Durant Doesn’t Blame Warriors, Never Considered Knicks
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports sat down with Nets forward Kevin Durant earlier this week to discuss several notable topics, including how the 30-year-old star perceives the opinion of some that the Warriors mishandled Durant’s return from a Grade 2 right calf strain. His response?
“Hell, no. How can you blame [the Warriors]? Hell, no. I heard the Warriors pressured me into getting back. Nobody never said a word to me during rehab as I was coming back. It was only me and [director of sports medicine and performance] Rick [Celebrini] working out every day. Right when the series started, I targeted Game 5. Hell, nah. It just happened. It’s basketball. S— happens. Nobody was responsible for it. It was just the game. We just need to move on from that s— because I’m going to be back playing.”
Durant also spoke about his choice to sign with Brooklyn, saying that the decision was not made until the morning of June 30, as he didn’t want to “disrespect the game” by putting his focus on the future during the season. Interestingly, he also said that he only considered the Warriors and the Nets as potential destinations.
Of course, speculation ran rampant throughout the entire 2018/19 season that the Knicks were a strong, if not primary contender to land both Durant and Kyrie Irving this summer. In response, Durant said “If I was leaving the Warriors, it was always going to be for the Nets. They got the pieces and a creative front office. I just like what they were building.”
There’s more from Durant’s interview with Haynes, which is worth a read in its entirety:
- Speaking on how some Toronto fans cheered and applauded his injury before several Raptors players signaled the crowd to stop, Durant smirked and said, perhaps with a suggestion of karma, “It will probably be the last time they will be in the Finals.”
- Durant had a difficult time watching the remainder of Game 5 from his hotel room, even turning the channel at one point before flipping back later to cheer on his teammates.
- Durant would not confirm that he will miss the entire 2019/20 season, leaving open the possibility that he could return before season’s end.
- Durant’s perspective on the entire injury situation is a positive one, saying “Yeah, I still think about that night… that one is definitely always going to be a huge part of my career because it’s the biggest stage and the type of injury I had. But now I look at it as me just going out there playing basketball, and I happened to get hurt. And now I’m just waiting to get back. I know it’s a huge deal to everybody else, but I just try to take it on the chin and keep it moving.”
And-Ones: Pasecniks, Beauchamp, Motiejunas
The No. 25 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, Anzejs Pasecniks had his rights renounced by the Sixers earlier this offseason, then joined the Wizards for Summer League action in July. Pasecniks averaged just 4.0 PPG on 28.6% shooting in four games (12.5 MPG), though he did chip in 5.3 RPG.
Despite his modest Summer League numbers, Pasecniks suggests that he’s receiving NBA interest, as Bruno Perkons of Sportazinas.com relays (hat tip to Sportando).
“I don’t have a contract at the moment and am a free agent, but let’s just say the negotiations are mostly with NBA teams,” Pasecniks said.
Acquired by Philadelphia from Orlando in a draft-night trade in 2017, Pasecniks remained overseas for the last two seasons, playing for Gran Canaria in Spain. He has yet to sign an NBA contract, so we’ll see if that changes before the 2019/20 season gets underway.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- A top-30 high school recruit, MarJon Beauchamp plans to forgo college and will instead go through a year-long training program with Chameleon BX to prepare for the 2021 NBA draft, writes Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com. Beauchamp was ranked as the fifth-best small forward in the 2020 recruiting class, Borzell notes. A press release from Chameleon BX provides more information on Beauchamp’s decision.
- After finishing the 2018/19 season with the Spurs, veteran power forward Donatas Motiejunas is headed back overseas for the 2019/20 campaign. Motiejunas recently signed a contract with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, tweets journalist Zhang Duo (hat tip to Nicola Lupo of Sportando). The Lithuanian big man previously spent two seasons with China’s Shandong Golden Stars.
- In an interesting story for ESPN.com, Jackie MacMullan explored how head coaches like Kenny Atkinson (Nets) and Doc Rivers (Clippers) found out about – and reacted to – their teams signing star free agents this offseason. MacMullan also examined the other side of the coin, talking to Nick Nurse (Raptors) and Steve Kerr (Warriors) about losing their stars.
- The NBA G League released its list of 50 invitees for this year’s NBAGL Player Invitational. The group of undrafted rookies and veteran free agents will get the opportunity to showcase their skills at the event in the hopes of securing a G League roster spot for the 2019/20 season.
Nets Notes: Holden, Chandler, Harris
The Nets are expected to hire Sixers international scout J.R. Holden to serve as the team’s new director of player personnel, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Holden, who played overseas from 1998-2011, winning a pair of EuroLeague championships during that time, has also scouted for the Pistons since retiring as a player.
Holden will inject some more new talent into a front office that lost multiple key executives this offseason. Gianluca Pascucci joined the Timberwolves, while Trajan Langdon headed to New Orleans. The Nets have also hired Andy Birdsong and Jeff Peterson as assistant GMs to help replenish the group around Sean Marks.
Michael Scotto of The Athletic has updates on a couple more changes by the Nets, reporting (via Twitter) that the club will name Ryan Forehan-Kelly as its player development coordinator, with Shaun Fein set to assume head coaching duties for the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Tom Noie of The South Bend Tribune profiled new Nets forward Wilson Chandler, who recognizes that he’s not being brought in to have the same sort of impact as fellow free agent signees like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. “I’m one of the soldiers who goes out there for the generals and the captains. I’m on the support team and rightfully so,” Chandler said. “Whenever they need my help, they know they have a warrior besides themselves.”
- As Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily relays, Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris recently appeared on Barstool’s Pardon My Take podcast to discuss how he ended up in Brooklyn, the Nets’ outlook, and the club’s free agency success. While Harris is looking forward to playing with his new star teammates, he declined to take any credit for their decisions to sign with the team. “I didn’t take any part in the recruitment,” Harris said. “I let the other guys kind of the bulk of that stuff.”
- Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is looking to sell off NYCB Live, the home of the Nassau Coliseum. Prokhorov is expected to cede control of the Nets to minority shareholder Joseph Tsai within the next year or two and may also look to sell ownership of Barclays Center at some point.
NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2019/20
The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $109,140,000 threshold once their room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit of $132,627,000 as well — the Trail Blazers have this season’s highest payroll at the moment, more than $11MM above the tax line.
The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows a club like Portland to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.
When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5,718,000) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.
When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron was set $6MM above the luxury tax line in 2017/18 (the first year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement) and creeps up a little higher each season. For the 2019/20 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $138,928,000.
More teams than ever this offseason have been willing to hard-cap themselves, and in at least a couple cases, it will significantly impact a team’s ability to add further reinforcements later in the league year. The Warriors and Heat are nearly right up against the hard cap, and won’t be players in free agency during the season unless they can shed salary.
So far this year, half the teams in the NBA have imposed a hard cap on themselves by using the bi-annual exception, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade. Listed below are those 15 teams, along with how they created a hard cap.
Boston Celtics
- Acquired Kemba Walker from the Hornets via sign-and-trade.
Brooklyn Nets
- Acquired Kevin Durant from the Warriors via sign-and-trade.
Charlotte Hornets
- Acquired Terry Rozier from the Celtics via sign-and-trade.
Chicago Bulls
- Acquired Tomas Satoransky from the Wizards via sign-and-trade.
Dallas Mavericks
- Acquired Delon Wright from the Grizzlies via sign-and-trade.
- Used approximately $7.46MM of their mid-level exception to sign Seth Curry.
- Used their bi-annual exception to sign Boban Marjanovic.
Detroit Pistons
- Used approximately $7.32MM of their mid-level exception to sign Derrick Rose.
- Used their bi-annual exception to sign Markieff Morris.
Golden State Warriors
- Acquired D’Angelo Russell from the Nets via sign-and-trade.
Indiana Pacers
- Acquired Malcolm Brogdon from the Bucks via sign-and-trade.
Memphis Grizzlies
- Used their full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) to sign Tyus Jones.
- Used their bi-annual exception to sign Marko Guduric.
Miami Heat
- Acquired Jimmy Butler from the Sixers via sign-and-trade.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Acquired Jake Layman from the Trail Blazers via sign-and-trade.
Orlando Magic
- Used their full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) to sign Al-Farouq Aminu.
San Antonio Spurs
- Acquired DeMarre Carroll from the Nets via sign-and-trade.
Toronto Raptors
- Used approximately $8.3MM of their mid-level exception to sign Patrick McCaw, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Matt Thomas, and Dewan Hernandez.
- Used their bi-annual exception to sign Stanley Johnson.
Washington Wizards
- Used approximately $7.9MM of their mid-level exception to sign Ish Smith, Admiral Schofield, and Justin Robinson.
Outside of the Warriors and Heat, no clubs on the list above are really being restricted by the hard cap at this time. A few teams – such as the Pistons and Magic – are near the luxury tax threshold, but that still gives them several million dollars in breathing room below the hard cap.
While it’s possible that trades could push some teams closer to the apron, Golden State and Miami appear to be the only clubs that will be noticeably affected by the hard cap in 2019/20.
Ron Baker Signs With EuroLeague Defending Champions CSKA Moscow
Former Knicks point guard Ron Baker is headed to CSKA Moscow, according to the Russian team’s website. It will be a one-year deal.
“I’m excited for this new opportunity CSKA Basketball has given me. I’m very thankful! After speaking with head coach Dimitris and team captain Kyle Hines, I see myself fitting in with what CSKA is about,” Baker said in a statement. “Their day-to-day culture and achievements on the court were what I was looking for in a franchise during this summer free agency. I’m extremely grateful and most of all ready to compete for the fans of CSKA!”
Nikos Varlas of EuroHoops first had the scoop on the interest between Baker and the defending EuroLeague champs, tweeting that Baker’s decision was deciding between CSKA and the Nets, which would have been on a two-way deal.
Brooklyn currently has Henry Ellenson on a two-way contract, with the other spot open. Second-rounder Jaylen Hands is considered the most likely candidate for that second slot, but perhaps the Nets would’ve been willing to offer it to Baker.
After entering the NBA as an undrafted free agent with the Knicks in 2016, Baker spent parts of three seasons with the club before latching on the Wizards briefly last season. He averaged 3.1 PPG and 1.8 APG in 96 total regular season games (14.5 MPG).
Kosta Koufos also signed with CSKA Moscow earlier this offseason.
Nets Sign Deng Adel To Exhibit 10 Deal
JULY 30: The Nets have officially signed Adel, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 25: The Nets have reached an agreement to sign free agent small forward Deng Adel to an Exhibit 10 contract, league sources tell Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Adel, 22, went undrafted out of Louisville in 2018. He spent training camp and the preseason last fall with the Raptors, but didn’t make their regular season roster and ultimately landed with the Raptors 905 in the G League.
After appearing in 25 games for Toronto’s G League affiliate, Adel was snatched up by the Cavaliers, who inked him to a two-way contract in January. He saw limited minutes in 19 games for Cleveland in the second half of the season while also playing in 12 more NBAGL contests for the Canton Charge. He became an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
Once Adel’s deal with Brooklyn becomes official, he’ll occupy one of the 20 spots on the club’s offseason roster.
Pacific Notes: Davis, Lee, Russell, Rivers
Lakers power forward Anthony Davis says he’s never failed at anything and is confident he’ll win a championship during his career, as he told ESPN personality Sarah Spain in a story relayed by Dave McMenamin. “If I don’t win a championship that would be, I would feel that’s one of my biggest failures. But right now, I still have a lot to do in this world on and off the court,” Davis said. “So I don’t feel like I’ve failed in anything. I think I just continue to do it over until I succeed at it.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Warriors swingman Damion Lee will likely have a greater role than a typical two-way player, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. Beyond D’Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson‘s replacement as he mends from an ACL tear, the Warriors have an unimposing group of wings that include Jordan Poole, Eric Paschall, Jacob Evans, Alfonzo McKinnie, Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks. That puts Lee in position to fill a role as a floor spacer, Slater notes. Lee agreed to a two-way deal on Sunday.
- Money was a major factor in Russell’s free agent decision, as his former Nets teammate and new Lakers forward Jared Dudley told Ethan Strauss of The Athletic. Russell received four years and approximately $117MM in a sign-and-trade that raised some eyebrows since he’ll have to move to shooting guard with the Warriors. “D’Angelo wanted to get the max. So I’m not surprised,” Dudley said. “He would’ve gone to, you know, Saudi Arabia, if he could have gotten the max there. I’m not surprised he took that.”
- With the additions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Clippers coach Doc Rivers feels like he’s been given another chance to win a ring, as he told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Rivers’ club repeatedly came up short during the Chris Paul–Blake Griffin era with the franchise. “I view this as another opportunity to win it,” he said. “And let’s be honest: You don’t have a lot of opportunities to actually win it. When you have that, you take advantage of it.”
Nets Players Discuss New Look Team For Next Season
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype spoke with a number of current and former Nets players about the new look of the team, including fourth-year Brooklyn guard Spencer Dinwiddie. “It shows that our program as a whole took a huge step forward – one that I don’t think many people thought was possible,” Dinwiddie said of the Nets landing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. “Even when you and I talked about it previously on the podcast, people were mocking me! I was very upfront and said, ‘Hey, I’d welcome stars with open arms,’ but everybody laughed at it. The reaction was, ‘Alright, that sounds good, but it ain’t going to happen.’ I guess it just makes this experience that much sweeter (laughs).”
New York Notes: Jordan, Durant, Nets, Bullock
After spending the latter part of last season with the Knicks, veteran center DeAndre Jordan was expected to be a potentially key part of New York’s plan to pursue Kevin Durant in free agency. Instead, Jordan ended up joining the crosstown rival Nets, along with Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Jordan, 31, is joining his fourth team in two seasons. For him, the decision to go with the Nets over the Knicks had a lot to do with the team’s oft-mentioned culture and commitment to player development.
“Not to knock the culture the Knicks are creating, but we like what Kenny [Atkinson]’s doing and Sean [Marks] has been awesome and the organization, from top to bottom, has been great,” Jordan said to The Gothamist (via New York Post). “So you want to be a part of something like that, especially when you have a chance to play with other great players and build something.”
Check out more New York notes below:
- As for Durant, Jordan commented on his new Nets teammate in the same story. While it’s unlikely that Durant, coming off a torn Achilles, plays next season, Jordan is excited at what Brooklyn can accomplish when he does suit up. “We’ve got a lot of talent on this team,” Jordan said. “You know obviously Kevin had a tough injury, he’s going to be out for a while, but he’s progressing great, he’s recovering fast, we’ll be even better when we get him back and healthy.”
- With the Nets‘ free agency success has come an increased interest in the team, Kavitha Davidson of The Athletic writes. After luring Durant and Irving to Brooklyn, Nets’ CEO Brett Yormark said ticket demands, social media activity and much more has skyrocketed. “This is an outbound business, not an inbound business, so when a thousand calls are starting to come in, you get pretty excited. You realize momentum is shifting,” Yormark said.
- Knicks free agency signee Reggie Bullock may not return to the court until sometime in the new year, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. A serious back injury forced the Knicks to rework their original deal with the 3-and-D specialist and his cervical disk herniation surgery could sideline him for upwards of six months, according to one leading orthopedic surgeon who spoke to Berman.
Team USA Updates: Millsap, Plumlee, Harrell, Select Team
USA Basketball has issued a press release announcing a series of updates relating to the team it’s putting together for the 2019 World Cup in China, as well as the training camp that will take place in August before that event. Here are the highlights of that announcement:
More withdrawals:
Nuggets big man Paul Millsap has joined the ever-growing list of players from Team USA’s initial 20-man roster who have decided not to participate in this year’s World Cup. As expected, Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love has also withdrawn from Team USA’s 2019 roster.
Millsap and Love join Bradley Beal, Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, James Harden, Tobias Harris, Damian Lillard, and CJ McCollum among the original invitees who have removed their names from World Cup consideration.
New invitees:
Team USA confirmed that Thaddeus Young, Marcus Smart, Julius Randle, and Jaylen Brown will join the training camp roster for next month, as previous reports indicated.
In addition to those four players, two big men will join the roster as well, with Clippers center Montrezl Harrell and Nuggets center Mason Plumlee have received invitations from USA Basketball. Assuming the remaining 11 players from the original 20-man roster remain committed, that would bring the roster back up to 17.
[UPDATE: Harrell may turn down his invitation]
Those 11 other players are Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, P.J. Tucker, Myles Turner, and Kemba Walker.
Select Team:
For the first time, USA Basketball confirmed the players who will make up the Select Team at next month’s training camp in Las Vegas. The members of the 13-man Select Team will practice and scrimmage with Team USA’s training camp invitees, and will be coached by Jeff Van Gundy.
It’s possible that a player could be elevated from the Select Team to the primary roster and eventually find his way onto the 12-man squad that will play in China, but that’s probably a long shot.
The 13 players who will play for the Select Team are as follows:
- Jarrett Allen (Nets)
- Marvin Bagley III (Kings)
- Mikal Bridges (Suns)
- Jalen Brunson (Mavericks)
- John Collins (Hawks)
- Pat Connaughton (Bucks)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Joe Harris (Nets)
- Jonathan Isaac (Magic)
- Mitchell Robinson (Knicks)
- Landry Shamet (Clippers)
- Derrick White (Spurs)
- Trae Young (Hawks)
Team USA’s training camp will take place during the week of August 5, while the World Cup itself is scheduled to run from August 31 to September 15.