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Checking In On 2018’s Unsigned Draft Picks

July 17th, 2018 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2018 NBA draft took place less than a month ago, but over three quarters over the players selected on the night of June 22 have already signed their first NBA contracts. That includes each of the 30 players picked in the first round, all of whom are now under contract.

The following players have not yet signed contracts with their new NBA teams:

Detroit Pistons: Khyri Thomas, SG (Creighton)
Orlando Magic: Justin Jackson, F (Maryland)
Washington Wizards: Issuf Sanon, G (Olimpija Ljubljana)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Hamidou Diallo, SG (Kentucky)
Houston Rockets: De’Anthony Melton, G (USC)
San Antonio Spurs: Chimezie Metu, F/C (USC)
New Orleans Pelicans: Tony Carr, PG (Penn State)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Devon Hall, SG (Virginia)
Philadelphia 76ers: Shake Milton, G (SMU)
Charlotte Hornets: Arnoldas Kulboka, SF (Capo D’Orlando)
Dallas Mavericks: Ray Spalding, PF (Louisville)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Hervey, SF (Texas-Arlington)
Denver Nuggets: Thomas Welsh, C (UCLA)

Sanon, Carr, and Kulboka will reportedly spend the 2018/19 season overseas, so we can safely remove their names from this list — they won’t be signing NBA contracts this offseason. Welsh, meanwhile, has reportedly agreed to terms on a two-way contract with Denver, though it’s not yet official.

That leaves just nine players from 2018’s draft class who we should still expect to sign at some point. Of those nine players, the higher picks such as Thomas (Pistons), Jackson (Magic), Diallo (Thunder), and Melton (Rockets) are good bets to sign multiyear NBA contracts. Even though some of those teams have luxury-tax concerns, they’ll have to fill out their rosters somehow, and a rookie contract at or near the minimum is the best way to avoid significantly increasing their potential tax penalties.

The players selected in the 50s may be candidates for two-way deals. A year ago, no player selected between Nos. 49-60 received a standard NBA contract, with all of those players signing two-way contracts, agreeing to straight G League contracts, or heading overseas to join an international team.

As such, players like Hall (Thunder), Milton (Sixers), Spalding (Mavericks), and Hervey (Thunder) should be considered two-way options. For now though, Dallas doesn’t have a two-way slot open, and Oklahoma City only has one, so it remains to be seen what the future holds for these late second-rounders. We should find out in the coming weeks.

Mavericks Sign Second-Rounder Jalen Brunson

July 16th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have officially signed second-round pick Jalen Brunson, the team announced today in a press release. Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported today (via Twitter) that Brunson and the Mavs had agreed to a four-year contract with three years guaranteed.

[RELATED: 2018 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Brunson, the 33rd overall pick in the draft, is coming off a huge year at Villanova. While three teammates – Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, and Omari Spellman – were drafted before him, it was Brunson who was named college basketball’s Player of the Year for the champion Wildcats. In his junior year, Brunson averaged 18.9 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 3.1 RPG with a shooting line of .521/.408/.802.

As a Maverick, Brunson will join a depth chart loaded with talented young point guards. Dennis Smith Jr. and Luka Doncic lead the way, with restricted free agent Yogi Ferrell also expected to sign a new deal soon to return to Dallas.

The Mavericks will be using some of their remaining cap room to sign Brunson to his new contract. None of the other exceptions available to the club – the room exception or the minimum salary – would have allowed for a four-year deal.

Mavs Rescind Qualifying Offer To Yogi Ferrell

July 14th, 2018 at 8:45am CST by marksuleymanov

The Mavericks rescinded their qualifying offer to point guard Yogi Ferrell, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. However, Dallas intends to re-sign Ferrell and they are “on the one-yard line” of finalizing a deal, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

By rescinding Ferrell’s qualifying offer, Dallas’ plan is likely a cap room maximization. The team can increase its cap space to $6.5MM by replacing Ferrell’s $2.9MM qualifying offer with a $1.5MM cap hold as an unrestricted free agent, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. Dallas has yet to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki, but the team can use its increased cap space or room exception on the veteran and then go over the cap to ink Ferrell.

Ferrell, 25, enjoyed his best full season in 2017/18 as he played in all of the Mavericks’ 82 games while accumulating 21 starts. The former Nets averaged 10.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 2.5 APG for Dallas.

The Indiana University product previously stated he would like to stay in Dallas which explains his willingness to re-sign despite his qualifying offer being rescinded. The Mavericks will enter the 2018/19 season with a stacked backcourt as the roster already includes 2018 first-rounder Luka Doncic, 2017 first-rounder Dennis Smith Jr., and J.J. Barea.

Mavs Sign Kostas Antetokounmpo To Two-Way Deal

July 13th, 2018 at 7:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks have signed second-round draft pick Kostas Antetokounmpo to a two-way contract, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

The brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo was the No. 60 selection in the draft. The Mavericks acquired his draft rights, along with the rights to Raymond Spalding, from the Sixers in exchange for the draft rights to Shake Milton.

Kostas is a 6’11” power forward who will get a chance to develop his game in the G League.

The younger brother, who turns 21 in November, played college ball at Dayton. In his lone season with the Flyers, he averaged 5.2 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 15.1 MPG.

Mavericks Waive Swingman Jalen Jones

July 13th, 2018 at 4:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks have waived swingman Jalen Jones, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets.

Jones, who was on a two-way contract, appeared in 12 games for Dallas last season. He averaged 5.8 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 13.5 MPG.

The 6’7” Jones also played four games for the Pelicans last season. Dallas claimed him in January after New Orleans cut him loose. He made history as the first player on a two-way contract getting claimed off waivers.

The Texas A&M product went undrafted out of college.

Dallas opens up a two-way slot by the transaction. Its other two-way slot currently belongs to forward Johnathan Motley.

Check out all the two-way contracts for every club here.

Mavericks Made Right Decision In Keep Doncic Out Of Summer League

July 13th, 2018 at 10:16am CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks made the correct move in holding first-round pick Luka Doncic out of Summer League play, writes Dwain Price of NBA.com. Doncic’s buyout with Real Madrid wasn’t finalized until Monday, and he would have faced a difficult adjustment in joining the team in Las Vegas after it had already played two games.

NBA Teams With 2018/19 Cap Room Remaining

July 12th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Last Wednesday, we noted that only three NBA teams still had significant cap room available. Depending on your definition of “significant,” that’s still the case. One of those three teams – the Kings – made a player for another’s restricted free agent, but the Bulls matched Sacramento’s offer sheet for Zach LaVine and still have plenty of flexibility themselves.

While the Kings, Bulls, and Hawks are still the only teams that can create more than $15MM in cap space without trading any players or waiving and stretching any guaranteed salaries, a number of other clubs technically still have cap room available too.

Using our own data and salary information from Basketball Insiders, our current cap room estimates – as of July 12 – are below. If you have any questions or notice any errors, please let us know in the comment section.

Here’s a breakdown:

Atlanta Hawks

Current space: $17.9MM
Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries and renounce UFAs: $23.91MM
The Hawks have had a quiet offseason so far, but could clear the most cap room if any team if they renounce Malcolm Delaney and waive the non-guaranteed contracts of Jaylen Morris and Antonius Cleveland.

Sacramento Kings

Current space: $19.53MM
The Kings already renounced their free agents and waived Nigel Hayes‘ non-guaranteed salary in order to help accommodate LaVine’s offer sheet. With LaVine’s offer matched by the Bulls, Sacramento will have to find another use for its space.

Chicago Bulls

Current space: None
Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries and renounce UFAs: $18.94MM
The Bulls continue to technically operate as an over-the-cap team since they haven’t renounced their trade, mid-level, and bi-annual exceptions, or Noah Vonleh‘s $10MM+ cap hold. Once they decide they want to use their cap room, they could clear up to almost $19MM without withdrawing David Nwaba‘s qualifying offer.

Brooklyn Nets

Current space: $9.97MM
Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries and renounce UFAs: $12.17MM
The Nets aren’t about to waive Spencer Dinwiddie‘s non-guaranteed salary, but cutting Isaiah Whitehead and renouncing Quincy Acy would create a little extra space if they need it. Once the Nets use their cap room or decide they don’t need it, they’ll finalize deals for Joe Harris (Early Bird rights) and Ed Davis (room exception).

Dallas Mavericks

Current space: $5MM
Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries: $5.54MM
It’s not clear if Dorian Finney-Smith‘s salary is still non-guaranteed — he had a reported July 5 salary guarantee deadline, but there has been no confirmation that that date wasn’t pushed back. If Finney-Smith doesn’t have his full guarantee yet, the Mavericks could get to $6MM+ in space. The team figures to use either its cap room or its room exception to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki.

Philadelphia 76ers

Current space: $1.69MM
Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries: $4.89MM
Getting up to $4.89MM in room would mean waiving T.J. McConnell and Richaun Holmes, which is probably unlikely. Still, the Sixers could use that $1.69MM in room to sign a player like Jonah Bolden to a long-term deal if they so choose. They’ll eventually finalize Nemanja Bjelica‘s deal using their room exception.

Phoenix Suns

Current space: $1.18MM
Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries: $3.25MM
The Suns could create a little extra flexibility by waiving Shaquille Harrison and Davon Reed, but the team may not need that remaining room either way.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Adam Silver Talks Warriors, Playoffs, Free Agency

July 11th, 2018 at 11:09am CST by ChrisCrouse

It isn’t “necessarily” bad that the Warriors are so dominant, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said during a Tuesday press conference in Las Vegas (link via Mark Medina of The Mercury News). Silver explained that the NBA isn’t trying to create a “forced parity,” but wants to ensure that there’s a “parity of opportunity” for the league’s 30 teams.

“There’s a fair point to be made in a tax system when certain teams are spending significantly more than others, that’s not parity of opportunity,” Silver added. “Also, certain teams have advantages other teams don’t based on their resources and market and the wealth of the market. They may be in a position to go deeper into the tax than another team does.

“Under the current system right now, we want teams to compete like crazy. The Warriors, within the framework of this deal, should be doing everything they can to increase their dominance,” Silver continued. “That’s what you want to see. We want every team to compete in every way they can within the rules. If it makes sense to make adjustments to the rules next time, we’ll look into that.”

Here are a few more notable comments from Silver’s Tuesday’s presser:

Silver acknowledged that the idea of seeding teams 1 through 16 in the postseason has “real appeal,” but cautioned that it would take time to implement (link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN). “In our estimate, we could be looking at roughly 40-50% more travel,” Silver said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t, but it is not something we can do quickly. It would require really a wholesale re-examination of how we do the schedule, how our television deal works.”
The NBA may make adjustments to the start of the free agent period to avoid having it begin at midnight ET on July 1, according to Silver (via Youngmisuk). With so much attention focused on free agency, the league would like to avoid having the first wave of major signings break in the middle of the night.
Silver spoke about the California Classic Summer League, adding that it “exceeded all expectations,” as NBC Sports California relays (on Twitter). The league will discuss expanding it beyond the current structure, which only features four teams, including the host Kings.
According to Silver, the investigation into workplace misconduct allegations in the Mavericks‘ business offices should wrap up by the end of July (link via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press).
As we detailed on Tuesday night, Silver suggested that the NBA expects to make adjustments to its one-and-done rule for prospects in the coming years.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Mavs Holding Open Roster Spot; Nowitzki Might Play Beyond Next Season

July 9th, 2018 at 9:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks don’t plan on having a full roster heading into training camp, Dwain Price of Mavs.com tweets. “Unless something falls in our lap we’ll keep an open roster spot,” owner Mark Cuban told Price.
If the Mavericks show significant improvement, Dirk Nowitzki could play beyond next season, Cuban said in a Sirius XM radio interview that was relayed by the Dallas Morning News. The Mavs will re-sign Nowitzki, who is currently a free agent, once they finish their offseason moves after turning down their team option.”I’d say it’s under 50 percent right now (he’ll retire after next season) but if he’s playing 77 games and we’re getting better, and we’re starting to win games? You know what a competitor he is — he’s going to want to come back.”

Mavs Sign Luka Doncic To Rookie Contract

July 9th, 2018 at 6:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks have signed No. 3 overall pick Luka Doncic, according to a team press release.

Doncic will receive approximately $6.56MM in his rookie year, rising to $7.683MM in his second year, $8.04MM in his third season and $10.17MM in the fourth year.

Dallas acquired the draft rights to Doncic from the Hawks in exchange for the rights to fifth overall pick Trae Young and a protected 2019 first-round pick.

The 6’7” Doncic is the reigning EuroLeague Most Valuable Player and EuroLeague Final 4 MVP after leading Real Madrid to the 2017-18 EuroLeague title. He is expected to jump immediately into the starting backcourt alongside 2017 lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr.

With Doncic locked up, the top 16 picks in this year’s draft are now officially under contract.