Knicks Rumors: Afflalo, Clarkson, Hernangomez
On Wednesday, we learned that the Knicks are in negotiations to retain Kurt Rambis as an assistant on new head coach Jeff Hornacek‘s staff, and we passed along the names of several free agent targets viewed as “realistic” for the team, including a handful of veterans who are working out at a Knicks mini-camp. We’ve got a few more items out of New York to round up today, all courtesy of Ian Begley of ESPN.com, whose latest piece is chock-full of interesting tidbits. Let’s dive right in…
- Asked which position the Knicks will prioritize this offseason, general manager Steve Mills provided an unsurprising reply. “It’s clear we need a lead guard, someone that can really carry the load, day in and day out,” Mills said during an MSG Network program. “That’s something that I think is one of our biggest needs.”
- According to Begley, Arron Afflalo has yet to make a decision on his $8MM player option for 2016/17, but the expectation is that the veteran guard will opt out, potentially leaving the Knicks even more short-handed in the backcourt.
- Begley hears that Jordan Clarkson has fans within the Knicks organization, but Clarkson will be a restricted free agent this summer, and appears likely to stay with the Lakers.
- Mills indicated that New York hopes to sign 2015 second-round pick Willy Hernangomez this offseason. “We won’t be able to do anything until July 1 but we’re in conversations about that,” the GM said.
- We’ve heard previously that the Knicks plan to acquire a draft pick, and Begley notes that the team has been working out prospects, emphasizing the triangle offense in those sessions.
- Mills, on the possibility of getting involved in the draft: “Teams have multiple picks, so some of those teams are going to be interested in moving their picks. A lot is going to depend on who is there in the draft that we really like. We have a feel for if there are any players that we really like that we think can impact this team and then we’ll go out and aggressively get a pick if we think something’s there. But we also have to balance the number of young guys on the roster versus veterans that we may be able to bring in through free agency or trade. So that’s a balance that we’re constantly looking at.”
- Mills added the Knicks expect to have “a pool of 30 or 40 players” that they’ll look at in free agency, with the intention of adding at least a couple free agents from that group. “The most important thing is to understand who the guys are that you have a really good chance of getting so that you’re not chasing the guys that you really don’t have a chance,” Mills said.
Five Trade Exceptions Expiring This Month
NBA draft day is fast approaching, with just 15 days remaining until the Sixers will be on the clock with the first overall pick. The salary cap and free agent contracts will be significantly on the rise this summer, but rookie contracts will remain relatively affordable, meaning we could see a handful of trades consummated during the draft, as teams look to acquire affordable young talent.
In those trade discussions, draft picks and veteran contracts figure to be the key pieces, but it’s also worth considering which teams have traded player exceptions to utilize. Could a team use a trade exception before it expires to acquire a player without sending out any salary? Perhaps, but of the five trade exceptions set to expire this month (before the July moratorium begins), none are particularly sizable, and there’s a good chance that all five will go unused.
The most noteworthy of the five expiring exceptions is the Thunder’s $2.75MM trade exception, set to expire on June 30th. There are plenty of players around the league earning less than that amount, and with Kevin Durant due for a new deal, Oklahoma City will be on the lookout for inexpensive talent to fill out the roster, so it’s possible the team makes use of it.
Here are all five trade exceptions set to expire later this month, sorted by amount:
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Amount: $2,750,000
- Obtained: Luke Ridnour (Raptors)
- Expires: 6/30/16
- Brooklyn Nets
- Amount: $1,357,080
- Obtained: Mason Plumlee (Trail Blazers)
- Expires: 6/26/16
- Charlotte Hornets
- Amount: $646,250
- Obtained: Matt Barnes (Grizzlies)
- Expires: 6/25/16
- Charlotte Hornets
- Amount: $548,000
- Obtained: Luke Ridnour (Thunder)
- Expires: 6/25/16
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Amount: $122,441
- Obtained: Jon Leuer (Suns)
- Initial amount: $967,500
- Used: James Ennis ($845,059)
- Expires: 6/26/16
For the complete list of outstanding trade exceptions around the NBA, including one held by the Cavaliers worth nearly $10MM, check out our full breakdown. And be sure to take a look at the Hoops Rumors Glossary entry on trade exceptions for a refresher on exactly how they work.
Draft Notes: Labissiere, Poeltl, Murray
Here are the latest news and notes regarding the 2016 NBA Draft, which will be held on June 23rd in Brooklyn, New York:
- The Nuggets have workouts scheduled on Thursday for Josh Adams (Wyoming), Kay Felder (Oakland), Brice Johnson, (North Carolina), Chris Obekpa, (UNLV), Malachi Richardson, (Syracuse) and Guershcon Yabusele (France), the team announced via press release.
- The Suns held a group workout today for Johnson, Richardson, Alpha Kaba (France) and Maodo Lo (Columbia), the team announced in a series of tweets. Working out individually for Phoenix today was Skal Labissiere (Kentucky) and Jakob Poeltl (Utah).
- Kentucky combo guard Jamal Murray said he intends to work out for just four teams: the Celtics, Suns, Timberwolves and Pelicans, Jay King of MassLive tweets. The teams on Murray’s list hold picks No. 3 to No. 6 in June’s draft, King notes.
- The Wolves will bring in Damion Lee (Louisville) and Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova) as part of a group workout on June 14th, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN notes (Twitter links).
Submit Your Questions For Hoops Rumors Mailbag
We at Hoops Rumors love interacting with our readers. This is why we provide an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in our weekly mailbag feature, which is posted every Sunday.
Have a question regarding player movement, free agent rumors, the salary cap, the NBA draft, or the top storylines of the week? You can e-mail them here: hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com. Feel free to send emails throughout the week, but please be mindful that we may receive a sizable number of questions and might not get to all of them.
If you missed out on any past mailbags and would like to catch up, you can view the full archives here.
Western Notes: Marjanovic, Cuban, Davis
With the salary cap set to increase to approximately $92MM for next season this offseason is likely to be a wild one for free agents. But Mavs owner Mark Cuban casts some doubt on predictions that even marginal players will land outrageous deals this summer, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “Every player thinks it’s just going to be a money train this summer. There’s a lot of money; there’s not THAT much money,” Cuban said. “And I think there’s going to be teams that save their money for next year, because it’s a better free agent class. People just presume now that everybody’s going to get paid a lot of money, and it’ll be interesting to see if that happens.”
Here’s more from out West:
- The Grizzlies officially announced the additions of J.B. Bickerstaff as associate head coach and Nick Van Exel as an assistant coach on David Fizdale‘s staff, the team relayed via press release.
- Big man Boban Marjanovic, who is eligible for restricted free agency this summer if San Antonio submits a qualifying offer worth $1.5MM, said that he wants to return to the Spurs next season, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter).
- The Mavs don’t intend to deal away any of their future draft picks this offseason unless they are absolutely blown away by the offer, MacMahon tweets. “We won’t trade a future pick unless there is a deal good enough that they would fire the other general manager for making,” Cuban told reporters.
- The Rockets are considering veteran NBA assistant Johnny Davis for a spot on new head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s staff, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Davis last coached in the NBA with the Raptors from 2011-2013.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Spurs
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors are recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the San Antonio Spurs, whose D-League affiliate is the Austin Spurs:
The Spurs made 12 assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 32 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by San Antonio for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 7th: Assigned Jonathon Simmons (1st) — Recalled November 14th
- November 16th: Assigned Jonathon Simmons (2nd) — Recalled November 18th
- December 4th: Assigned Boban Marjanovic (1st) — Recalled December 6th
- December 4th Assigned Ray McCallum (1st) — Recalled December December 5th
- December 16th: Assigned Ray McCallum (2nd) — Recalled December 21st
- December 27th: Assigned Ray McCallum (3rd) — Recalled December 28th
- December 29th: Assigned Ray McCallum (4th) — Recalled December 30th
- January 2nd: Assigned Ray McCallum (5th) — Recalled January 4th
- January 30th: Assigned Ray McCallum (6th) — Recalled February 1st
- March 17th: Assigned Jonathon Simmons (3rd) — Recalled March 19th
- March 20th: Assigned Boban Marjanovic (2nd) — Recalled March 22nd
- March 20th: Assigned Jonathon Simmons (4th) — Recalled March 22nd
Here’s how San Antonio’s players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Boban Marjanovic: In three appearances the big man averaged 23.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocs in 26.4 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .805/.000/.625.
- Ray McCallum: In nine appearances McCallum averaged 17.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 38.6 minutes per outing. His shooting numbers were .431/.375/.750.
- Jonathon Simmons: Simmons made four appearances and averaged 16.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 34.6 minutes per night. His slash line was .431/.231/.773.
Eastern Notes: Telfair, Pacers, Weaver
Despite possessing solid assets like Paul George and Myles Turner, the Pacers are a team in search of an identity entering the summer, Keith P. Smith of RealGM writes in his offseason primer for Indiana. Given the team’s stated desire to play at a faster speed on offense, the scribe questions the hiring of Nate McMillan as head coach since McMillan’s teams have consistently ranked near the bottom of the league in pace.
Smith also notes that Indiana would be better served to add a starting-caliber shooting guard this summer and shift Monta Ellis to a sixth man role, given his declining three-point shooting and diminishing trips to the foul line. Ellis, 30, still has three years and approximately $33.68MM remaining on his current deal.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Nets have hired Will Weaver, who served as a special assistant to Sixers coach Brett Brown the past two seasons, to work in the same capacity under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, NetsDaily relays.
- The Raptors held workouts today for Daniel Hamilton (UConn), Kyle Collinsworth (BYU), Perry Ellis (Kansas), James Webb III (Boise State), Guerschon Yabusele (France) and Chinanu Onuaku (Louisville), the team announced.
- The Pistons are holding free agent workouts this week and some notable attendees include Phil Pressey, Jordan Crawford, Greg Whittington and Chris Douglas-Roberts, Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets.
- The Nets brought in veteran point guard Sebastian Telfair for a workout on Tuesday, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (via Twitter). Telfair last played in the NBA during the 2014/15 campaign, appearing in 16 games for the Thunder.
Poll: 2016 Community Mock Draft (Pick No. 17)
The results of the 2016 NBA Draft lottery are in and the Sixers finally landed the elusive No. 1 overall pick after missing out the past two seasons. Now that the exact draft order is locked in, teams can begin targeting specific players who are likely to still be on the board when it is their time to choose. Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. We at Hoops Rumors thought it would be fun to give our readers the chance to predict the results of this June’s draft, which is what we are doing with a series of polls.
We’re past the midpoint of the draft and have come to the Grizzlies. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Memphis’ pick and check back Thursday for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Pistons will select with the No. 18 overall pick. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 17 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did.
Previous Selections
- Sixers — Ben Simmons (LSU)
- Lakers — Brandon Ingram (Duke)
- Celtics — Dragan Bender (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
- Suns — Jaylen Brown (California)
- Timberwolves — Buddy Hield (Oklahoma)
- Pelicans — Kris Dunn (Providence)
- Nuggets — Jamal Murray (Kentucky)
- Kings — Henry Ellenson (Marquette)
- Raptors — Marquese Chriss (Washington)
- Bucks — Jakob Poeltl (Utah)
- Magic — Skal Labissiere (Kentucky)
- Jazz — Denzel Valentine (Michigan State)
- Suns — Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga)
- Bulls — Deyonta Davis (Michigan State)
- Nuggets — Timothe Luwawu (Mega Leks)
- Celtics — Thon Maker (Australia)
With the No. 17 Overall Pick, the Grizzlies Select...
-
Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt) 18% (229)
-
Tyler Ulis (Kentucky) 13% (169)
-
Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame) 11% (145)
-
Dejounte Murray (Washington) 8% (102)
-
Taurean Prince (Baylor) 8% (100)
-
Malachi Richardson (Syracuse) 8% (99)
-
Furkan Korkmaz (Anadolu Efes) 7% (87)
-
Malik Beasley (Florida State) 7% (86)
-
Brice Johnson (North Carolina) 5% (58)
-
Cheick Diallo (Kansas) 3% (38)
-
Zhou Qi (China) 3% (32)
-
Diamond Stone (Maryland) 2% (31)
-
DeAndre Bembry (St. Joe's) 2% (26)
-
Damian Jones (Vanderbilt) 2% (20)
-
Juan Hernangomez (Spain) 1% (16)
-
Ante Zizic (Croatia) 1% (12)
-
Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV) 1% (11)
-
Isaia Cordinier (France) 1% (8)
-
Robert Carter (Maryland) 0% (4)
-
Petr Cornelie (Le Mans) 0% (3)
Total votes: 1,276
Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Chicago Bulls
The two longest-tenured Bulls are at a crossroads this offseason, with Joakim Noah eligible for free agency and Derrick Rose entering a contract year. Chicago’s offseason will hinge on whether Noah and/or Pau Gasol re-sign with the team, and whether the club decides to make Rose available in a trade. If the pending free agents don’t return, and/or Rose is dealt, the Bulls could have a huge amount of cap room to explore outside additions. If the club hangs onto its point guard and re-signs at least one of Gasol or Noah, it won’t have that same cap flexibility. After a season in which the team failed to earn a postseason spot in the East, it will be interesting to see whether the Bulls determine their roster requires a few minor tweaks or a more significant retooling.
See how Chicago’s cap situation looks for 2016/17 as Hoops Rumors continues its offseason salary cap digest series.
Guaranteed Salary
- Derrick Rose ($21,323,252)
- Jimmy Butler ($17,552,209)
- Taj Gibson ($8,950,000)
- Nikola Mirotic ($5,782,450)
- Mike Dunleavy ($4,837,500)
- Doug McDermott ($2,483,040)
- Tony Snell ($2,368,327)
- Bobby Portis ($1,453,680)
- Justin Holiday ($1,015,696)
- Total: $65,766,154
Player Options
- Pau Gasol ($7,769,520)
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Cameron Bairstow ($980,431)
- Cristiano Felicio ($874,636)
- Total: $1,855,067
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- None
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Joakim Noah ($20,100,000)
- Pau Gasol ($9,683,388) — pending player option
- Aaron Brooks ($2,925,000)
- E’Twaun Moore ($980,431)
- Total: $33,688,819
Other Cap Holds
- No. 14 pick ($1,743,500)
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Draft Notes: Celtics, Beasley, Papagiannis, Hawks
It’s a busy day for Celtics pre-draft workouts, as the team is working out a six-player group and taking a closer look at two more prospects in individual workouts. Those solo workouts belong to Kentucky’s Jamal Murray and Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis, per Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com (Twitter link), and it sounds like it was a good showing for Murray — he hit a record 79 of 100 three-pointers during his session, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. In our community mock draft, Hoops Rumors readers have Murray coming off the board seventh overall and Sabonis being picked 13th..
As for Boston’s larger workout group, in addition to Farad Cobb and Cheick Diallo, whose participation had previously been reported, the Celtics are also working out Terry Allen (Richmond), Zach Auguste (Notre Dame), Adam Pechacek (Czech Republic), and Adam Smith (Georgia Tech), according to Forsberg.
Let’s round up a few more draft updates from around the league…
- Because former Florida State shooting guard Malik Beasley is coming off stress fracture surgery on his right leg, he won’t be able to work out for teams prior to the draft, but can meet and interview with them, according to ESPN.com’s Chad Ford (Twitter link). A report last week indicated that Beasley would be paying a visit to the Bulls today.
- Greek big man Georgios Papagiannis, who worked out for Phoenix on Tuesday, has upcoming workouts with the Celtics, Bulls, and Pistons, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The 7’2″ center currently ranks 50th on Jonathan Givony’s big board at DraftExpress.com.
- Former Wichita State guard Ron Baker is schedule to have a pre-draft workout with the Hawks this Friday, reports Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).
- Oregon’s Elgin Cook, the 77th-ranked prospect on DraftExpress.com, recently workout for the Raptors and will audition next for the Nets, who are hoping to trade for a pick, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.