Latest On Rudy Gobert, Jazz
Like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jazz center Rudy Gobert is eligible to sign a five-year, super-max extension by December 21. However, despite the fact that Gobert and the Jazz are discussing a new deal, a super-max extension doesn’t appear to be a realistic outcome.
“I have been told that he did not ask for the full super-max,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said of Gobert during an appearance on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “I know there has been some reporting in Utah that he did. I’ve been told that is not true. That he did not ask for the full super-max.
“I don’t know what neighborhood the Jazz are in. There’s a gulf there. We will see if that gap is closed before the super-max extension deadline. He can also do a lesser extension during the season.”
Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (audio link) and Porter Larsen of Utah’s ESPN 700 (Twitter link) have both suggested that Gobert’s camp has sought a super-max extension (starting at 35% of the 2021/22 cap), while the Jazz countered with something in the range of his “normal” max (120% of his current $27.5MM salary).
However, it’s not entirely clear where that report originated. Porter Larsen appeared today to credit Andy Larsen (Twitter links), while Andy added an “if reports are accurate” caveat when discussing those figures (Twitter link). MacMahon’s comments on Windhorst’s podcast cast further doubt on whether Gobert’s asking price was ever that high.
In any case, it seems safe to assume that the two sides are attempting to reach an agreement on a potential extension and that the Jazz are likely unwilling to commit to a full super-max contract for Gobert. Such a deal would be worth over $228MM, which is more appropriate for a two-time MVP like Antetokounmpo than a player like Gobert, who is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year but isn’t a perennial MVP candidate.
An extension worth Gobert’s standard max (rather than the super-max) would be worth approximately $148MM over four years, which seems more palatable for the Jazz. It’s less than what Gobert could get from Utah if he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, but it would top what a rival team could offer him at that point ($145MM for four years).
If the Jazz are serious about getting a deal done sooner rather than later, they’ll likely need to offer something in that range, since the expectation is that there will be other clubs willing to make Gobert that sort of offer in free agency in 2021, Windhorst said today on the Hoop Collective podcast.
“I think if he doesn’t get extended, there will be a handful of teams that will line up ready to pay him the max,” Windhorst said. “So the Jazz should know that and they should operate that way. If they want to haggle on certain aspects of the contract (they can), but– it’s not the super-max, but I don’t think they’re getting away without giving him the max.”
As MacMahon noted, while December 21 is the super-max extension deadline, Gobert and the Jazz could continue discussing a standard extension into the regular season.
James Harden “In Catch-Up Mode,” Doesn’t Address Trade Request
James Harden didn’t discuss his trade request today during his first meeting with the media since the Rockets opened training camp, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Harden admits he’s “in catch-up mode” after after reporting to camp late, then having to undergo six COVID-19 tests before being cleared to practice with his teammates. Harden was seen at parties in Atlanta and Las Vegas while other players reported for individual workouts and coronavirus testing, but he told reporters that he had his personal trainers with him during those trips.
“I can only focus on right now, and for me, the best James Harden is making sure I’m in shape,” Harden said. “Like I said, I hadn’t even had an opportunity to play 5-on-5. Individual workouts, when you do individual basketball training, is great, but as every NBA player can agree, there’s nothing like 5-on-5 training, the physicality, making reads and things like that. Yesterday for my first time being out there (in a preseason game), I felt good, and that’s exciting.”
Harden sidestepped questions about his demand to be moved, which has overshadowed everything else about the offseason in Houston. Brooklyn is reportedly his first choice, but he has expanded that list to include Philadelphia, Miami and Milwaukee. A report earlier this week indicated Harden hasn’t changed his mind about his desire to leave the Rockets.
Harden says the possibility of a trade hasn’t been brought up by teammates since he arrived at camp last week.
“Since I’ve been here, nothing has been said about it,” Harden said. “Everybody in the locker room and the coaching staff has been focused on ramping up and preparing for the season. That’s all that matters.”
That’s a strategy adopted by coaches and players, who are determined to focus on winning games and trying to stay away from any distractions, according to MacMahon. DeMarcus Cousins, who is in his first season playing with Harden, says there’s a difference between basketball and business.
“You can only respect a guy for doing whatever he feel is best for him, his personal life and his career,” Cousins said. “So, no, honestly, I haven’t (tried to convince Harden to commit to the Rockets), and I don’t really feel like that’s my place. That’s a decision he has to make for himself.”
Although there have been reports that Harden wasn’t happy with the Rockets’ decision to hire Stephen Silas, Harden was complimentary toward his new head coach at today’s press conference. Silas has said repeatedly that he will keep his focus on coaching and let the front office determine whether to trade Harden.
Hornets’ Gordon Hayward Sustains Broken Finger
New Hornets forward Gordon Hayward has suffered an avulsion fracture of his right fifth metacarpal, the team announced today in a press release. In layman’s terms, Hayward broke the bone at the base of his pinky finger, sustaining the injury during Charlotte’s preseason game vs. Toronto on Monday.
According to the Hornets, the injury will sideline Hayward for the club’s preseason contest on Thursday against Orlando. After that, he’ll be considered day-to-day.
While it seems Hayward hasn’t shed his bad injury luck since moving from Boston to Charlotte, this injury doesn’t sound as serious as many of the health issues he dealt with as a Celtic.
According to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, the Hornets don’t believe Hayward will require surgery — the expectation is that he’ll be able to return to action when he feels he can comfortably manage the pain and perform effectively.
The Hornets’ regular season schedule gets underway next Wednesday in Cleveland.
Rockets Cut Jerian Grant, Kenny Wooten, Trevelin Queen
The Rockets have released three players, announcing today that guard Jerian Grant, forward Kenny Wooten, and forward Trevelin Queen have been placed on waivers (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).
Houston had a full 20-man roster and had to make cuts in advance of the regular season, but a couple of these moves are still noteworthy.
Grant, for instance, looked like a candidate to make the regular season roster following Chris Clemons‘ season-ending Achilles tear. With Clemons injured and Grant no longer on the roster, the Rockets lack an obvious backup for starting point guard John Wall. Houston will carry a $50K cap hit after waiving Grant, since he had a small partial guarantee.
Wooten, meanwhile, was on a two-way contract, so waiving him will open up one of the Rockets’ two-way slots, alongside rookie Mason Jones. My guess is that Houston intends to sign a point guard using that newly-created two-way opening, but we’ll have to wait to see what the team has in mind.
Queen, meanwhile, was a training camp invitee whose release was anticipated. He’ll be a candidate to join Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, if the team participates in the revamped 2020/21 NBAGL season.
The Rockets are now carrying 17 players, including one on a two-way contract. The team has very little wiggle room below the hard cap and will likely start the season with 14 players on standard contracts along with a pair of two-way players, so additional roster moves are around the corner.
Rockets’ Clemons Suffers Torn Achilles, Out For Season
DECEMBER 16: An MRI confirmed that Clemons has torn his Achilles tendon, according to Charania, who reports (via Twitter) that the second-year guard will undergo season-ending surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.
DECEMBER 15: Rockets guard Chris Clemons left the team’s preseason game on Tuesday night in a wheelchair after suffering a right lower leg injury. The initial diagnosis for Clemons is a torn right Achilles tendon, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says the team will conduct an MRI on Wednesday to confirm.
Assuming the initial diagnosis holds up, it’s a brutal blow for Clemons, who flashed some upside as a rookie in Houston last season. He averaged 4.9 PPG on .401/.346/.909 shooting in 33 games (8.8 MPG) and may have been in line for an increased role in 2020/21. However, if his Achilles is torn, he’ll almost certainly be ruled out for the season.
The Rockets don’t have a ton of depth at point guard behind starter John Wall – who is coming off a torn Achilles himself – and might have to address the position at some point if Clemons is out for the season.
Houston could take a look at the free agent market — as we detailed earlier today, Shabazz Napier is among the notable veteran point guards who remains unsigned. However, the Rockets don’t have much wiggle room below their hard cap, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), so adding a free agent probably isn’t a viable option for the time being.
Although Clemons’ contract for 2020/21 had been non-guaranteed, he’ll now be paid his minimum salary until he’s healthy or until the end of the season (whichever comes first).
Giannis Antetokounmpo Signs Super-Max Extension With Bucks
5:30pm: The Bucks officially announced their new agreement with Antetokounmpo (via Twitter).
3:35pm: Antetokounmpo’s super-max extension will feature a 15% trade kicker, reports Charania (via Twitter). Since a player’s trade bonus can’t push his salary above his maximum, that’s unlikely to matter unless the cap rises significantly during the later years of Giannis’ new deal.
12:23pm: Giannis Antetokounmpo has decided to sign a five-year, super-max contract extension with the Bucks, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Antetokounmpo published an Instagram post announcing the news.
“This is my home, this is my city,” he wrote. “I’m blessed to be able to be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks for the next five years. Let’s make these years count. The show goes on, let’s get it.”
The deal, which will feature a starting salary worth 35% of the salary cap, projects to be worth $228.2MM over five years, making it the largest contract in NBA history, Charania notes. The exact value will depend on how much the salary cap increases for the 2021/22 season — the $228.2MM projection is based on a presumed 3% cap bump.
In that scenario, Antetokounmpo would make $39,344,970 in year one, with annual 8% raises resulting in a fifth-year salary of $51,935,362 in 2025/26. That final year will be a player option, agent Alex Saratsis tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Antetokounmpo’s decision to sign the Bucks’ super-max extension offer, which has been on the table since the new league year began last month, is a massive development for the franchise. Milwaukee now has the two-time MVP locked up for the next five seasons and can focus on continuing to build a championship-caliber roster around him.
The Bucks’ efforts to bolster their roster around Antetokounmpo included trading multiple future first-round picks and pick swaps last month to acquire standout guard Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans. Milwaukee also attempted to land Bogdan Bogdanovic in a sign-and-trade, but that deal ultimately fell apart, forcing the club to look elsewhere on the free agent market. The Bucks instead signed D.J. Augustin, Bobby Portis, Bryn Forbes, and Torrey Craig to fill out their rotation.
There was some speculation that the Bucks’ failed effort to bring Bogdanovic to Milwaukee may dampen Antetokounmpo’s enthusiasm for an extension, since he was said to be high on the idea of teaming up with the Serbian swingman. However, if that was the case, it wasn’t enough to dissuade Giannis from locking in a new deal with the Bucks before the December 21 super-max deadline.
Antetokounmpo, who turned 26 last Sunday, has led the Bucks’ to the NBA’s best regular season record in each of the last two seasons, establishing new career highs in 2019/20 with 29.5 PPG and 13.6 RPG in just 30.4 MPG (63 games).
In each of those last two years, the Bucks fell short of the NBA Finals, blowing a 2-0 lead to the Raptors in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals and then losing to the Heat in the 2020 Eastern Semifinals. However, Antetokounmpo’s long-term commitment to Milwaukee signals that he still believes in the club’s ability to win a title, since he has long maintained that an ability to compete for a championship was his number one priority in deciding where he wants to play.
With Antetokounmpo no longer on track to reach free agency in 2021, a handful of teams around the NBA will have to reevaluate their plans for next summer. The Raptors, Heat, and Mavericks were among the clubs hoping to take a run at the All-NBA forward. They could still use their projected ’21 cap room to pursue a star, but they’ll have to target someone besides Giannis.
Once he makes it official with the Bucks, Antetokounmpo will become the sixth player to sign a super-max contract since the NBA introduced it in 2017, joining Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Antetokounmpo will also be the ninth player to sign a contract extension since the 2020/21 league year began and the seventh to ink a max deal, joining LeBron James, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Bam Adebayo, and De’Aaron Fox.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Noah Vonleh Tests Positive For COVID-19, Waived By Bulls
DECEMBER 15: Vonleh’s release from the Bulls is now official, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
DECEMBER 14: Veteran forward Noah Vonleh has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be waived by the Bulls, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Teams won’t be announcing which of their players test positive for the coronavirus this season, but Vonleh confirmed his diagnosis to Haynes.
“Unfortunately, I have tested positive for COVID, and so my time with the Bulls has come to an end,” Vonleh said in a statement to Yahoo Sports. “Thank you to the organization for everything. Though it was a short time, I appreciate the opportunity. I am thankfully feeling good, and I look forward to working my way to another NBA opportunity once I’m cleared to play again!”
The Bulls are carrying 15 players on guaranteed contracts and Vonleh isn’t one of them, so his positive test likely just accelerated his release — unless he earned a spot on the regular season roster, he would’ve been waived within the next week anyway. He’ll undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine as he awaits medical clearance, Haynes notes.
The ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh began his career in Charlotte before moving on to Portland, Chicago, and New York. In 2019/20, he began the season in Minnesota before being traded to Denver as part of the four-team mega-deal involving Clint Capela and Robert Covington.
In total, Vonleh averaged just 3.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 36 games (10.5 MPG) for the Timberwolves and Nuggets last season. He was more productive in 2018/19 for the Knicks, recording 8.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 68 games (25.3 MPG), and is still just 25 years old, so he should get another NBA opportunity.
Harden Practices With Rockets, Will Play Tuesday
After registering six negative coronavirus tests, star guard James Harden practiced with the Rockets on Monday for the first time this season, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Head coach Stephen Silas, who confirmed that P.J. Tucker also returned to practice for the Rockets, said that both Harden and Tucker looked “very good.” Silas added that he and Harden had a good conversation, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
“He was locked in and asking good questions,” Silas said of Harden, adding that the plan is for the 31-year-old to play in Houston’s preseason game on Tuesday vs. San Antonio (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN).
As we relayed this morning, Harden hasn’t backed off his desire to be traded at all and is still pushing Houston to move him. However, he has reportedly told the team that he’ll be “professional and engaged” until a trade occurs, recognizing that keeping his value high will increase the Rockets’ chances of finding a deal they like.
It doesn’t appear that any Harden trade talks have gotten serious so far, with teams unwilling to meet the Rockets’ high asking price so far. Yaron Weitzman reported earlier today (via Twitter) that Houston wants three first-round picks in addition to Ben Simmons in a deal with Philadelphia. I’m skeptical that the Rockets’ asking price will stay that high, but given that the Sixers haven’t even put Simmons on the table yet, it’s fair to assume the two sides remain far apart.
Russell Westbrook Unlikely To Play Back-To-Backs
The Wizards will likely hold Russell Westbrook out of either the first or second game of the team’s back-to-back sets this season, head coach Scott Brooks said on Sunday, as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington details.
Before sending John Wall to Houston in exchange for Westbrook, the Wizards had been planning to employ a similar strategy with Wall as he returned from his torn Achilles. Westbrook is believed to be fully healthy, but Washington still wants to play it safe with its star point guard during a season that will be more condensed than usual.
“This is going to be a grind,” Brooks said. “He’s not a youngster anymore even though he still has as much energy as anybody as I’ve seen.”
As Hughes notes, the Wizards have seven back-to-back sets on tap during the first half of the 2020/21 schedule. The NBA has yet to release the second-half schedule.
Teams have been strongly discouraged from resting healthy players during nationally televised games, even if they’re part of back-to-backs. However, that shouldn’t be a problem for the Wizards, who aren’t scheduled to appear on ESPN, TNT, or ABC at all during the first half.
‘No Change’ In James Harden’s Desire For Trade
With James Harden on the verge of taking his sixth coronavirus test and being cleared to practice with the Rockets, there has been “no change” in his desire to be dealt to a new team, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Although Harden would prefer to be playing elsewhere, he has expressed to Rockets ownership and management that he intends to be “professional and engaged,” per Shelburne and Wojnarowski. As the ESPN duo explains, the former MVP is aware that tanking his value would hinder Houston’s ability to complete a deal. He’s also willing to be patient, recognizing that it may take some time for the Rockets to find the right return.
The Rockets have been holding out hope that Harden may still come around to believing in the team’s ability to contend, and John Wall expressed over the weekend that he thinks he and Harden and be “a heck of a combination.”
However, the 31-year-old has been “unmoved” by the acquisition of Wall, sources tell ESPN. As Shelburne and Woj explain, it’s not personal with Wall — Harden simply hasn’t changed his view that he’d have a better chance to compete for a title elsewhere.
The Rockets have touched base with the Nets and Sixers, the top two teams on Harden’s wish list, sources tell ESPN. However, Philadelphia is still unwilling to offer Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid in any deal for Harden, and Houston remains unenthusiastic about a Brooklyn package that would consist of “complementary players” and draft picks.
A hypothetical trade with the Nets may have to involve a third team that could send the Rockets the sort of young franchise cornerstone they’re seeking, according to Shelburne and Wojnarowski, who add that neither Brooklyn nor Houston has expressed interest in a package centered around Kyrie Irving.
ESPN’s report doesn’t mention any talks with teams besides the Nets and 76ers, though that doesn’t mean that none have taken place. Harden has also reportedly added the Bucks and Heat to his list, and Miami is said to be interested in exploring the possibility of a deal. Additionally, since Harden has no power to veto trades, the Rockets could cast a much wider net as they looks to maximize their potential return for Harden.