Celts Willing To Trade For Star Without Extension
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has expressed a willingness to trade for a marquee player entering the final season of his contract with no assurances he would sign an extension with the team. Ainge made his comments to Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb on 98.5 The Sports Hub radio in Boston (Twitter link), and while he didn’t mention anyone in specific, it would appear he was referring to Kevin Love, who’s set to become a free agent in 2015, when he can exercise an early termination option in his contract.
Love reportedly sees the Celtics as an intriguing destination as he pressures the Wolves, through his agents at Excel Sports Management, to trade him by the draft. Ainge’s choice of words is key, as it’s unlikely Love signs an extension with any team, given that he’d be able to sign a much more lucrative deal as a free agent. Love isn’t even eligible to sign an extension until January 25th, 2015, the three-year anniversary of the date he signed his most recent extension with the Timberwolves. Teams aren’t allowed to sign players to extensions for six months after they acquire them via trade, unless they pull off an extend-and-trade transaction, which would further limit Love’s earning power. Ainge may be more concerned with receiving promises that Love would re-sign with the team in free agency in 2015 if he were to trade for him.
The Celtics would have plenty of competition for Love, as the Warriors, Lakers, Suns and Knicks are also in the mix for the All-Star power forward. They also have to make decisions concerning Rajon Rondo, who like Love is set to hit free agency after next season.
Magic To Pursue David Lee?
The Magic are a team “to watch out for” with the Warriors becoming more open to trading David Lee, reports Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. New Warriors coach Steve Kerr has expressed a desire for a stretch power forward, and GM Bob Myers is also eyeing additional shooting, signaling a willingness to shed Lee, largely a traditional power forward.
Thompson suggests the Magic’s failure to land a top-three pick in the draft lottery will make the team more willing to take on Lee to solidify a frontcourt that lacks a marquee power forward. That rests largely on the supposition that the Magic don’t end up with a big man like Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh with the No. 4 overall pick next month, of course. Thompson casts doubt on Golden State’s ability to land Kevin Love, even in the wake of a report identifying the Warriors as a prime contender him, but Thompson asserts that Arron Afflalo, who like Love went to UCLA, would help attract the Timberwolves star.
It’s nonetheless unclear whether the Warriors are indeed interested in Afflalo or anyone in particular as they ponder a trade for Lee, who’s due more than $30.5MM over the next two seasons. The Magic are one of the few teams with the cap flexibility and the organizational patience to absorb that sort of contract attached to a player who’s not a superstar, so they make sense as a destination for Lee if Orlando has assets that intrigue the Warriors enough to motivate them into a move. The only real pressure on the Warriors to make a drastic change this summer would be self-created, as I wrote last week when I looked ahead at Golden State’s offseason.
Sacramento City Council Approves Kings Arena
The Sacramento City Council approved a public funding plan for a new Kings arena late Tuesday night, as Ryan Lillis, Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee report. The city’s $255MM contribution to the $477MM project largely puts to rest any concern about the team’s ability to meet a league-imposed 2017 deadline for a new building. The funding measure was widely expected to pass, and the council voted 7-2 to approve it. It includes a non-relocation clause that will keep the Kings, who little more than a year ago seemed on their way to Seattle, in Sacramento for 35 years.
“I’ve never been prouder of this community,” Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson said. “We had our backs against the wall and we defied the odds. We made a comeback for the ages and in doing so, I feel like we unleashed the very best that Sacramento has to offer. And for this I consider this Sacramento’s finest hour.”
Opponents remain, as a pending lawsuit seeks to stop the arena while a committee is forming with the plan to petition for a public vote that could nullify the council’s vote, according to The Bee. Another group plans a legal challenge stemming from concerns over noise pollution and overcrowding. Still, opponents face a short timetable. Construction on the arena is to begin in November, with completion set for September 2016. The league has retained the right to buy the team back from Vivek Ranadive and his partners if the arena isn’t built by 2017, but commissioner Adam Silver has expressed no worries that the team would run afoul of that deadline.
Lottery Fodder: Jazz, Kings, Hornets, Magic
With the order set for June’s NBA Draft, it’s only natural that we see an influx of mock drafts in the coming days. But Tuesday’s lottery tells us only the assets that most teams will start their draft process with, as plenty can happen between now and draft night on June 26th. After all, eight teams possess multiple first round picks with the Suns leading the way with three. The Sixers, meanwhile, have two picks in round one and five in round two, giving them plenty of ammo to pursue moves.
There’s a lot of draft fodder to come over the next five weeks, but let’s take a look at what is being said by the league’s decision-makers fresh off of Tuesday night’s lottery results:
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey, who owns picks five, 23 and 35, said that Utah may try to package those assets in a deal to move up, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that it’s hard not to look at Tuesday night as a letdown, adding that the Utah front office extolled the depth of this year’s draft class.
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee spoke to Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro, whose team landed the eighth selection in the draft. D’Alessandro indicated that the Kings would be open to dealing the pick if a “game-changing” talent doesn’t fall to them. They could also trade up, Jones says, or looks to acquire a second round pick in what is a deep draft. (Twitter links)
- Citing the franchise’s history of executing draft-related trades, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer predicts the Hornets will attempt to turn picks nine, 24 and 45, along with $17MM in cap space, into something bigger. Now that they have a centerpiece in Al Jefferson and assets to deal, Bonnell speculates the team could kick the tires on Kevin Love or restricted free agents Greg Monroe and Gordon Hayward.
- The Magic will pick in the dreaded fourth position come June, presumably unable to land Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Joel Embiid unless something drastic changes by draft night. While there was plenty of disappointment in Orlando, Magic GM Rob Hennigan remained upbeat, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. “Certainly we would have liked to have seen the highest number possible for us. I think all the teams would. But we like where we’re sitting. We feel like we can get a good player, and we feel like we’ve got our work cut out for us here the next couple of weeks to figure out exactly who that is.”
And-Ones: Love, Celts, Cavs, Blatche, Clips, Grizz
Some thought tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery results could have major Kevin Love implications, though salary cap guru Larry Coon of ESPN doesn’t believe the Timberwolves star can be moved before the draft. According to Coon, such a deal would require cap room that teams will not have before July (Twitter links here).
The Celtics, who pick sixth, are a “sleeper” team in the Love sweepstakes, but owner Wyc Grousbeck says he isn’t hurrying the rebuilding effort, as he tells Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe. “That KG deal might be once in a lifetime, but I think over the next four or five years, we will get back to being contenders, if not three years,” he said. “I think we can get back there. I think this summer, one way or another, we’ll take positive steps, whether we just draft two players and continue to build, or whether we make a blockbuster deal.”
Here is what else is going on around the Association tonight, as the Heat and Pacers battle it out in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals:
- ESPN’s Chad Ford considers Andrew Wiggins the favorite to land in Cleveland after the Cavaliers won Tuesday night’s lottery (via Twitter). Ford tweeted before the results were in that the Cavs preferred Jabari Parker, however he indicated afterwards (also on Twitter) that he was a corrected by a trusted source in Cleveland.
- The admirable play of Andray Blatche down the stretch and into the postseason for the Nets could set him up for a decent pay day, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Blatche has said he will opt out of his one-year player option for next season, though Brooklyn controls his Early Bird Rights according to Bontemps.
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News provides the transcript of today’s post-television interview session with new Warriors coach Steve Kerr, which is a bit juicier than what we relayed earlier on. Per Kawakami, Kerr covets a big man that can shoot. Meanwhile, Golden State GM Bob Myers also indicated the team will pursue shooting this summer, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
- Speaking before the lottery proceedings, commissioner Adam Silver detailed the process that comes with a forced sale of the Clippers. However, Silver did indicate that he will continue to urge owner Donald Sterling to sell the team on his own, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
- Though he hasn’t been assured that his role is permanent by Grizzlies owner Robert Pera, GM Chris Wallace said at a Thursday afternoon press conference that he believes Memphis can win the NBA title next season, writes Zack McMillin of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re a very formidable team. We just have to find a way to make that next step. Is it easy? No, but it’s attainable and we’re not going to rest until we hang that championship banner and have this parage this town deserves,” Wallace said.
2014 NBA Draft Order
Another NBA Draft Lottery is in the books and this year’s winner is the Cleveland Cavaliers, who will have their pick among the consensus top-three of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid on June 26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. This is the second consecutive year the Cavs will pick first and the sixth time in their history. However, as Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight reminds us, no team with the No. 1 overall pick has won the NBA title since 1998. Of course, Silver’s analysis indicates that a team would rather win the lottery than not, but it serves as an important reminder that the best pick and the highest pick aren’t always the same thing.
The Cavaliers were obviously the big winners on Tuesday night, as they possessed only a 1.7 percent chance of landing the top selection (not to mention only a 6.1 percent chance of landing in the top three). The Cavs leapfrogging eight teams dropped the Pistons down to the ninth pick, which they must now forfeit to the Hornets as a part of a 2012 trade involving Corey Maggette and Ben Gordon. Had Detroit stayed in the top eight, which had an 82.4 percent chance of happening, they would have retained their selection, undoubtedly making them the biggest losers of the night.
Here are all 60 picks that, barring trades, are officially set in stone for June 26:
Round One
- Cavaliers
- Bucks
- Sixers
- Magic
- Jazz
- Celtics
- Lakers
- Kings
- Hornets
- Sixers
- Nuggets
- Magic
- Timberwolves
- Suns
- Hawks
- Bulls
- Celtics
- Suns
- Bulls
- Raptors
- Thunder
- Grizzlies
- Jazz
- Hornets
- Rockets
- Heat
- Suns
- Clippers
- Thunder
- Spurs
Round Two
- Bucks
- Sixers
- Cavs
- Knicks
- Jazz
- Bucks
- Raptors
- Pistons
- Sixers
- Timberwolves
- Nuggets
- Rockets
- Hawks
- Timberwolves
- Hornets
- Wizards
- Sixers
- Bucks
- Bulls
- Suns
- Knicks
- Sixers
- Timberwolves
- Sixers
- Heat
- Nuggets
- Pacers
- Spurs
- Raptors
- Spurs
Draft Notes: Minimum Age, McDermott, Bulls
We’re less than an hour from the 2014 NBA Draft Lottery, where, if you buy into the hype, the fate of a handful of the league’s more unfortunate franchises hangs in the balance. This morning, our Chuck Myron outlined the odds each participant has of landing a top-three pick. Beyond that, the ping pong balls will also dictate the destination for some of the draft’s conditional selections, as listed in our reverse standings.
Let’s take a look at some other NBA draft-related notes leading up to tonight’s festivities in New York City:
- Speaking to the press before the lottery, Adam Silver reiterated his preference to raise the age limit of draft-eligible players from 19 to 20, tweets Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Silver added that the NCAA must be involved in the discussions, citing an improving relationship with NCAA front man Mark Emmert, tweets Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
- Silver met with seven of the draft’s top players before the lottery tonight and expects this class to be a bit more meaningful to him, tweets Moore. “This class has a special place in my heart. It’ll be my first as commissioner,” Silver said.
- Creighton’s Doug McDermott expected to meet with the Cavaliers in Chicago during last week’s NBA Draft Combine but ultimately did not, writes Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer. The sharpshooter does expect to work out in the near future for Cleveland, who will hold the ninth pick unless they get lucky tonight.
- Although the Bulls will be armed with two first round picks in June’s draft, they are unlikely to use both selections themselves and are a good bet to be active between now and then, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
- Jonathan Givony of Draft Express published his latest mock draft which, although it is bound to change depending tonight’s results, is complete with new and improved formatting and features.
Offseason Outlook: Portland Trail Blazers
Guaranteed Contracts
- LaMarcus Aldridge ($16,006,000)
- Nicolas Batum ($11,765,500)
- Wesley Matthews ($7,245,640)
- Robin Lopez ($6,124,728)
- Thomas Robinson ($3,678,360)
- Damian Lillard ($3,340,920)
- Dorell Wright ($3,135,000)
- Joel Freeland ($3,013,512)
- C.J. McCollum ($2,421,000)
- Meyers Leonard ($2,317,920)
- Victor Claver ($1,370,000)
- Allen Crabbe ($862,000)
Options
- Mo Williams ($2,771,340)*
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Will Barton ($915,243)**
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Earl Watson ($915,243)
Draft Picks
- None
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $61,280,580
- Options: $2,771,340
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $915,243
- Cap Holds: $915,243
- Total: $65,882,406
The Blazers made a leap forward this season without drastic changes to their core, and unless GM Neil Olshey gets creative in the next few months, the team will be forced once more to make its improvements from within. The club’s guaranteed salary for next season puts it only about $2MM shy of the projected $63.2MM salary cap, and that margin gets cut in half if Olshey keeps Will Barton past his guarantee date, which the GM has said he intends to do. That means the team is poised to retain its cap holds on Earl Watson and Mo Williams, who recently reiterated his desire to opt out, and enter the summer with the $5.305MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception and the $2.077MM biannual exception at its disposal. Those are valuable tools for upgrading a bench that ranked 15th in efficiency last season, per NBA.com, but they don’t provide the sort of game-changing flexibility needed to bring in a player who can close the gap between Portland and the truly elite.
A key decision involves Williams, who’d likely require the team to dip into the mid-level if he’s to re-sign as a free agent. The Mark Bartelstein client probably isn’t declining his option just to get the incremental 120% raise his Non-Bird rights would allow. That would only be a little more than $411K more than what his option would give him. The 31-year-old took on a reduced role behind Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews this past season after starting in 2012/13 for the Jazz, but his 9.7 points per game, his fewest since he was a rookie, isn’t simply tied to fewer shot attempts. He shot just 41.7%, the third-worst percentage of his career, and his 11.8 PER, also his lowest since his rookie season, demonstrates his lack of efficiency. Williams was Portland’s best bench scorer by far, nearly doubling Dorell Wright‘s PPG, but using mid-level money to bring back the leader of a mediocre group of reserves seems ill-advised.
Whomever the Blazers might sign with that mid-level money would surely be encouraged if LaMarcus Aldridge signed an extension this summer, but the collective bargaining agreement would make such a move imprudent for the power forward. An extension would limit him to tacking just three years onto his deal, as opposed to the four or five years he can lock in as a free agent. It’s unclear whether Aldridge’s annual salaries would be higher in an extension or a new deal, since his salary in the final year of his existing deal is relatively close to what the maximum salary has been for a player with his experience. The safe bet is that the max, like the salary cap, will rise over the next couple of years, making it a better financial play for Aldridge to hit free agency.
So, this summer’s free agents will probably have to take Aldridge’s comments this season about his willingness to consider an extension as the most reliable indicator suggesting that he’ll stay in Portland long-term. Aldridge certainly gave the impression that he’s embraced the Blazers in the context of last summer’s mixed messages that hinted at a trade demand. Portland’s return to prominence appeared to erase the 28-year-old’s doubts about the organization, and it seemed that the team’s fast start this season made it attractive to other marquee players as well. Aldridge said during the All-Star break that multiple fellow All-Stars came up to him and told him they’d like to play for the Blazers. He didn’t say who they were, and there exists the possibility that Aldridge only said so to make his team look more attractive. Even if those All-Stars did make such comments, it’s a wide gap between saying so and doing so.
The dream scenario would no doubt involve Kevin Love, who went to high school in Oregon, but there’s been no indication that the Timberwolves star is considering a return to his childhood home. The Blazers have little in the way of up-and-coming young assets to offer the Timberwolves in a trade this summer, aside from Lillard, whom the team surely wouldn’t surrender. Nicolas Batum flirted with the Timberwolves in 2012, but that was when David Kahn was the GM in Minnesota, and new front office chief Flip Saunders might not be as high on the long-armed small forward. Still, Batum, at age 25, looms as the linchpin of any major trade Olshey might undertake this summer. He’s not a superstar like Lillard or Aldridge, and not the textbook role player that Robin Lopez is, either. Matthews is coming off a career year, but he’s more than two years older than Batum and doesn’t possess the same kind of tantalizing upside.
Batum averaged fewer points this year than the season before for the first time since he entered the NBA in 2008, but he set new career highs with 7.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest. His defensive prowess is difficult to measure, given the deficiencies of the bench unit and the team’s overall sieve-like performance this season, but his 3.1 defensive win shares were the most in his career by a significant margin, according to Basketball-Reference. His nearly 7’1″ wingspan indicates his potential as he continues to mature and pick up the nuances of NBA defense. Surely there are teams higher on him than others, and if Olshey can find the most infatuated of his front office peers, perhaps Batum can be at the center of a trade package for a star.
Any such trade would probably require Portland to give up future first-round picks, a concern given the team’s lack of draft picks this year. The Blazers would be able to trade their 2015 pick as soon as this year’s draft is over, but it’s difficult to build a team for the long haul without underpriced first-round talent. Lillard and perhaps C.J. McCollum embody that for the Blazers now, but Lillard is due for a new deal in 2016, and that plus a new max deal for Aldridge would take up a significant chunk of the team’s cap flexibility. Sacrificing too much of the future to accelerate the climb to contention has consequences that can prevent the Blazers from ever reaching the summit.
A daring GM might consider trading a starter to acquire a lottery pick this year, but taking a step back before the last season of Aldridge’s contract would be too risky for most. There’s better logic in largely standing pat, identifying the best mid-level and biannual targets, and hoping Lillard takes yet another stride forward in year three. That probably wouldn’t allow the team a clear shot at the Western Conference Finals, but little other than the instant construction of a superteam a la the Heat in 2010 would accomplish that feat, given the strength of the West. There’s a strong chance the Blazers will have to settle for another second round finish at best next season, leaving Aldridge to wonder whether the team is flat-lining.
The Blazers find themselves in a position similar to the one Golden State found itself in last season. The Warriors went out in the second round to San Antonio, their best success in years, but they entered the 2013 offseason capped out. GM Bob Myers pulled off a complicated trade for Andre Iguodala that seemed like a significant upgrade at the time, but it ultimately resulted in no real advancement in a challenging Western Conference. The Warriors gave up multiple future first-rounders to accomplish what seems like a lateral move one year later. Olshey was certainly watching his neighbor to the south, and I don’t expect him to follow Golden State’s lead and reach for a trade this summer. Batum is the only Blazer with guaranteed salary beyond next season, and Olshey will have ample opportunity to show Aldridge what he can do next summer, just as the star is set to make his final decision on his next contract.
Cap footnotes
* — Williams has twice expressed his intent to opt out, so assuming he does, his cap hold will be $3,182,400.
** — Barton’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 31st.
ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.
Steve Kerr On Warriors, Knicks, Mark Jackson
Steve Kerr turned the Warriors down the first time they asked him to interview, GM Bob Myers told reporters, including Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press, but when Stan Van Gundy took the Pistons job, agent Mike Tannenbaum called the Warriors to set up a meeting. That was the sit-down in Oklahoma City that led the Tannenbaum client and the Warriors to agree on a deal, and the team’s new coach covered plenty of topics in his introductory press conference today, as we detail:
- The coach made his preference for a team with high aspirations clear, signaling part of the reason why he chose Golden State over the Knicks, observes Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com. “I would much rather have talent and expectations than a low bar with a [rebuilding] process ahead,” Kerr said.
- A hectic postseason broadcasting schedule slowed what appeared to be a fast track to New York, Kerr admitted, as RealGM notes via Twitter.
- Kerr said he questioned the Warriors brass on why they fired Mark Jackson, and said that it was refreshing to hear Myers and co-owner Joe Lacob admit their mistakes regarding the former Warriors coach, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group.
- Kerr declined to answer whether he thinks the Warriors are a championship team, saying only that they’re a “very good team,” Thompson also notes (Twitter link).
- Former NBA head coaches will be among those Kerr said he’ll target for his coaching staff as he seeks an experienced hand to help him along in his first year on the bench, as Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle pass along (on Twitter).
Prospect Profile: Sean Kilpatrick
On an individual level, Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick left school on a high note and gave teams a strong reminder of what he can do at the NBA level. The guard put up 20.6 points per contest and was a workhorse for the Bearcats, playing 33.6 minutes per game. More importantly, he was able to do it all more efficiently than in his junior campaign. Kilpatrick’s percentages suffered in 2013 as he was asked to shoot more than ever at 14.4 attempts per game, but he turned things around while taking 14.9 shots per contest last season.
What Kilpatrick does better than most is score and his jump shot should put him in the mix for the mid-to-late second round. However, he wants to make teams aware of what he can do on the other side of the floor.
“They talk about me as a guy that can score in bunches because that’s the main thing that has been displayed for the last couple of years,” Kilpatrick told Hoops Rumors. “But, I’m a pretty good defender as well and that’s something I want to keep showing teams. It’s not just about scoring. If you can be a lock-down defender that will help you in the long run and that’s something I want to focus on.”
A fall writeup on Kilpatrick from Josh Riddell of DraftExpress expressed concern about Kilpatrick’s size, and it’s safe to assume that it’s a concern for teams as well. At 6’4″, the Cincinnati product is a two-guard with typical one-guard dimensions, but he’s not the least bit worried about that.
“It’s not a problem. If you can score with the basketball it shouldn’t matter how tall you are,” the 24-year-old said. “You got guys that are like 6’7″ out there playing the two, but a guy like Wesley Matthews on the Blazers, he’s a two but he can also shoot the ball and he’s a lot smaller than most. He can defend and shoot the ball when he gets open. You can’t base anything on height. If you can score, you can score.”
Because he was asked to lead the scoring charge every night for Cincinnati, Kilpatrick’s field goal percentage suffered a drop in his junior season. However, things leveled off this past season and Kilpatrick credits coach Mick Cronin for helping him improve his shot selection. That’ll be an extremely important asset for Kilpatrick as he makes the transition to the pros. In a draft that’s short on shooters in the first round, there’s a strong chance a team drafts Kilpatrick in the second round thanks to his ability to fire from long distance.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.