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Free Agency Notes: Cap Room, Kawhi, DeRozan, Paul

April 7th, 2021 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

In an early look at the NBA’s 2021 free agent period, Sam Amick and John Hollinger of The Athletic write that three NBA teams – the Knicks, Thunder, and Spurs – project to have more than enough cap room for a maximum-salary contract this offseason, even if they were to win the draft lottery.

Besides those clubs, the Mavericks and Hornets should be among the clubs with the most space, according to Amick and Hollinger. The Athletic’s duo projects Dallas to be about $35MM below the cap if Josh Richardson opts out, while Charlotte will have about $26MM of room.

Other teams could create cap room, but that will hinge on one or two major roster decisions. For instance, the Raptors could get up to about $25MM in space, but not if they intend to re-sign Kyle Lowry. The Suns (Chris Paul) are in a similar position, with the Heat, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Hawks, Cavaliers, Bulls, and Pistons among the other teams whose cap space – or lack thereof – will depend on what happens with certain free agents.

Here’s more from Amick and Hollinger on 2021 free agency:

Although Kawhi Leonard projects to be the top free agent on the market this summer, team sources and rival executives widely expect him to re-sign with the Clippers, per The Athletic. It’s possible that could change if Los Angeles exits the postseason early, but there’s no indication at this point that Leonard’s free agency will be as dramatic as it was in 2019.
A source with knowledge of DeMar DeRozan‘s outlook tells The Athletic he’ll take a “wide open” approach to free agency. That doesn’t necessarily rule out a new deal with the Spurs, though a March report suggested DeRozan has interest in playing elsewhere next season and perhaps returning to the Eastern Conference.
Amick and Hollinger believe both DeRozan and Paul will keep Jrue Holiday‘s new four-year deal ($135MM guaranteed, $25MM in incentives) very much in mind when they negotiate their next contracts. However, it’s not a perfect comparable for either player, since Paul is five years older than Holiday and DeRozan isn’t the defender that Holiday is.

Heat, Warriors, Raptors Among Teams Needing To Add 14th Man

April 5th, 2021 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

As we detailed last week, a number of teams dipped below the NBA’s required minimum of 14 players (not counting two-way contracts) with their moves leading up to the trade deadline. Teams are only permitted to drop below 14 players for up to two weeks.

Since then, the Pelicans (Isaiah Thomas) and Knicks (Norvel Pelle) have added a 14th man to their respective rosters to get back up to that minimum, but a handful of teams still need to make roster moves this week.

[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Roster Counts]

First up is the Clippers, who face a Monday deadline for signing a 14th man. By all accounts, that player will be DeMarcus Cousins, who has been going through the coronavirus protocols in advance of signing a 10-day contract with Los Angeles.

Like the Clippers, the Trail Blazers appear to have a 14th man lined up already, as word broke last Friday that they’ve struck a deal with free agent forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. That deal still isn’t official, but Portland has until Thursday to finalize it, so there’s plenty of time to get it done.

Three other teams face a Thursday deadline for filling one of the two current openings on their 15-man rosters — the Heat, Warriors, and Raptors all must sign a player by then.

All three of those teams have players on two-way contracts who could be candidates for promotions to the main roster, including Max Strus (Miami), Juan Toscano-Anderson (Golden State), Nico Mannion (Golden State), and Yuta Watanabe (Toronto). However, those clubs could also opt to bring in outside free agents and keep their two-way players where they are.

For the time being, the only other team to watch on this front is the Cavaliers. Since Quinn Cook‘s second 10-day contract expired last Wednesday night, Cleveland has been carrying just 13 players on standard deals. It doesn’t sound like the Cavs will re-sign Cook, but they’ll need to sign someone to fill his vacated roster spot — unlike the teams mentioned above though, Cleveland won’t need to add a 14th man until next week.

Okoro's Promise Impresses Butler

April 4th, 2021 at 2:03pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Although the Cavaliers fell 115-104 to the Heat yesterday, rookie shooting guard Isaac Okoro scored 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and won the respect of star Heat wing Jimmy Butler, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “His potential is out of this world,” Butler said of 2020’s fifth overall pick drafted out of Auburn. Okoro has had an erratic 2020/21 season (averaging a relatively modest 8.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 1.7 APG), but he has started in all his 44 games with Cleveland thus far.

Love, Dellavedova Give Cavs Playoff Dreams

April 2nd, 2021 at 8:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The return of Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova from long-term injuries puts the Cavaliers in position for a final playoff run, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. “We don’t have much time left, but I do think that we can put together a great last however many games that we have and really make a push,” Love said. “Having Delly back, having myself back, actually being able to make an impact playing the game, there’s just nothing like that.”

Cavaliers Won’t Re-Sign Quinn Cook

April 2nd, 2021 at 10:07am CST by Arthur Hill

Quinn Cook‘s second 10-day contract has expired, and the Cavaliers don’t plan to sign him for the rest of the season, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

The 28-year-old guard appeared in seven games during his 20 days with Cleveland. He averaged 6.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 13.6 minutes per night and shot 46.2% from three-point range. Quinn, who also played 16 games for the Lakers earlier this season, is now a free agent and can sign with any team.

Players can only sign two 10-day contracts with the same team during a season, so the Cavs had to either give Cook a contract through the end of the season or let him go. They opted to keep the roster spot open for flexibility, sources tell Fedor.

The Cavs currently have 13 players, along with a pair of two-way contracts, and must fill at least one of the openings within two weeks.

Dellavedova Available For First Time This Season

April 1st, 2021 at 6:07pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Veteran Cavaliers point guard Matthew Dellavedova, a longtime fan favorite who was a key role player on the 2016 title-winning team led by superstars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, is available to return to action for Cleveland for the first time in the 2020/21 season tonight, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers will host the Sixers, the No. 2 seed in the East.

Earlier today, we relayed that a Dellavedova return tonight was looking like a possibility.

Dellavedova has been sidelined since December 12 following a major concussion. The reserve, who has a long history of concussions, was kept in protocols for an extended period of time. An emergency appendectomy on February 20 further delayed his return to game action.

“Our conversation, he just talked about how appreciative he was, how we’ve dealt with this and been patient in giving him this opportunity,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Dellavedova’s return. “He loves the game of basketball, he throws his heart into it completely.”

The 6’3″ Dellavedova has spent parts of six NBA seasons in Cleveland. The 30-year-old holds career averages of 5.6 PPG, 3.7 APG and 1.8 RPG.

Fedor adds that former All-Star power forward/center Kevin Love, another member of that 2016 title team, will suit up for just his fifth game this season tonight as he recovers from a calf injury that has hampered him for most of the season. Kelsey Russo of The Athletic tweets that Love will start in the frontcourt tonight alongside Dean Wade.

Matthew Dellavedova Set To Return

April 1st, 2021 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova has yet to appear in a game this season due to a concussion and an appendectomy, but that may change on Thursday. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said on Wednesday that Dellavedova is close to being ready, and that he’s hopeful of a “Delly sighting” against Philadelphia, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Windler To Be Evaluated For Knee Injury

March 30th, 2021 at 10:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Windler suffered a hand fracture in the season opener, which kept him out of action for nearly a month. The Cavs picked up their $2,239,200 third year option on the 24-year-old in December.

Utah’s backcourt of Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell provides a blueprint of how the Cavaliers’ backcourt Darius Garland and Collin Sexton might eventually work, Fedor writes. Thus far, it’s been a work in progress. In 821 minutes with Sexton and Garland, the Cavs have an offensive rating of 106.4 and a defensive rating of 115.5, for an overall net rating of -9.1, Fedor notes. However, it’s tough to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the backcourt pairing due to a lack of continuity in the frontcourt, mainly due to injuries, Fedor adds.

Cavaliers swingman Dylan Windler has been experiencing knee pain recently and will undergo further evaluation in the next few days, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Windler, a late 2019 first-round pick, didn’t play at all last season due to injury. He’s seen action in 31 games this season off the bench, averaging 5.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 1.1 APG in 16.5 MPG.

Fischer’s Latest: Mavs, Fournier, Rockets, Drummond, Gasol

March 30th, 2021 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks ended up making just one relatively modest move at the trade deadline, acquiring J.J. Redick and Nicolo Melli in a trade with New Orleans. However, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, that deal may have been a fail-safe option for Dallas as the team explored other options leading up to last Thursday afternoon.

As Fischer explains, the Mavericks also explored a trade that would have sent James Johnson and two second-round pick to Orlando in a package for Evan Fournier. The Magic ultimately chose a similar offer from Boston that allowed them to create a $17MM+ trade exception instead of taking back a matching salary like Johnson’s.

The Mavericks also spoke to the Rockets about Victor Oladipo, sources tell Fischer, but those talks didn’t gain momentum.

Here’s more from Fischer:

During the James Harden trade talks earlier in the year, the Rockets never projected much interest in hanging onto Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert as part of that deal, Fischer says. Houston didn’t view Allen as a long-term frontcourt fit alongside Christian Wood and wanted to roll the dice on Oladipo recapturing his All-NBA form, a gamble that didn’t work out.
Fischer lists the Raptors, Bulls, Mavericks, Clippers, Celtics, Heat, Hornets, Nets, Knicks, and Lakers as teams that showed some level of interest in Cavaliers center Andre Drummond before he was bought out, but none of those clubs could ultimately put together a package that matched the big man’s $28.75MM salary and also appealed to Cleveland. After he was bought out, Drummond was intrigued by the Celtics and spoke to Boston point guard (and fellow UConn alum) Kemba Walker, but ultimately decided to sign with the Lakers.
With Drummond now in Los Angeles, some executives are wondering whether the Lakers will consider buying out Marc Gasol, per Fischer. “When they get fully healthy, it’s gonna be a logjam,” one assistant GM said, referring to a frontcourt that also features big men Anthony Davis and Montrezl Harrell, along with power forwards LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma. It’s worth noting Gasol has a second guaranteed year on his contract, though it’s only worth the minimum.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

March 30th, 2021 at 8:40am CST by Luke Adams

A total of 46 players were traded on deadline day last Thursday, and more have been waived and signed since then, resulting in major roster upheaval around the NBA.

With the dust settling a little, it’s worth checking in on which teams across the league now have open roster spots, and which clubs will need to fill at least one of those openings soon in order to meet the minimum roster requirements.

Let’s dive in…

Teams with two open spots on their 15-man rosters:

Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Miami Heat
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Portland Trail Blazers
Toronto Raptors

The NBA allows team to carry fewer than 14 players on standard (or 10-day) contracts for up to two weeks at a time. So these clubs are allowed to have just 13 for now, but will soon need to add a 14th, either with a 10-day signing or a rest-of-season addition.

The Warriors, Heat, Trail Blazers, and Raptors all dipped below 14 players on deadline day (March 25), so they’ll all have until next Thursday (April 8) to get back up to the required roster minimum. The Knicks will have even longer, since they just waived Terrance Ferguson and Vincent Poirier on Sunday — they’ll have to add a 14th man by April 11.

The Pelicans and Clippers, meanwhile, reduced their roster counts to 13 players on March 20 and March 22, respectively, so they’ll need to make their moves sooner. New Orleans will have to add a player by this weekend at the latest, while the Clippers will do so by next Monday.

The Pels are right up against the luxury tax line, so they’ll likely sign someone to a 10-day contract. The Clippers have enough breathing room below their hard cap to complete a rest-of-season signing if they so choose.

Teams with one open spot on their 15-man rosters:

Cleveland Cavaliers
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
Orlando Magic

A report last Thursday indicated that the Pacers were signing Oshae Brissett, but they still have completed that 10-day deal, so they have an open roster spot for now. The Bucks technically have two open roster spots as of this writing, but are expected to sign Jeff Teague to fill one of them as soon as today.

The Lakers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, and Magic all have 14 players on standard, rest-of-season contracts, with no obligation to fill their 15th spots anytime soon. The Cavaliers currently have 14th man Quinn Cook on a 10-day contract. When his deal expires on Wednesday night, the team will dip to 13 players and will have two weeks to re-add a 14th.

Teams with open two-way contract slots:

Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers

The Thunder opened up one of their two-way slots when they promoted Moses Brown to the standard roster over the weekend. I’d expect them and the Timberwolves to be more interested in filling their open two-way spots than the Suns and Trail Blazers. Oklahoma City and Minnesota are lottery teams and could benefit from a look at one more young player, while Phoenix and Portland are playoff clubs that have shown no desire to add a second two-way player all season long.

Also worth mentioning:

Brooklyn Nets
Detroit Pistons
San Antonio Spurs

The Nets, Spurs, and Pistons currently have full 15-man rosters, but won’t for much longer, as all three teams have players on 10-day contracts. Alize Johnson‘s deal with Brooklyn runs through Wednesday, while Cameron Reynolds‘ with San Antonio runs through Sunday and Tyler Cook‘s with Detroit expires after next Tuesday.

Note: Our full roster count breakdown can be found right here.