- Thomas Robinson received a non-guaranteed, one-year summer contract from the Lakers, Pincus tweets. Robinson’s non-guaranteed $1,050,961 salary is the same figure he would have been guaranteed if he’d exercised his player option with the Nets back in June.
- Pincus passes along another Lakers contract note, tweeting that Tarik Black‘s new deal includes a 10% trade kicker.
3:01pm: The Lakers have officially signed Robinson, the team announced in a press release.
2:04pm: Robinson will get a non-guaranteed deal from the Lakers, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
1:57pm: The Lakers have added another free agent forward to their roster, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports that the team has reached a deal with Thomas Robinson. With Robinson and Metta World Peace now in the mix, Los Angeles has reached the 20-man offseason roster limit.
The fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft, Robinson hasn’t lived up to his billing as a top prospect since entering the NBA, averaging just 4.9 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 265 career appearances. However, he flashed some promise down the stretch last season in a very small sample for the Nets — in his final seven games (six starts), Robinson averaged a double-double, with 13.4 PPG and 11.4 RPG.
After opting out of his contract with the Nets in June, Robinson was linked to several teams during his free agency, including the Mavericks, Wolves, Pelicans, Spurs, Pacers, Suns, and Hawks. In the end, none of those teams opted to take a flier on the former Kansas standout, leaving the door open for the Lakers to bring him to camp.
With 14 players on guaranteed salaries and Yi Jianlian also expected to make the team, the Lakers don’t have any obvious openings on their roster. However, Nick Young is considered a release candidate, and it’s possible preseason performances could affect the Lakers’ roster decisions.
Robinson will join World Peace, Travis Wear, Julian Jacobs, and Zach Auguste as the five Lakers’ camp invitees on the outside looking in, hoping to impress coaches and earn a 15-man roster spot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Lakers made some significant investments this offseason in adding veterans Timofey Mozgov (four years, $64MM) and Luol Deng (four years, $72MM) to the roster. Kurt Helin of NBC.com takes a stab at predicting whether or not L.A. will get its money’s worth out of the duo or if the contracts will hamper the franchise’s rebuilding efforts.
Yi Jianlian will return to the NBA this season for the first time since the 2011/12 campaign, and while his one-year contract with the Lakers is mostly non-guaranteed and packed with incentives, the fact that it can be worth up to $8MM suggests the team believes the Chinese forward can be productive. For his part, Yi says he’s not worried about re-adjusting to the NBA after spending the last several seasons in China.
“I think I’ll have no problem with that,” Yi said, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. “I can do it.”
Of course, given Yi’s history, one could argue that it won’t be a matter of re-adjusting to the NBA — it’ll be a matter of simply adjusting, since his first stint stateside didn’t go all that well. After being selected sixth overall in the 2007 draft, the seven-footer played for four NBA teams in five seasons, averaging 7.9 PPG and 4.9 RPG with a shooting line of .404/.333/.780 in 272 career contests.
Still, Yi did show flashes of promise during his time in the NBA, averaging 12.0 PPG and 7.9 RPG with a .366 3PT% in 2009/10 for the Nets. As Holmes details, the 28-year-old believes that all of the experience he has gained playing in China for the last few seasons – and for the Chinese Olympic team – has helped him get stronger and more confident.
Yi will also face less pressure this time around, as a complementary veteran on a rebuilding club, rather than a top-10 pick viewed as the future of a franchise. According to Holmes, Yi viewed the timing as right for an NBA return, and said that joining the Lakers is a “good opportunity” for him.
Brian Keefe, the Lakers‘ new player development coach, has experience with young rosters, having been a member of the Sonics staff beginning the year Kevin Durant was drafted, Joey Ramirez of NBA.com writes in his profile of the coach. Keefe understands there will be growing pains for L.A.’s young roster, but he believes in the end that the team will reap the rewards, Ramirez adds. “We started off a little slow, didn’t have a lot of success right away,” Keefe said of his time with the Sonics/Thunder. “Those guys kind of created an organization, because it was really a new organization when it went to Oklahoma City. They really put an imprint on the whole thing. … Obviously it was an unbelievable experience. We had a lot of success, a lot of deep playoff runs.”
- The crew over at Basketball Insiders weighed in on Lakers‘ chances this season, with the majority of the writers predicting the franchise would finish last in the Pacific Division in 2016/17.
The 2017 NBA draft is still more than nine months away, but with the start of the regular season fast approaching, it’s worth taking stock of how this season’s results will affect next year’s draft. Depending on how certain teams perform during the 2016/17 campaign, other clubs will have the opportunity to pick up an extra first-round selection, or to swap first-rounders with those teams.
There’s a good chance that a few more 2017 first-round selections will change hands before the 2017 trade deadline, or on draft night next June, but many picks have already been included in trades. Five teams currently have the opportunity to grab an extra first-rounder in 2017, while two other teams could have the chance to move up in the first round by swapping picks with another club.
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the first-round picks that could (or will) change hands. For each selection, we make a note of which team is sending and receiving it, the protection on the pick, and what will happen if the protection language prevents the pick from being conveyed. For instance, the Bulls are on track to receive the Kings’ first-round pick, but only if it falls outside the top 10. If Sacramento’s pick is a top-10 selection, the Bulls will instead receive the Kings’ second-rounder.
Here’s a breakdown of the traded first-round picks for 2017:
Traded first-round picks:
Brooklyn Nets
- From: Washington Wizards
- Protection: 1-14
- If not conveyed: Nets will have chance to get Wizards’ 2018 first-rounder (protected 1-14).
Chicago Bulls
- From: Sacramento Kings
- Protection: 1-10
- If not conveyed: Bulls will instead receive Kings’ second-round pick (protected 56-60).
Los Angeles Lakers
- From: Houston Rockets
- Protection: None
Orlando Magic
- From: Los Angeles Clippers or Toronto Raptors (less favorable)
- Protection: 1-14 (Clippers pick)
- If not conveyed: In the unlikely event that the Clippers’ pick gets protected and the Magic receive Toronto’s pick, the Raptors would have a chance to get the Clippers’ 2018 first-rounder (protected 1-14).
Philadelphia 76ers
- From: Dallas Mavericks
- Protection: 1-18
- If not conveyed: Sixers will instead Mavericks’ 2017 second-rounder (protected 56-60) and Mavericks’ 2018 second-rounder (protected 56-60).
Philadelphia 76ers
- From: Los Angeles Lakers
- Protection: 1-3
- If not conveyed: Sixers will get Lakers’ 2018 first-rounder (unprotected).
Portland Trail Blazers
- From: Cleveland Cavaliers
- Protection: None
Portland Trail Blazers
- From: Memphis Grizzlies
- Protection: 1-5
- If not conveyed: Trail Blazers will have chance to get Grizzlies’ 2018 first-rounder (protected 1-5).
Sacramento Kings
- From: New Orleans Pelicans
- Protection: 1-3
- If not conveyed: Kings will have chance to get Pelicans’ 2018 first-rounder (protected only for No. 1 pick).
Utah Jazz
- From: Golden State Warriors
- Protection: None
Pick swaps are rarer than simple pick trades, but they’re often included in deals to get around the fact that teams can’t trade consecutive future first-round picks. For instance, in the Nets/Celtics blockbuster that saw Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett land in Brooklyn, Boston received the Nets’ 2014, 2016, and 2018 first-rounders, plus first-round swap rights in 2017. The Nets couldn’t leave themselves without first-round picks in back-to-back future seasons, so giving the Celtics the right to swap selections ensured that the Nets would still have a 2017 first-rounder — either their own or Boston’s.
That pick swap is one of two that could be in play this season. Here they are:
Potential first-round pick swaps:
Boston Celtics
- Can swap with: Brooklyn Nets
- Protection: None
- If Celtics choose to swap, they’d owe Nets their second-round pick (protected 31-45).
Philadelphia 76ers
- Can swap with: Sacramento Kings
- Protection: 11-30 (can only swap if Kings’ pick falls in top 10)
- If Kings’ pick falls between 11-30, their obligation to Sixers is extinguished.
RealGM’s database of future traded pick details was used in the creation of this post.
- The Lakers have officially named Coby Karl, who is the son of longtime NBA coach George Karl, as the coach of the L.A. D-Fenders, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. “We are excited to welcome Coby back to the D-Fenders family as our new head coach,” D-Fenders executive Joey Buss said. “His extensive experience as both a player and coach in this league is something we’re very happy to bring to the organization as we look to build on a season of success.”
- Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t see the Lakers becoming playoff contenders any time soon, he told Bill Oram of the Orange County Register and other reporters during Hall of Fame weekend. “I mean, they’ve still got to go up against Golden State in the West, they’ve got to go up against OKC, still got to go up against Cleveland, the Rockets. So they have a long way to go to be a contender,” O’Neal said. “Every now and then they’ll make some noise and get the people in the Staples Center excited.”
While NBA teams are limited to carrying 15 players on their regular-season rosters (with a few exceptions), roster limits expand to 20 players during the offseason. The five extra roster slots allow clubs to bring in veterans hopeful of earning a place on the regular-season roster, or young players who may eventually be ticketed for D-League assignments.
Most teams will fill up their 20-man rosters for training camp, but at this point in the NBA offseason, it can be difficult to determine which clubs still have room on their rosters. Many potential camp invitees have reportedly reached agreements with teams, but those signings haven’t yet been officially announced.
By our count, there are currently just two team at the 20-man offseason roster limit. One is the 76ers, who were at the 20-man limit for much of the offseason before waiving Carl Landry and Tibor Pleiss. Since then, they’ve added Elton Brand and Cat Barber, though it appears only 11 of the club’s 20 players have fully guaranteed salaries for 2016/17.
Meanwhile, on their official website, the Nuggets list 14 players who have guaranteed contracts, plus Axel Toupane, JaKarr Sampson, and D.J. Kennedy, who are on non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deals. In addition to those 17 players, the team has also reportedly reached agreements with Nate Wolters, Robbie Hummel, and Jarnell Stokes, bringing Denver’s total roster count to 20.
Still, not all of Denver’s signings are official, and even once they are, the Nuggets could easily make room for another player by cutting a non-guaranteed salary from their books. The same can be said for Philadelphia. While their rosters may technically be “full,” it’s not as if the Nuggets and the Sixers don’t have the flexibility to replace a camp invitee with a veteran free agent, if they so choose.
A more productive way of determining which teams’ rosters are “full” at this point in the offseason might be to examine the number of guaranteed salaries on their books. The deadline for teams to stretch the 2016/17 salary of a waived player is now behind us, so any team that cuts a player with a guaranteed salary won’t be able to reduce that cap hit unless the player agrees to a buyout. Most teams are reluctant to add much dead money to their cap with such a move, so if a club has 15 guaranteed contracts on its cap, we can assume its regular-season roster is fairly set, barring a trade or a surprise cut.
Here are the NBA teams that currently have 15 (or more) guaranteed salaries on their roster:
The Clippers have hired Paul Hewitt as a scout, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Hewitt previously was a head coach in the collegiate ranks, manning the sidelines at Siena, Georgia Tech and George Mason.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers are embarking on a rebuild, something the franchise doesn’t undergo often, and if the team’s young talent can take steps in the right direction, it will likely help Los Angeles draw big time free agents next summer, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes in a piece that previews the team’s 2016/17 season. Powell adds that the Lakers brought in veterans, like Luol Deng, in part to mentor their young talent.
- Rudy Gay will likely leave the Kings either via trade this season or in free agency next year, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes. Gay holds a player option worth slightly more than $14.26MM for the 2017/18 campaign and Kyler believes the forward turns it down in search of a long-term deal.