Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hoops Rumors Originals

Hoops Rumors Originals

January 18th, 2015 at 7:59pm CST by Zachary Links

A look at the original analysis generated by the Hoops Rumors staff this week…

Repost Share Send via email

Trade Candidate: Brook Lopez

January 17th, 2015 at 9:11pm CST by ChrisCrouse

With a record of 17-24, the season for the Nets doesn’t look promising.  The 2014/15 season is the last year for the team to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy in order to fulfill owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s promise of delivering a championship within five years of buying the franchise. The Nets have made numerous moves to put a contending team on the floor that mortgaged the future, including the 2011 trade for Deron Williams and the 2013 trade for Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry and Paul Pierce. As a result of those deals, the 2019 draft will be the next time Brooklyn controls its own first-round pick. Prokhorov was rumored to be looking to sell the team in light of the Clippers’ record-setting $2 billion dollar price tag and the Nets have made their high-priced stars available with the intention of trimming expenses to make the franchise more financially attractive.

NBA: Brooklyn Nets at Washington WizardsWith Deron Williams’ latest injury and Joe Johnson’s massive contract, which has two years and almost $48.1MM remaining, including this season, Brook Lopez seems the most likely of the Nets’ stars to be traded. Lopez will make in excess of $15.7MM this year and has a player option worth more than $16.7MM for the 2015/16 season. Uncertainty surrounding his decision to pick up his option will be a potential speedbump for teams looking to acquire the seventh-year veteran, and his injury history might scare some front offices away as well.

However, the market for young centers who can defend the rim is particularly strong and based on the two first round picks that the Nuggets received for parting with Timofey Mozgov, the Nets brass should be salivating at the chance to move Lopez in this environment. Lopez ranked second in the league last season in points saved per 36 minutes, a metric developed by Seth Partnow to identify rim protection. Mozgov ranked 11th last season and his production has slipped all the way to 33rd this year while Lopez has sustained his success on defense this season, ranking fourth best in the league.

That being said, what Brooklyn can net by trading Lopez is only what another team is willing to offer for his services. Although Lopez is widely perceived as the better player, the Nets might need to temper their expectations when comparing the potential return they can reasonably get for him to the bounty that the Nuggets received for their big man. Mozgov only makes about one-third ($4.65MM this season) of Lopez’s salary and the Nets will be hard-pressed to find a team as desperate for a rim protector as the Cavs were.

The Nets shouldn’t be desperate in their attempts to find a trade partner. The team can look across town at the Knicks, as their summer trade of Tyson Chandler provides a cautionary tale. New York reportedly badly wanted to obtain picks in the 2014 draft, and they settled for the best deal at that point. The Knicks traded Chandler, along with Raymond Felton, to the Mavs for Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington and two second-round picks. Dalembert and Ellington have since been waived and the team is reportedly shopping Calderon, who was the only player on Knicks’ side of the deal who was projected to be a starter for a contending team. Still, it’s unknown what the Knicks could have obtained if they were a bit more patient. Chandler, like Lopez, is a rim protector with an injury history, but Lopez is six years younger than the former Defensive Player of the Year. The value of the haul that the Nets would receive for Lopez would likely fall between what the Knicks acquired for Chandler and what the Nuggets received for Mozgov.

Again, the most important ingredient in a trade is finding a suitor. Phoenix would have been a good destination for Lopez based on its salary cap situation and need for an interior presence but the Suns satisfied their need with their trade for Brandan Wright last week. This week, the Thunder were discussing a trade that would have sent Lopez to Oklahoma City in exchange for Kendrick Perkins, as well as a three-team scenario that involved Lance Stephenson going from the Hornets to the Nets. Talks between the teams’ executives have stalled because the Nets have major concerns about taking back Stephenson and don’t want to make a salary-shedding deal that would feature Perkins as the main piece going to Brooklyn. Lopez himself was rumored to be upset about the potential trade.

The Celtics were reportedly interested in acquiring Lopez as part of a Rajon Rondo deal, but it’s unclear whether they remain interested after trading the point guard last month. Lopez has just as much potential if not more than any player on Boston’s roster, but his large contract would take away some of the team’s flexibility, something president of basketball operations Danny Ainge might be hesitant to do at this time. Any deal would most likely hinge on getting Lopez to at least verbally commit past the 2014/15 season, and it’s uncertain whether the Stanford product is interested in joining a team that is not looking to contend right away.

Another potential suitor that will at least be interested in contending next season is the Lakers. Los Angeles may be struggling this season, but all signs point away from any sort of rebuild. The team reportedly dangled a first-round pick last month in an attempt to acquire Rondo and although that pick (originally from Houston) is projected to be a late first-rounder, the Nets would most likely be interested in it, though that’s just my speculation. The Lakers have a pair of point guards with expiring contracts (Steve Nash with a more than $9.7MM cap hit and Jeremy Lin with a more than $8.4MM cap hit) that would allow the Nets to definitively lower their team salary next season.The Lakers also have an intriguing big man in Jordan Hill, but he essentially has a de facto no trade clause in his contract because the deal he signed is technically a one-year pact. If Hill were to agree to be traded to Brooklyn, the Nets would bring back a productive center and possibly still be in contention for a lower playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

Lopez is a good scorer, averaging 14.8 points per game this season, and he provides elite rim protection as well. The center boasts a player efficiency rating of 19.23, which is above league average. Seven-footers with these skills are hard to come by and the current market for centers makes having one very favorable. The Nets shouldn’t have an issue finding a trade for Lopez; it’s just a matter of finding the right team with the combinations of assets to make it beneficial for Brooklyn to part with the seventh-year big man.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Repost Share Send via email

Hoops Rumors Weekly Mailbag: 1/11/15-1/17/15

January 17th, 2015 at 10:44am CST by Eddie Scarito

It’s been a busy week in the NBA with numerous deals being completed or discussed, with teams either loading up for a playoff run, or clearing cap space and stockpiling future assets. In addition to our weekly chat, which Chuck Myron facilitates every Wednesday, we now have a second opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our brand new 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. Now for this week’s inquiries:

“I haven’t looked up the salaries or anything before asking this question, but this is the main framework of the possible deal that I’m asking about. The Cavs trade Kyrie Irving to the Suns for Eric Bledsoe and Brandan Wright. Who says no?” — Z…

Well, as you said, you didn’t do the math on the salaries before asking the question — and for the record it wouldn’t work. The Cavs would be taking back approximately $9MM too much in the deal. But to stick to the purely theoretical aspects, and assuming that more inconsequential players were added to the deal, or a third team was involved for salary matching purposes, it’s the Cavs who say no to this one.

Irving is three years younger than Bledsoe, and he has produced superior numbers to Bledsoe every year that they have been in the league together. Irving is still improving as a player, and has a much higher ceiling than Bledsoe does. With the acquisition of Timofey Mozgov, Cleveland should be relatively set in the middle. Neither player is worth parting with Irving over, though adding Wright for depth would certainly be appealing to the Cavs.

One trade that I would consider if I were these teams would be dealing Tristan Thompson for Wright and a second-rounder. The money works, and Thompson would do very well in Phoenix’s system. But he’s going to be rather difficult for the Cavs to re-sign given Cleveland’s cap situation. The Suns could certainly afford to part with the pick, and Cleveland is hurting for draft picks in the wake of its dealings this season. If I could add Wright and a draft pick (or two) for Thompson, that’s a yes both ways in my book.

“If the Sixers finally land the No.1 overall pick in the draft lottery, who will they take?” — Doug R.

That’s a difficult call, Doug. Jahlil Okafor is the consensus No. 1 pick, but Philly already has Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel on its roster. If GM Sam Hinkie wants to build a cohesive team, rather than just stockpile assets, he’d likely select Emmanuel Mudiay, who is the top backcourt prospect in the draft. Although, with Hinkie, you never can tell what will happen. He could select Okafor, and then try and deal Noel or Embiid for another draft pick or two. With Michael Carter-Williams reportedly on the trading block, selecting Mudiay would make the most long term sense given the current Sixers roster.

“I am wondering what the Sacramento Kings are doing to improve their team. Ever since Michael Malone was fired, it seems like they’ve been “active” in the market to create a smokescreen over the poor decision to fire Malone. Are the Kings actually being “active”? Are they actually going to make a push to make the playoffs?? It’s very aggravating having a lot of back and forth actions occur and I don’t know what to expect from the Front Office or the team on a daily basis.” — David

Hey David. I feel your pain, and yes, the Kings seem like a bit of a mess right now as an organization. Sacramento is indeed being active, though making deals with the playoffs in mind would be ill-advised. The team is six games back (as of this writing) from the final playoff spot, and the West is truly a brutal conference. Sacramento is reportedly seeking to add a stretch four or an athletic rim protector to pair alongside DeMarcus Cousins. The Kings just made rookie Nik Stauskas available, and they would likely be willing to part with the expiring deals of Derrick Williams and Reggie Evans as well. Stauskas hasn’t worked out so far, but he’s still young and has upside, though I don’t think he’ll ever be more than an off-the-bench role player in the league. If I were GM Pete D’Alessandro, my first call would be to the Bulls to see if Taj Gibson could be had. It’s doubtful that Chicago would bite, and Sacramento would almost assuredly need to include some draft picks to make any deal, but Gibson would be a perfect fit for what the Kings need.

“If my team misses out on Emmanuel Mudiay in the draft, but needs a point guard, who should it take?” — Rob G.

It’s not a particularly strong draft for guards this year, and Mudiay is likely the only potential superstar of the lot. But there are a couple of very intriguing second-tier prospects available. The next two playmakers in my Draft Rankings are D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State) and R.J. Hunter (Georgia State). Russell is rocketing up draft boards, and though he plays shooting guard in college, scouts are projecting him as an NBA point guard. I really like Russell, though he’ll take a season or two to flourish. Hunter is another fast-riser, though in the long term I peg him as more of a sixth man than a starting-caliber player. If your team is selecting in the 20s, I’d take a flyer on Tyus Jones (Duke). Jones is a project, but this kid has all the intangibles you want from a floor general.

That’s all the space I have for this week, so thanks to everyone who submitted their inquiries. Keep on sending in your questions, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.

Repost Share Send via email

2015/16 Salary Rankings: Centers

January 16th, 2015 at 10:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the cap hit for each NBA player by position. I previously ran down the point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center salaries for the 2014/15 season. I’ve also begun looking ahead to the 2015/16 campaign with a rundown of the cap hits for the point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, and power forwards. Next on the agenda will be a look ahead at the salaries for centers already inked to deals for next season.

All told, NBA teams have committed a total of $297,475,359 in cap hits so far for next season to the men manning the block around the league. The average hit for the five spot so far for 2015/16 is an extremely robust $6,329,263 with Dwight Howard of the Rockets topping the list. Howard is due to take home an impressive $22,359,364 next season. It should be noted that the list and rankings will change greatly depending on how the free agent market develops next summer.

I also should add that teams won’t necessarily pay out every dollar listed here. There are quite a few players who have non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. Some of those players will be sweating it out until the January 2015 deadline. That’s when teams must waive players with no specific guarantee date written into their contracts to avoid having to guarantee their salaries for the rest of that season.

Most salaries align with cap hits, but that’s not the case for players like Jeremy Lin , who’s receiving close to $15MM from the Lakers during the 2014/15 season even though his cap hit was little more than half that amount, because of the contract he signed through the Gilbert Arenas Provision. In addition, incentive clauses that a player either triggers or fails to meet can leave a player with more or less money than his cap hit reflects. Still, the purpose of this list is to show the relative pay scale by position, which is why all contracts are included in this post.

The league’s centers are listed below, in descending order of cap hit for next season:

  1. Dwight Howard (Rockets) $22,359,364
  2. Brook Lopez (Nets) $16,744,218 [Player Option]
  3. DeMarcus Cousins (Kings) $15,851,950
  4. Roy Hibbert (Pacers) $15,514,931 [Player Option]
  5. Joakim Noah (Bulls) $13.9MM
  6. Al Jefferson (Hornets) $13.5MM [Player Option]
  7. Nikola Pekovic (Wolves) $12.1MM
  8. Andrew Bogut (Warriors) $12MM
  9. Al Horford (Hawks) $12MM
  10. JaVale McGee (Nuggets) $12MM
  11. Nikola Vucevic (Magic) $11,250,000
  12. Marcin Gortat (Wizards) $11,217,391
  13. Larry Sanders (Bucks) $11MM
  14. Brendan Haywood (Cavs) $10,522,500
  15. Anderson Varejao (Cavs) $9,638,554
  16. Jordan Hill (Lakers) $9MM [Team Option]
  17. J.J. Hickson (Nuggets) $5,613,500
  18. Spencer Hawes (Clippers) $5,543,725
  19. Zaza Pachulia (Bucks) $5.2MM
  20. Chris Kaman (Blazers) $5,016,000
  21. Chris Andersen (Heat) $5MM
  22. Timofey Mozgov (Nuggets) $4,950,000 [Team Option]
  23. Jonas Valanciunas (Raptors) $4,660,482
  24. Joel Embiid (Sixers) $4,626,960
  25. Cody Zeller (Hornets) $4,204,200
  26. Ian Mahinmi (Pacers) $4MM
  27. Alex Len (Suns) $3,807,120
  28. Andre Drummond (Pistons) $3,272,091
  29. Meyers Leonard (Blazers) $3,075,880
  30. Udonis Haslem (Heat) $2,854,940
  31. Tyler Zeller (Celtics) $2,616,975
  32. Steven Adams (Thunder) $2,279,040
  33. Vitor Faverani (Celtics) $2,180,000
  34. Kelly Olynyk (Celtics) $2,165,160
  35. Miles Plumlee (Suns) $2,109,294
  36. Festus Ezeli (Warriors) $2,008,748
  37. DeJuan Blair (Wizards) $2MM
  38. Lucas Nogueira (Raptors) $1,842,000
  39. Jusuf Nurkic (Nuggets) $1,842,000
  40. Gorgui Dieng (Wolves) $1,474,440
  41. Mason Plumlee (Nets) $1,415,520
  42. Clint Capela (Rockets) $1,242,720
  43. Rudy Gobert (Jazz) $1,175,880
  44. Robert Sacre (Lakers) $981,348
  45. Hassan Whiteside (Heat) $981,348
  46. Fab Melo (waived by Grizzlies) $437,080
  47. Miroslav Raduljica (Waived by Clippers) $300K

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

Repost Share Send via email

How Three Celtics Trades Worked Financially

January 16th, 2015 at 1:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge knows how to maximize trade exceptions. I examined that last month in the wake of the Rajon Rondo trade, in which Ainge and the Celtics used existing trade exceptions to facilitate the creation of a new one worth more than $12.9MM that’s the league’s largest. A couple of the three trades the Celtics swung this week presented opportunities to use that exception, but there were alternatives.

The Celtics had six trade exceptions at their disposal before Monday’s Jeff Green trade, including a new $5MM exception the team picked up when it shipped Brandan Wright to Phoenix on Friday. However, only two of those exceptions were large enough to absorb either of the players Boston took back in exchange for Green. The Rondo exception would have accommodated both Tayshaun Prince‘s salary of almost $7.708MM and Austin Rivers‘ pay of nearly $2.44MM, allowing the Celtics to create an exception equivalent to Green’s $9.2MM salary. That route had some intrigue. It would take up much of the Rondo exception, reducing it to $2,761,385. That amount, while not the powerful eight-figure exception that the Celtics originally created in the Rondo trade, would still be useful. A Green exception would be lucrative, if not quite as valuable as the Rondo exception would be if kept intact, and it would expire January 12th, 2016, whereas the Rondo exception runs out nearly a month earlier, on December 18th, 2015. Making an exception equivalent to Green’s salary would give the Celtics more time to work the phones after December 15th, 2015, the date when most players who’ll be signed this coming offseason will become eligible for inclusion in trades. It would also allow the C’s to wait until players hit waivers in advance of the leaguewide guarantee date next January 10th.

However, it appears as though the Celtics have left the Rondo exception alone. Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported the $625,280 exception the C’s created in the Jameer Nelson–Nate Robinson trade, which took place the day after the Green deal, but there’s been no word of a Green exception. That signals that the Celtics simply used salary matching to make the trade work. They were allowed to take in up to 150% of Green’s salary plus $100K, which would come to $13.9MM, and the total of Prince’s and Rivers’ salaries comes to less than $10.148MM, well within those bounds. The C’s wouldn’t end up with an exception, since they gave up less salary than they received in the exchange, but they wouldn’t use an exception, either.

The choices were simpler for the other teams in that deal, neither of which had an existing trade exception. The Grizzlies created a trade exception worth $3,146,068, the equivalent of Quincy Pondexter‘s salary, as Pincus reported. That’s because Prince’s salary was large enough by itself to accommodate the absorption of both Green and Russ Smith, since Green’s salary on top of the $507,336 that Smith makes comes to less than 150% of Prince’s salary plus $100K. That means Memphis and GM Chris Wallace could unload Pondexter to New Orleans by himself without having to match any salaries, and that gave rise to the trade exception.

The Pelicans had a similar scenario at play when they created their $507,336 trade exception, an asset that Pincus also reported. Pondexter’s salary was less than 150% of Rivers’ salary plus $100K, so that could stand as its own swap, leaving GM Dell Demps to send Smith’s salary to Memphis by itself.

The Celtics had another chance to use the Rondo and Wright exceptions in the swap that sent Nelson to the Nuggets for Robinson, but that wouldn’t have done much for them. Taking Robinson’s $2,106,720 salary into one of those exceptions would have reduced its value. The creation of a $2.732MM exception equivalent to the full value of Prince’s salary would essentially mean the Celtics had broken one larger exception into two smaller ones, both of which would add up to nearly the same amount as the lucrative one they had in the first place. Teams can’t combine trade exceptions when they pull off deals, so it would result in a net loss of flexibility. So, Ainge and the Celtics chose instead to match salaries, which resulted in a $625,280 trade exception worth the difference between Nelson’s salary and Robinson’s, as Pincus reported, since Boston gave up more salary than it received in the one-for-one exchange. Denver took back more than it relinquished, so the Nuggets couldn’t have created an exception unless they raided the $4.65MM exception they had just created in the Timofey Mozgov trade. GM Tim Connelly and company apparently passed on doing so, likely for the same reasons that the Celtics decided against using the Rondo or Wright exceptions to take in Robinson’s salary.

Ainge didn’t have to pour too much energy into coming up with a solution for the exceptions in his next trade, which was Thursday’s three-team deal that sent Rivers to the Clippers. Shavlik Randolph and Chris Douglas-Roberts are both on contracts their original teams signed using the minimum-salary exception, and the Celtics, too, get to use the minimum-salary exception to take them in. That leaves Boston’s existing trade exceptions untouched and allows them to make a new trade exception worth $2,439,840, the equivalent of Rivers’ salary. The Celtics are the only team coming away with a trade exception in this three-team affair with the Clippers and Suns. Phoenix is under the salary cap, so exceptions aren’t a factor. The Clippers didn’t have a trade exception large enough to absorb Rivers, the only player they acquired in the deal, so they had to match salaries to bring him in. The Clips are a taxpaying team, so they couldn’t take on more than 125% plus 100K of what they gave up. Rivers’ salary is greater than the cap hits for Bullock and Douglas-Roberts, but the difference is within those bounds, so the trade is kosher.

Repost Share Send via email

Teams With Disabled Player Exceptions

January 15th, 2015 at 10:03am CST by Chuck Myron

Today is the last day for NBA teams to apply for disabled player exceptions to offset the loss of players who are likely to miss the rest of the season. The league granted five such exceptions this season, but it’s unlikely that any more are forthcoming, barring a major injury today. Eric Moreland is the only one among current NBA players expected to miss the balance of the season whose team is over the cap, which a team must be in order to receive an exception, and whose team hasn’t already received a disabled player exception for him. Still, he’s making the rookie minimum salary this season, so the exception, which would be worth half of that, wouldn’t give the Kings much more financial wherewithal than they already have.

The deadline to use disabled player exceptions isn’t until March 10th, so they’ll remain a factor on the market until then. Only one of the league’s five disabled player exceptions has been used so far. The Cavaliers took Iman Shumpert in via trade from the Knicks using the $4,852,273 disabled player exception they received for Anderson Varejao. Shumpert is making not quite $2.617MM this season, but even though the Cavs used little more than half of the exception, the rest of it is no longer available. Teams can only acquire a single player with a disabled player exception, unlike the trade exception, mid-level exception and biannual exception, which can be split into parts for multiple players. The only team that’s able to use a disabled player exception twice is the Lakers, and that’s only because they have two disabled player exceptions, one for Steve Nash and another for Julius Randle.

Below is a summary of the disabled player exceptions the NBA has granted this year, along with the amount they’re worth and the players for whom they were granted. Teams can use the exceptions to sign, trade for, or make a waiver claim of a player. Teams can use the value of the exception plus $100K to trade for a player, but they can’t exceed the amount of the exception if they’re signing someone or claiming a player off waivers. For more information on disabled player exceptions, check out our Hoops Rumors Glossary Entry.

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

Repost Share Send via email

Hoops Rumors Originals

January 11th, 2015 at 7:57pm CST by Zachary Links

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

Repost Share Send via email

2015 NBA Draft Prospect Power Rankings 2.0

January 10th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2015 NBA draft is still a long way away, and the remaining three months of NCAA action will play a major part in determining the fates of the 20 players whose names appear on the list below, as well as those who haven’t made the cut just yet. Still, front offices and scouting departments throughout the NBA are already hard at work trying to determine which players they will pin the future of their franchises on, and Hoops Rumors will be doing the same all the way up until June’s draft.

Keep in mind that this list includes both underclassmen and players from overseas, neither of whom are guaranteed to declare for the draft. But just like the NBA scouting departments, we’ll need to be prepared for the possibility that all of these players will be available to hear their names called by commissioner Adam Silver in what will be his second opportunity to be on the stage during the first round.

Here are my current top 20 players in descending order with last month’s ranking in parentheses:

1 (1) Jahlil Okafor-C (Duke/Freshman)

High School Basketball: McDonald's All American Portraits

-6’11”, 272 pounds

–DraftExpress Rank: No. 1

–ESPN Rank: No. 1

–Stats: 18.9 PPG, 8.9 RPG, and 1.6 BPG. .681/.000/.566.

Okafor continues to live up to the hype that surrounded him before he set foot on Duke’s campus. A true center, he has shown excellent athleticism and remarkable polish on the offensive side of the game. He has an NBA-ready body and will continue to develop into an absolute monster down in the paint. His defense is still a work in progress, which isn’t at all uncommon for a young big. His potential is off the charts, and only a significant pre-draft injury, or a team falling in love with Emmanuel Mudiay, will prevent him from being the first name called on draft night.

2 (2) Karl-Anthony Towns-PF/C (Kentucky/Freshman)

High School Basketball: McDonald's All American Portraits

-7’0″, 250 pounds

–DraftExpress Rank: No. 3

–ESPN Rank: No. 3

–Stats: 8.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.2 BPG. .518/.333/.714.

Towns could end up being a better player in the long run than Okafor, but with the way Okafor is dominating competition it’s unlikely he’ll be selected over the Duke big man. I wrestled with placing him or Mudiay in this slot, and depending on how the ping-pong balls drop in the draft lottery, Towns could slip to the third overall pick. I place more value on a big who has the athleticism of Towns, since guards with Mudiay’s talents are more common, which is why I placed Towns at number 2. His college stats aren’t that impressive, but that’s because of Kentucky’s ridiculous depth this season. “You put Towns on any other team in college basketball, maybe with the exception of Duke, and everyone is talking about him as a legitimate player of the year candidate,” one NBA GM told ESPN’s Chad Ford. “His stats, or lack thereof, aren’t an issue of talent, it’s an issue of so much talent on the floor that he can take a back seat.”

3 (3) Emmanuel Mudiay-PG (Guangdong)

High School Basketball: Emmanuel Mudiay Portrait Session-6’5″, 200 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 2

-ESPN Rank: No. 2

-Stats: 18.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 6.3 APG. .493/.321/.586

Mudiay, despite not having played in over a month due to an ankle injury, is by far the most talented guard in the draft, and his size and speed are NBA-ready. Not playing college ball didn’t hurt Dante Exum prior to the 2014 draft, and Mudiay is a more NBA-ready prospect than he was, and it wouldn’t be a complete shock for him to go No. 1 overall, depending on the team selecting first and its needs (ie: the Sixers). Mudiay is almost sure to dazzle in his pre-draft workouts, and he’ll definitely go in the first three picks.

4 (4) Justise Winslow-SF (Duke/Freshman)

NCAA Basketball: Army at Duke-6’6″, 221 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 6

-ESPN Rank: No. 6

-Stats: 12.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG. .462/.388/.627.

Winslow has seemingly recovered from his uninspiring run to end November, and is once again putting up solid numbers and displaying his wide range of skills and fantastic athleticism. His three-point shooting has improved, which was a big question mark in his game entering the season. NBA teams have little use for wings who can’t spread the floor, and if Winslow can keep it up he’ll secure a spot in the top seven picks. Numerous scouts and draft projections have Kristaps Porzingis going ahead of him, but I haven’t drunk the Latvian’s Kool-Aid just yet, and would select the surer thing in Winslow at this slot.

5 (5) Stanley Johnson-SF (Arizona/Freshman)

NCAA Basketball: Preseason-Cal Poly Pomona at Arizona-6’7″, 237 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 8

-ESPN Rank: No. 11

-Stats: 14.4 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.8 SPG. .482/.425/.684.

Johnson is an absolute man-child with an NBA-ready body and excellent strength. He reminds me a bit of Larry Johnson (no relation), though he is nowhere near as polished on the offensive end as the elder Johnson was coming out of UNLV. What will continue to make Johnson a question mark is his limited outside game, which to his credit, has been steadily improving as the season wears on. His individual workouts will make or break him as a top 10 pick, but  I love his aggressiveness, defense, and rebounding. Out of my top five ranked players, Johnson is the likeliest to slide lower on the list as the season progresses.

6 (10) Willie Cauley-Stein-C (Kentucky/Junior)

-7’0″, 244 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 4

-ESPN Rank: No. 7

-Stats: 9.9 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 1.9 BPG. .588/.000/.571.

Few players are rising up the draft boards this season quicker than Cauley-Stein, whose decision to return to Kentucky for his junior season is paying off handsomely for him. He is an absolute defensive monster, and can step into an NBA rotation immediately. He is still limited offensively, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. I project Cauley-Stein to produce similar numbers to Tyson Chandler, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Some mock drafts have him in the top five, which I think is a bit high for such a one-dimensional player. But he’ll almost certainly be a top 10 selection, and should pay immediate dividends for a franchise looking for a rim protector.

7 (6) Kristaps Porzingis-PF (Baloncesto Sevilla)

-7’0″, 220 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 5

-ESPN Rank: No. 4

-Stats: 8.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.1 BPG. .435/.371/.750.

Porzingis is a likely top five pick, but I remain unimpressed with his game. He has excellent athleticism, and is a talented three-point shooter, but Porzingis hasn’t necessarily dominated in European competition yet, which raises all kinds of red flags with me. There have been plenty of European players who have entered the league with high expectations based on their physical skills, only to turn out to be draft busts. Porzingis is a project with an extremely high upside, but I would think twice about taking him in the top five. My first instinct was to rank him outside the top 10, but it’s almost assured that some team will take a gamble on him near the top of the draft.

8 (7) Kevon Looney-PF (UCLA/Freshman)

-6’9″, 220 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 11

-ESPN Rank: No. 5

-Stats: 12.9 PPG, 10.5 RPG, and 1.4 BPG. .444/.273/.644.

Looney is still rising swiftly up the draft boards despite a brutal four game stretch where he averaged only 6.8 PPG, all Bruins losses. But he did have a monster 27 point, 19 rebound showing Thursday night against Stanford that will hopefully get him back on track. Looney’s a bit of a tweener, similar to Aaron Gordon a year ago in that respect, but has a far more polished offensive game than Gordon did at Arizona last season. I’ve continued to be impressed with his ball-handling and passing, and both are skills that will translate well to the pros. Looney might not crack the top five selections, but if that is the case, whichever team he falls to could be getting a steal.

9 (11) D’Angelo Russell-SG/PG (Ohio State/Freshman)

-6’5″, 176 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 10

-ESPN Rank: No. 12

-Stats: 18.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 5.2 APG. .470/.458/.786.

Though he plays shooting guard at Ohio State, NBA scouts are now viewing Russell as a potential NBA point guard, which will only serve to increase his draft stock. Russell is already a polished scorer with a lethal outside touch. The lefty has excellent ball-handling skills, and he’s very effective off the dribble, though he needs to improve upon his ability to finish at the rim if he wants to be an effective pro. The two main knocks against Russell are that he needs to get stronger and that he has a tendency to disappear for long stretches during games and coast. He has a nice upside and should turn into a solid NBA player in a few short seasons.

10 (19) Kelly Oubre-SF (Kansas/Freshman)

-6’6″, 204 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 9

-ESPN Rank: No. 9

-Stats: 7.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 0.7 APG. .440/.438/.643.

Oubre’s draft stock had taken a hit since the beginning of the season when he looked lost during the limited playing time he was receiving. But the freshman recently notched 23 points against Lafayette and 20 versus Kent State, which showed what kind of potential this tremendously athletic player has. But he tempered the excitement those outings generated with a 3 point outing against Baylor where he only hit one of his seven shots. Oubre needs quite a bit of polish, and would greatly benefit from another year in school, but that scenario is highly unlikely. He’ll likely figure things out a bit better by season’s end, and if he stars in the tournament and his pre-draft workouts, Oubre should end up being taken in the top 10 come June.

11 (8) Myles Turner-C (Texas/Freshman)

-6’11”, 242 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 12

-ESPN Rank: No. 8

-Stats: 11.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 2.7 BPG. .487/.364/.893.

Turner is a project, but he’s one who could pay dividends for a patient team. He’s a good scorer with range out to the three-point line, but he lacks aggressiveness. Turner is a solid shot blocker, but he needs to improve as a rebounder if he wants to be more than just a rotation player in the NBA. There are also some legitimate concerns regarding his knees due to his odd way of running. Big men tend to break down faster than players at other positions, so long-term health is a definite concern with Turner. His production has tailed off in recent weeks, but his upside is too high for him to slide too far down the draft boards.

12 (12) Mario Hezonja-SG (Barcelona Regal)

-6’7″, 200 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 7

-ESPN Rank: No. 10

-Stats: 4.1 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.3 APG. .464/.290/.500.

Hezonja is a projected lottery pick, but I’m not sold on his long-term future in the NBA. He’s a possible draft-and-stash pick, which could benefit him since he needs quite a bit more development before making the jump to the NBA. Hezonja is very athletic and can light it up from the outside when he’s “on,” but he’s a poor defender, which doesn’t help his value. He also isn’t putting up eye-catching numbers overseas, which doesn’t bode well for his NBA fortunes. There have also been some red flags raised about his attitude, ability to accept coaching, and overall maturity. These concerns could serve to lower Hezonja’s draft stock around the league.

13 (13) Montrezl Harrell-PF (Louisville/Junior)

-6’8″, 243 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 15

-ESPN Rank: No. 15

-Stats: 15.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 1.1 APG. .597/.240/.592.

It was surprising to see Harrell return to Louisville for his junior season, but the move will likely reward him with a higher draft selection than he would have garnered in 2014. There’s a lot to like about Harrell’s game, but he bears the dreaded tweener tag. He’s neither a true power forward nor a classic small forward. He can score from almost anywhere on the floor and has a high motor. He’s also a very good rebounder and a physical defender. But Harrell lacks a defined NBA position (ie: Derrick Williams and Thomas Robinson), which could end up lowering his draft stock as well as his ceiling as a player.

14 (9) Cliff Alexander-PF/C (Kansas/Freshman)

-6’9″, 254 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 17

-ESPN Rank: No. 25

-Stats: 8.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.4 BPG. .529/.000/.727.

Alexander is a bit undersized for his position, but he makes up for it with his 7’3″ wingspan. He possesses a tantalizing mixture of strength and athleticism, and can be a rampaging beast in the paint. Alexander lacks a mid-range game, and he also doesn’t have a great grasp of the game’s nuances yet, which will slow his learning curve down a bit. But he has a ceiling similar to that of Lakers rookie Julius Randle, without the concerns on the defensive end that followed the Kentucky product into the NBA prior to his season-ending injury. Alexander’s stock has taken a bit of a dip thanks to a decided lack of production over Kansas’ last six contests, where has only logged 5.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG. He still has time to figure things out, but Alexander is in danger of slipping out of lottery consideration.

15 (-) R.J. Hunter-SG (Georgia State/Junior)

-6’5″, 185 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 24

-ESPN Rank: No. 13

-Stats: 20.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 3.7 APG. .405/.302/.804.

Hunter is shooting up the draft boards quite rapidly, and could become a possible lottery pick by season’s end. He’s not an elite athlete, which could limit his potential. But this kid can flat out shoot, both off-the-dribble and spotting up, and is deadly from long range. He’s also a very good passer, but his ball-handling needs work for him to be an effective pro. Hunter will have difficulty guarding the quicker twos in the NBA, but he has the potential to be a valuable contributor as a sixth man. Hunter is one of the players most likely to surprise on draft night with how high he is taken.

16 (15) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-SF (Arizona/Sophomore)

-6’6″, 212 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 19

-ESPN Rank: No. 27

-Stats: 11.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 1.7 APG. .545/.267/.690.

There’s a lot to like about Hollis-Jefferson’s game and draft potential. As a player, he reminds me of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and not just because of the hyphenated last name. Hollis-Jefferson is extremely athletic, exciting in transition, a good rebounder for his size, and a solid defender. But he does come with limitations similar to Kidd-Gilchrist’s, mainly in his lack of a reliable outside game. While he boasts a decent mid-range jump shot, he makes his living attacking the basket, an aspect that doesn’t always translate to the NBA, thanks to the far superior athleticism college players face when making the jump to the pros. His stock is beginning to slip, mainly due to Stanley Johnson becoming the focus of Arizona’s offensive attack.

17 (-) Jakob Poeltl-C (Utah/Freshman)

-7’0″, 230 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 18

-ESPN Rank: No. 14

-Stats: 9.5 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 2.1 BPG. .652/.000/.443.

Poeltl is another freshman who is playing his way up the draft boards. The Austrian is an excellent defender, can rebound very well, and has a fluid and effective mid range game. His stats aren’t eye-popping, but bigs with his combination of size, skills, and athleticism will always have a place in the NBA. His post game needs quite a bit of work, and Poeltl will need to bulk up to be effective in the NBA paint, but don’t be surprised if he ends up becoming a top 20 pick.

18 (16) Frank Kaminsky-C (Wisconsin/Senior)

-7’0″, 242 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 14

-ESPN Rank: No. 17

-Stats: 16.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 1.9 BPG. .529/.364/.747.

Kaminsky isn’t likely to become a star in the NBA, nor even an effective starter. But he’ll be able to contribute on the offensive end immediately for whichever team selects him. Kaminsky reminds me quite a bit of the Celtics’ Kelly Olynyk offensively, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Unfortunately, he also shares Olynyk’s weaknesses as a rebounder and defender. As a mid first-rounder, Kaminsky will be a solid pick, though he will have a limited ceiling thanks to his athletic shortcomings.

19 (17) Caris LeVert-SG (Michigan/Junior)

-6’7″, 200 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 13

-ESPN Rank: No. 29

-Stats: 14.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 3.8 APG. .430/.418/.800.

LeVert has tailed off after an excellent start to the season, and he has only managed to score in double figures in two of Michigan’s last six contests. LeVert reaped the benefits of Nik Stauskas having departed Michigan for the NBA in 2014, having a green light to fire away, but that only helps if he’s nailing his shots. If he doesn’t turn things around, and soon, LeVert is looking more and more like he’ll be taken in the mid to late 20s.

20 (20) Tyus Jones-PG (Duke/Freshman)

-6’1″, 184 pounds

-DraftExpress Rank: No. 22

-ESPN Rank: No. 23

-Stats: 10.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 5.2 APG. .434/.395/.855.

The 18-year-old Jones has shown remarkable poise as a freshman, and he reminds me quite a bit of Tyler Ennis, another player I was extremely high on heading into the 2014 draft. Jones lacks elite athleticism, needs to work on his outside shot, and won’t be ready to play significant minutes his rookie season. But his court vision and basketball IQ will make him a valuable rotation piece in a couple of seasons. Jones is the type of player whose value doesn’t always show up in the box score, and he is overshadowed by Okafor and Winslow on a talented Duke squad. But this kid has the potential to be an effective pro, and a mid first round gem for a patient team.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Repost Share Send via email

10-Day Contract Tracker

January 8th, 2015 at 3:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Teams were allowed to start signing players to 10-day contracts starting Monday, and so far, there has been plenty of activity. The Jazz inked 10-day deals with Elijah Millsap and Elliot Williams, while the Knicks did so with Langston Galloway. The Bucks are reportedly set to do the same with Kenyon Martin.

The bulk of the signings that take place in the NBA between now and April will be of the 10-day variety, and we’ll keep on top of all of them. Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to track every 10-day signing all season long. The 10-Day Contract Tracker includes information on all 10-day contracts signed from the 2006/07 season on, giving you a chance to identify trends regarding your favorite teams and players. The search filters in the database make it easy to sort by team, player and year. You can even see whether a player and team signed a second 10-day contract, and if the short-term deals led to an agreement that covered the rest of the season.

For instance, if you want to see how many 10-day deals recently waived Lou Amundson has signed over the course of his career, you can find that information here. Similarly, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts the Knicks have signed in recent years, you can do so here.

A link to our 10-Day Contract Tracker can be found at any time in the Tools menu at the top of the page, or in the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.” We’ll be keeping it up to date for the rest of the season, so be sure to check back to keep tabs on the latest signings as they become official.

Repost Share Send via email

Players Whose Salaries Became Guaranteed

January 7th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

This Saturday is the leaguewide guarantee date, upon which any player still on an NBA roster will have the remainder of his salary for the season become fully guaranteed. But Wednesday was the effective deadline for teams, since they had to release any players whose deals they did not want to be on the hook for over the course of the rest of the season. This is because of the waiver process, which takes two days. So, if a team wished to have a player clear waivers and be off of its books prior to Saturday, it would have had to waive that player by 4:00pm Central time Wednesday.

We saw a number of players released over the last few days because of this, but there were quite a few who survived the leaguewide purge and now have fully guaranteed deals for the remainder of the season as a result. Some of these players may yet be waived prior to the end of the season, but now they would at least walk away with their paychecks intact.

Here is the complete roster of players whose financial outlooks became a bit more secure today, along with their 2014/15 salaries:

76ers

Bucks

  • None

Bulls

Cavs

  • None

Celtics

  • None

Clippers

  • None

Grizzlies

  • None

Hawks

Heat

Hornets

Jazz

Kings

  • Eric Moreland [$507,336/$200K Partially Guaranteed] — Moreland’s deal was already effectively guaranteed, since he’s set to miss the rest of the season with injury, and the Kings are responsible for paying him until he’s healthy.

Knicks

Lakers

Magic

Mavericks

Nets

Nuggets

Pacers

Pelicans

Pistons

  • None

Raptors

Rockets

Spurs

  • None

Suns

  • None

Thunder

Timberwolves

Trail Blazers

  • None

Warriors

Wizards

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

Repost Share Send via email
Load More Posts