No Paul George, Gordon Hayward On All-NBA Teams
The NBA has officially announced its All-NBA teams for the 2016/17 season, and neither Paul George nor Gordon Hayward is among the 15 players honored. That’s big news for both players and their teams, since they’ll be ineligible for the Designated Veteran Extension, reducing the amount of money the Pacers and Jazz – respectively – could offer their star forwards in contract extensions this offseason.
Here are this year’s All-NBA teams:
All-NBA First Team
- Guard: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
- Guard: James Harden (Rockets)
- Forward: LeBron James (Cavaliers)
- Forward: Kawhi Leonard (Spurs)
- Center: Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
All-NBA Second Team
- Guard: Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- Guard: Isaiah Thomas (Celtics)
- Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Forward: Kevin Durant (Warriors)
- Center: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
All-NBA Third Team
- Guard: John Wall (Wizards)
- Guard: DeMar DeRozan (Raptors)
- Forward: Jimmy Butler (Bulls)
- Forward: Draymond Green (Warriors)
- Center: DeAndre Jordan (Clippers)
Based on this year’s All-NBA voting results, Wall is now eligible to sign a Designated Veteran Extension this summer, while Leonard is eligible to sign one next summer. Harden, Westbrook, and Curry are also eligible to sign DVEs this summer, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes (via Twitter).
Those Designated Veteran Extensions – which are dependent on a player making an All-NBA team in the year before he signs an extension, or in two of the previous three years – apply to players finishing up their rookie scale extensions. They allow a player re-signing with his own team to earn up to 35% of the salary cap, rather than just 30%. So, if we assume a $101MM salary cap for 2017/18, a player like Curry could sign a new Warriors contract with a starting salary of $35.35MM, instead of $30.3MM.
The Pacers and Jazz will still be able to offer George and Hayward larger and longer contracts than any other team, but the advantage won’t be as significant as it would have been if those players had earned All-NBA spots. Teams can offer their own Bird-rights free agents up to five years (instead of four) and 8% raises (instead of 5%).
Hayward figures to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, while George is expected to reach free agency in 2018. George could still become eligible for the DVE in ’18 if the Pacers hang onto him through next season and he earns All-NBA honors a year from now. However, there’s no guarantee that Indiana will be willing to take that risk.
As for the rest of the All-NBA votes, there weren’t any major surprises, particularly on the first two teams. Perhaps the biggest surprise, in a year which was dominated by four clear-cut MVP candidates, is that Harden was the only player who received 100 out of 100 possible First Team votes. Westbrook and James received 99 apiece, while Leonard received 96.
Note: Hoops Rumors readers voted last month on All-NBA teams, and our squads looked awfully close to the official ones, with a couple notable exceptions. You can check out the results of our voting right here.
Central Notes: Marjanovic, Payne, George
Expect Pistons big man Boban Marjanovic to get more of an opportunity to shine next season. Rod Beard of the Detroit News writes that fans can expect current backup center Aron Baynes to explore free agency by turning down his player option, leaving Marjonvic as the next man up behind Andre Drummond.
In limited action Marjanovic showed flashes of excellence, no surprise considering he did just that with the Spurs in 2015/16. Per 36, his 23.5 points and 16.0 rebounds make him a particularly compelling option for a Pistons team that often has to bench Drummond on account of his poor free-throw shooting.
Unfortunately, as the Pistons struggled and eventually failed to sneak into the postseason, Marjanovic was rarely used in 2016/17.
“This is a fault of ours that we really didn’t build anything around him, either offensively or defensively,” Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy said last month. “We have to do some defensive things to help him and we’ve got to get him the ball even more offensively, but he was our third center, so we didn’t build enough around him. Certainly we will, going forward.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- The Bulls are still very high on Cameron Payne, Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago writes, despite the fact that the guard wasn’t featured as heavily as some thought he would be following the deal in which they acquired him.
- While they may be exploring their trade options, the Bulls mean no disrespect to starting swingman Jimmy Butler, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes. “Don’t misunderstand: We think the world of him. You can’t say enough good things about how this young man has made himself the player that he is,” team executive vice president John Paxson said.
- A panel of NBA.com columnists discussed what they would do with Paul George this offseason and how big of a priority retaining him would be if they stepped into the role of incoming Pacers president Kevin Pritchard.
- The Bucks worked out a handful of NCAA seniors today, with the full list of players available at the team’s official website. Milwaukee will pick No. 17 in this year’s draft.
Heat Notes: J. Johnson, Waiters, Wade
James Johnson is an unrestricted free agent this offseason and teammate Tyler Johnson wants him back with the Heat, reports Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post. Since last summer when James signed with the Heat, the pair have been inseparable.
While James has publicly made it clear that he wishes to remain with the Heat, Tyler, who himself is under contract for three more seasons, knows that anything can happen and ultimately wants the best for his close friend. James enjoyed a career season in 2016/2017, averaging 12.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.6 APG, while shooting 47.9% coming off the bench in all but five of the 79 games he played (27.4 MPG).
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel contends that Dion Waiters is set to field contract offers big enough “to create pause when it comes to making the Heat salary-cap math work.” Winderman cites Waiters’ excellent final half of the 2016/2017 season as reason why he’ll be coveted in free agency, despite having drawn little interest a year ago.
- Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that a Dwyane Wade reunion with the Heat is a possibility. The Bulls front office has been noncommittal about whether it will look to trade Jimmy Butler, who was perhaps the biggest reason Wade signed with the Bulls in the first place. According to Jackson, while the Heat may lack the assets to appeal to the Bulls, Pat Riley will likely at least explore the possibility of a trade for Butler, if the Bulls are taking calls.
- Furthermore, according to Jackson, a Wade associate has indicated that he would consider re-joining the Heat under the right conditions. The veteran guard hasn’t closed the door on accepting a bench role, and if Miami were to pursue him, it would likely be for a bench role — and at a reduced salary. Wade has yet to decide whether he will opt out of the final season of his contract with the Bulls.
Bulls Notes: Rondo, Hoiberg, Butler, Mirotic
Bulls executives John Paxson and Gar Forman spoke to the media in a Wednesday press conference that lasted the better part of an hour. Although Paxson and Forman didn’t exactly lay out their offseason blueprint, several of their answers provided hints about the Bulls’ next steps.
For one, Paxson praised Rajon Rondo and said there’s a “really good chance” that the team will retain the veteran point guard for next season, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com (Twitter link). As we outlined this morning in our Offseason Cap Digest for the Bulls, Rondo’s $13.397MM salary is currently only partially guaranteed for $3MM, so Chicago could save more than $10MM by cutting him — but likely won’t.
Here are more items of note from today’s presser, with all links via Friedell unless otherwise indicated:
- Paxson reiterated today that Fred Hoiberg will return as the Bulls’ head coach next season (Twitter link).
- Although Paxson acknowledged that Jimmy Butler doesn’t necessarily fit into Chicago’s desire to play with pace, he said the Bulls “know his value”and that Butler is “far and away our best player” (Twitter links via K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune and Friedell).
- The Bulls will sit down with Butler and Dwyane Wade – who has a player option – within the next few weeks to discuss their respective futures (Twitter links).
- Both Paxson and Forman spoke about the importance of establishing more consistent roles for players next season, particularly for the Bulls’ young guys (Twitter links).
- The Bulls value Nikola Mirotic, according to Forman, who made it clear that there’s mutual interest between the two sides in getting a new deal done for the RFA-to-be (Twitter links).
- Asked about coaching staff changes, Paxson said the team is “in the process of looking at everything.” With Hoiberg a lock to return, any changes made would be to the assistant coaches (Twitter links via Johnson).
- The Bulls want to add shooting and athleticism this summer, according to Paxson (Twitter link).
- The Bulls continue to stress the idea of maintaining flexibility for 2018 and beyond. Paxson suggested that it would be “difficult” to make significant changes to the roster this summer, while Forman talked about the advantage of saving cap room rather than committing to multiple long-term deals right away (Twitter links via Friedell and Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com).
Bulls Notes: Butler, Rondo, Payne
As the dust settles on Chicago’s elimination from the NBA postseason, the topic of conversation shifts from their impressive early series performance against the Celtics to what they’ll do in the offseason. Jimmy Butler, for what it’s worth, tells Nick Friedell of ESPN that he’d like to remain with the Bulls.
Butler is well aware of the fact that he’ll be featured heavily in trade rumors this offseason but went so far as to say that he hoped the Bulls front office would retain potential free agent Rajon Rondo. The Bulls have a player option on the second year of the veteran guard’s contract.
“He’s been huge for us this year,” Butler said. “[…] But I don’t know what the future holds for anybody. So I’ll sit back and wait on that time to come.”
The 27-year-old swingman put up 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game for the Bulls despite the notoriously chaotic campaign and has said all the right things when it comes to his future in Chicago.
Whether the Bulls front office decides to keep the core that looked so promising in Games 1 and 2 of their first-round series together for another crack at Eastern Conference success in 2017/18, however, remains to be seen.
There’s more from Chicago:
- It was a frustrating season for Bulls fans, one they can blame on executives Gar Forman and John Paxon. ESPN’s Nick Friedell recently wrote about how the front office hasn’t exactly stuck to the message they initially broadcast to fans about a pending rebuild.
- Count The Vertical’s Shams Charania among those looking to make sense of the Bulls’ options heading forward. Much of what unfolds could depend on Dwyane Wade‘s player option, which at this point remains up in the air. Per Charania, Wade and Jimmy Butler will eventually discuss the decision “face-to-face”.
- A series of ESPN Insider panelists recently discussed the looming decisions that the Bulls will have to make. Despite a dramatic 2016/17, the consensus believes we’ll see a similar roster in 2017/18 once the front office picks up Rajon Rondo’s option and Dwyane Wade takes his.
- The Bulls still need a point guard for their future, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes. “It’s tough. We’re asking guys to play roles they haven’t played all year,” head coach Fred Hoiberg said of asking players like Dwyane Wade, Isaiah Canaan and even Paul Zipser to bring up the ball in their elimination game Friday.
- The carousal of point guards that the Bulls trotted out this season didn’t impress Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman. The Thunder columnist wrote about how Cameron Payne – the supposed primary factor in the Taj Gibson deal – was Chicago’s fifth-string point guard.
Bulls To Hold Post-Playoff Meeting With Butler
The Bulls plan to meet with Jimmy Butler after the playoffs to express their support for keeping him, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
The session will be separate from routine exit interviews, and Cowley describes it as an attempt to repair a deteriorating relationship. John Paxson, the team’s vice president of basketball operations, will attend the meeting, but it’s uncertain if GM Gar Forman will be there.
Butler was reportedly angered after hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors around the deadline and last year’s draft. He received a $95MM contract extension two years ago, but never felt like the team really committed to him.
A source told Cowley that Butler has communicated to the front office and to teammates that he wants to stay in Chicago. He is expected to repeat that sentiment in the upcoming meeting, with a warning that the Bulls should stop leaking his name in trade rumors if they really want to keep him.
Butler is signed for two more seasons with a $19.84MM player option in 2019/20.
Pistons Committed To Keeping Caldwell-Pope
The Pistons plan to match any offer that restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope receives, according to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press.
The organization is prepared to give the fourth-year shooting guard a maximum deal if that’s what it takes to keep him in Detroit, Ellis adds, with several sources saying he is an important part of the team’s future.
Caldwell-Pope averaged 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game this season, but his numbers declined after the All-Star break. Ellis states that the Pistons may have viewed the situation differently if they were confident that Stanley Johnson was ready to become a starter, but they believe keeping Caldwell-Pope is vital and they wouldn’t be able to get an adequate replacement because of their cap situation.
Ellis touches on several other Pistons-related matters:
- Trade talks involving Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson will continue this offseason. Ellis states that the organization is becoming impatient with Drummond, with coach/executive Stan Van Gundy saying in Friday’s press conference that he needs a “sense of urgency to elevate his game.” Jackson’s drop in production stemmed from left knee tendinitis that plagued him throughout the season, and Ellis claims the only available replacement who might be an upgrade is the Suns’ Eric Bledsoe.
- The Pistons believe they have enough young players and future first-rounders to acquire a star this offseason. There were rumors that Drummond was offered to the Kings for DeMarcus Cousins before he was sent to New Orleans, and a source told Ellis the Pistons contacted the Pacers about Paul George but never got close to a deal. George has another season left before he can opt out, and Detroit might be interested in taking the chance that it can re-sign him, but only if the price in a trade comes down. Other targets could include Jimmy Butler and Carmelo Anthony.
- Although the Pistons might benefit from a franchise-altering move, Van Gundy said smaller deals are more realistic. “There’s a couple things we’d like to do and make us a little bit better, but I don’t think we’re broken” he said. “Getting our point guard situation back to where it was or even better is more than feasible and corrects a great deal of the problems we’re talking about. Our roster is pretty good from there.”
Latest On Jimmy Butler
The Bulls reportedly explored potential trade options involving Jimmy Butler last summer and again at this year’s deadline. With the team currently out of a playoff spot and embracing at least a partial rebuild, Butler figures to be available in trade talks again this offseason. However, it remains to be seen just how proactive the Bulls will be in seeking a deal.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, one front office source told him recently that Butler is “as good as gone,” suggesting the star swingman is unlikely to start the 2017/18 season in Chicago. However, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune paints a more nuanced picture of the Bulls’ stance.
Johnson, who appeared on Tim Bontemps’ Posting Up podcast, said there’s more of a consensus within the Bulls’ front office for a full rebuild than there was at this time a year ago (link via HoopsHype). Nonetheless, the club would still only go in that direction if it got “the right offer” for Butler. Chicago won’t go out of its way to trade the 27-year-old simply to kick-start a full-scale rebuild.
Meanwhile, Johnson also pointed out that what happens with Butler figures to have a major impact on Dwyane Wade‘s future (link via HoopsHype). If the Bulls decide to move their three-time All-Star, they’ll likely do so around the draft, before Wade’s player option decision is due. In that scenario, Wade would be extremely unlikely to opt in and stick around for a year of rebuilding.
[RELATED: Wade working out in hopes of playoff return]
Butler’s situation in Chicago will be one of the more intriguing storylines to watch in the NBA this offseason, particularly if the Bulls miss the playoffs or are eliminated quickly in the first round.
Central Notes: Mirotic, Butler, Wade, LeBron
Don’t expect the Bulls to make much of an effort to re-sign Nikola Mirotic in free agency this summer, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune writes in his latest mailbag. As Johnson observes, the Bulls can afford to be flexible with their approach to Mirotic, since he’s a restricted free agent — he may sign an offer sheet that they determine fits into their salary structure, in which case they could bring him back. However, Johnson doesn’t think Chicago will “proactively” try to lock up Mirotic to a new deal.
Within that same mailbag, Johnson also suggests that there’s a decent chance Chicago will listen to inquires on Jimmy Butler again this summer. Having acquired Cameron Payne and Joffrey Lauvergne at last month’s trade deadline, the Bulls want to continue accumulating “players they view as young assets,” and any package for Butler would likely include a few of those pieces.
Here’s more on the Bulls and a couple of their Central Division rivals:
- Dwyane Wade is a future Hall-of-Famer, but he’s entering the “awkward years” of his career and it’s not clear what’s in store for him in 2017/18 and beyond, says Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. Aschburner explores the potential next step for Wade, whether that means staying with the Bulls, returning to the Heat, or joining a new team this summer.
- In LeBron James‘ view, the idea of resting healthy players didn’t become a real issue for the NBA until after he sat out a game or two for the Cavaliers. The reigning Finals MVP also suggested to reporters on Tuesday that he disagreed with the notion that team owners should be involved in that decision, as commissioner Adam Silver has requested. Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com has the details and the quotes from James.
- Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie has no hard feelings toward the Pistons, for whom he played 46 games over two seasons before being traded last summer. Still, he admits that he was happy to beat them on Tuesday night with his new team, as Aaron McMann of MLive.com writes. “If your first job fired you, you come back and say, ‘What’s up fam, I’m with the New York Times now,'” Dinwiddie said to a reporter following Brooklyn’s win. “I love everybody in that organization. It’s just great to beat them.”
Bulls Notes: Wade, Butler, Hoiberg
Dwyane Wade‘s homecoming with the Bulls hasn’t gone as planned and rival executives expect him to hit free agency this summer, Ken Berger of Bleacher Report writes. Wade holds a player option worth $23.8MM for next season.
Wade recently suggested that “upper management” should be the people answering questions on coach Fred Hoiberg‘s lineup decisions. “I don’t want to say too much,” Wade said after a recent game. “I don’t want to say the wrong thing.”
Hoiberg has been experimenting with the rotation, something that’s atypical this late in the season for a team trying to stay afloat in a playoff race. The Bulls entered the day with the ninth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
This wasn’t this first time that Wade showed frustration this season. In late January, Wade and Jimmy Butler criticized their teammates via social media for how they how handled a tough loss. Point guard Rajon Rondo then took to Instagram to criticize them, exclaiming that his “vets” in Boston wouldn’t take to social media to address their concerns. Sources tell Berger that as a result of the bickering, all three were fined by the team.
Here’s more from Berger’s piece:
- Some rival teams always felt that the additions of Wade and Rondo were never going to work out. “It’s a three-point shooting league, and they have a backcourt where that’s not their forte,” a rival head coach told Berger.
- Chicago’s lack of shooting is problematic, but Hoiberg contributes to the organizations’ issues. There’s a belief around the league that Butler is not a fan of the coach and a rival scout told Berger that he’s seen instances of Butler, Wade, and Rondo ignoring the coach’s play calls. “When Fred would call plays on the sideline, Rondo would just flat-out blow him off,” said the scout. “Wade does it, too. Butler does it, too. … That becomes infectious.”
- Another rival coach told Berger that the Bulls‘ front office wants Hoiberg to work out, adding that the franchise was entertaining trade offers for Butler because dealing the 3-time All-Star would “protect” Hoiberg. “Getting rid of Butler saves Fred’s job,” the source said. “Otherwise, malaise continues.”
- According to Berger, league sources “insist” that the Bulls haven’t ruled out bringing Rondo back for the second season of his contract. His salary for 2017/18 is mostly non-guaranteed.