Draft Updates: Hogg, Dorn, Wiley, Jogela
Texas A&M forward D.J. Hogg will enter the 2018 NBA draft and will sign with an agent, a source tells Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The move will see Hogg, who is coming off his junior season, forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility to go pro.
The 66th-ranked prospect on Jonathan Givony’s current big board at ESPN.com, Hogg averaged 11.1 PPG and 5.3 RPG for the Aggies in 2017/18. He also bumped up his shooting percentages a little, knocking down 41.0% of his attempts from the field, including 37.8% of his three-pointers.
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
- NC State junior guard Torin Dorn has decided to test the draft waters without hiring an agent, sources tell ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link). Dorn is coming off a solid season with the Wolfpack in which he averaged 13.9 PPG and 6.3 RPG with a .531 FG%.
- Auburn center Austin Wiley will become the third Tigers underclassmen to enter his name in the 2018 NBA draft pool, announcing today that he’ll test the waters without an agent (Twitter link). Wiley didn’t play at all during his sophomore season, with Auburn opting to sit him out due to concerns about a link to former associate head coach Chuck Person, who was being investigated by the FBI. Wiley joins Jared Harper as Auburn players testing the waters, while teammate Mustapha Heron is going pro.
- Lithuanian forward Matas Jogela has entered the draft, agent Tadas Bulotas informed Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Jogela currently ranks eighth on ESPN’s list of 1998-born international prospects. “I have three more years to get a chance in the NBA draft,” Jogela told Givony. “I feel like it is about time to get my name out there. It wasn’t really a hard decision, I have a chance to still take my name out this year and next.”
- Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders published an updated version of his mock draft today, headed by the usual duo of Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic.
Suns Rumors: Len, House, Booker, Fizdale
As we detailed last month, fifth-year center Alex Len seems like a good bet to leave the Suns as an unrestricted free agent this summer. Len reinforced that idea this weekend by talking like a player who is preparing to move on from his current situation.
“I had a great five years here,” Len said of his time in Phoenix, per Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. “I had ups and downs but I feel like it’s been a great time and a great learning experience with everything I’ve had thrown at me so I feel like anywhere I go or stay here from here on out I’m going to keep rising and get better.”
A year ago, Len became one of the few restricted free agents who sign a one-year qualifying offer rather than negotiating a longer-term deal with his current team or a rival club. Generally, players who take that approach don’t stick with their current club when they become eligible for unrestricted free agency a year later, so it’s not a real surprise that Len is already talking about his time with the Suns in the past tense.
Here’s more out of Phoenix:
- While Len may be on his way out, two-way player Danuel House hopes that his recent play has shown the Suns – or another team – that he deserves a spot on an NBA roster next season, as Bordow details. “I think I’ve proven a lot,” said House, who has averaged 12.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG in his last five games. “I’m just going to play hard, try to make the right plays, that I’m able to step up and do things for the team that they need me to. That’s my main objective to show that I belong in this league and that I deserve to be here.”
- In a separate article for The Arizona Republic, Bordow touches on a few topics, including Devin Booker‘s upcoming extension window, T.J. Warren‘s future role, and the Suns’ coaching search. Notably, Bordow fully expects Booker to sign a max deal with the club sometime after he becomes extension-eligible on July 1.
- The Suns are among the teams expected to show “serious interest” in former Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale, Marc Stein of The New York Times writes in his latest email newsletter. As Stein notes, James Jones has an “increasingly loud voice” in Phoenix’s front office, and Fizdale coached Jones for several years as an assistant in Miami.
- For more Suns stories, including an explanation of how the “starter criteria” impacts Elfrid Payton and the details on the team locking up the top spot in the lottery standings, be sure to check out their team page right here.
Potential 2018 RFAs Whose Qualifying Offers Will Be Impacted By Starter Criteria
The NBA’s rookie scale, which dictates how much first-round picks earn during their first four NBA seasons, also dictates how much the qualifying offers will be worth for those players when they reach restricted free agency after year four. However, the value of those qualifying offers can fluctuate depending on whether or not a player has met the “starter criteria.”
Here’s how the starter criteria works: A player who is eligible for restricted free agency is considered to have met the starter criteria if he plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency. A player can also meet the criteria if he averages either of those marks in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency. For instance, if a player started 50 games in 2016/17 and 32 in 2017/18, he’d meet the starter criteria, since his average number of starts over the last two seasons is 41.
A player’s ability or inability to meet the starter criteria can affect the value of the qualifying offer he receives as a restricted free agent, as follows:
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 15th overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the ninth overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 21st overall pick would receive if he signed for 100% of the rookie scale.
- For all other RFAs, the standard criteria determine the amounts of their qualifying offers.
Extending a qualifying offer to a player eligible for restricted free agency officially makes that player an RFA, ensuring that his team has the right of first refusal if he signs an offer sheet with another club. It also gives the player the option of signing that one-year QO.
Generally, the value of a restricted free agent’s qualifying offer isn’t hugely important, since very few RFAs accept those offers outright. There are exceptions though. Last offseason, for instance, both players who signed their one-year QOs – Suns center Alex Len and Mavericks center Nerlens Noel – failed to meet the starter criteria heading into restricted free agency, reducing the value of their QOs to approximately $4.2MM (from $6.4MM and $5.85MM, respectively). Had Len and Noel met the starter criteria and been eligible for those larger QOs, their free agencies could have played out differently.
Top-14 picks who failed to meet starter criteria:
With that in mind, let’s check in on how this year’s RFAs-to-be will be impacted by the starter criteria. Listed below are the former top-14 picks on track for restricted free agency who have not met the starter criteria. These players will be eligible for qualifying offers worth $4,333,931.
- Jabari Parker (Bucks)
- Dante Exum (Jazz)
- Nik Stauskas (Nets)
- Noah Vonleh (Bulls)
- Doug McDermott (Mavericks)
- Zach LaVine (Bulls)
No player was hit harder by missing out on the starter criteria than Parker, whose torn ACL made him fall short. If he’d stayed healthy, the former No. 2 overall pick likely would’ve been in line for a qualifying offer worth about $8.851MM. Instead, his QO will be worth less than half of that.
Major injuries also prevented Exum and LaVine from meeting the starter criteria, while Celtics guard Marcus Smart stayed just healthy enough to meet the necessary benchmarks — he totaled 4,013 minutes played over the last two seasons, barely averaging more than 2,000 per year.
First-round picks between 10-30 who met starter criteria:
The players listed below were picked between No. 10 and No. 30 in the 2014 draft and will meet the starter criteria. That will make each of them eligible for a qualifying offer worth $4,749,591.
- Elfrid Payton (Suns)
- Jusuf Nurkic (Trail Blazers)
- Clint Capela (Rockets)
- Kyle Anderson (Spurs)
Anderson is the biggest winner here, with his projected qualifying offer of $3.23MM set to increase by more than $1.5MM. However, Anderson, Capela, and Nurkic shouldn’t have any issue landing long-term deals, making the value of their QOs somewhat irrelevant. I wonder about Payton though — he didn’t exactly finish this season strong in Phoenix and could be a candidate to accept his increased QO.
Rodney Hood, the 23rd overall pick in 2014, can blame injury luck and lineup decisions for missing out on the starter criteria. He started 78 of 119 total games for Utah and Cleveland over the last two seasons, averaging 27.0 minutes per contest during that span. Without health issues, he almost certainly would’ve logged 82+ starts or 4,000+ minutes during those two years.
Second-round picks and UDFAs who met starter criteria:
Only one player falls into this group this year.
- Yogi Ferrell (Mavericks)
Initially signed to a 10-day contract in 2017, Ferrell parlayed that audition into a multiyear deal and has become an integral part of the Mavericks‘ rotation this season. He has appeared in all 81 games for Dallas, averaging 28.1 minutes per contest — that’s good for 2,274 total minutes, boosting his qualifying offer from $1,699,698 to $2,919,204.
The rest of this year’s restricted free agents won’t have their projected qualifying offers impacted by the starter criteria.
Lorenzo Brown Named 2017/18 G League MVP
Raptors 905 guard Lorenzo Brown has been named the NBA G League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2017/18 season, the league announced today in a press release. The NBAGL’s 26 head coaches and general managers voted on the award.
Brown, 27, has played for various G League teams since the 2013/14 campaign, having been named an All-Star twice. However, 2017/18 was arguably his most successful overall season in the G League. In 32 games for Toronto’s G League affiliate, the veteran guard averaged 18.8 PPG, 8.8 APG, and 5.2 RPG, making 46.8% of his shots from the floor.
Brown is currently on a two-way contract with the Raptors, appearing in 14 games this season for the NBA club. According to Basketball Insiders’ data, Brown’s two-way deal is only for one year, meaning he’ll become a restricted free agent this summer.
The Raptors 905 are currently down 1-0 to the Austin Spurs in the G League’s best-of-three Finals, so Brown will have a chance to lead the club to a series comeback beginning on Tuesday night — he’ll also receive his MVP trophy before tonight’s game. If the Raptors’ affiliate can extend the series, the deciding game would take place on Friday.
Current Warriors guard Quinn Cook and current Knicks guard Trey Burke finished second and third, respectively, in G League MVP voting.
And-Ones: I. Thomas, BIG3, Rice, Bolomboy
After his career year for the Celtics in 2016/17, Isaiah Thomas was traded to the Cavaliers before struggling in Cleveland being sent to the Lakers. Of those three teams, Frank Urbina of HoopsHype views the Lakers as the most likely to offer Thomas a new contract for 2018/19 this summer. However, L.A. won’t be the only potential fit for the high-scoring guard.
Urbina identifies the Bulls, Spurs, and Knicks as other teams that could potentially be landing spots for Thomas in free agency this offseason. In each case, Urbina views Thomas as a potential one- or two-year stopgap at the point guard position. For the Spurs, Urbina explains, Thomas could help bridge the gap between Tony Parker and Dejounte Murray, while in Chicago or New York, he could mentor youngsters Kris Dunn or Frank Ntilikina, respectively.
As we look forward to seeing which direction Thomas’ free agency takes, let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Ice Cube’s three-on-three BIG3 league is increasing its reach on the court, but the league has faced turmoil off the court within the last year. Rick Maese of The Washington Post breaks down the bizarre story of the BIG3’s off-court drama that includes Qatari investors, a fired commissioner (Roger Mason Jr.), and a billion-dollar lawsuit.
- Top Israeli team Hapoel Holon has cut star player Glen Rice Jr. after he punched a teammate in the face, according to an Associated Press report. Rice, the son of former Heat star Glen Rice, had been the Israeli League’s leading scorer with more than 24 PPG this season.
- Last week, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports presented a list of NBA assistant coaches who are viewed as potential head coaches by executives around the league. Former Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale gave Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated a list of his own suggestions for head coaching candidates, with a focus on black assistants around the NBA.
- Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow has shown interest in acquiring former NBA big man Joel Bolomboy for next season, a source tells Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Bolomboy, who saw limited action for the Jazz and Bucks over the last two seasons, has also received interest from China, per Cauchi.
Poll: Who Is 2017/18 NBA Coach Of The Year?
While some of the NBA’s 2018 awards look like foregone conclusions – including James Harden for MVP and Victor Oladipo for Most Improved Player – there’s no shortage of viable candidates for the league’s Coach of the Year award. A handful of this season’s playoff teams have exceeded expectations or overcome major injury issues to lead their teams to the postseason.
Here are several of this year’s Coach of the Year candidates, along with a brief case for each of them:
- Mike D’Antoni, Rockets (64-16): While D’Antoni hasn’t changed his approach significantly this season, his system continues to fire on all cylinders. The Rockets will finish with the NBA’s best record by far, and any coach who guides his team to a 65-win season deserves strong consideration for this award.
- Dwane Casey, Raptors (59-22): After getting swept out of the 2017 playoffs and losing veterans like P.J. Tucker, Patrick Patterson, Cory Joseph, and DeMarre Carroll in the offseason, the Raptors were expected to perhaps take a step back. Instead, Casey had led a revamped offense and a dominant bench unit to the best season in franchise history.
- Brad Stevens, Celtics (54-26): Besides overcoming Gordon Hayward‘s season-ending injury, Stevens and the Celtics have also worked injuries to several other key players, including Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart. Boston will ultimately end up with approximately the same record many experts anticipated, but the path to get there has been far more challenging than expected.
- Brett Brown, Sixers (50-30): This was the year the Sixers had hoped to move out of the rebuilding phase, but simply getting to .500 would’ve been viewed as a success. Not only did the Sixers blow past .500, but they’re now in position to claim the No. 3 seed in the East and potentially improve by 24 games over last season’s 28-54 mark.
- Nate McMillan, Pacers (48-33): Viewed as a borderline playoff team after trading Paul George to Oklahoma City, the Pacers got off to a decent start before slipping to 19-19 early in 2018. Skeptics may have predicted a finish out of the postseason at that point, but McMillan has guided Indiana to a 29-14 record since January 3, putting the team in position for a top-five seed.
- Terry Stotts, Trail Blazers (48-33): A recent slump has brought the Blazers back down to the pack in the West, but as recently as a couple weeks ago, they looked like the third-best team in the West. That’s an impressive showing for a team that finished with a .500 record a year ago and didn’t make any major offseason roster changes.
- Quin Snyder, Jazz (47-33): The Jazz have looked like this year’s version of the 2016/17 Heat, following up a poor first half with an incredible second-half run. The Heat’s 30-11 finish last season left them just short of the playoffs, but the Jazz have locked up a postseason berth with a staggering 28-5 run since since January 22.
- Alvin Gentry, Pelicans (47-34): A season-ending injury to DeMarcus Cousins could have easily derailed the Pelicans’ playoff aspirations, but Gentry – with the help of Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday – didn’t let that happen. New Orleans clinched a playoff spot on Monday night.
- Gregg Popovich, Spurs (47-34): A perennial candidate for this award, Popovich will likely be passed over this year for the Spurs’ underwhelming record by their standards — this will be the club’s worst regular season record since 1997. Still, Popovich got San Antonio back to the postseason without Kawhi Leonard for all but nine games. That shouldn’t be overlooked.
ESPN’s panel of experts gives Casey the slight edge for the award, ahead of Stevens, Snyder, D’Antoni, and McMillan, in that order. But this figures to be a close vote, with upwards of one-third of the league’s coaches worthy of votes.
What do you think? Who is your pick for Coach of the Year? Vote below in our poll and jump into the comment section to explain your choice!
Who should win the 2017/18 Coach of the Year award?
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Brad Stevens (Celtics) 25% (295)
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Brett Brown (Sixers) 24% (280)
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Dwane Casey (Raptors) 17% (199)
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Quin Snyder (Jazz) 12% (136)
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Mike D'Antoni (Rockets) 9% (104)
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Nate McMillan (Pacers) 5% (59)
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Gregg Popovich (Spurs) 3% (35)
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Someone else 3% (30)
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Terry Stotts (Trail Blazers) 2% (29)
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Alvin Gentry (Pelicans) 1% (15)
Total votes: 1,182
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Robert Pera Decides To Retain Control Of Grizzlies
10:42am: Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post clarifies (via Twitter) that Pera will purchase Kaplan’s share at the same valuation as Straus’ high bid (noted below), buying out both minority stakeholders.
APRIL 10, 9:38am: ESPN’s Zach Lowe provides a couple more details on the Grizzlies’ ownership situation, reporting that it was Straus’ bid – rather than Kaplan’s – that Pera needed to match. Straus’ higher bid valued the franchise between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion, per Lowe.
With Pera set to buy out Straus, it’s unclear how Kaplan and his shares are impacted, Lowe adds.
APRIL 9, 7:12pm: Grizzlies majority owner Robert Pera has sent a formal notice to the NBA indicating that he will retain his controlling interest in the franchise, the team announced in a press release.
Pera shared his decision in an open letter from to Grizzlies MVP Season Ticket Members. Minority stakeholders Steve Kaplan and Daniel Straus had triggered a clause in the purchase agreement that forced Pera to either buy them out or sell at a valuation of their choosing.
That duo placed a valuation of just over $1 billion on the franchise. Pera then needed to decide between buying out their shares or selling his own shares at the price of their valuation.
Pera might still wind up selling the team in the long run after buying out their shares, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post tweets.
Pera’s decision to retain control could also improve the chances of J.B. Bickerstaff being retained as head coach.
Warriors Sign Quinn Cook Through 2018/19
APRIL 10, 10:28am: The Warriors have officially signed Cook to his new two-year deal, tweets Charania. As cap expert Albert Nahmad notes (via Twitter), Cook’s new contract will pay him just shy of $15K for this season, but will cost Golden State about $54K in additional tax penalties. He’ll get a guaranteed minimum salary for 2018/19.
APRIL 8, 3:10pm: The Warriors have agreed to a multi-year deal with point guard Quinn Cook that he is expected to sign by Tuesday, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports. As we noted earlier today, Golden State waived forward Omri Casspi to open a roster spot for Cook.
The guaranteed NBA contract makes Cook eligible for the NBA playoffs. With two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry sidelined for the first round of the playoffs, Cook will enter the postseason as the Warriors’ starting point guard.
Cook has filled in admirably for Curry, averaging 9.4 PPG and 2.7 APG while shooting 44.8% from three-point range in 31 games (16 starts).
The 25-year-old split last season between the Mavericks and Pelicans, appearing in just 14 games. The Duke University product went undrafted in 2015 and spent time in the G League until receiving his first NBA opportunity last season.
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L.A. Notes: Wallace, Williams, Ball, Ingram
Rather than bringing in an outside free agent to fill the open spot on their 15-man roster, the Clippers opted to elevate one of their players on two-way contracts. According to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), the Clippers engaged with Tyrone Wallace‘s reps about a possible deal, but weren’t able to get close to an agreement, leaving C.J. Williams as the logical choice.
Williams signed a new three-year deal with the franchise on Monday, and the 28-year-old was emotional when he met with his parents to tell them about his new NBA deal, as Turner writes in a piece for The Times.
“When I got there, I couldn’t get the words out,” Williams said. “I was crying. So my parents are like, ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Oh, my God, what’s wrong? What’s going on? What’s going on?’ I’m like, ‘I got the deal done!’ They were like, ‘Boy!’ I scared them at first. They kind of realized what I was trying to do. It was a great moment.”
Per Turner, Williams’ new contract isn’t fully guaranteed for the second and third years, but he’ll receive some partial compensation beyond this season.
Here’s more out of Los Angeles:
- A pair of former No. 2 overall picks, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, may not make it back from injuries for the Lakers‘ final two games, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. Ball, who is listed as questionable for Tuesday’s contest, appears more likely than Ingram to return for at least one of L.A.’s last two games, but it’s no lock.
- In an Insider-only article for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks previews the Lakers‘ upcoming offseason, exploring Julius Randle‘s restricted free agency, the cost of trading Luol Deng, and the team’s need for a Plan B if it can’t land a premier free agent. Marks, who has plenty of experience in an NBA front office, believes the Lakers would need to attach two first-round picks to Deng in order to dump his contract.
- Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the latest developments in a legal battle between Madison Square Garden Co. – the owners of The Forum in Los Angeles – and the city of Inglewood, plus Clippers-controlled company Murphy’s Bowl LLC. The case is related to the Clippers’ interest in constructing a new arena in Inglewood.