Bucks Offered Carter-Williams To Kings For McLemore
- The Bucks continue to scour the market for possible Khris Middleton replacements, and have offered Michael Carter-Williams to the Kings in a deal for Ben McLemore, Stein reports. Sacramento turned down that pitch, but Milwaukee continues to explore deals.
- One scenario likely not in play for the Bucks is a deal with the Hornets that would involve Jeremy Lamb and Spencer Hawes. According to Stein, Charlotte is said to have no interest in Monroe.
[SOURCE LINK]
Bucks Shopping Around For Wing Help
- The Bucks are seeking help at the wing positions and a swap with the Kings for shooting guard Ben McLemore – a projected backup with the addition of Arron Afflalo — is a possibility. Milwaukee would like to move either center Greg Monroe or point guard Michael Carter-Williams under the right circumstances, according to Lowe’s sources.
Jabari Brown, Richard Solomon To Play Overseas
Jabari Brown and Richard Solomon were among the NBA’s first preseason roster cuts over the last few days, having been waived by the Bucks and Hawks, respectively. Brown’s release came on Wednesday, meaning he hasn’t even cleared waivers yet, but already both players have lined up new deals overseas.
According to international basketball reporter David Pick (via Twitter), Brown has agreed to a deal with the Jilin Northeast Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he’ll replace Tony Crocker. Assuming the two sides finalize that agreement, it will be a return to China for Brown, who played for the Foshan Long Lions last season.
Brown, 23, averaged an impressive 32.4 PPG for Foshan in 27 games, also chipping in 3.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.1 SPG. Over the last two seasons, the young shooting guard has also spent time with the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, averaging 23.1 PPG and shooting .443/.374/.842 in 47 D-League contests.
As for Solomon, the forward has agreed to terms with Gravelines-Dunkerque in France, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The team has since confirmed the signing, announcing it via Twitter.
Solomon, who went undrafted out of the University of California in 2014, appeared in 59 games in the Japanese League last season and averaged 11.3 PPG and 8.9 RPG. Previously, he spent 28 games with Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate in 2014/15, averaging 8.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG.
Bucks Waive Jabari Brown
The Bucks have waived shooting guard Jabari Brown, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Brown signed with the team roughly two weeks ago.
If Brown opts to rejoin the D-League, he will play for he Los Angeles D-Fenders since the Lakers’ affiliate owns his rights, Chris Reichert of Upside Motor notes (Twitter link). The 23-year-old played 41 games with D-Fenders over the last two seasons.
The team entered the day with 19 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates. Brown had an opportunity for playing time in Milwaukee, as someone needed to fill Khris Middleton‘s void. Instead, it’s likely that new additions Matthew Dellavedova and Jason Terry will see increased usage.
Players Who Can Veto Trades
No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, and they became even rarer this offseason, when several players with those clauses in their contracts either called it a career or signed new deals. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, who all opted for retirement, had no-trade clauses last season, and so did Dwyane Wade, who doesn’t have the same protection on his new contract with the Bulls.
Nonethless, while the list of players with explicit no-trade clauses may be dwindling, there are still several players each year who have the ability to veto trades. A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year contract with an option clause – is given no-trade protection, and so is a player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team. Players who accept qualifying offers after their rookie deals expire can also block deals, though no restricted free agents signed their QOs this year.
Taking into account that list of criteria, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the 2016/17 league year:
No-trade clauses
- Carmelo Anthony (Knicks)
- LeBron James (Cavaliers): Received no-trade clause on his new contract with Cavs.
- Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks)
Players whose offer sheets were matched
- Allen Crabbe (Trail Blazers)
- Tyler Johnson (Heat)
Players accepting qualifying offers
- None
Players re-signing for one year (or two years including an option)
- Lou Amundson (Knicks) (waived)
- Elton Brand (Sixers) (retired)
- Ian Clark (Warriors)
- Alonzo Gee (Pelicans) (waived)
- Manu Ginobili (Spurs)
- Udonis Haslem (Heat)
- Kris Humphries (Hawks)
- Dahntay Jones (Cavaliers) (waived)
- James Jones (Cavaliers)
- James Michael McAdoo (Warriors)
- Steve Novak (Bucks)
- Marcus Thornton (Wizards)
- Beno Udrih (Pistons)
- Anderson Varejao (Warriors)
- Sasha Vujacic (Knicks)
- Metta World Peace (Lakers)
Information from Basketball Insiders and Yahoo! Sports was used in the creation of this post.
Bucks Interested In Jeremy Lamb?
There have been “whispers” that the Bucks are discussing a deal that would send Greg Monroe to the Hornets in exchange for Jeremy Lamb and Spencer Hawes, according to Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Press Box. Milwaukee needs help on the wing with Khris Middleton likely out for the season with a ruptured left hamstring. The Bucks have reportedly been looking for a taker for Monroe all summer, and it appears Charlotte may be interested. Lamb, a 24-year-old swingman, is beginning his second season with the Hornets after averaging 8.8 points per night in 66 games as a reserve a year ago. Lamb is entering the first year of a three-year, $21MM extension he agreed to last November, and he may be expendable after Charlotte added Marco Belinelli over the summer. Woelfel lists Gary Harris, Ben McLemore, Alec Burks, Terrence Ross and Nick Young as other wings the Bucks may target.
Contract Details: Brand, Rockets, Thunder, Pacers
With training camps underway, teams have now officially finalized the contract agreements with various camp invitees that had been reported over the past several weeks, meaning we have plenty of contract details to round up. As usual, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has been busy reporting those details, updating his salary pages for teams around the NBA.
Because we have so many updates to pass along from Pincus, we’ll divide them up by players who received some guaranteed money from their teams, and those who didn’t. All of the links below point to the Basketball Insiders team salary pages, so be sure to click through for additional information.
Here are the latest salary updates from across the league, via Pincus:
Players receiving guaranteed money:
These players aren’t necessarily assured of regular-season roster spots. In fact, many of them likely received guarantees as an incentive to accept a D-League assignment. Still, for some players, larger guarantees should increase their odds of making 15-man rosters.
- Thomas Walkup (Bulls): One year, minimum salary. $69.5K guaranteed.
- Keith Benson (Heat): Two years, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
- Henry Sims (Jazz): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
- Alex Poythress (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $35,381 guaranteed.
- Kevin Seraphin (Pacers): Two years, $3.681MM. First year ($1.8MM) guaranteed.
- Julyan Stone (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
- Gary Payton II (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. First year ($543,471) guaranteed.
- Isaiah Taylor (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
- Kyle Wiltjer (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $275K guaranteed.
- Cat Barber (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
- Elton Brand (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $1MM guaranteed.
- Derrick Jones (Suns): Three years, minimum salary. $42.5K guaranteed.
- Alex Caruso (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
- Kaleb Tarczewski (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
- Chris Wright (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $100K guaranteed.
Players receiving no guaranteed money:
The following players all signed one-year, minimum salary contracts with no guaranteed money. Many of these deals are “summer contracts,” which won’t count against a team’s cap unless the player earns a spot on the 15-man roster.
- Jabari Brown and Jaleel Roberts (Bucks)
- Markel Brown, Dahntay Jones, Cory Jefferson, Eric Moreland, John Holland, and Jonathan Holmes (Cavaliers)
- Dorell Wright (Clippers)
- Chris Crawford (Grizzlies)
- Ryan Kelly, Will Bynum, and Richard Solomon (Hawks)
- Perry Ellis (Hornets)
- Eric Dawson (Jazz)
- Julian Jacobs and Travis Wear (Lakers)
- Quinn Cook (Pelicans)
- Joel Anthony and Nicolas Laprovittola (Spurs)
- Gracin Bakumanya, Derek Cooke, and Shaquille Harrison (Suns)
- Rasual Butler (Timberwolves)
Middleton's Surgery Successful
The Bucks‘ Khris Middleton had successful surgery Wednesday on his ruptured left hamstring, the team announced on its website. Middleton is expected to be out of action for six months following the procedure, which was performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. The fifth-year swingman, who signed a five-year, $70MM deal last summer, had his best season in 2015/16, averaging a career-high 18.2 points, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 79 games.
Hammond: Bucks Could Explore Trade For SG
With Khris Middleton expected to miss most of the season, Bucks general manager John Hammond has said there’s a possibility of acquiring a veteran shooting guard in a trade, writes Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times. League officials tell Woelfel that if Milwaukee does explore a trade, Michael Carter-Williams could potentially be on the block, along with Greg Monroe. Woelfel adds that John Henson could also be used as trade bait, though that appears to be speculation.
For now, the Bucks are moving forward with their in-house options, including including Rashad Vaughn, Malcolm Brogdon, and Jason Terry. But it will be a situation worth monitoring as the season nears, since Milwaukee has playoff aspirations this season, even after the loss of Middleton.
Bucks, Rockets Swap Tyler Ennis, Michael Beasley
3:40pm: The Bucks have announced the deal in a press release, confirming that they’ve sent Ennis to the Rockets in exchange for Beasley.
“We’re excited to add a player with Michael’s skill set to our team,” said general manager John Hammond in a statement. “He’s someone that we’ve kept our eye on the last few seasons and we’re looking forward to watching him compete throughout training camp and the season.”
3:21pm: With Khris Middleton expected to be sidelined for the next six months due to a torn hamstring, the Bucks have found a stop-gap depth piece at forward. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter), Milwaukee has shipped Tyler Ennis to the Rockets in exchange for Michael Beasley.
[RELATED: Khris Middleton to miss six months with torn hamstring]
According to Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links), the swap isn’t a “reactionary” move for the Bucks, who were said to be discussing a deal with the Rockets before Middleton went down with his hamstring injury on Tuesday. Nonetheless, it’s not hard to think Milwaukee was further motivated to get something done after Middleton went down. A report last night indicated that the team was exploring the trade market for help on the wing.
Still, the Bucks are dealing from a position of strength in the trade. Newly-extended Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to see plenty of time at the point, along with Michael Carter-Williams and free agent addition Matthew Dellavedova. Barring injuries, that wouldn’t leave much playing time for Ennis.
The 18th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Ennis was sent from Phoenix to Milwaukee at the 2015 trade deadline, and has played in 71 games for the Bucks since then, averaging just 4.1 PPG and 2.1 APG in 13.5 minutes per contest. The 22-year-old will provide point guard depth for a Rockets team that currently features Patrick Beverley and Pablo Prigioni at the position.
From the Rockets’ perspective, the move could indicate that they have confidence in bringing back Donatas Motiejunas, and are willing to give up some of their depth at forward, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Motiejunas is the last restricted free agent on the market, and his agent suggested last week that he’s still waiting for a “serious” contract offer from Houston.
As for the Bucks, they certainly won’t expect Beasley to replicate Middleton’s production, but the former second overall pick is coming off a decent stint in Houston. The sample size wasn’t significant – Beasley played just 20 regular-season games for the Rockets – but the 27-year-old’s numbers (12.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, .522 FG%) were promising. Prior to signing with the Rockets, Beasley had a huge year in China, recording 31.9 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 2.0 APG for the Shandong Golden Stars, earning the CBA’s foreign MVP award.
From a financial perspective, the trade certainly isn’t a blockbuster for either team — Ennis is owed a salary of $1,733,880, while Beasley will make $1,403,611, so the Rockets will take on a little extra money. The Bucks should also be able to create a trade exception worth Ennis’ salary, since they’ll be able to acquire Beasley using the minimum salary exception.
Beasley’s contract will expire at season’s end, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2017. The Rockets will be able to control Ennis through the 2017/18 season, assuming they decide to exercise their team option on him. The decision on that option, which would be worth $2,666,707 and would make Ennis a potential 2018 RFA, is due by October 31.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.