Hoops Rumors Originals

2017 Offseason In Review: Phoenix Suns

September 26th, 2017 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Phoenix Suns.

Signings:

Alan Williams: Three years, $17.04MM. Second year non-guaranteed. Third year team option.
Alex Len: One year, $4.188MM. Signed qualifying offer.
Mike James: Two-way contract. One year.
Alec Peters: Two-way contract.

Camp invitees:

Anthony Bennett: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract.
Peter Jok: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.

Trades:

Acquired Troy Daniels and a 2018 second-round pick (second-most favorable of Grizzlies, Heat, and Hornets second-rounders) from the Grizzlies in exchange for Suns’ own 2018 second-round pick (top-55 protected)

Draft picks:

1-4: Josh Jackson — Signed to rookie contract.
2-32: Davon Reed — Signed to four-year, minimum salary contract. Second year partially guaranteed. Third and fourth years non-guaranteed.
2-54: Alec Peters — Signed to two-way contract.

Extensions:

T.J. Warren: Four years, $50MM (reported)

Departing players:

Leandro Barbosa (waived)
Ronnie Price

Other offseason news:

Extended general manager Ryan McDonough.
Hired James Jones as vice president of basketball operations.
Brandon Knight expected to miss 2017/18 season due to ACL tear.
Alan Williams expected to be out until March due to meniscus tear.
Davon Reed expected to be out until at least December due to meniscus tear.

Salary cap situation:

Operating under the cap and under the salary floor. Could create up to $13MM+ in cap space (carrying approximately $85.4MM in guaranteed salary), plus full room exception ($4.328MM) still available.

Check out the Phoenix Suns’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.

Story of the summer:

The Suns entered the 2017 offseason armed with cap room and ready to make a major splash in free agency or on the trade market. After having been linked to Kevin Love in several trade rumors, Phoenix lined up meetings with the top two free agent big men on the market, Blake Griffin and Paul Millsap.

Ultimately, Love remained in Cleveland, Griffin cancelled his meeting with the Suns after quickly coming to the terms with the Clippers, and the Suns reconsidered their direction. Less than 24 hours after the free agent period began, the Suns backed off their pursuit of Millsap, opting instead to continue taking a patient approach to the rebuilding process and to potentially use their cap space to accommodate salary dumps rather than to sign an impact free agent.

The Suns may have been tempted to deviate from that approach later in the summer when Kyrie Irving made his trade request — Irving is younger than Love, Griffin, or Millsap, and would’ve been a better fit for the Suns’ timeline. However, acquiring Cleveland’s star point guard likely would have cost the Suns Josh Jackson and a future first-round pick, and despite being the club most frequently linked to Irving, Phoenix wasn’t willing to pay that price and compromise its rebuild.

That looks to me like the right call. Clawing their way back to the upper ranks of the Western Conference will be a long, challenging road for the Suns, but going out and compromising their future cap flexibility to land an impact player would have represented an ill-advised short cut. This roster has a long way to go before it’s ready to contend, and adding a single star wouldn’t have changed that.

Key offseason losses:

Veteran guards Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight continued to be the subjects of trade rumors throughout the offseason, and young bigs Alan Williams and Alex Len reached free agency. All four of those players are still Suns though, as the roster remained surprisingly stable over the summer.

Thirteen of the 15 players who finished the 2016/17 season as Suns are still on the roster, with Leandro Barbosa and Ronnie Price representing the only departing vets. While their career résumés are impressive (they’ve appeared in nearly 1,400 combined regular season games), Barbosa and Price didn’t have a major impact on last season’s club. Barbosa at least had a rotation role, averaging 6.3 PPG in 67 games, but Price only appeared in 14 total contests.

Key offseason additions:

The Suns’ only major moves in free agency involved re-signing their own players, with Williams and Len getting new deals from the team. That meant that Phoenix’s most notable additions came in the draft, and fourth overall pick Jackson topped the list of the Suns’ draftees.

The Suns headed into the draft lottery as the second-highest seed and slipped two spots to No. 4, so it will be interesting to see if that outcome ends up coming back to haunt the team in the years to come. Having a shot to draft Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball likely would’ve resulted in a very different offseason for the Suns, who could have shopped Bledsoe more aggressively in that scenario.

Instead, the Suns came out of one of the best point guard drafts in recent memory with a versatile, two-way forward who – even at age 20 – should be able to contribute immediately, particularly on the defensive end. Jackson’s jump shot will have to improve significantly if he’s going to fully live up to his potential and become an All-Star caliber player, but even if that shot takes some time to come around, his athleticism and his ability to guard multiple positions make him a valuable piece for the Suns’ core. And the team clearly recognizes that value, having resisted including Jackson in an offer for Irving.

The Suns also looked to make up for the loss of Barbosa and Price by adding Davon Reed with the 32nd overall pick in the draft. A 39.5% three-point shooter over the course of his college career, the rookie guard could have teamed with Bledsoe, Knight, Devin Booker, and Tyler Ulis to form a young, promising backcourt.

Instead, after suffering a meniscus tear, Reed looks likely to miss most of the first half of the season, while an ACL tear for Knight is expected to sideline him for the entire 2017/18 campaign. Newly acquired shooting guard Troy Daniels figures to help fill out the backcourt rotation in their absence.

Outlook for 2017/18:

On paper, the Suns look pretty similar to the team that finished 24-58 and finished dead last in the Western Conference in 2016/17. Of course, Phoenix wasn’t trying too hard to win games down the stretch, and another year of development for the club’s young players should result in an improvement on the court.

Still, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Suns aren’t once again occupying one of the spots at the bottom of the conference. Fellow lottery teams like the Nuggets, Pelicans, Timberwolves, and Lakers made more tangible improvements this offseason, and key Suns frontcourt players like Jackson, Marquese Chriss, and Dragan Bender will still be finding their footing in the NBA this season. Plus, the Suns have been hit hard by the injury bug this offseason, with Knight, Reed, and Williams all poised to miss extended time.

Another finish in the bottom five of the NBA standings may not thrill fans, but it’s probably good for the Suns’ long-term outlook. When Phoenix made the decision this summer to be patient with the rebuild rather than looking for a short-term fix, the club committed to at least another year or two in the lottery. That should help give the Suns’ young nucleus some time to grow, while giving the franchise the opportunity to add a couple more core pieces in the coming drafts.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2017 Offseason In Review: Charlotte Hornets

September 25th, 2017 at 8:00am CST by Austin Kent

Signings:

Michael Carter-Williams: One year, $2.7MM.
Julyan Stone: Two years, minimum salary. Second year non-guaranteed.
Mangok Mathiang: Two-way contract. Two years, $50K guaranteed.
Marcus Paige: Two-way contracts. One year, $50K guaranteed.

Camp invitees:

Terry Henderson: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Isaiah Hicks: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Luke Petrasek: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
T.J. Williams: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.

Trades:

Acquired Dwight Howard and the No. 31 overall pick from the Hawks in exchange for Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli, and the No. 41 overall pick.
Acquired the draft rights to Dwayne Bacon (No. 40 pick) and cash ($1.8MM) from the Pelicans in exchange for the draft rights to Frank Jackson (No. 31 pick).

Draft picks:

1-11: Malik Monk — Signed to rookie contract.
2-40: Dwayne Bacon — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Third year non-guaranteed.

Departing players:

Marco Belinelli
Miles Plumlee
Brian Roberts
Ramon Sessions (declined team option)
Briante Weber (waived)
Christian Wood

Other offseason news:

Assistant general manager Chad Buchanan hired away by the Pacers.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap all offseason. Carrying approximately $116MM in guaranteed salary, pushing them close to the tax line.
Portion of mid-level exception ($4.89MM) and full bi-annual exception ($3.29MM) still available.

Check out the Charlotte Hornets’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.

Story of the summer:

The Hornets followed up a feel-good return to relevance with an uninspired effort last season, leaving fans of the rebranded franchise wondering if the club’s brief dalliance with the postseason was anything more than a simple aberration.

In the wake of that 2016 playoff appearance, the club lost a handful of impactful veterans, won 12 fewer contests, and ultimately returned to the lottery wondering what went wrong.

This summer, then, served as a critical indicator of the club’s frame of mind heading forward, and it didn’t take long for general manager Rich Cho to make it loud and clear that he has no intention of blowing up the squad’s current core anytime soon.

The Hornets were aggressive this summer, pulling off one of the biggest heists of the offseason, drafting pragmatically, and generally supplementing their lineup with genuinely complementary players.

At a time when most fringe playoff squads with little cap flexibility might consider blowing things up and starting a new Process, that’s inspiring in itself.

Key offseason losses:

The Hornets came away from the summer mostly unscathed, but the loss that they’ll notice most is that of veteran Marco Belinelli. The Italian two guard led the club’s reserve corps, averaging 10.4 points per game in 74 contests and providing reliable three-point shooting.

The loss of Miles Plumlee is significant for different reasons. The fact that Cho found a way to pawn off the three-year, $37.5MM hot potato that is Plumlee’s contract – just months after acquiring it from Milwaukee – is national holiday-level impressive.

Another notable change to the team comes on the depth chart. Last season Charlotte trotted out Ramon Sessions and Brian Roberts as reserve point guards but neither were particularly effective spelling Kemba Walker. The club even gave G League star Briante Weber a shot at the role but were ultimately underwhelmed there, too. All three are gone for 2017/18.

Key offseason additions:

The last half-decade of Dwight Howard‘s career hasn’t exactly been filled with kittens and rainbows, but the public’s perception of the fallen superstar has over-corrected. The 31-year-old averaged 13.5 points and 12.7 rebounds per game last season on a squad that didn’t particularly want or need him.

Now back under the tutelage of former coach Steve Clifford – who guided Howard during his Magic days – the eight-time All-Star will see his best opportunity to succeed in years. No longer just that dude somebody invited to the party out of obligation, Howard will join a team that actually looks forward to including him and maybe even featuring him in their offense (although let’s not get too crazy).

Another promising move the Hornets made was drafting Malik Monk out of Kentucky. The fact that Charlotte filled an obvious need with an established college player capable of producing out of the gates speaks to the club’s willingness to improve as soon as possible. Monk isn’t a project — not on the offensive side at least. He’s a legitimate scorer who can share some of the scoring burden with Walker.

Finally, dissatisfied with their backup point guard situation, the Hornets went out and picked up Michael Carter-Williams. One of many victims of the chaos in Chicago last season, Carter-Williams arrives in Charlotte as a 26-year-old former Rookie of the Year. Even if the guard never does quite live up to the expectations he set for himself after Year 1, he’s a steal at $2.7MM. Julyan Stone, pried away from an Italian team, will provide additional depth at point guard.

Outlook for 2017/18:

The Hornets put forth a decent start to last season, but started to struggle just before the midway point. This summer they added to their core with established pieces whose skill-sets won’t interfere with any of the team’s incumbent go-to talents.

The fact that the returning lineup has had several years to grow and gel together will serve the Hornets well as they battle with the likes of the Pistons and Sixers for the last few playoff spots. The fact that the new additions will bolster what’s quietly become one of the top-down deepest teams in the East could get them back where they belong: the postseason.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Weekly Mailbag: 9/18/17 – 9/24/17

September 24th, 2017 at 12:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com.

With Carmelo Anthony joining Russell Westbrook and Paul George at OKC, forming their version of a super team, what do you think are their chances of beating the Warriors or even winning the NBA championship this season? — Greg Dizon

Having three [or more] stars has become the path to an NBA title in recent years, so obviously that’s what the Thunder have in mind. The Warriors are obviously the toughest obstacle, but there are many others in an increasingly loaded Western Conference. The Rockets won 55 games last season and added Chris Paul. The Spurs won 61 games and added Rudy Gay. The Nuggets, Timberwolves and Pelicans all made moves to get better. Getting through the West won’t be easy, even with three great scoring options in Anthony, Westbrook and George. Then there’s the question of whether Anthony is still an elite player. Don’t forget that ESPN ranked him 64th in this year’s top 100 list, and he’s coming off four straight non-playoff seasons in a weak Eastern Conference. In a seven-game series with the Warriors, maybe the Thunder have the firepower to make it interesting, but they’ll have to make some moves to improve defensively to give themselves a fighting chance.

Who gets the ball when the game is on the line? — Boozybua, via Twitter

That’s one of the first questions to work out in Oklahoma City, just as it was for the Warriors when Kevin Durant arrived and for the Heat when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade. Westbrook, George and Anthony are all used to being their team’s primary scorer and taking the important shots. Sometimes it takes a few months for everyone to get comfortable with their roles, but the best guess here is that the ball still belongs to the MVP. Westbrook will dictate play, not just in crunch time but whenever he’s on the floor, with George and Anthony settling into complementary roles.

How can the Knicks get rid of Joakim Noah’s contract? That’s the only bad situation they have now. Any realistic options? — Scottie2hottie, via Twitter

The Knicks will be paying nearly $38MM this season for the center combination of Noah and Enes Kanter, while Willy Hernangomez and Kyle O’Quinn might be better options. Noah is part of the Phil Jackson legacy, with $55MM still due over the next three seasons and the perception that he is done as a productive player at age 32. As we outlined earlier today, the Knicks could use the stretch provision, although they missed the deadline for this season, so it would only help with the final two years of the deal. Noah’s contract probably makes him untradable unless the Knicks are willing to take on an equally bad arrangement in return.

2017 Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Lakers

September 23rd, 2017 at 9:51pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Signings:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: One year, $17.746MM.
Tyler Ennis: Two years, minimum salary. Second year non-guaranteed.
Andrew Bogut: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($50K).
Alex Caruso: Two-way contract. One year.

Camp invitees:

V.J. Beachem: One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
Vander Blue: One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
Briante Weber: One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
Stephen Zimmerman: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.

Trades:

Acquired Brook Lopez and the draft rights to Kyle Kuzma (No. 27 pick) from the Nets in exchange for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.
Acquired the draft rights to Josh Hart (No. 30 pick) and the draft rights to Thomas Bryant (No. 42 pick) from the Jazz in exchange for the draft rights to Tony Bradley (No. 28 pick).

Draft picks:

1-2: Lonzo Ball — Signed to rookie contract.
1-27: Kyle Kuzma — Signed to rookie contract.
1-30: Josh Hart — Signed to rookie contract.
2-42: Thomas Bryant — Signed to two-year, minimum salary contract. Second year non-guaranteed.

Departing players:

Tarik Black
Timofey Mozgov
David Nwaba (waived)
Thomas Robinson
D’Angelo Russell
Metta World Peace
Nick Young

Other offseason news:

Fined $500K for tampering with Pacers/Paul George.
Re-branded G-League affiliate. Formerly known as Los Angeles D-Fenders, franchise is now South Bay Lakers.

Salary cap situation:

Started under the cap and used all cap space. Currently carrying approximately $101MM in guaranteed salary. Full room exception ($4.328MM) still available.

Check out the Los Angeles Lakers’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.

Story of the summer:

Magic Johnson entered his first offseason as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations with a clear objective: set the stage for a star-studded 2018 free agency.

Johnson hired former player agent Rob Pelinkia as the team’s GM, something that may help with recruiting big names to the Lakers’ organization. He refrained from adding substantial salary to the future books in free agency, a mistake of the previous regime. And he cleared long-term salary in the D’Angelo Russell trade by attaching Timofey Mozgov to the former No. 2 overall pick in a deal that yielded Brook Lopez and the No. 27 overall pick in the 2017 draft (Kyle Kuzma) from the Nets.

If the organization makes a few smaller-scale moves at some point, such as moving Jordan Clarkson or other players on manageable contracts, it will have the ability to add multiple max-salary free agents next offseason. Maintaining flexibility trumped the desire to contend immediately and with Johnson running the show, the strategy could easily be lauded as soon as next July.

Key offseason losses:

Shipping away Russell just two seasons after spending a top-2 pick on him is puzzling in a vacuum, though it’s a much easier pill to swallow with Lonzo Ball coming into the fold. The organization realized that Russell and Ball were unlikely to form a sustainable backcourt combination and decided to make a move, betting on Ball to become the better long-term option.

The Lakers will also begin the season without the services of Nick Young for the first time since opening night in 2012. Young, who signed with the Warriors this offseason, enjoyed one of his most efficient campaigns last season, posting career-high 58.8 true shooting percentage. However, it was nearly a foregone conclusion by the end of the 2016/17 campaign that the veteran swingman wouldn’t return, since it didn’t make sense for him to continue playing for a team destined for the lottery yet again.

Key offseason additions:

Many expected the Lakers to swing a deal with the Pacers for Paul George, especially with George reportedly telling the Pacers that he wanted to be in Los Angeles. Johnson and the Lakers’ organization held firmly onto their assets (perhaps because of Johnson’s relationship with PG13) and George was shipped elsewhere.

Unable to bring in a star for the sixth straight offseason, Los Angeles opted to acquire talent that would help in the short-term without sacrificing future flexibility. The front office made several moves that project to be clear upgrades in their starting lineup.

Bringing in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on a one-year, $18MM provides the team with an offensive threat on the wing and a potential long-term backup plan should the franchise not land top talent during the summer of 2018. Had KCP hit the free agent market just one year earlier, perhaps he would have signed a maximum salary deal. Reaching the market a year after many teams overspent based on projections, he found fewer suitors willing to make big offers and settled for a lucrative one-year, prove-it deal.

The addition of Lopez adds a level of legitimacy to the Lakers’ frontcourt. The 29-year-old posted a player efficiency rating above 20 for the sixth straight year last season, even as he incorporated the three-ball into his game. Lopez’s 387 shots from behind the arc ranked 34th in the league last season, ahead of other notable marksmen such as Kawhi Leonard, Gordon Hayward, and Kyle Korver. His ability to stretch the floor should allow Ball, Caldwell-Pope, and sophomore Brandon Ingram more space to penetrate opposing defenses.

Adding a natural playmaker like Ball should allow the team to get the most of out its talent. Many have criticized the UCLA product’s shooting form, though there’s no denying the skill set that this kid possesses. Will he be as great as his father proclaims he will be? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean he won’t progress into a star.

The Lakers spent the last few offseasons attempting to add star free agents but ultimately ended up with lesser additions. This offseason yielded the same results, though it seems more orchestrated, organized, and executed with greater long-term objectives in mind than past offseason outcomes.

Outlook for 2017/18:

While Johnson’s plan for this offseason was more about the bigger picture than it was for the upcoming season, the team should easily be able to improve upon its 26-win campaign. Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com projects L.A. to end up with 33 wins this season, an improvement that’s driven by upgrades on the offensive side of the court. The projected starting lineup of Ball, KCP, Ingram, Lopez, and Julius Randle, who’s an extension candidate, should make scoring a non-issue for this team.

The defense is another story, as Luol Deng and Larry Nance Jr. are the only players on the roster to be included in the top-25 of their respective position’s defensive ranking, per ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus.

Is it possible that the Lakers hang in the conference’s eighth seed race through March? Sure, but competing in the Western Conference was no child’s play last season and it will be even more challenging this season after several teams made strides to get better.

Still, the Lakers will put out an entertaining product on the court this season, with Ball shooting and distributing, Lopez owning the post, and KCP driving and finishing. They’ll likely pull off some upsets and have a few games where they look like playoff contenders. However, with so many young players on the roster, inconsistency will likely be the factor that plagues the club this season and that will likely result in another lottery appearance.

For Johnson and the Lakers, this season’s win total isn’t an overly important factor; it’s all about the following season, when the team hopes to employ multiple All-Stars and compete for a title.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Hoops Rumors Originals: 9/16/17 – 9/23/17

September 23rd, 2017 at 5:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team compiles original content to complement our news feed. Here are our segments and features from the past seven days:

Luke Adams examined Five Lingering Offseason Questions before the opening of training camps.
We provided a list of the teams that are now limited to just minimum contract offers.
Our weekly mailbag answered questions on LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony and Nikola Mirotic.
Our Contract Extension Tracker is the best way to follow all the players who are eligible to receive extensions this fall.
We looked at the case for the Lakers’ Julius Randle in our Extension Candidate Series.
Our Offseason in Review series examined the Mavericks and Magic.
Our Community Shootarounds discussed which non-playoff teams from last year are ready to make the postseason and who are the best available free agents.
We conducted polls for the win totals of the Jazz, Sixers, Blazers, Hornets, Heat, and Clippers, respectively.
If you don’t have it already, be sure to download the Trade Rumors app for iOS/Android and give it a try.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Extension Candidate: Julius Randle

September 22nd, 2017 at 7:58pm CST by Austin Kent

For the third straight season, Julius Randle made progress establishing himself as a significant factor in the Lakers’ frontcourt. However, that progress won’t impact whether or not the 22-year-old inks a contract extension prior to the October 16th deadline.

No, Randle’s fate – perhaps more than any other player headed into the final year of a rookie contract – is tied to the lofty ambitions of the franchise that he plays for.

Put simply, the Lakers are all-in on preserving cap space for the 2018 free agency period — a period in which they’ll inevitably pursue LeBron James and Paul George. Or LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. Or LeBron James and any other star player who opts to test the waters next summer, it really just depends on which barber you ask.

This isn’t a knock on Randle. It’s a reality. The same reality that saw L.A. ship D’Angelo Russell out of town just to alleviate the club’s $16MM obligation to Timofey Mozgov in 2018/19.

Signing Randle to any extension in the realm of what he would justifiably qualify for before the October deadline would unnecessarily eat into the room that the Lakers would need in order to make a big, nay, massive splash next offseason. As it stands, Los Angeles has just under $54MM on their books for the 2018/19 season and you can bet the farm that they club will do anything within reason to unload Luol Deng‘s 18MM as soon as conceivably possible.

Of course, the Lakers can always circle back to Randle as a restricted free agent once they have a better idea of how their 2018 offseason will play out, but that obviously comes with inherent risk. It’s not inconceivable that Randle will raise his value this season and coax an aggressive offer sheet out of a team with cap space to burn.

So the question isn’t whether Randle will earn a contract extension in the next month – that almost certainly won’t happen – but rather if his play thus far has warranted it.

In his two full seasons with the Lakers, Randle has averaged just under a double double, putting up 12.2 PPG and 9.4 RPG while flashing impressive vision for a post player and a handle reminiscent of a slightly less polished Blake Griffin (that’s still a good thing).

Randle’s per-36 numbers ooze Zach Randolph-esque potential and the fact that he’s a productive contributor who doesn’t require much of the spotlight bodes well for a Lakers team that has every intention of filling the lineup around him with stars.

Expect Randle, already a competent third or fourth option, to take yet another step forward in 2017/18. The power forward has committed to improving his physical conditioning this summer and will now play alongside Lonzo Ball, one of the most exciting playmakers to come into the league in years.

We saw excellent rebound and assist rates out of Randle last season, as well as a modest 13.2 points per contest. That last figure could jump up to a more headline-worthy level, conveniently ahead of July 2018, when he hits the market for the first time.

If the pending restricted free agent drives his value to a level that precludes Los Angeles from retaining him, then that’s simply a consequence of the Lakers’ own ambition.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2017 Offseason In Review: Orlando Magic

September 22nd, 2017 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Jonathon Simmons: Three years, $18MM. Third year partially guaranteed ($1MM).
Shelvin Mack: Two years, $12MM. Second year non-guaranteed.
Arron Afflalo: One year, minimum salary.
Marreese Speights: One year, minimum salary.
Adreian Payne: Two-way contract. One year.

Camp invitees:

Khem Birch: Two years, minimum salary. $25K guaranteed.
Troy Caupain: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Kalin Lucas: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Damjan Rudez: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Rodney Purvis: Reported agreement not yet finalized.

Trades:

Acquired a 2020 first-round pick (Thunder; top-20 protected) and a 2020 second-round pick (less favorable of Knicks’ and Nets’ picks) from the Sixers in exchange for the draft rights to Anzejs Pasecniks (No. 25 pick).
Acquired a 2019 second-round pick (Nets) from the Grizzlies in exchange for the draft rights to Ivan Rabb (No. 35 pick).

Draft picks:

1-6: Jonathan Isaac — Signed to rookie contract.
2-33: Wesley Iwundu — Signed to three-year, $4.047MM contract. Third-year team option.

Departing players:

Patricio Garino (waived)
Marcus Georges-Hunt (waived)
Jeff Green
Jodie Meeks
C.J. Watson (waived)
Stephen Zimmerman (waived)

Other offseason news:

Fired general manager Rob Hennigan.
Hired Jeff Weltman as president of basketball operations; sent 2018 second-round pick to Raptors as compensation.
Hired John Hammond as general manager.
Hired Randy Wittman as coaching consultant.
Will have new G League affiliate (Lakeland Magic).

Salary cap situation:

Essentially capped out (carrying approximately $98MM in guaranteed salary), but full room exception ($4.328MM) still available.

Check out the Orlando Magic’s full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.

Story of the summer:

No NBA teams replaced head coaches this offseason, but Orlando was one of several clubs to make changes to its basketball operations department. The Magic had been patient with general manager Rob Hennigan, watching as he made incremental improvements over the course of his first four years with the franchise, increasing the club’s win total from 20 to 23 to 25 to 35. After a series of major moves failed to pan out, however, the Magic slipped back to 29-53 in 2016/17.

With no playoff berths or star players to show for five years of work in Orlando – and an embarrassing dry-erase board incident fresh in everyone’s mind – Hennigan was a goner. To replace him, the Magic brought in Raptors executive Jeff Weltman to run the basketball operations department, and poached John Hammond from the Bucks to become their new GM.

In his fifth year, Hennigan clearly felt the pressure to make win-now moves, which resulted in overpays for players like Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo. The new management group won’t be under the same sort of pressure — this roster isn’t capable of legit contention in the short term, which means Weltman and Hammond can be patient and focus on longer-term moves.

Both of the Magic’s new executives showed a willingness in their old jobs to gamble on young, athletic prospects with high upside. So far in Orlando, they’ve exhibited that same tendency. Not all of those moves will pan out, but with the Magic still going through a rebuild, Weltman and Hammond will likely be happy to roll the dice on a few Bruno Caboclos if the process eventually leads them to a Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Key offseason losses:

Considering the new front office had no attachment to most of the players brought in by the old regime, it came as no surprise that everyone with a non-guaranteed contract for 2017/18 was waived over the summer. Of that group, Marcus Georges-Hunt, Patricio Garino, and Stephen Zimmerman were young players who didn’t play much for Orlando last season, but C.J. Watson was the team’s primary point guard for most of last season.

Still, the Magic’s decision to move on from Watson made sense — he struggled mightily during his two years with the team, posting a shooting line of .371/.301/.867 in 95 total games. His $5MM salary was only partially guaranteed for $1MM, so releasing him gave the team an extra $4MM to use in free agency.

Speaking of free agents, the Magic also didn’t appear to make a strong effort to re-sign two veterans whose contracts expired. Jodie Meeks only appeared in 36 games for the team last season but was an effective outside shooter when he did play, making 40.9% of his three-point attempts.

Meanwhile, Jeff Green also spent just one season in Orlando, setting new career lows in several categories, including FG% (.394) and 3PT% (.275). A look at his year-to-year salary reflects how much his value slipped during his single season with the Magic — he signed for $15MM a year ago, and settled for the veteran’s minimum this offseason. Letting him walk shouldn’t negatively impact the Magic.

Key offseason additions:

Many of the top picks in June’s draft looked like ideal marriages between players and teams, and that was especially true of the Magic’s selection of Jonathan Isaac. Widely considered one of the more intriguing and athletic young prospects in the 2017 class, Isaac looks like exactly the sort of project that appeals to Weltman and Hammond. It’s not clear yet exactly what position he’ll play, or how long it will take him to develop into a reliable contributor, but the Magic have plenty of time to figure it out.

On the free agent market, the Magic mostly opted for veteran stability over youth and upside, though their investment in Jonathon Simmons was an interesting one. Simmons began the offseason as a restricted free agent, and was expected to attract significant interest after flashing some two-way potential in the playoffs following Kawhi Leonard‘s injury. However, the 28-year-old lingered on the market longer than anticipated, and eventually asked the Spurs to withdraw his qualifying offer, making him unrestricted. The Magic quickly swooped in and locked up Simmons at the very reasonable price of $6MM annually, with only two fully guaranteed seasons.

Simmons’ 2016/17 regular season stats – including a shooting line of .420/.294/.750 – weren’t overly impressive, but even if he doesn’t live up to the promise hinted at in the postseason, his cost will never become exorbitant. If he still has room to improve, he could end up turning into a bargain for the Magic, who figure to use him a more expanded role than the one he saw in San Antonio.

Outside of Simmons, the Magic also used their cap room to sign point guard Shelvin Mack, shooting guard Arron Afflalo, and big man Marreese Speights. None of those players figures to be part of the long-term plan in Orlando, but Mack could represent an upgrade at the backup point guard spot, and the Magic know what they’re getting from Afflalo and Speights, who will play rotation roles and provide some veteran leadership in the locker room.

Outlook for 2017/18:

In a weakened Eastern Conference, a playoff spot isn’t necessarily out of reach for the Magic, if everything breaks right. But that shouldn’t be the expectation — or even the goal.

In their first year with the franchise, Weltman and Hammond should be focusing on identifying which players are keepers and which ones are expendable. Guys like Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton, who are both already eligible for extensions this offseason, haven’t fully lived up to their potential so far, so it will be interesting to see whether Orlando holds off on new deals for the duo, opting to assess their play in their respective contract years before deciding whether to invest. Mario Hezonja is another lottery pick who has underperformed early in his NBA career, so 2017/18 should be a big year for him too.

With a focus on player development, the Magic will likely consider the season a success if a handful of those young players – including rookies Isaac and Wesley Iwundu – make positive strides, even if the club misses the postseason for a sixth straight year.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA Teams That Can’t Offer More Than The Minimum

September 20th, 2017 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

2017 Offseason In Review: Dallas Mavericks

September 20th, 2017 at 12:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Dirk Nowitzki: Two years, $10MM. Second-year team option.
Nerlens Noel: One year, $4.188MM. Signed qualifying offer.
Jeff Withey: Two years, minimum salary. First year partially guaranteed ($350K).
Maxi Kleber: Two years, minimum salary. First year fully guaranteed.
Johnathan Motley: Two-way contract. Two years, $50K guaranteed in each season.

Camp invitees:

Brandon Ashley: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Gian Clavell: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
P.J. Dozier: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Maalik Wayns: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.

Trades:

Acquired cash ($175K) from the Rockets for DeAndre Liggins.
Acquired cash from the Rockets for Jarrod Uthoff.
Acquired Josh McRoberts, cash ($5.1MM), and a 2023 second-round pick from the Heat in exchange for A.J. Hammons.

Draft picks:

1-9: Dennis Smith Jr. — Signed to rookie contract.

Departing players:

Nicolas Brussino (waived)
A.J. Hammons
DeAndre Liggins
Jarrod Uthoff

Salary cap situation:

Operating as an over-the-cap team with full mid-level ($8.406MM) and bi-annual ($3.29MM) exceptions available.
Can create up to approximately $18MM in cap room by renouncing exceptions and waiving non-guaranteed contracts.

Check out the Dallas Mavericks’ roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.

Story of the summer:

The Mavericks finished with a losing record last season for the first time since the 1999/2000 campaign, and the team’s 33-49 mark, good for 11th place in the Western Conference, appeared to serve as a wake-up call.

Having been a perennial player for big-money free agents in recent years, the Mavericks sat out the summer fun in 2017, rightly recognizing that they weren’t just a player or two from title contention. When the Mavs won the championship in 2011, they were one of several teams that had a viable shot at a title, but the dominance of the present-day Warriors likely helped Mark Cuban and company realize that it would require more than just a little good fortune in the postseason to return to the NBA Finals.

Rebuilding certainly wasn’t the Mavs’ preference — the club had prioritized win-now moves over the last several years in the hopes of getting Dirk Nowitzki a shot at one last title. But even with the clock running out on Nowitzki’s playing career, the time was right for a rebuild in Dallas, as the team entered the offseason with a top-10 draft pick in hand for the first time in nearly two decades. With many of their conference rivals loading up to make a run at Golden State, the Mavs made a $5MM guarantee for Nowitzki their biggest free agent expenditure of the summer.

Key offseason losses:

The Mavericks’ transition from a veteran club with playoff aspirations to a younger, retooling squad began during the 2016/17 season, when the team jettisoned players like Andrew Bogut and Deron Williams. By the time the offseason arrived, there weren’t many expendable vets left to part ways with, so the Mavs’ list of departures is short and mostly inconsequential.

Dallas decided that DeAndre Liggins and Jarrod Uthoff wouldn’t be a part of the club’s future, sending them to the Rockets in a pair of late-June trades for cash considerations. Nicolas Brussino was also shown the door, with the Mavs waiving him rather than guaranteeing his 2017/18 salary. The club moved on from A.J. Hammons as well, including him in a trade with the Heat, a deal that allowed the Mavs to create a little more cap room in 2018 and 2019.

Key offseason additions:

Although the Mavericks didn’t go out and sign any major free agents, the team made sure to lock up its own key veterans, bringing back Nowitzki and Nerlens Noel on short-term deals. The Mavs entered the summer with a $25MM team option on Nowitzki and an $11MM cap hold on Noel, with the expectation that re-signing those two players would eat up most of the club’s cap room.

However, Nowitzki signed a modest two-year, $10MM contract that features a second-year team option, while Noel – having reportedly turned down a $70MM offer at the start of free agency – ultimately signed his one-year qualifying offer, worth less than $4.2MM.

The Mavs got a great 2017/18 rate on the duo, but the fact that Noel can become an unrestricted free agent next summer is somewhat troublesome. If Noel battles injuries and underperforms again in 2017/18, the risk will pay off for the Mavs, but if he has a breakout year in Dallas, the young center will get a whole lot more expensive in 2018 and the club won’t have the right of first refusal available to prevent him from signing elsewhere.

One player who will be a Mav for years to come – and who represents the team’s most significant offseason addition – is Dennis Smith Jr., the ninth overall pick in this year’s draft. Smith looked terrific in Summer League action and is gaining some early buzz as a Rookie of the Year favorite.

The Mavs have gone through a revolving door of players at the point guard spot in recent years, so the team is understandable thrilled to have a young, inexpensive potential star at the position for at least the next four years, and potentially much longer.

Outside of Smith, the Mavs’ additions were minor, with journeyman center Jeff Withey and German forward Maxi Kleber among those expected to stick with the regular season roster.

Outlook for 2017/18:

While the Mavs still have several veteran rotation players on their roster, the focus for 2017/18 should be on developing guys like Smith, Harrison Barnes, Dwight Powell, and perhaps Noel, if he remains in Dallas’ long-term plans.

With nearly every other Western Conference team eyeing the playoffs, the Mavs should be fine with landing on the lottery, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the club move a couple of its veterans – perhaps Wesley Matthews or J.J. Barea – before the trade deadline to help improve its lottery positioning.

Dallas is also in a great position to use its cap flexibility to its advantage. With the salary cap not increasing as rapidly as many teams expected, more clubs figure to be looking to dump bad contracts and excess salary in an effort to regain 2018 space (or to avoid the tax). Those teams will likely be willing to attach young players or draft picks to their negative assets to make a deal, and the Mavs should be ready to accommodate them, as they were on a smaller scale with the Heat and Josh McRoberts.

A non-playoff rebuilding year perhaps isn’t what Nowitzki had in mind for this stage in his career, but he’ll be an invaluable mentor to the Mavs’ young players. If the team can identify a handful of core pieces and puts itself in a position to add more of those pieces, the 2017/18 season should be considered a success.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2017 NBA Contract Extension Tracker

September 19th, 2017 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

So far this offseason, we’ve been keeping close tabs on the way teams are acquiring new players, tracking free agent signings, draft pick signings, draft-and-stash deals, two-way contracts, and trades. However, there’s another form of transaction worth monitoring: contract extensions.

Extensions, of course, don’t involve adding a new player to the roster. By extending a contract, a team ensures that a current player will remain locked up for multiple years to come. While it may not change the club’s outlook on the court, it can have a major impact on that team’s salary cap situation — in terms of total value, the extensions signed this summer by James Harden and John Wall rank among the largest new contracts.

While rookie scale extensions are the most common form of contract extension, no fourth-year player has signed a rookie scale extension so far this offseason. Andrew Wiggins is expected to do so soon though, and there are many other players eligible for new deals up until the October 16 deadline. It’s common for about six to eight players entering the final year of their respective rookie contracts to sign extensions before the October deadline, and I wouldn’t expect this year to be any different.

While they’re generally less common than rookie-scale extensions, veteran extensions are happening a little more frequently these days, with the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement expanding the rules for eligibility and creating some additional incentives for star players to sign new deals before they reach free agency. So far this offseason, each new contract extension signed has been a veteran extension.

Listed below are the players who have finalized contract extensions so far in the 2017/18 league year. This list, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site (or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu) will be kept up to date throughout the offseason, and even into the ’17/18 season, if any veteran players ink an extension at that point.

Veteran extensions:

Russell Westbrook (Thunder): Five years, 35% maximum salary (story). Starts in 2018/19.
James Harden (Rockets): Four years, 35% maximum salary (story). Starts in 2019/20.
John Wall (Wizards): Four years, 35% maximum salary (story). Starts in 2019/20.
Robert Covington (Sixers): Four years, $60MM (story). Includes renegotiation for 2017/18. Extension starts in 2018/19.
LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs): Two years, $50MM (story). Starts in 2019/20.
Norman Powell (Raptors): Four years, $41.965MM (story). Starts in 2018/19.
Josh Richardson (Heat): Four years, $41.965MM (story). Starts in 2018/19.

Rookie scale extensions:

Andrew Wiggins (Timberwolves): Five years, 25% maximum salary (story). Starts in 2018/19.
Joel Embiid (Sixers): Five years, 25% maximum salary (story). Starts in 2018/19. Includes injury protections.
Gary Harris (Nuggets): Four years, $74MM (story). Starts in 2018/19.
T.J. Warren (Suns): Four years, $47MM (story). Starts in 2018/19.
Check out our in-depth look at 2017’s rookie scale extensions for more details.

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Hoops Rumors Originals

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