Latest On Markieff Morris
1:43pm: Morris issued an apology via Twitter (hat tip to Coro).
“My frustration got the best of me last night,” Morris wrote. “It won’t happen again. I apologize to Jeff. My teammates told me I hit coach with the towel. In no way was that towel intended for him. I just want to help my team win so much. That’s my focus moving forward.”
1:26pm: The Suns have confirmed the suspension (Twitter link), citing “conduct detrimental to the team.” Morris will miss games against the Sixers and Cavs.
1:05am: The trade value of Markieff Morris is such that teams are asking the Suns to attach another player or asset to him in any proposal, tweets Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, using Archie Goodwin‘s name as an example of the sort of add-on other teams want. The Wednesday towel-toss that marked the latest chapter in a back-and-forth relationship between Morris and the Suns has prompted the team to issue an unpaid two-game suspension, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. It’ll cost him $145,455 out of his $8MM salary, Charania notes. Morris threw a towel in the direction of coach Jeff Hornacek, who tossed it back as the pair engaged in an argument during Wednesday’s game, though Morris told teammates he didn’t mean for the towel, which connected with Hornacek’s leg, to hit the coach, Charania hears.
The Suns are unlikely to agree to give up value on top of Morris in a trade, Lowe says, though the power forward is “very available” on the trade market, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last week, when he added that talks with the Rockets about trading Morris to Houston, which Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops originally revealed, have been serious. It’s unclear whether the Rockets or another Morris suitor, like the Pelicans, have spoken to the Suns about Goodwin or if Lowe was merely using him as a hypothetical. Goodwin, making about $1.16MM in year three of his rookie scale contract, has only played 41 total minutes in December.
Phoenix has lost three in a row and six of eight, and the Suns are four games in the loss column behind eighth place in the Western Conference. Morris, who backed off a summer trade demand when he showed up at training camp, lost his starting job earlier this month and disappeared from the rotation entirely before re-emerging to average 16.3 minutes per game over Phoenix’s last four contests. All of the Suns players were present for practice today except Morris, who deflected a question last week about whether he wanted to be traded, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
What do you think the Suns can reasonably get in exchange for Morris? Leave a comment to share your ideas.
Tomislav Zubčić Joins Thunder D-League Team
DECEMBER 24TH, 1:04pm: The move is official, the D-League team announced (another hat tip to Reichert).
DECEMBER 4TH, 11:02am: Draft-and-stash prospect Tomislav Zubčić will sign with the D-League affiliate of the Thunder, according to Vedran Modrić of the Eurohopes scouting service (Twitter link; hat tip to Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor). Oklahoma City acquired the NBA rights to Zubčić, the 56th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, when they sent Luke Ridnour to Toronto in a late June trade this year. The 25-year-old Zubčić left KK Cedevita in his native Croatia shortly after the start of the season.
Zubčić, who’s 6’11”, plays both forward positions, is a proficient corner 3-point shooter and performs well in transition, but he lacks the strength to put up much of a fight for rebounds inside, Modrić observes (Twitter links). He had a fairly limited role for Cedevita last season, averaging 7.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game, and he shot 39.8% from behind the arc.
He’ll be perhaps the most high-profile European player to come stateside directly via the D-League, Modrić posits. It’s a move that takes advantage of a rule put into place last season that allows NBA teams to allocate draft picks directly to their D-League affiliates. In previous years, Zubčić would have been subject to D-League waivers, and any NBA team’s affiliate could have grabbed him. The Thunder have frequently used the rule to their advantage, funneling 2014 draft picks Josh Huestis and Semaj Christon to their D-League team, and they did the same with Dakari Johnson, whom they drafted 48th overall this year.
The Thunder have 15 fully guaranteed contracts on their NBA roster, so it appears that unlikely Oklahoma City will be bringing Zubčić to the NBA in the near future, barring another roster move.
The Beat: James Ham On The Kings
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. Last time, we spoke with Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post about the Heat. Click here to see all the previous editions of this series.
Today, we gain insight on the Kings from James Ham of CSN California and CSNBayArea.com. You can follow James on Twitter at @James_Ham, on Facebook at facebook.com/JamesHamKings and on Instagram at instagram.com/james_ham15/. Check out his stories here.
Hoops Rumors: From DeMarcus Cousins trade rumors to the recent team meeting to reports of frustration with George Karl, the Kings organization has a reputation for turmoil. Are Vivek Ranadivé and Vlade Divac learning any lessons from all this about how to keep situations from getting out of hand?
James Ham: Ranadivé has had to learn on the fly over his two-plus years running the Kings. It hasn’t always been easy. He makes plenty of mistakes, but hopefully he has learned from them.
The addition of Divac has brought a calm to the franchise. From the outside looking in, Sacramento is chaotic and dysfunctional. But the issues are being worked through and Divac is making the best of a situation that very few general managers would even attempt to take on.
Divac has developed a tight bond with Cousins. There is trust between the two big men, which isn’t an easy thing to accomplish when it comes to the Kings All-Star center. The gamble Divac made of bringing in Rajon Rondo has given Cousins a mentor.
As crazy as it may seem, the Kings are in a much better place than most media reports would have you believe. With the backing of Ranadivé, Divac is giving the Rondo/Cousins pairing a real chance to succeed before buying into any narratives concocted from the outside. It may not be a perfect situation, but when you are an NBA outpost, you do what you can to build a winner.
Hoops Rumors: Caron Butler seems like he’s played an important role in the locker room this season, but now the Kings have reportedly promised to trade him so he can see more playing time. If that’s true, who’s next in line to inherit that leadership capacity?
James Ham: It sounds like the Kings will take care of Butler and find a better spot for him to finish out his career. While Butler has been a veteran presence, the Kings have plenty of other experienced players to turn to.
Rondo has quickly risen to the top of the team’s leadership hierarchy. Butler will be missed, but there is a large group of players on this team that are extremely close to one another. Divac added plenty of seasoned winners to the roster.
Hoops Rumors: Recent controversy aside, Rondo has looked so much better this season than he did last year. What’s made the difference for him?
James Ham: There are a couple of reasons for Rondo’s success. First and foremost, he is completely healthy for the first time in a while. You can see that he has his explosive first step back.
Rondo missed training camp the previous two seasons due to injury. When he showed up in San Diego for day one of Kings camp he instantly began to put his personal stamp on the team. That may make some cringe, but the Kings were looking for a floor general and Rondo is a coach both on and off the floor.
There is no question that Rondo has a big personality. When he was traded to Dallas mid-season last year, it didn’t work. He was surrounded by too many veterans. They were already a winning club and they weren’t looking for a leader as much as they were looking for a lead guard.
Rondo is getting a fresh start in Sacramento. For better or worse, this is his team. He has made mistakes, but he has also been a star on plenty of nights.
Hoops Rumors: We haven’t seen too much of Willie Cauley-Stein and Cousins on the court together, thanks to injuries that have kept them both out at different times. Still, how have they meshed when Karl has put them both on the floor at the same time?
James Ham: Cauley-Stein has a ton to learn about the pro game. He is a quick study, but the Kings have had to start from scratch with him. He had very little exposure to the weight room and according to him, he had never really studied film before being drafted to the Kings.
Injuries have kept these two from playing together for much of the season and that will likely continue with Cauley-Stein’s finger injury. This should be a good long-term fit, but the early returns are not great.
Cauley-Stein knows to stay out of Cousins’ way on the floor. On the defensive end he is active when healthy, but he needs to add strength to compete against NBA regulars.
Hoops Rumors: Speaking of tandems, can Rondo and Darren Collison effectively share the floor, and if not, what can the Kings do about it?
James Ham: This is a tough question. On paper, this should work. Collison spent plenty of time playing off the ball with Chris Paul in Los Angeles, but the transition to working with Rondo is an advanced statistics nightmare.
We have seen some developments on this front over the last week or so, but it is a work in progress. Last season, Collison was the man. This season, Rondo is garnering all the acclaim. The Kings need both players to succeed, especially with Karl’s penchant for running dual point guards.
Long term, I think it works. Collison’s early injury forced Rondo into 48-minute-a-night duty. The team became overly reliant on his style of play and when Collison returned from injury, he tried to fit in instead of being himself.
We are starting to see Collison come in and change the pace when he is leading the team and find his spots when Rondo is in charge. It’s a tough transition, but Collison is a quality NBA guard and a very good locker room guy. Chemistry may take a little more time, but this is an important combination for the Kings.
Hoops Rumors: Ben McLemore has looked sharp on occasion, and he’s shooting a higher percentage on 3-pointers, but his minutes, and thus many of his other numbers, are down this season from last year. What has to happen for him to start seeing more playing time and live up to his billing as last year’s No. 7 overall pick?
James Ham: McLemore is in a tough spot. For his first two seasons, the Kings were rudderless and he was given every opportunity to play major minutes. Maybe he wasn’t handled properly during this stretch, but now he is on a completely different team.
The Kings added 10 new faces during the offseason, including three guards. The addition of Rondo has pushed Collison to take time at the two. Marco Belinelli is a seasoned pro with an elite skill and he too needs time.
Karl has tried plenty of three guard sets against smaller clubs, but McLemore’s inconsistency has hurt him. He’s still only 22 years old, but he now finds himself on a veteran-laden team. He has to produce. There are no nights off or bad stretches of inefficient ball. If he wants to play, he has to develop as a defender, a playmaker and continue to play aggressively.
McLemore is a great kid and an extremely hard worker, but he’s fighting for minutes against players with years of experience both in the regular season and in the playoffs. The Kings are dedicated to his development, but they have made a commitment to winning as well. It is up to him show that he can help this team on a consistent basis. If not, Karl has plenty of other options.
Mavs Notes: Nowitzki, Carlisle, Williams, Famous
Dirk Nowitzki left the door open last month to playing beyond his existing contract, which runs through next season, and he more recently told Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he values the idea of playing a 20th season with the Mavs, which would entail re-signing in 2017. Nowitzki has a player option worth about $8.692MM for next season and told USA Today’s Sam Amick in November that, “I’m going to definitely ride this contract out.”
“Yeah, I think 20 years is special, especially with one franchise,” Nowitzki said to MacMahon. “So that would mean I at least have to play one more [season after this contract expires], but I think that’s something I worry about later. I don’t want to look too far ahead because the end is near. I don’t want to look too far ahead.”
Nowitzki passed Shaquille O’Neal on Wednesday for sixth place on the NBA’s list of all-time scoring leaders. See more from Dallas:
- Mavs coach Rick Carlisle backed off Wednesday from comments he made Tuesday that suggested he’d push for roster changes if the team didn’t improve its effort, expressing his affection for the players and quipping, “I fly off half-cocked about every other day,” MacMahon observes in a separate piece. Owner Mark Cuban likes the roster and said to MacMahon that he doesn’t see a need for significant change, though he admitted inconsistent effort and energy have been problems. “Oh, it’s 100% about pressing buttons,” Cuban said about Carlisle’s Tuesday remarks. “The one thing you know about us, if we’re actually going to make a trade, nobody knows about it. And they were buttons that needed to be pressed, so I agree wholeheartedly with him.”
- Deron Williams wound up with the better end of the buyout that halted his Nets tenure, posits Andy Vasquez of The Record, who points to Brooklyn’s significant decline in offensive efficiency without the point guard and Williams’ contentment in Dallas. “I feel a lot better,” said Williams, who has a player option worth about $5.621MM for next season. “My mindset’s a lot better. I’m happy in Dallas, happy where I am right now, and enjoy playing with this team.”
- Jarrid Famous, who was with the Mavericks for the preseason, has signed with Yulon Luxgen in Taiwan, according to Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi. He had been playing with Fujian of China since shortly after Dallas waived his partially guaranteed contract prior to opening night.
Every Christmas Day Transaction In NBA History
The NBA has long played games on Christmas, but roster moves on December 25th have only recently started happening with any sort of regularity. At least one move has taken place on three of the past four Christmases, but before that, only three transactions are known to have taken place on December 25th in any year since the NBA began in 1949.
The start of the recent Christmas moves coincided with opening day of the lockout-shortened 2011/12 season. Teams usually don’t make roster moves on opening day, but given the mad scramble that took place as the NBA hustled to start its season that year following the ratification of the collective bargaining agreement, it shouldn’t have been a surprise when the Rockets waived Jeremy Lin and Charlotte claimed Cory Higgins off waivers from the Nuggets on December 25th, 2011. Higgins is the son of Rod Higgins, who was then Charlotte’s president of basketball operations, so even though it had been 30 years since anyone pulled off a transaction on Christmas, this move in particular was no shocker.
Lin was not yet the household name he would become a few weeks later after the Knicks picked him up, so his release didn’t cause much of a stir, even given its holiday timing, though some records contend that it took place on Christmas Eve, not Christmas. A Houston Chronicle report indicates that the Rockets waived Lin on the night of December 24th, 2011, and Basketball-Reference and Pro Sports Transactions reflect the same date. However, the RealGM transactions log shows December 25th, and that jibes with a reference that Marc Stein of ESPN.com made to it when he wrote about the Knicks claiming Lin off waivers on December 27th. NBA waivers entail a two-day waiting period, and RealGM, Pro Sports Tranactions and Basketball-Reference are all in agreement that the Knicks acquired Lin on the 27th (Basketball-Reference shows Lin as having signed as a free agent that day, though that appears to be incorrect.) So, Lin’s release goes down as a Christmas move.
Lots more activity happened a year later. The Wizards made a pair of signings on December 25, 2012, adding Garrett Temple and Shelvin Mack, two days after opening a pair of roster spots with their release of Earl Barron and Shaun Livingston, and one day before their December 26th game against the Cavaliers. Cleveland also made a pair of moves on December 25th that year, influenced by the timing of Washington’s decision to cut Livingston. Players are on waivers for two days regardless of whether those are business days or not, meaning that on Christmas, Livingston would either clear waivers or go to a team that submitted a claim. The Cavs pounced on him, putting in a claim and waiving Donald Sloan to make room. For Sloan, the Christmas release was an icy winter’s greeting, though he landed on his feet, signing with New Orleans shortly after the new year.
NBA teams haven’t changed the compositions of their rosters on Christmas either of the past two years, but the Suns and Raptors made D-League assignments on December 25th last year. They were the first D-League assignments ever to take place on Christmas, but given the growing number of one-to-one affiliates, they probably won’t be the last.
Just as with Lin, the historical record differs on a Christmastime move that involved another well-known name. The Cincinnati Royals, the forebears of today’s Sacramento Kings, traded former All-Star Game MVP Adrian Smith to the Warriors in 1969 for a 1970 second-round pick that the Royals used to select future Hall-of-Famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald. RealGM shows that transaction as having taken place on December 26th, 1969, but Basketball-Reference and Pro Sports Transactions list it on December 25th that year. A UPI account that appeared in multiple newspapers says it took place on a Thursday, and Christmas fell on Thursday that year. Since that trade happened much longer ago than the Lin waiver, it’s more difficult to say with any degree of certainty when the move actually took place, so we’ll list it with an asterisk, unlike with Lin, as it seems fairly clear he was released on Christmas.
Whenever it happened, the Smith-Archibald trade was a boon for the Royals, who moved to Kansas City in 1972, right before Archibald became the only player ever to lead the NBA in points and assists per game in a single season. Smith only played 66 games for the Warriors before moving on to the ABA. The Warriors captured the NBA title in 1975, but if they had hung on to the pick they traded for Smith and used it on Archibald, they’d have had a decent chance to win more championships.
In any case, Christmas transactions are rare but not as rare as they used to be. Here’s a look at them all:
2014
- The Suns assigned Tyler Ennis, Archie Goodwin and T.J. Warren to the D-League.
- The Raptors assigned Bruno Caboclo to the D-League.
2012
- The Cavaliers waived Donald Sloan and claimed Shaun Livingston off waivers.
- The Wizards signed Shelvin Mack and Garrett Temple.
2011
- The Rockets waived Jeremy Lin.
- The Bobcats claimed Cory Higgins.
1981
- The Pacers signed Raymond Townsend.
1977
- The Rockets signed Alonzo Bradley.
1969
- *-The Royals traded Adrian Smith to the Warriors for a 1970 second-round pick (Nate Archibald).
* — Whether this trade happened on Christmas 1969 or the day after is a matter of historical dispute (see introduction).
Western Notes: Morris, Howard, Harden, Wolves
The saga of trade candidate Markieff Morris in Phoenix took another turn Wednesday when Morris threw a towel in coach Jeff Hornacek‘s direction while verbally directing his anger at the coach during the fourth quarter of Phoenix’s loss to Denver, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details. Hornacek, who’d just taken Morris out of the game, tossed the towel back at Morris as he shared his own angry words with the power forward whom the Suns have reportedly had serious discussions about trading.
“He’s mad about not playing,” Hornacek said after the game, according to Coro. “I look at the stat sheet. He’s a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. … He thinks he’s better than that. Show me.”
Hornacek said a discussion will take place among team officials about possible discipline for the towel-toss, which evoked memories of Robert Horry throwing a towel in coach Danny Ainge’s face during a game in 1997 when they were with the Suns. See more from the Western Conference:
- Coach J.B. Bickerstaff met with Dwight Howard and James Harden about their leadership roles and how they can function together, and the two stars have begun to work more closely with each other in practice, observes Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. Howard has on multiple occasions denied a report that he’s upset with playing a secondary role to Harden. “It’s been great,” Howard said of his practice work with Harden. “The thing we are trying to build on the most is chemistry between me and James. We have played together for two years, but the best way to build chemistry is to have those individual workouts together. That’s what we have done the last couple of weeks and we have gotten better at reading each other and the more we do it, the better we will become.”
- Former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien is an investor in Steve Kaplan’s bidding group for a 30% stake in the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Conflicting reports emerged in November about whether Levien was involved. The Kaplan group is reportedly progressing toward a deal that would see them eventually take over a controlling interest in the team.
- Losing to the Suns last week prompted the Pelicans to hold a players-only meeting, Anthony Davis said Wednesday, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune. New Orleans has won both of its games since then. The team has gone 8-8 after an 1-11 start under new coach Alvin Gentry, who criticized the effort of the players after the Phoenix loss, as Reid points out.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround: 12/23/15
The Rockets and representatives for Ty Lawson are reportedly working in tandem to look for possible deals that would send the point guard out of Houston, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Houston reportedly wants to keep Lawson, but the point guard’s camp is seeking a way for him to receive more playing time on another team, as was relayed by Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com.
The news that the Rockets are involved in trade discussions involving Lawson represents an apparent change from earlier this month, when Houston was holding off on the idea despite interested teams around the league believing that they’d be able to trade for him on the cheap, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported. The level of interest in Lawson around the league is up for debate, with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com noting that there isn’t currently much of a market for the point guard, and teams are likely waiting to see if the Rockets will ultimately waive him.
This brings me to the topic for today: Should the Rockets look to trade Ty Lawson, even if the return is negligible?
Lawson’s contract has him slated to earn $12,404,495 for 2015/16, which will be a difficult salary to trade without taking back a bad contract or two. The only teams currently possessing enough cap room to absorb Lawson’s pact without needing to ship out a significant amount of salary are the Sixers and Blazers. Portland seems like an unlikely fit given the presence of Damian Lillard, so I’d rule them out as a potential landing spot for Lawson. The Sixers certainly could use help in the backcourt, but given Lawson’s off the court troubles, he doesn’t quite fit the bill as the veteran leader the team is looking to add.
The most logical fit for Lawson would be with the Knicks, given the team’s lack of production from the one spot. Lawson’s deal would not necessarily be an issue for the cap space conscious Knicks since his 2016/17 salary is non-guaranteed until either the day after the completion of the NBA Finals or the day after the 2016 NBA draft, whichever occurs later. Matching salaries for this season could be tricky, unless New York is willing to part with Robin Lopez, who could be dealt for Lawson straight up. It’s unclear if Houston would be interested in Lopez, but he could be viewed as a palatable replacement should Dwight Howard depart after this season as a free agent. A package of Jose Calderon and Derrick Williams, two players New York would likely love to part with, would also work salary-wise, though it’s unclear if the Rockets would be willing to take on Calderon, who still has one year remaining on his deal.
No matter which team Houston paired up with on a potential deal, the franchise isn’t likely to receive much in the way of value in return. So what say you? Should Houston look to cut ties with Lawson, no matter what the return? Or should the team hang onto him for the remainder of the season and hope he can pick up his play? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Howard, Roberts, Jones, Kidd
Rockets center Dwight Howard recently turned 30 and hopes he can continue to play in the NBA into his 40s, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays. “That’d be fun if I was to play this game [that long],” Howard told Feigen. “That was always my goal, to play 20 years, 20-something years in this league. I’m extremely happy and blessed to have been able to play this game for as long as I have been so far. I have played a lot of minutes. I’ve been doing a lot since I came into the league. I’m thankful. I’m not going to complain about it. I’m happy that I’ve been able to play 12 years so far. A lot of NBA players never played this long so I am very happy and blessed that I’ve been able to play 12 years in the NBA. Hopefully, I can play another 10, but the time I’ve played, I’ve enjoyed it.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Several NBA teams have expressed interest in Raptors preseason cut Ronald Roberts, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter). In 10 appearances for the Raptors 905 this season Roberts is averaging 17.9 points and 13.0 rebounds on 67% shooting.
- Timberwolves rookie point guard Tyus Jones believes his recent stint in the D-League will help him to contribute more at the NBA level, Jace Frederick of The Pioneer Press writes. “That definitely helped me out and definitely prepared me even more than I was, and it’s just helped my process,” Jones said. “I think it did prepare me a little bit better to help this team out.”
- The Knicks‘ trade of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavaliers was a move met with displeasure by the team’s fanbase, but it has worked out well for both sides so far, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “We made the decision,’’ Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. “It seems like it’s worked out well for both. J.R. and Shump, they seem happy. We like our team as it is at this point. I think our team would be OK if they were here or not because of what [habits] we’re doing every day.’’
- Bucks front office officials would have liked to have drafted Bobby Portis with the 17th overall pick this year, but coach Jason Kidd went with Rashad Vaughn instead, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (audio link via Twitter at 57-minute mark). Kidd is calling the shots on personnel, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times told us in a recent edition of The Beat. People around the league wonder whether Kidd’s leave of absence for hip surgery is the first step toward him dropping the coaching job and moving into a full-time front office role with the team, Wojnarowski hears.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
2016/17 Salary Cap Projection: Toronto Raptors
The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league prior to the official numbers being announced had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM. Many league executives and agents believe that the salary cap will escalate to a whopping $95MM for 2016/17, a higher figure than the league’s last projection of $89MM. This significant bump is a result of the league’s new $24 billion TV deal that kicks in just in time for next season.
The increase in the salary cap will almost assuredly set off a flurry of activity in the free agent market next summer, and it will also make it easier than ever for teams to deal away their higher-priced stars. Prudent executives are acutely aware of exactly how much cap room they have to play with, not just for the current campaign, but for next season and beyond as well. While the exact amount of 2016/17’s salary cap won’t be announced until next summer, it always pays to know just how much salary is on the books for each franchise. With this in mind, we at Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the projected 2016/17 financial commitments for each franchise, and we’ll continue onward with a look at the Toronto Raptors:
- Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $82,900,529*
- Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $0
- Non Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $0
- Total Projected Salary Cap Commitments: $82,900,529
*Note: This amount includes the player options for DeMar DeRozan ($10,050,000) and Bismack Biyombo ($2,940,630).
If the salary cap were to fall in line with the projection of $89MM, Toronto would have approximately $6,099,471 in cap space, or $12,099,471 if the cap were to be set at the higher mark of $95MM. Again, these are merely predictions until the exact cap amounts are announced, and they are not meant to illustrate the exact amount that the team will have available to spend this coming offseason.
Trades and long-term free agent signings made during the season will also have a significant impact on the figures above, and we’ll be updating these posts to reflect the new numbers after any signings and trades have been made official.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Eastern Notes: Johnson, Sixers, D-League
The Pistons are pleased with what 2015 lottery pick Stanley Johnson has shown them thus far, but they admit that the rookie still has much to learn before he can be an impact player in the NBA, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “It’s still up and down but we’ve seen good potential,” coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said regarding Johnson. “He’s a guy who’s on the attack, he plays the game hard; he certainly shows no fear. He’s got a lot of developing to do; he has a lot to learn on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, his decision-making is going to have to improve — when to shoot and when to pass — and he needs a lot of work on his footwork.”
Here’s the latest from the NBA’s Eastern Conference:
- The players on the Sixers support the team’s push to add veteran leadership to the locker room, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I think that will be good for us to have any type of veterans,” Nerlens Noel said. “I think [GM] Sam [Hinkie] is looking into that a little more. … You know Chuck Hayes is a big man and I think it’s going to help us.” Philadelphia reportedly met with Hayes and John Lucas III recently, though coach Brett Brown noted that the team is considering multiple players and no move is currently imminent, Pompey adds.”We are looking at a lot of things. To say that they [Hayes and Lucas] will join the team at this stage is not true,” Brown told Pompey.
- Jarell Eddie, who was recently signed by the Wizards, was surprised to have gotten the call from Washington, though he always believed he would make his way back to the NBA at some point, J. Michael of CSNMid-Atlantic.com relays. “I never doubted,” Eddie said of returning to the NBA. “I knew it was a process and the timing had to be right. I just continue to work, continue to do what I do. I knew eventually someone would call.“
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo and Norman Powell from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This was Caboclo’s fifth stint with the Raptors 905 on the season and Powell’s second.