Two standout NBA players were significantly impacted by Thursday’s announcement of this year’s All-NBA teams, with Damian Lillard receiving some good news while Anthony Davis got hit with bad news. By earning a spot on the All-NBA second team, Lillard ensured that his max extension, which goes into effect for the coming season, would increase from 25% of the Trail Blazers‘ cap to 27.5%, guaranteeing him an extra $12MM+ over the life of the deal. Conversely, since he missed out on All-NBA honors this year, Davis will have his max extension count for 25% of the Pelicans‘ cap rather than 30%, costing him nearly $25MM over the next five years.
In a column for The Vertical, Bobby Marks takes a closer at Lillard’s and Davis’ situations with the Blazers and Pelicans, respectively, and argues that the NBA needs to revamp what’s known as the Derrick Rose Rule. As Marks points out, the criteria for the Rose Rule hinges on fan and media votes, and it doesn’t seem right that those votes should have such a huge impact on a player’s earnings.
Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from across the NBA…
- Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders identifies five potential landing spots for Joakim Noah if he leaves the Bulls, starting with Minnesota, where Noah’s former coach Tom Thibodeau is set to take the reins.
- Chad Ford’s latest Insider-only dispatch at ESPN.com includes plenty of interesting notes on prospects like Buddy Hield, Kris Dunn, Marquese Chriss, and others. Among Ford’s tidbits: Chriss is generally viewed as a candidate to be picked in the No. 7-10 range, but teams as high as the Suns (No. 4) are considering the power forward out of Washington.
- Within an in-depth look at Roc Nation Sports, Jay-Z’s sports agency, Rick Maese of The Washington Post speaks to Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant‘s agent at Roc Nation. “We know this is a big deal and a big moment in his career,” Kleiman said of Durant’s impending free agency. “We also have to be his guiding light in this. We can’t let the pressure of the situation be bigger than it is. Obviously, we understand all eyes are looking at him and looking at his decisions, and people want to see how we’re going to handle it, too.”
- In a piece for Basketball Insiders, Eric Pincus takes an in-depth look at how the NBA’s playoff pool works, and which teams are benefiting most from the postseason bonus money.