Latest On Kevin Durant
After speaking to “a couple” NBA general managers, Marc J. Spears of ESPN (video link via Talkin NBA) outlined during an appearance on NBA Today what sort of return the Nets are seeking as they explore the trade market for Kevin Durant.
“A young or future All-Star,” Spears said, “lots of picks, the ability to swap picks, and another starter.”
Spears went on to say that Durant “might not have as much control of the situation as one would think,” not only because he has four years left on his contract but because there are so many teams involved in the bidding. According to Spears, about half the league’s clubs remain interested.
Here’s more on Durant:
- Sam Amick of The Athletic explains that Phoenix is Durant’s preferred destination in part because of his close relationship with Monty Williams, who was an assistant for the Thunder in 2015/16. The bond between the two men grew deeper after Williams’ wife was killed in a car accident in February 2016, Amick writes.
- While Phoenix may be atop Durant’s wish list, Amick has gotten the sense that the Nets would want something more – or something “different” – than a Suns package headlined by Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges. Cameron Johnson is a player who might help move the needle for the Nets, Amick adds. However, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) suggests that any deal between the Suns and Nets would likely see Phoenix giving up the maximum amount of first-round picks (four) and pick swaps (three).
- The Heat are also on Durant’s wish list, but Amick says the former MVP would only want to play on a Miami team that features Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kyle Lowry. Amick is understandably skeptical that a package centered around Tyler Herro would gain any momentum.
- The Nets have been “emboldened” by the returns in the Rudy Gobert and Dejounte Murray trades, which both included multiple unprotected first-round picks, Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on ESPN’s televised NBA Free Agency Special on Friday evening. Wojnarowski added that he doesn’t believe the Nets are in any rush to make a deal, since they want to fully assess all their options.
- Wojnarowski also said during ESPN’s NBA Free Agency Special (video link) that he believes the Raptors are “lurking” as a possible suitor for Durant, given their combination of players and draft picks, as well as their track record for making this sort of deal (for Kawhi Leonard in 2018).
Celtics Re-Sign Luke Kornet
JULY 9: The Celtics have officially re-signed Kornet, per a team release.
JULY 1: The Celtics are re-signing big man Luke Kornet, having agreed to terms with him on a new two-year contract, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Kornet, who will turn 27 later this month, has bounced around the NBA since making his debut in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt. The forward/center has averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 148 total games (14.3 MPG) for the Knicks, Bulls, Celtics, Cavaliers, and Bucks.
Kornet finished the 2020/21 season with the Celtics following a deadline trade and then spent much of the ’21/22 campaign with the team’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, before being promoted to Boston’s 15-man roster in February.
While Kornet hasn’t seen much action at the NBA level for the Celtics, he put up solid numbers for Maine, averaging 14.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.9 BPG in 11 regular season NBAGL appearances this past season.
Terms of the deal aren’t known, but I’d be surprised if it’s worth more than the minimum, and it may not be fully guaranteed for both years. The Celtics opened up a series of roster spots for the coming season when they agreed to send five players to Indiana in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon.
Nemanja Bjelica Agrees To Deal With Fenerbahce
After winning a title with the Warriors this season, veteran forward Nemanja Bjelica is headed back to Europe.
Bjelica has agreed to sign a two-year contract with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce, according to a report from Ugur Ozan Sulak of SocratesDergi.com (Twitter link). The deal will have a total net value of about $4MM, per Johnny Askounis and Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.
Golden State had been interested in re-signing Bjelica to a minimum-salary contract, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), but were informed today that he’d be leaving the NBA for one of his former teams overseas. Before he arrived in the NBA, Bjelica played for Fenerbahce for two seasons from 2013-15, earning EuroLeague MVP honors in ’15.
After spending six NBA in Minnesota, Sacramento, and Miami from 2015-21, Bjelica joined the Warriors for his seventh season and made 71 regular season appearances for the club this past year, averaging 6.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 2.2 APG with a .362 3PT% in 16.1 minutes per game.
Having won an NBA championship for the first time, the 34-year-old presumably liked the idea of returning to the EuroLeague, where he’ll earn a similar salary and have a far more significant role.
Cavaliers Sign Raul Neto To One-Year Deal
JULY 8: The Cavaliers have officially completed the signing of Reto, per a team press release.
JULY 1: Free agent point guard Raul Neto is signing with the Cavaliers, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Neto will receive a one-year, minimum-salary contract, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
Neto, 30, spent the last seasons in D.C. as a backup point guard for the Wizards and acquitted himself well, averaging 8.1 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.2 RPG on .465/.349/.819 shooting in 134 total games (20.7 MPG). The seven-year veteran previously spent time with the Jazz and Sixers.
The Cavaliers reached an agreement on Friday to bring back veteran point guard Ricky Rubio to back up All-Star Darius Garland, but Rubio is recovering from a torn ACL and is unlikely to be ready to play this fall.
While Rubio works his way back, Neto should get a chance to be Garland’s primary backup. He’ll presumably shift a spot down the depth chart when Rubio returns.
In addition to agreeing to terms with Rubio and Neto today, the Cavaliers struck a minimum-salary deal with center Robin Lopez, as they continue to add veteran depth to complement their core.
Bulls Re-Sign Derrick Jones To Two-Year Deal
JULY 6: Jones is officially back under contract with the Bulls, according to a Twitter announcement from the team.
JULY 1: The Bulls and Derrick Jones have agreed to a new two-year contract that will keep the free agent forward in Chicago, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Jones’ two-year deal will be worth $6.6MM, with a second-year player option.
Chicago held Jones’ Early Bird rights, but a deal completed using the Early Bird exception can’t include a second-year option, so the team is likely renouncing its Early Bird rights and making Jones a Non-Bird free agent. The Bulls would then be able to complete the signing without dipping into their mid-level exception.
Jones, 25, appeared in 51 games for Chicago in 2021/22 after being acquired from Portland in an offseason trade. He averaged 5.6 PPG and 3.3 RPG on .538/.328/.800 shooting in 17.6 minutes per contest.
While Jones hasn’t made a major impact on the offensive end since entering the NBA in 2016, his athleticism and his ability to guard multiple positions on defense have continued to earn him regular minutes.
The Bulls now project to be about $3.5MM below the luxury tax line with 14 players under contract, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.
Cavaliers Sign Robin Lopez
JULY 7: The Cavaliers have officially signed Lopez, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.
JULY 1: The Cavaliers have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent center Robin Lopez, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). It’s a minimum-salary contract for Lopez, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Lopez is coming off a one-year, $5MM deal with the Magic. The 34-year-old was effective in a limited role in Orlando, but was in and out of the rotation as the club focused on developing young bigs Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba.
In 36 games (17.0 MPG), Lopez averaged 7.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.5 APG on 55.3% shooting. The former 15th overall pick is valued by NBA teams in large part due to his willingness and ability to do the dirty work on both ends of the court, including setting good screens and effectively boxing out rebounders.
Lopez will provide some depth and veteran leadership in a Cavaliers frontcourt headed by All-Star center Jarrett Allen and promising youngster Evan Mobley.
Raptors Sign Otto Porter To Two-Year Deal
JULY 6: The Raptors have sent out a press release officially announcing the signing of Porter. As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca recently reported, the two-year deal will be worth $12.4MM.
JULY 1: On the heels of winning a championship with Golden State, free agent forward Otto Porter has agreed to a two-year deal with the Raptors, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who reports that the second year of Porter’s new contract will be a player option.
Porter, 29, averaged 8.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, and 1.1 SPG in a part-time role with the Warriors this past season, posting a shooting line of .464/.370/.803 in 63 games (22.2 MPG). He was also a regular part of the rotation during the club’s playoff run, appearing in 19 games and logging 19.5 minutes per contest.
The third overall pick in the 2013 draft, Porter has long been considered a solid three-and-D forward with good size. He signed a maximum-salary offer sheet as a restricted free agent in 2017, but battled injuries over the course of the deal, bouncing around from Washington to Chicago to Orlando, and ultimately had to settle for a minimum-salary contract with the Warriors last summer.
Golden State had another minimum-salary offer on the table to Porter this offseason, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), but after rebuilding his value on the champion Warriors, the former Georgetown star figures to get a earn more than that on his deal with the Raptors. Terms aren’t yet known, but Toronto has its mid-level exception available.
The Raptors are already loaded at the forward spot, but have committed to playing a relatively positionless style, and Porter – who has a career .398 3PT% – fits the team’s need for outside shooting.
Porter’s wife is from Toronto, which was one factor in his free agency decision, tweets Haynes.
Eastern Notes: LaVine, Bryant, G. Harris, T. Young, Hawks
Although Zach LaVine wasn’t one of the 38 free agents who reportedly reached a contract agreement during the first day of free agency on Thursday, the Bulls remain confident that the two-time All-Star will eventually agree to a new five-year, $215MM deal to stay in Chicago, sources tell Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. According to Cowley, the Bulls met with LaVine during day one of free agency, but the 27-year-old wants to hear all the offers that may be available to him.
Here’s more from around the East:
- Wizards free agent center Thomas Bryant still appears unlikely to return to Washington, as was reported on Thursday. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Bryant is receiving “significant” interest from contending teams and will likely make a decision today. The Celtics and Lakers are among the clubs in the mix, Haynes adds.
- The two-year contract extensions signed by Magic wing Gary Harris and Raptors forward Thaddeus Young on Thursday aren’t fully guaranteed in 2023/24, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. According to Marks, Harris has no protection in the second year of his new contract, while Young has a partial guarantee.
- The Hawks have officially confirmed a front office move that was reported in June, announcing in a press release that Landry Fields has been elevated from assistant GM to general manager. The club also announced a series of other basketball operations hires and promotions.
Nuggets Sign Bruce Brown To Two-Year Deal
JULY 7: The deal is now official, the Nuggets announced in a press release.
JULY 1: The Nuggets have reached an agreement to sign free agent wing Bruce Brown to a two-year, $13MM+ contract, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal will include a second-year player option, Andrews adds (via Twitter).
Denver appears likely to use the taxpayer portion of its mid-level exception to complete the signing — a two-year deal worth the full taxpayer MLE would come in at around $13.3MM.
Brown became eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer after accepting his $4.7MM qualifying offer from Brooklyn a year ago. He spent his first two NBA seasons in Detroit from 2018-20 and has been a Net for the last two years.
Brown does a little bit of everything on the court, playing and guarding multiple positions while providing some scoring (9.0 PPG), play-making (2.1 APG), rebounding (4.8 RPG), and even three-point shooting (40.4%) in 2021/22.
The 25-year-old is the type of player who doesn’t need the ball on offense and can switch onto virtually anyone defensively, making him an ideal fit for a Nuggets team that has been looking to upgrade its defense around stars Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr.
According to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link), the Nuggets had Brown high on their list of targets and love his defensive versatility. As Singer notes (via Twitter), it looks like Brown will essentially take Austin Rivers‘ place on the roster, since Denver now has a projected 14 players under contract for 2022/23, plus restricted free agent Vlatko Cancar.
Cavaliers Sign Ricky Rubio To Three-Year Deal
JULY 8: The Cavaliers have officially signed Rubio, the team announced in a press release. As we previously relayed, the team used its mid-level exception to complete the deal after a sign-and-trade didn’t materialize.
JULY 1: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement to bring back free agent point guard Ricky Rubio on a three-year, $18.4MM contract, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The third year will be partially guaranteed, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Based on the financial details reported by Haynes, it appears Cleveland will use a portion of its mid-level exception to sign Rubio. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) was the first to report the two sides were nearing a deal.
Cleveland acquired Rubio from Minnesota in a 2021 offseason trade and he played a key role in the Cavs’ first-half success this past season. Despite serving primarily as a reserve, the 31-year-old averaged a career-high 13.1 PPG to go along with 6.6 APG and 4.1 RPG in 34 games (28.5 MPG).
However, Rubio’s season came to an early end when he tore his left ACL in December. The Cavs subsequently used his expiring contract as a salary-matching piece in their trade for Caris LeVert, resulting in Rubio finishing the season with the Pacers.
There had been reports throughout the offseason indicating that there was mutual interest in a reunion between the Spaniard and the Cavs — that reunion has now come to fruition.
ACL tears can sideline NBA players for a full calendar year or more, and even when they return to the court, it often takes them some time to get back to full speed, so expectations for Rubio in 2022/23 – especially in the first half – should be tempered.
Given that Cleveland agreed to a three-year deal though, it seems as if the team is counting on him to be around for the long haul and will be patient as he recovers from his knee injury and gets his feet back under him.
Once Rubio is healthy, he figures to once again slot into the backup point guard role behind All-Star guard Darius Garland.