Nuggets Pick Up Zeke Nnaji’s Option
The Nuggets are picking up forward/center Zeke Nnaji’s fourth-year option for the 2023/24 season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Nnaji, the 22nd pick of the 2020 draft, has appeared in 83 regular season games during his two seasons, averaging 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game. The option is worth $4,306,281.
The 6’9” big man could see time at both power forward and center this season. He’s fighting veterans Jeff Green and DeAndre Jordan for playing time behind Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic. He will make $2,617,800 this season.
Nnaji added 10 pounds of muscle during the offseason and has impressed during the summer and in camp, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets.
Pelicans Convert John Butler To Two-Way Contract
John Butler has received a two-way contract from the Pelicans, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
New Orleans signed Butler to an Exhibit 10 contract late last month.
Butler, a 7’2″ center, played four games with the Pelicans during summer league this year. He averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 16.7 minutes, shooting 12-of-16 from the floor (75%) and 6-of-9 from three-point range (67%). The 19-year-old went undrafted out of Florida State in June.
An intriguing prospect, Butler will likely spend the bulk of his rookie season in the G League. He spent only one season in college and posted modest stats for the Seminoles despite starting 24 of 31 games. He averaged 5.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 19 minutes per game but showed a nice 3-point touch (39.3%).
The Pelicans had an open two-way slot, with Dereon Seabron in possession of the other two-way deal.
Thunder Sign Sacha Killeya-Jones To Exhibit 10 Deal
OCTOBER 2: The Thunder have officially announced the signing of Killeya-Jones (Twitter link).
JULY 26: The Thunder have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with Sacha Killeya-Jones, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
The 6’11” big man played six games with the Lakers’ Summer League team, averaging 6.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 19.1 MPG.
Killeya-Jones went undrafted in 2020 after passing through three major colleges, including a 14-game stint with Kentucky. He played for Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Premier League last season and also suited up for Great Britain at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers.
The addition of Killeya-Jones adds to Oklahoma City’s overload of players. As our roster counts page shows, the Thunder already have 19 players under contract and have reportedly reached agreements with four more. Some of their Exhibit 10 signees may end up being quickly waived in order to make room for others.
Killeya-Jones will likely be cut before the regular season begins and could subsequently join the Thunder’s G League team, the Oklahoma City Blue, as an affiliate player. In that scenario, he’d receive a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the Blue.
California Notes: Lakers, LeBron, Hield, Turner, Klay, DiVincenzo, Mitchell
While it’s still early in training camp, Lakers first-year coach Darvin Ham revealed a surprise starting lineup he’s been using in practices, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. The group around Anthony Davis and LeBron James includes Russell Westbrook, Damian Jones and Kendrick Nunn. Westbrook has heard his name mentioned often in trade rumors, Jones has never been a regular starter in the league, and Nunn missed all of last season due to injury.
James plans to play more often this preseason, when he only saw action in two games, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
We have more from the California teams:
- The Pacers would almost certainly trade Buddy Hield and Myles Turner to the Lakers if Los Angeles is willing to include its 2027 and 2029 first-rounders without any protections, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the Lowe Post podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype). “My best intel right now is if the Lakers called Indiana right now and said ‘Both picks unprotected,’ the Pacers would do that deal, would probably do that deal.”
- Klay Thompson was held out of playing in Tokyo this week because he didn’t do any scrimmaging this offseason after the Warriors won the title, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “I didn’t play much this summer,” Thompson said. “With what I went through the last summer, I was healthy, popping my Achilles, it was really hard for me to get out of it, mentally. It’s hard to explain. It’s a mental block or something.”
- During the preseason opener in Tokyo, Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo played 17 minutes off the bench, contributing nine points, seven rebounds and two assists. He also didn’t commit any fouls or turnovers. Those types of contributions are why the Warriors added him, Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area writes. DiVincenzo signed a two-year, $9.3MM contract early in free agency.
- Davion Mitchell‘s defensive prowess, paired with his budding talent as a creator, could lead to a breakout season for the Kings’ second-year guard, Ethan Fuller of Basketball News writes.
Central Notes: Middleton, Lopez, Stewart, Bagley, Bey
Khris Middleton won’t be ready to play by opening night as he recovers from wrist surgery. Joe Ingles is still rehabbing from a major knee injury.
So who will step up in their place? Eric Nehm of The Athletic examines potential lineup combinations the Bucks may use in their absence. Pat Connaughton will likely start until Middleton returns, though Jordan Nwora and MarJon Beauchamp will have opportunities to establish themselves as rotation pieces. Wesley Matthews and Grayson Allen will fight for minutes at shooting guard.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Middleton has a $40.4MM option on his contract for the 2023/24 season, while center Brook Lopez will be an unrestricted free agent unless he signs an extension. However, there hasn’t been any buzz about it at Bucks camp, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. In fact, Lopez claims that “I wasn’t exactly aware this was a contract year” until the subject was brought up.
- Isaiah Stewart and Marvin Bagley may be more suited to playing center but they’ll both see action at times at power forward this season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. That will allow Nerlens Noel and rookie Jalen Duren to get some minutes off the bench. “It’s tough,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “What’s going to have to manifest itself is – it’s not natural right now – for Isaiah to kind of slide to the four just to open some spots for everybody.”
- While most of the attention regarding the Pistons is focused on their young backcourt of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, third-year forward Saddiq Bey has served notice that he could be an offensive force this season, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic. “He’s putting the ball on the floor a lot better, finding guys a lot better,” reserve guard Cory Joseph said. “We know how he can score and the attention he’s going to get. He’s making the game better for himself and everyone around him right now. He’s playing really well.”
Atlantic Notes: Thomas, Durant, Griffin, Horford, Tatum, Hartenstein
Cam Thomas‘ playing time dropped late last season and it doesn’t figure to spike upward with all of the Nets’ stars back in action this season, Brian Lewis of the New York Post notes.
“We’ll see how it goes after training camp. But he clearly is on a veteran team with a lot of guys who can play, have had a lot of success,” coach Steve Nash said. “We know Cam’s talented, and just trying to continue to develop him and see if he can keep pushing and getting better at certain things that’ll help him get minutes. I said whether he plays or he doesn’t play, he has to stay positive, he has to keep the belief that this process is going to help him.”
Thomas appeared in 67 games last season, averaging 8.5 PPG in 17.6 MPG.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- After all the drama he created during the offseason, Nets superstar Kevin Durant doesn’t want to continue answering questions about it, according to ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “Can we move on past that at some point?” Durant said. “I know it’s an interesting story. I know that it took up most of the offseason and drama sells, I get that, but I didn’t miss any games, I didn’t miss any practices, I’m still here. So hopefully we can move past that.”
- Blake Griffin‘s versatility convinced the Celtics to take a flier on him, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. He was used more as a floor spacer and roller rather than the post-up scorer last season with the Nets, and he’s an adept ball handler. That makes him a more natural fit in Boston’s scheme. Griffin, who agreed to a one-year guaranteed deal, could see minutes at either power forward or center despite his defensive limitations.
- With Ime Udoka out of the picture and young assistant Joe Mazzulla serving as the Celtics’ interim coach, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum need to take on bigger leadership roles, Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com opines. Horford can be more vocal and even demonstrative, while Tatum can set a better example by not complaining as much to the referees and by being quicker in terms of ball movement.
- Center Isaiah Hartenstein will bring a new dimension to the Knicks’ second unit, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. Hartenstein fits the blueprint of what coach Tom Thibodeau demands on the defensive end due to his rim protection, Popper notes, and he’ll be tasked at times as the orchestrator of the second-unit offense. Hartenstein signed a two-year, $16.7MM contract as a free agent in July.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 9/29/2022
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Central Notes: Ball, Clarkson, Bogdanovic, Livers, Vucevic, Caruso
There’s confidence that Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball will return at some point this season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Ball underwent another left knee surgery on Wednesday and doctors are optimistic the issue has been fully addressed. However, he’s going to be out a number of months, Charania adds.
Ball was still unable to “run or jump” entering training camp despite a lengthy rehab from two previous procedures this year.
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Bucks showed a lot of interest in trading for the Jazz‘s Jordan Clarkson but the Jazz balked at Milwaukee’s proposal, Tony Jones of The Athletic said on the Bill Riley Show podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype). Utah was uninterested at taking back George Hill‘s contract, which Jones described as a non-starter in trade discussions. One of the league’s top scoring reserves, Clarkson averaged 16 points last season. He has two years left on his four-year, $51.52MM contract. Hill has an expiring $4MM contract, so Milwaukee would have still needed to send out more salary in a potential trade.
- The Lakers and Suns were among the teams reportedly pursuing Bojan Bogdanovic but he wound up getting traded to the Pistons. The former Jazz forward says he wasn’t concerned where he ended up, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “I didn’t have any preference,” Bogdanovic said. “There’s a lot of rumors. Who knows if that’s true or not? I’m super happy and excited to be part of the Pistons.”
- Pistons forward Isaiah Livers wound up playing 19 games during his rookie season after recovering from a foot injury. He’s aiming to become a regular part of the rotation this season, he told James Edwards III of The Athletic. “I wanted to build off those last 19, 20 games,” the 2021 second-round pick said. “Coaches and everyone seemed to love the way that I was playing. It was working effectively.”
- There was heavy speculation that Bulls center Nikola Vucevic would be part of a package to acquire Rudy Gobert during the offseason. Vucevic had serious doubts that would happen and was proven correct when Gobert was dealt to Minnesota, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. “Rumors are a part of what we do,’’ said Vucevic, who is on an expiring contract. “Whether they’re true or not, it’s out of my control. I focus on what I can control, and, in the end, I had some fun with [the Jazz rumors]. At no point did I feel it was going to happen.’’
- Bulls guard Alex Caruso is one of the candidates to replace Ball in the starting lineup as he mends from his latest knee surgery, but that’s not Caruso’s focus, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic writes. “It won’t be a conversation I’ll have with Billy (Donovan). He might have it with me depending on what we need,” Caruso said. “But I’ve always been team-first trying to win games. If that’s me starting basketball games then that’s what we’ll do. If that’s me coming off the bench, that’s fine too. I’ve always been I’d rather finish games than start games.
Tyler Herro Wants Market Value Before Signing Extension
Tyler Herro wants to sign an extension with the Heat but he’s not going to settle for less than what he perceives as his market value, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reports.
Herro is looking for the “right number” before he inks a rookie scale extension, which must happen before opening night. Otherwise, he’ll be a restricted free agent next offseason.
“I want to be here. I want to be in Miami,” Herro said. “But I’m not rushed to sign anything. It’s got to make sense for me and my family. I’m not just going to sign anything. I see the market, I see what guys got paid and I know my worth. So I’m looking for the right number.”
Herro didn’t provide any details on what he believes his market value is but Chiang speculates he could seeking an extension similar to the one RJ Barrett signed with the Knicks late this summer. Barrett inked a four-year deal with $107MM in guaranteed money with another $13MM in potential bonuses.
Herro, the league’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year, will make approximately $5.72MM this season. Yet he was mentioned prominently in trade rumors this summer as Miami pursued a number of high-profile stars. Herro declares he wouldn’t be disappointed by a trade.
“I can get traded or I can stay here, I don’t care. I just want to play,” he said. “I want to play my game, have fun and I want to be wanted. Wherever they want me, I want to be.”
Herro expressed a desire to be a starter this season but has since softened that stance. After last season, team president Pat Riley challenged Herro to get stronger and become a better defensive player to earn a starting spot.
Challenge accepted, according to Herro.
“If somebody challenges me, I’m going to take it as a challenge,” he said. “That’s how my personality is, that’s what I do. And it’s not coming from just anybody. It’s coming from Pat. He wants the best for not only his team, but at the end of the day he wants the best for us individually, as well. If he challenges me, I’m going to take it on.”
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Williamson, Silas, Adams, Lecque
The Pelicans have never paid the luxury tax but that could change soon, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
Owner Gayle Benson is willing to pay the tax, according to Pelicans executive VP David Griffin, since the team has the ability to become a serious contender.
“We’re not bound by, ‘We won’t pay the tax,'” Griffin said. “We will not frivolously pay the tax. If this team is in a position to be as good as we hope to be, I don’t think resources are going to be the reason we won’t get where we need to go.”
The Pelicans are currently approximately $3.6MM below the NBA’s luxury tax line of $150.3MM.
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Following a season in which he rehabbed a foot injury, Pelicans big man Zion Williamson left his coach and teammates awestruck in two practices Tuesday, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN. “What stood out was his force more than anything,” coach Willie Green said. “He got down the floor quickly. When he caught the ball, he made quick decisions. Whether it was scoring, finding a teammate. It was really impressive to see.” Williamson inked a five-year, max extension this summer.
- Rockets coach Stephen Silas wasn’t thrilled by what he saw during Wednesday’s practice, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I saw we have a lot of work to do,” Silas said. “(It’s) day two, obviously. We did a good job of putting things in. We scrimmaged quite a bit today and it’s evident, it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s going to be a process for us. We’re going to have to learn from mistakes and watch film and get better as a result.”
- Steven Adams taking 3-pointers this season? It’s not out of the question. “He’s definitely putting in the work over the summer,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins told Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I even told him if you’re open, shoot it. I want him to be aggressive.” However, Adams hopes to keep it a secret weapon. He’s only made one 3-pointer in 14 career attempts.
- The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ G League affiliate, acquired the returning player rights to guard Jalen Lecque from the Raptors 905, the team tweets. The Vipers traded away the returning player rights to Christian Vital. Lecque played four games with the Pacers in 2020/21.