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Author: Chuck Myron

Waivers, China Boost Current Free Agent Market

By | at February 23, 2016 2:46 pm

Trade season is over in the NBA, so free agent signings take on a much more important role as teams look to improve for the stretch run and the playoffs. Not coincidentally, the free agent market is somewhat more ample than it was before the trade deadline. More than a dozen players have hit waivers since deadline day this past Thursday. Four already have new teams, while veterans like J.J. Hickson, Andrea Bargnani and DeJuan Blair are up for grabs.

This is also the time of year when players begin to shake free from China, where several noteworthy names have gone to play in recent years. Michael Beasley, who’s apparently drawing the eye of a handful of NBA clubs, is among the familiar names once more available.

We’ve put together a categorized look at the players who’ve either gone or are going through NBA waivers as well as a sampling of notables from the Chinese Basketball Association. Note that this list doesn’t include players in the D-League or those who’ve recently finished 10-day contracts, since they’ve been readily available to NBA teams all along. It also doesn’t include buyout candidates like Joe Johnson and Kevin Martin, since it remains to be seen whether they’ll be on the market.

Cleared waivers

On waivers (scheduled to clear Wednesday)

Became free agents but already signed

Prominent Chinese league signees whose seasons are over

Still playing in China (team in semifinals)

Note: Andray Blatche‘s Chinese season is over, but his three-year deal is reportedly without any allowance that would let him play in the NBA during the spring. Others who’ve been playing in China may have similar arrangements that haven’t been reported yet.

0 comments Hoops Rumors Originals

Pacific Notes: Varejao, Teletovic, Booker, Karl

By | at February 23, 2016 1:30 pm

Leandro Barbosa helped recruit fellow Brazilian Anderson Varejao to the Warriors, Varejao said, adding that his familiarity with former teammates Shaun Livingston, Marreese Speights and Luke Walton and respect for Golden State’s stars also helped persuade him to sign with the team, observes Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com. Varejao’s agency confirmed the Hawks, Spurs, Thunder and Mavericks were his other suitors, while Marc Stein of ESPN.com also heard the Clippers made an offer.

“I’m glad I came here [to Oakland], because I can tell they love each other,” Varejao said, according to Poole. “That’s what it’s about. When you want to win, you have to be like they are. Friends that have fun out there, have fun in the locker room. I’ve been here for a couple hours, but I can tell. I can tell this group, they love each other.”

See more from the Pacific Division:

  • Mirza Teletovic is on a one-year contract and was reportedly the subject of trade talk between the Suns and Bucks, but he said he’d like to stay in Phoenix as long as possible, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
  • Rookie Devin Booker is the top scorer remaining on the Suns in the wake of injuries to others and the Markieff Morris trade, but while Booker manages the difficulty of having become the focal point for opposing defenses, the Suns want him to work on his defensive development, Coro writes in a separate piece. “His major, major growth opportunities are on defense,” Suns interim coach Earl Watson said. “We don’t care about offense and averaging 20 points a game. We care about defensively being accountable, getting stops, being in the right position, helping your team.”
  • The Kings have been unfair to George Karl, argues Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post, who believes that the coach has much too long a track record of success to put up with the turmoil in Sacramento. Still, Dempsey can’t envision Karl quitting and walking away from the money the team owes him.
1 comment Atlanta Hawks Dallas Mavericks Golden State Warriors Los Angeles Clippers Milwaukee Bucks Oklahoma City Thunder Phoenix Suns Sacramento Kings San Antonio Spurs

And-Ones: Durant, Cap, Beasley, Agents

By | at February 23, 2016 12:20 pm

Some within the Warriors brass aren’t entirely sold on the idea of making significant changes to bring aboard Kevin Durant this summer, reports Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. The team’s primary scenario would involve sign-and-trades that send Harrison Barnes out and Durant in, but that’s a long shot because of all the variables involved, Lowe writes. Signing Durant outright would come at the cost of Barnes and at least two of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli in cap-clearing moves, Lowe surmises, adding that the team worries it might have to give up as many as two first-round picks to entice other teams to take salary off their hands. The Warriors are reportedly well out in front as Durant’s top choice should he leave the Thunder, but he’s offered few hints about what he’ll do in free agency. He and Russell Westbrook have minor disagreements about who gets the ball, but no personal tension exists between then, Lowe hears. See more from around the NBA:

  • The league’s official cap projection for next season has grown to $90MM, up slightly from $89MM, sources tell Lowe for the same piece. Some apparently see it creeping into the $92-$95MM range.
  • Former No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley is drawing the eye of multiple NBA teams, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Beasley can return stateside now that Shandong, the Chinese team he signed with this past summer, is out of the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs. The combo forward averaged 31.9 points in 36.5 minutes per game with 37.1% 3-point shooting against relatively weak competition this season.
  • The players union’s executive committee unanimously approved stiffer enforcement of a rule banning agents from representing both coaches and players, a practice that’s been commonplace in spite of regulations against it, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. A grace period runs through August 22nd before the new policy kicks in, and violators face fines up to $100K after that, Berger notes. Agencies, but not individual agents, are still allowed to work with both coaches and players, as long as they make those relationships known to the players they represent, according to Berger.
  • The union also passed other rules for agents, including increased dues and requirements that agents pass a written test on the collective bargaining agreement and maintain at least one NBA client over a period of five years, as Berger rounds up in the same piece.
0 comments Golden State Warriors Oklahoma City Thunder Salary Cap

Marc Gasol Out For Season

By | at February 23, 2016 10:51 am

Marc Gasol will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery Saturday on his broken right foot, the team announced. The 31-year-old is expected to recovery fully, the team’s statement added, and the club’s brass doesn’t expect the injury to alter his career path, a source tells Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). The technical term for the ailment is a non-displaced Type II fracture of the navicular bone, according to the Grizzlies. It’s not the most serious form of navicular bone fracture, Herrington hears (Twitter link).

The news that Gasol will miss the rest of 2015/16 is no shock, as Marca.com reported a couple of weeks ago, in the immediate wake of the injury, that Gasol was liable to miss four to six months. The team didn’t reveal a specific timeline for the center’s recovery, but GM Chris Wallace hinted in the press release that the team believes Gasol will be ready to start next season.

“Marc remains a cornerstone of our franchise and we are pleased to hear that the surgery went according to plan,” Wallace said. “Marc’s determination and competitive spirit will serve him, his family and the team well as he begins the healing and rehab process from which we expect him to make a full recovery. We are confident we will have Marc back anchoring our team next season and beyond.”

Memphis isn’t in line for any roster relief to compensate for the injury, with the January 15th deadline to apply for a disabled player exception long since passed and too few players on the sideline to qualify for a hardship provision of an extra roster spot. Jordan Adams, out since January because of right knee surgery, is on track to return in the next few weeks, and Memphis has no other long-term injury concerns. However, the loss of Gasol is monumental, and the Grizzlies have already made moves with apparent recognition that they won’t go as far as expected this season, acquiring five draft picks while offloading soon-to-be free agents Jeff Green and Courtney Lee in trades last week. Memphis is 32-23 and in fifth place in the Western Conference, 18 games behind the first-place Warriors.

Gasol is fresh off signing a five-year, maximum-salary deal this past summer, so while the Grizzlies apparently don’t expect lingering effects from the injury, it’s not an auspicious sign for their ability to extract fair value from the contract. He nonetheless displayed continued strong production this season, especially on offense, where his 16.6 points per game were the second most of his career, trailing only last year’s 17.4 per-game scoring average.

Memphis doesn’t appear hesitant to commit as lucrative a contract as necessary to bring back 28-year-old Mike Conley when he enters free agency this summer, even though he, like Gasol, would be well into his 30s by the time a five-year pact would end.

1 comment Newsstand

Heat Led NBA With Four Trades This Season

By | at February 23, 2016 10:41 am

It was a down year for trades compared to last season, but seven NBA teams still managed to pull of multiple swaps during the 2015/16 regular season. None were more active than the Heat, whose months-long salary shedding effort, which dates to the summer, resulted in four trades that brought back only a single player.

A trio of other teams made three trades apiece for varying reasons, from Cleveland’s all-out effort to win the title to the Magic’s cap-clearing philosophy to the Grizzlies’ draft-pick collection. There would have been 10 teams to make multiple swaps this season, but the voided deal between the Pistons, Rockets and Sixers nixed what would have been the second trade for each of those clubs.

Our trade recap for this season shows every trade that took place between opening night and the trade deadline, with links to further details and trades from previous seasons and offseasons. However, it can be tough to see exactly what teams that made more than one move ended up getting and giving up. That’s where this post comes in.

We’ve listed the assets gained (In) and lost (Out) for each team with multiple moves during the 2015/16 regular season, with a “Passing through” category that shows players and picks that a team traded for and later traded away, where applicable.

HEAT (4 trades)
In:

  • Beno Udrih
  • New Orleans’ 2018 second-round pick (top-55 protected)
  • $75K cash

Out:

Passing through:

CAVALIERS (3 trades)
In:

  • Channing Frye
  • Portland’s 2020 second-round pick (top-55 protected)

Out:

Passing through:

  • Cleveland’s unprotected 2020 second-round pick

GRIZZLIES (3 trades)
In: 

Out:

MAGIC (3 trades)
In: 

Out:

CLIPPERS (2 trades)
In:

Out:

PELICANS (2 trades)
In:

  • Jarnell Stokes (waived)
  • Denver’s unprotected 2016 second-round pick
  • Philadelphia’s unprotected 2017 second-round pick
  • $721,300 cash

Out:

  • Ish Smith
  • New Orleans’ 2018 second-round pick (top-55 protected)

TRAIL BLAZERS (2 trades)
In:

Out:

  • Cleveland’s unprotected 2020 second-round pick
  • $75K cash

The RealGM traded picks database was used in the creation of this post.

Which of these teams made out best from its trade activity? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

2 comments Hoops Rumors Originals

Atlantic Notes: Stevens, Brown, Smith, Fredette

By | at February 23, 2016 9:29 am

The Celtics haven’t had any discussions about filling their open roster spot, coach Brad Stevens said Monday night, according to MassLive’s Jay King. Boston is in no rush to sign anyone to fill the vacancy created when team worked a buyout with David Lee, the coach added, but Stevens nonetheless has an idea of what he’d want in a 15th man.

“I think that we’ll continue to look for versatility,” Stevens said. “And we’ll continue to look for shooting if the right people become available, if we feel like it’s a great fit for our team or if we need them based on injuries or whatever the case may be.”

Boston is reportedly eyeing Reggie Evans, though that appears to be a long shot, at best, and he wouldn’t fit the criteria Stevens laid out, as King notes. See more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Tony Brown knows he’s not going to win much as Nets interim coach, but he thinks that if he can make strides in developing the team’s young players, an effort he believes he can achieve in part through a faster tempo, it’ll help his case for his next job, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post relays. It’s unclear whether Brown has a legitimate chance at staying in the Nets head coaching gig beyond this season. “This is not just an audition for [new Nets GM] Sean [Marks]. A lot of teams are looking to see how I’m doing in this position. It’s a résumé-type deal here,” Brown said.
  • Evaluating whether soon-to-be free agent Ish Smith is worth keeping as the starting point guard is one of the key tasks the Sixers face down the stretch of the season, argues Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News, who heard from one rival executive who doubts Smith is any sort of game-changing force.
  • Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis doesn’t seem enthusiastic about the team’s addition of Jimmer Fredette on a 10-day contract, observes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
5 comments Boston Celtics Brooklyn Nets New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers

Lakers Mull Early End To Season For Larry Nance Jr.

By | at February 23, 2016 7:59 am

The Lakers are thinking about having Larry Nance Jr. miss the rest of the season to allow soreness in his surgically repaired right knee to heal, coach Byron Scott said, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The plan for now is to evaluate the knee and see whether he can play in the team’s next game Wednesday, Holmes writes, noting that the Lakers took him out of Monday’s game for what Nance described as precautionary reasons. He’s missed nine of the last 12 games because of the knee.

It’s too late in the season for the Lakers to apply for a disabled player exception, which the team could otherwise receive if Nance had a season-ending injury. The 23-year-old is the only Laker dealing with a serious ailment for now, so a hardship exception for a 16th roster spot, a provision the NBA granted an injury-racked Lakers team late last season, isn’t in play.

The Lakers are in position to worry far more about lottery position and retaining their top-three protected first-round pick than the playoffs, so the greater concern would appear to center on Nance’s long-term health. He tore the ACL in his right knee during the 2013/14 season when he was a junior at the University of Wyoming but recovered well enough to play 31 games as a senior and become the 27th overall pick this past June. The power forward plays a highly athletic style, so any serious knee issue is liable to compromise that. He started 22 games this season before knee trouble flared up last month.

4 comments Los Angeles Lakers

And-Ones: Morris Twins, Gerald Green, Hardaway

By | at February 22, 2016 5:31 pm

Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris thought their close relationship with Suns owner Robert Sarver, which included invitations to Sarver’s home to work out on his basketball court, would ensure advance warning of the trade that sent Marcus to the Pistons, the twins told Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher. It’s not simply a matter of the trade having separated them, Marcus insists, saying to Bucher that he also would have pulled off the deal that sent him to the Pistons if he thought, as the Suns did, that it would give them a better shot at LaMarcus Aldridge.

“Everybody thinking that we’re upset because we don’t get to play with each other,” Marcus said. “Kieff can’t deal with adversity? We’re from north Philadelphia. This isn’t adversity. This is betrayal.”

The Magic offered Channing Frye for Markieff shortly after the deal that sent Marcus to the Pistons this summer, a league source told Bucher, and the Cavaliers and Bulls were interested in Markieff, too, Bucher hears, also confirming an earlier report that the Pistons held interest in reuniting the brothers. Bucher indicates that the twins were closer with former Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby than with Suns GM Ryan McDonough, suggesting that that the reduction in Babby’s role played a part in the end of the run for the Morrises in Phoenix. See more from around the NBA:

0 comments Atlanta Hawks Chicago Bulls Cleveland Cavaliers Detroit Pistons Miami Heat New York Knicks Orlando Magic Phoenix Suns Utah Jazz

Magic Waive Jared Cunningham

By | at February 22, 2016 4:30 pm

4:30pm: The move is official, the Magic’s public relations department announced via Twitter.

4:13pm: The Magic have waived Jared Cunningham, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The team hasn’t publicly acknowledged the move, but it took place today, according to Robbins. The release was expected, with Magic-employed beat writer John Denton going so far as to write that Orlando would cut the former 24th overall pick who came via Thursday’s trade with the Cavaliers. The reason Cunningham lingered on the Magic roster for as long as he did is because they were waiting on Channing Frye, who went to Cleveland in the swap, to pass his physical. He did so earlier today, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Cunningham won his way onto the regular season roster for the Cavs with a strong preseason, averaging 12.4 points in 25.3 minutes per game, enough of a case for Cleveland to risk paying approximately $3.8MM in extra luxury tax penalties on top of their $947,276 obligation on his minimum salary. That risk became even more profound when the Cavs kept him past the date in January when his one-year contract became fully guaranteed. His tight bond with LeBron James surely didn’t hurt his case to stick around in Cleveland, but he averaged only 2.6 points in 8.9 minutes during the regular season, and the Cavs ultimately moved off his salary, and all the tax implications connected with it, on the final day possible, shipping him to the Magic.

The 24-year-old is still in line to make his full $981,348 salary, with the Magic on the hook for $947,276 of it and the league picking up the rest. That assumes he clears waivers, however. Every team except Orlando and Cleveland is eligible to claim him off waivers, as long as they have an open roster spot, and he seems like a decent candidate for a claim, given his first-round pedigree, relative youth and preseason performance.

0 comments Cleveland Cavaliers Orlando Magic Transactions

Pacific Notes: Green, Varejao, Dawson

By | at February 22, 2016 3:35 pm

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers reportedly plans to try to re-sign Jeff Green this summer, and he’s glad to be reunited with his former Celtics player for several reasons. Rivers was effusive in his praise of Green to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, calling him one of the best NBA people ever (Twitter link), and he’s also a fan of what the combo forward can do on the court, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details.

“I really wanted more length,” Rivers said of his goals going into the trade deadline, according to Jones. “When you look at the teams we have to beat, we need to get longer, more athletic, and we need to increase our shooting. And I think with Jeff we did all three of those things. … I thought of all the things that were offered, he was the best available for us.”

See more from the Pacific Division:
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