- Being part of a winning culture was a key factor in Wesley Johnson‘s decision to re-sign with the Clippers, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com writes. “Just being around those guys every day, getting to know them at practice, getting to know their families, I think that all factored in,” Johnson said. Johnson also added that his foot injury, which caused him to be limited toward the end of last season, is feeling “100% better.”
3:42pm: The Clippers have officially waived Marble, the team confirmed this afternoon in a press release.
12:53pm: The Clippers will waive shooting guard Devyn Marble, whom they acquired in a trade with the Magic, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The deal, which was completed earlier today, was viewed as a way for L.A. to reduce salary before signing free agent point guard Raymond Felton.
Marble’s contract was non-guaranteed unless he was on a roster past 5 pm Eastern time today, and the Magic were planning to waive him before they found a trading partner in the Clippers. L.A. gave up C.J. Wilcox in the deal and received a 2020 second-round draft pick in return, along with Marble.
A second-round choice in 2014, Marble was traded from the Nuggets to Orlando shortly after the draft. He spent two years with the Magic, but appeared in just 44 games, including 28 this season. He would have made $980,431 next season if he had been retained.
Trading away Blake Griffin would mean a sharp change of direction for the Clippers, writes Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Rumors of a possible Griffin deal surfaced Thursday when Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported that the Celtics have targeted him and that there’s a feeling around the league that Boston is ready to make a major move. Deveney cited a possible three-team trade that would send Griffin to the Celtics and Rudy Gay from the Kings to the Clippers, but Woike sees a team built around Gay, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan as less likely than the current roster to be a contender in the West. Griffin has two seasons and about $41.5MM left on his contract.
There’s more news out of Los Angeles:
- The Clippers made a much-needed move to clear some cap space Thursday when they traded C.J. Wilcox to Orlando, according to Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com. Wilcox played just 268 minutes in his two seasons with Los Angeles and was owed more than $1.2MM next season with a $2,183,328 team option for 2017/18. In return, the Clippers received a second-round draft pick in 2020 and Devyn Marble, whose contract is non-guaranteed until today at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Waiving Marble would open up money to sign Raymond Felton, who agreed to terms with L.A. on Thursday.
- The Clippers are right against the luxury tax line with 13 players on guaranteed contracts, tweets Bobby Marks of The Vertical.
- Clippers guard J.J. Redick responded to Commissioner Adam Silver’s warning about “super teams” being bad for the league, writes Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com. In a series of tweets, Redick notes that five teams have won titles since LeBron James joined the Heat in 2010, that the Celtics formed their dominant team through trades and that free agents have earned the right to decide where they want to play. Redick, who has been with the Clippers since 2013, is entering the final season of his contract.
JULY 15th, 11:14pm: The trade is official, the Magic announced.
JULY 14th, 7:44pm: The Magic and the Clippers are finalizing a trade that would send Devyn Marble and a 2020 second round pick to the Clippers for C.J. Wilcox and cash considerations, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel reports (via Twitter). It’s unclear if any protections will be attached to the second-rounder.
Orlando was reportedly set to waive Marble today, but the opportunity to work out a swap with Los Angeles popped up, and the Magic will be able to extract some value for the player. Marble appeared in 28 games for the Magic this past season and averaged 2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 8.9 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .296/.250/.417. He will earn $980,431 if he remains on the Clippers roster past Friday.
Wilcox, 25, recently underwent surgery to repair a broken right hand and he is expected to be out of action for four-to-six weeks. He is set to earn $1,209,600 next season and has a team option worth $2,183,328 for 2017/18. The guard appeared in 23 games for the Clippers this past season, averaging 3.0 points in 7.3 minutes of action per outing, while shooting .394/.391/.750 from the field.
A Wednesday report from Howard Beck of Bleacher Report suggested that rival general managers around the NBA viewed the Celtics as the biggest threat to acquire Russell Westbrook. Those GMs also believed that Thunder GM Sam Presti would be inclined to move Westbrook sooner rather than later if Presti feels that the star point guard is likely to leave in free agency next summer.
As I pointed out when I passed along that report, however, there has been no indication yet that the Thunder are actively exploring a Westbrook deal. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes today that Westbrook’s representatives haven’t received word of any trade talks, and they’d almost certainly be involved in that process — after all, any team acquiring the Thunder star would want to talk to his reps about whether he’d be willing to sign up for a long-term stay with that new team.
As Deveney notes, that doesn’t necessarily rule out an eventual Westbrook trade to Boston, but it probably means that the Celtics haven’t gotten serious about targeting him to this point.
Here’s more from Deveney on the Celtics:
- The consensus among front-office executives at the Summer League in Las Vegas is that the Celtics will attempt to make a major deal soon, says Deveney.
- Boston’s top trade target at this point appears to be Blake Griffin. According to Deveney, a three-way scenario has emerged that would involve the Celtics giving up picks in a deal to acquire Griffin, with the Kings getting involved and sending Rudy Gay to the Clippers. However, opposing front-office execs say the C’s are reluctant to give up their 2018 Nets first-round pick or their swap rights to Brooklyn’s 2017 pick.
- If the Clippers do move Griffin in a deal with the Celtics or another team, they’d want to land draft picks and a “frontline star” to keep them in contention, per Deveney. I’m not sure Gay would qualify as that sort of “star,” but perhaps Doc Rivers feels differently.
- According to Deveney, several front-office members around the NBA continue to bring up Kevin Love as a Celtics target, even though none of those execs believe that the Cavaliers will be inclined to move Love.
- Deveney adds (via Twitter) that the Celtics continue to look for shooting help, and have reached out to veteran free agent Chase Budinger.
- Meanwhile, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald hears from sources that, while the Celtics have expressed interest in Westbrook and Griffin in the past, there have been no recent trade discussions involving either player. However, he acknowledges that Boston remains “very much open” to a major deal, and says situations remain fluid.
2:18pm: The Clippers have officially confirmed Stone’s signing.
2:16pm: The Clippers are set to sign second-round pick Diamond Stone to his first NBA contract today, reports Dan Woike of The Orange County Register (via Twitter). Lucas Hann of ClipsNation.com tweets that it will be a two-year, minimum-salary deal, while Woike hears that both years will be guaranteed (Twitter link).
Stone, 19, spent a year at Maryland before making the leap to the NBA. In his lone season with the Terrapins, the young center averaged 12.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 34 appearances (22.8 MPG). Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com ranked Stone as the 31st-best prospect in 2016’s draft class.
The Clippers landed Stone with the 40th overall pick last month after sending the No. 33 pick (Cheick Diallo) to the Pelicans. In exchange for that 33rd overall pick, Los Angeles received two second-round selections. The team used the other pick (No. 39) to nab French point guard David Michineau, but unlike Stone, he isn’t on the verge of signing with L.A.
According to Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (via Twitter), the Clippers are still considering what to do with Michineau. A source tells Turner that the club may end up stashing him in Europe, or having him play in the D-League.
Jamal Crawford wanted to remain with the Clippers all along, saying Los Angeles feels like home to him, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com relays. “I’ve said it the whole time, I wanted to come back here,” Crawford said. “My wife, we’ve been together 10 years now, but we’ve been in one place the longest here, so this is where she kind of knows from a team aspect. This is kind of like our home as well.” Crawford also noted that the unity throughout the team separated the Clippers from other places in the NBA – from the front office down to the locker room, which is another reason he re-signed with the club, Kavner relays. “That’s kind of unusual in this business,” Crawford said. “I’m not saying everything’s perfect or we don’t have our ups and downs or see things from different points of view; but overall, it’s a family.”
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports Images
JULY 13: The Wolves have formally signed Aldrich, the team announced today (via Twitter).
JULY 3: Veteran center Cole Aldrich will sign a three-year, $22MM deal with the Timberwolves, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The 27-year-old center spent the 2015/16 season with the Clippers and averaged 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 60 games.
Aldrich decided last month to opt out of his contract with L.A., which would have paid him the league minimum, approximately $1.23MM. The Clippers had hoped to keep the unrestricted free agent, but he chose to accept the offer from Minnesota.
The Bloomington, Minn., native will serve as a backup to Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns. The Timberwolves will be his sixth NBA franchise.
- All-Euroleague center Giannis Bourousis has reached a agreement with the Greek club Panathinaikos on a two-year contract, Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops reports. The big man reportedly had contract offers from the Clippers and Warriors, with the Spurs also expressing interest, Varlas adds.
The Clippers have locked up their 2016 first-round pick, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register, who tweets that the team has signed Brice Johnson to his rookie contract. The team held a presser earlier today to introduce Johnson along with second-rounders David Michineau and Diamond Stone.
The 25th overall pick in last month’s draft, Johnson averaged 17.0 PPG during his senior season at North Carolina, contributing 10.5 RPG and 1.5 BPG as well. He also shot 61.4% from the field for the Tar Heels, and was ranked 34th overall among this year’s prospects by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
While terms of Johnson’s deal weren’t announced, it’s a safe bet that he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of his rookie-scale amount. Such a deal would put him in line for a first-year salary of $1,273,920. Over the course of his four-year rookie contract, Johnson will make nearly $6.5MM, as our breakdown of 2016 first-round rookie salaries shows.