We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com. Here are this week’s inquiries:
Why can’t the Knicks just outright release Carmelo Anthony? Does his contract have anything where he can’t get released? And what team would take a chance on him? — Bobby Cerasuolo
Like all NBA stars, Anthony has a fully guaranteed contract. So if Phil Jackson decided to escalate their war by putting Carmelo on waivers, the Knicks would still have to pay him $26,243,760 for next season, along with $27,928,140 for 2018/19 that he will probably opt out of. Another team might absorb that contract in a waiver claim, but the Knicks would still lose a prime asset with no return. So releasing Anthony isn’t an option, but a trade certainly is, although it’s an expensive one with a 15% trade kicker for the team that acquires him. Even so, most insiders expect Anthony to be somewhere else by the end of summer.
Who do you anticipate the Sacramento Kings drafting with their first selection in the June draft? Slot 6 or 7. — Dirk Watkins
The Kings have been loading up on young big men, Buddy Hield and Arron Afflalo seem set at shooting guard and Rudy Gay might change his mind about opting out in the wake of his Achilles injury. Point guard is the major area of need with Darren Collison and Ty Lawson both 29 and entering free agency. Luckily, this year’s draft is rich in point guards. The latest mock draft from Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has Kentucky’s Malik Monk going fifth, followed by teammate De’Aaron Fox and North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith. At least one of them should be available when the Kings pick, and any of them would be a nice building block for Sacramento.
Who is the best prospect in all of high school basketball right now in your opinion regardless of class? — Jake Teegardin
We’ve heard scouts say that Michael Porter Jr., a 6’8″ forward out of Seattle, is a future NBA star. Porter recently pulled out of a commitment to Washington after Lorenzo Romar was fired and will play next season at Missouri, which recently hired Cuonzo Martin as head coach and Porter’s father as an assistant. Porter was named Player of the Year by USA Today and was a standout at this week’s McDonald’s All-American Game. Also, keep an eye on DeAndre Ayton, a 7-foot center out of Phoenix who will play for Arizona next season.
Its definitely looking like there will be a dearth of quality PG’s next year. Curious to see if Berry II returns or who steps their game up but it should definitely be predominantly big draft next year. Also it seems while there will be some talented freshman like always that most of the players receiving hype right now are upper classman and Sophomore/Juniors stepping into larger roles so the current outlook of pdospects could be dramatically changed. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes out of no where to take the top prospect mantle from porter jr
Signing his Dad has got to be a recruiting violation…
His dad giving him allowance money would now be a violation too!