J.J. Redick Nearly Signed With Pacers
The Sixers brought back J.J. Redick on a one-year, $12.5MM deal this offseason, though they almost lost him to an Eastern Conference rival.
“I almost signed with [the Pacers]. I was an hour away, two hours away. I was very close. I had a 5 p.m. deadline. Basically, it was 12:30, 1 o’clock in the afternoon when Philly changed the offer,” Redick said on his podcast (h/t Dan Feldman of NBC Sports).
Indiana wasn’t able to land Redick. The team then signed another sharpshooter in Tyreke Evans, whose deal runs for one year and $12MM.
Redick scored 17.1 points per game in his first season with the Sixers, knocking down 42.0% of his shots from behind the arc. He saw 30.2 minutes per contest in the regular season, but the Sixers upped his total to 34.2 during their 10 playoff games.
Western Notes: Butler, Lillard, Anthony
The Timberwolves have given off the impression that they won’t trade Jimmy Butler but Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders speculates that a rocky start to the season could make the franchise reconsider its position.
The Western Conference is as competitive as ever and Minnesota is no lock to be a playoff team. Should the Wolves slide in the standings, Butler’s frustration with his teammates could grow and with only one season remaining on his deal, there won’t be much time to mend the relationship.
The front office has tried to get Butler to sign an extension with no success. However, it is worth noting that it’s in the 28-year-old’s best interest to wait and sign a new deal in the offseason rather than inking an extension now since he’s eligible for a larger starting salary this summer.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Trail Blazers have no clear path to improve enough in order to compete with the Warriors for the Western Conference crown and Kyler (in the same piece) wonders whether it will force Portland to consider dealing Damian Lillard. Kyler adds that the point guard is “loyal to a fault,” meaning a lack of success for the franchise won’t result in him demanding a trade.
- The Rockets‘ loss of Trevor Ariza and addition of Carmelo Anthony has critics yet again doubting the team. Coach Mike D’Antoni isn’t worried about the skeptics, as Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle relays. “It’s our job to prove them wrong,” D’Antoni said. “And we did it for two years now.”
- Solomon (in the same piece) notes how many around the league doubted the Chris Paul–James Harden pairing, believing that with only one ball, the two players couldn’t possibly flourish. The Rockets ended last season with a record of 44-4 in games in which both players started and Solomon cautions against writing off the Anthony acquisition without seeing him alongside the team’s stars.
Cavaliers Notes: Love, Nance, Veterans
Kevin Love expressed his desire to stay in Cleveland during his exit interview with the team following the NBA Finals, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports. The power forward also reiterated his desire to stay once the news of LeBron James leaving town broke — during both interactions, he discussed his interest in a long-term deal.
Love inked a four-year extension with the Cavaliers worth an additional $120MM. As part of the arrangement, the big man declined his player option for the 2019/20 season, which is the first season the new pact will kick in.
Here some notes and reactions on the deal signed by Cleveland’s newest face of the franchise:
- The Love signing suggests that the Cavaliers have no interest in a full teardown, Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated writes. Outside of rookie deals, Love is the only guaranteed contract on the books past the 2019/20 campaign.
- Cleveland is reportedly interested in giving both Larry Nance Jr. and Rodney Hood new deals, Woo adds. Nance has one season at roughly $2.27MM left on his current deal. Hood is a restricted free agent, though he hasn’t had much interest this offseason after a shaky start to his Cavs career.
- The belief around the league was that the Cavaliers were going to move their high-priced veterans, but it became clear early on that the franchise wasn’t going to find takers for many of its players, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The scribe adds that Cleveland remains open to trades. However, after locking Love down long-term, there isn’t much urgency to move veterans.
Yogi Ferrell Discusses Backing Out Of Deal With Mavs
It might be fair to say that not many people back out of deals with Mark Cuban, but over the last four years, he’s had two NBA contracts disintegrate from his hands. DeAndre Jordan backed out of an agreement with the Mavericks during the 2015 offseason – an event that caused a Twitter-Emoji party – and this offseason, Yogi Ferrell had a change of heart after initially making an agreement.
“I decided I needed the chance in my career. With my style of play, I feel like it fits better with the Kings than the Mavericks,” Ferrell said on The Jim Rome Show (h/t SportsDay).
Dallas had reportedly told Ferrell that he’d occupy the backup shooting guard spot when he made the verbal agreement to re-sign with the club. It’s unclear the exact role the Ferrell will now play in Sacramento.
The combo guard will get a bump in salary on the Kings compared to what he would have received in the Mavs’ deal. Sacramento is paying him $6.2MM over two seasons, though the second year is not guaranteed. Dallas’ contract would have paid him $5.3MM over two years with the same stipulation on the second year of the deal.
“Cuban, he was the one that gave me my first opportunity in the league,” Ferrell said. “Coach [Rick] Carlisle is a great coach. When he first put me in, I’ll never forget my first practice he told me I was gonna start. The next day we were playing the Spurs, so everything was coming pretty quickly.
“I was fortunate they were able to put me in the position that they were in. There were no hard feelings.”
Michael Beasley Talks Critics, New Home, Expectations
Michael Beasley, who joined the Lakers on a one-year, $3.5MM deal, isn’t fond of all the naysayers criticizing his fit on the team.
“For there to even be a narrative of the personalities in this room is judgment enough for me, and I don’t want to be a part of that,” Beasley said (via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com).
“You being a critic doing your job, [if] everybody do their job and stop judging a lot of players — me mainly — you will figure out that guys like me, Nick Young, J.R. Smith and Lance Stephenson and guys like that know how to play basketball and win basketball games, know how to get along with others. It is nothing to do with my maturity.”
The forward added that he feels this year’s squad is going to “come together like a basketball team.”
Magic Johnson had a vision for the type of talent he wanted to put around newly-signed LeBron James. The President of Basketball Operations wanted veteran toughness, playoff experience, defense, basketball IQ, and multiple offensive weapons, Youngmusik writes in the piece for ESPN.
Playoff experience? JaVale McGee has a ring. Same with Rajon Rondo. Basketball IQ? While the former Celtics point has had his run-ins with coaches, he’s widely regarded as one of the brightest minds in the game. Veteran toughness? Look no further than Stephenson and his calling card is his offensive ability.
Beasley’s offense is likely better than the average Knicks’ viewer realized last season. Sound defense with the group? That might be a tougher sell than any attribute listed above. Still, Beasley knows what the team expects from him.
“Just be myself,” Beasley said of what the Lakers want from him. “I come in here and try to help the young guys and put the ball in the basket…Don’t be shy about being myself.”
Sixers, Cavs Talk Kyle Korver-Jerryd Bayless Swap
JULY 20: While a trade involving Bayless and Korver is possible, it’s “far from certain,” a league source tells Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).
JULY 19: The Sixers and Cavaliers have had discussions about a Jerryd Bayless–Kyle Korver swap, sources tell Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
Philadelphia is involved in the Carmelo Anthony–Dennis Schroder–three-way salary dump along with the Thunder and Hawks, though the move is on hold at the moment with the Sixers reportedly looking to make another move before finalizing the transaction. The organization has very little cap room left and the acquisition of Mike Muscala, the big man who would join Philly in the proposed three-team deal, would put them over the salary cap.
Korver will take home a salary of $7.56MM this upcoming season and he has $7.5MM on his contract for the 2019/20 campaign, though his salary then is non-guaranteed. Bayless will make approximately $8.56MM this season during the final year of his contract.
Korver began his NBA career with the Sixers, playing 337 games with the franchise across parts of five seasons. With LeBron James no longer with Cleveland, the 37-year-old may welcome a deal to a more competitive team.
The former second-round pick was a mainstay in the Cavs’ rotation during the regular season, although his participation during the playoffs was spotty, as the team had to sit him because of his inability to defend the perimeter. Bayless, who has dealt with various injuries since coming to the Sixers, hasn’t really carved out a nitch in Philadelphia. If the Sixers and Cavs make the swap, I’d speculate that an additional asset, such as a second-round pick or cash, will head Cleveland’s way as well.
Korver sits fourth all-time with 2213 shots made from behind the arc. This past season, he took over five threes per game, making 43.6% of his attempts.
Lakers Waive Malik Newman
The Lakers have waived Malik Newman, according to the team’s website.
Newman inked a two-way contract with Los Angeles as free agency began this year. He played in five summer league games for the team and averaged 3.2 points in 9.8 minutes per game.
The guard spent one season at the University of Kansas, scoring 14.2 points per game. He helped lead the school to the Final Four where the team lost to Villanova, the eventual champions.
Central Notes: Love, Middleton, Perkins, Pistons
Earlier tonight, we heard talk of the Cavaliers sending Kyle Korver to Philadelphia in exchange for Jerryd Bayless. While we wait to see if anything materializes in Cleveland, let’s take a look at some notes from the Central Division:
- The Cavaliers are not shopping Kevin Love, though he could be on the move if the right offer presents itself, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentions on the Lowe Post podcast. The scribe adds that Khris Middleton is in the same boat with the Bucks not deeming him untouchable nor looking to deal him.
- Cleveland waived Kendrick Perkins to “do right” by the big man and allow him to pursue training camp deals, a source tells Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers signed Perkins on the final day of the 2017/18 regular season back when LeBron James was still on the roster. The team had hoped to use Perkins’ contract as part of an offseason trade.
- The Pistons have added Tim Grgurich and Micah Nori as assistant coaches to Dwane Casey‘s staff, Ansar Khan of Mlive.com relays.
- Alex Boeder of NBA.com examines what Brook Lopez will bring to the Bucks. Lopez should be able to help the team stretch the floor with his three-point shot, as over 40% of his shots from the field last came from behind the arc.
- FIBA has banned Bucks center Thon Maker for three games in international play for his part in a brawl during a game in the Philippines earlier this month, according to an ESPN report. Maker said he disagreed with the decision in a written statement that was released on his Twitter account.
Warriors Notes: Cousins, Myers, Green
DeMarcus Cousins is in a state of happiness after signing with Golden State and the 27-year-old feels he’ll return to being one of the top big men in the league once he recovers from the Achilles injury that sidelined him last season.
“My expectations, I plan on coming back and being the same dominant player I was, even better actually,” Cousins said (via Mark Medina of the Bay Area News Group). “Nothing will change.”
One thing that everyone hopes will change is Cousins making it to the postseason. He has yet to enter a playoff game during his eight-year career. GM Bob Myers reportedly told the big man that he deserves to play in the NBA’s second season when the two spoke prior to Cousins signing and the Warriors plan on monitoring his recovery to ensure he’s fully healthy once mid-April rolls around.
“Who knows what time,” Myers said about when Cousins will return to the court. “But certainly we’ll have a few months, if not more, before the playoffs to get him acclimated with what we do and for him to get comfortable. So the goal is to have as much time as we can without rushing him back. We don’t need to throw him out there.”
Here’s more from Golden State:
- The Warriors can afford to wait for Cousins until after the season start and even past the 2018 calendar year in order to put him in the best position to succeed, Medina adds in the same piece. “I have to be smart about it. I’m in a unique situation as well where I’m not needed right away,” Cousins said. “Time is kind of on my side so I have a chance to get to 100 percent. When I feel I’m at that point, I’ll make the return.”
- Some players called Cousins after hearing the news of him signing with the Warriors and attempted to change his mind, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com relays. CJ McCollum was one of the players who reached out to see what was going with Cousins’ decision.
- Draymond Green made the worst free agency pitch to bring Cousins aboard, according to the big man.“He was like, ‘Cous, I’m pretty sure me and you are going to fight,'” Cousin said of his interaction with Green (via Haynes in the same piece). “I’m like, ‘Draymond, Come on. Whoa. Whoa.’ But Draymond, that’s my guy. I respect him as a player, I respect him as a competitor. He’s one of the top in this business and just his approach to every game, I want that guy on my team every day. So, we talked, we kind of communicated about what we both wanted, which was winning games.”
- Cousins is using his one-year pact with the Warriors as a way to rehab his value with the hopes of landing a bigger deal next offseason, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. Slater notes that Golden State holds most of the power in the arrangement, having the ability to further tarnish Cousins’ reputation, but also adds that both sides are “openly comfortable” with the partnership.
Lakers Sign Jeffrey Carroll
The Lakers have officially signed Jeffrey Carroll, the team announced today. The signing was originally reported by Michael Scotto of The Athletic back in June.
The contract will contain an Exhibit 10 clause, something that was introduced in the newest CBA. The clause allowed a player to receive a bonus from the NBA club should he play for the franchise’s G League affiliate and remain there for 60 days.
[Related: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Exhibit 10 Contact]
Carroll went undrafted out of Oklahoma State on this year’s big night. Entering draft night, he was ranked as the No. 96 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com. In 188 collegiate games, Carroll averaged 12.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest.
The guard most recently played for the Lakers’ summer league squad in Las Vegas. He scored 4.2 points in 9.0 minutes per contest.