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2015/16 Salary Commitments: Nuggets

March 21st, 2015 at 11:39am CST by Eddie Scarito

With the NBA trade deadline now passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.

We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.

We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Nuggets’ cap outlook for 2015/16…

Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:

Kenneth Faried — $11,235,955
Danilo Gallinari — $11,559,225
Gary Harris — $1,587,480
J.J. Hickson — $5,613,500
Joffrey Lauvergne — $1,709,719
Ty Lawson — $12,404,595
Jusuf Nurkic — $1,842,000

Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:

Wilson Chandler — $7,171,662 ($2MM Guaranteed)
Randy Foye — $3,135,000
Erick Green — $845,059

Players with options:

Jameer Nelson (Player Option) — $2,854,940

The Nuggets’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:

Guaranteed Salary: $47,952,474
Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $12,006,661
Total: $59,959,135

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

And-Ones: Wiggins, Young, Turner, Nuggets

March 18th, 2015 at 10:54pm CST by Charlie Adams

Despite chatter that Masai Ujiri might be gearing up for a pursuit of Andrew Wiggins, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders doesn’t think there’s much of a chance last summer’s No. 1 pick joins the Raptors any time soon. In order to choose his destination as an unrestricted free agent, Wiggins would have to accept his qualifying offer in 2018, which would likely mean turning down a long-term deal with the Wolves. There hasn’t been a big name player to do that outside of Greg Monroe, as Kennedy notes.

Let’s round up the latest from around the NBA:

Nick Young has suffered a slight fracture in his knee, the Lakers announced. He’ll be evaluated on a week-to-week basis for the remainder of the year, but it’s unclear whether or not he’ll appear on the hardwood again this season.
Myles Turner has had an inconsistent freshman season with the Longhorns, but it may not have hurt his stock as much as some think, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com reveals in a chat with readers that some scouts attribute Turner’s up and down production this year to Texas coach Rick Barnes.
The Nuggets’ decision to rest key veterans has irritated Wilson Chandler, but interim head coach Melvin Hunt insists the choice is one the entire Denver organization is making together and not just an order from the front office like Chandler hinted at, tweets Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post.

Northwest Notes: Hunt, Garnett, Young

March 17th, 2015 at 11:20am CST by Chuck Myron

Nuggets players would endorse the removal of the interim tag from coach Melvin Hunt‘s job title, and it’s a move the organization will at least consider, GM Tim Connelly told Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post.

“As an organization, we have all been impressed with the job Melvin has done thus far,” Connelly said. “When the season concludes, he will be one of the candidates as we begin an exhaustive search to find a head coach.”

Hunt is an impressive 6-3 in his brief tenure, and Hochman argues that while he deserves a shot, there are other candidates who merit consideration, too. Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The injection of 20th-year veteran Kevin Garnett into the inexperienced Timberwolves roster struck an immediate chord, Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders told reporters, including Newsday’s Roderick Boone. “It was like three little kids looking at Santa Claus coming down the chimney,” Saunders said of the reaction some of his younger players had to meeting Garnett.
Thaddeus Young indicated to the Wolves that he didn’t intend to pick up his player option worth about $10MM for next season, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Young had reportedly requested a trade through his agent. Young, who hasn’t decided on opting in with Brooklyn, credits the Timberwolves organization for accommodating his wishes, working with his agent and keeping him in the loop, as Zgoda relays. Saunders this week expressed his affection for Young as a player, as Boone notes in his story.
The Nuggets have begun to sit key players for rest, but Wilson Chandler, a free agent after next season, is not pleased, as Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post relays. “It’s tough when you’re fighting together but you’re getting set up for failure,” Chandler said. The decision isn’t coming from the players or Hunt, Dempsey writes, which suggests it’s the front office’s call.
Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News has more details on Greg Miller’s decision Monday to relinquish his role as CEO of the company that controls the Jazz, a move that team and company officials insist won’t have much effect on Jazz basketball operations.
The Jazz have recalled Ian Clark from the D-League, the team announced. He averaged just 14.0 points in 32.0 minutes per game but nailed 45.0% of his three-point attempts on an assignment that last nearly a month.

Northwest Notes: Hunt, Neal, Gasol, Tomic

March 16th, 2015 at 10:48am CST by Chuck Myron

The Trail Blazers have never won a Northwest Division title, but they’re seemingly destined to do so this year, since they’re up nine games in the loss column on the Thunder with less than a month to go in the regular season. The last time Portland won a division title, in 1999, the team was in the Pacific Division. Here’s the latest on the teams looking up at the Blazers in the standings:

Nuggets players, and Kenneth Faried in particular, are ecstatic about interim coach Melvin Hunt and would unanimously vote to remove the interim tag from his title, observes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. However, owner Stan Kroenke is still dissatisfied with a team far from playoff contention, Dempsey also notes.
Timberwolves guard Gary Neal doesn’t regret chasing the money and leaving the Spurs to sign a two-year, $6.5MM deal in 2013 in part because he saw DeJuan Blair go from a starter to signing a minimum-salary contract in short order, as Neal tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Neal will be a free agent again at season’s end.
Kevin Durant has posited that Oklahoma City’s lack of “orchestras and plays” dissuaded Pau Gasol from signing with the Thunder this past summer, but Gasol said this weekend that such cultural attractions weren’t a factor, according to The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry. The Bulls big man instead said it was a matter of on-court fit that led him to choose Chicago, as Mayberry relays.
Jazz draft-and-stash prospect Ante Tomic believes the offseason ahead is his last legitimate opportunity to join the NBA, and while he acknowledged that he’s in talks about a new deal with his Spanish team, he won’t rule out a jump to Utah. The 7’2″ center made his remarks to Jesús Pérez Ramos of Mundo Deportivo (translation via HoopsHype). FC Barcelona has a team option on the 28-year-old for next season, but the Jazz are reportedly willing to pay to buy Tomic out of his contract.

Western Notes: Griffin, Jordan, Nurkic, Lakers

March 14th, 2015 at 9:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers‘ Blake Griffin will return to action soon, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Griffin, sidelined for five weeks with a staph infection in his right elbow, could be ready for Sunday’s game with the Rockets. If not, the team expects to have him Tuesday against the Hornets. A final decision on Griffin will be made Sunday morning, tweets Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.

There’s more from the Western Conference:

Despite a projected jump in the salary cap after the 2016 season, Clippers free-agent-to-be DeAndre Jordan has no interest in signing a one-year contract, reports Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Jordan, one of the favorites for the Defensive Player of the Year award, is likely to get a maximum deal this summer. “I’m not going to be greedy and sign a one-year deal,” Jordan said. “Nah. I’m just focused on getting it over with and focusing on playing again. I’m just trying to win here.”
Despite being nearly 7 feet tall and weighing 280 pounds, center Jusuf Nurkic fits into the Nuggets‘ running game, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Interim coach Melvin Hunt has increased the tempo since taking over in Denver, and he says Nurkic has no problem keeping up. “Jusuf Nurkic is built to run,” Hunt said. “Don’t let it fool you with the big body he has. He likes a fast-tempo game. Look at the way he guards the pick-and-roll and look how fast his hands are. He has incredible hands and feet. Sometimes he gets a little bored when it’s a slow-tempo game.”
Lakers coach Byron Scott described his team as “selfish” and “not very bright” after Thursday’s loss to the Knicks, writes Jovan Buha in a special report for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Scott didn’t mention any players by name, but expressed frustration that his team is losing winnable games. “I thought we came in with a lack of respect for a team that had beaten us in New York,” he said. “We can’t afford to look at teams’ records and think, ‘OK, their record is worse than us, so we’re a better team than they are.’”

Warriors Rumors: McAdoo, Kerr, Green

March 14th, 2015 at 4:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors have sent James Michael McAdoo back to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. McAdoo was recalled Thursday and scored a career-high 16 points in Friday’s loss to the Nuggets. He will report to the Santa Cruz Warriors, where he has played 32 games this season. McAdoo ranks 12th in the D-League in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 19.4 points and 8.8 boards per game.

There’s more news from the City by the Bay:

Despite the demotion, Golden State remains high on McAdoo’s future, according to Monte Poole of csnbayarea.com (Twitter link). Looking ahead, the young forward has a minimum contract for next season with a partial guarantee, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
After giving many of his best players the night off Friday in Denver, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post that he understands the complaints of Nuggets fans. Golden State suffered a double-digit defeat as Kerr rested Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut. Marreese Speights was serving a one-game suspension after pleading no contest to reckless driving. “If I had bought tickets for my family, and I wanted to see Steph Curry play and he sat out, I’d be upset,” Kerr said. “I understand that, but I can’t base my team’s welfare on that. That’s one of the reasons why I do it on the road because we like to look after our own fans.”
Among the many reasons Golden State would like to hold on to free-agent-to-be Draymond Green is his skill at trash talking, writes Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle. Kerr compares Green’s verbal abilities to those of Reggie Miller, a Hall of Fame player and a first-class agitator. Green’s taunts are useful both in motivating himself and unnerving the competition. “I understand where it’s coming from,” Kerr said. “Some players need to talk to get themselves going, to motivate themselves. That’s the case with Draymond.”

Western Notes: Durant, West, Hunt

March 11th, 2015 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

ESPN’s Tom Penn, a former NBA executive, in an appearance on ESPN’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” said that with how well Russell Westbrook is playing, the Thunder could consider trading Kevin Durant, who is set to hit free agency in 2016. “I think this burst from Westbrook makes it much more likely that Durant ultimately gets traded next year,” Penn said. “[OKC GM] Sam Presti has proven that he does not ever want to lose anybody for nothing. So he traded James Harden a year early to avoid a potential luxury tax problem a year later. The Kevin Durant drumbeat next year is going to be so loud because he will not commit early to Oklahoma City contractually because the rules are against that. He can’t get the same contract if he signs early as if he just goes to free agency and resigns. So if Sam Presti doesn’t get that commitment, he’ll look to to trade Kevin Durant. And looking at the performance of Westbrook and the team around Westbrook will make it easier for him to do that potentially.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Delonte West is considering a deal to join the Texas Legends, the Mavs‘ D-League affiliate, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). West’s last regular season NBA action came with Dallas during the 2011/12 season. The mercurial guard’s career stats are 9.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt has already shown that he should be in the running to be Denver’s coach next season, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “I’ve always viewed myself as a head coach,” Hunt said. “I’ve said before, I’ve been so thankful, I’ve been so blessed that I’ve had coaches and leaders that wanted me to lead. They’ve seen that in me. I was captain of my college team a couple of years. People have always looked at me as a leader, and I take that seriously.“
Hunt said he has done a “handful” of head-coaching interviews in the past, but thanks to this opportunity with the Nuggets his resume will receive a nice boost, Dempsey adds. When asked if he felt any pressure to prove himself worthy of retaining Denver’s coaching job, Hunt said, “Not at all. There’s no anxiety. I go back to my faith. So it’s not like I feel any pressure as far as to win or play a certain way or do this or do that. When the time’s right, whatever God has for me, it will be. So whenever that time is, it will happen.”

Northwest Notes: Malone, Wiggins, Afflalo, KD

March 9th, 2015 at 9:41pm CST by Charlie Adams

Former Kings coach Michael Malone will be traveling with the Wolves during their next two games, notes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (on Twitter). This will mark at least the third time this season that Malone has spent time with Minnesota, but Flip Saunders described his presence as merely a “professional courtesy,” according to Zgoda. We’ll round up the latest on the Wolves and the Northwest Division below:

There are those around the league who feel that the Canadian-born Andrew Wiggins might one day join the Raptors, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter). Of course, the Wolves have control of the Kansas product until at least 2019, and likely beyond, but Toronto GM Masai Ujiri still hinted at interest in eventually luring Wiggins away from Minnesota, as Eric Koreen of the National Post relays (on Twitter).
Arron Afflalo doesn’t think Brian Shaw can be blamed for all of the problems that the Nuggets found themselves with this season, as the now-Blazer said in an interview with ESPN’s Jim Rome (link via ForwardCenter). “I’m the type of person who feels like everybody should look in the mirror first and hold their own in terms of responsibilities,” said Afflalo. “Obviously Coach Shaw had some responsibilities, but us as players, we have to find a way to connect with each other. It wasn’t all his fault.”
In a piece for DailyThunder.com, ESPN’s Royce Young insists there’s no chance the Thunder trade Kevin Durant next season in spite of Russell Westbrook‘s recent dominance and rumors that Durant might walk from OKC in the summer of 2016.

Northwest Notes: Hunt, Afflalo, Exum

March 8th, 2015 at 10:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Rockets forward Corey Brewer spent two seasons in Denver when Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt was an assistant and believes he will succeed as a head coach, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I’m not saying for sure it’s going to be [with the Nuggets], but I’m certain he’s going to be a good head coach,” Brewer said. “He just has to get a chance. He knows his players. He knows how to coach. And he has a system. It’s a great system, kind of like George (Karl’s) system. You can watch them play fast, get up and down, and guys play hard.“

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

It’s not always sexy to go with the guy who’s holding down the fort, but that doesn’t mean that Hunt might not be the right guy for the job, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. Hunt is running a system similar to Karl’s and that’s a game plan that has been proven to work.
The loss of Wesley Matthews is unfortunate, but fortunately, Blazers GM Neil Olshey traded for shooting guard Arron Afflalo right before last month’s trade deadline, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders writes. He’ll be counted on to replace much of Matthews’ production, but what isn’t clear is how much he’ll adopt Matthews’ role, or if he’ll continue to play his usual game.
Jazz rookie Dante Exum said his biggest adjustment to the NBA has been the constant schedule of games and travel, according to Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders. The Australian said there were more breaks between games in his homeland. “We had a game Tuesday in Memphis and didn’t arrive at the hotel until 3 a.m. (Wednesday in Boston),” Exum said. ” Just trying to deal with that and having to step back out on the court and play another NBA game, it’s just one of the challenges in the NBA. I learned that I can sleep a lot. Here, that’s the biggest thing. I have to get rest when I can.”

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Clippers, Lin, Nuggets

March 7th, 2015 at 10:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers‘ desire to find a veteran who could play right away led to today’s signing of Nate Robinson, according to Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. Robinson, who agreed to a 10-day contract, is expected to ease the loss of Jamal Crawford, who is sidelined with a calf contusion. “We looked at a lot of different guys,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We looked at another three, we almost brought in a two, there’s a four out there we could’ve brought in. At the end of the day, I just said, ‘Who’s the best player of the group?’ (The staff) said Nate, and I said, ‘Let’s sign Nate,’ and I know Nate.”

There’s much more from the Western Conference:

There were reports this week that Blake Griffin could rejoin the Clippers for Sunday’s game against the Warriors, but that now appears doubtful, Kavner reports in a separate story. Sunday marks the four-week anniversary of the first game Griffin missed with a staph infection in his elbow, roughly the time he was expected to be out of action. But he hasn’t received clearance to play yet from team doctors.
The emergence of Jordan Clarkson virtually ensures a break-up between Jeremy Lin and the Lakers, writes Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times. Clarkson’s rise has meant less playing time for Lin, who will become a free agent this summer. Clarkson, a rookie, will earn just slightly more than $845K next season, making him a low-cost solution at point guard. “I’m not going to answer any of those free agency questions until after the season,” Lin said after Friday’s loss to Memphis. “I’ll discuss that later.”
Mike D’Antoni might be the answer to reviving fast-paced basketball in Denver, opines Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post. D’Antoni, 63, became famous for his up-tempo style during his time as coach of the Suns, Knicks and Lakers. He said he would love to get back into coaching after a year away from the game and would have strong interest in the Nuggets’ job. “You get addicted,” he said. “There’s some really good basketball being played in the league right now, from Golden State to Atlanta.”