Checking In On NBA’s 2017 Draft Lottery Trades
As our 2016/17 NBA Reverse Standings show, the Celtics – by way of the Nets – have all but clinched the No. 1 spot in the 2017 draft lottery. With a record of 12-53, Brooklyn has a 7.5-game “lead” over the second-place Lakers, who are 20-46. Barring a hot streak that sees the Nets practically double their win total, their last-place finish will ensure that the Celtics have a 25% chance of landing the first overall pick this spring.
However, once we move past the Nets, there are many interesting lottery situations that are far from decided, which could have significant ramifications for the future of several franchises. Here’s a closer look at a few of them:
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are currently in second place in our reverse standings, with a 1.5-game lead on the Suns. If Los Angeles can hold that position the rest of the way, it would give the team a great chance to keep its 2017 first-round pick, which is top-three protected. If they lose the pick, it’ll be sent to the Sixers.
If the Lakers finish as the NBA’s second-worst team, they’d have a 55.8% chance of landing in the top three and keeping their pick. If they were to slip just one spot in the lottery standings and finish with the league’s third-worst record, those odds would shift below 50/50, to just 46.9%.
This year’s lottery outcome is particularly crucial for the Lakers, since losing this year’s pick would also mean they’d have to send their 2019 first-rounder (unprotected) to Orlando. If the Lakers keep this year’s first-rounder, their commitment to the Magic would become a pair of second-round picks in 2017 and 2018.
Philadelphia 76ers / Sacramento Kings
The Kings‘ 2017 first-round pick is top-10 protected — if it lands outside the top 10, Sacramento will have to send the pick to Chicago. However, a lengthy losing streak has put the Kings in a great position to keep that selection — they’re now 25-41, No. 6 in our reverse standings and four full games ahead of the 29-37 Hornets (No. 11).
With the Kings’ pick looking pretty safe, it’s now worth watching to see where it lands in relation to the Sixers‘ pick. Philadelphia has the opportunity to swap picks with the Kings, so Sacramento won’t necessarily be rooting for lottery luck unless both the Kings and Sixers can jump into the top three. Currently, the 24-42 Sixers are just one game ahead of Sacramento in our reverse standings.
If the Kings and Sixers finish as the league’s fifth- and sixth-worst teams, Philadelphia would have a 15.1% chance of landing the first-round pick, rather than just 8.8%.
New Orleans Pelicans
When the Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins last month, most observers called the trade a coup for New Orleans. However, that early assessment of the deal hinged on the assumption that the Pelicans would improve with Cousins in the lineup, reducing the value of the first-round pick they sent to Sacramento in the swap. That hasn’t happened so far, as the 26-40 Pelicans place eighth in our reverse standings.
If the Pelicans were to finish as the NBA’s eighth-worst team, they’d have a 10% chance to jump into the top three and hang onto their pick. Otherwise, the Kings would be in position to acquire the pick and hold two top-10 selections.
The rest
No other lottery picks for 2017 appear to be in flux — the Mavericks traded their first-rounder to the Sixers, but it’s top-18 protected, and Dallas has essentially no chance of landing outside of the top 18.
Further down in our reverse standings, outside of the lottery, every traded first-round pick should change hands. Of those late-round selections, the most valuable traded pick looks to be the Grizzlies‘ selection, which they’ll send to the Trail Blazers. It currently projects to be No. 19 overall.
RealGM’s list of traded draft picks was used in the creation of this post.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls 3/12/17
Here are Sunday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
11:58pm:
- The Warriors assigned Damian Jones to the D-League, writes Connor Letourneau of SFGate. Jones is expected to finish the D-League season with Santa Cruz.
5:00pm:
- The Raptors have assigned Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam to the Raptors 905, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Poeltl and Siakam are just two of the 2016 first-round picks who were sent down to the D-League this season, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors details.
- The Mavericks have recalled Manny Harris and Jarrod Uthoff from the Texas Legends, according to a team press release. Dallas is about to embark on a 4-game road trip and each of the 15 players on the roster will make the journey, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets.
- The Cavaliers have recalled Kay Felder from the Canton Charge, according to the team’s website. Felder has seen action in 37 games for Cleveland this year and he’s averaging 4.0 points per game
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls 3/11/17
Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Mavericks have assigned Manny Harris and Jarrod Uthoff to their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, according to a team press release. Dallas signed both players to 10-day deals earlier this week.
- The Warriors have recalled Damian Jones from the Santa Cruz Warriors, their D-League affiliate, per a team press release. Jones is seeing court time for Golden State tonight, as coach Steve Kerr decided to rest several of the team’s top players.
Mark Cuban: “We’ve Gone Through A Rebuild In One Season”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban discussed his team in a Q&A with Shaun Powell of NBA.com. The interview spanned a variety of subjects- even touching on politics toward the end- but Cuban was sure to praise the “reinvigorated” Dirk Nowitzki, as well as scrappy guards Yogi Ferrell and Seth Curry.
“This has reinvigorated Dirk. He sees the big picture,” Cuban said of Nowitzki’s choice to ‘ride it out’ in Dallas. “We’re in a win-win situation. We lose, we get a better draft pick, we win we get into the playoffs. It’s fun. It feels a lot more like 2000 when I first brought the team. All this young energy, exciting, fun to watch, we’re at a place where we’re not supposed to be.”
Cuban has reason to be pleased with Dallas’ season. Having gotten off to a 5-18 start in 2016/17, it looked as though the Mavs were in for a lost season. Several key contributors have helped right the ship, however. Ferrell and Curry have supplanted J.J. Barea and Devin Harris as Rick Carlisle‘s primary guards, Harrison Barnes has overcome a shaky start to the season, and Nerlens Noel looks like a stellar trade deadline pick-up.
“He has the most understated swag I’ve ever seen. His brother [Stephen] likes to dance. Seth will just kill you and then give you a little hand motion. He’s so non-demonstrative,” Cuban said. “To me, the more of a show you put on when you do something, the less swag you have. He doesn’t tell you, he scoreboards you, and to me, that’s the ultimate swag. We want him to be here forever. He’s our kind of guy.”
In Cuban’s mind, the team’s abbreviated rebuilding period has been a group effort.
“We’ve basically gone through a rebuild in one season. It’s a credit to Rick (Carlisle, the Mavericks coach) but also everyone on this team,” Cuban said. “There’s still a lot more to do. Nobody’s writing us in for The Finals this year. Our guys really worked hard, as hard or harder than any team in the league. Look at Miami. They’ve undergone a lot of changes too, much like we have, and they just play harder. I remember the Celtics after they traded off Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and they tried to find themselves and they did that by playing their asses off. That’s who we are now. Teams kind of look at our talent and don’t know what to expect but it’s hard to keep up with us when you go 15 deep with guys playing hard. It’s our calling card. I love it.”
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/10/17
Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- Having signed him to a 10-day contract, the Mavericks have now recalled Manny Harris from their D-League affiliate, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Harris, assigned to the Texas Legends for one more game after signing with the Mavs on Thursday, put up 31 points last month in a loss to Northern Arizona.
- The Pistons have sent Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije back to their D-League affiliate for the weekend, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. The Grand Rapids Drive will play games in Erie tonight and tomorrow.
- Rookie guard Malik Beasley is headed to the Sioux Falls Skyforce on an assignment, the Nuggets announced today in a press release. Denver doesn’t have its own D-League squad yet, so this is Beasley’s fifth assignment to Miami’s affiliate.
- The Lakers have assigned Ivica Zubac to the D-League for tonight’s game against Reno, per Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link). Zubac has had a more regular role for the Lakers over the last month, and will get a chance to suit up for the D-Fenders today with the NBA club not in action until Sunday.
- The Knicks have assigned Maurice Ndour to Westchester, the team announced today (via Twitter). The rookie forward has averaged 14.3 PPG and 6.7 RPG in 12 D-League games this season.
- The Grizzlies have assigned Deyonta Davis to the Iowa Energy, the team announced in a press release. The No. 31 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Davis has been used sparingly in David Fizdale’s rotation; accumulating four DNP’s over Memphis’ last seven games. Davis has averaged 8.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks over five games with the Energy in 2016/17.
And-Ones: Cook, Ferrell, Fines, Tanking
Quinn Cook has rejoined the D-League’s Canton Charge after his 10-day contract in Dallas expired, but it may just be a matter of time before he’s back with an NBA team, writes Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net. “He proved he can play in this league,” one source told Amico. “Now he just needs to find the right opportunity.”
Cook could find inspiration from Yogi Ferrell, who was briefly Cook’s teammate in Dallas. The undrafted point guard turned a 10-day contract into a multiyear contract with the Mavericks after being cut by the Nets. As Ferrell explains, via Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News, things didn’t work out for him in Brooklyn, but it only takes one team “to fall in love with you” (Twitter links). “Brooklyn didn’t like me, so they got rid of me,” Ferrell said. “I came to Dallas and they love me. So I’m glad it worked out here.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the league:
- The NBA announced on Thursday that Suns forward Jared Dudley and Wizards guard Brandon Jennings were fined $35K apiece for their actions during an altercation that took place in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game between the two teams.
- ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider link) provides a top-10 list of sorts, assigning teams a “Tank Rank” that looks a little different in some cases than their current spots in the 2016/17 Reverse Standings. For instance, even though the Suns currently have the league’s third-worst record, it’s the Sixers that Ford places third in the tanking rankings, suggesting that Phoenix is playing well and could pass Philadelphia in the standings in the coming weeks.
- Deron Williams (Cavaliers), Matt Barnes (Warriors), Brandon Jennings (Wizards) are among the recently-signed veteran free agents who could end up making an impact in the postseason, writes James Blancarte of Basketball Insiders.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/9/17
Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- Shortly after he signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks, Manny Harris was sent right back down to the D-League, the team announced in a press release. Harris figures to get a shot in Dallas at some point during his current 10-day deal, but with the Mavs not in action until tomorrow, Harris will remain with the Texas Legends for the club’s Thursday night game against Northern Arizona.
- The Rockets have recalled Kyle Wiltjer from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today (Twitter link). Houston had needed to get up to 12 active players by today, necessitating the call-up of Wiltjer, as Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
- Rookie big man Georgios Papagiannis has been sent back to the D-League by the Kings, per James Ham of CSNBayArea.com (Twitter link). Papagiannis is one of 16 first-round picks from 2016 who have been on D-League assignments this season, as we detailed yesterday.
- The Pelicans have assigned rookie Cheick Diallo to the D-League, according to the team (Twitter link). Diallo will head to the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’ D-League squad, via the flexible assignment rule.
Mavericks Sign Manny Harris To 10-Day Deal
MARCH 9: The Mavs have officially signed Harris to a 10-day deal, according to a press release from the team. Dallas’ roster is now back up to 15 players.
MARCH 8: In addition to signing Jarrod Uthoff, as was reported earlier today, the Mavericks are also expected to call up guard Manny Harris from the D-League, reports Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter). Assuming the club finalizes 10-day contracts with both Uthoff and Harris, Dallas’ 15-man roster will once again be full.
Harris, 27, has played in 89 total regular season NBA contests for the Cavaliers and Lakers, but he hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since the 2013/14 season. Since then, he has played primarily in the D-League. As a member of Dallas’ NBADL affiliate – the Texas Legends – this season, Harris has been one of the most prolific scorers in the league, averaging 26.2 PPG to go along with 7.6 RPG, 4.0 APG, and 2.1 SPG.
Few teams have used 10-day contracts more often this season than the Mavs — Uthoff and Harris will be the fifth and sixth players to sign 10-day deals with the club this year. Of those players, only Yogi Ferrell has earned a full-season contract so far.
Uthoff and Harris will be stepping in for Ben Bentil and Quinn Cook, who are headed back to their respective D-League clubs after their 10-day contracts with the Mavs expired last night. Cook, in particular, looked like a candidate to get a second 10-day deal from Dallas, but perhaps that will happen later this season if he doesn’t catch on with another NBA team.
Mavericks Sign Jarrod Uthoff To 10-Day Deal
MARCH 9: The Mavericks have signed Uthoff to a 10-day contract, the team officially announced today in a press release.
MARCH 8: The Mavericks intend to fill one of their open roster spots by signing Jarrod Uthoff to a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). When Uthoff finalizes his deal, he’ll become the fifth player to ink a 10-day contract with the Mavs this season.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors’ 10-day contract tracker]
Uthoff, 23, went undrafted of the University of Iowa and received a training camp invite from the Raptors last summer. After failing to earn a spot on Toronto’s regular season roster, the 6’9″ forward headed to the D-League, where he has played 35 total games for the Raptors 905 and Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Since joining Indiana’s D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne, Uthoff has thrived, averaging 17.1 PPG, 9.1 RPG, and 1.5 BPG to go along with a red-hot .548/.500/.909 shooting line in 11 games. Chris Reichert of The Step Back ranked Uthoff sixth on his list of D-League prospects earlier this week, writing that the former Iowa standout has been playing like a top-five D-League player. In Reichert’s view, Uthoff is an NBA-caliber player and “some team is going to get really lucky when they realize it.”
The Mavs may be that team — Dallas has already struck gold with NBADL call-up Yogi Ferrell this season, and Quinn Cook has played well for the club since signing a 10-day deal at the end of February.
Cook and Ben Bentil both had their 10-day contracts with the Mavs expire overnight, and the club’s agreement with Uthoff suggests at least one of those two players won’t be back. Bentil is likely the odd man out, since he has played less than Cook and his skill-set overlaps more with Uthoff’s. We’ll see if the Mavs announce a second 10-day pact for Cook at the same time that they confirm Uthoff’s deal.
Mavericks Notes: Curry, Roster, Parsons, Powell
After getting off to a very sluggish start this season, the Mavericks have shown real promise for the future in recent months, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Mavs owner Mark Cuban said earlier this week that he likes the current roster, despite the fact that the team remains below .500.
“We basically went from 4-17 to, all right, this squad has got some real potential,” Cuban said. “We did it on the back of undrafted free agents and one trade. There’s a lot to be said for that.”
As the 27-36 Mavs, who currently sit 10th in the West and two games behind the No. 8 Nuggets, continue to push for a playoff spot, let’s check in on a few more items out of Dallas…
- Within MacMahon’s piece linked above, Cuban also raved about Seth Curry, who is enjoying a breakout year in Dallas this season. In 59 games, the lesser-known Curry brother has averaged 12.9 PPG with a .487/.435/.831 shooting line. “We want him to be [with us] forever,” Cuban said. “He’s our kind of guy — shoots, plays hard defensively, great in the locker room. We call him Swaggy Swag. High swag level, low volume level. Those kind of guys are good. Swaggy Swag’s a keeper.”
- For his part, Curry sounds optimistic about the future for the Mavericks: “As long as we continue to play well and turn the season around like we are, I don’t see why this wouldn’t be a nucleus that would get better and continue to be better as a team.”
- As MacMahon details, Cuban also weighed in on Chandler Parsons‘ struggles in Memphis this year, admitting that he’s somewhat conflicted watching his old friend endure the worst season of his NBA career. “I feel bad for him. As a friend, I feel bad for him,” Cuban said. “As an opponent, thrilled to death. That’s par for the course for me. I know he’s struggling, I know it’s hard on him. You don’t like to see your friends go through that, but that’s just the NBA. Happens to everybody.”
- In a chat with Mavs fans, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News explores several topics, including whether Dwight Powell will still have a real role with the franchise going forward, now that Nerlens Noel is in the mix.
- In case you missed it on Tuesday, Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors examined how Cuban and the Mavs have built their roster around Dirk Nowitzki.