Eastern Notes: Ainge, Kuzminskas, George, Scola
President of basketball operations Danny Ainge was able to quickly rebuild the Celtics by maximizing the return for his stars when the team got too old, writes Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. Ainge sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets for a package of draft picks and traded Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks instead of letting him become a free agent. This summer’s signing of Al Horford accelerated the building process, and Hamilton believes it makes the Celtics legitimate contenders in the East. Boston is also set up well for the future, with only Horford, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas under contract for 2017/18. Even if the Celtics pick up their team option on Marcus Smart, they may have more than $50MM to spend on free agents next July.
There’s more out of the Eastern Conference:
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas provides enough offense to become a rotation player for the Knicks, according to Trevor Magnotti of Upside and Motor. The 6’9″ Lithuanian forward signed with New York earlier this month after playing in Europe for the past five seasons. Knicks president Phil Jackson said the team wanted to find a mobile small forward who could shoot from distance. That describes Kuzminskas, who gets most of his points on cuts to the basket, but is also a streaky shooter from 3-point range. However, there are questions about his defense, which Magnotti warns might limit his playing time until he proves he can contribute on that end.
- Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski says Paul George is playing the best basketball of his life two years after the broken leg that had many concerned about his career, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. The Pacers‘ star, who had 18 points in Friday’s exhibition win over Argentina, said he had to put that scary incident out of his mind to be effective again. “It’s behind me,” George said. “I don’t play the game expecting to get hurt. I know it’s a possibility. But there’s no thought in my mind I’m going to get hurt. I play this game because I love it. I just play hard.”
- Newly signed Nets power forward Luis Scola will be Argentina’s flag bearer at the Summer Olympics, according to the Associated Press. “I had the chance to play four Olympics, to play 10 years in the NBA, to carry the flag for my country, win an Olympic gold medal,’’ Scola said. “I mean, different things that happened along those days that I couldn’t even dream of those because it would be too wild to dream.”
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Lin, Embiid
The Celtics have put major trade talks on hold after today’s flurry of signings, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. So far, the quest to obtain Russell Westbrook or Blake Griffin has made little progress, with the Thunder and Clippers wanting more than Boston is willing to surrender. Instead, the Celtics wrapped up a few smaller moves today, agreeing to terms with free agent swingman Gerald Green and center Tyler Zeller, in addition to deals with second-round picks Demetrius Jackson and Ben Bentil. The Celtics now have 18 players under contract, three over the roster limit. Bulpett expects Bentil to battle in training camp with R.J. Hunter, James Young and John Holland for the last roster spot, with Hunter as the early favorite. That would mean the end in Boston for Young, a 2014 first-round pick whose $1,825,200 salary might be included in any Celtics trade.
There’s more news from the Atlantic Division:
- A source confirms, “There is no big deal right now” for the Celtics, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
- New Nets point guard Jeremy Lin moved around the league so much because he has yet to find the “perfect” situation, relays Steve Serby of The New York Post. Lin recently signed a three-year deal with Brooklyn, which will be the sixth franchise for the six-year veteran. “And because I’ve been in situations I didn’t want to be in,” Lin explained, “I’ve created and negotiated in terms of free agency a lot of shorter deals that give me the flexibility to leave if I’m not happy with the way things are going.” In a wide-ranging interview, Lin expresses excitement about the future of the Nets and the chance to once again play for new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who tutored Lin when he was an assistant with the Knicks.
- Defeating Justin Bieber in an arm-wrestling match may not prove that the Sixers‘ Joel Embiid is ready for the NBA, but that was just part of an active weekend in Los Angeles, writes Rob Tornoe of The Philadelphia Inquirer. More significant was a video of Embiid working out on the court that was posted online this morning by his trainer, Drew Hanlen. Embiid, who sat out his first two NBA seasons with injuries, was cleared for five-on-five play last month.
Nets Notes: Bennett, Marks, Lin
Anthony Bennett‘s two-year deal with the Nets is a low-risk, high-reward gamble for Brooklyn, considering the team has few draft picks, Brian Lewis of the New York Post details. Bennett will make a guaranteed $1,015,696 this season and another $1,087,745 if he’s on the roster opening night 2017, Lewis reports. The former No. 1 overall pick is focused on sharpening his rebounding and using his athleticism on defense, but Bennett’s confidence must also improve for him to stick, Lewis writes.
Here’s more out of Brooklyn:
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The Nets enter their fifth season in Brooklyn still lacking an identity, but instead of depending on aging stars with large contracts, the team’s hopes rest in GM Sean Marks‘ and head coach Kenny Atkinson‘s abilities, Seth Berkman of The New York Times writes. Bojan Bogdanovic and Brook Lopez are the only players on the Nets who have played at least two seasons with the team, as Berkman points out.
- A significant reason Jeremy Lin joined the Nets was because he wants to prove he can be a full-time starting point guard, Michael Scotto of The Associated Press relays. “That’s a huge thing for me because in free agency I kind of said I want to see how great I can become,” Lin said. “I’ve played a lot of different roles, I’ve sacrificed for a lot of teams I’ve been on in the past. I’ve taken smaller roles to try to help the team succeed. Now I have that chance to take a much bigger role and be a much bigger part.”
Lin: Nets Like 'Startup Company'
The off-court incidents the Sixers suffered through with Jahlil Okafor last season may make them less likely to pursue Dion Waiters, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Waiters became an unrestricted free agent Monday when the Thunder rescinded their qualifying offer. While it make might make sense for the South Philadelphia native to join a team like the Sixers that needs backcourt help, some in the organization reportedly see Waiters as a potential behavioral problem and don’t want his outspoken personality to affect the team’s younger players. However, a league source tells Pompey that the Sixers have talked to Waiters and negotiations could resume. The Nets and Lakers are also seen as options because of the amount of cap space they have remaining.
- Jeremy Lin compares joining the Nets with investing in a “startup company,” tweets Andy Vasquez of The Record. “I’m betting on certain people,” Lin said. “I’m betting on [coach] Kenny [Atkinson]. I’m betting on [GM] Sean [Marks]. I’m betting on myself. I’m betting on Brook [Lopez]. I’m betting on the way I feel. If I didn’t feel like this has the chance to go where I want it to go, then I wouldn’t have signed up for it.”
- The Nets have a little more than $20MM in remaining cap room, but Marks calls reaching the spending floor “the least of my concerns,” Vasquez relays (Twitter link). The new GM prefers to enter the season with cap flexibility.
Nets Met With Dion Waiters In Vegas
When the Thunder rescinded their qualifying offer to Dion Waiters earlier this week, making him an unrestricted free agent, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical identified the Nets as a potential suitor for Waiters. However, NetsDaily later expressed skepticism that Brooklyn would pursue the free agent guard.
Today, ESPN’s Marc Stein (all Twitter links) weighs in on the subject, reporting that the Nets had a face-to-face meeting with Waiters earlier this month in Las Vegas, but moved on without working out a deal with him. Although that meeting happened when Waiters was still a restricted free agent, Stein suggests there’s no indication yet that Brooklyn has altered its stance on pursuing the 24-year-old now that he’s a UFA.
- While Tyler Johnson would have been happy to join the Nets after signing an offer sheet with Brooklyn, he was hoping the Heat would match it, as he tells Couper Moorhead of Heat.com. “This is where I’m most comfortable. This is where I’ve found my way in the league. This is where my friends are at. These are the people that I’ve gone through battles with,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day I was still hoping I could figure out a way to come back and be in a HEAT uniform.”
Details On The D-League Expansion Draft
The D-League will add three new teams this upcoming seasons. The Bulls (Windy City Bulls), Hornets (Greensboro Swarm), and Nets (Long Island Nets) are all set to have one-on-one affiliates and the expansion draft will take place on August 24th, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest reports.
The league hasn’t had three teams join at the same time since 2006 and it has made some tweaks to the rules, sources tell Johnson. Previously, teams would be able to select 16 players from the available pool of players, but this year, the expansion teams will only be able to make 12 selections.
The draft will be serpentine and existing D-League teams can protect 10 players currently on their roster, which is down from 12 in previous expansion drafts. One thing remaining the same is where the expansion teams will pick during the D-League draft. The three teams will have the selections between the non-playoff teams and the playoff teams, which this year are the 12th, 13th, and 14th overall picks. The determination of the order in which these team pick during the annual draft will be set by the inverse of the expansion draft order, meaning the team that receives the first pick in the expansion draft will receive the 14th pick in the annual draft and the others will follow in that pattern.
Once a player is selected by the expansion team, that team owns his rights for at least two seasons. Last season, Toronto’s expansion team, Raptors 905, was the only team participating in the draft. Of the 16 players they selected, only Scott Suggs saw action for the team.
Nets Sign Joe Harris
JULY 19: The Nets have officially signed Harris, the team announced today in a press release. Per NetsDaily (Twitter link), it’s a two-year, minimum-salary pact that’s guaranteed for the first year. The second year becomes guaranteed for $250K if Harris is still under contract beyond October 31, 2017.
JULY 13: The Nets and unrestricted free agent Joe Harris have agreed to a contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). It will be a two-year deal, according to Harris’ agency, Priority Sports (via Twitter). The amount of the arrangement is unknown, nor if it includes any guaranteed salary.
Brooklyn had to settle for Harris after missing out on Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe, whom they had signed to offer sheets early in free agency. The players’ respective teams matched the Nets’ offers, dashing GM Sean Marks‘ hope of rebuilding the team’s backcourt this offseason. Harris has failed to impress thus far in the league, but a new start under coach Kenny Atkinson may help to jumpstart his career.
The Magic waived Harris shortly after acquiring him via trade from the Cavaliers in January, with the shooting guard set to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his right foot. Harris is expected to be at full-speed when training camp begins. The 24-year-old only appeared in five contests for the Cavs this past season, averaging 0.6 points in 3 minutes of action per game. His career numbers through 56 regular season appearances are 2.5 points and 0.8 rebounds on 39.5% shooting.
Update On NBA Traded Player Exceptions
Traded player exceptions, which we’ve explained extensively in a Hoops Rumors glossary entry, are a tool that over-the-cap teams can use to complete trades. For mid-season deals, when most teams are at or over the salary cap, these exceptions are typically used and created frequently.
This summer, however, with the salary cap increasing by more than $24MM and most teams choosing to use cap room rather than staying over the cap, trade exceptions have become scarcer — and less useful. In order for teams to actually use their available cap room to take on salaries or to sign free agents, those exceptions must be renounced.
Heading into the 2016/17 league year, teams around the NBA held a total of 29 trade exceptions. After the new league year officially got underway and the moratorium ended, the majority of those TPEs were lost. In total, 22 of the 29 previously-existing traded player exceptions were renounced or expired.
Earlier this month, only the Clippers, Cavaliers, and Thunder still held any TPEs, with Cleveland hanging onto five of them, and L.A. and OKC holding one apiece. Over the last week or so, a few new trade exceptions have been created, but with so many teams still under the cap, the full list is much shorter than it has been in past years.
Here’s a breakdown of the newly-created TPEs:
Charlotte Hornets
Amount: $1,666,470
Expires: 7/12/17
How it was created: When the Grizzlies signed Troy Daniels away from the Hornets, they did so in a sign-and-trade deal, allowing Charlotte to create a TPE for half of Daniels’ $3,332,940 salary.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Amount: $1,333,420
Expires: 7/15/17
How it was created: The Cavaliers created this TPE worth Sasha Kaun‘s 2016/17 salary when they sent him to Philadelphia without receiving any NBA salary in return.
(Note: The Cavaliers also created a $4,803,750 trade exception by signing-and-trading Matthew Dellavedova to the Bucks, but immediately used that exception to acquire Mike Dunleavy.)
Los Angeles Clippers
Amount: $1,209,600
Expires: 7/15/17
How it was created: When the Clippers acquired Devyn Marble from the Magic for C.J. Wilcox, the team actually used its old $947,276 TPE (acquired in January’s Josh Smith trade) to absorb Marble’s salary, then created a new exception worth Wilcox’s salary.
The traded player exceptions listed above have been added to our full breakdown of the TPEs available around the league. That list no longer includes the $2,038,206 exception the Thunder created last summer when they sent Perry Jones III to the Celtics — that TPE expired on July 14.
Our full list of TPEs also no longer features the following exceptions, all of which were renounced earlier this month when these teams went under the cap (expiry date listed in parentheses):
- Atlanta Hawks: $947,276 (2/18/17)
- Brooklyn Nets: $2,170,465 (7/13/16)
- Chicago Bulls: $2,854,940 (2/18/17)
- Chicago Bulls: $947,276 (6/22/17)
- Denver Nuggets: $135,000 (2/18/17)
- Detroit Pistons: $6,270,000 (6/29/17)
- Golden State Warriors: $5,387,825 (7/27/16)
- Golden State Warriors: $3,197,170 (7/31/16)
- Memphis Grizzlies: $450,000 (2/18/17)
- Miami Heat: $1,706,250 (7/27/16)
- Miami Heat: $1,294,440 (7/27/16)
- Miami Heat: $2,129,535 (11/10/16)
- Miami Heat: $2,145,060 (2/16/17)
- Miami Heat: $845,059 (2/18/17)
- Miami Heat: $2,854,940 (2/18/17)
- Milwaukee Bucks: $5,200,000 (7/9/16)
- Milwaukee Bucks: $4,250,000 (7/9/16)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: $5,000,000 (7/12/16)
- New Orleans Pelicans: $102,217 (12/24/16)
- New York Knicks: $1,572,360 (6/22/17)
- Phoenix Suns: $578,651 (2/18/17)
Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
Do Nets Have Interest In Dion Waiters As UFA?
Brooklyn and Philadelphia have frequently been linked to Dion Waiters this offseason, and the Thunder made it easier to sign him by rescinding his qualifying offer on Monday and making him an unrestricted free agent. However, Net Income of NetsDaily is unconvinced that the Nets have real interest in Waiters, pointing out that the team wants to maintain cap room and was in no hurry to sign him to an offer sheet after missing out on Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe.
Atlantic Notes: Kaun, Sixers, Raptors, Nets
In a move that was expected, the Sixers announced they waived Sasha Kaun days after acquiring him. The Sixers acquired Kaun in a deal from the Cavs on Friday. Kaun, 31, played his college ball at Kansas and was selected with the 56th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. Kaun agreed to a two-year contract with the Cavaliers last summer, and still has one season remaining on that deal — he’s owed $1,333,420 in 2016/17. In his lone season in Cleveland, Kaun didn’t see much action, averaging only 3.8 minutes in 25 games.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics, who have 13 players under guaranteed contracts if restricted free agent Tyler Zeller is not included, may have an opening on their roster because first-round picks Guerschon Yabusele and Ante Zizic are expected to stay overseas, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. Boston GM Danny Ainge said a decision should be made this week, Washburn relays.
- The first year of Anthony Bennett‘s two-year deal with the Nets is guaranteed, but the second is not, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Nets‘ Plan B after their offers for Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe were matched has not looked especially pretty and it seems new Nets GM Sean Marks had to scramble after his initial plan fell through, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders opines.
- DeMar DeRozan didn’t bother to meet with other teams and decided to likely take less money to stay with the Raptors, which speaks to his loyalty, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes in a mailbag response.