Prospect Profile: Demetrius Jackson (Part One)
OVERVIEW: Demetrius Jackson took over as Notre Dame’s floor leader as a junior and emerged as a first-round prospect. Jackson led the Irish to the Elite Eight despite some struggles offensively during the latter stages of the season. He finished his college career with a 26-point performance against North Carolina and averaged 15.8 points, 4.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals for the season. Jackson played steady minutes as a sophomore, though current Knicks point guard Jerian Grant was the team’s primary ballhandler. Jackson was also a rotation player as a freshman after being a highly touted prep star, ranking No. 33 overall in his class, according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. At 6’1”, the 21-year-old Jackson is smaller than the prototypical NBA point guard.
STRENGTHS: Like most smaller point guards, Jackson relies on his quickness and athleticism. He’s got superior explosion, allowing him to get into the paint and create havoc. That will serve him well in a pick-and-roll reliant NBA scheme. It also works well in the transition game, where he’s nearly impossible to catch as he converts layups or finds trailers for dunks. ESPN Insider Chad Ford credits Jackson for his pass-first mentality, decision-making and a knack for making his teammates better. DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony notes that while Jackson is small, he’s powerfully built and can finish through contact. His outstanding leaping ability allows him to be on the receiving end of lobs. He also moves well without the ball and is a solid shooter off the catch, with Givony pointing out that he made 41% of his shots with his feet set. Turnovers were not a big issue for Jackson, as he averaged 2.2 as a junior while playing 36 minutes per game. Jackson has also impressed talent evaluators with his competitiveness, according to NBA.com’s David Aldridge.
WEAKNESSES: Jackson’s 3-point shooting dropped off dramatically when tasked with running Notre Dame’s methodical offense this season. He made 33.1% of his long-range shots as a junior, compared to 42.9% in his sophomore year. Jackson’s lack of height could obviously be an issue when he’s guarding tall point guards, and he’ll be an even bigger liability when he’s forced to switch. Jackson can also be over-reliant on his quickness, rather than playing at a more controlled pace. As one NBA executive told Aldridge, “He always tries to blow by you. It’s like a pitcher that keeps throwing 100 miles an hour.” In contrast to Ford’s evaluation, Givony believes that Jackson has displayed average court vision and misses some easy reads. That’s due to Jackson still searching for the right balance between running the offense and finding his own shot.
For Part 2 of our Demetrius Jackson Prospect Profile, click here.
Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Memphis Grizzlies
The key for the Grizzlies this summer is re-signing Mike Conley, but if Memphis can quickly secure a verbal commitment from the point guard, the team can manipulate his relatively small cap hold to sign other free agents into cap space before circling back to formally sign him. It’s much the same strategy the Spurs employed when they used Kawhi Leonard‘s minuscule cap hold to create room to sign LaMarcus Aldridge last summer and the Pistons plan to execute with Andre Drummond‘s cap hold this summer. Conley isn’t a restricted free agent like Leonard was and Drummond will be, but because he’s on such a bargain contract, his cap hold is much cheaper than the estimated $26MM maximum salary he’s eligible to sign for. So, look for the Grizzlies to keep him unsigned as long as possible, thus maintaining a roughly $14MM cap hit instead of one nearly twice as large. See how the Grizzlies’ cap situation looks for 2016/17 as Hoops Rumors continues its offseason salary cap digest series.
Guaranteed salary
- Marc Gasol ($21,165,675)
- Zach Randolph ($10,361,445)
- Brandan Wright ($5,709,880)
- Tony Allen ($5,505,618)
- Vince Carter ($2,000,000) — Partial guarantee; non-guaranteed portion listed below
- Jordan Adams ($1,465,080)
- Jarell Martin ($1,286,160)
- (Jamaal Franklin $163,296) — Salary remaining from release via stretch provision
- Total: $47,657,154
Player options
- None
Team options
- Lance Stephenson ($9,405,000)
- Xavier Munford ($874,636)
- Total: $10,279,636
Non-guaranteed salary
- Vince Carter ($2,264,057) — Partial guarantee; guaranteed portion listed above
- JaMychal Green ($980,431)
- Total: $3,244,488
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Bryce Cotton ($1,180,431/$1,180,431)
- Xavier Munford ($1,074,636/$1,074,636) — Pending team option
- Totals: ($2,255,067/$2,255,067)
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Mike Conley ($14,082,639)
- Lance Stephenson ($11,700,000) — Pending team option
- Chris Andersen ($9,500,000)
- Matt Barnes ($6,730,750)
- P.J. Hairston ($1,253,160)1
- Jordan Farmar ($980,431)
- Total: $44,246,980
Other Cap Holds
- No. 17 pick ($1,494,800)
- Nick Calathes ($1,180,431)
- Keyon Dooling ($980,431)
- Total: $3,655,662
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
Footnotes:
- The Grizzlies can’t re-sign Hairston to a contract with a starting salary worth more than the amount listed here because the Hornets declined their team option on his rookie scale contract before the start of the season. Charlotte subsequently traded Hairston to Memphis, which inherits the restriction.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Offseason Outlook: Houston Rockets
Hoops Rumors is looking ahead to offseason moves for all 30 teams. We’ll examine free agency, the draft, trades and other key storylines for each franchise as the summer approaches.
Coaching Search
Jeff Van Gundy apparently sits atop the list of Rockets coaching candidates, but interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff will seemingly get a look, at least. Owner Leslie Alexander wants to make sure Van Gundy, who hasn’t coached since 2007, would update his offense, but GM Daryl Morey indicated that he won’t make system a priority in the search, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Dwight Howard‘s future
The decision on a coach will reportedly play a role in any future Howard might have in Houston, and a coach committed to the outside game would seemingly reduce the slim chance the former All-Star center would stay. Still, Howard’s best days were under Van Gundy’s brother Stan in Orlando, where the big man’s presence inside was key to opening space for 3-point shooters. Offenses predicated on movement would ostensibly coax the ball out of the hands of James Harden and allow more touches for Howard.
It’s nonetheless difficult to envision Harden and Howard continuing to coexist, with one Rockets player telling The Vertical’s Michael Lee that they don’t hate each other but simply can’t play together. One team source who spoke with Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com described the chemistry between the star duo as “cordially bad.” Howard is 30 and simply not what he used to be, but the new client of Perry Rogers is still expected to opt out and seek a max deal that would pay him $30MM next season. The Rockets apparently aren’t completely opposed to re-signing Howard, and Morey certainly seems open to it, but it would surely have to be for less money than the max, and at least four other teams are apparently better bets.
Two power forwards poised for restricted free agency
Howard isn’t the only one seemingly on his way out of Houston. The Rockets already pulled off a trade to send Donatas Motiejunas to Detroit, but the Pistons voided the deadline swap. Now, Motiejunas is up for restricted free agency, along with fellow power forward Terrence Jones. Motiejunas returned to Houston’s starting lineup shortly after the trade that wasn’t, and while he proved he could be a consistent presence on the floor after missing most of a calendar year with back trouble, he averaged only 15.7 minutes per game in 21 starts down the stretch. His inability to come anywhere close to the 36.8% he shot from 3-point range last season bodes poorly for his future in Houston, and while he excelled in Houston’s lone playoff win this spring with a 14-point, 13-rebound performance in Game 3 against the Warriors, he otherwise averaged 7.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in that series.
Jones started 71 games for the Rockets in his second year in the NBA, but he fell out of the rotation this season, his fourth since becoming the 18th pick in 2012, and he didn’t play at all in the postseason. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Houston pass on making a qualifying offer to Jones, thus allowing him to hit unrestricted free agency. The Rockets will probably make a qualifying offer to Motiejunas, but they assuredly won’t be afraid to rescind it if that’s what it takes to sign someone else.
Free agent targets
Clearing Howard, Jones and perhaps Motiejunas would give the Rockets about $40MM of cap room to play with, more than enough to sign any free agent. They, like so many others, will go after Durant, and they’ll use Harden, his old teammate, as a selling point, but a reunion appears unlikely. The focus would shift to the next most attractive free agents if Durant says no. Stretchy big man Al Horford and his emerging 3-point game at his max of about $26MM would fit well in Houston. Combining Horford with stretch four extraordinaire Ryan Anderson at around $14MM sounds even better, but that might not be enough for Anderson. The Rockets would have snagged Pau Gasol in the nixed 2011 Chris Paul trade, so perhaps Morey will revisit that idea. Houston could go cheaper and sign Jared Dudley to play the four, leaving money to upgrade the bench.
Potential trades
Houston would surely love to unload Corey Brewer, who had a dreadful year and is still under contract for two more seasons, but that’ll be a tough sell. Better potential for a deal exists deeper on the bench, where young players K.J. McDaniels, Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell could become expendable if the Rockets commit fully to win-now mode. Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley have contracts in the middle of the salary scale, the sort that often make for easy trade fodder, but neither appears destined for a new home unless the Rockets are forced to give them up to accommodate a trade for a star or a second max free agent signing.
Draft outlook
- First-round picks: None
- Second-round picks: 37th, 43rd
The Rockets already have three top-40 picks from the last two drafts with guaranteed deals for next season, so unless they offload some of them, it’s tough to see the players at No. 37 and No. 43 both making Houston’s roster come opening night. Look for Houston to trade at least one of its picks.
Other decisions
Michael Beasley was superb after signing a two-year contract in early March, and keeping him on his non-guaranteed minimum salary should be an easy choice. Fellow March signee Andrew Goudelock didn’t have nearly the same sort of impact, so he’ll be expendable. Midseason trade acquisition Josh Smith failed to come close to the production he gave the Rockets during last year’s stint with the team, so he’ll probably be an afterthought at best for Houston in free agency this summer. Jason Terry‘s versatility has value, but he turns 39 in September and the team reportedly wants to explore other options before doing any would-be new deal with the combo guard.
Final take
The Rockets endured a profoundly disappointing season this year, but they still have one of the game’s pre-eminent stars in Harden, and this summer they’ll have not only the chance to hire the right coach but also the flexibility to make significant roster changes and land another star. Houston can rise as quickly as it fell.
Guaranteed Salary
- James Harden ($16,784,032)
- Trevor Ariza ($7,806,971)
- Corey Brewer ($7,612,172)
- Patrick Beverley ($6,000,000)
- K.J. McDaniels ($3,333,333)
- Sam Dekker ($1,720,560)
- Clint Capela ($1,296,240)
- Montrezl Harrell ($1,045,000)
- Total: $45,598,308
Player Options
- Dwight Howard ($23,282,457)
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Michael Beasley ($1,403,611)
- Andrew Goudelock ($1,015,696)
- Total: $2,419,307
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Donatas Motiejunas ($4,433,683/$5,720,513)
- Terrence Jones ($3,532,643/$6,223,825)
- Totals: ($7,966,326/$11,944,338)
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Dwight Howard ($30,300,000) — pending player option1
- Josh Smith ($980,431)
- Jason Terry ($980,431)
- Total: $32,260,862
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
Footnotes:
- The cap hold for Howard if he opts out will be the maximum salary for a veteran of 10 or more seasons. The number shown here is an estimate based on the projected cap figure.
Community Shootaround: NBA Finals
The first round of the playoffs wraps up tonight, and if we’ve learned anything about the teams involved it’s that, in the famous words of former NFL coach Dennis Green, “They are who we thought they were.” The Warriors and Spurs still look like teams that tore through the regular season at a record pace. The Cavaliers seem like the only dominant group in the East. The Raptors are still good in the regular season, but shaky in the playoffs. The Heat have the talent to raise their game when they need to. The Celtics have many good players, but not enough stars. And the Clippers remain as snakebit as ever.
There were few surprises in the opening round, but things figure to become more competitive as we move on. The Western Conference has already started second-round play, with Golden State and San Antonio holding 1-0 leads over Portland and Oklahoma City. In the East, Cleveland and Atlanta will tip off their series Monday night, while Miami, which prevailed in a seven-game tussle today, awaits the winner of Game 7 between Toronto and Indiana.
The East feels set up the same way it has been for the past five seasons, with LeBron James‘ team as a heavy favorite. Shooting for his sixth straight trip to the NBA Finals, James and the Cavaliers looked sharp in a first-round sweep of the plucky Pistons. LeBron could be headed for an intense Eastern Conference finals showdown with his former team in Miami if the Cavs and Heat survive the second round.
Out West, Golden State and San Antonio seem destined to collide in the conference finals. The Spurs opened their series with the Thunder with a 32-point pasting Saturday night, and the Warriors followed with a 12-point victory over the Trail Blazers this afternoon despite missing probable league MVP Stephen Curry. Either series will need a dramatic turnaround to prevent a clash of the two superpowers.
That brings us to tonight’s question: Now that we’ve seen the first round of the playoffs, who are your picks to meet in the NBA Finals? Will LeBron make his annual trip to the league’s biggest showcase, or will the Hawks, Heat, Raptors or Pacers find a way to stop him? And are the Warriors and Spurs the NBA’s version of an irresistible force, or will the Thunder or Blazers be able to turn those series around?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
Community Shootaround: Clippers’ Trio
The Clippers will enter the offseason earlier than expected after losing the final game in their series against the Blazers on Friday night. The team lost Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to injury during Game 4 of the series and Los Angeles was unable to win another game without two of its stars on the floor.
The arrival of the offseason carries questions for the Clippers. The front office has to figure out if Paul, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan can be the foundation of a championship team and they were hoping to get another postseason to gather more data. Instead, the franchise got three games of postseason play, two of which it won, to evaluate its core and that brings us to tonight’s question. Should the Clippers break up the Paul-Griffin-Jordan trio?
Let us know what you would do if you were sitting in Doc Rivers‘ chair. Which player(s) should be moved? Would you give this core another year and if so, what minor changes would you make? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say!
Hoops Rumors Originals 4/24/16-4/30/16
Here’s a look back at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this past week…
- If you missed the week’s live chat, you can view the transcript here.
- As a part of our Prospect Profile series we looked at the following 2016 NBA Draft prospects:
- I ran down the 2015/16 D-League usage for the Bulls, Cavaliers and Mavericks.
- Chuck Myron broke down the cap situations heading into the offseason for the Nets, Mavericks, Rockets and Knicks.
- We gave a refresher on how Early Bird Rights work.
- Zach Links highlighted some of the better basketball blogs around in his weekly installment of Hoops Links.
- If you missed any of our daily reader-driven discussions, be sure to check out the Community Shootaround archives.
- Here’s how you can follow Hoops Rumors on social media and RSS feeds.
- We reviewed our commenting policy. Play nice everyone.
- Here’s how you can follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.
Community Shootaround: Evan Turner
Evan Turner has never lived up to the expectations that come with being the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean that the swingman doesn’t provide value to his squad on a nightly basis. The 27-year-old is coming off a solid campaign for the Celtics that saw him average 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 28.0 minutes per outing, while primarily coming off the bench for Boston. While Turner’s numbers aren’t necessarily eye-popping, he was a vital cog in the Celtics’ rotation this season and was my choice for this season’s Sixth Man of the Year award that went to the Clippers’ Jamal Crawford.
Turner, who earned $3,425,510 this season, is set to become an unrestricted free agent and could be in line for a starting salary of over $10MM per year on his next contract, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. “You hear players talk all the time about doing whatever it takes to win, but he’s doing it,” one NBA executive told Blakely regarding Turner. “Start, come off the bench, play a few minutes, play a lot of minutes. He’s done everything they’ve asked him to do and from what I hear hasn’t grumbled a day about it. Every team needs a guy like that in their locker room.”
“If you’re looking for him to come in and put X amount of points and X amount of assists per game and [shoot] this or that from the field, he’s probably not your guy,” another executive told the CSN scribe regarding the future unrestricted free agent. “He helps you win games. That’s probably his greatest strength.”
This brings me to the topic for today: How much is Evan Turner worth on the open market?
Turner may not put up gaudy statistics and he isn’t capable of being a team’s primary scoring option on a nightly basis, but his versatile skill set certainly allows him to be a solid contributor on a winning team. With the salary cap set to increase significantly next season, the league should see some interesting deals inked this offseason, with quite a few players assuredly set to end up with player-friendly pacts over the summer. But how much will Turner be worth on his next deal and what team would be the best landing spot for him? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Mavericks
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors are recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Dallas Mavericks, whose D-League affiliate is the Texas Legends:
The Mavs made 18 assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 20 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Dallas for the 2015/16 season:
- November 20th: Assigned Justin Anderson (1st) — Recalled November 22nd
- November 20th: Assigned Salah Mejri (1st) — Recalled November 22nd
- December 11th: Assigned Justin Anderson (2nd) — Recalled December 12th
- December 11th: Assigned Salah Mejri (2nd) — Recalled December 12th
- December 11th: Assigned Jeremy Evans (1st) — Recalled December 12th
- December 12th: Assigned Justin Anderson (3rd) — Recalled December 12th
- December 12th: Assigned Salah Mejri (3rd) — Recalled December 13th
- December 18th: Assigned Justin Anderson (4th) — Recalled December 20th
- December 18th: Assigned Salah Mejri (4th) — Recalled December 20th
- December 19th: Assigned Jeremy Evans (2nd) — Recalled December 20th
- December 26th: Assigned Justin Anderson (5th) — Recalled December 27th
- December 26th: Assigned Salah Mejri (5th) — Recalled December 27th
- January 2nd: Assigned Salah Mejri (6th) — Recalled January 3rd
- January 21st: Assigned Justin Anderson (6th) — Recalled January 22nd
- January 21st: Assigned Jeremy Evans (3rd) — Recalled January 22nd
- January 21st: Assigned Salah Mejri (7th) — Recalled January 22nd
- February 20th: Assigned Justin Anderson (7th) — Recalled February 21st
- February 20th: Assigned Jeremy Evans (4th) — Recalled February 21st
Here is how the Mavs’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Justin Anderson: In seven D-League appearances, the swingman averaged 23.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 38.3 minutes per outing. Anderson’s shooting line was .460/.333/.792.
- Jeremy Evans: In four contests for the Legends, Evans notched averages of 16.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 35.8 minutes per game. His slash line was .500/.389/.727.
- Salah Mejri: The center appeared in eight D-League games on the season and averaged 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 23.8 minutes per contest. Mejri’s shooting line was .566/.125/.875.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Early Bird Rights
Bird rights offer teams the chance to sign their own free agents without regard to the salary cap, but they don’t apply to every player. Other salary cap exceptions are available for teams to keep players who don’t qualify for Bird rights. One such exception is the Early Bird, which applies to players formally known as Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agents.
The Bird exception is for players who’ve spent three seasons with one club without changing teams as a free agent, but Early Bird rights are earned after just two such seasons. Virtually all of the same rules that apply to Bird rights apply to Early Bird rights, with the requirements condensed to two years rather than three. Players still see their Bird clocks restart by changing teams via free agency, being claimed in an expansion draft, or having their rights renounced.
The crucial difference between Bird rights and Early Bird rights involves the limitations on contract offers. Bird players can receive maximum-salary deals for up to five years, while the most a team can offer an Early Bird free agent without using cap space is 175% of his previous salary or 104.5% of the league-average salary in the previous season, whichever is greater. These offers are also capped at four years rather than five, and the new contracts must run for at least two years.
The Heat will have to reckon with having only Early Bird rights instead of full Bird rights on Hassan Whiteside this summer. Miami has only about $48MM in guaranteed salary against a projected $92MM cap for next season, but cap holds for Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng add about $43MM to the team’s books. Whiteside, who’s rapidly emerged while on a two-year deal for the minimum salary, is likely to command a deal at or near his maximum-salary of an estimated $21.7MM. The Heat would have to open cap space to sign him for more than 104.5% of the average salary, which is expected to be only about a third of the value of Whiteside’s max. The Heat face a stiff challenge if they’re to re-sign the foursome of Whiteside, Wade, Deng and Joe Johnson, another key contributor who’s hitting free agency this year.
Their Southeast Division rivals in Atlanta can sympathize. The Hawks fostered DeMarre Carroll‘s development on a cheap two-year contract and had to choose between re-signing him and Paul Millsap when Carroll entered Early Bird free agency last year. A similar predicament faces the Hawks this summer, when Al Horford and 2014 bargain signee Kent Bazemore hit the market. The Hawks have full Bird rights with Horford, as they did with Millsap last year, but re-signing Horford at his max of an estimated $26MM would add to the more than $51.7MM in guaranteed salary already on Atlanta’s books. Other cap holds would limit the Hawks to no more than about $12MM of space for Bazemore, with whom they only have Early Bird rights and can’t pay more than roughly $7MM without using cap room. Bazemore didn’t break through quite as profoundly as Carroll did with the Hawks, but it’ll be a player’s market in free agency this summer, and Atlanta will be hard-pressed to keep both Horford and Bazemore.
Teams can nonetheless benefit from having Early Bird rights instead of full Bird rights when they’re trying to preserve cap space. The cap hold for an Early Bird player is 130% of his previous salary, significantly less than most Bird players, who take up either 150% or 190% of their previous salaries. That helps the Heat, since the cap hold for Deng, an Early Bird free agent who isn’t due for the sort of raise Whiteside is, will be only about $13MM, not much higher than his salary of roughly $10MM for this season.
Another distinction between Bird rights and Early Bird rights applies to waivers. Players who are claimed off waivers retain their Early Bird rights, just as they would if they were traded. Those who had Bird rights instead see those reduced to Early Bird rights if they’re claimed off waivers. This rule stems from a 2012 settlement between the league and the union in which J.J. Hickson was given a special exception and retained his full Bird rights for the summer of 2012 even though he’d been claimed off waivers that March.
A special wrinkle involving Early Bird rights, called the Gilbert Arenas Provision, applies to players who’ve only been in the league for one or two years. We covered the Gilbert Arenas Provision in another glossary entry.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were initially published in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Houston Rockets
Rockets GM Daryl Morey will have plenty of cap flexibility this summer to pivot away from the profound disappointment of this season, as long as Dwight Howard opts out as expected. Houston’s guaranteed salary commitments only come to about half the projected salary cap, so if the team moves on from the disjointed pairing of Howard and James Harden, it’ll have the chance to sign a new maximum-salary free agent and then some. See how the Rockets’ cap situation looks for 2016/17 as Hoops Rumors continues its offseason salary cap digest series.
Guaranteed Salary
- James Harden ($16,784,032)
- Trevor Ariza ($7,806,971)
- Corey Brewer ($7,612,172)
- Patrick Beverley ($6,000,000)
- K.J. McDaniels ($3,333,333)
- Sam Dekker ($1,720,560)
- Clint Capela ($1,296,240)
- Montrezl Harrell ($1,045,000)
- Total: $45,598,308
Player Options
- Dwight Howard ($23,282,457)
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Michael Beasley ($1,403,611)
- Andrew Goudelock ($1,015,696)
- Total: $2,419,307
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Donatas Motiejunas ($4,433,683/$5,720,513)
- Terrence Jones ($3,532,643/$6,223,825)
- Totals: ($7,966,326/$11,944,338)
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Dwight Howard ($30,300,000) — pending player option1
- Josh Smith ($980,431)
- Jason Terry ($980,431)
- Total: $32,260,862
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
Footnotes:
- The cap hold for Howard if he opts out will be the maximum salary for a veteran of 10 or more seasons. The number shown here is an estimate based on the projected cap figure.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.