Suns To Guarantee Nick Richards’ $5MM Salary
The Suns are expected to guarantee Nick Richards’ $5MM salary for next season, The Athletic’s Fred Katz tweets.
Phoenix had to decide by today whether to make that guarantee or waive him. Richards was acquired from Charlotte in mid-season and wound up making 34 starts in 36 appearances with the Suns, averaging 9.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 22 minutes per game.
Where Richards fits into the Suns’ plans remains to be seen. The Suns are acquiring Richards’ former Hornets teammate, Mark Williams, in a deal that is not yet official. Phoenix also used a lottery pick acquired from Houston in the Kevin Durant deal on Duke big man Khaman Maluach. Additionally, the Suns have another young big in Oso Ighodaro.
Richards’ salary could be useful as part of another trade down the road. In any case, he’ll get the final year of his three-year, $15MM contract he signed with Charlotte guaranteed.
Kevin Porter Jr. To Decline Player Option
June 28: Porter has informed the Bucks that he won’t pick up the option and plans to test free agency, sources tell Eric Nehm and Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
June 11: Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. is expected to decline his $2.55MM player option in order to become a free agent, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
It certainly doesn’t come as a surprise, considering the contributions Porter made after being dealt from the Clippers to the Bucks. In 30 regular season appearances, Porter averaged 11.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 19.9 minutes per game with Milwaukee. He averaged 11.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists in five postseason outings.
Milwaukee hopes to retain Porter, according to Scotto. That makes plenty of sense, given Damian Lillard‘s Achilles tear, which will likely keep Lillard out of action all of next season. Porter projects as the Bucks’ starting point guard, unless they acquire one via a trade or free agency. Milwaukee does not have a first-round selection in this month’s draft.
Porter was dealt to the Bucks in February after appearing in 45 games with the Clippers.
He is a former first-round pick who played in Greece last season after multiple off-court incidents, including reaching a plea agreement for misdemeanor assault and harassment in January 2024 after allegedly attacking his then-girlfriend in September 2023. The Clippers gave him another NBA opportunity in July when they signed him to a two-year, minimum-salary contract.
RJ Davis Agrees To Exhibit 10 Deal With Lakers
RJ Davis, a five-year player and four-year starter for North Carolina, has agreed to a contract with the Lakers, Billy Reinhardt tweets. It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Adam Zagoria (Twitter link).
The six-foot guard appeared in 175 NCAA games, including 155 starts. In his final year with the Tar Heels, he averaged 17.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He averaged 21.2 PPG in 2023/24.
For his college career, Davis made 41.8 percent of his field goal attempts, including 36.7 percent of his three-point tries.
Exhibit 10 contracts are non-guaranteed but include bonuses of up to $85K if the player is waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate. In Davis’ case, that G League team would be the South Bay Lakers. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals, so Davis will try to make his case for a promotion during Summer League and training camp.
Kings Sign Dylan Cardwell To Two-Way Deal
July 2: Caldwell has officially signed a two-way contract with the Kings, according to the NBA.com transaction log.
June 26: Auburn center Dylan Cardwell has agreed to a two-way contract with the Kings, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets.
Cardwell had a five-year career with the Tigers, coming off the bench for all but two games in his first four years before grabbing a starting job in 38 games last season. He posted modest stats — 5.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 20.3 minutes per game. However, according to Givony, he’s an athletic big with elite toughness, defensive intensity and finishing prowess.
He made 10 of 13 field goal attempts during Auburn’s Final Four run while averaging 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks during those five games. Cardwell obviously needs to work on his offensive game but could develop into a reliable backup center due to his defensive attributes.
The Kings finished the season with an open two-way spot and will create two more openings with Mason Jones and Isaiah Crawford headed for free agency.
Ryan Nembhard Signs Two-Way Contract With Mavs
July 3: Nembhard’s two-way deal with the Mavericks is now official, the team announced in a press release.
June 26: Ryan Nembhard, who led all Division I players in assists last season, has agreed to a two-way contract with the Mavericks, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
Nembhard, the younger brother of the Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard, logged 134 starts in college. He played two seasons with Creighton before transferring to Gonzaga, where he played two more years.
Nembhard averaged 10.5 points on 44.6 shooting, including 40.4 percent from long range, as a senior but he mainly concentrated on being a distributor. He averaged 9.8 assists and was also a factor on the defensive end with 1.7 steals. The 6-foot Nembhard reached double digits in assists 19 times last season, including 11 in his final college game — a loss to Houston in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Nembhard is one of two undrafted rookies to reach an agreement on a two-way deal in the immediate wake of the draft, joining Auburn’s Miles Kelly.
Mark Sears Signs Two-Way Deal With Bucks
July 3: Sears’ two-way contract with the Bucks is official, according to the team (Twitter link).
June 26: Consensus All-American guard Mark Sears, who went undrafted, has agreed to a two-way contract with the Bucks, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
The 6’1” Sears started 37 games in each of the last three seasons for Alabama after transferring from Ohio University. He averaged a career-best 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists during the 2023/24 season, shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from distance.
He averaged 18.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists last season but his shooting percentage plunged to 40.3 percent overall and 34.5 percent from three-point land. He was still a consensus first-team All-American and made the All-SEC first team.
Sears’ size (6’1”) worked against him in the draft but it’s not out of the question he could see some NBA action as a rookie, considering the Bucks will be down a starter at point guard due to Damian Lillard‘s Achilles tear.
Chucky Hepburn To Sign Two-Way Contract With Raptors
Louisville guard Chucky Hepburn, who was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, has agreed to a two-way contract with the Raptors, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
The 6’2” Hepburn started 137 games during his four-year college career but wasn’t selected in the draft. He spent his first three seasons with Wisconsin before joining the Cardinals. Hepburn expanded his offensive numbers at Lousville, averaging 16.4 points, 5.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game last season. He shot 43.2 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from deep, while making 84.4 percent of his free throws.
Hepburn scored 14 points in the ACC championship game against Duke and supplied 22 points and six assists in an NCAA Tournament opening-round loss to Creighton.
Toronto finished the season with an empty two-way spot. Hepburn will likely be ticketed for the G League in his first season but, given his experience, could be an early contributor at the NBA level if injuries arise to the Raptors backcourt.
Clippers Acquire No. 50 Pick Kobe Sanders From Knicks
10:48 pm: The trade is official, according to an announcement from the Clippers.
8:56 pm: The Clippers have moved up by one spot in the second round of the draft, acquiring the No. 50 pick from the Knicks and using it on Nevada wing Kobe Sanders, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Knicks moved down to No. 51, acquiring the draft rights from Luka Mitrovic from L.A. in the deal, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). New York used the 51st overall pick on French forward Mohamed Diawara.
Sanders, a 6’6” senior, transferred to Nevada after four seasons with Cal Poly. He averaged 15.8 points, 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals last season. He shot 46.2 percent from the field and 34.2 percent beyond the arc.
As for Diawara, the 6’8”, 20-year-old forward averaged 5.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists for Cholet last season. Diawara is also good friends with Knicks 2024 first-round pick Pacome Dadiet, according to Ian Begley of SNY TV (Twitter link). He’s viewed as a good athlete and strong defender, as he often guarded the opponent’s lead ball-handler for France’s U-20 team, Begley adds.
Mitrovic was drafted in 2015 and has never played in the NBA, so it’s safe to say he won’t be coming stateside. Fred Katz of The Athletic notes he can’t even be used as a touching point in a trade since he wasn’t part of the last nine drafts (Twitter link), so there doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason why the Knicks dropped one spot, except that the team loves to stockpile draft-rights players.
Southeast Notes: Mann, Johnson, Riley, Newell, Martins, DeVos
The Hornets fully expect to retain restricted free agent Tre Mann, executive VP of basketball operations Jeff Peterson said during a press conference, per Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
“He’s a priority … I don’t see any reason why he’s not back,” Peterson said.
The Hornets, who hold Mann’s Bird rights, must make a $6.96MM qualifying offer in the coming days in order to make him a restricted free agent. If Charlotte passes on that QO, the point guard would reach unrestricted free agency and could sign with any team without the Hornets getting the opportunity to match. Peterson’s comments strongly suggest the Hornets will extend the QO.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that Mann had fully recovered from his back disc herniation. He has participated in all of Charlotte’s offseason activity and 5-on-5 scrimmages after playing in just 13 games last season.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Wizards selected Texas guard Tre Johnson (No. 6) and Illinois wing Will Riley (No. 21) in the first round. General manager Will Dawkins expects Johnson to have an immediate offensive impact, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. “Pound for pound, if he’s not the best shooter, [Johnson] is one of the best shooters in the draft,” Dawkins said. “But that’s not his only skill. He’s someone that can make plays … for others and averaged 19 points a game in the SEC, led the whole conference in scoring as a freshman, like in conference play. That’s hard to do.” According to Varun Shankar of the Post, the team’s brass was impressed by Riley’s competitiveness during 3-on-3 workouts when he visited the Wizards. The front office also believes Riley has more skills than he was allowed to show with the Illini. “We think there’s more there to unlock,” Dawkins said. “That’s why we had him as high as we did, and we’re happy to have him.”
- The Hawks traded down from the No. 13 pick on Wednesday to No. 23 and received an unprotected first-rounder next year from the Pelicans. They still got a quality talent in Georgia’s Asa Newell, according to Rod Beard of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You don’t ever know if somebody’s going to be available when you move down that far,” Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh said. “We felt good about a bucket of players if we did get there, and it just was the right thing to do for us. It just made sense for us and where we’re at, and I think it just helped our future a little bit. So, yeah, it’s a good trade.”
- Alex Martins is stepping down as CEO of the Magic after 14 years and taking on a new role as the vice chair of the organization, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel reports. Martins will still serve as a senior advisor to the Magic board of directors to advance long-term strategic initiatives and as a resource to team executives. The Magic don’t have plans to hire a new CEO. The succession plan also includes the third generation of the DeVos family ownership. Magic vice president of shareholder engagement Ryan DeVos will take the role of managing director while Cole DeVos will relocate to Orlando at the beginning of the 2025/26 season to work more closely with the franchise in a full-time management development program. It shows that the DeVos family has no plans to sell the franchise, Beede notes.
Mavs Notes: Frontcourt, Washington, Flagg, Free Agency, Sweeney, Lottery Luck
The Mavericks frontcourt might seem a little crowded with Dereck Lively, Anthony Davis, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford — who just agreed to an extension — joined by top pick Cooper Flagg.
However, general manager Nico Harrison indicated he’s planning to have all of them sharing minutes, rather than moving one of the veterans. He also envisions Washington, the incumbent starting small forward, playing together with Flagg at times. Harrison even brought up the subject with Washington.
“I said, ‘Hey, P.J., you think you guys can play together?’ ” Harrison recalled, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. “He’s like, ‘Oh yeah, we can play together.’ So I don’t see any jealousy. I think guys are excited to play with him and as he’s ready, he’s gonna get more and more opportunities.”
By winning the draft lottery, Harrison believes the team will be contenders for years to come.
“I think it’s win now. It’s also win in the future,” Harrison said. “Eventually it’s going to be Cooper’s team. We don’t know when that transition will happen. So I think it’s win now and then set yourself up to win in the future as well.”
Here’s more on the Mavs:
- Harrison envisions Flagg as making an impact in a variety of ways, Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal relays. “He’s a basketball player. He can handle the ball, he can shoot, he can make plays for people. He’s a good passer,” Harrison said. “He’s going to be on the floor. The big thing is: who can he defend? And he’s a great defender.”
- Harrison said the Mavs will look in free agency to fill the temporary void left by Kyrie Irving‘s ACL injury but it won’t necessarily be a traditional point guard. “I’m not really worried about someone to run the offense. I think we’ve got enough guys that can handle the ball and play multiple positions — just someone to get us organized,” Harrison said, per Afseth, adding, “A lot of players want to come play in Dallas.”
- Harrison became extremely unpopular with fans after trading Luka Doncic but the franchise’s lottery luck seems to have to toned down the vitriol, he notes. “I’ve seen the fans react since we got the No. 1 pick. It feels like they’re feeling really good and optimistic about the future,” he said, according to Afseth. “I’m hoping so. I’m assuming so — a little bit maybe.”
- Harrison emphasized during his press conference that Jason Kidd was staying put as head coach, dousing speculation that Kidd could wind up with the Knicks. Sean Sweeney‘s agent, Andy Miller, told Townsend (Twitter link) that Dallas did want to keep Sweeney but that the Spurs offered the highly regarded assistant a “bigger role.” “Sean’s contract was expiring,” Miller said. “Dallas made a yeoman’s effort to obviously retain him. They wanted to keep him. I think for Sean this is an opportunity to have a bigger role, a bigger say, more input, with an upward trajectory…”
- A team source told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes that the organization was stunned when it drew the top combination in the lottery last month. “We never even considered that the impossible could happen on May 12,” the source said. “I’m not sure there has ever been a more abrupt reversal of fortune.”