Thunder Notes: Durant, Kanter, Alkins
The Thunder are unlikely to add another star via free agency, Jon Hamm of Daily Thunder explains. High-priced extensions for Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams will kick in this summer and the duo will go from making a combined $9,693,477 this year to earning a combined $43,471,911 next season.
The team will have approximately $110MM in guaranteed salary on the book next season, as our Cap Digest page indicates. With the salary cap expected to come in around $101MM, it appears Oklahoma City will have to use the trade market if it intends to add a major piece.
Here’s more from Oklahoma City:
- Kendrick Perkins, who played with both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant for four-plus seasons, said the two All-Stars are “back on talking terms.” He believes there’s a chance that Durant will head back to OKC at some point in the future, as ESPN.com relays. “I wouldn’t be surprised — if KD makes a little run, I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes back to Oklahoma,” Perkins said. “Because in my opinion, I don’t think Russ is going anywhere. He’s that type of guy. He just wants to stick it out, and he just wants you to give him those pieces and he just wants to roll with it. He’s not going and trying to run and chase [titles]. And one thing about it, he’s not begging nobody to come play with him.”
- Erik Horne of The Oklahoman wonders if the Thunder will trade Enes Kanter this summer. The center didn’t have a strong defensive performance in the postseason and Horne notes that during the team’s playoff series against the Rockets, coach Billy Donovan appeared to say “Can’t play Kanter” to assistant coach Maurice Cheeks. Kanter only played a total of 45 minutes during OKC’s five playoff games.
- Arizona’s Rawle Alkins worked out for the Thunder last weekend, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog tweets. Jonathan Givony of Draft Express has Alkins as the 78th-best prospect in the upcoming draft.
Nets Notes: Booker, Dudley, Johnson
Trevor Booker learned early in his career that he didn’t need to be a star to make it in the league. During his rookie year on the Wizards, he realized that he needed to find his niche.
“That’s actually been my approach ever since I came into the league,” Booker said (via Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype). “Coming into Washington, we had John Wall, who had been the No. 1 overall pick. He’s doing great right now, by the way. They were focused on him. You could see that their main focus was on John Wall, which was fine. I understood it. I had to learn then that it wasn’t about me. I wasn’t in college anymore. I realized that I needed to find my niche. I had to earn every minute and whoever I was playing against, whether it was in a game or in a practice, I had to [work hard]. I knew I had to do that to stay in this league.”
Booker found his niche as a locker room leader and when the Nets signed him last offseason, they expected him to be a veteran mentor to his young teammates. He proved to be a valuable addition and he’s enjoying his role in Brooklyn.
“I just try to tell them what I’ve been through and how I’ve stuck around in the league for seven years. I just let them know that you don’t have to be a superstar; you don’t have to go out there and score 30 points a night to make your name known and stick around in the league. You have to find your niche, work at it and do [your job] well. You don’t have to go out there and be a hero. I try to show them, as an example, look at me. I’ve averaged probably 6 points over my career and I’m going into my eighth year and still going strong. That’s the type of the thing that I’d try to instill in them,” Booker added.
Here’s more from Brooklyn:
- Booker believes both GM Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson have done excellent jobs in year one of their tenures, as he tells Kennedy in the same piece. “[Marks] definitely gets it, and he’s an intelligent guy. I think he did a pretty good job this year of trying to change the culture…Then, with Coach Atkinson, he does a great job of developing players. Just watching him throughout the season, he’d be on the court working with players and showing them different things. And that’s the kind of thing that players need, especially young players,” Booker said.
- The Nets were interested in signing Marvin Williams and Jared Dudley last offseason in part because of their respective reputations as excellent locker room leaders, Charles Maniego of SB Nation notes. Both players signed elsewhere and Brooklyn decided to add Randy Foye and Booker to mentor the young roster. Maniego also relays that adding high character players will again be a priority for the franchise this offseason.
- Amir Johnson could be an option for the Nets in free agency, Maniego opines in the same piece. The power forward was named “Teammate of the Year” by the Celtics last season.
Five Key Offseason Questions: Atlanta Hawks
It was an up-and-down season for the Hawks, who kicked off the post-Al Horford era last fall by winning nine of their first 11 games, then losing 10 of their next 11. The team went through several more swings throughout the season, including dropping seven straight games in March while battling for playoff position, and ultimately fell to the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs.
There were some positive signs worth taking away from the 2016/17 campaign, including the development of Dennis Schroder, who improved many of his per-minute averages and his field goal percentage while taking on a significantly larger role. However, Kent Bazemore failed to make similar strides after inking a lucrative four-year deal, and notable free agent addition Dwight Howard grew frustrated with his role down the stretch.
Here are five questions facing the Hawks as they enter the offseason…
1. Which direction are the Hawks headed?
Back in January, Atlanta sent Kyle Korver to the Cavaliers for a future first-round pick and appeared ready to continue to trade players in contract years, including Paul Millsap. However, just days after moving Korver, the Hawks pulled Millsap off the trade market, telling him he wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Korver, a free-agent-to-be in his mid-30s, wasn’t a core piece for the Hawks, but he was still the sort of player who could have helped the team in a playoff series. As such, it was odd that Atlanta would deal him for a future piece and then decide to take a win-now approach anyway.
Coming off a two-year stretch in which its regular-season win total has dipped from 60 to 48 to 43, the franchise will have to be more decisive in determining which direction it wants to go this summer. Is this still a win-now roster, or is it time to take a step back and retool? Front office changes may help in that regard, as there were reports that GM Wes Wilcox and president Mike Budenholzer didn’t see eye-to-eye on the Hawks’ direction. They’ve both been re-assigned and won’t have as much say in personnel decisions, which raises a new question…
Community Shootaround: Kyle Lowry And The Sixers
Kyle Lowry didn’t officially announce until this week that he would be turning down his 2017/18 player option in order to sign a new, longer-term – and more lucrative – contract. However, the decision had long been expected, and much of the speculation on Lowry’s potential destination in recent months has centered on the idea of a homecoming.
While the Raptors, who can offer more years and more dollars than any other suitor, are still considered the favorites to sign Lowry this summer, the Sixers will have plenty of cap room at their disposal and don’t necessarily have a long-term solution at point guard. Throw in the fact that Lowry is a Philadelphia native, and that the Sixers are being run by former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, and it’s easy to connect the dots.
Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer made the case today for a union between the Sixers and Lowry, and Pompey’s report isn’t based entirely on speculation. The Inquirer reporter cited sources who have suggested that Lowry has been interested in playing for his hometown team “for some time.” Similarly, sources “have always said” that the Sixers intend to make Lowry a competitive contract offer this summer, according to Pompey.
While there’s a compelling case in favor of the Sixers seriously pursuing Lowry, there’s also plenty of reason to believe it won’t happen. Besides the fact that the Raptors head into free agency with the upper hand in negotiations, the Sixers and Lowry may not be looking for the same things this offseason, as Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Daily News argued this week.
While the Sixers haven’t found a long-term solution at point guard, they may have one on the roster already, as the team has announced its intentions to try No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons at that position this summer and fall. If Simmons can handle running the point and is better suited to that spot than a forward role, it may not make sense to bring in Lowry on a long-term deal.
Meanwhile, from Lowry’s perspective, the Sixers may be a little further from contention than he’d like. The All-Star point guard would certainly help Philadelphia become a legit playoff contender, particularly if Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Dario Saric are all healthy next season. But Lowry said in his exit interview this week that getting a championship ring is his top priority — Philadelphia still looks multiple years away from developing into a team of that caliber.
What do you think? If the Raptors and Lowry can’t work something out, would Philadelphia make sense as a landing spot, or is the fit not quite right? If not the Raptors or the Sixers, which team do you think signs Lowry this summer?
Jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts!
Rookie Scale Salaries For 2017 First-Round Picks
The 2017 NBA draft is about a month and a half away, and once teams make those picks, they’ll have to account for how to fit their newly-drafted rookies into their salary cap for next season. Even before teams officially sign their first-round picks, those players will count against their cap, eating into the cap room available this summer.
In every NBA league year, rookie scale amounts are assigned to each first-round slot, from No. 1 through No. 30. Teams can sign their first-rounders to as little as 80% of that rookie scale amount, or up to 120% of that figure. While that rule affords teams some flexibility, first-rounders virtually always sign contracts worth 120% of their rookie scale amount.
Under the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, cap holds for first-round picks counted for 100% of their rookie scale amount, so teams would often wait a little longer to officially sign their rookies to contracts in order to maximize their available cap room. However, because 120% contracts are the norm, the new CBA increases those cap holds for first-round picks to 120%, slightly reducing teams’ cap flexibility.
For instance, in 2017/18, the rookie scale amount for the No. 1 overall pick is $5,855,200. Under the previous CBA, that figure would have represented the player’s cap hold. Under the new CBA, the cap hold for the No. 1 pick will be $7,026,240 — 120% of the rookie scale amount, and his probable salary.
With the value of rookie contracts set to increase by 45% within the next three years, salaries are on the rise for 2017 draftees. In 2016, 120% of the rookie scale amount for the top pick worked out to about $5.9MM in year one, with raises up to $8.11MM by year four. For 2017’s No. 1 overall pick, year one will be worth $7.03MM, and year four will get all the way up to $12.29MM.
Listed below are the rookie scale amounts for 2017 draftees. Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options on the third and fourth years.
Rookie scale amounts (100%):
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Probable salaries for 2017 first-rounders (120% of rookie scale):
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Pistons Notes: Redick, Kennard, S. Johnson
The Pistons have indicated since the regular season ended that adding outside shooting to their roster will be a priority this offseason. However, while a veteran sharpshooter like J.J. Redick – who is a free agent and played for Stan Van Gundy in Orlando – looks like an ideal fit on the surface, Detroit’s cap situation will make it difficult to pursue a player of that caliber, writes Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press.
As Ellis explains, the Pistons will be well over the cap if they retain Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and would only have the mid-level, bi-annual, and minimum salary exceptions at their disposal to add free agents in that scenario. The bi-annual and minimum exceptions are too modest to add an impact player, and even the MLE – which is expected to rise in value to about $8.4MM – likely wouldn’t be enough to land someone like Redick. That means Detroit may have to get creative in trades or target under-the-radar free agents in order to acquire the shooting help they need.
Ellis’ entire piece, which touches on a handful of Pistons-related offseason topics, is worth checking out. Here are a few more items out of Detroit:
- One shooter who may be attainable for the Pistons is Duke’s Luke Kennard, who is a candidate to be selected in the lottery by Detroit or another club. Brendan Savage of MLive.com examines Kennard’s potential fit with the Pistons.
- After a solid rookie year, former eighth overall pick Stanley Johnson took a step backward in 2016/17. While Johnson’s development remains a work in progress, he wasn’t discouraged by his underwhelming sophomore season, and the Pistons remain hopeful that he can blossom into a key piece for the team, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
- In a separate piece for The Detroit News, Beard previews this week’s draft combine from the Pistons’ perspective and passes along a few quotes on the subject from Van Gundy.
Draft Notes: Swanigan, Combine, Knicks, Allen
There are 14 players attending the NBA draft combine this week despite not having signed with an agent, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com details. Getting feedback from NBA teams over the next few days will give those players a good idea of whether they should go pro or return to school for at least one more year — they’ll have until May 24, 10 days after the end of the combine, to make that decision.
Goodman spoke to several NBA executives about those 14 players to get an early idea of whether or not it makes sense for them to keep their names in the draft pool. For the most part, those execs felt that the early entrants could use another year of college seasoning, but they believe Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan is ready to go pro, and were split on SMU’s Semi Ojeleye.
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
- The Knicks will have several members of their front office, including GM Steve Mills, in attendance at the combine in Chicago this week, though many of the top prospects on their board won’t be there, says Ian Begley of ESPN.com. According to Begley, outside of consensus top prospects like Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Jackson, the Knicks’ front office has also become fond of guards Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox, and Frank Ntilikina.
- As Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders explains, the NBA draft combine generally provides a pretty good picture of which players will come off the board on draft day, despite the fact that some top prospects skip the event. A year ago, 70 prospects participated in the combine and 42 of them were selected in June. Within his piece, Kyler also examines a number of potential misconceptions about the draft.
- Chris Haynes of ESPN.com spoke to Texas center Jarrett Allen, who entered the draft after his freshman year, about his decision to leave school, what separates from from other bigs in this year’s draft class, and whether he’s NBA-ready. Allen is expected to be a first-round pick.
2017 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Toronto Raptors
Having acquired Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker at the trade deadline, the Raptors looked well-equipped to make a run in the Eastern Conference playoffs and perhaps even challenge the Cavaliers, a year after falling to Cleveland in the Eastern Finals. However, the Raps got all they could handle from the Bucks in the first round, then were thoroughly dominated by the Cavs in a second-round sweep. With a handful of key players – including Ibaka, Tucker, and All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry – eligible for free agency, a “culture reset” may be on tap for the franchise.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Raptors financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2017:
Guaranteed Salary
- DeMar DeRozan ($27,739,975)
- Jonas Valanciunas ($15,460,675)
- DeMarre Carroll ($14,800,000)
- Cory Joseph ($7,630,000)
- Lucas Nogueira ($2,947,305)
- Jakob Poeltl ($2,825,640)
- Bruno Caboclo ($2,451,225)
- Delon Wright ($1,645,200)
- Pascal Siakam ($1,312,611)
- Total: $76,812,631
Player Options
- Kyle Lowry ($12,000,000)
- Total: $12,000,000
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Norman Powell ($1,471,382)1
- Fred VanVleet ($1,312,611)2
- Total: $2,783,993
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Cap Holds
- Serge Ibaka ($18,375,000)
- Kyle Lowry ($18,000,000) — If player option is declined
- Patrick Patterson ($11,495,000)
- P.J. Tucker ($10,070,000)
- No. 23 overall pick ($1,645,200)
- Total: $59,585,200
Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000
Maximum Cap Room: $20,910,939
- With nine players on guaranteed salaries and a cap hold for a first-round pick, the Raptors could add two cap charges for empty roster spots for a total team salary of $80,089,061. However, that scenario would involve waiving Powell and VanVleet, not to mention renouncing Lowry, Ibaka, Patterson, and Tucker. That’s not realistic. It’s far more likely that Toronto stays over the cap and makes an effort to re-sign some of its own free agents, forgoing potential cap room.
Footnotes:
- Powell’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after June 29.
- VanVleet’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 20.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Scola, Gay, India, Bird, Combine
Luis Scola‘s first and only season in Brooklyn came to an early end in February when the Nets waived him shortly after the trade deadline. At the time, it seemed like the lottery-bound Nets were giving the veteran big man a chance to catch on with another team on the buyout market, but Scola has remained unsigned since then, and admitted last month that his NBA career could be over.
Speaking this week about his future, Scola suggested that he doesn’t want to retire, but admitted he doesn’t have a ton left in the tank. According to the 37-year-old, he’s not overly eager to sign with a team in Argentina, and if he were to head to Europe, it’d be “tough” for him to play for a team besides Baskonia in Spain (link via Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). Baskonia employed several other former Nets this past season, including Chase Budinger, Andrea Bargnani, Tornike Shengelia, and Shane Larkin.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders suggests that the Celtics, Thunder, and Clippers could be logical landing spots for Rudy Gay, who will opt out of his contract with the Kings this summer.
- Looking to expand its international reach, the NBA opened a new basketball academy in India on Tuesday, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com details. The academy will train top male and female scholarship players from the country, and NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum tells Youngmisuk that he feels like India could be “the next China” for the NBA. “There are some elite prospects here who we think have an opportunity,” Tatum said of India. “One of the reasons why it is so important is that we are going to give them exposure to world-class NBA-type coaching and training and development to make sure they are given the opportunity to reach their full potential.”
- In the wake of the resignation from his role as the Pacers‘ president of basketball operations, is Larry Bird done in the NBA? Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com takes a look at what’s next for the Hall-of-Famer and longtime executive.
- With this year’s NBA draft combine getting underway in Chicago, Adam Zagoria of FanRagSports.com identifies five key combine-related storylines to watch in the next few days.
Pacific Notes: Redick, Hield, Lakers, Clippers
J.J. Redick has been a prolific scorer during his four-year stint with the Clippers, being a key cog in the team’s journey to four straight playoff appearances. However, with the sharpshooter set to hit unrestricted free agency this offseason, it may be time to move on,
Redick enjoyed another strong season in Los Angeles, averaging 15.0 PPG while still shooting an astounding .429 percent from beyond the arc. But there have noticeable differences in Redick’s output, especially during the postseason. As Blancarte points out, issues creating space have caused Redick to take lower percentage shots — his three-point shooting percentage has fallen each postseason since 2013 and this year, he attempted just 3.7 treys during the Clippers’ seven-game series against the Jazz.
Also, despite being an above average defender, Blancarte writes that “Joe Johnson, Rodney Hood and Gordon Hayward were simply too big and too skilled for Redick to handle defensively.” Redick will be 33 when he inks a new deal and there has been speculation of him joining the Knicks, potentially in a sign-and-trade scenario involving Carmelo Anthony, Marc Berman of the New York Post previously detailed. With four years and four early exits in the playoffs with the Clippers current core, it could be time for all parties to move on.
Here is some more news coming out of the Atlantic division:
- The Hawks recently readjusted Mike Budenholzer’s role, taking him out of the team president position so he can focus solely on coaching. SB Nation’s Tom Ziller believes the Clippers should do the same with Doc Rivers. While Rivers is a well-regarded coach, the Clippers are at a crossroads following another early playoff exit and Ziller believes GM Rivers is not as effective as coach Rivers — especially given the team’s aforementioned core not yielding championship results.
- Buddy Hield experienced a rejuvenation after he was sent from the Pelicans to the Kings in the DeMarcus Cousins trade several months ago. As Benedict Tagle of NBA.com writes, Hield increased his production from 8.6 PPG and 2.9 RPG to 15.1 PPG and 4.1 RPG per game in Sacramento. The sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft now understands how he can make additional strides.“I need a lot of things, this summer is great for me because next year it will show how big of a jump I can make,” Hield told NBC Sports California. “After that, we build off of that. Just keep building. I’m never going to take a step back.”
- In a lengthy piece, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus examines how a Lakers team that has completely restructured its front office plans to tackle this offseason and beyond. The team will divide its focus into four tiers of scouting: College, international, NBA and the NBA Development League.“We don’t have to really change the way we have done the draft,” an anonymous source said to Pincus in regards to the team’s strategy. “In terms of everything else, I feel we have areas to improve, especially in free-agent acquisitions…we just have to be precise and efficient in every area.”