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Poll: Will Wizards Be A Top-Four Team In East?

August 10th, 2018 at 9:56am CST by Luke Adams

With LeBron James out of the East for the first time since 2003, confidence is on the rise around the conference. Jaylen Brown essentially guaranteed that the Celtics will make it to the NBA Finals, while Brook Lopez has said the Bucks love their chances to come out of the East.

Wizards point guard John Wall joined the chorus this week, telling Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports that he feels like “we’re all equal” in the East. While the Wizards haven’t made it to the NBA Finals in recent years, neither have the Celtics, Raptors, Sixers, Pacers, or any other non-LeBron Eastern team, Wall points out.

“Y’all might have been to the Eastern Conference finals, where we haven’t been to, but none of y’all were going to the Finals. It was one guy going to the Finals,” Wall said. “Ain’t nobody separated from nothing. I know one guy that separated himself from the Eastern Conference every year and that was LeBron James and the Cavs. Other than that … if you lose in the second round, or the conference finals, you still didn’t get to your ultimate goal.”

Wall went on to say that “on paper” a handful of Eastern teams look strong, but he observed that there are still questions about how the Celtics will mesh with Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving returning, or how Kawhi Leonard will look with the Raptors. In Wall’s view, the top four or five teams in the East are all bunched together, and he’s willing to put the Wizards “right there” in that group.

This kind of talk is nothing new from the Wizards. Heading into the 2017/18 season, Bradley Beal called Washington the team to beat in the East, despite the fact that the club had been eliminated by Boston in the second round of the 2017 playoffs — multiple Wizards that year claimed publicly that they would’ve beaten the Cavaliers in the postseason if given the chance. This past spring, after losing as the No. 8 seed to the top-seeded Raptors, Markieff Morris told reporters that “sometimes the better teams don’t win.”

So far, the Wizards have done little to back up their big talk, and oddsmakers aren’t convinced they’ll do so this year either — the Wizards’ early over/under of 44.5 wins ranks sixth in the East, behind Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, Indiana, and Milwaukee. Still, perhaps with LeBron out of the conference, this is the year that Washington makes its run.

What do you think? Are the Wizards a top-four team in the East? Will they claim home court advantage for the first round and/or win a first-round series in the spring?

Vote below in our poll and jump into the comment section to weigh in on the Wizards.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2018/19

August 9th, 2018 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $101.869MM threshold once that room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit as well, with clubs like the Warriors, Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Raptors, and Wizards going well beyond that tax line this year.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows those clubs to build significant payrolls without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5.337MM) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron is set at a point approximately $6MM above the luxury tax line. For the 2018/19 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $129.817MM.

So far this year, nine teams have imposed a hard cap on themselves by using the bi-annual exception, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade. Listed below are those nine teams, along with how they created a hard cap.

Charlotte Hornets

Detroit Pistons

Los Angeles Clippers

Memphis Grizzlies

  • Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Kyle Anderson.

Milwaukee Bucks

Minnesota Timberwolves

New Orleans Pelicans

New York Knicks

San Antonio Spurs

Currently, none of the hard-capped teams listed above have team salaries within $5MM of the tax apron, so that hard cap shouldn’t be a real issue for most of these clubs during the 2018/19 league year. However, that could change if any of these teams – particularly the Hornets or Pistons – makes additional free agent signings or takes on extra money in a trade at some point.

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Poll: How Long Will Jabari Parker Be A Bull?

August 9th, 2018 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

It wasn’t one of the most lucrative long-term deals of the summer, and it almost certainly won’t have any impact on the NBA championship in 2019, but the Bulls‘ two-year, $40MM deal with Jabari Parker was one of the most interesting free agent signings of 2018.

The contract, which is guaranteed for $20MM in year one with a $20MM team option for 2019/20, was one of the last big-money deals of July. At the same time the Bulls were finalizing their agreement with Parker, the Nets were using their remaining $20MM+ in cap room to absorb a pair of unwanted contract from the Nuggets, acquiring a pair of draft picks in the process. The Hawks were preparing for a similar deal with their leftover cap space, taking on Carmelo Anthony‘s $27MM+ salary in a trade that allowed them to add a future first-rounder and get out of their long-term commitment to Dennis Schroder.

For rebuilding teams with cap room to spare, moves like the ones made by the Nets and Hawks are common. It often makes more sense for those front offices to essentially rent out their cap space and net a young player or draft pick in the process than it would to use that space to sign a free agent of their own.

The Bulls could’ve taken a similar approach, but instead they opted to use their room on Parker, a former No. 2 overall pick whose NBA development has been slowed by a pair of ACL tears. The hope is that the 23-year-old Parker will bounce back and become a key part of Chicago’s core alongside the franchise’s other young building blocks.

Before his latest major knee injury in 2017, Parker had averaged 20.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.8 APG with a .490/.365/.743 shooting line in 51 games during the 2016/17 season. Those are very promising numbers for a player who was still 21 years old at the time.

While Parker’s offensive upside is obvious, there are still plenty of questions about his game. He’s not a strong defender, and his decision-making on offense can sometimes leave something to be desired. Although it’s possible he’ll still evolve into a star, that looks far less certain than it did a few years ago. And it’s not clear how he’ll fit in with the Bulls, whose lineup already features another defensive liability on the wing (Zach LaVine), as well as several players who figure to dominate the ball on offense.

Parker’s short-term deal with the Bulls will give the club an exit ramp. If things don’t work out for the Chicago native, he likely won’t still be a Bull at this time next year, since the team will have the opportunity to decide on his second-year option.

On the other hand, there’s no guarantee that the former Duke forward will remain with the Bulls long-term even if he does excel in his hometown — his two-year pact will give him the opportunity to reach unrestricted free agency again in 2020, at which point he could sign with any team.

What do you think? How will the Bulls’ experiment with Parker play out? Will the former top-two pick be one-and-done in Chicago, or will his short-term contract eventually turn into a long-term stay?

Vote below in our poll and jump into the comment section to share your thoughts.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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NBA G League Affiliations For 2018/19 Season

August 8th, 2018 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA G League will move one step closer to having 30 teams, one for each NBA franchise, in the 2018/19 season. With the expansion Capital City Go-Go club joining the mix, we can add the Wizards to the list of NBA teams with their own affiliates.

The Wizards’ NBAGL affiliate will be the league’s 27th franchise, leaving just three NBA teams that don’t have a one-to-one relationship with a G League club. Those teams are the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, and Nuggets.

The Pelicans had initially hoped to have a new G League team of their own in place for the 2018/19 season, but their timetable was delayed. It will likely just be a matter of time until New Orleans launches an NBAGL affiliate, and Portland and Denver probably won’t be far behind.

For 2018/19, here’s the full list of G League affiliates:

Atlanta Hawks: Erie BayHawks
Boston Celtics: Maine Red Claws
Brooklyn Nets: Long Island Nets
Charlotte Hornets: Greensboro Swarm
Chicago Bulls: Windy City Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers: Canton Charge
Dallas Mavericks: Texas Legends
Detroit Pistons: Grand Rapids Drive
Golden State Warriors: Santa Cruz Warriors
Houston Rockets: Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Indiana Pacers: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Los Angeles Clippers: Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario
Los Angeles Lakers: South Bay Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies: Memphis Hustle
Miami Heat: Sioux Falls Skyforce
Milwaukee Bucks: Wisconsin Herd
Minnesota Timberwolves: Iowa Wolves
New York Knicks: Westchester Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder: Oklahoma City Blue
Orlando Magic: Lakeland Magic
Philadelphia 76ers: Delaware Blue Coats (new nickname)
Phoenix Suns: Northern Arizona Suns
Sacramento Kings: Stockton Kings (relocation)
San Antonio Spurs: Austin Spurs
Toronto Raptors: Raptors 905
Utah Jazz: Salt Lake City Stars
Washington Wizards: Capital City Go-Go (expansion)

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Community Shootaround: Lowest Offseason Ranking

August 6th, 2018 at 8:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The offseason business for NBA teams is winding down with most of them simply filling their training camp rosters and handing out two-way contracts at this point of the summer.

With that in mind, NBA.com’s David Aldridge revealed his annual offseason rankings on Monday. The rankings solely reflect how successful teams were in improving their rosters and/or cap situation this summer. Aldridge’s top three included the Thunder, Lakers and Nuggets, who all achieved their major goals via free agency and trades.

On the opposite spectrum, Aldridge viewed the Hornets, Cavaliers and Heat as having the worst offseasons, with Miami holding the ignominious bottom spot. The Hornets got a low rating despite moving Dwight Howard‘s contract as they eventually wound up with Bismack Biyombo and his bloated contract on the roster. Kemba Walker‘s future beyond next season also remains unresolved.

Cleveland’s low ranking is for the most obvious reason, losing LeBron James, though extending Kevin Love‘s contract to coincide with rookie point guard Collin Sexton‘s rookie deal was viewed by Aldridge as a positive.

The Heat received the bottom ranking mainly due to being hamstrung. They’re capped out and couldn’t improve through the draft. They haven’t been able to move a bad contract and have precious few players with upside, which means the team certainly hasn’t improved its stock since the end of the season.

It could be argued that losing a major player, such as Cleveland or the Clippers (DeAndre Jordan), or trading away your best player under pressure (Spurs), should put those teams below the Heat in the offseason rankings. It could also be argued that paying a heavy price to retain players, like the Bulls (Zach LaVine) and Magic (Aaron Gordon) did, is more detrimental than standing pat by necessity.

That leads us to our question of the day: Did the Heat have the worst offseason this summer, as Aldridge ranked them? If not, which team do you feel had the worst summer?

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

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Nuggets, Thunder Hold Largest Trade Exceptions

August 5th, 2018 at 4:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Within the last month and a half, several of the most sizable traded player exceptions from around the NBA have expired. The Clippers‘ $7MM+ exception from last year’s Chris Paul deal expired in June, a pair of big Raptors TPEs went unused a couple weeks later, and the Trail Blazers saw their $13MM exception from last summer’s Allen Crabbe trade expire late in July.

None of these developments were particularly surprising. Traded player exceptions, even bigger ones, often go unused. That’s especially true for teams like Toronto and Portland, whose team salaries are over the tax line. For those clubs, taking on a salary using a traded player exception would cost exponentially more due to tax penalties.

Still, those bigger trade exceptions can occasionally come in handy and are worth keeping an eye on. For instance, the Cavaliers have a $5.8MM trade exception created in last August’s Kyrie Irving deal that would have expired if it hadn’t been used within the next few weeks. The Cavs are taking advantage of it by using it to finalize the acquisition of Sam Dekker without sending out any salary in return.

That Cleveland traded player exception had been the seventh-most valuable TPE around the NBA. Here are the top five, all of which could be used to acquire a player earning at least $7MM in 2018/19:

  1. Denver Nuggets: $13,764,045 (Expires 7/15/2019)
  2. Denver Nuggets: $12,800,562 (Expires 7/8/2019)
  3. Oklahoma City Thunder: $10,883,189 (Expires 7/25/2019)
  4. Charlotte Hornets: $7,819,725 (Expires 7/6/2019)
  5. Detroit Pistons: $7,000,000 (Expires 1/29/2019)

Check out our tracker for the full list of available traded player exceptions. For more information on exactly how trade exceptions work, be sure to check out our glossary entry on the subject.

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Weekly Mailbag: 7/30/18 – 8/5/18

August 5th, 2018 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

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.

What do you think are the chances that Kyrie Irving and his good buddy Jimmy Butler will bolt their teams and play together in New York or another team next season? — Greg Dizon

Elite players finding ways to team up has been the trend in the NBA for several years, and there are reasons to suspect Irving and Butler are plotting a way to form the next version of a superteam. Both are entering option years, so they can become free agents in what is shaping up to be a loaded class in 2019. It’s easy to picture them with a healthy Kristaps Porzingis as the leaders of a rebuilt Knicks team that would become an instant contender. If the Timberwolves falter this season, it’s also possible that the Celtics could try to make a deal for Butler before the deadline as an incentive for Irving to stay in Boston. The odds seem good that Butler and Irving will become teammates, almost certainly in the East as teams try to fill the power vacuum left by the departure of LeBron James.

What do you think is going on with the Sixers’ general manager search? It has been oddly quiet. There haven’t been any leaks of interviews, potential front runners or interested parties. Some think the lack of a general manager hurt them in pursuit of this summer’s big three (LeBron James, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard). — Anthony Coleman
It’s hard to defend the decision to go into such a pivotal summer without a GM when several franchise-changing talents were available, especially when the Sixers had cap space and trade assets. They couldn’t have gotten George, and James made up his mind early about the Lakers, but they definitely could have rivaled the Raptors’ bid for Leonard. A quick hire of ex-Cavaliers GM David Griffin might have put them in a much stronger position. There hasn’t been much news about the GM search in recent weeks, other than an odd attempt to lure Daryl Morey away from the Rockets. The Sixers say they are being diligent about finding the right person to run their front office, but they may regret not having Bryan Colangelo’s replacement in place by the start of July.
Dwight Howard seems to change teams every year. What are the chances that his current arrangement with the Wizards is a long-term one? — Wizfan, via Twitter
Obviously it depends on how much success Washington has with him in the middle, but Howard’s future salary demands will also factor in. The Wizards already have tax concerns with huge contracts for John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, while Kelly Oubre is eligible for an extension this summer. Howard has gotten used to being among the highest-paid players on his team and hasn’t made less than $20MM in a season since leaving the Lakers in 2013. Would he accept the Wizards’ mid-level exception when he become a free agent again next summer? If not, his journey around the league will continue.
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Community Shootaround: MGM Partnership

August 4th, 2018 at 7:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA made history off the court this week when it agreed to a deal that makes MGM Resorts an official “gaming partner.” It becomes the first professional sports league to enter into a partnership with a bookmaker in the wake of May’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned a federal ban on sports gambling.

Although it’s a landmark move, the deal isn’t really loaded with benefits for either side. MGM will reportedly pay the NBA $25MM over three years, which is a small amount considering the potential windfall from legalized betting. In return, the casino gets access to league highlights, names, logos and a direct data feed. MGM can also market itself as the official gaming partner of the NBA and WNBA, and it will work with the NBA on integrity provisions, such as the prevention of fraud and game fixing.

Both sides admit they’re finding their way in this new arrangement, with Commissioner Adam Silver calling it a “leap of faith” and MGM Resorts chief executive Jim Murren referring to the deal as a “partnership of trust.” The parties already had a working relationship with Murren owning the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA.

Legalized gambling is a cause that Silver has advocated and prepared for since taking over for David Stern in 2014. He sees it as a rich new revenue source for the league and has indicated in the past that he would like the NBA to receive 1% of all dollars wagered on its games.

We want to get your opinion on the new deal. Is the NBA taking the right approach by moving aggressively into the legalized betting era and will it benefit by having a formal agreement with a sportsbook provider? Please leave your feedback in the space below.

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Hoops Rumors Originals: 7/28/18 – 8/4/18

August 4th, 2018 at 3:44pm CST by clarkcrum

Every week, the writing team here at Hoops Rumors creates original content to complement our news feed. With free agency dying down, we have quite a bit of content this week. Here are our segments and features from the past seven days:

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Many Top 2018 Free Agents Could Re-Enter Market In 2019

August 3rd, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Most of the top NBA free agents in a given offseason will prioritize longer-term offers over shorter ones, preferring to secure the biggest payday possible when given the chance to do so. In some ways, this offseason was no exception — besides Kevin Durant, who opted for another one-plus-one deal, the top six players on our list of 2018’s best free agents all signed long-term contracts that will run through at least the 2020/21 season.

However, beyond those top few players, there simply weren’t many long-term commitments out there this summer. Many of the free agents on our top-50 list signed shorter-term contracts that will allow them to re-enter the free agent market a year from now.

A variety of factors contributed to these shorter deals. For one, not many teams around the league had cap room available this summer. Without major money attached, there’s little incentive for players to accept those longer-term contract offers — in many cases, they’d be better off going year to year rather than locking themselves into a below-market multiyear deal.

Additionally, both players and teams are looking ahead to the summer of 2019. More NBA clubs expect to have cap room available next year, with the cap projected to rise by a greater amount than it has in either of the last two years — plus, more bad contracts from the summer of 2016 will be coming off the books. That extra cap flexibility will, in turn, present more opportunities for players to get paid.

Of course, with so many players now projected to reach free agency in 2019, there still probably won’t be enough money to go around and make everyone happy. Nonetheless, the fact that so many free agents agreed to one-year deal (or two-year deals with options) this offseason signals that agents expect a more player-friendly market a year from now.

The full list of players from our top 50 free agents of 2018 list who will have the opportunity to reach free agency again in 2019 is below, along with their status for next summer — “UFA” denotes that a player will be an unrestricted free agent, while “PO” designates a player option, and so on.

By our count, up to 31 players from this year’s top 50 could become free agents again in 2019. By comparison, 12 of the 50 players from our 2017 list reached free agency again within a year.

Here’s the list:

  1. Kevin Durant, Warriors (PO)
  2. DeMarcus Cousins, Warriors (UFA)
  3. Julius Randle, Pelicans (PO)
  4. DeAndre Jordan, Mavericks (UFA)
  5. Jabari Parker, Bulls (TO)
  6. Tyreke Evans, Pacers (UFA)
  7. Trevor Ariza, Suns (UFA)
  8. J.J. Redick, Sixers (UFA)
  9. Rajon Rondo, Lakers (UFA)
  10. Derrick Favors, Jazz (non-guaranteed)
  11. Isaiah Thomas, Nuggets (UFA)
  12. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lakers (UFA)
  13. Rodney Hood (TBD)
    • Hood remains unsigned and could still get a guaranteed multiyear deal.
  14. Avery Bradley, Clippers (partial guarantee)
  15. Brook Lopez, Bucks (UFA)
  16. Rudy Gay, Spurs (UFA)
  17. Wayne Ellington, Heat (UFA)
  18. Nerlens Noel, Thunder (PO)
  19. Kyle O’Quinn, Pacers (UFA)
  20. Dwyane Wade (TBD)
    • Wade remains unsigned and could still get a guaranteed multiyear deal.
  21. Mario Hezonja, Knicks (UFA)
  22. Elfrid Payton, Pelicans (UFA)
  23. Luc Mbah a Moute, Clippers (UFA)
  24. Aron Baynes, Celtics (PO)
  25. David Nwaba, Cavaliers (TBD)
    • Terms of Nwaba’s agreement with the Cavaliers aren’t yet known — it could be a guaranteed multiyear deal.
  26. Anthony Tolliver, Timberwolves (UFA)
  27. Tony Parker, Hornets (non-guaranteed)
  28. Ed Davis, Nets (UFA)
  29. Amir Johnson, Sixers (UFA)
  30. Michael Beasley, Lakers (UFA)
  31. Jeff Green, Wizards (UFA)

Note: Players who were waived in July, such as Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony, weren’t on our top-50 list. However, many of them have since signed one-year contracts or two-year deals with options and could be free agents in 2019 as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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