Knicks Sign Chasson Randle
AUGUST 4: The Knicks have officially signed Randle, the team announced today (via Twitter).
AUGUST 3: The Knicks are bringing another former undrafted free agent to training camp this fall, according to Frank Isola of The New York Daily News, who reports (via Twitter) that point guard Chasson Randle has signed a contract with the team. The deal includes a partial guarantee, says Isola.
New York, having previously signed Marshall Plumlee to a three-year contract, also formally announced a deal with Ron Baker this week — those two players went undrafted this year, while Randle went undrafted in 2015. The Knicks also signed 2015 second-rounder J.P. Tokoto on Tuesday to compete for a regular-season roster spot.
[RELATED: Knicks’ free agent signings, via our Free Agent Tracker]
Marc Berman of the New York Post reported last month that the Knicks were one of three teams pursuing Randle, who made a favorable impression on the club’s brass while playing for New York’s Summer League squad. The Knicks have used their cap room and nearly all of their room exception, so it will be a minimum-salary deal for Randle.
In his final year at Stanford in 2014/15, Randle averaged 19.6 points per contest, chipping in 3.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, and 2.4 3PG.
Cavaliers Sign DeAndre Liggins
The Cavaliers have officially signed shooting guard DeAndre Liggins to a contract, ensuring that he’ll come to training camp with the team, according to a RealGM report. Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer wrote last month that Liggins would be among the Summer League players to go to camp with the Cavs.
[RELATED: Cavaliers re-sign James Jones]
While terms of the deal aren’t yet known, RealGM’s transactions log suggests that it’s a multiyear pact for Liggins. Given the Cavaliers’ cap limitations, a two-year, minimum-salary contract seems likely. It remains to be seen whether Liggins got a small guarantee as part of the agreement.
Liggins, 28, was selected in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Magic, and appeared in 57 total NBA games with Orlando, Oklahoma City, and Miami. However, he has spent most of his time in recent years in the D-League, winning Defensive Player of the Year in two of the last three seasons.
Playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in 2015/16, Liggins averaged 13.0 PPG, 7.0 APG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.1 SPG, shooting 43.4% on three-point attempts.
Blazers Notes: Whiteside, Aminu, Turner, Offseason
As we detailed on Tuesday, the Trail Blazers blew away their Northwest rivals when it came to offseason spending, committing more than $242MM ($234MM+ guaranteed) to free agent contracts. By comparison, the other four Northwest clubs combined to commit about $85MM to free agents. And the Blazers’ total doesn’t even include the $106MM extension that the club handed out to C.J. McCollum last week.
Considering so many of the Blazers’ big signings were players who were already on the team’s roster, it remains to be seen whether the franchise will take another step forward in the Western Conference picture this season. Zach Lowe of ESPN.com examined the situation in Portland in his latest column, and passed along a few interesting tidbits, so let’s round them up…
- According to Lowe, the Blazers would have liked to make a run at Hassan Whiteside in free agency, but were “spurned” by the young center, who didn’t waste much time in agreeing to a new deal with the Heat. With Whiteside no longer in play, the Blazers could have pursued another center like Dwight Howard, Bismack Biyombo, or Ian Mahinmi, but ultimately went in another direction.
- The Blazers’ decision to sign McCollum, Allen Crabbe, Evan Turner, Maurice Harkless, and Meyers Leonard to pricey long-term contracts means that the team won’t have any cap room to work with for the foreseeable future. “Good players on favorable contracts are more valuable to us than cap room,” Blazers GM Neil Olshey said. “Especially in an era where all 30 teams have cap room — or the ability to get it. … With our interest in extending C.J., we weren’t going to be a cap room team next year, anyway.”
- As Lowe observes, the Blazers are currently projected to be in luxury-tax territory in 2017/18 and perhaps 2018/19 as well. However, he notes that if the new Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a new amnesty clause for each team, as the last CBA did, Portland could have an opportunity to avoid that fate.
- Stotts tells Lowe that the Blazers intend to play Al-Farouq Aminu almost exclusively at power forward rather than small forward. As Lowe points out, that could be bad news for Noah Vonleh.
- Damian Lillard‘s work ethic helps dictate the culture of selflessness in Portland, which will help ensure that all the players with huge new contracts will continue to work hard. Sources tell Lowe that when one recent draft pick entered the NBA “carrying a whiff of entitlement,” the Portland coaching staff pointed to Lillard and essentially said: “He’s way better than you, and he’s working harder.”
- Olshey on the Blazers paying $70MM+ to both Crabbe and Turner: “The way the game is being played, plus the dearth of available wings, made us willing to pay a premium for two impact players that fit our model.” The GM is also confident that Turner will improve his outside shooting in Portland.
Thunder, Russell Westbrook Discuss Renegotiation, Extension
The Thunder and Thad Foucher of Wasserman Media Group, the agent for Russell Westbrook, are engaged in talks regarding a renegotiation and extension of the guard’s current deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. The talks are centering around an arrangement that would lock up Westbrook through the 2018/19 campaign, Wojnarowski adds. The Vertical’s Bobby Marks had recently noted the possibility that the All-Star and OKC could work out a short-term extension.
No deal has been finalized, notes Wojnarowski, but the momentum is increasing toward the two sides coming to terms on a three-year, $85MM+ arrangement. The proposed contract would include a player option on the third year, which would allow Westbrook to hit unrestricted free agency during the summer of 2018, the scribe relays. The structure of a proposed deal would up Westbrook’s salary for 2016/17 from $17,769,374 to a $26.5MM max salary, per the article. Westbrook would then earn $28.5MM in 2017/18 and $30.6MM in the final season, provided he didn’t opt out.
Westbrook’s scoring average may have dipped a bit in 2015/16, averaging 23.5 per outing after his league-leading 28.1 PPG in 2014/15, but he averaged career highs in both rebounds (7.8) and assists (10.4). It should be noted that Westbrook’s decrease in scoring output was due to Kevin Durant making his return after missing the bulk of the previous season, not due to a decline in performance. Without Durant as a teammate, Westbrook will be a favorite to snag the MVP award, and will be looked upon to carry the franchise in its first campaign without the Slim Reaper.
The Thunder desperately need to lock up Westbrook, especially after losing Durant to the Warriors via free agency this summer. If no extension can be agreed upon, the 27-year-old will become an unrestricted free agent next offseason, one who will be in extremely high demand around the league. Securing Westbrook will also greatly aid OKC in free agency next summer, since the team can use the guard’s continued presence as a major selling point to prospective free agent targets.
And-Ones: Beal, Oladipo, Gasol, Gobert
Turnover among NBA coaches has been extremely high over the past few seasons, with only four current head coaches having been with their respective teams for at least five seasons. Just this calendar year alone there have been 12 new coaching hires made, with more likely to come if some teams get off to rocky starts to the 2016/17 season. Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders ran down the coaches who are under the most pressure to perform well this coming campaign, including Alvin Gentry (Pelicans), Steve Kerr (Warriors) and Quin Snyder (Jazz).
Here’s more from around the league:
- Each season there are a number of players who exceed expectations or fail to live up to the hype or their previous season’s performance. Looking ahead to 2016/17, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders weighed in on who he believes will have bounce back seasons (ie: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal, Joakim Noah) and those who will disappoint (ie: Kyle Korver, Pau Gasol).
- With most offseason moves now officially in the books, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider Subscription required) broke down the teams he believes to be winners. Franchises getting high marks from the scribe include the Warriors, Celtics, Cavs and Wolves.
- Teams have until October 31st to work out extensions with eligible players and Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com notes that the most likely candidates to reach new agreements prior to the deadline are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Oladipo, Rudy Gobert, Dennis Schroder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Western Notes: Nowitzki, Wiggins, Knight
Mavs owner Mark Cuban was never concerned that Dirk Nowitzki would elect to head elsewhere this offseason, as he detailed to Brandon Robinson of CBSSports.com. “Dirk wasn’t even in the country and people couldn’t even reach him when free agency started,” Cuban told Robinson “I basically told him, look, you tell me the price and it actually started lower. His agent said ‘how about this much’ and we said ‘we’ll have a little more money, we’ll give you more’ and as the numbers started getting bigger and bigger, it was like ‘what about this number?’ ‘We’ll give you more.’ Finally, it was like ‘this is what we got left, take it!’
We wanted to make it a two-year deal with a team option so that people wouldn’t speculate that he was going to retire because Dirk is the type of guy, he’s just a good guy. He would hate going city to city to city and everyone asking him if he was going to retire because he has no intention of retiring after this year and, with the team option that we have, he gave us the flexibility that said ‘if we find somebody that we can send the money to that he likes, we all like, then let’s do it and if not, let’s give the money to Dirk again which I’m fine with too.”
Here’s more from out West:
- Andrew Wiggins expects big things this season from himself and his Wolves teammates, adding that the addition of Tom Thibodeau as coach and executive will make him a better player, Martin Rickman of Dime Magazine relays. “We’ve done a lot of good things this year. And we beat a lot of good teams – we can beat any team out there on a given day,” Wiggins told Rickman. “But we’re getting stronger. We’re getting older. We’re getting more experienced. And we’re building chemistry. We’re just getting better every game. We have a lot of things to accomplish this coming year. We’re all looking forward to it, and our expectations are getting higher. We want more. We’re young, and hungry, and we want to see the playoffs.“
- The Suns are excited about what Brandon Knight can do in 2016/17 if he remains healthy, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic relays. “He has the ability to play either guard spot,” Suns GM Ryan McDonough said of Knight. “He can play the 1. He can play the 2. He’s an elite shooter. People who just saw Brandon playing last year when he was a little bit banged up and wasn’t 100% probably don’t realize how well he shoots the ball when he’s healthy and right. We think, with our top four or five guards, they will be interchangeable. They’ll be able to play either spot. We have at least four, maybe five guys now, who can get in the paint, break down defenses and kick to open shooters.“
Atlantic Notes: Olynyk, Randle, Nets
Kelly Olynyk and the Celtics have until October 31st to agree to a contract extension, but the center isn’t stressing whether or not a deal is struck, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “I’m not really worried about that. If they want to do it, they do,” Olynyk said. “If not, you can’t worry about things you can’t control. That’s completely up to them, so we’ll see what happens. … There’s a lot of things that you can’t control in life. If you worry about them, you’re not going to enjoy life.”
The 25-year-old appeared in 69 games this past season and averaged 10.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 20.2 minutes per contest. Olynyk is set to earn $3,094,013 in 2016/17 and will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer provided no extension is worked out and Boston tenders him a qualifying offer worth $3,094,013.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Chasson Randle, who agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with the Knicks earlier today, has a good shot to stick as the team’s third point guard, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Despite New York being thin in the backcourt, the young guard isn’t taking this opportunity for granted, the scribe adds. “He’s still got to come in and earn it,” Randle’s agent, Kevin Bradbury, told Berman. “He feels this is the place where he can make the next step.”
- The Knicks‘ offseason moves were geared about winning immediately, not with an eye on the future, Ian Begley of ESPN.com opines in his look back at the team’s summer. The scribe notes that the team has depth concerns and lacks the outside shooters necessary to maximize coach Jeff Hornacek‘s system, but adds that the squad’s defense and pace of play should be much improved over last season.
- Bobby Marks of The Vertical weighed in on the offseason moves the Nets have made.
- Want to see where the Atlantic Division teams stand roster-wise? Check out the complete breakdowns along with depth charts at Roster Resource for the Nets, Celtics, Knicks, Sixers and Raptors.
Poll: 2005 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 2)
Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t often allow for second chances, we at Hoops Rumors believe it’s fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
We’ve previously tackled the 2003 and 2013 NBA Drafts and the next one we’re tackling is 2005’s, the year that the Bucks nabbed big man Andrew Bogut with the No. 1 overall pick. That year’s draft class is generally viewed as one of the weaker ones in recent memory, though, there were quite a few second-rounders that year (Ersan Ilyasova, Monta Ellis, Lou Williams, Amir Johnson and Marcin Gortat) who have gone on to have very solid NBA careers.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll provide a series of reader polls that ask you to vote on the player whom you believe should have been selected with each pick. We’ll continue onward with the Hawks, who held the No. 2 pick that season. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Atlanta’s pick and check back Thursday night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Jazz should have taken at No. 3. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
Selections
- Bucks — Chris Paul [Actual Pick — Andrew Bogut]
- Hawks — ? [Actual Pick — Marvin Williams]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here.
Free Agent Spending By Division: Atlantic
Over the course of this week, we’ve been breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this July.
These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.
Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.
With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Atlantic division. Let’s dive in…
1. New York Knicks
- Total money committed: $164,387,929
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $153,474,723
- Largest expenditure: Joakim Noah (four years, $72,590,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Courtney Lee (four years, $48,003,340)
- Lance Thomas (four years, $27,549,950)
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas (two years, $5,773,035)
- Brandon Jennings (one year, $5,000,000)
- Notes:
- Sasha Vujacic will earn a $1,410,598 salary, but the Knicks will be on the hook for just $980,431 of that total, with the NBA picking up the rest of the bill.
- The exact terms of reported deals for Chasson Randle and J.P. Tokoto aren’t yet known, so they haven’t been included here.
- The Knicks also signed Willy Hernangomez, but he was a draft-and-stash player, rather than a free agent, so his deal isn’t included here.
- The fourth year of Thomas’ deal, worth $7,583,975, is fully non-guaranteed, contributing significantly to the gap between the team’s total money and guaranteed money committed.
2. Toronto Raptors
- Total money committed: $146,025,440
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $143,228,000
- Largest expenditure: DeMar DeRozan (five years, $137,500,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Jared Sullinger (one year, $5,628,000)
- Notes:
- The Raptors were one of just three teams that didn’t go under the cap this summer, so their free-agent expenditures came using Bird rights (DeRozan), the mid-level exception (Sullinger), and the minimum-salary exception (other signees).
3. Boston Celtics
- Total money committed: $130,306,661
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $122,306,661
- Largest expenditure: Al Horford (four years, $113,326,230)
- Other notable signings:
- Tyler Zeller (two years, $16,000,000)
- Notes:
- Gerald Green will earn a $1,410,598 salary, but the Celtics will be on the hook for just $980,431 of that total, with the NBA picking up the rest of the bill.
- The second year of Zeller’s deal, worth $8MM, is fully non-guaranteed, creating the gap between the team’s total money and guaranteed money committed.
4. Brooklyn Nets
- Total money committed: $78,488,356
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $74,963,953
- Largest expenditure: Jeremy Lin (three years, $36,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Trevor Booker (two years, $18,375,000)
- Justin Hamilton (two years, $6,000,000)
- Luis Scola (one year, $5,500,000)
- Greivis Vasquez (one year, $4,347,826)
- Randy Foye (one year, $2,500,000)
- Notes:
- If offer sheets for Allen Crabbe ($74MM+) and Tyler Johnson ($50MM) hadn’t been matched by the Blazers and Heat, respectively, the Nets likely would have been the Atlantic’s highest-spending team.
- Anthony Bennett, Joe Harris, Beau Beech, Yogi Ferrell, and Egidijus Mockevicius all have contracts that include some non-guaranteed money.
5. Philadelphia 76ers
- Total money committed: $57,346,160
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $44,220,000
- Largest expenditure: Jerryd Bayless (three years, $27,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Gerald Henderson (two years, $18,000,000)
- Sergio Rodriguez (one year, $8,000,000)
- Notes:
- The totals above don’t include the Sixers’ previously-reported agreement with Cat Barber, which has not been made official.
- The Sixers also signed Dario Saric, but he was a draft-and-stash player, rather than a free agent, so his deal isn’t included here.
- The second year of Henderson’s deal, worth $9MM, is fully non-guaranteed, contributing significantly to the gap between the team’s total money and guaranteed money committed.
Cavaliers Re-Sign James Jones
AUGUST 3: The Cavaliers have issued a press release formally announcing that they’ve re-signed Jones.
“We’re very happy to have James back with the Cavaliers,” GM David Griffin said in a statement. “He is a Champion in every sense of the word and his leadership and professionalism over the last two years have translated with our team in many different ways that have helped us reach our goals. ‘Champ’ delivers a clear reflection of what success at the highest level should embody and his contributions and commitment to our team are something we need and appreciate greatly.”
AUGUST 2: The Cavaliers have agreed to terms on a new deal for their veteran forward who has appeared in six consecutive NBA Finals — no, not LeBron James. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link), it’s James Jones who is in agreement with the Cavs, striking a one-year, $1.55MM deal to return to the team.
Jones, who will turn 36 this fall, appeared in 48 regular-season contests for the Cavaliers last season, averaging 9.6 MPG and chipping in 3.7 PPG, 1.0 RPG, and a .394 3PT%. The three-time NBA champion didn’t see much action in the postseason, and doesn’t have a huge role in Cleveland, but his locker-room presence and veteran leadership is valued by the franchise and by James, his longtime teammate.
Based on the Cavaliers’ cap limitations and Charania’s report, Jones will almost certainly receive a minimum-salary contract from the club, which will be worth $1,551,659 for a player with his experience. Because it’s a one-year deal, the minimum salary exception will allow the Cavs to assume a cap hit of just $980,431, while the NBA foots the rest of the bill.
With Jones locked up, the Cavs will continue to work on securing their other free agents, such as James and J.R. Smith.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.