- Count Hakeem Olajuwon among those interested in buying a portion of the Rockets. The franchise Hall of Famer has been approached by several groups that want him involved in a potential purchase, Mark Woods reports for ESPN.
Appearing on Adrian Wojnarowski’s ESPN podcast this week, Patrick Beverley confirmed that he asked the Rockets to explore the trade market to find him another opportunity this offseason (link via ESPN.com). Houston ultimately obliged, sending him to the Clippers in part of the package for Chris Paul.
“It comes kind of surprising to people that ask, ‘Why did they trade you?’ I asked for it,” Beverley said. “I asked for a bigger opportunity, a bigger chance to display my skills on a high level and I was fortunate that the Rockets did really good with me and [put] me in a situation where I can thrive and be successful. They could have really dumped me anywhere, but they did right, and I respect them a lot for it.”
Beverley is on one of the NBA’s most team-friendly veteran contracts, and is in line to earn about $10.5MM over the next two years with the Clippers. That affordable salary was one reason it was a little surprising when word broke in June that the Rockets were looking to move him. However, even that initial report from Sean Deveney of The Sporting News indicated that the veteran point guard would welcome a deal.
As I noted at the time, Beverley saw his role in Houston change a little last season as James Harden assumed the point guard reins. Although he reportedly enjoyed playing for Mike D’Antoni, Beverley’s 14.1% usage rate was a career low.
Beverley, 29, averaged 9.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, and 1.5 SPG along with solid three-point shooting (.382 3PT%) for the Rockets in 2016/17. His defensive ability also allowed Houston to have him guard the most dangerous backcourt threat on opposing teams, taking some pressure off Harden.
With Paul no longer running the show in L.A., there should be room for Beverley to take on a larger role with his new team, though the Clippers have no shortage of options at the point. Milos Teodosic figures to see plenty of action, and players like Austin Rivers and Lou Williams may also get a chance to handle the ball. Still, the Clippers don’t have a ball-dominant star like Harden standing in Beverley’s way in the backcourt.
As we enter the dog days of the NBA offseason, two All-Star trade candidates remain on the block — the Cavaliers and Knicks continue to explore trades involving Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony, respectively. Nothing appears imminent on either front, but Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders checks in on both situations to see where they stand, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights from Kyler…
- The Cavaliers aren’t operating with a sense of urgency to find an Irving deal. One source from a team interested in Irving tells Kyler that Cleveland doesn’t seem to be operating with a deadline when it comes to getting something done. The source described the Cavs as still being in “fact-finding mode” at this point.
- The Suns and Timberwolves are viewed as two strong candidates for Irving, but they’ve been reluctant to include Josh Jackson and Andrew Wiggins, respectively, and are unlikely to win out unless they relent on that stance. While Phoenix doesn’t want to move Jackson or Devin Booker, there’s a sense that anyone else on the roster could be had, says Kyler. That may not be enough for the Cavaliers, however.
- The “prevailing thought in NBA circles” is that the long-rumored Anthony deal between the Knicks and Rockets isn’t going to happen unless Houston finds a way to improve its offer. As Kyler details, the idea of the Knicks accepting a package made up entirely of players they don’t view as long-term pieces isn’t “appealing or agreeable” to the team’s front office.
- The Knicks seem as if they’re willing to bring Anthony to training camp if he doesn’t expand his list of preferred landing spots or if the Rockets don’t improve their offer, according to Kyler, who describes the Carmelo situation as “more like a standoff” than the Cavaliers‘ situation with Irving.
No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, but one such provision has been the subject of much discussion so far in 2017, as Carmelo Anthony made use of his NTC to block the Knicks from sending him to an undesirable destination. For much of the offseason, Anthony was focused on joining the Rockets, but he eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to Oklahoma City.
Anthony is one of just two NBA players whose contract includes an explicit no-trade clause, but there are still several players each year who have the ability to veto trades. A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection, and so is a player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team. Players who accept qualifying offers after their rookie deals expire can also block deals.
Taking into account that list of criteria, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the 2017/18 league year:
No-trade clauses
- Carmelo Anthony (Thunder)
- LeBron James (Cavaliers)
- Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks)
Players whose offer sheets were matched
- Otto Porter (Wizards)
- Note: Even with his consent, Porter cannot be traded to the Nets during the 2017/18 league year.
Players accepting qualifying offers
- Alex Len (Suns)
- Nerlens Noel (Mavericks)
Players re-signing for one year (or two years including an option)
- Nick Collison (Thunder)
- Kevin Durant (Warriors)
- Udonis Haslem (Heat)
- Ersan Ilyasova (Hawks)
- JaVale McGee (Warriors)
- Shabazz Muhammad (Timberwolves)
- Mike Muscala (Hawks)
- Zaza Pachulia (Warriors)
- Jason Terry (Bucks)
- David West (Warriors)
In addition to the players listed above who can veto trades through the 2017/18 league year, there’s another small handful of players who can’t be dealt under any circumstance until at least next July. The following players signed a Designated Veteran Extension this season, which precludes them from being traded for a full calendar year:
- Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- James Harden (Rockets)
- John Wall (Wizards)
- Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
Information from Basketball Insiders and ESPN was used in the creation of this post.
Speaking to reporters today for the first time in months, Carmelo Anthony admitted that the last 12 months have been an “emotional roller coaster” for him, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Even though he’s not certain whether or not he’ll be traded by the Knicks before the 2017/18 season begins, Anthony said he’s at “peace” with his current situation.
As Begley details, Anthony was fairly noncommittal during his sitdown with the media today at The Basketball Tournament in Baltimore, declining to comment on his reported interest in joining the Rockets. He also didn’t have much to say about the Knicks’ decision to replace Phil Jackson earlier this summer, calling that a “business” move that owner James Dolan made in the course of running his organization.
Here’s more on Carmelo:
- Anthony said today that he hasn’t spoken to the new Knicks regime, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. According to Bondy, new team president Steve Mills has tried to talk to Anthony about his options, but Carmelo isn’t interested in having that discussion. “For him, there’s nothing to talk about,” one source told The Daily News.
- Despite his apparent lack of interest in meeting with the front office, Anthony acknowledged that he and Scott Perry have long been acquaintances on good terms. “I’m pretty sure I’ll talk to him when the time comes,” Anthony said of the Knicks‘ new GM, according to Bondy.
- Sources reiterate to Bondy that Anthony thought he was on the verge of being sent to the Rockets before Mills halted trade discussions in mid-July.
- After Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum made an effort to recruit Anthony to Portland last month, another Trail Blazers player made a pitch of his own, with Evan Turner suggesting that Carmelo would “love” playing in Portland. “If he waives [his no-trade clause] and wants to come, it would be great,” Turner said, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. “He’ll lock in because he made the decision to come. He’s got all the power in a certain sense. It’s not a guarantee. The positive is if we did get him, that means he wanted to be there and accepted the trade and buckle into what we’re trying to do.”
After his superstar player, James Harden, fell short of capturing the NBA Most Valuable Player award, Daryl Morey feels the league could do away with awards, the Rockets general manager said to Ben Golliver of The Crossover.
“I don’t know if this is a good process,” Morey said. “The ones that are decided by players or executives or media, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I honestly don’t think there’s a good process. You could argue for eliminating the awards altogether. I don’t really see a good way to do it that doesn’t have major issues. I like clean answers. If there’s not going to be a set criteria and there’s going to be issues with how it’s structured, for me it might be better to not have it.”
Morey made frequent mention to the “criteria” used to select the NBA MVP. Whether it be personal success, a historically great season, or team performance, Morey believes it doesn’t lead to a uniform result. For instance, Stephen Curry won the MVP over Harden because the Warriors had a better record, and if the same guidelines were used, Harden should have won the award over Russell Westbrook this year.
In any case, Morey’s comments have been received negatively by most of the basketball world and players are still scheduled to be rewarded with hardware for having outstanding seasons.
Below you can find additional news from around the basketball world:
- Tom Haberstroh of ESPN examines nine different NBA teams that could be future super teams in a lengthy piece that well worth the read. Haberstroh compares super teams from years’ past, including the 2008 Celtics, 2011 Heat, and the 2014 Warriors and explains how teams can follow their blueprints to success.
- For ESPN Insider (subscription required and recommended), Kevin Pelton hands out grades to Western Conference teams for their transactions and transgressions this offseason.
- While an expansion with new teams added to the NBA is unlikely, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes that relocation of current teams is more plausible. Kyler specifically mentions the Pelicans and how they could end up moving from New Orleans.
- Free agent point guard Ty Lawson has signed with veteran agent Larry Fox, per Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Daily (via Twitter). Hoops Rumors previously noted that Fox was representing Lawson, who seemed bound for China at one point this offseason.
Wielding a no-trade clause, Carmelo Anthony can dictate his future: He can play out the remainder of his contract with the Knicks or waive the NTC in a potential trade elsewhere. The Rockets, who have NBA MVP runner-up James Harden and free agent acquisition Chris Paul in the fold, remain Anthony’s preferred destination, with the Cavaliers no longer a real priority. As Marc Berman of the New York Post writes, Anthony’s preference is handcuffing the Knicks as a potential trade with the Rockets may have too many hurdles to accomplish a trade of Anthony and receiving quality assets in return.
Berman notes that Anthony has yet to publicly speak on the trade rumors, but since he’s scheduled to appear at Coppin State for The Basketball Tournament, Anthony will likely speak in some form soon. Until then, the multiple time All-Star’s mindset is anybody’s guess; the only thing known is the reports citing his desire to play in Houston with his close friends. Even playing for ex-Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, who Anthony feuded with in New York and now coaches the Rockets, would not be an issue. D’Antoni’s brother, Dan, a former Knicks assistant coach, spoke to the Post about his brother and the Knicks star joining forces again.
“There were a lot of things that went wrong, but Carmelo is a heckuva player,’’ D’Antoni said. “All I’m saying is Mike’s a good person. He understands people change, things change. Two things you can’t deny: Mike’s a helluva coach. Carmelo is a very good player. If those two see eye-to-eye, Mike and I are always optimistic things are meant to be. The next day is going to be better than the day before.”
It’s unclear when and if a trade is consummated this offseason but Anthony will remain a fixture in trade rumors.
Below you can read other news and notes around the Knicks:
- In the same piece, Berman notes that the Knicks’ signing of veteran point guard Ramon Sessions last week was because he connects better with Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis better than Derrick Rose did. Sessions is expected to provide a veteran presence and mentor the team’s first round pick, Frank Ntilikina, during the season and be another veteran if Melo stays.
- In a separate piece, Berman of the Post profiles Sessions’ career, revealing that the aforementioned Dan D’Antoni lobbied for the team to acquire him a decade ago. A decade into his career, Sessions will bring an unselfishness with the basketball that the team lacked with the score-first mentality of Rose last season.
- While Kyrie Irving and his name value would generate excitement in New York City, the Knicks should avoid mortgaging their future to acquire him, Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders and Dan Favale of Bleacher Report both write in separate articles. The sentiment from both scribes is similar: trading away future first round picks, this year’s first rounder, and current budding star like Willy Hernangomez will only handcuff the team forward. Also, as Beer mentions, Porzingis will likely not pass up a max deal in New York whereas Irving can hit the market in two years and is no sure bet remain with the Knicks if he gets there.
Pop star Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is mulling the possibility of investing in the Rockets, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg. The club announced just over two weeks ago that team owner Leslie Alexander was putting the franchise up for sale.
Beyoncé is a Houston native, making her connection to the Rockets a logical one. If she were to invest in the franchise, she wouldn’t be the first person in her family to have owned a portion of an NBA team. Her husband Jay-Z previously had a small stake in the Nets before selling his share of the team in order to launch his Roc Nation agency. Elsewhere in the NBA, Justin Timberlake owns a piece of his hometown Grizzlies.
As Sochnick details, Forbes placed Beyoncé second on its 2017 list of highest-paid celebrities and estimated her net worth at $350MM. While that’s a significant sum, it will fall well short of the Rockets’ eventual sale price, which should easily exceed $1 billion and could approach $2 billion. As such, if Beyoncé were to get involved in a bid for the team, it would have to be as a minority investor.
The Rockets have generated “a bevy of global interest” among potential buyers since Alexander made his decision to sell the team, per Soshnick. While a handful of would-be investors have expressed public interest in buying the franchise, it doesn’t appear there’s a frontrunner yet.
One month into the 2017/18 NBA league year, most of this year’s draftees know where they’ll be playing for the upcoming season. As our tracker for draft pick signings shows, we’re only waiting for resolution on a small group of players.
Twenty-nine of 30 first-round picks have signed their first NBA contracts, and the 30th – Sixers big man Anzejs Pasecniks – will remain overseas for at least one more year. Meanwhile, in the second round, about half of this year’s picks have signed NBA contracts, a handful of others have agreed to two-way deals, and some will continue to play international ball.
There’s no rush at this point for teams to finalize plans for the last few unsigned draft picks from this year’s class, but it’s still worth checking in to see where things stand for those players. Here are the 2017 draftees whose statuses for ’17/18 appear to be up in the air:
- Ivan Rabb (Memphis Grizzlies, No. 35): The Grizzlies signed 45th overall pick Dillon Brooks, but have yet to lock up Rabb, who now finds himself in an interesting spot. Memphis already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts for 2017/18, and that total doesn’t even include RFA JaMychal Green, who seems likely to return. Even though there’s no current opening for Rabb, he was probably too high a draft pick to accept a two-way contract, so perhaps the Grizzlies ultimately intend to trade or waive a player (or two) to make room. Otherwise, it’s not clear what the plan is for Rabb.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (Houston Rockets, No. 43): International basketball reporter David Pick provided an update on Hartenstein today, tweeting that Houston will likely have him start with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League. So far, no player drafted earlier than No. 51 has signed a two-way contract, and typically only players selected at the very end of the draft accept straight G League contracts. If Hartenstein is willing to go to the G League, it would be a great value move for the Rockets.
- Nigel Williams-Goss (Utah Jazz, No. 55): Two weeks ago, we heard that Williams-Goss was a candidate for Utah’s second two-way contract opening. The Jazz haven’t made a move to fill that slot since then, so I’d expect Williams-Goss remains the leading candidate.
- Jabari Bird (Boston Celtics, No. 56): Like Williams-Goss in Utah, Bird appears to be the top candidate for the final two-way contract opening in Boston. Such a move would make a lot of sense. There isn’t enough room on the Celtics’ regular-season roster for Bird, and the four players selected with the picks from 51 through 54 in this year’s draft all got two-way deals — it’s logical that the 55th and 56th picks would too.
- Although he isn’t a free agent, Carmelo Anthony holds his fate in his own hands. Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes about how it’s in his best interests, financially, to end up with the Rockets sooner than later.