LeBron James has (finally!) made his decision, and this week we should see a lot of the rest of free agency wrap up. The teams that lost out in the LeBron chase will round out their rosters and we will settle in for the quiet part of the offseason until players start showing up for training camps in a couple of months.
Still, there is business to be done, here is some of the latest.
Jonathan Kuminga’s dilemma
The market for 23-year-old wing Jonathan Kuminga is not what he hoped it would be. Atlanta did not pick up the team’s $24.3 million option for this season, Kuminga hoped he could find a team willing to pay him around that number in a new, multi-year deal. No such luck. The offers out there were more like the Cavaliers still offering the rest of their mid-level exception this season (a little less than $8 million) or the Lakers offering two years, $20 million total.
That has Kuminga stuck, as friend-of-the-site Keith Smith explained on the NBA Front Office podcast (hat tip Fadaway World).
“The challenge with Kuminga is that if he’s gonna take less money than what he wants, then he only wants to do it for a year. He doesn’t want to do a three-year deal, and in order to do a sign-and-trade, he would have to have a three-year contract. That gets him stuck a little bit. He doesn’t want to be on a smaller contract that devalues himself.”
Kuminga is going to have to take less than he hoped this year and then, wherever he lands, prove himself worthy of a bigger contract. For example, Smith said that the Hawks would be open to a Jarred Vanderbilt and draft assets for a Kuminga sign-and-trade with the Lakers, but with Vanderbilt making $12.4 million this season, that would be close to what the Lakers have already proposed to pay Kuminga, and a sign-and-trade requires a three-year contract. (NBC Sports has been told this deal isn’t that close, and among the concerns for the Hawks is that this deal would put them into the luxury tax and necessitate other moves, plus Vanderbilt has a player option for next season at $13.3 million that the Hawks don’t want on their books.)
There isn’t some new corner of the market going to open up. Kuminga is going to have to accept one of the deals on the table, then shine in that team’s system and up his value.
Heat eyeing Klay Thompson
Another player that likely signs this week is DeMar DeRozan, who can bring a scoring punch to the bench of wherever he lands, he averaged 18.5 points per game last season in Sacramento. DeRozan has been linked to Miami, and there is reportedly mutual interest, but the Heat have their eyes focused on Klay Thompson in Dallas, reports Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
The Heat have about $8 million of their mid-level exception remaining and are hoping to use that to lure Thompson to South Beach if Dallas buys him out. Miami also would have to use that MLE money to get DeRozan, because if the Heat don’t spend that money, then the Cavaliers (with similar MLE money) or another team with some exception money left likely will jump in and get him.
One other note from Jackson: Dallas is not under any financial or roster pressure to move on from Thompson, so it is only going to buy him out of his $17.5 million contract if the savings are huge. Essentially, Thompson would have to give the Mavs a discount equal to what the Heat would pay him (so Thompson still makes his $17.5 million). How badly does Thompson want out of Dallas?
Miami also has been in contact with free agent Bradley Beal and his heading to South Beach feels more certain than the other things Miami has working.
Future trade names to watch
As the offseason winds down, the NBA rumor mill will slow down, although it never really stops. As we move into the fall (and especially towards next February’s trade deadline), here are a few names to watch.
• Michael Porter Jr. The high-scoring Nets forward (24.2 points per game last season) is in the final year of his contract paying him $40.8 million and is looking for another multi-year contract in that same ballpark. Brooklyn isn’t paying him that, and the Nets are rebuilding, so they would be open to a deal.
• Domantas Sabonis. The Kings have to trade him eventually… right? Also, anyone who thought Detroit would seriously consider a Jalen Duren for Sabonis sign-and-trade needs to take a step back and seriously examine their life.
• Zach LaVine. The Kings have to trade him eventually… right?
• Anthony Davis. This is a bit of a maybe, starting with the fact that Washington has shown no desire to move him. If the Wizards do reach a deal on a contract extension, then AD is not on the move until next summer (at the earliest), but a lot of teams have their eye on him as the most available high-level big man.
• Max Strus and/or Dennis Schroder. As has been discussed everywhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers are flirting with the second apron and will want to stay below that line. If they need to shed salary, these two veterans in the final year of their respective contracts (Strus at $16 million, Schroder at $14.7 million) are likely on the move. Both also have been linked to a Kuminga sign-and-trade, but there are a lot of financial reasons that it is unlikely.
• Trey Murphy III. He’s been on these lists for more than a year now, a lot of teams are interested, but the Pelicans continue to ask for so much in return — at one point they wanted a Desmond Bane-like package of four firsts — that no deal has gotten done. His name will come up again, if the Pelicans struggle to start the season… who knows?
• Myles Turner. We may be a year away from this getting serious. The Bucks do want some veterans around the young guys on their roster, but Milwaukee would be happy to move on from Turner at the right price, with young players or picks to help their rebuild. The fact that he has three years, $83.5 million remaining on his contract likely keeps teams away this year, but if there are injuries, Turner is one to watch.
