Hoops Rumors Originals

2019 Offseason In Review: Chicago Bulls

September 26th, 2019 at 4:32pm 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 Chicago Bulls.

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Thaddeus Young: Three years, $40.64MM. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
- Tomas Satoransky: Three years, $30MM. Third year partially guaranteed ($5MM). Acquired via sign-and-trade using cap room.
- Ryan Arcidiacono: Three years, $9MM. Third-year team option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- Luke Kornet: Two years, $4.5MM. Signed using room exception.
- Shaquille Harrison: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($175K). Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Adam Mokoka
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Perrion Callandret: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Milton Doyle: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
  - Note: Deal has been reported but is not yet official.
- Simisola Shittu: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
  - Note: Deal has been reported but is not yet official.
- Justin Simon: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).

Trades:

Acquired Tomas Satoransky in a sign-and-trade from the Wizards in exchange for either the Bulls’ or Grizzlies’ 2020 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable), the right to swap the Lakers’ 2022 second-round pick for either the Bulls’ or Pistons’ 2022 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable), and the Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick with protections removed.
- Note: The Wizards had acquired the Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick with 31-36 protection in a previous trade.

Draft picks:

1-7: Coby White — Signed to rookie contract.
2-38: Daniel Gafford — Signed to four-year, minimum-salary contract. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option. Signed using cap room.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Signed head coach Jim Boylen to contract extension.
Hired Chris Fleming as lead assistant coach.
Hired Roy Rogers as assistant coach.
Received permission to remove Omer Asik‘s cap hit from their books.
Wendell Carter underwent core muscle surgery.

Salary cap situation:

Used cap space; now over the cap.
Carrying approximately $112.31MM in guaranteed salary.
Hard-capped.
$2.52MM of room exception still available ($2.25MM used on Luke Kornet).

Story of the summer:

The Bulls have been in rebuilding mode since trading Jimmy Butler to Minnesota during the 2017 offseason. Chicago won 27 games in 2017/18 and just 22 games last season, reflecting both the team’s ongoing youth movement and a struggle to keep its roster healthy.

While the Bulls aren’t yet ready to go head-to-head with the Eastern Conference’s heavyweights, they entered the 2019 offseason looking to take real steps toward contention. After all, Otto Porter is entering his seventh NBA season, Zach LaVine is entering his sixth season, and Lauri Markkanen will be in his third year. With several of their cornerstone pieces in or nearing their respective primes, the Bulls believe it’s time to win a few more games.

That goal was evident based on Chicago’s approach to free agency. After using the No. 7 overall pick to select point guard Coby White, the team wasn’t content to hand him the keys to the offense, going out and acquiring veteran point guard Tomas Satoransky in a sign-and-trade with the Wizards to add some stability to the backcourt.

The Bulls took a similar approach up front. With veteran center Robin Lopez departing in free agency, the franchise could’ve leaned on its frontcourt duo of Markkanen and Wendell Carter. While those two big men should see plenty of important minutes in 2019/20, Chicago also brought in free agent power forward Thaddeus Young, a reliable veteran who has appeared in 51 playoff contests over the course of his 12-year career.

Outside of Young, Porter (31 playoff games) and Satoransky (16), no other Bull has played in more than one postseason series, so adding vets with that sort of experience was crucial for a club with playoff aspirations.

Key offseason losses:

Wayne Selden and Antonio Blakeney saw regular minutes for the Bulls during the 2018/19 season, but their departures won’t have a huge impact on the team’s rotation. Denzel Valentine will be back to help fill minutes at shooting guard this season behind LaVine, and the club has so many points guards on its roster that I expect we’ll see them sharing the court at times, reducing the need for twos like Selden and Blakeney.

The most noticeable loss in Chicago’s locker room may be Lopez, who has been the team’s veteran leader during its rebuild over the last couple years. The 31-year-old wasn’t putting up huge numbers or playing big minutes (he averaged 9.5 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 21.7 MPG last season), but his understanding of the game and ability to do the little things made him a good mentor for the likes of Markkanen and Carter.

Key offseason additions:

The Bulls’ signing of Jabari Parker during the 2018 offseason was questionable at the time and looked worse as the season progressed. While the team was at least able to use Parker’s expiring contract to acquire Porter from the Wizards, the front office appears to have learned its lesson based on the way it approached free agency this time around.

Rather than focusing on one-dimensional contributors like Parker, the Bulls zeroed in on veterans with more versatile skill sets. Young’s combination of size and agility allows him to guard multiple positions, and he won’t hurt you on offense either — he hasn’t averaged fewer than 11 points per game since his rookie season and he knocks down the occasional three-pointer.

As for Satoransky, he got the chance to play more in Washington over the last two years with John Wall sidelined and showed off impressive efficiency, posting a .501 FG% and .422 3PT% since the start of the 2017/18 season. While his counting stats don’t jump off the page, Satoransky was an important glue guy for the Wizards, who had a +0.7 net rating when he played last season and a -6.4 rating when he sat.

Unlike last year’s big free agent addition, neither Young nor Satoransky needs a ton of touches on offense, meaning their presence shouldn’t stand in the way of having LaVine and Markkanen take on the primary scoring responsibilities.

The Bulls’ other notable addition this summer was No. 7 overall draft pick White, who was widely viewed as the third-best point guard in the draft. The former UNC standout isn’t an elite distributor, so it will be interesting to see what he looks like sharing the backcourt with another shoot-first guard like LaVine. And with so many point guards on the roster (Kris Dunn, Shaquille Harrison, and Ryan Arcidiacono join White and Satoransky), it remains to be seen how many minutes he’ll get. Still, after failing to develop Dunn into the sort of impact player they hoped he’d become, the Bulls will be especially invested in getting it right with White.

Outlook for 2019/20:

I don’t mind what Chicago did in the offseason, and this Bulls roster certainly looks better than the one that only managed to win 22 games last season. Still, the franchise’s upside will ultimately be dictated on what it gets from its up-and-coming young players. The team knows what it can reasonably expect from vets like Young and Satoransky, but the improvements made by players like LaVine, Markkanen, and Carter will be the wild cards.

If the Bulls stay healthier this year than they have in recent years and at least one or two of those young players takes a major step forward, it’s not crazy to envision a scenario where the club sneaks into the postseason. At the very least, the Bulls should remain in the hunt for the playoffs a little longer this time around than they did a year ago, when a 5-20 start had them out of contention well before Christmas.

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

Community Shootaround: Potential Hot-Seat Coaches

September 24th, 2019 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

With the exception of the 2016/17 season, which took place during a period of unprecedented stability for head coaches, at least three NBA teams have made in-season coaching changes in each of the last five years. In 2018/19, Tyronn Lue got the axe after just six games, with Fred Hoiberg and Tom Thibodeau later joining him in the unemployment ranks.

While it’s possible that 2019/20 will be a repeat of ’16/17, recent history tells us that the safer bet is to expect multiple teams to make coaching changes before the season ends.

With that in mind, Ben Golliver of The Washington Post singled out five head coaches around the NBA who might end up on the hot seat in the coming months. Golliver’s picks are Frank Vogel (Lakers), Mike D’Antoni (Rockets), Brett Brown (Sixers), Billy Donovan (Thunder), and Scott Brooks (Wizards).

The Lakers, Rockets, and Sixers will enter the 2019/20 season with championship aspirations, so if they get off to slow starts, it’s not hard to imagine their respective head coaches feeling some pressure.

Vogel was just hired this spring, but he didn’t appear to be L.A.’s first choice and received a shorter-term contract than most other recent hires. D’Antoni is entering a contract year, which is rare for a head coach, and anything short of an NBA Finals appearance will be a letdown for Houston. Brown, meanwhile, appeared to be on the hot seat after losing in the second round of last year’s postseason before Toronto’s championship run made the Sixers’ series against the Raptors look more impressive in retrospect.

As for Donovan and Brooks, they’re suddenly at the helm of rebuilding clubs rather than the contenders they originally signed on to join. The Wizards also have a new head of basketball operations in place, so it’s possible that Tommy Sheppard will want to bring in his own head coach at some point.

What do you think? Will any of those five head coaches be dismissed during the 2019/20 season? Do you expect other coaches to find themselves on the hot seat in the near future?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your two cents!

Poll: 2019/20 NBA Rookie Of The Year

September 22nd, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Promising young rookies enter the NBA every season, but few come with the sort of fanfare that Zion Williamson has. The Duke forward is the kind of prospect who comes along once every few years, following in the footsteps of former No. 1 overall picks like LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Given the hype surrounding him – and the expectations facing him – it’s no surprise that Williamson will enter the 2019/20 season as the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s Rookie of the Year award. The 19-year-old is in position to put up numbers immediately on a Pelicans team that has playoff aspirations, with no veterans ahead of him on the depth chart at the power forward spot.

Williamson’s Rookie of the Year chances are buoyed by the fact that 2019’s draft class wasn’t considered particularly strong. While plenty of this year’s draftees should turn into successful pros, the ’19 class lacks the star power that other recent rookie classes have had. It would be a surprise if three NBA newcomers have the type of seasons that last year’s Rookie of the Year finalists – Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Deandre Ayton – did.

Still, there are players who will push Williamson for Rookie of the Year honors. Sports betting site Bovada.lv lists the Pelicans’ forward as a -130 favorite (you’d have to risk $130 to win $100), with fellow top-three picks Ja Morant (+350; risk $100 to win $350) and RJ Barrett (+550) viewed as the primary challengers. Darius Garland (+1800) and Coby White (+1800) are among the players in the next tier of Rookie of the Year contenders, along with 2018 draftee Michael Porter Jr. (+1600).

With Mike Conley no longer a member of the Grizzlies, Morant should get a chance to take the reins and assume control of the rebuilding franchise right away, and while he may experience some growing pains, he’ll have the opportunity to have some big games. Developing Barrett will be a priority for the rebuilding Knicks too, despite the fact that the team invested heavily in veteran forwards in free agency.

Porter is an intriguing dark horse candidate — like past ROY winners Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin, he’ll have the advantage of having spent a year with an NBA team already, perhaps giving him a leg up on a competition. But it will be difficult for him to carve out a significant role on a deep, talented Nuggets roster. That shouldn’t be a problem for Garland, as the Cavaliers seem likely to jettison some of their veteran talent during the season to clear even more minutes for their youngsters.

Williamson may be the frontrunner, but he’ll have to produce and – perhaps more importantly – stay healthy in order to take home the hardware next spring. Davis, arguably the last No. 1 pick to enter the NBA with this sort of hype, took a year to develop into the impact player many were expecting out of Kentucky. Though he has a streak of six consecutive 20/10 seasons now, AD averaged a modest 13.5 PPG and 8.2 RPG in his rookie year in 2012/13, losing out to Damian Lillard in the Rookie of the Year vote.

What do you think? If you were placing a bet on the 2019/20 Rookie of the Year winner, would you pick Williamson or the field? Which player do you think will be the biggest threat to Zion in this year’s ROY race?

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

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Community Shootaround: New Anti-Tampering Rules

September 21st, 2019 at 9:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

Tampering has quietly existed in the NBA for decades, but teams, players and agents barely tried to hide it this summer. Several big-money contracts were announced shortly after the official start of free agency on June 30 that were obviously too complex to have been formed during the few minutes in which negotiations were legal.

Teams that lost stars complained loudly about the process, and the league decided action had to be taken. The NBA’s Board of Governors voted yesterday to adopt tough new rules, which include a fine of up to $10MM if it’s determined that “egregious” tampering has taken place.

Commissioner Adam Silver stressed that the penalties may not stop with fines. Suspensions of team executives, forfeiting draft picks and voiding contracts are all now on the table.

“We need to ensure that we’re creating a culture of compliance in this league,” Silver said. “Our teams want to know that they’re competing on a level playing field and frankly don’t want to feel disadvantaged if they are adhering to our existing rules.”

The league also has the authority to review cell phones and other electronic communication devices to look for evidence of tampering. That provision has raised the most concern among team officials, who fear that their privacy may be violated and sensitive information could be leaked.

This is hardly the first time the league has promised to crack down on tampering, but the tough talk has never made a difference in the past. Part of the problem is that many of the sales pitches made to players who are under contract come from other players, which the league acknowledges it can’t prevent. There’s no way to stop players at an All-Star Game or an international competition from talking about becoming NBA teammates some day. And the league can’t do anything if friends like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving make plans to join forces when they hit free agency at the same time.

Previous penalties for tampering have never been strong enough to scare teams. The Clippers and Nets, for instance, wouldn’t care how much they were fined or how many draft picks they had to surrender as long as they get to keep the new stars they added.

We want to get your input. Will these latest rules on tampering make a difference, or will business as usual continue behind the scenes?

Head to our comment section below to share your feedback.

Hoops Rumors Originals: 9/14/19 – 9/21/19

September 21st, 2019 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

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 2019 Offseason in Review series continued as we revisited the moves made by the following teams this summer:
Not every 2020/21 rookie scale team option decision will be easy. We singled out five option decisions worth watching as the October 31 deadline approaches.
We focused on open roster spots around the league this week, examining teams with openings on their 20-man rosters, as well as teams carrying the most and fewest guaranteed contracts.
In our lone poll this week, we asked what Andre Iguodala‘s future holds.
In this week’s Community Shootaround discussions, we focused on the following topics:
- Is Team USA still the world’s best? (link)
- Which Eastern Conference lottery teams from 2018/19 will make the playoffs in 2019/20? (link)
- Which players are the best bets to make their first All-NBA team in 2019/20? (link)

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

2019 Offseason In Review: Dallas Mavericks

September 20th, 2019 at 9:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Kristaps Porzingis: Five years, maximum salary ($158.25MM). Fifth-year player option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Maxi Kleber: Four years, $34MM. Includes incentives. Fourth year not fully guaranteed. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- Seth Curry: Four years, $32MM. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Delon Wright: Three years, $27MM. Includes incentives. Acquired via sign-and-trade using trade exception.
- Dorian Finney-Smith: Three years, $12MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Boban Marjanovic: Two years, $7MM. Signed using bi-annual exception.
- J.J. Barea: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Two-way contracts:
- Antonius Cleveland
- Josh Reaves
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Yudai Baba: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Dakota Mathias: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).

Trades:

Acquired the draft rights to Isaiah Roby (No. 45 pick), the Jazz’s 2020 second-round pick, and the Trail Blazers’ 2021 second-round pick from the Pistons in exchange for the draft rights to Deividas Sirvydis (No. 37 pick).
Acquired Delon Wright in a sign-and-trade from the Grizzlies in exchange for the draft rights to Satnam Singh, the Trail Blazers’ 2021 second-round pick, and either the Mavericks’ or Heat’s 2023 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable).

Draft picks:

2-45: Isaiah Roby — Signed to four-year, $6.73MM contract. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option. Signed using mid-level exception.

Waiver claims:

Aric Holman (from Lakers). One year, minimum salary contract (Exhibit 10). Claimed using minimum salary exception.

Contract extensions:

Dwight Powell: Three years, $33.24MM. Starts in 2020/21; runs through 2022/23.

Departing players:

Kostas Antetokounmpo (two-way; waived)
Trey Burke
Devin Harris
Daryl Macon (two-way; waived)
Salah Mejri
Dirk Nowitzki (retired)

Other offseason news:

Hired Jason Terry as assistant GM of Texas Legends.
Mark Cuban fined $50K for leaking information from NBA’s Board of Governors meeting.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Carrying approximately $120.39MM in salary.
Hard-capped.
$297K of mid-level exception still available ($8.96MM used on Seth Curry and Isaiah Roby).
$123K of bi-annual exception still available ($3.5MM used on Boban Marjanovic).
$11.83MM traded player exception available (expires 2/7/20).

Story of the summer:

The 2019 offeason was similar to most other recent offseasons in Dallas for one key reason: The Mavericks entered free agency armed with enough cap room to sign a maximum-salary player, but struck out on their top target(s).

Nikola Vucevic and Al Horford were among the players cited as possible options for the Mavericks. But it was Horford’s decision to opt out and become a free agent in the first place that actually indirectly cost the team its presumed No. 1 target. With Horford and Kyrie Irving leaving Boston, the Celtics suddenly had the cap flexibility to box out the Mavs in the Kemba Walker sweepstakes. Team owner Mark Cuban acknowledged in mid-July that his team had been eyeing Walker and had to “adjust” when the C’s snatched him up.

Still, while there was nothing new about the Mavs missing out on their preferred veteran star in free agency, there was one important difference this time around — the franchise had already acquired a potential cornerstone in a trade earlier in the year. And since Kristaps Porzingis was a restricted free agent, Dallas had no problem locking him up to a five-year, maximum-salary contract.

While the Mavs certainly would’ve liked to add a veteran All-Star like Walker to the mix to form a Big Three with up-and-coming stars Porzingis and Luka Doncic, they’ll have more opportunities to go that route. Doncic won’t get a huge raise until 2022, and the club should have major cap flexibility again in 2021. By that time, perhaps the allure of joining Porzingis and Doncic will strengthen the Mavs’ position in free agency, allowing them to secure the big fish that has eluded them in recent years.

Key offseason losses:

He was far from an elite player during the final year of his career in 2018/19, but Dirk Nowitzki retired this spring as far and away the best Maverick in franchise history. After spending 21 seasons in Dallas, Nowitzki is the team’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, three-pointers, blocks, and way too many other categories to list.

Mark Cuban and the Mavs’ front office probably regrets not being able to build a more effective roster around Nowitzki during the final years of his career. After winning a title in 2011, Dirk only made four more playoff appearances and didn’t make it out of the first round in any of them.

Even if it wasn’t a storybook ending for Nowitzki in Dallas, the 21-year union between the Mavs and the German was a bigger success than an NBA team and player could realistically expect. The 41-year-old retires after having established a new record for most seasons spent with a single team, and it seems inevitable that he’ll get involved with the Mavs’ front office or ownership group at some point.

None of the Mavericks’ other departures were nearly as notable as Dirk’s, but Salah Mejri was a solid backup big man, and Trey Burke and Devin Harris played regular minutes in the backcourt. While Harris remains unsigned and could theoretically still return to Dallas, the team already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts.

Key offseason additions:

Many of the Mavericks’ free agent deals this summer were with their own free agents — Porzingis, Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith, and J.J. Barea all re-upped with Dallas on new contracts. However, the club also brought in a handful of role players who should complement Doncic and Porzingis and solidify the rotation.

Seth Curry, signed using the mid-level exception, enjoyed a breakout season in Dallas in 2016/17, when he averaged 12.8 PPG with a .425 3PT%. A leg injury sidelined Curry for his final season with the Mavs, and he spent the 2018/19 campaign in Portland, but he’s back in Dallas now on a four-year contract that will pay him $32MM.

The Mavs attempted the fourth-most three-pointers in the NBA last season, but ranked 27th in three-point percentage. Their percentage dipped even further after the All-Star break without Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews in the lineup. It made sense then that two of the club’s top targets in free agency were Curry and Danny Green, both of whom ranked in the top three in 3PT% in 2018/19. The Mavs couldn’t land Green, but Curry will be asked to let it fly and provided much-needed floor spacing this season.

Because they remained over the cap, the Mavs held onto the $21MM+ trade exception they generated in last season’s Barnes deal, and used part of that exception to acquire Delon Wright in a sign-and-trade. Wright, who frequently played alongside another point guard during his three and a half years in Toronto, should have no problem sharing the court with Doncic and sharing play-making responsibilities with the second-year star.

In the middle, the Mavs opted to replace Mejri with Boban Marjanovic, a big man capable of looking like the most dominant player on the court in certain matchups and being run off the floor in others. Like Mejri, he probably won’t be asked to play more than 10-15 minutes per game, and there may be nights when he sees less than that.

Outlook for 2019/20:

It’s a new era for the Mavericks in Dallas as the club prepares for life without Nowitzki. While the 14-time All-Star will certainly be missed, the Mavs appear to have identified a pair of players capable of headlining the new era of Dallas basketball, and it will be fascinating to see how Doncic and Porzingis mesh this season.

If the two rising stars stay healthy and make the sort of strides we expect, the Mavs could enter the playoff mix in the Western Conference sooner than we expect. The safer bet is that the duo remains at least a year away from making any real noise in the West, but this is a team on the rise. After three straight seasons of 49+ losses, the Mavs will be expecting to take a step forward in 2019/20.

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

14 NBA Teams Have Open 20-Man Roster Spots

September 20th, 2019 at 7:08pm CST by Luke Adams

With NBA training camps right around the corner, several more teams filled their 20-man offseason rosters this week. The Hornets did so on Monday, with the Mavericks, Pistons, Raptors, and Hawks following suit over the next few days. Those clubs join a list of 16 total teams that don’t have any openings on their offseason rosters.

Of course, every NBA team with a full 20-man roster is carrying multiple players who have non-guaranteed contracts, so it’s not as if any of them would be hamstrung if they really want to sign another player. But for now at least, it appears as if those 16 teams have their 20-man squads set for when camps get underway at the end of the month.

That leaves 14 clubs that still have open roster spots, as our tracker shows. Here’s a breakdown of those teams, along with my speculation on whether we can expect them to make moves within the next week or two:

19 players under contract:

Golden State Warriors
Philadelphia 76ers
Sacramento Kings
Washington Wizards

None of these teams are carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so it’s possible they’ll still add a veteran player who could earn a regular season roster spot. But it’s more likely that they’ll each sign another young player who could end up in the G League, since all four teams have their own NBAGL affiliates. The Wizards, who need to add some point guard depth, are said to be eyeing Chris Chiozza for their final spot.

18 players under contract:

Boston Celtics
Denver Nuggets
Houston Rockets
New Orleans Pelicans
Orlando Magic
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers

While it’s not official yet, the Celtics essentially have a full roster. Kaiser Gates and Yante Maten have both reportedly agreed to Exhibit 10 contracts with the Celtics, but have yet to finalize them. Once they’re under contract, Boston’s 20-man roster will be full.

The Magic could also have a full 20-man roster if and when they complete their reported agreement with Isaac Humphries and sign first-round pick Chuma Okeke. The Pelicans, meanwhile, reportedly reached deals with undrafted rookies Jalen Adams, Javon Bess, and Aubrey Dawkins, but there’s only room for two of them on the roster, so unless New Orleans plans to waive a player, the team won’t be signing all three.

The Rockets are signing Thabo Sefolosha and would have room for one more camp invitee, while I’d expect the Suns to invite two more young players to camp with them.

The Nuggets and Trail Blazers don’t have their own G League affiliates, so they may not fill out their rosters unless they just need healthy bodies for camp.

17 players under contract:

Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls
Oklahoma City Thunder

All three of these teams have their own G League affiliates and should fill out their camp rosters with young players who can play for the Long Island Nets, Windy City Bulls, or OKC Blue. Of course, rumors continue to swirl that the Nets are eyeing Carmelo Anthony, but I wouldn’t expect the Bulls or Thunder to be seeking any veteran help.

Community Shootaround: Potential All-NBA Newcomers

September 18th, 2019 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Last spring, 13 of the 15 players who were named to the All-NBA teams for the 2018/19 season had earned an All-NBA nod at least once in the past. Only two players made an All-NBA team for the first time: Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (First Team) and then-Hornets guard Kemba Walker (Third Team).

There are a handful of players who we can expect to claim spots on one of those three All-NBA teams on an annual basis as long as they stay healthy. James Harden and Stephen Curry have made six All-NBA teams apiece. Russell Westbrook has made eight, while his former teammate Kevin Durant has made nine. LeBron James has earned a staggering 15 All-NBA nods, tying the all-time record.

Still, injuries like the Achilles tear that will sideline Durant for most or all of the 2019/20 season can create openings for newcomers, as can down years by established stars (think Anthony Davis in 2018/19). And longtime All-NBA mainstays like LeBron won’t keep playing at that level forever.

With the 2019/20 season set to get underway next month, we want to know which players you think are in position to potentially grab an All-NBA spot for the first time next spring.

Will a veteran All-Star like Bradley Beal, Jrue Holiday, or Nikola Vucevic make another leap and enter the All-NBA ranks for the first time? Will a former lottery pick like Ben Simmons, Luka Doncic, or Donovan Mitchell break through with a career year that puts him in the conversation for a spot among the league’s top 15 players? Will an up-and-coming star like Devin Booker or Pascal Siakam take advantage of an opportunity to be his team’s No. 1 option and deliver an All-NBA caliber season?

Those players all received All-NBA votes last season, but they’re hardly the only candidates to become an All-NBA player for the first time.

What do you think? Do you expect any NBA players to make an All-NBA for the first time in 2019/20? And which of last season’s All-NBA players – besides Durant – do you expect to fall out of the top 15 next season?

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Cleveland Cavaliers

September 17th, 2019 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- None
Two-way contracts:
- Dean Wade
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Marques Bolden: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Daniel Hamilton: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- J.P. Macura: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Jarell Martin: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Alex Robinson: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Sindarius Thornwell: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Malik Newman: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).
- Levi Randolph: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the draft rights to Kevin Porter Jr. (No. 30 pick) from the Pistons in exchange for the Jazz’s 2020 second-round pick, the Trail Blazers’ 2021 second-round pick, the Trail Blazers’ 2023 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected), and cash ($5MM).

Draft picks:

1-5: Darius Garland — Signed to rookie contract.
1-26: Dylan Windler — Signed to rookie contract.
1-30: Kevin Porter Jr. — Signed to rookie contract (worth less than 120% of the rookie scale).

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Parted ways with head coach Larry Drew.
Hired John Beilein as head coach.
Hired J.B. Bickerstaff as associate head coach.
Hired Lindsay Gottlieb as assistant coach.
Team owner Dan Gilbert hospitalized with stroke symptoms.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Carrying approximately $129.77MM in salary.
Taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,718,000) still available.
- Note: The Cavaliers are below the tax apron ($138.93MM) and could theoretically use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and/or bi-annual exception, but wouldn’t be able to use those exceptions in full while staying below the apron.

Story of the summer:

LeBron James hasn’t suited up for the Cavaliers since June of 2018, but the franchise remains very much in transition mode following his departure. Most of the team’s expensive contracts for veteran players who were acquired to play alongside James won’t expire until after the 2019/20 season, meaning they were still clogging the cap this summer.

With all those contracts on the books, the Cavs had little flexibility to do anything in free agency. And since most of those vets on expiring deals don’t have positive trade value, the club also didn’t have much leverage to get anything done on the trade market.

As such, the Cavs had essentially completed their offseason work by the end of draft night. The team hired a new head coach in the spring, then added three first-round prospects at the draft. One of those three first-rounders – Kevin Porter Jr. – was acquired in Cleveland’s only trade in the offseason, and the cap-strapped club didn’t sign a single veteran free agent to a guaranteed contract.

While the Cavs may have liked to make a few more moves and accelerate their rebuild a little, their cap situation necessitated patience. The organization will be in a better position to be more active at this year’s trade deadline or in the 2020 offseason.

Key offseason losses:

None of the departing Cavaliers players were core pieces. Channing Frye and J.R. Smith were key contributors during the team’s NBA Finals years, but neither player saw much action last season, though Frye at least was still a positive presence in the locker room.

Marquese Chriss and Nik Stauskas, two former lottery picks, arrived in midseason trades and got a chance to make an impression in the Cavs’ rotation. Stauskas played well enough to earn a roster spot on a contender (Portland). However, Chriss struggled and has seemingly generated little interest on the free agent market this summer, just three years after he was drafted eighth overall. He remains unsigned.

David Nwaba is the other notable departure for the Cavs. The young swingman played some solid two-way ball in Cleveland last season, but he wasn’t in the team’s long-term plans. Despite the fact that he was eligible for restricted free agency, the Cavs did him a favor by declining to tender him a qualifying offer, allowing him to sign outright with the Nets.

Key offseason additions:

Having failed to secure a top-four pick in this year’s draft lottery, the Cavaliers missed out on the very best prospects in the 2019 rookie class, including Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and RJ Barrett. With the No. 5 overall selection, Cleveland nabbed Darius Garland, the second point guard drafted in the top 10 by the team in the last two years.

If the Cavs viewed Garland as the best player available, he was the right pick in that spot, but it’s not an ideal outcome for the Cavs that their first two lottery picks in the post-LeBron era – Garland and Collin Sexton – essentially play the same position. While Sexton sounds bullish on the duo’s chances to emulate the success of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in Portland, that may be an unrealistic goal. It will be interesting to see how the two young guards complement one another.

Cleveland completed its draft by selecting Dylan Windler at No. 26 and Porter at No. 30. Windler, who made 3.0 three-pointers per game at a 42.9% rate in his final season at Belmont, will add some outside shooting to the roster, while Porter is the sort of low-risk, high-upside prospect the Cavs can afford to gamble on at this point in their rebuild — especially since the former USC Trojan became the first player in years to accept a salary lower than 120% of his rookie scale amount.

New head coach John Beilein is the other important addition for the Cavaliers this offseason. Based on the candidates who interviewed to replace Larry Drew, it appeared the team was targeting an up-and-coming assistant in the mold of Lloyd Pierce or Taylor Jenkins. Instead, the 66-year-old Michigan head coach was the choice.

While he doesn’t necessarily fit the mold we envisioned, Beilein makes sense as the pick to lead the Cavs’ rebuild — he has spent the last several decades getting the most out of young college players at Michigan, West Virginia, Richmond, and a handful of other schools, establishing his bona fides as a developmental guru. He’ll look to do the same in Cleveland, working with the likes of Garland, Sexton, Cedi Osman, and Ante Zizic, among others.

Outlook for 2019/20:

With a 19-63 record, the Cavaliers were one of the NBA’s worst teams in 2018/19. Given how little their roster changed during the summer, there’s no reason to believe they won’t be firmly in the lottery once again in 2019/20.

If he’s healthy and isn’t traded before the deadline, Kevin Love could help Cleveland win a few more games, but this is a team that will be focused more on player development than its spot in the standings. The Cavs figure to have fewer veterans on their roster by the end of the season than they do today, and won’t be making the pivot to serious playoff contention for at least another year or two.

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

Five 2020/21 Rookie Scale Option Decisions To Watch

September 17th, 2019 at 8:45am CST by Luke Adams

Because the fourth-year team options on rookie scale contracts are significantly more lucrative than third-year options and players selected at the top of the draft receive the highest-paying contracts, no rookie scale option for 2020/21 is worth more than Markelle Fultz‘s. Now that the Magic have officially picked up that option, Fultz will have a $12,288,697 cap charge locked in for the ’20/21 season.

That option was by no means a lock to be exercised. Fultz has only appeared in 33 career NBA games and hasn’t played at all since he arrived in Orlando at last season’s trade deadline. The former No. 1 overall pick has been sidelined since last November with a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome, and the Magic have provided few clues about when he might be ready to return to the court, simply saying that he’s making good progress.

Given how highly touted he was as a prospect, the 21-year-old is still a very intriguing project, and it makes sense that the Magic would want to lock him in for an extra year beyond this season to see if he can deliver on his upside. But that $12.3MM cap hit is a hefty one for a player on a rookie scale contract. It couldn’t have been a quick decision.

While Fultz’s option has been exercised, there are several other players on rookie scale contracts whose 2020/21 options aren’t necessarily slam dunks. Here are five players worth keeping an eye on as the October 31 decision deadline approaches:

Josh Jackson, Grizzlies ($8,930,242): The fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Jackson is joining a new team this summer after two up-and-down years in Phoenix. The terms of the trade that sent him to Memphis suggest that Jackson’s value isn’t particularly high — the Suns had to attach a pair of second-round picks to move his contract. At this point, it seems more likely than not that the Grizzlies will turn down Jackson’s fourth-year option.
Frank Ntilikina, Knicks ($6,176,578): A solid World Cup showing has boosted Ntilikina’s stock a little heading into training camp, but the Knicks still don’t appear all that eager to have him play a significant role for this year’s squad. The team brought in Elfrid Payton in free agency and seems more invested in Dennis Smith Jr. than Ntilikina. With the 2020/21 cap expected to come in at $116MM, a $6.2MM cap hit is barely a drop in the bucket, so I think it’s worth betting on the young point guard, but we’ll see what New York’s front office has in mind.
Justin Jackson, Mavericks ($5,029,650): Acquired in the Harrison Barnes trade at February’s deadline, Jackson played well for Dallas down the stretch, averaging 8.2 PPG on .484/.372/.724 shooting in 29 games (11 starts). That strong second-half audition likely helped secure his $5MM+ salary for the 2020/21 season.
Caleb Swanigan, Kings ($3,665,787): As a former No. 26 overall pick, Swanigan’s 2020/21 option salary won’t break the bank, but with new contracts on tap for Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Kings will likely be looking to maximize their flexibility for next summer. That could mean declining their fourth-year option on Swanigan, who was acquired in a midseason trade with Portland last season.
Tony Bradley, Jazz ($3,542,060): Bradley has only appeared in 12 total NBA games during his first two NBA seasons, having been buried on the depth chart behind Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, and Ekpe Udoh. With Favors and Udoh no longer on the roster, Ed Davis was brought in to back up Gobert, but there could be an opportunity for Bradley as Utah’s third center. Given his lack of NBA playing time so far, it’s hard to get a sense of how seriously the Jazz are invested in Bradley, so the club’s decision on his fourth-year option should provide a hint.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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