Jazz Worked Out Taylor, Sims
- The Jazz held free agent workouts on Friday for guard Jermaine Taylor and center Henry Sims, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter). Taylor, 29, last appeared in the NBA during the 2010/11 season, while Sims appeared in 14 games for the Nets last season, averaging 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per outing. Sims has also been mentioned as a possible training camp signee for Brooklyn.
Jerrelle Benimon To Play In China
Jerrelle Benimon will spend the upcoming season in China after passing on a training camp offer from the Jazz, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside and Motor. Benimon, who played briefly for Utah during the 2014/15 season, will join the Qingdao franchise.
Benimon signed with the Nuggets in August of 2014, but was waived in training camp. He agreed to a 10-day contract with the Jazz in March of 2015 and appeared in two games during his stay there.
A 6’8″ power forward out of Towson, Benimon spent last season with the Foshan Long-Lions in the Chinese Basketball Association. He played for Brooklyn’s entry in this year’s Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 8.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in four games.
NBA Teams With Full Rosters
While NBA teams are limited to carrying 15 players on their regular-season rosters (with a few exceptions), roster limits expand to 20 players during the offseason. The five extra roster slots allow clubs to bring in veterans hopeful of earning a place on the regular-season roster, or young players who may eventually be ticketed for D-League assignments.
Most teams will fill up their 20-man rosters for training camp, but at this point in the NBA offseason, it can be difficult to determine which clubs still have room on their rosters. Many potential camp invitees have reportedly reached agreements with teams, but those signings haven’t yet been officially announced.
By our count, there are currently just two team at the 20-man offseason roster limit. One is the 76ers, who were at the 20-man limit for much of the offseason before waiving Carl Landry and Tibor Pleiss. Since then, they’ve added Elton Brand and Cat Barber, though it appears only 11 of the club’s 20 players have fully guaranteed salaries for 2016/17.
Meanwhile, on their official website, the Nuggets list 14 players who have guaranteed contracts, plus Axel Toupane, JaKarr Sampson, and D.J. Kennedy, who are on non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deals. In addition to those 17 players, the team has also reportedly reached agreements with Nate Wolters, Robbie Hummel, and Jarnell Stokes, bringing Denver’s total roster count to 20.
Still, not all of Denver’s signings are official, and even once they are, the Nuggets could easily make room for another player by cutting a non-guaranteed salary from their books. The same can be said for Philadelphia. While their rosters may technically be “full,” it’s not as if the Nuggets and the Sixers don’t have the flexibility to replace a camp invitee with a veteran free agent, if they so choose.
A more productive way of determining which teams’ rosters are “full” at this point in the offseason might be to examine the number of guaranteed salaries on their books. The deadline for teams to stretch the 2016/17 salary of a waived player is now behind us, so any team that cuts a player with a guaranteed salary won’t be able to reduce that cap hit unless the player agrees to a buyout. Most teams are reluctant to add much dead money to their cap with such a move, so if a club has 15 guaranteed contracts on its cap, we can assume its regular-season roster is fairly set, barring a trade or a surprise cut.
Here are the NBA teams that currently have 15 (or more) guaranteed salaries on their roster:
Quincy Ford Gets $75K Guarantee, Still Long Shot For Roster Spot
After initially agreeing to terms with undrafted free agent Quincy Ford in June, the Jazz finally made the deal official this week, and according to Aaron Falk and Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune, Ford’s three-year pact includes a modest guarantee of $75K. Despite the guaranteed money though, the Northeastern alum is a long shot for a roster spot.
As Jones writes, the Jazz already have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, and Jeff Withey is the favorite to earn the final opening on the 15-man roster. That means Ford will likely be ticketed for Utah’s D-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, to open the season.
Jazz Sign Quincy Ford
SEPTEMBER 7: Ford’s deal with the Jazz, first reported in June, is now official, the team announced today in a press release. While Utah didn’t confirm the terms of the agreement, the club still has plenty of cap room, which allows Ford to sign a three-year contract.
The Jazz’s roster has undergone some changes since Ford initially agreed to terms. There are 14 players with guaranteed contracts on Utah’s books, with Ford, Chris Johnson, Jeff Withey, and Marcus Paige on non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deals.
JUNE 24: The Jazz will sign combo forward Quincy Ford to a partially guaranteed, three-year deal, sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it will likely be a minimum-salary arrangement.
Ford was solid during his five years at Northeastern, shooting 34.9% from behind the arc and 46.5% overall. He injured his back early in his collegiate career and he underwent surgery on it in 2013. He was able to red-shirt during the 2013/14 season and he continued to improve in many areas once he returned to the floor.
Utah has 15 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates. That figure doesn’t include any of the prospects whom were drafted by the team on Thursday, so Ford is going to face stiff competition for a roster spot despite receiving a three-year deal.
NBA Teams Below Salary Floor For 2016/17
On Tuesday, we examined the teams in – or near – luxury tax territory. Due to the size of those teams’ payrolls, they could face penalties at year’s end, paying a few extra tax dollars in addition to the salaries they’ll pay their players.
On the other end of the spectrum are six clubs whose team salaries continue to sit below the minimum salary floor, which is set at 90% of the cap. For the 2016/17 league year, that salary floor works out to $84.729MM. Every franchise will have to spend at least that much on players for the year, so if any team payrolls remain below that figure at season’s end, those teams have to make up the difference by paying a little extra to their own players.
Often, clubs sitting below the salary floor at this point in the year will get over that threshold at some point during the season. Taking on salary in a trade is one possibility — in the past, when cap room has been a rarer and more valuable commodity, teams like the Sixers have agreed to take on other clubs’ bad salaries as long as they can get something out of the deal themselves, such as second-round picks. That could still happen this year, but that sort of trade may be rarer now that the cap is at an all-time high and teams have more flexibility to maneuver.
Renegotiating a player’s contract and signing him to an extension is another way teams can use up their remaining salary cap space at this point in the season. As we saw with Russell Westbrook and the Thunder, and James Harden and the Rockets, clubs with room under the cap can rework a player’s contract to increase their current-year salary up to the max, while tacking on additional years — but only certain players are eligible.
Of course, signing free agents is another way a team can quickly add salary and reach the floor, but at this point in the offseason, most of the players still available are minimum-salary guys, and most teams’ rosters are fairly set anyway.
Here are the six teams currently below the salary floor:
- Total team salary: $82,752,308
- Guaranteed team salary: $80,791,446
- Eligible for renegotiation/extension: Nikola Pekovic
Utah Jazz
- Total team salary: $81,817,624
- Guaranteed team salary: $79,332,496
- Eligible for renegotiation/extension: Derrick Favors (eligible as of October 19), George Hill
Phoenix Suns
- Total team salary: $80,900,983
- Guaranteed team salary: $79,850,022
- Eligible for renegotiation/extension: None
- Total team salary: $76,948,637
- Guaranteed team salary: $75,563,224
- Eligible for renegotiation/extension: None
- Total team salary: $76,719,065
- Guaranteed team salary: $74,039,362
- Eligible for renegotiation/extension: None
- Total team salary: $70,341,137
- Guaranteed team salary: $65,159,265
- Eligible for renegotiation/extension: Hollis Thompson (eligible as of September 24)
Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
Jazz Talent Will Quickly Become Expensive
- The Jazz have set themselves up for a big season, adding a number of veterans to their solid young core. But the talent the team has accumulated will become markedly more expensive over the next few season if the team wishes to keep the roster together, Tony Jone of The Salt Lake Tribune writes. “Post Karl Malone and John Stockton, the Jazz have had some decent years, most notably with Deron Williams and Paul Millsap,” said Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. “They’ve done a great job in building this current team, but now this is a key moment. Gordon Hayward can leave, Rudy Gobert is up for an extension. The front office has to make decisions now for the long term. They need to show who they are, and the players need to show they are a core worth building around.”
Jazz Waive Kendall Marshall
As expected, the Jazz have waived newly-acquired point guard Kendall Marshall, the team announced today in a press release. Utah’s tweets announcing the trade for Marshall and the point guard’s release came 25 minutes apart, so the former 13th overall pick was officially a member of the Jazz for less than a half-hour.
Marshall’s $2MM+ salary for 2016/17 would have become guaranteed within the next few days if he had remained on an NBA roster. By acquiring him in a deal for Tibor Pleiss, who has a guaranteed $3MM salary, Utah created $3MM in cap room and avoided paying any salary, though the team did send the Sixers some cash in the deal.
Marshall, who turned 25 last Friday, has played for the Suns, Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers since entering the NBA as a lottery pick in 2012, and will now be seeking a new home for the 2016/17 campaign. This is the third time he has been traded and subsequently waived — it also happened in 2013 and 2015.
Despite the fact that Marshall has failed to stick with an NBA team for more than a single season since his debut, several league executives believe there’s still a spot in the league for the former lottery pick as a backup point guard, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Marshall’s best season as a pro came in 2013/14, when he averaged 29 minutes per game in 54 contests for the Lakers. The former UNC standout averaged a career-high 8.0 PPG and 8.8 APG that year, while shooting 39.9% on three-point attempts. Marshall has taken a step back since then, though he was off to a solid start as a backup for the Bucks in 2014/15 before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury.
Tibor Pleiss May Not Stick With Sixers
The Jazz and Sixers completed a trade today that sent Kendall Marshall to Utah and Tibor Pleiss to Philadelphia, with both teams officially confirming that the deal is done. Reports have indicated that Utah will waive Marshall soon, avoiding having his contract become guaranteed. And even though Pleiss has a fully guaranteed $3MM salary, it sounds like he may ultimately be cut as well.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter) that the Sixers are still evaluating whether Pleiss will be a part of the team’s roster this season or whether he’ll be waived. According to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter), Philadelphia is likely to waive the German big man.
Pleiss, a former second-round pick who signed with the Jazz last summer, barely saw any action in his first NBA season, playing just 82 total minutes for Utah. The German big man was assigned to the D-League for a good chunk of the season, and he played well there, averaging 12.3 PPG and 10.4 RPG in 28 contests.
Because Pleiss’ salary is already fully guaranteed, there’s no rush for the Sixers to make a move right away. The team could bring the 26-year-old to training camp and make a decision on him shortly before the start of other regular season. However, Philadelphia reportedly agreed to a deal with Cat Barber last month and has yet to make that deal official because the 20-man offseason roster has been full — perhaps Pleiss will be waived to make room for Barber.
Here are a couple more notes on today’s Jazz/Sixers trade, and the fallout:
- According to Derek Bodner of PhillyMag.com, the Sixers will receive the most favorable and the least favorable of Utah’s four 2017 second-round selections. The Jazz currently hold their own second-rounder, along with the Knicks’, Pistons’, and Warriors’ picks. All four teams have playoff (or championship) aspirations, so there’s a chance neither of the picks Philadelphia gets will be that high.
- Despite the fact that Marshall has failed to stick with an NBA team for more than a single season since entering the league in 2012, several league executives believe there’s still a spot in the league for the former lottery pick as a backup point guard, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Jazz, Sixers Swap Tibor Pleiss, Kendall Marshall
11:07am: The deal is official, the Jazz announced in a press release.
9:38am: The Jazz and Sixers have agreed to a trade that will send point guard Kendall Marshall to Utah, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, the Jazz will send Tibor Pleiss, two second-round picks, and cash to Philadelphia in exchange for Marshall. Utah will subsequently waive Marshall, whose deal is not guaranteed, tweets Wojnarowski.
It’s essentially a cost-cutting move for the Jazz, who had been on track to pay Pleiss a guaranteed $3MM salary in 2016/17. Utah ditches that contract and takes on Marshall’s deal, which is fully non-guaranteed for now. The point guard’s $2,048,257 salary is set to become guaranteed soon, but the Jazz will waive him before that happens.
The move seems somewhat unusual on the surface for Utah, whose cap commitments for 2016/17 only totaled about $85MM prior to the trade. It’s possible though that the club is opening up a little extra cap room in order to renegotiate and extend Derrick Favors‘ contract. The Jazz will now have more than enough cap room to give Favors a pay raise to the max for 2016/17, while locking him up for additional seasons. Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors recently examined Favors’ case for an extension.
Whether or not the Jazz extend Favors this year, the team created more cap flexibility for 2017/18, when Pleiss would have had a modest $500K guarantee on his salary. With Favors and Rudy Gobert both candidates for max extensions, and Utah potentially wanting to lock up George Hill beyond this season as well, every little bit of cap room could help.
The Jazz also created an opening on their 15-man roster for the coming season, which is good news for the players competing for a spot. Utah selected three players – Joel Bolomboy, Marcus Paige, and Tyrone Wallace – in the second round of the 2016 draft, and the odds are good that at least one or two of those players make the regular-season roster.
As for the Sixers, they’re still well below the salary floor, and even if they don’t plan to use Pleiss at all, they’ll pick up a pair of future second-round picks and some cash for their trouble. The conditions on those second-rounders isn’t known, but Philadelphia didn’t have much to lose by making the deal.
Pleiss, a former second-round pick who signed with the Jazz last summer, barely saw any action in his first NBA season, playing just 82 total minutes for Utah. The German big man was assigned to the D-League for a good chunk of the season, and he played well there, averaging 12.3 PPG and 10.4 RPG in 28 contests.
Marshall, meanwhile, continues to jump from team to team, having failed to develop into a reliable NBA point guard since being selected 13th overall in 2012. The 25-year-old has played for the Suns, Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers since entering the league, and will now be seeking a new home for the 2016/17 campaign. This will be the third time he has been traded and subsequently waived — it also happened in 2013 and 2015.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.