Heat Sign P.J. Tucker
AUGUST 7: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
“P.J. Tucker is the perfect addition to this team,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “He brings both shooting and most importantly, the ability to defend a lot of perimeter players. We love his versatility in order to put a defensive team on the court, where all five guys can defend, while also having enough shooting and scoring to win games.”
AUGUST 2: The Heat have agreed to a deal with free agent forward P.J. Tucker, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania (Twitter link), Tucker will get a two-year, $15MM contract from Miami, which suggests the team is putting a chunk of its mid-level exception toward the signing. The deal will feature a player option in year two, Charania adds (via Twitter).
Tucker doesn’t bring much to the table on offense besides the occasional corner three (he’s a career 35.9% shooter from beyond the arc), but he’s a physical, versatile defender who is just as willing to battle in the post with centers as he is to guard quicker guards and wings on the perimeter.
Tucker will fit in nicely on a Heat squad that already features tough defenders like Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Kyle Lowry.
The Heat had been looking to address their power forward position with their mid-level exception and will likely remain on the lookout for at least one more player who can play minutes at the four, though their cap flexibility is now limited. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reports (via Twitter) that the club has an offer out to veteran forward Markieff Morris.
Hornets Sign Kelly Oubre To Two-Year Deal
AUGUST 7: Oubre and the Hornets have now finalized a two-year, $25MM contract, agent Torrel Harris tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Charlotte announced the signing in a press release.
It appears Oubre’s starting salary will come in slightly lower than initially expected after Charlotte took on Wesley Iwundu in a trade with New Orleans.
The deal won’t feature any options, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). However, Rod Boone of SI.com (Twitter link) says the second year will be partially guaranteed and Anthony Slater of The Athletic provides the specifics, tweeting that $5MM of Oubre’s $12.6MM salary for 2022/23 will be guaranteed.
AUGUST 5: The Hornets and free agent wing Kelly Oubre are in agreement on a two-year deal that will be worth $26MM+, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
David Aldridge of The Athletic reported earlier on Thursday that the Hornets and Oubre had engaged in discussions, while Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports was first to report that the two sides were finalizing a multiyear deal expected to exceed $12MM per year.
Charlotte, one of the only NBA teams that still had the cap room necessary to make an offer worth more than the full mid-level exception ($9.5MM), had also reportedly been mulling an offer sheet for Lauri Markkanen. However, the Hornets’ agreement with Oubre will eat up most – if not all – of their remaining cap room, presumably taking an aggressive bid for the Bulls‘ restricted free agent forward off the table.
Oubre, 25, has spent time with the Wizards, Suns, and Warriors since entering the league as the 15th overall pick in the 2015 draft. In 2020/21, he averaged 15.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG on .439/.316/.695 shooting in 55 games (30.7 MPG) for Golden State.
While Oubre possesses good size and athleticism for a three-and-D wing, his three-point shot has been inconsistent over the course of his career (32.6%).
Charlotte will be hoping to get the 2019/20 version of Oubre, who averaged 18.7 PPG with a .352 3PT% for the Suns. The former Kansas Jayhawk will join a talented group of Hornets forwards that includes Gordon Hayward, Miles Bridges, and P.J. Washington.
Since the Hornets have the ability to sign Oubre outright using their cap room and his new contract will only be for two years, it won’t be a sign-and-trade deal involving the Warriors.
Pelicans Officially Acquire Valanciunas, Graham In Three-Team Trade
The Pelicans have officially announced a pair of previously–reported trades, having combined their acquisitions of center Jonas Valanciunas and point guard Devonte’ Graham into a single transaction involving both the Grizzlies and Hornets. Memphis and Charlotte have put out press releases as well.
The details of the three-team deal are as follows:
- To Pelicans:
- Valanciunas (from Grizzlies)
- Graham (sign-and-trade; from Hornets)
- The draft rights to Trey Murphy (No. 17 pick; from Grizzlies)
- The draft rights to Brandon Boston (No. 51 pick; from Grizzlies)
- Note: Boston will be rerouted to the Clippers in a subsequent trade.
- To Grizzlies:
- Eric Bledsoe (from Pelicans)
- Steven Adams (from Pelicans)
- The draft rights to Ziaire Williams (No. 10 pick; from Pelicans)
- The draft rights to Jared Butler (No. 40 pick; from Pelicans)
- Note: Butler will be rerouted to the Jazz in a subsequent trade.
- The Lakers’ 2022 first-round pick (top-10 protected; from Pelicans)
- To Hornets:
- Wesley Iwundu (from Pelicans)
- The Pelicans’ 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected; from Pelicans)
- Note: If the Pelicans’ 2022 first-rounder falls in the top 14, the Hornets will instead receive New Orleans’ 2022 and 2024 second-round picks, per Rod Boone of SI.com.
- Cash (from Pelicans)
- The draft rights to Tyler Harvey (from Grizzlies)
The details of the three-team trade essentially line up with what was previously reported, with two new pieces added — Iwundu going from New Orleans to Charlotte and Harvey’s draft rights going from Memphis to Charlotte. Harvey was presumably only included to ensure that the Grizzlies and Hornets were “touching,” since otherwise Memphis would only have been exchanging assets with the Pelicans.
Looping their sign-and-trade acquisition of Graham into the trade suggests the Pelicans will operate over the cap, using Bledsoe’s and Adams’ outgoing salaries in order to match both Valanciunas and Graham instead of signing Graham into cap space.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), it also allows New Orleans to generate a $17MM+ trade exception in the deal. Only Bledsoe’s and Iwundu’s outgoing salaries are needed for matching purposes to take on Valanciunas and Graham, meaning the Pelicans’ new TPE is worth Adams’ salary ($17,073,171).
Graham reportedly signed a four-year, $47MM contract with the Pelicans as part of the trade. He and Tomas Satoransky appear set to play the majority of the minutes at point guard in New Orleans, barring further roster changes. The team is sending Lonzo Ball to Chicago in a separate sign-and-trade deal.
Graham made just 37.7% of his field goal attempts in 2020/21, but his three-point mark was a very respectable 37.5%. In addition to his ability to make threes, Graham is an above-average play-maker (6.5 APG over the last two seasons) and a respectable defender.
Swapping out Adams for Valanciunas should allow the Pelicans to improve their frontcourt spacing. Valanciunas isn’t exactly a long-distance marksman, but has a solid mid-range game and will shoot the occasional three-pointer, which should create more room for Zion Williamson to operate. The former No. 5 overall pick averaged an impressive 17.1 PPG and 12.5 RPG with a .592/.368/.773 shooting line in 62 games (28.3 MPG) this past season.
From the Grizzlies’ perspective, the deal was a way to improve their draft assets in both 2021 and 2022 as a result of their willingness to take on Adams’ and Bledsoe’s pricey contracts. The team moved up from No. 17 to No. 10 to snag Williams, and later flipped the No. 40 pick (Butler) to Utah in a separate trade to move up to No. 30 for Santi Aldama.
[RELATED: 2021 NBA Offseason Trades]
The Hornets, meanwhile, decided to move on from Graham and got a protected first-round pick from New Orleans in exchange for waiving their right to match an offer sheet for the restricted free agent. Iwundu’s guaranteed $1.82MM salary for 2021/22 will eat up a small amount of Charlotte’s cap room, but the team will still have enough flexibility to complete its signing of Kelly Oubre to a two-year deal in the range of $12-13MM per year.
Raptors Notes: Lowry, Achiuwa, Dragic, Birch, TPE, Ujiri
There was some speculation leading up to free agency that Toronto would make an effort to re-sign veteran point guard Kyle Lowry, but comments made on Friday by the six-time All-Star and by Raptors general manager Bobby Webster suggested both sides felt the time was right to move on, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
“I think the direction Toronto is going in is they want to give the opportunities to (Fred VanVleet), Pascal (Siakam), OG (Anunoby), a couple young guys, the young draft picks they have,” Lowry told reporters. “They have some great core pieces. They’re in great hands and great shape. It was a situation for me where it was an opportunity to do something different… It’s time to turn the page in the book.”
Webster conveyed a similar sentiment: “You probably could see (during the 2020/21 second half) the direction the team was going in, and jumping up in the draft to get the fourth pick, philosophically, I think going young became kind of a more desirable path.”
Once they recognized Lowry would be moving on, the Raptors could’ve decided to let him walk in order to open up cap room to pursue a free agent. However, that path offered less certainty, especially if the team made an offer sheet to a restricted free agent (such as Jarrett Allen) not knowing whether it would be matched. The Raptors preferred to acquire Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa via a sign-and-trade with the Heat, Lewenberg writes.
“Precious is a huge part of this deal for us,” Webster said. “We really liked him last year in the draft so I think that was a huge get in the sense of a young player that we like and fits.”
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Throughout the week, there were rumors that Toronto may try to flip Dragic to a third team after acquiring him via sign-and-trade. Webster said on Friday that’s not Plan A. “Obviously, if we got an offer that was too good to refuse we’d listen but ultimately we want Goran here,” the Raptors’ GM said, per Lewenberg. “He’s happy to be here, obviously he’s been able to carve out a very nice career for himself. Talking to (team president) Masai (Ujiri), talking to everyone here, we’ve watched him a ton and I know a lot of people have seen him kill us. As a basketball player, as a vet, he provides a lot of value to us.”
- After his new three-year deal with the Raptors was formally announced on Friday, Canadian center Khem Birch told reporters he was focused throughout free agency on returning to the team, as Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes. “It feels like a dream come true,” Birch said. “It’s so surreal right now … just one of those free agencies where I knew where I wanted to go. I don’t even know what other teams were interested in me. I just wanted to come here regardless of the price or the years or anything. I just knew this was a great fit. I’m just happy I’m here.”
- The Raptors will generate a traded player exception as a result of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade to Miami. It’ll be worth somewhere between $4.8MM and $7.7MM, depending on the specific structure of Lowry’s new contract, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic.
- Speaking to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum confirmed that Masai Ujiri‘s new vice chairman title won’t give him an ownership stake in the franchise, but said it reflects his standing in the organization. “I chair the Raptors, but it’s just a recognition that we’re really working together,” Tanenbaum said. “We’re partners.”
- Tanenbaum added in the same interview that the team’s plan is to have Lowry retire as a Raptor down the road and to retire his number. “He will retire as a Raptor and his number will absolutely go up there,” Tanenbaum said. “The honor will be the first one (for the Raptors) and I love Kyle.”
NBA 2021 Free Agency: Day 5 Recap
When we published our recap of Day 4 of the NBA’s 2021 free agent period on Thursday, I noted that the pace seemed to be slowing and that it would likely be our last daily roundup unless Friday was especially busy.
As it turns out, Friday was a pretty active news day, so we’re back at least once more tonight with our recap of all the day’s biggest NBA headlines.
Let’s dive in…
Here are Friday’s most noteworthy free agent deals and contract extension agreements:
Kawhi Leonard agreed to re-sign with the Clippers, though the two sides are still working through the terms of his new contract.- Kevin Durant agreed to a four-year, maximum-salary extension with the Nets that will be worth nearly $198MM.
- Jimmy Butler agreed to a four-year, maximum-salary extension with the Heat that projects to be worth more than $186MM.
- Reggie Jackson agreed to a two-year, $21.6MM deal with the Clippers.
- Andre Iguodala agreed to return to the Warriors on a one-year, minimum-salary deal.
- Justise Winslow agreed to a two-year deal with the Clippers that will reportedly come out of the team’s taxpayer mid-level exception.
- Willy Hernangomez agreed to a three-year deal with the Pelicans.
- Omer Yurtseven signed a two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Heat.
- DeAndre’ Bembry agreed to a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Nets.
- Javonte Green agreed to a two-year deal with the Bulls.
The NBA’s 2021 free agency moratorium ended at 11:00am CT on Friday, allowing teams to complete the free agent deals and trades they’d tentatively agreed upon earlier in the offseason. Plenty of teams took advantage of the ability to officially make moves — the Lakers and Heat were among the teams that announced several signings.
A number of big-money contract extensions were formally completed today, including maximum-salary deals for Warriors guard Stephen Curry (story), Hawks guard Trae Young (story), and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (story).
Some of the summer’s biggest free agent signings also became official, including John Collins‘ five-year deal with the Hawks, Jarrett Allen‘s five-year deal with the Cavaliers, Norman Powell‘s five-year deal with the Trail Blazers, Duncan Robinson‘s five-year deal with the Heat, Chris Paul‘s four-year deal with the Suns, and Mike Conley‘s three-year deal with the Jazz, among others.
Finally, the league started processing trade calls, including the Suns‘ acquisition of Landry Shamet, the Hornets‘ acquisition of Mason Plumlee, the Heat‘s sign-and-trade for Kyle Lowry, and the massive five-team deal that sent Russell Westbrook to the Lakers and Spencer Dinwiddie to the Wizards.
Here are several more of the day’s notable headlines:
- The Grizzlies agreed to trade Grayson Allen to the Bucks in exchange for Sam Merrill and a pair of future second-round picks.
- Bulls restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen told a Finnish reporter he’s seeking a change of scenery and a “fresh start.”
- The Lakers announced they’ve signed head coach Frank Vogel to a contract extension.
- The Celtics have engaged in contract discussions with free agent guard Dennis Schröder.
- The Thunder officially completed their buyout agreement with Kemba Walker and placed him on waivers.
- The Pistons waived Rodney McGruder.
Previously:
Blazers Notes: Lillard, Free Agency, Roster, McCollum
Asked on Friday in Tokyo about the Trail Blazers‘ moves in free agency, star point guard Damian Lillard suggested that the team missed out on some of its top targets, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic relays.
“You never know where guys are going to end up and why they go there. You just try to have conversations and convince guys to be a part of our team,” Lillard said. “And obviously, this go around, we weren’t able to go out there and just get some of the guys that we would have liked.
“(So) you go down the list and you go through the guys that are out there that you like who haven’t committed to a team or were a part of your plans in free agency and you get the ones that want to be a part of what you’re doing. And I think that’s what we did.”
The Trail Blazers’ free agent additions include Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, and Ben McLemore. According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, the team also had interest in Nicolas Batum, and made an effort to lure Kelly Oubre to Portland with the taxpayer mid-level exception. Oubre ended up elsewhere even though Damian Lillard made a pitch to him at the end of the regular season.
“It wasn’t anything deep other than ‘Would he be open to it?’ and he said he was,” Lillard told Quick. “I liked Oubre as a complement to other guys I thought we would be able to get. We didn’t get them.”
As Quick outlines, the Blazers’ “real” offseason will begin when Lillard finishes his Olympics run and returns to Portland to evaluate the roster and assess his options. There are three roads the rest of the Blazers’ summer could take, in Quick’s view: Portland convinces Lillard that running it back and being patient is the right approach; the team makes a major trade that changes Lillard’s view of the Blazers’ trajectory; or the All-NBA guard asks to be traded.
Here’s more on the Blazers:
- Quick confirms that the deals Zeller, McLemore, and Snell are signing are all worth the veteran’s minimum. The Blazers still have the taxpayer mid-level exception available, but aren’t aggressively pursuing any players left on the market and will likely hang onto that exception for now, Quick adds.
- The Blazers have 13 players projected for the regular season roster for now. They plan to enter the season with 14, but they’re keeping that 14th spot open for now to maintain flexibility, according to Quick, who notes that the spot may be useful for a trade in which Portland takes back more players than it sends out.
- While CJ McCollum is perhaps the most obvious trade candidate on the Blazers’ roster, it doesn’t sound like he’s being actively shopped, says Quick. Quick isn’t sure whether other teams simply don’t value McCollum like the Blazers do, but says the club won’t move him just to shake up the roster — a deal would have to improve the roster. So far, no opportunities fit that bill.
Nets Sign Day’Ron Sharpe To Rookie Contract
The Nets have signed first-round pick Day’Ron Sharpe to his first NBA contract, the team announced on Friday in a press release.
The Suns drafted Sharpe with the No. 29 pick last week on behalf of the Nets, who had agreed on draft day to acquire that pick along with Jevon Carter in exchange for Landry Shamet. The trade couldn’t become official until today, and Brooklyn didn’t waste any time in locking up Sharpe to his rookie contract.
Sharpe, who declared for the draft after a single season at North Carolina, averaged 9.5 PPG and 7.6 RPG in 29 games (19.2 MPG) for the Tar Heels. The 6’11” center is one of five prospects selected by the Nets in this year’s draft and is the second one to officially sign with the club, joining fellow first-rounder Cameron Thomas.
As our breakdown of this year’s rookie scale salaries shows, Sharpe is on track to earn just over $2MM in his first NBA season is he receives the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale.
Lakers Sign Frank Vogel To Contract Extension
After sending out a series of press releases today to announce their free agent signings and the acquisition of Russell Westbrook, the Lakers issued one more announcement on Friday night, stating that they’ve signed head coach Frank Vogel to a contract extension.
Vogel, who previously coached the Pacers and Magic, was hired by the Lakers in 2019 and led the team to a championship in his first season at the helm.
In total, Vogel has recorded a 94-49 (.657) regular season record since arriving in Los Angeles and has put up an 18-9 mark in the postseason. He has turned the Lakers’ defensive unit into one of the league’s strongest — the club finished third in defensive rating in 2019/20 and first this past season, despite LeBron James and Anthony Davis missing several weeks of action.
Vogel’s contract with the Lakers only covered three seasons, so he would’ve been entering a contract year if not for his extension. The new deal will ensure that the Lakers’ head coach doesn’t enter 2021/22 on a “lame-duck” deal.
Still, it will be interesting to learn how many years the new extension covers. Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein wrote earlier today that he had heard some “increasingly pessimistic rumbles” about the odds of Vogel receiving more than a one-year extension.
Five-Team Russell Westbrook, Spencer Dinwiddie Trade Now Official
The five-team trade involving the Lakers, Wizards, Nets, Spurs, and Pacers, headlined by Russell Westbrook (to Los Angeles) and Spencer Dinwiddie (to Washington) is now official, according to press releases from multiple clubs.
The deal began as a two-team trade sending Westbrook from the Wizards to the Lakers, an agreement that was completed around the start of the draft last Thursday. Later that night, the Wizards and Pacers agreed to a deal sending Aaron Holiday that would be folded into the Westbrook blockbuster.
Subsequently, during free agency, the Wizards and Dinwiddie wanted to find a way to get the point guard to D.C. and ultimately convinced the Nets to accommodate a sign-and-trade. The Spurs entered the mix late to accommodate Washington’s salary-dump of Chandler Hutchison.
Here’s the full breakdown of the deal, based on reports to date:
- To Lakers:
- Russell Westbrook (from Wizards)
- The Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- Either the Wizards’ or Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Wizards)
- The Wizards’ 2028 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- Russell Westbrook (from Wizards)
- To Wizards:
- Spencer Dinwiddie (sign-and-trade; from Nets)
- Kyle Kuzma (from Lakers)
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (from Lakers)
- Montrezl Harrell (from Lakers)
- Aaron Holiday (from Pacers)
- The draft rights to Isaiah Todd (No. 31 pick; from Pacers)
- Cash (from Pacers; $1MM, per Fred Katz of The Athletic)
- To Nets:
- Either the Wizards’ or the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Wizards)
- The right to swap the Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick for the Wizards’ 2025 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- The draft rights to Nikola Milutinov (from Spurs)
- To Spurs:
- Chandler Hutchison (from Wizards)
- Either the Bulls’, the Lakers’, or the Pistons 2022 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Wizards)
- To Pacers:
- The draft rights to Isaiah Jackson (No. 22 pick; from Lakers)
The Nets also generated the most significant trade exception of any team in the deal — it’ll be worth about $11.5MM.
While it was a fairly minor move for Brooklyn, San Antonio, and Indiana, the deal will significantly reshape the Lakers’ and Wizards’ rosters for the 2021/22 season. Los Angeles consolidated its depth, acquiring a star player who wanted to team up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, then filled out its roster in free agency.
The Wizards, meanwhile, traded one star for several depth pieces and managed to replace their old point guard with one who will earn less than half of Westbrook’s salary for the next couple seasons. The deal should increase the club’s cap flexibility while fortifying its bench.
Clippers Sign Keon Johnson To Rookie Contract
The Clippers have officially signed first-round pick Keon Johnson to his rookie contract, the team announced today.
[RELATED: 2021 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
Johnson was the No. 21 pick in last Thursday’s draft and was technically selected by the Knicks on behalf of the Clippers. New York and Los Angeles agreed to a draft-night deal that saw the Clips give up a future second-round pick to move up from No. 25 to No. 21 to secure Johnson.
A 6’5″ wing, Johnson spent a single season at Tennessee, averaging 11.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.5 APG on .449/.271/.703 shooting in 27 games (25.5 MPG).
Back in April, when he declared for the draft, he was listed as the No. 6 prospect on ESPN’s big board and was viewed as a probable lottery pick. However, he remains very raw, especially on the offensive end, and slipped a little as teams in the middle of the first round opted for safer picks.
Unless he signs for less than 120% of his rookie scale amount, which is unlikely, Johnson will earn $2.55MM in 2021/22, as our breakdown of rookie scale salaries shows.