Brooklyn Nets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Trade Doumbouya To Rockets, Acquire Sumner From Pacers

October 6th, 2021 at 2:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

OCTOBER 6: The Nets have now completed both trades, announcing in a press release that their deal with the Pacers is complete.

As we relayed earlier today, Brooklyn and Houston completed their trade on Wednesday morning, with the Rockets waiving Khyri Thomas in order to finalize the move.

OCTOBER 5: The Nets are making a pair of minor trades, according to reports. Brooklyn will send power forward Sekou Doumbouya (and his $3,613,680 salary) and an unprotected 2024 second-round draft pick to the Rockets in exchange for $110K, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). The Rockets will waive Doumbouya, sources inform MacMahon.

In their other deal, the Nets will receive guard Edmond Sumner and a 2025 Heat second-round draft selection from the Pacers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). The Nets will subsequently waive Sumner, who is set to miss the entire 2021/22 season due to a torn left Achilles tendon. The Pacers will receive the draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet from Brooklyn in the deal, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Both of these transactions are essentially salary dumps. The Nets and Pacers are each attaching a second-round pick in order to avoid paying a player’s guaranteed salary. Both the Rockets and Nets have trade exceptions that will enable them to take on a new player without sending one out in a deal.

The Sumner deal creates extra breathing room below the tax line for the Pacers, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link). The Pacers will save $2.3MM, dipping them to $2.8MM below the luxury tax line.

Meanwhile, Marks adds (via Twitter) that the Nets will save a total of $8.1MM as a result of the two deals: $6.8MM in projected luxury tax payments and $1.29MM in salary. Marks notes that Brooklyn was able to compensate for the outgoing 2024 second-rounder owed to Houston by adding the 2025 second-rounder in the Pacers transaction. So ultimately, the star-studded Nets saved $8.1MM while not losing cumulative draft equity.

The 6’8″ Doumbouya, 20, was selected with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft. Last season, he averaged 5.1 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 56 games with Detroit, including 11 starts.

Marks adds (Twitter link) that Brooklyn now gains a $3.6MM trade exception via the Doumbouya deal, and will probably use the exception to add Sumner. The Pacers have gained a $2.3MM trade exception.

Luke Adams contributed to this report.

NBPA’s Roberts: Players Who Miss Games Due To Local Vaccine Mandates Shouldn’t Lose Salary

October 6th, 2021 at 12:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The National Basketball Players Association didn’t sign off on allowing teams to dock players 1/91.6th of their salaries for 2021/22 if they’re unable to play in a game due to a local vaccine mandate, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News.

The NBA announced last week that unvaccinated players who are ineligible to play in games in New York and San Francisco wouldn’t be paid for the games they miss due to those cities’ local mandates. A follow-up report indicated that the league and the players’ union had agreed on the amount of the fine for such a violation.

However, Roberts tells Bondy that while the NBPA approved that per-game penalty (1/91.6th of a player’s salary) for certain health and safety protocol violations, the union doesn’t believe it should apply to players who miss games solely for being unvaccinated.

“They’ve been reporting that we’ve agreed that if a player who was not able to play because of his non-vaccination status, they could be docked (pay),” Roberts said. “We did not agree. The league’s position is that they can. We’ll see. If we get to that point, we’ll see.”

As Roberts explains, the NBPA’s position is that a player shouldn’t be punished for being unvaccinated, since the NBA has no vaccine mandate of its own for its players. The league’s stance, per Roberts, is that the Collective Bargaining Agreement allows teams to assess those penalties without NBPA approval.

“It’s debatable. We’ll see,” Roberts said. “I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but I’m going to say it’s a bridge we’ll cross, if and when we get there. Right now, we’ve agreed that a player breaks protocols, that he can be disciplined to include some taxing of his comp. But not being vaccinated — because it’s not mandatory — in and of itself should not lead to any discipline.”

As far as we know, the only NBA player who is in real danger of being docked salary for missing games due to his vaccination status is Nets guard Kyrie Irving. The local mandates in New York and San Francisco don’t apply to visiting players, and no other Nets, Knicks, or Warriors players have been reported as unvaccinated. An unvaccinated player in another market – such as Wizards guard Bradley Beal – should still be able to play in all 82 games.

While Irving, Beal, and a handful of other unvaccinated players have been the subject of an outsized number of headlines since training camps began, Roberts reiterated that the vast majority of NBA players are fully vaccinated. She told Kavitha Davidson of The Athletic (Twitter link) that there’s now a 96% vaccination rate among NBA players, noting that vaccinated players have played a role in helping convince some of the holdouts.

“We’re doing better than companies who are mandatory vaccinations because we’re at 95-96%,” Roberts said to Bondy. “100% is still an aspiration.”

Rockets Waive Khyri Thomas To Complete Trade With Nets

October 6th, 2021 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have officially waived wing Khyri Thomas, the team announced today in a press release.

The move was necessary in order to make room on Houston’s 20-man preseason roster for Sekou Doumbouya, whom the club agreed to acquire from the Nets. Even though the Rockets intend to waive Doumbouya, they needed an open roster spot to complete the trade, which is now official, according to press releases from both the Rockets and Nets.

Thomas, 25, was the 38th overall pick in the 2018 draft. He appeared in 34 games for Detroit in his first two NBA seasons, but saw limited action, averaging just 2.3 PPG and 1.0 RPG in 10.5 MPG.

After being traded to Atlanta and waived during the 2020 offseason, Thomas caught on with the Rockets near the end of the 2020/21 season, playing well in five games with the team (16.4 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 3.6 RPG in 30.6 MPG). Houston signed him to a multiyear contract, but it wasn’t guaranteed for 2021/22, so the team is able to waive him without taking on dead money.

Thomas will clear waivers on Thursday, assuming he goes unclaimed. Meanwhile, once they waive Doumbouya, the Rockets will have an open spot on their 20-man roster. The Nets will now be able to complete their trade with Indiana, acquiring Edmond Sumner using their newly-created trade exception from the Doumbouya deal.

Nets Unsure About Plan For Kyrie Irving

October 5th, 2021 at 9:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets still aren’t certain whether or not guard Kyrie Irving intends to get the COVID-19 vaccine and haven’t made a decision about whether they’ll accommodate him as a part-time player this season, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst.

In order to enter public indoor venues in New York City, individuals must have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. Irving, who deflected questions about the subject last week, reportedly hasn’t been vaccinated and would be unable to play in home games or participate in Nets practices as long as he remains unvaccinated.

As Wojnarowski and Windhorst explain, the Nets had been optimistic entering the fall that Irving would ultimately get vaccinated and would be fully available, but that optimism has waned as of late. The seven-time All-Star missed the team’s first practice in Brooklyn on Tuesday and the club is now preparing for the possibility that it could be without him for practices and home games for the foreseeable future, per ESPN’s duo.

The Nets have publicly expressed support for Irving, but the organization’s patience may be tested if and when the star point guard starts missing games. Team owner Joe Tsai made comments last week reiterating that the goal is a championship and stating that he hopes to see Kyrie “play fully” in 2021/22.

If Irving remains unvaccinated, the Nets may soon have to decide whether they’re satisfied to have him with the team on and off for half the season or if they’ll keep him sidelined altogether, sources tell Wojnarowski and Windhorst. As Woj and Windhorst point out, Brooklyn’s schedule includes a handful of lengthy homestands, meaning there are times throughout the season when Irving wouldn’t be able to be around his teammates for a week or more at a time.

While ESPN’s report doesn’t explicitly state that a trade is a possibility for Irving, that’s one option the Nets could theoretically consider — New York and San Francisco are the only NBA cities with local vaccine mandates, so Irving would be able to remain unvaccinated and play in all of his home games if he were sent to any team besides the Knicks or Warriors.

Still, Irving is close with Nets stars Kevin Durant and James Harden, and the team has expressed interest in signing him to a contract extension, so moving him would represent a pretty drastic change of direction for a club with championship aspirations. It’s also not clear what sort of value Irving would have on the trade market at this point, given the various off-court dramas that have followed him in recent years.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, remaining unvaccinated would cost Irving significantly from a financial perspective. The 29-year-old has a base salary of nearly $35MM this season, but would lose about $381K for each game he misses due to New York’s vaccine mandate. That would add up to more than $17MM in lost salary over the course of the season after taking into account preseason contests, Nets home games, and Brooklyn’s two games at Madison Square Garden.

Nets Notes: Irving, Millsap, Aldridge, Luxury Tax

October 5th, 2021 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Kyrie Irving wasn’t present at the team’s first practice in Brooklyn on Tuesday, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

In order to enter public indoor venues in New York City, individuals must have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. Irving, who deflected questions about the subject last week, is reportedly unvaccinated. He was able to take part in the Nets’ training camp, which took place last week in San Diego, but as long as he remains unvaccinated, he’ll be unable to play or practice in New York.

Head coach Steve Nash didn’t provide any additional details on Irving’s status, as Youngmisuk notes.

“No further update,” Nash told reporters when asked about Irving, adding that he’s “not really worried” about the point guard’s absence. “We support him. We are here for him. Things change. When there’s a resolution, we’re here for him.”

Here’s more on the Nets:

With Nicolas Claxton expected to get regular minutes at center for the Nets, it’s unclear if veterans Paul Millsap and LaMarcus Aldridge will both be a consistent part of the rotation to start the season. However, the two big men have made strong cases for themselves so far and even showed on Sunday vs. the Lakers that they might even be capable of playing alongside each other, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “They both had a really good camp,” Nash said. “Both moved well, played well, showed their intellect and skill set. I thought they played quite well together even though it’s not something that we’ve necessarily done traditionally, played the two bigger guys.”
Even if they don’t end up playing big minutes, Millsap and Aldridge are looking forward to passing their knowledge onto the team’s younger players, per Lewis. “Me and LaMarcus are veteran guys, two of the oldest in the locker room,” Millsap said. “So we’re going to help try to guide some of these younger guys into knowing what the NBA’s all about.”
Within his preview of the team’s 2021/22 season, John Hollinger of The Athletic speculates that the Nets could explore trades that reduce their projected luxury-tax payment. Hollinger identifies Sekou Doumbouya and DeAndre’ Bembry as two possible trade candidates in that scenario. For what it’s worth, Brooklyn can’t include cash in any more deals this season, having used the maximum $5.785MM in last month’s DeAndre Jordan trade. The Nets do still have some future second-round picks they could use as sweeteners.

NBA GMs Like Heat’s Offseason Moves, Nets’ Title Chances

October 5th, 2021 at 11:32am CST by Luke Adams

Nearly half of the NBA’s general managers voted for the Heat as the team that had the best 2021 offseason, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes in his annual survey of the league’s GMs. Miami got 14 of 30 possible votes, while the Lakers picked up five votes. The Nets, Rockets, and Wizards were the other teams picked by multiple GMs as having the best offseason.

The Heat’s acquisition of Kyle Lowry via sign-and-trade helped tip the scales in their favor. Asked which offseason player acquisition will make the biggest impact for his new team this season, GMs overwhelmingly chose Lowry — he received 23 of 30 votes. New Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook was the only other player to get multiple votes (five).

Although the Heat and Lakers received high marks from rival GMs for their work over the summer, neither club is considered the title favorite entering the 2021/22 season. That honor belongs to the Nets, who earned 22 votes from GMs for the team that will win the 2022 Finals. The Lakers (five) and Bucks (three) were the only other teams to receive any votes.

Here are a few more of the most interesting responses from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

The Trail Blazers‘ trade for Larry Nance Jr. received the most votes (28%) for the most underrated acquisition of the offseason, with the Nets‘ signing of Patty Mills (17%) and the Wizards‘ addition of Spencer Dinwiddie (14%) also receiving support in that category.
The NBA’s GMs view Rockets guard Jalen Green (47%) and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (40%) as the best bets to win Rookie of the Year, but voted Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley as the rookie who will be the best player in five years. Mobley (33%) narrowly edged out Cunningham (30%) and Green (23%) in that category.
The GMs voted the Magic‘s selection of Jalen Suggs at No. 5 (23%) and the Rockets‘ pick of Alperen Sengun at No. 16 (20%) as the biggest steals of the 2021 draft.
The Bulls (27%) are considered the best bet to be the most improved team in 2021/22, while Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (17%) received the most support as the top breakout candidate.
Following their run to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hawks (50%) were overwhelmingly voted as the team with the best young core. The Rockets received three votes, while no other team got more than two.
Only two players received multiple votes when GMs were asked which player they’d want to start a franchise with: Mavericks star Luka Doncic (43%) barely beat out Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo (40%).

Irving's Availability For Practices Unknown

October 4th, 2021 at 7:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets aren’t sure whether Kyrie Irving will be allowed to practice with the team on Tuesday, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Irving’s refusal to be vaccinated will prevent him from playing home games as well as participating in practices at the training facility under New York City rules. “I don’t have an update on that,” coach Steve Nash said. “So I really don’t know.”

NBA, NBPA Agree On Penalty For Players Who Miss Games Due To Vaccine Mandates

October 4th, 2021 at 9:13am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA and NBPA have agreed that unvaccinated players who can’t play in games due to local governmental vaccine mandates will be docked 1/91.6th of their salaries for each game missed, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Bobby Marks, and Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Typically, when a player is suspended, he loses 1/145th of his salary per game or 1/110th of his salary per game if the suspension exceeds 20 games, so this penalty is a little harsher than that. It appears that last season’s fine for games missed due to COVID-19 protocol violations was used as a guideline for determining this rate — missing a game during last year’s 72-game season for violating COVID-19 protocols cost a player 1/81.6th of his salary.

For now, New York and San Francisco are the two primary municipalities worth monitoring, since each city has a vaccine mandate for individuals entering indoor venues. The Knicks are reportedly fully vaccinated and Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins recently became vaccinated as well. That leaves Nets guard Kyrie Irving as perhaps the lone unvaccinated player on the three teams based in those cities — it’s possible he’s not the only one, but no others have been reported to date.

Irving’s cap hit for the 2021/22 season is just over $35MM, so he’d lose about $383K per home game if he remains unvaccinated and can’t play in Brooklyn.

Those executive orders in New York and San Francisco aren’t expected to apply to unvaccinated visiting players, who will receive an exemption. The one exception would be Nets vs. Knicks games — since both teams are based in New York, they’d both presumably be subject to local restrictions.

As we noted last week when we first wrote that players would lose salary for games missed due to local vaccine mandates, it was also crucial to determine whether a player’s lost salary would reduce his team’s tax bill for the season, since the Nets and Warriors are both far over the tax line. However, according to Marks (Twitter link), teams won’t receive any tax savings for any players who miss games due to vaccine mandates.

Nets Notes: Carter, Aldridge, Jordan, Millsap

October 2nd, 2021 at 7:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nets will open their preseason Sunday afternoon against the Lakers, but most of their big names won’t be playing, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The expected starting five of Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris and Blake Griffin will all be held out of the game, along with offseason additions Patty Mills and James Johnson. Coach Steve Nash explained that he didn’t want to put his best players on the court six days after the opening of training camp.

“The game came so quickly, preseason, and we have three more,” Nash said. “We’ll hold back some guys, and other guys will get more opportunity.”

Among the players who will see more court time is fourth-year guard Jevon Carter, who was acquired from the Suns in an offseason deal. Carter averaged just 12 minutes per game with Phoenix last season and is aiming for a spot in Brooklyn’s rotation.

“I’m just expecting to go out there and just do my job, honestly. Whatever comes with it comes with it,” Carter said. “They told me just keep doing what I’m doing. They just kept telling me that they like what I’m doing, and just go out there, stay aggressive and lead the group.”

There’s more from Brooklyn:

Sunday will mark the first game action for LaMarcus Aldridge since he received medical clearance to start playing again, Lewis adds. “I think LaMarcus will play,” Nash said. “Nobody’s going to play a ton, so we’ll spread it around pretty evenly. We don’t want anyone doing too much and exposing themselves this early. Hopefully he plays enough that he feels good about it, and at the same time isn’t playing too much.”
The Nets will have a quick reunion with DeAndre Jordan, who spent the past two seasons in Brooklyn before being traded last month, notes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Jordan says he still has a lot of friends on the team, but he’s concentrating now on helping the Lakers. “I got a lot of love for those guys over there,” he said. “So I’m not thinking about ‘Oh, I should’ve stayed.’ I’m not thinking about that. I’m thinking about where I’m at now and my focus is here with this group of guys.”
Free agent addition Paul Millsap is willing to accept a reduced role to help the Nets win a title, per Tom Dowd of NBA.com. The 36-year-old was fully aware of what would be expected when he chose to sign with Brooklyn. “This team is not going to need me to get out there and go to work on the block and score 15, 20 points,” he said. “I understand that. Knowing my role on this team is going to be big and crucial and everybody knowing their role is going to be big and crucial to winning.”

Atlantic Notes: Harden, Knox, Rivers, Birch

October 2nd, 2021 at 3:44pm CST by JD Shaw

Nets superstar James Harden is still working on getting his conditioning back to 100%, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Lewis notes that Harden has fully healed from a hamstring injury sustained during the playoffs — but that his next challenge is getting back into shape.

“He hasn’t really played since the Boston series, and before that, he hadn’t played for a long time either,” head coach Steve Nash explained. So he hasn’t played a lot of basketball, period, since the [2020] bubble. It’s been stop-start for him. He still wants to get his legs under him, and then can feel a few new levels for him to go.”

Brooklyn is poised to re-add Harden to a starting five of Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin this season. The 32-year-old played 44 games with the Rockets and Nets last season, averaging 24.6 points and 10.8 assists per contest.

Here are some other notes from the Atlantic Division:

Kevin Knox‘s future with the Knicks remains cloudy entering the season, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Knox only played in 42 games last season (11 minutes per contest), and sources told Berman it was largely due to his low motor and lack of defensive toughness. Knox was drafted by the franchise with the No. 9 pick in 2018.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers helped recruit Andre Drummond and Georges Niang to the team in free agency, Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Both Drummond and Niang are expected to provide depth in the frontcourt as bench players this season. “That was the swinger in me wanting to be here,” Niang said of his phone conversation with Rivers. “Just simply because that’s the guy that’s taking me in and out of the game. He had a vision for me, and it aligned with [how] I thought I fit in. He wants to win right away, and so do I. I want to be in a good culture, and that’s what he’s building here. Obviously, when I got off the phone, I was real excited because I thought, before I even made the decision, I had a home here in Philly.”
Raptors big man Khem Birch has missed the start of training camp due to health and safety protocols, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets. Birch appeared in 19 games with Toronto last season, averaging 11.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 30.4 minutes per contest.