2014 October | Hoops Rumors

Hawks To Decline Option On John Jenkins

October 30th, 2014 at 10:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hawks intend to decline their fourth-year team option on the rookie scale contract of John Jenkins, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). If Atlanta had exercised the option they would have been on the hook for Jenkins’ 2015/16 salary of $2,228,025, but now he’s set up for unrestricted free agency next summer. The Hawks can still try to re-sign Jenkins, but they won’t be able to offer him more than the amount of his option, and this also would go for any team that acquired him by trade during the 2014/15 season.

Atlanta has approximately $41,215,385 in guaranteed salary on the books for the 2015/16 season, including the $1,763,400 third-year team option for Dennis Schröder which the team had picked up earlier this evening. Jenkins isn’t a big part of the Hawks’ rotation, and the team may feel better served in keeping as much cap space free as possible heading into next summer’s free agency period, when they also will have to make a decision regarding Paul Millsap, whose team-friendly $9.5MM deal expires at season’s end.

In 74 career games since being selected with the 23rd overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, Jenkins’ numbers are 5.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG, and 0.96 APG. His career slash line is .438/.365/.851.

Pacific Notes: Jordan, Thompson, Ballmer

October 30th, 2014 at 8:58pm CST by Eddie Scarito

DeAndre Jordan is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, but his comments to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register make it clear that he enjoys playing for coach Doc Rivers, who doubles as president of basketball operations for the Clippers. “Doc, and he knows this, has changed my career from whatever it was to whatever it is now and into whatever it’s going to be,” Jordan said. “I owe him a lot. He gave me a chance without even knowing me as a person or as a player to be on this team and to be a piece. I feel like I owe him a lot for believing in me before we even had one practice or one conversation.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors GM Bob Myers expects negotiations to continue into the season regarding Klay Thompson‘s extension, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. With the regular season getting underway Tuesday night, it is to be assumed that Myers was referring to the talks continuing from then up until the 11pm deadline this Friday.
For his part, Thompson is also willing to continue negotiating with the Warriors up until the deadline, tweets Marcus Thompson of The Bay Area News Group. Klay Thompson has expressed a preference for the security of an extension rather than a one-year deal next summer that would allow him to hit unrestricted free agency in 2016.
Steve Ballmer has been a breath of fresh air for the Clippers organization in the wake of this summer’s Donald Sterling scandal that led to the former owner’s ouster, as Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report writes in his profile of the franchise’s new owner.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Hawks Pick Up Dennis Schröder’s Option

October 30th, 2014 at 7:08pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hawks have picked up their third-year team option for Dennis Schröder, according to the RealGM transactions log. Schröder is scheduled to make $1,763,400 during the 2015/16 campaign, and Atlanta now has approximately $41,215,385 in guaranteed salary on the books for that season, including Schröder’s money.

It’s not a surprise that the Hawks would pick up Schröder’s option, despite him not living up to having been the 17th overall selection in the 2013 NBA draft, at least to this point. With Jeff Teague entrenched as the starter, and under contract through 2016/17, Atlanta still hopes that Schröder can develop into a serviceable backup, and potential successor to Teague.

In 50 career games Schröder has averaged 3.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG, and 1.9 APG. His slash line is .383/.238/.667.

Warriors Pick Up Barnes Option, Decline Nedovic

October 30th, 2014 at 6:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Warriors have exercised their fourth-year team option for Harrison Barnes, the team has announced in a press release. The team also intends to decline their third-year option for Nemanja Nedovic, the press release noted. With Golden State also picking up their team option for Festus Ezeli earlier today, the Warriors now have an estimated $62MM in guaranteed salary commitments for the 2015/16 season. That figure doesn’t include Klay Thompson, who is currently in talks with the team regarding a contract extension.

The 22-year-old Barnes has appeared in 160 games, including 106 as a starter, in his three seasons in Golden State. He has averaged 9.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.3 APG, and his career slash line is .418/.349/.737. Barnes, who was selected with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft, was a First Team All-Rookie selection in 2012/13.

Nedovic, 23, appeared in 24 games with the Warriors last season as a rookie, averaging 1.1 points in 5.9 minutes per contest. It’s not a surprise that Golden State would decline their option on Nedovic, seeing as he is currently buried on the depth chart as the fourth point guard.

Warriors Pick Up Option On Festus Ezeli

October 30th, 2014 at 6:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 6:09pm: Golden State has officially exercised Ezeli’s option, the team has announced.

WEDNESDAY, 9:13am: The Warriors will exercise their team option to keep Festus Ezeli on his rookie scale contract through 2015/16, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Ezeli will make nearly $2.009MM that season, as our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker shows. The club also has 2015/16 rookie scale team options pending with Harrison Barnes and Nemanja Nedovic, with a decision due by the end of Friday.

Ezeli missed all of 2013/14 after undergoing right knee surgery, but he played a key role the previous year as a rookie, starting 41 games. He averaged 2.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per contest over 78 appearances during the season as a whole. The now 25-year-old Ezeli saw just 15 minutes total in two preseason games this month, but it appears the Warriors are willing to let him prove his health over a longer period of time before giving up on the final pick of the 2012 first round.

Golden State is facing a salary crunch for the 2015/16 season, as Ezeli’s option will lift the team’s guaranteed salaries to about $58.1MM. That doesn’t include any money for Klay Thompson, who’s pushing for the maximum salary in extension talks with the team. A max deal for Thompson and picking up the team option on Barnes would put Golden State at roughly $77MM in guaranteed salary to eight players, and that doesn’t count a nearly $1.271MM player option for Brandon Rush and assumes the team turns down Nedovic’s option. That figure would put Golden State above this season’s $76.829MM luxury tax line, and while that line is expected to rise for 2015/16, it’s unclear by how much.

Undrafted Rookies On Opening-Night Rosters

October 30th, 2014 at 2:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

When an NBA prospect doesn’t hear his name called on draft night the year that he’s eligible to be selected, it’s hardly a death sentence for his chances of playing in the league. For many such players, it’s actually an advantage to go undrafted, since that allows them to negotiate with 30 NBA teams instead of just one. Few, if any, players who are passed over on draft night can say in the immediate aftermath that it’s likely that they’ll someday be in the Association, but it didn’t stop the 84 undrafted players who appeared in an NBA game last season.

I listed the undrafted rookies who’d secured deals within about two months after the draft this year, but many more signed after that, and several of the players on that August list failed to make it to opening night. It’s not uncommon to see several undrafted rookies dot training camp rosters around the league, but most of them don’t end up making it to opening night.

There were 13 undrafted rookies on opening-night rosters two years ago when I made a similar examination, and this year there are 11. The Pacers are the only team that has two such rookies. One of them, Shayne Whittington, is from this year’s draft class, while the other, Damjan Rudez, comes from overseas after going undrafted back in 2008, demonstrating both of the paths that this year’s undrafted first-year players have taken. Joe Ingles of the Jazz and Zoran Dragic of the Suns are the other rookies who hail from outside North America and who played international ball for years after the NBA passed them up on draft night. This season, they’ve finally come to the NBA.

Here’s the complete list of the undrafted rookies on opening-night rosters this year, along with their teams and the year in which they were eligible for the draft:

Tarik Black, Rockets (2014)
Andre Dawkins, Heat (2014)
Zoran Dragic, Suns (2011)
Alex Kirk, Cavaliers (2014)
Joe Ingles, Jazz (2009)
Eric Moreland, Kings (2014)
Damjan Rudez, Pacers (2008)
JaKarr Sampson, Sixers (2014)
Travis Wear, Knicks (2014)
Shayne Whittington, Pacers (2014)
Patric Young, Pelicans (2014)

Extensions Unlikely For Leonard, Butler

October 30th, 2014 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 1:59pm: Johnson suggests the potential remains that Friday’s 11:00pm Central time deadline will motivate Butler and the Bulls to strike a deal, but the Chicago Tribune scribe adds that the sides remain far apart in their proposals (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 11:54am: Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler are unlikely to sign extensions with the Spurs and Bulls, respectively, before Friday’s deadline, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Leonard is reportedly seeking the maximum salary, and while a recent report indicated Butler and the Bulls were “millions apart” in talks, that sort of separation is not uncommon in the days leading up to the rookie scale extension deadline. Broussard also hears the Knicks won’t grant an extension to Iman Shumpert, advancing the reporting of ESPN colleague Ian Begley.

Bulls GM Gar Forman said earlier today that he’d met with Butler’s agent, Happy Walters, and that Butler’s left thumb injury wouldn’t affect negotiations, tweets David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune. The injury is expected to keep him out no longer than three weeks, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes (Twitter links). It’s unlikely that the eye infection that plagued Leonard throughout the preseason and forced him to miss San Antonio’s opening night game Tuesday would affect an extension for him, either.

The Spurs and Brian Elfus, who represents Leonard, have reportedly met several times in the past few weeks but have made no progress, though the Spurs appear poised to match any maximum salary offer sheet that Leonard would sign in restricted free agency next summer. The reigning Finals MVP appears prepared to buck the tradition of San Antonio’s stars agreeing to discounts, though the Spurs could still prevail on Leonard to do so next summer even if they can’t convince him to take less in an extension by the end of Friday.

Butler expressed confidence just days ago that he and the Bulls would come to an extension, so presumably talks, which the swingman said a month ago were going in the right direction, have hit a snag. Chicago apparently had a preference to come to an extension rather than let Butler, who turned 25 last month, hit restricted free agency. The Bulls have about $60.2MM tied up for 2015/16, and Kirk Hinrich holds a nearly $2.9MM player option, so Chicago probably wouldn’t have the cap flexibility to replace Butler if he were to sign an offer sheet and Forman and company decided against matching.

Hornets Notes: Walker, Taylor, Jefferson

October 30th, 2014 at 1:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

The start of the season has gone just about as well as could be scripted for Kemba Walker and the Hornets, who reached a deal on a four-year, $48MM extension Tuesday and formally announced it today. In between, Walker hit the game-winning shot to give Charlotte an overtime victory Wednesday in its first regular season game since reclaiming the Hornets nickname. Here’s more from The Hive:

Hornets GM Rich Cho didn’t hide his enthusiasm about the Walker extension, and Walker is excited, too, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer notes (Twitter links). “I would love to be here as long as I can,” Walker said. “I love the city of Charlotte.”
Jeff Taylor received 18 months of probation and was ordered to pay $1,840 today after pleading guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor domestic assault and property destruction charges, reports Kevin Grasha of the Lansing State Journal. Taylor remains on paid leave from the Hornets, and Cho said today that the team will take its cues from the league, noting that the NBA has yet to finish its investigation of the matter, Bonnell observes (Twitter links).
Al Jefferson can hit free agency in the summer if he turns down his $13.5MM player option, but Michael Jordan made it clear earlier this week that he has no intention of letting the center get away, as the owner told Bonnell. “Al is a straight shooter. We love him,” Jordan said. “He took a gamble on us. That obviously plays into our thinking.”

Minor Moves: Covington, Mekel, Heat, Warriors

October 30th, 2014 at 12:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Robert Covington nearly had a deal with the Sixers this week shortly after the Rockets waived him, but talks broke down over contract length and the 23-year-old forward is expected to sign with the D-League instead, Shams Charania of RealGM reports. Philadelphia offered a four-year arrangement with a “high” amount of guaranteed salary, Charania writes, but Covington apparently passed on that. The sides were unable to forge a deal on a shorter contract, Charania notes. Covington joins K.J. McDaniels, the 32nd pick in this year’s draft who inked with the Sixers for just one year, among those resisting Philly’s efforts to tie up young players on long-term deals. The deluge of players hitting waivers in the past week has led to news around the D-League and international circuits, and we’ll pass along the latest here:

Gal Mekel isn’t thinking of heading overseas to play in the wake of the Mavs‘ decision to waive him Wednesday, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com, so he’ll remain free to sign with another NBA team providing he clears waivers.
Khem Birch, Larry Drew II, Tyler Johnson and Shawn Jones have agreed to join the Heat‘s D-League affiliate, reports Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Miami is using its ability to reserve the D-League rights to up to four of its preseason cuts to keep Birch, Johnson and Jones out of the D-League draft, but Drew played with the Heat’s D-League affiliate last year, so he wouldn’t have been subject to the draft. That allows the Heat to preserve their ability to retain the D-League rights to one player they waive during the regular season. Andre Dawkins seems a likely candidate for that sort of maneuver, Winderman suggests (on Twitter).
Sean Kilpatrick will play for the Warriors D-League affiliate, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, who confirms an earlier report that Aaron Craft will do the same. That means Golden State retained the D-League rights to both after waiving them last week.

Hornets Sign Kemba Walker To Extension

October 30th, 2014 at 12:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Kemba Walker and the Hornets have officially signed a rookie-scale extension, the team acknowledged in a formal announcement. Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported on Tuesday that the sides had agreed to terms on what is a four-year, $48MM deal. It contains no options or incentive clauses, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) confirms. Earlier Tuesday, Hornets owner Michael Jordan made it known that he intended to work out a new deal with Walker.

“Today is a great day for the Charlotte Hornets,” Hornets GM Rich Cho said in the team’s statement. “To be able to retain such an important piece of the core we are building here in Charlotte is exciting. Kemba is an integral part of the culture we’re trying to create within our organization and we are excited that he will continue to be a part of our team for years to come.”

Walker, a Jeff Schwartz client, averaged 17.7 PPG, 6.1 APG, and 4.2 RPG in a career-high 35.8 minutes per contest last season. Walker’s scoring average was identical to his 2012/13 mark and he’s accustomed to being a leading scorer for Charlotte. However, not everyone sees him as a go-to player and his $12MM average annual salary is sure to draw some criticism. About a month ago, Zach Lowe of Grantland wrote that he has heard from executives around the league that the the UConn product is not a “championship point guard.” Walker got his first taste of NBA postseason basketball last season and Charlotte has a good shot at a return trip this year.

As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors pointed out earlier, the Hornets had about $22.7MM in guaranteed salary on the books for 2015/16 prior to the Walker agreement, though that number increases when factoring in a $13.5MM player option for Al Jefferson, $10MM+ in rookie scale team options that the team has since exercised, and a $6MM player option for Gerald Henderson. With that in mind, the new deal for Walker doesn’t leave the Hornets much room to add an impact free agent next summer. However, if the Hornets didn’t lock up Walker to a new deal before then, they would have risked seeing two top players — Jefferson and Walker — potentially hit the open market.

Even though Walker’s scoring average stayed the same from 2012/13 to 2013/14, his shooting percentage dipped from 42.3% to 39.3% as his uptick in long two-point attempts cost him some accuracy. That slide was also reflected in his PER as it declined from 18.8 in 2012/13 to 16.8 this past season. Walker’s PER score in 2013/14 put him 17th amongst all qualified point guards.

Kyrie Irving, Kenneth Faried, Markieff Morris, and Marcus Morris have also taken advantage of the extension window that opened on July 1st.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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