Bucks, Milwaukee Leaders Near Arena Deal
Bucks team president Peter Feigin and Milwaukee leaders all said today that sides are close to a deal for the public’s share of funding for a new Bucks arena in the city, Scott Bauer of The Associated Press reports. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker expressed the same sentiments at the beginning of the month, though negotiations continue. Feigin and city leaders expressed optimism today that talks can result in a deal by the end of the week, and a key state legislator said the goal is to announce a deal Wednesday, Bauer tweets, though Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett added that there’s still work to be done, as Bauer writes in his story.
The Bucks face an NBA-imposed deadline to have an arena ready by opening night in 2017, and funding has to be secured by June in order for the project to remain on track, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com wrote recently. The league, should it determine at any point that the arena effort is not moving swiftly enough, intends to exercise its right to seize the team from owners Wesley Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan and seek to move it elsewhere, according to Windhorst. Commissioner Adam Silver has nonetheless publicly maintained confidence that public funding will come.
Feigin backed off an assertion in late April that a deal for public funding had to be done within 10 days from that point. State, county and city leaders have been squabbling over how to finance their $250MM share of the proposed $500MM arena. The Bucks owners, as well as former owner principal owner Herb Kohl, have committed the other $250MM.
Nets Notes: Jack, Plumlee, Prokhorov, D-Will
It’s widely assumed that the Nets will look into trading Joe Johnson and Jarrett Jack as cost-cutting alternatives to using the stretch provision to waive Deron Williams, write Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. Trade talk has swirled around Johnson off and on since December, while the Nets likely would have dealt Jack to the Wizards if they’d closed a deal on a proposal to send Brook Lopez to the Thunder, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported in the wake of the deadline. Johnson has a whopper of an expiring contract that calls for a salary of nearly $24.895MM in 2015/16, while Jack is due $6.3MM next season with a partial guarantee of just $500K on the same amount in 2016/17. Stein and Mazzeo have more on the Nets, and while the full piece is a must-read for Brooklyn diehards, we’ll pass along a few highlights here:
- Some executives from opposing teams figure the Nets will explore the trade market for Mason Plumlee, too, Stein and Mazzeo hear. The Nets were reportedly unwilling to give up Plumlee in a proposal that would have sent Williams to the Kings in December, though GM Billy King said this month that the Nets looked into the idea of trading every player on the roster at some point this past season. Plumlee’s role on the team decreased after the acquisition of Thaddeus Young and the resurgence of Lopez.
- People around the league continue to doubt the idea that Mikhail Prokhorov doesn’t want to sell a majority stake in the Nets, according to Stein and Mazzeo. Josh Kosman and Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reported in March that Prokhorov had ended efforts to do so while Prokhorov said the next month that he had never tried. Stein and Mazzeo cite “persistent rumbles” around the league that the reason Prokhorov isn’t actively trying to sell the team is that he would also have to sell his share of the Barclays Center as part of the deal, a detail that Daniel Kaplan and John Lombardo of SportsBusiness Journal reported in February. However, a sports banker who spoke with Kosman and Atkinson disputed that there was any such mandate that Prokhorov would have had to bundle the team and the arena.
- Stein and Mazzeo figure the Nets will indeed consider waiving and stretching Williams, yet they believe Brooklyn will ultimately decide against doing so.
Thaddeus Young Leaning Toward Opting Out
Thaddeus Young is believed to be leaning toward turning down his player option worth nearly $10.222MM for next season, according to Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. There were conflicting narratives on the matter earlier this month, but Nets GM Billy King said recently that he sees Young as a building block and wants him back with the team regardless of what he does with his option. King said the same of Brook Lopez, and Stein and Mazzeo second earlier reports from Fred Kerber of the New York Post and Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck that Lopez is likely to opt out. Kerber and Beck indicated that Lopez is also likely to re-sign with Brooklyn, though Stein and Mazzeo don’t make that same point.
Young said at the beginning of the month that agent Jim Tanner suggested that he opt in and take advantage of a surging salary cap in the summer of 2016. However, a source close to Young told SB Nation’s Jake Fischer around the same time that the former 12th overall pick had strong interest in testing free agency, and he presumably meant this year. Young said at the time that his choice would be influenced by Lopez’s decision regarding his own option, worth more than $16.744MM.
Young has nonetheless made it clear on multiple occasions that he likes playing for the Nets, who acquired him at the deadline for Kevin Garnett. The Timberwolves obliged Young’s trade request after he told them he didn’t intend to pick up the option to stay in Minnesota. It appears he’s thought much harder about the idea of opting in ever since such a decision meant he would instead be staying with the Nets, though the lure of free agency this summer may well be too strong for the veteran who just finished his eighth season and turns 27 in June.
Draft Notes: Oubre, Porzingis, Greene
Hoops Rumors has a full log of 2015 draft news that you can see anytime at the link here. You can also set that page up as an RSS feed to receive constant updates. All you’d need to do would be to add /feed to the url, like so: hoopsrumors.com/2015-nba-draft/feed. Here’s more on the draft:
- Kelly Oubre had a disappointing freshman season at Kansas, but he’s still aiming high and is attempting to dispel misconceptions about his work ethic, as Moke Hamilton details for Basketball Insiders. Oubre, in speaking to Hamilton, added the Nuggets, Raptors and Knicks to the list of teams known to have interviewed him at the combine. “Some people say I’m lazy and some people say that I don’t work hard all the time,” Oubre said. “That’s not true. This year at Kansas I may have come off lazy because I really didn’t understand some of things that I was doing, so it kind of caused me to slow down.”
- Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis joins Jahlil Okafor, Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay in the top five of Derek Bodner’s mock draft for USA Today.
- St. John’s guard Phil Greene is set to work out this week for the Sixers, Clippers and Nets, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Greene and Steve Lavin, his college coach, recently spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors.
- Pat Connaughton has fought the perception that he doesn’t have elite athleticism, and his 44-inch vertical leap at the combine, the second highest of all time at the event, helped move the Notre Dame shooting guard farther onto the draft radar. Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star has the details.
Offseason Outlook: Detroit Pistons
Guaranteed Contracts
- Brandon Jennings ($8,344,497)
- Jodie Meeks ($6,270,000)
- (Josh Smith $5,400,000)1
- Andre Drummond ($3,272,091)
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($2,891,760)
- Spencer Dinwiddie ($845,059)
- (Aaron Gray $452,049)2
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Caron Butler ($4,500,000)
- Anthony Tolliver ($3,000,000)3
- Shawne Williams ($1,356,146)
- Quincy Miller ($981,348)4
Options
- Cartier Martin ($1,270,964 — Player)5
Restricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- Reggie Jackson ($5,510,922) — $4,433,683 qualifying offer
Unrestricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- Tayshaun Prince ($11,561,798)
- Greg Monroe ($10,411,877)
- Joel Anthony ($7,220,000)
- No. 8 pick ($2,368,300)
- John Lucas III ($947,276)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (8th overall)
- 2nd Round (38th overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $27,875,456
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $9,437,494
- Options: $1,270,964
- Cap Holds: $32,509,251
- Total: $71,093,165
Guarded optimism characterizes the vibe around the Pistons as Stan Van Gundy heads into his second offseason as the team’s coach and president of basketball operations. Armed with ample salary cap space and a lottery pick, Van Gundy has the elements in place to finally get the Pistons out of their cycle of misery. They haven’t made the playoffs in six seasons, the longest drought for any team in the watered-down Eastern Conference. It’s a shocking state of affairs for a franchise that not long ago reached the conference finals six consecutive seasons.
Van Gundy had never missed the playoffs while coaching a full season during his career until the PIstons’ rollercoaster 32-50 campaign in 2014/15. He’s intent upon turning things around quickly and has the full backing, emotionally and financially, of owner Tom Gores to make that happen. Much of that is predicated on free agency, with two of the Pistons’ starters heading into the market in July.
Greg Monroe took the unusual step of signing the team’s qualifying offer last season as a restricted free agent, giving him the opportunity to explore his options as an unrestricted free agent this summer. Van Gundy has repeatedly stated his desire to retain Monroe, though many NBA observers expect the 6’11” power forward to wind up in New York or another city. Monroe and agent David Falk have not ruled out the Pistons but it’s unlikely they’ll break the bank to keep him. The financial flexibility and the draft pick provide other options for the Pistons to replace Monroe, a solid, low-post scorer and rebounder. Monroe has his shortcomings — he cannot stretch the floor offensively and he struggles to guard quicker players at his position.
In contrast to Monroe’s situation, the Pistons anticipate re-signing restricted free agent Reggie Jackson as their starting point guard. Van Gundy made a bold trade-deadline move by acquiring Jackson from Oklahoma City and immediately installing the Thunder backup as his floor leader. Thrilled at the opportunity, Jackson struggled in the early going as the Pistons fell out of the playoff picture but he emerged as an offensive force once he settled in. Jackson averaged 19.9 points and 10.9 assists during the last 16 games of the season.
Several other teams were in the bidding for Jackson at the trade deadline and a substantial offer sheet could come his way. But the Pistons are prepared to match any offer and Jackson has given every indication he’s staying, going so far as to organize offseason workouts with his current teammates.
Money will not be an issue. The Pistons have about $27.9MM guaranteed to five players, plus a cap hold of approximately $2.4MM for their draft pick. Factoring in roster charges for the minimum 12 roster spots, the Pistons could have as much as $33.6MM to spend with the current projected cap of $67.1MM. Even if they retain Jackson and Monroe, they should still have enough cash left over to pursue another quality free agent.
The most pressing need for Detroit is a reliable outside shooter and solid defender at small forward. It finished the season with aging veterans Tayshaun Prince and Caron Butler at that spot. Prince, an unrestricted free agent, will likely pursue opportunities with contending teams. The team holds a $4.5MM option on Butler’s contract and will probably release him back into the free agent market. The Pistons will also require a starting power forward if Monroe walks.
The No. 8 overall pick in this year’s draft offers a way to fill one of those holes. The draft is chock full of forwards that could be available when the Pistons select, including Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Mario Hezonja, Kristaps Porzingis, Frank Kaminsky, Myles Turner, Trey Lyles and Sam Dekker. With backup center Joel Anthony entering unrestricted free agency, the Pistons could also shift gears and choose Willie Cauley-Stein if he’s available. That would give them a dynamic backup to franchise player Andre Drummond.
A lottery pick alone won’t resolve their issues. They must sign a top-level free agent or make a blockbuster deal to get a difference-maker at one of the forward spots. Unfortunately, many of the big names in free agency — Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Khris Middleton — are restricted and will almost certainly be retained by their current teams. Stars like LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love (if he opts out) are unlikely to seriously consider a non-contender like the Pistons.
More realistic targets would be the unrestricted Hawks duo of DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap, Magic restricted free agent Tobias Harris and the Nets’ Thaddeus Young (if he exercises his early termination option). If that fails, Van Gundy will have to find a trade partner and use the cap space to absorb a big contract.
Upgrading the talent is not the only issue confronting the Pistons this offseason. They would like to lock up Drummond before he becomes a restricted free agent next summer. Gores considers him a max player, so that will not be a sticking point. If they keep Jackson, they’ll have to figure out what to do with former starter Brandon Jennings, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Would Jennings accept a backup role at this stage of his career? It would make sense to move Jennings and his approximate $8.34MM expiring contract, but it will be tough to do that until he proves he’s still got the same explosion in his first step.
A smaller issue is the status of backup power forward Anthony Tolliver, who has a partially guaranteed $3MM contract for 2015-16. Tolliver, another midseason acquisition, impressed Van Gundy with his play and professionalism and will likely remain as the main reserve at power forward.
Last summer, Van Gundy was preoccupied with evaluating his roster and assembling a staff. He took a conservative approach to free agency — his main acquisition was shooting guard Jodie Meeks, who was signed away from the Lakers for a three-year, $18.81MM deal. He didn’t have a first-round pick because the Pistons had to convey it to the Hornets to fulfill a two-year-old trade obligation. Van Gundy can contemplate bigger moves in his second offseason without all those distractions and concerns. If the Pistons do not enter training camp with an improved roster, it won’t be for lack of trying.
Cap Footnotes
1 — The Pistons waived Smith in December and used the stretch provision to spread his remaining guaranteed salary over the next five seasons.
2 — The Pistons waived Gray in October and used the stretch provision to spread his remaining guaranteed salary over the next three seasons.
3 — Tolliver’s salary is partially guaranteed for $400K.
4 — Miller’s salary would be partially guaranteed for $50K if he remains under contract through July 15th, $100K if he remains under contract through the date of the team’s first regular season game, and $125K if he remains under contract through November 15th.
5 — The cap hold for Martin would be $947,276 if he opts out.
The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post. Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.
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Offseason Outlook: Oklahoma City Thunder
Guaranteed Contracts
- Kevin Durant ($20,158,622)
- Russell Westbrook ($16,744,218)
- Serge Ibaka ($12,350,000)
- Dion Waiters ($5,138,430)
- Steve Novak ($3,750,001)
- Nick Collison ($3,750,000)
- Anthony Morrow ($3,344,000)
- Jeremy Lamb ($3,034,356)
- D.J. Augustin ($3,000,000)
- Steven Adams ($2,279,040)
- Perry Jones III ($2,038,206)
- Mitch McGary ($1,463,040)
- Andre Roberson ($1,210,800)
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- None
Options
- None
Restricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- Enes Kanter ($11,389,348) — $7,471,412 qualifying offer
- Kyle Singler ($2,725,003) — $2,725,003 qualifying offer1
Unrestricted Free Agents/Cap Holds
- None
Other Cap Holds
- No. 14 pick ($1,684,600)
- (Josh Huestis $950,200)2
- (Derek Fisher $947,276)3
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (14th overall)
- 2nd Round (48th overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $78,260,713
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $0
- Options: $0
- Cap Holds: $17,696,427
- Total: $95,957,140
The last day of Kevin Durant‘s contract is still more than a year off, but the Thunder brass has been dropping hints for months that it already feels the pressure. The calendar year of 2015 has been the most tumultuous for the Oklahoma City organization since the James Harden trade in 2012. The team dealt away Reggie Jackson and two future first-round picks in trades that brought back Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters, among others, and took the team over the luxury tax threshold. The Thunder replaced coach Scott Brooks after nearly seven seasons with NBA coaching neophyte Billy Donovan. And injuries that cost Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and others significant time left the team out of the playoffs for the first time since the franchise’s first season in Oklahoma City.
Still, the summer ahead allows GM Sam Presti to take a breath, if he chooses. Durant’s broken right foot is healing, the trades the team made during the season strengthened the team’s supporting cast, and no one on the roster can elect unrestricted free agency this year. Presti could have the same 15 players who ended the season on the roster back for opening night of the 2015/16 season if he wants to. It seems more likely there will be at least a slight degree of turnover, if for no reason other than the presence of this year’s No. 14 overall pick in the team’s quiver.
The Thunder aren’t a typical lottery team, so they’re as apt as any to value prospects who are ready to contribute immediately. So, raw talents like Texas center Myles Turner and Kansas small forward Kelly Oubre, both of whom have decent chances to be available when the 14th pick comes around, don’t appear to be fits for Oklahoma City. Arizona small forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is a more tempting possibility as a defensive-minded complement to Waiters if the Thunder is confident that Hollis-Jefferson can swing over to shooting guard. Still, neither Waiters nor Hollis-Jefferson is a strong three-point shooter, so that would invite defenders to clog the lane for Durant and Westbrook. Kentucky two-guard Devin Booker would give the team plenty of outside shooting, but he’ll probably go off the board a few picks before the Thunder would have a chance to grab him.
Perhaps the choice who makes the most sense is Notre Dame point guard Jerian Grant. He was a passable three-point shooter in college, knocking down 35.7% of his attempts in his first three years before he slumped to 31.6% this year. Moreover, he’s an NBA-ready point guard with four years of college under his belt who can score, as his 17.1 points per game across his junior and senior seasons demonstrates. The Thunder are set at backup point guard with D.J. Augustin, but Grant, at 6’5″ with a 6’7.5″ wingspan, would be a fit alongside Westbrook in two point guard sets. Our Eddie Scarito has the Thunder going with another point guard, Murray State sophomore Cameron Payne, in the Hoops Rumors Mock Draft.
The Thunder’s decision about whom to draft may well involve more work than the one surrounding their most notable free agent. Presti has made it obvious that he wants to retain Kanter, and so it appears Oklahoma City is willing to pay a premium to make it happen. A max offer from another team would probably make Presti think twice, but it still seems likely that the Thunder would match to keep a center who put up 18.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in just 31.1 minutes per game across 26 appearances after the trade that brought him to Oklahoma City. That’s a small sample size, and his defensive shortcomings are profound. Still, offensive production like that at the center position has long made front office personnel salivate. The Thunder would probably target a deal like the four-year, $48MM extension the Magic signed this past fall with Nikola Vucevic, who similarly excels at scoring and rebounding while playing subpar defense. Vucevic hadn’t displayed the knack for scoring before this season that his fellow native of Switzerland did in his time with the Thunder, so that may be the difference that ultimately drives up Kanter’s value.
The Thunder have reason to match even a max offer since, with commitments for next season that already take them well past the projected $67.1MM salary cap, they wouldn’t have means to replace Kanter with another comparable free agent, as The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry recently noted. The same logic applies to Kyle Singler, Mayberry argued, though surely Singler won’t be drawing interest for the max. A logical limit, probably somewhere around the equivalent of the $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, surely exists to the Thunder’s willingness to pay Singler to return. Even that would probably be too much for a player who Basketball-Reference’s Box Plus/Minus and ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus indicate is a minus on both ends of the floor. He’s nonetheless done enough to stick on the court as a rotation player and occasional starter during his three NBA seasons, and he has value as a floor spacer, but that duty could fall to Steve Novak if Singler receives an offer from elsewhere that the Thunder feel compelled to pass on.
Still, the Thunder would like to re-sign Singler, and that makes it tougher to envision the team finding room on the roster to sign Josh Huestis, last year’s first round pick, whom the Thunder stashed in the D-League as part of an unprecedented arrangement. Huestis isn’t making a fuss about the idea of staying with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate for one more year, and even if he did, he’d have little leverage. The worst-case scenario for the Thunder is that he leaves their D-League team for a more lucrative deal overseas and develops there, but Oklahoma City can control his NBA rights in perpetuity if it wants to.
If Huestis does sign with the Thunder this summer, that will almost certainly require the Thunder to trade one of their 13 players with fully guaranteed salaries for next season. A majority of Hoops Rumors readers who voted in a recent poll said the Thunder need major changes around Durant if they’re to win a title next season, but making moves that significantly upgrade the team is easier said than done. Westbrook would presumably be untouchable, but the Thunder could gauge the market for what it would bear in a sign-and-trade involving Kanter, to see if other teams still believe Waiters can live up to having been a No. 4 overall pick, or even to see what Ibaka would fetch. Some combination of those three would make a pretty tempting offer for a star if one became available, but no marquee names seem to be on the block at this point.
A smaller-scale trade is much more likely, though Waiters, who struggles on defense and with his outside shot, bears watching if there is indeed a team still enamored with his potential. Possible trade candidates include Mitch McGary, who was effective in the meager playing time he saw, especially on the boards. In spite of McGary’s 16.6 PER this past season, the Thunder would have difficulty finding more playing time for him this coming season if they re-sign Kanter. There’d be little use for Novak, especially if Singler returns, but Novak remains a dead-eye three-point shooter who’s going into the final year of his contract. Perry Jones III has barely seen playing time over his three years with Oklahoma City, but he’s a former first-round pick, and he, too, is entering a contract year.
Jones, along with Lamb and Waiters, is one of three members of the Thunder up for rookie scale extensions this offseason, but only Waiters will likely merit any consideration for one. That’s still a tricky proposition for Oklahoma City, which doesn’t know whether it will still be building around Durant come 2016/17, the season that an extension for Waiters would kick in. Committing money for Waiters would stand to complicate matters if Durant leaves and the Thunder are trying to retool. Waiters’ trade value is probably as low as it has been since he entered the league, so the Thunder could get a discount if they’re high on his potential, but Waiters may well hesitate to bet against himself like that.
Presti has to think about a future without Durant even as he does everything in his power to keep the four-time scoring champ. The team’s moves of the past several months signal his thinking along that dual track, as the talent he’s added has chiefly been younger and still developing, as Kanter exemplifies. The big man can boost the team’s title chances for next season and help in the long run, with or without Durant, if the Thunder re-sign him this summer. The stakes are incredibly high for the Thunder next season, but barring the emergence of a superstar trade candidate on another team, they’ve done just about all they can to set themselves up for success while still preparing for the worst.
Cap Footnotes
1 — The cap hold for Singler would be $2,071,000 if the Thunder elect not to tender a qualifying offer.
2 — The team may remove the cap hold for Huestis, the 29th pick in the 2014 draft, if both sides agree in writing that they will not sign a deal during the 2015/16 season.
3 — See our glossary entry on cap holds for an explanation why Fisher technically remains on the books.
The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post.
Latest On Tom Thibodeau
MONDAY, 4:02pm: People around the league who look up to Thibodeau increasingly express worry that the Bulls indeed plan to wait for the three NBA vacancies to fill up and then simply fire Thibs, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
SATURDAY, 2:58pm: The Bulls are determined to hold on to Thibodeau until the remaining coaching vacancies have been filled, meaning that if they then fire him, it would likely leave him out of coaching for the 2015/16 season, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.
THURSDAY, 2:39pm: The Magic’s interest in Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has been overstated, a source tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links). Thibodeau, whose seemingly rocky relationship with Bulls management appears poised to result in a split this summer, has long been linked to Orlando’s vacancy. However, recent reports that the Magic would be willing to pay him $7-9MM a year and that the Orlando job is Thibodeau’s for the taking are off-base, Johnson hears, as is the notion that the team is prepared to give the Bulls compensation for the right to hire him. The Bulls are widely expected to demand assets in return for letting Thibodeau out of his contract, which runs two more seasons, and a recent report indicated that the Magic would likely be willing to give up one or two second-round picks for the right to hire Thibs.
Still, the Magic may indeed still wind up talking to Thibodeau at some point, Johnson adds. As of Wednesday, no team had yet contacted the Bulls to request to interview Thibodeau, a league source told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Bulls haven’t spoken with Fred Hoiberg, reportedly the team’s top choice to replace Thibodeau if Chicago indeed parts ways with its coach, the source also said to Berger. Alvin Gentry, another apparent front-runner for the would-be Bulls opening, reportedly has strong interest in the Pelicans job, which he interviewed for Monday. The Bulls want to set up a clear plan of succession before starting talks about what sort of compensation they’d want from other teams in exchange for letting them hire Thibodeau, Berger wrote last week.
Thibodeau isn’t about to quit and simply give up the nearly $9MM left on his contract, as Johnson recently observed, and if the Bulls are determined to make Thibodeau go away, they likely have a distinct financial motivation to work out a deal with another team. Most NBA coaching contracts, including those the Bulls have given out in the past, have a set-off clause that would absolve the team of whatever it owes the coach if he takes another job at an equal or greater salary during the term of the pact, Berger explains. So, if Thibodeau can find another team willing to pay him at least $4-5MM a year, the Bulls probably won’t owe him any money, according to Berger. The Nuggets are “not an option” for Thibodeau, Berger also wrote, apparently leaving Orlando and New Orleans as the only teams with existing vacancies left to bid.
LeBron Wants To Keep Thompson On Cavs
LeBron James made his thoughts clear about soon-to-be restricted free agent Tristan Thompson‘s future in Cleveland, telling beat writers that the power forward “should probably be a Cavalier the rest of his career,” notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Thompson and James both employ Rich Paul of Klutch Sports as their agent, and James clearly has an influence on the Cavs.
Extension talks between Thompson and the Cavs broke down as the deadline for the sides to sign one approached this past fall. Thompson reportedly turned down an offer worth $52MM over four years from the Cavs. Cleveland signed fellow big man and James confidant Anderson Varejao to an extension the same day that talks ended with Thompson. Uncertainty over just how the salary cap would look apparently helped discussions unravel with the former No. 4 overall pick, but neither side left the negotiating table with hard feelings, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. The union in March issued a final rejection of the league’s proposal to phase in salary cap increases, ostensibly bringing more clarity to bear for when Thompson and the Cavs can pick up negotiations this summer.
Cleveland appears set to zoom past the projected $67.1MM cap and $81.6MM tax threshold if it is to keep its team together next season, though owner Dan Gilbert hasn’t signaled that he wants any belt-tightening. Rival executives thought Thompson would end up with an extension for between $10-12MM a year while he and the Cavs were talking this past fall, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported during the season, but Thompson has appeared more valuable than ever in the playoffs. He’s averaging 3.9 offensive rebounds in 34.6 minutes per game in the postseason, having inherited a starting role following Kevin Love‘s injury. The Cavs appear to have meshed better with Thompson at the four than they did with Love.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders figures Thompson’s camp will start talks with a request for the max this summer. Kyler also writes in that same NBA AM piece that agents commonly believe that teams will be more willing than usual to give max and near-max offers this summer, the last before major escalation in the salary cap. So, it seems there’s a decent chance other teams will drive up Thompson’s price point with fat offer sheets. A further complication is the future of Love, who’s said he’ll opt in. Whether he does or he doesn’t, he wouldn’t be tied to Cleveland for more than another year, putting pressure on Cleveland to retain at least one of its top-line power forwards unless Love opts out and commits to a new long-term deal.
Atlantic Notes: Nets Draft, Stevens, Jackson
The Celtics and Sixers account for one-sixth of the 60 total draft choices this year, as we pointed out last week (Twitter link), but the rest of the Atlantic Division isn’t so replete with picks. The Nets have two picks, though they won’t be picking as highly as they would have in the first round had they not allowed the Hawks to switch picks under the terms of the Joe Johnson trade. The Knicks, who fell in the lottery, and the Raptors only have one selection apiece. Here’s more on the draft and other matters from the Atlantic:
- NetsDaily’s Reed Wallach examines needs the Nets can fill through the draft, writing that Brooklyn would be likely to use a higher pick on a point guard if the team indeed trades up as GM Billy King said he would try to do. The Nets have the 29th and 41st picks.
- Danny Ainge is firmly in control of the draft process for the Celtics, yet Brad Stevens takes an interest and was more engaged than many of his counterparts on other NBA teams at the draft combine, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald examines.
- Knicks president Phil Jackson expressed fond wishes for J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Pablo Prigioni (on Twitter), all conference finals participants whom the Knicks traded away this season, citing his desire for them to find their “comfort zones.” That led Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com to wonder why they couldn’t find comfort zones on Jackson’s Knicks.