Pistons’ Second-Rounder Koprivica Signs With KK Partizan
Center Balsa Koprivica has signed with KK Partizan, the Serbian club announced today in a press release. According to the team, the deal is for three years.
Koprivica, who spent two seasons at Florida State, averaged 9.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 1.4 BPG in 24 games (19.5 MPG) in 2020/21. He declared for the draft following his sophomore year and was selected with the No. 57 overall pick. Although the Hornets technically drafted him, they did so on behalf of the Pistons, who officially acquired his draft rights after the new league year began.
Koprivica was one of four players the Pistons added in last month’s draft. While Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Livers received standard contracts and Luka Garza got a two-way deal, there wasn’t room on the roster for Koprivica, who will be stashed overseas for at least a season. His new contract with Partizan covers three years, but I expect it will include NBA outs.
Koprivica, 21, was born in Belgrade and lived in Serbia until 2012, so his deal with Partizan represents a homecoming.
As our tracker shows, Koprivica is the fourth player from the 2021 draft class to be stashed overseas, joining Rokas Jokubaitis (Knicks), Juhann Begarin (Celtics), and Filip Petrusev (Sixers).
Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson Available On Trade Market
Grizzlies forwards Dillon Brooks and Kyle Anderson are said to be available on the trade market for the right price, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Brooks and Anderson have both been with the Grizzlies for quite some time – Brooks since 2017/18 and Anderson since 2018/19 – and played significant roles for the team last season. Brooks, who is under contract for two more years and $23.6MM, averaged 29.8 minutes per game, while Anderson, who is on an expiring $9.9MM deal, saw 27.3 minutes per contest.
Memphis currently has 17 guaranteed contracts, and that number could increase to 18 once the team’s trade with Minnesota (Patrick Beverley for Jarrett Culver and Juan Hernangomez) becomes official. In addition to Culver and Hernangomez, the team also recently acquired Rajon Rondo and Daniel Oturu.
The franchise must open one roster spot to complete its deal with Minnesota, so a player with a guaranteed contract could be traded, waived, or bought out to accommodate the one-for-two swap. The Grizzlies, who also have two players on two-way deals and Yves Pons on an Exhibit 10 contract, can carry up to 20 players in the offseason, but will have to trim their roster to 15 (plus two-ways) once the regular season begins.
Since Brooks and Anderson are productive wings on team-friendly contracts, Memphis would only move either player in a favorable deal — not just to address the club’s roster crunch.
Along with Brooks and Anderson, the Grizzlies boast a relatively young core consisting of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., among others. They finished last season with a 38-34 record and claimed the final playoff spot in the West.
Marcus Smart Signs Four-Year Extension With Celtics
AUGUST 21: The Celtics have officially signed Smart to his extension, the team announced today in a press release.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather play and no other fans I’d rather play in front of. I love Boston, and Boston loves me,” Smart said in a statement. “We’ve had some great moments and success in my time here, but there’s more to accomplish. I’m ready to put that Celtics jersey back on and get to work out on the Parquet with my teammates.”
AUGUST 16: Longtime Celtics guard Marcus Smart will sign a four-year, $77.1MM contract extension with the team that drafted him, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Charania adds that the deal will include a trade kicker.
Smart’s new contract is fully guaranteed through 2025/26. There is no player option, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who notes that the new agreement will begin during the 2022/23 season.
Originally selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft out of Oklahoma State, Smart first re-signed with Boston on a four-year, $52MM deal that will take him through the 2021/22 season. A two-time All-Defensive Team selection, the 27-year-old guard has proved to be a valuable addition during seven playoff-bound NBA seasons with the Celtics.
The 6’3″ Smart, working mostly as a starter, averaged 13.1 PPG, 5.7 APG, 3.5 RPG and 0.5 BPG during the 2020/21 season. Beyond his raw numbers, Smart has shined as a wing and perimeter defender and operated as a vocal team leader.
Smart is earning $14,339,285 in 2021/22 and is eligible for a starting salary worth 120% of that amount on an in-season extension. The Celtics offered the maximum amount they could, so the new deal will start at $17,207,142 in ’22/23 and will feature 8% annual raises, for a total of $77,087,994.
The Celtics’ backcourt underwent two major transitions earlier during the 2021 offseason. Boston traded oft-injured former All-Star starting point guard Kemba Walker to the Thunder, then signed former starting Lakers point guard Dennis Schröder to a one-year, $5.89MM deal using the taxpayer mid-level exception.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Wizards Re-Sign Cassius Winston To Two-Way Deal
The Wizards have re-signed point guard Cassius Winston to a two-way contract, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.
Winston, who also played on a two-way deal last season, was a restricted free agent this month after the team extended him a qualifying offer. That qualifying offer was the equivalent of another two-way contract with a $50K partial guarantee, so it’s possible Winston simply accepted it.
The No. 53 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Winston appeared in 22 games off the bench as a rookie. The former Michigan State star averaged 1.9 PPG in 4.5 MPG. He also played in one postseason game.
Washington’s other two-way slot is also available.
Nets, Warriors Interested In Paul Millsap
Veteran forward Paul Millsap has gone under the radar during free agency but he has at least a couple of suitors. The Nets and Warriors have shown interest in Millsap, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets.
Both of these teams have roster issues to sort through before they could potentially bring in Millsap. As noted in our updated roster counts, Brooklyn has 16 players on its regular roster, including 13 with fully guaranteed contracts. DeAndre’ Bembry has a partially guaranteed deal while Alize Johnson and David Duke have non-guaranteed contracts. The Nets also have two unsigned draft picks.
It’s tough to see how Millsap would fit in Brooklyn’s rotation. The team already has Blake Griffin and James Johnson, among others, who can play power forward when Kevin Durant is off the floor.
The Warriors also have 13 players with full guarantees along with a partial guarantee for Damion Lee. Mychal Mulder and Gary Payton II have non-guaranteed deals. Golden State added Nemanja Bjelica this offseason but Millsap could presumably provide more depth at power forward, as well as a center in small lineups.
The Nets are limited to offering a minimum-salary contract, while the Warriors still have their taxpayer mid-level exception available.
Denver essentially replaced Millsap by signing another veteran free agent power forward, Jeff Green. Millsap, 36, averaged 9.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 1.8 APG in 20.7 MPG last season. He scored in double digits twice during the postseason.
Torrey Craig Signs Two-Year Contract With Pacers
AUGUST 20: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
“Torrey is known for toughness, defense and being a great team guy,” Pacers president Kevin Pritchard said. “As a player who went undrafted, Torrey got to where he is through hard work and perseverance. He will be a great addition to our depth and our emphasis on defense.”
AUGUST 2: The Pacers are set to ink veteran free agent swingman Torrey Craig, most recently of the Bucks and Suns, to a two-year, $10MM contract, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).
Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (Twitter link) that the Pacers will use a portion of their mid-level exception to sign the 6’7″ Craig. The deal is fully guaranteed, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
The only player to have logged significant time playing for both NBA Finals teams during the 2020/21 season, Craig unfortunately found himself on the losing side with Phoenix, though he carved out a role for himself as a versatile, defense-first wing contributor.
After going undrafted out of USC Upstate in 2014, Craig first logged NBA action as a 26-year-old with the Nuggets in 2017. He signed a one-year deal with the Bucks as a free agent in 2020.
He struggled to carve out much of a role with Milwaukee during the first portion of the year, averaging just 2.5 PPG, 2.4 RPG and 0.9 APG in 11.2 MPG over 18 games.
Craig, 30, was ultimately traded to the Suns. In 18.8 MPG across 32 regular season contests, he averaged 7.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 1.0 APG. He posted a slash line of .503/.369/.800 while with Phoenix.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Warriors Targeting Christmas Return For Klay Thompson?
The Warriors are aiming to have Klay Thompson back in the lineup for their Christmas Day game in Phoenix, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said today during an appearance on The Jump (video link).
According to Shelburne, December 25 is a “conservative target” for Thompson, but the Warriors will exercise plenty of patience with a star player who hasn’t seen any NBA game action since June of 2019.
“He could come back a little bit before (December 25), but in terms of getting his conditioning right, they’re targeting the Christmas Day game against the Suns,” Shelburne said. “I know that sounds a little late to people, but he was injured on November 18, so this is 13 months from an Achilles injury.
“… If he does well and his conditioning is up and he feels like he wants to come back earlier, he will,” Shelburne continued. “… (But) you need time to build your conditioning back up when you miss two NBA seasons.”
Thompson suffered a torn ACL during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals on June 13 and missed the entire 2019/20 season while recovering from that injury. Just when he appeared to be on the verge of returning to action last fall, he tore his Achilles tendon in November, resulting in another lost year.
Thompson, 31, is one of the Warriors’ most important two-way players, providing elite shooting and floor-spacing on offense while often handling some of the toughest assignments on defense. Having a fully healthy and effective version of Thompson back on the court will be crucial if Golden State hopes to contend for a title again in 2022, so it makes sense that the team would be careful not to rush him back for early-season games in October and November.
Until Thompson returns, the Warriors figure to lean more on free agent additions Otto Porter, Nemanja Bjelica, and Andre Iguodala to provide outside shooting and to defend wings and forwards.
2021/22 NBA Schedules By Team
The schedule for the 2021/22 NBA regular season was officially unveiled by the league on Friday. As expected, the regular season will begin on October 19 and conclude on April 10.
The NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season will feature 75 “Classic Matchups” over the course of the year.
For instance, the contest between the Knicks and Raptors on November 1 will mark the 75-year anniversary of the NBA’s first-ever regular season game between the Knicks and the Toronto Huskies on November 1, 1946. More of those Classic Matchups are highlighted within the NBA’s official press release.
The NBA also confirmed several previously-reported marquee matchups, including its five-game Christmas Day slate and an opening night doubleheader of Nets at Bucks and Warriors at Lakers.
Listed below are links to the full 2021/22 season schedules for each NBA team, organized by conference and division. The team-by-team schedules for ’21/22 can also be viewed in a single document right here.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
Hamidou Diallo Re-Signs With Pistons On Two-Year Contract
8:35pm: A team press release has confirmed the signing, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets. The second year of the contract is a team option, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets.
5:04pm: Restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo will remain with the Pistons on a two-year, $10.4MM deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Diallo’s agents, Thad Foucher and Joe Smith, informed Wojnarowski of the decision.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link), the Pistons will eventually have to make another roster move to fit in Diallo, since they now have 16 guaranteed contracts on their books. There’s no rush to make that move, since teams can carry up to 20 players in the offseason.
Diallo appeared in 20 games after Detroit acquired him from Oklahoma City, averaging 11.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 1.2 APG. The high-flying Diallo also showed improvement with his 3-point shot after the mid-season trade, draining 39% of his 3-point shots. He had a breakout season with extended playing time, as he also averaged 11.9 for OKC in 32 games.
A 2018 second-round selection, Diallo appeared in 129 games with the Thunder. He’s averaged 7.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 17.8 MPG during his three-year career.
General manager Troy Weaver, a former Thunder executive, had prioritized re-signing Diallo this offseason. Detroit extended a qualifying offer of $2.08MM to make him a restricted free agent.
Diallo joins a crowd at the wing that includes top pick Cade Cunningham, who will often share the floor with Killian Hayes, as well Saddiq Bey, Josh Jackson, Rodney McGruder, Frank Jackson and Jerami Grant (in bigger lineups).
Jason Terry Named Coach Of Nuggets’ G League Affiliate
6:56pm: The Nuggets have officially hired Terry as the Grand Rapids Gold head coach, according to a team press release.
2:39pm: Former NBA guard Jason Terry is finalizing a deal to coach the Nuggets‘ new G League affiliate, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Terry, a former NBA champion and Sixth Man of the Year winner, last played in the NBA in 2018. He joined the Texas Legends – Dallas’ G League affiliate – as an assistant general manager in 2019, then left the team to become an assistant coach at his alma mater of Arizona for the 2020/21 season.
Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, who reported in June that Terry was in the mix for an assistant role on Jason Kidd‘s coaching staff, tweets that Terry spent some time in Las Vegas observing the Mavericks’ coaches and weighing the possibility of joining the team as an assistant. However, it seems Terry determined that becoming a head coach at the G League level will move him closer to his goal of eventually coaching an NBA team, notes Townsend.
The Nuggets, who had previously been one of the only NBA teams without an NBAGL affiliate, entered a partnership with the Grand Rapids Drive earlier in 2021 and rebranded the franchise, which will now be known as the Grand Rapids Gold.
Since the Gold are based in Michigan, it won’t be easy for the Nuggets to quickly shuttle players back and forth between Denver and Grand Rapids. But it will give the franchise an opportunity to assign players to the G League without having to worry about how another team’s affiliate will use and develop them.