A source tells Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group that first- and second-round draft picks will likely be available around the time of the draft in exchange for little more than cash. I'd be surprised if any team gave up a first-rounder for such paltry return, however, even considering the purported weakness of this year's crop of prospects. No first-round picks changed hands at the trade deadline, when teams were reluctant to give them up. The Warriors don't have a pick in this year's draft and co-owner Joe Lacob has shown the willingness to spend to acquire a selection in the past, as Kawakami points out, so perhaps they'll net a second-rounder this year.
There's more on the Warriors and their Western Conference rivals, as we detail here:
Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio heard some speculation at today's NBA Draft Combine that the Lakers and Hawks are two teams trying to find their way into the lottery. With both teams headed for a summer centered on free agent decisions, Atlanta has two first-rounders - picks 17 and 18 - to dangle in an attempt to move up in the draft, whereas Los Angeles - equipped with only the 48th overall pick - would plausibly have to shop Pau Gasol and be willing to take on another contract in hopes of landing a higher draft pick along with another young piece.
Amico provides a reminder that this is still pure speculation as of right now, and that rumors such as these could just be as commonplace with other miscellaneous rumblings heading into the draft. With that being said, it's easy to imagine the Lakers exploring their options on this front considering that Jodie Meeks (who holds a team option for next year) and Jordan Hill are currently the only players under the age of 30 that are technically under contract for next season. Re-signing Dwight Howard and Earl Clark, who we've heard would be willing to stay in L.A. on a discount, would add to that list, though with other key pieces in their starting rotation getting older, pursuing efforts to become younger and develop some talent makes sense.
Considering that this year's draft class isn't arguably as strong as in previous years, it isn't out of the question to think that Atlanta could find themselves in talks to acquire a lottery pick, especially if one of the lottery teams misses out on a top target. Hawks GM Danny Ferry will have plenty of salary flexibility to work with this summer, and adding a lottery talent on a rookie-scale contract beforehand would make for an auspicious start to the team's offseason.
2:47pm: More afternoon combine updates from Chicago:
1:35pm: We covered the Thursday morning updates from Chicago's predraft camp earlier today, but with so many tidbits surfacing throughout the day, we're starting an afternoon post to round up the latest notes:
Earlier this week, Dirk Nowitzki addressed the Mavericks' desire to bring some major talent on board this summer in free agency, going into a little detail about the pitch he expects potential targets to receive. Nowitzki spoke about the same topic today, reiterating that it's "pretty obvious" he'll be in line for a pay cut in the summer of 2014, which will allow the team to flexible in handing out bigger-money contracts to other players. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News has the details and the quotes from Nowitzki.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Western Conference:
11:56am: More A.M. updates out of Chicago:
11:09am: With a number of reporters in attendance at the NBA's predraft camp in Chicago, we're expecting plenty of noteworthy tidbits to trickle in throughout the day. Here's a round-up of the first batch of updates on 2013's draft combine participants:
We could have a fairly clear idea of the two teams that will play for the Eastern Conference title by the end of tonight. The Heat appear on their way to the conference finals with a 3-1 lead against the Bulls, and the Pacers can take a 3-1 lead of their own with a win at home against the Knicks tonight. Of course, we won't know for sure until later this week at the earliest, but if Indiana wins this evening, most of the on-court intrigue will shift to the Spurs-Warriors series in the West. All five open head coaching jobs are in the East, however, and there's news on that along with other notes from around the conference today:
Earlier today, we passed along the latest developments in the saga that has Sacramento and Seattle investment groups vying to buy the Kings. Here are a few more of today's links relating to Pacific Division clubs:
In a twist, the Western Conference playoff game preceded the Eastern Conference tilt on today's schedule. The Grizzlies beat the Thunder to claim a 2-1 series lead, while the Knicks and Pacers are under way in Indiana. The Eastern matchup prompted rare non-Sunday coverage from ABC, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of intriguing storylines out west, where the latest Kings developments are threatening to steal the show. Here's more from the conference that won this year's All-Star Game:
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Guaranteed Contracts
Options
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
Free Agents / Cap Holds
Draft Picks
Cap Outlook
Another year, another team waiting on Dwight Howard to make up his mind. In 2012, the Magic seemed stuck in limbo until they finally traded Howard to the Lakers. L.A. doesn't have that option, unless it can pull off a sign-and-trade somehow, and that would require Howard's consent. The Lakers could conceivably wash their hands of the big man and not make an attempt to re-sign him, but there's no reason to suspect they'll do that. The Lakers would like to have Howard back, even if Howard appears increasingly willing to sign elsewhere.
Given Howard's impact on a team, even when not fully healthy as he was this year, and his outsized salary, which will exceed $20MM next season if he gets a max deal, the Lakers essentially must formulate two plans: one with Howard, and the other without. With Howard, the Lakers are looking at a $100MM+ payroll for next season unless they unload some of their contracts via trade or amnesty. Even if keeping the current core intact is reportedly Plan A for the Lakers, I'm not so sure anyone in L.A. has the stomach to go through another season like this past one. The Lakers played much better in the second half of the season before injuries derailed them, but few considered them serious threats for the title even as they went 28-12 over their last 40 games.
Even if Kobe Bryant comes back at full strength to start the season, it's doubtful all the key figures from the end of 2012/13 will be with him. Antawn Jamison, a bargain at the minimum salary this year, isn't likely to return. Earl Clark had a Jekyll-and-Hyde season, and another team might be willing to overpay him based on the potential he showed in his moments of brilliance this year. Metta World Peace has an early-termination option that he'll reportedly decline, but even if he remains under contract, there's certainly no guarantee he'll be back with the Lakers, since the team could amnesty him to defray its tax bill or facilitate other moves.
World Peace, Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Blake are the four amnesty-eligible players on the Lakers, but each played a significant role for the team this season. The notion of amnestying Bryant has been a lightning rod for speculation ever since his Achilles injury at the end of the regular season made it conceivable that the Lakers would divest themselves of their pre-eminent star. The opportunity to clear nearly $30.5MM from the books, and even more from the team's tax bill, seems a tempting proposition even though GM Mitch Kupchak distanced himself from the idea in the wake of Bryant's injury.
An amnesty decision would have to be made between July 10th and 16th, long before Bryant's earliest projected return. The Lakers would have to let him go without having seen how the injury will affect his play, and perhaps without much more knowledge than they have now about exactly when he will return. Given Howard's trademark indecisiveness, it's conceivable that he'll still be weighing his options by mid-July, which complicates the amnesty situation even further. Even if they amnesty Bryant, the Lakers still wouldn't have enough room to sign a maximum-salary free agent unless they renounce Howard's rights or he signs with another team.
Trading Gasol would give the Lakers more flexibility. Gasol, if nothing else, could have value as a supersized expiring contract, though his improved performance down the stretch of the season demonstrated that he remains a threat on the inside. He has a 15% trade kicker, meaning he'd earn even more with another team than the $19.29MM he'll receive if he remains a Laker. Few teams will have that kind of available cap space to acquire Gasol without having to aggregate a boatload of outgoing salaries in return — salaries that would likely have to be attached to expiring contracts to interest the Lakers, anyway.
Salary Cap FAQ author Larry Coon examines the possibility that the Lakers could trade Gasol to the Rockets in an effort to accomodate deals for Howard and fellow marquee free agent Chris Paul. He finds that there's no reasonable scenario that would allow for the Lakers to offer max contracts to both Howard and Paul. So, if the Lakers trade Gasol, they would do so with lesser targets in mind, which might explain why the team seems to favor keeping the team, Gasol included, intact for next season. If Howard decides to sign elsewhere, the Lakers might be more likely to trade Gasol and amnesty Bryant or World Peace, since even the removal of Howard's cap hold probably won't be enough by itself to give the Lakers sufficient cap space to replace him.
There's no telling whether Bryant's injury affects his plans to let the Lakers know this summer whether he intends to retire after next season. Executive vice president Jim Buss has made no secret of his desire to go after marquee free agents in the summer of 2014, when LeBron James could hit the market again. The Lakers intentionally structured their contracts so none of them extend past next season, with the exception of Steve Nash's deal, which runs through 2015. The team seems poised to offer Howard a five-year deal that would take up some of its 2014 cap room, but beyond that, I'd be surprised to see them do anything this summer that compromises their flexibility for next summer. Bringing back most of last season's team won't stir excitement in Lakerland, but it's probably in keeping with the team's long-term plans.
Additional notes:
Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.
Metta World Peace hasn't offered any public hints about whether he plans to exercise his early-termination option for next season, but Salary Cap FAQ author Larry Coon hears he intends to play out his contract with the Lakers. World Peace is due $7,727,280 in the final season of his five-year deal, and Coon would be "shocked" if he turned that down.
The news isn't unexpected, since World Peace might have trouble making half as much next season if he were to hit the open market. He could probably wrangle more guaranteed money as part of a long-term deal, but at 33 years old, few teams would be willing to give him a contract that stretched out for too long.
World Peace has shown durability and, this year, a remarkable capacity to recover from a late-season knee injury, but his on-court efficiency hasn't been the same since he signed with the Lakers four years ago. His career PER had been 16.5 during his first 10 seasons in the league, but his PER with L.A. is just 11.8. His number this year was slightly higher, at 12.5, as World Peace was tasked with more minutes and shots amid an injury-hit season for his Lakers teammates.
In his blog post, Coon counts World Peace among the Lakers' commitments for next season and ponders whether the team could sign both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, as Grantland's Bill Simmons suggested. Such a move would require the team to amnesty Kobe Bryant and trade Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and there's no reasonable scenario that would allow the Lakers to offer max contracts to both Howard and Paul, as Coon deduces.
The Jazz brought in half a dozen players projected to go in the second round for workouts today, though many more intriguing prospects will attend next week's NBA pre-draft camp taking place in Chicago. There's more news on players auditioning for teams among today's draft-related items, as we share here:
The Hawks have reached out to Stan Van Gundy, and GM Danny Ferry views him as his top choice to coach the team next season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The team has let incumbent coach Larry Drew know that it will look at other candidates, though there is a possibility the Hawks circle back to Drew if they strike out with their other targets. Van Gundy was reportedly in Milwaukee today to interview with the Bucks, but the former University of Wisconsin coach has declined interest in that job, according to Wojnarowski.
Van Gundy and the Hawks have had contact, but the coach hasn't met with anyone from the team, writes Wojnarowski, who hears that Van Gundy holds Ferry in high regard. Echoing a report earlier this week from Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Wojnarowski identifies Mike Budenholzer and Quin Snyder as other candidates for the job.
The push for Van Gundy could be part of Ferry's efforts to land Dwight Howard in free agency. Howard and Van Gundy famously clashed in Orlando, but Van Gundy has indicated the two have mended fences and remain in contact, so there's some belief, according to Wojnarowski, that Van Gundy's presence might enhance the team's chances of signing Howard.
With all four Conference Semifinals tied at one game apiece, the Heat and Spurs will be the first two favorites to try to regain home-court advantage tonight, in Chicago and Golden State respectively. As we look forward to those games, let's check in on a few odds and ends from around the Association:
Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski looks back to June 2011, when Warriors' GM Bob Myers had worries about not being able to select Klay Thompson knowing that either the Spurs could possibly trade up in the draft to get him or that the Bucks were planning to select him with the 10th overall pick. As it would turn out, San Antonio would wind up trading for the 15th pick (Kawhi Leonard) and the Kings landed the 10th pick to select Jimmer Fredette, leaving the sharpshooting Washington State forward right into the hands of Golden State. Here are a few more miscellaneous notes to share along this evening:
The Knicks have evened their conference semifinal against the Pacers at one. While the Grizzlies try to do the same, here are some news and notes from around the league:
Coming into the 2012/13 season, the Lakers and Clippers were receiving most of the attention out west, but with four Western Conference teams still alive, the only Pacific team still standing is Golden State. Stephen Curry and the Warriors played in perhaps the best game of the 2013 postseason last night in San Antonio, but ultimately couldn't hold off the Spurs, who escaped with a 129-127 victory. As we hold out hope that the rest of the series lives up to the standard set by Game One, let's check out some other notes from around the Pacific....
Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni doesn't know if he'll have all of his familiar faces back next season, but he decided to shake things up the sidelines in advance of what should be a very interesting summer in L.A. D'Antoni has informed assistants Bernie Bickerstaff and Chuck Person that they won't be back with the Lakers in 2013/14, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter). Here's more out of the Staples Center..
According to Mark Heisler of Sheridan Hoops (via Twitter), one source with knowledge of team discussions says that bringing back Pau Gasol and keeping the current team together has become "Plan A" for the Lakers this summer.
Last week, Gasol acknowledged that his future in Los Angeles was uncertain, even sharing that GM Mitch Kupchak wasn't able to make any guarantees about next season after the two met for an exit interview (Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times). However, we also noted how Kobe Bryant was a strong proponent of retaining the 7'1 forward-center, saying: “I want Pau here. It’s not a question or discussion. He gives us the best chance to win titles."
It's no secret that Pau endured some struggles during the season as he tried to become acclimated with coach Mike D'Antoni's style of play, but his performance over the final eight games of the season (17.5 PPG/12.1 RPG/6.6 APG/1.3 BPG/51.3% from the field) en route to a 7-1 record and a climb to the seventh seed in the Western Conference fueled the notion that Gasol can still be a key contributor on the Lakers roster. Though the team was eventually swept by the Spurs in the first round, he continued his production, averaging 14.0/11.5/6.5 with nearly one block per game in 36.5 MPG over four games.