Pistons Sign Josh Jackson
DECEMBER 1: Jackson’s contract with the Pistons is now official, the team announced in a press release.
NOVEMBER 20: The Pistons, who have been quite busy in the first few hours of free agency, are finalizing a deal with Grizzlies small forward Josh Jackson, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. It’s a two-year deal, according to the Detroit News’ Rod Beard (Twitter link).
Detroit also reportedly reached agreements on Friday with big men Mason Plumlee and Jahlil Okafor.
Jackson, a 2017 lottery pick of the Suns, has had a rocky NBA career. He had a number of off-court issues in his first two NBA seasons and Phoenix traded him to the Grizzlies last offseason. In an attempt to revive his career and value, Jackson agreed to spend a good portion of last season in the G League.
As the season progressed, Jackson returned to Memphis and appeared in 22 games as a reserve. He averaged 9.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.6 APG in 17.3 MPG. Jackson has made just 29.8% of his 3-point attempts during his three-year career.
Jackson, 23, grew up in Michigan and played two high school seasons in Detroit before moving to California for his last two prep years. He’ll compete for minutes against last year’s lottery pick, Sekou Doumbouya as well as Svi Mykhailiuk and rookie Saddiq Bey.
Ibaka Drawing Heavy Interest On Free Agent Market
Raptors big man Serge Ibaka might be the most popular free agent on this year’s market. As many as 10 teams are pursuing him, Michael Grange of Rogers SportsNet tweets, and he’s receiving offers above the mid-level exception.
The Raptors are trying to hold onto Ibaka but contenders in both conferences are chasing him, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Toronto is likely to give Ibaka a sizable one-year offer, while most contenders are likely offering their MLEs, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. He could also join a younger team and get a bigger, multi-year deal.
The 31-year-old 7-footer picked a good time to enter the market, as he averaged a career-high 15.4 PPG and 8.2 RPG last season while knocking down 38.5% of his 3-point attempts. He also excelled in the postseason, averaging 14.8 PPG and 7.7 RPG while making 51.1% of his 3s.
Pistons Sign Jahlil Okafor To Two-Year Contract
DECEMBER 1: Okafor’s agreement with the Pistons is now official, the team announced in a press release.
NOVEMBER 20: The Pistons added another big man to their stockpile of frontcourt players, as they’re signing Jahlil Okafor to a two-year contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Okafor will sign for the veteran’s minimum, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets.
Detroit has added a number of centers and power forwards in recent days. It drafted Isaiah Stewart in the middle of the first round on Wednesday and traded for Dewayne Dedmon. The Pistons also reached a three-year agreement with Nuggets free agent Mason Plumlee.
All this makes it more unlikely their top free agent, Christian Wood, will return. It’s still conceivable they could make a sign-and-trade deal with one of Wood’s pursuers.
Okafor has spent the last two seasons with the Pelicans. He contributed 8.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 1.2 APG in 15.6 MPG in 30 appearances last season. Like Plumlee, Okafor is not a 3-point threat. The third overall pick in the 2015 draft has averaged 11.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 220 career games.
Spurs Waive Metu, Re-Sign Eubanks
NOVEMBER 24: The Spurs have officially re-signed Eubanks, per the NBA’s transactions log. According to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), only the first year of the big man’s three-year, minimum-salary contract is guaranteed. The second year has a partial $500K guarantee and the third year is non-guaranteed.
NOVEMBER 20: The Spurs have waived forward Chimezie Metu, according to a team press release. They’re re-signing big man Drew Eubanks on a three-year contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
The three-year deal for Eubanks is worth $5.29MM, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. That makes the deal a minimum-salary contract.
Metu, a 2018 second-round pick, was never able to establish consistent playing time in San Antonio. He appeared in 47 games over the last two seasons, averaging 2.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 5.3 MPG.
Eubanks passed Metu in the pecking order by the end of last season, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. The undrafted Eubanks, 23, appeared in 22 games last season, averaging 4.9 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 12.4 MPG. He also flashed some shot-blocking ability, swatting 11 shots in San Antonio’s last seven games during the restart.
Eubanks, a two-way player last season, received a qualifying offer from the Spurs this week.
Raptors, Others To Meet VanVleet Saturday
Free agent guard Fred VanVleet will meet with the Raptors and one or two other teams in Chicago on Saturday, Michael Grange of Rogers SportsNet tweets.
VanVleet is one of the biggest names on the market and arguably the top combo guard available. Toronto is hopeful of retaining him and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said earlier on Friday he was likely to re-sign.
However, Grange’s report suggests they’ll have some competition for his services.
Grange offered these other tidbits on the Raptors:
- They have not reached out to Cavaliers free agent center Tristan Thompson. Toronto had been expected to express interest in Thompson. That could be a sign the Raptors are confident of re-signing another one of their top free agents, Serge Ibaka.
- There’s also a sense they’ll likely reach an extension agreement with OG Anunoby.
Latest On Gordon Hayward
4:57pm: Hayward has told the Celtics he wants to go to the Pacers, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets. The Pacers offered Myles Turner and Doug McDermott to Boston in a sign-and-trade scenario but the Celtics want Turner and either Warren or Victor Oladipo.
4:45pm: The Hornets are expected to pursue Gordon Hayward in free agency but will likely need to work out a sign-and-trade agreement with the Celtics to make it happen, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports.
Hayward declined his whopping $34.2MM option in order to become an unrestricted free agent. In 52 games last season, he averaged 17.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 4.1 APG on .500/.383/.855 shooting but missed a good chunk of the playoffs with an ankle injury.
Charlotte has approximately $19.4MM in cap space, so it’s unlikely Hayward would sign a multi-year deal unless there’s a sign-and-trade scenario with Boston and perhaps a third team as a facilitator.
The Hornets could dangle the expiring contracts of Cody Zeller and Nicolas Batum as part of the package, Scotto notes.
Hayward has some history with the Hornets franchise. He signed an offer sheet with Charlotte in 2014 when he was a restricted free agent but the Jazz matched it.
The Pacers are also interested in Hayward via a sign-and-trade but are reluctant to part with T.J. Warren and Aaron Holiday, two players that Boston would have some interest in acquiring, according to Ian Begley of SNY TV. However, Hayward may try to force the Celtics’ hands. The former Butler University star is “fully focused” on returning to Indiana and playing for the Pacers, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (hat tip to RealGM).
The Knicks are also expected to be in the mix for Hayward after freeing nearly $40MM in cap space.
Some with the organization have interest in signing Hayward as a free agent. However, the Knicks are unlikely to offer Hayward a four-year deal, Begley adds.
Hornets To Sign Keandre Cook
The Hornets have reached an agreement with guard Keandre Cook, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype tweets. Cook, who played college ball at Missouri State, will receive an Exhibit 10 contract.
He’ll look to make an impression in training camp with the likelihood of spending next season in the G League. Cook played two seasons for the Bears and averaged 14.9 PPG and 4.6 RPG while draining 42.3% of his 3-point attempts. He scored 26 points against Valparaiso in the MVC Tournament in his last college outing.
The 6’5” Cook spent two seasons at a junior college prior to signing with Missouri State.
Timberwolves Acquire Leandro Bolmaro From Knicks
NOVEMBER 20: The deal is official, according to the Timberwolves. Because Minnesota structured its draft-night trades slightly differently than expected, the trade technically sends Bolmaro’s rights to the Wolves in exchange for Quickley (No. 25), the Pistons’ 2023 second-round pick, and the draft rights to Mathias Lessort.
All of this offseason’s trades to date can be found right here.
NOVEMBER 18: The Knicks selected Argentinian guard Leandro Bolmaro with the No. 23 pick, which they previously acquired from the Jazz, but he’s not going to New York. The Timberwolves are acquiring Bolmaro for the No. 25 and No. 33 selections in the draft, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Bolmaro, 20, is a 6’7” combo guard who played for FC Barcelona last season, though he only averaged 11.6 MPG in 16 games.
The Knicks had originally acquired the 23rd pick from Utah for the No. 27 and 38 selections, so they essentially parlayed those original picks and moved up a few slots in both the first and second rounds. They used the No. 25 pick on Kentucky point guard Immanuel Quickley, the SEC Player of the Year.
With the Timberwolves selecting shooting guard Anthony Edwards with the first pick and acquiring veteran guard Ricky Rubio, they have reshaped their backcourt overnight. Bolmaro would appear to be a developmental selection or possibly a draft-and-stash prospect.
Clippers Acquire Daniel Oturu
NOV 19: The trade sending Oturu’s draft rights to the Clippers is now official, the team announced in a press release. The Clippers actually acquired Oturu’s draft rights from the Timberwolves – rather than the Knicks – in exchange for Detroit’s 2023 second-round pick and the rights to 2017 second-rounder Mathias Lessort.
Minnesota will now flip Detroit’s 2023 second-rounder, along with Immanuel Quickley‘s draft rights, to the Knicks for the draft rights to Leandro Bolmaro. The eventual outcome will be the same, but the order of operations will be a little different than anticipated.
NOV 18: The Knicks selected University of Minnesota center Daniel Oturu with the No. 33 pick but will ship him to the Clippers for a 2023 second-rounder, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst tweets.
That future second-rounder will be a pick that the Pistons owe the Clippers, Windhorst adds another tweet.
After selecting Dayton forward Obi Toppin with their lottery pick at No. 8, New York have been bouncing up and down the first and second rounds.
The Knicks acquired the No. 23 overall selection from the Jazz for the No. 27 and 38 picks, then shipped that pick to the Timberwolves for the No. 25 and 33 picks. They used the No. 25 pick on Kentucky point guard Immanuel Quickley, the SEC Player of the Year.
Oturu averaged 20.1 PPG and 11.3 RPG in 33.9 MPG as a sophomore last season. He’ll give the Clippers another big body that new coach Tyronn Lue can try to mold into a rotation piece.
Clippers Sign Jay Scrubb To Two-Way Deal
NOVEMBER 24: Scrubb has completed his two-way contract with the Clippers, per the NBA’s official transactions log.
NOVEMBER 19: Second-round pick Jay Scrubb, the junior college player of the year, will sign a two-way contract with the Clippers, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
Scrubb was involved in a late second-round swap that was part of a bigger three-team trade. The Nets chose Scrubb with the No. 55 pick and sent him to the Clippers, who gave up the No. 57 pick to move up two slots.
Scrubb, 20, played two seasons for John A. Logan College and averaged 21.9 PPG as a sophomore. He committed to Louisville before deciding to enter his name in the draft.
Amir Coffey currently holds the Clippers’ other two-way contract.