Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hoops Rumors Originals

Weekly Mailbag: 8/28/17 – 9/3/17

September 3rd, 2017 at 12:58pm 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.

Do you think the Celtics are strong enough to reach the NBA Finals this season after acquiring Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving? — Greg Dizon

It’s easy to get excited about the Celtics. They obviously had a tremendous offseason, and the defending Eastern champs in Cleveland did not. However, there are two areas of need that stick out in Boston. One is the lack of a rebounding and rim-protecting inside presence, which could be helped by a healthy Andrew Bogut, whom the team has contacted. The other is the loss of two aggressive perimeter defenders in Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley. There are a lot of roster moves to be made between now and the playoffs and a lot of unknown variables, such as how long the Cavs’ Isaiah Thomas will be sidelined by his hip injury. The Celtics have the talent to dethrone Cleveland, but don’t forget that LeBron James hasn’t lost an Eastern Conference playoff series over the past seven years. The Cavaliers will be a very tough matchup as long as he’s there.

What’s going with the Carmelo Anthony situation in New York? Is he gonna be traded before the season starts? — Big Red Lucas, via Twitter

There hasn’t been much movement in the past month, as the parties are entrenched in the same positions. The Knicks are willing to move Anthony, but only if they feel it’s a good deal. He wants to go to Houston and won’t waive his no-trade clause for anyone else. The Rockets need to unload Ryan Anderson‘s salary to fit Anthony on their roster and haven’t been able to find another team or two willing to facilitate a deal. The only way a trade is going to happen is if somebody changes their stance, which might happen as training camp gets closer. If no one relents, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Anthony starts the season with the Knicks. But expect a deal sometime before the February 8 deadline because New York doesn’t want him to opt in for nearly $28MM for 2018/19 and drain their cap room for next summer.

In a recent workout with LeBron James, the Wizards’ John Wall proclaimed himself to be “the best two-way point guard player in the league.” How strong is his argument? — D.C. Dacey, via Twitter

Fans who don’t watch Wall on a regular basis might be surprised at how good he is defensively. He averaged 2.0 steals and 0.6 blocks per game last season and just missed a spot on the All-Defensive team. There’s no questioning Wall’s abilities on offense, where he is coming off a career best 23.1 points and 10.7 assists per game, and he seems worth every penny of the $170MM extension he just signed. Chris Paul may still be the league’s best two-way point guard, but Wall is certainly in the conversation and is on his way to being number one.

Repost Share Send via email

Hoops Rumors Originals: 8/26/17 – 9/2/17

September 2nd, 2017 at 2:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

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

Repost Share Send via email

NBA Draft Rights Held By Team For 2017/18

September 1st, 2017 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of this week, we’ve examined the players whose draft rights are currently held by NBA teams, breaking them down division by division.

Some of these players are long retired, meaning their rights hold little value. Others are draft-and-stash prospects who NBA teams intend – or at least hope – to bring stateside at some point in the coming years.

There are also many players who have continued to play international ball since being drafted, and may never end up in the NBA. Those players can be useful when teams look to make trades. A team completing a trade in the NBA has to send and receive something in each deal, so those draft rights often come in handy as placeholders.

We saw a perfect example of the usefulness of NBA draft rights earlier today — the Pelicans had agreed to send Quincy Pondexter to Chicago, along with a second-round pick and cash to sweeten the deal for the Bulls. New Orleans wasn’t getting back any pieces of consequence as part of the swap, but the Bulls needed to send something, so they included the draft rights to 2011 second-rounder Ater Majok.

Having covered all six divisions now, we’ll keep these draft rights lists updated throughout the 2017/18 season if more draft-and-stash players are traded — we’ve already made sure the Bulls’ and Pelicans’ lists are up to date following the Matok swap.

Here’s the full breakdown:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

Repost Share Send via email

NBA Draft Rights Held: Southwest Division

September 1st, 2017 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.

When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.

However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.

While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.

For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.

This week, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.

Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Southwest teams:

Dallas Mavericks

Houston Rockets

Memphis Grizzlies

New Orleans Pelicans

San Antonio Spurs

Previously:

Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Repost Share Send via email

NBA Draft Rights Held: Pacific Division

September 1st, 2017 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.

When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.

However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.

While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.

For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.

This week, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.

Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Pacific teams:

Golden State Warriors

  • Mladen Sekularac, G/F (2002; No. 55): Retired.

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

Phoenix Suns

  • Ron Ellis, F (1992; No. 49): Retired.
  • Milos Vujanic, G (2002; No. 36): Retired.
  • Cenk Akyol, G/F (2005; No. 59): Last played in Turkey.
  • Dwayne Collins, F (2010; No. 60): Retired.

Sacramento Kings

Previously:

Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Repost Share Send via email

NBA Draft Rights Held: Northwest Division

August 31st, 2017 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.

When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.

However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.

While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.

For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.

This week, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.

Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Northwest teams:

Denver Nuggets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Oklahoma City Thunder

Portland Trail Blazers

  • Marcelo Nicola, F (1993; No. 50): Retired.
  • Doron Sheffer, G (1996; No. 36): Retired.
  • Federico Kammerichs, F/C (2002; No. 51): Retired.
  • Nedzad Sinanovic, C (2003; No. 54): Retired.
  • Daniel Diez, F (2015; No. 54): Playing in Spain.

Utah Jazz

Previously:

Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Repost Share Send via email

Hoops Rumors Features

August 30th, 2017 at 4:40pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to passing along news, rumors, and analysis on a daily basis, Hoops Rumors provides a number of additional features and resources that can be found anytime on our right-hand sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.” However, that sidebar is only visible on our desktop site.

For the benefit of our mobile and app users, we’ve compiled many of our current features and resources in a list below. These pages and trackers will continuously be updated. We’re always introducing new resources, so keep an eye out for new additions to this list in the coming weeks and months.

Here are several of our current features and resources:

Free Agents:

Draft:

Trades:

Salary Cap:

Contracts:

Other Trackers:

References:

Archives:

Social Media:

Repost Share Send via email

Deadline Looms For Teams To Stretch 2017/18 Salary

August 30th, 2017 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Thursday, August 31 represents the deadline for teams to exercise the stretch provision on 2017/18 salary, meaning clubs have just over 24 more hours to waive players whose ’17/18 salaries they’re hoping to stretch.

The stretch provision is a CBA rule that allows teams to stretch a waived player’s remaining guaranteed salary across multiple seasons. From July 1 to August 31, the rule dictates that a team can pay out the player’s salary over twice the number of years remaining on his contract, plus one. For instance, a contract with three years left on it could be stretched out over seven years. After August 31, only future years on the contract can be stretched in that manner — so for that three-year contract, the current-season salary would stay as is, while the remaining two seasons could be stretched across five years.

As a point of reference, here’s what Andrew Nicholson‘s contract with the Trail Blazers looks like in its current form, along with the new salary figures based on that deal being stretched before or after August 31:

Year Current contract Stretched by August 31 Stretched after August 31
2017/18 $6,362,998 $2,844,429 $6,362,998
2018/19 $6,637,002 $2,844,429 $2,709,601
2019/20 $6,911,007 $2,844,429 $2,709,602
2020/21 – $2,844,430 $2,709,602
2021/22 – $2,844,430  $2,709,602
2022/23 – $2,844,430  $2,709,602
2023/24 – $2,844,430

As our chart shows, if the Blazers wait until September to waive and stretch Nicholson, they would take on a lower annual cap hit after 2017/18 and those cap charges would end a year earlier. However, Portland is widely expected to stretch Nicholson by August 31 in order to reduce his current-year cap hit. The Blazers are currently several million dollars into tax territory, and reducing Nicholson’s 2017/18 cap charge by $3.5MM+ would significantly reduce the club’s projected tax bill, even if it hurts Portland a little more in future seasons.

While Nicholson is a good bet to be waived this week (update: he has been waived), we shouldn’t necessarily expect a flurry of action by Thursday, since most teams aren’t in a situation like the Blazers. Still, we could see a move from clubs that have an expendable player and want to either reduce their tax bill or create more breathing room below the cap or tax line.

The Bucks look like another prime candidate to make a move by Thursday. It doesn’t appear that Spencer Hawes will be a major part of the club’s plans for 2017/18, and Milwaukee is currently slightly over the tax line. Waiving Hawes and stretching the final year of his contract (worth $6,021,175) across the next three years would get the Bucks out of tax territory and would create a little more flexibility to add a player or two, if needed.

Nicholson and Hawes were two of the five players who I identified earlier this month as candidates to be waived and stretched by August 31, and I think they’re easily the strongest candidates on that list. Stay tuned through Thursday to see if they’re cut, and to find out if other players hit the waiver wire before the August 31 deadline.

Repost Share Send via email

NBA Draft Rights Held: Southeast Division

August 30th, 2017 at 11:41am CST by Luke Adams

When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.

When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.

However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.

While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.

For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.

This week, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.

Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Southeast teams:

Atlanta Hawks

  • Augusto Binelli, C (1986; No. 40): Retired.
  • Alain Digbeu, F (1997; No. 49): Retired.
  • Marcus Eriksson, G/F (2015; No. 50): Playing in Spain.
  • Isaia Cordinier, G (2016; No. 44): Playing in France.
  • Alpha Kaba, C (2017; No. 60): Playing in France.

Charlotte Hornets

  • None

Miami Heat

  • George Banks, F (1995; No. 46): Retired.
  • Robert Duenas, C (1997; No. 57): Retired.

Orlando Magic

  • Rashard Griffith, C (1995; No. 38): Retired.
  • Remon van de Hare, C (2003; No. 52): Retired.
  • Fran Vazquez, C (2005; No. 11): Playing in Spain.
  • Janis Timma, F (2013; No. 60): Playing in Spain.
  • Tyler Harvey, G (2015; No. 51): Playing in France.

Washington Wizards

  • Aaron White, F (2015; No. 49): Playing in Lithuania.

Previously:

Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Repost Share Send via email

NBA Draft Rights Held: Central Division

August 29th, 2017 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.

When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.

However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.

While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.

For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.

Over the next several days, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.

Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Central teams:

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

  • None

Indiana Pacers

  • Andrew Betts, C (1998; No. 50): Retired.

Milwaukee Bucks

  • Andrei Fetisov, F (1994; No. 36): Retired.
  • Eurelijus Zukauskas, C (1995; No. 54): Retired.

Previously:

Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Repost Share Send via email
Load More Posts