- The Pistons rank among the top 10 in the league in open 3-point attempts, yet they’ve done a poor job of making them. Meanwhile, the Bulls have been bit hard by the injury bug. Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders takes a closer look at some of the areas of concern for Central Division clubs.
The Designated Veteran Extension, as we explain our glossary entry on the subject, is a relatively new addition to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. It allows players with 7-9 years of experience, who would normally qualify for a maximum starting salary of 30% of the cap, to qualify for a “super-max” contract that starts at 35% of the cap, a level normally reserved players with 10+ years of experience.
A player who has seven or eight years of NBA service with one or two years left on his contract becomes eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension if he meets the required performance criteria and hasn’t been traded since his first four years in the league. A Designated Veteran contract can also be signed by a player who is technically a free agent if he has eight or nine years of service and meets the required criteria.
The performance criteria is as follows (only one of the following must be true):
- The player was named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
- The player was named the NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
- The player was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
With those criteria in mind, it’s worth keeping an eye on several players who could qualify for a super-max veteran contract with their play this season. Let’s dive in and examine a few of those guys…
Players who already qualify for a super-max contract:
- Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
Davis can’t yet sign a Designated Veteran Extension, but his All-NBA appearances over the last two seasons have ensured that he’ll qualify, even if he somehow doesn’t earn another All-NBA nod in 2018/19.
As of next July, the Pelicans will be able to offer Davis a contract extension that tacks an additional five years onto his $27.09MM salary for 2019/20. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection for 2020/21 ($118MM), that five-year extension would be worth a staggering $239.54MM.
Players who could qualify for a super-max contract by meeting the criteria in 2018/19:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Bradley Beal (Wizards)
- Andre Drummond (Pistons)
- Draymond Green (Warriors)
- Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
- Klay Thompson (Warriors)
- Kemba Walker (Hornets)
Technically, any player who earns an All-NBA spot in 2018/19 and meets the contract criteria can qualify for a super-max, but the players listed above are probably the only legitimately viable candidates. And even in this group, guys like Beal and Drummond are a real stretch — if they were to improbably make an All-NBA team, their clubs still probably wouldn’t put Designated Veteran Extension offers on the table, since they’re not bona fide superstars.
Thompson and Walker will both be unrestricted free agents in 2019, so if they meet the DVE criteria, they’d be eligible for five-year contracts with their respective teams worth up to a projected $221.27MM. Lillard and Green are still under contract for at least one more year beyond this season, but they’d qualify for super-max extensions if they meet the criteria — Lillard could get an extra four years, while Green could get five.
A team can only give Designated Veteran Extensions to two players, so the Warriors wouldn’t be able to offer both Thompson and Green super-max contracts, since Stephen Curry already has one. On the plus side, Kevin Durant won’t figure into this equation for Golden State, since he has 10+ years of experience. A deal starting at 35% of the cap for Durant wouldn’t count toward the Dubs’ super-max limit.
Finally, while Antetokounmpo can qualify for a super-max by earning All-NBA honors this season, he wouldn’t actually be able to sign such a deal until 2020, since he’ll only have six years of experience at the end of the 2018/19 campaign. Essentially, he’d be in the same spot that Anthony Davis is in now.
Players who can no longer qualify for a super-max contract because they were traded:
- Jimmy Butler (Timberwolves)
- Kyrie Irving (Celtics)
- Kawhi Leonard (Raptors)
Butler, Irving, and Leonard are probably more worthy of a super-max investment than most of the players in the above group, but they no longer qualify because they were traded while on their second contracts — Butler from the Bulls, Irving from the Cavaliers, and Leonard from the Spurs. They’ll need to reach 10 years of NBA experience before qualifying for a starting salary worth up to 35% of the cap.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Here are Thursday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Pistons recalled forward Henry Ellenson and guard Khyri Thomas from the Grand Rapids Drive, the team announced in a press release. Ellenson has averaged 21.3 points in three games for the Drive, while Thomas has averaged 19 points in three games.
- The Thunder assigned and later recalled forward Abdel Nader from the Oklahoma City Blue, the team’s G League affiliate. Nader has played six minutes in three games with the Thunder this season.
- The Spurs announced they have assigned forward Chimezie Metu to the Austin Spurs in the G League. Metu was drafted 49th overall in 2018 by San Antonio.
- The Jazz assigned Tony Bradley to the Salt Lake City Stars (Twitter link). Bradley is in his second season with Utah.
Here are Wednesday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Pistons have sent forward Henry Ellenson and guard Khyri Thomas to their Grand Rapids affiliate, the team announced in an email. Both have played two games for the Drive this season.
- The Grizzlies have recalled rookie guard Jevon Carter from their Memphis Hustle affiliate, according to a tweet from the team.
- The Pacers announced that guard Edmond Sumner and forward Alize Johnson have been assigned to their affiliate in Fort Wayne. Both have seen action for Indiana this season, with Sumner appearing in five games and Johnson playing three.
- The Pistons are also making a lineup change, with offseason addition Glenn Robinson III taking Stanley Johnson‘s spot in the starting five, relays Rod Beard of The Detroit News. The move is being made to add more shooting to a unit that has been frequently misfiring, adds Ansar Khan of MLive.
Here are Sunday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Pistons have recalled forward Henry Ellenson and rookie guard Khyri Thomas from the Grand Rapids Drive, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News (via Twitter).
- The Hornets announced in a press release that they recalled rookie guard Devonte’ Graham from their Greensboro affiliate.
- Ahead of their matchup with the Grizzlies, the Suns announced that they recalled rookie point guard De’Anthony Melton from the Northern Arizona Suns.
- The Hawks have recalled wing Daniel Hamilton from the Erie BayHawks, according to a press release from the team.
Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Pistons assigned third-year forward Henry Ellenson and rookie guard Khyri Thomas to the Grand Rapids Drive, the team announced in a press release. Ellenson, a first-rounder in 2016, has been buried at the end of Detroit’s bench or inactive this season. The front office decided against picking up his option for next season. Thomas, a second-round pick out of Creighton acquired from the Sixers in a draft-night deal, has not made his NBA debut.
- The Nets recalled rookie forwards Rodions Kurucs and Dzanan Musa from the Long Island Nets, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets. Kurucs, a second-round pick, has averaged 8.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 14.3 MPG through three NBA games. Musa, a late first-round selection, has made three short appearances this season. Kurucs was assigned to the Long Island team earlier in the day.
- Rookie Celtics center Robert Williams has been assigned to the Maine Red Claws, the NBA team’s PR department tweets. The first-round pick has made four cameo appearances with the Celtics and knocked down his only field-goal attempt.
- The Sixers assigned power forward Jonah Bolden to the Delaware Blue Coats, according to a team press release. Bolden, a second-round pick in 2017 who signed a four-year, partially-guaranteed contract in July, has seen action in four games this season but none of those stints were longer than seven minutes.
- Declining Henry Ellenson‘s fourth-year option for 2019/20 doesn’t necessarily mean that the Pistons plan on moving on from him at season’s end, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
The Pistons have picked up their 2019/20 team option on former lottery pick Luke Kennard, the team announced today in a press release. As a result, Detroit will carry a guaranteed cap hit of $3,827,160 on its books for Kennard next season.
Kennard, the 12th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, may never reach the level of the player selected one spot after him (Donovan Mitchell), but he’s developing into a reliable contributor for the Pistons. In 76 career games so far, Kennard has averaged 7.6 PPG with an impressive .416 3PT% in a part-time role.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2019/20 Rookie Scale Options]
Kennard’s option was one of two that the Pistons had to make a decision on by Wednesday, and it seems his will be the only one exercised. A report from earlier today indicated that Detroit has opted not to pick up Henry Ellenson‘s fourth-year option for 2019/20.
The Pistons will not exercise Henry Ellenson‘s rookie scale option for the 2019/20 season in advance of Wednesday’s deadline, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). By turning down that option, Detroit will put Ellenson on a path to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019.
Ellenson, 21, has appeared in just 58 games during his two-plus seasons in Detroit since being selected 18th overall in the 2016 draft. He has averaged 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG in those 58 games, with an underwhelming .363 FG% in 8.3 minutes per contest.
With Anthony Tolliver no longer a Piston, Ellenson was considered a candidate to earn some playing time in the frontcourt behind Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond this season, but that hasn’t happened so far. Zaza Pachulia has handled most of the backup minutes at center, while smaller forwards like Stanley Johnson and Glenn Robinson III have seen some time at the four. Ellenson has appeared in just one game.
Ellenson’s option for 2019/20 would have been worth $2,856,804. Now, the Pistons will be prohibited from offering a starting salary worth more than that amount if they change course and want to bring him back next season.
The Pistons will also have a decision to make on Luke Kennard before Wednesday — his third-year option for 2019/20 looks like a safe bet to be exercised.