Zhou Qi Meets With Rockets
SEPTEMBER 6, 8:14am: The Rockets don’t expect Zhou to play for them during the 2016/17 season, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com clarifies. According to Watkins, there’s no out clause in the big man’s contract to play in the NBA this season. It seems likely that the two sides will try to work something out in the summer of 2017.
SEPTEMBER 5, 5:01pm: Center Zhou Qi, who was selected 53rd overall in this year’s draft by the Rockets, met with team officials in Houston today, Hupu.com reports (translation via Basketball Insiders). Zhou’s situation is a complicated one, with the 20-year-old under contract with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers for another five years. The big man reportedly has an NBA out clause included in his deal with Xinjiang for 2017, with his buyout amount worth $650,000.
What is unknown at this time is the date Zhou is eligible to exercise that buyout. The Chinese Basketball Association’s season ends in early February, with the playoffs typically completed by early March. American players who ink one-year deals with Chinese clubs are able to sign with NBA teams once their seasons are finished. It’s unclear if Zhou would be able to buy his way out of his contract in the spring, or if he and the Rockets are having discussions regarding next summer.
It would make more sense for the Rockets if the discussions were regarding the 2017/18 season. With Houston currently over the salary cap, the team could only offer him a two-year contract in the spring. Going that route would also essentially burn one year of team control for a brief look at Zhou toward the end of the 2016/17 campaign. If both sides were to wait until next offseason to strike a deal, the Rockets would be able to offer him a longer contract, which would put less pressure on the young big man to produce immediately. I should point out that this is merely speculation on my part.
Zhou appeared in 42 games for the Flying Tigers a season ago, averaging 15.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.2 blocks. His shooting line was .603/.600/.758. Very solid numbers for a young big man, though, some NBA teams reportedly believe that the center is actually three or four years older than his listed age.
Salary Cap Snapshot: Orlando Magic
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 Magic’s team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Magic currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Evan Fournier —$17,000,000
- Bismack Biyombo —$17,000,000
- Jeff Green —$15,000,000
- Nikola Vucevic —$11,750,000
- Terrence Ross —$10,000,000
- D.J. Augustin —$7,250,000
- Jodie Meeks —$6,540,000
- C.J. Watson —$5,000,000
- Aaron Gordon —$4,351,320
- Mario Hezonja —$3,909,840
- Elfrid Payton —$2,613,600
- C.J. Wilcox —$1,209,600 [Waived by team]
- Damjan Rudez —$980,431
- Stephen Zimmerman —$950,000
- Arinze Onuaku —$440,078 [Waived by team]
- Anthony Brown —$51,449 [10-day contract (Jan 22)]
- Patricio Garino —$31,969
- Marcus Georges-Hunt —$31,969
Total Guaranteed Salary= $104,110,256
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.2MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $75,000 from Trail Blazers as part of Shabazz Napier trade; $230,000 from Clippers as part of C.J. Wilcox trade [Amount Remaining $3,195,000]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Room Exception — $2,898,000
- Trade Exception — $2,250,000 (Serge Ibaka trade) — Expires on 2/14/18
Total Projected Payroll: $104,110,256
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: –$9,967,256
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $9,176,744
Last Updated: 4/7/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
Western Notes: Chriss, Jazz, Curry
The Suns primary target with the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft was Dragan Bender, due to his combination of size and skill, Ian Thomsen of NBA.com writes. But the franchise was also enamored with Marquese Chriss‘ potential, which prompted the team to work out a trade with the Kings to allow them to select the forward out of Washington, the scribe adds. “It’s an idea we came up with on the morning of the draft, once we had more information about who was likely to go where,” Phoenix GM Ryan McDonough said. “We felt like if the Celtics took Jaylen Brown at No. 3, which they did, and we took either Dragan Bender or Marquese Chriss, the next three picks would be guards. That’s exactly the way it happened: Kris Dunn to Minnesota, Buddy Hield to New Orleans and Jamal Murray to Denver.”
Discussions between Phoenix and Sacramento regarding the No. 8 pick began a week prior to the draft, Thomsen notes.. “It’s really hard to acquire picks in the mid-lottery,” said McDonough. “We knew Sacramento would consider dropping down from 8 to 13 if we made it worth their while. But both teams wanted to get on the clock in the draft to see who was still available on the board. We took Dragan and said, let’s see what we can do to get No. 8 and get both of them. We think those two guys are perfect for the modern NBA, where athleticism and shooting and defensive versatility is at a premium, and they were the two best guys in the draft at those things.”
Here’s more from out West:
- The Jazz have set themselves up for a big season, adding a number of veterans to their solid young core. But the talent the team has accumulated will become markedly more expensive over the next few season if the team wishes to keep the roster together, Tony Jone of The Salt Lake Tribune writes. “Post Karl Malone and John Stockton, the Jazz have had some decent years, most notably with Deron Williams and Paul Millsap,” said Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. “They’ve done a great job in building this current team, but now this is a key moment. Gordon Hayward can leave, Rudy Gobert is up for an extension. The front office has to make decisions now for the long term. They need to show who they are, and the players need to show they are a core worth building around.”
- Warriors guard Stephen Curry finally made himself watch Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, telling Darren Rovell of ESPN.com that he is using the loss as motivation for the coming season. “I was a little mad at myself and getting back into the grind of working out for next season,” Curry said. “I think it was a good motivator to get back into the gym and keep working. I wasn’t 100%, but who cares? I was playing. I was out there trying to help my team win and that’s all that really matters. I’ve taken advantage of the summer to get right and I still have a little bit of work to go.“
Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 17)
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. 17 overall pick, which was originally held by the Raptors. In the “real world” draft, Toronto dealt the pick (which was used to select big man Roy Hibbert) along with T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and Maceo Baston to the Pacers in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal and the rights to Nathan Jawai (No. 41 overall). Since Hibbert is already off the board, having been snagged by the Suns at No. 15, we’ll nix this trade and Toronto will be selecting for itself.
Cast your vote for who the Raptors select and check back on Tuesday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Wizards should have taken with the No. 18 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 — ?? [Actual Pick — Roy Hibbert]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.
Following Specific Players On Hoops Rumors
Hoops Rumors lets you keep up with your favorite teams as they plot their moves, and we also provide ways to easily follow the latest on all of your favorite players and trade candidates. You can get news about players wherever you go with our Trade Rumors app, available for iOS and Android devices. The app is free and allows you to add a feed for any player and set up notifications that will alert you whenever we write about him.
Every player we’ve written about has his own rumors page. You can find any player by using our search box (located in the right sidebar); by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post in which he’s discussed; or, by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, Kevin Durant’s page is hoopsrumors.com/kevin-durant.
You can also set up an RSS feed for any of our player pages by adding /feed to the end of the page URL, like this: hoopsrumors.com/j.r.-smith/feed. Entering that URL into the reader of your choice should enable you to get updates whenever we write about J.R. Smith. It works for teams, too. If you’re a Cavs fan, you can enter hoopsrumors.com/cleveland-cavaliers/feed into your reader and stay on top of all the latest from Cleveland.
In addition to players and teams, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags that we use at the bottom of posts. You can keep tabs on news related to the draft right here. Items about the salary cap can be found on this page. You can simply scan our top stories here. Again, you can set up a feed with any of these pages by adding /feed to the end of the URL.
Salary Cap Snapshot: Oklahoma City Thunder
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 Thunder’s team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Thunder currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Russell Westbrook —$26,540,100 [Contract has 15% Trade Kicker]
- Enes Kanter —$17,145,838 [Contract has 15% Trade Kicker]
- Taj Gibson — $8,950,000
- Victor Oladipo —$6,552,960
- Alex Abrines —$5,994,764
- Kyle Singler —$4,837,500
- Nick Collison —$3,750,000
- Steven Adams —$3,140,517
- Ronnie Price —$2,557,545 [Waived by team]
- Doug McDermott — $2,483,040
- Domantas Sabonis —$2,440,200
- Andre Roberson —$2,183,072
- Mitch McGary —$1,526,040 [Waived by team]
- Josh Huestis —$1,191,480
- Jerami Grant —$980,431
- Semaj Christon —$543,471
- Norris Cole —$247,991 [Actual salary —$288,131]
- Chris Wright — $100,000 [Waived by team]
- Kaleb Tarczewski — $75,000 [Waived by team]
- Alex Caruso — $50,000 [Waived by team]
- Reggie Williams — $50,000 [Waived by team]
Total Guaranteed Salary= $91,339,949
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Trade Exception — $4,936,529 (Ersan Ilyasova trade; used portion to acquire Doug McDermott) — Expires on 11/1/17
- Room Exception — $2,898,000
Total Projected Payroll: $91,339,949
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: $2,803,051
(Note: team would have to renounce trade exception to use cap space)
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $21,947,051
Last Updated: 3/1/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 15)
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. 15 overall pick, which was held by the Suns. Phoenix had acquired the pick via a 2005 trade with the Hawks. The details of that swap were: Phoenix nabbed Atlanta’s first round picks in 2006 and 2008, plus Boris Diaw, in exchange for Joe Johnson. In the “real world” draft, the Suns nabbed center Robin Lopez. With Lopez off the board already to Indiana at pick 13, the team will have to go in a different direction in our draft.
So cast your vote for who the Suns select and check back on Sunday to see the results, as well as to vote on whom the Sixers should have taken with the No. 16 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 — ?? [Actual Pick — Robin Lopez]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.
Western Notes: Russell, Walton, Landry
Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell and former coach Byron Scott did not have a good relationship last season, but the second year player has nothing but raves for new head coach Luke Walton, as he told Serena Winters of LakersNation. “He’s one of the best people I know, as far as off the court,” Russell said of Walton. “We communicate on and off the court as much as possible. I feel like I can call him anytime. He’s not like a head coach that will sit back and just watch his other coaches and colleagues just train other players, he’s always involved. He’ll get out there and play with you if he wants. It’s just great to have a young coach like him in the building.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Spurs have a number of new faces on their bench heading into the season and the players are still trying to get to know each other and build chemistry, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes. “We’re still trying to figure out some guys’ first and last names,” said Jonathon Simmons. “In another week, everything should be coming together.” San Antonio is also trying to fill a major leadership void now that Tim Duncan has retired, McDonald adds. Speaking about the players’ offseason practice and workout sessions, Kyle Anderson said, “Some days [in the past], they’d [the coaching staff] leave it up to Tim to run it. It’s a little weird without him there.”
- In a recent chat where he answered reader questions, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News opined that rookie small forward Nicolas Brussino‘s upside makes him a player worth watching this season for the Mavs. The scribe did note that how well the 23-year-old from Argentina will adapt to the American style of play remains a major question mark.
- The Rockets, Spurs, Lakers and Pacers are among the teams who are interested in Carl Landry, who was waived by the Sixers this week, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 8/21/16-8/27/16
Here’s a look back at the original content and analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week.
- We asked readers to do over the 2008 NBA Draft. Here’s who you selected for picks No. 9, No. 10, No. 11, No. 12, No. 13 and No. 14 overall.
- You can stay up to date on any contract extensions agreed to this season with our tracker.
- We looked at how players who opted out of their deals fared in free agency this offseason.
- We ran down the list of players expected to hit free agency in 2018.
- We ran down the teams currently projected to be without cap room in 2017/18.
- Will Joseph highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- We looked at the 2016/17 Salary Cap figures for the:
- Arthur answered reader questions in our Weekly Mailbag. Here’s how you can submit your own questions for our mailbag feature.
- In our Community Shootarounds this week we discussed:
- How far can the Jazz go as a franchise with Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert as their starting frontcourt?
- If the Wizards decide to break up their backcourt, should they trade John Wall or Bradley Beal?
- Which players are the likeliest to be part of blockbuster trades this season?
- Our Free Agent Tracker continues to have up-to-date data on this summer’s contract agreements and signings from around the NBA.
- If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Trade Rumors app for your iOS or Android device.
Week In Review: 8/28/16-9/3/16
With 2016’s offseason winding down and the preseason on its way, here’s a look back at all the notable news and events from around the NBA this past week:
Trades
- The Nuggets sent Joffrey Lauvergne to Oklahoma City in exchange for two future second-round picks.
Signings/Agreements
NBA
- The Kings signed Ty Lawson.
- The Pacers signed Julyan Stone.
- The Pacers signed Alex Poythress.
- The Lakers signed Travis Wear.
- The Pistons signed Trey Freeman.
- The Bucks signed Xavier Henry.
- The Hornets signed Perry Ellis.
- The Kings signed Ty Lawson.
- The Cavaliers signed Cory Jefferson.
- The Lakers signed Julian Jacobs.
- The Pacers signed Kevin Seraphin.
International
- Sir’Dominic Pointer signed to play in Israel with Hapoel Eilat.
- Jason Thompson signed with Shandong of China.
Waivers
- The Sixers waived Carl Landry and Tibor Pleiss.
- The Celtics waived John Holland.
News/Rumors
- Veteran Cavs guard Mo Williams is strongly considering retirement.
- Emmanuel Mudiay and Bruno Caboclo both switched to the Wasserman Agency for representation.
- Lakers forward Julius Randle will be out of action for at least 14 days after suffering a laceration to his right hand during practice that required seven stitches.
- Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday signed with agent Jason Glushon of Glushon Sports Management.
- The Raptors signed Masai Ujiri to a multiyear extension.
- Darren Collison agreed to a plea deal in his domestic violence case.