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NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Atlantic Division

January 23rd, 2020 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of the 2019/20 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.

The Atlantic is perhaps the most confounding NBA division when it comes to the trade deadline. The Raptors, Celtics, and Sixers are all potential contenders to come out of the East and may theoretically be looking to make upgrades, but their contract situations make it tricky to identify specific moves that would help.

The Nets are essentially in a holding pattern until they get their full roster healthy next season. The Knicks as sellers appeared to be the only safe bet on the board in the Atlantic, but they’ve resisted that label to some extent.

As we wait to see how the Atlantic teams approach the deadline, here are three (or four) more potential trade candidates from around the division…

Dennis Smith Jr., PG
New York Knicks
$4.5MM cap hit; $5.7MM guaranteed salary in 2020/21; RFA in 2021

A report last month indicated that teams, including the Timberwolves, had expressed some interest in Smith. There are plenty of factors complicating a potential deal though. For one, he was sidelined for a month with an oblique strain before returning last night, and will probably have to show he’s fully healthy before the deadline to increase the odds of a trade. That means the Knicks will have to give him more playing time than the four minutes he received on Wednesday.

Even then, Knicks management may be reluctant to move Smith without a decent return, since doing so would represent a further admission that last year’s blockbuster with the Mavs isn’t working out. The team already failed to land a star with the 2019 cap room created in that deal, and the two future first-round picks owed to New York almost certainly won’t be as valuable as initially hoped, given Dallas’ improvement.

Considering how poorly Smith has played in limited minutes this season, it’s hard to see the Knicks netting more than a low second-round pick and salary filler in exchange for Smith. The club may decide it would rather take its chances on DSJ turning things around and recapturing some of the potential that made him a top-10 pick in 2017.

A trade before the deadline is a possibility, but I think it’d be more likely if the same executives who acquired Smith a year ago weren’t the same ones tasked to decide whether or not to move him.

Raul Neto / Trey Burke, PG
Philadelphia 76ers
$1.62MM cap hit; UFA in 2020

Neither Neto nor Burke has really been involved in any rumors yet, but they’re trade candidates in a roundabout way. The Sixers have been linked to point guards who could be on the trade block, and if the team actually acquires a point guard, either Neto or Burke would become expendable.

The 76ers have gone back and forth this year between Neto and Burke as the primary backup to Ben Simmons, so it’s not entirely clear who would be the odd man out if the team makes a move to fortify its backcourt.

Both players are on minimum-salary contracts that expire at season’s end, meaning there’s no financial incentive to move one over the other. Neto is the better defender and perhaps the steadier floor general, but he doesn’t possess Burke’s play-making or scoring ability. The on/off-court numbers favor Burke — the Sixers have a +7.2 net rating when he plays, compared to +1.2 for Neto.

If the 76ers end up standing pat or focus on improving another area, both Neto and Burke could certainly finish the season in Philadelphia. But if they go out and acquire another guard, I’d expect the Sixers to try to find a trade partner interested in acquiring Neto or Burke as a third point guard.

Rodions Kurucs, F
Brooklyn Nets
$1.7MM cap hit; $1.8MM guaranteed salary in 2020/21; $1.9MM team option for 2021/22

After a promising rookie season, Kurucs has taken a step backward in 2019/20. Despite a series of injury creating a path to a regular role for the Latvian forward, he doesn’t seem to have fully earned Kenny Atkinson‘s trust. His minutes per game have dipped from 20.5 to 13.3 and he’s received several DNP-CDs.

There are some promising numbers in this year’s small sample, including a .439 3PT%, and teams monitoring the Nets may view Kurucs as a buy-low candidate. However, off-court concerns may scare those teams away, since the 21-year-old was arrested during the offseason on a domestic violence charge.

We heard in December that there are teams doing their homework on Kurucs to see if he makes sense as a trade target. Presumably, that research centers on the domestic violence allegation — if it’s credible, clubs will be less enthusiastic about the idea of making a deal for the former second-round pick.

Kurucs is due back in court on February 11, meaning there will be no resolution in his legal case by the February 6 trade deadline. As a result, it’s hard to see him being moved.

Revisit the rest of our 2019/20 Trade Candidate series right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Community Shootaround: Mavs’ Trade Options

January 22nd, 2020 at 10:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With Dwight Powell out for the season due to an Achilles injury, there’s plenty of media speculation regarding what Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the team’s front office will do before the trade deadline.

Beyond Kristaps Porzingis  Maxi Kleber, and Boban Marjanovic, the Mavs don’t have a lot of options up front. Porzingis has been dealing with right knee soreness and Dallas surely doesn’t want him to log heavy minutes on his surgically repaired knee.

If the Mavs want to get another big on the trade market, they have a couple of major assets. They possess a giant $11.8MM trade exception and Courtney Lee‘s $12.76MM expiring contract.

Among the names tossed about as potential trade targets including Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Sacramento’s Nemanja Bjelica, Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love, San Antonio’s Jakob Poeltl, Washington’s Ian Mahinmi, Minnesota’s Gorgui Dieng and Golden State’s Willie Cauley-Stein.

ESPN reported that the team is kicking the tires on veteran free agent center Joakim Noah. In-house options include Dorian Finney-Smith, Isaiah Roby and Justin Jackson, all of whom could see more action at power forward with Porzingis sliding to center. However, it seems likely the Mavs will make some type of move to fortify their suddenly depleted frontcourt.

That brings us to our question of the day: Should the Mavs make a major trade with Dwight Powell out for the season or should seek other avenues to beef up their frontcourt?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this option. We look forward to your input.

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Davis Bertans Remains On Track For Significant FA Raise

January 21st, 2020 at 5:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Davis Bertans, who is making $7MM this year, will be a free agent at the end of the season and many around the league expect his next contract to be a lucrative one.

“He’s going to be a hot commodity.” a rival Eastern Conference front office executive told Hoops Rumors. “He’s earned himself a sizeable raise. $15MM per season isn’t out of the question. $20MM? It’s possible.”

That isn’t the first time we’ve heard numbers in that neighborhood thrown around in reference to Bertans. A former front office executive who spoke to David Aldridge of The Athletic earlier in the season estimated that the 27-year-old would get a multiyear deal worth $15-20MM annually.

The free agent landscape this summer may not be as player-friendly as it has been in recent years, since there aren’t many teams projected to have significant cap room. Still, that won’t stop teams from pursuing their top targets.

“If a player wants to sign somewhere and a team wants him bad enough, they’ll find a way,” the Eastern Conference executive said. “We just saw a bunch of sign-and-trades. We’ll see more.”

By all accounts, the Wizards still plan to keep Bertans through the trade deadline. GM Tommy Sheppard is a huge fan of the power forward and Bertans’ presence in Washington had an influence on the team promoting fellow Latvian big man Anzejs Pasecniks to the 15-man roster. Still, it’s worth wondering whether Bertans’ potential price tag in free agency will make the team reconsider the possibility of a trade either before the February 6 deadline or after the season (via sign-and-trade).

[RELATED: Wizards GM: We “Intend To Keep” Davis Bertans]

Bertans, who came to the Wizards via a three-way trade with the Spurs and Nets, is enjoying a breakout campaign. He’s one of just six players this season making three triples per contest while hitting them at a 40% mark or better.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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Checking In On NBA’s Projected Taxpayers For 2019/20

January 21st, 2020 at 12:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Following their cost-cutting trade with the Kings, the Trail Blazers no longer project to have the NBA’s highest tax bill for the 2019/20 season. That honor instead belongs to the Warriors, one of a small handful of teams that will be subject to the league’s more punitive repeater penalties if they’re in the tax at season’s end.

These numbers are fluid and will almost certainly change in the coming months, but here are the current projected luxury tax bills for teams this season, via ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):

  • Golden State Warriors: $14.99MM
  • Portland Trail Blazers: $9.65MM
  • Miami Heat: $6.65MM
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: $2.3MM
  • Houston Rockets: $372K

As Marks point out, the projected payouts for non-taxpaying teams are lower than usual — based on the current figures, non-taxpayers would receive approximately $680K apiece (50% of the total tax payments, split among 25 teams). By contrast, non-taxpayers received about $3.1MM each in 2018/19.

This season looks like it could end up looking more like the 2016/17 campaign, which featured the lowest tax payouts of the decade due to the infamous ’16 cap spike. That cap spike left the Cavaliers and Clippers as the NBA’s only clubs in the tax for that year, resulting in payouts of about $507K apiece for the 28 non-taxpayers.

[RELATED: Recent History of NBA Taxpaying Teams]

The end-of-season payouts for non-taxpayers this season will actually probably end up being even lower than $680K. None of the five projected taxpayers listed above are more than about $6.2MM above the luxury tax threshold, so many of them have a path to potentially getting out of tax territory altogether.

The Thunder and Rockets, in particular, look like candidates to sneak below the tax threshold by moving low-cost trade chips like Justin Patton and Nene. The Blazers could theoretically get there too with a bigger deal involving a player like Hassan Whiteside. It’ll be more of a challenge for the hard-capped Warriors and Heat, but not impossible.

For every team that gets out of the tax, the amount of the league-wide tax payments at season’s end will decrease and the number of non-taxpaying clubs will increase, resulting in a smaller pot to be split among a greater number of franchises. In other words, no non-taxpaying NBA team should be counting on a major windfall from taxpayers at the end of the ’19/20 campaign.

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2019/20 NBA Reverse Standings Update

January 21st, 2020 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

Throughout the 2019/20 NBA season, Hoops Rumors is maintaining a feature that allows you to keep an eye on what the 2020 draft order will look like. Our 2019/20 Reverse Standings tool, which lists the NBA’s 30 teams from worst to first, is updated daily to reflect the outcomes of the previous night’s games.

Our Reverse Standings are essentially a reflection of what 2020’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 playoff teams. Our reverse standings account for that.

Traded first-round picks are included via footnotes. For example, the note next to Cleveland’s pick says that the Cavaliers will send their pick to the Pelicans if it’s not in the top 10. As of today, Cleveland is tied for the NBA’s third-worst record, meaning that pick wouldn’t change hands, even if several teams were to leapfrog the Cavs in the lottery.

When we last checked in on the reverse standings, the Hawks were in the driver’s seat for the NBA’s worst record, but they’ve been at least a little frisky since then, winning four of their last 11 games. During that same stretch, the Warriors have won just a single game and now sit “atop” our reverse standings.

Golden State’s 10-35 record is a half-game worse than Atlanta’s 10-34 mark, with the Knicks (12-32) and Cavaliers (12-32) also within striking distance of the top spot in the lottery.

Although the league’s bottom three teams will all have an equal chance at the No. 1 overall pick (14.0%) and a top-four selection (52.1%), finishing atop the reverse standings would still benefit teams like the Warriors or Hawks — the NBA’s worst team can’t fall further than the No. 5 pick, while the third-worst team could end up selecting as low as No. 7.

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 2020. 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: Derrick Rose

January 20th, 2020 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick Rose is suddenly a hot commodity again. A Yahoo Sports report on Monday indicated that the Lakers, Sixers and several other playoff contenders were interested in dealing for Rose, who is enjoying a career rebirth after nearly retiring a couple of years ago due to knee pain.

Rose had a bounce-back season in Minnesota last year, averaging 18 points in 51 games before his season was cut short by another injury. But he didn’t attract a lot of attention in the free agent market before signing a two-year, $15MM contract with the Pistons.

While the Pistons have floundered due to injuries, particularly to star forward Blake Griffin, Rose has been an offensive juggernaut. He’s averaging 18.3 PPG in 25.8 MPG and shooting a career-high 50.2%. At an age where most guards have lost a step, Rose has seemingly found the fountain of youth. He’s consistent breaking down defenses with quickness and guile and finishing at the rim.

He’d certainly help nearly any of the contenders, either as a starting guard or sixth man, a role he filled with the Pistons until he was inserted into the lineup three games ago. The Lakers have plenty of point guards on the roster but Rose would be an upgrade over any of them. He’d give the Sixers a change of pace option to take pressure off Ben Simmons and dramatically improve their bench.

The Clippers reportedly have only mild interest in Rose, perhaps because they gave up so many assets to secure Paul George‘s services. The Nuggets haven’t publicly been named as a suitor but he could be the piece that puts them on par with the Los Angeles teams. And he’d make marginal contenders like the Heat and Mavericks a lot more dangerous in the postseason.

The Pistons could just hold onto Rose, who has stated he’s happy where he is, and hope for better results next season if Griffin comes back healthy. But it’s more likely they’ll try to cash in and get a future asset or two while Rose is in a groove.

That leads us to our question of the day: If Derrick Rose is traded, where do you think he’ll wind up?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.

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Poll: Eastern Conference’s No. 2 Seed

January 20th, 2020 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Barring a major second-half swoon, the Bucks won’t give up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season. At 38-6, Milwaukee is on pace to win over 70 games and currently has an eight-game cushion over the next-best team in the conference.

While the race for the top seed in the East may already be over, a fascinating race is developing for the No. 2 spot. With six potential contenders in the conference, the importance of nabbing that second seed shouldn’t be understated. Not only would it set up a first-round matchup against a less dangerous opponents like the Magic or Nets, it would also mean avoiding the Bucks until the Eastern Conference Finals and holding home court advantage for two rounds.

As we enter the second half of the season, the Heat currently hold the second seed, but the margin is extremely tight. Here’s what the standings look like for the five teams vying for the No. 2 seed, entering today’s action:

  1. Miami Heat (29-13)
  2. Toronto Raptors (28-14)
  3. Boston Celtics (27-14)
  4. Indiana Pacers (28-15)
  5. Philadelphia 76ers (28-16)

All five teams are separated by just two games, so one hot or cold streak could have a significant impact on seeding. Just ask the Celtics, who could fall out of the top four tonight for the first time since October if their current losing streak extends to four games.

With a real incentive tied to claiming the No. 2 seed, the second-half race among these five teams should be fascinating. The Raptors finally have a healthy roster, and the Pacers will be getting star guard Victor Oladipo back next week. The Sixers have been shakier than expected all year long, but showed their upside on Christmas Day when they dismantled the Bucks. The Celtics and the Heat are in position to potentially upgrade their rosters at the trade deadline if they so choose.

Of course, we should also consider each team’s second-half schedule. According to Tankathon.com, the Heat, Sixers, and Raptors have three of the NBA’s easiest remaining slates, while the Pacers’ schedule ranks in the middle of the pack and the Celtics’ is the eighth-hardest.

What do you think? Which of these five teams do you like best to finish the season strong and claim the No. 2 seed in the East?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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23 Trade Exceptions To Expire Within Next Month

January 20th, 2020 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

As NBA teams consider their trade options before the February 6 deadline, it’s worth keeping in mind that a number of clubs hold traded player exceptions. These traded player exceptions allow over-the-cap clubs to acquire a player – or multiple players – whose salary fits within the TPE without having to send out any salary in return.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Traded Player Exception]

Traded player exceptions can’t be combined with another salary or exception and often aren’t worth much, so most of them ultimately go unused. Still, they can come in handy every now and then, particularly for under-the-tax clubs that don’t mind adding a little more money to their books.

Last season, a total of 23 trades were completed between January 22 and February 7, resulting in 23 trade exceptions that haven’t yet been used or renounced and will expire if they’re not used by this year’s trade deadline.

Here are those traded player exceptions, listed in order of value, with the expiration date noted in parentheses for each TPE:

  • Dallas Mavericks: $11,825,694 (2/7)
  • Miami Heat: $6,270,000 (2/7)
  • Houston Rockets: $3,620,016 (2/7)
  • Houston Rockets: $3,206,160 (2/7)
  • Toronto Raptors: $2,536,898 (2/7)
  • Detroit Pistons: $2,500,000 (2/6)
  • Portland Trail Blazers: $1,740,000 (2/7)
  • Houston Rockets: $1,621,415 (2/7)
  • Toronto Raptors: $1,569,360 (2/6)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: $1,544,951 (2/7)
  • Houston Rockets: $1,544,951 (2/7)
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: $1,544,951 (2/3)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: $1,512,601 (2/7)
  • Houston Rockets: $1,512,601 (1/22)
  • Houston Rockets: $1,512,601 (2/7)
  • Memphis Grizzlies: $1,512,601 (2/7)
  • Toronto Raptors: $1,512,601 (2/7)
  • Dallas Mavericks: $1,233,152 (1/31)
  • Detroit Pistons: $1,140,682 (2/7)
  • Washington Wizards: $311,913 (2/6)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: $266,728 (2/4)
  • Memphis Grizzlies: $184,467 (2/7)
  • Washington Wizards: $183,148 (2/7)

For the full list of traded player exceptions currently available, including a Warriors TPE worth $17MM that probably can’t be used until July, click here.

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Following Specific Players On Hoops Rumors

January 19th, 2020 at 9:18am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors makes it easy to keep up with your favorite NBA teams as they plot their next moves, and we also provide multiple ways to follow the latest updates on all of your favorite players, including the top free agents and trade candidates from around the league.

You can get news about players wherever you go with our Trade Rumors app, available for iOS and Android devices. The app is free and allows you to add a feed for any player and set up notifications that will alert you whenever we write about him. It’s the easiest way to keep tabs on specific players.

If you’re using the desktop or mobile version of our site, there are other ways to follow your favorite player(s). Every player we’ve written about has his own rumors page. You can find any player by using our search box, by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post in which he’s discussed, or by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, LeBron James‘ page is hoopsrumors.com/lebron-james. Those player pages can be added to RSS readers too.

In addition to players, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags that we use at the bottom of posts. For example, you can keep tabs on our 2020 NBA draft stories right here. Items about the NBA G League can be found on this page. You can simply scan our top stories here.

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Hoops Rumors Originals: 1/12/20 – 1/18/20

January 18th, 2020 at 3:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Here are our original segments and features from the past seven days:

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