Expired Trade Exceptions
There were a great deal of trade exceptions obtained in the days leading up to last season's February 24th trade deadline and with a full year gone by they have expired. In certain trade scenarios, a team can acquire a traded player exception, which is worth a specific amount of money and can be used at any time over the next year.
For a more detailed refresher on how trade exceptions work, check out our glossary of salary cap exceptions and Larry Coon's CBA FAQ. Here's a look at the exceptions that expired this week..
Feb. 22nd
- Nuggets: $4,640,536 (Carmelo Anthony), $1,675,000 (Renaldo Balkman), $854,389 (Shelden Williams)
Feb. 23rd
- Hawks: $1,042,320 (Jordan Crawford)
- Hornets: $762,195 (Marcus Thornton)
- Jazz: $1,815,873 (Deron Williams)
Feb. 24th
- Bobcats: $1,486,330 (Gerald Wallace)*
- Celtics: $473,604 (Semih Erden), $473,604 (Luke Harangody)
*Charlotte used roughly $1.28MM of this trade exception plus a 2013 second-round pick to acquire center Byron Mullens from the Thunder in December.
Odds & Ends: Celtics, Gasol, Hornets
After two furious months of nights packed with basketball, the first evening of the All-Star break has given the league a chance to exhale. As usual, the celebrity game provided comic relief, and Kyrie Irving's MVP performance in the Rising Stars game provided the only mildly competitive action of the night. Here's what's up as the All-Star rumor mill gets going:
- Celtics team president Danny Ainge, who earlier this year left the door open to a major shakeup in Boston, will "only do things that help us in the long-term," he told Paul Flannery of Sportsradio WEEI. He said he won't make a trade before the March 15th deadline just to bring about change, according to the report. Elrod Enchilada of RealGM outlines a plan for if Ainge does decide to break up the team.
- The Lakers would seek significant return for Pau Gasol, and nothing appears in the works, tweets Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.
- Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com rounds up the latest on possible buyers for the Hornets. The group that appears to have the inside track is led by Los Angeles businessman Raj Bhathal and includes former NBA player, coach and executive Mike Dunleavy as well as Larry J. Benson, brother of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson.
- Tyler Zeller of North Carolina is currently the only college senior projected by NBADraft.net to be a lottery pick this year, but Pacers All-Star Roy Hibbert demonstrates why teams shouldn't overlook four-year college players, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet.
- Jason Kidd, who will be a 39-year-old free agent at season's end, is already seeing the least playing time of his career, averaging 28.3 MPG. Dirk Nowitzki tells Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he doubts Kidd will play in every game during a stretch of nine games in 12 days for the Mavs after the All-Star break.
- Mavs guard Delonte West will be out on the market again this summer after signing a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum with Dallas before the season. In a piece by Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News examining West's ups and downs, including his struggle with mental illness, he admits he's been affected by unsubstantiated rumors that he had an affair with LeBron James' mother two years ago. West again denies the claims.
- Ryan Anderson, a restricted free agent this summer, was overshadowed in the Vince Carter trade three years ago, is overlooked as Orlando talk centers around Dwight Howard, and is overmatched in the race for Most Improved Player against Jeremy Lin. Still, he continues his sterling play for the Magic this season, writes Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star wonders whether the lockout achieved its purpose, as players are still using their leverage to get to large markets, a culture of haves and have-nots persists, and two franchises remain in flux.
Prospective Buyer Emerges For Hornets
Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune reports that a California-based businessman named Raj Bhathal is heading up a new ownership group that is expected to make a strong push to purchase the New Orleans Hornets. The 72-year-old Bhathal founded a swimwear manufacturing company in 1972 and previously owned a franchise in the now-defunct World League of American Football.
Bhathal's group has some local ties in the form of partner Larry J. Benson, another former WLAF owner whose brother, Tom, owns the Saints. Former NBA coach and executive Mike Dunleavy is also in the group.
The NBA, which currently owns the Hornets, has expressed a strong desire for the team to remain in New Orleans, and would require any prospective buyer to sign a 10-year lease extension to stay through 2024.
NBA commissioner David Stern said earlier this week that he believes a deal to buy the Hornets will be in place in the next couple of weeks.
Odds & Ends: Howard, Knicks, Kaman, Przybilla
In an action-packed Wednesday night of basketball, the Thunder and Knicks have stolen the show so far with impressive victories over quality opponents. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook led the Thunder to 72 points in the first half as the squad held on to beat the Celtics 119-104 in a box score seemingly from a different era. Let's take a look around the league to see what else happened on a night where Kevin Love and the Timberwolves climbed to .500 on the season:
- In what was potentially a preview of things to come, Magic center Dwight Howard did not disappoint the Nets faithful with his 20-point and 17-rebound performance Wednesday night in Newark. Jake Appleman of The New York Times says the Nets organization gave Howard a special welcome by displaying new signage promoting their Brooklyn arena and shooting off fireworks prior to the start of the game. When asked about playing for the Nets, Howard said he was humbled by the way the crowd of over 15,000 received him, reports Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
- The Knicks are a team bound to benefit from the All-Star break, writes Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday. Having only played two games together as a team with the current roster, the Knicks will utilize their time to schedule five practices with hopes of better acclimating players like J.R. Smith to the offensive scheme.
- Hornets center Chris Kaman continues to add to his trade value as he scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Wednesday's 89-84 victory over the Cavaliers. Over the last five games, Kaman is averaging 16.0 PPG and 8.2 RPG and has notched two double-doubles. Thanks to Kaman's strong play, the Hornets have won four of their last six games after starting the season 4-23.
- Jason Quick of The Oregonian tweets free-agent center Joel Przybilla said he was thinking with his heart when he decided to sign with Trail Blazers instead of the Heat.
Odds & Ends: Gordon, Chandler, Celtics, Martin
As we look forward to a busy evening schedule highlighted by Hawks/Knicks and Mavericks/Lakers matchups, here are a few Wednesday links that we haven't covered elsewhere:
- Asked about the possibility of signing with his hometown Pacers as a restricted free agent this summer, Eric Gordon sounded intrigued by the possibility, as Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star writes. "Coming back here would be a lot of pressure," Gordon said. "But I think it would be good for the fans. We'll see. You never know where this summer will take me."
- Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post is curious to see how much money and how many years the Nuggets will offer Wilson Chandler, who may not be a future starter for the team. The Raptors' interest in Chandler may have an impact on his negotiations with Denver as well.
- Injuries could force the Celtics to sign or trade for a big man, says A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
- Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld explores what the future holds for Kevin Martin, who doesn't appreciate the way the Rockets are handling his contract situation, according to Ingram.
- If the Heat sign Mickell Gladness to a second 10-day contract, it will likely happen after the All-Star break, tweets Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida. With Joel Przybilla headed to Portland, I'd be surprised if Miami didn't re-sign Gladness, whose first 10-day deal just expired.
David Stern Talks Hornets, Chris Paul, Kings
NBA commissioner David Stern sat down with TNT's David Aldridge for an interview that touched upon the state of some of the league's franchises, free agency, Stern's future, and much more. It's worth watching the whole conversation at NBA.com, but here are a few of the highlights:
- The list of prospective buyers for the Hornets has been narrowed to two, with "one in the lead." Stern hopes to finalize a deal within the next couple weeks.
- An agreement with the state of Louisiana on the team and arena is close, and Stern says he expects to get a "very fair" contribution from the state on the lease, which won't have an out clause.
- Stern defended his preseason decision on Chris Paul by explaining that he was acting as the Hornets owner rather than as the NBA commissioner when he decided not to sign off on the trade that would've sent Paul to the Lakers. He says he'll continue to operate in the same way until a new owner is in place.
- The Kings have agreed to put money toward the financing plan for Sacramento's new arena, though Stern didn't specify how much. He added that any contribution by AEG, the probable arena operator, would be seen as a team contribution as well.
Hornets Re-Sign Donald Sloan
The Hornets have re-signed Donald Sloan to a second 10-day contract, the team announced. The contract became official on Monday, so the Hornets will have to sign Sloan for the rest of the season if they want to hang onto him past March 1st.
Sloan, 24, has not played in the team's last three games, and a good chunk of this 10-day deal will be consumed by the All-Star break. After playing the Cavs in Cleveland tonight, the Hornets won't see action again until next Tuesday in Chicago.
John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune first reported that the Hornets were expected to re-sign Sloan.
Southwest Notes: Anderson, Odom, Hornets
If the NBA season ended today, the Southwest would be the only division to send four teams to the postseason. Only the Hornets would fall short, with the Spurs, Mavericks, Rockets, and Grizzlies already a combined 31 games over .500 (81-50). Let's check in on the latest updates from one of the league's strongest divisions….
- James Anderson's agent has encouraged the Spurs to trade his client, reports Buck Harvey of the San Antonio-Express News (via Twitter). The 22-year-old has appeared in 49 career games (11.2 MPG) for the Spurs since San Antonio drafted him 20th overall in 2010. While Anderson may not be receiving as much playing time as he'd like, it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to leave a team on an 11-game winning streak.
- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle says expectations for Lamar Odom should be kept in check, writes Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas. "I would love for Lamar to be the kind of high-impact player that he is supposedly advertised as being," Carlisle said. "But the truth is, he has been a consistent player…. I think we’re really looking for spectacular things from him on a night-in, night-out basis; that’s not who he is." Odom's 9.8 PER since joining the Mavs in a preseason trade is a significant drop-off from his career rate entering the year (17.1).
- The Hornets are going through some growing pains, but GM Dell Demps tells John DeShazier of the Times-Picayune that he's happy to see some of the team's young players get an opportunity to play.
Kyler On Rose, Gasol, Martin, Gordon
As we covered this morning, Steve Kyler shared a few Dwight Howard rumors in his NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld. Here's the latest from Kyler on a few more topics:
- Bulls sources vehemently denied having contact with the Lakers regarding Pau Gasol, and said Chris Sheridan's report about Derrick Rose giving his blessing for the Bulls to pursue Gasol didn't originate from Rose. Kyler himself is skeptical about the rumor, noting that it would be out of character for Rose, who has avoided recruiting players.
- Replying to a question about the Rockets trading Kevin Martin, perhaps to the Timberwolves, Kyler tweets that there is "real interest." It's unclear whether he's referring to the Rockets being interested in dealing Martin or the T-Wolves being interested in acquiring him, but you could make an argument that both teams would be motivated to pursue such a deal.
- The Hornets are open to moving Eric Gordon, but only if he could bring back a "legit star," tweets Kyler.
Hornets Expected To Re-Sign Donald Sloan
The Hornets are expected to re-sign Donald Sloan to a second 10-day contract, reports John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (via Twitter). New Orleans initially signed Sloan on February 8th, so his contract expired over the weekend.
In three games for the Hornets, Sloan averaged 4.0 PPG and 2.7 APG in 14 MPG. Earlier this season, the 24-year-old appeared in five games for the Hawks before being released.