Southwest Notes: Burke, Terry, Martin, Spurs, Konchar
The Mavericks used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign both free agent guard Trey Burke and No. 31 pick Tyrell Terry, as Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports details (Twitter links).
Burke’s three-year contract with the Mavericks, initially reported as a $10MM deal, actually has a total value of $9.45MM, starting at $3MM in 2020/21, per Smith. However, it does include a third-year player option and a 7.5% trade kicker, which would provide Burke with a modest bonus if he’s dealt before the contract expires.
Terry, meanwhile, will get a first-year salary of about $1.29MM, well above the rookie minimum. The final three years will be all be worth the minimum, with a team option on the final season, according to Smith. In total, Terry’s four-year contract with the Mavericks is worth $6.52MM, with $4.59MM in guaranteed money.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- The Rockets‘ four-year deal with KJ Martin (aka Kenyon Martin Jr.) is worth the minimum and is fully guaranteed in 2020/21 only, tweets Smith. His salaries for the three subsequent seasons will become guaranteed two days before the start of the offseason moratorium of each new league year.
- Derrick White (recovering from toe surgery), Quinndary Weatherspoon (knee surgery), and Keldon Johnson (foot ailment) won’t be available when the Spurs begin practicing in the coming days, head coach Gregg Popovich said this week (link via Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News). “I’m not sure exactly when they are coming back, but they won’t be there in the beginning,” Popovich said.
- After signing a two-way contract as an undrafted rookie last season, Grizzlies guard John Konchar parlayed a strong first-year audition into a four-year deal with the team this fall. As Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, Konchar got on FaceTime with his mother immediately after agreeing to terms with the club. “It seemed like she was about to cry. I mean, the feeling was just amazing,” Konchar said.
Quinndary Weatherspoon Back With Spurs On Two-Way Contract
NOVEMBER 24: The Spurs have officially announced Weatherspoon’s two-way deal, issuing a press release to confirm the signing.
NOVEMBER 22: The Spurs will sign second-year shooting guard Quinndary Weatherspoon to another two-way contract with the team, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
The 6’3″ guard, an All-SEC honoree for his last three years with Mississippi State, was drafted by the Spurs with the 49th pick last season, who signed him to his initial two-way contract at the time. He received a qualifying offer earlier this week to run things back. As a two-way player, such a deal typically signifies that Weatherspoon will net at least $50K from San Antonio.
The 24-year-old appeared in 11 games with San Antonio during his rookie season, averaging 1.1 PPG and 1.0 APG in 7.1 minutes per contest. Weatherspoon averaged 14.8 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 3.8 RPG across 36 games (including 35 starts) for the Spurs’ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, during 2019/20.
Suns’ Saric, Spurs’ Poeltl Among Players Receiving QOs
A series of players have received qualifying offers from their respective teams, making them restricted free agents this fall, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Those players include Suns forward Dario Saric, Suns guard Jevon Carter, Grizzlies two-way guard John Konchar, Spurs big man Jakob Poeltl, and Spurs two-way players Quinndary Weatherspoon and Drew Eubanks.
Saric and Poeltl are the most notable names in the group and were also the most likely to receive qualifying offers, since Phoenix and San Antonio will want to retain the ability to match offer sheets on those players. Saric’s QO is worth about $5.1MM, while Poeltl’s is for approximately $4.6MM.
Saric, Poeltl, and the other players who received qualifying offers could accept those one-year contract offers, but will likely try to negotiate new, longer-term deals, either with their own teams or with rival suitors.
The Pistons won’t be extending a qualifying offer to two-way player Jordan Bone, so he’ll become an unrestricted free agent, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Meanwhile, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster confirmed this week that the club will be making its annual qualifying offer to EuroLeague guard Nando De Colo, per Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link). Currently a member of Fenerbahce in Turkey, De Colo hasn’t played in the NBA since 2014, but would be a Raptors RFA if he wants to return, since Toronto has issued a QO each year since then.
Southwest Notes: Ingram, Popovich, Doncic, Zion
Brandon Ingram had planned to be a Lakers star for a long time, but that changed when Anthony Davis became available last summer. Ingram was part of a package of young talent that was sent to the Pelicans for the star big man, but he has fond memories of his three seasons in Los Angeles, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register.
“I think it’s love from each end, because if it was a bad remark or a negative remark, maybe go back, re-tune something and get better at it,” he said of his relationship with Lakers fans. “If it was a good remark, then I thank them for knowing the game of basketball and the person that I am, and that I was gonna get better. So it’s all love from each side. I still got love for the Laker fans, I still got love for the Duke fans.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Gregg Popovich continues to stress player development even though his Spurs are in the middle of the battle for the eighth and ninth seeds in the Western Conference, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Veteran guard Patty Mills sat out Friday’s win over the Jazz to give time to Keldon Johnson, Quinndary Weatherspoon and Drew Eubanks, none of whom have playoff experience. “This is all about development, I’ve said that from the beginning,” Popovich said. “The young guys, they get evaluated, we see them playing together and we get to determine how valuable they are in terms of the guys we want to move forward with.”
- The Grizzlies used a lineup change Friday to pick up their first win since arriving in Orlando, Vardon adds in the same story. Brandon Clarke had been replacing injured big man Jaren Jackson Jr., but coach Taylor Jenkins opted to go with Anthony Tolliver. Memphis outscored Oklahoma City by 21 points while Tolliver was on the court.
- Three ESPN writers look at what to expect from Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as he gets ready for his first NBA playoff series.
- Zion Williamson is expected to be ready to face the Spurs tomorrow in a crucial game in the playoff race, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Williamson missed Friday’s game, but the Pelicans didn’t list anyone on today’s injury report.
Quinndary Weatherspoon Signs Two-Way Deal With Spurs
The Spurs have signed second-round pick Quinndary Weatherspoon to a two-way contract, according to a team press release.
Weatherspoon, a 6’4” guard out of Mississippi State, was the 49th overall pick last month. He’s already appeared in three summer league games, averaging 15.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.0 APG.
San Antonio has now filled both of its two-way slots. Big man Drew Eubanks, who appeared in 23 games with the Spurs last season, holds the other spot.
Weatherspoon played all four college seasons with the Bulldogs and became the third player in school history to accumulate over 2,000 career points. He earned All-SEC honors in his final three seasons, including a spot on the First Team in his senior year when he posted a career-best 18.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.68 SPG.
Pacific Notes: Thompson, Caroline, Fall, Kings’ Staff
Mychal Thompson, father of Warriors star Klay Thompson, said there’s “no question” Klay will re-sign with Golden State, Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The Warriors are expected to offer him a full five-year maximum deal worth nearly $190MM despite Thompson’s knee injury during Game 6 on Thursday. Thompson suffered a torn left ACL and is expected to miss most of next season.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Nevada forward Jordan Caroline worked out for the Lakers on Thursday and the Kings on Friday, Jordan Schultz of ESPN tweets. Former UCF center Tacko Fall will also work out for the Lakers before the draft, Schultz adds in another tweet.
- Guards Jalen Adams (UConn) and Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State), forwards Shaqquan Aaron (USC) and Markis McDuffie (Wichita State) and center Dylan Osetkowski (Texas) also worked out for the Kings on Friday, according to a team press release.
- The Kings have officially named former Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov, Bob Beyer, Jesse Mermuys and Roy Rana as assistant coaches under Luke Walton, according to a team press release. Bobby Jackson, Jonah Herscu and Will Scott will round out the staff.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Wade, Raptors, Workouts
The Celtics own three of the first 22 selections in the NBA draft and we reported last month that the team was expected to shop at least one of those picks. It appears that Boston has begun making calls with Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders connecting Houston as a potential trade partner for the franchise.
Boston has interest in Clint Capela, though the big man is not the organization’s top priority. As we wait to see if Capela is shipped to Boston or if Danny Ainge‘s squad unloads a first-rounder elsewhere, let’s take a look at some draft notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers worked out six prospects on Monday, per Derek Bodner of The Athletic (Twitter link). Jarrell Brantley (College of Charlestown), Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan), Caleb Martin (Nevada), Jeremiah Martin (Memphis), Jaylen Nowell (Washington), and Marcel Ponitka (Arka Gdynia) all participated in drills for the franchise.
- Sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) that Dean Wade (Kansas State) will work out for the Nets. Wade has had six workouts since the NBA Draft Lottery.
- The Raptors had six prospects in for workouts on Monday, per Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link). Simisola Shittu (Vanderbilt), Isaiah Pineiro (San Diego), Aric Holman (Miss State), Daulton Hommes (Western Washington), Armoni Brooks (Houston), and Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra) all worked out for the team.
- Six more prospects worked out for the Raptors today, Murphy tweets. Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Javon Bess (St. Louis), Kyle Alexander (Tennessee), Jakeenan Gant (Louisiana), Jalek Felton (North Carolina) and Quinndary Weatherspoon (Miss State) all participated in drills for Toronto.
Sixers Notes: Marjanovic, Butler, Harris, Workouts
Boban Marjanovic only spent a half season with the Sixers, but it was enough to make him want to stay. In an interview with the Serbian website Zurnal (translated by Stefan Djordjevic of EuroHoops), Marjanovic said his preference in free agency is to remain in Philadelphia.
“ I don’t know what will happen. … I should, almost 90 percent, stay in Philadelphia but that’s not known yet, just speculation,” he said. “It was nice for me there, so why not.”
“The team is great, the players are talented,” Marjanovic added. “I think we had a chance to be the team playing the Finals this year but we had that bad luck of conceding the last-second basket. The city lives for basketball and sports in general. They have hockey, baseball, football, they follow everything, everything is organized until the very end and everybody knows who and what you are. Wherever you appear, everybody recognizes you because they follow all of it. A very nice experience.”
There’s more news from Philadelphia:
- The Sixers are in position to get another top free agent if they lose Jimmy Butler or Tobias Harris, writes Derek Bodner of The Athletic. If Butler leaves and they keep Harris, it would only take a small move to reach $38.15MM in cap space ( 35% of the cap), such as trading away Jonah Bolden‘s nearly $1.7MM salary or the No. 24 pick. If Butler stays and Harris goes, they can only get to $30MM in cap room by renouncing all their other free agents. They can reach a 30% max slot by finding a team willing to take Zhaire Smith and their first-rounder without sending any salary back.
- The Sixers are busy with workouts ahead of the June 20 draft. Today’s session featured Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, Delaware’s Eric Carter, Fairfield’s Jonathan Kasibabu, Buffalo’s C.J. Massinburg, Michigan’s Charles Matthews and Mississippi State’s Quinndary Weatherspoon, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Tomorrow, Philadelphia will welcome Temple’s Shizz Alston Jr., Australia’s Harry Froling, Alabama’s Donta Hall, Wake Forest’s Jaylen Hoard, Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins and Belmont’s Dylan Windler (Twitter link).
- Villanova’s Phil Booth and Eric Paschall will both participate in a session on Saturday, Pompey writes in a full story.
Atlantic Notes: Kawhi, Lowry, Knicks, C’s, Sixers
While their star players haven’t been forced out of action like some Warriors have been, the Raptors are dealing with some health issues of their own in these NBA Finals, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
According to Vardon and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the leg injury that has been bothering Kawhi Leonard since the Raptors’ series against the Bucks is a left knee issue. While the right quad injury that sidelined Leonard for nearly all of 2017/18 hasn’t been a problem, his knee pain stems from overcompensating for that quad issue, Vardon writes.
Meanwhile, Vardon also provides more specifics on Kyle Lowry‘s left hand injury, noting that the Raptors’ All-Star point guard has a ligament tear in his thumb. Lowry has previously hinted that he may need to undergo a surgical procedure on the injury after the season, but he appears set to play through it for the rest of the Finals.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- While the Knicks‘ top free agent targets are getting all the press, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic believes there are a number of under-the-radar free agent options who could prove useful for New York this summer. Vorkunov identifies Kevon Looney, Patrick Beverley, Al-Farouq Aminu, Jeremy Lamb, and several others as possible targets for the Knicks.
- The Knicks brought in Mississippi State prospects Quinndary Weatherspoon and Aric Holman for a workout on Monday, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter links). New York also got a look at Markis McDuffie (Wichita State) and Phil Booth (Villanova), and will work out Kerwin Roach (Texas) tomorrow, league sources tell Vorkunov (Twitter link).
- Admiral Schofield (Tennessee), Jason Burnell (Jacksonville State), Jordan Bone (Tennessee), Milik Yarbrough (Illinois State), Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), and Ty Jerome (Virginia) worked out for the Celtics on Monday, per Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link). According to team executive Austin Ainge, the C’s have already worked out 70 prospects in preparation for this month’s draft (Twitter link).
- Terence Davis (Ole Miss), Zach Hankins (Xavier), Terry Harris (North Carolina A&T State), and Garrison Mathews (Lipscomb) are among the prospects who worked out for the Sixers today, according to a team release.
Southeast Notes: Allen, Hornets Workouts, Beal, Young
Malik Allen was the only member of Tom Thibodeau’s former staff who was retained by the Timberwolves after Ryan Saunders had the interim tag removed earlier this week. However, Allen may be on the move as well. He has emerged as a prime candidate to replace Juwan Howard on Erik Spoelstra’s staff, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Howard left the Heat to take the University of Michigan head coaching job.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets are bringing in six prospects for a workout on Saturday, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. That group includes Ar’Mond Davis (UC Santa Barbara), Jon Axel Gudmundsson (Davidson), Nathan Knight (William & Mary), Reggie Perry (Mississippi State), Josh Reaves (Penn State) and Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State). Weatherspoon, a shooting guard, heads that group as ESPN Jonathan Givony’s No. 57 overall prospect.
- Bradley Beal didn’t become eligible for a supermax extension as he was left off the All-NBA teams. The Wizards shooting guard could still be on the move this summer, Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington writes. If Washington decides to rebuild, it could trade Beal for assets and salary cap space. In Standig’s view, the Lakers, Celtics and Knicks could be among the most likely destinations, particularly if they strike out in pursuit of high-level free agents.
- Hawks point guard Trae Young believes his style of play will help bring in quality free agents, as he declared in an interview with 92.9 The Game (hat tip to E. Jay Zarett of the Sporting News). “If you’re looking to have the ball in your hands, if you’re looking to score a lot of points – I mean, a lot of players in the league know if you come play with me, I’m going to make sure I get you the ball,” Young said. “I think that’s something that attracts a lot of big players.”