Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript
4:03pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.
3:00pm: Last year, Rich Paul client LeBron James more or less delayed the annual July free agent frenzy for 11 days as teams and players waited to find out which team the four-time MVP would play for. Eric Bledsoe‘s free agency dragged on the rest of that summer, as the fellow Paul client didn’t re-sign with the Suns until September 24th. Paul is once more at the center of holding patterns, with Tristan Thompson and Norris Cole still unsigned long after comparable talents struck deals. Still, we’ll eventually have resolution with those two, and Paul client Kevin Seraphin agreed Tuesday to sign with the Knicks.
We can discuss the lingering free agents, this week’s deals and much more in today’s chat. Click here to join!
Largest Expiring Contracts For 2015/16
Expiring contracts aren’t what they used to be. The shorter contracts that have come about in the past few years thanks to new rules imposed in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement have meant more teams have the opportunity to open cap space each year, and thus the utility of trading for a player in the last year of his contract has decreased. That’s even more so now, with the salary cap expected to skyrocket each of the next two summers. Most teams are poised to start next summer under the cap, and many are set for the amount of cap space necessary to sign a maximum-salary free agent. Still, expiring contracts can be assets.
The Celtics acquired a pair of talented big men this summer in David Lee and Amir Johnson. Neither is a superstar, but they can help Boston remain competitive this season and come off the books in a year to allow the Celtics more flexibility to chase free agents who do fit the franchise player mold. Johnson’s is a de facto expiring contract of sorts, since his 2016/17 salary is non-guaranteed.
No team has two expiring deals quite like the Lakers do. Kobe Bryant and Roy Hibbert will combine to make more than $40MM this season, but they aren’t promised any salary for 2016/17, positioning L.A. to strike in free agency next July. The trade for Hibbert was much like the moves Boston made. The Lakers acquired a productive player on an expiring contract who can help prop up the team for a year without tying themselves to any long-term commitment to a non-star.
See each player who has an expiring contract with a salary of greater than $10MM for this season in the list below:
- *Kobe Bryant, Lakers — $25MM (contract contains no-trade clause)
- Joe Johnson, Nets — $24,894,863
- Kevin Durant, Thunder — $20,158,622
- *Dwyane Wade, Heat — $20MM (de facto no-trade clause)
- Roy Hibbert, Lakers — $15,592,216
- Eric Gordon, Pelicans — $15,514,031
- David Lee, Celtics — $15,493,680
- Al Jefferson, Hornets — $13.5MM
- Joakim Noah, Bulls — $13.4MM
- Nicolas Batum, Hornets — $13,125,306
- Nene, Wizards — $13MM
- ^Ty Lawson, Rockets — $12,404,495
- Al Horford, Hawks — $12MM
- ^Amir Johnson, Celtics — $12MM
- Luol Deng, Heat — $10,151,612
- Gerald Wallace, Sixers — $10,105,855
* — Bryant and Wade possess no-trade clauses in their contracts. In Wade’s case, it’s a de facto no-trade clause, since all players who re-sign with their teams on one-year contracts can block trades.
^ — Lawson and Johnson are on de facto expiring contracts, since their salaries for 2016/17 are non-guaranteed.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Aside from Kevin Durant’s, for obvious reasons, which of these contracts would you most want your team to possess? Leave a comment to let us know.
Kings Notes: Cousins, Karl, Divac, Turkoglu
The Kings have had an active offseason, striking deals with nine free agents and swinging a pair of trades that helped clear cap space. They signed another free agent, Luc Mbah a Moute, but voided his contract after a failed physical, a move that’s reportedly poised to draw a grievance from the players union. All of it pales in comparison to the tempest surrounding DeMarcus Cousins this summer, and we have more on that amid the latest from Sacramento:
- Cousins is no stranger to communicating visually, as witnessed by the snake and grass emojis he posted via Twitter amid reports that George Karl wanted to trade him. The center seemingly conveyed different feelings Tuesday via Instagram, posting a photo that depicts him standing arm-in-arm with Karl and Kings vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac. Karl and Cousins apparently didn’t have any interaction for months before a brief meeting at summer league, when USA Today’s Sam Amick reported the existence of plans for a more extensive meeting. It would appear, by the looks of the photo, that the meeting has taken place, but a simple photo hardly means the tension that reportedly had Cousins wanting out has disappeared, writes Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.
- Hedo Turkoglu isn’t thinking about playing overseas for now and would prefer to remain in the NBA, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Kings have emerged as a possibility for the Jim Tanner client, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last week, citing the presence of Divac, a former teammate and friend.
- The Kings brought in noteworthy talent via free agency and Ben McLemore has the potential to take a leap forward, but the mix remains combustible, tempering all the reasons for optimism in Sacramento, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller opines.
- What’s your take on the Kings offseason? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Top Free Agent Rebounders Still Available
DeMarcus Cousins is apparently a major fan of Reggie Evans, and while that might have to do with a personal connection, perhaps Cousins just likes playing with elite rebounders. Evans has carved out a niche in the NBA as just that, and he’s far and away the most efficient rebounder still available on the free agent market. Tristan Thompson, who helped state his case for a lucrative deal in restricted free agency with his strong offensive rebounding performance in the playoffs, didn’t come close to the rate of total rebounds that Evans collected per 36 minutes over the course of the regular season.
Carlos Boozer‘s name appeared the top of the list of the best per-36-minute scorers still available, and he shows up at No. 3 below, a signal that the minimum salary isn’t going to be enough to lure the Rob Pelinka client. The shallow pool of rebounders left furthers Boozer’s case. Larry Sanders is uncertain to ever play again, health issues have dogged JaVale McGee, and Elton Brand is contemplating retirement. Only four remaining free agents averaged at least 10 rebounds per 36 minutes this past season, providing they played at least 20 games and averaged 10 or more minutes per contest. Here are the top 10 in that category:
- Reggie Evans (14.1)
- Tristan Thompson (10.8)
- Carlos Boozer (10.3)
- Larry Sanders (10.2)
- Cory Jefferson (9.8)
- Henry Sims (9.2)
- JaVale McGee (8.6)
- Jason Maxiell (8.3)
- Austin Daye (7.8)
- Elton Brand (7.4)
Honorable mention:
- Brandon Davies would be next, with 7.1 rebounds per 36 minutes.
- Jeff Adrien would have appeared at No. 2 on this list, with 12.9 boards per 36 minutes, but he only appeared in 17 games, not enough to qualify.
- Another would-be No. 2, Joel Freeland, signed to play in Russia. He averaged 11.1 rebounds per 36 minutes.
Which of these free agents would you most want to see on your team? Leave a comment to tell us.
Players Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions
The priority for most teams in the offseason involves building the roster for the season to come, but once that’s largely accomplished, attention turns to players eligible for rookie scale extensions. This year, the scope is somewhat limited, since only 13 teams possess anyone eligible for such an extension, and that includes the Pelicans, who already signed Anthony Davis to his extension. Still, the changing landscape of the league’s salary structure makes the stakes of the negotiations that take place between now and the October 31st deadline especially high.
Agents for many of the eligible players are talking tough in early negotiations, several league sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe, and team executives find this year’s market difficult to gauge, Lowe tweets. Any extensions signed by the Halloween deadline would kick in for 2016/17, when the salary cap is projected to leap to $89MM. That’s also the case for any new deals the teams and players would sign next summer if they decide against extensions and instead negotiate in next summer’s restricted free agency.
Last year’s class featured nine extensions worth a total of about $450MM, but it’s a fair bet this year’s extension market will produce an even greater haul, especially with Davis and Damian Lillard already signed. See the full list of players eligible for rookie scale extensions here:
- Harrison Barnes, Warriors
- Bradley Beal, Wizards
- Anthony Davis, Pelicans — signed a five-year max extension
- Andre Drummond, Pistons
- Festus Ezeli, Warriors
- Evan Fournier, Magic
- Maurice Harkless, Trail Blazers
- John Henson, Bucks — signed a four-year, $44MM-plus extension
- Perry Jones III, Celtics — waived, no longer eligible
- Terrence Jones, Rockets
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Hornets — signed a four-year, $52MM extension
- Jeremy Lamb, Hornets — signed a three-year, $21MM extension
- Meyers Leonard, Trail Blazers
- Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers — signed a five-year max extension
- Donatas Motiejunas, Rockets
- Andrew Nicholson, Magic
- Miles Plumlee, Bucks
- Terrence Ross, Raptors — signed a three-year, nearly $33MM extension
- Jared Sullinger, Celtics
- Jonas Valanciunas, Raptors — signed a four-year, $64MM extension
- Dion Waiters, Thunder
- Tony Wroten, Sixers
- Tyler Zeller, Celtics
Which player on this list, aside from Davis and Lillard, do you think is most deserving of an extension? Leave a comment to let us know.
Southeast Notes: Richardson, Williams, Gordon
Heat trade candidate Mario Chalmers and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who’s eligible for an extension from the Hornets until October 31st, are among the five players Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders believes must show improvement this coming season. Chalmers will have motivation to bounce back after a poor shooting year that featured his career-worst 29.4% three-point percentage with his contract set to expire at season’s end, while Kidd-Gilchrist has to contend with trade acquisition Nicolas Batum at his position. While we wait to find out whether either of them will break through this coming season, see more from the Southeast Division here:
- The deal that No. 40 pick Josh Richardson signed with the Heat features minimum salaries for all three seasons and no guaranteed money beyond this season’s fully guaranteed salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows (Twitter link). His 2016/17 salary becomes guaranteed if he sticks through August 1st, 2016, Pincus adds.
- Elliot Williams received two years at the minimum salary with an $80K partial guarantee for this season and no guaranteed money for 2016/17 in his camp deal with the Hornets, Pincus also reports (Twitter link).
- Aaron Gordon is among the players from the 2014 draft class who appear on the verge of a breakout, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. A fractured bone in Gordon’s left foot helped limit him to 47 games last season and made it tough to see why the Magic invested the No. 4 overall pick in the combo forward.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/4/15
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. I’d like to approach this subject a bit differently than past topics, and rather than simply asking you to chime in on who you believe to be the top point guard in the NBA, I’m going to present this in a versus format that we’ll run periodically in these Shootarounds throughout the Summer.
Today’s matchup is: Eric Bledsoe (Suns) vs. Reggie Jackson (Pistons). Which of the two point guards would you prefer to start for your team?
Both players began their NBA careers as backups to All-Star caliber point guards and were traded prior to becoming starters. The two players are also similar in that they are score-first guards, rather than pure ball-distributors. Bledsoe has shown himself to be the better defender of the two, which certainly helps his cause, but I’d argue that Jackson’s ceiling as a player offensively is much higher. The Suns’ guard has had two seasons to display his wares as a starter, though his 2013/14 campaign was shortened due to injury, and Bledsoe is likely to continue to put up averages in the range of 17-19 points and 5-7 assists per night. Very respectable stats, though Bledsoe has yet to demonstrate that he has the ability to elevate and carry a team into contention. Bledsoe, 25, made 81 appearances for Phoenix last season, averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in 34.6 minutes per contest, and his shooting line was .447/.324/.800. His career numbers through five NBA campaigns are 10.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 4.1 APG.
Jackson, who is also 25, played in a total of 77 contests split between the Thunder and the Pistons during the 2014/15 season. He notched 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 29.5 minutes per night, with a slash line of .434/.299/.830. Jackson’s career stats through four NBA seasons are 9.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 3.6 APG. The jury is still out on Jackson as a starter, though in a small sample size with the Pistons last season he was quite impressive, notching 9.2 assists in his 27 starts with the team. It remains to be seen if Jackson can maintain those numbers over the long haul, as well as become a leader who can take his squad to the next level.
If you were the GM of a team and were given the choice between the two players, which one would you choose? Why did you pick one over the other? Do you believe each is worth their 2015/16 salary ($13,913,044 for Jackson and $13.5MM for Bledsoe)? 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.
Pacific Notes: Prigioni, Dukan, Lieberman
Pablo Prigioni, who inked a one year deal with the Clippers this offseason, said that Los Angeles was his preferred destination all along, writes Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. “I didn’t even consider to choose another team or to go back to Europe,” Prigioni said. “’I said, I want to go there [to Los Angeles].’ This is a perfect team. This is a team that has a group of guys that are playing together the last four or five years. Now, same coach, add a couple of new guys. This is a perfect team to go to and try to give my best and help with whatever they need to do.”
Here’s more from the NBA’s Pacific Division:
- Grantland’s Zach Lowe figures the range of salaries on a would-be extension for the Warriors‘ Harrison Barnes would fall between those on DeMarre Carroll‘s four-year, $58MM deal with the Raptors and the 2016/17 maximum salary for players with Barnes’ years of experience, projected to come in at $20.4MM.
- Duje Dukan‘s deal with the Kings will see him earn $525,093, which is fully guaranteed, for the 2015/16 campaign, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The forward is scheduled to make $874,636 in the second year of the pact, $200k of which becomes guaranteed on August 1st, 2016, Pincus adds.
- New Kings assistant coach Nancy Lieberman, in a Q&A with David Aldridge of NBA.com, said one of her biggest challenges will be in knowing when to chime in with her opinions, since all of her previous experience was as a head coach. “Summer League was really important for me. Summer League helped validate that I’m not a pushy broad,” Lieberman said. “I have been a head coach my whole life. I’ve never been an assistant, to be honest. I’m the one that has to do some of the growing here. I have got to learn when to speak, when my voice is required, and quite frankly, when to just shut the heck up. So that part is new for me. That will be new for me. But George [Karl] is a pretty easy guy to be around.”
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers‘ D-League affiliate, have hired Casey Owens as head coach, Pincus reports (via Twitter).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Alexander, Raptors
Andrea Bargnani, in an interview with Malcolm Pagani of il Fatto Quotidiano, an Italian newspaper (h/t to NetsDaily), noted that he turned down more lucrative NBA offers this Summer in order to sign with the Nets. “I would have done it [signed with Brooklyn] for free because the money at this time does not matter,” said Bargnani. “I just hope I can have a decent playing time, scoring as many points [as he can] and exceed goals. I do not think I was lucky [last year]. Luck is good health that allows you to prove your talent at the right time. The rest is the work. I made risky choices, indeed extremely risky and I intend to continue to take risks. I accept all the criticism, it is living in a beautiful dream, I know myself. ”
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors have officially announced the promotion of Teresa Resch to Vice President, Basketball Operations and Player Development and Dan Tolzman to Director, Player Personnel. Tolzman will also serve as the GM of Toronto’s new D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, who begin play this coming season.
- Grantland’s Zach Lowe pegs Jonas Valanciunas as a “lock” to demand maximum-level salaries in any extension with the Raptors. The deadline for Toronto and the Leon Rose client to do an extension is October 31st.
- It seems to be shaping up as a player-friendly extension market, as Lowe, writing in the same piece, speculates that the Celtics might pounce on a deal with Tyler Zeller as long as the annual salaries are worth less than a staggering $12MM.
- Former lottery pick Joe Alexander turned down a Summer contract offer from the Celtics and instead has signed a deal with Banco di Sardegna Sassari of Sardinia, Alexander’s agents Doug Neustadt and Mike Kneisley confirmed to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Alexander’s last NBA action came during the 2009/10 campaign when he made eight appearances for the Bulls.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Magic Sign Melvin Ejim For Camp
7:42: The signing is official, the team announced via a press release.
11:43am: Ejim still must free himself from a contract he signed earlier this summer with Medi Bayreuth of Germany before he can join Orlando, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.
8:31am: The Magic have invited summer-leaguer and former Iowa State standout Melvin Ejim to training camp, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link), adding that some guaranteed money is involved. Pick confirmed to Hoops Rumors that Ejim has accepted the invitation.
Ejim put up 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game for the Magic’s summer league team last month after spending this past season with Virtus Roma in Italy. The 6’7″ small forward went undrafted in 2014 in spite of a breakout senior year in 2013/14, when he averaged 17.8 PPG and 8.4 RPG in 32.1 MPG for the Cyclones.
Orlando has already been carrying 15 deals, including a partially guaranteed arrangement with Keith Appling and Devyn Marble‘s non-guaranteed pact. The other 13 players have guaranteed salaries, and the Magic have yet to strike a deal with Tyler Harvey, whom they drafted 51st overall this year. Thus, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Magic view Ejim with the D-League chiefly in mind. Orlando can retain the D-League rights to as many as four players it cuts at the end of the preseason.
Do you think Ejim has what it takes to stick on an NBA roster? Leave a comment to tell us.