Players Who Can Veto Trades In 2017/18
No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, but one such provision has been the subject of much discussion so far in 2017, as Carmelo Anthony made use of his NTC to block the Knicks from sending him to an undesirable destination. For much of the offseason, Anthony was focused on joining the Rockets, but he eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to Oklahoma City.
Anthony is one of just two NBA players whose contract includes an explicit no-trade clause, but there are still several players each year who have the ability to veto trades. A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection, and so is a player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team. Players who accept qualifying offers after their rookie deals expire can also block deals.
Taking into account that list of criteria, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the 2017/18 league year:
No-trade clauses
- Carmelo Anthony (Thunder)
- LeBron James (Cavaliers)
- Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks)
Players whose offer sheets were matched
- Otto Porter (Wizards)
- Note: Even with his consent, Porter cannot be traded to the Nets during the 2017/18 league year.
Players accepting qualifying offers
- Alex Len (Suns)
- Nerlens Noel (Mavericks)
Players re-signing for one year (or two years including an option)
- Nick Collison (Thunder)
- Kevin Durant (Warriors)
- Udonis Haslem (Heat)
- Ersan Ilyasova (Hawks)
- JaVale McGee (Warriors)
- Shabazz Muhammad (Timberwolves)
- Mike Muscala (Hawks)
- Zaza Pachulia (Warriors)
- Jason Terry (Bucks)
- David West (Warriors)
In addition to the players listed above who can veto trades through the 2017/18 league year, there’s another small handful of players who can’t be dealt under any circumstance until at least next July. The following players signed a Designated Veteran Extension this season, which precludes them from being traded for a full calendar year:
- Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- James Harden (Rockets)
- John Wall (Wizards)
- Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
Information from Basketball Insiders and ESPN was used in the creation of this post.
Gerald Henderson May Miss Season With Hip Injury
Veteran guard Gerald Henderson is expected to undergo surgery on his hip, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN (via Twitter). Haynes reports that Henderson may miss the entire 2017/18 season as a result of the ailment, while a statement from Henderson’s agency confirms that he’s evaluating surgical options for his troublesome left hip.
“I have been playing through severe pain that has made it difficult to play to the best of my ability,” Henderson said. “Now the pain has started to impact my everyday life off the court. My family, my agent and I are working closely with my medical team to give me all of the information I will need to make the best decision, personally and professionally. I am as competitive as they come and want to play. I will fully commit myself to getting healthy. I am thankful for the many opportunities I’ve had and I look forward to returning to playing in the NBA.”
Henderson, 29, spent the 2016/17 campaign with the Sixers, averaging 9.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 1.6 APG in a part-time role for the team. He also had a shooting line of .423/.353/.806.
Despite posting solid numbers for a role player, Henderson was overpriced for ’17/18, with his contract calling for a $9MM salary. Only $1MM of that amount was guaranteed, however, so the Sixers waived the former lottery pick on the last day of June, ensuring that they wouldn’t be on the hook for the remaining $8MM. Henderson has remained on the free agent market since then.
If Henderson’s hip procedure does force him to miss the entire 2017/18 season, he’d be poised to seek out a new team next summer. Missing a full season can result in an uphill battle for a player attempting to work his way back into the NBA, but Henderson has eight solid seasons under his belt and will only be 30 years old in 2018, so he should be able to find a new NBA home if he makes a full recovery.
Latest On Carmelo Anthony
Speaking to reporters today for the first time in months, Carmelo Anthony admitted that the last 12 months have been an “emotional roller coaster” for him, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Even though he’s not certain whether or not he’ll be traded by the Knicks before the 2017/18 season begins, Anthony said he’s at “peace” with his current situation.
As Begley details, Anthony was fairly noncommittal during his sitdown with the media today at The Basketball Tournament in Baltimore, declining to comment on his reported interest in joining the Rockets. He also didn’t have much to say about the Knicks’ decision to replace Phil Jackson earlier this summer, calling that a “business” move that owner James Dolan made in the course of running his organization.
Here’s more on Carmelo:
- Anthony said today that he hasn’t spoken to the new Knicks regime, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. According to Bondy, new team president Steve Mills has tried to talk to Anthony about his options, but Carmelo isn’t interested in having that discussion. “For him, there’s nothing to talk about,” one source told The Daily News.
- Despite his apparent lack of interest in meeting with the front office, Anthony acknowledged that he and Scott Perry have long been acquaintances on good terms. “I’m pretty sure I’ll talk to him when the time comes,” Anthony said of the Knicks‘ new GM, according to Bondy.
- Sources reiterate to Bondy that Anthony thought he was on the verge of being sent to the Rockets before Mills halted trade discussions in mid-July.
- After Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum made an effort to recruit Anthony to Portland last month, another Trail Blazers player made a pitch of his own, with Evan Turner suggesting that Carmelo would “love” playing in Portland. “If he waives [his no-trade clause] and wants to come, it would be great,” Turner said, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. “He’ll lock in because he made the decision to come. He’s got all the power in a certain sense. It’s not a guarantee. The positive is if we did get him, that means he wanted to be there and accepted the trade and buckle into what we’re trying to do.”
Community Shootaround: Andrew Wiggins’ Future
With all of this year’s top free agents off the board, the focus of the NBA rumor mill has shifted to trade candidates and extension candidates. Former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins certainly falls under the latter category, and it’s not unreasonable to include him in the former category as well.
As a former first-round pick entering the final season of his four-year rookie contract, Wiggins is eligible to sign a contract extension, and the Timberwolves have reportedly been discussing the prospect of a five-year, maximum salary deal. At the same time, the new-look Wolves have been linked to Kyrie Irving, who has asked the Cavaliers to trade him, and Wiggins appears to be the most logical trade chip Minnesota could include in an offer for Irving. However, the Wolves have thus far been unwilling to make Wiggins available in any Irving proposal.
As I discussed at length when I profiled Wiggins as an extension candidate last month, the 22-year-old can score at an elite level, but has yet to round out his game in other areas — he was a below-average defender, rebounder, and distributor last season. He’s young enough and talented enough on offense that it’s easy to make a case for a maximum-salary investment, but it’d still be a bit of a gamble.
In an in-depth piece of his own, Tom Ziller of SBNation.com makes the case today that the Wolves should be in no rush to lock up Wiggins to a max extension. In Ziller’s view, it makes sense for the club to be patient, giving Wiggins another year to develop and perhaps even allowing for more potential trade opportunities to arise. If the young forward takes another step forward, the Wolves could still sign him to a max deal next summer as a restricted free agent.
That argument is a fair one, though waiting on a new deal for Wiggins isn’t without potential downside either. This year’s top free agent, Gordon Hayward, is case study in the risks of letting a potential star reach restricted free agency after his rookie contract. The Jazz could have locked up Hayward with a five-year extension entering the final year of his rookie deal, but the club instead let him reach restricted free agency, where the Hornets signed him to a four-year offer sheet that included an opt-out after year three.
The Jazz matched that offer sheet and retained Hayward, but instead of having him locked up for five years, the team only had him for three, plus an option year. That allowed Hayward to opt out after three seasons and reach the open market this summer, at which point he signed with a new team. If the Jazz had signed him to a five-year extension when they had a chance, he’d still be under contract with Utah for two more years. The Wolves will have to consider that scenario if they decide to let Wiggins reach free agency.
What do you think? Should Wiggins and the Timberwolves get an extension done as soon as possible? Is he worth a maximum-salary investment? Should Minnesota wait until he becomes a restricted free agent to act? Or is trading him in a deal for Irving the most logical move for the Wolves?
Jump into the comments section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Hornets Sign Paige, Mathiang To Two-Way Deals
AUGUST 2: The two-way deals for Paige and Mathiang are now official, the Hornets announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 1: The Hornets will sign Marcus Paige and Mangok Mathiang to two-way contracts, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).
Paige, 23, spent four seasons at UNC, where he averaged 13.1 PPG, 4.3 APG, and 2.8 RPG in 141 games. The Nets drafted Paige with the 55th overall pick in last year’s draft but traded him to the Jazz as part of the deal that sent Isaiah Whitehead to his native Brooklyn squad.
After he was waived in early October 2016, Paige latched on with the Jazz’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. In 46 games, he averaged 12.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.2 APG in 32.7 minutes. Most recently, Paige was part of the Timberwolves‘ summer league team in Las Vegas.
As for Mathiang, the Lousiville product averaged 7.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 1.1 BPG in his senior year at the college. The 24-year-old appeared for Charlotte in five games during the summer league where posted 4.4 PPG, five boards and 53.3% from the field.
As a side note, the Hornets also guaranteed forward Johnny O’Bryant‘s $1.5MM salary for the 2017/18 season, per Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). Today was the deadline for Charlotte to fully guarantee O’Bryant’s contract.
For more details on what two-way contracts are and how they work, be sure to check out our FAQ.
Pelicans Sign Charles Cooke To Two-Way Deal
AUGUST 2: Shortly after confirming Jones’ two-way contract with the club, the Pelicans have done the same with Cooke’s, issuing a press release to confirm his new two-way deal.
JULY 31: The Pelicans have reached an agreement with undrafted Dayton guard Charles Cooke, and will sign him to a two-way contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
[RELATED: 2017/18 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Cooke, 23, averaged 15.7 PPG and 5.3 RPG during his senior year at Dayton, recording a shooting line of .485/.398/.694. The young shooting guard wasn’t viewed as an elite prospect, but was ranked 32nd among this year’s seniors by DraftExpress.
Shortly after the draft ended last month, a report indicated that Cooke had agreed to a deal with the Timberwolves. However, that agreement only spanned Summer League play — the 6’5″ guard averaged 10.0 PPG and 3.0 RPG in five games for the Wolves in Vegas. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News had reported last week (via Twitter) that Cooke wasn’t open to a two-way contract with Minnesota.
For the Pelicans, Cooke appears to be their second two-way player. Chris Reichert of 2 Ways and 10 Days reported this weekend (via Twitter) that Jalen Jones‘ agreement with the Pelicans is a two-way deal. That signing isn’t official yet, but is expected to be finalized soon.
Pelicans Sign Jalen Jones To Two-Way Contract
AUGUST 2: The Pelicans have officially signed Jones to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. The club recently reached an agreement with Charles Cooke for its other two-way spot.
JULY 25: The Pelicans are expected to sign former Texas A&M forward Jalen Jones, a source tells Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Details of Jones’ potential deal aren’t known, but it would likely be a training camp invite without a full guarantee, assuming it’s not a two-way contract.
Jones, 24, went undrafted in 2016 but signed a training camp deal with the Celtics. Although the 6’7″ small forward didn’t earn a spot on Boston’s regular season roster, he became an affiliate player for the club after being waived, joining the G League’s Maine Red Claws.
Jones enjoyed an impressive 2016/17 campaign in Maine, averaging 21.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG — he was named to the All NBA G League Third Team. Jones further impressed the Pelicans in Summer League play this month, recording 13.3 PPG and 6.2 RPG in six games for the club.
Assuming he gets a camp deal from the Pelicans, Jones would join Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo, and Darius Miller as the free agents to sign NBA contracts with the franchise so far this offseason. New Orleans also added Frank Jackson in the draft.
Latest On NBA’s Summer Salary Guarantee Dates
The Heat didn’t make any roster moves with Rodney McGruder or Okaro White on Tuesday, ensuring that both players remain under contract and received partial guarantees on their contracts for 2017/18, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
As Basketball Insiders details, McGruder and White are on minimum salary deals worth $1,312,611 for the coming season. By remaining with the Heat through August 1, both players are now in line for about $453K in guaranteed money. Their full salaries will become guaranteed if they stay under contract through the first game of the regular season.
Meanwhile, as we noted last night, the Hornets also kept Johnny O’Bryant on their roster beyond his August 1 salary guarantee deadline, making his $1,524,305 minimum salary fully guaranteed.
Other players, including Jordan Crawford of the Pelicans and Bryn Forbes of the Spurs, had August 1 salary guarantee deadlines in their contracts as well, per Basketball Insiders’ data. However, we haven’t received confirmation that their guarantees are locked in.
Neither Crawford nor Forbes was waived, but teams and players can sometimes agree to push back guarantee dates to create more flexibility for the club — the Trail Blazers recently did just that with Pat Connaughton, whose salary guarantee deadline is now August 31 instead of July 25.
For more details on which players have received salary guarantees this summer – as well as which players have been waived before those guarantees kicked in – be sure to check out our full breakdown.
Stephen Curry Asked Warriors About Taking Discount
The Warriors are bringing back just about all of their key free agents involved in last season’s championship run, and Kevin Durant‘s willingness to accept a discount on his new deal helped the team to make those moves. Stephen Curry, who received the largest contract of Golden State’s offseason, tells Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic that he also asked the Warriors about the possibility of taking a discount to accommodate other players.
“I actually asked [GM] Bob [Myers],” Curry said. “If I were to take a discount — at any number, I don’t know what it would be — how much of a difference would that make for us to be able to sign other guys. It wasn’t like [Durant’s] situation. His had a direct impact on us being able to sign Andre [Iguodala] and Shaun [Livingston]. And it was just an unbelievable sacrifice by KD. But mine didn’t matter.”
It’s true that it made much more sense for Durant to accept a discount than Curry. The Warriors held Curry’s Bird rights, meaning the team could make him a five-year maximum salary offer without affecting other free agents. If Curry had taken a discount on the first year, it would have impacted his earnings in all future seasons as well, since raises are limited to 8% annually. Durant, on the other hand, is likely to opt out of his new deal in 2018, so he’ll likely trade a few million dollars this year for a larger – and longer-term – payday a year from now.
If Durant had wanted a max deal of his own this offseason, the Warriors probably would have had to renounce both Iguodala’s and Livingston’s cap holds to make it happen, since the club didn’t hold KD’s full Bird rights.
Still, Durant accepted an even more significant discount than he needed to, allowing the Warriors to avoid going as deep into the tax as they otherwise might’ve. That aspect of Durant’s discount didn’t technically have an impact on the amount the Warriors could offer their free agents by CBA rules — it simply reduced the club’s projected tax penalties, perhaps making ownership more willing to spend on other players.
When considering Curry’s and Durant’s new agreements, it’s also worth noting that Curry was underpaid for the last several seasons, having just finished up a four-year, $44MM contract. He won two MVP awards and two titles during the life of that contract, so it made sense for the Warriors to reward him with a full max deal.
Brandon Jennings To Play In China
AUGUST 2: Having previously indicated that Jennings would earn $1.5MM on his new deal with Shanxi, Spears has updated his report, tweeting that the veteran guard’s one-year contract is worth $2.2MM. However, international basketball reporter David Pick maintains that it’s a $1.5MM agreement.
The difference between those numbers isn’t huge, but it’s notable for Jennings, who would have been eligible for a minimum salary worth about $2.1MM in the NBA.
JULY 28: Free agent guard Brandon Jennings is headed overseas for the coming season, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Jennings tells Spears that he has agreed to a one-year, $1.5MM deal in China with Shanxi. Spears adds that the veteran hopes to return to the NBA once the Chinese season ends next year.
Jennings, who will turn 28 in September, was a reliable backcourt scoring option during his first six NBA seasons, but has seen his role and impact decline over the last couple years. After playing for the Pistons and Magic in 2015/16, Jennings played for the Knicks and Wizards in 2016/17, signing with Washington in March after being waived by New York.
Acquired in the hopes that he could provide steady, productive minutes behind John Wall at the point, Jennings struggled immensely in D.C., averaging just 3.5 PPG and 4.7 APG, with a shooting line of .274/.212/.706 in 23 games for the Wizards.
Assuming that Jennings’ new team in China is the Shanxi Brave Dragons, as Spears indicates, that news could have an impact on another free agent point guard. Last week, Ty Lawson said that he may be poised to join Shanxi, but his agent denied that anything was done, suggesting that his client remained in discussions with multiple international and NBA teams. If Jennings signs with Shanxi, Lawson figures to look elsewhere for work.