The NBA offseason is in full swing. The draft has occurred, the first couple of days in free agency have come and gone, and boy, have things been exciting.
The 76ers loaded up, signing Paul George to create a dangerous big three. Klay Thompson joined the Dallas Mavericks as they look to get back to the NBA Finals. The Thunder added Isaiah Hartenstein to an already stacked roster.
It feels like we’ve had a full offseason’s worth of activity, yet there’s still more to come. Here are the latest NBA Rumors.
With the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers did what they have been rumored to do all along. They selected Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. Once LeBron does officially re-sign with the Lakers, they’ll be teammates, which is hard to fathom.
Since Bronny was picked in the second round, he did not have a guaranteed contract. However, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, he will be signing a multi-year deal with the Lakers.
Bronny James plans to sign a multiyear guaranteed rookie contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft starts his NBA career on the Lakers roster. pic.twitter.com/dRTgWxbGuO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2024
The terms of the deal are unknown, but Shams did note that the contract will be fully guaranteed. That’s pretty rare for a second-round pick before even appearing in a Summer League game to have a guaranteed multi-year contract in hand.
Often what players selected in the second round do is sign two-way contracts or non-guaranteed deals. Seeing the No. 55 pick get a fully guaranteed deal right away is definitely not the norm.
This isn’t surprising at all, especially considering what his agent, Rich Paul, said before the draft.
“Bronny is the same as my previous clients,” Paul said, h/t ESPN. “I got the word out early to teams that if you plan on bringing Bronny in, here’s what you need to know: If you won’t give him a real deal, there’s nothing to talk about. It’s hard to get real development on a two-way deal.
If teams were unwilling to give Bronny what he wanted, which was a guaranteed NBA deal, there was nothing to discuss. The Lakers were willing to give Bronny what he wanted, and they reached a deal. How it ages remains to be seen.
Much of the intrigue this offseason surrounded what the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to do. They came off another disappointing early exit in the postseason, and eventually wound up firing their head coach.
In addition to the movement at the coaching position, the Cavs had virtually all of their star players involved in trade rumors. Donovan Mitchell was the most prominent name, as he hadn’t inked an extension. Darius Garland was another one, as many have questioned his fit alongside Mitchell. Jarrett Allen was another one, as Cleveland might benefit from moving Evan Mobley to the center spot.
Well, a lot of those rumors are cleared up now. The Cavs have agreed to an extension with Mitchell. They have a new head coach, Kenny Atkinson, who is very familiar with Allen from their days with the Brooklyn Nets. Speaking of Allen, it sounds like he’s off the table now.
Jarrett Allen is receiving strong trade interest from other teams, but Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson doesn’t want to move him, per @WindhorstESPN on @ESPNCleveland.
Cleveland appears poised to go into next season maintaining their frontcourt duo of Evan Mobley and Allen. pic.twitter.com/0fcE1Lwecb
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) July 2, 2024
Atkinson has no interest in moving Allen, a player who was breaking out in Brooklyn with Atkinson at the helm before being traded to Cleveland. While with the Cavs, Allen has realized his potential, even making an All-Star team, and Atkinson wants to coach him again.
It’s feeling very likely at this point that Cleveland will run things back. Perhaps with a new head coach in place, they’ll get better results. Now that Mitchell is signed for the next couple of years, though, they do have the ability to run it back for at least one more season with this group and see what happens.
When the New York Knicks traded for Mikal Bridges and re-signed OG Anunoby, the word was that it’d be difficult for New York to re-sign Isaiah Hartenstein. Sure enough, Hartenstein departed for the Oklahoma City Thunder, earning way more than he could have with New York.
The Knicks do have Mitchell Robinson under contract, which is a tremendous luxury, but they don’t have much behind him in terms of centers. Julius Randle might be able to play center in a pinch, but Tom Thibodeau has shown a reluctance to do that. Jericho Sims is under contract, but he’s far from proven. Adding another big should be next on Leon Rose’s agenda, and the Knicks are reportedly connected to an ideal option.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype has the Knicks connected to Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler. He’d be quite the addition.
“The Knicks have also made inquiries on the trade market, showing interest in Jazz center Walker Kessler, league sources told HoopsHype.”
Kessler, a former first-round pick by Utah, is a player that Scotto reports was not for sale last season but might be available now. If that is the case and the Knicks have enough in Utah’s eyes to get a deal done, they should pounce.
Kessler is just 23 years old and has already established himself as one of the best rim protectors in the game. He averaged 2.4 blocks per game last season which was tied for second in the NBA despite playing only 23.3 minutes per game. He’s an excellent finisher and rebounder as well.
The million-dollar question here is do the Knicks actually have enough to trade for this young, promising center? They just traded most of their valuable draft picks in the Mikal Bridges deal. It’ll be interesting to see if Rose can find a way to get this done.
Source link : https://fansided.com/posts/nba-rumors-knicks-hartenstein-replacement-jarrett-allen-availability-bronny-james-contract-details
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-02 17:30:26
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.