Draft Notes: J. Jackson, Ball, Fultz, Strategies To Avoid
Is Josh Jackson a better prospect than Lonzo Ball? In a fascinating detail-rich piece, Rob Dauster of NBC Sports tackles this question. The column focuses on Jackson, outlining his strengths and weaknesses. The Kansas product’s most prominent strengths include his length, superior athleticism, competitiveness, and versatility. Dauster considers the forward’s main weaknesses to be his jump shot and his tendency to make defensive lapses.
After a careful and extensive consideration of Jackson’s game, Dauster concludes that he is a better prospect than Ball and the second-best prospect in the draft. In fact, the writer contends that the gap between Markelle Fultz and Jackson is smaller than the gap between Jackson and Ball.
Here are a couple more draft-related items:
- Speaking of Fultz, the point guard said Tuesday that he has had multiple conversations with Danny Ainge since the draft combine, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN. Fultz told ESPN: “I want to be the No. 1 pick really bad. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, and I feel like I would fit well in Boston.” The Washington freshman elaborated on his fit with the Celtics and star Isaiah Thomas: “We can both play on or off the ball. We can both score and also pass. I think we’d be great together. When we’ve talked since the lottery, we haven’t really talked about basketball much. He’s been through a lot lately.”
- What are the most dangerous mistakes that NBA teams make during the draft? Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders describes the seven most common flawed strategies that can lead to “egregious error” in the draft. We strongly encourage you to read the full piece on the topic, as it includes juicy details, such as which players from this year’s draft class are potential busts based on each blunder from the list. Check out the piece to see Brigham’s full list.
Southwest Notes: Barea, Dedmon, Spurs, Mavs
Mavericks guard J.J. Barea aspires to be a basketball coach when his playing career over, and this summer he’ll get a shot to coach a team even before he retires a player. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN details, Barea has been hired as the head coach of Indios de Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican league for the rest of the season, which runs about another month. Barea received clearance from Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle, and the Mavs, and is excited about the opportunity.
“This is my hometown team, where I played when I was getting started,” Barea said. “I think it’s going to be a great experience for myself and see if I really like this and see what I learn and if it can help me out for the future.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Now that Dewayne Dedmon has opted out of his contract with the Spurs, what sort of offers may he be looking at as a free agent? According to Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link), he’s hearing from NBA GMs that Dedmon could land something in the range of three to four years at $8-10MM annually.
- In the wake of last week’s Chris Paul rumors and speculation, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders takes a closer look at the Spurs‘ salary cap situation for this summer, explaining why it will be hard to create a big chunk of space, and identifying alternate targets.
- A report from French outlet L’Equipe suggests that the Mavericks are exploring the possibility of adding SIG Strasbourg head coach Vincent Collet to their Summer League coaching staff. As Emiliano Carchia of Sportando observes, such a union would make a lot of sense if Dallas drafts point guard Frank Ntilikina ninth overall in June’s draft — Ntilikina has played under Collet in France for the last two seasons.
- The Grizzlies announced today in a press release that director basketball operations Chris Makris will act as the GM for the team’s new D-League club, which will play in Southaven, Mississippi. Glynn Cyprien will coach the squad.
C.J. Miles To Opt Out, Become Free Agent
Veteran swingman C.J. Miles will opt out of his contract with the Pacers this summer, becoming an unrestricted free agent, reports Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. Miles has a player option for the 2017/18 season worth approximately $4.77MM, but will decline that option in search of a more lucrative deal.
Miles, who turned 30 last month, was a key rotation piece for the Pacers in 2016/17, making a career-best 41.3% of his attempts from beyond the arc. He also averaged 2.2 made three-pointers per game for the third consecutive season.
Miles was one of two Pacers players who had a mutual option of sorts for ’17/18. The Pacers had the opportunity to waive both Miles and Rodney Stuckey before the end of the regular season to avoid the risk of guaranteeing their salaries for next season. The team cut Stuckey and hung onto Miles, but with Miles opting out, Indiana won’t carry his salary on its books next year anyway.
While Miles’ reps may point to a player like Courtney Lee, who signed a four-year, $48MM contract with the Knicks last summer at age 30, as a logical comparison for their client, I’d be surprised if Miles lands a deal in that range. He should do fairly well in free agency, earning a raise and a multiyear commitment, but teams around the league simply won’t have the same kind of cap room available to overspend on free agents this time around.
2017 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans entered the 2016/17 season with playoff aspirations, but quickly fell out of the race and couldn’t climb back in, even after their deadline acquisition of DeMarcus Cousins. The frontcourt pairing of Cousins and Anthony Davis is a very intriguing one, particularly with a full offseason ahead for the two star bigs to get comfortable with one another. Still, the duo will need some help and New Orleans doesn’t have a ton of cap flexibility to continue adding complementary pieces.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Pelicans financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2017:
Guaranteed Salary
- Anthony Davis ($23,775,506)
- DeMarcus Cousins ($18,063,850)
- Solomon Hill ($12,236,535)
- Omer Asik ($10,595,505)
- E’Twaun Moore ($8,445,024)
- Alexis Ajinca ($4,961,798)
- Quincy Pondexter ($3,853,931)
- Tim Frazier ($2,000,000)
- Cheick Diallo ($1,312,611)
- Total: $85,244,760
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Jordan Crawford ($1,709,538)1
- Axel Toupane ($1,471,382)
- Quinn Cook ($1,312,611)2
- Total: $4,493,531
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Cap Holds
- Jrue Holiday ($16,929,777)
- Dante Cunningham ($5,658,675) — Player option declined
- Donatas Motiejunas ($1,471,382)
- Total: $24,059,834
Trade Exceptions
- Buddy Hield TPE ($3,517,200) — Expires 2/20/18
Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000
Maximum Cap Room: $13,308,395
- Adding three cap charges for empty roster spots to New Orleans’ nine guaranteed contracts results in a total team salary of $87,691,605. The cap space created in that scenario is minimal, so the Pelicans are more likely to retain one or two of their players on non-guaranteed contracts and to keep Holiday’s cap hold on the books as they attempt to re-sign him. That would mean staying over the cap.
Footnotes:
- Crawford’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after August 1.
- Cook’s salary becomes partially guaranteed ($25,000) after July 5. Guarantee increases to $100,000 after July 25.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post.
Eastern Notes: Lopez, Thompson, LeBron, Bucks
The Nets have a combined 41-123 record over the last two seasons, but Brook Lopez remains optimistic about the franchise’s direction, and doesn’t seem eager to go anywhere, despite the trade rumors that have consistently swirled around him as the club has struggled. As Randolph B. Leongson of Inquirer.net details, Lopez believes there’s “a lot of positivity” in Brooklyn as the team builds a new foundation.
“Moving forward, I’m just all-in, trying to do all I can to help my team be successful,” Lopez said. “We’ve got a great group of guys who really have that team-first attitude and we really believe that we can do something special as long as we put the effort out and we put the work in.”
Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:
- Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson is by no means a prolific scorer, but he has developed into a key rotation piece for the club due to his ability to rebounding and defensive ability, as well as his high motor. Zach Lowe of ESPN.com takes a closer look at Thompson, providing a handful of interesting tidbits on the big man’s history with the Cavs, who considered taking Jonas Valanciunas over him in 2011.
- LeBron James will be the subject of countless Michael Jordan comparisons by the time he retires, and those comparisons may eventually extend to endeavors beyond his playing career. As Ken Berger of Bleacher Report writes, the Cavaliers star has interested in being part of an NBA team ownership group down the road. Jordan, of course, is currently the principal owner of the Hornets.
- Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder, who played professional ball in Germany before arriving in Atlanta, believes current Brose Bamberg big man Daniel Theis is capable of making the leap to the NBA — preferably to Atlanta. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando has the details, providing an English translation of a German report.
- Jabari Parker is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, but it would make sense for the Bucks to table contract talks until the summer of 2018, after the former No. 2 pick has recovered from his latest ACL injury, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical.
Pistons Open To Moving Lottery Pick For Veteran
The Pistons currently have the No. 12 overall pick in this year’s draft, but there’s no guarantee this year’s 12th overall pick will play in Detroit in the fall. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), the Pistons are open to discussing trades involving their lottery pick in the hopes of acquiring a “win-now veteran.”
As we saw a year ago when the Hornets moved the No. 22 overall pick for Marco Belinelli, a team without cap room could agree to a pick-for-player trade in June and then complete the deal in July, after they’ve opened up the necessary space. That could be one option for the capped-out Pistons.
However, even without taking into account Aron Baynes‘ player option or a lucrative potential new contract for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Pistons already have about $95MM in guaranteed money on their books for 2017/18, so it’s unlikely that they’ll end up with any cap room even after the new league year begins.
That means that any deal involving the No. 12 pick and an established veteran would likely need to include at least one outgoing contract for salary-matching purposes. As such, it’s no surprise that Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets the Pistons would likely be open to a “pick-plus-player option” to land that win-now veteran.
Stein’s report doesn’t specify any players – or even positions – the Pistons may be targeting as they discuss their lottery pick, but there are a few areas that could make sense. A frontcourt replacement for Baynes would be one possibility if the club expects to lose him in free agency. A guard would also be a logical target if Detroit has any concern about Reggie Jackson‘s ability to bounce back, or isn’t 100% sure that Caldwell-Pope will be retained.
Spurs’ Dewayne Dedmon To Decline Player Option
Spurs center Dewayne Dedmon will head back to the free agent market one year after signing with San Antonio, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical. According to Charania, Dedmon has decided to turn down his 2017/18 player option with the Spurs, and will become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Dedmon, who signed a two-year deal with the Spurs last summer worth the team’s room exception, earned $2.898MM in 2016/17. His option would have been worth about $3.028MM, but after a solid year in San Antonio, the USC product should be in line for a larger payday, perhaps with multiyear security.
Dedmon appeared in a career-high 76 games for the Spurs in his first – and possibly only – season with the franchise. He also established new career bests in PPG (5.1), RPG (6.5), and FG% (.622), emerging as a key piece in the club’s frontcourt rotation.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Dedmon could sign a new deal with the Spurs, but San Antonio will likely have a few other contract situations to address this summer that may take priority. Additionally, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team opt for a cheaper replacement — in recent years, San Antonio has let bigs like Aron Baynes and Boban Marjanovic sign elsewhere, replacing them with players on more modest deals.
Before he signed with the Spurs last July, Dedmon was linked to the Warriors, and Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News wonders (via Twitter) if Golden State could circle back to the veteran center this summer. If the Dubs stay over the cap to re-sign their own free agents, they’d have the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available to pursue outside help.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
2017 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest Series
As we approach the 2017 NBA draft and free agent period, Hoops Rumors has been examining each team’s cap situation, breaking down the guaranteed salaries, non-guaranteed salaries, options, free agents, and cap holds on the books for each of the league’s teams.
We’re also previewing each club’s offseason in more depth, but these salary cap digests provide a bare-bones look at where teams are at with their spending, how much cap room they figure to have this summer, and which players may not be safe, given their contract situations.
You can find the link to your favorite team’s offseason salary cap digest below. If we haven’t covered your team yet, we’ll be doing so soon. You can find this post anytime on our right-hand sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.”
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
Wizards Notes: Free Agency, Workouts, Beal, Brooks
As John Wall has suggested, fortifying the bench will be a priority for the Wizards this offseason, so J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com has examined the upcoming free agent market in an effort to identify some potential fits for Washington. Assuming they remain over the cap, which is a near certainty, the Wizards will have the mid-level, bi-annual, and minimum salary exceptions available to sign players, giving them a little flexibility.
In three separate pieces, Michael lists some potential point guard backups for Wall, a few possible backups for Beal at the two, and several veteran forwards who could be targets. While some of the players on Michael’s lists, such as J.J. Redick and Patty Mills, may end up being out of Washington’s price range, there are a handful of intriguing names noted, including Darren Collison, Kyle Korver, and Patrick Patterson.
Here’s more on the Wizards:
- The Wizards are bringing in six prospects for a pre-draft workout on Tuesday, the team announced in a press release. Jamel Artis (Pittsburgh), James Blackmon Jr. (Indiana), Daniel Dixon (William & Mary), D.J. Fenner (Nevada), Monte Morris (Iowa State), and Melo Trimble (Maryland) will get a closer look from the club.
- When the Wizards signed Bradley Beal to a maximum-salary, five-year contract last summer, there was skepticism among NBA observers that it was the right call. However, as Chase Hughes of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes, Beal showed in the first year of the deal that he’s capable of living up to it and making good on Washington’s $127MM+ investment.
- New head coach Scott Brooks turned out to be another solid investment for the Wizards, Hughes details in a separate piece for CSNMidAtlantic.com. “I think as a team we respect him,” Beal said of Brooks. “On the outside of coaching, he’s a really down-to-earth guy. He has a relationship with everyone on the team. I think everybody loves that. He holds everybody accountable. Me, I loved him. He granted everybody confidence and freedom on both ends of the floor, especially offense.”
Atlantic Notes: Hayward, Ilyasova, Lowry, Sixers
Gordon Hayward‘s outside shooting and overall offensive skills would blend well with Isaiah Thomas‘ game if the Jazz forward chooses the Celtics in free agency, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald opines. The fact that the Celtics protected their salary-cap space in order to make a run at a top free agent indicates that Hayward would at least take a close look at Boston and a potential reunion with his college coach Brad Stevens, Bulpett continues. If Hayward signs a three-year deal with the Celtics that includes an opt-out clause, he could sign for the 10-year veteran’s maximum in 2020, Bulpett notes. The Celtics could alternatively put together a big package to trade with the Pacers for Paul George if George is willing to stay in Boston after he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, Bulpett adds.
In other news around the Atlantic Division:
- It’s unlikely that the Sixers will make a run at veteran power forward Ersan Ilyasova in free agency, according to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com. While Ilyasova lifted their offense and aided in Dario Saric‘s development before he was traded to the Hawks this season, the Sixers want to maintain flexibility with their frontcourt group. Ilyasova will be seeking a multi-year commitment and security after being traded around the league in recent years, Camerato adds.
- Free agent point guard Kyle Lowry could wind up with the Clippers if the Raptors don’t re-sign him and Chris Paul heads elsewhere in free agency, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun opines. Lowry could also be a fit with the Spurs if Paul declines to play there, Simmons continues. On a separate note, Toronto could wind up signing a veteran shooting guard such as Kyle Korver or Vince Carter because of their ability to make 3-pointers, Simmons adds.
- Forbes magazine estimates the value of the Sixers’ franchise has jumped to $800MM, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. That’s an increase of over $500MM than the purchase price for the franchise in 2011, Pompey notes. The team’s value could continue to rise if Ben Simmons becomes a star player, according to the magazine.