Odds & Ends: Paul, Mavs, Curry, DeRozan
We've got a busy NBA slate lined up for tonight, with the Knicks, Timberwolves, and Hawks among the teams opening up their seasons at home. As we look forward to a 12-game evening, let's round up a few odds and ends from around the league:
- Despite receiving some criticism for giving Chris Paul too much power in the Clippers' decision-making, GM Gary Sacks tells Sam Amick of USA Today he has no problem with listening to "the guy with the highest IQ in the NBA, maybe."
- Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com examines whether Mark Cuban will be able to rebuild the Mavericks without bottoming out.
- We heard this morning that Eddy Curry will be waived by the Mavericks, and according to Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld, a number of teams have already reached out to Curry's camp. The big center figures to join another club soon, says Ingram.
- Grantland's Zach Lowe calls DeMar DeRozan's extension a bad contract, but not a catastrophic one. Lowe prefers the deals signed by Jrue Holiday and Taj Gibson to DeRozan's.
- Responding to the criticism DeRozan's extension has received, Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo defended the team's decision, as Eric Koreen of the National Post transcribes.
- Sam Smith's latest mailbag at Bulls.com features discussion on the James Harden trade, Quentin Richardson, and potential Bulls targets.
- A federal court judge has dismissed the claims that agency Priority Sports & Entertainment filed against NBA agent and former Priority employee Aaron Mintz, according to Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal.
Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Smith, D-League, Pippen
Earlier this week, we heard that there were a number of teams that at least touched base with the Thunder about James Harden before he was traded to the Rockets. We can add the Bobcats to that list as well, as owner Michael Jordan tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that his team "made a couple calls" about Harden's availability. Jordan, who says he's "in it for the long haul" as Bobcats owner, adds that he believes Charlotte can still be an attractive destination for free agents down the road, though he acknowledges the team needs to get its house in order first.
Here are a few more notes from around the NBA, as the Thunder and Spurs prepare for the only game on tonight's schedule:
- On the heels of some surprising contract extensions, Tom Ziller of SBNation.com shares his five rules for teams thinking about extending players.
- Nolan Smith tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he understands the Blazers' cap situation and has no problem with the team's decision to turn down his 2013/14 option, adding that he views it as a "blessing in disguise" (Twitter links).
- A few intriguing names will be in camp with the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics' D-League affiliate, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Xavier Silas, Micah Downs, Chris Wright, and Chamberlain Oguchi are among the invitees.
- Nets GM Billy King tells Newsday's Roderick Boone that one of the lessons he learned at his previous job in Philadelphia: "At the end, I was just trying to keep my job. Once you start trying to keep your job and not do it, it's not going to work."
- The Bulls have appointed Scottie Pippen a Senior Advisor to the President and COO of the team, according to an official release.
Extension Fallout: Gibson, Curry, DeRozan, Evans
Five players signed contract extensions on Wednesday's deadline day, and that doesn't even include Ty Lawson's new deal, which was completed on Tuesday. With this year's October 31st deadline behind us, let's round up some of the links relating to this year's class of extended players….
- Taj Gibson's deal with the Bulls is worth roughly $34MM in guaranteed salary, plus up to $38-39MM with incentives, which are both individual- and team-based, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com (Twitter links).
- Gibson probably could have earned a larger contract on the open market next summer, but wanted to stay with the Bulls because he's happy in Chicago, says Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
- Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group spoke to Stephen Curry about the process of negotiating a new deal with the Warriors. The piece also includes conversations with team owner Joe Lacob and GM Bob Myers.
- DeMar DeRozan was prepared to play out the season with or without a contract extension, but he's happy to have it out of the way, writes Stephen Brotherson of HoopsWorld.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star feels that the Raptors, in locking up DeRozan, bid against themselves when it wasn't necessary.
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News examines the consequences of a wild week for the Rockets and James Harden, who finalized a five-year maximum-salary extension yesterday.
- Having not received an extension from the Kings, Tyreke Evans tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee that he's fine with just focusing on his play on the court for the rest of the season.
Taj Gibson Signs Extension With Bulls
11:43pm: The Bulls officially announced the extension in a press release.
"I’m very happy that I’m going to remain a Bull for the long haul," Gibson said. "The Bulls are like my second family and I’m excited to know that I’m going to continue to wear 'Bulls' across my chest."
11:19pm: The base pay comes to $32MM, but incentives could make the deal worth $38MM, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
10:52pm: Gibson said the money in the offer from the Bulls didn't change tonight, but contract language did, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
10:39pm: Sam Amick of SI.com tweets that agent Mark Bartelstein says the incentives would only bring the deal up to $38MM, which was initially believed to be Gibson's base pay.
10:28pm: There are incentives in the extension that could bring it up to $40MM, the amount Gibson was asking for earlier tonight, Johnson tweets.
10:12pm: Taj Gibson and the Bulls have agreed to an extension, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter link). The deal is for four years and $38MM, tweets Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. The two sides bridged a reported $8MM gap, as Gibson was seeking $40MM while the team offered $32MM. He told Johnson before Chicago's win over the Kings tonight that he didn't think he'd change his mind an accept the team's offer, but evidently the Bulls upped the ante enough for his liking.
Assuming a $9.5MM salary for Gibson next year, the Bulls appear set up to be a luxury tax team again in 2013/14. They have about $74MM on the books for next year, a number they can knock down to $70MM if they waive Richard Hamilton, whose $5MM deal is only guaranteed for $1MM. The decision to extend Gibson's contract seemingly puts fellow power forward Carlos Boozer at greater risk of being waived via the amnesty clause next summer, since he's due $15.3MM in 2013/14 and $16.8MM the year after that.
Gibson has never averaged more than the 9.0 points per game he put up as a rookie in 2009/10, and has seen his minutes decrease in each of his three seasons. He's expected to take on a larger role this year as the lone remaining member of a well-regarded second unit that helped the Bulls to the league's best regular season record two years in a row. Though he scored only 7.7 PPG last season, his per-36-minutes point production was a career-high 13.6, and his PER has steadily climbed over his time in the league, reaching 16.9 last season.
Extension Rumors: Gibson, Casspi, Curry
This year's deadline for extension-eligible fourth-year players to sign new deals is just hours away, arriving at 11:00pm CT today. Blake Griffin, Serge Ibaka, and Ty Lawson came into the day as the only players with new contracts, while Stephen Curry reached an unexpected agreement with the Warriors this morning and James Harden agreed to a maximum deal with the Rockets this afternoon. Will we see any other extensions signed before the night is out? We'll track today's extension-related rumors and rumblings right here:
- Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago reports Taj Gibson is seeking a four-year extension worth $40MM while the Bulls are offering $32MM. Sam notes a $36MM figure in the middle would be equal to what fellow forwards Ryan Anderson and Jeff Green got over the summer, and less than the $10MM or more Sam believes Gibson could command as a restricted free agent next summer (All Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
Odds & Ends: Curry, Bulls, Richardson, Grizzlies
Despite indications this morning that the Nets/Knicks opener in Brooklyn tomorrow would proceed as planned, the game will be postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy, tweets Greg Anthony of CBS Sports and NBA TV. It's not clear yet whether the Knicks' Friday game at Madison Square Garden or the Nets' Saturday game in Brooklyn will be played. For now, however, it seems the debut of the Barclays Center will have to wait as the city continues to recover.
Here are a few more notes from around the league:
- Prior to reaching an agreement on a contract extension for Stephen Curry today, the Warriors and Curry had been discussing a deal with an annual salary ranging from $8.5-10MM, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Golden State upped its offer following Ty Lawson's four-year, $48MM deal with the Nuggets.
- The Bulls are monitoring the free agent market in anticipation of being able to add a minimum-salary contract later in November, says Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. Quentin Richardson is one player under consideration, according to Sam.
- The fact that the Bulls haven't been able to pair a second star with Derrick Rose yet hasn't been due to lack of trying, executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson said on ESPN 1000 Chicago (link via ESPNChicago.com).
- The Grizzlies never considered undergoing what GM Chris Wallace calls a "voluntary rebuild" this summer, writes Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
- One of the main lessons Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert learned from the LeBron James saga was not to let a star player leave in unrestricted free agency without getting anything back for him, according to an Associated Press report.
Odds & Ends: Curry, Gibson, Warriors, Thabeet
Stephen Curry didn't want extension talks to go down to the wire, but it appears that's the case, as Curry's comments to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle lead Simmons to conclude that agent Jeff Austin and Warriors GM Bob Myers continue to try to work out a deal (Sulia link). Since Curry left a preseason game after tweaking his ankle ten days ago, we've heard multiple reports suggesting a deal was unlikely. Nothing's final until tomorrow's 11:00pm Central time deadline, and with about 24 hours to go, there's news on another extension-eligible player among notes from the first night of the 2012/13 regular season.
- There's "growing speculation" the Bulls will let the deadline pass without signing Taj Gibson to an extension, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Andrew Bogut believes "a lot is riding on this year" for the Warriors, and Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group says much of that is riding on Bogut's shoulders. Fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Monte Poole goes the other way, suggesting Curry is the focal point of the team.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks has confidence in Hasheem Thabeet, and his performance in the preseason was one reason the team included Cole Aldrich in the trade, as John Rohde of The Oklahoman chronicles.
- The Bobcats are counting on offseason trade acquisition Ben Gordon to be their go-to scorer at the end of games, writes Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer.
- With a year still to go before his five-year max extension kicks in, the Clippers want to make sure Blake Griffin stays healthy for the long haul by incorporating more mid-range shooting into his arsenal, as Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News examines.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reportedly had to be talked into waiving Delonte West, and Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com notes the affection he has for the troubled guard (Twitter link).
- The James Harden trade has the Rockets thinking playoffs, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle documents.
Eastern Notes: Raptors, Wizards, Harkless
Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast hard, but it won't postpone Thursday's clash between the Knicks and Nets in Brooklyn, as had been feared. That's just one of many intriguing openers this week, including the Celtics' visit to Miami, where the Heat were presented with their championship rings. As the NBA tips off, we'll share some Eastern Conference news to go along with our update from the West earlier this evening.
- Raptors president and GM Bryan Colangelo admitted it's been difficult not to try to speed up his team's rebuilding process, as he tells Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. "We passed on multiple opportunities to bring in players via transactions that would have thwarted our efforts," Colangelo said. "At times, it was tempting. But we had to stick to the plan. There has had to be a patience and strategy to every decision we’ve made. The deals we could have made were more of a tonic than a long-term solution."
- Colangelo also shared his feelings about rookie Jonas Valanciunas, saying, "It’s become apparent that in order for us (to get better) Jonas needs to be thrown into the fire. The sooner he develops into a nightly contributor, the sooner we get closer to our goal.”
- Wizards coach Randy Wittman said injuries to John Wall and Nene Hilario influenced the team's decision to keep Jannero Pargo and Earl Barron over Shelvin Mack and Brian Cook, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel believes the Magic should give rookie Maurice Harkless significant playing time this season so they can figure out whether the 19-year-old small forward is a building block for the future.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com notes via Twitter that every player in the three-team trade that brought Courtney Lee to the Celtics has been waived except Lee and Sasha Pavlovic, whose presence on the Blazers roster is helped along by the fact the Celtics are paying his salary.
- Carlos Boozer's five-year, $75MM contract obscures the valuable production he brings to the Bulls, argues Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com.
- Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer saw lots of positives about the Cavs' youth movement in the team's opening-night win against the Wizards.
Central Rumors: Jennings, Bulls, Gibson, Pacers
The 2012/13 season is now under way, as the Cavaliers and Wizards have tipped off in Cleveland. Even as we celebrate the start of a new season, there are a few offseason matters still to be resolved, with decisions on rookie-scale extensions chief among them. There's news on a couple of Central Division players up for those extensions this evening, along with other a few other notes of interest.
- Knowing other teams can't backload an offer to Taj Gibson in restricted free agency the same way the Rockets did with Omer Asik this past summer, the Bulls are holding firm on their four-year extension offer of $30-32MM to Gibson, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports. Still, the two sides have made progress in talks that Gibson characterized as positive, Johnson adds.
Earlier updates:
- The odds of an extension for Brandon Jennings are "more none than slim," according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link). Last we heard, Jennings was reportedly seeking a deal worth $9-10MM from the Bucks.
- The success of the past two seasons gave Bulls GM Gar Forman and vice president John Paxson leeway as the team regressed the summer in the wake of Derrick Rose's injury, but the executives will ultimately be judged by whether they find another star to complement their former MVP point guard, David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune believes.
- In the same piece, Haugh notes that Forman doesn't anticipate losing Taj Gibson in restricted free agency if the Bulls don't sign him to an extension before tomorrow's 11pm Central time deadline.
- Despite last season's success, few pundits are predicting another step forward for the Pacers, who are still approaching this year with the mentality of an underdog, writes Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star.
- Anderson Varejao's name has come up in several trade rumors over the past several months, but Zach Lowe of Grantland.com opines that he's just the sort of players the Cavs should want around their younger guys (Twitter link).
- Cavs owner Dan Gilbert regrets guaranteeing his team would win a championship before LeBron James, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal notes (Sulia link).
When Non-Guaranteed Deals Become Guaranteed
With the dust having settled on preseason cuts, NBA teams have eliminated most players on summer contracts and non-guaranteed deals from their rosters. However, there are still plenty of players on non-guaranteed contracts who made their respective teams' regular season rosters. Does that means their contracts are now guaranteed for the season? Well, in most cases, no.
In order for most non-guaranteed contracts to become fully guaranteed for the season, the player must remain on an NBA roster until January 10th. If the player's contract doesn't clear waivers on or before the 10th, his full salary will become guaranteed for the season. Until that date, he'll receive either a prorated portion of his salary, or some other previously-agreed-upon set amount.
However, there are a handful of players whose contracts will become guaranteed before that January 10th date. E'Twaun Moore's minimum-salary deal with the Magic, for instance, stipulates that his contract will become guaranteed if he's not waived by October 30th, which means he looks to be pretty safe.
Per Mark Deeks of ShamSports, here are the other players on non-guaranteed contracts who will see their deals become fully guaranteed prior to January 10th:
- Julyan Stone (Nuggets): October 31st*
- DeJuan Blair (Spurs): November 1st
- P.J. Tucker (Suns): December 1st*
- Cory Higgins (Bobcats): December 10th
- Nate Robinson (Bulls): January 1st
Notes: Stone's contract becomes guaranteed if he's not waived by "opening night," which is assumed to be the Nuggets' opening night, rather than the NBA's opening night. Tucker's guarantee increases to $400K as of opening night before becoming fully guaranteed on December 1st.