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2017/18 NBA Disabled Player Exceptions

January 31st, 2018 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Last month, we published an updated glossary entry outlining how the NBA’s disabled player exception functions. As we explain in that article, the disabled player exception can be granted when a team has a player go down with an injury deemed to be season-ending. The exception gives the club some additional spending flexibility, functioning almost as a cross between a traded player exception and a mid-level exception.

We go into more detail on how exactly disabled player exceptions work in the glossary entry linked above, and in a piece from earlier in the season on the Celtics’ DPE. Essentially, a DPE gives a team the opportunity to add an injury replacement by either signing a player to a one-year contract or trading for a player in the final year of his contract.

Because the rules related to disable player exceptions are somewhat restrictive, and the exceptions themselves often aren’t worth a lot, they often simply expire (this year’s deadline is March 12). According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, only about one in four teams granted DPEs since 2007 have used them.

However, the Celtics are one team well positioned to take advantage of their DPE this season — it’s worth the maximum allowable amount ($8.4MM), the Celtics aren’t close to the tax line, they have an open roster spot, and they have a collection of extra draft picks that could be used to accommodate a trade.

While Boston may be the team most likely to use its DPE this season, there are several other clubs that have those exceptions available. Here’s a breakdown:

(Note: List updated on 2-9-18)

Teams that have been granted disabled player exceptions:

Boston Celtics: $8,406,000 (Gordon Hayward) (Update: Used on Greg Monroe)
Brooklyn Nets: $6,000,000 (Jeremy Lin) (Update: Used on Dante Cunningham)
Miami Heat: $5,500,000 (Dion Waiters)
Detroit Pistons: $5,248,660 (Jon Leuer) (Update: Used on James Ennis)
Los Angeles Clippers: $2,756,757 (Patrick Beverley)
Utah Jazz: $2,625,000 (Thabo Sefolosha)
New Orleans Pelicans: $2,480,899 (Alexis Ajinca)

As noted above, the Celtics are the best bet to use their disabled player exception, and not just because it’s worth the most (and can therefore accommodate a wider range of potential trade targets). Even if teams like the Clippers or Pelicans identify a modestly-paid player worth acquiring, they’re unlikely to use their DPEs because of how close they are to the luxury tax line and hard cap, respectively.

Teams ineligible for disabled player exceptions:

Phoenix Suns (Brandon Knight)
Memphis Grizzlies (Mike Conley)
New Orleans Pelicans (DeMarcus Cousins)
Oklahoma City Thunder (Andre Roberson)

The Grizzlies, Pelicans, and Thunder had the misfortune of having their key players ruled out for the season after the January 15 application deadline. Since they can no longer apply for a DPE, they’ll have to make do with any remaining exceptions they have. As for the Suns, a DPE to replace Knight would have been worth about $6.8MM, but Phoenix remains nearly $9MM below the cap, rendering that exception unnecessary.

Celtics Not Re-Signing Jarell Eddie For Now

January 31st, 2018 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

Jarell Eddie‘s 10-day contract with the Celtics expired on Tuesday, but he won’t receive a second 10-day deal from the team at this point, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Eddie, who signed his contract with the Celtics on January 20, had been a lights-out shooter in the G League this season, posting 17.2 PPG and 4.1 RPG with an impressive .490/.500/.947 shooting line. While that performance earned him a contract with Boston, it didn’t earn him much playing time — Eddie appeared in two games and played just six total minutes during his 10-day stint with the C’s.

While Eddie could be brought back to Boston at some point, it makes more sense for the team to maintain flexibility by keeping its 15th and final roster spot open as the trade deadline approaches. If the Celtics don’t use that roster opening to add a player in a deadline trade, they’ll likely consider using it to add Eddie or another 10-day player later in February, while monitoring the buyout market as well.

The Celtics are just one of a handful of teams not re-signing players after expired 10-day deals, as our tracker shows. Nigel Hayes didn’t receive a second 10-day contract from the Lakers this week after his initial pact expired, and DeAndre Liggins hasn’t been re-signed by the Pelicans after playing on two 10-day deals with the club.

In Liggins’ case, it’s worth noting that a team can’t sign a player to three 10-day contracts — after the expiration of the second, the team must decide whether to sign the player for the rest of the season or let him go.

Sixers, Others Express Interest In Tyreke Evans

January 31st, 2018 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

11:08am: While the Sixers have expressed interest in Evans, they’re hardly alone. The Celtics, Cavaliers, Pelicans, Thunder, Heat, and Rockets have all inquired on the veteran guard too, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who tweets that it will come down to which team is willing to meet the Grizzlies’ asking price.

10:48am: The Sixers have expressed trade interest in Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans, league sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link), However, according to Stein, Memphis continues to seek a first-round pick in exchange for Evans, and Philadelphia is reluctant to surrender one.

Evans, 28, has been enjoying one of the best years of his NBA career in Memphis this season, averaging 19.5 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 5.0 RPG with a .458/.392/.799 shooting line so far. Based on his terrific production, the Grizzlies are said to be looking for a first-rounder in any deal.

However, while Evans’ expiring contract and modest salary ($3.29MM) make him an intriguing trade piece, they also reduce his value to some extent — he would likely be a rental for any team acquiring him, since he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Evans is on track to get much more expensive, and whichever team has him at season’s end won’t have his Bird rights, limiting that club’s ability to re-sign him.

Still, the Sixers represent an interesting potential trade partner for the Grizzlies, particularly since they could end up with multiple first-round picks this spring. Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal speculates (via Twitter) that perhaps Memphis could pry the 76ers’ own first-round pick away from Philadelphia if the Grizzlies are willing to take on Jerryd Bayless‘ contract, which has a guaranteed $8.58MM cap hit for 2018/19.

Although salary-matching rules would prevent Memphis from trading Evans straight up for Bayless, attaching a player like Ben McLemore or Brandan Wright to Evans would make it cap-legal, Herrington notes (via Twitter). James Ennis‘ contract would also work, but Ennis is a more valuable trade chip than McLemore or Wright, so the Grizzlies likely wouldn’t want to just throw him in for salary purposes.

Celtics Notes: Bradley, L. Williams, Trade Targets

January 31st, 2018 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

This week’s blockbuster Blake Griffin trade didn’t include the Celtics, but it may have a ripple effect that’s felt in Boston, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston.

As Blakely points out, the Clippers currently owe the Celtics their 2019 first-round pick, which is lottery-protected in 2019 and again in 2020. The Griffin deal and any upcoming moves that the Clippers make to reshape their roster figure to have an impact on whether the Celtics will actually be able to get their hands on that first-rounder in ’19 or ’20 — L.A. would need to be a playoff team for the pick to change hands. If the Clips land in the lottery both years, Boston would instead receive a 2022 second-round pick.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether the arrival of Avery Bradley in Los Angeles will make the Clippers any more willing to trade Lou Williams. But if the Clips are ready to make a move, the Celtics would be a logical trade partner, writes Blakely. Boston has a disabled player exception that would fit Williams’ salary, some extra draft picks, and a need for a reliable second scorer to complement Kyrie Irving.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

While Lou Williams is a possible trade target for the Celtics, the team can’t go after Avery Bradley. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, the only way Boston could reacquire the former Celtic this season would be if he’s bought out by the Clippers, which almost certainly won’t happen. The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement prevents a team from trading a player during an offseason, then reacquiring him before the end of the subsequent season.
Speaking of Marks, he takes an in-depth look at the Celtics’ trade deadline options in an Insider-only piece at ESPN.com. Marks suggests that if Boston wants to add a big man, Robin Lopez is a potential trade target, and Greg Monroe is worth monitoring as a possible buyout candidate.
The devastating ankle injury suffered on opening night by Gordon Hayward could easily have derailed the Celtics’ season, but the team has responded admirably to that setback, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “I do think it’s a testament to the mental makeup of our group,” said head coach Brad Stevens. “They really believe in each other. They are willing to pick up for one another. I’ve talked about the hardest roles in this league is when you don’t know if you’re going to play or not and your number is called. A lot of guys on our team’s number was called a lot earlier than they thought. They really helped put us in the position that we are in.”

Blake Griffin Roundup: Analysis, Reactions, Rumors

January 30th, 2018 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers and Pistons had discussed the idea of a Blake Griffin trade for about a week before finalizing an agreement on Monday, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. However, as O’Connor writes, the door opened on a potential Griffin trade back in 2016 after the big man punched a Clippers equipment manager. Doc Rivers had “casual conversations” with the Celtics about a possible Griffin deal in the summer of ’16, then listened last season when the Knicks reached out.

Now that the Clippers have moved on from Griffin, the franchise is “starting over,” but doesn’t plan on bottoming out, a GM tells O’Connor. Depending on what other moves the Clippers make before the trade deadline, pursuing a maximum-salary player this summer could be on the table, though 2019 currently looks like the more logical time for L.A. to go after one or two max guys. If the Clips want to create more flexibility for the summer of 2018, attaching a multiyear contract like Austin Rivers‘ or Danilo Gallinari‘s to Lou Williams‘ inexpensive expiring deal in a trade could be an option, O’Connor notes.

As for the Pistons, they may not be done dealing either. According to O’Connor, Detroit remains interested in Jazz swingman Rodney Hood, and could send out forward Stanley Johnson before the deadline.

As we wait to see how the Clippers and Pistons follow up on Monday’s mega-deal, let’s round up more reactions, rumors, and analysis related to 2018’s first NBA trade:

After initially responding to news of the trade on Monday night with a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air GIF, Griffin issued a more formal statement this morning, thanking Clippers fans and announcing that he’s ready to start “the next chapter” of his career in Detroit.
Although the sentiment around the NBA is that the Clippers made out well on Monday, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports wonders if the Griffin trade will be the rare blockbuster that doesn’t end up helping either team. Mannix also hears that Clips ownership has no interest in a Sixers-esque tear-down and rebuild.
The Clippers weren’t trying to deceive Griffin when they made their over-the-top pitch to him in free agency seven months ago; if anything, they may have been trying to deceive themselves, writes Lee Jenkins of SI.com.
The Clippers are moving in the right direction after the Griffin trade, according to Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times, who calls the move a “gutsy admission of a mistake and a calculated gamble on the future.”
With the Cavaliers set to play the Pistons on Tuesday (the newcomers won’t be active), LeBron James said it was “unfortunate” for Griffin that he was traded by the Clippers, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. “He spent his last nine years there,” James said. “He signed a multiyear deal there this summer, so that’s unfortunate. But that’s the business side of it. It’s both sides. It works both sides, though. It’s the business.”
Despite a new arena, attendance and enthusiasm has been modest in Detroit this season. That’s a key reason why the Pistons needed to swing for the fences and generate some buzz by acquiring a star like Griffin, argues Ansar Khan of MLive.com.
Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy has long been willing to push his chips into the middle of the table to land a star player, and finally got his chance to do so this week, says Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
We rounded up more initial reactions to the Griffin trade on Monday night.

Possible Tyreke Evans Move In The Works?

January 28th, 2018 at 6:03pm CST by Austin Kent

A Grizzlies beat writer says that he wouldn’t be surprised if Tyreke Evans is moved to the Celtics. Bear in mind that Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal says himself that the rumblings aren’t confirmed but it’s not the first time that Evans’ name has come up in trade speculation this season.

It’s unclear what the Grizzlies could get back in exchange for the versatile wing but the Celtics are in possession of Memphis’ 2019 first-round pick.

More Details On Marcus Smart's Injury

January 28th, 2018 at 2:50pm CST by marksuleymanov

Celtics guard Marcus Smart will miss two weeks after he suffered a hand laceration after he punched a picture frame in frustration. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald has more information on Smart’s injury and how the 23-year-old could face discipline from the team.

Stevens: Hayward Won't Return This Season

January 27th, 2018 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

Despite the progress Gordon Hayward has made in rehabbing his fractured left ankle, Celtics coach Brad Stevens reiterated to reporters tonight that he doesn’t expect Hayward to play again this season, tweets Chris Forsberg of ESPN.

The Celtics held a team meeting in Los Angeles this week in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Forsberg writes in a full story. The streak was the first difficult stretch of the season for a team that remains at the top of the Eastern Conference, and players said called the meeting positive and productive. “When you’re hitting a lull of losing games, you can tend to go your own direction and try to figure it out on your own,” Kyrie Irving said. “For us, we have great leadership at the top with Brad, and he echoes a message to us leaders on the team, and then we go out there and try to maximize that opportunity of getting better every single day. And I think that we did a great job of just putting everything out on the table. And it’s just about being professional and going out there and executing.”

Celtics’ Marcus Smart To Miss Two Weeks

January 26th, 2018 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics guard Marcus Smart is expected to miss approximately two weeks due to a hand laceration, the team announced today in a press release. Smart, who was sidelined for Wednesday’s game against the Clippers, would miss seven more contests if he returns exactly two weeks from today.

The press release issued today by the Celtics refers to Smart sustaining his injury during a “non-basketball incident” prior to the club’s game in L.A. on Wednesday. The fourth-year guard went into more detail this afternoon in a tweet, admitting that he injured his hand when he “swiped at and hit a picture frame on the wall.”

Only Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, and Al Horford have played more minutes this season for the Celtics than Smart, so the club will miss him in its backcourt. With the 23-year-old out of action, Boston figures to rely more heavily on guards Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin off the bench.

Kyrie Irving Reportedly Threatened To Undergo Surgery If Not Traded By Cavs

January 25th, 2018 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

After requesting a trade from the Cavaliers in the offseason, Kyrie Irving threatened to undergo knee surgery that would sideline him for most or all of the 2017/18 season if the Cavs didn’t move him, multiple sources tell Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. That threat convinced Cleveland’s front office and owner Dan Gilbert that the relationship wasn’t salvageable, according to Vardon.

Sources tell Vardon that Irving will likely need to have knee surgery at some point as a follow-up to the procedure he underwent during the 2015 NBA Finals. That surgery isn’t considered urgent, but would ease some swelling and day-to-day pain in Irving’s knee. An NBA player would typically play through that discomfort and undergo such a procedure in the offseason. But Irving threatened to miss training camp in the fall and have that surgery performed during the 2017/18 season if he remained a Cav, as Vardon’s sources tell it.

After Irving’s trade request first became public, LeBron James‘ camp didn’t do much to dismiss the notion of a possible rift between the two star Cavaliers. However, multiple sources tell Vardon that James eventually asked the Cavs front office not to move Irving, suggesting that he could mend the necessary fences.

In response, the Cavaliers informed James that – given the threat of knee surgery – they felt they had no choice but to trade Irving, which didn’t sit well with LeBron, according to Vardon. The Cleveland.com reporter notes that Irving has major endorsement deals to consider and may have risked hurting the growth of his brand by missing the season. In other words, one could make the case that the team should have called the point guard’s bluff.

Assuming Vardon’s info is accurate – and there’s no reason at this point to assume it’s not – the timing of the leak is worth considering. The Cavs’ season has hit a low point within the last week, and the decision to send Irving to the Celtics looks more questionable than ever. It’s possible that word of Irving’s alleged threat has surfaced in Cleveland now in an effort to give the front office some cover for a trade that increasingly looks like a mistake.