And-Ones: Raptors, Sixers, Wolves, Marion
Based upon the initial reaction in the Toronto media, it seems like Raptors CEO Tim Leiweke will be missed after news broke this week that he will eventually leave the organization. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun partially credits Leiweke with landing current GM Masai Ujiri, who last season built the first Raptors team to make the playoffs in six years. Wolstat also points to the 2016 All Star Game, which Toronto will host, and the team’s new practice facility as coups that have Leiweke’s fingerprints all over them. Meanwhile, Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post lauds the CEO for cultivating the organization’s relationship with hip hop star Drake and also writes that Leiweke played a role in retaining star guard Kyle Lowry.
Let’s see what else is going on around the NBA on Thursday evening:
- As Tom Moore of Calkins Media points out (via Twitter), Luc Mbah a Moute is slated to make about $4.4MM for the Sixers in 2014/15 while Alexey Shved will make about $3.2MM. Meanwhile, Thaddeus Young will earn around $9.2MM this season for the Timberwolves and has a $9.7MM player option for 2015/16.
- Assuming the trade is finalized as reported, Moore reminds us that Jason Richardson, still recovering from a knee injury, and Arnett Moultrie are now the longest tenured Sixers, appearing in 92 games combined. Hollis Thompson, who has played 77 games in Philly, will have the most time on the court (Twitter link).
- Appearing on ESPN 103.3 in Dallas on Thursday, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban discussed Shawn Marion‘s decision to sign with the Cavaliers. “He wanted to go to somebody that he thought, and this was all prior to signing Chandler Parsons and everything, that he thought was closer to a ring particularly in the Eastern Conference. He decided to go that route and we wish him nothing but the best,” Cuban said. (quote via The Dallas Morning News)
And-Ones: Bledsoe, Monroe, Raptors, Gray
An NBA GM who spoke with Sean Deveney of The Sporting News said he’d be reluctant to sign-and-trade for either Eric Bledsoe or Greg Monroe in part because of the chance they’ll become available again next summer. The GM also suggested that the Suns and Pistons are overvaluing them, further diminishing the odds of a trade this offseason. While we continue to wait to see what happens to the two top restricted free agents, here’s more from around the league:
- When Tim Leiweke spoke about two months ago to the board of the company that controls the Raptors, he declined to promise that he would stay on as CEO past next spring, as Elliotte Friedman writes for CBC.ca. That helped lead to today’s announcement of his planned departure, Friedman explains. The Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment board wanted to take control of the process and end speculation about Leiweke’s future, as Friedman details, adding that Leiweke’s contract carried an escape clause that gave him a way out.
- Aaron Gray‘s contract with the Pistons is for two years, with a player option for the final season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link).
- Joel Embiid is tight with Luc Mbah a Moute, notes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, and that helps explain why the Sixers appear poised to acquire Mbah a Moute as part of the Kevin Love trade (Twitter link). Mbah a Moute has served as a mentor for Embiid, a fellow native of Cameroon, as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune points out (on Twitter).
Atlantic Notes: Antetokounmpo, Bradley, Leiweke
Hoops Rumors readers so far believe the Wizards are the best team outside of the Cavs and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference, but the Raptors aren’t far behind in the voting. Still, there’s change afoot in Toronto, where Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment company that’s in charge of the franchise, is set to step down within the next several months. Here’s more on Canada’s team and the rest of the Atlantic Division:
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo has reportedly agreed to join the Knicks D-League affiliate in Westchester, but before that can happen, the team would have to acquire his D-League rights from the Sixers affiliate in Delaware, as Gino Pilato of the D-League Digest points out. Delaware still possesses Antetokounmpo’s D-League rights because he played there last season, and that holds even though new rules allow NBA teams to otherwise possess the D-League rights of their draft picks.
- The Sixers apparently reached out to Avery Bradley within the first hour of free agency this summer, but it seems the Celtics still beat them to the punch, as the guard indicates to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). “They were the first team that called and — we had other calls — but Boston, I knew I was coming back here,” said Bradley, who re-signed with the C’s to a four-year, $32MM deal.
- Leiweke’s upcoming departure is a blow to the Raptors, given the team’s progress during his brief time in charge of the team, opines Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter links). Wolstat credits Leiweke for doggedly pursuing Masai Ujiri to serve as GM and staying out of Ujiri’s way once he hired him.
Raptors CEO Tim Leiweke To Step Down
THURSDAY, 10:01am: Leiweke will leave the company on June 30, 2015 or when a replacement is found, whichever is sooner, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment announced today, as Mark Zwolinski of The Toronto Star chronicles. The news is surprising after Leiweke denied that he would resign in the immediate wake of Friedman’s report, and Leiweke repeated that denial Wednesday before today’s about-face, Zwolinski writes.
“Under Tim’s leadership, MLSE has made a number of key moves to strengthen our organization on the path to championship success,” Tanenbaum said in the statement announcing Leiweke’s impending departure. “We look forward to working closely with Tim to build on this foundation and further accelerate our momentum as we seek a new leader for MLSE.”
The statement also quoted Leiweke, who cited a desire to “transition from sports and entertainment executive to entrepreneur,” as Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun notes.
TUESDAY, 12:55pm: Leiweke intends to leave the company at the end of his two-year non-compete agreement with AEG, his former employer, a source tells Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Leiweke left AEG last spring before taking the job that has him in charge of the Raptors.
12:39pm: Leiweke has quickly issued a denial, telling Cathal Kelly of The Globe and Mail that, “It’s not true. 100% not true. I’m fully committed to the season at hand” (Twitter link).
12:10pm: Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, who oversees the Raptors, is set to leave the company soon, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun suggests Leiweke has harbored dreams of running an National Football League team (Twitter link), but it remains unclear why he would depart his job in charge of the Raptors and the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs.
Leiweke joined the company a little more than a year ago, though the hopes of landing an NFL franchise have faded since then. MLSE was part of a bidding group that made a play for the Buffalo Bills, but it appears the group’s efforts to buy the team and move it to Toronto will come up short. MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum was more directly involved in that process, but it stands to reason that Leiweke might have been part of the effort if he indeed envisions running a football team in the near future.
The Raptors have undergone significant changes during Leiweke’s brief tenure so far, and while the change from Bryan Colangelo to Masai Ujiri as GM happened before Leiweke officially took office, it appeared as though he had influence on those decisions. Ujiri traded Rudy Gay less than two months into last season, sparking a turnaround that saw the team grab the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Toronto came close to trading Kyle Lowry not long after the Gay deal, but the point guard played a key role in the team’s surprising season and before the season was over, Leiweke publicly vowed to re-sign Lowry this summer. The Raptors did so, inking Lowry to a four-year, $48MM deal.
And-Ones: Clippers, Diawara, Mavs, Cavs
Interim Clippers CEO Dick Parsons will step down in a few weeks, as he tells the Fox Business Network, according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). The move is no surprise now that Steve Ballmer has officially taken over the franchise, since Parsons said in May shortly after the league installed him as a caretaker for the team that he had no plans of remaining with the club after its ownership situation was resolved. Parsons has been acting as a “proxy owner,” as he put it, with final authority over any decisions president of basketball operations Doc Rivers made. Here’s more from around the league:
- Multiple NBA teams had interest in bringing Yakhouba Diawara back to the league this summer, but he indicated on his Twitter account late Tuesday that he’s signing with Pallacanestro Varese of Italy (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). David Pick of Eurobasket.com confirms the news with a tweet of his own. Diawara worked out for the Raptors, Bucks and Nets over the past few months.
- This season’s minimum salary in Ivan Johnson‘s two-year contract with the Mavs is guaranteed for only $25K, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- It appears as though the Cavs guaranteed $65K of the minimum salary for Alex Kirk this season, Pincus also tweets.
Jarnell Stokes Signs With Grizzlies
6:27pm: Stokes can become a restricted free agent at the end of the deal, reports Tillery in a separate article, since the third year of the deal is a team option.
5:49pm: Jarnell Stokes has signed his rookie contract with the Grizzlies, reports Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter links). The team has confirmed the deal via a press release. The agreement is for three years, and approximately $2.5MM, notes Tillery. Stokes had reportedly been waiting to finalize his contract to give Memphis more flexibility in pursing free agents this summer.
The 6’9″ power forward was selected by the Jazz with the No. 35 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, then was traded to the Grizzlies for a 2016 second-rounder that same night. Stokes was seen as a possible late first round selection leading up to the draft, and the Grizzlies may have gotten a steal by picking him up for a future second round pick. The 2016 pick that Memphis is sending to Utah is the more favorable of the second-round picks that the Raptors and Celtics sent to the Grizzlies in previous trades.
Stokes averaged 15.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game for the Volunteers this past season. His career numbers were 13.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 1.1 BPG. His career slash line was .530/.000/.628. Stokes had talked with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors for our Prospect Profile Series prior to the draft about his career goals and skills.
Raptors Sign Jordan Hamilton
MONDAY, 1:54pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
FRIDAY, 11:50am: Hamilton’s deal is partially guaranteed, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (on Twitter). He adds that the odds of Hamilton making the team are long.
THURSDAY, 10:46am: The Raptors have reached agreement on a one-year deal with free agent Jordan Hamilton, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter).
The Rockets acquired Hamilton from the Nuggets at the trade deadline in exchange for Aaron Brooks. The 23-year-old (24 in October) made eleven starts for the banged up Denver squad and also saw significant playing time with the Rockets. In total, Hamilton averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 17 minutes per contest last season.
Hamilton drew a surprising amount of trade interest last season as the Knicks were also hot on his heels. The proposed trade would have sent Beno Udrih to Denver but the Nuggets wound up entertaining multiple offers for the youngster and chose to go with the Rockets’ pitch.
Hamilton auditioned for teams roughly one month ago and the Timberwolves were among those in attendance. However, he’ll be heading north of the border to join up with last year’s Atlantic Division champions.
And-Ones: Sterling, Livingston, Acy
Donald Sterling hasn’t ruled out appealing the sale of the Clippers to the California State Supreme Court, but his attorney, Maxwell Blecher, said, “No final decision has been made,” writes Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Warriors guard Shaun Livingston underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right big toe earlier this week, and is expected to be out a minimum of six-to-eight weeks, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- Livingston’s surgery wasn’t something the Warriors were planning on, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. The rehab involved will keep Livingston out of action until at least the beginning of training camp, if not longer, notes Kawakami.
- The Atlantic Division might be better than many think this season, writes Lenn Robbins of NBA.com. Robbins weighs in on where each team stands heading into the season, and thinks that the Raptors are the favorites to repeat as division champs.
- The Knicks have fully guaranteed Quincy Acy‘s 2014/15 contract today, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). Acy is scheduled to make $915,243 next season.
Eastern Notes: Melo, Monroe, Birdman, Celtics
Carmelo Anthony‘s new, slimmer look was spurred by his desire to lead by example for the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. “Amazing people have been hired [in the Knicks organization] and he wants to come in as the leader and a top-three player in the world,’’ trainer Idan Ravin said. “If [he’s] being meticulous, you should not just follow [his] word, but follow [his] actions.’’ More out of the Eastern Conference..
- If Greg Monroe signs for the qualifying offer with the Pistons, it would be in their best interest to trade him between now and the February trade deadline, writes Percy A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press. Of course, Monroe would have the right to veto any trade after signing the QO, but Detroit would surely prefer to get something in return for the big man rather than just let him walk after the 2014/15 season.
- The Pistons could move Monroe after he signs the QO, but that’s not likely to happen, writes David Mayo of MLive.com. Monroe would lose his Bird rights if he signed off on a deal and he’s reportedly angling for a maximum contract, so any team trading for him would probably have to commit to a monster deal.
- In today’s mailbag, a reader expresses concern to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel over some of the new contracts the Heat have dished out this offseason, including Chris Andersen‘s two-year, ~$10MM pact. Winderman says that the real contract to look out for is Chris Bosh‘s as he might not be able to play well enough to attract free agents in 2016. Instead, his salary could potentially weigh down Miami in the fourth and fifth years of his deal.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com polled some of the web’s foremost Celtics bloggers to ask whether Rajon Rondo will have a career year amidst the trade speculation surrounding him. The panel wound up split, with some suggesting that he can’t top what he did alongside Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce while others believe that he’ll use the trade talk as motivation to excel.
- Jordan Hamilton‘s odds of making the Raptors are slim due to the team’s full roster and glut at the wing, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Toronto agreed to sign Hamilton to a partially-guaranteed deal yesterday.
DeAndre Daniels Signs With Australian Team
AUGUST 14th: The deal is now official, according to an announcement on the Wildcats’ website.
AUGUST 9th, 6:05pm: Daniels confirmed that he was headed to Australia to reporters including Chris Robinson of Australian paper the Herald Sun. Daniels said he would play overseas for four months and then return to the Raptors, although in what capacity he would rejoin Toronto is unclear. The Wildcats managing director told Robinson that the deal still isn’t finalized.
AUGUST 7th, 9:52am: The 37th overall pick in June’s draft is believed to be nearing agreement with the Perth Wildcats of Australia, reports Shayne Hope of The West Australian (hat tip to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). DeAndre Daniels would head down under in lieu of joining the Raptors this year. It’ll likely be a one-year deal, Hope writes.
Toronto GM Masai Ujiri signaled a month ago that his team probably wouldn’t sign Daniels for the upcoming season, and the Raptors had reportedly been helping the small forward find overseas work. Daniels would head to the same Australian team that last year employed James Ennis, the 50th pick in the 2013 draft, but it’s unclear if the Wildcats will give Daniels the same NBA escape clause that they afforded Ennis. Perth would have been on the hook for its salary to Ennis had he signed with the Heat, who owned his NBA rights, at any point last season.
Daniels would be the most highly drafted 2014 second-rounder to head overseas for this coming season, though a pair of first-round picks have done so, as our list of draft pick signings shows. The 22-year-old from Connecticut was a somewhat surprising selection at No. 37, since he was just the 59th-best prospect in the rankings that Chad Ford of ESPN.com compiled, and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress rated him 64th. The 6’8″ Daniels averaged 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game with 41.7% three-point shooting for the national champion Huskies this past season.