Southeast Notes: Sefolosha, Hornets, Gordon
- The Hornets improved this summer, but so did others around them in the Eastern Conference, and with an unbalanced roster, they’ll still have a tough time making the playoffs this season, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (Facebook link).
- The key for Aaron Gordon will be establishing himself as a starter this season, but the development of last year’s No. 4 overall pick will take some time for the Magic, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel isn’t counting on any of the Heat‘s camp invitees to make the regular season roster, but, in his opinion, Corey Hawkins stands a decent chance to make a strong impression with his three-point prowess, just as Andre Dawkins did when he made it to opening night last year.
And-Ones: Rubio, Hornets, Kidd-Gilchrist
Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher (video link) buys the idea that the Timberwolves will move Ricky Rubio and mentioned the Kings and Mavs. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, however, tweets that although both teams have tried in the past to obtain Rubio, Timberwolves’ head coach and president Flip Saunders isn’t shopping. There were conflicting reports in May regarding whether or not Rubio’s camp was making a push for a trade.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford believes the offseason roster changes have made his squad more skilled than last season and especially believes in the idea that Jeremy Lin and Kemba Walker can make the offense more dynamic, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports in a Q&A with the coach. “It’s always good to have two pick-and-roll players on the floor,” Clifford said. “That way you can put pressure on the defense at one side, then switch it to the other.”
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who recently signed a four-year, $52MM extension with the Hornets, said the deal has not put any pressure on him and instead has added fuel to his fire, Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer reports in a Q&A with the small forward.
Eastern Notes: Kidd-Gilchrist, Beasley, Thompson
Steve Clifford believes the reasons were numerous for the Hornets to sign Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to his four-year, $52MM extension, but chief among them is Charlotte’s performance with him in the lineup as opposed to without, the coach said Wednesday, according to Steve Reed of The Associated Press. The Hornets went 62-55 when he played and 14-33 when he didn’t the last two season, Reed notes. “As much as anybody that we have had in the two years I’ve been here, he’s been the guy that we can’t play well without for any long period of time,” Clifford said.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Several executives around the league can envision Toronto native Tristan Thompson signing with the Raptors next summer if he signs his qualifying offer with the Cavaliers this year, reports Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. Agent Rich Paul has said Thompson won’t re-sign with Cleveland in 2016 if he takes the qualifying offer. One Eastern Conference GM said he’d thought Thompson would end up in Toronto this summer. Thompson is friends with Raptors signee Cory Joseph, who’s also from Toronto, Scotto notes.
- One Eastern Conference GM who spoke with Scotto estimated Thompson’s worth at $15MM a year, regardless of the expected spike in the salary cap over the next few years. That would put him beneath the max-level salaries he’s believed to be seeking in negotiations with the Cavs.
- In a response to a reader question, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel opines that one reason the Heat haven’t re-signed Michael Beasley is that the team is looking to keep its 15th roster slot open for a developmental player who can be shuttled between the main club and the D-League. Miami currently has 12 fully guaranteed pacts on its roster
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Thunder, Batum, 2016 Draft
The ESPN Summer Forecast panel tabs the Thunder as the team most likely to vault in the standings this year, which is no surprise given the return of Kevin Durant and the team’s decision to match the Blazers’ offer sheet for high-scoring big man Enes Kanter . The Heat, who re-signed Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic and get Chris Bosh from his blood clot ailment, and the Jazz, who surged late last season, also appear in the top three.
There’s more on Oklahoma City amid other NBA-related news:
- The Thunder allowed a trade exception that had been worth $1.25MM to expire when they didn’t make a move by Wednesday’s deadline to use it. It was a vestige of the trade that sent Hasheem Thabeet to Philadelphia. Oklahoma City still has other trade exceptions, the largest of which is worth $2.75MM thanks to the last of this summer’s many deals involving Luke Ridnour.
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford says that he envisions Nicolas Batum having a more prominent offensive role in Charlotte than he did with the Blazers last season, as Adi Joseph of The Sporting News relays (via Twitter). Charlotte acquired Batum, 26, from the Blazers in June as part of the trade that shipped Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson to Portland.
- ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider subscription required) released his initial mock draft for 2016, and snagging the top spot is LSU freshman small forward Ben Simmons, followed by Kentucky big man Skal Labissiere and California swingman Jaylen Brown.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Jeff Taylor To Play In Spain
AUGUST 27TH, 8:14am: The deal is official, the team announced (hat tips to HoopsHype and Sportando).
JULY 23RD, 1:28pm: Jeff Taylor has agreed to a one-year deal with Real Madrid, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). It’s worth more than $900K, Charania adds, so it sounds like it’ll be roughly equivalent to the $981,348 the three-year NBA veteran would have made if he had stayed in the league at the minimum salary. Charania reported earlier this week that the sides were close to a deal after Taylor reportedly turned down an offer to play in Israel.
The Hornets elected not to make a qualifying offer to the 26-year-old after a difficult season that included a 24-game league-imposed suspension stemming from his guilty plea to misdemeanor domestic assault and property destruction charges in the fall. Taylor saw action in only 29 games for the Hornets in 2014/15, recording a career-low 14.8 minutes per contest, and he also spent time on D-League assignment.
Chatter regarding interest from other NBA teams hadn’t developed this month, but Taylor was the 31st overall pick three years ago, so it hasn’t been long since he was a fairly well-regarded prospect. The Todd Ramasar client is going to a European powerhouse that won this year’s Euroleague title, so he’ll most likely remain on NBA radars.
Do you think Taylor will play in the NBA again? Leave a comment to let us know.
Reaction To Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Extension
The four-year, $52MM extension that the Hornets and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist made official today includes a player option on the fourth season, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). That’ll allow him to hit unrestricted free agency when he’s only 25 years old and the salary cap will be a projected $102MM. Hornets GM Rich Cho cited Kidd-Gilchrist’s age and upside as part of the reason for tying him up for at least this season and three more, as the Hornets’ official feed notes from today’s press conference (Twitter links).
“We feel like [he] is just scratching the surface of what he is as a player,” Cho said.
Cho had more to say, and Kidd-Gilchrist spoke, too, as we’ll round up here:
- The Leon Rose client cited the presence of owner Michael Jordan, coach Steve Clifford, assistant coach Patrick Ewing and even former assistant coach Mark Price, who was in attendance at the press conference, for his desire to do the extension, according to Bonnell (All Twitter links). “Why wait? I’m learning from the best,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “I don’t do this for the money.”
- Kidd-Gilchrist “embodies everything we want in a Hornet,” Cho said, and Clifford expressed a belief that the former No. 2 overall pick should make the All-Defensive First Team this coming season, Bonnell relays (Twitter links).
- The Hornets have signed Kidd-Gilchrist and Kemba Walker to rookie scale extensions in back-to-back years, and that represents a change in the organization’s strategy, after Charlotte let Emeka Okafor, Gerald Wallace and Gerald Henderson hit restricted free agency in the past, Bonnell observes. Hornets vice chairman Curtis Polk told Bonnell this past spring that the surge in the cap would create a more competitive marketplace, perhaps a hint at the reason behind the philosophical shift. It also coincided with the departure of former president of basketball operations Rod Higgins.
Hornets Sign Michael Kidd-Gilchrist To Extension
TUESDAY, 12:40pm: The deal is official, the Hornets announced.
“Michael is a huge part of what we are trying to build here in Charlotte,” GM Rich Cho said in the team’s statement. “He has dedicated himself to improving and expanding his game. Michael continues to develop on both ends of the court and has become a key piece of our team. We are thrilled that he is a Charlotte Hornet.”
MONDAY, 8:09pm: The Hornets are close to signing forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to a four-year, $52MM contract extension, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The agreement will be finalized this week with a news conference to follow, sources told Wojnarowski. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer confirms the deal and adds that the Leon Rose client will take a physical on Tuesday (Twitter link).
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft will make $6,331,404 this season before the extension kicks in.
Kidd-Gilchrist averaged 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds for Charlotte last season, his third in the league. He only appeared in 55 games before an ankle injury cut his season short.
The 21-year-old small forward has a reputation for being a stout one-on-one defender, and his player efficiency rating of 15.14 last season reflects that despite his relatively modest offensive contributions and the fact he’s averaged less than one block and one steal in each of his seasons. Hornets coach Steve Clifford proclaimed in March that Kidd-Gilchrist has the talent to become the best perimeter defender in this generation of NBA players.
He’s shot 46.4% from the field in his short career, though he’s not a threat from the 3-point line. He’s made only three shots from long range and didn’t even attempt one last season.
Southeast Notes: Kidd-Gilchrist, Horford, Deng
People around the league applaud what the Hornets are getting out of the extension deal Charlotte has reportedly struck with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe hears (All six Twitter links right here). The starting salary should be roughly in line with his cap hold for next summer, which would have been $12,662,808, so the Hornets aren’t truly compromising their cap flexibility, Lowe points out. The deal is not without its potential pitfalls, given his lack of outside shooting and elite ball-handling, so it will challenge the Hornets to surround him with others who can fill in the gaps, but it’s nonetheless a risk worth taking, given the work ethic of the former No. 2 overall pick. He’s capable of moving to power forward, giving him more versatility than Tony Allen, a player to whom Kidd-Gilchrist is often compared, Lowe adds. See more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks arguably took a step back this summer, having lost DeMarre Carroll to the Raptors, but Al Horford, set for free agency next summer, is pleased with the team’s offseason, especially the trade acquisition of Tiago Splitter, as Horford tells Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And also guys like Tim Hardaway. I feel like he has a lot of potential,” Horford said. “Once he figures everything out, I think he is going to be really good for us. It’s excited to have those guys. And even some of the younger guys. Justin Holiday and Edy Tavares, I’m excited to have both of them too. We know they will have to work but I’m sure they’ll have an opportunity to play at some point. I’m excited. Obviously with DeMarre being gone, we are going to need some other guys to step in and try to help alleviate everything that DeMarre did for us.”
- The Heat clearly like No. 10 overall pick Justise Winslow, but he probably won’t perform well enough as a rookie to make Luol Deng expendable between now and the trade deadline, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel argues in a mailbag column.
- We rounded up plenty more on the Heat right here.
Northwest Notes: Henderson, Wolves, Claver
No player has been with a Northwest Division team longer than Nick Collison, who carved out a long-term stay with the SuperSonics/Thunder franchise even though he’s never played a starring role. He’ll make $3.75MM this season and next on the extension he signed in February. We listed the longest-tenured member of every team earlier today, and we’re sharing more from the Northwest Division here:
- Trail Blazers trade acquisition Gerald Henderson wasn’t surprised the Hornets dealt him away, though the timing of the move caught him off guard, since it came the week after he opted in, as he tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. He maintains ties to the Charlotte area, but he’s enthusiastic about his new team. “It was not so much about being traded as where I was going. This is a contract year,” said Henderson, who’s set for free agency next summer. “I wanted to be at a place with opportunity, a good organization and potentially a chance to win. I got all those things in Portland.”
- The Timberwolves allowed the $6,308,194 trade exception they picked up in the Kevin Love trade to expire unused Sunday, though that wasn’t a surprise, as I suggested earlier this month. They still have five other trade exceptions, the largest of which is worth $5MM and doesn’t expire until next July.
- Victor Claver officially joined Valencia of Spain after the team matched the offer sheet he signed with Baskonia, the Spanish ACB league announced (Twitter link; translation via Austin Green of LosCrossovers). Valencia had held his Spanish rights from the time he spent with the team before his jump to the Trail Blazers in 2012. He finished up this past season playing in Russia after the Nuggets waived him following his inclusion in the Arron Afflalo trade.
Wizards Notes: Temple, Oubre, Camp Deals
The summer has been relatively quiet for the Wizards, with the trade for Jared Dudley and the Alan Anderson signing perhaps the team’s most significant moves. Washington is hoping it’s a different story a year from now, with native son Kevin Durant poised to hit free agency. While we wait to see how that storyline develops, see the latest from the nation’s capital:
- Jazz coach Quin Snyder, and not the Utah front office, is the party that expressed interest in Wizards guard Garrett Temple, according to a source who spoke with J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic (Twitter link). The Wizards don’t appear eager to trade Temple, and it seems unlikely he’ll be changing teams, Michael tweets.
- Kelly Oubre intrigued the Hornets and the Heat, who had this year’s ninth and 10th picks, respectively, and the Celtics and Rockets tried to move up to draft him, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Ulimately, the Wizards came up with the package the Hawks accepted for the No. 15 overall pick, allowing Washington to come away with the small forward from Kansas. Deveney chronicles the struggle Oubre’s family faced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which forced them from their home in New Orleans 10 years ago.
- The Wizards aren’t offering partial guarantees with their training camp invitations, Michael writes in a separate piece, and that was a factor in the decision undrafted Maryland shooting guard Dez Wells made to turn down an offer from the Wizards for a deal with the Thunder instead, Michael adds.