Headlines
LeBron Wants Cavs, J.R. Smith to Reach Deal Now
It only took until the close of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first week of training camp before LeBron James stuck his neck out into the stalled J.R. Smith negotiations and publicly stumped for the holdout guard.
“I hate coming into another season — two years in a row — with one of my big guns not here,” James said, alluding to Tristan Thompson, who missed most of training camp last fall with a similar holdout situation. “So, for a leader of a team and for me personally, I just hate to deal with this s— again.
“It’s just too big of a piece to our team to have to deal with in another training camp. Like I said, hopefully things get resolved fast, because you know how big and important he is to our team.”
Source: Dave McMenamin of ESPN
The next major contract domino for Denver is [Nikola] Jokic’s max deal. As of Sunday morning, one league source told The Denver Post that the Nuggets had not yet declined their $1.6 million team option for Jokic for 2018-19 but “will” do so, making him a restricted free agent and eligible to sign a max contract with Denver.
“Nikola’s going to be here for a long, long time,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said following Thursday’s NBA draft. “I think whatever we do, we’re going to ensure he’s here as long as possible. When that moment happens, we’re going to talk to Nikola and his brothers and his representation. He’ll be in Denver for a long, long time. He’ll be buying (a home) here.”
Source: Gina Mizell of The Denver Post
Los Angeles Clippers guard Milos Teodosic has exercised his $6.3 million player option for the 2018-19 season, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Teodosic’s salary will become fully guaranteed for next season if he is on the Clippers’ roster past July 15.
Teodosic, 31, had impressive moments in his rookie NBA season in 2017-18. He averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 assists and 25.2 minutes per game in 46 contests with the Clippers. Teodosic served as a starter for 36 games and was one of the Clippers’ key playmakers.
Source: Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports
Hawks forward Mike Muscala has exercised his $5M player option, source tells ESPN. He will be back with Atlanta.
Hawks forward Mike Muscala has exercised his $5M player option, source tells ESPN. He will be back with Atlanta.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2018
Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter
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