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Hawks Sign Ibi Watson To Exhibit 10 Deal

October 12th, 2021 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 12: Nearly two-and-a-half months after the two sides reached an agreement, the Hawks have officially signed Watson to his Exhibit 10 contract, the club announced today in a press release.

JULY 30: The Hawks have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with undrafted Dayton shooting guard Ibi Watson, a league source tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link).

Watson, who began his college career at Michigan, transferred to Dayton in advance of his junior year after not seeing much action in two years with the Wolverines. He emerged as a full-time starter for the Flyers as a senior in 2020/21, averaging 15.7 PPG and 4.1 RPG with a .467/.416/.757 shooting line in 24 games (37.1 MPG).

Watson, who will play for the Hawks at the Las Vegas Summer League, can officially sign his contract once the new league year begins next week.

An Exhibit 10 deal can eventually be converted to a standard NBA contract or a two-way pact. It can also put a player on track to join his team’s G League affiliate if he doesn’t make the NBA roster.

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2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Denver Nuggets

October 11th, 2021 at 10:01pm 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, examine what still needs to be done before opening night, and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Denver Nuggets.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 10 deals aren’t included here.

  • Will Barton: Two years, $30MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • JaMychal Green: Two years, $16.4MM. Includes second-year player option and unlikely incentives. Re-signed using Non-Bird rights.
  • Jeff Green: Two years, $9MM. Includes second-year player option. Signed using mid-level exception.
  • Austin Rivers: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Markus Howard: Two-way contract. Accepted two-way qualifying offer as restricted free agent.

Trades:

  • None

Draft picks:

  • 1-26: Bones Hyland
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $10,763,239).

Draft-and-stash signings:

  • Petr Cornelie (No. 53 pick; 2016 draft)
    • Signed to two-way contract.

Contract extensions:

  • Michael Porter Jr.: Five years, maximum salary. Projected value of $172,500,000. Projected value can increase to $207,060,000 if Porter earns All-NBA honors in 2022. Includes partial guarantee ($12MM) in fifth year, with performance incentives that can make the fifth year fully guaranteed. Starts in 2022/23.
  • Aaron Gordon: Four years, $86,640,001 (base value). Includes $4.8MM in incentives and a fourth-year player option. Starts in 2022/23.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Jamal Murray continues to recover from an ACL tear and is unlikely to return until at least March.
  • Lost lead assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr.; hired Popeye Jones as assistant.
  • Established new NBA G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold; Jason Terry will coach the team.

Salary cap situation:

  • Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
  • Carrying approximately $134.8MM in salary.
  • $5,036,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($4.5MM used on Jeff Green).
  • Two traded player exceptions available, including one worth $2.2MM.

Lingering preseason issues:

  • Vlatko Cancar is eligible for a veteran contract extension all season.

The Nuggets’ offseason:

Injuries had a major effect on the Western Conference playoffs in 2021. Some teams, like the Lakers and Jazz, didn’t have key players at full strength when they were eliminated. Others, such as the Clippers, were missing a star altogether.

The Nuggets fell into the latter category, having played the postseason without Jamal Murray, who tore his ACL in April. An injury to Nikola Jokic would’ve been even more damaging to Denver’s hopes of making a deep playoff run, but the loss of Murray was massive — when the team made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2020, it was Murray, not Jokic, that led the team in points, assists, and threes, among other categories.

Without Murray available in the spring of 2021, Denver fell in the Western semifinals to Phoenix, the team that eventually represented the West in the NBA Finals. Would the Nuggets have made the Finals themselves with a healthy Murray in their lineup? Maybe, maybe not. But they certainly would’ve had a better chance.

The Nuggets’ approach to the 2021 offseason suggests they fully believe this team can be a title contender when it’s fully healthy. Rather than doing anything drastic, Denver essentially doubled down on its current core.

That meant re-signing free agents Will Barton and JaMychal Green, both of whom turned down player options in search of new contracts. The Nuggets gave Barton and Green modest raises and short-term deals, locking in two key pieces of their rotation for at least one year and possibly two (Green got a second-year player option).

While Murray’s absence was more significant, it’s worth noting that Barton had an injury of his own late last season that further compromised the Nuggets’ ability to put their best foot forward in the playoffs. Barton missed the last 13 games of the regular season and the first seven of the postseason with a hamstring issue. He didn’t look fully like himself until Denver’s very last game of 2020/21, when he poured in 25 points in Game 4 against the Suns — it wasn’t enough to help the team stave off elimination, but it was a reminder of Barton’s importance on the wing for the club.

As for Green, he’s a versatile big man capable of playing alongside Jokic or handling some minutes at center in smaller lineups. Re-signing him was a top priority for a Nuggets team that lost frontcourt depth when JaVale McGee and Paul Millsap departed in free agency. The price Denver paid for Green (more than $8MM per year) suggests he was the team’s top priority among those three players, since McGee and Millsap signed for considerably less in Phoenix and Brooklyn, respectively.

To help fill the hole in the frontcourt, Denver used a portion of its mid-level exception to sign Jeff Green, another versatile forward who can play multiple positions and handle a variety of defensive assignments. Investing in the two Greens rather than McGee and Millsap indicates the Nuggets are comfortable leaning into more switchable lineups and don’t necessarily feel the need to have a traditional center backing up Jokic.

The Nuggets’ other key addition this offseason was first-round pick Bones Hyland, who will look to carve out a role in the rotation as a rookie. Hyland is an intriguing prospect and has shown real upside in the preseason, but if the team decides he’s not ready for a regular role quite yet, it won’t be a setback — even without Murray, there’s enough depth in the backcourt that Denver can afford to be patient with Hyland, like it has been with other draftees Zeke Nnaji and Bol Bol. For what it’s worth though, I think Hyland has a better chance than those two of making an impact as a rookie.

The Nuggets’ belief that they have a championship-caliber core was also reflected by the contract extensions the team finalized in September. There had been a sense that the franchise might not be comfortable extending both Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon, but that clearly wasn’t the case — Porter signed a new maximum-salary deal that tacked five years onto his expiring contract, while Gordon received a four-year extension worth at least $86MM.

The commitments to Porter and Gordon – combined with the max contracts already on the books for Jokic and Murray – signal that the Nuggets are willing to be a taxpayer in the coming years, which hasn’t been the case since 2010. It’s a sign of how serious the team is about pushing for a championship within the next few years.

We can debate the wisdom of offering Porter a max deal, given the back problems that sidelined him as a rookie, but he’s coming off a season in which he averaged 19.0 PPG on .542/.445/.791 shooting at age 22 (23.5 PPG on .560/.489/.854 shooting following Murray’s injury). Barring a major step backwards in 2021/22, he was going to get a max offer somewhere next season. By putting that offer on the table ahead of his restricted free agency, the Nuggets managed to get a team-friendly partial guarantee in year five of that deal, with no trade kicker or player option.

Gordon’s value is harder to pin down, since he’s a better defensive player than he is a scorer. Still, his athleticism and cutting ability make him an intriguing complementary player on offense for the Nuggets, especially since being the third, fourth, or even fifth option should put him in position to score more efficiently than he did in Orlando, where he attracted more attention from opposing defenses.

The Nuggets’ upcoming season:

The Nuggets are in something of a holding pattern until Murray returns. Without him, the club is talented enough to make the playoffs in the West, but doesn’t have the pieces to seriously compete for a title.

If Murray can make it back in March or April, Denver could be a tantalizing postseason sleeper, but the team should be careful about expecting too much from the standout guard in 2021/22 — players coming off ACL tears often aren’t quite themselves until 18+ months after the injury, even if they make it back onto the court a year later.

A silver lining of Murray’s absence is that it should give some extra opportunities to players who have been further down the pecking order in Denver’s offensive game plan. Porter, in particular, is in position for a breakout year, while Monte Morris should get a chance to prove he can be a full-time starter.

If everything goes right, the Nuggets could make some noise in the 2022 playoffs, but I suspect – given the uncertainty surrounding Murray’s return – that management may be circling 2023 as the team’s best chance to push for a title.

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

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2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Dallas Mavericks

October 7th, 2021 at 2:52pm 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, examine what still needs to be done before opening night, and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Dallas Mavericks.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 10 deals aren’t included here.

Trades:

  • Acquired Moses Brown from the Celtics in exchange for Josh Richardson.
    • Note: The Mavericks created a $10,865,952 trade exception in the deal.

Draft picks:

  • None

Contract extensions:

  • Luka Doncic: Five years, maximum salary. Projected value of $207,060,000. Includes fifth-year player option and 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2022/23.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Hired Jason Kidd as head coach to replace Rick Carlisle.
  • Hired Nico Harrison as general manager/president of basketball operations to replace Donnie Nelson.
  • Hired Igor Kokoskov, Jared Dudley, Sean Sweeney, Greg St. Jean, and Kristi Tolliver as assistant coaches; lost assistants Jamahl Mosley, Jenny Boucek, Zach Guthrie, and Mike Weinar.
  • Hired Dirk Nowitzki as special advisor.
  • Promoted Michael Finley to assistant GM/VP of basketball operations.
  • Did not retain front office executive Haralabos Voulgaris.

Salary cap situation:

  • Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
  • Carrying approximately $120.2MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $143MM.
  • Full mid-level exception ($9,536,000) used on Reggie Bullock.
  • $732,000 of bi-annual exception still available ($3MM used on Sterling Brown).
  • Two traded player exceptions available, including one worth $10.9MM.

Lingering preseason issues:

  • The Mavericks have 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts and one (Moses Brown) on a partially guaranteed contract. One of those 16 players will have to be traded or released before opening night.
  • Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber are eligible for veteran contract extensions until October 18.
  • Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith are eligible for veteran contract extensions all season.

The Mavericks’ offseason:

Before they’d added or lost a single player, the Mavericks had already endured a more eventful, tumultuous offseason than at least half the NBA’s clubs.

Entering the summer, head coach Rick Carlisle and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson were two of the longest-tenured team leaders in the NBA, having worked together in their current roles since 2008. In the span of just two days in June, however, both Carlisle and Nelson left the franchise.

The team classified their exits as Carlisle stepping down and Nelson and the Mavs agreeing to go their separate ways, so it’s not as if owner Mark Cuban necessarily planned on cleaning house over the summer. Still, even if they departed the Mavs on relatively good terms, Carlisle and Nelson likely wouldn’t have left at all if things were running perfectly smoothly in Dallas.

One report in June suggested that Nelson’s influence in the front office wasn’t as strong as it had once been, while another story indicated that Carlisle’s abrasive personality had a tendency to rub some players – including superstar Luka Doncic – the wrong way. Those reports didn’t exactly portray an organization in disarray, but Cuban and his team still likely felt some pressure to get their GM and head coach choices right in order to bring some stability to Dallas going forward.

Replacing Nelson in the front office will be longtime Nico Harrison, who has drawn interest from NBA teams in the past but has spent the past two decades working at Nike. That role allowed him to establish strong connections with players throughout the league, though he has no history of making key personnel and roster decisions for an NBA franchise and may lean on the more experienced executives in the Mavs’ front office during his first year on the job.

The new head coach will be Jason Kidd, who won a title with the Mavericks as a player and has received rave reviews as a Lakers assistant coach during the last two seasons.

Kidd doesn’t have an unblemished résumé — his head coaching stints in Brooklyn and Milwaukee were up and down, and he has a history of legal issues, having pleaded guilty to a domestic abuse charge in 2001 and a misdemeanor DWI charge in 2013. But after going through the interview process, the Mavs felt confident that Kidd’s legal troubles were behind him and believed he was the man for the job.

Given that Doncic occasionally clashed with Carlisle and was said to have a “strained” relationship with former team executive Haralabos Voulgaris, the Mavs almost certainly made it a top priority to make their franchise player happy with their coaching and front office hires. Doncic knows Harrison from his time at Nike and will now get an opportunity to learn from a Hall-of-Fame point guard in Kidd.

In addition to factoring into the Mavs’ organizational hires, the presence of Doncic dictated how the team approached its roster moves this summer. It was imperative to surround the All-NBA guard with enough shooting to space the floor and give him plenty of room to operate, so Dallas committed major long-term money to bring back Tim Hardaway Jr. and to land Reggie Bullock and Sterling Brown in free agency.

Once viewed as a somewhat low-efficiency scorer, Hardaway has improved his three-point shot in recent years and become a more reliable option on the wing, hitting 39.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc over the last two seasons. Bullock has always been a knock-down outside shooter, making 40% of his threes since 2015. Brown played a career-high 24.1 minutes per game in 2020/21 and bumped his three-point conversion rate to an impressive 42.3% in the process.

Shooting doesn’t come cheap — the Mavs will pay Hardaway and Bullock a combined $30MM or so per year for the next three seasons, and acquired Brown by becoming the only team in the NBA willing to use its bi-annual exception this season. Still, improving in that area was a must for a team that finished in the bottom half of the league in three-point percentage in 2020/21, and the new additions – Bullock and Brown – won’t hurt the Mavs on defense either.

Outside of those signings, the Mavs had a fairly quiet summer in terms of roster moves. Boban Marjanovic was re-signed and Dallas took a flier on former lottery pick Frank Ntilikina, but the club didn’t have any draft picks and its only trade was essentially a salary dump, with Josh Richardson sent to Boston in exchange for a player who isn’t a lock to make the regular season roster (Moses Brown).

Dallas will remain on the lookout for opportunities to further upgrade its roster around Doncic, but for now the hope is that Kidd can coax a bounce-back season out of Kristaps Porzingis and that the new three-and-D wings in the rotation can make an impact on both sides of the ball.

The Mavericks’ upcoming season:

Dallas’ 2020/21 season (42-30, first-round loss to the Clippers) looked awfully similar to the team’s ’19/20 outcome (43-32, first-round loss to the Clippers). It’s clear by now that as long as Doncic stays healthy, the Mavs’ floor is high, and they should be back in the playoffs again in ’21/22. What remains to be seen is how high this group’s ceiling is.

Doncic is fully capable of being the best player on the court in any playoff matchup, but he’ll need more help from his supporting cast, starting with Porzingis. The optimal version of KP – a big man who can hit threes and protect the rim – is an ideal partner for Doncic, but leg injuries have limited his impact in recent years, especially on defense.

Kidd has talked about empowering Porzingis more on offense this season rather than just having him stand in the corner, and that sounds good in theory. But ultimately Porzingis’ ability to become a legit co-star for Doncic will hinge on his health. If it’s an issue again in 2021/22, the Mavs may have to reevaluate his long-term future with the franchise. If it’s not, Dallas’ potential upside is intriguing.

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

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Community Shootaround: Eastern Conference Outlook

October 7th, 2021 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets and Bucks will enter the 2021/22 season as the clear favorites to win the Eastern Conference next spring. The betting odds at sites like BetOnline reflect Brooklyn’s and Milwaukee’s standing atop the conference, as does the analysis of experts like ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who places the two teams first and second overall in his rankings of all 30 teams for the ’21/22 season.

As Lowe acknowledges, Kyrie Irving‘s availability – or lack thereof – is a major wild card that could affect the Nets this season, but every non-Irving critique of the club essentially “amounts to nit-picking.” The Bucks, meanwhile, have been the NBA’s best regular season team across the last three seasons and reached new heights in the 2021 postseason. With a healthy roster heading into this season, they look like a safe bet to be one of the East’s top seeds.

After those top two teams, Lowe’s next tier of Eastern clubs includes four talented clubs with some question marks: the Sixers, Heat, Celtics, and Hawks.

The Ben Simmons standoff hangs over Philadelphia’s season — if Simmons’ holdout extends into the regular season and the 76ers still haven’t found a trade they like, they’ll essentially be down an All-Star for the foreseeable future, which will limit their ceiling. The Hawks, the team that eliminated the Sixers from the playoffs in 2021, are deep and should be able to count on continued growth from their young players, but a team’s improvements aren’t always linear. As for the Celtics and Heat, they’ll be looking to bounce back after relatively disappointing 2020/21 seasons that ended with quick postseason exits.

While those four teams may be the favorites on paper to fill out the top six in the East, Lowe expects at least one of them to slip into play-in territory. He identifies the Knicks, Bulls, and Hornets as the next-best bets to crack the East’s top six.

The Knicks, of course, were the No. 4 seed in the East last season and will bring back a very similar group, along with new additions like Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier. They outperformed expectations in 2020/21 and may experience some regression, but they’re a deep, well-coached team looking to prove that last season’s breakthrough was no aberration.

The Bulls are one of the East’s most fascinating teams — they could have one of the NBA’s best offenses, but there are concerns about their defense and depth, so a wide range of outcomes are possible. As for the Hornets, Lowe acknowledges there are some red flags, but views young cornerstones LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, and P.J. Washington as good candidates to take another step forward in 2021/22.

The Pacers, Wizards, and Raptors are part of the next tier for Lowe, who consider all three clubs legit contenders to make the play-in tournament. Early-season injuries may hold back Indiana (T.J. Warren, Caris LeVert) and Toronto (Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher), but both clubs were perennial playoff teams up until 2021 and still have plenty of talent on their rosters. Washington lost some star-power by trading away Russell Westbrook, but the team’s depth is stronger than it has been in years.

Lowe places the Cavaliers in a group of their own, noting that executives around the league have wildly varying opinions on Cleveland’s roster. Some people are high on the Cavs’ collection of young talent, while others think they could be the very worst team in the NBA. Although they’re not a clear play-in contender, they could be in that mix if things break right.

The Pistons and Magic, meanwhile, project to be the East’s bottom two teams, despite the presence of rookie guards Cade Cunningham and Jalen Suggs.

After we broke down the Western Conference on Wednesday, I’m curious to get your thoughts today on the Eastern Conference. Do you view the Nets and Bucks as the East’s clear top two finishers? Which clubs will clinch top-six playoff seeds, and which four will end up in the play-in tournament? Of the 12 teams with realistic playoff expectations, which two (or more) will finish outside of play-in range?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts on the Western Conference!

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2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Cleveland Cavaliers

October 6th, 2021 at 8:36pm 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, examine what still needs to be done before opening night, and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 10 deals aren’t included here.

  • Jarrett Allen: Five years, $100MM. Re-signed as restricted free agent using Bird rights.
  • Lauri Markkanen: Four years, $67.47MM. Fourth year partially guaranteed. Acquired via sign-and-trade.
  • Kevin Pangos: Two years, $3.42MM. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using mid-level exception.
  • Denzel Valentine: Two years, minimum salary. First year partially guaranteed. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Brodric Thomas: Two-way contract. Accepted two-way qualifying offer as restricted free agent.

Trades:

  • Acquired Ricky Rubio from the Timberwolves in exchange for Taurean Prince, the Wizards’ 2022 second-round pick, and cash ($2.5MM).
  • Acquired Lauri Markkanen (sign-and-trade; from Bulls) in a three-team trade in exchange for Larry Nance Jr. (to Trail Blazers) and the Nuggets’ 2023 second-round pick (top-46 protected; to Bulls).

Draft picks:

  • 1-3: Evan Mobley
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $36,664,177).

Contract extensions:

  • None

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Hired Sidney Lowe and Nate Reinking as assistant coaches; lost assistant coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
  • Moved G League affiliate from Canton to Cleveland, renaming the team the Cleveland Charge.

Salary cap situation:

  • Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
  • Carrying approximately $133.4MM in salary.
  • $7,866,822 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($1,669,178 used on Kevin Pangos).
  • Full bi-annual exception ($3,732,000) still available.
  • Two traded player exceptions available, including one worth $4.2MM.

Lingering preseason issues:

  • The Cavaliers have 11 players on guaranteed contracts and a 12th with a partial guarantee, so they have multiple options with their last few roster spots.
  • The Cavaliers have an open two-way contract slot. Camp invitees Tacko Fall, Mitch Ballock, RJ Nembhard, and Kyle Guy are among the candidates to fill it.
  • Collin Sexton is eligible for a rookie scale contract extension until October 18.
  • Kevin Love is eligible for a veteran contract extension until October 18.
  • Ricky Rubio is eligible for a veteran contract extension all season (extend-and-trade limitations are in place until December).

The Cavaliers’ offseason:

After winning the draft lottery in 2011, 2014, and 2015, the Cavaliers’ luck had turned in recent years, as they slipped three spots in the lottery in both 2019 and 2020.

In 2021, Cleveland didn’t exactly recapture its previous lottery magic, but the team didn’t need to land the No. 1 pick. Moving up just a couple spots to No. 3 put the Cavs in a position to land Evan Mobley, a prospect with star potential who might’ve been the first player off the board if he’d been draft-eligible in 2020.

Drafting Mobley wasn’t the only major move the Cavs made during the 2021 offseason, but it may be the most impactful in the long term. When I previewed the club’s summer back in June, I noted that Cleveland’s front office had done a decent job of accumulating young talent during its current rebuild, but lacked a franchise-caliber player who could be its centerpiece for the next decade.

Mobley isn’t a lock to be that player, but he’s the best candidate the Cavs have had since LeBron James‘ departure. The former USC big man is a versatile, athletic defender who can protect the rim and shouldn’t be run off the court by smaller lineups. And while it remains to be seen whether he can be a go-to offensive option at the NBA level, he can certainly impact the game on that end of that court, having shown an ability to finish at the rim, knock down jump shots, and find open teammates as a passer.

Whether Mobley’s best fit at the NBA level will ultimately be at the four or the five is an open question. But the Cavaliers signaled that they think he’s perfectly capable of playing alongside another big man when they re-signed restricted free agent Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100MM contract.

Cleveland likely would’ve preferred to get a look at Allen and Mobley on the court together before making that sort of investment, but Allen was up for a new deal, and after giving up a first-round pick for him in January, there was no chance the Cavs were going to let him walk as a free agent. While Allen’s contract may end up being a slight overpay, it shouldn’t become an albatross — he’ll only be 28 by the time it expires, and the NBA’s salary cap will have increased significantly by then.

The Cavs’ other significant frontcourt change saw them swap out Larry Nance Jr. for Lauri Markkanen, who received a four-year, $67MM+ contract in a sign-and-trade. I’m not convinced Markkanen is a better all-around player than Nance, but he’s probably a better fit for this roster. With Allen and Mobley up front and Kevin Love not in Cleveland’s long-term plans, a floor-stretching big man like Markkanen will help balance the frontcourt and prevent spacing issues. The hope is that whichever center he’s sharing the court with can help cover up his defensive shortcomings.

Finally, the Cavaliers made it a priority this offseason to bring in a veteran point guard after Matthew Dellavedova missed most of the 2020/21 season due to health issues. The club was linked to free agents like Alex Caruso and T.J. McConnell early in the offseason, but ultimately found its answer on the trade market, sending Taurean Prince to Minnesota in a deal for Ricky Rubio.

The swap might leave Cleveland a little short-handed on the wing, but I like what Rubio can bring to the team. Anthony Edwards raved about Rubio’s leadership in Minnesota, and he should have a similar positive influence on Darius Garland and Collin Sexton. Plus, if things don’t work out, his expiring contract could be a useful trade chip at the deadline.

Speaking of trades, Sexton’s name popped up in trade rumors this summer, and while it appears those whispers have quieted with the regular season around the corner, it will be interesting to see how rookie scale extension negotiations between him and the team play out this month. Sexton’s camp may point to his scoring numbers as evidence that he’s worth a max deal, but I doubt the Cavs will be convinced. They might prefer to keep their options open and take their chances with Sexton in restricted free agency next summer.

The Cavaliers’ upcoming season:

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for the Cavaliers’ rebuild, but I’m not sure it’s as close as the team would like. Despite their playoff aspirations, the Cavs still don’t project to finish in the top 10 of the Eastern Conference entering the 2021/22 season — a lot would have to go right for them to earn a postseason spot.

Still, there’s room for Cleveland to take incremental steps forward over the next six months. Even a modest 26-56 record this season would be the Cavs’ best mark since 2017/18, and I think they can do better than that. The play-in format will allow them to remain in the hunt a little longer than they otherwise would, giving their young core an opportunity to play meaningful games in the second half of the season.

The safe money is on Cleveland to miss out on the play-in and claim another lottery pick in 2022, but this roster has more talent than any Cavs team since the franchise’s last Finals appearance. If the front office can find a way to add a reliable wing or two, the pieces for playoff contention are there.

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

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Community Shootaround: Western Conference Outlook

October 6th, 2021 at 9:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers are set to enter the 2021/22 season as the betting favorites to win the Western Conference, but they’re not viewed as the overwhelming frontrunners, with several talented teams expected to give them a run for their money.

In his preseason rankings of all 30 NBA teams, ESPN’s Zach Lowe places the Lakers in the West’s first tier along with the Jazz and the Suns, suggesting that he doesn’t view Los Angeles as being in a tier of its own atop the conference. Lowe isn’t necessarily sold on the supporting cast to the Lakers’ stars, and thinks Phoenix’s young core has room to continue improving.

If the Lakers, Jazz, and Suns all finish in the top six of the West, that leaves just three more teams that can claim a playoff spot without participating in the play-in tournament. Lowe’s next tier of Western teams features five strong candidates for those three postseason spots: the Nuggets, Clippers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, and Warriors.

As Lowe observes, it’s hard to know what to expect from some of these teams that are missing a star player. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray are recovering from ACL tears and may not play at all in 2021/22, while Warriors swingman Klay Thompson, coming off an Achilles tear, seems likely to miss at least a couple months or so and may not be at 100% when he returns.

All of those teams still have stars more than capable of carrying the load in Paul George, Nikola Jokic, and Stephen Curry, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll reach their ceilings without a fully healthy lineup. Still, Lowe considers Denver and Golden State good bets to crack the West’s top six, along with Dallas, potentially leaving the Clippers and Blazers to earn their postseason berths in the play-in tournament.

While those may be considered the top eight teams in the West, there are several more clubs with playoff aspirations. Lowe places the Grizzlies a notch above a tier that includes the Pelicans, Kings, Timberwolves, and Spurs, but acknowledges that at least one club – and possibly two – from that latter group figures to qualify for the play-in.

All five teams of those teams are young and will count on recent lottery picks to make major contributions. All but perhaps San Antonio – which lost several productive veterans – are expecting to take a step forward and make some noise in the West in 2021/22. However, three of those clubs could be left on the outside looking in, unable to even qualify for a play-in spot.

The Rockets and Thunder are in Lowe’s bottom tier, viewed as at least a year away from becoming play-in contenders.

While I think Lowe’s evaluation of the West is reasonable, I’m curious to know what you think. Which teams will claim the top six playoff spot in the conference? Which four will make the play-in tournament, and which two will escape that tourney with the final two postseason berths? Which teams in the West do you expect to exceed or fall short of expectations in 2021/22?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts on the Western Conference!

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Super-Max Candidates To Watch In 2021/22

October 5th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Designated Veteran extension, as we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, is a relatively new addition to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. It allows players with seven, eight, or nine years of NBA service, who would normally be eligible 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 and/or was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year 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.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN writes, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic met the super-max performance criteria this past season when he won his first MVP award. However, since he still has only six years of NBA experience under his belt, he can’t actually sign a super-max contract with Denver until the 2022 offseason. At that point, he could tack on five years and a projected $253MM+ to the one year left on his current deal.

For the time being, Jokic is the best bet to receive a Designated Veteran extension a year from now, but there are other players who could join him. Here’s a look at some super-max candidates to watch during the 2021/22 season:

Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)

Towns has one All-NBA season under his belt already, having made the Third Team in 2018. Towns played in all 82 regular season games that year and Minnesota made the postseason for the only time during his six-year career.

Towns might not need the Wolves to get back to the postseason in order to earn a spot on the 2021/22 All-NBA team, but he’ll need to stay healthier than he has the last couple years — he has appeared in just 85 games since the start of the 2019/20 campaign, missing 51. If he plays 70+ games this season and puts up the same sort of numbers he has in the three years since his last All-NBA season (25.0 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 3.9 APG, and 1.4 BPG on .506/.399/.834 shooting), he’ll have a great case.

Should he make an All-NBA team in 2022, Towns would be eligible for a four-year super-max extension that goes into effect in 2024/25. We’re too far out to accurately project the value of such a deal, but if the salary cap increases to, say, $130MM by that point, a four-year super-max extension for Towns would be worth nearly $204MM.

Devin Booker (Suns)

Booker’s current contract with the Suns looks essentially identical to Towns’ deal with the Timberwolves, since both players signed five-year, maximum-salary contracts at the same time. As such, Booker is in a similar situation — if he makes an All-NBA team in 2022, he could sign a four-year, super-max extension that would begin in 2024/25 and could be worth in excess of $200MM.

Unlike Towns, Booker hasn’t been an All-NBA player before, but he has a realistic shot. When the Suns posted the NBA’s best record in 2020/21, it was Chris Paul – rather than Booker – who earned All-NBA Second Team honors for both his performance and the impact his arrival had on a young Phoenix team.

But if the Suns are in contention for a top seed in the West again this season, it could be Booker’s turn to receive serious All-NBA consideration. He’s a safe bet to lead the team in scoring and he’s entering his age-25 season, whereas Paul – at age 36 – may see his numbers start to fall off a little going forward.

If Booker does become eligible for a super-max, it will be interesting to see whether the Suns are prepared to offer it to him, given the recent reports on team ownership’s reluctance to commit max money to Deandre Ayton.

Zach LaVine (Bulls)

Unlike Towns or Booker, LaVine will be a free agent during the 2022 offseason. He was an extension candidate this offeason, but once the Bulls used their potential cap room on roster upgrades rather than a renegotiation of LaVine’s 2021/22 salary, the odds of him signing a long-term extension plummeted.

Since LaVine is earning a relatively modest $19.5MM salary in 2021/22, his max extension without a renegotiation would only be worth in the neighborhood of $106MM over four years — and a renegotiation is only possible with cap room.

That means LaVine will almost certainly reach free agency in 2022. That takes an extension off the table, he could still qualify for the super-max as a free agent if he makes an All-NBA team this season.

Earning an All-NBA spot may be a longer shot for LaVine than for Towns or Booker. Not many centers will put up better numbers than Towns, and Booker’s role as the top scorer for a potential title contender will automatically put him in the conversation. LaVine is coming off a monster year, in which he established a new career high in PPG (27.4) and earned his first All-Star berth, but he has a reputation as a subpar defender and the Bulls haven’t made the playoffs during his four years with the franchise.

If LaVine maintains his impressive offensive numbers and shows improvements on defense while the new-look Bulls force their way into the playoff mix, an All-NBA nod becomes a more realistic possibility. In that scenario, LaVine would be eligible for a five-year super-max contract worth a projected $241.6MM. Whether Chicago would be comfortable putting that type of offer on the table is another story altogether.

The rookie scale extension recipients

Trae Young (Hawks), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), and Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets) all signed five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extensions this offseason that project to start at 25% of the 2022/23 cap, for a five-year value of $172.5MM.

However, all three players also received Rose Rule language in their deals. This is another form of the super-max — unlike the Designated Veteran contracts, which start at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, a player who meets the Rose Rule criteria gets a starting salary worth 30% of the cap rather than 25%.

The performance criteria for a Rose Rule salary increase are essentially the exact same as for a Designated Veteran bump, but must be achieved by the end of the player’s four-year rookie contract. That means Young, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Porter would have to make the All-NBA team in 2022 in order to increase the value of their respective extensions to $207MM over five years — an All-NBA berth in 2023 or 2024 would be too late.

Of the three players, Young might be the best bet to make an All-NBA team this season. Like Booker, he’s the go-to offensive option on a team coming off a deep playoff run. He should rank among the NBA’s leaders in both points and assists. If he improves upon last season’s .438/.343/.886 shooting numbers and Atlanta has another strong season, he’ll have a solid case.

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, the other young star to get a maximum-salary rookie scale extension this summer, already qualified for the bump to 30% of the cap by making the All-NBA team in his second and third NBA seasons. His five-year deal will be worth a projected $207MM no matter how he performs in 2021/22.

The rest

While there are other veteran players who could technically qualify for the super-max this season, none are particularly compelling candidates. Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis and Pacers center Myles Turner are perhaps the most intriguing, especially since Turner could be a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year contender. But I have a hard time imagining either player receiving a super-max offer even in the unlikely event that they qualify for one.

Among players on rookie scale contracts, Suns center Deandre Ayton is the other candidate to monitor. Ayton is reportedly seeking Rose Rule language in a maximum-salary extension with Phoenix, but the two sides are at an impasse in their negotiations.

I’d be a little surprised if Ayton becomes an All-NBA player this season, but there are so few star centers around the league that it’s not out of the question, especially if he takes on a larger offensive role going forward. If Ayton and the Suns don’t agree to an extension this month and he earns an All-NBA nod in 2022, he’d be eligible for a 30% max (five years, $207MM) with Phoenix as a restricted free agent next summer.

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18 Players Still Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions

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

When we entered the 2021 NBA offseason, a total of 24 players were eligible to sign rookie scale extensions. A handful of players signed them quickly, as Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander locked in new deals with their respective teams during the first few days of free agency. Robert Williams and Michael Porter Jr. joined them later in the offseason.

One of the 24 extension-eligible players (Chandler Hutchison) has been waived this offseason, so after removing him and the five with new deals from our list, we’re left with 18 players who remain eligible to sign a rookie scale extension. The deadline falls on October 18 – the day before the regular season – at 5:00 pm CT.

It’s not surprising that so many extension candidates are still waiting to see if they’ll be able to land new deals. While maximum-salary contracts generally get done quickly, most other negotiations go down to the wire. A year ago, Kyle Kuzma signed a rookie scale extension a day before the deadline, then five more deals were completed on deadline day — all five of those deadline-day extensions ranged from $50-72MM in total value.

[RELATED: 2020 NBA Rookie Scale Extension Recap]

That doesn’t necessarily mean that we can count on five or six more rookie scale extensions getting signed within the next two weeks, but it’s certainly a possibility, with many viable candidates still out there.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the remaining extension-eligible players:

Top extension candidates

These seven players have already proven they can be productive starters or rotation players at the NBA level and seem like good bets to be in their team’s long-term plans. At the very least, we should count on these players engaging in extension negotiations with their respective teams prior to the October 18 deadline, even if they don’t ultimately agree to terms.

The Ayton and Mikal Bridges talks will be especially interesting to monitor. If Ayton doesn’t get the maximum salary, he’ll get something very close to it, while Bridges is probably in line for a deal worth at least $20MM+ per year. Signing both players to extensions would help the Suns lock in their long-term core, but it would also represent a major financial commitment from a team owner who has been stingy at times in the past.

I’ll also be keeping a close eye on the Jackson, Huerter, and Walker talks. Jackson is coming off an injury-plagued season and may want to bet on himself if the Grizzlies try to get him to accept a team-friendly extension.

The Hawks will have De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish due for possible extensions in 2022, so it’ll be interesting to see whether locking up Huerter now is a priority or if they’d rather wait until next year to assess all three situations at once.

As for Walker, the Spurs have made a habit of signing their young players to rookie scale extensions in recent years, having extended Dejounte Murray in 2019 and Derrick White in 2020. I expect they’ll try to do the same with Walker.

Wild cards

Allen, Holiday, and Shamet all changed teams this offseason, while Brown and Carter did so at the 2021 trade deadline. Extensions for players who are new to a franchise are typically less frequent, since teams are often reluctant to make long-term commitments to players who haven’t been in their system for years and, in some cases, have yet to play a single game for their new teams.

Of those five players, Carter and Shamet might be the best candidate for new deals. Carter was a centerpiece of last season’s Nikola Vucevic trade and the Magic got a good look at him down the stretch. Shamet, meanwhile, is a player the Suns has been targeting for a while, though the team will probably prioritize extensions for Ayton and Bridges.

As for DiVincenzo and Simons, I put them in this category because I think their teams like them but might prefer to wait before signing them to multiyear contracts. DiVincenzo is coming off a foot injury that sidelined him for the Bucks‘ playoff run, while Simons is taking on a new role under Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.

Unlikely extension candidates

Perhaps there’s a deal to be made here if any one of these four players is willing to take a very team-friendly extension. But at this point, I wouldn’t view any of them as a lock to receive even a qualifying offer in 2022 free agency, let alone a multiyear contract offer.

Barring a major surprise, Bagley, Bamba, Knox, and Okogie will have to prove on the court this season that they’re worth investing in going forward.

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Oldest, Youngest Players On NBA Rosters For 2021/22

October 4th, 2021 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Given how often the relative age of the Lakers‘ roster served as a punchline this offseason, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Los Angeles has the most players on this season’s list of the top 10 oldest players in the NBA. A trio of Lakers show up on this year’s list, and a fourth would have made the cut if the club hadn’t jettisoned 36-year-old Marc Gasol last month.

However, it’s not a Lakers player who has the honor of being the oldest player in the NBA in 2021/22. That distinction still belongs to Heat big man Udonis Haslem, who became the league’s oldest active player a year ago following Vince Carter‘s retirement and still holds the title. Haslem was born three-and-a-half years before any other active player, so as long as he keeps signing one-year deals with Miami to extend his career, it’s safe to assume he’ll remain atop this list.

The Lakers, Heat, and Nets, three teams with championship aspirations, all have multiple players among the league’s 10 oldest.

While it’s possible this top 10 could change a little when regular season rosters are set in mid-October, none of these players appears in danger of being waived.

Here’s the list of the oldest players in the NBA heading into the ’21/22 season:

  1. Udonis Haslem, Heat (born 6/9/1980)
  2. Andre Iguodala, Warriors (born 1/28/1984)
  3. Carmelo Anthony, Lakers (born 5/29/1984)
  4. LeBron James, Lakers (born 12/30/1984)
  5. Paul Millsap, Nets (born 2/10/1985)
  6. P.J. Tucker, Heat (born 5/5/1985)
  7. Chris Paul, Suns (born 5/6/1985)
  8. Taj Gibson, Knicks (born 6/24/1985)
  9. Trevor Ariza, Lakers (born 6/30/1985)
  10. LaMarcus Aldridge, Nets (born 7/19/1985)

On the other end of the spectrum, nine of the NBA’s top 10 youngest active players were selected in the 2021 draft, while the 10th was an undrafted rookie free agent.

Interestingly, five of the league’s 10 youngest players are on two teams that battled for the Western Conference crown in 2018 and 2019 — the Rockets have three names on the list below, while the Warriors have two.

One of Houston’s youngsters – Daishen Nix – is on a non-guaranteed contract and may not be on the team’s roster in a few weeks when the regular season begins. However, if he comes off the list, we can just replace him with another Rocket — Jalen Green (born 2/9/2002) is currently the NBA’s 11th-youngest player.

Here are the 10 youngest players currently on NBA rosters:

  1. Joshua Primo, Spurs (born 12/24/2002)
  2. Josh Giddey, Thunder (born 10/10/2002)
  3. Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors (born 10/6/2002)
  4. Jaden Springer, Sixers (born 9/25/2002)
  5. JT Thor, Hornets (born 8/26/2002)
  6. Alperen Sengun, Rockets (born 7/25/2002)
  7. Moses Moody, Warriors (born 5/31/2002)
  8. Keon Johnson, Clippers (born 3/10/2002)
  9. Usman Garuba, Rockets (born 3/9/2002)
  10. Daishen Nix, Rockets (born 2/13/2002)

Information from Basketball-Reference was used in the creation of this post.

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Hoops Rumors’ 2021 NBA Free Agent Tracker

October 4th, 2021 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

With the NBA’s 2021/22 regular season around the corner, Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep track of which players signed new contracts during the offseason.

To this end, we present our Free Agent Tracker, a tool we’ve maintained each year since our inception in 2012. Using our tracker, you can quickly look up deals, sorting by team, position, free agent type, and a handful of other variables.

A few notes on the tracker:

  • Some of the information you’ll find in the tracker will reflect tentative agreements, rather than finalized deals. As signings become official, we’ll continue to update and modify the data as needed.
  • Similarly, contract years and dollars will be based on what’s been reported to date, so in many cases those amounts will be approximations rather than official figures. Salaries aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed either.
  • Players who were reported to have training camp/Exhibit 10 deals in place weeks or months ago won’t be added to the tracker until those deals are official. That’s why, for instance, Luke Kornet‘s deal with the Celtics isn’t listed, even though it’s still expected to happen at some point in the next couple weeks.
  • If you’re viewing the tracker on our mobile site, be sure to turn your phone sideways to see more details.

Our 2021 Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” and it’s also under the “Tools” menu atop the site. On our mobile site, it can be found in our menu under “Free Agent Lists.”

The tracker will be updated throughout the offseason, right up until opening night, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.

Our lists of free agents by position/type and by team break down the players who have yet to reach contract agreements.

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