2011/12 Mid-Level Exceptions Update
At this point in the season, the list of available free agents has thinned out considerably, to the point where teams typically aren't signing players for salaries larger than the minimum. However, with J.R. Smith and others potentially arriving back in America in the coming weeks, it's worth a look to see which clubs still have some flexibility. As long as a team is below the luxury tax line, it may still have its $5MM mid-level exception available to sign a player.
We already covered the remaining mid-level exceptions available to taxpaying teams, so let's take a look now at the status of this season's MLEs for non-taxpayers. The amount of these exceptions will be pro-rated starting on Friday.
Available (Full)
- Magic
- Nuggets
- Pistons
- 76ers
Available (Partial)
- Bobcats: They have the equivalent of a $2.5MM mini mid-level remaining, having used half of their MLE to sign Reggie Williams to a two-year deal.
- Grizzlies: They used $2MM to sign Dante Cunningham and another $550K on Josh Selby, leaving them with $2.45MM. The Grizzlies are hovering right around the tax line after waiving Josh Davis today, so I doubt they'll be adding any more salary.
- Hawks: While they haven't spent any of their $5MM, using their full MLE would take them more than $4MM above the tax line, which isn't permitted. I don't expect them to increase their payroll either though.
- Hornets: They have about $3.43MM remaining on their MLE after signing Gustavo Ayon to a three-year deal. As a league-owned franchise though, the Hornets aren't likely to use the rest of it.
- Jazz: After signing Earl Watson to a two-year deal starting at $2MM and inking Josh Howard for one year at $2.15MM, they have just $850K remaining on their MLE — not enough for a signing of any impact.
- Thunder: Curiously, they used $475K of their mid-level to sign Ryan Reid to a salary slightly above the minimum — perhaps so they could add an extra year to his deal. Still, the Thunder have most of their MLE left if they want to use it.
Used
- Bulls: They used their full $5MM to sign Richard Hamilton to a three-year deal.
- Suns: They spent $1.5MM to sign Sebastian Telfair, then used their remaining $3.5MM to sign Shannon Brown.
- Trail Blazers: They used their full $5MM to sign Jamal Crawford to a two-year deal. Crawford can opt out at the end of this season, if he chooses.
Note: Teams who used room below the cap to sign players forfeited their full mid-level exception, but may still have leftover cap room or their $2.5MM mini mid-level available. Explanations of salary cap exceptions can be found in our glossary.
Stern On Seattle, Sacramento, Relocation
During an interview with Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune, NBA commissioner David Stern acknowledged behind-the-scenes efforts to bring the NBA back to Seattle. Here are the highlights from the interview:
- "Everyone says to us, ‘Well, would you consider going back [to Seattle]?’" Stern said. "Of course, if they have a building. And so that’s where it’s left. We have no involvement."
- Stern said there have been "very positive" developments in Sacramento, though the situation is still fluid. Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson told Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee that a financing plan for a new $387MM arena in the city is "on track to move forward by March 1st."
- Stern on Sacramento's plan for the new arena: "Obviously, we certainly have been supportive of Mayor Johnson’s efforts with respect to the building and we sure would like to see that happen. But we cannot guarantee or [assume] it, and we’ll have to deal with the realities as we find them."
- The futures of professional basketball in Seattle and Sacramento could be linked, since Stern says the NBA doesn't intend to expand beyond 30 franchises in the United States. Relocation would be the only path to a new team for Seattle, with Sacramento and New Orleans seemingly the most at-risk teams.
Atlantic Notes: Brackins, Raptors, Prokhorov
Let's check out some afternoon items out of the Atlantic Division…
- The 76ers announced today they've assigned Craig Brackins to the Maine Red Claws of the D-League. Brackins, who was drafted 21st overall in 2010, was traded twice before beginning his rookie season. In two years with the Sixers, he's played in just 11 games.
- The Raptors have considered the benefits of drafting or acquiring a young Canadian-born player, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. "I think clearly it could affect business to some degree on a positive note," GM Bryan Colangelo said. "But there's no telling. It just all depends on who that individual is."
- Mikhail Prokhorov suggested that he'd sell the Nets franchise along with his other assets if he were to win the presidency in Russia, according to a Bloomberg report. There doesn't appear to be much chance of that happening though, as Vladimir Putin is the heavy favorite to be elected.
Chauncey Billups & The Disabled Player Exception
The Clippers appeared to suffer a huge blow last night when Chauncey Billups went down with what could be a serious achilles injury. We're still waiting for the official word on Billups' status, but it looks like the injury may prematurely end his season. Unfortunately for the Clippers, even if Billups were ruled out for the season, the team can't take advantage of the NBA's disabled player rule to replace him on their roster.
The disabled player exception is one of many salary cap exceptions included in the CBA to allow teams over the cap to acquire players. If a player suffers a season-ending injury, his team can apply for an exception worth 50% of his salary or the amount of the nontaxpayer mid-level exception (whichever is lesser). If the league approves the exception, it can be used in the next 45 days to make an acquisition via trade or free agency.
According to Larry Coon, CBA expert and author of the CBA FAQ, the league's new Collective Bargaining Agreement allows teams to apply for a disabled player exception between July 1st and January 15th each season, regardless of when the injury occurred. As such, teams who suffer season-ending injuries from here on out won't have the chance to acquire a cap exception to replace the sidelined player this season.
In Billups' case, such an exception would have had minimal value anyway — the Clippers are only paying about $2MM of the point guard's salary after the Knicks amnestied him, so an exception would only have been worth $1MM or so. Still, considering the team just used its mini mid-level to sign Kenyon Martin and still has interest in J.R. Smith, every bit of flexibility would help.
Odds & Ends: Iverson, Lin, Green, Kaman, Heat
A few late-morning links for Tuesday:
- A Puerto Rican source told Sportando (Twitter link) that it's hard to picture Allen Iverson playing in Puerto Rico, since "no teams [are] looking for that kind of player." We heard yesterday that Iverson was drawing interest from Puerto Rico's professional league.
- Newest Knicks starter Jeremy Lin was a candidate to be waived as recently as last week and would have considered playing overseas had that happened, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside thinks Gerald Green should get a shot at an NBA roster on a 10-day contract. I mentioned Green on Friday when I looked at a few notable former NBA players in the D-League.
- By not playing Chris Kaman when they were shopping him, the Hornets subtracted one of their few resources, says John DeShazier of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
- ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Insider link) polled NBA scouts, asking which college freshmen would be better off staying at college for their sophomore seasons. Andre Drummond and Austin Rivers were among the players named.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel fields Heat-related questions in a mailbag.
Pacific Notes: Lin, Martin, Kings
Linsanity may be taking over New York, but fans of a couple other teams aren't so excited about Jeremy Lin's recent emergence for the Knicks. The Harvard product was on the Rockets roster during training camp, after Houston claimed him off waivers from the Warriors. As Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group writes, Lin saw some playing time in Golden State last year, but became a cap casualty when the Warriors cleared space to make an offer to restricted free agent DeAndre Jordan.
Here are the rest of the morning's notes out of the Pacific division:
- Kenyon Martin was flattered by the number of teams and players that reached out to him when he was a free agent, but ultimately decided the Clippers were the best fit, tweets Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. In an unfortunate twist, Martin may not get to play with one of his most aggressive recruiters, Chauncey Billups, who could miss significant time with an achilles injury. Martin said he got the "full-court press" from Billups and Chris Paul, tweets Kyler.
- Seattle is trying to bring the NBA back to the city, but that hasn't affected Sacramento's work on a new arena, reports Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. The Kings are thought to be a candidate for relocation if the league goes in that direction.
- Lakers star Kobe Bryant discussed his future and denied a Dwight Howard rumor, as we wrote earlier this morning.
Kobe Talks Future, Retirement, Trades
In the second quarter of last night's contest in Philadelphia, Kobe Bryant passed Shaquille O'Neal on the NBA's scoring list, becoming the NBA's fifth-leading scorer of all time. After the game, Bryant indicated he'll be wearing a Lakers uniform for any future records he sets, telling Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles that he'll retire as a Laker (Twitter link).
"I'm not going jump ship to go chase a sixth ring," said Bryant (Twitter link). "It's going to happen here or it's not going to happen."
Although Bryant didn't commit to a specific timetable for his eventual retirement, he expressed a desire to go out on top, saying he didn't want to "hang around and average 18 or 19 points" (Twitter link). The longtime Laker is in his 16th NBA season, though he won't turn 34 until August.
As Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News writes, Kobe also weighed in on the possibility of the Lakers making a move before the trade deadline. While he declared the current squad strong enough to contend for a title, he also hinted that a trade or signing could help:
"We have to play very solid, near-perfect basketball, particularly with our second unit, which we have in the past. We're capable of contending. Our margin is just not as great as some of the other teams."
Dwight Howard Rumors: Tuesday
Over the weekend, a report surfaced suggesting a conversation with Kobe Bryant had soured Dwight Howard on the possibility of a trade to the Lakers. In a message to Peter Vecsey of the New York Post, Bryant insisted there was no truth to the story. Regardless of whether or not such a conversation happened, it appears Howard prefers New Jersey to Los Angeles. Here are Tuesday's updates on Howard, with the latest up top:
- Following the preseason trade request from Howard's camp, Magic CEO Alex Martins no longer deals with Howard's agent Dan Fegan, tweets Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Only GM Otis Smith speaks with Fegan now.
- While Howard's list of preferred destinations still only includes the Lakers, Nets, and Mavs, Schmitz tweets that the Clippers would be "fools" not to trade Blake Griffin if Howard said he would sign a long-term deal with the Clips.
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Odds & Ends: Lin, Billups, Williams, Kaman
Lakers star Kobe Bryant eclipsed former teammate Shaquille O'Neal as the fifth all-time leading scorer in NBA history as he put up 28 points in a 95-90 loss to the 76ers. Personal records aside, Kobe's main focus remains on securing a sixth championship ring which is becoming increasingly difficult as the Lakers dropped to 14-11 on the season, with nine of those losses coming on the road. Let's take a look around the league on what was a busy Monday night for the NBA.
- Jeremy Lin scored 28 points in his first start for the Knicks this evening in a 99-88 victory over the Utah Jazz. Lin, 23, wouldn't have even received this opportunity if Baron Davis' recovery had stayed on track, tweets NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper. With his strong performances of late, Lin is nearly assured of his contract becoming guaranteed on Friday.
- Isiah Thomas' career came to an end thanks to an Achilles injury against Orlando back in 1994, says Pistons beat writer Vincent Goodwill (via Twitter). A similar fate may hold true for Chauncey Billups who left Monday's game against the Magic in the fourth quarter with what may be a left Achilles tear.
- If Billups' injury turns out to be as severe as predicted, Clippers GM Neil Olshey should be commended for his decision to not shop Mo Williams even when his team's roster was overloaded with point guards.
- Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune describes the Hornets' decision to return Chris Kaman to the active roster as a way to build a highlight-reel in order to improve trade offers. In his first game back with the Hornets, Kaman, 29, scored 10 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and made two blocks in a 100-92 loss to the Kings.