Reports Conflict On Ernie Grunfeld’s Job Security
Conflicting reports have emerged about the job security of Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld, as two people with knowledge of the situation told J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic recently that his position is safe while league sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops that Grunfeld is no lock to return. The 60-year-old executive is under contract through next season, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post revealed this week, but people around the league have for the past few months brought up Danny Ferry‘s name as a possible replacement, according to Scotto. Thunder assistant GM Troy Weaver has also drawn mention as a potential candidate, Scotto writes.
Coach Randy Wittman‘s salary for next season is only partially guaranteed, and Scotto writes that he’s “not expected” to return. However, it doesn’t appear as though the team has made any final decision.
The Wizards are on the brink of elimination from playoff contention, three and a half games back of the eighth-place Pistons with four to play. They’re also in line to relinquish their first-round pick to the Suns as part of the Markieff Morris trade. Washington has long planned to recruit Kevin Durant, a D.C. native, in the summer ahead, but the team’s losing season has dimmed its hopes of a homecoming for the former MVP, as Scotto notes. The uncertainty surrounding the future of several soon-to-be free agents on the Wizards is one of several contributing factors to the team’s slippage this year, Castillo posits.
Ferry’s name has emerged frequently in recent months following the buyout deal that ended his tenure as GM of the Hawks, as he’s reportedly been a candidate for GM vacancies with the Nets and Sixers, in spite of the controversy regarding the racially charged remarks he read from a scouting report in 2014. Weaver has been with the Thunder since the 2008/09 season, helping build Oklahoma City into a perennial title contender.
Grunfeld is one of the NBA’s longest tenured executives, having run the Wizards front office since the 2003/04 season. Every player on the team was acquired under his watch.
Three Can Trigger Higher Qualifying Offers
Update: Motiejunas and Galloway met the starter criteria, but Canaan suffered a torn left labrum that prevented him from doing so.
Original post: The playoff races and pending first-round pick exchange scenarios provide intrigue for the regular season’s final few days, but the games that remain have quantifiable financial implications for three players in particular. Donatas Motiejunas, Langston Galloway and Isaiah Canaan are all within striking distance of meeting the NBA’s starter criteria and upping the worth of the qualifying offers their teams have to make to match competing bids for them in free agency this summer.
Qualifying offers took on a new level of importance the past two years, when Greg Monroe, Kevin Seraphin, Matthew Dellavedova and Norris Cole all signed qualifying offers and others, notably Klutch Sports clients Eric Bledsoe and Tristan Thompson, have threatened to do so. The qualifying offer almost always represents a steeply discounted salary for a player of the likes of Monroe, Bledsoe, and Thompson, which helps explain why Monroe is probably the best player ever to have signed one. Still, for others, like Seraphin, Dellavedova and Cole, it represents a salary in line with their market value. That’s why the starter criteria, which help determine how much qualifying offers are worth, are key factors for many.
The starter criteria are fulfilled if a player eligible for restricted free agency makes 41 or more starts or plays 2,000 minutes in the season preceding the end of his contract, or in the average of the two seasons preceding the end of his contract. The following are the consequences for meeting or not meeting the starter criteria as they appear in our Hoops Rumors Glossary entry on qualifying offers and as informed by Larry Coon’s invaluable Salary Cap FAQ:
- 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 others, the standard criteria determine the amounts of their qualifying offers.
Here’s what’s at stake for Motiejunas, Galloway and Canaan, and what they need to do to lock in higher qualifying offers:
- Donatas Motiejunas, Rockets — He needs to make just one more start to reach 82 over the past two seasons, enough to trigger the starter criteria and lift the value of his qualifying offer from $3,278,998 to $4,433,683. Motiejunas has started every game since the beginning of March except for Wednesday’s, in which he picked up a DNP-CD. The Rockets elected to put him back in the starting lineup for Thursday’s game, but he played only 12 minutes.
- Langston Galloway, Knicks — Galloway is 60 minutes shy of 2,000, the number he needs to hit the starter criteria and lift his qualifying offer from $1,180,431 to $2,725,003. The Knicks have three games left, and he’s averaged 22.5 minutes per game since the beginning of March, so this one could come down to the wire.
- Isaiah Canaan, Sixers — Canaan is two starts and 34 minutes away from triggering the starter criteria, with four games left to go for the Sixers. He’s been a starter for every game since March 12th and has averaged 29.2 minutes per contest over that stretch, so he’s a strong bet to lift his qualifying offer from $1,215,696 to $2,725,003.
The following players are former second-round picks or undrafted players who’ve already triggered the starter criteria and are due qualifying offers of $2,725,003 this summer. Their previous qualifying offers are listed by their names.
- Jordan Clarkson ($1,180,431)
- Allen Crabbe ($1,215,696)
These are the players selected with picks 10-30 in the 2012 draft who’ve triggered the starter criteria for qualifying offers of $4,433,683 in the offseason ahead. Again, the previous qualifying offers are listed next to their names.
- Evan Fournier ($3,278,998)
- Jared Sullinger ($3,270,004)
Meyers Leonard is the only 2012 lottery pick who won’t meet the starter criteria, meaning his qualifying offer will decline from $4,210,880 to $4,045,894.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Bulls Notes: Gasol, Butler, Rose
It would be a surprise if Pau Gasol is on the Bulls next season, posits K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), and the latest remarks from the All-Star big man seem to back that up. Gasol said after the trade deadline that the way the team played in the season’s final two months would affect his decision about whether to re-sign this summer after he opts out to hit free agency, and he conceded after Thursday’s loss that the Bulls have staggered to the finish, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com relays. The Bulls, for their part, aren’t as intent on re-signing Gasol as they were in February, Johnson wrote last week.
“Nothing is set right now,” Gasol said. “Definitely, I will evaluate what I need to when the time comes. But the way the team has responded to adversity and the way we finished up the season has not been so far great, and it’s been disappointing. So at the end of the day, when the time comes, I will evaluate things. It’s hard to finish the season like this. It’s not finished, but we’re in a very, as we know, extremely difficult position, so everything will be thought of and considered.”
See more from Chicago:
- Jimmy Butler is the last guy the Bulls want to trade, if they make a trade at all this summer, according to the prevailing thought from inside the team, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Chris Mannix of The Vertical earlier heard that the Bulls appeared to be considering the idea of trading Butler.
- The Bulls will probably look to draft a point guard this summer after changing their plan to do so last year when Bobby Portis fell to them at the No. 22 pick, Johnson writes. Still, coach Fred Hoiberg doesn’t think Butler is better off when incumbent point guard Derrick Rose isn’t on the floor, as Johnson relays. “We’ve gone with Derrick to finish off some games and obviously Jimmy to close out a lot,” Hoiberg said. “When they have played together, it’s basically whoever has the better matchup or whoever has it going. We’re obviously a better team when Derrick is out there.”
- Butler hasn’t shown the leadership befitting the five-year, $92.34MM contract he signed last year, but it makes more sense on a practical level to trade Rose than it does to trade Butler, the Tribune’s David Haugh opines.
Southeast Notes: Dedmon, Wizards, Sefolosha
It’s no secret that the Magic are poised to make a qualifying offer to retain the right to match competing bids for Evan Fournier this summer, but they’re also likely to make a qualifying offer, worth nearly $1.216MM, to Dewayne Dedmon, too, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. It’s unclear whether that’ll be the case with Andrew Nicholson, the other Magic player eligible for restricted free agency, Robbins writes. Nicholson, a former 19th overall pick, has yet to have a breakout season, but Robbins identifies Brandon Jennings, set for unrestricted free agency, as the soon-to-be Orlando free agent who’s had the roughest year. “It’s definitely going to be a big summer for me,” Jennings said. “I definitely would’ve wished things would’ve went a little differently, but they didn’t with the trade. So I guess I just have to take it for what it is this summer. Actually, the positive side of it is I get a whole summer. I get a whole three, four months just to get ready and play basketball all summer, work on my game, work on my body.”
See more from the Southeast Division:
- Questions about commitment dogged the Wizards this season, one in which the team’s soon-to-be free agents have known they’re essentially rentals amid plans to open cap space to chase Kevin Durant this summer, writes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. That plus defensive regression, a new and ill-fitting perimeter-oriented attack, the uncertain status of coach Randy Wittman, a lack of leadership and injuries combined to doom the team this season, Castillo observes.
- Thabo Sefolosha filed a civil suit this week against five New York City police officers and the city, as expected, notes Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com. It stems from the incident a year ago today in which Sefolosha emerged with a broken leg after a scuffle with police. The suit levies charges of false arrest, excessive force, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment, and it alleges the incident was a “a racial matter,” as Arnovitz relays. It also claims the encounter and injury jeopardized and shortened his basketball career and negatively affected the market value for his services, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Sefolosha, who saw an increased role for the Hawks this season in the wake of DeMarre Carroll‘s departure, is under contract for next season at $3.85MM.
- Tyler Johnson wouldn’t guarantee he’d return this season in the immediate wake of surgery on his left rotator cuff in early February, but this week he pegged his chances of returning for regular season games at a minimum of 70%, notes Jason Lieser of the Miami Herald. The Heat, who are reportedly planning to fill their two open roster spots by Wednesday’s deadline to sign players, have four regular season games left.
Suns Target Jay Wright?
FRIDAY, 7:54am: Wright doesn’t appear to be Phoenix’s top choice, and many sense that Watson remains very much in the running, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Coro points to “insiders” who believe Wright will stay at Villanova and that it would take a heavy financial offer to pry him from the school. Watson meanwhile says he and McDonough have frequent conversations and good conversations in which they don’t always agree but share common goals.
THURSDAY, 11:02am: Villanova University coach Jay Wright is the top choice of the Suns for their head coaching job, league sources tell Mitch Lawrence of The Sporting News (Twitter link). The 54-year-old Wright is fresh off leading Villanova to the national title.
GM Ryan McDonough said shortly after the team fired former coach Jeff Hornacek that Earl Watson, who’s been in charge on an interim basis, would be a candidate for the job, and Watson has the support of at least some of the players. Phoenix is just 6-23 since Watson took over, though injuries limited Brandon Knight to 10 games and Eric Bledsoe to none during that stretch. The Suns have also reportedly been poised to target former coach Mike D’Antoni, the lead assistant for the Sixers.
Two NBA GMs recently told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com they could envision Wright as an NBA coach, though he’s never held a job in the league. He’s instead coached exclusively at the college level, sending eight players, including Kyle Lowry, to the NBA. His first head coaching gig came at Hofstra, which he twice led to the NCAA Tournament during a tenure that ran from 1994-2001. He’s been at Villanova ever since, leading the Wildcats to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in 14 seasons.
McDonough, the former Celtics assistant GM, has a history of mining the college ranks for coaching. He was the first to go after Brad Stevens, Goodman tweets.
Western Rumors: Durant, Parsons, Burks, Dawson
- Chandler Parsons reiterated that he would love to remain with the Mavericks, but he expressed openness to going back to the Rockets, his original NBA team, as he spoke with reporters Wednesday, notes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Parsons, who’s expected to opt out and hit free agency this summer, has indicated he plans to speak with Dwight Howard about the possibility of teaming up, and Howard reportedly prefers to stick with the Rockets as he considers free agency this year. “I wouldn’t count [Houston] out,” Parsons said. “Obviously, playing there three years, I had a great time there. We had a lot of success. It will be interesting to see what they do with the head coaching job. I would love J.B. [Bickerstaff] to get that job. I wouldn’t count out that option.”
- The Jazz plan to have Alec Burks back in the lineup for Friday’s game against the Clippers, team sources tell Mike Sorensen of The Deseret News. It appeared as though Burks would miss only two months when he broke his left fibula in late December, but he’s remained out, and last week some within the organization raised the possibility of him missing the rest of the season, citing the rationale that so few games remain, according to Sorensen. The team’s thinking has changed as it’s drawn closer to clinching a playoff berth, Sorensen explains.
- The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office won’t pursue felony domestic violence charges against Clippers rookie Branden Dawson that stemmed from an incident last month, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times and Dan Woike of the Orange County Register detail. A lack of evidence prompted the decision, a spokesperson for the city attorney said. Dawson’s minimum salary for next season is non-guaranteed.
Maryland PF Robert Carter To Enter Draft
Maryland junior power forward Robert Carter will enter this year’s draft, sources told Jeff Ermann of InsideMDSports.com. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com confirms the report (Twitter link). Ermann heard he’ll likely sign with an agent, while Goodman reports he will indeed do so, a move that means he’s forfeiting his remaining college eligibility. The 6’8″ 22-year-old Carter is 57th in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 62nd on Chad Ford’s ESPN.com list.
The native of Thomasville, Georgia, played just one season at Maryland after transferring from Georgia Tech. He displayed more range with the Terrapins, nailing 33.3% of his 3-pointers this season, but while he’s a versatile scorer, notching 12.3 points per game this season, his defense is a major concern, as Givony wrote last month.
Carter’s rebounding declined to 6.9 boards per contest this season from 8.4 in his last year with the Yellow Jackets. He averaged 8.7 boards in three NCAA Tournament games this year but scored only in the single digits in each of those contests. He averaged 1.3 blocks per game but swatted only one shot in the tournament. Carter was 30th in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school.
Sonny Weems, Quincy Miller To Play In Israel
THURSDAY, 1:19pm: Miller’s deal is a two-year, $2.1MM arrangement that includes an escape clause that would allow him to return to the NBA, a source tells Pick (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 1:51pm: Recent Suns and Sixers swingman Sonny Weems is putting the finishing touches on a two-year guaranteed deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Philadelphia released Weems late last month a few weeks after claiming him off waivers from Phoenix, which signed him this past summer to a two-year deal worth about $5.755MM. The second year on his NBA contract was non-guaranteed.
The Israeli team, poised to lose Dragan Bender to the NBA draft, has also reached agreement with three-year NBA veteran Quincy Miller, Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi reports. The club had been a heavy favorite to land Miller, as Pick reported earlier this week (Twitter link). The Nets waived Miller in October, but he quickly latched on with Serbian team Red Star Belgrade.
Weems, 29, is headed back overseas after what appears to have been a brief return to the NBA. He started 29 games for the Raptors in 2010/11 but spent the next four seasons playing for Zalgiris in Lithuania and later CSKA Moscow. He put up 2.5 points in 11.7 minutes per game for the Suns this season, failing to secure a more significant role even amid a rash of injuries. The Sixers reportedly intended to take a hard look at him even though they acquired him chiefly to eclipse the minimum team salary, but his playing time in Philadelphia was almost identical to what it was in Phoenix as he averaged 2.4 points in 11.1 minutes.
Miller is only 23 and less than four years removed from having been the No. 38 pick in the 2012 draft, but he’s made it into only 69 NBA games, 10 of which came last season, when he split time between the Kings and Pistons. Detroit traded him to Brooklyn last summer for Steve Blake.
Texas PG Isaiah Taylor To Test Draft Waters
Texas junior point guard Isaiah Taylor will enter this year’s draft but hold off on hiring an agent, a source told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The 6’3″ 21-year-old is the 66th-best prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings but Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him at only No. 151. Taylor will have a chance to gauge which projection is more accurate as he works out for NBA teams and perhaps take part in the NBA combine over the next several weeks, but he’ll be able to retain his college eligibility as long as he withdraws by May 25th and doesn’t hire an agent.
Taylor was 47th in Ford’s rankings and 76th in Givony’s when he decided against entering the draft last year, as we noted at the time. The Hayward, California, native showed improvement in just about every statistical category this season, averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game. His shooting also improved, to 42% from the floor and 30.6% from behind the arc, but his jumper could still use some work, Ford notes.
He wasn’t ranked in the top 100 of the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school in 2013, but he’s started every game he’s played at Texas. He set a career high with 35 points in January against Texas Tech.
Sixers Sign Christian Wood For Rest Of Season
THURSDAY, 12:18pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. It’s worth $21,621, provided the signing formally took place today, as the release indicates, and assuming he’s getting only the minimum salary, as is standard for deals this time of year.
WEDNESDAY, 12:23pm: The Sixers and Christian Wood have reached agreement on a deal that covers the rest of the season, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The rookie power forward’s second 10-day contract with the team expired overnight. The new deal will cover only this season and won’t include any additional years, as is sometimes the case with midseason signees, Charania adds, but the Sixers will still have the ability to make Wood a restricted free agent and match offers for him this summer.
This will be the fourth contract Wood will have signed with Philadelphia within the past year. The Sixers initially signed him in September to a four-year deal with a $50K partial guarantee, but though he won a spot on the opening night roster, Philly dumped him in January to make way for Elton Brand as new chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo brought an emphasis on veterans. Wood rejoined the team on a 10-day deal last month after the Sixers opened a roster spot through the JaKarr Sampson snafu, but the Sixers terminated that 10-day contract early so they could claim Sonny Weems off waivers. Philly backtracked on that decision nearly two weeks ago, releasing Weems and signing Wood to another 10-day pact.
Wood averaged a double-double last year at UNLV and was one of the most surprising draft snubs this past June. He appeared to secure a deal with the Rockets quickly after draft night, though that fizzled. He’s seen only 7.8 minutes per game in 16 appearances for Philadelphia and hasn’t played in the team’s last three games, but he’s averaged 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per contest across 32 games with the Sixers D-League affiliate. The 20-year-old has spent time with the D-League Delaware 87ers both on assignment from the Sixers and under D-League contract.