Southeast Notes: Brown, Weltman, Hornets
Wizards point guard Troy Brown Jr. performed competently for Washington in a back-up role during 2019/20, but his long-term fit behind John Wall and Ish Smith remains in question, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
“We think Troy can be a back-up point guard,” Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard opined. “He’s going to need a lot more reps.”
The Wizards, with the No. 9 pick in the draft this season, have plenty of positions of need. If the team is convinced that Brown can develop into a reliable bench guard, Hughes writes, it can focus on other areas.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- In an extensive conversation with Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman discussed possible contract extensions for injured forward Jonathan Isaac and intriguing guard Markelle Fultz, the first pick in the 2017 NBA draft. “These circumstances (with the pandemic) obviously make things more difficult (to plan) than in a typical summer,” Weltman said. “But we’ll have conversations with them at the appropriate time.”
- The Hornets will have a uniquely fluid offseason, starting with a myriad of draft options with the No. 3 pick, writes Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Guard LaMelo Ball, swingman Anthony Edwards, and center James Wiseman appear to be the consensus top three picks this year, though Vecenie notes that the Hornets might also want to consider trading the pick and a promising young Charlotte player to the Warriors or Timberwolves in order to move up in the draft.
- As we previously relayed, after teams were allowed to add one person to their bubble limit on Saturday, the Heat brought assistant Octavio De La Grana to the NBA’s Disney World campus. Miami now has its complete coaching staff ahead of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Markieff Morris To Start In Place Of McGee
In tonight’s key Game 4 of the Lakers‘ second-round series against the Rockets, forward Markieff Morris will start in place of center JaVale McGee, according to Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet (Twitter link).
Thus, the Lakers will continue their pivot towards a smaller, more shooting-friendly starting lineup that they began in the second half of Game 3, where Morris first got the starting nod over McGee.
Morris, a 38.6% three-point shooter on 3.9 attempts this season for the Lakers and Pistons, will help the Lakers better match up against a smaller, quicker Rockets squad that has kept the previous three games of the series highly competitive, though the Lakers currently lead 2-1.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets that Morris was barely a part of the rotation during the Lakers’ 112-97 Game 1 defeat to Houston, playing just nine minutes. He is averaging 9 points and 4.5 rebounds across the last two games, both Lakers victories. After being cleared to play with no minutes restrictions following a left ankle injury suffered in Game 2, McGee logged just six minutes during LA’s 112-102 Tuesday night Game 3 win.
Morris will start alongside a shooting-heavy lineup of guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green, and All-Star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
2020 NBA Offseason Preview: New Orleans Pelicans
Hoops Rumors is previewing the 2020 offseason for all 30 NBA teams. We’re looking at the key questions facing each club, as well as the roster decisions they’ll have to make this fall. Today, we’re focusing on the New Orleans Pelicans.
Salary Cap Outlook
Taking the cap hold for their first-round pick into account, the Pelicans only have about $80MM in guaranteed money on their books for 2020/21. However, Brandon Ingram‘s cap hold will be worth nearly $22MM and his first-year salary on a new deal figures to exceed that, eliminating any cap space New Orleans might have otherwise created.
The Pelicans should also have both the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($9.26MM) and bi-annual exception ($3.62MM) at their disposal.
Our full salary cap preview for the Pelicans can be found right here.
Roster Decisions To Watch
Options:
- None
Non-Guaranteed Contracts:
- Darius Miller ($7,000,000)
Two-Way Contracts:
- Zylan Cheatham (expiring)
- Josh Gray (expiring)
Free Agents:
- Derrick Favors (Bird)
- E’Twaun Moore (Bird)
- Jahlil Okafor (Early Bird)
- Brandon Ingram (RFA; Bird)
- Frank Jackson (RFA; Bird)
- Kenrich Williams (RFA; Early Bird)
- Sindarius Thornwell (N/A)
- Note: Thornwell won’t have any form of Bird rights because he was signed as a substitute player.
2020 Draft Assets
First Round:
- No. 13 overall pick
Second Round:
- No. 39 overall pick
- No. 42 overall pick
- No. 60 overall pick
The Pelicans are owed multiple future first-round picks from the Lakers as a result of the Anthony Davis blockbuster, but for 2020, they just have their own first-rounder.
In addition to their own second-round pick at No. 42, New Orleans holds the Wizards’ second-rounder (No. 39) and the Bucks’ second-rounder (No. 60). The Pels acquired both selections in the 2019 deadline deal that sent Nikola Mirotic to Milwaukee.
Three Key Offseason Questions
1. Who will the Pelicans hire as their new head coach?
After spending five years in New Orleans as the Pelicans’ head coach, Alvin Gentry was let go at the end of the team’s season last month. His tenure with the franchise was marred by a series of injuries to stars and rotation players alike, but the end result was still disappointing — the Pels posted a 175-225 (.438) record and made the postseason just once during Gentry’s five years at the helm.
When he discussed Gentry’s dismissal after the fact, executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin called it an extremely difficult decision and stressed that it wasn’t about Gentry’s coaching ability.
“This is far more about finding the right fit and a shared vision for a very young and ambitious group moving forward,” Griffin said at the time.
The Pelicans’ head coaching job is an interesting one. On one hand, the presence of rising stars like Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram means that an ability to connect to and develop young players will be an important trait for any candidate.
On the other hand, as Griffin hints, New Orleans’ goals will soon get a whole lot more “ambitious.” Missing the playoffs again next year won’t be an acceptable result for the Pelicans, who believe they have the talent to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
Considering the organization will have championship aspirations within the next few years, a veteran head coach with plenty of postseason experience would make sense — perhaps Tyronn Lue or, if he becomes available, Mike D’Antoni. But focusing more on player development could instead lead the Pelicans to a candidate like Kenny Atkinson.
There’s no one candidate that stands out as the obvious choice for New Orleans and it’s an important decision to get right. So it make sense when Griffin said last month that the Pelicans “will not be quick with this at all,” as they do their homework and weigh all their options.
2. What are the Pelicans’ plans for Jrue Holiday?
Holiday is one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders and is a play-making weapon on the offensive end too, averaging at least 19 points and six assists per game in each of his last three seasons. He’s exactly the sort of player most contending teams would love to have on their roster, which means he should be a perfect fit on a Pelicans club looking to take a step forward and make the postseason in 2020/21.
On the other hand, Holiday is entering a potential contract year (he has a $27MM player option for 2021/22) and is now on the wrong side of the 30, making him significantly older than the rest of New Orleans’ core players.
If the Pelicans don’t envision him as a long-term piece, this offseason would be the perfect time to gauge Holiday’s value on the trade market, with so many would-be contenders looking to fortify their roster and so few impact players expected to be available.
Griffin has done nothing but rave about Holiday since he was hired by New Orleans last year, and the former All-Star would be hard to replace as both a two-way threat and a locker-room leader. It’s also not as if the Pelicans need to restock their cupboards with assets — they already have a surplus of first- and second-round picks in hand for the next few years.
With that in mind, I’d be somewhat surprised to see the Pelicans seriously consider moving Holiday this fall. He’ll be extension-eligible and the club seems more likely to attempt to lock him up to a longer-term deal rather than to shop him. But if they’re worried he’ll be gone in a year, the Pelicans should be able to get a pretty favorable return on the trade market for the standout guard.
3. Which of the ex-Lakers will receive new deals this offseason?
When the Pelicans sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers last summer, they acquired three players in return: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart. All three players will be eligible for new contracts this offseason — Ingram will be a restricted free agent, while Ball and Hart will be up for rookie scale extensions.
Ingram was the best player of the trio in 2019/20 and there’s more urgency to get something done with him, since his contract will expire in the fall. It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario in which the Pelicans let him get away, since he was the centerpiece of the AD return and the team has the cap flexibility to accommodate a pricey long-term deal. The question will be just how high New Orleans has to go to get it done.
While it’s possible the Pelicans would be able to get Ingram to agree to a deal slightly below the maximum if they’re negotiating with him directly, it may not be worth the risk to try to save a few extra dollars.
A team with cap room such as the Hawks could put pressure on New Orleans by signing him to a less team-friendly offer sheet that the Pelicans would be forced to match if they don’t want to lose him. It probably makes sense for the Pels to skip that step and be ready to offer a four- or five-year max to bring back Ingram, who made his first All-Star team in 2020.
With Ball and Hart though, the Pelicans have more leeway to play hardball. Both players will have one year left on their rookie scale contracts and will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2021 if they don’t sign new deals this offseason. So New Orleans can push for team-friendly extensions, knowing that it’s not the end of the world if nothing gets done before next season.
In his recent preview of the Pelicans’ offseason, Bobby Marks of ESPN pointed to Dejounte Murray‘s four-year, $64MM extension with San Antonio as a potential comp for Ball and said that an extension in the four-year, $50MM range might make sense for Hart. If I were running the Pelicans, I probably wouldn’t be looking to go any higher than those estimates.
Information from Basketball Insiders and ESPN was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On NBA’s Investigation Into House, Rockets
4:19pm: Asked prior to Thursday night’s game about House’s status, Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni confirmed that he expects to be without the forward (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle). D’Antoni is unsure whether House will be available later in the series.
“The investigation is ongoing,” he said. “They’ll come out with their ruling and we’ll go from there.”
12:46pm: After word broke on Wednesday night that the NBA is investigating a potential violation of campus protocols by Rockets forward Danuel House, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported on Thursday morning that the probe is related to House allegedly allowing a female COVID-19 testing official into his hotel room. Now, Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic have provided more details on the investigation.
According to Charania and Amick, a female staffer – who is not believed to be a league employee – entered the Rockets’ team hotel on Monday night and left in the early hours of Tuesday morning. When the woman was questioned by league security, she claimed to have contact with Tyson Chandler and another player (not House), sources tell The Athletic.
The entire Rockets’ team entered a quarantine period on Tuesday due to possible coronavirus exposure, but the league’s investigation soon focused on Chandler and House, according to Charania and Amick. Those two players weren’t permitted to play in Game 3 vs. the Lakers on Tuesday night.
Although the woman didn’t implicate House and he has “vehemently denied” engaging in any improper conduct, the NBA says it has circumstantial evidence implicating House, per The Athletic’s report. The league’s investigation cleared Chandler on Wednesday and shifted its focus toward House, who has been in quarantine while the probe continues.
The Rockets and the NBPA have been supporting House, but Charania and Amick suggest that the team and the union are “virtually powerless” in the process, since the NBA is running the show on medical and protocol issues. Sources tell The Athletic that there has been some frustration about the lack of communication between the league’s investigative team and the Rockets.
Today’s latest injury report from the NBA continued to list House as out for Game 4 on Thursday night, so unless the league’s investigation clears him within the next few hours, it sounds as if he’ll likely miss a second consecutive game.
Examining What Super-Max For Giannis Would Be Worth
With the Bucks‘ season over, all eyes are on Giannis Antetokounmpo. Last season’s Most Valuable Player has said he has no intention of asking to be traded out of Milwaukee, and has given indications that he intends to stay with the team long-term. But until he officially signs a contract extension, there will be those who question his commitment to the Bucks.
Unsurprisingly, as Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed earlier today, the Bucks intend to put a five-year, super-max extension offer on the table for Giannis as soon as they’re eligible to do so. That extension window will open once the 2020/21 free agent period begins, but it remains to be seen exactly how much the offer will be worth. Some reports have suggested it’ll be valued at upwards of $250MM, while others have said $220MM.
When it comes to maximum-salary extensions, imprecise projections are nothing new. By definition, extensions go into effect in future league years, and max deals are based on a percentage of the cap (35%, in the case of the super-max). Until the salary cap figures are finalized for the first year of the extension, we can’t know the exact value of a maximum-salary deal.
In Giannis’ case, there are a pair of factors increasing the uncertainty and resulting in the wide range in projections:
- An extension for Antetokounmpo would go into effect in 2021/22, rather than in 2020/21. That’s still two league years away, creating an extra layer of uncertainty about where the cap will eventually land.
- The coronavirus pandemic – and everything else that has gone on during this NBA season, including the league’s standoff with Chinese partners – has impacted the league’s revenues and upended its usual cap projections. Until the NBA audits the ’19/20 season and has a better sense of what revenues for the ’20/21 campaign will look like, projecting a ’21/22 cap figure will be extremely difficult.
As a result of all this uncertainty, it will be some time before we know how much Antetokounmpo would earn if he accepts a five-year, super-max contract. Still, we can project some hypothetical scenarios based on potential cap figures.
Previously, this season’s cap ($109,141,000) was projected to increase to $115MM in 2020/21 and then $125MM in ’21/22. Now, it appears more likely that next season’s cap will be about the same as this year’s. That could be true again in 2021/22 — or perhaps the jump to $115MM will be delayed by a year. A small dip – maybe to $105MM or so – isn’t even out of the question. So let’s break down all of those scenarios and examine what a super-max deal for Giannis would look like in each case…
(Note: If you’re a mobile/app user, you can view the full chart by turning your phone sideways.)
| Year/Cap | $105MM |
$109.141MM |
$115MM |
$125MM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | $36,750,000 | $38,199,350 | $40,250,000 | $43,750,000 |
| 2022/23 | $39,690,000 | $41,255,298 | $43,470,000 | $47,250,000 |
| 2023/24 | $42,630,000 | $44,311,246 | $46,690,000 | $50,750,000 |
| 2024/25 | $45,570,000 | $47,367,194 | $49,910,000 | $54,250,000 |
| 2025/26 | $48,510,000 | $50,423,142 | $53,130,000 | $57,750,000 |
| Total | $213,150,000 | $221,556,230 | $233,450,000 | $253,750,000 |
As our chart shows, if the cap really does stand pat for the next couple years, a super-max for Antetokounmpo would be worth more than $30MM less than what was originally projected.
That shouldn’t provide Giannis with any incentive to leave Milwaukee. The super-max option would still be way more lucrative than an outside offer from any other team, which would be limited to four years starting at 30% of the cap. Based on the four hypothetical cap scenarios listed above, a rival team’s best four-year offer would range from $135.5MM to $161.3MM.
Still, the lingering cap uncertainty could incentivize the star forward to take a wait-and-see approach to extension talks. After all, he’ll still be super-max eligible when his contract ends in 2021 — by waiting until that point, he’d have a much clearer idea of what the deal would actually be worth when he signs it.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
2020/21 NBA Season Won’t Begin Before Christmas
The NBA league office informed the Board of Governors on a call today that the 2020/21 regular season won’t begin before Christmas Day, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Back in June, the NBA penciled in a tentative start date of December 1 for the ’20/21 campaign, but the NBPA never agreed to that proposal, which always seemed overly optimistic, as commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged last month.
The NBA’s goal is to have as many fans back in arenas as possible next season, as early as possible, so the league is somewhat motivated to be patient. That could mean pushing next season’s start date into the new year in the hopes that more effective treatments and/or tests – or even a vaccine – for the coronavirus will be developed.
[RELATED: NBA Hoping Next Season Can Start In December Or January]
While December 25 is typically a huge day for the NBA, with a five-game schedule featuring many of the league’s marquee teams, previous reports have indicated that the league has discussed the possibility of starting next season as late as March.
The situation – including a proposed draft date of November 18 – remains fluid for now, with nothing finalized, according to Charania. Both the league and the players’ union will have to sign off on new dates for the draft, free agency, and the 2020/21 season.
Poll: Who Will Win Raptors/Celtics Game 7?
After one of the summer’s best games on Wednesday night – a double-overtime thriller which Toronto eventually pulled out – the Raptors and Celtics are headed for a Game 7 on Friday. It may not be the only second-round series to ultimately go seven games, but it’s the first one to get there.
Prior to 2020, the Raptors and Celtics had never met in the postseason, but this series has been worth the wait. The Atlantic Division rivals were fairly evenly matched during the regular season, buoyed to the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds in the East by their lockdown defenses, and those defenses have been on full display this series.
Pascal Siakam, an All-Star this season for the Raptors, has struggled immensely against Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and the rest of Boston’s defenders in the second round, averaging just 15.2 PPG on .378/.129/.722 shooting, a significant step down from his season averages of 22.9 PPG on .453/.359/.792 shooting.
Fellow All-Star Kemba Walker, meanwhile, has had some big games and hit some big shots in the series, but has struggled at times to get things going against the likes of Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, and OG Anunoby, even facing a box-and-one defense on Wednesday. In Game 6, he scored just five points on 2-of-11 shooting.
Lowry and Jayson Tatum have had productive series, and Brown and Smart have had some big-time performances for the C’s, while Anunoby and Norman Powell have hit some series-saving shots for the Raptors, who are also getting solid production from Serge Ibaka. But Nick Nurse and Brad Stevens haven’t been relying too much on their benches — in Wednesday’s game, Marc Gasol was the only starter on either team who didn’t play at least 47 minutes.
Of the series’ six games so far, two have been blowouts — both Celtics wins. The Raptors have won three of the four close games. Those numbers would seem to favor Boston, and the C’s are indeed viewed as more likely to advance. Most oddsmakers have the Celtics listed as at least two-point favorites for Game 7.
With over 24 hours to go before Game 7 tips off, we want to get your predictions. Will it be the Raptors or the Celtics that comes through on Friday and advances to play Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Who will win Game 7?
-
Boston Celtics 51% (1,102)
-
Toronto Raptors 49% (1,069)
Total votes: 2,171
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Thunder Offered Donovan Multiyear Deal Prior To Restart
The Thunder offered head coach Billy Donovan a multiyear contract extension prior to the NBA’s restart this summer, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The offer included two guaranteed seasons, Charania adds.
Donovan passed on that offer at the time and the two sides agreed to table discussions until the end of the season. On Tuesday, less than a week after Oklahoma City had been eliminated from the playoffs, word broke that Donovan and the team had mutually agreed to part ways rather than working out a new deal.
Charania’s report that the Thunder offered Donovan an extension doesn’t come as a major surprise — it always seemed as if the organization was interested in bringing back the head coach. But with a possible rebuild looming, the two sides weren’t necessarily aligned on a long-term fit. General manager Sam Presti said as much during his comments to the media following Donovan’s departure, as Brandon Rahbar of Daily Thunder details.
“It became apparent that we couldn’t provide him the information on the future direction of the team over the next several seasons to give him the level of clarity that he understandably desires at this stage of his career,” Presti said of Donovan.
Since parting ways with the Thunder, Donovan has been linked to head coaching openings in both Philadelphia and Chicago. However, we haven’t gotten a sense yet of how serious a candidate he is for those jobs, or whether he could emerge as an option for any of the other teams seeking a new coach.
Bucks Rumors: Budenholzer, Bledsoe, Giannis
Despite leading the Bucks to the NBA’s best regular-season record in each of the last two seasons, head coach Mike Budenholzer has faced criticism in the playoffs after losses to the Raptors in 2019 and Heat in 2020. In each series, there were concerns that Budenholzer was slow to make adjustments when things weren’t working and was reluctant to lean more heavily on his star players for big minutes.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Budenholzer’s job is safe heading into the 2020/21 season. Still, Charania stresses that there’s an understanding across the Bucks’ leadership group that “everyone must learn from this season and be better.” It’s probably a safe bet that Budenholzer’s seat will get a whole lot hotter in 2021 if the team’s next postseason run closely resembles the last two.
Here’s more on the Bucks from Charania:
- According to Charania, there’s an expectation among rival executives that the Bucks will focus this offseason on acquiring a play-maker and adding more shooting to the roster as they look to complement reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Chris Paul has already been cited multiple times as one possible target, but Milwaukee figures to explore many options on the trade market and in free agency.
- Starting point guard Eric Bledsoe is considered likely to become a potential trade candidate this offseason, sources tell Charania. Bledsoe, who made the All-Defensive Second Team this season, has two fully guaranteed years left on his contract at $17.5MM annually. The final year of his deal in 2022/23 is only partially guaranteed ($3.9MM of $19.4MM).
- Charania confirms that the Bucks intend to put a five-year, super-max contract extension offer on the table for Antetokounmpo as soon as the 2020/21 league year begins, which could happen in November. The value of that offer remains up in the air, since the starting salary will depend on where the ’21/22 cap lands.
Jazz Notes: Offseason, Gobert, Mitchell, Oturu
As the Jazz mull possible roster upgrades this offseason, they’ll be keeping an eye out for defensive-minded players, executive VP of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey said on Wednesday, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.
“Anybody who has defensive integrity at their position, (who) can be an active, athletic defender will be someone that would be of interest to us,” Lindsey said. “Especially if they don’t compromise the spacing.”
While Utah’s roster features a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Rudy Gobert, the team only ranked in the middle of the pack this season in overall defensive rating, and struggled to slow down Jamal Murray and the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
Here’s more on the Jazz:
- Citing NBA rules, Lindsey declined to get into specifics on Wednesday when asked about possible offseason extensions for Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. However, as Sarah Todd of The Deseret News writes, he insinuated that the Jazz will look to lock up both Gobert and Mitchell long-term, stressing that the franchise is “extremely pleased” with the character of its two All-Stars. “As I’ve mentioned before, we’re working to add players of Rudy and Donovan’s physical talent and competitive makeup and so by definition we’re going to want to keep those type of players moving forward,” Lindsey said.
- Former University of Minnesota center Daniel Oturu interviewed with the Jazz on Wednesday, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Oturu, the No. 36 prospect on ESPN’s big board, may be an option for Utah at No. 23.
- While it wasn’t specifically related to the Jazz, Lindsey made another notable comment during his end-of-season presser on Wednesday, contending that the lack of travel this summer improved the quality of NBA games and suggesting that the league should do what it can to reduce travel going forward. “If we ever get to a situation like baseball where you play a team more than one time in the market — obviously, there’s some business concerns there — but that reduced travel, I definitely think the product is more compelling because of that,” Lindsey said. A previous report indicated that the NBA is mulling this idea.