It was about as wild a week as you can get in late August in the NBA, and it might well have caused the NBA rumor mill to hit the snooze button for a few weeks. But that’s not to say there isn’t still business to be done out there, so let’s have a look at what happened and then what is left.
What Happened on the NBA Rumor Mill …
Cavaliers shuffle the roster. Cleveland is the big winner here, as they took some disparate and ill-fitting parts and consolidated them into Peyton Watson. They also added free-agent Mario Hezonja and their big losses–Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder, Max Strus, Dean Wade–can be replaced by better, younger players. The Cavs gave James Harden a somewhat inflated three-year, $97 million deal, too.
Nuggets lose out. Denver had little choice but to trade Watson, once they decided not to trade Cameron Johnson’s $23 million expiring contract. The Nuggets get a future first-round pick and a future second-rounder, but lose Watson. Fact is, though, that Watson did not play after February 4, and the Nugs had a .643 winning mark without him and .667 with him.
Hornets, Clippers add vets. Both teams had traded player exceptions to use, and scooped up useful veterans Dennis Schroder (Charlotte) and Max Strus (Clippers) for, essentially, nothing. When GMs talk about flexibility and optionality, that’s what they mean.
Klay Thompson to Miami. The Heat have three needs: another big man, another playmaker, and shooting. After the Mavericks finally conceded that they could not make a trade and just bought out Thompson, he said he’s going to Miami. That will help the shooting, but the Heat still need more.
DeMar DeRozan to Denver. Head-scratcher here. The Nuggets brought in DeRozan after the dust settled on the Watson deal, but it’s hard to see how his midrange game fits with a big man like Nikola Jokic, who operates best just outside the elbows. Will DeRozan be OK with highlighting the second unit? If so, it all makes a bit more sense.
Jonathan Kuminga, the Lakers & What’s Next on the NBA Rumor Mill …
Jonathan Kuminga. Free-agent musical chairs is just about over, but Kuminga remains without a team and without many options. The space that other teams had to facilitate a trade has been mostly dried up (maybe Memphis could help?) and thus, if Kuminga still is intent on getting a $20 million AAV contract, he’s got a very thin needle to thread. A one-year deal–Minnesota and the Lakers are his best bets–to show what he can do with a consistent role and rebuild his value is still his best option.
Lakers final move. The Lakers are at 16 contracts for next season, but have two glaring holes on the roster that have been talked about ad nauseum for the past six weeks: starting power forward and backup center. The forward spot could be filled by Kuminga. The backup center spot is tricky–and eventually, the team will need to reconstruct the end of the roster with trades to fit new players, and there are not a lot of Lakers players teams are dying to get their hands on.
It would be a surprise, but the Lakers could just go to camp with the group they have, which would mean trying to get something out of Jarred Vanderbilt, maybe even starting him at power forward in an 18-to-20-minute-per-night role. The Lakers found no takers for Vanderbilt (two years, $26 million on his contract) this summer. Perhaps the Lakers could rehab his value and trade him down the road.
Jalen Duren vs. the Pistons. Take reports on the status of this thing with a grain of salt. It’s always thus with restricted free agents. Would Duren have wanted a sign-and-trade? Sure. Would he be open to signing the one-year qualifying offer? Every restricted free agent has not choice but to be “open” to the QO. Are things tense between the two sides? Of course.
But this is a different animal in some ways, because while Duren is fighting for five years and $290-ish million, the Pistons are fighting for their ability to maintain a roster with some depth going forward in the face of the second-apron realities. You can’t just hand a max contract to your best player anymore, not unless he is one of the best 10-15 players in the league. Duren isn’t.
The reports on this being an ugly situation are understandable, but the Pistons need Duren and he needs the Pistons. It’s almost certain that there will be a deal, even if it takes another month.
Bennedict Mathurin vs. the qualifying offer. We talked about this the other day. The Clippers could seek a sign-and-trade, and they’ve got the flexibility to pursue one or to simply sign Mathurin. But a sign-and-trade would lock Mathurin in for three years at a number he probably thinks he can outplay. Signing the qualifying offer is rare, but in Mathurin’s case, a one-year, $9 million contract and a chance to his unrestricted free agency next summer might be his best option.
GettyJonathan Kuminga
NBA Remaining Free Agents: The Top 20
Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan are off the board, or, at least, we’re assuming the deals they have in place with the Heat and Nuggets, respectively, will become official. Once that happens, it will be Jonathan Kuminga at the top of the NBA rumor mill here in late August, once again. But there are useful veterans still out there …
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- Jonathan Kuminga.
- Nick Richards.
- Brandon Williams.
- Bruce Brown.
- Kelly Olynyk.
- Gabe Vincent.
- Kevin Love.
- Nicolas Batum.
- Ben Simmons.
- Cam Thomas.
- Vince Williams.
- Seth Curry.
- Doug McDermott.
- Dalen Terry.
- Ochai Agbaji.
- Mason Plumlee.
- Bismack Biyombo.
- Jeff Green.
- Lonnie Walker IV.
- Maxi Kleber.
NBA Rumors: Lakers Options, Jonathan Kuminga, Best Remaining Free Agents