Arron Afflalo, Derrick Williams To Opt Out
Arron Afflalo will turn down his player option with the Knicks for the 2016/17 season, opting to explore the free agent market in July, reports Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops and The Associated Press (Twitter link). Afflalo’s decision on his player option had been due this Wednesday.
[RELATED: Player option decisions for 2016/17]
By opting out, Afflalo will forfeit an $8MM salary for the coming season, under the assumption that he’ll be able to land a bigger deal on the open market. While there’s a possibility he’ll return to New York, plenty of teams around the NBA will have cap room and could target the veteran shooting guard as a more affordable alternative to the players who will earn max deals.
Afflalo, 30, signed with the Knicks last summer as a free agent, and averaged 33.4 minutes in 71 regular season contests for the team. Most of his averages for the 2016/17 season, including 12.8 PPG, a .443 FG%, and a .382 3PT%, were very similar to his career marks.
Even before Afflalo made his decision, the Knicks had been prioritizing backcourt additions this offseason. The club had been preparing for Afflalo to test the market, with new head coach Jeff Hornacek suggesting earlier this month that he expected the former UCLA standout to “see what’s out there.”
Meanwhile, Derrick Williams, who has a $4.598MM player option for 2016/17 and whose decision was also due by tomorrow, will also opt out of his contract, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The former second overall pick had arguably his best NBA season in 2015/16, setting career highs in points per 36 minutes (18.7), field goal percentage (.450), and a few other categories, as a part-time contributor for the Knicks.
With Afflalo and Williams no longer on the books for next season, the Knicks now have $56MM+ committed to seven players, not taking into account qualifying offers or cap holds for pending free agents. The salary cap is projected to land in the $94MM range.
Caron Butler Exercises Player Option With Kings
Veteran small forward Caron Butler has exercised his player option for the 2016/17 season, locking in his contract with the Kings for one more year, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). The option is worth $1,551,659.
[RELATED: Offseason Outlook: Sacramento Kings]
As our list of player option decisions for this year shows, Butler is only the second player who has decided to pick up his option rather than testing the free agent market, joining Cavaliers guard Mo Williams. Considering Butler’s option is only worth the minimum salary, it’s a little surprising he would opt in, but perhaps he figured he’s better off taking that guaranteed money rather than trying to find another team willing to sign him for the minimum.
Butler, who initially entered the NBA as the 10th overall pick in the 2002 draft, barely saw the floor during the 2015/16 season, playing a total of 176 minutes in 17 games for the Kings. Although he was briefly nagged by an ankle problem early in the year, his absences from games were primarily the result of DNP-CDs.
Sacramento reportedly tried to find a trade partner during the season to give Butler an opportunity to play more elsewhere, but ultimately kept him on the roster. The team may again attempt to include the 36-year-old in a deal this offseason — moving his minimum salary shouldn’t be too difficult, assuming there are any teams with interest.
With Butler’s minimum contract now on the books for the 2016/17 season, the Kings are carrying nearly $63MM in guaranteed salary, which doesn’t include the cap hold for their first-round pick. The salary cap is projected to increase to about $94MM.
Pistons Acquire Cameron Bairstow
The Pistons have agreed to a trade with the Bulls that sends power forward Cameron Bairstow to Detroit in exchange for combo guard Spencer Dinwiddie, the team announced. The deal is official, per the press release. Chicago has confirmed the trade with a press release of its own.
Bairstow, 25, appeared in 18 games with Chicago last season, averaging 1.9 points, 1.6 rebounds in 5.7 minutes per outing. The two-year veteran was drafted out of the New Mexico with the No. 49 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. As a senior for the Lobos, he averaged a Mountain West Conference-high 20.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 32.9 minutes in 34 games. Bairstow holds career averages of 1.2 points, 1.0 rebounds and 4.6 minutes in 36 NBA games with the Bulls. His 2016/17 salary of $980,431 is non-guaranteed.
Dinwiddie, 23, completed his second NBA season with averages of 4.8 points, 1.8 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 13.3 minutes over 12 contests. He was drafted by the Pistons with the No. 38 overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft. Dinwiddie owns career averages of 4.4 points, 2.7 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 13.3 minutes in NBA 46 games. The player is also set to earn $980,431 next season, an amount that is non-guaranteed.
J.R. Smith Won’t Exercise Player Option
June 16th could be the last day of the Cavaliers’ season, but it also represents a key date for Cleveland guard J.R. Smith for another reason — it’s the deadline for Smith to pick up his player option. And according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, Smith will let that deadline pass without exercising his option, putting him on track for free agency in July.
[RELATED: Player option decisions for 2016/17]
Given the key role he has played for the Eastern Conference champs this season, and the relatively modest salary on his 2016/17 option, it’s not too surprising that Smith will turn it down. Had he exercised it, the 30-year-old would only have initially been guaranteed $2.2MM of his $5.375MM salary — the rest would have become guaranteed in September.
Opting out of his contract will allow Smith to explore the market for more sizeable offers, or to re-up with Cleveland at a higher rate. The Cavaliers hold Smith’s Bird rights, so cap space won’t be an issue if the team wants to re-sign him, and for his part, it sounds like the ex-Knick is happy in Cleveland. “This is where I want to be,” Smith told Haynes. “The fans love me; I love them and my teammates.”
In his first full season as a Cavalier, Smith averaged a career-high 6.6 three-point attempts per game and made 40% of them, the second-best mark of his 12-year NBA career. He has improved upon those numbers in the postseason, with a .444 3PT% on seven attempts per game from beyond the arc.
Smith is one of three Cavs veterans with decisions to make on player options this summer. Mo Williams reportedly intends to opt in, while LeBron James‘ decision has yet to be reported or announced.
Nando De Colo Signs Extension With CSKA Moscow
Former NBA second-rounder Nando De Colo, who was on track for free agency this summer, won’t be making his return stateside after all. CSKA Moscow announced today that De Colo has signed a three-year extension to remain with the team that he helped lead to a Euroleague title this past season.
“I am very happy to continue playing for CSKA,” De Colo said in a statement. “It wasn’t a tough decision to take. I came back to Europe to play, to use the opportunities and carry more responsibility day-by-day. This is what I did, what I had here with the club. This year we had an amazing season. And this is what I want: to play, to do it for the best team in Europe and to be one of the leaders of this team. This is what is the most important for me, this is why I signed with CSKA.”
Based on De Colo’s statement, it’s not hard to see why he opted to remain in Moscow rather than returning to the NBA. In his current role, the 28-year-old is a star player, having earned the Euroleague’s and VTB United League’s MVP awards last season. If he returned to the NBA, De Colo would have been more of a role player — in his two seasons in the league from 2012 to 2014, he averaged just 3.8 points and 1.7 assists per contest in 119 games (11.9 MPG).
De Colo’s NBA rights are still held by the Raptors, with whom he finished the 2013/14 season. If he does return to the league, he’d be eligible for restricted free agency. However, had De Colo sought an NBA contract this year, Toronto probably wouldn’t have fought too hard to hang onto him, considering the club is set at the point guard spot with Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, and 2015 first-rounder Delon Wright.
Cavaliers’ Mo Williams To Pick Up Option
Veteran Cavaliers point guard Mo Williams will pick up his option for 2016/17, reports Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group. Williams will receive $2.2MM for next season, the last of a two-year, $4.3MM contract he signed with Cleveland last summer.
Williams faces a Thursday deadline to opt out and test the free agent market. Haynes writes that the Cavaliers have been notified that he intends to bypass that option.
Williams appeared in 41 games with the Cavaliers this season, averaging 8.2 points per night while shooting 35% from 3-point range. Physical problems involving inflammation of the cartilage under his left kneecap limited Williams’ availability. Next season will be his 15th in the NBA.
David West To Opt Out Of Contract
David West will turn down his player option with the Spurs for the 2016/17 season, making him an unrestricted free agent next month, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The option would have been worth $1,551,659, the minimum amount allowed for a player with West’s NBA experience.
[RELATED: Player option decisions for 2016/17]
According to Charania, West will “evaluate [his] playing future” after opting out of his contract. That wording suggests that retirement may be one option considered by the 35-year-old forward, who has 13 NBA seasons under his belt. Assuming he does want to continue his career, the Xavier alum may also re-evaluate his priorities in free agency, after taking a huge pay cut to join the Spurs a year ago.
West, who spent four seasons with the Pacers before signing with the Spurs last summer, played just 18 minutes per game for San Antonio, his lowest mark since his rookie year in 2003/04. He was still fairly effective in that limited role, however, recording a career-best .545 FG%.
West is one of three Spurs veterans facing decisions on player options and possible retirement this offseason — the other two, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, are among the franchise’s all-time greatest players. Duncan and Ginobili have yet to make announcements regarding their decisions on player options for 2016/17, but both players are viewed as candidates to call it a career.
Pistons Sign GM Jeff Bower To Extension
MONDAY, 9:27am: The Pistons have officially announced their new deal with Bower.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the job Jeff has done for our organization,” Van Gundy said in a press release. “He’s been at the forefront of all the moves we’ve made over the last two seasons and has implemented much of the strategy and structure throughout our basketball operations department. The confidence I have in his ability allows me to go out and coach during the season knowing that he’s always looking to make our team better.”
SUNDAY, 11:25 am: The extension is for one year, meaning that Bower is under contract until June 30, 2018, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets.
10:55 am: The Pistons have reached a multiyear contract extension with GM Jeff Bower, league sources told The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Bower has been Stan Van Gundy‘s right-hand man since Van Gundy was named head coach and president of basketball operations in the summer of 2014. Bower was entering the final year of a three-year contract.
Bower, 55, has negotiated several trades that have transformed the Pistons’ roster, including the acquisitions of forwards Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris and point guard Reggie Jackson. The Pistons made the Eastern Conference playoffs as the N0. 8 seed after a six-year absence and lost to the Cavaliers in the first round.
Bower was the GM for the New Orleans Hornets from 2001-03 and 2005-10, and was the head coach of Marist College from 2013-14 before Van Gundy hired him. Van Gundy has deflected credit for the team’s deals to Bower and other members of the front office, indicating that he simply rubber stamps or nixes the trade proposals that Bower and his staff negotiate.
Van Gundy praised Bower’s roster-building skills in an interview with Detroit Free Press columnist Jeff Seidel this spring.
“I think that’s where Jeff Bower is really at his best,” Van Gundy told Seidel. “It’s not just one big splash. He really understands how to put a team together. I think we have a lot of good people in our organization, but he is the one who has run a team before, and he is a guy who understands team building and how to put it together.”
Bucks To Sign Ronald Roberts
The Bucks have reached an agreement with D-League standout Ronald Roberts, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. The 6’8″ power forward averaged 18.1 points and 12.1 rebounds last season with Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate in the D-League.
Roberts, 24, went undrafted out of St. Joseph’s in 2014. He signed contracts with the Sixers and Raptors, but was waived by both teams and has yet to appear in an NBA game.
Roberts is recovering from a patellar tendon strain in his right knee that cut short his 2015/16 season. He is an undersized power forward with a reputation as a relentless rebounder, and Woelfel writes that several teams were interested in signing him. The Bucks plan to use Roberts on their summer league team.
Raptors, Dwane Casey Agree To Extension
The Raptors have agreed to a new three-year extension with head coach Dwane Casey, the team officially announced today in a press release. The agreement was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowksi of The Vertical, who noted that the Raptors and Casey “essentially tore up” the remaining year on his previous contract, so the new three-year deal only runs through 2019, rather than 2020.
While at least one report indicated that Casey’s job would have been in jeopardy if the Raptors hadn’t defeated the Pacers in the first round of this year’s playoffs, Toronto ultimately squeezed past Indiana in seven games and did the same against Miami in the second round. The Raptors then became the only team so far to win a game against the Cavs in this year’s postseason, ultimately falling to Cleveland in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
On the heels of that playoff run – the most successful in Raptors history – reports surfaced indicating that the team would offer Casey an extension, which GM Masai Ujiri later confirmed. ESPN’s Marc Stein suggested that there was optimism in Toronto about Casey’s new deal getting done by the end of last week.
A longtime assistant coach in Seattle and Dallas, Casey also had a brief stint as the Timberwolves’ head coach before he was hired as the Raptors’ coach for the 2011/12 season. Toronto has increased its win total every year since Casey arrived, going from 23 wins in 2011/12 to a franchise-record 56 this year. Overall, in his five seasons as the Raptors’ head coach, Casey has a 210-184 regular-season record, three playoff appearances, and a 13-18 postseason mark.
Casey’s three-year contract will be worth $18MM, according to Wojnarowski. Prior to the agreement, Stein had wrote that Casey’s deal figured to be similar to the one Terry Stotts received from the Trail Blazers after their playoff run. Stotts, who also had a year left on his contract, agreed to a three-year extension worth approximately $5.5MM per season.
Dave Zarum of Sportsnet.ca first reported that the Raptors and Casey were closing in on an extension agreement.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.