Western Notes: Sears, Sullivan, Weems, Whitmore, Nuggets
The Mavericks have named Jordan Sears as the head coach of the G League’s Texas Legends, according to a team press release (hat tip to the Dallas Morning News’ Brad Townsend. Terry Sullivan will serve as the team’s general manager while also continuing in his duties as the Mavericks’ director of player personnel.
Sears has been on the Mavericks’ staff for the past two seasons as head video coordinator. He was previously on the staff of the 2021 Bucks’ championship team. Sullivan has been in the Dallas organization for 13 years.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Warriors are promoting Kris Weems from a player development position to bench assistant, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Weems has been in the Golden State organization for nine years. He will replace Jama Mahlalela, who joined Darko Rajakovic‘s staff in Toronto.
- Cam Whitmore was named the Las Vegas Summer League MVP and the Rockets’ summer coach, Ben Sullivan, said the raw talent of the No. 20 pick in the draft “jumps off the page.” Sullivan spoke to The Athletic’s Kelly Iko about the Rockets’ Summer League experience. “He’s finishing around the rim, able to cut and score, shooting 3s and pull-ups and getting to the basket,” Sullivan said. “He displayed a lot of different stuff. And I really, I really like it, and he’s just so young, like he’s 19 years old. He’s going to have to grow in all areas of his game — his defense, his offense, understanding of concepts, what we’re trying to execute as a team, spacing.”
- The Nuggets are planning to rely on young players to replace Bruce Brown and Jeff Green in the rotation. The way those first- and second-year players mesh with the veteran core group will determine whether Denver can pull off a championship repeat, according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones.
Sixers Notes: Longabardi, Karl, Reed, Harden, Whitmore
The Sixers are hiring Mike Longabardi as head coach of their G League affiliate in Delaware, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Longabardi has been an NBA assistant since 2003. He spent last season with the Hawks.
Longabardi will replace Coby Karl, who is expected to join Nick Nurse‘s staff in Philadelphia, Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice tweets.
We have more on the Sixers:
- Center Paul Reed weighed in on James Harden‘ trade request, saying he hopes the disgruntled guard remains with the Sixers, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “James Harden, that’s like my big brother, one of the coolest vets I know,” he said. “I hope he comes back. But I understand business is business. And sometimes you got to do what you got to do. But like I said, that’s like my big brother. I hope he comes back.” Reed stayed with Philadelphia this summer when the Sixers matched Utah’s three-year offer sheet.
- President of basketball operations Daryl Morey hinted on a radio appearance that he tried to swing a trade on draft night for Cam Whitmore, Sean Barnard of Philly Sports Network relays (Twitter link). “There was another prominent player who fell in this year’s draft that we were trying to move up for,” Morey said in a wide-ranging interview on The Anthony Gargano Show. “I couldn’t understand why they were falling because I’ve seen him play live multiple times here in town.” Whitmore, a Villanova product who was selected by the Rockets at No. 20, was named MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League.
- In case you missed it, Harden weighed in on Damian Lillard‘s trade request. Get the details here.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks’ Roster, Bridges, VanVleet, Brown
The Knicks have 12 players on fully or partially guaranteed deals, leaving at least two spots potentially open for free agents. They could look at a variety of players to fill those slots, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic. Hamidou Diallo, Terence Davis and Taj Gibson are some of the available players that could provide depth in areas of need, in Katz’ view.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Nets forward Mikal Bridges is thrilled he was asked to play for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup, he told Paul George on Podcast P (hat tip to Eurohoops.net). “(Team USA head coach) Steve Kerr brought up the idea to me, and I was like, hell yeah, I’m here, just please let me know. I kind of had the idea there, and then I ended up going to Brooklyn and playing really well,” Bridges said. “After that, when I saw him again and we talked about it, I was really ready for it. So, no, definitely, there was nothing holding me back from that, unless I had some injury or something happen, but no, I was ready. I’m very excited.”
- Fred VanVleet made 47% of the Raptors’ pull-up 3-pointers and took 42% of their pull-up attempts last season. So how will Toronto replace that element of its offensive game? The Athletic’s Eric Koreen explores that topic, stating that Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby could all take on more responsibility, whether creating those shots or becoming more effective at them.
- The trade kicker in Jaylen Brown‘s reported super-max extension with the Celtics is less than the 15% max, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. Brown will also be on a six-month pay schedule each season during his new deal, rather than having the payments spread out over 12 months.
International Notes: Whiteside, Vonleh, Figueroa, Schakel, Schmidt
A former All-Defensive player and a former lottery pick are among the veteran NBA free agents reportedly receiving overseas interest.
Big man Hassan Whiteside, who led the league in blocks per game twice and made an All-Defensive team in 2016, has drawn interest from Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv, per Omri Manhime of Sport5 (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando). Whiteside was out of the NBA in 2022/23 and played in Lebanon earlier in his professional career.
Meanwhile, Greek team Panathinaikos is said to be eyeing Noah Vonleh, according to Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh has appeared in 362 career regular season NBA games, including 23 last season for Boston. He played for the Shanghai Sharks in 2021/22 but has never joined a European team.
Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:
- Former Oregon guard L.J. Figueroa, who has spent the last two seasons in the G League playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors and South Bay Lakers, has signed with German club Ratiopharm Ulm, per a press release from the team. Although Figueroa signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Golden State and L.A., he has yet to play in a regular season NBA game.
- Jordan Schakel, a member of the Wizards for parts of the last two seasons, is aiming to play for the German national team in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, agents Mike Naiditch and Daniel Poneman tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Schakel has only appeared in six games at the NBA level, but made 39.9% of his three-point attempts in the G League last season.
- Ryan Schmidt has left his job as the head coach of the London Lions in the British Basketball League in order to take a coaching job with an NBA team, according to a press release. While his destination isn’t yet known, Schmidt will be joining an Eastern Conference club, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. He previously had a four-year stint as an assistant coach for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League team (2017-21).
James Harden On Lillard’s Push For Miami: “I See Both Sides”
Asked during an interview with Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today Sports (YouTube link) to weigh in on the Damian Lillard situation in Portland and the subject of NBA player empowerment in general, Sixers star James Harden says he understands the perspective of both the team and the player when a trade request is made.
“I see both sides because I went through it,” Harden said. “The organization wants to do what’s best for them. They don’t want to just give a player that basically is one of the best players they’ve ever had in the organization away for nothing, or for less than what (he’s worth). So I get the organization’s side.
“And then I get the player’s side, as far as wanting to play and wanting to be somewhere, whether it’s because it’s the right situation for you — for your family or yourself or whatever that person is going through. So I see both sides. If they can meet in the middle and kind of come to an agreement and figure it out, then that’s the best scenario.
“I wouldn’t want an organization to send someone somewhere where they wouldn’t (want to) be. Because you built a real relationship with that person. That person has done so many great things for your organization, your franchise. But then you don’t want to give that player for nothing, so I get both sides. It’s just find a balance, meet in the middle, and hopefully both sides can come to an agreement.”
Harden’s comments were ostensibly about the situation in Portland, where Lillard has requested a trade and has reportedly expressed that he only wants to play for the Heat.
However, Harden is also the NBA player whose current circumstances most closely resemble Lillard’s. Like Dame, Harden requested a trade right around the start of free agency this summer. And like Dame, he reportedly has a preferred landing spot that he’s solely focused on — in Harden’s case, it’s the Clippers. It’s easy to apply his statement to his own situation in addition to Lillard’s.
With all that in mind, Harden’s comments have to be at least a little encouraging for Sixers fans. As Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com writes, it’s “about as fair of a stance as Harden could have taken publicly.” The 33-year-old’s suggestion that a player and team should be willing to “meet in the middle” indicates he’s open to compromising.
Still, Neubeck isn’t sure what a middle ground might look like for Harden and the Sixers if the Clippers aren’t willing to increase their trade offer, and he’s unconvinced that the former MVP’s public comments mean he’ll be any more enthusiastic about a potential return to Philadelphia. While Harden may have expressed a reasonable stance when discussing another player’s trade request, that doesn’t mean he won’t continue to push as hard as he can to achieve his preferred outcome when it comes to his own request.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 7/25/2023
The transcript of our weekly Tuesday chat can be accessed here.
Join Luke Adams for our next live chat on Thursday.
Pacers Re-Sign Kendall Brown To Two-Way Contract
The Pacers have officially re-signed Kendall Brown, announcing in a press release that the 6’8″ swingman is back with the team on another two-way contract.
The 48th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Brown appeared in just six games and played 40 total minutes at the NBA level as a rookie. He saw more action with Indiana’s G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, averaging 9.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 23.8 minutes per night in 10 regular season games.
Brown’s first professional season was marred by a stress injury in his right tibia. He missed six weeks in December and January due to the injury, which was dubbed a stress reaction. He subsequently underwent surgery near the end of February to address what had become a stress fracture.
Indiana issued a two-way qualifying offer to Brown in June, making him a restricted free agent. In all likelihood, he simply accepted that qualifying offer, which will ensure that he’s back with the Pacers on a one-year two-way deal.
The Pacers have now filled all three of their two-way slots, as Brown joins Isaiah Wong and Oscar Tshiebwe. The team also has 15 players on standard guaranteed contracts, so its roster for training camp may be just about set.
Bronny James Suffers Cardiac Arrest, In Stable Condition
Incoming USC freshman and potential 2024 first-round pick Bronny James collapsed on the court during a workout on Monday at the Galen Center and suffered cardiac arrest, according to reports from TMZ and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
After being rushed to the hospital, James – the son of NBA superstar LeBron James – is said to be in stable condition. A family spokesperson issued the following statement to TMZ and Charania:
“Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU. We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information.
“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”
A 2023 McDonalds All-American and a consensus four-star recruit, Bronny committed to the Trojans for the 2023/24 season and is widely expected to enter the ’24 NBA draft. LeBron has spoken repeatedly about a desire to play alongside Bronny at the NBA level.
Bronny’s NBA potential has been a subject of much speculation leading up to his first college season, with ESPN placing him 17th on its most recent mock draft for 2024. For now though, his health is the primary concern. We at Hoops Rumors wish Bronny and his family all the best during his recovery.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Exhibit 10 Contract
After the NBA’s biggest-name free agents come off the board, many teams shift their focus to filling out their training camp rosters. Teams can only carry 15 players on NBA contracts (plus three on two-way deals) during the regular season, but their maximum roster size increases to 21 players in the offseason, allowing clubs to bring a few extra players to camp to audition for a place on the regular season roster or a spot on the team’s G League affiliate.
Many of those players will sign a contract with an Exhibit 10 clause. Introduced in the NBA’s 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, Exhibit 10 contracts are one-year deals worth the minimum salary. They don’t come with any compensation protection, but can include an optional bonus worth as little as $5K and – in 2023/24 – as much as $75K.
Let’s say an undrafted rookie signs an Exhibit 10 contract with the Jazz that includes a $75K bonus. He attends camp with the Jazz, but is waived before the regular season begins, with Utah designating him an affiliate player in order to retain his G League rights. In that scenario, if the rookie elects to play in the G League for the Salt Lake City Stars and remains with the club for 60 days, he’d be entitled to his full $75K bonus.
The player wouldn’t receive that bonus if he opts to sign with a team overseas after being waived by the Jazz. Essentially, the Exhibit 10 bonus serves as an incentive for players to stick with their team’s G League affiliate — they must spend at least 60 days with the NBAGL club in order to get their bonus.
There’s another scenario in which that undrafted rookie who signs an Exhibit 10 deal with the Jazz would receive his $75K. Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted into two-way contracts before the regular season begins, so if Utah opted to do that, the $75K bonus would turn into a salary guarantee for the player. As soon as his contract becomes a two-way deal, he’s entitled to that bonus, even if the Jazz waive him a week later.
The maximum Exhibit 10 bonus will increase in future seasons at the same rate as the NBA salary cap. For instance, if the cap rises by 10% in 2024/25, the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus would rise by 10% too, from $75,000 to $82,500.
Only teams with a G League affiliate can include an Exhibit 10 bonus in a contract. In 2023/24, the Trail Blazers will become the 29th NBA team with its own affiliate, leaving only the Suns on the outside looking in (they’re aiming to get an NBAGL team in place by ’24/25). Phoenix could technically sign players to Exhibit 10 deals, but wouldn’t be able to include bonus money.
Exhibit 10 contracts don’t count against a team’s salary cap during the offseason. However, they would begin to count against the cap if a team decides to keep a player on an Exhibit 10 contract into the regular season, essentially converting his deal to a standard one-year, minimum-salary deal.
Although they’re not technically required to, virtually every Exhibit 10 contract also contains an Exhibit 9 clause, which provides a team protections when a player on a non-guaranteed training camp contract suffers an injury. If a team wants to sign a player to a deal that includes both an Exhibit 9 and Exhibit 10 clause, it must already be carrying at least 14 players on standard contracts.
Here are a few more notes relating to Exhibit 10 contracts:
- A team can’t carry more than six Exhibit 10 contracts at a time.
- An Exhibit 10 contract can only be converted to a two-way deal before the regular season begins.
- An Exhibit 10 contract that gets converted to a two-way deal can subsequently be converted into a standard NBA contract.
- An Exhibit 10 bonus earned by a player who ends up in the G League or on a two-way contract isn’t counted toward the NBA team’s total salary.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in 2018 and 2019.
Team USA Finalizes Select Team Roster
USA Basketball has officially announced its Select Team roster, announcing in a press release that 14 players will get the opportunity to train with and scrimmage against the primary 12-man national team roster as it prepares for the 2023 World Cup.
Those 14 players, most of whom have been previous reported, are as follows:
- Cade Cunningham, G (Pistons)
- Langston Galloway, G (free agent)
- Jalen Green, G (Rockets)
- Quentin Grimes, G (Knicks)
- John Jenkins, G (G League Ignite)
- Payton Pritchard, G (Celtics)
- Herbert Jones, F (Pelicans)
- Trey Murphy, F (Pelicans)
- Keegan Murray, F (Kings)
- Jalen Williams, F (Thunder)
- Naz Reid, F/C (Timberwolves)
- Jalen Duren, C (Pistons)
- Chet Holmgren, C (Thunder)
- Eric Mika, C (G League Ignite)
As Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press notes (via Twitter), Galloway, Jenkins, and Mika aren’t currently in the NBA but were among the players who suited up for Team USA during the qualifying games for the World Cup, ensuring that the U.S. earned a spot in the tournament. They’ll be rewarded for their contributions by getting spots on the select team and taking part in the lead-up to the World Cup.
“We are confident that our USA Men’s Select Team will do a great job helping prepare the men’s national team for the 2023 Men’s FIBA World Cup,” national team managing director Grant Hill said in a statement. “We have a good mix of young NBA players and those who helped us qualify for the World Cup, all of who will play a huge role in our success in Manila, as we continue to develop the national team pipeline for years to come.”
The select team will be coached by Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, who will be joined by assistants Jim Boylen and Matt Painter. Boylen, a former Bulls head coach and current Pacers assistant, was Team USA’s head coach during the qualifying contests. Painter has been the longtime head coach at Purdue.
As we’ve previously noted, members of the U.S. select team would be candidates for promotion if any players from the national team roster have to withdraw from the World Cup for any reason.
Even if no substitutions are necessary, the players on the select team could eventually be called upon by USA Basketball to join future Olympic or World Cup teams. Brandon Ingram, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Mikal Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jalen Brunson are among those on this year’s World Cup roster who were members of the U.S. select teams for the 2016 Olympics, 2019 World Cup, or 2021 Olympics.
In addition to Ingram, Edwards, Haliburton, Bridges, Jackson, and Brunson, the U.S. World Cup roster consists of Cameron Johnson, Austin Reaves, Paolo Banchero, Bobby Portis, Josh Hart, and Walker Kessler.