Pacific Notes: Bogut, Green, Suns, Lakers
Trading for Andrew Bogut in 2012 was a turning point for the Warriors, who clinched the league’s best record Thursday, writes USA Today’s Sam Amick. Bogut, who signed a rare veteran extension in 2013, credits the owners and GM Bob Myers for reviving a team that was “in shambles” upon his arrival. That certainly makes it easier to stomach paying the 15% bonus that Bogut appears poised to trigger. There’s more on the Warriors amid the latest from the Pacific Division:
- It’s been a “fitful” season for the Suns, as president of basketball operations Lon Babby puts it, and he acknowledges that the team’s deadline trades were made with the long term in mind and compromised the team this season, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details. Babby also said he continues to support GM Ryan McDonough and coach Jeff Hornacek.
- Myers makes it clear in a long piece from Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams that the Warriors are thinking of soon-to-be restricted free agent Draymond Green as a part of the team beyond the end of his contract this summer. “We really like him,” Myers said. “We believe he’s a core member of our team and we believe he’s a big part of our future.”
- Management, and not Kobe Bryant, is to blame for the inability of the Lakers to attract marquee free agents the past two summers, as Matt Barnes opines to Chris Ballard of SI.com. Barnes spent 2010/11 and 2011/12 with the Lakers before moving on to the Clippers. A report in October cited agents and team sources who said Bryant was driving free agents away from the Lakers.
Draft Notes: Kentucky, Poeltl, Jones
Kentucky University will attempt to set a new record this year by having seven players drafted by NBA teams this June. Kevin Pelton, Fran Fraschilla, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) released their scouting reports on Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Trey Lyles, all of whom announced that they will be leaving Kentucky. Also declaring for the draft today for the Wildcats were Dakari Johnson, Aaron Harrison, and Andrew Harrison.
Here’s more from the college ranks:
- Utah freshman center Jakob Poeltl is still undecided about entering the 2015 NBA draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Poeltl is the No. 11 overall prospect according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Ford (Insider subscription required) places the big man at No. 14.
- Auburn senior guard Antoine Mason, son of former NBA player Anthony Mason, has signed a deal with agent Keith Glass, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Mason is a longshot to be selected in June and doesn’t appear amongst the top 100 prospects in either Givony’s or Ford’s rankings.
- Tyus Jones, Duke’s freshman point guard, hasn’t made up his mind regarding entering this year’s NBA draft, Chip Scoggins of The Star Tribune writes. “I don’t have a timeline,” Jones told Scoggins. “I’m just going to take it slowly and weigh both options. Ultimately just make the right and smart decision. I don’t have a timeline. I’ll sit down with my family, sit down with my coaches and talk about everything and get as much information as possible.” Jones is ranked No. 21 by Givony and No. 24 by Ford.
- The Rockets are one of the teams that are looking at selecting Jones if he were to enter the draft, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets. Houston owns the Pelicans‘ first-rounder this year, which is likely to fall in the No. 14-18 range, Wolfson adds, which is where the team could target Jones.
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Hawks
The D-League’s regular season is now complete, and the three-round D-League playoffs are underway. The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season.
We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll begin with a look back at how the Hawks utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Affiliation Type: Shared
D-League Team Record: 28-22
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 3
Total D-League Assignments: 11
Player Stats While On Assignment:
- John Jenkins: 2 assignments, 5 games, 19.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 0.6 APG. .594/.333/1.000
- Mike Muscala: 5 assignments, 6 games, 12.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 1.7 APG. .475/.500/.857.
- Adreian Payne: 4 assignments, 6 games, 13.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, and 2.3 APG. .409/.000/.818
D-League Signings
- Austin Daye (Erie BayHawks-Magic Affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on March 15th; 2nd 10-day on March 25th; Signed a multiyear deal on April 3rd.
- Jarell Eddie (Austin Spurs-Spurs Affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on March 5th.
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 20th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled November 23rd)
- November 28th: Assigned John Jenkins (Recalled December 8th)
- November 28th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled December 6th)
- December 6th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 8th)
- December 9th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled December 22nd)
- December 19th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 20th)
- December 28th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 29th)
- December 30th: Assigned John Jenkins (Recalled January 20th)
- December 30th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled January 12th)
- February 7th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled February 8th)
- March 1st: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled March 2nd)
Southeast Notes: Hennigan, Tavares, Harris
Magic CEO Alex Martins wouldn’t confirm that the team will seek an extension with GM Rob Hennigan, but Martins made it clear to Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel that he’s quite pleased with Hennigan’s performance. The GM’s deal currently runs through next season. “Rob has maximized our return on every single transaction he’s been a part of from a player personnel standpoint,” Martins said. “He has taken our roster and assets, built and improved upon them and is putting the pieces in place for sustained, long-term success.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Discussing 2014 draft-and-stash big man Edy Tavares, who is also known as Walter Tavares, Hawks director of international scouting Himar Ojeda relayed that the franchise may indeed sign the player for next season, Mariano Galindo of Zoom News writes (translation by HoopsHype).”It’s too early to tell if we’re bringing him in for next season because we don’t know how the roster is going to look like and it’s not just our decision, but his too,” Ojeda said. “But yes, we seriously consider the possibility of bringing him in for the 2015/16 season.“
- Magic forward Tobias Harris insists that he hasn’t ruminated about potentially becoming a restricted free agent this summer, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “This is the team I’m on right now,” Harris said. “This is the team I’m focused on. That’s all I can worry about. I trust in God’s plan for my life, and everything that’s going to happen in the future I know will work out for the best. That’s how I look at it. There’s a lot of things you have to look at in any type of free agency, but what I think what everybody’s beginning to forget is that [I’ll be] a restricted free agent. So whatever happens, it’s in the organization’s hands to make a call. So I think everybody has to really keep that in mind and not just say, ‘You might want to go here and there.’“
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford‘s salary for the 2015/16 season became guaranteed when the team qualified for the playoffs during the 2013/14 campaign, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. Clifford’s contract contains a clause that if the franchise made the playoffs in either of Clifford’s first two seasons, the third season would become fully guaranteed, Bonnell notes. Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported this news.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
2015/16 Salary Commitments: Spurs
With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.
We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.
We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Spurs’ cap outlook for 2015/16…
Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:
- Kyle Anderson — $1,142,879
- Boris Diaw — $7.5MM
- Patrick Mills — $3,578,947
- Tony Parker — $13,437,500
- Tiago Splitter — $8.5MM
Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:
- Reggie Williams — $1,185,784
Players with options:
- None
The Spurs’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:
- Guaranteed Salary: $34,159,326
- Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $1,185,784
- Total: $35,345,110
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Thabo Sefolosha Out For The Season
5:50pm: The fracture is in Sefolosha’s fibula, not his tibia, as Vivlamore writes.
5:37pm: Sefolosha also suffered ligament damage in his leg and will require surgery, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link).
3:31pm: Charania has amended his earlier report regarding Sefolosha’s injuries (Twitter link). The veteran has a fractured tibia in his leg, and an MRI is being performed to check for further damage, Charania relays. He’s still expected to miss the rest of 2014/15.
3:11pm: Hawks swingman Thabo Sefolosha has been diagnosed with a broken ankle and will be lost for the remainder of the season and playoffs, Shams Charania of RealGM.com reports (Twitter link). The 30-year-old sustained the injury during the nightclub incident that saw Pacers forward Chris Copeland stabbed, and teammate Pero Antic also sustain minor injuries. Both Sefolosha and Antic were arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration, among other charges, as they allegedly refused to move when police were setting up a crime scene.
This news certainly comes as a blow to Atlanta. The team has clinched the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, thanks in large part to its excellent depth. The Hawks currently have 15 players on their roster, which means a player would have to be released in order for the team to add some depth to replace the loss of Sefolosha.
Sefolosha was acquired by the team last July in a sign-and-trade agreement with the Thunder. In 52 appearances this season for the Hawks Sefolosha averaged 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 18.8 minutes per contest. His career averages are 5.8 PPG, 3.8 PPG, and 1.5 APG. Sefolosha’s career slash line is .440/.346/.749.
Jahlil Okafor To Enter NBA Draft
Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor intends to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). This news comes as little surprise since Okafor has been projected as a top three selection in 2015 prior to the Blue Devil’s season even commencing. The big man helped lead Duke to the NCAA championship this season, and had little to gain career-wise by returning for his sophomore campaign.
The 6’11” center’s hold on the No. 1 prospect ranking has been under siege by Kentucky forward Karl-Anthony Towns, who also announced his intentions to enter the draft today. Okafor is currently the No. 2 overall player on the top 100 of both Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
In 38 games this season for the Blue Devils Okafor averaged 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 30.1 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .664/.000/.510.
Atlantic Notes: King, Thomas, Ainge, Young
The Nets will be almost certainly be picking 29th thanks to their pick swap with the Hawks as called for in the Joe Johnson trade, but it would appear to be in keeping with owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s philosophy.
“If you analyze a championship team, 20% is draft picks and 80% of it is trades,” Prokhorov said to reporters Wednesday, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
Prokhorov expressed comfort with GM Billy King and praised his “bold” approach, Prokhorov also said, complimenting coach Lionel Hollins, too, seemingly indicating that both will be back next season, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. We passed along more from Prokhorov’s chat with the media earlier today, and there’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Lance Thomas has started 33 games this season and 20 with the Knicks, earning praise from team president Phil Jackson, and the New Jersey native signaled a desire to re-sign with New York in unrestricted free agency this summer. Thomas made his remarks in a video interview with Jonah Ballow of Knicks.com. “My experience as a Knick has been great, and I hope it doesn’t end,” Thomas said. “This is my hometown team, and I would love to represent New York, so I’m going to do everything in my power to hopefully make that happen.”
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is impressed with how his roster has performed after all the trades he pulled off, as Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe details. Ainge named soon-to-be free agents Jae Crowder and Brandon Bass among several he believes have excelled.
- The Kevin Garnett/Thaddeus Young trade has been a steal for the Nets, argues Daniel LoGuidice of NetsDaily, who believes the arrival of Young, and not the resurgence of Brook Lopez, was the true catalyst for Brooklyn’s late-season run for a playoff spot. Bontemps, writing in a separate piece, believes Young’s on-court presence has helped Lopez operate so effectively. Young hasn’t decided on his player option for next season but has said he wants to remain in Brooklyn.
Towns Headlines 7 Kentucky Players Off To Draft
Forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns and six other Kentucky underclassmen are entering this year’s draft, as they formally announced today in a joint press conference. Towns, whom both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress project as the No. 1 pick, joins center Willie Cauley-Stein, power forward Trey Lyles, shooting guard Devin Booker, center Dakari Johnson, combo guard Andrew Harrison and shooting guard Aaron Harrison in declaring for the draft. Point guard Tyler Ulis, Ford‘s 47th-ranked prospect and Givony‘s No. 88, is staying in school, as are power forward Marcus Lee and injured combo forward Alex Poythress, neither of whom was a top-60 prospect for this year’s draft.
Towns, a freshman, passed Duke center Jahlil Okafor in Ford and Givony’s rankings during the NCAA Tournament, though it still appears it’ll be a close call among the two for whichever NBA team wins the draft lottery. The 7-foot Towns averaged only 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game, but it was chiefly the profoundly deep Wildcats roster that kept his numbers down.
Cauley-Stein could easily have been a second-year NBA player by now had he come out as a freshman instead of as a junior as he’s doing now. Givony has him sixth and Ford seventh in their respective rankings after he put up 8.9 PPG and 6.4 RPG in 25.9 MPG, another example of a Wildcat’s stats as a poor reflection of his talent.
Lyles is No. 18 with Ford and No. 19 with Givony after a freshman season spent in and out of the starting lineup. He put up 8.7 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 23.0 MPG. For more on Booker, Johnson, and the Harrison twins, click on their names in this sentence to see earlier reports indicating that they would declare for the draft.
The seven will collectively attempt to set a record for the most players drafted from one school in a single year. The current mark is six, shared by Kentucky in 2012 and UNLV in 1977, though the draft was an eight-round affair when UNLV pulled off its feat. The swing player would appear to be Aaron Harrison, who isn’t within the top 60 prospects in Ford’s and Givony’s rankings. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com nonetheless hears from many around the league who believe he’ll be drafted in the second round.
Devin Booker To Declare For Draft
Kentucky freshman shooting guard Devin Booker will enter this year draft, sources tell Evan Daniels of Scout.com (Twitter link). Kentucky coach John Calipari indicated earlier this week that he and Dakari Johnson were on the fence, but with Johnson also reportedly headed for the draft, it appears the Wildcats will be sending seven underclassmen to the pros this year. The Wildcats prospects are set to formally announce their decisions within the hour.
Booker is the 17th-ranked prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress ratings, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him 19th. Calipari somewhat curiously used the 6’6″ 18-year-old as a reserve behind Aaron Harrison, who appears at best to be a second-round prospect. Still, Booker, who turns 19 in October, saw a fair amount of playing time in Kentucky’s platoon system, racking up 10.0 points in 21.5 minutes per game. He shot 41.1% from behind the arc, and that’s a key to his game, as he struggles getting to the rim, as Ford notes in his profile.
He’s was No. 13 in the latest Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Power Rankings, which debuted before the NCAA Tournament, and Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote then that the postseason would serve as a stage for him to truly make his mark as a long-distance threat. Booker failed to seize the opportunity, going just 4 for 15 in Kentucky’s first four tournament games, and he didn’t attempt a three-pointer in the team’s loss to Wisconsin in the national semifinals.