Warriors Notes: Green, Durant, Future, Lottery Pick
After weighing in earlier in the week on how Kevin Durant‘s contract situation affected the 2018/19 Warriors, Draymond Green got even more candid about the end of the Durant era in Golden State during an appearance on Showtime’s “All the Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. As Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area relays, Green went into detail on his infamous confrontation with Durant during a November 2018 loss to the Clippers.
“He comes to the bench and he slaps the bench like, ‘Yo! Pass me the f–king ball,'” Green said of Durant’s actions at the end of that game. “I’m like, ‘Get the f–k outta here. F–king run then.’ And he’s like, ‘You heard what the f–k I said’ and slaps the chair: ‘Pass me the f–king ball.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, you better calm the f–k down. I don’t know who the f–k you think you’re talking to.’
“Remember, I got the pulse of this team. I got the pulse of the organization. I already know you one foot in and one foot out. … I’ve been an All-Star before you got here. I’ve been doing this. Don’t talk to me like I’m one of these little dudes that don’t know how to hoop. I’m a grown a– man.'”
Green went on to describe the aftermath of that incident, which saw head coach Steve Kerr and GM Bob Myers ask him to apologize for his blow-up and then suspend him for a game when he wasn’t initially willing to do so. While Durant has suggested that the confrontation played a part in his departure from the Warriors, Green rejected the idea that he pushed KD out the door.
“This is f–king Kevin Durant we’re talking about,” Green said, per Shiller. “Yeah, I’ve done great things here. But let me tell you this — if Kevin really wanted to be here, all he would have done is went to Bob and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll stay. But Draymond gotta go.’ And guess what — Bob Myers would have called me and said, ‘Draymond, I love you — and I won’t trade you to a bad team — but where do you want to go?’ … You’re f–king Kevin Durant. If you wanted to be here, I would have been out. I would have been long gone.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Dan Feldman of NBC Sports passed along some additional choice quotes from Green’s appearance on “All The Smoke,” including the former Defensive Player of the Year’s suggestion that Durant was upset by the perception that LeBron James was still the NBA’s best player following the 2017 Finals. “You turn on the TV the next day, and the f–king headline is ‘LeBron James still the best player in the world, question mark,'” Green said. “You’ve got Stephen A. (Smith), you’ve got all these people debating it. And everybody still said LeBron James is the best player in the world. That’s when I kind of felt like it took a turn. And then we came back (for the) 2017/2018 season, and Kevin just wasn’t as happy.”
- Anthony Slater and John Hollinger of The Athletic explored the Warriors’ future outlook, with Hollinger noting it would be surprising if Golden State isn’t willing to spend whatever it takes to add talent to the roster going forward, since the team essentially made that decision when it acquired D’Angelo Russell in last summer’s Durant sign-and-trade. Hollinger also suggests that using the “Russell strategy” – acquiring a player and being willing to trade him later – might make sense for the Warriors’ 2020 lottery pick if no appealing deals are available in the offseason, since more trade options could surface at the 2021 deadline.
- In a separate piece for The Athletic, Slater explores the similarities between Stephen Curry‘s below-market value with the Warriors from 2013-17 and Scottie Pippen‘s bargain deal with the Bulls during their 1990s dynasty.
Knicks’ Rose Considering Keeping GM Perry Beyond Draft
Even as new Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose begins to reshape the front office by bringing aboard Brock Aller as a VP of strategy, incumbent general manager Scott Perry is still expected to move forward with running the team’s draft, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.
[RELATED: Knicks to hire Brock Aller to front office role]
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA’s calendar isn’t set in stone. Perry’s contract is set to expire on June 30, five days after the June 25 draft. And while the draft may end up being held as scheduled if the NBA is forced to cancel the remainder of its 2019/20 season, resuming the season would almost certainly mean postponing the draft — and pushing back the expiration date on Perry’s deal.
Whenever the draft ends up being held, there’s no guarantee that Perry – who was the team’s general manager in the former regime under former president of basketball operations Steve Mills – will be let go afterward. According to Berman, Rose is considering retaining Perry beyond the expiration of his current contract.
“The impression is Leon will do his due diligence,” a source told Berman.
As for Aller’s role, sources tell Berman he’ll likely look to rework and perhaps streamline the Knicks’ “massive” scouting/basketball operations department. The club has already parted ways with consultant David Blatt and figures to make more changes in the coming weeks or months.
Draft Notes: Ado, Hart, Velicka, Mouaha
Following the first round of the NFL’s first ever virtual draft on Thursday, we have a better idea of what that “virtual draft” actually looks like. Which means, as Zach Harper of The Athletic writes, the NBA can evaluate what works and what doesn’t as the league prepares for the possibility that it will have to conduct its 2020 draft in a similar manner.
Harper pointed to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s appearance on the telecast and the presence of prospects’ family members and pets as things that worked, but wasn’t a fan of the national anthem to start the night, commissioner Roger Goodell’s wooden delivery, and the looping videos of fans on a screen behind Goodell.
As we wait to see what exactly the 2020 NBA draft will look like, here are a few updates on players entering the draft pool:
- Mississippi State center Abdul Ado has entered the 2020 draft, as Joel Coleman of The Starkville Daily News writes. Ado, who averaged 5.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.9 BPG as a junior this past season, will be maintaining his college eligibility during the process and will likely end up returning for his senior year in 2020/21 after getting feedback from NBA evaluators, a source tells Coleman.
- Fresno State freshman guard Niven Hart has announced (via Twitter) that he’ll be testing the draft waters following a 2019/20 season in which he averaged 8.7 PPG with a .398 3PT% in 26 games off the bench for the Bulldogs.
- Lithuanian point guard Arnas Velicka, who tested the draft waters a year ago, has entered the 2020 draft, as reported by David Hein and confirmed by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter links). Velicka, who spent the 2019/20 season on loan to CBet Prienai from Zalgiris Kaunas, has been a standout for Lithuania’s junior national teams in FIBA competitions, Givony notes.
- Cameroonian guard Aristide Mouaha has declared for the draft, agent Mario Scotti announced on Twitter (hat tip to Sportando). The 19-year-old played this past season for the Roseto Sharks in Italy’s Serie A2 league.
2020/21 Salary Cap Preview: Houston Rockets
Hoops Rumors is looking ahead at the 2020/21 salary cap situations for all 30 NBA teams. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the NBA, it’s impossible to know yet where the cap for 2020/21 will land. Given the league’s lost revenue, we’re assuming for now that it will stay the same as the ’19/20 cap, but it’s entirely possible it will end up higher or lower than that.
The Rockets took small-ball to another level at this year’s trade deadline when they sent Clint Capela to Atlanta in a four-team deal that left them without a real center. Houston’s ensuing “micro-ball” experiment brought out the best in Russell Westbrook and looked awfully effective at times, though the team turned in a few March duds, including losses to New York and Charlotte.
If the NBA is unable to resume its 2019/20 season, not getting to see how the Rockets’ lineup performed in the postseason will be a major loss — not just for fans, but for Houston’s front office, which didn’t get much of a sample to evaluate whether the experiment was worth extending beyond this season.
Here’s where things stand for the Rockets financially in 2020/21, as we continue our Salary Cap Preview series:
Guaranteed Salary
- Russell Westbrook ($41,358,814)
- James Harden ($41,254,920)
- Eric Gordon ($16,869,276)
- Robert Covington ($12,138,345)
- P.J. Tucker ($7,969,537)
- Danuel House ($3,717,000)
- Troy Williams ($122,741) — Waived via stretch provision.
- Total: $123,430,633
Player Options
- Austin Rivers ($2,436,046)
- Total: $2,436,046
Team Options
- David Nwaba ($1,824,003)
- Total: $1,824,003
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Ben McLemore ($2,283,034) 1
- Chris Clemons ($1,517,981)
- Total: $3,801,015
Restricted Free Agents
- Michael Frazier (two-way qualifying offer / $1,445,697 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- William Howard (two-way qualifying offer / $1,445,697 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $2,891,394
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Tarik Black ($3,948,000): Non-Bird rights 3
- Bruno Caboclo ($1,620,564): Early Bird rights
- DeMarre Carroll ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Tyson Chandler ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Jeff Green ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Thabo Sefolosha ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Kenneth Faried ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights 3
- Trevon Duval ($1,445,697): Non-Bird rights 3
- Total: $15,117,081
Offseason Cap Outlook
With more than $123MM in guaranteed money committed to just six players for the 2020/21 season, the Rockets figure to exceed the luxury tax line if it stays at $132.6MM, and could become a taxpayer even if faced with a more forgiving tax threshold.
Of course, Houston has navigated its way out of the tax in each of the last two years, and team owner Tilman Fertitta has been particularly hard this season by the club’s lost China revenue and the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected many of his other businesses. As such, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rockets cut costs, at least to some extent. For now, we’re assuming they’ll be limited to the taxpayer’s mid-level exception, but that could change.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,718,000 4
- Trade exception: $3,595,333 (expires 2/5/21)
- Trade exception: $2,564,753 (expires 2/5/21)
- Trade exception: $1,620,564 (expires 2/5/21)
- Trade exception: $1,620,564 (expires 2/8/21)
Footnotes
- McLemore’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after October 18.
- The cap holds for Black, Faried, and Duval remain on the Rockets’ books because they haven’t been renounced after going unsigned in 2019/20. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value. If the team cuts costs, it could have the full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) and bi-annual exception ($3,623,000) available.
Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are based on the salary cap and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Early Bird Rights was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Karim Mane Enters 2020 NBA Draft
Canadian guard Karim Mane has declared for the 2020 NBA draft, just three days before the early entry deadline, he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. For now, Mane is testing the draft waters without hiring an agent, suggesting he wants to get feedback on his stock directly from teams.
“If I can get a guarantee I’ll be drafted, I will probably need to think about staying in,” Mane said.
Viewed as a five-star recruit, Mane previously attended Vanier College in Quebec, turning 19 last May. Although he’s eligible to declare for the draft and go pro, he could end up choosing to attend a U.S. college instead. Michigan State, Marquette, Memphis, DePaul, and Pittsburgh are among the programs he’d consider in that scenario, per Givony.
According to Givony, Mane – who currently ranks second on ESPN’s list of international prospects born in 2000 – has strong physical tools, including a 6’10” wingspan. Givony adds that the young guard had an impressive showing at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Greece last summer and would have been in position to boost his stock at this year’s Nike Hoop Summit if the event hadn’t been canceled.
“NBA teams haven’t been able to see me that much because I played in Canada and was hurt most of the season,” Mane told ESPN. “They know I am a good athlete with a versatile skill-set for a point guard. They know my potential and how hard I work. I’ve heard people compare me to Jrue Holiday, who is a player I study quite a bit.
“… Hoop Summit would have been great to showcase myself,” he added. “I haven’t had enough of a chance to play in front of NBA teams because of my injury, but I am 100% and would like to show them the real me. Unfortunately people will have to settle for film now.”
Central Notes: Pistons, Drummond, Karnisovas, Bulls
As one of just a few teams that will enter the 2020 offseason with cap room in hand, the Pistons will have plenty of options to consider as they weigh what moves to make.
While signing free agents using that cap space is one potential path for Detroit, so is using the room to take on unwanted contracts and collect draft assets. To complicate matters, the revenue the NBA has lost due to its stoppage may affect next season’s cap, impacting the amount of flexibility the club actually has. In other words, head of basketball operations Ed Stefanski has to make contingency plans for a wide variety of outcomes, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details.
“I’ve been in so many markets. To go into free agency and have a plan and once free agency starts, the plan gets blown up,” Stefanski said. “We have numerous plans and different scenarios that could occur. We have to use this money wisely. What makes the most sense to us? We’re asking those questions now. What makes the most sense for the Pistons now?”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Although there has been widespread speculation that Andre Drummond will pick up the $28MM+ player option on his contract for 2020/21, the Cavaliers center tells Michael Pina of SB Nation that he hasn’t finalized any decisions on that front. “For me I haven’t really thought too deep into my next decision yet because obviously we can’t really do anything yet,” Drummond said, referring to the NBA’s hiatus and moratorium.
- Zach Kram of The Ringer breaks down the offseason checklist for the Bulls and new executive VP president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas.
- In a conversation with Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, John Hollinger suggests that Karnisovas’ focus as he builds the Bulls‘ new front office figures to be on scouting and drafting. Marc Eversley (Sixers), Matt Lloyd (Magic), and Mark Hughes (Clippers), who have reportedly interviewed for the general manager job, are all “veteran road warriors on the scouting side,” says Hollinger.
Southeast Notes: Dragic, Leonard, Wizards, Hawks
After starting all but 15 of his previous 487 regular season games since 2012, Goran Dragic was caught off guard when Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra asked him last season about coming off the bench on a permanent basis in 2019/20, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel relays.
“As soon as I heard this, I was a little bit in shock, you know,” Dragic said during an Instagram Live appearance this week. “Shocked. Mad. It was full of emotions going through my head.”
Admitting the idea was “really hard to accept,” Dragic said that he eventually came to terms with it and tried to turn it into a positive, aiming to be one of the NBA’s very best sixth men. It has been an effective lineup change for the Heat, who had been having their best season since Dragic joined the club in 2015. The veteran point guard, meanwhile, was enjoying a nice bounce-back season, with 16.1 PPG and 5.1 APG in his reserve role.
“At the end of the day, I think that was a great change for me, for my career,” Dragic said, per Winderman. “And I’m really happy how I responded — to the players, to Coach Spo, to the trainers. They always stood next to me and helped me. The only thing I had to do was embrace that role and I did it.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- In his own Instagram Live appearance this week, Heat center Meyers Leonard spoke about getting comfortable in Miami after seven years in Portland, adding that he continues to rehab the ankle injury that had sidelined him before the NBA’s hiatus. “I’m feeling much, much better,” Leonard told Heat TV host Jason Jackson, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “Obviously, I had an injury there right before the season was suspended. And it was bad. I think most people were aware of that. But I’m always incredibly, incredibly focused and I take a very professional approach. So I guess if there’s a silver lining for Meyers Leonard, I’ve had more time to rehab and the rehab’s been very good.”
- As the Wizards prepare for the draft and free agency, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington explores the team’s biggest needs, naming rim protection and perimeter defense as areas the team must improve. Hughes also suggests it could make sense to target a high-ceiling player in the draft, something GM Tommy Sheppard mentioned as a possibility earlier in April.
- In a conversation with Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, former NBA executive Seth Partnow says that he’d be wary of offering a maximum-salary extension to John Collins this offseason if he were running the Hawks. Partnow would be comfortable with a deal in the four-year, $80MM range, which may not be enough to lock up Collins before he reaches restricted free agency in 2021.
Lue, Kidd, JVG, Jackson Among Nets’ Coaching Candidates
Tyronn Lue, Jason Kidd, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson are among the names on the Nets‘ developing list of potential head coaching candidates, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). According to Stein, interim coach Jacque Vaughn, who replaced Kenny Atkinson last month, will also receive consideration for the permanent job.
As Stein explains (via Twitter), the Nets aren’t expected to complete their search and name a head coach until the 2019/20 season has been completed or canceled, so presumably this list of candidates is preliminary and figures to evolve in the coming weeks and months.
Still, the names are worth noting, as are the ones noticeably absent. For instance, Stein says that Tom Thibodeau is believed to be “solely a Knicks candidate” for the time being, despite some rumblings linking him to the Nets.
There has been speculation that Brooklyn will target a veteran coach who would be comfortable leading a veteran roster that aims to be a title contender in 2020/21. As such, it makes sense that all the candidates identified by Stein have previous head coaching experience, with Kidd having already served as the Nets’ head coach once, albeit not under the current ownership or management group.
Currently, Kidd works as a Lakers assistant under Frank Vogel, while Lue is on Doc Rivers‘ Clippers staff. Van Gundy and Jackson are analysts for ESPN and ABC.
Lue, who was said earlier this week to have interest in Brooklyn’s coaching job, would reunite with Kyrie Irving if he were to land the job. Citing that Irving connection, Stein adds (via Twitter) that Warriors assistant Mike Brown – another former Cavaliers coach – is another name to monitor.
Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert Enters 2020 NBA Draft
Gonzaga junior forward Corey Kispert has submitted his paperwork to enter the 2020 NBA draft, the program announced today in a press release. Kispert will test the draft waters without hiring an agent.
“It’s always been my dream to play in the NBA and going without an agent allows me to see where I stand,” he said in a statement. “If the evaluations tell me I need to elevate my game further, I would be thrilled to return to Gonzaga and play for Zag Nation.”
Kispert is coming off a breakout junior season in which he averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .474/.438/.810 shooting line in 33 games (33.0 MPG).
The 6’7″ forward, who is the only Gonzaga underclassman to enter the draft pool so far, ranks 47th on ESPN’s big board, making him a viable candidate to be drafted.
If the NBA’s pre-draft dates remain unchanged, Kispert will have until June 3 to withdraw his name while retaining his college eligibility. That deadline could be pushed back if the NBA draft is postponed.
Hawks’ Vince Carter Talks Retirement
When the NBA suspended its season on March 11, Hawks wing Vince Carter recognized immediately that he may have made his last appearance as an NBA player that night, discussing the possibility after the game.
Six weeks later, we don’t have much further clarity on whether or not Carter will get a chance to suit up again for the Hawks this summer before he calls it a career. However, speaking to Chris Mannix of SI.com, Carter said he wouldn’t be upset if that March 11 contest ends up being his farewell from the NBA. He checked into that game vs. New York with 19 seconds left in overtime – after the news of Rudy Gobert‘s positive coronavirus test and the suspension of the season had broken – and knocked down the game’s final shot, a three-pointer.
“I ended on a pretty cool note,” Carter said.
The Hawks’ original schedule called for a home finale in Atlanta on April 15, the last day of the regular season. On April 10, the team had been scheduled to play in Toronto, where Carter started his NBA career in 1998 and blossomed into a star. While the 43-year-old admits it “would have been nice” to face the Raptors in Toronto one last time, he insists he’s “good with it” if that game doesn’t end up happening, Mannix writes.
Carter also explained why he has been happy to spend the final few seasons of a decorated 22-year NBA career playing for lottery teams in Sacramento and Atlanta.
“I had some (contenders) that were offering the opportunities,” Carter said, per Mannix. “They were saying, ‘We can’t guarantee (minutes).’ And I don’t expect anyone to guarantee me minutes. But to say, ‘We don’t think there’s any minutes, but you would help our team as far as just wisdom.’ That’s something I didn’t want to do. I just wanted to play. I could lend my wisdom and be an unbelievable mentor for a guy. But sometimes showing is better than telling.”
As for whether Carter has had any second thoughts about retiring at season’s end, Mannix writes that some doubt crept in for the eight-time All-Star during the first couple months of the season, but his concerns were assuaged by longtime NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and the late Kobe Bryant, who told him he’d enjoy retirement.
“It was reassuring,” Carter told Mannix. “Comforting. Those are the guys that I wanted to talk to and hear from.”