CBA Pact Close, One-And-Done Rule Stays
The NBA and the Players’ Association moved closer to a deal on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement during a meeting on Wednesday with most major items agreed upon, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The controversial “one-and-done” draft rule, in which players must be one year removed from high school to be draft eligible, will remain in place. The league retreated on its desire to revise the draft rule to two years after a player graduated high school, Wojnarowski adds.
The pact will be a seven-year deal, according to sports business expert Scott Soshnick (Twitter link).
The encouraging pace of the negotiations has been the biggest story during this NBA preseason. Both sides are trying to avert the December 15 deadline, when either the owners or players could opt out of the current agreement.
The owners and players believe a finalized deal is inevitable in the next few weeks, league sources told Wojnarowski. The NBPA is eager to sell the rank-and-file on the terms of a deal, which needs to be ratified, Wojnarowski adds.
Among the other details that league sources told Wojnarowski:
- The NBA will change the 36-and-over rule that now prohibits players from signing a five-year maximum contract if their 36th birthday occurs within the life of the deal. The NBA and union have tentatively agreed to change the rule to over 38.
- The league will raise rookie-scale, veteran minimum and free-agent exception deals in the 50 percent range over current numbers.
- Two-way contracts between the NBA and the D-League will offer teams the chance to add 16th and 17th roster spots, and pay players differently based upon their assignments in either the league’s minor league or as part of the parent club.
- The NBA and NBPA’s Basketball Related Income (BRI) split will be unchanged.
That’s not surprising, given that the Associated Press reported earlier this month that the BRI would remain in the 49 to 51 percent range. Taking care of retired players is a priority, Cavs superstar LeBron James told the AP recently, and the agreement will include new league-funded programs to help retired players with education and medical expenses. In exchange for those programs, and pending full approval from both sides, the BRI split would remain the same.
Grizzlies Waive Duo, Sign Costello, Dunham
The Grizzlies waived guard Chris Crawford and forward Vince Hunter on Thursday, according to the team’s website. The team then signed center Matt Costello and shooting guard Kellen Dunham, according to a separate press release. The moves leave the Grizzlies’ training-camp roster at 20 players.
Costello was waived by the Hawks on Monday. The undrafted rookie out of Michigan State averaged 4.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 9.0 minutes during his two preseason appearances with Atlanta.
Dunham played for the Grizzlies’ summer-league team in Las Vegas, making four reserve appearances while averaging 2.0 points and 1.0 rebounds in 8.9 minutes. He also went undrafted in June after a four-year collegiate career at Butler.
Crawford signed a non-guaranteed contract just before training camp. He has appeared in 64 games for the D-League’s Canton Charge since going undrafted in 2014, and has also spent some time in France with Rouen Métropole Basket. In four preseason appearances, he averaged 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 16.3 minutes.
Hunter was signed 11 days ago after being waived by the Bulls. GM Chris Wallace said when Hunter was signed that the club needed frontcourt depth during the preseason to limit the minutes of his rotation players. In four preseason games, Hunter averaged 8.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 19.4 minutes. He spent last season with the Kings’ D-League affiliate in Reno, as well as Panathinaikos in the Greek League.
Hawks Waive Point Guard Jarrett Jack
The Hawks waived veteran point guard Jarrett Jack on Thursday, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The move was injury related, as Jack has not practiced during training camp because of his continuing recovery from torn right knee ligaments, which he suffered in January while playing for the Nets. The move reduces the Hawks’ current roster to 17 players.
Atlanta was hoping Jack would provide insurance behind new starting point man Dennis Schroder. Jack signed a one-year, veteran minimum contract in July after being waived the Nets. The Hawks will have to eat Jack’s $980,431 deal, which was guaranteed.
Malcolm Delaney, who played the last five seasons in Europe, is Schroder’s current backup and the Hawks still have Will Bynum and Josh Magette on their roster. The Hawks might still cut the latter duo loose and enter the season with just two point guards, Vivlamore continues.
Jack had been looking forward to a “new start” in Atlanta after playing in just 32 games for the Nets last season. It’s been a steep fall for Jack, who came into last season as a starter. He was averaged 12.8 points and 7.4 assists prior to the injury.
Celtics Waive Three Camp Invitees
The Celtics have reduced their roster from the maximum 20 players to 17, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve waived Marcus Georges-Hunt, Damion Lee, and Jalen Jones. The team will have to remove at least two more players from its roster by opening night to get down to the regular season limit of 15.
While Boston has some tough roster decisions ahead, Georges-Hunt, Lee, and Jones were always expected to be cut before the regular season. Their contracts weren’t fully guaranteed, with Lee getting a $50K guarantee, while Georges-Hunt and Jones got $25K apiece. All three players are candidates to join the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ D-League affiliate.
With their roster down to 17, the Celtics still appear likely to cut second-round pick Ben Bentil before the season, and either James Young or R.J. Hunter – each of whom has a guaranteed 2016/17 salary – could join him on the waiver wire. GM Danny Ainge is also likely exploring the trade market in an effort to get something of value for one of his back-of-the-roster players, so it will be interesting to see what moves Boston ends up making in the next several days.
Pistons Pick Up Stanley Johnson’s 2017/18 Option
The Pistons have become the latest team to exercise a team option for 2017/18, having picked up the third-year option on Stanley Johnson‘s rookie contract, the club announced today in a press release. The move, which was due before October 31, guarantees Johnson’s $3.098MM salary for ’17/18.
Johnson, the eighth overall pick in last year’s draft, averaged 23.1 minutes per contest in 73 games for the Pistons during his rookie season, contributing 8.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.6 APG. While those numbers aren’t exactly eye-popping, they came in Johnson’s age-19 season, making it a no-brainer decision for Detroit to pick up his option for 2017/18.
The Pistons will have one more option decision due on Johnson next October, and assuming they exercise his 2018/19 option as well, the young forward will be extension-eligible in 2018. He’d be on track for restricted free agency in the summer of 2019.
Check out our rookie-scale team option tracker for a full breakdown of the decisions announced or reported so far.
Warriors Make Three Cuts, Retain JaVale McGee
JaVale McGee appears to have earned a spot on the Warriors’ regular season roster, having survived the cut down to 15 players. Golden State announced three cuts today, tweeting that the team has parted ways with Elliot Williams, Phil Pressey, and Cameron Jones. The moves reduce the club’s roster count from 18 players to the regular season limit of 15.
Unlike McGee, whose deal with the Warriors is fully non-guaranteed, Williams, Pressey, and Jones all had partial guarantees on their contracts. Pressey’s $35K guarantee and Jones’ $50K guarantee were modest, and suggest they could end up landing with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the D-League. However, Williams, a veteran guard, got $250K guaranteed and was no lock to be cut.
With 14 players on guaranteed salaries, the Warriors have a little flexibility with that 15th roster spot. McGee’s salary for the season won’t become fully guaranteed until January 10, so the club could cut him before then and only be on the hook for a prorated portion of his contract. For now though, it seems the Dubs will hang onto the eight-year veteran and give him a chance to compete for minutes.
You can check out the Warriors’ full cap breakdown for 2016/17 right here.
Cavs Waive Markel Brown, Cory Jefferson, Jonathan Holmes
The Cavaliers have cut down the numbers of players on their roster from 20 to 17, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has waived shooting guard Markel Brown, power forward Cory Jefferson, and power forward Jonathan Holmes. The Cavs confirmed the moves in a press release.
Brown, Jefferson, and Holmes each signed a one-year summer contract with the Cavaliers heading into training camp this year, with none of the three players receiving any guaranteed money from the team. Cleveland only has 13 guaranteed salaries on its books for 2016/17, so there’s a roster spot or two available for a player without a fully guaranteed deal, but it was always going to be an uphill battle for Brown, Jefferson, or Holmes to make the cut.
While Holmes has never appeared in a regular season NBA game, Brown and Jefferson have seen some action over the last two seasons, and were teammates in Brooklyn in 2014/15. Brown is the slightly more accomplished player of the pair, having appeared in 109 games to Jefferson’s 58. Brown averaged 5.9 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.5 APG in those games.
With at least two more cuts to make, the Cavs will be making decisions on players like John Holland, Jordan McRae, Dahntay Jones, and DeAndre Liggins within the next few days.
Here’s more out of Cleveland:
- Within an interesting piece on Kevin Love, Lee Jenkins of SI.com writes that Cavs GM David Griffin told Love in February that he didn’t want to trade him, but would understand if the big man wanted to go somewhere where he could be the primary option again. According to Jenkins, Love replied, “I want to be a champion.”
- James Jones, who re-signed with the Cavaliers this summer, tells Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders he’s focused on playing 15 years in the NBA, then retiring. Jones is currently entering his 14th season, so that plan would put him on track to call it a career in 2018.
Hornets Waive Andrew Andrews
The Hornets have waived Andrew Andrews from their preseason roster, league sources tell Oliver Maroney of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The transaction reduces Charlotte’s roster count to 18 players, meaning the team still needs to make at least three more cuts before the regular season gets underway.
Andrews, 23, is a 6’2″ point guard who played four years at the University of Washington. As a senior, he averaged 20.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 34 games with the Huskies, but went undrafted in June before later securing a training camp invitation from the Hornets.
Andrews didn’t get any guaranteed money on his one-year, minimum-salary pact, so Charlotte won’t carry a cap hit after waiving him. The Washington alum looks like a good bet to join the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ D-League affiliate.
The Hornets, meanwhile, still have five players on their roster without fully guaranteed salaries, but will only need to waive three of those players to get down to the 15-man regular-season roster limit. Aaron Harrison, Perry Ellis, Rasheed Sulaimon, Mike Tobey, and Treveon Graham are the players on the bubble — Tobey and Graham have $75K guarantees, while the others are on non-guaranteed deals.
Jazz Waive Henry Sims
The Jazz have gotten one step closer to finalizing their regular-season roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived center Henry Sims. The deal Sims signed with Utah included a partial guarantee of $75K, which will remain on the team’s cap. The rest of his salary was non-guaranteed.
Sims is the fourth player cut within the last week by the Jazz, who have reduced their roster from 20 players to 16. Having waived Sims, Eric Dawson, Quincy Ford, and Marcus Paige, Utah now has to remove one more player from its roster before opening night in order to reach the regular-season limit of 15 players.
Although there are two players left on the Jazz’s roster with non-guaranteed salaries, one of those two, Jeff Withey, has long appeared to be a good bet to make the team. That leaves Chris Johnson as the most likely candidate to be the odd man out in Utah.
As for Sims, he saw a little NBA action in 2015/16 with the Nets, but spent most of the season with the D-League’s Grand Rapids Drive, recording 15.7 PPG and 8.9 RPG in 40 games. As Chris Reichert of Upside and Motor tweets, Sims’ D-League rights are currently held by Utah’s affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, so he’ll probably land with that squad, assuming he clears waivers.
Thunder Waive Reggie Williams
The Thunder have waived Reggie Williams, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Williams signed with OKC on Tuesday and $50K of his minimum salary arrangement was guaranteed. It’s possible that Williams will play for the team’s D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders speculates on Twitter.
Williams last played in the NBA in 2015, where he latched onto the Spurs during the middle of the season. He previously played with the Thunder, signing a 10-day contract with the team during the 2013/14 campaign. The forward only saw a total of 17 minutes of action and OKC didn’t re-sign him once the deal expired.
The Thunder entered the day with 20 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource shows. They will have to make at least four more cuts to set its opening night roster.