Pacific Notes: Lakers, Clippers, Vujacic, Suns
After waiving Shawne Williams yesterday, the Lakers don’t intend to fill that 15th roster spot anytime soon, in spite all of the team’s backcourt injuries, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. That plan could change if another player goes down, but for now shedding Williams’ salary will simply cut costs a little for the club. Bresnahan adds that Hedo Turkoglu doesn’t look like an option for the Lakers, who feel as if the forward’s skills have declined.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report defends the Lakers‘ decision not to trade Pau Gasol to the Cavs in a deal for Andrew Bynum, arguing that L.A. doesn’t have an urgent need to get out of the tax this season, since the team will almost certainly avoid the repeater penalty by dipping below the tax line in 2014/15 and 2015/16.
- For now at least, the Clippers have cooled on the idea of pursuing Sasha Vujacic, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic describes the relief and excitement experienced by Dionte Christmas when he found out yesterday that the Suns would be guaranteeing his contract for the full 2013/14 season.
- Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee has the latest details on the city of Sacramento’s efforts to secure a vital parcel of land for the development of a new Kings arena.
International Notes: Selby, Barbosa, Heat
While most of today’s attention has been focused stateside due to the guarantee date deadline, here are some recent moves that have occurred outside the United States:
- Former Grizzlies point guard Josh Selby has signed with Croatia’s Cedevita Zagreb, according to the team (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Selby, who was sent to the Cavs in last January’s Marreese Speights trade, also played in China earlier this season.
- Although the Suns agreed to sign Leandro Barbosa to a 10-day contract on Sunday, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic tweets that the signing is being held up by FIBA clearances. Barbosa was in the stands for tonight’s game against the Bulls.
- With Roger Mason‘s contract becoming fully guaranteed today, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweeted that the Heat‘s second-round pick, James Ennis will likely stay in Australia for the remainder of this NBA season.
- Jamaal Tinsley is considering signing overseas, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (on Twitter). Tinsley last played for the Jazz, but was waived in November.
Zach Links and Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Bynum Options: Clippers, Heat, Pacers, Hawks
The dust has barely settled from the Bulls waiving Andrew Bynum this afternoon before teams are beginning to be rumored as possible landing places for the All Star center. Here are a few of the teams rumored to be in the lead for his services.
- The Heat and Clippers have been rumored to be Bynum favorites even before he was traded and waived. Bob Finnan of The News-Herald confirmed those rumors in a tweet this evening. The Heat and Clippers are both already in the luxury tax, so signing Bynum would cost those teams more than just his salary. The Clippers would only be able to sign Bynum to the minimum salary ($1.19MM) whereas the Heat still have their full $3.2MM mini mid-level exception remaining.
- In the same tweet, Finnan speculates the Pacers may also try to sign Bynum purely to ensure the Heat can’t sign him. The Pacers are below the luxury tax but would only be able to offer up to $2.15MM to Bynum via their mid-level exception.
- With center Al Horford out for the season, and a freshly opened roster spot, the Hawks are in the running for Bynum, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Amico adds that Bynum has also previously lived in Atlanta. Due to Horford’s season-ending injury, the Hawks could request the disabled player exception from the league. If Atlanta is granted this exception, the club could offer Bynum up to $5.15MM in salary for a one-year deal.
Rockets Trying To Trade Donatas Motiejunas
Donatas Motiejunas has been asking the Rockets for more playing time for a while now, but with the Rockets unable to ship off Omer Asik, those frontcourt minutes haven’t been around for Houston to give. It appears the Rockets are now looking to give Motiejunas those minutes another way — on a different team. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), the Rockets have been calling teams in order to help find Motiejunas a new team.
Motiejunas shares an agent with Asik and before Houston reached their self-imposed December 19th Asik deadline, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweeted that Motiejunas was desperate for playing time. Prior to that tweet, Motiejunas had played in 12 games, averaging 7.5 MPG; he has since appeared in five games, averaging nearly 10 MPG.
Motiejunas has averaged 2.7 PPG and 1.5 RPG in the games he has played this season. He is currently in the second year of his rookie deal with the Rockets, who picked up his option for next season.
Possible 10-Day Contracts From The D-League
With the D-League Showcase under way in Reno, more league attention has been turned the direction of the young players outside the NBA. The Showcase alone is not the reason for the shift in focus. All of the players on NBA rosters are now guaranteed salaries for the remainder of the season, and teams are now able to sign players to 10-day contracts. Below are a few of the players that have already drawn attention around the league.
- Ike Diogu is playing well at the D-League Showcase and league sources say he could draw interest from Lakers, Clippers, Thunder and Pelicans, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter links).
- James Nunnally of the Bakersfield Jam is a D-League call-up candidate and has had meetings with the Cavs, Bulls, and Thunder at the D-League showcase in Reno, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Amick later tweeted the Hawks are also a team interested in Nunnally.
- James Southerland has met with at least three teams this week, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. He has played one game with the Bobcats and spent the summer with the 76ers and Warriors.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Bucks Looking To Trade Gary Neal
It appears the Bucks’ time with Gary Neal may be short-lived. After signing the guard to a two-year contract this summer, the Bucks are trying “everything they can” to trade Neal before the February 20th trade deadline, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.
Neal, a three-year veteran, has played in 23 games for Milwaukee this season, averaging 20.5 MPG and 10.4 PPG. He is currently playing on a two-year, $6.5MM contract that is fully guaranteed.
The Bucks’ urgency to make a move appears to be stemming from a locker room altercation between Neal and Larry Sanders.
NBA Grants Disabled Player Exception To Nets
As if the Nets league-leading $102MM team salary wasn’t enough money spent this season, the NBA has now approved the Nets to spend up to $5.25MM more. The league has approved a disabled player exception for the Nets, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The disabled player exception allows a team over the cap to replace a player who will be out for the remainder of the season. The Nets’ fall into this category due to Brook Lopez‘s season ending foot injury.
Under the disabled player exception, the Nets are allowed to sign a player for one season for the lesser of 50% of the injured player’s salary or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. The 2013/14 non-taxpayer mid-level exception is $5.15MM and Lopez’s 2013/14 salary is $14.69MM.
The disabled player exception also allows the Nets to trade for a player in the last season of their contract if that player is making no more than the lesser of 50% of the injured player’s salary plus $100,000 or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception plus $100,000. Because of Lopez’s large salary, the Nets will be allowed to trade for any player making up to $5.25MM this year.
The Nets had until January 15th to apply for this and the exception will expire by March 10th. Of course, the team will no longer be able to use the exception to acquire a player via trade after the February 20th deadline.
How They Were Signed: Minimum Salary Exception
As we continue to look at how teams have signed players on their roster, it is fitting on the last day that players unguaranteed salaries become guaranteed that we focus on the way most unguaranteed players were signed – the minimum salary exception.
Teams that are over the salary cap can sign a player for their allotted minimum salary for up to 2 years. Below is a player’s minimum salary dependent on how many years they have played in the NBA.
Players with no NBA playing experience can be signed to a minimum salary deal. This is typical of second round draft picks because only first-round picks are guaranteed a rookie scale contract.
To incentivize teams to sign older players, the NBA has agreed to reimburse teams that sign a player with three or more years’ experience, with a few stipulations. The NBA will only reimburse the amount over what it would cost if that player had played in the NBA for two years and will only reimburse the team if the player was signed to a one year deal.
Below is a team by team list of players who were signed using the minimum salary exception. You can read more details on the exception here.
Because this article is posted past the 4pm deadline, all players listed below are now fully guaranteed for this season. Additionally, keep in mind the players listed below were signed under the exception. Other players may have been signed to a minimum salary contract but their team had cap space and thus didn’t need the exception to sign that player.
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- None
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Bobcats
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- None
- Detroit Pistons
- Golden State
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- None
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia 76ers
- None
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Trailblazers
- Sacramento Kings
- None
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
StorytellersContracts, ShamSports, and Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ’s were used in the creation of this post.
Kennedy On Gordon, Rockets, Cavs, Hawes
The Bobcats are shopping Ben Gordon, league sources tell Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Sulia). Charlotte has talked to many teams about the guard and is trying to move Gordon’s $13.2MM expiring deal for a player who can help the team win now. The Bobcats, sitting at No. 7 in the East, are expected to be buyers at the deadline, because they want to make the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history. More from Kennedy..
- In addition to the Bobcats, the Rockets and Suns have also been identified as buyers as the deadline approaches. Phoenix may be open to trading a draft pick or a young asset if it means making the team better today and ensuring a playoff berth.
- The Cavaliers have been termed as the most active team in the league in terms of trade talks, but they’re quieting down after landing Luol Deng and unloading Andrew Bynum. It’s still possible that they make another move before February 20th, but they want to see how their team looks with Deng before working the phones again.
- The Pistons aren’t sure whether they should be buyers or sellers at the deadline, according to league sources. They had playoff expectations entering the season after adding Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings and Chauncey Billups among others, but they have struggled early on. Within the organization, it sounds like there are some people who want to be buyers in order to ensure a playoff berth, but there are also some who don’t believe the pieces fit together very well and think Detroit should sell.
- In addition to Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young, Spencer Hawes and other 76ers players are available.
Hawks Waive Cartier Martin
The Hawks waived Cartier Martin in advance of today’s 4pm CT deadline, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Had Atlanta not beat the deadline, Martin’s minimum salary contract would have been guaranteed for the rest of the season.
The 29-year-old spent parts of four seasons with the Wizards prior to hooking on with the Hawks, appearing in 118 total games for Washington. Martin averaged 6.6 points per contest and 2.0 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game for the Hawks this season. He’ll be job hunting but it seems likely that he’ll find something soon, perhaps on a ten-day deal to start.