- Nuggets coach Michael Malone doesn’t admit to harboring bitterness over his firing by Sacramento, but USA Today’s A.J. Neuharth-Keusch writes that he has cut the Kings’ dominant color out of his wardrobe. “I have not [worn purple since the firing],” Malone said during an appearance on an ESPN podcast. “And what I really love about that is I haven’t, it’s my wife’s favorite color, she hasn’t, and my daughters haven’t. It’s almost become taboo, forbidden in our household.”
Joey Dorsey, a veteran of the NBA and European basketball, will spend the next two seasons with Barcelona, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Dorsey, who was released by the Nuggets last August, will make more than $1MM over the life of his new contract.
The 32-year-old Dorsey was one of four players sent from Houston to Denver last summer in the Ty Lawson trade. However, the Nuggets waived him and his $1,015,421 salary before training camp began. He signed with the Turkish club Galatasaray and later joined Barcelona.
A second-round pick by the Trail Blazers in 2008 after reaching the NCAA finals with Memphis, the 6’8″ Dorsey established a reputation as a physical defender and rebounder during his time in the NBA, but never had enough offensive production to stay in one place very long. He averaged 2.6 points and 3.9 rebounds during his four-year career with the Rockets, Kings and Raptors.
- The Nuggets are closing in on a deal with former Rockets assistant coach Chris Finch that would see him join coach Michael Malone‘s staff, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
AUGUST 9th: The signing is official, the team announced.
JULY 29th: The Nuggets have come to terms on a rookie scale deal with Juan Hernangomez, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter). The 20-year-old was selected with the No. 15 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
Hernangomez’s arrangement with Denver is a standard rookie contract that will see him earn $1,987,440 this season, $2,076,840 in 2017/18, $2,166,360 in 2018/19 and $3,321,030 the final season, with the last two years being team options, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes.
The 6’9″ forward appeared in five games for Denver’s squad in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 10.2 points and 8.2 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per outing. Hernangomez spent the 2015/16 campaign with the Spanish club Movistar Estudiantes, making 34 appearances and notching averages of 9.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.8 steals while shooting .455/.358/.717.
AUGUST 9th: The signing is official, the team announced.
JULY 19th: The Nuggets have reached an agreement with No. 7 overall pick Jamal Murray, as Malika Andrews of The Denver Post relays. Murray will make slightly under $6.6MM over the first two seasons, per the rookie scale, as our breakdown of salaries for 2016 first-rounder shows. The contract includes a team option on year three and four.
Murray may be the best shooter in his draft class, as I mentioned in his Prospect Profile. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com had the combo guard ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the draft.
The 19-year-old averaged 20.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists during his lone season at Kentucky. He shot 40.8% from behind the arc and 50.2% from the field overall.
AUGUST 9th: The signing is official, the team announced.
JULY 12th: The Nuggets and No. 19 overall pick Malik Beasley have agreed to a deal, Malika Andrews of The Denver Post reports. “Thankful to be a part of that less than 1 percent,” Beasley posted on his official Twitter account. “This is only the beginning too. GrindTime!!”
Beasley will earn the rookie scale, which is approximately $2.77MM over his first two seasons and Denver will hold team options on the third and fourth years, Andrews notes. Jamal Murray, the No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft, is expected to sign his rookie-scale contract soon, the scribe adds.
The 19-year-old appeared in 34 games for Florida State this past season, averaging 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 29.8 minutes per night. His shooting line on the year was .471/.387/.812.
With the free agent signing period winding down and teams looking ahead to the preseason, we at Hoops Rumors will be tracking the Salary Cap figures for each team around the league. These posts will be maintained throughout the season once financial data is reported. They will be located on the sidebar throughout the year, once all the teams’ cap figures have been relayed. You can always check RosterResource.com for up-to-date rosters for each franchise, with the Nuggets’ team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Nuggets currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Danilo Gallinari — $15,050,000 (Deal includes 15% Trade Kicker)
- Kenneth Faried — $12,078,652
- Wilson Chandler — $11,233,146
- Darrell Arthur — $8,070,175
- Roy Hibbert — $5,000,000
- Jameer Nelson — $4,540,525
- Will Barton — $3,533,333
- Mike Miller — $3,500,000
- Emmanuel Mudiay — $3,241,800
- Jamal Murray — $3,210,840
- Mason Plumlee —$2,328,530
- Mo Williams — $2,194,500 [Waived by team]
- Juan Hernangomez — $1,987,440
- Gary Harris — $1,655,880
- Malik Beasley — $1,627,320
- Nikola Jokic — $1,358,500
- Nick Johnson — $980,431 [Waived by team]
- Alonzo Gee — $417,848 [Waived by team]
- Robbie Hummel — $150,000 [Waived by team]
- Jarnell Stokes — $150,000 [Waived by team]
- Alonzo Gee — $57,672 [10-day contract (Jan 8); actual salary — $77,379]
- Johnny O’Bryant — $57,672 [10-day contract (Jan 26)]
- Johnny O’Bryant — $57,672 [10-day contract (Feb 6)]
- D.J. Kennedy — $50,000 [Waived by team]
- Nate Wolters — $50,000 [Waived by team]
Total Guaranteed Salary= $82,581,936
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $3.5MM — Received $650K from Hawks in Mo Williams trade. Received $2.85MM from Trail Blazers in Mason Plumlee trade. [Amount Remaining $0]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Room Exception: $2,898,000
Total Projected Payroll: $82,581,936
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: $11,561,064
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $30,705,064
Salary Cap Floor: $84,729,000
Amount Below Salary Cap Floor: $2,147,064
Last Updated: 2/24/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
- The Nuggets are still open to trading power forward Kenneth Faried, with the Thunder and Pelicans among the teams that have expressed interest, Sam Amico of Amico Hoops relays.
Over the next several days, we’ll be breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this July.
These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.
Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.
With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Northwest division. Let’s dive in…
1. Portland Trail Blazers
- Total money committed: $242,414,220
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $234,307,500
- Largest expenditure: Allen Crabbe (four years, $74,832,500)
- Other notable signings:
- Evan Turner (four years, $70,000,000)
- Meyers Leonard (four years, $41,000,000)
- Maurice Harkless (four years, $40,000,000)
- Festus Ezeli (two years, $15,133,000)
- Notes:
- Crabbe’s deal was an offer sheet extended by the Nets that was matched by the Trail Blazers. Crabbe, Leonard, and Harkless were all restricted free agents.
- Ezeli’s second-year salary of $7.733MM is currently guaranteed for just $1MM.
2. Minnesota Timberwolves
- Total money committed: $33,580,000
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $24,500,000
- Largest expenditure: Cole Aldrich (three years, $21,900,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Jordan Hill (two years, $8,180,000)
- Brandon Rush (one year, $3,500,000)
- Notes:
- Hill has a non-guaranteed $4.18MM salary in the second year of his contract, while $4.9MM of Aldrich’s total third-year salary is non-guaranteed.
3. Denver Nuggets
- Total money committed: $29,999,999
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $26,499,999
- Largest expenditure: Darrell Arthur (three years, $22,999,999)
- Other notable signings:
- Mike Miller (two years, $7,000,000)
- Notes:
- Miller’s deal is non-guaranteed in its second year, creating the $3.5MM gap between the Nuggets’ total money and guaranteed money committed in free agency.
4. Utah Jazz
- Total money committed: $21,505,000
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $21,505,000
- Largest expenditure: Joe Johnson (two years, $21,505,000)
- Other notable signings:
- None
- Notes:
- Rather than signing free agents, the Jazz focused on using their cap room to acquire players in trades, landing Boris Diaw and George Hill.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder
- Total money committed: $0
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $0
- Largest expenditure: None
- Other notable signings:
- None
- Notes:
- After losing Kevin Durant, the Thunder made one notable signing this summer, bringing over Alex Abrines on a three-year, $17MM+ deal. However, Abrines was a draft-and-stash player, not a free agent.
The Sixers, Nuggets, Nets, Thunder, and Lakers have the most cap room still available, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders details. In addition to those five clubs, the Timberwolves, Suns, Jazz, Celtics, Pacers, and Bucks also have some wiggle room remaining. While some of those clubs could use that cap space to try to sign a free agent like J.R. Smith or Lance Stephenson, I’d expect many of those teams to stay well below the cap throughout the year. Remaining $10-15MM below the cap would allow a team to accommodate a mid-season salary dump, potentially picking up a draft pick or two in the process.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Larry Sanders, who has been working out and is considering an NBA comeback, may be willing to play for a minumum-salary contract, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). It remains to be seen whether a team will take a flier on the former Bucks big man.
- Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders identifies a few players who will be under pressure to perform in 2016/17 due to big new free agent contracts or roles that changed as a result of other players’ deperatures.
- Former Louisville guard Russ Smith, who appeared in 15 games for the Grizzlies last season, has accepted a $1MM contract offer from Galatasaray, according to international basketball reporter David Pick (via Twitter). Mete Budak of Eurohoops pegs the former second-round pick’s salary at $850K, so the Turkish team may have included some bonuses in the deal.
- Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders explains why he thinks the NBA’s restricted free agency system has problems, and puts forth some suggestions to potentially improve it. Donatas Motiejunas of the Rockets is the only RFA still on the market this summer.