Having started his 21st game of the season on Wednesday night, Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball has now met the “starter criteria,” which will have a significant impact on the value of his qualifying offer this offseason.
The starter criteria applies to players who will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end. Typically, a player is required to average 41 starts during the two seasons prior to his free agency to meet the criteria, but that threshold has been adjusted and varies from player to player this year, since each of the last two NBA seasons have been shortened.
In Ball’s case, the Pelicans played 64 games prior to the hiatus last season and will play 72 this season, for a total of 136. He needed to start half of them (34 per year, or 68 in total) to meet the starter criteria. After starting 47 of those pre-hiatus contests a year ago, he now has 21 starts this season.
In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend him a qualifying offer, which is essentially a guaranteed one-year contract offer that gives the team the right of first refusal on a rival offer sheet. Meeting the starter criteria makes a player eligible for a larger qualifying offer than he would have been if he’d fallen short of that criteria.
That difference is especially important for Ball, whose qualifying offer would only have been worth about $7MM if he hadn’t reached the starter criteria. Now, his QO – assuming he receives one – will be worth $14.36MM.
Ball has been the subject of some recent trade rumors, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll still be a Pelican when he reaches free agency later this year. However, he has played some of his best basketball as of late, averaging 17.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 4.8 APG on .476/.484/.909 shooting in his last eight games. If he continues to produce at that level, his team at season’s end – whether it’s New Orleans or another franchise – likely won’t bat an eye at issuing that $14MM+ QO.
Ball is the third RFA-to-be to meet the starter criteria this season, joining Devonte’ Graham and Duncan Robinson.
Starting in the nba is vastly overrated. Minutes played is far more important.
Not where money circumstances as mentioned in this article are concerned. Minutes played isn’t a “kicker” like games started are, obviously.
Get your money…. minutes will be what they will be
For what it’s worth, players can also meet the starter criteria via minutes played (it’s usually 2,000 but will also be prorated this year).
Most teams figured this would be the case with Ball.
I still cannot comprehend what the Hell Chicago wants with Ball? Thats gotta be a pelicans drum up interest in Ball story. Its a horrible fit.
Pelicans just wants to get rid of him because he is not worth $14 million a year. That is a lot of money for your 4th best player.
No, 14m is not much
According to report, Ball asked for insane amount of money
According to reporters trade idea, they want a young player and a future First for Ball
Asking price is not reasonable
Depends on who the young player is a where the draft pick is in the draft. Since Bulls will probably have a pick in the top 10 it wouldn’t be a good trade for them.
It’s only a horrible fit if you don’t factor in what Chicago would give up in return. If Chicago were to give up a Coby White led package in exchange, then the fit would be far less horrible.
It’s a very good fit in Chicago, lavine and white are not the splash brothers, ball would compliment lavines game, not too mention the marketing coup of “Zach and Zo” I can see the T-shirts’ now, white is probably a long haired Lou Williams at the end of his career which is valuable but Zo would fit nicely on the bulls with Zach and Patrick’s athleticism
I can see that angle also. I haven’t written the book on White/Lavine yet because of the other misalignments regarding the teams’ chemistry.
I like white’s ability to score. He has good height. He isn’t as good a facilitator as Ball or Lavine, but he shows a desire & ability to learn/get better. Ball is a better defender also.
I thought his pairing with Lavine was sort of a work in progress, but maybe Donovan has seen enough?
White’s offensive numbers are good this season. The asking price for Ball, or rumored asking price is also my reluctance to add Ball to Chicago. I wouldn’t trade any 1st at this point. Not for Ball. Chicago’s 1st
Lonzo Ball is an average at best NBA point guard. His passing skills are strong but neither his shooting nor his defense are anything to be excited about. Ball’s NBA legacy is that he is LaMelo’s older brother and he was part of the deal that got Anthony Davis to the Lakers.
I agree he’s probably an average starter or thereabouts, and his shooting is his big weakness. But his defense is excellent, both on ball and off. He rebounds well for a guard, anticipates passes and nabs a couple steals most games. Most advanced metrics show he’s better defensively than offensively, in fact.
He’s having a bad season this year, which is no surprise considering how slow New Orleans plays. Van Gundy is a dinosaur who hasn’t embraced analytics: slow pace is great for defense, but it kills transition offense which is highly efficient. Ball thrives in transition, and he’s not a good fit for Van Gundy as a result.
sounds like people talking about jason kidd.
NO is 8th in scoring per 100 possessions
24th in opp scoring per 100 poss
14th in transition poss per game
Fwiw after his recent hot streak he’s shooting nearly 38% from three on high volume. And that’s after performing roughly the same last year. Still not quite large enough of a sample size to say he’s become a good shooter, but things are looking up in that regard.
And I agree with everything else you’ve said. No idea what the Pelicans were expecting bringing in SVG and signing Adams on top of that, all the while not doing enough to address the lack of shooting on the roster.
Average would be a vast improvement for the Bulls. But no, they shouldn’t give up a first, not one any earlier than 2025, in return. I would consider trading Markannen at this point though, he needs a change of scene. White would actually be useful to spell Lavine and play in some 3-guard rotations, but if that’s what it takes, I would pull the trigger. He’s a nice kid but probably is not going to ever be a two-way player or a point guard.
It makes perfect sense to trade Lonzo and Oladipo because they want insane amount of money
They don’t want to overpay them
14.36 million ?????? You serious. NO would pay that when Kyra is sitting on bench. NO is better moving Lonzo and having Bledsoe mentor Kyra. At end of yr move Bledsoe. Lonzos best attribute was suppose to be his ast. Ast are down this yr. And he still can’t shoot. Dude if I had Zion, Ingram, Redick, Hart. I avg a minimum 10 ast a gm. It’s obvious to me he wants to get paid. And getting better or becoming an all star is not a priority. He could be a career backup. Never thought I’d say this. But it seems LaMelo is the only Ball worth looking at. At least it seems he wants it.
No idea when folks got the idea that 14mil is an absurd amount of money. If Lonzo is as good as his advanced metrics suggest, that number would be more than doable, especially if the shooting holds up.
He just needs to go to a team that will utilize him the right way, and one with a bit more spacing as well.
Agree with you SheaGoodbye, since when 14M$ is sooo much?
Plenty of bums & bench guys making way more than that all over the league, I would be delighted to sign Zo to a multiyear contract for that price, man that would be a gift!!!
Good shooter & passer & a great defender all for 14? Boy xmas came early this year, right?
Ball is not worth that Q/O based on what he’s done to date. But look around at what young players coming off their RSC (or in their RSC extensions) are getting. It can’t be based on the assumption they won’t be any better than they’ve been to date. More like fear of the guy having a breakout year with his next team, after they’ve invested a high pick or trade assets, plus PT, in him.
It really comes down to whether the Pels still view Ball as a potential elite PG. If they do, then they should make him the Q/O. If he gets an offer sheet that they consider ridiculous, then they can bail at that point. Of course, if they don’t view him that way (and this appears more likely based on the tea leaves), then they should move on with their other options at the position. They can’t keep as the starting PG if he’s not the future just to keep whatever trade value he has intact, and he’ll certainly have no trade value as a backup at that number.
Ball for Westbrook
No 1st picks needed
Just send one 2nd 2021 pick
Add reddick goes to a 3rd team
Where did you get 38%? Out of his last nine games he’s shooting 48% from 3 including the game he shot 1-6 against the rockets.