- Mike Piellucci of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at Mavericks guard J.J. Barea and the work he has put in to make it back from an Achilles tear at age 35 when he could have easily called it a career.
There is good news out of Dallas for Mavericks fans. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the team is planning for Luka Doncic to make his return to the lineup against the Spurs tonight.
Doncic has been sidelined since December 14 with an ankle sprain. He’s missed four games – and most of a fifth – with the ailment.
In 25 games for the Mavericks this season, Doncic has been electric. He’s scoring 29.3 points per game, grabbing 9.6 rebounds and dishing out 8.9 assists. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden have a higher TPA this season despite Doncic’s time away from the court.
- Mavericks star Luka Doncic was a full participant in practice today, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Doncic’s status for Thursday’s game remains up in the air, but “things are looking better and better,” according to head coach Rick Carlisle.
- The Mavericks showed off their roster depth beyond starry headliners Luka Doncic (still out with an injury) and Kristaps Porzingis in a 117-98 road win over the Sixers last night. To be fair, Porzingis scored 22 points, pulled down 18 rebounds, and blocked three opponents’ shots. Still, Tim McMahon of ESPN notes that Tim Hardaway, Seth Curry, and even Ryan Broekhoff have had clutch moments for Dallas so far. “We have so many different weapons and so many different guys that can come in,” Porzingis noted after the victory. “I almost feel bad because we have so many guys that can come in, and sometimes they don’t get the opportunity.”
While the Mavericks appear to have the pieces necessary to make an attractive trade offer for Andre Iguodala, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) has been told that Dallas has “zero interest” in the veteran forward.
Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links) reiterates that point, citing league sources who say that the Mavericks like Iguodala and had interest in him during the offseason, but aren’t actively pursuing a trade for the 35-year-old and don’t intend to.
As Townsend explains, Dallas’ management group “loves” the club’s current chemistry. Although Iguodala wouldn’t necessarily negatively impact that chemistry, adding a veteran like him would to disrupt the current rotation, Townsend notes. Stein, meanwhile, suggests that the Mavs are being “measured” as they consider possible trade targets, even after emerging as potential contenders.
The Grizzlies have held onto Iguodala since acquiring from Golden State in July, despite the fact that he hasn’t played a single minute for the team this season. Memphis reportedly hasn’t budged from its asking price of a first-round pick, while contenders like the Lakers, Clippers, and Rockets continue to hold out hope that Iguodala will be bought out, per Stein (Twitter link).
Houston and the L.A. clubs aren’t particularly well positioned to acquire Iguodala in a trade, but Dallas might be. A package of Courtney Lee‘s expiring contract and the Warriors’ 2020 second-round pick would likely appeal to the Grizzlies.
It’s possible Dallas is projecting a lack of interest in Iguodala to gain leverage and lower Memphis’ asking price, but for now it seems safe to assume that the Mavs aren’t the favorites for the former Finals MVP.
Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Raptors recalled Dewan Hernandez from their G League affiliate, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. Toronto needs all hands on deck as a result of various frontcourt injuries this week.
- The Magic have assigned Melvin Frazier and Amile Jefferson to the Lakeland Magic, the team announced on Twitter. Lakeland plays the South Bay Lakers in its first game of the G League showcase.
- The Pacers have assigned Alize Johnson to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, per the team’s transaction log. This is Johnson’s third G League stint of the week.
- Justin Robinson has been assigned to the Capital City Go-Go, per the Wizards‘ Twitter feed. The G League squad takes on the Iowa Wolves in its first match of the showcase in Las Vegas.
- The Mavericks have recalled Isaiah Roby from the Texas Legends, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
- The Thunder have recalled Deonte Burton from the Oklahoma City Blue, per the team’s website. Burton has played seven games in the G League this season, averaging 16.1 points per game.
The Grizzlies, who have no plans to buy out Andre Iguodala, also haven’t adjusted their asking price on the trade market for the veteran forward, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. Having acquired a first-round pick along with Iguodala in July, the Grizzlies are hoping to secure a second first-round pick when they flip the 35-year-old.
“They haven’t budged,” a league executive told Deveney. “Maybe they will as the date gets closer, but they’ve made clear, they’re not interested in a buyout with Andre and they’re looking for a first-rounder. Teams have been trying. They haven’t let go of that. But that tells you they know they’ll be able to get something and won’t have to buy him out.”
Acquiring a first-round pick for Iguodala’s $17MM expiring contract seems ambitious unless the Grizzlies are willing to take on some unwanted multiyear money, but there’s no harm in trying. The former Finals MVP is currently away from the team, and any potential trade partner with interest would be eyeing him for a potential playoff run, so Memphis can afford to be patient.
While I’d be surprised if the Grizzlies get a first-rounder for Iguodala, it seems as if the club should be able to land a second-rounder or two. The Mavericks, who control one of 2020’s most valuable second-round picks and could match Iguodala’s salary using Courtney Lee‘s expiring contract, still look to me like the best fit, but Deveney identifies the Bucks, Nuggets, and Jazz as a few other possible suitors.
I explained earlier today why several contending teams – including the Lakers – will have a tough time putting together a trade package for a player like Iguodala.
Second-round picks are often viewed by fans as expendable assets that can be thrown into trade offers without much risk of losing a future building block. And that may be true of many playoff teams’ second-rounders, which fall in the 45-60 range. Those selections are frequently used on draft-and-stash prospects or two-way players and don’t have a particularly high hit rate.
However, second-round picks that land in the 30s are only slightly less valuable than late first-round picks. Since 2015, Malcolm Brogdon, Devonte’ Graham, Montrezl Harrell, Cedi Osman, Ivica Zubac, Jalen Brunson, Mitchell Robinson, Richaun Holmes, Semi Ojeleye, and Patrick McCaw are among the players that have been selected in the 31-39 range.
With that in mind, it’s worth considering which teams have acquired an extra second-round pick that projects to fall in that range in 2020. For a contending team, those draft picks are valuable trade chips that could be dangled in negotiations this winter, especially if the contender in question doesn’t have its own first-round pick to offer.
No club is better positioned in this regard than the Sixers. As our tracker shows, Philadelphia projects to have two early second-round picks in 2020, based on the NBA’s current reverse standings. The Sixers will receive the more favorable of the Nets‘ and Knicks‘ second-round picks and will also receive the Hawks‘ second-rounder. Currently, Atlanta’s pick projects to land at No. 32, while New York’s will be No. 34 or 35.
The 76ers have traded their own 2020 first-round pick to Brooklyn, but if they want to upgrade their roster at this season’s deadline, the Hawks’ and/or Knicks’ second-rounders figure to be on the table and should appeal to rebuilding teams.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, owe their 2021 and 2023 first-round picks to New York, which prevents them from offering their 2020 first-rounder in a trade due to the Stepien Rule. However, they control the Warriors‘ second-round pick for ’20, which should be nearly as good as a first-rounder — it currently projects to be the No. 31 overall pick, since Golden State has the league’s worst record. Attaching that pick to Courtney Lee‘s expiring contract could be the start of a promising trade package for Dallas.
The Sixers and Mavericks are the only contending teams that own early 2020 second-round picks, but a few more of those early second-rounders have been moved. Here are the other traded 2020 picks that appear likely to land high in the second round:
- Hornets own Cavaliers‘ second-round pick (projected to be No. 34 or 35).
- Pelicans own Wizards‘ second-round pick (No. 36).
- Wizards own most favorable of Grizzlies‘ (No. 37) or Bulls‘ (No. 38) second-round pick.
- Note: The Bulls will receive the least favorable of these two picks.
When David Aldridge of The Athletic polled NBA executives in November on Andre Iguodala‘s eventual landing spot, the responses were nearly unanimous. Nearly every exec who spoke to Aldridge predicted that Iguodala would ultimately end up with the Lakers.
However, with the Grizzlies standing firm on their stance that they intend to trade Iguodala rather than buy him out, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which those execs will be proven right.
As we explain in our glossary entry on the NBA’s trade rules, in order to take back Iguodala’s $17,185,185 salary, the Lakers would have to send out $12,185,185 in outgoing salary. The Lakers have three players earning more than that amount on their own: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Danny Green. It seems safe to assume none of those players will be included in a deal for Iguodala.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s $8.09MM cap charge could be a good starting point in putting together a package for Iguodala, but Caldwell-Pope is one of three Lakers who has a de facto no-trade clause after re-signing with the team this past offseason — JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo are the others. There’s probably no good reason for any of those players to approve a trade from the 24-4 Lakers to the 10-18 Grizzlies.
So what’s left? Even if the Lakers were to package all their next-biggest contracts, including Avery Bradley ($4.77MM), DeMarcus Cousins ($3.5MM), and Quinn Cook ($3MM), they’d have to include at least four players just to reach the threshold to take back Iguodala’s salary. That would mean either asking the Grizzlies to waive three players or getting other teams involved, neither of which presents a particularly realistic path to a deal.
The Lakers are perhaps the most striking example of how a lack of expendable contracts in the mid-level range ($8-12MM) may limit teams’ trade options this winter. But they’re hardly the only example.
Consider the Celtics. They only have three players earning between $5MM and $32.7MM in 2019/20. Those three players are Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, and I wouldn’t expect the team to seriously consider moving any of them. For the C’s, acquiring a player in the $15-20MM range would mean packaging together at least three players earning $5MM or less, and three-for-one or four-for-one deals aren’t easy to pull off during the season.
The Sixers are in this group too. They have just two players with ’19/20 cap hits between $4.77MM and $27.5MM — Josh Richardson ($10.12MM) and Ben Simmons ($8.11MM). Trading Simmons probably isn’t a consideration anyway, but doing so would be virtually impossible due to the poison pill provision attached to his newly-signed extension. If Philadelphia wants to put together a trade package without including Richardson, it would likely mean starting with Mike Scott ($4.77MM) and Zhaire Smith ($3.06MM), which will limit the team’s ability to take on a bigger contract.
The Rockets had this quandary in mind when they signed Nene to an incentive-packed contract that bumped his cap hit to $10MM, despite a guarantee of just $2.56MM. The team essentially tried to create an expendable mid-level trade chip out of thin air, but the NBA thwarted the plan, ruling that Nene would only count for $2.56MM for matching purposes. As a result, Houston’s only contracts worth more than $3.54MM belong to the team’s five most important players, and one of them (Eric Gordon at $14.06MM) can’t be traded at all this season because he recently signed an extension.
The Clippers have one potentially expendable mid-level deal, but Maurice Harkless ($11.01MM) has been a pretty effective rotation player for the team this season, so L.A. would only move him for a clear upgrade. The Jazz and Raptors each have one contract in the mid-level range that could be used to build a trade package, but Dante Exum ($9.6MM) and Norman Powell ($10.12MM) both have multiple years left on their deals, complicating their value.
For certain trade targets, this dearth of expendable mid-level contracts among contenders won’t matter — there’s a viable path to match the salary of a player like Jae Crowder ($7.82MM) or even Robert Covington ($11.3MM) with some of those smaller deals.
Still, the salary-matching factor is one that shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to pricier trade candidates like Iguodala or Danilo Gallinari ($22.62MM). Every team except the Hawks is currently over the cap, so every team with title aspirations is subject to those salary-matching rules, which are even more restrictive on taxpaying teams.
At this point, contenders with movable contracts in the $10-15MM range, such as the Mavericks (Courtney Lee, $12.76MM), Heat (multiple players), and Nuggets (multiple players) appear better positioned to make certain deals to improve their rosters at the deadline.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic explores five questions that could shape this season’s trade deadline, such as just how serious the Nuggets and Mavericks are about their short-term chances to contend.