Hoops Rumors Originals

Hoops Rumors Originals: 2/23/19 – 3/2/19

March 2nd, 2019 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

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

We explained how Anthony Davis‘ trade request could have an indirect – but significant – impact on Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves.
I revisited the protections on 2019’s traded first-round picks to get a sense of which selections are locks to change hands, which will ones will be protected, and which ones are still up in the air.
We took a closer look at all the 10-day contracts expiring this week, examining the roster situations for the teams that signed those deals.
Chris Crouse spoke to Bulls forward Otto Porter about his move to Chicago and the direction of the franchise, and touched base with Magic big man Mohamed Bamba to discuss his rookie season.
The weekly installment in Chris’ Fantasy Hoops series focused on several frontcourt situations to watch around the NBA.
In our Community Shootaround series this week, we discussed the following topics:
- Will the Lakers add a second star this summer, and who will it be? (link)
- What would be the most fun outcome of the 2019 draft lottery? (link)
- Which NBA head coaches deserve Coach of the Year consideration? (link)
- Which NBA head coaches should – or will – be on the hot seat this spring? (link)
In our lone poll this week, we asked how many maximum-salary players you expect the Knicks to sign this offseason.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Fantasy Hoops: Frontcourt Report

February 28th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Marvin Bagley III left the court on Wednesday night with an injury to his left knee, which is the same one that kept him sidelined for roughly a month earlier this season. The 2018 No. 2 overall pick was showing promising signs coming out of the All-Star break, scoring 20.3 points per game while adding 10.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks per contest over that stretch.

With Bagley set to miss at least a week or two, the Kings will be forced to reshuffle their rotation and the biggest winner could be Harry Giles.

Giles saw 18 minutes on Wednesday versus the Bucks, accumulating 18 points, seven rebounds and one block while making 9-of-13 looks from the field. He played many of his minutes at the four spot when Bagley was sidelined this winter and on Friday, Sacramento will take on the Clippers—a team that has been the fourth-most fantasy-friendly to opposing power forwards this season.

While Giles should be a profitable low-cost option in daily fantasy this weekend, I wouldn’t necessarily add the second-year big man in season-long leagues until we see exactly what coach Dave Joerger is going to do with the rotation. If you have the roster space, he makes for a nice speculative add, as has the potential to be a fantasy playoff difference-maker if he gets enough run.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Sixers are without Joel Embiid and Boban Marjanovic, leaving Jonah Bolden to get the starting nod against the Thunder tonight. OKC has been an above-average fantasy matchup vs. opposing centers this season, per HTB. Philadelphia will play the Warriors on Saturday, a team that ranks in the bottom 10 this season vs. the position, so keep an eye on Bolden should Embiid miss that contest.
Domantas Sabonis will miss nearly a week with an ankle injury and Myles Turner and Kyle O’Quinn will both benefit. However, over the next two games, the Pacers take on the Timberwolves and Magic, a pair of teams that have been among the top-10 stingiest matchups this season in terms of fantasy production.
Dewayne Dedmon ranks eighth overall in ESPN’s Player Rater over the last 15 days. Dedmon has become very Paul Millsap-like this season, contributing in many categories. Over that 15-day stretch, he’s averaging a solid 13.8 points and 7.6 rebounds while adding 2.0 assists. Dedmon is just one of four players (Brook Lopez, DeMarcus Cousins, and Turner) to average two blocks, one steal and one 3-pointer made during that stretch. The Hawks center should be owned in season-long leagues.
Hassan Whiteside‘s hip issues caused him to miss the Heat’s tilt with the Warriors on Wednesday and he’s not expected to play against the Rockets tonight either. Bam Adebayo should be owned in all leagues and he’s a nice DFS play tonight.
If Mitchell Robinson is somehow still available in your league, go and scoop him up. The Knicks rookie should also be owned in all leagues.

Fantasy questions? Take to the comment section below or tweet me at @CW_Crouse.

Missed an earlier edition of Fantasy Hoops? Check out the entire series here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

How The AD Saga Could Impact Wolves, Towns

February 28th, 2019 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The trajectory of Karl-Anthony Towns‘ 2018/19 season significantly changed when the Timberwolves finally found a taker for Jimmy Butler, sending him to Philadelphia in November. Prior to that trade, Towns had been just okay by his standards, averaging 19.9 PPG and 10.8 RPG on 45.9% shooting in 13 contests. Since Butler’s departure, the former No. 1 overall pick has boosted those averages to 24.6 PPG, 12.7 RPG, and a 53.3 FG% in 46 games.

While Butler’s departure helped boost Towns’ numbers, it may be another player’s trade request that ultimately has a greater impact on the 23-year-old and his team, as Dane Moore of 1500 ESPN observed this week (via Twitter).

When Towns signed a five-year, maximum-salary contract extension with Minnesota last fall, a decision Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic recently revisited and explored in more detail, the two sides agreed to a condition that will determine how much the deal is actually worth. If Towns earns a spot on an All-NBA team this spring, his new contract will have a starting salary worth 30% of the cap. If he doesn’t, his 2019/20 salary will be just 25% of the cap.

As our early maximum salary projections for 2019/20 show, that difference projects to represent a gap of more than $5MM next season. Over the course of the five-year contract, Towns would earn a projected $189.66MM on a 30% max, as opposed to $158.05MM on a 25% max. For a Minnesota team that’s also on the hook to a long-term max contract for Andrew Wiggins, that difference isn’t insignificant — it could help determine whether or not the Wolves can make certain moves in the coming years.

So what are the odds of Towns making an All-NBA team this season? Well, he’ll be considered a center, and there are two centers who look like locks to be named to All-NBA squads — Nikola Jokic has been an MVP candidate in Denver, and Joel Embiid has been the best player on a Sixers club that looks like a legit contender in the East. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Towns beats out either player for a spot on the First or Second All-NBA Team.

Of course, there’s one more big man who would typically be a perennial lock for an All-NBA slot: Anthony Davis. That brings us back to AD’s trade request. Davis believes he should be considered the “best player in the league,” as he said on Wednesday night (link via Martin Rogers of USA Today), but the extent to which his public trade request has devastated the Pelicans won’t be lost on voters.

Based on his pure numbers (27.5 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 4.1 APG, and 2.5 BPG), Davis obviously has a strong All-NBA case, but he’ll likely be blamed for the dysfunction in New Orleans and penalized accordingly for it. His minute restrictions down the stretch will reduce his overall numbers, and he’s unlikely to play more than 65 games. Plus, the Pelicans are on track to be a bottom-four team in the West. And on top of all that, some All-NBA voters may consider Davis a forward, which would split his votes between two positions. There are a lot of factors working against him earning one of the three center spots.

It’s still possible that voters will name Davis to an All-NBA team, but I’m somewhat skeptical. And if AD doesn’t make it, that opens the door for another center to grab a Third Team spot. Towns would be a prime candidate for that slot, though he’d face stiff competition from Rudy Gobert and Nikola Vucevic, both of whom are having excellent seasons.

Gobert’s impact on the defensive end of the court could give him a leg up on Towns, but only if All-NBA voters weigh his defensive contributions much more heavily than All-Star voters did — Gobert didn’t earn a spot on the Western Conference All-Star team this month.

As for Vucevic, he isn’t scoring quite as much as Towns this season, but his numbers across the rest of the board match up pretty favorably with the Wolves’ young star. If Vucevic helps push the Magic into the postseason, perhaps he’d get the edge over Towns. If not, I could see voters being swayed by KAT’s more impressive scoring numbers.

It remains to be seen whether Towns will ultimately be named an All-NBA player, but it’s a subplot worth watching the rest of the way, since voters will be making a $30MM+ decision. If KAT does earn a spot on an All-NBA roster, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Davis’ trade request indirectly helped get him there.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year Candidates

February 27th, 2019 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

On Tuesday, our Community Shootaround discussion focused on NBA head coaches who might be on the hot seat this spring. For today’s discussion, it seems fair to turn our attention to the coaches on the other end of the spectrum who are in the running for 2019’s Coach of the Year award.

Generally, the coaches who receive the most consideration fall into at least one of three categories: They lead their team to one of the NBA’s best records, their team significantly outperforms expectations, or they manage to overcome a slew of injuries and other obstacles to keep their team in the hunt.

Based on the first two of those criteria, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer should receive strong consideration. While most pundits predicted a bump in the standings for Milwaukee this season, not many saw this coming — the Bucks’ 46-14 record is the NBA’s best, and the club has a top-five offensive rating to go along with its league-best defensive rating. On the surface, the Bucks’ roster – beyond superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo – didn’t look as deep as Boston’s or Toronto’s, and the starting five didn’t look as dangerous as Philadelphia’s, but Budenholzer has the team in the driver’s seat in the East.

Over in the West, Michael Malone‘s Nuggets have pulled off a feat similar to Milwaukee’s. Denver is just one game back of Golden State for the conference’s top seed, despite not having a particularly star-studded group behind Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets weren’t necessarily viewed as a lock to make the playoffs entering the year, so Malone’s work should be lauded.

Nate McMillan meets all three of the criteria listed above — the Pacers have a top-five record in the NBA (40-21), they’ve exceeded expectations so far, and they’ve done it without star guard Victor Oladipo for much of the season. Oladipo, who is out for the rest of 2018/19, appeared in just 36 games for Indiana. While most NBA fans and observers leave the Pacers out of the “big four” teams in the East, McMillan’s squad remains ahead of the Celtics and Sixers in the standings.

Other candidates worthy of consideration include Kenny Atkinson (Nets), Doc Rivers (Clippers), and especially Dave Joerger (Kings). Their teams were all once viewed as probable lottery participants, but they’re now very much in the playoff mix. Steve Clifford is on the verge of entering that discussion as well, with the Magic making a postseason push this month.

Nick Nurse deserves a mention as well. The Raptors were expected to be a contender coming into the season, but things weren’t expected to come together quite this quickly. Nurse has Toronto on nearly a 60-win pace, and has done so while dealing with Kawhi Leonard‘s “load management” and injuries to several important rotation players.

What do you think? Who do you believe is the frontrunner for 2019’s Coach of the Year award? Are there are any underrated candidates you believe deserve serious consideration for the honor?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Eight 10-Day Deals To Expire By End Of Weekend

February 27th, 2019 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

Several teams around the NBA signed new players last week in order to get back to the league-mandated roster minimum of 14 players after slipping below that number at the trade deadline. While those clubs are complying with NBA rules for the time being, many of them just signed players to 10-day contracts and will have to consider additional moves once those deals expire.

At the moment, there are 11 active 10-day contracts around the league, with one more – B.J. Johnson to the Hawks – reported but not yet official. Eight of those 11 active deals are set to expire by the end of this weekend, so here’s a quick look at each of those situations:

February 27

Corey Brewer (Kings)
- Brewer’s 10-day contract, his second with the Kings, will expire after Sacramento’s Tuesday matchup against Milwaukee. So, as of tomorrow, the team will have to decide whether to re-sign him for the rest of the season or let him go. If the Kings don’t bring back Brewer, who has appeared in two of their last three games, they’d be down to 13 players and would have two weeks to get back up to 14.

March 1

Henry Ellenson (Knicks)
- Ellenson played a key role in the Knicks‘ comeback win over Orlando on Tuesday, filling the box score with 13 points, nine boards, five assists, and two steals. He’s still on his first 10-day deal, and the Knicks would dip to 13 players without him, so I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get a second contract from the club.
Jordan Sibert (Hawks)
- The Hawks are reportedly poised to sign B.J. Johnson to a 10-day contract, which would keep them at 14 players even if they don’t bring back Sibert. Sibert has yet to play in a game for Atlanta, so it’s hard to get a sense of which way the team is leaning on a possible second 10-day deal.
Emanuel Terry (Heat)
- The Heat are flirting with the luxury tax line, which is probably bad news for Terry. Miami figures to be very careful about not signing players earlier than they have to for the rest of the season, which means Terry may not be re-signed right away – or at all – once his first 10-day contract expires this Friday night.
Jodie Meeks (Raptors)
- Meeks has come out firing in his first two games with the Raptors, putting up 13 shot attempts in just 24 minutes. Toronto’s production from beyond the arc has been inconsistent this season, so Meeks’ outside shot may earn him a longer look from the team. However, like Terry in Miami, he may not be re-signed immediately when his first 10-day contract expires, since the Raptors will want to do all they can to minimize their tax bill.

March 2

Ray Spalding (Suns)
- For a lottery-bound team like the Suns, it makes sense to use their open roster spots to audition young prospects who might prove worthy of sticking around on next season’s team. It’s not clear if Spalding, who is on his first 10-day contract, fits that bill, since he hasn’t seen any action so far. If Phoenix doesn’t re-sign him, the roster count will be at 13 players, and the club would be required to add someone eventually.

March 3

Chris Chiozza / Terrence Jones (Rockets)
- Like the Heat and Raptors, the Rockets are very aware of where their team salary is in relation to the tax line, and will likely avoid carrying more players than they have to. When Choizza’s and Jones’ deals expire on Sunday night, Houston may be happy to drop below the roster minimum for a little while again before getting back up to 14 later in the month.

The other three active 10-day contracts around the league belong to Isaiah Canaan (Bucks), Tahjere McCall (Nets), and Cameron Reynolds (Timberwolves). Those deals will run through March 6, March 7, and March 8, respectively.

Meanwhile, it’s also worth keeping an eye on the Thunder, who have been carrying 13 players since Scotty Hopson‘s and Richard Solomon‘s 10-day contracts expired on Saturday night. Oklahoma City projects to be the NBA’s biggest taxpayer this year, and will likely be patient when it comes to filling that 14th roster slot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Otto Porter Jr. Discusses Trade To The Bulls, Role With Team

February 26th, 2019 at 11:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Otto Porter Jr. entered into a new chapter of his basketball career when he was dealt to the Bulls earlier this month. The 25-year-old small forward is happy with his new home, telling Hoops Rumors that he believes Chicago has a bright future.

“We have a lot of young guys, young pieces. The team is definitely headed in the right direction, trying to get back to winning basketball here,” Porter told Hoops Rumors before last Friday’s game against the Magic.

Porter, who grew up in Missouri, added that the transition to Chicago has been a smooth one.

“Going from D.C. to Chicago, I’m actually closer to home,” he said. “So [right away], I was able to see a lot of my family in my first home game with the Bulls.”

When he signed his four-year, $106MM with the Wizards during the summer of 2017, the small forward planned on living out his contract in the city where he attended college and made his NBA debut.

“When I signed the deal [with the Wizards], I didn’t think I was going to get traded,” Porter explained to Hoops Rumors.

Leading up to the trade deadline, management reportedly reiterated to Porter that they weren’t going to trade him away. The former No. 3 overall pick previously said he felt that the team lied to him.

Wizards owner Ted Leonsis addressed the response, telling multi-media reporter Mike Wise (Twitter link) that understands Porter’s stance and he feels “terrible” about it.

“We did tell him we weren’t going to trade him. We were going to keep our core together,” Leonsis said, before adding that the team was preparing to make another deal that kept Porter, Bradley Beal, and John Wall together on the team.

“We actually had some other things that we were going to do, and another trade that would have kept the core together and given us flexibility,” Leonsis said, admitting that the hypothetical deal didn’t pan out.

Porter developed into an ultra-efficient scorer over the past few years in Washington, someone who’s capable of excelling as a primary ball-handler or alongside other play-makers. The 2017/18 season was his apex with the Wizards, as he made 44.1% of his 4.1 attempts from behind the arc, a figure that was bested by just two players leaguewide. Porter finished the campaign eighth overall in turnover percentage and sixth among all wing players in effective field goal percentage.

While his numbers dipped slightly to begin the 2018/19 campaign, peak Porter has arrived in Chicago. During his six games to date with his new club, Porter has a true shooting percentage of 65.4%, making over half of his 27 attempts behind the arc. His player efficiency rate over the first 191 minutes of his Bulls career is an electric 19.4.

The Bulls are 4-2 with Porter in the starting lineup, though the wing left halfway through his sixth contest with the team after suffering a lower leg strain. Porter remains out with the ailment as of this writing.

The Wizards have gone 2-6 since making the trade. When asked what direction his former franchise was heading in, Porter replied, “I have no idea to be honest. I’m not focusing on them.”

From an on-court perspective, Porter’s role with the Bulls isn’t expected to be dissimilar to the one he had in Washington. Off the court, he moves from a situation in which many of his teammates were his elders to one in which his NBA experience trumps that of many fellow Bulls. He’s embracing the change.

“I’m one of the oldest on the team, so I have to [play a different role],” Porter told Hoops Rumors. “It’s pretty cool to be one of the vets here.”

Porter’s contract has two years left beyond this season, though his deal contains a player option on the final year, which comes in at approximately $28.5MM. He’ll get to see Chicago make one offseason of moves and play a season-and-a-half worth of games with his new club before making his decision on that option for 2020/21.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Community Shootaround: Coaches On Hot Seat?

February 26th, 2019 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Whispers about a potential coaching change have followed Luke Walton around for nearly the entire 2018/19 campaign, and while the Lakers have insisted both publicly and privately that his job is safe for the rest of the season, there’s no guarantee he’ll keep it beyond that.

With just 22 games left in their season, the 29-31 Lakers are currently on the outside of the playoff picture, trailing the eighth-seeded Spurs by three games. It will take an impressive run over the next month and a half to earn a playoff spot. If the Lakers can’t make that type of run, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the team move on from Walton in the offseason. However, he’s not the only NBA head coach who might be on the hot seat in the coming weeks or months.

As Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 has suggested that Igor Kokoskov‘s seat in Phoenix is getting hot. The Suns picked up a win on Monday night to snap their 17-game losing streak, but if the Suns had been mulling a change, a single victory is unlikely to change their minds. It’s Kokoskov’s first year in Phoenix, but the general manager who hired him – Ryan McDonough – is no longer in the front office, so the new management group might want to bring in its own coach this spring.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference, Alvin Gentry finds himself in a similar spot to Kokoskov. The GM who hired him has recently been fired, and his team hasn’t met expectations in 2018/19. On the other hand, Gentry has had to deal with unusual circumstances, including an Anthony Davis trade request, and he still has his team playing hard. He’s reportedly well-liked by management and ownership, so the Pelicans may stick with him beyond this season.

Ryan Saunders (Timberwolves), Larry Drew (Cavaliers), and Jim Boylen (Bulls) took over for recently-fired head coaches during the season, and while the odds are against all three keeping their jobs in 2019/20, they’ve all gotten pretty good reviews so far. It wouldn’t be shocking to see any combination of the three return for next season.

Scott Brooks‘ Wizards have underperformed in 2018/19. The club has insisted all year that he’s not on the hot seat, but his job security appears more tenuous than many of his fellow lottery-bound coaches, who either have a track record of success (like Rick Carlisle) or were recently hired (such as David Fizdale, J.B. Bickerstaff, and Lloyd Pierce).

With the home stretch of the ’18/19 season approaching, we want to know which teams you expect to make a coaching change this spring. Which coaches are in the most danger? Will we see plenty of turnover once the season ends, like we did a year ago, or will it be a fairly quiet spring for head coaching turnover?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

Checking In On Protected 2019 First Round Picks

February 26th, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

With only about a month and a half left in the 2018/19 regular season, we’re getting a clearer picture of what this year’s draft order might look like. We’re also getting a clearer sense of which of the traded 2019 picks with protections will or won’t change hands this spring.

Using our 2018/19 Reverse Standings as a reference point, here’s our latest check-in on where things stand for those traded 2019 first-rounders, based on their protections.

Locks to change hands:

Kings‘ pick to Celtics or Sixers (unprotected)
- Current projection: No. 14
Nuggets‘ pick to Nets (top-12 protected)
- Current projection: No. 27
Raptors‘ pick to Spurs (top-20 protected)
- Current projection: No. 29

The Nets and Spurs may not be thrilled by how well the Nuggets and Raptors are playing this season, since it assures those first-round picks will fall in the mid-to-late 20s. But Brooklyn and San Antonio can at least be confident that they’ll actually receive those selections this year, which will allow them to better prepare for the draft.

As for the Kings‘ pick, it will almost certainly end up with the Celtics, but the Sixers will still be keeping an eye on it — if Sacramento ends up in the lottery, there will be a very slim chance of that pick vaulting up to No. 1 overall. In that scenario, Philadelphia would receive it and Boston would instead get the 76ers’ first-rounder.

At this point, the far more likely scenario is the Sixers keeping their own pick and the Celtics getting a Kings pick in the teens.

Locks to be protected:

Cavaliers‘ pick to Hawks (top-10 protected)
- Current projection: No. 3
Bucks‘ pick to Suns (top-3 and 17-30 protected)
- Current projection: No. 30

The Cavaliers have been playing better lately, but there’s still essentially no way their pick will fall out of the top 10 — there are 13 games between Cleveland and Miami, the 10th team in the reverse standings. So the Cavs can rest assured that they’ll retain their 2019 first-rounder. Subsequently, they’ll owe the Hawks their top-10 protected 2020 first-round pick.

On the other end of the draft, it’s the Bucks‘ success this season that guarantees they’ll keep their selection. The pick they agreed to trade to Phoenix has unusual reverse-protection criteria that provides only a small window for the Suns to snatch it. Since that pick won’t change hands this season, the Bucks will owe the Suns their top-7 protected first-rounder in 2020.

Still up in the air:

Grizzlies‘ pick to Celtics (top-8 protected)
- Current projection: No. 6
Mavericks‘ pick to Hawks (top-5 protected)
- Current projection: No. 8
Clippers‘ pick to Celtics (top-14 protected)
- Current projection: No. 19
Rockets‘ pick to Cavaliers (top-14 protected)
- Current projection: No. 21

Of these picks, the Grizzlies‘ and Mavericks‘ selections are the most intriguing. Both project as top-10 picks, and neither has full top-10 protection. For now, Memphis appear likely to keep its pick rather than sending it to the Celtics, while the Hawks have a good chance to receive Dallas’ pick. That outlook could quickly change though, if the Grizzlies get on a hot streak and/or the Mavs slump.

It’s worth noting that the new lottery format could be a wild-card factor here. Let’s say the Grizzlies finish seventh in the reverse standings. In previous years, the likelihood that their pick would slide to ninth from that spot would be less than 2%. This year, those odds would increase to over 14%.

Similarly, suppose the Mavericks finish seventh in the reverse standings. Under the old system, the Hawks could be confident of receiving the Mavs’ selection, since Dallas would only have a 15% of moving up into the top three and retaining the pick. In the new system, those odds are all the way up to 32%.

Meanwhile, the Clippers and Rockets will surrender their first-rounders if they earn playoff spots. After some early-season struggles, Houston looks like a fairly safe postseason bet at this point, meaning the Cavaliers should be confident they’ll get the Rockets’ pick. The Clippers, who moved up to seventh in the West on Monday, are less certain of a spot, so the Celtics will be closely watching the playoff race.

Information from RealGM was used in the creation of this post.

Poll: How Many Max FAs Will Knicks Sign In 2019?

February 25th, 2019 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

While it’s not necessarily having a major impact on the court for either team, the seven-player trade completed by the Knicks and Mavericks in advance of the trade deadline was perhaps the biggest deal of 2019 so far due to its long-term implications.

For Dallas, the move meant securing Kristaps Porzingis, a potential franchise frontcourt player whom the team envisions complementing young star Luka Doncic for the next decade.

For New York, there were a handful of motivating factors — the club got to take a chance on a 2017 lottery pick in Dennis Smith Jr., and secured a couple future first-round picks too. But perhaps the most important aspect of the trade from the Knicks’ perspective was that it allowed the team to create not just one, but two maximum-salary contracts slots in free agency this summer.

Since the Knicks made the deal, speculation has run wild about their potential offseason targets. Do they know something we don’t about Kevin Durant‘s plans? Or Kyrie Irving‘s? Is New York native Kemba Walker in their crosshairs?

Before their trade with the Mavs, the Knicks were already close to having enough space for one maximum-salary free agent, and wouldn’t have had to attach Porzingis to a larger package to create that extra room. Instead, the team chose to make a blockbuster deal that opened a pair of those slots.

What, exactly, does that tell us about their summer plans? If they’re not sure about Durant or Irving coming, would they offer a maximum-salary deal to another free agent? Will Kawhi Leonard be a target? Knicks fans would be a little less thrilled about the prospect of the club using that space to give max deals to two players from a group that includes Walker, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and Khris Middleton, but maybe those players will be on the team’s wish list as well.

On the other hand, if the Knicks can’t land both Durant and Irving, the prudent move might be to use their leftover cap room to absorb an unwanted contract or two to accumulate more assets — or to sign players to one-term contracts, rolling over their cap room to next summer.

When a panel of ESPN.com experts made offseason predictions last week, one question asked how many maximum-salary free agents the Knicks would sign this summer. The top answer was two (47.2%), followed by one (41.7%), and zero (11.1%). In other words, there’s a strong belief that the Knicks will invest huge money in at least one star this offseason, and likely two.

What do you think? Are you bullish on the Knicks’ chances of landing two stars? Do you believe they’ll hand out two max contracts even if they don’t necessarily get their top two choices? Or do you think they’ll end up being a little more patient with their newfound flexibility?

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

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Community Shootaround: Most Fun Lottery Outcome

February 25th, 2019 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams

As a group, the Suns, Knicks, Cavaliers, and Bulls have established themselves in recent weeks and months as the NBA’s bottom tier for 2018/19. Lengthy losing streaks by the Suns (11-50) and the Knicks (12-48) have put them at the “top” of our reverse standings, and even after a little recent success, the Cavaliers (14-46) and Bulls (16-44) are right there with them.

Given how much separation those four teams have had from the NBA’s other 26 clubs for much of the season, speculation about the No. 1 overall pick for 2019 has centered mostly on them. It’s easy to imagine top prospect Zion Williamson ending up in Phoenix, New York, Cleveland, or Chicago.

However, the NBA’s new lottery system could shake things up this spring for the 2019 draft. In past seasons, the league’s worst team had a 25% shot at the No. 1 overall pick, and there was a 72.4% chance that one of those bottom four clubs would end up in the top slot. Under the new system, the odds for the worst team have been reduced just to 14%, and there’s only a 54.5% chance that a bottom-four club gets the first overall pick.

In other words, some scenarios that would have previously been considered long shots are a little more realistic this season. Could the Grizzlies jumpstart their rebuild and put together one of them most athletic young frontcourts in the NBA by pairing Williamson with Jaren Jackson? Could the Mavericks add Williamson to a core that already features Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis? How about the Wizards salvaging an otherwise lost season by landing the top pick and giving Bradley Beal and John Wall the frontcourt star they’ve long sought?

Whichever teams lose the playoff races in each conference won’t have a great chance to secure the No. 1 pick, but those odds will still be more favorable than in the past. Maybe the Heat could get lucky and land a young star after failing to secure any in free agency in recent years. If the Hornets lucked into the top pick, that could cement Kemba Walker‘s decision to stay in Charlotte.

If the Lakers were to miss the postseason and somehow scored the No. 1 selection, it could be the key to finally getting the Pelicans to accept their offer for Anthony Davis — assuming they wouldn’t want to keep Williamson themselves.

And then there’s the nightmare scenario for every Eastern Conference team outside of Philadelphia: What if the Kings miss the postseason and land the first overall pick? In that scenario, the pick would go to the Sixers (if it’s not No. 1, the Celtics will get it).

The lottery is still a few months away, but Williamson looks like the kind of prospect who could transform a franchise, so it’s not too early to speculate about which landing spot would represent the most fun outcome. What do you think? Putting aside your fandom, what draft lottery scenario would be the most enjoyable, or would make the best story?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

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