Pacific Notes: Bledsoe, Draymond Green, Gay
Eric Bledsoe went as far as to put pen to paper on his qualifying offer from the Suns over the offseason, as he tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com, but he never submitted it to the team, leaving open the possibility of the five-year $70MM deal that came to fruition in late September. That’s was a game-changer for the Suns, who still have room to grow with a pair of traded first-round picks coming their way and a handful of recent first-rounders in their nascent stages of development, as SB Nation’s Paul Flannery points out. Phoenix isn’t panicking after a mediocre 6-5 start, Flannery notes, and there’s more on Bledsoe amid the latest from the Pacific Division:
- The negotiations between Bledsoe and the Suns appeared contentious, but GM Ryan McDonough insisted to Blakely, who writes in the same piece, that he had “constant communication” with the Rich Paul client’s camp throughout the process. That’s in spite of owner Robert Sarver having said over the summer that the team had gone months without speaking to Bledsoe directly.
- Draymond Green understands that the prospect of a significant raise looms in restricted free agency this coming summer, as he tells Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. Still, he’s confident that the Warriors, already with about $77.5MM in commitments for 2015/16, can keep him. “It’d be a lie to say I don’t think about it,” he said. “But I don’t try to do anything different. If I did, everything is going to go wrong because I would be focusing on the wrong thing. I’d be stressed all year. Stress equals bad performances, which then would equal no contract. I really love it here. It’s all I know about this league. As far as the money working out, if they want me to stay here, I know there’s a way to keep me here.”
- Hoops Rumors readers overwhelmingly gave the Kings a thumbs-up for agreeing to the Rudy Gay extension, and Darren Collison echoes that sentiment, notes James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom. “I’m extremely excited,” Collison said. “This is a good step in the right direction. You think about how far this organization has come and to have players of Rudy’s caliber and his talent, DeMarcus [Cousins] is stepping up and becoming a household name [and] myself included, wanting to sign here, it just speaks a lot about this organization and what they’re trying to do. And it speaks about our future.”
Offseason In Review: Denver Nuggets
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Alonzo Gee: One year, $1.063MM. Signed via minimum-salary exception.
Extensions
Trades
- Acquired 2014 pick No. 16, 2014 pick No. 19, and the less favorable of Chicago’s and Portland’s 2015 second-round picks from the Bulls in exchange for 2014 pick No. 11 and Anthony Randolph.
- Acquired Arron Afflalo from the Magic in exchange for Evan Fournier and 2014 pick No. 56.
Waiver Claims
- None
Draft Picks
- Jusuf Nurkic (Round 1, 16th overall). Signed via rookie scale exception to rookie scale contract.
- Gary Harris (Round 1, 19th overall). Signed via rookie scale exception to rookie scale contract.
- Nikola Jokic (Round 2, 41st overall). Playing overseas.
- Erick Green (2013, Round 2, 46th overall): Signed via mid-level exception for three years, $2.333MM. First year is partially guaranteed for $50K. Second and third years are non-guaranteed.
Camp Invitees
- Jerrelle Benimon
- Pops Mensah-Bonsu
- Marcus Williams
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- None
Perhaps the greatest additions the Nuggets made to their lineup this offseason were simply the healthy returns of several players who missed significant time with injuries last season. Danilo Gallinari and JaVale McGee, two would-be starters who accounted for nearly $20.9MM in payroll, appeared in a total of five games put together during 2013/14. J.J. Hickson and Nate Robinson, two key acquisitions from the summer of 2013, suffered torn ACLs. A roster that was largely unchanged from a 57-win squad in 2012/13 sunk to just 36 wins, 13 games out of the playoffs.
The Nuggets entered the summer without the capacity to create cap room short of a trade and seemingly little motivation to make a substantive change, short of the availability of a superstar. They were reportedly involved in trade talk for Kevin Love, and at one point they were apparently Minnesota’s most favored trading partner outside of the Cavs and Warriors, but it never looked as though a deal was close. Denver had already acquired another team’s leading scorer by the time July began, bringing back Arron Afflalo from his two-year sojourn in Orlando, where he’d taken on much of the offensive load for a still-developing team. GM Tim Connelly used the sizable trade exception left over from the sign-and-trade deal that sent Andre Iguodala to Golden State the year before, and since it was Iguodala whom the Nuggets acquired to replace Afflalo back in 2012, this summer’s deal completed a circle.
The now 29-year-old Afflalo returns to Denver a more accomplished player than when he left, and one who showed a greater knack for making it to the free throw line even as he took a career-high 4.1 three-point attempts per game last year. Afflalo is also closer to the end of his contract, which pays him $7.5MM this year and would do the same in 2015/16, though he appears poised to opt out this summer. The cost to the Nuggets seemed low at the time of the trade, as Evan Fournier had yet to show why former GM Masai Ujiri spent the 20th overall pick of 2012 on him, but the Magic reportedly chose the shooting guard over other Afflalo trade packages that would have given them a future first-rounder. The wisdom of Ujiri and Magic GM Rob Hennigan is more readily apparent as Fournier has averaged 17.3 points per game to start the season in Orlando, nearly as many as Afflalo put up last season, though Fournier’s 50.9% three-point shooting suggests a regression is in order.
In any case, with a veteran to slot in at shooting guard, where Denver had been weak after the departure of Iguodala, Connelly and his staff decided two mid first-round rookies were better than one, trading the No. 11 overall pick in this year’s draft for Nos. 16 and 19. The presence of Afflalo, Randy Foye and a healthy Robinson will keep 19th pick Gary Harris from having a significant effect for a while, but 16th pick Jusuf Nurkic is already nudging his way into the rotation at center. Coach Brian Shaw has at times given Nurkic, McGee and Timofey Mozgov all meaningful minutes during games, a three-headed center rotation that worked for Shaw’s mentor, Phil Jackson, with the Bulls in the 1990s but is far from ideal. The Cavs showed consistent trade interest in Mozgov this past offseason, and while the Nuggets seemed just as consistent in turning them away, Nurkic’s development adds an intriguing subplot to Mozgov’s situation.
The Nuggets can also go three deep at power forward with Kenneth Faried, Hickson and Darrell Arthur, but that didn’t stop the team from investing heavily in Faried. The dreadlocked former 22nd overall pick made noticeable strides in his game last season and over the summer with Team USA. Connelly and company reportedly gauged the trade market for Faried about a year ago, but nothing came of early season rumors connecting him to the Knicks and Iman Shumpert, and the Nuggets reaped the benefits of Faried’s improvement.
Still, a report this week suggested that Denver isn’t as thrilled with his on-court performance as his four-year, $50MM extension would indicate, further asserting that the PR benefits of the deal played into the team’s thinking. Failing to extend Faried would have left some unanswered questions about the franchise’s future, but it also would have given the team a greater degree of flexibility. As it is, the Nuggets have about $58.2MM in commitments against a 2015/16 salary cap that’s likely to check in around $66-68MM. Some combination of Afflalo’s player option and non-guaranteed salary for Wilson Chandler and Foye could eat up whatever modest cap room Denver would otherwise be able to clear.
Perhaps leaving some questions unanswered and taking Faried to restricted free agency might have been the wisest move, particularly if Denver’s front office still has doubts about his game. The Nuggets have in the post-Carmelo Anthony era treaded the perilous waters of mediocrity, in true contention neither for the title nor the No. 1 overall pick. The team’s early season struggles have it lower in the standings than usual, but that’ll probably change once Denver’s coterie of players returning from injury get their legs back. It’s difficult to see just what the Nuggets are planning for the future even though they’ve invested in Faried as a major part of it.
Connelly’s ultimate aim appears to be packaging the team’s multitude of steady contributors in a trade for a star, as this summer’s talks involving Love suggest. Doing the Carmelo trade in reverse seemed to have been Ujiri’s end game, too, but as difficult as it can be to trade a superstar, it’s much harder to obtain one. For now, it’s a waiting game, and for Denver, it’s possible that over time Faried, Nurkic and maybe others will continue their development and become stars in their own right. It’s probably more likely that they fall short of that level, as most do. All of it leaves Denver in a position that’s not particularly appealing, one with which the Nuggets have become all too familiar.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Heat Notes: Bosh, Williams, Chalmers
Part of what dissuaded Chris Bosh from signing with the Rockets was the prospect of forming yet another “Big Three,” this time with James Harden and Dwight Howard, and inviting the expectations that would come along with it, as Bosh tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
“I could see where people would think that’s an attractive site,” Bosh said of Houston. “They were trying to win right away. And I was really happy to be touted that I possibly could’ve been out there. But you know, that doesn’t guarantee anything, and I know that. All that guarantees is a bunch of pressure.”
The Rockets have been just fine without Bosh so far, Monday’s loss to the Grizzlies notwithstanding, while Bosh and the Heat broke out of a slump in a win against the Nets. Here’s more from South Beach:
- Among the myriad reasons Bosh chose to remain with the Heat was that he was simply used to living in Miami, as the big man explained to Berger for the same piece. “I’m familiar with people,” Bosh said. “I know how to get to work. And if there’s traffic, I know the shortcuts. It’s those small things that I really love about the city and I love about being comfortable that guided me back. And you know, if you can make a couple of dollars on the side, then it works out.”
- Shawne Williams had played just 61 NBA games in the three years before he joined the Heat this past offseason, but coach Erik Spoelstra has long been a fan of his new starting power forward’s game, notes Francisco Rivero of Heat.com. “I’ve liked him for three or four years,” Spoelstra said. “His skill set, his toughness, that in the right situation and the right commitment to his conditioning and his weight and strength, he could be a guy that fits in our style of play. And I think that’s what you’re seeing right now. He looks totally different. He remade his body this summer.”
- Much has changed in Miami, but the Heat remain a dangerous team thanks in part to their decision to bring back Bosh, Mario Chalmers and others from their battle-tested core, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines.
Celtics Notes: Thomas, Young, Rondo
The Celtics probably didn’t imagine they’d end up with a player who’d make 25 of his first 29 shots from the field when they traded for Tyler Zeller this summer, but the No. 17 pick from 2012 is excelling in his first weeks in green, observes Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com. Zeller surely won’t keep up an 86.2% field goal percentage, but the 24-year-old is emerging as a viable option for minutes. There’s more on another 17th overall pick amid the latest from Boston:
- Isaiah Thomas received his first call in free agency from Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, and Thomas acknowledged that he reciprocated that interest to some degree before opting to join the Suns instead, notes Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com. “I was interested in whoever was interested in me,” Thomas said, “so he was definitely a little interested if he was the first one to call me, but they went their ways and I went mine.”
- Swingman James Young spent a couple of days on D-League assignment this past weekend, and he suspects that won’t be the last time he’s sent down, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. If so, this year’s 17th overall pick is on board with it, Blakely adds.
- The Celtics are just 3-6 and appear headed for another season as an also-ran, but soon-to-be free agent Rajon Rondo isn’t losing faith in the team, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com examines. “We have a lot of young talented guys that listen very well and play hard,” Rondo said. “What more could you ask for?”
Lakers Notes: Kelly, Henry, Miller, Gasol
The Lakers are a woeful 1-9, and while Kobe Bryant is imparting wisdom even as he fires away at a league-high clip from the field, there’s plenty of uneasiness amid the team’s woeful start. Changes appear to be on the horizon, as we detail amid the latest from downtrodden Lakerland:
- A torn right hamstring will keep Ryan Kelly out for at least six weeks, tweets Mike Trudell of Lakers.com. Injuries to both hamstrings have limited the power forward to just three games this season. Kelly is on a guaranteed contract that runs through 2015/16.
Earlier updates:
- Xavier Henry would likely be the odd man out if the Lakers decide to sign Quincy Miller, who’s auditioning for the team, according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding. Henry re-signed with the Lakers this summer to a fully guaranteed one-year contract for $1.082MM.
- The Lakers offered Pau Gasol a no-trade clause in negotiations this offseason, the new Bulls big man told reporters, including Beto Duran of ESPN Radio Los Angeles (Twitter link). Gasol admitted that he’ll always feel “some level of attachment” to the Lakers but said that he’d reached a point emotionally where he needed to move on, as Duran shares in another pair of tweets. The 34-year-old added that he was looking for greater motivation in his next stop and said that the prospect of another losing season in purple-and-gold helped sway him to instead sign with the Bulls (Twitter links).
- Coach Byron Scott put much of the blame on the frontcourt for the team’s defensive shortcomings, but Carlos Boozer disputes the idea that the big men are mostly responsible for the team’s league-worst scoring defense, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Nuggets Rumors: Connelly, Faried, Trades
Nuggets GM Tim Connelly isn’t overreacting to his team’s slow start, as we passed along earlier, but he nonetheless acknowledges that no player’s job is entirely secure, writes Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com.
“Every player on our roster is a movable asset,” Connelly said. “Certainly you don’t want to view players as assets, but there’s a part of you in the front office that has to be brutally honest with how these guys are viewed leaguewide. We don’t have a guy on the roster we’d have to heavily incentivize to move.”
Arnovitz paints a bleak picture surrounding the 2-7 Nuggets in his piece, and it’s worth a full read, particularly for Denver fans. We’ll pass along the highlights here:
- Multiple sources tell Arnovitz that Denver still isn’t sold on Kenneth Faried but signed him to his four-year, $50MM extension last month in part as a PR move, given the power forward’s popularity among fans and his Team USA performance. Some within the Nuggets “take exception” to the deal, Arnovitz hears.
- The Nuggets leaked the initial terms of the deal, which were five years at $60MM, because they weren’t aware that the Designated Player rule, which any five-year rookie scale extension would trigger, required that the first-year salary be for the maximum amount, according to Arnovitz. The team’s lack of collective bargaining agreement knowledge wasn’t isolated to Faried’s contract, as the Nuggets called another team to propose a trade that wouldn’t have worked under the league’s rules, as a rival executive tells Arnovitz.
- The ESPN scribe hears from a source who suggests that when owner and team president Josh Kroenke was looking for a new GM in 2013, what appealed most about Connelly was his relative inexperience and willingness to defer to Kroenke.
Teams That Owe 2015 Second-Round Picks
Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has drawn plenty of attention for his frequent acquisitions of second-round picks since he took his job in Philadelphia, but his former employers in Houston have a claim to just as many 2015 second-rounders as the Sixers do. The Rockets and Sixers may wind up with as many as four second-round picks apiece next year, including their own. Of course, they probably won’t have that many come draft night, and that’s not necessarily because they’re likely to trade some of those selections. The protection on those picks makes some of them unlikely to change hands, but such protection is becoming increasingly complicated as teams seek to maximize their flexibility.
Philly’s own second-round pick is involved in one such set of convoluted scenarios. The Thunder would wind up with it if the Sixers finish with one of the league’s top five records, which is a pipe dream. The Cavs have a claim if the Sixers’ second-round pick ends up anywhere between 51st and 55th overall, which is almost as unlikely to happen. The Sixers will probably miss the playoffs this year, and as long as they do, their second-rounder goes to the Celtics.
There are 16 teams with some sort of debt attached to their second-round picks. I’ve attempted to explain the strings attached as simply as possible in each case below. For a similar look at 2015 first-round picks that may change hands, check out the post linked here.
- Bulls — Chicago’s pick goes to the Magic if it’s better than Portland’s pick. Otherwise, it goes to the Nuggets.
- Cavaliers — They owe their pick to the Jazz.
- Celtics — If Boston’s pick falls in the bottom five selections, it goes to the Cavaliers.
- Clippers — If the pick falls from No. 51 through No. 55, it goes to the Lakers. If the pick falls in the bottom five selections, it goes to the Nuggets.
- Kings — They owe their pick to the Rockets if it falls from No. 31 through No. 49, to the Heat if it falls from No. 50 through No. 55, and to the Cavaliers if it falls in the bottom five selections.
- Knicks — They owe their pick to the Rockets.
- Lakers — If the pick falls in the bottom 20 selections, it goes to the Magic.
- Magic — They owe their pick to the Sixers.
- Nuggets — Denver’s pick goes to the Timberwolves if it’s better than Minnesota’s pick. Otherwise, it goes to the Rockets.
- Pelicans — They owe their pick to the Sixers.
- Raptors — They owe their pick to the Hawks.
- Sixers — They owe their pick to the Celtics if they miss the playoffs. If the pick falls from No. 51 through No. 55, if goes to the Cavaliers. If the pick falls in the bottom five selections, it goes to the Thunder.
- Timberwolves — If Minnesota’s pick is inferior to Denver’s pick, Minnesota’s pick goes to the Rockets.
- Trail Blazers — Portland’s pick goes to the Magic if it’s better than Chicago’s pick. Otherwise, it goes to the Nuggets.
- Warriors — They owe their pick to the Sixers.
- Wizards — They owe their pick to the Celtics if it falls in the bottom 11 selections.
RealGM was used in the creation of this post.
Western Notes: Kerr, Nuggets, Kings, Pondexter
Stephen Curry was one of the most vocal supporters of former Warriors coach Mark Jackson, but new coach Steve Kerr impressed the All-Star guard with the way he made a special effort to win the team’s trust. Curry shared his thoughts with TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his NBA.com Morning Tip.
“It’s always that kind of uncertainty, what it’s going to be like,” Curry said. “He did a great job over the summer of reaching out to every single player, getting to know us, talking about what his expectations were, which made us a little more comfortable, for sure. But we’re all grownups. We all can kind of compartmentalize your relationships, knowing that in situations Coach Kerr’s coming in prepared for the job and trying to take us to the next level, and our job is to go out and play. He did a great job during training camp of keeping it light, keeping it fun, doing some things that are different.”
Jackson won plenty in Golden State, but Kerr is keeping it up, with the Warriors at 8-2 to start the season. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- The Nuggets are off to a sluggish 2-7 start, but GM Tim Connelly isn’t about to resort to drastic measures, observes Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. “Certainly we’ve struggled,” Connelly said. “But it’s early.” Nonetheless, ex-Nuggets coach George Karl has an interest in returning to coaching and has been keeping an eye on the team, as one of his former assistants tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Kings have recalled Eric Moreland from the D-League, the team announced. The power forward averaged 15.0 points and 13.0 rebounds over a pair of weekend games.
- The four-year extension that Quincy Pondexter signed last year with the Grizzlies just kicked in for this season, and he’s fallen out of the rotation, as Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal notes in his subscription-only Pick-and-Pop column. The length of his deal dictates that Memphis look to trade him if he can’t find his way back onto the floor, Herrington opines.
D-League Moves: Suns, Cavs, Celtics
The D-League began its season this past weekend, and no one’s off to a hotter start than Wolves camp invitee Brady Heslip, who’s playing for the affiliate of the Kings. He’s scoring a league-leading 39.0 points per game after two contests, and while it’s early, he’s making a case to appear on an NBA roster before too long. In the meantime, several players who are already on NBA contracts spent the weekend on D-League assignment, and we’ll round up their latest comings and goings here:
- A pair of 2014 first-round picks are back with Phoenix, as the Suns have recalled No. 14 selection T.J. Warren and No. 18 pick Tyler Ennis from the D-League, the team announced. Warren put up a sizzling 36 PPG in two appearances for the Bakersfield Jam this weekend, while Ennis averaged 22.0 PPG and 7.5 assists per contest. The Suns assigned the pair to Bakersfield on Thursday.
- The Cavs have recalled Alex Kirk from the D-League, the team announced. Kirk didn’t appear in the only game the Canton Charge played during his three-day assignment, a three-overtime loss to the Sixers affiliate.
- Rookies James Young and Dwight Powell are back with Boston after a two-day D-League assignment, the Celtics announced (Twitter link). The duo scored 21 points a piece and Powell came down with 17 rebounds in a win Sunday for the Maine Red Claws.
Pacific Notes: Gay, Clarkson, Barnes
The Warriors, Clippers and even the Kings would make the playoffs out of the Pacific Division if the postseason began today. Sacramento’s hot start may have played a role in Rudy Gay‘s decision to agree to a contract extension this weekend, as we detail amid the latest from the Pacific:
- Extension talks between Gay and the Kings had seemingly been dormant for months before the sides picked up the conversation just days before their agreement this weekend. Still, he had always been open to staying in Sacramento if he saw indications that the team was improving, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
- Kobe Bryant is gunning away at a phenomenal rate, topping the NBA with 24.4 shot attempts per game, but it’s not as if he isn’t helping his Lakers teammates. Rookie Jordan Clarkson says Bryant has given him information aplenty to absorb, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I couldn’t even repeat everything he says,” Clarkson said. “I wish I had one of those tape recorders some days. I’ll keep it in my pocket when he talks to me. He’s so useful.”
- Matt Barnes has started the final fully guaranteed season of his contract in a slump on the court as he deals with turmoil in his family life off of it, but the Clippers remain in his corner, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com examines.