Hornets To Waive-And-Stretch Nicolas Batum
The Hornets will waive and stretch the final year of Nicolas Batum‘s contract in order to create the cap room necessary to sign Gordon Hayward, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
[RELATED: Hornets, Gordon Hayward Agree To Four-Year Deal]
Batum, who will turn 32 next month, is entering the final season of the five-year, $120MM contract he signed back in 2016. His cap hit for 2020/21 is approximately $27.13MM, but the Hornets can stretch that amount across three seasons at $9.04MM annually, opening up more than $18MM in cap room for 2020/21.
That newly-opened amount will be more than enough to complete the Hayward signing, as Charlotte entered the day with about $19MM in space. The team should have some room left over for an additional move or two, though it will now have to deal with $9MM+ in dead money on the cap for 2021/22 and ’22/23 as well.
Batum was excised from the Hornets’ rotation this past season, appearing in just 22 games (23.0 MPG) and playing poorly in his limited time, with 3.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .346/.286/.900 shooting.
Although he’s coming off a down year and has long been viewed as an unfavorable asset as a result of his oversized contract, Batum might be an interesting minimum-salary target in free agency once he clears waivers.
Heat Sign Avery Bradley To Two-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 23: The Heat have officially announced their deal with Bradley, issuing a press release to confirming the signing.
“This is a great signing that can help us right away,” team president Pat Riley said in a statement. “Being able to add a two-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection who is also a great shooter and fits perfectly with our current philosophy as a multi-positional player. Avery will be a great addition to fortifying our backcourt.”
As we relayed in a separate story, Boston and Charlotte were among the other teams that expressed interest in Bradley before he agreed to sign with Miami.
NOVEMBER 21: The Heat and free agent guard Avery Bradley have agreed to a two-year, $11.6MM deal, agent Charles Briscoe tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The contract will include a team option for the second year, sources tell ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Heat took a similar route with their new deals for Goran Dragic and Meyers Leonard as they prioritize preserving cap room for 2021.
The Heat will use a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Bradley. The Heat have also agreed to a one-year, $3.6MM contract with Maurice Harkless and Miami could preserve its bi-annual exception by splitting up the MLE between Bradley and Harkless, as John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets.
Bradley was considered a fallback option for the team in case it couldn’t re-sign Jae Crowder, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. While Crowder was a priority for the Heat, he wasn’t comfortable with only a one-year guarantee, says Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). As a result, he’ll head to Phoenix on a three-year deal while the Heat replace him with Bradley.
As Charania explains (via Twitter), Bradley – who was recruited by Heat president Pat Riley and star swingman Jimmy Butler – was sold on the Heat’s culture and made the decision to leave Los Angeles after spending the 2019/20 season with the Lakers.
Bradley, who will turn 30 next Thursday, appeared in 49 games for the Lakers in 2019/20, starting 44 of them. He averaged 8.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG with a solid 3PT% (.364) and strong perimeter defense, but opted out of the restart and wasn’t part of the club’s championship run.
The Warriors were among the other teams that had interest in signing Bradley, tweets Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Dana Gauruder contributed to this story. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hornets, Gordon Hayward Agree To Four-Year Deal
The Hornets are signing Gordon Hayward, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the forward’s new deal will be worth $120MM over four years. It’s fully guaranteed, tweets David Aldridge of The Athletic.
Hayward turned down a $34.2MM player option with the Celtics earlier in the week, which was a signal that he and agent Mark Bartelstein were confident that one or more lucrative multiyear offers would be waiting for him on the open market.
The Hawks and Knicks were said to have interest in Hayward, but Atlanta quickly moved onto other targets – including Danilo Gallinari – and New York wasn’t comfortable with either the years or the money that Hayward ultimately received from Charlotte, per Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link).
Hayward was said to prefer joining his hometown Pacers, and Boston and Indiana attempted to work out a sign-and-trade deal within the last couple days. However, the Pacers’ cap situation complicated matters, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), and it was always going to be a challenge for the C’s and Pacers to agree on fair compensation.
Just a half-hour before word of Hayward’s agreement with the Hornets broke, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files said (via Twitter) that there had been no progress in those sign-and-trade talks.
So Hayward will be headed to the Hornets, who will have to either open up some extra cap room in order to clear the space necessary to complete the signing. They’ll reportedly do so by using the stretch provision on Nicolas Batum.
Although the Hornets were cited on Friday as a potential suitor for Hayward, the deal still comes as a major surprise, especially since president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak had talked for the better part of the year about Charlotte not planning to make a splash in free agency. Apparently, the team decided to change course on that plan when Hayward became available.
Hayward, 30, still didn’t quite look like his old All-Star self in 2019/20. However, he was a lot closer to that level last season than he was during his first two years in Boston. In 52 games, he averaged 17.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 4.1 APG on .500/.383/.855 shooting.
Hayward’s deal with the Hornets represents a full-circle moment, as the first free agent contract he signed in the NBA, back in 2014, was an offer sheet with Charlotte. The Jazz, of course, matched that offer and the former Butler standout spent the next six years in Utah and Boston, but now he’s finally joining the Hornets.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nuggets Guarantee Morris’ 2020/21 Salary, Interested In Extension
Nuggets point guard Monte Morris had his salary for the upcoming 2020/21 season guaranteed on Friday, Yahoo Sports’ Keith Smith noted (Twitter link). With his salary guaranteed, the focus shifts to a possible extension, as there appears to be mutual interest in a new deal.
As we relayed earlier this month, Morris – entering his fourth season – is eligible for an extension for the first time in his career. The 25-year-old has been a strong backup point guard for Denver, especially his 2018/19 campaign when he appeared in all 82 games (six starts) while averaging 10.4 PPG and 3.6 APG. Morris shot nearly 50% from the field and 41.4% from three that season.
Last season was also a strong showing for the Iowa State product as he produced 9.0 PPG and 3.5 APG with a strong 45.9% field goal percentage. And even with Facundo Campazzo entering the point guard mix in Denver, the Nuggets are interested in extending Morris, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link).
“I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone,” Morris told Singer earlier this month. “I would love to get an extension here. I love Denver. I love everything from the organization to the coaches all the way down to equipment, to everyone. Me personally, hopefully, if it goes that way. I would love to be in Denver for however long.”
Morris is eligible for an extension starting at up to 120% of the league’s estimate average salary. Given his status as a minimum-salary player and the present cap numbers, Morris’ extension could be worth up to $53.76MM over four years.
Per the earlier report, while the interest is mutual, a yearly salary in the $6MM range is reportedly a “non-starter” for Morris. However, there is no rush to get an extension done as both sides can take talks into the season.
Raptors Re-Sign Fred VanVleet To Four-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 24: The Raptors have formally announced their new deal with VanVleet.
“In the last four years, we’ve seen Fred move from leader of Raptors 905, to leader of the Bench Mob to a leader of a championship team. The constant has been his leadership, no matter his role,” team president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “We look forward to the coming years with Fred as one of the voices and hearts of our team. We bet on Fred.”
NOVEMBER 21: The Raptors have agreed to re-sign Fred VanVleet, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that VanVleet’s new deal will be for four years and will be worth $85MM. It’ll feature a player option in the final season, Charania adds (via Twitter).
The agreement represents a major payday for VanVleet, who went undrafted out of Wichita State in 2016 and spent part of his rookie season playing in the G League. The Raptors point guard emerged in 2017/18 as a part of the team’s regular rotation, earning a two-year, $18MM deal in the summer of 2018.
On that contract, VanVleet continued to take significant strides, playing a key role in the Raptors’ championship run in 2019 and then entering the starting lineup on a full-time basis last season. He established new career highs in PPG (17.6), APG (6.6), RPG (3.8), and several other categories in 54 games for Toronto in 2019/20.
While the Raptors were always viewed as the frontrunners to re-sign VanVleet, he was expected to receive interest from other teams, especially those with the cap room necessary to give him a deal in the range of $20MM annually. The Knicks were said to have some interest and – according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) – Detroit was also in the mix. The Pistons bowed out when the bidding got too rich for their liking, per Goodwill.
The Raptors now have Pascal Siakam and VanVleet locked up for the next four seasons. The team has reportedly been making an effort to keep its 2021 cap sheet relatively clean in the hopes of making a run at a star free agent such as Giannis Antetokounmpo. VanVleet’s new deal will cut into Toronto’s space, but a max slot remains a possibility, depending on what subsequent moves the Raptors make.
VanVleet’s contract will start at $21.25MM in 2020/21 before declining by 8% in year two, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who notes (via Twitter) that the structure will help the Raps preserve as much cap space as possible for next summer.
Interestingly, the terms of VanVleet’s deal reported by Charania match up exactly with the four-year, $85MM contract Malcolm Brogdon received from Indiana a year ago. We’ve been hearing for months that Brogdon’s deal would likely set the market and be a point of comparison for VanVleet. It appears the Raptors and VanVleet’s camp agreed.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bucks Sign Bobby Portis
NOVEMBER 25: The Bucks have signed Portis, according to the NBA’s official log of transactions.
NOVEMBER 21:: Free agent big man Bobby Portis has reached an agreement to sign with the Bucks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll get a two-year contract with a second-year player option, Charania adds (via Twitter).
The Bucks are signing Portis using their bi-annual exception, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That will mean a $3.6MM first-year salary with a $3.8MM option for 2021/22.
The Knicks declined an option on Portis earlier this week to make him a free agent. New York reportedly had an interest in re-signing the center but instead, he heads to the Eastern Conference powerhouse Bucks.
Portis, 25, appeared in 66 games (five starts) for the Knicks last season, averaging 10.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG. The Arkansas native spent his first three-and-a-half seasons in the Windy City with the Bulls before he was shipped to the Wizards in February 2019.
With Milwaukee, Portis and his 6’10’, 250-pound frame will get major minutes backing up the big man duo of reigning two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Grizzlies Re-Sign De’Anthony Melton To Four-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 22: The Grizzlies have officially announced their new deal with Melton, confirming the move in a press release.
NOVEMBER 21: The Grizzlies have agreed to re-sign free agent guard De’Anthony Melton to a four-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the deal will be worth $35MM. Melton had been a restricted free agent.
The 22-year-old’s modest box-score numbers – 7.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.9 APG – understated his impact in Memphis during the 2019/20 season. He was perhaps the Grizzlies’ best perimeter defender and the team had a +5.1 net rating when he played, compared to a -4.0 mark when he was on the bench.
The 46th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Melton earned the minimum salary for the first two years of his NBA career, but will now have a 2020/21 salary comparable to that of Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley, the top picks in his draft class, notes Charania (via Twitter). Charania says Melton will earn $9.6MM in year one, suggesting the deal has a declining structure.
The Grizzlies held Early Bird rights on Melton and will be able to re-sign him using those rights, so the deal won’t affect the team’s mid-level exception, which remains available. Melton, meanwhile, will join Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, and Dillon Brooks as the only Grizzlies players under contract beyond 2022.
Melton had been the 20th overall player on our list of 2020’s top 50 free agents.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hawks Sign Kris Dunn To Two-Year Deal
NOV. 28: The Hawks have made the signing official, per a press release.
NOV. 21: The Hawks have reached an agreement to sign free agent guard Kris Dunn, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’ll be a two-year contract worth $10MM, with a second-year player option, Woj adds.
Based on the terms reported by Wojnarowski, it sounds like Dunn could end up fitting into Atlanta’s room exception ($9.77MM over two years) once the team uses up its cap room. If that’s the plan, the Hawks should still have in the neighborhood of $25MM to spend on other players.
A former fifth overall pick, Dunn hasn’t developed much of an offensive game since entering the league in 2016, having averaged just 7.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 3.4 APG on .444/.259/.741 shooting in 51 games (24.9 MPG) last season for Chicago. The Bulls decided not to make him a restricted free agent, passing on their qualifying offer.
However, Dunn has become one of the NBA’s very best perimeter defenders, leading the league with 2.9 steals per 36 minutes in 2019/20. That makes him an ideal fit in Atlanta’s backcourt, where he could handle tough defensive assignments and allow Trae Young to focus primarily on his offensive game.
Dunn represents the second notable free agent agreement so far for the Hawks, who also struck a three-year deal with Danilo Gallinari. Atlanta is believed to be in the running for Bogdan Bogdanovic and Rajon Rondo too, though it’s not clear if the team’s deal with Dunn will affect either pursuit — there’s definitely some positional overlap with Rondo.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Heat Sign Maurice Harkless To One-Year Deal
NOVEMBER 23: The Heat have officially signed Harkless to his new deal, the team confirmed in a press release.
“We have always liked what Moe Harkless brings to a team,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “We like his experience in knowing the role he will play for us real well. Moe can guard multiple positions, play above the rim, great shot blocker for his position and most importantly for our offense, space the floor with his three-point shooting. He is a player with great character and toughness.”
NOVEMBER 21: The Heat have reached an agreement to sign Maurice Harkless to a one-year contract worth $3.6MM, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
As Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter), Harkless passed up on more lucrative offers for an opportunity to play a regular role for the defending Eastern champions and intends to re-enter the market in 2021 when more league-wide cap room is available.
Harkless, 27, began the 2019/20 season with the Clippers and was a regular starter during his first 50 games in Los Angeles. He was traded to the Knicks in a deadline deal.
In 62 overall games, Harkless averaged 5.8 PPG and 3.9 RPG on .502/.347/.591 in 23.0 minutes per contest. He’s considered a solid perimeter defender, though his three-point shot comes and goes — he has a career rate of just 32.5% from beyond the arc.
Miami will likely slide Harkless into the rotation role vacated by Derrick Jones, who has agreed to sign with Portland.
The Heat intend to use the bi-annual exception (worth $3.623MM) to sign Harkless, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. That would hard-cap Miami for the season at $138.93MM. The one-year commitment will allow the franchise to retain its cap flexibility for 2021.
Thunder Trading Steven Adams To Pelicans
9:00am: Wojnarowski has another update on this deal, reporting (via Twitter) that George Hill will indeed end up with the Thunder rather than the Pelicans. New Orleans will also send Oklahoma City Darius Miller‘s $7MM expiring contract, Washington’s 2023 second-round pick, and Charlotte’s 2024 second-round pick, Woj adds.
New Orleans is still acquiring Bledsoe in the multi-team trade, per Woj (Twitter link), so Miller’s contract will likely need to become fully guaranteed for salary-matching purposes and the Pelicans will still probably have to send out a bit more salary. So I expect there are still more parts of this deal to be reported.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter) that Adams may also need to amend his trade kicker to make the money work.
12:41am: The lottery-protected 2023 first-round pick that the Nuggets agreed to send to the Pelicans on draft night in order to land RJ Hampton will be rerouted to Oklahoma City as part of this deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The Thunder will also receive two future second-round picks from New Orleans, per ESPN.
12:00am: Having already traded away guards Chris Paul and Dennis Schröder, the Thunder are now finalizing a trade that will send veteran center Steven Adams to the Pelicans, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The deal is becoming a part of the Jrue Holiday blockbuster that New Orleans and the Bucks previously agreed upon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Holiday trade will expand to include more teams and players. It still has “a lot of moving parts” and will take some work to finish, tweets Wojnarowski.
The Thunder will be receiving a first-round pick and second-round picks as part of the expanded swap, per Woj (Twitter link).
While it’s tricky to evaluate the deal before we know all those moving parts, we can at least break down Adams’ fit in New Orleans. He’ll fill the hole in the frontcourt created by the free agent departures of Derrick Favors and Jahlil Okafor earlier this evening. The Pelicans were said to have interest in Aron Baynes, among other big men, but it looks like Adams will be the team’s new man in the middle.
In 2019/20, Adams averaged 10.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 2.3 APG in 63 games (26.7 MPG) as Oklahoma City’s starting center. His contract is somewhat onerous, with a $27.5MM cap hit for 2020/21. However, it’ll be an expiring deal and will come off the Pelicans’ cap next summer.
With the Pelicans now taking on Adams’ salary, it seems likely that at least one of the point guards they were set to receive in the Holiday trade – Eric Bledsoe and George Hill – will be rerouted elsewhere — most likely to OKC.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.