New York Notes: Baker, Mozgov, Hardaway Jr.
After emerging as one of the few bright spots on a chaotic Knicks team last season, Ron Baker‘s role has shrunk dramatically of late. As Marc Berman of the New York Post writes, after starting the season sluggishly, head coach Jeff Hornacek has run with Jarrett Jack and Frank Ntilikina at the point guard position.
Baker famously landed an $8MM, two-year contract over the course of the summer after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Last year, his rookie campaign with the Knicks, Baker averaged 4.1 points and 2.1 assists per game.
While Hornacek seems to have an affinity for Baker due to their similar college backgrounds, the 24-year-old Knicks guard hasn’t seen on-court action since October 24.
There’s more from New York this evening:
- The Knicks knew that they needed to go big if they wanted to submit an offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr. that the Hawks wouldn’t just match, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. At the end of the day, Atlanta’s supposed threshold for matching was significantly lower than the $71MM that he signed for.
- The Nets are making a concerted effort to rest Timofey Mozgov after a busy offseason, a Nets Daily report states. Mozgov, who played 20 games with Team Russia this summer, has sat out of action since November 14.
- Former pupil Steve Kerr defended some of Phil Jackson‘s executive decisions, Anthony Rieber of NewsDay writes. The Warriors head coach pointed out that his former Bulls coach was wise to draft Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Ntilikina during his tenure with the Knicks, giving him credit for hiring Jeff Hornacek as well.
Central Notes: Dunn, Wade, Joseph
Without much of an opportunity to show what he was capable of as a rookie, Kris Dunn‘s production with the Bulls in his sophomore season has been particularly intriguing. As Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders writes, Dunn has been given a larger role than he saw with the Timberwolves and that’s paying off on both sides of the ball.
Not only has Dunn’s playing time increased with the Bulls, his role in the offense has too. The guard is averaging three-times the field-goal attempts that he put up last season and his percentage has climbed with increased usage.
Davies also notes that Dunn’s presence has had a drastic impact on the Bulls’ defensive success. While the team struggles in general with their defense, the club allows 6.9 fewer points per possession when Dunn is on the floor.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- The Cavaliers would consider moving Tristan Thompson for DeAndre Jordan if such an opportunity presented itself, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes in a question-and-answer with readers but the Cavs wouldn’t likely seriously pursue the Clippers big man unless they were convinced he was the missing piece necessary to take down Golden State.
- Bench anchor Dwyane Wade is enjoying his time with the Cavaliers‘ second-unit, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. The 35-year-old has embraced the role of guiding the team’s attack off the pine.
- The Pacers had long envied Cory Joseph before acquiring him this past offseason, Michael Grange of Sportsnet writes. “We’re very pleased with Cory. He’s always been a guy I’ve liked since he was playing in San Antonio and couple of years ago he had a real good series against us, played really well and was a big factor in the playoffs against us,” head coach Nate McMillan said, as the guard made his first appearance in Toronto following the deal.
Southeast Notes: Wall, Hezonja, Olynyk
The Wizards may be without John Wall this weekend, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. The point guard continues to experience discomfort in his knee and underwent an MRI on it this afternoon.
“John is definitely going to be questionable tomorrow,” Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said. “We’ll see how he feels [Saturday morning] and then make a decision from there.”
The knee issues can be traced back to two weekends ago when members of the Wizards training staff administered a pair of IVs to help Wall recover from migraines and a general sickness. That fluid, however, collected in his knee.
The problem, Wall says, is that his mobility hasn’t returned despite having already had the fluid drained. If it doesn’t return soon, the 27-year-old All-Star who missed the team’s Friday afternoon practice, could miss his third game of the young NBA season.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- Despite their best efforts, the Magic didn’t find a taker for Mario Hezonja prior to October 31, Zach Lowe of ESPN writes. That date is significant because the team was forced to decide whether or not to extend the swingman through 2018/19. When no trade materialized, the club declined the option. Now, Lowe writes, a team should buy low on the project and see if they can develop him into a serviceable rotation player. Despite going fifth overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, the 22-year-old has averaged just 5.3 points through his first three seasons.
- At this point in the season, Kelly Olynyk is not projected to hit the 1,700-minute plateau that would trigger an extra $1MM in salary, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. The big man is averaging 18.5 minutes per game for the Heat so far in 2017/18.
- Backup forward Mike Scott has thrived in his first year with the Wizards. The 29-year-old has averaged 8.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game off the bench in Washington and the man he replaces in the starting lineup has taken notice of his playing style. “I think he’s trying to steal my game,” Markieff Morris joked. “We kind of resemble each other a lot more than what I thought before he got here.“
Fantasy Hoops: Evans, KCP, Bledsoe, Lamb
Tyreke Evans is enjoying a resurgence in Memphis, fueled by his ability to stay on the court, his talent, and the Grizzlies presenting him with a prominent role off the bench. He ranks third on the team with a usage rate of 26.2 and his 17.9 points per game only trails Marc Gasol among those who call the FedExForum home.
Evans’ one-year, $3.3MM pact is one of the NBA’s best bargains from this past offseason and he’s providing just as much value to fantasy owners as he is to Memphis. In ESPN leagues, he was drafted on average with the No. 140 pick, meaning many fantasy owners either nabbed him in the last round of their draft or scooped him off waivers early on.
If we could assume good health, Evans would be a clear top-50 option going forward, and maybe even a top-40 player. Given his injury history though, his season-long value becomes less certain. That doesn’t mean you should necessarily sell high on him, but be aware of the risk and evaluate offers accordingly.
Here’s more fantasy analysis and notes:
- Consistency has always been an issue for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but it appears the Lakers‘ $18MM man has addressed some of his woes — he’s shooting a career-high from the field (42.5%) and from behind the arc (35.1%). While neither of those rates are otherworldly, they aren’t going to kill you as they have in the past. Caldwell-Pope is averaging 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals over his past 10 games and with his percentages coming in at a respectable level, his value rises for those playing in Roto leagues.
- It’s clear that Eric Bledsoe is going to continue to have a heavy role in Bucks‘ offense going forward. Since arriving in Milwaukee earlier this month, Bledsoe has a 27.6 usage rate, which puts him ahead of Paul George, Harrison Barnes, and Ben Simmons – among others – during that stretch.
- Nicolas Batum re-injured his elbow on Wednesday night and won’t play in Friday’s game against the Cavs. Jeremy Lamb, who will start for the Hornets at the three, should be in fantasy lineups both in daily and in season-long leagues for tonight’s tilt. Cleveland has given up the most points per game to opposing small forwards, allowing them to shoot 50% from the field, which is the worst mark in the league. In 12 starts this season, Lamb is averaging 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest while shooting 45.7% from behind the arc.
Fantasy questions? Take to the comment section below or tweet me at @CW_Crouse.
Statistics are current through Friday morning. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Terrence Jones Waived By Chinese Team
After getting kicked out of practice and leaving the Qingdao Eagles earlier this week, veteran big man Terrence Jones has now been waived by the Chinese team, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). The Eagles signed former Knicks second-round pick Maciej Lampe to take Jones’ place on their roster, Pick notes.
Jones, who signed a one-year deal back in July to play in China this season, only lasted about three weeks on his new club’s roster. In nine CBA games, the 25-year-old power forward averaged 22.3 PPG, 11.2 RPG, and 2.3 BPG.
Jones had been hoping to parlay a strong performance in China into another NBA opportunity, but his stint with Qingdao seems unlikely to generate a whole lot of interest stateside. While Jones’ numbers are good, they aren’t as eye-popping as the averages posted in China by some other former NBAers — Jared Sullinger, for instance, is recording 34.0 PPG and 15.6 RPG this season for the Shenzhen Leopards. It also sounds like Jones isn’t leaving the Eagles on good terms, which would be a red flag for potential suitors.
The 18th overall pick in the 2012 draft, Jones spent his first four NBA seasons with the Rockets, flashing some potential during his time in Houston. However, the Rockets opted not to re-sign him and he spent last season with the Pelicans and the Bucks. He was waived by both teams before ultimately making the move overseas in the offseason.
Derrick Rose Away From Cavs, Evaluating Future
Derrick Rose, sidelined since November 7 with an ankle injury, isn’t currently with the Cavaliers and is evaluating his future in basketball, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Rose, who has been away from the Cavs for the better part of a week, has been plagued by health problems since winning the NBA’s MVP award in 2011, averaging just 38 games played over the last six seasons, not including this year. Those ongoing injury issues have the veteran point guard feeling overwhelmed, per Wojnarowski and McMenamin.
“He’s tired of being hurt and it’s taking a toll on him mentally,” one Cavaliers source told ESPN.
Rose, 29, signed a one-year, minimum salary contract with the Cavaliers over the summer, and was thrust into the team’s starting lineup when Kyrie Irving was traded to the Celtics, with Isaiah Thomas still recovering from his hip injury. However, Rose has been limited to just seven games so far, averaging 14.3 PPG and a career-worst 1.7 APG in those contests.
As a member of the Knicks last season, Rose unexpectedly left the team at one point to return to Chicago and missed a game, failing to explain his absence until after the fact. He was fined for that departure and apologized to his teammates when he returned. However, this isn’t a repeat of that situation — a Cavs spokesman tells ESPN that Rose’s current absence is excused.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: G League Assignments
NBA G League teams have no shortage of ways to stock their rosters. They can add players through the G League draft, carry players on two-way contracts, acquire players via waivers, take on affiliate players from NBA training camps, and sign players they find in preseason tryout camps. Yet perhaps the most noteworthy players to pass through the G League come via NBA assignment.
The players assigned to the G League by NBA teams aren’t quite like other G Leaguers. NBA players receive their full NBA salaries while on G League assignment, whereas the G Leaguers without an NBA contract receive far more modest annual earnings that currently top out at about $26K.
Still, a G League assignment may come at a cost for an NBA player, since performance in the G League doesn’t count toward any incentive clauses built into an NBA contract. So if a player heads down to the G League on a rehab assignment and plays in a couple games for his NBA club’s G League affiliate, none of the numbers he puts up during that assignment would count toward the performance incentives built into his contract with the big club.
Of course, generally speaking, only longer-tenured veteran NBA players have incentives in their contracts, and most of those players won’t be assigned to the G League. Virtually all of the NBA players assigned to the G League have less than three full years of experience. That’s partly because NBA teams want to give their young players some extra seasoning — after all, before being re-branded as part of a sponsorship agreement with Gatorade, the G League was known as the “Development League” (D-League).
More importantly, players in their first, second or third NBA seasons are the only ones whom NBA teams can unilaterally send down to the G League. Otherwise, teams must get the consent of the players’ union as well as the player. It does happen on occasion though — fourth-year Raptors forward Bruno Caboclo has consented to multiple G League assignments so far this season, and Tony Parker has accepted G League assignments from the Spurs as well, as part of his injury rehab.
Once a player has been assigned to the G League, he can remain there indefinitely, and lengthy stints are not uncommon. However, since there’s no limit to the number of times an NBA team can assign and recall a player, assignments can also be very brief, particularly now that many teams are in close geographical proximity with their G League affiliates. In one case this season, the Grizzlies recalled Ivan Rabb from the Memphis Hustle, then assigned and recalled him again, all in the span of a few hours, in order to get him as much practice time as possible.
The Grizzlies are one of 26 NBA teams that either own their G League teams outright or operate the basketball operations of their affiliates in “hybrid” partnerships with local ownership groups. Teams that have these arrangements can set up a unified system in which the G League club runs the same offensive and defensive schemes and coaches dole out playing time based on what’s best for the parent club. That gives these NBA teams an advantage, so it’s no surprise that we’re moving toward every NBA team having a one-to-one affiliation — as recently as 2012/13, only 11 teams had such an arrangement.
Four NBA teams – the Nuggets, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, and Wizards – don’t have a G League affiliate of their own in 2017/18. However, those teams can still assign players to the G League via the “flexible assignment” rule. If, for instance, the Nuggets want to send Tyler Lydon to a G League team, any of the 26 teams may volunteer to accept him. Denver can choose from those clubs if there are multiple volunteers, but if no G League team raises its hand, the G League will randomly choose one of its teams to accept Lydon.
For more on the G League, check out our list of affiliations for this year and bookmark our G League news archive to track the latest updates on NBA players being assigned to or recalled from the G League. Be sure to check out our FAQ on two-way contracts as well — players on two-way deals can’t technically be assigned to and recalled from the G League, but they can be transferred back and forth between the NBA and the G League on a limited basis.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Versions of this post were initially published in 2012, 2013, and 2014 by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.
Community Shootaround: 2017’s Best Offseason Deals
We’re about five and a half weeks into the 2017/18 NBA season, which means we’ve seen enough action to start shaping clearer opinions about this offseason’s roster moves from around the league. Signings that we may not have paid much attention to back in July could be paying off in a big way now.
We can’t offer up any Black Friday deals here at Hoops Rumors, but in honor of the biggest shopping day of the year, we’re taking a look back at this summer’s free agent signings to identify some of the best deals of 2017.
Here are a few candidates:
- Jeff Green (Cavaliers): Lost amidst the drama surrounding David Griffin, Kyrie Irving, and several other current or former members of the Cavaliers this summer was Green accepting a one-year, minimum-salary deal to join the defending Eastern champs. So far this season, Green has been far more productive than he was on a $15MM salary in Orlando last year. Although he’s playing just 20.4 minutes per game for Cleveland, Green is scoring 10.2 PPG with a career-best .492 FG%. He has also been one of the few Cavs playing solid defense.
- Tyreke Evans (Grizzlies): With the Grizzlies once again impacted by the injury bug this season, the oft-injured Evans has been healthy, and he’s been a godsend in the Memphis backcourt. The former fourth overall pick is averaging 17.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 3.6 APG with a scorching .502/.417/.814 shooting line through 17 games, and his per-minute production is easily the best of his nine-year NBA career. Evans is doing all that on a one-year, $3.29MM contract.
- Rudy Gay (Spurs): At the time, Gay’s two-year, $17.23MM contract was viewed as a below-market deal for a player of his caliber, but a reasonable rate given his ongoing recovery from Achilles surgery. Gay’s Achilles recovery progressed faster than anticipated, however, and he has been an important contributor for the Spurs in the early going, particularly with Kawhi Leonard sidelined. While his per-game numbers are modest, given his reduced role, Gay’s per-36 numbers (19.3 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 2.6 APG) are all above his career averages.
- Jonathon Simmons (Magic): Gay essentially replaced Simmons in San Antonio, allowing the Magic to get a good deal on the veteran swingman, locking him up to a three-year, $18MM pact. Simmons has been everything Orlando hoped for so far, averaging an impressive 14.1 PPG in just 24.8 minutes per contest. He’s also chipping in 3.1 RPG, 2.1 APG, and a .497/.385/.763 to go along with reliable defense.
While the players listed above have been great investments for their respective teams so far, there are plenty of other free agent deals from around the NBA worth recognizing. For instance, it’s almost too obvious to mention, but having taken less than his maximum salary to allow the Warriors to make other moves, Kevin Durant is a terrific bargain at $25MM this season.
What do you think? Which 2017 free agent signings have represented the best deals so far in the 2017/18 season? Jump into the comment section below to weigh in!
Central Notes: Portis, Thomas, Oladipo, Leuer
While opposing fans won’t let him forget about last month’s altercation with Nikola Mirotic, Bobby Portis has put that fight behind him and has expressed optimism about the Bulls‘ roster and the team’s future, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
“I feel like we can be a good team in the future with all the pieces that we have and everybody starting to come together,” Portis said. Later, addressing the Bulls’ end-of-game lineup, Portis pointed out that having him play alongside Lauri Markkanen gives the club the sort of frontcourt size that many teams don’t have in their closing lineups. “I feel like that’s definitely something we can use in the future,” Portis added.
As Cowley observes, the fact that Portis is talking so much about the Bulls’ future suggests that he doesn’t expect to be traded anytime soon, despite a reported ultimatum from Mirotic’s camp.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Cavaliers point guard Isaiah Thomas still doesn’t have a specific return date set, but he has taken another important step forward in his recovery from a right hip injury, says Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Thomas, who is aiming to return around the end of 2017, is now going through contact drills, according to Fedor.
- Victor Oladipo is enjoying a career year so far on the court for the Pacers, but his behind-the-scenes leadership has also been an important part of the team’s early success, writes Clifton Brown of The Indianapolis Star. Acquired in the summer’s Paul George trade, Oladipo figures to be a fixture in Indiana for years to come — he and rookie T.J. Leaf are the only two Pacers under contract through 2020/21.
- The Pistons will play on Friday night for the first time since Monday, and the three-day break likely benefited a few banged-up players, including Jon Leuer, Andre Drummond, and Avery Bradley. However, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News relays, Stan Van Gundy says Leuer is “just not progressing the way he had hoped” as he battles an ankle injury.
Nets Notes: Allen, Dinwiddie, Lin
While 19-year-old center Jarrett Allen hasn’t earned a full-time role with the Nets just yet, the rookie big man has started to impress head coach Kenny Atkinson, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.
“Jarrett came in and gave us a nice boost, good energy off the bench. Yeah, I was proud of his competitive grit,” Atkinson said after Allen played the most minutes of his young career yesterday. “Jarrett is progressing nicely. I just hope we can get some consistency there, and we can start using him.”
In addition to being so new to the NBA, Allen missed six games with an injury at the start of the month. The Nets rookie feels better now, however, and is ready to start commanding more and more playing time.
There’s more out of Brooklyn tonight:
- The Nets are thankful for the emergence of 24-year-old point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. The journeyman guard has come into his own of late, filling in for the injured Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell. In four starts, Dinwiddie has averaged 6.5 points and 9.3 assists per game.
- The Nets have benefited from the veteran leadership of summer acquisition DeMarre Carroll, Greg Joyce of the New York Post writes. The 31-year-old has a career full of highs and lows to pull from when mentoring his young teammates.
- Slowly but surely, Jeremy Lin is making progress. The point guard recently gave an interview on Chinese social media site Weibo (via NetsDaily), claiming that he can now bend his injured knee. There is still no set timetable for his return to the team’s bench.