Celtics Sign Greg Monroe
FEBRUARY 8: Now that the trade deadline has passed without the Celtics needing to use their open roster spot, the team has made Monroe’s signing official.
FEBRUARY 2: Veteran center Greg Monroe will sign with the Celtics after he becomes a free agent this weekend, a league source tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Monroe, bought out and waived by the Suns on Thursday, is on track to clear waivers on Saturday.
[RELATED: Suns buy out Greg Monroe]
The Celtics and Pelicans were believed to be the frontrunners for Monroe, a New Orleans native. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the Pels offered Monroe the opportunity to be their starting center, but the big man will instead head to Boston, where he’ll have fewer guaranteed minutes, but a better chance to win a title.
Monroe will also be well compensated on his new deal with the Celtics, as Wojnarowski tweets that the one-year contract will be worth $5MM. That’s more than the Pelicans could offer, with Boston taking advantage of its extra flexibility by using its disabled player exception to reach an agreement with Monroe.
Even though the Celtics’ disabled player exception – awarded after Gordon Hayward went down in the team’s season opener – is worth $8.4MM, the DPE can only be used once, so the team won’t have the remaining $3.4MM available. Still, Boston plans to continue exploring the market for a perimeter scorer, according to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, who cautions (via Twitter) that the front office is reluctant to part with a first-round pick.
Monroe, who opened the season in Milwaukee, was sent to the Suns in the fall for salary-matching purposes as part of the Bucks’ trade for Eric Bledsoe. The 27-year-old saw inconsistent minutes in Phoenix as he battled fellow centers Tyson Chandler and Alex Len for playing time.
Although Monroe has had his role reduced and has only appeared in 25 games this year, he has continued to be very effective on a per-minute basis, averaging 10.4 PPG and 7.4 RPG with a .601 FG% in 21.8 minutes per contest. He’ll join a Celtics frontcourt that could use some interior scoring and rebounding help. Outside of Al Horford, no one on Boston’s roster is averaging more than 5.5 RPG this season.
The Celtics are currently carrying 14 players on their roster, so they won’t need to waive anyone to make room for Monroe. However, the move could be bad news for Jarell Eddie, who would have been a candidate to rejoin the C’s if they still had a roster spot available after the trade deadline.
It’s also worth noting that there’s no rule preventing Hayward from returning to the Celtics before season’s end if he’s healthy enough to do so. The NBA initially awarded the C’s their DPE after an independent physician determined that the injured forward was more likely than not to be sidelined through June 15. If Hayward beats that recovery timetable, Boston wouldn’t be penalized at all.
As for the Pelicans, while they’ll be disappointed to miss out on Monroe, they did add another frontcourt piece on Thursday, acquiring Nikola Mirotic from the Bulls. New Orleans also still has two open roster spots, so the club figures to keep an eye out for more reinforcements on the trade market or buyout market.
Bulls Trade Jameer Nelson To Pistons
1:53pm: The Pistons have confirmed the trade via a press release.
10:11am: The Bulls are sending veteran point guard Jameer Nelson to the Pistons in a deadline-day trade, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). According to Charania, center Willie Reed will be headed to Chicago. The Bulls will also get the right to swap 2022 second-round picks with the Pistons, per Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post (via Twitter).
Both Nelson and Reed have already been traded within the last week and a half — Nelson moved from New Orleans to Chicago in the Nikola Mirotic trade, while Reed was one of the pieces the Pistons acquired from the Clippers alongside Blake Griffin. Nelson and Reed were both eligible to be traded again this week, but couldn’t have had their salaries aggregated with another player’s salary in a deal.
For the Pistons, Nelson will help fortify the point guard position, which has been somewhat shorthanded this season due to Reggie Jackson‘s lengthy injury absence. Ish Smith and Dwight Buycks have done a respectable job handling point guard duties with Jackson on the shelf, but Nelson will provide a steady veteran hand.
Nelson, who will turn 36 on Friday, appeared in 43 games for the Pelicans this season, averaging 5.1 PPG and 3.6 APG with a .410/.364/.765 shooting line in 20.9 minutes per contest. In Detroit, he’ll reunite with Stan Van Gundy, who coached him for several seasons in Orlando.
As for Reed, the 27-year-old center was solid as a part-timer in Miami last season, averaging 5.3 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 71 games with the Heat. His per-minute numbers have remained solid for the Clippers and Pistons this season, but he’s playing a career-low 10.2 MPG. He was also recently hit with a six-game suspension as a result of a domestic incident that took place last summer, though the NBPA has filed a grievance on his behalf.
Like Nelson, Reed will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, so he seems unlikely to fit into the Bulls’ long-term plans. In fact, Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago reports (via Twitter) that Chicago plans to immediately waive the big man.
The Bulls and Pistons will each create modest trade exceptions in the swap, with Chicago getting one worth Nelson’s salary ($1,429,818) and Detroit creating one worth Reed’s salary ($1,471,382).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hawks Trade Luke Babbitt To Heat For Okaro White
1:31pm: The trade is now official, according to a press release from the Heat. Atlanta intends to waive White, according to Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
11:15am: The Hawks will trade veteran forward Luke Babbitt to the Heat for Okaro White, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
This will be a return to Miami for Babbitt, who spent the 2016/17 season there. He signed a one-year, veterans’ minimum contract with the Hawks this summer and is averaging 6.1 points and 2.2 rebounds in 37 games.
White is in his second season with the Heat, but has appeared in just six games, spending most of the year in the G League. He also has a minimum deal, so salary matching won’t be a problem.
A larger trade could be in the works as Miami continues to talk with Atlanta about Marco Belinelli, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Belinelli would give the Heat another wing shooter after losing Dion Waiters for the season.
Cavs Acquire Clarkson, Nance In Isaiah Thomas Trade
1:14pm: The trade is now official, the Lakers announced in a press release. The 2018 first-rounder acquired by the Lakers is top-three protected, which will protect the Cavs in the unlikely event that they miss the postseason and then get lucky in the lottery.
11:08am: The Lakers and Cavaliers are set to complete a trade that will send Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to Cleveland, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). In exchange, the Lakers will receive Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and the Cavaliers’ 2018 first-round pick, per Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer (Twitter link). That pick will be protected, tweets Woj.
The deal is a fascinating one for two teams that have been heavily involved in trade rumors throughout the 2017/18 season. The move reflects the Cavaliers’ desire to get better right away, while the Lakers look ahead to the summer.
From the Cavs’ perspective, the trade looks like an admission that the acquisition of Thomas wasn’t going to work. After missing most of the first half of the season with a hip injury, the former Celtics star hasn’t been able to recapture his old form, and has publicly expressed his frustration during Cleveland’s recent slump. Thomas’ .361 FG% and .253 3PT% are easily career lows, and his average of 14.7 PPG is way down from the 28.9 PPG he put up last season in Boston.
“He’s worked too hard to get back, and he’s a ball-dominant player,” Thomas’ agent Aaron Goodwin told Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. “It’s LeBron’s ball, and this clearly wasn’t working. [Cavs GM] Koby [Altman] and I have had enough conversations where it was clear, with the way the system was going, it wasn’t beneficial for either party. This is a good opportunity for Isaiah.”
By sending a struggling Thomas to Los Angeles along with Frye, the Cavs will secure a pair of solid rotation players who are both just 25 years old and are under contract beyond this season. Clarkson has averaged 14.5 PPG with a .448/.324/.795 shooting line so far in 2017/18. Nance, meanwhile, has posted a career-best 8.6 PPG and 6.8 RPG, with a .601 FG%.
While Thomas and Frye are on expiring contracts, Clarkson and Nance will earn a combined $14.77MM in 2018/19, pushing Cleveland’s total guaranteed team salary for next year above the $100MM mark, not counting LeBron James. With or without James, it seems very unlikely that the Cavs will have cap room this summer, barring some major moves.
The Lakers, on the other hand, clear nearly $15MM in 2018/19 money from their books in this deal, taking on two expiring contracts and landing a first-round pick in the process. Despite recent rumblings that the team could be shifting its free agency focus to 2019, this deal puts L.A. in a great position to create enough cap room to make a run at two maximum-salary free agents this summer. Their top targets figure to include Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, and – of course – LeBron.
One of the most interesting aspects of this deal is that both teams could make the case that it improved their odds of signing James this summer — the Cavs acquired some players who can help them contend this season and can stick around next year, while the Lakers created more cap space and will be able to use their new first-round pick to add another player to their young core this offseason.
Some housekeeping notes on this trade: Cleveland will now be unable to trade the Nets’ 2018 first-round pick unless they acquire another 2018 or 2019 first-rounder. The Cavs have already traded their ’19 first-rounder, and can’t leave themselves without first-round picks in consecutive future seasons. They’ll reduce their projected luxury tax bill in this deal too, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks outlines. Additionally, the Lakers should create a modest trade exception in the deal worth $1,471,382, the amount of Nance’s 2017/18 salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Clippers Sign Lou Williams To Contract Extension
2:55pm: Williams’ three-year extension will be worth $8MM annually, with a $1.5MM partial guarantee on the third year, per Mark Deeks of GiveMeSport (Twitter links). The partial guarantee on that final year can increase if Williams hits certain performance incentives, says Deeks. As expected, those terms will make Williams ineligible to be traded this week.
Williams’ deal is now official.
12:12pm: The Clippers and veteran guard Lou Williams have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune first reported (via Twitter) that the Clips planned to finalize Williams’ extension before today’s practice. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski adds that the deal will include a third-year team option, while TNT’s David Aldridge suggests there’s a partial guarantee on that third year (Twitter links).
Salary details aren’t yet known, but Williams would be eligible to receive up to about $30.3MM for three new years. A person with knowledge of the negotiations told Sam Amick of USA Today earlier today that a deal may end up closer to about $8.5MM annually.
Late last night, Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst broke the news that Williams and the Clippers were making progress toward a new contract, suggesting that teams with interest in trading for the 31-year-old were becoming “increasingly resigned” to the fact that he may not be available.
A contract extension on its own doesn’t make a player ineligible to be traded, but NBA rules will prevent Williams from being dealt for the next six months if he signs an extension that adds three new years to his current contract, or includes a raise of more than 5%. It appears that Lou Will’s extension will fit that bill, which would mean he’ll stay put at Thursday’s deadline. Even if Williams retains his trade eligibility, his agreement with the Clippers looks like a signal that he’s part of the team’s long-term plans.
Long regarded as one of the NBA’s most dangerous bench scorers, Williams has taken his game to another level since joining the Clippers in last June’s Chris Paul trade with the Rockets. In 51 games (14 starts) so far this season, the former second-round pick has put up 23.3 PPG and 5.3 APG with a shooting line of .439/.380/.900. He had been in the final year of his contract, earning a $7MM salary.
The timing of the move is interesting for the Clippers, who just cleared a considerable amount of long-term salary from their books last week by sending Blake Griffin to Detroit. There had been speculation that the front office was looking to create cap room to pursue free agents in the summer of 2019, or perhaps even 2018. Williams’ new deal figures to reduce the team’s spending flexibility.
After locking up Williams, the Clippers figure to continue exploring the trade market for deals involving some of their other veterans. As Charania notes within his report, DeAndre Jordan and Avery Bradley are both viewed as trade candidates.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Trade Willy Hernangomez To Hornets
1:29pm: The Knicks and Hornets have both confirmed the trade, issuing press releases to announce the deal.
“We’re excited to add a player of Willy’s caliber to our team,” Hornets GM Rich Cho said in a statement. “He showed last season that he can contribute when given the opportunity and we believe that the added depth he provides will benefit our frontcourt rotation.”
In his own statement, Knicks GM Scott Perry said the deal gives the Knicks “valuable” draft picks and better positions the club as it builds for the future.
10:22am: The Knicks are in the process of finalizing a trade with the Hornets that will send center Willy Hernangomez to Charlotte, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. According to Charania, the Knicks will receive Johnny O’Bryant and a pair of second-round picks in the deal.
Those second-rounders headed to New York will be Charlotte’s own picks in 2020 and 2021, tweets Charania. Michael Scotto of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that they’ll be unprotected.
A second-round pick himself in 2015, Hernangomez signed his first NBA contract with the Knicks in the summer of 2016 and played 72 games (22 starts) during the 2016/17 campaign. He averaged a respectable 8.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG for New York in just 18.4 minutes per contest in his rookie year, and appeared to be one of the promising young building blocks for the franchise.
This season, however, the arrival of Enes Kanter and the strong play of Kyle O’Quinn have resulted in a significantly reduced role for Hernangomez, who has averaged just 9.0 MPG in 26 contests. Even with Joakim Noah not really in the mix at center for the Knicks this season, there has been little room in the rotation for Hernangomez, prompting the young big man to repeatedly express a desire to play more. We heard earlier this week that the 23-year-old’s reps had requested a trade.
For the Knicks, the move comes on the heels of Kristaps Porzingis‘ season-ending ACL injury. Entering the season, the team had identified Porzingis and Hernangomez as two core pieces for its rebuild, along with Frank Ntilikina and Tim Hardaway Jr. Now, in the span of two days, Porzingis has potentially been lost until the 2019 calendar year, while Hernangomez is headed to Charlotte.
As for the Hornets, they’ll pick up an intriguing prospect who still has two more years left on his contract after the 2017/18 season. That contract is extremely team-friendly, with Hernangomez set to earn $1.54MM in 2018/19 and $1.68MM in 2019/20. Those modest salaries are especially appealing for the Hornets, whose cap sheet is currently overloaded with eight-figure salaries.
While Hernangomez is a nice pickup for the Hornets, the team runs the risk of creating the same sort of frontcourt logjam that plagued the Knicks. Dwight Howard is the starting center in Charlotte, with Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky also earning minutes at the five. It will be interesting to see if the Hornets plan to hang onto all those players through Thursday’s trade deadline.
Since they can take on O’Bryant’s salary using the minimum salary exception, the Knicks will create a very minor trade exception in the swap — it’ll be worth $1,435,750, the amount of Hernangomez’s salary for 2017/18.
Meanwhile, the two draft picks acquired by New York in the deal will essentially replace the Knicks’ own 2020 and 2021 second-rounders, which the team traded to Philadelphia back on draft day in 2015. The Knicks’ return in that trade with the Sixers was the No. 35 overall pick in the 2015 draft — the selection used to nab Hernangomez.
Bucks Acquire Zeller From Nets, Deal Vaughn
8:04pm: The deal is official, according to a Nets press release.
5:45pm: The Bucks will acquire center Tyler Zeller from the Nets in exchange for shooting guard Rashad Vaughn and a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
The Bucks will forward their second-round pick to Brooklyn in this summer’s draft if it falls between 31 and 47 overall, Wojnarowski adds in a separate tweet. Otherwise, the Suns will receive it as part of the Eric Bledsoe deal. Brooklyn was mainly interested in adding the draft pick, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Milwaukee will be Zeller’s fourth team. He played the last three seasons with the Celtics before signing a low-cost, two-year deal with Brooklyn. His $1.93MM contract for next season isn’t guaranteed. Zeller, 28, started 33 of 42 games with the Nets this season, averaging 7.1 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 16.7 MPG.
The 7-footer provides another big body in the middle. The Bucks have utilized John Henson and Thon Maker at center for the most part and also have Marshall Plumlee in reserve.
Vaughn, who has played all three of his seasons with the Bucks, has seen spot duty this season. He’s appeared in 22 games, averaging 2.7 PPG and 7.9 MPG. Vaughn, who is still just 21 years old, was the 17th overall pick of the 2015 draft. He’s making $1.9MM this season and becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Pelicans Sign DeAndre Liggins To Two-Year Deal
FEBRUARY 5: The Pelicans have officially re-signed Liggins, the team announced today in a press release. The club now has a full 15-man roster once again.
FEBRUARY 4: The Pelicans are bringing back guard DeAndre Liggins on a two-year deal, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Liggins has inked a pair of 10-day contracts with the Pelicans already this season, with the most recent one expiring late in January. Woj noted that Liggins’ perimeter defense impressed the Pelicans, paving the way for a guaranteed contract.
Liggins, 29, started the season with the Bucks after a merry-go-round of an offseason. He was traded from the Mavericks to the Rockets; traded to the Hawks and waived; claimed by the Heat and waived; and finally claimed off waivers by the Bucks.
In 31 games in Milwaukee, Liggins averaged just 1.8 PPG. In four games with the Pelicans during his two 10-day deals, Liggins averaged 4.3 PPG.
Pelicans Sign Emeka Okafor To 10-Day Contract
3:05pm: The Pelicans have officially signed Okafor to a 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release.
9:22am: The Pelicans are finalizing a 10-day contract with former second overall pick Emeka Okafor, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.
Okafor, 35, last appeared in the NBA in 2012/13 with the Wizards. However, a herniated disc in Okafor’s neck caused him to miss the entire 2013/14 campaign and he had not reached the NBA since. This season, he has played with the G League Delaware 87ers, the affiliate of the Sixers. In 26 games with Delaware, Okafor averaged 6.8 PPG and 8.0 RPG in 19.9 minutes per contest.
In nine NBA seasons with the defunct Bobcats, Hornets, and Wizards, the 2005 Rookie of the Year averaged 12.3 PPG and 9,9 RPG in 590 games.
The Pelicans were finalizing a 10-day deal with Terrence Jones on Friday before changing course, electing to keep their roster spots open.
Pelicans No Longer Finalizing 10-Day Deal With Terrence Jones
7:35pm: The Pels have changed course and are no longer pursuing a deal with Jones, Charania tweets. They’ll leave their roster spots open for now.
6:06pm: The Pelicans are finalizing a 10-day deal with Terrence Jones, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. Jones, of course, suited up in 51 games for the team last season before he was waived in February.
Jones, just 26 years old, averaged 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the Pels in 2016/17 but failed to stick with the franchise. He later inked a 10-day pact with the Bucks in March of 2017 but didn’t stick there either.
Last summer Jones signed a contract in China, hoping to parlay that into another NBA gig but only lasted three weeks with the team before he was kicked out of a practice and eventually waived.
Prior to his signing in China, Jones himself admitted to making immature decisions in his life. While the ensuing result of his tenure abroad doesn’t inspire confidence that he’s completely matured, it’s not hard to understand why he remains an intriguing NBA project.
Jones’ per-36 numbers have always been rather appealing fluctuating at or near 16 points and nine rebounds every year but his rookie campaign with the Rockets.
The Pels will hold all the leverage with Jones this time around, effectively given the chance to audition him for 10 days to gauge his maturity level. After missing out on Greg Monroe, who committed to the Celtics earlier today, Jones will slot into a center position left vacant by the injured DeMarcus Cousins.
When Monroe was available, the Pels were willing to float a starting nod but it’s unclear whether that will apply to Jones as well, given that he doesn’t have Moose’s track record.