Pacific Notes: Lakers, Knight, Kings
There’s pressure on the Lakers to get a second star, but it’s far from urgent, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes. So long as the franchise continues to practice patience, they’ll remain flexible enough to have options.
As things stand, the club has $5.7MM in cap space. That figure could grow to as much as $15.5MM if the club waives and stretches Luol Deng‘s contract over three seasons. They can get as high as $22.8MM if they can unload the deal altogether with “at least a first-rounder attached,” Pincus says. That flexibility would make a Brandon Ingram-for-Kawhi Leonard swap financially feasible.
Of course the Lakers could wait to see if a different trade for a star beckons, as reports suggest with Jimmy Butler and as is at least borderline conceivable with Damian Lillard.
An alternative to making a move this season would be giving center Brook Lopez the Lakers’ remaining $5.7MM of cap space on a one-year deal, retaining all of their young players in an audition to see who best fits with LeBron James, then going out shopping for a star next summer.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:
- The Suns may have their go-to point guard already on the roster. Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic writes about how head coach Igor Kokoskov has referred to Brandon Knight as their starter and that the guard seems to already have a better relationship with Kokoskov than he did with Earl Watson.
- The Suns are making progress in their rookie scale extension negotiations with Devin Booker, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets, noting that they could have something finalized by the end of the weekend.
- Signing either Zach LaVine or Jabari Parker would require the Kings to reshape their roster, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. The club currently has plenty of young players they’d like to develop. The Kings already have Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield at the two while they just drafted Marvin Bagley to play the four.
Kings Still Weighing Offer For Zach LaVine?
The Kings, who were said to have interest in Zach LaVine before free agency officially began, may still be eyeing the restricted free agent, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
During a conversation with colleague Bobby Marks on his podcast, Wojnarowski suggested on Wednesday that LaVine may be the best bet of the remaining restricted free agents to receive a lucrative offer sheet. According to Woj, the Kings have been “pretty serious” about LaVine and still have approximately $18-20MM in cap room to make an offer, if they so choose.
The Bulls still have plenty of cap flexibility and could comfortably match a four-year, $80MM offer for LaVine. However, an offer sheet in that range would put some pressure on the Bulls, who reportedly preferred to bring back their RFA guard on an average annual salary closer to $14-16MM. Given the tepid market for restricted free agents so far, Chicago may have been hoping to get an even more team-friendly deal.
LaVine is one of several notable restricted free agents who has yet to reach a contract agreement so far, joining Clint Capela, Jabari Parker, Marcus Smart, and Jusuf Nurkic, among others. It’s not clear if the Kings are considering offer sheets for any of those other players — the team was reportedly eyeing Parker earlier in free agency, but he may no longer be a Sacramento target.
Hawks Among Those Interested In Zach LaVine
Count the Hawks among those interested in Bulls guard Zach LaVine, Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. They’ll join a handful of suitors that also includes the Kings, as we wrote about earlier this week.
Atlanta, like Sacramento, will have plenty of cap space to throw at the restricted free agent. A bidding war between clubs well short of the cap, coupled with the 23-year-old’s hypothetical ceiling, could drive the former slam dunk champion’s forthcoming contract through the roof.
While there are concerns about LaVine’s health following an ACL tear in early 2017, he remains a world-class athlete that averaged 18.9 points per game half-way through 2016/17 before succumbing to the injury.
LaVine performed admirably in just over a third of a season with the Bulls but Chicago may pause at the thought of matching a max or near-max contract offer sheet should either the Hawks or Kings decide to go that high.
It’s worth noting that Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk has been particularly conservative financially throughout his short tenure with the franchise. That said, the chance to net a potential All-Star young enough to build around may prove too much to resist.
Lowe’s Latest: James, Thunder, RFAs
The Lakers may not necessarily need a star in place to lure LeBron James, Zach Lowe of ESPN writes in a massive round-up of free agency notes. If James were to sign in Los Angeles alongside the team’s existing young stars and plethora of cap space they’d immediately become one of the league’s most appealing destinations for the next 12 months.
The comment comes in response to the notion that the Lakers are growing desperate to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs prior to James’ opt-in deadline tomorrow at 10:59pm CST. As things stand, both the Celtics and Sixers appear poised to offer better packages than what Lowe speculates L.A. might.
The King’s decision will have a ripple effect on the rest of the league, especially the Eastern Conference. If the Raptors, for example, were to watch James head to the West, it would make keeping their current core in place more appealing considering that their path to the Finals would be hypothetically easier.
Here’s a taste of the rest of Lowe’s findings:
- If the Thunder can convince Paul George to return to Oklahoma City, it will be a monumental victory for general manager Sam Presti. If he leaves, the club would be forced to at least think about blowing the current squad up and trading Russell Westbrook.
- Only six teams have notable amounts of potential cap space and half of those – the Hawks, Bulls and Kings – are telling teams that they’re interested in using that space to absorb bad contracts and pick up assets.
- It’s unclear that there will be much of a market for Derrick Favors beyond, potentially the Mavs. It may make more sense for the big man to stay with the Jazz after finally starting to click alongside Rudy Gobert in Quin Snyder‘s offense last season.
- The two best candidates to sign a qualifying offer this summer and approach next summer as unrestricted free agents are Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic. Lowe writes that Nurkic turned down a “rich” four-year extension last fall but might have a hard time finding a team willing to offer more than the mid-level exception this summer.
- It stands to reason that Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker will yield significant offers from the Magic, Bulls and Bucks respectively but none of those teams have reason to offer a max contract right away.
- The Pacers could make life harder for the Magic by putting together an offer in the $20MM range for Gordon. Lowe writes that there has been “mild discontent for years” about Gordon’s role in Orlando’s offense.
- The Nuggets tried “feverishly” to trade for a second first-round pick last Thursday in the hopes of nabbing Zhaire Smith. Denver’s 2019 first-rounder was on the table in those talks.
For more free agency notes, including some potential contract extension candidates and the reasoning behind Nikola Jokic not getting a player option in the fifth year of his new deal with the Nuggets, check out the full feature at ESPN.
Zach LaVine On Kings’ Radar, Receives QO From Bulls
The Bulls have tendered a qualifying offer to Zach LaVine putting him on track to become a restricted free agent on Sunday, per RealGM’s official transactions log. When LaVine reaches the open market, he can expect to draw interest from the Kings, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune, who hears from league sources that Sacramento is considering signing LaVine to an offer sheet.
After failing to meet the starter criteria due to his ACL injury, LaVine is in line for a qualifying offer worth $4,333,932. The 23-year-old could accept that one-year offer from the Bulls with an eye toward unrestricted free agency in 2019, but he’s more likely to sign a long-term deal this summer.
LaVine could receive that long-term offer from the Kings, who project to have up to about $19MM in cap room, assuming Garrett Temple exercises his player option. That would be enough to accommodate a lucrative multiyear offer for LaVine, though the Bulls would likely match something in the four-year, $80MM range, according to Johnson. An offer closer to the max would give Chicago pause, Johnson adds. Based on a $101MM cap, a four-year max contract projects to be worth over $108MM.
[RELATED: Kings interested in Jabari Parker, Mario Hezonja]
The Bulls viewed LaVine as a franchise building block when they acquired him from the Timberwolves last summer. Although the team still envisions having LaVine on its roster for years to come, the front office also wants to make sure not to overpay the young guard, and would like to maintain flexibility to add another core piece if the opportunity arises, writes Johnson.
LaVine is one of a handful of Bulls who are eligible for restricted free agency. We heard earlier today that David Nwaba has received a qualifying offer from the club, and two-way player Ryan Arcidiacono got one too, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
Noah Vonleh isn’t in Chicago’s plans and won’t receive a qualifying offer, according to Johnson. Vonleh will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Free Agent Rumors: Favors, LaVine, Curry, Hezonja
Jazz forward Derrick Favors has set up a few free agent meetings, Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News tweets. Favors is happy in Utah but wants to go through the free-agent process to determine his best course of action, Woodyard adds. Favors, 26, averaged 12.7 PPG and 7.2 RPG last season. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said recently he’d like to keep the team’s core intact. The Wizards, Bucks and Warriors have been mentioned as potential landing spots for Favors.
In other developments involving players heading to free agency:
- At least one Western Conference team is preparing to make a run at Bulls restricted free agent guard Zach LaVine, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Johnson anticipates the Bulls would prefer to re-sign LaVine in the $14-16MM range annually but might balk if he receives an offer sheet worth $20MM or more per year.
- Mavericks guard Seth Curry has been medically cleared after missing last season with a left tibia fracture, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Curry, an unrestricted free agent, has been engaged in full basketball-related activities for a month, Wojnarowski adds. Curry had a breakout season with Dallas the previous year, averaging 12.8 PPG and 2.7 APG while starting 42 of 70 games.
- The Nets are interested in Magic forward Mario Hezonja, Brian Lewis of the New York Post hears. Hezonja has not lived up to his billing after being the No. 5 pick of the 2015 draft but the Nets think highly of him and aren’t afraid of reclamation projects, Lewis continues. Hezonja, who averaged 9.6 PPG last season, is an unrestricted free agent after Orlando declined to pick up his fourth-year option last year. Brooklyn has pursued top-level restricted free agents in recent years but is unlikely to do so this summer because the front office would like to create room for two max players next summer, Lewis adds.
Bulls Rumors: LaVine, Draft Trade Talks, Hutchison
When the Bulls acquired Zach LaVine a year ago in a draft-night blockbuster with Minnesota, the team made it clear that it viewed the young guard as a long-term building block. The Bulls maintained that stance even after failing to agree to terms on a rookie scale extension with LaVine during the 2017 offseason, conveying that they fully intended to lock up LaVine in restricted free agency.
Now, with LaVine’s restricted free agency right around the corner, his return to the Bulls may not be the absolute lock it once was. According to Nick Friedell of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the “near universal support” LaVine once had internally in the organization isn’t there anymore.
A long-term deal for LaVine in Chicago remains a real possibility, but the Bulls plan to wait to see if he receives a big-money offer from another team, per Friedell. If the 23-year-old signs an offer sheet with a rival suitor, the Bulls could then decide if they want to match it.
LaVine’s ability to contribute in his first season with the Bulls was limited by his recovery from an ACL tear. The club should be able to reasonably expect more going forward from the former lottery pick than the modest production it got in his first 24 games in Chicago (16.7 PPG, .383/.341/.813 shooting).
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- The Bulls liked several big men at the top of the draft, including Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Mohamed Bamba. However, the price to move up was too high for the team, sources tell Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago. According to Goodwill, Chicago likely would have had to surrender the No. 22 pick and a future first-rounder to trade up from No. 7.
- Executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson explained that it didn’t make sense for the Bulls to give up so many pieces at this point in their rebuild, Goodwill relays. “We feel we’re in a situation at this time of our rebuild that to give up assets, important draft assets to move up a spot or two, that didn’t make sense to us and the way we’re planning,” Paxson said. “We continue to talk about being patient and disciplined in how we make decisions.”
- General manager Gar Forman on the team’s trade options and eventual No. 7 pick: “We’re always looking and probing for opportunity. How close we got, we don’t know. We looked into some things. We thought it was more than a six-player draft. And Wendell [Carter Jr.] is a guy we’ve been high on for quite awhile.”
- The Bulls reportedly made a promise to No. 22 pick Chandler Hutchison very early in the pre-draft process. While Paxson and Forman declined to comment on that alleged promise, Paxson said the club likes the Boise State forward “a lot,” per Goodwill. “We scouted him early, scouted him often. He knew we liked him,” Paxson said. “He addresses a position of need. We had debates on wings and players at his position. His ability to rebound and take it off the board, those things are really valuable, especially the way we want to play.”
Charania’s Latest: Clippers, Doncic, Kawhi, RFAs, More
While no trades are likely to be completed until closer to – or during – draft night, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports believes there could be a lot of movement in this year’s draft, with several teams looking to trade up or down. Appearing today on Chris Mannix’s podcast, Charania pointed specifically to the Clippers as a team that has weighed the possibility of moving up. With the Nos. 12 and 13 picks currently in hand, L.A. could put together an intriguing package, and they’ve looked “heavily” at Real Madrid star Luka Doncic, according to Charania.
Here are more highlights from Charania’s appearance on the Yahoo Sports NBA podcast:
- Addressing the Kawhi Leonard situation in San Antonio, Charania indicated that an extension or a trade are the probable outcomes for the star forward this summer — it’s unlikely that the Spurs would keep him for next season without a new deal in place. However, both sides are interested in mending fences and clearing up last season’s miscommunications. Leonard is also nearing 100% health and should be ready to go to start next season, Charania adds.
- In a look at the restricted free agent market, Charania identified Magic forward Aaron Gordon and Bulls guard Zach LaVine as two players who could command max or near-max deals and are unlikely to change teams. He also speculated that the Suns, Kings, and Pacers are among the clubs with cap room who could be fits for Celtics RFA Marcus Smart, and said that there seems to be mutual interest between the Mavericks and Julius Randle.
- Raptors guard Fred VanVleet and Bulls swingman David Nwaba are two under-the-radar restricted free agents in line for sizable raises, in Charania’s view. He expects both players to land deals worth more than $5MM, noting that Toronto may have to use its full Early Bird exception (approximately $8.5MM) to retain VanVleet.
- While outside observers around the NBA remain skeptical about the Thunder‘s chances of re-signing Paul George, Oklahoma City is still exuding confidence, according to both Charania and Mannix. Charania observes that George and Russell Westbrook have become “really close,” which could factor into the forward’s decision.
- Many people around the league don’t expect former Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo to get another NBA job anytime soon, if at all, per Charania.
Central Notes: LaVine, Parker, Pistons
Comments from Bulls vice president John Paxson suggest that the franchise is keen on letting the market decide pending restricted free agent Zach LaVine‘s value and, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times writes, the 23-year-old’s fate remains a dicey topic.
Cowley writes that a source of his claims that LaVine’s camp regards him as a max or close-to-max player but that the Bulls may not be so sure.
The Bulls, he adds, have been passive in restricted free agency negotiations in the past, “lowballing” Jimmy Butler back in 2015 and letting the market dictate Nikola Mirotic‘s value last summer.
“Well, the market dictates a lot and how things go,” Paxson said. “I think the market has tightened up a little bit the last couple of years since the spike. [The Bulls] obviously value Zach a lot, and we think he’s a part of our future, but he has the opportunity to explore things.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Expect the majority of Pistons players to return to Detroit next season but some are more likely to leave than others. Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press writes that he believes the players most likely to suit up for the team in 2017/18 are Blake Griffin and Luke Kennard, while the odds of Andre Drummond returning to Motor City are closer to 85%.
- An ESPN report in January suggested that the Bucks offered Jabari Parker a three-year, $54MM contract extension last summer. We wrote about the alleged offer several months ago. This week, the forward himself shot down that report, joking that he wishes that was the case. Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel transcribed a recent radio interview the 23-year-old gave with the Milwaukee Basketball Hour.
- Two Bulls players that Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times does not expect to return next season are Paul Zipser and Jerian Grant. The former doesn’t have a high enough ceiling and the latter has already last the backup point guard spot to Cameron Payne.
Central Notes: Pacers, Van Gundy, Pistons, LaVine
Victor Oladipo is the strong frontrunner for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, and his play this season may indirectly result in another award landing in Indiana. As Dakota Crawford of The Indianapolis Star writes, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has a strong case for Executive of the Year, in large part due to how his much-criticized trade for Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis has worked out.
Here’s more from around the Central division:
- Pistons owner Tom Gores is scheduled to meet after the season with president and head coach Stan Van Gundy. While Gores is still said to be mulling Van Gundy’s future, the Pistons owner has treated Van Gundy as a partner during his time in Detroit, and figures to give the veteran coach an opportunity to make his case to stick with the team, says Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. Ellis wonders if Gores and Van Gundy could agree to bring a new voice into the front office to help with salary cap management, since the Pistons have had a habit of overpaying role players in recent years.
- Although the Pistons fell short of the postseason this year, Blake Griffin believes the club has the talent to “make a run” in the East in 2018/19, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
- Bulls guard Zach LaVine may not have the leverage to land a maximum-salary contract this offseason in restricted free agency, but he wants to continue to work toward being a “max player.” Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago has the details.
- Don’t expect a whole lot of roster turnover for the Bulls this summer, writes Mark Schanowski of NBC Sports Chicago. As Schanowski observes, it’s still probably too early in the club’s rebuilding process to make a big splash in free agency.