Nuggets Renegotiate, Extend Danilo Gallinari’s Deal
AUGUST 3rd, 6:05pm: The Nuggets have confirmed the signing (Twitter link).
JULY 31ST, 3:00pm: Gallinari posted a photo to Instagram that appears to show him signing the renegotiation-and-extension paperwork. The Nuggets have yet to make a formal announcement.
2:06pm: The sides are finalizing an agreement that would add two years to Gallinari’s contract in a renegotiation and extension deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. He’ll see about $2.5MM more the $11.559MM that he was set to see on his contract this season, bringing his salary to about $14MM, with $15.5MM coming in 2016/17 and $16.1MM in 2017/18, Wojnarowski adds. That final year will be a player option, and the deal will include a full trade kicker, Wojnarowski also reports. That presumably means a 15% trade kicker, the maximum size for such a bonus.
JULY 21ST, 1:02pm: The Nuggets are expected to sign Danilo Gallinari to an extension this week, league sources tell Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The forward confirmed to Italian media this week that he was in extension talks with the team, shortly after Dempsey reported that the Nuggets intended to begin such discussions.
Denver will use some of the cap flexibility it cleared in Monday’s Ty Lawson trade, according to Dempsey, a hint that Gallinari will receive an extension and renegotiation, which would up his salary of more than $11.559MM for this coming season, in the same sort of deal that Denver did with Wilson Chandler this month. Such a maneuver would allow Gallinari to make more in 2016/17 than the 7.5% of his 2015/16 salary he’d be limited to if he signed a conventional veteran extension, but renegotiations are rare, and Chandler’s deal was the first of its kind since the latest collective bargaining agreement went into place in 2011.
In any case, the Arn Tellem client would only be able to sign for three additional years, whereas he could ink a new contract with the Nuggets next summer that would give him five more years in Denver. The total amount of a conventional extension couldn’t exceed $39,879,326 over a three-year period, but a new contract that the sides could sign next summer would be allowed to be worth as much as the max.
The timing of Denver’s apparent movement with Gallinari is somewhat surprising, since it came on the heels of a report that the Celtics and Nuggets engaged in trade talks involving the veteran shooter. Denver was also apparently shopping Gallinari before the draft, when Memphis seemingly gave chase.
What do you think a fair extension for Gallinari would look like? Leave a comment to let us know.
Northwest Notes: Alexander, Gallinari, Thunder
Cliff Alexander‘s camp deal with the Trail Blazers covers three years and has a $100K partial guarantee, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks, writing for HoopsHype. Alexander was one of 441 players who took part in at least one of the three summer leagues without having signed a guaranteed contract, and that $100K means he wound up with a lot more than many summer leaguers, who left only with the $127 per diems they received while taking part in the Orlando, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City leagues, as Marks details. There’s more on Alexander amid the latest from around the Northwest Division:
- Alexander told SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell that it “blindsided” him when he went undrafted in June, but agent Reggie Brown of Priority Sports said to O’Donnell that going undrafted was a better fate than having become a draft-and-stash pick (hat tip to TNT’s David Aldridge). “We knew the draft-and-stash would not be of benefit to him,” Brown said. “Cliff was not mature enough at 19 years old to go overseas for the first time. He didn’t have an older brother to help guide him like Emmanuel Mudiay did. I thought that would have been disastrous for his career so I made the decision not to do it. I could have took a lot of pressure off myself and in the media it looks great to have one of those teams take him, but I had to look him in the eye and tell him that we can’t do this. This is not best for your career. I felt he had the heart big enough to climb out of this.”
- Danilo Gallinari will see precisely $14MM this season, $15.05MM next season and $16.1MM in 2017/18 as part of his renegotiation-and-extension with the Nuggets, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows (Twitter link).
- The Thunder made a cost-cutting move in July, trading Perry Jones III to the Celtics, but the Oklahoma City organization isn’t anxious to move any more contracts and feels an urgency to win, sources close to the Thunder tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who writes in an NBA AM piece.
Eastern Notes: J.R. Smith, Carmelo, Hawks
Eastern Conference teams have lured more veterans than Western Conference teams so far in free agency and trades this offseason, as I examined late last month, but the East didn’t really make a dent in terms of star power. The chasm between the conferences seemingly remains wide, and with the Western Conference elite further strengthening, it seems the easiest path to the Finals will again run through the East, though the defending conference champion Cavs might dispute that. Check out a Cleveland-related item amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:
- J.R. Smith said he wants to “be somewhere I can make a difference” as he discussed his free agency with reporters in Guam, where he held a camp with close friend and recent Heat signee Gerald Green, notes Grant Wieman of the Pacific Daily News (hat tip to Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group). Smith said two weeks ago that he’d like to re-sign with the Cavaliers. “I would love to be a starter, but it depends on the situation and what team I’m on,” Smith said. “Cleveland is in a situation where they don’t really need me to start. I can come off the bench and bring the energy and stuff like that.”
- Knicks broadcaster and team employee Walt “Clyde” Frazier wonders in an interview with Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com whether Carmelo Anthony will ask for a trade if the team doesn’t make noticeable progress this year. It wouldn’t be surprising if Anthony did just that, given lingering questions about whether team president Phil Jackson, coach Derek Fisher and the triangle can succeed and the challenge of attracting marquee free agents to a losing team, as Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal speculates (All Twitter links).
- The deals that Lamar Patterson and Terran Petteway signed with the Hawks are both two-year, minimum-salary arrangments with $75K partial guarantees for this season, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Latest On Ray Allen
Ray Allen still won’t rule out signing with a team, but he doesn’t appear close to doing so, more than a year after last having suited up in the NBA. Allen has no plans to sign with any team, TNT’s David Aldridge heard last week, as he writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com, but the NBA’s all-time leading three-point shot maker insisted to media this weekend at a camp in Connecticut that he’s not ready to retire, as Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant relays.
“I haven’t said anything about that and I won’t officially retire,” Allen said. “Because if something came to the table, contractually and situational-ly, I want to be able to take a strong look at it. I don’t want to be that guy that says he’s retiring and then is coming back.”
The 40-year-old is in playing shape, Amore writes, but Allen said the only time he missed basketball this past season was when he watched the Finals between the Warriors and the Cavs, two of the many teams that reportedly had interest in signing him during 2014/15. The Jim Tanner client also expressed that he would be comfortable with his body of work to this point if he does retire, saying that he likes “the feeling of knowing I don’t have to beat myself into the ground,” as Amore chronicles.
The specter of Allen’s free agency lingered for most of this past season until he said in early March that he wouldn’t play and would take the spring and the offseason to decide whether to return to the NBA for the 2015/16 season. He had received serious interest from 14 teams during 2014/15, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports around the time of Allen’s March announcement, but the market for him is unclear at this point. The Cavs were most often linked to him, but interest from both sides appeared to have faded by shortly after the February trade deadline.
Do you think Ray Allen will play again in the NBA? Leave a comment to let us know.
Players Set To See The Largest Raises In 2015/16
Jimmy Butler probably would have jumped at a salary of nearly $14.4MM in the fall, when he was reportedly prepared to settle for salaries between $12.5MM and $13MM in extension talks with the Bulls. Instead, that $14.4MM figure represents merely the amount of the raise he’s getting. He’ll make $16,407,500, the maximum salary for a player of his experience, in 2015/16 after having earned only $2,008,748 last season. No one in the NBA is slated to see a more significant raise this year.
Butler personifies two traits shared by most of the 10 players slated to see raises of $10MM or more this coming season. He re-signed with his team, and he was coming off a rookie scale contract. Khris Middleton, Draymond Green and DeMarre Carroll are the only players on the list below who aren’t coming off rookie scale deals, and Green and Middleton made the minimum last season. Carroll and Greg Monroe are the only ones to change teams, even though free agents can receive the same starting salaries wherever they sign.
An eleventh player seems poised to join this group eventually. Tristan Thompson, who made $5,138,430 last season on the final year of his rookie deal, is the most prominent free agent still available, and he’s eligible for that same $16,407,500 max.
- Jimmy Butler, Bulls — $14,398,752 ($2,008,748 to $16,407,500)
- Khris Middleton, Bucks — $13,784,757 ($915,243 to $14,700,000)
- Tobias Harris, Magic — $13,619,406 ($2,380,594 to $16,000,000)
- Kawhi Leonard, Spurs — $13,513,441 ($2,894,059 to $16,407,500)
- Draymond Green, Warriors — $13,345,627 ($915,243 to $14,260,870)
- Klay Thompson, Warriors — $12,425,120 ($3,075,880 to $15,501,000)
- Reggie Jackson, Pistons — $11,708,675 ($2,204,369 to $13,913,044)
- DeMarre Carroll, Raptors — $11,157,545 ($2,442,455 to $13,600,000)
- Greg Monroe, Bucks — $10,927,565 ($5,479,935 to $16,407,500)
- Enes Kanter, Thunder — $10,712,826 ($5,694,674 to $16,407,500)
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Which of these raises was the most-deserved? Least-deserved? Leave a comment to let us know.
Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Jackson, Embiid
Knicks team president Phil Jackson mentioned six draft prospects that he liked in a late-March interview with confidant Charlie Rosen, posted today on ESPN.com, but none of them were Kristaps Porzingis, the Latvian power forward whom the Knicks selected No. 4 overall. Scout Clarence Gaines was perhaps the most influential advocate for Porzingis within the organization, though dropping to the fourth spot in the order because of poor lottery luck no doubt played a major role in New York’s choice. Jackson signaled to Rosen that he preferred the more NBA-ready Jahlil Okafor to Karl-Anthony Towns, but both were off the board by the time the Knicks picked. See more from Jackson amid the latest Atlantic Division news here:
- Jackson had praise for Alexey Shved, Lance Thomas and Andrea Bargnani but lost affection for Quincy Acy‘s play, as Rosen details. The Knicks boss also had criticism for Jason Smith‘s reaction to coming off the bench. All five were free agents this summer, but only Thomas re-signed with the Knicks.
- The Zen Master indicated that he saw Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan as the prime movers of free agency this summer as far as the Knicks were concerned, but he didn’t mention LaMarcus Aldridge. Of course, Aldridge at that point seemed like a safe bet to re-sign with the Trail Blazers. He instead signed with the Spurs after he and the Knicks mutually decided to cancel a meeting. Jordan met with the Knicks but re-signed with the Clippers, and Gasol didn’t meet with any other teams before signing his new deal with the Grizzlies.
- The Sixers said on July 11th that Joel Embiid would have a bone graft surgery within seven to 10 days, but the Philadelphia organization has since made no mention of any surgery for the big man and a team source tells Jake Fischer of SI Now that the Sixers don’t plan any statement this week (Twitter link). The No. 3 pick from 2014 is likely to miss a second consecutive season this year, and an October 31st deadline looms for a decision on his team option of more than $4.826MM for 2016/17.
- Amin Elhassan and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com, in an Insider-only piece, debate the paths by which the Celtics can acquire championship-level talent. Boston will have cap flexibility to go after a maximum-salary free agent next summer, but even though the trade market for stars isn’t hot now, that can change and offer the C’s an easier route than free agency would.
Teams With Hard Caps For 2015/16
The NBA’s salary cap is really a misnomer of sorts, since it doesn’t place an absolute limit on salaries. Teams routinely zoom past the cap, and it’s assumed they will do so, with features like cap exceptions and the luxury tax built into the collective bargaining agreement. Still, it’s possible that teams can end up with a truly “hard cap.”
The use of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, the biannual exception or the acquisition of a player via sign-and-trade limits a team to dishing out no more than $4MM in excess of the luxury tax threshold. The tax line is $84.74MM for 2015/16, so the hard cap for this season is $88.74MM.
Six teams have triggered the hard cap, meaning their salaries can’t exceed $88.74MM from now through June 30th, 2016, and more may join those six throughout the season. Still, none of those six teams are anywhere close to their hard cap amounts. Only two of them are within $10MM. The Rockets seem like the most likely candidate to impose a hard cap on themselves among those that haven’t so far, since they’d have to do so to sign No. 32 overall pick Montrezl Harrell for more than the minimum. They’d also likely come closer to that $88.74MM amount than any of the teams so far hard-capped.
This listing includes information on how each team triggered its hard cap and the amount of money the clubs have left to spend. A slightly different calculation is involved with the hard cap as opposed to the standard salary cap, and these estimates reflect that. The estimates are based on guaranteed salary, since hard-capped teams can cross the $88.74MM line with non-guaranteed money as long as they manage to find a way under before that salary becomes guaranteed. Also, required tender amounts to second-round picks aren’t included in these estimates, since teams still have about another month to decide whether to make those tenders.
Hornets
Hard cap created: Signed Jeremy Lin via biannual exception
Estimated room left under hard cap: $12.657MM
Grizzlies
Hard cap created: Signed Brandan Wright via non-taxpayer MLE
Estimated room left under hard cap: $9.09MM
Timberwolves
Hard cap created: Signed Nemanja Bjelica via non-taxpayer MLE
Estimated room left under hard cap: $16.117MM
Pelicans
Hard cap created: Signed Dante Cunningham and Alonzo Gee via non-taxpayer MLE
Estimated room left under hard cap: $10.085MM
Knicks
Hard cap created: Acquired Kyle O’Quinn via sign-and-trade
Estimated room left under hard cap: $17.317MM
Wizards
Hard cap created: Signed Alan Anderson via non-taxpayer MLE; Signed Gary Neal via biannual exception
Estimated room left under hard cap: $7.254MM
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Updated Hoops Rumors Databases
The primary component of Hoops Rumors is our day-to-day coverage of news and rumors, but we also maintain reference information that puts NBA player movement into context and allows you to see where your favorite team stands. One of our most prominent tools, particularly at this time of year, is our Free Agent Tracker. Thanks to pro basketball database guru Mark Porcaro, we also have a comprehensive listing of every draft rights held player and a round-by-round look at traded draft picks through 2021. Both are freshly updated as of today.
Draft rights held players, aka draft-and-stash prospects, are players who have been drafted but have yet to sign NBA contracts, often for a period of several years. It’s a common phenomenon with draftees from outside North America, but as our database shows, many of them are homegrown. In all, teams possess the rights to 112 unsigned draftees, though that number includes a handful from the 2015 draft who are expected to sign sometime this summer. Not surprisingly, the Spurs lead the NBA in draft rights held players with 13.
The round-by-round traded pick listing looks ahead to next year and beyond, and it demonstrates just how often picks change hands. As many as 14 of the 30 first-round picks in 2016 may change hands, and there are a whopping 24 stipulations attached to 2016 second-round picks. Thanks to teams like the Sixers and Celtics who commoditize them, teams have traded several dozen second-rounders for the next several years, including four for 2021 already.
Check out these updated databases and other resources listed on the right sidebar!
Eastern Notes: Whiteside, Copeland, Thomas
Here’s a look at the latest contract news from the Eastern Conference:
- The $981,348 contract for this upcoming season for Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who will hit free agency next summer, becomes guaranteed on Dec. 1st, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out. The deal is already partially guaranteed for $245,337, and that partial guarantee escalates to $490,674 if he makes it to opening night.
- Chris Copeland‘s one-year deal with the Bucks is worth precisely $1.15MM, as Pincus shows (Twitter link). That means Milwaukee has $1.664MM left on its $2.814MM room exception, Pincus also notes.
- Jorge Gutierrez‘s non-guaranteed minimum salary with the Bucks becomes partially guaranteed for $250K on December 1st, Pincus adds on the same page.
- The deal between Adonis Thomas and the Pistons is a two-year pact for the minimum salary, according to Pincus (Twitter link).
Will Joseph contributed to this post.
Western Notes: McDaniels, Barton, Babbitt
Here’s a look at the latest contract news from the Western Conference:
- The three-year contract that K.J. McDaniels signed with the Rockets is worth exactly $10MM, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows (Twitter link).
- Will Barton will make $3,533,333 in each season with no options in his new three-year deal with the Nuggets, according to Pincus.
- Luke Babbitt‘s two year deal with the Pelicans is for the minimum salary, reports Pincus (Twitter link).
- Salah Mejri is receiving a guaranteed rookie minimum of $525,093 this season, the first on his three-year deal with the Mavs, tweets Pincus.
Will Joseph contributed to this post.