2015/16 Salary Commitments: Hawks
With the NBA trade deadline now passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.
We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $68MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.
We’ll begin by taking a look at the Hawks’ cap outlook for 2015/16…
Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:
- Al Horford — $12MM
- Kent Bazemore — $2MM
- Kyle Korver — $5,746,479
- Shelvin Mack — $2,433,333
- Dennis Schröder — $1,763,400
- Mike Scott — $3,333,333
- Thabo Sefolosha — $4MM
- Jeff Teague — $8MM
Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:
- Mike Muscala — $947,276
Players with options:
- N/A
The Hawks’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:
- Guaranteed Salary: $39,276,545
- Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $947,276
- Total: $40,223,821
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Atlantic Notes: Nets Sale, Wiggins, Embiid
Amar’e Stoudemire‘s $2.5MM buyout from the Knicks only represented a net loss of $2,014,330 for him, since it was offset by his prorated minimum salary deal with the Mavs, but it was a savings of $6.25MM for the Knicks, as Marc Berman of the New York Post points out. The $2.5MM that Stoudemire gave up, an amount that Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders first reported, as we noted last month, would have entailed an extra $3.75MM in luxury taxes had the big man remained under contract. Still, Stoudemire collected a total of more than $97.2MM in salary from the Knicks over the course of his five-year contract, and New York is in line to pay at least some tax for a third straight year, meaning the team will incur repeat-offender penalties if it goes over the tax next season. Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- Sources told Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders that they suspected the sale of the Nets was to have been based off a $1 billion price for the Hawks, but those same sources believe the Atlanta franchise will go for around $900MM instead, as Kyler relays (Twitter links). Multiple sports bankers had believed the Nets would sell for as much as $2 billion, as they told Josh Kosman and Claire Atkinson of the New York Post earlier this month, but that price point never materialized, Kyler hears (Twitter link). Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov appears to be backing away from the idea of a sale.
- There are whispers that Andrew Wiggins would love to play for the Raptors, but he’s under contract through 2018 and would have to take discount salaries if he wants to play in his native Canada anytime this decade, writes Eric Koreen of the National Post. In any case, the talent pool in Canada has grown enough such that GM Masai Ujiri need not dig deep to fulfill his promise of bringing a domestic talent onto the Raptors, making the GM’s pledge “harmless,” Koreen believes. Still, a majority of Hoops Rumors readers believe that Ujiri shouldn’t concern himself with a player’s nationality.
- The “minor setback” that Joel Embiid has suffered as he continues to recover from a broken right foot bears watching, but it’s not worth an overreaction, Sixers coach Brett Brown told reporters, including Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The franchise still believes that Embiid is capable of becoming its cornerstone if he can get healthy, Pompey writes.
Eastern Notes: Whiteside, Wizards, Teague
There is growing concern within the Heat organization about center Hassan Whiteside‘s maturity and self-control, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post writes. Whiteside was ejected from Monday night’s game, which was the second time in the last five games the big man was tossed from a contest, and it resulted in a one game suspension. When asked if he was disappointed in Whiteside, Dwyane Wade said, “Very. We all are. As a Heat fan you are. In this locker room we are. Everybody. He’s gonna have to learn and he’s gonna learn the hard way. He’s doing it his own way. Hopefully he changes his mentality pretty quick. Players gotta understand how important they are to an organization and continue to understand that moment when you finally got that call-up, how you felt. You would’ve done anything to get that, just to be here. Sometimes you start feeling yourself a little too much. A lot of us are guilty of that. You’ve gotta humble yourself. Hopefully Hassan gets it.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- With Garrett Temple expected to miss at least a week due to a hamstring injury, the Wizards are likely to fill their final roster spot, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post tweets. The team is currently weighing its options on available players, but no signing appears imminent, Castillo adds.
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was the driving force behind Atlanta matching the four-year, $32MM offer sheet that the Bucks had signed Jeff Teague to back in 2013, Lee Jenkins of SI.com writes. Teague is certainly rewarding his coach’s faith this season, averaging 16.8 points and 7.2 assists in 31.2 minutes per contest.
- The trade for Reggie Jackson cost the Pistons two starting players, but the long-term benefits of the trade should outweigh the short-term setback, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “It’s not like we didn’t think about [the present] this year,” Detroit coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said. “We knew as far as for this year that it was a gamble. Just because of continuity, we would’ve been better off not making moves. We knew that. We thought we could make those moves and still stay right in the playoff race and we were willing to take that gamble because of what we thought it did for the future.“
Atlantic Notes: Williams, Knicks, Green
Raptors guard Louis Williams‘ strong play in the final year of his deal has put him in the running for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. When discussing his past, present, and future with Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com, Williams relayed that his free agent preference this summer is to remain in Toronto. “Absolutely. I already tried to get them to go do it — get an extension,” Williams said. “But at this point in my career, I want to play somewhere where the fans appreciate you, your team is serious about winning and create something special. We have an identity, and I love it. It’s perfect for my personality. I’ve always been the underdog, I’ve always been overlooked. I’ve always been the guy where it was like we’ll see what he does and then we’ll check on Lou. That’s been my career.”
It should be noted that Williams would have been unable to ink an extension with the Raptors since he is currently on a three-year deal. The collective bargaining agreement stipulates that a player can only ink a contract extension if he is signed to a deal of four years or greater in length.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- When asked by Mazzeo about the trade that sent him from the Hawks to the Raptors, Williams said, “I knew it was coming. I just knew my experience in Atlanta was coming to an end. It was either gonna be I was leaving after my contract was up or they were gonna trade me, and that’s just how things were going. We had a coaching change and I had missed the first [eight] games of that season, and the Hawks head coach Bud [Mike Budenholzer], he just was very honest and upfront with me and just said, ‘I’ve gotten more comfortable with this other guy and he’s probably gonna play the minutes.’ I had to respect that because the coach has a job to do.“
- The Knicks may have difficulty luring free agents to New York because of the restrictions that the triangle offense imposes on players’ athleticism, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes.
- Jeff Green, who holds a $9.2MM player option for next season, is still very close with his former Celtics teammates, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com relays (Twitter link). Green is especially close with Avery Bradley, Blakely adds. It’s unknown if this camaraderie could lead Green back to Boston, or if the team would have any interest in re-signing the forward if he opts out of his current deal.
Southeast Notes: Magic, Dragic, Whiteside, Eddie
George Karl also had an interest in the Magic‘s coaching position, which is currently held by interim coach James Borrego, prior to accepting his post with Sacramento, John Denton of NBA.com writes. “I knew in October that I wanted to get back into the gym. I’ve never been a political coach from the standpoint of politicking for a specific job or a championship team job,’’ Karl said. “What I miss is the gym, so whether it was in Sacramento or Orlando or wherever. Yes, of course [he wanted a job], but I didn’t want them to make a play that was going to wasteful of their time or my time. I don’t know many people in this [Orlando] organization, so I don’t have any qualms. I just wanted to get back into the gym one way or the other, and I think we have a really good talent and I think [the Magic] have really good young talent.’’
There’s more news from the Southeast Division:
- When discussing his brother Zoran Dragic‘s recent assignment to the D-League, Goran Dragic lauded how the Heat organization utilizes its affiliate, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “We have a couple of examples that they were playing there and the most important thing is they were ready,” Dragic said. Hassan Whiteside, Shabazz Napier, Tyler Johnson and Henry Walker have all made the trek to Sioux Falls this season for Miami.
- Whiteside has put up some eye-popping numbers in his short time with the Heat, but he was little more than a spectator late in Friday’s loss to the Wizards, according to Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Whiteside started the third quarter, but left the game for good at the 7:35 mark. Whiteside has a two-year contract with Miami and won’t hit free agency until 2016.
- Jarell Eddie probably startled a few hotel guests after he agreed to a 10-day contract with the Hawks this week. Eddie told Chris Vivlamore of The Journal-Constitution that he couldn’t contain himself when he got the news. “I get back and got the call and I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I really couldn’t believe it. I screamed in my hotel room for a little while and then I was in shock. It was beautiful. It’s a dream come true.”
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
Southeast Notes: O’Quinn, Stephenson, Dragic
Despite being healthy, Kyle O’Quinn, who’ll be a restricted free agent this summer, has played only about six minutes combined in just two games for the Magic since the All-Star break and the big man said the transition to less playing time has been hard, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “It’s tough,” O’Quinn said. “But, you know, the team is making strides. I’m still a part of the team. To see the team grow, I’m still a part of that. So it feels somewhat good still.” The second-round pick out of Norfolk State played his best basketball this season in January when he averaged 8.6 PPG while getting consistent minutes.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The three-year, $27MM deal Lance Stephenson signed with the Hornets over the summer no longer looks like the steal it originally was thought to be and the guard is actually hurting the team’s playoff chances, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. The Hornets are more than seven points per game worse when Stephenson is on the floor, points out Mannix, who outlined why the team is being hindered by the guard. Charlotte entered action Friday clinging to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
- Goran Dragic told reporters, including Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post (on Twitter), that he has no issue with the Heat sending his brother Zoran Dragic to their D-League affiliate. The elder Dragic feels that it’ll be good for Zoran to get some additional playing time in Sioux Falls.
- Cameron Schott of RealGM gave a scouting report on Jarell Eddie, who recently inked a 10-day deal with the Hawks after impressing in the D-League. Eddie, he believes, can be a solid contributor as a shooter off the bench for Atlanta.
Zach Links contributed to this post
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Walker, Heat
Hornets guard Kemba Walker has been cleared to resume all basketball activities, moving him closer to a return from knee surgery, as The Associated Press writes. “I’m excited. I’ve been anxious,” Walker said. “I’ve been working hard trying to get back to competing with my teammates. And I got some great news, so I’m excited.” Coach Steve Clifford said the team will practice again Saturday and Walker’s return to action will depend on how the knee responds to an increased workload. Here’s more from the Southeast Division..
- Lance Stephenson is having a poor first season in Charlotte, but Clifford thinks that the 24-year-old needs some more time to adjust to his new surroundings, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes. ““I think first of all, in some ways expectations were a little out of whack,” the Hornets said of Stephenson, who inked a three-year, $27MM deal with Charlotte over the summer. “I think secondly, he’s a young player, and unlike a guy like Mo Williams, who has played for seven coaches, seven systems and is used to adapting to new teammates and new cities, this is the first time.” The Hornets shopped Stephenson at the deadline but they were unable to find a suitable deal.
- Jarell Eddie, who has inked a 10-day deal with the Hawks, took a path similar to Danny Green on his way to the NBA, Lorne Chan of Spurs.com writes. Green carved out a role for himself by knocking down shots from long range, but also doing the little things well. Eddie is now the third member of the Austin Spurs to reach the NBA this season after JaMychal Green and Bryce Cotton.
- David Pick of Basketball Insiders looked at the unusual path taken by Henry Walker, who just inked his second 10-day deal with the Heat.
- In today’s mailbag, a reader asked Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if he believes the Heat will take advantage of the $2.65MM exception they have as a result of Josh McRoberts‘ knee surgery. Miami has until March 10th to use it, but Winderman doesn’t see them veering into tax territory to aid in a fight for the No. 7 or No. 8 seed.
Hawks Sign Jarell Eddie To 10-Day Contract
THURSDAY, 10:10AM: The Hawks officially announced via press release that they have inked Eddie to a 10-day deal.
WEDNESDAY, 8:15AM: The Hawks have agreed to sign training camp invitee Jarell Eddie to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The small forward has been playing for the Spurs affiliate in the D-League. He’ll move into Atlanta’s lone open roster spot Thursday, according to Charania.
Eddie, who went undrafted out of Virginia Tech this past June, joined the Hawks for preseason on a deal without any guaranteed salary. The Celtics claimed Eddie shortly after Atlanta released him about a week shy of opening night, but he lasted only a few days in Boston and didn’t make the regular season roster. He instead made his mark as a sharpshooter in the D-League, knocking down 42.2% of his three-point looks for the Austin Spurs and winning the D-League’s All-Star Game three-point contest. The 23-year-old is averaging 12.1 points in 25.6 minutes per game across 36 appearances for San Antonio’s affiliate. The Hawks have frequently used the Austin Spurs for D-League assignments because of the close ties between the Atlanta and San Antonio organizations and Atlanta’s lack of its own one-to-one affiliate.
The Hawks reportedly spoke to Ray Allen earlier this season, and speculation that the NBA’s all-time leading three-point shot-maker would head to Atlanta intensified when the Hawks opened a roster spot in the trade that sent Adreian Payne to the Timberwolves. However, executives around the league have begun to doubt that Allen will play this year, and while a 10-day contract doesn’t cost the Hawks much flexibility, Atlanta’s use of one on a three-point shooter is nonetheless seemingly a further signal that teams are moving on from Allen.
Ray Allen Says He Won’t Play This Season
Ray Allen will not play this season, as he says in a statement released through agent Jim Tanner and the Tandem Sports and Entertainment agency. He’s not ruling out a return for 2015/16 but adds that he’ll take rest of this season and the offseason ahead to decide about that, suggesting that it’ll again be a long wait before we know if, much less where, Allen will play again. The 39-year-old has languished as the most sought-after free agent since the start of training camp, though the Cavs, long the front-runner for the friend and former teammate of LeBron James, recently appeared to drop out of the running. They were one of of 14 teams who expressed serious interest, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
“Over the past several months, I have taken a lot of time to deliberate what is best for me,” Allen said in the statement. “I’ve ultimately decided that I will not play this NBA season. I’m going to take the remainder of this season, as well as the upcoming off-season, to reassess my situation, spend time with my family and determine if I will play in the 2015/16 season.”
The Grizzlies, too, appeared no longer to be in the Allen sweepstakes as of this weekend, not long after executives around the league reportedly began losing faith that he’d sign. The Warriors, Wizards, Spurs, Heat and Hawks were keeping in touch with Allen’s camp as of early February, and Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers said at about that time that he’d recently spoken to him.
Just about every playoff-bound team reportedly reached out to Allen at some point this season. The Wizards were apparently the most aggressive suitor as of January, though LeBron visited Allen’s home in Miami to woo the sharpshooter while the four-time MVP was in town for rehabilitation.
The Bulls were another suitor, though a trip he made to Chicago earlier this season wasn’t basketball-related, Tanner said. Tanner batted down reports that indicated his intentions regarding one team or another all throughout the process that began when he became a free agent in July. Allen said over the summer that it would take a “perfect storm scenario” for him to play this season, and he pointed to a desire for a veteran coach and more than the minimum salary.
Allen was seemingly leaning toward retirement in late December, though he indicated during the middle of last season that he wasn’t planning to retire so soon. If he doesn’t return, he’ll walk away as the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made and career earnings in excess of $184.356MM, according to Basketball-Reference.
Latest On Nets, Hawks Sales
WEDNESDAY, 1:20pm: Investor and Lionsgate Entertainment chairman Mark Rachesky is joining the Frankel-Itzler-Starker bid, league sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. At least one of the groups with interest in the Hawks is willing to pay more than $900MM, a source tells Stein, though it’s unclear if that total would include bonds tied to the arena that aren’t part of the franchise value, as Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com recently suggested. Stein also adds the names of Indonesian sports and media moguls Erick Thohir and Handy Poernomo Soetedjo to the group fronted by baseball legend Hank Aaron. Wilkins, the Hawks icon and current front office executive for the team, is expected to be a “prominent” member of a bidding group, Stein also hears.
12:23pm: Geffen tells Peter Newcomb of Bloomberg News that he’s not interested in buying the Nets, as Newcomb’s Bloomberg colleague Scott Soshnick tweets.
MONDAY, 8:54am: The Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun is bidding for the Hawks and has interest in the Nets, report Josh Kosman and Claire Atkinson of the New York Post, who hear from a sports banker who believes the Hawks will strike a deal with a new owner in six weeks. The investment fund for the government of the nation of Qatar and former interim Clippers CEO Dick Parsons are also among those interested in the Nets, a franchise that multiple sports bankers believe would sell for as much as $2 billion, according to Kosman and Atkinson. Impresario David Geffen is also considering a run at the Nets, Kosman and Atkinson write, renewing apparent interest from the past. The Post scribes also identify “two wealthy U.S. families” as parties eyeing the Nets.
One of the bankers to whom Kosman and Atkinson spoke disputed an earlier report that the NBA is mandating that current Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov attach his 45% stake in the Barclays Center to his 80% share of the team, saying that the league hasn’t made a decision. The league is promising a verdict on the matter soon, but the confusion over just what’s a part of the sale is causing complication, Kosman and Atkinson hear. Bruce Ratner’s Forest City Enterprises has confirmed it’s shopping its 20% stake in the team, though Prokhorov’s camp has been reluctant to make the same pronouncement regarding its interest in a sale.
The Qatari investment fund seems an unusual bidder, though it has existing connections to the sports world. It owns a French soccer team, as Robert Windrem of NetsDaily points out. It also has ties to the NBA through beIN, a French sports television channel, the NetsDaily scribe tweets. Others linked to the Nets include former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, investor David Bonderman and hedge fund manager David Einhorn, as well as Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
The same banker who suggested the Hawks sale will be complete in six weeks tells Kosman and Atkinson that he believes the NBA would like to see the Hawks sold before the Nets are. A deadline for preliminary bids for the Atlanta franchise passed last week, and a long list of potential buyers exists. Tampa Bay Rays part-owner Randy Frankel is teaming with rapper-turned-entrepreneur Jesse Itzler and brokerage firm founder Steven Starker in one bid. Former NBA players Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman, former Suns and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, and neuropsychologist Richard Chaifetz are partnering for another. The owners of Atlanta’s WNBA team, Kelly Loeffler and Mary Brock, along with their husbands, Jeffrey Sprecher and John Brock, are also reportedly interested in bidding for the Hawks. Former players Dominique Wilkins, Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber, former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien, attorney Doug Davis and Seattle-focused investors Chris Hansen and Thomas Tull have been linked to the club, too.