The NBA’s old ’90s tagline “I Love This Game” still works. Except that the game now is high-stakes musical chairs.
Free agency begins on Thursday (3 p.m. PT), and the Clippers are expected to make at least one notable upgrade to a deep and talented roster that otherwise seems relatively set, with 12 players already accounted for on a team headlined by All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Pencil in John Wall. The Clippers are expected to agree to a deal with the five-time All-Star, a 31-year-old guard who agreed to a buyout of the final year of his contract with the Houston Rockets this week. L.A. could use its taxpayer mid-level exception to sign him, which is worth roughly the $6.5 million he agreed to forego in his buyout deal with the Rockets.
He would join a team that’s already well-stocked and serious about its pursuit of the franchise’s first championship trophy: “The Sky’s the limit,” team owner Steve Ballmer said Tuesday. “It’ll be our effort, our energy, and of course, you gotta have a little bit of luck to win the Larry O’Brien trophy, which is what we’d really like.”
Long before the music was scheduled to stop and send teams and players scrambling, the Clippers took care of 31-year-old wing Robert Covington, signing the deflection artist to a two-year, $24 million extension on May 5. And they secured the services of 25-year-old center Ivica Zubac on Tuesday, when they gave their durable big man a raise for three years, $33 million.
Versatile forward Nicolas Batum reportedly planned to decline his player option, as expected, and then re-sign with the Clippers, who have his early Bird rights and likely will also give him a raise, perhaps in the neighborhood of three years, $30 million, per Bleacher Report.
That leaves center Isaiah Hartenstein and wing Amir Coffey, unless the Clippers also make a trade. And maybe they’ll want to if they think they’re so deep that they’re redundant at, say, small forward, where Covington, Batum and Marcus Morris Sr. all slot in on the wing beside Leonard and George. Lawrence Frank, the team’s president of basketball operations, said last week there was no truth to rumors that the Clippers were shopping guard Luke Kennard.
For their part, Hartenstein and Coffey helped keep the injury-ravaged Clippers in playoff contention last season until a pair of play-in losses did them in. Along with Batum, they’ve both been featured in social media posts working out with other members of the Clippers this summer.
Feels somewhat notable that Isaiah Hartenstein is working out with his Clippers teammates.
He’s expressed a desire to return, but has of course earned the right to explore free agency. pic.twitter.com/LDDVg0xoRk
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) June 20, 2022
So Nico was in the news yesterday: https://t.co/RScdNuCaFY.
Today, the Clippers are sharing photos of Nico dunking and defending at their Playa Vista facility. https://t.co/pKqnXqnDyd
— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) June 22, 2022
Hartenstein, just 24, already has played for four NBA teams. He had stops with Houston, Denver and Cleveland before winning a spot on the Clippers’ roster (on a one-year $1.7 million deal) last season in training camp.
The 7-foot German with the tantalizing float game and floor vision is an unrestricted free agent, and there have been reports that Orlando, or perhaps Chicago or Houston, might seek to sign him for more than the Clippers could offer, if they allocate their taxpayer mid-level contract to Wall.
There’s also a possibility that Hartenstein could take less money – he could sign for something in the $2 million range – to stay in L.A. and compete for a title before, potentially, re-signing for more next year when the Clippers would be able to exercise their Early Bird rights.
Last season, Hartenstein said he liked the idea of making a longer-term home in L.A., and he was grateful that Coach Tyronn Lue gave him an opportunity to finally prove himself.
In 17.9 minutes per game off the bench, Hartenstein averaged 8.3 points (shooting 62.6% from the field and, yes, 46.7% – 14 of 30 – from 3-point range). He also averaged 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.1 blocked shots, but he really moved the needle in terms of advanced stats such as Estimated Plus-Minus, which graded him at plus-3.4, in line with players such as the Lakers’ Anthony Davis.
“It’s a tricky situation, but I want to be here,” Hartenstein said in March, shortly after he signed on with CAA, the agency that also represents fellow Clippers Reggie Jackson, George and Kennard. “If it’s close money-wise, like, I’m definitely staying. If it’s a big difference, then I’ll have to think about it. But my plan is to play here.”
The Clippers have tendered a $2.1 million qualifying offer to Amir Coffey to make him a restricted free agent on July 1, according to Spotrac.
Coffey’s only NBA job in three seasons has been with the Clippers, who last March converted his two-way deal into a regular contract so they could include him on their postseason roster. They have his full Bird rights, which should make it easier to re-sign him – unless another suitor emerges and offers more, expecting the Clippers, with their mounting luxury tax bill, might balk at a higher price tag for their 11th or 12th man
Last season he started 30 of 69 games and scored 20-plus points on seven occasions, including the regular-season finale when the 25-year-old netted a career-high 35 points and joined LeBron James and Luka Doncic as the only players to record seven 3s, 13 rebounds and five assists in a game last season.
Guards Jay Scrubb and Xavier Moon were not expected to get qualifying offers from the team, which would make those guards – who were both on two-way deals last season – unrestricted free agents. Veteran guard Rodney Hood also is an unrestricted free agent after finishing last season in L.A.
from Signage https://ift.tt/pdtozwh
via Irvine Sign Company
