativity…He plays with incredible pace. He’s never sped up. He’s never rattled by anything that’s thrown at him…You’re expecting something magical to happen every time he has the ball. He sees everything. He can make every pass with either hand off a live dribble. His style of play is tailor-made for the NBA game, especially if you surround him with shooting and better finishers.”
The NBL doesn’t have the kind of talent found in the NCAA, though Ball is playing alongside fellow NBA prospect R.J. Hampton abroad. The league continues to grow and with that, comes an increased level of play.
Washington big man Isaiah Stewart, Memphis center James Wiseman, and Georgia shooting guard Anthony Edwards are among the prospects expected to compete for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft. As for point guards, Ball is currently viewed as the best available.
“It’s a talented field,” an executive tells Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “But he’s got the most potential.”
Atlantic Notes: Marks, Robinson, Hinton
Nets general manager Sean Marks will look to bring in a 16th player during Wilson Chandler‘s suspension, Ian Begley of SNY.tv tweets. Brooklyn will have the ability to move Chandler to the suspended list after he serves the first five games of the 25-game suspension, opening up a roster spot for the final 20 games of the ban.
Marks said the franchise will do its due diligence on the available players, though Begley notes that the Nets GM did not mention Carmelo Anthony (or any player) directly.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Mitchell Robinson is back to full health, as Marc Berman of the New York Post relays (Twitter link). The center’s knee woes forced him out of Team USA’s camp last month, but he’s now participating in activities with the Knicks.
- Amir Hinton, who’s heading to camp with the Knicks on an Exhibit 10 deal, is a long-shot to make the opening day roster, but the combo guard will look to develop his game during his time with the team, as Berman relays in a full-length piece. “As time goes on, I’ll develop into a point guard knowing my spots and get teammates more involved,’’ Hinton said. “I can do that. But all my life, I’ve been a combo in a scoring role. I’m trying not to think too hard and have fun playing basketball, not make the game too hard.’’
- Chemistry could be a concern for the Nets but Spencer Dinwiddie believes winning will solve any potential issues, as he tells Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “That’s always the trouble. That’s always the elephant in the room, right?…Last year we were able to come together even with injuries and in some cases galvanizing the group,” Dinwiddie said. “We’re a more talented team, but if we don’t come together then it doesn’t really matter.”
Warriors’ Potential Pursuit Of Giannis Doesn’t Concern Bucks
Because he’s a superstar in a smaller market, speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving Milwaukee figures to continue until the 2019 MVP inks a long-term extension with the Bucks.
Rumors about the Warriors looming as a threat to lure Antetokounmpo to the Bay Area popped up this week during a Ramona Shelburne appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (video link). That chatter has some within the NBA worried that Golden State will again shift the league’s landscape within the next couple years. However, it doesn’t appear that Milwaukee is worried about that scenario.
“Keeping Giannis, it’s a focus obviously,” a Bucks front-office source tells Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “But fighting the Warriors is not a focus. The Warriors are not the concern in the least. They’d have a long way to go to get him to Golden State, they’d have to give away a lot. He has never given any indication that he wants to leave Milwaukee. So a lot of that stuff, it is more chatter than anything.”
Antetokounmpo, who can’t hit the free agent market until the summer of 2021, is eligible to sign an extension with Milwaukee next offseason. The Bucks plan on offering him a super-max deal as soon as they are able to.
As for the Warriors, they currently have Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and D’Angelo Russell on maximum-salary contracts, with Draymond Green making close to the max. Those four players will earn a combined $137.8MM during the 2021/22 season, so as Deveney’s source notes, Golden State would have to make some serious roster changes to realistically make a play for Antetokounmpo.
Eastern Notes: Oladipo, Sixers, Celtics
There is still no timetable for when Victor Oladipo will return to the court. Oladipo, who ruptured his quad tendon back in January, continues to make progress and the Pacers are encouraged by his rehab.
“He’s not playing live, but he’s moving. He’s in a good position mentally,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “He feels that everything is going well. I like what I see with him. … He’s doing great. He’s not doing any live contact, still in that rehab stage of working with the trainers.
“I just know [opening night on October 23] he probably won’t be there. The time frame, we have no idea of when he will return.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Romeo Langford has been medically cleared to play, Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops hears (Twitter link). The Celtics rookie had thumb surgery in April.
- Xavier Silas has joined the Delaware Blue Coats’ coaching staff, Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice reports (Twitter link). Silas briefly played for the Sixers back in 2011.
- Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports examines the Celtics‘ most intriguing storylines heading into training camp. Gordon Hayward has worked hard all offseason and Forsberg wonders if the veteran wing will look much better than he did last season.
NBA Owners To Vote On Anti-Tampering Proposal On Friday
Tampering and salary cap circumvention were chief among the topics at the league’s Board of Governors meeting back in July. The NBA’s owners will take a vote on Friday to determine whether radical new procedures to curb tampering will be implemented starting with the 2019/20 season.
Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com report that some teams believe the league is rushing the process of changing the rules. An annual random audit of five NBA clubs’ communication with rival front offices and player agents is a concern for many involved in the decision making.
“I don’t think he (commissioner Adam Silver) should have any right to get into my phone,” one GM said. “I wish my owner would vote no, but I doubt he will. You’ll only make yourself a target for investigation if you do.”
The ESPN duo adds that some executives are planning to “wean themselves off electronic communication” in anticipation of potential rule changes. Messaging services such as WhatsApp could become more popular in NBA circles.
The player movement era has brought on challenges for teams and a bevy of accusations and possible misconduct among players changing uniforms. For example, there’s a belief in some circles that Dennis Robinson—Kawhi Leonard‘s uncle and advisor— requested benefits that fall outside the salary, sources tell the ESPN duo. That’s already not allowed under the current rules, though the league wants to increase the penalties for such action.
In addition to the audits, top executives in front offices would have to “certify annually” that they did not tamper with free agents ahead of the start of free agency or offer any unauthorized benefits. Furthermore, both teams and players would be subject to increased fines under the new proposal. In order for the new proposal to become effective, 23 of the 30 owners/ownership groups would have to vote “yes’ to it.
Many small-market teams are expected to support the proposal for fear that teams in bigger markets may continue to sign away their players. This offseason, Leonard and Kevin Durant were among the player who signed with big-market teams. Anthony Davis and Paul George each demanded a trade to a bigger market with time remaining on their respective contracts.
Silver insists that it isn’t the league’s intention to “establish a police state,” per the ESPN duo. Silver simply wants the owners to create a culture of compliance and accountability.
Regardless of whether the proposal passes, the league will continue to address the tampering issues. Silver has authority to investigate allegations of tampering, according to the CBA, and penalize teams via fines as high as $6MM for unauthorized agreements as well as take away draft picks from clubs.
While the league wants to halt the verbal agreements ahead of free agency, it is to the benefit of both player agents and teams to have an idea of what clubs’ and players’ respective plans are.
“There’s a big difference between having conversations about how a team wants to build its roster, what it prioritizes in free agency and whether they have interest in your player — or having a deal done on June 20,” one prominent agent said. “Both sides are in the information gathering business; that’s the nature of the job.”