NBA, NBPA Discussing Next Collective Bargaining Agreement
The NBA, led by commissioner Adam Silver, has already engaged in “extensive talks” with the National Basketball Players Association, led by executive director Tamika Tremaglio, about the league’s next Collective Bargaining Agreement, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The NBA’s current CBA runs through the 2023/24 season, but both the league and the players’ union have the ability to opt out of the agreement before then. If either side exercises its opt-out clause by December 15 of this year, the CBA will instead expire on June 30, 2023.
There’s no indication at this point that the NBA is headed toward a lockout. Charania describes the conversations to date as “positive” and says top officials from the league and the union will hold an important in-person meeting next week.
According to Charania, one area of focus for the NBPA in negotiations with the league is the idea of creating lasting equity for its players beyond their standard contract earnings.
“Creating generational wealth is critically important in this next chapter of the union. … We know that the uncertain lifespan (of an NBA career) makes it crucial to plan for what happens after the ball stops bouncing — creating this generational wealth,” Tremaglio told The Athletic. “Thinking about the players’ contributions to the game and how they can be compensated for it will mean there will have to be more equity structures in place.
“It could be the sale of a team. It could be the deals they are entering where they are receiving equity beyond the four or five years that a contract exists. It’s much broader, and I don’t think historically we’ve looked at it. It’s been the here and now.”
Here are a few other issues the two sides are discussing, per Charania:
- The NBA and NBPA are expected to allow players to enter the draft at age 18 instead of age 19. That would reopen the door for top high school prospects to directly enter the NBA rather than having to spend a year playing in college or in a non-NBA league.
- The NBA and NBPA are discussing the idea of including mental health designations on injury reports similar to the way that physical injuries are reported, as well as expanding the mental health treatment options provided by teams.
- The league and some team owners are in favor of introducing more punitive luxury tax penalties. It’s unclear whether changes to the luxury tax system will be mere tweaks or could be more wide-ranging, but Charania says some team executives believe it will be the biggest issue to resolve in the CBA negotiations.
Knicks Sign Svi Mykhailiuk To One-Year Deal
8:43pm: The Knicks have officially signed Mykhailiuk, the team announced on social media. He received a one-year, minimum deal with only $50K guaranteed, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.
12:59pm: Free agent swingman Svi Mykhailiuk is signing a one-year, partially guaranteed contract with the Knicks, Mykhailiuk’s agency SIG Sports informed Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
After being waived by the Raptors last month despite having a guaranteed salary for 2022/23, the Ukraine-born Mykhailiuk had indicated that he hoped to return to the NBA rather than pursuing a deal with a European club. That apparently included considering signing a G League contract if necessary.
Last season, the 6’7″ small forward averaged 4.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 0.8 APG, and 0.5 SPG across 56 games for Toronto. He posted shooting splits of .389/.306/.865. For his career, Mykhailiuk is a solid three-point shooter on volume, averaging 35.3% on 3.7 attempts.
The 25-year-old journeyman was first selected by the Lakers with the No. 47 pick after a four-year Kansas tenure in 2018. Prior to the Raptors last season, he has suited up for Los Angeles, the Pistons, and the Thunder.
New York has 13 players signed to its standard 15-man roster. Beyond Mykhailiuk’s non-guaranteed deal, the team also has DaQuan Jeffries and Ryan Arcidiacono signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, plus Feron Hunt and Trevor Keels on two-way contracts. The team also reportedly intends to sign two additional players, Jean Montero and Garrison Brooks, to Exhibit 10 deals.
Lakers Work Out Several Veteran Free Agents
SEPTEMBER 18: Thomas disputed the claim that he participated in the Lakers’ workout, posting a tweet stating that he didn’t work out for the club.
SEPTEMBER 17: Isaiah Thomas was among several free agents who worked out recently for the Lakers, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The 33-year-old guard is looking for his next team after finishing last season with the Hornets.
If Thomas earns a roster spot, it would mark his third stint with the organization. He signed a 10-day contract with L.A. under the hardship provision last December, appearing in four games and averaging 9.3 PPG in 25.3 minutes per night. Thomas also played 17 games with the Lakers during the 2017/18 season.
A report in July indicated that the Hornets still had some interest in bringing back Thomas, who signed a rest-of-the-season contract after joining the team on a pair of 10-day deals in March. Charlotte currently has two openings on its offseason roster.
Armoni Brooks, Sharife Cooper and Mychal Mulder took part in the workout as well, according to Scotto. He also identifies Shabazz Muhammad, Jeremy Lamb, Dwayne Bacon and Miye Oni as participants (Twitter link).
L.A. currently has one opening on its 20-man roster, but it’s a long shot for any of these players to be with the team once the season begins. Luxury tax penalties would cost the Lakers about $7MM to fill their final roster spot, so they will likely operate with 14 players for most of the season. Friday’s signing of Dennis Schröder gives them 12 fully guaranteed contracts, while Austin Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel are on non-guaranteed deals.
Mitchell Trade Changed Cavaliers’ Plans For Season
The Cavaliers‘ coaching staff had to start from scratch after the team worked out a trade for Donovan Mitchell, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his assistants had just returned from a retreat where they planned out strategies for the upcoming season. Those plans had to be scrapped two days later when news of the Mitchell trade broke.
Instead of preparing for another year with a super-sized front line featuring Lauri Markkanen, Bickerstaff is excited to have two dynamic scorers in his backcourt with Mitchell joining Darius Garland.
“Most teams don’t have enough strong defenders that they can just put one guy on each of these guys,” Bickerstaff said. “We can go out and manipulate the game. We play an unselfish, up-tempo ball-movement type of game. The fourth quarter is where it’s really gonna get fun, where you get to slow the game down a little bit and then you get to play that chess match. But there’s so many threats on the floor that our guys have and how they present themselves. And a lot of times it’s just going to be take what the defense gives you because we know that guy can make you pay.”
Garland and Mitchell were friends long before the trade came together, Fedor adds. Mitchell was a strong supporter of Garland’s bid to make the All-Star team last year, and they worked out together twice during the summer. Mitchell expected to be traded to the Knicks at the time, but instead they’ll form one of the league’s most exciting backcourts.
General manager Koby Altman said one of his first moves after the trade agreement was finalized was to notify Garland.
“We were excited about the team coming back already. If we weren’t able to get this transaction done, we were excited about what we had coming back. But when the opportunity presented itself, absolutely Donovan takes us to another level,” Altman said. “It makes Caris (LeVert) more dangerous. It makes Darius more dangerous. It helps Evan (Mobley). I can’t wait to see what that looks like. It gives us an entirely different dynamic. Of course, you’re thinking about ‘What if we had Donovan in that Atlanta Hawks (play-in) game?’ Hopefully it won’t be that this year.”
It’s been widely reported that the Cavaliers and Jazz talked about Mitchell during the Las Vegas Summer League and didn’t resume conversations until late August after Utah’s negotiations with the Knicks fell apart. Fedor states that during that interval, Altman and Bickerstaff reached out to people who had worked with Mitchell to get their recommendations.
“The first thing out of everybody’s mouth was how good of a person he is,” Bickerstaff said. “I know that sounds like a small thing but in this business, being around each other so much, we impact each other’s lives in a positive or negative way. You want to be able to surround yourself with good people and people who are positive. When you don’t have to sacrifice people over talent, you give yourself an opportunity to build something special. The second thing they all talked about was his work ethic. All he wants to do is work on his game and get better. He wants to be great. That translates to games. He doesn’t take nights off.”
Knicks Sign Ryan Arcidiacono
The Knicks have signed free agent guard Ryan Arcidiacono to a contract, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link). Terms of the agreement weren’t released, but it’s likely a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deal ahead of training camp.
Arcidiacono, 28, appeared in 10 games with the Knicks last season. He averaged 1.6 points in 7.6 minutes per game, shooting 50% from the floor. The Villanova product signed with New York for the rest of the season in February after inking two 10-day deals.
Before joining the Knicks, Arcidiacono spent the first four years of his career with the Bulls. His most productive season was the 2018/19 campaign. He held per-game averages of 6.7 points, 3.3 assists and 24.2 minutes that year, starting in 32 of 81 contests.
Besides Arcidiacono, the Knicks have 13 players on standard contracts and two players on two-way deals. New York is also carrying DaQuan Jeffries on an Exhibit 10 deal and is expected to two other players (Jean Montero and Garrison Brooks) to Exhibit 10s.
Dennis Schröder Signs One-Year Deal With Lakers
7:57pm: Schröder’s deal with the Lakers is now official, the team announced in a press release.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Dennis Schröder back to the Lakers,” said GM Rob Pelinka. “Not only do Dennis and Coach Ham share a player-coach history together, but they also reflect one another’s mentality of toughness with an extremely competitive edge. Dennis will add both depth and an on-ball defensive presence to our core at the guard position. He is also a proven scorer and playmaker. We are really excited for Dennis to get to camp and get back to work in L.A. after his highly successful run with his national team this offseason.”
4:35pm: Free agent point guard Dennis Schröder is signing a one-year contract with the Lakers, his agent Mark Bartelstein tells Marc Stein (via Twitter).
The Lakers don’t have any cap space available and used their taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Lonnie Walker, so Schröder will receive a minimum-salary deal, as Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms (Twitter link). Schröder will earn $2.64MM for the upcoming season as a nine-year veteran, while the Lakers’ cap hit will be $1.84MM.
It will be a reunion for the two sides, as Schröder spent the 2020/21 season with Los Angeles. Stein reported last month that the Lakers were giving “legit consideration” to bringing Schröder back, and now that has come to fruition.
Schröder reportedly turned down a four-year extension from the Lakers worth $80MM+ during the 2020/21 season, then had to settle last summer for a one-year, $5.9MM deal with the Celtics, who eventually traded him to the Rockets in February. Now he’ll return to L.A. on a minimum contract.
In 64 games (28.7 MPG) split between Boston and Houston during the ’21/22 season, Schröder averaged 13.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 4.6 APG on .431/.344/.853 shooting.
Schröder, who turned 29 years old yesterday, is coming off a strong performance at EuroBasket, where he led Germany to the semifinals before falling to Spain earlier today. He averaged 26.0 points and 8.0 assists in the three elimination games, including a game-high 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting against Spain.
According to Stein (Twitter link), Schröder’s international performance raised his free agent stock, and now he’ll get the reunion he desired. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports (via Twitter) that Schröder had been talking to the Lakers “for months” about a possible return, noting that the veteran guard played under new head coach Darvin Ham while the two were with the Hawks.
As John Hollinger of The Athletic observes (via Twitter), the team’s backcourt is looking pretty crowded with Schröder’s addition, but he was the best unrestricted free agent available on the market and the Lakers need to add talent wherever they can find it after missing the playoffs with a 33-49 record last season. Sources tell Stein (Twitter link) that Ham will be in charge of the team’s lineup, but L.A. reportedly views Russell Westbrook and Schröder as point guards, Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn as shooting guards, and Austin Reaves as a small forward behind LeBron James.
In addition to the players Stein mentioned, the Lakers also have Walker, second-round pick Max Christie, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and Troy Brown on the wing, though Toscano-Anderson is versatile enough to play in the frontcourt at times as well.
Once Schröder’s deal is official, the Lakers will have 12 players on guaranteed contracts, two on non-guaranteed deals (Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel) and both two-way slots filled. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, adding a 15th player to the standard roster would cost the Lakers $7MM due to the luxury tax.
NBPA’s Tremaglio: “Absolutely Calling” To Ban Sarver For Life
In an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews on NBA Today (video link), NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio, confirming that she was speaking on behalf of NBA players, said that Suns owner Robert Sarver should be banned from the league for life, writes ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.
Sarver received a one-year suspension and was fined $10MM for workplace misconduct, including racist and misogynistic comments.
“We are absolutely calling for that [lifetime ban],” Tremaglio said. “We do not want him to be in a position where he is managing or engaging with individuals who are engaging with our players or the players themselves. We are absolutely clear from the findings that are in the report that we do not want him to be in that position.”
Tremaglio also confirmed to ESPN her previous tweet stating that she’d spoken to commissioner Adam Silver about the NBPA’s stance that Sarver should never hold a managerial position again, but wasn’t sure how open Silver was to changing his mind, despite increasing pressure from minority owners, sponsors, and stars like Lakers forward LeBron James and Suns guard Chris Paul.
Andrews asked Tremaglio if the players were considering boycotting games in the wake of the report and subsequent suspension, but she said there had been no discussions on the matter yet, noting that players are focused on the upcoming season. However, she reiterated that “our players are incredibly upset” about the news.
“Their hearts go out to the families and all of the individuals who have actually had to endure this for such a long period of time. But, at the same time, they recognize that they have a job to do and they are really excited about moving forward with the season,” Tamaglio said.
“Quite frankly, I know that we never want our players to be in a position where they are unsafe or individuals that they are around are unsafe. Mr. Sarver had the ability to set the tone at the top. And for us to have individuals that are in a leadership role impacting the game in that way is detrimental to the success of our players and the safety of our players and that will not be tolerated,” Tamaglio added, per Holmes.
As ESPN’s Zach Lowe noted in an earlier appearance on NBA Today (video link), a lifetime ban for Sarver is not the same as forcing him to sell the team.
According to Lowe, it’s legally possible that Sarver could retain ownership of the team but be barred from participating in all other aspects of Phoenix’s operations, even if that would be an unprecedented and seemingly untenable situation. Three quarters of the league’s owners would have to vote Sarver out to force him to sell, but that seems unlikely because of a potential lawsuit, Lowe added.
Gary Payton II Underwent Core Muscle Procedure, Expected To Be Ready For Season
New Trail Blazers guard Gary Payton II underwent a procedure this offseason to address a core muscle injury, the team announced today in a press release. According to the Blazers, the procedure – which was performed at The Vincera Institute in Philadelphia – took place in July.
Payton’s rehab is “progressing well,” the Blazers said in today’s announcement, adding that the 29-year-old is expected to be fully recovered by the start of the regular season. It’s unclear whether or not he’ll be able to participate fully in basketball activities and scrimmages when training camp begins this month.
After winning a title with the Warriors in 2021/22, Payton signed a three-year, $26.15MM deal with Portland this summer. He’s coming off the best season of his NBA career — he averaged 7.1 PPG in just 17.6 MPG and shot an impressive 61.6% from the floor in addition to handling the most challenging perimeter assignments on defense.
Payton won’t be the only Blazer returning this fall from a core muscle issue. Damian Lillard‘s 2021/22 season ended early after he had surgery to address a lingering abdominal injury and Nassir Little underwent a similar procedure in May.
Pacers Sign Kendall Brown, James Johnson, Three Others
The Pacers have officially announced a series of signings, confirming in a press release that they’ve signed second-round pick Kendall Brown to a two-way contract. Additionally, forwards James Johnson and Bennie Boatwright and guards David Stockton and Gabe York have signed with the club.
Brown, a 6’8″ forward who was selected with the No. 48 overall pick in this year’s draft, was one of the only remaining unsigned players in the 2022 class, besides those who will spend the 2022/23 overseas. The 19-year-old spent his first and only college season at Baylor in 2021/22, averaging 9.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.9 APG on .584/.341/.689 shooting in 34 games (27.0 MPG) for the Bears.
The Pacers were the NBA’s only team that had yet to fill one of its two-way contract slots, so even after signing Brown, the club has another two-way opening available.
Of the four veteran free agents to sign with Indiana, Johnson is the most notable. The 35-year-old spent most of last season in Brooklyn, registering 5.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 62 appearances (19.2 MPG) for the Nets. A 13-year NBA veteran, Johnson has a somewhat limited offensive game, but is considered a versatile, athletic defender. He was waived by the Nets just days before the regular season ended and should have an opportunity to make the Pacers’ regular season roster.
Boatwright and York played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants – the Pacers’ G League affiliate – last season and look like good candidates to return to Fort Wayne in 2022/23. Stockton played in the G League last season for the Memphis Hustle, but his rights were acquired by the Mad Ants last month, so he’s also a good bet to play in Fort Wayne this season.
The Pacers now have a full 20-man roster. Assuming Johnson, Boatwright, York, and Stockton didn’t receive guaranteed contracts, the team has 13 players on fully guaranteed salaries, six on non-guaranteed deals, and Brown on a two-way pact. We can probably expect more roster turnover in Indiana in the coming weeks, since the club has reportedly reached Exhibit 10 agreements with several other players.
Nets Sign David Duke Jr. To Another Two-Way Contract
The Nets have re-signed guard David Duke Jr. to a two-way contract, according to a team press release.
The signing came as no surprise, as a report surfaced late last month that Duke was likely to return on a two-way deal. Former Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams holds the other two-way slot. Duke will earn about $502K (half the rookie minimum) on the deal, and could eventually have it converted into a standard contract if he’s productive.
The Nets tendered a two-way contract offer to Duke earlier this summer. Duke had initially passed on the proposal and was reportedly eyeing a spot on Brooklyn’s 15-man roster but eventually settled for another two-way deal.
Duke Jr. played on a two-way contract last season. In 22 games (seven starts) for Brooklyn, he averaged 4.7 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 15.5 MPG. The 22-year-old started games for the G League Long Island Nets, averaging 16.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.3 APG and 1.5 SPG in 29.5 MPG. He also averaged 19.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.0 APG and 1.4 SPG in 28.6 MPG in five Summer League games this July.
Prior to joining the Nets, Duke went undrafted in 2021 after playing three seasons at Providence College.