Southeast Notes: Fultz, Isaac, Dunn, Antetokounmpo
Magic guard Markelle Fultz isn’t quite healthy enough to participate in the team’s scrimmage on Saturday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. “These guys missed so much time and they weren’t able to be in a gym,” coach Steve Clifford said. “For Markelle, it’s just the situation that he was in.” Fultz’s arrival in Orlando was delayed due to a personal matter.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Magic forward Jonathan Isaac will also sit out the scrimmage against the Lakers but he’s making progress, Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. Clifford said Isaac took part in contact drills at practice and is “getting closer” to playing. Isaac has been sidelined since suffering a left knee injury on New Year’s Day.
- There are quite a few free agent point guard options for the Hawks to consider as a backup but the Bulls’ Kris Dunn should be at or near the top of the list, The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner opines. Dunn is an elite level defender, though he’d have to paired up with quality shooters due to his offensive limitations. The Grizzlies’ De’Anthony Melton would also be an interesting option who could be paired with Young at times because of his defensive prowess.
- It isn’t out of the question the Hawks would make a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo if the reigning Most Valuable Player becomes a free agent next summer, Kirschner adds in the same piece. If the Hawks’ young core shows major progress next season, they may be able to entice the superstar in a similar manner to what the Clippers did to lure Kawhi Leonard and trade for Paul George.
- Bam Adebayo and Kendrick Nunn could make cameo appearances in the Heat’s scrimmage on Saturday, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “If they do, it’s just to get their feet wet,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. Both players arrived at Orlando’s campus on Tuesday.
Central Notes: Giannis, Cavaliers, Casey, Mincberg
The changing landscape of the NBA, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has made Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s future decisions regarding free agency a little more complicated, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks breaks down in great detail. The super-max contract the Bucks will offer this offseason, now scheduled for October, will drop in value due to shrinking revenue that will reduce the projected salary cap for the 2021/22 season.
The original projection was a $125MM salary cap for that season, the first year of Antetokounmpo’s super max extension should he choose to sign it. Antekounmpo’s super max would likely turn Milwaukee into a taxpayer team. However, the NBA revenue drop could aid the Bucks’ cause, since Giannis’ potential suitors would see their salary cap space shrink.
We have more from the Central Division:
- There have been discussions about bringing together the other eight teams not invited to Orlando for exhibition games. That would be a positive for the Cavaliers’ youthful roster, coach J.B. Bickerstaff told The Athletic’s Kelsey Russo. “Obviously this offseason is a big offseason for us, and there’s some critical decisions that have to be made, but we need to keep taking steps forward,” Bickerstaff said. “We need to see development in our young guys.”
- Pistons coach Dwane Casey expressed similar sentiments regarding his rebuilding club, according to Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois, though he may prefer to hold a team mini-camp rather than traveling to another city. There’s only so much a player can benefit from one-on-one drills, so Casey would like to get his players in scrimmages and other team activities, particularly last year’s top pick, Sekou Doumbouya. “He needs an entire summer to get work,” Casey said. “He’s getting the one-on-one stuff, but he needs to go out and get the competition that young players need.”
- The Pistons have hired David Mincberg, the Bucks’ former director of basketball strategy, and his role as an assistant GM could be broad, as Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press explains. Mincberg’s responsibilities could have a jack-of-all-trades feel to it, since he brings experience in scouting, analytics, salary-cap management and legal counsel.
Central Notes: Brogdon, Pacers, Giannis, Pistons
Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon tested positive for the coronavirus when the NBA’s mandatory testing program began in June, but announced today (via Twitter) that he’s “feeling well” and is “ready for Orlando.”
The Pacers are one of eight teams scheduled to travel to the Walt Disney World campus on Thursday, and with Brogdon’s quarantine period now over, there’s hope that he’ll be able to accompany the team on that trip. According to Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports (Twitter link), Brogdon has to return another negative COVID-19 test before getting the go-ahead to travel with the Pacers to Orlando.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star explores how Victor Oladipo‘s absence will impact the Pacers‘ rotation this summer, writing that Aaron Holiday and Edmond Sumner are the best bets to see increased roles.
- Asked today if he has any concerns about teams tampering with Giannis Antetokounmpo at the NBA’s campus in Orlando, Bucks GM Jon Horst replied, “Zero,” tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Horst went on to joke that such tampering would “technically violate the social distancing rules” of the campus.
- It’s not clear yet what responsibilities new Pistons assistant GM David Mincberg will take on, but the veteran executive is “something of a jack-of-all-trades addition” for the team, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press, who notes that Mincberg has experience in scouting, analytics, salary cap management, and legal counsel.
And-Ones: Luxury Tax, Thomas, Scola, Top Defenders
The Trail Blazers have the highest luxury tax bill at $5.9MM, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Team salaries are now frozen after the one-week transactions period that closed late Tuesday. The Heat ($2.9MM), Thunder ($2.5MM) and Timberwolves ($582K) are also over the luxury tax line but the projected $11.9MM total is the lowest since the luxury tax was introduced in 2002/03, Marks notes.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Former Warriors scout Chris Thomas will become the head coach of Ukrainian club MBC Mykolaiv, according to a team press release (hat tip to Uros Vezonic of Sportando). Thomas, who also worked for the Bulls and Jazz organizations, coached Bambitious Nara in the Japanese B League last season.
- Luis Scola has officially signed with Italy’s Pallacanestro Varese, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The 40-year-old former NBA forward left Olimpia Milano last month. The Argentinian hopes to end his career at the Olympics next summer.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo belongs on the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team, according to a coaches poll conducted by The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and Josh Robbins. The duo polled 33 head and assistant coaches under the condition of anonymity. Rudy Gobert, Marcus Smart, Kawhi Leonard and Ben Simmons rounded out the First Team selections.
Central Notes: Pacers, George, Giannis, Bulls
In an appearance this week on the Knuckleheads podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles, former Pacers star Paul George revisited his 2017 departure from Indiana, explaining why he felt the need to move on from the organization. According to George, “the best power forward” in the NBA had said at the time that he wanted to team up with PG13 in Indiana, but the Pacers weren’t willing to do what was necessary to make it happen.
“They’re like, ‘We’re a mid-major, we’re a small market, like, we can’t do it, we’re a small market, we can’t afford that,'” George said (per 8points9seconds.com). “I’m like, ‘The best power forward wants to come play here, like, y’all can’t make that work?’ They didn’t want to do it.”
According to J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter links), the star power forward George is referring to is Anthony Davis. Michael also suggests that George may be overstating the Pacers’ ability to have landed AD, noting that Indiana lacked the pieces to make it happen and had no deal in place with New Orleans. It’s worth pointing out as well that the Pelicans didn’t become truly motivated to move Davis until he after he requested a trade in 2019.
Here’s more from around the Central Division:
- Following Malcolm Brogdon‘s positive coronavirus test, coaches who have come in contact with the Pacers guard are being quarantined, a source tells J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star. Michael adds in the same story that Indiana probably won’t make any roster moves in the next week as long as none of the team’s players opt out of the summer restart.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo was dealing with a minor knee injury when the NBA went on hiatus in March, but he’ll be ready to go when the season resumes next month, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer tells Jackie MacMullan of ESPN. “It’s a huge advantage for us that Giannis will be completely and totally healthy,” Budenholzer said. “He’s in a great place, both mentally and physically.”
- In his latest mailbag, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune says that new Bulls executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley are more likely to make modest tweaks to the roster for 2020/21 than to do anything drastic this offsesaon that breaks up the young core. The team’s two new decision-makers hope to put those young players in better position to succeed going forward, Johnson adds.
Heat Notes: Free Agent Targets, Butler, Olynyk, Restart
Though adding reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to their exciting roster remains the top goal for the Heat in 2021 summer free agency, they have many other viable options if Antetokounmpo is unavailable or uninterested, according to The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson.
Even with the prospect of a slight decline in the 2021 NBA salary cap due to the coronavirus pandemic causing a league revenue loss, the Heat should still have the cap space to add a maximum-salary free agent next summer to go along their intriguing core of All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, plus developing rookies Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro.
Pacers All-Star Victor Oladipo, who trains in South Florida during the offseason, would be a great fit on the wing along with Butler, Jackson notes. Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, and Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie number among Jackson’s other preferences for free agent additions to the Heat in 2021. Wizards guard Bradley Beal and Thunder guard Chris Paul may be available via trade.
There’s more news out of South Beach:
- The Heat’s top free agent acquisition of 2019, All-NBA swing man Jimmy Butler, has returned to Miami this week in anticipation of a league restart as Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reports.
- With just eight non-playoff games left for the top 22 teams, the Heat have officially clinched a playoff berth, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). This means that Heat big man Kelly Olynyk will earn a $400K playoff bonus written into his contract.
- The Heat’s status for the season restart was explored in another piece from The Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman. Production of Heat game broadcasts will be handled away from the games to accommodate COVID-19 personnel restrictions. Center Meyers Leonard, who injured his ankle during the Heat’s last game to this point, on March 11, has recovered and will be ready once play resumes.
Warriors Notes: Giannis, Okongwu, Draft, Eliyahu
Every now and then, over the last year, a report has surfaced detailing the Warriors‘ interest in Giannis Antetokounmpo or suggesting that Golden State has been preparing its pursuit of the Bucks star for “years.” However, Anthony Slater of The Athletic is highly skeptical that anything will come of the Warriors’ interest in Giannis, whose current contract with Milwaukee expires in 2021.
As Slater explains, the fact that the Warriors were able to land Kevin Durant in 2016 means they’ll never be ruled out when they pursue other superstars, but in that case, everything lined up perfectly for the franchise — Durant was able to team up with the Warriors’ stars when they were all in their primes and took advantage of a huge cap spike in 2016 to join the team on a max-salary deal.
Several years later, the cap situation for the Warriors and the NBA as a whole isn’t nearly as rosy — Golden State’s cap is loaded with big-money contracts for its stars (and Andrew Wiggins), offering no realistic path to landing Antetokoumpo as a free agent or in a sign-and-trade. The league’s lost revenues also mean that a major dip in the cap is more likely than another spike.
On top of all that, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are in their 30s now, meaning that if he were to become a Warrior, Giannis “would be joining what’d probably become the early stages of a rebuild around him,” Slater writes.
If a star player badly wants to get to a specific team, there’s often a way to make it work, as we saw with last summer with the likes of Anthony Davis and Paul George. But there has been zero indication that Giannis is itching to leave the team with the NBA’s best record for the one in dead last. And even if that’s what he wanted, the roadblocks in the way would be substantial.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- In a mailbag for The San Francisco Chronicle, Connor Letourneau discusses Alen Smailagic‘s development, possible options for the Warriors’ $17MM trade exception, and potential draft targets, among other topics. Interestingly, Letourneau indicates that, when it comes to draft-eligible big men, Golden State is higher on Onyeka Okongwu than James Wiseman.
- While there has been plenty of speculation about the Warriors potentially trading their 2020 lottery pick for win-now veteran help, Ethan Strauss of The Athletic contends that it might make more sense for the club to move the Timberwolves’ 2021 first-rounder if a major trade opportunity arises.
- Veteran Israeli forward Lior Eliyahu, who spent the 2019/20 season with Maccabi Ashdod, is considering retirement, per an Israel Hayom report (relayed by Sportando). How is that news relevant to the Warriors? Well, Golden State technically holds Eliyahu’s NBA rights, having acquired them in a trade with Minnesota last July. The No. 44 pick in the 2016 draft never came stateside, but has had a decorated playing career in his home country, winning six Israeli League titles and earning seven All-Star nods.
LeBron, Giannis, Curry, Other Stars United In Desire To Resume Season
NBPA president Chris Paul arranged a private conference call with a number of the league’s superstars on Monday to discuss the coronavirus ramifications and the potential resumption of the 2019/20 season, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
By the end of the conversation, per Haynes, those players were united in their desire to resume the season once the NBA ensures the necessary safety measures are in place and gets the green light. According to Haynes, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, and Russell Westbrook were among the players on the call.
As Haynes explains, the group’s decision is expected to carry significant weight at a time when not all of the NBA’s players are necessarily on board with the idea of completing the 2019/20 season this summer.
Sources tell Yahoo Sports that many players on teams who are all but eliminated from playoff contention would prefer to just have the top eight clubs in each conference finish the season. The fact that stars outside the playoff picture, such as Curry and Lillard, are in favor of resuming play is significant.
According to Haynes, there was also some concern among players after Friday’s call that the NBA wouldn’t be able to guarantee player safety, with a coronavirus vaccine not expected to be available until 2021 at the earliest. Commissioner Adam Silver assured players that the league will do all it can to create the safest possible conditions, and it sounds like the stars on Monday’s call are satisfied with that promise.
Haynes notes that there are some players out of the playoff picture who are worried about a canceled season negatively impacting the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. That’s an issue we’ve touched upon in recent days, with Adrian Wojnarowski, Bob Myers, and Mark Cuban among those who have suggested that lottery teams will have to prioritize the “greater good” of the league, since the NBA and its players would benefit financially over the long term from playing as many games as it safely can this year and next.
As we relayed earlier this afternoon, the NBPA has reportedly begun reaching out to individual players to get their feedback on whether or not they want the season to resume.
Central Notes: Pistons, Pacers, Giannis, Cavs
While the Pistons‘ salary cap is weighed down by the contract of Blake Griffin for the next few seasons, they also have several decisions to make on possible free agents whenever the 2020 NBA offseason officially kicks off, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Edwards predicts the fates of Detroit’s free agents in a thorough new piece.
Edwards is dubious about the Motown futures of 6’9″ center John Henson, oft-injured point guard Brandon Knight, veteran guard Langston Galloway, and 2016 lottery pick Thon Maker, among others. However, Edwards is bullish on the prospects of the Pistons retaining a few other players, including breakout big Christian Wood and second-year small forward Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- The next phase of development for a solid Pacers squad goes under the microscope courtesy of The Athletic’s Scott Agness and John Hollinger. This season’s team was on pace for a No. 5 seed and a 50-win year before league play was paused on March 11.
- Bucks All-Star forward and reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a major hack today, extending to his social media, email and bank accounts, according to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard. A flurry of vulgar tweets centered around Stephen Curry, the late Kobe Bryant, Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee teammate Khris Middleton, and his pending free agency were quickly deleted. Antetokounmpo’s younger brother Kostas and his longtime girlfriend Mariah Riddlesprigger tweeted that “Giannis’ [T]witter, phone, email and bank accounts were hacked!” Later, Antetokounmpo released a statement on his Twitter account (Twitter link), saying, in part, “The tweets and posts were extremely inappropriate and I am so disappointed and disgusted.” The Bucks are investigating the incident.
- With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to force teams to brainstorm innovative workarounds for internal player development, the Cavaliers are considering using virtual reality to simulate full practices, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. Though Cleveland is reopening its practice facility tomorrow, social distance guidelines dictate that only one coach and one player, shooting at one basket, will be permitted at a time. “This is an opportunity to push the envelope and try to come up with some new and creative things,” Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff noted.
How 2020 All-NBA Picks Could Impact Contract Situations
All-NBA selections have become more important than ever in recent years, since teams can agree to increase the overall value of certain maximum-salary contracts based on whether or not a player has earned All-NBA honors in a given season.
Those higher max salaries are also available to players who win MVP or Defensive Player of the Year, but there’s only one of each of those awards per year. There are 15 All-NBA players annually, creating more opportunities for players to become eligible for those more lucrative contracts, informally known as “super-max” deals.
As we explain in our glossary entry on the “Designated Veteran Extension,” a player with between seven and nine years of NBA experience who meets certain contract criteria and hasn’t changed teams since the end of his rookie contract become eligible for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap – instead of 30% – if he was named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
Similar incentives are available for players coming off their rookie scale contracts, as noted in our glossary entry on the “Derrick Rose Rule.” Those players can earn max deals worth up to 30% of the cap instead of 25% if they were named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
The differences between the various levels of maximum salaries can be substantial over the course of a long-term contract. For instance, in 2019/20, a five-year max contract that starts at 25% of the cap and includes 8% annual raises is worth just over $158MM. By comparison, a five-year deal that starts at 35% of the cap with 8% annual raises is worth over $221MM. A five-year contract at the 30% max falls in between, at about $190MM.
We don’t know yet what this year’s All-NBA teams will look like – or even when voting will take place – but as our informal polls last week showed, there are a number of candidates whose future earnings could be affected by whether or not they earn one of those 15 spots.
Let’s take a closer look at some of those players…
Players who have already qualified for super-max contracts:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Antetokounmpo and Gobert didn’t even need to rely on All-NBA spots to qualify for super-max contracts — Giannis’ MVP award last year and Gobert’s back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019 secured their eligibility.
Because both players only had six years of experience entering the 2019/20 season, they had to wait one more year to be eligible to actually receive super-max extension offers, which would be worth 35% of the cap instead of 30%.
Antetokounmpo is a lock to receive such an offer from the Bucks, who have publicly said they’ll put it on the table as soon as they can. That was supposed to happen this July, but the NBA’s hiatus has thrown that timeline into flux. Whenever Milwaukee makes its offer, it would be for a five-year extension that would start in 2021/22 and be worth 35% of that season’s cap.
Gobert’s outlook is cloudier. He could also sign a five-year, 35% max-salary extension that would start in 2021/22, but he’s not at the same level of superstardom that Giannis is, so it remains to be seen how aggressive the Jazz will actually be in attempting to lock him up beyond next season.
Players whose already-signed rookie extensions would be impacted by an All-NBA selection:
- Pascal Siakam (Raptors)
- Ben Simmons (Sixers)
Siakam and Simmons signed maximum-salary rookie scale extensions with their respective teams last fall. Both contracts will go into effect in 2020/21 and both include Rose Rule language, meaning they’ll be among the players closely monitoring this year’s All-NBA results.
In our series of polls, Siakam earned a spot on the All-NBA Second Team. However, I think there’s a real possibility he could end up on the Third Team. Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard will likely receive more votes than Siakam. Anthony Davis will place higher than Siakam too if voters consider him a forward. And even if Davis is listed as a center, Jayson Tatum is among those who should give Siakam a strong push for that Second Team forward spot.
While Siakam might be satisfied to end up on any All-NBA team, a spot on the Second Team would be far more satisfying from a financial perspective. His deal calls for a starting salary worth 28% of the cap if he earns All-NBA Second Team honors, but just 25% if he makes the Third Team.
As we outlined in the fall, that difference would have been worth nearly $16MM over four years based on a $116MM cap. The cap is no longer expected to get that high, but even so, missing out on a Second Team spot would cost Siakam millions.
As for Simmons, he wasn’t one of the 15 players voted to an All-NBA team by Hoops Rumors readers, but he looks to me like a viable candidate for the Third Team. If he makes the Third Team, his starting salary would be 28% of next year’s cap, rather than the 25% he’d get if he doesn’t make an All-NBA squad. Those three percentage points would impact Simmons even more than they would Siakam over the life of their contracts, since Simmons’ five-year deal runs for an extra season and the amount of the annual raises are based on the starting salary.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray also signed a rookie scale extension with Rose Rule language, but isn’t a realistic candidate for an All-NBA nod.
Players whose next contract could be impacted by an All-NBA selection this season:
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
- Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
If Embiid – who was voted onto Hoops Rumors’ All-NBA Third Team – earns an All-NBA spot this season after doing so last year, he’d be in the same position heading into 2020/21 that Antetokounmpo and Gobert were entering 2019 — he’d have qualified for a super-max extension, but wouldn’t yet be eligible to sign one.
Once the 2021/22 league year begins, Embiid would have seven years of NBA experience, with All-NBA nods in at least two of the last three years, making him eligible to sign a four-year super-max extension that would begin in 2023/24, with a starting salary worth 35% of the cap. Even if Embiid doesn’t make an All-NBA team this season, doing so next year would still make him eligible for that same deal.
As for Ingram, he’s a long shot to be named to an All-NBA team, but in the unlikely event that he is, he’d be eligible to sign for a starting salary of up to 30% of the cap on a new free agent contract with the Pelicans. No other team looking to sign him to an offer sheet could exceed 25% of the cap in that scenario.
Other players to start monitoring if they earn All-NBA honors this season:
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- Devin Booker (Suns)
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
- Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Trae Young (Hawks)
These players fall into a few separate sub-categories. Jokic and Booker, for instance, are in their fifth seasons and on their second NBA contracts. An All-NBA spot – which is far likelier for Jokic – would be a good start toward earning super-max eligibility, but they’d still have to make another All-NBA team in either 2021 or 2022 to become eligible to sign a Designated Veteran Extension in 2022.
Doncic, an All-NBA lock, and Young, a lesser candidate, are only in their second NBA seasons. If they were to make All-NBA teams this year and next, they’d be eligible to sign rookie scale extensions with starting salaries worth up to 30% of the cap during the 2021 offseason. Those deals would go into effect in 2022/23.
Adebayo, Mitchell, and Tatum are all in their third seasons and will be extension-eligible during the 2020 offseason. Earning an All-NBA spot this year actually wouldn’t do much for their Rose Rule eligibility — they’d still have to do it again in 2021 to qualify, since the criteria calls for an All-NBA berth in either the season before the new contract begins or in two of the three prior seasons.
Still, earning All-NBA honors this year would give those three players additional leverage to negotiate Rose Rule language into their potential rookie scale extensions, which would go into effect in 2021/22.
Strong All-NBA candidates who are notably ineligible for super-max contracts:
- Bradley Beal (Wizards)
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
Beal was in position to qualify for a super-max extension if he had earned All-NBA honors this season, but the short-term contract extension he signed last October eliminated that possibility. By the time that extension expires, he’ll have 10 years of NBA experience and will be eligible for the 35% max anyway.
Davis has the right amount of NBA experience to gain eligibility and should be an All-NBA lock, but the fact that he changed teams last summer ensures he’ll no longer qualify for a Designated Veteran Contract this offseason — he missed out on the possibility of the super-max as soon as he left the Pelicans.
Various other All-NBA candidates won’t meet the super-max criteria for various reasons. Some, like James Harden, are already on a super-max contract. Others, such as LeBron James, already have 10+ years of experience and can’t qualify for a higher max than the 35% they already get. Recently changing teams (ie. Jimmy Butler) or signing new long-term deals (ie. Khris Middleton) also remove certain players from super-max contention.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.