Cavaliers Sign RJ Nembhard
10:00pm: The Cavaliers have officially signed Nembhard to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal, per RealGM.
3:01pm: The Cavaliers have reached an agreement on a deal with undrafted free agent RJ Nembhard, according to our JD Shaw (Twitter link), who reports that Nembhard will compete for a roster spot in training camp.
Nembhard was a redshirt junior for TCU in 2020/21 and averaged 15.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 4.0 APG in 24 games (34.9 MPG). The 6’5″ guard boosted his three-point percentage to 33.9% and made the All-Big 12 Third Team.
News of Nembhard’s agreement with the Cavaliers comes as a bit of a surprise, since Adrian Wojnarowski reported shortly after the draft that the rookie had agreed to a deal with the Heat. However, Woj’s report didn’t specify that Nembhard would attend training camp with the Heat — the 22-year-old played for Miami’s Summer League team, but it appears he’ll sign his first NBA contract with the Cavs rather than the Heat.
The Cavaliers have been busy in the last week, having signed Tacko Fall and Tre Scott to training camp deals and agreed to terms with Mitch Ballock as well. Like those camp invitees, Nembhard figures to receive a non-guaranteed contract that could put him in the mix for a two-way contract or even a spot on the 15-man roster. He’d also be a candidate to join the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, if he’s cut before the regular season begins.
Cavaliers Sign Mitch Ballock To Camp Deal
10:00pm: The deal is official, per RealGM’s transactions log.
2:05pm: The Cavaliers are expected to sign undrafted rookie guard Mitch Ballock to a deal for training camp, sources tell our JD Shaw (Twitter link). It will likely to be an Exhibit 10 deal.
Ballock, 23, played his college ball at Creighton from 2017-21. As a senior in 2020/21, he averaged 9.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 2.6 APG on .435/.386/.571 shooting in 31 games (33.6 MPG). Across four college seasons, 773 of Ballock’s 1,028 field goal attempts were three-pointers, and he knocked down 39.8% of them.
Ballock, who was on the Sixers’ roster for Summer League play in Las Vegas last month, is on track to join a Cavaliers roster that currently features 10 players on guaranteed contracts on six on non-guaranteed deals.
Earning a spot on the team’s regular season roster is probably a long shot, but if Ballock’s contract includes Exhibit 10 language, it could be converted into a two-way deal or could give him the opportunity to earn a bonus of up to $50K if he joins the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge.
International Notes: Ferrell, M. Thomas, Zhou, Canada
Veteran guard Yogi Ferrell, who cleared waivers today after being released by the Clippers late on Sunday night, would like to find another NBA opportunity this fall. However, he isn’t ruling out the possibility of moving overseas and playing in Europe for the first time in his career, according to Stefanos Tatsios of Eurohoops.net.
The Thunder could be an option for Ferrell if he remains stateside, per Alessandro Maggi of Sportando (Twitter link). However, Oklahoma City might not have any regular season roster spots available, so Ferrell’s best chance to get some job security and regular playing time could come overseas.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the international basketball world:
- Before he signed a non-guaranteed contract with Chicago, sharpshooter Matt Thomas drew interest from multiple EuroLeague teams, including CSKA Moscow, according to a report from Spanish outlet Encestando (Twitter link). If Thomas doesn’t make the Bulls’ regular season roster, a return to Europe seems like a possibility — he spent two seasons in Spain from 2017-19, so he’s no stranger to international basketball.
- Former Rockets big man Zhou Qi, a second-round pick in the 2016 draft, has officially signed a two-year deal with South East Melbourne Phoenix in Australia’s National Basketball League, the team announced in a press release. Zhou, who appeared in just 19 total games with Houston across two seasons in 2017-18, got a second-year player option on his new contract.
- Veteran basketball executive Glen Grunwald, who had stints with Denver, Toronto, and New York, is retiring as president and CEO of Canada Basketball, per a press release. Michael Bartlett will succeed Grunwald, who will remain involved with Canada Basketball in a part-time advisory role through the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Bulls Sign Tyler Cook
In addition to confirming several previously-reported additions to their roster, the Bulls announced today in a press release that they’ve signed free agent forward Tyler Cook to a contract.
While the terms of Cook’s contract aren’t known, Chicago’s other recent deals with Stanley Johnson, Alize Johnson, Matt Thomas, and Ethan Thompson are non-guaranteed, so Cook’s likely will be too.
A 6’8″ forward out of Iowa, Cook played for the Cavaliers and Nuggets as a rookie in 2019/20, then spent time with the Nets and Pistons during the 2020/21 campaign. After signing a 10-day contract with Brooklyn, he inked a pair of 10-day pacts with Detroit and then agreed to a multiyear deal in April. The team waived him at the end of July.
In 32 total games in 2020/21 for the Nets and Pistons, Cook averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 32 games (13.7 MPG). He made 67.0% of his field goal attempts, but just 48.6% of his free throws.
Chicago has 13 players on guaranteed contracts, plus one on a two-way deal, so there are at least a couple spots up for grabs on the 17-man regular season squad. Cook figures to compete with the team’s other recent signings for one of those spots.
Pelicans To Sign Malcolm Hill To Camp Deal
After playing for the Pelicans’ team at the Las Vegas Summer League last month, small forward Malcolm Hill will attend training camp with New Orleans, reports ESPN’s Andrew Lopez (Twitter link).
Hill has spent the last several years playing in international leagues after going undrafted out of Illinois in 2017. The 25-year-old was a member of teams in the Philippines, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Israel before returning stateside this year. He averaged 17.2 PPG and 5.1 RPG on .434/.355/.784 shooting in 35 games (33.3 MPG) in his last college season, back in 2016/17.
The Pelicans are currently carrying 15 players on guaranteed contracts, plus Wenyen Gabriel on a non-guaranteed deal and Jose Alvarado and Daulton Hommes on two-way deals. Barring additional moves, it doesn’t look like the team will have any open roster spots for the regular season, so Hill could be on track to eventually join the Birmingham Squad, New Orleans’ new G League affiliate.
2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Atlanta Hawks
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves, examine what still needs to be done before opening night, and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Atlanta Hawks.
Free agent signings:
Note: Exhibit 10 deals aren’t included here.
- John Collins: Five years, $125MM. Fifth-year player option. Re-signed as restricted free agent using Bird rights.
- Lou Williams: One year, $5MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Gorgui Dieng: One year, $4MM. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Solomon Hill: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
- Skylar Mays: Two-way contract. Accepted two-way qualifying offer as restricted free agent.
Trades:
- Acquired Delon Wright from the Kings in a three-team trade in exchange for Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando, and the Trail Blazers’ 2023 second-round pick (all sent to Celtics).
Draft picks:
- 1-20: Jalen Johnson
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $12,888,585).
- 2-48: Sharife Cooper
- Signed to two-way contract.
Contract extensions:
- Trae Young: Five years, maximum salary. Projected value of $172,500,000. Projected value can increase to $207,060,000 if Young earns All-NBA honors in 2022. Includes fifth-year player option and 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2022/23.
- Clint Capela: Two years, $42,881,280 (base value). Includes $4MM in incentives. Starts in 2023/24.
Departing players:
Other offseason news:
- Retained Nate McMillan as their permanent head coach.
- Onyeka Okongwu underwent shoulder surgery and will miss the start of the 2021/22 season.
- Added Joe Prunty, Jamelle McMillan, and Nick Van Exel to coaching staff; Melvin Hunt and Marlon Garnett departed coaching staff.
Salary cap situation:
- Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
- Carrying approximately $133.1MM in salary.
- $5,536,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($4MM used on Gorgui Dieng).
- Full bi-annual exception ($3,732,000) still available.
- One traded player exception ($1,782,621) available.
Lingering preseason issues:
- The Hawks have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, so they could still add a 15th man.
- Kevin Huerter is eligible for a rookie scale contract extension until October 18.
- Delon Wright is eligible for a veteran contract extension all season (extend-and-trade limitations are in place until December).
The Hawks’ offseason:
A year ago, the Hawks’ offseason priority was using their significant cap room to add veteran players capable of complementing the team’s young core. Not all of those signings were successful (Kris Dunn and Rajon Rondo didn’t last long in Atlanta), but the approach paid off as a whole, as the team made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
This time around, the Hawks’ offseason focus wasn’t on continuing to add outside talent to the roster, but rather on retaining the franchise’s most important pieces for the long term.
First and foremost, this meant locking up leading scorer Trae Young to a rookie scale extension. The Hawks offered Young a five-year, maximum-salary deal as soon as they were allowed to do so, and now have the former No. 5 overall pick under team control through at least 2026.
Shortly after reaching a deal with Young, Atlanta agreed to terms with John Collins on a five-year deal. That negotiation was trickier — Young was still a year away from free agency, but Collins became a restricted free agent this summer, meaning he could’ve sought an offer sheet from a rival suitor. And while the negotiations with Young essentially amounted to handing over a blank check, the Collins talks revolved around finding a number below the maximum that satisfied both sides.
That number ended up being $25MM per year, which looks like a fair price for a versatile frontcourt player who is a force on offense and still has room to grow on defense. The Hawks left those negotiations happy that they locked in Collins for less than the max, while the fifth-year player option in his new contract will allow the big man to hit the open market again at age 27, when he could be in line for an even bigger payday.
Having secured Young and Collins to long-term deals near the start of free agency, the Hawks waited a few weeks before working out an extension with big man Clint Capela as well. Teams around the NBA aren’t investing in the center position like they used to, but some players are still worthy of big-money commitments, and Capela showed in 2020/21 that he fits that bill — he anchored Atlanta’s defense and finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Tacking on two more years to the two left on Capela’s current contract was a good bit of business for the Hawks, who now have the center on the books for about $83.7MM over the next four years (various incentives could slightly shift that total in one direction or the other).
The Hawks’ final key retention wasn’t a player at all — it was head coach Nate McMillan. The team’s trajectory changed significantly midway through the 2020/21 season when McMillan replaced Lloyd Pierce on the sidelines. The veteran coach led Atlanta to a 27-11 record the rest of the way and won two playoff series, showing that his lack of postseason success in four years in Indiana didn’t mean he couldn’t win in the playoffs.
There was never any doubt that the Hawks would offer McMillan the permanent job at season’s end — luckily for the franchise, he accepted that offer rather than exploring the open market, where he surely would’ve received plenty of interest from a few of the seven teams seeking new coaches.
While re-signing and extending their in-house talent was the primary focus of the Hawks’ offseason, their work around the edges of the roster shouldn’t be overlooked. Atlanta is hoping Delon Wright can give the team the kind of backcourt production that Rondo and Dunn didn’t — Wright is a versatile defender who is capable of getting to the basket and taking some ball-handling pressure off of Young.
The free agent addition of Gorgui Dieng was another solid move by president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk and his front office. Dieng wasn’t a great value on his previous contract (four years, $63MM), but at one year and $4MM, he should provide a solid return on investment — especially with Onyeka Okongwu expected to miss the start of the season while he recovers from shoulder surgery.
The Hawks’ upcoming season:
Expecting the Hawks to return to the Eastern Conference Finals may be overly optimistic. Milwaukee and Brooklyn are probably the two best teams in the East, while Miami, Boston, Indiana, New York, and others will be looking to claim places in the upper tier.
Still, even if the Hawks don’t make another deep playoff run in 2022, we shouldn’t necessarily count on a significant amount of regression. Atlanta was successful in 2020/21 despite missing key players like De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish for virtually all of the second half of the season, and Bogdan Bogdanovic for a big chunk of the first half. Young and Collins have room to continue improving, and this will be the team’s first full season under McMillan.
I think the Hawks are still one move away from legitimate title contention, but this is a deep, talented team capable of competing for a top-four seed in the East and making some noise in the postseason again.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.
Celtics To Re-Sign Luke Kornet To Exhibit 10 Contract
The Celtics have agreed to re-sign free agent big man Luke Kornet to an Exhibit 10 contract, sources tell Chris Grenham of Forbes (Twitter link).
Kornet, 26, has appeared in a total of 133 regular season games for the Knicks, Bulls, and Celtics since entering the NBA in 2017/18 out of Vanderbilt. He was traded from Chicago to Boston at the 2021 deadline and played a semi-regular role for the Celtics down the stretch, putting up 4.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 18 games (14.1 MPG).
The 7’2″ forward/center is probably a long shot to make Boston’s regular season roster, but the team may give him a chance to compete for the 15th spot.
As we noted earlier today when we relayed word of Juwan Morgan‘s new deal with the Celtics, the club will be carrying 14 players on guaranteed contracts once the Juan Hernangomez trade is official. If the C’s intend to hang onto a 15th man for the start of the regular season, Kornet and Morgan could challenge Jabari Parker – who has a small partial guarantee – for that last roster spot.
Scotto’s Latest: Blazers, Beasley, Patterson, Ennis, More
The Trail Blazers have 13 players with guaranteed contracts on their roster and have added Dennis Smith Jr. and Marquese Chriss on non-guaranteed deals to vie for one of the team’s open roster spots. However, that competition may end up including more veterans than just Smith and Chriss.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Trail Blazers are eyeing other free agent forwards as possible training camp invitees. Michael Beasley, who played for Portland’ Summer League team, is one possibility. The club is also eyeing veteran stretch four Patrick Patterson, says Scotto.
The Blazers still only have 16 players under contract, which means there are four more spots available on their 20-man offseason roster.
As we wait to see how Portland fills those openings, here are a few more items of interest from Scotto:
- Having previously identified the Bulls as one team interested in free agent wing James Ennis, Scotto adds a few more clubs to that list, suggesting that Ennis has also drawn interest from the Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Magic. Ennis, who has spent most of the last two seasons in Orlando, knocked down 43.3% of his three-point attempts in 2020/21.
- Another player who has received interest from the Trail Blazers is big man Isaiah Hartenstein, according to Scotto, who says the Clippers have kicked the tires on the former Cav as well. As I detailed on Tuesday, Hartenstein is the only player who is still a free agent after declining an option earlier this summer.
- Before he signed with Chicago, Alize Johnson generated interest from a handful of other teams, including the Clippers, Suns, and Knicks, per Scotto. If the Clippers had wanted Johnson badly enough, they could’ve claimed him off waivers using one of their trade exceptions, which wasn’t an option for Phoenix or New York.
Magic Sign Jeff Dowtin, Hassani Gravett, Jon Teske
The Magic have signed three free agents, announcing in a press release that guard Jeff Dowtin, guard Hassani Gravett, and center Jon Teske have been added to the team’s offseason roster.
All three players have signed non-guaranteed deals with Orlando in the past and then suited up for the team’s G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic. While Gravett played for Lakeland in 2019/20, Dowtin and Teske were part of the squad that won the G League championship in the 2021 bubble earlier this year. All three also played for Orlando’s Summer League team last month.
Dowtin, who went undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2020, averaged 6.5 PPG and 2.5 APG in 15 games (19.7 MPG) for Lakeland last season. Teske, who played his college ball at Michigan before going undrafted a year ago, started 12 of 15 games for Lakeland, recording 6.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 19.8 minutes per contest.
Gravett, undrafted out of South Carolina in 2019, spent one season with Lakeland before playing for MZT Skopje overseas in 2020/21. He won a Macedonian League championship with the club.
It’s unlikely that any of the Magic’s three new additions will have a serious chance to compete for a spot on the regular season roster. I expect all three will end up in the G League again this year, with their Exhibit 10 deals giving them the chance to earn bonuses of up to $50K.
Cavaliers Sign Tre Scott To Camp Deal
The Cavaliers have signed free agent forward Tre Scott to a non-guaranteed training camp contract, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
Scott, 24, went undrafted out of Cincinnati in 2020 and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Utah. He was only under contract with the Jazz for three days, but that deal put him on track to join the team’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, for the abridged 2021 NBAGL season.
In 15 games for the Stars, the 6’8″ forward averaged 10.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG on .443/.296/.714 shooting in 29.3 minutes per contest. Scott also played for Cleveland in the Las Vegas Summer League last month, averaging 5.6 PPG and 3.0 RPG in five games (14.6 MPG).
While the Cavaliers are only carrying 10 players on fully guaranteed contracts, Scott will be their sixth player on a non-guaranteed deal, so it will be an uphill battle to earn a spot on the 15-man regular season roster. However, Cleveland still has both of its two-way slots open, so Scott could be in the mix to fill one of those.