Tony Parker has confirmed that heralded teenager Victor Wembanyama will be leaving his ASVEL club to seek more playing time and better prepare for the 2023 NBA draft.
Wembanyama, a towering 18-year-old who is considered to be one of the early favourites to go number one overall in next year’s draft, averaged just 18.4 minutes per game for champions ASVEL in LNB Pro A, the top professional league in France.
In 13 EuroLeague games, the Frenchman averaged 17.5 minutes per contest.
Wembanyama exercised a get-out clause in his contract with AVSEL, which had one year remaining.
"The overriding feeling is 'too bad'," former San Antonio Spurs star Parker said in an interview with L'Èquipe. "Honestly, he’s a good kid. He has a really good attitude and it's a shame he didn't give us an opportunity to continue."
L'Èquipe reported that Wembanyama is considering signing with one of two Paris-based clubs, either Paris Basketball or Metropolitans 92. Another option for the talented power forward could be to move to the United States to play for the NBA G League’s developmental team, the Ignite.
Parker, who has been in charge of AVSEL since 2014, said Wembanyama would have played a far more prominent role with his team next season.
"We would have had him play 30 minutes per game next season. That was the plan; give him responsibility and grow. That’s what we promised," Parker said. "That's why I don’t understand. If he thinks he will have a better opportunity with Boulogne-Levallois or Paris, which are the current rumours, I respect his decision.
"I wish him all the happiness in the world. He will succeed anyway. But it's really unfortunate for us."
Wembanyama averaged 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in LNB Pro A last season and received the league’s best young player award for the second straight campaign.
The Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards are nearing completion of a trade that would send point guard Monte Morris and swingman Will Barton to Washington for guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith, according to multiple reports.
Morris, who started 74 games in place of an injured Jamal Murray last season, would fill the Wizards' primary need of a starting point guard. Washington had previously been rumoured to have interest in trading for Indiana's Malcolm Brogdon.
The 27-year-old Morris averaged career highs of 12.6 points and 4.4 assists per game in 2021-22 and is a career 39.4 percent shooter from three-point range. The five-year veteran has two seasons remaining on a three-year, $27.8million extension he signed with Denver in December 2020.
Both Caldwell-Pope and Barton are entering the final years of their respective contracts and have nearly identical salaries for 2021-22.
In Caldwell-Pope, the Nuggets get a strong wing defender and a proven outside shooter who has made 38.5 percent or more of his three-point attempts in each of the last three seasons. The 29-year-old averaged 13.2 points while starting 77 games in his lone season with Washington after being acquired from the Lakers as part of the trade that sent former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook to Los Angeles.
Barton started a career-high 71 games last season and averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists. The 31-year-old had been the Nuggets' longest-tenured player, having spent seven-plus seasons with the franchise.
The well-travelled Smith would set an NBA record by playing with his 13th team should he suit up for the Nuggets. The 12-year veteran, who averaged 6.3 points and 3.8 assists in 65 games last season, has a non-guaranteed $4.725m salary for 2022-23.
Will Hardy has agreed in principle to join the Utah Jazz as their new head coach, according to reports.
Hardy was assistant to Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka during the team's run to the NBA Finals in the 2021-22 season .
But he has pursued a first head coaching role, interviewing for a role with the Jazz, whose recruitment process was overseen by CEO and former Celtics player and president Danny Ainge.
Hardy was one of four finalists to replace Quinn Snyder, ESPN said, and beat off competition from fellow Celtics assistant Joe Mazzulla, Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin and Jazz assistant Alex Jensen.
At 34, Hardy – who previously served as assistant to Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs – is set to become the NBA's youngest active head coach, having agreed to a five-year contract.
This is shaping up to be an offseason of change for the Jazz, with the potential for Snyder's departure to be followed by that of at least one star player.
Having made the playoffs in six straight seasons but failed to get past the second round, Utah have been the subject of plenty of trade speculation.
Center Rudy Gobert is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, while guard Donovan Mitchell would have no shortage of suitors if there was a deal able to entice the Jazz.
Another high-profile star has opted in to a lucrative contract as the NBA continues to prepare for free agency.
Hot on the heels of Kyrie Irving committing to the Brooklyn Nets, with potential destinations for a move thin on the ground, Russell Westbrook has picked up his option with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Westbrook will be paid $47.1million for the 2022-23 season, making it little surprise his decision was reported on Tuesday.
The 2017 NBA MVP endured a difficult first year in LA – to say the least – but will hope for a fresh start under new Lakers coach Darvin Ham.
Westbrook's huge contract made him extremely difficult to trade, limiting the Lakers' moves this offseason significantly.
The New York Knicks have worked to ensure they are not in the same position, despite similarly being tied to a highly paid underperforming player in Julius Randle.
The Knicks traded away their 11th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft among transactions that included dumping Kemba Walker's contract with the Detroit Pistons.
And the Knicks have also come to an agreement for the Pistons to take on both Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks.
These moves have cleared around $30m in cap space, and the Knicks appear determined to spend that money on Jalen Brunson, the Dallas Mavericks point guard.
Brunson is set to be a target for the Knicks after the free agency period begins on Thursday, and his departure would deal a blow to the Mavs and superstar Luka Doncic.
Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals in 2021-22 and have boosted their roster with a move for Christian Wood from the Houston Rockets.
But Brunson was the team's second man behind Doncic, leaving work to do just to get back to the level they have reached in recent months.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is bullish about his side's prospects for the 2022-23 season with the return of Kawhi Leonard.
The Clippers reached the Conference Finals for the first time in 2021, but missed the playoffs in 2022 with Leonard absent for the entire campaign due to an ACL injury.
Leonard sustained the injury in Game 4 of the 2021 Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Utah Jazz.
Paul George was also restricted to only 31 games in the 2021-22 season with a niggling elbow injury, as they finished with a 42-40 record.
The Clippers are expected to be boosted by Leonard and George both having a clean bill of health while point guard John Wall is set to join in a free-agent deal after he reached a buy-out agreement with the Houston Rockets.
"I think the sky is the limit for our team," Ballmer said. "It'll be our effort, our energy.
"Of course, you got to have a little good luck to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy, which is what we really like.
"I think if we stay healthy next year we are going to be having a chance to talk way late into the [postseason]."
Leonard, who is a two-time NBA Finals MVP (2014 and 2019), looms large as the key to the Clippers' chances.
The 31-year-old small forward averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and a career-high 5.2 assists per game in the 2020-21 regular season. He averaged a career-high 27.1 points in his first season with the Clippers in 2019-20.
"[Leonard is] not only your best player but one of the preeminent handful of top players in the world," Ballmer said.
"I am really excited about that. Kawhi's in the gym. He's working, and we got our fingers crossed everything keeps going on schedule."
The Clippers also confirmed on Tuesday that they had signed a three-year $33 million contract extension with center Ivica Zubac.
Five-time All-Star guard John Wall plans to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers after reaching a buyout agreement with the Houston Rockets, ESPN reported on Monday.
Wall will relinquish $6.5million of the $47.4m he was owed for the upcoming season, the final one of a four-year, $171m extension he signed in 2017 while a member of the Washington Wizards. Yahoo Sports first reported that a buyout had been reached.
The 31-year-old will be joining a Clippers team that reached the Western Conference Finals in 2020-21 but were ousted in this year’s play-in, dealing with long injury absences for stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Leonard missed the entire season recovering from a torn ACL sustained in the 2021 playoffs, while a torn elbow ligament limited George to 31 games.
Wall also did not play in 2021-22 due to reported differences between the veteran and the rebuilding Rockets over his potential role, and he hasn’t played more than 41 games in a season since 2016-17 due to several injuries.
The top pick of the 2010 NBA Draft missed much of 2017-18 due to a knee injury that required surgery and sat the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in January 2019.
Houston acquired Wall from the Wizards in December 2020 for former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook, and he averaged 20.6 points and 6.9 assists in the lone season he took the court for the Rockets despite being limited to 40 games.
Kyrie Irving has exercised his $37 million player option with the Brooklyn Nets for next season, confirming his decision on Monday.
The move ends any chance of a sign-and-trade deal and takes Irving off the market when the free agency negotiating period begins on Thursday.
Locking in the enigmatic Irving ends speculation of him fleeing—for now, at least.
Earlier this off-season, Irving had given the Nets a list of approved destinations if a sign-and-trade deal were to happen. The only team on the list that explored acquiring Irving was the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN reported earlier Monday.
“Normal people keep the world going, but those who dare to be different lead us into tomorrow,” Irving told The Athletic. “I've made my decision to opt in. See you in the fall. A11even.”
Irving has played just 103 of a possible 226 games since signing with Brooklyn in the 2019 off-season.
Irving chose not to receive any COVID-19 vaccinations, leaving him unable to play for much of last season due to municipal regulations in New York. He played 29 games in 2021-22, averaging 27.4 points and 5.8 assists.
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