Hoops Rumors Originals

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

• Chuck Myron took a look at undrafted rookies who made opening night rosters.
• With the deadline for players to sign extensions now passed, Chuck reviewed both the players who inked new deals, as well as those who failed to sign extensions and will become restricted free agents next summer.
• I ran down the dates that teams are able to trade players who were signed this offseason.
• Chuck held our weekly chat, and here is the transcript.
• Zach Links interviewed former Bulls guard Craig Hodges.
• Check out our free agent tracker to look back on the past offseason.
• Chuck Myron asked readers to predict who would win the 2014/15 NBA title, and a plurality of you voted for the Spurs to repeat as champs.
• Now that teams’ regular season rosters are set, check out our complete posting of Roster Counts.
• Our Rookie Scale Team Option Tracker lets you see the options that were exercised prior to the deadline.
• Follow Hoops Rumors on Facebook, Twitter, and your RSS feed.
• The Trade Rumors App is finally here!  Download the app today to get up-to-the-second updates from Hoops Rumors, MLBTradeRumors, and Pro Football Rumors.
• Play nice, everyone.  Review our commenting policy.

When an NBA prospect doesn’t hear his name called on draft night the year that he’s eligible to be selected, it’s hardly a death sentence for his chances of playing in the league. For many such players, it’s actually an advantage to go undrafted, since that allows them to negotiate with 30 NBA teams instead of just one. Few, if any, players who are passed over on draft night can say in the immediate aftermath that it’s likely that they’ll someday be in the Association, but it didn’t stop the 84 undrafted players who appeared in an NBA game last season.

I listed the undrafted rookies who’d secured deals within about two months after the draft this year, but many more signed after that, and several of the players on that August list failed to make it to opening night. It’s not uncommon to see several undrafted rookies dot training camp rosters around the league, but most of them don’t end up making it to opening night.

There were 13 undrafted rookies on opening-night rosters two years ago when I made a similar examination, and this year there are 11. The Pacers are the only team that has two such rookies. One of them, Shayne Whittington, is from this year’s draft class, while the other, Damjan Rudez, comes from overseas after going undrafted back in 2008, demonstrating both of the paths that this year’s undrafted first-year players have taken. Joe Ingles of the Jazz and Zoran Dragic of the Suns are the other rookies who hail from outside North America and who played international ball for years after the NBA passed them up on draft night. This season, they’ve finally come to the NBA.

Here’s the complete list of the undrafted rookies on opening-night rosters this year, along with their teams and the year in which they were eligible for the draft:

• Tarik Black, Rockets (2014)
• Andre Dawkins, Heat (2014)
• Zoran Dragic, Suns (2011)
• Alex Kirk, Cavaliers (2014)
• Joe Ingles, Jazz (2009)
• Eric Moreland, Kings (2014)
• Damjan Rudez, Pacers (2008)
• JaKarr Sampson, Sixers (2014)
• Travis Wear, Knicks (2014)
• Shayne Whittington, Pacers (2014)
• Patric Young, Pelicans (2014)

The focus around the league will shift from free agency to trades after the regular season begins Tuesday, but several restrictions in the collective bargaining agreement figure to keep most swaps from taking place until several more weeks have passed. NBA teams are generally unable to trade any player they sign for three months after he puts his signature on the dotted line, or December 15th of the following season, whichever is later.

This rule doesn’t apply to draft picks, as they can be traded just 30 days later, even if the signing were to occur after the season had already begun, or years down the line, which happens in the case of draft-and-stash players. Sign-and-trades are a bit different, as the initial trade is allowed, but the 90-day restriction holds for the purposes of any subsequent deals.

There is also a restriction on making a trade that aggregates the salary of a player who was acquired via trade within the last two months. Those players may be traded by themselves or in a package in which their salaries aren’t aggregated, however. For example, the Wolves acquired Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett in the deal that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland, and their salaries were aggregated in that trade for matching purposes. Neither Wiggins nor Bennett would have been eligible for inclusion in another trade that aggregated their salaries until October 23rd, two months after the Love trade became official.

Another notable circumstance that restricts when a player can be traded is if a player is claimed off waivers. If a player is claimed during the season, the claiming team cannot trade him for a period of 30 days. If the waiver claim was made in the offseason, then the claiming team could not trade that player until the 30th day of the following regular season. Examples of this would be Kendall Marshall of the Bucks and Willie Green of the Magic. Neither team can deal them until November 26th. Players claimed off amnesty waivers can’t be traded until the following July, a rule that applies to only Carlos Boozer this year.

Tony Parker and Zach Randolph are the only players who fall under the rule against trading players who sign veteran extensions. Their teams can’t trade them for six months from the day they sign their extensions if their new deals are more lucrative or lengthy than those allowed in an extend-and-trade transaction. That’s the case with Parker and Randolph, so they’re staying put for now. The same rule doesn’t apply to rookie scale extensions, though the Poison Pill Provision exists to discourage teams from trading those players.

There are also a number of players who cannot be dealt without their consent. This covers players with no-trade clauses in their contracts. For example, when the Celtics dealt Kevin Garnett to the Nets, Garnett had to waive his no-trade clause in order for the trade to happen. Any team that matches an offer sheet for a player can’t trade him for a year without his consent, so Gordon Hayward holds veto power if the Jazz attempt to trade him this season. Any player who re-signs with his team but commits only to a one-year contract receives a de facto no-trade clause. This also applies to two-year deals that include team or player options. Players such as Greg Monroe and Kevin Seraphin, who have signed one-year qualifying offers, cannot be traded without their consent, either. Players with de facto no-trade clauses have an incentive not to agree to a swap. If such a player did OK a trade, he would enter free agency the following summer as a Non-Bird rights player instead of a player with Early Bird or full Bird rights, thus drastically lowering his team’s power to exceed the salary cap to re-sign him.

Those players are nonetheless listed below, regardless of how likely or unlikely they are to be traded. So, if the Cavaliers and LeBron James decide their fences haven’t been mended after all and the team risks the ire of its fans in an attempt to trade him, no deal could take place before December 15th. Similarly, the team LeBron left behind is severely limited in its trade options for now, since 11 of the players on the Heat roster are ineligible to be traded.

Here’s the date that each player acquired during the offseason becomes eligible for a trade, grouped by team:

76ers

• Jerami Grant (10/29/14)
• Chris Johnson (11/26/14)
• K.J. McDaniels (10/29/14)
• JaKarr Sampson (12/17/14)
• Malcolm Thomas (1/24/15)

Bucks

• Jerryd Bayless (12/15/14)
• Kendall Marshall (11/26/14)

Bulls

• Aaron Brooks (12/15/14)
• Pau Gasol (12/15/14)
• Kirk Hinrich (12/15/14)
• Nazr Mohammed (12/22/14)
• E’Twaun Moore (12/18/14)

Cavaliers

• Louis Amundson (12/26/14)
• LeBron James (12/15/14)
• James Jones (12/15/14)
• Alex Kirk (12/15/14)
• Shawn Marion (12/15/14)
• Mike Miller (12/15/14)
• A.J. Price (12/26/14)

Celtics

• Avery Bradley (1/15/15)
• Evan Turner (12/28/14)

Clippers

• Jared Cunningham (12/17/14)
• Glen Davis (12/15/14)
• Chris Douglas-Roberts (12/15/14)
• Jordan Farmar (12/15/14)
• Spencer Hawes (12/15/14)
• Hedo Turkoglu (12/15/14)
• Ekpe Udoh (12/15/14)

Grizzlies

• Vince Carter (12/15/14)
• Zach Randolph (12/30/14)
• Beno Udrih (12/15/14)

Hawks

• Kent Bazemore (12/15/14)
• Elton Brand (12/15/14)
• Shelvin Mack (12/15/14)
• Mike Scott (12/15/14)
• Thabo Sefolosha (12/15/14)

Heat

• Chris Andersen (1/15/15)
• Chris Bosh (12/15/14)
• Shannon Brown (12/15/14)
• Mario Chalmers (12/15/14)
• Andre Dawkins (12/23/14)
• Luol Deng (12/15/14)
• Danny Granger (12/15/14)
• Udonis Haslem (12/15/14)
• Josh McRoberts (12/15/14)
• Dwyane Wade (12/15/14)
• Shawne Williams (12/15/14)

Hornets

• Jason Maxiell (12/26/14)
• Jannero Pargo (12/15/14)
• Brian Roberts (12/15/14)
• Lance Stephenson (12/15/14)
• Marvin Williams (12/15/14)

Jazz

• Trevor Booker (12/15/14)
• Jordan Hamilton (12/15/14)
• Gordon Hayward (12/15/14)
• Joe Ingles (12/24/14)
  
• Toure’ Murry (12/15/14)

Kings

• Omri Casspi (12/18/14)
• Darren Collison (12/15/14)
• Ryan Hollins (12/18/14)
• Eric Moreland (12/15/14)
• Ramon Sessions (12/22/14)

Knicks

• Cole Aldrich (12/15/14)
• Carmelo Anthony (12/15/14)
• Jason Smith (12/15/14)
• Travis Wear (12/15/14)

Lakers

• Ed Davis (12/15/14)
• Wayne Ellington (12/22/14)
• Xavier Henry (12/15/14)
• Jordan Hill (1/15/14)
• Wesley Johnson (12/15/14)
• Ryan Kelly (12/15/14)
• Ronnie Price (12/24/14)
• Nick Young (12/15/14)

Magic

• Channing Frye (12/15/14)
• Ben Gordon (12/15/14)
• Willie Green (11/26/14)
• Luke Ridnour (12/15/14)

Mavericks

• Al-Farouq Aminu (12/15/14)
• Devin Harris (12/15/14)
• Richard Jefferson (12/15/14)
• Jameer Nelson (12/15/14)
• Dirk Nowitzki (12/15/14)
• Chandler Parsons (12/15/14)
• Charlie Villanueva (12/23/14)

Nets

• Alan Anderson (12/15/14)
• Jerome Jordan (12/15/14)

Nuggets

• Alonzo Gee (12/30/14)

Pacers

• Lavoy Allen (12/15/14)
• C.J. Miles (12/15/14)
• Damjan Rudez (12/15/14)
• Rodney Stuckey (12/15/14)
• Shayne Whittington (12/15/14)

Pelicans

• Jimmer Fredette (12/15/14)
• Darius Miller (12/15/14)
• John Salmons (12/15/14)
• Patric Young (12/15/14)

Pistons

• D.J. Augustin (12/15/14)
• Caron Butler (12/15/14)
• Cartier Martin (12/15/14)
• Jodie Meeks (12/15/14)
• Greg Monroe (12/15/14)

Raptors

• James Johnson (12/15/14)
• Kyle Lowry (12/15/14)
• Patrick Patterson (12/15/14)
• Greg Stiemsma (12/15/14)
• Greivis Vasquez (1/15/15)

Rockets

• Jeff Adrien (12/15/14)
• Trevor Ariza (12/15/14)
• Tarik Black (12/15/14)
• Troy Daniels (12/15/14)
• Joey Dorsey (12/15/14)
• Francisco Garcia (12/29/14)
• Kostas Papanikolaou (12/29/14)
• Ish Smith (12/15/14)

Spurs

• Aron Baynes (12/26/15)
• Matt Bonner (12/15/14)
• Boris Diaw (1/15/15)
• Patty Mills (1/15/15)
• Tony Parker (2/1/15)

Suns

• Eric Bledsoe (12/24/14)
• Zoran Dragic (12/27/14)
• Isaiah Thomas (12/15/14)
• Anthony Tolliver (12/15/14)
• P.J. Tucker (12/15/14)

Thunder

• Grant Jerrett (12/15/14)
• Anthony Morrow (12/15/14)
• Sebastian Telfair (12/15/14)
• Lance Thomas (12/29/14)

Timberwolves

• Robbie Hummel (12/15/14)
• Mo Williams (12/15/14)

Trail Blazers

• Steve Blake (12/15/14)
• Chris Kaman (12/15/14)

Warriors

• Leandro Barbosa (12/15/14)
• Justin Holiday (12/15/14)
• Shaun Livingston (12/15/14)
• Brandon Rush (12/15/14)

Wizards

• DeJuan Blair (12/15/14)
• Rasual Butler (12/26/14)
• Drew Gooden (12/15/14)
• Marcin Gortat (1/15/15)
• Kris Humphries (12/15/14)
• Paul Pierce (12/15/14)
• Kevin Seraphin (1/15/14)
• Garrett Temple (12/15/14)

Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and the RealGM transactions log were used in the creation of this post.

The deadline for rookie scale extensions and 2015/16 team option decisions isn’t until Friday, but in all other regards, the NBA offseason is over with the first regular season games set to tip off in a few hours. The Hoops Rumors 2014 Free Agent Tracker is a handy way to review much of the player movement that’s taken place over the last several months. Using our tracker, you can quickly browse the contract agreements from this summer, sorting by team, position, contract length, total salary, and a handful of other variables.

For instance, if you want to see all of the Heat’s offseason signings, you can sort by team and find all of the club’s free agent additions listed here. If you’re curious to see how many players signed contracts of four years or more, you can sort by contract length and bring up that list right here.

A few additional notes on the tracker:

• The years and dollar figures listed in the tracker are close to 100% accurate, based on the numbers that have been reported, but we’re still waiting on figures for a few late transactions, such as the deal Malcolm Thomas signed with the Sixers.
• Contract amounts aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed, and they’re based on what’s been reported.
• Separate entries exist for some players, like Chris Crawford and Christian Watford, since both of them were signed, waived, and then signed again by the same teams. However, only a single entry exists for Francisco Garcia, since the league never ratified his original contract.
• Training-camp invitees are included in the tracker. For our purposes, we’re counting only those who signed true summer contracts, which by definition contain no guaranteed money, and not those who received deals that involve any partially guaranteed salary. Summer contracts are marked with a † symbol in the tracker.
• The tracker doesn’t include signed draft picks, since those players weren’t free agents, but you can find the 2014 draftees who signed in this post. The tracker also doesn’t include “draft-and-stash” players who’ve signed this summer, but they’re listed here. A list of all the offseason trade acquisitions is right here.

Our Free Agent Tracker is designed to monitor offseason player movement, so it won’t be updated going forward — at least not until we unveil the 2015 version next summer. However, it will continue to stay active as a resource. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.

Last week’s swap between the Celtics and Pistons doesn’t typify the sort of trade that’s taken place within a couple of weeks of the start of the regular season in recent years. Neither would the near-deal between the Nets and Sixers involving Marquis Teague. Recent history suggests significant names will be on the move before the games start to count on Tuesday. Legitimate game-changers like Chris Paul, James Harden and Marcin Gortat have changed hands within in two weeks of opening night in the past three preseasons, and even a more subtle move still wound up having a significant impact.

Here’s a look at the four most important trades to happen within two weeks of opening night since the start of 2010. The preseason trades from 2011 took place in December after the lockout pushed opening night back two months.

October 25th, 2013 (Four days before opening night)

• Wizards acquire Marcin Gortat, Shannon Brown, Kendall Marshall, and Malcolm Lee from the Suns in exchange for Emeka Okafor and Washington’s top-12 protected 2014 first-round pick. — Gortat was the clear centerpiece of this exchange, and the Wizards waived Brown, Marshall and Lee shortly after the deal. The Polish Hammer replaced the injured Okafor in the lineup and helped the Wizards to their best postseason performance in more than three decades, which prompted Washington to re-sign him to a five-year, $60MM contract.

October 27th, 2012 (Three days before opening night)

• Rockets acquire James Harden, Daequan Cook, Cole Aldrich and Lazar Hayward from the Thunder in exchange for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, Dallas’ protected 2013 first-round pick (Mitch McGary, 2014), Toronto’s protected 2013 first-round pick (Steven Adams) and the Bobcats’ 2013 second-round pick (Alex Abrines). — Perhaps the most controversial trade of the 2010s lifted the previously stripped-down Rockets, who immediately signed Harden to a max extension, to the playoffs by the end of the 2012/13 season. The Thunder, who refused to give Harden an extension quite as lucrative as he sought, remain an elite team, but they haven’t returned to the Finals since the deal. For more on this deal, check out our Trade Retrospective.

December 24th, 2011 (One day before opening night)

• Hornets (now Pelicans) acquire Greivis Vasquez from the Grizzlies in exchange for Quincy Pondexter. — It took another season before the effects of the trade paid dividends for either team, but Vasquez went from an afterthought in Memphis to averaging 9.0 assists per game for New Orleans in 2012/13. Pondexter’s 45.3% three-point shooting for the Grizzlies in the 2013 playoffs helped him net a four-year, $14MM extension.

December 14th, 2011 (11 days before opening night)

• Clippers acquire Chris Paul, Memphis’ 2015 second-round pick (converted to cash) and New Orleans’ 2015 second-round pick from the Hornets (now Pelicans) in exchange for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and the more favorable of the Clippers and Minnesota’s 2012 first-round picks (Austin Rivers) — If the Harden trade wasn’t the most controversial in recent years, this one was, if only because of its juxtaposition against a deal that would have sent Paul to the Lakers before the NBA, which owned the New Orleans franchise at that point, rejected the proposal. Paul has turned the Clippers into contenders, and the Hornets-turned-Pelicans haven’t made it back to the playoffs. For more on this deal, check out our Trade Retrospective.