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Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Fredette, Sampson

February 20th, 2016 at 6:32pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Andrea Bargnani was a disappointment for both New York-area teams, writes Peter Botte of The New York Daily News. The Nets waived the 30-year-old forward this afternoon in Sean Marks‘ first official act since taking over as GM. The move is believed to be a buyout deal, but details have not been made available. The split comes barely seven months after Brooklyn signed Bargnani to a free agent deal worth $1,362,897 this season with a $1,551,659 player option for 2016/17. He averaged 6.6 points and 13.8 minutes of playing time in 46 games off the Nets’ bench.

The Knicks paid a much higher price for Bargnani when they acquired him from Toronto in 2013. They sent this year’s first-round pick to the Raptors, along with Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, Marcus Camby and second-rounders in 2014 and 2017. Bargnani played just 71 games in two seasons with New York.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks are expected to sign Jimmer Fredette to a 10-day contract Monday, and the team will see if the 26-year-old can do more than score, Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press writes. “We’ve got to see if he can actually handle the basketball and be able to create shots for himself and create shots for others,” interim coach Kurt Rambis said.
Sixers GM Sam Hinkie said Robert Covington, Hollis Thompson and T.J. McConnell were among the players who received interest on the trade market prior to the deadline, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays.
Several of JaKarr Sampson‘s Sixers teammates were disappointed that he was waived to make room the trade that netted Joel Anthony and a 2017 second-round pick, Pompey writes in a separate piece. Philadelphia is expected to release Anthony, and the team hopes to re-sign Sampson if he clears waivers Sunday, according to Pompey. Sampson, a second-year swingman, is popular in the locker room and has earned a reputation as a hard-working defensive specialist. “It’s always hard to waive anybody, much less a guy that’s busted his tail to be the best player that he can be,” Hinkie said. “That’s exactly the kind of people we like to work with.”
Even if the Raptors could have obtained a starting-caliber power forward, such as Markieff Morris or Ryan Anderson, the team wouldn’t have been any closer to contention, which made standing pat a good move, Brett Koremenos of RealGM opines.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Raptors, Sixers

February 18th, 2015 at 9:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks are aggressively pursuing trades for players they covet in free agency in order to secure their Bird rights and attempt to lower their cap holds, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Knicks are one of the teams chasing Suns point guard Goran Dragic, while the Magic’s Tobias Harris is interested in coming to New York. Kyler explains that Dragic’s cap hold of $11.25MM would allow the Knicks to preserve an extra $4.25MM or so in cap space to sign other players this summer. Harris has a cap hold of $5.91MM. Shane Larkin, Jose Calderon, Tim Hardaway Jr., Cole Aldrich and Andrea Bargnani are among the players whom the Knicks are shopping, Kyler adds.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Carmelo Anthony says the Knicks should only be focused on the future as the team heads toward the trade deadline, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. Anthony has been shut down for the remainder of the season because of his balky knee. “The only thing that matters at this point is about where we’re headed as a team, as an organization for the future,” Anthony said to reporters after Sunday’s All-Star Game.
Knicks president Phil Jackson said that New York is “in the mix” at the trade deadline, and that the franchise is hoping to make at least one move, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Jackson also relayed that there isn’t much interest from other teams in Bargnani and Calderon, Berman notes. The Zen Master also said that the Knicks might not waive Bargnani, since the coaching staff feels he may be needed in the wake of Anthony being lost for the season and Amar’e Stoudemire‘s buyout arrangement.
The Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team has announced. This will be Caboclo’s second trip to the D-League this season.
The Sixers would listen to any offers for Henry Sims, Luc Mbah a Moute, Jakarr Sampson, and Hollis Thompson, John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com writes. Gonzalez adds that he doubts any of those players would bring Philly a significant return.
It’s unlikely the Celtics make any moves at the deadline, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com speculates. While Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has expressed a willingness to be active, Forsberg points out that the Celtics have made only one deadline trade in the past three seasons.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Walton, Celtics

February 5th, 2015 at 4:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The success of the Sixers’ 2014/15 campaign will be gauged by the amount of players the team finds who are “keepers,” Sam Donnellon of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. Two players who just might fit that description are Hollis Thompson and Robert Covington, Donnellon notes. Both players are proving themselves to be valuable assets who could play large roles in Philadelphia’s future, the Daily News scribe adds.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics have assigned Andre Dawkins and Phil Pressey to the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the fourth trip of the season to the D-League for Dawkins, and the first trek for Pressey.
Luke Walton was all set to join Derek Fisher‘s staff as an assistant this past offseason, but with the blessing of Knicks president Phil Jackson, who is Walton’s mentor, Warriors coach Steve Kerr nabbed Walton first, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. The Knicks could have used Walton’s expertise with the triangle offense to help ease the transition, one that hasn’t gone smoothly, Berman adds. “It’s definitely tough,’’ Walton said. “I think Derek knows that. I know Phil knows that. It’s about patience and building. And I don’t think you come in right away and teach a brand-new team who has never known the triangle and executing it the way it needs to be executed in the first season. When we played triangle [in LA], we had the same core and then added a couple of new guys each year. And it was the same coaches running practice with it every day, drilling. Even then it takes players a while to fully grasp it.’’
The Sixers are making progress as a franchise but still have quite a bit of work to do before they can become a winning team, Tom Moore of Calkins Media writes. The primary void that the team has is in its distinct lack of a star player who GM Sam Hinkie can build around, Moore notes.

Team Options And Restricted Free Agency

April 3rd, 2014 at 3:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

Every rookie scale contract in the league, by rule, includes a pair of team options. Otherwise, team options are rare. NBA clubs prefer the flexibility of non-guaranteed seasons instead, since they allow the team to cut ties with the player at any point before the leaguewide guarantee date of January 7th. Team options must either be exercised or declined before the NBA’s calendar flips over on July 1st. (Rookie scale options must be exercised or declined on October 31st the year before the option season would begin.) Players, too, can benefit from the greater flexibility of a non-guaranteed contract, since they can earn a portion of their salary if they remain on the roster for a partial season.

Still, a growing number of free agents are signing contracts with team options. Of the 13 existing NBA contracts that include team options for future seasons and aren’t rookie scale deals, 11 have been signed since this past July. A handful of those contracts last four seasons, and there’s a compelling reason for teams to structure deals that way for second-round picks and undrafted players.

Chandler Parsons is Exhibit A. The Rockets haven’t informed Parsons about whether they intend to decline his option, worth about $965K, for next season, as Parsons tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Under most circumstances, Houston’s decision would be a no-brainer. Parsons has far outperformed his deal, signed after the Rockets took him in the second round of the 2011 draft, and having him for an additional season at a cost of less than $1MM would give the team one of the league’s best bargains. What makes his case so intriguing is that undrafted players and second-round picks, like Parsons, can be restricted free agents if their contracts end before their fourth seasons. So, the Rockets could decline their option and have the right to match other teams’ offers for their small forward. Houston wouldn’t have that right in 2015 if the team exercised its option on Parsons, who’d become an unrestricted free agent when his contract ends after 2014/15.

The team option gives Houston a choice that a non-guaranteed season wouldn’t. If 2014/15 were a non-guaranteed year for Parsons, rather than an option year, the Rockets could only make him a free agent this summer if they waived him, and he’d be an unrestricted free agent, and not a restricted one, if he cleared waivers.

Three other teams did deals this year that mimic the Parsons contract, and it’s not surprising that the Sixers are one of them. GM Sam Hinkie was the executive vice president of basketball operations for the Rockets when they signed Parsons. Philadelphia signed two undrafted rookies this season to four-year contracts with a team option in the fourth year. The contracts for Brandon Davies and Hollis Thompson, just like the one for Parsons, aren’t fully guaranteed in the seasons leading up to the option. Davies signed his deal without any guarantee at all, while Thompson received a tiny partial guarantee of $35K for this season.

Neither Davies nor Thompson has guaranteed salary on his respective option year. That means that the Sixers could pick up their options and still cut ties with them before opening night without owing them any money that year, just as with a regular non-guaranteed season. Parsons has a partial guarantee on his salary next season. If the Rockets and Sixers exercise their options, those contracts will become just like any other deal that isn’t fully guaranteed. The only difference will be that their teams will have had a chance to make them restricted free agents, a valuable resource in case the player, as Parsons did, blossoms into a sought-after commodity.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey and his disciple aren’t the only ones who’ve caught on. Former Cavs GM Chris Grant signed Carrick Felix, the 33rd overall pick in the 2013 draft, to a four-year deal with a team option in the final season. In Felix’s case, the only non-guaranteed money is in the third year, and the fourth year is fully guaranteed providing the Cavs exercise their option. Hawks GM Danny Ferry, Grant’s former boss in Cleveland, produced the latest iteration of this trend when he pried 2013 second-rounder Mike Muscala from his Spanish league contract in February to bring him stateside. Muscala’s four-year deal is 50% guaranteed next season but henceforth completely non-guaranteed, and that includes the fourth-year option season.

Not every team has the flexibility to make four-year offers. Teams need either cap space or a portion of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception to sign rookies for four years. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more contracts like these in the future, especially if the Rockets use their team option on Parsons this summer and other teams hesitate to give him an offer. Teams may become more hesistant to use their full mid-level on veteran free agents so they can leave room to sign one or two intriguing young players to four-year deals.

It’s unlikely that Thompson, Davies, Felix or Muscala will ever become as valuable as Parsons is, and there’s a decent chance that their teams will waive them long before the option year comes around. Still, the Rockets, Sixers, Cavs and Hawks had nothing to lose, and neither would any team that does a similar deal. It’s a smart play that can look even smarter over time.

ShamSports and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Felton, 76ers

February 25th, 2014 at 5:46pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The Nets didn’t end up taking on Jordan Hill and the $17MM tax hit he would have cost them, but their expenditure in the deal to add Marcus Thornton prompted “a lot of angry eye-rolling” from other teams, writes Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Brooklyn’s lavish spending could push the league into another work stoppage in 2017 in an effort to cut off the Nets’ spending, Lowe adds.

Here’s what else we’ve gathered from around the Atlantic Division tonight.

Attorney Michael McCann, in a piece for SI.com, lays out the Knicks’ options amid legal trouble for Raymond Felton. The 29-year-old point guard – facing two counts of weapon possession – posted bail earlier this afternoon and will be due in court next on June 2nd, tweets ESPN New York’s Ian Begley. It’s also worth noting that according to the law under which he was charged, Felton could avoid jail time even if he’s convicted of his felonies, says Scott Cacciola of the New York Times (Twitter link).
A panel of ESPN experts weigh in on the future and current state of Knicks basketball – discussing Felton’s situation, what organizational changes need to be made, and if Carmelo Anthony should leave New York.
76ers head coach Brett Brown tells Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times: “You’re going to see a lot of people come in here over the last 25 games” (Twitter link).
Brown also tells Moore (via Twitter) that 6’8″ forward Hollis Thompson is a “keeper.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Contract Details: Sixers, Price, Stone, Christmas

November 5th, 2013 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com has updated his salary database to account for every NBA team’s opening night roster, and in the process has provided several contract details that had previously been unreported. Let’s round up Deeks’ new info, which has now been incorporated into our list of non-guaranteed salaries and our schedule of guarantee dates….

Daniel Orton and Brandon Davies were late additions to the Sixers‘ roster, but they received the same kind of deals that many of the team’s other offseason signees did: Non-guaranteed four-year pacts. Hollis Thompson, meanwhile, landed a $35K guarantee for this season on his four-year contract.
When Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors listed the camp cuts who had been owed guaranteed money, he noted that the guarantees for Vander Blue, Khalif Wyatt, and Richard Howell were still unknown. Deeks fills in those amounts, reporting that the Sixers paid Blue $55K and Wyatt $35K. Howell received $50K from the Trail Blazers.
Unlike most players on non-guaranteed contracts, A.J. Price won’t have to wait until the new year for his salary to become fully guaranteed. He’ll get his full minimum salary as long as he’s not waived by the Timberwolves on or before December 8th.
Julyan Stone‘s two-year contract with the Raptors was initially guaranteed for $50K, but that amount was bumped up to $100K when he earned a spot on the regular season roster.
Dionte Christmas (Suns) and Henry Sims (Cavaliers) both received partial guarantees worth $50K.
The Hawks‘ agreement with Cartier Martin is just for one year, for a fully non-guaranteed minimum salary.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Celtics, Sixers, Bucks

October 15th, 2013 at 1:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Mike Dunleavy was one of the first free agents to come off the board this July, inking a two-year deal with the Bulls worth the taxpayer’s mid-level exception. And as he tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, he isn’t regretting his decision.

“Everything I was hoping for, whether it be playing for [Tom Thibodeau] or playing with Derrick [Rose], has been better than I expected,” Dunleavy said. “And I had heard great things.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Within that same Tribune piece, Johnson suggests that Mike James is the probable frontrunner to be the Bulls‘ 13th man, while Dexter Pittman is also a candidate.
The Bulls are prepared to move on from Marquis Teague, who probably could be had for cheap, according to Mark Deeks at The Score. Deeks says that Teague’s increased playing time in the team’s most recent preseason game was meant to be a showcase for potential suitors.
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld examines the Celtics and Rajon Rondo in his latest column, wondering if keeping Rondo through the 2013/14 season could slow down Boston’s rebuilding plan.
Hollis Thompson is a long shot to make the Sixers on his non-guaranteed deal, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who examines the former Georgetown Hoya’s quest to beat the odds.
Meanwhile, after tweeting yesterday that Vander Blue and Khalif Wyatt may be battling for a single Sixers roster spot, Tom Moore of Calkins Media goes into more depth on the competition, with quotes on both players from head coach Brett Brown.
Not only is Larry Drew in his first year on the Bucks‘ bench, but he’ll have to “bring a whole new team together,” as he tells Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The team has yet to finalize its 15-man roster, but when it does, 11 of Milwaukee’s 15 players figure to be new additions.
Julyan Stone is making a strong case to be the Raptors‘ 15th man, says Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.

Sixers Sign Hollis Thompson

September 27th, 2013 at 8:16am CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have added another player to their training camp roster, signing Hollis Thompson, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (via Twitter). The addition of Thompson will bring the team's roster count to 18 players.

Thompson, 22, went undrafted out of Georgetown a year ago. He participated in camp with the Thunder, but was cut before the start of the season, and spent the year with OKC's D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers. In 48 games with the 66ers, Thompson wasn't overly productive, averaging 8.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG to go along with .447/.288/.722 shooting.

Sixers camp is expected to be fairly wide open next month. With only 11 players on fully guaranteed contracts, there should be room for Thompson and other invitees to compete for roster spots.

Rautins, Thompson Sign With Tulsa 66ers

October 31st, 2012 at 9:34am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Thunder camp invitees, Andy Rautins and Hollis Thompson, have signed D-League contracts to join the Tulsa 66ers, reports Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman (via Twitter). Both players were released by the Thunder over the weekend, along with Daniel Orton, who is expected to re-sign with Oklahoma City.

Rautins, a second-round pick in 2010, has appeared in just five NBA games in his brief career, while Thompson, a Georgetown product, went undrafted in this year's draft despite having been ranked as a top-50 prospect by ESPN.com's Chad Ford.

Having carried Rautins and Thompson late into the preseason, the Thunder held their D-League rights, meaning the team will get a chance to develop the duo at its affiliate in Tulsa, which isn't shared with another NBA club. Another NBA team could sign either player away from the 66ers during the season, but the team would have to be willing to use a spot on its 15-man roster.

Camp Rumors: Magic, Johnson-Odom, Heat

October 27th, 2012 at 3:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

Perhaps the most surprising training camp cut was Quentin Richardson, whom the Magic waived despite $5.438MM worth of guaranteed money on his contract for the next two seasons. The surprising play of DeQuan Jones, who appears to have made the team on a non-guaranteed deal, pushed Richardson out the door, writes John Denton of Magic.com. There's plenty of other news about players coming and going today, in advance of the 4:00pm Central time deadline for teams to let go of camp invitees so that they clear waivers before rosters must be down to 15 players.

While an earlier report indicated the Lakers were expected to waive Darius Johnson-Odom, Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com believes the guard still has a shot to make the team (Twitter link).
The Heat are at the regular-season roster limit of 15 players, but Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel doesn't rule out the possibility that the team could pick up one of the guys that other teams let go in the past few days (Twitter link).
John Rohde of The Oklahoman shares insight from Thunder coach Scott Brooks on the team's cuts and its decision to keep DeAndre Liggins. "With DeAndre, we felt that his size, his athleticism, his defensive toughness is something we are intrigued with and we like," the coach said.
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio saw Hollis Thompson play Thomas Robinson evenly while both were in college last season, and believes Thompson, whom the Thunder let go today, should wind up with another NBA team (Twitter link).
The Rockets still must waive three players, and Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle points to reasons why Jon Brockman, JaJuan Johnson and Gary Forbes could be the ones to go.
HoopsWorld's Derek Page checks in with Mavs waiver claim Eddy Curry, and wonders whether his 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in Friday's preseason game against the Bobcats might have been enough for him to win a roster spot.
Shavlik Randolph and Steven Gray are likely out of the discussion to make the Wizards opening night roster, but Earl Barron is making a late push for a spot, as Michael Lee of The Washington Post examines.