Hoops Rumors Originals

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.

The Re-Emergence Of NBA Sign-And-Trades

September 6th, 2019 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

In mid-June, I published an article explaining why sign-and-trades had become a rarity in the NBA in recent years, noting that only four such deals had been completed over the previous four offseasons and that none of those four sign-and-trades involved star players.

A month later, after the dust had settled on free agency, NBA teams and player agents had done their best to prove that hypothesis wrong, with a total of 10 free agents having been signed-and-traded. On top of that, approximately half of those signed-and-traded players were among the very best free agents on the market this summer.

One offseason doesn’t necessarily signal the start of a new trend, but it’s worth examining the factors that caused the sign-and-trade deal to re-emerge so emphatically in 2019. Here are a few of those factors worth considering:

1. Teams with restricted free agents showed more willingness to sign-and-trade them.

If a team has a restricted free agent who is drawing serious interest from a rival suitor, that team would typically face two possibilities if the RFA signs an offer sheet: Either let him go for nothing or match an offer sheet that probably won’t be particularly team-friendly.

During the summer of 2019, clubs were more inclined to pursue a third path, negotiating sign-and-trade agreements that allowed the RFA’s new suitor to acquire him outright — as long as that suitor was willing to give up a couple draft picks.

The Pacers‘ acquisition of Malcolm Brogdon from the Bucks was the most notable example of this kind of transaction. Milwaukee landed a lottery-protected first-round pick and a pair of second-round picks in exchange for Brogdon. Other sign-and-trades involving RFAs for draft picks included the Bulls acquiring Tomas Satoransky, the Timberwolves acquiring Jake Layman, and the Mavericks securing Delon Wright.

I could see other teams going down this avenue in the future — if both sides are willing to play ball, working out a sign-and-trade can be a win-win solution, whereas the aftermath of an offer-sheet battle can leave both teams unhappy.

Still, it’s worth noting that specific sets of circumstances might’ve played a part in this year’s increase in RFA sign-and-trades. The Wizards and Grizzlies had new management groups in place, meaning they may not have been as attached to Satoransky and Wright as the old decision-makers were. The Bucks and Trail Blazers, meanwhile, would’ve been on the hook for substantial tax payments if they had ponied up to retain Brogdon and Layman.

2. Capped-out teams losing top free agents positioned themselves to get something back from the teams signing away their stars.

There were two noteworthy instances this summer of this scenario playing out. One occurred when Kevin Durant agreed to sign with the Nets, while the other happened after Kemba Walker‘s commitment to the Celtics.

In the case of Durant, Brooklyn’s dual acquisitions of KD and Kyrie Irving made restricted free agent D’Angelo Russell expendable and left the Warriors without the cap room necessary to sign any top free agents outright. So Golden State negotiated to turn Durant’s departure into a sign-and-trade, netting Russell in the process. The move required D-Lo’s go-ahead and would’ve fallen apart without it, but he quickly got on board when it became clear the Warriors were willing to offer him a maximum-salary contract.

The Nets had the cap space available to sign Durant without needing a sign-and-trade, but they got a draft pick from the Dubs to sweeten the deal. Plus, the sign-and-trade structure allowed Brooklyn create a little extra cap flexibility to offer DeAndre Jordan a $9.88MM starting salary. That probably wouldn’t have been possible if the club had to sign both Durant and Irving using cap space, as we detailed in July.

The Hornets found themselves in a similar boat to the Warriors once their All-NBA point guard committed to Boston. Charlotte was capped-out and wouldn’t have been able to offer more than the mid-level exception to any free agents without going the sign-and-trade route. Like Russell in Brooklyn though, Terry Rozier was no longer in the Celtics’ plans once they secured Walker, so the two teams worked out a sign-and-trade deal that sent Rozier to the Hornets.

Although Boston acquired a second-round pick in the swap, the deal seemed to be more about doing right by Rozier, who wouldn’t have been able to land in Charlotte on a three-year, $57MM deal without the Celtics’ cooperation.

It’s possible that this is the sort of sign-and-trade deal we could see in future offseasons, but once again, it required a pretty specific set of circumstances. In each of these deals, the following three criteria were met:

An All-NBA player changed teams.
His old team was over the cap.
His new team had a talented restricted free agent who had become expendable.

That scenario isn’t so unprecedented that it’ll never happen again, but I certainly don’t expect we’ll see it every offseason.

3. One team worked out a sign-and-trade deal in order to preserve its mid-level exception.

During the July moratorium, word broke that San Antonio had agreed to sign DeMarre Carroll to a two-year, $14MM contract. The Spurs were on track to use their mid-level exception to complete the signing, but changed course once it became clear that they could land Marcus Morris to a two-year, mid-level deal as well.

The Spurs reworked their deal with Carroll, adding a third year to make it sign-and-trade-eligible, then sent Davis Bertans and his $7MM salary to Washington in a three-team trade for salary-matching purposes. Acquiring Carroll via sign-and-trade allowed the Spurs to save their MLE for Morris.

It was a solid idea in theory, but it backfired when Morris backed out of his agreement with San Antonio in order to sign a one-year contract the Knicks. The Spurs ultimately used part of their MLE to sign Trey Lyles, but they may not have sacrificed Bertans in the first place if they knew Morris would back out.

It’ll be interesting to see if the outcome here dissuades teams from taking this approach in the future. If the Spurs had had a trade exception big enough to acquire Carroll via sign-and-trade, it would’ve been a lower-risk move, but having to surrender Bertans before Morris was able to put pen to paper ultimately cost the team a solid rotation piece.

4. One over-the-cap team had no choice but to sign-and-trade for a star free agent who committed to the team.

In many ways, the Heat‘s acquisition of Jimmy Butler via sign-and-trade was the sort of deal fans imagine when they speculate about sign-and-trades. The Heat were capped out, but the sign-and-trade concept allowed them to land a star free agent without needing any cap room. It’s a textbook example of why a sign-and-trade can sometimes be necessary.

Still, the Butler deal is also a good case study for why sign-and-trade deals have been so rare in recent years. Because the Sixers didn’t want to take on a ton of salary from Miami, the Heat had to find another team to take on a contract or two in order to accommodate Butler’s incoming max salary. They initially thought they had an agreement in place with Dallas involving Goran Dragic, but it fell through, leaving the 76ers and Heat in search of a new trade partner.

Eventually, the deal got done, but not before two more clubs got involved, with the Clippers and Trail Blazers joining the mix to make it a four-team trade. The end result was a complicated trade that took multiple days to negotiate and complete, and might have fallen through altogether if the Heat and Sixers hadn’t already reached an agreement that needed to get done one way or another.

Even after completing their sign-and-trade for Butler, the Heat will feel the effects of the deal all season long, since it imposed a $138.93MM hard cap on team salary. Miami has managed to stay under that cap, but won’t be able to carry a 15th player to start the season and will have very limited flexibility to make additional roster changes over the course of the year.

It’s appropriate that the sign-and-trade launched its comeback tour during the NBA’s 2019 offseason — there was so much player movement and general weirdness during the summer that teams had to get creative to land their targets and fill out their rosters.

Still, while some of the sign-and-trade strategies that teams deployed this offseason will come in handy again in future years, it’d be a surprise if sign-and-trade deals continue to be completed at this rate in 2020 and beyond.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Hoops Rumors Originals

Hoops Rumors’ 2019 NBA Free Agent Tracker

September 6th, 2019 at 12:39pm CST by Luke Adams

We’re over two months into 2019’s NBA free agent period, and with news of contract agreements and signings continuing to trickle in, Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep track of which players are heading to which teams this offseason.

To this end, we continue to update our Free Agent Tracker, a feature we’ve had 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 sometimes be based on what’s been reported to date, so those amounts could be approximations rather than official figures. Salaries aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed either.
Our tracker will continue to be updated with the latest moves right up until opening night. Signings completed after the season begins won’t be included.
If you’re viewing the tracker on our mobile site, be sure to turn your phone sideways to see more details.

Our 2019 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, 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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Hoops Rumors Originals

12 NBA Salary Guarantees To Watch In October

September 6th, 2019 at 11:29am CST by Luke Adams

The majority of the NBA players who are currently on non-guaranteed contracts won’t have their salaries for 2019/20 become fully guaranteed until January 10. That’s the league-wide salary guarantee date and the default deadline that applies to players who haven’t negotiated an earlier salary guarantee date.

Still, some players did negotiate an earlier trigger date, and the majority of those deadlines will arrive in October. At least a dozen players around the NBA are believed to have partial or full guarantees that will go into effect in October.

Now, it’s worth noting that salary guarantee dates are somewhat malleable. If the player’s camp agrees, a team can quietly move that deadline back, giving the club more time to make a decision on whether or not to fully invest in its player for the 2019/20 season. The player doesn’t necessarily have to agree, but he may be on board with postponing that deadline if the alternative is being waived and receiving none of his salary.

Most of our information related to salary guarantee dates is coming from the salary database at Basketball Insiders, and BI hasn’t published all the details on the latest signings from around the NBA yet. In other words, there could be a few more recently-signed players who have October salary guarantee dates.

For now though, these are the 12 players believed to have salary guarantee dates coming up next month:

Full guarantees:

Ivan Rabb (Grizzlies): Partial guarantee of $371,758 increases to full guarantee of $1,618,520 salary if not waived by October 19.
Chris Boucher (Raptors): Partial guarantee of $125,000 increases to full guarantee of $1,588,231 salary if not waived by first day of regular season.
Malcolm Miller (Raptors): Partial guarantee of $150,000 increases to full guarantee of $1,588,231 salary if not waived by first day of regular season.
Duncan Robinson (Heat): Partial guarantee of $1,000,000 increases to full guarantee of $1,416,852 salary if not waived by first day of regular season.
Kenrich Williams (Pelicans): Partial guarantee of $200,000 increases to full guarantee of $1,416,852 salary if not waived by first day of regular season.

Partial guarantees:

Christian Wood (Pistons): $1,645,357 salary becomes partially guaranteed ($822,679) if not waived before first day of regular season.
Trey Burke (Sixers): Partial guarantee of $405,000 increases to $810,000 if not waived by first day of regular season (full salary is $2,028,594).
Jordan McRae (Wizards): Partial guarantee of $400,000 increases to $600,000 if not waived by first day of regular season (full salary is $1,645,357).
Dragan Bender (Bucks): Partial guarantee of $300,000 increases to $600,000 if not waived by first day of regular season (full salary is $1,678,854).
Ben McLemore (Rockets): Partial guarantee of $50,000 increases to $500,000 if not waived by first day of regular season (full salary is $2,028,594).
Kendrick Nunn (Heat): Partial guarantee of $150,000 increases to $450,000 if not waived by first day of regular season (full salary is $1,416,852).
William Howard (Jazz): Partial guarantee of $50,000 increases to $250,000 if not waived by first day of regular season (full salary is $898,310).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Community Shootaround: The Next Pascal Siakam

September 5th, 2019 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

Few NBA players make the sort of leap that Pascal Siakam did from his second season to his third. The former No. 27 overall pick appeared to be developing into a solid role player during his first two years in the league, but his modest numbers in 2017/18 didn’t portend the breakout that was around the corner.

Still, there were some hints leading up to the 2018/19 season that Siakam was capable of taking a big step forward. Stories surfaced in the offseason about his eye-opening summer workouts and scrimmages at UCLA, where he worked with player development coach Rico Hines and impressed stars like James Harden and Paul George.

Although a one-year ascension like Siakam’s – from solid rotation piece to borderline All-NBA candidate – may be rare, it’s worth scouring the league to see if there are candidates to make that same kind of jump in the 2019/20 season.

D.J. Foster of The Ringer explored this topic earlier in the offseason, identifying another Raptors forward, OG Anunoby, as one candidate to have a Siakam-esque breakthrough year. Foster also singled out Trail Blazers center Zach Collins, Grizzlies guard De’Anthony Melton, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, and Kings big man Harry Giles as contenders to be “the next Siakam.”

While I like Foster’s list, I’ll add a couple more names for consideration. Spurs guard Dejounte Murray was generating the same kind of hype as Siakam leading up to the 2018/19 season, but Murray’s ascent was derailed by an ACL tear that sidelined him for the year. If he’s 100% healthy, the former 29th overall pick is still capable of making the star turn that San Antonio envisioned a year ago.

Meanwhile, in Portland, second-year guard Anfernee Simons has been the subject of buzz around the NBA in recent months. The Trail Blazers showed confidence in his ability to contribute right away when they traded away backup point guard Evan Turner this summer. Given Simons’ age (20) and the fact that Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum will handle most of the play-making responsibilities in Portland, it’s not clear if he’s ready for stardom quite yet, but the franchise clearly has high hopes for him.

What do you think? Are there any young players around the NBA who are poised for breakout seasons after flying mostly under the radar so far? Who do you think has the best chance to be 2019/20’s version of Siakam?

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

What Teams Can Do With Exhibit 10 Contracts

September 3rd, 2019 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Once the first wave of NBA free agency is over in mid-July, many free agents who sign with teams for the rest of the summer and into the fall receive Exhibit 10 contracts. As we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, Exhibit 10 contracts are one-year, non-guaranteed deals that essentially function as training camp invitations for veterans and rookies alike.

Exhibit 10 contracts appeal to NBA teams for a handful of reasons. Notably, they don’t count against a club’s cap during the offseason and preseason, meaning hard-capped teams like the Warriors and Heat can still fill out their camp rosters with players on Exhibit 10 deals.

Additionally, the Exhibit 10 clause is versatile enough to allow teams to make a variety of moves with players once the preseason ends. Here’s a breakdown of the options teams will have with those players this fall:

1. Carry the player on the team’s 15-man regular season roster

If a team is counting on a camp invitee to make the regular season roster, it will usually try to sign him to a multiyear contract, perhaps sweetening the deal with a partial guarantee. Still, it’s not unheard of for a player on an Exhibit 10 contract to make a strong impression in the preseason and earn himself a spot on a club’s 15-man squad.

In that scenario, the Exhibit 10 deal would begin counting against the team’s cap as of opening night, and would be treated as a standard one-year, minimum-salary contract. If the player remains under contract through January 10, his full salary would become guaranteed. He’d subsequently be eligible for free agency in 2020, and if he has fewer than four years of NBA experience under his belt, he’d be restricted.

2. Convert the player to a two-way contract

Not every team will have room on its 15-man roster for an Exhibit 10 player who looks great in camp, but some of those teams with full rosters might have a two-way contract slot open. Teams can unilaterally convert Exhibit 10 deals into two-way contracts without having to put the player through waivers, where he could be claimed by a rival franchise.

It appears that some teams will invite a handful of Exhibit 10 players to camp and have them compete for two-way deals. The Heat, who have yet to fill either of their two-way slots, are definitely taking this route. The other teams without a two-way player under contract – the Raptors and Rockets – may take a similar approach, and there are nine more teams with a single two-way opening.

One added perk of using this option? Once the player is on a two-way contract, he and the team can subsequently negotiate a new standard contract – even a multiyear deal – without going through the waiver process. Those negotiations aren’t possible if the player is still on an Exhibit 10.

3. Designate the player as a G League affiliate player

Teams can carry 20 players on their offseason rosters, but just 15 – plus a pair of two-way players – in the regular season. As such, many players signed to Exhibit 10 deals will be the odd men out at the end of the preseason and will be released.

Still, that doesn’t necessarily bring a player’s time with the organization to an end. Up to four players waived by teams prior to the season can be designated as “affiliate players” and assigned to their G League squads (assuming the player is on board). Exhibit 10 contracts go hand-in-hand with this arrangement, since they entitle a player of a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and subsequently spends two months with his team’s G League affiliate.

Many NBA clubs will sign players to Exhibit 10 contracts for the sole purpose of eventually getting those players on their NBAGL rosters and making sure the players get some bonus money in the process.

For players coveted by more than one team, this process can be a complicated one. It’s not uncommon for an undrafted free agent to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with one NBA team, be released by that team early in the preseason, than sign a new Exhibit 10 deal with a second team before being waived again at the end of the preseason.

In that scenario, the player may have originally committed to play for one organization’s G League affiliate before changing course when a better opportunity arises. Assuming his NBAGL returning rights aren’t already held by a team, the NBA club that signs him last would be the one eligible to make him an affiliate player.

It’s also worth noting that the affiliate option doesn’t apply to teams without their own G League teams. The Nuggets and Trail Blazers can sign players to Exhibit 10 contracts, but can’t offer them a $50K bonus to play in the NBAGL, since neither Denver nor Portland has its own affiliate.

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Hawks, Warriors, Grizzlies Have Made Most Offseason Trades

September 3rd, 2019 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

A total of 43 trades have been completed by NBA teams since the 2018/19 season ended, including three deals involving three teams and one that included four teams. No club has been more active on the trade market during that time than the Hawks, who completed eight deals. However, the Warriors and Grizzlies have been hot on their heels, with seven trades apiece.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Offseason Trades]

The Hawks were active early and often in the offseason. They were involved in the first trade agreement of June when they agreed to acquire Allen Crabbe from Brooklyn on June 6, then were part of the league’s first two officially-finalized pre-draft deals when they sent one second-round pick to the Warriors and another to the Heat.

Atlanta didn’t make any massive splashes on the trade market, but the trade up to No. 4 to land De’Andre Hunter‘s draft rights from New Orleans involved eight total players or picks, qualifying it as a modest blockbuster.

The Warriors made one massive move, acquiring D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade deal with Brooklyn, but otherwise their summer swaps mostly focused on keeping team salary in check below the hard cap. Golden State moved veterans like Andre Iguodala and Damian Jones to cut costs, while acquiring second-round picks such as Alen Smailagic and Eric Paschall for their modest cap hits.

As for the Grizzlies, they’ve been one of the NBA’s most active teams after overhauling their front office in the spring. Their seven deals were all made with an eye toward the future, as they moved on from franchise point guard Mike Conley and loaded up on draft picks, netting three first-round selections and three more second-rounders over the course of the summer.

Here are a few other notable details related to this offseason’s trades so far:

Teams that have made the most trades:

Atlanta Hawks: 8
Golden State Warriors: 7
Memphis Grizzlies: 7
Philadelphia 76ers: 5
Washington Wizards: 5
Brooklyn Nets: 4
Detroit Pistons: 4
Miami Heat: 4
New Orleans Pelicans: 4
Oklahoma City Thunder: 4
Phoenix Suns: 4
Utah Jazz: 4

Teams that have made the fewest trades:

Toronto Raptors: 0
Charlotte Hornets: 1
Chicago Bulls: 1
Cleveland Cavaliers: 1
Houston Rockets: 1
New York Knicks: 1
Orlando Magic: 1
Sacramento Kings: 1
San Antonio Spurs: 1

Players who have been traded multiple times:

Kyle Korver: Jazz to Grizzlies to Suns (waived by Phoenix).
Shabazz Napier: Nets to Warriors to Timberwolves.
Treveon Graham: Nets to Warriors to Timberwolves.
De’Andre Hunter (draft rights): Lakers to Pelicans to Hawks.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (draft rights): Nets to Hawks to Pelicans.
Ty Jerome (draft rights): Sixers to Celtics to Suns.
Kevin Porter Jr. (draft rights): Bucks to Pistons to Cavaliers.
Jordan Bone (draft rights): Pelicans to Hawks to Sixers to Pistons.

2019 All-Stars or All-NBA players who have been traded:

Anthony Davis: Pelicans to Lakers.
Kevin Durant: Warriors to Nets.
Paul George: Thunder to Clippers.
Kemba Walker: Hornets to Celtics.
Russell Westbrook: Thunder to Rockets.

2020 first-round picks that have been traded:

Bucks‘ 2020 first-round pick to Celtics (via Suns; top-7 protected).
Cavaliers‘ 2020 first-round pick to Pelicans (via Hawks; top-10 protected).
Jazz‘s 2020 first-round pick to Grizzlies (1-7, 15-30 protection).
Nuggets‘ 2020 first-round pick to Thunder (top-10 protected).
Nets‘ 2020 first-round pick to Hawks (top-14 protected).
Pacers‘ 2020 first-round pick to Bucks (top-14 protected).
Sixers‘ 2020 first-round pick to Nets (top-14 protected).
Warriors‘ 2020 first-round pick to Nets (top-20 protected).

Future first-round picks that have been traded:

Heat‘s 2021 first-round pick to Thunder (via Clippers; unprotected).
Lakers‘ 2021 first-round pick to Pelicans (9-30 protected).
Clippers‘ 2022 first-round pick to Thunder (unprotected)
Heat‘s 2023 first-round pick to Thunder (via Clippers; top-14 protected).
Clippers‘ 2024 first-round pick to Thunder (unprotected).
Lakers‘ 2024 first-round pick to Pelicans (unprotected).
Rockets‘ 2024 first-round pick to Thunder (top-4 protected).
Warriors‘ 2024 first-round pick to Grizzlies (top-4 protected).
Clippers‘ 2026 first-round pick to Thunder (unprotected).
Rockets‘ 2026 first-round pick to Thunder (top-4 protected).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Remaining Offseason Questions: Southwest Division

September 2nd, 2019 at 6:01pm 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 nearly a month away, many clubs around the league have at least one or two outstanding issues they’ve yet to address.

We’re in the midst of 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 on Sunday. Today, we’re moving on to the Southwest. Let’s dive in…

Dallas Mavericks
Will the Mavericks move Courtney Lee‘s expiring contract?

Although the Mavericks had a solid summer, they didn’t make the sort of splash in free agency or on the trade market they might have hoped for. At this point in the offseason, a major roster addition is unlikely, but Dallas could still look to upgrade the squad with a trade involving Lee’s expiring contract.

Lee is earning $12,759,670 in 2019/20. The NBA’s trade rules would allow the Mavs to take back a player making up to $17,759,670 in a straight-up deal for the veteran swingman. Andre Iguodala is said to be one potential target on Dallas’ radar, but the Mavs and Grizzlies haven’t been able to agree on the draft compensation that would be involved in a Lee/Iguodala swap.

There are other players on expiring deals who might make sense as targets for Dallas, including a handful of veterans in Charlotte and Cleveland. The Mavs could also go after a player on a longer-term contract if they find a trade partner looking to create some extra 2020 cap flexibility.

If the Mavs don’t move Lee before the season begins, he’ll likely be involved in trade rumors again before the deadline.

Houston Rockets
How will the Rockets fill out their regular season roster?

No NBA team is currently carrying fewer players on non-guaranteed contracts than the Rockets. Only nine players on Houston’s roster have fully guaranteed salaries for the 2019/20 season. The team is required to carry at least 14 players in the regular season, so that leaves five potential openings on the roster.

Gary Clark and Isaiah Hartenstein are in good position to claim two of those spots. The Rockets have spent some time and energy developing both players, and they each have a partial guarantee worth north of $700K.

Even if we assume Clark and Hartenstein are locks to make the team though, that leaves at least three openings available for the likes of Ben McLemore, Anthony Bennett, Chris Clemons, Michael Frazier, Shamorie Ponds, William McDowell-White, and perhaps Terrence Jones.

It will be interesting to see whether Houston leans toward keeping veterans like McLemore and Jones or youngsters like Ponds and Clemons. I think the former scenario is more likely, but it also wouldn’t be at all surprising to see the team add a couple more players to the mix to compete for the regular season roster.

Memphis Grizzlies
What will the Grizzlies do with Andre Iguodala?

When the Grizzlies acquired Iguodala from the Warriors two months ago, he was essentially treated as a negative asset due to Golden State’s cap situation — the Dubs had to attach a future first-round pick and cash in order to move him. However, the Grizzlies reportedly believe Iguodala can be moved for positive value.

It would be extremely impressive if Memphis’ new management group could get a second first-round pick by flipping Iguodala, but that doesn’t seem all that realistic unless the team is willing to take on some unfavorable multiyear money.

If the Grizzlies have an offer on the table that would net them a second-round pick and a cheaper expiring contract (Iguodala is on the books for about $17.2MM), they should probably jump on it. It’s hard to imagine them getting better value at this time of year, and if Iguodala doesn’t want to be there, hanging onto him into the season could create some friction.

A buyout remains possible if Memphis doesn’t get any favorable trade offers and the former Finals MVP is willing to give up a chunk of his ’19/20 salary, but it seems as if the club would like to avoid that outcome.

New Orleans Pelicans
How will the Pelicans respond to a potential season-ending injury for Darius Miller?

Less than two months after signing a lucrative new contract to remain in New Orleans, Miller suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon that will likely sideline him for the entire 2019/20 season. It’s a tough blow for both the veteran forward and the Pelicans, who will have to lean even more heavily on newly-acquired J.J. Redick as the club’s primary outside threat.

Now that they’ll be without an important three-point shooter, we’ll see if the Pelicans’ approach to building the back of their roster is affected at all. Kenrich Williams may be more likely to earn one of the final two slots on the 15-man roster, given his potential to stretch the floor (he was a 39.5% three-point shooter in his final college season in 2017/18).

There are still some solid shooters on the free agent market too, if the Pelicans want to go in that direction. A veteran like Jodie Meeks or John Jenkins could be a fit, and it’s worth noting that new head of basketball operations David Griffin has a history with former Cavs guard J.R. Smith, who remains unsigned.

San Antonio Spurs
Will Dejounte Murray or DeMar DeRozan sign contract extensions?

Currently, no one on the Spurs‘ roster has a guaranteed contract beyond 2020/21. That could change this offseason though if the team locks up Murray to a rookie scale extension or DeRozan to a new veteran deal.

Murray looks to me like the stronger candidate for an extension, but an August report indicated that San Antonio hasn’t ruled out the possibility of offering DeRozan a maximum contract extension. The shooting guard would be eligible for a starting salary of up to about $33.3MM for the 2020/21 season, with annual raises increasing the value of the deal from there.

A new contract for Murray wouldn’t be nearly that expensive, and could be an intriguing gamble for the Spurs if the young guard is open to signing at a relatively team-friendly rate. Before he tore his ACL last fall, Murray was viewed as one of the NBA’s prime breakout candidates — San Antonio will be hoping that breakout season was just delayed by a year.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Rookie Scale

September 2nd, 2019 at 5:06pm CST by Luke Adams

When a star player like Zion Williamson enters the NBA, his new team – in this case, the Pelicans – can rest assured that there will be little to no chance of him holding out for a larger contract. That’s because a first-round NBA draft pick is only eligible to sign a rookie scale contract, which limits his leverage and ensures that his draft slot will dictate how much he gets paid.

A rookie scale contract for first-rounders is always for two guaranteed seasons, with team options for the third and fourth seasons of the deal. The scale amount is strictly set by draft position for the first three years of the contract, with the amount of the fourth year determined by a percentage raise on the third-year salary, as RealGM’s rookie scale chart for 2019 picks shows.

Players are eligible to sign for as little as 80% or as much as 120% of the scale amount, though almost every player signs for the full 120%. Cavaliers first-round pick Kevin Porter Jr. became the first player in several years to sign for just 80% of his rookie scale amount this year, and even that rate only applies to his rookie season — he’ll get the full 120% in years two through four.

Under the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the rookie scale will eventually increase annually at the same rate as the salary cap. In that scenario, a 5% salary cap increase would mean a 5% increase to rookie scale salaries.

However, the league has been gradually phasing in a 45% overall increase to rookie salaries over the last three seasons (15% per year), complicating that formula. For instance, while the cap only increased by about 7.1% from 2018/19 to 2019/20, the rookie scale amounts for each pick increased by approximately 19.5%.

For the 2019/20 season, the first-year rookie scale amount for the first overall pick is $8,131,200. That number increases to $8,537,900 in year two and $8,944,500 in year three, with a 26.1% raise for year four and a 30% raise for a fifth-year qualifying offer. Williamson signed with the Pelicans for 120% of that amount, meaning his contract looks like this:

Season	Salary
2019/20	$9,757,440
2020/21	$10,245,480
2021/22	$10,733,400
2022/23	$13,534,817
2023/24	$17,595,262

Team option in green
Qualifying offer in blue

The scale amounts and fourth- and fifth-year raises vary depending on draft position. Top picks earn the highest salaries, while late first-round picks get the most substantial bumps at the end of their contracts. For instance, the 30th overall pick gets an 80.5% raise between years three and four, with a qualifying offer increase of 50%.

Here are several more details relating to rookie scale contracts:

Only first-round picks are eligible for rookie scale contracts. Second-rounders must be signed using cap room or exceptions.
A team does not have to be under the cap to sign rookie scale contracts. Any team can give a first-rounder a full 120% rookie contract, regardless of its cap status.
Because 120% contracts are so common, the cap hold for a first-round pick is also 120% of the player’s rookie scale amount.
If a player hasn’t signed by January 10, his rookie scale amount becomes prorated each day for the remainder of the season until he signs.
Teams have until October 31 each year to make decisions on the team-option seasons in rookie scale contracts. By October 31, 2019, teams will have to decide on the options for the 2020/21 season.
Players coming off rookie-scale contracts may be eligible for larger or smaller qualifying offers in their fifth year, based on whether or not they meet the “starter criteria.” I explained this in greater detail here.
If a team signs a first-round pick within three years of drafting him, the rookie scale for the year in which he signs is used. For instance, the Sixers acquired 12th overall pick Dario Saric in a draft-night deal in 2014. When Saric arrived stateside two years later, he signed a contract based on the rookie scale salary for the No. 12 pick in 2016.

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

An earlier version of this post was published in 2012. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cash Sent, Received In NBA Trades For 2019/20

September 2nd, 2019 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

During each NBA league year, teams face limits on the amount of cash they can send out and receive in trades. Once they reach those limits, they’re no longer permitted to include cash in a deal until the following league year.

For the 2019/20 NBA season, the limit is $5,617,000. If a team is including cash in a deal, the minimum amount required is $110,000.

The limits on sending and receiving cash are separate and aren’t dependent on one another, so if a team sends out $5,617,000 in one trade, then receives $5,617,000 in another, they aren’t back to square one — they’ve reached both limits for the season and can’t make another deal that includes cash.

Adding cash to a deal can serve multiple purposes. It can be a sweetener to encourage a team to make a deal in the first place, like when the Timberwolves acquired Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham from the Warriors. The Wolves were doing the hard-capped Dubs a favor by taking those unwanted contracts and the fact that Golden State had to include $3.6MM in cash along with Napier and Graham, essentially covering their salaries, reflected that.

Cash can also be a necessity to meet CBA requirements. This was the case in the three-team trade involving the Pacers, Suns, and Heat that sent T.J. Warren to Indiana and second-round pick KZ Okpala to Miami. Phoenix needed to receive something in the deal, so the Pacers sent $1.1MM in cash to the Suns, the minimum amount necessary to meet the “touching” requirement in a three-way deal.

We’ll use the space below to track each team’s cash sent and received in trades for the 2019/20 season, updating the info as necessary leading up to the 2020 trade deadline and for the first part of the 2020 offseason next June. These totals will reset once the calendar turns to July 2020 and the ’20/21 league year begins.

Atlanta Hawks

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $2,543,629
- Received $1,313,576 from Clippers.
- Received $1,759,795 from Trail Blazers.

Boston Celtics

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Brooklyn Nets

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Charlotte Hornets

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Chicago Bulls

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Dallas Mavericks

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $4,817,000
- Received $800,000 from Thunder.

Denver Nuggets

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Detroit Pistons

Cash available to send: $3,617,000
- Sent $2,000,000 to Sixers.
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Golden State Warriors

Cash available to send: $17,000
- Sent $2,000,000 to Grizzlies.
- Sent $3,600,000 to Timberwolves.
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Cash available to send: $4,617,000
- Sent a conditional $1,000,000 to Thunder. *
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Indiana Pacers

Cash available to send: $4,517,000
- Sent $1,100,000 to Suns.
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Los Angeles Clippers

Cash available to send: $4,193,424
- Sent $110,000 to Heat.
- Sent $1,313,576 to Hawks.
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Los Angeles Lakers

Cash available to send: $4,617,000
- Sent $1,000,000 to Pelicans.
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Memphis Grizzlies

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $3,617,000
- Received $2,000,000 from Warriors.

Miami Heat

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,507,000
- Received $110,000 from Clippers.

Milwaukee Bucks

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Minnesota Timberwolves

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $2,017,000
- Received $3,600,000 from Warriors.

New Orleans Pelicans

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $3,517,000
- Received $1,100,000 from Wizards.
- Received $1,000,000 from Lakers.

New York Knicks

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Oklahoma City Thunder

Cash available to send: $4,817,000
- Sent $800,000 to Mavericks.
Cash available to receive: $4,617,000
- Received a conditional $1,000,000 from Rockets. *

Orlando Magic

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Philadelphia 76ers

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $3,617,000
- Received $2,000,000 from Pistons.

Phoenix Suns

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $4,517,000
- Received $1,100,000 from Pacers.

Portland Trail Blazers

Cash available to send: $3,857,205
- Sent $1,759,795 to Hawks.
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Sacramento Kings

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

San Antonio Spurs

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Toronto Raptors

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Utah Jazz

Cash available to send: $5,617,000
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

Washington Wizards

Cash available to send: $4,517,000
- Sent $1,100,000 to Pelicans.
Cash available to receive: $5,617,000

* Note: The Rockets owe the Thunder a 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected). If that pick is protected and not conveyed in 2026, the Rockets would instead owe the Thunder $1MM in cash along with their ’26 second-round pick.

Information from Basketball Insiders and various media reports was used in the creation of this post.

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