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2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Clippers

May 1st, 2015 at 4:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Clippers utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…

D-League Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Affiliation Type: Shared

D-League Team Record: 28-22

Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 1

Total D-League Assignments: 1

Player Stats While On Assignment

  • C.J. Wilcox: 1 assignment, 5 games, 13.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.6 APG. .531/.450/.556.

D-League Signings

Assignment/Recall Log

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2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Rockets

April 30th, 2015 at 9:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Rockets utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…

D-League Team: Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Affiliation Type: One-to-one

D-League Team Record: 27-23

Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 3

Total D-League Assignments: 11

Player Stats While On Assignment

  • Clint Capela: 5 assignments, 38 games, 16.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 3.0 BPG. .600/.000/.596.
  • Nick Johnson: 5 assignments, 20 games, 18.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.1 APG. .428/.283/.789.
  • Isaiah Canaan: 1 assignment, 4 games, 21.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 8.5 APG. .368/.349/.633.

D-League Signings

  • None

Assignment/Recall Log

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2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Warriors

April 30th, 2015 at 3:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Warriors utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…

D-League Team: Santa Cruz Warriors

Affiliation Type: One-to-one

D-League Team Record: 35-15

Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 4

Total D-League Assignments: 13

Player Stats While On Assignment:

  1. James Michael McAdoo: 3 assignments, 33 games, 19.6 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 2.3 APG. .575/.250/.685.
  2. Justin Holiday: 1 assignment, 1 game, 26.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 4.0 APG. .450/.455/.600.
  3. Ognjen Kuzmic: 8 assignments, 29 games, 12.8 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 2.0 BPG. .493/.000/.772.
  4. Festus Ezeli: 1 assignment, 2 games, 10.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.0 BPG. .474/.000/1.000.

D-League Signings

  1.  James Michael McAdoo (Santa Cruz Warriors-Golden State affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on January 19th, 2nd 10-day deal on February 2nd, and inked a mulityear contract on February 19th.

Assignment/Recall Log

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Offseason Outlook: Toronto Raptors

April 30th, 2015 at 1:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Guaranteed Contracts

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

  • None

Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents/Cap Holds

  • None

Unrestricted Free Agents/Cap Holds

      • Amir Johnson ($10,500,000)
      • Landry Fields ($9,375,000)
      • Chuck Hayes ($8,938,125)
      • Lou Williams ($8,175,000)
      • Tyler Hansbrough ($4,324,106)
      • (Nando De Colo $1,901,900)1
      • No. 20 pick ($1,257,800)
      • Greg Stiemsma ($947,276)
      • (Mickael Pietrus $947,276)1

Draft Picks

      • 1st Round (20th overall)

Cap Outlook

      • Guaranteed Salary: $49,049,074
      • Non-Guaranteed Salary: $0
      • Options: $0
      • Cap Holds: $46,366,483
      • Total: $95,415,557

The charmed run had to come to an end at some point. Toronto had been on a wild ride that began with the Rudy Gay trade in December 2013, one that transformed a lottery-bound team on the verge of a teardown into the third seed in the Eastern Conference. A disappointing seven-game playoff loss aside, the team picked up where it left off and sprinted to a 24-7 start, much of it without an injured DeMar DeRozan. The slide began shortly before DeRozan returned, and he and the rest of the Raptors stumbled to a 25-26 finish and a profoundly disappointing first-round sweep at the hands of the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs. All of it has raised uncertainty about whether coach Dwane Casey, just a year into a new three-year deal, will return next season. It would make little sense for the Raptors to cut ties with the coach at this point, as multiple Raptors beat writers have opined, but the team’s defensive shortcomings speak ill of the coach who’s done his best work on that end of the court.

GM Masai Ujiri hasn’t made any promises about Casey yet, but he said this week that he’ll avoid knee-jerk reactions to the way the team played after its strong start. That means Ujiri probably won’t revert to the drastic rebuilding plans that he was considering before the team blossomed after the Gay trade last year. The All-Star backcourt of DeRozan and Kyle Lowry thus figures to remain intact, barring the unforeseen opportunity to trade one or both of them for players of greater value. Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears that those two and Jonas Valanciunas are the only Raptors who should feel confident in their staying power, though that doesn’t necessarily signal an overhaul. Few others on the roster would pass for certifiable core pieces, and the Raptors knew Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams was set for free agency this summer when they made what appears to have been a sweetheart deal with Atlanta to acquire him last June.

Perhaps the most startling name left out of Stein’s trio is Terrence Ross, the former No. 8 overall pick who regressed this past season. His points per game, three-point percentage, PER and Basketball-Reference Defensive Box Plus/Minus numbers were all down. Still, Ujiri defended Ross this week in the same breath in which he said there would be no knee-jerk reactions, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun relays. The central question at play may well center on whether the team will seek to sign Ross to a rookie scale extension this summer rather than on whether the team will look to trade him. Sending him away this offseason would be selling low on a top-10 pick from just three years ago. The Raptors reportedly listened to offers for Ross before the trade deadline and considered trading him, though it didn’t appear as though they aggressively sought any deal involving him. Ujiri said shortly before the deadline that it was too early to give up on the swingman and that he’d be “shocked” if he traded him. That sentiment might not be as strong as it used to be, but it would appear Ross will stick on the roster while the October 31st deadline to reach a rookie scale extension draws nearer during the offseason.

A troubling consequence of Ross’ poor play this past season is that it would have been a lot easier for the team to draw a hard line in negotiations with Williams if Ross had continued to improve instead. The Raptors are nonetheless replete with perimeter players who are more than capable, from Lowry and DeRozan to Greivis Vasquez, each of whom plays at least one of the two guard positions that Williams is suited for. Toronto, even without the comfort of knowing that Ross is on the right path, has no shortage of guards or offensive threats, and Williams probably wouldn’t help the team shore up its defense. It’s difficult even in light of his award to envision the Raptors bringing back the Leon Rose client unless he agrees to a discount. The Raptors simply have little call for another highly paid player in the backcourt. Toronto should be expected to look into signing Toronto native Cory Joseph, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, but he won’t command the sort of double-digit salary Williams presumably will.

It will be nonetheless tricky to move on from Williams, since Rose also represents Valanciunas, who’s up for a rookie scale extension in the offseason. It’s quite conceivable the Raptors will make an offer that’s fair but not too competitive to retain Williams or agree to participate in a sign-and-trade if that would be necessary for Williams to go to another team of his choice. Ultimately, the team would be better off spending the money they might commit to Williams to instead address power forward, where Amir Johnson is about to become a free agent and neither he nor Patrick Patterson has distinguished himself as a bona fide starter. It was no surprise to see the team chase David West before the trade deadline, and should he decline his $12.6MM player option for next season, Toronto would probably go after him again, though that’s just my speculation. The Raptors would be able to afford a deal that gives West a salary commensurate with the value of that option, since they have only about $49MM in guaranteed salary out to nine players against a projected $67.1MM cap. He’d fit the mold of the strong defender the team lacks, though he turns 35 this summer and his offensive production has declined.

Stars like Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe are probably out of reach, but that might not be the case for the understated Paul Millsap. Ujiri has pledged a pursuit of Canadians, so Toronto native Tristan Thompson makes sense, though the Cavs can match any offers for him as a restricted free agent and the questions surrounding Love seemingly make it more likely Cleveland keeps Thompson around. DeMarre Carroll looms as an intriguing option if Ujiri is on board with a combo forward type.

The team appears set going into next season at its other interior position, as Ujiri was effusive in his support for Valanciunas as his extension eligibility looms. The former No. 5 overall pick hasn’t played up to his draft position yet, though he turns only 23 next week. Starting centers with potential get paid handsomely in the NBA, though Ujiri might still feel the burn from the four-year, $44MM deal he signed with JaVale McGee when the GM was with Denver. That contract came not long after Ujiri and the Nuggets signed Nene to a five-year, $65MM deal and traded him just a few months later to the Wizards in a deal that netted McGee, so the GM has shown a willingness to quickly pivot from such long-term arrangements. Committing to Valanciunas will nonetheless have consequences, especially if Rose asks for salaries like McGee’s or an extension similar to the incentive-laden four-year, $48MM extension the Magic gave Nikola Vucevic this past fall. Valanciunas hasn’t produced to the level that Vucevic had prior to his deal, so the Raptors would probably hold the line against $12MM salaries and seek numbers around $10MM, though that’s just my estimation.

It all adds up to a healthy stack of decisions facing Ujiri, the former Executive of the Year, who’ll have to take the Raptors farther than he took the Nuggets to earn consideration for the honor again. The way this season ended proved Toronto isn’t a contender to win the Eastern Conference, much less the title, but though the team doesn’t seem close to acquiring the star usually required to rise to that level, there are apparent paths to improvement. It’s up to Ujiri to take them.

Cap Footnotes

1 — See our glossary entry on cap holds for an explanation why these players listed in parentheses technically remain on the books.

The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Early Bird Rights

April 30th, 2015 at 9:31am CST by Chuck Myron

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. Still, there are other salary cap exceptions available for teams to keep players who don’t qualify for Bird rights. One such exception is the Early Bird, available for 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 limits 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 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.

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.

Teams can 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.

One example of a player who will have Early Bird rights this summer is DeMarre Carroll of the Hawks. Carroll is coming off the second season of a two-year deal with Atlanta after having finished the season before with Utah. The Hawks can use the Early Bird exception this summer to re-sign him, and it’s likely that this season’s average salary, which will probably come close to $6MM based on the average salary in the past few years, will exceed 175% of his salary of a little more than $2.442MM from this year. The Hawks will have to weigh retaining his Early Bird rights against the chance to renounce them if they open up cap space this summer, since they have only about $39MM in guaranteed salary against a projected $67.1MM cap for next season.

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 appeared on April 19th, 2012, April 24th, 2013 and June 3rd, 2014.

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Q&A With NBA Draft Prospect Richaun Holmes

April 29th, 2015 at 11:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Throughout the spring and summer, Hoops Rumors will be talking with some of the most intriguing prospects in the 2015 NBA Draft.  The Hoops Rumors Draft Prospect Q&A series begins with Bowling Green product Richaun Holmes, whom Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks No. 45 in this year’s class and Chad Ford of ESPN.com rates 59th.

Standing at 6’10”, Holmes is a lengthy forward with athleticism that translates to both sides of the floor.  With a wingspan of 7’1.5″, the 21-year-old can disrupt passing lanes and protect the paint on defense.  Offensively, Holmes has worked hard to improve his game, transforming from a fairly one-dimensional low-post threat to a legitimately strong shooter.  Holmes can score with his back to the basket, from 15 feet out, and by driving to the hoop, and that could prove troublesome for defenders at the next level.

Holmes, a client of Keith Kreiter at Edge Sports International, took some time out of his schedule on Tuesday to chat with Hoops Rumors about his skill set, his basketball journey up to this point, and more.

Zach Links: Scouts are enamored with your athleticism, but you’ve also developed into a very solid shooter over the last couple of years. What do you attribute that to?

Richaun Holmes: Just putting the time in.  A lot of the time I wasn’t shooting the ball well or consistently, I wasn’t doing it the same way every time and I was just putting up a lot of shots.  I knew that I wanted to develop a solid outside shot because I was being left open at the top of the key so often.  So, I put the time in and made my shot better. Richaun Holmes (vertical)

ZL: What did you change in your form?

RH: My elbow was the main thing that my coaches worked on with me.  It was kind of loose and they taught me to keep it tucked in.  Once I started doing that, my shots were staying on line.

ZL: You’ve shown that you can score in the post, by driving to the basket or by spotting up from further out.  Which facet of your offensive game are you most comfortable with?

RH: I’m definitely most comfortable around the basket just because that’s the most natural thing I did in basketball. Scoring around the basket, getting boards around the rim, that’s what I’ve always done.  That’s my domain.

ZL: If you had to write your own scouting report, what NBA player(s) would you compare yourself to?

RH: I think the main guy is Serge Ibaka because of how he affects the game defensively. Obviously, he blocks a ton of shots, and on the offensive end he’s extremely active there finishing around the rim.  Now, he’s developed a very good mid-range jumper like I have, so that’s a guy I look up to as I go through this process.

ZL: In a limited sample size, you’ve done pretty well from beyond the arc, too, making 18 of 43 shots this season.  Do you feel comfortable shooting from deep now?

RH: I feel like I’m more of a mid-range guy, but I feel like I can space the floor and make three point shots.  I definitely have that in my game.

ZL: Are you looking to bulk up between now and the fall? In terms of size and conditioning, what are your goals as you get ready to make the jump to the NBA?

RH: I’m in the weight room just trying to get stronger and ready to compete against those guys. I can’t really put a number on [how many pounds] I want to be, I just want to be strong enough to compete at the highest level.  I’ve been talking to a nutritionist, trying to put the best things in my body to keep myself going, [and] doing different weightlifting programs to get more strength and explosiveness.

ZL: You have the size and strength defensively to guard big men, but I imagine that scouts also see you as a guy that can guard on the perimeter thanks to your athleticism and wingspan (7‘1.5“ wingspan, 6’10” height).  Do you feel comfortable defending against guards and smaller guys when necessary?

RH: I have the confidence to do that when my team needs me to.  I’ve been assigned to a smaller guy at times because I can move pretty well and sometimes they have me switch from 1-5 all over the court.  Also in pick and rolls, there are times where you have to switch assignments and I’m comfortable with doing that.

ZL: You took an unusual path to Bowling Green as you first began your collegiate career at Moraine Valley Community College in Illinois.  What led you to go that route rather than a four-year program right out of high school?

RH: When I got out of high school my dream was to play [NCAA] Division I basketball but I was a late bloomer in high school.  When I first came out, I didn’t have any D-I offers really.  I had a lot of D-IIs and D-IIIs interested, but i wanted to play D-I so I went to MVCC and the coach there at the time told me that if I worked hard and if I played for him, he’d get me to a D-I college. I trusted him and he came through; that’s how i ended up at Bowling Green.

ZL: Did you think it would be easier to transfer from a community college rather than a D-II or a D-III school?

RH: I knew if you transferred from a community college you could play right away at a D-I and I wasn’t sure how it worked at a D-II or a D-III, so I went to community college to be sure.

ZL: When did you take that major leap forward in high school?

RH: I didn’t step into a leadership or starting role until my senior year.  I really didn’t play much in my junior year.

ZL: What led you to break out?

RH: I went from 6’4″ to 6’6″ in my senior year and I just kept working as hard as I could.  Then, I kept growing after high school.  I measured in at 6’7″ and 3/4 inches in my sophomore year of college and now I’m 6’10”.

ZL: When did you first realize that you had an excellent chance of making it to the NBA?  After playing less than 20 minutes per night in your first year at Bowling Green, did you see yourself eventually going pro?

RH: In my junior year I would talk to the coaching staff at that time with [head] coach Louis Orr and he told me that the sky was the limit, that I could play in the pros somewhere if I worked hard enough.  I think towards the end of this year the NBA started to become a more realistic possibility for me.

ZL: What specific areas of your game do you feel like you need to improve upon?

RH: I would say for one, ball handling.  I just want to be able to create for me and my teammates.  I also want to keep developing that solid mid-range jumper because it’s so important in the NBA now for a 4 to stretch the floor and make his shots.

ZL: Have you gotten an indication of where you might go in the draft?

RH: I’m not sure.  I talk to my agent, Keith Kreiter, a lot and he tells me I’m a mid-second round guy right now with a chance to get to the first round, so I’m working hard to improve my stock every day.

ZL: What led you to choose Keith Kreiter and the team at Edge Sports International to represent you?

RH: When we sat down with him — we being me, my family, and my brothers — we all just got a really good vibe from him.  He was sincere and I knew he was gonna work hard for me and he really cared about me as a person, not just as a commodity.  He’s been doing this for a long time and all of those elements for me made this a good decision.

ZL: Have interested teams started reaching out to you?

RH: They’ve talked to Keith and had conversations with him.  They know who I am and they want to know even more about me, so that’s exciting.

ZL: What are you up to now?

RH: I’m still down at Bowling Green in school, finishing up. I work out during the week and I train back home in Chicago on the weekends, training there and working around the clock.  I’ve got a pretty full slate right now with 12 credit hours, but finals week is next week so I’m almost done.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Pistons

April 29th, 2015 at 8:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Pistons utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…

D-League Team: Grand Rapids Drive

Affiliation Type: One-to-one

D-League Team Record: 23-27

Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 4

Total D-League Assignments: 9

Player Stats While On Assignment

  • Tony Mitchell: 4 assignments, 6 games, 8.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 0.7 APG. .571/.000/.750.
  • Spencer Dinwiddie: 2 assignments, 7 games, 13.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.4 APG. .390/.355/.909.
  • Gigi Datome: 1 assignment, 3 games, 13.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 0.7 APG. .438/.462/.857.
  • Quincy Miller: 2 assignments, 3 games, 16.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.3 APG. .390/.375/.846.

D-League Signings

  • None

Assignment/Recall Log

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2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Nuggets

April 28th, 2015 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Nuggets utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…

D-League Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Affiliation Type: Shared

D-League Team Record: 28-22

Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 1

Total D-League Assignments: 1

Player Stats While On Assignment

  • Erick Green: 1 assignment, 2 games, 21.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 3.0 APG. .517/.273/.900.

D-League Signings

  • None

Assignment/Recall Log

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Offseason Outlook: Boston Celtics

April 28th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Guaranteed Contracts

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents/Cap Holds

  • Gigi Datome ($2,275,000) — $2,187,500 qualifying offer
  • Jae Crowder ($1,181,348) — $1,181,348 qualifying offer1

Unrestricted Free Agents/Cap Holds

Draft Picks

  • 1st Round (16th overall)
  • 1st Round (28th overall)
  • 2nd Round (33rd overall)
  • 2nd Round (45th overall)

Cap Outlook

  • Guaranteed Salary: $40,406,846
  • Non-Guaranteed Salary: $1,894,552
  • Options: $0
  • Cap Holds: $47,833,785
  • Total: $90,135,183

The Celtics have made 11 trades since July, and while none of them brought the superstar that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has openly pined for, all of those moves resulted in a 15-win improvement from last season to this one. Boston has as many as seven extra first-round draft picks coming its way, more trade exceptions than any other team in the league, and a roster that finished just two games below .500. The difficult calculus facing Ainge now is proving that he can do again what he did in 2007 and convert building blocks into a star-studded contender.

NBA: Boston Celtics at Phoenix SunsIt won’t be as easy this time, since the 2007 Celtics already had a resident star in Paul Pierce. Ainge dealt away the last remaining link to the 2007/08 champions when he traded Rajon Rondo in December, but since the swap, Rondo has hardly looked like the star he used to be, and the Celtics have fairly attractive assets to show for it. Jae Crowder, the only player the Celtics have left from the deal, is soon to hit free agency, too, but the Celtics have control in a way they wouldn’t have had with Rondo, since Crowder’s eligible for restricted free agency. The Rondo deal also gave the Celtics one of the many extra first-rounders they’re owed and allowed them to create a massive trade exception that they could use to take in a player making as much as $13MM without giving up any salary in return, as I examined.

It’s that final asset that will require some real creativity and hard decisions from Ainge. The trade exception expires on the one-year anniversary of the Rondo trade in December, so the Celtics can’t sit on it for long. They won’t even have until December if they want to use any cap space this summer. Trade exceptions go away when teams clear cap room, and the Celtics have a chance to open roughly $25.5MM worth, enough for a maximum-salary free agent, or two or three second-tier signings. They could also use cap room to take in players via trade without sending anyone out, so it’s not as if relinquishing the exceptions would leave the Celtics hamstrung. Still, teams can use trade exceptions to help create new trade exceptions, in essence extending their life, as Ainge did when he used multiple trade exceptions to facilitate the Rondo deal and produce the new, massive trade exception that came out of it.

The decision won’t be made in a vacuum, as more than a dozen legacy cap holds, as listed above and explained here, help ensure the Celtics wouldn’t have to open cap room until they know they can sign the free agent targets they want. Some of the players that Boston would like to sign wouldn’t require the use of cap space, since they’re already on the roster. Ainge has sent clear signals that he’d like to re-sign Crowder, who’s expressed gratitude for the expanded role that coach Brad Stevens has given him. Ainge would surely put Crowder on the back burner if a star became available, but given the swingman’s relatively tiny cap hold of less than $1.2MM, he wouldn’t get in the way unless another team swooped in and signed him to a bloated offer sheet of $5MM a year or more.

The math isn’t as simple with Brandon Bass, who’s expressed his desire to stay with the Celtics on multiple occasions in the past few months. His eight-figure cap hold makes him a prime candidate to be renounced if he and the Celtics don’t come to an agreement for a significantly lower figure during the July Moratorium. He’s a misfit for a rebuilding team with his 30th birthday looming on Thursday, but he’d be valuable for the Celtics if they somehow turned into a contender over the summer, and the Celtics clearly have some level of affection for him, or they’d have traded him at some point over the last two years.

A similar situation is at play with Jonas Jerebko, whose outsized $8.55MM cap hold the Celtics would surely renounce if they decide to open cap room. He aided the depth that marked the Celtics rotation down the stretch of the season and pulled down 9.6 rebounds per 36 minutes with 40.6% three-point shooting. The Celtics would probably welcome him back, but they’d be wary not to read too much into a 29-game sample size and pay much more than the minimum. The same could be said for Gigi Datome, the other player the Celtics acquired in the deadline-day trade that sent out Tayshaun Prince. Datome shot a sizzling 47.2% from behind the arc for the C’s in the regular season, but that came on only 36 attempts, and he saw only 14 minutes total in the playoffs.

That’s still more playing time than the four postseason minutes Gerald Wallace logged, and it’s no surprise that the Celtics are willing to trade him and the more than $10MM coming his way in 2015/16, the only eight-figure salary on the books for the Celtics next season. Boston is willing to attach a first-round pick to him to make it happen, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported, and there would certainly be worse uses of one of the many such picks the Celtics have to burn than to clear Wallace’s unwieldy cap figure. Wallace’s deal will finally be up after next season, but while expiring contracts have value, they aren’t as sought after as they used to be, particularly since just about every team already has plenty of cap flexibility for the summer of 2016. The Sixers took on a season and change of JaVale McGee‘s contract for a first-round pick that’s guaranteed never to be a lottery selection, but they might charge a higher price to absorb Wallace from a fellow rebuilding Atlantic Division team.

The primary motivation for trading Wallace would appear to be the chance to open even more cap room this summer, and it came as no shock to see the Celtics connected to Kevin Love again this week. Boston’s path to a Love signing was seemingly growing shorter until Kelly Olynyk injured Love’s shoulder, angering the All-Star and leaving him with newfound ill feelings toward the Celtics, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote. Aside from Love, LaMarcus Aldridge is the next best among this year’s prominent free agents who doesn’t seem overwhelmingly likely to return to his team, but Aldridge would appear far more likely to end up in his native Texas than in Boston. The Celtics will reportedly target Greg Monroe, and while there haven’t been recent links between the C’s and DeAndre Jordan, Boston reportedly spoke to the Clippers about acquiring him in the summer of 2013 and at the trade deadline that year. Omer Asik also looms as the sort of rim-protecting center the Celtics have sought, and they talked to the Rockets about trading for him during the 2013/14 season, though he’s not to be confused with a superstar.

There’s no telling if Ainge and the Celtics will find what they seek this summer, but it appears they’ll be just as aggressive in their star search as they were last summer, if not more so. The only safe bet is that the makeshift roster that qualified for the playoffs this spring won’t last until the fall.

Cap Footnotes

1 — Crowder’s cap hold would be $947,276 if the Celtics decline to tender a qualifying offer.
2 — See our glossary entry on cap holds for an explanation why these players listed in parentheses technically remain on the books.

The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback

April 27th, 2015 at 4:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

We value your input on the news we cover here at Hoops Rumors. That’s why we’re passing along some of the best insight from the comments on our posts and on the Hoops Rumors Facebook page. Share your reaction to and insight on the news and rumors around the league, and you’ll have a chance to see your name here.

If you haven’t commented at Hoops Rumors before, it’s easy to sign up and start. First, read our Commenting Policy. Then, scroll to the bottom of any post, and you’ll see the word “Login” on the right side atop the comments section. Click the word and choose whether you want to comment using a Disqus account or your existing Facebook, Twitter or Google account. If you don’t have a Disqus account and you want to create one, just choose that option and click “Need an account?” at the bottom right of the box that pops up.

The Lakers loom as a free agent suitor for Goran Dragic, but even as the point guard confirmed he’ll opt out with the Heat, reader Adlaker12 can’t picture the Dragon in purple-and-gold:

  • I dont see Dragic here in LA. The Heat have the pieces to still compete in a watered down east. Why would you want to battle Curry, Paul, Parker, Westbrook in the west? There no nights off in the west at the point. Not to mention the competition for making the all star game as the point out west. The East and the Heat have too much to offer.

There’s doubt even among the Blazers that soon-to-be free agent LaMarcus Aldridge will be back, and Dallas will reportedly come calling for the power forward who’s a native of nearby Seagoville, but James Mantil is yet another reader who believes a top-10 free agent will stay put.

  • As much as I’d love it if Dallas would get Aldridge, I’m of the belief that he’s going to stay in Portland. I really think the 5th year and more money is going to outweigh playing in his hometown, especially since he likes playing in Portland. I think the other execs are right and Portland is just paranoid about him leaving.

There’s seemingly little chance that Rajon Rondo will be back in Dallas, and reader Z…. doesn’t see any logical destination for him, even if signs point to the Lakers.

  • I’m trying to think of any team that Rondo is a fit with in today’s NBA, and I’m having a really tough time. He is a ball stopping PG that can’t shoot, so he doesn’t space the floor. He isn’t as good defensively as he once was either, and then he is a big liability as someone that teams can put on the free throw line, and he doesn’t finish at the rim the way he used to either … he should probably be surrounded by shooters. Look at what him being in Dallas has done to Monta Ellis as well. Monta doesn’t shoot the ball well from 3, but was having a great year before the trade, and it was assumed he would cash out in free agency. Now the narrative is that he is an issue in the locker room, and some guys aren’t so sure it’s too smart for him to turn down his option. Just a bad trade, and as I said before it happened, you could see it coming.

Check out what more readers had to say in previous editions of Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback. We appreciate everyone who adds to the dialogue at Hoops Rumors, and we look forward to seeing more responses like these from you!

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