Pelicans Sign Naji Marshall To Four-Year Contract
MAY 7: The Pelicans have made it official, issuing a press release to formally announce Marshall’s new contract.
MAY 6: The Pelicans have reached an agreement with rookie forward Naji Marshall on a new deal that will promote his from his two-way contract to a spot on the 15-man roster, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Sources tell Charania (Twitter link) that the deal will cover four years — the rest of this season, plus the next three. It will be fully guaranteed through 2022/23, with a non-guaranteed fourth year, Charania adds. The Pelicans will use a portion of their mid-level exception to complete the signing.
Charania pegs the value of the deal at $5.3MM, which indicates it’s a minimum-salary contract. That comes as no surprise, since today is the first day that the Pelicans were able to add a 15th man to their roster on a rest-of-season minimum deal without surpassing the luxury tax line.
Marshall, who signed a two-way contract with New Orleans in December after going undrafted out of Xavier, has emerged since the start of April as a regular rotation player for the club. For the season, he has averaged 6.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game in 26 contests (19.8 MPG). He has knocked down 37.3% of his three-point attempts.
The 23-year-old also participated in the G League bubble at Walt Disney World, recording 15.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.6 APG on .490/.349/.696 shooting in 12 games (26.9 MPG) for the Erie BayHawks.
Once the move is official, the Pelicans will have an open two-way contract slot, which they could fill before their season ends on May 16, if they so choose.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Northwest Notes: Wolves, Clarkson, Jokic, Rivers
Asked this week during an appearance on The Star Tribune’s Daily Delivery podcast about the trade that sent Andrew Wiggins and a lightly-protected first-round pick to Golden State in exchange for D’Angelo Russell at the 2020 trade deadline, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas expressed no regrets, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune.
Even if Rosas – with the Timberwolves in position to give up a possible top-five pick to the Warriors – was having second thoughts about the trade, it’s not as if he’d be inclined to admit as much during a podcast appearance. But Rand said he felt as if the Wolves’ president was being honest and forthright in his assessment of the deal.
“As of now, I think our resurgence has happened with D’Angelo’s return, so that’s paying dividends now,” Rosas said. “We put the protection in the pick that we felt like was critical to keeping the pick. At some point you’re going to give the pick up whether it’s this year or next year. We’re firm believers. We did it for a purpose. We’re seeing the return on that deal now.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- After bouncing from Los Angeles to Cleveland to Utah during his first few NBA seasons, Jordan Clarkson has found an ideal fit with the Jazz, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes in an extensive look at the Sixth Man of the Year candidate. “The organization has let me be myself, and that’s meant a lot,” Clarkson said.
- When the Nuggets clinched a spot in the first round of the postseason this week, it secured a $500K bonus for Nikola Jokic, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Since that bonus had already been deemed likely entering the season, it’ll have no impact on Denver’s cap.
- After scoring 25 points on Wednesday against his old team (the Knicks), Austin Rivers had nothing but praise for his new team, the Nuggets, per Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. “This has been a life-saver and (life)-changer for me, coming (to Denver),” Rivers said. “I’ve never experienced a team, an organization, like this, (where it’s) so about ‘we’ instead of ‘me’ …. They just build everybody up here. That’s why (Michael Porter Jr.) plays the way he plays and Jokic and all these guys. They just build everybody up here. So I just feel kind of lucky. Honestly, I’m just lucky to be here and thankful to be here.”
Potential 2021 RFAs Whose Qualifying Offers Will Be Impacted By Starter Criteria
The NBA’s rookie scale, which determines how much first-round picks earn during their first four NBA seasons, also dictates how much the qualifying offers will be worth for those players when they reach restricted free agency after year four. However, the value of those qualifying offers can fluctuate depending on whether or not a player has met the “starter criteria.”
Here’s how the starter criteria works in a typical year:
- A player who is eligible for restricted free agency is considered to have met the starter criteria if he plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency.
- A player can also meet the criteria if he averages either of those marks in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency. For instance, if a player started 50 games one year and 32 the next, he’d meet the starter criteria, since his average number of starts over the last two seasons is 41.
The thresholds for the starter criteria this year are a little different due to the truncated nature of the last two NBA seasons. The 41-start and 2,000-minute thresholds are prorated and are based on the pre-bubble games in 2019/20 and a 72-game schedule in 2020/21.
In other words, if a player’s team played 64 games prior to the summer restart last season, he’d need to compile 68 starts across the two seasons (half of 136 games) to meet the criteria. This proration applies to a player’s minutes total as well.
A player’s ability or inability to meet the starter criteria can affect the value of the qualifying offer he receives as a restricted free agent, as follows:
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 15th overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the ninth overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 21st overall pick would receive if he signed for 100% of the rookie scale.
- For all other RFAs, the standard criteria determine the amounts of their qualifying offers.
Extending a qualifying offer to a player eligible for restricted free agency officially makes that player an RFA, ensuring that his team has the right of first refusal if he signs an offer sheet with another club. It also gives the player the option of signing that one-year QO.
Generally, the value of a restricted free agent’s qualifying offer isn’t hugely important, since very few RFAs accept those offers outright. There are exceptions though.
Last offseason, for instance, Denzel Valentine failed to meet the starter criteria heading into restricted free agency, reducing the value of his qualifying offer to $4,642,800. The Bulls decided to issue that qualifying offer and he accepted it.
Had he met the starter criteria and been eligible for a slightly larger QO, Valentine’s free agency could have played out differently, as Kris Dunn‘s did — Dunn met the starter criteria, increasing the value of his QO, and Chicago opted not to give him a QO, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Top-14 picks who failed to meet starter criteria:
With all that in mind, let’s check in on how this year’s RFAs-to-be will be impacted by the starter criteria. Listed below are the former top-14 picks on track for restricted free agency who have not met the starter criteria. These players will be eligible for qualifying offers worth $7,031,451.
- Frank Ntilikina (Knicks)
- Dennis Smith Jr. (Pistons)
- Zach Collins (Trail Blazers)
- Malik Monk (Hornets)
Half of the players selected in the top 14 of the 2017 draft signed rookie scale extensions in 2020, meaning they won’t have to worry about the value of their qualifying offers this offseason. Of the other seven, the four players listed above failed to meet the criteria.
Even with the lower qualifying offers, some of these players – including Ntilikina and Smith – may not receive QOs at all, making them unrestricted free agents.
Lonzo Ball (Pelicans) and Lauri Markkanen (Bulls) each met the starter criteria, securing potential QOs of $14.36MM and $9.03MM, respectively. Josh Jackson was the only top-14 pick from ’17 who was waived before completing his rookie contract — since he’s on a new contract now, the starter criteria doesn’t apply to him.
First-round picks between 10-30 who met starter criteria:
A pair of players fall into this group this season, and will now be eligible for a qualifying offer worth $7,705,447.
- John Collins (Hawks)
- Jarrett Allen (Cavaliers)
As a result of meeting the starter criteria, Collins’ qualifying offer will increase from $5,899,793, while Allen’s get a bump from $5,661,538. It’s unlikely to matter a whole lot for either player though, since they’re both strong candidates to sign lucrative long-term deals and almost certainly won’t give any real consideration to accepting their respective QOs.
Pelicans wing Josh Hart, the 30th overall pick in 2017, was the strongest candidate to join Collins and Allen in this group, but will fall short of meeting the criteria due in large part to the thumb injury that has sidelined him since April 1. If Hart had played the Pelicans’ last 19 games and maintained his minutes per game average for the season (28.7 MPG), he would’ve passed the required minutes threshold by now.
Second-round picks and UDFAs who met starter criteria:
The players listed below signed as second-round picks or undrafted free agents, but have met the starter criteria and are now eligible for a qualifying offer worth $4,736,102.
- Bruce Brown (Nets)
- Devonte’ Graham (Hornets)
- Kendrick Nunn (Heat)
- Duncan Robinson (Heat)
- Gary Trent Jr. (Raptors)
Brown, Graham, Nunn, Robinson, and Trent are all on minimum-salary contracts and would’ve had very modest QOs (in the $2MM range) if they hadn’t met the starter criteria. Even after the bump to $4.74MM though, most or all of them will end up signing more lucrative contracts.
Among other second-round picks and undrafted free agents, two who came close to meeting the starter criteria are Isaac Bonga (Wizards) and Jarred Vanderbilt (Timberwolves).
After starting 41 games of 64 pre-bubble games a year ago, Bonga needed to make 27 starts this season, but has only started eight games for Washington to date. As for Vanderbilt, he needed 36 starts in 2020/21 to bump the value of his QO — he recorded his 25th start on March 26, but hasn’t been in Minnesota’s starting five since then.
Bonga, Vanderbilt, and the rest of this year’s restricted free agents, won’t have their projected qualifying offers impacted by the starter criteria.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Warriors Notes: Lee, Paschall, JTA, Bell, Kerr
Warriors wing Damion Lee, who is now out of quarantine, told reporters on Thursday that he contracted COVID-19 and dealt with a number of severe symptoms, as Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area details. Lee dealt with a bad case of the virus despite being fully vaccinated, which makes him a rare case, according to data compiled by the CDC.
“I felt like I was hit by two cars at once,” Lee said. “Every step I took, it hurt. There was pain, soreness, it felt like there was a weight on my chest for a couple of days. It was hard to breathe. Loss of appetite, and even still I don’t have my appetite all the way back. Even random headaches, brain fog where I’ll start a conversation and be in on the conversation and then five minutes in, I lose track of what I was talking about or just don’t want to talk anymore.”
Although he was able to return to the team this week, Lee isn’t ready to take the court yet, and with just over a week remaining in the regular season, it’s not clear whether or not he’ll return at all. Noting that the Warriors are likely to take a cautious approach with Lee, Anthony Slater of The Athletic believes the 28-year-old may have played his last game of 2020/21.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Of the Warriors’ injured players, Eric Paschall is closest to a return, according to Slater, who say the second-year forward is ramping up his conditions and will likely make it back during Golden State’s current home stand.
- The Warriors will have to add a 14th man to their roster by the middle of next week, and Slater expects Juan Toscano-Anderson to fill that spot, receiving a promotion from his two-way deal. That could open the door for Jordan Bell, whom the Warriors are reportedly eyeing, to take Toscano-Anderson’s spot on a two-way contract.
- Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic about the lessons he has learned during a challenging 2020/21 season. Golden State is 12-16 this season in “clutch” games (games within five points in the last five minutes), which is an area Kerr feels he can help improve. “Definitely some things that I can do better. Just little detail things,” he said. “What happens when you lose some close ones, you tend to think about every single decision you made. Obviously there’s a greater chance that one decision can make a difference in the game just because you have less margin for error. So less margin for error means I gotta be on my game.”
- In case you missed it, Kelly Oubre will miss at least a week or two due to his wrist injury.
Central Notes: Pacers, Love, Sexton, LaVine
As we relayed on Thursday, Jake Fischer’s latest story for Bleacher Report features a number of eyebrow-raising details on Nate Bjorkgren‘s stint as the Pacers‘ head coach. However, while much of Fischer’s reporting lines up with what we’ve heard from other outlets, there has been some push-back on some aspects of the story.
For instance, Fischer initially suggested that T.J. Warren – who played under Bjorkgren in Phoenix – wasn’t consulted before Indiana made the hire and that Warren requested a trade after Bjorkgren came aboard. Fischer has since cited a source close to the situation who says Warren never formally requested a trade, and the story has been updated to say that there’s “a belief among several members of the Pacers organization” that Warren asked to be dealt.
J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star, meanwhile, tweets that the front office did ask Warren about Bjorkgren before hiring him and notes that Warren agreed to take a bigger leadership role with the team heading into the season.
Fischer also reported in his story that Bjorkgren’s acted like “a politician’s chief of staff” in Toronto when he was a Raptors assistant under Nick Nurse, sometimes preventing players and other coaches from holding conversations with Nurse if they didn’t go through him first. Asked on Thursday night about that, Nurse vehemently denied it and questioned the reporting, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Attaching an asset to trade Kevin Love isn’t something the Cavaliers want to do, and buying him out with two years and $60MM left on his contract would be difficult and pricey, but Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com contends the team should attempt this offseason to find the least painful way to move on from Love. Sources tell Fedor that the two sides have yet to discuss a potential buyout.
- While Jason Lloyd of The Athletic believes the Cavaliers did well to nab Collin Sexton with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 draft, he doesn’t believe the third-year guard is worth a maximum-salary contract and suggests the team would be making a big mistake if it goes that high this offseason when Sexton becomes extension-eligible for the first time.
- Zach LaVine, who returned to the Bulls‘ lineup on Thursday night after missing 11 games due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, told reporters this week that he had taken one of his two vaccine shots when he was diagnosed with COVID-19, and didn’t experience any major symptoms (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago).
Southwest Notes: Hardaway, Ball, Tate, Louzada, Porzingis
Tim Hardaway Jr. has been improving his free agent stock with some high-level offensive performances in recent games. The Mavericks guard erupted for 42 points against Detroit last week and tore up Miami’s defense for 36 points on Wednesday, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News notes. He drained a franchise record-tying 10 three-pointers against the Heat. “When you have been hot like that, had it going, you’re not really focused on any records or anything like that,” said Hardaway, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. “The game was just coming to me.”
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball tied his career best with 33 points against Golden State on Tuesday, bouncing back from a 3-for-18 shooting performance the previous game. He vowed to franchise player Zion Williamson in a text message that he wouldn’t have two bad outings in a row, according to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez. “I’m glad he’s my teammate,” Williamson said. “You love to have teammates like that can say stuff like that and come the next day and show out. He just wants to win.” Williamson’s “love” for Ball could be a factor in how aggressive the franchise is willing to be in retaining the point guard as a restricted free agent this summer.
- The Rockets, who already have numerous players sitting out, added another one to the inactive list when forward Jae’Sean Tate was placed under the league’s health and safety protocols, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The undrafted rookie has appeared in 65 games, including 53 starts, averaging 11.2 PPG and 5.4 RPG.
- Didi Louzada has finally completed the work visa process and joined the Pelicans, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. New Orleans officially signed the draft-and-stash prospect on April 27. The Brazilian signed a multiyear contract after playing in Australia this season. He’ll be available to play on Friday, Lopez tweets.
- Kristaps Porzingis is making progress from his sore right knee and Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle expects him to return before the postseason, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. “I anticipate that he will play regular-season games at some point, but I don’t know when,” Carlisle said. The big man has been out since April 29.
Draft Notes: Withdrawal Date, Bagley, Tampa Combine, More
The NCAA’s withdrawal deadline for early entrants who test the draft waters will be July 7, reports Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, citing an NCAA official (Twitter link).
The NBA’s early entry deadline will be on May 30, so that gives college underclassmen who declare for the draft while maintaining their NCAA eligibility over a month to make their final decisions. It will also allow some of them to take part in the draft combine, which is scheduled for June 21-27.
Technically, the NBA’s own early entrant withdrawal deadline falls on July 19, so prospects could take a little extra time to decide whether to remain in the draft or pull out. But if they finalize that decision after the NCAA’s deadline, they’ll lose their remaining college eligibility.
Here’s more on the 2021 NBA draft:
- Although Arizona State’s Marcus Bagley entered the transfer portal, he tells Rothstein (Twitter link) that his focus is on the 2021 draft. Bagley, who ranks 27th on ESPN’s big board, announced a month ago that he was testing the draft waters.
- The Tampa Bay Pro Combine has joined the pre-draft circuit, according to Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.com, who shares the details on the scouting event whose prospects will be selected by a committee that includes draft analysts Matt Babcock and Fran Fraschilla. The inaugural TBPC will take place from June 3-5 in Florida.
- Kyree Walker, a former four-star recruit who signed with training program Chameleon BX rather than attending college, has declared for the 2021 NBA draft, he announced on Twitter. Meanwhile, a pair of international prospects, Polish center Aleksander Balcerowski and Croatian big man Danko Brankovic, have also declared for the draft, per agent Misko Raznatovic (Twitter links).
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has updated his 2021 mock draft, with Jalen Suggs (No. 2), Scottie Barnes (No. 6), and Davion Mitchell (No. 9) among the more noteworthy lottery picks.
Raptors’ Trent Reaches Starter Criteria, Qualifying Offer Increases
Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. has reached the starter criteria in his contract, jumping his qualifying offer from $2.1MM to $4.7MM, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. It also increases his cap hold by the same amount.
Trent reached that threshold by starting against Washington on Thursday. The starter criteria requires an RFA-to-be to start at least half of his team’s games in the season leading up to his free agency or in the two seasons preceding his free agency.
Although Trent started only eight of 61 regular-season games with Portland last season, he made 24 starts in 41 games with the Trail Blazers this season before he was traded and has now made 13 starts in 15 games with Toronto, for a total of 36. That’s half of this season’s 72 games.
It would be a shock if the Raptors didn’t extend the QO to Trent or if he accepted it. In all likelihood, Toronto will negotiate a more lucrative multiyear deal or will have to match an offer sheet for him in restricted free agency.
Trent averaged 15.0 PPG with Portland this season on 39.7% shooting on three-point attempts. He has averaged 15.9 PPG on 36.4% shooting from deep in his first 14 games with Toronto.
Oubre Doesn’t Need Surgery, Out 1-2 Weeks
Warriors forward Kelly Oubre Jr. will not need surgery on his ailing left wrist, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. He’s expected to miss one to two weeks of action, Haynes adds.
Oubre was diagnosed last week with a torn ligament in his left wrist and a fracture on the palm of his left hand. He injured the wrist twice this season while falling to the floor after dunks. One happened in practice and the other was in a game against the Wizards on April 9.
Golden State entered Thursday’s action in ninth place in the Western Conference. The timeline gives the Warriors some hope Oubre would be able to suit up for the play-in tournament.
Oubre is averaging 15.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG through 55 games after being acquired from Phoenix in a November trade.
The fact that surgery is not required should preserve Oubre’s value in unrestricted free agency this summer.
Warriors Mulling Reunion With Jordan Bell
The Warriors are considering a contract offer to free agent big man Jordan Bell, Marcus Thompson of The Athletic tweets.
The 2017 second-round pick spent his first two seasons with Golden State. He appeared in 125 regular-season games but his time there was marred by controversy, including a team-imposed suspension after he charged hotel items to assistant coach Mike Brown.
Bell has played for three teams in the last two seasons. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Wizards this year but they didn’t offer him a standard contract after the second one expired. In total, Bell averaged 2.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in five games for Washington, playing 13.4 minutes per night.
The Warriors currently have two open roster spots and have until next Thursday to fill one of them. Bell could add depth to a frontcourt depleted by the loss of rookie James Wiseman, who is out for the season.