Rashard Lewis Doesn’t Plan To Opt Out
Heat reserve forward Rashard Lewis has a minimum-salary player option for next season, and he plans to exercise it, as HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram tweets. Lewis signed a two-year deal with the Heat last summer after the Pelicans bought him out of his previous contract for nearly $13.5MM.
"I'm with the Miami Heat. I don't plan on opting out at all," Lewis said.
The 33-year-old is set to make $1,399,507 in what would be his 16th NBA season in 2013/14, the minimum for a player with 10 or more years of experience. He saw scant playing time for the Heat during the regular season, averaging 5.2 points in 14.4 minutes per game, the lowest numbers in both categories since his rookie season. In the playoffs, he's been relegated to garbage time, logging just 40 total minutes.
He'd be hard-pressed to make much more than the minimum on the open market, though money may not be much of an object for a player whose career earnings totaled nearly $139MM coming into this season, according to Basketball-Reference. That's largely the product of a six-year, $113MM deal he signed with the Magic back in 2007. This was to have been the final season of that deal, and he forfeited about $9.3MM when New Orleans waived him following his trade from the Wizards. If the Pelicans had kept him, he'd have made a staggering $22,699,551 this year.
With Lewis likely around again next season, the Heat figure to have more tax trouble. Miami has more than $86MM in salary on the books for 2013/14.
Offseason Outlook: Detroit Pistons
Guaranteed Contracts
- Charlie Villanueva ($8,580,000)1
- Jonas Jerebko ($4,500,000)
- Greg Monroe ($4,086,454)
- Brandon Knight ($2,793,960)
- Andre Drummond ($2,462,400)
- Kyle Singler ($1,045,000)
- Khris Middleton ($788,872)
Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Contracts
- Rodney Stuckey ($8,500,000; guaranteed for $4,000,000)2
- Slava Kravtsov ($1,500,000; guaranteed for $500,000)3
- Kim English ($788,872)4
Free Agents / Cap Holds
- Jose Calderon ($16,402,500)5
- Corey Maggette ($16,386,207)
- Jason Maxiell ($9,500,000)
- Will Bynum ($6,175,000)
- No. 8 pick ($2,210,900)
- (Ben Wallace - $4,268,160)
- (Vernon Macklin - $788,872)
Draft Picks
- 1st Round (8th overall)
- 2nd Round (37th overall)
- 2nd Round (56th overall)
Cap Outlook
- Guaranteed Salary: $28,756,686
- Options: $0
- Non-Guaranteed Salary: $6,288,872
- Cap Holds: $55,731,6395
- Total: $90,777,197
The last time Pistons president Joe Dumars had this much cap flexibility, he flubbed it, signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to lucrative long-term deals. Gordon is off the books, at the cost of a future first-round pick sent to Charlotte via trade, while Villanueva remains, with one year left on his deal. There were rumors toward the end of this past season that Dumars might not have another crack at remaking the roster over the summer, and executives had been keeping an eye on the team's coaching search to gauge Dumars' standing with owner Tom Gores, who retained Phil Jackson as a pro-bono adviser.
Maurice Cheeks got the coaching job, and presumed Jackson favorite Brian Shaw apparently never received an interview, so it looks like Dumars still wields the hammer in Detroit. Whether the Hall of Fame guard continues his nearly 30-year association with the team for much longer may rest on the outcome of this offseason. Now that the team's nearly two-month coaching search is over, Dumars' attention must shift to a series of decisions he has to make before free agency begins in July.
The Pistons have a draft pick in the middle of the lottery for the fourth straight year, and they've chosen wisely so far, nabbing Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. The jury's still out on Brandon Knight, but there's still a chance he could develop into another steal. Rodney Stuckey, a find from the middle of the first round in 2007, faces an uncertain future. The Pistons can either keep him for the final season of his contract or save $4.5MM of his $8.5MM salary and part ways with him by June 30th. That's one day after Dumars has to make a $1MM call on whether to fully guarantee the contract of backup center Slava Kravtsov, who saw action in only 25 games as a rookie this past season.
Dumars and the Pistons will have to continue to move swiftly once the July Moratorium is over on July 10th. Eight-year veteran Jose Calderon has a cap hold equivalent to the maximum salary for a player of his experience, and that will likely tie up more than $16MM on the team's books. Dumars wants to re-sign him, but probably not for the max. Most high-priority players and teams come to agreements during the moratorium and wait to make their deals official once the date passes, but if the former Raptors point guard hesitates to make his decision, the Pistons must give serious consideration to renouncing his rights to make room for other free agents. The same goes for Corey Maggette, whom the Pistons also reportedly want to re-sign. His cap hold is for more than $16MM, too, and if Maggette holds out for more than the minimum-salary deal the Pistons would likely offer, the team will almost assuredly renounce his rights, too. Dumars also must decide by July 12th whether to guarantee Kim English's contract.
Renouncing a player's rights doesn't mean the team can't re-sign the player. It just means the team loses whatever non-Bird, Early Bird or full Bird rights it had to go over the salary cap to do so. At most, the Pistons will have around $30MM worth of cap space, but if they don't renounce the rights to at least a few of their players, they'll never officially go below the cap. Still, it would be surprising if they didn't wind up with cap room, especially since they appear ready to move on from Jason Maxiell and Will Bynum, whom they talked about trading at the deadline.
Another way to create cap space would be to amnesty Villanueva. His is the only contract remaining from before the lockout, aside from the rookie-scale deal of Monroe, who most assuredly won't be amnestied. Villanueva is entering the final year of his pact, so if any Piston winds up on amnesty waivers, it would be Villanueva and it would be this summer. The 28-year-old returned to Detroit's rotation this past year after appearing in only 13 games in 2011/12, but his contributions hardly merit a salary in excess of $8.5MM next season. The only reason Dumars might not amnesty Villanueva is if the team simply doesn't want to spend extra money on a player who wouldn't be on the roster next year, but I don't think owner Tom Gores wants to pinch pennies like that. Villanueva seems like a goner.
If the Pistons ink Calderon for a starting salary somewhere between $6MM and $8MM a year, as many scribes predict, they'd have enough flexibility to sign a marquee, max-money free agent, regardless of whether Villanueva is still on the books. Of course, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul don't seem likely to wind up in Detroit until their respective teams make road trips there next season. There have been few, if any, rumblings suggesting anyone from the next tier of free agents, like Andrew Bynum, Josh Smith and Al Jefferson, would consider Detroit, either. Some of those names could surface come July, once free agents begin to speak with teams, but I still wouldn't be surprised if Dumars decides to give Calderon the only long-term deal and hands out a bunch of smaller, one-year contracts, a la the Mavericks last summer. It seemed Dumars felt compelled to use his cap space on long-term deals in 2010, when Gordon and Villanueva came aboard, and I don't think he'll make that mistake again. Rolling over the cap space until 2014 would give the Pistons flexibility in what's shaping up as a much deeper free agent market, and competition in a crowded pool could drive a star to Detroit.
A conservative approach this summer would also give the team breathing room as it approaches negotiations with Monroe. That won't be as pressing a matter as so many of the team's offseason decisions will be, since the deadline to lock him up before he hits restricted free agency isn't until October 31st. Still, Monroe figures to warrant a four-year deal for somewhere between $45MM and $50MM based on the rookie-scale extensions handed out around the league last season. The Pistons probably don't want to become a taxpaying team when Monroe's next deal kicks in come 2014/15, so whatever they do this summer will likely be done with a hefty raise for Monroe in mind.
Cap footnotes:
- Villanueva exercised his player option for 2013/14 on May 13th.
- Stuckey's deal becomes fully guaranteed if he's not waived on or before June 30th.
- Kravtsov's deal becomes fully guaranteed if he's not waived on or before June 29th.
- English's deal becomes fully guaranteed if he's not waived on or before July 12th.
- Calderon's cap hold will be worth the maximum salary for a player with his experience (7-9 years). That amount is not yet known — the number listed was 2012/13's max salary, so it figures to be a little higher than that.
Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.
Draft Rumors: Noel, Snell, Olynyk, Blazers, Adams
Chad Ford of ESPN.com delivered enough draft rumors for their own post this afternoon, and we rounded up more draft-related news in another post this morning. It's not hard to tell that the big event takes place just two weeks and two days from now. Here are tonight's updates, via Twitter unless otherwise noted:
- In spite of rumors that the Cavaliers probably won't draft him first overall, Nerlens Noel will visit with Cleveland on June 20th, following Saturday's meeting with the Wizards, The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer reports.
- Tony Snell's stock is on the rise, and two executives have told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that the New Mexico swingman has solidified a spot in the first round.
- Kelly Olynyk is the most prominent name among a group of six prospects working out for the Blazers today, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com passes along. John Allen, Chris Babb, Erik Murphy, D.J. Stephens and Khalif Wyatt were the others in attendance.
- The Timberwolves will turn their focus to big men Thursday, when Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert and Mike Muscala will participate in a group workout for the team, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Cody Zeller will be in Minnesota the same day, but he'll work out separately.
- C.J. McCollum will participate in a workout Wednesday for the Jazz that will also include Scott Bamforth from nearby Weber State, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.
- Jared Berggren has shown off his skills in front of the Blazers and Suns, and the Wisconsin power forward will get to do so for the Bucks, likely on Thursday, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
- Mason Plumlee is the headliner in a Wizards audition set for Wednesday, the team announced via press release. Karron Johnson, Bruce Massey, Brock Motum, Dexter Strickland and Kellen Thornton will join him.
Odds & Ends: Hollins, Nets, Allen, Raptors, Pacers
Game One of the NBA Finals will be ending about 24 hours from now, and while the Spurs will provide more evidence for the rest-versus-rust debate, many expect them to find their rhythm before long. The majority of Hoops Rumors readers who voted in today's poll say San Antonio will beat the Heat. While we wait to see if they're right, here's more from around the NBA:
- The Grizzlies rebuffed the Nets when they asked for permission to interview Lionel Hollins the day after the Western Conference Finals ended, but Memphis would likely grant that permission now if Brooklyn inquired again, TNT's David Aldridge hears (Twitter link).
- Ray Allen feels his return to the Finals with the Heat provides a measure of vindication for his decision to sign with Miami last summer, observes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
- Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun looks at what Tim Leiweke and Masai Ujiri have done and said since arriving in town and concludes that the Raptors will soon be rebuilding.
- Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, writing for USA Today, details five key questions the Pacers must answer this summer.
- The shakeup continues for the Kings, as Jerry Reynolds will step down as the team's director of player development, he tells Chris Riva of KCRA-TV.
- The Knicks worked out Deshaun Thomas today and will get another look at him Friday, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link), who also notes that Cody Zeller will work out Thursday for the Suns. Thomas will also work out later this month for the Timberwolves, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, apparently clearing up earlier confusion involving Adonis Thomas.
- The Sixers auditioned Steven Adams, Colton Iverson, Alex Oriakhi, Mouhammadou Jaiteh and Jamelle Hagins today, tweets Jake L. Fischer of SLAM Online.
- Ray McCallum, who will work out sometime this month for the Pistons, has also worked out with the Spurs, Rockets and Pacers, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Kings To Interview David Morway For GM Job
10:06pm: Morway and Bird wouldn't be a package deal, Amick adds via Twitter, given their falling out toward the end of their time together with the Pacers.
9:13pm: Former Pacers GM David Morway is expected to interview for the Kings GM job on Friday, USA Today's Sam Amick reports. New Kings owner Vivek Ranadive continues to try woo Larry Bird, Morway's boss in Indiana, out of retirement to take over GM duties in Sacramento, but though Ranadive has spoken with Bird, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee says the two sides didn't meet today for an interview. That contradicts an earlier report from Peter Vecsey.
Amick first mentioned Morway as a possible candidate last month, and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported a couple of days ago that Morway and the Kings had been in contact. The team has interviewed Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, who appears to be the frontrunner, though Ranadive and company are reaching out to many other candidates. The Kings have also interviewed Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk and Mike Dunleavy, who has front office experience with the Bucks and Clippers.
The Kings are considering former star Chris Webber for a role in the organization, but he's not a candidate to become GM, Jones writes. Incumbent GM Geoff Petrie remains with the team even as it searches for his replacement, and he's still in charge of the Kings' draft preparation.
Draft Notes: McLemore, Magic, Saric, Bennett
- Ben McLemore has reportedly slipped behind Victor Oladipo in the eyes of the Magic, but Orlando will have McLemore in for a workout June 11th, reports Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. (Twitter links). Keith Clanton, Erik Murphy, Michael Snaer and Kenny Boynton, all products of Florida colleges, are auditioning for the Magic either today or tomorrow, Robbins adds.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com chatted with readers, revealing that top-level scouts believe Dario Saric to be on par with Otto Porter and that the Wizards and Bobcats are especially high on Anthony Bennett.
- Korie Lucious worked out for the Bucks today and did so for the Pistons earlier this week, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. D.J. Stephens, another participant in today's Bucks workout, has also drawn interest from the Pistons and Grizzlies.
- Jody Genessy of the Deseret News had the news on six players working out for the Jazz today, and he tweets word of six more set to hit Utah on Thursday: Glen Rice Jr.,Vander Blue, Jack Cooley, Solomon Hill, Pierre Jackson and Trevor Mbakwe.
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic adds second-round hopefuls E.J. Singler and Jared Berggren to the list of players who worked out for the Suns today (Twitter link).
- B.J. Young, Brandon Paul, Reggie Bullock, Romero Osby, Kenny Kadji and James Ennis are among the prospects working out Thursday for the Knicks, the team announced via Twitter.
- Ennis, Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Mike Muscala, Cody Zeller, Jeff Withey, Shabazz Muhammad, Rodney Williams, Reggie Bullock, Kelly Olynyk and Tony Snell will all audition for Minnesota in the coming weeks, Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders tweets. He also lists "Thomas," likely in reference to Deshaun Thomas or Adonis Thomas.
- The Wizards announced they'll put Deshaun Thomas, Keion Bell, Laurence Bowers, D.J. Seeley, James Southerland and Khalif Wyatt through a workout tomorrow.
Kupchak Talks Dwight, Recruiting, Improvement
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told Mike Trudell of Lakers.com that his "hopeful" and "optimistic" feelings about the team's chances to re-sign Dwight Howard haven't changed since the season ended, even as rumors have proliferated about the big man's willingness to go elsewhere. Kupchak also spoke about front office dynamics, confirming he and Jim Buss are the primary decision makers, and the exodus of all but one of the team's assistant coaches. The transcript of the Q&A is worth reading, particularly for Lakers fans, but we'll note a few particularly intriguing passages here:
On his pitch to Howard:
"We would try to do what the other teams will do, which is convince him that this is the spot for him. I think we have an advantage in that he's played here for a year. I'm biased — I think this is the best city to live in with the best fans in the NBA. There are certain things that you remind him of or talk to him about, and you hope that it plays in your favor."
On the Lakers' recruiting advantages:
I do think we have advantages. Historically, this organization, via ownership beginning in 1960 has fielded competitive teams. We think the city sells itself, and we have a very passionate, wide fan base. It's also very competitive, the rules have changed a little bit, but we do have financial flexibility a year and a half from now. It can be used a lot of different ways. You don't just have to focus on free agency; you can take a contract. If a player doesn't fit into someone's roster from a salary perspective — maybe due to the repeater tax, for example — maybe you find a guy that way. There are a lot of ways you can use the space that we will have, and we're looking forward to having that flexibility.
On the difficulty of improving a taxpaying team that has only a late second-round pick:
It's a challenge. Even in the lottery, there's a likelihood that a player is not going to help you that year. Often times, the higher someone is drafted, the more likely he is to help you that year. With a veteran team, it's hard to say that a player drafted in the mid-second round will make an impact next year. Assuming our team next year is similar to the team it was this year, and also understanding that we have several free agents, probably the best way to improve this team would be through free agency, and even that's limited. Hopefully you can use your mini mid(-level exception), but most of the time it will fall towards the (veteran's) minimum contracts, and you want to make good selections there. But you're not going to get really good, productive young players at a minimum salary. You'll end up getting the older player who's had a good career that's looking to contend for a championship, like Antawn Jamison last season.
Kotoch On Bledsoe, Magic, Oladipo, Noel, Cavs
Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops.com has Nerlens Noel atop the latest version of his mock draft, and he has news about the Cavaliers, Noel and other potential lottery storylines. We'll round up the highlights here:
- The Magic and Clippers have had conversations about Eric Bledsoe, according to Kotoch. Chad Ford of ESPN.com wrote a week ago that if Orlando took a shooting guard in the draft, the team would have interest in trading Arron Afflalo for Bledsoe and Caron Butler.
- Speaking of the Magic and shooting guards, Victor Oladipo has eclipsed Ben McLemore on Orlando's draft board.
- Noel's torn ACL won't allow him to work out, but he'll visit with the Cavs on June 20th.
- The Thunder are prioritizing centers at No. 12, unless C.J. McCollum falls to them.
- An established wing player is what the Timberwolves are seeking as they reportedly dangle Derrick Williams in an effort to move up from No. 9.
- The Trail Blazers are in search of a big man who can defend and rebound in exchange for the tenth pick.
- The Mavericks would also "love" to trade pick No. 13, Kotoch writes.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Nate Robinson
Nate Robinson never looked more valuable than he did this spring, when Chicago's third-string point guard took over the starting role and lifted the team to a Game Seven win on the road in Brooklyn. Robinson and the Bulls followed that up with a strong challenge of the Heat in the conference semifinals. His trademark inconsistency still surfaced, as witnessed by his performance in a pair of Game Fours. In the fourth game against the Nets, he scored 34 points, but he went scoreless on 12 field goal attempts in the fourth game versus the Heat. Yet the "Good Nate" mostly outweighed the "Bad Nate" during the playoffs, especially as he showed an ability to fit in with coach Tom Thibodeau's defense. That should be enough to merit a healthy raise on his minimum-salary deal, and that means he'll probably be out of Chicago's price range.
Robinson was a break-even player during the regular season, as the Bulls scored just about as many points with him on the floor as they gave up. That's what many teams look for out of their backups, so Robinson has probably earned a shot in a team's rotation next season, a job that normally warrants more than the minimum salary. Robinson appeared in every one of the Bulls' regular season and playoff games this year, and shot 40.5% from behind the arc, the first time he's eclipsed a 40% rate of success on three-point attempts. He embraced a playmaking role, as he did in Golden State last year, posting a respectable 4.4/1.8 per-game assists-to-turnover ratio with the Bulls. His strides on defense, where he became less of a liability, and his ability to accept Thibodeau's hard-charging coaching style, were even more impressive.
The Bulls have Robinson's Non-Bird rights, so unless they dip into their mid-level exception, the most they can pay him next season is $1,519,172, an amount equal to 120% of the minimum salary for a player with eight years of experience. Chicago is in line to pay the tax again next season, so the team's only method of signing other teams' free agents for more than the minimum will likely be the $3.183MM taxpayer's mid-level exception. Robinson's market value is probably right around that amount, so using the mid-level on him wouldn't allow Chicago to upgrade elsewhere. Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich will presumably be back to man the point guard position, and the team probably wants to give Marquis Teague, its first-rounder from 2012, a longer look next season. That doesn't leave much room for Robinson.
Robinson's agent, Aaron Goodwin, says his client's first priority is to re-sign with the Bulls, but he'd be open to hearing from the Knicks as well. The Knicks might like to inject a boost of athleticism into their point guard ranks, but they're under the same salary crunch as the Bulls. New York's bloated payroll would make the mid-level exception the team's only mechanism for signing Robinson, and the Knicks may have to use it to keep some of their own free agents. A sign-and-trade is out, since taxpaying teams can't acquire players in a sign-and-trade under new collective barganing agreement restrictions this summer.
The taxpayer's mid-level amount is probably a fit for Robinson, but he's most likely to end up on a team with fewer financial headaches than the Knicks. He could also work on a club that can use part of its standard $5.15MM mid-level on him. He showed his value to contenders this past season, and winning teams probably won't shy away from him as much as they did when he was a forgotten man in 2010/11 with the Thunder, who waived him on the eve of the following season. He's still a spark plug offensively, capable of the spectacular, and after this year, a team's primary worry would be his off-nights on that end, as opposed to his defense. I expect a contending team with plenty of other offensive weapons that can offset his shortcomings to bring Robinson aboard.
Odds & Ends: West, Dwight, Drew, Malone, Spurs
- Dwight Howard offered few hints about his next destination in an interview with T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, though Howard said he'll prioritize winning and, for what it's worth, referred to his time with Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni in the past tense. "He's a great person and I'm glad we had the opportunity to be together," Howard said.
- Lester Conner, who served as Larry Drew's lead assistant with the Hawks, tells Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel what the Bucks can expect from their new head coach. Conner will likely follow Drew to Milwaukee, according to Gardner.
- Michael Malone hasn't officially been hired as coach of the Kings, but an agreement with the team is in place, and he spoke with Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee and fellow Bee scribe Ailene Voisin about his background and his plans for the club.
- There's plenty of reason for Peter Holt to sell the Spurs, with the franchise value surging, but he has no intention of doing so, even as executive Rick Pych assumes more of Holt's duties, writes Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News.
- Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post provides a brief sketch of Pete D'Allesandro, the vice president of basketball operations for the Nuggets who's rumored as a candidate for the team's vacant GM job, as well as a role in the Kings front office.
- The Post's Christopher Dempsey runs down the issues surrounding the Nuggets in the wake of Ujiri's departure, including the notion that D'Allesandro could follow Ujiri to the Raptors. He also wonders if the changes could irk coach George Karl, though it appears the team may not be so high on Karl, either.