Michael Wallace: Some top-10 lottery projected players starting to move around for publicly confirmed, on-site team visits/workouts. Mo Bamba scheduled to be in Chicago (No. 7 pick) today, while Mikal Bridges working out for Charlotte (No. 11).
Michael Wallace: Some top-10 lottery projected players …
June 28, 2022 | 7:24 pm EDT Update
Mavericks to offer five-year contract to Jalen Brunson
Sources said the Mavs are willing to give Brunson a five-year contract — which only Dallas can offer due to owning his Bird rights — that is comparable to the four-year, $85 million deal guard Fred VanVleet signed with the Toronto Raptors in 2020.
Brunson, an unrestricted free agent because the fourth season of his rookie deal was non-guaranteed instead of a team option, declined the Mavs’ offer of a four-year, $55.5 million contract extension after the trade deadline, when Dallas forward Dorian Finney-Smith signed an identical deal. By that point, Brunson was confident that he would make significantly more as a free agent.
Brunson had informed the Mavs in January that he was willing to sign the extension if it was offered then, his father Rick Brunson told ESPN during the playoffs. Dallas made the calculated decision to hold off on discussions until after the trade deadline, in case the Mavs had the opportunity to trade for a star, as an extension would have prevented Brunson from being eligible to be traded before the deadline.
Marcus Smart: Every year my name is in trade talks, and I'm still here
Mark Murphy: Marcus Smart on all that trade talk: “Every year my name is in talks, and I’m still here. I’m still the longest tenured Celtic. So I take it as a compliment. It means you’re valued pretty high and if your name is talked about people want you. But I don’t pay much attention.”
Mark Murphy: Smart on C’s attracting free agents: “We got a bad rep in Boston for (FA’s). This year we opened a lot of eyes to how this team really is. It’s not everybody for themselves. Everybody is for each other, and I think maybe (FA’s think) I can give it a shot in Boston. We’ll see.”
Kyle Goon: Scotty Pippen Jr., a new Lakers’ two-way addition, says he and his HoF dad Scottie stopped playing one-on-one about two years ago: “I was wearing him out. I used to beat him, and he’d fake injuries and stuff. He wouldn’t give me the credit so we stopped playing a while ago.”
Andrew Greif: Clippers owner Steve Ballmer’s expectations for next season: “Sky is the limit.”
June 28, 2022 | 7:01 pm EDT Update
Miami willing to offer fully guaranteed three-year contract to PJ Tucker
According to an NBA source familiar with the situation, the Miami Heat are willing to extend a fully guaranteed contract for the maximum-allowable three years to free-agent power forward P.J. Tucker. The Heat’s offer is built off the $8.4 million non-Bird salary-cap exception, which would put the team’s standing offer at $27 million over three years.
