- Victor Oladipo admits to being upset over criticism of the trade that sent him and Domantas Sabonis to the Pacers in exchange for Paul George, relays Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report. “Of course it bothers me,” Oladipo said. “But people’s opinions, they are what they are. I can’t control that. All I can control is how hard I work.”
Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Knicks sent Joakim Noah and Damyean Dotson to the G League today, then recalled them after the conclusion of the Westchester Knicks’ day game (Twitter links). Dotson scored 23 points in the loss to Maine, while Noah chipped in with nine points, five boards, and four assists.
- Troy Williams has been re-assigned to the G League by the Rockets, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Williams figures to suit up tonight for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers against the Texas Legends.
- The Kings have assigned a trio of players – Georgios Papagiannis, Malachi Richardson, and Justin Jackson – to the G League, the team announced today in a press release. The Reno Bighorns don’t play again until Saturday, so it’s not clear if the three youngsters will stick around that long, or if they’re just on assignment for practice purposes.
- After helping the Delaware 87ers earn a win on Tuesday, rookie guard Furkan Korkmaz has been recalled to the NBA by the Sixers, per a press release from the team. Korkmaz had just 14 points on 3-of-12 shooting for Delaware last night, but was a team-best +19.
- The Pacers have sent rookie center Ike Anigbogu to the G League, the club announced today. Anigbogu has played just 17 total minutes for Indiana so far this season, so assignments to the G League give him an opportunity to get more reps.
After not finding an NBA home for the 2017/18 season, veteran big man Lavoy Allen is headed to China, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that Allen will sign with the CBA’s Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Former Grizzlies power forward Jarnell Stokes is expected to be let go by the Bulls, per Pick.
Allen, 28, entered the NBA in 2011 as the 50th overall pick in the draft. After spending two and a half seasons with the Sixers, Allen was sent to Indiana in 2014 along with Evan Turner. Allen had been a member of the Pacers for three and a half seasons since that trade, but had his team option for 2017/18 declined in June, making him a free agent.
Allen’s numbers in 388 career regular season NBA games were modest — in 17.8 minutes per contest, the Temple alum averaged 4.8 PPG and 4.8 RPG. Those averages figure to skyrocket in China, where marginal NBA bigs often transform into stars. Jared Sullinger, for instance, has put up 34.0 PPG and 15.6 RPG in nine games for the Shenzhen Leopards this season, while Stokes – apparently being replaced by Allen – had recorded 28.2 PPG and 13.4 RPG in five games.
Allen will join a Zhejiang squad that has a 5-3 record in CBA action so far this season. Former NBA swingman Sonny Weems has been the club’s leading scorer, averaging 29.0 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 6.6 APG.
- The Pacers had long envied Cory Joseph before acquiring him this past offseason, Michael Grange of Sportsnet writes. “We’re very pleased with Cory. He’s always been a guy I’ve liked since he was playing in San Antonio and couple of years ago he had a real good series against us, played really well and was a big factor in the playoffs against us,” head coach Nate McMillan said, as the guard made his first appearance in Toronto following the deal.
- Victor Oladipo is enjoying a career year so far on the court for the Pacers, but his behind-the-scenes leadership has also been an important part of the team’s early success, writes Clifton Brown of The Indianapolis Star. Acquired in the summer’s Paul George trade, Oladipo figures to be a fixture in Indiana for years to come — he and rookie T.J. Leaf are the only two Pacers under contract through 2020/21.
There are 25 players around the NBA playing on 2017/18 salaries that aren’t yet fully guaranteed. While having those salaries guaranteed will be a mere formality for some players, others may be at risk of losing their roster spot with decision day nearing. If teams keep non-guaranteed players under contract beyond January 7, their salaries will become guaranteed for the season on January 10, so clubs still have more than a month to decide whether to lock in these players’ full-season salaries.
Listed below is the team-by-team breakdown of the players who are still on non-guaranteed salaries or partially guaranteed salaries. Unless otherwise indicated, each of these players is set to earn the minimum. Partial guarantees are noted if they exceed a player’s prorated salary to date. Any teams not listed below are only carrying players with fully guaranteed salaries.
Atlanta Hawks
- Luke Babbitt: Partial guarantee of $987,080.
- Isaiah Taylor
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
- Kay Felder: Partial guarantee of $456,529.
- David Nwaba
Dallas Mavericks
- Dorian Finney-Smith
- Devin Harris: Partial guarantee of $1,339,662.
- Full salary: $4,402,546
- Jeff Withey: Partial guarantee of $350,000.
Detroit Pistons
- Eric Moreland: Partial guarantee of $1,000,000.
- Full salary: $1,739,333
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Lakers
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Marcus Georges-Hunt: Partial guarantee of $275,000.
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
- Khem Birch: Partial guarantee of $407,808.
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
- Sheldon Mac
- Note: Mac is recovering from a torn Achilles and will continue to be paid his full-season salary until he’s cleared to return.
To keep tabs on these 25 players over the next several weeks, be sure to check back on our regularly-updated lists of salary guarantee dates and of non-guaranteed contracts.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images and USA Today Sports Images. Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
Back in 2016, player option decisions were essentially mere formalities. With the NBA salary cap set to spike, nearly every veteran with a player option on his contract decided to opt out and explore the free agent market. Only three players – Tim Duncan, Mo Williams, and Caron Butler – exercised their player options that year, and none of those players have appeared in the NBA since then.
The market shifted a little in 2017, as five players picked up their player options, and several other players perhaps should have. Dante Cunningham, Rudy Gay, Aron Baynes, and Nick Young are among the players earning less this season than they would have if they’d exercised their options, and David Lee opted out of his deal only to announce his retirement a few months later.
The NBA’s salary cap continues to increase, but it’s no longer jumping at nearly the same rate it was in 2016, which means veterans holding player options for 2018 may be less inclined to explore the market — there simply aren’t as many teams willing to throw money around.
A look at the list of player options for 2018/19 reveals several options that will likely be picked up. For instance, Wesley Matthews ($18.6MM), Darrell Arthur ($7.5MM), Wesley Johnson ($6.1MM), Jason Smith ($5.5MM), and Ron Baker ($4.5MM) are unlikely to find offers on the open market that are more lucrative than their option salaries. Of course, there are also still plenty of options that will be quickly declined — the odds of Paul George exercising his $20.7MM player option are slim.
Somewhere in between those two extremes, there are several 2018/19 player option decisions that remain unclear. These players may be leaning one way or the other right now, but the decision isn’t so obvious that it should be considered a lock quite yet. Here are five of those player option decisions worth keeping an eye on this season:
Carmelo Anthony, Thunder ($27,928,140): The Thunder’s new-look roster has been dubbed a one-year experiment, but even if things go south in Oklahoma City this season, there’s little reason not to expect two of the team’s “Big Three” players back next year. Russell Westbrook is on a long-term extension, and Anthony’s $27.9MM option is probably too lucrative to pass up, considering he’s 33 years old and is seeing his production decline. If the season goes really poorly for the Thunder, maybe Anthony opts out just to get a change of scenery, but at this point, I’d count on him opting in.- Jeremy Lin, Nets ($12,516,746): After an injury-plagued 2016/17 season in which he appeared in just 36 contests, Lin had high hopes for the 2017/18 campaign. However, he didn’t even make it through a single game this year, rupturing his patellar tendon in the Nets’ opener. When Lin is healthy, he’s a dynamic point guard who could command a solid long-term deal. But he’ll be 30 next summer and will be coming off a major injury. It might make sense to just play it safe and opt in for one more year in Brooklyn.
- Wilson Chandler, Nuggets ($12,800,562): Chandler has been a Nugget since 2011, making him the team’s longest-tenured player, but it has been a bumpy ride at times. Although Chandler has averaged between 30.9 and 31.7 minutes per contest in every season since 2013/14, he hasn’t always been happy with his role over the years, with a report back in February suggesting he was hoping for a trade. Chandler has struggled this season, and his three-point efficiency has been on the decline, but if he can bounce back, he’d be an appealing free agent target for teams in need of a wing with some size or a small-ball power forward. He probably wouldn’t earn more than $12.8MM per year, but he should be able to exceed that figure in terms of total salary.
- Cory Joseph, Pacers ($7,945,000): Long regarded as one of the NBA’s top backup point guards, Joseph’s numbers in Toronto and now Indiana have been fairly modest. Still, it might make sense for him to pass up an $8MM salary in search of a larger payday and perhaps a chance to earn a slightly larger role. An improved outside shot figures to make Joseph more appealing to potential suitors — in his first five NBA seasons, he made just 29.4% of his three-point attempts, but he has increased that mark to 38.5% since the start of the 2016/17 season.
- Enes Kanter, Knicks ($18,622,514): Kanter’s option decision was considered so obvious that his probable opt-in was reported back in August, with his decision deadline still 10 months away. Has his strong play in New York changed that? Probably not. Despite averaging a double-double with 13.8 PPG and 10.6 RPG so far, Kanter remains an average defender at best, and big men who don’t either protect the rim or shoot three-pointers have limited upside in free agency. Although the future for Kanter looks brighter than it did a few months ago, it’s still hard to imagine him turning down an $18.6MM salary for next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Pacers have recalled 2017 second-round pick Ike Anigbogu from the G League, according to a press release from the club. The rookie center started two games during his assignment, averaging 12.0 PPG and 7.5 RPG for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in those games.
It’s been eight games since Myles Turner returned to action for the Pacers after suffering a concussion in the team’s season opener. The big man, Clifton Brown of the Indianapolis Star writes, has been struggling to find his groove ever since.
The third-year center has failed to top the 13-point plateau in each of the past five games and he hasn’t cracked double-digits in rebounds either. Last season, in contrast, the 21-year-old averaged 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Pacers, setting the stage for a significant step forward in the first season without Paul George in the lineup.
“Sometimes when you miss games, it sets you back and you lose your rhythm,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “He had some shots that he’s very capable of making. I told him, ‘Don’t get down on yourself. Keep shooting the ball. That rhythm will come for you.'”
Here are today’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Pacers sent center Ike Anigbogu to their Fort Wayne affiliate, the team announced on its website. A second-round pick in June, Anigbogu has seen limited playing time in Indiana, amassing 17 minutes in six games.
- The Thunder recalled guard Terrance Ferguson, who was sent to Oklahoma City Blue on Tuesday. Ferguson turned in a 24-point performance for the G League team.
- The Hawks assigned swingman Nicolas Brussino and center Miles Plumlee to their Erie affiliate. Brussino has appeared in four games for Atlanta, while Plumlee has yet to play because of a strained right quad.