Hoops Rumors Originals

Poll: Andre Iguodala’s Future

September 15th, 2019 at 2:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies, Andre Iguodala, and Iguodala’s potential suitors appear to be engaged in a game of chicken as training camps approach for the 2019/20 season.

Memphis acquired Iguodala in an offseason trade with the Warriors, but the move was a straight salary dump for Golden State and the Grizzlies are in rebuilding mode, so it seemed as if the former Finals MVP would push for a trade or buyout to join a contender.

For now though, the Grizzlies appear unwilling to seriously engage in buyout talks, having indicated that they’d like to start the season with Iguodala serving as a veteran mentor to their young prospects. Meanwhile, teams that might be interested in acquiring Iguodala via trade or buyout also seem content to wait, recognizing that the veteran swingman should eventually become available either at a more reasonable trade cost or as a free agent.

Iguodala’s camp would probably like to speed up the process, but unless the former Warrior is willing to surrender a large chunk of his $17MM salary in a buyout agreement, he has little leverage to force the Grizzlies’ hand.

A trade partner could potentially land Iguodala sooner rather than later by offering Memphis a first-round pick without a cumbersome multiyear contract attached, but it doesn’t seem as if any team is desperate enough to pay that price at this point.

With Iguodala’s outlook for 2019/20 still up in the air, we want you to weigh in. Will his situation be resolved before the season begins, or will he have to wait until closer to the trade deadline? And when the Grizzlies eventually trade him or buy him out, which contender will he join?

Vote in our poll on Iguodala’s timeline, then jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts on his next destination!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Community Shootaround: Is Team USA Still The World’s Best?

September 14th, 2019 at 8:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

At least they were better than Poland.

Team USA wrapped up a disappointing World Cup experience this morning with a 13-point win over the Polish contingent in a battle for seventh place. It’s not what the Americans expected going into the tournament or where they appeared to be headed when the invitations for training camp went out last month.

But that was before Anthony Davis passed on the chance to play in China, followed by James Harden, Eric Gordon, Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, Tobias Harris, Kevin Love and a host of other NBA stars. The final 12-man roster didn’t have enough shooting, size or cohesiveness to compete with the world’s best teams, resulting in the worst finish for the Americans in a major tournament since NBA players started participating in 1992.

It’s easy to dismiss this year’s results and expect Team USA to be back on top at the 2020 Olympics. But Kobe Bryant, who helped re-establish American dominance after a similar performance in 2004, isn’t buying it.

“It’s not a matter of the rest of the world catching up to the U.S., it’s that the rest of the world has been caught up for quite some time,” Bryant told Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “And it’s to the point now where us in the U.S. are going to win some, we’re going lose some. And that’s just how it goes.”

Windhorst believes the Americans didn’t underachieve, but finished about where their talent level should indicate. They lost to France and Serbia in the tournament and dropped an exhibition game to Australia, leaving their overall record at 7-3. It would have been 6-4 if not for a fortunate win over a Turkish team that let a victory slip away because of missed free throws.

Whatever the roster looks like for 2020, Team USA won’t have the overwhelming talent advantage it has gotten used to in Olympic play. LeBron James will be 35. Kevin Durant may still be awaiting his return from an Achilles injury. Kawhi Leonard has never played in an Olympics or World Cup and isn’t a sure thing to participate.

As Bryant noted, the rest of the world has been catching up for a while. Many teams are filled with NBA players and work together frequently, while the Americans will be starting from scratch when Olympic training camp begins.

We want to get your opinion. Does the World Cup performance mean that Team USA’s Olympic crown is in jeopardy?

Head to our comment section below to share your feedback.

Hoops Rumors Originals: 9/7/19 – 9/14/19

September 14th, 2019 at 5:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

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:

Our Offseason in Review series spotlighted the Knicks.
This week’s Community Shootaround discussions focused on:
This week’s poll, published in the wake of Team USA’s elimination, asked which team would win the 2019 World Cup.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

2019 Offseason In Review: New York Knicks

September 13th, 2019 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2019 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 moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2019/20 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the New York Knicks.

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Julius Randle: Three years, $56.7MM. Third year partially guaranteed ($4MM). Signed using cap room.
- Bobby Portis: Two years, $30.75MM. Second-year team option. Signed using cap room.
- Taj Gibson: Two years, $18.5MM. Second year partially guaranteed ($1MM). Signed using cap room.
- Wayne Ellington: Two years, $16MM. Second year partially guaranteed ($1MM). Signed using cap room.
- Elfrid Payton: Two years, $16MM. Second year partially guaranteed ($1MM). Signed using cap room.
- Marcus Morris: One year, $15MM. Signed using cap room.
- Reggie Bullock: Two years, $8.2MM. Second year partially guaranteed ($1MM). Signed using room exception.
Two-way contracts:
- None
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Amir Hinton: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- V.J. King: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Lamar Peters: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Kenny Wooten: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).

Trades:

Acquired the draft rights to Ignas Brazdeikis (No. 47 pick) from the Kings in exchange for the draft rights to Kyle Guy (No. 55 pick) and cash ($1MM).

Draft picks:

1-3: RJ Barrett — Signed to rookie contract.
2-47: Ignas Brazdeikis — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Third year team option. Signed using cap room.

Departing players:

Henry Ellenson (declined team option)
Billy Garrett (declined team option)
Mario Hezonja
Isaiah Hicks (two-way)
John Jenkins (declined team option)
DeAndre Jordan
Luke Kornet
Emmanuel Mudiay
Lance Thomas (waived)
Noah Vonleh

Other offseason news:

Reggie Bullock underwent surgery for cervical disc herniation.
Damyean Dotson underwent surgery on torn labrum.
Hired Mike Miller as assistant coach.

Salary cap situation:

Used cap space; now over the cap.
Carrying approximately $112.6MM in salary.
$767K of room exception still available ($4MM used on Reggie Bullock).

Story of the summer:

As the Knicks and their fans endured a forgettable 17-65 season in 2018/19, optimism persisted that better days were around the corner.

Rumors that free agents like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were strongly considering a move to New York swirled all season long, especially after the Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas to create a second maximum-salary slot.

While the Porzingis blockbuster was criticized by a wide swath of Knicks fans, most of those fans were at least cautiously hopeful that the deal signaled how confident the front office was in landing two stars in free agency. That belief became even more prevalent after team owner James Dolan offered the following assessment in March: “From what we’ve heard, we’re going to have a very successful offseason.”

You know by now how things actually played out. The Knicks weren’t seriously considered by any of the very best free agents on the market, and just hours into free agency – after missing out on its top targets – the organization put out a public statement to address fans’ disappointment, re-wording and re-issuing that statement moments later to insert a mention of the team’s “core of young players” in its rebuilding plans.

Rather than landing a pair of stars to jumpstart their ascent to contention, the Knicks ended up signing a series of veteran role players to short-term contracts. Those players will likely help the franchise win more games in 2019/20, but New York’s coaching staff will have to walk a fine line in balancing playing time for its incoming veterans with minutes for that “core of young players” the club is still determined to develop.

The short-term contracts those veteran free agents signed will allow New York to retain salary cap flexibility for the next two summers. But there’s no reason at this point to expect the Knicks to have any more success recruiting stars in 2020 or 2021 than they did this summer. There’s still plenty of work to be done to rehab the unflattering reputation the franchise has earned in recent years.

Key offseason losses:

After striking out on their top targets on the open market, the Knicks could have retained some of their own veteran free agents, but opted to let virtually all of them walk. Among those players, DeAndre Jordan, Emmanuel Mudiay, Noah Vonleh, and Mario Hezonja were perhaps the most notable.

Jordan was supposed to help recruit Durant and Irving to the Knicks, but joined the duo across town in Brooklyn instead. As for Mudiay, Vonleh, and Hezonja, it seems as though they and/or the Knicks had little interest in new deals — none of them signed for more than $2MM with their new teams, so it’s not as if New York couldn’t have afforded them.

Although the Knicks lost some veteran leadership in the frontcourt when they waived Lance Thomas, he was no longer an effective on-court performer by the end of last season. Luke Kornet, a seven-footer who made 36.0% of his three-point attempts in two seasons with New York, is also gone.

Key offseason additions:

With plenty of cap room available and no stars to use it on, the Knicks committed over $40MM of their 2019/20 team salary to Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, and Elfrid Payton. While New York had to spend its money somehow in order to reach the salary floor, it was a little surprising to see the club invest so heavily in this group of players rather than using its cap flexibility to accommodate salary dumps.

As we saw in trades that sent Andre Iguodala to Memphis, Maurice Harkless to the Clippers, and Allen Crabbe to Atlanta, teams around the NBA were willing to attach first-round picks to unwanted contracts this summer.

Taking on one or two of those unwanted contracts could have helped the Knicks stockpile future assets. It also could’ve helped create more opportunities to get their young prospects consistent playing time while not necessarily compromising their ability to acquire veteran talent — Iguodala, Harkless, and Crabbe all figure to play rotation minutes this year.

Instead, the Knicks will move forward with players like Randle, Portis, and Payton, who have put up big per-game numbers for lottery teams throughout their respective careers. Of the three, only Portis has ever appeared in the postseason, having played a bench role for a 2016/17 Bulls team that was eliminated in the first round.

Incoming veteran free agents Taj Gibson and Wayne Ellington have better records of success, but they’re no more than role players at this point in their respective careers (Gibson is 34 years old, while Ellington will turn 32 in November). Reggie Bullock would have been a solid addition to the rotation, but he’s not healthy, having undergone cervical disc surgery in July. It remains to be seen when he’ll make his Knicks debut.

The Knicks’ best free agent addition of the summer might have been Marcus Morris, whom the team snatched away from the Spurs after he had already reached a tentative agreement to sign with San Antonio. But that signing came after New York had already signed Randle, Portis, and Gibson, three players who essentially play the same position as Morris. Perhaps Morris can slide down to small forward, though it’s hard to imagine many effective lineups that feature more than two of those players.

While New York’s approach in free agency may have been questionable, the team’s most important acquisition happened in June. RJ Barrett, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft, figures to play a more crucial role on the Knicks’ next playoff team than any free agents signed this summer. Fans were disappointed not to land the No. 1 overall pick and Zion Williamson, but Barrett’s star potential shouldn’t be understated — he could eventually develop into one of the NBA’s best perimeter scorers.

Outlook for 2019/20:

Once it became clear that the Knicks weren’t going to sign Durant, Irving, or other star free agents, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the franchise to “win” the offseason. It’s at least a step in the right direction that the front office didn’t make any misguided long-term commitments to lesser options, a la Joakim Noah in 2016.

Still, while this stopgap Knicks team should win more than 17 games, it doesn’t look like a serious playoff threat, even in the league’s lesser conference. The club’s primary goals should be getting good value for its veteran trade chips before February’s deadline and making sure that young players like Barrett, Kevin Knox, and Dennis Smith Jr. get plenty of opportunities to play and improve over the course of the season.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Community Shootaround: 2019/20 MVP Contenders

September 13th, 2019 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

After Giannis Antetokounmpo beat out James Harden in a competitive two-man race for the 2018/19 NBA Most Valuable Player award, oddsmakers have made Antetokounmpo the favorite to earn MVP honors again in 2019/20.

BetOnline gives Antetokounmpo +350 odds to win the MVP award next season, meaning you’d have to risk $100 to win $350. Over at Bovada, Giannis is considered an even stronger frontrunner, with +300 odds.

Still, there are plenty of contenders who could spoil an Antetokounmpo repeat. Both Bovada and BetOnline give Stephen Curry the second-best MVP odds, with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard, and Joel Embiid rounding out the top seven candidates.

An MVP case often relies heavily on both team success and narrative, which helped Giannis win the award this past spring — the Bucks won a season-high 60 games thanks in large part to his excellence on both ends of the court. It’s easy to imagine making a similar case for the Greek Freak next year if Milwaukee once again finishes first in the East. On the other hand, if the Sixers grab the No. 1 seed, Embiid might have a stronger case.

In the West, Curry is a popular pick now that Kevin Durant is no longer in the picture, since the league’s premier sharpshooter will be back to carrying the Warriors‘ offensive load like he did during his previous two MVP seasons — his scoring responsibilities will be even greater with Klay Thompson on the shelf for much of the season. Harden, meanwhile, is a perennial contender for the award, and LeBron, AD, and Kawhi could be in the mix if one of the L.A. teams finishes atop the West.

Among the dark horse candidates for the award, my two favorite picks are Nikola Jokic and Damian Lillard.

Jokic (+1500 on Bovada, +1600 on BetOnline) is the lone superstar on the Nuggets‘ roster, and after finishing second in the West last season, it wouldn’t be a total shock if Denver takes another step forward and finishes with atop the conference. Jokic, who averaged 20.1 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 7.3 APG in 2018/19, could theoretically approach a triple-double average and would have a strong case as the clear-cut best player on the West’s best team in that scenario.

Lillard (+2800 on Bovada, +2500 on BetOnline) would probably have to increase his numbers beyond his current career highs of 27.0 PPG and 6.9 APG and count on the Trail Blazers making a similar run to the top of the West in order to be considered a true MVP contender. But that’s not entirely out of the question. At age 29, he’s very much in his prime and may have one more leap left in him.

Finally, while I’m skeptical about his chances to legitimately compete for an MVP award this early in his career, it’s worth noting that Luka Doncic‘s MVP odds on BetOnline are +1600, compared to +5000 on Bovada — the latter is obviously a significant better value if you’re bullish on Doncic’s outlook and want to wager on his MVP chances.

What do you think? Who is your way-too-early pick for the 2020 NBA MVP award? Are there are any dark horses that you like as under-the-radar candidates?

Head to the comment section below to share your two cents!

Poll: Which Team Will Win 2019 World Cup?

September 11th, 2019 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Heading into the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Team USA was the odds-on favorite to bring home the gold medal, despite a roster lacking its usual star power. Serbia, led by Nikola Jokic, was considered the challenger with the best chance to knock off the Americans.

When the single-elimination portion of the tournament got underway, the two powerhouses appeared to be on track to meet in the semifinals. Two days later though, both USA and Serbia have been eliminated from medal contention and will instead meet in the loser’s bracket, with both clubs unable to place higher than fifth.

With the presumed top two teams in the tournament now eliminated, the World Cup is wide open, with a handful of programs very much in the mix for the gold. Here are the four remaining contenders:

Australia: The Boomers weren’t exactly dominating the early rounds of this tournament, but they managed to win all five of their round-robin games despite a modest point differential of +42 (the third-best mark in their second-round group of four teams). Led by NBA players like Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, and Joe Ingles, Australia beat the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals and will now face Spain in the semifinals.

Spain: Once considered the top international threat to Team USA, Spain had lost some talent – including longtime center Pau Gasol – entering this year’s event. But Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Juan Hernangomez, and the rest of the Spaniards have had an impressive run in China this month, winning all six games they’ve played, including an upset over Serbia and a fairly comfortable win over Poland in the quarterfinals.

Argentina: They don’t have a single current NBA player on their roster, but the Argentinians have been as dangerous as ever in this year’s World Cup, compiling a 6-0 record that includes an impressive quarterfinal victory over Serbia. Former NBA players like Luis Scola, Patricio Garino, Nicolas Laprovittola have helped lead the way, with EuroLeague point guard Facundo Campazzo dishing out 8.0 assists per game.

France: Of the remaining contenders, France is the only team that has lost a game in the World Cup, having fallen to Australia by a single basket in the second round. However, the French squad is also the only team that knocked off the U.S. in the tournament, and will look to carry that momentum into a semifinal showdown with Argentina. NBA veterans Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier have been France’s anchors, with Nicolas Batum, Frank Ntilikina, and Nando De Colo also playing key roles.

What do you think? Which of the four remaining teams do you think will win two more games and take home World Cup gold?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to make your case!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Community Shootaround: Bring Back The SuperSonics?

September 7th, 2019 at 9:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jack Sikma dedicated part of his Hall of Fame induction speech Friday night to campaigning for a return of the SuperSonics. Sikma was one of Seattle’s most recognizable players and part of its only NBA championship team in 1979. His number 43 is among seven that have been retired by the franchise.

“To all the diehard Sonic fans who proudly sport the green and gold … there’s a hole in Seattle that needs to be filled,” Sikma said in comments relayed by Anthony Olivieri of ESPN The Magazine. “Speaking for all Sonics fans, it’s our great hope that the NBA will soon find a pathway to bring a franchise back to Seattle. It’s time.”

The Sonics were a beloved part of the Pacific Northwest from their creation in 1967 until Clay Bennett moved them to Oklahoma City in 2008. Although it has since been broken, the team set a league attendance record by averaging 21,725 fans per night during the 1979/80 season.

Hope for a return was reignited by a new $900MM facility that will serve as home to Seattle’s expansion NHL team, which begins play in 2021. The building sits on the site of the former KeyArena, and fans in the area hope it will eventually house the Sonics as well.

Although Seattle has been rumored to be atop the NBA’s expansion list ever since the original team left, there’s no indication that the league plans to add teams any time soon. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly thrown cold water on the idea.

“There’s no doubt there are a number of cities in the United States that could host NBA basketball, but we analogize it to selling equity,” he said in July. “I think we would want to make sure at the time we expanded we felt it would help grow the entire league and not just support the NBA in that particular city.”

What do you think? Does it make sense for the NBA to add another team or two right now? Or is it smarter to wait, regardless of the emotional attachment that many have to the Sonics?

Head to our comment section below to share your feedback.

Hoops Rumors Originals: 8/31/19 – 9/7/19

September 7th, 2019 at 2:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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:

This week in our Community Shootaround discussions, we focused on:
- Players who might have breakout seasons as Pascal Siakam did last season.
- Which players that signed with teams overseas might return to the NBA this season and make an impact.
Luke Adams provided details of how many trades each teams has made during the offseason.
Every team has $5.617MM in cash available to include in trades. How much money does your favorite team have left? Take a look here.
In this week’s Poll, we asked:
- Which veteran player will have a bigger impact this season, Joe Johnson or Carmelo Anthony? Our readers chose Johnson, but the margin was close. Check the results here.
We broke down what teams can do with players on Exhibit 10 contracts.
Which teams are currently above the luxury tax line? Find out here.
This year’s Remaining Offseason Questions series continued as we focused on the Western Conference:
Luke Adams detailed why sign-and-trades have become popular again.
We took a closer look at the 12 players whose contracts include salary guarantees in October.
In our Hoops Rumors Glossary, we took an in-depth look at rookie scale contracts.

Five Key Stories: 8/31/19 – 9/7/19

September 7th, 2019 at 1:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:

Veteran big man Nene re-signed with the Rockets and will play an 18th season in the league. When Nene opted out of the final year of his most recent contract back in June, many NBA experts believed he would retire. He instead chose to play at least one more season with Houston and will join another veteran center Tyson Chandler on the bench to back up starter Clint Capela.

The Kings and guard Buddy Hield are trying to reach an extension agreement. Sacramento GM Vlade Divac said that the two sides are trying to work toward a new deal before opening night. “We are … every day is working and Buddy’s a big part of this team, and we’ll figure something out down the road,” Divac said. “We’re working on it and we’ll figure out something. Buddy is (a) very important piece to this franchise.” Based on the NBA’s latest salary cap projection for 2020/21, Hield would be eligible for up to nearly $170MM on a five-year contract.

Joe Johnson‘s possible return to the NBA seems imminent after he lined up workouts with the Pistons, Bucks and Nets. Johnson, 38, did not play for an NBA team during the 2018/19 season. But he joined Ice Cube‘s BIG3 league this summer and excelled in the 3-on-3 format. He was named the BIG3’s MVP after leading the league in points and assists, then scored 28 points in the 2019 championship game.

Nets forward Rodions Kurucs was arrested on a domestic violence charge. Kurucs was accused of choking and other acts of violence toward his ex-girlfriend. Kurucs’ arrest in New York City has spurred the Nets to investigate the incident and he could be facing a suspension from the team and the league.

The Nuggets signed second-year pick Bol Bol to a two-way contract. No player drafted as high as 44th overall has signed a two-way contract to start his career since the NBA introduced two-way deals in 2017. However, the Nuggets and Bol had incentive to go this route for a variety of reasons. Bol is returning from a stress fracture in his foot that sidelined him for much of lone college season. At the same time, Denver has luxury-tax concerns.

Here are 10 more noteworthy headlines from the past week:

The Hornets signed Kobi Simmons to a training camp contract.
Carmelo Anthony‘s handlers are trying to improve his image. Anthony now insists he’s willing to be a role player.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum suffered an ankle sprain during the FIBA World Cup.
The Heat signed guard Davon Reed to a training camp deal.
Kevin Durant spoke at length about the Nets season and when he might return.
The Bulls opted to release guard Antonio Blakeney.
Jared Cunningham had a workout lined up with the Rockets.
Houston officially signed Eric Gordon to a four-year extension.
Dwyane Wade won’t completely rule out a comeback.
A contract agreement between the Knicks and rookie Kris Wilkes fell through.

Photo courtesy of USA Sports Images.

Remaining Offseason Questions: Pacific Division

September 6th, 2019 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams have now completed the brunt of their offseason work, with the draft and free agency practically distant memories. Still, with training camps still a few weeks away, many clubs around the league have at least one or two outstanding issues they’ve yet to address.

We’ve spent the last couple weeks looking at all 30 NBA teams, separating them by division and checking in on a key outstanding question that each club still needs to answer before the 2019/20 regular season begins.

After focusing on the Atlantic, Southeast, and Central last week, we headed West and tackled the Northwest and Southwest this week. Today, we’re finishing things up with the Pacific. Let’s dive in…

Golden State Warriors
Will the Warriors try to create any additional breathing room under the hard cap?

As I noted earlier this week when I took a closer look at teams currently in luxury-tax territory, the Warriors are only about $407K from their hard cap, assuming they intend to retain Alfonzo McKinnie along with their 13 players on guaranteed contracts.

That proximity to the hard cap will significantly limit the Warriors’ roster flexibility this season. The Dubs won’t be able to carry a 15th man until late in the year. They’ll have little ability to replace an injured player on the roster. And they essentially won’t be able to take back more salary than they send out in any trade.

Warriors management would surely love to create some breathing room by cutting costs, but there aren’t many realistic ways for the team to move further below the hard cap. Only six players have cap hits greater than $2MM. Three of them – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green – aren’t going anywhere, and the other three – D’Angelo Russell, Kevon Looney, and Willie Cauley-Stein – can’t be traded until at least December 15, even if the club wanted to.

In other words, if they want to create any extra room below their hard cap, the Warriors may have to get awfully creative.

Los Angeles Clippers
Who will be the Clippers’ 15th man?

The Clippers are carrying 14 players with fully guaranteed salaries and four with non-guaranteed camp contracts, leaving the door open for one of those non-guaranteed players – Donte Grantham, Terry Larrier, James Palmer Jr., or Derrick Walton Jr. – to claim the 15th regular season roster spot.

While it’s possible that one of those players will become the Clippers’ 15th man, I’d expect a team with title aspirations to be thinking bigger. Leaving that final roster spot open to start the season in case opportunities arise on the trade or buyout market is probably the most likely path for Los Angeles.

Still, it’s possible those opportunities will arise even before the season begins, as they did for L.A.’s other team when the Lakers signed Dwight Howard. Andre Iguodala is likely the Clippers’ top target to fill out the roster, but other veterans may shake loose as teams set their rosters this fall.

Los Angeles Lakers
Do the Lakers have a recovery timetable in mind for DeMarcus Cousins?

Assuming Dwight Howard looks okay in training camp, he’s on track to fill the Lakers‘ 15th regular season roster spot. Like the rival Clippers though, the Lakers are a team with championship aspirations and will want to make sure they’re optimizing all 15 roster spots. That’s where Cousins comes in.

A torn ACL isn’t quite as serious as a torn Achilles, so it’s possible Cousins will be able to make it back before the end of the 2019/20 season. But it’s his third major leg injury in the last two years, so he certainly shouldn’t be in a rush to return.

Cousins’ contract with the Lakers is only for one year, and he’ll receive his full $3.5MM whether or not he spends the whole season on the team’s roster. If the Lakers determine Cousins will miss the entire season, it would probably make sense to waive him and open up that roster spot for someone who could contribute in 2019/20.

While releasing Cousins now would create some added preseason roster flexibility, the Lakers won’t necessarily have to make this decision before the season begins — waiving him in, say, January would still open up opportunities at or after the trade deadline. His contract could also be used for salary-matching purposes in a deal.

Phoenix Suns
Is Devin Booker happy with the Suns’ offseason?

With the 2018/19 season winding down in March, Booker spoke about being involved in the Suns‘ offseason roster moves, suggesting that there was an “understanding” when he signed his five-year contract extension with the club that he’d have a voice in those decisions.

Booker hasn’t spoken in depth this summer about the Suns’ offseason, so it’s not clear if he pushed for – or voiced support for – any of the team’s acquisitions, such as Ricky Rubio, Dario Saric, Aron Baynes, Frank Kaminsky, or first-round pick Cameron Johnson. We did hear in the spring that Booker had no input in the firing of Igor Kokoskov, and a report during free agency suggested that Phoenix opted not to pursue point guard D’Angelo Russell despite Booker’s advocacy.

The Suns certainly have no obligation to run every move by their star guard, and as long as the on-court results start to improve, Booker should be on board with the direction of the franchise. Still, it’s a situation worth keeping an eye on. Even though he’s several years away from free agency, any sign of tension between Booker and the Suns would be a cause for some concern.

Sacramento Kings
Will the Kings sign Buddy Hield to a rookie scale extension?

With Ben Simmons, Jamal Murray, and Caris LeVert locked up to rookie scale extensions, Hield (along with Raptors forward Pascal Siakam) may be the next in line for a new deal. The Kings have until October 21 to get something done with their young sharpshooter, and GM Vlade Divac confirmed this week they’re working on it.

It will be fascinating to see if the Kings and Hield’s camp can agree on a fair price in the coming weeks. If he replicates or builds upon his impressive 2018/19 season, Hield can reasonably expect to get big-time offers as a restricted free agent in 2020, especially given how weak next year’s free agent class projects to be. He has some leverage, and won’t necessarily have to settle for a team-friendly deal.

The Kings, on the other hand, will have to be careful in negotiations with Hield, since he’s the first of many young players they’ll need to lock up in the coming years — De’Aaron Fox will be extension-eligible in 2020, with Marvin Bagley to follow in 2021. The higher they go for Hield, the less flexibility – and leverage – the Kings will have in those future negotiations.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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