And-Ones: Euroleague, Aldridge, Huertas
For the first time on North American soil, two Euroleague powerhouses will go head to head when Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv and three-time European champs EA7 Emporio Armani Milan meet this fall. As Maccabi announced recently, the two squads will play at Chicago’s United Center on October 1st before heading to Madison Square Garden on October 4th.
Adding some intrigue to the games, Hoops Rumors has learned that it is very likely that Dragan Bender, whom Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress projects as a top-five pick in the 2016 draft, will be making the trip to the U.S. The Croatian star, who is signed to Adidas, did not take center stage at the Nike-run U19 World Championship games in June, but he’ll now get his chance to shine in NBA territory. Bender, who doesn’t turn 18 until November, has been wowing scouts for a long time with his play for Maccabi’s junior squad.
Euroleague teams have played exhibition games against NBA clubs in the past, but American fans will now be treated to one of Europe’s premier basketball rivalries. In 2014, Maccabi downed Milan in a playoff series to advance to the Final Four and eventually win the Euroleague title. In 1987 and 1988, Milan beat Maccabi in back-to-back championship games that featured legends such as Bob McAdoo and Mike D’Antoni, among others.
Here’s more NBA-related news:
- The key to perhaps the most significant free agent coup of the summer was Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka, who “got the deal done” between LaMarcus Aldridge and the team, Aldridge tells USA Today’s Sam Amick. Udoka, a long-ago teammate of Aldridge’s with the Trail Blazers, took a flight with the power forward after San Antonio’s pitch meeting and cleared some of the doubts in his mind as he weighed the Spurs against signing with the Suns. “Everybody was making this big fuss about how I’m not going to be able to take shots anymore, or be the scorer that I am, and he was just telling me, ‘We need a guy to score down there. Tim [Duncan] is older, and we need a guy to command a double team down there,’” Aldridge said in part. “So I was like, ‘Maybe I’m not a Spur, because I’ve been averaging 23 [points per game] for the last three to four years, and maybe I don’t fit into y’all’s system of let’s all average 17 [points per game].’ And he was like, ‘No, we’re not trying to change who you are and make you average 16 or 17. We want you to be you, because you’re going to help us be better and vice versa.’ He kind of reaffirmed that they didn’t want to change me, and that who I am is OK.”
- Point guard Marcelo Huertas, who had planned a jump to the NBA this season and had been expected to draw significant interest, has instead agreed to sign with Galatasaray of Turkey, according to the team (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Agent Gerard Darnes late last month denied reports that Huertas had a deal with the team at that point, though it appears that’s now the case.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Spurs Remain Interested In Rasual Butler
The Spurs continue to show interest in signing unrestricted free agent forward Rasual Butler, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops reports (via Twitter). San Antonio’s interest in the veteran was first noted by Jason Quick of The Oregonian back in early July. Butler has also reportedly garnered attention this Summer from the Warriors and the Trail Blazers, and Portland was even said to have made a contract offer to the 36-year-old, though Butler was in no hurry to sign at the time.
San Antonio has in excess of $85MM in guaranteed salary already committed for the 2015/16 campaign, which includes 13 players inked to guaranteed contracts, as our roster count for the team illustrates. The Spurs, who are over both the salary cap and luxury tax line, can offer Butler no more than the veteran’s minimum salary. Whether or not that sum would be enough to entice Butler to play in Texas remains to be seen, but certainly the lure of joining a solid organization like the Spurs should hold some level of appeal. San Antonio already has starter Kawhi Leonard to man the three spot, as well as Kyle Anderson and Reggie Williams on the depth chart as reserves.
Butler, a 13-year NBA veteran, averaged 7.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 75 appearances with the Wizards last season. His career numbers are 7.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.8 assists to go along with a slash line of .402/.363/.749.
Latest On Carlos Boozer
7:54am: The Shandong Lions, another Chinese team, are also going after Boozer, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia indicates via Twitter.
12:26am: The Sichuan Blue Whales and other Chinese teams are expressing interest in Carlos Boozer, and while the Rob Pelinka client is intrigued, he’s still pursuing NBA deals, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). News regarding the 33-year-old has been scarce since a late-July report indicated that the Knicks, Rockets and Mavericks were eyeing him. The 33-year-old has lingered in free agency since July, when the lucrative five-year deal he signed with the Bulls expired. He made $16.8MM last season as a member of the Lakers, though Chicago paid all but the $3.251MM figure the Lakers bid when they claimed him via amnesty waivers.
Few NBA teams have more than the $2.814MM room exception to spend at this point. The Mavs have that amount available, though they already have deals with 20 players, the offseason maximum. The Knicks spent the room exception on Kevin Seraphin and have only the minimum to offer. The Rockets have about $2.274MM worth of their mid-level that they could spend, though doing so would leave the team hard-capped and without the means to give No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell a market-value contract. Boozer and the Clippers reportedly had mutual interest in July, but they only have the minimum to spend, and while the Spurs, Raptors, Pelicans, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers and Heat have all apparently had interest over the course of the summer, it’s unclear if that’s the case now. Thus, I’d speculate that Boozer is only receiving minimum-salary offers from NBA teams at this point.
Andray Blatche signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal with China’s Xinjiang Flying Tigers this past spring, and a few weeks ago Shavlik Randolph inked a contract for at least $4.5MM over three years, numbers that suggest that Boozer, if he went to China, stands a decent chance to top the $1,499,187 he’d see on an NBA minimum deal. Still, Metta World Peace wound up with less than that in his deal with Sichuan last summer. A Chinese team would nonetheless offer Boozer a chance to double-dip, since the Chinese Basketball Association ends well in advance of the NBA season, giving players an opportunity to latch on with NBA teams at prorated salaries for the stretch run.
Will Joseph of Hoops Rumors examined Boozer’s free agent stock in depth earlier this month.
Where do you think Boozer ends up? Comment to tell us.
LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Morris Change Agents
Spurs marquee free agent signee LaMarcus Aldridge has departed the Wasserman Media Group to join Excel Sports Management, while the recently traded Marcus Morris has left the Creative Artists Agency, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter links). Aldridge had previously been with Arn Tellem, who’s leaving for a job with the Pistons organization, though RealGM lists his most recent primary agent with Wasserman as having been Michael Tellem, Arn’s son. Morris, who’s been a client of Leon Rose, has expressed displeasure with swap that sent him to Detroit and separated him from twin brother Markieff Morris, who’s demanded that the Suns trade him, too. Coincidentally, the Suns made the trade in an effort to clear cap room for Aldridge, who strongly considered signing with Phoenix before choosing San Antonio instead.
Aldridge signed a maximum-salary deal with the Spurs last month after dogged pursuit from the Suns and several other teams. He was the most high-profile free agent to change teams last summer and had the power to essentially dictate his own terms and location. The 30-year-old would seemingly have little reason for discontent with Wasserman, so I’d speculate that the move is tied to Arn Tellem’s departure. Aldridge won’t be able to elect free agency again until 2018, when he can turn down a player option, so his new relationship with Excel will probably focus on business ventures outside of basketball for the time being.
Marcus Morris has little to negotiate contractually either, having signed a four-year, $20MM extension last fall that kicks in for the coming season. It’s unclear who his next representative will be, but he could seek out agents who would pressure the Pistons to engineer a deal that would reunite him with his brother, though that would be a difficult pursuit. Marcus indicated that he believes he took less than he was worth on his extension, so that may also be a factor in his decision to change agents. It’s unclear whether Markieff, a fellow Rose client, will follow suit. It’s been a mixed summer for Rose. Client J.R. Smith has languished in free agency after he turned down a player option worth nearly $6.4MM, but Jonas Valanciunas, another Rose client, just signed a four-year, $64MM extension, and Rose also represents No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns.
The former agents for both Aldridge and Morris will continue to receive the fees based on the deals that the players signed with their respective teams this year, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
Texas Notes: Matthews, Harrell, Duncan, Fredette
The Mavericks figure to have a balanced offensive attack again this season, writes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com, but max-salary signee Wesley Matthews appears the best bet to take over the role of lead scorer from Monta Ellis, who’s now a Pacer, Sneed adds. That’s not a familiar job for Matthews, but given the similarity between the offense he was a part of under former Mavs assistant Terry Stotts with the Blazers and the one that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle employs, the shooting guard is confident he can expand his game, as Sneed relays.
“You know, I’ve never been one to allow someone to label me,” Matthews said. “I always continue to try to get better. I’m not a content type of person. If they come up with a term three-and-D and they want to fit me in that category, that’s fine. But there’s not a thing that I don’t think I can do on the court, and I’m excited for the opportunity. You know, talking to coach Carlisle, I’m obviously familiar with the system, having ran it in Portland. And talking to him, there’s opportunities that he sees how I can help this team. And I’m excited for those opportunities.”
See more from around the Texas triangle:
- The Rockets and Montrezl Harrell, this year’s No. 32 overall pick, remain in talks, as Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes at the end of a report on Jason Terry‘s decision to re-sign with Houston. A market value deal for Harrell, which would entail more than the minimum salary, or a contract that stretches more than two years would trigger a hard cap of $88.74MM for the Rockets, who are already approaching that amount.
- Tim Duncan knows some adjustment will be involved, but he’s enthusiastic about the marquee offseason additions the Spurs made, as Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter link). Duncan re-signed with the Spurs on a discounted deal with a no-trade clause that will pay him $5.25MM with a player option worth $5,643,750 for 2016/17, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
- The Spurs have a history of turning around faltering careers like his, but the pressure is on Jimmer Fredette to show he can stick in the NBA, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders examines. Fredette signed only a partially guaranteed deal with the Spurs, so he’ll have to prove his worth right away, Kennedy adds.
Jazz Sign Treveon Graham
The Jazz have signed former VCU shooting guard Treveon Graham, the team announced. Graham played with the Spurs in summer league last month after going undrafted in June. He joins 17 others who have deals with Utah, though only 13 have any guaranteed salary. The terms of Graham’s deal aren’t immediately clear, but it seems likely that he has a minimum-salary arrangement with a partial guarantee, at best.
Graham, who turns 22 in October, averaged 16.2 points in 29.4 minutes per game with 38.1% three-point shooting as a senior this past season, though his 7.1 rebounds per game were perhaps more impressive, given his 6’6″ height. His performance on the boards wasn’t quite as strong in his 10 summer league appearances, when he put up a line of 7.8 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 16.0 MPG, and he knocked down just 30.8% of his three-pointers.
It’s not surprising to see the Jazz pluck someone off the Spurs summer league team, given that Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey is a Spurs disciple who has brought aboard former San Antonio players in the past, including Bryce Cotton, one of four members of the Jazz with non-guaranteed deals. Graham will ostensibly compete with Cotton, Chris Johnson, Jack Cooley and Elijah Millsap for the chance to stick with the team for opening night.
Do you think Graham has a realistic chance to beat out the existing Jazz players without guaranteed deals to make the regular season roster? Leave a comment to let us know.
Southwest Notes: Lawson, Aldridge, Anderson
After spending time with Ty Lawson, the Rockets‘ James Harden is confident that his new teammate can overcome his alcohol-related issues, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Lawson, who recently completed a 30-day rehab program in the wake of his second DUI of the year, was shipped from Denver to Houston last month in a five-player deal. Harden said he is “not at all” worried that Lawson’s alcohol problems will affect his play with the Rockets. “He’s out in California right now working out,” Harden said. “We’re happy to have him. He’s going to be a great addition to our team. I’ve been with him these last couple weeks. He’s more focused than ever. He has a great opportunity with a really good team to showcase his talents and help us with that push that we need.”
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- LaMarcus Aldridge has been studying film of the Spurs since he signed with San Antonio in July, tweets Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News. Aldridge expects “a lot of easy shots” in the team’s offense.
- San Antonio’s Kyle Anderson, who spent most of his rookie season in the D-League, is trying to adjust to the pace of the NBA game, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. A 6’9″ swingman, Anderson shined in the summer league after appearing in just 33 games with the Spurs last season. “I do try to speed it up a little bit because that’s what they asked me for in San Antonio,” Anderson said, “but I just play my game, just be unselfish.”
- Bryce Dejean-Jones, who signed a partially guaranteed three-year deal with the Pelicans Friday, made an impression on the team during summer league, writes Scott Kushner of the Baton Rouge Advocate. “I think he’s showing us he can play in this league,” said New Orleans assistant coach Darren Erman. “He has a lot of NBA skills and he’s tough and has good size. I’ve really like what he’s been able to do for us.”
Western Notes: Cousins, Karl, Davis, Williams
Rumors about turmoil between DeMarcus Cousins and Kings coach George Karl were overblown, Cousins insisted Tuesday, as Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee observes. The snake and grass emojis that the All-Star tweeted earlier this summer, shortly after the report that Karl wanted to trade him, seemed to indicate otherwise, but it appears their relationship has improved since then.
“There were some things that had to be ironed out,” Cousins said, “but at the same time, I wouldn’t make it as big as it was made out to be. Me and him [Karl] are on the same page, working on our relationship, and getting better every day. That’s all that matters. Things are a lot better. We’re trying to understand each other better. We’re going to make things happen, positive things happen.”
See more from the Western Conference:
- Former Pelicans coach Monty Williams still won’t express dismay over his firing earlier in the offseason, even though it separated him from Anthony Davis, the New Orleans star with whom he shares an uncanny bond, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times Picayune. Williams, now a Thunder assistant, still talks with Davis but insists that he’s careful to leave most of the tutelage to new Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, Smith notes. Still, Williams makes it clear that he’ll always be friends with Davis, according to Smith.
- The Clippers roster is built to win in the playoffs more so than any other among Western Conference teams, according to metrics that Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com put together for an Insider-only piece. That’s thanks to the addition of depth to the team’s star core, Doolittle writes. The Lance Stephenson trade and the signings of Paul Pierce, Josh Smith and others bolstered the strong but thin existing group.
- Warriors GM Bob Myers may be the reigning Executive of the Year, but Spurs GM R.C. Buford, who won the award in 2014, is still the league’s top front office boss, opines Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. That’s not surprising given San Antonio’s free agent haul, which includes LaMarcus Aldridge and a minimum-salary deal for David West.
Lakers, Spurs To Audition Sean Kilpatrick
TUESDAY, 7:07pm: Kilpatrick, whose workout with the Lakers reportedly went well, will also audition for the Spurs in the near future, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
MONDAY, 10:27am: Sean Kilpatrick, a Timberwolves 10-day signee from this past season, will be one of several taking part in a Lakers workout today, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He joins Toure’ Murry, Bobby Brown, Eric Moreland and D.J. Kennedy among those reportedly trying out for the purple-and-gold.
Minnesota chose to sign Kilpatrick last season in large measure because of his proximity to New York, where the Wolves were about to play the Knicks and didn’t have enough healthy players. The 6’4″ shooting guard, who had been a short drive away as he played for the Sixers D-League affiliate, saw a fair amount of playing time during his stint with Minnesota, averaging 5.5 points in 18.0 minutes per game in four contests. The 25-year-old put on a strong scoring performance in summer league play last month for the Bucks, averaging 18.2 PPG in 28.7 MPG.
Kilpatrick hooked on with the Warriors near the end of the preseason last year and received a $35K partial guarantee before Golden State waived him prior to opening night. The W’s kept his D-League rights but later traded those to Philly’s D-League team. This past season was Kilpatrick’s first in the pros after he went undrafted in 2014. Before that draft, he spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors about his desire to strengthen his reputation as a defender.
Which of the workout participants whose names have surfaced so far do you find most intriguing for the Lakers? Leave a comment to let us know.
Spurs Rumors: Luxury Tax, Marjanovic, Hammon
The Spurs‘ offseason maneuvers could put them over the luxury tax for the first time since 2011/12, according to Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio, which added free agent LaMarcus Aldridge and re-signed Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, has 16 players under contract at a total of $87.073MM. That figure is more than $17MM over the $70MM salary cap and more than $2.33MM over the luxury tax threshold. That would saddle the Spurs with a tax payment of about $4.1MM, although that likely will change because the tax is imposed based on the end-of-season roster. Thirteen of the Spurs’ contacts are guaranteed in full. Matt Bonner has a $947,276 veteran’s minimum deal with just under $750K guaranteed. Jimmer Fredette also has a veteran’s minimum deal with only $507K guaranteed. Reggie Williams is still on the roster with a non-guaranteed $1.185MM contract.
There’s more from San Antonio:
- Boban Marjanovic told Blic Sports (translation via Projectspurs) that he had hoped to play for the Serbian National Team at Eurobasket, but the Spurs nixed the idea. “From the first days of preparation there was a great atmosphere in the team,” Marjanovic said. “It’s a fantastic group of guys that I am convinced that it will be able to achieve the desired goal and placed on the Olympics.” Marjanovic signed a one-year deal with San Antonio last month.
- Becky Hammon, who made history as the NBA’s first female assistant coach, told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News that she is encouraged to see so many women receive coaching opportunites. Since Hammon’s hiring, the Kings added Nancy Lieberman as an assistant and the Arizona Cardinals made Jen Welter the first female assistant coach in the NFL. “I’m just happy other women are getting opportunities,” Hammon said. “There are just so many capable women out there, and I’m glad to be in the same sentence. It was just a tremendous month for the ladies.”