Lakers Sign Vander Blue
7:58pm: The Lakers have made the signing of Blue official, according to the team’s website. There was no mention of a corresponding move, so evidently the Lakers have used the hardship provision again, as the team’s roster is once more at 16 players.
1:01pm: The Lakers have plans to sign Vander Blue for the rest of the season, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The team was reportedly about to re-sign Dwight Buycks instead, but he broke his right hand on Sunday, the final day of his 10-day contract. It’s not immediately clear whether the deal is just for the team’s final two games this season or if it covers next season, too, though the injury-riddled Lakers presumably wouldn’t have to waive anyone if they signed Blue only for the balance of 2014/15. The team has 15 players on the roster already, but the Lakers are in position for the league to grant a hardship exception, which would allow a 16th player as long as he’s on only a rest-of-season deal.
The 10-day deal with Buycks came via hardship, and the Lakers previously used hardship exceptions to sign Jabari Brown to a pair of 10-day deals before waiving Steve Nash to accommodate a longer-term arrangement with Brown. Jordan Clarkson and Brown are the only two healthy Lakers guards, so Blue, a 6’5″ shooting guard, will provide much-needed depth. The team only has eight total healthy players, and none of them are small forwards, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Blue get some time at the three position.
Blue has been averaging 23.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 37.3 minutes per game for the Lakers D-League affiliate this season, nailing 41.6% of his three-point attempts during his 49 appearances. All of those numbers are improvements over his D-League stats from last season. Blue is a one-year NBA veteran thanks to a single 10-day contract he signed with the Celtics in January 2014, and he scored five points in 15 minutes of action during three games with Boston. The 22-year-old also signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Wizards before this season, but Washington waived him in early October, well before opening night.
The Lakers are limited to the minimum-salary exception, so even if they are signing him for more than just this season and waiving another player to make that happen, Blue’s contract couldn’t stretch beyond next season.
Key 2015 Offseason Dates
The regular season is over after Wednesday, the last milestone we have listed on our Key Dates for this season. So, we’ll look ahead to the offseason to come, as many teams are already doing. Here’s a glance at the deadlines and events that will influence player movement for the next several months across the league:
- April 15th — Regular season ends; last day teams can sign players for 2014/15 regular season or playoffs; luxury tax calculations are based on rosters as of the end of the day
- April 16th — First day of offseason for non-playoff teams; players on those teams eligible to be traded; roster maximum increases to 20
- May 12th-17th — NBA draft combine
- May 19th — Draft lottery
- June 25th — 2015 NBA Draft
- June 29th — Last day to exercise team, player, and early termination options (some options may carry earlier deadlines)
- June 30th — Last day of 2014/15 salary cap year; last day to sign a player to an extension; last day to extend a qualifying offer to a potential restricted free agent
- July 1st — First day of 2015/16 salary cap year; free agency and July Moratorium begin
- July 9th — First day after July Moratorium; teams can sign free agents, make trades, and extend contracts; seven-day amnesty period begins.
- July 15th — Last day for teams to make rookie scale contract offers to first-round draft picks before they become free agents
- July 23rd — Last day teams may withdraw qualifying offers to restricted free agents without the player’s consent
- August 31st — Last day to teams may waive players using the stretch provision without their full 2015/16 salary counting on this season’s books.
- September 5th — Last day for teams to make offers of at least a one-year, minimum-salary non-guaranteed contract to second-round draft picks before they become free agents.
- October 1st — Last day for restricted free agents to accept qualifying offers (deadline may be extended)
Note: For important dates related to draft eligibility, click here.
Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and NBA.com were used in the creation of this post.
Demetrius Jackson Returning To Notre Dame
Notre Dame sophomore point guard Demetrius Jackson is passing up a strong chance to become a late first-round pick this year, as he tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that he’s returning to school for next season (Twitter link). Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress lists Jackson as the 27th-best prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him 29th.
The 6’1″ Jackson took on a more prominent role than he had as a freshman and averaged 12.4 points, 3.1 assists and 1.5 turnovers in 34.7 minutes per game for the Irish this season. He also chipped in 3.6 rebounds per contest, impressive considering his height, and he’s a 42.5% three-point shooter for his college career.
Jackson posted one of his four games of 20 points or more this season against Wichita State and its backcourt of pro prospects in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, nailing four of his five three-point attempts. He followed that up with just two points against Kentucky and its seven draft-bound players. Ford lists shooting as an area perhaps in need of improvement for Jackson, in spite of his strong numbers from behind the arc, and while he does have a nearly 6’5″ wingspan, he’d ideally have more size, Ford also writes in his profile.
Gary Payton II To Stay Out Of Draft
Second-round draft prospect Gary Payton II, the son of the Hall-of-Famer by the same name, will return to Oregon State rather than enter this year’s draft, his college coach, Wayne Tinkle, tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Payton is the 42nd-best prospect, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, though Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress offers a less optimistic projection, ranking him only 35th among college juniors. Givony does have the point guard 57th in his mock draft for next year, however.
Payton has the potential to become an elite defender, Ford writes, and indeed, his defensive rating and defensive win shares were tops in the Pac-12, according to Sports Reference. There are nonetheless questions about whether he fits as a point guard in the NBA, according to Ford. He averaged only 3.2 assists against 1.9 turnovers in 36.3 minutes per game for the Beavers this season, scoring 13.4 points per game. He didn’t display three-point touch in his lone season at Oregon State so far after transferring from junior college, knocking down only 29.3% of his attempts from behind the arc.
His 7.5 rebounds per game this year stand out as an eye-popping number for a 6’3″ guard. He also nabbed 3.1 steals per contest, the second-best mark in all of NCAA Division I, which suggests that he has a future in the NBA as a defensive specialist if he can at least perform competently on the other end.
Pacific Notes: Karl, Barnes, Lakers
Magic Johnson casts a shadow over the Lakers organization even though he’s no longer a part of it in any way, having sold his minority ownership share, as Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding examines. Johnson doesn’t have a relationship with any of the members of the Buss family who control the franchise aside from Jeanie, the team’s Board of Governors representative, with whom he remains close, according to Ding. The Busses have always insisted that the team isn’t for sale, but Johnson would be a prime candidate to front a bid for the Lakers if they ever became available, Ding writes. There’s more on the Lakers amid our look around the Pacific Division:
- George Karl admits he has a great degree of fondness for his former players on the Nuggets, observes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck heard in February that Karl would love for the Kings to acquire Ty Lawson or any of the players he coached on the 2012/13 Nuggets, his last NBA team, but it’s uncertain how much influence, if any, Karl has under new basketball operations chief Vlade Divac.
- Defense, leadership and career-best 36.7% three-point shooting this year are the hallmarks of what’s been perhaps Matt Barnes‘ best NBA season, as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times details. The timing is fortuitous for the Clippers small forward, whose salary of almost $3.543MM for next season is only guaranteed for $1MM.
- Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com examines the conundrum the Lakers face as Rajon Rondo looms as a likely free agent target while incumbent point guard Jordan Clarkson exceeds expectations.
Rod Thorn To Retire From League Office
2:18pm: Vandeweghe will likely hold the job next, Thorn also said to the gathered media, Beck notes (on Twitter).
2:05pm: Thorn has confirmed his retirement plans to reporters, including Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (Twitter link).
9:58am: NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn plans to retire in August, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The longtime league and team executive is in charge of day-to-day matters, including most player suspensions, for the NBA, a role to which he returned in 2013 after a 14-year run in the position that ended in 2000. NBA vice president of basketball operations Kiki Vandeweghe is a strong candidate to replace the 73-year-old Thorn, Wojnarowski hears.
The news is no major surprise to the NBA, since the plan when Thorn rejoined the league office was for him to serve only two years while the NBA transitioned to someone who would fill the position for the long run, Wojnarowski reports. Still, Thorn will leave behind a lengthy legacy that includes time as a player, coach and, most prominently, an executive. Thorn was GM of the Bulls when they drafted Michael Jordan, Wojnarowski points out, and he later ran basketball operations for the Nets and the Sixers. Thorn was head coach of the Bulls for part of the 1981/82 season, and he was also a head coach in the ABA with the Spirits of St. Louis in 1975/76, a few years after he finished an eight-year NBA playing career.
Thorn’s most recent stop with a team was in Philadelphia, where he oversaw the team’s personnel moves as president and chief operating officer from 2010 to 2013. The club moved Tony DiLeo into the GM role in September 2012 as Thorn transitioned into more of a consultant for the team. Still, Thorn was at the controls in August 2012, when the Sixers pulled the trigger on their ill-fated acquisition of Andrew Bynum. Thorn nonetheless made plenty of moves that worked out during his time, earning Executive of the Year honors with the Nets in 2002 as that team made its first of back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals.
Ron Baker, Fred Van Vleet Staying Out Of Draft
Wichita State junior guards Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet plan to remain out of this year’s draft, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Baker, a 6’4″ shooting guard, is the 47th-ranked prospect in both Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress board, though Ford cast him as a “bubble” first-rounder in reaction to Goodman’s report (Twitter link). VanVleet, a 6’0″ point guard, is Givony‘s 84th-best prospect. Ford has him only 97th, though he called him a would-be second-rounder today (on Twitter).
Baker is a consistent outside shooter, having knocked down 38.0% of his three-pointers last season and 38.3% this year, when he averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in 32.7 minutes per game. His 6’8.5″ wingspan would help him defend opposing shooting guards in the pros despite his lack of height, Givony writes.
VanVleet, who averaged 13.6 PPG, scored almost as much as Baker did this season, but his wingspan is only slightly larger than his height. The two helped Wichita State to the Final Four as freshmen, and presumably another such run would help their respective draft stocks for 2016.
Olivier Hanlan To Declare For Draft
Boston College junior combo guard Olivier Hanlan will declare for this year’s draft, sources tell Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has already begun preparing for predraft workouts, Givony notes, and it seems his performance in those auditions would be key if he is to hear his name called at the June 25th draft. He’s the 60th-best prospect on Givony‘s board, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks him 75th.
The 6’4″ Hanlan led the ACC in scoring at 19.5 points per game, and he also recorded 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.7 turnovers per contest. He carried a heavy workload, leading the conference in minutes per game at 37.6 while putting up the ACC’s second highest total of shots from the floor for a Boston College team that finished only 13-19. He’s a versatile scorer, but his free-throw attempts per game dipped from 7.1 last year to 4.5 this year, and while Ford’s profile pegs him a good shooter, he’s made only 35% of his three-point attempts the last two seasons put together.
Hanlan has been the leading scorer for the Eagles in each of his three college seasons, but none of those teams finished with a winning record. The last time Boston College finished above .500, in 2010/11, its leading scorer was Reggie Jackson, a combo guard like Hanlan. Jackson was a first-round pick, but he’s proven more valuable than most selected at No. 24, where the Thunder grabbed him in 2011.
Draft Notes: Stanley Johnson, Kris Dunn, 2016
Sunday was the NCAA’s deadline for early entrants to the 2015 NBA draft to withdraw and retain their college eligibility, though that deadline isn’t one that spurred a lot of action. That’s because players who haven’t formally declared or signed with an agent don’t need to make a final decision until April 26th, the deadline the NBA has set for underclassmen to enter. In essence, prospects can just hang low until that deadline even if they’ve made up their minds so that they can turn back if they have a change of heart. Here’s the latest on a couple of players still weighing their options:
- Arizona freshman Stanley Johnson is looking for assurances that he’ll be a top-10 pick this year before he declares for the draft, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress hears (Twitter link). Still, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com would be shocked if he stayed in school (Twitter link). Johnson, who was reportedly “really torn” as he pondered the decision last week, is Givony‘s ninth-ranked prospect while Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists him 11th. Jay Z has met with Johnson to try to recruit him to his Roc Nation Sports Agency, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.
- Providence is pressing sophomore point guard Kris Dunn to return to school, telling him that he’d go late in the first round this year but would be a top-five pick in 2016, as Givony hears (Twitter link). NBA executives nonetheless view Dunn as a late lottery pick this year, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, backing up Givony‘s ranking of the 21-year-old as the 14th-best prospect. Ford has him 20th.
- Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, in a pair of pieces, profiles the versatile and deft-passing combo forward Ben Simmons and the slick-shooting forward/center Skal Labissiere, two of the prime contenders to become the No. 1 overall pick in 2016.
Lakers Planned To Re-Sign Buycks Before Injury
Point guard Dwight Buycks will be unavailable for the rest of the regular season thanks to a broken right hand he suffered in Sunday’s game, tweets Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, and the timing of the injury was especially unfortunate for Buycks. The Lakers were about to re-sign him, as his 10-day contract expired overnight, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Coach Byron Scott said before Sunday’s game that he expected the team to re-up with Buycks for the final two games of the season.
The Lakers are down to eight healthy players, notes Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, who confirms that the team planned to re-sign Buycks before his injury. The team only has two healthy guards and no healthy small forwards, Pincus tweets, so it seems doubtful the Lakers would use up roster room on another injured player. The Lakers have a full 15-man roster, so the notion that the team was to re-sign Buycks signaled that the league was ready to once more grant the Lakers an extra roster spot via the hardship provision, given their multitude of injuries. Conceivably, the Lakers will seek to sign a different player using the hardship exception, though it’s unclear if they indeed plan to do so.
Pincus raised the possibility that the Lakers would have signed Buycks to a deal that included next season (Twitter link), a move they couldn’t have used the hardship exception to make, as Pincus pointed out earlier (on Twitter). The Lakers would have had to waive a player to accommodate any deal for Buycks that went beyond this season.
Buycks spent last year with the Raptors, but he’s been well-traveled this season, spending time in China, Spain, and with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate before signing his 10-day deal with the Lakers. The 26-year-old averaged 8.7 points in 20.5 minutes per game in six appearances for the purple-and-gold.