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2011/12 Taxpaying Teams

July 25th, 2012 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

While teams get their books in order for the 2012/13 season, navigating the salary cap and the luxury tax threshold, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com takes a look back at the league's 2011/12 finances. Deeks shares the official list of teams that paid the luxury tax in 2011/12, along with the amount each club paid. The list is as follows:

Los Angeles Lakers: $12,557,264
Boston Celtics: $7,365,867
Miami Heat: $6,129,340
Dallas Mavericks: $2,738,843
San Antonio Spurs: $2,514,275
Atlanta Hawks: $666,199

The more punitive luxury-tax penalties introduced in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement have yet to kick in, so the tax penalties for the aforementioned six teams come by way of the old system — teams are penalized $1 for every dollar they spend over the tax line. In 2011/12, that tax line was at $70,307,000, so the Hawks, for instance, spent $70,973,199 on their roster.

Tax penalties for 2012/13 will remain the same as in 2011/12, but next offseason the CBA's increased restrictions take effect in earnest. In the summer of 2013, teams over the luxury tax line are ineligible to acquire players in sign-and-trade deals, while clubs that exceed the tax threshold for the 2013/14 season will pay an incremental rate based on team salary.

Odds & Ends: Celtics, Hawks, Miles, Brewer

July 24th, 2012 at 10:22pm CST by Michael Pina

ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg takes a closer look at the non-guaranteed contract Jamar Smith has signed with the Celtics after impressing the team in summer league. That's one of a handful of Tuesday night odds and ends from around the league. Here are a few more:

With only four players remaining on the Hawks roster from last season, new general manager Danny Ferry has managed to clean his team's salary structure while keeping hopes high for the future, writes HoopsWorld.com's Lang Greene.
C.J. Miles, a free agent who most expected to have found a new team by now, will meet with the Cavaliers this week, writes The Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko.
The Timberwolves made Ronnie Brewer a "generous" offer, but the free agent forward decided to sign with the Knicks instead, according to TwinCities.com's Ray Richardson.
Before signing A.J. Price, the Wizards were interested in signing Jonny Flynn to be John Wall's backup, but decided against it, writes the Washington Post's Michael Lee.
ESPNNewYork.com's Jared Zwerling breaks down the Knicks decision to acquire Ronnie Brewer and Pablo Prigioni.
Mavericks second-round pick Bernard James is expected to sign a contract with the team in the next day or two, reports ESPNDallas.com's Jeff Caplan.
The Trail Blazers reportedly interviewed as many as 10 candidates to fill their empty head coach position in Las Vegas last week, but have yet to contact any of them to say they were advancing to a second round of discussion, according to The Oregonian's Jason Quick. The process remains in its infant stage.
Agent Mark Bartelstein tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he hopes Carl Landry and Dominic McGuire will make decisions in the next few days. Those two players, including free agent Brandon Rush, could be part of the Warriors' plan moving forward (Sulia links).

Free Agent Rumors: Landry, Thomas, Mason

July 24th, 2012 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

A few more free agents have come off the board today, as A.J. Price and Pablo Prigioni finalized deals with the Wizards and Knicks respectively, while Ronnie Brewer was among the players to agree to a new contract, reaching a deal with the Knicks. With a number of available players still on the market though, here's a round-up of a few of the day's assorted free agent rumors:

The Hornets have renounced Carl Landry's Bird Rights, making a sign-and-trade difficult to work out, writes Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. The Bobcats were interested in a sign-and-trade deal for Landry, but New Orleans would need to get back under the cap to have room to make it work.
Malcolm Thomas, who was named to the All-Summer League team, is drawing interest from a number of teams, including the Clippers, Bulls, Hawks, and Bobcats, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Former Lakers second-rounder Patrick Beverley is seeking an NBA job, having worked out for the Bulls, Cavs, and Rockets this offseason. Agent Kevin Bradbury tells Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com that he thinks his client would be a good fit in Chicago: "He plays defense and does what’s asked of him. He fits the Bulls’ system. I think that’s intriguing for the Bulls. He really respects [Tom Thibodeau]."
The Wizards have interest in bringing back Roger Mason, but Mason isn't looking to sign a one-year, minimum-salary deal, says Michael Lee of the Washington Post. The veteran guard has also received interest from the Thunder, Hornets, Bulls, and Lakers.

Odds & Ends: Gordon, Cavaliers, Vazquez

July 17th, 2012 at 6:51pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Eric Gordon may have to win back some of the fans in New Orleans this year after comments he made about his "heart" already being in Phoenix and not wanting the Hornets to match after the Suns signed him to an offer sheet. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo elaborates on Gordon's thoughts throughout the free agency process and says that the Gordon is now committed to leading a young New Orleans team moving forward. Spears also says that the 6'3 guard has the ability to opt out after the third season and become an unrestricted free agent. Here's more of the miscellaneous tidbits what we've heard this evening..

Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago discusses why the Bulls' title window will shrink over the next two seasons.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer describes the progress that Byron Mullens appears to be making with the Bobcats based on his performances at the Las Vegas Summer League.
76ers head coach Doug Collins says he feels "very good" about what the team has accomplished during this offseason, writes John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com.

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated sat down with Hawks forward Josh Smith, who appears to be happy with the direction the team is going in. In a separate piece, Amick discusses the impact that the Kings' acquisition of Aaron Brooks will have on Jimmer Fredette's future in Sacramento.
Luis Scola talks about how excited he is to join the Suns (NBA.com report).
On the Mason and Ireland show on ESPN LA, Chris Broussard said that Dwight Howard likes Los Angeles but still has his heart set on Brooklyn.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com does not think the team will use their amnesty this year (Twitter link).
Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com tweets that Will Barton's deal with the Trail Blazers is guaranteed for two years with a team option in the third year.
In an interview on NBA TV, coach Byron Scott said that the Cavaliers aren't desperate to add a veteran right now, and implied that he is ready to have his young players gain experience instead (Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio reports).
Iliana Limón Romero and Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel write that Fran Vazquez has agreed to a two-year deal (with a third-year option) to stay with Unicaja Málaga of the ACB and Euroleague. The deal does not have an opt-out clause, which ultimately prohibits the 6'10 big man from leaving for the NBA and joining the Magic until 2014-15 at the earliest. Orlando used their 11th overall selection in 2005 to select the Vazquez and currently own his draft rights.
Chris Haynes of CSNNW documentedDerrick Williams' thoughts on almost being traded to the Trail Blazers. The former 2nd overall pick of the Timberwolves says that the uncertainty had been giving him a "tough time".
According to head coach Doug Collins, the 76ers have received multiple trade offers for Andre Iguodala and rookie Moe Harkless (Tom Moore of PhillyBlurbs.com tweets).
Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld has the latest thoughts from Jermaine O'Neal, who says that he feels he has a lot left.
Mike Trudell of KCAL-9 in Los Angeles tweets that Lakers owner Jim Buss likes Robert Sacre, the team's 60th pick of last month's draft. Buss added that he has a good chance to make the team.
Tariq Lee of AZCentral.com writes about Charles Garcia's second opportunity to make it into the league with the Suns.

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Hawks Acquire Kyle Korver

July 16th, 2012 at 5:22pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 16: The Hawks have announced via a team press release that they have officially acquired Kyle Korver from the Bulls in exchange for cash. As noted on Twitter by ESPN.com's John Hollinger, the Bulls receive a $5MM trade exception in the deal, and the Timberwolves are no longer involved.

JULY 13: The trade will also include the Timberwolves, according to Johnson (via Twitter). Korver will be absorbed into the Hawks' $5MM trade exception, and the Bulls will receive a second-round pick from Minnesota, says Johnson. It sounds as if one more detail is required here.

2:18pm: The Bulls have agreed to trade Kyle Korver to the Hawks, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). The deal is pending a physical, and could become a sign-and-trade involving Kirk Hinrich, according to Johnson.

Kings Agree To Sign Aaron Brooks

July 16th, 2012 at 4:33pm CST by Luke Adams

4:33pm: Brook's deal averages $3.3MM annually, with a second-year player option, according to SI.com's Sam Amick (via Twitter).

4:21pm: Brooks' contract is expected to be worth about $3MM annually, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee (via Sulia).

Contract Details: Novak, Green, Miller, Thompson

July 16th, 2012 at 4:19pm CST by Luke Adams

While most players' contracts include annual raises, or at the very least, identical annual salaries, Steve Novak's new contract with the Knicks is a little different, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains (Twitter link). Novak's deal starts at a little over $4MM, dips to below $3.5MM by 2014/15, then rises back up to $3.75MM for 2015/16. The unusual structure of the deal provides the Knicks a small amount of savings in the years when the rest of the team's roster will get extremely expensive.

Deeks shared a number of other contract details from around the league, via Twitter, so let's round them up….

The Spurs' deal with Danny Green is for three fully-guaranteed years and $11,287,500, with no options.
Andre Miller will earn $5MM in each of the next two seasons with the Nuggets. The third year of his deal is partially guaranteed for $2MM of $4.625MM.

Earlier updates:

Jason Thompson's five-year deal with the Kings is worth $30,187,500, though year five is only partially guaranteed for $2.65MM.
According to Deeks, the previously reported figures for Ersan Ilyasova are a little high — his deal with the Bucks is worth $40MM over five years. The first four years are guaranteed at $7.9MM each, then year five is partially guaranteed for just $400K of $8.4MM.
Jamal Crawford received the full mid-level for four years from the Clippers, but the final two years of the contract are only guaranteed for $1.5MM each.
Marcus Camby's contract with the Knicks, $13,151,319 over three years, descends in value, with just $1,025,890 of $4,177,208 guaranteed in the third season.
Every first-round pick to sign so far has received the full 120% of the rookie scale.
DeShawn Stevenson will earn $2,240,450 in each year of his three-year deal with the Hawks, though only the first season is guaranteed.
Kyle Singler's fully-guaranteed deal with the Pistons is worth $3,135,000 over three years, with no options, while Victor Claver's deal with the Trail Blazers is also fully guaranteed and will pay him $4MM over three years.
Jason Kidd (Knicks; three years, $9.09MM), Ian Mahinmi (Pacers; four years, $16MM), and Gerald Green (Pacers; three years, $10.5MM) all received fully-guaranteed contracts with no option years.
The Nets' agreement with Reggie Evans is worth $5,086,905 over three years, and is fully guaranteed.
Hasheem Thabeet's contract with the Thunder appears to be for more than the minimum salary. Deeks pegs the value at three years and $3.65MM, though only the first year and $500K of year two are guaranteed. Oklahoma City will be using either a portion of their mid-level or bi-annual exception for that deal.
I would guess Thabeet's deal will come out of the MLE, since the Thunder are also using a portion of the mid-level on Hollis Thompson, who signed a three-year minimum-salary contract. Only $75K is guaranteed, however.
Doron Lamb received a three-year, minimum-salary deal from the Bucks, with the third year nonguaranteed.

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Hawks Buy Out Jordan Farmar

July 16th, 2012 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 16TH: The Hawks have officially requested waivers on Farmar, according to a team release. Now that the two sides having finalized Farmar's buyout, he'll be headed to Turkey's Anadolu Efes, with whom he has reportedly reached an agreement.

JULY 5TH: Once the agreed-upon Joe Johnson swap between the Nets and Hawks becomes official next week, the Hawks are expected to buy out Jordan Farmar, according to NetsDaily.com (Twitter link). Farmar is under contract for $4.25MM for the coming season, but figures to be bought out for $1.5MM.

Central Notes: Scola, Cavs, Korver, Pistons

July 14th, 2012 at 11:15am CST by Zachary Links

Yesterday, the Rockets officially used their amnesty clause to release forward Luis Scola. It's possible that the big man will clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent, but there are interested teams out there, including one out of the Central division..

Rockets Reconstruct Trade Offer For Howard

July 13th, 2012 at 11:35am CST by Luke Adams

11:35am: Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets that he doesn't believe last year's rookies (Morris, Parsons) and this year's three draftees (Lamb, White, Jones) are all a part of the Rockets' offer, but that many of them could be involved.

7:43am: In an effort to convince the Magic to deal Dwight Howard directly to Houston, the Rockets are in the process of reconstructing their trade proposal for the star center, according to an ESPN.com report by Marc Stein and Chad Ford. Stein and Ford write that the Rockets are looking to clear the necessary cap space to absorb at least three additional contracts in addition to Howard's, from a group that includes Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Duhon, Glen Davis, and Jason Richardson.