Mavs To Pursue LaMarcus Aldridge
LaMarcus Aldridge made it clear over the summer that he intends to re-sign with the Blazers when his contract expires after this season, but the Mavs plan to see if the Texas native will change his mind and sign with them instead, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. It’ll be a long shot, as Sefko points out, but while Dirk Nowitzki stopped short of making a public recruiting pitch, he’s nonetheless made it clear that the idea of playing with Aldridge appeals to him, Sefko observes.
The Mavs have just $28.7MM in commitments for 2015/16 and only three players with fully guaranteed contracts, though that doesn’t include more than $16.6MM combined in player options for Monta Ellis, Raymond Felton, Jameer Nelson and Al-Farouq Aminu. Dallas likely would still have enough flexibility to float a maximum-salary offer to Aldridge, who grew up in nearby Seagoville, Texas, even if all four player options are exercised. The former University of Texas standout nonetheless reiterated at the start of training camp that he wants to re-sign with Portland, even though he’ll surely draw interest from teams around the league as one of the best free agents in the 2015 class.
There were trade rumors involving Aldridge throughout 2013, but after the Blazers sprinted to a fast start in 2013/14, he warmed to the idea of a long-term future with the team. Aldridge said this summer that he’s looking forward to the chance to sign a five-year contract, which would only be possible if he signs a new deal with Portland this coming offseason. He could only tack an additional three years onto his existing deal if he were to sign the max extension that the Blazers have offered, and he could only receive a four-year pact if he signed with a team other than Portland.
Still, it doesn’t appear that the Wasserman Media Group client is looking to truly make the most of his earnings potential. Aldridge, in his ninth season, will be eligible for a maximum salary worth approximately 30% of the cap next summer, but if he signs a one-year deal, he’d not only hit free agency again in 2016, when the league’s new $24 billion TV deal kicks in, but he’d also be eligible for a higher maximum salary. Veterans of 10 or more seasons can make up to about 35% of the cap, but Aldridge is reportedly uninterested in signing for just one season next summer.
Offseason In Review: Charlotte Hornets
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
- Lance Stephenson: Three years, $27.405MM. Signed via cap room. Third year is team option.
- Marvin Williams: Two years, $14MM. Signed via cap room.
- Brian Roberts: Two years, $5.587MM. Signed via cap room.
- Jannero Pargo: One year, $1.448MM. Signed via cap room.
- Jason Maxiell: One year, $1.317MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Non-guaranteed.
Extensions
Trades
- Acquired 2014 pick No. 26, 2014 pick No. 55, Miami’s 2019 second-round pick and cash from the Heat in exchange for 2014 pick No. 24.
- Acquired cash from the Thunder in exchange for 2014 pick No. 55.
- Acquired Scotty Hopson and cash from the Cavaliers in exchange for Brendan Haywood and the rights to Dwight Powell.
- Acquired cash from the Pelicans in exchange for Scotty Hopson.
Waiver Claims
- None
Draft Picks
- Noah Vonleh (Round 1, 9th overall). Signed via rookie exception to rookie scale contract.
- P.J. Hairston (Round 1, 26th overall). Signed via rookie exception to rookie scale contract.
- Dwight Powell (Round 2, 45th overall). Subsequently traded.
Camp Invitees
- Justin Cobbs
- Dallas Lauderdale
- Brian Qvale
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (fourth year, $6,331,404) — Exercised
- Cody Zeller (third year, $4,204,200) — Exercised
The Sixers made the 1977 Finals four years after they set the record for the league’s worst winning percentage in the 1972/73 season. The Hornets would have to reach the Finals in 2016 if they were to duplicate Philly’s feat after finishing with a winning percentage that was even worse in the lockout-shortened 2011/12 season. Such a turnaround will be difficult for Charlotte to pull off, but the Hornets made significant progress toward that end this past offseason.
It was the first for GM Rich Cho as the sole head of the front office after Rod Higgins resigned from his job as president of basketball operations in mid-June. Owner Michael Jordan had envisioned transferring some of Higgins’ responsibilities to Cho, but it’s clear that Jordan exerts his power in the recruiting department when necessary. The presence of His Airness in a pitch meeting with Lance Stephenson was key in convincing the volatile shooting guard to come to the Queen City. The Pacers turned off the Alberto Ebanks client with their hard-line negotiations, and the Mavs surprisingly watched the Rockets fail to match their offer sheet to Chandler Parsons, derailing the handshake agreement Dallas had with Stephenson. The Pistons, Bucks, Lakers and Bulls all reportedly spoke with the Stephenson camp, but the Hornets, with their MVP-turned-owner in tow, swooped in and closed on a deal in fairly short order.
It’s demonstrative of the sort of sway that Jordan still holds over the players who followed him into the NBA, as well as just how important the 2013 Al Jefferson signing was for the franchise. Jefferson’s three-year, $40.5MM deal seemed somewhat of an overpay last summer, but he lived up to his salary last season, and his presence, together with the team’s up-and-coming talent, is helping make the roster attractive to free agents. The Hornets also appeared to overpay for Gordon Hayward when they signed him to a maximum-salary offer sheet this summer, and though the Jazz matched, it still represented a coup of sorts for a team that was the laughingstock of the league such a short time ago. Jordan helped influence Hayward, too, and it seems that Jordan is finally learning how to leverage his accomplishments as a player to help the team that he owns.
Part of Jordan’s formula for ownership success involves the team’s former lottery picks, and none of them is more important to the Hornets than Kemba Walker. The team made that clear with its four-year, $48MM rookie scale extension for the point guard that keeps him from restricted free agency next summer, when a team could have inflated Walker’s price point the way the Hornets maximized Hayward’s. Hoops Rumors readers dubbed it the second most team-friendly among the nine rookie scale extensions signed around the league this summer, but $12MM is still a lot to pay for a point guard with a suspect shot who’s never won a playoff game. Still, Walker is improving as a ball-distributor, and his three-point accuracy has gone up each of his years in the league, including an increase to 39.3% so far in the small sample size of this season. In an NBA with few certainties about its salary structure in the years to come, with $24 billion of TV revenue poised to flood the league’s coffers, the Hornets achieved cost certainty with a promising 24-year-old, which is no insignificant accomplishment.
Charlotte also added to its stable of lottery picks with Noah Vonleh at No. 9 in this year’s draft, a pick the Hornets lucked into thanks to the Pistons’ misfortune following the 2012 Ben Gordon–Corey Maggette trade. Vonleh is raw, having just turned 19 over the summer, and he’s injured to start the season, but he was seemingly in contention to have been the first big man to come off the draft board this past June before slipping to Charlotte. He and Cody Zeller are around seemingly to help the Hornets move on from Jefferson, who can leave as soon as this summer if he opts out. Charlotte surely hopes Jefferson will stay a bit longer, but Cho and company are already planning ahead.
The Hayward offer sheet appeared to indirectly help the Hornets secure a power forward to pair with Jefferson for the time being. It may never be clear whether the Jazz would have pushed harder to re-sign Marvin Williams if they hadn’t needed to pay the max to match the Hayward offer sheet, but giving Utah a complication certainly didn’t hurt Charlotte’s efforts. The two-year length of Williams’ deal seems like a hint that it’s geared toward having Zeller or Vonleh eventually inherit his starting role, and it also allows Williams the chance to hit free agency again precisely when the new TV money is scheduled to start coming in.
Time will tell if Williams proves better at the four than Josh McRoberts, who enjoyed a career year last season, but McRoberts feels the organization didn’t fully embrace him in free agency this summer. Charlotte will surely miss his passing, and Jordan seemed to consider McRoberts a favorite, but continued improvement from Walker and the injection of Stephenson, another ball-handler, into the starting lineup could offset the loss.
Finding the right backup to Walker appeared to be another priority for the team, which signed Brian Roberts and re-signed Jannero Pargo, letting Ramon Sessions walk. The Hornets gave Roberts better money than Sessions wound up with from Sacramento much later in the summer, indicating that Charlotte’s choice was clear. Roberts doesn’t appear to possess the same ability to score that Sessions has shown, but he’s a better outside shooter, which fills a need for the Hornets. Pargo returns as a third point guard and stabilizing force.
The success of the offseason for the Hornets will in many ways come down to the way Stephenson performs, but even if he struggles and the Hornets fail to improve in the standings, the team demonstrated its presence as a legitimate destination for top-tier free agents. That doesn’t guarantee championships or even marquee signings, but it does indicate that the Hornets chapter of the franchise’s story will be much different from the Bobcats one.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Pacers Sign A.J. Price
4:40pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
4:17pm: The Pacers have signed Price, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), though the team has yet to make any public announcement.
11:06am: Price is expected to sign with Indiana, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), so it appears the deal with Mekel is likely off.
10:22am: The Pacers would be likely to sign A.J. Price if the visa issues holding up the team’s deal with Gal Mekel derail that signing, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Indiana is “determined” to have a point guard on the roster in time for Friday’s game against the Celtics, as George Hill, C.J. Watson and Rodney Stuckey all deal with injuries. The NBA has given the Pacers a hardship provision to add a 16th player because of their injuries, but that provision expires after today, and it appears there’s a decent chance that Mekel’s visa won’t be ready until Friday, as Stein wrote earlier.
Price became a free agent earlier this week after the Cavs waived him over the weekend. The sixth-year veteran was on Cleveland’s roster for opening night after making the team on a non-guaranteed contract, but the Cavs opted to quickly replace him with Raptors camp cut Will Cherry. Price, who was as a member of the Pacers for the first three years of his NBA career, spent last season with the Timberwolves and saw just 3.5 minutes per game across 28 appearances. That was the first time that he didn’t average at least 12.9 MPG since the Pacers plucked him out of the University of Connecticut with the 52nd overall pick in 2009.
Indiana has the ability to sign a 16th player thanks to the injuries to Hill, Watson, Stuckey, Paul George and David West, though Stuckey’s sore left foot doesn’t seem likely to keep him out of action for long. To qualify for the hardship provision, teams must have at least four players who have missed three games already, and an independent physician must determine that they’re going to continue to miss time. The Pacers also have a $5.305MM disabled player exception at their disposal because George is expected to miss the entire season, but it’s unlikely they’ll need any more than the minimum salary to secure Price.
Southeast Notes: McRoberts, Harris, Frye
The Wizards haven’t won a division title since 1978/79, but they’re atop the Southeast Division standings today with a 4-1 record. Of course, the season is only nine days old, but Washington is looking strong so far even in the absence of Bradley Beal. Here’s more on the Wizards’ rivals in the Southeast Division:
- Heat power forward Josh McRoberts said it was his intention to re-sign with Charlotte when he opted out of his contract to hit free agency last summer, observes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Miami made a stronger recruiting effort at the start, even though Hornets owner Michael Jordan doubled back to meet with him later, McRoberts said, adding that while he felt that some within the Hornets organization, including coach Steve Clifford, wanted him back, he didn’t think everyone did. The Hornets didn’t offer him a deal similar to the four-year, $22.652MM contract he signed with the Heat until Miami already had its money on the table, sources tell Bonnell.
- Tobias Harris said the Magic never negotiated on an extension for him before the October 31st deadline, as Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel notes amid a piece examining the year ahead for the forward who’s poised for restricted free agency. GM Rob Hennigan said in September that he had spoken with the Harris camp, and multiple reports indicated that talks indeed took place, if only briefly. Perhaps Harris meant that the Magic didn’t budge from their initial proposals rather than that no discussions took place, though that’s just my speculation.
- A fondness for the city of Orlando, the direction of the Magic‘s youthful roster, a chance for more playing time and a recommendation from Grant Hill helped influence Channing Frye‘s decision to sign with the Magic, as Frye told Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. The presence of Harris, Frye’s cousin, didn’t hurt, either, as Aschburner examines.
Teams That Owe 2015 First-Round Picks
The protections attached to traded draft picks are becoming increasingly complicated as front offices seek greater precision in their asset management. The whims of the draft lottery, not to mention the unpredictability of future seasons, make it difficult for teams to gauge just what they’re giving up or what they’re receiving. It’s of particular concern for first-round picks, since the talent gulf between the top pick and the 30th overall pick is almost always vast. There’s a significant difference between players available at No. 31 and No. 60 most years, too, but none of them usually carry the franchise-altering potential that often comes with the players at the top end of the first round.
Teams in recent years have sought to add clarity to what they’re exchanging when they swap draft picks, adding protections that apply to multiple ranges in the draft order. The Rockets receive a first-round pick from New Orleans this year, but if the Pelicans draw a position in the top three selections, or if the pick ends up between No. 21 and No. 30, New Orleans keeps its pick. Similar “double protection” is attached to the first-rounder the Grizzlies owe the Cavs. Other teams have simply agreed to a simple exchange of their first-round selections, but the Cavs attached protection to Chicago’s right to exchange 2015 first-round picks with them.
Thus, it can be hard to understand who gets what in a year in which as many as 11 of the 30 first-round picks may change hands. It’s likely a smaller number of first-rounders will actually be conveyed this season, not counting the 2015 picks that teams might trade between now and draft night. In any case, here’s as simple a look as possible at the teams that owe 2015 first-round picks.
- Cavaliers — If the Cavs make the playoffs, the Bulls have the right to switch their pick with Cleveland’s.
- Clippers — They owe their pick to the Celtics.
- Grizzlies — If the Memphis pick falls anywhere from No. 6 through No. 14, it goes to the Cavaliers.
- Heat — If Miami’s pick falls outside the top 10, it goes to the Sixers.
- Kings — If Sacramento’s pick falls outside the top 10, it goes to the Bulls.
- Lakers — If the Los Angeles pick falls outside the top five, it goes to the Suns.
- Nets — The Hawks have the right to switch their pick with Brooklyn’s.
- Pelicans — If the New Orleans pick falls anywhere from No. 4 through No. 19, it goes to the Rockets.
- Rockets — If Houston makes the playoffs, it owes its pick to the Lakers.
- Sixers — If Philadelphia makes the playoffs, it owes its pick to the Celtics.
- Timberwolves — If Minnesota’s pick falls outside the top 12 selections, it goes to the Suns.
RealGM was used in the creation of this post.
Western Notes: Rockets, Thunder, McLemore
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said he won’t judge coach Kevin McHale merely by how far the team goes in the playoffs this year and expressed support for the front office as he spoke with Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Alexander pointed to Trevor Ariza and Kostas Papanikolaou as key additions in an offseason that, as the owner acknowledged, didn’t go as planned.
“It was a very difficult offseason,” Alexander said. “There were big decisions that really didn’t go our way. It was tough. It was tough going through it and hoping you’d be able to rebound and have a really good team. I liked the moves that we made. And we still have flexibility to make other moves, which I believe is important.”
The Rockets, with a league-best 5-0 record, put that unbeaten mark on the line tonight against a Spurs team that plans to rest Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- The Thunder would likely apply for a second hardship provision, which would give them a 17th roster spot, if they expect that a knee injury that Perry Jones III suffered Tuesday will force him to miss a significant amount of time, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. The team is poised to make Ish Smith its 16th player.
- Ben McLemore has hired the Klutch Sports Group for his representation, the agency announced (Twitter link). The second-year shooting guard recently left agent Rodney Blackstock. Klutch has close ties to the Cavs, but the earliest McLemore could reach unrestricted free agency by his own choosing would be the summer of 2018.
- Flip Saunders said uncertainty over the Timberwolves roster this summer prior to the Kevin Love trade helped keep him from hiring Lionel Hollins as Minnesota’s coach, observes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Saunders said he couldn’t promise Hollins, who interviewed for the coaching job that Saunders ultimately took for himself, that the Wolves would have the sort of veteran roster that Hollins is accustomed to, as Bontemps notes.
Jazz Waive Jordan Hamilton
The Jazz have waived swingman Jordan Hamilton, the team announced. Hamilton secured a partial guarantee of $25K when he signed his contract with the Raptors in the offseason, and that carried over when the Jazz claimed him off waivers before opening night. However, Hamilton has already earned more than $25K of his minimum salary by virtue of sticking on the roster for more than five days, so the Jazz aren’t eating any additional guaranteed salary with today’s move. Utah drops to 14 players with Hamilton off the roster.
The 24-year-old had been on the inactive list for each of the team’s first five games, so it seemed Utah simply didn’t have room for him on a roster that has no shortage of wing players. Hamilton was the 26th overall pick in 2011, but the Nuggets declined their fourth-year team option on his rookie scale contract last fall, setting him up for free agency this summer. He finished out last season with the Rockets after a deadline trade, and he made a strong push for a roster spot this fall in Toronto, averaging 9.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game across six preseason appearances.
The Heat worked out Hamilton over the summer, and the Timberwolves were among those in attendance for a work out Hamilton staged for multiple teams during the offseason, but it’s unclear if the interest from either Miami or Minnesota lingers. His release saves Utah from continuing to pay a player it wasn’t using and frees up a roster spot, though there’s no immediate indication as to whether or not the Jazz have plans to fill that opening in the near future. Coach Quin Snyder‘s comfort with Joe Ingles, whom the team claimed off waivers at the same time it did so with Hamilton, empowered the Jazz to make today’s move, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Pacers To Sign Gal Mekel?
THURSDAY, 9:10am: Visa issues surrounding the Israeli native have thrown the deal into question, Stein reports. The Pacers brought Mekel to Boston, where they play Friday, with the plan of signing him today. Indiana’s hardship provision to sign a 16th player expires today, but Mekel’s visa might not be ready until Friday, according to Stein (All Twitter links). That raises the possibility that the Pacers will sign a different player instead, as Stein notes, though the plan is still to sign Mekel, Buckner tweets.
WEDNESDAY, 2:53pm: The Pacers will indeed sign Mekel, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star confirms (Twitter link).
2:43pm: It’s likely that the Pacers will obtain a hardship provision because of their injuries that will allow them to sign Mekel without waiving anyone else, Stein writes in a full piece. The absences of George, Hill, Watson and Rodney Stuckey would give Indiana the four players required for the league to grant the 16th roster spot, Stein notes. All three have to have missed three regular games, and an independent physician must declare that they’re likely to continue to miss time before the NBA will OK the provision.
2:29pm: Indiana is “in the process of” signing former Mavs point guard Gal Mekel, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Pacers have been carrying 15 players, so they’d have to make a corresponding move, though it’s unclear whom the team plans to drop. The team has a $5.305MM disabled player exception thanks to Paul George‘s injury that it can use to give Mekel more than the minimum salary, though it seems unlikely the Pacers would use that in this case. Stein suggests the move is an effort to compensate for injuries in the backcourt, where point guard George Hill and C.J. Watson are nursing injuries, but neither is expected to miss more than a few weeks.
Indiana has 13 fully guaranteed contracts plus partially guaranteed arrangements with Luis Scola and rookie Shayne Whittington. Scola has been starting for the Pacers, and his guarantee is much greater than the mere $25K promised to Whittington.
Mekel was on the Mavs opening-night roster, but Dallas let go of him soon thereafter to sign J.J. Barea. The Thunder reportedly had the 26-year-old native of Israel on their radar, but they are instead poised to add Ish Smith to offset their own rash of injuries.
Offseason In Review: Atlanta Hawks
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
- Mike Scott: Three years, $10MM. Re-signed via Early Bird rights. Third year is non-guaranteed.
- Shelvin Mack: Three years, $7.3MM. Re-signed via Early Bird rights. Third year is non-guaranteed.
- Kent Bazemore: Two years, $4MM. Signed via cap room.
- Elton Brand: One year, $2MM. Re-signed via Non-Bird rights.
Extensions
- None
Trades
- Acquired 2014 pick No. 48 from the Bucks in exchange for a 2015 second-round pick.
- Acquired John Salmons and Toronto’s 2015 second-round pick from the Raptors in exchange for Lou Williams and the rights to Lucas Nogueira. Salmons was subsequently waived.
- Acquired Thabo Sefolosha, the rights to Giorgos Printezis, and cash from the Thunder in exchange for the rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Sefolosha was signed-and-traded for three years, $12MM.
Waiver Claims
- None
Draft Picks
- Adreian Payne (Round 1, 15th overall). Signed via rookie scale exception to rookie scale contract.
- Edy Tavares (Round 2, 43rd overall). Playing in Spain.
- Lamar Patterson (Round 2, 48th overall). Playing in Turkey.
Camp Invitees
- Dexter Pittman
- Jarell Eddie
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- John Jenkins, (fourth year, $2,228,025) — Declined
- Dennis Schröder (third year, $1,763,400) — Exercised
The Hawks returned 12 players from the end of last season, more than all but two NBA teams, but turmoil defined Atlanta’s offseason. Controlling owner Bruce Levenson’s September announcement, well-timed to coincide with the first Sunday of the National Football League season, that regret over a 2012 email with racial overtones had prompted him to sell the team touched off a full-blown scandal. It soon enveloped GM Danny Ferry, who took an indefinite leave of absence amid pressure after it was revealed that he read a racially charged scouting report during a conference call with the team’s owners in June, and at least one report has suggested that Ferry is unlikely to return to his position.
Fortunately for the team and coach Mike Budenholzer, who’s acting as GM in Ferry’s stead, the business of the offseason was largely over by the time the imbroglio began. The Hawks arguably made their most noteworthy moves even before free agency began in July. They consummated a trade in the final hours of June that sent the rights to Lucas Nogueira, who was the 16th overall pick in 2013, along Lou Williams to Toronto for John Salmons. Ferry and his staff promptly waived Salmons, turning his $7MM partially guaranteed salary into just a $1MM vestige on Atlanta’s books. It was a naked attempt to clear even more cap room by a team that had the ability to open roughly $15MM in cap flexibility before the move. The trade brought the team’s flexibility into the $18MM neighborhood, which wasn’t quite enough to legitimately chase LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony but was suitable for a run at a pair of second-tier free agents.
One such target was Luol Deng, whom Ferry was in favor of signing in spite of the racist scouting report impugning Deng that Ferry verbalized in the fateful conference call. The Hawks offered Deng a package similar to the one he wound up with from the Heat, and his acquisition would have addressed what’s been an area of weakness for the team over the past few seasons. Instead, the Hawks made a much less flashier move for a wing player, agreeing to terms with Thabo Sefolosha for average salaries of $4MM over the next three seasons. Ferry did the Thunder and fellow former Spurs front office hand Sam Presti a favor when he structured the move as a sign-and-trade that involved the swap of two draft-and-stash prospects who’ll probably never play in the NBA. The Hawks took Sefolosha into their cap space while the Thunder created a trade exception. Budenholzer simply must hope that Sefolosha regains his shooting touch and that he doesn’t regress too drastically on defense over the life of the contract, which runs through his age-32 season.
That Sefolosha is likely the team’s most significant offseason addition, outside of 15th overall pick Adreian Payne, is a significant disappointment for a franchise that clearly signaled its intention for a more significant upgrade with the cap-clearing Williams trade. The Hawks have tried to wedge their way into the mix for Anthony, Dwight Howard and other splashy names over the past two summers, but they’re not gaining any traction. They failed to land a meeting with ‘Melo after doing so with Howard in 2013, and they were also unable to pull off a deal with a Plan B free agent analogous to 2013’s Paul Millsap signing. The Hawks possess the skeleton of a championship-caliber team, with Al Horford and Kyle Korver standing out as players who’d play key roles on a contributor, but without a true star, Atlanta faces long odds to avoid its annual first- or second-round playoff exit.
No one will mistake Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack for stars, but the Hawks welcomed back both of their restricted free agents with similar three-year deals that help solidify the team’s second unit. Injuries helped force Scott into action last season, and the power forward showed he was capable of handling NBA minutes even in the postseason, so he proved worth the investment of the 43rd overall pick in 2012. His new contract pays him like a rotation-caliber player, and it shouldn’t be difficult to trade if the Hawks want to swap some of their depth in a deal for a star, which might be the franchise’s easiest path to acquiring a marquee player given the failure to attract one via free agency.
The same is true of Mack’s deal, though it signals a lack of confidence in Dennis Schröder, the 17th overall pick from 2013. Schröder saw just seven minutes total in the playoffs and his performance when he did see time during the regular season made it plain that he’s still a ways off from making a meaningful contribution. Atlanta’s investment in Mack as the team’s backup point guard isn’t a hefty one, but it nonetheless signals that the team isn’t going to hesitate to move on from Schröder if he doesn’t show he’s capable of performing at the NBA level before too long.
A similar dynamic is at play between offseason signee Kent Bazemore and John Jenkins, whom Atlanta drafted 23rd overall in 2012. The Hawks picked up Bazemore after he averaged 13.1 points in 28.0 minutes per game across a 23-game stretch with the Lakers at the end of last season. It’s a relatively small $2MM-a-year gamble that his performance wasn’t simply a product of a small sample size, playing in Mike D’Antoni‘s up-tempo attack, or both. It’s also a move that seemingly made it easier for the Hawks to decline their fourth-year option on the rookie scale contract of Jenkins. Unlike Schröder, it’s not as if Jenkins hadn’t shown he could produce, since he canned 38.4% of his three-point attempts as a rookie. Jenkins missed most of last season with a back injury, and with Bazemore in tow, the Hawks have a chance to evaluate the health of Jenkins this season without having a guaranteed $2.228MM for him on their 2015/16 books.
Of course, whether Ferry had it in mind to decline the Jenkins option when he signed Bazemore is unknown, since the Jenkins decision came after Budenholzer assumed control of the team’s basketball operations. That, along with the decision to bring back Elton Brand for another season, were the only major moves that the coach has made since assuming his dual role, but he’ll probably have to make more. Hawks executive Dominique Wilkins, fellow former players Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber, attorney Doug Davis and former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien have expressed interest in buying the team, but it’s still unclear how much of the team is up for sale, and until the existing ownership group determines that, the sale process can’t begin in earnest. It seems there’s a decent chance, if not a strong one, that Budenholzer will still be in charge of Atlanta’s decision-making come the trade deadline. Ferry left him plenty of flexibility, but with as the team’s difficultly in attracting free agents became only more profound this past summer, the deadline stands a a crucial pivot point for the club’s future.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Lakers Likely To Pursue Rajon Rondo
Several executives from teams around the league believe the Lakers will make a hard push to sign Rajon Rondo next summer, the execs tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. The Celtics All-Star is set to hit free agency after the season, and he’s also perhaps the league’s most notorious trade candidate, though Mannix doesn’t suggest the Lakers are eyeing him for a swap.
The Lakers have a clear need for a long-term solution at point guard, where Jeremy Lin has inherited the starting job on his expiring contract after nerve trouble knocked Steve Nash out for the season. Reports linked them to Eric Bledsoe before he re-signed with the Suns on a long-term deal. The team has about $35.1MM in commitments for 2015/16 against a salary cap the league projects to come in around $66-68MM, leaving the Lakers with the flexibility required to sign Rondo to the maximum-salary contract he’ll almost certainly seek.
Still, Rondo has spoken fondly of Boston over the past several months even amid consistent trade rumors and the team’s inability to kick-start a return to the Eastern Conference elite. The 28-year-old is nonetheless coming to an end of a team-friendly five-year, $55MM extension, so this coming summer could present the final opportunity the BDA Sports Management client will have to command first-rate attention on the free agent market.