Draft Deadlines Facing NCAA Underclassmen
The college season is winding down, and with that transition comes the annual influx of underclassmen declaring early entry for the draft. There’s a proposal with strong backing that would make it easier for those players to declare and return to college with their NCAA eligibility intact, but the soonest any such change would take effect is 2016. For now, “testing the waters” remains a practical impossibility, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress has explained in-depth each of the past three years after the existing rules were implemented in 2012. Here’s a look at the key dates in the process this year, as mined from NBA.com and a letter that the NCAA sent potential early entry candidates in February that’s posted on NCAA.org:
- April 12th: NCAA Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline
- April 26th: NBA Draft Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (10:59pm CT)
- April 29th: NBA teams can begin conducting and/or attending workouts with early entrants
- May 12th-17th: NBA Draft Combine (Chicago)
- May 19th: NBA Draft Lottery
- June 15th: NBA Draft Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline (4:00pm CT)
- June 25th: NBA Draft
The April 12th date is the key. That withdrawal deadline comes three days earlier than it did last year, giving prospects even less time to make a decision. The NCAA has an Undergraduate Advisory Committee, made up of executives from 20 NBA teams, that gives feedback on a player’s draft stock if he applies to receive it, but last year the committee wasn’t obligated to respond until a day before the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline. The NCAA doesn’t allow NBA workouts for early-entry prospects until April 29th, three days after the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft.
Still, a player can retain flexibility if he doesn’t officially declare for the draft until April 26th, the last day the NBA permits early entry, so there’s incentive to wait, as Givony has pointed out. That’s nonetheless a stark contrast to the NBA’s June 15th deadline for early entrants to pull out of the draft, a date that applies mostly to international prospects, since a college player couldn’t return to NCAA ball if he were to withdraw at that point. Only one college player withdrew from the draft after declaring last year, and that was because he’d signed with an overseas team.
The system makes it difficult for college prospects to receive first-hand information on how highly they’re likely to be drafted or whether they can expect to be drafted at all, as Givony has detailed. That’s not an issue for top underclassmen, like Jahlil Okafor, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell, who’ll clearly be taken near the top. Second-tier early-entry prospects are those who feel the effect, and it’s a large group. There are only 18 college seniors among Givony’s top 100 prospects.
Atlantic Notes: Calipari, Sullinger, Sims
John Calipari “desperately” wants back into the NBA, an NBA front-office executive tells Steve Popper of The Record, and that executive sees a way for that to happen with the Nets, the team Calipari ran in a coach/executive role from 1996 to 1999. Popper hears from sources who cite Calipari’s ties to Nets CEO Brett Yormark, though sources close to Calipari tell Popper that it would take a dual coach/executive role for the Kentucky coach to return to the pro game. Calipari and the Cavs reportedly had discussions about such a role and a would-be lucrative contract last offseason, but Calipari instead signed a new deal with Kentucky. Here’s more on the Nets and the rest of the Atlantic Division:
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has “great interest” in a new deal with Jared Sullinger, but it would likely come with a weight clause, writes Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com. Sullinger, who’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, would be on board with a weight-based stipulation, as he tells MacMullan, though he’s reluctant to admit that he ballooned to 300 pounds at one point this season, as the Celts believe he did.
- Sixers coach Brett Brown hates having to cut the minutes of Henry Sims to find time to evaluate Thomas Robinson and Furkan Aldemir, but that’s what’s happened as the end of the final season on Sims’ contract approaches, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News examines. Perhaps not coincidentally, the downturn in playing time comes with Sims needing 10 more starts to trigger a higher qualifying offer this summer, as I noted. He hasn’t started since March 2nd. “I try not to think for them,” Sims said of the Sixers. “For me, I feel that I’ve done enough out here to let them know what I can do. I feel like I’ve done my job and that’s all I can do.”
- The Knicks have been so impressed with midseason signee Langston Galloway‘s video preparation that they’ve told him to watch less, as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone notes as he looks at the rookie’s heavy workload. Galloway, who’s averaged 31.6 minutes in 34 games this season, has non-guaranteed salary with partial guarantee dates for next season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported.
Hawks Sign Austin Daye To Second 10-Day
WEDNESDAY, 9:01am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
12:27pm: The team will indeed sign Daye to another 10-day contract, Vivlamore reports (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 10:19am: The Hawks haven’t made a final decision about whether to sign Austin Daye to a second 10-day contract, but “indications are” that the former 15th overall pick will be back for at least another short-term stint, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That’s in spite of a better-than-expected prognosis for Mike Scott, whose toe injury prompted the team to sign Daye to his first 10-day deal, which expires overnight tonight.
Daye has played just nine minutes across two games for Atlanta, draining a three-pointer for his only make in four shot attempts. Still, he spent nearly a calendar year in a similar system with San Antonio, and he averaged 4.0 points in 10.3 minutes per game during 26 appearances for the Spurs this season before the team waived him in January to sign JaMychal Green instead. It was nonetheless inefficient play, at least as his 7.3 PER with the Spurs this season would indicate, and he and San Antonio didn’t circle back to each other after the Spurs failed to re-sign Green upon the expiration of his 10-day deal. Daye instead spent a brief time with the Magic’s D-League team.
Atlanta has 14 players signed through at least the end of the season, so Daye occupies the team’s lone flexible roster spot. Jarell Eddie was in that spot on a 10-day contract that expired just before Daye joined the team.
Jarell Martin To Enter Draft
LSU sophomore power forward Jarell Martin will enter the NBA draft, two sources tell Randy Rosetta of The Times-Picayune. The 6’9″ 20-year-old, who’ll turn 21 in May, is the 29th-best prospect on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and the 35th-best with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, making him a fringe first-round candidate. Martin has until April 26th to officially enter the draft, though he can withdraw and retain his college eligibility no later than April 12th.
Martin played a face-up game last season with current Bucks big man Johnny O’Bryant and fellow top prospect Jordan Mickey on the interior, but with O’Bryant gone this year, LSU moved Martin inside midway through the season, as Rosetta details. That sparked an upturn that helped him to averages of 16.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game, making him the team’s leading scorer. He put up 16 points and 11 rebounds in LSU’s loss to N.C. State last week in the opening game of the NCAA tournament for both teams.
Martin was the 12th-ranked prospect coming out of high school in 2013, according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, a few spots ahead of late-bloomer Joel Embiid, last year’s No. 3 overall NBA draft pick. Mickey, Martin’s LSU teammate, was No. 38 on that recruiting list, and he’s reportedly leaning toward declaring for the draft, too.
The Rarity Of Team Options
People around the NBA often use the term “team option” in reference to a year that’s covered by non-guaranteed salary, but there are key differences. Front offices have to make decisions on a team option for a season before the July 1st preceding that season, but they can wait until opening night to make a decision on a player with a non-guaranteed season without having to shell out any salary, and until the leaguewide guarantee date in January without having to pony up the full salary. Partial guarantees mitigate this advantage to some degree, and contracts often have specific dates well in advance of the leaguewide guarantee date that specify a full or partial amount must be paid to the player if he remains under contract. Still, those deals are almost always more flexible than team options, which helps explains why team options are as rare as they are.
All rookie scale contracts, by rule, include two team options for the final season, and the decision on each is due a year ahead of time. Only five non-rookie scale contracts include team options for next season. A few more are on the books for 2016/17 and 2017/18. Some of them involve salary that’s non-guaranteed as well, since the collective bargaining agreement allows team option years to remain non-guaranteed even after the option is exercised. Thus, some executives have found value in signing second-round picks and undrafted rookies to four-year deals that include dual team options and non-guaranteed salary for the fourth year. That gives teams the choice of making the player a restricted free agent after year three or an unrestricted free agent after year four, as I examined a while back. That strategy backfired this past summer for the Rockets, who declined their team option on Chandler Parsons to make him a restricted free agent only to watch him sign an offer sheet for nearly the maximum salary.
Still, others, most notably the Sixers and GM Sam Hinkie, continue to sign similar deals. And occasionally, front offices will consent to team options for veteran talent, perhaps because their agents push to avoid the threat of a release without pay hanging over their clients for months. Perhaps that’s why Michael Beasley emerged with a team option on his multiyear deal with the Heat, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported last week.
Here’s a look at the five players with team options for next season, in descending order of value.
- Jordan Hill (Lakers), $9MM
- Timofey Mozgov (Cavaliers), $4.95MM
- Kostas Papanikolaou (Rockets), $4.798MM — also non-guaranteed
- Marreese Speights (Warriors), $3.815MM
- Michael Beasley (Heat), $1.271MM
And here are those with team options for future seasons, in descending order of value:
- Lance Stephenson (Hornets), $9.405MM — 2016/17
- Furkan Aldemir (Sixers), $2.81MM — 2017/18, also non-guaranteed
- Damjan Rudez (Pacers), $1.199MM — 2016/17
- Robert Covington (Sixers), $1.088MM — 2017/18, also non-guaranteed
- Jerami Grant (Sixers), $1.051MM — 2017/18, also non-guaranteed
- JaKarr Sampson (Sixers), $1.051MM — 2017/18, also non-guaranteed
- Mike Muscala (Hawks), $1.016MM — 2016/17, also non-guaranteed
- Hollis Thompson (Sixers), $1.016MM — 2016/17, also non-guaranteed
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and RealGM were used in the creation of this post.
Central Notes: Love, Mozgov, Bulls, Bucks
No one involved in the process believes Kevin Love will pick up his $16.744MM player option to remain with the Cavaliers as he’s said he plans to do, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Love nonetheless spoke of a strong camaraderie amongst the Cavs to Ananth Pandian of CBSSports.com, countering a narrative that he’s not getting along with his teammates, an idea that Love seemed to stoke when he said his relationship with LeBron James and other Cavs could be better. Rumors surrounding the No. 2 free agent on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings have intensified, and Michael Rand of the Star Tribune wonders if Cleveland, like Minnesota, will be in the power forward’s past soon. Here’s more from around the Central Division:
- The Timofey Mozgov trade has worked out splendidly for Mozgov, whose offensive numbers are up, and for the Cavs, who’ve taken off since the deal, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio examines. Cleveland has a $4.95MM team option on Mozgov for next season. “When we made the trade, everything that he brought is what we needed and wanted,” James said. “He’s going to be huge for our team. Very, very skilled offensively and understands defensively. He’s just a smart basketball player and it’s great playing with him.“
- Nikola Mirotic and Jimmy Butler, a pair of late-first-round picks from 2011, are playing key roles for the Bulls, and trading for the rights to Mirotic took particular effort, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune details. “We were bidding against somebody,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said. “Significant money was being laid out. And that’s when [owner Jerry Reinsdorf] really stepped up and included a good chunk of money to make that happen.”
- No team surged higher from last year’s ESPN Insider Front Office Rankings to this year’s than the Bucks, who jumped from 29th to 15th. Chad Ford of ESPN.com, in another Insider-only piece, credits the work of assistant GM David Morway, who joined the team in the summer of 2013, for having been instrumental in the rise.
Where Players Who Signed In China Are Now
Metta World Peace, who signed Monday night to play in Italy following his Chinese stint earlier this year, is not alone among players with NBA experience who are shaking free from China, now that the Chinese Basketball Association season is over. Nearly two dozen players appeared in the CBA this season who were on an NBA regular season roster either this season or last. Some, like Michael Beasley, have found homes in the NBA again, while others are still trying to make their way back to the league. Here’s what’s happening with each:
- Jeff Adrien — Guangdong Southern — free agent
- Andray Blatche, Xinjiang Guanghui — re-signed with Xinjiang to three-year deal
- Michael Beasley, Shanghai Dongfang — signed pair of 10-day contracts followed by a multiyear deal with the Heat
- Dwight Buycks, Tianjin Ronggang — signed to play in the D-League; Thunder affiliate claimed his rights
- Will Bynum, Guangdong Southern — free agent
- Earl Clark, Shandong — free agent
- Jordan Crawford, Xinjiang Guanghui — signed to play in the D-League; Fort Wayne Mad Ants claimed his rights
- Toney Douglas, Jiangsu Nangang — signed pair of 10-day contracts followed by a deal for the rest of the season with the Pelicans
- Jamaal Franklin, Zhejiang Guangsha — signed to play in the D-League; Lakers affiliate claimed his rights
- Mike Harris, Qingdao — free agent
- Bernard James, Shanghai Dongfang — signed pair of 10-day contracts followed by a deal for the rest of the season with the Mavericks
- Slava Kravtsov, Guangdong Foshan — free agent
- Josh Harrellson, ChongQuing AoLong — signed to play in Puerto Rico
- John Lucas III, Fujian — signed pair of 10-day contracts followed by a deal for the rest of the season with the Pistons
- Arnett Moultrie, Jiangsu Nangang — free agent
- Kevin Murphy, Zhejiang Guangsha — returned to D-League to play for Jazz affiliate; traded to Pistons affiliate
- Miroslav Raduljica, Shandong — signed pair of 10-day contracts with Timberwolves
- Chris Singleton, Jiangsu Nangang — signed to play in the D-League; Thunder affiliate claimed his rights
- Daniel Orton, Sichuan — signed to play in Philippines, later signed to play in D-League; Pistons affiliate claimed his rights
- Sebastian Telfair, Xinjiang Guanghui — free agent
- Jeremy Tyler, Shanxi Zhongyu — free agent
- DJ White, Fujian — free agent
- Metta World Peace, Sichuan — signed to play in Italy for Pallacanestro Cantù
Suns Notes: Trades, Thomas, Knight, Dragic
Most executives from other teams around the league said they wouldn’t have given up Isaiah Thomas and the Lakers’ protected first-rounder for what the Suns acquired in return at the deadline, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Phoenix ended up with Brandon Knight, Marcus Thornton and Cleveland’s 2016 top-10 protected first-round pick, as our trade deadline recap shows.
“Everybody loves the L.A. pick,” Suns GM Ryan McDonough told Lowe. “The concept of a pick is great, but it’s more of a sure thing to get a 23-year-old who is a borderline All-Star in the East.”
That 23-year-old is Knight, the soon-to-be restricted free agent whom the Bucks declined to trade straight-up for the Lakers pick, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com first reported and as Lowe reiterates. There are conflicting reports about whether Milwaukee turned down a Knight-for-Goran Dragic offer from the Suns, but several league sources tell Lowe that the Bucks indeed rejected such an offer. Lowe and others have plenty more from Phoenix:
- Suns coach Jeff Hornacek insisted to Lowe that the idea behind collecting Dragic, Thomas and Eric Bledsoe on the same roster before the season was to afford all three of them rest so they’d be fresh for the playoffs, as Lowe relays in the same piece.
- The Suns won’t spend money for the sake of spending it in free agency this summer, McDonough tells Lowe, who nonetheless believes it’s imperative that the Suns make the most of the additional cap flexibility that their deadline deals created.
- Steve Nash‘s retirement underscores just how well the Suns made out in the 2012 sign-and-trade that sent him to the Lakers, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic examines. Knight is the primary asset that the Suns snagged thanks to what they gained in the deal, Coro points out, though president of basketball operations Lon Babby believes there was a subtle cost that lingers. “It was among the most difficult, if not the most difficult, decisions we’ve had to make since I’ve been here…” Babby said of letting Nash go. “We made the right decision. I’m just disappointed it didn’t work out better for [Nash]. He defined our culture. To be honest about it, when you assess a trade like that, we gave up intangibles that we’re still trying to replace.”
Southeast Notes: Sessions, Deng, Oden, Scott
Ramon Sessions is growing more comfortable with the Wizards, especially offensively, after a deadline-day trade that brought him to Washington ended a brief and unusual tenure with the Kings, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post details.
“I’ve been around for a while and I’ve been around with a few different teams and it was probably one of the strangest things, to have three coaches by the All-Star break,” Sessions said. “A lot different things you’re hearing from different people and it didn’t really correlate with what was going on on the court. So it was tough. It definitely was tough. Me being an older guy, it was a little easier, but I know for some of the young guys it had to be real tough.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Suns reportedly had interest in Luol Deng at last year’s trade deadline and during this past offseason‘s free agency, but they didn’t ask about him as they negotiated the Goran Dragic deal with the Heat last month, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports.
- The Heat have been planning a free agency push for 2016, but that’ll be difficult unless team president Pat Riley wants to break up the core he has now, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines.
- Ohio State coach Thad Matta has suggested that Greg Oden will make another NBA comeback attempt, but the former No. 1 overall pick had limited passion for the game last season with the Heat, Winderman writes in the same piece.
- The toe injury that’s sidelined Hawks power forward Mike Scott doesn’t involve a broken bone as previously reported, writes Paul Newberry of The Associated Press. Scott was reportedly expected to miss four to six weeks as of a week ago, but now it’s likely he’ll be back at full strength for the playoffs, according to Newberry. The postseason begins three weeks from Saturday. The team’s 10-day contract with Austin Daye, whom the Hawks signed to offset the loss of Scott, expires overnight tonight.
Metta World Peace Signs To Play In Italy
Metta World Peace has signed a contract with Italy’s Pallacanestro Cantù for the remainder of the season, the team announced (Twitter link). The former Ron Artest’s brother, Daniel Artest, said this weekend that the 15-year NBA veteran would sign with the team, though Cantù’s coach wouldn’t confirm the news, saying only that the club was in talks with World Peace. The 35-year-old forward hooked up with Octagon Europe and agent Georgios Dimitropulos to facilitate the deal, as Dimitropulos tweets (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
It’s the second overseas excursion this season for World Peace, who played 15 games with China’s Sichuan Blue Whales after signing with the team in August. He had reportedly been seeking deals with the Knicks, Lakers and Clippers over the summer, and while the Knicks apparently considered the possibility, no deal materialized, and World Peace made it clear once the season started that he no longer wanted to play for the Knicks or the Lakers. There appeared to be some level of interest from the Clippers in a late-season deal, but coach/executive Doc Rivers downplayed that, and now it appears World Peace is off the table.
World Peace put up 19.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game in China this year after a season of career lows in New York that ended shortly before former coach Phil Jackson took over as team president. The 2003/04 Defensive Player of the Year regretted buying out his contract before the Zen Master arrived in New York, but a reunion never came to pass. A four-year tenure with the Lakers ended in 2013 when the team used the amnesty clause to waive him.