2013 NBA Draft

With the NBA regular season around the corner, nearly all of the 60 players selected in the 2013 draft appears to have jobs lined up for the coming year. Of course, not all those jobs will be for NBA teams, as many draftees were stashed overseas and others could wind up in the D-League. But at the moment, there are no notable names still in search of a contract.

As I outlined after this year’s draft, there isn’t a whole lot of uncertainty for most first-round picks. The NBA’s rookie scale dictates that first-year players receive a set amount depending on where in the first round they were selected. Salaries can be for as little as 80% or as much as 120% of that amount, and the latter has become a league-wide standard, with teams typically paying rookies the highest amount possible.

That’s not always the case though. 26 of this year’s 30 first-rounders signed rookie deals with their respective teams for the full 120%, but that still leaves four exceptions. Here are the situations for those four players:

• Lucas Nogueira, Hawks (16th overall): Nogueira is still just 21 years old and fairly raw, so the Hawks opted to let him continue developing overseas rather than paying a buyout to bring him stateside immediately. As we heard in August, the young big man will play for Spain’s Asefa Estudiantes Madrid in 2013/14.
• Dennis Schröder, Hawks (17th overall): Schröder will only be receiving 100% of the rookie scale amount for the 17th overall pick ($1,348,200) in his first season, though that will increase to 120% for the rest of his rookie deal. Atlanta reportedly paid $550K to buy Schröder out of his contract overseas, so perhaps that was the motivation for reducing the point guard’s first-year salary.
• Andre Roberson, Thunder (26th overall): Like Schröder, Roberson will receive the standard 120% of his rookie scale amount after this season, but he’ll just earn 80% in year one, good for a $740,560 salary. Roberson wasn’t projected as a first-round pick by draft experts, so being given the opportunity to secure a guaranteed deal may have made him more inclined to take a discount. The Thunder are also dangerously close to tax territory, making those small savings important for the club.
• Livio Jean-Charles, Spurs (28th overall): It was always clear that the Spurs intended to draft-and-stash Jean-Charles, which is exactly what they’ll do in 2013/14 — he’ll continue playing for ASVEL Villeurbanne in France, as our international tracker shows. A pre-draft report suggested that San Antonio planned to develop Jean-Charles overseas for at least one year after drafting him, so we’ll have to wait and see when the club decides to bring him to the NBA.

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There hasn't been a third round in the NBA draft in 25 years, but that doesn't mean there are only two rounds' worth of useful players ready to enter the NBA every year. The league has a long history with successful players who didn't hear their names called on draft night, and perhaps the most notable example these days is Jeremy Lin. There's also Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem, both of whom played key roles for the Heat's championship team last summer, and Jose Calderon, who signed a four-year, $29MM contract with the Mavericks this summer. Most undrafted guys who make it to the NBA don't have quite so profound an effect, but each year it seems at least a few of them make their presence felt.

There are 26 players currently on NBA camp rosters who were eligible for the 2013 draft but went unpicked. Robert Covington of the Rockets is the only one with a fully guaranteed contract for this season. None of them came directly from overseas, and all of them played NCAA basketball last season.

There are plenty of players on camp rosters who were draft eligible in previous years and are still looking for their first NBA action, but they're not included here. This list simply shows the players who might have been picked in the third round, if it still existed. They're listed by their NBA teams, with their college teams in parentheses.

• 76ers: Vander Blue (Marquette), Rodney Williams (Minnesota), Khalif Wyatt (Temple)
  
• Bobcats: Troy Daniels, (VCU) Abdul Gaddy (Washington), James Southerland (Syracuse)
• Bucks: Trey McKinney Jones (Miami, Fla.)
• Bulls: None
• Cavaliers: Matthew Dellavedova (St. Mary's), Kenny Kadji (Miami, Fla.)
• Celtics: Chris Babb (Iowa State), Damen Bell-Holter (Oral Roberts)
• Clippers: Brandon Davies (BYU)
• Grizzlies: None
• Hawks: Adonis Thomas (Memphis)
• Heat: Larry Drew II (UCLA)
• Jazz: Ian Clark (Belmont)
• Kings: Trent Lockett (Marquette)
• Knicks: C.J. Leslie (N.C. State)
• Lakers: Elias Harris (Gonzaga)
• Magic: None
• Mavericks: None
• Nets: None
• Nuggets: Reginald Buckner (Mississippi)
• Pacers: None
• Pelicans: None
• Pistons: None
• Raptors: None
• Rockets: Robert Covington (Tennessee State)
• Spurs: Myck Kabongo (Texas)
• Suns: None
• Thunder: Rodney McGruder (Kansas State)
• Timberwolves: None
• Trail Blazers: Richard Howell (N.C. State), E.J. Singler (Oregon)
• Warriors: Seth Curry (Duke), DeWayne Dedmon (USC)
• Wizards: None

RealGM.com was used in the creation of this post.

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Today is the deadline for teams to make an offer of at least the minimum salary to this year's second-round picks. Those players would become free agents if their clubs fail to extend the required tender, but in most cases, the deadline is a formality. Twelve of the 30 second-rounders this year have already signed with their NBA clubs, while 11 have agreements with overseas clubs. That leaves seven unresolved cases, as we examine below.

Teams can perpetually retain the NBA rights to second-rounders playing overseas, and it's common practice for them to do so, particularly with players who hail from outside North America to begin with. Clubs can evaluate their second-rounders in summer league, but if they bring them to training camp, they lose the rights to those players if they cut them. 

That can make the tender deadline a little tricky, as Grantland's Zach Lowe examined last month. Second-round picks who sign with NBA teams usually wind up with some amount of guaranteed money, and sometimes get a salary greater than the minimum, so teams can try to push them to sign overseas by making only the one-year required tender. But a second-rounder who is determined to play in the NBA immediately can force a team's hand by accepting the tender, thus daring the club to cut him and forfeit his rights.

Further complicating matters is the growing trend of long-term deals for second-round picks, tying them to their teams at cheap salaries for three and four seasons at a time. If the player pans out, he can become one of the league's most underpaid players, a la Chandler Parsons.

Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors touched on some of the second-rounders without a deal when he wrote about unsigned draft picks last month, but in light of today's deadline, here's an in-depth look at what we know about each of the seven 2013 second-round draft picks without a deal:

• Grant Jerrett, Thunder (40th overall) — We haven't heard anything about the former Arizona power forward since Oklahoma City acquired his rights from the Blazers at draft time. The Thunder are among the league's most secretive organizations, so perhaps the club and player are quietly negotiating a deal. Eight of the nine second-round picks taken ahead of Jerrett have NBA contracts, though the Thunder hold the rights to the only one who doesn't: Alex Abrines, who'll remain overseas. Jerrett averaged 10.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game for the Thunder's summer league team.
• Marko Todorovic, Rockets (45th overall): The Rockets acquired Todorovic via trade from the Blazers, too, and he's also stayed out of the news since then. He's under contract with FC Barcelona after signing a three-year deal last summer, so perhaps the pact either doesn't include an NBA out, or the NBA out is set at a prohibitive price. He didn't play in summer league.
• Raul Neto, Jazz (47th overall): It appeared shortly after the draft as though Neto wouldn't join the Jazz this season, and he said in July that he'd probably spend the year playing in Spain. GM Dennis Lindsey spoke highly of Neto last month, but it remains undecided where he'll be for the 2013/14 campaign. Neto put up 3.7 PPG and 3.0 APG in 16.2 MPG during summer league.
• Ryan Kelly, Lakers (48th overall): The Lakers were reportedly expected to sign Kelly, However, he missed summer league while recovering from multiple foot procedures, and the team doubts he'll be ready when camp starts, as Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote this week.
• Romero Osby, Magic (51st overall): The Magic have made their required tender, and there's mutual interest in reaching an agreement that would bring him to camp this fall. He notched 11.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 21.1 MPG in summer league. 
• Lorenzo Brown, Timberwolves (52nd overall): Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities has twice reported that Brown will likely go to camp and compete for the team's final regular season roster spot. He produced 8.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 19.1 MPG in summer league action.
• Janis Timma, Grizzlies (60th overall): There's been no news on Timma since the Grizzlies made him the final pick of the draft. Luke wrote last month that the Grizzlies didn't have much room on their roster for him, but since then, they've traded Tony Wroten and waived Fab Melo, trimming the roster to 15, with only 13 guaranteed deals. The Latvian small forward wasn't too impressive in summer league, scoring just 2.5 PPG on 20.8% shooting in 13.9 MPG.