Southwest Notes: Lawson, McCallum, Pelicans
Rockets GM Daryl Morey isn’t shy about gambling, and he acknowledges that trading four players for troubled point guard Ty Lawson carries with it some potential pitfalls, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “I think when you’re trying to get the best team out of 30, you got to take risk all over the place,” Morey said. “Again, it’s a playing risk, injury risk, character risk. We feel Ty is someone we wanted to add to our team.”
With Houston badly in need of a playmaker at the point, Morey believes he has filled that need with Lawson, Watkins notes. “He’s one of the best playmakers in the league,” Morey continued. “If you look at the leaderboard for assists in the last few years or since he’s been in the league, he’s near the top. I think, as we saw, especially when [Harden] played a couple of teams last year, we struggle against teams that really load on James Harden, and we feel Ty will be a lot more difficult for teams to do that.”
Here’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Recent Spurs trade acquisition Ray McCallum‘s minimum salary of $947,276 became fully guaranteed when San Antonio didn’t waive him by the end of Monday, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link). It had been partially guaranteed for $200K, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.
- The Pelicans are looking into establishing their own D-League franchise, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. New Orleans GM Dell Demps acknowledged the franchise’s interest in the D-League, but he didn’t know the exact time frame for the process, Reid adds. ”A couple of years ago, we did not do it because our players were so young and growing and we figured we just throw them into the fire,” Demps said. ”But that is the next step for us. We’re looking at some options right now on the Gulf Coast and in the state of Louisiana. So we’re looking into that. We have some plans to add our own D-League team.”
- Danny Green surprised some when he elected to re-sign with the Spurs with a four-year, $45MM deal when numerous teams had expressed interest in his services, and he likely could have earned more elsewhere. But Green believes his annual salary is in line with his production, Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News notes (Twitter links). “People keep saying that I took less. I think I took what I was worth,” said Green. Though, to get his full market value, Green would have likely had to go to a team like the Pistons or the Kings, who certainly don’t offer as good a chance to contend as San Antonio does, McCarney adds. The Pistons, Mavericks, Blazers, Knicks and the Kings, who’d reportedly made Green their top target, all had some degree of interest in the swingman.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Rockets Re-Sign K.J. McDaniels
TUESDAY, 3:52pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
SUNDAY, 1:41pm: Restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels has agreed to a three-year, $10MM deal to stay with the Rockets, tweets Jake Pavorsky of Liberty Ballers. The deal does not include a player option, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link).
The Rockets used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign McDaniels, who claimed to have received a “strong offer” from another organization. Houston lost unrestricted free agent Josh Smith to the Clippers on Thursday. “But I’m too happy and too blessed and thankful to be back apart of #RedNation,” McDaniels tweeted after the agreement was reached.
“It’s a blessing and I’m happy to be a part of the Rockets franchise. I’m excited to see what happens,” McDaniels told Berman (Twitter link). “It means a lot. It just shows how much the coaches enjoy working with me, how much I enjoy working with them.” (Twitter link).
McDaniels was traded from the Sixers to the Rockets at the February deadline in exchange for Isaiah Canaan and a second-round pick. He barely played in Houston, appearing in just 10 games before suffering a non-displaced fracture in his right elbow in the season’s final regular-season game. McDaniels averaged 9.2 points and 3.8 points in 52 games with Philadelphia before the trade.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/20/15
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is no stranger to risks and splashy moves, and Houston’s trade for Ty Lawson represents both. Lawson was arrested last week on suspicion of DUI, his second such arrest in six months. Still, he’s finished third in the NBA in assists per game each of the past two seasons, an accomplishment that comes amid the league’s golden age of point guards. Lawson will make more than $12.404MM this season, but coupled with Patrick Beverley‘s affordable new four-year deal for about $23MM total, Houston gained depth at a key position for a reasonable price.
It’s all part of an effort to win the franchise’s first championship in more than two decades, which prompts the question of the day: Are the Rockets legitimate title contenders now?
It wouldn’t be altogether difficult to support the argument that they were in the championship mix even before the Lawson deal, since they had the second seed in the Western Conference entering the playoffs last season and made it to the conference finals. However, the rest of the Western elite improved this summer. The Spurs landed LaMarcus Aldridge and David West. The Clippers snatched DeAndre Jordan back from the Mavs, signed Paul Pierce and lured Josh Smith away from the Rockets. The Thunder are poised to return to contention with a healthy Kevin Durant and a full season of Enes Kanter. The Warriors kept most of their 67-win championship team together. LeBron James and the Cavs loom even if Houston can escape the West.
Take to the comments section below with your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
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Ty Lawson Gives Up Guarantee On 2016/17 Salary
As part of his trade to the Rockets, Ty Lawson has agreed to make the final season of his contract non-guaranteed, sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). It’s quite a forfeit for Lawson because he had been fully guaranteed $13,213,482 for the 2016/17 season. Lawson’s new guarantee date is the day following the NBA Finals, or the day after the draft — whichever one is later — Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The non-guaranteed season gives the Rockets some peace of mind with the troubled point guard. Lawson entered a 30-day residential treatment program on Saturday. His latest DUI-related arrest came Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. It was the former Nuggets guard’s second such arrest in six months.
Lawson is due to make more than $12.404MM this season. As Lowe suggests (via Twitter), Lawson likely expects to be able to reel in more money with the salary cap’s expected rise next season.
Nuggets Waive Pablo Prigioni
JULY 20TH, 4:26pm: The Nuggets have waived Prigioni, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein tweets. Denver confirmed the move in its press release on the Lawson trade.
JULY 19TH, 9:13pm: The Nuggets intend to waive newly acquired point guard Pablo Prigioni, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). Prigioni is being sent to Denver as part of the Ty Lawson deal. The Nuggets appear to be committing to turning the team over to 2015 first-rounder Emmanuel Mudiay with today’s moves.
Prigioni’s salary of $1,734,572 is set to become fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster past Monday, as is shown by our schedule of contract guarantee dates. Denver would only be on the hook for $440K, the amount of Prigioni’s partial guarantee, by waiving him.
What’s next for the 38-year-old from Argentina is unclear. He’ll likely draw offers from overseas, and the Cavaliers, who were reportedly trying to acquire Prigioni at last season’s trade deadline, could potentially look to him as an alternative to Matthew Dellavedova, who is still unsigned, though that is merely my speculation.
In three NBA seasons Prigioni has averaged 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists to go with a slash line of .437/.398/.872.
Rockets Acquire Ty Lawson
JULY 20TH, 4:25pm: The Nuggets have waived Prigioni, and the deal is official, Denver announced in a press release. In a condition of the trade, Lawson has agreed to make the 2016/17 season, the final year of his contract, non-guaranteed, sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). As part of the deal, the Nuggets receive cash considerations, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets. The press release from the Rockets notes that it’s their own lottery-protected 2016 pick going to Denver.
SUNDAY, 8:16pm: The Rockets have reached a deal with the Nuggets that will send Ty Lawson to Houston, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com had tweeted just moments earlier that the sides were deep in talks. Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a protected 2016 first-round pick go to Denver, Wojnarowski adds (All Twitter links). Houston will receive a 2017 second-round pick in addition to Lawson, as Wojnarowski also reports (on Twitter). The first-rounder going to Denver is lottery-protected, and the second-rounder headed to Houston is unprotected, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The move, when it becomes official, will bring an end to Lawson’s tenure with the Nuggets even though GM Tim Connelly and coach Michael Malone both expressed their support for the troubled point guard in recent days.
Chris Mannix of SI.com last week identified the Rockets as a team with interest in the point guard even in the wake of his latest DUI-related arrest, which came Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. It was his second such arrest in six months. Lawson entered a 30-day residential treatment program on Saturday.
Houston made more sense as a Lawson suitor than the Pistons or the Lakers, the two other teams Mannix identified in his report from last week, since both Detroit and L.A. made major investments in point guards this summer. The Pistons agreed to re-sign Reggie Jackson for $80MM and the Lakers drafted D’Angelo Russell No. 2 overall. The Lakers indeed made a determined push, but the Nuggets preferred what Houston offered, Stein reports (on Twitter). Rockets re-signed Patrick Beverley, but only for $23MM over four years. Beverley and Lawson now figure to compete for minutes.
The Kings and Nuggets reportedly spoke about Lawson prior to the draft, but Sacramento apparently wasn’t willing to give up the No. 6 pick in exchange for him in large measure because of the 27-year-old’s off-court issues. By contrast, Lawson’s talent appears to have convinced Houston it’s worth taking a shot on him, as he’s coming off a career-high 9.6 assists per game.
The trade nonetheless carries financial consequences for the Rockets. Lawson’s contract calls for him make more than $12.404MM this season and in excess of $13.213MM in 2016/17, and the exchange as reported so far will push Houston over the $84.74MM luxury tax threshold by about $500K, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Rockets have until the end of the regular season to go under that line and avoid paying the tax. Houston faces a hard cap of $4MM above the tax line if it signs No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell to a contract that covers more than two seasons at the minimum salary, as Marks also points out (on Twitter). The swap also means the Rockets aren’t in line to open cap space next summer, Marks adds (Twitter link).
The Nuggets meanwhile go under the cap with the deal and are set to open an estimated $46MM in cap space next summer, Marks tweets. Papanikolaou’s salary of nearly $4.798MM for this coming season is non-guaranteed, and Prigioni’s salary of almost $1.735MM carries only a $440K partial guarantee. Dorsey’s pay of about $1.015MM and Johnson’s approximately $845K salary are fully guaranteed, but they don’t make much of a dent in the Nuggets payroll.
The most significant on-court effect for Denver is that No. 7 overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay, also a point guard, has a clear shot to lead the team. The Nuggets re-signed Jameer Nelson, who seems to have a decent shot to begin the coming season as a starter, but Mudiay is clearly the team’s future at the position, and Malone had no shortage of enthusiasm about his play during summer league, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Did the Nuggets get a fair return for Lawson, considering the circumstances? Leave a comment to have your say.
Rockets, Jason Terry Near Deal
4:00pm: Terry says he is close to a deal with the Rockets, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets.
2:28pm: The sides are starting to close in on an agreement, as Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).
JULY 20TH, 2:08pm: The Rockets have offered Terry a contract, a source told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Terry has Bird rights with Houston, so the team doesn’t have to use its mid-level exception to complete a deal.
JULY 19TH, 9:18pm: The Ty Lawson trade agreement, in which the Rockets are giving up guards Pablo Prigioni and Nick Johnson, among others, improves the chances that Terry re-signs with Houston, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). Terry confirmed to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston that the sides are in talks (Twitter link).
JULY 13TH, 9:46pm: Free agent guard Jason Terry is progressing toward a deal to re-sign with the Rockets, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Terry finished the 2014/15 season as the team’s starting point guard after Patrick Beverley was sidelined because of a wrist injury.
Terry and the Mavs reportedly had conversations about a reunion in Dallas. The 37-year-old played half of his 16 NBA seasons for the Mavs.
Terry played well last season and was a contributor during Houston’s playoff run to the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 9.2 points while shooting 35.4% from behind the arc during 17 playoff games.
Fallout From/Reaction To Ty Lawson Deal
Ty Lawson‘s drinking habit had concerned teams even when he entered the NBA, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who hears from several sources who say that it helped dissuade the Celtics from trading for him while they were in talks with the Nuggets before the February deadline. The video that depicts him smoking from a hookah and predicting that the Nuggets would trade him to the Kings as he watched Denver select Emmanuel Mudiay in the draft was a turn-off for potential suitors, too, Lowe writes. Lowe and others have more on the trade agreement, as we’ll pass along here:
- The Lakers were the only team other than the Rockets to express interest in Lawson shortly before the deal, according to Lowe, though Chris Mannix of SI.com heard the Pistons also did.
- Nick Johnson, one of the players heading to the Nuggets, didn’t get along with the coaching staff at the Rockets D-League affiliate while on assignment last season, several league sources told Lowe.
- The Nuggets face a scramble to complete the trade before the close of business today so that they can waive Pablo Prigioni, as they reportedly intend to do, before his partial guarantee of $440K becomes a full guarantee of nearly $1.735MM, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks details. Teams can waive physicals and the requirement that the players report, but it would be up to the Rockets to do so with Lawson, Marks notes. Also, players in the final year of their respective contracts must certify a trade before it goes final, so Denver has to get in contact with Prigioni, Kostas Papanikolaou and Joey Dorsey, Marks explains (All four Twitter links).
- Lawson is on board with the trade, agent Happy Walters told Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. “He’s excited,” Walters said. “I spoke to him once about it. He’s close with James [Harden], tight with Corey [Brewer], knows Trevor [Ariza] and Dwight [Howard] and is real excited. It’s an opportunity for him. He’s been deep in the playoffs before, but this is something he feels really good about.”
- Houston’s new point guard has his baggage, but the Rockets didn’t relinquish much in the deal, making it a risk that the rigors of the Western Conference demand that they take, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
- Lawson might not be the third star the Rockets have been seeking to complement Harden and Howard, but Michael Lee of The Washington Post points out that he’s the sort of facilitator that Harden has said he’d welcome.
- What’s your reaction to the deal? Leave a comment to let us know.
Rockets, Chuck Hayes Close To Deal
JULY 20TH, 1:29pm: The sides are close to an agreement and working on “fine details,” Andrews told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
JULY 15TH, 8:32am: Free agent Chuck Hayes met with people from the Rockets organization Monday, and agent Calvin Andrews told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports that the sides have mutual interest (Twitter link). The 10-year veteran big man played his first six NBA seasons with Houston, and GM Daryl Morey has shown a fondness for reunions with his former players.
The market for the 32-year-old has been quiet this month. It’s unclear if he or the Raptors have any interest in a return. Hayes is coming off a season of career lows, as he averaged just 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game across 29 appearances. He was a starter his last two seasons in Houston.
The Rockets have their mid-level exception available, though the team may need it to re-sign either Josh Smith, K.J. McDaniels, or both, as Houston reportedly wants to retain those free agents. Hayes seems like a candidate for the minimum salary, coming off his down year, though he made nearly $5.959MM in 2014/15.
Rockets, Nuggets In Advanced Talks On Ty Lawson
SUNDAY, 8:13pm: The Rockets and Nuggets have reached advanced stages of trade talks regarding Ty Lawson, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).