Poll: 2013 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 11)
Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t allow for such opportunities, we at Hoops Rumors decided it would be fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
The first NBA Draft lottery picks we’re tackling is 2013’s, the year that the Cavaliers surprised quite a few people when they nabbed UNLV forward Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 overall pick. Quite a number of talented players were in that year’s player pool, including Victor Oladipo, Nerlens Noel, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Rudy Gobert, just to rattle off a few.
In the days ahead, we’ll be posting a series of reader polls that will ask you to vote on the player whom you believe should have been selected with each pick in the 2013 Draft lottery. We’ll continue onward with the Sixers, who held the No. 11 overall pick that season, and who already added a shooting guard with the No. 6 overall selection. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Philadelphia’s pick and check back tomorrow night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Thunder should have taken at No. 12. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
Draft Results thus far:
- Cavaliers: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Magic: Victor Oladipo
- Wizards: Nerlens Noel
- Hornets: Rudy Gobert
- Suns: Michael Carter-Williams
- 76ers: Ben McLemore
- Kings: Mason Plumlee
- Pistons: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- Jazz: Dennis Schröder
- Trail Blazers: Allen Crabbe
With the No. 11 Overall Pick the Sixers Select...
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Shabazz Muhammad 16% (173)
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Gorgui Dieng 14% (154)
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Trey Burke 9% (97)
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Alex Len 9% (94)
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Otto Porter 8% (87)
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C.J. McCollum 8% (83)
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Isaiah Canaan 8% (80)
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Steven Adams 7% (73)
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Tim Hardaway Jr. 6% (69)
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Kelly Olynyk 4% (47)
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Shane Larkin 2% (22)
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Ryan Kelly 2% (20)
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Tony Snell 2% (19)
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Cody Zeller 2% (18)
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Anthony Bennett 1% (12)
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Ray McCallum 1% (8)
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Lucas Nogueira 0% (5)
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Archie Goodwin 0% (2)
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Andre Roberson 0% (1)
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Nemanja Nedovic 0% (1)
Total votes: 1,065
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And-Ones: Heat, Holmes, Jent
No team spent more cash in trades during the 2014/15 season than the Heat did, sending a total of $2,539,424, just shy of last season’s $3.3MM limit, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders examines Conversely, the Pelicans raked in $3,299,959, just shy of the $3.3MM cap on the amount of money teams could receive via trade. Both limits have increased to $3.4MM for this season.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Jonathan Holmes has a $100K partial guarantee on his minimum-salary deal with the Lakers, agent Zach Kurtin of Priority Sports tells Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). The final season on the two-year contract becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through the fourth day after the conclusion of next year’s summer league, Pincus adds.
- The Suns are close to completing a deal to hire Chris Jent as head coach of the Bakersfield Jam, the franchise’s NBA D-League affiliate, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Jent had previously been an assistant on former Kings coach Michael Malone‘s staff, and he replaces Nate Bjorkgren, who was promoted to be the Suns’ player development coach, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest tweets.
- The National Basketball Referees Association has officially ratified its new seven-year contract with the NBA, the NBRA announced (via Twitter). The new agreement takes effect this season, replacing the final year of the existing contract, and runs through 2022. “The NBA takes great pride in our world-class referee program and we are pleased to extend the league’s partnership with the NBRA for another seven years,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement regarding the new pact
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hoops Rumors Originals 8/9/15-8/15/15
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- As a part of our continuing series “The Beat,” Chuck Myron interviewed Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic on a number of topics regarding the Phoenix Suns.
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- Chris Crouse examined the free agent stock of J.R. Smith.
- I broke down the 2015/16 salary cap commitments for the Bulls, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Nuggets, and Pistons.
- Chuck ran down where the players who inked 10-day contracts during the 2014/15 campaign are now.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- Dana Gauruder looked at the free agent stock of Tayshaun Prince.
- Chuck examined Bucks forward John Henson, and the Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas as contract extension candidates.
- We asked readers to vote on who they would select if they had the chance to redo the lottery portion of the 2013 NBA Draft. Here are the results for the No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, and No. 10 overall picks.
- Chuck ran down the teams with open roster spots heading into the 2015/16 campaign.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- I answered reader questions in Hoops Rumors Weekly Mailbag.
- Chuck ran down the players who have been traded multiple times since the beginning of the 2014/15 season.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- Chuck broke down the largest remaining trade exceptions, as well as opined on how likely each was to be used.
- We reviewed our commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
- Chuck examined how players who turned down their options fared this offseason.
- We ran down the scenarios involving traded 2016 first round draft picks.
Sixers’ Embiid To Miss Another Season
AUGUST 15TH, 10:10am: Embiid will have a second surgery on his right foot this Tuesday and he is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 season, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports.
8:01pm: GM Sam Hinkie confirmed that Embiid will have a bone graft on the fracture site in “seven to 10 days” and will probably miss the 2015/16 season. “We are still in the process of determining the doctor who will perform the procedure, which should be finalized in the coming days,” Hinkie said in a press release. “Sixers Director of Performance Research and Development Dr. David T. Martin will outline and lead Joel’s rehab and recovery plan, in collaboration with a worldwide network of experts and specialists.”
JULY 11TH, 12:23pm: Sixers center Joel Embiid will have a second surgery on his right foot and is expected to miss his second consecutive season, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The reporter said the news has been confirmed by several unidentified sources, one of whom says the injury could be career-threatening.
“I would say there’s a great possibility that Embiid won’t play next year,” the source said. “Just think how long they sat him when they thought he was healthy.”
The Sixers aren’t counting on Embiid as they plan for next season, according to another source. The team is expected to release an official statement on the 7-footer, possibly by next week.
Embiid sat out his entire rookie season with a stress fracture in the foot after being drafted third overall out of Kansas in 2014. The Sixers had hoped he would be ready for summer league action, but a recent exam showed the injury was healing more slowly than the team expected. Team officials have reportedly committed to the surgical procedure and are deciding whether it will be performed in North Carolina or at the New York Hospital of Special Surgery.
Embiid is scheduled to make nearly $4.627MM this coming season on year two of his four-year rookie scale contract. The Sixers wouldn’t be able to apply for an Disabled Player Exception because they’re under the cap.
Week In Review 8/9/15-8/15/15
Suns forward Markieff Morris said that he feels disrespected by the way the team handled the July 9th trade of his twin brother and former teammate, Marcus Morris, to the Pistons, and made it clear that he wants out of Phoenix prior to the 2015/16 season commencing. “One thing for sure, I am not going to be there,” Morris said. “If you want to put that out there, you can put that out,” he added. “. . . I am not to going to be there at all.” The forward’s comments essentially confirm last week’s report from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 radio that Markieff wanted off the Suns, and out of Phoenix. Morris is slated to make $8MM this coming season in the first year of his four-year, $32MM extension.
Here’s more from the week that was…
Free Agent Signings
Eastern Conference
- The Celtics and forward Malcolm Miller inked a training camp deal.
- The Nets signed point guard Donald Sloan.
- The Pacers signed unrestricted free agent Toney Douglas to a camp deal.
- Unrestricted free agent center Keith Benson agreed to a deal with the Heat.
Western Conference
- The Lakers signed undrafted Texas forward Jonathan Holmes.
- The Timberwolves agreed to a deal with Tayshaun Prince.
- The Mavericks signed JaVale McGee.
- The Kings reached a contract agreement with undrafted forward Vince Hunter.
- The Thunder agreed to a contract with undrafted free agent Dez Wells.
- The Pelicans agreed to a deal with undrafted shooting guard Bryce Dejean-Jones.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
Waivers
- The Celtics waived Zoran Dragic.
- The Nets waived forward Earl Clark.
Miscellaneous News
- Olivier Hanlan, the No. 42 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft by the Jazz, signed a deal with the Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas.
- Former Cavaliers big man Alex Kirk signed with Italy’s Giorgio Tesi Pistoia.
- Jason Maxiell signed with the Tianjin Steel of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- Former 2007 No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden signed with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- Drew Gordon, who played mostly in the D-League and appeared in nine games with the Sixers last season, inked a deal with France’s Chalons-Reims.
- Former Celtics 10-day signee Andre Dawkins inked a deal with Italy’s Auxilium CUS Torino.
- D.J. Kennedy signed with Enisey Krasnoyarsk of Russia.
- Nets 2015 second-rounder Juan Pablo Vaulet will be out of action for four months following surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right ankle.
- Brandon Davies, who played for the Nets and Sixers during the 2014/15 campaign, officially signed with Pallacanestro Varese of Italy.
- The league released the full team schedules for the 2015/16 season.
- Zoran Dragic signed a two-year deal with Khimki of Russia.
- The Hawks hired former NBA player Malik Rose as their manager of basketball operations.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/14/15
On Wednesday, the league released the official team schedules for the 2015/16 NBA season. Some of the more notable changes for this season are that the NBA was able to cut the average amount of back-to-backs per team from 19.3 last season to 17.8 for 2015/16, and reduced the amount of four games in five days teams will play from 2.3 in 2014/15 to .9 this coming season, as well as cut down the distance each team will be required to travel by 2%. These alterations were done with the hope that they would reduce wear-and-tear on the players, as well as to improve the overall product on the court by keeping the players fresher.
One debate that seems to rear its head every year regards the overall length of the regular season. NBA teams began playing 80 games each beginning way back in the day during the 1961/62 campaign. The league then bumped that number up to 81 for the 1966/67 season, courtesy of expansion, and finally settled on the current 82 game format the following year. While the team owners certainly benefit financially from playing more games courtesy of TV contracts, gate receipts, and of course, concession sales, one can argue that the longer season creates less meaningful games, as well as increases the injury risk for all of the players involved.
So here’s the topic of the day: Is the current 82 game regular season schedule too long? If so, what changes should be made to improve the quality of the game?
There have been suggestions made by members of the league and the media to decrease the overall game count to 76, which could help reduce the amount of late season contests where star players are resting up for the playoffs. After all, with how expensive it can be nowadays to attend an NBA event, shouldn’t fans be able to see the best players on the court for their hard-earned cash? A more radical suggestion, made by ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz a few years ago, called for paring down the amount of games to 44. Under that plan, teams would play just twice a week, one game midweek, and the other on the weekend. While that big of a reduction is highly unlikely given the amount of revenue it would cost the league, it would also likely create some seriously contentious CBA meetings, which would be needed to ratify such a change, since there would be salary cap and pay scale adjustments needed to accompany such a significant alteration.
What are your thoughts on the current season length? If you believe a change needs to be made, then how many games should teams play each campaign? Are there any other changes, such as length of the preseason, playoff series, All-Star break duration, that you think would help improve the NBA? Take to the comments section below to chime in. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Teams With Dead Money On Their Books
Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched. There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team! McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete on the Sixers’ roster is Gerald Wallace, who is scheduled to earn $10,105,855. He could conceivably be a buyout or waiver candidate himself at some point this season, though that is merely my speculation.
Listed below in alphabetical order are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams that still owe them money. Teams are able to carry as many as 20 players prior to the beginning of the regular season, so there will be quite a few training camp deals inked that include partially guaranteed funds. As franchises pare down their rosters to the regular season maximum of 15, any players cut loose with guaranteed money will be added to this list.
Boston Celtics
- Zoran Dragic: $1,706,250 (Waived)
Brooklyn Nets
- Deron Williams: $5,474,787 (Waived via stretch provision)
Chicago Bulls
- Richard Hamilton: $333,333 (Waived via stretch provision)
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
- Pablo Prigioni: $440,000 (Waived)
Detroit Pistons
- Aaron Gray: $452,049 (Waived via stretch provision)
- Josh Smith: $5,400,000 (Waived via stretch provision)
Los Angeles Clippers
- Carlos Delfino: $650,000 (Waived via stretch provision)
- Jordan Farmar: $510,922 (Waived via stretch provision)
- Miroslav Raduljica: $252,042 (Waived via stretch provision)
Memphis Grizzlies
- Jamaal Franklin: $163,297 (Waived via stretch provision)
- Fab Melo: $437,080 (Waived via stretch provision)
Milwaukee Bucks
- Larry Sanders: $1,865,546 (Waived via stretch provision)
Philadelphia 76ers
- JaVale McGee: $12,000,000 (Waived)
Phoenix Suns
- Michael Beasley: $777,778 (Waived via stretch provision)
Sacramento Kings
- Wayne Ellington: $882,630 (Waived via stretch provision)
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Central Notes: Allen, Morris, Thompson
Lavoy Allen received incentive clauses on his three-year deal with the Pacers instead of the $1.5MM signing bonus that was originally reported, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It appears that those incentives call for Allen to get an extra $500K each year if he keeps his weight down, Pincus also tweets. Allen is considered likely to make weight, so the cap hits of $4.05MM this season and $4MM each of the next two years remain the same, unless he fails to hit the target at preseason weigh-ins.
Here’s more out of the Central Division:
- One of the reasons that the Pistons acquired Marcus Morris was to prevent 2015 first round draftee Stanley Johnson from being pressured to start and produce for the team immediately, David Mayo of MLive.com opines. Mayo also notes that Morris’ $5MM salary this season, and the $4.625MM he will earn for the 2016/17 campaign, will make him a bargain as a reserve player once Johnson assumes a starting role.
- The Cavaliers need to be careful that whatever the outcome of their contract negotiations with restricted free agent Tristan Thompson, they don’t alienate LeBron James, who is on record as being a big supporter of the forward, Tom Ziller of SBNation writes. Though Ziller doesn’t necessarily believe that James would leave Cleveland again, he doesn’t think it wise for the franchise to roll the dice and risk losing the superstar next summer. Also complicating matters is the fact that Thompson’s agent, Rich Paul, also represents LeBron.
- Earlier this evening we broke down the 2015/16 salary cap figures for the Pistons, and previously had done the same for the Bulls and Cavaliers, which can be viewed here and here.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Poll: 2013 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 10)
Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t allow for such opportunities, we at Hoops Rumors decided it would be fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
The first NBA Draft lottery picks we’re tackling is 2013’s, the year that the Cavaliers surprised quite a few people when they nabbed UNLV forward Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 overall pick. Quite a number of talented players were in that year’s player pool, including Victor Oladipo, Nerlens Noel, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Rudy Gobert, just to rattle off a few.
In the days ahead, we’ll be posting a series of reader polls that will ask you to vote on the player whom you believe should have been selected with each pick in the 2013 Draft lottery. We’ll continue onward with the Trail Blazers, who held the No. 10 overall pick that season. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Portland’s pick and check back tomorrow night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Sixers should have taken at No. 11. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
Draft Results thus far:
- Cavaliers: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Magic: Victor Oladipo
- Wizards: Nerlens Noel
- Hornets: Rudy Gobert
- Suns: Michael Carter-Williams
- 76ers: Ben McLemore
- Kings: Mason Plumlee
- Pistons: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- Jazz: Dennis Schröder
With the No. 10 Overall Pick the Blazers Select...
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Gorgui Dieng 18% (184)
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Allen Crabbe 17% (177)
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Trey Burke 10% (98)
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Alex Len 9% (97)
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Otto Porter 9% (90)
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Steven Adams 8% (86)
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Tim Hardaway Jr. 7% (71)
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C.J. McCollum 4% (41)
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Shabazz Muhammad 4% (38)
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Kelly Olynyk 4% (36)
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Robert Covington 3% (30)
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Cody Zeller 2% (22)
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Anthony Bennett 1% (14)
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Tony Snell 1% (11)
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Matthew Dellavedova 1% (9)
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Sergey Karasev 0% (4)
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Ray McCallum 0% (4)
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Mike Muscala 0% (3)
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Lucas Nogueira 0% (2)
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Archie Goodwin 0% (2)
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Ryan Kelly 0% (2)
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Shane Larkin 0% (1)
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Solomon Hill 0% (1)
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Reggie Bullock 0% (1)
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Nemanja Nedovic 0% (1)
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Isaiah Canaan 0% (1)
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Andre Roberson 0% (0)
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Grant Jerrett 0% (0)
Total votes: 1,026
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Thunder To Sign Dez Wells
The Thunder have reached an agreement on a contract with undrafted free agent Dez Wells, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (via Twitter). While the length and terms of the pact are not yet known, it is likely a training camp pact that may possibly include a small partial guarantee, though that is just my speculation.
The former Maryland guard had previously been extended a training camp invite by the Wizards, as well as by five other unnamed teams. He reportedly turned down Washington’s offer because they already possess 15 players on guaranteed pacts, and he wanted better odds at landing a regular season roster spot. Wells was reportedly open to signing with the Wizards if Garrett Temple was dealt to the Jazz and a roster spot opened up as a result. Oklahoma City also has 15 players on guaranteed deals, as our roster count for the team shows, so it’s curious what led Wells to choose the Thunder, seeing as his odds are equally long to stick once the regular season commences.
In 28 appearances during his senior season with the Terrapins, Wells averaged 15.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists to go along with a slash line of .464/.510/.806.