Heat Willing To Give Tucker Guaranteed Three-Year Deal
The Heat are willing to give impending free agent P.J. Tucker a guaranteed three-year deal but don’t want to invest their full mid-level exception on the veteran forward, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.
Using the full mid-level ($10.3MM) would push Miami into a hard cap situation, which would seriously curtail its ability to make other moves. The Heat instead plan to offer Tucker the maximum allowable three years using the Non-Bird exception. The contract would include a starting salary of $8.4MM and would be worth about $26.5MM in total.
Tucker is declining his $7.35MM option in order to enter unrestricted free agency. The Sixers have emerged as the frontrunners for Tucker, reportedly ready to offer him a three-year contract worth $27MM with incentives that could increase the value to $30MM.
If the non-taxpayer mid-level exception is used on Tucker, the Heat would only be able to offer restricted free agent Caleb Martin or any outside free agent their $4.1MM bi-annual exception or a minimum-salary deal, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes.
Pistons To Decline Options On Garza, Edwards
The Pistons will not pick up the team options of center Luka Garza and guard Carsen Edwards, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets.
The option on Garza, a second-r0und pick last season, is worth $1,563,518. The option figure for Edwards, who joined the Pistons late last season, is $1,815,677.
Edwards also confirms that Detroit will decline the $3,150,000 option on Frank Jackson‘s contract, which he previously reported was likely.
Technically, Detroit could make Garza and Edwards restricted free agents by extending qualifying offers, but that’s unlikely given the team could have retained either player at a low-cost figure. The Pistons are projected to have more cap space than any other team in free agency and these moves open up a little more room to make a splash.
Garza, who starred at Iowa, appeared in 32 games (five starts) last season, averaging 5.8 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 12.2 MPG. The addition of lottery pick Jalen Duren increased the possibility that Garza would be let go.
Edwards spent the bulk of last season in the G League before appearing in four games with Detroit in April.
Hornets’ Bouknight Undergoes Hand Surgery
Hornets guard James Bouknight underwent surgery on Monday to repair a tendon in his fifth digit on his right hand, the team announced in a press release.
Bouknight will not participate in the summer league next month.
The 11th pick of last year’s draft, Bouknight had a disappointing rookie campaign. He only made 31 appearances last season, averaging 4.6 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 8.9 MPG. He missed games due to wrist, neck and elbow injuries.
He also had a sideline altercation with now former head coach James Borrego in early February.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Brandon Valentine at Novant Health Charlotte Orthopedic Hospital in consultation with Hornets team physician Dr. Marcus Cook.
John Wall Finalizes Buyout, Intends To Join Clippers
JUNE 28: The Rockets have officially announced their buyout agreement with Wall, issuing a statement thanking him for his professionalism and wishing him the best. The point guard is now on track to clear waivers on Thursday.
JUNE 27: John Wall is finalizing a buyout with the Rockets and will become an unrestricted free agent, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Wall’s agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports is meeting with Rockets GM Rafael Stone on Tuesday to complete the buyout, sources told Haynes.
Wall intends to joins the Clippers once he clears waivers, though other teams are also calling, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
There had been momentum toward a buyout or trade after Wall picked up his $47.4MM player option for the 2022/23 season last week. The size of Wall’s contract made it very difficult to find a suitable trade partner.
Wall is giving back $6.5MM in order to part ways with Houston and sign with the team of his choice, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. That’s approximately the same amount as a taxpayer mid-level exception, which suggests that’s likely what he’ll get from the Clippers, MacMahon adds (via Twitter).
Wall has played in just 72 regular season contests since the 2017/2018 season. He put up solid numbers during 40 games with Houston in ’20/21, averaging 20.6 PPG and 6.9 APG, though he shot a career-worst 40.4% from the field. His production peaked in ’16/17, when he averaged 23.1 and 10.7 APG for Washington. His career was sidetracked by heel surgery and a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Last season, the rebuilding Rockets, who were intent on starting a young starting backcourt of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., reached an agreement with Wall to allow him to remain away from the team. Wall collected $44.3MM during his agreed-upon exile.
Western Notes: Looney, Payton, Wolves, Mavs’ Targets, Rockets
The Warriors have made re-signed center Kevon Looney their top free agent priority and are expected to meet with his agent, Todd Ramasar, in the early hours of free agency, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Gary Payton II profiles as the Warriors’ second-most important priority but he’ll have other suitors, with the Mavericks expected to be among them, per Slater. Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damion Lee are the players most vulnerable to losing their roster spots, Slater adds.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Timberwolves wound up with two first-round draft picks but it won’t alter their plans for free agency, according to Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. GM Tim Connelly said they’ll be looking for players who can make an immediate impact. “I don’t think it has a huge impact,” Connelly said. “Again, the draft is for the next two, three, four, five, six, seven years.”
- While re-signing Jalen Brunson looms as their top free agent priority, the Mavericks could go shopping for other free agents. Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News looks at some other potential targets, including Gary Harris, Otto Porter Jr. and Goran Dragic.
- By reaching a buyout agreement with John Wall, the Rockets now have 18 players on the roster, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. They’re $30MM below the luxury tax threshold, with Eric Gordon — a prime trade candidate — as the lone player earning more than $10MM.
Kyrie Irving Opts In To Final Year Of Contract
10:30pm: Irving has officially opted in, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
5:50pm: Kyrie Irving has decided to opt in to his contract for 2022/23, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. By exercising the $36.9MM option, Irving is bypassing multiple opt-in-and-trade scenarios in order to fulfill his four-year commitment to the Nets and Kevin Durant, according to Charania (Twitter links).
Irving is entering the final year of his four-year, $136.5MM deal.
“Normal people keep the world going, but those who dare to be different lead us into tomorrow,” Irving said in a statement. “I’ve made my decision to opt in. See you in the fall. A11even.”
By exercising his option, Irving is now both extension- and trade-eligible, though it doesn’t sounds as if either is happening in coordination with the opt-in. The seven-time All-Star will remain extension-eligible up until next June 30 and could tack on up to four years to his expiring deal.
If Irving signs an extension exceeding two years, he would become ineligible to be traded for the next six months; if he’s traded, he would be ineligible to sign an extension longer than two years for the next six months.
Irving’s contract option technically has a base value of about $36.5MM, but the cap hit is $36.9MM due to likely incentives, and it can go as high as $37.7MM if he reaches all his incentives.
The opt-in closes the door on the possibility of Irving of taking a massive pay cut and signing with a new team, such as the Lakers, for the mid-level exception. However, it’s unlikely the drama surrounding Kyrie will end any time soon — since he’s now on track for unrestricted free agency in 2023, he could reemerge as a trade candidate within the next year if he and the Nets don’t agree to an extension.
The Nets, who were reportedly unwilling to offer Irving a long-term contract, have been playing hardball in negotiations with the 30-year-old and essentially threw it in his lap to find a viable sign-and-trade scenario. He was unable to do so, which has led him to exercising the option, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Irving had until 5:00 pm ET on Wednesday to officially make a decision on that option.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Lakers were the only team willing to engage in serious sign-and-trade talks with Brooklyn and they lacked attractive pieces to ship back to the Nets in a potential deal.
With Irving’s future up in the air during the last week, multiple reports indicated that Durant was also mulling his options. But with Irving seemingly on track to return to the Nets for next season, Durant presumably won’t be looking for an exit ramp out of Brooklyn.
Pacific Notes: McNair, Kings’ Offseason Strategy, Looney
With general manager Monte McNair entering the final year of his three-year contract, it’s widely assumed the Kings are in a playoffs-or-bust mode. McNair insists that’s not necessarily the case, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee writes.
“There’s no mandate,” McNair said. “We’ve been very clear what our goal is. We want to win. We want to make the playoffs and we want to stay there, but there’s no mandate to do so. My job is to build, as I’ve said, the best team that’s going to take the court this year and for years to come.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- In the same story, McNair shrugged off criticism for trading his early second-round pick to Dallas for two future second-rounders. Sacramento has nine guaranteed contracts on its books, with lottery pick Keegan Murray soon to be the 10th. McNair said he wanted to keep his options open regarding the 15-man roster instead of locking into a high second-round pick. “For us, as we go into draft night and into free agency, we’re really managing both our roster and our roster spots,” McNair said. “We’ve got a bunch of guaranteed contracts already. We’re adding one more (Murray) very quickly, and so that’s one thing, opening up another roster spot as we go into free agency, and we have a lot of things on the table.”
- The Kings passed on Jaden Ivey in the lottery as De’Aaron Fox‘s backcourt partner. So which guards might they pursue in free agency? James Ham of The Kings Beat explores 10 potential options, including Gary Harris, Victor Oladipo and Bruce Brown.
- Warriors center Kevon Looney is likely to re-sign with the defending champion, according to a report. Todd Ramasar, Looney’s agent, discussed his free agent pitch to other suitors Monday on 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” (hat tip to Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area). “I talk about how he’s been to five Finals and he’s only 26 years old,” Ramasar said. “He’s won three rings, he’s got a great pedigree. And the fact that he played 104 games this season.”
Northwest Notes: Green, Hart, Timberwolves Draft, Jazz Targets
JaMychal Green was officially traded to the Thunder by the Nuggets on Thursday, but it’s unlikely the forward will ever suit up for Oklahoma City. General manager Sam Presti says they’ll look to trade Green, Brandon Rahbar of the Daily Thunder tweets. Green, 32, is at the stage of his career where he provides greater value to a contender than a rebuilding team. He’s on an $8.2MM expiring contract for 2022/23.
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Josh Hart had his $12.96MM contract guaranteed by the Trail Blazers over the weekend. However, it shouldn’t have major implications on Portland’s offseason moves, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. The Blazers now have $105MM in guaranteed contracts but they’re over the cap because of the free agent holds on Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic. They still could have the flexibility to re-sign those two free agents and use the full $10.5MM mid-level exception to pursue outside targets.
- The Timberwolves prioritized rebounding in the draft and addressed that by making moves to select Auburn’s Walker Kessler, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. Kessler was the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year. They also wound up with Duke wing Wendell Moore late in the first round and Memphis wing Josh Minott and Italian guard Matteo Spagnolo in the second round. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly isn’t expecting too much out of those rookies. “We don’t want to put too much expectations on their ability to contribute right away,” he told The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. “When you have a team that had as much success as we did, it’s hard to put that on your shoulders.”
- What might the Jazz do with their taxpayer mid-level exception in free agency? Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune lists 25 potential free agent targets — breaking them down into wings, guards and bigs.
Southwest Notes: Green, Grizzlies Draft, Daniels, Grant
Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman says the status of Danny Green, who was traded from Philadelphia to Memphis, has yet to be determined, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. The Grizzlies have a July 1 deadline to decide whether to guarantee the remainder of his contract or cut loose Green, who tore his ACL in the playoffs and is expected to miss most or all of next season.
Green received a $6,964,781 guarantee on his $10MM salary as part of the trade, as Eric Pincus of SportsBusinessClassroom.com explains. That was the minimum amount that had to be guaranteed in order to legally match De’Anthony Melton‘s salary. If they waive Green by July 1, the Grizzlies would avoid paying the remaining $3MM+ owed to Green.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- The Grizzlies wound up with four players via the draft and the common denominator was 3-point shooting, Cole writes in a separate story. Each player shot at least 38% from deep in their final college season. “That’s going to open things up for us,” Kleiman said. “That was a priority for us.”
- The Pelicans were holding their breath that G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels would still be on the board with the No. 8 pick, according to William Guillory of The Athletic. They weren’t sure what the Trail Blazers would do at No. 7 — not only which player they wanted, but whether they would deal the pick. Portland wound up taking Shaedon Sharpe, leaving Daniels available for New Orleans. “We had a couple guys we liked that went after, but Dyson was the guy,” Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon said. “We had some intel that Portland liked Dyson and they liked Shaedon. So, there was a chance they could’ve taken (Dyson) at (No. 7). When they took Shaedon, the room exploded.”
- Mavericks assistant GM Keith Grant announced his retirement Monday after 42 seasons, according to a team press release. “Keith Grant is an NBA legend with a heart of gold,” team owner Mark Cuban said in the statement. “He did so much for the Mavs, and he made our organization and our community better. I can’t express enough appreciation for everything that KG has done for this franchise.” Grant has been an assistant GM since 1998.
Southwest Notes: Hardy, Liddell, Pelicans, Smith, Eason, Matkovic
The Mavericks gave up second-round picks in 2024 and 2028 to the Kings in order to draft Jaden Hardy at No. 37, but they had the G League Ignite guard rated much higher, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.
Hardy was ranked No. 19 on Dallas’ draft board, which convinced Mavs — who had dealt their picks in both rounds — to jump back into the draft. He averaged 17.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 3.2 APG for the Ignite.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell was projected in mock drafts as a first-rounder and that’s where the Pelicans had him rated, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets. Liddell slipped down to New Orleans’ second-round pick at No. 41. The Buckeyes forward averaged 19.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 2.6 BPG over 33.2 MPG last season.
- Even though pre-draft rumors swirled regarding a potential trade of their lottery pick, Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon said the team didn’t have serious conversations about moving down from the No. 8 spot, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. They chose G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels.
- The Rockets were “beyond excited” that Jabari Smith was still on the board at No. 3 when the Magic pivoted to Paolo Banchero at the top spot, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. GM Rafael Stone wouldn’t indicate if he would have chosen Smith with the No. 1 pick but he was thrilled the Auburn forward was there for the taking at No. 3, saying it “made my night.” “He’s just so big and he moves his feet exceptionally well on the perimeter,” Stone said. “I don’t remember anybody at his size in college with his ability to stay in front and contain and contest on the perimeter. He’s also good on the interior.”
- Stone and his staff were “sweating bullets” that LSU forward Tari Eason would drop to their pick at No. 17, Feigen adds in the same story. The Rockets view Eason as an elite defender. “Tari can play defense, man,” he said. “He plays really hard and he’s a great athlete and he’s really committed on the defensive end. Some defensive players contain. Very few are playmakers. I would definitely consider him a playmaker on defense.”
- Pelicans draft-and-stash second rounder Karlo Matkovic is close to signing with Slovenia’s Cedevita, according to Antigoni Zachari of EuroHoops.net. The Crotian forward/center, selected 52nd overall, is expected to join New Orleans’ Summer League roster.