- After re-signing with the Hawks, big man Mike Muscala will look to continue his impressive development under the tutelage of the franchise’s staff, K.L. Chouinard of the team’s official website writes.
No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, but one such provision has been the subject of much discussion so far in 2017, as Carmelo Anthony made use of his NTC to block the Knicks from sending him to an undesirable destination. For much of the offseason, Anthony was focused on joining the Rockets, but he eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to Oklahoma City.
Anthony is one of just two NBA players whose contract includes an explicit no-trade clause, but there are still several players each year who have the ability to veto trades. A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection, and so is a player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team. Players who accept qualifying offers after their rookie deals expire can also block deals.
Taking into account that list of criteria, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the 2017/18 league year:
No-trade clauses
- Carmelo Anthony (Thunder)
- LeBron James (Cavaliers)
- Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks)
Players whose offer sheets were matched
- Otto Porter (Wizards)
- Note: Even with his consent, Porter cannot be traded to the Nets during the 2017/18 league year.
Players accepting qualifying offers
- Alex Len (Suns)
- Nerlens Noel (Mavericks)
Players re-signing for one year (or two years including an option)
- Nick Collison (Thunder)
- Kevin Durant (Warriors)
- Udonis Haslem (Heat)
- Ersan Ilyasova (Hawks)
- JaVale McGee (Warriors)
- Shabazz Muhammad (Timberwolves)
- Mike Muscala (Hawks)
- Zaza Pachulia (Warriors)
- Jason Terry (Bucks)
- David West (Warriors)
In addition to the players listed above who can veto trades through the 2017/18 league year, there’s another small handful of players who can’t be dealt under any circumstance until at least next July. The following players signed a Designated Veteran Extension this season, which precludes them from being traded for a full calendar year:
- Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- James Harden (Rockets)
- John Wall (Wizards)
- Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
Information from Basketball Insiders and ESPN was used in the creation of this post.
The Hawks have waived second-year center Diamond Stone, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Shortly after Vivlamore published his report, the Hawks issued a press release confirming the roster move.
Stone was one of two players acquired from L.A. by the Hawks in a three-way trade with the Clippers and Nuggets earlier this month. Jamal Crawford, the other player who landed in Atlanta as a result of that trade, was bought out by the club shortly after the move was finalized, so the Hawks have now cut both players involved in the deal. The Hawks also received a first-round pick in that swap, which was clearly the most important part of the package.
While Stone wasn’t Atlanta’s primary target in that trade, it’s still somewhat surprising that the team has waived him already. The big man’s minimum salary contract for 2017/18 was guaranteed, and he’s just one year removed from being drafted 40th overall. However, apparently the Hawks weren’t interested in using one of their 15 regular-season roster spots on Stone.
The Hawks could choose to stretch Stone’s $1,312,611 cap hit over the next three seasons, though the club isn’t in any cap trouble this season, so it may make sense to just keep his full salary on the books for 2017/18.
With Stone out of the mix at center, the Hawks figure to lean on Dewayne Dedmon, Mike Muscala, and Miles Plumlee.
While the Wizards had an expensive offseason which mostly centered around maintaining the current core intact, it was also a successful offseason, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post writes. John Wall signed a designated veteran player extension, the Wizards matched Otto Porter‘s offer sheet to retain him, and Bradley Beal is already signed to a long term contract.
Washington is coming off a season in which the team made waves in the playoffs, defeating the Hawks in the first round before falling to the Celtics in a thrilling seven game series. As team majority owner Ted Leonsis explained to Bucker last week, this is the opportune time to lock up the team’s foundational pieces.
“They’re entering their prime while some other players are getting older,” Leonsis said. “I think we feel really good about keeping this core together.”
As Bucker adds, the Wizards have committed over $404MM in salary to Wall, Porter, and Beal. However, those deals are calculated ones as ownership has made it clear it intends to compete and keeping talented fixtures who have shown improvement each season are the type of players worth the investment. After finishing as the fourth seed in the East last season, the Wizards are in a position to make more strides in a weakened conference.
Below are additional notes around the Southeast Division:
- The Orlando Magic‘s depth signings of to Jonathon Simmons, Shelvin Mack, Arron Afflalo, and Marreese Speights shows the team is committed to winning as much as possible, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes.
- After a strong Summer League performance, swingman DeAndre’ Bembry has made people around the Hawks and the league wonder if he’s poised for a breakout, Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype writes.
- Former Knicks assistant coach and Kristaps Porzingis favorite, Joshua Longstaff, has been named head coach of the G-League’s Erie Bayhawks, the team announced.
Hawks second-round center Alpha Kaba will spend the 2017/18 in France, having signed a three-year deal with ASVEL of the French Pro A League, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kaba’s agent confirmed the contract agreement.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
Kaba, 21, spent the last two seasons in Serbia playing for Mega Leks, and was the 60th overall pick in last month’s draft — Atlanta made him 2017’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” the last player drafted. New Hawks GM Travis Schlenk indicated earlier this month that he expected Kaba to return to Mega Leks or to play with another team overseas, so the big man’s deal with ASVEL doesn’t come as a surprise.
Spurs guard Tony Parker serves as president of ASVEL, and issued a statement announcing the team’s new deal with Kaba, as Vivlamore details. Parker’s translated statement reads as follows:
“It is a great satisfaction to have been able to sign Alpha, a young but already productive and promising interior that is part of a long-term project with us. The fact that he signed three years is a continuation of our desire to retain the players and to have a real identity to which our public and our partners can join. Alpha will be the last rookie of our offseason and will complete an ambitious and competitive workforce on our two major objectives: the French championship and the EuroCup.”
It’s not clear whether Kaba’s three-year deal includes NBA outs, but the Hawks don’t appear to be in any rush to bring the youngster stateside. Atlanta will retain his NBA rights going forward.
- The Clippers sent $1.3MM to the Hawks as part of the three-way deal that landed Jamal Crawford in Atlanta, tweets Pincus. Meanwhile, the Clippers also paid $3.2MM to the Sixers to land the second-round pick that became Jawun Evans (Twitter link). That leaves the Clippers with just $600K available to send out in trades for the rest of the 2017/18 league year.
JULY 25: The Hawks have officially re-signed Muscala, the team announced today in a press release. Finalizing Muscala’s deal cuts into Atlanta’s remaining cap room, suggesting that the club may not have any immediate plans to maximize that space.
JULY 7: The Hawks have agreed to a two-year, $10MM deal with free agent big man Mike Muscala, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The agreement will feature a second-year player option, Charania adds (via Twitter).
Muscala, who turned 26 last Saturday, appeared in a career-high 70 games for the Hawks in 2016/17, setting new career highs in PPG (6.2), RPG (3.4), and several other categories as he saw his role in the rotation expand.
With Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap no longer in the picture in Atlanta, the team was in need of frontcourt depth. While the Hawks figure to add at least one or two more bigs to the roster at some point, Muscala could be in line for even more minutes going forward for the retooling franchise.
The Hawks have a minimum salary cap hold on their books and hold the Bird rights for Muscala, who has spent the last four seasons in Atlanta. So his new agreement won’t affect the team’s remaining cap room until it becomes official. It also won’t have an impact on the club’s ability to match the Knicks’ offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr., though it’s not clear if the Hawks are seriously considering doing so.
There’s little chance that the Cavaliers will salvage their relationship with Kyrie Irving, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who says the team is “acting as if a trade is almost inevitable.” Per Lowe, the Cavs also seem confident that they’ll be able to land a significant haul for Irving, despite the fact that stars like DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, and Jimmy Butler have returned underwhelming hauls so far this year.
Lowe’s latest piece on Irving explores possible trade scenarios involving the Suns, Celtics, Heat, Knicks, Hawks, Bucks, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and more. While many of those proposed scenarios appear to be speculation on Lowe’s part, they give the impression that the Cavs certainly won’t be limiting themselves to Irving’s reported wish list of four teams as they seek out the best possible deal.
Here’s more from Lowe, along with other updates on Irving:
- The Cavaliers‘ highest priority in an Irving trade is to get a “blue-chip” young player in return, sources tell Lowe. Cleveland’s ideal scenario would be a deal that nets the club that blue-chip player, plus a veteran or two, plus draft picks. In other words, the Cavs are aiming for a trade package that provides the best of both worlds — players that can help the team contend for a championship in the short term, and valuable long-term assets.
- Since Irving made his trade request, the Cavaliers‘ front office has studied every trade involving a star player over the last decade, per Lowe. One particular deal that caught the club’s eye was the one that sent Goran Dragic from Phoenix to Miami for a package that included multiple first-round picks.
- Many teams, including the Celtics, have called the Cavaliers to let them know they want to be kept in the loop as trade talks progress, writes Lowe.
- The Nets still have a chunk of salary cap room remaining and could be an interesting trade partner in a multi-team scenario, but there have been no rumblings yet about their potential participation, according to Lowe.
- The Kings have no interest in moving De’Aaron Fox in a deal for Irving, reports James Ham of CSNBayArea.com.
- One Western Conference team executive tells Chris Mannix of The Vertical that he thinks the Cavaliers may end up having to wait until after December 15 to make a deal, after this year’s free agent signees become trade-eligible. If that happens, it might create an awkward few months in Cleveland, with Irving still on the roster when the season begins.
Nicolas Brussino, claimed off waivers today by the Hawks, comes with a $1.3MM cap hit, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The move leaves Atlanta with $8.6MM in cap space and 14 guaranteed contracts. The waiver claim means the Hawks will receive Brussino’s entire contract, which includes a $1.5MM salary for 2018/19 that becomes fully guaranteed on the final day of the 2018 moratorium (Twitter link).
- The Hawks‘ roster for next season is nearly complete, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Atlanta still hopes to find a third point guard, and will begin that search next week.
- Jamal Crawford gave up $4MM in his buyout arrangement with the Hawks, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The Clippers sent Crawford to Atlanta in a three-team deal earlier this month, and he quickly agreed to a buyout that enabled him to sign with Minnesota. Crawford’s contract guaranteed him $14.2MM next season and $3MM for 2018/19, and Pincus says he accepted $10.9MM and $2.3MM.
The Magic held a face-to-face meeting with free agent center/power forward Marreese Speights, tweets international basketball writer David Pick.
Orlando, which has been looking for shooting help, could benefit from the addition of the 6’10” veteran, who played all 82 games with the Clippers last season. He shot 37% from 3-point range while averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per night.
The Magic still have their $4.328MM room exception available and could offer Speights a nice raise from the minimum-salary deal he opted out of in L.A.
Speights spent just one season with the Clippers after joining the team as a free agent last summer. A 2008 first-round pick by the Sixers, he has also played for the Grizzlies, Cavaliers and Warriors in his nine-year career.
The meeting with Orlando comes a week after negotiations broke off with Atlanta. The Clippers are also reportedly interested in having him return.