NBA Teams Preparing To Conduct Draft Business Remotely
Given the uncertain nature of how the 2020 NBA draft will transpire due to the coronavirus crisis, teams are preparing to go through the scouting process via Skype interviews and based on prior in-person interviews, says CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein (Twitter link).
As we relayed on Friday, the June 25 draft may be pushed back, since the NBA still wants to resume its 2019/20 season. Per the report, the draft is not a high priority for the league as it weighs all options and works through potential scenarios for the suspended season.
“The draft is the last thing on their list,” one executive told ESPN. “We saw it in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations in 2016. They never even got to (the draft). Revenue drivers will come first, and then we’ll see what happens with the draft after all that gets figured out. It might be a while.”
It’s an unusual scenario for the league and this year’s prospects, as the outbreak will reduce the capability of further scouting the players in person. However, given the fluidity of the situation, it’s unclear if and when the process can resume with normalcy.
Duke’s Tre Jones To Enter NBA Draft
Duke sophomore point guard and ACC Player of the Year Tre Jones will enter the NBA draft, he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. We relayed yesterday that Jones was expected to enter the draft, with Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski all but confirmed the guard’s decision before it was made official.
“Obviously, Tre Jones we know is going to go, whenever he announces,” Krzyzewski said on The 247Sports College Basketball Show podcast.
Jones will join a recent glut of talent from Duke to join the NBA — Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish all made the jump last season.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak shuttering professional sports, Jones was in the midst of a strong collegiate season. Ranked No. 33 overall and No. 12 among point guard prospects on ESPN’s Best Available list, Jones averaged 16.2 PPG, 6.4 APG and 1.8 SPG in 29 games for the Blue Devils.
Pacific Notes: James, Warriors Wings, Warriors Draft, Suns
LeBron James indicated during an Instagram Live appearance that he’d like to finish out his career with the Lakers, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays. James is in the second year of his four-year pact with the Lakers, though the final year at $41MM is a player option. Answering a question on Instagram, James said, “What NBA team would I never play for? I’m still playing, man. Hey, I’ve got to keep all my options open, man. But right now I’ll tell you one thing: I don’t want to go nowhere besides be here, baby. Be a Laker for the rest of my life.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- The Warriors will likely sign a veteran free agent wing during the offseason using the taxpayer mid-level exception, Anthony Slater of The Athletic speculates. Maurice Harkless, Jae Crowder, Josh Jackson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marvin Williams are possibilities, as is a reunion with Glenn Robinson III. Among members of the current roster, Damion Lee is the most likely to stick behind Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson, Slater adds.
- The Warriors will be looking in the lottery for a player who can jump right into their rotation, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. The team’s director of player personnel, Larry Harris, told Poole of the plan. “Yes, we’ll try to find someone who can come in play right away,” Harris said. “But we also know that when you’re picking this high, a lot of guys are 18, 19, 20 years old. To expect them to come in and be contributors right away, we’re not so naive to think it won’t take time. But we feel there are some players in this draft, up high, that have the ability to come in and play some minutes.”
- Renovations for the Suns’ Talking Stick Resort Arena and construction of their new practice facility are expected to remain on schedule despite the suspension of the season, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. The $45MM practice facility is projected to be completed by August. The $230MM arena renovation project is scheduled to have 65% of the upgrades done going into next season.
Payment Of Players Uncertain Beyond April 1
The NBA has not committed to paying players in full beyond April 1 during the suspension of play, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
The next checks are scheduled to be issued on April 1. The following payment would be due on April 15 and a league memo sent to teams on Friday said it would provide “additional guidance” on the April 15 checks.
“Force Majeure” language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement allows for a percentage of contracts to be withheld in extreme circumstances.
The NBA and the Players Association have discussed the issue, Wojnarowski adds in another tweet. The NBA can withhold 1/92.6th of a player’s salary per cancelled game — about 1% of his annual salary.
International Notes: Bogut, France, Slovenia, Jeter
Former NBA center Andrew Bogut says players in Australia’s NBL were “used like pawns” in the league finals, according to an Associated Press report. His team, the Sydney Kings refused to fly across the country for Game 4 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Their opponent, Perth, had a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and was eventually awarded the title. Travel restrictions were coming into effect across Australia when the Kings decided against taking the flight. “It’s something the NBL needs to learn from,” he said. “The disappointing thing is that it was left up to the players to decide.”
We have more from around the basketball world:
- The French LNB plans to complete its season when the pandemic subsides, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. The LNB is evaluating several different formats if the season resumes, Lupo adds.
- The Dutch Basketball League Eredivisie has decided to cancel the rest of the season and the Slovenian league has taken the same action. Neither league will crown a champion, according to the two posts from Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
- Former NBA guard Pooh Jeter has returned to China and is eager to play again next month, he told Marc Spears of The Undefeated. Jeter has played there for eight years and is under quarantine there after flying back from the U.S. “It will definitely be exciting to play again,” he said. “I know China. And China definitely wanted to show it did things the right way.”
Central Notes: Love, Pacers, Forman, Nance
The Cavaliers continue to value Kevin Love highly and don’t regret giving him a four-year, $120MM contract extension, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Love’s attitude and play improved once J.B. Bickerstaff replaced John Beilein as head coach after the All-Star break. The Cavs don’t feel the need to dump salary this offseason, Fedor continues, so in any Love deal they’d want some combination of draft picks and young players.
We have more from around the Central Division:
- The coronavirus pandemic could impact renovations planned for the Pacers‘ Bankers Fieldhouse prior to next season’s All-Star game, Scott Agness of The Athletic writes. Some work has already begun but the renovations were scheduled to ramp up once the season ended. Phase one (of three) is supposed to be completed before the All-Star Game but if Indiana’s games resume this season and last into July, it could impact those scheduled renovations prior to next season.
- Bulls GM Gar Forman has essentially been reduced to a lead scout, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The franchise is expected to overhaul its front office once the league shutdown is lifted. Forman will lose his GM title and will have no decision-making authority once the restructuring is completed, Cowley adds.
- Cavaliers big man Larry Nance Jr. is especially concerned about COVID-19 due to other health factors, as Kelsey Russo of The Athletic explains. Nance was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as a teenager. Since the illness is treated with immunosuppressive medication, he is more susceptible to infections in general. “You’d hear every now and again somebody say like, ‘Oh we’re blowing this out of proportion, it’s not that big of a deal.’ And for me, it was like, ‘What?’ This is a huge deal,” Nance said.
Duke’s Tre Jones Expected To Enter Draft
Duke sophomore point guard and ACC Player of the Year Tre Jones is expected to declare for the draft, Jacob Polacheck of Zagsblog.com relays.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said on The 247Sports College Basketball Show podcast that among the team’s draft prospects, “Obviously, Tre Jones we know is going to go, whenever he announces.”
Jones averaged 16.2 PPG, 6.4 APG and 1.8 SPG during the regular season. He’s currently ranked No. 33 overall and No. 12 among point guard prospects on ESPN’s Best Available list.
As a freshman, Jones averaged 9.4 PPG and 5.3 APG and then tested the draft waters before deciding to return to school. Jones was also considered a potential late first-round pick prior to pulling his name out of the draft.
Isaac Okoro To Enter 2020 NBA Draft
Auburn freshman forward Isaac Okoro will declare for the 2020 NBA draft, head coach Bruce Pearl told reporters in a conference call on Friday, per Tom Green of AL.com.
Although Okoro is expected to test the draft waters, retaining his college eligibility and leaving the door open for a return to Auburn, it would be a shock if he doesn’t ultimately decide to keep his name in this year’s draft pool. He’s a surefire lottery pick who currently ranks fourth overall on ESPN’s big board.
ESPN draft gurus Mike Schmitz and Jonathan Givony (Insider link) explained two weeks ago why Okoro’s stock has risen so significantly over the course of the 2019/20 season and why he looks like a top-10 pick – or top-five – pick now after not being included on the duo’s first 2020 mock draft last June.
In 28 games for Auburn as a freshman, Okoro averaged 12.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 2.0 APG with a .514/.290/.672 shooting line. While his overall numbers were modest, Okoro has room to grow offensively and emerged as one of the NCAA’s most impactful defenders, per Schmitz. The 19-year-old earned SEC All-Defense, SEC All-Freshman, and Second Team All-SEC honors in his first and potentially only college season.
He’s the second projected lottery pick to declare for the 2020 draft today, joining Georgia guard Anthony Edwards.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Luxury Tax Penalties
Although some NBA teams can become hard-capped during a given league year if they use specific exceptions or make certain transactions, the NBA doesn’t have a set hard cap for all teams. In addition to its soft cap though, the league does have a luxury tax threshold, which serves to discourage excessive spending. When a team’s total salary ends up over that line at season’s end, the NBA charges a tax for every extra dollar the club spends.
[RELATED: Recent History of NBA Taxpaying Teams]
The formula to determine the luxury tax line is a complicated one, related to the NBA’s projected basketball related income (BRI) and projected benefits. Generally though, it comes in around 20-22% above the salary cap line. For instance, in 2019/20, the league’s salary cap is set at $109,140,000, while the luxury tax threshold is at $132,627,000. So any team whose total ’19/20 salary exceeds $132,627,000 on the last day of the regular season is subject to a tax bill.
The NBA’s luxury tax system is set up so that the penalties become more punitive if teams go further beyond the tax line. Here’s what those penalties look like:
- $0-5MM above tax line: $1.50 per dollar (up to $7.5MM).
- $5-10MM above tax line: $1.75 per dollar (up to $8.75MM).
- $10-15MM above tax line: $2.50 per dollar (up to $12.5MM).
- $15-20MM above tax line: $3.25 per dollar (up to $16.25MM).
- For every additional $5MM above tax line beyond $20MM, rates increase by $0.50 per dollar.
- Note: This would mean $3.75 for $20-25MM, $4.25 for $25-30MM, etc.
For instance, if a team is over the tax by $12MM, its tax bill would be $21.25MM: $7.5MM for the first $5MM over the tax, $8.75MM for the $5-10MM bracket, then $5MM for the final increment in the $10-15MM bracket.
While those are the rates that apply to most taxpayers, including the Trail Blazers, Heat, and Timberwolves this season, a team can become subject to a “repeater” penalty if it paid the tax in three of the previous four seasons. This scenario currently applies to Oklahoma City — the Thunder were a taxpaying club in 2016, 2018, and 2019, which means they’ll be a repeat offender this season. Here are the penalties that apply to repeat taxpayers:
- $0-5MM above tax line: $2.50 per dollar (up to $12.5MM).
- $5-10MM above tax line: $2.75 per dollar (up to $13.75MM).
- $10-15MM above tax line: $3.50 per dollar (up to $17.5MM).
- $15-20MM above tax line: $4.25 per dollar (up to $21.25MM).
- For every additional $5MM above tax line beyond $20MM, rates increase by $0.50 per dollar
- Note: This would mean $4.75 for $20-25MM, $5.25 for $25-30MM, etc.
If the hypothetical team we described in our first example, over the tax by $12MM, was a repeat taxpayer, its bill would increase to $33.25MM.
Generally speaking, luxury tax penalties are calculated by determining a team’s total cap hits at the end of the regular season. So a team that starts the year above the tax line could get under it before the end of the season by completing trades or buyouts. The Warriors did just that in February, slipping below the luxury tax threshold by completing a series of trades that reduced their overall team salary.
[RELATED: Projected Taxpaying Teams For 2019/20]
However, team salary for tax purposes is calculated slightly differently than it is for cap purposes. Here are a few of the adjustments made at season’s end before a team’s tax bill is calculated:
- Cap holds and exceptions are ignored.
- “Likely” bonuses that weren’t earned are removed from team salary; “unlikely” bonuses that were earned are added to team salary.
- If a player with a trade bonus is acquired after the final regular season game, that trade bonus is added to team salary.
- If a player with 0-1 years of NBA experience signed a minimum-salary free agent contract, the minimum-salary cap charge for a two-year veteran is used in place of that player’s cap charge.
- Note: This only applies to free agents, not drafted players. For example, Raptors rookies Dewan Hernandez (second-round pick) and Terence Davis (UDFA) are each earning $898,310 in 2019/20. Hernandez would count for $898,310 for tax purposes, while Davis would count for $1,620,564.
So let’s say that five teams finish the season owing a total of $50MM in taxes. Where does that money go? Currently, the NBA splits it 50/50 — half of it is used for “league purposes,” while the other half is distributed to non-taxpaying teams in equal shares. In that scenario, the 25 non-taxpaying teams would receive $1MM apiece.
As cap expert Larry Coon explains in his CBA FAQ, “league purposes” essentially covers any purpose the NBA deems appropriate, including giving the money back to teams. In recent years, the NBA has used that money as a funding source for its revenue sharing program. Coon also notes that the CBA technically allows up to 50% of tax money to be distributed to non-taxpaying teams, but there’s no obligation for that to happen — in other words, the NBA could decide to use 100% of the tax money for “league purposes.”
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post was published in 2012 and 2018.
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Valanciunas, Grizzlies
A number of people within the Pelicans‘ organization believe New Orleans would have been a guaranteed playoff team in 2019/20 if Zion Williamson had been healthy all season, writes Will Guillory of The Athletic. As such, it’ll be fascinating to see how the club approaches potential roster changes during the coming offseason.
As Guillory notes, given the strides made by Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball, the Pelicans could be in position to become a legit contender in the West in 2020/21, but it remains to be seen if head of basketball operations David Griffin is ready to get aggressive and go all-in.
Of the Pelicans’ key veterans, Derrick Favors will be a free agent, while Jrue Holiday and J.J. Redick will be entering contract years, so running it back with those players is one option, but the club will have flexibility to make more substantial changes to its roster, as Guillory writes.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- As part of his usual Friday column for ESPN.com, Zach Lowe tracks Jonas Valanciunas‘ development from a young prospect who “spoke broken English (and) struggled calling out coverage on defense” to one of the NBA’s most underrated and reliable traditional big men. The Grizzlies‘ center has recorded 14.9 PPG with a career highs in RPG (11.2) and FG% (.586) in just 26.3 MPG this season.
- Omari Sankofa II of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at the role that former Grizzlies swingman Tony Allen has assumed with the franchise. Allen has worked with several Memphis Hustle players in the G League this season, most notably former No. 4 pick Josh Jackson. “I let him know what he’s doing,” Allen said of Jackson. “He takes it in. He’s not one of them guys who get stubborn and doesn’t want to hear it. He takes it. And when he gets the message, it carries over on the execution side in live play.”
- In case you missed it, earlier this week, we examined where traded 2020 draft picks would land if the NBA season doesn’t resume. Every Southwest team except the Spurs has either traded or acquired 2020 picks.