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Knicks, Hawks, Suns Carrying Most 2018/19 Dead Money

March 12th, 2019 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

All but two of the NBA’s 30 teams are carrying some sort of “dead money” on their salary cap for 2018/19. This dead money is created as a result of having, at some point, waived a player who had guaranteed money left on his contract (or having 10-day contracts expire).

In some cases, teams are carrying cap hits for players even though they released them several years ago. That’s the case in Detroit, for instance, where the Pistons have a $5,331,729 cap charge for Josh Smith this season — the Pistons cut Smith in 2014.

For other clubs, the dead money is a result of having waived players more recently. The Knicks, for example, shot to the top of 2018/19’s dead money list after the trade deadline when they released Enes Kanter and Wesley Matthews, both of whom had cap hits of $18,622,514.

Carrying a significant amount of dead money isn’t necessarily a sign of cap mismanagement — the Hawks, for instance, have nearly $44MM in dead money on their books, but a significant portion of that money came as a result of acquiring and waiving Carmelo Anthony and Jamal Crawford. Both of those players came with first-round picks attached, so Atlanta doesn’t mind the fact that they’re taking up a chunk of the team’s cap room this year.

Conversely, the Hornets are one of just two teams with absolutely no dead money on their cap this season, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been well-managed. After all, many of Charlotte’s highest-paid players aren’t giving the team much in the way of on-court production.

Here’s the full list of 2018/19 dead money by team, as of March 12, starting with the Knicks:

New York Knicks: $60,490,344
Atlanta Hawks: $43,703,050
Phoenix Suns: $39,609,580
Brooklyn Nets: $39,363,271
Los Angeles Clippers: $30,930,897
San Antonio Spurs: $20,306,394
Chicago Bulls: $18,918,503
Dallas Mavericks: $15,593,061
Los Angeles Lakers: $14,354,067
Sacramento Kings: $11,827,028
Indiana Pacers: $10,888,661
New Orleans Pelicans: $10,196,784
Milwaukee Bucks: $7,412,562
Detroit Pistons: $7,189,209
Portland Trail Blazers: $5,091,108
Oklahoma City Thunder: $4,799,674
Memphis Grizzlies: $3,884,469
Minnesota Timberwolves: $2,945,201
Toronto Raptors: $1,885,458
Philadelphia 76ers: $1,740,276
Cleveland Cavaliers: $1,572,152
Washington Wizards: $1,553,515
Orlando Magic: $1,333,333
Golden State Warriors: $945,126
Houston Rockets: $931,943
Denver Nuggets: $412,389
Miami Heat: $397,459
Boston Celtics: $92,857
Charlotte Hornets: $0
Utah Jazz: $0

Contract information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Hawks Sign B.J. Johnson To Second 10-Day Deal

March 12th, 2019 at 9:44am CST by Luke Adams

Rookie swingman B.J. Johnson is officially back under contract with the Hawks, with the club announcing today in a press release that Johnson has signed a second 10-day contract.

Johnson first signed with Atlanta on March 1, with that 10-day deal expiring overnight on Sunday. His new 10-day pact will run through next Thursday (March 21), at which point the Hawks will have to determine whether to let him go or re-sign him for the rest of the season.

Johnson, who went undrafted out of La Salle in 2018, spent most of his first professional season playing for the Lakeland Magic in the G League. He averaged 14.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.4 SPG with a shooting line of .473/.433/.838 in 38 NBAGL games, earning him an NBA shot in Atlanta.

In his first four NBA games with the Hawks, Johnson has averaged 4.3 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 9.8 minutes per contest. He has shot well in a very small sample size, recording a .538 FG% and .500 3PT%.

With Johnson officially back on the roster, the Hawks once again have a full 15-man squad. However, only 13 of those players are on full-season or multiyear contracts. Tyler Zeller is the other player on a 10-day deal.

Johnson’s new 10-day contract will be worth the same amount as his first one: $47,371.

And-Ones: Bird, Swift, Draft, Acy, Morant

March 11th, 2019 at 8:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Celtics guard Jabari Bird is awaiting sentencing after entering a plea of sufficient facts to the accusation of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, according to an Associated Press report. The plea is not an admission of guilt but acknowledges a likely conviction at trial.

Bird was released on bail after the hearing and will be sentenced May 28. He faced several charges in the alleged attack on the woman in September, including strangulation or suffocation, kidnapping, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Bird’s contract was traded to the Hawks in February, who quickly waived him.

We have more developments from around the basketball world:

Power forward Stromile Swift has entered his name in the BIG3 draft pool, the league’s PR department tweets. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2000 draft last appeared in the NBA during the 2008/09 season with the Suns and Nets.
NBA executives will scour the country at conference tournaments this week, looking at every possible prospect who might put his name in the draft. It’s a unique opportunity for some players to improve their stock on a big stage, ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony notes. Las Vegas will be a particular hotbed of activity, with the Pac-12, WCC, WAC and Mountain West holding tournaments there. Givony takes a deep dive in the prospects that the scouts will be perusing this week.
Veteran forward Quincy Acy has left the Texas Legends, the G League affiliate of the Mavericks, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Acy, 28, played 10 games with the Suns this season.
Murray State point guard Ja Morant has leapfrogged Duke’s R.J. Barrett as the second-best prospect in the draft behind Zion Williamson, according to Mike Schmitz of ESPN. Morant put on a dazzling display while carrying the Racers through the OVC tournament and into the NCAA Tournament. Givony maintains it’s premature to make that assessment before the draft lottery.

Trae Young Confident Free Agents Will Consider Atlanta

March 10th, 2019 at 2:27pm CST by JD Shaw

A combination of promising young talent and lucrative cap space could persuade top-level players to consider the Hawks this summer in free agency, as star guard Trae Young explained in an interview with Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype this week.

“Oh, I definitely think this is going to be a big spot that free agents look at,” Young said. “I mean, we’re a very young team, but we’ve been playing really well lately and this is an exciting team and an exciting city. I think we’re maybe one or two pieces away from really making that jump and taking off. I definitely think this is an attractive city [and situation]. And I’m not a tampering guy or anything like that, but I think I’m a good recruiter – for sure.”

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported two weeks ago that the Hawks plan to be aggressive in pursuing free agent meetings this offseason. Atlanta sports a talented young core of Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter, with the team expected to have roughly $41MM of cap space to work with in July.

In addition to its young core, the club is armed with a new head coach in Lloyd Pierce, an upgraded arena and revamped practice facilities. Among the free agents set to be available: Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton and DeMarcus Cousins.

As for Young, he’s improved rapidly since his first month in the NBA, cementing himself as one of the top young players in the league at just 20 years of age. He held per-game averages of 23.3 points, 9.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds during the month of February.

“I think the game is starting to really slow down for me,” Young told Kennedy. “Now, I’ve kind of seen a little bit of everything in terms of what teams are throwing at me and how defenses are trying to guard me. Also, I’ve seen most teams multiple times; in some cases, it’s my second or third time playing against a certain team.

“I know more about who I’m playing against too. I feel like I’m getting more used to the NBA game, the style, as well. I think I’m starting to feel more comfortable. I’m much more comfortable than I was during that first month, when I was shooting 19 percent from three. That was just… terrible.”

Injury Updates: Spellman, Poythress, Plumlee

March 8th, 2019 at 5:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides injury updates on a trio of Hawks bigs, most notably tweeting that Omari Spellman looks like a long shot to return before the ennd of the 2018/19 season. Vivlamore also tweets that Alex Poythress is in a walking boot and will be out for “a while” after spraining his ankle, and adds (via Twitter) that Miles Plumlee has begun to take contact in his one-on-one work.

Tyler Zeller Signs 10-Day Deal With Hawks

March 8th, 2019 at 10:14am CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 8: The signing is official, the Hawks announced in an email.

MARCH 7: The Hawks have reached an agreement with Tyler Zeller and will sign the free agent center to a 10-day contract, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, the deal is expected to be finalized on Friday.

Zeller, 29, spent six seasons in the NBA after being drafted 17th overall in 2012, but was waived by the Bucks in October and had yet to catch on with a new team. In 66 total games last season for Brooklyn and Milwaukee, the veteran seven-footer recorded 6.7 PPG and 4.6 RPG with a career-high .560 FG% in 16.8 minutes per contest.

Zeller will provide the Hawks with some added frontcourt depth at a time when the team is dealing with a handful of injuries to its big men. Omari Spellman has been ruled out for most or all of March with an ankle injury, Miles Plumlee hasn’t played since December due to a knee issue, and Dewayne Dedmon (knee) and Alex Poythress (ankle) are also dealing with nagging health problems.

The Hawks have been using their last two roster spots recently to audition players on 10-day deals. Jordan Sibert was signed to a single 10-day contract and hasn’t been brought back, while B.J. Johnson is currently on a 10-day pact of his own that runs through Sunday. With Zeller and Johnson under contract, Atlanta will have a full roster, but the team could open up two spots when those deals expire.

Zeller’s 10-day contract will carry a cap hit of approximately $85K for the Hawks.

Vince Carter Hopes To Play One More Season

March 7th, 2019 at 10:30pm CST by JD Shaw

Hawks veteran Vince Carter plans to return next season as a player with hopes of extending his career to 22 NBA seasons, he said Thursday night on ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption.

Carter, who turned 42 in January, will formally evaluate the situation in the summer but made it clear he wants to return for the 2019/20 season.

“I think I could stretch it out one more [year],” Carter said. “At the end of the year, I usually assess from top to bottom to see how I’m feeling. And, obviously, opportunity — when the phone call rings and teams show interest, that’s a good thing.”

Carter, widely considered to be one of the game’s all-time great dunkers, has averaged 7.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 16.6 minutes per game, shooting 44% from the floor and a career-high 41% from 3-point range on the season. He’s appeared in 61 of Atlanta’s 66 games.

Carter was selected with the No. 5 pick in the 1998 draft and has made stops with Toronto, New Jersey, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis, Sacramento and Atlanta across his two-decade journey. For comparison’s sake, future Hall-of-Famer Dwyane Wade — drafted five years after Carter with a long, storied career of his own — is set to retire at season’s end. The same could be said for veteran Channing Frye, who was drafted seven years after Carter.

For the Hawks, Carter will reach free agency on July 1. He signed a deal to join the team last summer, using his veteran leadership and experience to help their young group throughout the season.

“Me, personally, I think I could give it another year, so why not?” Carter said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Hawks Notes: Young, Future, Pierce

March 5th, 2019 at 6:57pm CST by ChrisCrouse

No matter how well Trae Young performs in his career, he will always be compared to Luka Doncic after the Hawks dealt the Slovenian wing to the Mavs in exchange for Young and a future first-rounder. Young embraces the comparisons, as he tells Marc Stein of The New York Times in the scribe’s latest newsletter.

“I know it’s a part of my life now,” Young said. “I tell everybody that hopefully we’re both 15-plus years down the line and we’re still playing and it’s a competition that’s been going since draft night…I think it’s going to go on forever, so might as well just accept it and take it on as a challenge.”

The Hawks are excited about the 20-year-old point guard in part because of his wise perspective at such a young age, Stein writes. Of course, Atlanta is also thrilled with Young’s game on the court. The University of Oklahoma product got off to a slow start to the season, but said the game “is really starting to slow down” for him. Young has averaged 21.5 points and 8.3 assists while making 39.2% of his looks from downtown since the start of the 2019 calendar year.

Here’s more from Atlanta:

The Hawks have the right pieces in place as they close out year-one of their rebuild, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution contends. In addition to their young core, which includes Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter, Atlanta will likely receive the Mavs’ 2019 first-rounder, which is top-5 protected. Dallas currently has the eighth-worst record, as our Reverse Standings show.
Young said Kevin Durant reached out to him, lending the rookie advice on how to deal with criticism, as Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports passes along. “[Durant] said remain [yourself], keep going, things are gonna turn and go the right way for you,” Young said. “Just to keep my head straight. I’ve known KD a long time, and he’s given me a lot of advice growing up.”
Young has the green light to shoot from anywhere on the court, though coach Lloyd Pierce emphasizes that the point guard isn’t the only player without restrictions, as Goodwill relays in the same piece. “The freedom is for everybody. There’s no restrictions on who’s taking the shots or who’s making the plays. It starts with Trae,” Pierce said. “There’s a time and place, what’s a good or bad shot, a quick shot. I probably yell at guys more for passing up shots than for taking shots. Brian Shaw said something years ago at a camp, ‘Don’t pass up good [expletive] for bulls–t.’ So I don’t care if it’s further back. If it’s an open shot and you’re in rhythm, take it.”

Jaylen Brown: Celtics Must Fix “Toxic” Environment

March 5th, 2019 at 12:53pm CST by Luke Adams

While Jaylen Brown has been fairly productive off the bench for the Celtics in recent weeks, logging some of his better performances of the season, he said this week that he’s “not feeling good at all” about the team’s overall play, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. According to Brown, the environment around the team needs to change.

“Right now it’s not good. It’s toxic,” Brown said. “I can’t really point out one thing. I don’t have all the answers. I’m just going to try to be part of the change. I’m going to try to do my best. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Brown is just the latest in a string of Celtics players to express frustration with the situation in Boston. Kyrie Irving has done so multiple times this season, Marcus Morris spoke last month about the club not having any “fun,” and Marcus Smart said last week that the team is “just not together.” Like those other players, Brown doesn’t know exactly what the solution is, but still believes the C’s are capable of turning things around.

“I still believe,” he said, per Washburn. “I think we’ve got time to get it together. I’m very optimistic and very positive and think that we will . . . We keep talking about it. I’m just going to try to do it with my play, come out and play hard and try to change the atmosphere and this environment.”

Let’s round up a few more Celtics-related items…

Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston revisits several of the defining moments of the Celtics’ 2018/19 season, tracing the evolution of the club from Eastern Conference frontrunner to vulnerable, middle-of-the-pack playoff team.
In an illuminating story for ESPN.com, Jackie MacMullan talks to Gordon Hayward and some people around him about the veteran forward’s long, challenging quest to regain his All-Star form. Hayward has been assisted by a mental health counselor during the process, as MacMullan details.
According to data compiled by Eric Pincus at Basketball Insiders, the Celtics sent $2,055,910 to the Hawks in last month’s Jabari Bird salary dump. That amount was more than enough to cover the remaining portion of Bird’s $1,349,383 salary for 2019/20, so Atlanta easily came out ahead. So did Boston though — Bird’s cap hit would have cost the team about $2.27MM in projected tax penalties.

Omari Spellman To Miss At Least Four Weeks

March 3rd, 2019 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

A left ankle injury will sideline the Hawks‘ Omari Spellman for at least four weeks, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The rookie forward had an MRI on Saturday that revealed a low grade high ankle sprain with associated soft tissue injury, the Hawks announced. He suffered the injury in Friday’s game against the Bulls.

The team plans to re-evaluate Spellman’s condition in four weeks, which would force him to miss 14 of Atlanta’s remaining 19 games. If he requires additional recovery time, there’s a chance we won’t see him again this season.

Spellman is averaging 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 46 games this season.