Amir Coffey Rumors | Hoops Rumors

L.A. Notes: Clippers, Coffey, George, Lakers, AD

October 6th, 2022 at 12:36pm CST by Rory Maher

John Hollinger of The Athletic previews the Clippers for the 2022/23 season, writing that with the league’s deepest roster and stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George back and healthy, they should be among the best teams in the league. Hollinger predicts the Clippers will go 54-28 and finish as the No. 1 seed in the West, but thinks the Warriors have a better shot of making the NBA Finals.

There are a couple of question marks on the roster, even though it’s very deep, especially on the wing. According to Hollinger, the Clips need either John Wall and/or Norman Powell to step up and be a “third star” to complement Leonard and George, with shot creation and getting to the free throw line top priorities.

The other weakness of the roster is center, with only Ivica Zubac as a true five on the 15-man roster. Hollinger thinks it might be a tall order to have Robert Covington play full-time backup center in the regular season, and wonders if the team might use its last standard roster spot on a traditional center.

Here’s more on the two Los Angeles teams:

Amir Coffey, a Minnesota native who played college ball for the Golden Gophers, says he fulfilled a lifelong dream by signing a three-year, $11MM contract as a restricted free agent. “It’s a dream come true,” Coffey told Marcus Fuller of The Star Tribune. “Just playing in the league and doing something I’ve been wanting to do since I was a kid. Just putting all that work in and having it pay off is a good feeling.” Coffey had a breakout third season in ’21/22 after spending the bulk of his career on two-way deals, averaging 9.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 1.8 on .453/.378/.863 shooting in 69 games (30 starts, 22.7 MPG).
George recently sat down for an interview with Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (video link) and discussed a number of topics, including joining forces with Leonard, his health, leadership, recruiting Wall, and more.
The Lakers started Patrick Beverley and Austin Reaves in place of Kendrick Nunn and Damian Jones during Wednesday’s preseason game against Phoenix as coach Darvin Ham was taking a look at a small-ball lineup, tweets Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. Star Anthony Davis sat out the game for “precautionary” reasons due to lower back tightness, Goon notes (via Twitter).

Clippers Re-Sign Amir Coffey To Three-Year Contract

June 30th, 2022 at 7:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 6: The Clippers have officially re-signed Coffey, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

JUNE 30: The Clippers will re-sign 25-year-old restricted free agent shooting guard Amir Coffey to a three-year, $11MM contract, agents Bill Duffy and Marlon Harrison have revealed to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).

After going undrafted out of Minnesota in 2019, Coffey joined L.A. on a two-way contract. He played sparingly at the NBA level during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, averaging 3.2 PPG across 62 total contests.

Coffey initially returned to the Clippers on a two-way deal in 2021. In five games with the Clippers’ NBAGL club, the Agua Caliente Clippers, Coffey averaged 19.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.2 SPG. He was ultimately promoted to the club’s 15-man roster in March.

In 69 games with Los Angeles during the 2021/22 season, including 30 starts, Coffey averaged 9.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.8 APG and 0.6 SPG in 22.7 MPG. He posted shooting splits of .453/.378/.863. Presumably, the 25-year-old’s minutes and touches may be reduced with the full-time returns of All-Star wings Kawhi Leonard and Paul George next season.

Los Angeles has been making sure it re-signs several key role players already during free agency, anticipating a deep postseason run in 2022/23. The team will reportedly extend center Ivica Zubac on a three-year, $33MM deal, and also is set to bring back forward Nicolas Batum on a two-season, $22MM agreement.

QO Decisions: M. Brown, Coffey, Pinson, Two-Way FAs

June 29th, 2022 at 6:49am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers won’t be issuing a qualifying offer to free agent big man Moses Brown, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). A qualifying offer for Brown would have been worth $2,076,674, but Cleveland will instead let him become an unrestricted free agent.

Brown has bounced around the league since debuting in 2019, appearing in games for Portland, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Cleveland. He has flashed some potential, averaging 6.0 PPG and 5.8 RPG in just 14.1 MPG in 92 career appearances, and could catch on with a new team this summer.

Here are a few more updates on qualifying offer decisions from around the NBA:

Clippers wing Amir Coffey has received a qualifying offer after earning a promotion to the team’s standard roster in 2021/22, per RealGM’s official NBA transactions log. Coffey’s QO projects to be worth $2,076,674 based on a $122MM salary cap and makes him a restricted free agent.
The Mavericks have issued two-way player Theo Pinson a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Because Pinson is ineligible to sign another two-way contract, his QO will be worth his minimum salary (projected to be $1,941,833), including a small partial guarantee of $86,946. Dallas reportedly wants to have him on its 15-man roster this season.
The following players coming off two-way contracts have received qualifying offers and are now restricted free agents, according to RealGM’s transactions log: Hawks guard Sharife Cooper, Bulls forward Malcolm Hill, and Kings big man Neemias Queta. Those QOs would all be for new two-way deals, with partial guarantees worth $50K.
The Warriors extended a qualifying offer to former guard Nico Mannion, per RealGM. Mannion played for Virtus Bologna in Italy in 2021/22 after leaving the NBA last summer, but Golden State continues to hold his rights in the event that he returns stateside. He received a two-way qualifying offer with a $50K partial guarantee.

Clippers Notes: Leonard, George, Covington, Batum, Hartenstein, Outlook

April 16th, 2022 at 8:40am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers were a much more optimistic bunch than most teams after getting eliminated from playoff contention, Jim Alexander of the Orange County Register writes. That’s due to the return of perennial All-Star Kawhi Leonard from his knee injury, plus the expectation that Paul George will have better injury luck next season.

In addition to being out for most of the season due to an elbow injury, George missed Friday’s play-in tournament loss to New Orleans after testing positive for COVID-19.

“We get our main guys back. I mean, we can be dangerous,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “I think when you get Kawhi and PG back healthy, Norm (Powell for) a full season … this team can be pretty special. But it’s all about health. Our young guys (Terance Mann, Amir Coffey, (Luke) Kennard, Ivica Zubac), all those guys have (had) a chance to develop and play meaningful games. They played big for us. Our veteran guys, we already talked about what Marcus (Morris), Nico (Batum), Reggie (Jackson) have brought to this team. We got to get back, get back to the drawing board. But I’m very excited for this group, the guys coming back.”

We have more on the Clippers:

Robert Covington will be an unrestricted free agent this summer but the prospect of playing with Leonard and George is enticing to him, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets. “The way that we played tonight when we went small, imagine PG and Kawhi in that lineup,’ he said. “That’s a lot of versatility … Once them guys come back next year, if I’m here, I’m really looking forward to that.”
By trading for Covington, the Clippers also acquired his Bird rights, which will allow them to exceed the salary cap and luxury tux to retain him, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes in his guide to the team’s offseason. They don’t have a first-rounder due to the George trade but they will have two trade exceptions of $9.7MM and $8.3MM, plus the taxpayer mid-level exception of $6.3MM, to make roster upgrades.
Another potential decision is whether to re-sign Batum if he declines his $3.3MM option, Yossi Gozlan of Hoops Hype notes in his offseason preview. They hold Non-Bird rights on another unrestricted free agent, Isaiah Hartenstein. Gozlan also breaks down the remaining salary due to each player on the roster.
After blowing two chances to make the playoffs, the Clippers are in typical wait-til-next-year mode, Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times opines. Despite the rosy outlook, the Clippers can’t guarantee that Leonard will regain his pre-injury form, that the chemistry will be the same or that someone else won’t get hurt.

Los Angeles Notes: James, Davis, Coffey, Ojeleye, Powell

March 28th, 2022 at 10:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis are listed as doubtful to play Tuesday at Dallas, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets. James injured his left ankle against New Orleans on Sunday and under treatment on Monday. In Davis’ case, it’s an upgrade. Davis went through a full, live practice for the first time since he suffered a mid-foot sprain on February 16.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

Amir Coffey has been a steady contributor since Clippers forward Paul George was sidelined and his status won’t change when the perennial All-Star forward potentially returns on Tuesday, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register tweets. Coffey is averaging 8.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 1.8 APG in 23.6 MPG in his third NBA season. “He’s earned it, last three years, the work he’s put in … this season he’s kind of kept us afloat,” Lue said.
Coffey had his two-way contract converted to a standard one this weekend and Semi Ojeleye was waived to make room for him on the 15-man roster. It was due to the franchise’s desire to reward Coffey rather than anything regarding Ojeleye’s play. Lue said Ojeleye “did everything right” and was sad to see him depart, Greif tweets.
Norman Powell still has a number of steps to go before returning from his left foot injury. The Clippers forward has done some shooting but hasn’t progressed beyond that in his recovery, Greif added in another tweet.

Clippers Waive Ojeleye, Convert Coffey, Sign Moon

March 26th, 2022 at 1:35pm CST by JD Shaw

The Clippers have called up guard Xavier Moon from their G League affiliate, signing him to a two-way contract, agent Stacey Leawood told Hoops Rumors. To create roster space, the team has promoted two-way player Amir Coffey to the 15-man roster and has waived veteran wing Semi Ojeleye, who was acquired in a trade last month.

Coffey, 24, earns a rest-of-season deal after playing 62 games with the club this season. He most recently finished with 21 points in a loss to the Sixers on Friday, shooting 9-of-15 from the floor. Converting Coffey to a standard contract will allow the Clippers to have him available during the playoffs.

Moon, a 6’2″ point guard, signed three 10-day contracts with Los Angeles earlier this season. The club was quickly impressed by his production and maturity, as the 27-year-old averaged 5.5 points and 1.7 assists in 13.8 minutes per contest.

Moon, the nephew of former NBA player Jamario Moon, has also been impressive in the G League. He has averaged 18.8 points, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game with Agua Caliente, shooting 46% from the floor and 38% from three-point range.

Ojeleye was traded from Milwaukee to Los Angeles in the four-team deadline deal that sent Serge Ibaka to the Bucks. The Clippers’ primary motive in that trade was to reduce their tax bill — Ojeleye appeared in 10 games for L.A. following his arrival, but mostly saw garbage-time minutes. He’ll clear waivers on Monday, assuming he goes unclaimed, but wouldn’t be playoff-eligible for a new team.

The Clippers currently rank eighth in the Western Conference standings at 36-39. The team has seven games left on its schedule, which includes outings against the Jazz (45-29) on Tuesday and Bulls (42-31) on Thursday.

Pacific Notes: Wiseman, Mann, Coffey, Sabonis, Davis

March 16th, 2022 at 9:20am CST by Dana Gauruder

James Wiseman‘s third and perhaps final G League game with the Santa Cruz Warriors should temper expectations regarding his impact, according to Taylor Wirth of NBC Sports Bay Area. Wiseman ran the floor well but even though he contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes, he also committed six turnovers on Tuesday. The Warriors’ big man has a long way to go to regain his offensive rhythm but he’s only expected to play 12-18 minutes per game during the team’s stretch run.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Clippers decided not to add a point guard at the trade deadline or through the buyout market. That looks like a wise move in the aftermath of their overtime loss to Cleveland on Monday, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times writes. With Reggie Jackson getting a rest, the Clippers had 29 assists and just 11 turnovers with Terance Mann and Amir Coffey among the ball-handlers initiating the attack.
Kings forward Domantas Sabonis said this week that he intends to play for Lithuania in the EuroBasket tournament this summer, James Ham of ESPN 1320 tweets. He was a member of the Lithuanian National Team during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Even if Anthony Davis returns soon from his foot ailment, it won’t fix the Lakers, Bill Oram of The Athletic opines. LeBron James has acknowledged that it may be too late to develop chemistry and maximize the team’s potential. “It puts a Band-Aid on some things,” he said of Davis’ potential return. “But I mean, we just haven’t had enough chemistry, enough time with our group to be able to know exactly who we are and who we can become.”

Trail Blazers Trade Powell, Covington To Clippers

February 4th, 2022 at 5:37pm CST by Luke Adams

5:37pm: The trade is now official, Portland announced in a press release.

1:29pm: The Trail Blazers and Clippers have agreed to a trade that will send swingman Norman Powell and forward Robert Covington to Los Angeles in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson, and Detroit’s 2025 second-round pick, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links).

It’s a fascinating move for a Clippers team that is currently missing Kawhi Leonard (ACL) and Paul George (elbow). As we relayed this morning, there’s a belief that Leonard probably won’t return this season, while George’s recovery timeline remains up in the air.

However, there’s little reason for the Clippers to throw in the towel on this season. Despite its modest 27-27 record, the club is firmly in the play-in picture, holding the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Additionally, Los Angeles doesn’t control its own 2022 first-round pick, having sent it to Oklahoma City in the George trade, so there’s no incentive to finish in the lottery.

Powell is a talented scorer and shooter who is averaging a career-high 18.7 PPG in 40 games (33.3 MPG) this season, along with a .406 3PT%. His three-point rate has been at 39.9% or higher in each of the last four seasons. Covington, meanwhile, is more limited on offense and has been inconsistent as a shooter this season (.381 FG%, .343 3PT%), but is a versatile defender with plenty of postseason experience.

Powell, a Southern California native who will reunite with former Toronto teammates Leonard and Serge Ibaka, signed a five-year, $90MM contract with Portland in August, so the Clippers will control him for the long term. Covington will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but L.A. will have his Bird rights, allowing the team to go over the cap to re-sign him.

The Clips already project to be way over the luxury tax line next season, so the club may be reluctant to commit to Covington beyond 2021/22 without moving off another contract, such as Marcus Morris‘. That decision won’t have to be made for at least a few months though. In the meantime, this deal will increase L.A.’s projected tax bill this season by about $19MM, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The move will also open up a spot on the Clippers’ 15-man roster, potentially allowing them to promote Amir Coffey from his two-way contract. That had been a goal for the team as it approached the deadline, tweets Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.

It looks at first glance like a modest return for the Blazers, but they’ll get a chance to take a flier on a young prospect in Johnson and will benefit financially from the move. According to Marks, the deal takes Portland out of tax territory for this season.

Moving off Powell’s long-term money and taking back Bledsoe’s pseudo-expiring contract (only $3.9MM of his $19.4MM salary next season is guaranteed) will give the Blazers more financial flexibility going forward and will create more room in the backcourt for emerging guard Anfernee Simons, who is in the midst of a breakout year and will be a restricted free agent in the offseason.

I wouldn’t expect Bledsoe to be part of the Blazers’ long-term plans, but Winslow could stick around beyond this season. He’s under contract for about $4.1MM in 2022/23. Johnson’s rookie contract runs through 2024/25.

Having parted ways with one of their leading scorers and one of their top defensive players, the Blazers will see their playoff odds for this season dip a little. The team currently holds a play-in spot, but only has a 1.5-game cushion on the 11th-place Pelicans and has an underwhelming record of 21-31.

Portland would send its 2022 first-rounder to Chicago if the pick lands outside of the lottery. Taking a longer-term view, the front office – led by interim general manager Joe Cronin – may actually prefer to miss the playoffs, since it would allow the team to keep that first-rounder and would give Damian Lillard more time to recover from his abdominal surgery — it’s a safe bet Lillard won’t rush back from that injury to join a lottery-bound squad for the home stretch.

It’s unclear what this deal will mean for CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, two of Portland’s other top trade candidates. The club still has six more days to continue making trades, but it wouldn’t be shocking if one or both of those longtime Blazers stays put through the February 10 deadline. McCollum is under contract for two more seasons beyond this one, while Nurkic will be an unrestricted free agent in July.

Portland will create a $6.5MM trade exception in the deal, tweets Marks.

Pacific Notes: Fox, Moody, Warriors, Coffey

February 2nd, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said his injured left ankle is improving and he hopes to play tonight against the Nets, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Fox, who is listed as questionable after missing the last five games, said an MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, but he still experiences pain on cuts and lateral movements.

“It’s getting better,” Fox told reporters after this morning’s shootaround. “I want to come back as close to 100% as I can.”

Sacramento dropped all five games that Fox missed, part of an overall seven-game losing streak that has the team three games out of the play-in tournament. The Kings are just 1-8 this season without Fox in their lineup.

Fox said the injury occurred in a January 19 game against Detroit. He was able to finish that game, but was held out three days later against the Bucks due to problems with the ankle.

“I’ve twisted my ankle a lot of times,” he said. “That’s the reason I wear ankle braces, and usually I’m fine and it will hurt for a little bit, but in Milwaukee it just felt different. Tried to do a move and it hurt, so I was out and it’s kind of been lingering … so for me it’s just trying to be able to come to a stop without feeling pain.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors rookie Moses Moody has been putting up big numbers in the G League all season while waiting for his chance to show he can score at the NBA level. With Golden State’s starting backcourt sitting out Tuesday’s game in San Antonio, Moody hit six three-pointers on his way to a 20-point night, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Yeah, it’s an opportunity,” Moody said. “I’ve been waiting patiently on it, I knew it would come. Now that it’s my time to shine, I’ve been preparing. When preparation meets opportunity, that’s when things happen.”
The Warriors were missing seven rotation players on Tuesday, providing a glimpse at how they believe they can be successful in the future while contending for a title now, notes Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. “We want this franchise to be special for a long time,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I want this team to succeed for long after I’m gone from coaching. … Tonight was a great high for us.”
Amir Coffey, in his third season as a two-way player, was an unlikely candidate to save the Clippers‘ season, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. But since he joined the starting lineup following an injury to Paul George, Coffey is playing a team-high 31.4 minutes per night and averaging 14.7 PPG.

Clippers Re-Sign Amir Coffey To Two-Way Contract

September 27th, 2021 at 11:05am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 27: Coffey’s deal is now official, the Clippers confirmed in a press release announcing their 20-man training camp roster.

SEPTEMBER 24: The Clippers are re-signing free agent wing Amir Coffey to another two-way contract, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank told reporters today (Twitter link via Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times).

Coffey, who was the last remaining restricted free agent on the market, received a qualifying offer from the Clips back in July to make him a restricted free agent, so his options were limited. He’ll likely get a little guaranteed money on his new two-way deal, and Frank suggested he’ll also get a chance to compete for the 15th spot on Los Angeles’ regular season roster.

Coffey, 24, has spent the last two seasons on a two-way contract with the Clippers, averaging 3.2 PPG and 1.0 RPG on .433/.387/.673 shooting in 62 total games (8.9 MPG). He appeared in 44 regular season games and another 10 playoff contests in 2020/21.

The Clippers will now have a full 20-man roster for training camp, with 14 players on guaranteed contracts, four on non-guaranteed deals, and Coffey and Jay Scrubb on two-way contracts.

Given how far the team is over the tax line, I wouldn’t be surprised if L.A. only carries 14 players on its standard roster to start the season. Even if the club opts for a 15th man, Coffey may be hard-pressed to beat out camp invitees like Harry Giles and Isaiah Hartenstein, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he simply remains in the two-way slot to start the year.