Latest On Kevin Love
2:34pm: The Wolves are discussing deals involving Love with other teams, but they’re making it clear that it’s unlikely they’ll trade him until they hire a coach, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Love maintains that he wants out of Minnesota, but the Wolves will probably try to sell Love on staying once a new coach is in place, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
MONDAY, 3:29pm: Love would prefer the Warriors to the Rockets, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher says on video. Of course, there are other teams in which he apparently has interest of varying degrees, including the Bulls, Celtics, Lakers, and Wizards, and it’s unclear just how high Golden State ranks on Love’s complete wish list.
3:02pm: The Wolves continue to issue denials about their interest in trading Kevin Love this summer, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News hears Minnesota has gauged the market to determine what offers on draft night might look like. It appears the Wolves are on their way to moving Love sooner rather than later, a source tells Deveney. Still, a GM cautions Deveney that serious movement toward a deal isn’t likely to happen until the week before the draft.
The Timberwolves are looking for a lottery pick in this year’s draft, additional lottery selections for the future, and a young player with a decent chance of becoming a star, but they haven’t been impressed with the offers they’ve seen so far, Deveney reports. They’d prefer not to trade him to Sacramento, Deveney writes, though it’s unclear if that has to do with the package the Kings might offer, or if there’s another stumbling block. The Kings are reportedly willing to acquire Love without an assurance he’d re-sign.
The Celtics are prioritizing a pursuit of Love, and they’re willing to give up the sixth overall pick to make it happen, according to Deveney. Still, they’re not open to including Rajon Rondo in such a deal, and Boston’s willingness to part with future first-rounders might be the determining factor in whether Love winds up in Boston, Deveney surmises.
Knicks Aggressively Seeking First-Round Pick
The Knicks are “desperately” seeking a first-round pick in this month’s draft and are attempting to strong-arm their way into the top 30 picks, according to Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). The team is telling agents and prospects of its intentions, Hamilton adds. Knicks team president Phil Jackson has made plain his desire to trade for a pick of some kind, but the team’s apparent plan to workout P.J. Hairston on Thursday was the first strong indication that New York, which is without any picks as it stands now, wants in the first round.
Hairston is No. 23 in the latest rankings from Chad Ford of ESPN.com and No. 24 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, though our Alex Lee has him going at No. 15 in the latest Hoops Rumors Mock Draft. Several teams hold more than one first-round pick, as Hamilton notes, and the Suns are reportedly shopping the 27th overall selection.
The Sixers have seven picks overall and the Bucks, Suns and Timberwolves have four apiece. Jackson cited Philadelphia and Milwaukee as potential trade targets for a pick. Jackson was referring to their second-rounders, so perhaps his sights have shifted. Still, the Knicks, like every NBA team, can only trade a maximum of $3.2MM in cash over the course of the season, so “buying” a pick won’t necessarily be easy, particularly when it comes to first-rounders.
The Knicks are under pressure to make their roster attractive for Carmelo Anthony, who can opt out and leave as a free agent this summer. New York will be capped out regardless of whether Anthony is on the roster, so the draft represents one of the team’s few avenues to an upgrade.
Durant, James Lead All-NBA First Team
1:02pm: Haynes clarifies to Hoops Rumors that Lillard’s bonus comes from his shoe endorsement deal, not his NBA contract, so his cap hit remains the same for next season.
12:07pm: Lillard receives a $250K bonus for his third-team selection, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Haynes doesn’t specify whether it was counted as a likely or unlikely bonus, but since Lillard signed the rookie scale contract just after going No. 6 overall in the 2012 draft, it’s almost certainly an unlikely bonus, meaning his cap figure for next season will receive a bump, just as with Noah.
11:27am: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Joakim Noah, Chris Paul and James Harden make up the All-NBA First Team, the league announced. Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Dwight Howard and Tony Parker are on the second team, while the third team is Al Jefferson, Paul George, LaMarcus Aldridge, Goran Dragic and Damian Lillard. The selection means George will earn roughly 27% of the salary cap next season, rather than 25%, as a result of the Derrick Rose Rule provision in his extension that kicks in for 2014/15.
Durant, the league’s MVP, was a unanimous first-team selection, while James received first-team nods from 124 of the 125 media voters. Curry was the highest vote-getter who failed to make the first team, collecting 65 first-team votes. The rest of the second team combined to receive just 30 first-team votes.
Carmelo Anthony came closest to making the teams among those who didn’t, followed by John Wall, Tim Duncan, DeMar DeRozan and Anthony Davis. A total of 22 players received first-team votes, while 39 got votes for at least one of the teams.
Noah’s first-team nod gives him a $500K bonus that was originally deemed unlikely. It’ll be added to his cap figure, but it probably won’t be enough to tip the Bulls over the luxury tax line this season, as they scrambled to make late season moves to avoid any scenario in which they would have to do so. The bonus will nonetheless impinge on Chicago’s cap flexibility for the summer ahead, since it will be counted as likely for 2014/15 and be a part of Noah’s cap hit, taking it from $12.2MM to $12.7MM.
Eastern Rumors: Stephenson, Nets, Fisher
One GM tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops that Lance Stephenson is probably in line for a three year deal worth $8-10MM annually, adding that the “immaturity” he showed in the playoffs hurt his value to a degree. On talent alone, Stephenson would be worth between $10-12MM a year, the GM believes, according to Scotto. Still, another GM thinks the shooting guard is headed for annual salaries of $4-6MM, while two agents say he’s likely to receive deal along the lines of three years and $18MM, Scotto reports. Scotto also reiterates a February report that cast the Bulls and Hornets among likely suitors for Stephenson. Here’s more from the:
- Nets GM Billy King won’t rule out trading for a late first-round pick, but Brooklyn’s more likely to end up with a second-rounder, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link). King indicated earlier that the team is thinking about acquiring a selection.
- The Nets will almost certainly decline their team option for 2015/16 on Marquis Teague‘s rookie scale contract, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. The deadline for a decision on the option, worth more than $2MM, is October 31st this year.
- Derek Fisher‘s duties when he was union president made him familiar with Knicks owner James Dolan, and Fisher believes he can be successful within in the Knicks organization if he ends up coaching the team, a source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
- The Bucks have interviewed Dante Exum and will put him through a workout and a physical, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports in the latest version of his Insider-only Big Board.
- Geron Johnson, Justin Simmons and Kendall Williams are among the second-round prospects working out for the Bucks today, the team announced (Twitter link). Milwaukee is also auditioning Devyn Marble, confirming Marble’s own Twitter report.
Offseason Outlook: Houston Rockets
Guaranteed Contracts
- Dwight Howard ($21,436,271)
- James Harden ($14,728,844)
- Omer Asik ($8,374,646)
- Jeremy Lin ($8,374,646)
- Terrence Jones ($1,618,680)
- Donatas Motiejunas ($1,483,920)
- Isaiah Canaan ($816,482)
Options
- Francisco Garcia ($1,316,809, Player)*
- Chandler Parsons ($964,750, Team)**
- Troy Daniels ($816,482, Team)***
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Josh Powell ($1,227,985)
- Omri Casspi ($1,063,384)
- Patrick Beverley ($915,243)
- Robert Covington ($816,482; guaranteed for $150,000)
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Jordan Hamilton ($2,109,294)****
- No. 25 pick ($991,000)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (25th overall)
- 2nd Round (42nd overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $56,983,489
- Options: $3,098,041
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $3,873,094
- Cap Holds: $3,100,294
- Total: $67,054,918
In October 2012, just 20 months ago, the Rockets had one of the worst rosters in the league, having skinned the team of five of its top six scorers from the 2011/12 season. Two superstar acquisitions later, the Rockets enter the summer of 2014 with some sense of disappointment over a first-round exit. The prolific duo of James Harden and Dwight Howard came together quickly, but Houston still lacks the third star that’s required to build the prototypical title contender. GM Daryl Morey pulled off the cap gymnastics necessary to accommodate a max deal for Howard last summer, but finding another marquee player this time around will require even more challenging payroll manipulation.
The Rockets enter the summer with commitments that are about $6.2MM short of the projected $63.2MM salary cap. That only covers seven players and doesn’t take into account the player option for Francisco Garcia, who denied a report last month that he intends to opt out. It also doesn’t factor in the nearly $1MM on Houston’s books for the 25th overall pick, but that’s an asset the team would probably have little trouble shedding if it wants to. Even if Garcia opts out and the Rockets dump their first-rounder, they’re set to enter free agency with no more than $3.7MM in cap flexibility, thanks to the roster charges equivalent to the rookie minimum salary they would incur for having fewer than 12 players under contract. That figure also leaves out the final year of Chandler Parsons‘ contract, a thorny issue that will force the team into one unappealing set of consequences or another.
Morey certainly can’t begrudge his deal with Parsons, which has proved such a bargain over the past three years that it’s become a model for others like it around the league. The Rockets have the opportunity to enjoy another season of a starting-caliber small forward for less than $1MM, but picking up the option would put Parsons on a path toward unrestricted free agency next summer. The Rockets have reportedly decided to decline the option to allow themselves the chance to make Parsons a restricted free agent this summer, giving Morey the final say on where the former University of Florida standout ends up next season. The decision also plays a critical role in the team’s ability to sign other free agents this summer and next.
Picking up the option would impinge upon the team’s already limited flexibility for the summer ahead and invite bidders who’d be scared off by Houston’s ability to match offers this summer to jump into the Parsons sweepstakes next year. Setting Parsons free at the end of the month would allow the Rockets to simply take a pass on re-signing him if another small forward like Carmelo Anthony came calling, but it seems more likely that Houston would end up re-signing Parsons to a long-term, market-rate contract. Doing so would add to Houston’s books for the summer of 2015, the very time for which most other teams are clearing money for an enticing class of free agents. This is no easy call.
Complicating the pursuit of next summer’s free agent class is the possibility that Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo and others end up in their next destinations via trade before they ever hit the market. That’s why Morey isn’t idly waiting for the burdensome contracts of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin to expire next summer. The GM says he doesn’t expect a deal to come together involving one or both of them, but in the same interview with Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, he restated his commitment to an aggressive search for upgrades. A more recent report indicated the team is shopping Lin and Asik in an effort to clear room for Anthony. Still, I’d be surprised if Houston pulled the trigger on any such deal at any point before it became clear that Anthony or another such talent could be had. Knicks team president Phil Jackson‘s assertion that ‘Melo is at least thinking about opting in for next season rather than hitting free agency is a caution flag for teams that have been eyeing him, even if he’s still more likely than not to opt out, as he’s said on many occasions that he’ll do.
Trading either Asik, Lin or both in any deal that would clear significant cap space would be remarkably challenging. Few teams are willing and able to absorb nearly $8.4MM cap hits without giving up salary in return, and the balloon payments for Asik and Lin make it doubly hard for the Rockets to find trade partners. Each of them is due $14,898,938 in actual paychecks next season, as I explained a while back when I examined how such backloaded deals affect trades. There might be some charm for the Knicks in bringing Lin back for old time’s sake as part of a sign-and-trade for Anthony, but it seems doubtful that Jackson would agree to help a team with little other recourse to clear the necessary cap room for ‘Melo. Most teams would have more interest in Asik, whom the Hawks are reportedly pursuing. Still, trading only Asik in exchange for assets that don’t add to Houston’s payroll for next season would give Houston about $12.6MM worth of cap flexibility at best, not nearly enough to get into the running for ‘Melo. That almost certainly wouldn’t be enough to woo reported targets LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dirk Nowitzki, who appear even less available than Anthony.
Trades might allow an easier path to improvement, but while Love represents the primary trade target for just about every team, Houston doesn’t appear to be Love’s preferred destination. The Rockets seemed interested in Rondo at the trade deadline, though talks apparently never got started. The Celtics were one of the teams involved in Morey’s attempted Asik auction in December, but Morey would have to offer more than his backup center to pry an elite point guard from the hands of Danny Ainge, his old boss. The Celtics seem much more focused on convincing Rondo to stay rather than preparing for his departure, so the Rockets would probably meet a dead end down this avenue, too.
The prudent path for the Rockets this summer appears to be a quiet one, as unfulfilling as it might be for the creative, trade-happy Morey. The Rockets can have the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception at their disposal if they decide to operate above the cap, and that can serve as a handy tool to help the team upgrade its defense with a rotation-caliber player. Houston finished just 12th in points allowed per 100 possessions this season, per NBA.com, in spite of the pairing of All-Defensive Second Team selection Patrick Beverley and Howard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, in the starting lineup. Oklahoma City free agent Thabo Sefolosha would seem like a fit for the Rockets if he rediscovers the stroke he had when he hit 42.2% of his three-point attempts in 2011/12 and 2012/13, though there have been no reports linking the longtime member of the Thunder to Houston.
The Rockets have only about $39MM on the books for 2015/16, so there’s plenty of reason for the team to exercise caution as it spends this summer. Flashy names like Love and Rondo may already be in their long-term homes by this time next year, but Goran Dragic, Paul Millsap, David West, Monta Ellis, Marc Gasol and Al Jefferson are among the others who can become unrestricted free agents in 2015. Morey has quickly turned the Rockets into a Western Conference heavy. The question is whether he’ll have the gumption to wait for just the right finishing touch that can turn the team into a true contender.
Cap footnotes
* — Garcia’s cap hold would be $915,243 if he turns down his player option.
** — Parsons’ qualifying offer would be $3,270,004 if the Rockets decline his option, as they reportedly intend to do. That figure would also be the amount of his cap hold. If Houston declines the option and doesn’t tender the qualifying offer, his cap hold would be $1,760,350.
*** — Daniels’ qualifying offer and cap hold would be $1,016,482 if the team turns down its option. His cap hold would be $816,482 if the team doesn’t tender the qualifying offer.
**** — The cap hold for Hamilton is equivalent to the greatest amount Houston can offer him for next season. Because the Nuggets declined their fourth-year team option on Hamilton before the season, the Rockets, who acquired him via trade, aren’t allowed to re-sign him for a 2014/15 salary that’s more than he would have earned on that option.
ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.
Draft Rumors: Embiid, Wiggins, Gordon, Suns
Chris Mannix of SI.com hears from sources who maintain their belief that the Cavs are deciding between Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins, as Mannix writes in his latest mock draft. The Sixers hope that Embiid and Jabari Parker go with the first two picks, since they covet Wiggins, as Mannix hears. There’s more from Mannix amid our latest look at the draft:
- Danny Ainge is “locked in” on Aaron Gordon at No. 6 for the Celtics, several sources tell Mannix, who nonetheless points to the distinct possibility that Ainge will trade the pick.
- The Suns are shopping the 27th overall pick, rival executives tell Mannix.
- The Wolves are listening to offers for the 13th overall selection, but they aren’t actively seeking deals, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- Clint Capela, Eric Moreland, Victor Rudd and Akeem Williams are the previously unreported names on the list of players working out for the Celtics today, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com details.
- The Raptors are auditioning Deonte Burton and Niels Giffey today among others we’d already heard about, the team announced.
- Chaz Williams has the Warriors, Bucks, and Cavs on his workout agenda, as he tells Daniel Malone of MassLive.
- It appears as though Devyn Marble has set up another workout for the Bucks today after having to call off last week’s plans, as he tweeted that he would be auditioning for Milwaukee today after performing for the Spurs on Tuesday (hat tip to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
Latest On Clippers, Donald Sterling
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appears poised to become the next owner of the Clippers after brokering a deal to buy the club for $2 million, but banned owner Donald Sterling still casts a shadow over the franchise. Here’s the latest:
- Donald Sterling’s primary motivation, should he continue to fight the sale, would have to do with his reputation, as Maxwell Blecher, one of his attorneys, tells James Rainey and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. “He doesn’t want to die and have his tombstone say, ‘Here lies a mental incompetent and a racist,’” Blecher said. “He is trying to do the best he can to see whether those stigmas can be eliminated or at least reduced. … That is what this is about.”
- Sterling would prefer to come to settlement with his wife rather than sue her, Blecher tells the Times reporters. Rainey and Fenno believe Blecher implied that Sterling might be willing to OK the deal to sell the team to Ballmer, but only under certain conditions. Sterling wants his wife to withdraw statements from neurologists asserting that he’s mentally incapacitated and restore his power within the family trust, according to Rainey and Fenno. Shelly Sterling reportedly acted as the sole trustee when she negotiated the sale of the Clippers.
- Another move Sterling is apparently thinking about involves challenging the indemnification that would reportedly make the family trust liable for any damages in a suit he filed against the league, Rainey and Fenno write.
- Sterling seemed less willing to put up a legal fight in an interview with Fred Roggin of NBC4 in Los Angeles, saying he’s ready to “move on.” “I feel fabulous, I feel very good. Everything is just the way it should be, really. It may have worked out differently, but it’s good. It’s all good,” Sterling said.
Early Bird Rights
Bird rights offer teams the chance to sign their own free agents without regard to the salary cap, but they don’t apply to every player. Still, there are other salary cap exceptions available for teams to keep players who don’t qualify for Bird rights. One such exception is the Early Bird, available for players formally known as Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agents.
The Bird exception requires a player to spend three seasons with his club without changing teams as a free agent, but Early Bird rights are earned after just two such seasons. Virtually all of the same rules that apply to Bird rights apply to Early Bird rights, with the requirements condensed to two years rather than three. Players still see their Bird clocks restart by changing teams via free agency, being claimed in an expansion draft, or having their rights renounced.
The crucial difference between Bird rights and Early Bird rights involves the limits on contract offers. Bird players can receive maximum salary deals for up to five years, while the most a team can offer an Early Bird free agent is 175% of his previous salary or 104.5% of the league-average salary, whichever is greater. These offers are also capped at four years rather than five, and the new contracts must run for at least two years.
Another distinction between Bird rights and Early Bird rights applies to waivers. Players who are claimed off waivers retain their Early Bird rights, just as they would if they were traded. Those who had Bird rights instead have those reduced to Early Bird rights if they’re claimed off waivers. This rule stems from a 2012 settlement between the league and the union in which J.J. Hickson was given a special exception and retained his full Bird rights for the summer of 2012 even though he’d been claimed off waivers that March.
Teams can benefit from having Early Bird rights instead of full Bird rights when they’re trying to preserve cap space. The cap hold for an Early Bird player is 130% of his previous salary, significantly less than most Bird players, who take up either 150% or 190% of their previous salaries.
One example of a player who will have Early Bird rights this summer is Kirk Hinrich of the Bulls. Hinrich is coming off the second season of a two-year deal with Chicago after having finished the season before with Atlanta. The Bulls can use the Early Bird exception this summer to offer up to 175% of his salary from this year, which would be $7,103,250. It’s likely that will be more than 104.5% of the league average salary, which will probably be close to $6MM when the league calculates the figure during the July Moratorium. Those Early Bird rights might come in handy for Hinrich, who figures to battle D.J. Augustin for the backup job behind Derrick Rose. Augustin only has Non-Bird rights.
A special wrinkle involving Early Bird rights, called the Gilbert Arenas Provision, applies to players who’ve only been in the league for two years. We covered the Gilbert Arenas Provision in another glossary entry.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post, which were written by Luke Adams, appeared on April 19th, 2012 and April 24th, 2013.
Ford’s Latest: Cavs, Embiid, Trades, Payton
It’s unlikely the Cavs will promise any player they’ll draft him at No. 1, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who writes in an Insider-only piece. That means there’s a strong chance that Joel Embiid, who’s scheduled to work out and take a physical for the team, will go through the same with the Bucks and perhaps others. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is pushing new GM David Griffin to make the playoffs next season, Ford hears, adding that he believes Cleveland would prefer to trade the top pick. There’s more from Ford’s piece amid this afternoon’s look at the draft, and we’ll hit the highlights here:
- An NBA GM tells Ford that he’s surprised at the number of picks available via trade, seconding what others have told the ESPN.com scribe. The Celtics, Lakers, Kings, Hornets, Wolves and Suns are all at least open to the idea of trading their lottery picks, Ford hears, though he says via Twitter that the teams are “shopping” those picks, suggesting that they’re actively seeking deals and not just sitting back and listening to offers. In contrast, the Bucks, Sixers, Magic and Jazz are likely to retain their picks, Ford also writes.
- The Bucks, Hawks, Mavs, Blazers and Raptors will probably look to acquire additional first-rounders, Ford adds.
- Sources tell Ford that Elfrid Payton is “in the mix” to go to the Kings at No. 8 overall.
- Ford adds the Bulls to the list of teams that have worked out Jordan Clarkson.
Wizards Sign Randy Wittman To Extension
2:41pm: The deal is official, according to the team, which made the announcement on its website.
“We are pleased with the progress the team has made on the court and with the culture we have been able to build with Randy as our head coach,” GM Ernie Grunfeld said. “We will look to continue that momentum with him deservedly leading this group of dedicated and hard-working players.”
12:47pm: The Wizards and Randy Wittman have agreed on a three-year extension that will give the coach about $3MM per season through 2016/17, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the sides were close to a deal last week. The third season will be a team option, Lee writes.
Wittman’s contract had been set to expire at the end of the month after he led the Wizards closer to the conference finals than they’ve been since 1979, the last time they won multiple games in the second round. Washington also made a 15-game improvement in the regular season, but the coach’s job apparently still remained in jeopardy until the Wizards dispatched the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.
Washington is 91-122 in parts of three seasons under Wittman, who’s 191-329 overall as an NBA head coach, having also spent time with the Cavs and Timberwolves. This season was the first time Wittman’s coached a team to a record of better than .500, so perhaps that explains the Wizards’ reported hesitance to commit to him before he’d proven himself in the playoffs. Still, Washington is on the rise, and up-and-coming stars John Wall and Bradley Beal endorsed the coach at season’s end.