Salary Cap Snapshot: Minnesota Timberwolves
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 Wolves’ team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Wolves currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Ricky Rubio —$13,575,000 [Year-end cap hit adjusted due to bonuses]
- Nikola Pekovic —$12,100,000
- Kevin Garnett —$8,000,000 [Waived by team]
- Cole Aldrich —$7,643,979
- Andrew Wiggins —$6,006,600
- Karl-Anthony Towns —$5,960,160
- Jordan Hill —$4,000,000
- Kris Dunn —$3,872,520
- Nemanja Bjelica —$3,800,000
- Brandon Rush —$3,500,000
- Shabazz Muhammad —$3,046,299
- Gorgui Dieng —$2,348,783
- Zach LaVine —$2,240,880
- Adreian Payne —$2,022,240
- Kevin Martin —$1,360,305 [Waived via Stretch Provision]
- Tyus Jones —$1,339,680
- John Lucas III —$635,753 [Waived by team]
- Omri Casspi —$138,414
- Lance Stephenson —$57,672 [10-day contract (Feb 8); actual salary — $72,193]
- Lance Stephenson —$57,672 [10-day contract (Mar 8); actual salary — $72,193]
Total Guaranteed Salary= $81,705,957
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Room Exception — $2,898,000
Total Projected Payroll: $81,705,957
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: $12,437,043
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $31,581,043
Salary Cap Floor: $84,729,000
Amount Below Salary Cap Floor: $3,023,043
Last Updated: 4/15/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
Donovan Praises Durant’s Handling Of Free Agency
While it may take some time for Oklahoma City’s fans and his former teammates to forgive Kevin Durant for leaving the Thunder in free agency this summer, Billy Donovan, his now former coach, praised how the forward handled the process, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical relays.
“I don’t know if I ever felt like he was going to necessarily come back, but I thought our meeting went very, very well,” Donovan told Wojnarowski. “I think Kevin on the front end was very, very, honest that when the season ended, he was going to go through this process and he was going to take a meeting with us, obviously, first. And then he was going to have some other teams he was going to meet with. And I think a little bit later on, after the season ended, they decided to do it out in The Hamptons.
But I thought the meeting that we had went very well. I think we talked about basketball, we talked about our team, we talked about direction, we talked about obviously his leadership, his role, all those kind of things. I think leaving the meeting it was very, very positive. I thought it was very, very clear. I think there was direction on both sides.
But one thing I think with Kevin was going through nine years in the organization, he was at a point of time when he was allowed obviously to be a free agent and go through this process and start to gather some information. We were the first meeting. So obviously, I think being in college for so long and you go through recruiting, you know that during that process, things can change through some of these different meetings. And obviously after meeting with Golden State, things probably in his mind changed in terms of what he was evaluating.”
Despite the media bringing up Durant’s pending free agency at every opportunity during the 2015/16 season, Donovan said he appreciated how the forward didn’t allow it to become a distraction on the court or in the locker room, the Vertical scribe relays. “The thing I thought Kevin did a great job of this year was the fact that everywhere we went to a lot of different marketplaces, there was always the question of ‘Are you going to consider this team? Are you going to consider that team? Have you given this any thought?’ I really appreciated for our team we were able to stay focused on our team, the season, the playoffs, without having the distraction. I thought Kevin handled it really, really well and was consistent all the way through.“
Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 8)
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 recently finished revisiting the lottery portion of the 2005 NBA Draft, which was one of the weakest in recent memory. In drafts light on impact talent, the GM who can find a diamond in the rough is king. But drafts that have a number of star-potential players can also be difficult and many an executive has made what turned out to be the wrong call. Greg Oden over Kevin Durant immediately springs to mind (sorry Blazers fans), likewise taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan…ouch!
The 2008 draft, which is the one we’re tackling now, 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’ll continue with the Bucks, who held the No. 8 overall pick that year. In the “real world” draft, Milwaukee selected Joe Alexander, who has career averages of 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in just 67 NBA games. This is one pick I’m sure Bucks fans are still lamenting, especially given the talented players who were still available at that slot.
So cast your vote for who the Bucks should have selected and check back on Saturday to see the results, as well as to vote on who the Bobcats/Hornets should have taken with the No.9 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 — ?? [Actual Pick — Joe Alexander]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.
Kevin Seraphin Hoping For NBA Offer
Unrestricted free agent Kevin Seraphin has rebuffed contract offers from overseas clubs as he awaits a call from an NBA team, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter). The center has garnered interest from teams in the Chinese Basketball Association as well as the Euroleague, Pick notes. Pick did not relay which specific clubs have contacted Seraphin, but FC Barcelona of Spain has expressed interest in the big man, according to the Sport.es (h/t HoopsHype).
Seraphin, who recently hired agent Bouna Ndiaye, according to Pick, is in a tough spot if he wants a shot at landing an NBA roster spot to start the campaign. The majority of teams around the league are already at, or close to having, the maximum number of players allowable for the preseason. His best bet in the long run may be to to head over to China to play, which would then allow him the chance to catch on with an NBA team once the CBA season ended in late February.
The Clippers had reportedly viewed Seraphin as an alternative if an affordable deal could not be worked out with Marreese Speights, who agreed to a contract with Los Angeles back in July. There has been virtually no mention of the center since that post from Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
The 26-year-old appeared in 48 games for the Knicks last season, averaging 3.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 0.8 blocks in 11.0 minutes per outing. His shooting line for 2015/16 was .410/.000/.826.
Salary Cap Snapshot: Milwaukee Bucks
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 Bucks’ team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Bucks currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Greg Monroe —$17,145,838
- Khris Middleton —$15,200,000
- John Henson —$12,267,606
- Mirza Teletovic —$10,500,000
- Matthew Dellavedova —$9,607,500
- Spencer Hawes — $6,348,759
- Jabari Parker —$5,374,320
- Giannis Antetokounmpo —$2,995,421
- Thon Maker —$2,568,600
- Tony Snell — $2,368,327
- Larry Sanders —$1,865,547 [Waived via Stretch Provision]
- Rashad Vaughn —$1,811,040
- Michael Beasley —$1,403,611
- Steve Novak — $980,431 [Waived by team; actual salary — $1,551,659]
- Jason Terry — $980,431 [Actual salary — $1,551,659]
- Malcolm Brogdon —$925,000
- Terrence Jones —$230,690 [Waived by team; actual salary — $247,285]
- Axel Toupane —$51,449 [10-day contract (Feb 25)]
- Gary Payton II —$35,166
Total Guaranteed Salary= $92,659,736
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: TBD. An unknown amount was sent to the Hornets in the Miles Plumlee trade. [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $200K received from Cavaliers in Matthew Dellavedova trade [Amount Remaining $3.3MM]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Trade Exception — $5,000,000 (Roy Hibbert trade) — Expires on 2/23/18
- Trade Exception — $1,733,880 (Tyler Ennis trade) — Expires on 9/22/17
- Trade Exception — $1,151,241 (Miles Plumlee trade) — Expires on 2/2/18
- Trade Exception — $815,199 (Michael Carter-Williams trade) — Expires on 10/17/17
- Room Exception — $2,898,000
Total Projected Payroll: $92,659,736
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: $1,483,264
(Note: team would have to renounce trade exceptions to use cap space)
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $20,627,264
Last Updated: 4/6/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Matthews, Harden, Hunter
Wesley Matthews says he is fully recovered from the Achilles tear he suffered in 2015 and predicts much stronger results for his second campaign with the Mavericks, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays. “I want the season to start now,” Matthews said. “I’m a whole different person. I’m a whole different player, and I’m really just excited to get out there and show it, and just to be who I know I can be and just to continue to grow. Obviously, it was different coming off of an Achilles [injury] and not having four or five months to prepare and all that stuff, and jumping right into the season being physically able to play every single game and play heavy minutes. It took until about after the All-Star break for me to get my legs back, because I play both ends of the court. And I feel better than when I got hurt.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Despite the roster and coaching changes the team has made, the Rockets will only go as far as James Harden takes them, writes Oliver Maroney of Basketball Insiders. The guard is one of the most criticized players in the league, Maroney notes, something that GM Daryl Morey disagrees with. “He’s only a polarizing figure to people who don’t watch,” Morey told Maroney. “Players voted him MVP [in 2014/15] for a reason. He’s had a winning team every season of his career, with multiple Conference Finals appearances.”
- The Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s D-League affiliate, named Ryan Gomes and Pat Rafferty as assistant coaches, the team announced via press release.
- ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider subscription required) released his first mock draft for 2017. The current top three, according to Ford, are Markelle Fultz (Washington), Harry Giles (Duke) and Josh Jackson (Kansas).
- R.J. Hunter, James Young, John Holland, and Ben Bentil are expected to compete for the Celtics‘ final regular season roster spot, though Hunter appears to have the advantage heading into the preseason, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes. Regardless of any advantage he has, Hunter plans on earning his place on the team, Himmelsbach adds. “I’m a competitor, so it’s just absolutely motivation for me,” Hunter said. “I think it just adds an extra competitive spirit to training camp, which is a great way to get the year started. So I’d rather have it that way, because now I have no reason not to be on my toes on every possession and at every practice. So I’ll try to use it to my advantage.”
Poll: 2008 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 5)
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 recently finished revisiting the lottery portion of the 2005 NBA Draft, which was one of the weakest in recent memory. In drafts light on impact talent, the GM who can find a diamond in the rough is king. But drafts that have a number of star-potential players can also be difficult and many an executive has made what turned out to be the wrong call. Greg Oden over Kevin Durant immediately springs to mind (sorry Blazers fans), likewise taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan…ouch!
The 2008 draft, which is the one we’re tackling now, 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’ll continue with the Grizzlies, who held the No. 5 overall pick that year. In the “real world” draft, Memphis had acquired the No. 3 overall pick in a swap with Minnesota. The actual swap went like this: The Grizzlies acquired the draft rights to O.J. Mayo, along with Marko Jarić, Antoine Walker, and Greg Buckner, from Minnesota in exchange for the draft rights to No. 5 overall pick Kevin Love, plus, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins. To avoid muddying the waters too much, we’ll assume the trade wasn’t completed (since Love was nabbed by the Heat with pick No. 2), so whomever is selected here will end up in Memphis.
So cast your vote for who the Grizzlies select and check back on Wednesday to see the results and to vote on who the Knicks will nab sixth overall. 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. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’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 — ?? [Actual Pick — Kevin Love]
If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here to vote.
Boeheim Says ‘Melo Unlikely To Win Title
Carmelo Anthony made the playoffs in each of the first 10 seasons of his NBA career, but he has sat out the past three postseasons as a member of the Knicks. The merits of Anthony as a player have been much debated throughout his career, with many doubting that he has the ability to lead a team to the promised land that is an NBA title. The forward’s college coach, Jim Boeheim weighed in on his former player’s title chances, and noted they’re not good, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes.
“He’s unlikely to win an NBA title,” Boeheim told the Syracuse Post-Standard. “He’s never been on a team that even had a remote chance of winning an NBA title. As a player, all you can do is try to make your team better and every team he’s been on he’s made them a lot better. Denver hadn’t done anything prior to him getting there and he took them into the playoffs. They weren’t going to beat the Lakers or the Spurs. In those years, they won the championship most of the time.”
“He wants to win in New York,” Boeheim continued. “I know the general opinion is if [new additions] Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose are healthy then they’ll be a better team. It’s just a question of if they will be healthy. They’ve been off and on the last two years. They’ve both been hurt. I think if both those guys are healthy, it certainly would make a big difference and Kristaps Porzingis continuing to progress. If those things happen, they can be better.”
‘Melo took some heat earlier this month after he told ESPN’s Marc Stein that he’d still consider his career a success if he failed to win a championship. “I would be very happy walking away from the game knowing that I’ve given the game everything I have, knowing I played on a high level at every level: high school, college, won [a championship at Syracuse] in college and possibly three gold medals,” Anthony said.
Is Boehim correct? Will Anthony’s career end without him hoisting a championship banner? What are your feelings about Boeheim’s candor regarding his former player’s title chances? Sound off in the comments section below.
Festus Ezeli To Miss Six Weeks
The Trail Blazers announced today that Festus Ezeli will be sidelined for six weeks. The center had his left knee injected with a bone marrow aspirate concentrate and Orthovisc today in Chicago. The treatment is designed to alleviate pain and improve function in the joint, per the announcement. If his recovery goes as planned, Ezeli should be available for the start of the regular season on October 25th.
Ezeli’s deal with Portland was for less money than expected because of concerns about his knees, which is looking like a smart move given this latest setback. The former Warriors center signed a two-year, $16MM contract with Portland, with a team option for the second season. Ezeli underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee back in February, and according to a July report by Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, a number of teams passed on signing the big man because they were worried about his durability.
The 26-year-old appeared in 46 games for the Warriors during the 2015/16 campaign, with Ezeli notching averages of 7.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 16.7 minutes per outing. His slash line on the season was .548/.000/.530.
Salary Cap Snapshot: Miami Heat
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 Heat’s team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Heat currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Chris Bosh —$23,741,060
- Hassan Whiteside —$22,116,750
- Goran Dragic —$15,891,725
- Wayne Ellington —$6,000,000
- Josh McRoberts —$5,782,450
- Tyler Johnson —$5,628,000 [Contract has 15% Trade Kicker]
- Derrick Williams —$4,598,000 [Waived by team]
- James Johnson —$4,000,000
- Udonis Haslem —$4,000,000
- Dion Waiters —$2,898,000 [Contract has 15% Trade Kicker]
- Justise Winslow —$2,593,440
- Luke Babbitt —$1,227,286
- Willie Reed —$1,015,696
- Josh Richardson —$874,636
- Rodney McGruder —$543,471
- Briante Weber —$327,989 [Waived by team]
- Okaro White —$210,995
- Stefan Jankovic —$100,000 [Waived by team]
- Okaro White —$100,000 [Waived by team (Oct 22)]
- Keith Benson — $75,000 [Waived by team]
- Okaro White —$31,969 [10-day contract (Jan 17)]
- Okaro White —$31,969 [10-day contract (Jan 27)]
- Marcus Georges-Hunt —$31,969 [10-day contract (Feb 8)]
Total Guaranteed Salary= $101,820,405
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $400K sent to Pelicans in Luke Babbitt trade [Amount Remaining $3.1MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Disabled player exception — $1,296,720 [Granted for Justise Winslow injury]
- Room exception — $0 [Used to sign Dion Waiters]
Total Projected Payroll: $101,820,405
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: –$7,677,405
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $11,466,595
Last Updated: 2/9/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.