Lakers Guard Lonzo Ball Has Torn Meniscus
Lakers guard Lonzo Ball has a torn meniscus in his left knee, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. Ball is expected to be ready for training camp, Charania adds.
Ball’s injury thickens the plot as the club attempts to sign or acquire superstar talents. LeBron James had decided to opt out of his contract and the Lakers are the favorite to land him. They’re also engaged in talks with the Spurs to acquire Kawhi Leonard. Though it doesn’t appear Ball is part of those trade discussions, the injury increases the chances he’ll stay put.
Ball dealt with left knee issues at various points of his rookie season. A sprained left medial collateral ligament and a left knee bruise limited the point guard to 52 games. Ball was a triple-double threat every time he took the court, averaging 10.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 7.2 APG but shot a woeful 36% from the field.
Mavs Looking To Acquire DeAndre Jordan
JUNE 28, 1:42pm: Jordan is the Mavericks’ primary target as free agency approaches, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. According to MacMahon, if a trade agreement can’t be reached and the veteran center declines his option, Dallas plans to pursue him aggressively as a free agent. The interest between Jordan and the Mavs is mutual, sources tell MacMahon.
JUNE 27, 9:28pm: The Mavericks are engaged in talks with the Clippers to acquire center DeAndre Jordan this week, sources told Marc Stein of the New York Times.
This is a case of forgive and forget, as Jordan notoriously backed out on a free-agent deal with Dallas during the summer of 2015 to stay in L.A.
Jordan has a Friday night deadline to decide whether to exercise his $24.1MM player option for next season. If he opts in, Dallas can trade for him before free agency begins on Sunday. Swingman Wesley Matthews and his $18.6MM contract would likely be the centerpiece of any offer, according to Stein.
If Jordan opts out, Dallas could pursue him in free agency along with two other centers, unrestricted free agent DeMarcus Cousins and restricted free agent Clint Capela.
The Clippers have granted permission to Jordan and agent Jeff Schwartz to explore trade scenarios with other teams. It’s a similar scenario to All-Star guard Chris Paul opting in with the team and then getting traded to the Rockets last summer.
Dallas passed on drafting a big man last Thursday and instead made a deal with the Hawks for EuroLeague guard Luka Doncic.
Cavs Pick Up Perkins’ Option For Trade Purposes
JUNE 28: The move is now official, according to RealGM’s NBA transactions log.
JUNE 27: The Cavaliers have decided to pick up their $2.445MM option on center Kendrick Perkins‘ contract, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reports. Cleveland had to make a decision by Friday whether to pick up his option.
The move was made to give the Cavs the option of adding his contract for a potential trade, McMenamin continues. Perkins’ salary is still non-guaranteed, but it would become guaranteed if he’s included in a trade. This also signals that Cleveland isn’t afraid to add to its already bloated payroll in order to improve the team, despite the uncertainty of LeBron James‘ future with the franchise.
A no-trade restriction on Perkins will be lifted on July 11.
Perkins, 33, was signed the last day of the regular season and appeared in that game but didn’t play in the postseason. He also played for Cleveland during the preseason.
He hadn’t appeared an NBA game since the 2015/16 season with the Pelicans.
Two-Way QO Decisions: Walton, Cooke, Craig, More
Derrick Walton Jr. has received a qualifying offer from the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. Walton, who had been on a two-way contract with the Heat, will thus be a restricted free agent next month. The undrafted 6’1” point guard out of Michigan appeared in 16 games with Miami last season.
As is the case for all two-way players who remain eligible to sign another two-way deal, the qualifying offer Walton received from the Heat will be a two-way contract offer with a $50K guarantee.
We have several other qualifying offer decisions involving two-way players to pass along:
- The Pelicans will not make Charles Cooke a qualifying offer, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. Cooke, an undrafted 6’5” shooting guard out of Dayton, appeared in 13 games for the Pelicans.
- The Nuggets made a qualifying offer to Torrey Craig, ensuring he’ll be a restricted free agent, Gina Mizell of the Denver Post writes. The 6’6” Craig saw quite a bit of action with Denver last season, averaging 4.2 PP and 3.3 RPG in 16.1 MPG while making 39 appearances. The 27-year-old went undrafted in 2014, then played in Australia and New Zealand before the Nuggets signed him.
- The Magic will not make a qualifying offer to Jamel Artis, Sportando tweets. The 6’7” Artis, who went undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2017, saw action in 15 games and averaged 5.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 1.2 APG in 18.6 MPG. Artis will be on the Cavaliers‘ Summer League squad, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets.
- The Kings have issued a qualifying offer to two-way player JaKarr Sampson, per RealGM’s transactions log. No QO is listed for Jack Cooley, Sacramento’s other two-way player, so it’s possible Cooley will reach the market as an unrestricted free agent.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Free Agent Rumors: Favors, LaVine, Curry, Hezonja
Jazz forward Derrick Favors has set up a few free agent meetings, Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News tweets. Favors is happy in Utah but wants to go through the free-agent process to determine his best course of action, Woodyard adds. Favors, 26, averaged 12.7 PPG and 7.2 RPG last season. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said recently he’d like to keep the team’s core intact. The Wizards, Bucks and Warriors have been mentioned as potential landing spots for Favors.
In other developments involving players heading to free agency:
- At least one Western Conference team is preparing to make a run at Bulls restricted free agent guard Zach LaVine, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Johnson anticipates the Bulls would prefer to re-sign LaVine in the $14-16MM range annually but might balk if he receives an offer sheet worth $20MM or more per year.
- Mavericks guard Seth Curry has been medically cleared after missing last season with a left tibia fracture, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Curry, an unrestricted free agent, has been engaged in full basketball-related activities for a month, Wojnarowski adds. Curry had a breakout season with Dallas the previous year, averaging 12.8 PPG and 2.7 APG while starting 42 of 70 games.
- The Nets are interested in Magic forward Mario Hezonja, Brian Lewis of the New York Post hears. Hezonja has not lived up to his billing after being the No. 5 pick of the 2015 draft but the Nets think highly of him and aren’t afraid of reclamation projects, Lewis continues. Hezonja, who averaged 9.6 PPG last season, is an unrestricted free agent after Orlando declined to pick up his fourth-year option last year. Brooklyn has pursued top-level restricted free agents in recent years but is unlikely to do so this summer because the front office would like to create room for two max players next summer, Lewis adds.
Rockets Pick Up D’Antoni’s Option Year
9:04pm: The decision to pick up D’Antoni’s option is official, the team tweets.
6:00pm: The Rockets have picked up the option year on head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s contract, which guarantees the deal through the 2019/20 season, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets.
D’Antoni originally signed a three year, $15MM contract with a fourth-year team option when he was named Houston’s head coach in June 2016.
D’Antoni has enjoyed a career revival of sorts with the Rockets. His reputation took a hit after stints with the Knicks and Lakers went sour. He found work as Brett Brown’s associate head coach for two seasons before the Rockets gave him another shot to be a head man.
It turned out to be a wise decision. D’Antoni was named the NBA Coach of the Year last summer after the team won 55 regular-season games and reached the Western Conference semifinals. The Rockets had the league’s best record this season at 65-17, then came up one win shy of the Finals during the conference finals, an outcome that might have changed if Chris Paul hadn’t missed the last two games against the Warriors with a hamstring injury.
Lakers, Spurs Discuss Kawhi Leonard Trade
The Lakers re-engaged the Spurs Wednesday in trade talks for Kawhi Leonard, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets. It’s the first time the teams have discussed a Leonard deal since the Spurs “shut the door” on them after an initial call, Shelburne adds.
The Lakers reportedly feel pressure to make a deal before LeBron James makes his free agent decision, with the belief James would opt out of his contract and commit to the Lakers in free agency if he could join forces with Leonard. With Paul George no longer viewed as a lock to choose the Lakers, Leonard may represent the Lakers’ best bet to acquire another star.
If a deal goes down soon, the Lakers will have to put together an overwhelming offer. According to an ESPN story from Shelburne, Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst, a massive package of young players and draft picks would have to go back to San Antonio. The package could include some combination of Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart, perhaps along with restricted free agent Julius Randle in a sign-and-trade scenario, as well as future first-round picks, the story speculates. The Lakers are trying to acquire another first-round pick in a separate deal through a willingness to take on one or more bad contracts, the story adds.
The Spurs are not showing any urgency to make a trade, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports tweets. San Antonio didn’t view the draft as a deadline, so it’s unlikely they’ll view free agency as a deadline, Mannix adds.
The Celtics, Cavaliers, Sixers, and Clippers are among the teams that have made offers for Leonard, and multiple teams in that group figure to be in the mix for James as well.
Avery Bradley Among Grizzlies’ Free Agent Targets
Clippers shooting guard Avery Bradley is high on the Grizzlies‘ list of free agent targets, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
Memphis is expected to lose Tyreke Evans in free agency, and Bradley would be an upgrade over the team’s remaining collection of shooting guards. That list includes Wayne Selden, Ben McLemore and MarShon Brooks, though Selden’s contract for next season is not guaranteed.
The Grizzlies are over the cap, so they’d have to hope their mid-level exception with a starting salary of $8,567,770 would be enough to snag Bradley’s services.
Bradley had an injury-filled 2017/18 season after being dealt from the Celtics to the Pistons last offseason. He missed playing time with a groin injury after a strong first month, then was included in the Blake Griffin blockbuster in late January. He underwent season-ending sports hernia surgery in mid-March.
Bradley only appeared in six games with the Clippers after playing 40 games with Detroit. He averaged 14.3 PPG in 46 games last season.
He enjoyed a career year in Boston the previous season, his seventh and final with that organization. The 6’2” Bradley, 27, averaged a career-best 16.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 2.2 APG in 55 games.
Bradley has long been considered a superior perimeter defender and solid 3-point shooter (36.6% career average).
Harden Tops James, Davis For MVP Award
Rockets guard James Harden was named the league’s Most Valuable Player during the NBA’s second annual awards show.
Harden topped the Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis for the league’s most coveted individual award. Harden finished second in the voting last season to the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook.
Harden led the league in scoring at 30.4 PPG. He was fourth in assists (8.8) and second in 3-pointers made per game (3.7) while also finishing in the top 10 in steals (1.8). Houston’s regular-season success, with its league-best 65-17 record, played a role in Harden’s victory.
The Cavaliers needed James’ Herculean efforts just to finish fourth in the East. He averaged 27.5 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 9.1 APG while appearing in all 82 contests.
Davis led the Pelicans to the playoffs, and a first-round knockout of the Trail Blazers, despite DeMarcus Cousins‘ season-ending Achilles injury. He posted averages of 28.1 PPG, 11.1 RPG and 2.6 BPG.
Here are the other awards announced on Monday night:
- Rookie of the Year: Ben Simmons, Sixers
- Coach of the Year: Dwane Casey, Raptors
- Sixth Man of the Year: Lou Williams, Clippers
- Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert, Jazz
- Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo, Pacers
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dwane Casey Chosen Coach Of Year
Dwane Casey was named the league’s Coach of the Year at the NBA’s second annual awards show.
This continues the awkwardness of Casey getting a top coaching award for his efforts with a franchise that fired him after the playoffs. He was let go by the Raptors after they were swept by the Cavaliers. His peers at the National Basketball Coaches Association also named him their Coach of the Year days before he fired.
He was named the Pistons’ new head coach earlier this month.
The Jazz’s Quin Snyder and Celtics’ Brad Stevens were the other finalists. The Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni earned the honor the previous season.