Sixers Trade No. 39 Pick Isaac Bonga To Lakers
JULY 6: The Lakers and Sixers have officially completed a trade that was initially reported more than two weeks ago, the Lakers announced today in a press release. The draft rights for Isaac Bonga, the No. 39 pick in the draft, are headed from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in exchange for the Bulls’ 2019 second-round pick and cash.
JUNE 20: The Lakers will acquire the No. 39 selection in tomorrow night’s draft from the Sixers, league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The Lakers will send the Bulls‘ 2019 second-round pick and cash to the Sixers in return.
The 39th pick, originally owned by the Knicks, was acquired by the Sixers back in 2014 when the Knicks traded it and forward Travis Outlaw to the Sixers in exchange for forward Arnett Moultrie.
As noted by both Eric Pincus and Bobby Marks, this trade, as reported, can’t become official until the new salary cap year begins since the Sixers have already received the allotted $5.1MM in cash this season. As such, the Sixers will essentially be selecting a player for the Lakers tomorrow night.
Suns Sign Elie Okobo To Multiyear Deal
JULY 6, 11:39am: Okobo’s deal is now official, the Suns announced on their website. The French point guard was an All-Star this season while playing for Pau-Lacq-Orthez in his homeland. Terms of the deal were not released, but it’s expected to be worth about $6MM in total, as noted below.
JUNE 24, 2:57pm: The Suns and the No. 31 overall selection of the 2018 NBA Draft Elie Okobo have agreed to a four-year contract worth approximately $6MM, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
Okobo, 20, has a buyout with Pau-Orthez of the LNB Pro A that will allow him to come to the NBA right away, and it appears to be well worth it, with Charania adding that the first two seasons of Okobo’s contract are fully guaranteed.
It’s not yet clear what the annual salaries will be in Okobo’s agreement, but the first two seasons are guaranteed for over $2.6MM and the third and fourth years will be non-guaranteed.
Because Okobo was not a first-round pick, he is not subject to the NBA’s rookie scale. Moreover, because he’ll sign a four-year contract, the Suns will be required to sign him using cap room or part of their MLE.
Okobo is the second player drafted in the second round of this year’s draft to sign a contract with his new team after Rodions Kurucs agreed to a contract with the Nets on Friday.
Wizards Notes: Rivers, Howard, Green, Bryant
It was already common knowledge that the NBA’s Western Conference has long been stronger than the Eastern Conference. Critics continue to call for a conference realignment even when the odds of it happening are slim to none.
But now that the game’s best player has moved from the East to the West, the gap has widened even more, leaving many Eastern Conference players, including newly acquired Wizards’ guard Austin Rivers, more confident in their team’s chances to make a run at the NBA Finals, reports Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
“This training camp, this season is just gonna be a different type of mindset,” Rivers said. “[Before] you would play and you know you’re going to run into Golden State. Here, in the East, it’s really like everybody can get there. You can go to the Finals or the conference finals if you’re a playoff-caliber team, which this team is.
I think that puts a different confidence, focus and energy on a team. I think that will probably be a focal point in training camp, I’m sure the coaches and everyone will say this is something we need to take advantage of.”
Per Hughes, Rivers did acknowledge that the Celtics are probably the favorites now, having been Eastern Conference runners-up the last two seasons despite missing two of their best players during the 2017/18 playoffs. But, Rivers is excited to see what he and his new teammates are capable of after falling short in the playoffs in four of the last five seasons.
There’s more out of the D.C. area tonight:
- Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated takes a look at the Wizards’ reported free agent signings of veterans Jeff Green and Dwight Howard. Woo gives both signings a “B” grade, calling both moves thrifty and low-risk due in large part to the one-year length of both deals.
- In another piece for NBC Sports Washington, Hughes gives his own analysis of the Howard signing, agreeing that the move is low-risk, high-reward. Hughes writes that Howard gives Washington an upgrade from last season at center and that he should be at his best surrounded by three-point shooters like Otto Porter and Bradley Beal.
- In another, albeit more under-the-radar move we relayed earlier this week, the Wizards claimed promising young big man Thomas Bryant off waivers from the Lakers after he was cut to increase L.A.’s cap room.
Nigel Williams-Goss To Sign With Olympiacos
The Jazz’ 2017 second-round draft pick, Nigel Williams-Goss, has agreed to terms on a new, three-year contract with EuroLeague club Olympiacos, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
We heard in May that the 23-year-old guard out of Gonzaga had drawn attention from a number of EuroLeague teams for next season, so the deal comes as no surprise, especially after Utah re-signed Raul Neto.
Williams-Goss, who played for the Jazz in last year’s summer league, spent last season with Serbian club Partizan.
Hornets Notes: Monk, Staff, Bacon, Parker
After undertaking a limited and somewhat disappointing role last season as a rookie, second-year guard Malik Monk has been told by the Hornets’ new coaching staff that he needs to make quicker, more decisive choices with the ball in order to maximize his talent and athleticism, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Monk, 20, was selected 11th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft before suffering an ankle sprain that cost him summer league work before his first NBA training camp. Due in part to that lack of experience, Monk was in and out of the Hornets’ rotation all season long, finishing with an average of 6.7 points per game on 36 percent shooting from the field.
But despite whatever troubles he may have experienced during his rookie season, Monk will have plenty of opportunity to step into a bigger role this season, per head coach James Borrego.
“Malik Monk is a major player for us next (season)… I knew he was a shooter but being up close to him is impressive. This guy has a chance to be an elite shooter, a very consistent shooter. Someone we can play through for different stretches of a game.”
As for how Monk feels about Borrego and the new coaching staff, the good feelings seem to be mutual, with Monk saying, “I love them. They’re opening up the court for me and giving me a chance. That’s what I’ve been looking for.”
There’s more out of Charlotte this evening:
- Speaking of the new coaching staff, the Hornets have officially hired Jay Triano, Chad Iske, Jay Hernandez, Ronald Nored, and Dutch Gaitley as assistant coaches under Borrego, per an official press release from the team.
- Another young player the Hornets believe in is second-year player Dwayne Bacon, Bonnell notes in another piece. The new staff believes that Bacon, the 40th overall selection in last year’s draft, is both talented offensively and versatile defensively and that he will benefit from an increased pace of play.
- As we relayed yesterday, the Hornets may be in the market for another guard to play alongside Monk and All-Star Kemba Walker, with free agent guard Tony Parker no longer necessarily a lock to return to San Antonio.
Northwest Notes: Udoh, Thunder, Tolliver, Blazers
The Jazz have been relatively generous during free agency so far this summer compared to most teams, handing out a two-year, $36MM contract to forward Derrick Favors, agreeing to a three-year, $33MM deal with backup guard Dante Exum, and reaching terms on a two-year, $4MM pact with seldom-used guard Raul Neto.
Furthermore, Utah has already guaranteed the 2018/19 salary of Thabo Sefolosha, who was limited to only 39 games last season. As such, it would appear that the Jazz are intent on sticking with their 2017/18 roster for now, which means that both Jonas Jerebko and Ekpe Udoh can be cautiously optimistic while waiting for their 2018/19 salary to become guaranteed.
Udoh in particular, who averaged 2.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 63 games for the Jazz last season, and whose $3.36MM salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on Utah’s roster past July 9, is trying to remain positive while awaiting Utah’s decision on his future, writes Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News.
“You know, we’ll see what happens,” Udoh told the Deseret News. “I’m grateful. I’m getting great workouts at the facility. I’ve been here pretty much since the season has been over outside of a couple trips, but I’ve just been getting in good work.”
Per Woodyard, Udoh is excited and prepared to return in a Jazz uniform next season, but also understands the business-like nature of the NBA.
“It’s gonna be a fun season,” Udoh said. “The West has gotten better but we’ve gotten better and we’re gonna be the same team next year. Starting last year, you didn’t know what you were going to get with so many new pieces, but now we’ll be ready from the beginning.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes that although Paul George did in fact want to be a Laker at this time last year, he is now happy in Oklahoma City after signing a four-year, $137MM max contract with the Thunder on the eve of free agency.
- According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, Timberwolves’ free-agent signee forward Anthony Tolliver chose a return to Minnesota over four other pursuing teams because of the familiarity he has for the franchise – he played for the Wolves from 2010 to 2012 – and because “(he) want(s) to win.”
- While it’s probably a bit bold to get too excited about the free agent signing of a backup, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman writes that the addition of 24 year-old center Nerlens Noel on a minimum-salary deal is a low-risk, high-reward move by the Thunder.
- Per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian, a couple of key subplots have emerged for the Trail Blazers during the team’s summer league minicamp. First, it’s an opportunity for Portland to get a first-hand look at rookies Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr. in an NBA practice. Moreover, both Wade Baldwin and Georgios Papagiannis are fighting for their NBA lives while Jake Layman looks to secure a more prominent role for next season.
Thomas Bryant Waived By Lakers
Pursuant to an official release from the team, the Lakers have waived backup center Thomas Bryant.
Bryant appeared in 15 games for the Lakers last season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.6 minutes per game.
Bryant’s $1.38MM contract wasn’t set to become guaranteed until July 5, but with the Lakers reportedly planning to guarantee the contract of center Ivica Zubac for next season and the addition of first-round pick Moritz Wagner, there was evidently no need to keep Bryant around any longer.
The Lakers don’t have any more non-guaranteed contracts left on which to make decisions, but they’ll likely still need to do something with the contract of Luol Deng if they want to land two marquee free agents this summer such as LeBron James and Paul George.
Timberwolves Waive Cole Aldrich
The Timberwolves have waived backup center Cole Aldrich, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Aldrich’s $6.96MM contract, already guaranteed for $2.06MM, was scheduled to become fully guaranteed if Aldrich remained on Minnesota’s roster past today. Accordingly, the Wolves saved $4.9MM by cutting ties with Aldrich.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes, Minnesota will have the option to stretch the amount still owed to Aldrich over three years, which would open up an additional $1.37MM in cap room this summer.
Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News predicts that the Wolves will stretch Aldrich’s contract in order to avoid potential tax penalties should the team choose to use the full value of its MLE.
Aldrich, 29, averaged a career-low 0.6 PPG in only 21 games this past season. Throughout his eight-season career, he has averaged 3.1 points in 10.0 minutes per contest.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 6/23/18 – 6/30/18
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Here are our segments and features from the past seven days:
- The Hoops Rumors writing team took a stab at ranking our Top 50 free agents of 2018.
- In this week’s Community Shootaround post, we asked who you believe is the early favorite to win the 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
- Arthur Hill answered several questions in his weekly mailbag, including whether the Lakers’ draft strategy assumed the arrival of LeBron James and the chances of the Jazz making a splash in free agency.
- Before the deadline came and went, Luke Adams took a look at some notable players who had yet to make a decision on their player option.
- Luke Adams analyzed how the annual salary cap increase affects other important CBA-related figures.
- We introduced our 2018 NBA Offseason Trade tracker.
- Luke Adams recapped all the players who were eligible to receive qualifying offers this offseason, with details on which players did and didn’t get them.
Kevin Durant To Give Warriors Another Discount?
When the Warriors and Kevin Durant agreed to a discounted contract last offseason – $51.3MM over two seasons with a player option in year two – there was reportedly an understanding between the two parties that Durant would seek a contract more in line with his value this offseason.
However, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, there are now rumblings that Durant, who becomes an unrestricted free agent tonight after choosing not to exercise his $26.3MM player option for next season, is leaning towards signing another two-year contract with a player option in year two, commonly known as a “1+1” deal.
Because the Warriors hold Durant’s Early Bird rights and not his full Bird rights, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement would only allow a contract starting with an estimated maximum salary of $35.35MM if the deal is at least two seasons long. And, under the CBA, a “1+1” contract does not qualify as a two-year contract under these circumstances.
Accordingly, Durant would only be eligible for a starting salary of $30MM – 120% of his 2017/18 salary of $25MM – should he choose to sign another “1+1” deal. Such an agreement would use his Non-Bird rights, and would allow him to reach the open market again in 2019. At that point, he’d have full Bird rights and would qualify for a five-year max deal.
Slater adds that if Durant were to take less money again, it would save the Warriors “a ton” in tax money, which would increase the likelihood that the Warriors use the full value of their taxpayer MLE – estimated to be $5.3MM – in free agency.