Southeast Notes: Wade, Bynum, Borrego
Heat teammates are in the dark about Dwyane Wade‘s contract situation, and even Mario Chalmers, who’s spoken to Wade, doesn’t know what will happen, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel details. Wade would reportedly like to opt out and is open to leaving the Heat, who would apparently prefer that he opt in, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported. I looked at the dynamics between Wade and the Heat in depth earlier today as I examined the offseason ahead for Miami. Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Guangdong Southern Tigers have given Will Bynum a standing offer to return to China on a three-year deal, as Bynum tells Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. The point guard, whose contract with the Wizards expires at month’s end, said to Castillo that he’s “definitely considering” the Chinese offer but will seek a comparable NBA pact before committing to it.
- Speaking of standing offers, former interim coach James Borrego has one from the Magic to return to the team as an assistant coach, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com amid a full piece that advances his earlier report on interest in the coach from the Thunder and Pelicans. Borrego is expected to make his decision this week about whether to stay with the Magic, Stein adds.
- The Hornets are holding a predraft workout today for Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell, UNC Charlotte’s Pierria Henry, UTEP’s Vince Hunter, Davidson’s Tyler Kalinoski, Nebraska’s Terran Petteway and William & Mary’s Marcus Thornton, the team announced (on Twitter).
Mavs Biggest Threat To Sign LaMarcus Aldridge
The Mavericks are the “biggest threat” to sign LaMarcus Aldridge away from the Trail Blazers this summer, writes Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, citing league sources who nonetheless add that it’s the idea of returning to his native Texas, and not any specific team, that appeals him. Still, the Spurs are either no longer among his preferred destinations or rank low among them, several sources tell Bucher. The Rockets, unlike Dallas and San Antonio, haven’t drawn frequent mention as an Aldridge suitor. The Lakers and Knicks, two other teams that planned to go after Aldridge, aren’t viable options because of their status as rebuilding teams, Bucher hears, while league sources who spoke with Bucher are skeptical that the Celtics, another suitor, hold much appeal.
Still, it’s unclear if Aldridge sits atop the list of priorities for the Mavs, according to Bucher. Dallas, which has apparently been planning to pursue the Arn Tellem client since at least November, also reportedly intends to pursue DeAndre Jordan this summer.
Aldridge doesn’t feel the same way as he did a year ago when he pledged to re-sign with the Blazers as a free agent this July, and the idea that it’s time for a change is driving his desire to look elsewhere, sources tell Bucher. The All-Star power forward can be fickle, as The Oregonian’s Jason Quick wrote several weeks ago, and that’s evidenced not only by his apparent change of heart regarding a long-term commitment to the Blazers but also his apparent waning interest in the Spurs. San Antonio was “near or at” the top of Aldridge’s wish list, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote earlier in the offseason. Bucher reiterates his earlier report that the Spurs are tentatively planning for Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to return, a scenario that would make it more difficult for the Spurs to go after Aldridge or another max-salary free agent. That nonetheless conflicts with what Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wrote a few weeks ago when he heard that the prevailing belief within the Spurs organization was that Duncan would likely be back and Ginobili would probably retire.
In any case, uncertainty surrounding Wesley Matthews, who’s recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon, “changes everything” for Aldridge, a league exec tells Bucher. The Bleacher Report scribe speculates that Aldridge may be worried about Portland’s commitment to re-signing Matthews, a close friend of Aldridge’s. Bucher mentions Aldridge’s cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that he was diagnosed with years ago, as a reason that teams may be somewhat wary of a deal with him, though it would seem as though the No. 3 player on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings will remain a highly sought-after commodity. Bucher suggests the Blazers are concerned that Aldridge doesn’t feel as though the franchise appreciates him as its marquee star, pointing to evidence indicating that Portland has indeed made him its pre-eminent figure.
Offseason Outlook: Miami Heat
Guaranteed Contracts
- Chris Bosh ($22,192,730)
- Josh McRoberts ($5,543,725)
- Chris Andersen ($5,000,000)
- Mario Chalmers ($4,300,000)
- Udonis Haslem ($2,854,940)
- Zoran Dragic ($1,706,250)
- Shabazz Napier ($1,294,440)
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Henry Walker ($1,100,602)1
- Hassan Whiteside ($981,348)
- James Ennis ($845,059)2
- Tyler Johnson ($845,059)3
Options
- Dwyane Wade ($16,125,000 — Player)4
- Luol Deng ($10,151,612 — Player)5
- Goran Dragic ($7,500,000 — Player)6
- Michael Beasley ($1,270,964 — Team)7
Restricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- None
Unrestricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- No. 10 pick ($2,068,100)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (10th overall)
- 2nd Round (40th overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $42,892,085
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $3,772,068
- Options: $35,047,576
- Cap Holds: $2,068,100
- Total: $83,779,829
The suddenly uncertain future of Dwyane Wade has rocked what appeared to be a relatively simple offseason ahead for the Heat. The primary mission had been to re-sign Goran Dragic, a prospect that seemed like a strong bet even as Dragic confirmed that he was turning down his bargain $7.5MM player option. Yet the notion of the Heat as solid front-runners to retain the point guard was shaken when Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported last month that Wade was open to opting out and that if Wade were to leave the Heat, the chances that Dragic would do the same would increase.
Wade reportedly wants a three-year deal, perhaps for as much as $20MM a year, with the Heat preferring that he opt in for his $16.125MM next season and negotiate again next summer, when his existing contract expires. Wade can still score with the best of them in the NBA, finishing 11th in the league with 21.5 points per game. As usual, he dished out more assists than many point guards, racking up 4.8 per game. Still, this past season was the first in which Wade recorded a negative Defensive Box Plus/Minus, a Basketball-Reference metric, and he was a discouraging 77th among shooting guards in ESPN‘s Defensive Real Plus/Minus. The 33-year-old missed 20 games, and it’s become increasingly clear that his body isn’t what it used to be.
The question for the Heat and the rest of the league is just how valuable Wade still is. The Heat have the capacity to pay up to the maximum to retain him, but it would seem unlikely that many teams would be willing to approach that sort of level for a declining star. A one-year offer for the maximum from the Heat might be a logical compromise, but the Heat must be wary of the projected $81.6MM luxury tax line, since they were also taxpayers in three of the last four seasons. Simply bringing back Wade and Luol Deng at the values of their respective player options would mean that the max offer the Heat are expected to make to retain Dragic would give the team approximately $88MM in guaranteed salary for next season, a figure already above the tax line. Another $6MM or so for Wade would cost roughly $18MM in additional taxes. Wade is eminently valuable to the Heat, but perhaps not quite to that extent.
The Heat likely wouldn’t have the capacity to replace Wade with anyone who can score like he can if he were to depart, unless they let go of Dragic and Deng, which presents a catch-22. But in the absence of another team willing to pay dearly for Wade, the Heat may be best advised to let the market dictate Wade’s value. The Heat, should they prove unsuccessful in convincing him to opt in, need not bid against themselves and agree to any sort of deal for Wade without first allowing him to gauge his alternatives.
An opt-in from Deng would help lend some simplicity back to the Heat’s summer, and team president Pat Riley indicated that the Heat would indeed like to keep him. The now 30-year-old didn’t play like the All-Star he once was this past season in Miami, but he nonetheless still looms as a strong complementary piece on the contending team that the Heat want to be. Deng last summer reportedly sought a more lucrative contract than the two-year, nearly $20MM deal he ultimately received, but an underwhelming year in Miami may well have him convinced that he wouldn’t end up with a better deal if he hit the market again this summer. That would suggest that he’d opt in, and while Deng hasn’t indicated that he’s leaning one way or another, he has expressed contentment about playing in Miami.
The uncertainty surrounding Wade, Deng, and perhaps Dragic muddies the draft picture for Miami, which will likely go with the best available talent with the No. 10 pick. The Heat haven’t had the chance to pick in the top 10 since they largely missed with their selection of Michael Beasley in 2008. That suggests that prospects who carry risk, like center Myles Turner of Texas and Latvian power forward Kristaps Porzingis, might not be as attractive to the Heat as known quantities like Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein and Wisconsin power forward Frank Kaminsky. Still, none of them are perimeter players of the sort who might be able to replace Wade, Deng or Dragic should one of them leave. Arizona small forward Stanley Johnson, Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker and Murray State point guard Cameron Payne are prospects in Miami’s range who’d fit that bill. Our Eddie Scarito has the Heat selecting Wisconsin small forward Sam Dekker in the latest Hoops Rumors Mock Draft.
The Heat have another option to contend with around draft time, and it would seem as though Miami is poised to make Beasley a free agent rather than pick up his team option for next season. That wouldn’t necessarily mean the end of the third tenure that the former No. 2 overall pick has had with Miami, as doing so would at least allow the Heat to keep his Non-Bird rights, but the increased flexibility is probably the Heat’s priority with so much else uncertain. The Heat have a series of partial guarantee dates throughout the summer and early season with their four non-guaranteed contracts, giving the Heat the chance to aggregate them via trade to a team looking to clear salary before those guarantee dates kick in. Hassan Whiteside has one of those four non-guaranteed contracts, but he’s not going anywhere, at least until his contract expires in 2016, when the Heat’s bargain find is poised to command a much more player-friendly deal.
The cataclysmic departure of LeBron James last year left the Heat dented, if not devastated, but they’re still in position to quickly bounce back into Eastern Conference contention if Chris Bosh comes back 100% healthy and the core remains intact. The Heat’s ability to keep that nucleus together isn’t as certain as it seemed when the season ended, but Riley is still as canny and creative as ever. Should trouble present itself, the Heat at least have their executive and the allure of South Beach on their side. Miami would certainly prefer not to have to rebuild, but the franchise would probably be able to do so rather quickly.
Cap Footnotes
1 — Walker’s salary would become partially guaranteed for $100K if he remains under contract through August 1st, for $300K if he remains under contract through November 3rd, and for $500K if he remains under contract through December 1st.
2 — The salary for Ennis would become partially guaranteed for $422,530 if he remains under contract through August 1st and fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through December 1st.
3 — Johnson’s salary would become partially guaranteed for $422,530 if he remains under contract through August 1st.
4 — If he opts out, the cap hold for Wade would be the lesser of $22,500,000 and the league’s maximum salary for a veteran of at least 10 seasons, which is likely to end up around that $22.5MM figure.
5 — The cap hold for Deng would be $11,657,353 if he opts out.
6 — The cap hold for Dragic would be $11,250,000 if he opts out, as he plans to do.
7 — The cap hold for Beasley would be $947,276 if the Heat decline their option on him.
The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post.
Cavs Notes: Love, Draft, Dellavedova
Team officials around the league are split on whether Draymond Green or Kevin Love is the better player, and no one on the Warriors would trade Green for Love straight-up these days, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. That represents a dramatic shift from the beginning of the season, but Cavs GM David Griffin, whose team had been discussing Love trades with the Timberwolves two years prior to last August’s trade, is adamant that the Cavs want to keep Love, according to Lowe. There’s more on Love, who likewise continues to insist that he wants to stay in Cleveland, amid the latest on the Cavs:
- Cleveland’s willingness to have given up Andrew Wiggins for Love in the first place was tied to the choice LeBron James made to return to Cleveland, Griffin admitted in his interview with Lowe. “You have a finite window when you’re dealing with a player that’s 30,” Griffin said, citing James’ age. “The organization had wanted Kevin for a while, but we paid the price we paid entirely because of LeBron’s presence.”
- Lowe nonetheless suggests that the Cavs could have kept Wiggins and acquired Thaddeus Young from the Sixers instead of Love, sending salary filler to Philadelphia along with the same first-round pick that ended up going to Sixers in the three-team Love trade.
- The Cavs had workouts scheduled Monday with Arizona power forward Brandon Ashley, Michigan State guard Travis Trice, Wisconsin-Green Bay point guard Keifer Sykes, Louisville swingman Wayne Blackshear and Stanford small forward Anthony Brown, sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).
- Matthew Dellavedova is proving former Cavs GM Chris Grant wise as he makes an outsized impact in the Finals at the tail end of the two-year minimum-salary deal Grant signed him to in 2013, as Chris Mannix of SI.com examines. Dellavedova is set for restricted free agency this summer.
Nuggets Interview David Vanterpool
Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool has interviewed for the Nuggets head coaching job, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who first identified Vanterpool as a candidate for the vacancy in April. Vanterpool is nonetheless not among the favorites for the position, Wojnarowski writes, pointing instead to the interview itself as a boon for the 42-year-old who has just three years of experience as an NBA assistant coach. Wojnarowski refers to interim coach Melvin Hunt, Michael Malone and Mike D’Antoni as strong candidates for the job, the same three names Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post identified as known candidates in a story from overnight.
Other names have nonetheless emerged as well, as the team has interviewed Wizards assistant Don Newman, according to Shams Charania of RealGM, while Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe heard that Mike Woodson might get an interview, too. The Nuggets are believed to want their next coach in place soon so that the new hire can help the team prepare for the draft, Dempsey writes, and an increasing number of coaches around the league foresee the team going with Hunt, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported. Hunt would seemingly have the advantage of incumbency, and it’s clear that the Nuggets players are behind him. Malone is so far the only candidate reported to have drawn a second interview, though the Nuggets are clearly familiar with Hunt’s credentials.
Vanterpool interviewed for the Sixers head coaching job in 2013 and seemingly became the front-runner for that position at one point. That came just one year after he joined the Blazers, a gig that Vanterpool landed after he served in the Thunder’s front office as director of player personnel, Wojnarowski notes. Before that, he was an assistant coach for CSKA Moscow under European coaching icon and current Spurs assistant Ettore Messina, as Wojnarowski also points out.
Coaching Rumors: Nuggets, Donovan, Cheeks
Michael Malone‘s candidacy for the Nuggets head coaching job is gathering momentum, but an increasing number of coaches around the league envision interim coach Melvin Hunt getting the position, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. In any case, it appears that Denver is drawing closer to a hire, as it’s believed that the team would like to have its new coach help with draft prep, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Here’s more coaching news from around the NBA:
- Mike Miller lauded Billy Donovan‘s demeanor, preparation and communication when Kevin Durant asked him about the incoming Thunder head coach, as Miller tells Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Miller makes it clear he harbors no shortage of affection for his college coach, saying to Slater that it will be “very weird” to go against Donovan in the NBA. Miller wouldn’t necessarily have to do so if he declines his player option, worth nearly $2.855MM, and signs with the Thunder this summer, of course, but the Cavs reserve didn’t suggest that such a scenario was on his mind.
- The Thunder are increasingly serious about rehiring Maurice Cheeks as an assistant coach, according to Stein, who notes the strong relationship between Cheeks and Russell Westbrook (Twitter links). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first identified Cheeks as a possible candidate for an assistant’s job in Oklahoma City, a role that would reprise the one he filled from 2009/10 to 2012/13.
- Remaining with the Magic to serve as an assistant under Scott Skiles remains a “strong option” for James Borrego, Stein also reports (Twitter link). Borrego, who was Orlando’s interim coach and a candidate to remain in the head coaching position on a long-term basis before the Skiles hire, has drawn interest from the Pelicans and had talks with the Thunder about assistant coaching jobs, as Stein previously reported.
And-Ones: Kaun, Pacers, Wells
Draft-and-stash prospect Sasha Kaun is moving to the United States and will explore his NBA options, his agent J.R. Hensley tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Kaun, who played for CSKA Moscow last season, has retired from the Russian League, Pick adds in a separate tweet. The 6’11” center was originally drafted in 2008 by the SuperSonics — the last draft pick made by the franchise before moving to Oklahoma City — and his rights were later traded to the Cavaliers for cash considerations.
In other news around the league:
- Kentucky forward Trey Lyles is among the group of players scheduled to work out Thursday for the Pacers, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. He’ll be joined by three other forwards — Arkansas’ Bobby Portis, LSU’s Jordan Mickey and Wyoming’s Larry Nance Jr. — along with Ohio State point guard Shannon Scott and D-League guard Jarvis Threatt. Indiana owns the No. 11 overall pick.
- Maryland shooting guard Dez Wells pulled out of a scheduled workout with the Jazz on Friday with an undisclosed injury, Randy Hollis of the Deseret News reports. Wells is rated No. 69 by ESPN Insider Chad Ford and No. 84 by DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony on their lists of Top 100 prospects.
- Delaware State center Kendall Gray will work out with the Heat on Tuesday, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
Atlantic Notes: Okafor, Nets, Connaughton
Jahlil Okafor might still be on the board when the Knicks’ turn comes up in the draft, an unnamed Western Conference executive told Keith Schlosser of SNY.tv. The executive has Karl-Anthony Towns going to the Timberwolves as expected, followed by two surprises, with the Lakers selecting D’Angelo Russell and the Sixers choosing Justise Winslow. That would allow the Knicks to grab Okafor. The Knicks have been exploring trade possibilities to move down since they dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in the lottery, Schlosser continues, but they could wind up with one of their original targets in that scenario.
In other news around the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets are scheduled to work out six prospects on Wednesday, according to their official website. The list includes guards Shannon Scott (Ohio State), Darian Hooker (New York Tech), Tyler Harvey (Eastern Washington) and Josh Richardson (Tennessee), forward Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse) and center Youssou Ndoye (St. Bonaventure). Christmas is the most highly-regarded of the group, ranked No. 39 by ESPN Insider Chad Ford and No. 36 by DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony on their top 100 prospects lists.
- Notre Dame shooting guard Pat Connaughton is scheduled to work out for the Celtics on Wednesday and the Knicks on Saturday, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe tweets. A second-round prospect, Connaughton is ranked No. 47 by Ford and No. 76 by Givony. The Celtics have two second-rounders (No. 33 and 45) but the Knicks don’t have any.
- Texas combo forward Jonathan Holmes added the Sixers to the previously reported list of teams for which he’s worked out, as he revealed today to reporters, including Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Booker, Wade
Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant and Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter were among the six players the Hornets worked out on Monday, according to the team’s official website. Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison, Presbyterian College guard Jordan Downing, Michigan State forward Branden Dawson and Wyoming forward Larry Nance Jr. were the other participants. Grant is the most highly-regarded prospect among that group. He’s ranked No. 17 by ESPN Insider Chad Ford on his list of Top 100 prospects while DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony currently rates him at No. 15.
In other news around the Southeast Division:
- Aaron Harrison was originally scheduled to be at the Hornets workout but his twin brother replaced him, Max Bultman of the Sporting News reports. Andrew Harrison did not offer an explanation for the switch, Bultman adds. “I talk to him a couple times a day, but he’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine,” Andrew Harrison said to reporters at the workout.
- Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker had a scheduled workout with the Heat on Monday, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com. The Heat hold the No. 10 overall pick and Booker is expected to go in the back half of the lottery. Booker, ranked No. 13 among Ford’s Top 100 prospects and No. 12 by DraftExpress, worked out for the Nuggets on Friday and recently worked out for Thunder and Suns, Ford adds.
- Dwyane Wade‘s evasive comments about his future during the NBA Finals telecast on Sunday were odd and unsettling, Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel opines. Wade has until the end of the month to decide whether to opt out of his $16.1MM salary for 2015/16 and become a free agent. Hyde urges Heat owner Micky Arison to take care of Wade because of all he’s done for the franchise.
Offseason Outlook: Orlando Magic
Guaranteed Contracts
- Nikola Vucevic ($11,250,000)
- Channing Frye ($8,193,029)
- Victor Oladipo ($5,192,520)
- Aaron Gordon ($4,171,680)
- Maurice Harkless ($2,894,059)
- Elfrid Payton ($2,505,720)
- Andrew Nicholson ($2,380,593)
- Evan Fournier ($2,288,205)
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Ben Gordon ($4,500,000)1
- Luke Ridnour ($2,750,000)2
- Dewayne Dedmon ($947,276)3
- Devyn Marble ($845,059)4
Options
- None
Restricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- Tobias Harris ($5,951,485) — $4,433,683 qualifying offer
- Kyle O’Quinn ($1,181,348) — $1,181,348 qualifying offer5
Unrestricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- No. 5 pick ($3,117,900)
- (Fran Vazquez $1,964,800)6
- Willie Green ($947,276)
- (Jeremy Richardson $947,276)7
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (5th overall)
- 2nd Round (51st overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $38,875,806
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $9,042,335
- Options: $0
- Cap Holds: $14,110,085
- Total: $62,028,226
The biggest addition for the Orlando Magic this offseason was made before the summer. They hired a demanding, defensive-minded head coach in Scott Skiles, who has reputation for improving teams and eventually wearing out his welcome. Skiles, who has also coached Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee, seems like a good fit at least in the short term to guide the Magic’s core group of young players.
Lottery picks Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon should all benefit from Skiles’ tutelage, particularly the 21-year-old Payton, who averaged 8.4 assists over the last two months of the season and reached double figures in points in 16 of the last 21 games. The former Magic point guard should be an ideal mentor for the current point guard to help Payton reach his potential. What promises to be an interesting dynamic is how much freedom Skiles will give Payton to run the offense. If Skiles tries to micromanage too much, it could curtail the skills of a roster that’s built to run all day and make athletic plays.
Skiles’ biggest overall challenge is to get the team to buy into his defensive philosophy. It’s no secret the Magic had one of the softest defenses in the league under former coach Jacque Vaughn and interim coach James Borrego. Orlando ranked 28th in defensive field-goal percentage at 46.3, above only the rebuilding Lakers and Timberwolves.
Skiles said when he was hired in late May that his goal was to turn the Magic into a top five defensive team, which will require a large measure of toughness that has yet to be exhibited by a majority of team’s current players. What the Magic do have is enough length and quickness at several positions to eventually become a solid defensive unit. With a top five lottery pick at its disposal, Orlando can add another versatile piece.
From a personnel standpoint, the team’s offseason will be shaped by which player it chooses with the No. 5 overall pick and the restricted free agency of starting small forward Tobias Harris. Those two factors will be intertwined. If the Magic decide to select a small forward, it would give them a ready-made replacement for Harris along with additional leverage in negotiations with him. The top half of the draft has plenty of small forward prospects, including Justise Winslow, Mario Hezonja and Stanley Johnson, if the Magic opt to go in that direction.
It’s more likely that the Magic will take another route. ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s latest mock draft has Orlando selecting power forward Kristaps Porzingis to pair up with center Nikola Vucevic. The Magic are enamored with the star potential of Porzingis, according to Ford, even though they selected a power forward at No. 4 (Gordon) a year ago.
DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony also projects Orlando to pick a big man — power forward/center Willie Cauley-Stein. That would certainly play into the renewed commitment to defense, since Cauley-Stein is widely considered the top defensive player in the draft with the ability to guard all five positions. It would also give the Magic a desperately-needed shotblocker — they finished 29th in total blocks last season.
The Magic are projected to have anywhere from $8.9MM-$23.5MM in salary cap space, according to Basketball Insiders, depending on how they handle Harris’ situation and the non-guaranteed contracts of two veteran guards. It seems a foregone conclusion Orlando will protect itself by extending the qualifying offer of approximately $4.4MM to Harris, who averaged a career-high 17.1 points and 6.3 rebounds last season. GM Rob Hennigan has said the team intends to keep Harris, who is certain to get a large jump in pay. But if Harris receives a healthy offer sheet it might not be an easy decision to retain him, given that he’s considered a defensive liability at his position. Harris has a negative career Defensive Box Plus Minus rating, according to Basketball-Reference, and was rated No. 76 among small forwards last season in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus Minus rankings.
The Magic can free up over $7MM by trimming Ben Gordon and Luke Ridnour from the roster. Gordon has a good history with Skiles from his days with the Bulls but his career has been in steady decline since he signed with the Pistons in 2009. With a younger option to back up Oladipo in Evan Fournier already in place, it’s unlikely the team will want to pay Gordon $4.5MM to ride the end of the bench. Ridnour has a non-guaranteed $2.75MM salary but appears to have a better chance of sticking, considering there is no other obvious backup to Payton.
Orlando has two huge salary commitments to frontcourt players. Vucevic’s big extension kicks in this coming season, with a starting salary of $11.25MM and $500,000 increases over the next three seasons. At least he’s a starter. The contract they gave last summer to power forward Channing Frye could an albatross for another three seasons. Frye is slated to make nearly $8.2MM in 2015/16, a hefty price for a stretch four who averaged just 7.3 points last season and may not even be in the rotation, especially if the Magic select another power forward in the draft.
A decent portion of the cap room will be eaten up if Harris signs a new contract or the Magic match an offer sheet. They should still have the flexibility to pursue a quality free agent and/or absorb salary in a trade. Once again, the positions they will seek to upgrade will be predicated on who Orlando selects in the draft and its success in retaining Harris. A vocal veteran leader that Skills trusts could be brought in to help spread the new coach’s message in the locker room. The Magic are on the rise and with Skiles running the show, much more will be expected of this young, talented roster next season.
Cap Footnotes
1 — Gordon’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through July 1st.
2 — Ridnour’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through July 10th.
3 — Dedmon’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through August 1st.
4 — Marble’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through his team’s opening day.
5 — The cap hold for O’Quinn would be $947,276 if the Magic elect not to tender a qualifying offer.
6 — The Magic drafted Vazquez 11th overall in 2005 but have yet to sign him. Orlando can keep his draft rights but remove his cap hold from its books if he and the team produce a written agreement that he won’t sign during the 2015/16 season.
7 — See our glossary entry on cap holds for an explanation of why Richardson, who last played in the NBA in 2008/09, technically remains on the books.
The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post.