Contract Extension Details: Porter, Hunter, Little
As previously reported, Kevin Porter Jr. new four-year extension with the Rockets is only fully guaranteed for the first season. As Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports and Hoops Rumors has confirmed, all four years of the deal have a base salary of $15,860,000, with an additional $4,758,000 available each year via incentives.
Those incentives are divided into two categories and are based on Porter’s minutes played and the success of the team, according to Iko, who says the team-based bonuses are tied to wins, play-in tournament appearances, and/or playoff berths. If Porter maxes out his incentives, the total four-year value of the deal would be $82,472,000, but the total base value if he doesn’t earn any bonuses is just $63,440,000.
Although Porter’s second-year salary isn’t guaranteed yet, it will become partially guaranteed for $1MM if he remains under contract through July 1, 2023, which is when the extension officially begins. That partial guarantee for the 2024/25 season will increase to $3MM at the start of the ’23/24 regular season and will rise to $6MM if Porter remains under contract five days beyond the 2024 trade deadline, as Iko outlines.
Porter can also earn a full guarantee for 2024/25 if he reaches a certain minutes threshold in ’23/24 and the Rockets also earn a top-eight seed and make the playoffs that season, Iko explains. Finally, as long as Porter remains under contract, his second-, third-, and fourth-year salaries will automatically become fully guaranteed on the June 30 before that season begins. The Rockets would have to waive him to avoid paying those salaries.
Here are details on a couple other contract extensions signed earlier this week:
- De’Andre Hunter‘s four-year extension with the Hawks starts at $20,089,286 in year one and features standard 8% annual raises, increasing to $24,910,714 for year four. Each season includes $1.25MM in unlikely incentives, so $90MM is fully guaranteed and $5MM is available in incentives, as initially reported.
- Nassir Little‘s four-year extension with the Trail Blazers also features a standard rising structure, beginning at $6,250,000 in 2023/24 and increasing by $500K per year, up to $7,750,000 in ’26/27. As initially reported, it’s fully guaranteed, with no team or player option.
Trail Blazers Sign John Butler To Two-Way Deal
OCTOBER 20: The Blazers have officially signed Butler to his two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
OCTOBER 17: The Trail Blazers intend to add free agent power forward/center John Butler on a two-way deal, sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The 7’1″ big man went undrafted this year after spending one NCAA season with Florida State. Butler played with the Pelicans in the Summer League and during the preseason, before being waived by New Orleans last week.
During his lone collegiate season, the 19-year-old posted averages of 5.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 0.7 APG across 31 games, including 24 starts. He shot a promising 43.9% from long range on 2.6 attempts a night, though he also converted a lowly 44% of his looks at the charity stripe.
Butler’s impending deal with the Trail Blazers will actually be his second two-way contract this month. He initially saw his training camp contract with the Pelicans converted into a two-way deal before he was cut.
Butler joins another seven-footer, big man Olivier Sarr, in filling Portland’s pair of two-way contract openings heading into the season.
Central Notes: Mitchell, Garland, Turner, Bayno
Despite dropping their season opener at Toronto on Wednesday, Donovan Mitchell was outstanding in his regular season debut with the Cavaliers, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Mitchell finished with 31 points (on 12 of 21 shooting), nine assists, two steals and was a team-high plus-10 in 35 minutes in the team’s 108-105 loss.
With backcourt mate Darius Garland sidelined due to a lacerated eyelid, Mitchell put his foot on the gas, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff says it’s nothing new for Mitchell to carry a heavy load.
“He’s comfortable. I think it’s that easy,” Bickerstaff said. “This isn’t something he hasn’t done before. He’s carried teams on his back, so he understands the moment and he’s capable of it. It’s not new. It’s what we expect of him.”
In addition to his on-court production, Mitchell also provided leadership for the Cavs, giving them a positive message in the locker room after the game.
“I told them that this is our first time as a group going against a really tough playoff team,” Mitchell said, per Fedor. “It’s good to win a game but when you have a lesson about fixing this and that, and only lose by three, it’s about finding ways to improve day by day and throughout the game. This was a really good test and I think we’re all pleased with how things went. Obviously pissed off that we couldn’t execute down the stretch. But it’s a game. It’s part of the learning the process.
“The one thing about this group is we fought and competed. When one man goes down, the next guy is stepping up. That’s the road to being a really good team.”
Here’s more from the Central:
- Bickerstaff said Garland’s left eye is swollen shut and he didn’t practice on Thursday, tweets Fedor. The Cavaliers are preparing like their All-Star point guard won’t play against the Bulls on Saturday but he hasn’t been officially ruled out yet, Fedor adds. Garland sustained the injury when he was accidentally poked in the eye by Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr.
- Sources tell Shams Charania and Bob Kravitz of The Athletic that Pacers center Myles Turner is expected to miss at least a week with his left ankle sprain. Turner says it’s a “typical ankle sprain” and it didn’t impact his foot (he missed the final 39 games last season with a stress reaction in his left foot), per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). Turner also says he’s “hoping to be able to join the team on the (five-game) road trip,” which is in line with The Athletic’s report. If Turner returns by next Friday at Washington, he’ll have missed five total games with the injury.
- Pistons assistant coach Bill Bayno underwent successful prostate cancer surgery on Tuesday and will be away from the team recovering for the next four-to-six weeks, Detroit announced. Bayno has been an assistant with the Blazers, Wolves, Raptors and Pacers in addition to the Pistons. 2022/23 will be his fifteenth season as an NBA assistant. The Hoops Rumors staff wishes Bayno well in his recovery.
Pacific Notes: Johnson, Brown, Kings, Green
Suns forward Cameron Johnson hoped to sign a rookie scale extension before the deadline passed on Monday, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. He says he’s still focused on the task at hand.
“I would’ve loved to have come to a conclusion,” Johnson said, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I love it here, but the fact of the matter is that I’m here for this year and that is what I’m focused on. I’m excited. We’ve got a good group. We’ve had a good group and we want to win a championship.”
The 26-year-old, who will be a restricted free agent next summer, suggested that the tenuous ownership situation played a factor in negotiations
“Negotiations are interesting, especially when ownership is unclear,” said Johnson, a reference to majority owner Robert Sarver announcing his intention to sell the team after backlash from an NBA investigation into his behavior within the organization.
“Extremely interesting,” Johnson continued. “Once you see that the situation is what it is, you can get over it relatively quickly and just be excited for the opportunity that’s been put in front of you.”
Johnson exited the team’s 107-105 comeback victory over Dallas early in the fourth quarter with right quad cramps, but he said he should be good to go for Friday’s contest at Portland, Rankin relays in another story for The Arizona Republic.
Here’s more from the Pacific:
- Not reaching an extension with Johnson feels like a missed opportunity for the Suns to put “some of the negativity and uncertainty of the offseason” in the rear-view mirror, according to Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports, who notes that Johnson could raise his stock significantly as a full-time starter in 2022/23. As Bourguet writes, failing to secure Johnson as a long-term fixture of the team’s core after Deandre Ayton‘s messy restricted free agency over the summer makes it seem like the Suns didn’t learn how protracted contract negotiations can negatively impact players.
- Kings head coach Mike Brown says he’s focused on ending the team’s 16-year playoff drought, which is an NBA record. “We love the fans. We do. And they’re great fans, but even if the fans didn’t feel like we needed to make the playoffs, I’m not here to coach regular-season games. It’s just as simple as that,” he said (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee).
- Brown and center Domantas Sabonis have helped improve the Kings‘ vibes and culture, writes Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. Brown has brought consistent energy and a “serious-yet-playful” personality to the team, while Sabonis hosted several teammates at his new offseason home in Napa, California to watch last season’s Finals and play pickup games. “The vibes were great,” Sabonis told The Bee. “If you’re an average team and if your off-court (dynamic) is amazing, you’re not an average team any more, you’re definitely better. I’m a firm believer in that.” As Biderman notes, it was the first offseason as a King for Sabonis, who only appeared in 15 games with Sacramento in ’21/22 after he was acquired from Indiana in a February trade.
- Don’t expect the Warriors to consider an in-season trade for Draymond Green this season despite the uncomfortable situation he caused by punching Jordan Poole, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on his Lowe Post podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “If anything, I think that may be underplaying the level of iciness and tension that they’re navigating right now,” Lowe said. “And that’s not to say ‘Are they going to trade Draymond?’ Everything I’ve heard is they are not trading Draymond. They’re just not going to happen. They’re trying to win the championship and will try to ride it out unless something drastic happens. Draymond is going to be on the team all season.”
Leonard Might Start Season Coming Off Bench For Clippers
The Clippers are contemplating starting the season with Kawhi Leonard as a reserve to manage his minutes, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Leonard, who missed all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL, started both of his preseason appearances for the Clippers, averaging 16.5 minutes per contest. The five-time All-Star, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and two-time Finals MVP sustained the injury in Game 4 of L.A.’s second-round playoff series against Utah in June 2021.
The 31-year-old has a somewhat notorious reputation for missing games due to “load management,” playing no more than 60 regular season games since 2017/18. However, this situation is a bit different because a torn ACL is a very serious injury and sometimes it takes awhile for players to ramp up their conditioning and get back to game speed after missing so much time.
Still, it’s unclear what the advantage would be to bringing Leonard off the bench as opposed to starting. He has started every game he’s played since November 11, 2013, so it’s been nearly nearly nine years since he was last used as a reserve.
With Leonard and fellow star Paul George back and healthy, the Clippers are looking to improve upon last season’s 42-40 campaign that saw them miss out on the playoffs after losing both games in the play-in tournament. The Clippers face the Lakers Thursday night at 9:00pm CT on TNT for their regular season opener.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 10/20/2022
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Wolves Notes: Gobert, Towns, Garza, Russell
The Timberwolves weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders in their 115-108 win over Oklahoma City to open the regular season on Wednesday. Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards combined to shoot just 6-of-27 from the field for a total of 23 points.
However, center Rudy Gobert made his presence felt in his regular season debut with his new team, leading the way with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Head coach Chris Finch said after the game that Gobert’s “impact was strong everywhere,” while the center himself said there’s still plenty of work to do.
“It shows how good we can be and how much better we can be at the same time,” Gobert said of the Wolves’ up-and-down play in the opener, per Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune. “It’s going to be a process and every night is going to be an opportunity for us to get better.”
Here’s more on the Wolves:
- The Wolves’ frontcourt pairing of Gobert and Towns, rivals turned allies, is the NBA’s biggest experiment entering this season, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes in an article looking back at how the duo came together and what we should expect from the two star big men.
- Luka Garza was thrilled to have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal at the end of the preseason, as Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune details. “The coaching staff, the system, the players, everything kinds of fit me really well,” Garza said. “For a young big in this league there is no better environment to be in, with the best offensive big in the league and the best defensive big man. What better guys to learn from?” The opportunity to spend some time with the Iowa Wolves was an added bonus for the former Hawkeyes star. “I’m from (Washington) D.C., but now it feels like I’m from Iowa. So I’m super excited,” he said.
- A potential unrestricted free agent in 2023, D’Angelo Russell enters this season seeking redemption after a disappointing showing in the Wolves’ first-round playoff loss this spring, says Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
- Michael Rand of The Star Tribune identifies five factors that will help determine how high the Timberwolves’ ceiling is, including their defensive consistency, Russell’s performance in a contract year, and the team’s role players being a net positive.
Southeast Notes: Bouknight, Magic, Banchero, Wizards
Hornets guard James Bouknight, who was arrested over the weekend for driving while impaired, was found unconscious in his car in a parking deck, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, via a WSOC TV report.
Police records state that Bouknight’s car was running and in drive when he was found, and the 22-year-old was holding a handgun. Officers attempted to wake him up using airhorns, a PA system, and lights, and when he eventually did come to, Bouknight allegedly seemed confused and refused to comply with officers, crashing into two patrol cars before eventually getting out of the car and being taken into custody.
Bouknight issued an apology to the Hornets and his teammates when he returned to practice earlier this week, per Kallie Cox and Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
“Honestly, I just wanted to apologize for being a distraction before the start of the season, for my teammates and for what we’ve got going on,” said Bouknight, who went scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting in 14 minutes during the team’s regular season opener in San Antonio on Wednesday.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- It may not be realistic to expect the Magic to make the playoffs this year, but the team at least needs to show real signs of progress to consider the 2022/23 season a success, argues Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel. “It’s been asked many times this offseason — ‘What’s next?'” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said. “I think this season is going to be a continuum from last season, but with that we want to start putting in what winning looks like — fewer mistakes, team orientation, being tied on a string defensively, elevating our standard as our team grows up so our players understand what winning is about.”
- The Magic didn’t pick up a win in their season opener on Wednesday, but they had to be encouraged by the debut of No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero, who racked up 27 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in Detroit. As Jamal Collier of ESPN writes, even though he said he felt like he “left a lot of points on the board,” Banchero is the first NBA rookie to post a 25-5-5 line in his debut since LeBron James in 2003.
- Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington takes a look at what we learned about the Wizards‘ rotation based on their first game of the season. Notably, Delon Wright and Will Barton were part of the club’s closing lineup, Rui Hachimura was the first player off the bench, and rookie guard Johnny Davis was a DNP-CD.
Woj: Don’t Expect Any Lakers Trades Before Thanksgiving
Although they didn’t make a blockbuster trade this offseason, the Lakers won’t necessarily stick with their current roster for the entire 2022/23 season. Still, it will probably be at least a few weeks before we can expect the trade market to heat up for the team, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during a Wednesday appearance on NBA Countdown (video link).
“I’m told to expect Rob Pelinka and the Lakers to wait until post-Thanksgiving, 20 games into the season,” Wojnarowski said. “And see what teams may start pivoting who don’t start off well, who decide that they may start to unload players and perhaps get involved in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.”
As Wojnarowski explains, there have been more buyers than sellers at the deadline during the last couple seasons since so many teams were still within reach of the play-in tournament. But the expectation in 2022/23 is that several of the clubs in the bottom half of the standings might be more inclined to prioritize their lottery position in order to chase Wembanyama instead of trying to sneak into the play-in tournament.
If and when that shift occurs, the Lakers could revisit the marketplace to see what Russell Westbrook‘s expiring $47MM contract and their 2027 and/0r 2029 first-round picks might get them.
“There were so many buyers the last couple years. The expectation is there will be more sellers this year. You’ll start to see the asking price in trades go down. It’s supply and demand,” Wojnarowski said. “So expect the Lakers really to get to that 20-game point where teams kind of reach an inflection point about how they want to proceed, and then see what might really be available to help improve this Lakers team.”
Wojnarowski’s report makes sense, but it’s also entirely in line with how the NBA’s trade market usually develops during the season. Pre-Thanksgiving deals are always rare.
The last time two teams made an in-season trade prior to Thanksgiving was back in 2018, when Jimmy Butler was sent from Minnesota to Philadelphia — and that deal was only completed so early because the Timberwolves’ situation, beginning in training camp, was deemed untenable, with Butler aggressively pushing for a deal.
While the Lakers may feel increasing urgency to make a change to their roster if they get off to a slow start this season, they’re not yet nearly as desperate to make a deal as those 2018 Wolves were.
Health Updates: LaVine, Garland, Turner, K. Murray
After being ruled out for the Bulls‘ regular season opener due to “left knee management,” Zach LaVine told reporters that his absence was simply precautionary and that the left knee he underwent arthroscopic surgery on in the spring still felt fine. However, head coach Billy Donovan offered a different story when he spoke to the media, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago.
“There was a lot of very, very physically demanding practices, to be quite honest with you, coming out of the Milwaukee game,” Donovan said, referring to last Tuesday’s preseason finale. “And I think after a few of those, he felt some discomfort.”
As Donovan observed, the Bulls open the season with seven games in 11 days, so they didn’t want to ride their star swingman too hard out of the gate. LaVine’s absence won’t be “a long-term thing where he’s out for weeks,” according to Chicago’s head coach, who insisted that any discomfort LaVine felt didn’t come as a surprise to the club and is part of the recovery process.
“This is not, to me, anything that is unexpected,” Donovan said. “He’s going to experience, at times, whatever word you want to use, discomfort, soreness, whatever it is.”
Here are a few more updates on health issues from around the NBA:
- Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland left Wednesday’s opener in the second quarter after getting hit in the face by Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr. during a steal attempt and sustaining a left eyelid laceration, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “His head and everything was clear,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “But he was cut and bleeding pretty bad from the inside of his eyelid.” According to Fedor, there’s no clarity yet on how much time Garland might miss, but the consensus among those who saw him after the game was that the eye “looked like it was in bad shape.”
- Myles Turner‘s ankle sprain isn’t considered serious, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after Wednesday’s game, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). It’s still unclear when Turner will return to action after missing Indiana’s opener on Wednesday, but it sounds like the team isn’t expecting it to be a long-term issue.
- Kings rookie forward Keegan Murray cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday and was in attendance at shootaround, though he didn’t play in the team’s season opener, tweets James Ham of ESPN 1320 Sacramento. Murray should be ready to make his regular season debut soon, after he clears the necessary conditioning benchmarks.