Poll: 2013 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 8)
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 Pistons, who held the No. 8 overall pick that season. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Detroit’s pick and check back tomorrow night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Jazz should have taken with the pick they traded for at No. 9. 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
With the No. 8 Overall Pick the Pistons Select...
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 19% (193)
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Dennis Schröder 16% (163)
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Sergey Karasev 13% (129)
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Otto Porter 8% (81)
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Tim Hardaway Jr. 6% (66)
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Trey Burke 6% (60)
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Gorgui Dieng 6% (57)
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Alex Len 4% (45)
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Steven Adams 4% (42)
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Shabazz Muhammad 4% (41)
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Kelly Olynyk 3% (30)
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C.J. McCollum 2% (24)
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Cody Zeller 2% (18)
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Robert Covington 2% (17)
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Anthony Bennett 1% (12)
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Matthew Dellevadova 1% (11)
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Tony Snell 1% (9)
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Reggie Bullock 0% (4)
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Mike Muscala 0% (3)
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Lucas Nogueira 0% (2)
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Shane Larkin 0% (2)
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Allen Crabbe 0% (2)
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Isaiah Canaan 0% (2)
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Ray McCallum 0% (2)
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Solomon Hill 0% (1)
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Archie Goodwin 0% (1)
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Nemanja Nedovic 0% (1)
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Ryan Kelly 0% (1)
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Andre Roberson 0% (0)
Total votes: 1,019
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Celtics, Levi Randolph Agree To Camp Deal
AUGUST 12TH, 4:35pm: The pact is indeed for the minimum salary and Randolph will receive a partial guarantee worth $25k, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
JULY 23RD, 10:41am: The Celtics will sign undrafted shooting guard Levi Randolph for training camp after the former University of Alabama standout accepted their offer, a source told Matt Zenitz of AL.com. Multiple overseas teams made offers, too, Zenitz writes, with Italy’s Vuelle Pesaro apparently the latest, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. Boston has the flexibility to use cap space, so while it would seem unlikely that the 6’4″ Randolph will sign for more than the minimum salary, it’s possible that his contract will cover as many as four years. It’s unclear if any partially guaranteed money is involved, as is sometimes the case with camp invitees.
Randolph worked out for the Celtics prior to the draft, but he wasn’t a strong candidate to hear his name called on draft night, with Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranking him the 101st-best prospect and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress listing him only as the 48th-best senior in this year’s class. The 22-year-old, who turns 23 in October, split summer league between the Thunder and Jazz, averaging 4.8 points in 20.5 minutes per game with 2 for 15 three-point shooting in 10 total appearances.
The worst-case scenario for Randolph involves him ending up in the D-League, Zenitz’s source said, so it appears he’s willing to go that route rather than play overseas should the Celtics cut him at the end of the preseason. Boston has a one-to-one D-League affiliate, so the C’s can retain his D-League rights should he fail to make the opening-night NBA roster. That seems the most likely scenario, with Boston already poised to carry 16 guaranteed contracts.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript
4:03pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.
3:00pm: Markieff Morris made it clear Tuesday that he doesn’t want to play for the Suns anymore, so it looks like Phoenix has a move to make before the start of training camp at the end of next month. The onus is on GM Ryan McDonough, now the clear-cut leader of the front office, to either engineer a reconciliation, which seems like a long shot, or pull off a trade that minimizes the damage. It’s already been an active summer in Phoenix, where the Suns are anxious to return to the playoffs, as Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic examined in depth as part of an interview with Hoops Rumors earlier this week, and it seems like it’ll stay busy.
We can chat about Morris, the Suns, and the other 29 teams in today’s chat, so click here to join!
Western Notes: Cousins, Karl, Davis, Williams
Rumors about turmoil between DeMarcus Cousins and Kings coach George Karl were overblown, Cousins insisted Tuesday, as Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee observes. The snake and grass emojis that the All-Star tweeted earlier this summer, shortly after the report that Karl wanted to trade him, seemed to indicate otherwise, but it appears their relationship has improved since then.
“There were some things that had to be ironed out,” Cousins said, “but at the same time, I wouldn’t make it as big as it was made out to be. Me and him [Karl] are on the same page, working on our relationship, and getting better every day. That’s all that matters. Things are a lot better. We’re trying to understand each other better. We’re going to make things happen, positive things happen.”
See more from the Western Conference:
- Former Pelicans coach Monty Williams still won’t express dismay over his firing earlier in the offseason, even though it separated him from Anthony Davis, the New Orleans star with whom he shares an uncanny bond, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times Picayune. Williams, now a Thunder assistant, still talks with Davis but insists that he’s careful to leave most of the tutelage to new Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, Smith notes. Still, Williams makes it clear that he’ll always be friends with Davis, according to Smith.
- The Clippers roster is built to win in the playoffs more so than any other among Western Conference teams, according to metrics that Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com put together for an Insider-only piece. That’s thanks to the addition of depth to the team’s star core, Doolittle writes. The Lance Stephenson trade and the signings of Paul Pierce, Josh Smith and others bolstered the strong but thin existing group.
- Warriors GM Bob Myers may be the reigning Executive of the Year, but Spurs GM R.C. Buford, who won the award in 2014, is still the league’s top front office boss, opines Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. That’s not surprising given San Antonio’s free agent haul, which includes LaMarcus Aldridge and a minimum-salary deal for David West.
And-Ones: Bucks, Oden, McRoberts, Nets
A new arena for the Bucks moved one step closer to reality today, when Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that calls for $250MM of public financing, write Mary Spicuzza And Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Walker has long backed the arena project and said when the bill emerged from the state legislature late last month that he’d sign it. The team must still arrange for a land sale with Milwaukee County and receive approval for construction from the Milwaukee Common Council, Spicuzza and Stein note, but Bucks executives have said that can take place between now and the fall. Groundbreaking must take place soon for the team to stay on schedule to meet a league-imposed deadline, lest the league seize the franchise from its owners and move it elsewhere, but today’s news indicates that the Bucks remain on track to stay in Milwaukee. Here’s more from around the league:
- Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden will take part in a weeklong workout later this month for Jiangsu Kentier of the Chinese Basketball Association, the Altius Culture agency tweets. It’ll constitute an audition for the team, the agency indicates. He reportedly drew eyes from the Mavs, Hornets and Grizzlies early in the summer.
- Josh McRoberts had a frustrating, injury-riddled year for the Heat last season after his breakout campaign for Charlotte in 2013/14, and the subtraction of his nearly $5.544MM salary would go a long way toward preventing the Heat from paying repeater tax penalties this season. Still, he’s eager to return to playing in Miami, as he tells Kyle Neddenriep of his hometown Indianapolis Star. “I feel confident and comfortable going back there,” McRoberts said. “I kind of saw how things were last year. I’m excited to be back and part of the team because when you’re hurt, you are kind of isolated on your own. You’re not practicing and playing in games with them every day. I’ve worked with the coaches throughout the summer different times and feel good about the direction we’re headed.”
- Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to push back today’s deadline for minority owner Bruce Ratner to pay back his company’s debts to Prokhorov’s company, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.com (Twitter links). Ratner’s group now has until September 8th to pay or let their 20% share become 8%, with Prokhorov’s group taking over the other 12%.
Players Cash In After Turning Down Options
The 15 free agents who turned down player or early terminations this year knew what they were doing, by and large. A dozen of them wound up with deals that give them better average annual value than they would have made on their respective option years. No one made out better than Goran Dragic, who decided against a $7.5MM option and wound up with a five-year deal worth more than $85MM instead, a leap of greater than $9.5MM per year.
Still, two players took a financial hit when they opted out. David West‘s was largely voluntary, as he signed a two-year deal for the minimum salary, well beneath his market value, not long after turning down $12.6MM for next year from the Pacers. Paul Pierce turned a player option on his full mid-level deal with the Wizards into a cheaper taxpayer’s mid-level contract with the Clippers.
One case still remains open, but chances seem better that Smith joins West and Pierce among those taking pay cuts than the 12 who cashed in. Smith could have had nearly $6.4MM from the Cavs for next season, but he elected free agency instead, and Cleveland, the only title contender with the capacity to sign him outright for the value of his option or greater, is reportedly letting a dwindling market dictate his price.
Below are the 12 players who signed contracts that are more lucrative on a yearly basis than the options they turned down, ranked by increase in average annual value:
- Goran Dragic — turned down $7.5MM, signed for five years, $85,002,250 ($17,000,450 average annual value).
- Al-Farouq Aminu — turned down $1,100,602, signed for four years, $30MM ($7.5MM average annual value).
- Kevin Love — turned down $16,744,218, signed for five years, $113,211,750 ($22,642,350 average annual value).
- Ed Davis — turned down $1,100,602, signed for three years, $20MM ($6,666,667 average annual value).
- Brook Lopez — turned down $16,744,218, signed for three years, $63,497,025 ($21,165,675 average annual value).
- Dwyane Wade — turned down $16.125MM, signed for one year, $20MM.
- Alan Anderson — turned down $1,333,484, signed for one year, $4MM.
- Thaddeus Young — turned down $10,221,739, signed for four years, $50MM ($12.5MM average annual value).
- Monta Ellis — turned down $8.72MM, signed for four years, $43.981MM ($10,995,250 average annual value).
- LeBron James — turned down $21,573,398, signed for two years, $46,974,673 ($23,487,337 average annual value).
- Jameer Nelson — turned down $2,854,940, signed for three years, $13,621,575 ($4,540,525 average annual value).
- Arron Afflalo — turned down $7.75MM, signed for two years, $16MM ($8MM average annual value).
Here are three players who opted out and either wound up taking pay cuts or remain in free agency:
- David West — turned down $12.6MM, signed for two years, $3,050,846 ($1,525,423 average annual value).
- Paul Pierce — turned down $5,543,725, signed for three years, $10,583,760 ($3,527,920 average annual value).
- J.R. Smith — turned down $6,399,750.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Aside from West’s minimum-salary deal, which signing listed here surprised you the most? Leave a comment to tell us.
Lakers Work Out Ricky Ledo
Former Knicks and Mavericks shooting guard Ricky Ledo was among the free agents who worked out this week for the Lakers, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Sean Kilpatrick, Toure’ Murry, Bobby Brown, Eric Moreland and D.J. Kennedy were the other names that surfaced for the group workout, which was to have taken place on Monday, according to multiple reports (All five links right here).
Ledo has been a free agent since clearing waivers from the Knicks, who released him last month shortly before his salary for the coming season would have become partially guaranteed for $100K. The 43rd pick from the 2013 draft performed well in his 12-game stint with New York late last season, averaging 7.4 points in 19.4 minutes per contest and hitting 10 of 24 total three-point attempts. Still, Ledo, who turns 23 next month, has appeared in more than twice as many D-League games as he has NBA games during his two-year pro career.
The Lakers have 16 players with either signed contracts or verbal agreements to join the team, but only 12 of those deals include fully guaranteed salary for the coming season. The $2.814MM room exception is available to the team, but the minimum appears more likely for Ledo and the other workout participants should any of them end up signing.
Do you think Ledo will end up on an NBA roster this year? Leave a comment to let us know.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Lillard, Saunders
Kevin Durant is excited to return to the court and he’s ready for the scrutiny that will come as rumors begin in earnest about his free agency, scheduled for next summer, as USA Today’s Sam Amick observes. Durant, who took part in a light practice with Team USA on Tuesday, said he’ll lean on only three people to convey his thinking.
“Along with Matty Ice [Thunder media relations manager Matt Tumbleson], I’ve got two people who I trust with my life, which is my agent [Rich Kleiman] and my manager [Charlie Bell], who is my best friend as well,” Durant said. “I trust them with my life. So if you hear sources or anything, don’t believe it if it didn’t come from them. I tell them everything. We bounce ideas off of each other. We collaborate on a lot of different things. They give me advice. So throughout this year, if you hear sources from anybody, it’s not true unless you hear it from Charlie Bell, Rich Kleiman or Kevin Durant.”
Bell is not to be confused with the former NBA player by the same name. See more from the Northwest Division:
- Damian Lillard knows the Trail Blazers will miss the four starters they lost this summer, but he likes the team’s new additions, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Lillard, who signed a five-year max extension this summer, said he didn’t have an eye on maximizing his earnings with a short-term deal that would allow him to stay on top of an escalating salary cap, and he answered affirmatively when Kennedy asked if he could envision finishing his career with Portland. “Definitely. I mean, I love it here,” Lillard said. “I love living here. I love the people here. This is just my kind of place. After growing up where I grew up [East Oakland, California], you just want to be in a nice, peaceful place. You want to be somewhere where people respect you and somewhere that you have built something. And I feel like I’ve built something great in my first three years here and I will continue to build on it. I consider this a second home. As long as they’ll have me, I’ll be here.”
- Timberwolves shooting guard Kevin Martin hasn’t noticed a change in coach/executive Flip Saunders despite his battle with cancer, as Martin told Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “It hasn’t been affecting him at all this month,” Martin said. “He has been sending us texts, what he wants from us. He’s upbeat about the coming season.”
Knicks Rumors: Aldridge, Porzingis, Carmelo
The Knicks cited the presence of Kristaps Porzingis when they let LaMarcus Aldridge know they wanted him to play center, an idea that nixed the scheduled meeting between New York and the marquee free agent, as Aldridge said Tuesday, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
“If they’re going to tell me that I have to play center and I don’t want to play center, then of course it’s mutual after that. But before that I was excited to meet with them. I was interested,” Aldridge said. “But they wanted to have their draft pick play and I get it.”
Aldridge also said he spoke with other players to see if they would have interest in joining him if he were to sign with the Knicks, adding that he also chatted with Carmelo Anthony before the Knicks idea went poof, as Bondy relays. Here’s more on the blue-and-orange:
- Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday praised the additions of Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo, Kyle O’Quinn, Derrick Williams and Porzingis but didn’t mention No. 19 overall pick Jerian Grant, for whom the Knicks traded Tim Hardaway Jr., notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman reported in June that Anthony was more upset about losing Hardaway than with the team’s decision to draft Porzingis. However, Anthony strongly denied Tuesday that he was upset with team president Phil Jackson‘s offseason moves.
- Before his Tuesday remarks, Anthony took to Instagram to defend the Knicks and make it clear that he has no intention of demanding a trade, as had been speculated, observes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. In one comment, Anthony responded to a fan by saying in part, “You are stuck with me buddy.”
- Porzingis might have indirectly turned Aldridge away from the Knicks, but another free agent who jumped from the Trail Blazers to New York is impressed with this year’s No. 4 overall pick. “He’s good,” Arron Afflalo said, as Jonah Ballow of Knicks.com relays. “He’s obviously got a lot of talent, some God-given gifts being that tall and that athletic. What I love most about him was his mentality and his humbleness. I really feel like he wants to get better, he wants to be the best player he can be and with that mentality and those tools, it’s just a matter of time.”
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/11/15
One of the more divisive on court strategies utilized in the NBA is the increasingly commonplace “Hack-a-Shaq” defense, where teams intentionally foul opponents’ weaker free throw shooters down the stretch of close games. The debate over whether this strategy should be outlawed was renewed during this year’s first round playoff series between the Spurs and the Clippers, courtesy of San Antonio, when Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was a wholesale target of the practice. Needless to say, it slowed the games to a crawl at times and made for less than compelling theater.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged back in May that the league had considered a number of rule changes to discourage this practice. “It’s something that I’m on the fence about,” Silver had said. “My thought used to be that we should definitely change the rule, and then having sat through several general managers meetings, competition meetings and having heard from some of the game’s very best, the view is the players should hit their free throws. That’s changed my view a little bit. Having said that, when I watch some of these games on television, frankly, it’s not great entertainment for our fans, and that’s important as well.”
It doesn’t appear that there will be any changes made regarding the hack-a-(insert player name) defense for the 2015/16 campaign, with former NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson saying, “We had a pretty spirited discussion on the subject, and we talked prospectively about how we might change it. But in the end, there wasn’t enough support to change it. There was a feeling that by changing the rule you would be essentially rewarding a player for a lack of skill by allowing him to stay in the game.”
Some ideas that have been kicked around to fix this aspect of the game include:
- When a player is intentionally fouled he not only gets the allotted free throws, but his team also gets possession of the ball.
- Creating a “super bonus” situation where extra free throws are given after a team commits a predetermined amount of fouls in a quarter.
- Teams being allowed to retain possession and inbound the ball instead of taking free throws when they’re intentionally fouled.
- Allowing the team receiving the free throws to pick the player who gets to shoot them.
None of these changes seem like the perfect solution, and could also serve to disrupt the pacing of the game. There is also the traditionalist point of view that asserts that professional players making millions of dollars ought to be able to sink their attempts from the charity stripe. This brings me to the topic of the day: Should the NBA alter its rules regarding the “Hack-a-Shaq” defense? If so, then what changes need to be made?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts, opinions, ideas…and potential fixes (if you believe the rule needs to be altered). Being mindful of our commenting policy, let us know what you think the NBA should do. We look forward to what you have to say!