Community Shootaround

While unrestricted free agents have been scoring record contracts this summer, many of their restricted counterparts have been waiting for the phone to ring.

Once the free agent frenzy was unleashed shortly after midnight on July 1st, most teams were reluctant to tie up cap room for three days while waiting to see if an offer sheet would be matched.

The Nets were an exception. Their offers brought huge paydays for Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe, but neither wound up in Brooklyn. The Heat matched Johnson’s offer and the Trail Blazers did the same with Crabbe’s as the Nets saw both players slip away in one day.

Johnson and Crabbe may have cashed in, along with Miles Plumlee, who signed a four-year deal this week worth more than $50MM, and Boban Marjanovic, who got $21MM over three years from the Pistons, but the market hasn’t been kind to many others. Nobody wanted Jared Sullinger until the Celtics rescinded his qualifying offer, and he would up taking $6MM for one season in Toronto. Dion Waiters was in the same situation in Oklahoma City before his qualifying offer was pulled on Monday.

Three weeks into free agency, three restricted free agents remain on the market. The Rockets’ Donatas Motiejunas would like to stay in Houston, but says he’s talking to “a couple of teams.” The Blazers’ Maurice Harkless also wants to stay with his team, but has seen little progress on a new deal. The Celtics’ Tyler Zeller is in limbo as he waits to see if Boston can put together a blockbuster trade.

As Kevin O’Connor of CSNNE notes, there are only seven teams remaining with enough cap space to make a significant offer, and none has an obvious need for help on the front line. The market for restricted free agent big men started out slow and may already have dried up.

That brings us to tonight’s question: What do you foresee for Motiejunas, Harkless and Zeller? Will any of their teams come through with a Plumlee-like deal? Will another team give them the offer sheet they’ve been hoping for? Or will they accept their qualifying offers and try free agency next summer whey they’re unrestricted?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

Earlier this week, we asked Hoops Rumors readers to identify the most improved lottery team in the East. While several teams received support, the general consensus was that the Sixers look like the strongest candidate to significantly improve their win total, while the Knicks might be the best bet of those seven teams to earn a playoff spot next spring.

In the Western Conference, the franchise that missed the playoffs by the smallest margin may be this summer’s most improved lottery team. The Jazz finished just a game out of the postseason, but were plagued by injuries all year. With better health, another year of experience for their young players, and contributions from offseason additions like George Hill and Joe Johnson, Utah looks poised to contend for a top-five spot in the West.

But is there another lottery team in the West that’s a strong candidate for most improved? The Kings, Nuggets, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Suns, and Lakers round out the conference’s non-playoff teams, and all six clubs have made some notable moves this offseason.

In the Pacific Division, the lottery teams relied heavily on the draft to improve their rosters, with the Lakers selecting Brandon Ingram, the Suns picking Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss, and the Kings adding three first-rounders. However, those teams also dipped into free agency as they attempted to upgrade their rosters — Los Angeles signed Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng, Sacramento added Arron Afflalo and a handful of role-playing veterans, and Phoenix brought back a pair of familiar faces in Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa.

The Timberwolves took a safe approach to the offseason, adding a highly-regarded prospect (Kris Dunn) and only delving into free agency to add complementary players like Cole Aldrich, Jordan Hill, and Brandon Rush. They’ll rely on their core players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins to take another step forward, and the same can be said about the Nuggets, who sat out free agency almost entirely.

The Pelicans, meanwhile, surrounded Anthony Davis with a handful of intriguing free agent additions, including Solomon Hill, E’Twaun Moore, Langston Galloway, and Terrence Jones.

What do you think? Which franchise is the most improved lottery team in the Western Conference? Do the Jazz deserve that title, or does another club have a stronger case, particularly if we’re looking at the largest projected increase in wins?

Take to the comments section below to share your opinions on the Jazz, Kings, Nuggets, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Suns, and Lakers. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

It’s been a wild and crazy July in the NBA with free agency dominating the sports news. An unparalleled spending spree, created by the expanding salary cap, allowed even journeyman players to enjoy extremely rich paydays.

Kevin Durant‘s decision to join the Warriors was the biggest jaw-dropper but certainly not the only one. The Celtics finally landed a big-time player, or something close to it, by wooing away Al Horford from the Hawks. Dwyane Wade stunned virtually everyone around the league by leaving the only NBA home he’s known for the place he grew up, jumping from the Heat to the Bulls.

Chandler Parsons received a huge contract to join the Grizzlies, who were also successful in retaining the top point guard on the market, Mike Conley. The Mavericks replaced Parsons with an offer sheet to restricted free agent and ex-Warrior Harrison Barnes, who became expendable when Golden State landed the biggest fish on the market.

Atlanta replaced Horford with Dwight Howard, while the Spurs — who struck out in their pursuit of Durant — nabbed aging but still highly productive big man Pau Gasol.

Several other big names in the free agency sweepstakes, including DeMar DeRozan, Nicolas Batum, Hassan Whiteside and Bradley Beal, decided to stay put.

This leads us to our question of the day: Aside from Kevin Durant joining the Warriors, what was the most significant free agent signing this month?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

Knicks team president Phil Jackson‘s previous two offseasons at the helm of the franchise were underwhelming to say the least. Jackson failed to land another star in free agency to play alongside Carmelo Anthony, and if not for snagging Kristaps Porzingis in the 2015 Draft Lottery, the executive would have failed to add a true impact player during his first two years on the job.

Well, this offseason has certainly been a different story in New York thus far. Jackson has already acquired oft-injured point guard Derrick Rose from Chicago, come to an agreement on a deal with center Joakim Noah, added Brandon Jennings to spell Rose and reached a contract agreement with versatile two-way guard Courtney Lee. The team has also made a number of other low-key additions, agreeing to deals with Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Willy Hernangomez and re-signing combo forward Lance Thomas.

There’s little doubt that New York is an improved club over last year’s version, but the team and its fans should be nervous about how many games the new additions will actually be in uniform for given their respective injury histories. If Rose, Noah and Jennings can remain healthy — which is a BIG if given their track records — the Knicks could be a fun team to watch. Whether or not these moves will translate into a playoff berth is an entirely different question. One that I am posing to you this evening:

How will the Knicks’ new-look roster fare in 2016/17?

Here’s New York’s current projected depth chart, courtesy of RosterResource.com:

Starters: Rose (PG), Lee (SG), Anthony (SF), Porzingis (PF), Noah (C)

Reserves: Jennings, Thomas, Justin Holiday, Kuzminskas, Hernangomez, Kyle O’Quinn.

Are the Knicks a playoff team in 2016/17? If so, give us your win total and postseason seeding predictions. Or, if you think New York will be a bust next season, tell us why and provide us with your loss totals for the squad. We look forward to what you have to say.

At least Hassan Whiteside made it quick this year. Unlike last summer when the Mavericks thought they were getting DeAndre Jordan for an entire week before he changed his mind and stayed with the Clippers, Whiteside gave Dallas a speedy, if harsh, decision.

Only a matter of hours passed between the time The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski declared Dallas to be the frontrunner to sign Whiteside and the Miami center’s announcement on social media this morning. The Heat kept the league’s top shot blocker, although it cost them a maximum contract that they reportedly preferred not to give, and Dallas was left disappointed again.

But that wasn’t the only gut punch for the Mavericks in the early hours of free agency. Small forward Nicolas Batum, another player the Mavericks thought they had a good shot to land, agreed to re-sign with the Hornets for $120MM over five years.

Dallas is still scheduled to meet today with Memphis point guard Mike Conley, but a new rumor suggests that he has talked to Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons about teaming up with the Grizzlies. The Mavericks are reportedly unwilling to meet Parsons’ demand for a maximum deal and he already has a max offer from the Blazers, so there appears to be little chance that he re-signs in Dallas.

That brings us to our question for today: With Parsons seemingly gone and the Mavericks’ top choices at center and small forward already off the board, what should Mark Cuban’s next step be? Should he offer Conley a max deal? Should he chase another big name big man like Dwight Howard or Al Horford? Or should he avoid max players and try to rebuild with a collection of under-the-radar free agents? Cuban wants to give Dirk Nowitzki a chance at another ring before he retires, but the Mavericks will have to act quickly after a disastrous start to this offseason.

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

Hassan Whiteside could be the first high-level, unrestricted free agent to come off the board on Friday. That comes from Whiteside himself, who plans to decide during the first 24 hours of free agency where he’ll play next year and beyond.

The 27-year-old center, ranked No. 10 on our Free Agent Power Rankings, will have a host of pursuers and doesn’t feel any sense of loyalty to stay with the Heat. With the big jump in the salary cap and Whiteside entering the prime of his career, it might take a max deal to land the league’s premier shot blocker. Whiteside averaged a double-double last season (14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds) to go along with his 3.7 blocks per game and posted a whopping 25.7 PER.

Miami’s biggest threat for Whiteside’s services might be the Mavericks. They were the victim of DeAndre Jordan‘s last-minute change of heart last July and owner Mark Cuban is still intent on landing a quality center. Whiteside and point guard Mike Conley are reportedly their top free agent targets. With Dwight Howard heading to the free agent market, the Rockets have their eyes on Whiteside.

The Lakers also plan to enter the Whiteside sweepstakes, as league sources recently told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that Whiteside is a “priority target.” Among the other teams that have been linked to Whiteside are the Celtics, Knicks and Warriors, though Golden State would probably be hesitant to commit to Whiteside before knowing what Kevin Durant will do.

The Heat don’t have a significant advantage to hold off suitors since they only own early Bird rights on him. They’ll have to use cap space to sign him for more than the league average salary and cannot offer a fifth year on his deal. A maximum contract for Whiteside would be a four-year deal approaching $95MM.

It’s an incredible career turnaround for Whiteside, who wasn’t even in the league at the start of the 2014-15 season and only began getting regular playing time after New Year’s Day that season. He’s shown a lack of maturity at times, with several ejections during that 2014-15 season and another this February after being assessed a Flagrant Foul 2. His teammates have questioned his maturity during those instances, and it’s fair to wonder what Whiteside’s motor will be like once he gets his huge contract.

There’s no doubt, though, that Whiteside will become an extremely rich man this summer.

This leads us to our question of the day: Which team will land Heat center Hassan Whiteside in free agency?

Please take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the subject. We look forward to what you have to say.

Everyone knew the Sixers were taking Ben Simmons at No. 1. Everyone knew the Lakers were taking Brandon Ingram at No. 2. Then things got interesting.

The Celtics had several suitors who wanted Kris Dunn with the third pick. Co-owner Wyc Grousbeck called the offers “rip-off attempts” and said the team never came close to a deal. So they kept the pick and took Jaylen Brown. The Suns, in need of a power forward, had trouble deciding between Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. So they swung a deal for the Kings’ eighth pick and took both.

Dunn, who was wanted so badly by the Sixers and Bulls, fell to the Wolves at No. 5. The Pelicans got a sweet shooter to possibly replace Eric Gordon, landing Buddy Hield at No. 6. The Nuggets finished building their backcourt of the future, grabbing Jamal Murray at No. 7 to team with last year’s rookie sensation, Emmanuel Mudiay.

It was a night of surprises, trades, non-trades and three big sliders in Skal Labissiere, Deyonta Davis and DeJounte Murray. It was a draft rich in international prospects and draft-and-stash projects. It was a draft owned by the Celtics, Sixers, Nuggets, Suns and Raptors, who controlled 14 of the 30 picks in the first round. It was a four-hour marathon from pick 1 to pick 30, and the full impact won’t be known for several years.

But we want to know your opinion now: What were the best and worst picks of the first round? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.