Wizards Sign Chasson Randle To Camp Deal
SEPTEMBER 20: Nearly two months after it was first reported, the Wizards’ deal with Randle is now official. The point guard is included on Washington’s training camp roster, posted today on the team’s website.
JULY 27: The Wizards have agreed to a training-camp contract with guard Chasson Randle, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.
Washington has an open spot on the 15-man roster and a two-way slot available, so Randle could become the No. 3 point guard if he shines during camp.
Randle, 25, played overseas with Real Madrid last season but didn’t see extensive action for the Euroleague champs. In 46 games, he averaged 3.6 PPG in 9.8 MPG.
The 6’1” Randle appeared in a combined 26 games with the Sixers and Knicks in 2016/17. He averaged 5.3 PPG and 1.3 APG in 11.6 MPG. New York waived him last September.
He went undrafted in 2015 out of Stanford.
Jarrett Jack Signs With Pelicans
SEPTEMBER 19: The signing is official, the Pelicans announced on their website.
SEPTEMBER 17: Veteran point guard Jarrett Jack has agreed to a one-year contract with the Pelicans, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Jack, 34, will be on the opening-night roster. The contract isn’t guaranteed, Charania adds in another tweet, so he’ll have to compete for one of the backup point guard spots.
New Orleans is well-stocked at point guard with starter Jrue Holiday along with Elfrid Payton, Frank Jackson and Darius Morris on the roster, though Jackson has undergone three foot surgeries and also sprained his ankle in summer-league action.
Along with Morris, the Pelicans have a handful of other players on non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deals, including Emeka Okafor, Jahlil Okafor, Troy Williams, Kenrich Williams and Garlon Green.
This is Jack’s third stint with the Pelicans. He played with them during the 2010/11 season and also saw action in two games during the 2016/17 campaign. He played 62 games with the Knicks last season, including 56 starts, and averaged 7.5 PPG and 5.6 APG in 25.0 MPG.
Northwest Rumors: Butler, Porter, Thunder, Aminu
The Nets, Knicks, Nuggets, Sixers and Lakers are potential landing spots for Jimmy Butler if the Timberwolves decide to trade him before he hits free agency next summer, Frank Urbina of HoopsHype opines. Butler is reportedly meeting with Minnesota’s brass on Monday to discuss his future with the organization. The Nets could offer a package featuring the Nuggets’ top-12 protected 2019 first-round pick, as well as defensive-minded wing Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, while Denver could make either Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Michael Porter Jr. the centerpiece in a deal for the All-Star wing, Urbina adds.
We have more from around the Northwest Division:
- Porter is trying to return to full strength after two back surgeries and there’s no guarantee he’ll play this season, Christopher Dempsey of the team’s website writes in a player profile. The Nuggets will keep him on the sidelines until they’re convinced the rookie forward won’t have any setbacks. There’s no timetable on when he will be ready to make his debut, Dempsey adds.
- Defense will be the Thunder’s biggest strengths this season, according to Basketball Insiders’ season preview of the team. The return of Andre Roberson from his knee injury and the subtraction of Carmelo Anthony give the Thunder five above-average-to-elite defenders in their lineup. Oklahoma City’s biggest issue is closing out games but without the chemistry issues caused by trying to fit Anthony in with Russell Westbrook and Paul George, its performances in the clutch should also improve this season.
- Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu and center Jusuf Nurkic have returned to Portland after competing in regional FIBA World Cup qualifiers last week, according to Casey Holdahl of the team’s website. Aminu helped Nigeria go 3-0 during the tournament but Bosnia and Herzegovina went winless in two games despite the efforts of Nurkic.
- Shooting guard Darius Johnson-Odom has remained in Minnesota to work out following his recent tryout with the Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. He could still be added to the training camp roster, Wolfson adds.
Community Shootaround: Spurs’ Playoff Chances
No Kawhi Leonard. No Tony Parker. No Manu Ginobili.
The changes to the Spurs’ roster this summer have been startling. Leonard’s unhappiness with the organization convinced San Antonio’s front office to trade him before he could become a free agent next summer. Parker surprisingly left the only NBA franchise he had played for since 2001 and signed with the Hornets. Then last week Ginobili, after much deliberation, announced his retirement.
Here’s something more jarring than all the personnel changes. Could the Spurs’ streak of 21 consecutive postseason appearances, the longest active playoff streak in any major North American sports league, be coming to an end?
For the first time in many years, San Antonio is no lock to make the postseason. The Spurs squeaked into the playoffs last year with a 47-35 record, tying them with the Timberwolves for seventh place. The Nuggets were just one game back and now the Lakers, with the addition of LeBron James, should be back in playoff contention.
San Antonio should have a good 1-2 punch in power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, the major piece it received in the Leonard trade with Toronto. The Spurs will also count on major improvement from young point guard Dejounte Murray. If rookie forward Lonnie Walker can make an immediate impact, that would also boost their postseason prospects as well.
Pau Gasol and Rudy Gay, both of whom have a lot of mileage on their legs, are the other projected starters. Gasol is 38 and needs to have his minutes monitored. Gay, 32, has appeared in just 87 games over the past two seasons.
There’s an obvious lack of youth, athleticism and 3-point shooting on the roster. Even Ginobili admits Gregg Popovich will have do one of the best coaching jobs of his career to coax a playoff appearance out of the current roster.
”I think it’s going to be a great challenge for him having a different kind of team, maybe less corporate knowledge,” Ginobili said. ”I think it’s going to be a fun challenge. I think he’s going to do good.”
That brings us to our question of the day: Will the Spurs extend their streak of 21 consecutive playoff appearances or will it come to an end this season?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in this topic. We look forward to your feedback.
NBA Projects $109 Million Cap for 2019/20 Season
The NBA has provided teams with updated projections of a $109MM salary cap for the 2019/20 season with a luxury-tax threshold of $132MM, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The NBA also projects a $118MM cap and $143MM luxury-tax line for the 2020/21 season.
The 2019/20 cap projection remains unchanged from the NBA’s last update on July 1 but the $118MM projection for the following season is $2MM higher than the previous update, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. That’s due to BRI projections and a projected shortfall-based adjustment, Charania adds in another tweet.
The latest projections means that teams can trust they will be dealing with a $109MM cap or something close to it when making out their budgets for next summer. Teams will likely have more than $7MM to play with next season than they did this summer, when the NBA set a $101,869,000 cap.
Rookie Guard Robert Johnson Joins Bucks In Camp
Former Indiana University guard Robert Johnson has agreed to a training camp deal with the Bucks, Nicola Lupo of Sportando tweets. The news was confirmed by Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops.
The undrafted Johnson played with the Hawks’ summer league team, appearing in seven games and averaging 7.1 PPG in 15.6 MPG. Johnson averaged 14.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 2.7 APG in his final season with the Hoosiers. Johnson made 38.9% of his 3-point tries during his college career.
While it’s highly unlikely the 6’3” Johnson will make the 15-man roster, it increases the chances that he’ll develop his game with Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.
The Bucks currently have a full 20-man roster and have reportedly reached agreements with Shabazz Muhammad and Christian Wood as well, so they’ll have to make a series of roster moves at some point to accommodate all their deals.
Celtics, Jamal Crawford Have ‘Mutual Interest’
The Celtics and veteran free agent guard Jamal Crawford have “mutual interest,” according to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.
Weiss made that revelation during a CLNS Celtics Beat podcast and the comments were relayed by A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston.
The Celtics are seeking “more 3-point shooting” and that’s something Crawford can provide. As for Crawford, who opted out of his contract with the Timberwolves early in the summer, he’s chasing a ring.
According to Weiss, “He wants to be in a position to win a championship, and so he wants to sign on with one of these title teams … He’s really valuable for playoff teams that … just want to have somebody to carry them for a couple minutes in the third quarter or something like that. And I think he can still do that to a certain degree.”
The Celtics currently have a fully-stocked roster, including 15 players with guaranteed contracts. However, shooting guard Jabari Bird‘s future is very much in doubt after his arraignment on assault and kidnapping charges.
The Sixers and Lakers are also reportedly among the contenders for Crawford’s services.
Zanik, Rosas Receive Second Interviews For Sixers’ Post
Jazz assistant GM Justin Zanik and Rockets VP Gersson Rosas have earned second interviews for the Sixers’ GM opening, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
Philadelphia’s ownership group dined with Zanik on Sunday and will do the same with Rosas on Monday. The ownership group will also hold second interviews with internal candidates on Thursday and Friday, Pompey adds in another tweet. The news was confirmed by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Warriors assistant GM and director of player personnel Larry Harris was also recently interviewed for the vacancy, though there’s no indication if he’ll receive another interview.
Some of the internal candidates for the job who were reportedly interviewed this month include former Sixers player Elton Brand, Marc Eversley, Ned Cohen and Alex Rucker.
The organization has been operating without a GM since Bryan Colangelo departed in June amid charges of releasing sensitive information on Twitter.
The Sixers initially targeted big-name NBA GMs and presidents like Rockets GM Daryl Morey, but have since cast a wider net, focusing more on executives who would view the Philadelphia job as a promotion rather than a lateral move.
Lack Of Desire Convinced Ginobili To Retire
Manu Ginobili admitted that his decision to retire was painstaking and that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich tried to convince him to play another year. “I am very sure about the decision, it’s still awkward,” Ginobili said during a press conference that was relayed by NBA.com. “But my finger shaked a lot before hitting that enter (button). It wasn’t an easy decision.”
Popovich was hoping that he could change Ginobili’s mind but realized quickly that his longtime sixth man wasn’t going to budge.
“He briefly tried to convince me. He saw me very convinced,” Ginobili said. “I guess he saw it right away. He respected my decision, of course, and we had a great talk.”
Ginobili announced his retirement on August 27th. The deciding factor was the lack of desire to go through the rigors of an 82-game regular season one more time.
“I couldn’t see my body doing through that kind of grind again,” he said. “When I came back here and came to workout a little bit to lift or bike or whatever, I saw Bryn (Forbes), I saw Dejounte (Murray) and some of the guys working out and preparing for the season and I was so far from that. That’s when I said, ‘For sure, this is it.’ There was a little bit of that door opened, but it closed pretty quick.”
Ginobili, 41, was the 57th overall pick in the 1999 draft. The Argentinian played overseas for three more seasons, then joined the Spurs in 2002, spending the next 16 years with the franchise.
Over the course of his NBA career, Ginobili appeared in 1,057 regular season contests, averaging 13.3 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 3.5 RPG. He also played in 218 more postseason contests, winning four championships with the Spurs. A two-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player, the Argentinian shooting guard was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2008.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 9/9/18 – 9/15/18
Every week, the writing team here at Hoops Rumors creates original content to complement our news feed. With training camps opening soon, here are our numerous segments and features from the past seven days:
- In four Community Shootaround posts this week, we asked:
- How many of the top five free agents will change teams next summer?
- How far will the Bucks go this season?
- Which players should be in the Heat’s rotation this season?
- Whether the Timberwolves will once again make the playoffs?
- Luke Adams took a closer look at all the salary cap exceptions available to league executives.
- In our Extension Candidate series, we analyzed the pros and cons of extending Pistons swingman Stanley Johnson.
- We continued our 2018 Offseason in Review, and analyzed the following team: