2012 June | Hoops Rumors

The Importance Of This Week’s Bird Rights Ruling

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 1:41 pm

Last month, the NBPA announced that it was challenging the rule that players claimed off waivers lose their Bird rights. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for this Wednesday, at which point an arbitrator will rule in favor of either the league or the players' union. While the issue affects all 30 NBA teams, much of the discussion on the topic has centered around the Knicks, which isn't a surprise — New York is the team with the most to gain or lose from Wednesday's decision.

As the Hoops Rumors glossary outlines, a player's Bird rights clock can reset in a number of scenarios, including when he is waived and claimed off waivers by another team. The players' union is arguing that the Bird clock should not restart in that instance, since the players isn't switching teams as a free agent, and continues to play under his same contract. While the union's logic makes sense – changing teams via waivers is similar to being moved in a trade, in which case the Bird clock doesn't reset – the wording in the CBA on the issue is clearly presented and hasn't changed over the years. The union is expected to lose its appeal.

Players are rarely claimed on waivers, so the Bird rights issue doesn't arise often. This season, however, the Knicks happened to claim two players that they'd like to re-sign in free agency — Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak. Since both players were claimed by the Knicks in December, they only have Non-Bird rights, which will make it difficult for New York to match offers without dipping into its mid-level exception.

The Knicks presumably won't have any qualms about passing the luxury tax threshold and becoming a taxpaying team, but if they do so, they'll only have the $3MM taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal. Because Lin is expected to receive offers with a first-year salary that exceeds $3MM, under the current rules, the Knicks would have to use the full $5MM non-taxpayer mid-level to retain their point guard, which would prevent them from passing the tax line later in the season. If the union were to win this week's ruling, however, Lin would gain Early Bird rights, meaning the Knicks could match any offer sheet for him under the Gilbert Arenas provision without using their mid-level. They could also re-sign Novak using the Early Bird exception, and could then use their MLE to sign an outside free agent.

Put simply, the Knicks have about $59MM committed to guaranteed 2012/13 salaries so far. Assuming they need to use the non-taxpayer MLE to retain Lin, under the current rules, that would give them about $15MM to re-sign Lin, Novak, J.R. Smith, and Landry Fields, and to bring in other players to fill out the roster, with a hard cap in the $74MM range.

If the union were to win the ruling, the Knicks could re-sign Lin, Novak, and Fields for up to $5MM each, could re-sign Smith for up to about $3MM, and would still have somewhere from $3-5MM in MLE money to spend on a free agent. The team also wouldn't be hard-capped and could bring in as many minimum-salary free agents as it needed over the course of the season.

The NBPA may be fighting on behalf of players across the league on Wednesday, but the Knicks and their free agents are the ones that stand to benefit the most. If the union loses its appeal, as expected, New York will also be the team that loses the most, as the team figures to have to let one or more of its free agents walk.

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0 comments New York Knicks

Ford’s Latest: Cavs, Bobcats, Waiters, Rivers

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 12:27 pm

We'll be following most of today's draft notes here, but the latest column from ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Insider link) featured enough items of interest that it required its own post. Here are some of the highlights from ESPN.com's draft guru:

Following Specific Players On Hoops Rumors

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 12:05 pm

As we've outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Hoops Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you don't want to follow all the site's updates, you can follow team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don't have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, you can also easily follow all our updates on your favorite player.

0 comments Uncategorized

Offseason Outlook: Memphis Grizzlies

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 11:10 am

Guaranteed Contracts

Zach Randolph ($16,500,000)
Rudy Gay ($16,460,538)
Marc Gasol ($13,891,359)
Mike Conley ($7,305,786)
Tony Allen ($3,300,000)
Dante Cunningham ($2,090,000)
Quincy Pondexter ($1,234,320)
Jeremy Pargo ($1,000,000)
Josh Selby ($762,195)

Options

None

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

None

Free Agents (Cap Holds)

O.J. Mayo ($11,265,274)
Marreese Speights ($6,803,138)
Darrell Arthur ($5,067,798)
Hamed Haddadi ($2,470,000)
Lester Hudson ($1,085,120 – QO)
Gilbert Arenas ($854,389)
(Steven Hunter – $7,022,400)
(Leon Powe – $854,389)
(Marcus Williams – $854,389)

Draft Picks

1st Round (25th overall)

Cap Outlook

Guaranteed Salary: $62,544,198
Cap Holds: $36,276,897
Total (not including draft picks): $98,821,095

After an early exit from the postseason, the Grizzlies face the unenviable task of not only trying to find a way to improve the team, but simply finding a way to keep the current roster intact. Big contracts, a handful of restricted free agents, and a reluctance to cross the luxury tax threshold mean the Grizzlies will have to get creative if they want to avoid losing a key contributor or two.

Memphis has over $62MM already committed to guaranteed contracts for next season, with Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley making up a huge chunk of that figure. The four starters will earn a combined $54MM+ in 2012/13. While the Grizzlies' cap situation would be the envy of a big-market club like the Lakers, it creates some issues in Memphis. Owner Michael Heisley has been adamant that his team "can't be in the luxury tax business" and says the club isn't in position to add much salary.

If the entire Grizzlies core were under contract, the luxury tax wouldn't be an issue, but three players the team would like to keep – O.J. Mayo, Marreese Speights, and Darrell Arthur – are facing free agency this summer. If Memphis wants to avoid the tax line, which figures to be a little over $70MM, retaining those players will be at the very least challenging, if not impossible.

Consider the qualifying offers the Grizzlies will have to extend if they even want to make those three players restricted free agents, rather than unrestricted. Mayo would have to be offered about $7.39MM, Speights $4.39MM, and Arthur $3MM. If those one-year offers were extended, Memphis would risk the players accepting them, which would send payroll soaring well past the tax threshold, to $77MM+.

The Grizzlies' tricky cap situation is why Gay's name will come up frequently in trade talks this offseason. While Heisley insists the club's leading scorer isn't on the block and isn't going anywhere, it makes all the sense in the world for Memphis to at least listen to offers. If a team like the Raptors, for instance, wanted to offer its lottery pick and a young player or two (think James Johnson or Ed Davis) for Gay, it would allow the Grizzlies to add young talent and cut costs, creating the room to re-sign its free agents.

If Gay stays put though, the Grizzlies will likely prepare to part ways with Mayo. Memphis should have room to retain at least one of Speights or Arthur, if not both, but that would mean the club wouldn't have the flexibility to add any outside free agents. And as good as the Grizz looked at times this past season, losing Mayo without making any major addition wouldn't put the team in a great position to compete with the Western Conference elite.

We'll get a better idea of how much stock to put into Heisley's comments about Gay as this month's draft approaches. If the Grizzlies hold onto the 25-year-old through June 28th, it's unlikely they move him this summer — their best opportunity to clear the cap amount necessary to sign their free agents is by moving Gay in a deal for a draft pick, since they could get fair value without taking significant salary back. Given how many lottery teams covet an athletic small forward, I'd be surprised not to see the Grizzlies listen to offers, but either way, we can look forward to an interesting offseason in Memphis.

Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.

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0 comments Memphis Grizzlies Offseason Preview

Celtics Rumors: Bass, Garnett, Allen, Pietrus

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 8:40 am

While a weekend report suggested that Brandon Bass was likely to exercise his player option, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com says that's not necessarily the case. Multiple sources told Blakely that Bass is a good bet to opt out of his contract, though the forward would like to remain in Boston. Presumably, Bass' top choice would be to renegotiate a multiyear deal with the Celtics.

Here are a few more Monday morning updates on the C's from Blakely and a handful of other Boston scribes….

0 comments Boston Celtics Brandon Bass Jeff Green Kevin Garnett Mickael Pietrus Rajon Rondo Ray Allen

Draft Notes: Wizards, Jones, Davis, Beal

By Sean Highkin | at June 10, 2012 10:20 pm

The 2012 NBA Draft is less than three weeks away. This post will update all evening with the latest noteworthy news and features surrounding the draft and its prospects.

0 comments 2012 NBA Draft Washington Wizards Anthony Davis Austin Rivers Bradley Beal Kendall Marshall Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Terrence Jones Thomas Robinson

Kevin Garnett An Option For Spurs?

By Sean Highkin | at June 10, 2012 9:32 pm

Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News relays word from a member of the San Antonio Spurs organization that Kevin Garnett may be on the team's radar when they consider free-agent options this summer.

6 comments Boston Celtics San Antonio Spurs Kevin Garnett

Latest On Boris Diaw

By Sean Highkin | at June 10, 2012 7:53 pm

Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News has a new column exploring the future of Boris Diaw in San Antonio. Diaw, who proved to be a key component of the Spurs' playoff run after being acquired late in the season, is due to be a free agent this summer.

0 comments San Antonio Spurs Boris Diaw

Week In Review: 6/4/12 – 6/10/12

By Michael Pina | at June 10, 2012 4:50 pm

A look back at all the NBA's most significant news from the past week.

0 comments Week in Review

Poll: Who Wins The NBA Finals?

By Michael Pina | at June 10, 2012 4:11 pm

Last night the Miami Heat advanced to their second straight NBA Finals after defeating the Boston Celtics in a tight Game 7. Here, we ask who you think will be the last team standing?

Who Wins The NBA Finals?

Oklahoma City Thunder 77% (923)
Miami Heat 23% (278)

Total votes: 1,201

1 comment Hoops Rumors Polls

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Month: June 2012