Southeast Links: Williams, Nelson, Chalmers
The Hawks didn’t get the full return on their mid-level investment in Lou Williams last season, as the sixth man went down in January with a torn ACL. Still, he didn’t take nearly as long to come back as Derrick Rose and others who’ve suffered similar injuries, as Williams is playing in Atlanta’s game tonight against his former team, the Sixers. Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:
- Jameer Nelson has never played for a team other than the Magic, and he tells Ian Thomsen of SI.com that he’d like that to remain true when he calls it a career. He acknowledges that he could be traded this season and understands he’s powerless to stop the Magic if they want to make that happen. Nelson envisions being the one making those decisions as a GM once he retires and can also see himself as a coach.
- In today’s mailbag, a reader asked Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel if impending free agent Mario Chalmers could be playing himself out of the Heat‘s price range with his performance this year. Chalmers, who is making $4MM in the final year of his deal, could be a casualty as the Heat are mindful of luxury tax implications. Miami has already exercised its 2014/15 option on the cheaper Norris Cole.
- Martell Webster finds himself in a familiar position as Trevor Ariza is once again sidelined with a leg injury, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Webster stepped into the starting lineup in Ariza’s place last season and went on to post career-best numbers and earn a four-year, $22MM deal from Washington.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
How Omer Asik’s Backloaded Deal Affects Trades
The Rockets have reportedly engaged other teams in trade talks about Omer Asik, and even though a trade doesn’t appear to be imminent, his name figures to surface quite often in rumors this season. The pairing of Asik and Dwight Howard together on the court hasn’t been successful so far, and relegating Asik to playing backup to a superstar who’ll likely average around 36 minutes a game seems a waste when the Rockets have needs at other positions.
Asik is on Houston’s books for $8,374,646 this year and next — not at all an inflated amount for a top-shelf interior defender. The problem is that his actual salaries are quite different from his cap hits, thanks to the terms of the Gilbert Arenas Provision which the Rockets used to snatch him from the Bulls in 2012. Houston backloaded Asik’s contract to dissuade Chicago from matching the offer for the restricted free agent. The Arenas rule allowed the Rockets to spread the cap hit for the steep third-season raise in Asik’s deal over all three years of the contract. If the Bulls matched, Chicago would have had to carry cap hits that reflected each season’s actual payout. Asik is pocketing just $5.225MM this season, but he gets $14,898,938 in 2014/15.
Next season’s actual salary will likely put Asik among the top 25 highest-paid players in the league, even though his cap hit will be significantly less, regardless of whether he’s playing for the Rockets or another NBA team. Some owners might welcome the chance to acquire a player with a reasonable salary cap hit even though the actual payout is much more expensive, but, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe has written, many are wary taking on the balloon payment for either Asik or Jeremy Lin, who has a contract with precisely the same terms.
Asik doesn’t have the resume of a top-25 player, but he nonetheless had a drastic effect on Houston’s defense last season. The Rockets gave up 107.0 points per 100 possessions when he was on the bench in 2012/13, but just 101.3 when he was playing, per NBA.com. His actual pay next season will be exactly the amount of money former All-Star Roy Hibbert will earn with the Pacers in 2014/15. Hibbert’s superior block totals from last year indicate that he’s better at basket protection, and he averaged more points per game. Still, Asik took far fewer shots and was much more accurate, and he outrebounded Hibbert by 3.4 boards per game in similar minutes. Asik might not be a top-25 player in the NBA, but his statistical record holds it own against that of a player the small-market Pacers were willing to pay at an elite level.
The 27-year-old from Turkey might be worth a salary at or near the one he’ll see next season, but he won’t be quite the bargain his cap hit for 2014/15 would suggest. Teams will consider any trade for Asik knowing he’s due for a nearly 300% raise. Acquiring him and his $5.225MM salary this year would help ease that burden, but it still works out to an average annual value of around $10MM for whatever team is willing to trade for him, much more than his cap hit will be in either season. It will be interesting to see if a team with financial muscle but limited cap flexibility takes advantage of his reduced cap number, or if a low-revenue team swallows hard and prepares for a nearly $15MM payout next year.
Rockets Have Sought Omer Asik Trade
5:38pm: Wojnarowski clarifies that the Rockets have discussed possible Asik trades with teams over the past few months, but those talks aren’t necessarily active (Twitter link).
5:17pm: The Rockets have asked for an “impact player” in return for Omer Asik in trade talks with multiple teams, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. That’s in spite of a report last night indicating that Houston had denied Asik’s trade request.
Teams have deemed GM Daryl Morey‘s asking price too high so far, Wojnarowski writes. The GM would prefer to acquire a frontline player who can help the team compete for a championship this year, but if he can’t find someone like that for Asik, he’d like to get a largely unprotected 2014 first-round pick. The Rockets were in talks with the Wizards before they traded for Marcin Gortat last month, but Morey was unwilling to take back Emeka Okafor, as the Suns did.
Morey and Andy Miller, the agent for Asik, have been regularly discussing how the Rockets can offload the 7-footer, as Wojnarowski reports. Asik’s camp this week reiterated the trade request they originally made back in July, when the Rockets were closing in on signing Dwight Howard. A rumor around that time suggested the Rockets might trade Asik for Pelicans power forward Ryan Anderson, but New Orleans never showed much interest, and Wojnarowski hears the Rockets have been unwilling to get the Pelicans to reconsider.
Just as Woj’s report surfaced, the Pelicans announced center Greg Stiemsma will be out six to eight weeks with a left knee injury that he suffered Tuesday. Perhaps his absence will prompt GM Dell Demps to listen more closely to what Morey has to offer, though that’s just my speculation. It’s unlikely that any deal will take place before December 15th, when players who signed this past offseason may be included in deals, Wojnarowski points out.
Draft Rumors: 2015, Parker, Wiggins, Exum
A pair of players widely considered to be among the five best draft picks for 2015 made their college choices today, with Jahlil Okafor headed to Duke and Cliff Alexander bound for Kansas. Longtime recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that if Okafor picked Duke, it might influence top 2014 prospect Jabari Parker to stay an extra year in school so he can play with his AAU teammate. That would be quite a surprise, but there’s plenty of time left before Parker and other potential 2014 early entrants have to decide whether to declare for the draft, so a lot can happen. Here’s the latest on the 2014 class:
- Tuesday’s talent showcase at the Champions Classic was quite a spectacle, but it didn’t help at least one GM draw any conclusions, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick. “To be honest, I think (Tuesday) night muddied the waters even more,” the unnamed GM said.
- Another GM gave Amick his top five prospects: Andrew Wiggins, Parker, Dante Exum, Aaron Gordon and Julius Randle. That’s the same top five that a GM listed for Zagoria, though it’s unclear whether those are different GMs or the same one.
- Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times compares the 2014 draft class to the one that came 20 years before it, opining that Wiggins, Parker and Randle are analogous to Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, the top three picks from 1994 (Twitter link).
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, KG, Bargnani, Sixers
Celtics big man Jared Sullinger is “shocked” at how well he has rebounded from back surgery, writes ESPNBoston.com’s Chris Forsberg. The 6-foot-9 forward is averaging 11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds over 19.7 minutes per game in seven appearances, not bad for a guy who who underwent season-ending lumbar disk surgery back in February. Sullinger missed Wednesday’s game against the Bobcats with a bone bruise on his right knee, but hopes to be back in the lineup on tonight to take on the Blazers. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division..
- Celtics coach Brad Stevens & Co. tuned out talk from pundits this offseason who said that the club would wind up tanking for a top pick, writes the Associated Press. “Y’all were talking about the lottery. We didn’t even think about that,” Sullinger said after their four-game winning streak came to an end. “We don’t care about that. We want to win, we want to make the playoffs, and we want to make a run. At the end of the day, that was something that you talked about, not us.“
- As much as prized offseason acquisition Kevin Garnett and others are struggling, Stefan Bondy of the Daily News (on Twitter) still believes that Deron Williams is the key to success.
- The Knicks have struggled early on this season, but the play of trade acquisition Andrea Bargnani has been a bright spot, writes Alan Hahn of MSG Network (Sulia link). Since Tyson Chandler‘s injury, the Italian big man has averaged 21.3 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 31.2 minutes per contest.
- Rich Hofmann Jr. of the Daily News looks at the elements of the Spurs system that new coach Brett Brown has brought to the Sixers.
- The Kings appear to have some interest in Knicks guard Iman Shumpert, according to a report from ESPN.com’s Marc Stein earlier today.
Latest On Iman Shumpert
Sources close to the Knicks say that no deal involving Iman Shumpert is imminent, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be staying put in New York, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. More and more people around the league see some sort of Shumpert deal materializing sooner rather than later, given that he’s New York’s only real trade asset at this time.
Talks with the Nuggets didn’t get far because of the Knicks’ insistence on getting Kenneth Faried in the swap, but Denver does have interest in Shumpert. Prying Faried away from Denver would have required the Knicks to include more than one draft pick and the Knicks can’t part with a first-rounder earlier than 2018. Stein also hears that the Kings are gauging how Shumpert might fit in with their squad.
The Knicks are increasingly confident that they can afford to lose Shumpert with J.R. Smith back in the lineup and rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. looking solid early.
Josh Akognon To Sign In China
After being waived by the Grizzlies in mid-October, Josh Akognon has agreed to sign with China’s Qingdao team, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). You may recall that Qingdao is the same team that Tracy McGrady played for last season before hooking on with the Spurs.
The guard had a brief stint with the Mavericks last season before joining the Grizzlies in camp this past offseason. Akognon spent last season in China with the Liaoning Jiebao Hunters in China, where he averaged 29 points per game. The 27-year-old Cal State Fullerton product was claimed off waivers by Memphis on July 23rd after his minimum-salary contract was waived by Dallas on July 21st.
To keep up with deals from around the globe, check out the Hoops Rumors International Player Tracker.
Northwest Notes: Garrett, Durant, Wiggins
After recapping the Wolves offseason earlier today, let’s take a look at some links out of the Northwest Division..
- New Jazz guard Diante Garrett made one heck of a first impression in his debut on Wednesday night, writes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. The 25-year-old D-League call-up helped lead Utah to a 111-105 over New Orleans on Saturday night.
- Count Thunder star Kevin Durant among those who are impressed with the top talent in the 2014 draft. Durant called Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins the “1A” and “1B” players in the class, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. KD says that Parker is the “real deal” and sees Wiggins as a future All-Star and Hall of Famer.
- While promoting his new book, Jazz legend John Stockton was asked by reporters if he has any plans of returning the organization. “I wouldn’t rule anything out but I’m enjoying what I’m doing,” said the point guard, according to Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune (on Twitter).
Offseason In Review: Minnesota Timberwolves
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Nikola Pekovic: Five years, $60MM. Signed via Bird rights.
- Chase Budinger: Three years, $15MM. Signed via Bird rights. Third year is player option.
- Corey Brewer: Three years, $14.11MM. Signed via mid-level exception. Third year is player option.
- Ronny Turiaf: Two years, $3MM. Signed via bi-annual exception.
- A.J. Price: One year, $948K. Signed via minimum salary exception. Non-guaranteed.
- Robbie Hummel: One year, $490K. Signed via minimum salary exception. Non-guaranteed. Timberwolves held draft rights (2012).
Trades
- Acquired the No. 14 pick and the No. 21 pick in 2013 from the Jazz in exchange for the No. 9 pick in 2013.
- Acquired a 2014 second-round pick and $1.6MM in cash from the Warriors in exchange for Malcolm Lee and the No. 26 pick in 2013.
- Acquired Kevin Martin and cash from the Thunder in exchange for Luke Ridnour (sent to Bucks) and the Lakers’ 2014 second-round pick (sent to Bucks). Martin was signed-and-traded for four years, $27.76MM (fourth year is player option).
Draft Picks
- Shabazz Muhammad (Round 1, 14th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
- Gorgui Dieng (Round 1, 21st overall). Signed via rookie exception.
- Lorenzo Brown (Round 2, 52nd overall). Signed a non-guaranteed contract and was subsequently waived.
- Bojan Dubljevic (Round 2, 59th overall). Playing overseas.
Camp Invitees
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Ricky Rubio (4th year, $5.07MM): Exercised
- Derrick Williams (4th year, $6.33MM): Exercised
In late March, it was reported that Wolves fans would be subjected to the Wrath of Kahn for at least one more season. Owner Glen Taylor was allegedly set to exercise the GM’s option for 2013/14, but there was apparently a change of heart along the way. Former coach Flip Saunders came back into the picture as the face of an ownership group looking to buy the T’Wolves and when that venture didn’t pan out, Taylor broached him with the idea of taking over the club’s basketball operations. Saunders took the opportunity in May, ousting one of the less popular GMs in the league and kickstarting a new era in Minnesota.
The biggest storyline of the T’Wolves offseason, once Saunders was installed as President of Basketball Operations, was the future of restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic. Even though the Wolves had the opportunity to match any offer, there was some concern that Pekovic could be pulled away by a club willing to overpay for a promising center on the right side of 30. The talks with Pekovic dragged on for quite some time, putting his return into further question, but the Wolves finally shook hands on a five-year, $60MM deal in mid-August that will allow the big man to earn another $8MM through incentives. The two sides were at something of an impasse, but the compromise made sense. The Wolves offered a four-year, $48MM contract and wouldn’t go beyond $12MM per season while Pekovic’s camp wanted a five-year agreement. Pekovic and the T’Wolves met in the middle, agreeing to a five-year deal with an average annual value of $12MM. That may sound like a lofty number on the outside, but Pekovic offers bruising physical play on the inside and gives the Wolves an edge that most teams lack in today’s NBA. He’s not Hakeem Olajuwon in the post, but he has shown that he can be a very efficient scorer. Pekovic gave the Wolves a career-high 16.3 PPG and 8.8 RPG last season and if he can build on that, he’ll be one of the league’s best centers in due time.
While they were busy exchanging emails with Pekovic’s agent, they swung a three-way deal to land a signed-and-traded Kevin Martin from the Thunder. Martin, a heavy scorer in a thin body, gives point guard Ricky Rubio a deep threat who can keep up in transition. So far, so good for Martin and the T’Wolves as the 30-year-old has been looking extremely sharp over the first few weeks of the season. While opposing coaches devise plans to contain Kevin Love, they leave Martin less-than-blanketed on the outside, making the Wolves offense highly potent. They paid a hefty price for Martin – probably more than we all expected – but the T’Wolves couldn’t afford to shoot 30.5% from beyond the arc again in 2013/14 and expect to continue their season into late April.
The Wolves also wrapped up their other big free agent, Chase Budinger. Budinger had a number of interested suitors, but he says that his heart was in Minnesota all along. “It was a fairly easy decision.” Budinger said of re-signing with the Wolves. “I just fit perfectly in Rick Adelman‘s system. He trusts me. I know the coaching staff. I know what they expect of me. Just all in all, I was very comfortable here, and that was the main reason why I came back.” Now, Minnesota just wants to see the Arizona product back on the hardwood. Budinger underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee over the offseason, a procedure that still has him sidelined. The Wolves announced that he’s finally back in the state of Minnesota to continue his rehab, but he has yet to resume basketball activities.
There are only so many shots to go around with this bunch and new bench addition Corey Brewer is a good fit since he won’t be calling for the rock on every play. Brewer offers a decidedly different skillset from Andrei Kirilenko, but he does help fill a need for this Minnesota team. If the Wolves had a choice in the matter, they most definitely would have liked AK47 to return on a $3.18MM deal (that’s what he signed for in Brooklyn) rather than give a three-year, $14MM deal to the offensively-deficient Brewer, but that obviously wasn’t in the cards for them. The only real way to keep Kirilenko probably would have been through his $10MM+ player option and Saunders is probably glad that he got the chance to spend that cash elsewhere.
Joining Brewer on the bench is No. 14 overall pick Shabazz Muhammad, one of the most polarizing players to come out of the 2013 draft. At one point in time, Muhammad was regarded as the top prospect in the class. However, Muhammad couldn’t stay out of trouble during his freshman campaign at UCLA and was pretty flat on the hardwood, falling well short of the hype that accompanied him to the Westwood campus. It certainly didn’t help matters when the Los Angeles Times revealed that he had been shaving a year off of his real age and was actually 20 at the time of the draft, not 19. Despite the numerous question marks, Saunders decided to roll the dice on a player who many would have estimated to be the No. 1 overall pick this time a year ago. Saunders & Co. must be real believers – they gave up the No. 9 selection to trade down and snag Muhammad at 14 and Gorgui Dieng at No. 21. Muhammad has yet to see real burn with the T’Wolves early on in the 2013/14 campaign and his best bet for seasoning may be a stint or two in the D-League.
The Wolves spent a ton – about $117MM – to upgrade their roster in an effort to end a nine-year playoff drought. Frankly, all four of their major signings feel inflated when evaluated on the surface. However, the Wolves organization desperately needs to turn their fortunes around and we all know that there are more challenges in building a winner in Minnesota than New York or Los Angeles. While the Wolves will need sharp shooting from Martin and another step or two forward from Pekovic, they need good health more than anything else. Having Rubio and Love at full-strength can be the difference between a significant playoff run and a tenth-straight trip to the lottery.
Atlantic Notes: Lin, Knicks, 76ers, Nets
Jeremy Lin and the Rockets may have gotten the better of the Knicks last night, but George Willis of the New York Post contends that New York still made the right call by letting the guard go to Houston in the summer of 2012. Houston gave Lin a three-year, $25MM offer sheet that was backloaded to pay him $15MM in the final year. That number would have put the Knicks in luxury tax hell, making a return nearly impossible. “Lin is not a $15MM a year player and never will be,” an NBA insider said. “The Rockets don’t even see him as that.” Here’s more out of the Atlantic..
- New 76ers coach Brett Brown never expected his club to get out to a 5-4 start, writes Thomas Moore of the Bucks County Times. The rebuilding Sixers were widely predicted to finish with the worst record in the league this season, particularly after it was announced that Nerlens Noel would be lost for the season.
- The Nets are struggling early on under new head coach Jason Kidd, but star guard Deron Williams insists the wins will come if the team continues to believe in their system, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. A 2-5 start isn’t what the Nets had in mind after breaking the bank to acquire Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry this summer.
- New Knicks guard Beno Udrih is singing a similar tune, saying that he’s not ready to panic, though the club has to step up their game. “There’s panic going on because no one expected the season to start the way it has started,” Udrih told Lang Greene of HoopsWorld. “But the regular season has 82 games so there’s still [73] games remaining. We just have to worry about ourselves. Our goal is still to win the [Atlantic Division] and get in a good spot for the playoffs.“
- Former Celtics and Nets guard Terrence Williams split with Turk Telecom due to family reasons, according to a Turkish report passed along by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. To keep up with hoops from around the globe, check out Hoops Rumors’ International Player Tracker.