Southeast Notes: Webster, Beal, Kalinoski
Martell Webster‘s partial guarantee of $2.5MM for 2016/17 becomes a full guarantee of more than $5.845MM if he plays in 70 games this coming season, and the Wizards forward has embraced a new commitment to his fitness this summer, as he explains to Ben Mehic of Fansided’s Wiz of Awes blog. Webster also made it clear that he wants to continue to play past the expiration of the contract, backtracking from comments he made this past fall that indicated he would most likely retire in 2017.
“I feel amazing,” Webster said to Mehic. “I transformed by body, I dropped 20 pounds and I’m probably going to drop 10 more, so that I’m about 206 — anywhere from 206 to 210 this next year, that’s what I want to play at. I feel amazing, a lot of pressure has been taken off my back and off of my joints and I feel great.”
See more from Washington and elsewhere around the Southeast Division here:
- The Wizards are hesitant to commit to the four-year, maximum-salary extension that Bradley Beal wants unless it contains some non-guaranteed salary, given his history of injuries, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. That jibes with what Michael heard late last month, when he wrote that the Wizards wanted an escape hatch in any long-term deal while Beal’s camp was insistent upon a player option if he were to take less than the max. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported in May that the Wizards were committed to giving him the max, but Michael says the club’s thinking has shifted slightly since last fall, when Washington seemed ready to move full speed ahead with extension plans despite Beal’s broken wrist.
- The Heat and Hornets had expressed interest in signing undrafted Davidson guard Tyler Kalinoski to a deal for training camp, but he signed with Elan Chalon of France instead on a contract that included an NBA out, writes Ian Thomsen of NBA.com. That escape clause has expired, but the NBA dream is not dead for the Kenny Grant client, as Thomsen chronicles in a piece that examines the path of those on the fringe between the NBA and Europe. “A guy with his skill-set is intriguing,” said Dan Craig, who coached Kalinoski on the Heat’s summer league team. “I think he is right there on the brink of being a 14th or 15th guy on an NBA roster. In the right system, under the right coaching, he could possibly come in and give you impact minutes.”
And-Ones: Bucks, Oden, McRoberts, Nets
A new arena for the Bucks moved one step closer to reality today, when Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that calls for $250MM of public financing, write Mary Spicuzza And Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Walker has long backed the arena project and said when the bill emerged from the state legislature late last month that he’d sign it. The team must still arrange for a land sale with Milwaukee County and receive approval for construction from the Milwaukee Common Council, Spicuzza and Stein note, but Bucks executives have said that can take place between now and the fall. Groundbreaking must take place soon for the team to stay on schedule to meet a league-imposed deadline, lest the league seize the franchise from its owners and move it elsewhere, but today’s news indicates that the Bucks remain on track to stay in Milwaukee. Here’s more from around the league:
- Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden will take part in a weeklong workout later this month for Jiangsu Kentier of the Chinese Basketball Association, the Altius Culture agency tweets. It’ll constitute an audition for the team, the agency indicates. He reportedly drew eyes from the Mavs, Hornets and Grizzlies early in the summer.
- Josh McRoberts had a frustrating, injury-riddled year for the Heat last season after his breakout campaign for Charlotte in 2013/14, and the subtraction of his nearly $5.544MM salary would go a long way toward preventing the Heat from paying repeater tax penalties this season. Still, he’s eager to return to playing in Miami, as he tells Kyle Neddenriep of his hometown Indianapolis Star. “I feel confident and comfortable going back there,” McRoberts said. “I kind of saw how things were last year. I’m excited to be back and part of the team because when you’re hurt, you are kind of isolated on your own. You’re not practicing and playing in games with them every day. I’ve worked with the coaches throughout the summer different times and feel good about the direction we’re headed.”
- Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to push back today’s deadline for minority owner Bruce Ratner to pay back his company’s debts to Prokhorov’s company, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.com (Twitter links). Ratner’s group now has until September 8th to pay or let their 20% share become 8%, with Prokhorov’s group taking over the other 12%.
Poll: 2013 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 4)
Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t allow for such opportunities, we at Hoops Rumors decided it would be fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
The first NBA Draft we’re tackling is 2013’s, the year that the Cavaliers surprised quite a few people when they nabbed UNLV forward Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 overall pick. Quite a number of talented players were in that year’s player pool, including Victor Oladipo, Nerlens Noel, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Rudy Gobert, just to rattle off a few.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll be posting a series of reader polls that will ask you to vote on the player whom you believe should have been selected with each pick. We’ll continue onward with the Hornets, who held the No. 4 overall pick that season. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Charlotte’s pick and check back tomorrow night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Suns should have taken at No. 5. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.
Draft Results thus far:
- Cavaliers: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Magic: Victor Oladipo
- Wizards: Nerlens Noel
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Southeast Notes: Richardson, Williams, Gordon
Heat trade candidate Mario Chalmers and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who’s eligible for an extension from the Hornets until October 31st, are among the five players Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders believes must show improvement this coming season. Chalmers will have motivation to bounce back after a poor shooting year that featured his career-worst 29.4% three-point percentage with his contract set to expire at season’s end, while Kidd-Gilchrist has to contend with trade acquisition Nicolas Batum at his position. While we wait to find out whether either of them will break through this coming season, see more from the Southeast Division here:
- The deal that No. 40 pick Josh Richardson signed with the Heat features minimum salaries for all three seasons and no guaranteed money beyond this season’s fully guaranteed salary, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows (Twitter link). His 2016/17 salary becomes guaranteed if he sticks through August 1st, 2016, Pincus adds.
- Elliot Williams received two years at the minimum salary with an $80K partial guarantee for this season and no guaranteed money for 2016/17 in his camp deal with the Hornets, Pincus also reports (Twitter link).
- Aaron Gordon is among the players from the 2014 draft class who appear on the verge of a breakout, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. A fractured bone in Gordon’s left foot helped limit him to 47 games last season and made it tough to see why the Magic invested the No. 4 overall pick in the combo forward.
Eastern Notes: Jerebko, McRae, Dedmon, Hornets
Jonas Jerebko said he got several free agency phone calls after the clock struck midnight on July 1st, but he was glad that one of them came from Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Jerebko, who inked a two-year, $10MM contract with the Celtics, wanted to stay in Boston after being acquired from the Pistons in a February trade. “It was like proof that you had a good year,” Jerebko said of the calls from other organizations. “I had other teams interested, but after talking to Danny and the way we worked stuff out, this is where I wanted to be and we worked it out.” Jerebko averaged 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game after the deal, both up from his numbers in Detroit.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Sixers will have Jordan McRae for training camp, tweets Jake Pavorsky of Liberty Ballers. He cites an unidentified league source and says no formal deal has been reached yet.
- Dewayne Dedmon had his non-guaranteed minimum salary become fully guaranteed when the Magic elected not to waive him by Saturday’s deadline, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows. Jordan Clarkson, Erick Green and Tyler Johnson all had their guarantees of varying amounts picked up, too, as had been expected.
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Tyler Hansbrough‘s deal with the Hornets is fully guaranteed for one year at the minimum salary, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The camp deal between the Hornets and Elliot Williams covers two seasons at the minimum salary, as Pincus shows (Twitter link).
Southeast Notes: Kaminsky, Hawks’ New Hires
Frank Kaminsky is high on the list of rookies who should be able to contribute to their teams right away, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insiders only) writes. Elhassan acknowledges that Kaminsky might struggle on the defensive end, but argues that his offense is solid and his game complements Al Jefferson‘s, which should allow the rookie to see significant minutes immediately.
The Celtics offered the Hornets a package that included four first-round picks to entice Charlotte to give up the No. 9 pick, but owner Michael Jordan preferred to select a more known commodity in Kaminsky over stocking up on future picks. Readers of Hoops Rumors offered various and conflicting opinions on whether Charlotte made the right call by keeping its selection in Tuesday’s Community Shootaround.
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks have hired Michael Blackstone as an assistant GM, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Blackstone previously served as the executive director of basketball operations for the Cavs.
- Atlanta has also hired John Treloar to be the director of player personnel, Vivlamore adds in the same piece. Treloar previously served as the director of player personnel for the Suns and as the coach of the Erie Bayhawks, the Cavs’ D-League affiliate. New Hawks GM Wes Wilcox has worked with both Treloar and Blackstone previously in Cleveland.
- The Hawks also have promoted Jeff Peterson to director of scouting, according to Vivlamore in the same piece.
And-Ones: Faried, Deng, DeRozan
The growing sense around the Nuggets is that the team wants to see if Michael Malone can mentor Kenneth Faried the way he reached DeMarcus Cousins with the Kings, and it seems highly unlikely that Denver will trade the power forward before the start of the season, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Heat want to hold on to Luol Deng and see how well the team can play, sources close to the organization tell Kyler, but if Miami underwhelms, Kyler believes Miami would put Deng on the block.
- The Raptors are not entertaining trades for DeMar DeRozan, sources close to the team informed Kyler.
- The additions that the Clippers made this offseason to bolster their bench have made them the NBA’s most improved team heading into the 2015/16 campaign, opines Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required). Doolittle also calls out the Hornets and Mavericks as teams that have made positive strides this Summer, while listing the Nets, Sixers, and Suns as franchises that have taken a step back this offseason.
- With the NBA’s salary cap expected to increase dramatically next Summer there are a number of pending free agents who stand to benefit from the windfall, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes. Some under-the-radar players who can expect significant pay increases on their next contracts include Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Hornets), Harrison Barnes (Warriors), Langston Galloway (Knicks), and Jordan Clarkson (Lakers), Pelton opines.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southeast Notes: Scott, Ennis, Napier
- James Ennis feels confident that he’ll earn his way onto the Heat‘s regular season roster, agent Scott Nichols told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, explaining why he and the Heat decided to nix the clause in Ennis’ contract that would have triggered a 50% partial guarantee on his minimum salary if he remained on the team through Saturday. The move keeps the Heat from having to decide on a $422,530 chunk of salary this weekend, a prospect that may well have spurred the team to cut him, and it also moves up the date on which Ennis’ salary becomes fully guaranteed from December 1st to opening night, Jackson notes.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel still doesn’t see Miami’s 2014 draft-night acquisition of Shabazz Napier as a mistake, even after the Heat traded Napier to the Magic following a so-so rookie year, as Winderman writes in his mailbag column. He heard from one scout that Napier nearly was one of the first 15 picks in the draft. This summer, the Heat had luxury tax concerns and better options at point guard, and that’s what led to the trade with Orlando, Winderman argues. That casts a different light on Napier than that from when an NBA GM told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that the Heat had simply concluded prior to the trade that the point guard “was not good enough”
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist leads a list of intriguing second-tier 2016 free agents that Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com compiles in an Insider-only piece. The elite defense of the 21-year-old Hornets small forward makes it such that he’ll be a valuable starter for years to come if he can merely become an average offensive player, Pelton argues.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/28/15
The Hornets could have had four first-round picks if they’d just been willing to give up the ninth selection to the Celtics, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe detailed earlier today. Boston also offered four first-rounders to the Heat for pick No. 10, as Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald and ESPN reported last month. Both Charlotte and Miami said no and kept their top 10 picks.
The Heat and the Hornets had no guarantee from the Celtics that any of the four picks would be as high in the order as the ones they already held. Still, the ninth and 10th selections aren’t generally places where superstars come from. Justise Winslow looks like a steal at No. 10 for Miami, but Frank Kaminsky, whom Charlotte took at No. 9, has a limited ceiling. Neither is certain to pan out.
Thus, the question for today: Would you rather your team have one pick in the back half of the lottery, or four picks later in the first-round? Kawhi Leonard, a former No. 15 pick, and Jimmy Butler, once the last pick of the first round, signed deals this month that will give them maximum salaries this coming season, proving that top-flight talent can come from any point in the round. Still, the outlook for lottery picks is generally better than it is for anyone else, and teams picking higher in the order have the power of choice. But sometimes, the best choice involves a trade.
Tell us what you would do if you had a late lottery pick and received an offer for four first-rounders. To comment, simply enter your name and email address, write what you want to say, and submit it; there’s no need to become a registered user. Just make sure you comply with our commenting policy.
Southeast Notes: Magic, Napier, Hornets, Williams
The Magic have amassed just 68 wins in the 246 games that they’ve played since Dwight Howard last suited up for Orlando, but the player and personnel additions made by the team this offseason are providing a sense of hope throughout the organization, as Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders details. Even with a weak Eastern Conference, it’ll be tough the Magic to sneak into the playoffs next season, but a look at all the young talent on the club gives fans plenty to be excited about. Orlando is currently rostering 10 players under 25 years old, including the newly acquired Shabazz Napier, whose recent trade we detail further in tonight’s look at the Southeast Division:
- The 2016 second-round pick going from the Magic to the Heat in the Napier trade is Orlando’s own, and it’s top-55 protected, as RealGM shows. In the likely event that the pick doesn’t convey to the Heat this year, the Magic don’t owe Miami anything.
- The Heat sent their own unprotected 2020 second-round pick to the Celtics in the Zoran Dragic trade, and the 2019 top-55 protected second-rounder going to Miami in the deal is Boston’s own, according to RealGM. The Celtics skip out on their debt if that pick falls within the protected range.
- Elliot Williams is no certainty to make the Hornets’ regular season team after signing a deal to join the team for training camp, but he feels a little more comfortable about his chances of sticking with the organization because GM Rich Cho and assistant GM Chad Buchanan were both with the Blazers when Williams played there, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer notes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.