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Author: Eddie Scarito

Central Notes: Smith, Johnson, Shumpert

By | at October 14, 2016 7:10 pm

The start of the regular season is less than two weeks away and J.R. Smith is still a free agent. The shooting guard and the Cavs remain at an impasse over salary and according to a report from ESPN’s Marc Stein earlier today, “it’s only a matter of time” before the free agent guard starts to engage more seriously with other teams. Despite all that, coach Tyronn Lue remains confident that Smith will be a member of the team this season, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays. “We pretty much know what direction we have to go in if J.R. isn’t here, but I feel confident that J.R. will be here. We’ll just see how it works out,” Lue told the scribe.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

  • In the wake of Thursday night’s preseason loss to the Raptors, Lue said the Cavaliers are still attempting to determine who will receive point guard minutes behind Kyrie Irving to start the season. “We may have to do it by committee,” Lue said, per Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net. “Different nights may call for different players.”
  • In the event that the Pistons don’t shed one of their guaranteed contracts when paring down their roster to 15 players, there’s a chance that Stanley Johnson could be called upon to act as playmaker from the shooting guard spot in a pinch, Aaron McMann of MLive.com opines in response to a reader question.
  • The Cavs could conceivably look to trade Iman Shumpert in an effort to lower its luxury tax hit for signing Smith, but that scenario is highly unlikely, opines Joe Vardon of The Northeast Ohio Media Group in response to a reader question. Despite having one of his worst statistical seasons a pro last year, Shumpert remains in the team’s plans, Vardon adds. The scribe also notes that Shumpert’s trade value isn’t particularly high right now and the franchise is hoping he’ll demonstrate the production that led to them acquiring him from the Knicks.
  • Don’t forget to check out our Offseason in Review posts for the Bucks, Bulls, Pistons and Pacers.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

2 comments Cleveland Cavaliers Detroit Pistons

Offseason In Review: Indiana Pacers

By | at October 14, 2016 5:30 pm

Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Indiana Pacers.

Free agent signings:

Camp invitees:

Trades:

Draft picks:

  • 2-50: Georges Niang. Signed for three years, $2.606MM. Second year partially guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Check out our salary cap snapshot for the Indiana Pacers right here.

NBA: Indiana Pacers-Media DayFew teams in the Eastern Conference did more to to alter their makeup than the Pacers this past offseason. Not only did the franchise change head coaches, it also shuffled nearly half of its roster from the 2015/16 campaign. Indiana should be more competitive this season, but the team still has a number of roster needs and it remains to be seen just how well and how quickly all the new faces can gel on the court.

Team president Larry Bird dismissed former head coach Frank Vogel after the team lost its first round playoff series against the Raptors. The Pacers went 250-181 in parts of six seasons under Vogel, who inherited the head coaching job when the Pacers parted ways with Jim O’Brien in January of 2011. That record doesn’t include his postseason mark of 31-30, with Indiana making back-to-back conference finals under Vogel in 2013 and 2014. Bird’s reasoning for the move was that he wanted more scoring and that his expectations for the Pacers this past season were higher than most. It appeared that a philosophical difference had emerged in 2015/16 when Bird spoke of his desire for more of an up-tempo attack versus Vogel’s fondness for a traditional lineup with two big men.

If Bird thought it was time to make a change and that Vogel wasn’t the coach to take the team to the next level, then not signing him to a new contract makes sense. What doesn’t necessarily make sense to me is replacing him with assistant coach Nate McMillan. I’m not knocking McMillan as a coach, his career regular season record of 478-452 is solid, though he hasn’t enjoyed much postseason success, owning a career playoff record of 14-20. But McMillan doesn’t fit the bill as the up-tempo offensive coach that Bird stated he desired.

McMillan’s squads when he was leading Seattle and Portland were solid offensively, but never averaged over 99 points per game. Plus, his teams didn’t necessarily kill it on the defense side either. In four out of the ten seasons he was head coach, his teams were ranked 25th or lower in the league defensively. Under Vogel, Indiana never finished worse than ninth in defensive efficiency, while topping the NBA twice. While promoting McMillan fosters some sense of continuity, it appears to be change merely for the sake of change, instead of taking the team in a new, and potentially more exciting, direction.

The team’s biggest roster move, and perhaps the riskiest, was the three-way trade that sent George Hill to Utah in exchange for Jeff Teague. Hill is a solid defender and rebounder as well as an excellent three-point shooter, which is an area the team was already weak in. Teague is two-years younger than Hill and a better passer and shot-creator, but he’s not a tremendous upgrade at the point guard spot. He’d be a more effective addition if the Pacers had better three-point shooters who could benefit from Teague’s skillset. The pair’s stat lines from last season were similar, with Hill averaging 12.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 3.5APG to go along with a shooting line of .441/.408/.760 versus Teague’s numbers of 15.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 5.9APG with a slash line of .439/.400/.837. Teague said back in June that he played the 2015/16 season with a torn patellar tendon in his knee, so an increase in his numbers this year may be in order. He’s also in the final year of his deal, so he may also boost his performance playing for his next payday.

Bird swung another trade on draft night, landing Thaddeus Young from the Nets in exchange for the No. 20 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, which Brooklyn used to select Caris LeVert. While I have mixed feelings about the Teague/Hill swap, I think this deal was a wise one for Indiana. With the team hoping to contend immediately, there wasn’t a player who was going to be available at its draft slot who who be able to contribute anything significant this season. Young enjoyed a solid campaign for Brooklyn last year, averaging 15.1 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 1.9 APG while connecting on 51.4% of his shots overall. However, Young’s 23.3% shooting from beyond the arc was well below his career average of 31.9%. With the Pacers desperately in need of floor-spacers who can connect from deep, the 28-year-old isn’t the answer in that area. He’s under contract for two more seasons after this one, including a player option for 2018/19, so Bird and company better hope Young can provide a spark in other ways. Regardless, I still believe it was a solid move overall.

Indiana also did some significant offseason shuffling at the center position. Gone is Ian Mahinmi and Jordan Hill, with Bird replacing them with Al Jefferson and Kevin Seraphin. It’s hard to knock adding a veteran of Jefferson’s caliber to the bench, but both he and Seraphin are injury risks. Jefferson only managed 47 games for the Hornets a season ago and 65 the previous campaign, while Seraphin notched just 48 appearances for the Knicks in 2015/16, plus, has managed to stay healthy for just two out of his six seasons in the league. Coupled with intended starter Myles Turner, who missed 22 games during his rookie campaign, things could get ugly in the middle real quick for the Pacers this season, barring each player bucking the odds and their injury track records. Plus, I firmly believe that Mahinmi’s defense and spark will be sorely missed in Indiana this season.

If Turner can remain healthy, the franchise has a budding star and solid building block for the future. I’m a big fan of the 20-year-old’s game, which fits in perfectly with the direction the league is headed. The rookie really came on strong las the 2015/16 season progressed, averaging 10.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in just 22.8 minutes per outing. I expect Turner to improve upon his 21.4% shooting from three-point range this season, which is something the team desperately needs from him. The addition of Jefferson will also be huge for Turner’s development, and hopefully the veteran’s work ethic and professionalism will rub off on the younger player.

Of course, the Pacers’ chances this season rest firmly on the shoulders of swingman Paul George, who is eligible to sign a contract extension prior to this month’s deadline. Bird has gone on record stating that he is ready to give George a a max extension if the player is interested. “I know he don’t want to talk about it all year and I don’t either,” Bird said in September. “We want Paul here and we know what it’s going to cost and what it’s going to take. If Paul wants to get a deal done, we will. It’s a max deal. There’s no others, so there’s no use talking about it. If he wants it, he’s got it.”

While an extension on its own might not appeal to George given the free agent money available thanks to the rise in the salary cap, the Pacers should have the cap room necessary to renegotiate his deal in addition to extending it. That means Indiana could increase George’s salaries to the maximum for the next three years, and then tack another max-salary year on for the 2019/20 league year. On the other hand, signing an extension this year would prevent George from potentially exploring the free agent market in 2018, when he can opt out of his current contract. It would also lock him into a max salary for players with six years of NBA experience or less — if he waits one more year, he would get the max for players with seven to nine years of experience, which is worth 30% of the salary cap instead of 25%. Teague is also eligible to sign an extension, but my guess is that the team will wait to see how he gels in Indiana before it commits major dollars to him.

The Pacers will certainly have a different look when they take the court this season, though, I’m not sold that they will be a significantly better squad than a season ago. My gut tells me that the team will struggle out of the gate as the new players attempt to get comfortable with one another on the court. Injuries could also play a huge factor, especially among the big men, which could sink the franchise’s campaign if it is hit hard in that area. Bird needs to be active on the trade market prior to February’s deadline, as the team still needs shooters and depth at point guard and center. I still believe the Pacers have enough talent to make the playoffs as currently constituted, but not enough to make much noise when they get there.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

0 comments Hoops Rumors Originals Indiana Pacers Offseason In Review

Atlantic Notes: Thomas, Raptors Bench, Hernangomez

By | at October 11, 2016 10:31 pm

Point guard Isaiah Thomas believes that if the Celtics are to make any trades this season, the team should focus on adding more scoring punch, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays. When asked what needs Boston still has, Thomas responded, “Someone who can put the ball in the basket. A knockdown shooter would be what we need. I’m not saying anything against the guys that are on this team right now, because we have a talented group, but I think that is the most important thing we need. We need spacing, because we got a lot of guys that can create and attack the basket, but we definitely need spacing.”

When asked if he was thinking ahead to becoming a free agent or signing an extension with the Celtics, Thomas told Forsberg, “To be honest, I haven’t thought about it. I haven’t and that’s the honest answer. I feel like I would be selfish to think about that right now. When the time comes, we can weigh the options and see what they want to do, see what I’m able to do. First and foremost, it is about winning. And bringing the best talent we can to Boston. And trying to hang another banner up here.” Thomas is under contract through the 2017/18 campaign, but will be eligible to ink an extension next season.

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • If the Raptors are to be successful this season, the team will need its bench players to step and produce so the minutes of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan can be reduced, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. “I hope that one of the young guys steps up and be consistent where we can take them off,” coach Dwayne Casey said. “If not, their workload will probably be as much because it’s hard to take both those guys off the court unless Terrence Ross is consistent, Norman Powell is consistent or one of those backup guys is consistent. If those guys come up and make it easy for me to make that decision, I have no problem in cutting their minutes back but not at the sake of losing games. I think it’s important that we get off to a good start.”
  • With the Warriors and Cavaliers looking extremely strong heading into the season, the Celtics should hold off on making any drastic moves until next summer, Jeremias Engelmann of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) opines. The exception would be if players such as Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins become disgruntled and demand trades, Engelmann adds. Forsberg disagrees in the same post, noting that a trade to clear up the guaranteed contract logjam would be beneficial.
  • With Joakim Noah nursing a hamstring injury, rookie big man Guillermo Hernangomez is earning a spot in the Knicks‘ rotation with his solid preseason play, ESPN.com notes.
3 comments Boston Celtics New York Knicks Toronto Raptors

Eastern Notes: Splitter, Wade, Millsap

By | at October 11, 2016 9:01 pm

The Hawks announced via press release that Tiago Splitter was diagnosed with a grade 2 hamstring strain, which he sustained during a recent practice. An MRI taken Monday at the Emory Orthopaedics and Spine Center revealed the injury and he will be out a minimum of four weeks. A four-week timetable would mean that the earliest Splitter would return would be the second week of November, missing at least seven regular season games as a result.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Bulls guard Dwyane Wade says he’s trying to evolve as a player to compensate for age and the loss of athleticism that accompanies growing older in an effort to prolong his career, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune writes. “The goal is to be around for as long as you can play the game and still be effective,” Wade said. “I’m in the moment. I have to come here and prove to not only my coaches but my team that I can help make them better. I can [play basketball with my pedigree] when I’m done playing to my kids: ‘Hey, this is what Dad used to do. While you’re playing this game, you get your butt tore up if you walk around with that facade. I’m out here at 34 trying to keep up with these young guys. They’re going to come after me. So I got a lot of work to do.“
  • The Heat elected to schedule the league-maximum of eight preseason games because of the need to integrate all their new players who need as much action as possible in order to develop chemistry, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “I think we’re going to need every one of those eight games,” said coach Erik Spoelstra, who is working with 10 new players. “With previous teams, when we had veteran-laden teams and you bring a large portion of your team back, arguably it might not be as important.“
  • Hawks forward Paul Millsap, who has a player option for next season worth $21,472,407, says he hasn’t decided whether or not he’ll opt out, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays. “I think the plan is to see how this season goes and go from there,” Millsap said. “I can’t predict what is going to happen. For me, it’s focus on basketball. Get through this year, try to get a championship for this team first of all. We’ll deal with all that during the summer time when we have all our options on the table.”
1 comment Atlanta Hawks Chicago Bulls Miami Heat

Warriors Finals Loss Paved Way For Durant

By | at October 11, 2016 7:41 pm

The Warriors organization was named the 2016 ENCORE winner on Monday night. The prestigious award is given by the Stanford Graduate School of Business to the entrepreneurial company of the year. Team owner Joe Lacob, along with Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala, attended the ceremony and addressed a number of topics regarding the team and Durant’s free agency. One notable admission came from Durant, who acknowledged that he likely wouldn’t have ended up signing with Golden State this summer had it defeated the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, Anthony Slater of The Mercury News relays, along with a number of other details below:

When asked if the Warriors winning the 2015/16 NBA title would have made signing with them less interesting, Durant responded:

“I was telling one of my friends, [his agent] Rich [Kleiman], who’s here, we were watching Game 7. Well, as it started to unfold, it was, ‘No question, no way could you go to this team.’ And I was just like a kid, like, in a candy shop. I’d get wide open 3s, I could just run up and down the court, get wide open layups. I was basically begging him. I was like, yo, this would be nice. So as I was thinking about my decision and who I was gonna play for, this team came to mind. You know, as they lost, it became more and more real every day. You start to think about it even more. To see if I would fit. Then once I sat down with these guys, everything that I wanted to know about them they kinda showed me. But we don’t have to talk about it though because they didn’t get the job done and they came after me and who knows what would’ve happened. But I guess you could say I’m glad that they lost.”

When pressed for a more detailed response as to why he chose the Warriors, Durant said:

“It felt like it was a perfect fit. It was something I was searching for when I sat down and talked to these guys. I wanted to see if what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen on the outside is really true. Do these guys really genuinely love each other? They work together. You hear family a lot. That’s just a word sometimes, but this is really a lifestyle here. You can feel it when you walk in the door, in the practice facility, everybody is just together. That’s something that I can appreciate as a basketball player and someone who values relationships. You can tell that that’s what they stand on, that’s what we stand on. I feel really grateful to play for a team like that and play with a bunch of players who are selfless and enjoy the game in its purest form. They make it about the players, they make it about the environment, so it was really an easy choice.”

Discussing what makes the Warriors’ culture as an organization so special, Lacob used Iguodala as a prime example, saying:

“Sometimes I have the privilege of speaking to people. Andre’s story is my favorite story. To come in, as a player, he could’ve signed anywhere. He could’ve signed with us. Actually I get credit for that. I should give Andre credit. He picked us. We came from another meeting and we sat down and prepared to meet Andre and tell him why we think he’d be a good fit. About two minutes into the presentation, he said, ‘Stop, stop, I want to play for you guys.’ That’s what he said. It’s a true story. I said, ‘We have some DVDs here.’ And he said, ‘I don’t need to see them.’ I said, ‘We have no way to sign you. We’re way over the cap. That’s nice Andre. But we have no way, we can’t, we’re kinda wasting your time.’ He said, ‘It’s OK, I’ll wait for you to figure it out.’ Meanwhile, he’s given deadlines by other teams. You have until midnight until we’re going away. Andre says fine. Team 1 went away. Another team put a deadline on him. You have until noon the day. More money. More years. He said ‘No, I’m waiting on the Warriors.’ Which is unbelievable to me. He not only makes that sacrifice but has the patience to see what he wanted. Most players don’t see what they want. Then he comes to our team, All-Star, Olympic medalist. Plays with us for a year, does great.

Next year Steve Kerr is hired. Steve asks him to come off the bench. Some of you might perceive that as easy. I’d equate that to some of you. You might be VP or president of your company and your chairman comes in and says, ‘We don’t need you to be VP anymore, you’re going to be the director. You deserve to be a VP, but we’re gonna knock you down a level because it’s good for the company.’ So Andre took all that, didn’t go home. When the media asked him, ‘Andre, what do you really think? Isn’t it BS that you’re not starting? You can tell me.’ All year, nothing. Professional, humble, accepted his position. We’re down 2-1 to Cleveland. In the biggest moment in the franchise’s history the last 40 years, Steve Kerr says ‘Andre, now, we need you now.’ He was ready. When you ask about culture, that’s culture.”

Discussing his free agent meeting with the team, Durant relayed the following:

“I was anxious to see what they’re all about. You hear a lot of about them. They’re on SportsCenter every day. One thing stood out to me, I had a friend tell me — that never played basketball, not even athletic — the first thing she said was, ‘When I watch Stephen Curry play, it makes me feel like I can play the game of basketball.’ So I asked her, ‘So how do I make you feel?’…That shows, like Andre said, when you play freely and have fun with the game, it just shows that it touches a lot of people that may not just be in that immediate circle of NBA or basketball or sports in general. So when they came into the meeting, I was really looking for that energy and I felt it from the beginning. It was just so pure. It was a feeling I couldn’t ignore. I wanted to be a part of it. No matter what happened, I wanted to be a part of it.”

0 comments Golden State Warriors

Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Bucks

By | at October 11, 2016 6:17 pm

Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Milwaukee Bucks.

Free agent signings:

Camp invitees:

Extensions:

Trades:

Draft picks:

  • 1-10: Thon Maker. Signed to rookie contract.
  • 2-36: Malcolm Brogdon. Signed for three years, $2.99MM. Third year non-guaranteed.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Check out our salary cap snapshot for the Milwaukee Bucks right here.

Olympics: Basketball-Men's Team-Bronze medal match -AUS vs ESPAfter taking two huge steps forward in 2014/15, going from 15 wins to 41 and a surprising playoff berth, the Bucks took a step back last season, dropping to 33 wins and the draft lottery. After an offseason that saw the team add a number of veterans to its youthful core, Milwaukee hopes to return to the playoffs and continue to progress as a franchise.

It’s certainly debatable whether or not the team did enough to ensure that result, with the Bucks’ largest external signing being former Cavs backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova, who received a four-year, $38.43MM pact via a sign-and-trade deal with Cleveland. I’m not knocking Dellavedova, whose grit and hustle are a valuable commodity. But I’m not sold that he’s a significant upgrade over Jerryd Bayless, who signed with the Sixers as an unrestricted free agent this summer.

The duo’s stat lines were similar in 2015/16, with Bayless posting averages of 10.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 3.1 APG to accompany a shooting line of .423/.437/.778 and Dellavedova putting up 7.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 4.4 APG to go along with a slash line of .405/.410/.864. The Australian is more of a spark provider than Bayless, but his addition doesn’t quite move the needle enough for Milwaukee for him to be considered a true game-changer this season.

The offseason signing that may help the Bucks the most was the addition of forward Mirza Teletovic, whose outside shooting will be a major benefit to the team, given its weakness from beyond the arc last season. While I think that a three-year deal worth $10.5MM per season is a huge risk given Teletovic’s injury history and age, he provides coach Jason Kidd with a true stretch-four to deploy on a nightly basis. The 31-year-old has averaged just 61 contests per campaign since arriving in the NBA, though he did manage 79 appearances a season ago, averaging 12.2 PPG and draining 39.3% of this three-pointers.

Milwaukee also added veterans Jason Terry ans Steve Novak on one-year, minimum salary deals to provide leadership and bench production. At this point in his career, the 39-year-old Terry is more valuable as a leader and locker room presence than on the court. Though, the Jet still likely has a few big shots left in him before calling it a career. As for Novak, he’s still one of the deadliest three-point shooters in the game (43.1% for his career), but his extremely limited skillset makes him difficult to keep on the court for significant stretches.

The Bucks made a significant financial commitment to restricted free agent Miles Plumlee, re-signing him to a four-year, $50MM pact. This move was a bit puzzling to me given Plumlee’s extremely modest career numbers of 5.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 0.9 BPG. With the addition of Teletovic and Thon Maker (No. 10 overall pick), plus the continued presence of Greg Monroe (more on him in a bit) and John Henson, I don’t quite get GM John Hammond‘s reasoning at re-signing Plumlee. He’s more of a traditional big man in a league that is moving further away from that model with each passing season. All told, the Bucks committed a total of $119.53MM in guaranteed salary to Teletovic, Dellavedova and Plumlee — none of whom are considered franchise players. This is an offseason that may come back to haunt the franchise in the coming seasons.

In addition to gambling in free agency, the Bucks did so on draft night as well by selecting Maker in the top-10. The team hopes that Maker will turn out to be a steal at that spot given his potential and upside, but the rail-thin big man is a major project and there were questions leading up to the draft as to whether or not he misrepresented his age. If Maker is truly 19, and not 21-23 years old as some scouts and executives speculated, he may end up being worth the risk. But with the team’s needs in the backcourt and on the wing, there were a number of prospects available at that slot who I believe could have helped the Bucks far more than Maker will in the near future.

As for Monroe, who has a player option for 2017/18 worth $17,884,176, the Bucks are still reportedly trying to find a taker for the big man’s services. Contrary to popular opinion, Monroe didn’t have a bad 2015/16 season, his first in Milwaukee, averaging 15.3 PPG and 8.8 RPG and shooting 52.2% from the field overall. But he was a bad fit for the Bucks’ roster, with his defense not being up to par and his lack of athleticism not meshing well with the style of play Kidd desires. The best thing for all parties involved would be for the team to find a taker for Monroe sooner, rather than later. The 26-year-old has been mentioned in trade rumors connected with the Hornets and Kings recently, as well as with the Pelicans earlier in the offseason.

Another player who appears to be a poor fit and is also reportedly on the trading block is point guard Michael Carter-Williams. Despite a recent endorsement from Kidd, the former Rookie of the Year was reportedly offered to the Kings in exchange for Ben McLemore, as Milwaukee struggles to fill the major void left by the devastating injury to Khris Middleton, who is expected to miss at least six months of action. Hammond’s September trade with the Rockets to land Michael Beasley isn’t likely the answer to mitigate the loss of Middleton, so Monroe and MCW remain the team’s two likeliest assets to be moved in any future swaps to address its hole at the wing.

While I’ve been critical of a number of the Bucks’ offseason moves, there is no way I can find any fault with the team inking superstar-in-waiting, Giannis Antetokounmpo to a four year, $100MM rookie scale extension. The Greek Freak is indeed the future of the franchise and locking him up through 2020/2021 at less than the projected maximum is a coup on Hammond’s part. The only worry I have regarding Antetokounpo is that his tremendous positional versatility will stunt his development. If Milwaukee continually shifts him around, it will make it difficult to focus and perfect his skills as he continually has to adjust to new challenges and position requirements. But it is a good problem to have, as the team will be able to structure its roster around him without worrying if he’ll still be a member of the team for the next four plus seasons.

Despite making some questionable expenditures this offseason, the Bucks have a number of solid building blocks along with a bona fide star in Antetokounmpo as they head into the future. The franchise would be best served to swing deals for MCW and Monroe in order to remove the distraction that near-constant trade rumors regarding the duo will bring. Plus, it would hopefully provide better balance to the roster. The injury to Middleton likely squashed any chance the Bucks had to make some noise in the Eastern Conference this season, which is unfortunate for all involved. If a number of the team’s younger players can step-up, playing .500 ball is a possibility in 2016/17.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2 comments Hoops Rumors Originals Milwaukee Bucks Offseason In Review

Eastern Conference Salary Rankings: Shooting Guards

By | at October 10, 2016 2:57 pm

Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the salaries, separated by conference, for each NBA player by position. We’ve already looked at the point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers of the Western Conference and we’ve now turned our attention toward the East, by running down the conference’s point guards. Next up — the shooting guards.

All told, the teams in the east have committed a total of $315,686,809 in cap hits this season to the men who man the two spot. The average conference salary for shooting guards this season is currently $4,324,477, with DeMar DeRozan topping the list with $26,540,100 to account for on his year-end W-2 form.

It should be noted that teams won’t necessarily pay out every dollar listed here. There are quite a few players who have non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. Some of those players won’t make it out of the preseason, while others will be sweating it out until January 10th. That’s when teams must waive players with no specific guarantee date written into their contracts to avoid having to guarantee their salaries for the rest of the season. In addition, incentive clauses that a player either triggers or fails to meet can leave a player with more or less money than his cap hit reflects. Still, the purpose of this list is to show the relative pay scale by position, which is why all contracts are included in this post.

I should also add that not every player listed below will play at shooting guard this season, as some will likely see some time at point guard and others at small forward. To maintain uniformity, I used their positions listed on the teams’ official rosters to determine which list to include them on. So if you see a player who isn’t expected to play two guard for his team this season listed below, that’s why.

The Eastern Conference’s shooting guards are listed below, in descending order of salary:

  1. DeMar DeRozan [Raptors] —$26,540,100
  2. Dwyane Wade [Bulls] — $23,200,000
  3. Bradley Beal [Wizards] —$22,116,750
  4. Nicolas Batum [Hornets] — $20,869,566
  5. Jimmy Butler [Bulls] — $17,552,209
  6. Evan Fournier [Magic] —$17,000,000
  7. Kent Bazemore [Hawks] — $15,730,338
  8. Khris Middleton [Bucks] —$15,200,000
  9. Courtney Lee [Knicks] —$11,242,000
  10. Monta Ellis [Pacers] — $10,763,500
  11. Iman Shumpert [Cavs] —$9,662,922
  12. Gerald Henderson [Sixers] —$9,000,000
  13. Avery Bradley [Celtics] —$8,269,663
  14. Jodie Meeks [Magic] —$6,540,000
  15. Jeremy Lamb [Hornets] — $6,511,628
  16. Marco Belinelli [Hornets] — $6,333,333
  17. Wayne Ellington [Heat] —$6,000,000
  18. Tyler Johnson [Heat] —$5,628,000
  19. Kyle Korver [Hawks] — $5,239,437
  20. Mario Hezonja [Magic] —$3,909,840
  21. Thabo Sefolosha [Hawks] — $3,850,000
  22. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope [Pistons] — $3,678,319
  23. Bojan Bogdanovic [Nets] — $3,573,020
  24. Nik Stauskas [Sixers] —$2,993,040
  25. Dion Waiters [Heat] —$2,898,000
  26. Tomas Satoransky [Wizards] —$2,870,813
  27. Randy Foye [Nets] — $2,500,000
  28. Tim Hardaway Jr.  [Hawks] — $2,281,605
  29. Denzel Valentine [Bulls] — $2,092,200
  30. James Young [Celtics] —$1,825,200
  31. Rashad Vaughn [Bucks] —$1,811,040
  32. Caris LeVert [Nets] — $1,562,280
  33. Dahntay Jones [Cavs] — $1,551,659
  34. Jason Terry [Bucks] — $1,551,659
  35. DeAndre’ Bembry [Hawks] — $1,499,760
  36. Sasha Vujacic [Knicks] —$1,410,598
  37. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot [Sixers] —$1,326,960
  38. C.J. Wilcox [Magic] —$1,209,600
  39. R.J. Hunter [Celtics] —$1,200,240
  40. Isaiah Whitehead [Nets] — $1,074,145
  41. Glenn Robinson III [Pacers] — $1,050,500
  42. Justin Holiday [Knicks] —$1,015,696
  43. DeAndre Liggins [Cavs] —$1,015,696
  44. Hollis Thompson [Sixers] —$1,015,696
  45. Markel Brown [Cavs] — $980,431
  46. Jarell Eddie [Wizards] —$980,431
  47. Joe Harris [Nets] — $980,431
  48. Orlando Johnson [Bucks] — $980,431
  49. Sean Kilpatrick [Nets] — $980,431
  50. Marcus Thornton [Wizards] —$980,431
  51. Malcolm Brogdon [Bucks] —$925,000
  52. Darrun Hilliard [Pistons] — $874,636
  53. John Holland [Cavs] —$874,636
  54. Nick Johnson [Magic] — $874,636
  55. Jordan McRae [Cavs] —$874,636
  56. Kevin Murphy [Magic] — $874,636
  57. Norman Powell [Raptors] —$874,636
  58. Josh Richardson [Heat] —$874,636
  59. Aaron Harrison [Hornets] — $874,636
  60. Michael Gbinije [Pistons] — $650,000
  61. Beau Beech [Nets] — $543,471
  62. Ron Baker [Knicks] —$543,471
  63. Drew Crawford [Raptors] —$543,471
  64. Treveon Graham [Hornets] — $543,471
  65. Brady Heslip [Raptors] — $543,471
  66. Damion Lee [Celtics] — $543,471
  67. Sheldon McClellan [Wizards] —$543,471
  68. Rodney McGruder [Heat] —$543,471
  69. Brandon Paul [Sixers]—$543,471
  70. Rasheed Sulaimon [Hornets] — $543,471
  71. J.P. Tokoto [Knicks] —$543,471
  72. Thomas Walkup [Bulls] — $543,471
  73. Nick Zeisloft [Pacers] — $543,471
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Western Notes: Russell, Adams, Tucker

By | at October 10, 2016 1:49 pm

A breakout performance by D’Angelo Russell during Sunday night’s preseason game against the Nuggets may bode well for the Lakers‘ future as the team still seeks an identity, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com writes. “It means a lot,” Russell said about scoring a game-high 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting in about 32 minutes. “We don’t want to go through losing seasons. We don’t want to go through rebuilding as an excuse of losing. We’re rebuilding, but we still find a way to win games, and we’re capable. We have the pieces. We don’t have an All-Star guy or anything like that. Hopefully some potential [All-Star] guys, but we’re taking everything serious.”

“Yeah, the thing with us right now is, we don’t have an identity,” Russell continued. “Other teams, they have star players. They’ve got glue guys. They know what they’re capable of. [The] same teams are showing up in the playoffs at the end of the year no matter how the season goes. We don’t have an identity right now, so it’s all about taking everything serious — taking every preseason [game], every practice, everything we do is serious when we’re trying to identify ourselves.”

Here’s more from out West:

  • There is no timetable yet for when Steven Adams will return to action after spraining his right ankle last week, with the Thunder still saying the center is day-to-day, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes. “I don’t think that they feel like he’s close to playing right now, so I don’t want to rule him out for Dallas [on Tuesday night] because I don’t know,” coach Billy Donovan said “It’s kind of been, see what happens the next day [and] how he’s feeling. But clearly he’s done more today than he has the last couple days, which is good.”
  • As P.J. Tucker makes his return from back surgery, his focus is not on his impending free agency after the season, but on helping the Suns make it to the postseason, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “This might be the most highly motivated year I’ve had in my career,” Tucker said. “People tend to think you get comfortable because you’ve been on a team so long. I’m pushing myself. I’ve been on the sideline pushing my teammates. I’ve been here a long time and I haven’t made the playoffs yet. It may be a contract year, but more than anything, I want to make playoffs. That’s the only thing I’m thinking about right now.”
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Commenting Policy

By | at October 10, 2016 12:48 pm

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Dwight Howard On: Hawks, Perceptions, Free Agency

By | at October 10, 2016 11:31 am

Dwight Howard, who signed a three-year deal with the Hawks this offseason, is upset at the perceptions about him around the league and with fans, that he is a bad teammate and underachiever who doesn’t care enough about winning. In an interview with Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, the center addressed a number of topics. The entire piece is definitely worth a look, but here are some of the highlights:

On what a new beginning in Atlanta means to him:

“I changed up everything around me. I hold myself more accountable in certain situations. I try to be a better man, a better father, a better teammate. I know a lot of the stuff that’s been said about me that I can’t really control and has been false, but at the same time, I just want to show this city who I really am and show my teammates what kind of teammate I am. They’ve been great to me, and I think it’s a great situation for me to be in.”

On what changes he has made over the summer:

“Just things off the court, a lot of the stuff that was happening around me, just personal things. I tried to change that up and just really start over, get a clean slate. No offense to the people that I had around me, but I just wanted to start over, start fresh. Like I said, it’s a new beginning, so I wanted everything to be fresh. I didn’t want to bring any old baggage or anything from my past to this organization. They believe in me, this city believes in me, so I just wanted to make sure that when I’m out there on the court that I’m free, that I can give this city and this team everything that I’ve got.”

On why his pairing with James Harden in Houston didn’t work out:

“Well, sometimes things don’t work like they should. I’ve never had an issue with James. I wish him nothing but the best. I just think the timing of everything was a little bit different. That’s OK. All that stuff did was just mold me for this moment here, this organization, this team. They’ve asked me to be a leader. It’s my job to come in here every night and provide physicality and the leadership that this team needs.”

On if he was surprised that he didn’t receive any maximum salary offers in free agency this summer:

“Well, I knew all the situations that was going on. I really only looked into one place and that was the Hawks. I didn’t go to other teams. As soon as free agency opened, I met with Coach Bud [Mike Budenholzer] and [GM Wes Wilcox]. After the meeting, I went back to my car and I was like, “Man, this is where I want to be.” I didn’t need to meet with other teams. I didn’t care about what offers were on the table. I wanted to be in Atlanta. I wanted to represent for this team.”

On if he feels pressured not to be himself:

“Yeah, a lot of times I do feel like that. When I’m smiling, I’m supposedly not taking the game seriously. When I’m not smiling, then it’s like, “He don’t care. He’s just out there.” When I was in Orlando and everything was going well and we were winning, even in L.A. when we won those games and stuff like that, me smiling didn’t bother people. But like I said, you really can’t please people. I know everybody’s attention is on what I’m doing on the floor. My job is to be the best teammate I can be, push these guys to the limit every day, make sure that I’m being the right type of leader.“

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