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Free Agent Signees Who Could Be Back On Market In 2017

By | at August 8, 2016 3:01 pm

While many NBA players don’t necessarily love the uncertainty that free agency brings, reaching the open market and signing a new contract doesn’t always mean that a player will avoid the experience for several more years. For a number of the free agents who signed contracts this summer, there’s a good chance that they’ll head right back to the open market in the 2017 offseason.

In some cases, a player may choose to return to free agency sooner rather than later. Kevin Durant, for instance, could have signed a four-year contract with the Warriors, locking himself in through the 2019/20 season. Instead, he inked a two-year deal with an opt-out after year one. Durant will surely decline that player option next year in order to sign a new contract that will feature a much higher starter salary.

In other cases though, a team will simply be unwilling to give a player the sort of longer-term security he might want. Teams value flexibility, and the ability to easily create room and jettison big salaries can be important. That’s why, even though clubs have the ability to sign players to four- or five-year contracts, they’ll often opt for one- or two-year deals instead, including perhaps a team option or a non-guaranteed salary on that second year.

Listed below are the players who have signed free agent contracts this offseason who are decent bets to return to the open market next July. In addition to players on one-year contracts, this list includes players who have options or non-guaranteed salaries in year two, following a guaranteed salary for 2016/17. However, it doesn’t include players whose ’16/17 salaries aren’t yet fully guaranteed — those players could be free agents next July, but they could also become available well before then.

Let’s dive in…

Players who signed one-year contracts:

Players who signed two-year deals with second-year player options:

Players who signed multiyear deals with team options or non-guaranteed salaries in year two:

Information from Basketball Insiders and the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Tracker was used in the creation of this post.

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Free Agent Spending By Division: Recap

By | at August 8, 2016 12:20 pm

Last week, we examined each team’s 2016 free agent spending, broken down by division, which illuminated some interesting statistics and trends. For instance, in the Northwest, the Trail Blazers committed over $240MM to free agent contracts, while their four division rivals combined to commit about a third of that total. In the free-spending Southeast, all five teams committed at least $150MM to free agent contracts.

These divisional breakdowns don’t necessarily present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.

Still, if a team committed a huge chunk of money to a player this offseason, it can likely be found in this statistical breakdown. Now that we’ve covered all six divisions, we’ll take a closer look at the overall results. Let’s dive in…

1. Southeast

  • Total money committed: $972,415,880
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $944,422,130
  • Highest-spending team: Washington Wizards ($239,223,166)
  • Largest contract: Bradley Beal, Wizards (five years, $127,171,313)

As noted above, all five Southeast teams committed at least $150MM in total money to free agent contracts, a staggering number. The Hawks spent the least free agent money in the division, and Atlanta still handed out $70MM+ contracts to both Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore. Each Southeast team had a least one big-money free agent of their own to re-sign (including Beal, Bazemore, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum, and Hassan Whiteside), and most clubs in the division aggressively pursued outside targets as well.

By our count, NBA teams committed more than $3.5 billion to free agent contracts this summer, including non-guaranteed money. Nearly $1 billion of that came from the Southeast.

2. Southwest

  • Total money committed: $767,231,583
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $714,468,634
  • Highest-spending team: Memphis Grizzlies ($266,310,613)
  • Largest contract: Mike Conley, Grizzlies (five years, $152,607,578)

No team committed more free agent money this offseason than the Grizzlies, which makes sense, considering they also handed out the largest contract in NBA history to Conley. That deal isn’t fully guaranteed, but it should become guaranteed before it reaches its fifth year.

Also, for all the talk we hear months or years in advance about NBA teams trying to open up enough cap room for multiple maximum-salary free agents, only one club this year actually signed two free agents to max deals. That would be the Grizzlies, who also locked up Chandler Parsons to a four-year contract worth nearly $100MM. By comparison, perennially active teams like the Mavericks and Rockets practically played it safe, despite committing a combined $344MM+ to free agents themselves.

3. Atlantic

  • Total money committed: $576,554,546
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $538,193,337
  • Highest-spending team: New York Knicks ($164,387,929)
  • Largest contract: DeMar DeRozan, Raptors (five years, $137,500,000)

The Knicks’ offseason additions were among the summer’s top talking points, the Celtics finally landed a star free agent in Al Horford, and DeRozan’s contract was second-largest behind Conley’s. Outside of that, things were fairly quiet in the Atlantic on the free agent front. The Nets looked like they would make a significant move or two, but they ultimately had their offer sheets for Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson matched, meaning their big free agent expenditure was Jeremy Lin, who inked a three-year, $36MM pact.

4. Pacific

  • Total money committed: $468,048,642
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $436,048,642
  • Highest-spending team: Los Angeles Lakers ($186,000,000)
  • Largest contract: Luol Deng, Lakers (four years, $72,000,000)

A lack of truly high-end contracts limited the Pacific’s overall total, but there were still a handful of active teams in this division. Of course, in terms of impact, the biggest free agent contract of the summer was Kevin Durant‘s. Because it was just a two-year deal, however, it’s just a small piece of the largest Pacific division picture — Deng’s and Timofey Mozgov‘s contracts with the Lakers had larger overall values than Durant’s.

Elsewhere in the division, the Clippers showed that it’s not necessary to have cap room or star free agents to spend a lot — Los Angeles signed four of its own free agents (Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, Wesley Johnson, and Luc Mbah a Moute), then added a few outside free agents on minimum-salary deals, but the club’s overall bill was still north of $105MM.

5. Central

  • Total money committed: $447,506,792
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $425,577,871
  • Highest-spending team: Detroit Pistons ($207,171,313)
  • Largest contract: Andre Drummond, Pistons (five years, $127,171,313)

The Central division’s spending total figures to rise in the coming days, weeks, or months — whenever LeBron James gets around to finalizing his new deal with the Cavaliers. J.R. Smith is also likely to return to Cleveland, and while that still probably won’t make the Cavs the division’s highest-spending team, it will increase their current free agent total ($9,573,362) exponentially.

For now, Drummond’s five-year pact with the Pistons is the only mega-deal in the Central this offseason — Miles Plumlee‘s $49.6MM contract with the Bucks takes second place.

6. Northwest

  • Total money committed: $327,499,219
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $306,812,499
  • Highest-spending team: Portland Trail Blazers ($242,414,220)
  • Largest contract: Allen Crabbe, Trail Blazers (four years, $74,832,500)

As mentioned previously, the Blazers were the only Northwest team that was overly active in free agency this summer. The Thunder sat out of the process once Durant departed; the Jazz focused on acquiring talent via trades; and neither the Timberwolves nor the Nuggets are ready to make a major splash in free agency quite yet.

In Portland, a good chunk of the Blazers’ money was spent on retaining their own free agents, like Crabbe, Maurice Harkless, and Meyers Leonard. However, the team also went out and brought in Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli on multiyear deals.

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2016 NBA Contract Extension Tracker

By | at August 8, 2016 9:00 am

So far this summer, we’ve been keeping close tabs on the way teams are acquiring new players, tracking free agent signings, draft pick signings, draft-and-stash signings, 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 C.J. McCollum ranked among the top eight contract signed, including free agent deals.

Rookie-scale extensions like McCollum’s are the most common form of contract extension, occurring in the offseason before a former first-round pick enters the final year of his rookie contract. Teams have until October 31 to work out new deals with those players, though if a club intends to ultimately sign its player to a maximum-salary contract, it could make sense to wait until next summer — that way, a club can keep a more modest cap hold on its 2017 books, and maximize its cap room next offseason. Still, we can probably expect to see a few rookie-scale extensions finalized before November.

[RELATED: Players eligible for rookie-scale extensions]

While they’re less common than rookie-scale extensions, veteran extensions – like Harden’s – are happening a little more frequently these days, now that more teams than ever are going under the cap, rather than staying over it. Utilizing cap room to renegotiate a player’s current-year salary while extending him incentivizes extensions for players, making those players more likely to re-up right away, rather than waiting for free agency.

[RELATED: Players eligible for veteran extensions]

Listed below are the players who have agreed to contract extensions so far in the 2016/17 league year. This list, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features,” will be kept up to date throughout the offseason, and even into the ’16/17 season, if any veteran players ink an extension at that point.

Rookie-scale extensions:

Veteran extensions:

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Community Shootaround: Ray Allen

By | at August 7, 2016 7:59 pm

Only a handful of players have suited up for an NBA game past their 40th birthday. Ray Allen, who turned 41 last month, is hoping to join that list.

Allen has been out of the league since walking off the court after Game 5 of the 2014 NBA Finals. He remained a productive player to the end, averaging 9.6 points in 73 games while helping Miami capture the Eastern Conference title.

Allen didn’t return to the Heat after that season, but he never really retired either. Over the past two years, there have been rumors that he was working out and getting ready to sign with a contender, but nothing ever materialized. Those rumors have started again, and Allen confirms that there’s a lot of truth behind them.

The 10-time All-Star says he has had conversations with the Celtics and Bucks about possibly joining them next season. Boston is where he won his first NBA title in 2008 and Milwaukee is the team he broke into the league with in 1996, so he has fond memories of both places.

Allen also says that Spike Lee, one of the Knicks’ most famous fans, has been texting him in an effort to convince him to come to New York. The Cavaliers, Warriors, Spurs and Clippers are other teams that have been mentioned in the rumor mill.

Allen may be the best 3-point shooter the NBA has ever seen. He holds the career record with 2,973 made, more than 400 better than his closest challenger, and the career playoff 3-point record with 385. In his two seasons in Miami, he shot 42% and 38% from 3-point range.

That brings us to tonight’s question: Do you believe Allen can still play in the NBA, and which team would be best for him? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

6 comments Community Shootaround Hoops Rumors Originals

Poll: 2005 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 6)

By | at August 7, 2016 7:07 pm

Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t often allow for second chances, we at Hoops Rumors believe it’s fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.

We’ve previously tackled the 2003 and 2013 NBA Drafts and the next one we’re tackling is 2005’s, the year that the Bucks nabbed big man Andrew Bogut with the No. 1 overall pick. That year’s draft class is generally viewed as one of the weaker ones in recent memory, though, there were quite a few second-rounders that year (Ersan Ilyasova, Monta Ellis, Lou Williams, Amir Johnson and Marcin Gortat) who have gone on to have very solid NBA careers.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll be posting a series of reader polls that ask you to vote on the player whom you believe should have been selected with each pick. We’ll continue onward with the Trail Blazers, who held the No. 6 pick that season. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Portland’s pick and check back Monday night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Raptors should have taken at No. 7. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

Selections

  1. Bucks — Chris Paul [Actual Pick — Andrew Bogut]
  2. Hawks — Deron Williams [Actual Pick — Marvin Williams]
  3. Jazz — Monta Ellis [Actual Pick — Deron Williams]
  4. Hornets/Pelicans — Andrew Bogut [Actual Pick — Chris Paul]
  5. Bobcats/Hornets — Danny Granger [Actual Pick — Raymond Felton]
  6. Trail Blazers  — ? [Actual Pick  — Martell Webster]
With the No. 6 Overall Pick, the Trail Blazers Should Have Selected...
David Lee 31.46% (732 votes)
Andrew Bynum 20.50% (477 votes)
Marcin Gortat 17.02% (396 votes)
Marvin Williams 5.76% (134 votes)
Lou Williams 5.46% (127 votes)
Nate Robinson 3.18% (74 votes)
Channing Frye 3.14% (73 votes)
Raymond Felton 2.45% (57 votes)
Amir Johnson 2.15% (50 votes)
Gerald Green 1.93% (45 votes)
Ersan Ilyasova 1.68% (39 votes)
Jarrett Jack 1.20% (28 votes)
Ian Mahinmi 0.77% (18 votes)
Brandon Bass 0.60% (14 votes)
Sean May 0.47% (11 votes)
Martell Webster 0.47% (11 votes)
Charlie Villanueva 0.43% (10 votes)
Ike Diogu 0.39% (9 votes)
Fran Vasquez 0.26% (6 votes)
Rashad McCants 0.21% (5 votes)
Jason Maxiell 0.17% (4 votes)
Alan Anderson 0.13% (3 votes)
Hakim Warrick 0.13% (3 votes)
Johna Petro 0.04% (1 votes)
Total Votes: 2,327

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here.

5 comments Hoops Rumors Originals Hoops Rumors Polls

Community Shootaround: Franchise Tag

By | at August 6, 2016 8:02 pm

If the NBA operated under the NFL’s rules, Kevin Durant would still be in Oklahoma City.

That’s because football teams can use a franchise tag each year to lock up their best free agent for another season. That allows them to try to work out a long-term contract while preventing the player from negotiating with other teams.

After receiving the franchise tag, the player receives either 120% of his previous year’s salary or the average of the top five salaries at his position throughout the league, whichever number is higher. It’s a price the Thunder would have gladly paid to keep Durant in their lineup for another season while trying to work out a longer deal.

As we count down toward the expected reopening of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement in December, many owners want to adopt some form of the franchise tag. The concept had several vocal supporters at an owners’ meeting last month in Las Vegas, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.

Such a measure would gives teams in smaller markets, such as Oklahoma City, a better shot at retaining their own free agents. It would also discourage the formation of “super teams” like the Warriors who have many league observers concerned about competitive balance.

While not publicly endorsing a franchise tag, Commissioner Adam Silver is among those who believe the current arrangement needs to be tweaked.

“I do think to maintain those principles that I discussed in terms of creating a league in which every team has the opportunity to compete, I think we do need to re-examine some of the elements of our system so that I’m not here next year or the year after again talking about anomalies,” Silver said. “There are certain things, corrections we believe we can make in the system.”

The players union is strongly opposed to a franchise tag, and Bontemps speculates that it could be one of the most divisive issues during the next round of negotiations. The union is fighting for more player control and wants to see free agency arrive earlier rather than later. Players see the nine years Durant spent with the Thunder franchise as long enough and believe he earned the right to play wherever he desires.

That brings us to tonight’s question: Does the NBA need a provision similar to the franchise tag that will level the playing field in free agency, or do the players deserve full free agency without more restrictions?  Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

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Salary Cap Snapshot: Detroit Pistons

By | at August 6, 2016 3:46 pm

With the free agent signing period winding down and teams looking ahead to the preseason, we at Hoops Rumors will be tracking the Salary Cap figures for each team around the league.  These posts will be maintained throughout the season once financial data is reported. They will be located on the sidebar throughout the year, once all the teams’ cap figures have been relayed. You can always check RosterResource.com for up-to-date rosters for each franchise, with the Pistons’ team page accessible here.

Here’s a breakdown of where the Pistons currently stand financially:

Guaranteed Salary

Total Guaranteed Salary= $107,901,937

Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]

Cash Received Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]

Payroll Exceptions Available

  • Room Exception: $2,898,000

Total Projected Payroll: $107,901,937

Salary Cap: $94,143,000

Estimated Available Cap Space: –$13,758,937

Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000

Amount Below Luxury Tax: $5,385,063

Last Updated: 1/11/17

The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.

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Hoops Rumors Originals: 7/31/16-8/6/16

By | at August 6, 2016 2:03 pm

Here’s a look back at the original content and analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week.

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Poll: 2005 NBA Draft Take Two (Pick No. 5)

By | at August 6, 2016 12:17 pm

Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t often allow for second chances, we at Hoops Rumors believe it’s fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.

We’ve previously tackled the 2003 and 2013 NBA Drafts and the next one we’re tackling is 2005’s, the year that the Bucks nabbed big man Andrew Bogut with the No. 1 overall pick. That year’s draft class is generally viewed as one of the weaker ones in recent memory, though, there were quite a few second-rounders that year (Ersan Ilyasova, Monta Ellis, Lou Williams, Amir Johnson and Marcin Gortat) who have gone on to have very solid NBA careers.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll be posting a series of reader polls that ask you to vote on the player whom you believe should have been selected with each pick. We’ll continue onward with the Bobcats/Hornets, who held the No. 5 pick that season. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Charlotte’s pick and check back Sunday night for the results, as well as for your chance to vote for whom the Trail Blazers should have taken at No. 6. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the pick and why you voted the way that you did. Also, if I fail to list a player who you think should be selected, feel free to post that in the comments section and I’ll be certain to tally those votes as well.

Selections

  1. Bucks — Chris Paul [Actual Pick — Andrew Bogut]
  2. Hawks — Deron Williams [Actual Pick — Marvin Williams]
  3. Jazz — Monta Ellis [Actual Pick — Deron Williams]
  4. Hornets/Pelicans — Andrew Bogut [Actual Pick — Chris Paul]
  5. Bobcats/Hornets — ? [Actual Pick — Raymond Felton]
With the No. 6 Overall Pick, the Trail Blazers Should Have Selected...
David Lee 31.46% (732 votes)
Andrew Bynum 20.50% (477 votes)
Marcin Gortat 17.02% (396 votes)
Marvin Williams 5.76% (134 votes)
Lou Williams 5.46% (127 votes)
Nate Robinson 3.18% (74 votes)
Channing Frye 3.14% (73 votes)
Raymond Felton 2.45% (57 votes)
Amir Johnson 2.15% (50 votes)
Gerald Green 1.93% (45 votes)
Ersan Ilyasova 1.68% (39 votes)
Jarrett Jack 1.20% (28 votes)
Ian Mahinmi 0.77% (18 votes)
Brandon Bass 0.60% (14 votes)
Sean May 0.47% (11 votes)
Martell Webster 0.47% (11 votes)
Charlie Villanueva 0.43% (10 votes)
Ike Diogu 0.39% (9 votes)
Fran Vasquez 0.26% (6 votes)
Rashad McCants 0.21% (5 votes)
Jason Maxiell 0.17% (4 votes)
Alan Anderson 0.13% (3 votes)
Hakim Warrick 0.13% (3 votes)
Johna Petro 0.04% (1 votes)
Total Votes: 2,327

If you’re a Trade Rumors app user, click here.

3 comments Hoops Rumors Originals Hoops Rumors Polls

Free Agent Spending By Division: Central

By | at August 5, 2016 11:00 pm

Over the course of the last week, we’ve been breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this summer.

These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.

Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.

With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Central division. Our breakdowns of all five other divisions can be found linked at the bottom of this post.

Let’s dive in…

1. Detroit Pistons

  • Total money committed: $207,171,313
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $207,171,313
  • Largest expenditure: Andre Drummond (five years, $127,171,313)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • Ray McCallum’s deal is not included in these totals, since it’s a summer contract which won’t count toward the Pistons’ cap unless he makes the regular-season roster.

2. Milwaukee Bucks

  • Total money committed: $119,530,000
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $119,530,000
  • Largest expenditure: Miles Plumlee (four years, $49,600,000)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • Dellavedova’s contract was technically the result of a sign-and-trade deal by the Cavaliers, but we’re considering it a Milwaukee signing.

3. Chicago Bulls

  • Total money committed: $78,532,117
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $65,215,696
  • Largest expenditure: Dwyane Wade (two years, $47,000,000)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • Rondo’s second-year salary of $13.397MM is partially guaranteed for $3MM.

4. Indiana Pacers

  • Total money committed: $32,700,000
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $26,700,000
  • Largest expenditure: Al Jefferson (three years, $30,000,000)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • Jefferson’s third-year salary of $10MM is partially guaranteed for $4MM.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers

  • Total money committed: $9,573,362
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $6,960,862
  • Largest expenditure: Richard Jefferson (three years, $7,612,500)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • Andersen and Jones will earn $1,551,659 apiece on their minimum-salary deals, but will only be paid $980,431 each by the Cavaliers, with the NBA on the hook for the rest.
    • Jefferson’s third-year salary of $2,612,500 is fully non-guaranteed.
    • DeAndre Liggins‘ deal has been officially signed, but exact terms of that contract haven’t been reported, so we haven’t included it in the Cavs’ totals for now.
    • The Cavs have also yet to formally re-sign LeBron James, whose new contract will bump up the club’s free agent expenditures significantly. A new deal for J.R. Smith may also be on the horizon.

Previously:

WEST:

EAST:

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