Griffin Injures Toe, Out For Playoffs
9:30am: The Clippers have announced that Griffin will miss the remainder of the postseason with an injury to the plantar plate of his right big toe. Marc J. Spears of ESPN relayed the press release over Twitter.
8:24am: The Clippers avoided a worst case scenario when it was revealed that Blake Griffin‘s toe was bruised and not broken but battling through to a championship without their forward at full strength is unrealistic, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times writes.
A silver lining for the franchise is that it was quickly discovered through initial X-rays that the 28-year-old’s right big toe was bruised and not broken. Clippers courtside reporter Kristina Pink tweeted as much during the game.
Per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Griffin was scheduled to undergo an MRI following the game on Friday night.
Both head coach Doc Rivers and point guard Chris Paul understand the impact that the toe issue could have on their postseason fates.
“We won’t be able to play through the post so much,” Paul said. “Blake is such a dynamic player. We go to him in the post, and we cut and move off of him. He’s our other assist guy. There’s just a different feeling when he’s on the court.”
The news conjures images of last year’s first-round series against the Trail Blazers when both Griffin and Paul went down with injuries.
Expect the Clippers to build upon the 2-1 lead they eked out with Griffin sidelined, Hernandez writes, but unless some good news comes through the pipeline soon, that may be all they get.
According to Turner, Rivers expects that news to come Saturday with Griffin’s Game 4 status still questionable in the meantime.
And-Ones: DVP Exception, Stern, BWB
It hasn’t been decided if the All-NBA teams will be announced during the league’s first ever award show on June 26 but regardless of when the teams are revealed they’ll have an impact on two pending free agents, John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
Neither Blake Griffin nor Gordon Hayward will win the MVP of Defensive Player of the Year award, Smallwood writes, but the two will be in contention to land a spot among the three year-end teams. This year, that’s more important than ever.
Thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, players whose portfolios boast particular impressive accolades will be eligible for more money in the form of the Designated Veteran Exception.
Another player that will be impacted by the new exception is Stephen Curry but since the MVP clause covers anybody who won that award in the previous three seasons, his is already locked in.
It’s unclear how exactly the formal announcements will unfold but even without the drama of a formal award show, this year’s revelations will be more dramatic than any we’ve seen previously.
There’s more from around the league:
- Though he’s no longer the commissioner of the NBA, David Stern is still very much involved with the league and the sport of basketball, Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press writes. The article discusses some of the 74-year-old’s latest endeavors.
- For the first time ever, Basketball Without Borders is setting up camp in Israel, E. Carchia of Sportando writes. BWB has reached 134 countries and territories since 2001.
- The NBDL Player of the Year is former Cavaliers training camp invitee John Holland, the Cleveland D-League affiliate announced in an official press release. The guard averaged 22.9 points per game for the Canton Charge.
Thunder Notes: Westbrook, Kanter, MVP
After an historic regular season, Russell Westbrook‘s magic hasn’t been quite enough to lead the Thunder to success against the Rockets but that doesn’t mean Billy Donovan‘s confidence in the star guard is wavering, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN details.
“I have an enormous amount of trust and confidence after being with Russell this season for 82 games and seeing the ways he’s closed out games and different things that he’s done,” the Thunder bench boss said.
Westbrook put up 14 missed shots in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s Wednesday night loss, the highest recorded in the past 20 years, but his track record of success in the clutch is otherwise impressive.
Per Shelburne:
In the regular season, Westbrook’s 82 made field goals in clutch time (the last five minutes of a game, with the score within 5) were 18 more than any other player.
There’s more from the Thunder:
- Though his defensive inefficiencies come to light when James Harden is on the court, the answer may not be as simple as trotting Enes Kanter out there when he’s on the bench, Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman writes. When Kanter is on the court and Harden is sitting, the Rockets have outscored the Thunder 48-31.
- The NBA has fined Russell Westbrook $15K for using inappropriate language in a press conference, the league reports in a press release.
- Though it’s one of the most heated MVP races in recent memory, four of five Hoops Rumors staffers selected Russell Westbrook as this year’s winner. “James Harden’s season was special, but Westbrook’s was historic,” Arthur Hill said.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Raptors, Marks
As the top-seeded Celtics struggle against a Bulls team that nearly didn’t make the playoffs, all eyes are on general manager Danny Ainge who, to the chagrin of many, elected not to make any moves at the trade deadline, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post writes.
There were a number of moves that the Celtics could have made, Bontemps says, without necessarily making a major splash involving a superstar or giving up one of their coveted Nets draft picks. Serge Ibaka and Taj Gibson are two quality rebounding forwards who were obviously available that day. Lou Williams is another.
Alas, without the acquisition of a solid rebounder or an additional bench scorer, the Celtics are down two games to none against Chicago. Earlier this week, Ainge himself spoke with CSN New England saying that critcism of their decision to stand pat was “fair”.
Regardless, it won’t be long before the rest of the series unfolds and we find out whether sitting tight was the right call or not.
There’s more from the Atlantic:
- While the Raptors have faced adversity and prevailed in the past, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes that change could be in the air regardless of how they make out over the rest of their first-round matchup. Additionally, Josh Lewenberg of TSN echoes the sentiment, tweeting that players and coaches are fighting to keep their jobs.
- A team of writers at ESPN (Insider required) took a deep dive into the Knicks‘ upcoming offseason, discussing a number of issues like Phil Jackson‘s extension and whether or not Carmelo Anthony will finally be traded.
- The Nets will need to approach their rebuild strategically, says general manager Sean Marks. Nets Daily broke down what the executive has said about his vision for the future thus far. “The objective for us is to be in the playoffs. When that comes, we’ll see,” Marks said. “You don’t want to go and sign free agents and then the next thing you know your payroll is capped out and you’re a 25-win team. We’re going to have to build this strategically, have patience with it.”
Central Notes: Rondo, Bulls, George
We learned earlier today that Bulls guard Rajon Rondo will miss the remainder of the first round and perhaps some of the next with a fractured thumb. That bad news complicates how the pending free agent’s summer might unfold, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Though Rondo is signed through next year for $14MM, the Bulls can part ways with him should they choose to do so by June 30. Half-way through Chicago’s dysfunctional regular season, such a split seemed inevitable. These days, up two games to zero on the No. 1 seed Celtics, that’s not the case.
A strong finish to the regular season, coupled with his impact on the Bulls’ surprising first-round wins over Boston this week, have bumped the oft-maligned veteran’s value to its highest point in seasons.
Of course retaining Rondo would almost certainly delay Chicago’s supposedly inevitable rebuild, Deveney points out. Then again a team capable of threatening the top seed in their conference may not need to shake things up as badly as initially thought.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Don’t underestimate the impact that Bobby Portis, Paul Zipser and Nikola Mirotic have had on their first-round series against Boston, Sam Smith of Chicago’s official team site writes. The Bulls big men have helped their team hop out to an unexpected two-game lead on the No. 1-seeded Celtics.
- After being questioned for comments he made about his Pacers teammates, Paul George has come out and defended himself, Clifton Brown of the Indianapolis Star writes. “Everybody knows how close I am with my teammates,” the All-Star said. “For [the media] to say I’m a selfish teammate, or I don’t think about my teammates, or I’m throwing my teammates under the bus? I didn’t say anything bad about my teammates, other than what I think my teammates can do down the stretch in order to help this team win.“
- Though his Cavaliers are up three games against the Pacers (two at the time), LeBron James speaks highly of Paul George, Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. “Paul George is one of those type of players that you have to just have your eyes on him every single possession because he’s capable of hurting you,” James said prior to Game 3.
- The way that the Bucks have been playing in their first-round matchup against the Raptors has served as a glimpse into the future, Genaro Armas of the Associated Press writes. While the emergence of Giannis Antetokounmpo is nothing new, it’s the first time they’ve been on full display on the national stage.
NBA 2016/17 Dead Money By Team
An NBA club’s team salary can generally be divided up into two parts — the salaries and bonuses that teams are paying to the players currently on their roster, and “dead money,” which represents cap hits for players no longer on the team.
Dead money can take a number of forms. It can represent the cap hit or buyout total for a player who was waived earlier in the season; it can be a cap hit for a player who was waived in a previous year, perhaps via the stretch provision; it can even be the cap hit for a 10-day contract that has expired.
It’s virtually impossible to avoid carrying at least a little dead money on your books, but a couple teams nearly did it in 2016/17 — the Jazz and Raptors each finished the regular season with less than $300K in dead money on their respective caps. Conversely, the Sixers led the way with more than $23MM in dead money on their books for this season.
A large or small amount of dead money on a team’s cap doesn’t necessarily signal good or bad cap management, but it can reflect a club’s cap situation. For instance, the Trail Blazers didn’t carry much dead money on their cap this season, but that’s because they couldn’t afford to — Portland finished the year less than $5K away from the tax line, so waiving anyone and adding to that dead money total could have created problems.
The Sixers, on the other hand, finished the season with plenty of cap room despite carrying more than $23MM in dead money. They were so far below the cap to start the year that they could afford to eat some salary and waive veterans like Andrew Bogut ($10.5MM+) and Carl Landry ($6.5MM) in order to add young players, without it hurting their bottom line.
While correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, it’s worth noting that only one of this year’s playoff teams (Indiana) was in the top 12 in the NBA in terms of dead money. Of the 18 teams that carried the least dead money, 15 made the postseason.
Listed below are the dead money figures on NBA teams’ caps in 2016/17. For more details on how these salaries break down, be sure to check out our Salary Cap Snapshots for ’16/17.
Most 2016/17 dead money by NBA team:
- Philadelphia 76ers: $23,486,925
- Brooklyn Nets: $17,986,178
- Phoenix Suns: $12,533,729
- Dallas Mavericks: $11,497,934
- Minnesota Timberwolves: $10,111,402
- Los Angeles Lakers: $8,564,524
- Indiana Pacers: $8,387,667
- Sacramento Kings: $7,807,829
- New Orleans Pelicans: $6,697,399
- New York Knicks: $6,017,749
- Detroit Pistons: $5,398,678
- Miami Heat: $5,296,896
- Oklahoma City Thunder: $4,358,585
- Denver Nuggets: $4,165,795
- San Antonio Spurs: $3,505,381
- Houston Rockets: $3,430,160
- Milwaukee Bucks: $3,128,117
- Atlanta Hawks: $2,634,954
- Memphis Grizzlies: $2,614,263
- Golden State Warriors: $2,473,745
- Portland Trail Blazers: $1,984,005
- Charlotte Hornets: $1,837,499
- Orlando Magic: $1,701,127
- Washington Wizards: $1,551,805
- Boston Celtics: $1,550,240
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $1,458,181
- Los Angeles Clippers: $1,412,964
- Chicago Bulls: $494,500
- Utah Jazz: $275,000
- Toronto Raptors: $206,500
Note: These figures are not official, but are based on reliable salary data from The Vertical and Basketball Insiders, as well as our own data.
Kings Hire Scott Perry As Executive VP
2:51pm: The Kings have made it official, formally announcing Perry’s hiring in a press release.
“I’m thrilled that Scott will be joining our front office team,” Divac said in a statement. “His extensive experience in the league and management talents will help build on our progress are we work to develop a winning franchise.”
2:40pm: Just over a week after he was dismissed from the Magic front office along with Rob Hennigan, former Orlando assistant GM Scott Perry has found a new job. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter links), the Kings are hiring Perry as their executive VP of basketball operations and intend to have him work closely with Vlade Divac.
Perry, a seasoned NBA executive who has strong relationships throughout the league, is expected to execute many of the general manager duties in his new role with the Kings, though Divac will still have the final say on basketball decisions, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter).
Shortly after word broke last Thursday that the Magic had fired Hennigan and Perry, multiple national reporters expressed surprise that Orlando would let Perry get away, since he and Hennigan had different voices in the front office. According to multiple reports, Perry wanted to make a trade with the Kings that would have landed DeMarcus Cousins in Orlando, but Hennigan wasn’t on board with the proposed deal — Perry will now join the other team involved in those Cousins talks, though the All-Star center is obviously no longer in Sacramento.
Perry began his career as an NBA executive back in 2000 when he was hired by the Pistons to work under GM Joe Dumars. Perry won a title with the club and later worked for the SuperSonics under Sam Presti before returning to the Pistons and eventually joining Hennigan’s front office in Orlando.
Perry will add a veteran voice to a decision-making process that has been headed by Divac and controlling owner Vivek Ranadive, two men without extensive NBA front office experience on their respective résumés.
2017 NBA Award Picks: Most Valuable Player
With the 2016/17 NBA regular season in the books, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards. The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our selections below, but we also want to know which players, coaches, and executives you think are most deserving of the hardware this season, so jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts.
We’re wrapping things up today with the award for Most Valuable Player. Here are our picks:
Arthur Hill: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
This has a chance to be one of the closest MVP votes ever. Westbrook and James Harden both turned in extraordinary seasons, and either could be a runaway winner in a normal year. The case for Harden is that the Rockets won more games than the Thunder (55 to 47) and Harden was more efficient. He led the league with 11.2 assists per game while averaging 29.1 points. His True Shooting numbers were better than Westbrook’s and he put up his numbers in fewer possessions. However, by averaging a triple double, Westbrook did something that hasn’t been accomplished in 55 seasons. He also displayed his value in the offseason, agreeing to an extension when it looked like the Thunder might crumble after losing Kevin Durant. Harden’s season was special, but Westbrook’s was historic. He’s the real MVP.
Austin Kent: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
I wasn’t entirely convinced that I would tip my hat in Westbrook’s direction until the final weeks of the season. At the end of the day however, there were three things that, together, made giving the award to anybody else troublesome. Had Westbrook only averaged a triple-double, I would have easily been able to justify giving the award to Harden, but he did so while also leading the league in scoring and minimizing the win differential between the two teams to just eight games.
The Rockets were a better team this season and Harden has been a certifiably MVP-worthy candidate, but Westbrook obliterating league history is more deserving of recognition. Even if Westbrook has a tendency to chase stats, is fortunate enough to play with big men who aren’t afraid to defer rebounds, and still barely topped a record set by somebody who didn’t even know he was setting a record in the first place, what he did is among the most impressive things our generation will ever see on a basketball court. Seriously, with the exception of a hypothetically stat-crazed Miami Heat-era LeBron James, I can’t think of a single player in the last 20 years who could pull off Westbrook’s accomplishment even if they were, like Westbrook, hellbent on doing exactly that.
We had a handful of players who made valid cases for the MVP award this year — that part isn’t up for debate. I’ve just decided to give the nod to the one who managed to make his case while simultaneously pulling off a feat that five years ago was virtually unimaginable.
Chris Crouse: Kawhi Leonard (Spurs)
Picking an MVP this year means splitting hairs. All are deserving, though only one can get the top vote. LeBron is the best player in the world, but his defense slipped this season and his numbers weren’t as impressive as some of the other candidates. Harden nearly averaged a triple-double, but he was overshadowed by Westbrook, who accomplished the feat.
Westbrook put up unbelievable stats, though it begs the question: is one star more valuable than another because of opportunity? His historic usage percentage (41.7%) allowed him to put up historic numbers. Westbrook took nearly 2,000 shots this year. Harden took 1,533, while James and Leonard put up roughly 1,300 apiece. Westbrook basically did what Drew Brees has been doing in the NFL over the last several seasons: achieve major statistical milestones as a result of opportunity without elevating his team to greatness. Brees hasn’t won the MVP award because voters realize it’s a passing league, and with the NBA trending toward high-pace-and-space style offenses, I think we’ll find that tremendous stats will become the new normal in this league.
Leonard didn’t put up gaudy stat lines as frequently as the other candidates, but he didn’t cost his team as many possessions either. Leonard had only 154 turnovers on the season. Westbrook gave the ball to the other team 438 times. Harden did it a league-worst 464 times. LBJ had 303 turnovers himself. And it’s not like Leonard had the ball that much less than some of the other candidates (Leonard had a 31.1 usage percentage, while Harden had 34.2 and James had 30.0). Having also factored in Leonard’s efficiency, Win Shares (he’s second in the league in WS per 48 minutes behind only Kevin Durant) and suffocating defense, I have to go with the San Antonio star in this extremely tight race for MVP.
Dana Gauruder: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
I can’t fault anyone who favors Harden. He also had a spectacular season after changing his role. What Westbrook did – averaging a triple-double – is mind-boggling in an era where star players routinely take nights off. The Thunder needed him to dominate virtually every night to make the playoffs and he delivered.
Luke Adams: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
A common argument in the case for Harden over Westbrook is the fact that the Rockets exceeded their expectations in 2016/17 by a greater margin than the Thunder did. That’s true, but that’s only because expectations for Westbrook in Oklahoma City’s post-Durant era were sky high. We expected Westbrook to go on a rampage and put up massive numbers like he did during Durant’s absence in 2014/15 — we weren’t sure what to expect from Harden and the Rockets after a disastrous 2015/16 season.
The fact that Westbrook still managed to exceed our expectations this season is one reason why he deserves the Most Valuable Player award. He also made huge shots in clutch situations time after time, and managed to carry a roster that was dead-last in the NBA in outside shooting (.327 3PT%, including .321 for players besides Westbrook) to a No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. And, yeah, he averaged a triple-double too. Incredible seasons from Harden, Leonard, and LeBron made this decision a brutal one, but Westbrook deserves the MVP nod for a singular performance that we’ll remember for years to come.
Who is your pick for Most Valuable Player? Share your choices and your thoughts in the comments section below!
Previously:
April 13: Executive of the Year
April 14: Coach of the Year
April 17: Most Improved Player
April 18: Sixth Man of the Year
April 19: Defensive Player of the Year
April 20: Rookie of the Year
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Poll Results: 2017 All-NBA Teams
In an NBA season packed with incredible performances and remarkable statistical achievements, we wanted to let you make the call on which 15 players are most deserving of All-NBA recognition.
On Tuesday, we opened voting for the All-NBA First Team. We moved on to the Second Team on Wednesday, and then opened the polls for the Third Team on Thursday. The results of those polls are in, so let’s check them out.
- Guard: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
- Guard: James Harden (Rockets)
- Forward: LeBron James (Cavaliers)
- Forward: Kawhi Leonard (Spurs)
- Center: Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
- Guard: Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- Guard: Isaiah Thomas (Celtics)
- Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Forward: Kevin Durant (Warriors)
- Center: Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)
- Guard: John Wall (Wizards)
- Guard: DeMar DeRozan (Raptors)
- Forward: Jimmy Butler (Bulls)
- Forward: Paul George (Pacers)
- Center: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Your top vote-getters in the final round of polling that didn’t quite earn spots on the Third Team: Damian Lillard (Blazers), Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers), Draymond Green (Warriors), Gordon Hayward (Jazz), DeMarcus Cousins (Kings/Pelicans), and Nikola Jokic (Nuggets).
My All-NBA choices would look pretty similar to yours, with a couple small changes here and there — I’d likely move Gobert up to the Second Team, and would find room for Green on the Second or Third Team, most likely at the expense of George. All in all though, I think when the official All-NBA selections are announced, they’ll look a lot like these teams.
What do you think? Do you disagree strongly with any of these choices? Expecting major discrepancies when the official All-NBA teams are announced? Let us know in the comments section!
Mikhail Prokhorov Looking To Sell 49% Stake In Nets
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is looking to sell 49% of his ownership stake in the franchise, he told Russian media this week, according to an Associated Press report. Per Prokhorov, “the process is going on and we are looking for a buyer.”
Prokhorov said back in the fall that he wanted to retain majority ownership of the Nets, but that he was interested in bringing in an investor to take on a minority share of the team — preferably, that owner would be a local one to strengthen the club’s presence in New York. As NetsDaily outlines, Prokhorov reiterated this week that he’s committed to the Nets and “will remain the majority owner of the team.”
League sources tell NetsDaily that in recent months a handful of potential buyers have approached either the NBA, Prokhorov’s investment bankers, or Allen & Co., the firm Prokhorov hired to identify possible investors. However, the NetsDaily report suggests that the asking price is high, and there’s some uncertainty about whether a minority investor would be given an option to eventually purchase a controlling interest in the team. There also may be a divide between the Nets and the NBA over whether a stake in the Barclays Center should be involved in any sale.
In February, Forbes valued the Nets franchise at $1.8 billion, which would mean that a 49% share in the team would approach $900MM. Teams that have been sold in the past have often fetched a higher return than Forbes’ valuations, so Prokhorov could be seeking an even higher price from a prospective buyer.