Details On Robert Williams’ Extension With Celtics
Robert Williams‘ new four-year contract extension with the Celtics, initially reported to be worth $54MM, actually has a base value of $48MM over four years, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Instagram video).
As Marks outlines, Williams will earn a salary around $10.7MM in 2022/23, the first year of his new deal. He’ll get annual 8% annual raises, all the way up to $13.285MM in ’25/26, for a total of $48MM in guaranteed money. There is no player or team option in the final year of the contract.
The agreement also includes about $5-6MM in total incentives, which could push the total value up to near $54MM, Marks explains. For instance, in the first year of his contract, Williams can make an extra $446K if he appears in at least 69 games. That bonus would be considered “likely” and would be added to Williams’ $10.7MM cap hit in ’22/23 if he plays in 69+ games in the final year of his rookie contract in ’21/22.
According to Marks, Williams also has incentives related to whether the Celtics make the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Eastern Finals, but he must play in 69+ games to qualify for those incentives. The 23-year-old can also earn bonuses if he makes the All-Defensive First Team or Second Team, Marks adds.
Williams has battled a handful of injuries in his first three NBA seasons, so it makes sense that the Celtics would include language that protects them to some extent if he continues to miss time. However, even if Williams fails to meet that 69-game threshold and never earns an All-Defensive spot, the C’s would be on the hook for $12MM per year over the course of the deal.
Thon Maker Signs With Hapoel Jerusalem
Former NBA lottery pick Thon Maker has signed with Hapoel Jerusalem for the 2021/22 season, the Israeli team announced in a press release.
Maker, who was selected with the No. 10 pick in the 2016 draft, spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons with the Bucks before being traded to the Pistons. The seven-footer finished his rookie contract in Detroit, then joined the Cavaliers to start the 2020/21 season before being waived in January. The Heat and Knicks reportedly considered signing the 24-year-old later in the season, but opted against it.
In 263 total regular season games in the NBA, Maker averaged a modest 4.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 0.7 BPG on .435/.327/.680 shooting in 13.8 minutes per contest.
Besides playing in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, Hapoel Jerusalem also competes in the Israeli State Cup and the Basketball Champions League.
Community Shootaround: Which Team Has Had Best 2021 Offseason?
A handful of notable players – including Lauri Markkanen and Paul Millsap – remain available on the free agent market, and it’s possible we’ll still get action in the coming weeks on a trade involving a star like Ben Simmons or Damian Lillard. But for the time being, it looks like most NBA teams are finished with their major offseason roster moves.
With that in mind, David Aldridge of The Athletic ran through all 30 teams this week, ranking which clubs had the best and worst offseasons. As Aldridge explains within his piece(s), his list isn’t about which teams have the best roster heading into the 2021/22 season, but rather which teams made the summer moves he liked the most.
Even with that caveat in place, Aldridge’s top pick is still a bit of a surprise. The veteran reporter lists the Rockets as having the NBA’s No. 1 offseason, despite the fact that the team was fairly quiet on the trade market and made just one significant free agent addition (Daniel Theis). Houston’s offseason was primarily about adding four players draft in the top 24: Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Usman Garuba, and Josh Christopher.
While I didn’t see Aldridge’s top pick coming, I don’t believe that making big splashes in free agency and via trades is necessarily indicative of having a great offseason. For instance, no team made more noise on the free agent market than the Bulls, who added DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso. However, I didn’t like the price Chicago paid to get DeRozan, who will earn $27MM+ per year for the next three seasons and cost a first-round pick to acquire via sign-and-trade. Your mileage may vary — Aldridge ranked the Bulls at No. 4.
Rounding out Aldridge’s top five are the Clippers at No. 2, the Nets at No. 3, and the Lakers at No. 5. The Wizards, Hornets, Heat, Jazz, and Pistons also made the top 10.
I agree with some of those picks more than others. Aldridge’s rankings suggest a belief that the Russell Westbrook trade was a win-win for Los Angeles and Washington, but I preferred the Wizards’ return, since they badly needed to improve their depth and I’m not entirely sold yet on Westbrook’s fit with the Lakers.
A top-two ranking also seems a little generous for the Clippers, whose major moves were re-signing a star recovering from an ACL tear (Kawhi Leonard) to a four-year, maximum-salary deal and adding Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and a draft picks. Bledsoe is coming off a bad year and has struggled in the postseason, Winslow has had a hard time staying healthy, and those draftees are pretty raw.
However, I did like the team’s deals to bring back Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum — and if Leonard makes a full recovery and is back to his old self for the 2022/23 season, that investment should be worth it.
What do you think? Which clubs do you believe had the best offseasons in 2021? Are there any potential moves to be made in the coming weeks that could shake up your list?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Kings Notes: Fox, Mitchell, G League Staff, Schedule
The Kings have been identified as one of the teams with trade interest in Ben Simmons, but a July report indicated the team likely won’t include point guard De’Aaron Fox in any offer for the Sixers’ three-time All-Star.
Revisiting that subject, Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer says he has heard from a league source that Fox in “content” in Sacramento. Given the recent history of the franchise, which hasn’t made the playoffs since 2006, having a rising young star who is happy to stick around may be too valuable for the Kings to mess with, Uggetti writes.
Here’s more out of Sacramento:
- In a subscriber-only article for The Sacramento Bee, Jason Anderson identifies some of the key takeaways from the Kings’ championship victory at the Las Vegas Summer League, writing that rookie Davion Mitchell wants to help change the identity of a defense that ranked last in the NBA in 2020/21.
- Coming off his Summer League title, Stockton Kings head coach Bobby Jackson has made several additions to his staff, including Will Scott as associate head coach, the team announced in a press release. The G League club also announced that Sydney Haydel will serve as Stockton’s director of basketball operations and Sacramento’s player development coordinator.
- Despite having exciting up-and-comers like Fox, Mitchell, and Tyrese Haliburton on their roster, the Kings won’t get much national television exposure in 2021/22, as James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area details. Sacramento will play five games on NBA TV, but none on TNT, ESPN, or ABC.
Celtics Sign Robert Williams To Four-Year Extension
August 24: The Celtics have officially extended Williams, per a team press release.
“Rob has embraced being a Celtic from day one,” team president Brad Stevens said in a statement. “He is a great teammate and is completely committed to getting better. We’re excited that he will continue to do so here in Boston.”
August 20: After agreeing to a four-year contract extension with Marcus Smart earlier this week, the Celtics have reached a deal to extend another rotation player through 2025/26. The team is in agreement with big man Robert Williams on a four-year, $54MM deal, agent Kevin Bradbury tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Williams, who will turn 24 in October, saw limited playing time in his first two NBA seasons, partly due to injuries, but emerged as a regular contributor for Boston in 2020/21. In 52 games (18.9 MPG), including 13 starts, he averaged 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per contest. His impressive .721 FG% was right in line with his career rate (.720).
Despite only having appeared in 113 regular season games to date, Williams has flashed promise on both ends of the court and brings plenty of athleticism to the Celtics’ frontcourt.
As Wojnarowski notes, the new four-year deal will put the former Texas A&M standout in the top half of NBA centers by annual salary, but he has the potential to outplay it if he stays healthy and continues to improve.
The timing of the deal is interesting. Typically, players eligible for rookie scale extensions reach deals closer to the October deadline, unless they’re obvious max-salary players like Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Williams – the fourth player to receive a rookie scale extension in 2021 – is the first one of those four to agree to a deal worth less than the max.
[RELATED: 2021/22 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]
The fact that the Celtics were willing to sign off on a new deal for Williams nearly two months ahead of the deadline suggests they were eager to get the young center locked up and were comfortable with the price point.
The extensions for Smart and Williams all but assure Boston will enter the 2022 offseason as an over-the-cap team, barring some major roster moves between now and then.
Knicks Notes: Robinson, Walker, Bacon, Offseason
The Knicks are open to signing Mitchell Robinson to a contract extension before the 2021/22 season begins, “as long as it’s not crazy,” a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. Robinson, who is one of the Knicks’ longest-tenured players, is entering a contract year and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2022 if he doesn’t sign a new deal before then.
As Berman notes, there are reasons both sides may want to wait on an extension. Robinson is coming off a season in which he suffered a broken hand and broken foot, so the Knicks might want to see him at full health again before making a major investment. The team’s multiyear commitment to Nerlens Noel in free agency also reduces the urgency to lock up Robinson.
Robinson, meanwhile, could significantly boost his stock in the coming months if he shows he’s back to 100% health and continues to improve on both ends of the court. For now, Berman says, league insiders consider the big man’s value to be around the mid-level or slightly higher. Berman suggests $44MM over four years could be a fair price for both sides.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- During his introductory press conference last week, Kemba Walker said he came “pretty close” to signing with the Knicks as a free agent in 2019 before heading to Boston instead. A source tells Berman that Walker had been interested in teaming up with Kevin Durant for the Knicks, but Durant – of course – chose to go to Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving instead. Berman says the Knicks and Walker decided at that point that a union wouldn’t make sense without another star on board.
- According to Berman, multiple sources believe the Knicks decided to add Dwayne Bacon to their roster due to a recommendation from his former coach Steve Clifford, who is close with Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. However, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv noted last week (via Twitter), Bacon is on an Exhibit 10 contract, so he’s no lock to make the regular season roster.
- In his ranking of all 30 teams’ offseason moves, David Aldridge of The Athletic places the Knicks at No. 13, praising the team’s signing of Walker but arguing that losing Reggie Bullock will hurt.
Longest-Tenured Players By NBA Team
It hasn’t even been nine months since we last checked in on the NBA’s longest-tenured players by team. Since then though, there has been some major roster turnover around the league. Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 12 have bid farewell to their longest-tenured player since last December.
That list includes Patty Mills, who left San Antonio for Brooklyn after being with the Spurs for over nine years. Nikola Vucevic and James Harden had been in Orlando and Houston, respectively, since 2012 until they were traded earlier this year. And Kyle Lowry left Toronto for Miami this summer after nine seasons with the Raptors.
Of course, some of the teams with a new longest-tenured player didn’t exactly lose a franchise legend. Blake Griffin, for instance, was the longest-tenured Piston until he was bought out this year. And no Thunder player had been in Oklahoma City longer than Hamidou Diallo before he was traded in March.
Here are the NBA’s current longest-tenured players by team:
(Note: This is a snapshot as of August 2021 and won’t be updated throughout the season.)
- Miami Heat: Udonis Haslem (free agent), August 2003
Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry (draft), June 2009- Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal (draft), June 2012
- Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard (draft), June 2012
- Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo (draft), June 2013
- Utah Jazz: Rudy Gobert (draft trade), June 2013
- Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid (draft), June 2014
- Boston Celtics: Marcus Smart (draft), June 2014
- Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic (draft), June 2014
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love (trade), August 2014
- Dallas Mavericks: Dwight Powell (trade), December 2014
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns (draft), June 2015
- Indiana Pacers: Myles Turner (draft), June 2015
- Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker (draft), June 2015
- Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam (draft), June 2016
- San Antonio Spurs: Dejounte Murray (draft), June 2016
- Houston Rockets: Eric Gordon (free agent), July 2016
- Brooklyn Nets: Joe Harris (free agent), July 2016
- Orlando Magic: Terrence Ross (trade), February 2017
- Sacramento Kings: Buddy Hield (trade), February 2017
- Atlanta Hawks: John Collins (draft), June 2017
- Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine (draft trade), June 2017
- Note: Lauri Markkanen was acquired by the Bulls in the same trade as LaVine and would share the title of Chicago’s longest-tenured player if he re-signs with the team.
- Memphis Grizzlies: Dillon Brooks (draft trade), June 2017
- New York Knicks: Kevin Knox (draft) / Mitchell Robinson (draft), June 2018
- Note: Knox (No. 9 pick) and Robinson (No. 36) were drafted by the Knicks on the same night.
- Charlotte Hornets: Miles Bridges (draft trade), June 2018
- Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James (free agent), July 2018
- New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson (draft), June 2019
- Los Angeles Clippers: Ivica Zubac (trade), February 2019
- Detroit Pistons: Sekou Doumbouya (draft), June 2019
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Darius Bazley (trade) / Luguentz Dort (free agent), July 2019
- Bazley and Dort officially joined the Thunder on the same day (July 6, 2019). The team reached agreements on draft night (June 20) to acquire Bazley and sign Dort.
Hornets Sign Terry Rozier To Four-Year Extension
AUGUST 24: The Hornets have officially signed Rozier to his extension, the team announced today in a press release.
“In his two seasons with the Hornets, Terry Rozier has been an instrumental part of our team,” president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. “Terry is a highly competitive, tough and talented player that has continually improved all aspects of his game. He has provided leadership and an infectious work ethic that has been a tremendous benefit to our younger players. Terry is an important member of our young, talented team and we are thrilled to have him as a member of the Hornets organization for years to come.”
AUGUST 19: The Hornets and guard Terry Rozier have agreed to a four-year contract extension, agent Aaron Turner tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The deal, which locks up Rozier through the 2025/26 season, is guaranteed and is for the maximum amount the Hornets could have offered before the 27-year-old reached free agency, according to Charania. That means it’ll start at about $21.49MM in 2022/23 (120% of Rozier’s $17.91MM salary for ’20/21) and will be worth approximately $96.26MM over four years.
Acquired by the Hornets in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Kemba Walker to Boston in 2019, Rozier had enjoyed the two best seasons of his NBA career in Charlotte. In 2020/21, he established new career highs in PPG (20.4), APG (4.2), and FG% (.450), among other categories.
Rozier has also become a reliable threat from beyond the arc, knocking down 39.6% of his 7.5 three-point attempts per game in 132 total contests for the Hornets. He shot three-pointers at a lesser rate (35.4%) on a lesser volume (3.5 attempts per game) during his four years with the Celtics.
Rozier’s play and the emergence of Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball made the Hornets willing to part with Devonte’ Graham in free agency this summer. Rozier and Ball will lead a talented backcourt that also includes free agent addition Ish Smith and 2021 lottery pick James Bouknight.
A total of seven veteran players have now agreed to contract extensions since the new league year began, with Rozier joining Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, and Marcus Smart. Three players – Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – have also finalized rookie scale extensions, as our tracker shows.
Mavs To Hire Jared Dudley As Assistant Coach
12:49pm: Dudley has agreed to join the Mavericks’ coaching staff, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
8:30am: The Mavericks are in advanced discussions with veteran forward Jared Dudley about hiring him as an assistant coach on Jason Kidd‘s staff, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Dudley, 36, has appeared in over 900 NBA regular season games since entering the league in 2007. He began his career in Charlotte, then spent time with the Suns, Clippers, Bucks, Wizards, Suns, Nets, and Lakers over the course of 14 seasons.
However, Dudley has seen his playing time decline significantly in recent years. In 2020/21, he logged just 81 total minutes in 12 games for the Lakers, and a report last week indicated that L.A. wasn’t expected to re-sign him. Now, it seems as if he’s prepared to move onto the next stage of his career.
While Kidd and Dudley never played together, they have plenty of history. Dudley played for Milwaukee in 2014/15 when Kidd was the head coach, and the Hall-of-Fame point guard was an assistant with the Lakers for the past two years.
Kidd’s coaching staff is still taking shape, but it appears he’s making it a priority to add at least a couple assistants with playing experience. J.J. Barea and Tyson Chandler are among the other NBA vets who have been mentioned as possible candidates.
Latest On Paul Millsap, J.J. Redick
Paul Millsap and J.J. Redick are two of the most talented unrestricted free agents left on the board, but there’s a sense that the two veterans – who are 36 and 37 years old, respectively – may not be in a hurry to pick a team for the 2021/22 season, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Redick has stated publicly that he’ll wait until sometime in the fall – or even later – to sign a new contract, and Fischer says people around the league believe Millsap will take his time too.
“I think (Millsap)’s gonna be a minimum or a midseason guy,” one source told Fischer. “What’s the rush? The money wouldn’t get much better, and he can just pick his team. What if New Orleans is really good come January? What happens when some guy gets hurt, and that team starts scrambling for a replacement? He can pick his spot.”
As Fischer observes, Millsap didn’t have much of an offseason in 2020, having reported to training camp about two months after Denver was eliminated from the playoffs in the Western Conference Finals. Facing another abridged offseason in 2021, Millsap may benefit in the long run from taking a longer break.
Here’s more from Fischer on Millsap and Redick:
- The Warriors have been the team most frequently linked to Millsap, but he has also drawn interest from the Hawks, Nets, Pelicans, Sixers, and Timberwolves, according to Fischer, who adds that there are no indications the big man has gotten close to finalizing a deal with any of those teams.
- Sources tell Fischer that in discussions with potential suitors, Millsap has been seeking a salary worth some or all of the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.9MM).
- Redick figures to draw interest from teams around the NBA, with one Western Conference head coach telling Fischer that he’d like to have the sharpshooter on his roster. However, there’s a league-wide belief that Redick is eyeing the Knicks or Nets so that he can remain close to home. Some execs have speculated that Redick could even retire if he doesn’t land with either of those teams, Fischer writes.
- Any team with interest in adding Redick would likely want more information on the heel injury that limited him in 2020/21, says Fischer. Sources tell Bleacher Report that teams flagged that issue back at the March trade deadline when New Orleans was shopping Redick.