- Citing mental maturation and a commitment to improving, Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy is optimistic about third-year forward Stanley Johnson‘s progress, Keith Langlois of the team’s official site writes. Van Gundy also praised rookie Luke Kennard‘s performance at training camp thus far.
Bucks GM Jon Horst said the team has had positive discussions with Jabari Parker‘s camp about a contract extension, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The franchise places a high value on Parker, though Velazquez relays that former No. 2 overall pick’s injuries will play a role in the contract negotiations.
If Milwaukee can’t sign Parker to an extension by the deadline, the forward will become a restricted free agent at year’s end and the team can match any offer sheet he signs. Horst signals that the front office is negotiating with this in mind, as Velazquez relays in a full-length piece.
“Hopefully, the goal is to come to an extension agreement,” Horst said. “If we don’t, we want to be in a place where we can have the same type of productive conversations again as a restricted free agent with a player who we value significantly in our franchise.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- While Parker “definitely” wants to be in Milwaukee, he admits that it’s out of his hands, Velazquez passes along in the same piece. “I have no clue [what’s going on] and that’s why I pay [my agent],” Parker said of his contract negotiations with the Bucks. “I let them do all the madness.”
- Reggie Jackson, who has dealt with knee troubles since coming to the Pistons, will begin the season on a minutes limit, Rod Beard of the Detroit News relays via Twitter. “He will be on a minutes limit,” coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said. “It will be progressive as the season goes on.”
- Despite the lack of firepower on the offensive, it appears the Pacers plan on unleashing Lance Stephenson as their sixth man, Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star writes.“I love him in that position,” said Pacers General Manager Kevin Pritchard. “It reminds me of [Manu] Ginobili a long time ago. You can’t always get everybody the opportunity to score and make plays in the first five minutes.”
Coming off a 44-win season, the Pistons looked poised to take another step forward in the Eastern Conference in 2016/17, but many of Detroit’s key young contributors didn’t make the improvements the club had anticipated.
Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Tobias Harris, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – all in their early- to mid-20s – essentially put up the same numbers last season that they did the year before, or took a step backward in terms of overall production. In Jackson’s case, his struggles could be chalked up largely to injury issues, but that doesn’t change the end result — the Pistons slipped in the standings due in large part to the lack of internal growth, finishing the season with a 38-44 mark.
While the team was essentially capped out and couldn’t make major changes over the summer, Detroit did swap out Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, and Aron Baynes for a new group of contributors that includes Avery Bradley, Langston Galloway, and Anthony Tolliver. Rookie marksman Luke Kennard also enters the picture to help make up for losing KCP’s outside shooting.
The Pistons seem hopeful that those roster tweaks – along with improvements from the likes of Jackson, Drummond, and Harris – will allow the team to get back above .500, but oddsmakers aren’t as optimistic. Offshore betting site Bovada has the Pistons’ over/under mark right about where it was last year — 38.5 wins.
What do you think? Is this Pistons team ready to bounce back and get back in the playoff picture out East, or is Detroit in for more of the same this season? Vote below and jump into the comments section to share your thoughts!
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Previous over/under voting results:
- Golden State Warriors: Over 67.5 (53.57%)
- Boston Celtics: Over 55.5 (63.5%)
- Houston Rockets: Over 55.5 (65.57%)
- San Antonio Spurs: Over 54.5 (67.74%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Over 53.5 (68.82%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Over 50.5 (71.77%)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Over 48.5 (55.69%)
- Toronto Raptors: Over 48.5 (64.21%)
- Washington Wizards: Over 47.5 (71.29%)
- Milwaukee Bucks: Over 47.5 (63.88%)
- Denver Nuggets: Under 45.5 (50.44%)
- Los Angeles Clippers: Over 43.5 (60.7%)
- Miami Heat: Over 43.5 (55.39%)
- Charlotte Hornets: Over 42.5 (51.07%)
- Portland Trail Blazers: Over 42.5 (56.3%)
- Philadelphia 76ers: Under 41.5 (53.37%)
- Utah Jazz: Over 41.5 (55.94%)
- New Orleans Pelicans: Over 39.5 (65.26%)
The Pistons have formally announced their training camp roster, confirming that 19 players will start the preseason with the club. In addition to the 16 players who were already officially under contract with the club, Detroit has announced the signings of point guard Beno Udrih, forward Derek Willis, and center Landry Nnoko.
The Pistons’ agreements with Willis and Nnoko were reported all the way back in July, so those moves have long been anticipated. However, the team’s deal with Udrih is new.
Udrih, 35, was a Piston last season, spending the year with the franchise after being claimed off waivers in the fall. The Slovenian guard provided some depth at the point, appearing in 39 games for Detroit and averaging 5.8 PPG to go along with 3.4 APG. As Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets, Udrih has spent the offseason working out in Detroit, hoping to catch on with an NBA team.
Details of Udrih’s contract haven’t been reported, but I’d expect a non-guaranteed pact. If that’s the case, the Pistons would head into camp with 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, and Udrih, Willis, Nnoko, and Eric Moreland also vying for roster spots.
Before the Knicks traded Carmelo Anthony to the Thunder, the Cavaliers were another potential suitor for his services. New York wanted Cleveland center Tristan Thompson in a deal for Anthony but the Cavaliers rejected that offer, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
The Knicks wanted cost-friendly, young, and productive assets in exchange for Anthony. Thompson, 26, is under contract for three seasons but will make a hefty salary, starting with $16.4MM in 2017/18. Vardon reports that Cleveland was willing to part with other sizeable contracts on the roster — primarily Iman Shumpert and his $11MM salary — but no deal was reached.
New York still acquired a young, controllable center for Anthony as Enes Kanter came to New York in the deal. Kanter will take in nearly $20.6MM this upcoming season and holds an $18.6MM player option for 2018/19.
Read more news from the Central Division:
- In his latest mailbag, Vardon answered several questions about the Cavaliers ahead of training camp. Vardon believes it is possible that the team trades Brooklyn’s 2018 first-round pick (acquired in the Kyrie Irving trade) for an elite talent.
- Zach LaVine, who was acquired from the Timberwolves in the Jimmy Butler deal, is coming off a serious injury as he prepares for his first season in Chicago. However, former Bulls head coach and current Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau feels that LaVine, still just 22 years old, has tremendous upside, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes.
- During a recent podcast, Cowley spoke about what the hiring of Doug Collins as a senior adviser for the Bulls means for the team.
- NBA.com’s Sam Smith previews the Bulls’ 2017/18 season by examining how the team’s mostly young core will develop.
- NBA.com’s Keith Langlois looks at several storylines entering the Pistons‘ season. Among those storylines include Avery Bradley adjusting to Detroit, Luke Kennard‘s first impressions, and Reggie Jackson returning to form.
There haven’t been any reported indications that the Pistons are pursuing a specific trade, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press notes, but the asset he posits would be most valuable if they were is third-year man Stanley Johnson.
Ellis cites the interest that Johnson drew at the trade deadline as the biggest indication that teams would still be interested in taking a flyer on the intriguing physical specimen. In addition to his impressive 6’7″, 235-pound, NBA-ready frame, the Pistons forward also has a palatable contract that would serve a contending team well.
Involved in a deal or not, however, this season marks Johnson’s best chance to succeed as he’ll break camp as the most natural small forward on the Pistons’ roster.
- Expect second-year Pistons forward Henry Ellenson to vie for a larger role in 2017/18. As Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes, the sophomore forward has been focusing specifically on improving his defense and three-ball, two qualities that head coach Stan Van Gundy is known to put great stock in.
A year ago, Pistons guard Reggie Jackson was dealing with a sore left knee that caused him to miss the first 21 games of the season, but he tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press he believes that problem is in the past.
“With my knee, I’m feeling good,” Jackson said. “With the health of it, I’m feeling great. I just got to do the best I can to take care of it. The team is doing a great job of monitoring it. I’ve had no setbacks. I’m on pace, which is to be ready by training camp.”
Jackson’s early-season absence, followed by inconsistent play once he returned, was a major reason for the Pistons’ 37-45 record a year after making the playoffs. Jackson managed just 52 games, and his scoring, rebounding, assists and shooting numbers were all down significantly from 2015/16.
Diagnosed with chronic tendinitis, Jackson spent the offseason trying to manage the condition. He recently finished a 16-week protocol designed to cut down the strain of summer workouts. Under the supervision of team physical therapist Mark Cranston, Jackson’s basketball-related activities were limited to light shooting and jumping off one leg.
Jackson, who underwent platelet-rich plasma injections last fall, believes he made a mistake by trying to get back on the court as quickly as possible.
“It came about unexpectedly,” Jackson said. “Got injured and the whole key was to try to rush back in six weeks. We went into three weeks of the season, but the goal each day was to try to get back as soon as possible vs. knowing you have a nice amount of time to really take care of the knee and build everything up.”
The Pistons plan to be cautious with Jackson when training camp opens Tuesday. Coach Stan Van Gundy won’t have him practice twice when the team has two-a-days.
Jackson believes the knee is ready, but he can’t be certain until he can test it under game conditions.
“We won’t know until you are in competition and you get to see it,” Jackson said. “If I can get the burst by my man, if I can make the play like I did two years ago. That will be the only true test of knowing it. It feels healthy, but it’s really going to be playing to figure out what it truly is.”
At this point in the NBA offseason, most free agents who remain on the open market will have to settle for minimum salary contracts, if they receive an NBA offer at all.
There are some exceptions, particularly on the restricted free agent market, where Mason Plumlee just signed a three-year, $41MM deal with the Nuggets. Within the last week or two though, we’ve seen top remaining unrestricted free agents like Shabazz Muhammad, Tony Allen, and Andrew Bogut settle for minimum salary contracts.
That’s good news for several teams who have used all their available cap room and/or exceptions and can only offer minimum salary contracts for the rest of the 2017/18 league year. They won’t necessarily be at a disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents if those players aren’t being offered more than the minimum by teams with the means to do so.
In some cases though, an inability to offer more than the minimum can handicap a team. Dante Cunningham‘s free agent decision this week reflects this — according to multiple reports, the deal Cunningham agreed to with the Pelicans is actually worth $2.3MM, which is more than his minimum salary of $2.1MM. While we haven’t seen the official terms of Cunningham’s new contract yet, it’s possible that the $200K difference was one reason Cunningham chose New Orleans over a suitor like the Timberwolves, who could only offer the minimum.
Teams with the flexibility to offer more than the minimum could also benefit later in the NBA season. For instance, if Dwyane Wade negotiates a buyout with the Bulls and considers which team to join as a free agent, the fact that the Heat have retained their $4.328MM room exception could be a factor — it would allow Miami to make a stronger offer than the Cavs could.
With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the teams that currently don’t have the ability to offer more than the minimum salary, which is $815,615 for a first-year player:
- Boston Celtics
- Detroit Pistons
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets: $350 of mid-level exception available
- Los Angeles Clippers: $774,770 of mid-level exception available
- Memphis Grizzlies: $1,440,385 of mid-level exception available, but will use at least $815,615 to sign Ivan Rabb.
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
Meanwhile, the following teams have less than $3.29MM (the value of the bi-annual exception) to offer to free agents:
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $2,549,143 of taxpayer mid-level exception available
- Utah Jazz: $1,128,000 of room exception available
- Washington Wizards: $1,902,000 of taxpayer mid-level exception available
Of course, just because a team has an exception available, that doesn’t mean the club will be eager to use it. Teams like the Bucks or Pelicans, for instance, still have various MLE and BAE exception money available, but their proximity to the luxury tax threshold will make them reluctant to offer more than the minimum salary to anyone the rest of the way.
For a full breakdown of how teams have used their mid-level, room, and bi-annual exceptions for the 2017/18 league year, be sure to check out our MLE tracker and BAE tracker.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst have published an expansive and well-researched report on NBA teams’ finances, providing details on the league’s revenue sharing system, the impact from national and local television deals, and how a lack of net income for NBA franchises could push the league toward considering relocation or expansion.
The report is wide-ranging and detailed, so we’re going to tackle it by dividing it up into several sections, but it’s certainly worth reading in full to get a better picture of whether things stand in the NBA. Let’s dive in…
Which teams are losing money?
- Nine teams reportedly lost money last season, even after revenue sharing. Those clubs were the Hawks, Nets, Pistons, Grizzlies, Magic, Wizards, Bucks, Cavaliers, and Spurs. The latter two teams – Cleveland and San Antonio – initially came out ahead, but paid into the league’s revenue sharing program, pushing them into the red.
- Meanwhile, the Hornets, Kings, Pacers, Pelicans, Suns, Timberwolves, and Trail Blazers also would have lost money based on net income if not for revenue sharing, according to Lowe and Windhorst.
- As a league, the NBA is still doing very well — the overall net income for the 30 teams combined was $530MM, per ESPN. That number also only takes into account basketball income, and doesn’t include income generated via non-basketball events for teams that own their arenas.
- The players’ union and its economists have long been skeptical of NBA teams’ bookkeeping, alleging that clubs are using techniques to make themselves appear less profitable than they actually are, Windhorst and Lowe note. The union has the power to conduct its own audit of several teams per season, and it has begun to take advantage of that power — according to ESPN, the union audited five teams last season, and the new CBA will allow up to 10 teams to be audited going forward.
How does the gap between large and small market teams impact income?
- Even after paying $49MM in revenue sharing, the Lakers finished the 2016/17 with a $115MM profit in terms of net income, per ESPN. That was the highest profit in the NBA, ahead of the second-place Warriors, and could be attributed in large part to the $149MM the Lakers received from their huge local media rights deals.
- On the other end of the spectrum, the Grizzlies earned a league-low $9.4MM in local media rights, which significantly affected their bottom line — even after receiving $32MM in revenue sharing, Memphis lost money for the season. The Grizzlies will start a new TV deal this year that should help boost their revenue, but it still won’t come anywhere close to matching deals like the Lakers‘.
- The biggest local TV deals help drive up the NBA’s salary cap, with teams like the Lakers and Knicks earning in excess of $100MM from their media agreements. According to the ESPN report, the Knicks made $10MM more on their TV deal than the six lowest-earning teams combined.
- As one owner explained to ESPN, “National revenues drive up the cap, but local revenues are needed to keep up with player salaries. If a team can’t generate enough local revenues, they lose money.”
- Playoff revenue from a big-market team like the Warriors also helps push up the salary cap. Sources tell Lowe and Windhorst that Golden State made about $44.3MM in net income from just nine home playoff games last season, more than doubling the playoff revenue of the next-best team (the Cavaliers at about $20MM).
How is revenue sharing affecting teams’ earnings?
- Ten teams paid into the NBA’s revenue sharing system in 2016/17, with 15 teams receiving that money. The Sixers, Raptors, Nets, Heat, and Mavericks neither paid nor received any revenue sharing money. Four teams – the Warriors, Lakers, Bulls, and Knicks – accounted for $144MM of the total $201MM paid in revenue sharing.
- While there’s general agreement throughout the NBA that revenue sharing is working as intended, some teams have “bristled about the current scale of monetary redistribution,” according to ESPN. “The need for revenue sharing was supposed to be for special circumstances, not permanent subsidies,” one large-market team owner said.
- The Grizzlies, Hornets, Pacers, Bucks, and Jazz have each received at least $15MM apiece in each of the last four years via revenue sharing.
- However, not all small-market teams receive revenue-sharing money — if a team outperforms its expectations based on market size, it forfeits its right to that money. For instance, the Thunder and Spurs have each paid into revenue sharing for the last six years.
Why might league-wide income issues lead to relocation or expansion?
- At least one team owner has raised the idea of expansion, since an expansion fee for a new franchise could exceed $1 billion and it wouldn’t be subject to splitting 50/50 with players. A $1 billion expansion fee split 30 ways would work out to $33MM+ per team.
- Meanwhile, larger-market teams who aren’t thrilled about their revenue-sharing fees have suggested that small-market clubs losing money every year should consider relocating to bigger markets, sources tell ESPN.
- As Lowe and Windhorst observe, the Pistons – who lost more money than any other team last season – are undergoing a relocation of sorts, moving from the suburbs to downtown Detroit, in the hopes that the move will help boost revenue.
What are the next steps? Are changes coming?
- The gap between the most and least profitable NBA teams is expected to be addressed at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting next week, per Lowe and Windhorst. Team owners have scheduled a half-day review of the league’s revenue sharing system.
- Obviously, large- and small-market teams view the issue differently. While some large-market teams have complained about the revenue sharing system, they’re outnumbered, with smaller-market teams pushing those more successful clubs to share more of their profits, according to ESPN.
- Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen is one of the loudest voices pushing for more “robust” revenue sharing, sources tell ESPN. Some team owners have argued that the system should ensure all teams make a profit, while one even suggested every team should be guaranteed a $20MM profit. There will be “pushback” on those ideas, Lowe and Windhorst note. “This is a club where everyone knows the rules when they buy in,” one owner said.
- On the other end of the spectrum, some teams have floated the idea of limiting the amount of revenue sharing money a team can receive if it has been taking payments for several consecutive years.
- Any change to the revenue sharing system that is formally proposed at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting would require a simple majority (16 votes to 14) to pass.
Having received a three-year, $21MM deal, Langston Galloway was the Pistons‘ biggest free agent investment of the offseason, and even he admits that he was surprised how quickly he reached an agreement with the team, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
“I really thought it was going to take a while. I thought I was going to be on the board for a long time,” Galloway said. “My agent was pretty optimistic. We knew there were a few teams talking about me, but nobody really said, ‘We’re going to take a chance on you and go with you.’ But, hey, once 12 o’clock hit and I got an unexpected call from [Pistons president of basketball operations] Stan [Van Gundy], that was amazing.”
As Langlois details, Galloway is comfortable playing at both the one and two, and his ability to handle the point allowed the Pistons to avoid having to go out and sign a third pure point guard behind Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith.
- Another one of the new Pistons backcourt additions, Avery Bradley, is already showing signs of emerging as a team leader, Langlois writes in a separate piece for Pistons.com. Bradley’s new teammates are optimistic about the impact the former Celtic will have in Detroit. “When you have a guy that works like that on the defensive end and is that good, it forces you to play harder,” Anthony Tolliver said.
- In a mailbag for The Detroit Free Press, Vince Ellis tackles questions on Andre Drummond, Stanley Johnson, and Stan Van Gundy‘s future with the Pistons.