Hoops Rumors Originals

Five Key Offseason Questions: New Orleans Pelicans

Like the Timberwolves, the Pelicans entered the 2018/19 season hoping to build on a promising return to the playoffs during the previous spring, but instead saw their year torpedoed by a trade request that led to a messy public saga.

Unlike Minnesota, New Orleans didn’t actually end up trading its star, but that didn’t help the team’s general manager save his job. Dell Demps was dismissed during the season and has since been replaced by David Griffin, a veteran executive who has an NBA championship on his résumé.

It’ll now be up to Griffin to decide what to do with Anthony Davis, but it’s not all bad news for the Pelicans’ incoming executive VP of basketball operations — by virtue of winning the draft lottery earlier this month, the team is positioned to secure a new franchise player, Zion Williamson, even if its current one has played his last game for the club.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Would David Griffin be willing to keep Anthony Davis with no long-term assurances?

Griffin and Davis met today in Los Angeles. According to a report, the two sides are expected to “continue a dialogue” about their future going forward. But for now, let’s assume that despite his best efforts, Griffin is unable to convince Davis to withdraw his trade request and recommit to the Pelicans.

Davis is still under contract for one more year before he can reach unrestricted free agency, and the Pelicans aren’t obligated to trade him. While AD may have burned some bridges with fans in New Orleans, he seemed to be getting along with his teammates and Alvin Gentry‘s coaching staff just fine through the end of the 2018/19 season. He also acknowledged at season’s end that it won’t really be up to him where he plays in 2019/20, admitting that he could return to the team next season.

All that is to say that Griffin and the Pelicans could roll the dice with their All-Star big man, keeping him on the roster to start the ’19/20 campaign. That would give the club more time to sell Davis on a future in New Orleans, and would give AD a chance to see what it’d be like to play alongside Williamson. If he’s still not sold by February, the Pels could flip him at the trade deadline and should still be able to secure a serious haul.

That approach would be a risky one though. If Davis is willing to bypass a super-max extension with the Pelicans this offseason, why should the team have any confidence that he’d change his mind a few months later? And if Davis should suffer a major injury as a Pelican in the fall or winter, his trade value would crater. By moving him this summer, the Pels could bring more suitors to the table and would increase their chances of maximizing the return for their top asset.

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Poll: 2019 NBA Finals Predictions

The 2019 NBA Finals are set to get underway on Thursday night. Game 1 will be the first Finals game to take place outside of the United States, as the 58-24 Raptors narrowly beat out the 57-25 Warriors for home court advantage.

Despite Toronto’s home court advantage and regular season edge – including a 2-0 record vs. Golden State – the Warriors will enter the series as the overwhelming favorites to win their fourth title in five years, and third in a row. Even without Kevin Durant in their lineup for the start of the series, the Dubs have enough weapons on both ends of the court that they’ll be difficult to beat.

Of course, Golden State’s top weapon is Stephen Curry, who has gone into full-on Human Torch mode since Durant went down vs. Houston. In his last five games – all Warriors wins – Curry shot 41.7% on 14.4 three-point attempts per contest, and has scored at least 33 points in every game.

Klay Thompson has been a reliable No. 2 scoring option, averaging 22.6 PPG with a .400 3PT% over those five games, while Draymond Green has filled up the box score (14.8 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 8.4 APG, 2.4 BPG, 2.0 SPG) and been everywhere on defense.

Still, the Warriors have yet to face a defense like this Raptors’ unit in the postseason. Toronto’s starting lineup features a pair of former Defensive Players of the Year (Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol) and a former All-Defensive guard (Danny Green) to go along with stout and savvy point guard Kyle Lowry and an athletic forward who can guard all five positions (Pascal Siakam).

Throw in three-time All-Defensive player Serge Ibaka off the bench, and this is a Raptors team that’s capable of adjusting its scheme to a variety of offensive attacks, and switching, trapping, and helping as necessary. It’s possible that no NBA team can truly stop the Warriors, but this looks like the club that’s best equipped to slow them down.

The Raptors haven’t been as dangerous on offense during the playoffs, but Leonard is capable of single-handedly carrying the squad on that end of the court at times, and has turned in an all-time postseason performance through three rounds (31.2 PPG, 8.8 RPG, .507/.388/.875 shooting). In Thompson, Green, and Andre Iguodala, the Warriors have plenty of excellent defenders to throw at him, but Leonard is talented enough to score 30 points even on nights when the defense plays him well.

What do you think? Will the Warriors cement their place in NBA history by becoming the first franchise since the 2000-02 Lakers to win three straight championships? Or will the Raptors pull off the upset and bring Canada its first ever NBA title?

After voting in our poll, head to the comment section to weigh in further on this showdown. Will we see much of Durant this series? How heavily will the outcome weigh on his presence or absence? Will other injured players like DeMarcus Cousins or OG Anunoby make an impact? Which matchups do you expect each team to try to exploit?

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Top 25 Assets Among Presumed Anthony Davis Contenders

The Anthony Davis sweepstakes are expected to be in full swing until the Pelicans trade the disgruntled big man. Hoops Rumors surveyed past and present NBA executives and scouts to compile a ranking of the players and picks available to the presumed Davis contenders.

We included the Lakers, Knicks, and Celtics, as each has been linked to the big man, as well as the Clippers, who could be the wild card team that acquires him. There may be a number of other suitors for Davis once trade talks begin in earnest, but for now these are the four teams that look best positioned – and most motivated – to make a play for the Pelicans’ star.

Before we move onto our rankings, it’s worth noting that we did not including LeBron James when speaking with sources, since it’s extremely unlikely the Lakers would trade him. Players with the ability to hit the open market, such as Kyrie Irving and Al Horford, were also not included.

Let’s dive in…


1. Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Clippers)
3. No. 3 Overall Pick (Knicks)

There’s an important distinction to remember as we navigate through these players and picks: not everyone within the league is aligned on the value of each asset. The top tier, like many of these clusters, comes down to what exactly you value most.

What route the Pelicans will take if they meet Davis’ trade request isn’t known. New head of basketball operations David Griffin could opt for a full rebuild around Zion Williamson. Or he could look to build around Jrue Holiday and Williamson, aiming to contend for a playoff spot sooner rather than later. The Pelicans were not immediately available to comment on their plan or ranking.

Jayson Tatum is a sure thing. Plug him into the starting lineup in New Orleans and he immediately raises the club’s floor. While he may not ever develop into a true MVP-caliber player and has just two years remaining on his rookie-scale contract, he’s a tantalizing trade chip.

A prospect like R.J. Barrett, the favorite to be selected No. 3 overall, would be on a cost-controlled deal for four years and his cap projection would align with Zion’s in New Orleans, providing an enormous amount of flexibility for a franchise.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has three years remaining on his rookie deal, showed progress over the course of the season and the Clippers love him. While there’s a chance he doesn’t reach it, SGA may have a higher ceiling than Tatum.

One former executive said Gilgeous-Alexander should be No. 1 on this list, telling Hoops Rumors that the 6’5″ point guard would be under strong consideration for the No. 2 overall pick if he were in this year’s draft. Other opinions ranged from definitive top-five selection to simply top 10.

Steve Ballmer‘s club has every asset needed to get a deal done with the Pelicans without including SGA. As for the Celtics, Tatum may not even be on the table in a Davis deal either. Boston could ostensibly acquire Davis without including Tatum, but it would likely require Griffin to have googly eyes for Jaylen Brown or the 2020 Memphis pick (more on that below).

We haven’t heard officially whether the Knicks would pony up the No. 3 overall pick for Davis. There were conflicting reports before the lottery on whether they would have been willing to trade the rights to Williamson for AD if they had landed the No. 1 pick.


4. No. 4 Overall Pick (Lakers)
5. Memphis’ 2020 Top-6 Protected First-Rounder (Celtics)

Opinions are split on the Memphis pick. Some believe the league has overvalued the Celtics’ accumulated selections. For example, the Kings’ selection was once perceived as gold. It ultimately ended up as this year’s No. 14 overall pick (Boston’s, via the Markelle Fultz deal with Philly, via Sacramento’s salary dump of Nik Stauskas, Carl Landry, and Jason Thompson).Read more

Five Key Offseason Questions: New York Knicks

One of the NBA’s most iconic franchises, the Knicks have also been one of the league’s most dysfunctional in recent years. They’re set to enter a crucial offseason after having won between 17 and 32 games in each of the last five seasons.

Having been unable to put together a core of promising young building blocks during their on-again, off-again rebuild over those five years, the Knicks will rely on other assets to improve the roster during the summer of 2019. With a handful of extra future first-round picks in hand and more cap room available than any other NBA team, New York theoretically has the resources necessary to sign two maximum-salary free agents and acquire a third one in a trade.

After months of speculation about which players the Knicks might be able to actually land, we’ll get our answer in the coming weeks.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Will Kevin Durant sign with the Knicks?

Durant himself has given no indication that he’s dead set on leaving the Warriors or that he has a specific destination in mind when he reaches the free agent market this offseason. But based on how the NBA rumor mill works, there’s a widespread belief that the Knicks are already preparing to print thousands of No. 35 jerseys for the 2019/20 season. Reports all season from outlets across the county have indicated that NBA insiders expect Durant to end up in the Big Apple.

Whispers of Durant leaving Oklahoma City for Golden State persisted throughout the second half of the 2015/16 season, and the idea that LeBron James would leave Cleveland for the Lakers was a constant source of speculation leading up to his 2018 free agency. Those are just two high-profile examples of why we should take all the rumors linking Durant to the Knicks seriously.

Even in instances where the NBA’s rumor mill doesn’t necessarily get it right, there can be plenty of warning signs along the way pointing to the eventual outcome. Last summer, for instance, there was a widespread belief that Paul George wanted to join the Lakers, but sourced reports in the weeks and months leading up to his free agency repeatedly stated that the Thunder remained very confident in their ability to re-sign him. If you didn’t discount those reports as misguided optimism, you weren’t surprised by George’s eventual decision to stay in Oklahoma City.

All of this is to say that where there’s smoke, there’s probably fire — those Knicks rumors are coming from somewhere, and there’s reason for New York basketball fans to be excited about the possibility of their team signing Durant.

Still, until Durant puts pen to paper, this is far from a done deal. Since the regular season ended, there have been reports suggesting that uncertainty about Durant’s future has increased, along with reports indicating that the Warriors are still getting a sense that KD might stay. If he doesn’t choose the Knicks, we could be looking back at those stories as the warning signs we missed.

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Community Shootaround: Khris Middleton

The Bucks intend to re-sign all of their top free agents after reaching the Eastern Conference finals. But is that the best course of action?

The biggest question mark surrounds Khris Middleton, generally considered the second-best player on the team behind MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo. Middleton will opt out of the last year of his contract, which would pay him $13MM, and head to unrestricted free agency.

Once marquee agents such as Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler come off the board, Middleton would be viewed as a nice consolation prize for teams with salary-cap space that don’t land one of the big stars. Middleton averaged 18.3 PPG and career highs of 6.0 RPG and 4.3 APG this season after posting an average of 20.1 PPG last season. Middleton is a career 38.8% 3-point shooter and, at 27, in his prime years.

The nagging question is can Middleton be the second-best player on a championship team? Middleton had a 30-point outburst in Game 4 against the Raptors but averaged 10.2 PPG in the five other games of the conference finals.

A max offer for Middleton would be an approximate $189.6MM commitment over five years; he could receive a max of $140.6MM over four years from another team. Whether he gets the max or something close to it, it’s going to be awfully expensive to retain him.

An alternative for the Bucks would be to shoot higher themselves and try to convince a big-name free agent to come their way. The other approach would be to absorb the salary of an All-Star caliber player in a trade with the savings they’ll get by allowing Middleton to sign elsewhere. That doesn’t seem to be the way the Bucks are leaning but it would be a bolder approach.

That leads us to our question of the day: Should the Bucks go all out to re-sign Khris Middleton or should they seek another star to pair up with Giannis Antetokounmpo?

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

Trade Rumors App For iOS/Android

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Players Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions In 2019

When the NBA’s new league year begins on July 1 – or, starting this year, June 30 – players eligible for free agency will be able to begin negotiating and reaching contract agreements with suitors. In addition to those free agents, another group of players will also become eligible to sign new deals.

For players who are entering the fourth and final year of their rookie scale contracts, the first day of the new league year is the first day they can agree to rookie scale extensions. Those players, who are almost exclusively 2016 first-round selections, will have until the day before the 2019/20 regular season to finalize long-term agreements with their current teams.

Players eligible for rookie scale extensions can sign new deals that run for up to four – or five – years, with those contracts taking effect to start the 2020/21 season. If they don’t sign extensions during the coming offseason, those players will be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2020.

A year ago, five players eligible for rookie scale extensions signed new deals between July 1 and the start of the season, which was a fairly modest number compared to some other recent offseasons. We should have at least that many viable candidates for rookie scale extensions this time around, though that doesn’t mean they’ll all sign new contracts.

Here are the players who will be eligible to sign rookie scale extensions this year before opening night:

The following players were selected in the first round of the 2016 draft along with most of the players listed above, but aren’t eligible for rookie-scale extensions this year:

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2019 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Portland Trail Blazers

Despite being swept out of the first round of the postseason in 2018, the Trail Blazers ran back virtually the same roster for the 2018/19 season and the team’s confidence in its core players paid dividends.

With a more favorable playoff draw in 2019, Portland won two series, earning a spot in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in nearly 20 years. The club’s success led to renewed faith in its core, including head coach Terry Stotts and president of basketball operations Neil Olshey, who both signed contract extensions.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Trail Blazers financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000

Offseason Cap Outlook

  • Realistic cap room projection: $0
  • With $126MM already committed to 10 players for 2019/20, the Trail Blazers project to be back in the tax next season unless they can cut costs a little or fill out their roster extremely cheaply. Their odds of creating cap room are extremely slim.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,711,000 1

Footnotes

  1. This is a projected value. If the Trail Blazers were to reduce salary and stay out of tax territory, they could instead have access to the full mid-level exception ($9,246,000) and the bi-annual exception ($3,619,000).

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

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

Weekly Mailbag: 5/20/19 – 5/26/19

We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com.

Do you think the Celtics should focus on their young core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, etc., plus three first-round picks rather luring Anthony Davis? Remember they almost made it to NBA Finals last season even without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward? — Greg Dizon

A lot has changed at the top of the East in the past year. The Bucks added more shooting around Giannis Antetokounmpo and steamrolled the Celtics in the conference semifinals, the Raptors brought in Kawhi Leonard, who led them to their first NBA Finals appearance, and the Sixers traded for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris to form one of the best starting fives in the league. Although more change is likely coming this summer, Boston can no longer count on building a contender around its young players, especially when all are coming off less-than-stellar seasons. Whether Irving leaves or not, the Celtics will need more elite talent to compete for the Eastern Conference crown, and Davis looks like the easiest piece to add.

What are the chances of a sign and trade of Irving? — MERCalomaniac, via Twitter

It’s always a possibility, but the teams rumored to be pursuing Irving — the Knicks, Nets, Clippers and Lakers — all have enough cap space to sign him outright. And most of those teams can either offer two max deals or are a roster tweak or two away from getting there. They may not see the need to send players to Boston when they can already fit Irving on the roster. The Celtics also need to be careful about taking back future salary. Their cap room will be limited if Al Horford opts into a $30.1MM salary for next season. In addition, Marcus Morris and Rozier will both be free agents and Brown will be eligible for an extension this summer. A sign-and-trade is probably the least likely outcome for Irving.

Will Carsen Edwards fall to the Sixers? — Kevin, via Twitter

Edwards is ranked 34th in the latest ESPN Top 100, so unless he has an outstanding performance in pre-draft workouts, he may be on the board not only for their first-round pick at No. 24, but also for their two early second-round selections. Edwards was great in the NBA tournament, but questions about his defense and size have kept him from rising up draft boards.

Community Shootaround: Kawhi Leonard

The Raptors took a franchise-altering risk last summer when they opted to trade for Kawhi Leonard. They’ll find out soon how much that gamble will pay off.

A year away from free agency, Leonard became available after he made it clear that he wouldn’t re-sign in San Antonio following a bitter dispute with Spurs management over the treatment of his quad injury. Leonard played just nine games last season and was meeting with his personal doctors in New York after the Spurs’ medical staff cleared him for action.

Toronto wasn’t on Leonard’s list of preferred locations, but the Raptors were ready to swing for the fences after years of disappointing playoff exits. They risked team chemistry by trading away DeMar DeRozan, a franchise cornerstone and Kyle Lowry‘s best friend, to obtain a player whose health and desire to stay with the organization beyond this season were both in question.

It didn’t take long for Leonard to resolve the first issue. He appeared in 60 games this season, and many of the ones he missed were for “load management” rather than injury. He performed at an All-Star level, averaging 26.6 points per game and reminding everyone why he was considered one of the best two-way players in the league.

Once the playoffs started, he raised his game even further. Coming into tonight, Leonard was averaging 31.4/8.4/3.6 in 17 games. Not only has he brought Toronto to its first-ever NBA Finals, he has become the team’s on-court leader and arguably the MVP of the postseason.

Much like the Thunder did last year with Paul George, the Raptors gambled that they could win over a star player by bringing him into their system and letting him experience success. While the partnership has worked wonderfully and Leonard is a beloved figure in Toronto, there’s still no guarantee it will be more than a one-year arrangement. Leonard has said little to nothing about his future plans, but there have been rumors for a long time that he wants to return home and play on the West Coast.

We want to get your opinion. Do you believe the Raptors have accomplished enough to make Leonard want to stay, or will he move on from Toronto when the offers start coming in this summer? Please leave your answers in the space below.