Week In Review: 9/4/16-9/10/16
With 2016’s offseason winding down and the preseason almost upon us, here’s a look back at all the notable news and events from around the NBA this past week:
Signings/Agreements
NBA
- The Bucks signed Orlando Johnson.
- The Nuggets signed Robbie Hummel.
- The Nuggets signed Jarnell Stokes.
- The Kings signed Isaiah Cousins.
- The Cavaliers signed Markel Brown.
- The Sixers signed Elton Brand.
- The Pacers signed Nick Zeisloft.
- The Hornets signed Andrew Andrews and Rasheed Sulaimon.
- The Bucks signed J.J. O’Brien.
- The Magic signed Cliff Alexander, Branden Dawson, Nick Johnson, Kevin Murphy, Arinze Onuaku and Damjan Rudez.
- The Cavs signed John Holland.
- The Spurs signed Ryan Richards.
- The Pelicans signed Lance Stephenson.
International
- DeJuan Blair signed with Jiangsu Tongxi in China.
- Jerrelle Benimon signed with Qingdao in China.
- Colton Iverson signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
News/Rumors
- Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday will miss an “indefinite” period of time during the regular season to take care of his wife and newborn child.
- The Clippers hired Paul Hewitt as a scout.
- Jerry Stackhouse was named head coach of Raptors 905, Toronto’s D-League affiliate.
- Former Pelicans point guard Norris Cole signed with NBA agent Joel Bell.
- Heat swingman Josh Richardson suffered a partially torn MCL in his right knee.
Salary Cap Snapshot: Phoenix Suns
With the free agent signing period winding down and teams looking ahead to the preseason, we at Hoops Rumors will be tracking the Salary Cap figures for each team around the league. These posts will be maintained throughout the season once financial data is reported. They will be located on the sidebar throughout the year, once all the teams’ cap figures have been relayed. You can always check RosterResource.com for up-to-date rosters for each franchise, with the Suns’ team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Suns currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Eric Bledsoe —$14,000,000
- Brandon Knight —$12,606,250
- Tyson Chandler —$12,415,000
- Jared Dudley —$10,470,000
- Jared Sullinger —$5,628,000 [Waived by team]
- Alex Len —$4,823,621
- Dragan Bender —$4,276,320
- Leandro Barbosa —$4,000,000
- Mike Scott —$3,333,334 [Waived by team]
- Marquese Chriss —$2,941,440
- Devin Booker —$2,223,600
- T.J. Warren —$2,128,920
- Archie Goodwin —$2,094,089 [Waived by team]
- Tyler Ulis —$918,369
- Alan Williams —$874,636
- Michael Beasley —$777,777 [Waived via Stretch Provision]
- Derrick Jones — $543,471
- John Jenkins —$469,841 [Waived by team]
- Ronnie Price —$276,828 [Actual salary — $438,115]
- Ronnie Price —$57,672 [10-day contract (Jan 27); actual salary — $91,274]
- Ronnie Price —$57,672 [10-day contract (Feb 6); actual salary — $91,274]
- Jarell Eddie —$57,672 [10-day contract (Mar 19)]
- Jarell Eddie —$57,672 [10-day contract (Mar 29)]
- Elijah Millsap —$23,069
Total Guaranteed Salary= $85,055,253
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $1.5MM ($1MM received from Raptors in P.J. Tucker trade. $500K received from Hawks in Mike Scott trade.) [Amount Remaining $2MM]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Room Exception — $2,898,000
Total Projected Payroll: $85,055,253
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: $9,087,747
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $28,231,747
Salary Cap Floor: $84,729,000
Amount Above Salary Cap Floor: $326,253
Last Updated: 4/14/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
Submit Your Questions For Hoops Rumors Mailbag
We at Hoops Rumors love interacting with our readers. This is why we provide an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in our weekly mailbag feature, which is posted each Sunday.
Have a question regarding player movement, free agent rumors, the salary cap, the NBA draft, or the top storylines of the week? You can e-mail them here: hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com. Feel free to send emails throughout the week, but please be mindful that we may receive a sizable number of questions and might not get to all of them.
If you missed out on any past mailbags and would like to catch up, you can view the full archives here.
Atlantic Notes: Beech, Colangelo, Nets
Beau Beech, who inked a partially guaranteed deal with the Nets in August, hopes that his strong showing in summer league play will translate into him earning a regular season roster spot, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders relays. “It is just Summer League, but in the same breath, Summer League is correlated to the NBA,” Beech told Taylor. “What happens in Summer League may not be a direct correlation right away, but it definitely has the same kind of game flow, the same schemes and the same thinking for coaches and players. It’s on a smaller scale, but it’s definitely good to have had that experience underneath my belt and it definitely gave me a lot more confidence going into camp.” In five games in Las Vegas this summer, Beech averaged 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 33% from three-point range.
The forward understands that he has an uphill battle to break camp as a member of the team, Taylor notes. “[The Nets] signed the roster that they wanted to sign and those players are all very good and I respect all of them,” Beech said. “As a competitor, not having a fully-guaranteed contract, I want a fully-guaranteed contract. That’s my goal and that’s what I want to do. I want to be on this team from day one, but I know the situation at the same time.”
Here’s more from out of the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers advisor Jerry Colangelo believes the team will better in 2016/17 than in years past, but wants to temper expectations for his young club, Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com relays. “I’m sure that everyone should have optimism,” Colangelo said. “But there’s a word I’ve always used over the years about optimism. It should be guarded optimism because things take time. When you’re building teams — and I’ve had the privilege of doing that quite a few times in my career — you’re adding pieces here and there, and then once in a while you strike out and get that last piece. I think where the Sixers are today is, this is the beginning of that particular process, and that is building what everyone would hope to be a championship team.”
- The crew over at Basketball Insiders weighed in on the Nets‘ and Sixers‘ chances this coming season, with the general consensus being that Brooklyn will compete with Philly for last place in the Atlantic Division.
Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 20)
Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.
Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.
We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.
We’ve arrived at the No. 20 overall pick, which was held by the Bobcats/Hornets. Charlotte had acquired the pick from Denver in exchange for a future first rounder. In the “real world” draft, the Hornets used the selection to take Alexis Ajinca. Cast your vote for whom Charlotte selects and check back on Saturday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Nets should have taken with the No. 21 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
- Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
- Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
- Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
- Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
- Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
- Knicks — Serge Ibaka [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
- Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
- Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
- Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
- Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
- Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
- Kings — George Hill [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
- Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
- Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
- Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
- Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick — Marreese Speights]
- Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
- Wizards — Mario Chalmers [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
- Cavaliers — Timofey Mozgov [Actual Pick — J.J. Hickson]
- Bobcats/Hornets (from Nuggets) — ?? [Actual Pick — Alexis Ajinca]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.
Eastern Notes: Horford, Ellis, Green
The Celtics entered the offseason looking to add talent, which the team did by signing Al Horford to a four-year, $113MM deal. But coach Brad Stevens notes that he wanted Horford for how well he fits within the team’s system in addition to his skills, Michael Pina of Vice Sports relays. “We played [Atlanta] ten times [last season], so we had a pretty good idea of what they were doing and they had an idea of what we were doing,” Stevens told Pina. “One of the reasons we went after Al really hard on day one was because we thought that he fit in really well with how we play.”
“The part that’s great about Al is he gives you a lot of flexibility to play in different actions,” the Celtics coach continued. “Whether it be pick-and-roll, off-the-ball screens. Whether they are two-man game or more motion type concepts. He’s a good player in all of those situations. There are different ways to play, obviously, but the more skill, the more ability to dribble, pass, and shoot you have on the floor … people are going to play smaller at times against us, [so] the ability to move laterally at the five and guard smaller guys while at the same time being able to pass it from the top of the key out of a pick-and-roll, or out of the post versus a switch, is important.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Pacers‘ starting lineup appears set entering the preseason with the exception of shooting guard, which may see last year’s starter Monta Ellis shift to a role off the bench, Greg Rappaport of NBA.com writes. The move may be necessary due to the addition of Jeff Teague, who, like Ellis, is not known for his ability to consistently hit shots from deep, Rappaport notes.
- The Raptors locking up the front office trio of Masai Ujiri, Jeff Weltman and Bobby Webster for the foreseeable future is good news for the franchise because it allows for continuity and the continuation of the team’s current plan, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star.
- Stevens is also excited by the Celtics‘ offseason addition of swingman Gerald Green, whose offensive skills will add a needed dimension to the roster, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “I’ve been a big Gerald Green fan because I’ve been scared of him,” Stevens said. “And I think that that’s a great way to figure out how good a player is. When you go into a game, he’s on your scouting report, maybe in a highlighted way because he could go off for a lot of points in a short amount of time. He can change the course of a game. Does he do it every night, historically? No. But he’s had moments and times where he has done that. So I think he brings a spurtability to us that we clearly needed from a scoring standpoint.”
Salary Cap Snapshot: Philadelphia 76ers
Here’s a breakdown of where the Sixers currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Andrew Bogut — $10,527,027 [Waived by team; $11,027,027 cap hit reduced by buyout]
- Jerryd Bayless —$9,424,084
- Gerald Henderson —$9,000,000
- Tiago Splitter — $8,550,000
- Sergio Rodriguez —$8,000,000
- Carl Landry —$6,500,000 [Waived by team]
- Ben Simmons —$5,903,160
- Joel Embiid —$4,826,160
- Jahlil Okafor —$4,788,840
- Nik Stauskas —$2,993,040
- Tibor Pleiss —$2,900,000 [Waived by team]
- Dario Saric —$2,318,280
- Justin Anderson — $1,514,160
- Sasha Kaun —$1,333,420 [Waived by team]
- Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot —$1,326,960
- Richaun Holmes —$1,025,831
- Robert Covington —$1,015,696
- Elton Brand —$980,431 [Waived by team]
- T.J. McConnell —$874,636
- Hollis Thompson —$442,126 [Waived by team]
- Chasson Randle —$233,373 [Waived by team]
- Brandon Paul —$155,000 [Waived by team]
- Shawn Long —$89,513
- Shawn Long —$65,000 [Waived by team]
- James Webb III —$65,000 [Waived by team]
- Justin Harper —$57,672 [10-day contract (Mar 3)]
- Cat Barber —$50,000 [Waived by team]
- Dionte Christmas —$50,000 [Waived by team]
- Chasson Randle —$31,969 [10-day contract (Jan 10)]
- Chasson Randle —$31,969 [10-day contract (Jan 20)]
- Shawn Long —$31,969 [10-day contract (Mar 6)]
- Alex Poythress —$31,969 [10-day contract (Apr 2)]
- Alex Poythress —$6,394
Total Guaranteed Salary= $85,143,679
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $1,800,000 received from Cavs in Sasha Kaun trade; $1,600,000 received from Jazz in Tibor Pleiss trade [Amount Remaining $100K]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Room Exception — $2,898,000
Total Projected Payroll: $85,143,679
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: $8,999,321
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $28,143,321
Salary Cap Floor: $84,729,000
Amount Above Salary Cap Floor: $414,679
Latest Update: 4/15/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
Aaron Gordon On: Vogel, New Additions, Offseason
Aaron Gordon, who was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, is entering his third season in the league despite being just 20 years old. The forward sat down with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders to discuss a number of topics regarding himself and the Magic. We’ve relayed a number of the highlights of the chat below, but the entire piece is certainly worth a look:
On how the league’s new emphasis on positional versatility has benefited him:
“Oh man, it’s huge. We can play small, we can play big. I can play the two, the three or the four, and it all depends on what my coach sees. He’ll say, ‘Aaron, we have an advantage at the four, go get him.’ The foundation is defense though. If you can’t guard the position, you can’t play the position. I’m able to guard all of those positions so therefore I can play them and it opens things up.”
On what new head coach Frank Vogel will expect from him:
“I think he wants me to do a whole lot of everything, from defending to distributing to scoring. We’re going to need to score the ball this year and I’m looking to take on a bigger scoring role. Defensively, I want to guard the best player on the other team every night. These are things that I want, but they are also things I want from my teammates. I want them to say, ‘No, I want to guard the best player.’ And we have those type of players. Serge Ibaka, Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green, EP [Elfrid Payton] are guys who would love to do that. They all want that challenge and I love playing with guys like that. It’s always team-first with me and I’m going to do whatever I can to help my team win.”
On the Magic’s veteran offseason additions:
“It’s just exciting to me. I’ve always trusted [GM] Rob Hennigan and I’ve always trusted [assistant GM] Scott Perry. To me, it validates my trust in them. They made moves that other people couldn’t have made. They were confident, aggressive moves. Now, it’s on us. We’re ready to play. We have the coach, the staff, the players, the organization. We have a foundation of players who have been there and been through the losing, and now it’s time to start winning.”
On what he worked on this offseason:
“My training regimen has been absolutely hectic. I’ve being doing two-a-days and three-a-days to try to get ready for the season. I’m ready. I’ve been ready. I was ready the day that we lost to Charlotte on our last day of the season – I wanted to start another 82 games right then. I knew that it couldn’t happen, but I wanted it. Now, I’ve taken this offseason to work on my ball-handling, passing, shooting. Also, being able to shoot over defenders’ hands when they’re closing out on threes or being able to take one dribble and rise to pull up over everybody. I’ve been working on making decisions out of the pick-and-roll. I know with with Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka, I’m going to have a roll guy and a pop guy. And with Vooch [Nikola Vucevic], I’ll have a little bit of both – a guy who can roll and pop. It’s going to be on me to either score off of the pick-and-roll or make the right read to get the ball to my guy in the best spot. I’m ready.”
On what he feels his ceiling as a player is:
“It’s really hard to say. It really is. I think if I continue to work diligently and I’m smart about it… One of my problems is that I work a little bit too hard and come game time, my body isn’t ready. This year, I was able to take [time] off and make sure my body was ready for 82 games. If I stay healthy… When I stay healthy and when I stay in the present, I think my potential is limitless. I basically get to decide how great I can be.”
Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 18)
Scouting players and predicting how their skills will translate to the NBA is one of the more difficult tasks front offices have on their plates. Looking back over past drafts and how many lottery picks never evolved into stars, or even made a significant impact in the league, illustrates just how often stats, combine numbers and pure gut instinct often come up short.
Of course, we get the opportunity to critique these moves with the benefit of hindsight — a luxury that GMs don’t have on draft night. Having said that, it’s still fun to go back in time and take a theoretical look at how these drafts should have/could have gone.
We’ve been revisiting 2008 draft, which had a number of players who have gone on to post big numbers in the league. This was the year of Derrick Rose (No. 1 overall), Russell Westbrook (No. 4), Kevin Love (No. 5), Brook Lopez (No. 10) and Nicolas Batum (No. 25). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of polls asking readers to vote on whom teams should have selected in each spot.
We’ve arrived at the No. 18 overall pick, which was held by the Wizards. In the “real world” draft, Washington selected center JaVale McGee. The big man out of the University of Nevada had a wealth of physical tools and it’s difficult to fault the organization for gambling on the seven-footer, especially in the middle of the first round. Unfortunately for the Wizards, McGee’s maturity level never fell in line with his physical tools, which ultimately led to him being traded to Denver in 2012 in exchange for Nene.
Cast your vote for who the Wizards select and check back on Wednesday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Cavaliers should have taken with the No. 19 pick. Also, don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. If we fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and we’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
- Bulls — Russell Westbrook [Actual Pick — Derrick Rose]
- Heat — Kevin Love [Actual Pick — Michael Beasley]
- Wolves — Derrick Rose [Actual Pick — O.J. Mayo]
- Sonics/Thunder — DeAndre Jordan [Actual Pick — Russell Westbrook]
- Grizzlies — Brook Lopez [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
- Knicks — Serge Ibaka [Actual Pick — Danilo Gallinari]
- Clippers — Nicolas Batum [Actual Pick — Eric Gordon]
- Bucks — Goran Dragic [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
- Bobcats/Hornets — Danilo Gallinari [Actual Pick — D.J. Augustin]
- Nets — Ryan Anderson [Actual Pick — Brook Lopez]
- Blazers (from Pacers) — Eric Gordon [Actual Pick — Jerryd Bayless]
- Kings — George Hill [Actual Pick — Jason Thompson]
- Pacers (from Blazers) — Robin Lopez [Actual Pick — Brandon Rush]
- Warriors — Courtney Lee [Actual Pick — Anthony Randolph]
- Suns — Roy Hibbert [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
- Sixers— Nikola Pekovic [Actual Pick — Marreese Speights]
- Raptors — O.J. Mayo [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
- Wizards — ?? [Actual Pick — JaVale McGee]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.
Quincy Acy On: Mavs, Free Agency
It may have taken Quincy Acy a few weeks into this year’s free agent signing period to find a new home, but he is thrilled that he ended up with the Mavs, the forward told Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Acy, who was born in Tyler, Texas, told the scribe that he landed in the perfect situation in Dallas after inking a two-year deal.
“It’s a dream come true,” Acy said. “It’s definitely a blessing, but it’s still kind of surreal. You know, my family, they’re all kind of more excited than I am right now, but it’s a dream come true. My agents did most of the talking with the front office, but we were just kind of playing the waiting game. We were seeing what teams and what the rosters were playing out to be, and seeing how it would fit with different teams. And it just kind of opened up. As soon as the opportunity came, we just kind of took it. And I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
The forward is slated to come off the bench for the Mavs and he acknowledged that the best way for him to earn minutes and the trust of the coaching staff is by providing a high-energy spark every night, Sneed notes. The 25-year-old has never played in a postseason game during his career and told Sneed that he is ready to do whatever is required to rectify that void this season in Dallas.
“I mean, I’ve been a fan of Dallas my entire life, so it’s not normal that you see a young roster. But I’m glad to be a part of it,” Acy said. “We’re kind of turning over a new leaf, I guess, and I’ve kind of got a good relationship with a lot of the young guys. We’ve all been up here early, and it’s been good. It’s been worth it, and I’m happy and ready to get going. I mean, I’m just going to play my heart out every night, especially now that I’m playing for my city. You know, it’s bigger for me, and I’m going to go out and represent to the fullest. I’m going to go out every night and defend, throw bows, or dive on the floor. Whatever I’ve got to do to help us win, I’m gonna do.”
Acy averaged 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game in 2015/16, his second tenure with the Kings, who also had him for most of the 2013/14 season. The Kings moved him in and out of the starting lineup this past season, but he still wound up making 29 starts, his most ever. He spent a year with the Knicks in between his stints with Sacramento, and Acy put up the best numbers of his career in 2014/15 with New York, averaging 5.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 18.9 minutes.