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Five Teams Finish 2018/19 Season In Tax Territory

April 11th, 2019 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

With the exception of bonuses that could still be earned – or missed – in the postseason, 2018/19 NBA team salaries are now frozen for luxury-tax purposes, ESPN’s Bobby Marks observes. That means that five teams will finish the ’18/19 season as taxpayers.

Here are those five teams, along with approximations of their projected luxury tax bills, per Marks:

Oklahoma City Thunder: $61.6MM
Golden State Warriors: $51.5MM
Toronto Raptors: $21.4MM
Portland Trail Blazers: $15.1MM
Boston Celtics: $3.9MM

While the Warriors‘ payroll is actually slightly higher than Oklahoma City’s, the Thunder met the repeater tax criteria, since they also paid the tax in 2015, 2016, and 2018. As a result, they’re subject to more punitive penalties, as we outline in our glossary entry on the luxury tax. The standard penalties for taxpaying teams start at $1.50 per dollar and increase from there; the repeater penalties start at $2.50 per dollar.

Golden State will meet the repeater criteria next season if they’re in the tax again, since they’ll have paid the tax in 2016, 2018, and 2019. Teams qualify as repeat offenders when they’ve finished in the tax in three of the previous four seasons.

The figures listed above are subject to change. For instance, Kyle Lowry has three separate $500K bonuses that he could still receive, depending on how far the Raptors advance in the playoffs. If he earns any of those, they’d be added to Toronto’s payroll and would in turn increase the club’s tax bill.

Since half of the luxury tax penalty money is reallocated to the teams that finished out of the tax, those non-tax clubs are in line for payouts of approximately $3.1MM, per Marks.

The Heat, Wizards, and Rockets made in-season transactions to get out of tax territory and will now receive $3.1MM from the tax pool. Other clubs, such as the Grizzlies, Knicks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, and Bucks, managed to keep their team salaries just below the $123.73MM tax threshold throughout the league year.

Warriors Owner Not Stressing Over Durant’s Future

April 8th, 2019 at 7:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors owner Joe Lacob isn’t stressed out about Kevin Durant‘s impending free agency, as he told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic.

Lacob says the franchise will do everything in its power to retain Durant, who is expected to decline his $31.5MM player option in order to re-enter the free agent market. But Golden State’s owner isn’t having any sleepless nights over the possibility of Durant bolting.

“I honestly don’t even think about it,” Lacob said. “I don’t. Because there’s nothing I can do about it. Zero. He has earned the right to be a free agent. He’s going to make the choice that feels best for him. And it’s our job to, when the season’s over, convince him that the right decision is to be a Warrior for life.”

Durant could sign with Golden State for five years and approximately $221MM or receive a max of four years and $164MM elsewhere. Lacob believes the extra money and built-in selling points will be all the incentives the superstar forward needs to re-sign.

“Look, we can pay him the most money. We have a great team. We have great coaching,” he said. “We have great fans. I don’t think anyone can match us, when you take everything into consideration, if that’s the way you’re thinking about it. And he has a chance to win — and let’ s hope it goes well this year — a chance to win more championships. I mean, it could be legendary. If he stays here … I don’t know that you get this kind of opportunity very often. So I would hope that he thinks that and accepts that and decides he wants to stay.”

If Durant leaves, Lacob will harbor no ill feelings.

“I’m not going to be mad at him, either way,” he said. “Whatever he decides to do, he decides to do. And I’ll probably be a Kevin Durant fan no matter what. I’m not going to be emotional about it. There’s no point.”

Knicks Notes: Durant, Thomas, Mudiay, Letter

April 7th, 2019 at 8:56am CST by Arthur Hill

Rich Kleiman is an NBA agent with only one client, but he’ll get plenty of attention this summer, especially in New York, writes Stefan Bondy of The Daily News. If Kleiman, a native New Yorker, can deliver Kevin Durant to the Knicks, he might be in line for a front office job as well, as a commission.

Kleiman and Durant go into detail about their relationship in newly released episodes of the ESPN series, “The Boardroom.” Durant says he was seeking guidance with his career in 2007 when he met Kleiman at a concert. They became friends, but their business partnership didn’t happen until 2013, making Kleiman his third agent in five NBA seasons. Durant also explains that he left the Thunder for the Warriors in 2016 because he wanted “another challenge,” possibly offering hope to the Knicks that he might view this offseason the same way.

“For us, it was stepping into a new chapter,” Durant said. “Let’s see how much we can conquer this totally, all the way around, not just on the basketball court, but as much as we can do in the community, as much as we can do for our businesses as well and obviously me as a basketball player.”

There’s more from New York:

The Knicks are two losses away from the worst season in franchise history, bringing back bad memories for Lance Thomas, who was part of the team that set that record in 2015, Bondy adds in a separate story. “Nobody in any competitive setting likes to lose,” Thomas said. “But it takes a tough-minded individual to keep focus and to make sure things are done the right way to change things around. Myself, I’ve just been constantly working and pushing the guys to have the mindset I have.”
Coach David Fizdale is dropping hints that Emmanuel Mudiay has played his last game for the Knicks, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Fizdale kept Mudiay on the bench Friday with a sore shoulder and said afterward that he didn’t want to take the chance of Mudiay aggravating the injury with free agency upcoming. “I think about these guys’ careers from the standpoint of, we’re not going to the playoffs, this kid has now established himself and put himself in position to have an offseason where multiple teams are going to want to talk to him,’’ Fizdale said. “I don’t want to risk that after that he’s done so much to get to where he is.” The Knicks have other plans with more than $70MM in cap space, and Dennis Smith Jr. appears to be the point guard of the future unless Kyrie Irving comes to New York.
The letter the Knicks sent to season ticket holders touting the team’s free agent prospects was a mixture of optimism and caution, Steve Popper of Newsday.

Pacific Notes: Bogut, Kings, Paul, Suns

April 4th, 2019 at 10:46pm CST by JD Shaw

Andrew Bogut chose to join the Warriors as a free agent last month, bypassing a number of teams interested in adding a veteran center — including the Lakers. Bogut, who played 24 games for Los Angeles last season, is still hurt by the team’s sudden decision to waive him shortly into the 2017/18 campaign.

“The Lakers told me I’d be there the whole year,” Bogut told Mark Medina of the Bay Area News Group. “They went against their word and waived me at the (salary guarantee) deadline. Whatever. That was their decision.”

Bogut decided to re-join the team he won a championship with in 2015, playing a new backup center role behind DeMarcus Cousins and adding veteran experience to Golden State’s locker room. Upon his surprising release from Los Angeles, Bogut spent time playing in Australia and briefly exited the NBA.

“I took their word for that stupidly,” Bogut said. “It’s part of the business. But it’s disappointing because I have two young kids and all that. I was stupid enough to take their word on something I shouldn’t have.”

The Warriors are gearing up for another deep postseason run and added Bogut for frontcourt insurance, sporting one of the most talented rosters in league history.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:

The Kings recently worked out Antonius Cleveland and Kendrick Nunn, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Sacramento had an open roster spot to work with after Cody Demps‘ 10-day contract expired, but opted to sign B.J. Johnson to fill that opening.
Despite trading their top player in Chris Paul two years ago, the Clippers are set up well for the future and the present day, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times writes. “He was important to our team,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of Paul. “He was important to the whole franchise. So you lose a player like that, you have to evaluate who you are, where you want to go, what you want to be.” The Clippers have major cap flexibility for star free agents this summer, sporting a unique mix of hardworking players under a veteran head coach. The team surprised many fans by easily clinching a playoff berth this season, holding a 47-32 record with three games left in the campaign.
The Heat Index examines which players could be free-agent targets for the Suns in free agency, focusing on Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, Boston’s Terry Rozier and other talents who are set to hit the open market on July 1. Phoenix could pursue a free-agent point guard to pair alongside Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and their draft pick this June, or potentially work to secure a meeting with a scoring forward such as Tobias Harris.

Beck’s Latest: Lakers, Clippers, Nets, Knicks, LeBron, Durant

April 4th, 2019 at 2:13pm CST by Luke Adams

In his latest article for Bleacher Report, Howard Beck looks ahead to an upcoming offseason that figures to feature a four-team, big-market battle for many of the NBA’s star free agents. The Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, and Nets aren’t the only four clubs that will have the cap space necessary to add one or two maximum-salary players, but they’re the clubs most frequently cited as top destinations for those stars.

While the Knicks and Lakers are popular choices to land marquee free agents, Beck asked 10 executives and scouts to evaluate and rank those four New York and Los Angeles teams based on basketball considerations( such as roster, coaching staff, front office, and ownership), and seven placed the Nets and Clips in the top two. Eight ranked the Knicks last.

As Beck explains, the Lakers and Knicks are viewed with skepticism because of doubts about their young prospects, a lack of faith in the Lakers’ management duo of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka, and the poor reputation of Knicks owner James Dolan.

“Brooklyn and the Clippers have a decided advantage over the two marquee names because they’ve done far more in the last few years to position themselves to be sustainable than either New York or the Lakers,” one veteran GM told Beck.

Still, many Lakers and Knicks rivals wouldn’t necessarily be surprised to see those clubs do well in free agency, given the history and “mystique” attached to the two franchises.

“If the Knicks and Lakers get the guys, it means mystique and market really will matter more [than which franchise is run the best],” one GM said. “That’s terrifying.”

Here’s more from Beck’s piece, which is worth checking out in full:

LeBron James tells Beck that this will be a “critical summer” for him and the Lakers, and he fully intends to help with recruiting stars to Los Angeles. “I will be as active as I need to be for this franchise to get better. That’s why I came here. I came here to win,” James said. “And obviously, we need to get better, as far as our personnel. We have an opportunity to get better. And there’s a lot of talent out there, and a lot of guys that can help our franchise. So I’ll be as active as I need to be for us to get better and go from there.”
One assistant GM is skeptical that any star wings or point guards will want to team with LeBron, suggesting that the team will have to focus on star bigs. Rivals also view the Lakers as behind the curve in areas such as analytics, sports science, and player development, according to Beck. Still, the “glamorous sheen” attached to the franchise can’t be overlooked. “The Lakers can show up with a dead body in the room and not get arrested,” a rival official said. “It’s just the nature of the business we are in that they are perceived in this holy-grail-type situation.”
According to Beck, rival executives around the NBA are nearly uniform in their belief that Kevin Durant will end up with the Knicks this summer. While no one knows for sure yet, “virtually everyone believes he’s leaving the Warriors,” Beck writes.
Beck adds that it’s also “considered a given in NBA circles” that Durant and Kawhi Leonard won’t seriously consider the Lakers.
Despite a widespread belief that the Knicks will land Durant, people around the NBA have far more praise for their cross-town rivals, Beck writes. “I think they’ve turned around the Brooklyn era,” a scout said of the Nets. “They’re one or two steps ahead of the Knicks.” Another executive offered the following assessment: “Who would want to go play with the Knicks? Who are your teammates? [Kevin] Knox isn’t even that good.”

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 4/3/19

April 3rd, 2019 at 7:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Warriors have recalled rookie wing Jacob Evans from the G League, the team announced today in a press release. The Santa Cruz Warriors’ season is over after they were eliminated in the Western semifinal, so Evans should be back with Golden State for the rest of the season.

Earlier updates:

The Kings have recalled recently-signed shooting guard B.J. Johnson from the G League, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link via Jason Jones of The Athletic). With their own G League affiliate done for the season, the Kings sent Johnson to his old team, the Lakeland Magic, for Tuesday’s semifinal vs. Long Island. Despite Johnson’s 22 points and 11 rebounds, Lakeland lost and was eliminated from the NBAGL playoffs, so the 23-year-old should stick with Sacramento for the rest of the season.
The Nets have recalled rookie forward Dzanan Musa from the G League after Tuesday’s semifinal, the team announced today (via Twitter). The NBAGL Finals are set to begin on Sunday, so Musa seems like a good bet to rejoin Long Island for that best-of-three series.

Shaun Livingston Contemplating Retirement

April 3rd, 2019 at 4:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors guard Shaun Livingston is still only 33 years old, but he hasn’t ruled out the possibility that 2018/19 will be his last NBA season.

As Anthony Slater of The Athletic notes, while Livingston is under contract for 2019/20, his $8MM salary is only partially guaranteed for $2MM, increasingly the likelihood of his release. With potential free agency looming, Livingston is contemplating the idea of calling it a career, he tells Slater.

“Yeah. For sure. Absolutely,” Livingston said when asked if he retirement is on the table. “It’s just all the signs on the wall. And just more so from a physical standpoint. If I’m healthy and having fun, then I want to play. But physically, if I’m not … Like, I put so much work in my body just to get back to playing basketball, let alone get to this point where I’m at. So now that it’s getting harder. Like this year, I’ve struggled with injuries more than any other year I’ve been on the Warriors.”

Livingston, whose professional career was put in jeopardy back in 2007 by a horrific knee injury, made an admirable comeback and has thrived as a backup point guard for the Warriors and other teams since then. However, as he explains to Slater, Livingston has dealt with knee stiffness, soreness, and swelling this season, prompting him to consider how much longer he’ll play.

Earlier this season, Livingston said his retirement was coming “sooner than later,” though he estimated at that point that he might still have a “couple years” left. While that estimate may still be accurate, he admits that if his role gets reduced more significantly than it already has, that would be a factor in his decision. He’s currently averaging a career-low 15.3 minutes per contest.

“We’ll see. This is — like, I don’t want to come out and announce anything,” Livingston said. “I’ve been trying to stay in the moment. But it’s just, looking at it like, if this year or next year is the last year, it would probably be the cap. Even next year, like, I’m maybe playing 12 minutes right now. So it’s just, how much do I want to contribute? I enjoy feeling good. But, also, I got a young family.”

Livingston’s future could also hinge on whether the Warriors would want to bring him back – either on his current contract or a new deal – since the veteran doesn’t sound overly enthusiastic about the idea of switching teams.

“We have a great situation. So going to another organization at this point? It doesn’t sound like the greatest thing to do,” he said to Slater. “It would just have to be somewhere, to me, that made sense. Somewhere warm, somewhere close, that maybe the family would want to be in. But that’s a conversation for the summer.”

After Livingston does retire, whether that’s in 2019, 2020, or further down the road, he intends to take at least a year off before exploring a potential front-office role, he tells Slater.

Warriors Notes: Durant, Kerr, Cousins, Curry

April 3rd, 2019 at 1:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant is one technical foul away from a one-game suspension after picking up a pair in last night’s win over the Nuggets, writes Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News. The Warriors held a 21-point lead in the third quarter when Durant became upset that no foul was called on a 3-point attempt. He screamed repeatedly at official Zach Zarba, who T’d him up twice and ejected him.

It’s an ongoing problem for a team that has 60 technicals and six ejections on the season. Durant ($15,000), Stephen Curry ($25,000) and Draymond Green ($35,000) were all fined for criticizing the officiating against the Timberwolves last week.

“We can be better in terms of keeping (our) poise, myself included,” said coach Steve Kerr, who has collected six technicals. “You go into each game. You’re excited. But you’re going to yell at the refs. Both teams are, but you have to keep your poise and we’ll have to do a better job in the postseason.”

There’s more Warriors news to pass along:

DeMarcus Cousins offered a reminder that he’s still among the NBA’s elite big men in the win over Denver, Medina notes in a separate story. In a matchup with All-Star center Nikola Jokic, Cousins posted 28 points, 12 rebounds and five assists as the Warriors pulled away in a battle of the top two teams in the West. “He kind of goes at every guy that since his injury a lot of people have tried to put some guys before him,” Green said. “He goes at every one of them. It’s personal for him. When you can back that up with the talent that he has, it’s special to watch.”
Curry doesn’t have any plans to leave a good situation, relays Marcus White of NBC Sports Bay Area. Asked on a “Today Show” appearance this morning where he sees himself in five years, Curry responded, “Still playing for the Warriors and still hopefully winning championships.” Curry’s current contract expires in 2022, so he would have to re-sign with Golden State to make that happen.
Curry credits new contact lenses for his improved shooting of late, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Curry revealed that he’s had vision issues throughout his life, dealing with Keratoconus, which has produced an astigmatism that can lead to blurred vision. “It’s like the whole world has opened up,” he said.

Warriors Clinch Fifth Straight Division Title

March 31st, 2019 at 10:03pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Warriors, aiming for their fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, have clinched the first step in that process.

After a 137-90 blowout win over the Hornets on Sunday, Golden State clinched its fifth straight Pacific Division crown. In the process, head coach Steve Kerr joined Pat Riley as the only coaches in NBA history to win division titles in each of first five seasons at the helm.

Led by a powerhouse lineup that features former MVP’s Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, along with near-perennial All-Stars Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins, the Warriors are poised for another deep postseason run. Cousins, whom the Warriors signed last summer despite suffering a torn Achilles, has slowly been rounding back into All-Star form.

The 2018/19 season, while still having Golden State at the forefront, has been arguably the most challenging for the current core. The back-to-back NBA champions — and winners of three of the past four titles — have faced constant questions on the future of Durant, who may depart in free agency. Despite that, the Warriors’ 52-24 record has the team one game ahead of the Nuggets for the best in the Western Conference.

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Golden State Warriors

Pacific Notes: Bell, Chase Center, Oubre, Kings

March 31st, 2019 at 6:57pm CST by marksuleymanov

Following a one-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team,” Warriors big man Jordan Bell has apologized to the team and hopes to move on from the incident, ESPN’s Nick Friedell writes.

“I made an error of judgment,” Bell said to NBC Sports Bay Area. “And I thought I was doing something funny, and it wasn’t. But I apologized to the individuals involved, and I hope to continue to move forward from this mistake.”

The incident in question involved Bell making unauthorized charges to assistant coach Mike Brown’s hotel room, as Friedell confirms. While the nature of the incident reportedly stems from a rookie hazing Bell underwent himself, the Warriors are also concerned about Bell’s work ethic this season.

Check out more Pacific Division notes:

The Warriors are in the midst of building a new home arena, Chase Center, which is set to open later this season. However, the new venue has generated over $2 billion in revenue before it’s official opening, according to a Bloomberg report.
Suns wing Kelly Oubre has nothing but fond memories of his tenure with the Wizards in Washington, Josh Luckenbaugh of NBC Sports Washington writes. “It’s always love,” Oubre said. “D.C. fans have embraced me from day one, and I have nothing but love for them.”
After Saturday’s loss to the Rockets, the Kings were officially eliminated from postseason contention. As Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee writes, the loss ended a promising season that generated plenty of optimism for the team’s future.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Subscription required) dives into the Kings‘ next moves, which includes key decisions on the long-term futures of Buddy Hield and Willie Cauley-Stein