Kyrie Irving To See Specialist, Out Indefinitely
Kyrie Irving, who is nursing knee and shoulder injuries, isn’t expected to return to the court anytime soon, as Malika Andrews of ESPN.com relays. The Nets‘ point guard is scheduled to see another specialist for this shoulder this week.
“That’s about all I can tell you,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “His shoulder continues to bother him. That’s about the extent of it now.”
Irving missed 26 games earlier this season because of shoulder woes. He should have a clearer timetable for a return after seeing the specialist.
Atkinson said that Irving didn’t re-aggravate the injury on a specific play or during a specific practice. It’s something that has been lingering.
“A cortisone shot lasts as long as it can,” Irving said back in December. “You either continue to get cortisone shots, which is obviously detrimental to your health and your muscles, or you go get arthroscopic surgery. For me, it’s just about being able to go back out there after the right amount of rehab, the right amount of rest and recovery and see what we can do for the rest of the season and then re- evaluate after a few months.”
The Nets inked Irving to a four-year deal during the offseason. He has missed a total of 33 games for the club because of his various ailments.
Reggie Jackson Bought Out By Pistons, Plans To Join Clippers
5:07pm: The Pistons have issued a press release formally announcing they’ve reached a buyout agreement with Jackson and have waived him.
3:24pm: Veteran point guard Reggie Jackson has reached a buyout agreement with the Pistons, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Jackson intends to sign with the Clippers once he clears waivers and reaches free agency.
Jackson, 29, has spent the last five years in Detroit, having been acquired from the Thunder in a three-team trade in February 2015. He signed a five-year, $80MM deal with the Pistons a few months later and is now in the final season of that contract. His buyout agreement with the club figures to slightly reduce his $18,086,956 cap hit for 2019/20.
The Pistons had hoped that giving Jackson the reins as the team’s starting point guard – after he began his career as Russell Westbrook‘s backup – would clear a path for him to develop into a star. Although the former Boston College standout had some productive seasons in Detroit, his overall numbers as a Piston (16.2 PPG, 5.6 APG, .425/.354/.851 shooting) fell short of that star level.
Jackson’s name surfaced frequently in trade rumors over the last couple years, but his rising cap hit made it difficult for the Pistons to find a deal that upgraded their roster. Even at this year’s deadline, as the team pivoted toward a rebuild and accepted a very modest package for Andre Drummond, Detroit apparently didn’t find a trade offer it liked for Jackson.
With the Pistons headed for a lottery finish, there was little incentive to keep Jackson around for the rest of the season. He’ll now finish the year with the Clippers, who have until this Saturday to sign a player and get back to the 14-player roster minimum.
As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN notes (via Twitter), L.A. could still use a defensive wing or a rim protector, but Jackson will give the team another ball-handler and a veteran scorer off the bench.
The Lakers and Clippers, who were poised to compete for Darren Collison if he had opted to come out of retirement, were each said to be in the market for a point guard. Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter) that the Lakers also had interest in Jackson — they’ll have to look elsewhere if they still hope to address the position.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Buyout Market Watch]
Jackson had still been owed $5.7MM of his ’19/20 salary, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. While we don’t know the exact terms of the buyout agreement, the veteran guard likely agreed to give back a prorated portion of the minimum salary. If he’s officially released by the Pistons today and joins the Clippers on Thursday, he’d make $734,025 on his new contract, with a $512,721 cap charge.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
J.B. Bickerstaff Expected To Become New Cavaliers Head Coach
John Beilein is not expected to be the coach of the Cavaliers for much longer. According to Shams Charania and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, resolution of the situation is expected to come on Wednesday.
Sources tell the publication that Beilein is expected to walk away from the remainder of his five-year contract, which is worth approximately $4-5MM per season. The final year of that deal is a team option, however.
J.B. Bickerstaff is expected to get the promotion to head coach. Bickerstaff’s father and former long-time NBA coach, Bernie Bickerstaff, is a senior advisor with the franchise.
The younger Bickerstaff is in his first season as an associate head coach in Cleveland. He led the Grizzlies for two seasons previously, taking on the head coaching role first as an interim head coach during the 2017/18 season before becoming the official leader in 2018/19.
In addition to his head coaching experience, Bickerstaff spent five seasons on Houston’s bench and served as an interim head coach briefly for the Rockets. He began his coaching career at the age of 24 as an assistant on his father’s Bobcats expansion team.
Beilein, who is 67 years old, left Michigan to be the coach of the Cavaliers last summer. Sources tell Charania and Lloyd that several factors played a part in him stepping down, including the fact that the details surrounding his son’s resignation at Niagara University have taken a toll on him.
Cavs Notes: Beilein, Drew, Drummond, Cap Room
With multiple members of the Cavaliers‘ front office away on vacations over the All-Star break, the plan is for them to reconvene in Cleveland on Wednesday, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. If there’s still no resolution by that point on John Beilein‘s status for the rest of the season, that resolution will likely come shortly thereafter. The Cavs are scheduled to resume play on Friday in Washington.
As we wait to see what Beilein and the Cavs decide, let’s round up a few other items out of Cleveland…
- Beilein apparently isn’t the first Cavaliers head coach to consider an in-season departure in recent years. On an episode of the Tampering podcast, Joe Vardon of The Athletic said that interim head coach Larry Drew wanted to step down at the All-Star break in 2018/19, but was talked out of it by his agent (hat tip to RealGM). That’s not a particularly shocking revelation, considering Drew said in January 2019, “I don’t know if I ever want to be a head coach again after this year.”
- Speaking to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, second-year Cavs guard Collin Sexton expressed enthusiasm about teaming up with newly-acquired center Andre Drummond. “It’s amazing, just knowing that we have a big man down there who’s going to block shots, run the floor and dunk,” Sexton said. “It’s amazing, and it’ll allow us on defense to be a lot more aggressive and be into the ball because we know that we have a big guy back there who can block shots.”
- Thanks to the NBA’s updated 2020/21 cap projection and a flurry of deadline trades, there will be far less league-wide cap room available this summer than initially expected, writes Danny Leroux of The Athletic. Leroux points to the Grizzlies and Cavaliers as two teams that significantly reduced their 2020 spending power as a result of in-season deals. Before acquiring Dante Exum and Drummond, Cleveland was on track to have nearly $36MM in space. Now, assuming Drummond doesn’t walk in free agency, the team projects to be over the cap.
Knicks To Target Scoring Point Guard In 2020 Draft?
With the Knicks‘ playoff chances for 2019/20 essentially dead, the team has its eye on the 2020 draft class. And according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, the Knicks’ scouting staff has been informed that the top priority for the club’s lottery pick is a scoring point guard.
Despite using their 2017 lottery selection on Frank Ntilikina and acquiring former top-10 picks such as Elfrid Payton and Dennis Smith Jr., the Knicks have been unable to secure a long-term answer at the point guard spot in recent years. It remains to be seen whether New York will find its answer in this year’s draft, but there should be some options, especially if the team remains in position to pick in the top half of the lottery.
Berman singles out LaMelo Ball as one possible target, noting that Leon Rose was expected to be Ball’s agent at CAA before Rose agreed to become the Knicks’ next president of basketball operations. Cole Anthony (UNC), Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State), Tyrese Maxey (Kentucky), and Killian Hayes (France) are other young guards who figure to be on the Knicks’ radar on draft day, says Berman. All those players are projected to come off the board between No. 4 (Ball) and No. 12 (Hayes) in ESPN’s latest mock draft (Insider link).
With the Knicks’ front office in a transition period, it can be tricky to know what to make of reports like these, since it’s unclear whether they reflect the preferences of interim head of basketball operations Scott Perry or incoming head of basketball operations Rose.
However, Berman writes that the Knicks’ aggressive pursuit of D’Angelo Russell at this month’s trade deadline was under Rose’s “consultation,” which suggests the veteran agent has had a voice in the front office even before he finishes tying up loose ends at CAA and officially joins the franchise. Russell, of course, would have perfectly fit the description of a scoring point guard.
According to Berman, the Knicks’ other priority in the draft will be a swingman with three-point range, something that RJ Barrett (.318 3PT%) hasn’t yet shown. Berman notes that New York could use the Clippers’ first-round pick to target that sort of player.
Mid-Level, Bi-Annual Projections For 2020/21
Under the NBA’s previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, the values of various exceptions like the mid-level and bi-annual were established years in advance, but the league’s current CBA tweaked how those exceptions are calculated.
Rather than being determined ahead of time, the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions – along with several other cap-related figures and exceptions – are dependent on the movement of the salary cap from year to year. If the cap increases by 5% from one league year to the next, the exceptions increase by the same rate.
As such, we don’t know yet exactly what those exceptions will be worth in 2020/21, but we can make an educated estimate. The NBA’s most recent cap projections called for a $115MM cap for next season. That would be approximately a 5.4% increase on this year’s $109.14MM cap. If that projection holds, the values of the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions would increase by about 5.4% too.
[RELATED: Maximum Salary Projections For 2020/21]
Based on a $115MM cap, here’s what the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions would look like in 2020/21:
Mid-Level Exception
| Year | Standard MLE |
Taxpayer MLE | Room MLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | $9,755,000 | $6,025,000 | $5,023,000 |
| 2021/22 | $10,242,750 | $6,326,250 | $5,274,150 |
| 2022/23 | $10,730,500 | $6,627,500 | – |
| 2023/24 | $11,218,250 | – | – |
| Total | $41,946,500 | $18,978,750 | $10,297,150 |
The standard mid-level exception is available to over-the-cap teams that haven’t dipped below the cap to use room and don’t go over the tax apron. It can run for up to four years, with 5% annual raises. The majority of NBA teams are expected to have this exception available next season, since most will be over the cap but only a few will be in the tax.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Mid-Level Exception]
The taxpayer mid-level exception is for in-the-tax teams, or teams that want the flexibility to surpass the tax apron later. It can run for up to three years, with 5% annual raises.
The room exception is for teams that go under the cap and use their space. Once they’ve used all their cap room, they can use this version of the mid-level exception, which runs for up to two years with 5% annual raises.
Bi-Annual Exception
| Year | BAE Value |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | $3,818,000 |
| 2020/21 | $4,008,900 |
| Total | $7,826,900 |
The bi-annual exception is only available to teams that are over the cap and under the tax apron. It can also only be used once every two years, which will disqualify the Mavericks, Pistons, Grizzlies, and Raptors from using it in 2020/21 — they all used their BAE in 2019/20.
Vogel: Cousins Still Could Return For Playoffs
A torn left ACL has sidelined Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins for the entire 2019/20 season so far. However, head coach Frank Vogel still isn’t ruling out the possibility of a Cousins return this spring, as he said over the weekend in Chicago (video link; hat tip to CBS Sports).
“He’s on track to get healthy by the playoffs and we’ll have to see where he’s at with rhythm and conditioning and timing and all that stuff,” Vogel said. “But there’s a possibility he returns this season, yes.”
That ACL tear, suffered last August, is the third major left leg injury Cousins has dealt with since the start of the 2017/18 season. His ’17/18 campaign with the Pelicans came to an early end when he tore his Achilles tendon. After making it back from that injury for the Warriors in 2018/19, he suffered a torn quad at the start of the postseason.
While it would be great to see Cousins get healthy and return to action during the postseason, that sounds like a pretty aggressive recovery timeline, even if the Lakers make a deep playoff run. In recent years, players like Zach LaVine, Jabari Parker, and Kristaps Porzingis, who have suffered torn ACLs, have taken at least 11-12 months to make it back. And it has generally taken them much longer than that to look like their old selves.
Even if Cousins is ready to go at some point this spring, it’s unclear what sort of role he could have in a playoff series. Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee have done an admirable job handing the center position this season, with Anthony Davis also spending some time at the five, and Cousins won’t have any in-game experience with the current roster to develop chemistry.
Although I’m skeptical that Cousins will be able to make a comeback and make an impact for the Lakers this spring, Vogel’s comments – as well as Cousins’ close relationship with several teammates, including Davis – suggest that his roster spot should be safe if the team makes an addition on the buyout market in the coming weeks.
Spurs Officially Waive DeMarre Carroll
The Spurs have officially waived DeMarre Carroll, the team announced today in a press release. The move opens up a spot on the team’s 15-man roster.
As we outlined on Monday, Carroll’s agent Mark Bartelstein successfully negotiated a buyout with the Spurs, despite the fact that the veteran forward still had two years on his contract beyond 2019/20, including a fully guaranteed salary for next season. The exact terms of that buyout haven’t yet been reported.
Carroll intends to sign with the Rockets once he becomes a free agent. Now that his release from San Antonio is official, the 33-year-old is on track to clear waivers on Thursday afternoon, so he could theoretically be in uniform for Houston by the time the club faces Golden State on Thursday evening.
Coming off a couple solid seasons in Brooklyn, Carroll signed a three-year, $21MM deal with the Spurs during the 2019 offseason. However, he barely played at all in San Antonio and wasn’t effective in the limited minutes he did see. In 15 games (9.0 MPG), he averaged 2.2 PPG and 2.1 RPG with a .310/.231/.600 shooting line.
It’s not clear yet what the Spurs plan to do with their newly-opened roster spot. The team isn’t required to carry a 15th man, but figures to fill that opening at some point before the end of the regular season.
And-Ones: Mock Draft, Maker, G League Union, Bethea Jr.
Georgia guard Anthony Edwards heads to Cleveland in the latest mock draft compiled by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Former Memphis center James Wiseman (Golden State), Auburn swingman Isaac Okoro (Atlanta), guard LaMelo Ball (New York) and Israeli swingman Deni Avdija (Charlotte) round out the top five. USC big man Onyeka Okongwu has firmly moved into the top 10 after a couple of big performances against top competition and Givony has him going to Detroit at No. 7.
We have more from the basketball world:
- Makur Maker has been declared eligible for this year’s draft, Evan Daniels of 247Sports reports. The 6’11” Maker is a five-star recruit currently at Hillcrest Academy in Phoenix but he doesn’t plan to play any more games there, Daniels continues. The question about his eligibility stemmed from not receiving his diploma following his senior year of high school. Maker plans to play in the Iverson Classic All-Star game and the Nike Hoop Summit, Daniels adds.
- NBA players have voted to support the formation of a union for G League players, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The vote was held at the NBPA meeting on Monday. Formal approval at the G League level will have to take place before the union can be formed (Twitter links).
- Raptors 905 guard Michael Bethea Jr. is the subject of a feature story by The Athletic’s Blake Murphy on the life of a G League player.
Western Notes: Leonard, Beasley, Chriss, Tucker
The All-Star Game provided a glimpse of how dominant the Lakers would have been if Kawhi Leonard had signed with them instead of the Clippers, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times notes. The trio of Leonard, LeBron James and Anthony Davis combined for 27 of Team LeBron’s first 30 points.
“I didn’t really go there mentally,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “It was an All-Star game. It’s an exhibition. I had fun with that aspect of it, but I love my Lakers team.”
We have more from the Western Conference:
- Guard Malik Beasley has been rejuvenated by getting traded to the Timberwolves, Mike Singer of the Denver Post points out. Beasley was a victim of the Nuggets’ depth but he’s now getting steady minutes with Minnesota, which will pump up his value entering restricted free agency. “It’s good to see him have the opportunity and take advantage of it,” former teammate Jamal Murray said.
- Reclamation projects such as Marquese Chriss are the types of players the Warriors will need to improve their roster, according to Marcus Thompson of The Athletic. Chriss can eventually complement the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green by running the floor, finishing at the rim and rebounding, Thompson continues. Chriss has been especially productive since signing a two-year, $2.5MM deal and that’s significant, since the Warriors won’t have salary-cap space to upgrade their roster by many other methods for at least two more seasons, Thompson adds.
- Former Rockets guard Chris Paul says Houston should give P.J. Tucker a contract extension, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. Tucker, who will earn just under $8MM in the final year of his contract in 2020/21, will be extension-eligible during the offseason. He has been playing center in a very undersized lineup in recent games.