Community Shootaround: DeMar DeRozan
Raptors swingman DeMar DeRozan has struggled mightily this postseason, averaging 17.4 points per game and shooting a woeful 33.3% from the field in five playoff outings. The 26-year-old is reportedly poised to turn down his player option worth only slightly more than $10MM and hit free agency this summer, but he has made it clear on several occasions that he prefers to remain in Toronto. The Lakers, however, are reportedly ready to make a maximum-salary offer to him.
“My whole mindset has always been this is home for me,” DeRozan said of Toronto. “I never think otherwise unless it’s brought up to me, or you see things, or people ask you about certain things. This has always been home to me. I took pride in putting on this Toronto Raptors jersey since I’ve been drafted here. And my whole goal was to get this team to the point where it is now. And I feel I’ve been a major key to that.”
The shooting guard’s woes certainly come at an inopportune time for him if he indeed intends to opt out and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. DeRozan had an excellent regular season for the Raptors, appearing in 78 games and averaging 23.5 points (a career-high), 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists to accompany a shooting line of .446/.338/.850. Based on his regular season numbers, it’s difficult to argue against shelling out big money to retain DeRozan, but in a league where reputations are made in the postseason, his struggles are bound to raise some questions among NBA executives.
That brings me to the topic for today: Is DeMar DeRozan worthy of a maximum-salary deal?
If DeRozan indeed decides to opt out and become a free agent, do you believe he is worthy of such a large contract? If so, should the Raptors be the ones to give it to him, or should he head elsewhere? If you are opposed to the player being paid a max salary, what contract parameters would you recommend for his next pact? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Dallas Mavericks
The salary cap puzzle for the Mavericks this summer depends largely on three player options worth more than $30MM. Chandler Parsons will almost certainly decline his to seek more on the open market, and Dirk Nowitzki has said he plans to opt in as long as the Mavs don’t start a rebuilding project. Deron Williams is undecided, though his is the smallest of the options. A Williams opt-in would nonetheless make it a tight squeeze for the team to sign a player for the middle-tier max of roughly $25MM, presuming the Mavs also re-sign Parsons. Here’s a look at the numbers for the Mavs as owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson prepare for the summer ahead.
Guaranteed Salary
- Wesley Matthews ($17,145,838)
- Devin Harris ($4,227,996)
- J.J. Barea ($4,096,950)
- Justin Anderson ($1,514,160)
- Jeremy Evans ($1,227,286)
- (Maurice Ndour $437,318) — Salary remaining from release via stretch provision
- (Gal Mekel $315,759) — Salary remaining from release via stretch provision
- Total: $28,965,307
Player Options
- Chandler Parsons ($16,023,000)
- Dirk Nowitzki ($8,692,184)
- Deron Williams ($5,621,026)
- Total: $30,336,210
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- JaVale McGee ($1,403,611)
- Salah Mejri ($874,636)
- Total: $2,278,247
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Dwight Powell ($1,180,431/$1,180,431)
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Chandler Parsons ($19,969,950) — Pending player option
- Dirk Nowitzki ($12,500,001) — Pending player option
- Zaza Pachulia ($9,880,000)
- Raymond Felton ($7,505,595)
- Deron Williams ($6,454,769) — Pending player option
- David Lee ($2,502,805)
- Charlie Villanueva ($980,431)
- Total: $59,793,551
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year
The league announced on Tuesday that Steve Kerr was selected as the NBA’s Coach of the Year. Kerr missed the first 43 games of the season while recovering from multiple operations on his back, but it appears voters were willing to overlook that in light of Golden State’s 73-9 record overall, the best in the history of the league. The Warriors adapted seamlessly to his absence, going 39-4 under acting head coach Luke Walton, who was also eligible for the award.
Kerr, 50, maintained a consistent presence around the team in practices while he was recovering, and it was clear the relaxed tone he set during last year’s championship season remained. He finished second in last year’s voting to Mike Budenholzer. Golden State went 34-5 to close the regular season after Kerr returned in January, though a knee injury that will sideline Stephen Curry for at least the next two weeks threatens Golden State’s bid for a repeat championship.
This brings me to the topic for today: Should Steve Kerr have won Coach of the Year?
There’s no denying the success Kerr has had since arriving in Golden State, and it is certainly a credit to him and his staff that the team seemingly didn’t lose a beat despite his early-season absence. But is coaching under half a season’s worth of games, no matter how successful the team was, worthy of snagging such a prestigious award? The success the Warriors had under Walton’s command certainly lends weight to the argument that Kerr wasn’t necessarily deserving of the accolade, but it’s arguable that it was his system and culture that allowed the team to continue to be successful in his absence.
But what say you? Are you OK with Kerr winning the award, or do you feel another coach was more deserving? Take to the comments section to lend your support to Kerr’s selection, or if you are on the other side of the argument, share with us whom you believe should have won the award this season. We look forward to what you have to say.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Cavaliers
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 Cleveland Cavaliers, whose D-League affiliate is the Canton Charge:
The Cavs made nine assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 29 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls Cleveland made for the 2015/16 season:
- November 13th: Assigned Joe Harris (1st) — Recalled November 19th
- November 20th: Assigned Joe Harris (2nd) — Recalled November 21st
- November 28th: Assigned Joe Harris (3rd) — Recalled November 30th
- December 2nd: Assigned Joe Harris (4th) — Recalled December 17th
- December 19th: Assigned Joe Harris (5th) — Recalled December 20th
- April 11th: Assigned Sasha Kaun (1st) — Recalled April 11th
- April 11th: Assigned Jordan McRae (1st) — Recalled April 11th
- April 12th: Assigned Sasha Kaun (2nd) — Recalled April 13th
- April 12th: Assigned Jordan McRae (2nd) — Recalled April 13th
Canton also had seven players assigned to it from other NBA franchises via the flexible assignment rule:
- The Bucks sent Damien Inglis (one assignment, 13 days) and Rashad Vaughn (one assignment, eight days).
- The Bulls sent Cristiano Felicio (two assignments, 15 days).
- The Clippers sent C.J. Wilcox (three assignments, 40 days).
- The Hawks sent Edy Tavares (one assignment, three days), Tim Hardaway Jr. (one assignment, three days) and Lamar Patterson (one assignment, 24 days).
Here is how the Cavs’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Joe Harris: In 10 D-League appearances, the combo guard averaged 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per outing. Harris’ shooting line was .397/.323/.794.
- Sasha Kaun: In one D-League outing, the center logged 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 30 minutes of action. Kaun made six out of his seven field goal attempts on the night.
- Jordan McRae: The shooting guard did not see any game action for Canton while on assignment. McRae did appear in 29 contests this season for the Delaware 87ers, who are the Sixers’ affiliate, averaging 23.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 35.4 minutes per outing. His slash line with Delaware was .549/.318/.799.
Submit Your Questions For Hoops Rumors Mailbag
In addition to our regular weekly chat, which Chuck Myron facilitates every Wednesday, we have a second opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in our weekly mailbag feature, which is posted every Sunday.
Have a question regarding player movement, free agent rumors, the salary cap, the NBA draft, or the top storylines of the week? You can e-mail them here: hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com. Feel free to send emails throughout the week, but please be mindful that we may receive a sizable number of questions and might not get to all of them.
If you missed out on any past mailbags and would like to catch up, you can view the full archives here.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript
4:05pm: We hosted the weekly live chat.
3:00pm: The Lakers made a decision Sunday that seemed inevitable at times this season but had appeared less likely in recent weeks, dismissing oft-criticized coach Byron Scott. Thus, the Lakers joined the Kings and Knicks among the teams looking for a coach, a group that could include the Rockets soon. All will be hard-pressed to do as well as the Warriors did two years ago when they hired Steve Kerr, who won this year’s Coach of the Year award, but Golden State’s position atop the NBA hierarchy looks as precarious as it has all season with Stephen Curry‘s health in doubt. We can discuss all this and more in today’s chat.
Offseason Salary Cap Digest: New York Knicks
The Knicks will once more go big-game hunting in free agency this summer, though whether they’ll have the cap flexibility necessary to sign maximum-salary free agents, most of whom will cost upward of $25MM for next season, depends in large measure on what Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams decide to do with their player options. New York could alternatively create room by offloading Jose Calderon, as we note below. As Hoops Rumors continues its look at each’s team salary cap situation for the season ahead, here are the numbers in the books that team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills will tend to:
Guaranteed Salary
- Carmelo Anthony ($24,559,380)
- Robin Lopez ($13,219,250)
- Jose Calderon ($7,708,427)1
- Kristaps Porzingis ($4,317,720)
- Kyle O’Quinn ($3,918,750)
- Jerian Grant ($1,643,040)
- Total: $55,366,567
Player Options
- Arron Afflalo ($8,000,000)
- Derrick Williams ($4,598,000)
- Total: $12,598,000
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Tony Wroten ($1,050,961)
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Langston Galloway ($2,725,003/$2,725,003)
- Cleanthony Early ($1,180,431/$1,180,431)
- Totals: ($3,905,434/$3,905,434)
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Arron Afflalo ($9,600,000) — Pending player option
- Derrick Williams ($5,280,000) — Pending player option
- Kevin Seraphin ($3,376,800)
- Lance Thomas ($2,127,895)
- Lou Amundson ($2,126,119)
- Sasha Vujacic ($980,431)
- Total: $23,491,245
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
Footnotes:
- Waiving Calderon via the stretch provision, a maneuver that’s been the subject of much speculation, would reduce his salary for next season to $2,569,475.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Prospect Profile Series
The June 23rd draft is less than two months away, and the fate of NBA teams hangs in the balance. Only a few players at the top of the draft rankings have superstar potential, but the remainder of this year’s crop offers some intriguing possibilities. Hoops Rumors will be tracking all of the breaking developments, and one of the ways we’ll cover the potentially franchise-altering event will be to take a closer look at many of the prospects in line to hear their names called on draft night.
Our list of Prospect Profiles will be updated in the weeks ahead as we build our inventory of reports for your perusal. This post can be found anytime under “Hoops Rumors Features” on the right sidebar. The players we’ve profiled so far can be found below, sorted by their rankings on the DraftExpress list of the top 100 prospects for 2016.
- Brandon Ingram, Duke (F)
- Ben Simmons, LSU (F)
- Dragan Bender, Croatia (PF)
- Kris Dunn, Providence (PG)
- Jamal Murray, Kentucky (G)
- Buddy Hield, Oklahoma (SG)
- Jakob Poeltl, Utah (C)
- Skal Labissiere, Kentucky (F/C)
- Deyonta Davis, Michigan State (F/C)
- Denzel Valentine, Michigan State (SG)
- Henry Ellenson, Marquette (PF)
- Demetrius Jackson, Notre Dame (PG)
Community Shootaround: Dell Demps
The Pelicans had the unfortunate distinction of finishing the 2015/16 campaign with their players missing a total of 351 games due to injury and illness, which was the most in the NBA in the past six years. “It’s been disappointing,” GM Dell Demps said of the seemingly never-ending string of physical maladies New Orleans endured this season. “We had a lot of high hopes coming into the season. And, obviously, not being at full strength has really … it’s been tough. It’s been tough on us. It’s been tough on the organization.“
New Orleans, which had been predicted by many to be a playoff contender this season, went just 30-52 on the campaign, which was a decrease of 15 wins from its 2014/15 showing. Demps is on the hot seat as a result and his position with the organization in doubt. The executive was originally scheduled to have his season-ending press conference on Monday, but it was abruptly rescheduled for an unspecified later date. The Pelicans have reportedly not made any final decision regarding Demps’ future with the team and evaluations of the rest of his staff are still ongoing, though current indications are that the executive will remain in his post for next season, according to Brett Dawson of The Advocate.
This brings me to the topic for today: Should the Pelicans retain Dell Demps as GM?
New Orleans has gone 203-273 while under Demps’ control, hardly an earth-shattering track record, but the Pelicans did appear to be a franchise on the rise before the season’s parade of injuries commenced. Do you believe the executive should be given another season to show results, considering how the team’s glut of injuries could not have been foreseen? Or have you viewed a large enough sample size of Demps to decide that he’s not the one to lead the Pelicans to the next level? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject, weigh in on what you believe Demps’ best and worst moves were as an executive, or simply to vent about New Orleans’ frustrating season. We look forward to what you have to say.
Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Brooklyn Nets
New Brookyn GM Sean Marks is poised to have maximum-level cap flexibility to work with in the offseason ahead, even if all three of the Nets who have player options decide to opt in, and even with multiple cap hits remaining from previous buyouts. Hoops Rumors is looking at each team’s cap situation for next season, starting with the Nets:
Guaranteed Salary
- Brook Lopez ($21,165,675)
- Thaddeus Young ($12,278,652)
- (Deron Williams $5,474,787) — Salary remaining from buyout via stretch provision
- Bojan Bogdanovic ($3,573,020)
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson ($1,395,600)
- Chris McCullough ($1,191,480)
- Sean Kilpatrick ($980,431)
- Jarrett Jack ($500,000) — Partial guarantee; non-guaranteed portion listed below
- (Andrea Bargnani $323,599) — Salary remaining from buyout
- Total: $46,883,244
Player Options
- Wayne Ellington ($1,567,500)
- Shane Larkin ($1,500,000)
- Thomas Robinson ($1,050,961)
- Total: $4,118,461
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Jarrett Jack ($5,800,000) — Partial guarantee; guaranteed portion listed above
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Shane Larkin ($1,875,000/$1,875,000) — Pending player option
- Willie Reed ($1,215,696/$1,215,696)
- Markel Brown ($1,180,431/$1,180,431)
- Totals: ($4,271,127/$4,271,127)
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Sergey Karasev ($2,463,754)1
- Wayne Ellington ($1,800,000) — Pending player option
- Thomas Robinson ($980,431) — Pending player option
- Donald Sloan ($980,431)
- Henry Sims ($980,431)
- Total: $7,205,047
Other Cap Holds
- Andray Blatche ($1,788,285)
- Jason Collins ($980,431)
- Jerry Stackhouse ($980,431)
- Total: $3,749,147
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
Footnotes:
- The Nets can’t re-sign Karasev to a contract with a starting salary worth more than the amount listed here because they declined their team option on his rookie scale contract.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.