Atlantic Notes: Stevens, Nets, Rondo, Sixers
For one night, at least, NBA basketball in New York experienced a revival. The Knicks went into San Antonio and upset the Spurs, while the Nets did the same to the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Of course, it wasn’t supposed to be such a stretch for either team to pull off such victories, but in a Murphy’s Law sort of season for both Big Apple franchises, Thursday evening provided a rare taste of success. Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- The success that Brad Stevens is having with the Celtics this year is helping change the perception that college coaches are a poor fit in the NBA, while making it harder for veteran NBA coaches to find work in the league, notes Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
- It may seem like an ideal situation for an owner to hire an experienced GM and then step out of the way, but Mikhail Prokhorov’s absence this season has added to a sense of disorganization for the Nets, opines Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
- Rajon Rondo told reporters yesterday, including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, that he continues to get closer to returning to the court, and that he’s very open to the idea of a stint with the D-League’s Maine Red Claws. “I think that’s what it’s for,” Rondo said. “I’d probably be the first guy to do that, but it doesn’t make a difference. I want to make sure I’m healthy and handle it the right way. I haven’t had a preseason. I haven’t had a training camp. Right now, this is pretty much my training camp.”
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com examines the Sixers‘ accelerated rebuilding process, which could see the team make the playoffs as soon as next season.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Jordan Crawford Wants To Remain With Celtics
Jordan Crawford has become a candidate for the Most Improved Player of the Year award in his new role as point guard, and while he’s driving up his value as a restricted free agent this summer, he tells USA Today’s Sean Highkin that he’d like to stay with the Celtics.
“It’s an NBA thing,” Crawford said. “You’re supposed to think about being a free agent. It’s going to happen, so there’s nothing I can do to deny it. I definitely want to be here. But it’s the NBA. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Crawford has transformed from a reckless gunner into a playmaker this season, averaging a career-high 5.4 assists in place of the injured Rajon Rondo. It’s unclear what the Celtics plan to do with him once Rondo returns, but it’s clear that Crawford’s stock has risen since Boston acquired him at the deadline last season for Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins, two players who are out of the league. The Celtics can match any team’s offer for the Creative Artists Agency client in the offseason if they extend him a qualifying offer of about $3.2MM. They could also simply sign him outright, which appears to be Crawford’s preference at this point.
The Hawks made Crawford the 27th overall pick in the 2010 draft and traded him to the Wizards in the middle of his rookie year. He averaged 14.7 points per game in his first full season in Washington, but he did so on just 40% shooting, and he shot 4.3 three-pointers per contest despite making only 28.9% of them. He still shoots threes at about the same rate, but his long-range accuracy has improved to 34.4% for this season.
Warriors, Kings Eyeing Andre Miller
Warriors and Kings executives are mulling the idea of trading for suspended Nuggets guard Andre Miller, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Denver nonetheless remains uninterested in dealing the 37-year-old, and the team intends to smooth over the issues that led to Miller’s punishment, Wojnarowski adds.
The Warriors are in the market for a backup point guard and have been talking to the Raptors for weeks about acquiring Kyle Lowry, sources tell Wojnarowski. The Knicks have also been persistent in their pursuit of Lowry, but the Raptors have become less willing to trade him in the wake of their recent success. Toronto hasn’t abandoned the idea of trading Lowry, but the team isn’t simply looking to unload him to the highest bidder, as Wojnarowski writes.
The Kings see Miller as a veteran mentor who could help Isaiah Thomas, and GM Pete D’Alessandro, a former Nuggets executive, is a longstanding admirer of Miller, Wojnarowski points out.
Miller makes $5MM this season, but next year’s $4.625MM salary is only guaranteed for $2MM, so he’d be easier to unload for a team that sours on him, wants to clear cap space, or both. It’s clear that the 15th-year veteran is slowing down. This season he’s seeing the fewest minutes per game of his career, and his points and assists per minute are also new lows.
Minimum-Salary Players Averaging 20+ MPG
The Lakers aren’t known for their bargain shopping on the free agent market, but this year, they scored an extraordinary number of contributors for the minimum salary. Five Lakers are averaging more than 20 minutes per game while making the minimum, including Nick Young, the team’s leading scorer and a Sixth Man of the Year candidate. Young might have found more money if he’d signed with another team, but the allure of playing for his hometown Lakers was too great. The team’s other low-paid rotation guys probably wouldn’t have been able to sign for a salary greater than the minimum elsewhere, so with them, it’s more a matter of GM Mitch Kupchak‘s eye for talent and Mike D’Antoni‘s coaching. Wesley Johnson, Xavier Henry, Jordan Farmar and Shawne Williams have all pitched in to help the team mitigate the loss of Kobe Bryant for all but six games so far this season. The Lakers are just 13-19, but they’d probably be much worse if not for their cut-rate five.
The Rockets have had much more success this season, with a 21-13 record, and while that has much to do with Dwight Howard and James Harden, the team’s pair of max contract players, three minimum-salary forces have emerged. Patrick Beverley is on the shelf with a broken hand, but when he’s played he’s notched 31.5 MPG, more than any other minimum-salary player in the league this year aside from Isaiah Thomas of the Kings. Omri Casspi and Francisco Garcia are also significant cogs for Houston, which would boast a fourth minimum-salary rotation player if Chandler Parsons‘ contract didn’t call for him to make only about $42K more than the minimum for a player with his experience.
Here’s every player in the NBA this season making the minimum salary and averaging at least 20 MPG entering today:
- Isaiah Thomas, Kings (31.9 MPG)
- Patrick Beverley, Rockets (31.5 MPG)
- P.J. Tucker, Suns (30.4 MPG)
- D.J. Augustin, Bulls (29.5 MPG)
- Khris Middleton, Bucks (29.3 MPG)
- James Anderson, Sixers (29.2 MPG)
- Nick Young, Lakers (28.1 MPG)
- Wesley Johnson, Lakers (26.4 MPG)
- Alan Anderson, Nets (25.3 MPG)
- Jeff Taylor, Bobcats (24.2 MPG)
- James Johnson, Grizzlies (23.1 MPG)
- Mike Miller, Grizzlies (22.9 MPG)
- Shaun Livingston, Nets (22.2 MPG)
- Xavier Henry, Lakers (21.8 MPG)
- Hollis Thompson, Sixers (21.2 MPG)
- Omri Casspi, Rockets (21.1 MPG)
- Francisco Garcia, Rockets (20.8 MPG)
- Jordan Farmar, Lakers (20.7 MPG)
- Shawne Williams, Lakers (20.6 MPG)
- DeJuan Blair, Mavericks (20.2 MPG)
- E’Twaun Moore, Magic (20.2 MPG)
- Anthony Tolliver, Bobcats (20.0 MPG)
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.
Atlantic Notes: Raptors, J.R. Smith, Rondo
The Raptors are 9-3 following the Rudy Gay trade, with impressive wins over the Thunder and the Pacers, who are tied for the best record in the NBA. It’s easy to portray last month’s trade of Gay to the Kings as addition by subtraction for Toronto, but that’s not how DeMar DeRozan sees it, as Eric Koreen of the National Post notes.
“You really can’t say that,” DeRozan said. “People will speculate and say this, that and the third about the trade. One thing: We still had a lot of talent before the trade. Things just weren’t clicking. We didn’t play a full season and figure it all out, either. This is our team now, and we’re steadily learning and growing every day.”
Koreen is skeptical that the departure of the statistically inefficient small forward hasn’t helped the team during its recent stretch, pointing to the improved play of DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas since the trade. Regardless, the Raptors have reached the .500 mark, putting them in command of a weak Atlantic Division. Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- J.R. Smith says he’s gotten over his frustration with the Knicks for waiving his brother, and that he’s “ready to go to war” with Jeremy Tyler, who replaced Chris Smith on the roster, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
- It was Rajon Rondo who first proposed the idea of sending him down to the D-League, Celtics GM Danny Ainge said today on 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com passes along. It’s unclear whether the point guard will play for Boston’s D-League affiliate this season, but Ainge said he supports the notion of teams sending star players on rehab assignments.
- Celtics assistant coach Ron Adams shared his bitterness about Bulls GM Gar Forman‘s decision to let him go this past offseason with K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “It’s still a bit mystifying to me,” Adams said. “And I don’t understand it. And if the intent was to be hurtful to me and my family, it succeeded.” The Celtics were one of a half-dozen teams with interest in Adams when Forman elected not to renew his contract, the sort of decision that usually rests with a team’s head coach.
Notable January Trades
Most of this season’s deals will go down within 24 hours of the February 20th trade deadline. That doesn’t mean January won’t feature at least one intriguing swap. Last season there were two trades, and while the Grizzlies helped their ledger with a three-for-one swap with the Cavs on the 22nd, the deal that really made waves came eight days later, when Memphis shipped Rudy Gay out of town. The Raptors put Gay into yet another trade last month, so there’s certainly precedent for big names changing teams at or before this point in the season.
Here’s a look back at the most significant January trade from each of the past four years, deals in which the Grizzlies and Mavericks figured prominently:
January 30th, 2013: In a three-team deal, the Grizzlies traded Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to the Raptors, the Pistons traded Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince to the Grizzlies, and the Raptors traded Jose Calderon to the Pistons and Ed Davis and a 2013 second-round pick (Jamaal Franklin) to the Grizzlies.
- The only player from this trade still with Toronto less than a year later is Daye, and he wasn’t even sent to the Raptors in this deal; he signed with the Raptors in the offseason after playing out the rest of 2012/13 with the Mavericks. The Pistons are similarly empty-handed, though they used the cap flexibility created when they sent out Prince’s long-term deal to help them sign Josh Smith this past summer.
January 4th, 2012: In a three team deal, the Grizzlies traded Xavier Henry to the Pelicans and a 2012 second-round pick (Tornike Shengelia) to the Sixers, the Pelicans traded a second-round pick (Glen Rice Jr.) to the Sixers, and the Sixers traded Marreese Speights to the Grizzlies.
- The Pelicans (then Hornets) wound up with a player picked 12th overall just 18 months prior for the cost of a mere second-round pick, though Henry didn’t display his promise until he wound up with the Lakers this season. The Grizzlies dealt Henry away for frontcourt depth in the wake of an injury to Darrell Arthur, and Memphis would shed Speights a little more than a year later in last year’s three-for-one trade. The Sixers sent out both of the second-rounders they acquired in later trades.
January 24th, 2011: The Mavericks traded Alexis Ajinca, cash, and a 2013 second-round draft pick (Jamaal Franklin) to the Raptors for Georgios Printezis.
- Recent Pelicans signee Ajinca endured his second trade in a little more than six months and was on his way out of the league for two years until New Orleans brought him back two weeks ago.
January 11th, 2010: The Mavericks traded Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams to the Nets for Eduardo Najera.
- Humphries was a lightly regarded backup before he got to the Nets, but the then-sixth-year power forward assumed his most significant role to date in New Jersey, and the Nets re-signed him to a one-year, $8MM deal after the lockout. He made even more on his next contract, a two-year, $24MM pact that expires at the end of this season.
Trade Candidate: Andrew Bynum
It may seem like a lifetime ago, but we’re less than 18 months removed from discussions about whether Andrew Bynum would be the third maximum-salary player in 2013 free agency, alongside Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. Coming off an All-Star 2011/12 season in Los Angeles, the young center appeared to have finally put it all together, and was the main outgoing piece in a blockbuster four-team deal that landed the Lakers the only center in the NBA (Howard) believed to be better than Bynum.
Of course, after a nightmarish lost season in Philadelphia, Bynum’s stock plummeted, and the Cavaliers certainly didn’t have to pay him the maximum salary in free agency last summer. In fact, the team only had to guarantee him $6MM. The rest of his $12.25MM salary for 2013/14 and the entirety of his $12.54MM salary for 2014/15 are non-guaranteed.
That contract is exactly what makes Bynum such an interesting trade candidate today. If he were simply on the books for a guaranteed $12MM+ salary already, he’d likely be drawing little interest, even though that second season essentially amounts to a team option. After all, in today’s NBA, expiring contracts aren’t quite the tantalizing trade chips they once were, since most players are signing shorter-team deals, and only a handful of teams have tied up their cap for multiple years down the road. But Bynum’s contract represents a different kind of expiring deal. It’s one that will likely expire next week, rather than at season’s end, since he’s expected to be waived on Tuesday, prior to the NBA’s contract guarantee deadline.
Before we get into which teams might be interested in acquiring Bynum only to release him, it’s worth considering whether there are clubs who may simply want to take a half-season flier on the former All-Star. He’s been healthy enough to appear in 24 games so far this season, and it’s possible he’d fit in better on another roster. By January 7th, Cleveland will have paid about $5MM about Bynum’s salary, so it’s not entirely out of the question that another team would be willing to eat the remaining $7MM or so to gamble on the 26-year-old’s upside.
Still, while that’s a plausible scenario, it’s not a likely one. Considering Bynum will probably be released anyway, trading for him to keep him wouldn’t make much sense, since he could be available as a free agent for a much cheaper price.
Bynum’s true value as a trade chip would come in a deal that allows a taxpaying team to reduce its bill or perhaps even move entirely out of tax territory. That’s why the Lakers and Bulls have been cited as potential fits. Neither team looks anything like a title contender, so it would make sense for those clubs to trade an expensive veteran for Bynum to cut costs.
Let’s look at the Bulls first. In a hypothetical trade for Bynum, Chicago would want to move Carlos Boozer and his multiyear deal, while Cleveland would rather get its hands on Luol Deng and his expiring contract. The principle is the same in both cases though: Bynum’s $12.25MM salary could be swapped straight up for Deng ($14.28MM) or Boozer ($15.3MM). Then, if the Bulls waived Bynum by next Tuesday, he’d only count as $6MM against their books, saving the team in excess of $8MM, plus tax penalties. Because Bynum’s full salary counts in a trade for salary-matching purposes, his deal (and Hedo Turkoglu‘s, which is similarly structured) is optimal for shedding payroll. The Lakers could make a similar move with Pau Gasol, though he couldn’t be dealt straight-up for Bynum.
While this sort of move may make sense on paper for the Lakers or Bulls, both teams appear reluctant to dive in, for a variety of reasons. The word “rebuild” is foreign to the Lakers, and the Bulls came into the season with championship aspirations, so it would take a major philosophical shift for either club to make a move for the sole purpose of saving money and bottoming out. It would also make Gasol or Deng very unlikely to return to the Lakers or Bulls, respectively, in the summer of 2014, since their current teams would no longer hold their Bird rights. The Bulls have expressed a desire to re-sign Deng, and the Lakers haven’t ruled out the possibility of retaining Pau.
The Lakers and Bulls aren’t the only teams that could line up with the Cavs as potential trade partners. Acquiring Bynum to cut him could make some sense for the Celtics, Hawks, and Grizzlies, among other teams. But I’d imagine none of those clubs would be willing to give up a productive player for Bynum without getting at least one other piece from Cleveland in the deal. The Cavs have a handful of movable assets, including young players and future draft picks, so packaging one or more of them with Bynum would allow Cleveland’s trade partner to show its fans that the move wasn’t completely financially motivated.
In essence then, although Bynum represents a fascinating trade chip, he’s one that will likely have to be paired with another piece to be moved by Tuesday. Whether the Cavs are willing to include that second piece will likely depend on how committed the franchise is to making a playoff push this season. If that postseason berth remains the franchise’s top priority, we should expect Cleveland to move Bynum for a productive veteran. If the long-term plan is still the primary focus, then the Cavs could simply cut Bynum and pocket the savings themselves.
Trade Talks Between Cavs, Lakers Stall
2:07pm: The Lakers don’t believe the Cavs have many other viable alternatives for Bynum, and feel as if they can afford to wait on a potential deal, says Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Amico adds that the Lakers are believed to be seeking players whose contracts expire within the “Kobe window” — 2016 (when Kobe Bryant‘s deal ends) or earlier.
10:30am: Trade discussions between the Cavaliers and Lakers about a potential deal centered around Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol have stalled, according to Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. It was that same ESPN duo who first reported earlier in the week that the two teams were talking about a possible swap.
The impasse in negotiations doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no possibility of the Cavs and Lakers working something out, but the deal is no longer progressing. Sources tell Windhorst and Shelburne that the major roadblock involves the Lakers’ desire to land an additional asset in any trade. Besides Bynum, the Lakers want to add a young prospect or a first-round draft pick, and Cleveland is reluctant to part with either.
As we’ve discussed previously, Bynum’s appeal relates to the structure of his contract, which is only partially guaranteed until next week. If the Lakers could acquire a prospect (perhaps Sergey Karasev, Tyler Zeller, or even Dion Waiters) in the swap, it would allow the team to add future talent while cutting payroll and reducing tax penalties. However, it’s extremely unlikely that the Cavs would give up that significant a package to land Gasol, whose contract expires at year’s end — particularly when Kyrie Irving‘s latest injury further complicates Cleveland’s push to earn a postseason berth.
Windhorst and Shelburne report that the Cavs are “actively seeking” other options for Bynum. Earlier this morning, we heard from another ESPN.com scribe, Marc Stein, that Cleveland has called virtually every team in the NBA in the hopes of finding a suitable trade partner. If the Cavs or another team wants to save $6MM+ on Bynum’s salary, he must be released on or before next Tuesday.
Eastern Notes: Bogans, Hawks, Gordon, Cavs
Keith Bogans isn’t necessarily cited as one of the NBA’s most overpaid players as often as some bigger names, but you could make the case that Bogans should top any such list. After all, the only reason he received his $5MM+ salary for 2013/14 was that it was needed to make the summer’s Celtics/Nets blockbuster work. Despite the payday though, Bogans, who hasn’t played in over a month, is frustrated with his role in Boston, writes Jessica Camerato of HoopsWorld.
“Money is good, but if you’re not happy doing what you love to do… I want to play basketball,” Bogans said of his lack of minutes. “Anybody can say yeah I’m happy, I’m getting money, but come on now.”
As Bogans waits for an opportunity to prove he can still contribute to an NBA club, let’s round up a few more items from around the East….
- The Hawks are facing some tough roster decisions since Al Horford went down with a season-ending pectoral injury, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta is currently carrying 15 players, but three of those contracts are non-guaranteed. GM Danny Ferry is considering whether or not to add a big man to replace Horford, and Ferry also likes having some roster flexibility at the trade deadline, so the team’s non-guaranteed players (Shelvin Mack, Mike Scott, Cartier Martin) aren’t necessarily guaranteed roster spots beyond next Tuesday.
- Ben Gordon is in the final year of his contract, but remains focused on helping the Bobcats earn a playoff spot this season, as he tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld. When Gordon does reach free agency, expect him to prioritize contenders — the veteran guard tells Greene that the opportunity to win a title “means everything” for him as he inches closer to retirement.
- The Cavaliers have reportedly balked at including any assets of value along with Andrew Bynum in an offer for Pau Gasol, but Jabari Davis of HoopsWorld thinks that a swap would make a lot of sense for both sides.
Hoops Rumors Features
Hoops Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NBA player movement 365 days a year, but those aren’t the only updates you’ll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you’ll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here’s a rundown of a few of them:
- You can follow all our updates about your favorite teams or players on your iPhone or iPad using the Hoops Rumors app.
- We’re still keeping a close eye on free agency with the help of our list of 2013 free agents. If you want to look ahead to the summer of 2014 or 2015, we’ve rounded up those free agents as well. All of these FA lists will continue to be modified as needed.
- Not all the players currently on NBA rosters have guaranteed deals, and we’ve broken down the non-guaranteed contracts by team. All the deals on that page will become guaranteed next week if players aren’t waived on or before Tuesday.
- Our list of 2013/14 roster counts is a convenient tool for keeping tabs on how many players your favorite NBA team is carrying, and how many guaranteed contracts are on each club’s books.
- It’s trade season in the NBA, so we’re tracking this season’s deals and profiling players we consider trade candidates.
- If your favorite team has a better chance at Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker than at a playoff berth, be sure to follow our reverse standings, which are updated daily to reflect the projected 2014 draft order.
- We’re keeping tabs on this season’s D-League assignments right here.
- Our agency database is a handy reference point for determining the representation for virtually every NBA player.
- Using our 10-day contract tracker, you can find any 10-day contract signed since 2007, sorting by player, team, year, and other variables.
- On Mondays at 4:00pm CT, I answer readers’ questions in a live chat. You can check out transcripts of our past live discussions here.
- Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions is updated whenever a trade exception is created, is used, or expires.
- We’re tracking teams’ amnesty provisions — using our complete list, you can check to see which clubs have used the amnesty clause and which will have it available next summer.
- The Hoops Rumors glossary helps explain some of the more complex concepts in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
- Zach Links rounds up the best of the blogosphere every Sunday in his weekly Hoops Links feature.
- If you’re looking to catch up on a few days worth of content, our Week in Review posts round up the week’s news and rumors, while our Hoops Rumors Originals posts recap the site’s original content for the week. Both round-ups are published every Sunday.
- Be sure to check out the Featured Posts section on the right sidebar for more original pieces from the Hoops Rumors writing team. Recently, we detailed how December’s Kings/Raptors trade worked financially, listed players with trade kickers, and explained why the Rockets had imposed an unofficial deadline to trade Omer Asik.