Jazz To Sign Mike Scott To Camp Deal
After playing for BM Slam Stal of the Polish Basketball League last season, point guard Mike Scott has reached an agreement with the Jazz on a one-year, minimum-salary deal, reports Nicola Lupo of Sportando.
Tony Jones of The Athletic adds that Scott, a point guard originally from Los Angeles, is expected to join the Jazz for camp before ultimately playing for Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, during the 2019/20 season.
Scott, not to be confused with the Sixers forward who shares the same name, has spent the last four seasons overseas after coming out of Idaho in 2015. The 26-year-old averaged 11.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 4.5 APG in Poland last season.
With Scott soon to be under contract, the Jazz will have to make another move before finalizing the deal, as they already have 20 players on their offseason roster with the additions of Trevon Bluiett and Juwan Morgan a little less than one month ago.
Eastern Notes: Gasol, Carter, Simmons, Booker
With Kawhi Leonard gone from Toronto, veteran big man Marc Gasol becomes even more important to the Raptors’ success this season and beyond than he was during the team’s memorable run to a title during the 2018/19 campaign, writes Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer.
With Leonard back home in California, forward Pascal Siakam becomes the undisputed future of the Raptors, with his development into a star of paramount concern for Toronto’s long term outlook. And as Tjarks analyzes, Siakam is at his best – or at least was last year – when playing alongside Gasol.
For one, Siakam loves to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim, so it’s important to play him with a center who can shoot well enough from the outside to drag Siakam’s defender out of the paint.
Additionally, Siakam is not yet an elite play-maker, so it helps to have other players like Gasol around him who can keep everyone else involved in the offense while Siakam plays in attack mode.
Finally, Gasol provides a large body that Toronto can use during the regular season to bang with big Eastern Conference centers like Joel Embiid over the course of an 82-game season. As Tjarks analogizes, Gasol essentially acts as a lead blocker for Siakam, clearing obstacles for Siakam to thrive.
There’s more tonight from the Eastern Conference:
- With his daughter relatively nearby in Charlotte and a future in broadcasting in mind, Hawks guard Vince Carter told The Ringer’s Winging It podcast (h/t to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that returning to Atlanta was a great opportunity for him to begin focusing on life after basketball while still playing a final season in the NBA.
- After agreeing to one-year contract with free agent guard Kobi Simmons, the Hornets G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, acquired the 22-year-old Arizona product’s NBAGL rights, per Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
- Free agent forward Trevor Booker attended his scheduled workout with the Bucks this week, reports Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. The Bucks only have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, so it’s possible Booker could end up competing with Dragan Bender for Milwaukee’s final standard roster spot if he signs with the club.
Colangelo Won’t Forget World Cup Pullouts
Fresh off a second consecutive loss in the 2019 FIBA World Cup that will ensure USA finishes no better than seventh – the worst finish ever by an American men’s team in a major tournament – Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reports that USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo won’t forget those who backed out of commitments to play in the World Cup this summer when the time comes to start assembling the 2020 Tokyo Olympics roster.
“I can only say, you can’t help but notice and remember who you thought you were going to war with and who didn’t show up.” Colangelo said. “The players (we have) did everything they can do… But we went in with higher expectations in terms of roster and it didn’t kind of happen the way we were hopeful and anticipating and expecting. That, to me, was a big disappointment.”
As Reynolds notes, of the 35 players originally selected for the U.S. player pool, only four are in China for the World Cup. Many pullouts cited schedule concerns and lingering injuries, but it appears Colangelo isn’t satisfied with some of the players’ excuses.
“Going forward for USA Basketball, we’re going to need the cooperation of teams, agents and then there has to be communication with players 1-on-1 to solidify those commitments,” Colangelo said. “I am going to be anxious to see how many players reach out early to indicate that they wish and want and desire to play (in the 2020 Olympics)… But I’ll make this statement: It’s as much about maybe who we don’t want as much as who we want.”
Spurs Sign Jeff Ledbetter To Exhibit 10 Deal
Approximately three weeks after originally offering him a contract, the Spurs have signed guard Jeff Ledbetter to an Exhibit 10 deal, reports Nicola Lupo of Sportando.
Ledbetter, 31, is an Idaho product primarily known for his marksmanship from long range. He has spent the last three seasons with the Spurs’ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, but did leave the team early last season to play in Mexico.
In 101 career NBAGL games, Ledbetter has posted a respectable stat line of 11.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 3.2 APG. He figures to become an affiliate player in Austin for the fourth straight season.
With Ledbetter under contract, the Spurs now have 20 players on their offseason roster, including two-way players Drew Eubanks and Quinndary Weatherspoon.
Atlantic Notes: Stevens, Feaster, Donaldson, Ainge
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens will have a new-look roster to work with this season, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, and while replacing All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving with fellow All-Star Kemba Walker will be the easy part, replacing defensive stalwarts Al Horford and Aron Baynes should prove a bit more challenging.
Another question is who starts — Gordon Hayward or Jaylen Brown? Do both of them start, with Marcus Smart back on the bench? According to Stevens, it really doesn’t matter, as long as the lineups mesh together.
“We’re obviously going to have to figure out lineups that work best together,” Stevens said. “Everybody is going to make a big deal over who starts, but we all know who the five guys are that are going to play the very most on our team, and everybody can probably write that down right now, and then it’s a matter of who fits best. They’re not all in the same position, but we’ve got to figure out who’s going to play the big spot and with which groups.”
Enes Kanter figures to get most minutes at center starting out, but young big Robert Williams could push for more playing time as the season progresses. The Celtics will also rely on Daniel Theis and Vincent Poirier for frontcourt depth.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- According to A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston, the Celtics have hired Allison Feaster as director of player development. Feaster is a former WNBA player and Harvard graduate who also worked in the G League.
- Raptors data analyst Brittni Donaldson has been promoted to an assistant coach on the staff of head coach Nick Nurse, per a tweet from Stadium (Twitter link).
- In a piece for NBC Sports Boston, Blakely writes that Danny Ainge is concerned with Stevens happiness this season, saying “My biggest concern through all of this was, I want my coach to be happy who he’s coaching and that’s the hardest job. I’ve been at this business a long time. It’s…you gotta have fun. You really have to have joy. That doesn’t mean every minute is going to be happy. Everybody is going to face adversity and challenges and trials through the course of a season. But, it still has to be fun.”
And-Ones: Lillard, Role Players, Seattle, Lawson
During a recent appearance on The Joe Budden Podcast (h/t to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports), Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard, who recently signed a super-max extension to stay in Portland through 2025, explains his thoughts as to why more players don’t do the same.
“I think people walk away from it because of the media… the outside influence, people talking about their legacy… so (the players) say, ‘It’s not about the money. I want to win the championship. And I want to do this.”
“But I don’t think just because you decide to stay and not pass up on that money, that don’t mean you ain’t trying to win it. When you’re 42 years old and your career [is] over, and you ain’t won it, anyway, and you walked away from 60 million dollars more than what you got, they ain’t even going to be talking about you then. The joke is going to be on you.”
Lillard’s point is an interesting one, and it begs the question as to how many players eligible for a super-max turned it down for this reason. Even though he won a championship in Toronto, Kawhi Leonard almost certainly did not. But, it’s conceivable Anthony Davis felt pressure to leave the Pelicans because outside influences convinced him he couldn’t win a title in New Orleans and that outcome would be bad for his legacy.
We have more content from around the basketball world, below:
- Quinn Davis of Basketball Insiders takes a look at three role players who could make an impact on a team with championship aspirations next season: Sixers forward James Ennis, Clippers forward Maurice Harkless, and Jazz big man Ed Davis.
- Newly inducted Hall-of-Famer, big man Jack Sikma, said during his induction speech last night that it’s time for the NBA to return to Seattle, writes Anthony Olivieri of ESPN. “Speaking for all Sonics fans, it’s our great hope that the NBA will soon find a pathway to bring a franchise back to Seattle. It’s time.”
- The Xinjang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association are considering the signing of former NBA guard Ty Lawson because Ian Clark cannot report to the team yet due to an injury, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
Could World Cup Affect Frank Ntilikina’s Future?
Generally speaking, the success of an NBA player during FIBA play has little bearing on that player’s ability to compete and prosper at the NBA level. As those in the know will readily opine, the games are different, with different rules and different styles of play.
But because NBA teams only have until October 31 to exercise their team options for first-round draft picks for the following season, the 2019 FIBA World Cup could be of the utmost importance for Knicks point guard Frank Ntilikina, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
As Bondy notes, the Knicks have to decide by Halloween whether or not to guarantee Ntilikina’s $6.18MM salary for the 2021/21 season, leaving little time for New York to assess the 21-year-old year old Frenchman in NBA action, as the season doesn’t start until October 22.
Should the Knicks not exercise the option, Ntilikina becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2020, so assessing his play during the World Cup may be an avenue the Knicks’ explore while making a decision on the option.
Ntilikina has admittedly struggled to crack the Knicks’ rotation since being drafted several years ago, but it’s hard to imagine the Knicks letting him and his potential walk away next summer for nothing when the only cost for keeping him is a relatively minor cap hit at a time (summer of 2020) when there is such a dearth of talent in the free agency class.
Sterling Brown Unlikely To Accept Settlement Offer
According to Alison Dirr of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the City of Milwaukee has authorized its city attorney to offer a $400K settlement to Bucks guard Sterling Brown regarding the lawsuit he filed against the city in response to police officers using a taser on him over a parking violation last year.
However, according to The Associated Press, it’s unlikely that Brown will accept the settlement, per one of his lawyers, because the settlement offer does not include an admission of liability by the city. Per the attorney, Brown will only consider settlement offers that include such an admission.
“I fully anticipate that any settlement that doesn’t include an admission that they violated Mr. Brown’s civil rights will go nowhere,” attorney Mark Thomsen said (via Dirr). “We can’t heal in this city without that.”
It’s commonplace as a condition in most if not all civil settlement agreements for neither party to admit liability. However, given the video evidence in this case, the fact that the police chief issued an apology for the incident, and Brown’s relatively lessened need for financial compensation, it’s no surprise that Brown is adamant that the city accept legal responsibility for the incident.
Hornets Issue Required Tender To Jalen McDaniels
The Hornets have issued a one year, non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract offer (“required tender”) to 2019 second-round pick, rookie forward Jalen McDaniels, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Per Bobby Marks of ESPN, all unsigned 2019 second-round draft picks become free agents if not given a required tender by today, so the Hornets had to make a decision as to whether they wanted to retain McDaniels’ rights after drafting the San Diego State product No. 52 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
As we noted earlier today, the Hornets have already agreed to sign rookie guard Ahmed Hill to the team’s second two-way contract, and with the expected addition of point guard Kobi Simmons, Charlotte will have a full 20-man offseason roster without McDaniels. As such, the team may no longer be interested in bringing the rookie to training camp this season.
However, as Bonnell notes, two-way contracts can be a fluid situation, so if Charlotte wants to sign McDaniels to a two-way contract later (perhaps when his legal troubles are more thoroughly settled), the team could easily move on from Hill or fellow two-way recipient Robert Franks.
Quincy Pondexter Excited For Future In Coaching
In a conversation with Jabari Young of The Athletic, former Spurs swingman and NBA veteran Quincy Pondexter reveals his post-playing career goal of becoming a head coach in the NBA, an aspiration that the 31-year-old is already working toward every day.
“One day,” Pondexter said, “I want to be the man on the sideline that not only has a positive influence but a helluva coach. And someone that gets wins.”
According to Young, Pondexter’s urge to become a head coach started a few years ago, in 2015, when he started an AAU program known as California United. He struggled to find a coach to enact his vision, so he decided to take on the responsibility of coaching the team himself.
“I wanted to make sure it was done the right way,” Pondexter recalled. “I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do it because I don’t trust other people.'”
Pondexter gathered a group of close friends to assist with the team but ended up funding all travel, boarding, and food himself. The money he had, but the time he needed to put in and the issues he needed to overcome in order to be successful was something that he learned throughout the process.
“There is so much you have to deal with,” Pondexter said, “and that is a lot of kids that you’re responsible for, but it’s a great honor to be trusted with that.”
Pondexter remains an unrestricted free agent, though he still hopes to land a deal with a team that would give him the opportunity to play “meaningful minutes.”