Bruno Caboclo Signs With French Team
Forward Bruno Caboclo, who played six games with the Rockets this season, has signed with France’s Limoges CSP, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets.
Caboclo has appeared in 105 NBA games since he was drafted in the first round by the Raptors in 2014. He’s also played for Sacramento and Memphis.
Caboclo was waived in mid-January in order to clear a roster spot after the James Harden multi-team blockbuster. He also played eight games for Houston at the end of last season after being acquired from the Grizzlies at the trade deadline.
Caboclo signed a two-year contract with the Rockets in November that included a team option, but the first year wasn’t fully guaranteed.
Bruce Brown Reaches Starter Criteria, QO Increases
Bruce Brown has reached the starter criteria in his contract, jumping his qualifying offer from $2.1MM to $4.7MM, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
Brown made his 26th start for the Nets on Friday against his former team, the Pistons. He started 43 of 58 games for Detroit last season.
The starter criteria requires an RFA-to-be to start at least half of his team’s games in the two seasons leading up to his free agency.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Starter Criteria]
This makes Brooklyn’s decision on whether to extend the QO to Brown a little trickier, considering its luxury tax bill considerations. It would still be a surprise if the Nets choose not to extend the QO, considering how valuable Brown has been this season. He’s averaging 8.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 1.4 APG and is a stout one-on-one defender for a team with a wealth of scoring options when at full strength.
Brooklyn holds Brown’s Bird rights and could also sign him to an extension prior to free agency.
Brown was a second-round selection by Detroit in 2018 but quickly jumped into the starting five as a rookie.
Cavaliers Buy Out Andre Drummond’s Contract
4:45pm: The buyout agreement is official, according to a team press release.
“I want to thank Andre for his contributions to our team both on and off the court, and for his professionalism and mutual cooperation as we navigated through this process with him and his representation,” GM Koby Altman said. “We have great respect for Andre as a person and a player here in Cleveland and we are happy to have reached an outcome that is in the best interest of both Andre and our team.”
12:53pm: The Cavaliers have reached a buyout agreement with center Andre Drummond, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). Drummond will be free to sign with any team once he officially clears waivers.
The move was expected, with reports on Thursday indicating that the Cavs were negotiating a buyout with Drummond after failing to find a favorable trade at the deadline.
Drummond, 27, is averaging a double-double for the eight consecutive season in 2020/21, with 17.5 PPG and 13.5 RPG in 25 games (28.9 MPG) for Cleveland. However, he wasn’t in the Cavs’ long-term plans, so the team pulled him out of its rotation in February to create more minutes for new center Jarrett Allen and to resolve his situation.
Drummond’s $28.75MM expiring salary made it impossible for the club to recoup anything of real value on the trade market. However, he could be as available on the free agent market for as little as the veteran’s minimum. Money will be one of the factors Drummond must consider as he weighs which team to join next, since some of his suitors – including the Lakers – will be limited to offering the prorated minimum, while others – like the Knicks – could go much higher.
His potential role and the opportunity to compete for a championship are other factors that Drummond will have to consider as he explores his options. Besides the Lakers and Knicks, the big man is expected to talk to the Clippers, Celtics, Hornets, and possibly the Nets.
Executives around the league reportedly view the Lakers as the frontrunners for Drummond.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Grizzlies Waive Gorgui Dieng
The Grizzlies have waived Gorgui Dieng, according to a press release posted on the team’s Twitter feed.
The 31-year-old big man has appeared in 39 games, including 22 this season, in parts of two seasons with Memphis. He’s averaged 7.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 17.7 MPG during those contests.
His $17.3MM expiring contract made it difficult to deal Dieng before Thursday’s deadline. With Xavier Tillman Sr. ahead of him in the rotation behind starting center Jonas Valanciunas, Dieng became a prime buyout candidate.
He’ll clear waivers on Sunday afternoon and become an attractive pickup for a contender seeking frontcourt help.
Kleiman: Jaren Jackson Jr. To Return In April
Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. is on track to return to action before the end of April, the team’s executive VP of basketball operations Zach Kleiman said on Friday, per Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian.
Jackson has yet to play at all for Memphis this season as he recovers from undergoing surgery to repair a torn left meniscus. As Kleiman explained today, the Grizzlies knew the third-year forward would be sidelined for a significant period when they decided to fully repair his meniscus tear rather than opting for a quicker fix.
“When Jaren first tore his meniscus there are kind of two routes you can take,” Kleiman said, according to Hill. “You can either do what’s called a meniscectomy, where you shave down or trim the meniscus, and you can be back in a couple of months. But at that point you lose the protective function of the meniscus. It leads to swelling and soreness and recurring knee issues over time.
“What we did with Jaren, with his long-term health in mind and everyone on the same page of taking the long view, was to repair his meniscus. The surgeon went in and was thankfully able to repair 100% of his meniscus. But, a full repair of a meniscus often times takes up to eight months or nine months.”
As Jackson inches closer to his return, another power forward’s days in Memphis appear to be numbered. Asked today about Gorgui Dieng, who is viewed as a possible buyout candidate, Kleiman didn’t explicitly confirm that the Grizzlies will move onto him, but didn’t say the 31-year-old will finish the season with the team either.
“More to come on Gorgui,” Kleiman said. “There will be more updates there.”
Kupchak: Hornets Not Yet Ruling LaMelo Ball Out For Season
After suffering a broken wrist last week, Hornets guard LaMelo Ball underwent surgery to repair the fracture. Initial reports suggested Ball was expected to miss the rest of the season, but the team’s press release following the surgery didn’t close the door on the possibility of a return, indicating that the standout rookie would be reevaluated in four weeks.
Addressing Ball’s injury publicly for the first time today, Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak acknowledged that the team isn’t ruling out the 19-year-old for the rest of 2020/21, as Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes.
“We don’t know if LaMelo is out for the season or not,” Kupchak said during a conference call. “There is a possibility (of Ball playing again), just based on other players who have had this injury, that maybe he does come back for some portion of the year.”
As I noted at the time of Ball’s surgery, the idea of getting him back for the end of the season, including possibly for a play-in tournament appearance or a postseason series, is a tantalizing one. The 22-21 Hornets are currently the No. 4 seed in the East, so it’s safe to assume they’ll be in the hunt for a playoff berth all the way down to the wire, if they haven’t clinched a spot by the end of the regular season.
Still, I also cautioned that the Hornets won’t be in any rush to get their potential franchise player back on the court unless they’re absolutely confident that he’s 100% healthy. Kupchak confirmed that point in his conversation with the media today.
“The one thing we know we’re not going to do in any event is put his health in jeopardy,” Kupchak said, per Bonnell. “If we get to the end of the (regular season), and we’re in a playoff hunt, and he’s not quite ready — (where) we feel we could get him back on the court and push it — we won’t do that.”
Assuming Charlotte sticks its timeline of a four-week reevaluation, we should get a formal update from the team on Ball’s status on or around April 20.
Cavs, Nuggets Finalize JaVale McGee Trade
MARCH 26: The trade is official, the Cavaliers announced in a press release.
MARCH 25: The Cavaliers are finalizing a trade that will send veteran center JaVale McGee to the Nuggets, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Cleveland will acquire big man Isaiah Hartenstein and a pair of second-round picks in the deal, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Mike Singer of The Denver Post first reported that the two teams were discussing Hartenstein.
According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), the picks headed to the Cavs are a top-46 protected 2023 second-rounder and an unprotected 2027 second-rounder.
The move represents a reunion for McGee, who was previously traded to the Nuggets at the 2012 trade deadline and spent the next three years with the franchise. The 33-year-old has played for Philadelphia, Dallas, Golden State, the Lakers, and Cleveland since then, averaging 8.0 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 33 games (15.2 MPG) this season for the Cavs.
In his return to Denver, McGee figures to slide into the backup center role behind Nikola Jokic. Hartenstein was penciled into that role at the start of the season, but had a somewhat underwhelming year, with 3.5 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 30 games (9.1 MPG). JaMychal Green, Zeke Nnaji, and Bol Bol have also seen some occasional minutes at the five, but McGee should be a more reliable veteran option for the Nuggets’ second unit.
As Singer observes (via Twitter), the Cavs were one of the teams with interest in Hartenstein before he signed with Denver last fall, so the 22-year-old should take on a bigger role in Cleveland. However, the second-rounders the Cavs are acquiring in the swap are probably a bigger factor in the team’s willingness to make the deal.
Although Hartenstein’s minimum-salary contract isn’t big enough to match McGee’s $4.2MM expiring deal, the Nuggets will be able to absorb that money using a trade exception created in last November’s Jerami Grant sign-and-trade and will still have about $5.33MM left on that exception, which expires in the offseason. The Cavs will create a $4.2MM traded player exception in the deal, while the Nuggets will generate a new $1.62MM TPE.
McGee will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Hartenstein has a minimum-salary player option for 2021/22.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pelicans Trade Redick, Melli To Mavs; Lonzo Ball Stays Put
MARCH 26: The trade is now official, according to announcement from thes Mavericks (Twitter link) and Pelicans.
MARCH 25: The Pelicans won’t be trading point guard Lonzo Ball at today’s deadline, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). However, New Orleans has agreed to a deal that will send J.J. Redick to the Mavericks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Pelicans will receive James Johnson, Wesley Iwundu, and a 2021 second-round pick in exchange for Redick and Nicolo Melli, a source tells Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter links). New Orleans also received cash from the Mavericks in the deal, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Charania initially reported that the Redick deal would be a three-team trade that also sent Trey Lyles from the Spurs to Dallas, but has since clarified that it will just be a direct trade between the Pelicans and Mavs.
Redick, who was averaging 8.7 PPG in 31 appearances off the bench, had expressed a desire to be dealt to a team in the Northeast, where his family resides. He’ll have to wait until the offseason to make that happen but he’ll provide the Mavericks with another 3-point threat off the bench. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent.
Melli reportedly wanted out after seeing his playing time decline in his second NBA season. He’s only appeared in 22 games this season. He can be a restricted free agent if Dallas decides to extend a $4.87MM qualifying offer. The Mavs will keep Melli at least through the end of this season, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
Johnson has an expiring $16MM contract. He’s averaging 5.7 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 29 games this season and gives the Pelicans another frontcourt option. Iwundu has seen action in 23 games this season but has only averaged 2.1 PPG in 12.5 MPG during those outings. He has another year left on his contract but his 2021/22 salary is just $1.82MM.
As for Ball, the Bulls, Knicks, Clippers, Nuggets and Sixers had all been linked to the former No. 2 pick to varying degrees in recent weeks, but New Orleans didn’t find a package attractive enough to deal its current floor leader.
The Pelicans will have to decide after the season whether to extend Ball a $14.36MM qualifying offer and make him a restricted free agent, or let him enter the market unrestricted. Assuming they extend that QO, as is expected, they’ll then have to weigh how aggressive they’re willing to be when it comes to a long-term contract offer.
Ball is averaging 14.2 PPG and 5.6 APG for the Pelicans, who are a disappointing five games below .500.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.
2021 NBA Trade Deadline Recap
The 2021 NBA trade deadline was perhaps the busiest in league history. A total of 16 deals were agreed upon on deadline day, with 46 players on NBA contracts (plus two more draft-and-stash players) changing teams.
Thursday was so jam-packed with deals that the league office was unable to officially process all the trades in the queue before the end of the day, leaving three of those 16 trades to be formally finalized on Friday.
Here’s a recap all of 2021’s deadline deals:
Trades made on deadline day:
The Bulls make a surprise splash for an All-Star center (story)
- Bulls acquire Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu.
- Magic acquire Wendell Carter, Otto Porter, the Bulls’ 2021 first-round pick (top-four protected), and the Bulls’ 2023 first-round pick (top-four protected).
The Heat buy low on a two-time All-Star (story)
- Heat acquire Victor Oladipo.
- Rockets acquire Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley, and the right to swap the Rockets’ or Nets’ 2022 first-round pick with the Heat’s 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected).
The Nuggets emerge as winners in the Aaron Gordon sweepstakes (story)
- Nuggets acquire Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark.
- Magic acquire Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton, and the Nuggets’ 2025 first-round pick (top-five protected).
The Celtics make use of (part of) their massive trade exception (story)
- Celtics acquire Evan Fournier.
- Magic acquire Jeff Teague, either the Celtics’ or the Grizzlies’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable), and the Celtics’ 2027 second-round pick.
The Sixers acquire a veteran point guard for their playoff run (story)
- Sixers acquire George Hill and Ignas Brazdeikis.
- Thunder acquire Tony Bradley, Austin Rivers, the Sixers’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick.
- Knicks acquire Terrance Ferguson, Vincent Poirier, the Sixers’ 2021 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected; from Sixers), and the draft rights to Emir Preldzic.
The Clippers get a play-maker, while Lou-Will heads home (story)
- Clippers acquire Rajon Rondo.
- Hawks acquire Lou Williams, the Trail Blazers’ 2023 second-round pick, the Clippers’ 2027 second-round pick, and cash.
The Raptors trade a guard — no, not that one (story)
- Trail Blazers acquire Norman Powell.
- Raptors acquire Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood.
The Raptors trade another guard — again, not that one (story)
- Kings acquire Terence Davis.
- Raptors acquire Grizzlies’ 2021 second-round pick.
The Kings and Pistons swap veteran point guards (story)
- Kings acquire Delon Wright.
- Pistons acquire Cory Joseph, the Lakers’ 2021 second-round pick, and the Kings’ 2024 second-round pick.
The Bulls acquire a backup center and the Celtics dump some salary in a three-team deal (story)
- Bulls acquire Daniel Theis, Troy Brown, Javonte Green, and cash ($1.3MM from Celtics; $250K from Wizards).
- Celtics acquire Moritz Wagner and Luke Kornet.
- Wizards acquire Chandler Hutchison and Daniel Gafford.
The Heat acquire a stretch four (story)
- Heat acquire Nemanja Bjelica.
- Kings acquire Maurice Harkless and Chris Silva.
The Mavericks add some shooting (story)
- Mavericks acquire J.J. Redick and Nicolo Melli.
- Pelicans acquire James Johnson, Wesley Iwundu, the Mavericks’ 2021 second-round pick, and cash.
The Nuggets acquire a veteran to back up Nikola Jokic (story)
- Nuggets acquire JaVale McGee.
- Cavaliers acquire Isaiah Hartenstein, the Nuggets’ 2023 second-round pick (top-46 protected), and the Nuggets’ 2027 second-round pick.
The Jazz fill their 15th roster spot with a sharpshooter (story)
- Jazz acquire Matt Thomas.
- Raptors acquire the Warriors’ 2021 second-round pick.
The Warriors dump some salary (story)
- Spurs acquire Marquese Chriss and cash.
- Warriors acquire the draft rights to Cady Lalanne.
The Warriors dump some more salary (story)
- Hornets acquire Brad Wanamaker, the Raptors’ 2022 second-round pick (top-54 protected), and cash.
- Warriors acquire the Hornets’ 2025 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
Top trade candidates who stayed put:
- Kyle Lowry, Raptors (story)
- John Collins, Hawks (story)
- Lonzo Ball, Pelicans (story)
Players waived on deadline day:
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs (story) (buyout)
- Mfiondu Kabengele, Kings (story)
- Jalen Lecque, Pacers (story)
- Meyers Leonard, Thunder (story)
- Jabari Parker, Kings (story)
Note: Jeff Teague (Magic) and Vincent Poirier (Knicks) are expected to be waived, and Andre Drummond (Cavaliers) is working toward a buyout, but those moves have not yet been made official.
Trades made in the week leading up to the deadline:
The Bucks acquired a playoff-tested veteran (story)
- Bucks acquire P.J. Tucker, Rodions Kurucs, and their own 2022 first-round pick (traded away in a previous deal).
- Rockets acquire D.J. Augustin, D.J. Wilson, the Bucks’ 2023 first-round pick (unprotected), and the right to swap their own 2021 second-round pick with the Bucks’ 2021 first-round pick (top-nine protected).
The Suns added a low-cost defensive specialist (story)
- Suns acquire Torrey Craig.
- Bucks acquire cash ($110K).
The Heat brought Trevor Ariza out of hibernation (story)
- Heat acquire Trevor Ariza.
- Thunder acquire Meyers Leonard and the Heat’s 2027 second-round pick.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Candidates Emerge For Aldridge, Drummond
Recently bought-out free agent big man LaMarcus Aldridge is set to chat with several reputable playoff contenders soon. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets that the Heat, Lakers, Clippers and Nets are all expected to have a chance to woo the 35-year-old former All-Star.
A report earlier today suggested there was “increasing momentum” toward Aldridge ending up in Miami, and Haynes confirmed the Heat are the favorites, but it sounds like no decision has been made yet.
Before the Spurs agreed to shut him down ahead of a trade or buyout, Aldridge had lost his starting center role to Jakob Poeltl in his least productive season since his rookie year. He is averaging 13.7 PPG and 4.5 RPG across 21 games this season.
Aldridge is not the only decorated veteran big man looking for new digs. Haynes tweets that former All-Star center Andre Drummond, still working towards his own buyout with the Cavaliers, will talk with some of the same clubs as he considers his own next steps. The Knicks, Celtics, Hornets, Lakers, and Clippers are the teams that will have an audience with the 27-year-old former All-Star.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets that “a lot of uncertainty” surrounds this next move for Drummond. Several of these clubs can offer vastly different roles and salaries based on their current rosters and cap situations.
Drummond, averaging a stellar 17.5 PPG and 13.5 RPG for Cleveland, seems likely to enjoy the best combination of money and opportunity on the Knicks and Hornets. The Hornets especially have long needed a major upgrade at center. However, the Lakers have been viewed as the frontrunner for the big man.