NBA Grants Timberwolves Injury Exception
The NBA has granted the Timberwolves an injury exemption due to all the players currently sidelined for the team, according to the Wolves' official Twitter account. The exception will allow the T-Wolves to sign a player to a 10-day contract.
This injury exception shouldn't be confused with the standard disabled player exception, which the NBA can grant to replace a player who suffers a season-ending injury. This injury exception allows Minnesota to carry a 16th player on its roster, as Larry Coon explains in his CBA FAQ:
Teams can temporarily have four players on their Inactive List (bringing their roster size to 16) with league approval in the event of a hardship. A hardship can be deemed to occur when the team has four players who are sick or injured and have missed at least three games, and will continue to be unable to play.
Nikola Pekovic and Alexey Shved are the latest Minnesota players to go down, having both suffered injuries on Thursday. Pekovic is expected to miss 7-10 days with a thigh contusion, while Shved's sprained ankle will be re-evaluated tomorrow. The pair joins Kevin Love, Chase Budinger, Brandon Roy, and Malcolm Lee as Timberwolves currently recovering from injuries.
The Timberwolves have signed Mickael Gelabale to a 10-day contract, a move that's expected to be announced today or tomorrow. While Gelabale will be the team's 15th man, the exception will allow the Wolves to add one more player on a 10-day deal, if they so choose.
Wolves Rumors: Williams, Gay, Roy, Cunningham
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported yesterday that the Timberwolves are "heavily" shopping Derrick Williams, 2011's second overall pick. In his latest Scoops column, Wolfson shares a few more details on the T-Wolves' trade talks, plus a handful more Wolves-related notes. Let's dive in and round up the highlights….
- Within the last week, president David Kahn has transitioned from merely taking phone calls to making them himself. According to Wolfson, Kahn was "aggressively" working the phones this week and was making some progress on a trade. Such a deal would likely involve Williams, and would net Minnesota a big, rather than a wing.
- The T-Wolves don't have interest in Portland's J.J. Hickson or Atlanta's Josh Smith.
- Minnesota is still weighing whether it makes sense to pursue Rudy Gay. If the Wolves were to make an offer for Gay, it would likely have to include a third team, and would involve Nikola Pekovic.
- Brandon Roy's contract may be included in a trade at the deadline for salary purposes.
- The Lakers recently inquired on Dante Cunningham, but Cunningham's affordable salary makes the Wolves reluctant to part with him.
- According to Wolfson, interest in buying the T-Wolves is "as high as ever." Former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, who confirmed yesterday he has interest in buying another NBA franchise, is said to be kicking the tires on the Wolves.
- There's no word yet on whether Andrei Kirilenko is leaning one way or the other on his $10.22MM player option for 2013/14.
- Minnesota didn't apply for a disabled player exception for Malcolm Lee. As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors wrote on Monday, such an exception wouldn't have provided much flexibility for the club.
- According to Wolfson, there's some speculation that the Wolves would like to take over basketball operations of their D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls. The Skyforce are currently affiliated with the Heat, Magic, and Sixers, as well as the Wolves.
- While it's been presumed for some time that Minnesota would be among the clubs interested in Greg Oden, the team hasn't done due diligence on him so far, like some others have.
Mavericks Re-Sign Mike James
FRIDAY, 11:08am: The Mavericks officially confirmed James' second 10-day contract in a press release.
THURSDAY, 2:04pm: The Mavericks have re-signed James to a second 10-day contract, according to an AP report (link via NBA.com). Because James' first 10-day deal hasn't technically expired yet, I assume the new one will begin tomorrow.
9:43am: Mike James has appeared in five games for the Mavericks since signing a 10-day contract last week, but he saved the best for last, helping propel Dallas to a win over the Rockets last night with four points and five assists. With his contract set to expire at midnight tonight, James is expected to sign another 10-day deal with the Mavericks, according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (via Twitter).
For the Mavs, there's little risk in extending another 10-day contract to the veteran guard. The team wouldn't be able to offer James a third 10-day deal when his second one expires, but there'd be no obligation to sign him for the rest of the season either. For his part, coach Rick Carlisle suggested last night that he'd like to see James remain on the Mavs' roster.
"I’d say that there’s a great chance that he’s going to be there tomorrow, after tonight," Carlisle said, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. "And by the way, I thought his play at the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth may have been the difference in the game."
As our 10-day contract tracker shows, James signed a pair of 10-day deals with the Bulls last season before eventually joining the team for the remainder of the year, a feat the 37-year-old is hoping to replicate this season in Dallas.
Western Notes: Grizzlies, Baynes, Sloan, Lakers
A year ago, fans voted Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Andrew Bynum to be the Western Conference's starting lineup for the All-Star Game. This season, fan voting produced nearly the same result, with four of the same five guys returning as All-Star starters. The only difference? One Lakers center replaces another, as Dwight Howard, rather than Bynum, will start for the West.
Here are a few more notes from around the conference:
- Zach Randolph and the Grizzlies are still adjusting to the new ownership group in Memphis, as Randolph tells Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "It was definitely (former owner Michael) Heisley's plan to keep us all together and make a run for the championship. So when you come in with something different, of course, it kind of bothers you."
- Australian big man Aron Baynes is on his way to San Antonio to take a physical and begin completing his paperwork with the Spurs, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com and Sportando. We heard earlier this month that the Spurs were working to sign Baynes.
- The Hornets don't plan to sign Donald Sloan to another 10-day contract at this point, tweets Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Sloan's first 10-day deal expired Wednesday at midnight.
- Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link) believes Kyle Korver makes sense as a trade target for the Lakers.
Blake Griffin Eligible For 30% Max Contract
When Blake Griffin signed a five-year extension with the Clippers last July, the contract, which begins next season, was widely reported as a $95MM deal. That number likely won't end up being quite accurate, but it gives an indication of the sort of contract the two sides agreed upon.
While Griffin and James Harden both signed "maximum-salary" contracts, Harden's extension was reported to be worth around $80MM. So why the difference between the two deals? We can assume the Clippers agreed to a max contract with Griffin that will pay him 30% of the salary cap, rather than the 25% typically permitted for players with his and Harden's experience. As Larry Coon explains in his CBA FAQ, a player is eligible to sign for that 30% rookie scale extension if he meets one of the following criteria in his first four seasons: (1) Wins a Most Valuable Player award; (2) Voted an All-Star Game starter at least twice; (3) Named to an All-NBA team at least twice.
When it was announced last night that Griffin had been voted a Western Conference All-Star starter, it was the second straight year he'd achieved that honor, officially making him eligible for the 30% max.
As for Griffin's specific salary, we won't know that until July. Maximum salaries are determined based on the NBA's BRI (basketball related income), which isn't calculated until after the season. However, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook, who signed five-year rookie scale extensions that began this season, provide examples of the difference between a 30% max salary and a 25% max salary — Rose, who qualified for 30% after being named NBA MVP in 2010/11, will earn $94,314,376 on his five-year deal with the Bulls, while Westbrook's contract with the Thunder, for the standard 25%, will pay him $78,595,310.
Assuming maximum salaries continue to increase at the same rate they did this past season, Griffin's 30% max contract should earn him somewhere in the neighborhood of $100MM over his next five years with the Clippers.
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Odds & Ends: Roy, Jones, Nene, PEDs
The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Friday evening:
- Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes that Brandon Roy has shown no indication of thinking about retiring from the Timberwolves.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel talks to Magic rookie DeQuan Jones about his unlikely path to the NBA.
- Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com revisits the Nuggets' trade of Nene Hilario to the Wizards for JaVale McGee.
- In light of the recent steroids controversies surrounding cyclist Lance Armstrong and the Baseball Hall of Fame, HoopsHype has a new column by former D-League player Rod Benson about the relative lack of performance-enhancing drug use in the NBA.
- Larry Coon has updated his invaluable Salary Cap FAQ with a new entry on rules regarding international players and some corrections.
Lakers Notes: Gasol, Blake, Payton
The starters for the All-Star game were announced on Thursday, and two members of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, were among those selected. Here are the latest updates around the Lakers:
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Lakers have been playing well with Pau Gasol sidelined.
- Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweets that Steve Blake will receive a cortisone shot and get reevaluated this weekend before deciding on a return date.
- Gary Payton told Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com that the Lakers' current struggles are not comparable to those of the 2004 team that featured him and Karl Malone.
Conley, Gasol Met With Grizzlies Management
Amid speculation that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph, Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer reports (via Twitter) that guard Mike Conley and center Marc Gasol recently met with new owner Robert Pera, where the two players reportedly urged him to keep the team's core together at least through this season.
Herrington also tweets that Grizzlies management knows it has to move either Gay or Randolph to preserve their long-term flexibility and avoid luxury tax penalties. He believes the meeting with Conley and Gasol was simply to take their pulse about the season and roster.
Celtics Monitoring Greg Oden
Earlier Thursday, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported that several teams, including the Celtics, are interested in signing center Greg Oden, the former top overall draft pick who last played in the NBA in 2009. Celtics president Danny Ainge told Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com that the Celtics are keeping tabs on Oden's progress.
"Yeah, so we're monitoring Greg, like all the NBA teams are, but we have not attempted to sign him," Ainge said Thursday. "But we are monitoring him and having (conversations) with his people just to see where he's at."
Given that Oden will likely not be ready to play this season, Ainge said the Celtics would look at him as a future investment.
"I don't think (he'd be ready to play this year)," Ainge said. "I don't know any of that for sure, but I would suspect that anybody that would sign him would have their eyes looking more towards his contribution in the future than now."