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Community Shootaround: Brighter Future, Cavaliers or Warriors?

May 27th, 2017 at 8:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

When Ohio State and Michigan were dominating Big 10 football in the 1970s, the conference was often referred to as the “Big 2 and the Little 8.” That same feeling has taken hold over the past three years in the NBA, which is turning into the Big 2 and the Little 28.

The Cavaliers and Warriors are preparing to meet in a third straight finals, which has felt inevitable since training camp. After winning 67 regular-season games, Golden State tore through the Western Conference playoffs with three straight sweeps. Cleveland nearly matched that in the East, with its only loss coming in Game 3 of the conference finals on a last-second shot.

The lack of competitiveness doesn’t bother Kevin Durant, who is largely responsible for it. The former MVP, who joined a record-setting Warriors team in free agency last summer, said to fans last week, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.”

But people are watching it. ABC’s ratings are up 5% from a year ago, and ESPN’s online audience has grown by 24%. Just as fan interest spiked when the Celtics and Lakers were battling for supremacy in the 1980s and when Michael Jordan’s Bulls ruled the league in the 1990s, fans seem drawn to the idea of superteams.

Whether sustained dominance will remain good for the league is an interesting question, but we have another one: How long can this last? No teams have ever met in three straight finals before, but the Cavs and Warriors look like overwhelming favorites to do this again next year, and possibly a few years after that.

Golden State is built around four elite players who are all still in the prime of their careers. Stephen Curry (age 29) and Durant (28) are both expected to sign long-term deals this summer. Klay Thompson (27) is inked through 2018/19, and Draymond Green (27) is under contract through 2019/20. The Warriors may have to juggle some pieces around them, but the core of this team should remain together for at least five more seasons.

Cleveland’s fortunes have risen and fallen with LeBron James since he entered the league in 2003. Now 32, he may be having the best postseason of his career, averaging 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists through 13 games. For all the talk about resting James, he appeared in 74 games and averaged a league-high 37.8 minutes per night. He doesn’t appear to be showing any effects of age, and with his physical conditioning he might be able to play five more years at an elite level.

If LeBron does slow down, the Cavs still have Kyrie Irving (25) and Kevin Love (28), who are both signed for two more seasons with player options in 2019/20.

Both teams are well positioned for the future, but obviously this can’t last forever. Considering their current rosters and their potential challengers in each conference, who do you believe misses the finals first, the Warriors or the Cavaliers?

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Spurs Notes: Free Agents, Simmons, Paul, Lee

May 27th, 2017 at 7:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs’ decision on whether to pursue Chris Paul will play a role in which free agents return next season, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. The organization would have to clear a massive amount of cap space to offer Paul a max deal, which would probably mean renouncing Patty Mills and not matching an offer sheet for restricted free agent Jonathon Simmons. In addition, Dewayne Dedmon and David Lee both have player options and might also be renounced if they opt out. If the Spurs are able to sign Paul, they will have to fill out the roster using their mid-level exception and veterans minimum deals.

There’s more news out of San Antonio:

  • If the Spurs want to keep Simmons, they will get some help from an “arcane” rule, McDonald notes in the same story. The Gilbert Arenas provision limits first-year offers to Simmons to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which will be roughly $8.4MM next season. Of course, offer sheets can be heavily backloaded over the final two years, similar to what the Nets did with Tyler Johnson last summer. If the Spurs are operating over the cap, they won’t have the ability to spread the hit evenly over four seasons, so they could be looking at a substantial salary commitment in 2019/20 and 2020/21 for a player who turns 28 in September.
  • To make a realistic run at Paul, the Spurs would have to find a taker for LaMarcus Aldridge, Danny Green or Tony Parker, writes Nick Moyle of The San Antonio Express-News. That means trading them without taking back salary, which will almost certainly require giving up draft picks. Aldridge would probably be the most difficult of the three to move, as he is signed for $21.461MM for next season, along with a $22.347MM player option for 2018/19. Green will make $10MM next year, with a $10MM player option the following season. Parker is entering the final year of his contract at $15.453MM.
  • Lee won’t need surgery for a strained patellar tendon in his left knee, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. The injury, which Lee suffered in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, is expected to heal in about six weeks.
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Stern Wanted To Rework Chris-Paul-To-Lakers Deal

May 27th, 2017 at 6:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former NBA Commissioner David Stern addressed the NBA’s most famous non-trade during a recent appearance on the Nunyo & Company podcast [hat tip to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports].

The Lakers, Rockets and Hornets [now known as the Pelicans] worked out a three-team trade in 2011 that would have sent Chris Paul to Los Angeles. Stern, acting as owner of the New Orleans franchise after George Shinn sold it to the league, vetoed the deal on the basis that the Hornets weren’t getting enough in return for an All-Star point guard who was just entering his prime.

The full trade would have sent Paul to L.A., Pau Gasol to Houston and Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and a first-round pick to New Orleans. Stern blocked the deal, but says he intended to rework it.

“In fact, in the course of the weekend, we thought we could re-do the deal,” Stern explained. “We really thought that Houston would be ready to part with [Kyle] Lowry, and we had a trade lined up for Odom that would have gotten us a good first-round draft pick – not we, but my basketball folks. But [Lakers GM] Mitch Kupchak at the time panicked and moved Odom to Dallas. So the piece wasn’t even there for us to play with at the time. So that was it — just about what was good for the then-New Orleans Hornets.”

Later that year, New Orleans dealt Paul to the Clippers in exchange for Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and a 2012 first-round pick that became Austin Rivers. The Lakers lost a potential star to pair with Kobe Bryant for the final part of his career and haven’t been a title contender since.

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Southeast Notes: Magic, Vogel, Reed, Hawks

May 27th, 2017 at 5:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant‘s decision to use the Magic as an example of a bad NBA organization reflects the team’s reputation around the league, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Railing at suggestions that he helped create competitive imbalance, Durant started his response with, “Like I’m the reason why [expletive] Orlando couldn’t make the playoffs for five, six years in a row?” Robbins notes that new president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and new GM John Hammond will have to overcome that perception before they can attract top-level free agents. Orlando has inherent advantages with a warm climate and no state income tax, but most elite free agents prioritize winning, and that’s something the Magic can’t offer right now.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • Magic CEO Alex Martins insisted that candidates for the newly filled front office positions be willing to work with coach Frank Vogel, relays John Denton of NBA.com. There were rumors during the season that Vogel might be in jeopardy as he led Orlando to a 29-53 record in his first year on the job. But the moves made since the season ended show that blame for the disappointing year fell on the front office rather than the coaching staff. Weltman says he admires Vogel’s coaching ability, and Vogel welcomes the change at the top. “These are very well-respected basketball men who have done a good job and who, quite frankly, know what they are doing and what they are talking about,’’ Vogel said. “I’m excited about the coming weeks, the meetings that we’re going to have and getting to know these guys.’’
  • Willie Reed has a strong desire to stay in Miami, but financial realities might prevent that, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Reed had his first impactful NBA season this year as a member of the Heat, playing 71 games and averaging 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per night. He faces a June 29th deadline to decide on a $1.577MM option for next season and may elect to chase his first-big money deal at age 27. Reed is still working out with the team, but says there have been no discussions with management about his contract status. “We spoke just about how a good season it was and how I progressed and have grown,” he said. “But there haven’t been talks about anything else yet, kind of just coming in here and just working out, making sure they see you and let them know that I love being here and I want it to work out.”
  • After 10 straight playoff seasons, the Hawks need to decide on a direction for their future, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. He notes that Atlanta has limited options heading into the summer because the team’s best trade assets, Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr., are both free agents, and last year’s big signees, Kent Bazemore and Dwight Howard, have experienced declines in their market value.
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Five Key Stories: 5/20/17 – 5/27/17

May 27th, 2017 at 3:28pm CST by Joshua Fischman

Here are some of the biggest stories from the last week at Hoops Rumors:

Paul Millsap opted out of his contract with the Hawks and will become a free agent. The decision to opt out was expected and Millsap reportedly plans to remain in Atlanta. In opting out, the star power forward turned down a salary of slightly more than $21.4MM for next year.

Jan 1, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward <a rel=

Isaiah Thomas missed the remainder of the postseason after re-aggravating a hip injury in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The news came as a crushing blow to a top-seeded Celtics team that lost the first two games of the series at home to the defending champions Cavaliers. The injury first occurred in March, forcing the star point guard to miss two starts. IT aggravated the injury in Game 6 against the Wizards before re-aggravating it again against the Cavs in Game 2.

Former Bucks GM John Hammond was hired by the Magic to be their new GM. In addition to hiring Hammond, Orlando also brought in Jeff Weltman to be the team’s President of Basketball Operations. The Raptors will receive a 2018 second-round pick from Orlando as compensation for Orlando’s decision to hire Weltman.

Travis Schlenk was named the general manager of the Hawks. The team has a GM again after being without one since Wes Wilcox was reassigned to a different front office role earlier this month. Schlenk will begin his duties on June 1st.

Chris Bosh and the Heat have reached a tentative agreement to part ways and the players’ association has granted its approval. The agreement would permanently remove Bosh’s cap figure, which was set to be an approximate $52.1MM over the next two years, from Miami’s books. Bosh would still get paid, of course, and would now stand a much better chance of playing again in the NBA for a different team. The pact has not yet been finalized.

Ten More Stories

 

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Poll: Best Unrestricted Free Agent Point Guard

May 27th, 2017 at 1:32pm CST by Joshua Fischman

Among unrestricted free agents this offseason, point guard is easily the deepest position. Stephen Curry, Kyle Lowry, George Hill, Jeff Teague, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick Rose headline this group. Deron Williams, Darren Collison, and Patty Mills are also unrestricted free agents. In all, there are 28 unrestricted free agent point guards this offseason.

Two-time MVP Curry has scarcely been mentioned as an unrestricted free agent because most take for granted that he will return to the Warriors to dominate the NBA with the likes of Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green for years to come.

Probably the second best player in this group, Lowry, will be coming off a breakout season, but he is 31 years old, has a long history of playoff struggles, and the Raptors would need to offer him a 5-year max contract. Still, Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combine for one of the most lethal backcourts in the league, and it is difficult to imagine Toronto not laying out the red carpet for its star point guard’s return.

After seven seasons with the Hawks, Teague played in all 82 games for the Pacers, averaging 15.3 PPG, 7.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG.

Although limited to 49 games due to injury in his first campaign with the Jazz, Hill averaged a career-high 16.9 PPG to go with an impressive slash line of .477/.403/.801.

Holiday shot a career-high 45.4% from the floor for the Pelicans, posting 15.4 PPG, 7.3 APG, and 1.5 SPG.

Rose, a former MVP, averaged 18.0 PPG and 4.4 APG, while shooting a stellar 47.1% in 64 games in his first season with the Knicks.

Without further ado, here’s today’s poll question: Beyond Curry and Lowry, who among this group would be most helpful for a team to sign and suit up as their starting point guard next season? Don’t limit yourself to a click of a button. Do you believe someone in the group is better than each of the available options? Are we underrating someone’s potential? Let us know in the comment section below. We look forward to your insight!

 

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Hoops Rumors Originals: 5/20/17 – 5/27/17

May 27th, 2017 at 12:21pm CST by Joshua Fischman

Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team compiles original content to complement our news feed. Here are some of our favorite segments and features from the past seven days:

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Cavaliers Notes: James, Korver, Williams, Love

May 27th, 2017 at 10:48am CST by marksuleymanov

While returning to the NBA Finals is a thrill for LeBron James, the Cavaliers superstar is thrilled Kyle Korver and Deron Williams will get to experience the big stage for the first time, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes.

The Cavaliers wrapped up the Eastern Conference Finals with a 135-102 blowout win over the Celtics on Thursday, setting the stage for a third consecutive Cavaliers vs. Warriors NBA Finals matchup. This third installment will feature new faces as Warriors’ All-Star Kevin Durant tries to secure his first title. However, it’s the decade-plus veterans in Cleveland who are getting their first crack at the gold — which excites James.

“I think the first thing for me was seeing the excitement on Kyle [Korver’s] and Deron [Williams’] face,” James, who will appear in his seventh consecutive NBA Finals, said. “You’ve got one guy with 12 years, first Finals appearance, and another guy 14 [years]. So that’s the first thing I picked. And just to see the excitement around my teammates — I do it for them, and they give it back to me as well.”

The Cavaliers struggled after acquiring Korver in January and issues with their backup point guards forced the team to acquire Williams. Now, the team and its reinforcements are four wins from bringing a second consecutive NBA title to Cleveland.

Here are some additional tidbits surrounding the Cavaliers:

  • In a separate piece, Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor reveals that Cavaliers forward Kevin Love refused to join James for a dual media session after the team’s Game 5. Despite the duo appearing simultaneously after previous contests, Love explained that James deserved to have the spotlight on just him after the team secured its third straight Finals appearance.”I just told [communications director] Tad [Carper] I wouldn’t share a podium with him because tonight is a night where he deserves to be on his own,” Love said.
  • Former NBA champion and Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer appeared on The Rematch Podcast with Etan Thomas recently and explained why he prefers James over Michael Jordan. While Laimbeer and the Pistons engaged in several wars with the Jordan-led Bulls decades ago, he feels James’ skills supersede the Chicago legend. “LeBron can do anything. Michael couldn’t get all the rebounds. He couldn’t be the assist man like LeBron James can,” Laimbeer said (via USA Today). “He was very focused on scoring, a deadly assassin, but the rest of the part of his game, LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan.”
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2017 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: New York Knicks

May 27th, 2017 at 10:06am CST by Luke Adams

The 2016/17 Knicks season will be remembered for many things: Phil Jackson subtly – and then blatantly – suggesting the team would be better off without Carmelo Anthony; Charles Oakley being ejected and banned from Madison Square Garden; Derrick Rose disappearing with no explanation before a game; Joakim Noah receiving a 20-game suspension; Kristaps Porzingis skipping his exit interview.

New York’s results on the court were practically an afterthought, but they weren’t good either (31-51 record). So in addition to upgrading the roster, Knicks management will have to work this offseason to rebuild the franchise’s one-time reputation as a top destination for NBA players.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Knicks financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2017:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

  • Ron Baker ($1,512,611 qualifying offer / $1,512,611 cap hold)
  • Total: $1,512,611

Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Maximum Cap Room: $19,588,175

  • Adding the Knicks’ eight guaranteed salaries to cap holds for their first-round pick and three empty roster spots, the team’s salary totals $81,411,825. Even after waiving their three non-guaranteed players and renouncing free agents like Rose, Holiday, and Baker, that wouldn’t be nearly enough for a maximum-salary contract, so the Knicks will have to get creative – or dump salary in a Carmelo trade – if they want to make a splash in free agency.

Footnotes:

  1. Ndour’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after June 30.
  2. Plumlee’s salary becomes partially guaranteed ($100,000) after June 30.
  3. Rose’s cap hold is his maximum salary, based on a $101MM cap projection. If the salary cap is higher than $101MM, Rose’s cap hold would increase along with it, up to a maximum of $31,984,878.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post.

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Ainge: Celtics Have Good Players But We Need Great Ones

May 27th, 2017 at 9:59am CST by marksuleymanov

Coming off a season in which the Celtics were the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference and stole a win against the Cavaliers in the conference finals, the team has every reason to be optimistic. However, team President Danny Ainge now enters the offseason with a lot of key decisions to make that could potentially restructure the entire roster.

Ainge spoke to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald to discuss his team and plans moving forward. While Ainge views the 2016/17 campaign as a positive step, he acknowledged that the road to a championship will be the biggest challenge moving forward.

“I feel like it doesn’t really matter what we’ve accomplished. If we’d lost Game 7 against the Wizards, I don’t feel any different than if we’re where we are today,” Ainge said. “I know that we’re good. I know that we’re not great. I know that we still have more to do, and, you know, that next step is by far the hardest.”

All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas will hit free agency after next season and is open to putting off extension talks to allow the Celtics to lure free agents. Also, the team holds the No.1 overall pick in the NBA Draft — which they’re expected to use on Washington product Markelle Fultz. In terms of free agents, the team will will have to make decisions on Gerald Green, Amir Johnson, and Jonas Jerebko with Kelly Olynyk a restricted free agent. Players like Al Horford, Marcus Smart, and Avery Bradley currently figure into next year’s plans but trades for superstar players could results in any one of them moving.

“We have a lot of good players,” Ainge said, “but we need some great ones.”

Also, the team’s young but successful head coach Brad Stevens will be a key influence in the team’s decisions. An argument can be made that Stevens’ presence will be as big a recruitment tool as any player on the the roster. All told, fans, players, coaches, executives, and anybody associated with the Celtics should expect a revamped team — in some form — next season.

“So I feel like, yeah, this will be a very busy summer with a lot of difficult decisions,” Ainge said. “I feel like we will be prepared and are prepared. The only person that hasn’t been involved in day-to-day discussions with what we’ll try to do is Brad [Stevens], and he will be filled in on everything once he gets a little bit of rest. He will be filled in and be a big part of the decisions that we make.”

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