California Rumors: Gay, Kings, Clippers, Warriors
Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee suggests the Kings will engage in extension talks with Rudy Gay if he’s productive and fills the team’s longstanding void at small forward. That’s similar to the stance former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo took after he acquired him last season, and Colangelo tells Voisin that he thinks Sacramento’s Gay trade signifies the Kings’ clear intention to increase their talent-level, rather than sell off assets. It’s a bit surprising, considering some GMs feel Gay wouldn’t be worthy of even the midlevel exception, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote Monday. There’s more from Voisin’s piece among our glance at California’s teams:
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro suggests that his team is indeed lacking enough talent, Voisin notes. “We’re not kidding anybody,” D’Alessandro said before Monday’s victory over the Mavs. “We’re a long way from being a completed product. We have five wins. We need players here.”
- The NBA probably would have allowed the Clippers to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett as well as Doc Rivers this summer if they hadn’t been so transparent in their attempts to obtain all three at once, several sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Rivers says his job this year would be easier if Pierce and Garnett were around, and Beck hears that Rivers “absolutely” wanted to bring the two former Celtics with him to L.A.
- Rivers explained why the Clippers are ready to add Stephen Jackson and offered a strong hint that the pact will be non-guaranteed, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times passes along. “He’s had his issues. There’s no doubt about it,” Rivers said. “He’s breathing and living and I think if that’s true, you should always give a guy another chance.…The good news is contractually, if it doesn’t work, we’ll walk.”
- Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group bats around a few possible upgrades to the Warriors bench, surmising that GM Bob Myers and company are more likely to look for cheaper options than ones that push them into tax territory.
How Raptors/Kings Trade Works Financially
NBA trades are rarely simple exchanges of players. Teams exercise flexibility when they swap their players for another team’s, as the Kings and Raptors did Monday, and they also often gain even more flexibility as a result. That’s indeed the case for Toronto and Sacramento, as their seven-player trade allowed both teams to acquire trade exceptions. Raptors can create an exception worth $4,583,432, while the Kings can make one for $2,316,429. The teams can use these exceptions in later trades to take on players in transactions that wouldn’t otherwise work, since they’re both above the salary cap.
Toronto can accomplish this by structuring the swap as two separate trades. The first would be Patrick Patterson ($3,105,301) and Greivis Vasquez ($2,150,188) for Aaron Gray ($2,690,875) and Quincy Acy ($788,872). The Raptors don’t get an exception from this part of the deal, since only non-simultaneous trades bear exceptions, and teams can’t surrender more than one player in a non-simultaneous trade. This four-player swap just barely fits within the the salary-matching framework for simultaneous deals involving less than $9.8MM in outgoing money. A team’s incoming salary must be no more than 150%, plus $100K, greater than what the other team gives up. Toronto’s incoming salary comes to $5,255,489. That’s above 150% more than Sacramento’s side, but within that $100K cushion.
Placing those four players in a simultaneous trade allows the Raptors to put together the part of the deal that yields the exception. Rudy Gay and his $17,888,932 salary would go in a single, non-simultaneous transaction in exchange for John Salmons ($7,583,000) and Chuck Hayes ($5,722,500). The difference between Gay’s salary and the combined pay for Salmons and Hayes is $4,583,432, which is the amount of Toronto’s exception.
Sacramento’s best strategy appears to involve breaking the deal into three parts. The Kings could make the same exchange of Gay for Salmons and Hayes, though from Sacramento’s perspective, that’s a simultaneous trade, since the Kings are giving up more than one player. It fits the salary-matching requirements for a simultaneous trade in which a club gives up between $9.8MM and $19.6MM in salary, since Gay’s salary is less than $5MM more than what Salmons and Hayes make.
The Kings can also line up Vasquez and Gray as a single, simultaneous transaction. Sacramento is giving up only one player, but the Kings would take back slightly more money, so there wouldn’t be an exception for them if it were a non-simultaneous trade. Their salaries are within the salary-matching framework of 150% plus $100K for deals of this size. That wouldn’t be the case if the Kings made Acy a part of this swap. Usually, players on minimum-salary contracts, like Acy, wouldn’t count toward incoming salary in a simultaneous trade, but Acy’s on a three-year deal. That means he wasn’t signed using the minimum-salary exception, and therefore, he can’t be acquired using the minimum-salary exception. In other words, his salary needs to be taken into account, pushing a theoretical three-player deal involving him, Gray and Vasquez over the salary-matching limit.
So, Acy goes into the non-simultaneous trade from which Sacramento can draw its exception. The Kings net $2,316,429 by subtracting Acy’s salary from Patterson’s. Taking on Acy’s salary in another part of the trade would allow Sacramento to collect an exception worth Patterson’s entire salary, but there doesn’t appear to be a way to make that happen.
Teams aren’t obligated to structure their transactions in a way that creates the largest possible trade exceptions, but it’s usually to their advantage to do so. The exception the Raptors created via this summer’s Andrea Bargnani trade was too small to accommodate any of the players from this week’s deal. Teams have one year from the date of the trade to use the exceptions, and many times they simply expire. For now, the exceptions the Kings and Raptors created with their trade this week gives each team an additional weapon, with the trade deadline looming in a little more than two months.
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.
Lowe On Nuggets, Faried, Miller, Hamilton
The Nuggets have won nine of their last 11 and are in line to receive a high 2014 draft pick from the Knicks, as we explained earlier this morning. Still, their 13-8 record would only be enough for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, and as the changes after last season’s 57-win campaign demonstrated, playoff success is the only barometer that matters. New GM Tim Connelly tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe he’s prepared for whatever happens this year. “We have the chance to make some noise,” Connelly said. “And if we’re not good enough, we’ve got some alternate plans.”
Lowe has more from Connelly and details what some of those “alternate plans” might be:
- Trade talk involving Kenneth Faried has died down, but executives from other teams expect Denver to trade Andre Miller before the deadline. Still, the Nuggets “adore” him, Lowe writes.
- Rival front offices think the Nuggets are prepared to trade Jordan Hamilton, and they don’t believe Denver will expect much in return.
- Lowe also hears from execs around the league who view the Nuggets roster as one that might benefit from a strip-down, in spite of all the team’s good-but-not-great talent. Denver nonetheless prefers remaining competitive. “I think our owner would have let us do whatever we wanted,” Connelly said. “But a full-scale rebuild is not the be-all, end-all. It’s a four- to five-year process. And coming off a 57-win season, that’s just not something I would have pushed. There are too many good players here. It would be a disservice not to try, and not to try to win big.”
- Connelly isn’t sold on the idea that freeing cap space is a panacea. “We have to be realistic about where we stand in the free agency pecking order,” he said.
Raptors Notes: Gay, Valanciunas, DeRozan
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive was the catalyst behind Sacramento’s trade for Rudy Gay, and he’s wanted the 6’9″ forward for months, regardless of the advanced metrics that suggest Gay is no star, a source tells TNT’s David Aldridge. His enthusiasm allowed the Raptors to unload a player that GM Masai Ujiri clearly wasn’t as high on. Here’s more on the swap along with other news from Toronto:
- Jonas Valanciunas is the Raptor least likely to be traded, but even he isn’t entirely off-limits as Ujiri attempts to overhaul the team, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. A desire to sell tickets and the expectation that Gay would raise his trade value helped keep the Raptors from trading Gay before the season, Wolstat suggests.
- Wolstat adds more thoughts on the trade in a separate piece, passing along word from a source who says it’s likely the Raptors trade one or both of DeMar DeRozan and Amir Johnson.
- It’s clear that Ujiri is rebuilding the Raptors, but it’s not as easy to see what he’s building toward, writes Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.
- Andrew Wiggins isn’t the lock for the No. 1 overall pick he once appeared to be, but there’s no way the Raptors would pass him up if they won the draft lottery, writes Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who looks at what several teams would do with the top pick (Insider only).
Raptors Waive D.J. Augustin
The Raptors have waived D.J. Augustin, the team announced. The move is a precursor to the completion of the seven-player trade Toronto and the Kings agreed to last night. The deal left the Raptors with 16 players, forcing them to drop one before the swap becomes official. Augustin signed a one-year, $1.267MM deal in the offseason, and since it’s fully guaranteed, his cap hit will remain on Toronto’s books.
The move spares Dwight Buycks and Julyan Stone, who also appeared candidates to be cut. Stone might have made the most sense, since his partially guaranteed contract for the minimum salary has in essence become non-guaranteed, but he remains, as does Buycks, who also makes less than Augustin. There was “no chance” the Raptors would let go of Stone, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
It’s been a tough comedown for Augustin, the ninth overall pick in the 2008 draft who turned down an extension from the Bobcats a couple of years ago, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer notes (on Twitter). He underperformed after signing a one-year, $3.5MM contract with the Pacers last season, and was averaging just 8.2 minutes per game in 10 appearances for Toronto this year.
Quincy Pondexter To Miss Rest Of Season
Grizzlies swingman Quincy Pondexter is expected to miss the rest of the season with a broken foot, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The team says it’s a tarsal navicular stress fracture in his right foot, according to a press release that lists Pondexter as out indefinitely. The Grizzlies have nonetheless confirmed to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal that Pondexter is likely out for the year (Twitter link).
The 25-year-old sustained the injury Saturday in a game against the Warriors. He’d just signed a four-year, $14MM rookie scale extension before the October 31st deadline. Concerns about his foot likely helped prompt the team’s interest in signing a free agent guard. Memphis is reportedly bringing Kendall Marshall, Seth Curry, Darius Morris and Reggie Williams in for workouts. The Grizzlies have the minimum 13 players on their roster, meaning there’s room for as many as two additions.
Pondexter was averaging slightly fewer minutes than last season, when he set career highs in nearly every category. His three-point shooting has been off as well, with the former 26th overall pick having connected on 32.4% of his three-point attempts compared to 39.5% last year. It’s nonetheless a significant loss for a 9-10 team already reeling from a long-term injury to Marc Gasol. Pondexter’s absence could mean more playing time for rookies Nick Calathes and Jamaal Franklin, depending any roster moves the team makes.
Southwest Rumors: Grizzlies, Asik, Dalembert
Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reveals the details behind the Grizzlies‘ bizarre parting with assistant coach Barry Hecker in the middle of last season’s playoffs. Hecker butted heads with former head coach Lionel Hollins as well as Dave Joerger, who was then a fellow assistant, and he alleges that Joerger was after Hollins’ job as early as two years ago. There’s more on the Grizzlies coaching situation among the latest news from the Southwest Division:
- The Grizzlies front office is beginning to wonder if they made the right hire with their decision to promote Joerger, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports notes in his weekly power rankings. Joerger’s job is nonetheless safe, Spears adds.
- An executive tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio not to rule out the Celtics and Bucks as possible destinations for Rockets center Omer Asik. Other recent reports have also linked those teams to Asik.
- The Mavericks planned to make Samuel Dalembert their starting center when they signed him to a two-year deal this past offseason, but he’s in danger of falling out of the rotation, observes Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
- The Spurs recalled Aron Baynes and Nando De Colo from the D-League today, the team announced. De Colo had 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Baynes put up 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Austin Toros last night, hours after the Spurs sent them down along with Malcolm Thomas.
Kings/Raptors Trade Reaction
News of the pending trade between the Raptors and Kings overshadowed Kobe Bryant‘s return to the Lakers, which was supposed to be the story of Sunday night around the NBA. There are plenty of reverberations in the wake of the deal that featured Rudy Gay, and we’ll round them up here:
- The Raptors were at the 15-man roster limit before the trade, and since they’re acquiring four players and giving up three, they’ll have to cut someone. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun initially figured D.J. Augustin was ripe for the chopping block before hearing Dwight Buycks was most likely to go (Twitter links). HoopsWorld’s Steve Kyler pegs Julyan Stone as the probable cut, but Wolstat (on Twitter) thinks Stone is most likely to stick.
- There was increasing mutual dissatisfaction between the Raptors and Gay, note Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. It’s almost certain that Gay will exercise his $19.3MM option for next season, Wojnarowski and Spears write, and the Kings didn’t ask Gay about his plans regarding the option before agreeing to the trade, USA Today’s Sam Amick tweets.
- The Raptors might not be weakening their team this season, Kyler writes in his NBA AM piece, figuring the players they’re acquiring might be much better than the ones they’re sending out. Kyler also suggests the Kings may use the next couple of months to evaluate Gay to decide whether to flip him at the trade deadline.
- Raptors coach Dwane Casey remains on shaky ground, sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe. The Raptors spoke to nearly every team in the league about Gay, Lowe writes, specifically mentioning the Pistons, Bucks and Cavs.
- Toronto brass had already decided to rebuild before they found a taker for Gay, but sources told SportsNet’s Michael Grange just two days prior to the deal that GM Masai Ujiri had essentially given up on what seemed like a futile search for a trade partner.
- In the same piece, Grange writes that league sources were stunned that the Kings were willing to take on Gay, with one executive asking rhetorically, “Doesn’t Sacramento watch the games?”
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro has been struggling to accept the idea of another losing season for Sacramento, which helps explain why he’s been so active on the trade market, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
Cavs Owner Wants To Keep Dion Waiters
Dion Waiters has emerged as a trade candidate within the past couple of weeks, as a report late last month suggested the Cavs were shopping last year’s No. 4 overall pick while the team insisted it was merely fielding calls for him. Still, there appears to be little motivation at the highest level of the organization to trade Waiters. Owner Dan Gilbert is fond of the shooting guard and wants to keep him, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
Broussard also notes that the relationship between Waiters and backcourt mate Kyrie Irving is improving. The ESPN scribe reported last month that rumors of a fight between Irving and Waiters were false, though Waiters and Tristan Thompson apparently engaged in a heated argument during a recent team meeting.
The Bulls, Knicks and Sixers have been among the teams rumored to be in the mix for Waiters, who turns 22 on Tuesday. Rival executives have expressed disbelief that the Cavs would give up on Waiters so soon, though the majority of Hoops Rumors readers who voted believe Cleveland should trade him away.
Thunder Willing To Trade Jeremy Lamb
The Thunder are open to trading Jeremy Lamb for a more experienced and consistent bench player, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who tucks the news into his leaguewide notes column. Lamb, the 12th overall pick in 2012, came to Oklahoma City as part of the James Harden blockbuster on the eve of last season.
The onus has been on the 6’5″ shooting guard to step up this year following the departure of veteran Kevin Martin in an offseason sign-and-trade. Lamb spent much of last year shuttling back and forth between the Thunder and their D-League affiliate. He’s averaging 8.9 points on 45% shooting in 19.9 minutes per game, but that’s hardly the impact that Harden or Martin, who preceded Lamb in the role as backup wing player, had during their tenures in Oklahoma City.
There hasn’t been any drop-off in the win-loss column for the Thunder in spite of the lack of an established sixth man, as they’re 15-4 following last night’s blowout of the league-best Pacers. Lamb, just 21, is still developing and in the second season of a four-year rookie contract that will give him a little more than $2.1MM this year, but GM Sam Presti is apparently willing to seize on an opportunity for an immediate upgrade. The Thunder’s flexibility is limited, since they’re only about $1.4MM shy of the luxury tax line.