Cavs Notes: Waiters, Zeller, Varejao
A roundup of the latest updates on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday evening:
- Dion Waiters praises the development and chemistry of his teammates after being named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for February, writes Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer.
- Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes that the rising value of first-round draft picks under the new CBA increases the likelihood the Cavs can pull off a trade similar to the one they made for Tyler Zeller.
- Injured big man Anderson Varejao discusses his relationship with former Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas with Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer.
Set-Off Rights
When the Rockets so quickly reached an agreement to sign Aaron Brooks after the point guard was bought out by the Kings yesterday, cost-conscious management in Sacramento may have let out a sigh of relief. Unless another team snatches Brooks up by claiming him off waivers before the Rockets can sign him, the Kings will still be on the hook for whatever remaining portion of Brooks' contract they consented to pay as part of the buyout. But, if he signs with the Rockets, Sacramento may not have to pay out quite as much.
That's because of a provision in the collective bargaining agreement known as set-off rights. If a player signs with another team after he's been waived, his original team gets to reduce the amount of money it still owes him. A team may reduce the salary it owes a player by half the difference between the salary the player earns under a contract with a new team and the minimum salary for a one-year veteran. If the player is a rookie, the rookie minimum is used instead.
We don't yet know the financial details of Brooks' buyout with the Kings or his pending contract with the Rockets. The Rockets could sign Brooks for more than a prorated portion of the minimum salary, since they're under the cap, but let's say they sign him only for that amount. If they finalize the deal Monday, he would be on the team for 45 of the regular season's 170 days, so he'd receive $234,296, or 45/170 of the $885,120 minimum for a three-year veteran. The minimum salary for a player with just one year of experience is $762,195. The prorated amount of that figure is $201,758. The difference between $234,296 and $201,758 is $32,538, and half of that is $16,296 — the number the Kings could subtract from their cap and their payout to Brooks. That's a tiny amount in the world of NBA salaries, but to owners who count every penny, it's not insignificant. That figure would only increase if Brooks signed with Houston for more than the minimum.
Brooks would still benefit from signing with Houston, even if it's for the minimum, since he'd be giving back only a small portion of his new salary. Teams and players can waive the right to set-off as part of their buyout agreements, so perhaps that's what the Kings and Brooks have done in this case — though given the Kings' thriftiness of late, I wouldn't bet on it.
Interestingly, set off applies if a waived player signs a deal with a professional team in any league while his last team is still paying off his old contract. It doesn't have to be an NBA team — it can be a D-League squad or an overseas club. In many cases, though, a player's non-NBA contract is for less than the one-year veteran's NBA minimum salary, making the set-off provision moot.
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 was used in the creation of this post.
Texas Rumors: Parker, Mavs, D-Will, Popovich
The Spurs announced today that Tony Parker will miss approximately four weeks with a grade-two left ankle sprain, injecting some drama into the race for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio has taken the No. 1 spot the past two seasons and has a three-game lead on the Thunder this time around, but without their All-Star point guard, the Spurs could be in danger of falling behind even the third-place Clippers, who are just three and a half games back. We haven't heard any serious rumors that the Spurs are looking for a replacement, and with a full 15-man roster, they'd have to waive someone to bring another point guard aboard. While we wait to see what happens in the wake of Parker's injury, here's more from the Lone Star State:
- Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle aren't dwelling on Deron Williams decision to spurn the Mavs and re-sign with the Nets this past summer, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post chronicles.
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban hasn't shown much regret about missing out on Williams, but he's having a hard time dealing with his team's losing ways this season, notes Benjamin Hoffman of The New York Times. "It’s the most painful thing that I’ve been through," Cuban said. "It’s like having a company that’s going out of business."
- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hopes he lands the Team USA head coaching job, a position he's coveted for years, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Trade Deadline Costs And Savings
Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors recently examined the financial details of this year's deadline deals, looking at how each trade played out under CBA rules. We can also gain insight from breaking down the commitments each team took on and relinquished in their swaps. For instance, of the 29 players changing hands, not one of them has any guaranteed money beyond next season.
No team saved more money than the Kings, who took $4,195,533 off their payroll for this year and next, though their six-player deal with the Rockets only saved them $521,138 in guaranteed money for next season. The team that took the next highest amount off their books is the Bucks, even though they acquired J.J. Redick, the biggest name to change teams at the deadline. Perhaps the ability to cut costs was the key to small-market Milwaukee's willingness to do the deal. The Suns bit into their ample cap space to absorb an extra $3,825,180, the most any team took on at the deadline.
The list that follows shows the guaranteed salary each team relinquished and brought in at the deadline. Players who have already been waived after they were traded are included here, since their acquiring teams are still on the hook for the guaranteed portions of their contracts.
Rockets add $302,853
Departing
- Marcus Morris: two years, $3,892,680
- Patrick Patterson: two years, $5,202,062
- Cole Aldrich one year, $2,445,480
- Toney Douglas: one year, $2,067,880
Acquiring
- Francisco Garcia: one year, $6,100,000
- Thomas Robinson: two years, $6,901,080
- Tyler Honeycutt: two years, $909,875
Heat Sign Juwan Howard
The Heat have signed Juwan Howard to a 10-day contract, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier today that the Heat were considering bringing the 40-year-old big man back. The team is likely to keep him around for the rest of the season, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link).
Howard has hung around the Heat all season in an advisory role, and the team kept an open locker for him even though he wasn't invited to training camp as a player. Back in September, coach Erik Spoelstra mentioned the possibility of Howard joining the team during the season even though he wouldn't be on the camp roster. Howard's agent, David Falk, said in the offseason that his client wasn't ready to retire, but strongly preferred rejoining Miami over signing with another club. Howard spent the previous two seasons with the Heat, seeing 9.2 minutes per game over 85 regular season contests in 2010/11 and 2011/12. He's averaged 2.1 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in his limited time with Miami.
Howard is joining the team primarily for his off-court leadership skills, as Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida tweets. He slides into the roster spot vacated when the Heat traded Dexter Pittman to the Grizzlies. It seemed at the time of that swap that the Heat were creating flexibility to sign a player bought out from another team, but the lack of buyouts before last night's playoff-eligibility deadline might have prompted Miami to turn to Howard.
Bulls Sign Louis Amundson
SATURDAY, 1:01pm: The Bulls have made Amundson's signing official, announcing it in a press release.
FRIDAY, 2:19pm: Amundson turned down a rest-of-season offer from another team because he had already committed to the Bulls' 10-day offer, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). It's not clear which club made Amundson the offer.
11:48am: The Bulls will sign Louis Amundson to a 10-day contract, according to Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (via Twitter). Amundson was said to be drawing interest from at least four Eastern Conference teams, with ESPN.com's Marc Stein reporting that Chicago was the frontrunner.
The Knicks, Heat, and Celtics also had interest in Amundson. However, the Knicks would have needed to release a player or give up on Kenyon Martin to make room for the big man. The Heat, meanwhile, liked Amundson, but felt he duplicated a lot of the skills Chris Andersen brings to the table, according to Tomasson (Twitter link). As for the Celtics, they filled their final roster spot earlier today by signing Shavlik Randolph.
In 20 games with the Timberwolves earlier this season, Amundson averaged just 8.1 minutes per contest, his lowest mark since 2007/08. His 6.4 PER and .368 FG% were also career-lows. The Wolves cut him last month when they signed Chris Johnson and Mickael Gelabale to rest-of-season deals.
If Amundson does well in Chicago on his first 10-day contract, the Bulls have room under their hard cap to eventually sign him for the remainder of the season. The 30-year-old is expected to finalize the deal with the Bulls tomorrow, according to Tomasson.
Brigham On Brooks, Buyouts, Bynum
Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld has a new column that surveys several topics from around the NBA, including info on several buyout candidates. Here are the highlights:
- Brigham writes that Aaron Brooks was frustrated with his minutes with the Kings, leading to Sacramento's decision to buy him out. Brooks is expected to sign with the Rockets when he clears waivers.
- The only team that showed interest in Omri Casspi was the Rockets, meaning a buyout did not make sense for Casspi and the Cavaliers.
- Brigham disputes rumors that the Lakers were interested in Raja Bell, writing that although Bell has a relationship with Mike D'Antoni and Steve Nash, the front office was hesitant to add yet more salary to the team's payroll.
- Brigham writes that Andrew Bynum will command a max contract this summer, and it may be best for the Sixers to cut their losses rather than re-up with the oft-injured big man.
D-League Moves: Jones, West
Today's NBA D-League assignments and recalls all in one place:
- Veteran guard Delonte West, who remains unsigned by any NBA team, will report to the Texas Legends on Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.
- The Cleveland Cavaliers have assigned rookie forward Kevin Jones to the Canton Charge of the D-League, the team announced in a press release. Jones has appeared in 19 games for the Cavs and is averaging 2.1 PPG and 1.7 RPG. He was recalled from the D-League on Friday.
Hornets Expected To Sign Henry Sims
The New Orleans Hornets are expected to sign center Henry Sims of the D-League's Erie Bayhawks to a 10-day contract, John Reid of the Times Picayune reports.
Following the announcement that Jason Smith would miss the remainder of the season with a torn labrum, it was reported that the Hornets were looking to add another big man.
Sims has averaged 17.1 PPG and 9.0 RPG with the Bayhawks this season and has never played in an NBA game.
Heat Considering Juwan Howard
9:26am: Ira Winderman of the Miami Herald tweets that Howard has been around the Heat all season and has hinted in the past that re-signing was a possibility if they needed him.
8:22am: The Miami Heat are seriously considering re-signing veteran forward Juwan Howard, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Howard, 40, played for the Heat the past two seasons, and won a championship with the team in 2012, but he has remained unsigned this year.
The Heat have an open roster spot they could use on Howard, having moved forward Dexter Pittman to the Grizzlies at the trade deadline. Howard's respected veteran presence and experience make him a desirable acquisition for a Heat team heavily favored to repeat as Eastern Conference champions.