Jason Terry Joins Texas Legends As Assistant GM
The Mavericks‘ G League affiliate – the Texas Legends – has added Jason Terry to its front office staff as an assistant GM.
“We are thrilled to have Jason come on board,” said Legends President/General Manager Malcolm Farmer in a statement. “His resume speaks for itself. He had a tenured NBA career for a reason, and to have him bring that skillset and work ethic to the table is invaluable for our team and staff.”
Terry, who previously won a championship with the Mavericks, will be assisting the G League club with all aspects of basketball operations. Terry spent eight of his 19 years in the NBA with the Mavericks, appearing in 619 games for the club.
“It’s great to begin my front office career here,” said Terry. “The Dallas area has been home to me and my family for many years and the Mavericks franchise has always been family. To get to work with this organization in this capacity is exciting. I look forward to getting started.”
NBA Execs Anticipate Active In-Season Trade Market
The NBA’s trade market has been particularly active during the 2019 offseason, with teams completing a total of 43 deals since the 2018/19 regular season ended. According to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, executives around the league expect that trend to continue into the 2019/20 season, leading up to the February trade deadline.
“We’ve been getting calls all summer,” a general manager told Deveney. “There are a lot of things we are considering. The dust settles a little, you’re aware of your weaknesses and your holes and so you find ways to address that. I think we’re going to see more of that than usual. I think if you look at the market, there is going to be a very brisk trade market this winter for a few reasons.”
As Deveney explains, one of the reasons why teams expect a “brisk” trade market is the lack of a clear-cut championship favorite. The Lakers, Clippers, Rockets, Jazz, Bucks, Sixers, and a handful of other clubs all have title aspirations, and some of those teams may believe that one or two in-season moves could help push them over the top. Meanwhile, clubs a level or two below that top tier of contenders might feel pressure to make additional moves, especially if they made major changes during the 2019 offseason.
“A lot of teams made big moves and spent a lot of their owners’ money,” a front office executive said to Deveney. “If things don’t start the way they want, you’re under pressure to make some short-term decisions and that should drive a lot of trade talk the whole year.”
A weak 2020 free agent class may also contribute to additional in-season trade activity, Deveney notes. If Anthony Davis opts to re-sign with the Lakers, the top unrestricted free agents on the market next summer will be players like DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, and Kyle Lowry — and perhaps Mike Conley and Gordon Hayward if they turn down lucrative player options.
Those are good players, but they represent a step down from a 2019 free agent class headlined by the likes of Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, and Kemba Walker. And if teams don’t believe they’ll have a chance to land impact players in free agency, it may be in their best interest to be more aggressive filling their projected 2020 cap space via trades.
2019 Offseason In Review: Cleveland Cavaliers
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2019 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2019/20 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Signings:
- Standard contracts:
- None
- Two-way contracts:
- Dean Wade
- Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Marques Bolden: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Daniel Hamilton: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- J.P. Macura: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Jarell Martin: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Alex Robinson: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Sindarius Thornwell: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Malik Newman: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).
- Levi Randolph: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).
Trades:
- Acquired the draft rights to Kevin Porter Jr. (No. 30 pick) from the Pistons in exchange for the Jazz’s 2020 second-round pick, the Trail Blazers’ 2021 second-round pick, the Trail Blazers’ 2023 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected), and cash ($5MM).
Draft picks:
- 1-5: Darius Garland — Signed to rookie contract.
- 1-26: Dylan Windler — Signed to rookie contract.
- 1-30: Kevin Porter Jr. — Signed to rookie contract (worth less than 120% of the rookie scale).
Departing players:
- Deng Adel (two-way)
- Jaron Blossomgame (two-way)
- Marquese Chriss
- Channing Frye (retired)
- David Nwaba
- J.R. Smith (waived)
- Nik Stauskas
Other offseason news:
- Parted ways with head coach Larry Drew.
- Hired John Beilein as head coach.
- Hired J.B. Bickerstaff as associate head coach.
- Hired Lindsay Gottlieb as assistant coach.
- Team owner Dan Gilbert hospitalized with stroke symptoms.
Salary cap situation:
- Remained over the cap.
- Carrying approximately $129.77MM in salary.
- Taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,718,000) still available.
- Note: The Cavaliers are below the tax apron ($138.93MM) and could theoretically use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and/or bi-annual exception, but wouldn’t be able to use those exceptions in full while staying below the apron.
Story of the summer:
LeBron James hasn’t suited up for the Cavaliers since June of 2018, but the franchise remains very much in transition mode following his departure. Most of the team’s expensive contracts for veteran players who were acquired to play alongside James won’t expire until after the 2019/20 season, meaning they were still clogging the cap this summer.
With all those contracts on the books, the Cavs had little flexibility to do anything in free agency. And since most of those vets on expiring deals don’t have positive trade value, the club also didn’t have much leverage to get anything done on the trade market.
As such, the Cavs had essentially completed their offseason work by the end of draft night. The team hired a new head coach in the spring, then added three first-round prospects at the draft. One of those three first-rounders – Kevin Porter Jr. – was acquired in Cleveland’s only trade in the offseason, and the cap-strapped club didn’t sign a single veteran free agent to a guaranteed contract.
While the Cavs may have liked to make a few more moves and accelerate their rebuild a little, their cap situation necessitated patience. The organization will be in a better position to be more active at this year’s trade deadline or in the 2020 offseason.
Sefolosha, Brewer, Felton, Others To Attend Rockets’ Mini-Camp
1:41pm: Mbah a Moute, in a change of plans, won’t be attending the Rockets’ mini-camp in Vegas after all, tweets Iko.
12:13pm: A handful of the most noteworthy veteran free agents on the market will take part in the Rockets‘ upcoming mini-camp in Las Vegas, according to multiple reports. In a series of tweets, Kelly Iko and Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic reported that the following players will participate in the mini-camp:
With the exception of Jones, who has spent six seasons in the NBA, all of these players have more than a decade of NBA experience under their belts, which could make them good fits for a veteran Rockets team seeking depth as it looks to make a championship run this season.
[RELATED: Iman Shumpert turns down Rockets’ contract offer]
Although there’s some positional variety among the free agents who are participating in the Rockets’ mini-camp, it appears the team’s primary focus is on wings. Brewer, Mbah a Moute, Sefolosha, and Young all fit that bill. Mbah a Moute and Sefolosha, in particular, could be nice fits in Houston if they’re healthy, given their three-and-D abilities.
None of these veterans are currently under contract with the Rockets, who are carrying 18 players on their offseason roster. However, a strong showing at this week’s mini-camp could very well result in training camp invites for one or two of these veterans. Houston could bring even more of these players to camp if the team is willing to cut any of its current players to create extra spots on the 20-man roster.
No NBA team has fewer players on fully guaranteed deals than the Rockets, so a couple of the team’s regular season roster spots figure to be up for grabs in the preseason.
And-Ones: Team USA, Darko, G League, NBA 2K
While Team USA’s seventh-place finish at the 2019 World Cup in China wasn’t exactly a catastrophic outcome, given the stateside apathy toward non-Olympic international tournaments, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo admitted to Chris Mannix of SI.com that the result will nag at him for the next year.
“There has not been any disappointment around USA Basketball in a while,” Colangelo said. “This will bother me until the 2020 Olympics.”
Colangelo, who believes that Team USA could still have won this year’s tournament if not for injuries to Kyle Kuzma and Jayson Tatum, said that two or three of the players on the World Cup roster have already earned spots on the 2020 Olympic squad. While Colangelo didn’t name those specific players, Mannix surmises that Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell are good bets.
As for how USA Basketball will fill out the rest of the Olympic roster, Colangelo suggested that star players interested in participating will be considered on an individual basis, though he hinted that he’d look more favorably on those who didn’t withdraw at the last minute this year.
“The disappointment I feel is not from the guys who said they wouldn’t play,” Colangelo said. “It’s those that said they would, and then backed out.”
Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world…
- Former No. 2 overall pick Darko Milicic, who hasn’t played basketball professionally since suiting up for the Celtics in the 2012/13 season, is reportedly making a comeback overseas. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays a report from Basketball Sphere, which indicates that Milicic is joining a team in his hometown of Novi Sad, Serbia, where he’ll primarily focus on mentoring younger players.
- Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops passes along the G League incentive bonuses for the 2019/20 season, which include a modest $3,000 bonus for earning NBAGL MVP honors.
- The NBA and NBA 2K developer Take-Two Interactive are expanding their esports partnership, according to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, who writes that the NBA 2K20 Global Championship will be launched this October. The tournament will run from October to February, with the championship winner taking home $100K.
- Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights takes a deep dive into NBA salary figures to see if he can determine the average salary for a starter – or a starter-caliber player – in 2019/20.
Iman Shumpert Turns Down Rockets’ Contract Offer
Free agent swingman Iman Shumpert has opted to decline a contract offer from the Rockets and won’t be attending the team’s mini-camp in Las Vegas this week, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Shumpert made this decision after “months of discussions.”
Shumpert, 29, is one of the most notable veteran free agents still on the market. The eight-year veteran, who has spent time with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Kings, and Rockets since entering the league, averaged 7.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.8 APG with a .374/.348/.800 shooting line last season in 62 total games for Sacramento and Houston.
It’s not clear what the Rockets’ offer to Shumpert looked like, but I can’t imagine it was particularly lucrative, since Houston is inching dangerously close to luxury tax territory. Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops offers an intriguing tidbit, tweeting that Shumpert is looking at other options because the Rockets “reneged on their initial promise” to him.
This is entirely my speculation, but I wonder if the deal the Rockets proposed to Shumpert shared some similarities with the incentive-packed one Nene signed. After all, it seems unlikely that a straightforward minimum-salary offer would’ve required “months of discussions.”
Shumpert has also been viewed as a possible sign-and-trade candidate if the Rockets decide to aggressively pursue a trade for Andre Iguodala, but nothing appears imminent on that front.
Five 2020/21 Rookie Scale Option Decisions To Watch
Because the fourth-year team options on rookie scale contracts are significantly more lucrative than third-year options and players selected at the top of the draft receive the highest-paying contracts, no rookie scale option for 2020/21 is worth more than Markelle Fultz‘s. Now that the Magic have officially picked up that option, Fultz will have a $12,288,697 cap charge locked in for the ’20/21 season.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2020/21 Rookie Scale Team Options]
That option was by no means a lock to be exercised. Fultz has only appeared in 33 career NBA games and hasn’t played at all since he arrived in Orlando at last season’s trade deadline. The former No. 1 overall pick has been sidelined since last November with a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome, and the Magic have provided few clues about when he might be ready to return to the court, simply saying that he’s making good progress.
Given how highly touted he was as a prospect, the 21-year-old is still a very intriguing project, and it makes sense that the Magic would want to lock him in for an extra year beyond this season to see if he can deliver on his upside. But that $12.3MM cap hit is a hefty one for a player on a rookie scale contract. It couldn’t have been a quick decision.
While Fultz’s option has been exercised, there are several other players on rookie scale contracts whose 2020/21 options aren’t necessarily slam dunks. Here are five players worth keeping an eye on as the October 31 decision deadline approaches:
Josh Jackson, Grizzlies ($8,930,242): The fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Jackson is joining a new team this summer after two up-and-down years in Phoenix. The terms of the trade that sent him to Memphis suggest that Jackson’s value isn’t particularly high — the Suns had to attach a pair of second-round picks to move his contract. At this point, it seems more likely than not that the Grizzlies will turn down Jackson’s fourth-year option.- Frank Ntilikina, Knicks ($6,176,578): A solid World Cup showing has boosted Ntilikina’s stock a little heading into training camp, but the Knicks still don’t appear all that eager to have him play a significant role for this year’s squad. The team brought in Elfrid Payton in free agency and seems more invested in Dennis Smith Jr. than Ntilikina. With the 2020/21 cap expected to come in at $116MM, a $6.2MM cap hit is barely a drop in the bucket, so I think it’s worth betting on the young point guard, but we’ll see what New York’s front office has in mind.
- Justin Jackson, Mavericks ($5,029,650): Acquired in the Harrison Barnes trade at February’s deadline, Jackson played well for Dallas down the stretch, averaging 8.2 PPG on .484/.372/.724 shooting in 29 games (11 starts). That strong second-half audition likely helped secure his $5MM+ salary for the 2020/21 season.
- Caleb Swanigan, Kings ($3,665,787): As a former No. 26 overall pick, Swanigan’s 2020/21 option salary won’t break the bank, but with new contracts on tap for Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Kings will likely be looking to maximize their flexibility for next summer. That could mean declining their fourth-year option on Swanigan, who was acquired in a midseason trade with Portland last season.
- Tony Bradley, Jazz ($3,542,060): Bradley has only appeared in 12 total NBA games during his first two NBA seasons, having been buried on the depth chart behind Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, and Ekpe Udoh. With Favors and Udoh no longer on the roster, Ed Davis was brought in to back up Gobert, but there could be an opportunity for Bradley as Utah’s third center. Given his lack of NBA playing time so far, it’s hard to get a sense of how seriously the Jazz are invested in Bradley, so the club’s decision on his fourth-year option should provide a hint.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nuggets Notes: Load Management, Duval, Cancar, Backcourt
Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are all candidates for load management in order to keep them fresh for the playoffs, Nick Kosmider of The Athletic writes. While coach Michael Malone isn’t a fan of the tactic, an occasional night off for the trio could make some sense, Kosmider continues. Age is a factor for Millsap, while there isn’t a lot of depth behind Jokic and Murray at their respective positions.
We have more on the Nuggets:
- Free agent point guard Trevon Duval worked out for the Nuggets last week, Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops tweets. Duval was a two-way player for the Rockets last season and became a free agent when the team didn’t give him a qualifying offer this summer. He was claimed by Houston in March after the Bucks waived him.
- Rookie forward Vlatko Cancar isn’t the kind of player that brings people out of their seats, as he told Eric Spyropoulos of the team’s website. Cancar signed with Denver, which drafted him in the second round in 2017, after spending last season in Spain. “I’m not a spectacular, flashy player,” he said. “I’ll be the player that gets the job done and helps the team be in the best position it can be.”
- The starting backcourt of Murray and Gary Harris is ranked among the top five in the league by Bleacher Report.
Community Shootaround: East Also-Rans
All of the major offseason moves have been made. Training camp is just around the corner.
We will soon find out whether those changes improved some of the also-rans last season. In terms of the Eastern Conference, the seven teams that failed to reach the playoffs approached the summer in many different ways.
The Heat made the boldest move. They got a commitment from one of the top free agents, Jimmy Butler, and turned it into a sign-and-trade. Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside were sent packing in that four-team swap and Miami also acquired reserve big man Meyers Leonard.
The Hornets lost their All-Star point guard Kemba Walker and worked out a sign-and-trade with the Celtics to acquire Terry Rozier. The Wizards resisted trade overtures for Bradley Beal and replaced injured John Wall with stopgap veterans Ish Smith and Isaiah Thomas. They also declined their option on Jabari Parker.
The Hawks continue to embrace improvement via lottery picks, adding De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish to a young core that includes Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and John Collins.
The Bulls added point guard Coby White in the draft but also acquired another guard, Tomas Satoransky, via sign-and-trade and inked veteran forward Thaddeus Young to a three-year deal.
Kevin Love remains on the Cavaliers’ roster for the time being but they’ve decided to build around young players. They surprised many people around the league by hiring Michigan coach John Beilein to spearhead that process.
The Knicks struck out on the major free agents, so they signed a bunch of second-tier free agents — Bobby Portis, Julius Randle, Marcus Morris, Taj Gibson and Elfrid Payton — on short-term contracts after drafting point guard RJ Barrett.
That brings us to our question of the day: Which non-playoff team from the Eastern Conference last season is most likely to make the postseason and why?
Please take to the comments section to voice your opinion. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Lineups, Fournier, Roc Nation, Gasol
The league has made a proposal requiring teams to reveal their starting lineups at least 30 minutes prior to tip-off, Zach Lowe of ESPN tweets. Currently, teams only have to issue their lineups 10 minutes before the start of the game. The move would most likely facilitate wagering, particularly with daily fantasy leagues, who would have more advance knowledge of any lineup changes.
We have more from the basketball world:
- Magic swingman Evan Fournier, who played for bronze-medalist France in the FIBA World Cup, was disappointed that many NBA stars chose to skip the event, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports. “To be honest, like, when you look at (LeBron) James, KD (Kevin Durant), all these guys, they came here already, they won,” Fournier said. “Whatever, it’s fine. Friends of mine like Tobias (Harris), I thought it was a great opportunity for him to see something different and compete. I don’t think they realize how beneficial this is for their career.”
- Veteran agent Roger Montgomery has resigned from Roc Nation Sports to focus on other management projects, Jabari Young of The Athletic tweets. Montgomery negotiated Rudy Gay‘s two-year, $32MM contract with the Spurs and also represented Hornets lottery pick PJ Washington.
- Marc Gasol showed he’s still an effective player during the World Cup, Tom Ziller of SB Nation writes. Gasol was the defensive and offensive anchor of Spain’s gold-medal winning team and that provides hope for the Raptors that they can still make some noise in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, maligned point guard Frank Ntilikina showed he could be an elite defender for the Knicks with the way he handled Kemba Walker while playing for France.