Frequent 2012/13 Starters Without NBA Contracts
Richard Hamilton started the majority of the regular season games the Bulls played last season, but the three-time All-Star is without NBA work as opening night approaches. Hamilton finds himself with plenty of company. A dozen players started at least 10 games for a single NBA team last season, yet are without an NBA playing contract for 2013/14. Jason Kidd started an even greater share of the Knicks regular season games than Hamilton did, but rather than seek another playing gig, he sought and won the Nets head coaching job.
We’ll list those 12 players here, along with their team from last year and the number of games they started for that club. Anyone who bounced around and collected 10 or more starts with multiple teams isn’t listed — we’re focusing on players who had a significant role with a single team last season:
- Jason Kidd (Knicks) 48 — retired
- Richard Hamilton (Bulls) 45 — unsigned
- Marquis Daniels (Bucks) 33 — unsigned
- Jamaal Tinsley (Jazz) 32 — unsigned
- DeShawn Stevenson (Hawks) 31 — unsigned
- Kurt Thomas (Knicks) 17 — unsigned
- James White (Knicks) 16 — playing in Italy
- Mickael Pietrus (Raptors) 16 — unsigned
- Dahntay Jones (Mavericks) 15 — unsigned (signed with Bulls to camp deal and released)
- Hakim Warrick (Bobcats) 14 — unsigned
- Mickael Gelabale (Timberwolves) 13 — playing in Russia
- Jeremy Pargo (Cavaliers) 11 — playing in Russia
Basketball-Reference was used in the creation of this post.
Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Novak, Knicks, Turner
The Knicks and Raptors hooked up on a significant trade this past summer, with Andrea Bargnani heading to New York. Bargnani and the Knicks visited Toronto this evening for a preseason game, allowing fans and media to revisit the swap. Bargnani called himself “lucky” to have played for the Raptors, as the Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat tweets, though I’m not sure whether the team or the Toronto faithful consider themselves so fortunate, considering their return on the investment in the former No. 1 overall pick. Here’s more fallout from that deal and other news from the Atlantic Division:
- While Bargnani’s departure from the Raptors was long-rumored, Steve Novak didn’t think he’d be leaving the Knicks, Newsday’s Al Iannazzone notes. “I didn’t expect it,” the sharpshooter said. “You understand this is the business we’re in. New York felt like home. It was a place I love to play and I miss. I miss those guys. It’s not easy being traded. But there’s no doubt Toronto is a great city and good place to be.”
- New Knicks GM Steve Mills is concerned about the team’s backup centers, but in talking with reporters today, he gave the thumbs-up to Bargnani and fellow offseason addition Beno Udrih, and declared his firm belief in coach Mike Woodson. Iannazzone and Marc Berman of the New York Post and provide details.
- If the Sixers don’t extend Evan Turner‘s contract before the October 31st deadline, a strong performance from him this season would boost his trade value and his worth on the free agent market, benefiting both team and player, writes Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Each NBA Team’s Largest Salary Commitment
We looked awhile back at the players who will make the highest salaries for their respective teams this season, but that post didn’t include the context of the money teams have committed beyond next summer. Large contracts that only cover one season are often highly coveted trade commodities in the NBA, but lucrative, long-term deals are often the most difficult to move.
A glance at each team’s largest salary commitment reveals a mix of franchise players and deals that have become albatrosses for front office executives. Derrick Rose is the face of the Bulls, and as long as he doesn’t suffer another devastating injury, the nearly $78MM he’ll make over the next four seasons won’t hurt the team. Amar’e Stoudemire is a role player for the Knicks these days, but no one on the team is due more money than he is.
There are plenty of oddities on this list. The Lakers have only four contracts that run past this season, so their largest commitment is Kobe Bryant‘s massive $30MM+ expiring contract. The Jazz have a few more deals that extend beyond this summer, but none of them add up to more than the $11,046,000 that Richard Jefferson will make in the final season of his contract this year. Chris Bosh and LeBron James have option clauses in their deals that will allow them to leave the Heat next summer, but in the meantime they share the designation as the Heat’s largest salary commitment, having signed identical contracts in 2010. Arron Afflalo of the Sixers and Goran Dragic of the Suns are due $22.5MM apiece from their respective teams, making them each club’s most sizable commitment.
The Pacers, Kings and Wizards handed out maximum-salary extensions this offseason, and because those maximums won’t be known until next summer, we don’t know exactly what Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall will be making. In the meantime, It’s safe to assume that each of them represents his team’s largest salary commitment, and the salary figures listed for them below are estimates based on this year’s maximum salary. The rookie scale extension deadline is less than three weeks away, so a few players whose names aren’t found here might wind up as their team’s most expensive commitment by opening night.
This list doesn’t include non-guaranteed money or team option years, since clubs aren’t truly committed to that salary. It does include player and early-termination options, and they’re noted where applicable.
- Atlanta Hawks: Al Horford, $36MM through 2015/16
- Boston Celtics: Gerald Wallace, $30,317,565 through 2015/16
- Brooklyn Nets: Deron Williams, $81,594,530 through 2016/17 (final season is ETO)
- Charlotte Bobcats: Al Jefferson, $40.5MM through 2015/16 (final season is player option)
- Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose, $77,911,880 through 2016/17
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Jarrett Jack, $19.4MM through 2016/17 (doesn’t include $5.8MM in non-guaranteed money)
- Dallas Mavericks: Jose Calderon, $29MM through 2016/17
- Denver Nuggets: Ty Lawson, $48MM through 2016/17
- Detroit Pistons: Josh Smith, $54MM through 2016/17
- Golden State Warriors: Andre Iguodala, $48MM through 2016/17
- Houston Rockets: Dwight Howard, $87,591,270 through 2016/17 (final season is player option)
- Indiana Pacers: Roy Hibbert, $82,064,191 through 2018/19 (estimate; actual value of recently signed extension won’t be known until next summer)
- Los Angeles Clippers: Chris Paul, $107,343,475 through 2017/18 (final season is ETO)
- Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant, $30,453,805 through 2013/14
- Memphis Grizzlies: Zach Randolph, $35,176,666 through 2014/15 (final season is player option)
- Miami Heat: Chris Bosh and LeBron James (tie), $61,770,000 through 2015/16 (2014/15 is ETO, 2015/16 is player option)
- Milwaukee Bucks: Larry Sanders, $47,053,368 through 2017/18
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Nikola Pekovic, $60MM through 2017/18
- New Orleans Pelicans: Eric Gordon, $44,696,813 through 2015/16 (final season is player option)
- New York Knicks: Amar’e Stoudemire, $45,090,881 through 2014/15 (final season is ETO)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Russell Westbrook, $64,926,562 through 2016/17
- Orlando Magic: Arron Afflalo, $22.5MM through 2015/16 (final season is player option)
- Philadelphia 76ers: Thaddeus Young, $28,232,608 through 2015/16 (final season is ETO)
- Phoenix Suns, Goran Dragic, $22.5MM through 2015/16 (final season is player option)
- Portland Trail Blazers: Nicolas Batum, $35,296,500 through 2015/16
- Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins, $65,887,537 through 2017/18 (estimate; actual value of recently signed extension won’t be known until next summer)
- San Antonio Spurs: Tiago Splitter, $36MM through 2016/17
- Toronto Raptors: DeMar DeRozan, $38MM through 2016/17
- Utah Jazz: Richard Jefferson, $11,046,000 through 2013/14
- Washington Wizards: John Wall, $86,242,113 through 2018/19 (estimate; actual value of recently signed extension won’t be known until next summer)
ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.
Eastern Rumors: Udoh, Clark, Bargnani
Royce White this evening made his first appearance in any sort of NBA game since last preseason, and though the former first-round pick completed a nifty coast-to-coast layup, he committed four fouls in the span of a minute and 26 seconds. It’s questionable, at best, whether the Sixers will pick up his 2014/15 option by the deadline to do so at the end of this month, as Mark Deeks noted yesterday in a piece for SB Nation. Among the latest chatter out of the East, there’s word on another player who’s unlikely to get good news as a contract-related deadline approaches:
- Ekpe Udoh‘s name emerged in trade talks this past summer, which would seem to counter any slim chance he has of receiving an extension to his rookie scale contract before the October 31st deadline. His odds of an extension grew worse today as the Bucks announced that he’ll be sidelined as long as six weeks after undergoing right knee surgery.
- Earl Clark and coach Mike Brown only briefly worked together on the Lakers, but Clark says Brown’s presence in Cleveland was a major reason why the forward decided to sign with the Cavaliers, according to HoopsWorld’s Steve Kyler (Twitter link).
- Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal believes Andrea Bargnani won’t have any problems fitting in with Carmelo Anthony on the court, and posits that the three draft picks the Knicks gave up in the trade to acquire the former No. 1 overall pick can easily be recouped through future deals. I’d argue that it’s not so easy to acquire draft picks these days, given that the 2013 trade deadline passed without a single first-rounder changing hands.
- We rounded up a few items from the Central Division this afternoon.
Knicks Looking For Backup Center
New Knicks president and GM Steve Mills identified backup center as his team’s most significant area of need, and it’s “something we clearly need to worry about,” he told reporters today, including Newsday’s Al Iannazzone (Twitter links). Mills isn’t sure if Amare Stoudemire will be ready for the start of the regular season, Iannazzone notes via Twitter, and Jeremy Tyler is out with a broken foot. That leaves Cole Aldrich as the only true center behind Tyson Chandler, and though Mills likes what he’s seen out of Aldrich so far, it appears he’d like to upgrade the position before opening night.
The Knicks have a few other internal candidates who could conceivably play out of position, like Kenyon Martin, Andrea Bargnani and Josh Powell. Still, the team appears unwilling to put a heavy load on Martin, and Bargnani and Powell are much more suited to power forward. The Knicks have a full complement of 20 players, so if they were to add someone to their preseason roster, they’d have to part with someone else.
Jason Collins would be the most high-profile signing the team could make, and the Knicks reportedly showed interest in him before deciding to go with Aldrich and Tyler instead. Both Aldrich and Tyler are on non-guaranteed deals, so New York could revisit their decisions to add them over Collins if they wish. The free agent market for experienced centers is otherwise thin, though Daniel Orton, whom the Thunder waived yesterday, is among those available. The Knicks could also attempt to swing a trade, though we haven’t heard anything indicating that they’re working toward that.
Eastern Rumors: Blue, Brown, Chris Smith
The Heat could again be the class of the NBA, while the Sixers have a strong shot at the league's worst record. Still, it appears they were competing over at least one player this offseason. Here's more on that and the rest of the day's news from the Eastern Conference.
- Undrafted rookie Vander Blue had an offer to join the Heat for camp before he signed instead with the Sixers, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Kwame Brown is a buyout candidate, but if he and the Sixers part ways this season, it won't be because he negatively affected the young team's chemistry, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Chris Smith acknowledges the public perception that there's nepotism at play behind his presence at Knicks camp for the second straight year, but J.R. Smith's brother tells Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com that he simply uses it as motivation.
- Pistons players are welcoming the coaching change from Lawrence Frank to Maurice Cheeks, with some of them citing Cheeks' playing experience as a plus, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Would-Be Third-Round Picks On Camp Rosters
There hasn't been a third round in the NBA draft in 25 years, but that doesn't mean there are only two rounds' worth of useful players ready to enter the NBA every year. The league has a long history with successful players who didn't hear their names called on draft night, and perhaps the most notable example these days is Jeremy Lin. There's also Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem, both of whom played key roles for the Heat's championship team last summer, and Jose Calderon, who signed a four-year, $29MM contract with the Mavericks this summer. Most undrafted guys who make it to the NBA don't have quite so profound an effect, but each year it seems at least a few of them make their presence felt.
There are 26 players currently on NBA camp rosters who were eligible for the 2013 draft but went unpicked. Robert Covington of the Rockets is the only one with a fully guaranteed contract for this season. None of them came directly from overseas, and all of them played NCAA basketball last season.
There are plenty of players on camp rosters who were draft eligible in previous years and are still looking for their first NBA action, but they're not included here. This list simply shows the players who might have been picked in the third round, if it still existed. They're listed by their NBA teams, with their college teams in parentheses.
- 76ers: Vander Blue (Marquette), Rodney Williams (Minnesota), Khalif Wyatt (Temple)
- Bobcats: Troy Daniels, (VCU) Abdul Gaddy (Washington), James Southerland (Syracuse)
- Bucks: Trey McKinney Jones (Miami, Fla.)
- Bulls: None
- Cavaliers: Matthew Dellavedova (St. Mary's), Kenny Kadji (Miami, Fla.)
- Celtics: Chris Babb (Iowa State), Damen Bell-Holter (Oral Roberts)
- Clippers: Brandon Davies (BYU)
- Grizzlies: None
- Hawks: Adonis Thomas (Memphis)
- Heat: Larry Drew II (UCLA)
- Jazz: Ian Clark (Belmont)
- Kings: Trent Lockett (Marquette)
- Knicks: C.J. Leslie (N.C. State)
- Lakers: Elias Harris (Gonzaga)
- Magic: None
- Mavericks: None
- Nets: None
- Nuggets: Reginald Buckner (Mississippi)
- Pacers: None
- Pelicans: None
- Pistons: None
- Raptors: None
- Rockets: Robert Covington (Tennessee State)
- Spurs: Myck Kabongo (Texas)
- Suns: None
- Thunder: Rodney McGruder (Kansas State)
- Timberwolves: None
- Trail Blazers: Richard Howell (N.C. State), E.J. Singler (Oregon)
- Warriors: Seth Curry (Duke), DeWayne Dedmon (USC)
- Wizards: None
RealGM.com was used in the creation of this post.
Pacific Notes: Vasquez, Abdur-Rahim, Henry
Shaquille O'Neal's purchase of a stake in the Kings last month brings about an odd coda to the rivalry between his current team and the Lakers, the franchise with which O'Neal tormented Sacramento both on the court and off in the early 2000s. This season could be the first since that time that neither the Kings nor the Lakers make the playoffs, so the teams have little to fight over these days, even if some fans still harbor animosity. Here's more on a pair of franchises looking to regain the glory of years past:
- Extension candidate Greivis Vasquez grew up a Kings fan, and he wants to stay in Sacramento for the long haul, The Bee's Ailene Voisin writes.
- Shareef Abdur-Rahim is the only member of the Kings front office left over from last season, but the team has entrusted him with plenty of responsibility, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details.
- Xavier Henry did plenty last night to help his case for a spot on the Lakers opening-night roster, but his 29 points against the Warriors belie his inconsistency during camp, Medina notes as he profiles the former lottery pick's path to L.A.
- Last season, the Lakers allowed the 18th most points per 100 possessions in the league, and they lost a pair of former Defensive Player of the Year winners in Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News examines how some of the team's new additions can help the club overcome its shortcomings on defense.
Poll: Which Free Agent Is Most Likely To Sign?
Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors this week ran down several notable veterans who remain without a deal as camps and the preseason begin. Since his report three days ago, we've already heard more about one of the vets he listed, as it appears representatives for Mickael Pietrus have contacted the Timberwolves, who are down a small forward in the wake of Chase Budinger's injury. Luke didn't mention DeShawn Stevenson, who also drew mention in that Wolves report, or Daniel Gibson, who's piqued the interest of the Nuggets.
Still, the seven free agents Luke examined are among the most intriguing names on the market, and with injuries already a factor for some teams, it would be surprising if all of them go the entire season without another NBA contract. We'll add Stevenson and Gibson to the mix as we ask which free agent is most likely to sign with a team at some point in 2013/14. If you feel like there's another veteran who's a more likely signee than anyone in the group listed here, let us know in the comments.
Poll: Which Free Agent Is Most Likely To Sign?
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Richard Hamilton 23% (97)
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Daniel Gibson 18% (75)
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Stephen Jackson 16% (67)
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Rodrigue Beaubois 15% (63)
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Mickael Pietrus 11% (47)
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DeShawn Stevenson 6% (27)
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Jason Collins 4% (17)
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Josh Howard 4% (17)
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Chris Duhon 3% (11)
Total votes: 421
Wojnarowski On Bulls, Thibodeau, Forman, Rose
Last night was a milestone for the Bulls, as Derrick Rose saw his first action since the 2012 playoffs in Chicago's preseason opener against the Pacers. The euphoria of the former MVP's return from injury masks deep divides within the Bulls organization, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reveals. The ability of coach Tom Thibodeau and the front office to work together may hinge on the transcendence of Rose's talent, Wojnarowski argues as he dishes on the instability in Chicago:
- Rose "deeply valued" former assistant coach Ron Adams, Wojnarowski writes. Adams, a close confidant of Thibodeau's who was let go this summer, had clashed with GM Gar Forman. "Ron didn't drink the Kool-Aid there, and this was a message from Gar to Thibs that he's running the show, especially on picking the players," a source said to Wojnarowski.
- Thibodeau waited months to sign his extension because he was worried it would make him further beholden to Forman. One of Wojnarowski's sources described the relationship between Thibodeau and Forman as "toxic."
- Luol Deng is more disappointed than he's letting on about the team's failure to engage in serious negotiations to extend his own contract, according to Wojnarowski, who identifies the small forward as a deadline trade candidate.