Dallas Mavericks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Mavericks, Iguodala, Melli

August 29th, 2019 at 7:54pm CST by clarkcrum

After years of whiffing in free agency, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer writes that the Mavericks may have finally got it right this summer despite not signing rumored targets Kemba Walker or Al Horford.

The difference this time around? The Mavericks already had their stars in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, so supporting cast acquisitions like Delon Wright and Seth Curry made more sense than finally signing the big free agent fish.

And, with the NBA beginning to highlight more twosomes as opposed to threesomes like what the Heat did back in the early 2010s, Doncic (20) and Porzingis (24) could have the brightest future of any pairings because of their youth.

There’s more notes to pass along from the Southwest Division:

Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian opines that the Dwight Howard buyout with the Grizzlies may have set a baseline amount for a potential Andre Iguodala buyout sometime before or during the 2019/20 season.
In a player profile piece for the upcoming season, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News highlights how the aforementioned Wright could fit nicely alongside Doncic for the Mavericks.
Speaking to Italian newspaper il Resto del Carlino (h/t to Sportando), Pelicans rookie forward Nicolo Melli spoke about his decision to leave Europe to come to the NBA. “(M)y agent Matteo Comellini sent me a message with the proposal made by the Pelicans. I felt a strong vibration. The same I had two years ago the first time I spoke with coach (Zeljko) Obradovic.” Melli says the choice to come to the NBA was never about money.

Germany, Italy, Others Finalize World Cup Rosters

August 29th, 2019 at 4:59pm CST by Luke Adams

We’re just two days away from FIBA’s 2019 World Cup officially tipping off, and more national teams have officially set their 12-man rosters for the event, including a pair of countries whose squads will feature multiple NBA players.

Team Germany made its final cut this week, dropping Wizards youngster Isaac Bonga from its roster. Even without Bonga on the team, there are plenty of familiar faces for NBA fans — Dennis Schroder (Thunder), Daniel Theis (Celtics), and Maxi Kleber (Mavericks) will represent Germany in this year’s tournament.

The Italian national team, meanwhile, will be led by Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari and Spurs sharpshooter Marco Belinelli. Former NBA forward Gigi Datome and 2014 second-round pick Alessandro Gentile are also part of Italy’s squad.

Here are more details on teams that have established their 12-man World Cup rosters:

Former Knicks and Nuggets forward Renaldo Balkman, ex-Mavericks shooting guard Gian Clavell, and current Kings camp invitee Isaiah Pineiro are among the players on Puerto Rico’s team for the World Cup, per FIBA.
No current NBA players are on the Chinese or Russian World Cup rosters, but Yi Jianlian and Zhou Qi are among the former NBAers representing China, while former Cavaliers and Nets wing Sergey Karasev is leading Russia’s squad.
Cote d’Ivoire also announced its 2019 World Cup roster, as FIBA relays. It doesn’t feature any NBA players.

Mavericks Claim Aric Holman Off Waivers

August 29th, 2019 at 4:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have claimed rookie forward Aric Holman off waivers, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Holman was released earlier this week when the Lakers needed to create a spot on their 20-man roster for Dwight Howard.

Holman, 22, went undrafted out of Mississippi State this spring after averaging 9.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 1.6 BPG with a .473/.429/.701 shooting line in his senior year. He quickly caught on with the Lakers, joining the team for Summer League and later signing an Exhibit 10 contract.

Holman averaged 4.5 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 15.8 MPG in four appearances with the Lakers in Las Vegas in July, but was the odd man out when Howard came aboard. The club chose to keep camp invitees Devontae Cacok, Jordan Caroline, and Demetrius Jackson over Holman.

The Mavericks had 18 players under contract before claiming Holman, giving them flexibility to give the undrafted rookie a look. Barring another transaction, the youngster figures to attend training camp with Dallas this fall. Since the team already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts, he’s a long shot to make the Mavs’ regular season roster.

Finney-Smith Could Gain Starting Role

August 21st, 2019 at 3:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dorian Finney-Smith is a candidate to start at small forward for the Mavericks, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News writes. He’ll complete with Justin Jackson and Tim Hardaway Jr. for starting time at that spot. Dallas re-signed Finney-Smith this summer on a three-year, $12MM pact.

Mavericks Re-Sign J.J. Barea

August 19th, 2019 at 1:31pm CST by JD Shaw

AUGUST 19: Seven weeks after agreeing to terms with the Mavericks on a one-year, minimum-salary deal, Barea has officially signed his contract, he confirmed to MacMahon (Twitter link). The veteran guard, who continues to recover from his Achilles tear, expects to be fully cleared to participate in training camp, per MacMahon.

JULY 1: The Mavericks have agreed to a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract with free agent point guard J.J. Barea, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (via Twitter), there’s a chance that Dallas could bump up Barea’s salary beyond the minimum, depending on how the team’s offseason plays out and whether there’s cap room left over.

Barea said he also registered interest from both the Lakers and Pistons, according to Carlos Rosa of GFR Media. Barea has spent 10 of his 13 NBA seasons with the Mavericks, calling the city of Dallas his second home, Rosa notes in a separate tweet. He was part of the 2011 Mavericks team that won an NBA championship by defeating the Heat.

Barea, 35, suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon last February, so it remains to be seen when he’ll be able return to the court. In his 35 regular-season games before suffering the injury, he averaged 10.9 points, 5.6 assists and 19.8 minutes per contest.

If he signs for the minimum, Barea will earn approximately $2.5MM, though he’d only count for about $1.6MM against the cap for the club.

Examining Boban Marjanovic's Role In Dallas

August 15th, 2019 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Boban Marjanovic had his best NBA season in 2018/19, averaging 7.3 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 58 games (11.7 MPG) for the Clippers and Sixers. Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News looks at what sort of role Marjanovic might have with the Mavericks after signing a two-year contract with the club.

Doncic Working Hard; Roby Contract A Potential Steal

August 11th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by clarkcrum

Callie Caplan of SportsDay reports that 2018/19 NBA Rookie of the Year, Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, is working his tail off this summer to become better conditioned as he becomes a focus night in and night out for Mavs’ opponents during the 2019/20 season.

Per Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, “it’s just a natural progression that every player needs to have going from Year 1 to Year 2, especially someone like Luka that had such a great first year. People are really going to be coming for him in his second year, and the continued work on body and conditioning and developing his game is going to keep moving him in the direction of becoming a really great player.”

Doncic, who is training in his native Slovenia this summer, has not yet returned to Dallas to join his Mavericks teammates, but Carlisle, assistant coach Jamahl Mosley and teammate Dwight Powell all visited him this offseason and liked what they saw. “I know he’s working his butt off this summer,” Carlisle added. “I know he’s very motivated for this (upcoming) season.”

Newy Scruggs of NBC5 Dallas-Fort Worth (h/t to SportsDay) suggests that although the $1.5MM first-year salary for rookie Isaiah Roby may seem high, it was not an overpay by the Mavericks because of the lack of guaranteed salary in years three and four. Moreover, at least one source told Scruggs that Roby has Kyle Kuzma-type potential. If so, his contract will be a steal.

Knicks Don’t Regret Trading Kristaps Porzingis

August 10th, 2019 at 3:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks didn’t land the top stars they targeted in free agency, but management still believes the January trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks was the right move, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post.

New York acquired Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and a pair of first-round picks in that deal, but most importantly the team opened enough cap room for two max salary offers by unloading Porzingis, who would have been a restricted free agent, along with the unwanted contracts of Courtney Lee, Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr.

The trade led to five months of speculation that Kevin Durant was serious about joining the Knicks and would bring another star with him, possibly Kyrie Irving. However, Durant and Irving opted for Brooklyn, while New York filled its roster with a collection of vets on short-term contracts.

The situation looks worse after Durant gave an interview this week in which he claims he never considered the Knicks. That comment drew some skepticism throughout the league, according to Berman, but New York’s front office stands behind the Porzingis decision regardless.

Sources tell Berman that a rift had been building between the two sides long before Porzingis met with the front office to request a trade. Management thought it would be a waste of time to try to convince the injured star to stay and was concerned that his cap hold would interfere with the team’s free agency plans.

The Knicks also never believed that Janis Porzingis, who serves as his brother’s representative, would let Kristaps play last season, even if tests showed he was fully recovered from an ACL injury. Janis’ priority was to protect the $158MM deal that Kristaps eventually got from Dallas.

Berman suggests that New York might have sought more young assets in the deal if it had a clue that free agency would turn out the way it did. Even so, the Knicks were happy to add Smith to their backcourt and believe the two first-rounders will eventually prove valuable.

Team president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry have confidence in the players they signed after their top targets were off the board, Berman adds. Mills views this as the third season of the rebuilding plan, noting that the one-year deals offer plenty of flexibility to acquire the next star player who becomes available.

Berman points out that Anthony Davis will top the free agent market next July and his agent, Rich Paul, likes the prospect of bringing his client to New York if things don’t work out with the Lakers.

Mavericks Sign Second-Rounder Isaiah Roby

August 6th, 2019 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have signed second-round pick Isaiah Roby to a four-year, $6.7MM contract, agent Zach Kurtin of Priority Sports tells ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

As Marks details, the deal will be worth the minimum in years two through four, but it will have a $1.5MM cap hit in Roby’s rookie year. That $1.5MM cap charge represents the highest first-year salary in NBA history for a college player selected in the second round of the draft, according to Marks.

Although that’s a significant investment for the Mavs, they aren’t near the luxury-tax line and still had $1.8MM left on their mid-level exception. As such, it makes sense that they’d be willing to go a little higher in Roby’s first year in order to get him locked up for the next four. His second-year salary will also be guaranteed, while the third year will be non-guaranteed and the final season will be a team option, tweets Marks.

The No. 45 overall pick in June, Roby averaged 11.8 PPG and 6.9 RPG in his final season at Nebraska. The 6’8″ forward declared for the draft as an early entrant after his junior year, and his rights were acquired by the Mavs on draft night in a deal that sent No. 37 pick Deividas Sirvydis to Detroit.

Prior to signing Roby, the Mavericks had 13 players on guaranteed contracts on their books. Roby will be the 14th, while J.J. Barea – who has agreed to a new deal with Dallas but has yet to officially sign it – figures to be No. 15.

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2019/20

August 6th, 2019 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $109,140,000 threshold once their room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit of $132,627,000 as well — the Trail Blazers have this season’s highest payroll at the moment, more than $11MM above the tax line.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows a club like Portland to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5,718,000) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron was set $6MM above the luxury tax line in 2017/18 (the first year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement) and creeps up a little higher each season. For the 2019/20 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $138,928,000.

More teams than ever this offseason have been willing to hard-cap themselves, and in at least a couple cases, it will significantly impact a team’s ability to add further reinforcements later in the league year. The Warriors and Heat are nearly right up against the hard cap, and won’t be players in free agency during the season unless they can shed salary.

So far this year, half the teams in the NBA have imposed a hard cap on themselves by using the bi-annual exception, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade. Listed below are those 15 teams, along with how they created a hard cap.

Boston Celtics

Acquired Kemba Walker from the Hornets via sign-and-trade.

Brooklyn Nets

Acquired Kevin Durant from the Warriors via sign-and-trade.

Charlotte Hornets

Acquired Terry Rozier from the Celtics via sign-and-trade.

Chicago Bulls

Acquired Tomas Satoransky from the Wizards via sign-and-trade.

Dallas Mavericks

Acquired Delon Wright from the Grizzlies via sign-and-trade.
Used approximately $7.46MM of their mid-level exception to sign Seth Curry.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Boban Marjanovic.

Detroit Pistons

Used approximately $7.32MM of their mid-level exception to sign Derrick Rose.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Markieff Morris.

Golden State Warriors

Acquired D’Angelo Russell from the Nets via sign-and-trade.

Indiana Pacers

Acquired Malcolm Brogdon from the Bucks via sign-and-trade.

Memphis Grizzlies

Used their full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) to sign Tyus Jones.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Marko Guduric.

Miami Heat

Acquired Jimmy Butler from the Sixers via sign-and-trade.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Acquired Jake Layman from the Trail Blazers via sign-and-trade.

Orlando Magic

Used their full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) to sign Al-Farouq Aminu.

San Antonio Spurs

Acquired DeMarre Carroll from the Nets via sign-and-trade.

Toronto Raptors

Used approximately $8.3MM of their mid-level exception to sign Patrick McCaw, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Matt Thomas, and Dewan Hernandez.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Stanley Johnson.

Washington Wizards

Used approximately $7.9MM of their mid-level exception to sign Ish Smith, Admiral Schofield, and Justin Robinson.

Outside of the Warriors and Heat, no clubs on the list above are really being restricted by the hard cap at this time. A few teams – such as the Pistons and Magic – are near the luxury tax threshold, but that still gives them several million dollars in breathing room below the hard cap.

While it’s possible that trades could push some teams closer to the apron, Golden State and Miami appear to be the only clubs that will be noticeably affected by the hard cap in 2019/20.