Hoops Rumors Originals

Hoops Rumors has a wealth of available resources readily at your disposal. From the most casual basketball fan to the hard-core salary cap aficionado, we have something for everyone to enjoy and delve into. We have you covered if you want to track the latest trades, browse all 30 team rosters, and find easy-to-read articles that explain the nuances of the collective bargaining agreement.

Here are some of the resources available at a glance:

• Check out our expanded Roster Counts for each team’s current roster, as well as the contract status for each player.
• Our Agency Database tells you the representation for all of your favorite players, and you can sort by team and agency.
• You can review the summer moves for all 30 NBA teams by checking out our Offseason In Review series.
• If you want to know more about the nuances of the salary cap or some of the more complicated NBA roster rules, check out the Hoops Rumors Glossary.
• You can stay on top of which draft-and-stash players have signed with NBA teams this offseason by checking here. We also have a full rundown of the signing status for each of the 2015 draftees here.
• On Wednesdays at 3:00pm CT, Chuck Myron answers reader questions in a live chat. You can check out transcripts of our past discussions here.
• Each week we answer readers’ questions in Hoops Rumors’ Weekly Mailbag. You can submit your queries to HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com.
• You can see all of the traded future NBA Draft picks here.
• Every Sunday we feature some of the best content from basketball blogs in our Hoops Links series.
• Check out our Schedule of Salary Guarantee Dates to see when players’ contract guarantees kick in.
• Over the summer Zach Links interviewed a number of potential NBA draftees as a part of our Draft Prospect Q&A Series.
• You can view all of the 2015 NBA Draft signings here and the status of draft-and-stash players here.
• You can keep track of all the players inked to 10-day deals from the 2006/07 season through today by going to our 10-Day Contract Tracker.
• In our ongoing Trade Retrospective series, we look back at past trades to see how they turned out for all of the teams involved.
• If you’re looking to catch up, our Week in Review posts compile the top news and rumors from the past seven days, while our Hoops Rumors Originals posts recap the site’s original content for the week. Both roundups are published every Saturday.
• Curious as to how your team utilized the NBA D-League last season? Check out our complete D-League Usage Reports for the 2014/15 campaign. You can stay on top of all the D-League assignments for the 2015/16 season here.
• You can view each NBA team’s salary cap breakdown for the 2015/16 season here.
• You can view all of the NBA D-League team affiliations here.
• Stay up to the minute on all of the breaking news and original content that we feature here at Hoops Rumors by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook, as well as Google+.
• You can view the complete 2015/16 schedule for each NBA team here.
• We profiled a number of players eligible for contract extensions as a part of our Extension Candidate Series.
• You can view all of our 2015 NBA Draft prospect profiles here.
• Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions is updated whenever a trade exception is created, used or expires.
• We also keep track of all of the trade exceptions that are created as a result of these deals here.
• We’re tracking each team’s use of the amnesty clause. Our complete table shows which clubs have used the provision and which still have it available.
• You can keep up with the players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2015/16 season here, as well as those who are eligible after the 2016/17 season here.
• Want to know the key days on the calendar for NBA player movement between now and the end of the 2015/16 regular season? You can find them here.
• You can view all the players who are eligible for veteran extensions here.
• Want to keep up to date on all the rumors, signings, trades, and roster moves for all of your favorite baseball, football, and basketball teams? Download the free Trade Rumors app for iOS and Android devices. The Trade Rumors app is highly customizable. You can add feeds for any of the 92 MLB, NBA, and NFL teams, as well as for any of the thousands of players in our archives, by using the settings icon up top for iOS and the pencil icon up top for Android. You can create a multi-sport experience tailored to your specific interests, or you can limit your app entirely to one sport by removing the others.

A quarter of the 2015/16 season has already passed, and clearly defined roles have developed for players around the league. Playing time and opportunities to start usually have positive financial consequences for soon-to-be free agents, if only indirectly so. However, for those poised to become restricted free agents in the summer ahead, precisely how many minutes they play and how often they appear in the starting lineup can have a quantifiable effect on their salaries for next season.

The NBA uses a set of “starter criteria” to help determine the value of the qualifying offer a restricted free agent is eligible to receive. The idea is that if a player is a regular starter, or plays starter’s minutes, he should see a larger qualifying offer. That offer doesn’t necessarily translate into the player’s salary for the next season, and in most cases, it’s just a placeholder for negotiations, since it’s the amount a team is required to pledge to retain the right to match competing bids for a restricted free agent. Still, two players signed contracts for the values of their respective qualifying offers last summer, and the same was the case in the offseason of 2014. A higher qualifying offer can persuade a team to give up its right to match offers, while a lower one can goad a team into keeping that right.

The starter criteria are fulfilled if a player eligible for restricted free agency makes 41 or more starts or plays 2,000 minutes in the season preceding the end of his contract, or in the average of the two seasons preceding the end of his contract. The following are the consequences for meeting or not meeting the starter criteria as they appear in our Hoops Rumors Glossary entry on qualifying offers and as informed by Larry Coon’s invaluable Salary Cap FAQ:

• A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 15th overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
• A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the ninth overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
• A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 21st overall pick would receive if he signed for 100% of the rookie scale.
• For all others, the standard criteria determine the amounts of their qualifying offers.

Several players are on pace for qualifying offer adjustments so far this season. These two are in line to see the values of their respective qualifying offers rise to $4,433,683.

• Evan Fournier, Magic (32 starts last year, on pace for 82 starts this year) — Fournier is also on pace to exceed 2,000 minutes this year. Current qualifying offer: $3,278,998.
• Jared Sullinger, Celtics (49 starts last year, on pace for 71 starts this year) — Sullinger is also on pace to exceed 2,000 minutes this year. Current qualifying offer: $3,270,004.

These players would see their qualifying offers go up to $2,725,003 if their playing time remains steady:

• Jordan Clarkson, Lakers (38 starts last year, on pace for 82 starts this year) — Clarkson is also on pace to exceed 2,000 minutes this year. Current qualifying offer: $1,180,431.
• Matthew Dellavedova, Cavaliers (on pace for 2,222 minutes) — Dellavedova has made just six starts this year and only saw 13 last season, but his minutes have him in the mix. We’ll see what happens when Kyrie Irving returns. Current qualifying offer: $1,434,095.
• Langston Galloway, Knicks (on pace for 2,030 minutes) — Galloway would just barely cross the minutes threshold if he plays at his current rate, and he’s yet to make a start after starting 41 games last season. Current qualifying offer: $1,180,431.

Only one player is in danger of seeing his qualifying offer decrease to $4,045,894:

• Meyers Leonard (on pace to make 32 starts and play 1,415 minutes) — A dislocated shoulder did Leonard no favors, as it knocked him out for seven games, and he hasn’t started in the seven games he’s played since his return. Averaging last season’s numbers wouldn’t help, since he only made seven starts and played 847 minutes in 2014/15. Current qualifying offer: $4,210,880.

The players in the next group aren’t on pace for qualifying offer adjustments, but they’re close:

• Festus Ezeli, Warriors (on pace to make 39 starts) — Current qualifying offer: $3,013,123. Would be eligible for $4,433,683 qualifying offer if he sees more frequent starts.
• Isaiah Canaan, Sixers (on pace to make 39 starts) — Current qualifying offer: $1,215,696. Would be eligible for $2,725,003 qualifying offer if he sees more frequent starts.
• Allen Crabbe, Trail Blazers (on pace to play 1,957 minutes) — Current qualifying offer: $1,215,696. Would be eligible for $2,725,003 qualifying offer if he sees more frequent playing time.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Suns GM Ryan McDonough and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge have a history together, and it shows. Phoenix and Boston have made three trades with each other in the past year, meaning they’ve hooked up on deals more often in that timeframe than any other two NBA teams. McDonough, who spent several years working under Ainge in the Celtics organization before the Suns hired him in 2013, called on his old boss frequently, most notably sending Isaiah Thomas to Boston on deadline day. Ainge and McDonough also got involved with Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, whom they worked with when he was Celtics coach, with the Celtics funneling Austin Rivers to L.A. with the help of Phoenix, which absorbed Reggie Bullock‘s contract.

Bullock later resurfaced when McDonough and the Suns pulled off their second trade of the year with the Pistons. McDonough doesn’t have the sort of history with either Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy or GM Jeff Bower that he does with Ainge, but that didn’t prevent Phoenix and Detroit from twice trading with each other. The Suns cleared cap space in both cases, with the first swap helping facilitate Phoenix’s acquisition of Brandan Wright from Ainge and the Celtics. The second deal was the controversial trade that sent Marcus Morris, along with Bullock and Danny Granger, out of Phoenix and away from twin brother Markieff Morris. Time will tell if it leads to yet another Suns-Pistons trade, since Detroit is reportedly interested in Markieff, too.

A McDonough-Ainge scenario was at play as the Sixers and Rockets collaborated on a pair of trades. Philly GM Sam Hinkie helped his former boss and Rockets GM Daryl Morey bolster his roster for a Western Conference Finals run when he sent Alexey Shved to Houston as part of a three-team deal that also saw the Timberwolves ship Corey Brewer to the Rockets. Morey in turn helped Hinkie recoup value for K.J. McDaniels, who signed a one-year deal in 2014 instead of accepting Hinkie’s long-term offer. The Rockets sent Isaiah Canaan, who’s started 11 games so far this season for Philadelphia, to the Sixers in return for McDaniels, and Morey chipped in a second-round pick in that deal, too.

Here’s a breakdown of the assets changing hands among trade partners who made multiple deals with each other in the past calendar year:

Suns-Celtics (3 times)

• January 9th — Suns get Brandan Wright. Celtics get Minnesota’s 2015 first-round pick (top-12 protected).
• *January 15th — Suns get Reggie Bullock (from Clippers). Celtics get Shavlik Randolph.
• February 19th — Suns get Marcus Thornton and Cleveland’s 2016 first-round pick (top-10 protected). Celtics get Isaiah Thomas.

Pistons-Suns (2 times)

• December 24th — Pistons get Anthony Tolliver. Suns get Tony Mitchell.
• July 9th — Pistons get Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger. Suns get Detroit’s 2020 second-round pick.

Rockets-Sixers (2 times)

• *December 19th — Rockets get Alexey Shved. Sixers get Houston’s 2015 second-round pick, and the rights to Serhiy Lishchuk.
• February 19th — Rockets get K.J. McDaniels. Sixers get Isaiah Canaan and the less favorable of Minnesota’s and Denver’s 2015 second-round picks.

* — Trades marked with asterisks also involved third teams.