2019 March | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Nurkic, Bonuses, Draft, Poirier

March 29th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Jusuf Nurkic‘s season came to an early end this week when he suffered a horrific leg injury that figures to sideline him for much of the 2019/20 campaign as well. While it was a devastating blow for Nurkic and the Trail Blazers, the veteran center might get a bit of good news before the regular season.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN.com details in an Insider-only story, Nurkic will earn a $1.25MM bonus if Portland records at least 50 wins this season. The Trail Blazers’ record currently sits at 47-27, giving the team eight more games to win three more games, which seems like a reasonable bet. If Nurkic does earn that bonus, the Blazers’ projected tax bill will increase by more than $2MM and the big man’s cap hits in future seasons would rise, Marks notes.

Marks has the details on several other potential incentives within his article, noting that Clint Capela (Rockets) and Kyle Lowry (Raptors) will earn bonuses of $1MM and $500K respectively if their teams reach the conference finals. Lowry, who must appear in five of Toronto’s last six games to achieve his bonus, also gets a $500K incentive if the Raptors reach the NBA Finals and another $500K if they win the title.

Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world…

Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson are two of the most successful players in NBA history, but they’ve yet to achieve much success as executives for the Hornets and Lakers respectively. Shaun Powell of NBA.com takes a look at how the two NBA legends are trying to turn their teams into winners.
The NCAA has made some changes to its rules for early entrants this year, as underclassmen are now permitted to hire agents while they test the draft waters and retain their NCAA eligibility. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) breaks down the new rules, with multiple agents weighing in on the pros and cons of the changes for young prospects.
French big man Vincent Poirier, who plays for Baskonia in Spain, said in an interview with RMC Sports that there are NBA clubs with interest in him, as Orazio Cauchi of Sportando relays. It’s not clear which teams those are, or whether they’ll attempt to bring him stateside once his contract with Baskonia expires.

Lakers Rumors: Zubac, LeBron, Butler, PG13, Randle

March 29th, 2019 at 2:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers‘ decision to trade Ivica Zubac to the Clippers in a deal for Mike Muscala was one of the more questionable deadline moves last month. To make matter worse, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes that the Lakers actually instigated those trade discussions.

Sources tell McMenamin that the Clippers never inquired on Zubac, and that it was the Lakers who made the offer, which the Clips “gladly accepted.” Veteran Clippers executive Jerry West “couldn’t believe how Zubac fell into his lap,” McMenamin writes.

The Lakers had hoped the roster spot they opened up in that swap – which also included Michael Beasley – would clear the way for the team to sign a player like Wayne Ellington, DeAndre Jordan, or Enes Kanter on the buyout market, per McMenamin. However, those players either chose other teams or never became available.

McMenamin’s latest article for ESPN digs into the Lakers’ disappointing season in detail, and includes several more noteworthy tidbits. Here are the highlights from the piece:

One team source tells McMenamin that they felt as if LeBron James didn’t fully engage with his younger teammates prior to the trade deadline.
Rajon Rondo organized a players-only meeting about a month ago in the hopes that the team would find “a better understanding of one another,” a source tells McMenamin. Players spoke up about LeBron’s “inconsistent body language,” and James took the criticism to heart, making an effort to improve on that going forward. Of course, the meeting hasn’t led to improved on-court results. “Just because [the meeting] was positive doesn’t mean we’re going to win 25 games in a row,” a team source told McMenamin.
Anthony Davis‘ name didn’t come up last summer when James met with Magic Johnson on the eve of free agency and discussed future plans. However, it has been clear all year that the Lakers intend to pair LeBron with a second maximum-salary free agent. L.A. was one of several teams to inquire on Jimmy Butler before he was sent to Philadelphia last fall, McMenamin reports.
Paul George‘s decision to stay in Oklahoma City last offseason was more about what the Thunder did right than what the Lakers did wrong, sources tell McMenamin. Still, it’s worth noting that George was somewhat familiar with how the Lakers ran things, having spoken to his agent Aaron Mintz and former teammate Corey Brewer about their experiences with the organization.
Mintz represents Julius Randle, who never received an offer from the Lakers as a restricted free agency last July, per McMenamin. Randle ultimately signed with the Pelicans because he felt like they really wanted him, which wasn’t a feeling he got from the Lakers, despite the fact that head coach Luke Walton and his staff hoped he’d be back, McMenamin writes.

Devin Booker Plans To Be Involved In Suns’ Offseason

March 29th, 2019 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Devin Booker‘s new five-year, maximum-salary extension with the Suns will begin on July 1, and as the team considers its other offseason moves, the standout guard hopes to have some say in those decisions, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

“It’s probably the summer I’ll be most involved in my career,” Booker said this week.

Assuming they hold the No. 2 spot in the NBA’s lottery standings, the Suns will have a top-six draft pick at their disposal. The club is also expected to have some cap room available, though Tyler Johnson‘s $19MM+ player option will cut into Phoenix’s cap flexibility, as will Kelly Oubre‘s cap hold.

Of course, it’s still not entirely clear who will be making the final call on personnel moves in Phoenix. Currently, interim co-GMs James Jones and Trevor Bukstein are running the show, but the Suns are conducting a search for a permanent head of basketball operations. Booker is counting on staying involved in the decision-making process even after that hire is made, as Rankin relays.

“When I signed my deal, I think it was an understanding, through the franchise and myself, that moving forward, we both have the same goals at hand and that’s to get better,” Booker said. “It’s not a one-sided thing. It’s not whatever I view, whatever they view. I think it’s a collective agreement. Moving forward, throwing in any advice I can, stay in the loop and watch what’s going on and know what’s going on.”

Although he may have one eye on the Suns’ offseason, Booker has been at his best on the court as of late. Since the All-Star break, the 22-year-old has averaged an impressive 31.6 PPG, 6.8 APG, and 5.0 RPG with a .465/.331/.887 shooting line. He has cracked the 50-point mark in each of his last two games.

Injury Updates: Anderson, J. Jackson, Ntilikina, THJ

March 29th, 2019 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Considering they haven’t seen any game action since January 30 and February 13 respectively, Grizzlies regulars Kyle Anderson and Jaren Jackson Jr. weren’t considered great bets to return to the court before the end of the regular season. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff confirmed as much today, telling reporters – including Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link) – that both players are done for the season.

While a shoulder injury cut Anderson’s season short and a quad issue prevented Jackson from getting back on the court, both players figure to be building blocks for the Grizzlies as the team goes through a retooling period. Anderson still has three more years left on the contract he signed with the team last summer, while Jackson has three years remaining on his rookie deal.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

After re-aggravating a groin injury last weekend, Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina will be shut down for the rest of the season, the club announced today (via Twitter). It was a bit of a lost year for Ntilikina, who was limited to just 43 games due to injuries and an inconsistent role, and didn’t take a real step forward after an up-and-down rookie season. His place in the Knicks’ long-term future is unclear.
Mavericks wing Tim Hardaway Jr., who has already been ruled out for the season, will likely undergo surgery to insert a rod in his leg and repair his stress fracture, owner Mark Cuban said this week (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com). Assuming he goes ahead with that procedure, Hardaway is expected to be recovered well before training camp begins in 2019/20.
In case you missed it, we passed along health updates on Dwight Howard, Dante Exum, and Luc Mbah a Moute on Thursday.

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Qualifying Offers

March 29th, 2019 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams

Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him — a player who doesn’t receive one becomes an unrestricted free agent instead.

The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s service time and previous contract status.

If a player reaches free agency with three or fewer years of NBA service time under his belt, his qualifying offer is worth 125% of his prior salary, or his minimum salary plus $200K, whichever is greater. For instance, after earning $1,378,242 this season, Jordan Bell will be eligible for a qualifying offer worth a projected $1,818,486 this offseason — that’s calculated by adding $200,000 to his projected minimum salary for 2019/20 ($1,618,486). Tomas Satoransky‘s 2018/19 salary, on the other hand, was $3,129,187, so his qualifying offer will be worth 125% of that figure: $3,911,484

The qualifying offer for a former first-round pick coming off his rookie scale contract is determined by his draft position. The qualifying offer for a first overall pick is 130% of his fourth-year salary, while for a 30th overall pick it’s 150% of his previous salary — QOs for the rest of the first-rounders fall somewhere in between. The full first-round scale for the draft class of 2015, whose first-rounders will be hitting free agency this summer, can be found here, courtesy of RealGM.

Here are a pair of examples for this offseason, based on RealGM’s chart: 2015’s second overall pick D’Angelo Russell, coming off a fourth-year salary of $7,019,698, must be extended a qualifying offer of $9,160,706 (a 30.5% increase) to become a restricted free agent. Meanwhile, 20th overall pick Delon Wright will be eligible for a qualifying offer of $3,635,375, a 43.3% increase on this season’s $2,536,898 salary.

A wrinkle in the Collective Bargaining Agreement complicates matters for some RFAs-to-be, since a player’s previous usage can impact the amount of his qualifying offer. Certain players who meet – or fail to meet – the “starter criteria,” which we break down in a separate glossary entry, become eligible for higher or lower qualifying offers. Here’s how the starter criteria affects QOs:

A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a same qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the 15th overall pick.
- Note: For the summer of 2019, the value of this QO will be $4,485,665. Kristaps Porzingis is one example of a player who falls into this group.
A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the ninth overall pick.
- Note: For the summer of 2019, the value of this QO will be $4,915,726. Kelly Oubre is one example of a player who falls into this group.
A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 100% of the amount applicable to the 21st overall pick.
- Note: For the summer of 2019, the value of this QO will be $3,021,354. Thomas Bryant is one example of a player who falls into this group.

A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then receives the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club.

A player can also accept his qualifying offer, if he so chooses. He then plays the following season on a one-year contract worth the amount of the QO, and becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end if he has at least four years of NBA experience. A player can go this route if he wants to hit unrestricted free agency as early as possible, or if he feels like the QO is the best offer he’ll receive. Accepting the qualifying offer also gives a player the right to veto trades for the season.

During the 2018 offseason, for instance, Rodney Hood signed his qualifying offer after failing to secure a longer-term deal with the Cavaliers. When Cleveland agreed to send him to the Trail Blazers prior to the trade deadline, Hood had to give his consent to be dealt, which he did.

Finally, while the details outlined above apply to players on standard NBA contracts who are eligible for restricted free agency, a different set of rules applies to players coming off two-way contracts. For most of those players, the qualifying offer would be equivalent to a one-year, two-way salary, with $50K guaranteed.

If a player coming off a two-way contract is ineligible to sign another one – either because he has already been on two-way deals with his current team for two seasons or because he has four years of NBA service – his qualifying offer would be a standard, minimum-salary NBA contract. The guarantee on that QO would have to match or exceed what a two-way player would earn in the G League.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks Sign Deyonta Davis To Second 10-Day Contract

March 29th, 2019 at 10:55am CST by JD Shaw

MARCH 29: Davis, whose first 10-day deal with Atlanta expired overnight, has officially signed his second 10-day contract with the Hawks, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

MARCH 28: The Hawks have agreed to a second 10-day contract with forward Deyonta Davis, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Davis appeared in two games with Atlanta during his first 10-day contract, scoring once in seven minutes. The Hawks have games scheduled against the Blazers, Bucks (twice), Spurs, Sixers and Magic over the next 10 days, giving Davis ample opportunity to prove his worth.

Davis, a 6-foot-10 forward drafted No. 31 in 2016, appeared in 43 games in the NBA G League with the Santa Cruz Warriors before signing with Atlanta. He held per-game averages of 9.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks over that stint.

Davis was the fourth player to sign a 10-day contract with the Hawks this season. Before this transaction, the team signed Tyler Zeller, Jordan Sibert and B.J. Johnson to separate 10-day deals of their own.

Bulls Sign Walter Lemon Jr.

March 29th, 2019 at 10:52am CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 29: The Bulls have officially signed Lemon, the team announced today in a press release.

MARCH 28: Point guard and Chicago native Walter Lemon Jr. will sign with the Bulls for the rest of the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Lemon has spent most of this season with Chicago’s Windy City affiliate in the G League, where he averaged 20.1 points per game after being acquired in an early-season trade with Maine. The 26-year-old has played extensively in the G League and overseas since going undrafted out of Bradley in 2014.

Lemon got into five games with the Pelicans after signing a pair of 10-day contracts late last season. He inked a two-way deal with the Celtics last summer, but never played for Boston and was waived in November.

He will provide some help to a Bulls team that has been overwhelmed by injuries. On Wednesday, Lauri Markkanen became the team’s third prominent player to be shut down for the rest of the season, joining Chandler Hutchison and Wendell Carter Jr., who have both been sidelined for weeks. Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and Otto Porter have also been unavailable recently.

Draft Notes: McDaniels, Ponds, Oni, Nwora, Childs

March 29th, 2019 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

San Diego State forward Jalen McDaniels, the No. 36 prospect on ESPN’s big board, has elected to forgo his remaining college eligibility by hiring an agent and entering the 2019 NBA draft pool, the school announced this week.

“We appreciate the positive contributions Jalen made to our program and to the University,” head coach Brian Dutcher said. “Jalen now has the opportunity to pursue his life-long goal of playing in the National Basketball Association. We wish him and his family well.”

McDaniels, who has a chance to be selected in the first round in June, entered the 2018 draft, but withdrew his name at the 11th hour and returned to the Aztecs for one more year. He averaged 15.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG in his sophomore season.

Here are more updates on early entrants for the 2019 draft:

St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds, who tested the draft waters a year ago, will enter his name in the draft pool again this year. This time around, the junior appears more likely to go pro, as he tells Evan Daniels of 247Sports.com (Twitter link) that he’ll hire an agent. Ponds is the No. 51 prospect on ESPN’s big board.
Yale junior wing Miye Oni, the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2019, has informed Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com that he’s declaring for the 2019 NBA draft. “I submitted my name to the Undergraduate Advisory Request to legally protect myself and my NCAA eligibility, but I have every intention of staying in the draft,” said Oni, the No. 53 prospect on Givony’s top 100. “I’ll be signing with agent Harrison Gaines of SLASH Sport.”
Louisville sophomore Jordan Nwora will test the draft waters, as Givony details at ESPN.com. Nwora, the 76th-rated prospect on ESPN’s top 100, will plan on going pro if he gets positive feedback from teams and evaluators this spring, but is leaving the door open to return to the Cardinals.
BYU junior forward Yoeli Childs, who withdrew from the 2018 draft after testing the waters, will once again enter his name in this year’s class, he announced this week (via Twitter). Based on his statement, it sounds like Childs intends to keep his name in the draft and go pro.

Joe Tsai In Talks To Buy Barclays Center, Become Nets’ Majority Owner

March 29th, 2019 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

Nets minority stakeholder Joseph Tsai is in talks to buy the Barclays Center in Brooklyn – as well as the new Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale – from controlling owner Mikhail Prokhorov, Josh Kosman and Brett Cyrgalis of The New York Post report.

According to Kosman and Cyrgalis, those negotiations are expected to clear a path for Tsai to take over as the Nets’ majority owner, since the NBA likes its team owners to control the arena where the club plays.

Tsai officially purchased a 49% stake in the Nets from Prokhorov about a year ago for $1 billion, and that deal included language that will allow Tsai to buy the rest of the team in 2021 for $1.35 billion. However, as Kosman and Cyrgalis confirm, there’s nothing stopping Prokhorov from selling his share of the club to Tsai ahead of schedule.

According to the Post’s report, the NBA would fully embrace a sale to Tsai, since the league recognizes he’ll be able to help grow the sport and the NBA’s brand in China — he’s already a member of NBA China despite not yet owning the Nets. One source tells Kosman and Cyrgalis that the league “would be ecstatic” if Tsai assumes control of the franchise.

While it’s not clear what sort of timeline we should expect for Tsai to take over the Barclays Center and the Nets, the negotiations shouldn’t have to be contentious. Brian Lewis of The New York Post wrote last month that Prokhorov and Tsai have maintained a good relationship, with Brooklyn GM Sean Marks praising the duo’s willingness to “collaborate.”

Eastern Notes: Cavs, Love, Wizards, Fizdale

March 28th, 2019 at 10:41pm CST by JD Shaw

The Cavaliers lost one of the best basketball players on the planet last summer, a crushing blow to the organization after four straight years of making the NBA Finals.

LeBron James made a quick decision to leave Cleveland and join the Lakers on the first night of free agency, but the team under-performed this season as a result of injury, awkward fit and lack of consistency. They were eliminated from playoff contention — just like the Cavaliers.

“Character-wise, everyone here gets an ‘A,’” Cavs center Tristan Thompson said, as relayed by Joe Vardon of The Athletic this week. “It would be easy for us to show up and lay down, but that’s not what (owner) Dan (Gilbert) is paying us for, that’s not what ’Bron taught us while he was here.”

Vardon ponders whether the Cavs are in a better position without James than the Lakers are with him in his article, detailing the young talent, cohesiveness and determination this current Cavaliers team has.

Cleveland sports a young nucleus of Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman and Ante Zizic, combined with veterans such as Jordan Clarkson, Kevin Love and Thompson, though the team has accrued just a 19-56 record this season. The Cavs are 4-8 during the month of March, compared to the Lakers at 3-11.

“LD’s done a great job getting us in this position,” Thompson said of head coach Larry Drew, who guided Cleveland through a very tough first half of the season. “I give the coaches a lot of credit. They’re four-time Finals coaches, and they don’t know their future.”

There’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love is set to receive a special honor at Carnegie Hall in May, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. Love will be recognized by the Child Mind Institute at the Change Maker Awards for raising awareness about mental health, particularly in the lives of young kids. “It’s bigger than basketball,” Love said. “I think stuff like this is super important. The narrative of sticking to sports and more than an athlete, we just have such a big reach, it’s important for us if we’re able to share these stories and do these things and know that it is bigger than basketball. Although this is what we do, the main thing is the main thing, it’s opened a lot of doors for us to do important things and cool things like this.”
Bobby Marks of ESPN.com previews the offseason for the Wizards, a team on the heels of a disappointing 2018/19 regular season. Trevor Ariza, Wesley Johnson, Tomas Satoransky, Sam Dekker, Bobby Portis, Jeff Green, Thomas Bryant and Chasson Randle will all reach free agency on July 1, with the franchise holding a $20MM team option on forward Jabari Parker. John Wall could miss most (or all) of next season as he rehabs from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.
David Fizdale‘s honeymoon year with the Knicks is nearing its end, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Fizdale has experimented with several different lineup combinations in his first season as coach, as the pressure of having a successful draft offseason continues to mount for the team. The Knicks are expected to pursue top-level talents once free agency officially opens on July 1.

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