Shake Milton

Scotto’s Latest: Jones, Wright, Hayes, Grizzlies, Okoro, More

February 5th, 2024 at 1:54pm CST by Rory Maher

He may not be a splashy name, but veteran point guard Tyus Jones is drawing interest from a variety of teams on the trade market, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

The Lakers and Timberwolves have previously been linked to Jones, which Scotto confirms. However, he also adds three new possible suitors to the list: the Magic, Spurs and Nets.

As Scotto previously reported, the Wizards want a first-round pick back for Jones, preferably one beyond the 2024 draft, with a chance at being a top-20 selection. However, rival executives are reportedly confident that Washington will ultimately accept multiple second-rounders for the 27-year-old, who likely wouldn’t be a starter in certain situations and is on an expiring $14MM contract.

Jones has been the NBA’s assist-to-turnover leader for several years running and is posting career highs in several categories as a full-time starter for the first time in his NBA career, averaging 12.2 PPG, 6.3 APG (against 0.9 TOV), 2.8 RPG and 1.2 SPG on .491/.392/.758 shooting in 49 games (28.5 MPG). He has limitations too of course, namely size (he’s listed at 6’1″, 196 lbs.), which limits his defensive versatility.

It’s worth noting that San Antonio currently deploys Jones’ younger brother, Tre Jones, as its starting point guard, though the Spurs are reportedly on the lookout for a long-term fixture at the position, viewing Tre as more of a strong backup.

The Magic seem like an odd fit for Jones, since they have Markelle Fultz (another impending free agent), Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black as backcourt players who can initiate offense, though those duties are frequently handled by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Jones would obviously help on the turnovers front, but he’s small as opposed to rangy and athletic, which is the mold of the rest of Orlando’s roster, and he isn’t a high-volume long-range shooter (3.7 three-point attempts per game), which is a team weakness.

Here’s more from Scotto’s latest rumor round-up:

The Celtics, Kings and Timberwolves are among the teams with interest in Wizards guard Delon Wright, sources tell Scotto. Washington is looking for second-round picks for the veteran guard, who had a previous stint with Sacramento back in 2020/21. Known for his excellent defense, Wright is on an expiring $8.2MM contract.
Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required) reported on Sunday that Killian Hayes‘ camp preferred a change of scenery, and sources tell Scotto the Grizzlies are among the teams to show interest in the fourth-year Pistons guard. Hayes has fallen out of Detroit’s rotation of late and could be a restricted free agent if given a qualifying offer this summer. As for players rivals teams are monitoring from Memphis’ side, Scotto hears Xavier Tillman, Ziaire Williams and Jake LaRavia are all considered potential trade candidates. Tillman will be an unrestricted free agent, while former first-rounders Williams (third year) and LaRavia (second) are still on rookie scale deals.
Forward Danilo Gallinari is another Pistons trade candidate, Scotto adds, with the Lakers checking in on the asking price for the Italian veteran.
Cavaliers wing Isaac Okoro is considered a trade candidate by rival teams, Scotto writes. One GM who spoke to HoopsHype speculated that Okoro could get $14MM annually in free agency this summer — right around the projected mid-level exception for 2024/25. As with Hayes, Okoro will be a restricted free agent if he’s tendered a qualifying offer, otherwise he’d be unrestricted and free to sign with any team. According to Scotto, the Knicks, Hawks, Pacers, Suns and Bucks are all worth watching, as they all have an interest in two-way wings.
In addition to Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Bones Hyland and Wright, the Timberwolves also have interest in Pistons guard Alec Burks, Scotto reports. As Sankofa reported, the Pistons value Burks and “aren’t eager” to part with him. Sankofa suggested it would take a “strong offer” for Detroit to trade the 32-year-old, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. As for players Minnesota might move, rival executives are eyeing Wendell Moore, Shake Milton and Troy Brown, according to Scotto.
The Timberwolves are “hopeful” about their chances of re-signing veteran point guard Mike Conley this summer, Scotto adds. Conley, 36, has started all 45 of his games this year for Minnesota, averaging 10.6 PPG, 6.4 APG, 2.8 RPG and 1.0 SPG while shooting 43.6% from long distance. He’s making $24.4MM in the final year of his deal.
The Celtics continue to look for bench upgrades, with minimum-salary players and draft picks the likely outgoing pieces in a deal, according to Scotto.

Trade Rumors: Suns, Biggest Needs, Warriors, Lewis, More

January 13th, 2024 at 11:13am CST by Tristan Tucker

Instead of focusing on acquiring a true point guard for their roster, the Suns are more interested in trying to bring in an athletic wing, NBA on TNT’s Chris Haynes said during a broadcast (via Inside The Suns).

“A lot of people will point to a point guard, but in talking with the Suns they believe that with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, they feel like they need the ball in their hands. They feel like they don’t need another point guard that’s going to take the ball away [from their stars],” Haynes said during the broadcast.

It’s unclear what specific players the Suns are targeting but Haynes expects the market to heat up in the near future, which could provide some clarity.

“Obviously around this time of year, this is when things start to get serious,” Haynes said. “Right now teams are posturing — there’s not a whole lot of sellers right now, but I expect things to change over the next week or so. I think things will really get serious.”

We have more trade rumors from around the league:

Staffers from The Athletic pooled together to break down what all 30 teams in the league should be targeting at the trade deadline. The article mostly focuses on archetypes of players, with Doug Haller agreeing with the notion the Suns need another perimeter defender. Some writers gave specific trade targets for teams, with Andrew Schlect identifying Utah’s Kelly Olynyk and Brooklyn’s Royce O’Neale as two targets who make sense for the Thunder.
In the same article, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater writes the Warriors have “poked around” the center market and could dangle Chris Paul‘s expiring salary. Slater also believes Andrew Wiggins is more likely to be traded at the deadline than Jonathan Kuminga.
A trade involving Pelicans guard Kira Lewis Jr. to avoid the luxury tax feels “inevitable,” according to The Athletic’s William Guillory. While that’s speculation, it has been obvious for months that such a move makes sense. If the Pelicans do move on from Lewis, they should target shooting in return, Guillory writes. Otherwise, he expects New Orleans to have a relatively quiet deadline unless something changes in the next few weeks.
Some recent acquisitions haven’t panned out the way teams may have thought when signing or trading for them, and those teams could look to move said players. The Athletic’s Jay King and Jared Weiss write the Celtics could use another option on the wing since Oshae Brissett hasn’t taken a stranglehold on a rotation spot. Signing Shake Milton hasn’t panned out for the Timberwolves‘ bench, Jon Krawczynski writes, and the team needs more bench scoring as a result. Other recent acquisitions who haven’t quite played up to expectations and could be on the move or supplanted, per The Athletic’s staffers, include the Clippers‘ P.J. Tucker and Jock Landale of the Rockets.
The Wizards have a number of players who could appeal to contending teams, according to The Athletic’s Josh Robbins, including Tyus Jones, Delon Wright, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala. Robbins writes the goal in any trade, along with obtaining first-round picks, should be to get young prospects who haven’t been able to crack rotations on other teams.

Northwest Notes: Watson, Edwards, Milton, Jazz

December 9th, 2023 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

A rotation player this season after logging limited minutes as a rookie, second-year Nuggets guard Peyton Watson has Deion Sanders’ portrait in his locker to remind of the type of defender he wants to be, writes Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. Watson, who has earned praise from teammates Nikola Jokic and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for his defensive play and his energy, explained his thinking.

“I just thought it was the most admirable thing that teams would literally throw away from his side (first) through (third) downs. Then, on fourth down, (they) punt out of bounds so he couldn’t return it. Like, you can’t even let this guy get involved in the game,” Watson said. “I admire the mentality and how he approached the game.”

While minutes have fluctuated this fall for some of the Nuggets’ reserves, Watson has remained a part of head coach Michael Malone‘s regular second unit, averaging more than 21 minutes per night in his past six games.

“He can guard bigs. He can guard smalls. I like how he’s playing right now,” Malone said. “He’s helping impact the game in a positive manner right now, and it’s great to see for a young player, taking advantage of the opportunities that’s being given to him.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who recently missed two games with a hip pointer and appeared to be favoring that hip in his return on Wednesday, exited Friday’s game after just three minutes (Twitter link). He’s undergoing further examination on Saturday and it remains unclear whether he’ll miss any additional time, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
The Shake Milton that scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting in Friday’s win over Memphis was the player the Timberwolves thought they were getting when they signed him in free agency this summer, according to Krawczynski, who suggests Minnesota will become an even more dangerous team if the guard’s Friday performance wasn’t a one-off. Head coach Chris Finch has been pushing the struggling Milton to be more confident and assertive, which was reflected in his play in Memphis, Krawczynski adds.
While Salt Lake City officials are working hard to keep the Jazz in the downtown area, the franchise has explored the possibility of building a new arena outside the city, including perhaps at the south end of Salt Lake County, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (subscription required). Larsen takes a deep dive into the story, examining the factors at play and clarifying that the team won’t be moving out of the Delta Center anytime soon.

Northwest Notes: Simons, Lillard, Milton, Jokic

November 26th, 2023 at 10:25pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Longtime Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard faced his former team for the first time with the Bucks on Sunday. Milwaukee won at home, 108-102. Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian writes that, ahead of the game at least, Lillard wasn’t sweating the meeting.

“I thought I would be anticipating more but I’m not really caught up into it,” Lillard said. “I think it’ll be something that I think about more when we go back to Portland. But them coming here, it just feels like another game where I’m gonna see people that I used to spend a lot of time with. The team is really different.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Trail Blazers starting shooting guard Anfernee Simons has been sidelined with a thumb injury for all but one game this year, but he remains an active leader with Portland even while not playing, writes Fentress in a separate piece. “It was definitely frustrating, obviously, seeing your team struggle a little bit and not being able to pull out close games,” Simons said. “Those are the times where you kind of get, you know, I wouldn’t say frustrated, but you wish you could be out there for sure, especially in those tough games.” Head coach Chauncey Billups elaborated on how Simons continues to help the struggling team: “He’s leading still and talking still and helping guys still. He’s just itching to get back out here and help.”
The Timberwolves are hoping their bench can find an offensive spark, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Minnesota’s reserves are struggling to score consistently. “I don’t think we’ve had enough punch off the bench in general,” head coach Chris Finch said. “Something that’s been kind of up and down for us is our bench production… Right now we’re struggling a little bit with it.” Backup combo guard Shake Milton – who is shooting a career-worst 37.8% from the field and 24.1% on three-pointers – has been particularly disappointing, Krawczynski notes.
Nuggets All-NBA center Nikola Jokic seems to be relatively at peace with what he sees as some generous refereeing with regard to his physical defenders, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “That’s normal,” Jokic told Durando. “Seems like some guys are getting more beneficial calls. Some guys are not. And that’s normal. And some guys can say a little bit more. Some guys can’t. And that’s normal. I accept it.”

Timberwolves Notes: Conley, Future, Milton

November 24th, 2023 at 10:46am CST by Luke Adams

Mike Conley and his family were prepared for the possibility of a trade out of Utah last season, but they began to become convinced as the trade deadline neared that they would stay put, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. After moving Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and Bojan Bogdanovic prior to the season, the Jazz remained in the postseason hunt for much of 2022/23, with Conley playing a key role for the club.

However, just before the deadline arrived, Utah agreed to a three-team deal with the Lakers and Timberwolves that sent Conley to Minnesota. It came as a shock to the Conley family, as Krawczynski details — Mike and his wife Mary weren’t together when the news broke and had to deal with the impact the move would have on their three children, who were seven, five, and three years old. Conley knows that trades are part of the business for highly compensated NBA players, but admitted it was a difficult time.

“You can make a lot of money, but if you get punched in the face, you’re still like, ‘Oh my God, that hurt,'” he said. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. But at this moment, it’s hurting me. So let me feel this for a second here and then move on.”

Nearly a year later, Conley and his family are enjoying life in Minnesota, according to Krawczynski, who notes that the kids have made new friends, while the veteran guard has taken to the area’s “lake life” off the court and embraced the opportunity he has with the Timberwolves on the court.

“It’s probably the best situation for me at this stage of my career,” Conley said. “Not only do we have a team that can be competitive to a contending team in no time, but I also get to be a part of that, like I’m not being thrown to the side where they say, ‘Hey, you know, you’re done playing. You’re not going to play much. It’s a leadership role.'”

Here’s more on Conley and the Wolves:

Conley is on an expiring contract and it may be a challenge for the Timberwolves to bring him back on a market-value deal, given their other financial commitments. However, Minnesota has no in-house point guard to replace him and Conley sounds open to the idea of trying to find a way to make it work with the Wolves beyond this season. “Why not chase it here and hope that my family adjusts and gets settled here right now and not have to run around for three or four more times before I retire,” he said, per Krawczynski. “And just because I’m chasing something I want, you’re not guaranteed to get it anywhere else you go anyway. So why not do it with people that love, respect you and treat you the way you want to be treated? This organization is all about heading in that direction.”
If the Timberwolves had fallen flat this season, it would’ve helped simplify some major roster decisions in 2024 and beyond, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. However, as long as this group continues to prove it’s capable of playing at a high level, the franchise’s future will become much more “nuanced,” according to Rand, who points out that Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, Gobert, and Jaden McDaniels will earn approximately $155MM combined next season. Keeping that core together will result in a very expensive roster.
Facing his former team for the first time on Wednesday, Timberwolves guard Shake Milton expressed appreciation to the Sixers for the years he spent there, as Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Milton added that he has been loving his time with the Wolves so far. “I just felt like this would be a good opportunity, and so far, it has been,” he said. “I love it out here, being in Minnesota, the people, the staff members. Just coming to work every day is really enjoyable. And we’re winning, too. You’ve got to love all three of those things.”

Northwest Notes: Jokic, Collins, Milton, Division Preview

October 14th, 2023 at 8:18am CST by Tristan Tucker

After winning the 2023 NBA Championship, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic made headlines throughout the summer by expressing his desire to go back home and then later partying in his hometown of Sombor, Serbia. ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk took a look back at “the summer of Jokic” and explored the center’s approach to the offseason.

Nuggets team president and governor Josh Kroenke didn’t text Jokic like normal this summer, Youngmisuk writes, instead allowing the two-time MVP to refresh.

“We all kind of left him alone,” Kroenke said. “For him to get away from basketball, be with his family and reconnect with who he is fundamentally is only going to be a benefit for the Nuggets and for basketball because he comes back fresh.”

Jokic claimed he only touched a basketball “a couple of times” this summer, but did stick to a routine he’s used through the past three years, which resulted in two MVPs and a championship, Youngmisuk details. Head coach Michael Malone noted the time of seemed to benefit Jokic mentally and when teammate Aaron Gordon came to visit during the summer, he was impressed by the depth of Jokic’s routine, according to Youngmisuk.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Gordon said. “He works out like a monster. … His regimen, his diet and how detail-oriented he is with his body, is second to none.”

Youngmisuk notes Jokic has been more vocal in practices and team settings, displaying a new type of confidence as he and the team aim for a second straight title.

“He’s only 28,” Gordon said. “So he’s going to get even smarter at manipulating the defense [and] offense. … I don’t see anybody stopping him. They still haven’t found the answer for him yet.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Jazz traded for forward John Collins this offseason after he had a productive six seasons with Atlanta, averaging 15.8 points and 8.0 rebounds. However, both Collins and Utah’s coaching staff understand getting the 6’9″ forward acclimated in a new system might take some time, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. “I have to adapt to a bunch of things that I wasn’t used to doing in Atlanta, and that’s part of the game, and I’m embracing it because it’s a new chapter for me and it also allows my game to grow,” Collins said.
Eight players in the Timberwolves‘ likely rotation for their first regular season game on October 25 were on the team at the end of last season, Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes. However, Wolves head coach Chris Finch said he’d like to ideally play a nine-player rotation, and Hine believes free-agent addition Shake Milton is likely to be that ninth player. Minnesota signed Milton to a two-year, $10MM deal after the guard averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 assists across his first five NBA seasons in Philadelphia.
The Northwest Division hosts the defending champion Nuggets, but also one of the few rebuilding teams in the league in the Trail Blazers. Tony Jones, Jason Quick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic preview the division which features rising stars like the Jazz‘s Walker Kessler and the Timberwolves‘ Anthony Edwards. The trio is bullish on the Thunder‘s Chet Holmgren, with Jones saying Oklahoma City getting him back from injury is the best offseason “addition” in the division. Meanwhile, Quick and Robbins believe Denver losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green are the moves with the biggest potential to backfire. I recommend checking out the article in full, if you’re an Athletic subscriber, to get a solid picture for the division next season.

Northwest Notes: Collins, Dunn, Adelman, Milton

October 10th, 2023 at 10:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

John Collins admits the constant trade rumors he endured during his time with the Hawks wore on him mentally, he told Sarah Todd of the Deseret News.

“It definitely didn’t help,” he said. “It made me think that I was doing something wrong. A little lost. I thought I’d been doing things right, leading in my way, helping in the community, being a part of the team and impacting things. Even through everything, especially with the contract I was able to earn, I thought I was moving toward something longstanding.”

Collins looks at this season with the Jazz as more than just a fresh start. He has noticed a different vibe in Utah’s locker room.

“To be successful in this league, you’ve got to think about yourself in a certain way,” he said. “But here, there’s that essence of wanting to win together, regardless of how good anyone is individually. It’s refreshing to be in a locker room with a lack of ego and I’m happy to be part of it.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Kris Dunn‘s future with the Jazz remains cloudy but he certainly didn’t hurt his cause in the preseason opener, Todd notes in a separate story. Dunn finished with 15 points, five assists, two steals and made all seven of his field goal attempts. Dunn’s $2.59MM salary will become guaranteed if he’s on the opening night roster.
David Adelman coached the Nuggets against the Suns on Tuesday, Katy Winge of Altitude TV tweets. Michael Malone is not with the team following the death of his father, longtime NBA coach Brendan Malone.
Shake Milton appears to be settling on the Timberwolves’ second unit behind Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards. Milton, who scored 12 points in the team’s preseason opener, will be looked upon for scoring with that unit, as well as being a trustworthy play-maker and pick-and-roll partner with Rudy Gobert, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. “We’ve talked a lot about him internally and been so happy and surprised, even better than we thought he could be,” coach Chris Finch said. Milton left the Sixers and signed a two-year, $10MM deal with Minnesota at the start of free agency.

Wolves Notes: Conley, Milton, Edwards, Offense

October 5th, 2023 at 4:16pm CST by Rory Maher

When veteran point guard Mike Conley was traded to Minnesota last season, he thought he would have a fairly limited offensive role for the Timberwolves. Instead, they wanted him to help guide the offense by not only managing the game, but being an aggressive scorer as well, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

“That kind of stuff is like alright, they need me,” Conley said after a recent training camp practice. “To win I have to do this. It just gave me a little bit more extra motivation to go out there and be myself, kind of get back to what I’m good at.”

As Krawczynski notes, the Timberwolves don’t have a long-term answer at point guard, with Conley turning 36 next week and in the final year of his contract. Still, the team hopes to keep the former All-Star for the rest of his career.

“When we got Mike, our goal was for this to be the last spot,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “You never know how things are going to develop. And certainly, we didn’t get Mike for just to be a short-term thing. When you get a person as special as Mike is, you want to be sure that he doesn’t leave here.”

Here’s more on the Wolves:

Minnesota has “high hopes” for free agent addition Shake Milton, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune, who tweets that the Wolves want to see Milton attempt more three-pointers in 2023/24. After the combo guard finished with 12 points (on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep) and four rebounds in 20 minutes on Thursday during Minnesota’s preseason win over Dallas, head coach Chris Finch said the team has been pleasantly surprised with Milton thus far. “We’ve talked a lot about him internally, being so happy and surprised, even better than we thought he could be,” he said, per Krawczynski (Twitter link).
Star guard Anthony Edwards sustained a minor ankle sprain in Wednesday’s practice which kept him out of action Thursday, but the team hopes it’ll just be a one-game absence, tweets Krawczynski. “Just being super cautionary right now with that,” Finch said. “We hope to have him back and playing on Saturday.”
After finishing last season ranked just 23rd in the league in offense, the Wolves plan to switch up some of their schemes in ’23/24, Hine writes for The Star Tribune. Finch prefers a free-flowing, read-and-react style, but the team sometimes struggled without structure and defined play calls in ’22/23, Hine notes. “We got to be able to give them the blueprint,” Finch said. “And that is, ‘These basic structures are going to help us.’ And maybe through muscle memory they will just gravitate to the right spots.”

Wolves’ Connelly Talks Gobert, KAT, Edwards, Milton

September 22nd, 2023 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

As we relayed on Thursday, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly spoke during an appearance on The Jon Krawczynski Show about the team’s desire to keep Jaden McDaniels around for the long term, telling Krawczynski that he’d love to get an extension done with the young forward before the season begins.

Connelly’s comments about McDaniels weren’t the only interesting takeaway from that conversation. As Krawczynski writes for The Athletic, the Wolves’ lead decision-maker also addressed several other topics related to the club’s offseason and expectations for the 2023/24 season, including why Minnesota is more optimistic about the pairing of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns heading into their second year together.

“We don’t have too much video, but we have enough video to understand where we were wrong and where we were right and kind of drill down on those things that were working and say, ‘Maybe we were wrong with this is how things potentially could work,'” Connelly said. “So I just think collectively, knowing all the actors is going to make things a whole lot easier.”

Here are a few more highlights from Connelly during his interview with Krawczynski:

On whether the Wolves viewed 2022/23 as a down year for Gobert:

“I think at times we kind of don’t appreciate how impactful it can be (for a player) to make a big move. And the first one. So I think Rudy was very good last year by NBA standards. I thought by his standards, I don’t think he played up to his standards. I think he’d be the first to tell you. He was coming off a brutal European championship where I think he played until maybe eight days before the season. Nobody works harder than Rudy. Nobody pays more attention and detail to every single aspect of his game, his body, his mental approach. And he’s super, super excited to have a more comfortable season both on and off the court.”

On why he has big expectations for Anthony Edwards this season:

“I think he’s primed to have a monster year. … His work ethic has been insane this offseason. I mean, the guy’s in the best shape of his life. He’s so excited to take the next step, excited with the guys on this team and what they can do as they grow together. But I think with him, anything that’s not sincere or not kind of true to who he is, I think he smells it out quickly. So him forging his path, I think is the challenge that we’ve given him. And how can we help ensure he’s doing it in a way that’s reflective of who he is?”

On the role the Wolves envision for free agent addition Shake Milton:

“We view Shake as a point guard. He’s started enough NBA games at that position where we feel confident that he can handle that load. He’s a guy that, when given the opportunity, he always produced and produced for good teams. Philadelphia has won as many games as anybody in the last three or four years. So we were excited to get him in. I think it gives us a different look with size at that position, his ability to score around the paint and his ability to be a good match for our bigs. He can make some of the passes that, at 6’5″, 6’6″, he’s allowed to make that maybe smaller guards can’t make. So we’re excited about him.”

Northwest Notes: Lillard, T. Brown, Milton, J. Collins, OKC

July 11th, 2023 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter (YouTube link) on Monday night to provide an update on the Damian Lillard trade talks, Adrian Wojnarowski said it’s still “very early” in the process, pointing out that there’s no deadline looming to force the Trail Blazers into action — or to push potential Lillard suitors to submit their best offers.

While the Clippers would “love to be part of this process,” they don’t necessarily have the sort of assets the Blazers are seeking for Lillard, according to Wojnarowski. Portland also isn’t particularly moved by what what the Heat has to offer, but that Miami package may be the best the Blazers can get, Woj suggests.

“Now it’s going to be a process over perhaps this month, August, maybe into September, for Portland to try to extract as much as they can from Miami,” Wojnarowski said. “It isn’t like Miami comes to the table and says, ‘Here’s everything we have for Damian Lillard. Here you go.’ It doesn’t start that way. They’re gauging what Portland has (had) offered to them elsewhere.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Troy Brown‘s two-year, $8MM deal with the Timberwolves is only guaranteed for one year, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Brown’s $4MM salary for 2024/25 is non-guaranteed. The Wolves used the same structure when they signed Shake Milton, whose $5MM salary for ’23/24 is guaranteed while his $5MM salary for ’24/25 isn’t, Hoops Rumors has learned. Nickeil Alexander-Walker‘s two-year, $9MM contract, on the other hand, is fully guaranteed.
After being the subject of trade speculation for years in Atlanta, John Collins is looking forward to getting a fresh start with the Jazz, he said during an interview on the team’s official website. “I was excited going to a place that I knew really wanted me and was trying to have me in the organization,” Collins said. “It’s always very nice to hear and know coming to a place that really wants you and really wants you to excel here. It’s a big sigh of relief knowing that all the trade talks are over and I can go to my new home and start anew.”
The Thunder‘s decision to use their cap room to accommodate salary dumps like Davis Bertans, Victor Oladipo, and Patty Mills this offseason reflected the team’s focus on its young core, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes. As Mussatto explains, with potentially pricey extensions coming down the road for players like Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City didn’t want to compromise future cap flexibility by signing a free agent to a long-term deal.

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