Teams With 15 Or More Guaranteed Contracts
With most of the offseason's heavy lifting behind them, NBA teams are focusing on finalizing their camp rosters, adding players on non-guaranteed contracts to compete for the last spot or two on their benches. While clubs can carry up to 20 players during the preseason, that number must be reduced to between 13 and 15 by opening night.
For a team like the Hawks, October should be interesting, since the team currently only has 12 players whose salaries are fully guaranteed, with seven more players on partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed deals. Assuming Atlanta plans to carry 14 or 15 players, a player's performance in camp could be the difference between whether he's playing in the NBA and playing in Europe this season.
However, for several other teams, there will be little October drama, since some clubs will head into camp already carrying 15 or more players on guaranteed contracts. In those instances, a non-guaranteed camp invitee could play well enough to stick around for the regular season, but his team would have to trade or release a guaranteed contract to clear room. Waiving a player on a guaranteed deal would mean eating his salary and cap hit for at least the 2013/14 season.
Using our lists of roster counts and non-guaranteed deals for this season, let's take a look at the six teams already carrying at least 15 guaranteed contracts, along with what we can expect from them in the next few weeks:
Brooklyn Nets
Guaranteed contracts: 15
Camp invitees: 0
There's not a whole to watch here. The Nets will probably bring in two or three camp invitees in the hopes of sending them to the D-League's Springfield Armor, but the 15-man roster looks pretty set heading into the season.
Dallas Mavericks
Guaranteed contracts: 15
Camp invitees: 4 (Devin Ebanks, D.J. Kennedy, Mickey McConnell, Fab Melo)
The Mavericks' roster is fascinating at the moment, since three of their four camp invitees have previous NBA experience, and Ebanks and Melo seem like they should be on a roster this season. Nearly two-thirds of the team's 15 guaranteed players signed free agent contracts this summer, and can't be traded until at least December, and that doesn't include Dirk Nowitzki, who isn't going anywhere.
I doubt Dallas will trade Shawn Marion or Vince Carter, and waiving Jae Crowder seems unlikely. In other words, there's no obvious way to clear a roster spot for Ebanks, Melo, or any other camp invitees, so it will be interesting to see what happens if one of them blows the Mavs away in the preseason.
Milwaukee Bucks
Guaranteed contracts: 15
Camp invitees: 3 (Junior Cadougan, Olek Czyz, Trey McKinney Jones)
When they sent Brandon Jennings to the Pistons in exchange for three players, the Bucks looked like they'd be carrying one too many guaranteed deals into camp, but the team managed to make a two-for-one trade for Caron Butler, reducing the roster count to 15. Many of Milwaukee's players recently signed, and therefore can't be traded and won't be cut anytime soon, so the club is virtually certain to roll with its current 15. That means the camp invitees will likely just be extra bodies, particularly since the Bucks don't run their own D-League affiliate.
Phoenix Suns
Guaranteed contracts: 16
Camp invitees: 1 (Dionte Christmas)
The Suns are the only team on this list carrying more than 15 guaranteed deals, in part because of the aforementioned two-for-one trade with the Bucks. They'll have to trade or cut a player before the regular season, and I'd guess it will be either Ishmael Smith or Malcolm Lee, who were both included in offseason trades for salary purposes.
Given the team's depth at point guard, Phoenix may prefer to hang on to Lee, who is more of a two, rather than Smith, who would be playing behind Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, and Kendall Marshall at the point. A Marshall trade is another possibility, albeit a less likely one.
Portland Trail Blazers
Guaranteed contracts: 15
Camp invitees: 4 (Dee Bost, Terrel Harris, Richard Howell, E.J. Singler)
Harris doesn't technically qualify as a camp invitee, but he's on a non-guaranteed deal, which Portland will likely drop soon. Bost, Howell, and Singler figure to be cut eventually as well, but it's interesting that the Blazers would give small guarantees to Bost and Howell. Perhaps those guarantees will act as incentives for those players to join the Idaho Stampede, the Blazers' D-League affiliate.
Of the Blazers' guaranteed players, Will Barton has the least money owed to him, and doesn't figure to play a huge role for this year's team, so he's probably the most likely candidate to be cut, if Portland wants to add someone else.
Washington Wizards
Guaranteed contracts: 15
Camp invitees: 0
Like the Nets, the Wizards looked to have a fairly straightforward roster situation until this week, when the team announced that Chris Singleton and Emeka Okafor were both expected to miss the preseason with injuries. That still leaves the team with plenty of healthy bodies for now, so I don't imagine any major roster shakeups are on the way. But if another frontcourt player or two goes down, a move may become necessary.
Odds & Ends: Grizzlies, Sixers, Wolves, Kennedy
Few NBA teams had less roster turnover this offseason than the Grizzlies. As our free agent tracker shows, the only player who signed with the team for more than the minimum was Tony Allen, who has played in Memphis since 2010 and emerged as one of the club's leaders. However, the team will be in for some changes on the bench, where former assistant Dave Joerger takes over the head coaching job from the departed Lionel Hollins. Joerger tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld that while he'll stick to many of the things that made last year's team successful, he expects to add a few new wrinkles to the mix as well.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Former Pistons head coach John Kuester is currently the top candidate to be hired as Brett Brown's lead assistant with the 76ers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype spoke to Ricky Rubio, who identified the Timberwolves' new deals with Nikola Pekovic and Chase Budinger as the club's best signings of the summer.
- Rebuilding is often a necessary process, but it has to give way to something substantial eventually, writes Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com. Deeks examines the free agent fates of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson, noting that the Hawks were able to land Millsap for fewer years and dollars than the Bobcats signed Jefferson in part because Charlotte is paying a sort of "Bobcats tax" based on its reputation as a perennial lottery team.
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Larry Coon lists the Nets, Bobcats, and Rockets among the winners of the league's new CBA, while placing the Celtics, Bulls, and Thunder in the losers column.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside takes a look at D.J. Kennedy's persistent quest to earn a spot on an NBA roster. Kennedy will be in camp with the Mavericks in October.
Odds & Ends: Dwight, Bulls, Deron
Amidst the buzz surrounding the 2013 Basketball Hall of Fame induction a little over a week ago, you may have heard legendary Brazilian basketball player Oscar Schmidt proclaim that he could have been one of the best 10 players ever if he had joined the NBA. In hindsight, it's interesting to ponder some of the 'what ifs' and how they may have altered the landscape and history of the league.
One could think about how the NBA would have been different if Larry Bird didn't fall five spots to the Celtics during the 1978 draft, if Kobe Bryant hadn't fallen to number 13 in 1996, or if Michael Jordan hadn't retired before the 1993/94 season to name a few. Regardless, there are plenty of other possibilities to consider.
Jonathan Abrams of Grantland sheds light on one particular what-could-have-been, chronicling the rise and fall of Korleone Young, a promising 6'7" small forward who like Kobe, Tracy McGrady, and Kevin Garnett before him attempted to make the jump from high school to the NBA in 1998. In his comprehensive piece, Abrams supplements Young's story with commentary from several people who had crossed paths with him along his journey, including Young's prep-school rival Al Harrington, former Pistons head coach Alvin Gentry, and former Pistons assistant (and current Bucks GM) John Hammond, who had this to share based on what he'd seen in practices:
"We used to talk about the way in which (Young) defended (then-star) Grant Hill on a daily basis. We used to say it tongue-in-cheek but [also] somewhat seriously: 'No one defended Grant Hill in this league as well as Korleone Young."
With that aside, let's round up the rest of tonight's miscellaneous links from the NBA:
- Sam Amick of USA Today writes about how Dwight Howard has found greener pastures in Houston and why the rest of the NBA will have to lament the reality that another Western Conference contender has been born.
- A handful of HoopsWorld panelists put together a season preview of the Bulls for 2013/14. With much of the team's success hinging on how much Derrick Rose can return to form, three writers pick Chicago to finish second in the Central Division, while two have them running away with the division title.
- Nets guard Deron Williams was spotted at his charity dodgeball event earlier today with a walking boot over the same ankle that had been giving him problems last season, though he insisted that the boot was just precautionary: “As long as I’m ready (for the season opener), that’s all that matters to me…If it was up to me, I would be playing right now. I can walk fine. It doesn’t hurt. It’s just protecting me from myself” (Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News).
- Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW says that with Dirk Nowitzki healthy, the Mavericks won't take a backseat to anybody in the league in terms of talent at the power forward position.
- Tommy Dee of Ridiculous Upside presents a scouting report of free agent big man Hassan Whiteside, who had recently drawn reported interest from the Knicks, Heat, and Bucks.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside explains why the NBDL will continue to develop front office executives at a much more efficient rate than players at this point, mentioning that while prospective staffers can work to rise up the ranks while committed to a specific NBA franchise, the players can be called up at anytime and by any NBA team regardless of D-League affiliation.
- HoopsWorld's Moke Hamilton held his weekly chat with readers earlier this evening, offering his thoughts on why he thinks the Knicks will repeat as Atlantic Division champions, why teams might be shying away from Renaldo Balkman, the Western Conference playoff race, and the Warriors' ceiling among other topics.
- Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com continues his countdown of reasons why New Orleans fans should be excited about training camp, placing the offseason progress made by the team's quartet of sophomores – namely Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers, Brian Roberts, and Darius Miller – at number 13.
Eastern Notes: George, Pacers, Deng
Hoopsworld's Yannis Koutroupis explores the possible implications from a potential contract extension for Paul George and suggests that Danny Granger has now become an expendable piece. Losing Lance Stephenson - who is coming off of a career year and may have likely played himself out of Indiana's price range next summer – would be a bitter pill to swallow, opines Koutroupis. Here's more out of the Eastern Conference:
- Granger believes that Indiana can contend for a title next season and calls the addition of Luis Scola "our biggest free agent pickup" (Scott Agness of NBA.com).
- ESPN's Chad Ford (via Twitter) notes that Luol Deng has been working out at BYU-Hawaii over the last several weeks and says that the Bulls forward appears to be in fantastic shape.
- Erildas Budraitis of RealGM catches up with CSKA Moscow's Jeremy Pargo, who last played for the 76ers and Cavaliers during the 2012/13 season. The 6'2" point guard admitted that he probably won't think of returning to the NBA for another one or two years and calls his exit from Cleveland "unfortunate."
- Earlier today, Yahoo's Marc J. Spears reported that Cavs number one overall pick Anthony Bennett resumed playing five-on-five basketball this week.
- Nets star Deron Williams is even more eager to get the season started after hearing head coach Jason Kidd and teammate Jason Terry say they expect him to be a part of the MVP conversation in 2013/14 (link via Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report).
- Despite NBA commissioner David Stern's recent efforts to quell tension between the Knicks and Nets owners, the players don't seem to be necessarily following suit. When Paul Pierce was asked today about J.R. Smith calling him a bitter person recently, the Brooklyn forward tersely responded with "Who? Who are we talking about right now? Exactly" (Tim Bontempts of the New York Post).
Odds & Ends: Nunnally, Kirilenko, Brownlee, Rocks
D-Leaguer James Nunnally's name has come up in connection with a handful of NBA teams of late, having drawn the attention of the Spurs, Jazz, Suns and Pelicans. The Grizzlies may be most intrigued by the 6'7" swingman out of UC-Santa Barbara, as they've invited him to camp, reports Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Still it doesn't sound like Nunnally has accepted that invitation yet, as he'll work as scheduled out this week for Utah and New Orleans. Here's more from this afternoon in the NBA:
- An NBA investigation into Andrei Kirilenko's discount contract with the Nets has cleared the team of any wrongdoing, a source tells Fred Kerber of the New York Post. Complaints from at least one other team triggered the probe.
- The Knicks are thinking of inviting small forward Justin Brownlee to camp after watching him play for their summer league squad this year. The 25-year-old from St. John's will work out for the team this week, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Agent Burton Rocks tells Hoops Rumors that the players union has certified him and his Burton Rocks LTD firm, which boasts a dozen baseball clients, as the MLB Trade Rumors Agency Database shows. Rocks is breaking into hoops by repping former Stony Brook standout Muhammed El-Amin.
- Villanova assistant coach Billy Lange has turned down the Rockets' offer to become the head coach of their D-League affiliate, but he's considering a job with the Sixers, reports Dana O'Neil of ESPN.com.
- The Grizzlies traded for Kosta Koufos this summer, and they've coveted the former Nuggets big man for more than a year, as TNT's David Aldridge writes as he hits on a wide range of subjects for his weekly NBA.com column.
- Forbes today published its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, and Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen leads all sports owners in net worth, notes Darren Rovell of ESPN.com.
- John Schuhmann of NBA.com examines some of the data teams will be able to use under the league's new SportVU camera deal.
Atlantic Notes: Williams, Knicks, Sixers, Guerin
The back-and-forth between the new-look Nets and the Knicks this summer has kept the tabloids afloat. After coming over to the Nets with Kevin Garnett in the mega trade with the Celtics, Paul Pierce appeared to have started the war of words by telling ESPN New York's 98.7 FM he thought it was time "the Nets start running New York."
ESPN New York's Ian Begley asked Nets point guard Deron Williams about the quote, and Williams supported his new teammate, but didn't elaborate much beyond wanting to settle the inter-city rivalry on the court.
"That's my teammate so I'm with him. Of course we want to run New York. The Knicks are our rival. I don't get into too much of the talking. We'll decide all that on the court. We have four games to play against them and then the playoffs so I'll let Paul do the talking and I'll just go out there and play."
Williams also noted that the advanced age of Nets' roster means, "Our time is now," he told Begley. "We have a short window to try to win."
Here's what else is happening around the Atlantic division on a night when most are watching the big fight…
- The New York Post, by way of Ben Golliver at Sports Illustrated, confirmed allegations by Brian Tuohy in his book, Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing and the FBI, that Knicks players were fixing games for their drug dealer during the 1981/82 season.
- According to the Post, the FBI has confirmed the authenticity of the documents cited by Tuohy in his book. The Knicks would not comment on the allegations.
- According to Touhy's book, the FBI "seemed to possess very credible information that three members of the New York Knicks were shaving points as a favor to their cocaine supplier."
- Newsday's Bob Herzog profiles former Knick Richie Guerin after he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last weekend.
- Philadelphia Daily News' beat writer Bob Cooney originally said the Sixers would win 22 games this season, but now thinks it'll be closer to 18 after talking to a team higher-up (Twitter).
Eastern Notes: Livingston, Oladipo, Beasley
It's not as easy as it used to be for NBA players to transition to front office positions, as Sam Amick details in his latest piece for USA Today. Still, the NBA Player's Association has tried to help its players become more familiar with the league's CBA, setting up events like a July seminar that featured presentations from several team executives. Shaun Livingston is one player who is appreciative of the NBPA's efforts.
"I'm really trying to take advantage of it," said the Nets guard. "And learn and soak everything in to where if I can study and meet the right people and stars can align then I can really create some good opportunities."
Here's more from around the Eastern Conference:
- At a season ticket-holder's event in Orlando, second overall pick Victor Oladipo said that he "really didn't want to go to Cleveland," the team with the No. 1 pick. Oladipo has since apologized for offending Cavs fans, hinting that the comment was meant to reflect how much he wanted to land with the Magic. Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post has the details.
- Heat fans are somewhat divided on the signing of Michael Beasley, so Ira Winderman's Friday mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel is an extended all-Beasley edition, breaking down the move.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com provides an interesting take on the concept of tanking and roster-building, with a focus on teams like the Sixers and Bucks.
Odds & Ends: 2014 Draft, Jay Z, Wolves, Mavs
We're 290 days away from the 2014 NBA draft, but for ESPN.com's Chad Ford, it's by no means too early to forecast next June's first round. In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Ford presents his first 2014 mock draft, headlined by a top five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Dante Exum, and Jabari Parker.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Association:
- The NBPA is still waiting for official confirmation that Jay Z has divested his ownership stake in the Nets before granting him full NBA agent certification, according to Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal (Twitter links). We heard last week that the rapper is selling half his Nets share to head coach Jason Kidd, and the other half to a current minority owner.
- The Timberwolves officially announced today that they've hired Bobby Jackson as a player development coach and promoted David Adelman, Rick Adelman's son, to assistant coach (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune adds (via Twitter) that the Wolves didn't pick up Shawn Respert's option at the end of August, leaving Jackson as the team's only player development coach.
- Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com loves the Mavericks' decision to re-sign Brandan Wright to a two-year, $10MM contract, giving the team a grade of A+ for the move. I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, though it looks like a solid value for Dallas.
- Speaking to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Marcus Camby discusses his decision to sign with the Rockets, the recruitment he received from Dwight Howard, and his plan to coach after his playing career is over.
- In a piece for Secret Rival, Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro examines a few former Big East standouts, rounding up where they're playing now. You can take a more in-depth look at the latest international player movement in our tracker, which we introduced earlier today.
Eastern Notes: Heat, Pistons, Pierce, Williams
We learned earlier today that the Heat are bringing Justin Hamilton to camp, which wasn't a huge surprise since the former LSU big man has been working out at AmericanAirlines Arena for the last few weeks. Hamilton had his moments with the Heat during the 2012 offseason, after he was acquired in a draft-night trade with the 76ers, leading some on the Heat staff at the time to see him as a more promising prospect than Jarvis Varnado. However, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes that Hamilton still faces long camp odds with Greg Oden already something of a long-term developmental project and the Heat possibly keeping the minimum of 13 players to start the year. Hamilton's chances of making the team could also rest on the Heat's ability to move Joel Anthony's pesky contract. Here's more out of the Eastern Conference..
- The Central Division is one of the most fascinating divisions in the NBA because of the expectations of competitiveness from each team, writes Zach Harper of CBSSports.com. For the Pistons, their best-case scenario will be seeing Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith become bona fide NBA stars. For the Bulls and Pacers, their ceilings see them as real championship contenders.
- John Havlicek told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Sulia link) that he believes the departed Paul Pierce is the greatest one-on-one Celtics player of all-time.
- Former Nets big man Jordan Williams signed with Spanish club Bilbao Basket last week but was waived over the weekend, according to HoopsHype (via Twitter).
Ainge On Pierce, KG, Rivers, Stevens
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge presided over a summer of drastic change for his team, trading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets, arranging a deal that saw Doc Rivers head to the Clippers, and making the surprise hire of new coach Brad Stevens. Ainge spoke with Grantland's Bill Simmons about those moves and other subjects for a podcast, and NetsDaily provides a transcript that covers the Brooklyn-related items. We'll pass along some of the highlights from that, along with a few more of Ainge's quotes:
On how the trade with the Nets came to be:
"Like a lot of trades, it evolved from something completely different into a bigger deal. (It was) something that I really didn't think would happen, simply because it takes sort of a special, unique circumstance in order for a trade like that to go through, and the tax ramifications of Brooklyn are I would call unique in today's day and age in the NBA right now with the new CBA. But (the Nets were) a team that was really going for it, and money was not an object, and that was probably the reason why we got a better offer today than we would've even gotten two or three years ago."
On the influence agent Jeff Schwartz had on the Nets deal:
"I also think that Paul has a connection with having the same agent as Deron Williams and Jason Kidd, and I think there probably was some discussion going on there. I don't know that for sure, but my guess is that they had some conversation about it. I know that Paul was the one who talked KG into wanting to do the deal or letting go of his no-trade clause to make the deal happen and that took some convincing to do."
On the current value of Pierce and Garnett:
"I just think it came to the point where those guys as the best two players on a team aren't going to go very far. Those guys as a 3rd and 4th, or 4th and 5th, however you look at it, are pretty dang good still, and I think (Brooklyn) is going to have a terrific team next year."
On losing Rivers:
"I thought Doc would be our coach for a long time. When Doc signed his new contract (with the Celtics), we'd even talked about him being Jerry Sloan, and Gregg Popovich, and breaking Red Auerbach's all-time record as a Celtic coach. We knew that our guys were getting older, but we thought that this time might come, so I had anticipated Doc being around for a long time. I never had any idea that he would want out, but I understand it, and I understand the Clippers have much more to offer right now than we do on the court. I just thought that Doc wanted to continue to participate with me and (owners) Wyc Grousbeck and (Stephen Pagliuca) and (continue) to try to rebuild this thing as we had done before. At the same time, I do understand that that's not fun, and that's not fun (for) coaches."
On his pitch to Stevens and the new coach's lengthy contract with the C's:
"I think that a six-year commitment might have made a difference. I'm not sure. We never had a negotiation. His wife was his agent, and his wife wanted to understand the language in one paragraph that we explained to her, and that was basically the entire negotiation."