Southwest Notes: Harden, Cauley-Stein, Richardson, Popovich
NBA commissioner Adam Silver explained during an ESPN appearance that Rockets star James Harden didn’t face a suspension for violating COVID-19 protocols because the NBA didn’t want to set that harsh a precedent to start the season, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Harden was fined $50K after an NBA investigation found that Harden violated protocols when he attended an indoor party of 15 or more people.
“The precedent is that discipline gets ratcheted up,” Silver said. “It’s Christmas. It was a first offense.”
Silver said, adding “in a way he got lucky.” If the Rockets’ first game had not been postponed, Harden would have been docked one game’s pay, Feigen adds. Harden is expected to make his season debut on Saturday.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Mavericks big man Willie Cauley-Stein could see an uptick in minutes as Dwight Powell is eased back into the rotation from an Achilles injury, according to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Cauley-Stein played well in a six-minute stint during the team’s opener. Cauley-Stein signed a two-year, $8.2MM contract with a team option at the beginning of the month.
- Off-season acquisitions Josh Richardson and James Johnson were identified as two players that would fit well with Mavericks star Luka Doncic, Caplan writes in a separate story. Richardson filled a need for a 3-and-D wing player who could also handle the ball while Johnson provides a measure of toughness.
- Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News details how 71-year-old coach Gregg Popovich is connecting with his youthful Spurs roster.
Lakers Hope To Extend Schröder Later This Season
The Lakers already like what they see from their new point guard and want to lock him up long-term.
They have begun discussions with point guard Dennis Schröder on a contract extension, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Schroder, who is making $16MM this season, will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer if he doesn’t sign an extension.
However, Schröder has a major incentive to wait until after mid-February to finalize an extension and that’s when discussions are expected to pick up again, Wojnarowski adds.
This isn’t the first time the Lakers have engaged Schröder’s representative, Alex Saratsis, regarding an extension. Schröder turned down an initial offer for an additional two years and $33.4MM, the maximum allowable offer the Lakers could make prior to February 16. That’s because Schröder was traded by the Thunder during the offseason, making him only eligible for a two-year extension with a five percent raise in salary.
He could be extended for four years and as much as $83MM after February 16, up to the time he’d become a free agent.
Schröder had 14 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in the team’s opener against the Clippers.
Even if an extension agreement isn’t reached during the season, the Lakers hold Schröder’s Bird Rights and he can thus go over the salary cap to re-sign him during the 2021 offseason.
In the deal with OKC, the Lakers gave up Danny Green and the draft rights to No. 28 pick Jaden McDaniels, who was flipped to Minnesota in a separate trade.
Southeast Notes: Fournier, Gordon, Anthony, Adebayo, Westbrook
The rookie scale extensions handed to Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac could impact the futures of Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon with the Magic, Josh Robbins of The Athletic opines. Fournier is entering his walk year and with the money expended on Fultz and Isaac, it would be tough for the club to re-sign Fournier and remain under the luxury tax, Robbins notes. Gordon and Isaac are best suited as power forwards, so when Isaac returns from his knee injury after this season, Gordon is likely to be dealt, Robbins adds.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- In a separate piece, Robbins examines how various players on the Magic saw their stock drop or fall during training camp. Notably, rookies Cole Anthony and Chuma Okeke saw their stock rise as members of the second unit in preseason games.
- The Heat locked up Bam Adebayo with a five-year max extension last month. The big money won’t make Adebayo stop looking for ways to improve his game, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. “Just because I got money doesn’t mean that I got complacent,” Adebayo said.
- There’s a feeling of familiarity for Russell Westbrook with the Wizards, starting with his former coach with the Thunder, Scott Brooks, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. Westbrook is seeking a comfort zone while playing for his third organization in as many seasons. “Really, it’s just being at peace,” Donnell Beverly, Westbrook’s business partner, told Lee. “I don’t think that’s where he’s been the last few years. I don’t think he’s been at peace.”
Central Notes: Markkanen, Weaver, Wu, Pistons G League, Love
Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen feels extra motivation after he couldn’t reach an extension agreement with the organization by Monday’s deadline, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago writes. “Obviously disappointing, I wanted to get a deal done,” he said. “But that happened, and we’re moving on, and I’m 100 percent committed to this team.”
Markkanen confirmed the sides were never near a deal after he struggled through an injury-marred season. “I don’t think it was very close,” Markkanen said. “I talked to (my agent) obviously a lot last couple days, and (the Bulls’ offer) just wasn’t something I would take, and that’s the end of it.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- As we noted, the Pistons remade their roster more than any team in the league. New GM Troy Weaver promises to continue making changes. “We are going to stay aggressive,” Weaver said, per Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports. Owner Tom Gores is confident that Weaver has the franchise on the right path. “He is concise in how he sees talent. He sees it on a micro-level,” Gores said. “I’ve met a lot of executives who know basketball. Troy is just on a whole different level.”
- The Pacers have officially hired Ted Wu as VP of Basketball Operations, according to a team press release. Wu worked eight years with the NBA league office, specializing in salary cap management. Wu will be the team’s capologist.
- The Pistons have a program that includes night sessions and extended practice sessions for players that would ordinarily be on their G League squad, coach Dwane Casey told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) and other media members. The Pistons had been affiliated with the Grand Rapids Drive but are switching to the newly-created Motor City Cruise in Detroit next season. They are not expected to participate in the G League bubble season in Atlanta.
- A strained calf will prevent Kevin Love from playing in the Cavaliers’ opener on Wednesday, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer relays.
Southwest Notes: Richardson, White, Harden, Green, McLemore
Mavericks guard Josh Richardson plans to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times. Richardson is eligible to sign an extension at any point this season but apparently doesn’t plan to take that path (Twitter links). The Sixers dealt Richardson to Dallas last month along with second-round pick Tyler Bey for Seth Curry. Richardson holds an $11.6MM option for the 2021/22 season, the final year of his current contract.
We have more from around the Southwest Division:
- The Spurs signed guard Derrick White to a four-year, $73MM rookie scale extension prior to Monday’s deadline and White is brimming with optimism at the organization’s direction, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News writes. “I’m excited with the direction we’re going,” White said. “I’m excited to keep getting better and improving and getting back to where the Spurs should be. I’m excited to be here for that process.”
- James Harden dismissed a question about his future with the Rockets when he met with the media on Monday, Kristie Rieken of The Associated Press writes. Harden also downplayed his late arrival to training camp. “We keep talking about what I missed,” he said. “I think everybody, the entire league is in catch-up mode in a sense of we only had a short time for training camp, so everybody’s trying to get into game shape because obviously the season just ended a few months ago.” There’s reportedly tension between the disgruntled All-Star and his teammates as the season approaches.
- The Rockets are hopeful are bringing back Gerald Green as a player or in another role, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Green was placed on waivers over the weekend due to cap constraints after he signed a non-guaranteed contract prior to camp. “He’s still going to be part of the family, obviously,” coach Stephen Silas said. “We’re going to figure out a way if he doesn’t get picked up by somebody else for him to be a Rocket, which he should be.”
- Rockets guard Ben McLemore is not with the team because he’s self-isolating, according to the league’s injury report, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Houston hosts the Thunder on Wednesday.
Rockets Seek Porter Jr. In Potential Harden Trade With Nuggets
The Rockets have focused on Michael Porter Jr. in trade discussions with the Nuggets as the centerpiece of a potential James Harden trade, Mike Singer of the Denver Post reports.
However, the talks didn’t gain any traction, Singer adds. This updates an earlier report that the Nuggets are unwilling to give up Jamal Murray in a package for Harden. Murray was never included in any discussions and Nikola Jokic is also off-limits.
Porter would give the Rockets a potential star in return for the perennial All-Star guard, who wants to be dealt. Any potential deal with Denver would also have to include Gary Harris and/or Will Barton for salary-matching purposes salaries and that would seriously deplete the Nuggets at the wing spots, Singer notes.
Harden would make for an intriguing third star to join forces with Jokic and Murray but he could also wreck the good chemistry the team displayed while making its run to the conference finals last season.
Porter averaged 9.3 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 55 games (16.4 MPG) during his de facto rookie season in 2019/20 after he was sidelined the previous campaign due to a back injury. His playing time grew during the playoffs, as he averaged 11.4 PPG and 6.7 RPG while shooting 38.2% from long range.
Houston has reportedly been seeking a return that features an All-Star-caliber young player, along with several other assets (young players or draft picks).
NBA Mulls Expansion But It’s Not “On The Front Burner”
Given the large loss of revenue due to the pandemic, NBA commissioner Adam Silver admits the league is taking the possibility of expansion more seriously, according to USA Today’s Chris Bumbaca.
“It’s sort of the manifest destiny of the league that you expand at some point,” Silver said. “I’d say it’s caused us to maybe dust off some of the analyses on the economic and competitive impacts of expansion. We’ve been putting a little bit more time into it than we were pre-pandemic. But certainly not to the point that expansion is on the front burner.”
Silver has dismissed expansion in recent years, as ESPN’s Tim Bontemps notes (Twitter link).
The league hasn’t added a team since Charlotte came into the league in 2004. Seattle lost its franchise to Oklahoma City in 2008. Seattle is expected to get heavy consideration for a new franchise if the league expands again.
One of the issues with expansion, according to Silver, is that the league is already struggling with competitive balance.
“It’s not a secret that we don’t have 30 competitive teams at any given time right now when you go into the season, measured by likelihood of ability to win a championship,” he said.
Bulls Notes: Young, Williams, Markkanen, Porter
There’s no timetable for Thaddeus Young‘s return after a bout with MRSA, a bacterial infection, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago reports. The Bulls forward had his leg drained after it swelled up and it’s healing well but he didn’t play in any preseason games.
“There will probably be some sort of ramp-up period for [Young], so to speak, in terms of he’s missed some conditioning and a lot of practice,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “He was dealing with a hamstring right around the time we started training camp. We’ll have to work to get him back.”
We have more on the Bulls:
- While the rest of the starting lineup seems set, the small forward position remains in flux, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times reports. Donovan is trying to choose between Otto Porter Jr. and lottery pick Patrick Williams and they bring different skills, Cowley notes.
- Lauri Markkanen didn’t receive a rookie scale extension prior to Monday’s deadline but he could still be a part of the long-term future, Cowley writes in a separate story. The new front office regime and Donovan simply put off making that decision by seeing what Markkanen does this season and allowing him to set a market price as a restricted free agent. The two sides never got close to an extension agreement, Cowley adds.
- Despite Porter’s massive $28.5MM expiring contract, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic predicts Chicago will move him at the trade deadline. The team would likely need to include multiple players, as any trade partner wouldn’t give up a high-salary starter for him.
Spurs Exercise Options On Walker, Johnson, Samanic
The Spurs have exercised their fourth-year team option on guard Lonnie Walker IV, as well as the third-year options on forwards Keldon Johnson and Luka Samanic, for the 2021/22 season, according to a team press release.
Walker will receive $4,447,896 during the 2021/22 campaign. Johnson will make $2.145MM and Samanic will get $2.96MM.
Walker, the 18th pick of the 2018 draft, appeared in 61 games last season and averaged 6.4 PPG and 1.1 APG in 16.2 MPG.
Johnson appeared in 17 games last season and averaged 9.1 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 17.7 MPG. He averaged 14.1 PPG in eight games during the Orlando restart. Johnson, a late first-round pick last year, also played 31 games for the G League Austin Spurs and averaged 20.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG.
Samanic, the 19th pick of the 2019 draft, appeared in three NBA games as a rookie. He also appeared in 33 games with the Austin Spurs, averaging 15.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG.
Thunder Waive Frank Jackson
9:32pm: The Thunder have officially waived Jackson, the team announced in a press release.
9:11pm: The Thunder are waiving guard Frank Jackson, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Oklahoma City was the last team to get down to the 15-player opening-night limit, not including two-way players.
Jackson was vulnerable because OKC already had 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts and he had a partially guaranteed deal. He signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract earlier this month but only $250K was guaranteed.
Jackson, the 31st overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Duke, missed his entire rookie season with a foot injury, but appeared in 120 games for the Pelicans over the last two years, averaging 7.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 1.1 APG on .422/.319/.743 shooting during that time.
The 22-year-old was eligible for restricted free agency this fall, but the Pelicans opted not to tender him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.