Lakers, Cousins Have Mutual Interest In Offseason Deal
DeMarcus Cousins is currently on waivers after being released by the Lakers on Sunday to make room for Markieff Morris. However, sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic that both sides have expressed interest in pursuing a new deal in the offseason.
Even after being cut by the Lakers, Cousins is expected to continue rehabbing his torn ACL at the club’s practice facility. Not being on the roster means the big man can no longer travel with the team or sit on the bench during games, but the two sides are clearly still on good terms.
There was a belief that Cousins’ close relationship with multiple Lakers players – including former Pelicans teammate Anthony Davis – and the possibility of recovering from his ACL tear by the playoffs might keep his roster spot safe. However, despite some optimism about Cousins’ rehab timetable, the idea that he’d be able to contribute in the postseason this spring always seemed overly aggressive, as I noted last week when head coach Frank Vogel left the door open for the 29-year-old’s return.
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. Cousins tore his left ACL last August, after previously recovering from a torn Achilles and torn quad in the same leg.
By the time opening night arrives in 2020/21, Cousins will have had upwards of 14 months to recover from the injury, so that seems like a safer, more realistic target date. As such, waiving him instead of a healthy bench player was the logical move for the Lakers.
Because they’ve waived him, the Lakers will no longer have Cousins’ Non-Bird rights this offseason, but after so many major injuries – and with so many teams lacking cap flexibility – he’s unlikely to command significant offers on the open market. L.A. could potentially bring him back using the minimum salary exception or part of the mid-level exception.
It’s worth noting that if Cousins were to sign a new one-year contract with the Lakers in July and play out that deal, the club would hold his Early Bird rights in the summer of 2021. That would give L.A. the flexibility to offer him a significant raise if he has a strong bounce-back season.
10-Day Contract Salaries For 2019/20
There is technically no set salary for a 10-day contract in the NBA. If a player and a team agree to a 10-day deal, they’re free to negotiate a salary using any cap room or exceptions that the team has available.
In practice though, a 10-day contract is virtually always worth the minimum salary. After all, a player who lacks the leverage to get more than a 10-day commitment from a club isn’t really in a position to negotiate a salary higher than the minimum.
Based on the minimum salaries for 2019/20 then, we can determine how much a player on a 10-day contract will earn this season. A 10-day minimum salary is worth 10/177ths of the full-season minimum salary, since there are 177 days in an NBA regular season.
Minimum-salary rates are based on a player’s NBA experience. If a player spent any time on a club’s active regular season roster in a given season, he earned one year of experience. So any player with zero years of experience had not made his NBA debut before 2019/20. A player with 10+ years of experience who signs a 10-day deal, such as Jeff Green (Rockets), will earn nearly three times as much money during that 10-day stint as a rookie like Donta Hall (Pistons).
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors’ 10-Day Contract Tracker]
It’s also worth noting that because the NBA doesn’t want teams to avoid signing veteran players in favor of cheaper, younger players, the league reimburses clubs who sign veterans with three or more years of experience to minimum-salary contracts (as long as they’re not multiyear deals). As such, a 10-day contract for a veteran will only count against the cap – and against a team’s bank balance – for $91,557, the minimum salary for a player with two years of experience.
Here’s the full 10-day salary breakdown for 2019/20:
| Years in NBA | Salary | Cap hit |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | $50,752 | $50,752 |
| 1 | $81,678 | $81,678 |
| 2 | $91,557 | $91,557 |
| 3 | $94,851 | $91,557 |
| 4 | $98,144 | $91,557 |
| 5 | $106,377 | $91,557 |
| 6 | $114,610 | $91,557 |
| 7 | $122,843 | $91,557 |
| 8 | $131,076 | $91,557 |
| 9 | $131,728 | $91,557 |
| 10+ | $144,901 | $91,557 |
There’s one exception to the rates listed above — because a 10-day contract must cover at least three games, deals signed just before the All-Star break often run for more than 10 days. For example, when Malik Newman and J.P. Macura signed with the Cavaliers on February 9, they technically received “13-day” contracts, since the Cavs’ third game wasn’t until February 21.
In cases like that, Newman and Macura would simply receive 13/177ths of the full-season minimum salary instead of 10/177ths. For a rookie like Newman, that meant a bump from $50,752 to $65,978. For Macura, who had one year of NBA experience under his belt, it resulted in an increase from $81,678 to $106,181.
NBA To Weigh Mavs’ Protest Before Disciplining Cuban
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will almost certainly face some form of discipline for criticizing referees on social media and to reporters following his team’s loss in Atlanta on Saturday. However, the NBA isn’t expected to announce a penalty for Cuban until after commissioner Adam Silver has ruled on the Mavs’ protest of Saturday’s loss, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon.
“We’re going to review the matter in its totality,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told ESPN.
As we detailed on Sunday, the Mavs filed a protest of Saturday’s loss, arguing that officials misapplied rules on a play in the final minute of the game. The play a question saw Mavs forward Dorian Finney-Smith block a Trae Young layup attempt, with Hawks big man John Collins scoring on a putback. Initially, goaltending was called on Young’s shot, but when a replay showed the block was clean, referees allowed the follow-up basket, citing an inadvertent whistle and saying Collins was in a shooting motion before the whistle blew.
In his postgame comments, Cuban blasted not only that end-of-game call, but the NBA’s entire referee development program. As the league weighs potential discipline for Cuban, it will take into account that the Mavs owner has already been fined approximately $2MM over the years for similar comments on officiating. Silver is also expected to consider the fact that Cuban came onto the court twice during dead-ball situations near the end of Saturday’s game, per Wojnarowski and MacMahon.
Presumably, if Dallas’ protest is upheld, the NBA will be a little more lenient on Cuban. However, even though it was a tough break for the Mavs, it appeared that the rules were applied properly and it’s unlikely to meet the high bar required for the league to rule that part of a game should be replayed, in the view of John Hollinger of The Athletic.
“You’ve got better odds of seeing Boban Marjanovic on a mount in the Kentucky Derby than you do of seeing the Mavs’ protest upheld,” Hollinger wrote.
Once a protest is filed, the two teams involved have five days to submit relevant evidence to the NBA. After that five-day window, Silver has another five days to make a final ruling. Typically the process moves a little quicker than that though — when the Rockets protested a loss to the Spurs in December, the NBA denied the protest just four days later. In other words, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Mavs’ protest and Cuban’s punishment are both resolved by the end of the week.
Pacific Notes: Giles, Len, Lakers, Clippers, Bazemore
Kings big man Harry Giles III recorded his first double-double on Saturday, helping his team pull off an improbable 112-103 victory over the Clippers at Staples Center.
Giles posted 14 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes, proving his worth on both ends of the floor as starting center. He started the 2019/20 season with very limited playing time, but his recent surge has caught the attention of Sacramento’s coaches.
“He’s moving much better now,” head coach Luke Walton said, as relayed by Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “He’s out there calling coverages. He’s out there at the level, backing up, rebounding the ball. He’s doing all the things that we love about Harry. He looks like, physically, he’s in the best place I’ve seen him since I’ve been the coach here, and his skill set, as far as his passing and rebounding and toughness, that’s something we need.”
Giles has an injury-riddled history, particularly with his knees, but it hasn’t stopped the 21-year-old from continuing to persevere and improve. Instead, it’s motivated him to play better.
“I think with time and reps I’m going to get better,” Giles said. “I’m going to keep getting better. You know how the fouls go. It varies depending on how you’re going to play and depending on how the refs are going to let you play, too, so I’m going to keep getting better at that and just playing hard.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Luke Walton also spoke highly of Alex Len, who made his debut with the Kings on Saturday and recorded eight rebounds in 16 minutes. “It was nice to have a big body out there like that,” Walton said, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). “He did a good job of clogging up that paint. We’ve got to get him a little more familiar with what we’re doing so we can open up the playbook, but he knows some of the basic sets and he helped us win.”
- The Lakers and Clippers are set to play their rescheduled game on April 9 at Staples Center, forcing the Lakers to play three consecutive home games from April 7-9, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes. The game was originally scheduled to be played on January 28 but was later postponed due to the tragic death of Kobe Bryant.
- The union of Kent Bazemore and the Kings has been a perfect fit for both sides, Jason Jones writes in a different story for The Athletic. Sacramento traded for Bazemore last month, acquiring a proven two-way player at the wing position.“Sometimes fresh blood does help,” Bazemore said. “I hadn’t been having the best year, so it was kind of a match made in heaven. A guy coming over desperate and team in a desperate situation. We’re kind of making it work right now.”
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/23/20
Here are Sunday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Bucks have assigned forward D.J. Wilson to the Wisconsin Herd, G League affiliate of the team, announcing the news in a press release. This is Wilson’s second NBAGL assignment on the season.
- The Grizzlies have recalled guard Dusty Hannahs, the G League announced on social media (Twitter link). Hannahs, 26, was recently signed to a second 10-day contract by the team.
- The Warriors recalled Alen Smailagic from Santa Cruz, announcing the news on social media (Twitter link). The rookie forward has appeared in 13 games with Golden State this season, averaging 4.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and ten minutes per contest.
- The Jazz assigned Miye Oni to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the G League. Oni, a Yale product, was drafted with the No. 58 pick last June.
- The Nets have assigned Rodions Kurucs to their minor league affiliate in Long Island, according to the G League. Kurucs has averaged 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game this season, appearing in a total of 33 contests.
Lakers Sign Markieff Morris
FEBRUARY 23, 6:45pm: The Lakers have officially signed Morris, the team announced in a press release. As expected, Cousins has been waived to open up a roster spot.
FEBRUARY 23, 3:55pm: The Lakers will sign Morris using their $1.75MM disabled player exception once he clears waivers at 4 p.m. CST this afternoon, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
FEBRUARY 21, 5:04pm: Power forward Markieff Morris plans to sign with the Lakers once he clears waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Morris reached a buyout agreement with the Pistons on Friday afternoon and was placed on waivers. It’s possible another team could swoop in and claim Morris, who was making $3.2MM this season. However, Morris had a $3.36MM player option on the second year of his contract with Detroit. He let the Pistons off the hook with the buyout but that option would be restored if he were claimed.
A team would have to have a traded player exception big enough to accommodate Morris’ $3.2MM cap hit in order to claim him. Most contenders that fit the bill have tax or hard-cap concerns, making a claim unlikely.
The Lakers will have to make a roster move to add Morris. They’ll reportedly release injured center DeMarcus Cousins rather than a little-used rotation player like Troy Daniels, Quinn Cook, or Jared Dudley, despite head coach Frank Vogel recently suggesting that Cousins could get healthy for the playoffs.
Morris’ addition to the Lakers provides even more intrigue between the Los Angeles teams. He could wind up guarding his brother, Marcus Morris, if the Lakers and Clippers meet in the playoffs. Marcus Morris was traded to the Clippers in a deadline deal.
Markieff Morris, 30, has appeared in 44 games for the Pistons this season, averaging 11.0 PPG and 3.9 RPG with a .450/.397/.772 shooting line in 22.5 minutes per contest.
Atlantic Notes: Irving, Walker, Harris, Ellington
The Nets recently ruled out Kyrie Irving for the rest of the 2019/20 season, with the star point guard set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his injured shoulder in the near future. Irving, who appeared in just 20 games this season, is expected to be ready for the start of next season — provided he doesn’t have rotator cuff damage or suffer any major setbacks.
“I’m not going to get into details now, because he’s still evaluating what his options may be over the next couple of days,” general manager Sean Marks said, as relayed by Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “But in terms of he is having surgery, and he will be out for the remainder of the season.”
Irving first injured his shoulder against the Pelicans on Nov. 4. He continued playing through the pain for multiple contests, later missing 26 straight games as a result of the injury. Brooklyn failed to adjust to Irving’s arrival, mostly playing better without him this season.
“Obviously, we feel bad for [Irving],” teammate Caris LeVert said. “He wants to be out here with us. That’s first and foremost. He definitely worked extremely hard to come back. It’s just a series of unfortunate things that happened with him.”
Here are some other notes from the Atlantic Division tonight:
- Celtics guard Kemba Walker didn’t have a minutes restriction during the All-Star Game last week, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Walker missed Sunday’s contest against the Lakers due to a knee injury, which was made worse by the highly competitive style of play in the All-Star Game.
- Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris has expressed his desire to re-sign with the team this summer, with the 28-year-old set to become an unrestricted free agent. Brooklyn is expected to enter next season with the likes of Kevin Durant, Irving, LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen and others, sporting one of the league’s most talented cores on paper. “Definitely, why wouldn’t you?” Harris said when asked if he hopes to re-sign this summer, according to NetsDaily. “Obviously, those are guys who I’ve gotten close with now that I’ve been with them this past year,” Harris said. “They’re obviously incredible players. You see what they’re able to do when they are healthy and playing. I don’t think there’s anybody in the NBA who wouldn’t want to play with those guys.”
- Knicks guard Wayne Ellington remembers the late Kobe Bryant as both a friend and a mentor, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. Both Ellington and Bryant played for the Lakers during the 2014/15 season, with Bryant’s competitiveness, drive and passion holding a permanent impact on Ellington and many other players around the association.
Mavericks Protesting Loss To Hawks
The Mavericks have filed a protest with the league office to contest their loss against the Hawks on Saturday, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link).
Dallas is citing a “misapplication of the rules,” according to Stein, and the team hopes to convince commissioner Adam Silver that the final 9.7 seconds of the game be replayed with Atlanta holding a two-point lead in a jump-ball scenario.
The play of question saw Hawks guard Trae Young attempt a layup that was blocked by Mavs forward Dorian Finney-Smith. Officials stopped the play, calling Finney-Smith’s block a goaltend. While that happened, Hawks forward John Collins grabbed the ball and converted a putback.
The officiating staff reviewed the play and determined that a goaltend shouldn’t have been called, but the crew decided to count Collins’ basket. Atlanta went on to win 111-107.
“One of the refs told one of the players it was an inadvertent whistle that came after the putback – but everybody who was watching it said it came before the putback,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban said, as relayed by Mark Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “That’s neither here nor there because if it’s a goaltend and then it’s an inadvertent whistle, you stop play. But then they went and reviewed it. And they reviewed it for a goaltend. So either you can’t review it because it’s an inadvertent whistle, or you review it and it’s a goaltend, the play stops right there, unless there’s something I don’t know, and that’s always possible, but I’ve never seen anything like that.”
This is the league’s second protest of the season, with the Rockets unsuccessfully contesting a double-overtime game against San Antonio in December. Atlanta was led by Collins’ 35 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks on Saturday, winning its second straight outing.
Regardless of the league’s decision on the game, Cuban will likely receive a fine for publicly criticizing the officiating. He’s received several fines during his time with the team and is widely known as one of the league’s most outspoken owners.
“It would be one thing if we were making positive progress. But we’re not,” Cuban said. “Out of the 70 refs, give or take, I think I counted 17 that have five years or less experience. That’s a lot. And you can’t expect new refs to be any good. And that’s because we do such a horrific job of training in the G League. Not a poor job. Not a marginal job. We apply literally no resources. The Joey Crawfords and Bennett Salvatores, I’m so glad I can call those guys out, because they’re awful at their jobs.”
Southeast Notes: Heat, Young, Beal, Hornets
New veteran Heat forwards Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder continue to settle into their new environs, as David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes. Iguodala has enjoyed the Heat’s team practice methodology.
“It’s really game-ready type practices,” Iguodala said of working out with the Heat. “I think it’s really going to show in the games once I really get acclimated with everything… It’s really a winning environment and you can see it right away.”
Crowder, too, appreciates the tenor of the Heat’s conduct. “Just the championship mindset,” Crowder relayed about what impressed him during his initial time in Miami. “You always think about the guys playing for it all and I think, being on the outside looking in, that’s what I see.”
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- All-Star Hawks point guard Trae Young has practically doubled his free-throw output from his rookie season, as Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays. Young concedes that this is in due in part to growing respect from league referees now that he is no longer a rookie. But it can also be attributed to conscious adjustments in approach from Young. He is now second in the NBA in made free throws per game at 8.0, behind just James Harden‘s 10.5 made free throws per night.
- Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal has been struggling with inefficient long-rage shooting this season, per the Washington Post’s Candace Buckner. During the worst three-point shooting season of his career to date, Beal has converted fewer than 20% of his long-range tries in 10 games this season. He is connecting on just 31.6% of his three-point attempts overall.
- Although the Hornets will have $28MM available in salary cap room this summer, general manager Mitch Kupchak intends to spread that money around across a few young free agent candidates, instead of pursuing a single star, per The Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell. “I don’t anticipate us being one of those teams that is in the running for those big free agents,” Kupchak said. The team may trade for a young player or sign a role player still in his prime, like Nets shooting ace Joe Harris.
Atlantic Notes: Allen, Langford, Knicks, Sixers
Nets starting center Jarrett Allen has accepted his recent benching in fourth quarters, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Coach Kenny Atkinson has favored $40MM backup center DeAndre Jordan to close out games.
“You get the feeling of what’s going to happen when you hit around the eight-minute mark, whether you’re going to go in or not,” Allen told Lewis. “If they’re vibing then go ahead and let them vibe, let them go out and win it. So I’m not tripping over that.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Rookie Celtics shooting guard Romeo Langford has closed out three Boston victories thus far in February as a defensive stopper, per Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. The 6’4″ wing out of Indiana, the No. 14 pick in the 2019 lottery, appreciates the faith that coach Brad Stevens has in Langford’s growing abilities on that side of the ball. “It’s good that (Stevens) already, like, trusts me,” Langord said. “So I’ve just got to go out there and deliver.”
- As the Knicks continue to rework their public perception under newly-hired brand consultant Steve Stoute, they may try to improve relations with past New York heroes, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. “As a New York fan, as a friend of Charles Oakley, as somebody a part of the Knicks organization, of course, I would love to see that subsided and bring that back,” Stoute mentioned in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take.
- The Sixers have underperformed relative to preseason expectations this year, but the dynamic between All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons may not be the root of the issue, per ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry. Goldsberry points to their club’s unending roster churn over the years and a lack of sharpshooting depth as the prime culprits. That said, at 35-22, the Sixers sit just 1.5 games behind the 36-20 Heat in competing for a top-four Eastern Conference playoff seed.