2017 October | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Won’t Pick Up Jahlil Okafor’s 2018/19 Option

October 31st, 2017 at 3:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Just over two years after using the third overall pick to draft him, the Sixers have elected not to exercise Jahlil Okafor‘s team option for 2018/19, a team source tells Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) confirms that the 76ers will turn down Okafor’s fourth-year option.

Okafor, one of the most highly-regarded prospects of the 2015 draft class, enjoyed a solid rookie season with the Sixers back in 2015/16, averaging 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 53 games (48 starts). However, he saw his role with the club begin to decrease last season.

Even after Philadelphia traded Nerlens Noel to the Mavericks in February, the center position remained crowded, with Joel Embiid looking like a franchise player when he was healthy and Richaun Holmes emerging as a viable backup. This season, Amir Johnson and even Dario Saric have earned minutes at center, leaving no room in the rotation for Okafor.

As Neubeck details in his report, multiple members of the Sixers have “insisted privately” that creating cap flexibility for 2018 is a top priority for the club. Embiid’s new extension will kick in, and Robert Covington is expected to receive a significant raise as well, so declining Okafor’s option, which would have been worth about $6.3MM, will help the 76ers retain cap room for potential free agent targets.

While it’s possible Okafor will play out the year with the Sixers before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2018, the club has been working with the big man’s camp in an effort to find a viable trade. Today’s move may complicate those efforts.

With his option for 2018/19 not exercised, Okafor will be on an expiring contract, which figures to have an impact on what potential suitors are willing to offer for him. Unlike Noel, who was also traded in the final year of his contract, Okafor won’t be eligible for restricted free agency. Whichever team has him on its roster at the end of the season also won’t be able to offer Okafor a higher salary than $6.3MM, the value of his declined option.

Okafor’s rookie scale option was one of five that the Sixers had to decide on by today. Philadelphia exercised its 2018/19 options on Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, Justin Anderson, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards Won’t Exercise Chris McCullough’s Option

October 31st, 2017 at 2:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards won’t pick up their 2018/19 team option on power forward Chris McCullough, sources tell Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The decision will result in McCullough becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency next July.

McCullough, 22, was selected with the 29th overall pick in the 2015 draft and spent most of his first two NBA seasons with the Nets before being sent to Washington along with Bojan Bogdanovic in a deadline deal earlier this year.

Even in Brooklyn, on a rebuilding squad, McCullough didn’t see much playing time, with the Nets frequently assigning him to the G League for further development. The young forward’s minutes dwindled further after he joined the Wizards — he only has only played 15 total minutes in three games since arriving in D.C. in February.

While the Wizards aren’t necessarily giving up on McCullough, they’ve decided not to guarantee his 2018/19 salary, which would have added $2,243,326 to team payroll. After exercising Kelly Oubre‘s option earlier this month, Washington is currently projected to carry approximately $116MM in guaranteed salary next year, putting the club at risk of ending up in tax territory again.

Warriors Exercise Damian Jones’ 2018/19 Option

October 31st, 2017 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have exercised Damian Jones‘ third-year option for 2018/19, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Mark Medina of The Bay Area News Group had reported on Monday night that Jones’ option would be picked up.

Jones, the 30th overall pick in the 2016 draft, is one of two Warriors players who has rookie scale team option for 2018/19. The other, Kevon Looney, won’t have his option exercised by Golden State, as we learned on Monday.

Neither Jones nor Looney has a real role for the Warriors, but there are a couple key differences between the two players. For one, Looney is already in his third season, so Golden State management has had an extra year to decide whether or not he’s in the club’s long-term plans — Jones is coming off an injury-plagued rookie season, meaning the Dubs haven’t had a chance to take a long look at him yet.

Additionally, Jones’ third-year option will count against the cap for just $1,544,951 in 2018/19. Looney’s fourth-year option would have had a cap charge of $2,227,081. While that might not seem like a significant difference, every dollar will be important for the Warriors going forward, since they project to be in luxury-tax territory for the foreseeable future.

Celtics Pick Up 2018/19 Options On Brown, Rozier

October 31st, 2017 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have picked up a pair of 2018/19 team options, locking in Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier for next season, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

Brown’s third-year option will count against the Celtics’ cap for about $5.17MM in 2018/19, while Rozier’s fourth-year option is worth approximately $3.05MM. The Celtics will eventually have to make a fourth-year option decision on Brown, but the team’s next decision on Rozier will be whether or not to extend him during the 2018 offseason. If Rozier doesn’t sign an extension, he’ll be on track for restricted free agency in 2019.

Brown and Rozier are two of just four Celtics who finished last season in Boston and remained on the club’s opening night roster, joining Al Horford and Marcus Smart as the lone holdovers. With Gordon Hayward expected to miss the entire season and players like Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder no longer in the mix, both Brown and Rozier figure to be leaned on for increased roles in 2017/18.

So far this season, Brown has averaged 15.4 points in 33.3 minutes per contest, while Rozier has recorded 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game. Each player averaged approximately 17 MPG last year.

Grizzlies Pick Up Jarell Martin’s 2018/19 Option

October 31st, 2017 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

1:38pm: The Grizzlies have officially exercised their fourth-year option on Martin, the club confirmed today in a press release.

9:01am: The Grizzlies will exercise their 2018/19 team option on Jarell Martin‘s rookie contract in advance of Tuesday’s deadline, league sources tell Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s a fourth-year option for the young power forward.

It’s an impressive turn of events for Martin, who appeared on the verge of being waived earlier this month. Entering training camp, Memphis was carrying more than 15 players on guaranteed contracts, and Martin appeared to be the odd man out. However, the club gave him the opportunity to make an impression during the preseason and he did just that, earning a roster spot over youngsters Wade Baldwin and Rade Zagorac, who were both waived.

In the early going this season, Martin has been the Grizzlies’ starting power forward, averaging a career-high 23.9 minutes per game. He’s contributing a modest 7.1 PPG and 4.6 RPG.

Now that Martin has earned his place on the roster for the 2017/18 season, it makes sense for the Grizzlies to pick up his 2018/19 option, which has a small cap charge of approximately $2.42MM. Even if the team decides next summer that Martin isn’t part of the plans for the ’18/19 season, it likely wouldn’t be hard to find a taker for a player on an expiring contract with such a minimal cap hit.

Martin will now be extension-eligible during the 2018 offseason, so that could be an option for the Grizzlies if they really like what they see from the 23-year-old this year. If he doesn’t get an extension, the former 25th overall pick will become eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2019.

Kings Exercise 2018/19 Options On Five Players

October 31st, 2017 at 1:22pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have picked up 2018/19 rookie scale options on five players, the team announced today in a press release. The moves will add about $14MM in guaranteed salary to Sacramento’s books for the ’18/19 season. Here are the options exercised by the club in advance of today’s deadline:

Willie Cauley-Stein (fourth year, $4,696,875)
Buddy Hield (third year, $3,833,760)
Georgios Papagiannis (third year, $2,400,480)
Malachi Richardson (third year, $1,569,360)
Skal Labissiere (third year, $1,544,951)

None of these decisions comes as a real surprise. With the exception of Hield – who was the centerpiece in the trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans – all of these players were drafted by Vlade Divac and the current Kings management group.

Cauley-Stein, the only player of the bunch whose 2018/19 option is on the fourth year of his rookie contract, will be eligible for a contract extension during the ’18 offseason, and will reach restricted free agency in the summer of ’19 if he’s not extended next year. The other four players are on track to be RFAs in 2020 if their fourth-year options are picked up next offseason.

All of this year’s rookie scale team option decisions can be tracked right here.

2017 NBA Offseason In Review Series

October 31st, 2017 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the last month and a half, Hoops Rumors has been examining the 2017 offseason moves for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and other key news and transactions. Our Offseason in Review pieces for each of the league’s 30 teams are linked below, sorted by conference and division.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

Central Division

Southeast Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Northwest Division

Pacific Division

Southwest Division

Magic, Kings Discussed Mario Hezonja Trade

October 31st, 2017 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic are exploring the trade market for Mario Hezonja with the deadline looming on his 2018/19 option, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Orlando will have to decide today whether or not to exercise Hezonja’s fourth-year option for next season, which has a cap charge of about $5.17MM.

According to Scotto (via Twitter), the Kings were one club that spoke to the Magic about Hezonja. The two teams discussed the possibility of a deal that would send Hezonja to Sacramento in exchange for Malachi Richardson and a second-round pick. However, those trade talks recently stalled, Scotto reports.

Like Hezonja, Richardson has yet to make much of an impact in the NBA, but Sacramento’s second-year shooting guard is a little younger and cheaper than Orlando’s third-year sharpshooter. The Kings have already decided to pick up Richardson’s 2018/19 option, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake City Tribune (Twitter link). That option will count against the cap for just $1.57MM.

At $5.17MM, Hezonja’s 2018/19 option is a tougher call. The Croatian forward was the fifth overall pick in 2015, but has failed to develop as the Magic hoped, and is playing a career-low 13.0 MPG in the early part of this season. Orlando’s new management group, led by Jeff Weltman and John Hammond, didn’t draft Hezonja, so they may be less willing to roll the dice on him for one more year than the old regime would have been.

Suns GM: No Timetable For Eric Bledsoe Trade

October 31st, 2017 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

With the Suns in Brooklyn to face the Nets tonight, Eric Bledsoe will miss his fourth straight game, and he may end up sitting out many more. According to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic, Suns GM Ryan McDonough said this week that there’s no timetable for a Bledsoe trade, suggesting the team isn’t rushing to get anything done.

“We are open to doing a deal whenever the best offer presents itself,” McDonough said. “Any other comments or thoughts from me would be pure speculation at this point.”

The 2017/18 regular season is only two weeks old, so there are unlikely to be any teams desperate enough to improve their existing offers for Bledsoe at this point. Additionally, as Bordow notes, some potential trade partners may be able to make more competitive offers when trade restrictions lift on certain players on December 15.

Of course, the two teams most frequently mentioned as potential landing spots for Bledsoe are Denver and Milwaukee, and neither the Nuggets nor the Bucks were very active in free agency over the offseason, so they’re not limited by many trade restrictions at this point.

In any case, since the Suns have no real playoff aspirations this season, there’s not much downside in being patient and hoping that the offers for Bledsoe improve. Phoenix will have to continue paying its disgruntled point guard while he remains away from the club, but team salary is currently below the required floor anyway, so paying Bledsoe isn’t having a real impact on the Suns’ bottom line.

Sixers Pick Up Four Options; Okafor In Limbo

October 31st, 2017 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have exercised their 2018/19 rookie scale team options on four players, according to RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Philadelphia has picked up third-year options for Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, along with the fourth-year option for Justin Anderson.

That leaves Jahlil Okafor as the only player with a 2018/19 team option that has yet to be exercised. The Sixers could still pick up Okafor’s fourth-year option – which has a cap hit of about $6.3MM – at some point today. However, the club continues to explore potential trades involving the former third overall pick, and those trade talks could determine whether or not Okafor’s option gets exercised, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic.

Outside of Simmons’ option, which will count for about $6.4MM against the 76ers’ cap, the 2018/19 options picked up by the team so far are modest. Saric and and Anderson will have cap charges of about $2.5MM apiece, while Luwawu-Cabarrot’s will be a little over $1.5MM.

The decisions lock all four players in for the ’18/19 season, and Anderson will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019, assuming he’s not extended during the 2018 offseason. Philadelphia will face fourth-year option decisions on Simmons, Saric, and Luwawu-Cabarrot a year from now.

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