League Officials Have Floated Possible $2.5 Billion Expansion Fee
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in his preseason press conference last month that the league has become more open to the idea of expanding beyond its current 30 teams. While Silver cautioned that expansion isn’t “on the front burner,” a report on Tuesday from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggests there have been some discussions about the concept in the league office.
According to Windhorst, officials have “floated” a price tag of $2.5 billion as a potential expansion fee for two new teams in the near future.
Expansion fees – which are paid by the incoming franchises – are split equally by the NBA’s current teams and aren’t shared with players. That means two new franchises paying $2.5 billion apiece could result in a $160MM+ windfall for each of the league’s 30 existing clubs, Windhorst notes.
It’s not clear whether that $2.5 billion projection is a realistic one, but the NBA “knows its business and its bidders,” according to Windhorst, who points out that multiple groups based in cities like Seattle and Las Vegas could have interest in establishing a new NBA franchise and could be motivated to meet the league’s asking price in an expansion scenario.
With a number of current teams accumulating debt during the coronavirus pandemic, interest in the idea of expansion has increased, Windhorst writes.
Still, team owners looking to make up for lost short-term revenue should be wary of pushing to do so via an expansion fee. As Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and others have pointed out, that expansion fee is essentially a loan that will be repaid over the years via revenue sharing if teams are receiving 1/32nd of the league-wide pie instead of 1/30th.
And-Ones: Montgomery, Thomas, NCAA Tourney, 2021 Draft
Former Kentucky forward E.J. Montgomery, who was in training camp with the Bucks last month, has signed with Lithuanian team BC Nevezis, according to an announcement from the club (Twitter link).
After going undrafted in 2020 following his sophomore season with the Wildcats, Montgomery caught on with Milwaukee on a non-guaranteed camp deal, but was cut on December 16. While the Bucks may have, at one point, envisioned Montgomery as a potential G League affiliate player, the Wisconsin Herd opted out of the NBAGL’s bubble plan for 2020/21, opening the door for the 21-year-old to pursue another professional opportunity.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Isaiah Thomas and Excel Sports Management have parted ways, as the free agent point guard continues to seek an NBA comeback, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Presumably, Thomas will hire new representation to spearhead the effort to land him an NBA job.
- The NCAA was forced to cancel March Madness in 2020, but the 2021 event is still scheduled to tip off in mid-March. According to a press release from the NCAA, the plan is for the entire tournament to take place in Indiana to reduce the coronavirus risk associated with travel.
- Michael Scotto of HoopsHype spoke to a handful of player agents and team executives about what it looks like when a player requests a trade and how the process typically plays out behind the scenes.
- Draft expert Jeff Goodman of Stadium has unveiled his big board for the 2021 NBA draft, which is headed by Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs. Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State), Jalen Green (G League Ignite), Evan Mobley (USC), and Jonathan Kuminga (G League Ignite) fill out Goodman’s initial top five. The same five prospects are atop ESPN’s big board, albeit in a different order.
Team Staffers Struggling To Balance New COVID-19 Responsibilities With Typical Duties
Team officials around the NBA who have been tasked with enforcing and managing COVID-19 protocols – in addition to their typical team duties – are feeling overwhelmed and are struggling to keep up, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.
A number of those officials who have to manage the new health and safety protocols have had trouble balancing their roles and are concerned they’re not spending enough time on the usual treatment, recovery, and training for players, according to Holmes.
“What scares me — and I know it’s happening — is that their normal job of doing health care on players (is impaired),” one league source told ESPN. “I’ve had some trainers tell me, ‘I haven’t touched a player in two weeks because I’ve been so busy doing all this logistics and testing and all that.’ That’s concerning. That’s definitely what I don’t want to happen.”
While no one who spoke to Holmes blamed the NBA for its diligence in establishing extensive coronavirus protocols, most felt worn out by all the extra work those protocols have created. One head athletic trainer for a Western Conference team told ESPN that the usual workload has at least doubled, if not tripled, this season.
As Holmes writes, the league required each club to name a testing officer, a contact tracing officer, a face mask enforcement officer, a facility hygiene officer, a health education and awareness officer, and a travel safety officer, among other positions. In many cases, the same staffer holds more than one of those roles.
The league’s protocols are also constantly evolving and being updated, and teams must account for varying local rules and regulations in each market on road trips.
“There’s just not enough hours in the day to read the memos, the nuances, compliance, testing, the things that quickly change.” one Western Conference GM told Holmes. “You have constant scenarios happening where the memos don’t cover that particular situation…That’s no one’s fault. It’s just where we’re at.”
There’s hope among teams’ health officials that they’ll be able to get accustomed to their dual roles and “find a rhythm” as the season progresses, according to Holmes, but there’s also concern that the burnout will only get worse.
“Every waking hour seems to be committed to (the protocols),” one Eastern Conference head athletic training official said. “But you look down the pike here, and… you wonder, ‘God, I barely got through today, how am I going to do this another 100-something times?'”
Bogdan Bogdanovic Talks Free Agency, COVID-19, Hawks
Speaking to Sam Amick of The Athletic about his recent experience in free agency, Bogdan Bogdanovic said he learned about the apparent sign-and-trade agreement between the Kings and Bucks (that would have sent him to Milwaukee) on Twitter, reading about it at the same time everyone else did.
“When the news came out, we were like, ‘What the f–k?'” Bogdanovic told Amick. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
As Bogdanovic explains, he had been told during the summer that the Kings wanted to keep him, so when word of the alleged sign-and-trade broke, he was caught off guard for two reasons: He hadn’t agreed to join the Bucks and he didn’t realize Sacramento was looking to trade him. The veteran swingman had been expecting to either negotiate with the Kings or to sign an offer sheet when free agency opened.
“I was like, ‘OK, we wait for the market,’ and I was ready for that,” Bogdanovic said. “Like, OK, wait for the market and let’s see what’s going to happen. In the end, (the Kings) decided to not tell me about nothing, about what was going on with Milwaukee. I really didn’t know nothing. Yes, I’m friends with Thanasis (Antetokounmpo) mostly — (Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s) brother — but we didn’t know what was going on. It was really on Twitter.
“Now, people are making stories off of it. … I was like, ‘What is going on?’ I didn’t know what was going on. And then, two days later, the NBA investigation (began), and no one called me from the Kings yet. I just got a text, like, ‘Thanks for being part of the team,’ and that’s it.”
[RELATED: Bucks Lose 2022 Second-Round Pick For Early Pursuit Of Bogdanovic]
Bogdanovic’s wide-ranging discussion with Amick goes into more detail on his reaction to learning of the reported agreement between the Kings and Bucks and what it meant for his impending free agency. However, the interview – which is worth checking out in full – also touches on several other topics, including his pivot to Atlanta, his new role with the Hawks, and testing positive for COVID-19.
Here are some of the highlights from the conversation:
On dealing with a positive coronavirus test at the same time as he navigated free agency:
“Yeah, I had it. I had it, and I recovered and I started working out back in Serbia and I was fine. I didn’t have any crazy symptoms or anything like that, but it was all stressful, you know? You’re thinking about coming back and being ready and in shape, you know? It was really stressful. That two, three weeks? Whoo.”
On having to find a new deal in restricted free agency after the Bucks-related drama:
“At that point, when free agency opens up, I was just focused on one thing, you know? And Atlanta called first. The Kings actually called me like 15 minutes after, and I liked what they (the Hawks) offered me. … I think, in the end, I was lucky and I end up being in the perfect situation in terms of contract and a team.”
On whether he thoughts the Kings would match his offer sheet with the Hawks:
“I was scared for that (because) at that point I wanted to leave. At that point, when they traded me already and they didn’t want to talk to me about it, I was like, ‘OK, they really want me out of here.’ So I was like, ‘OK.’
“We end up signing the offer sheet, so I was thinking like, ‘Damn, in the end, they’re going to match this.’ I was confused. It’s not really free agency, because you are not free. And yes, you’re restricted — you’re really restricted. It’s restricted agency. It’s not free agency.”
On how he feels about his new role coming off the bench in Atlanta:
“I feel fine. I feel fine about it. I think coach (Lloyd Pierce) is putting me in situations to kind of run the second unit, you know? And be like the sixth man of the unit. And when you play with Trae (Young), it’s so easy. He always draws so much attention on him, and that’s what gives me a lot of open shots. Not just me, but everyone else.
“… We are still figuring it out, and I think from this point we can just get better. It’s so much talent. And we have a lot of guys who can get off one night, so that’s a really good problem to have on a team. … I like it so far. We really have a pretty good group, a mix of young (players) and veterans — which is really nice; energy and experience. So it’s really nice to be here. It’s really fun.”
Nigel Williams-Goss Signs With Russian Team
JANUARY 5: Lokomotiv Kuban has officially signed Williams-Goss for the rest of the season, the team announced today in a press release.
DECEMBER 31: Free agent guard Nigel Williams-Goss is close to finalizing a contract agreement with Russian club Lokomotiv Kuban, according to a report from Serbian outlet MozzartSport (hat tip to Sportando).
Williams-Goss, who was selected by the Jazz with the 55th overall pick in the 2017 draft, is no stranger to international ball, having spent the 2017/18 season with Partizan in Serbia and the ’18/19 campaign with Olympiacos in Greece before arriving in Utah last season.
Although Williams-Goss signed a multiyear contract with the Jazz in 2019, only the first year of that deal was guaranteed, and he was waived earlier this month before the team was on the hook for his ’20/21 salary.
In his first and only NBA season last year, Williams-Goss appeared in just 10 games for Utah and 17 more for the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League. The 26-year-old averaged 15.3 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 3.9 RPG on .508/.352/.778 shooting in 29.6 minutes per contest for the Stars.
Assuming Williams-Goss officially completes a deal with Lokomotiv Kuban, he’ll be joining a team that features several former NBA players, including Alan Williams, Jordan Crawford, and Kevin Hervey. Lokomotiv Kuban plays in the VTB United League and the EuroCup.
Latest On Potential Sale Of Timberwolves
It has been nearly six months since reports surfaced indicating that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor was exploring a sale of the franchise. However, firm offers for the team have been “tepid,” sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Insider link).
In August, a report from The Athletic suggested that former Grizzlies minority owner Daniel Straus was closing in on a deal to buy the Timberwolves. According to Windhorst, Taylor and Straus got as far as a term sheet and continue to talk, but have been unable to finalize an agreement. Sources tell ESPN that Straus modified his offer once it became clear that fans wouldn’t fill arenas during the 2020/21 season.
Straus is still the favorite to become the team’s new owner, but Taylor’s history of exploring a sale and then pulling the team off the market creates some uncertainty, writes Windhorst. It also sounds as if valuations of the Wolves (which are in the $1.3-1.5 billion range, including debt, per ESPN) are lower than Taylor had hoped.
“I think Glen was hoping team values were still going up,” another team owner told ESPN. “I think we’re finding out they may not be right now.”
As we’ve noted in previous stories about a possible sale of the Wolves, Taylor’s insistence that the team remain in Minnesota is expected to put a ceiling on both the number of bidders and the sale price, since many potential suitors would be interested in relocating the club. Taylor has flatly rebuffed inquiries from those looking to relocate the Wolves, reports Windhorst.
A report last July indicated there were some preliminary discussions with the Wilf family – the owners of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings – but that they didn’t advance, which Windhorst confirms. Former Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett was also said to have interest in putting together a group to make a bid, but there has been no traction on that front either, per Windhorst.
While Straus reportedly remains a viable buyer for the Wolves, there doesn’t seem to be a clear Plan B if those talks stall. Taylor acknowledged in a recent interview that there’s a very real possibility he could still control the franchise a year from now.
Highest-Paid NBA Players By Team
On Monday, we listed the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2020/21 season. While that list presented a clear picture of the highest earners for the upcoming season, not every NBA team was represented.
Four of the league’s 30 franchises – the Hawks, Pacers, Grizzlies, and Knicks – didn’t have a single player in the top 50. Indiana was close, with Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon narrowly missing the cut, but none of the other three clubs have a player earning $20MM or more this season.
Our list of highest-paid players for 2020/21 also only provided a snapshot for the coming year. It featured veterans like Kyle Lowry, Otto Porter, and Andre Drummond, who will be well compensated for the coming season but are on expiring contracts.
Today, we’re shifting our focus to the highest-paid players by team. This will allow us to check in on the clubs that weren’t represented on our initial list, as well as exploring teams’ most lucrative multiyear commitments — we’ve included each club’s highest-paid player for the 2020/21 season and its highest-paid player in total.
Let’s dive in…
Atlanta Hawks
- 2020/21: Danilo Gallinari ($19,500,000)
- Total: Bogdan Bogdanovic (four years, $72,000,000)
- Note: Bogdanovic’s final year is a player option.
- Note: Bogdanovic’s final year is a player option.
Boston Celtics
- 2020/21: Kemba Walker ($34,379,100)
- Total: Jayson Tatum (six years, $172,897,710)
- Note: The value of Tatum’s contract would increase to $205,497,830 if he makes an All-NBA team in 2021. Its value is based on a projected 3% salary cap increase for 2021/22. Tatum’s final year is a player option.
- Note: The value of Tatum’s contract would increase to $205,497,830 if he makes an All-NBA team in 2021. Its value is based on a projected 3% salary cap increase for 2021/22. Tatum’s final year is a player option.
Brooklyn Nets
- 2020/21: Kevin Durant ($40,108,950)
- Total: Kevin Durant (three years, $126,056,700)
- Note: Durant’s final year is a player option.
Charlotte Hornets
- 2020/21: Gordon Hayward ($28,500,000)
- Total: Gordon Hayward (four years, $120,000,000)
Chicago Bulls
- 2020/21: Otto Porter ($28,489,239)
- Total: Zach LaVine (two years, $39,000,000)
Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2020/21: Kevin Love ($31,258,256)
- Total: Kevin Love (three years, $91,459,342)
Dallas Mavericks
- 2020/21: Kristaps Porzingis ($29,467,800)
- Total: Kristaps Porzingis (four years, $130,968,000)
- Note: Porzingis’ final year is a player option.
Denver Nuggets
- 2020/21: Nikola Jokic ($29,542,010)
- Total: Jamal Murray (five years, $158,253,000)
Detroit Pistons
- 2020/21: Blake Griffin ($36,810,996)
- Total: Blake Griffin (two years, $75,768,024)
- Note: Griffin’s final year is a player option.
Golden State Warriors
- 2020/21: Stephen Curry ($43,006,362)
- Total: Klay Thompson (four years, $157,161,600)
Los Angeles Clippers
Toronto RaptorsInjury Updates: Exum, Hayes, Bogdanovic, Okogie, Towns
Cavaliers guard Dante Exum departed Monday’s game against Orlando in the opening minute with a right calf strain, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He went down with a non-contact injury and eventually hobbled to the bench, unable to put weight on his leg. Cleveland players spoke with optimism regarding the injury after the game, Fedor tweets.
Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- Pistons lottery pick Killian Hayes left Monday’s game against Milwaukee during the third quarter with a right hip injury, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets. Hayes has started regularly during his rookie season. He’ll have an MRI on Tuesday, coach Dwane Casey said after the game.
- Jazz swingman Bojan Bogdanovic has continually experienced soreness in his surgically repaired right wrist, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News writes. Bogdanovic put on a brace during Sunday’s game against San Antonio and it helped dramatically, as he scored 28 points. “I really hate to play with anything on my body, any tape, any brace, anything,” he said. “But I really needed it because my wrist is kind od sore whenever I follow through when I’m shooting.”
- Josh Okogie is closer to returning than Karl-Anthony Towns for the Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Okogie has missed the last four games with a left hamstring strain. Towns has only played two games due to a dislocated left wrist. Meanwhile, Jaylen Nowell is ramping up in practice and is close to making his season debut. He’s been sidelined with a left ankle injury.
Pacific Notes: Robinson, Guy, Harrell, Housen, Clippers Staff
With rookie Tyrese Haliburton out due to a wrist injury, the Kings are using Glenn Robinson III and Kyle Guy to fill in those minutes, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Robinson played 21 minutes and Guy saw the court for six minutes during the Kings’ game against Houston on Saturday. Robinson is playing on a contract that doesn’t fully guarantee until late February, while Guy is on a two-way deal.
We have more from around the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers’ star players LeBron James and Anthony Davis are well-known clients of Klutch Sports but Montrezl Harrell, another client, insists that had nothing to with his decision to join the team, Lakers beat writer Harrison Faigen tweets. “First of all, my agency has nothing to do with my decision (to join the Lakers),” Harrell said. Harrell signed a two-year contract in November while jumping from one Los Angeles team to another.
- Warriors executive Eric Housen has been stuck in Detroit since the middle of last week due to the league’s COVID-19 protocols, as Marcus Thompson of The Athletic details. Housen, the team’s VP of team operations, was forced into a seven-day quarantine due to contact tracing.
- Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that seven staff members who have been placed under quarantine restrictions in Los Angeles are doing well, according to Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. “(They are) healthy and feeling pretty good, that’s the most important thing,” Lue said. A Clippers staff member tested positive in Salt Lake City and contact tracing led to the quarantine. Lue indicated it didn’t affect preparations prior to the team’s game in Phoenix on Sunday. “We have the ample amount of staff that we need,” he said.
Spurs Guard Derrick White Has Toe Fracture
Spurs guard Derrick White has a minor toe fracture in his left foot, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. White’s return will be based upon his response to rehab, Charania adds.
It’s the same digit — the second toe of his left foot — that was surgically repaired in August. White re-injured the toe during a loose ball scrum against the Lakers on New Year’s Day. White missed training camp, preseason and the team’s first four regular-season games while rehabbing from the surgery, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News notes.
White scored nine points in 23 minutes in his season debut before retreating to the bench.
“This is bad, bad luck for him and for our team,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose team departed on a five-game road trip this week.
White signed a four-year rookie scale extension worth $73MM just prior to the start of the regular season. White averaged 11.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 3.5 APG in 24.7 MPG last season, his third year in the league. He started 20 of 68 games after starting 55 of 67 games in his second season.