Free Agent Stock Watch: Central Division
Throughout the season, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this off-season. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. This week, we take a look at players from the Central Division:
Wayne Ellington, Pistons, 33, SG (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $2.56MM deal in 2020
What has gotten into Ellington? Signed to add some depth at the shooting guard spot, Ellington has emerged as a starter and is on the hottest 3-point roll of his career. He’s knocked down at least four long balls and scored at least 16 points in each of the last seven games. Overall, he’s averaging a career-best 13.4 PPG in 24.2 MPG while making 53.2% of his 3-point attempts. Obviously, he’s not going to sustain this pace but at the least, Ellington has shown he can still help a team with his perimeter shooting.
Andre Drummond, Cavaliers, 27, C (Up) – Signed to a five-year, $127.2MM deal in 2016
Sometimes people tend to dwell on a player’s shortcomings and forget about the positives. The Pistons basically gave away Drummond to a division rival last February to clear cap space. Yes, he can’t shoot from outside and he’s brutal at the foul line but what’s so bad about having the best rebounder on the planet on your side? Drummond is averaging a career-high 18.9 PPG with the aid of two young guards breaking down defenses. With the addition of Jarrett Allen, he’s probably not in the Cavs’ long-term plans. He’s not a max player but Drummond is still one of the league’s top big men and he’ll get a strong multi-year contract despite his flaws.
Tomas Satoransky, Bulls, 29, PG/SG (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $30MM deal in 2019
Chicago has an interesting dilemma with Satoransky following the season if it’s unable to move him in a trade. His $10MM salary for next season is 50% guaranteed. The Bulls would have to eat $5MM in dead money to cut him loose but Satoransky’s status with the organization has fallen. He was once viewed as its potential solution at point guard. Right now, he’s struggling just to stay in the rotation. If he winds up in the free agent market, Satornasky won’t be viewed as more than a second-unit option.
Bobby Portis, Bucks, 25, PF (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $7.4MM deal in 2020
Portis has a $3.8MM player option on his contract for next season. The way he’s playing, he’ll certainly decline it and take his chances on the free agent market. Portis has been a solid addition for a title contender, establishing himself as the team’s sixth man. He’s averaging 10.9 PPG and is second on the team in rebounding (7.7 RPG), while his PER ranks third on the team. Portis’ offensive production has dipped some in the last two weeks but he still had a 21-point outing against Atlanta on Sunday.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bradley Beal Remains Off Trading Block
While teams throughout the league covet Bradley Beal, the Wizards remain intent on holding onto their star guard, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link).
Appearing on NBA Countdown, Wojnarowski said that Washington isn’t close to beginning another rebuild by moving its top player.
“He is not going to be on the trade market here in the near future and he’s not expressed, really at all yet, that he’s ready to move on,” Wojnarowski said. “He has loved that city, that organization and he’s fought through a lot there and he’s fighting through a lot right now.”
Beal expressed frustration on Wednesday after his team dropped to 3-11 despite his 47-point outburst against New Orleans. The All-Star guard signed a two-year, $72MM contract extension in 2019 that will keep him under team control through at least next season. He entered Friday’s action leading the league at 35.4 points per game.
Wojnarowski said if Beal went on the market, Washington could receive a “massive” haul. A lot of potential suitors are hoping the Wizards will finally reach the point of listening to offers.
“He fits anywhere,” he said. “Teams every day in this league are monitoring the situation. They want to know if he gets lodged free, in terms of the Wizards being willing to talk about trades.”
Rockets Notes: Oladipo, Wood, Porter Jr., Thomas, Martin
Rockets guard Victor Oladipo feels like franchises he’s played for have been too quick to give up on him, as he told Chris Sims of the Indianapolis Star. Oladipo was acquired from the Pacers in the four-team blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season. “It’s unfortunate going through my career, it just feels like people kind of keep quitting on me, but it’s a part of life and I embrace it,” Oladipo said. “I’m just trying to make the most of every day.” He’s averaging 22.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 4.8 APG in his first five games with Houston.
We have more on the Rockets:
- Big man Christian Wood is one of the 60 players invited by USA Basketball to compete for one of the 12 spots on the Olympic team, Mark Berman of KRIV tweets. He’ll fight an uphill battle to make Team USA but it’s another accomplishment for a player who bounced around the league before his breakout season in Detroit a year ago.
- Houston is assigning Kevin Porter Jr. Brodric Thomas, and KJ Martin to the G League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Porter is the most notable name among the trio headed to Orlando for G League “bubble” practices and games in Orlando. The second-year swingman was acquired from the Cavs after wearing out his welcome in Cleveland.
- Should Wood be considered for the All-Star team? Voice your opinion in our latest Community Shootaround.
Raptors Notes: Watanabe, Johnson, McCaw, Harris, 3-Point Shots
Yuta Watanabe and Stanley Johnson have emerged as key bench contributors for the Raptors, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star notes. “I think both (Watanabe) and Stanley have been doing a good job … when they check in to get our offense into another gear,” coach Nick Nurse said. Both players are trying to solidify the futures in the league. Johnson is headed to unrestricted free agency, while Watanabe is on a two-way deal.
We have more on the Raptors:
- Patrick McCaw is showing some progress from his knee injury that has kept him out this season, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. McCaw participated in the non-contact portion of practice on Thursday. OG Anunoby (calf) and Norman Powell (quad) both missed Friday’s game against Sacramento.
- Rookie guard Jalen Harris is joining Raptors 905 at the G League bubble in Orlando, Murphy adds in another tweet. The second-round pick from Nevada has appeared in two NBA games.
- Toronto is on pace to take the second-most 3-pointers in league history and that may explain why the team is shooting fewer free throws, Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star notes. The Raptors were averaging 43.2 3-point attempts a game heading into Friday’s action but taking just 20.2 foul shots. The over-reliance on 3-point shots may help explain forward Pascal Siakam‘s slow start, Feschuk adds.
Knicks Keeping Eye On Zach LaVine
The Knicks are closely monitoring Bulls guard Zach LaVine and the possibility of acquiring him via trade before the March 25 deadline, Ian Begley of SNY reports.
It’s uncertain whether Chicago is listening to offers on LaVine but the Knicks have some draft capital that may intrigue the Bulls, Begley notes. New York owns its future first-rounders and has 2021 and 2023 first-rounders coming from the Mavericks from the Kristaps Porzingis deal, though the latter of those picks has protections.
The Bulls would likely ask for another young star in any deal involving LaVine, Begley presumes.
An Immanuel Quickley-LaVine pairing could be the Knicks’ long-term solution in the backcourt, provided they re-signed him.
LaVine, 25, becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2022. He’s making $19.5MM this season and the same next season. He might seek max money, or close to it, in his next contract.
Prior to the season, the Bulls rebuffed overtures for LaVine. He’s once again posting big stats — 27.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, 39.7% from 3 — but he’s also committing 4.3 turnovers a game. Moreover, LaVine’s efforts have not translated to wins. Chicago heads into the weekend with a 7-10 record.
The Nets also had interest in LaVine prior to acquiring James Harden, Begley adds.
Southwest Notes: House, Eubanks, Ball, Doncic
Forward Danuel House, who has not played since January 2, returned to Rockets practice on Monday, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. House missed four games with back spasms, then was placed on the league’s health and safety protocols list. While Feigen adds that Houston will work House back in slowly, the 27-year-old said he expects to be ready to play on Tuesday, Kelly Iko of The Athletic tweets.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Prior to the postponement of the Pelicans-Spurs game on Monday, San Antonio’s Drew Eubanks was ironically removed from the league’s COVID-19 protocols list, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News tweets. The third-year big man has been out since January 7 due to those restrictions. He has appeared in three games this season.
- Lonzo Ball may no longer be in the Pelicans’ long-term plans and there’s a real possibility they’ll decline their $14.36MM qualifying offer after this season, which would make him a restricted free agent, Seth Partnow of The Athletic opines. If New Orleans’ season continues to go sour, the franchise would likely prefer to trade him rather than allow the point guard to walk in free agency, Partnow adds.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will go to great lengths to keep his superstar Luka Doncic happy, as Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News details. Cuban has expressed interest in playing exhibition games in Slovenia, where Doncic grew up, and Spain, where he played for Real Madrid. The Mavs are confident that Doncic’s youth and talent will help them secure a top-level free agent during the offseason, Sherrington adds.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics’ Trade Exception, VanVleet, Ntilikina, Stoudemire
The Celtics are in no rush to use the $28.6MM traded player exception they acquired in the Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade with the Hornets, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. With the trade deadline approximately two months away and most teams still trying to win, potential suitors won’t look to ship out an elite scorer for a draft-heavy trade package at this time, Himmelsbach adds. The exception could also be used during the 2021 offseason. Check out all outstanding trade exceptions here.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Raptors guard Fred VanVleet is among the 60 players who received an invite from USA Basketball to compete for a spot on this summer’s Olympic team, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star reports. It will be the first time the 26-year-old VanVleet has been included in a USA senior team player pool. Teammate Kyle Lowry also received an invite, Smith adds.
- Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina suited up on Sunday night but didn’t play, Greg Joyce of the New York Post writes. Ntilikina had been sidelined since December 29 with a right knee sprain. Ntilikina could become an unrestricted free agent this summer unless the organization extends a $7MM+ qualifying offer, which would make him restricted.
- Amar’e Stoudemire will not be on the Nets’ bench for some of their weekend games due to religious reasons, as Marc Stein of the New York times explains (Twitter link). The former All-Star big man, who is now a player development coach under Steve Nash, has maintained his Orthodox observance of Shabbat, which precludes him from working from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. Brooklyn’s management has given him that time off every week with its blessing, Stoudemire wrote on his Instagram page.
Pelicans-Spurs Game Postponed
7:55pm: The issue with the postponement concerns a potential coronavirus exposure to a non-team member of the traveling parties for both teams in recent days, Andrew Lopez of ESPN tweets.
6:34pm: The NBA postponed Monday’s scheduled game between the Spurs and Pelicans, according to a league press release.
What made this late postponement even more noteworthy was that both teams did not have the league-required eight available players due to COVID-19 contact tracing.
The Pelicans had a January 11 postponement due to coronavirus issues surrounding the Mavericks. This is the first game for which they have not had enough players due to COVID-19 positives and contact tracing. This is the first postponement of any kind for San Antonio.
It’s the 22nd game that the league has postponed due to health and safety protocols.
All-Star Game Could Take Place In March
The NBA is exploring the possibility of holding an All-Star Game in early March, with Atlanta the most likely site, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
The league is in talks with the Players Association about holding an All-Star Game on March 7 after initially postponing this year’s annual event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All-Star Weekend was originally scheduled to take place in Indianapolis in February, but Indiana will now host the All-Star Game in 2024.
The interest among the Players Association is partly due to charitable causes. NBPA president Chris Paul wants to hold the game to financially benefit Historically Black Colleges and Universities and assist in COVID-19 relief efforts. Turner Sports, which holds the TV rights, is headquartered in Atlanta.
The game could be held in the Hawks’ State Farm Arena, or an Atlanta-based HBCU campus gymnasium, Wojnaowski adds. The NBA has scheduled a midseason break on March 5-10.
All-Star voting will be held regardless of whether a game is held, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
Leonard, George Placed On Health And Safety Protocol List
Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will miss the team’s game in Atlanta on Tuesday after being placed on the league’s health and safety protocol list, the team’s PR department announced.
The superstar duo didn’t fly to Atlanta with the rest of the team, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.
The Clippers, who are off to a 13-4 start, carry a seven-game winning streak into their six-game road trip. They’re also schedule to face Miami (Thursday), Orlando (Friday), New York (Sunday), Brooklyn (Tuesday, Feb. 2) and Cleveland (Wednesday, Feb. 3) before returning home to face Boston on Friday, Feb. 5.
It’s possible that Leonard and/or George will join the team at some point on its journey if they clear protocols, Youngmisuk adds.
Leonard and George are the latest big-name players to miss time due to COVID-19 protocols. Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum are among the top-level players who have been sidelined by the protocols in recent weeks.