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Atlantic Notes: PEDs, Ennis, Knicks

August 30th, 2019 at 6:31pm CST by Austin Kent

The NBA has revealed that Nets forward Wilson Chandler will miss the first 25 games of the regular season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug called Ipamorelin, as we detailed on Thursday.

In the wake of that suspension, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) took a deep dive into the league’s stance on PEDs and noted that Chandler becomes just the second player to serve such a suspension under the league’s latest set of governing rules.

When the NBA and NBPA debuted their new collective bargaining agreement ahead of the 2017/18 campaign, it came with stricter rules regarding steroids and PEDs. Only Jodie Meeks had been tagged with a suspension since the new document went live.

According to the CBA, the default punishment for a first offense is 25 games. Meeks split his 25 games between the 2018 postseason and the first 19 games of the 2018/19 regular season. Prior to the new CBA, players like Joakim Noah and Hedo Turkoglu faced varying punishments for PED use.

The Nets will now have several options for how they want to proceed. As of November 2, after the team plays its fifth game of Chandler’s suspension, they can move him to the Suspended List and free up a roster spot. Alternatively the club could waive a player altogether – they’ve got 15 guaranteed contracts – and look for a replacement… like *cough* Carmelo Anthony *clears throat*.

There’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

  • Although he’s a member of the Celtics now, forward Gordon Hayward is a product of Indiana and is on the short list of humans most capable of understanding the thought process behind Andrew Luck’s decision to retire from the NFL. “It sucks; you feel isolated,” Hayward, no stranger to extensive rehabilitation, told A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports. “It feels like a job because you’re not getting to do the fun parts of it. And you always have those [thoughts], ‘What if I’m not the same player?’ You have to bottle that and just focus on the present … I understand exactly where [Luck is] coming from.“
  • He signed a two-year, $4.1MM deal to remain with the Sixers, but James Ennis had other, more lucrative offers on the table in free agency. Ennis recently told Marc Narducci of The Philadelphia Inquirer that he chose to stay with the team that acquired him mid-season last year because he’d like to remain in Philly long-term. Hoops Rumors’ own J.D. Shaw connected with Ennis in June and the veteran wing spoke highly of the support the 76ers give their players.
  • Do the Knicks have a plan? Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes that the organization has been relatively silent after an interesting – and at times puzzling – offseason.
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Thunder, Eric Moreland Agree To Training Camp Deal

August 30th, 2019 at 4:28pm CST by Austin Kent

The Thunder have agreed to a training camp deal with center Eric Moreland, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. The 27-year-old will seek to crack the regular season roster of a retooling franchise that will feature plenty of new faces.

Moreland split last season between the Suns and Raptors but never saw consistent playing time. Moreland only played double digit minutes twice in 2018/19, which is considerably less than the previous year when he battled for the primary backup spot to Pistons center Andre Drummond.

Moreland joins a Thunder squad with only 13 guaranteed contracts, meaning it’s possible that he could stay with the team through to the regular season. He’ll presumably be in competition with fellow recent Thunder signee Justin Patton for reps in the team’s frontcourt, with Patton’s multiyear deal and $700K partial guarantee likely giving him a leg up on Moreland.

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Remaining Offseason Questions: Central Division

August 30th, 2019 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams have now completed the brunt of their offseason work, with the draft and free agency practically distant memories. Still, with training camps more than a month away, many clubs around the league have at least one or two outstanding issues they’ve yet to address.

We’re in the midst of looking at all 30 NBA teams, separating them by division and checking in on a key outstanding question that each club still needs to answer before the 2019/20 regular season begins.

After focusing on the Atlantic and Southeast earlier this week, we’re moving onto the Central today. Let’s dive in…

Chicago Bulls
Will the Bulls make a trade to clear their point guard logjam?

The Bulls didn’t waste any time this offseason addressing the point guard position, their biggest need heading into the summer. They used their lottery pick to draft Coby White, then completed a sign-and-trade deal for Tomas Satoransky early in free agency.

It would be logical for Satoransky and White to play most of the point guard minutes for the team in 2019/20, but there are multiple other players who may also enter the mix. The club signaled its fondness for Ryan Arcidiacono with a new three-year contract that will pay him annual salaries of $3MM. Chicago still has former top-five pick Kris Dunn under contract as well. And Shaquille Harrison was re-signed too, albeit on a partially guaranteed deal that doesn’t assure him of a roster spot.

White will certainly be a part of the Bulls’ future, and multiyear guarantees for Satoransky and Arcidiacono indicate they’re very much in the team’s plans too. Dunn is the most likely trade candidate on the roster, as has been the case all offseason — after not moving him in June or July, perhaps Chicago can find a taker this fall.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Will all of the Cavs’ veterans on expiring contracts stick around?

For a rebuilding team, the Cavaliers sure have a lot of veteran players on their roster at the moment. It makes sense that guys like Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. will remain in Cleveland, since the team has invested long-term in those players. But how about all the vets on expiring contracts?

Currently, Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight, Jordan Clarkson, John Henson, and Matthew Dellavedova account for about $67MM of Cleveland’s 2019/20 team salary. All five players are entering contract years and it’s hard to imagine that more than one or two of them are part of the team’s future plans.

There’s nothing wrong with hanging onto those veterans into the season to see if their expiring deals come in handy via trade before the deadline, but the rebuilding Cavs might not want to enter the season with so many veterans vying for regular playing time. Many of those players on expiring contracts will become buyout candidates eventually, if they’re not already.

Detroit Pistons
Will Andre Drummond sign a contract extension?

Drummond himself provided a strong hint on his answer to this question this week, suggesting that he’s “excited” for the opportunity to hit free agency next summer, when he can turn down his 2020/21 player option and reach the open market.

The veteran center later clarified that he’s not anxious to leave the Pistons. However, he did say that he’s looking forward to going through the process of being an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.

Given those comments, it’s unlikely that Drummond signs a long-term extension this fall even if Detroit puts an offer on the table. Still, it’s worth noting that the Pistons could theoretically give the big man $145MM+ over four years on a new deal. Even if he’s excited about free agency, that’s the sort of offer that could give him pause.

Indiana Pacers
What does Victor Oladipo‘s recovery timetable look like?

Oladipo’s 2018/19 season came to an early end when he suffered a ruptured quad tendon, and it looks like the injury will probably delay the start of his 2019/20 season too.

Oladipo and the Pacers have both been cagey about offering a specific recovery timetable, with the star guard not offering many details on his rehab process. The last concrete hint came in June when president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said he hoped Oladipo would be back in Indiana’s lineup by December or January.

Indiana has enough talent to make the playoffs without a full season from Oladipo, and the team will be patient with its leading scorer. But if the Pacers want to make a run at a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference and home court advantage in round one of the postseason, it’d be great news if Oladipo can return to the court this fall.

Milwaukee Bucks
Will Dragan Bender fill the Bucks’ 15th roster spot?

The Bucks currently have 14 players on guaranteed salaries, with Bender in position to claim the team’s 15th and final regular season spot. Still, his contract is only partially guaranteed for $300K, giving Milwaukee the flexibility to change course before opening night.

Bender’s salary guarantee won’t increase unless he makes the team’s regular season roster, so if the Bucks suffer injuries in camp or determine that they’d rather carry another point guard or wing, he’d almost certainly be the odd man out.

For now, I’d expect Bender to open the season in Milwaukee, but the fact that the club is still being linked to free agents like Jodie Meeks suggests it’s not a lock yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Poll: Will Team USA Win 2019 World Cup?

August 30th, 2019 at 2:23pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2019 FIBA World Cup will get underway in approximately 12 hours, as Angola and Serbia are scheduled to tip off at 3:30am eastern time on Saturday. Team USA, meanwhile, will begin its quest for a gold medal on Sunday morning with a matchup against the Czech Republic.

There has been plenty of hand-wringing in recent weeks over the exodus of talent from USA Basketball’s preliminary World Cup roster. James Harden, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, and many more All-NBA stars have pulled out of the competition, leaving Team USA with a roster headlined by Kemba Walker, the only player on the squad with more than one All-Star appearance on his résumé.

Outside of Walker, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez are the only other former All-Stars in the 12-man group. The roster is rounded out by up-and-coming youngsters like Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Myles Turner, and Derrick White, along with veteran role players Harrison Barnes, Marcus Smart, Joe Harris, and Mason Plumlee.

It’s not exactly a star-studded roster, but it’s still the only 12-man squad at the World Cup that will be made up exclusively of NBA players. Team USA will have a depth advantage over every other national team in the field and will have a versatile enough roster to match up with any club it faces. It also has one of the sport’s best coaches of all-time in Gregg Popovich.

On the other hand, Team USA’s dozen representatives aren’t particularly accomplished in international play, and NBA experience isn’t everything in these tournaments — the last time USA Basketball lost a major international competition, in 2006, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard were among the stars representing America. They fell to a Greek team without a single player on an NBA roster.

In international play, and particularly in the single-elimination stage of these tournaments, a hot five-man lineup – or even a single player – can be enough to pull off an upset.

The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag view Team USA as the favorites to bring home the World Cup gold from China, but not overwhelmingly so — the line for Team USA is -170, meaning you’d only have to risk $170 to win $100.

Nikola Jokic and the Serbians (+350) are considered strong challengers, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece (+1000) in the mix as well, along with Marc Gasol and the Spaniards (+1600). Tom Ziller of SBNation.com also views Australia, France, Lithuania, and Germany as teams with the potential to knock off Team USA — Australia already did so once in exhibition play, snapping the program’s 78-game winning streak in international contests.

What do you think? Is Team USA still a slam dunk to win this year’s World Cup, despite all its missing stars, or is this the year that the country’s streak of gold medals comes to an end?

Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Decisions On 2020/21 Rookie Scale Team Options

August 30th, 2019 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Under the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deadline for teams to sign fourth-year players to rookie scale extensions was moved up from October 31 to the last day before the regular season begins, but Halloween remains an important date on the NBA’s calendar. It’s the last day that clubs can exercise team options on the rookie scale contracts of former first-round picks.

All the players whose options will be exercised or declined by October 31 are already under contract for the 2019/20 season. Their teams will have to make a decision on whether they want to lock in those players’ contracts beyond the coming season, picking up or turning down team options for the 2020/21 campaign.

For players who signed their rookie scale contracts in 2017 and have already been in the NBA for two years, teams must decide on fourth-year options for 2020/21. For players who just signed their rookie deals last year and only have one season of NBA experience under their belts, teams will already be faced with a decision on third-year options for ’20/21.

In many cases, these decisions aren’t hard ones. Rookie scale salaries are affordable enough that it usually makes sense to exercise most of these team options, even if a player isn’t a key cog on the roster. And for those players who do have a significant role on a team’s roster, the decision is even easier — it’s not as if the Hawks would ever consider turning down their option on Trae Young, for instance.

Still, we’ll wait for a trusted reporter, the NBA, a player (or his agent), or a team itself to confirm that an option is indeed being exercised or declined, and we’ll track that news in this space.

Listed below are all the rookie scale decisions for 2020/21 team options that clubs must make by October 31. This list will be updated throughout the rest of the offseason and into the first couple weeks of the regular season, as teams’ decisions are reported and announced. The salary figures listed here reflect the cap hits for each team.

Here are the NBA’s rookie scale team option decisions for 2020/21 salaries:

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Highest-Paid NBA Players By Team

August 30th, 2019 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we listed the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2019/20 season. While that list presented a clear picture of the highest earners for the upcoming season, not every NBA team was represented.

Neither the Grizzlies nor the Knicks had a player in the top 50, which isn’t a huge surprise, considering neither of those teams is expected to be a championship contender during the 2019/20 season. Memphis’ current highest-paid player – Andre Iguodala – may not even be on the roster by opening night if a favorable trade or buyout can be agreed upon.

Our list of highest-paid players for 2019/20 also only provided a snapshot for the coming year. It featured veterans like Chandler Parsons and Paul Millsap, who will be well compensated for the coming season but are on expiring contracts.

This afternoon, we’re shifting our focus to the highest-paid players by team. This will allow us to check in on the clubs that weren’t represented on our initial list, as well as exploring teams’ most lucrative multiyear commitments — we’ve included each club’s highest-paid player for the 2019/20 season and its highest-paid player in total.

Let’s dive in…

Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics

  • 2019/20: Kemba Walker ($32,742,000)
  • Total: Kemba Walker (four years, $140,790,600)

Brooklyn Nets

  • 2019/20: Kevin Durant ($38,199,000)
  • Total: Kevin Durant (four years, $164,255,700)
    • Note: Durant’s final year is a player option.

Charlotte Hornets

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

  • 2019/20: Kevin Love ($28,942,830)
  • Total: Kevin Love (four years, $120,402,172)

Dallas Mavericks

  • 2019/20: Kristaps Porzingis ($27,285,000)
  • Total: Kristaps Porzingis (five years, $158,253,000)
    • Note: Porzingis’ final year is a player option.

Denver Nuggets

Detroit Pistons

  • 2019/20: Blake Griffin ($34,449,964)
  • Total: Blake Griffin (three years, $110,217,988)
    • Note: Griffin’s final year is a player option.

Golden State Warriors

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Following Specific Players On Hoops Rumors

August 30th, 2019 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors makes it easy to keep up with your favorite NBA teams as they plot their next moves, and we also provide multiple ways to follow the latest updates on all of your favorite players, along with the free agents and trade candidates from around the league.

You can get news about players wherever you go with our Trade Rumors app, available for iOS and Android devices. The app is free and allows you to add a feed for any player and set up notifications that will alert you whenever we write about him. It’s the easiest way to keep tabs on specific players.

If you’re using the desktop or mobile version of our site, there are other ways to follow your favorite player(s). Every player we’ve written about has his own rumors page. You can find any player by using our search box, by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post in which he’s discussed, or by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, LeBron James‘ page is hoopsrumors.com/lebron-james.

In addition to players, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags that we use at the bottom of posts. For example, you can keep tabs on our 2019 World Cup stories right here. Items about the NBA G League can be found on this page. You can simply scan our top stories here.

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Canada, Greece, Turkey Set World Cup Rosters

August 30th, 2019 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

While USA Basketball had its share of withdrawals this summer leading up to the 2019 World Cup, there’s a strong case for Team Canada being the national team hit hardest by a lack of participation from NBA players.

Team Canada formally announced its 12-man World Cup roster today. As expected, the group features just two NBA players: Kings point guard Cory Joseph and Magic center Khem Birch. As we outlined earlier this month, the list of Canadians not participating in the World Cup includes Jamal Murray, Andrew Wiggins, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tristan Thompson, Trey Lyles, Dillon Brooks, Dwight Powell, RJ Barrett, and several other NBA players.

The national teams for Greece and Turkey also announced their final 12-man rosters for the World Cup, and both squads feature multiple current NBA players.

Bucks teammates – and brothers – Giannis Antetokounmpo and Thanasis Antetokounmpo headline the Greek squad, with former NBA players like Kostas Papanikolaou, Nick Calathes, and Georgios Papagiannis helping to fill out the roster.

On the Turkish national team, Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova, Cavaliers forward Cedi Osman, and Sixers guard Furkan Korkmaz are the headliners. Former Celtics and Cavaliers center Semih Erden is also part of Turkey’s 12-man roster.

The World Cup will officially get underway in China on Saturday with an eight-game schedule, though Canada, Greece, and Turkey won’t take the court until Sunday.

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NBA’s Top 50 Highest-Paid Players For 2019/20

August 30th, 2019 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

While many of the NBA’s highest-paid players are on contracts considered maximum-salary deals, the 2019/20 salaries for those players vary significantly depending on when the player signed his contract and how much NBA experience he has. That’s why a player like Stephen Curry will earn nearly $13MM more than Anthony Davis in ’19/20 despite both stars technically being on max deals.

When a player signs a maximum-salary contract, he doesn’t necessarily earn the NBA max for each season of that contract — he earns the max in year one, then gets a series of identical annual raises. In Curry’s case, his 2019/20 salary actually exceeds this year’s maximum, since his deal started in the summer of 2017 and includes 8% annual raises. The annual cap increases haven’t kept up with those 8% raises.

Listed below, with the help of salary data from Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, are the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2019/20 season. The players on this list don’t necessarily have the contracts with the largest overall value. The list below only considers salaries for 2019/20

Additionally, we’ve noted players who could potentially increase their earnings via incentives or trade bonuses. We didn’t add those notes for players like Curry, James Harden, and others who have trade bonuses but are already earning the maximum — their salaries for this season can’t increase beyond their max.

The cutoff for a spot on this year’s top-50 list is a $21MM salary, so players like Tim Hardaway Jr. ($20,025,127) and Malcolm Brogdon ($20MM) just missed out.

Here are the NBA’s 50 highest-paid players for the 2019/20 season:

  1. Stephen Curry, Warriors: $40,231,758
  2. Chris Paul, Thunder: $38,506,482
    Russell Westbrook, Rockets: $38,506,482
  3. Kevin Durant, Nets: $38,199,000
    James Harden, Rockets: $38,199,000
    John Wall, Wizards: $38,199,000
  4. LeBron James, Lakers: $37,436,858 (15% trade kicker)
  5. Kyle Lowry, Raptors: $34,996,296 (plus incentives)
  6. Blake Griffin, Pistons: $34,449,964
  7. Paul George, Clippers: $33,005,556
  8. Jimmy Butler, Heat: $32,742,000
    Tobias Harris, Sixers: $32,742,000
    Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: $32,742,000
    Klay Thompson, Warriors: $32,742,000
    Kemba Walker, Celtics: $32,742,000
  9. Gordon Hayward, Celtics: $32,700,690 (15% trade kicker)
  10. Mike Conley, Jazz: $32,511,624
  11. Kyrie Irving, Nets: $31,742,000 (plus incentives; 15% trade kicker)
  12. Khris Middleton, Bucks: $30,603,448
  13. Paul Millsap, Nuggets: $30,350,000 (plus incentives)
  14. Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers: $29,802,321
  15. Kevin Love, Cavaliers: $28,942,830
  16. Al Horford, Sixers: $28,000,000
    Nikola Vucevic, Magic: $28,000,000
  17. DeMar DeRozan, Spurs: $27,739,975
  18. CJ McCollum, Trail Blazers: $27,556,959
  19. Joel Embiid, Sixers: $27,504,630
    Nikola Jokic, Nuggets: $27,504,630
    Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves: $27,504,630
  20. Devin Booker, Suns: $27,285,000
    Kristaps Porzingis, Mavericks: $27,285,000
    D’Angelo Russell, Warriors: $27,285,000
    Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves: $27,285,000
  21. Otto Porter, Bulls: $27,250,576
  22. Andre Drummond, Pistons: $27,093,018 (8% trade kicker)
  23. Bradley Beal, Wizards: $27,093,018
    Anthony Davis, Lakers: $27,093,018
    Hassan Whiteside, Trail Blazers: $27,093,018
  24. Jrue Holiday, Pelicans: $26,231,111 (plus incentives)
  25. LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs: $26,000,000 (15% trade kicker)
  26. Steven Adams, Thunder: $25,842,697 (7.5% trade kicker)
  27. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: $25,842,697
  28. Marc Gasol, Raptors: $25,595,700
  29. Nicolas Batum, Hornets: $25,565,217
  30. Chandler Parsons, Hawks: $25,102,512
  31. Rudy Gobert, Jazz: $25,008,427 (plus incentives)
  32. Harrison Barnes, Kings: $24,147,727
  33. Serge Ibaka, Raptors: $23,271,604
  34. Danilo Gallinari, Thunder: $22,615,559
  35. Victor Oladipo, Pacers: $21,000,000

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Community Shootaround: Biggest World Cup Competition For USA?

August 29th, 2019 at 9:38pm CST by clarkcrum

Danny Chau of The Ringer has taken a look at the five teams he opines have the best chance to knock off Team USA at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. He notes that Team USA is still the favorite, but it’s become clear that the playing field is more level than it’s been in a long while.

In Chau’s view, the biggest threat is Serbia, led by one of the top players in the tournament – Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic. USA’s opponent in the 2016 Olympic gold medal game, Serbia has a very tall roster that includes Boban Marjanovic, Nemanja Bjelica, and Bogdan Bogdanovic in addition to Jokic.

In addition to Serbia, Chau lists France (led by Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, and Frank Ntilikina), Greece (led by NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo), Spain (led by Marc Gasol and Ricky Rubio), and Lithuania (led by Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis).

We want to know what you think. Will Team USA have trouble with one of the aforementioned teams? Will they win another Gold? With another team not listed above be the surprise of the 2019 FIBA World Cup and knock off Team USA? Please leave your responses in the space below.

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