Southeast Notes: Meeks, Porter, Reed, Magic
The Wizards will use their mid-level exception instead of their bi-annual exception to sign Jodie Meeks, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The change was made to avoid being hard-capped by the expected re-signing of Otto Porter. Meeks will still receive $7MM over two seasons; the money will just come from a different source (Twitter link). The Wizards still haven’t received the Nets’ offer sheet for Porter, adds J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic (Twitter link).
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Clippers, Warriors, Hawks, Sixers and Pacers all remain in the market for Heat back-up center Willie Reed, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. Miami also hopes to re-sign him.
- The Magic’s new management team is taking a cautious attitude toward rebuilding, relays Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando has been quiet during the first week of free agency, despite coming off a 29-53 season and having up to $15.1MM available to spend. “There’s a lot less money in the free-agent market this year than there was last year,” said Jeff Weltman, the team’s new president of basketball operations. “And so, the approach that we’ve taken is to kind of wait and see how some of that shakes out towards the next phase of free agency and see which players we may be able to get into discussions with at that point. But we’ve been touching base with a lot of guys and just kind of gauging the market.”
- The Hornets have promoted Buzz Peterson to assistant GM, the team announced on its website. A former standout at North Carolina and a head coach at five colleges, Peterson had been serving as the Hornets’ senior advisor to basketball operations. “He brings a wide breadth of basketball knowledge to the position, having been involved in the game at various levels for close to three decades,” said Charlotte GM Rich Cho. “I’m excited to be working more closely with Buzz in his new role and look forward to his continued contributions to our basketball team.”
Wizards Sign Mike Young To Two-Way Contract
The Wizards have signed Michael Young to a two-way contract, according to a team announcement. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Washington also announced that Young will play for the organization’s Summer League team in Las Vegas.
Young played at the University of Pittsburgh and was named All-ACC Third Team in each of this final two seasons at the school. The Pennsylvania native scored 19.6 points per game while pulling down 6.8 rebounds during his senior season with the Panthers.
Each team is allowed to sign two players to a two-way contract, which is a feature of the new CBA. Players signed to these deals will spend most of the 2017/18 campaign playing in the NBA G-League since they cannot spend more than 45 days with their NBA team, as our glossary page on two-way contracts shows.
The Wizards do not have a G-League team of their own, so Young will have to play for another club via the league’s flex assignment rule. Candace Buckner of The Washington Post notes that the power forward will likely spend most of his time with the Delaware 87ers.
Nets, Otto Porter Agree To Max Deal; Wizards Plan To Match
9:05pm: The Wizards had hoped to work out a more cap-friendly deal with Porter, but they still intend to match the Nets’ offer, reports Chris Mannix of The Vertical (via Twitter).
8:42pm: The Nets and Otto Porter have reached an agreement on a four-year, maximum salary deal, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Because Porter is a restricted free agent, Brooklyn will have to sign Porter to an offer sheet, and the Wizards will have the opportunity to match it.
Porter, who can receive up to $106,524,975 on a four-year deal, reportedly received such an offer from the Kings over the weekend as well. However, Porter didn’t accept that offer right away, opting to meet with other teams instead, and Sacramento used its cap room to reach deals with George Hill and Zach Randolph. In the wake of Gordon Hayward‘s departure from Utah, Porter had reportedly lined up a meeting with the Jazz, but Brooklyn swooped in with a max offer and struck a deal with the RFA forward.
Based on the wording of Charania’s report, it sounds like Porter hasn’t formally signed an offer sheet from Brooklyn quite yet. However, he is eligible to do so during the moratorium. If he makes it official with the Nets, the clock for the Wizards to make their decision would begin on July 6 when the moratorium ends. Washington would have until the end of the day on July 8 to match the offer.
Long considered a probable suitor for Porter, the Nets had an excess of cap room and showed in 2016 that they’re willing to dive into the RFA market in search of long-term assets. Last year, Brooklyn had offer sheets for Allen Crabbe, Tyler Johnson, and Donatas Motiejunas matched by the Trail Blazers, Heat, and Rockets, respectively. The club will be hoping for better luck this time around, though the RFA market has been slow to develop, so if the Wizards match on Porter, the Nets could go shopping for another target or two.
As for the Wizards, they’ve been widely expected to match any offer for Porter, but the Nets will put them to the test with this offer. Washington entered the free agent period with approximately $94MM in guaranteed money on the cap for 2017/18 and has since struck deals with Jodie Meeks and Mike Scott that figure to add nearly $5MM more to the books. As such, Porter’s deal, with its first-year cap hit of $24.77MM, will take the Wizards over the tax line if they match.
Washington reportedly intended to use the bi-annual exception to complete Meeks’ deal, but may instead choose to use a portion of the taxpayer mid-level exception to avoid becoming hard-capped at $125.266MM for the ’17/18 league year.
Porter, who has steadily improved his production in each of his four NBA seasons, had his best year as a pro in 2016/17, averaging career bests in PPG (13.4), RPG (6.4), and SPG (1.5), while posting an incredibly efficient .516/.434/.832 shooting line. I ranked him eighth overall in Hoops Rumors’ list of this year’s top 50 free agents.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Southeast Notes: Porter, Bogdanovic, Isaac, Bosh
The Kings’ decision to use a major part of their cap space on George Hill and Zach Randolph leaves the Nets as the most significant threat for Wizards RFA Otto Porter, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. Porter met with the Kings on Sunday and reportedly received a max offer, but didn’t sign it, wanting to talk to other teams first. Sacramento’s moves today means it no longer has room for a max deal unless it unloads some other salary. The Wizards can match any offer sheet that Porter brings to them, and have stated that they plan to do so.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Wizards plan to explore sign-and-trade options for Bojan Bogdanovic, according to J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. Bogdanovic appears to be on the way out after this week’s deals with Jodie Meeks and Mike Scott, but Washington won’t revoke his $4.7MM qualifying offer, hoping to deal him and create a traded player exception. Bogdanovic is reportedly seeking about $16MM per year, which seems unrealistic. Michael notes that the Wizards have made use of TPEs in the recent years, picking up Jared Dudley, Kris Humphries and Tim Frazier.
- The Magic will hold first-round pick Jonathan Isaac out of the final two games of the Orlando Pro Summer League after he suffered a hip strain Monday, relays John Denton of NBA.com. Tests didn’t reveal any structural damage and the injury isn’t considered serious, but the Magic are keeping him sidelined as a precaution.
- In a move to free up cap space, the Magic have reached an agreement with 2005 first-rounder Fran Vazquez that he won’t play in the NBA this season, tweets Keith Smith of Real GM. Orlando still owns the rights for the 34-year-old, and the move takes away his cap hold for the upcoming season.
- The Heat are expected to end their seven-year relationship with Chris Bosh this week, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami will erase Bosh’s $52.1MM from its cap under a medical retirement in the wake of recurring blood clots. Bosh must be given 48 hours to clear waivers before the move becomes official, and it will push the Heat’s cap space from $9MM to more than $34MM this year.
Free Agency Notes: Freeland, Bogdanovic, Millsap
Former Trail Blazers big man Joel Freeland has engaged in talks with NBA teams and could make a comeback after spending the last two seasons playing international ball, reports Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Freeland, 30, was a first-round pick way back in 2006 and joined the Blazers six years later for the 2012/13 season. However, his stint with the team lasted just three years — he appeared in 151 regular season games for Portland before heading back overseas and playing for CSKA Moscow for the last two seasons. He’s now a free agent.
Here’s more on free agency from around the NBA:
- A league source tells Chris Miller of CSN (Twitter link) that Wizards RFA Bojan Bogdanovic is believed to be seeking a three- or four-year deal worth $16MM annually. That sort of money may have been available for a player like Bogdanovic in free agency a year ago when nearly every team had cap room, but I really don’t see him getting an offer in that range this time around.
- Paul Millsap tells Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) that the Hawks never formally offered him a contract. New Atlanta GM Travis Schlenk never sounded overly enthusiastic about making a competitive offer for Millsap, who committed to the Nuggets on Sunday night.
- The Warriors still have their $5.192MM mid-level exception available, but Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link) is skeptical that the team will use it to sign a single player, suggesting the Dubs are more likely to split it up among multiple players — if they use it at all.
- If the Bulls are serious about going all-in on their rebuild, it might make sense to let RFA forward Nikola Mirotic walk in an effort to downgrade next year’s roster and improve the team’s chances at a top-five pick, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Western FA Notes: Muhammad, Holiday, Young
A theme is developing in Minnesota as head coach Tom Thibodeau slowly molds the young Timberwolves into a modern day version of his old team. Consider Justin Holiday the latest former Bulls rotation piece that the T-Wolves have expressed an interest in, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders writes.
Holiday would join Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson with the Wolves, should the organization seek to sign the 28-year-old 3-and-D specialist.
The Bulls and Knicks, the team with whom Holiday averaged 7.7 points per game for in 2016/17, are both said to be interested in retaining the swingman’s services.
There’s more today as free agency rolls along:
- The Timberwolves will likely have to renounce Shabazz Muhammad in the wake of today’s two-year, $28MM agreement with Taj Gibson, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. He adds that Muhammad’s representatives have been notifying teams that he is now an unrestricted free agent (Twitter link).
- Nick Young has emerged as a candidate for the Warriors‘ $5.2MM exception, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Pelicans can offer more playing time and a larger role in the offense, notes David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link), but Young may opt for the chance for a ring.
- Gordon Hayward will meet with Jazz officials in San Diego, not Utah, on Monday, tweets Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. Coach Quin Snyder, GM Dennis Lindsey and team president Steve Starks will be among Utah’s delegation.
- The Rockets‘ interest in Cleveland’s Iman Shumpert is “basically dead,” according to Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The teams had trade discussions regarding Shumpert on Saturday before Houston signed Tucker.
Kings Make Max Offer To Otto Porter
7:26pm: Porter will schedule meetings with two more teams, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets. Then he’ll decide which offer sheet to sign.
5:03pm: The Kings offered a maximum deal today to Wizards forward Otto Porter, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. That would amount to a four-deal contract valued at about $106.5MM.
If Porter formally signs an offer sheet with Sacramento, Washington would have 48 hours to decide whether to match, beginning when the moratorium ends at 11 a.m. Central on Thursday.
The Wizards have proclaimed in the past that they intend to match any offer for Porter. However, he met with Washington officials early Saturday morning without reaching a new deal, indicating that the Wizards were reluctant to pay the maximum — or at least wanted to make sure he could get it on the open market.
The Kings still have more than $43MM in available cap space and a need for a small forward, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. They already missed out on two targets with Andre Iguodala re-signing with the Warriors and P.J. Tucker opting for the Rockets.
Free Agent Rumors: Ibaka, Bogdanovic, Knicks
Addressing NBA-wide speculation that he’s older than his listed age of 27, Raptors free agent big man Serge Ibaka issued a statement expressing disappointment with the media for “prejudices” based on his origin. Within his written statement, Ibaka suggested that he needs to take a stand against the “false assumption” that has been circulating.
“I was born in the capital of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville,” Ibaka wrote. “A city with a population bigger than 1 million. A city with hospitals, a civil registry, and an administration. I was born in a caring, loving and united family. I was not born in the jungle.”
Here’s more on free agency:
- In addition to the Hawks, the Kings and Nuggets are among the teams showing legitimate interest in Wizards RFA sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. Bogdanovic landing in Sacramento would be a fun scenario for play-by-play commentators, since the Kings have already reached a deal with Bogdan Bogdanovic.
- Multiple agents who have been in touch with the Knicks get the impression that the team wants to add younger players and is reluctant to spend big money on a single free agent, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. That could mean that New York’s reported interest in George Hill has waned.
- As they explore the free agent market, the Pacers intend to target young players with upside who may not have reached their full potential with their previous teams, says Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star. Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis fit that bill, according to Taylor, who hears from a source that Pacers president Kevin Pritchard has “coveted Oladipo for years.”
- Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald lays out why the Celtics badly need to land Gordon Hayward this week. As Bulpett explains, Boston’s cap room will no longer be available next summer when new deals are due for Isaiah Thomas and perhaps Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley as well, meaning 2017 is likely the team’s last and best chance to land a top-tier free agent.
Kings To Meet With Otto Porter
The Kings are expected to meet with free agent forward Otto Porter today, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
Porter, 24, is a restricted free agent, having received a qualifying offer last week from the Wizards. The 6’8″ forward met with Washington on Saturday, but the two sides left that meeting without an agreement in place, and it appears Porter’s camp is now seeking out an offer sheet.
While the Wizards are expected to match any offer Porter receives up to the max, he has to find a team willing to give him that sort of offer sheet first, which won’t necessarily be a slam dunk. ESPN’s Zach Lowe suggests (via Twitter) that the RFA market has been “frigid” so far, and if teams expect Washington to match any offer, there’s little incentive for those teams to spend time negotiating with Porter and focusing on him as a potential target.
Still, the Kings have the cap room necessary to make Porter a big offer, and could test the Wizards’ willingness to go up to the max. The Nets have also frequently been mentioned as a suitor for the former third overall pick.
Porter had his best year as a pro in 2016/17, averaging career bests in PPG (13.4), RPG (6.4), and SPG (1.5), while posting an incredibly efficient .516/.434/.832 shooting line. I ranked him eighth overall in Hoops Rumors’ list of this year’s top 50 free agents.
Eastern FA Rumors: Lowry, Bogdanovic, Celtics
There’s a “growing sense” among executives around the NBA that Kyle Lowry will ultimately sign a new deal with the Raptors, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link). Zillgitt says not to be surprised if Lowry gets a three-year deal in the range of $27MM annually from Toronto, which would put him right in the neighborhood of his good friend and teammate DeMar DeRozan — DeRozan’s contract calls for an annual salary of $27,739,975 over the next three years, with a player option worth the same amount in 2020/21.
Here are more free agent updates from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Hawks are among Bojan Bogdanovic‘s most “ardent” suitors, tweets TNT’s David Aldridge. As Aldridge observes, Bogdanovic is a restricted free agent, but it will be difficult for the Wizards to match a competitive offer sheet for the sharpshooter if they also have to match a max offer for Otto Porter.
- The Knicks, who have already been linked to several point guards in the first 24 hours of free agency, have also expressed interest in Shelvin Mack, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
- Although the Heat‘s recruiting efforts today were focused on Gordon Hayward, the team also made time to show some love to Udonis Haslem, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press details in a pair of tweets. A free agent again this summer, Haslem is probably a good bet to re-sign with Miami on a minimum salary contract.
- The Celtics, Hayward’s other Eastern Conference suitor, have talked to multiple free agents besides Hayward, according to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link). Murphy notes that the most notable conversation has been with Danilo Gallinari, though the two sides hadn’t yet set up a meeting as of this afternoon.