Western Notes: Garnett, Monroe, Clippers, Kings
Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell won’t rule out the possibility that Kevin Garnett will miss the rest of the season with continued soreness in his right knee, as Mitchell detailed on the “NBA Today” show on SiriusXM NBA Radio (audio link). “It’s kind of a day-to-day, week-to-week thing,” Mitchell said. It’ll be Garnett’s call about whether to return to action this season, notes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Garnett is under contract at $8MM next season, but it’s not set in stone that he’ll continue to play, so it’s conceivable that the 21st-year veteran has made his last NBA appearance. See more from the Western Conference:
- The Trail Blazers made preliminary inquiries about trading for Greg Monroe before last month’s deadline, but such talks didn’t go anywhere, league sources told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The Blazers were one of four finalists who made maximum-salary offers to Monroe when he was a free agent this past summer.
- Jeff Green sees an extra $250K if his team wins at least 54 games this season, a possibility that appeared remote when he was with the Grizzlies but is solidly in play following his trade to the Clippers, Lowe notes in the same piece. That bonus increases to $450K if the Clips hit 56 wins and $700K if they make 58, according to Lowe. L.A. is projected to pay an additional $2.50 in taxes for every extra dollar Green receives.
- The lack of a ready-built arena hampered Virginia Beach’s pursuit of the Kings in 2013, as did a fragmented television market, as attorney Tom Frantz, who’s part of a push to consolidate marketing efforts among municipalties in eastern Virginia, explained to Paula C. Squires of VirginiaBusiness.com. “The [Kings] looked at Richmond to the oceanfront as one market. … They said it would have been critically important for them to come here to have one sports station covering the Richmond and Hampton Roads [Metropolitan Statistical Areas] to help promote the team,” Frantz said. Plans for a privately owned arena in the area have been approved, Squires notes.
Wolves Waive Kevin Martin In Buyout Deal
11:28pm: The Wolves have waived Martin, the team announced (Twitter link). Presumably, the official transaction took place before the 11pm Central time deadline, as previous reports indicated it would.
11:11pm: Some pessimism exists about the Mavs’ chances at Martin once he clears waivers, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
10:38pm: The Timberwolves and shooting guard Kevin Martin have come to an agreement on a buyout deal, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). The move comes prior to the 11pm Central time deadline, so Martin will be eligible for the playoffs with any postseason-bound team he might sign with before the end of the regular season. It’s not immediately clear just how much salary the shooting guard gave up to secure his release. Martin is scheduled to earn $7.085MM this season with a $7,377,500 player option for next year. The move will give Minnesota a roster count of 13 players, two under the league maximum.
Martin was available for a trade prior to the February trade deadline, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press first reported, but potential suitors were apparently reluctant to take him on without knowing what he’d do about his player option for 2016/17. GM Milt Newton said after the deadline passed without a Martin trade that a buyout discussion would probably take place between Martin and the team in the near future, and that’s apparently come to fruition.
The veteran scorer shouldn’t be out of work for long with a number of teams reportedly showing interest. The Mavericks, Cavaliers, Hawks, Heat, Rockets and Thunder are all potential suitors for the shooting guard, though the Spurs are reportedly the favorites to sign him, as Stein reported last week. The Spurs remain in front, with the Mavs, Rockets and Hawks in pursuit, according to Stein’s latest dispatch (Twitter link). San Antonio currently has the league maximum of 15 players on its roster, so a corresponding move would be required if the team inks Martin.
The 33-year-old has appeared in 39 games for Minnesota this season, including 12 starts. Martin is averaging 10.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.4 minutes of action per appearance. His career numbers through 698 games are 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists to go with a shooting line of .438/.385/.870.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 3/1/16
Outspoken Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban has never been shy about voicing his opinions about the state of the NBA and his latest idea involves moving back the 3-point line, as he told ESPN during Friday night’s win over the Nuggets (h/t Tim McMahon of ESPN.com). Cuban, prompted by watching the two teams launch a combined 58 3-point attempts that night, had this to say: “It’s getting too close. Guys are shooting a foot behind it anyways. That’s something we should look at. It’s worth looking at. I don’t think the number of shots would decline, but I think it would reward skill and open up the court some more. So guys would still take [3-point] shots if it’s seven inches back or whatever, but at the same time, it opens up the court for more drives, more midrange game.”
While many will automatically assume this stance is motivated by the unreal shooting range of Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the Mavs owner insisted this change would benefit players by opening up other scoring opportunities. “I think it’d open it up more so guys with different skill sets could play,” Cuban said. “It would open up play for more drives. Guys with midrange games would be rewarded and that would stay in the game. There would be more diversity of offensive action in the game. You’d see a little bit of decline in the 3. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that we shoot so many 3s, but it’s worth it in the D-League to see what happens [with a deeper 3-point line].”
This brings me to the topic for today: Should the NBA adjust the distance of the 3-point line?
Is this simply an overreaction to Curry’s play, or is there an issue with the game that needs to be addressed? As a basketball purist at heart, I often lament the decline of the midrange jumper and miss the days when skilled big men would dominate the paint area. While I certainly appreciate the athleticism displayed by the NBA’s top stretch-fours and perimeter-oriented big men, a major part of me still longs for the days of Hakeem Olajuwan, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing battling it out in the post. The 3-point shot has never been used more freely than it has been this season, with players currently on pace to nail 58,477 in total, which would easily shatter the league record of 55,137, as McMahon notes.
But what say you? Should the 3-point line be adjusted, or is the game fine with the current layout? Are there any other changes that you suggest be made to help make a more exciting and diverse on-court product? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Oden, Sampson, Lee
Mavs power forward David Lee struggled to get into shape this season following the Warriors‘ NBA title run of last season and turned some heads when he said that he finally committed himself to getting fit when he fell out of the Celtics‘ rotation in preparation for joining another team, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. Despite the negative implications of Lee’s remarks, Boston coach Brad Stevens isn’t upset with his former player, Forsberg notes. “I don’t know if that is semantics or how he meant to say it,” Stevens said. “I think the biggest thing that he was probably saying there was that, when you’re not playing, you have to find other ways to stay ready. And maybe I’m wrong. But I think that he certainly took [to his] diet, he worked out hard — he worked out hard enough that if he would have played, he would have been gassed in the games. Sometimes you can’t do that if you’re going to be playing 15 minutes per night. He was going two or three times hard per day during that stretch. So, no, I wasn’t frustrated by it. In fact it set a pretty good example for the other guys that weren’t playing.”
Stevens also acknowledged the difficult spot Lee was placed in with him not being in the team’s regular rotation, Forberg writes. “That was hard. That was really hard. And it was harder on [Lee] than anybody else, but we talked about it a lot,” Stevens said. “We didn’t have hardly any injuries with our bigs and we had a lot of bigs that, especially at the end of games, were going to be relatively the same position. And so it put a lot of guys on the bench. And it was different guys at different times. To his credit, when we eventually settled on playing others, he handled it really well. Kudos to him. I’m happy he’s doing well.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Former NBA top pick Greg Oden was released by the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association recently, but he appreciates the opportunity that the club gave him, Joshua Bateman of USA Today writes. “It was a great opportunity for me to come and just play basketball, which I haven’t been able to do for awhile,” Oden said. “They got me playing. For me, that’s all I can say. I’ve had a lot of years where I actually just couldn’t play and this year I’m actually able to be out there on the court and play 25 minutes when I never thought I would see over 20 minutes in a game. And I’m playing three games a week. For me, that’s just something I didn’t even think I would ever be able to do.”
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) has released his latest mock draft and his current top three players are Ben Simmons of LSU, Duke’s Brandon Ingram and Croatian big man Dragan Bender.
- JaKarr Sampson‘s contract with the Nuggets doesn’t contain any guaranteed salary beyond this season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link), resolving earlier reports that conflicted. It’s a two-year pact for the minimum salary.
- Joe Johnson gave back exactly $3MM in his buyout from the Nets, reports Pincus relays (Twitter link).
- Kris Humphries agreed to forfeit precisely $1MM as part of his buyout with the Suns, Pincus also notes (Twitter links)
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Wolves, Kevin Martin On Track For Buyout
TUESDAY, 9:48pm: The two sides are expected to reach an agreement on a buyout prior to the midnight deadline this evening, Stein tweets.
SATURDAY, 2:10pm: The Spurs are emerging as the favorite to sign Martin if a buyout deal is reached, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
FRIDAY, 3:47pm: The Rockets would also be interested if Martin shakes free from Minnesota, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
9:56pm: The Mavericks are interested in Martin if a buyout is arranged, but the shooting guard is more likely to sign with a contender, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays (ESPN NOW link). The ESPN scribe’s source also relayed that the Cavs, Hawks, Heat and Thunder are all potential suitors for the shooting guard depending on where Joe Johnson lands.
THURSDAY, 9:22pm: The Timberwolves and Kevin Martin are engaged in advanced discussions regarding a potential buyout arrangement, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Minnesota reached a buyout arrangement with veteran point guard Andre Miller earlier today and it would appear that Martin is the next veteran the team will set free so that he may catch on with a playoff-bound club.
Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune relayed earlier today that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor would be open to discussing a buyout with the veteran shooting guard, but Martin’s side would have to initiate such talks. Martin is earning $7.085MM this season with a $7,377,500 player option for next year. To be playoff eligible for another team Martin would need to hit waivers no later than Tuesday.
It was widely reported that Martin was available for a trade before last week’s deadline, but potential suitors were apparently reluctant to take him on without knowing what he’d do about his player option for 2016/17. GM Milt Newton said after the deadline passed without a Martin trade that a buyout discussion would probably take place between Martin and the team in the near future, which has apparently come to pass. Several teams were linked to Martin before the deadline, as Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron noted in his trade candidate piece, including the Bucks, who reportedly made a run at him as the deadline neared.
The 33-year-old has appeared in 39 games for Minnesota this season, including 12 starts. Martin is averaging 10.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.4 minutes of action per appearance. His career numbers through 698 games are 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists to go along with a shooting line of .438/.385/.870.
2015/16 Salary Cap Update: Dallas Mavericks
The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 is set at $70MM, which is good for an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. With the February 18th cutoff date for trades now past and the de facto deadline of March 1st for buyouts now upon us, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of updating the salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Dallas Mavericks, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:
- 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
- 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
- Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $73,096,861*
- Remaining Cap Room= –$3,096,861
- Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $11,091,228
*Note: This amount includes the $315,759 owed to Gal Mekel, the $525,094 owed to Maurice Ndour, the $1,499,187 due Samuel Dalembert, plus the $50K owed to both Jamil Wilson and Brandon Ashley, as well as the $10K owed to Jarrid Famous, all of whom were waived by the team.
**Note: Charlie Villanueva‘s salary for tax purposes is $1,499,187.
Cap Exceptions Available:
- None
Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000
Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000
Note: Despite the trade deadline having passed, the NBA season technically doesn’t end until June 30th. Teams are able to again make trades upon the completion of the regular season or when/if they are eliminated from the playoffs, whichever comes later. So these cash limits still apply.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Rockets Waive Ty Lawson In Buyout Deal
9:22pm: Lawson has officially been waived, the team announced.
7:21am: The Rockets and Ty Lawson have a deal on a buyout, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). The point guard will still be eligible to take part in the playoffs for another team if he formally hits waivers today.
The prospect of a buyout seemed unlikely this weekend, even as the sides were reportedly exploring the idea, with Lawson apparently having indicated a desire to stay in Houston until season’s end. Instead, it looks like he’s headed elsewhere and is giving up a portion of his more than $12.404MM salary to do so. It’s a sharp turn of events from the summer, when the Happy Walters client forfeited the guarantee on next season’s salary to facilitate the trade that sent him from the Nuggets to the Rockets, but little has gone right for Houston this season, and Lawson is averaging a career-low 5.8 points per game in a reserve role. His assists per game have gone from 9.6 last year to 3.4 this year.
It’s unclear just how much Lawson is giving up for the chance to join another team, but the buyout will push the Rockets farther away from their $88.74MM hard cap. They’re only about $524K shy of it for now, keeping them from spending all of the nearly $900K in exception money they still have. It’ll also give the team a second opening on the roster. Houston, already with one vacancy in the wake of Marcus Thornton‘s release, reportedly has some level of interest in Chris Copeland, though a reunion with buyout candidate Kevin Martin is unlikely.
The Jazz appeared to have interest in Lawson amid the trade talks they reportedly engaged in with the Rockets before the deadline, and the Knicks apparently spoke with the Rockets about trading for Lawson, too. The market for Lawson appeared slow early this season, but his appeal figures to be greater now that he’ll be available much more cheaply.
Reports throughout the day provided sometimes conflicting information about whether Lawson and the Rockets had reached a buyout. League sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports a few hours after Pick’s report that the sides were still talking about a buyout but hadn’t struck an agreement yet (Twitter link). Walters confirmed this to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (on Twitter). Wojnarowski later tweeted that the sides were getting closer but a hurdle remained. Sources told both Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com minutes later that the sides had struck a buyout agreement (Twitter links). Wojnarowski clarified that a framework of the buyout was in place and that the deal would become final today once the documentation was finished (Twitter links).
Eastern Notes: Marks, Johnson, Novak
New Nets GM Sean Marks reiterated the need for patience as he attempts to rebuild the franchise, noting the hasty approach is what led the team to its current state, NetsDaily relays. “It may be a little bit different from what we’ve done in the past here in Brooklyn,” Marks said in a video on the team’s website. “I have some empathy for the way they went about it in the past and said, look, ‘He’s committed to winning. He’s gone about it with a willingness to spend money and so forth.’ I’m not saying it’s the wrong way, but it didn’t work! So maybe this time, we’ll go about it in a little bit of a different way. We won’t skip any steps along the way.”
“Mr. [Mikhail] Prokhorov is committed to doing that and that’s what sold me in the interview. When he said, ‘Look, I want to win. I want to put this behind me. You make some of these decisions and you tell me what’s best.’ We talked about the process,” Marks continued. “We talked about this not being, look, in two weeks we’re not going to have a totally revamped organization. It’s going to take time. Its about bringing in the right people at the right time.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Joe Johnson is now a member of the Heat and back in the playoff hunt after signing with Miami, but despite the difficulties that the Nets endured the past few seasons, he still had good things to say about the organization as a whole, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. “Obviously we had some ups and downs, but I think the good outweighed the bad for me,” Johnson said of his time with the Nets. “I think the changing of the GM and coach, it’s pretty tough but not really. I’ve been through quite a few coaches in my career in Brooklyn, so it was kind of second nature for me. But just losing, us playing hard and losing was probably the toughest part for me.”
- Steve Novak‘s deal with the Bucks is a minimum salary affair that runs just through the rest of the season, so Milwaukee retains a prorated portion of its room exception, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- The Hawks have assigned Lamar Patterson to the NBA D-League, the team announced via press release. Patterson will report to the Canton Charge, the Cavs‘ affiliate, pursuant to the league’s flexible assignment rule.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Western Notes: Green, Miller, Dekker
Warriors combo forward Draymond Green issued a public apology for his halftime outburst on Saturday when things between he and coach Steve Kerr became heated, Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com relays. “I made a mistake,” Green said. “I admitted my mistakes to my teammates and my coaching staff. I apologized to my teammates, my coaching staff [and] this organization. That wasn’t the right way to handle what needed to be handled. As a leader of this team, I can’t do that. Because it sets a bad precedent for how everything is run around here, how everything should be run, how everything has been ran and how everything will be ran going forward. It won’t happen again. It’s something where my emotions kind of got ahead of me and I let my emotions get the best of me. However, I will never quit on my teammates, as some have reported. I will never quit on my coaching staff. I will never quit on this organization.”
Here’s more from out West:
- The Rockets, who reportedly reached a buyout arrangement today with point guard Ty Lawson, will likely use the available roster slot and cap space created to sign another guard, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports relays.
- Andre Miller‘s buyout deal with the Timberwolves saw the team shave $256,333 off what had been an $947,276 obligation to the 39-year-old point guard, leaving Minnesota with a cap hit of just $690,943, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). He’ll see $396,844 on his new minimum salary contract with the Spurs that covers the rest of the season, Pincus also shows. It represents a $250,750 cap hit to San Antonio.
- The Rockets have assigned combo forward Sam Dekker to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Dekker’s third jaunt to Rio Grande Valley on the season.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hawks Sign Kris Humphries
TUESDAY, 6:56pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. “As we explored opportunities to add to our team after the trade deadline, we felt it was important to prioritize experience and versatility,” coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said in the team’s statement. “Kris is a versatile veteran with playoff experience who fits well with our group and within our system. We are fortunate to have Kris join our team and would like to welcome him to the Hawks family.”
10:29pm: Humphries plans to sign a minimum-salary contract with the Hawks for the rest of the season, according to Spears.
SUNDAY, 4:31pm: The Hawks will sign power forward Kris Humphries, whom the Suns waived this afternoon, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Spears confirmed that Humphries has committed to joining the Hawks once he clears waivers.
Today’s move ends Humphries’ short stay in Phoenix, where Washington traded him in a deadline-day deal for Markieff Morris. Terms of the buyout have not been released, but Humphries is making $4.6MM this season and was due to get the same amount in 2016/17.
Humphries’ contract for next season would have been guaranteed if he had not been waived by June 30th, tweets Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. He also notes that if any team decides to claim Humphries, it would only have to pay about $1.1MM for the rest of this season, although it would absorb this season’s full salary on its cap (Twitter link).
Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops first reported Saturday night that Atlanta was the front-runner to land Humphries. The Hawks are seeking a replacement for center/forward Tiago Splitter, who will miss the rest of the season after having hip surgery.