Month: November 2020

It’s been a busy first day of free agency around the association. All the usual finagling and machinations were on full display when the moratorium period opened on Friday, and just when you thought things were settling down for the evening, Sam Presti and the Thunder proved they still had a few tricks up their sleeve.

Jrue Holiday was one of the first chips to fall in trade season, as earlier this week, the Pelicans orchestrated a deal that would send him to Milwaukee in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, and other assets, giving the Bucks that missing piece they believe they need to round out their roster for a true title run.

But they apparently weren’t finished with that particular deal. Late Friday night, news emerged that they were expanding the deal to include other players and other teams, namely Steven Adams, who will apparently be heading to New Orleans when the dust settles, according to Woj.

New Orleans and Milwaukee are expanding the original Jrue Holiday trade to include more teams and players, including the routing of Steven Adams to the Pelicans, sources tell ESPN. Talks are moving toward a possible four-team trade.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020

But the deal doesn’t end there.

Mavericks guard Delon Wright is headed to Detroit as a part of a three-team trade with OKC, source tells ESPN. Detroit’s Trevor Ariza is going to the Mavericks. https://t.co/TExRzOlzsP

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020

Here’s the deal: The Mavericks gets James Johnson; Pistons get Delon Wright; OKC gets Ariza, Jackson and pick. https://t.co/ezb9dXnpGw

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020

For the sake of clarity, it’s a deal that also included multiple assets.

Sources: The Steven Adams-to-Pelicans trade includes Denver, which traded a 2023 lottery protected first-round pick for the 24th pick (RJ Hampton) on draft night. That pick is headed to the Thunder — along with two seconds — for Adams.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020

It’s an awful lot to keep track of, but the operative part here is that Steven Adams’ time with the Thunder appears to be over, as he was one of the last remaining players of a core group that once featured Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and himself, and were once one win away from toppling the Warriors and heading back to the Finals.

It’s been a rather eventful start to free agency, with a slew of deals sweeping across the league since the moratorium period opened on Friday. None of them have necessarily been of the blockbuster variety, but nonetheless, the machinations that are happening now will have real and long-lasting effects on the NBA landscape for years to come.

The Los Angeles Clippers found themselves in the mix, somewhat unexpectedly, when it was reported that Montrezl Harrell was opting to leave the team in free agency and join the Lakers. To no surprise, fiery point guard Patrick Beverley quickly tweeted his displeasure about the deal, but later added that he wishes his now-former teammate the best.

The Clippers can also take solace in the fact that they are retaining another front court player who has been a key part of their rotation, as Marcus Morris is reportedly returning on a rather large four-year, $64 million contract.

Free agent Marcus Morris has agreed to return to the Clippers, source tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020

Deal: 4 years, $64M, per source. https://t.co/w8keZqg6hE

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020

Morris sent his own tweet out soon after.

Run it back!

— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) November 21, 2020

Morris averaged 11.8 points and four rebounds during the playoffs and shot 47.5 percent from downtown. He was also a key defender for the Clippers. After a disappointing end to their Bubble run, the Clippers will return with the same starting lineup as last season, albeit with a new head coach at the helm and renewed sense of purpose to capitalize on the wealth of talent on their roster.

John Wall appears ready for his tenure with the Washington Wizards to come to an end. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Wall, whose name has popped up recently in a potential swap for Russell Westbrook of the Houston Rockets, has reportedly made clear that he would like a trade from the only NBA team for which he’s played in his career.

Wall, of course, has not spent all that much time on the floor for the Wizards in recent years as he has worked to rehabilitate a string of injuries. But prior to all of that, Wall was one of the most explosive point guards in basketball. For his career, Wall has averaged 19 points, 9.2 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game.

There are reasons why a Wall deal might be extremely difficult, particularly his contract. The former No. 1 overall pick hasn’t played a game in nearly two seasons, and is slated to make $41,254,920 this year, $44,310,840 in 2021-22, and $47,366,760 in 2022-23, with the final year being a player option. His deal also includes a 15 percent trade kicker.

Basically, it’s hard to project out what John Wall is right now besides a 30-year-old guard with a string of injuries and a gigantic contract. Still, if he has his way, someone will take a bet on him, and a new team will be in his future for the first time in his NBA career.

As the Undertaker prepares for a “Final Farewell” this Sunday ahead of his retirement, the WWE star unveiled something exciting, albeit wildly unexpected, on Friday. Undertaker teamed up with Snoop Dogg for a line of collaborative merch — and fans are both excited and confused.

Available exclusively through WWE’s website, the collection boasts t-shirts, hats, and hoodies in a handful of designs. While the collaboration may seem out of left field, Undertaker explained to Complex how the project came together:

“Obviously, Snoop is such an iconic figure in pop culture. And then obviously, the Undertaker has been around a little while himself, and plays a role in pop culture. So, to the date this Sunday, Nov. 22, marks my 30th year with WWE and then Monday, Nov. 23, will be the 27th anniversary of Snoop Dogg’s groundbreaking album at the time, Doggystyle. As crazy as it sounds, it makes a lot of sense that two figures so relevant in pop culture have these anniversaries coinciding with each other. I couldn’t be more happy to be doing this with Snoop. Obviously, everybody knows, everything Snoop does turns to gold anyway, and then half of that turns platinum. So, I think it’s really cool, and just adds another layer to each of our legacies in the entertainment world.”

Echoing Undertaker’s sentiment in a statement, Snoop noted his similarities with the WWE star. “Undertaker. 30 Years. Boss Dogg. 27 years. Godfather to Doggfather — I have an enormous amount of respect for such an icon in the sports and entertainment industry. Our career paths are similar in longevity and the respect we have from our peers,” Snoop said. “It’s only right we team up for this collaboration to celebrate both of our reigns as the Original Deadman and the Original Gangsta.”

While Undertaker and Snoop were on the same page about their collection, some WWE fans weren’t so sure. Many who caught news of the merch were initially confused about the collaboration.

Others, however, were excited for the unexpected surprise.

Check out photos of the Snoop Dogg and Undertaker merch above.

Things didn’t quite go as planned for the Los Angeles Clippers this season. Despite boasting an embarrassment of talent on their roster, they fell short in the second round in Orlando to a scrappy and talented Nuggets squad that managed to overcome a 3-1 series deficit and topple a team that had their sights set on a title.

It was a brutal series that pointed to what could be a larger overarching issue about team chemistry or the lack thereof. That’s something Montrezl Harrell was already aware of long beforehand. Back in January, Harrell criticized his teammates for lack of cohesion after an ugly loss and called the locker room “problematic,” which drew an angry reaction from Doc Rivers.

Now, it appears Harrell has decided to cut his ties with Clippers altogether, opting instead to join forces with their locker-room rivals. It’s an outcome that left at least one teammate in disbelief, as fiery point guard Patrick Beverley reacted with an angry emoji on Twitter.

whathttps://t.co/44m24c60Ux

— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) November 21, 2020

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a teammate has left to join a rival in free agency, and if the Boston Celtics are any indication, it could ignite a feud that could last for the next decade or longer, although probably to a lesser degree than the Rondo-Ray-Allen-Garnett debacle. But Pat Bev has never been one to take things in stride, so every Lakers-Clippers game next season will surely be must-see television.

Beverley, for his part, did his best to downplay it later, in a response to one of the many memes that has already surfaced in the wake of Harrell’s decision.

Frfr happy for him tho https://t.co/8JnvRHJGVd

— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) November 21, 2020

So, who knows. Maybe he’s already cycled through the five stages of grief and has arrived at acceptance. I probably wouldn’t hold my breath, though.

The first day of free agency saw a number of major deals as, despite very few teams holding significant cap space, teams around the league found ways to lock in free agents on the opening day of action.

Among the teams with significant cap space are the Detroit Pistons and they were very active on Friday, signing Josh Jackson, Jahlil Okafor, and Mason Plumlee to deals, but they weren’t done there — and weren’t done signing former Nuggets. Late on Friday, word emerged that they had managed to swipe Jerami Grant away from Denver on a pretty massive three-year, $60 million deal.

The Nuggets were expected to be pushing to keep Grant after he played a significant role for them in their run to the Western Conference Finals, as their leading defensive wing, taking on the top assignments on both the Lakers and Clippers in LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard. Denver will now have to replace that production, particularly on the defensive end, while Detroit will be banking on him being able to take on an expanded role on the offensive end, both spacing the floor as a shooter around their lottery pick Killian Hayes but, for $20 million a year, they will clearly want him to be more of an on-ball threat as well.

That’s a role Grant likewise wants, as he reportedly turned down the same amount of money from Denver for a larger role in Detroit.

Christian Wood was a revelation for the Detroit Pistons last season. After suiting up for a number of NBA and G League squads to start his professional career, Wood settled into a role off the Pistons’ bench nicely, setting himself up to become one of the most highly-sought-after frontcourt players in the 2020 free agent class.

Wood ended up finding a home on Friday evening, several hours after the window opened for players and teams to come to terms on deals. According to Frank Isola, Wood is headed to the Houston Rockets on a three-year deal that will pay him $27 million.

There was a little bit of confusion in the ensuing hour or so following Isola’s tweet, as multiple reports indicated that no deal had been reached between the two sides, although there was interest. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, though, the deal ultimately came to fruition, with Wood getting even more money than originally believed.

Further reporting by Wojnarowski indicated the deal will happen via a sign-and-trade.

For a Rockets team that jettisoned all of its big men last year and traded 6’9 forward Robert Covington earlier this week, Wood brings some much-needed frontcourt reinforcements. The hope will be that he can build off of a career year last season as the 25-year-old power forward averaged 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game.

Joe Harris is one of the best examples of the Brooklyn Nets’ ability to identify and develop talent. Once a scarcely-used member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Harris joined Brooklyn in 2016 and has quickly developed into one of the NBA’s most consistently dangerous options from behind the arc. He hit free agency this offseason, and in response, the Nets made it a point to compensate him handsomely for his services.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Brooklyn and Harris came to terms on a deal to keep the former University of Virginia standout in the borough.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN chimed in with contract details soon after. Harris will remain with the Nets on a four-year deal worth an eyebrow-raising $75 million.

One season after leading the NBA by connecting on 47.4 percent of his triples, Harris posted a career-high in scoring during the 2019-20 campaign. He averaged 14.5 points in 30.8 minutes per game, starting in all 69 games in which he appeared. The shooting was still his calling card, as he connected on 42.4 percent of his 5.9 threes a night.

Expectations are high in Brooklyn with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both returning from injuries this season. It’s unclear what the remainder of the roster will look like as they’ve linked to a potential James Harden move, but if things remain the way they are, they can take solace in knowing that one of the league’s most dangerous options from behind the arc will be ready and waiting for them to kick the ball out to him.

Davis Bertans’ decision to sit out during the NBA’s Orlando Bubble has paid off in a big way. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the sharpshooting Latvian forward has agreed to a five-year deal to return to the Washington Wizards, the franchise for whom he turned into one of the most dangerous marksmen in the league last season.

The price tag on Bertans’ deal will certainly raise eyebrows, as he’s slated to make $80 million, although the contract does apparently include an early termination option.

Bertans’ ability to hit shots has never been in question, but he took a major step forward as a member of the Wizards last season. Bertans averaged a career-high 15.4 points per game while connecting on 42.4 percent of his triples. He did this on impressive volume, too, shooting 8.7 threes a night for the high-scoring Wizards. Additionally, he posted a career-best mark by pulling down 4.5 rebounds per game.

There wasn’t much that went right in Washington last season, and outside of Bradley Beal, there were not all that many bright spots in the nation’s capital. Bertans was one of them, though, and while there are 29 other teams that could use someone with his aptitude from downtown, he decided to stick in D.C.

Montrezl Harrell has turned into a revelation with the Los Angeles Clippers, as his energy and offense off the bench turned him into the 2019-20 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. A free agent this offseason, there was plenty of attention on where Harrell would go, and reports indicate that he’s going to stick in Los Angeles.

The catch: Harrell is going leave the Clippers and sign a two-year deal with the Lakers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The report was eventually confirmed by Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst laid out the particulars of the deal. It’s a two-year contract worth $19 million with a player option for the 2021-22 campaign.

While Harrell struggled during the NBA’s Orlando Bubble after his late arrival due to the passing of his grandmother, the former Louisville standout has turned into one of the league’s most ruthless interior players. Last season, he averaged career-best marks in scoring (18.6 per game) and rebounding (7.1 a night) and was one of the lynchpins of the Clippers’ devastating second units alongside Lou Williams. There are concerns about his game, particularly on the defensive end of the floor, but his ability to get buckets made him one of the biggest free agent names on the market.