Pacific Notes: Kuzma, Clippers, Frank, Kings
When his name popped up in Anthony Davis-related trade rumors a year ago, Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma followed the NBA rumor mill with interest, but ultimately stayed put even when the team swung a deal for Davis in the summer. Kuzma has once again been identified as a potential trade candidate this season, but he believes he has gotten better at blocking out that speculation this time around, per Bill Oram of The Athletic.
“I consumed it more last year,” he said. “This year is different I don’t care at all, but last year it was new and foreign, so it was like more of a can’t-really-escape-it thing. But for me it’s a little bit easier now. I don’t really have my Twitter like that. I don’t really use it.”
As Oram notes, the Lakers are no longer in developmental mode like they were in Kuzma’s first year or two in the league, and the third-year forward is one of the only young players left on the roster. As such, the club needs Kuzma to be on its timeline, which has put some added pressure on him this season. He has done his best to live up to those expectations.
“Everybody knows that I’m a learner and I want to become a good player,” Kuzma said. “So everybody’s helping me. I think it reflects in my game all the way down from my defense learning from Avery (Bradley), Dwight (Howard), A.D. and offensively just slowing down, develop my pick-and-roll game from other guys.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- The Clippers have moved into a tie for second place in the Western Conference with a 30-13 record, but it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the franchise in the first season of its new super-team era, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. After a first half that saw players express frustration about a lack of cohesion and Doc Rivers express annoyance at inconsistent effort, the club will be looking to put it all together in the second half as the postseason approaches.
- Chris Iseman of NorthJersey.com provides an interesting behind-the-scenes look at how Lawrence Frank ascended to the top of the Clippers‘ front office after a long career as a coach. As Iseman details, the Clippers’ current president of basketball operations was initially reluctant to take on the role due to his lack of management experience.
- The Kings have already made one significant trade this winter, sending three players to Portland for Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver, and two second-round picks. However, they may not be done. James Ham of NBC Sports California previews the trade deadline for Sacramento, exploring what moves could be coming next.
Checking In On NBA’s Projected Taxpayers For 2019/20
Following their cost-cutting trade with the Kings, the Trail Blazers no longer project to have the NBA’s highest tax bill for the 2019/20 season. That honor instead belongs to the Warriors, one of a small handful of teams that will be subject to the league’s more punitive repeater penalties if they’re in the tax at season’s end.
These numbers are fluid and will almost certainly change in the coming months, but here are the current projected luxury tax bills for teams this season, via ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):
- Golden State Warriors: $14.99MM
- Portland Trail Blazers: $9.65MM
- Miami Heat: $6.65MM
- Oklahoma City Thunder: $2.3MM
- Houston Rockets: $372K
As Marks point out, the projected payouts for non-taxpaying teams are lower than usual — based on the current figures, non-taxpayers would receive approximately $680K apiece (50% of the total tax payments, split among 25 teams). By contrast, non-taxpayers received about $3.1MM each in 2018/19.
This season looks like it could end up looking more like the 2016/17 campaign, which featured the lowest tax payouts of the decade due to the infamous ’16 cap spike. That cap spike left the Cavaliers and Clippers as the NBA’s only clubs in the tax for that year, resulting in payouts of about $507K apiece for the 28 non-taxpayers.
[RELATED: Recent History of NBA Taxpaying Teams]
The end-of-season payouts for non-taxpayers this season will actually probably end up being even lower than $680K. None of the five projected taxpayers listed above are more than about $6.2MM above the luxury tax threshold, so many of them have a path to potentially getting out of tax territory altogether.
The Thunder and Rockets, in particular, look like candidates to sneak below the tax threshold by moving low-cost trade chips like Justin Patton and Nene. The Blazers could theoretically get there too with a bigger deal involving a player like Hassan Whiteside. It’ll be more of a challenge for the hard-capped Warriors and Heat, but not impossible.
For every team that gets out of the tax, the amount of the league-wide tax payments at season’s end will decrease and the number of non-taxpaying clubs will increase, resulting in a smaller pot to be split among a greater number of franchises. In other words, no non-taxpaying NBA team should be counting on a major windfall from taxpayers at the end of the ’19/20 campaign.
Northwest Notes: Crabbe, Paul, Blazers, Nuggets
As one of three Hawks veterans with a big expiring contract, Allen Crabbe entered the season as a trade candidate and it didn’t come as a huge shock when the team moved him last week. Still, the new Timberwolves swingman admits he was caught off guard by being dealt, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes.
“I was taken aback,” Crabbe said on Monday. “I didn’t hear anything leading up to this. … It definitely was a shock to me, but it’s not my first time being traded. It’s the business side. The only thing you got to try to do is pack up, get to your new team, get implemented and show up and go to work.”
It remains to be seen whether Crabbe will see an uptick in minutes – or in his team’s playoff odds – in Minnesota, but as a player who likes to shoot from outside, the 27-year-old believes the Timberwolves will be a good fit for his skill set.
“I mean, it’s a match made in heaven,” Crabbe said, per Hine. “They like to shoot threes, I love to shoot threes. So I can’t ask for anything better than that.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- When Chris Paul was first traded to the Thunder, there was an expectation that he wouldn’t be satisfied to stay in Oklahoma City. However, Paul has found happiness in OKC as the team has exceeded expectations this season, writes Rohan Nadkarni of SI.com. Within Nadkarni’s feature, CP3 also made it clear he has no interest in waiving his 2021/22 player option to accommodate a trade: “No chance. That’s not happening. Nope.” Paul’s player option is worth $44.2MM for his age-36 season, so the idea that he’d give it up to be traded was never a realistic one.
- As part of their trade with Sacramento, the Trail Blazers used Anthony Tolliver‘s outgoing salary to match Caleb Swanigan‘s incoming contract rather than taking on Swanigan using their disabled player exception, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. As a result, Portland won’t create a $1.62MM traded player exception, but will still have its $2.86MM disabled player exception available. The DPE will expire on March 10, while the TPE would’ve been available for a year.
- With Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, and Paul Millsap all banged up and the Nuggets not looking to rush them back, the team’s depth is coming in handy, according to Kyle Fredrickson of The Denver Post. Players who have been in and out of the rotation – such as Juan Hernangomez, Malik Beasley, and Torrey Craig – have all seen regular action with those starters sidelined.
Kings, Trail Blazers Complete Five-Player Trade
JANUARY 21: The trade between the Kings and Trail Blazers is now official, according to press releases issued by both teams.
JANUARY 18: The Kings and Trail Blazers have agreed to a trade that will send Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver to Sacramento in exchange for Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel, and Caleb Swanigan, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Shams Charania of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter) that the Blazers are trading Bazemore to Sacramento.
The Kings will also receive Portland’s second-round picks in 2024 and 2025 as part of the deal, a source tells Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link). ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter) that the swap can’t be officially completed until Tuesday, when Gabriel’s trade restriction lifts.
For Portland, the deal represents a cost-cutting move that shouldn’t impact the team’s on-court performance too drastically, if at all. Both Ariza and Bazemore have had down years so far, but Bazemore’s drop-off has been more precipitous — he has posted a career-worst .347 FG% to go along with a .327 3PT%. Ariza is at least still knocking down his threes (.352 3PT%) at his usual career rate, even as his role was reduced in Sacramento.
Tolliver had been a rotation player for the Blazers, with 16.8 minutes per game in 33 contests, but hasn’t been at his best either — his .368 FG% is his worst mark since he was a rookie in 2008/09.
Bazemore and Tolliver are earning a combined $20.89MM, compared to a total of $15.68MM for Ariza, Swanigan, and Gabriel. Besides trimming more than $5MM off the Blazers’ team salary, the deal will also reduce the organization’s projected tax bill by $12.6MM, according to Marks (via Twitter).
Additionally, the Blazers will create a pair of traded player exceptions, including one worth just over $7MM, since they have a disabled player exception available to acquire Swanigan. The team will have the opportunity to keep Ariza for the 2020/21 season if he finishes the year strong. His $12.8MM salary for ’20/21 is partially guaranteed for $1.8MM, per Basketball Insiders.
It’s not clear if Swanigan and Gabriel fit into Portland’s plans, though it’s worth noting Swanigan was originally drafted by the Blazers before being traded to the Kings a year ago. Both players are on expiring contracts. Portland won’t need to cut anyone to make room to accommodate the three incoming players, since the club already had an open roster spot.
As for the Kings’ side of the deal, Amick observes (via Twitter) that it opens up a roster spot immediately and also creates slightly more flexibility moving forward, since Bazemore and Tolliver are on expiring contracts. The Ariza signing hadn’t worked out like the franchise had hoped, so Sacramento will hope that Bazemore can bounce back and that Tolliver looks more he did when he was a member of the Kings in 2016/17 and shot .442/.391/.744.
There are no plans to buy out Bazemore, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the veteran swingman has a “great relationship” with head coach Luke Walton and the Kings’ front office.
Even if the Kings’ new additions keep slumping, the team will come away with a pair of future assets in the trade by picking up the Blazers’ 2024 and 2025 second-round picks. Sacramento had already acquired multiple extra second-rounders for 2020 and 2021, so the team is building up quite a stash of draft picks, which could be useful in future deals.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
2019/20 NBA Reverse Standings Update
Throughout the 2019/20 NBA season, Hoops Rumors is maintaining a feature that allows you to keep an eye on what the 2020 draft order will look like. Our 2019/20 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 2020’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 playoff teams. Our reverse standings account for that.
Traded first-round picks are included via footnotes. For example, the note next to Cleveland’s pick says that the Cavaliers will send their pick to the Pelicans if it’s not in the top 10. As of today, Cleveland is tied for the NBA’s third-worst record, meaning that pick wouldn’t change hands, even if several teams were to leapfrog the Cavs in the lottery.
When we last checked in on the reverse standings, the Hawks were in the driver’s seat for the NBA’s worst record, but they’ve been at least a little frisky since then, winning four of their last 11 games. During that same stretch, the Warriors have won just a single game and now sit “atop” our reverse standings.
Golden State’s 10-35 record is a half-game worse than Atlanta’s 10-34 mark, with the Knicks (12-32) and Cavaliers (12-32) also within striking distance of the top spot in the lottery.
Although 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%), finishing atop the reverse standings would still benefit teams like the Warriors or Hawks — the NBA’s worst team can’t fall further than the No. 5 pick, while the third-worst team could end up selecting as low as No. 7.
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 protection will be changing hands in 2020. 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.
New York Notes: Fizdale, Knicks, Kyrie, Nets
Appearing on ESPN’s The Jump on Monday, former Knicks head coach David Fizdale said the toughest part about being fired a year and a half after joining the franchise was fulfilling the goal of turning things around and giving fans a winner. However, Fizdale still believes that the club is well-positioned to improve going forward.
“I think that they have really good young talent and those young guys are going to keep getting better, Fizdale said of the Knicks, per Steve Popper of Newsday. “They have to continue to draft well because they have a lot of draft picks over the next few years. Then with the veterans that they did sign, they have to figure out which guys they want to retain and which guys they want to move on from. But they do have a lot of cap space there and they will have an opportunity to get back in the free-agency market this summer.
“So I really think they’re in a good position,” the ex-Knicks coach added. “I know a lot of people don’t and a lot of people are down on them. But I actually think that they’re in a good position to make some good things happen for the organization.”
Here’s more out of New York:
- While a segment of Knicks fans may prefer to see the team’s young players get some of the minutes currently going to veterans, the team “clearly has a showcase mentality” with those vets, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Berman suggests there will be plenty of time for New York to increase the youngsters’ roles after the trade deadline.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic identifies a few players and potential trades that could be of interest to the Knicks at the deadline. Jerome Robinson, Kris Dunn, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the players Vorkunov thinks might be logical targets.
- After Kyrie Irving was a late scratch on Monday due to a tight hamstring, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson explained that the team is just being “cautious” with the star guard, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. However, Atkinson did acknowledge that the issue had been nagging Irving for a few days.
- Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News says it’s ridiculous to claim the Nets are better without Irving and argues that some of the criticism Kyrie is facing for recent comments is unfair.
And-Ones: Mavs, All-Star Draft, China, Ball
The Mavericks announced in a press release that they’ve partnered with Chime Banking for a jersey sponsorship deal. While the exact terms of the agreement aren’t known, Mark Medina of USA Today reports that it’s worth “just under eight figures.”
Dallas previously had a jersey sponsorship deal with the company 5miles, but terminated it last year. Following the end of that partnership, the Mavericks had been the only team without a uniform patch in place, as our tracker shows.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- As it did a year ago, the NBA’s All-Star draft will take place on the day of the trade deadline, with the league announcing in a press release that the event will air on TNT at 7:00pm ET on February 6, four hours after the deadline. The top vote-getter in each conference will be an All-Star captain, and those two captains will select their teams from the pools of All-Star starters and reserves.
- Nets owner Joseph Tsai recently said in an interview with YES Network that the NBA is working to get its relationship with China back on track (hat tip to NetsDaily). “The key thing is we need be broadcast on TV back in China,” Tsai said. “There’s talk NBA ratings are kind of down for various reasons. But we don’t want to see ratings go down globally. We need the NBA games to be back on TV in China.” Tsai faced some criticism in the fall when he wrote a Facebook post essentially defending China’s reaction to Daryl Morey‘s infamous tweet supporting Hong Kong protestors.
- Ethan Strauss of The Athletic takes a look at LaMelo Ball‘s National Basketball League film as he attempts to assess the youngster’s value, ultimately concluding that he wouldn’t feel comfortable making Ball a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA draft.
Poll: Eastern Conference’s No. 2 Seed
Barring a major second-half swoon, the Bucks won’t give up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season. At 38-6, Milwaukee is on pace to win over 70 games and currently has an eight-game cushion over the next-best team in the conference.
While the race for the top seed in the East may already be over, a fascinating race is developing for the No. 2 spot. With six potential contenders in the conference, the importance of nabbing that second seed shouldn’t be understated. Not only would it set up a first-round matchup against a less dangerous opponents like the Magic or Nets, it would also mean avoiding the Bucks until the Eastern Conference Finals and holding home court advantage for two rounds.
As we enter the second half of the season, the Heat currently hold the second seed, but the margin is extremely tight. Here’s what the standings look like for the five teams vying for the No. 2 seed, entering today’s action:
- Miami Heat (29-13)
- Toronto Raptors (28-14)
- Boston Celtics (27-14)
- Indiana Pacers (28-15)
- Philadelphia 76ers (28-16)
All five teams are separated by just two games, so one hot or cold streak could have a significant impact on seeding. Just ask the Celtics, who could fall out of the top four tonight for the first time since October if their current losing streak extends to four games.
With a real incentive tied to claiming the No. 2 seed, the second-half race among these five teams should be fascinating. The Raptors finally have a healthy roster, and the Pacers will be getting star guard Victor Oladipo back next week. The Sixers have been shakier than expected all year long, but showed their upside on Christmas Day when they dismantled the Bucks. The Celtics and the Heat are in position to potentially upgrade their rosters at the trade deadline if they so choose.
Of course, we should also consider each team’s second-half schedule. According to Tankathon.com, the Heat, Sixers, and Raptors have three of the NBA’s easiest remaining slates, while the Pacers’ schedule ranks in the middle of the pack and the Celtics’ is the eighth-hardest.
What do you think? Which of these five teams do you like best to finish the season strong and claim the No. 2 seed in the East?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Which team will claim the East's No. 2 seed?
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Toronto Raptors 41% (1,384)
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Boston Celtics 20% (668)
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Philadelphia 76ers 17% (583)
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Miami Heat 14% (486)
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Indiana Pacers 7% (242)
Total votes: 3,363
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Cavs Sign Tyler Cook To Second 10-Day Deal
2:18pm: The Cavaliers have officially signed Cook to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. It’ll run through January 29.
11:07am: It looks like rookie power forward Tyler Cook will be the first NBA player this season to receive a second 10-day contract. A source tells Michael Scotto of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that the Cavaliers are re-signing Cook, while Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports (via Twitter) that the new 10-day deal will be completed before Monday night’s game.
Cook, 22, has spent the season with the Cavaliers, first on a two-way contract, then briefly on a standard deal, then on a 10-day pact which expired on Saturday night. He has appeared in eight total NBA games, including two during his last 10-day deal, logging just 28 total minutes.
Most of Cook’s rookie season has been spent with the Canton Charge in the G League, where he has averaged 13.1 PPG and 6.2 RPG in 16 contests (21.4 MPG).
Cleveland is carrying 13 players on fully guaranteed standard contracts and had signed Cook and Alfonzo McKinnie to 10-day pacts on January 9. It’s unclear if McKinnie will also be brought back or if the Cavs will find another use for that 15th roster spot, perhaps leaving it open for the time being.
Teams can’t sign a player to three 10-day contracts in the same season, so once Cook’s second 10-day deal expires, the Cavs will either have to sign him for the rest of the season or let him return to the free agent market.
Pistons Notes: Jackson, Mykhailiuk, Drummond
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson has been medically cleared to return and could return to action this week, head coach Dwane Casey said today (Twitter link via Rod Beard of The Detroit News).
“A lot of is going to depend on Reggie,” Casey said. “He’s been in practice dunking on people and talking more than anybody else, so I’ll be glad when he gets back.”
Jackson, 29, appeared in just two games at the start of the season before being sidelined with a back injury. In his absence, Bruce Brown has emerged as the Pistons’ starting point guard and Derrick Rose has become one of the team’s most important contributors, so it’ll be interesting to see how Casey adjusts the rotation when Jackson – who is in a contract year – is ready to go.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, acquired from the Lakers nearly a year ago in a deadline deal for Reggie Bullock, is cementing himself as a part of the Pistons’ long-term future, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. The second-year sharpshooter has knocked down 44.5% of his three-point attempts this season and has taken on an increased role in the last month, averaging 27.9 minutes per game since December 20.
- As trade rumors continue to swirl around Pistons big man Andre Drummond, Dwane Casey looked to put a positive spin on the chatter and speculation, as A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston details. “If you’re doing anything in this league your name is going to be out there,” Casey said. “At the end of the day on the 1st and the 15th, you’re getting paid by the team you’re with. So, you have to do your job each and every day. There’s no reason to be upset with anybody. It’s a business; we understand that. We’re all professionals. We have a job to do.”
- Rod Beard of The Detroit News explores what the next steps are for a Pistons team that is just three games out of the playoffs in the East and hasn’t yet picked a lane for the trade deadline.