- The Hornets officially announced that the “Spectrum Center” will be replacing “Time Warner Cable Arena” as the name of the team’s home arena. “We are pleased to have Charter’s Spectrum brand become a part of our arena as Charter prepares to make its entrance into the Charlotte area,” said Hornets Sports & Entertainment president & COO Fred Whitfield. “We look forward to partnering with Charter for many years to come as we continue to provide the best in sports and entertainment for Charlotte and the Carolinas at Spectrum Center.”
- The Vertical’s Bobby Marks took a look back at the Hornets‘ offseason moves and their expected impact on the team.
The NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement is designed to give teams certain benefits when it comes to re-signing their own free agents. Many players who reach free agency, for instance, are permitted to get 7.5% annual raises from their own teams, while they can only get 4.5% raises from another team. More notably, Bird rights free agents can sign five-year contracts with their own teams, but can only go up to four years with other clubs.
In some cases, that extra year doesn’t make much of a difference. Al Horford left Atlanta for Boston and signed a four-year contract with the Celtics, even though there were reports suggesting the Hawks were open to going to five years (albeit not quite for the max). Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors on a two-year contract that he’ll likely opt out of after the first year in order to maximize his future earnings.
Still, for at least a handful of players, that five-year contract appears to have played a part in their decisions to return to their own teams. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, six free agents signed five-year deals this year, and all six of those contracts were worth at least $85MM. Three of them were maximum-salary pacts.
Here are those five-year contracts, which will run through the 2020/21 season:
- Mike Conley (Grizzlies): Five years, $152,605,578 (partial guarantee in year five)
- DeMar DeRozan (Raptors): Five years, $137,500,000 (player option in year five)
- Andre Drummond (Pistons): Five years, $127,171,313 (player option in year five)
- Bradley Beal (Wizards): Five years, $127,171,313
- Nicolas Batum (Hornets): Five years, $120,000,000 (player option in year five)
- Evan Fournier (Magic): Five years, $85,000,000 (player option in year five)
Although Conley drew significant interest from the Mavericks, he was always a favorite to return to the Grizzlies, and none of the other five players on this list were seriously linked to another suitor, which is interesting.
Drummond and Beal were restricted free agents who got max deals, so there was never any suspense about their destinations, but plenty of teams would have been interested in prying away DeRozan from the Raptors, Batum from the Hornets, or Fournier from the Magic. The fact that those players’ teams were willing to offer five years likely made negotiations much simpler, since no rival suitor could offer that fifth year.
A five-year contract provides additional long-term security for free agents, and also gives the team the opportunity to give the player some agency as well. In four of the six deals listed above, the contract features a fifth-year player option.
That means DeRozan, Drummond, Batum, and Fournier have a safety net for that 2020/21 season — if they’re still playing at a high level at that point, it might make sense to opt out and sign a new longer-term contract. If their production has slipped, or if they’re battling injuries, they’ll have the option of remaining in their current contract and collecting a big pay check in that fifth year.
The ability to offer an additional year to their own free agents hasn’t always prevented teams from losing top-tier players on the open market, but there are still plenty of instances where that fifth year seems to make a difference. As the CBA opt-out date nears and the NBA and NBPA explore potential changes to their current agreement, it makes sense for this aspect of the CBA to remain unchanged. That extra long-term security may not appeal to every marquee free agent, but it does give a player’s current team a leg up, which is crucial if the league is worried about potential imbalance.
- Kemba Walker is optimistic about the new-look Hornets, but he hated to see Al Jefferson, Courtney Lee and Jeremy Lin leave in free agency, relays Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “But that’s the business: You’re always going to play with some new guys every year,” Walker said. “You think about Big Al, who I wish we could have kept. He helped change this franchise around big time from the day he got here.” Charlotte tried to replace them by adding Ramon Sessions, Marco Belinelli and Roy Hibbert.
Former Maryland shooting guard Rasheed Sulaimon signed a vet-camp deal with the Hornets and will spend next season in the D-League, tweets international basketball writer David Pick.
Sulaimon will be part of Charlotte’s new affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, which will begin play this fall. Sulaimon, who wasn’t selected in this year’s draft, averaged 11.1 points, 3.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds as a senior with the Terrapins last season.
He played for the Bulls’ summer league team in Las Vegas, but shot just 3-of-13 from 3-point range and reportedly had trouble defending smaller guards.
Perry Jones III has agreed to play in Russia this upcoming season with Khimki Moscow, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). Jones spent last season with the Iowa Energy of the D-League after being waived by the Boston Celtics. He was selected by the Thunder with the 28th overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Dwight Buycks will play in China for Fujian Quanzhou, Pick reports in a separate tweet. Buycks played for the team last season before coming stateside to join the Oklahoma City Blue of the D-League.
- Lance Stephenson may have to look overseas if he wants to play next season, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. Washburn contends that Stephenson has the talent to play in the NBA, however, his personality may be scaring teams away.
- Stephenson made a bet on himself back in 2014 when he bypassed a five-year, $44MM deal from the Pacers in favor of a shorter deal with the Hornets. Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders revisits the shooting guard’s decision and examines the decisions of other players whom have taken shorter deals with the hope of cashing in on a big payday only to be disappointed by what the market offers.
- Nicolas Batum is philosophical about the roster changes the Hornets experienced over the summer, according to Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer. After winning 48 games last season, Charlotte saw Al Jefferson, Jeremy Lin and Courtney Lee leave in free agency. The team also rewarded Batum with a $120MM contract over the next five years. “That’s just the NBA,” he said after his French team lost to Australia this afternoon at the Olympics. “We get new teammates. We have to adjust. But we still will have a good team. I’m not complaining about it.”
The Hornets committed nearly $200MM to free agents this summer, including over $187MM in guaranteed money, but that doesn’t mean the team didn’t lose several key players from last year’s roster. Asked about an offseason that saw the team lose Al Jefferson, Courtney Lee, and Jeremy Lin, Kemba Walker told Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer that “it sucks” to see so many teammates depart, especially when one of those players was Jefferson.
“But that’s the business: You’re always going to play with some new guys every year,” said the Hornets’ starting point guard. “You think about Big Al, who I wish we could have kept. He helped change this franchise around big time from the day he got here.”
Here’s more from Walker, along with a couple more items from out of the Southeast division:
- While Walker was sad to see Jefferson, Lee, and Lin go, he’s optimistic about the Hornets’ new additions, and is particularly intrigued by center Roy Hibbert. “I think, if he can get back to the level he once was at, he can be a huge help to us,” Walker told Bonnell. The point guard also added that he’s fully recovered from offseason knee surgery.
- Within his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman discusses the Heat‘s Plan B for 2017 free agency now that Russell Westbrook won’t be available, and examines whether point guard Beno Udrih – who reportedly has a standing contract offer from the team – is even a fit this year in Miami.
- Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders identifies some of the summer’s most notable team-friendly contracts, writing that Dion Waiters‘ modest deal with the Heat represents an impressive low-risk, high-reward investment for the team.
- As we detailed earlier this week, two Southeast teams (Atlanta and Miami) have used most or all of their room exceptions, while the other three clubs in the division still have that $2.898MM exception available.
- The Hornets have invited undrafted free agent Andrew Andrews to attend training camp with the team, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops reports (via Twitter). The point guard appeared in 34 games for the Washington Huskies last season, averaging 20.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 33.8 minutes per outing.
Over the next several days, we’ll be breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this July.
These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.
Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.
With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Southeast division. Let’s dive in…
1. Washington Wizards
- Total money committed: $239,223,166
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $234,026,744
- Largest expenditure: Bradley Beal (five years, $127,171,313)
- Other notable signings:
- Ian Mahinmi (four years, $64,000,000)
- Andrew Nicholson (four years, $26,000,000)
- Jason Smith (three years, $15,675,000)
- Notes:
- Marcus Thornton will earn $1,315,448 on a minimum-salary contract, but the Wizards will only pay $980,431 of that salary, with the NBA footing the rest of the bill.
2. Charlotte Hornets
- Total money committed: $197,549,753
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $187,517,567
- Largest expenditure: Nicolas Batum (five years, $120,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Marvin Williams (four years, $54,512,500)
- Ramon Sessions (two years, $12,270,000)
- Roy Hibbert (one year, $5,000,000)
- Notes:
- Brian Roberts will earn $1,050,961 on a minimum-salary contract, but the Hornets will only pay $980,431 of that salary, with the NBA footing the rest of the bill.
- Sessions’ deal contributes significantly to the gap between the Hornets’ total money and guaranteed money committed, since his second year ($6.27MM) is a team option.
3. Orlando Magic
- Total money committed: $197,000,000
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $197,000,000
- Largest expenditure: Evan Fournier (five years, $85,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Bismack Biyombo (four years, $68,000,000)
- D.J. Augustin (four years, $29,000,000)
- Jeff Green (one year, $15,000,000)
- Notes:
- The Magic have yet to add any camp invitees or players on partially-guaranteed deals, so the four players listed above make up the team’s entire free agent haul so far.
4. Miami Heat
- Total money committed: $186,713,810
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $175,347,388
- Largest expenditure: Hassan Whiteside (four years, $98,419,537)
- Other notable signings:
- Tyler Johnson (four years, $50,000,000)
- Wayne Ellington (two years, $12,270,000)
- Dion Waiters (two years, $5,926,410)
- Derrick Williams (one year, $4,598,000)
- Udonis Haslem (one year, $4,000,000)
- James Johnson (one year, $4,000,000)
- Notes:
- Like Sessions for the Hornets, Ellington’s second-year salary of $6.27MM is not guaranteed, which contributes to the gap between the Heat’s total money and guaranteed money committed.
5. Atlanta Hawks
- Total money committed: $151,929,151
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $150,530,431
- Largest expenditure: Dwight Howard (three years, $70,500,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Kent Bazemore (four years, $70,000,000)
- Malcolm Delaney (two years, $5,000,000)
- Kris Humphries (one year, $4,000,000)
- Notes:
- Jarrett Jack will earn $1,551,659 on a minimum-salary contract, but the Hawks will only pay $980,431 of that salary, with the NBA footing the rest of the bill.
Previously:
Southwest