Four Teams Finished Below 2016/17 Salary Floor
Four NBA teams finished the 2016/17 season below the league’s salary floor and will have to make up the difference by paying a little extra money to the players who finished the season on their respective rosters. The Nets, Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Jazz each fell short of the $84.729MM floor this season.
While the 2016/17 league year isn’t over yet, the end of the regular season last week signaled the “snapshot” day for luxury tax and salary floor purposes. Teams are required to spend at least 90% of the salary cap in each NBA season, though the penalties for failing to do so aren’t exactly punitive. If a club falls $2MM short of the salary floor, for instance, it must pay that $2MM to players on its roster to reach the floor.
Our numbers aren’t official, but they should very closely resemble the NBA’s final figures. Bobby Marks of The Vertical confirmed last week that Brooklyn, Denver, Minnesota, and Utah finished below the salary floor. Here’s what those team’s end-of-season cap figures look like, per our Salary Cap Snapshots:
- Brooklyn Nets: $1,336,916 below floor (team salary: $83,392,084)
- Denver Nuggets: $2,147,064 below floor (team salary: $82,581,936)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: $3,023,043 below floor (team salary: $81,705,957)
- Utah Jazz: $4,230,808 below floor (team salary: $80,498,192)
While the current CBA doesn’t include a set formula that teams must adhere to when distributing the salary floor shortfall to their players, it’s believed that players generally receive proportional amounts based on their salaries, rather than even splits. So for the Jazz, a player like Gordon Hayward would receive a larger share than Joel Bolomboy.
With the NBA’s salary cap expected to increase to at least $101MM in 2017/18, the league’s salary floor appears likely to exceed $90MM next season.
New York Notes: Knicks, Holiday, Nets
Justin Holiday said last month that he’d love to find a way to play on the same team as his brother Jrue Holiday next season, and both players are eligible for free agency this summer, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, the Knicks may be an ideal landing spot for the duo, since Justin is the sort of effective two-way player the club wants to retain, and New York will also be in the market for a point guard like Jrue if Derrick Rose doesn’t return.
With the Holiday brothers not competing in the playoffs, Justin Holiday tells The Post that they plan to “take some time off” and eventually will talk about their plans for the future. Given how dysfunctional the Knicks have been this season, it remains to be seen whether the elder Holiday will make an enthusiastic pitch to younger brother Jrue on behalf of the franchise.
Here’s more from out of New York on the Knicks and Nets:
- Phil Jackson the coach is undermining Phil Jackson the team president, in the view of George Willis of The New York Post. As Willis details, Jackson’s comments on Friday made it sounds as if he intends to micromanage the club more in 2017/18, which probably doesn’t thrill Jeff Hornacek and likely won’t address the problems that ail the Knicks.
- While 2016/17 was a disaster, there are ways for Jackson to fix the Knicks‘ roster, or at least take steps toward patching the holes, Berman writes in a piece for The New York Post. Berman examines potential defensive-minded free agent targets for the Knicks, as well as draft options for the club.
- The Nets will use the draft, the trade market, and free agency to attempt to upgrade their roster this season, but head coach Kenny Atkinson and the team will also do all they can to find ways to improve the players already on the roster, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “We’re obsessed with that as a staff, one through 15: How can we get those guys better?” Atkinson said. “I’m sure I have a wish list that’s Utopian, but where we are we have to keep taking a lot of pride in developing the players we have. … To me, that’s your wish list: Get these guys better that are on your roster.”
Nets Notes: Free Agents, Lin, Dinwiddie, Goodwin
The Nets are optimistic that they can improve in free agency this summer, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn will enter the July bidding with the ability to clear enough cap space to offer two max deals, along with a feeling of momentum after going 11-13 in its last 24 games. Jeremy Lin, who signed with the team as a free agent last summer, said several players have already contacted him about coming to Brooklyn. “Players are asking about us because they saw the way that Kenny [Atkinson] coached,” he said. “They saw how hard these guys played night-in and night-out, how unselfish we played. They want to be a part of that, so there’s already been a lot of interest. People are already asking questions, whether it’s to me or Brook [Lopez] or other players.”
There’s more news out of Brooklyn:
- One of the Nets’ offseason objectives will be finding a backup for Lin, Lewis writes in a separate story. Lin played well in his first season in Brooklyn, averaging 14.5 points and 5.1 assists per night, but a lingering hamstring problem limited him to 36 games. The Nets had the league’s worst record at 20-62, but they were 13-20 with him as a starter and 10-12 after the All-Star break with their preferred starting lineup. Brooklyn added Greivis Vasquez as a backup point guard last summer, but he played just 39 minutes before ankle problems led to his buyout. “When we started the season, I thought we had Jeremy and the backup settled,’’ Atkinson said. “Now with Spencer [Dinwiddie], Archie [Goodwin] and Isaiah Whitehead], we have to answer, ‘Do we have the solution in-house now?’ I think we do, as the backups have played well. [But] we’ll have to look and see what offseason and next year moves we need to make.”
- Dinwiddie, who played 59 games after signing with the Nets in December, hopes his long-term future is in Brooklyn, relays NetsDaily.com. Dinwiddie’s contract calls for him to make $1.05MM next season and $1.125MM in 2018/19, but both years are non-guaranteed. “You never know in this business how anything can happen or how it will all shake out,” he said, “but I’ve loved my time here and hopefully look forward to being here for a long time. The organization is great. The staff is great and hopefully we can turn this thing around and just make the playoffs next year. That’d be nice.”
- Goodwin, who joined the team in mid-March, also has a non-guaranteed deal for next season, tweets NetsDaily. He will receive a $200K guarantee on his $1.58MM salary if he is still with the team October 31st.
And-Ones: Melli, Sonics, Teodosic
Nicolo Melli is drawing interest from Real Madrid in the Euroleague, but he also has the attention of several NBA teams. Niki Bakouli of Sport24 reports (Twitter links) that the Rockets and Nets are among the teams interested in adding the power forward.
Melli said playing in the NBA is “a dream,” but added that his decision on where to go will depend on what kind of offers he receives.
“I don’t rule out any possibility but I don’t like to talk about the future” Melli said, (via E. Carchia of Sportando). “It is great to draw interest from other teams [Real Madrid is one of the teams] but I did not talk with anyone. My agent and I will think about the future after the season talking with Bamberg. NBA? It is a dream. But it will depend on the offers because I love too much being on the court and playing.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Two different groups are each preparing to spend over $500MM to renovate the Key-Arena in Seattle with hopes of attracting an NBA or NHL team, Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times reports. “Today is an important day in our goal of bringing the Sonics home and the NHL to Seattle,” Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said. “Two well-known organizations submitted proposals to redevelop KeyArena, totaling more than $1 billion in investments between them. Their interest shows how Seattle has become one of the most desirable cities in America for sports and entertainment.”
- Nets GM Sean Marks is heading back to Moscow to get another look at Milos Teodosic, sources tell international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). It was previously reported that the point guard was unlikely to sign with Brooklyn since the team has not been competitive.
- Amy Trask has been named the CEO of the BIG3, according to the league’s website. Trask previously spent nearly 30 years working the Oakland Raiders organization.
- Mo Alie-Cox, who played basketball at VCU, is trying to break into the NFL and he’s scheduled to meet with six teams, as Zach Links of Pro Football Rumors writes. Be sure to stay tuned to PFR for the latest news and notes on the NFL.
Pavlova Leaving Nets
- Irina Pavlova, who serves as a top adviser to Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, is leaving the organization, Chris Mannix of The Vertical writes. Pavlova is on the board of directors for Brooklyn and Brooklyn Arena LLC, which is the company that runs the Barclays Center.
New York Notes: Porzingis, Atkinson, Dinwiddie
Kristaps Porzingis says Achilles tendinitis is responsible for a disappointing season, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. The second-year big man began having Achilles pain at Christmas, and it has affected him ever since. “I was out there playing at a high level,” he said. “Then the injuries, little things [that] happened got me out of my rhythm. Then it was kind of on and off, some games good, some games not so good. I was trying to find that rhythm for a long time. Then the second part of the season, it was just a big fight for us and mentally tough. I think I grew from this season.’’
Porzingis has missed three straight games with back spasms and may not play again this season. Coach Jeff Hornacek said this week that he plans to be “careful” with how he uses the 21-year-old. If his season is over, Porzingis will finish with 66 games, six fewer than last year, while averaging 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per night.
There’s more tonight out of New York:
- Porzingis should be prepared to inherit Carmelo Anthony‘s role as go-to guy next season, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. The Knicks are expected to make a concerted effort to trade Anthony this summer, and Porzingis seems like his logical successor. Iannazzone notes that Anthony and Derrick Rose dominated the ball this season, but both could be gone this summer.
- First-year coach Kenny Atkinson offered gratitude and a promise to Nets fans after the team concluded its home schedule today, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn picked up its 20th win by rallying to play spoiler against the Bulls. “The crowd’s been outstanding considering we haven’t had a ton of wins and not fighting for a playoff spot,’’ Atkinson said. “The support’s been great. We understand we have to take another step next year, and they should demand that. That’s on us to get better this offseason.”
- One of the players who helped pin the costly loss on the Bulls was point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who was waived by Chicago in the preseason, notes Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago. Dinwiddie scored Brooklyn’s final seven points of the game as the Nets erased a nine-point fourth quarter deficit. Dinwiddie came to the Bulls in a trade with the Pistons last June, but he was waived in July, then re-signed and was cut again in October. He signed with the Nets in early December.
Lopez Carves Out Legacy With Nets
Make no mistake, Brook Lopez has carved out a legacy with Nets, that’s the result of nine years of consistent production Filip Bondy of the New York Times writes. In nearly a decade with the franchise, Lopez has played in two states with 109 different teammates and is now closing in on the franchise scoring record.
In 560 career games with the Nets, Lopez has averaged 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. The 29-year-old veteran has endured countless trade rumors and come out as content as anybody could expect.
“I definitely think I’m lucky,” he told Bondy of his time with the Nets, the only team he’s ever known. “When people look back on me and my career, I’d like them to say I was one of the people who helped start something big in Brooklyn. Started a legacy where players want to come and play.”
New York Notes: Porzingis, Dolan, Nets, Bogdanovic
With just three games left in the season and his team long eliminated from playoff contention, head coach Jeff Hornacek said late on Thursday night that the Knicks will be “careful” with Kristaps Porzingis down the stretch this season. As Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets, Porzingis – who has missed the club’s last two games with back spams – may ultimately sit out those final three games as well and focus on getting healthy for the summer.
As we wait to see how the Knicks proceed with Porzingis, let’s round up a few more notes on the league’s two New York teams…
- In the wake of a report that Knicks owner James Dolan confronted and yelled at a fan who told him to sell the franchise, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News and Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post take Dolan to task. Isola suggests that the Knicks owner ought to focus more on ways to improve his struggling team rather than protecting his own image, while Bontemps argues that Dolan hasn’t learned a thing since he assumed ownership of the team in 1999.
- A year after aggressively pursuing – and striking out on – multiple restricted free agents, the Nets are expected to be in the RFA market again. With that in mind, could Brooklyn target Bojan Bogdanovic just a few months after sending him to Washington? Brian Lewis of The New York Post explores that subject and gets some quotes from a noncommittal Bogdanovic, who says he remains focused on basketball for now.
- Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders makes the case that, if they want to move forward as a franchise, the Knicks need to ditch the triangle and adopt a more modern offensive system.
- Earlier today, we passed along Brandon Jennings‘ comments on how this year’s Carmelo Anthony trade rumors took a toll on the Knicks.
Nets Signed, Waived Cliff Alexander, Prince Ibeh
Before signing Archie Goodwin to a rest-of-season contract to fill their 15th roster spot, the Nets made a series of moves designed to honor commitments made to a pair of players this season. As Ben Nadeau of Basketball Insiders tweets, the club signed and waived Cliff Alexander, then did the same thing with Prince Ibeh.
[RELATED: Nets re-sign Archie Goodwin]
According to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, a former Nets executive, the team made commitments to both Alexander and Ibeh at some point this season to sign them to 10-day contracts (Twitter links). However, injuries on the Nets’ roster forced the team to change its plans. Although Brooklyn wasn’t able to carry Alexander or Ibeh on its roster this season, the club wanted to honor its commitments.
As Marks observes (via Twitter), the Warriors made a similar move earlier this season with Jose Calderon. Golden State had reached an agreement to sign Calderon, but when Kevin Durant went down with a knee injury, the team opted to sign Matt Barnes instead. Before finalizing their deal with Barnes, the Warriors signed and waived Calderon, ensuring that he’d receive the rest-of-season salary he was promised. Alexander and Ibeh will receive full 10-day salaries from the Nets.
While the moves were not announced by the Nets and will go unnoticed by many fans, there’s little downside from the team’s perspective. Making good on those commitments will help strengthen the Nets’ relationships with agents and players, and won’t cost the team any extra money — Brooklyn remains under the salary floor for 2016/17, so the club will have to pay the difference at season’s end anyway. The deals for Alexander and Ibeh simply moved the Nets a little closer to the floor, slightly reducing their year-end bill.
Alexander and Ibeh both spent time this season with the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s D-League affiliate.
Nets Re-Sign Archie Goodwin
APRIL 4, 7:57am: The Nets have officially re-signed Goodwin, the team announced today in a press release.
APRIL 3, 10:34am: Archie Goodwin is finalizing a deal to remain with the Nets, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical. The contract will run through the rest of this season, with several guarantee dates for 2017/18.
Goodwin’s second 10-day contract with Brooklyn will expire today. He has played seven games for the Nets, averaging 6.6 points and 1.9 assists in about 12 minutes per night.
“[Goodwin] has an enthusiasm for the game, and we need his speed and athleticism,” Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said recently.
The 22-year-old combo guard spent his first three NBA seasons in Phoenix and was a surprise cut in the preseason. He signed briefly with New Orleans in November, but played just three games before being waived. Goodwin spent most of this season with Greensboro in the D-League.