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Month: November 2024

Community Shootaround: Lottery Reform

September 8th, 2017 at 6:32pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The NBA Competition Committee is considering a change to the current lottery system, as we passed along on Thursday, and the proposed terms of the new system include:

  • Teams would be able to drop four spots in the lottery. Currently teams can drop no more than three spots.
  • The three worst teams would have equal probabilities of landing the first pick.
  • The odds for those three worst teams would be flattened, closing the gap between their odds of landing the top pick and the subsequent teams’ odds of landing the top pick.

The reform would help to discourage tanking, something that commissioner Adam Silver would like to accomplish. The committee may vote on the proposal prior to the upcoming season and if it gains support, there could be a new system in place as soon as the 2018 draft, though it’s more likely that any changes are phased in over time.

That leads us to tonight’s topic: Should the NBA make these changes to the lottery or does the current system work for the league? Are there other alternatives to the latest proposal that would be better for the NBA?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

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Mark Cuban Talks Nerlens Noel, Restricted Free Agency

September 8th, 2017 at 4:59pm CST by ChrisCrouse

After the Mavericks acquired Nerlens Noel at last season’s trade deadline, many assumed the team would follow up the transaction by locking up the center to a long-term deal. Noel ended up signing his qualifying offer, which will allow him to hit the market again next summer, but this time, as an unrestricted free agent. Owner Mark Cuban said he was satisfied with the result, though he would have rather inked the Kentucky product to a longer deal, as he tells Tim Cowlishaw on his local radio program (h/t Dallas Morning News).

“We made what we thought was a significant offer,” Cuban said. “Nerlens decided to bet on himself and now we’re in a position where if everybody comes out ahead this coming season, he’ll get paid, we’ll be happy and we’ll go on with life. He’s not going to be the first player to bet on himself and he won’t be the last.”

Cuban believes this year’s crop of restricted free agents were unfortunate because many teams over-spent last offseason. The salary cap was expected to go significantly this offseason, though that didn’t happen and many players saw less than desirable offers because teams didn’t plan for that scenario. Cuban added that Noel understands the market and despite being unable to land a massive deal, the big man has remained positive.

“I’ve talked to him since and he’s like, ‘I’m ready to do this. Let’s go out and have a great year.’ He’s just got that positive attitude and that’s been great. Look, the whole time–I’ve got to give Nerlens props–while all of this was going on, he was very positive. It was like look, ‘Our agents are our agents and they’re doing their thing but I’m excited.’ So I give him a ton of credit,” Cuban said.

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Michael Carter-Williams May Not Be Healthy To Start Season

September 8th, 2017 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

3:52 PM: Carter-Williams underwent platelet-rich plasma treatment on each of his knees back in July, Bonnell writes in a full-length piece.

12:23 PM: New Hornets point guard Michael Carter-Williams underwent a procedure on his knee in August, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter links), who reports that Carter-Williams is not yet back on the court. Per head coach Steve Clifford, it’s not a given that MCW will be ready to go for Charlotte’s regular season opener on October 18.

Carter-Williams, who inked a one-year, $2.7MM deal with the Hornets this summer, has a history of injuries, having battled shoulder and hip problems in the past. In 2016/17, Carter-Williams missed time due to knee and wrist injuries. The Syracuse product has never played more than 70 games in a season, appearing in a career-low 45 contests last year.

The Hornets added Carter-Williams this offseason after struggling to find reliable backup production behind Kemba Walker at the point in 2016/17. If the former Rookie of the Year isn’t healthy to start the season, Charlotte figures to turn to Julyan Stone for those backup minutes. Stone recently joined the Hornets on a guaranteed contract as the team’s third point guard.

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Extension Talks Underway Between Bucks, Parker

September 8th, 2017 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

While agent Mark Bartelstein isn’t commenting on the specifics, he acknowledged to Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times that he has been in contact with the Bucks to begin negotiating a possible contract extension for client Jabari Parker.

“We have had discussions; there has been dialogue,” Bartelstein said. “It’s been a positive dialogue. But that’s all I can say at this time.”

Parker continues to recover from a second ACL tear and likely won’t be back on the court for the Bucks until 2018, though the club is confident he’ll make a full recovery from his knee injury. Multiple sources who spoke to Woelfel believe that the young forward will be looking for a contract similar to the one he would’ve sought if not for the injury — a five-year, maximum salary extension. According to Woelfel, Parker and Bartelstein declined to comment themselves on specifics, but “those familiar with both individuals insist [they] won’t settle for anything less than a max contract.”

[RELATED: Extension Candidate: Jabari Parker]

If that’s the case, an extension before the October 16 deadline seems very unlikely for Parker. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders recently reported that the Bucks are open to getting something done with the 22-year-old. However, Milwaukee is expected to seek team-friendly terms, given the current state of Parker’s knee.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Giannis Antetokounmpo accepted less than the maximum salary a year ago, inking a four-year, $100MM extension that will go into effect this season. With Antetokounmpo on the books at that price, a max deal for Parker – which figures to be worth in the neighborhood of $150MM over five years – would be a tough sell. As Woefel observes, Bartelstein has a reputation for getting his clients top dollar, but I can’t see the Bucks going that high.

If the Bucks aren’t willing to meet Parker’s asking price this fall, he’d be eligible for restricted free agency in 2018, at which point he’d have three options: Working out a long-term deal with the Bucks, signing an offer sheet with another club (which the Bucks could match), or signing his one-year qualifying offer and reaching unrestricted free agency in 2019.

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Tyler Zeller Worked Out For Nets

September 8th, 2017 at 3:01pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to working out Jared Sullinger in late August, the Nets recently brought in free agent center Tyler Zeller for an audition, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).

It’s the first update we’ve heard in more than two months on Zeller, who was waived by the Celtics shortly after the free agent period began in July. The 27-year-old center had a non-guaranteed $8MM salary for 2017/18 that needed to be cleared from Boston’s books in order for the C’s to maximize their cap room, which they ultimately used to sign Gordon Hayward.

While there’s no indication that Zeller is on the verge of joining the Nets, Brooklyn remains on the lookout for frontcourt help. So far this offseason, the Nets have traded away Brook Lopez, Andrew Nicholson, and Justin Hamilton in various deals, adding Timofey Mozgov and Jarrett Allen to help fortify the rotation up front.

Zeller, the 17th overall pick in the 2012 draft, spent the last three seasons in Boston, but played a career-low 10.3 minutes per game in 2016/17. In 340 career games with the Cavs and Celtics, the UNC product has averaged 7.0 PPG and 4.4 RPG. Given his reduced role last season, those averages dipped to 3.5 PPG and 2.4 RPG, though his per-minute numbers weren’t far off his career rates.

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Poll: Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2017/18 Win Total

September 8th, 2017 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

When we asked Hoops Rumors readers about a month ago which NBA team had the best offseason, the Timberwolves were the runaway winner, beating out the Celtics and Warriors. That poll came before Boston’s acquisition of Kyrie Irving, so it’s possible that the voting would look a little different today, but the fact remains: Minnesota is viewed as a much-improved club.

The Timberwolves’ acquisition of Jimmy Butler was the key move of the summer, but it wasn’t the team’s only major splash. After landing Butler in a trade, the Wolves used their cap room to bring aboard veterans like Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford. Those players will join a young group that includes a pair of former No. 1 picks in Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.

While the Wolves certainly improved their roster this offseason, the team isn’t stacked with outside shooting, and may be lacking a little depth. Minnesota is also coming off a 31-51 season a year ago, so even getting to .500 would require an extra 10 wins.

Nonetheless, oddsmakers and bettors are bullish on the Wolves’ chances to improve well beyond that .500 mark — offshore betting site Bovada has Minnesota’s over/under for 2017/18 at 48.5 wins. In other words, to reach the over, the Wolves would have to increase their win total by at least 18.

What do you think? Is that too significant a leap to expect in a single season, particularly with so many new faces on the roster? Or is there enough talent on this Timberwolves roster to reasonably expect the club to reach the 49-win mark? Vote below in our poll and jump into the comment section to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Previous over/under voting results:

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2017/18 NBA Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team

September 8th, 2017 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

As the NBA regular season approaches and teams reduce their rosters from the 20-player offseason limit to the 15-man regular season max, the best way to determine which players will survive preseason cuts is to assess their contracts. Players with guaranteed salaries for 2017/18 are far more likely to earn spots on 15-man rosters than players whose contracts aren’t fully guaranteed.

Keeping that in mind, we’re using the space below to keep tabs on the players on each NBA team who don’t have fully guaranteed contracts, using information from Basketball Insiders and ESPN. The players listed here have non-guaranteed salaries, partially guaranteed salaries, or Exhibit 9 or Exhibit 10 contracts, which essentially function like non-guaranteed deals. Unless otherwise noted, these players are on minimum salary contracts.

Not all of these players will be waived before the regular season begins, so we’ll maintain this list for the next several months, up until January 10, 2018. That’s the day that all players under contract have their salaries fully guaranteed for the rest of the 2017/18 season.

Some players on this list currently have partial guarantees or will have their salaries become guaranteed prior to January 10. We’ve noted those partial guarantees in parentheses, and our list of early salary guarantee dates can be found right here.

Only players who have formally signed contracts are listed below, so if a player has reportedly reached an agreement with a team on a non-guaranteed deal, we’ll add him to our list when that deal becomes official. For now, you can use our roster counts page to find those players whose deals have been reported but not finalized.

Our roster counts page also notes how many guaranteed salaries each team has on its books, which will provide an idea of which players listed below might have a better chance to earn a roster spot — a non-guaranteed player on a roster with 12 guaranteed salaries has better odds to make his team’s 15-man squad than a non-guaranteed player on a roster with 15 guaranteed salaries.

Without further ado, here’s the full list of players without fully guaranteed salaries for 2017/18, broken down by team:

Updated 1-10-17 (11:03am CT)

Atlanta Hawks

  • None

Boston Celtics

  • None

Brooklyn Nets

  • None

Charlotte Hornets

  • None

Chicago Bulls

  • None

Cleveland Cavaliers

  • None

Read more

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Cavs Sign John Holland To Two-Way Contract

September 8th, 2017 at 12:46pm CST by Austin Kent

SEPTEMBER 8: The Cavs have officially signed Holland to the first two-way contract in franchise history, the team announced today in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 7: The Cavaliers have agreed to a deal with John Holland, international basketball reporter David Pick tweets. The small forward was a training camp invitee of the Cavs last year, as well.

While Holland put forth an impressive campaign in the G League last season, his only previous taste of regular season NBA action came in 2015/16 when he played one lone minute in one single game for the Celtics (during which he hoisted and missed a three).

More recently, while suited up for Cleveland’s minor league affiliate in Canton, the 28-year-old took home the Impact Player of the Year award for 2016/17 and earned nod on the league’s All-NBA G League Third Team.

While the terms of the agreed upon deal haven’t been disclosed, it’s possible that the Cavs slot Holland into one of their vacant slots for two-way players (Update: Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com has since confirmed as much).

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Cavs Not Ruling Out Trading Nets’ 2018 Pick

September 8th, 2017 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers’ haul in the Kyrie Irving blockbuster included one of the NBA’s top scorers, a solid two-way wing on one of the league’s most affordable contracts, and a young big man with legit upside. Nonetheless, the crown jewel of the deal from Cleveland’s perspective may have been the Nets’ 2018 first-round pick, which is unprotected.

While that first-rounder will prove very useful if the Cavs need to retool their roster following the 2017/18 season, GM Koby Altman tells Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net that the team will consider every option for the pick — including trading it.

“When we acquired it, we had every intention of keeping it and using it,” Altman said of the Nets’ pick. “But I also think we have a responsibility to see to what’s out there. I think there will be tremendous interest. We have a responsibility to listen to calls.”

Even if the Cavaliers decide to hang onto the Nets’ pick, having it available gives the club more flexibility when it comes to making other trades. As we discussed earlier this week, the Cavs have traded their 2019 first-round pick, so normally they’d be prohibited from trading their 2018 first-rounder due to the Ted Stepien Rule. But with a pair of first-round picks now in hand for ’18, Cleveland has the freedom to move one of the two.

“A big thing we really valued when making the trade is the fact that it is unprotected,” senior director of basketball operations Brock Aller told Amico. “So looking at it, we have the flexibility to trade our own pick, or the pick we received (via the Nets).”

As Aller notes, that lack of protection is crucial — if the Celtics had placed even top-one protection on that Nets pick, the Cavs would have had trouble trading their own first-rounder, since there would have been a chance of being left without a first-rounder for two consecutive future years in that scenario, violating the Stepien Rule.

Ultimately, I’d expect the Cavs to hang onto the Nets’ pick and dangle their own first-rounder in trade talks as the deadline nears. However, if a star player becomes available or if LeBron James commits to staying in Cleveland beyond this season, the idea of trading that Brooklyn first-rounder would likely become more feasible.

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Bulls’ Cameron Payne Out For 3-4 Months

September 8th, 2017 at 10:55am CST by ChrisCrouse

SEPTEMBER 8: The Bulls have provided another update on Payne, announcing today in a press release that he underwent successful surgery on his right foot on Wednesday. The point guard is expected to make a full recovery in three to four months, according to the team. That would put Payne on track to return in December or January.

AUGUST 31: The Bulls have issued a formal update on Payne, confirming that he’ll undergo surgery on his broken foot next Wednesday.

According to the team, a six-week period of rest in a boot was prescribed for Payne after he suffered the injury in mid-July, but the fracture hasn’t healed satisfactorily since then, resulting in a surgery recommendation.

AUGUST 30: Cameron Payne will undergo surgery on his right foot and his recovery is expected to keep him out of action until late November, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical.

Payne dealt with injuries to the foot earlier in his career and he re-aggravated the injury this offseason playing for the Bulls’ Summer League team. It was his first offseason with Chicago, as the organization traded for him at the 2017 trade deadline.

The Thunder selected Payne with the No. 14 overall pick out of Murray State in the 2015 draft. In his two seasons as a pro, the point guard averaged 5.0 points and 1.5 assists in 13.2 minutes per game.

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