On Sunday, the report came out that the Atlanta Hawks, fearing they would lose him when he opts out this summer to become a free agent, are listening to trade offers for Paul Millsap. And Kyle Korver. And Thabo Sefolosha. Atlanta doesn’t want a repeat of the situation of last summer when Al Horford left and the team got nothing in return.
On Monday, the Hawks were trying to pump the breaks on those rumors.
Atlanta may be listening but is nowhere near trading Millsap, and he’s not even sure if he’s going to opt out, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The fact they are listening doesn’t make anything imminent. It doesn’t mean something will ever happen. It may. The talk certainly doesn’t mean that Millsap is gone…
The Hawks are not close to trading Millsap at this point. He clearly has been their best player. It doesn’t make sense right now while the team is still trying to figure out a new roster…
In addition, a report surfaced that Millsap has already decided to opt out of the final year of his $21.5 million contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Simply, not true. While this is likely, due to basic economics, no decision has been made. Millsap told me this himself earlier this year and a source confirmed Sunday that not only has no decision been made but no discussion has been had.
First things first: Short of him getting seriously injured later this season, Millsap will opt out. Not that he has formally made that decision yet, but it’s going to happen. He has one year at $21.5 million left on his contract, if he opts out he gets at least four guaranteed years (the Hawks can offer five) and he would be a max player with a contract starting at more than $35 million. You really think Millsap is going to leave that money on the table?
Are the Hawks going to trade him because he can walk? That’s another question entirely. This is a franchise still trying to set a direction post Horford, still trying to figure out who they are — at points this season the Hawks have looked like the third best team in the East, at other points like they don’t belong in the playoffs. Mike Budenholzer is trying to map out a future for Atlanta. How badly does Millsap want to be a part of that, or does he want to test the market and look around? Then there is the question of what the Hawks are offered in return for Millsap or Korver or Sefolosha — if teams keep the offers low because they see those players as a rental, then the Hawks may just play the hand they have been dealt.
But they are listening. And that could make this an interesting trade deadline in Atlanta.
The civil suit against Draymond Green starts off this way: “Draymond Green is a bully.”
As we noted was coming, on Tuesday former Michigan State University football player Jermaine Edmondson and his girlfriend Bianca Williams filed a lawsuit against Green stemming from an incident a year ago in East Lansing, Mich., bar. Green was back in the town of his alma mater and ran into Edmondson at a bar, and some kind of altercation followed.
Green allegedly slapped him during this, although the plaintiffs say the men with Green shoved first Edmondson against a wall, then when Williams came over to intervene another man did the same to her, putting his hand around his throat. Green was arrested, but the prosecutors didn’t see it the same way and Green’s charges were reduced to a noise violation, where Green had to pay a $500 fine and $60 restitution fee. Because it was a civil infraction, there is no “guilty” or “not guilty” plea entered.
Here is Edmondson speaking.
Green’s attorney Katherine Grubaugh, issued the following statement:
“This lawsuit relates to an incident that occurred in East Lansing, Michigan over a year ago, for which Draymond paid a noise violation fine. Draymond looks forward to defending himself and clearing up the misinformation put forth today.”
As I said previously, I’m not about to speculate about the motives for the suit or what actually happened in the bar that night. I don’t know those things. What I do know, as someone who spent years as a young reporter covering courts and police, it is challenging for the plaintiff to prove their case and get paid in these kinds of lawsuits (if this actually gets to trial). While in a civil case the standard to reach drops to “a preponderance of the evidence,” the plaintiff has to prove damages. That is not easy, especially in a disputed bar fight (where the clarity of memory of any witness can be called into question) a year later.
The Cleveland Cavaliers want an elite young player back in any trade of Kyrie Irving.
The Phoenix Suns have come up as a trade partner, because of Eric Bledsoe‘s salary, fit with Cleveland if Irving is gone, and the fact he and LeBron James share an agent.
And those suns have an elite young player — Josh Jackson. Taken fourth in the last draft, Jackson showed fantastic athleticism at Summer League, disruptive defense, the ability to make plays around the rim, and while his jumper needs some work there is genuine promise.
Which is why the Suns are not going to include Jackson in any Irving trade.
If the Suns are involved in an Irving trade, it’s likely as part of a three-team deal. Bledsoe would still go out, and Phoenix might be willing to throw in young players such as Marquese Chriss or Dragan Bender, depending on what they got back.
That is the key — the return. Phoenix is rebuilding, Bledsoe is their best trade chip, and if he is going out the door, they are going to want real quality back in return. They are not in this to be a salary dump location, the Suns are going to want young players who can make a difference and picks. Most of the trade scenarios floating around in public forums use Phoenix as the dumping ground in the three- or four-team deals, just know that is not going to happen. The Suns want value for their best trade asset.
Nike will be taking over the NBA uniforms for the 2017-18 season, and now it looks like we have some leaked photos of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ new look.
A photo posted to Twitter on Tuesday showed a mannequin dressed in what appears to be Cleveland’s new wine-colored uniforms.
Nike released some information about their new uniforms recently, including the naming conventions which will be associated with certain editions of team uniforms. Those editions are called The Association, The Icon, The Athlete’s Mindset, and The Community.
The wine edition of the Cleveland uniform would fall under the category of the Icon.
Those certainly seem to go along with some of the uniforms that were released during Nikes original release. It’s also hard understand why someone would have a full dress mock up on a mannequin with the Nike logo on it, especially as it is so close to what we have seen from Nike.
Conrad over at Sports Logos has been kind enough to mock up what the Cavaliers uniforms should look like for both the icon and association additions.
Via Sports Logos:
What do you think? I am liking them so far.
ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Hawks have re-signed power forward Mike Muscala to a two-year, $10 million deal.
The 6-foot-11 Muscala, who was an unrestricted free agent, could play a bigger role as he returns for his fifth season following the departures of Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard.
Muscala set career highs by averaging 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 70 games, including three starts, last season. He scored in double figures in 20 games and ranked second on the team by making 50.4 percent of his shots from the field.
The team announced the signing Tuesday.
More AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball