Pelicans Sign Alize Johnson To 10-Day Contract
MARCH 2: Johnson’s 10-day deal with the Pelicans is now official, the team announced in a press release. As noted below, it’ll run through March 11, covering New Orleans’ next six games.
FEBRUARY 28: The Pelicans are adding some frontcourt depth by signing free agent forward Alize Johnson to a 10-day contract, agent George Langberg tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Johnson, 25, began the 2021/22 season with the Bulls after earning a 15-man roster spot in training camp. He was waived in December when Chicago required a spot on the roster for Alfonzo McKinnie and subsequently joined the Wizards on a 10-day hardship deal.
In total, Johnson has appeared in 19 NBA games this season for Chicago and Washington, averaging 1.7 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 7.3 minutes per contest. He has career averages of 2.5 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 68 appearances (7.5 MPG), having also spent time in Indiana and Brooklyn since he was selected 50th overall in the 2018 draft.
The Pelicans have an opening on their 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to sign Johnson, who will get a standard 10-day contract. The deal will pay him $99,380, with the team taking on a cap hit of $95,930.
New Orleans doesn’t play its next game until Wednesday, so the club could wait until then to officially sign Johnson in order to maximize his 10 days. If he formally joins the Pelicans on Wednesday, Johnson would be under contract through March 11, making him eligible for six games. If he signs today or tomorrow, Johnson’s deal would expire before the team’s March 11 contest vs. Charlotte.
Southwest Notes: Hardaway, Doncic, Schröder, Pelicans
Ruled out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on his left foot a little over a month ago, Mavericks wing Tim Hardaway Jr. still doesn’t have a timeline for a return to the court, writes Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Hardaway, who is hoping to shed his walking boot soon in order to move the next stage of his rehab process, spoke to Caplan about his recovery.
“This injury takes a lot of time,” Hardaway said. “I’ve looked up a lot of information on the injury. I mean, everybody has different times. Everybody’s body is different. I’m going to make sure I’m 100% healthy. That’s the most important part. Not 85%, not 90%, not 95% because it’s something you don’t want to reaggravate and be out for a longer period of time, and with the bone and where it’s at, a lot of blood doesn’t go into that area of the foot like the rest of the body.”
While it’s possible we won’t see Hardaway back on the court for the Mavericks until 2022/23, he hasn’t given up on potentially making it back this spring.
“I’ll say this: The further we go [in the playoffs], the better chance I have,” Hardaway told Caplan. “That’s the answer I’ll give.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Mavericks star Luka Doncic spoke to ESPN’s Malika Andrews (video link) about a handful of topics, including his surprise at Kristaps Porzingis being traded, his team’s ability to contend for a title, and his determination not to rack up enough technical fouls to earn a one-game suspension.
- Having kept him on their roster through March 1, the Rockets appear intent on retaining point guard Dennis Schröder at least through the rest of the season. And according to Marc Stein, the two sides remain open to the idea of extending the relationship beyond 2021/22. Even if Schröder doesn’t re-sign with Houston, he could work with the team on sign-and-trade scenarios this summer, says Stein.
- After acquiring CJ McCollum last month, the Pelicans have put together a supporting cast capable of complementing and enhancing Zion Williamson‘s unique skill set, opines Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Now, the team just needs its star forward to get healthy to see what all the pieces look like together.
Celtics Notes: Brown, Ryan, Open Roster Spots
With Tuesday’s win over Atlanta, the Celtics moved to within a single game of a top-four spot in the East, but it wasn’t all good news for Boston. As Tim Bontemps of ESPN details, Jaylen Brown left the game in the first half due to a right ankle sprain and didn’t return.
“[He] rolled it,” head coach Ime Udoka said after the game. “Got some swelling and soreness, obviously. He tried to give it a go in the back and wanted to come back out and play, [but] just decided big picture, where we’re at in the season and be smart. So we’ll know more over the next few days.”
Although Brown walked with a limp when he left the game, he was able to exit the court under his own power, which was a positive sign. Udoka is optimistic that the injury won’t be a significant one.
“You would hope not,” Udoka said, per Bontemps. “He walked off by himself and then tried to go in the back. So you would hope not. But we’ll evaluate him over the next few days and, hopefully, it doesn’t seem like it. But you never know; it can change overnight with swelling and pain.”
Let’s round a few more notes out of Boston…
- Jared Weiss of The Athletic takes a closer look at what the Celtics are getting in swingman Matt Ryan, who signed a two-way contract with the team earlier this week. As Weiss outlines, Ryan is a very talented outside shooter, but is still working on improving his defense.
- The Celtics likely won’t be active in the buyout market, Udoka said on Tuesday (Twitter link via Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe). That’s not a surprise, given the lack of appealing available options. As our tracker shows, Enes Freedom and DeAndre Jordan are the only notable healthy veterans who were waived since the trade deadline and have yet to line up new teams — Freedom is ineligible to re-sign with Boston after being traded by the C’s last month.
- The 10-day contracts signed by Kelan Martin and Malik Fitts last week will expire this Friday night. At that point, the Celtics will dip back down to 12 players on standard contracts, so if they don’t re-sign both Martin and Fitts right away, they’d have up to two weeks to get back to the league-mandated minimum of 14 players.
Lakers Notes: LeBron, Augustin, Gabriel, Nunn
The Lakers‘ record fell to 27-34 on Tuesday, as the team entered the fourth quarter with a lead over Dallas but couldn’t hang on and lost by a score of 109-104. Los Angeles, the No. 9 seed in the West, is now just two games ahead of No. 11 Portland for a play-in spot, but Russell Westbrook – who acknowledged that he has to play better – still believes better things are ahead for the club.
“Super confident that we’re going to be all right,” Westbrook said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I’ve got confidence in this group, like I always have. And we can play the best teams. I’m not worried about nobody we have to play. We’ve beaten the best teams; we’ve lost to some of the worst teams. So, our confidence and my confidence in this group is extremely high because I know what we’re capable of when we put our mind to it and do exactly what we need to do on a night-in, night-out basis.”
As McMenamin writes, LeBron James missed some time about a month ago due to swelling in his left knee and said before the All-Star break that he’s still not 100%. However, James has no plans to shut his season down at any point and is committed to waiting until the offseason to rest his knee, sources tell ESPN.
“We still have games to play,” James said after Tuesday’s loss. “Until you stomp me out, cut my head off, bury me 12 feet under, then I got a chance. So that’s my confidence.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Head coach Frank Vogel is enthusiastic about what newly-signed point guard D.J. Augustin can bring to the team, as Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group relays. “I know his game really well,” Vogel said before Tuesday’s game. “He gets in late tonight – we’ll be able to sit down and talk more in depth about where he fits on our team. But I like what he brings to the table, not just with the off-ball ability, to shoot the basketball and stretch the floor and give our guys more space.”
- Vogel also discussed new two-way player Wenyen Gabriel, who was signed on Tuesday along with Augustin. According to the Lakers’ head coach, Gabriel will join the NBA team immediately rather than being assigned to the G League. “The successful stints this year have been with Bron, Russ, (Anthony Davis), and the younger, energetic guys,” Vogel said, per Goon. “So, we’ll have to see what Wenyen brings to the table, but it is possible that he gets into the rotation and plays some.”
- While replacing DeAndre Jordan and Sekou Doumbouya with Augustin and Gabriel adds more talent to the Lakers’ roster, the team had a greater need on the wing than at point guard, Jovan Buha of The Athletic opines in his analysis of Tuesday’s roster moves.
- Explaining why the Lakers felt comfortable trading away Rajon Rondo earlier in the season if they still needed to sign a veteran point guard later, Vogel said that Rondo was intended to be a third-string backup behind Westbrook and wasn’t a good fit alongside him, whereas Augustin should be able to play with or without Westbrook. “Their skill sets don’t fit,” Vogel said of Rondo and Westbrook (via Goon). “They don’t match on the floor. So (Rondo) was not playing, or when he was playing, he wasn’t a good formula for us.”
- There’s still no timeline for injured point guard Kendrick Nunn to make his Lakers debut, Vogel told reporters on Tuesday. “We just don’t know about Kendrick,” he said, according to Goon. “We’re still hopeful that he comes around and is able to ramp up and do it without pain and the MRI comes back where we want to see it. It hasn’t happened yet. Until we see him back on the floor, we need help at that position and that skill set.” Buha believes the signing of Augustin suggests we likely won’t see Nunn this season.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Luxury Tax Penalties
Although some NBA teams can become hard-capped during a given league year if they use specific exceptions or make certain transactions, the league doesn’t have a set hard cap for all teams. In addition to its soft cap though, the league does have a luxury tax threshold, which serves to discourage excessive spending. When a team’s total salary ends up over that line at season’s end, the NBA charges a tax for every extra dollar the club spends.
The formula to determine the luxury tax line is a complicated one, related to the NBA’s projected basketball related income (BRI) and projected benefits. Generally though, it comes in around 20-22% above the salary cap line. For instance, in 2021/22, the league’s salary cap is set at $112,414,000, while the luxury tax threshold is at $136,606,000. So any team whose total ’21/22 salary exceeds $136,606,000 on the last day of the regular season is subject to a tax bill.
The NBA’s luxury tax system is set up so that the penalties become more punitive if teams go further beyond the tax line. Here’s what those penalties look like:
- $0-5MM above tax line: $1.50 per dollar (up to $7.5MM).
- $5-10MM above tax line: $1.75 per dollar (up to $8.75MM).
- $10-15MM above tax line: $2.50 per dollar (up to $12.5MM).
- $15-20MM above tax line: $3.25 per dollar (up to $16.25MM).
- For every additional $5MM above tax line beyond $20MM, rates increase by $0.50 per dollar.
- Note: This would mean $3.75 per dollar for amounts between $20-25MM, $4.25 for $25-30MM, etc.
For example, if a team is over the tax by $12MM, its tax bill would be $21.25MM: $7.5MM for the first $5MM over the tax, $8.75MM for the $5-10MM bracket, then $5MM for the final increment in the $10-15MM bracket.
While these are the rates that apply to most taxpayers – including the Clippers, Nets, Bucks, Lakers, Jazz, and Sixers this season – a team can become subject to a more punitive “repeater” penalty if it paid the tax in three of the previous four seasons.
This scenario currently applies to Golden State — the Warriors were a taxpaying club in 2018, 2019, and 2021, which means they’ll be a repeat offender this season. The Thunder, who were taxpayers in 2018, 2019, and 2020, would also be subject to the repeater tax this season, but they’re far, far below the tax line.
Here are the penalties that apply to repeat taxpayers:
- $0-5MM above tax line: $2.50 per dollar (up to $12.5MM).
- $5-10MM above tax line: $2.75 per dollar (up to $13.75MM).
- $10-15MM above tax line: $3.50 per dollar (up to $17.5MM).
- $15-20MM above tax line: $4.25 per dollar (up to $21.25MM).
- For every additional $5MM above tax line beyond $20MM, rates increase by $0.50 per dollar
- Note: This would mean $4.75 per dollar for amounts between $20-25MM, $5.25 for $25-30MM, etc.
If the hypothetical team we described in our first example, over the tax by $12MM, was a repeat taxpayer, its bill would increase to $33.25MM.
Generally speaking, luxury tax penalties are calculated by determining a team’s total cap hits at the end of the regular season. So a team that starts the year above the tax line could get under it before the end of the season by completing trades or buyouts. The Celtics did just that this season, slipping below the luxury tax threshold at the trade deadline by completing a series of deals that reduced their overall team salary.
It’s also worth noting that team salary for tax purposes is calculated slightly differently than it is for cap purposes. Here are a few of the adjustments made at season’s end before a team’s tax bill is calculated:
- Cap holds and exceptions are ignored.
- “Likely” bonuses that weren’t earned are removed from team salary; “unlikely” bonuses that were earned are added to team salary.
- If a player with a trade bonus is acquired after the final regular season game, that trade bonus is added to team salary.
- If a player with 0-1 years of NBA experience signed a minimum-salary free agent contract, the minimum-salary cap charge for a two-year veteran is used in place of that player’s cap charge.
- Note: This only applies to free agents, not drafted players. For example, Clippers rookie Brandon Boston Jr. (second-round pick) and Lakers rookie Austin Reaves (UDFA) are each earning $925,258 in 2021/22. Boston will count for $925,258 for tax purposes, while Reaves will count for $1,669,178.
So let’s say that five teams finish the season owing a total of $50MM in taxes. Where does that money go? Currently, the NBA splits it 50/50 — half of it is used for “league purposes,” while the other half is distributed to non-taxpaying teams in equal shares. In that scenario, the 25 non-taxpaying teams would receive $1MM apiece.
As cap expert Larry Coon explains in his CBA FAQ, “league purposes” essentially covers any purpose the NBA deems appropriate, including giving the money back to teams. In recent years, the NBA has used that money as a funding source for its revenue sharing program. Coon also notes that the CBA technically allows up to 50% of tax money to be distributed to non-taxpaying teams, but there’s no obligation for that to happen — in other words, the NBA could decide to use 100% of the tax money for “league purposes.”
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012, 2018, and 2020.
Pacific Notes: Wiseman, Suns, Payne, Lakers
Despite rumors that he might be ready to return at the start of March, Warriors center James Wiseman remains sidelined for now. He’s with Golden State on the four-game road trip that begins tonight so that he can practice and scrimmage with the team, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who tweets that head coach Steve Kerr continues to take a “day-to-day” approach with Wiseman’s rehab. There’s still no target date for his season debut.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer contends that Chris Paul‘s absence due to a hand injury could be a “blessing in disguise” for the Suns as long as it doesn’t extend into the postseason. As O’Connor explains, a number of other Suns will get a chance to handle the ball with Paul sidelined, which could allow the team to experiment a little and add a new layer to its offense.
- Suns point guard Cameron Payne did some 3-on-3, 4-on-4, and a little 5-on-5 work on Monday, head coach Monty Williams told reporters today (video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). The team is hoping Payne can return from his right wrist injury soon, with Williams noting that the plan would be for the veteran guard to displace Cameron Johnson in the starting lineup (Twitter link via Rankin).
- John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link) questions why the Lakers didn’t complete a salary-dump trade involving DeAndre Jordan prior to last month’s deadline if they were just going to eventually waive him anyway. As Hollinger points out, the Lakers could’ve sent out cash with Jordan, essentially paying him another team to take him. Doing so would’ve reduced L.A.’s tax bill by about $5MM, so the team still would’ve come out ahead financially.
International Notes: Musa, Russia, FIBA, EuroLeague, Goodwin
After being selected with the No. 29 pick in the 2018 draft, swingman Dzanan Musa spent just two seasons in the NBA with Brooklyn before being waived and returning to Europe. He’s currently thriving with Rio Breogan in Spain, averaging 19.8 PPG on .504/.441/.776 shooting in 19 Liga ACB games (31.7 MPG) this season.
Asked during an interview with Israel Hayom about his fellow Bosnian, former NBA forward Mirza Teletovic said he’s confident that Musa, who is still just 22 years old, will return stateside sooner or later.
“Dzanan is a great talent, who has already done some beautiful things in his career,” Teletovic said, according to EuroHoops.net. “He may have gone to the NBA too soon and been burned, but I believe he will return to the U.S. soon because he just needed more experience and more games to deal with the players. He saw what he was missing and now he is working on it in Europe. … He must be patient and go step by step and he is guaranteed a bright future because he has the qualities of a leader and everything it takes to be successful.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the international basketball world:
- FIBA announced today in a press release that Russian teams and officials won’t be permitted to participate in any international FIBA competitions until further notice. Russia was off to a 3-0 start in the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup.
- Euroleague Basketball announced on Monday that it has suspended the participation of all Russian teams in the EuroLeague (CSKA Moscow, UNICS Kazan, Zenit St. Petersburg) and the EuroCup (Lokomotiv Kuban). The organization will continue to monitor the situation and says that if things don’t improve, “all regular season games versus Russian teams will be annulled to configure the leagues’ standings.”
- Former NBA first-round pick Archie Goodwin has signed with Israeli team Maccabi Rishon, according to an announcement from the club (Twitter link). Goodwin, the 29th overall pick in 2013, appeared in 165 regular season games for Phoenix, New Orleans, and Brooklyn, but hasn’t played in the NBA since 2017. He had been playing in Ukraine this season, but recently left due to the Russian invasion.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 3/1/2022
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 12:00 pm Central time. Click here to view the transcript.
Our next live chat will take place on Thursday at 11:00 am CT with Dana Gauruder.
Cavs Notes: Garland, Point Guards, LeVert, Sexton, Pangos
After playing in the last two games before the All-Star break, Darius Garland has missed the Cavaliers‘ first three games since the break due to lower back soreness. The player and team have faced some scrutiny for Garland’s participation in the All-Star festivities in Cleveland, but general manager Mike Gansey said on Monday that it wouldn’t have made sense for the point guard to skip All-Star weekend, given how he was feeling at the time.
“No, because he played in Philly and Atlanta and was feeling good,” Gansey said, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “The Skills Competition was like getting some shots up or playing H-O-R-S-E. The shooting stuff for him was fun. Then the team had a practice which wasn’t a practice and he played in the All-Star Game, and I don’t even know if he tried to defend or even touch someone.
“You watch him run around and see him in pregame and he’s fine. It’s a bone bruise. A day-to-day thing. Nothing long term. He needs rest. Obviously, rest is not on our side right now.”
Garland’s back soreness is an issue he’ll likely have to deal with off and on for the rest of 2021/22. However, according to Gansey, the Cavaliers are hopeful that the rest Garland has gotten since the All-Star break will help him stay on the court for the final stretch of the season.
“I think with him, like, it’s just like a day-to-day thing,” Gansey said, per Kelsey Russo of The Athletic. “And, we just hope we can get through it, with him here taking a week. Who knows, maybe Wednesday, he’ll wake up and feel good. I don’t know. I just think this proper rest here will only help him. There’s nothing structural or anything there. It’s just something he’s got to deal with the rest of the year, unfortunately.”
Here’s more on the Cavs:
- Cleveland finds itself shorthanded at point guard with Garland, Rajon Rondo, and Caris LeVert all sidelined, but Gansey doesn’t think the team made a mistake by not acquiring more depth at the position at the trade deadline. “I don’t think we regret (not adding another) because I didn’t think we would see doomsday with our point guard situation,” Gansey said, according to Fedor. “Brandon Goodwin has been awesome for us. A great find. He’s keeping us afloat right now. Gotta give him credit for that.”
- Gansey, who acknowledges the Cavaliers have exceeded expectations this season, would consider it a “huge success” if the team even gets a single playoff series, as Russo relays. “If you would have told us (prior to the season), I guess with just the way we’re progressing, if we were in the play-in game, I think we’d be very, very happy with that,” Gansey said. “And I guess you could say we’re ahead of schedule. But the exciting thing is we’re so young. Everyone talks about Darius, Evan (Mobley), and Jarrett (Allen), but, like, Lauri (Markkanen)‘s 24. Isaac (Okoro)‘s 22. Collin (Sexton)‘s (23). Like, there are six guys under 25 that hopefully are our core moving forward. … Hopefully, with the young guys we have, they’re just only going to get better like they’ve shown and see what we can do.”
- There has been some speculation that acquiring LeVert means Sexton’s days in Cleveland could be numbered, but Gansey believes there’s room for both guards on the roster going forward, according to Russo. “I mean, based on what we’ve seen this year, you can’t have enough playmakers and ballhandlers,” the GM said. Sexton will be a restricted free agent this offseason, while LeVert is under contract through 2023.
- Waived on February 19, Kevin Pangos is one of four NBA players who has reached a buyout agreement since the trade deadline, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Marks tells Hoops Rumors that Pangos gave up $100K in his deal with the Cavs. The 29-year-old could afford to sacrifice a little money because he had an agreement in place with CSKA Moscow, though he still hasn’t traveled to Russia since signing his new contract due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to a Mundo Deportivo report (hat tip to BasketNews.com).
Knicks Notes: Fournier, Slump, Noel, Robinson
The Knicks held a lead early in the fourth quarter on Sunday vs. Philadelphia, but ultimately lost by 16 points, prompting Evan Fournier to try to diagnose the cause of the club’s late-game struggles, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post.
“Our togetherness down the stretch is not good enough,” Fournier said. “By togetherness I mean we are not tied together enough. Down the stretch, like I said, we have no confidence, so we are second-guessing at times. It should be second nature — boom, boom, boom, this is what we’re doing. As long as we are not doing that, it’s going to be hard to close out games against teams that are good. It keeps happening and that’s what’s so frustrating.”
As Joyce points out, the Knicks’ fourth-quarter net rating in their last 10 games is an abysmal -34.9, easily the worst mark in the NBA. The offense, which has a fourth-quarter rating of 85.9 in those 10 games, has been especially bad — Portland has the league’s next-worst fourth-quarter offensive rating during that stretch, at 100.0. Joyce believes having a veteran point guard like Derrick Rose running the show would help.
“I feel like we’re in a position right now where we are down two or down three, teams get on a run, it’s like, ‘Oh s–t, again,'” Fournier said. “Maybe just a good win would help us more, more confidence would help.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- While Nerlens Noel has technically been active for the Knicks’ last couple games and could theoretically have played, he’s “far from 100% healthy,” a source tells Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who provides some additional info on Noel’s plantar fasciitis. The injury first flared up on February 7, Begley adds, noting that it’s unclear whether the big man will get back to 100% before the end of the regular season.
- The Knicks have had talks throughout the season with Mitchell Robinson‘s agent Thad Foucher about a possible contract extension for the young center, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during a TV appearance on Sunday (video link). A source tells Begley that in one of those conversations prior to last month’s trade deadline, the two sides were “not close” on the proposed terms. New York can offer up to about $55MM on a four-year extension, but presumably hasn’t gotten nearly that high.
- Robinson, who griped earlier in the season about “literally running for cardio,” still appears dissatisfied with his limited involvement on offense. Replying to a tweet from a fan on Monday night, Robinson wrote, “Everyone knows when everybody gets involved and the ball moving and everyone touching the ball, the energy and effort goes to another level. Let me ask you this and be 100% with your answer: How would you feel just running up and down the court for 48 or even for 20 minutes?”