Sixers Notes: Tax Outlook, Harris, Redick, Korver
The Sixers are about to enter their final season for a while of not being a taxpaying team, Derek Bodner of The Athletic writes in detailed breakdown of all the contracts the organization issued since free agency began.
Philadelphia has been among the most active teams this offseason, adding free agents Al Horford, Kyle O’Quinn and Raul Neto, trading Jimmy Butler to the Heat for Josh Richardson, re-signing Tobias Harris, Mike Scott and James Ennis, extending Ben Simmons and giving a four-year contract to former two-way player Shake Milton. Even with all those additions, the Sixers are comfortably below the tax line.
That changes next year when Simmons’ maximum rookie extension kicks in. The Sixers will not only be a taxpayer going forward, but would need to unload significant salary to say below the apron and retain the ability to use their full mid-level exception. The same situation will exist for 2021/22 unless they lose Richardson, who has a player option for that season. Bodner doesn’t expect that to happen, stating that the team is likely to consider keeping Richardson more valuable than having the full MLE.
There’s more this morning from Philadelphia:
- The Sixers‘ tax status for the upcoming season gave them the freedom to start Harris’ new five-year, $180MM deal with a higher first-year salary than they needed to, Bodner adds in the same story. Instead of beginning with a $31MM salary for 2019/20 and 8% raises the rest of the way, Harris will get a max salary of $32.742MM this year, followed by lower raises in years three and four when the organization will have tax concerns.
- J.J. Redick, who signed as a free agent with the Pelicans, said on his latest podcast that he expected to retire in Philadelphia, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic. However, he added, “Sometimes the economics of things don’t work out.” Redick, who spent the past two years with the Sixers, referred to New Orleans as “Duke south” and said he has known new GM Trajan Langdon since his freshman year at the university. He dealt mainly with Langdon in free agent talks, while his agent negotiated with executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin.
- Kyle Korver strongly considered the Sixers before reaching an agreement with the Bucks yesterday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Korver started his career in Philadelphia, but his relationship with Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer, whom he played for in Atlanta, swayed his final decision.
And-Ones: P. Jones, Marinkovic, E. Bryant, Pacquiao
A rules change in the BIG3 League has allowed Perry Jones to use that venue to pursue another shot at the NBA, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. The 28th player picked in the 2012 draft, Jones spent three years with the Thunder before being traded to Boston in the summer of 2015. He never played for the Celtics before being waived that fall, then failed to make the Pelicans‘ roster after joining them for training camp in 2017.
Now 27, Jones took advantage of the new lower age limit in the BIG3, which dropped from 30 to 27 this year. He’s playing for the expansion Enemies, averaging 7.7 points per game, and hasn’t lost the confidence that he can succeed in the NBA.
“No disrespect to the Thunder, but I went to a team that didn’t have a need (for a player like me),” Jones said. “They had three superstars. They had everything set in stone that they needed. It’s just how the business goes. I think if I went somewhere else and had the opportunity to play in actual games, I think my career would have turned out differently for sure.”
There’s more NBA-related news to pass along:
- Vanja Marinkovic, selected by the Kings with the final pick in this year’s draft, has until July 30 to decide where he will play this season, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter link). That’s when the buy-out clause expires on the final year of his contract with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia. It’s unlikely that he’ll come to the NBA, but Spain’s Unicaja Malaga and Valencia Basket have both expressed interest, Carchia states.
- Coming off a strong performance with the Bucks‘ summer league team, Elijah Bryant is deciding among several NBA offers, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. The former BYU guard had a break-out performance July 8 with 31 points and seven rebounds against Minnesota.
- Boxer Manny Pacquiao tells TMZ Sports he wants to fight for five more years and then purchase part of an NBA team. He already owns the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, a semi-pro outfit in the Philippines, and regularly uses basketball as part of his training. Pacquiao has an estimated net worth around $200MM.
Contract Details For George Hill
- Pincus also provides the specific details on the partial guarantee in year three of George Hill‘s new contract with the Bucks. After earning a total of $18.72MM in his first two seasons, the veteran guard has a $1.28MM partial guarantee in 2021/22 that increases his overall guarantee to exactly $20MM. If he remains under contract through July 1, 2021, Hill’s third year would be worth $10.05MM.
Chad Forcier Hired As Assistant Coach
- Marc Stein of The New York Times is reporting that the Bucks are adding veteran assistant coach Chad Forcier to Mike Budenholzer‘s coaching staff. Forcier worked with Budenholzer in San Antonio under Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popovich.
Bucks Sign Cam Reynolds To Two-Way Contract
JULY 26: The Bucks have officially signed Reynolds to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release. Milwaukee also confirmed that it has signed Frank Mason to fill its other two-way slot after waiving Colson earlier in the week.
JULY 18: The Bucks and free agent shooting guard Cameron Reynolds have reached an agreement on a two-way deal, agent James Dunleavy tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Reynolds, 24, appeared in 19 games with the Timberwolves last season, having signed a pair of 10-day contracts and then a multiyear deal with the team. He showed some promise as a rotation player by averaging 5.0 PPG with a .412 3PT% in 13.6 minutes per contest, but his 2019/20 salary was non-guaranteed and Minnesota released him just before the start of free agency.
Bonzie Colson, who signed a two-way pact with the Bucks last January, remains under contract with the team on the second year of his contract, though it’s not clear if the club plans to retain him through the start of the 2019/20 season. For now at least, it looks like he and Reynolds will fill Milwaukee’s two-way contract slots.
J.R. Smith Meeting With Bucks
After clearing waivers on Wednesday, veteran shooting guard J.R. Smith has lined up a free agent meeting with the Bucks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the sit-down will happen today.
As Charania notes, Milwaukee remains in the market for a wing shooter. However, the team has little financial flexibility, having used up its cap space and its room exception. While the Bucks can’t offer more than the veteran’s minimum, Smith is unlikely to command more than that at this stage in his career.
Released this week by the Cavaliers, Smith hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since last November, when he parted ways with the team for the remainder of the season. In the first month of the 2018/19 season, he appeared in 11 games (20.2 MPG), averaging 6.7 PPG on .342/.308/.800 shooting. Those numbers were among the worst of his 15-year NBA career, though the sample size was extremely limited.
In his last full season in 2017/18, Smith recorded 8.3 PPG with a .375 3PT% in 80 games (28.1 MPG).
The idea of the Lakers as a landing spot for Smith was a popular topic of speculation, given his connection to LeBron James and Klutch Sports. But a report surfaced shortly after the Cavs waived him indicating that the Lakers were an unlikely destination for the veteran.
Bucks Sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo
JULY 16: The Bucks have officially signed Antetokounmpo, the team announced today in a press release.
“Thanasis is a young player with great experience at the top level overseas,” Bucks GM Jon Horst said in a statement. “He brings toughness, athleticism, character and a high IQ. We are thrilled to have him join the Bucks.”
JULY 7: Thanasis Antetokounmpo has agreed to a two-year contract to join his brother in Milwaukee, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Greek outlet Gazzetta.gr reported earlier in the week that Antetokounmpo and the Bucks were finalizing a two-year guaranteed deal.
Charania confirms (via Twitter) that Antetokounmpo will get a guaranteed two-year minimum-salary deal. I’ll be worth about $3.15MM over two years, including $1.45MM in 2019/20.
An older sibling of reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis has brief NBA experience, playing two games for the Knicks on a 10-day contract during the 2015/16 season.
The 26-year-old spent this season with Panathinaikos, leading the team to a second straight Greek Basket League title. He was also MVP of the Greek All-Star Game in 2018. Before returning to Greece Thanasis spent three years in the G League, playing for both Delaware and Westchester.
Pelicans Waive Christian Wood
The Pelicans have waived power forward/center Christian Wood, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Wood had a non-guaranteed $1,645,357 salary, of which $822,679 would have become guaranteed if he was on the opening-day roster. The Pelicans now have 13 players with fully guaranteed contracts and two others with non- or partial guarantees.
The Bucks waived Wood in March and the Pelicans claimed him. Wood saw spot duty in 13 games with Milwaukee. He played eight games with New Orleans, including two starts, and averaged 16.9 PPG and 7.9 RPG.
By letting go of Wood, New Orleans opens up a spot for Italian power forward Nicolo Melli, who agreed to a two-year contact in late June.
Matthews' Deal Features Second-Year Player Option
- Wesley Matthews‘ new minimum-salary contract with the Bucks includes a second-year player option, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Several Teams Interested In Kosta Koufos
The Kings would like to re-sign free agent center Kosta Koufos, but he has attracted preliminary interest from the Pistons, Raptors and Bucks as well, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Haynes suggests Koufos might remain on the market until the latter stages of free agency.
Koufos, 30, has spent the past four seasons in Sacramento, but has seen his role diminish as the team has added younger talent. He played just 42 games this year, averaging 3.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12 minutes per night.
Koufos is a traditional low-post center known for his defense and rebounding, but his inability to stretch the floor or hit free throws has limited his effectiveness.
A first-round pick by the Jazz in 2008, Koufos bounced around the NBA before landing a four-year deal with the Kings in 2015. He also spent time with the Timberwolves, Nuggets and Grizzlies.