Clippers/Lakers To Headline NBA’s 2019 Christmas Day Schedule
The NBA has set its Christmas Day schedule for the 2019/20 season, according to reports from multiple ESPN writers. Adrian Wojnarowski, Tim Bontemps, and Malika Andrews have details on the five games set for December 25, 2019.
While the order and times of the games haven’t yet been confirmed, these are the five matchups we’ll see on Christmas Day this December, per ESPN’s reporting:
- Los Angeles Clippers vs. Los Angeles Lakers
- Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers
- Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors
- Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors
- New Orleans Pelicans at Denver Nuggets
The Clippers/Lakers and Bucks/Sixers matchups will pit the two current favorites from the Western and Eastern Conferences against one another. Those games figure to be the headliners of the day, with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George squaring off against LeBron James and Anthony Davis, plus Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid going head-to-head.
The Rockets/Warriors game – a rematch of the most competitive Western postseason rivalry of the last two years – should be an entertaining showdown as well, even without Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson in the picture. James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and D’Angelo Russell will still provide plenty of star power.
The defending champion Raptors will make a rare Christmas Day appearance, hosting the new-look Celtics, led by Kemba Walker. It’ll also be a rare December 25 home game for the Nuggets, who will take on the young, up-and-coming Pelicans and No. 1 pick Zion Williamson.
Which Christmas Day game are you most looking forward to in 2019? Are there any teams or matchups you’re disappointed to see (or not see) on the December 25 schedule? Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Bucks Notes: Buford, Bender, 2020 Playoff Odds
The Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks‘ G League affiliate, has hired Chase Buford as their new head coach, per the team’s website.
“Chase has had wide-ranging basketball experiences over the past seven years, both in the G League and the NBA, and we believe he’s one of the bright young coaches in the game,” said Herd GM Dave Dean. “We are excited by his approach, fresh ideas and collaborative spirit. It’s a pleasure to welcome Chase to Wisconsin and to the Bucks family.”
Buford, who is the son of long-time Spurs executive R.C Buford, most recently was an assistant coach for the Delaware Blue Coats (the Sixers’ G League affiliate). The 30-year-old coach began his professional career back in 2012 as a regional scout with the Hawks.
Here’s more from Wisconsin:
- The Bucks have officially added Chad Forcier as an assistant coach, the team relays on its website. Forcier spent last season as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter) has some details on Dragan Bender‘s two-year minimum salary contract with the Bucks. Bender will make $300K guaranteed in the first year, though that figure will rise to $600K if he remains on the roster through Milwaukee’s first game of the season. The second year of Bender’s deal is non-guaranteed.
- No NBA team is a stronger favorite to make the 2020 postseason that the Bucks, according to Caesars Entertainment, as David Purdum of ESPN.com passes along. Milwaukee is listed at -5,000 to make the postseason — that means you’d need to wager $5,000 on a Bucks playoff berth to win $100. Philadelphia is the next strongest favorite at -4,000.
Frank Mason III Signs Two-Way Deal With Bucks
JULY 26: The deal is now official, the Bucks confirmed today in a press release.
JULY 20: Point guard Frank Mason III has agreed to a two-way contract with the Bucks, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Mason was waived earlier this month by the Kings and went unclaimed.
Mason, 24, was selected by Sacramento with the 34th overall pick in the 2017 draft. He had a promising rookie season, averaging 7.9 PPG and 2.8 APG, but lost his place in the regular rotation last season.
He was supposed to play for the Kings in the California Summer League, but was held out of action due to a sore right hip. Mason had a $1.62MM salary for the upcoming season but it wasn’t guaranteed.
He’ll provide depth at the point behind Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and Donte DiVincenzo.
Forward Bonzie Colson holds the other two-way spot with Milwaukee, but the team also agreed to sign Cameron Reynolds to a two-way deal, so Colson looks like the odd man out.
Bucks Sign Dragan Bender To Two-Year Deal
JULY 26, 8:09am: The Bucks have officially signed Bender, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
JULY 25, 12:20pm: The first year of Bender’s deal with the Bucks is partially guaranteed, while the second is non-guaranteed, reports Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links).
JULY 25, 10:49am: Free agent power forward Dragan Bender won’t be returning overseas after all, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the former lottery pick has reached an agreement on a two-year deal with the Bucks.
Guarantee details aren’t yet known, but Milwaukee can’t offer more than the veteran’s minimum, which would result in salaries worth approximately $1.68MM in 2019/20 and $1.82MM in 2020/21 for Bender.
Bender, 21, spent the last three seasons with the Suns after being selected fourth overall in 2016. However, he has failed to develop into a regular NBA rotation player, averaging 5.3 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .394/.321/.647 shooting line in 171 games in Phoenix.
A report last week indicated that Bender was close to signing with defending EuroLeague champions CSKA Moscow. However, the verbal agreement Bender had with the Russian club was said to be contingent on him not receiving any last-minute NBA offers. Now that the Bucks have swooped in at the 11th hour, the young big man will remain stateside.
Before making their deal with Bender official, the Bucks are already carrying 14 players with fully guaranteed salaries for 2019/20. If Bender gets a guaranteed salary too, it would make him a strong favorite to fill the team’s 15th and final regular season roster spot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bucks Sign Kyle Korver To One-Year Deal
JULY 25: The Bucks have officially signed Korver, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 20: Veteran shooting guard Kyle Korver is signing with the Bucks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.
Korver will get the veteran’s minimum of $2.6MM on the one-year deal but Milwaukee will only take a $1.6MM cap hit, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Korver was waived by the Suns on July 8. He temporarily wound up with rebuilding Phoenix after being traded by the Jazz and Grizzlies this offseason. The Suns will receive a $559K set-off on the $3.44MM they owe Korver after placing him on waivers, Marks notes. Korver had a $7.5MM contract for next season but only the portion the Suns owe was guaranteed.
Korver averaged 8.6 PPG on .416/.397/.822 shooting in 70 games (19.1 MPG) last season for the Cavaliers and Jazz. A June report indicated that the 38-year-old – who is a career 42.9% three-point shooter – was expected to play for at least one more year.
Korver will add depth at the shooting guard spot behind Khris Middleton and Sterling Brown in Milwaukee, reuniting with head coach Mike Budenholzer, whom he played for in Atlanta.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Team USA Updates: Millsap, Plumlee, Harrell, Select Team
USA Basketball has issued a press release announcing a series of updates relating to the team it’s putting together for the 2019 World Cup in China, as well as the training camp that will take place in August before that event. Here are the highlights of that announcement:
More withdrawals:
Nuggets big man Paul Millsap has joined the ever-growing list of players from Team USA’s initial 20-man roster who have decided not to participate in this year’s World Cup. As expected, Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love has also withdrawn from Team USA’s 2019 roster.
Millsap and Love join Bradley Beal, Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, James Harden, Tobias Harris, Damian Lillard, and CJ McCollum among the original invitees who have removed their names from World Cup consideration.
New invitees:
Team USA confirmed that Thaddeus Young, Marcus Smart, Julius Randle, and Jaylen Brown will join the training camp roster for next month, as previous reports indicated.
In addition to those four players, two big men will join the roster as well, with Clippers center Montrezl Harrell and Nuggets center Mason Plumlee have received invitations from USA Basketball. Assuming the remaining 11 players from the original 20-man roster remain committed, that would bring the roster back up to 17.
[UPDATE: Harrell may turn down his invitation]
Those 11 other players are Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, P.J. Tucker, Myles Turner, and Kemba Walker.
Select Team:
For the first time, USA Basketball confirmed the players who will make up the Select Team at next month’s training camp in Las Vegas. The members of the 13-man Select Team will practice and scrimmage with Team USA’s training camp invitees, and will be coached by Jeff Van Gundy.
It’s possible that a player could be elevated from the Select Team to the primary roster and eventually find his way onto the 12-man squad that will play in China, but that’s probably a long shot.
The 13 players who will play for the Select Team are as follows:
- Jarrett Allen (Nets)
- Marvin Bagley III (Kings)
- Mikal Bridges (Suns)
- Jalen Brunson (Mavericks)
- John Collins (Hawks)
- Pat Connaughton (Bucks)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Joe Harris (Nets)
- Jonathan Isaac (Magic)
- Mitchell Robinson (Knicks)
- Landry Shamet (Clippers)
- Derrick White (Spurs)
- Trae Young (Hawks)
Team USA’s training camp will take place during the week of August 5, while the World Cup itself is scheduled to run from August 31 to September 15.
NBA Conducting Investigation Of Tampering
In response to tampering complaints, the NBA is investigating some of the earliest agreements reached in free agency, according to Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The process will include interviews with players and possibly agents and team employees as well.
Suspicions were raised as some free agent deals were announced immediately upon the arrival of the negotiating period, which began at 6:00pm Eastern Time on June 30. A few agreements were leaked ahead of that hour, prompting questions about the legality of the process.
The announcement of the investigation came after a “tense” owners meeting in Las Vegas in which everyone present was encouraged to express their grievances. Hornets owner Michael Jordan, who lost Kemba Walker to a quickly-announced deal with the Celtics, suggested the need to alter the way free agency is conducted in the next collective bargaining agreement. Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, who could have the top free agent in 2021 when Giannis Antetokounmpo hits the market, discussed “gray areas” of the current rules against tampering.
NBA general counsel Rick Buchanan reminded teams that they are all expected to abide by the rules and promised a revised set of regulations that will be strictly enforced. He mentioned “seizing servers and cellphones” to track any illegal contact that teams might make.
Other possible solutions being considered by the league include:
- Allowing teams to negotiate with their own free agents after the Finals have concluded. Some executives and agents admit that the free agent process now unofficially begins at the draft combine in May when meetings over potential picks expand into talk about free agent clients.
- Holding free agency before the draft. The Rockets submitted a formal proposal to enact this change last year, but only got support from 10 teams, sources tell Lowe and Windhorst.
- Cutting back the moratorium, which extended this year from June 30 to July 6. It exists to give the league time to account for all its revenue from the previous season and set an accurate salary cap.
- Granting teams more time and more freedom to talk with free agents before they officially reach the market.
Several teams also complained about the new trend toward family members serving as virtual agents and making requests not covered by the CBA. Some used Kawhi Leonard‘s uncle, Dennis Robertson, as an example, but the authors point out that there have been many other similar cases. Commissioner Adam Silver admitted that “things are being discussed that don’t fall squarely within the collective bargaining agreement.” There was sentiment at the meeting to require family members who assume that role to go through the union’s agent certification process.
Bucks Sign Luke Maye
The Bucks have signed Luke Maye to a one-year contract, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Financial details aren’t known, but an Exhibit 10 deal seems likely.
A 6’8″ forward, Maye played his college ball at North Carolina, winning a national championship with the Tar Heels in 2017. He went undrafted last month after a senior season in which he averaged a double-double (14.9 PPG, 10.5 RPG) in 36 games (30.9 MPG).
Maye joined the Bucks for Summer League play this month, but struggled in limited action, averaging 3.0 PPG on 18.8% shooting (3-of-16) in three games (13.7 MPG).
Nonetheless, Milwaukee didn’t waste much time officially locking him up to a contract. If it’s an Exhibit 10 deal, the Bucks likely view Maye as a contributor for their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.
Bucks Waive Bonzie Colson
The Bucks have waived forward Bonzie Colson, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Colson, 23, went unselected in the 2018 NBA Draft after playing four seasons at Notre Dame. He spent time in the G League with Cleveland and Milwaukee shortly afterward, working for a two-way contract with the team last January.
Colson held averages of 14.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 46 G League games during the 2018/19 season.
[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Milwaukee’s two-way contract spots will now be filled by Frank Mason lll and Cameron Reynolds, as noted by Nehm, with the team still having one open roster spot to work with once Kyle Korver‘s deal becomes official.
Central Notes: Horst, Pistons, Kornet, Holidays
Eric Nehm of The Athletic recently sat down with the Bucks’ award-winning GM Jon Horst to discuss the team’s free agency this summer. Here are a few noteworthy passages from Horst’s interview.
Regarding the team’s ability to bring back Khris Middleton on a five-year deal:
“Khris was always a focus… He’s our second superstar, our second star. He’s an All-Star. He’s been one of our best players for a long period of time here… Khris was a target obviously and he got a contract that represents that and we think it’s a great contract because we got our second All-Star locked up for the next five years.”
“When we got Brook last offseason, we understood, at some level, how important he was going to be to us… (and) we also understood if he’s as good as we think he’s going to be, it’s going to present a lot of challenges.”
“So, we spent the entire year trying to prepare for that… Just different things we did throughout the year were in preparation to position ourselves to either be prepared to keep Brook, be in a position to keep Brook or be prepared to react if we couldn’t… I don’t know if a lot of people saw it coming, maybe after the Tony Snell deal. Then, maybe they were like, ‘Okay, this is how they’re going to try to do it.’ But before that, I don’t think people saw the moves we lined up to position ourselves to hopefully keep Brook and I’m very thankful we were able to.”
Regarding the decision to trade RFA Malcolm Brogdon to Indiana and whether the luxury tax was a factor in that decision:
“I think there’s a lot that goes into restricted free agency. It’s a monster. Malcolm is very, very important and we knew how important he was to our team. It will be hard to replace him. I think we’ve done the best that we can and we’ll continue to work in ways to be creative and fill that gap.”
“I would say the luxury tax was only part of the consideration for not matching or not being willing to pay Malcolm the market that he was able to get from Indiana. Whether or not he had that market from anywhere else besides Indiana, I don’t know. The decision on Malcolm was much more about our internal evaluations, the roster fit, the ability to be flexible and have options going forward and just building a team that, as I always say, can sustain success over a long period.”
- Horst confirmed in the above interview that the Bucks were not able to create a traded player exception when they traded Brogdon to Indiana, as the signing of George Hill with cap space occurred after the trade, and teams lose their exceptions (other than the Room MLE) when they go under the cap.
- Taking a look at what each player’s role may be for the Pistons’ during the 2019/20 season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com opines that there are five guys locked in to being sure-fire rotation pieces – Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, and Derrick Rose, and three who will almost certainly join that group – Markieff Morris, Tony Snell, and Bruce Brown.
- The Bulls are hoping that the three-point shooting ability of free-agent addition, big man Luke Kornet, will be a nice complement next to starter Wendell Carter Jr. and fellow reserve, rookie Daniel Gafford, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
- Pacers’ new addition Justin Holiday is excited about the prospect of playing with his baby brother, reserve point guard Aaron Holiday, reports Scott Agness of The Athletic. “It was the best situation I had at this time,” Justin said. “(T)he Pacers obviously being a contender every year and going to the playoffs, and then also them having my brother was something that was very, very enticing for me. To be able to be a part of that culture and play with my brother, I think it made it pretty simple where I needed to go.”