Southwest Notes: Diallo, Morris, Iguodala, Favors
Cheick Diallo was squeezed out of New Orleans due to a numbers crunch, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM tweets. The Pelicans didn’t want to lose the young power forward but they essentially had to choose between him and Jahlil Okafor, according to Gambadoro. New Orleans got three players back in the Anthony Davis deal, added three first-rounders including top pick Zion Williamson, and signed free agent guard J.J. Redick. New Orleans did not make a qualifying offer to Diallo, which made him an unrestricted free agent. He signed a two-year contract with the Suns.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Marcus Morris said he meant no disrespect when backed out of a verbal two-year agreement with the Spurs to sign a one-year contract with the Knicks, as he told Shams Charania of The Athletic. “The first thing that I did when I knew I would be going another direction, I called and made sure they knew. There was no shade. There’s no disrespect,” Morris said. “I had great conversations afterward, and as long as I feel that I’m clear with them and gave them my truth, I feel good about moving forward. … I thought at the time that the Spurs deal was all that I had. The process wasn’t what I expected and it didn’t go the right way.” The way Morris’ free agent journey played out contributed to bad blood between the two organizations.
- Andre Iguodala remains in limbo after getting traded to the Grizzlies, Charania reports in a video post. The Rockets, Clippers, Mavericks and Nuggets have all shown interest in the veteran forward. Houston and the Clippers are the top contenders but the Rockets have major luxury tax concerns while the only thing that would make sense for the Clippers salary-wise would be to move Maurice Harkless, whom they acquired from the Trail Blazers. However, the Clippers don’t want to ship out Harkless, Charania adds.
- The Pelicans believe they can turn big man Derrick Favors into a bigger offensive threat than he was with the Jazz, William Guillory of The Athletic writes. Favors was acquired for two second-rounders in a salary dump by Utah. The opportunity to play alongside Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson and Redick will facilitate the process. Favors will be utilized more often as a passer and be encouraged to develop his 3-point game, Guillory adds.
Smart, Young Invited To Join USA Basketball Camp
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been added to USA Basketball’s training camp roster for the FIBA World Cup this summer, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Veteran forward Thaddeus Young, who signed with the Bulls in free agency this summer, has also been invited to participate, Charania adds in another tweet.
The move was necessitated by the flurry of defections from the original 20-man roster. Anthony Davis, James Harden, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum and Eric Gordon have already withdrawn from Team USA participation this summer, starting with training camp in Las Vegas in August. Two other players, Damian Lillard and Kevin Love, are also undecided and will announce their decisions in the next few days.
The roster will be trimmed to 12 players for the World Cup in China. Smart, who averaged 8.9 PPG, 4.0 APG and 1.8 SPG last season, would give coach Gregg Popovich a versatile defensive option if he makes the final cut.
Smart joins new teammate and backcourt partner Kemba Walker, who is on the original 20-man roster. That list of 20 invitees to the USA Basketball camp can be found here. Smart signed a four-year deal with Boston last summer.
Young averaged 12.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG in 81 games with the Pacers last season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Harris Withdraws From Team USA This Summer
Add Tobias Harris‘ name to the growing list of USA Basketball players pulling out of consideration for this year’s FIBA World Cup. Harris, who re-signed with the Sixers for five years and $180MM this summer, has decided to focus on the upcoming NBA season, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
Anthony Davis, James Harden, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum and Eric Gordon have also withdrawn from Team USA participation this summer, starting with training camp in Las Vegas early next month. Two other players, Damian Lillard and Kevin Love, are also undecided and will announce their decisions in the next few days, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports.
Team USA will bring 12 players to the FIBA tournament. Among the players under consideration to replace the stars who have withdrawn, according to Vardon, include Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, D’Angelo Russell, Mike Conley, Josh Richardson, Thaddeus Young and Julius Randle. Select Team members could also be considered for the final 12-man roster, including Trae Young, Vardon adds. Top pick Zion Williamson has withdrawn from the Select Team this summer.
The original list of 20 invitees to the USA Basketball camp can be found here.
Spurs, Knicks At Odds Over Morris, Porzingis
Animosity has developed between the Spurs and Knicks organizations over the Marcus Morris free agency odyssey and alleged tampering involving Kristaps Porzingis, Frank Isola of The Athletic and Ian Begley of SNY TV report.
Morris backed out of a verbal agreement to sign a two-year, $19MM contract with San Antonio and inked a one-year, $15MM deal with the Knicks. While he’ll earn more in 2019/20 as a Knick, the actual value of next year’s salary isn’t significantly larger, as Isola points out, due to New York’s state taxes. Morris’ motivation was to max out his earnings in ’19/20 before entering a weaker free agent market again next summer.
The Spurs are upset at a number of levels, according to Isola. Not only are they upset about the Knicks swooping in, they had opened up the mid-level exception for him by dealing forward Davis Bertans to the Wizards and asking DeMarre Carroll to rework his free-agent contract. Carroll was eventually acquired from the Nets in a sign-and-trade.
New York saw the signing of Morris as a “small victory,” according to Isola, after missing out on top-level free agents. The Knicks gained more cap room by re-working Reggie Bullock‘s free agent deal. Bullock underwent a cervical disc procedure this week.
New York’s front office also feels that the Spurs had it coming because they alleged crossed lines of accepted behavior prior to the 2017 draft when it was shopping Porzingis, Begley writes. The exact nature of San Antonio’s behavior is unclear, Begley adds, though Isola asserts there may have been illegal contact between the Spurs and Porzingis during that time. The talented big man wound up with the Mavericks in a deadline deal last February.
Celtics Notes: Horford, Green, Roster, Walker
The Celtics feel there was tampering involved in the departure of Al Horford to rival Philadelphia, according to Brian Windhorst. The ESPN analyst said as much on a Hoop Collective Podcast (hat tip to NBC Sports Boston’s Justin Leger).
“What happened with Horford, again from what I’m told, really upset the Celtics,” Windhorst said. “They were thinking they were going to be able to negotiate with him, talk to him about a new contract, and all of a sudden it was like he already knew what his market was and he was out of there.”
The Sixers inked Horford to a four-year deal that can be worth up to $109MM.
We have more on the Celtics:
- Swingman Javonte Green is expected to sign a two-year deal with the Celtics, with a partial guarantee in the first year and a non-guaranteed second year, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. The news that Green was signing with Boston surfaced on Thursday. Green, who has played overseas since going undrafted in 2015, averaged 10.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.8 SPG in 22.6 MPG over five Summer League games at Las Vegas this month.
- The Celtics will have an open competition for the final roster spot, Himmelsbach reveals in the same tweet. Players with partial guarantees and their two-way contract players will try to earn that spot. Guards Max Strus and reportedly Tremont Waters are their two-way players.
- Kemba Walker received the max allowed for a free agent from an opposing team but the opportunity to join a contender seeking a point guard tipped the scales to Boston, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer relays. “It really came down to my happiness and how I want to compete night-in and night-out,” Walker said. “It’s a winning organization, and I want to win. That’s what it’s all about. Throughout my basketball career as a pro, I haven’t won consistently, and I want to get a taste of that.”
Wizards Close To Naming Tommy Sheppard As GM
The Wizards will promote interim general manager Tommy Sheppard to the position on a permanent basis, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.
The contract details are still being worked out, but an official announcement could come within the next week, Katz adds. The news is affirmed by The Washington Post’s Candace Buckner.
The hiring of Sheppard, 50, would end a long and strange journey since the team fired longtime GM Ernie Grunfeld just before the end of the regular season. Sheppard has been in charge since April 2.
During the search, the Wizards reportedly made at a run at Raptors top executive Masai Ujiri, though owner Ted Leonsis later denied that he asked permission to speak with Ujiri. Washington also made an offer to Tim Connelly, but the executive chose to remain with the Nuggets as their team president.
The team also interviewed Gersson Rosas, who is now running the Timberwolves, along with Danny Ferry and Troy Weaver.
Sixers Sign Christ Koumadje To Exhibit 10 Deal
6:01pm: It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Rich Hofmann of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal is now official, per RealGM’s transactions log.
4:46pm: The Sixers have agreed to a one-year, partially-guaranteed deal with center Christ Koumadje, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.
The news that Koumadje would sign a contract with Philadelphia was first reported by Mark Deeks of SkySport, though that was prior to Summer League competition and it was unclear if the deal would extend into training camp.
The 7’4” Florida State alum played for Philadelphia’s summer league team after going undrafted. He played four seasons with the Seminoles and started all 37 games as a senior. He averaged 6.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 1.4 BPG in 16.0 MPG in his final year.
In five Summer League appearances, he averaged 6.0 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 13.6 MPG.
The addition of Koumadje gives Philadelphia 14 players on the roster, along with a pair on two-way deals. There’s a crowd at center —Joel Embiid, Kyle O’Quinn and Norvel Pelle (who is on a two-way contract) are already on the depth chart and Al Horford can swing over to that spot.
Koumadje is a developmental project who will likely spend most of next season in the G League.
Kings Waive Swingman B.J. Johnson
The Kings have waived swingman B.J. Johnson, according to a team press release.
Johnson had a non-guaranteed salary of $1,416,852 for 2019/20.
Johnson played on the Kings’ summer league team, averaging 7.3 PPG in 16.9 MPG. The 6’7” Johnson, who went undrafted out of La Salle, appeared in seven NBA games with Atlanta and Sacramento last season, averaging 3.3 PPG in 7.0 MPG. Johnson played with the Hawks on a pair of 10-day contracts before the Kings added him late in the season.
He spent most of his first professional season playing for the Lakeland Magic in the G League. He averaged 15.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.4 SPG with a shooting line of .476/.444/.841 in 39 NBAGL games.
Sacramento now has 13 players with guaranteed contracts and two with non- or partially-guaranteed deals, along with a pair of two-way players. The Kings reached an agreement with former University of San Diego forward Isaiah Pineiro earlier in the day.
Mavs Waive Kostas Antetokounmpo
The Mavericks have waived forward Kostas Antetokounmpo, according to a team press release.
The brother of league Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo had a two-way contract with the Mavs.
Daryl Macon holds the other two-way deal with Dallas. With Antetokounmpo out of the picture, Penn State alum and shooting guard Josh Reaves may have his contract converted a two-way deal. He agreed to sign an Exhibit 10 deal earlier this summer.
The 6’10” Antetokounmpo was chosen by the 76ers late in the second round of the 2018 draft. Dallas acquired him in a draft-night deal. He saw action in two games last season, making his NBA debut on March 20 in Portland.
“We are excited for Kostas to pursue other professional opportunities,” Mavs GM Donnie Nelson said in a statement. “Kostas worked very hard to improve his game and we are proud to have been a step in his development.”
Antetokounmpo played in five summer league games in Las Vegas this month, averaging 5.8 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 13.5 MPG.
The brothers are expected to play for Greece in the FIBA World Cup.
Jazz Sign Nigel Williams-Goss
JULY 19: The Jazz have officially signed Williams-Goss, per NBA.com’s transactions log. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), the three-year deal is worth $4.8MM, with a fully guaranteed first season.
A minimum-salary contract for Williams-Goss would only be worth about $4.2MM, so it sounds as if Utah used its remaining cap room to give him a larger first-year salary.
JULY 13: The Jazz are signing Nigel Williams-Goss to a three-year contract, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (hat tip to EuroHoops.net).
Utah selected the former Gonzaga star in the second round of the 2017 draft and retained his rights. He drew interest from two other teams who wanted to acquired him via trade, but the Jazz chose to retain him and add him to their roster (Twitter links here).
Williams-Goss played in Europe last season for Olympiacos in Greece. He averaged 11.3 PPG and 4.6 APG in 25.0 MPG in 23 games.
The 6’3” Williams-Goss, 24, spent the previous season with Serbian club Partizan.
He joins a crowded backcourt that includes point men Mike Conley, Dante Exum and Emmanuel Mudiay.