- Before Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto in July, the Nuggets were “on the periphery” late into the Leonard sweepstakes, but opted to hang onto their young core, says Charania. That decision has paid off so far this season, with Denver off to a 9-1 start.
[SOURCE LINK]
The Nuggets won’t pick up the third-year option on power forward Tyler Lydon, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
The 24th pick in the 2017 draft, Lydon was acquired from the Jazz as part of the return for Donovan Mitchell, who finished second in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting. Lydon spent most of the season in the G League appearing in just one game for Denver. He has played twice this season, averaging 2.0 minutes per night.
Lydon, who would have made $2,190,720 for the 2019/20 season, will instead become an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Nuggets can still re-sign him, but can’t exceed the value of his option in the first year of any new contract.
The Nuggets have officially exercised their 2019/20 team options on Jamal Murray, Juan Hernangomez, and Malik Beasley, the team confirmed today (via Twitter). Michael Scotto of The Athletic had reported on Monday that Beasley’s option would be picked up, and the other two were viewed as locks.
The trio of fourth-year options will add about $10.5MM in guaranteed money to the Nuggets’ cap for next season — $4,444,746 for Murray, $3,321,030 for Hernangomez, and $2,731,714 for Beasley. All three players will now be extension-eligible as of July 1, 2019, and would reach restricted free agency in the summer of 2020 if they don’t sign new deals with Denver before then.
Murray, the seventh overall pick in the 2016 draft, is one of the Nuggets’ core pieces. So far this season, he’s averaging 16.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2.8 APG in six games (31.2 MPG). Hernangomez and Beasley have more modest roles in Denver’s rotation, but have been seeing fairly regular playing time in 2018/19. They’re each averaging just over 15 minutes per contest.
The Nuggets’ announcement doesn’t mention Tyler Lydon, whose third-year option for 2019/20 must also be picked up by tomorrow to avoid making him an unrestricted free agency next July. Lydon has been unable to carve out a role in Denver’s crowded power forward picture, appearing in just three games since being selected 24th overall in the 2017 draft, so the club seems likely to pass on his option.
We’re tracking all of this year’s rookie scale option decisions right here.
The Nuggets will exercise their 2019/20 team option on Malik Beasley in advance of Wednesday’s deadline, reports Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).
It’s a fourth-year option for Beasley, who was the 19th overall pick in the 2016 draft. By picking it up, Denver will lock in his $2,731,714 cap hit for next season.
Beasley, who turns 22 next month, played sparingly in his first two seasons in Denver. He’s picking up a little extra playing time so far in 2018/19, averaging 4.8 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 12.2 minutes per contest. All of those numbers would be career highs.
The Nuggets have several option decisions to officially finalize by Wednesday’s deadline. Jamal Murray and Juan Hernangomez look like locks to have their fourth-year options exercised, but Tyler Lydon‘s third-year option is more of a question mark.
- The emergence of second-year player Monte Morris has greatly helped the Nuggets, who have jumped out to a 4-1 record this season, Mike Singer of The Denver Post contends. Morris is averaging 9.4 points in five games, providing depth in the backcourt with Isaiah Thomas still out to injury.
Despite scoring being at a near-all-time high early on this NBA season, one team has still been able to hold every one of its opponents to less than 100 points in each game played thus far – the Nuggets. And while one may not think of the up-and-coming Nuggets as a defensive juggernaut just yet, head coach Michael Malone is a defensive guy at his core, writes Christopher Dempsey of Nuggets.com.
Eight days into the NBA season, 25 teams have lost at least one game, leaving just five clubs unscathed. In the Eastern Conference, the Raptors (4-0), Bucks (3-0), and Pistons (3-0) remain undefeated, while, the Nuggets (4-0) and Pelicans (3-0) have yet to lose in the West.
All five of those teams were expected to be, at the very least, playoff contenders in 2018/19, but they’ve still exceeded expectations to some extent in the early part of the season.
The Raptors, Bucks, and Pistons all entered the season with new head coaches in place, but there has been no learning curve for those coaches so far. Kawhi Leonard and Blake Griffin have played like their old selves after battling injuries last season, helping Toronto and Detroit get off to fast starts, while Mike Budenholzer‘s offense in Milwaukee has the Bucks looking like a new team.
In the West, we knew that the Nuggets would be terrific on offense, but they’ve been better than advertised on the defensive end of the court, and that has played a big part in their hot start. As for the Pelicans, they still look like the team that made quick work of Portland in the first round of the playoffs last season, having not skipped a beat after losing Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins in free agency.
Here are the upcoming schedules for the NBA’s five remaining undefeated teams:
- Toronto Raptors: vs. Min (10/24), vs. Dal (10/26), at Mil (10/29), vs. Phi (10/30), at Phx (11/2)
- Milwaukee Bucks: vs. Phi (10/24), at Min (10/26), vs. Orl (10/27), vs. Tor (10/29), at Bos (11/1)
- Detroit Pistons: vs. Cle (10/25), vs. Bos (10/27), at Bos (10/30), at Bkn (10/31), at Phi (11/3)
- Denver Nuggets: at LAL (10/25), vs. NOP (10/29), at Chi (10/31), at Cle (11/1), vs. Uta (11/3)
- New Orleans Pelicans: vs. Bkn (10/26), vs. Uta (10/27), at Den (10/29), at GSW (10/31), at Por (11/1)
All five clubs have tough matchups on tap, including some with each other — next Monday night should be especially interesting, as the Bucks host the Raptors while the Pelicans visit the Nuggets.
Based on what you’ve seen so far, as well as each team’s upcoming schedules, we want to know which team you believe will be the NBA’s last undefeated squad. Will it be the Raptors, Bucks, Pistons, Nuggets, or Pelicans that stays out of the loss column for the longest?
After placing your vote, head to the comment section below to weigh in on how long you expect each of these teams to keep winning and whether their hot starts have changed your views on them at all.
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
OCTOBER 24: In their press release officially announcing their new G League affiliate, the Pelicans indicate that the club isn’t expected to begin play in Birmingham until 2022/23, meaning it will spend three seasons in Erie.
OCTOBER 23: The Pelicans will launch a G League affiliate that will begin play in the 2019/20 season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, the new G League franchise will eventually play in Birmingham, Alabama, but will start in Erie, Pennsylvania, while arena renovations are completed in Birmingham.
Rumors of a potential G League affiliate for the Pelicans have persisted for multiple years now. Back in March 2017, we heard that New Orleans was expected to have an NBAGL team of its own in place for the 2018/19 season, but the club took longer than anticipated to finalize the location and the details.
Later in 2017, the Pelicans were said to be leaning toward Shreveport, Louisiana or Pensacola, Florida as the eventual home of their G League team, having apparently ruled out various cities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. However, Alabama will be the home of the new franchise after all, once Birmingham’s arena is ready to go.
Currently, Erie is home to the BayHawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate. The Hawks, who took over the Erie squad in 2017/18, are spending one more year in Pennsylvania while work on their new G League arena in College Park, Georgia is completed. When the Hawks’ affiliate moves out of Erie at the end of the 2018/19 campaign, the Pelicans’ new expansion affiliate will be ready to move in.
[RELATED: NBA G League Affiliations For 2018/19 Season]
The Pelicans will become the 28th of 30 NBA teams with their own NBAGL affiliate. The Nuggets and Trail Blazers are the only other NBA clubs without G League teams of their own, though ESPN’s Jonathan Givony suggests (via Twitter) that the Nuggets may also look to have an affiliate in place for the 2019/20 season, perhaps in the northwest suburbs of Denver. If that happens, Portland would be the lone holdout.
Unlike player and team options on veteran contracts, which generally have to be exercised or declined by the end of June, rookie scale contracts include third- and fourth-year options that teams must decide on a year early. The deadline for those decisions is October 31, which means that clubs have one more week to pick up or turn down those rookie scale options for the 2019/20 season.
While several teams have already announced their rookie scale option decisions for 2019/20, there are 14 clubs that will need to decide one way or the other on those options within the next week.
Below, we’ve listed the outstanding rookie scale option decisions for 2019/20, sorting them by their likelihood of being exercised. The first list features options that are certain to be exercised, such as Ben Simmons‘ or Jayson Tatum‘s. The second list features the rest of the options, which may still be picked up, but aren’t necessarily locks.
Let’s dive in…
Locks to be exercised:
- Markelle Fultz, 76ers (third year, $9,745,200)
- Ben Simmons, 76ers (fourth year, $8,113,930)
- Dario Saric, 76ers (fourth year, $3,481,986)
- Kris Dunn, Bulls (fourth year, $5,348,007)
- Lauri Markkanen, Bulls (third year, $5,300,400)
- Denzel Valentine, Bulls (fourth year, $3,377,569)
- Ante Zizic, Cavaliers (third year, $2,281,800)
- Jayson Tatum, Celtics (third year, $7,830,000)
- Jaylen Brown, Celtics (fourth year, $6,534,829)
- Malik Monk, Hornets (third year, $4,028,400)
- De’Aaron Fox, Kings (third year, $6,392,760)
- Buddy Hield, Kings (fourth year, $4,861,208)
- Justin Jackson, Kings (third year, $3,280,920)
- Harry Giles, Kings (third year, $2,578,800)
- Jamal Murray, Nuggets (fourth year, $4,444,746)
- Juan Hernangomez, Nuggets (fourth year, $3,321,030)
- Luke Kennard, Pistons (third year, $3,827,160)
- Pascal Siakam, Raptors (fourth year, $2,351,839)
- OG Anunoby, Raptors (third year, $2,281,800)
Not necessarily locks to be exercised:
- Furkan Korkmaz, 76ers (third year, $2,033,160)
- Thon Maker, Bucks (fourth year, $3,569,643)
- D.J. Wilson, Bucks (third year, $2,961,120)
- Guerschon Yabusele, Celtics (third year, $3,117,240)
- Skal Labissiere, Kings (fourth year, $2,338,847)
- Malik Beasley, Nuggets (fourth year, $2,731,714)
- Tyler Lydon, Nuggets (third year, $2,190,720)
- Henry Ellenson, Pistons (fourth year, $2,856,804)
- Malachi Richardson, Raptors (fourth year, $2,581,597)
- Marquese Chriss, Rockets (fourth year, $4,078,236)
- Dragan Bender, Suns (fourth year, $5,896,519)
- Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Thunder (fourth year, $2,529,684)
- Terrance Ferguson, Thunder (third year, $2,475,840)
- Justin Patton, Timberwolves (third year, $3,117,240)
- Damian Jones, Warriors (fourth year, $2,305,057)
Because rookie scale salaries are typically so affordable, many of the options that we don’t view as locks to be picked up will still be exercised. For instance, even if Labissiere barely has a role in the Kings’ crowded frontcourt at the moment, Sacramento doesn’t have much guaranteed money on its books for 2019/20 and may view a $2,338,847 cap hit for the big man as a worthwhile investment.
Still, many of the players in that second list don’t currently have sizable rotation roles, so teams will have to decide whether it’s worth it to continue trying to develop those players in 2019/20, or if it makes more sense to simply replace them with minimum-salary veterans. That could be an especially tricky question for teams that project to be over the luxury tax line next season — in those cases, every saved dollar matters.
For a full list of the rookie scale options for 2019/20, including the ones that have already been picked up, check out our tracker.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
OCTOBER 23: Barton has undergone successful surgery to repair core and hip muscle injuries, according to the Nuggets, who noted in a press release that the veteran swingman will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
OCTOBER 22: Nuggets swingman Will Barton will have surgery for an adductor muscle injury on Tuesday and is expected to miss 5-6 weeks, ESPN’s Marc J. Spears tweets. The injury is in the right hip area.
Barton was off to a solid beginning as the team’s starting small forward. He averaged 16.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.0 APG during the team’s first two games before he felt something pop during the second half against Phoenix on Saturday. He missed Denver’s victory over Golden State on Sunday.
Barton, 27, averaged career highs in points (15.7) and assists (4.1) last season.
It’s unlikely Denver will pursue trade options unless the timetable for Barton’s injury changes. With the 6’6” Barton on the shelf, Torrey Craig, Juan Hernangomez and Malik Beasley will see an uptick in minutes.
The undrafted Craig, 27, broke into the league last season and started on Sunday. Hernangomez, a 2016 first-rounder, is a career 37.1% 3-point shooter. Beasley, another 2016 first-round pick, appeared in 62 games in reserve for Denver last season.