Wizards Sign Mike Scott
JULY 8, 1:25pm: Mike Scott has officially signed a 1-year, $1.7MM deal with the Wizards, tweets Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.
JULY 4, 8:51am: Free agent forward Mike Scott has reached a veterans minimum agreement with the Wizards, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.
The five-year veteran is coming off an injury-plagued season that limited him to just 18 games. He missed the start of the year after having surgery on his left knee and didn’t take the court until mid-December. He put up career-worst numbers with 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in limited playing time and was traded to Phoenix at the February deadline. The Suns waived him the following day.
Scott, who will turn 29 this month, is the latest addition to the Wizards’ bench. They reached a deal with Jodie Meeks on Sunday, and Candace Buckner of The Washington Post speculates that the 15-man roster will be more or less set if Otto Porter re-signs.
The agreement with Scott puts the Wizards right on the edge of the cap, with $98.8MM in guaranteed contracts, Bobby Marks posts on ESPN Now. A max deal with Porter would move Washington $7.2MM over the tax line, creating a penalty of $11.4MM.
Hoops Rumors’ 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker
With the July moratorium over and news of contract agreements still coming in, Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep track of which players are heading to which teams this July. To that end, we present our Free Agent Tracker, a feature we’ve had each year since our inception in 2012. Using our tracker, you can quickly look up deals, sorting by team, years, salary, and a handful of other variables.
A few notes on the tracker:
- Much of the information you’ll find in the tracker will reflect reported agreements, rather than finalized deals. As signings become official, we’ll continue to update and modify the data.
- Similarly, contract years and dollars will be based on what’s been reported to date, so in many cases those amounts will be approximations rather than official figures. Listed salaries aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed either.
- A restricted free agent who agrees to or signs an offer sheet will be included in the tracker, but the team won’t be specified until his original club matches or passes on the offer sheet, in order to avoid confusion.
- Two-way contracts and draft pick signings aren’t included in the tracker.
- Click on a player’s name for our full story on his deal.
- If you’re viewing the tracker on mobile, be sure to turn your phone sideways to see more details.
Our 2017 Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features,” and it’s also under the “Tools” menu atop the site. It will be updated throughout the offseason, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.
Our lists of free agents by position/type and by team break down the players who have yet to reach contract agreements.
Community Shootaround: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
After the Pistons‘ acquisition of Avery Bradley from the Celtics, the team promptly renounced restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The move puts Caldwell-Pope on the open market, free to sign with any NBA team and there has been no shortage of interest in the 24-year-old guard.
The Lakers are reportedly interested in Caldwell-Pope on a one-year commitment whereas the Nets have remained a suitor — and were expected to issue him an offer sheet before he hit unrestricted free agency. The Nets’ cap space is currently tied up after issuing a four-year, $101MM max offer sheet to Otto Porter. While the Wizards are believed to match the offer sheet, the Nets can continue their pursuit of KCP through discussion with his camp about a potential offer if and when Brooklyn retains cap space.
Los Angeles has about $17MM in cap space, which the team can use on a potential one-year deal. The Nets are more interested in long term pacts, especially after acquiring former second overall pick D’Angelo Russell from the Lakers. It’s ironic that the Lakers could have assembled a Caldwell-Pope/Russell back court and now the Nets are in a better position to do so.
In his fourth NBA season in 2016/17, Caldwell-Pope averaged 13.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, and shot nearly 40% from the floor in 76 contests. His numbers have not seen a drastic improvement but – given his age and ability – his potential may outweigh his production as teams consider his worth.
One minor detail to remember for any team interested in Caldwell-Pope’s services is that he’s suspended for the first two games of the 2017/18 season. Therefore, he will be eligible for 80 out of 82 games but that will likely not impact any teams pursuit.
With all of this in mind, which destination is most ideal for Caldwell-Pope? Does a one-year investment or a long term teal make more sense for the 24-year-old? Which team would benefit most from plugging him into their starting lineup?
Eastern Notes: Hardaway Jr., Celtics, Morris, Hawks
The Knicks‘ four-year, $71MM offer sheet to restricted free agent Tim Hardaway Jr. took many by surprise given that New York is prepared to make a lofty investment in a player the team recently traded. Yet, if the Hawks do not match the Knicks’ offer sheet, the team views Hardaway as part of a ‘core four’ alongside Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, and Frank Ntilikina, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.
Hardaway, just 25 years old, is coming off a solid year in Atlanta, as he averaged 14.5 PPG and 2.8 RPG while shooting .455% from the floor in 79 games. Hardaway was originally drafted by the Knicks in 2013 but was dealt for Jerian Grant after two seasons in the Big Apple. If he does return, Hardaway will fit the Knicks’ current mold of a young, athletic player — something former team president Phil Jackson didn’t necessarily prioritize during his tenure.
As for Ntilikina, the soon-to-be 19-year-old will look to be a sponge in his first few seasons, learning from veterans and experienced youngsters. Bringing back a productive former member of the team would be a good first step.
Below are additional notes around the Easter Conference:
- The Celtics have made major upgrades this offseason, none bigger than agreeing to a four-year deal with Gordon Hayward. However, general manager Danny Ainge is still not satisfied with the roster and will pursue upgrades, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes. The team created space for Hayward by rading Avery Bradley to the Pistons for Marcus Morris on Friday, and can now afford to be patient and consider the market before making any other deals.
- Speaking of Morris, he will be a missed presence in the Pistons locker room, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes. After coming to Detroit from the Suns in 2015, Ellis writes that Morris’ attitude and intensity resonated with his teammates, fans, and the city of Detroit.
- The Hawks have announced the hiring of veteran NBA coach Chris Jent. Jent, who played professionally for 11 seasons, has previously served on coaching staffs for the Sixers, Magic, Cavaliers, and Kings.
Clippers, Knicks, Others Renounce UFAs
Several NBA teams have renounced their unrestricted free agents, eliminating any form of Bird rights the team had on those players, per RealGM’s transactions log. Here’s a breakdown of which teams renounced their UFAs and what those moves might mean:
Los Angeles Clippers
- Players renounced: Alan Anderson, Jeff Ayres, Brandon Bass, Glen Davis, J.J. Redick, Hedo Turkoglu, and Ekpe Udoh.
- The thinking: Redick has a new deal in place elsewhere and the other players probably aren’t candidates to return. With a hard cap in place after signing-and-trading for Danilo Gallinari, the Clips will have to keep team salary below $125.266MM for the rest of the 2017/18 league year.
New York Knicks
- Players renounced: Ron Baker, Justin Holiday, Derrick Rose, and Sasha Vujacic.
- The thinking: The Knicks needed to clear cap room to fit in Tim Hardaway Jr.‘s offer sheet, so these moves aren’t really a surprise. The one interesting name is Baker — the club also withdrew its qualifying offer to him. He has reportedly agreed to a deal with New York already, but if the team doesn’t need his QO or FA rights to complete that signing, it may just end up being a two-year, minimum salary contract that could be finalized once the Knicks use up their cap room on other players.
Atlanta Hawks
- Players renounced: Jose Calderon, Kris Humphries, Ersan Ilyasova, Paul Millsap, and Thabo Sefolosha.
- The thinking: The Hawks kept cap holds for Hardaway and Mike Muscala on their books, but it appears none of the players noted above are in their plans going forward. Atlanta needed to clear its cap room to take on Jamal Crawford and Diamond Stone in a trade with the Clippers, so the Hawks also had to renounce their five trade exceptions as well.
Detroit Pistons
- Players renounced: Aron Baynes and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
- The thinking: With a $125.266MM hard cap now in place, the Pistons will have to keep team salary below that figure for the rest of the league year.
Brooklyn Nets
- Players renounced: K.J. McDaniels
- The thinking: McDaniels’ cap hold likely had to be eliminated from the books in order to fit Otto Porter‘s offer sheet.
Phoenix Suns
- Players renounced: Ronnie Price
- The thinking: I don’t see any obvious reason that the Suns needed to renounce Price’s minimum salary cap hold, but there’s no reason to keep it on the books either — if the team wants to eventually re-sign Price, it can use cap room or the minimum salary exception to do so.
Contract Details: Tucker, Holiday, Lowry, Collison
With more and more of the early free agent contract agreements being finalized, official numbers on those deals are starting to trickle in, and Eric Pincus, who operates Basketball Insiders’ salary database, is passing along the specifics on many of them. In instances where the official numbers are essentially identical to what was reported initially, we won’t pass along that info, but we want to provide updates in cases where new details surface.
Here are some new contract details on this week’s deals, with all links via Pincus’ Twitter feed:
Western Conference:
- The Rockets split their mid-level exception between two players, with P.J. Tucker getting about $7.59MM and Zhou Qi getting the remaining $816K or so. Tucker’s contract is partially guaranteed in its fourth year ($2.6MM of $8MM guaranteed), while Zhou’s four-year pact isn’t guaranteed beyond year one (Twitter links).
- As was expected based on initial reports, Jrue Holiday‘s total earning potential over five years with the Pelicans ranges from $126-150MM based on bonuses (Twitter link).
- Dirk Nowitzki‘s two-year pact with the Mavericks will pay him an even $5MM in each of the next two seasons, with a second-year team option (Twitter link).
- The first season of Wayne Selden‘s two-year minimum salary deal with the Grizzlies is fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
- The Suns‘ new four-year contract for second-rounder Davon Reed is fully guaranteed for the first year, half guaranteed in the second year, and non-guaranteed in years three and four (Twitter link).
Eastern Conference:
- Although Kyle Lowry‘s three-year contract with the Raptors can be worth up to $100MM, the base value is $93MM, with the remaining $7MM coming in the form of unlikely bonuses. Unlikely bonuses don’t count against the cap at this point (Twitter link).
- The second year of Darren Collison‘s contract with the Pacers is only partially guaranteed. Currently, $2MM of his $10MM second-year salary is guaranteed (Twitter link).
- The Hornets signed Michael Carter-Williams using a portion of their taxpayer mid-level exception. Since he’s receiving an even $2.7MM, the team doesn’t have a hard cap at this point (Twitter link).
- Eric Moreland‘s three-year deal with the Pistons includes a $500K guarantee for year one. The deal starts at $1.7MM, which means it was finalized using the amount of the mid-level exception that was left over after Langston Galloway‘s signing (Twitter link).
Warriors Sign Nick Young To One-Year Deal
JULY 8: Young’s deal with the Warriors is now official, the team announced in a press release.
JULY 5: Nick Young will be joining the defending champions for the 2017/18 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Agent Mark Bartelstein tells Wojnarowski that his client has agreed to sign a one-year, $5.2MM deal with the Warriors.
[RELATED: Warriors’ 2017 offseason contract agreements]
Young turned down a $5.67MM player option to remain with the Lakers for ’17/18, so he’ll be taking a slight pay cut and will be leaving him hometown of Los Angeles in order to join the Warriors. However, his odds of earning his first championship ring increase significantly with the move.
Golden State has no cap room available, but hadn’t yet used its mid-level exception. Because the Warriors will be above the tax apron this season, their MLE is worth just $5.192MM — Young will receive that entire amount, leaving the Dubs with just the minimum salary exception available as they look for big men to fill out their roster. The team’s own free agents like Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee could receive slightly more than the minimum if they were to return, since Golden State holds their Non-Bird rights.
Last offseason, Young was viewed as a potential release candidate for the Lakers. At the time, he was coming off a season in which he averaged career-worst marks in PPG (7.3) and FG% (.339). However, he enjoyed a solid bounce-back season in 2016/17, starting 60 games for Los Angeles, averaging 13.2 PPG and posting a shooting line of .430/.404/.856.
After reaching the open market on Saturday, Young reportedly drew interest from the Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Thunder in addition to the Warriors. Minnesota was believed to have made him a two-year offer, though it likely would have only been worth the room exception, which starts at $4.328MM.
The Warriors’ total commitments for 2017/18 now appear to be in the neighborhood of $133MM, with more to come, as cap expert Albert Nahmad tweets. The tax line for this year is just over $119MM, so Golden State’s roster is starting to get expensive. By the time the team is done filling out its roster, its projected tax penalties may exceed $40MM.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Community Shootaround: Lakers Future
The Lonzo Ball Era has officially arrived in Los Angeles – well, Las Vegas technically – and the potential impact the No. 2 overall pick will have on the franchise can already be felt world-wide.
Sure the Lakers lost to the Clippers (in what Lavar Ball calls his son’s ‘worst game ever‘) but the rookie’s vision was on full display right from the onset of the first quarter.
Just over ten seconds into his NBA debut, Ball connected with Lakers 2016 first-round pick Brandon Ingram for a casual alley-oop.
Already the prospect of seeing Ball and the new-look Showtime squad has pushed the organization into new territory (or at least familiar territory that they haven’t seen in some time).
After years of Post-Prime-Kobe and consistent asset collection, the team has brought in a new executive staff, committed to a highly regarded young coach and laid out a framework for a roster that could remain in Los Angeles for years.
The result?
History. Sort of. As Ohm Youngmisuk detailed for ESPN – and we broke down here – the Las Vegas Summer League sold out their venue for Saturday’s entire session and had done so by noon today. That’s a first, Youngmisuk reports, reminding readers that the Thomas & Mack Center’s venue seats over 15,000 people.
The question, of course, is whether the franchise will live up to the hype or not. While there are several legitimate reasons to be genuinely optimistic about the future of the franchise, there was no shortage of hype this time last year either, when the team presented Ingram, D’Angelo Russell and then-new head coach Luke Walton as the pillars of the team’s future. Ball, then, hadn’t even yet suited up for a single Bruins game at that point.
We ask you, Lakers fans and haters alike, will this go down as the beginning of the next great Showtime dynasty? Are we finally seeing the core building blocks of the organization’s next great run? Or, for the pessimistic among us, will we simply be having an entirely different conversation this time next year?
And-Ones: Conference Disparity, Summer League
For nearly two decades the Western Conference has been regarded as superior to the Eastern Conference and that hasn’t changed this offseason with players like Paul George and Jimmy Butler migrating to the left side of the map.
At what point, however, should the league take action to at least restore a semblance of fairness, if not balance? An excerpt from the latest Zach Lowe feature on ESPN details a few ideas that teams have had over the course of the last few seasons to address the issue.
Suns owner Robert Sarver has suggested that the league seed playoff teams 1-16, rather than 1-8 in each conference. Mavs owner Mark Cuban even went so far as to pitch a temporary realignment plan.
While no changes appear imminent, the concerns don’t seem to be going away. A concern of Cuban’s centers around the fact that the teams in the Western Conference already occupy smaller markets and can’t afford to field anything less than competitive rosters if they want to succeed as a business.
Some Eastern Conference teams in big markets, like Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, on the other hand, can get away with years of sub-optimal performance knowing that the end goal, a rebuild, will be ultimately worth it.
There’s more from the NBA world:
- The revitilization of a beloved Lakers–Celtics rivalry has propelled summer league basketball to new heights. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes that Saturday’s session of the Las Vegas Summer League was sold out by noon on Friday. This marks the first time in 14 years that an entire day session of summer league basketball has sold out of tickets in advance.
- Former Spurs guard Nicolas Laprovittola has left his EuroLeague team to sign with Zenit St. Petersburg, international basketball reporter David Pick tweets.
- As the NBA offseason progresses, a succession of relevant contract deadlines will soon pass, dates that represent full or partial guarantees for players. By remaining with the Heat through today, for example, Wayne Ellington‘s 2017/18 contract will become officially guaranteed. To track all of these big days, follow along with our NBA Salary Guarantee Dates tracker.
Heat To Retain Wayne Ellington
With their free agent acquisitions of Kelly Olynyk, Dion Waiters and James Johnson now in the books, the Heat can breathe easy knowing that they’ll soon retain Wayne Ellington, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel tweets.
The Heat were very calculated about the order in which they officially signed the above-mentioned trio, doing so in such a way that they managed to keep Ellington on their books long enough for his partially guaranteed deal to kick in after July 7.
In 62 games for the injury-riddled 2016/17 Heat, Ellington averaged 10.5 points per game. The 29-year-old played a big role in Miami rallying after a disastrous first half of the season to compete for a playoff spot.
With Ellington on board for 2017/18, along with returnees Waiters and Johnson, the Heat have shown that they’re eager to double down on the gritty chemistry that powered them to their historic turnaround.