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Gobert A Top Extension Candidate; Jazz Won't Add Fill-In For Hayward

October 14th, 2016 at 12:27pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Stein, Jazz center Rudy Gobert is viewed as the most likely candidate to be extended this month — Utah wants to lock up both Gobert and Derrick Favors to long-term deals, recognizing that securing those players could help convince Gordon Hayward to re-sign next summer. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Pistons), Gorgui Dieng (Timberwolves), and Shabazz Muhammad (Timberwolves) are also in play for potential extensions, says Stein.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • The Jazz don’t appear inclined to add anyone to their roster as a temporary fill-in while Gordon Hayward’s broken finger heals, Stein writes.
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Jazz Waive Eric Dawson, Quincy Ford, Marcus Paige

October 13th, 2016 at 10:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have begun paring down their roster in advance of the regular season, announcing today in a press release that Eric Dawson, Quincy Ford, and Marcus Paige have been placed on waivers. The team’s roster now stands at 17 players, so two more cuts will be necessary before opening night.

[RELATED: Offseason In Review: Utah Jazz]

Dawson and Ford both signed free agent contracts with the Jazz this offseason, but were always viewed as long shots to make the club’s regular-season roster. While Dawson’s deal was fully non-guaranteed, Ford got a modest $75K guarantee, which will remain on Utah’s cap unless he’s claimed on waivers.

As for Paige, the rookie guard was the 55th overall pick in this year’s draft, and received a $125K guarantee from the Jazz. By waiving him, the team forfeits its NBA rights to Paige, so he’ll be free to join another NBA team if he clears waivers. If he goes unclaimed and unsigned, the 23-year-old is probably a good bet to join the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s D-League affiliate.

The Jazz now have 14 players on fully guaranteed salaries, plus Henry Sims on a partially guaranteed deal ($75K) and Chris Johnson and Jeff Withey on non-guaranteed pacts. Withey is expected to earn the club’s final roster opening.

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Celtics Continue To Have "Real Interest" In Hayward

October 12th, 2016 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams
  • The Celtics continue to have “real interest” in Gordon Hayward, multiple league sources tell Lowe. However, the ESPN scribe thinks Hayward will ultimately decided to re-sign with the Jazz next summer.

    [SOURCE LINK]
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Western Notes: Stephenson, Kings, Cousins

October 7th, 2016 at 10:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Lance Stephenson has an edge over Alonzo Gee for a roster spot on the Pelicans because of his versatility, John Reid of The Times-Picayune opines. Stephenson’s ability to play point guard will be especially useful with Jrue Holiday set to miss significant time. Reid also added that he wouldn’t be surprised if New Orleans ends up trading Gee.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • New Kings head coach Dave Joerger aims to change the culture in Sacramento, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. “I think it’s what we hope to have on a nightly basis,” Joerger said. “A mindset of being physical, being active. Flying around, being a good teammate, each guy up and down the line and helping each other.”
  • The Kings signed Matt Barnes this offseason and DeMarcus Cousins is happy to have the veteran on his team, Jones adds in the same piece. “He’s a true competitor,” Cousins said. “He leaves it all out there on the floor. I think he’s a great role model for the younger guys on how to approach a game on a nightly basis.”
  • Gordon Hayward will likely miss six weeks after injuring his left ring finger and Ryan McDonald of the Deseret News examines his absence from the court will impact the Jazz.
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Gordon Hayward Injures Finger, Likely Out Six Weeks

October 7th, 2016 at 4:37pm CST by Luke Adams

5:17pm: Surgery is an option for Hayward, but no decision has been made yet, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune reports  in a series  of tweets. Jones also adds that it’s Hayward’s left ring finger which is injured. The injury occurred when he got his hand caught inside a teammate’s jersey.

4:37pm: Gordon Hayward has suffered a finger injury expected to keep him out of action for a little while, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com, who tweets that Hayward dislocated a finger on his left hand. Jody Genessy of The Deseret News adds some more details, reporting (via Twitter) that Hayward’s finger is broken in addition to being dislocated. Per Genessy, the Jazz forward is expected to miss six weeks and will be re-evaluated in three weeks.

[RELATED: Offseason In Review: Utah Jazz]

The injury is an unfortunate setback for Hayward and the Jazz, who have been viewed as a candidate to take a major step forward in 2016/17. While Utah didn’t make a huge splash in free agency this summer, the team added some veteran help by signing Joe Johnson and trading for George Hill and Boris Diaw. With the newcomers expected to complement an improving young core that includes Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rodney Hood, Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum, and others, the Jazz are widely viewed as a good bet to make the playoffs in the West.

Hayward’s injury shouldn’t seriously impact the Jazz’s odds of making the postseason, but if he’s sidelined for six weeks, he’ll miss some regular-season action. If Hayward is able to return to the court for the team exactly six weeks from today, he’d be back for Utah’s 14th game of the season.

A former ninth overall pick, Hayward was the Jazz’s leading scorer last season, setting a new career high with 19.7 PPG. The 26-year-old also chipped in 5.0 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 1.2 SPG, while making 1.8 three-pointers per contest.

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NBA Teams That Made Most Offseason Trades

October 7th, 2016 at 3:48pm CST by Luke Adams

While most NBA teams rely on a variety of different types of roster moves to revamp their rosters in the offseason, a club can sometimes find itself leaning more heavily on one approach in a given summer. That could mean signing a handful of free agents and forgoing the trade route. It could mean loading up on draft picks and staying out of free agency.

For the teams we’ll examine in this post, the trade market was a primary means of addressing their rosters over the last few months. Each of the clubs we’ll discuss below made at least three trades since the end of the season. In some cases, the moves were designed to cut costs and clear cap room; for other teams, those deals were a way to add talent without having to foray into the free agent market, where contract prices were at an all-time high.

Let’s dive in and examine the teams that made the most trades this offseason…

Orlando Magic

The Magic certainly didn’t sit out free agency, bringing players like Bismack Biyombo and Jeff Green aboard on big-money deals. You could also make the case that the team made the biggest trade of the offseason by landing Ibaka. if Ibaka doesn’t mesh well with Biyombo and Nikola Vucevic, and Meeks misses significant time with injury issues this season, Orlando’s offseason deals won’t look great, but the club remains optimistic for now.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz were a perfect example of a team that used its cap room to improve via trades rather than free agency. The salaries for Hill and Diaw easily fit within the team’s cap space, and while Hill cost a first-round pick, Diaw was essentially a salary-dump for the Spurs. The Jazz were also on the other end of a couple salary dumps, most notably sending Pleiss to the Sixers for Marshall, a player they immediately waived.

Chicago Bulls

While Lopez figures to be a key piece in Chicago this season, the deal with the Knicks was more noteworthy for the star headed in the other direction, as the Bulls finally decided to move Rose, a Chicago native and a former MVP. The Bulls significantly revamped their roster using free agency as well, and the trades of Dunleavy and Calderon reflected the team’s need to create cap room for those signings.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers used the trade market well this summer, acquiring Dunleavy from a Bulls team that couldn’t afford to keep him, and only parting with cash to acquire Felder, who could be the team’s backup point guard. Kaun, meanwhile, was a salary dump, reducing Cleveland’s future tax bill, while the Dellavedova deal allowed the club to get something out of nothing, since Dellavedova had already agreed to sign an offer sheet the Cavs weren’t going to match.

Indiana Pacers

Like Utah, Indiana isn’t typically a big-time free agent destination, so the Pacers turned to the trade market to make a couple of their biggest moves of the summer, landing Teague and Young, who will likely both start for the club this season. Indiana dove into free agency a little, signing Al Jefferson, Aaron Brooks, and Kevin Seraphin, but I’d expect their trade acquisitions to have a larger impact in 2016/17.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks could move up this list before the regular season gets underway, since the team continues to scour the market for a player to replace Khris Middleton. Milwaukee also reportedly wouldn’t mind moving Greg Monroe and Michael Carter-Williams.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Moving Ibaka was the major move for the Thunder, and one that occurred while the team still had a shot at re-signing Kevin Durant. It would have been interesting to see what the team would have looked like in 2016/17 with Sabonis, Oladipo, and Ilyasova playing alongside KD and Russell Westbrook, but even with Durant no longer in the mix, the move could pay off for Oklahoma City. Sabonis looks like a promising young big man who won’t be expensive for the next few years, and Oladipo could be the backcourt mate the Thunder have long been seeking for Westbrook.

Other teams that made more than one trade this offseason:

  • Atlanta Hawks
  • Brooklyn Nets
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Denver Nuggets
  • Detroit Pistons
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • New Orleans Pelicans
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • Sacramento Kings

For the full rundown of the offseason’s trades to date, check out our list right here.

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Offseason In Review: Utah Jazz

October 6th, 2016 at 6:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Utah Jazz.

Free agent signings:

Camp invitees:

  • Eric Dawson: One year, minimum salary (summer contract)
  • Quincy Ford: Three years, minimum salary ($75K guaranteed)
  • Henry Sims: One year, minimum salary ($75K guaranteed)

Trades:

Draft picks:

  • 2-52: Joel Bolomboy. Signed for three years, $2.556MM. Second year partially guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed.
  • 2-55: Marcus Paige. Signed for two years, minimum salary. First year partially guaranteed. Second year non-guaranteed.
  • 2-60: Tyrone Wallace. Has not signed.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Check out our salary cap snapshot for the Utah Jazz right here.

The mantra around the Utah Jazz franchise this summer came down to these two words: Get older. While teams with aging rosters often spend their offseasons trying to acquire younger talent, the Jazz felt they needed to find playoff-tested veterans to fortify their youthful roster and rescue them from their cycle of mediocrity. The Jazz have won anywhere from 36 to 43 games in five of the last six seasons with only one playoff appearance during that span.Sep 26, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Boris Diaw (33) during Media Day at Zion Bank Basketball Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Enter the 30-something brigade. By the time the Jazz finished reshaping their roster, they had a trio of well-established, grizzled veterans to help guide the franchise to greater success — 35-year-old Joe Johnson, 34-year-old Boris Diaw and 30-year-old George Hill.

The first order of business, however, was to make a commitment to their coach. The Jazz have finished with a losing records during Quin Snyder’s first two seasons but the front office believes it has the right man patrolling the bench. Snyder agreed in May to a long-term extension, reportedly through the 2020/21 season. That not only gives him job security but also greater authority with the players, who know he’s going to be charge for awhile.

With that out of the way, the Jazz made a bold move on draft night, agreeing to ship their lottery pick to the Hawks and acquire Hill from the Pacers in a three-team deal. This filled a huge void for the Jazz, who were caught flat-footed when projected starting point guard Dante Exum tore his ACL and missed all of last season. Utah was stuck with the unimposing duo of disappointing lottery pick Trey Burke and Raul Neto running the show, until Shelvin Mack stabilized things to a degree after he was acquired from the Hawks in February.

Even so, Utah finished 28th in both points scored and assists. Hill should help move those numbers forward.

Hill was often used off the ball in Indiana last season as his PER fell from a career-high 21.52 to 13.22. While not a prototypical point man, Hill is a solid distributor, an above-average 3-point threat and an excellent defender with a large wingspan for a player his size. The Jazz couldn’t count on Exum coming all the way back from his knee injury and stepping right into the lineup. Ideally, Exum will eventually reclaim the starting role with Hill guiding the improved second unit.

As it turned out, Hill was the least experienced of the major acquisitions the Jazz made this offseason. They were quite busy in July, starting with the trade for Diaw. They dealt the rights to Olivier Hanlan to the Spurs for Diaw and a future second-rounder. Diaw has been a durable and consistent backup big man for a perennial contender over the past four seasons, appearing in at least 75 games each of those campaigns. He averaged 6.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18.2 minutes last season and gives the Jazz a quality backup to center Rudy Gobert, who missed 21 games last season due to injury.

The Jazz took a low-key approach to the free agent market, opting to preserve their cash with looming decisions on some of their top players. The only notable move they made was to sign Johnson to a two-year, $21.5MM deal. Johnson will have to transition to an unfamiliar role as a second-unit player. He has started every game in which he has appeared since the 2004/05 season, but he’ll primarily served as Gordon Hayward‘s backup at small forward. Johnson figures to be the No. 1 scoring option among the reserves and a mismatch for most second-unit forwards around the league.

With Hill in place, the Jazz had no need for Burke and they found a taker in the Wizards, who only needed to give up a future second-rounder for him. Mack made enough of an impression to have his modest $2.4MM salary guaranteed for this season.

There were some other housekeeping items, such as signing a couple of second-round picks to partial guarantees, but the Jazz still have up to $14.7MM in salary-cap space. That could give them flexibility to make some in-season moves, depending upon how it unfolds. They have also positioned themselves to restructure the contract of power forward Derrick Favors. An extension candidate as we detailed this summer, Favors is signed through next season. An extension agreement must be reached by the 19th of this month, if both sides opt to go in that direction.

The extension deadline for Gobert, who is still on his rookie contract, arrives at the end of the month. While Gobert has expressed an interest in signing an extension, there haven’t been any major rumbles that the sides are close to a deal. If the deadline passes, Gobert will become a restricted free agent next summer.

Perhaps the most intriguing issue is what the Jazz have in mind for Hayward. It’s a slam dunk that Hayward will opt out of the final year of his contract and enter the market next summer as an unrestricted free agent. If the Jazz have concerned about retaining Hayward, or if they are reluctant to commit a massive amount of money to him as their franchise player, he could be dealt. That’s an unlikely scenario, but if Utah underperforms during the first half of the season, it’s something the franchise would have to seriously consider.

On paper, the Jazz look like an improved team that should make the playoffs if their main cogs can stay healthy. They have better depth and leadership with the additions they have made, combined with a quality youthful core. With this roster, another finish around the .500 mark would be a disappointment.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of Russ Isabella / USA Today Sports Images.

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Jazz Add Diop To Coaching Staff

October 3rd, 2016 at 7:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito
  • The Jazz have hired former NBA player DeSagana Diop as a coaching associate, the team announced. As a coaching associate, Diop will assist the Jazz coaching staff in a variety of capacities including work on the court during practices and individual player workouts, video editing and analysis, and other team preparation, according to the press release.
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Where Things Stand For D-Mo, Unsigned Draftees

October 3rd, 2016 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

With the NBA’s preseason schedule underway and the regular season set to begin just over three weeks from now, it’s worth checking in on where things stand for a few players who remain unsigned but who aren’t unrestricted free agents. These three players are under team control, but their situations for the 2016/17 remain uncertain.Donatas Motiejunas vertical

The first of the trio is power forward Donatas Motiejunas, 2016’s last restricted free agent. Although Motiejunas was tendered a qualifying offer by the Rockets back in June, he saw that offer expire when he declined to sign it by midnight on October 1. As Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. Motiejunas and the Rockets discussed a contract on Saturday prior to that deadline, but the two sides couldn’t work something out.

“We understand where they are at and what they’d like to do,” agent B.J. Armstrong said of the Rockets, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. “I think they understand what we would like to do. At this time neither side is willing to accept what each is discussing. We will continue to negotiate with the Rockets and other teams. We’re going to continue to work this out and move forward.”

Although the Rockets could extend Motiejunas’ qualifying offer beyond October 1, they’re under no pressure to do so, since the forward continues to be a restricted free agent — Houston still has the right of first refusal, but now Motiejunas no longer has the safety net of signing that one-year QO, which would have let him become an unrestricted free agent in 2017.

It’s a tricky spot for Motiejunas, whose health history has likely scared away rival teams from making an aggressive long-term offer. Armstrong and his client would presumably love to sign a multiyear offer sheet to put pressure on the Rockets, but other teams probably don’t want to spend time putting together a proposal, only to have Houston match it. For now, the Rockets remain in the driver’s seat in contract negotiations, particularly now that they have the option of lowering their one-year offer from the initial $4.4MM QO price.

Meanwhile, the fates of two players selected in the second round of June’s draft remain unclear. Daniel Hamilton, picked 56th overall by the Thunder, and Tyrone Wallace, the 60th overall pick by the Jazz, haven’t yet signed with their respective teams and also haven’t committed to playing overseas.

[RELATED: 2016 Draft Pick Signings]

While we don’t know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes for Hamilton and Wallace, the most likely scenario for each player at this point is following in the footsteps of 58th overall pick Abdel Nader. A Celtics draftee, Nader agreed to play for Boston’s D-League affiliate this season. That allows the Celtics to retain Nader’s NBA rights and to keep an eye on him in Maine, while ensuring that he’ll have a job for the coming season, albeit one that pays very modestly.

Nader and his agent had considered pushing for an NBA deal, but if the Celtics had signed Nader, they likely would have subsequently waived him at the end of the preseason, assigning him to the Maine Red Claws while losing his NBA rights. In that scenario, Nader would have ended up in the same place, but the Celtics wouldn’t have had a vested interest in his development, since they would no longer have held his NBA rights.

We don’t know yet whether Hamilton and Wallace have reached any sort of agreements with the Thunder and Jazz, respectively, but both teams have D-League affiliates, and both organizations are solid and respected. It would make sense for Hamilton and Wallace to accept D-League assignments without NBA contracts, in the hopes that they can develop and impress their teams’ coaches, eventually earning a call-up.

In all likelihood, the Motiejunas, Hamilton, and Wallace situations will each be resolved within the next few weeks, so we’ll keep a close eye on them until then.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Contract Details: Brand, Rockets, Thunder, Pacers

September 30th, 2016 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

With training camps underway, teams have now officially finalized the contract agreements with various camp invitees that had been reported over the past several weeks, meaning we have plenty of contract details to round up. As usual, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has been busy reporting those details, updating his salary pages for teams around the NBA.

Because we have so many updates to pass along from Pincus, we’ll divide them up by players who received some guaranteed money from their teams, and those who didn’t. All of the links below point to the Basketball Insiders team salary pages, so be sure to click through for additional information.

Here are the latest salary updates from across the league, via Pincus:

Players receiving guaranteed money:

These players aren’t necessarily assured of regular-season roster spots. In fact, many of them likely received guarantees as an incentive to accept a D-League assignment. Still, for some players, larger guarantees should increase their odds of making 15-man rosters.

  • Thomas Walkup (Bulls): One year, minimum salary. $69.5K guaranteed.
  • Keith Benson (Heat): Two years, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Henry Sims (Jazz): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Alex Poythress (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $35,381 guaranteed.
  • Kevin Seraphin (Pacers): Two years, $3.681MM. First year ($1.8MM) guaranteed.
  • Julyan Stone (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Gary Payton II (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. First year ($543,471) guaranteed.
  • Isaiah Taylor (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Kyle Wiltjer (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $275K guaranteed.
  • Cat Barber (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Elton Brand (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $1MM guaranteed.
  • Derrick Jones (Suns): Three years, minimum salary. $42.5K guaranteed.
  • Alex Caruso (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Kaleb Tarczewski (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Chris Wright (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $100K guaranteed.

Players receiving no guaranteed money:

The following players all signed one-year, minimum salary contracts with no guaranteed money. Many of these deals are “summer contracts,” which won’t count against a team’s cap unless the player earns a spot on the 15-man roster.

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