Community Shootaround: Which 2020 Lottery Teams Will Make 2021 Playoffs?
Free agency opened less than a week ago, which means that in a typical NBA offseason, today would be about the equivalent of July 5. But in 2020’s warp-speed offseason, the start of training camps are, incredibly, just five days away. Opening night will tip off in less than four weeks.
So even though there may be more free agent signings and trades on the way in the coming days and weeks, it’s not too early to start considering what the on-court impact of this offseason’s roster moves will be.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
With that in mind, we’re looking today at which 2020 non-playoff teams have the best chance at returning to the postseason in 2021.
Let’s start in the East, where the Hawks look like perhaps the best candidate to get out of lottery territory. They finished 14th in the conference last season, but an offseason roster overhaul that saw them add Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, and Onyeka Okongwu – plus a healthy Clint Capela – suddenly makes Atlanta’s roster a whole lot more interesting.
There’s also some intrigue in Washington and Charlotte. Will John Wall‘s return be enough to help buoy the Wizards into a playoff spot? Will the arrivals of No. 3 pick LaMelo Ball and free agent splash Gordon Hayward improve the Hornets significantly?
The other four Eastern teams didn’t necessarily upgrade their rosters in a major way, but the Bulls could be intriguing after hiring Billy Donovan and drafting Patrick Williams, especially if Otto Porter is back to full health. The Pistons, Cavaliers, and Knicks are probably at least a year or two from playoff contention, but if their young talent takes bigger immediate strides than expected, maybe they could make some noise.
Over in the West, there are handful of intriguing candidates to make the move from the lottery to the postseason.
The Warriors, who will have a healthy Stephen Curry back in their lineup to go along with Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Oubre, and No. 2 pick James Wiseman, are an obvious team to watch. So are the Suns, who have added Chris Paul, Jae Crowder, Langston Galloway, and E’Twaun Moore, and No. 10 pick Jalen Smith to the mix after an 8-0 run during the NBA’s summer restart.
The only major moves the Pelicans and Grizzlies made in free agency involved re-signing their own players, and New Orleans traded away Jrue Holiday. But both teams were knocking on the door of the playoffs in 2020, and young cornerstones like Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Ja Morant, and Jaren Jackson should only get better.
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Offseason Trades]
That leaves the Timberwolves, Spurs, and Kings. Minnesota has a long way to go after finishing last season with a 19-45 record, but adding No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards and having a full season with Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Juan Hernangomez shouldn’t hurt.
As for San Antonio and Sacramento, neither team was too far removed from the postseason in 2020. Continued improvements from young players like Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, De’Aaron Fox, and Marvin Bagley should help keep them within striking distance, and both teams got nice draft-lottery additions in Devin Vassell and Tyrese Haliburton.
It’s also worth noting that any team that finishes in the top 10 of a conference has a chance to make the postseason this year as a result of the NBA’s new play-in tournament. The No. 9 and No. 10 seeds will play each other at season’s end, and the winner will face the loser of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game for the final playoff spot. As a result, more teams than ever could remain in the playoff hunt until late in the season.
What do you think? Which teams do you like to make it back the playoffs this year after missing out in 2020? And which of last season’s playoff teams do you expect to fall into the lottery to make room for those newcomers?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Kings Re-Sign DaQuan Jeffries
NOVEMBER 28: The signing is official, per team press release.
NOVEMBER 26: The Kings have agreed to re-sign guard/forward DaQuan Jeffries to a two-year, $3MM contract, his agents inform Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
It sounds like it’s a minimum-salary deal, which would be worth about $3.15MM over two years. Jeffries’ first year will be guaranteed, with a team option on year two, according to James Ham of NBC Sports California (Twitter link).
Jeffries, a former Tulsa standout, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Orlando in 2019 after going undrafted. He was released by the Magic before the regular season began, but was claimed off waivers by the Kings, who converted him to a two-way contract.
The 23-year-old played out the full season on that deal, averaging 3.8 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 13 games (10.8 MPG) for Sacramento. He saw more action for the club’s G League affiliate, recording 16.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG on .460/.342/.705 shooting for the Stockton Kings in 27 games (31.0 MPG).
Jeffries received a qualifying offer from Sacramento last week, which made him a restricted free agent. He wouldn’t have been able to sign outright with another team without the Kings getting a chance to match the offer.
Lakers Re-Sign Kostas Antetokounmpo To Two-Way Contract
The Lakers have brought back forward Kostas Antetokounmpo on a new two-way contract, the team announced today.
Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s younger brother spent the 2019/20 season with the Lakers on a two-way deal. Although he logged just 20 total minutes in five games at the NBA level, Kostas was a full-time starter for the South Bay Lakers in the G League, averaging 14.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 1.3 BPG on 62.3% shooting in 38 games (25.5 MPG).
The Lakers didn’t issue Antetokounmpo a qualifying offer before last week’s deadline, so he would’ve been free to join any team in unrestricted free agency. But he’ll return to the club instead, alongside fellow two-way player Devontae Cacok.
[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
In bringing back Antetokounmpo and Cacok, the Lakers are one of two teams not turning over either of their two-way slots. The Celtics (Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters) are the other.
Rockets Officially Announce Four Signings
The Rockets have issued a press release officially confirming that they’ve completed four recently-reported free agent contracts. Those deals are for the following players:
- Bruno Caboclo, F/C (full story)
- Jae’Sean Tate, F (full story)
- Sterling Brown, G (full story)
- Mason Jones, G — two-way deal (full story)
Caboclo, Tate, and Brown will all be part of Houston’s 15-man roster in 2020/21, while Jones will occupy one of the team’s two-way slots, alongside Kenny Wooten. Brown reportedly received a one-year contract, with Caboclo getting one year plus a second-year team option. Tate reportedly signed a three-year deal worth a little above the minimum.
Once the Rockets officially sign DeMarcus Cousins and Kenyon Martin Jr., as is expected, they’ll have one open spot remaining on their projected 15-man squad for the regular season.
The team previously made a formal announcement to confirm the acquisition of its top free agency addition, Christian Wood.
Sixers, Derrick Walton Agree To Deal
The Sixers have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent point guard Derrick Walton, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’s a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Walton, 25, made his NBA debut with the Heat back in 2017/18. He spent most of the ’19/20 season with the Clippers, averaging 2.2 PPG and 1.0 APG in limited minutes (9.7 MPG) over 23 games for the club.
L.A. sent Walton to Atlanta at February’s deadline in a salary-dump trade and the Hawks subsequently released him. He caught on with the Pistons for a 10-day deal in February, but didn’t finish the season on an NBA roster.
It’s fair to assume that Doc Rivers had a hand in bringing Walton to Philadelphia, since the 76ers’ new head coach coached the former Michigan Wolverine in Los Angeles last season. However, it’s unclear whether Walton will have a legitimate chance to make the regular season roster.
Bucks Sign Nik Stauskas To One-Year Deal
DECEMBER 2: Stauskas is officially a Buck, according to RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.
NOVEMBER 26: The Bucks have reached an agreement on a one-year deal with former lottery pick Nik Stauskas, his agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link).
Stauskas, the eighth overall pick in the 2014 draft, struggled to develop into a reliable rotation player during his first few NBA seasons, averaging 6.8 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 335 career games (19.9 MPG) for Sacramento, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Portland, and Cleveland. The 6’6″ shooting guard didn’t play in the NBA in 2019/20, having spent the season with Spanish club Baskonia.
Although Stauskas may not have lived up to his pre-draft billing, he knocked down a solid 35.3% of his career three-point attempts. He also played fairly well in Spain last year, making 42.2% of his threes in 22 EuroLeague contests.
The full terms of Stauskas’ contract with Milwaukee aren’t yet known, but as Eric Nehm of The Athletic recently detailed, the Bucks are right up against the hard cap and probably won’t have room to carry a 15th man. As such, the 27-year-old will likely get a training camp deal and will have an uphill battle to earn a spot on the club’s regular season roster.
Raptors Waive Dewan Hernandez
The Raptors have waived 2019 second-round pick Dewan Hernandez, the team announced today.
The 59th overall pick in 2019, Hernandez appeared in just six games for Toronto as a rookie, recording 14 points and 14 rebounds in 28 total minutes. The former University of Miami standout also appeared in nine G League games for the Raptors 905, averaging 13.4 PPG and 9.6 RPG. However, he was sidelined for much of the season by an ankle injury.
Hernandez’s 2020/21 salary was set to become guaranteed this Sunday if he had remained under contract. By letting him go, the Raptors will avoid remaining on the hook for that $1.52MM cap hit.
As Blake Murphy of The Athletic notes (via Twitter), the move also opens up an extra spot on Toronto’s 15-man regular season roster. That could open the door for two-way free agent Oshae Brissett or second-round pick Jalen Harris to sign a standard contract or for the team to add another player in free agency, Murphy observes.
Pacers, Kelan Martin Agree To Deal
The Pacers and free agent wing Kelan Martin have agreed to a deal, agent Mike Lindeman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski indicates the agreement covers two years. However, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Indiana had been about $1.12MM below the luxury tax line with 14 players on guaranteed contracts. As such, Martin’s deal – which would count for $1.62MM for tax purposes – seems unlikely to be fully guaranteed unless the team has another move lined up to sneak back below the tax line.
Martin emerged as a rotation player in Minnesota last season, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 31 games (16.0 MPG), though he struggled with his shot (.392 FG%, .260 FT%).
The 25-year-old initially received a qualifying offer from the Timberwolves, making him a restricted free agent. The club withdrew that QO on Sunday though, allowing him to become unrestricted and to sign outright with Indiana.
Contract Details: Adams, Hernangomez, Bol, Bacon, McDermott
After receiving a trade bonus worth $2MM as part of the deal that sent him from Oklahoma City to New Orleans, Pelicans center Steven Adams will have a new 7.5% trade kicker on his two-year extension with his new team, tweets Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. That kicker will give Adams a rare opportunity to potentially cash in on two trade bonuses between free agencies.
Meanwhile, Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that another new Pelicans center, Willy Hernangomez, will only have a partial guarantee on his new deal with the team. Hernangomez is assured of receiving at least $700K of his $1.74MM minimum salary for 2020/21, Smith notes.
Here are a few more notes on recently-signed contracts from around the NBA:
- Both years on Bol Bol‘s two-year contract with the Nuggets are fully guaranteed, tweets Eric Pincus. Denver used a portion of its mid-level exception to complete the $4.2MM deal.
- Dwayne Bacon‘s new two-year contract with the Magic is for the veteran’s minimum and will be non-guaranteed for 2021/22, tweets Keith Smith. If Bacon remains under contract for more than three days after 2021’s free agency moratorium ends, he’ll get that full guarantee on year two, Smith adds.
- While most of the two-way contracts that have been signed by players in the last week are only for one year, Sean McDermott’s deal with the Grizzlies will cover two years, tweets Smith.
Marco Belinelli Signs With Virtus Bologna
Free agent shooting guard Marco Belinelli is headed back overseas to continue his playing career, as Italian team Virtus Bologna confirmed today in a press release that it has signed Belinelli to a three-year contract.
Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport first reported Belinelli’s agreement with Virtus Bologna, indicating that the veteran sharpshooter didn’t receive any offers he liked from NBA teams (hat tip to Sportando).
The 18th overall pick in the 2007 draft, Belinelli has spent 13 years in the NBA, playing for nine different teams during that stretch. The 34-year-old accepted a reduced role for San Antonio in 2019/20, averaging 6.3 PPG on .392/.376/.828 shooting in 57 games. His 15.5 minutes per contest last season represented his lowest mark since his rookie year in ’07/08.
By returning to his home country of Italy, Belinelli will reunite with his first professional team — he began his career with Virtus Bologna in 2002 at age 16.
It’s not clear whether or not Belinelli’s new deal will have NBA outs. Either way, it’s possible he has played his last NBA game.