Knicks, Hawks, Hornets Still Have Cap Room Available
The Knicks, Hawks, and Hornets are the only teams that still project to have cap room available after the first day of free agency, tweets Keith Smith of RealGM.
Smith estimates that New York has about $29MM or so left to spend, with Atlanta around $25MM and Charlotte at about $19MM. Cap exceptions, minimum deals, and sign-and-trades will be the only way for other teams to add free agents, barring cost-cutting moves to get under the cap, Smith notes.
We may find out as early as today what each of those three Eastern lottery teams intends to do with its cap room.
The Knicks are reportedly in the running for free agent forward Gordon Hayward, but could turn their attention elsewhere if Hayward agrees to re-sign with the Celtics or reaches a sign-and-trade deal with the Pacers. Fred VanVleet, who is reportedly meeting with interested teams today, might be one option.
The Hawks are believed to have their sights set on Bogdan Bogdanovic and Rajon Rondo, with a report yesterday indicating that the team was confident it will be able to land at least two players from a group of free agents that included those two and Danilo Gallinari (who is finalizing a three-year deal with Atlanta).
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer says Atlanta is considered the frontrunner to land Bogdanovic, but notes that the Lakers remain in pursuit. Getting something back from L.A. in a sign-and-trade may appeal more to the Kings – who still hold Bogdanovic’s RFA rights – than losing him for nothing if the Hawks use their cap room to sign him to an offer sheet they won’t match.
As for the Hornets, I expect they’ll use a chunk of their cap room to fortify their frontcourt. A report on Friday night indicated they made Montrezl Harrell a bigger offer than the two-year, $19MM deal he ultimately accepted from the Lakers.
Besides VanVleet, Hayward, and Bogdanovic, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Serge Ibaka, Jae Crowder, and Hassan Whiteside are among the best free agents still available from our top-50 list. Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram also technically haven’t agreed to deals with their respective teams, but are considered virtual locks to re-sign with the Lakers and Pelicans.
Bulls’ Denzel Valentine Signs Qualifying Offer
Bulls wing Denzel Valentine has signed his qualifying offer from the team, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As a result of the decision, Valentine will be under contract for the 2020/21 season on a one-year, $4.64MM deal. He’ll have a de facto no-trade clause for the season and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2021 once the contract expires.
The Bulls’ decision to extend a qualifying offer to Valentine was somewhat surprising. After a promising 2017/18, he has only appeared in 36 games over the last two years due to injuries. He averaged 6.8 PPG and 2.1 RPG on .409/.336/.750 in 13.6 minutes per contest for Chicago last season.
New president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas reportedly values Valentine’s shooting ability, which played a big part in the Bulls’ decision to make him a restricted free agent. The 27-year-old knocked down 38.6% of his three-point attempts in his last full season in ’17/18.
Free agent contracts generally can’t be officially completed until after the moratorium at the start of each league year, but signing a qualifying offer is one of the few transactions that is permitted in that window.
NBA 2020 Free Agency: Day 1 Recap
An eventful opening night of the 2020 free agent period saw more than 30 NBA free agents reach agreements on deals, including six whose new contracts will be worth at least $60MM in overall value.
These deals aren’t yet official, so the reported terms could change — or agreements could fall through altogether. Generally speaking though, teams and players are on track to finalize these agreements sometime after the moratorium ends on Sunday.
Here are today’s free agent agreements:
- Davis Bertans, Wizards agree to five-year, $80MM contract.
- Joe Harris, Nets agree to four-year, $75MM contract.
- Marcus Morris, Clippers agree to four-year, $64MM contract.
- Danilo Gallinari, Hawks agree to three-year, $61.5MM contract.
- Jerami Grant, Pistons agree to three-year, $60MM contract.
- Malik Beasley, Timberwolves agree to four-year, $60MM contract.
- Jordan Clarkson, Jazz agree to four-year, $52MM contract.
- Christian Wood, Rockets agree to three-year, $41MM contract (sign-and-trade).
- Goran Dragic, Heat agree to two-year, $37.4MM contract.
- Derrick Favors, Jazz agree to three-year, $27MM contract.
- Jakob Poeltl, Spurs agree to three-year, $27MM contract.
- Mason Plumlee, Pistons agree to three-year, $25MM contract.
- Rodney Hood, Trail Blazers agree to two-year, $21MM contract.
- Meyers Leonard, Heat agree to two-year, $20MM contract.
- Montrezl Harrell, Lakers agree to two-year, $19MM contract.
- Derrick Jones, Trail Blazers agree to two-year, $19MM contract.
- Justin Holiday, Pacers agree to three-year, $18MM contract.
- JaMychal Green, Nuggets agree to two-year, $15MM contract.
- Trey Burke, Mavericks agree to three-year, $10MM contract.
- Pat Connaughton, Bucks agree to two-year, $8.3MM contract.
- Alec Burks, Knicks agree to one-year, $6MM contract.
- Garrett Temple, Bulls agree to one-year, $5MM contract.
- Wesley Matthews, Lakers agree to one-year, $3.6MM contract.
- Drew Eubanks, Spurs agree to three-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Jahlil Okafor, Pistons agree to two-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Dwayne Bacon, Magic agree to two-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Dwight Howard, Sixers agree to one-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Udonis Haslem, Heat agree to one-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Patrick Patterson, Clippers agree to one-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Facundo Campazzo, Nuggets agree to two-year contract (terms unknown).
- Josh Jackson, Pistons agree to two-year contract (terms unknown).
- Anthony Gill, Wizards agree to two-year contract (terms unknown).
- Robin Lopez, Wizards agree to one-year contract (terms unknown).
- James Ennis, Magic agree to one-year contract (terms unknown).
Today’s trades are trickier to round up, since most of them involved adding new parts to previously agreed-upon deals. Here’s a recap of what happened:
The Thunder are sending Steven Adams to New Orleans as part of the Jrue Holiday deal between the Pelicans and Bucks. We still don’t know all the moving parts involved in that one, but Oklahoma City will acquire – you guessed it – more draft picks.- The Thunder, Mavericks, and Pistons agreed to a three-team trade that sends Delon Wright to Detroit, James Johnson to Dallas, and Trevor Ariza, Justin Jackson, and draft compensation to Oklahoma City.
- The Pistons agreed to sign-and-trade Christian Wood to the Rockets as part of their previously agreed-upon deal involving Trevor Ariza (before Detroit reroutes him to OKC).
- The Trail Blazers officially acquired Enes Kanter from the Celtics, folding that deal into a Grizzlies/C’s draft-night agreement.
- The Timberwolves officially finalized their trade for Ricky Rubio.
Here are some of the day’s other major headlines:
- De’Aaron Fox and the Kings agreed to a five-year, maximum-salary extension (starts in 2021/22; projected value of between $163-196MM).
- Wizards point guard John Wall is reportedly seeking a trade out of Washington.
- The Raptors will play their home games in Tampa, Florida to start the 2020/21 season.
- The Rockets and Magic discussed a Russell Westbrook trade, but didn’t gain traction.
- Anthony Davis will take his time signing his new contract with the Lakers.
- Davis is one of several players expected to sign maximum-salary contracts soon, along with Brandon Ingram, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell.
- Gordon Hayward is hoping to land a four-year, $100MM contract via a sign-and-trade to the Pacers.
Despite a busy Friday, there are still plenty of stories to watch over the course of the weekend — five of the top six free agents on our top-50 list don’t yet have new deals in place.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Western Rumors: Howard, Lakers, Carmelo, Cousins, Kanter, More
Before he agreed to a deal with the Sixers on Friday night, Dwight Howard posted a message on his Twitter account indicating that he would be re-signing with the Lakers.
“I’m staying right where I belong,” Howard wrote. “Laker nation I love y’all. Purple and gold never gets old.”
A few minutes later, the tweet had been deleted, and a little later in the evening, Howard was set to join the 76ers. So what happened?
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, sources within the Lakers’ organization are adamant that they never put a formal offer on the table for Howard and that they discussed a “deal concept.” Howard, on the other hand, believe that if he agreed to the “deal concept,” the two sides had a deal.
As Haynes writes, Lakers management told Howard’s agent they had to consult with team ownership and get approval before making an official offer. The veteran center waited for almost an hour without hearing back, sources tell Haynes. Ultimately, the communication breakdown resulted in Howard preparing to head east for the 2020/21 season.
Here are a few more free agency notes and rumors from around the Western Conference:
- The Trail Blazers haven’t ruled out the possibility of re-signing Carmelo Anthony, even after lining up deals to acquire Robert Covington and Derrick Jones, tweets David Aldridge of The Athletic.
- The Rockets touched base with DeMarcus Cousins‘ camp today, a source told Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). Iko’s report came before the team reached a deal with Christian Wood, so it’s not clear whether or not signing Cousins remains an option for Houston.
- Now that the Lakers aren’t an option for Tristan Thompson, the Clippers could emerge as a real possibility, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who notes (via Twitter) that it’d be a chance for Thompson to reunite with Tyronn Lue.
- The Lakers and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope remain interested in getting a deal done, but will have to reach a compromise on salary, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Caldwell-Pope is seeking a raise, while the Lakers won’t have a ton of wiggle room below their hard cap.
- The Celtics gave Enes Kanter a choice of being traded to either the Grizzlies or Trail Blazers in the deal that was completed earlier today, and Kanter chose Portland, a source tells Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Count the Timberwolves among the teams with interest in free agent big man Paul Millsap, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
Nuggets Sign JaMychal Green To Two-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 30: The Nuggets have officially signed Green, the team announced in a press release.
NOVEMBER 21: The Nuggets have reached an agreement to sign free agent forward JaMychal Green to a two-year, $15MM contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal will include a second-year player option.
Denver’s depth chart took a hit earlier tonight when power forward Jerami Grant and center Mason Plumlee both agreed to sign with the Pistons. Signing Green will allow the team to replenish some of that lost frontcourt depth.
Green’s numbers don’t jump off the page, but he’s a reliable three-point shooter (39.4% over the last two seasons) and a versatile frontcourt defender who can play the five in smaller lineups. He averaged 6.8 PPG and 6.2 RPG in 63 games (20.7 MPG) for the Clippers last season and was an important role player for the team in the postseason.
Based on the reported figures for Green’s new deal, it appears the Nuggets will use a chunk of their mid-level exception to bring him aboard.
Meanwhile, the Clippers will now be looking to fill some holes in the frontcourt themselves. Although they agreed to re-sign Marcus Morris, they’ve now lost both Green and Montrezl Harrell since free agency opened.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Eastern Notes: Hawks, Collins, Wall, Holiday, Pistons
The Hawks‘ deal with power forward Danilo Gallinari has raised some questions about John Collins‘ long-term fit in Atlanta. However, Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (via Twitter) that the club is still hoping to get a rookie scale extension done with Collins this offseason. In other words, the addition of Gallinari doesn’t mean the Hawks don’t still consider Collins part of their future.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference on the first night of free agency:
- In the wake of a report that Wizards point guard John Wall is seeking a trade out of Washington, Fred Katz of The Athletic notes (via Twitter) that Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington reported earlier this week that Wall was “surprised” to hear GM Tommy Sheppard say that the franchise was building around Bradley Beal. Even if Sheppard’s comment didn’t directly lead to Wall’s apparent trade request, the timing is interesting.
- Aaron Holiday has drawn frequent trade interest over the last two years, but the Pacers remain high on the 24-year-old guard, per J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link), who hears that Holiday is “safe.” Holiday’s name came up in trade rumors involving Boston earlier today.
- The Pistons didn’t want to go as high as Houston was willing to in order to re-sign Christian Wood (nearly $14MM per year), which was way the team shifted its focus to Jerami Grant, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Pacers Sign Justin Holiday To Three-Year Contract
NOVEMBER 22: The Pacers have issued a press release officially confirming their new deal with Holiday.
“Re-signing Justin was one of our main priorities going into free agency,” president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “His contributions last season were tremendous. He can play multiple positions and is extremely versatile. He also represents this franchise as a true professional, on and off the court.”
NOVEMBER 20: The Pacers are bringing back shooting guard Justin Holiday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to a three-year, $18MM deal. It’ll be fully guaranteed, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
Holiday, 31, was a key second-unit player in Indiana in 2019/20, averaging 8.3 PPG and 3.3 RPG on .428/.405/.791 shooting in 73 games (25.0 MPG). He was the only regular rotation player for the Pacers who was a free agent this week.
After earning $4.77MM last season, Holiday was eligible for a starting salary worth up to 120% of that amount using his Non-Bird rights, and it appears that’s how the Pacers will re-sign him. The total value of his deal should be about $18.02MM, and Indiana will still have its mid-level exception available if needed.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rockets To Acquire Christian Wood Via Sign-And-Trade
10:31pm: In exchange for agreeing to sign-and-trade Wood to Houston as part of the previously agreed-upon Ariza deal, the Pistons will acquire a future second-round pick and will add even more protections to the first-round pick they’re sending to the Rockets, tweets James Edwards III of The Athletic.
9:18pm: The Rockets are now in agreement with Wood, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that it’ll be a three-year, $41MM deal.
That’s a significant increase on what was reported earlier and it means it’ll have to be a sign-and-trade rather than a move that uses Houston’s mid-level exception. It’ll presumably be folded into the not-yet-official trade sending Trevor Ariza from the Rockets to the Pistons.
Houston will be hard-capped at $138.93MM for the 2020/21 league year as a result of acquiring a player via sign-and-trade.
7:58pm: After Frank Isola of SiriusXM NBA Radio reported (via Twitter) that the Rockets were close to finalizing a three-year, $27MM agreement with big man Christian Wood, Shams Charania of The Athletic says (via Twitter) that Wood remains engaged with interested teams.
Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle refers to Wood as Houston’s “top free agent target,” but hears from a source close to the player that a deal isn’t close to being finalized at this point.
If the Rockets can complete a deal with Wood, it would be a major get for the organization, as the Pistons big man is one of the most intriguing frontcourt players of this year’s free agent class.
Wood had a breakout year in 2019/20, though his full-season stats (13.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG) don’t tell the full story — after he entered the starting lineup following the Drummond trade, he recorded 22.8 PPG, 9.9 RPG, and 2.0 APG over his final 13 games. He also showed off an improved three-point shot, making 54-of-140 attempts (38.6%) on the season, despite having only attempted 42 threes prior to 2019/20.
Detroit has already reached deals with a pair of centers tonight, agreeing to sign Mason Plumlee and Jahlil Okafor. While that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t re-sign Wood, it probably reduces the odds that he’ll remain with the Pistons. A sign-and-trade remains a viable possibility though, especially if his contract ends up in the range that Isola’s report suggests.
Whether or not they’re able to secure a commitment from Wood, the fact that they’re in the mix for him is a signal that the Rockets are in the market for big men after their micro-ball experiment in 2019/20. If Wood signs elsewhere, Houston will still have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception available to address the position.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trail Blazers Acquire Enes Kanter From Celtics
10:21pm: The trade is now official, according to press release from the Celtics and Grizzlies.
The deal will send Kanter to Portland, Hezonja and the rights to Bane to Memphis, and two future second-round picks to Boston. The Grizzlies will also send cash to Portland in the move.
One of the two second-rounders headed from Memphis to Boston is the Grizzlies’ own 2025 pick. The other will be the more favorable of the following:
- Houston’s 2023 second-rounder.
- The less favorable of Memphis’ and Dallas’ 2023 second-rounders.
2:46pm: The Trail Blazers are reuniting with veteran center Enes Kanter, having reached a deal to acquire him from the Celtics, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski explains, the deal will be folded into the draft-night agreement between the Celtics and Grizzlies that saw Memphis land the No. 30 pick and select TCU’s Desmond Bane. The Grizzlies will receive Mario Hezonja from Portland in the swap, while the Celtics will get a future draft consideration from Memphis.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Offseason Trades]
Kanter, 28, enjoyed a brief, productive stint in Portland to finish the 2018/19 season, averaging 11.4 PPG and 9.7 RPG in 16 playoff games that year as the team made it to the Western Conference Finals. The two sides were unable to come to an agreement in free agency a year ago, resulting in Kanter signing with the Celtics. A year later, he’s back with the Blazers.
The move will give Portland a veteran backup for starting center Jusuf Nurkic and is probably a strong signal that free agent big man Hassan Whiteside isn’t coming back.
The Celtics, meanwhile, having already traded away Vincent Poirier this week, have created a little extra cap and roster flexibility in advance of free agency, though they’ll need to add a frontcourt player or two to make up for losing a pair of centers.
Hezonja and Kanter both exercised player options for 2020/21 earlier this week, so they’re on expiring contracts. Hezonja will earn $1.98MM, while Kanter will make just over $5MM. The Grizzlies will take on Hezonja using one of their trade exceptions and Portland will do the same for Kanter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
John Wall Reportedly Seeking Trade Out Of Washington
Although talks between the Wizards and Rockets on a potential Russell Westbrook/John Wall trade have stalled, Wall has made it clear that he wants to be traded out of Washington, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
This is a surprising development, as Wall has spent his entire career in D.C. and has spent the better part of two years rehabbing multiple injuries, including a torn Achilles. Having last played on December 26, 2018, Wall appeared poised to return for the Wizards next month, joining forces with Bradley Beal and a newly re-signed Davis Bertans in an effort to get the team back into the postseason.
It’s still possible that will happen. Just because Wall is seeking a trade, that doesn’t mean the Wizards have to oblige. Wall, who has one of the least team-friendly contracts in the NBA still has three years and nearly $133MM left on his deal.
Moving that contract will be a challenge – especially given how long it’s been since teams have seen Wall play – and the 30-year-old doesn’t have a ton of leverage to force Washington’s hand, since he’s so far removed from free agency. Westbrook’s deal is one of the few in the same ballpark financially, but the Rockets would be seeking additional assets in any swap involving the two All-Star point guards.
The Wizards’ biggest concern may be the ripple effect of Wall’s stance. So far, the team has been adamant that it has no intention of trading Bradley Beal and that it wants to see its backcourt fully healthy and back in action this season. In Houston, Westbrook and James Harden both asked to be traded one after the other — general manager Tommy Sheppard won’t want to see that scenario play out with Washington’s star guards.
Before his 2018/19 season ended prematurely, Wall had been averaging 20.7 PPG, 8.7 APG, and 3.6 RPG in 34.5 minutes per contest.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.