Team USA Olympic Roster Updates: Thursday
5:38pm: In a statement released to the media, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo has announced that James Harden and Anthony Davis will be added to Team USA's preliminary Olympic roster.
12:31pm: James Harden will likely be added to Team USA's preliminary Olympic roster, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
10:36am: With the 2012 London Olympics less than three months away, Jerry Colangelo and Team USA are inviting new partipants to the U.S. select team. Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports that John Wall has received an invite for the select team, while Kyrie Irving will also be invited, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Twitter).
Members of the select team aren't considered finalists for the London roster, but will scrimmage against the Olympic team and will be part of the player pool for future international competition. According to Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee, DeMarcus Cousins will also be invited to join the select squad.
Given the recent injuries to members of the Olympic player pool, including Dwight Howard and LaMarcus Aldridge, Colangelo has said one or two big men could be added to the list of finalists. Anthony Davis is rumored to be one of those additions.
Odds & Ends: Wallace, Draft, Raptors, Blazers
Thursday afternoon links from around the NBA:
- Ben Wallace is still on the fence about retirement, Pistons teammates Tayshaun Prince tells Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. "One side is telling him it is time to spend time with the family and relax a little bit," Prince said. "And then the other side is saying I still have more left in the tank."
- With the NBA having officially released the full list of early entrants for June's draft, Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) and Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com provide brief commentaries on each of the players in the draft pool, from Anthony Davis to Erik Austin (who?).
- Speaking of the draft, this year's lottery has been officially scheduled for May 30th at 7:00pm CT at Times Square Studios in New York, as Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. You can find the tentative draft order and lottery odds here.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun examines a number of free agents the Raptors might keep an eye on this summer.
- The Trail Blazers could look into signing one or both of former draft picks Joel Freeland and Victor Claver this offseason, acting GM Chad Buchanan told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune.
Qualifying Offers
Players eligible for restricted free agency don't become restricted free agents by default. In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him. The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player's service time and previous contract status.
If a player has played three seasons or less in the NBA, his qualifying offer will be worth 125% of his prior salary, or his minimum salary plus $200K, whichever is greater. For instance, after making $762,195 this season, Jeremy Lin will receive a qualifying offer worth $1,054,389 for next year — calculated by adding $200,000 to his minimum salary for next season ($854,389). Omer Asik's 2011/12 salary, meanwhile, was $1,857,500, so his qualifying offer will be worth 125% of that figure, or $2,321,875.
The qualifying offer for a player coming off his rookie scale contract is determined by his draft position. The qualifying offer for a first overall pick is 130% of his fourth-year salary, while the QO for a 30th overall pick is 150% of his previous salary. The full first-round scale for 2011/12 can be found here, courtesy of RealGM.
A pair of examples for this season, based on RealGM's chart: 2008 second overall pick Michael Beasley, coming off a fourth-year salary of $6,262,347, must be extended a qualifying offer of $8,172,363 (a 30.5% increase) to become a restricted free agent. 21st overall pick Ryan Anderson would receive a qualifying offer of $3,234,470, a 44.1% increase on this season's $2,244,601 salary.
A wrinkle in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement complicates matters — beginning next season, a player's previous performance will affect the amount of his qualifying offer. The new CBA identifies the "starter criteria" as starting 41 games or playing 2000 minutes per season, and rewards players for meeting those criteria. Depending on whether or not a player averages 41 starts or 2000 minutes over the two seasons prior to his free agency, his qualifying offer will be affected as follows:
- A first-round pick who meets the starter criteria will receive the same qualifying offer as the ninth overall pick.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive the same qualifying offer as the 21st overall pick.
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter critera will receive the same qualifying offer as the 15th overall pick.
Let's take a closer rook at these rule changes using a few potential restricted free agents for the summer of 2013.
Tyler Hansbrough was a top-14 pick for the Pacers (13th overall), but based on his current production is unlikely to meet the starter criteria for the two years prior to his free agency. As such, he'd receive the same qualifying offer that the 15th overall pick (Austin Daye) would — $4,135,391, rather than $4,225,423.
On the other hand, Pacers point guard Darren Collison, drafted 21st in 2009, appears set to meet the starter criteria heading into next summer. To reward him for his production, his qualifying offer would be $4,531,459, the same as ninth overall pick DeMar DeRozan will receive, rather than the typical $3,342,175 for a 21st overall pick.
Isaiah Thomas isn't expected to become a restricted free agent until the summer of 2014, but let's assume he meets the starter criteria over the next two seasons. Under the old system, he'd receive a modest qualifying offer of about $1.12MM, but the new CBA means he'd receive the same QO as the 21st overall pick, which would be $3MM+.
A qualifying offer is designed to give a player's team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then receives the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club.
A player can also accept his qualifying offer, if he so chooses. He then plays the following season on a one-year contract worth the amount of the QO, and becomes an unrestricted free agent at season's end. A player can go this route if he wants to hit unrestricted free agency as early as possible, or if he feels like the QO is the best offer he'll receive. Accepting the qualifying offer also gives a player the right to veto trades for the season.
Nick Young is one example of a player who accepted his qualifying offer this past offseason, and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer as a result. When the Wizards traded Young to the Clippers in March, the deal required Young's approval, since he was playing the year on his qualifying offer.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ and Storyteller's Contracts were used in the creation of this post.
Southwest Notes: Mayo, Marion, Hornets
Coming into the postseason, most pundits figured Utah's frontcourt size could give the Spurs some trouble in Round One, but so far San Antonio has been in complete control of the series. Al Jefferson called last night's blowout "embarrassing" and said the Spurs have an unmistakable swagger, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. I still think the Jazz can take a game or two from the Spurs, but the odds of San Antonio being knocked off by an eighth seed again look very slim.
Here are the rest of the day's updates out of the Southwest Division:
- Lang Greene of HoopsWorld writes that O.J. Mayo appears unlikely to re-sign the Grizzlies, and examines some potential landing spots for the former third overall pick.
- Mayo was reportedly nearly traded to the Celtics at this season's trade deadline, but he tells Chris Mannix of SI.com that Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace never approached him about a possible deal.
- Although speculation earlier this season suggested Shawn Marion could eventually be traded or amnestied to clear cap space, Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com argues that the Mavericks need "The Matrix" going forward.
- Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune discusses the possibility of rebranding the New Orleans franchise and changing the Hornets nickname.
Official 2012 NBA Draft Early Entrants List
The NBA has released the official list of early entry candidates for this year's NBA draft. Listed below are the NCAA underclassmen and international players who filed for the draft early. Early entrants can withdraw from draft consideration anytime before June 18th, though the NCAA's withdrawal deadline has passed, meaning college players won't be able to regain their NCAA eligibility.
NCAA:
Erik Austin, Jackson Community College (freshman)
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina (sophomore)
Will Barton, Memphis (sophomore)
Bradley Beal, Florida (freshman)
J'Covan Brown, Texas (junior)
Dominic Cheek, Villanova (junior)
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State (junior)
Anthony Davis, Kentucky (freshman)
Andre Drummond, Connecticut (freshman)
Dominique Ferguson, Florida International (sophomore)
Justin Hamilton, LSU (junior)
Moe Harkless, St. John's (freshman)
John Henson, North Carolina (junior)
John Jenkins, Vanderbilt (junior)
Terrence Jones, Kentucky (sophomore)
Perry Jones III, Baylor (sophomore)
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky (freshman)
Doron Lamb, Kentucky (sophomore)
Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut (sophomore)
Meyers Leonard, Illinois (sophomore)
Damian Lillard, Weber State (junior)
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (sophomore)
Fab Melo, Syracruse (sophomore)
Khris Middleton, Texas A&M (junior)
Quincy Miller, Baylor (freshman)
Tony Mitchell, Alabama (junior)
Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State (junior)
Reeves Nelson, ex-UCLA (junior)
Austin Rivers, Duke (freshman)
Peter Roberson, Grambling State (junior)
Quincy Roberts, Grambling State (junior)
Thomas Robinson, Kansas (junior)
Terrence Ross, Washington (sophomore)
Avery Scharer, Shoreline Community College (sophomore)
Renardo Sidney, Mississippi State (junior)
Jonathon Simmons, Houston (junior)
Terrell Stoglin, Maryland (sophomore)
Gerardo Suero, Albany (junior)
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State (sophomore)
Marquis Teague, Kentucky (freshman)
Joston Thomas, Hawaii (junior)
Hollis Thompson, Georgetown (junior)
Richard Townsend-Gant, Vancouver Island (junior)
Maalik Wayns, Villanova (junior)
Dion Waiters, Syracuse (sophomore)
Royce White, Iowa State (sophomore)
D'Angelo Williams, Notre Dame De Namur (junior)
Tony Wroten, Washington (freshman)
International (DOB in parentheses):
Furkan Aldemir, Turkey (1991)
Evan Fournier, France (1992)
Josep Franch, Spain (1991)
Alen Omic, Slovenia (1992)
Tomas Satoransky, Spain (1991)
Tornike Shengelia, Belgium (1991)
Mathieu Wojciechowski, France (1992)
Recapping 2012’s 10-Day Contracts
Before the 10-day contract signing period got underway in February, we outlined the details on how the contracts worked, and which teams and players you could expect to make use of them. With the regular season in the books, it's time to take a look back at the 10-day deals signed this year, with the help of our 10-day contract tracker.
By our count, 35 players signed at least one 10-day contract in this lockout-shortened season. Of those 35 players, 16 ended up being signed to rest-of-season contracts by the same team, while Donald Sloan signed for the remainder of the season with the Cavaliers after a pair of 10-day contracts from the Hornets.
15 teams, nearly half of whom qualified for the postseason, signed at least one player to a 10-day contract. Although most playoff squads signed just a single player or two for bench depth, a number of lottery teams took full advantage of the 10-day deals, auditioning a handful of players over the second half. The Cavs, Raptors, and Rockets each signed three players to at least one 10-day contract, while the Wizards, Nets, and Hornets inked four, five, and six players respectively. No team added more 10-day recipients to its permanent roster than Washington, who finished the year with Cartier Martin, James Singleton, and Morris Almond on rest-of-season deals.
I outlined a few of the year's top 10-day contracts a few weeks ago, but if we're naming a single best 10-day signing, the honor would have to go to the Nets for bringing Gerald Green to New Jersey. Green appeared in 31 games, averaging 12.9 points and shooting .481/.391/.754 in 25.2 minutes per contest. After not playing in the NBA since the 2008/09 season, the former first-rounder now seems like a good bet to land a decent-sized contract from the Nets or another club, as I noted when I examined his free agent stock.
Green's case is a perfect example of how the 10-day contract can benefit both a team and player. The Nets, at minimal risk, discovered an NBA contributor that could become a long-term fixture in Brooklyn. Green, meanwhile, got the chance to show he belongs in the league and took full advantage of it. Success stories like his are why plenty of teams will continue to use 10-day contracts in the hopes of landing the next Gerald Green.
Latest On Trail Blazers’ GM Search
Team president Larry Miller and other members of the Trail Blazers' front office continue to conduct interviews for the club's general manager opening, says Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. Eggers has a number of updates related to Portland's search, so let's round them up:
- Miller isn't sure how many candidates the team will interview. "We want to make sure with our decision. I don't want to have to do this again," Miller said, adding: "If we talk to somebody and this is our guy, that would be the end of it."
- The Trail Blazers met with Steve Kerr in April, and Kerr says the two sides "exchanged a lot of ideas" and that he learned a lot about the organization. However, he also reiterated that, while the situation intrigues him, he's not interested in the position right now.
- Geoff Petrie is considered a possibility for the opening and remains "highly regarded" by members of the Blazers' organization, says Eggers. Petrie expects to remain in his front office role in Sacramento though: "At this point in my career, I'd like to see us turn the corner (with the Kings), given our circumstances the last four years."
- While acting GM Chad Buchanan remains a candidate for the job, Miller says no interview is necessary for Buchanan, who has worked in the organization for eight years.
- Members of the Blazers' front office have been making visits to college campuses to learn more about potential draft targets, though Miller and Buchanan both say trading a pick or two for a veteran player is a possibility.
Odds & Ends: Raptors, Bulls, Magic, Frye
Here are this evening's miscellaneous stories:
- Lang Greene of HoopsWorld had his weekly chat with fans tonight. Among the more significant things he talked about were the chances that Tyreke Evans gets shopped this summer, the Nets pursuing Kevin Garnett if Deron Williams leaves, the Hornets matching any offer for Eric Gordon, and Portland being the realistic destination for Goran Dragic.
- With $12MM in cap space before the draft, Bryan Colangelo talked about the Raptors' approach going into the offseason: "If there was going to be a year to make a bigger splash, whether in free agency or utilizing the space to acquire players by trade, I felt that would be better served in a subsequent season and that’s probably this summer" (Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld reports). Colangelo also told Brotherston that he and Ed Stefanski will be very active in terms of placing and entertaining calls with other GMs in the upcoming weeks and months.
- Scoop Jackson, Melissa Isaacson, and Jon Greenberg of ESPN cover a few topics on the Bulls, including how Derrick Rose's injury will affect Chicago's title hopes over the next two years, whether Luol Deng should immediately get surgery and skip the Olympics, and Carlos Boozer's reliability in the playoffs.
- Magic GM Otis Smith traveled to Los Angeles to check on Dwight Howard as he recuperates from surgery, according to Illiana Limón and Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. While there had been speculation that Howard is estranged from the franchise, Smith and Magic CEO Alex Martins say that he hasn't asked for a trade.
- Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times provides a "to-do list" for the Nuggets if they are to have any chance at beating the Lakers.
- Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas wonders if the Mavericks should make strategic defensive adjustments on Russell Westbrook or just hope that he starts missing mid-range jumpshots.
- An article posted on Suns.com reports that Channing Frye underwent successful surgery on his right shoulder today.
Kidd Wants Mid-Level Type Offer
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweeted that Mavericks guard Jason Kidd is not interested in playing for the veteran's minimum or a small exception, and that he will retire if he doesn't receive a deal for around the mid-level exception this summer.
Kidd is making a case for his ability to contribute based on his two performances against the Thunder this week. Despite his poor shooting percentages, Kidd has played 36 MPG while averaging 9 PPG, 6 APG, and 6 RPG.
Yesterday, Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times speculated that the Warriors could explore the possibility of bringing in Kidd (Twitter link). This offseason, Golden State will qualify as an over-the-cap team that would be able to offer the full mid-level. However, if Dallas fails to make a big splash in free agency, I could see them offering Kidd a one-year deal for around the same amount in order to let him finish his career with the Mavericks.
Knicks Notes: Lin, Chandler, Stoudemire
- Al Ianazzonne of Newsday says that Jeremy Lin played a game of full court three-on-three after Wednesday's practice and showed some expected rust. Coach Mike Woodson said that any potential return of Lin during the series would hinge on how he feels after doing some running tomorrow and what the doctors say.
- Ian Begley of ESPN New York reports that Tyson Chandler is "close to 100%" heading into Thursday night's game at Madison Square Garden. Chandler had been recovering from flu-like symptoms over the last five days.
- In his first public appearance since leaving the American Airlines Arena on Monday night, Amare Stoudemire told reporters that there's a "great chance" he'll return for Game 4 on Sunday, immediately adding that he's "not totally sure yet" (according to Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com).
- Chandler is the first player in Knicks history to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York writes about how former Knick Charles Oakley played an instrumental role in shaping Chandler's mindset defensively. The two had been teammates on the Bulls, when Chandler was still a young prospect and Oakley was nearing retirement.