Bucks, Heat Also Among Harden’s Preferred Trade Destinations
James Harden now has the Bucks and Heat among his preferred trade destinations, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. Milwaukee and Miami join Brooklyn and Philadelphia as the top landing spots on Harden’s wish list.
As we observed on Tuesday when we wrote about Harden adding the Sixers to his list of preferred destinations, the Rockets are under no obligation to send the former MVP to one of the teams on his list, since he has multiple years left on his contract and doesn’t have the ability to veto trades. However, it’s possible those clubs would be more willing to offer significant packages for Harden if they know he wants to play for them.
Neither Milwaukee nor Miami looks like an ideal trade partner for Houston, however, given the Rockets’ asking price of an All-Star caliber player plus several young players and/or draft picks. Both the Bucks and Heat have traded away multiple future first-round picks and/or pick swaps, compromising their ability to build an offer heavy on draft assets.
As for potential centerpieces, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo would presumably be off the table in any deal with Miami, while Milwaukee obviously isn’t moving Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks have other former All-Stars in Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, but neither is on a particularly team-friendly contract — Middleton is owed $147MM over four years, while Holiday can reach free agency in 2021. Tyler Herro would be an intriguing target in any deal with the Heat, but has only played one season, so the Rockets would have to be awfully high on his potential to accept a package built around him.
The Nets and 76ers are still atop Harden’s wish list, according to Charania, who says the 31-year-old has been “resigned to the belief” that he can no longer compete for a championship in Houston.
However, Charania hears that the Rockets have no interest in a Brooklyn offer that doesn’t include Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving. A Sixers offer would likely have to include Ben Simmons, but new head coach Doc Rivers has “privately made clear” that he wants an opportunity to try to maximize the potential of the Simmons/Joel Embiid duo, Charania writes.
General manager Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia front office, having added sharpshooters Seth Curry and Danny Green to complement Simmons and Embiid, appear committed to keeping their two young stars for the time being.
Harden is currently going through the NBA’s coronavirus testing process and will have to register six negative tests before he’s cleared to practice with the Rockets. According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, Harden only requires three negative tests to begin individual workouts, and Charania suggests the superstar guard is expected to have a workout in front of team personnel soon.
According to Charania, Harden has “maintained a dialogue” with trusted Rockets assistant coach John Lucas, even as he has been non-communicative at times with the club’s front office.
Jazz Sign Shaquille Harrison To One-Year Deal
4:35pm: The Jazz have officially signed Harrison, the team announced in a press release.
3:03pm: The Jazz are finalizing a contract agreement with free agent guard Shaquille Harrison, sources tell Shams Charania and Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’ll be a one-year, minimum-salary deal, Charania adds (via Twitter).
Harrison, 27, spent the last two seasons with the Bulls, averaging 5.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 116 total games (16.5 MPG). Harrison’s offensive output, including a shooting line of .442/.305/.706 as a Bull, was relatively modest, but he’s considered a strong perimeter defender.
The Jazz indicated heading into the offseason that they were making it a priority to add defensive-minded players to their roster. Harrison certainly fits that bill — he has averaged 2.3 steals per 36 minutes over the course of his NBA career, and the Bulls had a 99.7 defensive rating when he was on the court in 2019/20, compared to a 110.0 mark when he sat.
The Jazz only have 11 players with fully guaranteed salaries for 2020/21, so Harrison looks like a good bet to make the regular season roster. Utah also has a pair of openings on its 20-man training camp roster, so no corresponding move will be required to sign Harrison.
Giannis Says He’s Focused On Basketball, Letting Agent Handle Contract
Addressing reporters for the first time this season on Wednesday, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t offer up any particularly juicy quotes when he was inevitably asked about his contract situation. Antetokounmpo, who can sign a five-year super-max extension with Milwaukee before the season begins, said he’s letting agent Alex Saratsis handle talks with the team.
“I’m not focused on that,” Antetokounmpo said, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “I know my agent, Alex, and (Bucks GM) Jon Horst and the Bucks ownership are focusing on those discussions, but I’m just trying to focus on myself. How I can get better, how I can help my teammates get better, how can we be ready Saturday to play our first preseason game.”
As we detailed earlier today, a five-year super-max deal for Antetokounmpo would start in 2021/22 and is worth a projected $228MM+. He could sign that extension on or before December 21. If he doesn’t sign it this month, he’d be eligible for the same deal with the Bucks if he waits until free agency in 2021. During the season, he can’t sign a super-max contract, but could sign a shorter-term extension that would start at 30% of the cap instead of 35%.
Antetokounmpo’s contract situation is arguably the NBA’s biggest storyline, though he did make a valiant effort today to downplay the focus on a potential extension.
“I know this is big for the City of Milwaukee, (the) NBA world, and (the) media world,” Giannis said, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). “But I’m a private person.”
Antetokounmpo added that he hoped reporters’ focus would be on basketball going forward, since his answers about his contract “are going to be the same,” Spears notes.
The two-time Most Valuable Player also said today that he doesn’t believe the Bucks are in a “championship or bust” situation in 2020/21.
“Obviously, everybody wants to win a championship, I want to win a championship,” Giannis said, according to Woodyard. “There’s nobody that wants to win a championship more than me. I can guarantee you that. But there’s steps to that. You’ve got to keep improving. You’ve got to keep getting better and hopefully we can get there this year.”
Harden Requires Six Negative COVID-19 Tests Before Being Cleared
Rockets star James Harden will be required to register negative coronavirus tests for six consecutive days before receiving clearance to join the team for group workouts, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter links).
As MacMahon explains in an ESPN story, the NBA required three consecutive negative tests from most players before they were permitted to enter team facilities for individual workouts. However, Harden arrived in Houston late and violated league policies by attending parties and clubs in Atlanta and Las Vegas without wearing a face mask, subjecting him to a longer testing period.
The timeline should put Harden on track to join his teammates for practice on Monday, assuming he doesn’t test positive for COVID-19 during the next few days. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle notes (via Twitter) that Harden wasn’t going to fly to Chicago for the Rockets’ preseason games against the Bulls on Friday and Sunday anyway, so this shouldn’t actually delay his practice debut.
Asked today about Harden’s status, Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said he had the opportunity to say hello to the former MVP on Wednesday, per MacMahon. Silas likely won’t get a chance for a longer face-to-face interaction until Harden clears the testing process.
Interestingly, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reported today that Harden made his offseason trade request as soon as Houston hired Silas as its new head coach.
While that doesn’t necessarily mean that Harden sought a trade as a direct response to Silas’ hiring, Zillgitt says the former Mavericks assistant wasn’t among the 31-year-old’s top choices when management asked for his input on the coaching search. Harden preferred Tyronn Lue, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
We learned on Tuesday that Harden has indicated to the Rockets that he’s open to being dealt to teams besides Brooklyn, including the Sixers.
Pau Gasol Discusses NBA Comeback Effort
Veteran center Pau Gasol hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since March 10, 2019, but he still hasn’t given up on making it back to the league. The 40-year-old told ESPN’s Zach Lowe that his goal for the coming year is to play for an NBA team and to represent Spain at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer.
Gasol, who has talked previously about wanting to return to play one last season with the Lakers, said that the idea of reuniting with his old team in Los Angeles is even more appealing now that his brother Marc Gasol has signed there.
“There is meaning and history there,” Pau said. “I’m not going to lie. It would be very special, and now that my brother is there, even more special. But I’m not in a position now to be very demanding. I don’t have 10 offers on the table.”
Gasol confirmed to Lowe that he has undergone two surgeries to repair stress fractures in the navicular bone in his left foot since he last played in the NBA. He has recovered from those procedures, but wants to work more on his improving his conditioning before seriously engaging in talks with NBA teams, according to Lowe, who says Pau and his agent recently discussed camp deals with some clubs.
Although Gasol would be interested in working for an NBA team in some capacity once he officially hangs up his sneakers, he’s not ready to transition into that phase of his career yet. As Lowe writes, the two-time champion wants to be more than a “glorified coach” if he signs with a team.
It’s not clear if the Lakers have genuine interest in signing Gasol or if he’ll have to seek an opportunity elsewhere, but he’s hoping for the opportunity to compete for another title alongside his brother.
“He had several teams that were interested,” Pau said of Marc. “What he valued most was the opportunity to win another championship. To play for the Lakers — it’s such a unique franchise. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and it’s very special for us to be the first brothers to play for the Lakers. It would be incredible if it ends up happening where I can join the team at some point.”
Knicks Waive Jacob Evans
The Knicks have waived third-year shooting guard Jacob Evans, the team announced today (Twitter link).
Evans, 23, was drafted by Golden State with the 28th overall pick in 2018 and spent his first season-and-a-half in the NBA with the Warriors before being dealt to Minnesota in the D’Angelo Russell trade in February. In 59 overall games with the Warriors and Timberwolves, he has averaged 2.8 PPG and 1.1 RPG in just 10.5 minutes per contest, making just 33.7% of his shots from the floor.
The Knicks acquired Evans in a trade that sent Ed Davis to the Wolves last month. His inclusion in that deal was required for salary-matching purposes and he never appeared to be part of New York’s long-term plans.
Evans’ $2.02MM salary for 2020/21 is fully guaranteed, so the Knicks will have to pay out that money — the team remains about $18MM below the cap though, so that’s not a major concern. Evans had a $3.64MM team option for 2021/22 that will be automatically voided unless he’s claimed on waivers, which seems unlikely.
With a spot on their 20-man camp roster now available, the Knicks have room to begin completing their Exhibit 10 signings for G League rights and bonus purposes. Skal Labissiere, James Young, and Andrew White have all reportedly agreed to camp deals with the club and figure to eventually join the Westchester Knicks.
Looking ahead, the Knicks are now carrying 15 players with guaranteed salaries and would have to cut one of those players if they want to include either Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Myles Powell on their regular season roster.
Poll: Will Giannis Sign Super-Max Extension With Bucks?
All of 2020’s top 50 free agents are off the board. LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, and several other notable players have signed contract extensions. Every 2020 draftee who is expected to sign a contract for the coming season has done so.
However, we’ll still waiting for news on the biggest contract question of the NBA offseason: Will Giannis Antetokounmpo sign a super-max extension with the Bucks?
Antetokounmpo’s decision figures to have a seismic impact on the rest of the league. Besides potentially making or breaking the Bucks’ future, it’ll also be a crucial turning point for all the teams who are maintaining cap flexibility in the hopes of making a run at the reigning MVP in 2021 free agency, including the Mavericks, Raptors, and Heat.
Even the teams that have no shot at landing Antetokounmpo themselves will be keeping a close on his situation, since the NBA’s balance of power could shift depending on where the star forward decides to spend the next few years of his career.
The Bucks and Antetokounmpo have until December 21 to finalize a super-max extension, which would add five years onto his current deal and pay him a projected $228.2MM (assuming the cap increases by 3% for 2021/22). If the two sides don’t reach an agreement by that point, Antetokounmpo will be on track to reach free agency in 2021, putting significant pressure on the Bucks to prove during the coming season that they’re a legitimate championship contender.
Reports leading up to the offseason indicated that the Bucks were projecting confidence about their chances of locking up Giannis before the regular season began, but Zach Lowe of ESPN said on The Jump on Tuesday (video link) that the team has “gone kind of silent” since then.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Bucks aren’t still confident, but it’s somewhat concerning when combined with reports that Antetokounmpo had been looking forward to teaming up with Bogdan Bogdanovic, who was seemingly on track to join the Bucks in a sign-and-trade deal last month before it fell apart.
Still, the Bucks have posted the NBA’s best record for two consecutive seasons and added Jrue Holiday to the mix for 2020/21. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be one of the best teams in the NBA again this season, and Holiday increases their postseason upside.
Antetokounmpo’s teammates also don’t seem too concerned about his contract situation, having jokingly gifted him with pens for his 26th birthday on Sunday, as Eric Woodyard of ESPN details.
It’s worth noting that the Bucks and Antetokounmpo could still complete the same five-year super-max extension during the 2021 offseason — they don’t necessarily have to get it done now.
But if he decides to wait, Giannis would be signaling that he wants to keep his options open, and speculation about his future would only increase over the course of the year, since super-max deals can’t be signed during the season. He won’t be able to get any more money by waiting, so if he knows he wants to stay in Milwaukee long-term, it makes sense for him to sign that new deal sooner rather than later.
What do you think? Will Antetokounmpo sign a super-max extension with the Bucks sometime in the next 12 days? Or will he forgo a new deal this month, choosing to keep his options open as his 2021 free agency approaches?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Will Giannis Antetokounmpo sign a super-max extension with the Bucks by December 21?
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No 52% (1,312)
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Yes 48% (1,232)
Total votes: 2,544
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Southeast Notes: Dragic, Bamba, Hawks, Rondo
If the Heat opt to insert center Meyers Leonard back into their starting lineup – where he spent most of last season – alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, it would leave just two slots in the starting five available for Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, and Avery Bradley, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Dragic did well coming off the bench last season before joining the starters in the playoffs. However, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said he hasn’t talked to the veteran point guard yet about whether or not he’ll start. Spoelstra, who pointed out that the opening night lineup wouldn’t necessarily be permanent, is confident that Dragic would be willing to accept any role.
“We’ve been in this a long time together,” the Heat coach said. “It’s great to have guys who are all about winning.”
For his part, Dragic recently said that if Spoelstra asks himself to come off the bench again, it’ll be easier to adjust to this time around, since he now has a year of experience as a Heat reserve under his belt.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Magic have until December 29 to exercise Mohamed Bamba‘s $7.57MM option for the 2021/22 season. Bamba’s development has been slowed by health issues and he has yet to be cleared for full contact, but according to Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel, “all indications are that the team values Bamba and remains committed to him.” That bodes well for his fourth-year option.
- The new-look Hawks have been practicing together for less than a week, but John Collins (the team’s longest-tenured player) is already noticing the effect the new veterans are having on team communication, writes Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The gym is a lot louder … I feel like our older guys are sort of leading,” Collins said, citing Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, and Solomon Hill as the players who have been most vocal.
- Steve Hummer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a closer look at the exceptional basketball IQ that Rondo brings to the Hawks and the impact the veteran point guard can have on his young teammates.
Thunder Sign Theo Maledon
The Thunder have signed rookie guard Theo Maledon to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release. Oklahoma City now has a full 20-man roster, at least for the time being.
Maledon, 19, was the 34th overall pick in November, having technically been selected by Philadelphia. The Sixers traded his rights to Oklahoma City as part of the Al Horford/Danny Green swap that was finally completed on Tuesday.
The French point guard spent last season with ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, playing in France’s Pro A league as well as the EuroLeague. In 46 total games, Maledon averaged 7.3 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 1.9 RPG in 17.3 minutes per contest.
The details of Maledon’s contract aren’t yet known. The Thunder are still technically operating as an over-the-cap club, with their various trade exceptions pushing them over the cap despite a relatively inexpensive roster. As a result, they’ll be able to use their mid-level exception to give Maledon a contract longer than two years and worth more than just the minimum in year one.
Maledon was one of three international draft picks by the Thunder in 2020. First-rounder Aleksej Pokusevski signed his rookie contract last week, while No. 37 pick Vit Krejci appears likely to remain overseas as he recovers from an ACL injury — he’s still under contract with Zaragoza in Spain.
Assuming Krejci is a draft-and-stash prospect, Maledon figures to be the last 2020 draftee to sign a contract for the coming season.
NBA Not Setting Specific Rules For When To Postpone, Cancel Games
The NBA is preparing for the possibility that some games on its 2020/21 regular season schedule will have to be postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 complications. The league has only announced the first half of the schedule so far in order to accommodate those potential postponements and cancellations during the second half.
However, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, the NBA isn’t establishing specific rules or guidelines that will govern when a game will be postponed or canceled. In other words, there won’t be a predetermined number of positive coronavirus tests per team that would result in an automatic postponement.
As Holmes explains, the league will evaluate each scenario on a case-by-case basis, considering variables like how many positive coronavirus cases were found, and when and where they occurred.
For example, Holmes says, if two teams have a similar number of COVID-19 cases, but one club had potential spread in its facility whereas the other club had only isolated incidents, the league may treat the two teams differently.
Local and state coronavirus restrictions and guidelines also figure to vary from team to team and could be a factor in determining whether certain games can take place, Holmes notes.