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Community Shootaround: Minnesota Timberwolves

November 19th, 2021 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves had the NBA’s third-worst record in 2019/20 and the sixth-worst record in ’20/21. However, there was an internal belief entering the season that the team was capable of taking a step forward with all its key players finally healthy and available.

Through 15 games, five of Minnesota’s seven most-used players – including Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards – have yet to miss a game, and the other two – D’Angelo Russell and Patrick Beverley – have been sidelined for just two games apiece.

But the team’s good health luck hasn’t translated into a better start. Even after wins against Sacramento and San Antonio this week, the Wolves are just 6-9, despite playing 10 of their first 15 games at home. Their home record includes losses to New Orleans and Orlando.

It’s too early in the season to draw any sweeping conclusions about the state of the Timberwolves, but this is a big year for the team, which has playoff aspirations. If the core that Gersson Rosas spent two years building, including Towns, Edwards, Russell, and Malik Beasley, isn’t good enough to enter the playoff mix, new head of basketball operations Sachin Gupta will be under pressure to make additional roster moves.

Minnesota has been repeatedly cited as a potential suitor for Sixers star Ben Simmons, though it’s unclear if the Wolves have the assets necessary to bring Philadelphia to the table without including Towns or Edwards in their offer.

In his latest The Scoop w/Doogie podcast, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North mentioned a pair of shot-blocking big men that could be fits for the Wolves: Myles Turner and Chris Boucher.

There’s no indication that Turner is available at this point, but Wolfson says there are those in the Wolves’ front office who are fans of the Pacers center (hat tip to HoopsHype). Boucher, who is on an expiring deal with the Raptors, may be a more realistic target at this point, though he wouldn’t be the same sort of difference-maker as Turner.

With the Wolves looking to fight their way back to .500, we want to get your thoughts on the team. Do you believe in a core led by Towns and Edwards? Are Russell or Beasley long-term keepers? Does the roster need another impact player to become a legit playoff team, or is the current group capable of making it? If a trade is necessary, which players are the most desirable – and the most realistic – targets?

Head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Salary Floor

November 17th, 2021 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s salary cap primarily serves as a way to restrict the amount a team can invest in player salaries in a given year. However, because the league has a soft cap rather than a hard cap, there’s technically no specific figure that clubs are prohibited from exceeding once they go over the cap to re-sign players. As long as a team doesn’t use certain exceptions or acquire a player via sign-and-trade, that team doesn’t face a hard cap.

There is, however, a specific threshold on the lower end that teams must meet in each NBA season. The league’s minimum salary floor requires a club to spend at least 90% of the salary cap on player salaries. For instance, with the 2021/22 cap set at $112,414,000, the salary floor for this season is $101,173,000.

If a team finishes the regular season below the NBA’s salary floor for that league year, the penalties levied against that team aren’t exactly harsh — the franchise is simply required to make up the shortfall by paying the difference to its players. For example, if a team finished this season with a team salary of $98,173,000, it would be required to distribute that $3MM shortfall among its players.

The players’ union determines how exactly the money is divvied up. Most recently, players who spent at least 41 games on a team’s roster have received a full share, while players with between 20-40 games on the roster receive a half share, according to CBA expert Larry Coon. A player can’t exceed his maximum salary as a result of a shortfall payment.

For the purposes of calculating whether a team has reached the minimum salary threshold, cap holds and international buyouts aren’t considered, but players who suffered career-ending injuries or illnesses are included in the count, even if they’ve since been removed from the club’s cap. For instance, the NBA permitted the Magic to remove Timofey Mozgov‘s $5.57MM annual cap charges in 2019/20, ’20/21, and ’21/22, but that $5.57MM still counted toward Orlando’s salary floor in each of those three seasons.

Additionally, the NBA made a change in its most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement to prevent teams from circumventing certain rules to reach the salary floor. Under the old CBA, a team that was $8MM below the salary floor could trade a player earning $4MM for a player earning $12MM halfway through the season and be in accordance with minimum team salary rules.

Under the current CBA, only the salary the team actually pays the player counts for minimum team salary purposes. For instance, in the example above, the team would be credited with having paid its original player $2MM for the first half of the season and its new player $6MM for the second half. In that scenario, the club would still fall $4MM shy of the salary floor.

Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 29 are comfortably above the salary floor for the 2021/22 season. The Thunder are the only club below the floor, and they’re well below it — at approximately $78MM, per Spotrac, Oklahoma City’s team salary is about $23MM away from the minimum required amount.

It’s a safe bet that by the end of the season the Thunder will have moved significantly closer to the salary floor or perhaps even surpassed that threshold. They’ll be worth monitoring closely when the trade market heats up and rival teams start looking to shed salary.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier version of this post were published in 2018 and 2020.

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2023 NBA Free Agents

November 16th, 2021 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2023 free agents is below. The player’s 2023 age is in parentheses.

These are players who are currently free agents. They finished the 2022/23 season on an NBA roster, appeared in at least 10 games in ’22/23, or appeared in at least one game in ’23/24. A small handful of other notable free agents may also be listed.

You’ll be able to access this list anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or in the “Free Agent Lists” section of our mobile menu. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

Updated 4-22-24 (7:55pm CT)
Note: This list is no longer being updated.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Restricted Free Agents

Note: All of 2023’s restricted free agents have come off the board. You can view the details using our free agent tracker.

Player Options

Note: All of this year’s player option decisions have been made. They can be found here.

Team Options

Note: All of this year’s team option decisions have been made. They can be found here.

Contract information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: G League Assignments

November 12th, 2021 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA G League teams have no shortage of ways to stock their rosters. They can retain players’ returning rights, add players through the G League draft, acquire players via waivers, take on affiliate players from NBA training camps, sign players they find in preseason tryout camps, and carry players on two-way contracts. Yet perhaps the most noteworthy players to pass through the G League come via NBA assignment.

The players assigned to the G League by NBA teams aren’t quite like other G-Leaguers. NBA players receive their full NBA salaries while on G League assignment, whereas a G League player without an NBA contract receives far more modest annual earnings that currently top out at about $37K.

A G League assignment could technically come at a financial cost for an NBA player, since performance in the NBAGL doesn’t count toward any incentive clauses built into an NBA contract. So if a player heads down to the G League on a rehab assignment and plays in a couple games for his NBA club’s affiliate, none of the numbers he puts up during that assignment would count toward the performance incentives built into his contract.

Of course, generally speaking, only longer-tenured veteran NBA players have incentives in their contracts, and most of those players won’t be assigned to the G League. Virtually all of the NBA players assigned to the G League have fewer than three full years of experience, since players in their first, second or third NBA seasons are the only ones whom NBA teams can unilaterally send down to the G League.

A player with at least three full seasons under his belt can be assigned to the G League, but it requires the player’s consent and a sign-off from the players’ union. Most of the time, these assignments are for injury rehab purposes, like when the Raptors sent Pascal Siakam to the Raptors 905 while he was working his way back from shoulder surgery.

Occasionally, a healthy player with at least three years of experience will approve a G League assignment. Another Raptors forward, Isaac Bonga – who is in his fourth NBA season – accepted a recent assignment to the Raptors 905 since he wasn’t part of Toronto’s rotation and wanted to get some game reps.

Once a player has been assigned to the G League, he can remain there indefinitely, and lengthy stints aren’t uncommon. However, since there’s no limit to the number of times an NBA team can assign and recall a player, assignments can also be very brief, particularly now that many teams are in close geographical proximity to their G League affiliates. There have even been instances in which a player suits up for an NBAGL team earlier in the day, then is recalled to play for his NBA club later that night.

A total of 26 teams own their G League affiliates outright, while two others (the Rockets and Nuggets) operate the basketball operations of their affiliates in “hybrid” partnerships with local ownership groups. Teams that have these arrangements can set up a unified system in which the G League club runs the same offensive and defensive schemes as its parent club, and coaches dole out playing time based on what’s best for the NBA franchise.

Only two NBA teams – the Trail Blazers and Suns – don’t have a G League affiliate of their own in 2021/22. However, those teams can still assign players to the G League via the “flexible assignment” rule. If, for instance, the Blazers want to send rookie Greg Brown to the G League, NBAGL teams can volunteer to accept him. Portland can choose from those clubs if there are multiple volunteers, but if no G League team raises its hand, the NBAGL will randomly choose one of its hybrid affiliate teams to accept Brown.

Only players on standard NBA contracts can be assigned to the G League and recalled to the NBA — while players on two-way contracts can also be shuttled back and forth between the two leagues, those moves are referred to as “transfers,” rather than assignments or recalls.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron, most recently in 2017.

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2021 NBA Offseason In Review Series

November 12th, 2021 at 10:52am CST by Luke Adams

Over the last couple months, Hoops Rumors has been breaking down the 2021 offseason moves for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and other key news and transactions. Our Offseason in Review pieces for each of the league’s 30 teams are linked below, sorted by conference and division.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

Central Division

Southeast Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Northwest Division

Pacific Division

Southwest Division

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2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Washington Wizards

November 12th, 2021 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 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 offseason moves and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Washington Wizards.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.

  • Spencer Dinwiddie: Three years, $54MM. Third year partially guaranteed. Includes $7,714,284 in unlikely incentives. Acquired via sign-and-trade.
  • Raul Neto: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Cassius Winston: Two-way contract. Accepted two-way qualifying offer as restricted free agent.

Trades:

  • Acquired Spencer Dinwiddie (sign-and-trade; from Nets), Kyle Kuzma (from Lakers), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (from Lakers), Montrezl Harrell (from Lakers), Aaron Holiday (from Pacers), the draft rights to Isaiah Todd (No. 31 pick; from Pacers), and cash ($1MM; from Pacers) in a five-team trade in exchange for Russell Westbrook (to Lakers), Chandler Hutchison (to Spurs), either the Bulls’, the Lakers’, or the Pistons’ 2022 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; to Spurs), the Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick (to Lakers), either the Wizards’ or the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; to Nets), either the Wizards’ or Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; to Lakers), the right to swap the Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick for the Wizards’ 2025 second-round pick (to Nets), and the Wizards’ 2028 second-round pick (to Lakers).

Draft picks:

  • 1-15: Corey Kispert
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $16,364,407).
  • 2-31: Isaiah Todd
    • Signed to four-year, $6.89MM contract. Fourth-year team option. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

Waiver claims:

Contract extensions:

  • Daniel Gafford: Three years, $40,182,480 (story). Team option for 2022/23 exercised as part of deal. Starts in 2023/24.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Hired Wes Unsled Jr. as head coach to replace Scott Brooks.
  • Hired Mike Miller, Joseph Blair, Pat Delany, and Zach Guthrie as assistant coaches; lost assistant coaches Mike Longabardi, Corey Gaines, Robert Pack, Tony Brown, and Mike Terpstra.
  • Thomas Bryant continues to recover from ACL surgery and will be sidelined until at least December.
  • Rui Hachimura was absent from training camp for personal reasons and remains sidelined for the start of the season.

Salary cap situation:

  • Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
  • Carrying approximately $134.7MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $143MM.
  • $8,036,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($1.5MM used on Isaiah Todd).
  • Full bi-annual exception ($3,732,000) still available.
  • One traded player exception ($2,161,920) available.

The Wizards’ offseason:

With Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook on maximum-salary contracts and Davis Bertans earning $16MM per year, it was difficult to see how the Wizards would be able to make meaningful upgrades to their roster entering the 2021 offseason. They had limited financial flexibility to pursue free agents with all three players on the books, but they had no interest in moving Beal, and Westbrook’s and Bertans’ pricey salaries made them mediocre trade chips.

So when Westbrook approached the team with a request to be sent to the Lakers, it was something of a blessing in disguise.

It’s generally considered a disaster for a team if a star player requests a trade, and the Wizards likely would’ve felt that way if Beal had asked out. But as impressive as Westbrook was down the stretch last season when he helped lead the team to a playoff spot, a roster headlined by him and Beal almost certainly didn’t have championship upside.

Westbrook’s unwieldy contract (he was owed nearly $92MM over two years) also reduced his value — the Wizards likely would’ve had trouble getting fair value from any team besides the Lakers. Knowing LeBron James and Anthony Davis supported the move, L.A. was willing to meet Washington’s asking price. So, rather than having to try to figure out how to add a third impact player to complement their All-Star backcourt, the Wizards were able to load up on reliable role players when they dealt Westbrook to Los Angeles.

Trading a star for a handful of rotation players is another outcome that an NBA team typically tries to avoid, but it made sense for the Wizards. Last year’s roster was short on depth, and turning Westbrook’s $44MM cap hit into several mid-sized salaries will give the team more options on the trade market if Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and/or Kyle Kuzma need to be flipped down the road.

The deal with the Lakers also netted the Wizards a first-round pick, which they flipped to Indiana in exchange for point guard Aaron Holiday and the No. 31 overall pick that became Isaiah Todd. The move allowed Washington to add more veteran depth while also taking a flier on a young prospect with some upside.

Neither Holiday nor the re-signed Raul Neto could be relied upon to take Westbrook’s place as the starting point guard, however, so the Wizards went shopping in free agency. Even after shedding Westbrook’s salary, Washington didn’t have the cap room necessary to offer more than the mid-level, but when Spencer Dinwiddie zeroed in on the idea of becoming a Wizard, the front office got creative to make it work.

Without the ability to sign Dinwiddie outright, the Wizards folded his three-year, $54MM+ deal into the agreed-upon (but not yet finalized) Westbrook and Holiday trades, negotiating sign-and-trade terms with the Nets.

When the dust settled, five teams were involved in the mega-deal, which cost the Wizards several future draft assets. In order to complete the Westbrook swap, entice the Nets to accommodate the sign-and-trade, and dump Chandler Hutchison‘s salary onto the Spurs, Washington surrendered five second-round picks and a second-round pick swap. Still, it was a win for the Wizards to be able to replace Westbrook with Dinwiddie, four solid (and reasonably priced) rotation players, and a promising rookie without giving up a first-round pick.

That five-team trade encompassed most of the Wizards’ major offseason moves, but there were a few others worth noting. The club used its own first-round pick to add some shooting, selecting Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert with the No. 15 overall selection. Kispert played four college seasons and was viewed as one of the draft’s most NBA-ready prospects, though he has gotten off to a slow start this fall.

The Wizards also locked up center Daniel Gafford to a long-term contract, picking up his minimum-salary team option for 2022/23 and then tacking three more years onto his deal. Washington’s depth chart at center is relatively crowded, with Gafford, Harrell, and Thomas Bryant (who is still recovery from ACL surgery) all in the mix, so that extension is a nice vote of confidence for Gafford, who was acquired at least season’s deadline and played well in D.C. down the stretch.

The Wizards also made a head coaching change, parting ways with Scott Brooks after five years and hiring Wes Unseld Jr. as his replacement. Unseld’s father is a franchise legend who won a championship with Washington as a player and later served as both a front office executive and head coach. However, hiring his son wasn’t just a sentimental move by the Wizards — the younger Unseld paid his dues as an assistant coach for four NBA teams over the course of 16 seasons, earning the opportunity to finally lead his own team.

The Wizards’ season:

The Wizards’ offseason moves diversified the team’s offensive attack and improved its defensive personnel. The team lacks star power – it’s hard to imagine anyone on the roster besides Beal making an All-Star team – buts its newfound depth makes it a more well-rounded group than we’ve seen in D.C. for the last few years.

As much as I liked Washington’s offseason, I still don’t view the club as a legitimate contender to come out of the East this season. Still, the early returns have been good — Unseld’s squad has an 8-3 record, tied for the top mark in the conference.

They’ll almost certainly slide down the standings a little as the season progresses, but these Wizards appear capable of at least repeating last year’s result (making the playoffs via the play-in tournament), and general manager Tommy Sheppard has more flexibility to make roster moves going forward without Westbrook’s massive cap figure on the books.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.

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2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Utah Jazz

November 10th, 2021 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 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 offseason moves and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Utah Jazz.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.

  • Mike Conley: Three years, $68.04MM. Third year partially guaranteed. Includes $4.5MM in unlikely incentives. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Rudy Gay: Three years, $18.55MM. Third-year player option. Signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Hassan Whiteside: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jarrell Brantley: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($84,414). Accepted qualifying offer as restricted free agent.
    • Note: Brantley was later waived.
  • Malik Fitts: Two-way contract. Converted from Exhibit 10 contract.
  • Trent Forrest: Two-way contract. Accepted two-way qualifying offer as restricted free agent.

Trades:

  • Acquired either the Thunder’s, Rockets’, Pacers’, or Heat’s 2027 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable) and cash ($2MM) from the Thunder in exchange for Derrick Favors and the Jazz’s 2024 first-round pick (top-10 protected).
    • Note: The Jazz created a $7,475,379 trade exception in the deal.
  • Acquired the draft rights to Jared Butler (No. 40) pick, the Grizzlies’ 2022 second-round pick, and the Grizzlies’ 2026 second-round pick from the Grizzlies in exchange for the draft rights to Santi Aldama (No. 30 pick).
  • Acquired Eric Paschall from the Warriors in exchange for the Grizzlies’ 2026 second-round pick (top-42 protected).

Draft picks:

  • 2-40: Jared Butler
    • Signed to two-year, minimum-salary contract. Signed using minimum salary exception.

Contract extensions:

  • None

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Promoted general manager Justin Zanik to head of basketball operations.
  • Executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey transitioned to advisory role
  • Rudy Gay underwent offseason surgery on his right heel and remains sidelined to open the regular season.
  • Hired Erdem Can and Irv Roland as assistant coaches.

Salary cap situation:

  • Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
  • Carrying approximately $153MM in salary.
  • Used full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.89MM) to sign Rudy Gay.
  • Would need to shed salary to use more than taxpayer portion of mid-level exception or any part of bi-annual exception ($3,732,000), since doing either would create a $143MM hard cap.
  • One traded player exception ($7,475,379) available.

The Jazz’s offseason:

The 2020/21 season represented Utah’s best chance in over a decade to make a serious playoff run. The Jazz posted the league’s best regular season record (52-20) and, after dispatching the Grizzlies in the first round of the postseason, they faced a Clippers team that lost its best player – Kawhi Leonard – to a season-ending knee injury in Game 4, with the series tied at two games apiece.

The Jazz, who had a couple banged-up starters in their own right, couldn’t take advantage of the golden opportunity, dropping the next two games to the Kawhi-less Clippers to bring their season to an end.

It was a discouraging finish, but a promising season overall for the Jazz, whose top six most-used players remained under contract for 2021/22, providing a solid starting point for this season’s roster.

Although Utah didn’t have to worry about bringing back stars like Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, the team was facing a bit of a cap crunch. Re-signing Mike Conley and Georges Niang while retaining all of last year’s roster would have put team salary way over the luxury tax line, and while new owner Ryan Smith was willing to become a taxpayer, he wasn’t quite prepared to spend like the Warriors or Nets.

In order to keep the payroll in check, the Jazz made some tough decisions. Conley was a crucial part of the club’s success last season and had to be re-signed, but Niang was allowed to walk, while Derrick Favors was attached to a protected future first-round pick and sent to Oklahoma City in a salary-dump trade.

The Favors trade put the Jazz in a better financial position to give Conley a three-year deal worth about $68MM, plus incentives. It’s a steep price to pay for a point guard who turned 34 in October, but it cost Utah less to lock him up than it cost the Suns and Heat to sign Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry, who are older, or the Bulls to sign Lonzo Ball, who is less accomplished. Conley’s third year also isn’t fully guaranteed, so the Jazz will have an exit ramp if they need one.

With Conley back and Favors and Niang gone, fortifying the frontcourt was a top priority for the Jazz. The team addressed that need by using the full taxpayer mid-level exception to add forward Rudy Gay, signing center Hassan Whiteside to a minimum-salary contract, and acquiring forward Eric Paschall in a minor trade with Golden State.

Gay is an especially intriguing addition. Like Niang, he has the size to match up against bigger opposing forwards. Unlike Niang, Gay has the ability to create his own shot on offense, giving Utah another weapon alongside Mitchell, Conley, and Bojan Bogdanovic. Gay is recovering from offseason heel surgery and has yet to suit up for the Jazz, but he looks like a nice fit. He’ll likely cut into Paschall’s minutes once he’s ready to play.

In replacing Favors with Whiteside, the Jazz acknowledged that they don’t need to spend big on a big man who is essentially just there to back up Gobert. Whiteside isn’t the star that his numbers in Miami and Portland might’ve suggested, but as long as he’s willing to accept a modest role and buy into a team-first philosophy, he’s perfectly capable of providing 15 or 20 productive minutes per game, especially going up against second-stringers.

The Jazz saved a little more money and acquired some future assets by moving down from No. 30 to No. 40 on draft night. The deal netted Utah a pair of future second-round picks (one was flipped to the Warriors for Paschall) and allowed them to fill out the roster with a minimum-salary player instead of a first-rounder who would earn $2MM as a rookie. And by all accounts, Jared Butler – the prospect the club selected at No. 40 – was the same player Utah was eyeing at No. 30.

Butler, originally viewed as a potential mid first-round pick, slipped down draft boards due to reported concerns about his knees and a heart condition. However, he received full clearance from the NBA’s Fitness to Play panel, and the Jazz loved what they saw from the former Baylor star in training camp. He may not get to play much on a veteran-heavy team with title aspirations, but Butler has a good deal of upside for a mid second-rounder.

The other major development in Utah this offseason was the demotion of longtime head of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey, with general manager Justin Zanik taking the reins. The move didn’t necessarily represent a significant change in direction for the organization, given that Zanik had worked under Lindsey for several years. But it was certainly looked like a vote of confidence in head coach Quin Snyder, who reportedly had a “long-running disconnect” with Lindsey.

The Jazz’s season:

I wrote above that last season was Utah’s best chance in a long time to make a deep playoff run. But this year’s team might be even better. Barring injuries, there’s no reason not to expect the Jazz to finish the 2021/22 campaign with one of the NBA’s best records, and they’ll be a very tough out in the playoffs.

Until the Jazz break through, there will be questions about Mitchell’s ability to be a No. 1 option on a championship team, about Gobert’s ability to make the sort of impact in the playoffs that he does in the regular season, and about the team’s ability to slow down offensive initiators with size, like LeBron James and Paul George. Utah will be motivated to answer all those questions this spring.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.

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Hoops Rumors’ 2021/22 NBA Reverse Standings

November 10th, 2021 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

Throughout the 2021/22 NBA season, Hoops Rumors will be maintaining a feature that allows you to keep an eye on the tentative 2022 draft order. Our 2021/22 Reverse Standings tool, which lists the NBA’s 30 teams from worst to first, will be updated daily to reflect the outcomes of the previous night’s games.

Our Reverse Standings are essentially a reflection of what 2022’s draft order would look like with no changes to lottery position. We’ve noted each club’s odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick, based on the league’s current lottery format.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Draft Lottery]

In instances where two non-playoff teams or two playoff teams have identical records, the order in our standings isn’t necessarily definitive — for draft purposes, the NBA breaks ties via random drawings, so those drawings would happen at the end of the year.

Of course, the 14 non-playoff teams all draft before the 16 playoff teams, even if some non-playoff teams have better records than those that made the postseason. Our reverse standings account for playoff seeding, though for now they assume that the Nos. 7 and 8 teams in each conference will earn those final two postseason spots. Since the NBA’s play-in format opens the door for the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds to sneak into the postseason, we may have to account for a little movement in the draft order at season’s end.

Traded first-round picks are included via footnotes. For example, the note next to Charlotte’s pick says the Hornets will send their pick to the Knicks if it’s not in the top 18. As of today, the Hornets’ pick projects to be 11th, meaning that pick wouldn’t change hands.

Some conditions on traded picks are more complex, leaving little room to fully explain them in our footnotes. We broke down all the details on those traded first-rounders right here.

Our Reverse Standings tracker can be found at anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu. It’s a great resource not just for monitoring a team’s draft position, but also for keeping an eye on whether or not traded picks with protection will be changing hands in 2022. So be sure to check back often as the season progresses!

Note: Mobile users are advised to turn their phones sideways when viewing the Reverse Standings in order to see team records and lottery odds.

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Community Shootaround: East Vs. West

November 9th, 2021 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

During the 21st century, Eastern Conference teams have had a winning record in games against Western Conference teams just once in 22 seasons. That happened in the 2008/09 campaign, when the East put up a 231-219 record (.513) vs. the West.

In every other season since 1999/2000, Western teams have had a winning record against Eastern opponents, often by a wide margin. The East’s second-best result came in 2015/16, when it posted a 218-232 (.484) mark vs. the West.

These numbers are a simple way of illustrating what most NBA fans view as common knowledge: For at least the last two decades, the West has been the stronger and deeper of the two conferences.

In the early going of the 2021/22 season, however, there’s reason to believe that the tide might be shifting. Even after Western teams won all three games against Eastern opponents on Monday night, the East has a 22-19 record in inter-conference games so far this season.

It’s obviously way too early in the year to draw any conclusions, but it’s not too early to start making some predictions based on what we’ve seen so far.

Among the East’s current top eight teams, the Sixers, Heat, Knicks, and Nets were expected to be here, but the Bulls, Wizards, Cavaliers, and Raptors have exceeded expectations so far. Some of those clubs might slow down, but some of their gains could be for real, and they all at least look capable of remaining in the play-in mix.

Further down the standings, the Hornets (5-6) are about where we expected, while the Bucks (4-6), Celtics (4-6), Hawks (4-7), and Pacers (4-7) are actually underachieving so far — we can probably expect more from most or all of them.

The Magic and Pistons, at the bottom of the conference standings, will likely remain there and lose a lot of games. But even so, that leaves 13 teams in the East with realistic playoff or play-in aspirations.

The West looks pretty deep too, but it may not have as many obvious breakout teams — its top nine clubs so far are identical to last year’s, albeit in a different order. There also aren’t as many underachievers in the West that we can count on seeing improvements from. The Lakers have been a little disappointing, but they’re still above .500 at 6-5.

With all that in mind, we want to know what you think. Has the Eastern Conference finally caught up to the Western Conference this season, or is the West still the more dominant conference overall? Do you expect the East to post at least a .500 record against the West this season for just the second time this century?

Head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts.

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2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Toronto Raptors

November 8th, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 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 offseason moves and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Toronto Raptors.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.

  • Gary Trent Jr.: Three years, $51.84MM. Third-year player option. Includes $750K in unlikely incentives. Re-signed as restricted free agent using Bird rights.
  • Khem Birch: Three years, $20MM. Re-signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Ishmail Wainright: Two years, minimum salary. First year partially guaranteed ($250K). Second year partially guaranteed ($125K). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Wainright was later waived.
  • Isaac Bonga: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($200K). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Sam Dekker: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($350K). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Justin Champagnie: Two-way contract.

Trades:

Draft picks:

  • 1-4: Scottie Barnes
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $33,064,660).
  • 2-46: Dalano Banton
    • Signed to two-year, minimum-salary contract. Second year partially guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • 2-47: David Johnson
    • Signed to two-way contract.

Contract extensions:

  • None

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Signed president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri to contract extension and promoted him to vice chairman.
  • Hired Nate Bjorkgren, Earl Watson, and Trevor Gleeson as assistant coaches; lost assistant coaches Sergio Scariolo and Jama Mahlalela.
  • Being investigated by NBA for possible gun-jumping violation in Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade.
  • Received clearance to resume playing home games in Toronto after spending 2020/21 season in Tampa.

Salary cap situation:

  • Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
  • Carrying approximately $136.3MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $143MM.
  • $3,186,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($6.35MM used on Khem Birch).
  • Full bi-annual exception ($3,732,000) still available.
  • Three traded player exceptions available, including one worth $4.8MM.

The Raptors’ offseason:

Kawhi Leonard left Toronto during the 2019 offseason and both Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka departed a year later, but it wasn’t until 2021 that it felt like the Raptors began a new era in earnest. Having gone 53-19 in 2019/20, a year after winning its title, the team fell off a cliff in a ’20/21 season spent far from home.

The Raptors’ slide down the standings can be blamed on a handful of factors that go beyond having to play their home games in Tampa — injury issues and a midseason COVID-19 outbreak didn’t help matters, and the club’s inability to adequately replace Gasol’s and Ibaka’s production at center played a part. Regardless of the reason for it, Toronto’s ’20/21 collapse opened the door for president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri to retool the roster.

That retooling process began with a 10-28 finish to the season, which bumped the Raptors to seventh place in the NBA’s lottery standings. Some good fortune on lottery night resulted in the team climbing a few spots higher and securing the No. 4 overall pick. While that selection didn’t give the Raps an opportunity to draft Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, or Evan Mobley, it put them in a great position to nab a potential All-Star from what was considered a four-player top tier.

However, the Raptors disagreed with the conventional wisdom that slotted Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs alongside those top three prospects. Ujiri and company passed on Suggs in favor of Scottie Barnes, a promising young forward who was viewed as a talented, versatile defender whose offensive game remained quite raw.

It might take years to determine with certainty whether the Raptors made the right call by taking Barnes over Suggs, but fans disappointed by the selection on July 29 have to like the early returns — the 20-year-old Barnes has averaged 16.6 PPG and 8.7 RPG on 52.4% shooting in his first nine NBA games, and his defense has been as good as advertised, if not better.

As one potential cornerstone arrived in Toronto, another departed. After earning six All-Star nods and a title during his nine years with the Raptors, Kyle Lowry decided to move on and maximize his remaining years by joining a team closer to title contention. Toronto accommodated a sign-and-trade deal that sent Lowry to Miami.

If the Heat hadn’t been confident in the Raptors’ willingness to play ball on a sign-and-trade, they could’ve declined Goran Dragic‘s team option and made some other small moves that allowed them to open up the cap space necessary to sign Lowry outright. In that scenario, the Raptors would’ve been able to create some cap room of their own rather than taking on Dragic’s expiring $19MM+ contract in the Lowry sign-and-trade.

Operating over the cap allowed Toronto to acquire Precious Achiuwa along with Dragic in exchange for Lowry, then to use part of the mid-level exception to re-sign Khem Birch. If the Raptors had instead gone under the cap and simply let Lowry walk, they could have made a competitive offer for a big man like Richaun Holmes (they could’ve outbid the Kings), then tried to re-sign Birch using the room exception (their offer would’ve been limited to about two years and $10MM, rather than $20MM over three years).

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Holmes would’ve wanted to come to Toronto or that Birch would’ve accepted a little less to remain with the Raptors, but it’s an intriguing “what if.” The Raps made a big bet on Achiuwa, and perhaps are counting on Dragic to maintain enough value to make him a useful trade chip rather than just a buyout candidate.

Outside of the Lowry sign-and-trade and the Barnes pick, the Raptors’ most notable transaction was re-signing restricted free agent Gary Trent Jr. to a three-year, $51MM+ contract that includes a third-year player option.

The terms of that deal were a little surprising. Of the reliable rotation players available in free agency this offseason, few – if any – were younger than Trent (22), so Toronto’s decision to negotiate a contract that allows him to reach unrestricted free agency at age 24 was curious. It will be interesting to see whether or not that deal ultimately works out better for the Raptors than a longer-term commitment would’ve.

The Raptors filled out their roster with minimum-salary players and second-round picks. Among those, the most noteworthy additions were Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a solid sharpshooter who had a down year but had still made 36.2% of his career 3-pointers entering this season, and Dalano Banton, a second-round pick out of Nebraska whom ESPN’s Jonathan Givony described as “one of the more unique players in college basketball” due to his combination of size (6’9″) and play-making abilities.

Finally, you could make a case that the biggest news of the Raptors’ offseason wasn’t related to player movement at all — it was the extension and promotion the organization awarded Ujiri. The cost was significant – Ujiri will reportedly earn a $15MM salary and can receive incentives based on the franchise’s value continuing to increase – but it looks like a worthwhile investment for one of the most talented executives in the sport.

The Raptors’ season:

Even with Leonard, Lowry, Gasol, and Ibaka gone, the Raptors still have a couple key pieces from their 2019 title team still on the roster, in Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam. OG Anunoby, who didn’t contribute to that championship run for health reasons, has taken a huge step forward over the last couple years, Trent is a reliable rotation player, and Barnes looks ready to contribute immediately.

If the Raptors can get decent production out of some combination of Achiuwa, Birch, and Boucher up front, and a few of the reserves step up and provide consistent minutes, there’s enough talent here to make Toronto a playoff team.

Still, this roster as constructed doesn’t look like a great bet to make a run in the postseason, so the priorities this season should be developing Barnes and assessing how the club’s top three forwards (Siakam, Anunoby, and Barnes) fit together. While earning at least a play-in spot is certainly a realistic and achievable goal, the Raptors are probably still at least a year or two away from making any real noise in the East.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.

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