The pairing of Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo in the Pelicans’ backcourt should work out quite well and could turn New Orleans into a spoiler during the Western Conference playoffs next season, Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders argues. Holiday has never been hesitant to shoot and he’ll find plenty of good looks at shooting guard with defenses focusing on Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, Davies continues. Davies notes that Rondo has led the league in assists three times and is an underrated 3-point shooter and rebounder for his position who can also contribute defensively by making steals. A quality season would also help convince Cousins, who becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season, to stay put, Davies adds.
Anthony Davis hears the rumors about his potential departure from the Pelicans. Boston keeps coming up as a destination for Davis should things not work out in New Orleans, but the big man isn’t giving much thought to the noise, as William Guillory of The Times-Picayune relays.
“I understand it’s a business, but if I don’t hear anything from [GM Dell Demps] or my agent, I don’t pay attention to it,” said Davis. “Once I first heard [the rumors], then I heard it again, then I heard it again, I just wanted to make sure. I found out it wasn’t [true], and that was the beginning of the summer, so I haven’t paid attention to it since.”
Davis reiterated that he wants to remain in New Orleans. “I am happy here as a Pelican,” he said. “I am happy here.”
Demps spoke with Davis earlier in the offseason and assured the big man that he isn’t going anywhere. The 24-year-old has spent his entire five-year career in the Big Easy but was only able to make a trip to the playoffs one time. He sees that changing soon despite several analysts projecting the Pelicans to end up in the lottery.
“I don’t really care what anybody says. We know what we’re doing,” Davis said. “Especially having an entire training camp with me, DeMarcus and [Jrue Holiday] and [Rajon Rondo]…We feel like we have a shot against anybody, that’s our mindset coming in. We’re not worrying about all the white noise and what other people are saying.”
Davis added that simply making the playoffs is not the lone goal.
“We definitely believe we have enough pieces on paper to make the playoffs,” he said. “Not just make it, but actually, make a run in the playoffs.”
A report last month indicated that New Orleans would be willing to help facilitate a multi-team Carmelo Anthony trade, but the Pelicans are also eyeing Anthony themselves, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who suggests that the team has expressed interest in the Knicks forward.
The Pelicans would want to keep their core of Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Jrue Holiday intact if they were to pursue Anthony, so putting together a viable package for Carmelo would be challenging. Even if the club is able to entice the Knicks with a competitive offer, a deal probably isn’t in the cards. According to Berman, Anthony has told the Knicks that he’s not interested in waiving his no-trade clause to go to New Orleans.
Anthony has plenty of leverage in any negotiations because of that no-trade clause, which has limited the Knicks’ options. As Berman notes, New York is holding out hope that the All-Star forward will expand his list of preferred destinations, with teams like the Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, and Thunder believed to have conveyed some interest. At this point, Anthony is focused on the Rockets, and appears unwilling to accept a deal anywhere else.
Although the Rockets and Anthony have mutual interest, Houston has yet to make an offer appealing enough to intrigue the Knicks, who don’t want to take on Ryan Anderson‘s contract. According to Berman, the Knicks has told Anthony they’re unwilling to make a “bad trade,” encouraging him to expand his wish list to give the club more options. Carmelo seems to understand the team’s stance, a source tells Berman.
While a deal that sends Anthony to the Pelicans appears unlikely, Berman’s report confirms that the team is making an effort to act on Cousins’ recruiting efforts. The star big man said last week that he had reached out to “some of the biggest names that are on the block right now,” which was likely a reference to a pair of his former USA Basketball teammates, Anthony and Kyrie Irving.
The Nets will be involved in both games in Mexico City next season, the NBA announced today on its website. Brooklyn will face the Thunder on December 7th, followed by the Heat on December 9th at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico. The games will be the 25th and 26th in the country, more than other other nation besides the United States and Canada. “They will also mark the 25th anniversary of our first game in Mexico City, a milestone in our relationship with our Mexican fans and a further indication of our desire to strengthen our ties to Mexico and Latin America,” said commissioner Adam Silver.
There’s more news from around the league:
- The NBA has sent a memo to all its teams explaining the changes in next season’s schedule, relays Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The season will start a week earlier, giving teams more days off with the goal of eliminating the practice of healthy players being rested. The new schedule also cuts out stretches of four games in five days and reduces the number of single-game road trips, among other improvements.
- Spanish guard Sergio Llull, whose rights are owned by the Rockets, suffered an ACL injury today that will force him to miss EuroBasket and Euroleague for his Real Madrid team, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Llull sent out a tweet thanking his fans and promising that he will return to action. Houston purchased Llull’s rights from Denver in 2009, but has been unable to convince the 29-year-old to leave Spain.
- Hollis Thompson, who spent time with the Sixers and Pelicans last season, is in “advanced negotiations” with Olympiacos in Greece, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Thompson began the season with Philadelphia and played 31 games before being waived in early January. He signed a pair of 10-day contracts with New Orleans in February and March, appearing in nine games, but wasn’t retained when the second deal expired.
In the days and weeks leading up to free agency, Chris Paul was frequently linked to the Spurs, who were viewed as the most likely landing spot for the star point guard if he left the Clippers. However, the Rockets were the team that swooped in before the free agent period even began to acquire Paul, sending seven players and a draft pick to L.A. in the deal that landed CP3 in Houston.
The Rockets‘ trade for Paul – along with the signing of P.J. Tucker – makes them an obvious pick for the Southwest team that had the best offseason, but the price for CP3 was steep, considering he was about to become an unrestricted free agent. Sixth Man of the Year finalist Lou Williams and All-Defensive First-Teamer Patrick Beverley were among the outgoing pieces in that deal, along with young big men Montrezl Harrell and Sam Dekker. Still, while the Rockets’ depth – particularly in the backcourt – may have taken a hit, pairing Paul with James Harden should make it worthwhile.
As for the Spurs, they ended up not clearing out cap room for a marquee outside free agent, opting instead to re-sign several of their own FAs, including Patty Mills, Pau Gasol, and Manu Ginobili. The club also made use of its exceptions to add Rudy Gay and Joffrey Lauvergne, though Jonathon Simmons and Dewayne Dedmon left for new teams.
Elsewhere in the division, the Pelicans entered the offseason virtually capped out, but made several interesting moves, including re-signing Jrue Holiday and adding Rajon Rondo, Ian Clark, and Frank Jackson to their backcourt.
While the Grizzlies didn’t make major changes to their core, several veterans moved on, with Zach Randolph and Vince Carter heading to Sacramento. Tony Allen – who is still on the open market – also appears unlikely to remain in Memphis. Restricted free agent JaMychal Green is a better bet to re-sign, and if he does, he’ll join new additions like Ben McLemore, Tyreke Evans, and Rade Zagorac.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks sat out of free agency for the first time in several years. However, despite the lack of big splashes, Dallas’ offseason looks like a successful one — the team managed to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki to a very modest contract, landed a very promising rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr., and don’t appear to have major competition for RFA Nerlens Noel, which should make him a little more affordable than anticipated.
What do you think? Which Southwest team had the best offseason? Does the Rockets’ acquisition of Paul instantly give them the edge, or did another team’s summer moves impress you more?
Vote below, and jump into the comment section to share your thoughts!
Which Southwest team has had the best offseason?
Houston Rockets
69.00%
(790 votes)
San Antonio Spurs
10.74%
(123 votes)
Dallas Mavericks
10.04%
(115 votes)
New Orleans Pelicans
8.21%
(94 votes)
Memphis Grizzlies
2.01%
(23 votes)
Total Votes: 1,145
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Previously:
- Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins has expressed on his Twitter feed that he wants the team to trade for Carmelo Anthony, Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype notes. They are teammates on Team USA and Cousins has previously stated his admiraion for the aging Knicks forward. Anthony would have to waive his no-trade clause to join Cousins in New Orleans and the Knicks would either have to agree to a package of role players or get a third team involved to make that happen.
- Jalen Jones‘ two-way contract with the Pelicans is a two-year deal, a league source informed Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter link). The former Texas A&M forward went undrafted in 2016 and played for the Celtics’ G League’s affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, where he averaged 21.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG. Jones impressed the Pelicans while playing for their summer league team, posting averages of 13.3 PPG and 6.2 RPG in six games.
The NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement is designed to give teams certain benefits when it comes to re-signing their own free agents. Many players who reach free agency, for instance, are permitted to get 8% annual raises from their own teams, while they can only get 5% raises from another team. More notably, Bird rights free agents can sign five-year contracts with their own teams, but can only go up to four years with other clubs.
In some cases, that extra year doesn’t make much of a difference. For instance, Gordon Hayward left Utah for Boston and signed a four-year contract with the Celtics, even though the Jazz likely would have been willing to do a five-year max.
Still, for at least a small handful of players, that five-year contract may have played a part in their decisions to return to their own teams. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, three free agents signed five-year deals this year, and all three of those contracts were worth at least $131MM. One was a maximum salary pact, and another was very close to the max.
Here are those five-year contracts, which will run through the 2021/22 season:
- Stephen Curry (Warriors): Five years, $201,158,790 (maximum salary)
- Blake Griffin (Clippers): Five years, $171,174,820 (fifth-year player option)
- Jrue Holiday (Pelicans): Five years, $131,100,000 (fifth-year player option)
Curry was never a threat to leave Golden State, but Griffin and Holiday reportedly drew interest from several other teams. The Suns were believed to be eyeing Griffin, while Holiday was said to have received interest from the Mavericks, Knicks, and others. However, the fact that those players’ old teams were willing to offer five years likely made negotiations much simpler, since no rival suitor could offer that fifth year.
Although neither Griffin nor Holiday received the max from their respective teams, they’ll both earn more money over five years than any other team could have offered over four — Holiday’s deal is believed to include unlikely incentives that could increase its total value to $150MM.
Meanwhile, Griffin and Holiday also received fifth-year player options, which gives them a safety net for the summer of 2021. If they’re still playing at a high level at that point, it might make sense to opt out and sign a new, longer-term contract. If their production has slipped, or if they’re battling injuries, they’ll have the option of remaining in their current contract and collecting a big pay check in that fifth year.
The ability to offer an additional year to their own free agents hasn’t always prevented teams from losing top-tier players on the open market, but there are still a few instances where that fifth year seems to make a difference. In 2017, there may have only been a couple scenarios where that fifth year was a difference-maker, but the Clippers and Pelicans are likely happy that it remained written into the new CBA.
In the wake of 2016’s salary cap spike, the luxury tax line was higher than ever in 2016/17, and only two teams finished the season above it. The Clippers barely crossed over into taxpayer territory, while the Cavaliers blew past that threshold and were on the hook for a big tax bill.
In 2017/18, the salary cap increase was far more modest, and as a result, it appears that several more teams will finish the season as taxpayers, surpassing this year’s $119.266MM tax line. Teams have until the end of the ’17/18 regular season to adjust team salary in an effort to get back under the tax line, but most of those clubs will have little leverage if they try to dump salary, so it won’t be easy to cut costs.
Here’s an early look at the teams likely to finish 2017/18 as taxpayers:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $139.73MM
No team is further over the tax line than the Cavaliers, and Cleveland will also qualify as a repeat taxpayer for the first time this year, making the penalties levied against the franchise more punitive. Currently, the Cavs’ projected tax bill is approaching $70MM, which explains why the team is interested in attaching an extra contract or two to Kyrie Irving in any trade.
Golden State Warriors
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $135.36MM
Last year’s dominant Warriors team actually didn’t have one of the more expensive rosters in the league, but that will change this time around, with several players signing lucrative new deals. The biggest raise belongs to Stephen Curry, who played out the final season of a four-year, $44MM deal in 2016/17, and will now start a five-year, $200MM+ pact.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $125.99MM
Years ago, the Thunder decided to move on from James Harden when he and the team couldn’t agree to terms on an extension that would have created luxury-tax issues for the franchise. Now, Oklahoma City has the third-highest team salary in the NBA, and a projected tax bill that will exceed $10MM.
Portland Trail Blazers
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $124.25MM
The Trail Blazers managed to slash their projected tax bill significantly a couple weeks ago when they sent Allen Crabbe to the Nets for Andrew Nicholson. Assuming they eventually waive and stretch Nicholson’s contract, as expected, the pair of transactions will save the club upwards of $40MM in tax payments alone.
Washington Wizards
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $123.54MM
Going into tax territory was necessary if the Wizards wanted to match Otto Porter‘s offer sheet from the Nets and bring him back. Fortunately for the club, John Wall‘s new super-max extension won’t go into effect until 2019/20 — his current salary is far below the 2017/18 max, which will save the Wizards from paying more exorbitant tax penalties.
Milwaukee Bucks
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $119.38MM
The Bucks currently project to be over the tax threshold by a very small amount, and I’d be surprised if the team doesn’t make every effort to trim payroll and sneak below that line before the season is over. Milwaukee isn’t a big-market team, and the opportunity to be on the receiving end of the luxury tax – rather than the paying end – will be tantalizing.
Outside of the six teams listed above, a handful of other clubs are inching dangerously close to tax territory. Among them: The Clippers, whose estimated guaranteed team salary sits about $100K below the tax threshold; the Pelicans, who are less than $1MM below the tax line; and the Rockets, who only have about $114.75MM in guarantees, but are carrying several million more dollars in non-guaranteed contracts.
Salary information from ESPN, Basketball Insiders, and HeatHoops was used in the creation of this post.
- DeMarcus Cousins believes Rajon Rondo, who signed a one-year deal with Pelicans, can bring leadership to the team, as William Guillory of The Times-Picayune relays. “His [basketball] IQ is through the roof,” Cousins said. “He’s so smart sometimes that it’s actually kind of scary. You might think he’s psychic, it’s kind of freaky. He has leadership qualities, he’s always going to bring out the best in his teammates.”
The Pelicans made two notable signings over the past couple weeks, inking both Rajon Rondo and Ian Clark to one-year contracts. DeMarcus Cousins played a big role in both of those deals, according to coach Alvin Gentry.
“He’s done a phenomenal job this year of helping recruit free agents,” Gentry said of Cousins (via William Guillory of The Times-Picayune). “He’s talked to Rondo, he’s talked to Ian Clark, he’s talked to all of those guys that we’ve been trying to sign and he’s been very active in that.”
Cousins wants the Pelicans to add talent so the team can make the playoffs, something he never accomplished during eight years in Sacramento. He’s been doing his part to help with that process.
“We want to win. We need as much talent and as many pieces as we can get,” Cousins said. “I’ve reached out to everybody. I mean, I don’t want to throw names out there, but some of the biggest names that are on the block right now I’ve reached out to. It’s just about getting better.
“We see where the NBA is going, we need as much help and as much talent as we can get just to match up with the [reigning champion Golden State Warriors]…We’re fully invested in this and we want to win.”
The big man will be a free agent after the 2017/18 season, but his activism within the franchise could be seen as a sign that he’s not planning on going anywhere. It was reported on Wednesday that Cousins may have much at stake during the upcoming campaign.