COVID-19 Concerns Return Amid NBA Finals
An NBA season that began under the threat of COVID-19 appears to be ending the same way. In addition to Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who has been ruled out of tonight’s Game 5 after being placed in health and safety protocols, the Bucks will be without assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
This will be the third straight game that Oppenheimer has been forced to miss, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link), but there’s hope he may be back for Game 6 (Twitter link).
The virus has also impacted the officiating crew for tonight, as the league announced (via Twitter) that referee Sean Wright has been placed in health and safety protocols. James Williams will take his place.
There has been growing concern that the league wouldn’t be able to crown a champion without COVID-19 becoming a factor again, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. Cases are rising across the country, and the sports world is feeling the effects. Bradley Beal had to leave the U.S. Olympic team this week and Jerami Grant‘s status is uncertain as he remains in the health and safety protocols.
Amick points out that the league has taken great precautions since the season started in December to minimize the effects of the virus. Testing has been constant for players, coaches and staff members, and some teams have been shut down for a week or more after recording multiple positive tests.
“There’s a real push to stay safe, to stay healthy, to be vigilant,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before today’s cases were reported. “Both teams, we’re very, very close to the finish. We’re excited about finishing this strong.”
There have been recent changes throughout the NBA landscape, Amick adds. Masks are once again required for media members after those policies had been relaxed, and staff members are being asked to stay away from public settings as much as possible. Suns guard Devin Booker told Amick that most players are choosing to stay inside and avoid potential risks.
Teammate Chris Paul had to sit out the first two games of the Western Conference Finals after returning a positive test. He’s concerned about his family in the Los Angeles area, which has experienced a recent surge in the virus.
“I pay close attention to it,” he said. “I have family just like everybody else. My parents (are) traveling to Milwaukee (for games), coming to this game (in Phoenix). My kids. L.A. just put a new mandate in where you wear a mask inside. My family is there. I pay attention to it just like everybody else. Try to control what I can control. Stay in the moment with the Finals, but health is a huge concern, not just for my family but for everybody.”
Draft Notes: Butler, Duarte, Knicks, Rockets
Baylor guard Jared Butler has received medical clearance from the NBA’s Fitness to Play panel, writes Shams Charania of The Athletic. Butler, the Most Outstanding Player in this year’s Final Four, had been considered a possible mid first-round pick when the draft process began, but he was sidelined in June due to a heart condition.
Butler hasn’t been permitted to do anything on the court for the past three weeks, but he was still allowed to meet with teams and go through off-court activities such as interviews and medical exams. He met this week with executives from the Kings, who hold the ninth and 39th picks in the draft.
“I am fully healthy and cleared to play in the NBA!” Butler wrote on Twitter. “Out of an abundance of care, the NBA is incredibly thorough in vetting the health of every player during the pre-Draft process and throughout our careers. I am forever grateful that their comprehensive and strict health analysis has unanimously confirmed my fitness to play in the NBA. Now, my focus is entirely on the Draft and working daily to prepare myself to fulfill my lifelong dream !!”
There’s more draft news to pass along:
- Oregon’s Chris Duarte was happy with the results of Friday’s workout for the Warriors, per James Crepea of The Oregonian. Duarte, who is expected to be selected around the middle of the first round, has also visited the Wizards, Hornets, Thunder, Pelicans and Spurs. “It went great,” Duarte said of Friday’s session. “I really love it, enjoying this time here.”
- Butler and Duarte may be possibilities for the Knicks if they hold onto the 19th and 21st picks, ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla tells Steve Serby of The New York Post. Fraschilla also mentions Kentucky center Isaiah Jackson and international prospect Usman Garuba.
- The Rockets‘ interest in trading up for the No. 1 pick is legitimate, but they don’t have any really strong future draft choices to offer the Pistons, Zach Harper of the Athletic writes in his latest mock draft. Harper expects Detroit to hang on to the No. 1 selection and take Cade Cunningham, leaving Houston to decide between keeping the No. 2 choice or trading down for extra assets. Jalen Green is the expected pick, but Harper cites “people within the Rockets’ decision-making process” who are in favor of drafting Jalen Suggs.
Will Barton To Decline Player Option
Nuggets swingman Will Barton will opt out of his $14.7MM salary for next season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Both sides hope a new deal can be reached in free agency, Charania adds.
Today was the deadline for a decision from Barton, who has been in Denver since being acquired in a trade with Portland midway through the 2014/15 season. He is the longest-tenured player on the Nuggets’ roster and will be an offseason priority for president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Denver owns Bird rights on Barton and will be able to exceed the cap to re-sign him, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Even without Barton on the books, the Nuggets project to be over the cap for next season when taking into account the team’s first-round draft pick and a possible $7.6MM salary for JaMychal Green, whose player option decision is due by July 26.
[RELATED: 2021 NBA Offseason Preview: Denver Nuggets]
Barton, 30, suffered a late-season hamstring injury that limited his availability in the playoffs. He appeared in 56 regular season games and averaged 12.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting a career best 38.1% from three-point range.
Keep up with all the offseason decisions on player options here.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo In Health and Safety Protocols
Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo will miss tonight’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals after being placed in the league’s health and safety protocols, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Antetokounmpo is listed as out on the team’s injury report submitted this afternoon, adds Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link).
The news should have little impact on the outcome, as Antetokounmpo has played a combined two minutes during the first four games of the series. He has been used sparingly throughout the playoffs after appearing in 57 regular season games and averaging 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per night.
The 28-year-old is in his second season with Milwaukee after coming to the NBA from Greece in 2019. He also was with the Knicks briefly during the 2015/16 season.
Pacific Notes: Oubre, Kings Workouts, Lakers Workouts, Suns Arena
Warriors free agent wing Kelly Oubre sat down with Stadium’s Shams Charania for an interview on Wednesday to discuss his up-and-down season with in Golden State, as well as his free agency plans.
“This season obviously wasn’t my best showing, but at the end of the day, I know what I’m capable of and I think the whole world knows what I’m capable of,” Oubre said.
Oubre, who has never lacked confidence, spoke on why he feels he stands apart from other free agents in this year’s class: “I’m a worker. I wouldn’t always get better and you wouldn’t be able to see improvements in my game somewhere each and every year if I wasn’t working continuously and staying locked in and focused on my craft. I think that puts me at an advantage over a lot of other free agents.”
An unrestricted free agent, the 25-year-old will try to find a permanent home after bouncing around from the Wizards to the Sunsto the Warriors over the last few seasons.
We have more from around the Pacific Division:
- Stanford one-and-done wing Ziaire Williams had a workout with the Kings on Wednesday, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The 6’8″ shot creator had a turbulent freshman year, but was a top recruit coming out of high school. Anderson also writes that Moses Moody appears to have worked out for the Kings, as he posted a photo of himself in a Kings practice jersey to Instagram on Friday. Anderson tweeted a screenshot of a similar Instagram post last night from Kai Jones. The Kings have the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft.
- The Lakers worked out six prospects today, tweets Lakers reporter Kyle Goon: Miles McBride, Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden Springer, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Mac McClung and Balsa Koprivica. The Lakers have the 22nd pick, and McBride, Dosunmu and Springer are all rumored to potentially be in that range.
- The Suns’ arena is getting a new name, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The arena will be called The Footprint Center moving forward.
Wizards Hire Wes Unseld Jr. As Head Coach
The Wizards have formally agreed to a four-year deal with Wes Unseld Jr. that makes him the team’s new head coach, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The club put out a press release officially announcing the move.
“Wes is one of the most highly-regarded assistant coaches in the NBA and clearly separated himself from the large and diverse group of candidates we considered,” Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said in a statement. “His strong record as an in-game tactician along with his attention to detail on both sides of the ball, combined with his reputation for player development and outstanding character during his 20+ years of coaching left no doubt that he was the best choice to guide our team to the next level.”
Unseld, who grew up in Maryland and attended Johns Hopkins from 1994-97, began his coaching career in 2005 in D.C. He spent six years as an assistant on the Wizards’ staff from 2005-11 before moving on to coaching roles with the Warriors (2011-12), Magic (2012-15), and Nuggets (2015-present).
After promoting him to the role of Michael Malone’s associate head coach a year ago, Denver reportedly made a significant push for Unseld to get his first head coaching job. He had been gaining steam as a candidate in Washington in recent weeks, and was reportedly offered the job by the Wizards on Friday, beating out Bucks assistants Charles Lee and Darvin Ham for the job.
Unseld Jr. is the son of Wes Unseld, who spent over 20 years as a Wizards coach and executive after playing for Washington/Baltimore for 13 seasons. The Hall-of-Famer passed away in 2020.
The younger Unseld will replace Scott Brooks on the sidelines for the Wizards. Brooks coached the team for five seasons, but didn’t reach an agreement on a new contract after Washington was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round this spring.
The Pelicans are now the only team making a coaching change this offseason that hasn’t yet announced its new head coach. However, Suns assistant Willie Green is on track to fill that vacancy.
A full breakdown of this year’s coaching searches can be found right here.
2021 NBA Offseason Preview: Denver Nuggets
Any discussion about how injuries affected the 2021 NBA postseason probably has to start with the Nets and the Lakers, but the Nuggets shouldn’t be overlooked. After acquiring Aaron Gordon at the trade deadline in March, Denver was firing on all cylinders and looked capable of seriously competing for a spot in the NBA Finals.
Those good vibes didn’t last long though. After the Nuggets won eight of their first nine games with Gordon in the lineup, disaster struck in the 10th game, as Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL that ended his season and will keep him sidelined for the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
The resilient Nuggets still finished the season strong and won a playoff series against Portland. But without Murray, who averaged 26.5 PPG on a scorching .505/.453/.897 shooting line in 19 playoffs games (39.6 MPG) in 2020, the odds of the team making a deep postseason run took a nosedive.
As tempting as it to imagine “what if?” scenarios about how the second-round series against Phoenix might have played out with a healthy Murray, the Nuggets have to turn their attention to figuring out how to make up for his absence to start next season — and how to put themselves in title contention again in 2022.
The Nuggets’ Offseason Plan:
With Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr., Murray, Gordon, and Monte Morris all under contract for next season, the Nuggets have an enviable core to build upon. Still, there are a number of rotation questions for the team to address this summer.
Will Barton ($14.7MM) and JaMychal Green ($7.6MM) face player option decisions after playing key roles for Denver in 2020/21. Barton, in particular, was an important part of the Nuggets’ success, starting 52 games for the club and serving as a reliable secondary scorer and play-maker. Green’s role was more modest, but he provided reliable depth at the power forward spot and could play the five if needed. The Nuggets, who would probably be just fine with both players opting in, will have to figure out how to replace or re-sign them if they opt out.
Meanwhile, Paul Millsap, JaVale McGee, and Austin Rivers will be unrestricted free agents. The club can withstand losing all three players if necessary, but their contributions shouldn’t be overlooked. Millsap has helped stabilize the frontcourt defense during his time in Denver, while Rivers ended up playing big minutes for the team following injuries to Murray and Barton. I imagine the Nuggets will at least explore bringing all three players back, but if the cost is much higher than the minimum, they may let them walk.
Having already cashed in some of their trade chips for Gordon, the Nuggets seem unlikely to make another major splash in the trade market this offseason, preferring instead to add reinforcements using their draft pick (No. 26 overall) and the mid-level exception.
Whether or not Barton is back, I expect the club will be focused in free agency on finding a guard with some size who can play alongside Morris or Facundo Campazzo in the backcourt. If Green or Millsap returns to join Jokic, Gordon, and Porter, the frontcourt shouldn’t be as high a priority — especially if the team believes Nnaji or Bol is ready to contribute.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Porter will be extension-eligible this offseason and will likely be in line for a max deal or something close to it. While the idea of paying Porter the max with Jokic and Murray already on the books for big money may give the Nuggets pause, extending MPJ is probably the right thing to do — he’s improving at such a rate that he’d still be a positive asset on a more lucrative contract, barring health issues.
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
- Nikola Jokic ($31,579,390)
- Jamal Murray ($29,467,800)
- Aaron Gordon ($16,409,091)
- Monte Morris ($8,449,074)
- Michael Porter Jr. ($5,258,735)
- Facundo Campazzo ($3,200,000)
- Zeke Nnaji ($2,498,760)
- Bol Bol ($2,161,152)
- Total: $99,024,002
Player Options
Will Barton ($14,669,642): Bird rights 1- JaMychal Green ($7,559,748): Non-Bird rights 2
- Total: $22,229,390
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- PJ Dozier ($1,910,860) 3
- Vlatko Cancar ($1,782,621) 4
- Total: $3,693,481
Restricted Free Agents
- None
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- No. 26 overall pick ($2,096,880)
- Total: $2,096,880
Extension-Eligible Players
- Michael Porter Jr. (rookie scale)
- Will Barton (veteran)
- Vlatko Cancar (veteran)
- Aaron Gordon (veteran)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Paul Millsap ($15,000,000): Bird rights
- JaVale McGee ($7,980,000): Bird rights
- Austin Rivers ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights
- Troy Daniels ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights 6
- Richard Jefferson ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights 6
- Total: $27,987,534
Offseason Cap Outlook
The Nuggets will almost definitely operate over the cap this offseason, and should be able to stay out of tax territory.
Even if we assume Barton and Green pick up their player options, Dozier’s salary is guaranteed, and the team keeps its first-round pick, that would result in about $125MM for 12 players. That would leave Denver with enough flexibility to use its full mid-level exception without crossing the projected tax line (which is in the $136-137MM range).
Cap Exceptions Available
- Mid-level exception: $9,536,000 7
- Trade exception: $5,325,000
- Trade exception: $2,193,480
- Trade exception: $1,620,564
Footnotes
- Barton’s decision is reportedly due by July 17.
- Green’s decision is reportedly due by July 26.
- Dozier’s salary becomes partially guaranteed ($200K) after August 16.
- Cancar’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after August 3.
- Because he’ll have four years of NBA service, Harrison is ineligible to sign another two-way contract.
- The cap holds for Daniels and Jefferson remain on the Nuggets’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value.
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders, RealGM, and ESPN was used in the creation of this post.
Southeast Notes: Dragic, Heat, Unseld, Hornets
Goran Dragic has been with the Heat for over six seasons, and has played some of the best basketball of his career in Miami. He was arguably the third-best player during the Heat’s run to the Finals last season before a foot injury limited him to two games against the Lakers. But the 35-year-old point guard is coming off an injury-plagued season and owed over $19MM next season.
According to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Heat don’t want to trade Dragic this offseason. But if a deal for a star presents itself, the team would be willing to do so.
We have more news from around the Southeast Division:
- The Heat have traded away both their picks in this year’s draft, but that hasn’t stopped team president Pat Riley for setting the edict to the scouting department to find and secure useful players from the draft, writes Winderman. “We don’t have any picks, but I can guarantee you we’ll probably get a couple of good players out of this year’s draft, somehow,” Riley said at the end of the season. The Heat have a track record of landing productive players like Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson despite scant draft resources. They’ll try to repeat history this year.
- Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald looks at how the Olympics experience could help the Heat‘s Nigerian trio of Gabe Vincent, KZ Okpala and Precious Achiuwa. Team Nigeria has been dominant during exhibition games, but if they don’t make the medal round, it’s possible the three young players will be back in Las Vegas for Summer League, looking to build off the momentum and confidence they’ve gained from this experience.
- Wes Unseld Jr. is not just a familiar name, he’s also an experienced coach who has paid his dues, writes Fred Katz in a piece for The Athletic on the Wizards’ newest head coach. Katz writes that Unseld sold the Wizards based not only on his track record, but also on ideas for how to better utilize star Bradley Beal and last season’s lottery pick Deni Avdija.
- The Hornets are working out six prospects today, per a tweet from the team: Derrick Alston Jr., Ian Dubose, Romeao Ferguson, Ariel Hukporti, Carlik Jones, and Ruot Monyyong. The Hornets have the 56th and 57th picks in the draft, the range in which most of said prospects may be available.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Qualifying Offers
Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him — a player who doesn’t receive one becomes an unrestricted free agent instead.
The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s service time and previous contract status.
If a player reaches free agency with three or fewer years of NBA service time under his belt, his qualifying offer is worth 125% of his prior salary, or his minimum salary plus $200K, whichever is greater.
For instance, after earning $1,663,861 this season, Pistons guard Hamidou Diallo projects to have a minimum salary worth $1,729,217 in 2021/22. Adding $200K to that figure works out to $1,929,217, whereas 125% of his prior salary is $2,079,826. His qualifying offer will be worth the higher amount ($2,079,826).
On the other hand, a player like Magic forward Ignas Brazdeikis signed a minimum-salary contract late in the season and had a cap hit of just $49,510. Calculating 125% of that amount works out to just $61,888, so his qualifying offer projects to be $1,869,178 — his minimum salary ($1,669,178) plus $200K. The exact value of Brazdeikis’ qualifying offer will depend on where exactly the ’20/21 salary cap ends up, since minimum salary increase or decrease at the same rate as the cap.
The qualifying offer for a former first-round pick coming off his rookie scale contract is determined by his draft position. The qualifying offer for a first overall pick is 130% of his fourth-year salary, while for a 30th overall pick it’s 150% of his previous salary — QOs for the rest of the first-rounders fall somewhere in between. The full first-round scale for the draft class of 2017, whose first-rounders will be hitting free agency this summer, can be found here, courtesy of RealGM.
Here are a pair of examples for this offseason: 2017’s second overall pick, Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball, is coming off a fourth-year salary of $11,003,782, so he must be extended a qualifying offer of $14,359,936 (a 30.5% increase) to become a restricted free agent. Meanwhile, the 28th overall pick, Thunder center Tony Bradley, will be eligible for a qualifying offer of $5,277,669, a 49.0% increase on this season’s $3,542,060 salary.
A wrinkle in the Collective Bargaining Agreement complicates matters for some RFAs-to-be, since a player’s previous usage can impact the amount of his qualifying offer. Certain players who meet – or fail to meet – the “starter criteria,” which we break down in a separate glossary entry, become eligible for higher or lower qualifying offers. Here’s how the starter criteria affects QOs:
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a same qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the 15th overall pick.
- Note: In 2021, the value of this QO will be $7,031,451.
- A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the ninth overall pick.
- Note: In 2021, the value of this QO will be $7,705,447.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 100% of the amount applicable to the 21st overall pick.
- Note: In 2021, the value of this QO will be $4,736,102.
Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina is one example of a player who falls into the first group, since he didn’t meet the starter criteria this year. The No. 8 overall pick in 2017, Poeltl will be eligible this offseason for a QO worth $7,031,451 instead of $8,326,027. Conversely, Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (a former No. 22 overall pick) met the starter criteria and will be eligible for a QO worth $7,705,447 instead of $5,661,538.
[RELATED: Potential 2021 RFAs Whose Qualifying Offers Will Be Impacted By Starter Criteria]
A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then receives the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club.
A player can also accept his qualifying offer, if he so chooses. He then plays the following season on a one-year contract worth the amount of the QO, and becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end if he has at least four years of NBA experience. A player can go this route if he wants to hit unrestricted free agency as early as possible, or if he feels like the QO is the best offer he’ll receive. Accepting the qualifying offer also gives a player the right to veto trades for the season.
Only one restricted free agent, Bulls wing Denzel Valentine, accepted his qualifying offer during the 2020 offseason.
Finally, while the details outlined above apply to players on standard NBA contracts who are eligible for restricted free agency, a different set of rules applies to players coming off two-way contracts. For most of those players, the qualifying offer would be equivalent to a one-year, two-way salary, with $50K guaranteed.
A player who is coming off a two-year, two-way deal, has already been on two-way deals with his current team for at least two seasons, or has four years of NBA service would be eligible for a qualifying offer equivalent to a standard, minimum-salary NBA contract. The guarantee on that QO would have to match or exceed a two-way salary.
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 and salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years.
2021 NBA Offseason Preview: Los Angeles Lakers
Coming off their championship in the Walt Disney World bubble in 2020, the Lakers enjoyed a very brief offseason, reporting to training camp just over a month-and-a-half after the NBA Finals ended.
Whether that abridged offseason was a major factor in the team’s up-and-down 2020/21 season is debatable. The Lakers showed no ill effects of the quick turnaround in the early going, getting off to a 21-6 start, but things went south from there.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James both missed time due to injuries and didn’t look 100% healthy when they returned. Los Angeles finished the regular season on a 21-24 run and needed a play-in victory to secure a playoff spot.
The Lakers were still viewed as a legitimate championship threat as the No. 7 seed in the West, but fell to the Suns in six games in round one, ensuring that Davis, James, and the rest of the club will get a much longer summer break in 2021.
The Lakers’ Offseason Plan:
The Lakers won’t have to worry about losing either of their two superstars this offseason, as both Davis and James remain under contract for multiple seasons. But those two are the only players who are locks to return to the team in 2021/22.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, and Marc Gasol are all under contract for at least one more year, but they could be trade candidates if an opportunity arises for Los Angeles to upgrade its roster. Montrezl Harrell has a player option, but could also end up on the trade block if he opts in. And virtually every other player on the roster is a free agent, either unrestricted (Dennis Schröder, Alex Caruso, Markieff Morris, and Andre Drummond, among others) or restricted (Talen Horton-Tucker).
First and foremost, the Lakers will have to determine which of their free agents are the highest priorities.
Schröder is perhaps the most important, given his role (he led the team in minutes played in 2020/21) and the financial considerations at play. The Lakers find themselves in what John Hollinger calls the “Bird rights trap” with Schröder — if he signs elsewhere, the Lakers would still be over the cap without the means to pay another player the sort of salary that Schröder will be seeking (likely $20-25MM per year), which means he has some leverage to squeeze them for a higher salary than they’d like to pay.
The one alternative to either investing heavily in Schröder or losing him for nothing would be to work out a sign-and-trade arrangement sending him to a new team. But I suspect it will be a challenge for Los Angeles to find a club willing to both give the point guard a massive payday and surrender a desirable asset for him.
Besides Schröder, the Lakers’ most important free agents will be Morris, Caruso, and Horton-Tucker. Morris showed a willingness last offseason to accept a discount to be a Laker, and it won’t be surprising if he does so again. But the team will face stiff competition for Caruso and Horton-Tucker and can’t reasonably expect either player – whose career NBA earnings pale in comparison to Morris’ – to take a team-friendly deal.
Caruso will likely get offers worth at least the full mid-level, and it’s not out of the question that Horton-Tucker will too — he’ll be one of the youngest free agents on the market and rival suitors may like the idea of putting pressure on the Lakers to match an aggressive offer sheet.
Determining how to handle the center position will also be a crucial part of the Lakers’ offseason. Gasol, Harrell, and Drummond didn’t have the same kind of success at the five that JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard did the year before, which suggests the team may be better off with players who are happy focusing on rebounding and defense rather than bigs who need to play a major role on offense.
Theoretically, Drummond could play that role, but if offensive touches remain a priority for him, it makes sense to let him seek a new team. Gasol would be content to focus on rebounding and defense, but he has clearly lost a step since his prime, limiting his effectiveness on the defensive end and rendering him almost a non-factor on the offensive end — relying on him to play big minutes would be risky.
I expect the Lakers to spend plenty of time perusing the trade market for upgrades using Caldwell-Pope, Kuzma, and Harrell (if he opts in) as potential chips. But a package that starts with two or three of those guys likely won’t be enough to make the team a favorite to land a true impact player, especially since L.A. has traded away so many of its future first-round picks. Caldwell-Pope, Kuzma, and Harrell can be solid rotation players in the right situation, but none of the three are clear bargains at their current salaries.
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
- LeBron James ($41,180,544)
- Anthony Davis ($35,361,360)
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($13,038,862)
- Kyle Kuzma ($13,000,000)
- Luol Deng ($5,000,000) — Waived via stretch provision.
- Marc Gasol ($2,692,991)
- Total: $110,273,757
Player Options
- Montrezl Harrell ($9,720,900): Non-Bird rights 1
- Total: $9,720,900
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Alfonzo McKinnie ($1,910,860)
- Total: $1,910,860
Restricted Free Agents
- Talen Horton-Tucker ($1,897,476 qualifying offer / $1,897,476 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $1,897,476
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- No. 22 overall pick ($2,451,120)
- Total: $2,451,120
Extension-Eligible Players
- Alfonzo McKinnie (veteran)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
Dennis Schröder ($24,000,000): Bird rights
- Alex Caruso ($5,225,000): Bird rights
- Wesley Matthews ($4,347,600): Non-Bird rights
- Jared Dudley ($1,669,178): Early Bird rights
- Markieff Morris ($1,669,178): Early Bird rights
- Andre Drummond ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights
- Ben McLemore ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights
- Dion Waiters ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights 4
- Total: $41,918,490
Offseason Cap Outlook
With $110MM+ committed to five roster spots, the Lakers project to be over the cap before addressing a single one of their free agents. If the team re-signs Schröder, it’s a safe bet Los Angeles will find itself in luxury tax territory in 2021/22.
Even without a new deal for Schröder, the club could end up a taxpayer based on Harrell’s option and potential new contracts for guys like Caruso, Morris, and Horton-Tucker. If they let a bunch of free agents walk or make a cost-cutting trade, the Lakers could theoretically stay below the tax apron and use the full mid-level exception, but I’m not counting on that outcome.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,890,000 5
- Trade exception: $674,408
Footnotes
- Harrell’s decision is reportedly due by July 31.
- Antetokounmpo has reached a contract agreement with French team ASVEL. The Lakers could still make the procedural move of tendering him a qualifying offer if they want to retain matching rights in the event of his return to the NBA. Because he has been on a two-way contract with the Lakers for two seasons, Antetokounmpo is eligible for a standard minimum-salary qualifying offer.
- Because he has been on a two-way contract with the Lakers for two seasons, Cacok is eligible for a standard minimum-salary qualifying offer.
- The cap hold for Waiters remains on the Lakers books from a prior season because he hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value. If the Lakers stay below the tax apron, they could have access to the full mid-level exception ($9.5MM).
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders, RealGM, and ESPN was used in the creation of this post.