2015 NBA Draft Grades: Atlantic Division
The 2015 NBA Draft is squarely in the rearview and a number of draftees have already provided a taste of what is to come with their summer league play. I held off on my grades until now because I wanted a better context in which to evaluate each team’s selections, with free agency and summer league providing greater perspective. Sometimes, selecting the best available player isn’t the best course of action and it is wiser to nab a player who fits a clear need, which should always be considered when rating how each front office fared in the draft. I’ll begin with a look at the Atlantic Division:
Boston Celtics
Team Needs: Scoring, Outside Shooting, Rebounding
Draft Picks:
- No. 16 Overall — Terry Rozier, PG, Louisville
- No. 28 Overall — R.J. Hunter, SG, Georgia State
- No. 33 Overall — Jordan Mickey, PF, LSU
- No. 45 Overall — Marcus Thornton, G, William & Mary
The selection of Rozier at pick No. 16 was easily one of draft night’s biggest surprises, not because the point guard didn’t possess first-round ability, but because most mock drafts had Rozier projected as a late first-rounder. It’s also a bit of a puzzler that the team would nab a point guard with its first pick, since Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas are already on the roster. But president of basketball operations Danny Ainge obviously saw something he liked in Rozier, and I’ll give him credit for going against the grain and taking a chance on a player he believed in. Rozier’s summer league play was a mixed bag, with him demonstrating an ability to hit the three-pointer, nailing 10 out of the 25 deep balls he attempted, but his turnover rate was a touch high.
I really like the team nabbing Hunter at pick No. 28. The bomber out of Georgia State was projected by a number of mock drafts to be a mid-first round pick, so while it can be argued that the team reached on Rozier, the same case can be made that they landed a steal with Hunter. He had a rough final year in college shooting the ball, but I believe he will be better when he hits the NBA. He certainly fills a major need for the team, but it remains to be seen if he can defend well enough to remain on the court for coach Brad Stevens. I also believe Boston got great value with its selection of Mickey, who was projected to be a late first-rounder, at pick No. 33. Mickey may be a touch undersized, but he has the potential to be a solid rebounder and effective rotation player after some time in the D-League.
Overall Draft Grade: C+. Boston added some interesting pieces, though even Ainge would probably admit to being disappointed in the team’s haul after his unsuccessful attempts to move up in the first round. I don’t see any of these players becoming stars, but Rozier, Hunter, and Mickey should all end up as rotation players for the team.
Brooklyn Nets
Team Needs: Talent, Point Guard, Scoring, Rebounding, Defense
Draft Picks:
- No. 23 Overall — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, SF, Arizona*
- No. 29 Overall — Chris McCullough, PF, Syracuse
- No. 39 Overall — Juan Vaulet, SF, Argentina**
*Acquired along with Steve Blake from Trail Blazers in exchange for Mason Plumlee and the rights to Notre Dame shooting guard Pat Connaughton.
**Acquired from Hornets in exchange for Brooklyn’s 2019 second-round pick, the less favorable of Brooklyn’s and Cleveland’s 2018 second-round picks, and $880K cash.
The Nets recovered pretty well from having to swap first-rounders with the Hawks. While I would have loved for the team to land a potential future star like Kelly Oubre, who went at No. 15 (Brooklyn’s original slot), Hollis-Jefferson and McCullough were both solid picks. I think the Nets will regret parting with Plumlee, but adding a freakishly athletic defensive monster like Hollis-Jefferson was a wise move for a team that needs to improve defensively. It remains to be seen if Hollis-Jefferson can score enough to become a starter, but he certainly has a wealth of upside, and he should quickly become a fan favorite in Brooklyn.
The team was also wise to take a gamble on McCullough at the end of the first round. McCullough was mentioned as a potential lottery pick prior to his ACL injury last season. The forward out of Syracuse has performed in an extremely limited sample size, but what he did show makes me believe that the Nets landed a future starter. He’s unlikely to contribute much this season, but the franchise did well in gambling on him, especially that late in the first round.
Overall Draft Grade: B-. While neither first-rounder is a sure thing, the team did extremely well in bolstering the roster for the future. Plumlee will certainly be missed, but the rebuild in Brooklyn is off to a good start. The only knock is the team’s failure to land a point guard, though, to be fair, there weren’t many options at the one spot when the team was on the clock.
New York Knicks
Team Needs: Talent, Point Guard, Center, Frontcourt Depth
Draft Picks:
- No. 4 Overall — Kristaps Porzingis, F, Latvia
- No. 19 Overall — Jerian Grant, PG, Notre Dame*
- No. 35 Overall — Guillermo Hernangomez, C, Spain**
*Acquired from Hawks in exchange for Tim Hardaway Jr.
**Acquired from Sixers in exchange for two future second-rounders and cash.
The Knicks arguably landed in the most difficult spot in the entire lottery at No. 4 overall. The first three picks were relatively easy decisions, as Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor, and D’Angelo Russell were all lauded as potential superstars. But selecting fourth, and with none of the top three players slipping to them, team president Phil Jackson had to decide between Porzingis’ immense upside or taking a more NBA-ready player in Justise Winslow or Willie Cauley-Stein, and Jackson decided to roll the dice and went with the Latvian forward.
I must admit that my initial reaction to the pick wasn’t a positive one, which is why I’m glad that I held off on grading these picks until now. The selection of Porzingis could still end up backfiring spectacularly, given the high failure rate of international draftees, but Porzingis displayed quite a range of skills in his summer league play, though he still is likely a year or two away from being a reliable contributor. The only conundrum is the way he fits in with the team’s current direction. The Knicks have a significant chunk of their salary cap space tied up in Carmelo Anthony, who at 31 years old, doesn’t have much time left as an elite player in the league. If the franchise is trying to win immediately, Porzingis likely won’t provide much of a boon this coming season.
While it took me some time to come around on the selection of Porzingis, I was an immediate fan of the team dealing Hardaway for the rights to Grant, who could easily end up as a steal. Grant is a mature, polished player who will contribute immediately, and he fills a major positional need for the team. Hardaway needed a change of scenery, and he didn’t fit well in the triangle offense. His lack of defensive intensity and poor shot selection likely drove coach Derek Fisher to the brink of madness at times. Flipping Hardaway for Grant may end up being one of Jackson’s best moves as an executive.
Hernangomez is at least a year away from joining the NBA, but he has a wealth of offensive potential. He needs to improve his rebounding and defense if he hopes to make it in the NBA. The center was a solid pick given who was available at pick No. 35.
Overall Draft Grade: B+. Porzingis could end up becoming the next Dirk Nowitzki as easily as he could be the next Darko Milicic. Judging by his play thus far, I think he’ll end up closer to Nowitzki. Nabbing Grant was a solid move, and he should contribute immediately to the team.
Philadelphia 76ers
Team Needs: Talent, Scoring, Outside Shooting, Point Guard
Draft Picks:
- No. 3 Overall — Jahlil Okafor, C, Duke
- No. 37 Overall — Richaun Holmes, PF, Bowling Green
- No. 47 Overall — Arturas Gudaitis, C, Lithuania (later traded to the Kings)
- No. 58 Overall — J.P. Tokoto, G/F, North Carolina
- No. 60 Overall — Luka Mitrovic, PF, Serbia (later traded to the Kings)
GM Sam Hinkie continued his rebuilding through losing plan by nabbing Okafor with the No. 3 pick. The team perhaps could have used a player like Emmanuel Mudiay more, given the presence of former first-rounders Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, and the distinct lack of talent in the backcourt. But with Embiid’s health concerns placing his future in doubt, it’s hard to argue against landing a talent like Okafor, though how he will fit with Noel remains to be seen. The second-round selections of Holmes and Tokoto could also pay dividends down the line, though neither player projects to be a starter in the NBA.
I’m trying to hold my judgement on Hinkie’s plan until all the pieces fall into place, which won’t occur until Dario Saric finally joins the NBA. That’s still at least a season away. But there does come a point when the team will need to show it is moving in the right direction, and it needs to be this year. Much of the team’s fanbase, as well as the rest of the league, is almost out of patience with the franchise, and while it is unreasonable to expect a playoff berth this season, the Sixers really need to show significant improvement. Okafor should help in that regard, though he’ll likely be mobbed in the paint continuously thanks to the team’s distinct lack of outside shooting. Newly acquired shooting guard Nik Stauskas is the X-factor this season. If he can shake off his clunker of a rookie season and start draining outside shots like he did at Michigan, Okafor’s rookie campaign will go much more smoothly.
Overall Draft Grade: B. It’s hard to find fault with the selection of Okafor with the No. 3 pick, but with the team’s wealth of future picks, not making a splash by landing another first-rounder this year is certainly a disappointment.
Toronto Raptors
Team Needs: Defense, Outside Shooting, Backcourt Depth
Draft Picks:
- No. 20 Overall — Delon Wright, PG, Utah
- No. 46 Overall — Norman Powell, SG, UCLA*
*Acquired from Bucks along with the Clippers’ 2017 first-round pick in exchange for Greivis Vasquez.
The selection of Wright isn’t a game-changer for the franchise, but he was still a solid pick. The Raptors badly needed a solid backcourt defender last season, and that is certainly something that the versatile Wright can be. While, at 23 years old, he doesn’t offer quite the upside that other point guards in this year’s draft do, he should be an immediate contributor as Kyle Lowry‘s backup. The concern regarding Wright is his shooting ability, and his summer league slash line of .375/.000/.778 did nothing to dispel that fear. Wright also has the size and skills to play shooting guard, but if he isn’t a threat from the outside, Toronto will be hard-pressed to utilize him at the two.
As for Powell, he’ll likely spend more time in the D-League this season than with the Raptors, but he was a solid pickup that late in the draft. Powell is a bit undersized, but has a huge wingspan (6’11”) and is a tremendous athlete. If Toronto is patient with his development, he could turn into an effective bench scorer down the line. I’m a big fan of this pick for the team.
Overall Draft Grade: C+. Wright certainly fills a need, but if he doesn’t improve offensively, it will significantly impact his minutes. Powell was a solid second-round pick who could end up outperforming Wright in a few seasons. Overall a decent if unspectacular draft for GM Masai Ujiri.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/7/15
In the NBA, the point guard is arguably the most important player on the floor, and in today’s era of small-ball, having an effective floor general is growing increasingly vital to the success of any franchise. There are quite a few superstars who man the one spot around the league, though it is certainly up for debate as to whom the top playmaker currently is. We have already looked at John Wall vs. Damian Lillard and Reggie Jackson vs. Eric Bledsoe in past Shootarounds.
Today’s matchup is: Chris Paul (Clippers) vs. Stephen Curry (Warriors). Which of the two point guards would you prefer to start for your team?
Both of these men are not only among the best the point guard position has to offer, but also rank in the upper echelon of players in the entire NBA. Curry is fresh off of an NBA title and a season that saw him earn league MVP honors. His career averages are 20.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 6.9 assists, to go along with a slash line of .471/.440/.900. Curry is also an excellent defender, and is an absolute assassin in the clutch. The only real knock on Curry as a player that I can levy is that his career turnover rate of 3.2 per contest is a touch high for a player with his skill level, but this is admittedly a minor quibble given his stellar production.
Paul’s career numbers are equally impressive, with the 30-year-old averaging 18.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 9.9 assists, and owning a shooting line of .474/.364/.861. Like Curry, the Clippers’ floor General is also an excellent defender, and while he may not be quite the threat from beyond the arc that his counterpart is, he certainly has shown himself to be the superior playmaker. But to be fair, Curry is asked to be more of a scorer in the Warriors’ system than Paul is in the Clippers’. The only real negative in Paul’s portfolio is his injury history, which has shortened four out of his 10 seasons in the league.
If you were the GM of a team and were given the choice between the two players, which one would you choose to lead your team? Why did you pick one over the other? Take to the comments section below to sound off with your thoughts and opinions. 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.
Nuggets Re-Sign Darrell Arthur
3:27pm: The deal is official, the Nuggets announced.
2:46pm: The Nuggets and Darrell Arthur have reached agreement on a two-year deal that includes a player option on the final season, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Arthur had been expected to re-sign since late last month, as Dempsey wrote more than two weeks ago, but the sides had yet to agree to terms. The Nuggets renounced their Bird rights to the Jerry Hicks client last month, so they’ll have to use cap space or the $2.814MM room exception to give Arthur more than the minimum. Denver doesn’t have enough cap room at present to formally sign Arthur, who made in excess of $3.457MM last season, for more than that room exception amount, so today’s news would appear to be further indication that Kostas Papanikolaou‘s non-guaranteed contract has a tenuous place on the roster, at best.
Arthur and the Clippers reportedly had mutual interest, though L.A. is limited to giving the minimum salary to outside free agents, as I noted earlier today. The Pistons and Wizards were also apparently interested early last month, but Washington is similarly cash-strapped and Detroit only has the room exception to spend.
The 27-year-old veteran of seven NBA seasons has been steady over his two years in Denver as a rotation-caliber reserve, averaging 6.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17.1 minutes. His greatest contributions come on defense, as he’s been perhaps the team’s best on that end of the court, and in the locker room, Dempsey writes in a full story. He’ll again face a tough challenge for minutes on a roster that also features Kenneth Faried and J.J. Hickson at his position.
Papanikolaou plays power forward, too, but his $4.798MM non-guaranteed contract, which Denver acquired in the Ty Lawson trade, has value as a trade chip or as a gateway to cap space if the Nuggets waive him. Denver has 14 guaranteed contracts plus Papanikolaou and a partially guaranteed deal with Erick Green, so not everyone will make Denver’s regular season roster.
Do you think the deal with Arthur makes sense for the Nuggets? How about for Arthur? Leave a comment to let us know.
Nuggets Re-Sign Will Barton
AUGUST 7TH, 3:26pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
JULY 25TH, 4:50pm: Denver still has yet to make an official announcement, but the signing took place Thursday, according to the RealGM transactions log.
JULY 11TH, 10:59am: The Nuggets are finalizing a deal to re-sign Will Barton, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports. The agreement will be for three years and worth approximately $10MM, Haynes notes.
After being selected in the second round of the 2012 draft, Barton saw limited playing time in two and a half seasons with the Blazers. He flourished after being traded to Denver at the deadline, averaging 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 28 games after the deal.
Denver and the Brian Elfus client had reportedly shared interest in a new deal, so today’s news is no surprise. Last month, the Nuggets tendered a qualifying offer to Barton worth more than $1.18MM to make him a restricted free agent.
Nuggets Re-Sign Jameer Nelson
AUGUST 7TH, 3:24pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
JULY 14TH, 8:37am: Denver hasn’t made any formal announcement, but the signing has taken place, as the RealGM transactions log shows.
11:15am: It’s worth $13.5MM over the three years, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Grantland’s Zach Lowe suggests that a partial guarantee is on the final season (Twitter link). Stein also indicates that Nelson has already put pen to paper, though the team has made no official announcement . That, combined with Nikola Jokic‘s pact, would leave less room for the starting salary in Wilson Chandler‘s new deal. We discussed some of the numbers involved for Chandler right here.
JULY 13TH, 10:39am: The Nuggets and Jameer Nelson have an agreement in principle on a new three-year deal, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The point guard last month turned down a player option worth nearly $2.855MM that would have kept him under contract with the Nuggets through this coming season, but his new arrangement appears to tie him to Denver for a longer period of time. Several contenders also expressed interest in the 33-year-old, but new coach Michael Malone said Sunday that a deal would get done, Charania writes.
The general expectation was that Denver would re-sign the Steve Mountain client, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reported when free agency began. Earlier, Dempsey had identified the Nuggets’ choice of coaches as one of the determining factors Nelson would use to decide whether to return, and while Nelson was fond of interim coach Melvin Hunt, as many Nuggets were, the team’s hiring of Malone apparently wasn’t a turn-off.
Keeping Nelson around long-term provides a measure of insurance for the Nuggets in case they deal trade candidate Ty Lawson, whose contract runs through 2016/17. It provides a degree of stability for Nelson, who twice found himself in trades after signing with the Mavericks last summer. Dallas sent him to the Celtics in the Rajon Rondo swap, and Boston flipped him to Denver in exchange for Nate Robinson. Denver could still trade Nelson as soon as December 15th, but the team appears committed to him.
Kings Notes: Thompson, Cousins, Arena
Jason Thompson says he was “in shock” a week ago when the Sixers, the team he grew up watching in nearby New Jersey, traded him to the Warriors before he ever played a game in a Philly uniform, as the power forward tells Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group. Thompson, whom the Kings had traded to the Sixers earlier in July, added that he’s glad to join a championship team after playing for seven coaches in seven years, none of whom guided the Kings to the playoffs. Still, Thompson, who’s kept a house in Sacramento, isn’t without his sentiments for the only NBA team he’s ever suited up for.
“I built a lot of relationships there with the fans, and they were real loyal to a guy coming out of New Jersey and they welcomed me with open arms,” Thompson said to Steward. “There are a lot of memories. I wish they were better memories with wins and stuff, but I’m sure, going to play in Sac twice, there are going to be a lot of emotions.”
Thompson is under contract for two more seasons, though his 2016/17 salary is partially guaranteed. See more from California’s capital:
- DeMarcus Cousins, coach George Karl, vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz “talked openly about everything” during a meeting in Las Vegas this week, Divac said on The Grant Napear Show on CBS Sports 1140 in Sacramento, notes Jason Wise of Kings.com. Discord marked the Kings earlier this summer, when Karl reportedly pushed for the team to trade Cousins.
- Three Sacramento residents have agreed to dismiss their lawsuit against the city government’s funding of a new Kings arena, enabling the city to start paying its share toward construction, which is already in progress, reports Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee. A judge gave the city a favorable ruling two weeks ago, and the challenge didn’t appear to pose a serious threat to the arena project.
Knicks Sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo
FRIDAY, 1:34pm: The deal is official, the team announced (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 2:58pm: The Knicks and 2014 No. 51 pick Thanasis Antetokounmpo are putting the finishing touches on what will be a two-season deal with partial guarantees, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Marc Berman of the New York Post reported last week that the Knicks were expected to sign the draft-and-stash prospect before training camp. It appears he’ll see the minimum salary, since the Knicks look like they’re using their $2.814MM room exception on Kevin Seraphin.
Antetokounmpo appeared in 47 contests last season for the Westchester Knicks of the NBA’s D-League. The 23-year-old averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists to go along with a shooting line of .459/.232/.618.
The addition of Antetokounmpo will give the Knicks a roster count of 17 players, including 13 players with fully guaranteed pacts. The forward will have his work cut out for him in his attempt to make the opening night roster with New York’s current depth at the three spot.
Knicks Sign Sasha Vujacic
AUGUST 7TH, 1:31pm: The deal is official, the team announced (Twitter link).
AUGUST 1ST, 4:31pm: Agent Herb Rudoy told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that the contract is fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
JULY 31ST, 3:39pm: The contract will be guaranteed, Charania indicates on Twitter, running counter to previous reports (below).
2:41pm: It’s mostly non-guaranteed, according to Marc Berman and Jonathan Lehman of the New York Post.
2:34pm: It’ll be for the minimum salary, Charania writes in a full story. So, he’d make the $1,356,146 eight-year veteran’s minimum if he remains under contract through the season, but since it’s a one-year deal, the Knicks would only have to pay the two-year veteran’s minimum of $947,276, with the league footing the rest of the bill.
1:55pm: The arrangement is believed to be a training camp deal, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, which suggests that it is no more than partially guaranteed.
1:11pm: The Knicks and Sasha Vujacic have agreed to a one-year deal, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). David Pick of Eurobasket.com reported Thursday that the sides had engaged in talks. The 31-year-old has appeared in only two NBA games since the 2011 lockout, but it appears his connection with Knicks team president Phil Jackson, Vujacic’s coach when they were with the Lakers, has drawn him back to the Association.
New York is also reportedly expected to sign draft-and-stash prospect Thanasis Antetokounmpo, and adding him and Vujacic would give the Knicks deals with 16 players. New York, at present, has only 11 fully guaranteed contracts, presuming that’s the case for the newly re-signed Lou Amundson, and Wesley Saunders and Darion Atkins seem like longshots to make the regular season roster, so Vujacic seems to stand a decent chance of sticking around for opening night.
Vujacic played parts of seven seasons with the Lakers, mostly with Jackson as his coach, picking up a pair of championship rings in a reserve role. He was a much more prominent figure for the Nets after a trade sent him to New Jersey early in the 2010/11 season, averaging 11.4 points in 28.5 minutes per game, but just as his NBA career seemed to be heating up, he headed overseas. The native of Slovenia has played in Turkey, Italy and Spain since his last full NBA season, stopping back in the NBA only for a single 10-day contract with the Clippers in 2013/14.
Teams Limited To Paying The Minimum Salary
Free agency in the NBA is a fast-paced game of musical chairs, and every year, it seems, a few noteworthy free agents emerge from the first two or three weeks in July with no deal and not enough bidders with money left over to create a competitive marketplace. The prime example this year is J.R. Smith, since the only teams with the cap flexibility necessary to give him a salary equal to or better than the nearly $6.4MM option he turned down with the Cavs are the Sixers, Trail Blazers and Jazz, a predicament that leaves the Cavs, who have his Bird rights, with lots of leverage.
Players aren’t the only ones who can box themselves in. Some teams rapidly use up any cap space they might have had along with their exceptions, limiting themselves to only the minimum salary exception until the next July. That’s troublesome both in terms of the value of the contracts they can give, as well as their length, since the minimum salary exception only provides for deals of no more than two years.
Clubs that are less than $4MM over the luxury tax threshold can acquire free agents for more than the minimum and more than two years using sign-and-trades, but such deals require multiple teams and the free agent to sign off, and that’s an extra layer of complication.
These are the teams with no more than the minimum to spend on outside free agents:
- Clippers — They’re over the cap and over the tax apron, the line $4MM above the $84.74MM tax line. They spent the full $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception on Paul Pierce, and since they’re over the tax apron, they can’t take any player via sign-and-trade.
- Grizzlies — Memphis is over the cap but out of the tax. Still, they used the $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level on Brandan Wright, and they don’t have the biannual exception available to them because they spent that on Beno Udrih last year. They could acquire someone for more than the minimum in a sign-and-trade if both teams and the player agree.
- Knicks — The precise value of Kevin Seraphin‘s new contract has yet to be confirmed, but it appears to be for the $2.814MM room exception. Assuming that’s the case, the Knicks, who used up all their cap room, are limited to the minimum, unless they can find a sign-and-trade.
- Spurs — San Antonio made the most of its flexibility this summer to sign LaMarcus Aldridge and others, but the Spurs are back over the cap and Manu Ginobili re-signed for the room exception. A sign-and-trade is possible, but extra difficult since the Spurs are close to the tax apron.
- Raptors — Toronto lavished a four-year, $58MM deal on DeMarre Carroll last month to help extinguish its cap room, and the room exception went to Bismack Biyombo. The saving grace is that the Raptors are well short of the tax apron, so a sign-and-trade is a legitimate option.
The following teams have exception money remaining, but they’ve spent enough on their exceptions that the value of them is less than the minimum salary, at least until the minimum salary starts prorating at the start of the regular season.
- Bulls — A $2.25MM starting salary for Aaron Brooks came out of the taxpayer’s mid-level exception for Chicago, leaving just $1.126MM of it behind. That’s less than a veteran of six seasons or more would make on the minimum.
- Cavaliers — Signing Mo Williams to a $2.1MM salary for this season reduced Cleveland’s taxpayer’s mid-level exception to $1.276MM, less than the minimum salary for a veteran of eight or more years.
- Warriors — Leandro Barbosa‘s new one-year, $2.5MM contract came out of the taxpayer’s mid-level, which only has $876K left on it. Only the rookie and one-year veteran’s minimums are cheaper.
- Wizards — The $4MM that Alan Anderson will see this year leaves $1.464MM on the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, enough to exceed the minimum for all but veterans of 10 seasons or more.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
The Beat: Jody Genessy On The Jazz
Nobody knows NBA teams better than beat writers, save for those who draw paychecks with an NBA owner’s signature on them. The reporters who are with the teams they cover every day gain an intimate knowledge of the players, coaches and executives they write about and develop sources who help them break news and stay on top of rumors.
We at Hoops Rumors will be chatting with beat writers from around the league and sharing their responses to give you a better perspective on how and why teams make some of their most significant moves. We began the series in the spring with Dan Woike, who covers the Clippers for the Orange County Register and Chris Vivlamore, the Hawks beat writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. We’ll resume this feature today with Jody Genessy of The Deseret News, who’ll talk about the Jazz.
You can follow Jody on Twitter at @DJJazzyJody. Click here to check out his stories and here to see his YouTube videos.
Hoops Rumors: If Dante Exum misses this year, how do you see it affecting the Jazz over the long run? Does thrusting Trey Burke into the role of clear-cut starter accelerate the team’s decision-making about whether Burke can be the long-term answer at the point?
Jody Genessy: I view this as a temporary and tough setback for the Jazz. It would have been ideal, obviously, to have Dante Exum make progress in his second year while guys like Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert continue to ascend into the upper echelon of their positions. Assuming he’s out for the season — a likely scenario if he needs ACL surgery — his progression will be halted in most aspects. He can still work on his upper body and study, but his prolonged absence will be a blow to his on-court development, of course.
The good news for the Jazz in terms of Exum is that he’s young. When he’s back, he’ll be 21 years old. The 6’6″ point guard will also still have his size advantage and should have no lingering issues with his knee. Utah will still have plenty of time to groom him into a potential standout playmaker.
I think the Jazz are in a good spot with Trey Burke. His shooting was miserable last season, as has been well-publicized. He only shot 37% from the field and had some truly awful shooting performances. But Burke is also young. He’ll be 23 early in the season and has the benefit of ongoing tutoring under Jazz coach Quin Snyder, who’s known for dramatically improving players’ individual games. Burke, who nicely runs the pick-and-roll, will be fine as a starter if he makes it a priority to facilitate Hayward, Favors, Alec Burks and Rodney Hood.
What probably makes the Jazz the most nervous is their backup point guard position. Newly signed Brazilian point guard Raul Neto is known for being a solid pass-first playmaker and quick on the court. He has some seasoning from time in Spain, but will be a rookie this season, so it’s unknown how he’ll adjust. Summer league standout Bryce Cotton is lightning quick and is terrific at penetrating the lane and being a pest on defense, but he’s small (5’10”) and isn’t a great shooter.
Long story short: Exum remains the long-term answer at point guard for the Jazz.
Hoops Rumors: The Jazz went 19-10 after the All-Star break. That would extrapolate to a 54-win pace over a full season. Do you get the sense that the Jazz think they can win 50 games this year, or is the organization tempering its expectations?
Jody Genessy: You’ll never hear the Jazz make a win prediction, and wisely so. They don’t want to set unrealistic expectations. The Jazz fanbase and media aren’t shy to do this, of course. Though going from 38 wins to 50 is a massive step forward, many people in Jazzland thought that would be a possibility this year, given the team’s terrific second half. Utah’s defensive domination over the past two and a half months was legit, too. The Jazz were excited to see if they could maintain that defensive eliteness while adding some offensive punch, which was lacking for most of Snyder’s first season as head coach.
Not having Exum will help temper expectations to a degree, especially because the Australian gave Utah such a terrific size advantage at the point guard on most nights. Burke is also quick but much smaller — 6’1″.
Fortunately for the Jazz, they still have their most experienced cornerstones in Hayward, a versatile all-around rising star; Favors, a two-way beast; Gobert, the NBA’s best rim protector; and Burks, a dynamic athlete and scorer who missed the second half of last season with shoulder injury. Hood adds a nice offensive threat as he can drain threes and slash.
The problem for the Jazz is they are in Utah, not New Hampshire. The West is brutal, and the team is comparatively deficient at point guard, a position that is immensely deep on the left side of the country.
It would be a terrific Cinderella story if the Jazz managed to make the ball next spring. Right now it seems more like a fairy tale, though. Still, with the amount of talent they have, the Jazz should move into the 40ish-win range or they might have bigger problems than a sidelined point guard.
Hoops Rumors: The Jazz haven’t struck a deal with a single outside free agent summer, signing only No. 12 overall pick Trey Lyles, a pair of draft-and-stash prospects, and re-signing Joe Ingles. Are you surprised that they didn’t at least make a move akin to the Trevor Booker signing from last year to supplement a young roster with a veteran?
Jody Genessy: Going into the offseason, I was convinced the Jazz would try to acquire a veteran 3-and-D guy. Danny Green seemed like a perfect fit. Shooting was such a struggle for Utah last season, so in that sense, yes, I am surprised that restricted free agent Joe Ingles was their only play in free agency.
However, I get why they stood pat. The Jazz will get back a talented scorer and mid-air contortionist in Alec Burks, whom management likes to call their free-agent pickup. They also loved what they saw from Rodney Hood at the end of his rookie season. Utah brass wants to give these two guys opportunities to spread their wings this season, and having another veteran in that position could hamper that.
The biggest weakness coming into this offseason was point guard. Dante Exum and Trey Burke struggled offensively last season. Many people thought the Jazz would try to upgrade that position, but Utah management was willing to be patient and let the young players work out the kinks this season.
Even with Exum’s injury, I don’t think that the Jazz feel pressure to make a huge move to replace him this season.
Summed up: The Jazz love their young core and don’t want to mess with chemistry and playing opportunities, so they feel fine bringing the same team back.
Hoops Rumors: The holdup that kept Lyles from signing until after the start of summer league seemed odd, since rookie scale contracts are largely set in stone and there isn’t much room for negotiation. What happened there? Was it the team that was the catalyst for the delay, was it Lyles, or both?
Jody Genessy: It was weird. There wasn’t any negotiation to be done on the salary. The Jazz always pay the maximum allowed 120% of the salary scale to their drafted players, like all NBA teams almost always do. There were some incentives the Jazz wanted to attach to the contract — summer league, offseason training with the team, etc. — that Lyles’ camp didn’t want in the fine print for whatever reason.
Fortunately, it only dragged out for about a week, forcing Lyles to miss the summer league mini-camp and the first two games of the Utah Jazz Summer League. He still ended up playing in six summer league games with the Jazz in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.
Some fans were getting antsy and voiced frustrations at the rookie. But, c’mon, he’s a 19-year-old who doesn’t know the ins and outs of NBA contracts. This bizarre situation was on Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey (who, by the way, accepted the blame) and Lyles’ agent, Rich Paul (yes, LeBron James‘ rep).
Hoops Rumors: From the signings of Raul Neto and Tibor Pleiss to the failed courtship of Ante Tomic, the Jazz seem to have been intent on bringing in draft-and-stash prospects. Why them, and why now?
Jody Genessy: The Jazz really like the draft-and-stash option because it allows them to have players in their system who get experience and grow up as men while not taking up a roster spot. Utah would have signed Raul Neto after trading for him on draft night 2013, but management didn’t want two rookie point guards (Trey Burke was acquired that same night). It made sense for him to get high-level opportunities in Spain, but the timing is good to bring him into the fold now.
The Tomic-Pleiss situation is interesting. The Jazz would’ve loved to have Tomic on their team to bolster their front court now that Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Enes Kanter are out of the picture. For whatever reason — reports claimed it was his girlfriend’s call — Tomic opted to stay in Spain to continue being one of the most dominant European centers.
The Jazz acquired Pleiss, coincidentally Tomic’s backup in Barcelona, in the Kanter trade with the Thunder last February. He isn’t as good of an all-around big as Tomic, but he is huge (7’3″) and is considered an excellent shooter (88% free throw shooter) with good upside.
Pleiss will get a great chance to earn minutes as Gobert’s primary backup right off the bat. Favors is a good option at center because of his strength and athleticism, but he’s playing more power forward in Snyder’s system, so Utah needs another center to be able to provide relief minutes.
Neither player cost the Jazz too much, so the risk is worth the potential reward.
Hoops Rumors: Rudy Gobert will be up for a rookie scale extension next year. It’s probably tough to predict with any accuracy this far out, but can you see a realistic scenario in which the Jazz give the max to the man you dubbed “The Stifle Tower”?
Jody Genessy: The fact that I nicknamed Rudy Gobert might go on my headstone as my greatest life achievement (after completing the One Pound Challenge at Fuddrucker’s the night before my wedding, that is).
Gobert is a freak of nature, and that’s a huge compliment. He is 7’1″ with a 7’9″ wingspan. While working with Jazz trainers and the experts at the P3 performance lab in Santa Barbara, California, Gobert was able to improve his posture and upped his standing reach from 9’7″ to an insane 9’9″. Put in another way, Gobert’s reach is so long he can give Utah fans a high five from France.
The Stifle Tower changed the game for Utah last season. His presence, defensive instincts and athleticism gave the Jazz a unique rim protector and an interior force de resistance. Paired with Favors, the Jazz arguably have the best 1-2 defensive punch in the league around the block.
He’s feisty, honing some offensive skills (including a Tony Parker-like tear-drop floater), amazing on Twitter, a loyal teammate and a huge fan favorite in Utah.
The answer to your question: OUI!!! OUI!!! OUI!!!! (That’s YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! if you’re too lazy to go to Google Translate.)
Gobert is such a unique player, it seems like a no-brainer that he’ll get a deserved max contract.
And, yes, it would only be gentlemanly of The Stifle Tower to subsidize the salary of the author of his nickname — the one Bill Simmons said was the best nickname in a decade — with anywhere from 3-5% of his paycheck.
Thanks for the Q&A, Hoops Rumors! Now it’s time for me to go on vacation — or to make more YouTube videos (Man vs. Universe: https://www.youtube.com/