Knicks Notes: Hardaway, Beasley, Artis, Porzingis
The Knicks made a sizable commitment to Tim Hardaway Jr. this offseason, bringing the former Knick back home after inking him to a four-year, $71MM deal. While there’s a lot of apprehensions about Hardaway’s deal, Knicks’ assistant general manager and former guard Allan Houston cannot wait to see how the team’s draft pick from 2013 establishes himself, Thomas Lipe of the New York Post writes.
Speaking at Hofstra University with his youth program, Houston said the current version of Hardaway is more seasoned and talented than several years ago.
“I’m excited for [Hardaway],” Houston said. “When you’re 20 years old and you’re coming into this environment, everybody has to grow and everybody has to mature. He’s developed all the way around and he’s prepared himself for this. So he’s prepared for it.”
Houston himself is no stranger to large contracts with the Knicks as he signed a six-year, $100MM pact with the team in 2001. While Houston was more established at the time of his deal, he was also older and injuries prevented him from playing out the entirety of the contract. Hardaway, still just 25 years old, brings youth and upside to a rebuilding Knicks team. Houston feels that Hardaway can live up to expectations by not just strong on-court performance but strong off court work as well.
“The mindset I took is: you come in, you put your work in, you treat your whole being, your whole life, like you want to make the most out of it,” Houston said. “You want to be valuable, not in terms of money, but you want to be valuable to your family, your community, to the franchise. That’s where [Hardaway’s] mindset is.”
Read additional notes surrounding the Knicks below:
- In a resounding interview with Marc Berman of the New York Post, free agent signing Michael Beasley referred to himself as a “walking bucket” who has not received the respect he deserves. The former second overall pick says he’s long past his prior marijuana suspension and said that people still dwelling on his past issues need to emulate him by growing up. For his career. Beasley has averaged 12.8 PPG and 4.7 RPG across nine NBA seasons with five different teams.
- Just prior to signing with the Knicks, Jamel Artis spoke to Adam Zagoria of FanRag Sports. The former Pittsburgh forward expressed his excitement to join the New York squad and said his offensive skill set would mesh well with the current core.
- A recent report indicated the Cavaliers‘ interest to acquire a budding young star in a trade for Kyrie Irving with Kristaps Porzingis topping the list. Fred Kerber of the New York Post cites league source who claim “no proposal exists” in which the Knicks part with Porzingis for Irving. Kerber adds that while the New Jersey native Irving would like a homecoming to New York, it will not come at the expense of the team’s Latvian standout.
NBA Teams That Still Have 2017/18 Cap Room
During the 2016 NBA offseason, when the salary camp jumped from $70MM to $94MM, 27 teams had cap room available, with only three clubs operating over the cap all year. A more modest cap increase this year to $99MM meant that fewer teams had cap space to use. So far, 14 teams – less than half the league – have used cap room to sign players.
Of those 14 teams, several have since used up all their cap room, including the Celtics, Knicks, Jazz, Lakers, and Timberwolves. However, there are still several teams around the NBA that have room available, or could create it without waiving and stretching any players on guaranteed salaries.
With the help of data from HeatHoops and Basketball Insiders, here’s a quick breakdown of teams that still have cap room available, along with their estimated space:
- Atlanta Hawks: $4.6MM. The Hawks could gain slightly more space by waiving Luke Babbitt, whose salary is only partially guaranteed, but Atlanta just signed Babbitt, so that’s not a likely move.
- Brooklyn Nets: $6.6MM. The Nets could gain slightly more space by waiving Spencer Dinwiddie, whose minimum salary contract is mostly non-guaranteed. However, I expect Brooklyn to keep Dinwiddie on its roster.
- Denver Nuggets: $2.8MM. With Mason Plumlee‘s cap hold still on their books, the Nuggets’ cap room is fairly negligible. Denver could get up to about $8.6MM by renouncing Plumlee, but there’s no indication that’s in the plans.
- Indiana Pacers: $7.6MM.
- Philadelphia 76ers: $15.1MM. The Sixers could create even more space by waiving a player on a non-guaranteed contract, but the team isn’t about to part with Robert Covington, Richaun Holmes, or T.J. McConnell.
- Phoenix Suns: $6.3MM. Alex Len‘s cap hold is taking up $12MM right now, and Phoenix is carrying a pair of non-guaranteed contracts (Elijah Millsap and Derrick Jones), so in theory the Suns could get all the way up to $21.2MM in space by renouncing Len and cutting those non-guaranteed players.
- Sacramento Kings: $4.3MM.
The following two teams are essentially capped-out, but could create a very small amount of room if necessary:
- Miami Heat: The Heat could create close to $1MM in space by waiving Rodney McGruder and Okaro White, whose salaries aren’t fully guaranteed. That almost certainly won’t happen.
- Orlando Magic: The Magic are currently under the cap by about $550K, and could create up to about $1.34MM in space by waiving Khem Birch, whose salary is mostly non-guaranteed. Again, that’s not likely.
The following two teams are technically operating over the cap at the moment, with various trade and mid-level exceptions pushing them over the threshold, but they could create room if they choose to go under the cap:
- Chicago Bulls: The Bulls could immediately create about $13.5MM in room by renouncing the rest of their MLE and the $15MM trade exception generated in the Jimmy Butler deal. If the team chose to waive David Nwaba, who is on a non-guaranteed deal, and renounced its free agent cap holds, including Nikola Mirotic‘s, that figure would increase to about $25.8MM.
- Dallas Mavericks: Even without renouncing Nerlens Noel‘s cap hold, the Mavericks could get to $11.6MM in cap room by waiving their non-guaranteed players and dipping below the cap. Removing Noel’s cap hold on top of that could get the Mavs up over $22MM in room, but there’s been no indication that Dallas plans to go that route.
Hoops Rumors’ 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker
With the majority of 2017’s top free agents off the board, and news of contract agreements still trickling in, Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep track of which players are heading to which teams this offseason. 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:
- Some 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 report 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.
10 Available UFAs Who Played Major Minutes In 2016/17
The majority of the players still available on the unrestricted free agent market are unsigned for a reason. Many of those free agents are coming off down years or didn’t play all that much during the 2016/17 season — they had a negligible or negative impact on their respective teams last year, and aren’t expected to be major difference-makers next year either.
Still, several players still on the market were regular rotation players for their teams last season, and many provided steady and reliable production during those regular minutes. Some of those free agents are coming off lucrative contracts and may have entered July with aspirations of landing a mid-level type deal. At this point in the NBA offseason calendar though, most are unlikely to secure more than minimum salary contracts, which could make them intriguing bargains for teams still looking to fortify their rosters.
Here are the 10 remaining unrestricted free agents who saw the most action during the 2016/17 season, along with their total minutes played and minutes per game:
- Monta Ellis, Pacers: 1,998 (27.0)
- Tony Allen, Grizzlies: 1,914 (27.0)
- Matt Barnes, Kings/Warriors: 1,777 (24.0)
- Deron Williams, Mavericks/Cavaliers: 1,657 (25.9)
- Dante Cunningham, Pelicans: 1,649 (25.0)
- Shabazz Muhammad, Timberwolves: 1,516 (19.4)
- David Lee, Spurs: 1,477 (18.7)
- Jason Terry, Bucks: 1,365 (18.4)
- Randy Foye, Nets: 1,284 (18.6)
- Boris Diaw, Jazz: 1,283 (17.6)
Several players on that list are on the decline — Williams was a weak link in the Cavs’ rotation in the postseason, and guys like Barnes, Lee, Terry, and Diaw probably don’t have much left in the tank. Still, they all have NBA Finals experience, and could still be useful bench pieces for teams that aren’t expecting them to play 25 or 30 minutes per night.
Ellis and Muhammad, meanwhile, have holes in their games that will make teams hesitant to invest too heavily in them, but their scoring ability certainly makes them worth a roll of the dice on a minimum deal. The same can probably be said of Foye, who has struggled with his outside shot in the last couple seasons, but is still a 36.6% career three-point shooter.
Allen and Cunningham are perhaps the most intriguing names here. Allen earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team last season and is still viewed around the league as one of the game’s most tenacious perimeter defenders. That’s a valuable skill set for a contender. As for Cunningham, the 30-year-old has been a steady frontcourt piece for the Pelicans and Timberwolves over the last several seasons, and added a new wrinkle to his game in 2016/17, averaging 1.1 3PG with a .392 3PT%. If he continues to show that ability to stretch the floor, he’d be a fit for most clubs.
In addition to the players noted above, Gerald Henderson (23.2 MPG), Brandon Rush (21.9), and Andrew Bogut (21.6) are among the current unrestricted free agents who earned consistent minutes last season, but missed chunks of the year due to injury. Henderson remains injured and may miss the entire 2017/18 campaign, but Rush and Bogut should be players of interest for clubs still scouring the market.
Knicks Ink Xavier Rathan-Mayes To One-Year Deal
The Knicks have signed Xavier Rathan-Mayes to a one-year deal, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). Scotto adds that the pact will be partially guaranteed.
Rathan-Mayes entered the 2017 draft out of Florida State University but was not selected. In three seasons at the school, he averaged 12.4 points per game while making 52.1% of his shots from the field.
After signing the combo guard, the Knicks have 15 players under contract. New York appears to be embarking on a genuine rebuild for the first time in over a decade, so it could mean the team will opt to keep young talent over borderline-rotation level veterans. If the Knicks go that route, Rathan-Mayes, who turned 23 in April, may have a decent chance to make the team.
Adreian Payne, Magic Close To Deal
The Magic and Adreian Payne are close to an agreement that will bring the big man to Orlando, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter links). Pick adds that the 26-year-old recently turned down an offer from Guangdong in the Chinese Basketball Association worth $900K.
Payne’s deal with the Magic will be a two-way deal, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Payne was drafted by the Hawks with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2014 draft. Atlanta sent him to Minnesota during the 2014/15 season for a future first round pick. In two-plus seasons with the Wolves, Payne has seen just 13.5 minutes per game. He averaged 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 40.0% from the field.
Kevin Durant Weighs In On Cavaliers’ Situation
It may seem like the Cavaliers have a unique problem on their hands with Kyrie Irving requesting a trade. However, Kevin Durant tells Chris Haynes of ESPN.com that trade requests routinely occur behind the scenes without the media learning of them.
“It’s just a regular NBA problem, right? A lot of teams have gone through this before,” Durant said. “They’ll figure it out. That’s a great organization, a championship organization. They’ll figure it out.”
Having a deal in place by the time training camp begins would avoid a potential distraction. However, if Irving isn’t moved by then, Durant believes Irving and LeBron James would eventually work out their differences.
“It’s not the end of the world,” Durant said. “Both of those guys won a championship together. They love each other. If Kyrie wants to do something else, that’s on him. I’m sure whatever happens, it’ll work out for the best for both of them. But it’s just a normal NBA problem. It’s just two big stars that it’s happening to.”
Earlier in the week, Durant played pickup basketball with James and Carmelo Anthony among others. The 2013/14 MVP downplayed the event.
“If somebody wants to hoop, we just hoop. We just went out there and played, bro. Nothing too serious,” Durant said.
Southwest Notes: Harden, Anthony, Irving
GM Daryl Morey recently praised James Harden for his role as a recruiter, telling ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on his podcast (h/t Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders) that Harden “understands the plan,” adding that “he wants to execute for the team he’s leading.”
Hamilton notes that Harden had a hand in recruiting Chris Paul to the Rockets and his involvement in bringing Carmelo Anthony to Houston will be crucial. The Rockets don’t have an array of young, promising talent to offer the Knicks, so the probable way to get Anthony in Houston is for the 10-time All-Star to force his way onto the team, something that appears is already happening. That likely doesn’t occur without Harden and Anthony being on the same page.
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Landing Anthony is not a sure thing for the Rockets and Hamilton examines what other talent the team could pursue should they find themselves unable to swing a deal with New York. DeMarcus Cousins, who will be a free agent after the season, could be an option. Hamilton also names Kenneth Faried and Jahlil Okafor as frontcourt players who could be targets.
- Hall of Famer David Robinson believes the Spurs would be “crazy not to want” Kyrie Irving on the team, as he said on SiriusXM NBA Radio (h/t Inquirer.net). “I certainly think you add a talent like that to a system that can … enhance his impact in the game and make him more efficient,” Robinson said of the point guard. San Antonio is on Irving’s short list of destinations where he would like to be traded.
Eastern Notes: Wade, Bradley, LeVert, Pierce
A Dwyane Wade reunion with the Heat would create rotation and chemistry issues, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel explains in his latest mailbag. A buyout agreement between Wade and the rebuilding Bulls is possible, though not close to happening. It’s widely assumed Wade would seriously consider returning to Miami but the Heat already have plenty of options at the guard spots, Winderman notes. Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters, who was re-signed this summer, are the starters and Tyler Johnson is being paid lavishly to be the main backup. Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder and Wayne Ellington are also viable rotation options and if Wade were to close out games, coach Erik Spoelstra would have a tough dilemma deciding which player loses those minutes, Winderman continues. In fact, the Heat brass and coaching staff may privately be wishing they’re not faced with the prospect of Wade getting bought out and looking to re-join them, Winderman adds.
In other items involving Eastern Conference teams:
- Avery Bradley may be a newcomer to the Pistons’ locker room but coach Stan Van Gundy expects the shooting guard to be quickly embraced as a leader, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com reports. Bradley was traded by the Celtics in their efforts to clear cap space and sign free agent forward Gordon Hayward. Van Gundy wants Bradley’s toughness and defensive approach to rub off on his other players, Langlois adds. “What Avery’s really embracing is a chance to play a bigger role as a player and as a leader,” Van Gundy told Langlois. “That’s something that excites him.”
- Nets guard Caris LeVert believes the club can make the playoffs with better health and this summer’s roster changes. “I feel like it’s really realistic,” Levert told Fred Kerber of the New York Post. “Last year, we were like top seven in the East when we had all our players healthy. Just building off that momentum with the pieces we’ve added — obviously we lost a great player in Brook [Lopez] — but I feel with the pieces we’ve added we’ll be in that conversation.”
- Paul Pierce will have his No. 34 retired by the Celtics, team co-owner Steve Pagliuca informed Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. “It’s going to be fantastic,” Pagliuca said. “For our era, the most recent era, he embodied the Celtics’ leadership, the Celtics’ brand and was the MVP of the championship team.” Pierce’s 34 will be the 22nd number to hang in the rafters at TD Garden.
Jordan Mickey, Heat Close To Agreement
The Heat and forward Jordan Mickey are close to an agreement on a two-year contract, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. Mickey would receive the guaranteed minimum of $1.5MM for the upcoming season and the team would hold an option on the second year, Charania adds. Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel confirms that the club is planning to sign Mickey (Twitter link) and that the contract is not a two-way deal.
Mickey was drafted 33rd overall in 2015 by the Celtics. He appeared in 16 games with them as a rookie and saw the court in 25 games, including one start, last season. The 6’8” power forward averaged 1.5 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 5.6 MPG in 2016/17.
The Heat, who are over the cap, have 12 players on guaranteed deals, two with partial guarantees, plus another on a non-guaranteed contract. He projects as the No. 3 power forward behind another former Celtic, Kelly Olynyk, and James Johnson.
The Celtics waived Mickey in mid-July in order to clear cap space and sign Gordon Hayward to a maximum salary contract. Mickey had an non-guaranteed contract with Boston for the upcoming season. He went unclaimed and became an unrestricted free agent but had little success finding a team until the Heat came calling.
When Mickey wasn’t playing in Boston the last two seasons, he was suiting up for the G-League’s Maine Red Claws. He averaged 18.6 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 3.8 BPG in 35 G League contests.