Hornets Acquire Terry Rozier Via Sign-And-Trade
JULY 6: The trade is official, the Hornets announced in a press release. In addition to swapping Walker for Rozier, Charlotte has received a protected 2020 second-round pick and sent a 2020 second-rounder to Boston. The pick going to the Celtics is coming from the Knicks or Nets through the Magic, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “We’re excited to be able to acquire Terry in this sign-and-trade deal,” Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak said. “He is an up-and-coming player who has shown continued improvement in his four NBA seasons, and we believe he can take that next step as a starting point guard in this league.”
JUNE 30: The Hornets are on track to acquire Celtics RFA point guard Terry Rozier via a sign-and-trade deal, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). According to Charania, Rozier will get a three-year, $58MM deal, and it will be fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
Rozier will replace longtime Hornets point guard Kemba Walker in Charlotte’s backcourt, with Walker reportedly set to join the Celtics. The Hornets entered the offseason projected to be an over-the-cap team with no room available to make a bid for Rozier, so working out a sign-and-trade with Boston involving Kemba will allow them to add a quality replacement at the point.
Rozier, 25, had a down year in 2018/19 as he struggled with an inconsistent role coming off the bench behind Irving. However, he flashed serious upside down the stretch in 2017/18, averaging 16.5 PPG, 5.7 APG, and 5.3 RPG in 19 playoff games that spring. The Hornets will be counting on him to recapture that form in Charlotte.
As cap expert Albert Nahmad details (via Twitter), the Hornets, Celtics, and Nets may complete a three-way deal involving a handful of signed-and-traded players, with Kyrie Irving headed to Brooklyn. While such a deal could theoretically work financially, the Nets would need to be incentivized to cooperate and help out two conference rivals.
The Hornets will become hard-capped as a result of acquiring Rozier via a sign-and-trade, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The Celtics would also face a hard cap if they land Walker via sign-and-trade. Both teams would be prohibited from spending beyond the $138,928,000 tax apron during the 2019/20 league year.
If they can acquire Walker without using cap room and remain an over-the-cap team, the Celtics could retain Al Horford‘s Bird rights and could technically bring him back. Chris Mannix of SI.com and Keith Smith of RealGM suggest (via Twitter) that Boston is aggressively exploring avenues to make that work, but Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) hears from a source close to Horford that he’s still unlikely to return.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kemba Walker Signs Four-Year Deal With Celtics
JULY 6: Walker’s new deal with the Celtics is official, according to a tweet from the team. Walker was among the first free agents to commit to his new team when free agency began last Sunday.
JUNE 30, 5:24pm: Walker and the Celtics are formally in agreement on a four-year max deal, tweets Wojnarowski. As we detailed in our story of the Hornets’ agreement with Rozier, Boston is working on adding Kemba via sign-and-trade.
JUNE 30, 2:14pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN is reporting that while talks remain exploratory in nature, the Celtics have shown interest in a three-team sign-and-trade with Irving, Walker, and Rozier (to the Hornets). Per Woj, the Celtics are interested in having the MLE at their disposal as opposed to the room exception. Woj also adds that the Nets would likely command a first-round pick from Boston for agreeing to a S&T.
JUNE 29, 3:39pm: Free agent point guard Kemba Walker has conveyed to the Hornets that he intends to sign with the Celtics when the NBA’s new league year begins, multiple sources tell Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
Boston has been viewed as Walker’s likely landing spot in recent days, having emerged as the frontrunner for the All-NBA point guard earlier in the week.
Kemba intends to sign a four-year, maximum-salary contract (worth a projected $141MM), tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He’ll be in Boston on Sunday night to finalize an agreement with the C’s, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
A three-time All-Star, Walker had perhaps the best year of his NBA carer in 2018/19, establishing a new career-high in PPG (25.6) while also contributing 5.9 APG and 4.4 RPG with a shooting line of .434/.356/.844.
Despite receiving little offensive help in Charlotte, Walker managed to keep the team in the playoff hunt for most of the season, though the Hornets ultimately fell short and finished in the lottery. If Walker had returned to Charlotte, the team would have been up against the luxury tax and would have had a hard time improving its roster around him, so the former UConn star will move on to a potential contender despite the fact that the Hornets could have offered him more money over more years.
Walker will join a Celtics roster that is set to feature Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart, so it will be fascinating to see what he can do in Boston without receiving quite as much attention from opposing defenses. The opportunity to play alongside those Celtics veterans and potentially go deep in the playoffs was a key factor in Walker’s decision, a source tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link).
The C’s are expecting to lose Al Horford and, of course, Kyrie Irving, who has been rumored to be focused on Brooklyn. With Walker heading to Boston to replace Irving, the Hornets are scouring the free agent market for possible point guard targets of their own, according to Wojnarowski, who tweets that Elfrid Payton, T.J. McConnell, Ish Smith, and Emmanuel Mudiay are among the options being considered by Charlotte.
Terry Rozier‘s name has also been linked to the Hornets, though it’s unlikely that he’d be a viable option unless Charlotte and Boston can work out some sort of sign-and-trade arrangement, which is a long shot. By withdrawing Rozier’s qualifying offer and renouncing his cap hold, the Celtics will have enough room to sign Walker outright to a max deal, even with Daniel Theis‘ QO still on their books.
In addition to Boston and Charlotte, the Mavericks and Knicks had also been considered potential contenders for Walker.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nets Officially Sign Kyrie Irving
The Nets have signed Kyrie Irving to his new four-year contract with the team, according to the NBA’s transactions log, which lists the deal as official. Brooklyn hasn’t formally announced Irving’s signing yet, but the club has a complex series of transactions that must be completed, so it may be waiting to announce Irving at the same time as Kevin Durant.
Irving is moving from one Atlantic playoff team to another after earning All-NBA Second Team honors with the Celtics this past season. He averaged 23.8 PPG and a career-high 6.9 APG and 5.0 RPG with impressive efficiency numbers (.487/.401/.873 shooting).
However, locker-room and chemistry issues, as well as a disappointing second-round exit in the postseason, soured his second and final year in Boston. The C’s will replace him with another All-NBA point guard, Kemba Walker.
While Irving was initially expected to sign a four-year maximum-salary contract worth just shy of $141MM, a report indicated that he (and Durant) would accept a little less than the max in order to accommodate a four-year, $40MM deal for DeAndre Jordan. We’ll have to wait to find out the final terms of Irving’s new contract.
For more on Irving’s new deal, check out our original story from last weekend on his agreement with the Nets.
Spurs Trade Davis Bertans To Wizards In Three-Team Deal
5:32pm: The three-team trade is now official, the Nets announced in a press release. Bertans goes to Washington, Carroll to San Antonio, and White’s draft rights to Brooklyn. The Nets also acquired the draft rights for 2014 second-rounder Nemanja Dangubic from the Spurs.
4:33pm: The Spurs are finalizing a trade that will send sharpshooting forward Davis Bertans to the Wizards, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
As Wojnarowski explains, trading Bertans will allow San Antonio to acquire DeMarre Carroll and his new three-year deal via sign-and-trade. According to David Aldridge of The Athletic (via Twitter), the Nets will receive the rights to draft-and-stash player Aaron White from the Wizards in the three-team deal, which will send Carroll from Brooklyn to the Spurs.
Bertans, 26, is one of the most talented outside shooters among the NBA’s big men, having knocked down 42.9% of his three-pointers last season. In 76 total games (21.5 MPG), he averaged 8.0 PPG and 3.5 RPG for San Antonio. He’ll have an opportunity to earn a frontcourt role for a Wizards team that lost Bobby Portis and Trevor Ariza and also appears unlikely to bring back Jabari Parker or Sam Dekker.
The Wizards, who will absorb Bertans using the $8.6MM trade exception they created when they dealt Markieff Morris in February, will be right at the luxury-tax line after acquiring the Spurs’ forward. However, they could create some breathing room by waiving Jonathon Simmons before his 2019/20 salary becomes fully guaranteed, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
As for the Spurs, they had sought more versatility on the wing and at the forward spots, tweets Jabari Young of The Athletic. Swapping Bertans for Carroll will point them in that direction. Additionally, by folding Carroll’s agreement into this deal as a sign-and-trade, the Spurs retained their mid-level exception, which they’ll use to sign Marcus Morris, another versatile forward.
San Antonio initially reached a two-year contract agreement with Carroll, but amended it today to add an extra season, since sign-and-trade contracts must span at least three years. It’s not clear if that third year will be guaranteed.
As for the Nets, it’s unclear if their involvement in this deal extends beyond acquiring White and doing a favor to Carroll. The 49th overall pick in the 2015 draft, White has spent the last four seasons playing overseas for teams in Germany, Russia, and Lithuania.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Spurs Acquire DeMarre Carroll In Sign-And-Trade
JULY 6: The Spurs and Carroll’s agent Mark Bartelstein have reworked the forward’s deal to make it a three-year, $21MM contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Adding the third year was necessary since San Antonio officially acquired Carroll via sign-and-trade rather than signing him outright (sign-and-trade contracts must be for at least three years). That deal is outlined right here.
JUNE 30: DeMarre Carroll has agreed to join the Spurs on a two-year deal, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The contract will pay him $13MM over the two seasons.
Carroll spent the last two seasons in Brooklyn after the Nets acquired him via trade from the Raptors during the 2017 offseason. With Brooklyn landing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the team was limited in what it could offer free agents, so Carroll departing isn’t major news.
For the Spurs, it’s their second deal of the day with the team re-signing Rudy Gay. The Spurs forward rotation appears stable.
Barring some sort of sign-and-trade arrangement, the Spurs figure to sign Carroll using their mid-level exception.
Eastern Notes: Dinwiddie, Knicks, Olynyk, Mykhailiuk
The Nets enjoyed their most successful free agent period ever this week, agreeing to deals with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan. The moves figure to make Brooklyn one of the Eastern Conference’s premier teams next season, one year after the Nets’ made the postseason.
Even with the likelihood that Durant misses most – if not all – of next season, Brooklyn figures to be in the hunt for a top seed. Current Net Spencer Dinwiddie, a crucial part of the franchise’s increased success as of late, reportedly played a major role in recruiting those aforementioned All-Stars.
For the first time, Dinwiddie addressed Brooklyn’s moves, giving a coy response to the nature of recruitment among NBA players today.
“The thing about the NBA, everything you read is plausible,” Dinwiddie said to The Athletic’s Michael Scotto. “And with that being said, obviously, it could’ve happened, it may not have happened.”
With the spotlight now shining on the Nets, Dinwiddie noted that the team expects to be in contention for not just a playoff spot but for a title in the coming seasons.
“Anytime you add two probably top-10 players in the world, multi-time All-Stars, you’re obviously going to get better,” Dinwiddie said. “It’s on the rest of us to kind of help facilitate that transition, and hopefully we can be a very good team next year.”
Check out more Eastern Conference notes:
- Even with cap space for two max contracts, the Knicks failed to lure any top-tier free agents to New York this summer. Marc Berman of the New York Post opines that the Knicks’ failures warrant an image overhaul of the franchise if it hopes to lure top players in the future.
- The Pistons plan to keep Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk on the roster, thus fully guaranteeing his salary for the 2019/20 season, Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops relays (Twitter link). Mykhailiuk’s minimum-salary contract had a guarantee date of July 5.
- After suffering a torn Achilles, C.J. Wilcox thought his career was over. At 28 years old, Wilcox – who re-signed this week with the Pacers – is in the midst of a comeback attempt, Robby General of the Indianapolis Star writes. “Eight months ago, I was done playing basketball after tearing my Achilles,” Wilcox said. “Now I have some level of a contract, which is something to be proud of.”
Hawks Acquire Allen Crabbe In Trade With Nets
JULY 6: A month after it was agreed upon, the Nets have officially traded Crabbe to the Hawks along with the No. 17 pick (Nickeil Alexander-Walker) and a lottery-protected first-round pick in exchange for Prince and the Hawks’ 2021 second-rounder, according to press releases from both teams.
Brooklyn will, of course, use its cap room to sign Irving and Durant.
JUNE 6: The Nets and Hawks have agreed to a trade that will send Allen Crabbe, the No. 17 pick in the 2019 draft, and a lottery-protected 2020 first-round pick to Atlanta in exchange for Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
The move will allow the Nets to clear more than $17MM from their books for the 2019/20 season by swapping Crabbe’s expiring $18.5MM deal for Prince’s ($3.48MM) and clearing the cap hold for the No. 17 pick. That will put Brooklyn on track to enter the offseason with more than $47MM in cap space. The Nets will now have a clearer path to creating two maximum-salary cap slots if they’re willing to renounce D’Angelo Russell‘s cap hold.
[RELATED: Latest On D’Angelo Russell]
The fact that the Nets were willing to agree to move Crabbe so early in the offseason signals that they have big plans for that extra cap room, which is particularly intriguing given the recent rumors linking Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Irving is “serious” about the Nets, and Brooklyn is looking to beat out the Knicks and the rest of the NBA for top free agents this summer.
If Russell is renounced, the Nets would have enough cap space for Irving and another maximum-salary free agent, unless that player has 10+ years of NBA experience (like Kevin Durant). In that scenario, the club would have to make one more modest cost-cutting move.
Besides creating extra cap flexibility, the Nets also pick up a solid young wing with three-and-D potential in Prince. The 25-year-old has averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2.4 APG with a .431/.387/.834 shooting line in 137 games (29.3 MPG) over the last two seasons in Atlanta. He’s extension-eligible this offseason and will be a restricted free agent in 2020 if he doesn’t get a new deal.
From the Hawks’ perspective, acquiring Crabbe in exchange for Prince and their 2021 second-round pick will allow them to pick up two extra first-round selections, which could be used to add two more young prospects to their core or could be dangled in subsequent trade discussions.
Atlanta is now armed with three top-20 picks in the 2019 draft (Nos. 8, 10, and 17). There have been rumors that the Hawks have explored the idea of packaging their two top-10 picks to move up — adding the No. 17 selection to the mix should give the club more leverage in those discussions.
Meanwhile, the on-court impact of swapping out Prince for Crabbe shouldn’t be significant, as they play fairly similar roles. While Crabbe’s lucrative contract isn’t team-friendly, he has still been a very good three-point shooter in recent years, posting a .396 3PT% since signing his four-year deal in 2016, and his deal will expire after the 2019/20 season.
The Hawks’ cap room for 2019 will be cut nearly in half by the deal, but the team still projects to have about $23-25MM in space.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN.com observes (via Twitter), the two teams won’t be able to complete the trade until July, since the Hawks won’t have the cap room necessary to absorb Crabbe’s contract until the new league year begins.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Allen, Jordan Battle Will Be Talk Of Camp
- The competition between centers Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan will be the biggest preseason battle in Nets’ camp, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Allen, 21, is seemingly a core piece for the franchise but the presence of Jordan, a close friend of Kevin Durant who agreed to a four-year, $40MM contract, creates a potential dilemma. Jordan may have lost a step, Lewis notes, but he’s been a starter throughout his career.
Community Shootaround: Team-Friendly Free Agent Deals
It’s the fourth full day of NBA free agency and we’ve finally topped the 100 transaction mark so far this offseason. That means now is as good a time to pore through the deals that have been reported thus far and start analyzing which ones we think may prove to be the biggest bargains.
For a complete list of all the transactions I’m talking about, check out the Hoops Rumors 2019 Free Agent Tracker.
Below are a few of the bargain deals that stand out to me. I encourage you to pore through the complete list on your own and get back to us with the contracts that you think will most favor the NBA teams that inked them.
Young Bigs That Minnesota Bought Low On
MIN – Jordan Bell (1 year, $1.6MM)
MIN – Noah Vonleh (1 year, $2.0MM)
It’s safe to say that there’s a reason Bell didn’t step into significant minutes with the Warriors at any point over the course of the past few seasons. Perhaps he didn’t see eye-to-eye with the coaching staff. In any event, the Wolves will now give the 24-year-old a fresh start in a low pressure environment and perhaps the stark contrast between sunny, 60-win seasons in California and dreary, Minnesota winter slogs to the 35-win plateau will serve as a wake-up call for the talented center.
Vonleh may not have worn out his welcome with any of the teams that he’s played for, but that could be because he hasn’t stuck around long enough with any of them to do it. Vonleh had the dubious distinction of being a raw talent coming out of the draft. That, coupled with his low draft age led to high expectations. Well, we’re four years into Vonleh’s career now and while he hasn’t evolved into much more than a high energy rebound guy, he’s a pretty darn good one. Vonleh has played for four teams in five seasons and is still only 23-years-old.
Guys Who Fill The Stat Sheet When The Stars Align
WAS – Thomas Bryant (3 years, $25MM)
SAC – Richaun Holmes (2 years, $9.8MM)
Bryant didn’t end up sticking with the Lakers team that drafted him but caught on in an infinitely better environment. The 21-year-old’s low-post potential has been evident since his days as a Hoosier but he’s the type of prospect that a team would have to be in an awfully grim position to fully audition in live game action. Enter, the Washington Wizards. The Wiz were so shallow at the five last year that Bryant got the call and immediately developed chemistry with club star Bradley Beal. Don’t get me wrong, I know the NBA isn’t trending in Bryant’s favor, but he averaged 19.9 points and 11.2 rebounds in games where he saw north of 30 minutes and he showed up for the team in crunch time. The fact that Washington will lock him down with an average annual value of $8.3MM is a win. He doesn’t even have to keep the starting spot to outperform that.
The Sacramento Kings suddenly have one of the league’s most interesting frontcourts. That’s mostly due to the two sophomores they’ll return in 2019/20, but also because of the addition of chronically underrated center Dewayne Dedmon and the mysterious, springy 25-year-old Holmes, whom they just poached from the Phoenix Suns. Sacramento’s bigs may not be the best in the league, but if Holmes’ is the fourth-best on the roster, then that’s some solid depth. Holmes will make less than $5MM this year to, for the first time in his career, show what he’s capable of on a team that isn’t just spinning its tires. #ThingsYouNeverThoughtYouWouldSayAboutTheKings
Former All-Stars That Maybe, Just Maybe, Have More In The Tank
DET – Derrick Rose (2 years, $15MM)
WAS – Isaiah Thomas (1 year, $2.3MM)
Rose enjoyed an almost inconceivable comeback season in 2018/19, highlighted by a 54-point performance that will go down as one of the most memorable moments of his already dramatic career. Rose’s ridiculous early season production petered off slightly when the Wolves introduced new head coach Ryan Saunders and his fancy rational rotations but we saw enough throughout the year to know that the former MVP was capable of actually contributing at an elite level again. Rose was thrown into the deep end after six seasons of uncertainty and/or chaos. He’ll provide a badly needed offensive punch for a Detroit Pistons team that isn’t afraid to go all out for a semblance of respectability.
Thomas is two years removed from an All-NBA Second Team performance. While we all should have known that 2017/18 was going to be a wash once details of his hip injury came to light, he didn’t have much more of a chance to prove himself in 2018/19 either. The Nuggets saw years of careful drafting and asset accumulation finally start to pay off last year and rode that to their best finished in a decade, there was no room for trotting out Thomas and hoping for the best. Perhaps IT can benefit from a comeback season on the Wizards like Rose enjoyed in 2018/19. The fact that we’re even considering that as a possibility makes his one-year minimum a bargain.
One-Dimensional Bigs That Earned The Room Exception
UTA – Ed Davis (2 years, $9.8MM)
BOS – Enes Kanter (2 years, $9.8MM)
Despite the ancient proverb that board men get paid, that wasn’t the case for Davis, an all around positive force on a 2018/19 Brooklyn Nets team that cleared house to bring in a pair of superstar free agents this week. Davis was reluctantly abandoned by the Trail Blazers last summer too, and will now ply his trade for yet another franchise that’s serious about being taken seriously. Davis just needs 20 minutes of action to pull down 10-12 rebounds a night. He’ll settle in just fine on a Utah Jazz squad that’s betting big on depth.
I am convinced that Kanter was overrated for so long that he became underrated. While anything Kanter does on the offensive end will ultimately be judged by his performance on the other side of the ball, that doesn’t mean he can’t still be utilized effectively on a winning ball club. Kanter averaged 11.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for the Blazers in the 2019 postseason. They made it to the Western Conference Finals. Complemented by returning big man Daniel Theis, whose expertise skews toward defense, and you’ve got a very interesting, very affordable committee at the five.
Eastern Notes: Pacers, Bucks, Sumner, Nets, De Colo
The first-round draft pick the Pacers will send the Bucks in their sign-and-trade deal for Malcolm Brogdon is lottery-protected in 2020, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. And if it doesn’t convey in 2020, it’s lottery-protected for five more drafts after that before becoming unprotected in 2026, Lowe adds. In other words, barring a catastrophe in Indiana, Milwaukee will be getting a pick in the back half of the first round, likely next year.
Meanwhile, Edmond Sumner‘s new three-year deal with the Pacers will be worth $6.5MM, a league source tells Grant Afseth of The Kokomo Tribune (Twitter link). It’s not clear whether all three years will be fully guaranteed, but it sounds like Sumner will be getting more than the minimum.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- A source tells Marc Stein of The New York Times that Spencer Dinwiddie was “at the forefront” of a months-long push to convince Kyrie Irving to choose the Nets over the Knicks — and to push Kevin Durant in the same direction. While DeAndre Jordan spent the last two months of the season with the Knicks, he also came to view Brooklyn as a more favorable destination to team up with Irving and Durant, according to Stein, who says the veteran center “joined the chorus promoting the Nets” in recent days.
- EuroLeague powerhouse Fenerbahce is in serious pursuit of Raptors RFA guard Nando De Colo, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. According to Carchia, De Colo – who last wore an NBA uniform in 2014 – remains focused on getting back into the NBA. But if he doesn’t get an offer he likes within the next couple weeks, it’s possible he’ll sign with the Turkish club, says Carchia.
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype caught up with veteran center Nikola Vucevic to talk to him about his new $100MM contract agreement with the Magic. “I feel rewarded for what I’ve done – not just last season, but what I’ve done throughout all of my years in Orlando,” Vucevic said of his new deal. “It means a lot for the team to reward me with this nice contract. It was important for me to be able to continue [my career] there and I’m glad we were able to agree on a deal that keeps me in Orlando for four more years.”