Mavs Notes: Finney-Smith, Nowitzki, Matthews
Dorian Finney-Smith has been a pleasant surprise for the Mavericks this season, starting 16 games for the team and contributing 21.1 minutes per game. After Monday night’s win over the Nuggets, in which Finney-Smith contributed 13 points and nine boards, Deron Williams suggested that the undrafted rookie is “putting himself in a good position to get a long-term contract next year from somebody” (Twitter link via Earl K. Sneed of Mavericks.com).
Perhaps the veteran point guard was projecting — while Williams’ deal with the Mavs expires next summer, Finney-Smith is under contract with the team for two more non-guaranteed seasons, so Dallas shouldn’t have to worry about losing him to a rival suitor anytime soon.
Here are a few more Mavericks-related notes:
- In a conversation with Chris Mannix (Twitter video link), Bobby Marks of The Vertical discusses the outlook for the Mavs, including addressing whether it might be time for the club to consider trading Dirk Nowitzki.
- Since joining the Mavericks in the summer of 2015, Wesley Matthews hasn’t looked like the same player he was in Portland, but his performance recently suggests he may finally be shedding the effects of his Achilles injury and playing up to his potential, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.
- Speaking of injuries, Nowitzki and J.J. Barea are expected to ramp up their activity this week, but it’s still not clear when they’ll get back on the court for the Mavs, says Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News.
- In a chat for The Morning News, Sefko offered some thoughts on where he’d start if he were tasked with fixing the Mavs, and explored how the team might be able to add a second first-round pick for 2017.
Southwest Notes: Finney-Smith, Randolph, Grizzlies
Dorian Finney-Smith‘s contract with the Mavericks called for the partial guarantee on his minimum salary to increase to $200K if he remained with the team beyond December 5, as our schedule of guarantee dates shows. There has been no word about that deadline changing, and Dallas’ decision-makers are “pretty high” on Finney-Smith, as Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes, so it’s probably safe to assume he received that increased guarantee. The young forward will have his full $543K salary guaranteed if he remains under contract through January 10.
Here’s more from around the NBA’s Southwest division:
- Asked again about the possibility of trading veterans and looking ahead to next season, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the team would probably know its direction within a month or so, but he isn’t ready to discuss it yet, per Sefko. “What’s the point of addressing this now?” Cuban said. “We’ll know when we know and it won’t be a surprise. If we’re not winning games, it’ll be one thing. If we’re winning a bunch of games … we’ll have a different attitude. It just depends on the circumstance.”
- Zach Randolph, who has missed the last seven games following the death of his mother, has returned to the Grizzlies and is expected to suit up for the team tonight against Philadelphia, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.
- Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal provided an injury update for a pair of Grizzlies players on Monday, tweeting that James Ennis and Chandler Parsons will be re-evaluated in a week to 10 days.
- Check out our story from earlier today for the latest details on Donatas Motiejunas‘ situation with the Rockets.
Western Notes: Thompson, Rubio, Finney-Smith
Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson denied a suggestion that his early season struggles were a result of the team’s offseason addition of Kevin Durant, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com relays. “Not at all,” Thompson said when asked if his cold spell had anything to do with Durant. “I struggled last year for the first 20 games, and Kevin wasn’t here. So it has nothing to do with Kevin. So last year I struggled, then I went on a tear, so it’s just like any other season. Obviously we have different players, but I’m still getting the shots I always got before he was here, so it’s not on Kevin at all.” Thompson, who made 42.5% of his three-point shots during the 2015/16 campaign, has shot only 19.6% from beyond the arc through the Warriors’ first six outings.
Here’s more from out West:
- Ricky Rubio, who has missed the Wolves‘ last three contests due to a sprained right elbow, is making steady progress in his recovery, according to coach/executive Tom Thibodeau, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune relays. No timetable has been relayed regarding when the point guard can return to action, Zgoda adds.
- Spurs rookie Dejounte Murray credits much of his success and development to the influence of Clippers veteran Jamal Crawford, who has mentored the rookie for years, writes Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. “It means a lot,” Murray said of Crawford’s assistance. “When you’re successful, a professional athlete, you can help a lot of others. That’s one thing he did, is help me get to where I’m at today. I’m trying to have a long career like he has. He’s 36, he’s played a lot of years. He’s successful, and he’s still climbing in that top 100 scoring list. He’s a great dude.”
- Mavericks rookie Dorian Finney-Smith has been pressed into action due to injuries on the team, but he is quickly earning the trust of the coaching staff with his strong play, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders writes. “Finney-Smith is a more-experienced player in the American game,” coach Rick Carlisle said after Tuesday night’s game. “He’s an excellent defender. We don’t normally do it, but he got the game ball tonight. He was plus-19 when he was on the floor and Milwaukee was only 0.56 points per possession when he was on the floor. Other guys are doing it too, but it’s not a coincidence that the game changed on some level when he was out there.”
Cap Details: Sixers, Heat, Pelicans, Warriors
With regular-season rosters now set, Bobby Marks of The Vertical and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders have been working hard to update details for recent signings, cuts, guarantee dates, and other aspects of the salary cap. Listed below are a few of their latest reports, which we’ve included in our latest updates of our own 2016/17 salary cap snapshots. Let’s dive in…
- Dionte Christmas recently signed a contract with the Sixers that allowed the team to secure his D-League rights. Although he was waived almost immediately after signing that deal, Christmas landed a $50K guarantee from Philadelphia, per Marks and Pincus.
- Filling in the blanks on a summer trade, Pincus tweets that the Heat sent $400K to the Pelicans in the deal that saw Luke Babbitt land in Miami.
- According to both Marks and Pincus, the following players received increased guarantees for surviving preseason roster cuts: Dorian Finney-Smith (Mavericks) now has a $150K guarantee, Rodney McGruder (Heat) has a $300K guarantee, and John Jenkins (Suns) has a fully guaranteed $1.051MM salary.
- Meanwhile, both Marks and Pincus now list Joffrey Lauvergne‘s $1.71MM salary with the Thunder as fully guaranteed. It was previously believed to be partially guaranteed.
- According to Marks, Matt Costello got $31.5K guaranteed from the Grizzlies, Lamar Patterson received a $100K guarantee from the Kings, and JaVale McGee has a $250K partial guarantee from the Warriors. Marks indicates that McGee’s guarantee will increase to $500K if he’s still under contract through December 1.
Mavericks Waive Five Players, Keep Dorian Finney-Smith
5:35pm: The team has indeed waived the five players, Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com confirms (Twitter link).
SATURDAY 5:25pm: The Mavs will waive Jonathan Gibson, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). MacMahon adds that Dallas will opt to give Dorian Finney-Smith its 15th and final roster spot, meaning the team will also waive Kyle Collinsworth, Keith Hornsby, Jaleel Cousins and C.J. Williams.
Gibson’s release is particularly surprising because his minimum salary deal is fully guaranteed for the upcoming year. Dallas also chose to keep Nicolas Brussino, whose contract became guaranteed on Thursday.
Brussino and Finney Smith are both forwards and the Mavericks appear to be looking for upside and versatility in the players they keep at the end of their bench. Gibson, who turns 29 next month, doesn’t fit that profile. He can score the ball, but he has limitations on the defensive end.
Contract Details: Conley, Jefferson, Speights
Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has updated many of the team-by-team salary pages at Basketball Insiders with new information, and while it’s worth checking out the full breakdown for your favorite team, we have a few noteworthy items from the latest series of updates to pass along. Let’s dive in…
- Mike Conley‘s five-year max deal with the Grizzlies includes an early termination option for the fifth year, which essentially functions like a player option. If Conley choose to waive that ETO and opts into the final year of his contract, his $34.5MM salary would be guaranteed for $22.427MM. However, if Conley plays in at least 55 games in either 2018/19 or 2019/20, that salary becomes fully guaranteed.
- The third year of Al Jefferson‘s three-year contract with the Pacers is only partially guaranteed. The team currently owes him $4MM for the 2018/19 season, but if he stays on the roster, he’d earn his full $10MM salary.
- Marreese Speights‘ minimum-salary deal with the Clippers is for two years, not just one. However, Speights has a player option on that second year, so he’ll likely opt out if he has a good year in Los Angeles.
- Deron Williams‘ one-year contract with the Mavericks is actually worth $9MM rather than $10MM on the cap, though he has $1MM in unlikely incentives.
- Dorian Finney-Smith, Jonathan Gibson, and Nicolas Brussino all got nearly-identical three-year, minimum-salary deals from the Mavericks. Gibson is the only one whose first year is fully guaranteed though — Finney-Smith and Brussino will start with just $100K guaranteed apiece.
- When Paul Zipser‘s agent announced his rookie contract with the Bulls, he said it featured two guaranteed years. There’s also a third year on that pact worth the minimum salary that’s not fully guaranteed.
Mavs Sign Dorian Finney-Smith
The Mavericks announced via press release that the team has signed free agent Dorian Finney-Smith. The arrangement is for three years and includes a partial guarantee for the first season, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link).
The 6’8″ forward out of the University of Florida went undrafted this year. Finney-Smith led the Gators in rebounding in all three of his seasons with the team and he led the team in scoring in each of his final two campaigns. Finney-Smith is slated to participate in the Las Vegas Summer League as a part of Dallas’ squad.
Finney-Smith averaged 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 31.8 minutes in 36 games in 2015/16 and was named to the Second Team All-SEC by the conference’s coaches and Third Team All-SEC by the Associated Press, according to the official release. In 134 career collegiate games, he averaged 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game.
And-Ones: Jones, Exum, Smith
Potential first-round pick Damian Jones has undergone surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle, reports Jonathan Givony of The Vertical. Jones suffered the injury while bench pressing in a workout with the Magic. He should be ready to play near the end of training camp for whatever team drafts him.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Dante Exum will not play for the Australian national team in the Olympics this summer, according to the team’s website. Exum was recently cleared for full-contact basketball activity and he is focused on preparing himself for the 2016/17 season with the Jazz.
- Russ Smith, who averaged 27.8 point per game in the D-League this past season, has worked out for the Nuggets, Blazers and Clippers, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders passes along (Twitter link).
- The Raptors will workout Trey Freeman, Fred VanVleet, Malachi Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Tyler Harris and Venk Jois on Sunday, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Southeast Notes: Dragic, Lee, Wizards
The Heat went to a small-ball approach this past season out of necessity to due injuries, but the experiment may continue in 2016/17 in order to better maximize the talents of Goran Dragic, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post writes. “[Coach] Erik [Spoelstra] did a great job putting something together that was very coherent and opened up the floor for our best players,” team executive Pat Riley said. “It’s not a secret that some things did look different after that. How he decides to play next year will be determined by what he sees in October in training camp. When you talk about uptempo basketball … your offense is only as good as what you do at the defensive end. If you want to explode out of there, then you’ve gotta make some stops and rebound the ball.”
Here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Wizards held workouts today for Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Tim Quarterman (LSU) and Mike Tobey (Virginia), J. Michael of CSNMid-Atlantic.com relays.
- Also working out for the Wizards today were Nathan Boothe (Toledo), David Walker (Northeastern) and Abdel Nader (Iowa State), Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
- Hornets swingman Courtney Lee, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, says he can see himself playing in the league for many years to come, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter). “I think I can ride it out for another seven to eight years. You can play in the league a long time if you can put the ball in from [3],” Lee, 30, said.
- With a number of young big men on the roster, the Hornets may be best served to allow Al Jefferson to depart as an unrestricted free agent this summer and concentrate on adding outside shooting instead, Keith P. Smith of RealGM opines in his offseason preview for Charlotte.
Draft Rumors: Chriss, Kings, Trade Candidates
Former Washington power forward Marquese Chriss figures to be one of the first several players to come off the board three weeks from tonight – the latest mock draft at DraftExpress has him being picked third by Boston – but it sounds as if Chriss wouldn’t mind still being available at No. 8. As Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes, Chriss grew up in the Sacramento area, and would love to play for the Kings, who hold the No. 8 pick and are “ready for any scenario” with that selection, per James Ham of CSN California.
“That would be everything,” Chriss said of the possibility of playing for the Kings. “It would be cool, my family could come to half the games. To be in an environment with a new arena, they’re rebuilding their program, that would be really cool.”
As we look forward to seeing where Chriss lands, let’s round up a few more draft rumors and updates, including a couple more from Deveney…
- League sources tell Deveney that, while the 76ers and Lakers are expected to hang onto the top two picks in the draft, six other lottery teams may be looking to deal. The Timberwolves (No. 5), Raptors (No. 9), Bucks (No. 10), Magic (No. 11), Jazz (No. 12), and Suns (No. 13) are all believed to be open to trades involving their picks, per Deveney. Phoenix also holds the No. 4 overall selection, but likely wouldn’t want to move that one.
- Texas A&M prospect Danuel House has a busy workout schedule, according to Deveney. House has worked out for the 76ers and Celtics, and will work out for the Knicks, Hawks, Lakers, Mavericks, and Timberwolves within the next couple weeks. The Suns and Pistons are also expected to be added to his list of visits, per Deveney, who says House looked good against Cal freshman Jaylen Brown at his workout with Boston.
- Fran Fraschilla of ESPN (Twitter link) hears that the Raptors are “fans” of Isaiah Whitehead. Toronto holds the No. 27 pick, and while Fraschilla seems confident the Seton Hall guard will be a first-round pick, other draft experts aren’t so sure — Whitehead ranks 39th on Chad Ford’s big board at ESPN.com, and 57th on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress.com board.
- According to the team’s official website, the Bucks had the following six prospects in for a pre-draft workout today: Michael Gbinije (Syracuse), Josh Adams (Wyoming), Isaiah Miles (St. Joe’s), Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida), Tonye Jekiri (Miami), and Mike Tobey (Virginia).
- Chip Williams of Upside and Motor identifies five prospects who benefited from the draft’s new rules and deadlines for early entrants.