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Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Togashi, Mavs, Asik

October 14th, 2014 at 10:08pm CST by Charlie Adams

With Tyreke Evans‘ spot as a starter for the Pelicans all but assured, Darius Miller, Luke Babbitt, and John Salmons are all essentially competing to make the roster and land the reserve small forward role, observes Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune. Given that Salmons is the only member of the trio with a fully guaranteed deal, he might be the early favorite to secure the backup spot. Still, it’s too early dismiss Miller and Babbitt’s chances to make the team, since both players have contracts featuring partial guarantees on a New Orleans roster carrying just 12 completely guaranteed pacts. It wouldn’t be surprising if all three of the wings in question find themselves on the club past opening night. As we wait to see how the Pelicans’ roster shapes up, let’s look at more from the Southwest:

The Mavs will officially sign Yuki Togashi after he passes his physical today, reveals Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, who adds that Togashi will be waived before the regular season begins, allowing Dallas to retain his D-League rights going forward. We passed along that the two sides were set on a deal last week and suspected that Togashi was a long-shot to make the opening night roster.
Charlie Villanueva‘s strong play in camp means one of the 15 guaranteed contracts on the Mavs’ roster might be waived in order to make room for the big man. Sefko takes a look at the players who seemingly have the greatest chance of being cut before opening night rolls around.
The Pelicans and Rockets squared off in a preseason matchup tonight, marking the first time Omer Asik faced his old team since being traded away in July. Although the big man was involved in trade rumors for much of the season and summer, Rockets coach Kevin McHale confessed he’ll miss having big man around this season, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders examines the pros and cons of locking up Kawhi Leonard to a rookie scale extension versus waiting until restricted free agency to work out a new deal. The Basketball Insiders scribe concludes that it would be the in San Antonio’s best interest to wait until the summer of 2015 to re-sign the reigning Finals MVP.

Rockets To Part Ways With Robert Covington

October 10th, 2014 at 3:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:46pm: Charania clarifies in a full story that the Rockets continue to listen to trade proposals from other teams about Covington. Still, the team has decided to cut ties with him one way or another, Charania explains.

2:50pm: The Rockets will waive small forward Robert Covington, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Other teams around the league have expressed interest in trading for the one-year veteran, but Houston is pushing ahead with its plan to simply release him, according to Charania. The 23-year-old had a $150K partial guarantee on his contract, so that money will remain on Houston’s books for the season unless another team submits a waiver claim. The move will leave the Rockets at 19 players, one shy of the preseason roster limit.

Covington spent the lion’s share of last season with Houston’s D-League affiliate, even though he was on the team’s NBA roster all year. He didn’t make his regular season debut for the Rockets until January 18th, and he saw just 34 total minutes all season, spread over seven games. He spent enough time in the D-League to earn an All-Star nod on that circuit, and averaged 23.2 points and 9.2 rebounds in 34.1 minutes per game across 42 D-League appearances.

Houston still faces a roster logjam with 15 fully guaranteed contracts, partial guarantees to Tarik Black and Akil Mitchell, and a non-guaranteed contract with starting point guard Patrick Beverley. Last week, I examined the tough decisions ahead for GM Daryl Morey.

Texas Notes: Parsons, Black, Cuban

October 7th, 2014 at 10:01pm CST by Charlie Adams

We’re just three weeks away from opening night in the NBA, when the Mavs will square off against the Spurs in a matchup between two teams from the Lone Star State. San Antonio might look like a preseason favorite to take home a second consecutive title, but a fantastic offseason in Dallas should mean the Mavs have a shot themselves at making some serious noise in the West. Let’s have a look at the latest out of Texas:

Earlier today, Marc Stein of ESPN.com rounded up the events that led to Chandler Parsons‘ departure from the Rockets this summer. The 25-year-old forward suited up against his former club tonight to kick off his career with the Mavs, but he said the game didn’t carry any extra meaning despite who he was facing, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle transcribes. “Just because it’s them, it’s a little different because I know those guys and it’s the first time we play against them,” said Parsons. “But at the end of the day, it’s a chance to see where we stand right now.”
Rockets coach Kevin McHale won’t rush to determine which players will fit into the club’s regular rotation, Feigen writes in a separate piece. Reserves Ish Smith, Jeff Adrien, and Tarik Black have been particularly impressive, Feigen hears. Black is the only member of the group on a non-guaranteed pact, and Houston is already carrying the league max of 15 guaranteed deals. However, his solid performance in camp might speak well of Black’s chances to make an NBA club, even if it’s not in Houston.
There have been rumblings that some superstar players might want maximum contracts taken out of the next CBA, and Mark Cuban suggests such an idea might not be out of the question if the players are willing to forfeit some guaranteed money and agree to allow contract structures similar to the ones found in the NFL. Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com has all the details.

Southeast Notes: Ariza, Bosh, Magic, Curry

October 7th, 2014 at 1:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

The presence of mainstays Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem is a decided advantage for the Heat, as each of them turned down lucrative player options for the betterment of the team and re-signed with Miami for less this summer. Coach Erik Spoelstra believes that franchises that have players like that are in an even better position under the latest collective bargaining agreement, one that’s brought about shorter contracts and rapid-fire player movement, as Spoelstra explains to Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. Indeed, that sort of loyalty is hard to come by, and it helps explain why either the Heat, Spurs, Lakers or both have appeared in each of the last 16 NBA Finals. Here’s more on the Heat and their Southeast Division rivals:

Trevor Ariza insists the lack of state income tax in Texas was significant enough financial motivation for him to sign with the Rockets for the same four years and $32MM that the Wizards offered, as he tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Until the finances got in the way, Ariza says to Lee that he was fully expecting to return to the Wizards. “I thought I was going to be a Wizard for a long time, but when that didn’t happen [the Rockets] definitely pursued me the hardest,” Ariza said. “Everything happens for a reason. It’s a business. So sometimes, teams make business decisions and you’ve got to live with that. I grew up in this league, obviously, I was 19 [when he was drafted]. So I’ve matured. So in life, I moreso understand the business of things and accept it.”
Chris Bosh was one of several players who signed long-term deals this summer that carry through 2016, the first year that the new TV contracts kick in, but he told reporters today that the allure of guaranteed max money for five years was too much to pass up. Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald tweets the details.
The Magic‘s D-League affiliate traded for the D-League rights to Seth Curry today, the club announced. Curry is in NBA camp with the Magic, but it’ll be tough for him make the opening-night roster on his partially guaranteed deal. So, the D-League swap signals that Orlando would like to keep a close eye on Curry should he decide to play in the D-League in the likely event that the Magic waive him at the end of the preseason.

Stein’s Latest: Parsons, Cavs, Mavs, Rockets

October 7th, 2014 at 12:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rockets GM Daryl Morey and Mavs owner Mark Cuban downplay the intensity of their personal rivalry in interviews with Marc Stein of ESPN.com, even though both have made some incendiary statements about the other. Their teams have been involved in a tug-of-war over high-powered free agents in the past few summers, and the case of Chandler Parsons brought the rivalry into focus. Stein’s piece sheds light on many unreported aspects of Parsons’ free agency, and the entire piece is worth a read, particularly for Mavs and Rockets fans. We’ll share the most newsworthy tidbits here:

The Cavs were the most fervent suitor of Parsons early in free agency this summer, viewing him as a plan B if LeBron James didn’t return, and Kyrie Irving, a friend of Parsons’, tried to recruit him to Cleveland, as Stein chronicles. The Mavs weren’t willing to wait on a definitive “no” from either LeBron or Carmelo Anthony before swooping in with their offer sheet, one that Parsons agreed to rather than sign a two-year max deal that the Rockets offered, Stein also reports.
Parsons told Stein he would have re-signed with the Rockets for less early in free agency, and Stein hears he sought a four-year, $48MM deal from Houston, which was instead engaged in a pursuit of more established stars.
Cuban was honest with Parsons about the risk that he was taking, as he explains to Stein. “I told Chandler from the start [of free agency]: ‘Do you want me to be brutally honest with you?'” Cuban said. “And he said yes. So I told him with as much granularity as I could that I think it’s a 10% chance at best that we could get ‘Melo, but we had to try. Then, we started hearing our percentage was getting higher, and I told Chandler that, too. But then, when we weren’t hearing a whole lot from the Melo camp, we knew we were pretty much out. So I told Chandler [on July 9th]: ‘I could end up being the dumbest idiot in NBA history, but even if LeBron comes back to us and says he’s choosing us, I’m committing to you.'”
The Mavs were also high on Gordon Hayward and Eric Bledsoe, but they found Parsons the most obtainable of the three restricted free agents they wanted most, Stein writes.
Morey pursued Kyle Lowry early in free agency, but cooled on him and turned his attention to Chris Bosh instead, as Stein explains. Bosh seemed on his way to the Rockets before he inked a five-year max deal with the Heat, and even Morey thought that he had Bosh within his clutches, as he admits to Stein. “Given our understanding of where things were,” Morey said, “we felt like we were 95 percent-plus to potentially having the best team in the league. There was nothing promised, but I did believe [Bosh] was coming in almost every scenario except the one that happened at the last minute [Miami trumping Houston’s offer with a five-year max].”
The Rockets agreed to trade Jeremy Lin to the Lakers before receiving a commitment from Bosh because the Lakers refused to wait any longer and because a trade proposal from the Sixers instead would have cost multiple first-rounders instead of just one.
The Rockets, like many teams, are turning their eyes to 2016, and they plan to let James Harden act as the primary recruiter for former teammate Kevin Durant, who can hit free agency that summer, Stein writes.
Agent Dan Fegan proposed the structure of the three-year offer sheet that Parsons signed with the Mavs, and the three-year length, in particular, drew raves from Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, who noted its contrast with the typical four-year offer sheet, as Stein passed along. Cavs GM David Griffin also expressed admiration for the deal, as he tells Stein. “The contract structure was extremely creative,” Griffin said. “I think it will be a significant moment in the way restricted free agency discussions are handled in the future.”

And-Ones: Papanikolaou, Popovich, Warriors

October 5th, 2014 at 12:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Rockets forward Kostas Papanikolaou‘s $4,591,066 salary has become fully-guaranteed today since he is still on Houston’s preseason roster past the October 4th trigger date in the revamped deal he inked. This now gives the team 15 fully guaranteed deals out of the 20 on the Rockets’ preseason roster.

Here’s more from around the league:

The pairing of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan is nearing the end. In the past Popovich has been quoted as saying that he would retire when Duncan did, but that might have changed, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. Popovich recently said, “That’s very possible. I always said that [he’d leave with Duncan], because it’s kind of a funny line. It seems pretty logical and smart to do that. I know where my bread is buttered. But I basically made the same commitments to Manu Ginobili and to Tony Parker that when they signed contracts, they wanted to know if I’m going to be here and I tell them I am, so it’s pretty tough to go ahead and leave.” Ginobili is signed through next season and Parker is under contract through 2018, but it’s the emergence of Kawhi Leonard that might be a bigger incentive since it will keep the team’s championship window open, opines Lee.
During his first stint with the Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey, James Johnson had a number of confrontations that eventually led to Johnson being suspended and ultimately dealt to the Kings at the end of the 2011/12 season. Johnson is back in Toronto and under the eye of Casey, but things are much improved between them now, Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun writes. Johnson credits a stint in the D-League as what changed him, saying, “I flourished in the D-League. I am happy to say my career was bumpy but going down to the D-league made the old James Johnson not exist anymore.”
There’s a new regime in Golden State with Steve Kerr replacing Mark Jackson as head coach. Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle profiled the Warriors coaching staff and what each brings to the court and to the locker room for the team.

Western Notes: Young, Mavs, McHale, Fesenko

October 3rd, 2014 at 7:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers guard Nick Young has a torn ligament in his right thumb and will miss approximately six to eight weeks, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). Young injured the thumb during practice when attempting a steal on Kobe Bryant. He’s scheduled to have surgery this Monday, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. With Young expected to be the Lakers sixth man and provide an offensive boost this isn’t a great start to the season, especially after the team missed a total of 319 games due to injuries last year, which was a major factor in Los Angeles’ rough 2013/14 campaign.

Here’s more from the wild west:

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said that just because a player has a total or partially guaranteed contract doesn’t mean he’ll make the final roster, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (Twitter link). Dallas has a total of 19 players on their preseason roster, with 15 of them carrying full guarantees and two with partially guaranteed deals.
Kyrylo Fesenko is especially motivated to win an uphill battle for a spot on the Wolves regular season roster because of his desire to move his family out of war-torn Ukraine, as he details to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Fesenko is on a non-guaranteed contract, but the Wolves have their hands full with 15 fully guaranteed deals plus a partial guarantee for Glenn Robinson III, as Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron detailed.
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale isn’t concerned that he’s in the final year of his contract despite Houston owner Leslie Alexander’s track record of not handing out second deals to previous coaches like Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Adelman, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. McHale said, “That has no bearing on me. I never believed that. If you’re going to play better in the last year of your contract because it’s the last year of your contract, I question who you are. If you are going to coach better because you’re in the last year of your contract, I question that guy. I’m going to do the same thing I’ve always done. I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can with these guys, try to get these guys to be the best possible team we can be and you know what, like as a player, you do the best job you can. If it’s not good enough, it’s not good enough.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Four Teams Face Tough Roster Decisions

October 2nd, 2014 at 3:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

October is a month of decision-making for NBA clubs, as they sort through rookie scale extensions and options and figure out how to shrink their rosters down to the 15-man regular season limit. That third task is fairly straightforward for most teams, who’ll cut players with non-guaranteed deals and diminutive partial guarantees and keep those on fully guaranteed contracts.

For a few clubs, it’s not so easy, either because they have more than 15 fully guaranteed contracts or because there are players on the roster with little or no guaranteed money whom the club would like to keep at the expense of one or more of their fully guaranteed guys. Often, this means waiving a fully guaranteed contract and eating that money, though sometimes teams are able to work out salary-clearing trades.

A look at our roster counts shows several teams with at least some partially guaranteed money on the books for more than 15 players, but the predicaments of four teams stand out. We’ll profile them here:

Celtics
It took a series of maneuvers, including waiving and re-signing camp invitee Christian Watford, just to give the C’s enough room to squeeze a contract for Evan Turner under the 20-man offseason roster limit. Boston has 16 fully guaranteed contracts plus a $100K partial guarantee out to Erik Murphy, so more roster gymnastics are ahead for president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. Phil Pressey and the newly acquired Dwight Powell have the cheapest guaranteed deals on the team, as each is in line for less than $1MM, though Pressey, a point guard, might have an edge if Rajon Rondo‘s injury lingers.

Pistons
The Pistons were set with 15 fully guaranteed contracts before Greg Monroe inked his qualifying offer, which is also fully guaranteed and carries a de facto no-trade clause. That sets up a tough decision this month for coach/executive Stan Van Gundy. Spencer Dinwiddie has the lowest amount of guaranteed money for this season, but his contract is also fully guaranteed for 2015/16. Tony Mitchell is the only Piston who has guaranteed salary that adds up to less than $1MM.

Rockets
Houston doesn’t look like it’s in a bind at first glance, since the team only has 15 fully guaranteed deals. Yet with projected starting point guard Patrick Beverley on a non-guaranteed contract, GM Daryl Morey will almost certainly part with one of those 15. Nick Johnson, Troy Daniels and Isaiah Canaan, the Rockets with the cheapest full guarantees for this season, all have a significant amount of guaranteed money on the books for 2015/16, too. Ish Smith, Jeff Adrien and Francisco Garcia are each on a fully guaranteed one-year deal that costs the team less than $1MM, but all three are proven veterans who saw time in NBA rotations last season. Further complicating the matter is that the team owes partial guarantees to Tarik Black, Robert Covington and Akil Mitchell.

Timberwolves
Minnesota’s situation is another that doesn’t appear troublesome initially, but the team invested a $250K partial guarantee in Glenn Robinson III, this year’s 40th overall pick, to go along with 15 fully guaranteed contracts. Robinson won’t earn a free pass onto the regular season roster, but the team is reportedly looking to unload J.J. Barea, whether by trade or buyout. If the Wolves don’t part ways with Barea, coach/executive Flip Saunders might cast his eye in the direction of Robbie Hummel, the only player with fully guaranteed salary that totals less than $1MM.

Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Rockets Notes: Papanikolaou, Dunn, Howard

September 30th, 2014 at 6:51pm CST by Alex Lee

The Rockets have been busy lately, finally inking Francisco Garcia to a new contract yesterday and earlier tonight deciding to exercise the options on Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas come late October. Let’s see what else is going on in Houston on Tuesday night:

Kostas Papanikolaou‘s new contract with the Rockets isn’t guaranteed unless he sticks on the roster through Saturday, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, who adds that next season carries both non-guaranteed salary and a team option (Twitter link).
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale has hired T.R. Dunn as an assistant coach, the team announced today. This will be the second stint in Houston for Dunn, who was also an assistant on Rick Adelman‘s Rockets staff from 2007 to 2011. The defensive-minded coach has been an assistant in Minnesota since then and also spent time on staffs in Sacramento, Denver and Charlotte.
While Dwight Howard can become a free agent at 30 in the summer of 2016, GM Daryl Morey likes his chances of re-signing him, writes Grantland’s Zach Lowe in a longer, Rockets-based piece. “We’re the first team Dwight has ever picked,” said Morey. “James [Harden] and Dwight are a combo you can win a title with, and we plan to have them here for the remainder of their careers.”

Chuck Myron also contributed to this post.

Rockets To Pick Up Option On Jones, Motiejunas

September 30th, 2014 at 5:44pm CST by Alex Lee

The Rockets plan to exercise their fourth-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of both Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The team will wait until the October 31 deadline to do so for the duo, both of whom are entering their third seasons in Houston and will compete for minutes at power forward alongside center Dwight Howard.

Jones, 22, really came into his own last season in his sophomore campaign out of Kentucky, averaging 12.1 points and 6.9 rebounds in 71 starts for the Rockets. Montiejunas, from Lithuania, occupied more of a reserve role, playing 15.4 minutes off the bench. As Feigen notes, the seven-footer was dropped from the rotation in the playoffs. Both players are former first round picks. Jones was selected 18th by the Rockets in 2012 while Montiejunas was taken 20th by Minnesota in 2011.

Once the options are officially exercised, the 2015/16 salaries for Jones ($2.489MM) and Motiejunas ($2.288MM) will become guaranteed, locking in over $50MM in total commitments for Houston next season. With all of the changes to the Houston roster this offseason, there was some speculation that the seven-foot Motiejunas could be dealt. While this news makes that less likely, it’s hard to rule anything out when it comes to the always-active Rockets.