- The Celtics were able to save some money by trading Abdel Nader to the Thunder instead of waiving him, Bobby Marks notes on ESPN Now. The move saves Boston about $675K in tax penalties and another $450K in salary. Getting rid of Nader leaves the Celtics with 14 guaranteed contracts and a tax bill of $3.8MM if they waive Rodney Purvis, whose $1,378,242 salary doesn’t become guaranteed until January 10.
JULY 25, 7:08pm: The signing is official, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Chris Forsberg.
JULY 16, 10:47am: The Celtics have agreed to sign free agent guard Walter Lemon Jr. to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Lemon will take over the two-way slot recently vacated by Kadeem Allen, who was waived by Boston over the weekend.
[RELATED: 2018/19 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Lemon, who will turn 26 later this month, made his NBA debut earlier this year after he signed a 10-day contract with the Pelicans. The former Bradley standout later inked a second 10-day pact with New Orleans and ultimately appeared in five games for the club, but wasn’t retained for the rest of the season.
For the majority of the 2017/18 season, Lemon was a member of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the G League, averaging 22.4 PPG, 6.1 APG, 4.7 RPG, and 2.0 SPG in 40 contests. In five Summer League games this month for the Pelicans, he recorded 13.6 PPG, 6.4 APG, and 3.6 RPG.
Boston will still have an open two-way contract slot after officially signing Lemon. The team has a qualifying offer out to Jabari Bird, but he may end up receiving a promotion to the 15-man roster, which would leave the other two-way slot open for someone else.
As we detailed at length back in March, the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement made some changes to the trade rules related to non-guaranteed contracts.
Under the NBA’s old CBA, which was in effect through the 2016/17 season, a player’s full salary (not including unlikely incentives) was used for trade purposes, whether or not it was guaranteed. If a player had a $10MM salary with a partial guarantee of $1MM, his outgoing salary in a trade was the same as it would have been for a player who had a fully guaranteed $10MM contract.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Traded Player Exception]
That’s no longer the case under the league’s new CBA, however. While contracts signed under the old agreement still operate by the old rules, contracts signed after July 1, 2017 are subject to the rules of the current CBA. And under the current CBA, only the guaranteed portion of a player’s contract counts for outgoing salary purposes in a trade, limiting the appeal of non-guaranteed salaries as trade chips.
In the example above, the player with a $10MM salary and a $1MM guarantee would now only count for $1MM for outgoing salary purposes in a trade, but the team acquiring him would still have to consider him a $10MM player.
These new rules have perhaps put a damper on the trade market for players on non-guaranteed contracts this offseason, but there have still been a handful of moves involving those players. Here’s a breakdown of this month’s trades that have featured a non-guaranteed salary, and how the new rules impacted each deal:
Bulls acquire Julyan Stone ($1,656,092 non-guaranteed salary) from Hornets in three-team trade
The Hornets also sent Timofey Mozgov to the Magic for Bismack Biyombo in this deal, and Mozgov’s salary was large enough to match Biyombo’s. As such, it didn’t matter from Charlotte’s perspective that Stone counted as $0 for outgoing salary purposes.
Stone’s inclusion in the trade allowed Chicago to acquire an incoming piece without taking on any guaranteed salary. If Stone hadn’t been a part of the deal, the Bulls would have to receive a draft pick or the NBA rights to a draft-and-stash player just to ensure that they were getting something in the deal. Chicago waived Stone shortly after acquiring him.
Thunder acquire Rodney Purvis ($1,378,242 non-guaranteed salary) from Magic
Purvis was swapped for Dakari Johnson in this deal and both players were on two-year minimum salary contracts. That meant that each team could acquire its incoming player using the minimum salary exception without having to worry about matching salaries.
Under the old rules, each club would have created a $1,378,242 traded player exception in the deal — that’s the amount of Purvis’ 2018/19 salary as well as Johnson’s. Under the new rules, however, only the Thunder could create such an exception, since Johnson’s salary was guaranteed. Purvis counted as $0 for Orlando’s outgoing salary purposes, so the Magic were unable to create a TPE as a result of the swap.
Thunder acquire Abdel Nader ($450,000 of $1,378,242 salary guaranteed) from the Celtics in exchange for Rodney Purvis ($1,378,242 non-guaranteed salary)
This is the most interesting deal of the three. Although Nader is technically earning the minimum salary, his deal runs longer than two years, meaning the Thunder couldn’t use the minimum salary exception to acquire him. They also couldn’t match salaries using Purvis, since he counted as a $0 outgoing salary.
So how did the Thunder acquire Nader? Using that traded player exception they’d just created in their deal with the Magic. Because Johnson and Nader had equal $1,378,242 salaries, Oklahoma City used up the entire trade exception just three days after it was created, making it the rare TPE to be used in full.
Meanwhile, the Celtics acquired Purvis using the minimum salary exception, but were only able to create a $450K trade exception for Nader — that’s the amount of his partial guarantee, so that was his outgoing-salary amount from Boston’s perspective.
Note: Richaun Holmes and Isaiah Whitehead, both on non-guaranteed contracts, were also involved in trades this month, but they were signed under the old CBA. As such, their contracts operated under the old rules.
8:53pm: The trade is official, according to press releases from the Thunder and Celtics.
8:11pm: The Thunder will acquire swingman Abdel Nader from the Celtics, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. Nader, who was on a partially guaranteed contract, was expected to be waived before Oklahoma City came calling, Charania adds. The Thunder will also receive cash considerations, Charania adds in another tweet.
Recently acquired guard Rodney Purvis will go to Boston and be waived, according to Keith Smith of RealGM (Twitter link). Purvis has a non-guaranteed contract. Purvis was traded from the Magic to the Thunder last week.
The 6’7” Nader is due to make $1,378,242 next season, which included a $450,000K guarantee. He’s signed for two additional years, though the second year is non-guaranteed and the third year is a team option.
Nader was chosen by Boston with the 58th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and spent a season with the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ G League affiliate, before signing an NBA contract with the Celtics last summer.
Nader, 24, averaged 3.0 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 48 contests last season. He’ll likely play the small forward spot and fight for playing time behind starting forwards Paul George and Jerami Grant.
Before he officially signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Nuggets, Isaiah Thomas reached out to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to see if a return to Boston might be possible, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Thomas, he and Ainge talked for about 15 or 20 minutes, with the point guard saying, “If the opportunity is there, I would just like to let you know that I’d love to come back.”
Ainge didn’t rule out the possibility of re-signing Thomas less than a year after trading him to Cleveland, but he and the Celtics needed to address Marcus Smart‘s contract situation before deciding whether a reunion with Thomas was in the cards. While Ainge was willing to continue the conversation, Thomas elected to sign with Denver before the C’s locked up Smart, closing the door on the possibility for now. Still, it sounds like Thomas would be open to heading back to Boston in the future if the opportunity arises.
“S–t, I’d have gone back,” Thomas says. “I don’t hold grudges.”
Here’s more on Thomas from Wojnarowski’s feature:
- The Nuggets‘ offer was the only real one Thomas received in free agency, which he calls “disrespectful.” However, he believes that his health was a major deterrent for interested teams. “People are scared of my hip now,” Thomas said, per Wojnarowski. “I just had to be real with myself. I had to understand that it’s not going to be about the money this summer. I’ve got to show people that I can play — and play at a high level again. And I will.”
- Thomas views his decision to play through his hip injury in the 2017 postseason as one that cost him in the long term. “If I didn’t play in the playoffs, I’d be OK,” Thomas said. “I’d be getting paid. I’d be who I am — who I was. But you couldn’t tell me in that moment in time — with everything I was going through — that, OK, I should just sit out. … I played until I literally couldn’t play anymore. And that was not a good business decision if I was looking in the long term, but I was looking in the ‘right now.’ That’s just what it was.”
- Thomas also believes it was a mistake to get back on the court in January for the Cavaliers, suggesting he should have waited until after the All-Star break rather than rushing back early.
- Nuggets head coach Mike Malone said he’ll welcome Thomas’ “voice and personality” into what has been a “quiet” locker room. “I want Isaiah to be Isaiah,” Malone said.
- Thomas isn’t concerned about his specific role in Denver as long as he gets the opportunity to show that he’s healthy. “I’m not worried about starting or coming off the bench now,” Thomas said. “I’m worried about playing well and showing the world who I am again. Once the people see that I can play — and play at a high level still — they won’t be able to deny me next summer. They won’t be able to deny me what I bring on the court and off the court for an organization.”
Marcus Smart‘s new deal with the Celtics will increase in value each season, beginning with an approximate salary of $11.7MM in 2018/19 and ending with a salary of nearly $14.4MM in 2021/22, per Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
Two European teams are hoping to sign former Cavaliers two-way player London Perrantes, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. The French club Limoges has expressed interest in Perrantes, who received a two-year offer on Friday from Olimpia Milano in Italy, which plans to loan him to VL Pesaro during his first season.
Cleveland waived the 23-year-old point guard last month after one season with the organization. Perrantes appeared in 14 games for the Cavs and averaged less than five minutes per night. His G League numbers were much better as he posted an 11.9/3.4/7.8 line while starting 35 games for the Canton Charge.
A four-year player at Virginia, Perrantes got the opportunity in Cleveland just before the start of last season. Prior to that, he had been signed and waived by the Spurs.
There’s more overseas news to pass along:
- Former Laker Tyler Ennis‘ decision to sign with Fenerbahce is examined by Kostas Giataganas of Eurohoops. Ennis will join ex-Spur Joffrey Lauvergne on the Turkish club and will follow his brother Dylan, who played in Europe last season. Ennis was waived by the Lakers in June before his $1.7MM contract for next season became guaranteed. He appeared in 54 games for L.A. last year, averaging 4.1 points per night.
- Hassan Martin, who had an impressive performance with the Celtics‘ summer league team, is headed to Germany, Lupo relays in a separate piece. The former Rhode Island forward averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game in Las Vegas. He played in Japan last year.
- Former Hornets G Leaguer Terry Henderson has signed with Scaligera Verona in Italy, also according to Lupo. The one-time North Carolina State guard averaged 11.3 points in 42 games with the Greensboro Swarm last season.
- The Celtics opened a roster spot today by waiving Abdel Nader, but they may take their time in filling it, Washburn notes in the same piece. Restricted free agent Jabari Bird, the leading scorer for Boston’s summer league entry, would like to take it, but the Celtics prefer to keep him on a two-way contract. The team hasn’t used its $5.3MM mid-level exception and will likely wait to see if a bigger-name free agent becomes interested.
- Celtics forward Gordon Hayward showed fans the progress he has made with his fractured ankle in a workout video he posted today on his Instagram account.
JULY 23: The Celtics have traded Nader to the Thunder rather than waiving him. Our full story on the deal is here.
JULY 21: The Celtics are waiving swingman Abdel Nader, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Nader was chosen by Boston with the 58th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and spent a season with the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ G League affiliate, before signing an NBA contract with the Celtics last summer.
The Celtics will not be on the hook for Nader’s full 2018/19 salary, as his contract did not become fully guaranteed until August 1. He reportedly had a partial guarantee worth $450K.
The move will leave the Celtics with 14 fully-guaranteed contracts and a team salary of $125.85MM, about $2.07MM north of the tax line. Because the Celtics are in tax territory, they may be looking to enter the 2018/19 season with only 14 players on their roster, a la the Warriors. However, the C’s still have their full $5.3MM taxpayer mid-level exception to spend on a 15th player should they so choose.
Nader, 24, averaged 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 48 contests (one start) with the Celtics in 2017/18, his lone NBA season.
Guard Marcus Smart seriously considered signing his $6.1MM qualifying offer from the Celtics and becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald tweets. “I went back and forth internally, but it’s a problem a lot of people would like to have.” Smart said. “I definitely thought about taking the qualifying offer, but all my options were open.”
Smart wound up staying in Boston on a four-year, $52MM deal. “To be honest, I didn’t know where I was gonna end up. I was just enjoying this whole process,” he told The Associated Press. “It is a business, so things aren’t perfect. That’s why it’s called negotiations. You guys come together and you finally agree on something. We both agreed. Boston loves me and I love Boston.”