Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Little Playing Time For Marjanovic

November 12th, 2016 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Boban Marjanovic didn’t play at all in his return to San Antonio Friday, which has been a familiar story in his time with the Pistons, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. The 7’3″ Serbian came to Detroit this summer when the Spurs elected not to match a three-year, $21MM offer sheet. He has gotten off the bench in just four of the team’s first nine games and is averaging 4.5 minutes in those. Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said the team wants to see Marjanovic become more aggressive offensively. “In the preseason, he fit well. He’s a very good offensive player and highly skilled,” Van Gundy said. “He’s unselfish, almost to a fault. There’s times he could use his size and be dominant down there offensively, but he really likes to pass the ball — which promotes good team play — but at the same time, we want him to use his offensive skills.”

Van Gundy is closely monitoring the progress of rookies Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije, who were sent to the D-League during the Pistons’ western road trip, Beard notes in the same story. The organization wanted them both to get expanded playing time, at least 30 minutes per night, during their time in Grand Rapids. Ellenson was told to focus on his defensive development. “He knows [defense] is his ticket to getting on the floor [with the Pistons],” Van Gundy said. “He’s very confident, as we are, in his offensive skills.”

NBA 2016/17 Dead Money: Central Division

November 11th, 2016 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The concept of “dead money” on a salary cap isn’t as common in the NBA as it is in the NFL, but it essentially functions the same way in both leagues. Dead money refers to the salary remaining on a team’s cap for players that are no longer on the roster.

For NFL teams, taking on a certain amount of dead money is a common practice, since signing bonuses affect cap hits differently, and big-money players are more likely to be released before playing out their entire contracts. That practice is less common in the NBA.

Still, with the NBA’s salary cap on the rise, teams may be a little more willing to part ways with players on guaranteed salaries, since that increased cap gives clubs more flexibility than they used to have. Within the last month, we’ve seen players like Ronnie Price and Greivis Vasquez, who each had $4-5MM in guaranteed money left on their contracts, waived in order to clear room for newcomers.

Over the next week, we’ll examine each of the NBA’s 30 teams, breaking them down by division, to figure out which teams are carrying the most dead money on the cap for 2016/17, and what that information might tell us about those teams. We’ll start today with the Central division, before tackling the other five divisions from Monday to Friday next week.

Here are the 2016/17 dead money figures for the Central teams:

1. Detroit Pistons
Total dead money: $5,398,678
Full salary cap breakdown

The Pistons had a pair of camp invitees with modest guarantees, in Nikola Jovanovic ($30K) and Trey Freeman ($25K), and a last-minute change of plans at point guard meant that they were also on the hook for nearly $12K when they waived Ray McCallum. However, the majority of dead money on Detroit’s books belongs to Josh Smith. The Pistons cut Smith with so much guaranteed salary left on his contract that he’ll count for about $5.332MM against the cap this year — and for the three years after that.

2. Milwaukee Bucks
Total dead money: $1,865,547
Full salary cap breakdown

The Bucks are one of eight NBA teams that entered this season without a D-League affiliate, so they didn’t have a ton of incentive to hand out partial guarantees to camp invitees — they wouldn’t have been able to assign those players to a D-League squad anyway. As such, it comes as little surprise that Larry Sanders is responsible for Milwaukee’s only dead-money cap charge this season. Sanders will continue to count for $1,865,547 annually against the Bucks’ cap through the 2020/21 season.

3. Indiana Pacers
Total dead money: $1,387,667
Full salary cap breakdown

The Pacers were smart about the dead money they added to their cap this fall, paying out partial guarantees to a handful of players they wanted to join their D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne, including Ben Bentil, whose D-League rights they snatched from the Celtics for $50K. Julyan Stone ($50K), Alex Poythress ($35.4K), and Nick Zeisloft ($25K) also got modest guarantees, while Jeremy Evans ($1.227MM) was the only fully guaranteed salary the team cut. The Pacers can’t put the $3.2MM they received from the Mavericks when they acquired Evans toward their salary cap, but that cash ensures that the club actually came out ahead after waiving the forward.

4. Chicago Bulls
Total dead money: $69,500
Full salary cap breakdown

The Bulls have a D-League affiliate for the first time this season, but only one camp invitee – and eventual Windy City Bulls player – required a partial guarantee. That one player was Thomas Walkup, who got $69.5K from the team. It will be interesting to see if the Bulls are any more liberal about handing out partial guarantees to recruit top undrafted rookies to their D-League affiliate in future years.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers
Total dead money: $18,255
Full salary cap breakdown

The Cavaliers didn’t pay any guaranteed money to their camp invitees, and ultimately assigned only two of their cuts to the Canton Charge rather than the maximum four. The team also isn’t carrying any dead money on its cap from players released in previous years, resulting in a cap sheet that is nearly entirely clean. The one exception? An $18K cap hit for Dahntay Jones, since he cleared waivers two days into the 2016/17 season rather than being cut earlier.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Pistons Rumors: Marjanovic, Jackson, Smith

November 10th, 2016 at 8:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Boban Marjanovic isn’t having second thoughts about signing an offer sheet with the Pistons this summer despite his limited playing time, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News reports. Marjanovic’s three-year, $21MM contract was structured so that the Spurs would have virtually no chance of matching, since they didn’t have his Early Bird rights or enough cap space. He’s currently the third-string center behind Andre Drummond and Aron Baynes and has appeared sparingly in four games. “You never know what is a good decision, but you have to believe you are making a good decision,” Marjanovic told Orsborn. Marjanovic’s playing time could expand next season if Baynes opts out of the final year of his contract, as expected.

In other news regarding the Pistons:

Point guard Reggie Jackson has begun limited basketball activities but is still weeks away from returning, according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News. Jackson received platelet-rich plasma injections more than a month ago to relieve his left knee tendinitis, as well as a right thumb injury. He has been sidelined since the preseason. “It feels like literally I had dead leg for five weeks,” Jackson told Beard and other beat reporters. “I’m just trying to find trust in my leg to be able to cut. It’s not there yet; I did a few things but it’s still iffy.”
Jackson’s replacement in the lineup, Ish Smith, has shot 29% from the field over the last five games but that won’t take away his aggression, Aaron McMann of MLive.com writes. Smith signed a three-year, $18MM contract in July to be Jackson’s backup. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to keep shooting because we’re getting good shots,” Smith told McMann and other writers. “Missing easy ones that’s rolling around. Little floaters. Little pull-ups. That’s how it is.”

Pistons Will Have Update On Potential Downtown Move Within "Next Few Weeks"

November 8th, 2016 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Pistons owner Tom Gores reiterated on Monday that his team is “making progress” on negotiations to team up with the NHL’s Red Wings and move his franchise to downtown Detroit. “In the next few weeks, we’ll know for sure,” Gores said, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details, Gores has also been pleased with the way the Pistons have been able to better the community during the five years he has owned the team, suggesting that the franchise’s ability to have a local impact has exceeded his expectations. “Our ability to impact the community has been more than I ever thought in my life,” Gores said. “As much as I would like to win a championship, the real championship is to affect the city and impact the city. It’s beyond anything I could have expected, to be honest.”

Players With Incentive Bonuses For 2016/17

November 7th, 2016 at 11:55am CST by Luke Adams

According to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, there are 33 players around the NBA who can potentially earn incentive bonuses this season based on their own durability or performance, or based on how their team performs. Although Marks doesn’t identify all 33 players who have incentives included in their 2016/17 contracts, he discusses over half of them, passing along a number of interesting tidbits about those potential bonuses. Here are some of the highlights:

Minutes/games played bonuses:

NBA bonuses are deemed either “likely” or “unlikely,” using the previous season’s statistics as a benchmark, so if a player didn’t appear in many games during the previous year, a team can include a games-played benchmark and call it an unlikely incentive. For instance, John Henson‘s contract with the Bucks features incentives if he plays 60 games or 75 games this season. He appeared in just 57 contests in 2015/16, so neither of those marks is viewed as likely.

Miles Plumlee (Bucks), Luis Scola (Nets), Greivis Vasquez (Nets), and Deron Williams (Mavericks) are among the other players who have incentives in their deals for games played or started.

Individual statistic bonuses:

The Trail Blazers got creative with Maurice Harkless‘ new contract this summer, including an incentive bonus in the deal that can be triggered based if he keeps his three-point percentage above a certain level. Jeremy Lin, meanwhile, not only has a three-point percentage incentive, but also has bonuses linked to assists, turnovers, and threes and free throws attempted per 36 minutes.

Individual achievement bonuses:

Players like Bismack Biyombo (Magic), Evan Fournier (Magic), and Will Barton (Nuggets) have incentives related to their individual performances as well, but they’re related to awards and honors, rather than raw statistics. Biyombo gets a bonus if he makes the NBA’s All-Defensive team, Fournier gets some extra money for an All-Star appearance, and Barton would get $250K if he wins the Sixth Man of the Year award.

Of course, some of these incentives are more realistic than others. For instance, Thaddeus Young (Pacers) probably shouldn’t be counting on the $500K incentive bonus that he’d earn if he wins the league’s MVP award.

Team performance bonuses:

Several players, including Fournier, Jon Leuer (Pistons), and Joe Ingles (Jazz) have bonuses related to their teams making the playoffs. Many of those postseason incentives are tied to another condition. For example, for Taj Gibson to earn his bonus from the Bulls, he must appear in at least 60 games, play in at least 75% of Chicago’s playoff games, and average 25 or more minutes per game during the regular season.

Some players also have incentives linked to their teams’ win total, and once again, some are more attainable than others. For example, Nikola Mirotic could earn an extra $800K, but he’d need the Bulls to win 65+ games, so there’s a good chance his shot at that bonus will disappear about halfway through the season.

Be sure to check out the full breakdown from Marks for many more details on players who could earn incentive bonuses in 2016/17.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/6/16

November 6th, 2016 at 10:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Here are Sunday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the league:

The Spurs assigned Bryn Forbes, Danny Green and Dejounte Murray to their D-League affiliate in Austin, tweets Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. The moves were just for practice purposes because the D-League team was training at the Spurs’ practice site.
Pistons first-round pick Henry Ellenson, who was assigned to the D-League on Saturday, plans to use the experience to improve his game, writes Aaron McMann of MLive. Ellenson and fellow rookie Michael Gbinije were sent to the Grand Rapids Drive for a weeklong assignment while the Pistons are on a western road trip. Ellenson, who has played sparingly so far this season, welcomes the chance. “I’ve got to look at it as an opportunity to improve,” he said. “That’s probably the biggest thing. The team is doing really well right now, so they’re going to go handle business on the West Coast. I’m going to go handle my own this week — and that’s how I’m going to take it.”

Pistons Notes: Jackson, Johnson, Leuer

November 6th, 2016 at 3:30pm CST by Will Joseph

Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson, who has yet to play this season and has missed the last month after having treatment for tendinitis in his left knee, will begin basketball activities Monday, Rod Beard of the Detroit News reports. It seems like Jackson is on track because the original timeline for his recovery was 6-8 weeks, as Beard points out. Jackson was the team’s leading scorer last season. It appears he will be able to return later this month, Beard surmises.

Here’s more out of Detroit:

As Jackson continues his recovery, offseason addition Jon Leuer and second-year player Stanley Johnson have bolstered the Pistons’ bench, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. The Pistons picked up Johnson’s option for the 2017/18 season last month, and he seems to be playing with a better mix of confidence and focus, Langlois adds.
The Pistons inked Leuer to a four-year, $41MM deal over the summer, and now coach Stan Van Gundy wants to see the 6’10” forward shoot more, Aaron McMann of MLive.com relays. Interestingly, however, through six games, Leuer is averaging 9.3 points on 51 percent shooting and he is attempting nearly eight shots per game, as McMann notes. Van Gundy wants Leuer to be more aggressive in looking for his shot, McMann adds.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/5/16

November 5th, 2016 at 9:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the league:

The Knicks assigned Ron Baker, Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee to their D-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, earlier today so they could practice with the team, according to their Twitter feed. New York has since recalled all three players.
The Pistons have assigned Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije to the Grand Rapids Drive, the team’s D-League affiliate, according to a team press release. Ellenson has only appeared in two games for Detroit, while Gbiniji has only seen action in one.
The Thunder assigned Josh Huestis to the Oklahoma City Blue earlier today so he could participate in practice, per a team press release. The practice has commenced and the team has subsequently recalled the forward.

Johnson Struggling With New Role

November 4th, 2016 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Second-year player Stanley Johnson is struggling thus far this campaign and the Pistons‘ coaching staff is trying to position the swingman to adapt to being an all-around player with one strength first — then progressing to other areas, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “He has been a primary scorer his whole life and it’s tough for him to not play that way,” coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said. “Right now, that’s not the best way to play. I’m not trying to hold the guy back or limit him. What I’ve tried to point out to him is his development. The guy I’ve tried to use as an example with him who came in the league the same way is Jimmy Butler.”

Drummond Expected To Play Heavy Minutes

November 3rd, 2016 at 9:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy wants to increase Andre Drummond‘s workload but he’s willing to sit his All-Star center if he’s not playing well. Van Gundy said this week that he plans to rest Drummond in shorter bursts this season. “He’s capable of playing big minutes,” Van Gundy said. “We want him out there a lot. Barring foul trouble, we’re trying to get him to where his rests are shorter.” Drummond took a long rest on Wednesday, when the Pistons lost to the Nets. He was benched most of the second half after being outplayed by Brook Lopez. “He was just, in my opinion, bringing absolutely nothing to the game,” Van Gundy told the assembled media in his postgame press conference. “I don’t know if he was tired or what the deal was, but he didn’t bring any energy to the game.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Forward Lance Thomas is off to a rough start after being re-signed this offseason to a four-year, $27MM deal by the Knicks, Marc Berman of the New York Post points out. He is averaging 3.3 points on 33% shooting in 20.6 minutes and his defense hasn’t been good enough to make up for his offensive woes, Berman continues. New coach Jeff Hornacek has stuck with Thomas in the rotation even though European rookie Mindaugas Kuzminskas might be a better option, Berman adds.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue admits he wasn’t paying much attention during the free agency period, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports. Lue was impressed when he found out about the Celtics’ signing of Al Horford, making Boston of one the main threats to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference, Fedor adds. “Whenever you are able to acquire another All-Star automatically you are going to get better,” Lue told Fedor. “That’s a great piece in going in the right direction.”
Wizards rookie point guard Tomas Satoransky may have already moved ahead of Trey Burke in the rotation behind starter John Wall, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. Satoransky played 10 second-half minutes against the Raptors on Wednesday in place of Burke, who was acquired in a trade with the Jazz this offseason, Buckner adds. “It’s definitely something that’s going to be considered,” new coach Scott Brooks told Buckner. “Tomas brings a lot of energy and brings some toughness and has good size and athleticism. He’s played that position his entire life.”