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.
Wizards Notes: Avdija, Beal, Young Players, Bench, Mediocrity
Deni Avdija earned the nod to start at small forward for the Wizards in their season opener at Indiana, notes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. As Hughes writes, the news is somewhat surprising because Avdija suffered a groin injury last month playing for Israel during EuroBasket, causing him to miss all four of the Wizards’ preseason games.
The 6’9″ Avdija provides more size to balance the small backcourt of Monte Morris and Bradley Beal and is a much better defender than Will Barton, which gave him a leg up for the starting job, per Hughes.
Unfortunately, the third-year forward suffered a sprained right ankle during the contest, but X-rays were negative and it’s considered to be “nothing serious,” a source tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The Wizards officially listed him as questionable to return, with Anthony Gill starting in his place at halftime, according to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post (Twitter links).
2022/23 is a big season for Avdija, as he’s eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer after the Wizards exercised their fourth-year team option on his rookie contract for ’23/24. The 21-year-old former ninth overall pick averaged 7.6 points and 5.1 rebounds over his first two NBA seasons.
Here’s more on the Wizards:
- In an exclusive, in-depth interview with Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Beal said winning is his primary focus going forward. “I’ve been an All-Star, I’ve been an All-NBA guy, I’ve scored 30-plus points in back-to-back years,” he said. “What individual goals am I really after, right? Those would be great. Those come with winning. It doesn’t make sense to score 30 a game and get snubbed to be an All-Star because you’re not winning. So if we win games, those little accolades take care of themselves. But I just want to win. I want to be able to get my team to the playoffs, win a series, get to the next series, win a series, get to the conference finals, win that series, get to the finals and hopefully win that.”
- Beal also recently shared his thoughts on the team’s young players, Hughes writes in another story for NBC Sports Washington. The star guard was particularly pleased with forward Rui Hachimura, who will be a restricted free agent in 2023 after failing to reach a rookie scale extension. “Rui’s been spectacular all preseason and all summer. I think the work that he’s put in is starting to really show pretty often,” Beal said.
- The Wizards’ second unit has real upside in ’22/23, according to Hughes. Headlined by Barton, Hachimura, Delon Wright and Daniel Gafford, the bench combined to score 43 points in the 114-107 victory over the Pacers.
- Can the Wizards break out of their cycle of mediocrity? Wallace ponders that question in a piece for The Washington Post, noting that the team has drafted between ninth and 15th since 2018, which is arguably the worst place to be in the NBA — not bad enough to land a top pick, but not good enough to be relevant.
Myles Turner Sprains Ankle In Warmups, Misses Opener
Center Myles Turner missed the Pacers‘ regular season home opener versus the Wizards on Wednesday after suffering a sprained left ankle during warmups, Indiana announced on Twitter. Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files was the first to report when and where the injury occurred (via Twitter).
A source tells Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) that Turner landed on a ball boy’s foot, which led to the injury.
It’s a very unfortunate start to the 2022/23 season for Turner, who hasn’t appeared in a regular season game since January. He missed the final 39 games of the ’21/22 season with a stress reaction in his left foot, so the fact that he sprained his left ankle is a bit worrisome.
We’ll have to wait for more updates on Turner’s status to determine how much action he might miss. The two-time blocked shots leader, whose name has been floated extensively in trade rumors, is in the final year of his contract, which will pay him $18MM this season.
In 431 career regular season games, the 26-year-old holds averages of 12.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 2.3 BPG on .489/.349/.768 shooting.
Caris LeVert Lands Cavs’ Starting Small Forward Job
Cavaliers swingman Caris LeVert has won the competition for the team’s starting small forward job and is slated to remain a starter for the “foreseeable future,” sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Third-year wing Isaac Okoro and fourth-year forward Dean Wade were LeVert’s primary competition for the role, according to Fedor, who notes that Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens and oft-injured Dylan Windler were also vying for the job.
The Cavs think LeVert brings the best blend of offense and defense to complement their young core starters in Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Fedor writes that LeVert had a “transformative offseason” as far as conditioning goes, giving him a leg up on the competition.
According to Fedor, the Cavs also “strongly believe” that LeVert, who’s not known for his defense, is capable of defending the top perimeter scorer on rival teams. LeVert has mostly played shooting guard in the past, but has also played some point guard and small forward.
There was some concern that Okoro, who also had a strong offseason and reworked his shot, wouldn’t be enough of an offensive threat, and the hope is that he’ll play with more freedom as a reserve, Fedor adds. LeVert’s ability to break down defenses could make life easier for Garland and Mitchell, though his shooting is a little shaky.
Wade, who suffered a sprained right ankle during preseason, says he’s recovered from the injury and ready to play in tonight’s season opener at Toronto, Fedor tweets. Wade signed a three-year, $18.5MM extension last month to remain with the Cavs until 2026.
Cleveland acquired LeVert from Indiana in February ahead of the trade deadline, giving up a lottery-protected first-rounder (it didn’t convey in 2022 and is still lottery-protected this season) and swapping an early second-round pick (used on Andrew Nembhard) for a late one (the Cavs selected Luke Travers, who’s being stashed in Australia). The Cavs also gave up Utah’s 2027 second-rounder in the deal.
2022/23 is a big season for both LeVert and Okoro. LeVert is in the final year of his contract and will be extension-eligible until the end of the league year, while Okoro is eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer.
Timberwolves Waive Eric Paschall
The Timberwolves have waived forward Eric Paschall, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team confirmed the news in a press release.
Pachall was on a two-way deal with the Wolves, so they now have a two-way opening after releasing him. Minnesota also recently converted center Luka Garza to a two-way deal from an Exhibit 10 contract, waiving guard A.J. Lawson to make room for him.
According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Wolves were “very excited” to land Paschall on a two-way deal, but it sounds like he may have been cut due to “lingering Achilles issues.” He only appeared in one preseason game for the Wolves for 13 minutes, scoring one point.
The No. 41 pick in the 2019 draft, Paschall began his NBA career with the Warriors and had an impressive rookie season in Golden State in 2019/20, averaging 14.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 60 games (27.6 MPG). His role declined in his second season and he was traded in the 2021 offseason to Utah, where his minutes dipped further.
In 58 appearances last season for the Jazz, the 25-year-old averaged 5.8 PPG and 1.8 RPG on .485/.370/.767 shooting in 12.7 MPG. He was eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Utah and became unrestricted.
It took about a month for Paschall to find a new team in free agency, and he said he contemplated retirement before ultimately accepting the two-way deal with Minnesota.
“It was just a lot, you know what I’m saying?” Paschall said. “I feel like mentally I wasn’t in the greatest place. Just tired. I was like, ‘I might just stop playing basketball.’ … You see the other players getting picked up, you’re not getting a call. You’re calling your agent every day. So I was at a point where I was like I might walk away.”
It’s unclear what the future holds for the three-year veteran, but he’ll clear waivers on Friday if he goes unclaimed.
Northwest Notes: Murray, Porter, Jazz, Collison
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday about Jamal Murray‘s impending return to the Nuggets‘ lineup, reigning MVP Nikola Jokic attempted to keep expectations in check for his star teammate with a tongue-in-cheek assessment of what he expects from Murray.
“I love to play with him, of course,” Jokic said, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “I know he’s gonna be really bad for the next 20 games, but we’re gonna survive.”
Jokic’s answer wasn’t a serious one, but there’s some element of truth to it, Singer observes. While Murray may not be “bad,” he’s also unlikely to look like his old self right away following an 18-month rehab from an ACL tear. Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets seem to recognize that a return to normalcy for Murray will take time, and don’t want to put pressure on him coming out of the gate.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Michael Porter Jr. knows that he and the Nuggets faced criticism when he went down last fall with a season-ending back injury shortly after signing a five-year, maximum-salary extension, but he remains determined to prove the team made the right call signing him to that deal, as he tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “I’m trying to be the best draft pick Denver’s ever had,” Porter said. “We got a lot of really good players, and my goal is to be one of those guys who they look back on drafting me and they’re very thankful that they took a chance on me.”
- Asked whether Donovan Mitchell asked the Jazz for a trade before being sent to Cleveland, CEO Danny Ainge declined to say one way or the other, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. “You know, I’m not going to even comment on that, just because those are private conversations,” Ainge said. “If he doesn’t want to say it to you … You can keep asking him that question, but I won’t divulge our private conversations.”
- Former Thunder big man Nick Collison, who worked last season as a special assistant to GM Sam Presti, will be in a new role this year, having earned the title of amateur evaluation scout, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.
Several Players Set To Receive Salary Guarantees
Most players who are still on non-guaranteed contracts as the NBA’s regular season begins won’t have their salaries for 2022/23 fully guaranteed until January. The league-wide salary guarantee date is January 10, and teams must waive players on non-guaranteed contracts on or before January 7 in order to avoid being on the hook for the full-season salaries.
However, a number of players on non-guaranteed deals have language in their contracts that calls for them to receive full or partial guarantees if they’re not waived before their team’s first game of the regular season. Those players are as follows:
Full guarantees:
Dalano Banton (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($300,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,563,518).- Keita Bates-Diop (Spurs): Non-guaranteed salary ($1,878,720) becomes fully guaranteed.
- Justin Champagnie (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($325,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,637,966).
- Tre Jones (Spurs): Partial guarantee ($500,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,782,621).
As our full list of early salary guarantee dates shows, Isaiah Joe (Sixers), Josh Jackson (Raptors), and D.J. Wilson (Raptors) also would’ve had their salaries become fully guaranteed if they had remained under contract through their teams’ first regular season games. However, they were all waived within the last week. Joe has since signed with the Thunder on a deal that includes a guaranteed first-year salary.
Partial guarantees:
- Matthew Dellavedova (Kings): Non-guaranteed salary ($2,628,597) becomes partially guaranteed ($250,000).
- Haywood Highsmith (Heat): Partial guarantee ($50,000) increases to $400,000.
- Luke Kornet (Celtics): Partial guarantee ($300,000) increases to $1,066,639.
- Chima Moneke (Kings): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to $500,000.
- Markieff Morris (Nets): Non-guaranteed salary ($2,905,581) becomes partially guaranteed ($500,000).
- KZ Okpala (Kings): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to $500,000.
- Edmond Sumner (Nets): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to $500,000.
Guarantee dates are a matter of negotiation between a team and a player, so there’s nothing stopping a club from approaching a player and asking him to agree to push that date back. If a player feels as if he’ll be waived if he says no, he may agree.
This happened last season, for instance, when Isaac Bonga‘s and Sam Dekker‘s contracts with the Raptors called for their salaries to be fully guaranteed as of opening night. Both players assented to moving their guarantee dates back to November 6. When that new deadline arrived, Toronto opted to retain Bonga and guarantee his full salary while waiving Dekker.
In other words, it’s not yet a sure thing that all the players mentioned above will get the guarantees described here, even if they remain under contract through Wednesday (or Tuesday, in Kornet’s case). We may get word in a day or two that a couple of them agreed to postpone their salary guarantee dates.
For the most part though, we should count on this group of players receiving some added security, with a handful of names coming off our list of players who still have non-guaranteed salaries.
Mavericks Sign Facundo Campazzo
OCTOBER 19: Campazzo’s one-year deal with Dallas is non-guaranteed, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). The guard will earn $10,552 per day as long as he remains under contract.
OCTOBER 18: The Mavericks have officially signed free agent guard Facundo Campazzo, the team announced today (via Twitter). Dallas had an open spot on its 15-man regular season roster, so no corresponding move was required to make room on the roster for the new addition.
After initially reporting the Mavs’ interest in Campazzo, Marc Stein said last Thursday that the two sides were in advanced discussions on a one-year deal. Multiple subsequent reports indicated that the veteran point guard would sign with the team, and he reportedly arrived in Dallas over the weekend to take his physical and put pen to paper.
Campazzo spent the last two seasons with the Nuggets after establishing himself as one of the best point guards in the EuroLeague. He averaged 5.6 points, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in 130 appearances (20.1 MPG) across his two seasons in Denver, knocking down just 37.2% of his shots from the floor.
The Mavericks entered training camp hoping that one of their in-house options would emerge as a reliable third ball-handling option behind Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie, but ultimately decided to add an experienced veteran to fill that role to open the season.
Campazzo’s friendship with Doncic likely helped him stand out from the other free agent point guards the Mavs could have targeted — the duo played for Real Madrid from 2015-18.
Campazzo reportedly received a one-year deal and it’s a safe bet that it’ll be worth the veteran’s minimum ($1,836,090). However, it’s unclear whether or not it’ll be guaranteed. Dallas’ other 14 players on standard contracts all have guaranteed salaries, so if Campazzo’s deal is non-guaranteed, it would give the club some flexibility with that 15th roster spot.
Trail Blazers Notes: Little, Domingo, Billups
As we noted on Tuesday, Nassir Little‘s four-year, $28MM deal with the Trail Blazers features the lowest average annual value of any rookie scale extension since Jeremy Lamb inked a three-year, $21MM contract in 2015.
Explaining his decision to accept a relatively modest long-term extension offer, Little said the new deal gives him “security” and “peace of mind,” as Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report details in a Twitter thread.
“For me, it’s more money than I make now, it’s more money than I’ve ever made in my life,” Little said. “I can bet on myself to make more money, but I don’t play this game just to make money. I have $28 million on the table, I’ll just take it.”
With a strong, healthy season in 2022/23, Little likely could’ve done much better as a restricted free agent next summer, which he acknowledged in his comments to reporters. However, he’s comfortable with opting for stability instead of attempting to maximize his earnings.
“I’m not gonna lie, I think my talent level is worth more than that,” Little said of his $28MM contract, per Highkin. “But with me having an injury history, and them still taking a chance on me, I want to be here. I’ll probably perform at a level that’s worth more than that, but being in Portland is what I want.”
Here’s more on the Blazers:
- Little’s four-year extension is a win-win for him and the Blazers, Jason Quick writes for The Athletic. While Portland is in position to get a potential bargain on a rotation player through 2027, Little can relax and not have to worry about playing for a contract this season. “You’ll have guys tell you that contract years are stressful years and I just think for me, it takes a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Little said. “Just a lot of anticipation goes away, so now I can just focus in and secure stuff for myself and my family. I should be good for the rest of my life.”
- The Trail Blazers have made a new addition to their front office, announcing today in a press release that they’ve hired BJ Domingo as director of player personnel. A former scout for the Bucks, Domingo became the assistant director of the U.S. men’s national team in 2021 and will help bolster Portland’ “global scouting efforts”, according to general manager Joe Cronin. “BJ has evaluated talent at the pro level, collegiate and amateur ranks while developing great relationships across the world,” Cronin said in a statement.
- Chauncey Billups‘ first season as a head coach went about as poorly as possible, as his superstar (Damian Lillard) played just 29 games, the man who hired him (Neil Olshey) was dismissed less than two months into the season, and a team with playoff aspirations won just 27 games. However, as Bill Oram of The Oregonian relays, Billups is unfazed by how year one played out and looking forward to showing what he’s capable of in year two.