Guarantee Dates Pushed Back For Whitehead, Reed
The Nets have pushed back the salary guarantee date for Isaiah Whitehead and the Suns have done the same for Davon Reed, according to reports. Both players were initially on track to have their salaries for 2018/19 guaranteed if they remained under contract through Saturday.
[RELATED: NBA Salary Guarantee Dates For Summer 2018]
Whitehead, a former second-round pick who has spent his first two NBA seasons in Brooklyn, has a non-guaranteed $1,544,951 salary for 2018/19. According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Nets have moved his guarantee date to July 31, so Whitehead will receive his full salary if he remains on the roster through the end of the month.
The move will allow Brooklyn to assess how much cap room it has after acquiring and negotiating a buyout with Dwight Howard — if the team wants to maximize its space at that point to try to add a certain player via trade or free agency, Whitehead could be waived to create a little more flexibility. If not, he has a decent chance of sticking with the club.
As for Reed, Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic reports (via Twitter) that the Suns have pushed back the guarantee date for his $1,378,242 salary until after the conclusion of Summer League, giving the young guard a chance to play for the Suns in Las Vegas.
Reed, a second-round pick in 2017, only appeared in 21 games in his rookie year due to a knee injury, so the Suns probably want to take a closer look at him this summer before making any final decisions. The 23-year-old’s salary is reportedly partially guaranteed for $689K, so it wouldn’t cost Phoenix much to keep him around. The Suns already parted ways with one young guard, cutting Tyler Ulis on Saturday.
Pacers May Pursue Doug McDermott, Joe Harris
With Will Barton expected to re-sign in Denver, the Pacers will turn their attention to Doug McDermott and Joe Harris, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
McDermott, 26, became a free agent on Wednesday when the Mavericks withdrew their qualifying offer. He split this season between New York and Dallas, playing 26 games for the Mavs after a February trade and averaging 9.0 points per night while shooting 49% from 3-point range.
Harris, also 26, is coming off his best NBA season. He averaged 10.8 points and shot 42% on 3-pointers in 78 games for the Nets.
Nets May Try To Reunite Randle, Russell
The Nets are among the teams interested in signing Lakers forward Julius Randle to an offer sheet, according to an article on NetsDaily. Brooklyn would like to reunite D’Angelo Russell with Randle, who is a close friend and one of the few Lakers who showed support for Russell when Magic Johnson publicly questioned his leadership abilities. They also share the same agent in Aaron Mintz.
A few things will have to break the Nets’ way for them to have a shot at Randle. The Lakers will have to land both LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, limiting what they would be willing to spend on their restricted free agent, and the Mavericks, who are also known to covet Randle, would have to use most of their cap room to sign DeAndre Jordan.
Even if those dominoes fall into place, the Nets still have to trim some salary to come up with an offer sheet that starts in the $12MM to $15MM range. The article states that sweeteners such as up-front money and trade bonuses could be included to make it more difficult for the Lakers to match. To create cap room, the author adds, the Nets would have to get Dwight Howard to accept a buyout in the next few days and trade either Jeremy Lin or DeMarre Carroll.
- Even though the Nets decided against a qualifying offer for Nik Stauskas, that doesn’t mean he’ll be in a different uniform next season, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn views Stauskas as a lower-cost alternative if Joe Harris leaves in free agency, where he is expected to get a deal three to four times higher than his $1.5MM salary for 2017/18. Mark Bartelstein, who serves as the agent for both players, isn’t sure the decision will come down to one or the other. “We’ll see how things play out over the next two days,” he said. “We’ll be keeping the lines of communication open for the next few days. I know the Nets like Nik a lot. We’ll see how the roster shapes up.”
Jabari Parker Likely To Leave Bucks?
The Kings are just one of the teams expected to make a run at Jabari Parker, and some executives within the league view the former No. 2 overall pick to be among the small tier of players below stars such as LeBron James and Paul George.
“Hey, he’s a good player; I mean he’s a really good player,’’ an NBA executive told Gary Woelfel (via Woelfel’s Press Box). “And he’s young.’’
Parker is a restricted free agent, meaning the Bucks can match any rival offer he receives. One longtime NBA executive expects the 23-year-old to see a rather lucrative deal.
“I think some teams will give him $20MM [per season] and there might be some teams that will make it tough on Milwaukee to match and offer him even more,’’ the NBA official tells Woelfel.
“I think Milwaukee would like to keep him for $16MM or something around that figure, trying to use his injury situation to their advantage. But there are teams that need a big-time scorer and nobody doubts he’s a big-time scorer.’’
Another NBA executive speculated that the Sixers could make an offer for Parker should they fail to land a bigger target like James, George or Kawhi Leonard. Woelfel names the Bulls, Jazz, Pacers, Hawks, Suns, and Nets as possibilities as well.
Other NBA executives who spoke with Woelfel believe a sign-and-trade is a more likely scenario for the combo forward. That route would be Milwaukee’s preference rather than being forced to decide between signing Parker to a player-friendly contract or losing him for nothing. “It’s no secret” that the Bucks would be open to receiving an upgrade at point guard or center in such an agreement, Woelfel adds.
The Rockets and Clippers are both high on Parker and could be possibilities if a sign-and-trade were to occur, though it would be hard for Houston to complete a deal and stay under the tax apron if the team retains its own key free agents. Los Angeles and Milwaukee had discussions about Parker at last year’s trade deadline.
Parker likes Milwaukee and he reportedly paid around $1.5MM to redo the warehouse he currently lives in, according to Woelfel’s sources. Those same sources tell the scribe that despite Parker being comfortable in his current situation, it’s more likely he leaves then stays.
“He loves the people there; he loves the city,” the source said. “But I don’t see him staying there. If you’re asking me, it’s 75-25 he goes to another team.’’
Many dominos, such as James coming out of his decision cave, are likely to fall before Parker inks his next contract with a source estimating that a deal won’t take place until late-July or early-August.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Nets Interested In Davis Bertans?
- The Jazz and Nets are among the teams expected to challenge the Spurs for restricted free agent Davis Bertans, a source tells Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). We heard earlier today that Brooklyn will seek a stretch four, and Utah was in the market for a similar player during the season. Bertans, a 6’10” forward who has made 38.4% of his career three-pointers, fits the bill.
Nets To Seek Stretch Four In Free Agency
- Within a league-wide look at each team’s priorities in free agency, Michael Scotto of The Athletic reports that the Nets are in the market for a stretch four this offseason.
Nets Won’t Issue Qualifying Offer To Nik Stauskas
Former eighth overall pick Nik Stauskas is on track to become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the Nets won’t extend a qualifying offer to the 24-year-old guard.
Stauskas, who began his NBA career with the Kings, has been traded twice since then, first to Philadelphia and then to Brooklyn. Stauskas posted decent numbers for the Sixers in 2016/17, putting up 9.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG with a .496/.368/.813 shooting line. However, he fell out of the team’s rotation early in the 2017/18 campaign and was sent to the Nets along with Jahlil Okafor.
In 35 games for Brooklyn, Stauskas averaged 5.1 PPG in 13.7 minutes per contest, with a .404 3PT%. His qualifying offer would have been worth $4,333,932 after he failed to meet the starter criteria.
The Nets did issue a qualifying offer to two-way player Milton Doyle, per Keith Smith of RealGM.com (Twitter link). That QO is a one-year, two-way contract offer with $50K guaranteed, and gives Brooklyn the right of first refusal if Doyle signs an offer sheet with another club.
Free Agent Rumors: Favors, LaVine, Curry, Hezonja
Jazz forward Derrick Favors has set up a few free agent meetings, Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News tweets. Favors is happy in Utah but wants to go through the free-agent process to determine his best course of action, Woodyard adds. Favors, 26, averaged 12.7 PPG and 7.2 RPG last season. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said recently he’d like to keep the team’s core intact. The Wizards, Bucks and Warriors have been mentioned as potential landing spots for Favors.
In other developments involving players heading to free agency:
- At least one Western Conference team is preparing to make a run at Bulls restricted free agent guard Zach LaVine, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Johnson anticipates the Bulls would prefer to re-sign LaVine in the $14-16MM range annually but might balk if he receives an offer sheet worth $20MM or more per year.
- Mavericks guard Seth Curry has been medically cleared after missing last season with a left tibia fracture, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Curry, an unrestricted free agent, has been engaged in full basketball-related activities for a month, Wojnarowski adds. Curry had a breakout season with Dallas the previous year, averaging 12.8 PPG and 2.7 APG while starting 42 of 70 games.
- The Nets are interested in Magic forward Mario Hezonja, Brian Lewis of the New York Post hears. Hezonja has not lived up to his billing after being the No. 5 pick of the 2015 draft but the Nets think highly of him and aren’t afraid of reclamation projects, Lewis continues. Hezonja, who averaged 9.6 PPG last season, is an unrestricted free agent after Orlando declined to pick up his fourth-year option last year. Brooklyn has pursued top-level restricted free agents in recent years but is unlikely to do so this summer because the front office would like to create room for two max players next summer, Lewis adds.
Victor Oladipo Captures Most Improved Award
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo was named the league’s Most Improved Player award, it was announced during the NBA’s annual awards broadcast.
He beat out Rockets center Clint Capela and Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie, as expected. Oladipo blossomed into a star after getting dealt by the Thunder in the Paul George blockbuster.
Oladipo averaged 23.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 5.2 APG while leading the Pacers to the playoffs, where they pushed the Cavaliers to the brink before succumbing in seven games. He also shot a career-best 47.7% from the field and 37.1% from 3-point range.
Oladipo had never averaged more than 17.9 PPG in his previous four seasons.
Nets' Draftees Not Expected To Make Immediate Impact
- Although the two international prospects drafted by the Nets on Thursday have plenty of long-term promise, neither Dzanan Musa nor Rodions Kurucs is expected to make an immediate impact in the NBA, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post details.