Roy Rogers Close To Joining Blazers’ Staff
The Trail Blazers are finalizing a contract with Roy Rogers to join Chauncey Billups’ staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Rogers’ primary responsibility would be improving Portland’s defense, which ranked 29th with a 115.3 rating during the regular season.
Rogers would be the third assistant poached from Tyronn Lue‘s Clippers staff since the end of their season. Billups spent a year with the Clippers before he was hired by the Blazers to replace Terry Stotts. Rogers, 47, was hired last offseason to join Lue after stints with the Bulls, Rockets, Wizards, Nets, Pistons and Celtics.
Another member of Lue’s staff this season, former Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, is joining Steve Kerr’s Golden State staff.
Timberwolves Notes: Draft, Simmons, Sikka
The Timberwolves have traded away their picks in this month’s draft but they’re still preparing as if they’ll wind up participating, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. They’re co-hosting pre-draft workouts this weekend with the Jazz.
“Just because we don’t have a pick on whatever day today is doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a pick on draft night,” team president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said. “The worst thing you can do is be caught unprepared and we’re fortunate we have players on our roster that are valued by other teams. We have opportunities to jump in the draft at very strategic levels and that’s a testament to our players, the value they have around the league.”
We have more on the Timberwolves:
- Rumors surfaced late last month that the team would explore a trade with the Sixers for Ben Simmons. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic explores how Simmons might fit in and what it would take to bring him to Minnesota. The Timberwolves could match up salaries by including Ricky Rubio and Malik Beasley in a deal, but it’s likely Philadelphia would ask for D’Angelo Russell and/or future first-rounders, Krawczynski notes.
- Robby Sikka has resigned from his position as the Wolves’ VP of basketball operations and wellness, Krawczynski writes in a separate story. Rosas hired Sikka two years ago to improve the team’s ability to stay healthy, revamp its player nutrition program and work with head athletic trainer Gregg Farnam to oversee the rehabilitation of injuries.
- Forward Juan Hernangomez, who had been preparing to represent Spain in the Olympics, dislocated his left shoulder during an exhibition game and will miss the Tokyo games. Get the details here.
Community Shootaround: Expansion
The NHL’s expansion draft for its newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken, will be held in less than two weeks. It comes just four years after Las Vegas was added to the league.
The other major winter sports league doesn’t seem to be in any rush to add new franchises, however. Commissioner Adam Silver was asked about the possibility of increasing the league’s 30-team membership this week. He made it clear that it’s not near the top of his priority list.
“The most important considerations for us when we look at expansion is, will it ultimately grow the pie? Meaning, it’s potentially 30 more jobs if you expand with two teams,” Silver said. “You expand the league’s footprint. How does that help us in varying ways, sort of increased support nationally. So we’ll continue to look at it. I mean, I’ve said this many times before, we’re certainly not suggesting we’re locked at 30 teams. I think at some point it will make sense to expand, but it’s just not at the top of the agenda right now.”
Seattle, which lost its franchise to Oklahoma City, has long been considered the most likely city to get the next franchise. Las Vegas is also a strong contender, but there are plenty of other options.
Domestically, Kansas City, Louisville, San Diego, Nashville, Tampa and Pittsburgh have been mentioned to varying degrees; the league could also look at major international cities such as London, Vancouver, Montreal and Mexico City.
The Players Association would likely endorse expansion, since it would create more opportunities for players to wear an NBA uniform.
That leads us to our question of the day: Should the NBA seriously consider expansion in the near future? If so, which cities are most deserving of a franchise?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Eastern Notes: Holiday, LaVine, Hawks, Magic
The trade that brought Jrue Holiday to Milwaukee helped the Bucks reach the Finals. Holiday has struggled in the first two games of the series but Giannis Antetokounmpo is confident his teammate turn things around as the series shifts to Milwaukee, Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes.
“No matter what’s going on, you’ve got to stay aggressive and you cannot get in your feelings. It’s hard not to,” Antetokounmpo said. “You know, NBA Finals, 20,000 people booing you and all that, it’s kind of hard. … If there’s a game that you’re 3-for-12 or whatever the case might be and you can rebound the ball or get a steal or do something else to help the team win, that’s what it’s all about right now. I think he understands that. I know he’s going to be there when we need him the most and I don’t worry about it.”
Holiday shot 11-for-35 from the field during the two games in Phoenix.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- Zach LaVine will discuss a contract extension with the Bulls soon and he anticipates a positive outcome, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times tweets. LaVine will make $19.5MM next season and then is due to become an unrestricted free agent. LaVine is currently with Team USA training for the Olympics.
- On the surface, Jamahl Mosley won’t have a lot of pressure as the new head coach of the rebuilding Magic — provided that he finalizes an agreement — but he’ll face some obstacles, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes. The current roster doesn’t have a clear No. 1 offensive option and that could create some chemistry issues. In the same piece, Robbins reveals that president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and GM John Hammond are expected to receive contract extensions. Both have one year remaining on their deals and the length of their new contracts will likely coincide with Mosley’s deal.
- Now that he’s had the interim tag removed, Hawks coach Nate McMillan knows that expectations will ramp up for a team that reached the conference finals, Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. “Things just for whatever reason went right, and we had a lot of success,” he said. “We know that expectations are going to be higher for us next season. But the one thing we’ve tried to keep this team locked in on is just us. Not the outside noise and what people are saying we should be or shouldn’t be because at the beginning of the season, they weren’t saying what they’re saying now about us. So you can’t focus on that.”
Nets Hire David Vanterpool As Assistant
7:01pm: The team has officially hired Vanterpool, according to a press release.
10:04am: The Nets lost a key member of Steve Nash‘s coaching staff when the division-rival Celtics hired assistant Ime Udoka to become their new head coach. However, it appears Brooklyn has already lined up a replacement for Udoka.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), the Nets are finalizing a deal to hire David Vanterpool as an assistant coach.
An assistant for CSKA Moscow from 2007-12 after spending time with the Russian team as a player, Vanterpool made the move to the NBA in 2012. He served as an assistant coach on Portland’s staff for seven years from 2012-19, then spent the last two seasons as the Timberwolves’ associate head coach, first under Ryan Saunders, then under Chris Finch.
When the Wolves replaced Saunders with Finch during the season, some league observers expressed surprise that the team hired an assistant from another team (Finch had been part of Nick Nurse‘s Raptors staff) in the middle of the season rather than promoting Vanterpool, who has received consideration for other head coaching openings in recent years. Word broke in May after Minnesota’s season ended that Vanterpool wouldn’t stick with the club.
Last month, when seven head coaching positions opened up around the NBA, it seemed as if Nash may be in danger of losing multiple assistants, with Udoka, Mike D’Antoni, and Jacque Vaughn all generating interest. However, Vaughn withdrew from head coaching consideration and it doesn’t appear D’Antoni will be hired by any of the teams still conducting searches. For now, we’re assuming both coaches will be part of Nash’s staff along with Vanterpool for 2021/22.
Raptors Notes: Ujiri, Nurse, Second-Round Picks
There are positive signs that Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri plans to sign an extension, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca reports. He’s conducting business as usual, focusing on the draft and free agency. A player agent told Grange “he’s coming back” and another source at the recent combine said Ujiri was acting as if he’s “on a mission to win another title.”
Ujiri is technically a free agent this summer and there are still some concerns another franchise, such as the Clippers, could swoop in at the last minute and try to woo him away. But for now a return to the Raptors is expected.
We have more on the Raptors:
- Coach Nick Nurse’s former agent has filed a civil lawsuit against him, claiming breach of contract, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Warren LeGarie is seeking financial relief, claiming he had a contract with Nurse through the 2023/24 season. Nurse, who is now represented by Andy Miller, agreed to a contract extension in September. According to the suit, Nurse’s salary for this season was readjusted to the $6-8MM range and the four-year extension was worth $32MM. LeGarie is seeking a commission for the portion of the contract he claims he negotiated.
- The team owns the No. 46 and 47 overall picks in this month’s draft and Blake Murphy of The Athletic examines six wing players it could take with those second-round selections. The group includes Michigan State’s Aaron Henry and Florida’s Scottie Lewis.
- In case you missed it, Murphy examined the logistics this week of a potential trade with the Warriors involving Pascal Siakam.
2021 NBA Offseason Preview: Miami Heat
Just about everything went right for the Heat during the summer restart in the Walt Disney World bubble last summer. Having entered the playoffs as a No. 5 seed in the East, Miami won three consecutive series as the road team, then came within two wins of a championship before falling to the Lakers.
The Heat brought back a pretty similar roster in 2020/21, aiming to finish higher in the standings and make another deep playoff run. But health issues limited the team’s ability to build much momentum during the regular season, and the departures of some key role players (such as Jae Crowder) – along with underwhelming or nonexistent contributions from new additions (including Victor Oladipo) – were major factors in Miami’s lack of postseason success.
With Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo locked up for multiple seasons, the Heat have a solid All-Star duo to build around, but president of basketball operations Pat Riley may consider making significant roster changes around that duo after Miami became the only one of this year’s 16 playoff teams not to win a single game in the postseason.
The Heat’s Offseason Plan:
The Heat enter the offseason with only five players under contract: Butler, Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Precious Achiuwa, and KZ Okpala. That gives the team some flexibility to go in multiple directions.
A year ago, the Heat had the ability to create some cap room, but instead chose to re-sign several of their own free agents, operate over the cap, and use the mid-level exception to try to add a role player or two. It’s possible Miami will go that route again this summer.
The team options for Goran Dragic ($19MM+) and Andre Iguodala ($15MM) may be a little higher than the club would like, but both players could be re-signed even if their options are declined, and Miami would have the ability to bring back some combination of Oladipo, Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Trevor Ariza, and Nemanja Bjelica too. Dewayne Dedmon could also be re-signed, though the Heat would have to use an exception to do so if he’s seeking more than the minimum, since he’ll only have Non-Bird rights.
On the other hand, if the Heat aren’t convinced that running it back again is a good play, they could let most of those free agents walk and try their luck on the open market — they’d have $20MM+ in cap room even if they retained the modest cap holds for Nunn and Robinson (they could go over the cap to re-sign those two RFAs after using their cap space).
Still, considering this year’s free agent class is somewhat underwhelming and $20MM likely wouldn’t get them a star-caliber player, I’d expect the Heat to operate over the cap and try to land an impact player on the trade market.
Exercising Dragic’s or Iguodala’s team option would give the Heat a sizeable expiring contract to use for salary-matching (they could pick up both options if needed), and while their ability to trade future first-round picks is somewhat limited, they have valuable young players – such as Herro and Achiuwa – who could be dangled as trade chips.
One potential target to keep an eye on is Kyle Lowry, who is close friends with Butler. The Heat pursued Lowry at the March trade deadline, but were reportedly unwilling to part with Herro to make a deal happen. The Heat could theoretically clear enough cap room to make him a strong offer, so if Lowry wants to team up with Butler, the Raptors’ leverage in sign-and-trade talks would decrease. That would allow Miami to negotiate more favorable trade terms and hang onto Herro, possibly for another trade down the road.
Salary Cap Situation
Note: Our salary cap projections are based on a presumed 3% increase, which would result in a $112.4MM cap for 2021/22.
Guaranteed Salary
- Jimmy Butler ($36,016,200)
- Bam Adebayo ($28,103,500) 1
- Ryan Anderson ($5,214,583) — Waived via stretch provision.
- Tyler Herro ($4,004,280)
- Precious Achiuwa ($2,711,280)
- KZ Okpala ($1,782,621)
- Total: $77,832,464
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- Goran Dragic ($19,440,000): Bird rights
- Andre Iguodala ($15,000,000): Bird rights
- Omer Yurtseven ($1,517,981): Non-Bird rights 2
- Total: $35,957,981
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- None
Restricted Free Agents
Kendrick Nunn ($4,736,102 qualifying offer / $4,736,102 cap hold): Bird rights- Duncan Robinson ($4,736,102 qualifying offer / $4,736,102 cap hold): Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $9,472,204
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- None
Extension-Eligible Players
- Jimmy Butler (veteran)
- KZ Okpala (veteran)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Victor Oladipo ($31,500,000): Bird rights
- Trevor Ariza ($16,640,000): Early Bird rights
- Nemanja Bjelica ($13,585,000): Bird rights
- Dewayne Dedmon ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights
- Udonis Haslem ($1,669,178): Bird rights
- Jordan Mickey ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights 4
- Dwyane Wade ($1,669,178): Early Bird rights 4
- Total: $68,401,712
Offseason Cap Outlook
As noted above, the Heat could create over $20MM+ in cap room by declining all their team options and renouncing all their free agents except Nunn and Robinson. Renouncing Nunn and Robinson would get the team up to $28MM+ in cap space.
But unless there’s an extremely compelling reason to clear that space, I don’t see Miami giving up its rights to so many useful players. The bet here is that the Heat operate as an over-the-cap team and bring back a few of their own free agents.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Mid-level exception: $9,536,000 5
- Bi-annual exception: $3,732,000 5
Footnotes
- This is a projected value. Adebayo’s salary will be 25% of the 2021/22 salary cap.
- Yurtseven’s salary will remain non-guaranteed even if his option is exercised.
- Because he has been on a two-way contract with the Heat for two seasons, Vincent is eligible for a standard minimum-salary qualifying offer.
- The cap holds for Mickey and Wade remain on the Heat’s books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- These are projected values. If the Heat approach or cross the tax line, they may forfeit these exceptions and instead gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.9MM). If they decided to operate under the cap, they’d forfeit these exceptions and would gain access to the room exception ($4.9MM).
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post.
MRI On Torrey Craig’s Knee Reveals No Structural Damage
Suns forward Torrey Craig exited Game 2 of the NBA Finals in the third quarter on Thursday due to a right knee contusion and didn’t return, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.
While the Suns didn’t provide an official update on Craig’s status after Thursday’s game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the 30-year-old underwent an MRI on his right knee today. According to Wojnarowski, that MRI revealed no structural damage to the knee, so Craig is being considered day-to-day for now.
That diagnosis is good news for the Suns, who had already been leaning on Craig as a part of their rotation throughout the playoffs and may have wanted him to play a slightly larger role with Dario Saric unavailable. Phoenix acquired Craig from Milwaukee in exchange for cash in a midseason trade.
Game 3 isn’t schedule to take place until Sunday, so Craig will have an extra day off to recover. If he’s not cleared to play in Game 3, Phoenix could turn to Frank Kaminsky or Abdel Nader for a few minutes off the bench or could slightly increase the workload of wings like Jae Crowder, Mikal Bridges, and Cameron Johnson.
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Rockets, Spurs, Terry, Grizzlies
People around the NBA believe there’s a good chance the Pelicans will move the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft in a deal that would bring back veteran help, says Zach Harper of The Athletic.
New Orleans already has a young roster and is expected to shop veterans like Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams this offseason in order to create more cap flexibility. Moving Bledsoe and/or Adams would make the roster even younger, perhaps making the Pelicans even less inclined to add another rookie to the mix.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Within his latest mock draft, Harper also says there’s a belief the Rockets have been “fixated” on Cade Cunningham, but are likely unwilling to pay Detroit what it would take to move up to No. 1. Additionally, sources tell Harper that people around the league believe Spurs guards Dejounte Murray and Derrick White could be “gettable” in trades.
- Mavericks guard Tyrell Terry was away from the team for nearly two months during his rookie season for personal reasons. Asked this week about that situation, Terry declined to offer any details, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News writes. “I had something to deal with personally that I needed to take care of in order for me to come back and be the best version of myself,” Terry said. “The Mavericks were very helpful and supportive in that time.”
- The Grizzlies could have between $20-25MM in cap room this offseason. With that in mind, Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal considers which veteran free agents might make sense as targets for the team.
Spencer Dinwiddie Discusses Upcoming Free Agency
Typically, when an NBA player is asked about his upcoming free agency, he’ll respond in general platitudes rather than speaking openly about how he expects the process to play out. However, appearing on The Crossover with Howard Beck of SI.com (video link) after turning down his 2021/22 player option, Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie didn’t hesitate to get into specifics about his free agency.
“For all the fans that think because I opted out I have to leave or something like that, no, this is very much in the Nets’ hands, you feel me?” Dinwiddie said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I think my full max is like five (years), $196 (million) or something like that. And nobody’s sitting here saying I’m going to get five, $196MM — so before anybody tries to kill me, nobody’s saying that.
“But the Nets have the ability to do something that other people can’t. If the Nets come to the table like that, and they’re being aggressive and are saying, ‘Hey we got five, $125MM for you,’ I would say there’s a high likelihood that I go back to the Nets, you know what I mean? But if they don’t come to the table (like that), and they’re like ‘Oh, we’re going to give you a three for $60MM,’ well, anybody can do that.”
As Dinwiddie alludes to, the Nets hold his full Bird rights, giving them the ability to offer a fifth year and annual raises of 8%. Rival suitors would be limited to four years and 5% raises, and would need to either sign Dinwiddie using cap room or work out a sign-and-trade to give him a salary in his desired range. No such restrictions face Brooklyn.
Still, the Nets are heavily invested in their three superstars (Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden), two of whom are guards, meaning they may be reluctant to set themselves up for a massive luxury tax bill by signing Dinwiddie to a lucrative new contract.
For what it’s worth, the five-year, $125MM figure Dinwiddie throws out in his conversation with Beck seems overly optimistic on the 28-year-old’s part, particularly since he’s coming off a partial ACL tear that sidelined him for nearly the entire season. As NetsDaily observes, if Dinwiddie can land a four-year contract in the range of the ones signed by point guards Malcolm Brogdon and Fred VanVleet in recent years ($85MM), he’d be doing very well.
The Heat, Knicks, and Bulls are among the teams that will be on the hunt for a point guard this offseason and have the ability to open up cap space, so they could be among the teams competing with Brooklyn for Dinwiddie’s services. Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News says the Mavericks are also expected to express interest in the veteran guard.
Dinwiddie reportedly wouldn’t mind playing in his hometown of Los Angeles, but the Clippers and Lakers will have limited cap flexibility.