- Appearing on Altitude AM950 in Denver, Nuggets guard Gary Harris discussed his contract extension, his role for the coming season, and the team’s offseason addition of Paul Millsap.
OCTOBER 19: Jefferson’s deal with the Nuggets is now official, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions. Denver waived Nelson on Wednesday to open up a roster spot for the veteran forward.
OCTOBER 16: Veteran forward Richard Jefferson has agreed to a one-year, $2.3MM contract with the Nuggets, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.
Jefferson cleared waivers on Monday. He was traded by the Cavaliers to the Hawks on Saturday in a cost-cutting and roster-trimming move by Cleveland. Atlanta immediately waived him.
Denver will likely waive veteran point guard Jameer Nelson to make room for Jefferson, according to Wojnarowski.
Jefferson fortifies the small forward spot behind Wilson Chandler. His primary backup, Will Barton, suffered an ankle injury in practice on Monday.
It’s somewhat surprising that Denver would let Nelson go, as he was considered a potential starter during camp. The Nuggets have apparently decided to go with the much younger duo of Emmanuel Mudiay and Jamal Murray at point guard.
The Bucks were considered contenders for Jefferson’s services but wound up claiming another ex-Cavalier, DeAndre Liggins, on Monday. Jefferson, 37, averaged 5.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 79 regular-season contests last year.
Contractually, Jefferson will collect two paybacks. He’ll also receive $2MM from the Hawks, who will get a $500K set-off at the end of the season, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Jameer Nelson may seem like an attractive option for a Heat team without a true backup point guard, but that doesn’t mean Miami will try to sign him, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel in a mailbag column. The Nuggets waived Nelson today to open a roster space for Richard Jefferson. If no one claims the 35-year-old and his more than $4.7MM salary before Friday, he will become a free agent and can sign with any organization.
The Heat’s option best option to back up Goran Dragic, according to Winderman, is probably Josh Richardson, who is being used as the starting small forward. Justise Winslow, James Johnson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Johnson can all handle the ball, but none is a traditional point guard.
Winderman states that team president Pat Riley didn’t seem concerned about finding another backup when he was asked about the situation in preseason. “If we didn’t feel comfortable with Tyler and with Josh and also with Dion, then we would have gotten probably, exactly what you’re talking about — a veteran, 10, 12 years in the league, can really play, smart, can run an offense, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera,” Riley said. “But we don’t feel like we need that. And if we did, then it would have been easy for us to acquire that kind of player.”
There’s more news out of Miami:
- A.J. Hammons‘ easier path to being traded may have helped him earn Miami’s final roster spot, Winderman adds in the same piece. DeAndre Liggins, who was waived Saturday, would have provided wing depth and probably would have played more than Hammons, whom Winderman ranks eighth among the team’s bigs. However, because Liggins signed with the Heat during the offseason, league rules wouldn’t have allowed him to be traded until December 15. Hammons, who was acquired in a July trade with Dallas, can be dealt at any time.
- Miami plans to let free agent addition Kelly Olynyk show off his passing skills, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat signed Olynynk with an eye toward allowing him to expand his game, just as they did with James Johnson. “They’re going to put the ball in my hands more and let me be myself and create plays and facilitate for others,” Olynyk said.
- Rodney McGruder‘s injury means the Heat can’t afford to bring Winslow back slowly, writes Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald. Winslow had surgery in January to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder and was limited to 18 games last season. “Obviously we don’t like to see teammates go down – that’s unfortunate – but our mentality is always next man up,” Winslow said. “So, most likely, that’s looking like me. My role is going to be increased earlier in the season. I’ve just got to be ready.”
The Nuggets have waived veteran point guard Jameer Nelson, as expected, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Nelson will clear waivers on Friday, assuming he goes unclaimed. Meanwhile, Denver is expected to use the newly-opened roster spot to officially sign Richard Jefferson.
A 13-year NBA veteran, Nelson has spent the last two and a half seasons in Denver, starting 59 of his 148 games for the team during that stretch. After struggling through the 2015/16 campaign, the 35-year-old bounced back last season, averaging 9.2 PPG and 5.1 APG with a .444/.388/.714 shooting line in 75 contests.
The Nuggets drafted Emmanuel Mudiay with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft and leaned on him as their starting point guard for most of the last two seasons, but Nelson stepped into the starting lineup last season when Mudiay underwhelmed.
With Nelson no longer around to provide veteran stability, Denver will have to lean heavily on Mudiay and 2016 first-rounder Jamal Murray at the point guard spot. Monte Morris, who is on a two-way contract, should also provide some organizational depth at the position, while players like Will Barton and Gary Harris may get an opportunity to handle the ball a little more too.
Nelson had a fully guaranteed $4,736,050 salary for 2017/18, so the Nuggets will have to eat that amount if the veteran clears waivers, which is likely. His salary can’t be stretched.
As usual, the 2017 NBA offseason featured a ton of player movement, with new rookies entering the league, free agents changing teams, and a total of 40 trades being completed between the end of the 2016/17 season and 2017/18’s opening night.
Some teams were more involved in that summer carousel than others. The Celtics, for instance, will enter the season carrying only four players – Al Horford, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart – who finished last season with the team. The Clippers are another team whose roster underwent significant turnover this offseason, with only five players returning from last year’s squad.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, teams like the Warriors, Bucks, and Trail Blazers made minimal changes, bringing back 12 players from last year’s rosters. That was especially impressive in Golden State’s case, since the club entered the summer with players like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, David West, Andre Iguodala, Zaza Pachulia, Shaun Livingston, and JaVale McGee eligible for free agency — all of those players re-signed with the Dubs.
As a point of comparison, the Clippers took on more new players in their Chris Paul trade alone than clubs like the Warriors, Bucks, and Blazers added all summer.
After taking a closer look earlier today at the NBA’s youngest and oldest opening night rosters, we’ll turn our attention to the clubs with the most and least roster continuity to open the season. Listed below are the number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest. Two-way players aren’t included in this list.
Bringing back a significant number of players doesn’t necessarily lead to regular season success, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a few of the teams near the top of this list enjoy fast starts due to their players’ familiarity with each other, while teams near the bottom of the list may take some time to get used to their changes.
Here’s the returning-player count for each team:
- Golden State Warriors: 12
- Milwaukee Bucks: 12
- Portland Trail Blazers: 12
- Denver Nuggets: 12
- Note: Nuggets’ figure set to dip to 11 once the team officially signs Richard Jefferson and waives Jameer Nelson, as is expected.
- Dallas Mavericks: 11
- Miami Heat: 11
- Philadelphia 76ers: 11
- Phoenix Suns: 11
- San Antonio Spurs: 11
- Toronto Raptors: 11
- Washington Wizards: 11
- Memphis Grizzlies: 10
- New Orleans Pelicans: 10
- Brooklyn Nets: 9
- Charlotte Hornets: 9
- Detroit Pistons: 9
- Houston Rockets: 9
- Chicago Bulls: 8
- Los Angeles Lakers: 8
- New York Knicks: 8
- Note: The Knicks are the only team carrying 16 players to open the season.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 8
- Orlando Magic: 8
- Utah Jazz: 8
- Atlanta Hawks: 7
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 7
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 7
- Sacramento Kings: 7
- Indiana Pacers: 6
- Los Angeles Clippers: 5
- Boston Celtics: 4
With Richard Jefferson poised to clear waivers later today, the Nuggets are among the teams that have joined the pursuit of the veteran forward, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski previous reported that there was mutual interest between Jefferson and the Bucks, calling Milwaukee a “serious suitor” for the 37-year-old.
While the Nuggets and Bucks have expressed interest in Jefferson, they’re not the only teams in the mix. There are three or four teams serious about making a run at the former Cavalier, according to Wojnarowski, who adds that Jefferson has a “strong friendship” with Nuggets president and governor Josh Kroenke.
A 16-year NBA veteran, Jefferson averaged 5.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 79 regular season contests last year. He was a victim of a roster crunch in Cleveland after spending the last two seasons with the Cavs, with the club trading him to Atlanta along with Kay Felder on Saturday. The Hawks subsequently waived both players.
If the Nuggets were to land Jefferson, they’d have to make a corresponding roster move to clear room for him, since the clubs is currently carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed salaries. There’s no clear candidate on Denver’s roster to be cut — the team’s lowest-paid players are important contributors or young prospects, such as Nikola Jokic, Tyler Lydon, Malik Beasley, and Juan Hernangomez.
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Denver Nuggets.
Signings:
- Paul Millsap: Three years, $91.5MM. Third-year team option.
- Mason Plumlee: Three years, $41MM.
- Monte Morris: Two-way contract. Two years. $50K guaranteed for each season.
- Torrey Craig: Two-way contract. One year. $50K guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Josh Childress: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract. (Waived)
Trades:
- Acquired Trey Lyles and the draft rights to Tyler Lydon (No. 24 pick) from the Jazz in exchange for the draft rights to Donovan Mitchell (No. 13 pick).
- Acquired the Wizards’ 2019 second-round pick (from the Hawks) in a three-way trade with the Hawks and Clippers in exchange for Danilo Gallinari (signed-and-traded to Clippers).
Draft picks:
- 1-24: Tyler Lydon — Signed to rookie contract.
- 2-49: Vlatko Cancar — Stashed overseas.
- 2-51: Monte Morris — Signed to two-way contract.
Extensions:
- Gary Harris: Four years, $74MM. Rookie scale extension.
Departing players:
- Danilo Gallinari
- Roy Hibbert
- Mike Miller (waived)
Other offseason news:
- Exercised 2018/19 rookie scale options on Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray, Trey Lyles, Juan Hernangomez, and Malik Beasley.
- Exercised 2018/19 option on head coach Mike Malone.
- Lost associate head coach Chris Finch to Pelicans; hired David Adelman and Bob Weiss as assistant coaches.
- Promoted Tim Connelly to president of basketball operations and Arturas Karnisovas to general manager; hired Calvin Booth as assistant GM.
Salary cap situation:
- Used up cap room. Now operating over the cap, but well under the tax. Carrying approximately $104.5MM in guaranteed team salary. Room exception ($4.328MM) still available.
Check out the Denver Nuggets’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Since reaching the playoffs for 10 straight seasons from 2004 to 2013, primarily under George Karl, the Nuggets have been going through a transitional period for the last several years. While Denver never fully bottomed out in order to land a top-five draft pick, the club has failed to post a .500 record since 2013, winning between 30 and 40 games in each of the last four seasons.
The most positive steps forward for the franchise during that stretch came during the 2016/17 campaign, when Nikola Jokic emerged as one of the NBA’s most talented big men, and young guards Gary Harris and Jamal Murray showed the potential to develop into indispensable core pieces as well. The team narrowly missed the playoffs with a 40-42 record, but there was a sense heading into the summer that the team wasn’t far from taking a big step forward.
Armed with plenty of cap flexibility and a horde of potential trade chips, general manager Tim Connelly entered the offseason aiming to add an impact player at point guard and/or power forward to complement Jokic and the team’s depth on the wing.
In his latest predictions feature, Zach Lowe of ESPN speculates that a number of players will be put on the block this season if not officially traded. Since we already know that there’s at least some truth to the oddly specific guess that the Timberwolves would trade Cole Aldrich for Jared Dudley, perhaps we should take a closer look at some of the rest.
Among the other trade predictions that Lowe makes is one that has the Raptors seeking to shop big man Jonas Valanciunas. Considering that the traditional Lithuanian center has been the subject of speculation over the course of the past few seasons, this one seems like rather low hanging fruit.
Similarly, Lowe makes the thoroughly uncrazy prediction that Eric Bledsoe will be on the move. What bonus points Lowe doesn’t earn for predicting a Bledsoe trade, however, he does earn for earmarking the Nuggets and Clippers as possible interested suitors. Alas Denver, it’s worth noting, is already rather backloaded at the guard positions.
Other players that come up in Lowe’s column include the likes Dennis Schroder, DeAndre Jordan and Tobias Harris.
There’s more from around the league:
- The NBA will name Michelle Johnson their new Senior Vice President and Head of Referee Operations, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. Johnson is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General.
- The NBA coaching community could soon have another recent league veteran join its ranks. As Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype writes, Kendrick Perkins – who played 11 seasons in the NBA – believes he would have plenty of options to accept a role on the sidelines.
- Only a few players from the 2014 NBA Draft class have landed sizable pay days and that’s for good reason, Mitch Lawrence of Forbes writes. Beyond players like Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, few have earned substantial rookie contract extensions. Only Marcus Smart, he writes, has been a notable contributor to an elite playoff team.
- Details on Gary Harris‘ contract have emerged, Bobby Marks of ESPN writes. The cap hit for the Nuggets guard in 2018/19 will be $16.5MM and that mark will rise annually until the deal terminates at $20.5MM in 2021/22. There are also $2.5MM of additional, unlikely, bonuses each year.
- There’s no clear frontrunner to fill the primary backup power forward role for the Nuggets this offseason. Chris Dempsey of Altitude Sports writes about how the changing NBA could impact Denver’s frontcourt depth chart in 2017/18.
Oct. 12: The Nuggets have officially signed Harris to the reported four-year contract extension, the team announced on its website.
Oct. 7: Nuggets guard Gary Harris will sign a four-year, $84MM extension with the team, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Wojnarowski reports that the deal will feature $74MM in guaranteed money, with an additional $10MM available in incentives and bonuses.
Harris had an October 16 deadline to reach an agreement on the extension or he would have been a restricted free agent next summer. The 23-year-old shooting guard will make a little more than $2.5MM this year, so he is looking at a nice raise when the extension kicks in for 2018/19. He will rank among the 10 highest-paid shooting guards in the league, posts Bobby Marks on ESPN Now.
The extension could give Denver as much as $113MM in guaranteed salary for next season, Marks tweets, raising potential tax concerns if Wilson Chandler ($12.8MM) and Darrell Arthur ($7.46MM) both opt in.
The 19th player taken in the 2014 draft, Harris won a starting job in his second season and has developed into a valuable member of a young Denver team. He averaged a career-best 14.9 points per game last year and shot 42% from 3-point range, although early-season injuries limited him to 57 games.
The Nuggets are also hoping to reach an extension with reserve guard Will Barton, but his deadline isn’t until next summer because he isn’t on a rookie contract.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.