Raptors Sign Kyle Wiltjer
2:37pm: The Raptors have officially signed Wiltjer, the team announced today. His deal will include a partial guarantee, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN (Twitter link).
9:10am: A month after being waived by the Clippers, Kyle Wiltjer has landed with a new team, according to Oliver Maroney and Robby Kalland of Dime, who report that the free agent forward has agreed to a one-year contract with the Raptors. It’ll be a non-guaranteed training camp deal.
“I’m just really excited to be back in Toronto and Canada,” Wiltjer said, per Maroney and Kalland. “I’ve been working really hard all summer long to get better in all facets of my game and I’m just happy that I’ll be in my home nation.”
Wiltjer, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, spent his rookie season with the Rockets in 2016/17, though he appeared in just 14 games for the club, playing very limited minutes. The 6’10” forward saw more action in the G League, averaging 20.5 PPG and 6.4 RPG with a .377 3PT% in 22 contests for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Because his contract with Houston included a non-guaranteed salary for 2017/18, Wiltjer was one of the pieces included in the Rockets’ Chris Paul deal for salary-matching purposes. The Clippers subsequently waived Wiltjer last month before his contract became guaranteed.
As our breakdown of offseason roster counts shows, the Raptors only have 13 guaranteed contracts on their roster at this point, so Wiltjer should have a chance to compete for one of those last two regular-season roster slots. He’ll battle the likes of Kennedy Meeks and Alfonzo McKinnie as he looks to earn a spot on Toronto’s 15-man squad.
Raptors Inquired On Kyrie Irving
Appearing on TSN 1050 Radio in Toronto on Tuesday, Raptors GM Bobby Webster was asked if his club has called the Cavaliers about Kyrie Irving. As Josh Lewenberg of TSN tweets, Webster confirmed that the Raptors did reach out to Cleveland to inquire on Irving.
“Definitely. We all do our due diligence,” Webster said. “Things don’t always make sense, but if they do we’re always prepared. That’s a lot of talk that we do — that doesn’t really see the light of day, that happens behind closed doors. So we’re in touch with all the teams and obviously when a player like that becomes available you’d be remiss not to call.”
Webster, who was promoted earlier this summer to replace the departed Jeff Weltman as the Raptors’ new general manager, didn’t suggest that the Raptors’ talks with the Cavaliers went beyond the preliminary or exploratory stages, and I wouldn’t view Toronto as a likely landing spot for Irving.
Having re-signed both Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan to lucrative long-term contracts within the last 14 months, the Raps aren’t in a great position to upend their backcourt, and don’t have the sort of young star the Cavs are reportedly seeking. As Webster suggests, Toronto was probably just doing its due diligence, along with most other teams in the league — a previous report suggested that about 20 teams inquired on Irving.
As we heard earlier today, the Celtics, Nuggets, Suns, and Knicks continue to be viewed as the most viable trade partners for the Cavs, who have their eye on a young player with star potential on each of those clubs.
Several Teams Eyeing Alan Anderson
Alan Anderson is drawing interest from several teams, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Timberwolves, Nets, Raptors, and Knicks are among the teams to check in on the 34-year-old.
Anderson played for the Clippers last season after signing a one-year deal with the club. He didn’t play much for Doc Rivers, appearing in only 30 games. He scored 2.9 points in 10.3 minutes per contest.
Prior to arriving in Los Angeles, Anderson played for the Wizards, Nets, Raptors, and Bobcats. He also spent time abroad playing for teams in Italy, Russia, Croatia, and Israel.
Poll: Which Atlantic Team Has Had Best Offseason?
One of the primary storylines of the 2017 NBA offseason was the continuation of the talent exodus from the Eastern Conference, as stars like Jimmy Butler and Paul George were sent to Western contenders. In a piece evaluating the offseason for Eastern teams, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton assigns grades that suggest that the conference did poorly as a whole this summer — multiple teams received an F.
Still, while one of those teams assigned a failing grade by Pelton – the Knicks – is an Atlantic club, New York’s division rivals all received praise. In Pelton’s view, the Celtics, Sixers, Raptors, and Nets each deserved a grade of B or higher for their summer moves — those clubs were four of just five Eastern teams to be marked that highly.
Taking a closer look at the roster moves by those Atlantic teams, it’s not hard to see what Pelton liked. The Celtics landed arguably the top free agent on the market – or at least the best one who had a chance to change teams – when they signed Gordon Hayward to a four-year, maximum salary deal. And while Danny Ainge couldn’t swing a deal for a player like Butler or George, he added another probable lottery pick to Boston’s stockpile when he traded down from No. 1 to No. 3 in the draft.
The Sixers were on the other end of that trade with Boston, and drafting a potential franchise player in Markelle Fultz earns them a high grade. In addition to investing in another young player with huge upside, Philadelphia also delved into the free agent market more aggressively in an effort to add veterans, and signed J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson to short, team-friendly contracts.
The Raptors entered the offseason in a difficult spot, with four key players facing free agency, and managed to bring back two of those players on shorter deals than expected, locking up Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka to three-year pacts. The club also got out from under DeMarre Carroll‘s exorbitant salary, replacing him with a cheaper and more productive swingman in C.J. Miles, and drafted a potential steal in OG Anunoby.
Meanwhile, the Nets made creative use of their cap room, taking on Carroll’s and Timofey Mozgov‘s bad contracts in order to secure draft picks and D’Angelo Russell. The club also managed to acquire a player it pursued aggressively a year ago, and got him at a reduced rate — Allen Crabbe is now a Net, and the fact that Brooklyn traded Andrew Nicholson to Portland in the deal means the net cost for Crabbe isn’t quite so high.
As for the Knicks, there’s still time for them to enter the mix for the best offseason in the Atlantic. For instance, if they were able to acquire Kyrie Irving with a Carmelo Anthony-based package in the coming weeks, the summer would look a lot different for the franchise. But that looks extremely unlikely, and so far this offseason the Knicks have made a series of questionable moves, including drafting Frank Ntilikina over Dennis Smith Jr., replacing Phil Jackson between the draft and free agency, committing more money than expected to Tim Hardaway Jr. and Ron Baker, and hanging onto Anthony.
What do you think? Which Atlantic team had the best offseason? Place your vote below and then head to the comments section to share your thoughts.
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Atlantic Notes: Fultz, Crabbe, Ujiri
Markelle Fultz, the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, has brought enthusiasm to Philadelphia, a city that has already been told to trust the process. The Washington product now joins a Sixers team that enters 2017/18 with a hopefully healthy duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid alongside veteran acquisition J.J. Redick ready to compete.
In Fultz’s mind, Philadelphia will not just be a fun team, it will be a competitive one, as the first overall pick said to CSNPhilly from Sixers Day Camp at Valley Forge Military Academy.
“We’re going to be in the playoffs this year, and I think everybody is willing to put forth their best effort and listen to the coaches and listen to the bench. We’ve got to just do whatever it takes to get there,” Fultz said. “That’s practicing even harder, that’s doing extra work in the gym by ourselves, I mean, we’re going to do whatever it takes.”
Fultz, 19, also addressed several other topics, including his rehab from an ankle injury he suffered at the onset of the Las Vegas Summer League; LeBron James possibly joining the Sixers next season in free agency; and his relationship with fellow rookie and top two draft pick, Lonzo Ball.
Below are additional notes around the Atlantic Division:
- A year after Trail Blazers matched the Nets‘ offer sheet for then-restricted free agent Allen Crabbe, the guard is now a part of the Brooklyn roster, Ethan Sears of the New York Post writes. Now, in an offseason where the Nets have pulled off calculated trades, Crabbe joins the team a year later and he expressed confidence in his new team at an introductory presser Thursday.
- Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri spoke to Michael Lee of The Vertical to cover this year’s offseason for the team. Ujiri, who was mentioned as a possible GM candidate for the Knicks, proclaimed his team’s focus is to beat LeBron James and he discussed new Cavaliers GM Koby Altman‘s tough predicament.
Nets Didn't Require Carroll Physical
- The Nets didn’t require DeMarre Carroll to undergo a physical before completing their trade with the Raptors because they received so much compensation, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Brooklyn picked up Carroll, Toronto’s 2018 first-rounder and an additional 2018 second-rounder, while the Raptors got Justin Hamilton, who has since been waived, and an $11.8MM trade exception. Carroll played 72 games last season after having knee surgery in his first year in Toronto and being limited to 26 games.
Bulls, Blazers, Raptors Hold Largest Trade Exceptions
When an over-the-cap NBA team sends out more salary than it receives in a given trade, that team can generally create a traded player exception. As we explain in our glossary entry, a traded player exception serves as a way for a team to acquire talent without using cap room to do so.
Traded player exceptions last for one year from the time they’re created, and can be used to absorb a player’s contract in a trade without sending out any salary in return. Trade exceptions can’t be combined with another exception or another contract, but they have $100K worth of wiggle room. So, a team with a $9.9MM TPE could trade for a player earning $10MM without any outgoing salary involved in the deal.
In recent weeks, a handful of teams – including the Hornets, Clippers, and Cavaliers – have seen trade exceptions created last July expire without being used. However, none of those TPEs was substantial. All of this year’s biggest TPEs are still available, though some are more likely to be used than others.
Here’s the current list of the top 10 traded player exceptions available around the NBA, along with each TPE’s expiration date:
- Chicago Bulls: $15,311,329 (6/22/18)
- Portland Trail Blazers: $12,969,502 (7/25/18)
- Toronto Raptors: $11,800,000 (7/13/18)
- Toronto Raptors: $7,630,000 (7/14/18)
- Los Angeles Clippers: $7,273,631 (6/28/18)
- Milwaukee Bucks: $5,000,000 (2/23/18)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: $4,936,529 (11/1/17)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $4,837,500 (1/7/18)
- New Orleans Pelicans: $3,517,200 (2/20/18)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: $2,550,000 (7/6/18)
While some of these TPEs are quite sizable, there’s a good chance that most of them will go unused. Many of the clubs on this list are near or above the luxury tax threshold, and will be reluctant to acquire an expensive player without dumping any salary as part of the deal.
The Blazers, Raptors, Clippers, Bucks, Thunder, and Cavaliers all fit that bill, though some of those clubs may be willing to bite the tax-penalty bullet, while others could wait until next July when some contracts expire to use their respective TPEs.
As for the Bulls, no team has a more significant TPE than the one Chicago created as part of June’s Jimmy Butler trade. But that exception is somewhat hollow at the moment — the Bulls only have $73.25MM in guaranteed salaries on their 2017/18 cap, so the club could actually create an even greater chunk of cap room by renouncing its trade exception, along with its other cap holds and exceptions. Still, there’s no reason to do that now. That TPE could come in handy later if the Bulls re-sign Nikola Mirotic and much of that potential cap space disappears.
The full list of current NBA trade exceptions can be found right here.
Raptors Sign Lorenzo Brown To Two-Way Contract
The Raptors have filled the second two-way contract opening on their roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve inked free agent guard Lorenzo Brown. Malcolm Miller received the club’s other two-way deal earlier this month.
Brown, a second-round pick in 2013, appeared in 63 total NBA regular season games for the Sixers, Timberwolves, and Suns between 2013 and 2016. Last offseason, the 26-year-old battled for the Pistons’ third point guard spot in training camp, but lost out and was waived by the team.
After failing to earn a spot on Detroit’s regular season roster out of camp, Brown played in Russia and China. He eventually returned stateside and joined the Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons’ D-League affiliate, with whom he averaged 23.6 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 4.0 APG in 11 games down the stretch this season.
For more details on how two-way contracts work, be sure to check out our breakdown here. We also have a tracker that shows how teams are using their two-way openings.
International Notes: Fredette, Hamilton, Seraphin
After considering a possible NBA return, Jimmer Fredette will spend at least one more season in China, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Fredette has agreed to a one-year deal in the $1.8MM range to remain with the Shanghai Sharks. The 28-year-old is coming off an MVP season in the Chinese Basketball Association, averaging 37.4 points per game, along with 7.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
The 10th player taken in the 2011 draft, Fredette started his career in Sacramento but never developed into the player the Kings had hoped. He also spent time with the Bulls, Pelicans and Knicks before leaving the NBA after the 2015/16 season. He reportedly turned down several 10-day offers at the end of last season.
There’s more news on the international front:
- Justin Hamilton, who was waived by the Raptors last week after being acquired in a trade with the Nets, has signed with the Beijing Ducks of the CBA, according to Orazio Carcia of Sportando. Hamilton, who was part of the deal that sent DeMarre Carroll to Brooklyn, averaged 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in 64 games with the Nets last season.
- Barcelona has interest in Kevin Seraphin if he isn’t retained by the Pacers, according to Dario Destri of Sportando. Seraphin’s $1,974,159 salary for next season doesn’t become guaranteed until August 1st, and the Pacers already have 14 players with guaranteed deals. He signed with Indiana last summer after spending five years with the Wizards and one with the Knicks. In his only season as a Pacer, Seraphin appeared in 49 games, averaging 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per night.
- Ryan Arcidiacono, a former Italian league star who spent last season with the Spurs’ affiliate in the G-League, will return to Italy with Juvecaserta, tweets Chris Reichert of 2 Ways and 10 Days. Arcidiacono was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Villanova.
DeMarre Carroll Comments On Raptors' 'Iso' Ball
- Recently acquired Nets forward DeMarre Carroll took another shot at the Raptors, telling Brian Lewis of the New York Post in so many words that the roster in Toronto just isn’t built to share the ball. “I had my share of iso already, so team-ball is my forte,” Carroll said. “You got two great All-Stars, two great players. That’s how they play. They were playing that way before I came, and they’re going to be playing that way long after I leave. They’re not changing that for me.“