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Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 11/7/15

November 7th, 2015 at 10:50pm CST by ChrisCrouse

On Friday, Paul George carried the Pacers past the Heat and stuffed the stat sheet in the process. He compiled 36 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block in a game that made it clear that George is back to his All-Star form after suffering a gruesome injury while playing for team USA last year. Indiana will play the Cavs on Sunday in a matchup against the Eastern Conference’s best player, LeBron James.

It wasn’t long ago that George was going toe-to-toe with James in the playoffs and elevating his status among the league’s best. If he continues to dominate games like he did on Friday night, the Pacers could be another serious challenger to the Cavs in the East and George may have a shot at winning his first MVP award. It might be too early to set expectations that high, but if George can lead his team to a top four seed come playoff time, he should easily be regarded as one of the top players in the Eastern Conference.

That leads us to tonight’s shootaround topic: Who are the top three players in the Eastern Conference right now?

George’s game against Miami may have firmly planted him in the conversation, but other stars such as Carmelo Anthony, John Wall and Chris Bosh, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the same game, might have something to say about that. Kyle Lowry, who has led his team to a 5-1 record while sporting a 21.9 player efficiency rating, deserves attention as well.

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.

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2015/16 Salary Cap: Memphis Grizzlies

November 7th, 2015 at 5:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from this past season, and the luxury tax line will be $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM.

With the October 26th cutoff date to set regular season rosters now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of running down the current salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Memphis Grizzlies, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:

  • 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
  • 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
  • Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $80,784,915*
  • Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $419,552
  • Non-Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $1,286,600
  • Total Salary Cap Commitments= $82,491,067
  • Remaining Cap Room= -$12,494,067
  • Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $2,248,933

*Note: This amount includes the $437,080 owed to Fab Melo, and the $163,297 owed to Jamaal Franklin, both of whom were waived via the stretch provision, as well as the $16,034 in salary paid to Ryan Hollins, who was also waived.

Cap Exceptions Available:

  • None

Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000

Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000

Last updated: 11/11/15 @ 5:10pm

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

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Hoops Rumors Weekly Mailbag 11/1/15-11/7/15

November 7th, 2015 at 3:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

In addition to our weekly chat, which Chuck Myron facilitates every Wednesday, we have a second 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 me a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com or @EddieScarito on Twitter. This week, in a continued effort to change things up a bit, I’ve once again invited some of the other staff members to join in on the fun. Now for this week’s inquiries:

“Who will be starting point guard for the Sixers by the end of this season? Is the team more likely to fill the spot long-term via the draft, trade, or free agency?” — Billy

Will Sammon: T.J. McConnell — a point guard who went undrafted, by the way — is making it really hard to remove him from the starting role once Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten are healthy. Would I bet he’s the long-term answer for the Sixers? Probably not. Then again, though, I wouldn’t bet on anything when it comes to the Sixers. GM Sam Hinkie hasn’t done anything to make a free agent want to come to the Sixers. The team will likely have another lottery pick next year and it would make sense to draft a viable point guard.

“Do you see Indiana trading Solomon Hill before the trade deadline? If so, what team might you see that can use him?” — Tyler

Chuck Myron: It’s certainly not uncommon for players in his position to end up in trades, with Austin Rivers a recent example. Any team that turns down a rookie scale option has usually lost faith that the player will become productive on the NBA level, and that’s particularly true when you’re talking about someone who was taken near the end of the draft like Hill was. His option was only worth $2,306,019, a pittance compared to most NBA salaries and only about $1MM more than his minimum salary. The Pacers can’t re-sign him for more than that, and that also applies to any team that trades for him. Ostensibly, that would dampen his trade value, since any team that trades for him runs the risk of getting outbid. But realistically, the chances of that aren’t so great. Unless he goes some place and lights it up in the back half of this season, it shouldn’t take more than $2.3MM to re-sign him. So, with the Pacers more or less having moved on, I can certainly envision Indiana dealing him away, perhaps to the Grizzlies, since Hill’s a decent outside shooter and relatively young, two qualities Memphis lacks. That’s just my speculation, though.

“What are the chances the Timberwolves trade Nikola Pekovic this season? Any teams come to mind that would be interested in him?” — Zeke

Chris Crouse: Pekovic is still recovering from an Achilles injury, but when he does return, it’s unlikely he sees heavy minutes for the Wolves due to the presence of Gorgui Dieng and Karl-Anthony Towns. The best move for Minnesota might be to deal him, however, the team is not going to give him away. He’s owed $35.8MM over the next three seasons. Minnesota has no problem committing that much salary to him because most of its core is going to be on rookie contracts. Pekovic’s contract doesn’t match his production right now, yet, it’s not an unmovable deal, especially with the rising salary cap.

As far as suitors go, you’d have to think the Mavs would be interested in acquiring the big man. Half of the Dallas roster can’t be traded until December 15th, but at that point, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear rumblings about a deal. I could also see the Pacers making a move for Pekovic if their small ball plan doesn’t pan out.

“What gives with Markieff Morris? First he wants out of Phoenix, then he’s happy to be in training camp, and now he wants out again. Where and when will this end?” — Scott

Eddie Scarito: Honestly, I don’t think all that much has changed from the offseason regarding Morris’ feelings toward still being in Phoenix. Markieff and the Suns’ prospects for a healthy long-term relationship don’t appear to be very good, and the franchise dealing away his brother, Marcus, is something I don’t think he’ll get over anytime soon. I don’t believe Markieff has been flip-flopping on his stance on Phoenix at all. Instead, I think he realized that rocking the boat wasn’t going to work for him, especially if the franchise hoped to find a suitor that would offer an acceptable return for his services. The latest chatter from Marcus is merely a case of him speaking out of turn, as well as trying to support his brother. I don’t fault him for that … but it’s not going to help matters to stir up trouble right now.

The whole situation is getting tiresome, and not just from those of us observing from outside the organization. I’ll bet the Suns’ front office would love to part ways with Markieff, but I’d wager nothing will happen until after December 15th, which is when the majority of the league becomes eligible to be dealt. I would be shocked if Morris was still a member of the Suns by the time the February trade deadline rolls around. But … I will also add that I don’t see Phoenix recouping equal value in any deal, since Morris’ antics over the summer most likely didn’t garner too many fans around the rest of the NBA’s front offices. While Morris is certainly a talented player, he’s not quite at the level that is worth the all the headaches that come with him, especially if he remains unhappy at being separated from Marcus.

“What happens if Hassan Whiteside‘s play regresses this season? Could the Heat look to sell him off while he still has high value? If so, what teams could be a fit for Whiteside?” — Larry

Charlie Adams: To be fair, his play hasn’t shown any signs of regressing, and even if he went cold for the next several weeks, almost every team in the league would be interested in acquiring a guy like Whiteside. He’s making less than a million dollars and has All-Star potential, which isn’t typical in the NBA, even for players much younger than him. I’m sure Pat Riley and company have valid concerns about his character and durability, but there’s virtually no chance Whiteside plays for any team other than the Heat this season. There’s a chance he won’t be back in Miami next year, since the Heat don’t have his full Bird Rights, but I think the team will do everything in its power to retain him, even if it means sacrificing a chance at going after a big name free agent from another team. There’s a short list of big men in the league who can fill up a stat sheet the same way Whiteside does.

That’s going to do it for this week’s mailbag. Thanks to all those who sent in their questions. We’ll be back next Saturday with more responses.

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Offseason In Review: Indiana Pacers

November 7th, 2015 at 1:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Extensions

  • None

Trades

Waiver Claims

  • None

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

After a campaign that saw their win total decrease from 56 in 2013/14 to 38 last season, the Pacers entered the offseason with the goal of assembling a younger, faster team, which resulted in a number of major changes for the franchise. While Indiana’s struggles of a season ago were certainly influenced by Paul George missing all but five contests courtesy of a leg injury suffered during a Team USA scrimmage, the team’s roster was aging and not meshing together as well as team president Larry Bird had hoped, and it was looking more and more like the franchise had passed its window to contend.

Phase one of Bird’s roster revamp was to find a taker for lumbering big man Roy Hibbert, whose decision to exercise his player option for 2015/16 worth in excess of $15.514MM could have spelled doom for any chance the team had at making significant offseason changes. Bird found a willing trade partner in the Lakers, whose interest convinced Hibbert to waive part of the 15% trade kicker included in his contract. “In the long run, it was a no-brainer,” Hibbert said to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. “If I were to say I wanted my $2MM and the trade couldn’t get done, I would have been back in Indy and wouldn’t have gotten that $2MM anyway. I would have had to basically fight an uphill battle just to try and get on the court. Hopefully I can make that [money] up in the long run if I do well.” The center gave back all but $78,185 of what otherwise would have been a $2.3MM payout.

The departure of Hibbert may have cost the team its chance of retaining veteran power forward David West, who cited the Pacers’ handling of Hibbert as one of the reasons he opted out of his deal to become an unrestricted free agent. “That’s one thing where I wish they would have handled better was the situation with Roy,” West had said to Bob Kravitz of WTHR-TV in Indianapolis after joining the Spurs. “I’ll be honest with you, that bothered me a little bit, and I told Roy that. I’m the type of guy who feels like we’re all in this fight together and I’m not designed in that way to put it all on one guy. That did rub me the wrong way. That threw me off. I started reading some of that stuff, I started thinking, ‘Whoaa.’ I just didn’t feel good about that. I told Roy that it bothered me, that he’s still my teammate.”
With the departures of two key pieces of their previous season’s rotation, the Pacers moved on and signed veteran shooting guard Monta Ellis, who at the age of 30, became the oldest player on Indiana’s newly revamped roster. This signing is a bit risky from Indiana’s standpoint. A four-year deal, including a player option for the final season, is longer than I’d be comfortable agreeing to, seeing as Ellis is essentially a one-dimensional player whose skills likely won’t hold up as each subsequent birthday passes. The average annual value of $10.995MM for Ellis’ deal is certainly reasonable, especially considering the expected spike in player salaries beginning in 2016/17, but it’s a contract that has the potential to become an overpay by years three and four if the guard’s athleticism and skills are sapped by Father Time, who to this day remains undefeated. The addition of Ellis feels like a stopgap from my perspective, and though talented, Ellis is now with his third team in four years. That’s not necessarily a ringing endorsement of his value as a roster asset in my book.
The franchise’s other moves in free agency were relatively solid, with Indiana re-signing Lavoy Allen, Rodney Stuckey and Shayne Whittington to reasonable contracts, though a three-year deal for Stuckey is a year too long in my opinion. The Pacers also went outside the organization and nabbed former Lakers big man Jordan Hill on a one-year, $4MM deal, which is an excellent value for the club that carries little to no risk thanks to the pact’s short length. The offseason move that Bird appeared to be the most excited about though was the addition of free agent Glenn Robinson III, a player the executive said he had been trying to acquire for over a year.
The Pacers’ goal of getting younger, smaller and more athletic was also on display during the 2015 draft, when the team used its first round pick to select Texas big man Myles Turner. He had a difficult freshman season at the University of Texas, where he was a poor fit for the Longhorns’ system, and his draft stock took a hit as a result. Turner is an athletic big who can light it up from deep when he’s on, and he has the potential to be a solid stretch-four in the league for years to come. Indiana’s draft day would have been a success if Turner were the only takeaway, but the addition of Oregon combo guard Joe Young was the best pick in the entire second round of the draft. Young is a versatile scorer who will contribute immediately, with his strong preseason showing earning him the nod as the team’s backup point guard. It was an excellent draft for the Pacers all around, as the team nabbed two long-term rotation players plus Rakeem Christmas through a trade with the Cavs.
Indiana also demonstrated its commitment to player development this offseason with the purchase of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, finally giving the team its own affiliate. Owning the Mad Ants will give the Pacers a notable advantage because the affiliate is only about two hours away, opined Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com, a stance I agree with. The franchise took into account the rising salaries of NBA players, as Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star noted. Owner Herb Simon said that the Pacers will need young players to go along with the higher-paid players on the roster in the future, and that those young players would need development, which the purchase of the Mad Ants will help facilitate.
The other significant storyline of the offseason involved player movement, but not of the free agent or trade variety. Instead, it’s the position switch for George, whom the Pacers asked to move from the wing into the power forward slot to aid in the team’s new small-ball philosophy. George had voiced some displeasure with the the team’s plan, though he did say that he’s willing to stick with it. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for a four spot,” George said after Indiana’s preseason opener, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (All Twitter links). “I don’t know if this is my position.” George also implied that he wasn’t the only Pacer unhappy with the strategy. “It’s not just myself,” he said. “The four other guys out there, it’s an adjustment for them. We’re all talking. … A couple other guys are uncomfortable with how we’re going to run it. It’s new to everyone.” While the early returns from the position switch have been mixed, it’s a situation that certainly bears watching as the team moves forward. It’s never a positive when a team’s best player is unhappy, and if George continually feels overmatched at the four spot, it could spell trouble on the horizon for the front office and coaching staff. That said, George isn’t as apprehensive as he initially was and won’t be guarding traditional power forwards, as Buckner told us in Friday’s edition of The Beat.
Indiana is a franchise in the midst of a transitional period, and it’s quite possible that the Pacers will need to bottom out before returning to prominence in the East. With $57.230MM in guaranteed salary on the books for 2016/17, Indiana will have the ability to add at least one impact free agent to the mix, though the franchise is still not viewed around the league as an attractive free agent destination, making it difficult to gauge just whom the Pacers will set their sights on next offseason. But for now, the team is certainly younger, smaller and faster. From that perspective, the offseason can be called a success, but the team isn’t likely to be better than the squad that went to two straight Conference Finals.

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

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Hoops Rumors Originals 11/1/15-11/7/15

November 7th, 2015 at 11:40am CST by Eddie Scarito

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

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2015/16 Salary Cap: Los Angeles Lakers

November 7th, 2015 at 10:20am CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from this past season, and the luxury tax line will be $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM.

With the October 26th cutoff date to set regular season rosters now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of running down the current salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Los Angeles Lakers, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:

  • 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
  • 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
  • Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $69,453,002
  • Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $194,942*
  • Non-Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $2,317,428
  • Total Salary Cap Commitments= $71,965,372
  • Remaining Cap Room= -$1,965,372
  • Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $12,222,717

*Note: This amount includes the $100,00 owed to Jonathan Holmes, the $50,000 due Michael Frazier, the $35,000 owed to Robert Upshaw, and the $9,942 salary already paid to Jabari Brown, all of whom were waived by the team.

Cap Exceptions Available:

  • Room Exception= $2,814,000

Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000

Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000

Last updated: 11/7/15 @ 10:20am

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

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Top Bloggers: Troy Tauscher On The Suns

November 6th, 2015 at 11:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Anyone can have a blog about an NBA team, but some set themselves apart from the rest with the dedication and valuable insight they bring to their craft. We’ll be sharing some knowledge from these dialed-in writers on Hoops Rumors in a new feature called Top Bloggers. As with The Beat, our ongoing series of interviews with NBA beat writers, it’s part of an effort to bring Hoops Rumors readers ever closer to the pulse of the teams they follow. Last time, we spoke with Philip Rossman-Reich, who is the Managing Editor of Fansided’s Orlando Magic Daily. Click here to see the entire Top Bloggers series.

Next up is Troy Tauscher, who is a writer for Fansided’s Valley Of The Suns. You can follow Troy on Twitter at @tt_sports and click here to check out his stories.

Hoops Rumors: Publicly, it seems that Markieff Morris has backed down from his trade demands or, at the very least, he’s not saying much about it.  Do you think this is the last we’ll hear about Morris being dissatisfied in Phoenix? How do you see everything playing out? (Note: We asked this question before the latest comments from Marcus Morris).

Troy Tauscher: It’s really hard to write this paragraph given Markieff Morris’ rough start. Anyway, I’ve maintained that he’s still upset with Phoenix. However, I also think he values winning and playing well, and is truly prepared to make that his priority. The market for him isn’t favorable, so I don’t think he gets traded this season. If the Suns can eventually package him with other assets for a deal that improves the team, I don’t think they hesitate and I don’t think Morris will be upset that he’s leaving.

Hoops Rumors: The Suns didn’t land LaMarcus Aldridge, but they did add Tyson Chandler and Mirza Teletovic. What did you like about the Suns’ offseason? Were there any additional moves that you wish they made?

Troy Tauscher: I liked both signings, even though Teletovic can’t hit a shot to save his life right now. I also really liked the Devin Booker pick. If I could add one thing, I would have signed a backup point guard who can manage the offense but doesn’t demand time. Ronnie Price is a good locker room guy and a hound on defense, but he can’t manage the offense. If Bledsoe or Knight get hurt, I think that might be an issue. I also obviously wish Aldridge would have joined the Suns.

Hoops Rumors: How do you think Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe will mesh in the same backcourt?

Troy Tauscher: I think the Bledsoe-Knight pair is built to be a productive combination. The numbers say Knight was a very efficient spot-up shooter last season. He can work around Bledsoe attacking the rim. Knight can also create for Bledsoe by finding off-screen cuts that Bledsoe can finish. I like versatility, and the two have complementing skill sets that allow the Suns to diversify their offense. Defensively, I think it’s just a matter of Bledsoe taking the athletic challenge and giving Knight the secondary assignment.

Hoops Rumors: The Suns appear to have a lot of depth but they don’t have an elite star player. How do you see them addressing that in the years to come?

Troy Tauscher: The honest answer is that I have no idea. I’ve mentioned frequently that [GM] Ryan McDonough has some kind of dark wizard powers that allow him to just conjure up deals out of thin air. It’s impossible to guess who the available player will be. I mean, Aldridge was likely to stay with the Blazers for most of last season. The Suns do have good assets and a smart front office. I think it’s just a matter of waiting until they find the right guy at the right time.

Hoops Rumors: Playing in the Western Conference and in the Pacific Division isn’t an easy draw. What kind of record do you see the Suns winding up with in 2015/16?

Troy Tauscher: I have the Suns at 45 wins and the No. 8 seed, mostly because I’m not all in on the Jazz. I think it’ll be hard sometimes and I certainly don’t see that prediction as a lock. The more balanced attack they bring fixes some of their biggest flaws from previous seasons. It’s just about how much they want it and how much discipline they have on a nightly basis.

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Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 11/6/15

November 6th, 2015 at 11:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Mavericks and head coach Rick Carlisle reached an agreement Thursday on a five-year, $35MM contract extension that will keep him in Dallas through the 2021/22 campaign. Carlisle will first finish out his current deal covering both this season as well as 2016/17, which is a team option. “We are excited to retain Coach Carlisle in the Mavericks family,” owner Mark Cuban said in the team’s official release. “He is a championship-caliber coach that has made this organization better on and off the court.”

The 56-year-old is the president of the NBA Coaches Association and is widely respected around the league. Carlisle led the Mavs to the NBA title in 2011 and has been with the franchise since May 2008, making him the third longest-tenured head coach in the NBA. He won Coach of the Year honors for the Pistons in 2002, which was his first season as an NBA coach. Carlisle led Detroit to back-to-back 50-win seasons before beginning a four-year tenure with the Pacers. He’s 619-431 over 13 full seasons as an NBA head coach, and he owns a 57-58 postseason record. For Dallas, he’s gone 338-220 in the regular season and 27-26 in the playoffs.

That is quite a solid résumé for Carlisle, and it’s one that would likely garner considerable interest around the NBA if he were to suddenly become unemployed or hit the open market. Carlisle is obviously happy being a part of the Mavericks organization, and judging by the average annual value of his new extension, the franchise reciprocates that feeling. But is remaining in Dallas with a team that is clearly in a rebuilding phase and will eventually need to forge ahead without franchise stalwart Dirk Nowitzki, who at 37 years old is nearing the end of his Hall-of-Fame career, a smart move for the coach?

This brings me to the topic for today: Was signing an extension with the Mavericks the right move for Rick Carlisle, or should he have waited to see the state of the roster in 2017/18, the first year his extension kicks in, prior to signing on for five more seasons?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.

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2015/16 Salary Cap: Los Angeles Clippers

November 6th, 2015 at 5:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from this past season, and the luxury tax line will be $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM.

With the October 26th cutoff date to set regular season rosters now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of running down the current salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Los Angeles Clippers, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:

  • 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
  • 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
  • Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $95,505,710*
  • Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $0
  • Non-Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $947,276
  • Total Salary Cap Commitments= $96,452,986
  • Remaining Cap Room= -$26,452,986
  • Amount Above Luxury Tax Line= $12,622,657

*Note: This amount includes the $650,000 owed to Carlos Delfino, the $510,922 owed to Jordan Farmar, and the $252,042 owed to Miroslav Raduljica, all of whom were waived via the stretch provision.

Cap Exceptions Available:

  • None

Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000

Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000

Last updated: 11/4/15 @ 6:45pm

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

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Offseason In Review: Toronto Raptors

November 6th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Extensions

Trades

Waiver Claims

  • None

Draft Picks

  • Delon Wright (Round 1, 20th overall). Signed via rookie exception to rookie scale contract.

Camp Invitees

  • None

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The last vestiges of the post-Rudy Gay-trade honeymoon were unmistakably gone when the Wizards walked off the floor with a first-round sweep of the Raptors last spring. The plucky group from Toronto, which GM Masai Ujiri nearly broke apart before he realized what he had, finally made it clear that it had a definitive ceiling. The Raptors had somehow lost their way defensively, in spite of the presence of Dwane Casey, who made his reputation as a defensive coach. Change was inevitable, and the only question was just how drastic it would be. Casey wasn’t assured of keeping his job until two weeks after the team’s playoff ouster, and two of his assistants weren’t as lucky. A draft night deal that sent Greivis Vasquez to the Bucks for no salary in return opened cap space and portended a major foray into free agency.

Ujiri aimed high, and the Raptors were among the teams to meet with LaMarcus Aldridge. They also met with Wesley Matthews and were apparently still chasing both even after they made what turned out to be their most significant offseason signing. The Raptors sat down with DeMarre Carroll and blew away the competition, offering him a four-year deal so lucrative that he canceled meetings with the Pistons, Suns and Knicks. The former Hawks small forward will see $58MM, not the widely reported $60MM, over the life of his contract, but it’s still a tremendous raise on the two-year, $5MM deal he signed in 2013 with Atlanta. Carroll had quickly become one of the league’s foremost “three-and-D players” while with the Hawks.

Carroll’s skills complement DeMar DeRozan, a gifted scorer off the dribble who’s shot less than 30% from behind the arc for his career and who was only the league’s 34th-best defensive shooting guard last season, according to ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus metric. The question about Carroll is whether a player who’d never averaged more than 12.6 points per game for a season and had only recently become more than a fringe player would prove worthy of such an investment. So far, the results are positive, as Carroll is pouring 13.0 points a night and the Raptors are 5-0.

Time will tell if that holds up, but we may never know how the Raptors would have created the cap space to sign Aldridge or Matthews, both of whom wound up inking for the max. Presumably, the Raptors would have traded one of their core players to make it happen. Instead, Toronto spent the latter part of the offseason investing in the two youngest members of last season’s starting lineup, including the player whom Carroll displaced from the starting five.

The extension for Terrence Ross, a deal that happened in the final hour of the four-month window in which he was eligible for it, was a bet that the former eighth overall pick will become at least somewhat more valuable than he is now. The defensive regression that he showed last season contributed to the team’s disappointing performance on that end of the floor, and consistency on both offense and defense is “a huge question with him,” as Casey said the weekend before the extension took place. That’s why it’s hard to put much stock into his strong start this season, one in which he’s averaging a career-best 18.0 points per game and is also playing better defense than ever, according to his Basketball-Reference Defensive Box Plus/Minus number. A deal with an average annual value of slightly more than $10MM a year doesn’t present as much of a risk for teams as it used to, given the rapid rise of the salary cap, but it’s still a significant outlay for someone who just lost his starting job.

The extension the Raptors gave Jonas Valanciunas also required the team to show some faith. The development of the former No. 5 overall pick largely stagnated last season, and Ujiri seemed to pin the blame on the team’s assistant coaches, ostensibly the catalyst for the changes to Casey’s bench. The Lithuanian center often sat during crunch time last season, but that’s not happening this year, and like so many other Raptors, he’s off to a strong start. He’s averaging 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, both numbers that would be career bests if he keeps them up. He’s also assumed a somewhat larger role in the offense, a point that Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun told us would be key.

Right behind Valanciunas and tied with Ross for the most field goal attempts on the Raptors this season is 35-year-old offseason signee Luis Scola, who won the starting power forward job. His addition ran counter to the defensive focus the team had with most of its significant additions, since even though Scola spent the last two seasons with a Pacers team that played a grind-it-out style, he’ll never be mistaken for a stopper. It underscores the team’s lack of an obvious answer at the four in the wake of Amir Johnson‘s departure in free agency for the Celtics. Johnson had begun to lose his grip on his starting gig even before that, and while the Raptors addressed the position with the signings of Scola and Anthony Bennett, it remains to be seen if that’ll be enough to fill the hole.

Indeed, more uncertainty surrounds Bennett than perhaps any of the new Raptors, considering the gulf between the expectations thrust upon him when he became the No. 1 overall pick in 2013 and his decidedly underwhelming performances since then. Yet as far as the Raptors are concerned, Bennett should forget about having been the top pick and simply focus on what’s ahead of him, as Casey has said. It would appear, from Ujiri’s comments, that what’s ahead of him is more than just one season with the Raptors, even though he’s only on a one-year deal.

Bennett and Cory Joseph fulfill Ujiri’s desire for more Canadians on the roster, and Joseph and Bismack combine to give the second unit the added defense that Carroll gives to the starting five. Biyombo, at just 6’9″, also gives the Raptors help on the boards, as he’s the team’s third leading per-game rebounder even though he’s seeing just 16.8 minutes per game so far. Joseph has inherited part of the offensive responsibilities left over from the departure of Lou Williams, who told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that the Raptors didn’t make him an offer despite the fact he won the Sixth Man of the Year award last season.

Perhaps no decision defined Toronto’s offseason as much as that one. Casey acknowledged the Raptors were simply looking for other kinds of production, and it’s obvious that defense was the team’s aim. The early returns are a positive sign for the Raptors, who are sixth in defensive efficiency compared to 23rd last year, according to NBA.com. Still, as the Raptors must know after watching the promise of the immediate wake of the Rudy Gay trade dissipate, they have to keep moving in the right direction.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of it.

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