Clippers Acquire Rights To Branden Dawson
FRIDAY, 12:12am: The Clippers have followed with a formal announcement of their own.
THURSDAY, 11:47pm: The Pelicans get $600K worth of cash, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
11:34pm: The Clippers have acquired the rights to No. 56 pick Branden Dawson from New Orleans in exchange for cash, the Pelicans announced. Dawson mentioned both teams to Zach Links of Hoops Rumors when he spoke about the clubs that had shown interest in him.
Dawson believes he’s a fit at either the small forward or power forward positions. The 22-year-old averaged 11.9 points and 9.1 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game this past season as a senior at Michigan State.
Raptors Trade Greivis Vasquez To Bucks
11:26pm: The deal is official, the Bucks announced.
8:05pm: The Bucks have agreed to a deal with the Raptors that will send Greivis Vasquez to Milwaukee, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reported the sides were close. The Raptors will get the Clippers’ 2017 first-round pick, one that Los Angeles had previously traded to Milwaukee, and the 46th pick in tonight’s draft, Stein adds (Twitter link).
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri seemingly comes away with a coup, netting a lottery-protected first-rounder for his backup point guard. Vasquez goes into the mix with Michael Carter-Williams at the point in Milwaukee. He’s set to make $6.6MM next season in the last year of a two-year, $13MM pact he signed last summer.
Milwaukee’s guaranteed salary for next season will vault to about $41.6MM as a result of the swap, with another $4.25MM perhaps to come if Jared Dudley opts in. That doesn’t count the cap hold for the No. 17 pick. Still, the Bucks will likely have close to max-level cap room to go after reported targets Brook Lopez and Tyson Chandler while keeping Khris Middleton‘s small $2.725MM cap hold on the books before attempting to sign him to a more lucrative pact.
The Raptors also have the ability to chase major targets with only about $42MM in guaranteed salary for next season. Still, they won’t have the ability to use Vasquez, Kevin Durant‘s high school teammate, to recruit the former MVP when he hits free agency next summer.
Hawks Acquire Tim Hardaway Jr.
9:59pm: The deal is official, both teams have announced. The Knicks get to create a $1,250,640 trade exception for Hardaway’s salary.
8:42pm: The Hawks and Knicks have struck a deal that sends Tim Hardaway Jr. to Atlanta, which will use the No. 19 pick to select Notre Dame point guard Jerian Grant for New York, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).
It’s no shock to see Hardaway in a deal, though the Pistons reportedly appeared to be the most interested team. New York drafted Hardaway 24th overall two years ago, and parlays him into a higher selection in this evening’s draft.
Grant spent five years, including a red-shirt season at Notre Dame. He spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors about why he didn’t declare earlier and the progress he made as a senior this past season. He’ll represent a cap hold of $1,310,300 on New York’s books, slightly more than the nearly $1.305MM Hardaway is to make next season.
Hardaway will give Atlanta depth on the wing with DeMarre Carroll a free agent this summer. The Hawks are clearing about $300K in extra cap flexibility as they moved down from the No. 15 pick in a deal with the Wizards before reaching the agreement with New York.
Timberwolves Select Karl-Anthony Towns No. 1
The Timberwolves have selected Kentucky forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns with the No. 1 overall pick. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported the news moments earlier (Twitter link). The move has appeared the likeliest outcome since earlier this month, when Mark Heisler of Forbes.com reported that coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders had become enamored with Towns after having previously favored Duke center Jahlil Okafor. It’s seemed like a virtual foregone conclusion since Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv heard that the team told Towns he would be the pick, even though Towns later denied the report.
Towns emerged as the top prospect on draft boards during the NCAA Tournament, surpassing Okafor. Kentucky coach John Calipari‘s unprecedented depth helped keep Towns’ numbers modest, as he put up 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game in his lone season with the school. Still, his defensive ability is obvious, and he has the capability to develop into an all-court force, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined in our Prospect Profile of the 19-year-old.
The Leon Rose client will earn $5,703,600 this coming season, presuming he signs for the standard 120% of the rookie scale. He’s in line to earn $25,720,035 over the course of the four-year rookie scale contract, as our table of likely salaries for first-round picks shows. The Timberwolves will have to sign him to that deal before they bring him onto the roster, though that should be largely a procedural matter. He’ll represent a $4.753MM cap hold on Minnesota’s ledger until the team officially signs him.
Kevin Love Opts Out, Will Become Free Agent
THURSDAY, 2:51pm: Love has officially opted out, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 1:21pm: Kevin Love is opting out of his contract with the Cavaliers and will become a free agent, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deadline for Love to make a decision isn’t until Thursday, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported earlier (on Twitter), so the power forward still has the power to change his mind if he wants. The league has no mechanism for players to officially turn down options, as those with player options simply allow the deadline to pass if they don’t want to opt in, but Stein indicates that Love’s decision to opt out is final. Cavs GM David Griffin said last week that he was expecting Love to opt out but re-sign with the club in July, and Love has time and again said he intends to remain with Cleveland. Opting out is nonetheless an about-face for Love, who told Haynes in January that he would instead opt in.
Opting out would appear the wise financial play for the Jeff Schwartz client, since he’d make only slightly more than $16.744MM on the option but stands to make as much as the max, an estimated $18.96MM, if he indeed opts out. Some executives have been predicting that the Cavs will sign-and-trade him to one of his many suitors, given the success Cleveland had without him while he was out with a shoulder injury during the playoffs, though Griffin insists he wants to keep the core of his team together, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote earlier this week. There’s little doubt the Cavs will put a max offer of their own on the table for him, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com wrote in late April, several weeks after ESPN colleague Chris Broussard had heard from rival executives who’d begun to question that prospect.
The Celtics and Lakers have been most frequently linked to Love over the past several months, even as the former All-Star has consistently batted down rumors that he’ll depart the Cavs. Love has nonetheless been a poor fit in Cleveland, which gave up Andrew Wiggins in the trade to acquire him, and Cleveland is reportedly staring at the possibility of a $100-110MM payroll as it seeks to keep its roster together.
Monta Ellis Opts Out
WEDNESDAY, 2:49pm: The deadline passed without an opt-in from Ellis, so he has officially opted out, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
11:29am: Agent Jeff Fried confirms to MacMahon that Ellis will opt out. Fried expressed that Ellis would be interested in re-signing with Dallas, as MacMahon relays, though the Mavs don’t appear to have strong reciprocal desire for that. The Pacers and Heat are interested, as we passed along in a separate post.
9:59am: Ellis has decided to opt out, a source tells MacMahon (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 9:00am: A 90% chance exists that Monta Ellis will opt out from the Mavs to hit free agency next week, as has been expected, a source tells Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Ellis has until midnight tonight to decide. The news comes in the wake of a Tuesday evening report from Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com indicating that the Mavs would be likely to pursue a trade that would send Ellis away if he were to opt in. Dallas would seek a draft pick in that scenario, as MacMahon writes in a full story, and the team would target Emmanuel Mudiay in particular, according to Sefko, who suggests Dallas would try to bundle its first-round pick, at No. 21, with Ellis in trade proposals.
Trading Ellis for a pick would help the team’s free agency push, clearing the $8.72MM salary that he would receive if he were to opt in. Still, the Mavs would have the cap hold for that pick to contend with if they brought back a first-rounder. Sefko suggests that MacMahon’s report that the Mavs would look to trade him if he opted in is helping sway him to opt out instead. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team advanced the idea of trading him for just that purpose, though that’s just my speculation. If Ellis opts out, the Mavs can renounce his rights and wouldn’t have to bother with any cap hit for him. The team has no intention of giving Ellis the raise he’d seek if he were to opt out, MacMahon hears.
The Mavs have about $32MM in guaranteed salary on the books as it stands against a projected $67.1MM cap. Ellis just compiled his lowest scoring average, 18.9, since 2006/07, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Relativity Sports client nonetheless command eight-figure salaries in free agency, if he indeed opts out.
Al-Farouq Aminu Opts Out
JUNE 25TH: Aminu has officially opted out, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (on Twitter).
2:24pm: The Mavs want to re-sign Aminu, as GM Donnie Nelson made clear today, Sneed tweets.
APRIL 29TH, 2:09pm: Mavs forward Al-Farouq Aminu said today that he’ll turn down his minimum-salary player option with the Mavs for next season, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com (Twitter link). Aminu nonetheless expressed his affection for the city of Dallas and the Mavs, Sneed notes, and he said he’d love to re-sign, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (on Twitter).
The news is no shock, since Aminu proved a valuable part of the Mavs rotation even as he recorded his fewest minutes (18.5) and points (5.6) per game since his rookie season. His 14.4 PER set a new career high, and ESPN ranks him sixth among small forwards this season in its Defensive Real Plus/Minus metric. He saw equal time at small forward and power forward, according to Basketball-Reference, and he’d rank seventh in Defensive Real Plus/Minus among players at the four.
He upped his production in the Mavs’ five-game playoff loss to the Rockets with 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per contest, buoyed by uncharacteristic 7 for 11 three-point shooting. Dallas will have Non-Bird rights on the Raymond Brothers client to give him 20% more than the $1,100,602 value of the option, though that isn’t much spending power, meaning the Mavs will likely have to use cap space or the mid-level or biannual exceptions. The Mavs only have about $28MM in commitments for next season, so there’s a strong chance the team opens cap space.
Hornets Acquire Jeremy Lamb
THURSDAY, 12:18pm: The Thunder issued a press release confirming that they have acquired Ridnour and a conditional 2016 second round pick from the Hornets in exchange for Lamb.
11:41am: The deal involves OKC trading Lamb to the Hornets for Luke Ridnour and a 2016 second-round choice, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Hornets acquired Ridnour when they agreed to move Barnes to Memphis.
WEDNESDAY, 6:36pm: The Hornets continue to be active prior to the NBA Draft, and the team is set to acquire guard Jeremy Lamb from the Thunder, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports (Twitter link). The transaction will involve the contract of Matt Barnes, who was acquired by Charlotte from the Clippers in the Spencer Hawes for Lance Stephenson trade, though Barnes isn’t expected to end up in Oklahoma City, Bonnell adds. It’s unclear if that means a third team is involved, or if Barnes will be waived by the Thunder. Charlotte, who was reported earlier to be seeking a wing player, is also set to acquire Nicolas Batum from the Blazers in a separate deal.
In Lamb, the Hornets acquire a 23-year-old shooting guard with upside, who never quite lived up to his status as a lottery pick with the Thunder. Lamb is under contract for 2015/16 at a salary of $3,034,356, and would be eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer. In 47 appearances last season he averaged 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. His career numbers through 148 games are 7.0 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.1 APG, with a slash line of .422/.348/.857.
Barnes, 35, was a candidate to be waived if he remained in Charlotte. His salary is partially guaranteed for $1MM through July 1st, but is fully guaranteed for almost $3.543MM after. The veteran appeared in 76 games for the Clippers last season, notching 10.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 29.9 minutes per night.
Grizzlies, Hornets Swap Ridnour For Barnes
12:00pm: The Grizzlies confirmed the completion of the deal via press release.
8:57am: The Grizzlies have agreed to flip Luke Ridnour to the Hornets for Matt Barnes, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Hornets may waive Ridnour as his pact is non-guaranteed for 2015/16, but the Grizzlies plan to keep Barnes in the final year of his pact (link).
Ridnour didn’t get a chance to even take off his coat as the Grizzlies acquired him less than 24 hours ago. The 34-year-old was reportedly considering retirement as of March, and he hasn’t publicly said whether or not he intends to play next season. His $2.75MM salary is non-guaranteed, but if Charlotte intends on waiving him, they must do so before July 10th when it becomes fully guaranteed. Ridnour is a backup point guard who’s also seen time at the two, so the Hornets could theoretically hang on to him to bolster their backcourt depth.
Barnes, who came to Charlotte in the Lance Stephenson deal earlier this month, was a candidate to be waived if he remained in Charlotte. His salary is partially guaranteed for $1MM through July 1st, but is fully guaranteed for almost $3.543MM after. The veteran appeared in 76 games for the Clippers last season, notching 10.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 29.9 minutes per night.
Hawks, Wizards Swapping Picks
10:22pm: The deal is official, the Wizards and Hawks announced. The second-rounders going to Atlanta are for 2016 and 2019, according to the Wizards.
8:24pm: The Wizards have a deal to acquire the rights to 15th pick Kelly Oubre from the Hawks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter), with the 19th pick going to Atlanta. Two future second-round picks will go to the Hawks, too, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Oubre was a highly touted prospect coming out of high school who endured a tough season at Kansas, averaging fewer than 10 points per game. Still, Washington is banking on the upside that Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined in a Prospect Profile. He’ll represent a cap hold of $1,600,200 on Washington’s books.
Atlanta is reportedly flipping the rights to the 19th pick, Jerian Grant, into Tim Hardaway Jr. in a deal with the Knicks.