Hawks Rumors: Draft, Free Agency, Carter, Prince
If the Mavericks don’t luck out and nab a top-four draft pick via the lottery, the Hawks will own five of the top 44 selections in next month’s NBA draft. Currently, those picks project to land at Nos. 5, 9, 35, 41, and 44.
Speaking today to reporters, including Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, general manager Travis Schlenk acknowledged that the team is unlikely to bring five rookies to camp in the fall. In other words, the Hawks probably won’t use all five of those draft picks.
As Vivlamore notes, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Hawks will trade one or more picks, though that’s certainly an option — the club could package two or three picks to move up, or could surrender one of its 2019 selections for a future pick or two. Another potential scenario for Atlanta would be going the draft-and-stash route, whereby the team drafts an international prospect who won’t be ready to immediately come stateside.
As we wait to see what the Hawks do with all those draft picks, here’s more from Schlenk:
- The Hawks may have two top-10 picks in the draft, and they sound prepared to simply draft the best player available with those selections, regardless of positional overlap. “We are still in a development stage,” Schlenk said, per Vivlamore. “We feel good about the development we made this year but I think it’s important not to jump steps. We are still going to take the best players we can. You look at the playoffs now, position-less basketball is what is out there. We are going to keep getting the best talent we can, keep adding them to the mix and we’ll figure out how to blend them on the back end.”
- Although Schlenk says there’s a “buzz” around the NBA about the Hawks’ young core, he doesn’t expect the team to be overly active in free agency this summer. As Vivlamore relays, Atlanta is more likely to wait to see what sort of players slip through the cracks after the initial wave of signings is over. “Once we show we are in contention, playoff contending, that’s when free agents are going to look at this group and say ‘I want to go there because we can take it to the next level,'” Schlenk said.
- If and when the Hawks do pursue bigger-name free agents, the opportunity to play alongside Trae Young figures to be a selling point, according to Schlenk, who praised Young’s ability to set up his teammates and get them open shots.
- Vince Carter said this week that he intends to return for his 22nd NBA season, and Schlenk “certainly wouldn’t have a problem” if Carter ends up re-signing with the Hawks, he said today, praising the veteran’s leadership in the locker room (link via Vivlamore).
- Taurean Prince, considered one of the Hawks’ core players, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension starting in July. According to Vivlamore, Schlenk spoke to Prince’s agent on Thursday and said he expects to resume those discussions later in the offseason once Prince officially becomes extension-eligible.
Bulls Sign Jim Boylen To Contract Extension
2:24pm: The Bulls have officially announced Boylen’s extension (via Twitter).
The new contract will replace his previous deal, per Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews at ESPN.com.
“He has tremendous passion for developing young talent, is a strong communicator and a good fit for this team,” VP of basketball operations John Paxson said in a statement. “The organization is confident in the direction that he is taking our players, and we are committed to him.”
2:05pm: The Bulls and Jim Boylen have agreed to terms on a deal that will extend the head coach’s contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Last month, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Boylen and the Bulls were in the process of finalizing a three-year extension. Wojnarowski doesn’t provide the specific terms, but says it will be a “multiyear” extension, an indication that the two sides have completed the deal first reported by Cowley.
Boylen, who took over as the Bulls’ head coach when Fred Hoiberg was dismissed during the 2018/19 season, was already under contract for next season and was expected to be retained even before word of his extension broke. NBA teams rarely let head coaches enter a season on an expiring contract, so it makes sense that Boylen would get a couple more years tacked onto the end of his deal. He may be in line for a raise as well, as his ’19/20 salary of $1.6MM was said to be partially guaranteed for $1MM.
Although his 17-41 record this season wasn’t great, Boylen earned the trust of the Bulls’ front office, who frequently praised his tough-love approach and his ability to motivate players and hold them accountable — even after an eventful first week in which players pushed back against Boylen’s aggressive practice schedule.
Bulls ownership and management view Boylen as the teacher that the club’s young roster needs, and love the way he was able to build relationships with his players, per Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
As K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune tweets, the decision to extend Boylen also relates to the Bulls’ desire to upgrade their coaching staff. With the head coach secure going forward, it should be easier for him to recruit a new lead assistant.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
L.A. Notes: Lue, Lakers, Nance, Clippers
The Lakers are seemingly poised to make Tyronn Lue their new head coach, as his representatives and the team are expected to touch base today to try to get a deal done, tweets Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
According to Turner, Lue has been the Lakers’ top choice throughout the process. Although Monty Williams was in contention as well, Williams’ decision to accept the Suns’ job didn’t change the Lakers’ plans — it just made them decide to act now, tweets Tania Ganguli of The L.A. Times.
Selecting Lue as Luke Walton‘s replacement figures to inspire plenty of skepticism and snark, given his ties to LeBron James, but sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic (Twitter link) that neither James nor agent Rich Paul told the Lakers whom to hire. Of course, the fact that LeBron would welcome a reunion with Lue, as Vardon notes, was certainly a strong point in Lue’s favor, but the former Cavs coach also received an endorsement from Phil Jackson and impressed the Lakers with his X’s-and-O’s knowledge, tweets Turner.
Here’s more on the NBA’s two L.A. teams:
- Responding to a report that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka assured him he wouldn’t be going anywhere before trading him to Cleveland, Larry Nance Jr. tweeted this week to say “that is not the case.” According to Nance, “Rob and I had and still have a great relationship.”
- Sean Deveney of Sporting News takes an extended look at the Clippers‘ upcoming offseason, including exploring the team’s potential dream scenario: Signing both Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard in free agency this summer.
- After his team dispatched the Clippers in the first round, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr raved about his opponents, suggesting it won’t be long before the Clips go from playoff upstart to bona fide contender. “I love their future,” Kerr told Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “I think it’s great for the league and I’m happy for their franchise.”
- Earlier today, we broke down the Lakers‘ cap situation heading into the 2019 offseason.
Lakers Expected To Offer Head Coaching Job To Tyronn Lue
1:07pm: The Lakers have no plans to introduce new candidates into their head coaching search, and are proceeding toward making an offer to Lue in the coming days, per Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
12:03pm: As of Thursday afternoon, Lue still hadn’t heard back from the Lakers since his second interview last week, but the team is expected to reach out to him soon in an effort to hire him, per Tania Ganguli and Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
11:16am: With Monty Williams on the verge of officially signing a five-year contract with the Suns, the Lakers can cross another name off the list of candidates for their head coaching job. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), there’s an expectation now that Los Angeles will move forward in the process with Tyronn Lue. However, the club has yet to formally make him an offer, Woj notes.
Although the Lakers also interviewed Juwan Howard and Jason Kidd, Lue and Williams appeared to be the strongest candidates for the job throughout the search process. Lue and Williams each met with the Lakers for follow-up interviews after their initial meetings.
[RELATED: 2019 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
A report last week indicated that Lue, who turns 42 today, struck an “emotional chord” during his interviews with the Lakers. He began his playing career as a Laker and won a pair of championships with the franchise, giving him a background with the organization.
Of course, Lue also has a strong familiarity with current star LeBron James, having coached LeBron and the Cavaliers to the team’s first-ever NBA championship in 2016.
During his time as the Cavs’ head coach, which spanned two full seasons and parts of two more, Lue posted a 128-83 (.607) record in the regular season, along with a 41-20 mark in the playoffs.
Five 2019/20 Player Option Decisions To Watch
As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported this morning, Nets guard Allen Crabbe became the latest veteran to exercise a player option for the 2019/20 season. Crabbe is one of six players who has opted into the final year of his contract since the regular season ended, joining Jeff Teague, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, C.J. Miles, and Bismack Biyombo.
[RELATED: Player Option Decisions For 2019/20]
That group of players picking up their options figures to grow in the coming weeks. Marvin Williams has already indicated he’ll opt in, and guys like Hassan Whiteside ($27.1MM), Tyler Johnson ($19.2MM), and Patrick Patterson ($5.7MM), among others, figure to do so too.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are a handful of star players who are locks to opt out. All year, we’ve talked about Kevin Durant ($31.5MM), Kawhi Leonard ($21.3MM), Kyrie Irving ($21.3MM), Jimmy Butler ($19.8MM), and Khris Middleton ($13MM) as if they’re free-agents-to-be, since it wouldn’t make sense for them to pick up their player options instead of securing more lucrative, longer-term deals in free agency.
Not all of the players with 2019/20 options are facing easy decisions though. In some cases, it’s not entirely clear yet whether or not those options will be exercised.
Let’s take a closer look at several of the player option decisions that will be worth monitoring before free agency officially gets underway:
Al Horford, Celtics ($30,123,015): Only a handful of NBA players earn salaries in excess of $30MM, and on the surface, it doesn’t seem like Horford necessarily belongs in that group — he’ll turn 33 in June, battled nagging injuries this season, and put up relatively modest numbers for a starting center (13.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.2 APG). However, his performance in the postseason has shown once again why Horford is so valuable to the Celtics. His versatility and high basketball IQ makes him one of the few players capable of slowing down Giannis Antetokounmpo. And besides being a linchpin on defense, he’s a tremendous weapon in the pick-and-pop game on offense. If he were to opt out, he wouldn’t get $30MM per year on a long-term deal, but it wouldn’t be at all shocking to see him get, say, $20MM annually on a three-year contract. That could be a win for both him and the cap-strapped Celtics.- Jonas Valanciunas, Grizzlies ($17,617,976): Valanciunas doesn’t have the same sort of hidden value as Horford – or as pricey an option – but he’ll face a similar dilemma. Does it make more sense to pick up a player option that locks in a favorable one-year salary or to opt out to secure a longer-term deal with a higher total value? Valanciunas was probably the most important asset the Grizzlies acquired in their trade of longtime franchise center Marc Gasol, so I think they’d be willing to invest long term in the former lottery pick.
- Marc Gasol, Raptors ($25,595,700): Like Horford, Gasol’s value on the court extends beyond his numbers — particularly the ones he has put up since his trade to Toronto. Plus, if he believes Kawhi Leonard will leave the Raptors in free agency, it might make sense for Gasol to look for the exit ramp as well by declining this option and trying to secure one last multiyear deal. On the other hand, at age 34, Gasol might have trouble exceeding his option salary even over the span of a new two-year contract. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t opt in and force the Raptors to make the decision on what to do with his expiring deal.
- James Ennis, Sixers ($1,845,301): Ennis signed a minimum salary contract with the Rockets last summer, then was traded to Philadelphia in a salary-dump deal at the deadline. Despite that unflattering series of events, he’s now playing a key rotation role for the Sixers in the postseason and has made 57.1% of his shots in seven playoff games, including a staggering 82.6% of his two-pointers. Ostensibly a three-and-D wing, Ennis should have no problem securing offers on the open market this summer, so it would probably be in his best interest to opt out to see if he can do better than the minimum. The same thinking applies to Thunder center Nerlens Noel, another veteran who has a minimum salary player option for 2019/20.
- Dwight Powell, Mavericks ($10,259,375): Powell enjoyed his best season in 2018/19, recording 10.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and a .597 FG% in a part-time role for the Mavericks. His $10MM+ option looks fairly player-friendly for someone who has never averaged more than 21.6 MPG, but team owner Mark Cuban suggested in a radio appearance last month that Dallas plans to extend Powell for multiple seasons. If he knows that sort of Mavs offer will await him in free agency, Powell could have reason to opt out (opting in and signing an extension would also be a possibility).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Suns Hire Monty Williams As Head Coach
Sixers assistant Monty Williams has agreed to become the new head coach of the Suns, the team announced today in a press release. Williams will stick with Philadelphia until the end of the club’s playoff run before officially making the move to Phoenix, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), Williams and the Suns have reached an agreement on a five-year contract. Wojnarowski (via Twitter) first reported that the two sides were finalizing a deal.
“I am thrilled to welcome Monty Williams to the Suns family as our next head coach,” general manager James Jones said in a statement. “Monty brings a wealth of NBA experience, both as a coach and former player, in addition to being a high-character individual who will infuse basketball wisdom and life lessons into our locker room. Monty is well respected for his coaching pedigree, leadership and commitment to the community, all of which make him the ideal person to lead our team moving forward.”
It will be Williams’ second opportunity to serve as an NBA head coach. He previously held that position in New Orleans from 2010-15 for the Hornets and Pelicans. Over the course of five seasons with the franchise, he posted a 173-221 (.439) record, with two postseason appearances. New Orleans didn’t win a playoff series during that stretch.
Despite Williams’ modest record as a head coach, he has long been regarded as one of the NBA’s top assistants. He worked as a member of Brett Brown‘s staff in Philadelphia this season after returning to the game following a two-year absence while he mourned the death of his wife, Ingrid, who was killed in a car crash in Oklahoma City in February 2016.
Williams spent one season as the Thunder’s associate head coach in 2015/16. Before his stint as New Orleans’ head coach, he was an assistant in Portland for several years.
In Phoenix, Williams will take the reins from Igor Kokoskov, who was dismissed after just one season. The Suns’ five-year committment to Williams suggests that that team plans to be more patient with its new head coach, giving him the opportunity to develop Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, and the organization’s other young prospects.
The Suns also interviewed Trail Blazers assistants David Kanterpool and Nate Tibbetts during their search process, but Williams was always considered the frontrunner. He had two interviews for the job, with team owner Robert Sarver in attendance for the second meeting.
Williams had been under consideration for the Lakers’ head coaching vacancy as well, so it appears his agreement with the Suns paves the way for Tyronn Lue to become the favorite for that job.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
2019 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Los Angeles Lakers
After years of building through the draft and steadily improving their record, adding LeBron James to the mix was supposed to be the move that pushed the Lakers back into the playoffs. Early returns were positive, as the team held a top-four seed in the West through Christmas, but things took a sharp downturn from there. LeBron’s groin injury, a series of leaked Anthony Davis trade offers, and Magic Johnson‘s abrupt resignation from his president of basketball operations role has left the franchise in a state of a flux entering a crucial summer.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Lakers financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:
Guaranteed Salary
- LeBron James ($37,436,858)
- Lonzo Ball ($8,719,320)
- Brandon Ingram ($7,265,485)
- Luol Deng ($5,000,000) — Waived via stretch provision
- Moritz Wagner ($2,063,520)
- Kyle Kuzma ($1,974,600)
- Josh Hart ($1,934,160)
- Isaac Bonga ($1,416,852)
- Total: $65,810,795
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Jemerrio Jones ($1,416,852)
- Total: $1,416,852
Restricted Free Agents
- Alex Caruso ($1,618,486 qualifying offer / $1,618,486 cap hold): Early Bird rights 1
- Johnathan Williams (two-way qualifying offer / $1,443,842 cap hold): Non-Bird rights 1
- Total: $3,062,328
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($15,600,000): Early Bird rights
- Rajon Rondo ($10,800,000): Non-Bird rights
- Mike Muscala ($9,500,000): Bird rights
- No. 4 overall pick ($7,059,360)
- Lance Stephenson ($5,338,800): Non-Bird rights
- Reggie Bullock ($4,750,000): Bird rights
- Tyson Chandler ($1,618,486): Non-Bird rights
- JaVale McGee ($1,618,486): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $53,254,172
Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000
Offseason Cap Outlook
- Realistic cap room projection: $32.5MM
- There aren’t many complicating factors we have to consider when projecting the Lakers’ cap room, since none of their pending free agents are players who absolutely must be retained. If we account for their seven players on guaranteed contracts and the cap hold for their first-round pick, that leaves about $32.5MM in cap room, assuming they renounce all their FAs-to-be and waive Jones. That wouldn’t be quite enough space for a maximum salary free agent, so the Lakers would have to make an additional move to shed salary.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Room exception: $4,760,000 2
Footnotes
- The salaries for two-way players don’t count against a team’s cap, but their cap holds do during the offseason.
- This is a projected value. If the Lakers remain over the cap, they’d instead have access to the full mid-level exception ($9,246,000), the bi-annual exception ($3,619,000), and their lone remaining trade exception ($1,544,951; expires 2/7/20).
Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pistons To Consider Derrick Rose In Free Agency?
Point guard will be an area of focus for the Pistons in free agency this summer, as backups Ish Smith and Jose Calderon are set to hit the open market. And a source with first-hand knowledge of the team’s thinking tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press that Derrick Rose is one potential target who will be “a subject of debate” within the front office.
Rose is unlikely to have to settle for the minimum salary again after enjoying an impressive bounce-back season in Minnesota, averaging 18.0 PPG and 4.3 APG on .482/.370/.856 shooting. However, he was limited to just 51 games due to more injuries, an ongoing issue which will likely keep his price tag in check. That means he could be an option for a team like the Pistons, who won’t have any cap room available this offseason.
Seth Curry is another free-agent-to-be who figures to be of interest to Detroit, according to Ellis, though he notes that there’s a belief head coach Dwane Casey will push for a true point guard. In that case, players like Ricky Rubio and Patrick Beverley may be on the club’s radar. The likes of T.J. McConnell or Isaiah Thomas could also be targets if the club pursues a lower-cost option, Ellis adds.
Of course, re-signing Smith will also be a scenario the Pistons could consider, but there was an “air of finality” to his end-of-season media session, according to Ellis, who writes that the team will explore upgrades at the position.
The 2019/20 mid-level exception is projected to be worth approximately $9.2MM, based on a $109MM cap, while the bi-annual exception would be worth about $3.6MM. Unless the Pistons shed significant salary, those will be the only two exceptions – besides the minimum – available to the team in free agency. Both exceptions can be used on a single player or split up among multiple free agents.
Nets’ Allen Crabbe Opts In For 2019/20
Nets shooting guard Allen Crabbe has exercised his player option for the 2019/20 season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The move locks in his $18.5MM salary for next year, putting him on track to reach unrestricted free agency in 2020.
Crabbe initially signed a four-year offer sheet worth nearly $75MM with the Nets back in 2016. The Trail Blazers matched that offer and retained Crabbe for the following season, but traded him to Brooklyn in a salary-dump deal during the 2017 offseason.
The 27-year-old’s play during his two years with the Nets has been somewhat underwhelming. After shooting 41.1% from three-point range in Portland, he has made 37.8% of his attempts in Brooklyn, albeit on a higher volume of shots. In 2018/19, he was limited to just 43 games due to knee issues and averaged 9.6 PPG in 26.3 minutes per contest.
Given his modest production, there was never a doubt that Crabbe would opt into the final year of his contract, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s a lock to be on the Nets’ roster next season. Michael Scotto of The Athletic suggested earlier this week that he wouldn’t be surprised if the club explores the trade market for Crabbe, perhaps dangling Denver’s late first-round pick or an early second-rounder in an effort to sweeten the deal.
As long as Crabbe remains on the roster, his $18.5MM cap hit will limit the Nets’ ability to make major moves in free agency this summer. With that money – along with cap holds for D’Angelo Russell and their first-round picks – on the books, Brooklyn projects to have up to about $30.3MM in cap space, which wouldn’t be enough for a maximum salary contract for a veteran player (with seven-plus years of experience).
[RELATED: Maximum Salary Projections For 2019/20]
If the Nets don’t find a trade they like for Crabbe and want to create a max slot, waiving and stretching him could also be an option. Doing so would reduce his 2019/20 cap hit to just under $6.2MM, though it would add identical charges to the team’s books for the following two seasons as well.
Crabbe is the latest in a string of veterans who have picked up player options since the regular season ended in April, joining Jeff Teague, Kent Bazemore, Dwight Howard, and others. The full breakdown of this year’s player option decisions can be found right here.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bucks’ Success May Dictate Team Temperature on Luxury Tax
This season may be Milwaukee’s best chance at a title, as the team has many players set to hit the open market in free agency this summer. Sources tell Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com that ownership’s willingness to go deep into the luxury tax may be dependent on how far the Bucks advance.
Khris Middleton is likely to turn down his player option and hit the market. Malcolm Brogdon will be a restricted free agent. Brook Lopez will almost certainly want a raise on his one-year, $3.38MM deal. And Nikola Mirotic, who the team added at the trade deadline, will pursue a new contract as well.
The Bucks are not against becoming a taxpaying team. They have to do everything they can to surround Giannis Antetokounmpo with a strong supporting cast and give him every reason to sign a super-max extension once he’s eligible next summer. However, if the team with the best record in the league can’t get past the fourth-seeded Celtics, the decision to go deep into the luxury tax becomes a tough one.
The first of their many offseason decisions will likely involve Middleton, and Bontemps writes that the shooting guard is likely to see max contract offers. The Mavs reportedly will be among the teams looking to poach him from Milwaukee.