Draft Notes: Larsen, Turner, Russell
Hoops Rumors extends its condolences to those close to European standout Rasmus Larsen, who was found dead at his home, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets. The 20-year-old from Denmark was an early entrant for the 2014 NBA draft before withdrawing, though he didn’t apply for this year’s draft as he’d struggled with injury. The cause of the death has yet to be identified, agent Doug Neustadt told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). He was a mobile big man and versatile scorer reminiscent of Cody Zeller, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Here’s more draft-related news:
- Myles Turner‘s unusual running style has been cause for concern, but tests through the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York showed his gait is correctable with a series of daily exercises, as Matt Kamalsky of DraftExpress examines. The results of the tests, arranged by agent Andy Miller in concert with Turner’s father and trainer Ken Roberson, have been sent to NBA teams, Kamalsky notes. Turner is the 11th-ranked prospect on DraftExpress, and Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote about the way the center from Texas runs in his prospect profile of the draft hopeful whom Eddie lists 10th in the Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Power Rankings.
- The Timberwolves will interview D’Angelo Russell at the Chicago predraft combine this week, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Russell is a candidate for Minnesota’s lottery selection, which will fall between No. 1 and No. 4, as the lottery odds show. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com both rank him as the fourth-best prospect.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel delivers his mock draft, which has the Heat taking Kelly Oubre at No. 10, given team president Pat Riley‘s affection for players with upside. Miami would lose its pick if it falls out of the top 10 in the lottery, though there’s only about a 9% chance of that happening.
Early Look At The Rookie Scale Extension Market
Last year’s rookie scale extension market yielded some $450MM in deals, but with the salary cap set to zoom for 2016/17, when this year’s rookie scale extensions would kick in, uncertainty clouds the market. The deadline for these extensions isn’t until October 31st, but negotiations can start on July 1st, just as free agency opens. Here are the extension-eligible players split into three tiers, with players likely to make the max at the top, those unlikely to receive extensions at the bottom, and the most interesting cases in between.
Max
- Andre Drummond, Pistons
- Anthony Davis, Pelicans
- Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
Debatable
- Harrison Barnes, Warriors — David Lee‘s contract will be up just as an extension for Barnes would kick in for 2016/17, but the Warriors already have about $54MM on the books for that season, not counting any new deal they give Draymond Green this summer. There’s a strong chance an extension for Barnes would bring the Warriors right up to the cap for that season, making them one of the few teams without flexibility. Prediction: No extension
- Bradley Beal, Wizards — Washington has reportedly been planning an extension for Beal since before the season, when league executives were apparently confident that he could command the max. Injuries and stalled development have thrown that into question, but a four-year deal with terms similar to John Wall‘s would make sense. Prediction: Four years, $65MM.
- Evan Fournier, Magic — He missed the second half of the season with injury and cooled after a hot start, but he showed promise in the early part of the season that he never did with Denver. A smaller extension in the range of the four years and $41MM Alec Burks received from the Jazz would probably be the model here, but there’s still only a small sample size to go off of. Prediction: No extension.
- John Henson, Bucks — Henson has been in and out of the lineup for Milwaukee, though at 6’11”, he carries some intrigue. Still, if the Bucks didn’t extend Brandon Knight last year, it’d be tough to see them doing so with Henson. Prediction: No extension
- Terrence Jones, Rockets — Houston has Jones, Donatas Motiejunas and soon-to-be free agent Josh Smith all occupying the power forward spot. Motiejunas is up for a rookie scale extension, too, but with the team’s desire to remain a player in the free agent market, it’s tough to see the Rockets making a commitment to either extension-eligible four man, particularly if they re-sign Smith. Prediction: No extension
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Hornets — Kidd-Gilchrist’s is one of the most intriguing cases, especially considering he was a No. 2 overall pick. He improved this year, but he doesn’t appear capable of becoming a threat from deep anytime soon, and that’s a problem at small forward. Still, his defense helps anchor the Hornets, and he’s a strong rebounder for his position, too. Prediction: Four years, $52MM
- Meyers Leonard, Trail Blazers — Leonard broke out to a degree in the playoffs, finally delivering on some of the promise that made him a lottery pick. Still, there’s so much uncertainty in Portland this summer, so it’s tough to see the team making a long-term commitment to Leonard just yet. Prediction: No extension
- Donatas Motiejunas, Rockets — He’s largely in the same spot as Terrence Jones, with a logjam at his position. Prediction: No extension
- Miles Plumlee, Bucks — He was a starter for the 2013/14 Suns, who came agonizingly close to a playoff berth, but he wasn’t a factor for the Bucks after the deadline trade that brought him to Milwaukee. Prediction: No extension
- Terrence Ross, Raptors — The former eighth overall pick has talent, but he plateaued this year, which seemed to contribute to the stall in Toronto’s climb up the Eastern Conference. Prediction: No extension
- Jared Sullinger, Celtics — Sullinger has said he’s willing to consent to the weight clause that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge wants, but what Ainge wants even more is a star. It’ll be tough for the C’s to commit long-term to anyone until they know what their team will look like in the long run. Prediction: No extension
- Jonas Valanciunas, Raptors — GM Masai Ujiri made it clear he believes in the big man, and though he hasn’t quite lived up to having been a No. 5 pick and often didn’t finish games this season, the potential is still there. Prediction: Four years, $48MM
- Dion Waiters, Thunder — Waiters struggled with his outside shot and wasn’t the difference-maker the Thunder hoped when they traded for him in January. No one knows what Oklahoma City will look like in a year when an extension for Waiters would kick in as Kevin Durant‘s future looms over the franchise. Prediction: No extension
- Tony Wroten, Sixers — Philadelphia has shown a reluctance to commit money to free agents, so it would seem somewhat antithetical for the team to do so at this point to anyone else, particularly a player who might not be a starter in the long run. Prediction: No extension
- Tyler Zeller, Celtics — The former Cavalier started much of the season, but as with Sullinger, uncertainty about Boston’s future makes it risky for the Celtics to tie up money in anyone who doesn’t project to become a star. Prediction: No extension
Extension longshots
- Festus Ezeli, Warriors
- Maurice Harkless, Magic
- Perry Jones III, Thunder
- Jeremy Lamb, Thunder
- Andrew Nicholson, Magic
Northwest Notes: Vaughn, Blake, Huestis
All five Northwest Division teams are out of the playoffs, so they can focus fully this week on the predraft combine in Chicago. It precedes next week’s lottery, when the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Jazz and Thunder all have varying chances at the No. 1 overall pick. Here’s the latest from the Northwest:
- The Wolves will be one of at least a dozen teams to interview draft prospect Rashad Vaughn at this week’s combine, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The former UNLV shooting guard is the 36th-best prospect as Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks them, and he comes in 41st with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
- Steve Blake quietly helped the Blazers bench this season, developing on-court chemistry with fellow 2014 offseason pickup Chris Kaman, but the point guard’s playing time diminished toward the end and his playoff struggles were profound, as The Oregonian’s Mike Richman examines. Blake said in February that his plan was to pick up his player option for next season, worth more than $2.17MM.
- Josh Huestis, last year’s 29th overall pick, expressed a willingness to play another season in the D-League as he spoke with Scott Mansch of the Great Falls Tribune. The Thunder reached an unusual predraft agreement in which Huestis promised to spend last season in the D-League in exchange for Oklahoma City taking him in the first round. His continued patience further sets him apart, as Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside examines.
Demps On Williams, Coaching Search, Dumars
Pelicans GM Dell Demps reportedly pushed for today’s ouster of coach Monty Williams, but Demps characterized the move to reporters today as an organizational decision, notes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune (Twitter link). The GM also insisted that there was no disconnect between him and Williams, in spite of Smith’s earlier report, as Smith and fellow Times-Picayune scribe John Reid relay (Twitter links). Demps had much more to say this afternoon about the coaching change and other Pelicans issues, and we’ll pass along the highlights:
- One point Demps didn’t address was the status of his own contract, which remains unclear, though executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis indicated that the GM was under contract for a few years, Smith tweets. Still, it’s not clear just how many years are left. The Pelicans apparently hadn’t exercised their option on Demps for next season as of last week, as Reid wrote then. In any case, Demps said he’ll be in charge of finding a replacement for Williams, as Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com relays (Twitter link). “We’re going to begin that process immediately after this,” Demps said. “I don’t have a timetable. I’m going to lead the search.”
- Demps confirmed that Loomis told him that rumors regarding Joe Dumars and the Pelicans were untrue, according to Smith (Twitter link). The Pelicans last week denied that the team had talked to the former Pistons exec about a role in the organization, though it appears that if Dumars were to come aboard, it would be in a capacity that would oversee Demps but not replace him, as multiple reports have indicated.
- The GM said that he spoke with a number of Pelicans players, including Anthony Davis, after the team announced the firing, Smith tweets.
- Demps and Williams talked just about every day and spoke about all player personnel moves, the GM said, Smith notes (Twitter links). There wasn’t a specific loss or incident that precipitated the firing, Demps added, according to Reid (on Twitter).
- The fate of the team’s assistant coaches depends on the team’s next head coach, Demps said, as Smith passes along (Twitter link).
Fallout From/Reaction To Monty Williams Firing
New Orleans faces its first turning point this summer with Anthony Davis, who becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension in July. So, the decision the Pelicans made to fire coach Monty Williams, one that GM Dell Demps reportedly pushed for, runs through the prism of significant negotiations with the team’s superstar on the horizon. Here’s the latest in the wake of the coaching change, with any new updates added to the top:
- Williams released a statement regarding his termination (hat tip to David Aldridge of NBA.com via TwitLonger). In his statement, Williams wrote, “I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Benson and Mickey for this unique opportunity I’ve had. My focus today is to appreciate the great journey over the last few years to be the head coach of this team. New Orleans is a special city with very special fans. I appreciate all the support that my family has received from all the great people and organizations we have been affiliated with throughout the area over the years. I need to thank my coaches and players because we take pride in our accomplishments as a group in progressing in the right direction and making the playoffs through the challenges of a long season. I’ll always be grateful for the relationships and thankful that our players always gave everything we asked of them on the court. I only wish the best for this team to continue taking strides forward and providing success to this special city.”
2:38pm updates:
- Williams isn’t expected to become a candidate for the Nuggets vacancy, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
- If the Pelicans lure Thibodeau and the Bulls replace him with Fred Hoiberg, there’s a growing belief that the Cyclones would go after Suns coach Jeff Hornacek, who played at the school and whose contract calls for a lower annual salary than Hoiberg’s, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. However, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders heard that Hoiberg, who underwent open heart surgery last month, might not jump to the NBA because of his health.
2:18pm updates:
- The Pelicans will be at the front of the line of suitors for Tom Thibodeau if indeed New Orleans decides to go after the Bulls coach, given the presence of Davis, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- Those close to Thibodeau have long seen the Pelicans and the Magic as the teams he’d most likely end up with after his time with the Bulls, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick.
- John Reid of The Times-Picayune wouldn’t be surprised if the Pelicans made a run at former Thunder coach Scott Brooks (Twitter link), but for what it’s worth, the Pelicans didn’t reach out to Brooks before firing Williams, a person with knowledge of Brooks’ situation told Amick.
- There was an obvious disconnect between Williams and Demps from the very start of their working relationship in 2010, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune, who argues that if the Pelicans wanted change, they should have looked at the front office instead.
Draft Notes: Russell, Booker, Towns, Okafor
The NBA’s draft combine in Chicago is underway as of today, and an increasing volume of draft rumors will follow until the event takes place June 25th at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Here’s the latest draft news:
- D’Angelo Russell and Devin Booker have chosen the Creative Artists Agency for their representation, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress passes along on Twitter. CAA’s Leon Rose, who’ll represent Booker as well as Karl-Anthony Towns, also signed with Dakari Johnson earlier this spring, Givony notes in another tweet. Russell’s agent will be Aaron Mintz, according to Givony (on Twitter). Charlie Adams of Hoops Rumors looked at Booker’s draft stock up close this week.
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune doesn’t get the sense that the Wolves will draft Karl-Anthony Towns first overall if they win the lottery, likely implying the team has its eyes set on Jahlil Okafor instead (Twitter link). Minnesota has a 25% chance of landing the top pick, as the lottery odds show.
- Arizona point guard T.J. McConnell received a last-minute invitation to the Chicago combine, Givony tweets. McConnell is Givony‘s 61st-ranked prospect while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him 91st.
- Ford excoriates Nets GM Billy King for his willingness to trade so many of Brooklyn’s future draft picks, giving the team the worst chances of any to build through the draft for the next few years, Ford opines as he writes with fellow ESPN.com scribe Kevin Pelton in an Insider-only piece. Ford and Pelton also examine the needs for the Suns, Thunder and Celtics, believing that if Robert Upshaw improves his stock dramatically, he’d be the most logical rim-protector for the Celtics to grab at pick No. 16. However, Upshaw says he won’t take part in five-on-five scrimmaging at the combine, Givony reports (Twitter link).
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Evaluating Last Year’s Rookie Scale Extensions
Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Tristan Thompson are among the headliners for this summer’s restricted free agent class, one that would have been more robust if not for the more than $450MM that teams around the league put into rookie scale extensions this past fall. The postseason would have loomed even larger for Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson if they had the value of their next contracts to think about, but both are tied to their teams for the long term, thanks to their extensions.
Such deals are always gambles of sorts for teams as well as players, since they’re based on projections for what someone with three years of experience will be worth after his fourth. Many players eligible for rookie scale extensions aren’t yet 25 years old, so there’s room for growth, but just how much growth will actually happen is difficult to predict.
So, now that a full season has passed for most around the league, barring those who made the playoffs, let’s evaluate how the extensions look now:
- Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers): Five years, maximum salary: Irving committed to the Cavs before LeBron James did, and it was somewhat surprising given rumors indicating the point guard’s discomfort in Cleveland. But either that discomfort never existed or max money made them go away. Irving agreed to take less than the 30% max that he’d earn if he triggered the Derrick Rose rule, but he did not, making that concession moot. Irving will make the 25% max instead for a team that figures to compete for titles for most if not all of the five years the deal covers, and even with James around, he improved his scoring average this season over last. Verdict: Good deal for both sides
- Klay Thompson (Warriors): Four years, maximum salary: Thompson and the Warriors also hedged slightly against the max, agreeing that he would make the 25% max next season as long as it didn’t exceed $15.5MM. The max won’t be known until July, and it’ll probably come in right around $15.5MM, or perhaps slightly higher. Regardless, Thompson set career highs in points per game, assists per game and three-point shooting percentage as the Warriors compiled one of the best regular seasons ever. If Thompson doesn’t get the full max, it’ll tilt ever so subtly in the team-friendly category, but for the most part, the extension serves both team and player well. Verdict: Good deal for both sides
- Ricky Rubio (Timberwolves): Four years, $55MM (plus incentives): Injuries once more befell the point guard, limiting him to a career-low 22 games. Rubio had career-best per-game numbers in assists and rebounding, but his struggles with the long ball continued, as he made just 25.5% of his three-point attempts, his worst percentage as an NBA player. All of it is nonetheless skewed by the diminutive nature of the sample size. Verdict: Better deal for Rubio than for the Timberwolves
- Kenneth Faried (Nuggets): Four years, $50MM (plus incentives): A report suggested the Nuggets weren’t all that high on the power forward even at the time of his extension. Still, Denver appeared reluctant to put him into a deal at the deadline. His scoring was off slightly this season, the product of fewer shot attempts, though his efficiency was down, as he recorded a career-low 18.4 PER for a Nuggets team that failed to compete for a playoff berth. The leap that he showed for Team USA in the offseason never materialized in Denver. Verdict: Better deal for Faried than for the Nuggets
- Nikola Vucevic (Magic): Four years, $48MM (plus incentives): The center became the focal point of the Magic offense, leading the team in shot attempts, scoring and rebounding. He’s a minus defensively, as Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Box Plus/Minus shows, but there’s always been a premium on 7-footers who can put up 19.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, as Vucevic did this season. Verdict: Better deal for the Magic than for Vucevic
- Kemba Walker (Hornets): Four years, $48MM: The shine was off the Hornets this season after a playoff berth in 2013/14, but Walker scored at a per-36-minute rate superior to last year, bettered his assist-to-turnover ratio, and increased his PER and steals per game. He’s not an elite point guard in a league full of them, but he represents one of the few parts of the Hornets that’s on the right track. Verdict: Good deal for both sides
- Alec Burks (Jazz): Four years, $42MM (plus incentives): As with Rubio, Burks missed most of the season with injury. He shot a career-best 38.2% from three-point range, but his scoring was down in the small sample size, and his PER dipped to a subpar 13.0. Verdict: Better deal for Burks than for Jazz
- Markieff Morris (Suns): Four years, $32MM: Handed a starting job after having played exclusively as a reserve in 2013/14, the per-36-minute scoring and rebounding numbers for Morris went down, as did his PER. He’s relatively cheap for a starter, but the numbers suggest he might be better as a well-paid reserve. Verdict: Better deal for Morris than for Suns
- Marcus Morris (Suns): Four years, $20MM: The lesser-paid Morris was a part-time starter after mostly coming off the bench last season, but he didn’t see too much more playing time, and his production was largely consistent with what it was last season. Verdict: Good deal for both sides
Pelicans Fire Monty Williams
1:00pm: The Pelicans were expected to pick up their team option for 2016/17 on Williams when they met with him this morning, sources told Wojnarowski for an updated version of his full story. Of course, that’s not how it turned out.
12:33pm: Benson told those close to him of his affection for Williams during the playoffs, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets, calling Thibodeau a “clear and obvious candidate” for the freshly opened Pelicans job in a second tweet. The future of Benson’s control of the Pelicans is in some doubt as his family puts up a legal fight for the team.
12:26pm: Demps pushed out Williams, Wojnarowski writes in a full story. The GM has been angling for more control and Williams’ coaching staff sensed decreasing support from management, feeling as though there were “unnecessary obstacles” in their way, league sources told Wojnarowski.
11:56am: The Pelicans have parted ways with coach Monty Williams, the team announced via press release. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported minutes earlier that the team had fired him (Twitter link). Williams was under contract through next season. The futures of Williams and GM Dell Demps have been shrouded in uncertainty of late, though Wojnarowski seems to imply that Demps is safe, saying that the GM “has his way now” (Twitter link).
“Making a decision like this is never easy and is never done hastily, especially when you are dealing with a person of Monty Williams’ character. We thanked Monty for the tremendous work and commitment he made to our organization and the development of our young players, specifically Anthony Davis,” executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis said in the team’s statement. “While we continue to work towards improving our roster, we decided that now was the time to make this decision. We wish nothing but the best for Monty in the future.”
Demps and owner Tom Benson were also quoted in the statement. Benson sent Williams, Demps and their staffs a letter of congratulations following the end of the team’s season, one in which the franchise made the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The timing of the firing is curious, coming more than two weeks after the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The sense around the NBA was that the playoff berth, clinched on the final night of the regular season, had saved Williams’ job, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). John Reid of The Times-Picayune reported that the team planned evaluations of Demps and Williams at season’s end. Demps refuted another report that the organization had given him and Williams playoffs-or-else mandates before the season.
The job would appear to be attractive to potential replacements based on the presence of Davis alone. The Pelicans hold Tom Thibodeau in high regard, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote earlier today, and the team has pursued Thibodeau in the past, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who also notes the close relationship between Davis and Thibodeau from their time working with Team USA. Of course, there’s the matter of Thibodeau’s contract with the Bulls, which runs for two more seasons. Turmoil has marked the coach’s relationship with the front office, but Chicago may prefer to seek compensation from another team for the right to hire him rather than simply letting him go after the season, as Kyler wrote.
New Orleans hired Williams before the 2010/11 season, the last one before the team traded Chris Paul to the Clippers. The then-Hornets made the playoffs in Williams’ first season but bottomed out the next year. New Orleans won the draft lottery in 2012, enabling the franchise to take Davis with the No. 1 overall pick, but even this year, the team has yet to finish outside of last place in the competitive Southwest Division since trading Paul. Williams went 173-221 with the Pelicans in his only NBA head coaching gig to date, compiling a playoff record of 2-8.
Southwest Notes: Dumars, Rockets, Parsons
The top two centers on the Pelicans roster are both set for unrestricted free agency, and Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune argues that Alexis Ajinca would be a better value than Omer Asik. Ajinca showed more offensive capabilities and blocked shots at about twice the rate that Asik did, but Asik is likely to command the higher salary, Smith observes. I made a similar suggestion when I looked at the offseason ahead for the Pelicans, but New Orleans would prefer to bring back both Asik and Ajinca, along with all of their other free agents, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote recently. There’s more on the Pelicans amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:
- People around the NBA have believed for a while that Joe Dumars would at some point be likely to take over the responsibilities that Mickey Loomis has atop the Pelicans franchise, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, writing in his NBA AM column. The Pelicans issued a statement denying that the team has spoken with the former Pistons exec about a job in the New Orleans organization, but Loomis, who is a friend of Dumars, and other Pelicans higher-ups reportedly met multiple times with Dumars this past fall. Loomis serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, though Dell Demps runs the day-to-day affairs as GM. Grantland’s Zach Lowe recently suggested that Dumars remained in play for a supervisory role above Demps.
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of analytics among top NBA execs, but valuing numbers too highly over qualities that can’t easily be expressed in numbers, like leadership, may well be Houston’s downfall in the Clippers series, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
- The Spurs scheduled a workout with draft prospect Pat Connaughton, trainer Erik Kaloyanides revealed via Twitter (hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Connaughton, a shooting guard coming off his senior year at Notre Dame, is the 71st best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiles, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has him 98th.
- Mavs GM Donnie Nelson believes Chandler Parsons will someday become an NBA GM himself and says that he’d be glad to mentor the small forward toward a front office career once his playing days are over, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays.
Woelfel On Thibodeau, Carter-Williams, Middleton
The Magic‘s coaching job would be Tom Thibodeau‘s if he wants it, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times hears. Others nonetheless speculate that Thibodeau would prefer to coach the Pelicans, Woelfel notes. Thibodeau still has two years left on his contract with the Bulls, the team he’s coaching in the conference semifinals, though there have been no shortage of rumors indicating that his time left in Chicago is short. The Magic have made little progress in their coaching search so far and haven’t begun formal interviews, while Monty Williams remains the coach in New Orleans. As we wait to see just how Thibodeau’s future plays out, Woelfel has more Bucks-centric rumors to go along with his news linking Brook Lopez to Milwaukee. We’ll pass along some highlights, though Woelfel’s entire piece is a must-read, especially for Bucks fans:
- Some higher-ups around the league tell Woelfel that the Bucks aren’t totally convinced Michael Carter-Williams is their guy at point guard, just as the team had its doubts about Brandon Knight before trading him in February as part of the deal that netted Carter-Williams. Still, there isn’t as much financial urgency with last year’s Rookie of the Year, who has two more seasons left on his rookie scale contract, as there was with Knight, who’s set for restricted free agency this summer.
- The Bucks had significant interest in University of Utah center Jakob Poeltl before he became the highest-profile prospect in this year’s draft to decide against entering, sources tell Woelfel. The 7-footer will be a sophomore next season.
- A front office official for an Eastern Conference team who spoke with Woelfel estimated that Bucks soon-to-be restricted free agent Khris Middleton would make salaries of around $9MM on his next deal, as Woelfel relays on the “Sports Junkies” video segment. The executive expressed doubt about the offer of a $15MM annual salary that another executive recently told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that Middleton was in line to draw.