Western Notes: Durant, Upshaw, Ezeli
The pursuit of Kevin Durant next summer is shaping up as the “biggest non-LeBron free agency the NBA has ever seen,” writes Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding, but it doesn’t come without doubts. The crack that Durant told Ding that he had in one of the bones in his right foot was an “unthinkable” recurrence of an earlier break, orthopedic surgeon Robert Klapper said to Ding. Klapper nonetheless expressed confidence that the bone will hold together after the latest surgery, and Durant is far from worried, the former MVP must proceed with caution, Ding opines. Still, Durant believes he’s the league’s best player, as he told Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link), and that confidence will be a boon for the Thunder, at least for this coming season, writes The Oklahoman’s Jenni Carlson. While we wait to see whether Durant or LeBron James emerges as the most sought-after free agent of the 2016 class, here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Undrafted center Robert Upshaw reportedly reached an agreement with the Lakers a month ago, but Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times hears that he’s merely a possibility for the team, which has no immediate plans to sign him, Pincus adds (Twitter link). GM Mitch Kupchak said late last month that he and Upshaw’s agent, Bill Duffy, were talking but didn’t confirm that the sides had a deal and downplayed any on-court impact that Upshaw might make for the team this season.
- Eric Saar of Basketball Insiders compares rookie scale extension candidate Festus Ezeli to Alexis Ajinca, who re-signed with the Pelicans last month for about $19.5MM over four years. Saar, whose piece looks at extension candidates around the NBA, figures Ezeli will wind up with annual salaries of around $5MM. Warriors GM Bob Myers indicated recently that he’d consider an extension for the backup center, but Saar thinks Golden State should wait for him to hit restricted free agency next summer.
- Injuries had much to do with the struggles of the league-worst Timberwolves last season, argues fellow Basketball Insiders scribe Ben Dowsett, who names Minnesota one of three under-the-radar teams in the Western Conference. The Wolves have added No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns and went after veterans this summer, re-signing Kevin Garnett and adding Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince.
Western Notes: Cousins, Karl, Davis, Williams
Rumors about turmoil between DeMarcus Cousins and Kings coach George Karl were overblown, Cousins insisted Tuesday, as Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee observes. The snake and grass emojis that the All-Star tweeted earlier this summer, shortly after the report that Karl wanted to trade him, seemed to indicate otherwise, but it appears their relationship has improved since then.
“There were some things that had to be ironed out,” Cousins said, “but at the same time, I wouldn’t make it as big as it was made out to be. Me and him [Karl] are on the same page, working on our relationship, and getting better every day. That’s all that matters. Things are a lot better. We’re trying to understand each other better. We’re going to make things happen, positive things happen.”
See more from the Western Conference:
- Former Pelicans coach Monty Williams still won’t express dismay over his firing earlier in the offseason, even though it separated him from Anthony Davis, the New Orleans star with whom he shares an uncanny bond, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times Picayune. Williams, now a Thunder assistant, still talks with Davis but insists that he’s careful to leave most of the tutelage to new Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, Smith notes. Still, Williams makes it clear that he’ll always be friends with Davis, according to Smith.
- The Clippers roster is built to win in the playoffs more so than any other among Western Conference teams, according to metrics that Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com put together for an Insider-only piece. That’s thanks to the addition of depth to the team’s star core, Doolittle writes. The Lance Stephenson trade and the signings of Paul Pierce, Josh Smith and others bolstered the strong but thin existing group.
- Warriors GM Bob Myers may be the reigning Executive of the Year, but Spurs GM R.C. Buford, who won the award in 2014, is still the league’s top front office boss, opines Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. That’s not surprising given San Antonio’s free agent haul, which includes LaMarcus Aldridge and a minimum-salary deal for David West.
Pacific Notes: Speights, Morris, Clippers’ Depth
Marreese Speights wants to reward the Warriors for picking up the team option on the final year of his contract, which is worth $3.815MM, Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com writes. The Big Man has emphasized conditioning thus far in his offseason workouts and he hopes the hard work translates into a bigger role on the team.
“So coming into this year, I’m going to prepare differently so that I’ll come into camp in the best shape I’ve ever been. And hopefully that will give me a chance to get more consistent minutes,” the Florida product said.
Speights will have competition for back-up frontcourt minutes with new addition Jason Thompson coming into the fold and Festus Ezeli primed to take on a bigger role.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division.
- Markieff Morris‘ situation has created uncertainty for the Suns, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders writes. Morris reportedly wants out of Phoenix and trading the forward probably makes sense for both parties. Blancarte argues that because of his team-friendly contract, which has three years and $24MM remaining on it, Morris could be a valuable oncourt addition to another franchise. However, the Suns are likely to receive a less than stellar return for the 25-year-old, similar to what the Nuggets netted for Ty Lawson, because of his offcourt issues.
- New additions Lance Stephenson, Wesley Johnson, Paul Pierce and Josh Smith bring some much needed versatility to the Clippers, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com writes. Smith’s ability to play the center position, which he did 12% of the time last season for the Rockets, should give Los Angeles the ammunition to matchup against top small-ball lineups, such as the Warriors’ lineup with Draymond Green at center.
Kings Notes: Thompson, Cousins, Arena
Jason Thompson says he was “in shock” a week ago when the Sixers, the team he grew up watching in nearby New Jersey, traded him to the Warriors before he ever played a game in a Philly uniform, as the power forward tells Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group. Thompson, whom the Kings had traded to the Sixers earlier in July, added that he’s glad to join a championship team after playing for seven coaches in seven years, none of whom guided the Kings to the playoffs. Still, Thompson, who’s kept a house in Sacramento, isn’t without his sentiments for the only NBA team he’s ever suited up for.
“I built a lot of relationships there with the fans, and they were real loyal to a guy coming out of New Jersey and they welcomed me with open arms,” Thompson said to Steward. “There are a lot of memories. I wish they were better memories with wins and stuff, but I’m sure, going to play in Sac twice, there are going to be a lot of emotions.”
Thompson is under contract for two more seasons, though his 2016/17 salary is partially guaranteed. See more from California’s capital:
- DeMarcus Cousins, coach George Karl, vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz “talked openly about everything” during a meeting in Las Vegas this week, Divac said on The Grant Napear Show on CBS Sports 1140 in Sacramento, notes Jason Wise of Kings.com. Discord marked the Kings earlier this summer, when Karl reportedly pushed for the team to trade Cousins.
- Three Sacramento residents have agreed to dismiss their lawsuit against the city government’s funding of a new Kings arena, enabling the city to start paying its share toward construction, which is already in progress, reports Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee. A judge gave the city a favorable ruling two weeks ago, and the challenge didn’t appear to pose a serious threat to the arena project.
Pacific Notes: Clarkson, Sterling, Thompson
Jordan Clarkson credits his D-League assignments during the first part of this past season for helping him emerge as a breakout performer at the NBA level as the season wore on, he tells Brian Kotloff of NBADLeague.com. The Lakers guaranteed the point guard’s minimum salary for the coming season when they kept him on the roster through this past Saturday.
“I’m focused on always working on my game,” Clarkson said to Kotloff. “Early in the year, I wasn’t getting much time with the Lakers. Sometimes I would ask Coach [Byron Scott] to just go let me play. I love to hoop and you can never get better just by sitting on the bench. Going to play in those [D-Fenders] games definitely helped me to work on stuff that I could transfer over when I got time in the [NBA]. The game is a little different between the levels, but it helped slow the game down for me and it sped up my process of becoming a good player in [the NBA].”
The Lakers have a geographic edge with their D-League affiliate, since the D-Fenders play their home games in the same facility where the Lakers practice. See more from around the Pacific Division:
- Former Clippers owner Donald Sterling has filed for divorce from his wife, Shelly, and he’s also filed a petition for an accounting and distribution of the proceeds of the $2 billion new owner Steve Ballmer paid to purchase the team last year, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. Half of that money is frozen in escrow pending Donald Sterling’s $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA, Woike notes. Shelly Sterling controls the family trust into which the other half of Ballmer’s payment went, so Donald Sterling, who’s estranged from his wife, hasn’t seen any money from the sale yet, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter links). Shelly Sterling said she’s paid $600MM in taxes and fees on the sale proceeds so far, Shelburne adds.
- Jason Thompson is a better fit with Warriors tempo, a proficient rebounder, and an upgrade defensively over David Lee, whose role he inherits, as SB Nation’s Tom Ziller argues in a look at Golden State’s trade with the Sixers. Thompson’s presence is particularly valuable for the Warriors given his success guarding LaMarcus Aldridge and, to a lesser degree, Blake Griffin, as Ziller examines.
Extension Candidate: Harrison Barnes
The championship that the Warriors won this past season was in a way like a fancy dinner out. The meal could scarcely have been better, but now it’s time to pay the check. Golden State will still get off much more cheaply than it could have for this coming season and next, with MVP Stephen Curry tied to a discount contract through 2016/17. However, the fun of winning a title with starting forwards who combined to make less than $4MM is over. Draymond Green will cost $82MM over the next five years, and an extension during this offseason’s eligibility window for Harrison Barnes stands to be even pricier. Grantland’s Zach Lowe estimates that the Warriors and Barnes will negotiate within the space between DeMarre Carroll‘s new four-year, $58MM deal with the Raptors, an average annual value of $14.5MM, and the maximum, which for Barnes is projected to hit $20.4MM.
That’s a fairly wide range, and it epitomizes the back-and-forth career that Barnes has had. He was the top recruit coming out of high school in the 2010 Recruiting Services Consensus Index, but he slipped to the No. 7 overall pick after two years at North Carolina. He started as a rookie, but when the Warriors acquired Andre Iguodala the following summer, Barnes became a reserve, and his game stagnated. He was the subject of trade rumors in the middle of his second season, and his name surfaced in Golden State’s Kevin Love talks last summer, when it appeared that the Timberwolves weren’t as high on Barnes as the Warriors were. Enter new coach Steve Kerr, who made the tricky decision to start Barnes over Iguodala this past season. The gamble paid off and then some, with Barnes showing improved play and Iguodala performing so well as a sixth man that he became just the second bench player ever to win Finals MVP.
Of course, it’s not as if Barnes became a 20-point scorer or the sort of all-court force that traditionally commands eye-popping salaries. He barely managed to become a double-figure scorer for the first time in his career, averaging 10.1 points per game, and though he became more efficient, his 13.4 PER is still below the 15.0 mark of an average player. However, at age 22 for most of this past season, he was a plus defender, registering a positive Basketball-Reference Defensive Box Plus Minus, a victory for any wing player. The 6’7″ specimen with a 6’11” wingspan came in 12th among small forwards in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus Minus, and he would have been ranked more highly if Green, rated No. 1, were listed as a power forward.
Kerr’s offense featured different shot selection for Barnes, giving him fewer mid-range looks and more from behind the three-point line and at the basket, as Basketball-Reference shows. The modernized distribution resulted in a sizable year-over-year leap in shooting percentage, from 39.9% to 48.2%. His 40.5% three-point shooting was the league’s 12th-most accurate mark in that category.
The Warriors, in a vacuum, would surely prefer to see if Barnes can keep it up rather than tethering themselves to a deal that would make him the latest Warrior to make more than Curry. Golden State does have the power to control the small forward’s destination beyond this coming season, but restricted free agency can be unpredictable, particularly if the Warriors have interest in limiting his cost. The prospect of unleashing Barnes into a market that yielded Carroll’s deal and $70MM over five years for Khris Middleton must surely be intriguing for agent Jeff Wechsler, particularly given the relative dearth of star free agents in next year’s class outside of Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, Al Horford and Joakim Noah.
Rookie scale extensions, particularly those that aren’t agreed upon in early July, tend to involve team-friendly terms and fall short of the max. So, even though the Warriors haven’t given out their Designated Player title to anyone yet, allowing them to sign Barnes to an extension of five years instead of four, it’s unlikely that weapon comes into play, since five-year extensions have to start at the maximum salary.
Golden State, under reigning Executive of the Year Bob Myers, has shown a preference for signing extensions rather than allowing key players to hit free agency, making preemptive strikes with Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Bogut. The Warriors used the timing of the extension to their advantage with Thompson, convincing him to agree to take a starting salary that was his projected maximum salary at the time, but no more. It was, in essence, a plausible max extension, but the max turned out to be about $900K greater than the October projection, a savings of more than $4MM over the life of the deal for Golden State.
The Warriors seem unlikely to dance so closely with the max for Barnes, but what happened with Thompson demonstrates the team’s willingness to get creative to forge a deal. Barnes has motivation to come to a deal while his improvements and contribution to a championship are still fresh in the team’s mind, and to hedge against any regression, be it in his own game or the team’s performance. He’d be betting against himself if he did so, of course.
Jimmy Butler is the archetype for a defensive-minded wing player who turned down an extension, blossomed as an offensive player in his fourth year, and wound up with handsome rewards. Golden State will have to be aggressive in its offer, but I suspect the team will be. I don’t think the Warriors want to approach $20MM a year, but a proposal of between $16-18MM per season that would make Barnes the highest-paid member of his team would probably be enough to convince him to jump on it. Such a number would also be far enough from the projected max to give the Warriors hope that they’ll once more see a bargain when they look back on the deal and take comfort in knowing the youngest starter from a 67-win championship team is committed for the long term.
How do you see extension talks between the Warriors and Barnes playing out? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Pacific Notes: Prigioni, Dukan, Lieberman
Pablo Prigioni, who inked a one year deal with the Clippers this offseason, said that Los Angeles was his preferred destination all along, writes Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. “I didn’t even consider to choose another team or to go back to Europe,” Prigioni said. “’I said, I want to go there [to Los Angeles].’ This is a perfect team. This is a team that has a group of guys that are playing together the last four or five years. Now, same coach, add a couple of new guys. This is a perfect team to go to and try to give my best and help with whatever they need to do.”
Here’s more from the NBA’s Pacific Division:
- Grantland’s Zach Lowe figures the range of salaries on a would-be extension for the Warriors‘ Harrison Barnes would fall between those on DeMarre Carroll‘s four-year, $58MM deal with the Raptors and the 2016/17 maximum salary for players with Barnes’ years of experience, projected to come in at $20.4MM.
- Duje Dukan‘s deal with the Kings will see him earn $525,093, which is fully guaranteed, for the 2015/16 campaign, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The forward is scheduled to make $874,636 in the second year of the pact, $200k of which becomes guaranteed on August 1st, 2016, Pincus adds.
- New Kings assistant coach Nancy Lieberman, in a Q&A with David Aldridge of NBA.com, said one of her biggest challenges will be in knowing when to chime in with her opinions, since all of her previous experience was as a head coach. “Summer League was really important for me. Summer League helped validate that I’m not a pushy broad,” Lieberman said. “I have been a head coach my whole life. I’ve never been an assistant, to be honest. I’m the one that has to do some of the growing here. I have got to learn when to speak, when my voice is required, and quite frankly, when to just shut the heck up. So that part is new for me. That will be new for me. But George [Karl] is a pretty easy guy to be around.”
- The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers‘ D-League affiliate, have hired Casey Owens as head coach, Pincus reports (via Twitter).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Warriors, Sixers Swap Thompson, Wallace
4:36pm: Philadelphia receives the right to swap the lesser of the 2016 first-round picks coming their way from the Heat and the Thunder for Golden State’s 2016 first-round pick, tweets Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
4:05pm: The Warriors have acquired Jason Thompson from the Sixers in exchange for Gerald Wallace, both teams announced via press release. Cash and draft considerations are also going to Philadelphia in the move. It’s a money-saving deal for Golden State, which sends Wallace’s $10,105,855 salary into Philadelphia’s cap space, with Thompson’s $6,908,685 salary going back in return, and with the Warriors poised to pay the luxury tax this season, the move saves the Warriors from tax penalties of as much as two and a half times the difference between their salaries. It also creates a trade exception worth $3,197,170 for Golden State.
“We’re very happy to add Jason to our roster,” Warriors GM Bob Myers said. “He has a proven track record in this league and adds considerably to our team’s depth, which was a big key to our success last season and will be moving forward.”
Thompson will ostensibly fill the reserve power forward role that David Lee played last year for the champs, who sent Lee to the Celtics in the deal that brought in Wallace. The 29-year-old Thompson has chiefly been a starter during his seven years in the NBA, all of which came with Sacramento before the trade earlier this month that sent him to Philly, but he probably won’t mind a reduced role on a team with a legitimate shot to win another title. Thompson has never appeared in a playoff game.
It was somewhat surprising when reports emerged following Golden State’s agreement on the Lee trade that the Warriors intended to keep Wallace rather than release him and use the stretch provision to spread his salary and lower their tax bill. Thus, it makes sense to see them make another deal that sends Wallace away and takes a chunk out of their team salary. The Warriors were scheduled to pay Lee $15,493,680 this coming season, so they’ve reduced their obligation by more than 50% with the pair of trades. The estimated tax bill for the Warriors drops from $24MM to $16MM with today’s trade, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). It had been $38.1MM before the Lee trade, Marks adds. Lee signed his deal prior to the adoption of the current collective bargaining agreement, so he’s ineligible for the stretch provision.
Thompson’s contract runs through 2016/17 with $2.6MM partially guaranteed on a salary of $7,010,378 that season, Marks points out (Twitter link). That salary becomes fully guaranteed if he doesn’t hit waivers by June 26th, 2016, as Marks also notes.
The Sixers receive yet more draft assets and draw closer to the $63MM salary floor. They held more than $20MM in cap flexibility prior to the trade, and they still have about $17.5MM they can spend, not counting their non-guaranteed deals, giving them flexibility to absorb other contracts via trade. They could also float a bloated offer sheet to Norris Cole, in whom they reportedly have interest, or to Tristan Thompson. Philadelphia clears salary from its 2016/17 books, since Wallace is on an expiring contract.
Who do you think got the better end of this trade? Leave a comment to weigh in.
Pacific Notes: Lieberman, Moreland, Durant
- The Kings decided one-year veteran Eric Moreland‘s playing style was too similar to that of No. 6 pick Willie Cauley-Stein, helping prompt Sacramento to waive Moreland on Thursday rather than guarantee his salary, as Shams Charania of RealGM writes. Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee wouldn’t be shocked to see Moreland end up with Denver, where former Sacramento GM Pete D’Alessandro, who signed him to the Kings last year, works in the Nuggets front office, but Bill Herenda of CSN California heard early word suggesting that won’t happen (Twitter links).
- The Warriors will surely chase Kevin Durant next summer, when he’s set for free agency, but realistically, they’d have to sign-and-trade for him, and such a deal would probably have to include Harrison Barnes plus more, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group posits in a look at Golden State’s chances for the former MVP.
- Golden State has promoted Luke Walton to lead assistant to replace Alvin Gentry, the team announced. Gentry became the head coach of the Pelicans earlier this summer. Walton joined the Warriors coaching staff last year.
- The Suns have officially added Earl Watson, Nate Bjorkgren and Jason Fraser to their coaching staff, the team announced. Watson and Fraser come from the Spurs D-League team while Bjorkgren had coached Phoenix’s D-League affiliate. Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group first reported the addition of Watson, who helped with the Suns’ pitch to LaMarcus Aldridge, his former teammate with the Trail Blazers.
Northwest Notes: Durant, Thunder, Blazers
The Blazers acquired Mike Miller from the Cavs earlier this week but he’s probably not sticking around for long. The veteran is a “strong candidate” to negotiate a buyout with Portland, Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears, and the Grizzlies, Thunder, and Mavs already appear to be interested. While we wait for more on that, here’s more from the Northwest Division..
- The Thunder remain the front-runners for Kevin Durant‘s 2016 free agency, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News sizes up the chances that the Wizards, Warriors,
Rockets, Heat, Clippers, Mavericks, Celtics, Knicks and Lakers all of have of convincing the former MVP to leave OKC. - The Thunder viewed Kevin Seraphin as a possible fall-back option if they did not re-sign Enes Kanter, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. At this point, a one-year deal is more likely for Seraphin than a long-term pact, Castillo writes. OKC, of course, has retained Kanter. The Knicks, Lakers, and Wizards are showing interest in Seraphin at this time.
- The SI.com staff debated which team took the biggest step back this summer and multiple writers cast their ballots for the Trail Blazers. The Blazers, of course, have watched Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez wind up elsewhere this summer. Damian Lillard has been surrounded with some promising young talent, but they seem likely to take a big step back in 2015/16.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.