Steve Blake Opts In With Blazers
Steve Blake has exercised his player option worth $2,170,465 for the 2015/16 season to return to the Trail Blazers, the team has announced (Twitter link). The move doesn’t come as a surprise since Blake had indicated back in February that he intended to opt in, and that he was hoping to play another “year or two” after next season. “I’ve thought about it for sure,” said Blake of retirement. “I know I’m in the back stretch, that’s why it’s so important for us to be so good. I want a championship really bad and I’m hoping we can get to that level. I only have a few years left to try and get it.”
The return of Blake next season won’t significantly impact the Blazers’ salary cap situation, with the team now having a total of $25,243,542 in guaranteed salary committed for 2015/16. Of course, that amount doesn’t factor in pending free agents LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews, both of whom the team hopes to retain.
The 35-year-old appeared in 81 contests for the Blazers last season, averaging 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 18.9 minutes per night. His slash line was .373/.352/.707. For his career, Blake has played in a total of 812 contests, notching career averages of 6.7 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 4.0 APG. His career shooting numbers are .401/.385/.778.
Aaron Gray Retires
Aaron Gray is retiring because of the heart ailment that knocked him out of action this past season, the 30-year-old center tells Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). He’ll join coach/executive Stan Van Gundy‘s staff, Ellis adds, and while it’s unclear whether that means he’ll be an assistant coach, that’s the role in which he served in an unofficial capacity this year. The Pistons released his playing rights in October soon after signing him to a two-year deal for the minimum last summer, using the stretch provision to spread the salary for the second year of that contract over the next three seasons.
This past season was the first in which the 49th overall pick from the 2007 draft didn’t play in the NBA since his days at the University of Pittsburgh. Gray spent time with the Bulls, Pelicans, Raptors and Kings before signing with the Pistons last summer, peaking with 40 starts for Toronto during the 66-game lockout-shortened 2011/12 season. He nonetheless averaged only 3.9 points and 5.7 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game that year. The 7-footer put up 3.4 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 12.1 MPG across 318 games in his seven-year NBA career.
The Andy Miller client was a more noteworthy contributor on defense, compiling a positive number in Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Box Plus/Minus metric for each season of his NBA career. Gray earned more than $13.518MM in his NBA career, according to Basketball-Reference and Basketball Insiders data.
Eric Gordon Opts In With Pelicans
THURSDAY, 4:48pm: The Pelicans have officially announced that Gordon has opted in for next season.
WEDNESDAY, 7:50pm: Eric Gordon has decided to exercise his player option for the 2015/16 season and return to the Pelicans, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The move was widely anticipated, as Gordon would likely have had a difficult time topping the $15,514,031 he is scheduled to make next season on any new deal. This sets up Gordon to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and a strong 2015/16 campaign could serve to inflate his value just in time for the salary cap to increase courtesy of the league’s new television deal kicking in. John Reid of The Times Picayune had previously reported that Gordon was likely to opt in.
Besides the obvious payday associated with opting in, Gordon will also have the opportunity to play for Alvin Gentry, who was coach of the Suns when Gordon signed Phoenix’s offer sheet back in 2012, which New Orleans matched, and Gordon is still fond of Gentry, according to Reid. Gentry is known for his offensive expertise, and Gordon could become revitalized in an up-tempo attack. The negative regarding Gordon opting in, is that it defeats any chance that New Orleans had to open max-level cap room for next season without making significant salary clearing trades. New Orleans now has more than $56MM in guaranteed salary committed against a projected $67.1MM cap for next season, which includes Gordon’s option amount.
Gordon appeared in 61 contests for the Pelicans last season, averaging 13.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 33.1 minutes per game. His career numbers are 16.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per night. His career slash line is .437/.383/.809.
Jeff Green Opts In With Grizzlies
3:03pm: Green has indeed opted in, the team announced via press release.
12:01pm: Jeff Green is picking up his player option worth $9.2MM to stay with the Grizzlies for next season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The move is a key decision for Memphis, as it would lift the team to about $47MM in guaranteed salary commitments for next season, likely closing off any possibility for the team to open cap space if it re-signs Marc Gasol.
The working assumption in Memphis had been that Green would opt in, though the presence of skilled agent David Falk made that less than a foregone conclusion, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote a month ago. Green came to the Grizzlies from Boston in a mid-January trade, though he didn’t have a game-changing impact and at one point during the regular season brought up the idea of moving to the Memphis bench. He nonetheless appeared as a starter for all but eight of his 45 regular season games in a Grizzlies uniform, but coach Dave Joerger used him chiefly off the bench in the playoffs.
The Celtics apparently traded Green in part because they were worried that he would opt out. It’s unclear whether he would have been more likely to opt out if he had stayed with the Celtics, though staying in Memphis does give him a better shot at winning than staying in Boston likely would have. In any case, Green will have another decision to make next summer when his contract expires.
Assuming Green officially opts in, the Grizzlies will likely have only the $5.434MM mid-level exception to use to sign free agents for more than the minimum salary if Gasol returns, since they used their biannual exception on Beno Udrih last year. I looked at that and other issues when I examined the offseason ahead for Memphis.
Danny Granger Opts In With Suns
7:09pm: The Suns have officially announced that Granger has indeed opted in for next season.
3:21pm: Suns forward Danny Granger has picked up his player option worth $2,170,465 for the 2015/16 season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). This means that the Creative Artists Agency client, represented by Aaron Mintz, will be eligible to hit unrestricted free agency during the summer of 2016. Granger, who was acquired by Phoenix from the Heat at this season’s trade deadline, has been working with the team’s athletic training staff to overcome health issues associated with his twice-surgically repaired left knee.
The return of Granger now gives the Suns a total of nine players with fully guaranteed deals for next season, and ten players under contract overall including Jerel McNeal‘s non-guaranteed pact. Phoenix now has $42,209,043 in guaranteed money on the books for 2014/15. The franchise also has to make a decision on Brandon Knight, who is eligible to become a restricted free agent, provided that the Suns tender him a qualifying offer worth $4,790,680.
Granger reportedly contemplated retirement after undergoing knee surgery when he was with the Pacers in 2013. But Phoenix’s stellar medical team has him convinced that he can be “fixed,” and return to being a productive player. The 32-year-old did not log a single minute of action for the Suns this season after arriving in Phoenix. He had previously appeared in 30 contests for Miami, averaging 6.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.6 assists in 20.4 minutes per game. His career stats are 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. His career slash line is .434/.380/.848.
Gerald Henderson Opts In With Hornets
Gerald Henderson has picked up his $6MM player option for next season to stay with the Hornets, the team announced. The move means the Wasserman Media Group client will enter free agency next summer instead of this year, as the coming season is the last on a three-year, $18MM deal that the swingman signed with the team in 2013.
It’s the second time this week that a member of the Hornets exercised a player option. Al Jefferson officially did so Monday, the same day the team traded Lance Stephenson to the Clippers for Spencer Hawes and Matt Barnes. This week’s moves, including Henderson’s decision, have lifted the team’s guaranteed salary for next season from about $46.2MM to approximately $63.8MM, making it likely the team stays above the projected $67.1MM cap for 2015/16.
Henderson started 72 games this past season, in part because Stephenson failed to become the mainstay that Charlotte hoped he’d be. The 27-year-old Henderson nonetheless averaged fewer minutes, points and shots per game than in any of the four seasons since he became a full-time starter for the team.
Hornets Likely To Waive Matt Barnes?
8:49pm: Hornets GM Rich Cho specifically mentions Barnes in the club’s official announcement of the trade, praising the forward’s extensive experience in the league. While the kind words certainly don’t serve as evidence that Charlotte intends to retain Barnes, they do indicate there’s at least a chance he isn’t waived.
8:13pm: The Hornets are likely to waive Matt Barnes after the team’s deal to acquire him from the Clippers becomes official, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Barnes is poised to go, at least temporarily, to Charlotte as part of the Lance Stephenson trade agreement, but it appears as though the Hornets prefer to cash in on the savings they’d reap if they release Barnes on or before July 1st. His salary is partially guaranteed for $1MM through that date, but is fully guaranteed for almost $3.543MM after, as Wojnarowski notes (Twitter link).
The trade agreement itself means a net addition of $86K to Charlotte’s ledger for 2015/16, but if the team releases Barnes by that July 1st guarantee date, the two moves put together would take $2.457MM off of Charlotte’s cap for next season. The Hornets would still be hard-pressed to open cap space, with Al Jefferson opting in and Gerald Henderson having $6MM reasons to do so himself. Still, it would give the team additional flexibility to make other deals and spend the full $5.464MM mid-level exception.
Barnes enjoyed his most productive sustained stretch the past three seasons with the Clippers, averaging 10.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 27.7 minutes per game. He started a career-high 74 games for L.A. this past season, but he’d have a tough time starting in front of former No. 2 overall pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in Charlotte.
Clippers Acquire Lance Stephenson
8:34pm: The move is official, the Clippers and Hornets have announced.
8:19pm: The NBA has approved of the deal, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, although neither team has yet to officially announce the transaction (Twitter link).
7:22pm: The teams have agreed to the trade, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. The trade is on track to be completed as early as tonight, Stein also tweets. The deal would make Stephenson a Clipper in exchange for Hawes and Barnes. The move indicates that Rivers believes DeAndre Jordan will return to the team, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweets. The Clippers lost confidence in Hawes, and Rivers was never high on Barnes, Markazi also tweets.
6:25pm: It’s Doc Rivers‘ call now, as the Hornets are ready to move forward with the deal, tweets Bonnell, who cites multiple sources.
5:45pm: A decision on the potential deal is expected within the next 48 hours, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com tweets. While the Hornets are ready to pull the trigger, the Clippers are still deliberating, according to Broussard.
5:30pm: The idea goes back to the trade deadline, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. It’s unclear whether that’s a reference to Wojnarowski’s report about the Clippers scouting Stephenson around that time or if the clubs were indeed talking as far back as February.
5:05pm: The Clippers and Hornets are discussing a trade proposal that would send Lance Stephenson to Los Angeles for Spencer Hawes and Matt Barnes, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The conversation has been ongoing for several days, but no deal is imminent, Wojnarowski cautions. Such a trade would provide the Hornets a chance to escape from their contract with Stephenson, though it would give Charlotte relatively little in return. Stephenson would afford the Clippers the sort of depth and upgrade on the wing that their playoff collapse against the Rockets exposed as a need, providing he returns to the form he displayed with the Pacers, as Wojnarowski notes.
The salaries would match nearly perfectly, whether or not the Clippers and Hornets swap those players this month or in July, when next season’s salary figures take effect. Hawes and Barnes are scheduled to make a little more than $9.086MM next season after combining for about $8.701MM this year. Stephenson is on the books for $9MM this season and another $9MM in 2015/16, with a $9.405MM team option for 2016/17 that would give the Clippers an out after only one season if the mercurial shooting guard can’t reboot his career in L.A., as Wojnarowski points out. In any case, the chance to reap much higher upside for about the same money no doubt intrigues Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers.
The Clippers scouted Stephenson shortly before the trade deadline and did some legwork on him earlier in the season, as Wojnarowski reported then, but it didn’t appear as though L.A. was interested in making a play for him just yet. The Nets and Hornets reportedly discussed proposals involving the Brooklyn native on at least two different occasions this past season, but no deal came to fruition. The Heat were apparently among the teams with interest back in December.
Hawes is also coming off a disappointing season, and his contract, which has three years and more than $17.347MM left on it, including a player option for 2017/18, could prove too rich for Charlotte’s tastes, though that’s just my speculation. Barnes’ salary of nearly $3.523MM is only guaranteed for $1MM next season, however.
Nuggets Hire Michael Malone
6:44pm: The move is official, the Nuggets announced in a press release.
1:03pm: The Nuggets and Michael Malone have reached agreement on a deal that will make him the team’s new head coach, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Malone won over GM Tim Connelly and team president Josh Kroenke in his interviews, convincing the Nuggets to pivot from interim coach Melvin Hunt, who had earlier emerged as the favorite to keep the job, as Wojnarowski details. The move is somewhat surprising, given Denver’s hiring of former Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro to a front office position last week. Reports painted conflicting pictures of whether it was D’Alessandro or Kings owner Vivek Ranadive who was the catalyst for Sacramento’s decision to fire Malone as Kings coach in December. Denver’s desire for an up-tempo attack also conflicts with Malone’s defense-first style.
Long-ago Nuggets coach Mike D’Antoni also reportedly interviewed for the Nuggets job, and Wojnarowski earlier this month referred to him as a strong candidate, along with Malone and Hunt. Wizards assistant Don Newman and Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool also reportedly interviewed, but Malone was the only one reported to have interviewed twice.
Malone had the Kings off to a 9-5 start, but a bout of viral meningitis for DeMarcus Cousins sent the team into a tailspin, and the Kings fired Malone with their record at 11-13. The coach remained an in-demand commodity, joining the Timberwolves to assist them in an informal capacity at least three different times this past season. The Magic were expected to consider him for their vacancy, a prospect in which he apparently had interest, but it didn’t appear as though Orlando, which ultimately hired Scott Skiles, regarded Malone as highly as it did other candidates.
The Kings were only 39-67 in Malone’s season and change at the helm, though he was well-regarded as an assistant before taking the Sacramento job. He worked as the top aide to Mike Brown with the Cavs, Monty Williams in New Orleans and Mark Jackson in Golden State before ending up with the Kings.
Denver is coming off two disappointing seasons after a 57-win campaign in 2012/13. The Nuggets let go of coach George Karl, who’s now in Malone’s old job in Sacramento, after that season, replacing him with Brian Shaw, but the move didn’t pan out, and Denver fired Shaw on March 3rd. Hunt connected with players as the interim coach, clearing winning their support as he compiled a 10-13 record in his brief time with the team, a higher winning percentage than the club had during the 2014/15 season under Shaw, who went 20-39 this year.
The coaching choice resolves one part of a muddied picture for the Nuggets, with Hoops Rumors readers who voted in a recent poll having been split on whether Hunt, D’Antoni or Malone would end up with the job. The Nuggets will now likely turn their eyes to what Kroenke called “a period of transition” ahead as major changes seem on the horizon for the roster, as I examined in a look at the team’s offseason.
The news also brings an apparent end to NBA head coaching changes this offseason. Denver’s vacancy was the last during a spring and summer in which the Bulls, Magic, Pelicans and Thunder also replaced their bench bosses.
Garrett Temple Opts In With Wizards
JUNE 15TH, 2:05pm: Temple is indeed opting in, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
MAY 18TH, 12:21pm: Garrett Temple said today that he’s pretty sure he’ll pick up his player option, worth his minimum salary of nearly $1.101MM, to return to the Wizards next season, observes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com (Twitter link). The combo guard just finished his third season with Washington and his first on a two-year contract he signed to stay with the club last summer. An opt-in wouldn’t do much to hurt the Wizards financially, since with nearly $65MM in guaranteed salary for next season already poised to count against a projected $67.1MM salary cap, Washington has little chance of opening cap space no matter what Temple ultimately does with his option.
The one-time journeyman has found a home with the Wizards after he saw action for five different NBA teams across his first two seasons after going undrafted out of LSU. Temple, who turned 29 earlier this month, made 18 starts in 52 appearances for Washington this season and played almost exclusively at shooting guard after having seen a large chunk of his time at the point in 2013/14, as Basketball-Reference shows. His 37.5% shooting on three-point attempts was a career-best mark as he averaged 3.9 points in 14.1 minutes per game. Temple missed nearly two months with a right hamstring injury late in the season, and he wasn’t much of a factor in the playoffs, totaling seven points in 26 minutes across four appearances.
The Wizards seem set at the point, where John Wall and Ramon Sessions have guaranteed salary for next season while the team holds Non-Bird rights on Will Bynum, but there’s no clear backup for Bradley Beal at two-guard aside from Temple. The Wizards would be well shy of the projected $81.6MM tax line even if Temple and Paul Pierce pick up their player options and the team uses the full mid-level exception, so Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld and company are probably pleased with the idea that Temple appears ready to come back at a low cost.