Southeast Notes: Kidd-Gilchrist, Fournier, Heat
The Hornets decided in the offseason to emphasize offense at the expense of defense as they made their personnel moves, and Charlotte has indeed taken a step back on the defensive end, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer examines. Part of that has to do with the absence of prime defender Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, but his return, which he’s promised to make before season’s end, won’t solve all of the club’s defensive problems, Bonnell writes. Nonetheless, the Observer scribe wouldn’t be surprised if the former No. 2 overall pick is playing within a month’s time. See more from the Southeast Division:
- The Magic aren’t entirely sure about keeping Evan Fournier in restricted free agency this summer, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. It’s expected they’ll at least look into other options before recommitting to him, just as with the team’s courtship of Paul Millsap that preceded the Tobias Harris re-signing this past summer, according to Kyler. In any case, the team’s use of Fournier at shooting guard instead of Victor Oladipo doesn’t signal that the franchise has lost faith in the former No. 2 overall pick and instead shows that the team is adjusting the way it’s developing young players as it focuses more on the present, Kyler explains.
- Soon-to-be free agent Hassan Whiteside‘s style of play, personality and general way of going about his business is “not congruent” with the way of the Heat, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com opined on a recent edition of “The Lowe Post” podcast with ESPN colleague Zach Lowe (audio link; transcription via RealGM).
- Wizards draft-and-stash prospect Tomas Satoransky has a deal on a four-year extension with Barcelona of Spain that includes NBA outs, according to international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). He’s put pen to paper, Pick reports, though Javier Maestro of Encestando counters that he hasn’t officially signed it yet (translation via HoopsHype). In any case, Satoransky is in no hurry to come to the NBA, Maestro writes.
Seven Offseason Signees Still Yet To Debut
Seven players who signed contracts with NBA teams this past summer have still yet to take the floor for their teams during the regular season this year, even as we near the midway point. It’s not uncommon for players to miss time because of injury, but it’s especially frustrating for teams and their fans when recent signees aren’t producing any on-court dividends. Still, for a few teams, encouraging news has surfaced.
Alan Anderson was on the floor shooting 3-pointers while the Wizards practiced Thursday, a sign of progress as he continues to recover from a pair of left ankle surgeries, notes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The Warriors sent rookie Kevon Looney on a D-League rehab assignment Monday as he makes his way back from August hip surgery. Nets first-round pick Chris McCullough recently began practicing with teammates on a limited basis.
Injury isn’t always the reason why signees don’t play. Josh Huestis is healthy, but he still hasn’t seen any playing time this season for the Thunder, who’ve kept him on D-League assignment much of the year. It’s essentially an extension of last season, when the Thunder stashed him in the D-League, though this time around he’s drawing an NBA salary. His numbers at the D-League level don’t suggest he’ll give the Thunder much return on their investment any time soon, as Nate Duncan of Sports Illustrated’s “The Cauldron” blog notes via Twitter.
Pacers rookie Rakeem Christmas has also been healthy and has played on D-League assignment, but while his numbers haven’t been eye-popping, he’s averaging a fairly proficient 16.0 points and 7.8 rebounds in 32.6 minutes per game. He’s also a second-round pick in his first pro season, unlike Huestis, who’s in his second season after having been a first-round pick in 2014. Undrafted Kings signee Duje Dukan has also played in the D-League but not the NBA, but he’s suffered a tibial bone contusion that will cost him a few weeks.
Here’s a look at the 2015 offseason signees who’ve yet to make their debuts this season, with their respective contract information in parentheses:
- Alan Anderson, Wizards (one year, $4MM)
- Rakeem Christmas, Pacers (four years, $4.3MM)
- Duje Dukan, Kings (two years, $1,399,729)
- Mike Dunleavy, Bulls (three years, $14,512,500)
- Josh Huestis, Thunder (four years, $5,817,886)
- Kevon Looney, Warriors (four years, $5,775,721)
- Chris McCullough, Nets (four years, $5,817,886)
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Cavs Notes: Cunningham, Harris, LeBron, Love
The Cavaliers thought when the regular season began that they’d waive Jared Cunningham by Thursday, the final day they could release him without paying his full-season salary, but they made up their minds weeks ago to retain him, a source told Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Still, the recent injury to Joe Harris posed an issue, Lloyd writes. The team would still like to somehow open a roster spot in advance of the trade deadline to provide flexibility for the post-deadline buyout market, Lloyd adds, suggesting that trading Harris, as the team has tried to do for weeks, is the only viable way of accomplishing that. The Cavs dodged a bullet today when Mo Williams said that he won’t require surgery on a partially torn ligament in his right thumb and that he’ll play through the injury as it heals over the next six weeks, tweets Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. See more on the Cavs:
- LeBron James didn’t mention Andrew Wiggins in his summer 2014 Sports Illustrated essay announcing the four-time MVP’s return to Cleveland because he simply wasn’t familiar with him, James recently told Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports. Many speculated that the omission was a signal that James wanted the Cavs to trade Wiggins for Kevin Love, a move the team ultimately made. “I didn’t know the kid, really,” James said of Wiggins. “I knew Dion [Waiters]. I knew Kyrie [Irving]. I knew Tristan [Thompson]. I knew all the guys that I was playing with before. I didn’t know the kid, so it wasn’t no big issue to me.”
- Wiggins isn’t bitter, telling Lee in the same piece that the trade “put me in a better place.”
- The max contract that Kevin Love signed this summer “gave me that little extra edge and push” to recover from the shoulder injury he suffered in the playoffs, Love said to Lee. The power forward’s primary desire in free agency was to remain in a winning situation, as he explained to James. “When I talked to him this summer and when he went over what he wanted, what he needed, the most important thing that came out of it was, ‘I just want to win. And I want to win at a high level because I went through too many losing seasons in Minnesota,’” James said to Lee. “And I said, ‘If that’s the case, we can figure out all that other stuff. If you want to win, we can figure out all that other stuff.’ And he’s been unbelievable from that point on.”
Atlantic Notes: Turner, Raptors Picks, Holmes
A strong case can be made that soon-to-be free agent Evan Turner was the most valuable player on the Celtics last season, and his raw numbers don’t show his value the way advanced metrics do, particularly regarding his defense, contends Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Turner, whom the Nets are reportedly fond of as a potential free agent target, has a habit of making eye-catching statements, as Forsberg details. Still, he appeared genuine when he spoke Thursday of his affection for coach Brad Stevens, who’s away from the Celtics to tend to a player he coached at Butler University who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, notes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
“That guy’s lucky to be able to have coach; guys that played for him are lucky to be able to have a coach like that,” Turner said, referring to Stevens’ willingness to leave the Celtics to be with his ex-player in a moment of need. “It just speaks volumes, and I’m blown away by it. I’m lucky to play for him. That says a lot about his character, and obviously it puts him in a higher stature than I already have him.”
See more on the Celtics amid our look around the Atlantic Division:
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge understands the frustration that some of the team’s players are going through as they deal with a lack of playing time on a deep roster, as he explained to Bulpett for a separate piece. David Lee spoke up this week about his dissatisfaction with his removal from the rotation.
- The Raptors have one extra first-round pick in each of the next two drafts, and a source who spoke with Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun indicated that the Raptors don’t plan to add four rookies to the roster in the next two years, a signal that the club will trade one or more of those picks. However, the Raptors aren’t willing to make those selections available for cheap, and multiple other sources told Wolstat that the team would be unlikely to swap one of the picks for a stopgap player on a short-term deal. The team strongly prefers to keep its picks through the end of the season because of the rising value of rookie deals around the league, Wolstat adds.
- Richaun Holmes looks like a find for the Sixers, as his athleticism, his performance in the pick-and-roll, and his shot-blocking have been impressive despite his shortcomings as a defensive rebounder, observes Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine. Philadelphia has Holmes, the 37th pick in last year’s draft, on a four-year deal worth about $4.2MM. Holmes, whose stock surged during the lead-up to the draft, spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors in April.
Suns Sign Lorenzo Brown To 10-Day Deal
FRIDAY, 12:22pm: The signing is official, the Suns announced (Twitter link).
THURSDAY, 1:44pm: The Suns plan to sign Lorenzo Brown to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). He’ll ostensibly go into one of the two roster spots the team will reportedly open today with the release of Bryce Cotton and Cory Jefferson.
Brown, 25, has made a total of 55 appearances in two NBA seasons, averaging 3.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists to go along with a slash line of .375/.155/.656. He was in training camp with the Timberwolves this year, but Minnesota waived him prior to the regular season. Brown’s deal with the Wolves included a $75K partial guarantee, giving the player some breathing room financially this season.
The point guard has been playing for the Pistons affiliate in the D-League. Brown made 16 appearances for the Drive this season and notched 16.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists on 47.8% shooting.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Lakers Have Longstanding Interest In DeRozan
The Lakers appear poised to become one of the teams to make a play for DeMar DeRozan in free agency this summer, given their long-held interest in the native of nearby Compton, California, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Speculation that DeRozan would seek to play close to home has existed for quite some time, and it’s not surprising that the Lakers, who’ve struggled to field competitive rosters the past few years, would want to add a 26-year-old who’s currently the NBA’s 11th-leading scorer at 22.6 points per game. A source close to DeRozan who spoke recently with Brian Lewis of the New York Post confirmed the widely held assumption that the shooting guard will turn down his player option of slightly more than $10MM for next season, and the Nets are also expected to pursue him in free agency this summer.
Still, despite DeRozan’s ties to Southern California, he’s also fond of Toronto and has shown no hesitation to express his affection for the city and the Raptors organization. The source who spoke to Lewis cited DeRozan’s loyalty to the Raptors, and with next month’s All-Star Game set for Toronto, DeRozan again paid homage Thursday to the only NBA city he’s ever represented, as Wolstat points out.
“I think I’m just excited for being in Toronto and people really getting a chance to see what Toronto is like,” DeRozan said. “The city, the culture, really, to put us on the main stage and let this city get the credit that it deserves that I feel like it never got.”
The Raptors have close to $70MM in guaranteed salary committed for next season against a projected $89MM cap, and they have fellow wing players DeMarre Carroll and Terrence Ross signed to long-term deals, but they hold DeRozan’s Bird rights and can exceed the cap to re-sign him. DeRozan won’t necessarily be the No. 1 priority for the Lakers, with the team no doubt eager to make a pitch to Kevin Durant, this summer’s top free agent prize. DeRozan is No. 8 in the latest edition of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.
The rising salary cap and the impending retirement of Kobe Bryant, which will allow the Lakers to remove his massive $26.25MM cap hold from the books next summer, will help give them no shortage of flexibility to sign multiple marquee free agents in the offseason. They have only about $23MM in guaranteed salary, not counting a $3.135MM player option for Brandon Bass and cap holds much smaller than Bryant’s. DeRozan will be eligible for a max deal with a salary of a projected $24.9MM for next season.
Contract Guarantee Recap
Thursday was the final day for NBA teams to waive players who had any non-guaranteed salary without it becoming guaranteed, and few took advantage of the opportunity to retain flexibility. Only six players hit waivers this week, meaning dozens of others have their full-season salaries locked in.
Below is a team-by-team look at what each team did with contracts that included non-guaranteed salary entering this week. Note that the salaries listed are the amount the team pays. Some of those players are veterans of more than two seasons who are on minimum-salary contracts that are partially funded by the league, so they earn more than the figure listed. Also, note that not all the salary that was partially guaranteed is listed. That’s because most of the players with partial guarantees had already earned more than those amounts by virtue of sticking on their respective rosters as long as they had.
Bucks
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Bulls
- Kept Cameron Bairstow ($845,059 — $425K had been partially guaranteed)
- Kept Cristiano Felicio ($525,093)
Cavaliers
- Kept Jared Cunningham ($947,276)
Celtics
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Clippers
- Kept Luc Mbah a Moute ($947,276)
Grizzlies
- Kept James Ennis ($845,059)
- Kept JaMychal Green ($845,059)
- Waived Ryan Hollins ($596,227)
Hawks
- Kept Mike Muscala ($947,276)
- Kept Lamar Patterson ($525,093)
Heat
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Hornets
- Kept Aaron Harrison ($525,093)
Jazz
- Kept Chris Johnson ($981,348)
- Kept Jeff Withey ($947,276)
- Waived Elijah Millsap ($845,059)
Kings
- Kept Eric Moreland ($845,059)
Knicks
- Kept Langston Galloway ($845,059 — $440K had been partially guaranteed)
Lakers
- Kept Metta World Peace ($947,276)
- Kept Tarik Black ($845,059)
- Kept Marcelo Huertas ($525,093)
Magic
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Mavericks
- Kept JaVale McGee ($1,270,964 — $750K had been partially guaranteed)
Nets
- Kept Donald Sloan ($947,276)
Nuggets
- Waived Kostas Papanikolaou ($800,321 — $350K had been partially guaranteed)
Pacers
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Pelicans
- Kept Toney Douglas ($1,164,858)
Pistons
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Raptors
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Rockets
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Sixers
- Kept Robert Covington ($1MM)
- Kept Hollis Thompson ($947,276)
- Kept Ish Smith ($947,276)
- Kept JaKarr Sampson ($845,059)
- Kept T.J. McConnell ($525,093)
- Waived Christian Wood ($525,093)
Spurs
- Kept Matt Bonner ($947,276 — $749,594 had been partially guaranteed)
- Kept Rasual Butler ($947,276)
Suns
- Waived Cory Jefferson ($845,059)
- Waived Bryce Cotton ($700,902)
Thunder
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Timberwolves
- No non-guaranteed contracts
Trail Blazers
- Kept Tim Frazier ($845,059)
- Kept Cliff Alexander ($525,093)
- Kept Luis Montero ($525,093)
Warriors
- Kept Ian Clark ($947,276 — $473,636 had been partially guaranteed)
- Kept James Michael McAdoo ($845,059)
Wizards
- No non-guaranteed contracts
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Grizzlies Sign Elliot Williams To 10-Day Contract
FRIDAY, 10:16am: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
THURSDAY, 12:58pm: The Grizzlies are expected to sign Elliot Williams to a 10-day contract, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’ll necessitate a corresponding move, since Memphis already has 15 players on its roster. Ryan Hollins joined the club just last week, while James Ennis has a partially guaranteed contract. JaMychal Green does, too, though he’s an unlikely candidate to hit waivers. All salaries for this season become fully guaranteed if not waived by 4:00pm Central today.
Memphis will become the fourth team to sign Williams to a 10-day contract in the past two seasons, since he had 10-day deals with the Jazz, Hornets and Pelicans last year, as our 10-day Tracker shows. He didn’t end up sticking for the balance of the season with any of those three teams, though he was back with Charlotte for the preseason before the Hornets again let him go. The five-year NBA veteran who was the 22nd overall pick in 2010 joined the D-League affiliate of the Warriors in early November, and he’s put up impressive numbers in 16 appearances for that club, averaging 28.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.9 turnovers in 40.9 minutes per game.
The 26-year-old has also canned 36.1% of his 3-pointers in the D-League this season, a key stat for Memphis, which lacks outside shooting, but Williams is just a 31.2% shooter from behind the arc over the course of his NBA career. The Grizzlies, at a disappointing 19-18, begin a key six-game homestand Friday.
Nets Interested In Nicolas Batum, Evan Turner
The Nets are fond of soon-to-be free agents Nicolas Batum and Evan Turner, NetsDaily tweets, also confirming earlier reports of the team’s interest in Mike Conley and DeMar DeRozan. Brooklyn only has about $45MM in guaranteed salary committed for next season against a projected $89MM cap, and without a 2016 first-round pick thanks to the 2013 Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce deal, making improvements via free agency will be that much more important to the Nets. Still, questions remain about Brooklyn’s ability to attract marquee talent to a franchise that’s experienced declines in winning percentage three years in a row.
Batum is in the midst of a career year, having taken to Charlotte in his first season there after the Trail Blazers dealt him to the Hornets over the summer. It’s no surprise to see the Nets have interest in the 27-year-old who’s averaging 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 34.8 minutes per game, especially since Bojan Bogdanovic and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are the team’s only wing players with fully guaranteed contracts for next season. Still, re-signing Batum will no doubt be a high priority for Charlotte, and the Bouna Ndiaye client has said that his fondness for Hornets coach Steve Clifford, who signed an extension this fall, “could be a big factor” in his decision.
Turner is a more surprising object of Brooklyn’s interest. He started most of the season for the Celtics last year, but he’s made only four starts this season, including the past three games as he’s filled in for an injured Avery Bradley. The former No. 2 overall pick has failed to live up to his draft position since joining the NBA in 2010, and he signed with Boston in 2013 for just $6.704MM over two years. The rising salary cap and a better performance with the Celtics than he gave the Pacers before signing his last contract should push the David Falk client’s price tag higher this summer, but compared to Batum, he’ll likely be much more obtainable.
Complicating matters is the unsettled situation in the Nets front office, where GM Billy King is on a contract that expires at season’s end. NetsDaily has countered a European report indicating that owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants CSKA Moscow team president Andrey Vatutin to succeed King. Nets CEO Brett Yormark, who’s apparently a major proponent of recruiting John Calipari back to the organization in a role that would likely include player personnel power, has begun to speak more often about the team’s basketball operations, as NetsDaily has also pointed out.
Nuggets Waive Kostas Papanikolaou
FRIDAY, 7:46am: The team still hasn’t publicly announced the move, but Papanikolaou’s release did take place Thursday before his salary would have become fully guaranteed, according to the RealGM transactions log.
THURSDAY, 11:49am: The Nuggets are releasing Kostas Papanikolaou for the second time this season, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Denver will be on the hook for $350K to him pursuant to his partial guarantee, providing he clears waivers, though the team will avoid paying most of his prorated one-year veteran’s minimum salary of about $800K if it formally releases him by the close of business today, as expected. The Nuggets had him on a non-guaranteed deal over the summer after bringing him in via the Ty Lawson trade, but they waived him at the start of training camp, only to re-sign him November 5th when injuries had depleted their frontcourt.
The 6’8″ combo forward struggled in international play over the summer, averaging just 1.8 points per game for the Greek national team at the Eurobasket tournament, but he put up somewhat better numbers with Denver. He posted 2.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per contest over 26 appearances for the Nuggets, including a string of six starts from December 22nd through 30th.
Denver has better health across its roster than it did when Papanikolaou signed, with fellow combo forward Wilson Chandler‘s season-ending hip injury and a sprained right ankle for Emmanuel Mudiay the only injuries currently listed. Offing Papanikolaou would leave Denver with 14 fully guaranteed contracts and an open roster spot. The team could circle back to hot D-League prospect Erick Green, whom the Nuggets waived to sign Papanikolaou in November, though that’s just my speculation.