Players
Derrick Favors (Thunder) exercises player option
Yup, this was always going to happen. Next year as SGA's contract matriculates, Favors will drop to being only the 2nd highest paid player on the Thunder roster (at $10.1m). He's expiring veteran trade bait, I'd love to see Favors on a nice team (Jazz, Heat, Sixers, Nets, Lakers, Clippers always in the mix), I think he can be a nice bench piece on a good team (and OKC ain't it).
Robert Covington (Clippers) signs 2-year/$24m extension
Long thought Covington is among the most underrated guys in the league for the last 5 years or so. He's a much better defender than you're giving him credit for (had him higher than Smart on my scorecard) and a better shooter than you realize. Covington can be that reliable defensive junkyard dog that can knock down a 3 on a champ team. Clippers got a ways to go, but the Covington deal is arguably the bestest purest value they've got.
Russell Westbrook (Lakers) exercises player option
Oh yeah, no one ever thought Westbrook would just walk away from a $47m paycheck. Whether he stays in LA or gets traded (just sayin': don't you think he's the perfect pairing with Gobert?), opting in was a foregone conclusion. If the Lakers could get something better then he'd be gone (hey, that's just how it is to play for the Lakers, they're always dealing), and that could happen. But I think its more likely we find out how strong Coach Ham is gonna be by Xmas time.
Sixers exercise team option on Shake Milton
I like Shake, under $2m to finish off his rookie deal is a no-brainer. He kinda reminds me of Tyrese Maxey (Shake's a little more of a playmaker), makes him a nice off the bench guy for Philly.
Jeff Green (Nuggets) exercises player option
Man, Jeff Green is still good, I kinda love Green, he went to waste on an injury riddle Nuggets squad this year. But if they come back healthy, Green can be a playoff bench guy.
Thanassis Antetokounpo (Bucks) exercises player option
It seems to me Thanassis at least has DPOY potential (and he's the big star's brother, so...), he's under $2m, no reason not to bring him back.
PJ Tucker (Heat) declined player option, becomes free agent
I thought Tucker and Heat culture were a good match but Reddit says 3yr/$30m to the (Sixers?), which sounds kinda crazy to me. I like Tucker, he can probably just sit out til January 1 and angle his way onto a talent-rich squad in the cap shuffling. I dunno where this is going, I just assumed he was gonna be in Miami but this is a taking a Horford-to-Philly turn.
JaMychal Green (Nuggets) exercises player option (trade?)
Green getting traded to OKC was reported last week (then ghosted after it required other moves to happen first), I'm assuming the trade talk returns on Draft Night (tomorrow, btw). (Seemed like a good deal, Nuggets trying to trade up in the draft, I think)
Coaches
Kings fire Alvin Gentry (interim coach); hire Mike Brown
Ahhhh, summer....time for the Kings to get to work on a new identity. Gentry was just a paycheck collecting caretaker while at least Brown is coming in with some promising talent and some authority. Kings are as snakebit as any franchise in North America, I wish 'em luck but we'll see. I like Fox and Sabonis, we'll see what they add on draft night (I got a feeling they trade out of #4), if they get a new attitude maybe they're a sneaky play-in team.
Lakers fire Frank Vogel; hire Darvin Ham
The Lakers firing Vogel just proves what everyone already knows: the Lakers front office is stupid. Man, you think Vogel was what was wrong with that team? That's crazy. They won a championship with him, then made a soul crushing trade and now Vogel can't coach? Yeah...yeah, nobody's buying that. Vogel will be getting paychecks to not coach the Lakers for a while and he'll get another job one o' these days because no one watching the NBA thinks Vogel did a bad job in LA.
Good luck to Ham. He was a popular asst with the Bucks, not sure what his deal is but he's swimming with sharks now, god love him. He'll be getting paid and living large in LA (which always looks like fun on TV), but there's a real chance the Lakers won't make the playoffs next year either (or that they get mopped up quickly) and that probably isn't that much fun. If Ham wins he'll be a legend, if he fails he'll still work in the NBA, so obviously its the right career move, but man that looks like a tough life to me.
Wolves sign Chris Finch to 3-year contract extension
The Wolves have been getting better over the last coupla years (re-emerging from the Thibodeau crater) and if the core likes the coach, then bring back the coach. I have no idea if Finch is any good but the Wolves were pretty good this year and that's worth some bonuses, so good for Finch.
Hornets fire James Borrego; announce the hiring of Kenny Atkinson, who backed out a coupla days later; (going to hire D'antoni?)
The Hornets have arguably been the weirdest team over the last 5 years or so. They always seem to have some nice players, good contracts, good situations and then they're never as good as they should be. Somehow, though, I can't imagine that Borrego is the problem, he actually seems pretty good to me and he'll be on a high profile coaching staff by October, I reckon. Atkinson is a well known in-your-face kinda coach, is that really what this team wants? I don't see that working, honestly, I think Atkinson did well to get out intact. I'd say the next candidate is Mike D'Antoni, who is a paycheck-grabbing old retread...which is probably exactly what the Hornets: just a day in/day out guy doing his job.
Quin Snyder resigns as Jazz head coach; (Terry Stotts? Frank Vogel?)
Yeah, Snyder and the Jazz are going in different directions. Snyder was always thought to be in the running for taking over after Popovic in San Antonio (doesn't Becky Hammond going WNBA open the door for Snyder?). So Snyder has had a lot of good years in Utah, but likely that version of the team has peaked and this team is facing a blow up. They could keep Snyder, but they'd have to give him a serious raise to get him to sign a fresh deal when he is clearly eyeballing San Anton, and that's a tough ask for a team that almost guaranteed to be weird next year. I've heard of Stotts and Vogel, two veteran retreads eager to keep getting paid huge money to watch basketball all day, but until we see what they do with Mitchell and/or Gobert, not sure what difference the coach makes.
Grizzlies extend Taylor Jenkins to multi-year extension
Yeah, they had a good year, pay the man.
Executives
Kings fire Asst. GM Ken Catanella; Kings exec Joe Dumars resigns
I dunno, who knows what is good for the Kings. New blood is what they're used to, anyway.
Blazers name Joe Cronin as GM, Sergi Oliva as Asst GM
Don't know either of these guys. Good luck, though, rooting for everyone to succeed.
Hornets sigs Mitch Kupchak multi-year extension to remain Prez of Bask Ops
Kupchak has been around forever, Hornets were frustrating before Kupchak arrived, still frustrating now. Worth an extension? I have no idea. Maybe.
Wolves hire Tim Connelly as Prez of Bask Ops
Everyone raves about how great Connelly was in Denver but the record seemed mixed to me. He drafted Jokic and I guess that alone makes him an all-star in the world of the NBA cocktail set, but I wouldn't expect him to do that every year. Good hire? Sure, I guess so. He's high profile, well respected, he's making serious rich guy money, so obviously he's "successful". I mean, if you have the power to anoint such a guy then wouldn't you want such a guy?
Hawks name Landry Fields as GM
I remember Fields as scrappy off the bench guy for the Knicks. Had no idea he had already ascended to GM level, but good for him. Atlanta is a weird job (supposedly) because rather than having a single owner to work with, the Hawks have a series of minority owners, which can make for an unstable bureaucratic nightmare. But then again that provides great power for a clever management guy. Good luck to Fields, seems like a low risk/high reward job.
(*) Is Kenny Atkinson allowed to take another job or is he stuck in Golden State until next summer? He pulled the 'my kids don't want to move' card, which means he can't go anywhere now, right?
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