Central Notes: George, Mohammed, Pistons
Paul George is looking at the remaining games on the Pacers‘ schedule as a “test drive” to see how well he has recovered from the devastating leg injury he suffered last summer while scrimmaging for Team USA, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes. “That’s exactly what it is [a test drive], it’s just seeing where I’m at and then getting ready for more rehab this summer and getting ready to build off these last couple of games of the season,” George said. “It’s been tough. There were days when I told myself I wanted to shut it down and get ready for the summer. But it’s great having the staff that we have here to push me here and keep my going. I’ve had days when I’m sure they hated me. And I hated them. But we got through it and they did a great job with being in my corner.”
Here’s more out of the Central Division:
- Veteran big man Nazr Mohammed has been making his presence felt on the Bulls with his vocal leadership, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. Mohammed’s spark and guidance was integral in snapping Chicago out of its stupor after a terrible second quarter against the Heat last night when the Bulls were outscored 33-12, Friedell adds. “I think you got to be accountable and you got to play for each other,” guard Aaron Brooks said. “I think one thing that Naz brought up was you’re letting your teammate down when you’re not getting back or you’re not helping. You’re not letting the coach, you’re not letting the fans. You’re letting your teammate down, and you got to have your brother’s back.” The center is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
- The Pistons are likely to target a forward in the first round of this year’s NBA draft, David Mayo of MLive.com opines in his weekly mailbag. Detroit currently is in line for the No. 8 pick, according to Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings. Potential targets at that spot for the team could include Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, and Frank Kaminsky, Mayo notes.
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy hopes to go to Spain after the NBA season ends to get a first-hand look at guard Mario Hezonja and power forward Kristaps Prozingis, both of whom are projected top 10 picks this year, Mayo adds.
2015/16 Salary Commitments: Raptors
With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.
We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.
We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Raptors’ cap outlook for 2015/16…
Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:
- Bruno Caboclo — $1,524,000
- DeMar DeRozan — $10.1MM
- James Johnson — $2.5MM
- Kyle Lowry — $12MM
- Lucas Nogueira — $1,842,000
- Patrick Patterson — $6,268,675
- Terrence Ross — $3,553,917
- Jonas Valanciunas — $4,660,482
- Greivis Vasquez — $6.6MM
Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:
- None
Players with options:
- None
The Raptors’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:
- Guaranteed Salary: $49,049,074
- Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $0
- Total: $49,049,074
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Atlantic Notes: Smith, Knicks, Fisher
Since arriving in Philadelphia Ish Smith has averaged a career-best 12.4 points and 6.0 assists, but the 26-year-old isn’t sure whether he fits in with the Sixers‘ rebuilding plan yet, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. When asked if he had found a home with the Sixers, Smith responded, “I don’t know. I don’t ever really think about it. I kind of just play and let the chips fall where they may. For me, it’s getting better every quarter, every minute, figuring out what coach wants, and we’ll see from there this summer. This is a good situation. This is the first time I think I’ve played a lot of minutes. A lot of people ask for opportunities. I’m just glad I’m able to be productive in those minutes.” Smith will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks coach Derek Fisher has endured a nightmarish first season in New York, but he does believe that the franchise can turn things around dramatically next season, Fred Kerber of The New York Post writes. When asked about the possibility of the Knicks going from 15 wins to 63 next season, Fisher said, “I guess that’s possible, but we are not here trying to squeeze in, we are not here trying to go from 15 to 36. That’s just not who we are. So it can turn around quickly. It will turn around quickly. But we don’t really have to put a number on it. We are 6-21 in games [decided] by six points or less this year. So we lost 21 games on two possessions. So we don’t have to go from 15 to 36 next year. We can go from 15 to 63 if we really want to. But that is up to us.”
- Fisher also believes that having to play out the string while out of contention has been a learning experience for him and the team, Kerber adds. “As a coach, there’s so much to learn by watching the postseason: How other teams are playing, the type of things they’re doing at the ends of games, strategy and even listening to the coaches during timeouts, the way they’re addressing their team,” Fisher said. “I’ve even thought about how purposeful it could be to actually be present in person in certain environments, especially for me in the Eastern Conference compared to the West.“
Draft Notes: Kentucky, Poeltl, Jones
Kentucky University will attempt to set a new record this year by having seven players drafted by NBA teams this June. Kevin Pelton, Fran Fraschilla, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) released their scouting reports on Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Trey Lyles, all of whom announced that they will be leaving Kentucky. Also declaring for the draft today for the Wildcats were Dakari Johnson, Aaron Harrison, and Andrew Harrison.
Here’s more from the college ranks:
- Utah freshman center Jakob Poeltl is still undecided about entering the 2015 NBA draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Poeltl is the No. 11 overall prospect according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Ford (Insider subscription required) places the big man at No. 14.
- Auburn senior guard Antoine Mason, son of former NBA player Anthony Mason, has signed a deal with agent Keith Glass, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Mason is a longshot to be selected in June and doesn’t appear amongst the top 100 prospects in either Givony’s or Ford’s rankings.
- Tyus Jones, Duke’s freshman point guard, hasn’t made up his mind regarding entering this year’s NBA draft, Chip Scoggins of The Star Tribune writes. “I don’t have a timeline,” Jones told Scoggins. “I’m just going to take it slowly and weigh both options. Ultimately just make the right and smart decision. I don’t have a timeline. I’ll sit down with my family, sit down with my coaches and talk about everything and get as much information as possible.” Jones is ranked No. 21 by Givony and No. 24 by Ford.
- The Rockets are one of the teams that are looking at selecting Jones if he were to enter the draft, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets. Houston owns the Pelicans‘ first-rounder this year, which is likely to fall in the No. 14-18 range, Wolfson adds, which is where the team could target Jones.
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Hawks
The D-League’s regular season is now complete, and the three-round D-League playoffs are underway. The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season.
We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll begin with a look back at how the Hawks utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Affiliation Type: Shared
D-League Team Record: 28-22
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 3
Total D-League Assignments: 11
Player Stats While On Assignment:
- John Jenkins: 2 assignments, 5 games, 19.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 0.6 APG. .594/.333/1.000
- Mike Muscala: 5 assignments, 6 games, 12.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 1.7 APG. .475/.500/.857.
- Adreian Payne: 4 assignments, 6 games, 13.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, and 2.3 APG. .409/.000/.818
D-League Signings
- Austin Daye (Erie BayHawks-Magic Affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on March 15th; 2nd 10-day on March 25th; Signed a multiyear deal on April 3rd.
- Jarell Eddie (Austin Spurs-Spurs Affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on March 5th.
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 20th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled November 23rd)
- November 28th: Assigned John Jenkins (Recalled December 8th)
- November 28th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled December 6th)
- December 6th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 8th)
- December 9th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled December 22nd)
- December 19th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 20th)
- December 28th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 29th)
- December 30th: Assigned John Jenkins (Recalled January 20th)
- December 30th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled January 12th)
- February 7th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled February 8th)
- March 1st: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled March 2nd)
Southeast Notes: Hennigan, Tavares, Harris
Magic CEO Alex Martins wouldn’t confirm that the team will seek an extension with GM Rob Hennigan, but Martins made it clear to Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel that he’s quite pleased with Hennigan’s performance. The GM’s deal currently runs through next season. “Rob has maximized our return on every single transaction he’s been a part of from a player personnel standpoint,” Martins said. “He has taken our roster and assets, built and improved upon them and is putting the pieces in place for sustained, long-term success.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Discussing 2014 draft-and-stash big man Edy Tavares, who is also known as Walter Tavares, Hawks director of international scouting Himar Ojeda relayed that the franchise may indeed sign the player for next season, Mariano Galindo of Zoom News writes (translation by HoopsHype).”It’s too early to tell if we’re bringing him in for next season because we don’t know how the roster is going to look like and it’s not just our decision, but his too,” Ojeda said. “But yes, we seriously consider the possibility of bringing him in for the 2015/16 season.“
- Magic forward Tobias Harris insists that he hasn’t ruminated about potentially becoming a restricted free agent this summer, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “This is the team I’m on right now,” Harris said. “This is the team I’m focused on. That’s all I can worry about. I trust in God’s plan for my life, and everything that’s going to happen in the future I know will work out for the best. That’s how I look at it. There’s a lot of things you have to look at in any type of free agency, but what I think what everybody’s beginning to forget is that [I’ll be] a restricted free agent. So whatever happens, it’s in the organization’s hands to make a call. So I think everybody has to really keep that in mind and not just say, ‘You might want to go here and there.’“
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford‘s salary for the 2015/16 season became guaranteed when the team qualified for the playoffs during the 2013/14 campaign, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. Clifford’s contract contains a clause that if the franchise made the playoffs in either of Clifford’s first two seasons, the third season would become fully guaranteed, Bonnell notes. Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported this news.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
2015/16 Salary Commitments: Spurs
With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.
We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.
We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Spurs’ cap outlook for 2015/16…
Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:
- Kyle Anderson — $1,142,879
- Boris Diaw — $7.5MM
- Patrick Mills — $3,578,947
- Tony Parker — $13,437,500
- Tiago Splitter — $8.5MM
Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:
- Reggie Williams — $1,185,784
Players with options:
- None
The Spurs’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:
- Guaranteed Salary: $34,159,326
- Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $1,185,784
- Total: $35,345,110
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Thabo Sefolosha Out For The Season
5:50pm: The fracture is in Sefolosha’s fibula, not his tibia, as Vivlamore writes.
5:37pm: Sefolosha also suffered ligament damage in his leg and will require surgery, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link).
3:31pm: Charania has amended his earlier report regarding Sefolosha’s injuries (Twitter link). The veteran has a fractured tibia in his leg, and an MRI is being performed to check for further damage, Charania relays. He’s still expected to miss the rest of 2014/15.
3:11pm: Hawks swingman Thabo Sefolosha has been diagnosed with a broken ankle and will be lost for the remainder of the season and playoffs, Shams Charania of RealGM.com reports (Twitter link). The 30-year-old sustained the injury during the nightclub incident that saw Pacers forward Chris Copeland stabbed, and teammate Pero Antic also sustain minor injuries. Both Sefolosha and Antic were arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration, among other charges, as they allegedly refused to move when police were setting up a crime scene.
This news certainly comes as a blow to Atlanta. The team has clinched the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, thanks in large part to its excellent depth. The Hawks currently have 15 players on their roster, which means a player would have to be released in order for the team to add some depth to replace the loss of Sefolosha.
Sefolosha was acquired by the team last July in a sign-and-trade agreement with the Thunder. In 52 appearances this season for the Hawks Sefolosha averaged 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 18.8 minutes per contest. His career averages are 5.8 PPG, 3.8 PPG, and 1.5 APG. Sefolosha’s career slash line is .440/.346/.749.
Jahlil Okafor To Enter NBA Draft
Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor intends to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). This news comes as little surprise since Okafor has been projected as a top three selection in 2015 prior to the Blue Devil’s season even commencing. The big man helped lead Duke to the NCAA championship this season, and had little to gain career-wise by returning for his sophomore campaign.
The 6’11” center’s hold on the No. 1 prospect ranking has been under siege by Kentucky forward Karl-Anthony Towns, who also announced his intentions to enter the draft today. Okafor is currently the No. 2 overall player on the top 100 of both Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
In 38 games this season for the Blue Devils Okafor averaged 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 30.1 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .664/.000/.510.
Nuggets Claim Shavlik Randolph
11:59pm: The team still hasn’t made an official announcement, but the move indeed took place, according to the RealGM transactions log.
3:54pm: The Nuggets have claimed forward Shavlik Randolph off of waivers, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The 31-year-old was waived by the Celtics to accommodate the signing of Chris Babb to a multiyear deal. The addition of Randolph will increase Denver’s roster count to the league maximum of 15 players. No official announcement has been made by the team as of yet regarding the waiver claim.
The logic of why Denver would claim Randolph was posited earlier today by Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Nuggets are close to $1.864MM shy of the salary floor, but claiming Randolph and his $1,227,985 salary will count toward that salary floor, lessening the amount of shortfall the franchise would need to distribute amongst its players. Denver will only be responsible to pay out the last prorated portion of salary that Randolph was due to receive this season. This could mean a savings of roughly $1MM for the organization, certainly worth claiming Randolph and carrying him on the roster for the remaining five contests.
Randolph has appeared in a total of 21 games this season for the Suns and Celtics. His career averages through 146 appearances are 2.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.2 assists. Randolph’s career slash line is .449/.167/.544.