Week In Review: 4/29/13 – 5/5/13
Boy, that was fast. Hours after being eliminated in Game 7 by the Bulls, the Nets decided to remove P.J. Carlesimo as coach. We’ll be keeping a close eye on Brooklyn as they figure to start weeding through candidates immediately. Here’s more from the week that was..
- The Timberwolves made it official and brought former coach Flip Saunders aboard to run the show. Saunders takes over for the much maligned David Kahn and hopes to find more success than his predecessor.
- The Bucks got rid of coach Jim Boylan after Milwaukee was bounced in the first round by the Heat.
- Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett said they weren’t thinking retirement last week, but there’s still speculation that they both won’t be back next season.
- The Pistons hired Phil Jackson to consult in their coaching search. Meanwhile, the Zen Master says he’s still open to other NBA opportunities. The Raptors are ramping things up.
- Jarrett Jack said no to in-season extension talks.
- The Pistons will talk with Nate McMillan.
- Despite all the talk to the contrary, the Lakers might be keen on keeping Pau Gasol.
- The Clippers will decide on Vinny Del Negro soon. But don’t expect Jackson to be in the mix.
- Here’s the official early entrant list for the 2013 draft.
- The Pistons like Kelvin Sampson but they’ve got a new candidate in the frey as well.
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey officially inked his four-year extension.
- No surprise here, Damian Lillard is the Rookie of the Year.
- The Cavs like Tony Allen.
- Danny Ferry is mulling his options when it comes to Larry Drew.
LeBron James Wins MVP Award
No surprise here, LeBron James has officially been named the NBA’s 2012/13 Most Valuable Player. This marks James’ fourth MVP award and he now becomes just the second player in NBA history to earn at least four NBA MVP awards before the age of 29, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
James earned the honor for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in five seasons, becoming just the second player, joining Bill Russell, to win the award in four of five seasons. Additionally, he becomes just the fifth player to capture four MVP’s and the first since Michael Jordan to accomplish the feat.
James totaled 1,207 points, including 120 first-place votes, just one first-place vote shy from becoming the NBA’s first unanimous MVP winner. The one vote that didn’t go to James went to Carmelo Anthony, though there’s no word on who the intrepid voter was. The panel consisted of 121 voters of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote.
Latest On Nets Coaching Search
The Nets wasted no time making their decision on interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, announcing his ouster about 14 hours after the team was eliminated from the playoffs last night. GM Billy King says he won't rush to name a replacement, but King was quick to name Phil Jackson as a candidate. There's dispute over whether Jeff Van Gundy is in the running for the job as well. Here's what we know as the story continues to develop:
- Deron Williams told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (via Twitter), that he'd "love" to play for Jerry Sloan again. According to many observers, Williams and Sloan clashed quite a bit in Utah and there was speculation that their friction is what led the longtime coach to walk away.
- TNT's David Aldridge puts Jeff Van Gundy and brother Stan Van Gundy on a shortlist of "obvious" candidates, along with Larry Brown. Jackson doesn't want to coach the team, and would prefer a player personnel role similar to Pat Riley's team presidency with the Heat, Aldridge adds (Twitter link).
- King told reporters he has no idea about the level of interest Jackson may have in the job, as Newsday's Roderick Boone notes, via Twitter.
- Despite the splashy names already linked to the team, King said the Nets aren't prioritizing a marquee hire, citing the success that Chicago's Tom Thibodeau has had in his first job as a head coach, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com nonetheless believes the team will go after a big name coach, arguing that it would be easier to bring one of them aboard than to fix the team's roster. Owner Mikhail Prokhorov has always coveted Jackson, Stein tweets.
- Stein also points out the relationship between Brown, currently coaching at SMU, and King (Twitter link).
- Current Nets assistants will have a chance to meet with whoever takes over as head coach before the team decides whether to retain them, Bondy tweets.
P.J. Carlesimo Out As Nets Coach
12:12pm: Bondy hears Van Gundy isn't a high priority candidate for the team, and says it's unlikely the Nets will even meet with him (Twitter links). King, meanwhile, told reporters he'll be giving Jackson a call, tweets Andy Vasquez of the Bergen Record.
11:50am: Nets GM Billy King told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, that interim coach P.J. Carlesimo will not return (Twitter link). The team elected to let the coach go after last night's first-round elimination in Game Seven against the Bulls. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported within the hour that the team would make its decision on Carlesimo swiftly, and hinted that the Nets would not retain him. The search for a replacement will begin immediately, and sources tell Berger that Jeff Van Gundy will be a primary target (Twitter link).
The Nets aren't setting a timetable for themselves as they begin their search, tweets Joshua Newman of SNY.tv. Carlesimo had been an assistant coach when the team fired head coach Avery Johnson in December. Brooklyn had a record of 14-14 at that point, but under Carlesimo the Nets went 35-19 over the rest of the regular season and grabbed the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Van Gundy and Phil Jackson were reportedly among the team's targets to take over in the middle of the season, but with tepid response from its top candidates, the team decided to let Carlesimo coach the rest of the season. The Nets have continued to be linked to Jackson over the past few months.
Atlantic Rumors: Celtics, Carlesimo, 76ers, Raptors
It's become an almost annual rite of spring to wonder about the future of the Celtics as soon as they're eliminated from the playoffs. Last year, one of the "Big Three" finally departed, as Ray Allen signed with the Heat. Here's more on who could be next, along with more on three other Atlantic teams whose 2012/13 seasons are over.
- The Nets will quickly decide on Carlesimo's fate, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Berger also says the team is expected to begin a coaching search soon, so that would seem to indicate Carlesimo is on his way out.
Earlier updates:
- Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe outlines the strategies Danny Ainge can take with the Celtics' roster. Aside from the uncertain futures of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Washburn expects Ainge to shop Courtney Lee and Jason Terry and look for a backup point guard and a rebounder who can play center.
- Terry, who'll turn 36 in September, has no plans to retire and wants a more clearly defined role with the Celtics next season, observes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
- The Herald's Steve Bulpett believes the Celtics need to add a superstar to contend for the title, and because it's difficult to imagine them doing so, he thinks Garnett, Pierce and perhaps Doc Rivers are all unlikely to return.
- Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson are among the Nets players who'd like to see interim coach P.J. Carlesimo return, notes Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Hiring an elite coach is critical to the Sixers' ability to build a consistent winner, argues Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com.
- Better defense, more trust on offense, and increased three-point shooting should be priorities for the Raptors heading into next season, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, who answer reader questions in his latest mailbag column.
Cavs Interested In Tony Allen
Mixed among his notes on the Cavaliers and other NBA topics, Bob Finnan of The News-Herald writes that it appears Cleveland has interest in signing Grizzlies shooting guard Tony Allen as an unrestricted free agent this summer. As Finnan notes, Allen would likely shore up Cleveland's defense, which allowed 106.9 points per 100 possessions, tied for fourth worst in the league. Owner Dan Gilbert alluded to new coach Mike Brown's "much-needed defensive-first philosophy" when Brown was hired last month.
Allen, named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team last season, is the main perimeter stopper for the Grizzles, who allowed the second fewest points per 100 possessions in the league this year. He has expressed a desire to remain with Memphis, and earlier this season, he brought up a conversation he had with Zach Randolph about staying with the Grizzlies until they both retire. Still, Allen isn't unwilling to test free agency, telling Shaun Powell of Sports on Earth in February that, "I'd like to stay but whatever happens I'm cool with it."
Allen struggles with his shot, as Finnan points out, and this year he made just 12.5% of his three-point attempts. Despite 44.5% shooting from the field overall this season, he's made 47.5% of his career field goal attempts, displaying an ability to maximize his offensive strengths. Allen is making $3.3MM this season, but an unnamed Eastern Conference general manager told Chris Mannix of SI.com in March that he believes the 31-year-old is in for a slight raise, with a three-year contract at $4MM annually.
The Grizzlies created financial flexibility with a pair of trades this season, but accommodating that sort of contract for Allen this summer would once more make it difficult for the team to maneuver, as our Luke Adams detailed last month. Adams believes Allen will come back to Memphis, perhaps at a slight discount, but the Cavs, with ample cap space this summer, could make that decision difficult with an above-market offer. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cleveland GM Chris Grant try to overpay for a player who fits the team's renewed commitment to defense.
Gilbert Arenas Provision
The NBA introduced the Gilbert Arenas provision in the 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement as a way to help teams to keep their young restricted free agents who aren't coming off rookie scale contracts. It was named after Gilbert Arenas, an Early Bird free agent for the Warriors in 2003, who signed an offer sheet with the Wizards starting at about $8.5MM. Because Golden State could only offer Arenas a first-year salary of about $4.9MM using the Early Bird exception, the Warriors were unable to match the offer sheet and lost Arenas to Washington.
The Arenas provision limits the first-year salary that teams can offer restricted free agents who have only been in the league for one or two years. The starting salary for an offer sheet can't exceed the amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which allows the player's original team to use its MLE to match it. Otherwise, a team without the necessary cap space or exceptions would be powerless to keep its player, like the Warriors were with Arenas.
A rival offer sheet can still have an average annual salary that exceeds the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, however. The annual raises are limited to 4.5% between years one and two, and 4.1% between years three and four, but a significant raise can be included between the second and third years of the offer. A team's cap space dictates the average annual salary limit for the entire contract, since the average salary still has to fit under the cap. The Rockets had enough cap space last summer to make a pair of sizable offers, to Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, that fell under the Arenas provision.
Both Lin and Asik were restricted free agents coming off their second seasons in the league, with the Knicks and Bulls, respectively. Their previous clubs owned their Non-Bird rights, but the Non-Bird exception certainly wouldn't have been enough to match the twin three-year, $25,123,938 offers they received from the Rockets. The cap hit for the Rockets is $8,374,646 in each season of their deals. But, thanks to the Arenas provision, the cap hit for the Knicks and Bulls would only have been $5MM in the first season, and $5.225MM in the second. The third season was what scared New York and Chicago off, since it would have entailed a nearly $15MM cap hit, as detailed here:
Because the first-year salary of the offer sheet doesn't exceed the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the Knicks and Bulls could have used their mid-level exceptions to match, even though that big a third-year raise wouldn't typically be permitted when using the mid-level. The uneven amount in the third season reflects the amount of cap space the Rockets had to make the offers. The Rockets could have included a fourth season on both deals if they had additional cap room.
For 2013/14, the mid-level exception will be slightly larger, with a starting salary of $5.15MM instead of $5MM, so clubs will have a little more flexibility to keep their free agents using the Arenas provision. Still, just because a team is given the opportunity to use the Arenas provision to keep its restricted free agent doesn't mean it will necessarily have the means. Here are a few situations in which the Arenas provision wouldn't help a team keep its restricted free agent:
- If the team only had the taxpayer mid-level exception ($3.183MM) available, it would be unable to match an offer sheet for a Non-Bird free agent if the starting salary exceeded the taxpayer MLE amount.
- If the team used its mid-level exception on another player, it would be unable to match an offer sheet for a Non-Bird free agent.
- If the player has three years of NBA experience, the Arenas provision would not apply — only players with one or two years in the league are eligible. This is why many teams, as a matter of practice, sign second-round picks and undrafted rookies to three-year contracts with team options in the second and third seasons. This way, the team has the player's full Bird rights if it wishes to re-sign him.
Luke Adams contributed to this post, which was initially published on May 9th, 2012.
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.
Eastern Notes: Rose, Cavaliers, 76ers
- Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer provides a breakdown of the Cavaliers' key free agents and lists who he'd keep as well as let go.
- Tom Moore of Philly Burbs thinks that landing a proven head coach for the 76ers will be challenging without a star or the ability to attract a big time free agent.
- Jackie MacMullan of ESPN Boston writes that Doc Rivers' job will become infinitely more difficult without Kevin Garnett, who has been a vocal leader and loyal supporter of the nine-year Celtics coach.
- Paul Pierce says that it will be up to GM Danny Ainge to determine whether or not Boston's core should be dismantled this summer, writes Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press.
Boyer On Cavs, Mike Brown, Oden
Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer answered a handful of questions from Cavaliers fans earlier, pointing out that the team will most likely build through the draft and trades. If they were to find someone in free agency, Boyer opines, the Cavs definitely don't want to overpay in order to land their target. She also doesn't see Dwight Howard being a real option, nor does she think Kevin Love or LaMarcus Aldridge will be available on the trade market. You can find more of her noteworthy points below:
- With four draft picks in June, Boyer thinks that the team will look to package some picks in order to move up or make a trade.
- Mike Brown appears to be putting his wish list of prospective assistant coaches together, and although former assistant John Kuester has been mentioned, it's not clear if he's interested.
- Though mutual interest remains between the Cavs and Greg Oden, the team won't be willing to give him an opportunity at just any price.
- The team is in full support of Anderson Varejao and wants to see him fully healthy and ready to play as soon as possible.
Western Notes: Timberwolves, Mavericks, Curry
In a video interview, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune says that he isn't exactly sure what the hiring of Flip Saunders means for Rick Adelman. Zgoda also mentions that Saunders' offseason goal is to add perimeter shooters and "balance the roster," which he interprets to mean that the Timberwolves will try to land a shooting guard with good size and see what they can get for Derrick Williams. You can find more notes out of the Western Conference tonight below:
- Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune believes that if Saunders and Adelman can be kept together over the next three or four years, Minnesota will have the best combination of decision-makers in the history of the franchise.
- Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas says that although the Mavericks' prospects at landing Chris Paul or Dwight Howard this summer are long shots, the team will have the ball in their court on July 1.
- This NBA.com piece highlights Warriors guard Stephen Curry and his ability to captivate league audiences with his shooting ability.
- Anthony Slater of NewsOK writes that Thunder guard Derek Fisher has gone from afterthought to necessity in Oklahoma City's playoff rotation.