Jazz Waive Two-Way Player Taevion Kinsey
The Jazz are waiving two-way player Taevion Kinsey, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. A Jazz press release has confirmed that the move is official.
It’s a tough break for Kinsey, who signed his two-year, two-way deal in early July. Utah had all three of its two-way spots filled, so it now creates an opening to sign another player.
The Jazz’s front office has been busy in recent days. The team officially signed second-round rookie Kyle Filipowski and inked Svi Mykhailiuk to a four-year deal. Terms of Filipowski’s contract haven’t been revealed but he’ll be on a standard deal. Jason Preston and Micah Potter hold the other two-way slots.
Kinsey, 24, went undrafted in 2023 after playing five college seasons at Marshall. As a “super senior” for the Thundering Herd in 2022/23, he averaged 22.1 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.9 RPG and 1.7 SPG on .542/.404/.744 shooting in 32 games (37.8 MPG), earning Sun Belt Player of the Year for his efforts.
A 6’5″ wing, Kinsey signed a training camp deal with Utah last summer and was waived in October before the ’23/24 season began. He wound up signing a 10-day contract with the Jazz in March, but he didn’t appear in a game.
Kinsey spent the majority of his first pro season playing for the Jazz’s NBA G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. In 50 Showcase Cup and regular season games with the Stars (29.6 MPG), he averaged 10.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.1 APG while posting a strong shooting line of .555/.427/.780.
Central Notes: Turner, Pistons Guards, Herd Arena
Myles Turner believes the Pacers need to be a better rebounding team to reach their ultimate goal, he said on a Club 520 podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype).
“I think one, we’ve gotta be a better rebounding team, we’re still kind of small,” he said. “We just got James Wiseman ,so that helps a bit you know I mean he’s like 7-1 but outside of me, Isaiah Jackson was 6-9, Jalen Smith at the time was 6-9, 6-10… So we just (need) to have more frontcourt presence, especially off the bench.”
Turner also mentioned that rebounding was cited as the main reason why he’s never won a Defensive Player of the Year award. Turner has twice led the league in blocks.
“What they always told me was like, ‘Well, you don’t rebound,’ and I was like ‘all right’ — you know, I’ll take that on the chin, cool,” he said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “But I feel like defense is more than being just a defensive rebounder, like I’m leading like a like a number two defense in the league, and know we have a decent record. But bro, we don’t play on TV, we didn’t get very far in the playoffs so no exposure, so it’s like they had to justify who they get this award to, and it became like a popularity contest.'”
We have more from the Central Division:
- To varying degrees, Pistons guards Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser have something to prove this upcoming season, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press writes. Cunningham received a max rookie scale extension and he’ll need to show his late-season surge is closer to his norm. Ivey has to be more efficient, coming off a disappointing sophomore campaign, and improve defensively. Sasser needs to show he’s worthy of being the main backup at the point.
- The Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks’ NBA G League team, is close to an agreement that would keep the franchise in Oshkosh for the foreseeable future, Justin Marville of the Oshkosh Northwestern reports. The Herd’s future at the arena was uncertain because of claims that the arena’s management had violated the current lease. A judge granted a motion for a different venue management company to oversee the operations of Oshkosh Arena. The Herd had opt-out provisions that could have released the team from its lease agreement due to the arena’s financial difficulties.
- The Cavaliers have numerous roster openings but aren’t in a rush to fill them. Get the details here.
Olympic Notes: James, Kerr, Collet, Attendance, Micic
Could a 43-year-old LeBron James play in the Los Angeles Games in 2028? The Lakers superstar doubts that will happen, Marc J. Spears of Andscape writes.
“No, I can’t see myself playing in L.A. I also didn’t see myself playing in Paris,” he said. “But four years from now, now I can’t see it.”
A 39-year-old James was certainly a huge factor in Team USA’s triumph. James averaged 14.2 points, 8.5 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals and earned Olympic Most Valuable Player honors.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “I don’t know who the voting committee, or whatever the case may be, but super-humbled that they even voted for me,” James said. “But it came with us winning gold and that’s what’s more important for me. It’s pretty cool.”
We have more on the Olympics:
- It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the tournament provided plenty of drama and high-quality play, culminating with tense games in the semifinals and final, according to Team USA coach Steve Kerr. “It didn’t surprise me. There’s a reason these guys sign up for this,” he said, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net. “The Olympics are special and all these guys play for two things. They play for the NBA championships and Olympic golds. Those are the highest, those are the pinnacles of success as a player in the NBA, in America. … It’s no accident they can do what they do during crunch time. When you see these guys behind the scenes and how much they love the process, it all makes sense why they’re as good as they are.”
- France’s head coach Vincent Collet believes the loss in the gold medal game was a blown opportunity for his squad, according to Barkas. “We could do more but you have to do the perfect game and we didn’t do it at all,” Collet said. “Still, I really think with a little bit more, we could push them much more. Okay, we did it, we were not too far but I’m sure we could do better. We had the chance, We didn’t take it and we must think about it next time.”
- The Paris Olympics set an attendance record for basketball, previously held by Atlanta in 1996, Sportando relays. According to BasketEurope, a total of 1,068,032 spectators attended the men’s and women’s games, an average attendance was 20,737 spectators per game. The attendance record was made even more impressive by the fact that just 52 games were played, 40 fewer than in the 1996 edition in Atlanta.
- Hornets guard Vasilije Micic finished the Olympics on a high note, scoring 19 points as Serbia defeated Germany, 93-83, for the bronze medal. “We are still a little bit short for a gold or silver. But still, this bronze shines like gold for us,” Micic said, per Barkas.
French Star Guerschon Yabusele Eager To Return To NBA
Former NBA forward Guerschon Yabusele, one of the top players on France’s Olympic team, wants to return to the league. Yabusele posted on his social media account that he’s looking for another opportunity to prove himself at the NBA level.
“Been waiting for a 2nd chance. I’m ready,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
Yabusele, 28, has one season remaining on his Real Madrid contract with an NBA buyout of $2.5MM, Marc Stein tweets. The buyout was $1MM prior to July 15.
Yabusele poured in 20 points with two rebounds and two steals in France’s 98-87 loss to Team USA in the Paris Olympic championship game on Sunday. He averaged 14 points per game and earned second-team honors while helping France capture the silver medal.
The 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Yabusele spent a year as a draft-and-stash prospect in China, then played for the Celtics from two seasons from 2017-19. He appeared in 74 games, including five starts. He averaged 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per contest.
Yabusele has played with Real Madrid for the past three seasons. He averaged a career-best 14.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season while shooting 56.5% from the field, 46.1% from 3-point range and 86.8% from the free throw line.
Mavs Sign Kessler Edwards To Two-Way Deal, Waive Alex Fudge
The Mavericks have officially signed Kessler Edwards to a two-way contract, according to a team press release. They have also waived two-way forward Alex Fudge.
The agreement with Edwards was reported last month. Edwards holds career averages of 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 11.9 minutes in 138 career games, 27 of which were starts, with the Nets and Kings. In 54 games for Sacramento last season, Edwards averaged 1.7 points and 5.1 minutes per game.
Edwards was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Kings opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Fudge signed a two-way deal with Dallas in early March but only appeared in two games. The 20-year-old small forward began the season on a two-way deal with the Lakers, seeing action in four games before being waived in early January. He also appeared in 27 G League games last season.
Fudge, 21, played college ball with LSU and Florida and went undrafted last year.
Having waived Fudge, the Mavericks have an open two-way spot. Guard Brandon Williams holds the other two-way spot.
New York Notes: Schröder, Wilson, Johnson, Brunson
Dennis Schröder is entering his walk year with the Nets. He’ll make $13MM next season and his expiring contract could be an attractive trade piece.
If it were up to him, Schröder would settle down with the rebuilding franchise. He told Andscape’s Marc Spears he doesn’t want to be moved.
“I want to be in Brooklyn long-term. Hopefully, that works out,” he said. “I want to be a veteran who shows the young people the way and how we should play and how we play as a team. I understand that the NBA is always more individual, but I want to make one team like we had in Atlanta where it was about just winning and really not [caring] who scores. And I want to bring that back to the NBA, to the Brooklyn Nets. And hopefully they see the same vision and of course still compete on the highest level, but that’s going to take some time.”
Schröder appeared in 29 games (25 starts) after being acquired from Toronto in a trade deadline deal. Brooklyn is his seventh team since he entered the league in 2013.
We have more on the New York teams:
- Jalen Wilson was named the Las Vegas Summer League MVP, where he averaged 21.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.6 steals while shooting 47.3% from the field and 55.0% from 3-point range in five games. The 23-year-old Nets forward has a $1.89MM minimum-salary contract for 2024/25 that is currently just partially guaranteed for $75K. It increases to a partial guarantee of $325K if he makes the opening night roster. That keeps him motivated. “You can never get complacent with where things are,” he told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “And that’s where I’m at. I’m just shooting for more goals, shooting for more achievements. Now that I’m here back in town, you have the opportunity to get in the gym every single day and get better. So you know, when the time comes, that you’re prepared.”
- Nets wing Keon Johnson earned a two-year contract with his strong showing in Las Vegas. He’s in a similar situation as Wilson. His minimum salary contract has a $250K partial guarantee that will increase to $700K if he remains under contract through the first day of the regular season. “I feel like it’s a staple to the work I’ve been putting in over the past couple of years,” Johnson told Lewis. “I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, pretty much since I’ve been drafted, and I just kind of held my hat on– just keep putting the work in, and hopefully one day my number will get called, and I’ll have the opportunity like I am now.”
- Jalen Brunson legitimizes the title of Knicks captain, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post opines in a subscriber-only story. Brunson has embraced a leadership role on and off the court and the decision to name him captain is well-deserved, according to Bondy.
Trent Forrest Signs With Baskonia
Free agent guard Trent Forrest has signed a two-year contract with Baskonia, Sportando relays. The Spanish club announced the signing on its Twitter feed.
Forrest spent the past two seasons with the Hawks. He signed a new two-way contract in September after spending the 2022/23 on a two-way deal with Atlanta.
Forrest had his contract converted to a standard, rest-of-season deal in late February. He became an unrestricted free agent after the season and appeared in two Las Vegas Summer League games with the Lakers.
The 26-year-old appeared in a total of 38 games for Atlanta last season, all off the bench. He averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 assists in 10.9 minutes per game. During the previous season, he saw action in 23 Hawks games, including three starts.
Forrest suited up for Utah in his first two NBA seasons after going undrafted out of Florida State in 2020. Overall, he has appeared in 151 NBA contests, including nine starts. He has averaged 2.8 points and 1.9 assists in 11.6 minutes per game, converting 44.4% of his field goal attempts but just 18.5% of his three-point tries.
Western Notes: Nuggets, Markkanen, Mavs, Thunder
It has been an eventful offseason for the Nuggets and The Athletic’s Tony Jones breaks down all the meaningful developments. They lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency but the front office is convinced Christian Braun can handle a larger role. The Nuggets are also encouraged by Julian Strawther‘s Summer League performances and think he’ll add much-needed shooting to the rotation.
The Nuggets believe Russell Westbrook will fortify their offense and they’ll also need free agent addition Dario Saric to produce in a backup frontcourt role, especially with first-rounder DaRon Holmes having suffered a torn Achilles during Summer League action. If Saric doesn’t deliver, the Nuggets could be forced to use Aaron Gordon as the de facto backup center, Jones writes.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- If the Jazz plan on trading Lauri Markkanen, they’re certainly doing a good job hiding their intentions. Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post that the Jazz recently sent multiple coaching staff representatives to Finland to assist Markkanen in workouts with second-year guard Keyonte George. That gives the impression they’re not looking to deal their starting power forward, regardless of whether he signs an extension.
- The Mavericks had a solid offseason with the addition of Klay Thompson in a sign-and-trade with Golden State. They also signed free agents Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie and acquired Quentin Grimes in a trade. Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com takes a closer look at what each player could bring to the defending Western Conference champions.
- The Thunder‘s front office is wise to keep a roster spot open on the 15-man roster, Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated opines. Any free agent they could bring in now probably wouldn’t play much and keeping that spot open could facilitate a trade involving multiple players, Stiles notes. It could also make it easier to add a player in the buyout market during the season to fill a need.
Blazers Notes: Henderson, Grant, Future Sale, Rupert
Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson has signed with Klutch Sports and CEO Rich Paul as his representative, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
The third pick in last year’s draft, Henderson is eligible for a rookie scale extension in the summer of 2026. How he develops over the next two seasons will determine his earning power.
Henderson appeared in 62 games last season, including 32 starts. He averaged 14.1 points and 5.4 assists per contest, but shot just 38.5% from the field and 32.5% on 3-point tries.
We have more on the Trail Blazers:
- Jerami Grant‘s name remains prominent among trade circles. Grant would prefer not have a cloud of uncertainty around him during next season, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. Grant is enjoying the stability of the five-year, $160MM contract he signed prior to last season and doesn’t want to be moved mid-season.
- The franchise will eventually be sold but no timeline has been determined, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. The NBA’s new broadcasting agreements were one of the things the Blazers’ current ownership was likely waiting on before starting the sale process. The fees paid by potential expansion franchises, as well as ongoing lease negotiations for the team’s current arena, Moda Center, will likely also affect the timeline for selling the franchise.
- In the same mailbag post, Highkin says he anticipates guard Rayan Rupert will spend the bulk of his time with the G League’s Remix next season. Rupert, a 2023 second-rounder, appeared in 39 games for the banged-up Blazers last season, including 12 starts.
Community Shootaround: Indiana Pacers
The defending champion Celtics have been on a spending spree, re-signing their own free agents and locking up rotation players to lucrative extensions.
The Sixers made the biggest free agent splash, signing Paul George. The Knicks made a stunning trade, acquiring Mikal Bridges from their crosstown rival. The Cavaliers have given out extensions to three starters. The Bucks still have the duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
So it’s easy to forget that the Pacers were in the Eastern Conference Finals. Their biggest star is Tyrese Haliburton, currently the 12th man on Team USA’s loaded roster. Haliburton pulled a hamstring in Game 2 against the Celtics, though the Pacers were heavy underdogs anyway. But it may have made the series a little more competitive if he had stayed healthy.
Haliburton had some ups and downs during the playoffs but delivered in a big way in his best outings. Now, he’s wondering why the Pacers are being overlooked as one of the top contenders in the East.
“All I keep seeing is, ‘Who’s going to win the East? Boston, Milwaukee, New York, or Philly?’” Haliburton said recently. “It’s like, what are we doing [not being included]? But again, we’re Indiana, people didn’t even know, people didn’t even watch us play until the playoffs. People didn’t watch us play until the second round. But again, that respect comes with winning. So if we want to gain that respect, we just got to keep having success as a team. And it’s coming.”
Like Boston and Cleveland, the Pacers’ offseason has been highlighted by locking in some of their regulars to new contracts. Pascal Siakam received a max four-year deal in free agency and Andrew Nembhard, who posted big numbers in Games 3 and 4 of the conference finals with Haliburton out, signed a three-year contract extension. Siakam’s backup, restricted free agent Obi Toppin, was also re-signed.
Myles Turner remains one of the most productive centers in the league and the Pacers also have a solid young 1-2 punch at small forward in Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin. Head coach Rick Carlisle is one of the best in the business, a future Hall of Famer with a championship on his resume.
Undeniably, there’s plenty of quality pieces all over the roster. But are they still lacking that one major impact player to put them over the top? Haliburton could be a perennial All-Star but is he more suited to being the No. 2 player on a championship team than the franchise player?
Those are a couple of questions some experts have about the Pacers, though there’s no reason to expect that they’ll regress. In fact, with the experience they gained in the postseason, they could be even more dangerous next season.
That brings up to today’s topic: Do you feel the Pacers are underrated? Where do they currently rank in the Eastern Conference’s pecking order? Do they need another impact player or can they win a championship with the roster they’ve already built?
Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.