And-Ones: CBA, Roster Spots, Bynum, Senegal
Negotiators for the league were determined to make it more difficult to assemble “super teams” under the new collective bargaining agreement, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical. In a brief video, Wojnarowski recounts a meeting this summer in which Commissioner Adam Silver told team owners that he was troubled by Kevin Durant‘s move to Golden State, fearing it would impact competitive balance. Warriors owner Joe Lacob defended his organization, saying it managed its salary cap in a way to enable the signing of a max player. In negotiations, the league tried to give small-market stars more incentive to re-sign with their current teams. Wojnarowski says the new system creates a “far more punitive financial choice” for players who want to leave for larger cities or more competitive teams. However, he adds that some small-market owners are concerned that the league didn’t go far enough with its rules changes.
There’s more basketball news tonight:
- The new CBA will add two roster spots for each team, which will be two-way contracts for players who shuffle back and forth from the D-League, notes Chris Reichert of The Step Back. In a transcript from an interview with onthenbabeat.com, Reichert notes that the salary range for those players will be $50K to $75K, which is more than typical D-League players receive. The rise in NBA minimum salaries will also benefit D-League players because the 10-day contracts that teams can offer starting in January are based off minimum salaries adjusted for a player’s years of experience.
- Veteran guard Will Bynum has signed a contract with the D-League, according to a tweet from D-League Digest. The 33-year-old was among the last players cut by the Hawks in training camp. He spent the majority of his 360-game NBA career with the Pistons, but also played for the Warriors and Wizards. He played most of the past two seasons with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China.
- The NBA plans to open an academy in Senegal next year, writes Gerald Imray of The Associated Press. This will be the sixth international academy for the league, which already has three in China and one in Australia, with another in India set to begin in April.
CBA Notes: Warriors, Trades, Designated Players
In many ways, the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will help out the Warriors, most notably giving the team the opportunity to offer Stephen Curry way more money than any other team in 2017 free agency, due to the new designated player exception. However, a super-max salary for Curry, along with increased cap holds for free agents, will make it tricky for Golden State to keep its roster together beyond its Big Four after this season.
As Bobby Marks of The Vertical outlines, the Warriors will have the flexibility to keep Klay Thompson and Draymond Green while giving Curry and Kevin Durant super-max contracts, but it could very well cost the team complementary players like Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala. Marks observes that Golden State will need to place a “heavy emphasis” on player development if the team wants to keep its core four together, since players like Damian Jones, Patrick McCaw, Kevon Looney, and future draftees will be relied on for larger roles if the club can’t afford its other veterans.
We’ve got a few more CBA notes and updates to pass along, so let’s dive in…
- Updating an item that he reported earlier this week, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders clarifies that for a player who signs a partially guaranteed contract under the new CBA, his outgoing salary will only count for the guaranteed amount in a trade, while the incoming salary will count for the full amount. If there’s a major discrepancy between the two amounts (ie. $1.5MM guaranteed on a $12.5MM salary), it will make it very tricky for a player to be included in a deal.
- Because the designated player exception can only be used on a player who remains with the team that drafted him, or the team that acquired him in a trade during his rookie contract, one unintended consequence could be that star players on their rookie deals push for trades, writes Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider link). As Pelton admits, such a move would require plenty of foresight, since a player would have to request a trade by his fourth season with an eye toward year eight or nine of his career, but it’s a possibility.
- With an assist from cap expert Larry Coon, Brian Windhorst tackles some of the most frequently asked questions about the new CBA in an informative piece for ESPN.com.
- Coon also joined Pincus on the Basketball Insiders podcast to discuss their expectations for the new CBA.
- Veteran union representatives like LeBron James and Chris Paul are among the biggest winners in the new CBA, due to the reworked “over-38” rule, Windhorst writes in a separate ESPN.com piece.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/19/16
Here are Monday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
9:51pm:
- The Warriors have recalled Damian Jones from their D-League affiliate, says the team in a press release. The center posted 17 points and nine rebounds in his lone game with the Santa Cruz Warriors Sunday night.
3:20pm:
- The Raptors have sent Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet back the D-League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Neither player has seen much action this season for Toronto, but with Cory Joseph and Delon Wright on the shelf, VanVleet was Kyle Lowry‘s backup on Sunday and played a career-high 23 minutes.
- The Jazz have recalled rookie forward Joel Bolomboy from the Salt Lake City Stars, according to a team release. During his most recent game with Utah’s D-League affiliate over the weekend, Bolomboy helped lead the team to a win with 28 points and 19 rebounds.
- The Magic have recalled C.J. Wilcox and Stephen Zimmerman from their D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Both players were sent down on December 15.
MRI Reveals West Has Hip Pointer
- The Warriors’ David West will be out for a while with a hip pointer, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The veteran forward underwent an MRI on Friday after suffering the injury in a game last week. Golden State had been concerned that the injury was something more serious.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/17/16
Here are the D-League assignments and recalls for Saturday:
10:01pm:
- The Bulls recalled Paul Zipser from Windy City after sending him down earlier in the day, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
- The Pistons recalled forward Henry Ellenson and guard Michael Gbinije from their Grand Rapids affiliate, the team announced in an email. Both have appeared in six games for Detroit this season with limited playing time.
- The Wizards recalled guard Sheldon McClellan from the Delaware 87ers, tweets J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. McClellan averaged 10.7 points in six games with the D-League team.
3:17pm:
- The Hawks have recalled Mike Scott from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Scott helped lead the Long Island Nets to a pair of victories during his assignment this week, contributing 20.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in a pair of starts for the club.
- After being assigned to Santa Cruz for Friday night’s game, Warriors center Damian Jones has been recalled to the NBA, according to an official announcement (Twitter link). Jones nearly posted a double-double for Golden State’s D-League affiliate last night, putting up 17 points, nine boards, and two blocks.
12:09pm:
- The Nuggets have recalled shooting guard Malik Beasley from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. The 20-year-old was assigned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s D-League affiliate, on December 9 and averaged 18.5 points per game in his two contests with the team.
- The Bulls have assigned forward Paul Zipser to the D-League, according to an announcement from the club. Zipser has seen action in just seven NBA games this season, most recently playing nine minutes Friday night.
Poll: Biggest Threat To Warriors In West?
The Warriors entered the 2016/17 season as significant favorites to come out of the Western Conference and win the NBA Finals, and little has changed during the first couple months of the season. Golden State isn’t quite on a 73-win pace again this season, but the team is 23-4 and its offense is producing at a historic pace.
Although the Warriors haven’t looked invincible, they also haven’t had to endure many growing pains as they’ve incorporated prized offseason signee Kevin Durant into their rotation. It will be an extremely tall order for any Western Conference team to beat Golden State four times in a seven-game playoff series, but a handful of teams in the conference have looked good so far.
The Spurs have the West’s second-best record, at 21-5, though advanced statistics suggest that pace is probably unsustainable, as Mika Honkasalo of HoopsHype writes. The Clippers got off to a hot start and briefly looked like they belonged in the discussion with the Warriors, but a cool stretch starting in late November brought them back down to earth, and they’ve struggled against Golden State in recent years. L.A. has lost its last seven games to the Warriors, and was blown out in the only meeting between the two teams so far this season.
While San Antonio and Los Angeles were expected to be the Warriors’ top challengers coming into the season, another trio of teams has helped form a strong second tier in the conference. The Rockets, led by MVP candidates James Harden and a record-setting barrage of three-pointers, have won nine games in a row and are tied with the Clips at 20-7. The Grizzlies, who surged without their top player (Mike Conley), are right behind them, and the Jazz, who have battled injuries all year, look like they could be a dangerous club if and when they finally get healthy.
What do you think? Which of these teams should the Warriors be most worried about facing in the Western Conference portion of the postseason? Is there another team in the conference that could create problems for Golden State? Weigh in below with your vote!
Which team is the biggest threat to the Warriors?
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San Antonio Spurs 39% (541)
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Houston Rockets 26% (364)
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Utah Jazz 16% (226)
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Los Angeles Clippers 12% (169)
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Memphis Grizzlies 5% (77)
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Another Western Conference team 2% (28)
Total votes: 1,405
App users, click here to place your vote.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/16/16
Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Warriors have announced that they’ve assigned Damian Jones to the D-League, giving him a chance to suit up for Santa Cruz tonight, tweets Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group. Jones, Golden State’s 2016 first-round pick, made his NBA debut with the Warriors last week, but continues to be brought along slowly after a pectoral injury sidelined him to start the season.
- Rookie guard Demetrius Jackson has been sent back to the D-League by the Celtics, the club announced today (via Twitter). Jackson has played very sparingly in Boston so far this year, but has looked good for the Maine Red Claws, averaging 19.6 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 5.9 RPG in eight contests.
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet from the D-League after the duo played in Thursday night’s Raptors 905 game. The team announced the move via Twitter.
Warriors Notes: Curry, Durant, Pachulia, West
Stephen Curry is one of the players who stands to benefit most from the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, as Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com detail. Under the previous CBA, and based on previously reported cap projections, Curry looked to be in line for a new deal that started at around $29MM. However, the designated player rule should allow Curry to get a starting salary closer to $36MM.
According to Windhorst and Stein, the “widespread expectation in league circles” is that there’s little chance Curry leaves the Warriors next summer, but the extra money the team can offer him should even further increase his odds of remaining in Golden State. If the Dubs were to offer a full five-year max deal and it started at $36MM, it would be worth a staggering $208MM+ over five years, including $47MM+ in the final season. In other words, there’s a decent chance Curry could become the NBA’s first $200MM player in July.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- While Windhorst and Stein focused on Curry, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post takes a closer look at what the new CBA means for Kevin Durant. As Bontemps details, if Durant wants a new maximum-salary contract next summer, Golden State will have to make some tough roster decisions on their complementary players, including Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala.
- The Warriors’ frontcourt is banged up, with Zaza Pachulia already out of action and David West leaving Thursday’s game early. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter), Pachulia’s MRI showed a deep bruise – but no fracture – on his right wrist, and he has no definitive timeline for a return. West, meanwhile, will undergo an MRI today after injuring his hip, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com.
- Before the NBA and NBPA finalized an agreement on a new CBA this week, Haynes published a conversation with Draymond Green in a piece for ESPN.com, examining (in part) the big man’s penchant for speaking in mind. A day later, Green lived up to that reputation when he became one of the only NBA players to criticize the new CBA deal.
Woj: Any Warriors Trade Would Have To Be Low-Risk
- The Warriors would like to add a rim protector, but they know teams won’t be giving that type of player away, and they don’t want to do any trade that makes them “even 1% less likely to win a title,” says Wojnarowski.
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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/8/16
Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Warriors recalled rookie center Damian Jones from their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, according to a press release. During his most recent assignment, which began Nov. 30, Jones averaged 2.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 19.3 minutes.
- Ivica Zubac was assigned by the Lakers to their D-Fenders, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets. That allowed him to get some game action against Reno. The 7’1” rookie center has appeared in four games with the Lakers.