Atlantic Notes: Amundson, Thomas, Holmes
Here’s a look at the latest contract news from the Atlantic Division:
- The value of Lou Amundson‘s one-year contract with the Knicks is precisely $1,635,476, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, the greatest amount they could have given him via Non-Bird rights. It’s fully guaranteed, Pincus also shows.
- The $1,636,842 Lance Thomas gets in his guaranteed one-year deal with the Knicks exceeds the Non-Bird amount, so New York used cap space to accommodate his contract, Pincus reports on the same page.
- The value of the deal between the Sixers and No. 37 overall pick Richaun Holmes is precisely $4,202,784, reports Pincus (Twitter link).
Warriors, Sixers Swap Thompson, Wallace
4:36pm: Philadelphia receives the right to swap the lesser of the 2016 first-round picks coming their way from the Heat and the Thunder for Golden State’s 2016 first-round pick, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
4:05pm: The Warriors have acquired Jason Thompson from the Sixers in exchange for Gerald Wallace, both teams announced via press release. Cash and draft considerations are also going to Philadelphia in the move. It’s a money-saving deal for Golden State, which sends Wallace’s $10,105,855 salary into Philadelphia’s cap space, with Thompson’s $6,908,685 salary going back in return, and with the Warriors poised to pay the luxury tax this season, the move saves the Warriors from tax penalties of as much as two and a half times the difference between their salaries. It also creates a trade exception worth $3,197,170 for Golden State.
“We’re very happy to add Jason to our roster,” Warriors GM Bob Myers said. “He has a proven track record in this league and adds considerably to our team’s depth, which was a big key to our success last season and will be moving forward.”
Thompson will ostensibly fill the reserve power forward role that David Lee played last year for the champs, who sent Lee to the Celtics in the deal that brought in Wallace. The 29-year-old Thompson has chiefly been a starter during his seven years in the NBA, all of which came with Sacramento before the trade earlier this month that sent him to Philly, but he probably won’t mind a reduced role on a team with a legitimate shot to win another title. Thompson has never appeared in a playoff game.
It was somewhat surprising when reports emerged following Golden State’s agreement on the Lee trade that the Warriors intended to keep Wallace rather than release him and use the stretch provision to spread his salary and lower their tax bill. Thus, it makes sense to see them make another deal that sends Wallace away and takes a chunk out of their team salary. The Warriors were scheduled to pay Lee $15,493,680 this coming season, so they’ve reduced their obligation by more than 50% with the pair of trades. The estimated tax bill for the Warriors drops from $24MM to $16MM with today’s trade, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). It had been $38.1MM before the Lee trade, Marks adds. Lee signed his deal prior to the adoption of the current collective bargaining agreement, so he’s ineligible for the stretch provision.
Thompson’s contract runs through 2016/17 with $2.6MM partially guaranteed on a salary of $7,010,378 that season, Marks points out (Twitter link). That salary becomes fully guaranteed if he doesn’t hit waivers by June 26th, 2016, as Marks also notes.
The Sixers receive yet more draft assets and draw closer to the $63MM salary floor. They held more than $20MM in cap flexibility prior to the trade, and they still have about $17.5MM they can spend, not counting their non-guaranteed deals, giving them flexibility to absorb other contracts via trade. They could also float a bloated offer sheet to Norris Cole, in whom they reportedly have interest, or to Tristan Thompson. Philadelphia clears salary from its 2016/17 books, since Wallace is on an expiring contract.
Who do you think got the better end of this trade? Leave a comment to weigh in.
Kings Eye Hedo Turkoglu
The Kings have emerged as a possibility for free agent Hedo Turkoglu, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Friend and former teammate Vlade Divac is in charge of Sacramento’s front office as vice president of basketball and franchise operations.
The 36-year-old who spent the past two seasons with the Clippers wouldn’t rule out retirement or playing overseas when he spoke about two months ago, but Wojnarowski indicates that the Jim Tanner client now wants to continue his NBA career. He averaged 3.7 points in 11.4 minutes per game across 64 appearances for the Clippers this past season, but he saw only 5.0 MPG in the playoffs, and it’s unclear if the Clips want the 15-year veteran back. Chatter has been scarce about NBA interest in Turkoglu this summer.
Sacramento has 14 fully guaranteed contracts, plus David Stockton on a non-guaranteed deal. The Kings preserved a measure of flexibility when they waived Eric Moreland earlier this week, in advance of Saturday, when his contract was to become fully guaranteed.
Sixers, J.P. Tokoto In Talks About Camp Deal
2:55pm: Tokoto has made it clear he has no intention of signing overseas or in the D-League, Charania writes in a full story, a further break with previous reports.
1:13pm: The Sixers and No. 58 overall pick J.P. Tokoto are negotiating toward a deal that would bring him to training camp, and the shooting guard from North Carolina plans to sign with Philadelphia, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). That’s a surprising development, since all indications had been that he would sign overseas or in the D-League.
Tokoto let the Sixers know he was open to becoming a draft-and-stash pick before Philadelphia selected him, as Jake Fischer of SI Now reported shortly after the draft, though it seemed he would have a chance to earn his way to a roster spot with a strong showing in summer league. The former North Carolina mainstay wasn’t particularly impressive this month, missing all 10 of his three-point attempts and averaging just 5.7 points in 23.1 minutes per game across seven appearances with Philadelphia’s summer league squad. Still, he never averaged double-figure points in college, relying instead on elite defense, as Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider profile suggests. Ford ranked him the 52nd-best prospect in the draft, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him even higher, at No. 46. Standing 6’6″, Tokoto rebounds well, having pulled down 5.6 boards in 28.9 minutes per game for the Tar Heels this past season.
Philadelphia only has 12 fully guaranteed salaries for the coming season, counting the freshly signed Richaun Holmes, the team’s other second-round pick this year. The Sixers have contracts or reported deals with five others that include no more than partially guaranteed money, so the addition of Tokoto would give the team 18 players, two shy of the offseason roster limit.
Do you think the Sixers should have Tokoto on the roster this year, or wait until next season? Leave a comment to let us know.
Nuggets Expected To Guarantee Erick Green Salary
The Nuggets are expected to retain Erick Green through Saturday, when his non-guaranteed $845,059 one-year veteran’s minimum salary is scheduled to become partially guaranteed for $100K if he doesn’t hit waivers, reports Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The 46th overall pick from two years ago projects as the third-string point guard behind rookie Emmanuel Mudiay and Jameer Nelson.
Green signed a three-year deal for the minimum last summer after he spent a year as a draft-and-stash prospect with Italy’s Montepaschi Siena. The former ACC Player of the Year from his time at Virginia Tech carved out only a limited role on the Nuggets as a rookie, averaging 3.4 points and less than an assist in 9.5 minutes per game. The now 24-year-old also spent a brief time on D-League assignment.
Denver is also expected to re-sign Darrell Arthur, as Dempsey reported earlier, and assuming his salary will be fully guaranteed, the Nuggets are poised to have 15 fully guaranteed salaries, the regular season roster limit. That means one of them will have to go for Green to stick into the regular season, and it seemingly makes chances remote that the Nuggets keep Kostas Papanikolaou past October 4th, when his $4.797MM non-guaranteed salary would become guaranteed.
Central Notes: Monroe, Allen, Christmas
- Lavoy Allen new three-year, $12.05MM contract with the Pacers includes a $1.5MM signing bonus, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). That bonus is spread evenly across his cap hits for each season, so the net effect is that if the Pacers trade him, the team acquiring him would pay him $500K less per season, though his cap number would stay the same, as Pincus explains.
- The third season of of the three-year deal Rakeem Christmas signed with the Pacers is partially guaranteed for $50K, and the fourth season contains both a team option and a partial guarantee of $52,064, Pincus tweets. The precise value of the deal is $4.3MM, as Pincus shows on the Pacers salary page, resolving conflicting reports from earlier.
- Shayne Whittington will see the minimum salary on both years of his new deal with the Pacers, Pincus adds (Twitter link).
- The Pistons traded Quincy Miller to the Nets this month because of a roster crunch in the frontcourt, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes in a mailbag column. Pistons coach/exec Stan Van Gundy opted to parlay him for Steve Blake to reinforce the point guard position, given the uncertainty over whether Brandon Jennings, still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, will be ready to start the season. Miller was far from a lock to make the opening night roster in Detroit, Langlois adds.
Sixers Sign Richaun Holmes
FRIDAY, 12:02pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
6:03pm: The total value of the deal is about $4.2MM, as Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops hears (Twitter link).
THURSDAY, 5:54pm: The contract will run four years, with a team option on the final season, Fischer tweets. The first two seasons are guaranteed for a total of $2.1MM, according to Fischer.
WEDNESDAY, 1:44pm: The Sixers have agreed to a deal with 37th overall pick Richaun Holmes, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The power forward from Bowling Green will see a “significant” amount of guaranteed money over the next two seasons, a league source tells Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link). It’s unclear just how much he’s getting, but the deal will probably be similar to the four-year contract for more than $4MM that No. 36 pick Rakeem Christmas recently signed with the Pacers.
The 21-year-old, who’ll turn 22 in October, was a late bloomer who caught the eye of scouts out of the Mid-American Conference. He didn’t put up particularly eye-popping numbers this past season, averaging 14.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game, aside from his 41.9% three-point shooting, an especially valuable asset given his 6’10” height. Holmes spoke about the development of his shot and more in an April interview with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors. At that point, the Keith Kreiter client seemed like a late second-rounder, but he climbed into the top end of the round and ultimately didn’t seem like a reach, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him the 34th-best prospect in his final listings for this season while Chad Ford of ESPN.com pegged him 44th.
Holmes is one of three 2015 draftees to which the Sixers hold the rights, including No. 3 pick Jahlil Okafor and J.P. Tokoto, the 58th selection. Philadelphia avoids the scenario it was in with K.J. McDaniels, last year’s No. 32 overall pick, who remained unsigned right up until the end of training camp as he balked at a long-term deal. McDaniels instead penned a one-year, non-guaranteed tender for the minimum-salary, helping hasten his way off the Sixers at this year’s trade deadline and into a three-year, $10MM deal with the Rockets this summer.
What do you think of the chances that Holmes turns into a rotation-caliber player in the NBA? Leave a comment to give us your thoughts.
Timberwolves To Keep Lorenzo Brown For Camp
The Timberwolves plan to keep Lorenzo Brown on the roster for training camp in the wake of an agreement to change the guarantee structure on his contract, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Brown’s two-year veteran’s minimum salary of $947,276 had become partially guaranteed for $25K on July 1st, and the contract called for the partial guarantee to go up to $200K if he remained on the roster through Saturday, with a further rise to $375K on October 1st, a source tells Hoops Rumors. Those dates have shifted, according to Wolfson. It’s unclear exactly what the new terms look like, but it nonetheless appears as though Brown is still in Minnesota’s plans even after the team’s reported agreement to sign Andre Miller.
Brown joined the Wolves this past season on a pair of 10-day contracts that led to his existing multiseason arrangement. The point guard was a part of the rotation for rebuilding Minnesota across 29 appearances, seven of them starts. He averaged just 4.2 points in 18.9 minutes per game, but his 3.1 assists against 1.0 turnovers per contest demonstrated strong ball-distribution skills. The Timberwolves drafted him 52nd overall in 2013, but they cut him at the end of training camp, forfeiting his draft rights, and watched him play his rookie year with the Sixers and sign a camp deal with the Pistons last fall before reacquiring him.
Minnesota is carrying 14 fully guaranteed contracts, not counting Miller, so Brown will face a tough path to the opening night roster. Still, a trade could change the math, and if not, it looks like Brown will at least have the opportunity to beat out another Wolves player for a regular season spot.
Do you think Brown deserves a spot on an NBA roster? Leave a comment to tell us.
Blazers To Guarantee Allen Crabbe’s Salary
The Trail Blazers have let Allen Crabbe know they won’t be waiving him today, the last day the team can let him go before a full guarantee kicks in on his two-year veteran’s minimum salary of $947,276, sources tell Jabari Young of CSNNW.com. Crabbe is on the mend from a severe left ankle sprain he suffered during summer league, but the team expects he’ll be ready for training camp, Young writes. The season is the last on his deal, and he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.
The decision isn’t altogether surprising, since the 23-year-old is just two years removed from having been the first pick of the second round of the draft, and Portland is retooling this summer following the exodus of four-fifths of its starting lineup. Crabbe saw an increased role last season after sparse playing time in his rookie year, even starting one game in the playoffs in place of the injured Wesley Matthews and Arron Afflalo. The proficient outside shooter from the University of California averaged 15.5 points in 23.8 minutes per game during four summer league appearances.
The guarantee will have little impact on Portland’s financial flexibility. The team is still some $20MM beneath the cap. It will be the 14th fully guaranteed contract on the books for the Blazers, though they appear likely to let go of Mike Miller.
Atlantic Notes: Biyombo, Nets, Jones, Ledo
A relationship that goes back a while and a shared cultural heritage with GM Masai Ujiri paved the way for Bismack Biyombo to accept an offer from the Raptors after Ujiri called him three minutes into the free agent negotiating period, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun details. Both Biyombo and Ujiri are natives of Africa. Ujiri is excited about the center he signed using the room exception, citing Biyombo’s passion for the game, offensive rebounding, shot blocking, defense, physicality and more, Wolstat relays. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
-
Nets insiders tell NetsDaily that the team would be OK with paying a small amount of luxury tax, but one source says it’ll be a long time before Brooklyn becomes a taxpayer again, if it ever does. The guaranteed salaries for the Nets this season total less than the $84.74MM tax threshold, though taxes are based on the roster as of the final day of the regular season.
-
The Nets had long preferred to rid themselves of Deron Williams instead of Joe Johnson, in part because of Johnson’s veteran presence and knack for scoring, as NetsDaily examines in a separate piece, hearing from sources who suggest Williams’ departure will ease Johnson’s mind, since they didn’t get along.
- It’s not certain that Perry Jones III will be on the Celtics roster come opening night, as the team has 17 fully guaranteed contracts, but Boston intends to give the former 28th overall pick every opportunity to stick, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. “With OKC, there hasn’t been as much of an opportunity for him to play as much as he would like as a youngster on a team trying to compete for a championship,” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said earlier this week. “But [he is] very athletic, a different type of player than we have in the frontcourt right now with his athleticism and length.”
- The Knicks front office was higher on Ricky Ledo than the coaching staff was, sources indicated to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The team waived Ledo on Thursday rather than guarantee a portion of his salary.
- It’s been nearly three weeks since the Sixers said Joel Embiid would have surgery on his foot within seven to 10 days, and the team’s silence in that time raises no shortage of questions, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media examines.