Eastern Notes: Gasol, Carter, Simmons, Booker
With Kawhi Leonard gone from Toronto, veteran big man Marc Gasol becomes even more important to the Raptors’ success this season and beyond than he was during the team’s memorable run to a title during the 2018/19 campaign, writes Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer.
With Leonard back home in California, forward Pascal Siakam becomes the undisputed future of the Raptors, with his development into a star of paramount concern for Toronto’s long term outlook. And as Tjarks analyzes, Siakam is at his best – or at least was last year – when playing alongside Gasol.
For one, Siakam loves to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim, so it’s important to play him with a center who can shoot well enough from the outside to drag Siakam’s defender out of the paint.
Additionally, Siakam is not yet an elite play-maker, so it helps to have other players like Gasol around him who can keep everyone else involved in the offense while Siakam plays in attack mode.
Finally, Gasol provides a large body that Toronto can use during the regular season to bang with big Eastern Conference centers like Joel Embiid over the course of an 82-game season. As Tjarks analogizes, Gasol essentially acts as a lead blocker for Siakam, clearing obstacles for Siakam to thrive.
There’s more tonight from the Eastern Conference:
- With his daughter relatively nearby in Charlotte and a future in broadcasting in mind, Hawks guard Vince Carter told The Ringer’s Winging It podcast (h/t to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that returning to Atlanta was a great opportunity for him to begin focusing on life after basketball while still playing a final season in the NBA.
- After agreeing to one-year contract with free agent guard Kobi Simmons, the Hornets G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, acquired the 22-year-old Arizona product’s NBAGL rights, per Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
- Free agent forward Trevor Booker attended his scheduled workout with the Bucks this week, reports Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. The Bucks only have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, so it’s possible Booker could end up competing with Dragan Bender for Milwaukee’s final standard roster spot if he signs with the club.
Colangelo Won’t Forget World Cup Pullouts
Fresh off a second consecutive loss in the 2019 FIBA World Cup that will ensure USA finishes no better than seventh – the worst finish ever by an American men’s team in a major tournament – Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reports that USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo won’t forget those who backed out of commitments to play in the World Cup this summer when the time comes to start assembling the 2020 Tokyo Olympics roster.
“I can only say, you can’t help but notice and remember who you thought you were going to war with and who didn’t show up.” Colangelo said. “The players (we have) did everything they can do… But we went in with higher expectations in terms of roster and it didn’t kind of happen the way we were hopeful and anticipating and expecting. That, to me, was a big disappointment.”
As Reynolds notes, of the 35 players originally selected for the U.S. player pool, only four are in China for the World Cup. Many pullouts cited schedule concerns and lingering injuries, but it appears Colangelo isn’t satisfied with some of the players’ excuses.
“Going forward for USA Basketball, we’re going to need the cooperation of teams, agents and then there has to be communication with players 1-on-1 to solidify those commitments,” Colangelo said. “I am going to be anxious to see how many players reach out early to indicate that they wish and want and desire to play (in the 2020 Olympics)… But I’ll make this statement: It’s as much about maybe who we don’t want as much as who we want.”
Spurs Sign Jeff Ledbetter To Exhibit 10 Deal
Approximately three weeks after originally offering him a contract, the Spurs have signed guard Jeff Ledbetter to an Exhibit 10 deal, reports Nicola Lupo of Sportando.
Ledbetter, 31, is an Idaho product primarily known for his marksmanship from long range. He has spent the last three seasons with the Spurs’ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, but did leave the team early last season to play in Mexico.
In 101 career NBAGL games, Ledbetter has posted a respectable stat line of 11.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 3.2 APG. He figures to become an affiliate player in Austin for the fourth straight season.
With Ledbetter under contract, the Spurs now have 20 players on their offseason roster, including two-way players Drew Eubanks and Quinndary Weatherspoon.
Pistons Notes: Beasley, Casey, Wood, Rose
As we noted when Joe Johnson agreed to sign with the Pistons earlier today, no roster move will be required to create room on the 20-man roster for the veteran forward.
Although multiple reports suggested that Michael Beasley would be waived, ESPN’s Bobby Marks confirms (via Twitter) that Beasley and the Pistons never officially finalized their reported agreement, so Johnson will simply take the spot on the roster that Beasley would have.
Of course, preseason rosters are generally fluid, so if the Pistons still want to bring the former second overall pick in for training camp, they could eventually do so — they’d just have to cut another camp invitee. However, a source tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) that Beasley is unlikely to be in camp with Detroit.
Beasley still faces a five-game suspension for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, so if and when he signs with a new NBA team, he’ll have to miss his first five regular season contests for that club.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- A source tells Ellis (Twitter link) that Pistons head coach Dwane Casey was “very instrumental” in selling Johnson on signing with Detroit.
- Marks provides an update on the guarantee details on Christian Wood‘s contract, tweeting that Wood’s $1.65MM salary will only become partially guaranteed for $822K if he’s not waived by October 23. Wood figures to be Johnson’s primary competition for a regular season roster spot in Detroit.
- While Derrick Rose‘s goal of winning a championship with the Pistons is admirable, the former MVP’s top priority should be staying healthy, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com lauds the work that head of basketball operations Ed Stefanski has done in the last two offseasons to add young talent to the Pistons’ roster. Five players currently under contract with the team were drafted in the last two years, and that list doesn’t include 2017 lottery pick Luke Kennard, 22-year-old big man Thon Maker, or draft-and-stash prospect Deividas Sirvydis.
Details On Nene’s Contract Incentives
As we first relayed on Wednesday, the Rockets‘ new deal with Nene is an unusual one, structured to maximize his trade value. The two-year, $20MM contract has a $10MM cap hit for 2019/20, but only has a base value of approximately $2.56MM, an amount equivalent to the minimum salary for a 10-year veteran. The remaining $7.44MM on the deal is made up of “likely” incentives.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement dubs an incentive likely to be earned if the player met the criteria the year before, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the player will actually meet the criteria again in the following season.
In fact, in Nene’s case, the Rockets will probably try to ensure he doesn’t meet that criteria, since the more guaranteed money the veteran center earns, the less trade value his contract has.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks has the full details on Nene’s incentives, which are as follows:
- Base salary: $2,564,753
- If Nene appears in at least 10 games and his team wins 52+ games: $2,435,247 bonus (cap hit increases to $5MM).
- If Nene appears in at least 25 games and his team wins 52+ games: $2,500,000 bonus (cap hit increases to $7.5MM).
- If Nene appears in at least 40 games and his team wins 52+ games: $2,500,000 bonus (cap hit increases to $10MM).
As Marks points out, all those incentives are considered likely because Nene played in 42 games last season and the Rockets had 53 wins. It seems safe to assume the 37-year-old won’t appear in as many games this season as Houston attempts to limit his earnings.
However, there’s another important detail worth noting here, as Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights outlines: If Nene were to be traded to a team that didn’t win 52+ games in 2018/19 (ie. any team besides the Warriors, Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Bucks, or Raptors), his contract incentives would change to “unlikely” and would no longer count against his cap hit.
While it may seem as if that discrepancy would complicate Nene’s trade market, it’s actually a good thing for both the Rockets and their potential trade partners, as Siegel explains. In that trade scenario, the Rockets would still get to count Nene as $10MM in outgoing salary, while the other team would only consider him a $2.56MM incoming piece.
In other words, let’s say the Rockets swapped Nene for another player with a $10MM cap hit. That’d be an even match for Houston, but the team acquiring the big man would technically be sending out a $10MM player for a $2.56MM player and could create a traded player exception worth $7.44MM.
The second year of Nene’s contract is fully non-guaranteed, but would become partially guaranteed if he’s kept under contract beyond February 15, 2020, just over a week after this season’s trade deadline. So, whether or not the Rockets trade him, Nene may hit the buyout market in February.
For more details on how Nene’s contract works, be sure to check out Marks’ report and Siegel’s analysis in full. If you still have questions, leave them in the comment section below.
Goran Dragic Talks Trade Rumors, Butler, Health
Shortly after free agency opened on the night of June 30, the Heat appeared to have a trade in place to send Goran Dragic to Dallas in order to help make room under the team’s hard cap for swingman Jimmy Butler. However, a miscommunication between the Heat and Mavericks scuttled the deal, and while Dragic remained on the trade block for at least another day or two, he’ll ultimately return to Miami to start the 2019/20 season.
As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald relays, Dragic missed out on much of that trade-rumor drama on the first night of free agency, since he was asleep in Slovenia when those reports surfaced.
“Of course, the next day, in the morning, I received a lot of texts,” Dragic said. “It was a little bit crazy, because at first you didn’t know if the deal went through or not. So a lot of my friends called me and were asking me. But I did not have a clue, because I had just woke up.”
Interestingly, Dragic said he didn’t speak to his agent or the Heat about the trade rumors and opted to “just let it go” when it became clear he’d be staying put. As he prepares to enter a contract year, Dragic expressed enthusiasm about Miami’s offseason moves (“I think we’re a better team”) and touched on a handful of other topics.
Here are some highlights, via Chiang:
On the acquisition of Jimmy Butler:
“I mean, he’s a great competitor. You can see that on the court. I don’t know him personally, but as a player, when I play against him he’s really a tough defender, he’s really vocal on the floor. I think he sets an example for the other players. I think he’s a huge addition for us, especially to lead this group. He can play on both ends, defense and on offense. He’s a great addition to our team.”
On the health of his right knee, which was an issue in 2018/19:
“I’m good, I’m good. I was working hard. My leg is way stronger than last year. Basically the right leg is stronger than the left one. I’m doing some basketball drills, some lifting weights. Everything is going like we planned.”
On his upcoming free agency in 2020:
“If I’m honest, I don’t even think about it, because I’m more in the present, because I’m trying to get back to being healthy this year. So this is my priority, just to stay focused and do my job. And when the time is going to come, then I’m going to think about my future. So, it doesn’t make sense to think it right now, because the season still didn’t start. And I haven’t felt how my body is going to react. So, we’ll see.”
Blazers Sign Troy Caupain, London Perrantes To Exhibit 10 Deals
The Trail Blazers have officially added two players to their training camp roster, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Troy Caupain and London Perrantes have signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the club.
Caupain, 23, has spent his first two professional seasons playing for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s G League affiliate. The 6’4″ guard was on a G League contract in his rookie season and on a two-way deal with Orlando last season, appearing in four contests at the NBA level. In 99 career NBAGL games, he has recorded 16.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 5.4 APG on .457/.367/.812 shooting.
As for Perrantes, the 24-year-old point guard appeared in 14 games with the Cavaliers and 35 with the Canton Charge during the 2017/18 season while on a two-way contract with Cleveland. The former Virginia standout spent last season playing in France, first for Limoges CSP and then for Cholet Basket.
Because they don’t have a G League affiliate of their own, the Blazers’ options for camp invitees are limited. While they can sign Exhibit 10 contracts, those players won’t be eligible to receive $50K bonuses if they spent the 2019/20 in the NBAGL. Still, Portland does have an open two-way contract slot available alongside Jaylen Hoard, so one of the club’s Exhibit 10 players could end up filling that opening.
With Caupain and Perrantes under contract, the Blazers now have 18 players on their offseason roster, including 14 on guaranteed contracts, Hoard on a two-way deal, and Moses Brown also on an Exhibit 10.
Malcolm Delaney To Play In Spain
Free agent guard Malcolm Delaney has agreed to a contract with Spanish team Barcelona, the club announced in a press release. According to the announcement, it’s a one-year deal with a second-year option.
A former Virginia Tech standout, Delaney spent two seasons with the Hawks from 2016-18, averaging 5.7 PPG and 2.8 APG in 127 total games in Atlanta. Outside of that two-year NBA stint, Delaney has spent his professional career overseas, playing for teams in France, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, and China. He was a member of the Guangdong Southern Tigers last season.
Delaney had been seeking an opportunity to compete for an NBA roster spot this fall, having worked out for the Warriors and the Knicks. However, it appears no appealing options materialized for the 30-year-old.
A report last week indicated that Delaney was in negotiations with Barcelona. He’ll join a pair of notable NBA players who signed with the team earlier this offseason — Nikola Mirotic and Alex Abrines are among the new additions for the Spanish club.
Hornets Rumors: Kemba, Vets, Future Plans, McDaniels
Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak tells Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer that the team was somewhat blindsided by Kemba Walker earning All-NBA honors and becoming eligible for a super-max contract earlier this year. Although Walker wasn’t demanding the full super-max (approximately $221MM over five years), the gap between what he sought and what Charlotte was willing to offer was too significant to bridge the gap.
“We had great years with him, and we didn’t get into the playoffs,” Kupchak said of the All-Star point guard. “What makes us think that next year (would) be different? I’ve got to step back and look at where we’ve been and where we’re going. Chart out a course that gives us the best chance to build something that is sustainable for more than a year or two.”
The Hornets have faced criticism for not getting what they could for Walker in a pre-deadline trade in February, but Kupchak tells Bonnell that the club was confident in its chances of re-signing Kemba at that point and wasn’t impressed with the offers it received on the trade market.
“Almost every offer revolved around draft picks. It was always lottery-protected,” Kupchak said. “When you do something like that, you’re saying you’re going to draft a player in the teens, we don’t know how good he’s going to be, and it’s going to take three or four years (to realize value). We wanted to keep Kemba — under the right conditions.”
We don’t know the specifics on what the Hornets were offered for Walker, so we’ll take Kupchak at his word that those offers didn’t provide enough value to be worthwhile.
Still, it’s fair to take the front office to task for the assertion that it didn’t see Walker’s All-NBA nod and super-max eligibility coming. The former UConn standout scored 41 points on opening night last fall and played at an elite level all season, singlehandedly keeping Charlotte in the playoff hunt. To claim the team was blindsided by Kemba’s super-max eligibility is either disingenuous or signals a worrisome lack of foresight.
Here’s more from Bonnell on the Hornets:
- Head coach James Borrego is under no obligation to give significant minutes to Nicolas Batum, Bismack Biyombo, Marvin Williams, Cody Zeller, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who will earn a combined $85MM in 2019/20. “I’m not going to coach a team based on contracts, what you’re making, where you were drafted, if you were drafted,” Borrego said. “To me, that’s not my job. My job is to get the most out of them, whether they were drafted or not drafted.”
- While those veterans will get a chance to compete for roles, Borrego wants to make sure the team’s young prospects play consistent minutes, either in Charlotte or in the G League. “We’re not going to have draft picks on our bench who are just sitting there,” the head coach told Bonnell. “If they’re not playing meaningful minutes for us in Charlotte, I promise you they will be playing minutes in Greensboro.”
- The Hornets “didn’t even contemplate” using their mid-level exception this offseason, according to Kupchak, who explained to Bonnell that no one in that price range would have “changed the course of this organization.”
- The Hornets also won’t rely on free agency going forward to reshape their roster, preferring instead to use any future cap flexibility to re-sign young players or to accommodate trades. “Free agent signings, for us, are not something we need to concentrate on going forward. We’re not going to get the ‘Big Fish,'” Kupchak said. “We have to create a culture where those kinds of players would want to come here. And, quite frankly, we’re not there yet. For us to hoard cap room (for that purpose) is not in the best interest of the organization.”
- In a tweet, Bonnell adds a couple more Hornets-related items, reporting that there’s no indication the club is involved in ongoing trade talks that would jettison a veteran contract. Additionally, Charlotte would like to get unsigned second-rounder Jalen McDaniels locked up in a developmental role, per Bonnell. It sounds like the team’s preference may be for McDaniels to sign a G League contract.
Pacific Notes: Durant, Thompson, Lakers’ DPE, Kings
Kevin Durant left the Warriors because he wasn’t able to find the family atmosphere he wanted, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Durant got the championships and individual awards he was seeking when he signed with Golden State three years ago, but as he indicated in a Wall Street Journal interview this week, he couldn’t be part of the organization in the same way that Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala were.
Poole notes that Durant was impressed by the closeness those four players displayed when they came to the Hamptons to recruit him in 2016. That influenced his decision, but he still felt like an outsider. He wasn’t drafted to the organization like Curry, Thompson and Green, and he wasn’t instrumental in the Warriors’ first title in 40 years the way that Iguodala was.
Poole adds that the family dynamic faded over Durant’s three years with Golden State as players spent more time with their actual families. The Currys had two more children, Iguodala got married and Green became more devoted to fatherhood. Green was a close friend for Durant in his first season with the team, but he hung out with DeMarcus Cousins more often last year.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Steve Kerr tells Joe Vardon of The Athletic that it’s going to be like “Year 1” as he guides a much different Warriors roster. While many key pieces are gone from the championship years, Kerr said surviving while Thompson heals from a torn ACL will be the biggest challenge. “Losing Kevin, Andre, Shaun (Livingston) obviously, those are huge losses,” he said. “Losing Klay on top of all that really changes the way we’re going to have to play at both ends. Klay was always an integral part of everything. Movement on offense, but also the guarding of the ballhandler on defense, switching onto bigs. So until he gets back, we’ve got to re-imagine everything and adapt accordingly.”
- The Lakers are seeking a disabled player exception after Cousins’ injury, but it’s likely just a tool that may be used later in the season, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. There are few options who could make a difference at a $1.75MM salary, which is half of what Cousins is owed. However, minimum contracts decrease through the year, and the DPE will be more valuable once buyout season arrives.
- Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic will be competing not just for minutes in the Kings‘ backcourt, but for contract extensions as well, notes James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area.