Western Notes: Adelman, Barnes, Rockets
Wolves coach Rick Adelman spoke to reporters including Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune on Minnesota’s future, but didn’t include himself as part of the ongoing decision-making (Twitter link). “For the most part we’re still a pretty young team and the success of this franchise going forward is who else can they add,” said Adelman, who many believe will not be back to coach next year. Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer and Zgoda tweeted back and forth, speculating that Adelman’s quote was a tacit admission that he wouldn’t be a part of the Wolves future (Twitter links). Here’s more from out West:
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald says there is growing sentiment that the Warriors will look to trade away Harrison Barnes this offseason.
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com says that the Rockets reached out to point guard Malcolm Delaney to see if bringing him in from overseas this late in the season was feasible. Stein first reported that the Rockets had interest in Delaney, but the news that Patrick Beverley should return for the playoffs has Houston brass leaning against a play for Delaney.
- Stein says the Rockets believe in Sergio Llull as an NBA rotation piece, but that there are major barriers to bringing him in from overseas anytime soon, including Llull’s apparent disinterest in joining the NBA, where the Rockets own his rights.
- Erik Murphy‘s former Bulls teammates are very happy he was claimed by the Jazz, per a tweet from K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. “He works too hard,” said Taj Gibson, who had positive things to say about Murphy at the time of his release as well.
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey shared what he saw in Murphy to Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). “Big guys who can step out and shoot can be complementary to our group. And Erik is a super shooter,” said Lindsey.
And-Ones: Adrian Griffin, Young, Murphy
Once a catalyst in the movement that paved a way for players to go from high school straight to the NBA, former NBA All-Star Spencer Haywood ironically supports the idea of raising the league’s age-limit to 20-years-old, details Sam Amick of USA Today. Haywood is currently concerned about the potential effects of the one-and-done rule on college basketball and in the NBA:
“You have no locker room camaraderie…You have no veteran leadership. It’s just young guys making up their own rules as they go. They don’t have the examples to show them what this game is all about. So it’s going to hurt the league, and it’s definitely hurting college basketball.”
Here are more miscellaneous news and notes from around the Association tonight:
- Current Bulls assistant and former NBA player Adrian Griffin spoke with Sean Deveney of the Sporting News about his aspirations of eventually becoming an NBA head coach: “It’s definitely my goal…I have been learning a lot in this role, this is my sixth year. I learned under (Tom Thibodeau), I learned under Scott Skiles and overall, it is great to see how things work in an organization, especially an organization like the Bulls. That’s something I could bring to any team.”
- Griffin may ultimately need more experience as an assistant before landing a head-coaching job, but he could definitely be active on the interview circuit if there are head coaching vacancies this summer, writes Deveney.
- Nick Young‘s agent, Mark Bartelstein, tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that it still remains presumptuous whether or not his client will opt out of his contract with the Lakers this summer.
- It’ll be surprising if recently-waived Erik Murphy goes unclaimed, as he appears to be drawing interest from around the league (Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports via Twitter).
- The Rockets are not currently seeking a replacement on their coaching staff for former assistant Kelvin Sampson, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
- Sacramento city officials plan to unveil key details of an arena deal for the Kings in the next few weeks, leading up to a formal vote on the plan by City Council on May 13, reports Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee.
- Jazz rookie Trey Burke tells Spencer Checketts of 1280 The Zone that he loves Utah and “plans on staying here for as long as they’ll let me” (Twitter link).
Western Notes: Young, Llull, Sampson, Kings
Following last night’s game against Sacramento, Lakers guard Nick Young hinted that he plans to opt out this summer and enter free agency (Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com reports). The 6’7 swingman referred to his popular epithet when responding to a question about whether or not he’s already made up his mind: “A little bit. It’s a mystery, though. I’ve got to keep y’all on your toes. That’s what Swaggy P does.”
Last week, we noted that Young would likely test the waters in July and remains interested in re-signing with the Lakers. Though he does hold a 2014/15 player option worth roughly $1.2MM, the L.A. native believes it’s time for a raise: “Most definitely. I deserve much more than that.”
Here’s what else we’ve gathered out West this evening:
- The Rockets have the draft rights to Spanish league guard Sergio Llull, but he’s not among the players the team appears to be considering, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Llull, 26, is considered an NBA-level talent, but his contract with Real Madrid would require a hefty in-season buyout, Stein notes (Twitter links).
- The abruptness of Kelvin Sampson’s departure from the Rockets wasn’t entirely by choice, as league rules mandate that he couldn’t remain with the team after having accepted the head coaching job at the University of Houston, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston.
- Plans for a new Kings arena in Sacramento took another step forward today as the city won an appeals court ruling allowing it to retain possession of a building that sits on the site where the arena is to be built, as Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee details.
- Nearly one year removed from a failed attempt to purchase and relocate the Kings franchise, Chris Hansen tells Percy Allen of the Seattle Times: “It’s inevitable Seattle will have a basketball team. It’s just a matter of when…The next time an opportunity comes our way, we’re going to be in a lot better position. We’re not going to have to prove to the NBA that we’re likely to get an arena built. We’ll have a fully-baked, signed off on deal.”
- As far as an arena proposal goes, Hansen mentions the EIS (Environmental State Impact) process as one hurdle that needs to be cleared; However, he says that the process is going well and expects it to be settled by this summer at the earliest.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Team Options And Restricted Free Agency
Every rookie scale contract in the league, by rule, includes a pair of team options. Otherwise, team options are rare. NBA clubs prefer the flexibility of non-guaranteed seasons instead, since they allow the team to cut ties with the player at any point before the leaguewide guarantee date of January 7th. Team options must either be exercised or declined before the NBA’s calendar flips over on July 1st. (Rookie scale options must be exercised or declined on October 31st the year before the option season would begin.) Players, too, can benefit from the greater flexibility of a non-guaranteed contract, since they can earn a portion of their salary if they remain on the roster for a partial season.
Still, a growing number of free agents are signing contracts with team options. Of the 13 existing NBA contracts that include team options for future seasons and aren’t rookie scale deals, 11 have been signed since this past July. A handful of those contracts last four seasons, and there’s a compelling reason for teams to structure deals that way for second-round picks and undrafted players.
Chandler Parsons is Exhibit A. The Rockets haven’t informed Parsons about whether they intend to decline his option, worth about $965K, for next season, as Parsons tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Under most circumstances, Houston’s decision would be a no-brainer. Parsons has far outperformed his deal, signed after the Rockets took him in the second round of the 2011 draft, and having him for an additional season at a cost of less than $1MM would give the team one of the league’s best bargains. What makes his case so intriguing is that undrafted players and second-round picks, like Parsons, can be restricted free agents if their contracts end before their fourth seasons. So, the Rockets could decline their option and have the right to match other teams’ offers for their small forward. Houston wouldn’t have that right in 2015 if the team exercised its option on Parsons, who’d become an unrestricted free agent when his contract ends after 2014/15.
The team option gives Houston a choice that a non-guaranteed season wouldn’t. If 2014/15 were a non-guaranteed year for Parsons, rather than an option year, the Rockets could only make him a free agent this summer if they waived him, and he’d be an unrestricted free agent, and not a restricted one, if he cleared waivers.
Three other teams did deals this year that mimic the Parsons contract, and it’s not surprising that the Sixers are one of them. GM Sam Hinkie was the executive vice president of basketball operations for the Rockets when they signed Parsons. Philadelphia signed two undrafted rookies this season to four-year contracts with a team option in the fourth year. The contracts for Brandon Davies and Hollis Thompson, just like the one for Parsons, aren’t fully guaranteed in the seasons leading up to the option. Davies signed his deal without any guarantee at all, while Thompson received a tiny partial guarantee of $35K for this season.
Neither Davies nor Thompson has guaranteed salary on his respective option year. That means that the Sixers could pick up their options and still cut ties with them before opening night without owing them any money that year, just as with a regular non-guaranteed season. Parsons has a partial guarantee on his salary next season. If the Rockets and Sixers exercise their options, those contracts will become just like any other deal that isn’t fully guaranteed. The only difference will be that their teams will have had a chance to make them restricted free agents, a valuable resource in case the player, as Parsons did, blossoms into a sought-after commodity.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey and his disciple aren’t the only ones who’ve caught on. Former Cavs GM Chris Grant signed Carrick Felix, the 33rd overall pick in the 2013 draft, to a four-year deal with a team option in the final season. In Felix’s case, the only non-guaranteed money is in the third year, and the fourth year is fully guaranteed providing the Cavs exercise their option. Hawks GM Danny Ferry, Grant’s former boss in Cleveland, produced the latest iteration of this trend when he pried 2013 second-rounder Mike Muscala from his Spanish league contract in February to bring him stateside. Muscala’s four-year deal is 50% guaranteed next season but henceforth completely non-guaranteed, and that includes the fourth-year option season.
Not every team has the flexibility to make four-year offers. Teams need either cap space or a portion of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception to sign rookies for four years. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more contracts like these in the future, especially if the Rockets use their team option on Parsons this summer and other teams hesitate to give him an offer. Teams may become more hesistant to use their full mid-level on veteran free agents so they can leave room to sign one or two intriguing young players to four-year deals.
It’s unlikely that Thompson, Davies, Felix or Muscala will ever become as valuable as Parsons is, and there’s a decent chance that their teams will waive them long before the option year comes around. Still, the Rockets, Sixers, Cavs and Hawks had nothing to lose, and neither would any team that does a similar deal. It’s a smart play that can look even smarter over time.
ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.
Rockets Eyeing Malcolm Delaney
The Rockets are eyeing German league point guard Malcolm Delaney, though they’re leaning against signing him this season, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Former Euroleague coach Pini Gershon first noted Houston’s interest while broadcasting Delaney’s game today, saying that the Rockets wanted the point guard as soon as possible, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com tweets.
The 25-year-old Delaney is on Houston’s list of possible late-season signees, Stein writes, suggesting there are others the team is considering. Still, the revelation that Patrick Beverley will return this season from a torn meniscus that originally threatened to end his 2013/14 campaign has slowed the team’s push to change its roster. The Rockets are carrying the maximum 15 players, so they’d have to waive someone to bring Delaney or anyone else aboard.
Delaney went undrafted out of Virginia Tech in 2011, and the closest he ever came to the NBA was a summer league stint with the Pistons in 2012. The Baltimore native played professionally for teams in France and Ukraine prior to joining Bayern Munich of Germany for this season. He’s averaging 12.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 turnovers in 48 games this season, and he’s made 39.1% of his three-point attempts.
Western Rumors: Jackson, Redick, Franklin
If the Clippers beat the Suns tonight, they will clinch the Pacific Division title. Here’s more from out west:
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com writes that Warriors coach Mark Jackson has a uniquely loyal roster in Golden State, and that Warriors brass ought to be very convinced his weaknesses are insurmountable before choosing to part ways with the third-year coach. Stein believes that the most important factor for an NBA coach’s success, other than a talented roster, is player buy-in. Star point guard Steph Curry is adamant that he supports Jackson, and Stein warns that there’s no guarantee a new coach with a winning pedigree could earn the same level of commitment from the Warriors locker room.
- The Grizzlies have recalled Jamaal Franklin from their D-League affiliate per a team release. The rookie has been sent back and forth between the NBA and D-League a handful of times this season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per contest in his 19 games with Memphis.
- J.J. Redick is planning on returning for one of the Clippers next three home games, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). Redick has been out with a bulging disc long enough to raise the question of whether he could miss the rest of the season.
- Rockets coach Kevin McHale told reporters including Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle that Houston’s staff will miss Kelvin Sampson. “He’s had success wherever he’s been. We’ll all miss him. He’s been a great addition,” said McHale. Sampson was hired by the University of Houston and will leave the Rockets after tonight’s game. Sampson himself had no comment on his departure.
Western Notes: Warriors, Seattle, Rockets
Warriors GM Bob Myers thinks coach Mark Jackson has done a “tremendous job” and is supportive of the decision to reassign former assistant coach Brian Scalabrine, as Myers said today on KNBR radio, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (All Twitter links). Ownership and management have a great relationship with Jackson, Myers also asserted. The reason no one from the Warriors front office has publicly defended Jackson is because the team prefers to have only one spokesperson on the rumors surrounding the coach, according to Myers. Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The group of Seattle investors that came close to purchasing the Kings last season is intact and focused solely on attracting an NBA team to the city, rather than going after an NHL club, primary investor Chris Hansen tells Tim Booth of The Associated Press.
- Rockets assistant coach and frequent NBA head coaching candidate Kelvin Sampson has agreed to become the head coach at the University of Houston, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. He’s leaving the Rockets after tonight’s game. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported a deal was close.
- Victor Claver enjoys Portland but he’s not satisfied with his playing time, having seen his minutes cut from 16.6 last year to 8.8 per game this season, as he tells Adriano Correal of Gigantes (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Claver, under contract with the Blazers for one more season, has denied rumors that he wants to return to Europe.
Patrick Beverley Will Return This Season
MONDAY, 12:37pm: Beverley will be back this season and won’t undergo surgery, Wojnarowski reports.
SUNDAY, 1:47pm: There’s a possibility that Beverley will not need surgery, and he might be able to return as early as the first-round of the postseason, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (h/t to Zach Harper of CBSSports.com). Beverley says he feels “pretty good” and believes he’ll return this season “for sure.” He’ll see Dr. James Andrews on Monday and make a decision after their visit.
FRIDAY: Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley is likely done for the season with a torn meniscus in his right knee, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports originally reported the injury, noting that Beverley will seek a second opinion in hopes that he can rehab and return at some point before the end of Houston’s playoff run.
Amick cites the lengthy absences of Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook, who also suffered meniscus tears, though Metta World Peace returned 12 days after undergoing surgery on his torn meniscus last season. Still, that quick recovery was something of an outlier, and the procedure World Peace underwent, in which his meniscus was removed entirely rather than repaired, can cause issues that linger over the course of a long career. Beverley, just 25 years old, might not be as willing as World Peace, then 33, to sacrifice the future for the benefit of the present.
In any case, the specter of entering the playoffs with Beverley is a tough blow for the Rockets, who’ve compiled the fourth-best record in the Western Conference thanks in no small part to the gritty, defensive-minded second-year player. He represents one of GM Daryl Morey‘s shrewdest acquisitions, as Morey picked him out of the Russian league in the middle of last season, signed him to a minimum-salary contract, and watched him quickly make his mark on the team. Beverley’s deal is non-guaranteed for next season, but it would be a shock if Morey doesn’t keep him around, regardless of the injury.
It’s too late for the team to apply for a disabled player exception, which wouldn’t have given the team much flexibility, given Beverley’s diminutive salary. The Rockets have a prorated portion of the $2.652MM room exception available to sign a free agent replacement, but it’s unlikely anyone on the market will be able to replace what Beverley has brought to the team, much less be worthy of more than the minimum salary. Rookie Isaiah Canaan figures to draw more playing time behind Jeremy Lin, who’ll no doubt become the starter, and Morey might regret trading veteran point guard Aaron Brooks to the Nuggets at the deadline for swingman Jordan Hamilton.
Contract Details: Butler, World Peace, Suns
Mark Deeks has updated his salary databases at ShamSports, and, as usual, he’s revealed several nuances about the latest contracts signed around the NBA. We’ll pass along the details we hadn’t previously heard about here:
- Caron Butler gave up $1MM in his buyout deal with the Bucks. He signed for that same amount for the remainder of this season with the Thunder, who dipped into their mid-level exception to accommodate Butler’s $1MM salary.
- Metta World Peace gave up $305,166 of this season’s $1.59MM salary in his buyout deal with the Knicks. All contracts with player options include a clause indicating whether or not the player receives the money for his option year in the event that he’s waived before deciding on the option. It looks as if the clause in World Peace’s deal stated that he would not receive the option-year pay, since Deeks doesn’t list any of World Peace’s $1,931,550 salary for 2014/15 on New York’s books.
- Shavlik Randolph‘s contract with the Suns includes a non-guaranteed year for 2014/15, rather than a team option, as we suspected.
- If the Hawks exercise their team option on the fourth season of Mike Muscala‘s deal, the contract will nonetheless remain non-guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date. It’s similar to the structure of the contracts a handful of Sixers have, including recent signee Jarvis Varnado.
- Chris Johnson also has such a deal with the Celtics, although there are a pair of guarantee dates attached to the third and fourth seasons. The third year becomes fully guaranteed providing he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2015, and the fourth year becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2016.
- The Celtics also arranged for a couple of guarantee dates on Phil Pressey‘s three-year contract. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before July 15th, but if the Celtics keep him beyond that date, it’s fully guaranteed. The same happens for the third year of the deal on July 15, 2015.
- The Rockets have a team option on Troy Daniels worth the minimum salary for next season.
- Luke Babbitt‘s two-year deal with the Pelicans is for the minimum salary. Next season isn’t guaranteed, but it becomes partially guaranteed for $100K if he isn’t waived on or before July 22nd.
- The Magic used cap room to sign Dewayne Dedmon to a three-year contract that gives him $300K for the rest of this season, slightly more than what he would have made on a prorated minimum-salary deal. Dedmon is set to make the minimum salary in the other two seasons covered in the pact. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before opening night, when it becomes partially guaranteed for $250K. The final season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before August 1st, 2015, when it becomes fully guaranteed.
Western Notes: Love, Papanikolaou, Jazz
There are rumors circulating that the Lakers will attempt to use this year’s high lottery pick to assemble the sort of trade package that finally convinces the Timberwolves to part with Kevin Love and end the uncertainty that hangs over this franchise even before the 25-year-old enters the final year of his contract, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Many in NBA circles believe that Love will eventually end up in Los Angeles, either via trade or free agency. He grew up in California, attended UCLA and his father, Stan, played for the Lakers, notes Stein.
More from out west:
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey is in Barcelona scouting Kostas Papanikolaou, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post. The rights to the former second round pick of the Knicks were acquired from the Trail Blazers as part of the Thomas Robinson deal. Berman believes Papanikolaou will be in the NBA next season.
- Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders examines what the Jazz need to do in order to rebuild the franchise into a winner.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes that Samuel Dalembert was the “steal” of last year’s free agent class, writes Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dalembert is averaging 6.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.17 BPG in 20.2 minutes per game.
- Holger Geschwindner, who has mentored Dirk Nowitzki since he was a teenager in Wurzburg, Germany, believes the 35-year-old Mavs star can play at a high level for “three or four more years easily,” barring serious injury, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Nowitzki has stated on several occasions that he intends to re-sign with Dallas at a significantly reduced salary after he becomes a free agent this summer. The 16-year veteran, who is projected to finish the season among the top 10 scorers in NBA history, has repeatedly said that his next contract will be for two or three years, writes MacMahon.