Five Key Offseason Questions: Washington Wizards
The Wizards’ 2016 offseason, which included a five-year max contract for Bradley Beal, pricey multiyear investments in Ian Mahinmi, Andrew Nicholson, and Jason Smith, and the hiring of Scott Brooks, was met with skepticism by many league observers. However, while most of the team’s free agent additions didn’t pay major dividends, Brooks’ arrival and Beal’s breakout season helped buoy Washington to a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Wizards were just one win away from knocking off the top-seeded Celtics and earning a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals, but this team isn’t a finished product. There are several areas the Wizards will need to address and a handful of questions the club will need to answer in order to make another deep playoff run a year from now.
Here are several key questions facing the Wizards as they enter the offseason:
1. Will Otto Porter be re-signed?
John Wall and Beal are the Wizards’ stars, but if anyone on the roster qualifies as the third piece of a Big Three, it’s Porter. He enjoyed the best season of his four-year career in 2016/17, averaging 13.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.5 SPG, with an extremely efficient .516/.434/.832 shooting line. He’s also just 24 years old, and is eligible for restricted free agency this summer.
When Beal reached restricted free agency a year ago, there was little doubt that the Wizards would retain him, despite his injury history. Porter isn’t quite a lock to be brought back — he’ll almost certainly draw enough rival interest that Washington will be forced to go up to the max for him, and he’d be making more than both Beal and Wall in that scenario. Still, letting him go wouldn’t create a ton of cap flexibility for the Wizards, and it would leave the club with a huge hole in its lineup, so I’d expect Porter to stay in D.C.
2. Will Bojan Bogdanovic be re-signed?
Like Porter, Bogdanovic provided reliable outside shooting for the Wizards this season and is eligible for restricted free agency. Bogdanovic, who was acquired at the trade deadline, isn’t as strong an all-around player as Porter, but he’s a very solid scorer off the bench on a team that had a hard time finding production from its second unit.
Assuming they tender Bogdanovic a qualifying offer, as they should, the Wizards will have the opportunity to match any offer sheet the veteran forward signs. But if Porter is re-signed, Washington won’t have a ton of flexibility to match a lucrative offer for Bogdanovic unless the team is willing to go into the tax. Depending on how aggressively suitors pursue Bogdanovic, it might make sense for the Wizards to let him go.
And-Ones: Motiejunas, Blatt, Lakers, Free Agency
Heat president Pat Riley and Lakers president Magic Johnson participated in a panel discussion earlier this week, with Riley joking about how expects to land “a treasure of players” from Johnson in trades. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel outlines, Riley also talked about Johnson’s transition to the front office, and the challenges the former Lakers star will face as he adjusts to a role that doesn’t involve much interaction with his players.
“When I went from coaching to the front office, my first three months I was actually in fits, because I had lost control. You lose control of the team and the game, because you’re just selecting players,” Riley said. “And one thing you don’t want to do as president is second-guess your coach too much, go down to the locker room, don’t hang around too much. … [Magic] will sit up there in that box of his, and when things aren’t going good the first, he’s going to want to go down there and be Lonzo Ball‘s mentor.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Donatas Motiejunas has new representation, according to international basketball reporter David Pick, who tweets that the free-agent-to-be has signed with Octagon Sports. Motiejunas was previously repped by Wasserman, but left the agency in the wake of his tumultuous restricted free agency last season.
- Former Cavaliers head coach David Blatt, who coached Turkey’s Darussafaka Dogus in 2016/17, may return to Israel for the coming season. David Pick reports (via Twitter) that Maccabi Tel Aviv executives appear ready to offer Blatt a long-term deal in the $3-4MM range. Blatt coached the Israeli club from 2010 to 2014 before he headed to Cleveland.
- Ex-Lakers guard Darius Morris tells Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that he has worked out for the Lakers, Grizzlies, and Pistons, and has a session lined up with the Jazz as well.
- In a feature for Bleacher Report, Howard Beck examines how free agency decisions by LeBron James and Kevin Durant may have changed the landscape for star players, inspiring more of them to change teams in the future.
2017 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs won 60+ games for the third time in four years in 2016/17, but any chance they had of knocking off the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals was stymied when Kawhi Leonard re-injured his ankle in Game 1 against Golden State. Even though San Antonio was the second- or third-best team in the NBA this past season, additional roster pieces may be needed to seriously challenge the historically dominant Warriors.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Spurs financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2017:
Guaranteed Salary
- LaMarcus Aldridge ($21,461,010)
- Kawhi Leonard ($18,868,625)
- Tony Parker ($15,453,126)
- Danny Green ($10,000,000)
- Kyle Anderson ($2,151,704)
- Tim Duncan ($1,881,250) — Waived via stretch provision.
- Davis Bertans ($1,312,611)
- Dejounte Murray ($1,312,611)
- Livio Jean-Charles ($1,035,200) — Waived.
- Total: $73,476,137
Player Options
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Bryn Forbes ($1,312,611)1
- Total: $1,312,611
Restricted Free Agents
- Jonathon Simmons ($1,671,382 qualifying offer / $1,671,382 cap hold)
- Total: $1,671,382
Cap Holds
- Manu Ginobili ($21,000,000)
- Patty Mills ($6,800,001)
- Dewayne Dedmon ($3,477,600) — Player option declined.
- Joel Anthony ($1,471,382)
- No. 29 overall pick ($1,404,600)
- Total: $34,153,583
Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000
Maximum Cap Room: $22,856,803
- With seven guaranteed contracts, plus cap holds for a first-round pick and four empty roster spots, the Spurs’ team salary is $78,143,197. That figure doesn’t include Gasol or Lee, who could pick up player options, and also doesn’t include Ginobili, Mills, or Simmons, all free agents. Even if none of those players return, San Antonio would still have work to do to clear enough room for a maximum salary player like Chris Paul.
Footnotes:
- Forbes’ salary becomes partially guaranteed ($100,000) after August 1.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post.
Pacers Not Currently Discussing Paul George Trade
With the 2017 draft just over two weeks away, the Pacers have not been soliciting trade offers or engaging in trade talks involving Paul George, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, who calls George conversations “a non-starter currently” (Twitter links).
Although the Pacers never got close to moving George at February’s trade deadline, the team was at least willing to listen on inquiries at that point. Since then, George failed to earn a spot on one of the league’s All-NBA squads, making him ineligible for a Designated Veteran Extension this offseason, limiting Indiana’s leverage in extension talks. Additionally, Larry Bird has stepped down as the Pacers’ president of basketball operations, having been replaced by Kevin Pritchard.
Bird was long considered opposed to the idea of dealing George, so there was speculation that the front office turnover – combined with the Pacers’ inability to offer the standout forward a super-max extension – may spur trade talks this summer. So far though, that hasn’t been the case. In a longer piece on the Lakers at Bleacher Report, Pincus notes that the Pacers haven’t signaled to teams that George is available, per a Western Conference executive.
The Pacers may still show a willingness to discuss George around the time of the draft or free agency, but it’s also possible the club is comfortable waiting out the situation. Given George’s reported interest in the Lakers, Indiana may not be able to extract much in any trade if there’s an expectation he’ll wind up in L.A. in 2018 no matter what.
Keeping the 27-year-old around may be a worthwhile gamble for Indiana — if George earns an All-NBA spot in 2017/18, he’d become eligible for a Designated Player Extension, meaning he could secure an extra $50MM+ at that point by re-upping with the Pacers instead of heading elsewhere.
Pelicans Looking To Add Shooting, Playmaking
While the Pelicans’ roster features perhaps the most feared frontcourt duo in the NBA, in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, the team had to part with a handful of guards to acquire Cousins, and will be looking to fortify its perimeter rotation this offseason. General manager Dell Demps confirmed as much during a recent appearance on WLAE in New Orleans, as Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com details.
“The one thing I’ve learned from all these shows you go on, you don’t want to tip your hand and give people (indications of your intentions),” Demps said when asked about his free agency plans. “Sometimes I like to keep things close to the vest, but obviously shooting is going to be important for us, but also you want to get good basketball players who can make plays – I think that’s the way the game is going right now.”
The Pelicans’ top backcourt playmaker, point guard Jrue Holiday, will be an unrestricted free agent next month, so one of the club’s top priorities will be locking up Holiday or landing a viable replacement. However, after sending Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, and Langston Galloway to Sacramento for Cousins, the Pelicans will also be seeking contributors who can make and create shots at the two or three.
[RELATED: 2017 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: New Orleans Pelicans]
One player who would help fill that hole in the Pelicans’ roster is Quincy Pondexter, who has missed the last two seasons with a series of knee injuries. Pondexter remains under contract with New Orleans and made 37.3% of his three-point attempts in his last healthy season (2014/15), but Demps doesn’t sound like he’s penciling in the veteran wing for a spot in the rotation quite yet.
“It’s a little uncertain right now,” said the Pelicans’ GM. “Obviously he hasn’t played since the (2015) playoffs. He’s had some setbacks. He’s had a couple surgeries. It’s tough because he’s one of those glue-type guys who is a leader not only in the locker room, but on the floor. We’ve missed his defense and his shooting. He was a big piece for us, an important pickup when we made that run to the playoffs. We were hoping to have his services the last two years. He’s going through some testing right now and will be in town this week. We’re hoping to get him back on the floor.”
If the Pelicans are able to re-sign Holiday, they’ll almost certainly remain over the cap this offseason, meaning they’d have the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available to use on free agents. Those exceptions will be worth about $8.4MM and $3.3MM, respectively.
Jimmy Butler Hires New Agent
Jimmy Butler isn’t eligible for free agency for at least two more years, but the Bulls forward has hired a new agent. Having been without representation since the 2016 offseason, Butler has signed with agent Bernie Lee of Lee Basketball Services, reports K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. According to Johnson, the Bulls were informed of Butler’s new representation during their meeting with the forward this week.
Butler remains under contract with the Bulls through the 2019/20 season, though the final year of his contract is a player option. After earning a spot on the All-NBA Third Team this spring, Butler will become eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension worth 35% of the cap if he makes an All-NBA squad again in either of the next two seasons.
While Lee won’t be tasked with negotiating a new contract for Butler anytime soon, he’ll likely be involved in any serious trade talks the Bulls have involving his new client. Of course, if the Bulls were to make a deal involving Butler, only Chicago and its trade partner would have to sign off, but agents are often a part of that process, attempting to direct clients to certain destinations or steering them clear of others. So far though, there has been little indication that the Bulls will make an effort to move Butler this summer.
For Lee, the signing of Butler is a big one. The veteran agent counts a handful of former NBA players among his clients, including John Lucas III, Mike James, and Toure’ Murry, but Butler will easily be the biggest name on his roster.
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Bucks Narrow GM Search To Three Finalists
After conducting a “broad” search for a new general manager, the Bucks have narrowed their group of candidates down to three finalists, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. According to Wojnarowski, Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Hawks advisor Wes Wilcox, and Bucks assistant GM Justin Zanik have emerged as the top contenders for the position.
The Bucks conducted a round of interviews in New York this week, and will now bring Karnisovas and Wilcox to Milwaukee for additional meetings with team officials, per Wojnarowski. Zanik is already in Milwaukee, having been tasked with making draft preparations for the franchise in the wake of former GM John Hammond‘s departure.
According to previous reports, the Bucks had also been considering Pacers president of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie, Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski, Pistons associate GM Pat Garrity and Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, Blazers assistant GM Bill Branch, and Timberwolves assistant GM Noah Croom, among others. However, it appears those execs are no longer in the running.
As Wojnarowski details, there is “strong internal staff support” within the Bucks organization for the team to simply promote Zanik. Co-owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens, as well as Jamie Dinan, are heavily involved in the process though, and have differing opinions on the best candidates for the job, as Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times writes.
Woelfel’s report, which was published before Wojnarowski, cited sources who said that Zanik and Karnisovas are “held in high regard” by Bucks ownership.
LaVar Ball Will Not Be Allowed At Lonzo Ball’s Workout
UCLA product Lonzo Ball is scheduled to workout for the Lakers tomorrow but his outspoken father, LaVar Ball, will not be present for it, head coach Luke Walton confirmed on the Jim Rome Show Tuesday.
The elder Ball, however, was offered an invitation to a pre-workout dinner — Walton was not sure LaVar would attend, but joked that his presence would provide a boost in entertainment.
“Absolutely. If he wanted to come to the dinner,” Walton said (via USA Today). “I think the workout is something that we’ll keep the doors closed on, but the dinner, I think he would definitely make the dinner more entertaining. He’s definitely welcome to join us for that one.”
Ball, 19, is expected to be a top draft pick this season and the Lakers own the second overall selection. As a solid player at UCLA and California native, Ball is viewed in many circles as a surefire Lakers pick. However, a report last week claimed the Lakers are not sold on the young point guard.
While Ball has mulled over working out for the Sixers, his father has previously stated that his son would only work out for Los Angeles — fueling speculation he would be the team’s first-round selection. After his workout on Wednesday, Ball’s possible future in Lakers purple and gold should be clearer.
On the topic of Ball’s father and his opinionated, outspoken nature, Walton noted that he would not have a problem managing the boisterous personality if the team selects Ball.
“No, I wouldn’t. We’re in the NBA, to me, that’s not an issue,” Walton said. “Parents are always gonna have their opinions. They’re gonna be outspoken at times. As you know, Jim, I have a very outspoken father myself. It doesn’t bother me. If we were to draft him, we’re gonna coach him. He’s gonna be part of our team. He’s gonna be part of our family. And we’ll go from there. This is the NBA. We’ll keep the team where it needs to be. We’ll not let outside things like that influence us on whether or not we pick the kid.”
Atlantic Notes: Smith, Fultz, Monk
The Knicks are reportedly targeting wings and guards in the NBA Draft and North Carolina State product Dennis Smith Jr. will work out for the team tomorrow, ESPN’s Ian Begley reports.
With the eighth overall selection in New York’s possession, the team feels that Smith will likely still be on the board once their pick rolls around. The 19-year-old averaged 18.1 PPG, 6.2 APG, and 4.6 RPG in 32 games as a member of the Wolfpack.
Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that the Knicks feel Smith’s defensive deficiencies and torn ACL from two years ago will knock him down in the draft. Berman adds that Smith is also scheduled to workout for the Lakers, Celtics and Sixers — the top three teams in this year’s draft.
Begley’s report mentions Malik Monk and Frank Ntilikina are also targets of interests for the Knicks.
Here are additional notes around the Atlantic division:
- Washington’s Markelle Fultz, who is expected to be drafted by the Celtics first overall, will only work out for Boston before the draft, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). While taking a tour of TD Garden on Tuesday, Fultz told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, “It almost feels like I belong here.” With draft night later this month, the Fultz/Celtics union is looking more and more likely, though ESPN’s report suggests he hasn’t totally ruled out the idea of working out for teams besides Boston.
- While many feel that Monk would be a safe pick for the Sixers, David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer feels the team would be making a mistake by drafting the 6’3″ point guard. With an evolving NBA centered on versatility, Murphy opines that Monk would not be as great a fit as he’s advertised, faced with difficulties against top tier talents and teams in the league.