Key Rest-Of-Season NBA Dates, Deadlines
The 2021 NBA trade deadline is now behind us, but it’s not the last notable date on the 2020/21 regular season calendar.
Here are a few more dates and deadlines to keep an eye out for over the next couple months:
April 9
- Last day a player can be waived by one team and remain eligible to appear in the postseason for another team.
This rule is often the source of confusion. A player who is released by a team doesn’t have to sign with a new team by April 9 in order to be playoff-eligible this spring. He simply has to be waived by his current team before the end of the day on April 9.
As long as he’s no longer under contract by 11:59 pm ET on April 9, a player could theoretically wait until the last day of the regular season to sign with a new club and would still be postseason-eligible. But if he’s cut on April 10 instead, he loses that postseason eligibility.
We’re keeping an eye on the 2021 buyout market in this space.
April 19
- Last day to use a disabled player exception.
Five teams were granted a total of six disabled player exceptions this season (the Magic got two) and none of those exceptions were used at the trade deadline.
The Heat lost their $4.7MM disabled player exception for Meyers Leonard when they included Leonard in a pre-deadline trade.
The Warriors ($9.26MM), Magic ($6.14MM and $3.68MM), and Wizards ($4.17MM) all made trades at the deadline, but none of those deals saw them take on a player on an expiring contract who would have fit a DPE. The Nets, meanwhile, still have their $5.73MM exception despite completing two signings on the buyout market (Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge).
At this point, those disabled player exceptions seem unlikely to be used. Maybe a surprise buyout in the next week or two changes that, but it looks like most of this season’s DPEs will expire without being touched.
For more info on how DPEs work, be sure to check out our glossary entry.
May 16
- Last day of the regular season.
- Last day players can sign contracts for 2020/21.
- Last day two-way contracts can be converted to standard NBA contracts.
- Luxury tax penalties calculated based on payroll as of this day.
Although we don’t always see a flurry of last-minute activity on the very last day of the regular season, teams around the NBA figure to be active leading up to this date.
Playoff clubs will typically make sure their rosters are fully stocked for the postseason. Even a team with tax concerns that has avoided carrying a full 15-man roster all season will consider filling that 15th spot on the last day of the season, since the prorated minimum-salary cap hit would only be about $11K and the accompanying tax penalty would be very modest.
Meanwhile, lottery-bound teams will often fill their rosters by taking a flier on a prospect or two, signing them to multiyear contracts that include little to no guaranteed money for 2021/22. That way, they can hang onto them for next season if they want, or cut bait during the offseason without any real impact to their cap for next season.
These end-of-season roster moves often fly under the radar, but they’re worth keeping an eye on. Just ask the Heat, who signed Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn to team-friendly three-year contracts at the very end of the 2018/19 regular season and continue to reap the benefits.
It’s also worth noting that in most years there’s a midseason deadline for signing players to two-way contracts, but teams can sign two-way players all the way up until the end of the regular season in 2020/21. As such, some of those openings could be filled down the stretch too.
May 18-21
- Play-in tournament for the seventh and eighth playoff spots in each conference.
We got a preview of the NBA’s play-in tournament at the Walt Disney World bubble in 2020 when the Trail Blazers beat the Grizzlies for the final playoff spot in the West. But 2021 will be the first time we get the full-fledged version of the event.
The plan is for each conference’s seventh and eighth seeds to play one another, while the ninth and 10th seeds face each other. The winner of the 7/8 game will earn the No. 7 seed, while the loser will play the winner of the 9/10 game. The winner of that second game will be the No. 8 seed.
In other words, as long as you finish the regular season in a “standard” playoff position (seventh or eighth seed), you’ll get two shots to win a play-in game. The ninth and 10th seeds will have to win two games to make the postseason.
If the season ended today, the Celtics and Heat would play in the East’s first play-in game, with the winner making the playoffs and the loser facing the winner of a Pacers/Bulls contest. In the West, it’d be Mavericks vs. Spurs, with the loser facing the winner of Grizzlies/Warriors.
Redick: Pelicans’ Front Office Didn’t Honor Their Word
Former Pelicans guard J.J. Redick asked New Orleans’ front office for a trade back in November around the time the team dealt Jrue Holiday to Milwaukee, Redick said today on the latest episode of his Old Man and the Three podcast (video link).
As Redick explains, the opportunity to play with Holiday was one of the main reasons he initially signed with the Pelicans in 2019. Holiday’s departure – and an expectation that his own playing time would be cut back under Stan Van Gundy – played a part in Redick’s decision to ask for a trade. The distance from his family in Brooklyn was also a major factor, since various league and local COVID-19 protocols prevented him from getting many opportunities to see them.
Redick, now with the Mavericks, said he had “transparent” conversations with Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin and GM Trajan Langdon and felt as if they had reached an understanding.
“Griff basically says to me, ‘Come down for a month. If you still want to be traded, I give you my word, I’ll get you to a situation that you like,'” said Redick, who added that he had four conversations directly with Griffin after that point. “… Obviously he did not honor his word.”
Redick made it clear that his comments aren’t intended as a slight toward Dallas. He said he’s looking forward to bringing leadership and shooting to Dallasand playing alongside Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, adding that he told team owner Mark Cuban, “In any other year, I’d be thrilled to be traded to the Dallas Mavericks.” However, the Mavs weren’t one of the teams that Redick and the Pelicans had discussed as a potential landing spot.
According to Redick, he thought that if he wasn’t going to be traded by the “aggregate deadline” of February 2 (the last day a player could be traded and still have his salary aggregated in a second trade at the deadline), he was headed for a buyout agreement with New Orleans. That would allow him to sign with any team, and he suggested he would have considered a handful of teams in the northeast.
“(My understanding was) if I was going to be traded, it was going to be a team in the northeast where I was closer to home and I’d be able to see my family for the last two or three months of the season,” Redick said. “Obviously that didn’t happen.
“… I look at the buyout situation not as me just specifically being like, ‘Oh, I’m going to get bought out and go to Brooklyn,'” he added. “I just wanted to be able, on an off day, to go see my family and to be within sort of driving distance. … Geographically, you can sort of think of the teams where that’s the case.”
Although Redick said he had an “amazing” year-and-a-half with the Pelicans, he admitted that the way the relationship ended was far from ideal.
“I don’t think you’re going to get honesty from that front office. Just objectively speaking — that’s not an opinion, I just don’t think you’re going to get that,” Redick said. “I don’t think what happened with me is necessarily an isolated incident either. I do think across the league, front offices, they act in their own best interest. I get that, I understand that.
“Truthfully, and it’s hard for me to admit this, but I think I was a little naive in thinking that because I was in year 15 and I had at least attempted to do things right throughout my career and I honored my end of the bargain (that the Pelicans would reciprocate)… but in terms of this front office, it’s not something where I would expect certainly the agents who worked on this with me to ever trust that front office again.”
Redick will speak to reporters in a Zoom press conference on Thursday and expects to be with the Mavs on Friday, though he said he’s still rehabbing his heel issue and is likely “a little ways away” from returning to the court.
James Bouknight, Ziaire Williams Entering 2021 Draft
UConn sophomore guard James Bouknight is entering the 2021 NBA draft pool and intends to hire an agent, he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
In his second season with the Huskies in 2020/21, Bouknight increased his averages to 18.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 15 contests (31.7 MPG). He currently ranks 18th on ESPN’s big board of 2021 prospects and is viewed as a potential lottery pick.
Another one of ESPN’s top 25 prospects for 2021, Stanford freshman forward Ziaire Williams, also plans to enter the draft, announcing his intentions today on Instagram. While Williams didn’t explicitly say that he’ll forgo his remaining college eligibility, the wording in his post suggests that’s the plan.
Williams had an up-and-down freshman season, averaging 10.7 PPG on an underwhelming .374/.291/.796 shooting line in 20 games (27.9 MPG).
However, ESPN draft guru Mike Schmitz notes that the 6’8″ forward has good size and length for a wing, is a strong off-ball defender, and has shown “major shotmaking potential.” Williams ranks 23rd on ESPN’s board.
Southeast Notes: Williams, Reddish, Zeller, Magic
Having announced last week on Instagram that he contemplated retirement after being traded to the Hawks, Lou Williams expanded on that subject during his Tuesday media availability, explaining that it “hurts” to have been traded by the Clippers.
“I had a lot of investment there. We had some success,” Williams said, per Paul Newberry of The Associated Press. “We were gearing up for another deep run, a championship run. That was my mentality. I thought I would finish the season there.
“… (But) I don’t want to look back and say I retired prematurely, be asking myself what could have been or what I could’ve done. This is an opportunity to finish out the season with this team (Atlanta) and go from there.”
Williams was cleared to play on Tuesday night, but didn’t take the court. Having just met most of his teammates, he wanted to take a game to get his bearings before entering the fray, Newberry writes.
“I want to get an understanding of how they play,” Williams said. “See their sets, get a feel for their rotations, understand how this group of guys mesh, see where I might fit. It would be unfair to this group of guys to just throw me out there.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Hawks provided a minor update on Cam Reddish (Achilles) on Tuesday night, announcing in a press release that he has increased his lower limb weight room work and will add limited low level impact work. Reddish isn’t close to returning and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
- After falling out of the Hornets‘ starting lineup and seeing his minutes dip, Cody Zeller resolved to try to earn back those minutes rather than sulking, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “My high school coach used to say, ‘If you want to play more, play better,'” said Zeller, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds in just 24 minutes on Tuesday. The big man has assured head coach James Borrego that he’ll remain engaged regardless of how much playing time he gets, Bonnell adds.
- With the Magic in position to get a high lottery pick in this year’s draft, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic identifies Cade Cunningham, Jalen Suggs, and Jalen Green as the top prospects the team should target if given the opportunity. Evan Mobley has positional overlap with Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba, but he and Jonathan Kuminga would both be good fallback options too if Orlando gets a top-five pick and those first three prospects aren’t available, Vecenie says.
2020/21 NBA Reverse Standings Update
Throughout the 2020/21 NBA season, Hoops Rumors is maintaining a feature that allows you to keep an eye on the tentative 2021 draft order. Our 2020/21 Reverse Standings tool, which lists the NBA’s 30 teams from worst to first, is updated daily to reflect the outcomes of the previous night’s games.
Our Reverse Standings are essentially a reflection of what 2021’s draft order would look like with no changes to lottery position. We’ve noted each club’s odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick, based on the league’s current lottery format.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Draft Lottery]
In instances where two non-playoff teams or two playoff teams have identical records, the order in our standings isn’t necessarily definitive — for draft purposes, the NBA breaks ties via random drawings, so those drawings would happen at the end of the year.
Of course, the 14 non-playoff teams all draft before the 16 playoff teams, even if some non-playoff teams have better records than those that made the postseason. Our reverse standings account for playoff seeding, though for now they assume that the Nos. 7 and 8 teams in each conference will earn those final two postseason spots. Since the NBA’s new play-in format opens the door for the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds to sneak into the postseason, we may have to account for a little movement in the draft order at season’s end.
Traded first-round picks are included via footnotes. For example, the note next to Golden State’s pick says the Warriors will send their pick to the Thunder if it’s not in the top 20. As of today, the Warriors’ pick projects to be exactly 13th, meaning the Dubs would hang onto it.
The Timberwolves are currently in the driver’s seat at the “top” of our reverse standings — their 11-36 record giving them a 2.5-game cushion on the league’s next-worst teams, the 13-33 Rockets and Pistons.
The league’s bottom three teams will all have an equal chance at the No. 1 overall pick (14.0%) and a top-four selection (52.1%), and the Wolves and Rockets are likely especially invested in claiming one of those top lottery positions. Minnesota will send its first-round pick to Golden State if it falls outside of the top three, while Houston will have to swap its pick for a lesser first-rounder (likely Miami’s) if it lands outside of the top four.
Our Reverse Standings tracker can be found at anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu. It’s a great resource not just for monitoring a team’s draft position, but also for keeping an eye on whether or not traded picks with protections will be changing hands in 2021. So be sure to check back often as the season progresses!
Note: Mobile users are advised to turn their phones sideways when viewing the Reverse Standings in order to see team records and lottery odds.
Lakers Notes: Drummond, Gasol, Open Roster Spot
New Lakers center Andre Drummond will make his debut for his new team on Wednesday vs. Milwaukee, he said today, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link). League sources told Buha that Drummond is expected to slide into the starting lineup, displacing incumbent starter Marc Gasol, and head coach Frank Vogel confirmed as much today (Twitter link).
Despite some leaguewide speculation that Drummond’s arrival could lead to a buyout of Gasol, the Spaniard is unlikely to be waived, Buha writes in the same story. Vogel also confirmed that today, telling reporters that the club hasn’t spoken to Gasol about a possible buyout (Twitter link). The Lakers’ coach praised the 36-year-old for handling Drummond’s arrival like a “true pro” (Twitter link).
While Vogel said this week that the Lakers anticipate using Drummond, Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell, there likely won’t be enough minutes to go around for everyone, especially when everyone is healthy, and Gasol looks like the probable odd man out, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- After sitting out for nearly a month-and-a-half, Drummond told reporters on Monday that he can’t wait to return to action, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “You can imagine the hunger and excitement I have to play and step on the court,” Drummond said. “I had an incredible month of work where I’m ready to play today.” The big man added that his goal is to “cause havoc in the paint” and that he believes he can further solidify a unit that already ranks first in the NBA in defensive efficiency.
- Having signed Drummond to fill their 14th roster spot, the Lakers want to add a three-and-D wing to fill their final opening, according to Jovan Buha and Jared Weiss of The Athletic. It’s not clear which players the Lakers may be targeting, as there aren’t many current free agents who can reliably produce on both ends of the court.
- Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said on Stephen A.’s World on ESPN+ on Monday that she welcomes the Nets’ efforts to load up their roster and knock off the defending-champion Lakers. “It brings out the best in us,” Buss said, per Royce Young of ESPN. “When teams identify us as the team to beat and they gear up to go at us head-to-head, that makes us work harder. So, bring it on.”
- Earlier today, we relayed a report on Dennis Schröder‘s extension talks with the Lakers and broke down the point guard’s contract situation.
Latest On Dennis Schröder’s Contract Situation
3:54pm: Marc Stein of The New York Times hears from two sources that Schröder has turned down extension offers in the range of $80MM over four years.
1:54pm: Discussing his contract situation last week, Lakers guard Dennis Schröder strongly hinted that he intends to reach free agency rather than signing an in-season extension, noting that he wants to see his options on the open market. In today’s episode of his Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirmed that Schröder and the Lakers appear unlikely to agree to a deal prior to free agency.
“From what I understand, they’ve had contract talks and they couldn’t agree to an extension,” Windhorst said. “The maximum he can sign for (during the season) is four years, $84MM. … What I have been told – and this is rumor is pretty widely out there, so I doubt this is very surprising – is that the Lakers did indeed offer him that $84MM over four years.
“Now, this is where we get into gray area,” Windhorst continued. “Was it fully guaranteed? Was it partially guaranteed? Were there incentives? I don’t know. But I believe he was offered a contract in that realm and he said no to it.”
Windhorst’s caveats are important. If the Lakers’ offer to Schröder included a non-guaranteed final season or a significant amount of incentives, it’s not nearly as strong as that reported $84MM figure suggests.
Even if the Lakers’ offer was fully guaranteed, there are reasons to believe that Schröder would pass on it for now. Malcolm Brogdon and Fred VanVleet signed deals in the four-year, $84MM range in the last two years, and Schröder’s 2019/20 production compared favorably to what those players did in their contract years (his numbers have dipped a little in ’20/21). If the Lakers are prepared to offer his maximum in-season extension amount, it stands to reason they might be willing to go a little higher once he officially reaches free agency.
Additionally, since Schröder signed his current deal as a rookie scale extension with Atlanta in 2016, he has never gotten a chance to experience free agency. So even if he feels the Lakers’ offer is fair, his comments about wanting to explore his options indicate that he wants to go through the process at least once.
As Windhorst reiterated on the Hoop Collective podcast, the Lakers were readily offering Schröder in pre-deadline trade discussions for Kyle Lowry, an indication they aren’t necessarily locked into the 27-year-old as their long-term point guard. However, letting Schröder walk in free agency won’t open up any cap room for Los Angeles, so the team will be motivated to either get something done with him or get something back in a sign-and-trade.
Kings Notes: Wright, Davis, Harkless, Bagley
There was speculation in the weeks leading up to March 25 that the Kings could be major sellers at the trade deadline, with players like Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield, and Richaun Holmes frequently mentioned as possible candidates to be on the move.
However, general manager Monte McNair chose another direction, making a series of smaller-scale deals to add talent to the current roster, rather than dealing away established veterans for long-term assets. While Sacramento didn’t go all-in, the team’s deadline deals made clear that the playoffs are still a goal in 2021.
“I think really we saw this year that there were maybe some traditional buy/sell moves, but I think where we categorize ourselves was like, value buyers,” McNair said, per James Ham of NBC Sports California. “We kinda explored all opportunities and this is what came to the forefront.”
As Sean Cunningham of ABC10 tweets, McNair said the Kings entered the deadline hoping to add depth and defense, and he felt like they did that by acquiring Delon Wright, Terence Davis, Maurice Harkless, and Chris Silva.
Here’s more on the Kings:
- The Kings’ deadline deals are paying dividends so far, with Wright, Davis, and Harkless helping the team extend its winning streak to five games on Monday night in San Antonio, Ham writes for NBC Sports California. “Delon does a great job of making sure our pace is good. TD adds an aggressiveness on both sides of the ball. Moe is just savvy, smart, knows where to be,” center Richaun Holmes said of his new teammates. “Those guys came in ready to fit in and ready to help the team.”
- Kings big man Marvin Bagley III has remained away from the team while he recovers from his left hand fracture, but he has remained in constant communication with the Kings and the plan is for him to rejoin the club as he gets closer to returning to action, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
- In case you missed it, an earlier report indicated that Holmes’ price tag in free agency this summer could be upwards of $20MM per year, with Charlotte among the teams expected to challenge Holmes for free agent center.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 3/30/2021
The 2021 trade deadline is behind us, but Hoops Rumors’ live chat isn’t going anywhere. We’re planning to continue hosting our weekly chat each Tuesday at 12:00pm CT (1:00pm ET) going forward.
Click here to read today’s live chat transcript.
Fischer’s Latest: Mavs, Fournier, Rockets, Drummond, Gasol
The Mavericks ended up making just one relatively modest move at the trade deadline, acquiring J.J. Redick and Nicolo Melli in a trade with New Orleans. However, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, that deal may have been a fail-safe option for Dallas as the team explored other options leading up to last Thursday afternoon.
As Fischer explains, the Mavericks also explored a trade that would have sent James Johnson and two second-round pick to Orlando in a package for Evan Fournier. The Magic ultimately chose a similar offer from Boston that allowed them to create a $17MM+ trade exception instead of taking back a matching salary like Johnson’s.
The Mavericks also spoke to the Rockets about Victor Oladipo, sources tell Fischer, but those talks didn’t gain momentum.
Here’s more from Fischer:
- During the James Harden trade talks earlier in the year, the Rockets never projected much interest in hanging onto Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert as part of that deal, Fischer says. Houston didn’t view Allen as a long-term frontcourt fit alongside Christian Wood and wanted to roll the dice on Oladipo recapturing his All-NBA form, a gamble that didn’t work out.
- Fischer lists the Raptors, Bulls, Mavericks, Clippers, Celtics, Heat, Hornets, Nets, Knicks, and Lakers as teams that showed some level of interest in Cavaliers center Andre Drummond before he was bought out, but none of those clubs could ultimately put together a package that matched the big man’s $28.75MM salary and also appealed to Cleveland. After he was bought out, Drummond was intrigued by the Celtics and spoke to Boston point guard (and fellow UConn alum) Kemba Walker, but ultimately decided to sign with the Lakers.
- With Drummond now in Los Angeles, some executives are wondering whether the Lakers will consider buying out Marc Gasol, per Fischer. “When they get fully healthy, it’s gonna be a logjam,” one assistant GM said, referring to a frontcourt that also features big men Anthony Davis and Montrezl Harrell, along with power forwards LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma. It’s worth noting Gasol has a second guaranteed year on his contract, though it’s only worth the minimum.