Jazian Gortman

Bucks Notes: Lillard, Herro, G League Invites

Damian Lillard didn’t get his wish to be traded to Miami this summer and he doesn’t want that to be a distraction as his Bucks prepare to face the Heat tonight, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami was Lillard’s first choice when he asked the Trail Blazers for a trade in July, but despite weeks of rumors, the teams were never able to get close to a deal. Now that he’s in Milwaukee, Lillard wants to move past any connection with the Heat.

“I’m not going into (Monday) like, ‘This is the team I was supposed to be playing for,’” Lillard said. “None of that. I know Jimmy (Butler), I know Bam (Adebayo). We’re cool. But I play for the Bucks and I’m not going into it like that’s my former team or we were tied in or nothing like that. It’s just another game.”

Lillard also addressed reports that Adebayo was encouraging him to push for a deal to Miami. Although they became friends during their time with Team USA during the Olympics in 2021, Lillard said Adebayo wasn’t very involved in the process.

“I think on the outside, people made more of it than what was actually taking place,” Lillard said. “It’s not like I was calling him every day or nothing like that. I said what I needed to say to the team that I was on at that time and I went on about my time. I did my training, I spent time with kids and that was it. I’m telling you the real when I say it’s not that deep. Bam was my boy before I asked for a trade, he still is and that was the extent of it.”

There’s more from Milwaukee:

  • Heat guard Tyler Herro has “a couple different reasons” to look forward to tonight’s game, Chiang adds in a separate story. Playing in Milwaukee means a homecoming for Herro, but he’s also eager to face Lillard after having his name mentioned in trade rumors all summer. “I’ve never spoken to him,” Herro said. “I probably won’t (talk to him on Monday). We’ll see what happens. I respect his game, for sure. There’s no hate toward him at all. He’s a great player. I’ve been watching him my whole life. So I’m excited to continue to compete against the best.”
  • The Bucks were sharp on Thursday in Lillard’s first regular season game with Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the results looked much different in Sunday’s loss to the Hawks, observes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Lillard shot just 2-of-12 from the field and committed six turnovers by halftime as the offense appeared out of sorts.
  • Wenyen Gabriel, Alex Antetokounmpo and Glenn Robinson III are among the players waived before the start of the season who received invitations to join the Wisconsin Herd, tweets Jim Owczarski of The Journal-Sentinel. Drew Timme and Jazian Gortman are also on the G League team’s 18-man roster, but Omari Moore isn’t, Owczarski adds (Twitter link). Moore signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Toronto after being waived from his two-way contract by Milwaukee, so the Raptors 905 hold his NBAGL rights.

Bucks Waive Omari Moore, Two Others

The Bucks have trimmed their preseason roster from 21 players to 18, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived guards Omari Moore and Jazian Gortman, as well as forward Drew Timme.

Although teams are permitted to carrying 18 players into the regular season (15 on standard contracts and three on two-way deals), Milwaukee’s roster isn’t ready for opening night. Gortman and Timme were on training camp contracts, but Moore was a two-way player, so the Bucks are now carrying 15 players on guaranteed deals, one (Marques Bolden) on a camp contract, and a pair on two-way pacts.

The decision to waive Moore comes as a bit of a surprise, even though he hadn’t made much of an impact on the court in Summer League or the preseason. The undrafted rookie out of San Jose State signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Bucks in early July — that level of team control is rare, since most two-way deals only cover a single season.

Gortman and Timme also joined the Bucks as undrafted free agents this summer after playing for Overtime Elite and Gonzaga, respectively. Both players were on Exhibit 10 contracts and now appear on track to become affiliate players for the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G League team. If Gortman and Timme spend at least 60 days with the Herd, they’ll each earn a bonus worth $75K.

It remains to be seen whether the Bucks will set their regular season roster by simply converting Bolden to a two-way contract or whether they have more moves on tap in the coming days.

Bucks Sign Jazian Gortman

The Bucks have signed rookie free agent Jazian Gortman, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

Gortman, 20, played for the YNG Dreamers in the Overtime Elite program before becoming draft-eligible this spring. He averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.9 APG, and 2.5 SPG while shooting 45.3% from the floor and 80.8% from the free throw line.

After going undrafted, Gortman joined the Bucks’ Summer League team, though he saw limited action in Las Vegas, logging just 45 minutes across five games. He scored a total of 24 points on 10-of-24 shooting to go along with five assists and four rebounds.

While the exact details of the agreement aren’t yet known, RealGM doesn’t classify it as a multiyear or two-way contract, so by process of elimination, it sounds like it’s a one-year standard deal.

I’d expect the contract will be non-guaranteed and will include Exhibit 10 language, putting Gortman in position to either have it converted to a two-way deal or to become an affiliate player for the Wisconsin Herd (Milwaukee’s G League team) if he’s waived.

Northwest Notes: Micic, Williams, Holmgren, Wolves, Blazers’ Pick

Former EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic is in Oklahoma City to discuss a potential contract with the Thunder, Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net reports. Negotiations can commence after the draft, Barkas adds.

Micic, who plays for Anadolu Efes, hired the Wasserman Media Group as his new representative in March. Micic, whose draft rights are owned by the Thunder, is a two-time Euroleague Final Four MVP. However, it’s unclear whether the Thunder would have a role for the 29-year-old guard, whose rights could be traded if he wants to make the jump to the NBA.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • Coming off an excellent rookie season, Jalen Williams will play in Summer League games for the Thunder in Salt Lake City next month, Thunder reporter Rylan Stiles tweets. Ousmane Dieng will also play and it’s “very possible” Chet Holmgren, who missed all of last season with a foot injury, could participate.
  • The Timberwolves hosted six prospects in a pre-draft workout on Monday, the team tweets. They took a closer look at Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton), Jazian Gortman (Overtime Elite), D’Moi Hodge (Missouri), Gabe Kalscheur (Iowa State), Mojave King (G League Ignite) and Jalen Slawson (Furman).
  • Rumors have been flying that the Trail Blazers will deal their lottery pick. Bill Oram of The Oregonian argues that the Blazers need to hold onto the No. 3 overall selection and choose their next star, regardless of whether Damian Lillard remains with the team or requests a trade.

Pacific Notes: Westbrook, Vezenkov, Suns, Dunleavy, Lakers

Russell Westbrook will have to balance money vs. playing time when he makes his decision in free agency, write Law Murray and Danny Leroux of The Athletic.

Westbrook took over as the starting point guard after he signed with the Clippers in February and raised his value by averaging 15.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 21 games. Leroux speculates that there may not be another team willing to give him a starting role, although opportunities exist if he’s willing to be the first guard off the bench.

The Clippers would prefer to keep Westbrook, but without his Bird rights, they’re limited to an offer of 120% of the veteran’s minimum. Although L.A. could theoretically trim enough salary below the $179.5MM second apron to offer Westbrook the mid-level exception, that wouldn’t be a huge raise because it’s being lowered to $5MM in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Leroux suggests that owner Steve Ballmer could try to re-sign Westbrook with an unspoken understanding that he’ll get a bigger deal next summer when the team will have his Early Bird rights.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • The Kings are determined to bring Sasha Vezenkov  to Sacramento next season, according to Christos Tsaltas of Sportal. High-ranking team officials traveled to Greece this season to watch Vezenkov in action and to learn more about his character and work habits. The Kings see Vezenkov as a back-up to Keegan Murray and believe they’re versatile enough to play together, Tsaltas adds.
  • Miles Simon and John Lucas III are the latest additions to Frank Vogel‘s coaching staff with the Suns, tweets Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. Simon was the head coach of the South Bay Lakers in the G League, and they both worked under Vogel in L.A.
  • New general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. was brought to the Warriors‘ management team by his former agent, Bob Myers, shortly after he retired as a player, notes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Myers hired Dunleavy as a scout in 2018, and he worked his way up through the organization. He has been taking on more of Myers’ duties over the past two years, including attending the league’s gatherings of general managers.
  • The Lakers hosted six players for a pre-draft workout on Saturday, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. On hand were UConn’s Andre Jackson Jr., Stetson’s Sam Peek, Chattanooga’s Jake Stephens, Overtime Elite’s Jazian Gortman, Texas’ Timmy Allen and Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis. L.A. has the 17th and 47th picks in this year’s draft.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Hornets, Butler

The Wizards have been taking a thorough look at a wealth of NBA prospects in recent days. Washington possesses three picks in this year’s draft: the eighth selection in the lottery and the Nos. 42 and 57 picks in the second round.

The team announced (Twitter link) that it was auditioning six prospects in a pre-draft workout on Friday: Texas forward Timmy Allen, North Carolina forward Leaky Black, San Diego State forward Nathan Mensah, Connecticut forward Adama Sanogo, Ohio State forward Justice Sueing, and Indiana forward Race Thompson.

According to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (via Twitter) another five league hopefuls participated in a a pre-draft workout Saturday. Virginia guard Kihei Clark, Missouri guard D’Moi Hodge, North Carolina State guard Jarkel Joiner, University of North Carolina at Greensboro swingman Keondre Kennedy, and Princeton forward Tosan Evbuomwan comprised that group.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets possess a whopping five selections in this year’s draft, headlined by the second pick in the lottery. Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) builds out the club’s ideal draft, suggesting Charlotte should select Alabama swingman Brandon Miller over G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson with the No. 2 pick. The club also has the No. 27 pick in the first round at its disposal, as well as three second-round selections. Givony suggests those picks would be best used on Santa Clara’s Brandin Podziemski, UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Missouri’s Kobe Brown.
  • The Hornets brought in six NBA hopefuls for their latest pre-draft workout Saturday. Per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link), G League Ignite wing Sidy Cissoko, Detroit Mercy combo guard Antoine Davis, guard Jazian Gortman of Overtime Elite, Oklahoma big man Tanner Groves, Jackson-Davis, and Jaquez participated in the audition.
  • Even if Jimmy Butler‘s Heat fall short of a championship, his legendary playoff run deserves to be remembered forever, opines John Hollinger of The Athletic. Hollinger notes that Butler’s regular season accolades pale in comparison to his postseason impact, especially when it comes to clutch scoring and play-making.

Draft Notes: Wembanyama, Lively, Mocks, Lewis, Warriors, Wizards

Las Vegas is a glitzier setting for Victor Wembanyama‘s first game with the Spurs, but the NBA won’t be upset if it happens in Sacramento instead, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. San Antonio is one of six teams involved in the California Classic Summer League, which will take place during the first week of July — shortly before the Las Vegas showcase that includes all 30 teams.

“All summer leagues are NBA Summer Leagues,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “I’m very supportive of the Sacramento summer league. I remember when (Kings owner Vivek Ranadive) first came to the league and said this was something he wanted to do. I said, ‘As long as you have enough other teams who support it and players who want to play in it, it’s a good thing.’”

Reynolds points out that the Hornets will also be playing in Sacramento, so the top two picks in this year’s draft could be on display.

There’s more draft news to pass along:

  • Dereck Lively II may be the second-best shot blocker in the draft outside of Wembanyama, per Christian Clark of NOLA. The Duke center has reportedly been rising up draft boards and could be under consideration for the Pelicans at No. 14. Clark notes that Lively’s skills are still raw and he’s coming off a disappointing season with the Blue Devils, but he points out that New Orleans has a history of gambling on players with size and athleticism.
  • Lively is mentioned among the risers in the latest mock draft from Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports. Joining him are Wembanyama’s teammate, Bilal Coulibaly, and UCLA’s Amari Bailey.
  • Ausar Thompson might be a better fit than his brother for the Rockets with the No. 4 pick, according to Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link). In their latest mock draft, the authors consider team fit as well as talent in projecting the first round. Among the surprises with fit factored in are Gradey Dick going No. 6 to the Magic and Amen Thompson slipping to the Wizards at No. 8.
  • Pepperdine’s Maxwell Lewis will hold a workout with the Pelicans this week after already having sessions with the Mavericks and Thunder, who are also in the lottery, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. In addition, Lewis has worked out for the Hawks at No. 15, the Lakers at No. 17 and the Rockets at No. 20.
  • The Warriors hosted Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson and Kansas’ Jalen Wilson for a workout on Monday, tweets Adam Zagoria.
  • The Wizards are holding a workout on Tuesday with Arkansas’ Ricky Council, Memphis’ Kendric Davis, Marist’s Patrick Gardner, Overtime Elite’s Jazian Gortman, Alabama-Birmingham’s Trey Jemison and Providence’s Noah Locke, the team announced in an email.

Draft Notes: Pacers, Hawks, Kalkbrenner, Harrison, Bates

Ricky Council IV (Arkansas), Nikola Djurisic (Serbia), Tevian Jones (Southern Utah), Darius McGhee (Liberty), Jordan Miller (Miami) and Keisei Tominaga (Nebraska) will work out for the Pacers on Tuesday, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. Council, ranked No. 56 on ESPN’s Best Available list, and Djurisic (No. 59) are the highest-rated players visiting Indianapolis.

We have more draft-related news:

  • Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe (No. 75) headlines the group of six prospects that the Hawks will evaluate on Tuesday, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. Overtime Elite’s Jazian Gortman, North Carolina’s Leaky Black, UAB’s Trey Jemison, TCU’s Emanuel Miller and Texas’ Sir’Jabari Rice will join him.
  • Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner is withdrawing from the draft and returning to school, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein tweets. Kalkbrenner was considered a second-round prospect, ranking No. 62 on ESPN’s list.
  • Grand Canyon’s Rayshon Harrison is also returning to school, Rothstein adds in another tweet.
  • Eastern Michigan’s Emoni Bates interviewed well at the combine, which boosted his stock and made a lot of teams take a closer look at him, according to Sarah Todd of the Deseret News. Bates is considered a second-round prospect (No. 57).

Draft Notes: Wembanyama, Henderson, Combine, Roach

Victor Wembanyama will be the grand prize at Tuesday’s draft lottery, so Brian Windhorst and Jonathan Givony of ESPN took a look at the decade-long development of the French phenom. Long before he grew into a 7’5″ international star, Wembanyama was considered a special prospect even at age eight. The authors cite a YouTube video in which he intercepts a pass in a 2012 game and covers about 30 feet in two dribbles before laying the ball into the basket.

Wembanyama grew up in an athletic family near Paris with his mother playing basketball professionally before becoming a youth coach and his father competing as a long jumper. Wembanyama also learned the game from Karim Boubekri, a coach who developed his strategies by watching Pete Maravich and the AND1 Mixtape stars. That brought a level of creativity to Wembanyama’s game that he was determined to preserve, even if it meant battling with his coaches.

“I was probably born with that will to do things differently and do things my way,” he said. “I’m really glad I kept that willpower, to not (let) sometimes coaches put me in a box. That’s really an everyday fight.”

There’s more draft news to pass along:

  • G League guard Scoot Henderson, who’s a strong candidate to be taken second overall, is receiving assistance from Stephen Curry‘s training team as he prepares for his NBA future, writes Janie McCauley of The Associated Press. Henderson and his sister Moochie, who will play at Georgia State, have partnered with Curry’s company, SC30 Inc. “Just getting this early training and early knowledge from Steph mentoring me and the people around him, it’s a blessing,” Scoot Henderson said. “Me just turning 19, just getting that knowledge early, it’s really cool.”
  • Wembanyama and Henderson occupy the top two spots in the latest mock draft issued by Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Brandon Miller, Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson round out the top five.
  • With the NBA Draft Combine starting today, eight players have been called up from the G League Elite Camp, Givony tweets. They are Jazian Gortman of Overtime Elite, Sir’Jabari Rice of Texas, Hunter Tyson and PJ Hall of Clemson, Johni Broome of Auburn, Tosan Evbuomwan of Princeton, Kendric Davis of Memphis and Dillon Jones of Weber State.
  • Jeremy Roach has elected to pull his name out of the draft and return to Duke for another season, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium. Roach wasn’t listed on ESPN’s big board and was considered unlikely to be drafted.

And-Ones: Draft Picks, Hammon, Luxury Tax, Gortman, Spurs

Executives around the NBA don’t love the idea of having teams forfeit second-round picks as a result of tampering investigations, like the Bucks did a year ago, writes ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link). As Givony explains, the thinking is that late second-rounders don’t have a ton of value to begin with, so taking away those picks hurts would-be draftees as much as it hurts teams.

“Why are we punishing players by reducing the number of picks that are made in the NBA draft?” one executive said to Givony. “Players work their entire careers to get to the point that they can hear their names called on draft night. It’s completely unfair to them to have fewer bestowed that honor because of backroom shenanigans that are entirely out of their control.”

Givony suggests some execs would like to see the NBA find a way to avoid having fewer than 60 picks in future drafts by redistributing any forfeited picks. For instance, a team that wins a midseason tournament could earn an extra second-round pick, or a forfeited pick could be awarded to the team that employs the winner of the league’s new Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award.

“How cool would it have been if (inaugural winner) Carmelo Anthony went up to the podium at the 60th pick and announced that the Portland Trail Blazers have drafted someone?” one Eastern Conference executive said to Givony. “That would have been a great moment at Barclays Center, shedding light on the work he’s done, and tying it to the start of a young player’s NBA career, who could maybe follow in his footsteps.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Speaking to Doug Feinberg of The Associated Press, Spurs assistant Becky Hammon said she can’t wait for a time when it’s considered normal for NBA teams to interview and hire women for head coaching jobs. Hammon, one of the few women to receive head coaching consideration, added that she wants to be hired for the right reasons. “Please don’t hire me to check a box. That’s the worst thing you can do for me,” she said. “Hire me because of my skill sets and coaching, who am I as a person, hire me for those.”
  • Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link) provides a breakdown of the projected tax penalties for the eight teams currently above the tax line. While some clubs may shed salary over the course of the season to reduce those bills, the current numbers are staggering, especially for the Warriors ($184MM), Nets ($131MM), and Clippers ($125MM).
  • Five-star prospect Jazian Gortman, a guard based in South Carolina whom ESPN ranks fifth in the 2022 recruiting class, has signed with Overtime Elite, the league announced on Wednesday in a press release.
  • RealGM has the details on the draft picks involved in a pair of Spurs trades – with the Pacers (Doug McDermott) and Bulls (DeMar DeRozan) – this week. Most notably, the first-round pick Chicago is sending San Antonio will be top-10 protected in 2025 and top-eight protected in two subsequent years. That pick would be pushed back by a year if the Bulls’ 2023 first-rounder falls within in its top-four protection and isn’t conveyed until 2024.