10-Day Contract Window Opens; Salary Guarantee Deadline Looms
As of Tuesday, February 23, NBA teams can begin signing free agents to 10-day contracts without requiring a hardship exception to do so. The annual 10-day window typically opens on January 5, but that date was pushed back in 2021 to account for the season’s later start date.
A 10-day contract allows a team to add a player to its roster for either 10 days or three games (whichever occurs later) without any commitment beyond that. A player can sign up to two 10-day deals with the same team in a single season — after those two contracts, the team must decide whether to sign him to a rest-of-season contract or part ways with him.
For some teams, the 10-day contract provides an opportunity to take a flier on a young player to see if he deserves a longer-term look. Other clubs may utilize 10-day deals for short-term injury fill-ins, or simply to meet minimum roster requirements.
As is the case in a typical season, the NBA’s 10-day signing window will open during the same week that the league-wide salary guarantee deadline arrives. In a normal season, teams would have to release players on non-guaranteed contracts by January 7 to ensure they clear waivers before the guarantee date of Jan. 10. This season, those cuts must be completed by February 24 to beat the Feb. 27 guarantee date.
The start of the 10-day contract period and the salary guarantee deadline go hand in hand, since teams cutting players before their salaries become fully guaranteed will often sign players to 10-day contracts to fill those newly-opened roster spots — in some cases, the same player who was waived at the salary guarantee deadline returns to his team on a 10-day contract, as clubs looks to maximize their roster flexibility.
So far this week, the Pelicans have waived Sindarius Thornwell to avoid locking in his full-season cap hit, and the Lakers are poised to do the same with Quinn Cook. There will likely be several more cuts made around the NBA by Wednesday evening. Already, 11 teams have at least one 15-man roster opening.
Pelicans Waive Sindarius Thornwell
FEBRUARY 23: The Pelicans officially waived Thornwell on Monday, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
FEBRUARY 22: The Pelicans intend to release guard Sindarius Thornwell, reports Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Thornwell appeared in 11 games for New Orleans this season, but saw limited action, averaging just 4.8 minutes per contest. In 53 total minutes, he scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, chipping in four steals.
According to Guillory, the Pelicans were happy with Thornwell’s performance, but will make the move for financial reasons. The 26-year-old’s minimum-salary contract isn’t fully guaranteed, so by waiving him prior to Wednesday’s salary guarantee deadline, the club will save some money and create more breathing room below the luxury tax line.
Rather than counting for $1,620,564 against the Pelicans’ cap, Thornwell will have a cap charge of $721,484, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. New Orleans will move approximately $1.4MM below the tax threshold, Marks adds (Twitter link).
Because the Pelicans already have an open spot on their 15-man roster, releasing Thornwell will reduce their total standard contracts to just 13. The league-mandated minimum is 14, but teams can dip below that number for two weeks at a time. New Orleans will have to add a 14th man within two weeks and will likely do so by utilizing a 10-day contract — 10-day deals can be signed starting on Tuesday.
Northwest Notes: Wolves, Rosas, Horford, Nuggets
While most people around the NBA expected Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas to bring in his own head coach at some point, many believed it wouldn’t happen until the offseason, when it would be easier to pursue someone an assistant on a rival team like Chris Finch, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic.
Addressing the timing of the move, Hollinger wonders if Rosas felt some urgency to act quickly because he’s starting to feel his own seat getting hotter. Many of Rosas’ major moves since he arrived haven’t been major successes so far, including his deal for D’Angelo Russell and the decision to trade up in the 2019 draft for Jarrett Culver.
That doesn’t mean that Rosas’ job is in any danger, particularly since some of his moves – including the acquisition of Malik Beasley and the signing of Naz Reid – have worked out well. Still, his honeymoon period is probably over, so he may have felt he couldn’t afford to wait another half-season to make a head coaching change if he’d already decided to move on from Ryan Saunders.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer and Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examine what’s next for the Timberwolves after their coaching change, with Tjarks focusing on what changes Finch could consider implementing in the short term and Pincus exploring how Minnesota could upgrade its roster.
- It will be a challenge for the Thunder to get much in a trade for Al Horford, given his pricey contract, but his play this season has boosted his value, contends Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City has struggled this season without Horford on the court, particularly defensively.
- Though Michael Porter Jr. has struggled to find an offensive rhythm since returning from a bout with COVID-19, the Nuggets are not inclined to deal him unless they get a Bradley Beal-style difference-maker in return, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athetic. However, they might be interested in making a more modest non-Porter trade involving a defensive stalwart such as the Thunder’s Luguentz Dort or the Cavaliers’ Larry Nance Jr.
Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.
Central Notes: Holiday, Pistons, Griffin, Pacers
Bucks guard Jrue Holiday hasn’t played since February 6 due to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, but he was back on the team’s bench for Sunday’s win over Sacramento, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic details. While Holiday wasn’t able to suit up on Sunday, his presence on the sidelines was a promising sign, since it means he’s out of quarantine and should be cleared soon.
“He’s close. He’s getting very close,” Budenholzer said of the Bucks’ starting guard. “I think I’m just going to make sure to not make a mistake and say he’s progressing through the health and safety protocols.”
Assuming Holiday is returning from a positive COVID-19 test, which is the belief, he requires a two-day ramping-up period and has to pass certain cardiac tests before he’s given the go-ahead to play in a game. Holiday didn’t practice today, per Budenholzer (Twitter link via Nehm), but the hope is that it won’t be much longer before he’s back in the Bucks’ lineup.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- With Killian Hayes already sidelined and Delon Wright now out for at least a couple weeks, the Pistons‘ young point guards will have an opportunity to show what they’re capable of, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes (subscriber-only link). While Dennis Smith Jr. was expected to be the main beneficiary, it was two-way player Saben Lee who played 33 minutes on Sunday after Smith got the start. Frank Jackson should also in the mix, but didn’t log any playing time on Sunday.
- The days of Blake Griffin being a focal point of a team’s offense are over, but his impending divorce with the Pistons will give him an opportunity to revamp his game and try to adjust to a complementary role, says Rafael Canton of RealGM.
- Postponed games on Saturday and Monday gave the Pacers an opportunity to hold an impromptu “mini-camp,” as head coach Nate Bjorkgren looks to install new tweaks to his offensive and defensive systems, per J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star. Indiana will have a total of six days off between its last game vs. Minnesota on February 17 and its next game vs. Golden State on February 24.
Southwest Notes: Cousins, McDermott, Spurs, Pelicans
Although the Rockets and DeMarcus Cousins intend to amicably part ways, it’s possible the veteran center hasn’t played his last game for the team yet. Addressing the Cousins situation on Sunday, head coach Stephen Silas said the 30-year-old was still at practice and that the plan was to have him continue to start at center as long as he remains on Houston’s roster, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Cousins’ representatives and the Rockets are working on a potential trade or release that would get the big man to a team of his choosing. Other players in similar situations, like Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin, are being held out of action while their teams look to finalize a resolution, but Silas’ comments indicated the Rockets aren’t necessarily committed to that same approach.
Still, Cousins’ availability in the coming days will hinge in large part on his health. He has been ruled out for Monday’s game due to a sore right heel and it’s safe to assume the Rockets will be very cautious with the big man as they explore the trade market in search of a potential deal.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- With the Grizzlies‘ roster getting a little healthier, the team has sent two-way player Sean McDermott to the G League bubble, transferring him to the Memphis Hustle (Twitter link). McDermott has been a depth option on the wing for the Grizzlies this season, appearing in just eight games, so he’ll see more frequent playing time for the Hustle.
- The Spurs also made a pair of G League transactions, announcing (via Twitter) that they’ve recalled guard Tre Jones and forward Luka Samanic from the Austin Spurs. Jones had been leading the G League with 9.7 assists per game, while Samanic ranked in the top six in the NBAGL in both PPG (21.8) and RPG (11.3).
- The Pelicans continue to gradually increase the number of fans allowed at the Smoothie King Center, issuing a press release today confirming that capacity will increase to 2,700 as of Wednesday. New Orleans, whose previous capacity was 1,900 fans, hope to bump that number up to 4,000+ by season’s end.
Timberwolves Fire Ryan Saunders, Hire Chris Finch
9:35am: Minnesota has officially announced Finch as its new head coach.
“I would like to thank Glen Taylor and Gersson Rosas for this incredible opportunity to be the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Finch said. “I look forward to working hand and hand with Gersson to build and lead a team that Timberwolves fans will be proud of. We have excellent pieces in place and I can’t wait to get to work.”
5:43am: The Timberwolves have parted ways with head coach Ryan Saunders, the team announced in a press release late on Sunday night. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported Saunders’ dismissal.
“We would like to thank Ryan for his time and commitment to the Timberwolves organization and wish him the best in the future,” Wolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said in a statement. “These are difficult decisions to make, however this change is in the best interest of the organization’s short and long-term goals.”
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Wojnarowski, Minnesota already has a replacement lined up for Saunders, having reached a deal to hire Raptors assistant Chris Finch. The two sides are finalizing a multiyear contract that will make him the Wolves’ permanent head coach rather than an interim replacement.
Saunders, who took the reins on Minnesota’s sidelines following Tom Thibodeau‘s exit from the franchise in 2018/19, compiled a 43-94 (.314) record across parts of three seasons with the team. Those Wolves clubs were plagued by injuries, with franchise center Karl-Anthony Towns missing 54 of Saunders’ 137 games with the team, but underperformed even when healthy, finishing 14th in the West a year ago and ranking last in the conference so far this year.
Finch, meanwhile, has interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs in recent years, but will be getting an opportunity to run his own NBA team for the first time. He did have a stint as a G League head coach with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers from 2009-11 and won an NBAGL title with the club before becoming an assistant for the Rockets from 2011-16. Rosas was part of Houston’s front office during that time, giving him a familiarity with Finch.
Since leaving the Rockets, Finch has been an associate head coach for the Nuggets (2016-17), Pelicans (2017-20), and Raptors (2020-21). He has a reputation of improving teams’ offenses, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic observes.
According to Wojnarowski, Finch is expected to officially begin the job on Tuesday when the Wolves play the Bucks in Milwaukee, and is expected to keep the team’s coaching staff intact for the time being. That staff includes associate head coach David Vanterpool and assistants Bryan Gates and Pablo Prigioni, Woj notes.
Hiring another team’s assistant coach after making an in-season coaching change is fairly unusual for an NBA team, according to Wojnarowski, who says it hasn’t happened since Memphis hired Lionel Hollins away from Milwaukee in 2009. Murphy suggests (via Twitter) that Toronto is probably more likely to promote a coach from the Raptors 905 once the G League season ends than to bring in someone from outside the organization to replace Finch on Nick Nurse‘s staff.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
John Collins Meets Starter Criteria, Increases QO
Hawks big man John Collins met the NBA’s “starter criteria” on Friday night, increasing the value of his qualifying offer in restricted free agency this summer, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
The starter criteria requires an RFA-to-be to start at least half of his team’s games in the two seasons leading up to his free agency. Collins started 41 of Atlanta’s 67 games in 2019/20 and has now started 29 of 72 this season, for a total of 70 starts out of 139 games, surpassing that halfway point.
As a result of meeting the criteria, Collins’ qualifying offer in restricted free agency will now be worth $7,705,447 instead of $5,899,793.
For some players, the difference between meeting the starter criteria and not quite getting there can make a significant difference in how their free agency plays out, as it did a year ago for Kris Dunn. When he met the starter criteria, Dunn ensured his qualifying offer was worth $7.09MM instead of $4.64MM — the Bulls subsequently declined to tender that QO, making him an unrestricted free agent, a move the team may not have made if the financial commitment was smaller.
In Collins’ case, the value of his qualifying offer is almost irrelevant, as he’ll certainly be able to sign a far more lucrative long-term contract than the one-year, $7.7MM QO. Barring a very surprising development, his qualifying offer will essentially be a placeholder.
Six 2021 RFAs – Collins, Jarrett Allen, Lonzo Ball, Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn, and Devonte’ Graham – have now met the starter criteria. Once he returns from his shoulder injury, Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen is the best candidate to get there next, as he needs just five more starts.
Southwest Notes: Oladipo, Wood, Mavs, K. Anderson
After having their Friday and Saturday games postponed due to the government shutdown of the Toyota Center and the ongoing weather-related issues in Texas, the Rockets aren’t a sure thing to host the Bulls in Houston on Monday. But if that game is played as scheduled, the team is hoping Victor Oladipo can be available for it, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Oladipo hasn’t played since February 11 due to a right foot strain, with the team’s losing streak extending to seven games during that time. However, if the Rockets play on Monday and the two-time All-Star is able to return, he’ll have only missed three games while resting the injury for 10 days.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Rockets big man Christian Wood (ankle sprain) isn’t as close to returning as Oladipo is, but he posted a message on Instagram on Thursday indicating that he’s aiming to get back on the court before the All-Star break, as Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston relays (via Twitter).
- Appearing on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said he doesn’t view a big man who can rebound as a pressing trade deadline need, but added that he’ll leave that decision up to the front office (Twitter link via Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News). “You know Mark (Cuban) and Donnie (Nelson),” Carlisle said. “These guys are gunslingers. They’re riverboat gamblers, and they’re ready to talk about anything that would get the team better.”
- When the Grizzlies acquired Justise Winslow a year ago, he seemed destined to supplant Kyle Anderson as the team’s small forward of the future. However, Winslow has yet to make his debut in Memphis and remains a major question mark, opening the door for Anderson to reclaim that role, as Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian writes.
Atlantic Notes: McCaw, Lowry, Nets, Celtics, Knicks
Raptors guard Patrick McCaw hasn’t suited up at all for the team this season as he recovers from knee surgery, but his returns appears imminent. As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca tweets, McCaw is listed on the latest injury report as probable for Friday’s game vs. Minnesota.
Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, meanwhile, is dealing with a thumb injury and is listed as questionable for Friday’s contest, per Lewenberg. Head coach Nick Nurse previously indicated that he expects Lowry to miss at least one more game.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Nets forward Kevin Durant has been sidelined for the team’s last three games due to a hamstring injury and it remains unclear if he’ll be back on Saturday vs. the Clippers or if he’ll have to miss more time, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. In Durant’s absence, the Nets have won games in Sacramento, Phoenix, and Los Angeles (vs. the Lakers), and James Harden is making his own MVP case, as Lewis details in another story for The Post.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype considers possible trade targets for the Celtics using their $28.5MM exception, including Eric Gordon, Thaddeus Young, and Harrison Barnes, among others.
- Ian Begley of SNY.tv suggests that Terry Rozier, Lonzo Ball, and Buddy Hield are among the potential trade targets to watch for the Knicks, viewing them as more realistic options than the likes of Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo, or Zach LaVine.
Rockets Sign Justin Patton To Two-Way Deal
3:35pm: The Rockets have officially signed Patton to a two-way contract, the team announced in a press release.
7:15am: The Rockets will fill their open two-way contract slot by promoting a center from the G League, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who hears from agent Brian Jungreis that Justin Patton has agreed to a two-way deal with Houston.
Patton, 23, was the 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft, but was limited to just nine NBA games across his first three seasons in the NBA with the Timberwolves, Sixers, and Thunder due in large part to injuries, including broken bones in both feet.
The big man has seen more action at the G League level, appearing in 83 total NBAGL games since 2017/18. He was selected in the first round of this year’s G League draft by the Westchester Knicks and has played in four games for the club, averaging 10.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 1.8 BPG in 21.5 minutes per contest.
The Rockets opened up one of their two-way spots earlier this week when they waived Ray Spalding, who suffered an Achilles injury in just his second game with the club. That was the latest blow to a Houston frontcourt that has had some bad injury luck lately — Christian Wood has been on the shelf with an ankle sprain for two weeks, while a quad issue has sidelined P.J. Tucker for the last two games.
[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
It’s possible Patton will see some action in the Rockets’ depleted frontcourt in the short term. Once he officially signs, we should get a better sense of whether Houston intends to keep him with the NBA squad for a little while or if he’ll report to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers before the G League season ends in March.