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NBA Teams With 2018/19 Cap Room Remaining

July 12th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Last Wednesday, we noted that only three NBA teams still had significant cap room available. Depending on your definition of “significant,” that’s still the case. One of those three teams – the Kings – made a player for another’s restricted free agent, but the Bulls matched Sacramento’s offer sheet for Zach LaVine and still have plenty of flexibility themselves.

While the Kings, Bulls, and Hawks are still the only teams that can create more than $15MM in cap space without trading any players or waiving and stretching any guaranteed salaries, a number of other clubs technically still have cap room available too.

Using our own data and salary information from Basketball Insiders, our current cap room estimates – as of July 12 – are below. If you have any questions or notice any errors, please let us know in the comment section.

Here’s a breakdown:

Atlanta Hawks

  • Current space: $17.9MM
  • Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries and renounce UFAs: $23.91MM
  • The Hawks have had a quiet offseason so far, but could clear the most cap room if any team if they renounce Malcolm Delaney and waive the non-guaranteed contracts of Jaylen Morris and Antonius Cleveland.

Sacramento Kings

  • Current space: $19.53MM
  • The Kings already renounced their free agents and waived Nigel Hayes‘ non-guaranteed salary in order to help accommodate LaVine’s offer sheet. With LaVine’s offer matched by the Bulls, Sacramento will have to find another use for its space.

Chicago Bulls

  • Current space: None
  • Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries and renounce UFAs: $18.94MM
  • The Bulls continue to technically operate as an over-the-cap team since they haven’t renounced their trade, mid-level, and bi-annual exceptions, or Noah Vonleh‘s $10MM+ cap hold. Once they decide they want to use their cap room, they could clear up to almost $19MM without withdrawing David Nwaba‘s qualifying offer.

Brooklyn Nets

  • Current space: $9.97MM
  • Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries and renounce UFAs: $12.17MM
  • The Nets aren’t about to waive Spencer Dinwiddie‘s non-guaranteed salary, but cutting Isaiah Whitehead and renouncing Quincy Acy would create a little extra space if they need it. Once the Nets use their cap room or decide they don’t need it, they’ll finalize deals for Joe Harris (Early Bird rights) and Ed Davis (room exception).

Dallas Mavericks

  • Current space: $5MM
  • Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries: $5.54MM
  • It’s not clear if Dorian Finney-Smith‘s salary is still non-guaranteed — he had a reported July 5 salary guarantee deadline, but there has been no confirmation that that date wasn’t pushed back. If Finney-Smith doesn’t have his full guarantee yet, the Mavericks could get to $6MM+ in space. The team figures to use either its cap room or its room exception to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki.

Philadelphia 76ers

  • Current space: $1.69MM
  • Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries: $4.89MM
  • Getting up to $4.89MM in room would mean waiving T.J. McConnell and Richaun Holmes, which is probably unlikely. Still, the Sixers could use that $1.69MM in room to sign a player like Jonah Bolden to a long-term deal if they so choose. They’ll eventually finalize Nemanja Bjelica‘s deal using their room exception.

Phoenix Suns

  • Current space: $1.18MM
  • Space if they waive non-guaranteed salaries: $3.25MM
  • The Suns could create a little extra flexibility by waiving Shaquille Harrison and Davon Reed, but the team may not need that remaining room either way.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

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Community Shootaround: Available Restricted Free Agents

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

NBA restricted free agency can be a double-edged sword — this summer, for instance, it has been beneficial for players like Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine, and Dante Exum, who have each signed player-friendly deals that don’t look much different than contracts they might have earned as unrestricted free agents.

For other players though, the lack of leverage in restricted free agency creates tough decisions. Those players may have to choose between settling for a multi-year offer lower than what they believe they’re worth, or signing their one-year qualifying offer in the hopes of securing a better offer as an unrestricted free agent in 2019.

Clint Capela (Rockets), Marcus Smart (Celtics), Jabari Parker (Bucks), and Rodney Hood (Cavaliers) are among the big-name restricted free agents still on the board, with Montrezl Harrell (Clippers), Yogi Ferrell (Mavericks), David Nwaba (Bulls), and Patrick McCaw (Warriors) also still unsigned.

There’s a sense that if any one of those players signed an offer sheet within reason, his current team would match it. But those clubs may not be eager to negotiate directly and risk bidding against themselves — they’d rather let the market set the price for those restricted free agents. But with only a small handful of teams still able to offer more than the mid-level exception to free agents, the market simply hasn’t developed for some of these players.

While things may look bleak for a few restricted free agents on July 12, we expect all of them to be back under contract by October 12. So we want to know how you think some of these contract situations will be resolved.

Will the Rockets, Celtics, Bucks, or Cavaliers negotiate long-term deals with their restricted free agents? Will any of the teams with substantial cap room – the Hawks, Kings, Bulls, and Nets – make a play for one of the available RFAs?

Will anyone sign his qualifying offer with an eye toward unrestricted free agency in 2019? Do you foresee any major negotiating missteps for any of this year’s RFAs, like Nerlens Noel turning down a $70MM offer in 2017?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh on 2018’s remaining RFAs!

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Friday Is Deadline For Teams To Unilaterally Withdraw QOs

July 12th, 2018 at 9:37am CST by Luke Adams

July 13 represents a minor deadline for NBA free agency. It’s the last day that an NBA team can unilaterally withdraw a qualifying offer from a restricted free agent, making him an unrestricted free agent.

If a team decides to leave its qualifying offer on the table through this Friday, that club won’t be able to rescind the offer later without the player’s consent. From July 14 until October 1, a player with a qualifying offer still on the table would be able to accept that one-year offer at any time.

After October 1, the qualifying offer would no longer be an option for a restricted free agents — RFAs would still be restricted after that date, but they’d no longer have the one-year QO to fall back on.

This set of rules and deadlines applies to players who received two-way qualifying offers in addition to bigger-name players like Marcus Smart, Clint Capela, and Jabari Parker, who were tendered standard qualifying offers. We’ve seen two-way players like Derrick Walton (Heat) and JaKarr Sampson (Kings) have their QOs rescinded within the last week, making them unrestricted free agents.

It’s possible that a couple more RFAs will have their qualifying offers withdrawn today or tomorrow. Last year on July 13, for instance, the Spurs made the surprise decision to withdraw Jonathon Simmons‘ QO.

Here are the restricted free agents who still have qualifying offers on the table:

Players on NBA contracts:

Players on two-way contracts:

Note: Qualifying offers for two-way players are one-year, two-way contracts with a $50K guarantee.

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Examining How A Carmelo Anthony Trade Could Work

July 11th, 2018 at 7:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have talked to the Nets about a possible trade involving Carmelo Anthony, according to Mitch Lawrence of Forbes and The Sporting News, who reports (via Twitter) that Brooklyn would be looking to move Jeremy Lin in such a deal. The Nets, who would want draft picks, would buy out or waive Anthony if they acquired him, Lawrence adds.

While it may be true that the Thunder and Nets have explored a potential trade, it’s hard to see how it would work with Lin as the primary outgoing piece. After buying out Dwight Howard, the Nets reportedly have a little less than $11MM in cap room available, so they wouldn’t necessarily have to match Anthony’s $27.93MM salary, since salary-matching rules only apply to over-the-cap teams. Still, they’d have to send out more than Lin’s $12.5MM expiring contract in order to remain under the cap after completing a deal.

The Nets could create a little extra space by waiving Isaiah Whitehead, who has a non-guaranteed $1.54MM salary, but they’d still be about $4MM short of having enough outgoing salary to complete a Lin-for-Anthony swap while remaining under the cap.

The Nets players who earn less than Lin are youngsters with positive value, so the team wouldn’t simply throw them into an offer to make the money work. Adding a highly-paid vet like Allen Crabbe or DeMarre Carroll wouldn’t make much sense from the Thunder’s perspective, since their goal is to cut costs.

On top of all the cap-related roadblocks in the way of a potential swap, Brian Lewis of The New York Post notes (via Twitter) that Lin has been told the Nets will tell him if they plan to trade him. As Lewis relays, Lin hasn’t gotten a call at this point, so if there have been trade discussions, they likely haven’t gotten serious.

“My agent called me just to clarify,” Lin told Lewis. “But no, I don’t think there’s any… I don’t think that has any truth to it.”

While a Thunder/Nets swap seems like a long shot, we know that Oklahoma City is exploring potential trade options involving Anthony before simply buying him out or waiving him. The Lin example is instructive for laying out how a potential deal could work.

Although no team has the cap space necessary to absorb Anthony’s contract outright, the Nets and three other teams – the Kings, Bulls, and Hawks – have enough room to send out significantly less salary than they receive. That makes them potential trade partners for the Thunder, who are looking for ways to reduce a potential record-breaking tax bill.

For instance, the Kings are currently about $19MM below the cap. That means they could trade a player like Iman Shumpert ($11MM salary) to Oklahoma City and take back Anthony without going over the cap. That would be ideal for the Thunder, who could waive and stretch Shumpert across three seasons and create an annual cap hit of about $3.67MM instead of the $9.31MM annual cap charge that waiving Anthony would create (assuming neither player gives back money in a buyout). The tax savings for OKC in 2018/19 would be massive, and the smaller annual cap charges would help reduce the team’s tax bills in future seasons too.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Stretch Provision]

So what would be in it for the Thunder’s trade partners? They wouldn’t be hanging onto Anthony, who has a no-trade clause and almost certainly wouldn’t approve a trade to a non-contender unless he knew he’d be waived shortly thereafter. So presumably any team willing to talk trade with the Thunder would be seeking draft picks and/or young players along with Carmelo.

The problem is that Oklahoma City isn’t exactly asset-rich on either front. Terrance Ferguson is really the only intriguing young prospect on the Thunder’s roster, and the team’s 2020 first-round pick (top-20 protected) is committed to Orlando.

The Stepien rule prevents teams from trading back-to-back future first-round picks, so the Thunder wouldn’t be able to trade their 2019 first-rounder outright, and would have to get creative with conditions in order to trade any other first-rounder before 2022.

It’s possible that 2022 and 2024 first-round picks would entice one of those teams with cap room to use up the rest of their space on Anthony, only to subsequently waive him. But the further in the future those picks are, the less they’ll appeal to current general managers, who have no assurances they’ll even still hold their jobs by 2022 or 2024.

One intriguing option would be for one of those teams with cap room to trade a multiyear contract to the Thunder in exchange for Anthony. That way there would be a little more incentive for OKC’s trade partner to make a deal, since that club would be clearing cap room for future free agent periods. It also wouldn’t necessarily hurt the Thunder, who could spread the player’s money across more than three seasons using the stretch provision if he’s on a multiyear deal.

Omer Asik of the Bulls would be a perfect target for the Thunder in this scenario. Asik is earning $11.29MM in 2018/19, then has a $3MM guarantee on his 2019/20 salary. If the Thunder acquire him, they could stretch his remaining guaranteed money ($14.29MM) across five seasons for an annual cap hit of just $2.86MM.

The Bulls, meanwhile, would be able to clear $3MM from their books for the summer of 2019 — that’s not a huge amount, but if the team wants to be players in free agency next year, that added flexibility could come in handy. Of course, from Chicago’s perspective, including a contract like Cristiano Felicio‘s ($24MM over three years) in such a deal would probably be preferable to moving Asik’s.

Another way for the Thunder to increase trade interest in Anthony would be to attach its 2020 first-round pick with reverse protection. The 2020 selection traded to the Magic will only change hands if it falls between 21 and 30, so OKC could theoretically send that pick to another team if it lands in the top 20.

Given the lack of teams with cap room around the NBA and the dearth of appealing assets the Thunder could attach to Anthony, a trade ultimately seems unlikely. Simply waiving and stretching Carmelo would create upwards of $90-100MM in tax savings for Oklahoma City, and that number could increase if the veteran forward accepts a buyout. That’s probably where we’re headed, as interesting as the trade scenarios are to consider.

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

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15 Notable Unrestricted Free Agents Still Available

July 10th, 2018 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Most of the players on our list of the top 50 free agents of 2018 have found deals during the first 10 days of July. Of the top players who remain unsigned, many are restricted free agents who have been unable to secure lucrative offer sheets, such as Clint Capela, Jabari Parker, Marcus Smart, and Rodney Hood.

However, there are still a number of intriguing unrestricted free agents on the board. These players could be signed outright by teams looking to fill holes on their roster, though it’s unlikely that any of them are in line for significant paydays at this point in free agency.

With the help of our full list of available players, here are 15 notable names to watch during the current wave of free agency:

Isaiah Thomas, PG
After putting up MVP-type numbers in 2016/17, Thomas battled hip issues and failed to make a major impact for the Cavaliers and Lakers last season. He claims he’s fully healthy now, but teams still appear hesitant to invest in the standout scorer.

Shabazz Napier, PG
Napier enjoyed a breakout year for the Trail Blazers in 2017/18, establishing new career-highs in PPG (8.7), RPG (2.3 RPG), SPG (1.1), 3PT% (.376), and several other categories as the first guard off Portland’s bench behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

Jamal Crawford, G
Linked to the Warriors, Sixers, and Wizards – among other contenders – early in free agency, Crawford has yet to find a home. And those three teams, at least, no longer have exception money available to offer him more than the minimum.

Wayne Ellington, SG
Perhaps the most surprising name on the list of available players, Ellington made 2.9 three-pointers per game last season at a 39.2% clip, and is still just 30 years old. It’s a little unexpected that less accomplished shooters like Doug McDermott and Mario Hezonja have secured deals in the $6-7MM-per-year range while Ellington is still unsigned.

Dwyane Wade, SG
Like fellow free agent Dirk Nowitzki, who we didn’t include on this list, Wade is only technically available. In actuality, if he decides to continue to career, it will almost certainly be with the Heat.

Nick Young, G/F
A Monday report indicated that Young has received interest from the Kings, Grizzlies, Rockets, Cavaliers, Jazz, and Timberwolves, among others. The money, role, and odds of contending those teams can offer vary significantly, so we’ll see what Young’s priorities are after winning a title in Golden State.

Corey Brewer, G/F
Brewer was a key part of the Thunder’s rotation after joining the team late in the 2017/18 season. However, clubs considering him this offseason are probably skeptical that he can replicate the .359 3PT% he posted in 24 regular season and playoff games with Oklahoma City.

James Ennis, SF
The Pistons, Sixers, Rockets, Nets, Pelicans, and Timberwolves were said to have interest in Ennis last week, but some of those teams have addressed their wing and frontcourt needs since then.

Treveon Graham, SF
The Hornets’ decision not to tender a qualifying offer to Graham, a 24-year-old wing who made 41.2% of his three-pointers, was somewhat surprising. He’s generating interest and should find a home on an NBA roster.

Michael Beasley, F
When the Knicks opted to sign Mario Hezonja, it essentially closed Beasley’s path to returning to New York. Beasley poured in 13.2 PPG in just 22.3 MPG last season off the bench, so he should appeal to a club in need of a scoring punch off the bench.

Trevor Booker, PF
Booker’s lack of an outside shot limits his value in the modern NBA, so he certainly won’t match the $9MM+ salary he earned in 2017/18. He’d make a solid third or fourth frontcourt piece for a lot of teams around the NBA though.

Dante Cunningham, PF
While stretch fours like Ersan Ilyasova, Anthony Tolliver, and Nemanja Bjelica found homes last week, Cunningham remains available. He’ll likely will have a more modest price tag than those other veteran forwards.

Alan Williams, F/C
A meniscus injury kept Williams sidelined for nearly all of the 2017/18 campaign and may be diminishing his market this summer. If he’s healthy though, Williams is one of the league’s best rebounders — he has averaged 15.0 boards per 36 minutes over the course of his NBA career.

Alex Len, C
Another former Suns big man who finds himself without an NBA home, Len can provide some rebounding and rim protection for a team in need of a backup center. If he’s seeking a starting role somewhere, the five-year veteran may have to wait for a team to get hit with the injury bug.

Greg Monroe, C
Monroe posted decent per-minute numbers in Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Boston last season, averaging 10.3 PPG and 6.9 RPG in just 20.4 minutes per contest. But he’s a low-post scorer in a league that doesn’t place a ton of value on that skill these days — he wasn’t a major part of the Celtics’ rotation in the playoffs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2018/19 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker

July 9th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

One of the notable new additions in the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which went into effect at the start of the 2017/18 league year, is the two-way contract.

As we explain in depth in our FAQ, two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry two extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players spend most of their time with the club’s G League affiliate, but are eligible to join the NBA roster for up to 45 days per season, and remain under team control — they can’t be poached by rival franchises.

In 2017/18, several two-way players proved crucial to their respective teams’ success. Some, like Quinn Cook of the Warriors, parlayed their two-way deals into guaranteed contracts and spots on a 15-man roster. Others, like Tyrone Wallace, remained on their two-way contracts the entire season, but still become integral parts of their teams’ rotations.

NBA teams have begun to fill in their two-way slots for the 2018/19 league year, so we’ll track all those deals in the space below. Some two-way players from 2017/18 inked two-year contracts and remain under contract for this season, while others have been newly signed.

If a signing hasn’t been officially announced as a two-way contract, but has been reported as such, we’ll make a note of that, and update the info as necessary. Players who are in the first year of two-way contracts that cover two years (the maximum), are noted with an asterisk.

This tracker will continue to be updated throughout the 2018/19 league year, and can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

Here are 2018/19’s two-way players:

Updated 6-24-19

Atlanta Hawks

  1. Alex Poythress, F
  2. Empty

Boston Celtics

  1. P.J. Dozier, SG
  2. R.J. Hunter, SG

Brooklyn Nets

  1. Alan Williams, F/C
  2. Empty

Charlotte Hornets

  1. J.P. Macura, SG
  2. Joe Chealey, G

Chicago Bulls

  1. Rawle Alkins, G
  2. Brandon Sampson, SG

Cleveland Cavaliers

  1. Jaron Blossomgame, F
  2. Deng Adel, SF

Dallas Mavericks

  1. Kostas Antetokounmpo, SF *
  2. Daryl Macon, G *

Denver Nuggets

  1. Thomas Welsh, C *
  2. Brandon Goodwin, PG

Detroit Pistons

  1. Isaiah Whitehead, G
  2. Kalin Lucas, G

Golden State Warriors

  1. Damion Lee, G/F
  2. Marcus Derrickson, F

Houston Rockets

  1. Vince Edwards, F
  2. Trevon Duval, PG

Indiana Pacers

  1. Davon Reed, SG
  2. Empty

Los Angeles Clippers

  1. Angel Delgado, C
  2. Johnathan Motley, PF

Los Angeles Lakers

  1. Alex Caruso, G
  2. Johnathan Williams, PF

Memphis Grizzlies

  1. Yuta Watanabe, G/F *
  2. Julian Washburn, SF *

Miami Heat

  1. Empty
  2. Empty

Milwaukee Bucks

  1. Bonzie Colson, F *
  2. Empty

Minnesota Timberwolves

  1. Jared Terrell, SG
  2. C.J. Williams, SG

New Orleans Pelicans

  1. Trevon Bluiett, SG
  2. Empty

New York Knicks

  1. Isaiah Hicks, PF
  2. Kadeem Allen, PG *

Oklahoma City Thunder

  1. Donte Grantham, F *
  2. Jawun Evans, G

Orlando Magic

  1. Troy Caupain, PG
  2. Amile Jefferson, F

Philadelphia 76ers

  1. Shake Milton, G *
  2. Empty

Phoenix Suns

  1. George King, SG
  2. Empty

Portland Trail Blazers

  1. Empty
  2. Empty

Sacramento Kings

  1. Wenyen Gabriel, F *
  2. Troy Williams, SF

San Antonio Spurs

  1. Drew Eubanks, F/C *
  2. Ben Moore, PF

Toronto Raptors

  1. Jordan Loyd, G *
  2. Empty

Utah Jazz

  1. Naz Mitrou-Long, G
  2. Tyler Cavanaugh, PF

Washington Wizards

  1. Devin Robinson, SF
  2. Empty
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Weekly Mailbag: 7/2/18 – 7/8/18

July 8th, 2018 at 12:56pm 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 will Oklahoma City do with Carmelo Anthony? Stretch, buyout or maybe even trade? — Ryan Stamps

The Thunder will explore all their options before making a final decision, but it’s clear that Anthony will become a free agent at some point this summer. He didn’t fit in well during his lone season in OKC, and the Thunder need to reduce a historically high payroll that stands at $310MM between salaries and luxury taxes. They could trim that figure for 2018/19 by $107MM and get rid of $90MM in tax payments by using the stretch provision — slicing Anthony’s $27.9MM salary into $9.3MM increments over the next three years. The Thunder would prefer to find a trading partner willing to take on the entire amount right away in exchange for some draft picks and possibly other assets. Chicago was floated as a possibility before matching Zach LaVine, but today’s decision makes a trade a long shot for the Thunder.

Have all the teams (especially those who, in your opinion, clearly need to make major offseason personnel changes after their performance last season) made them already? — Mark Imbong, via Twitter

It’s hard to say for sure. Most of the cap money in this year’s market dried up quickly, but there are still a few teams with the cash to make a move and a couple of attractive targets are left in Rockets center Clint Capela and Bucks forward Jabari Parker. It will be interesting to see how the Kings react now that the the Bulls have matched their four-year, $78MM offer sheet for LaVine. They could make that same offer to Capela or Parker, or maybe a smaller deal for the Celtics’ Marcus Smart, forcing their current teams into difficult decisions. The Lakers may not be done, either. They can get up to about $15.5MM in cap room by stretching Luol Deng‘s contract, but they won’t get a significant free agent if they stand firm on their current policy of one-year deals.

Will Jabari Parker stay in Milwaukee? — Macho Man Van E Savage, via Twitter

Like most restricted free agents, Parker is finding offers hard to come by. Teams are typically unwilling to tie up their resources while waiting for a matching decision early in free agency. With most of the major signings out of the way, teams can now turn their attention to players like Parker. The Kings could get involved, but a report this week indicates he is no longer in their plans. The Hawks have enough cap space, but may not want to use it on a player coming off a major injury. The Nets have about $11.5MM available after the Dwight Howard buyout and have shown a willingness to gamble on restricted free agents. Right now, the most likely scenario is that Parker takes his qualifying offer and uses next season to show he is fully healthy before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

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Hoops Rumors Originals: 6/30/18 – 7/7/18

July 7th, 2018 at 3:26pm CST by clarkcrum

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

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NBA’s 2018 July Moratorium Ends Today

July 6th, 2018 at 8:44am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s July moratorium will end on Friday at 11:00 am central time, allowing teams to conduct official business beginning today. The July moratorium is the period from July 1 to July 6 when teams are permitted to agree to trades and free agent contracts, but can’t yet formally finalize them.

[RELATED: 2018 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

There are a number of types of deals that can be finalized during the moratorium, as we’ve seen this week. Teams can sign first-round picks to their rookie contracts, two-way contracts can be made official, and players signing minimum salary contracts can also finalize those deals. Restricted free agents are also permitted to sign offer sheets during the moratorium, though no players have done so this year.

Although the end of the moratorium signals the beginning of official business for many teams, those teams aren’t obligated to immediately finalize deals reached during the moratorium. In some cases, salary-cap machinations will require patience on some certain moves. The Wizards, for example, will have to wait until Dwight Howard is formally traded from Charlotte to Brooklyn, finalizes his buyout with the Nets, and officially clears waivers before they can actually sign him.

The Howard deal between the Hornets and Nets is just one of a handful of trades completed in June or early July that still need to be finalized. Swaps between the Hornets and Thunder, Lakers and Sixers, and Nuggets and Sixers all remain unofficial too.

[RELATED: 2018 NBA Offseason Trades]

Once the moratorium lifts, we’ll be updating our stories of contract and trade agreements to reflect when they become official.

For top headlines from the last week, like contract agreements for LeBron James, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, and other big-name free agents, we’ll bump those stories to the top of the site so you don’t miss news of them becoming official. However, since we don’t want to bury new news amidst confirmation of old signings, our stories on smaller deals won’t be moved to the top of our feed unless there are new developments or details.

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Poll: Should The NBA Adopt 1-16 Playoff Seeding?

July 5th, 2018 at 5:39pm CST by Austin Kent

The conversation surrounding NBA playoff seeding has reached its zenith now that LeBron James has become the latest in a long line of Eastern Conference stars to defect west.

In fact, according to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, only one* single NBA player with an All-NBA 1st-Team nod under their belt currently plays in the Eastern Conference… and no it’s not Giannis Antetokounmpo but Joakim Noah.

The question at hand is whether the league should think long and hard about ditching the current system that seeds eight teams from each conference separately in favor of one that seeds the best 16 teams in the league, regardless of conference, 1-16.

According to Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press, the most concerning aspect of making such a change would be the increased travel for teams in the postseason. Per league commissioner Adam Silver, such a change would add an overall total of 40,000 travel miles for teams in the postseason.

Currently, the league says it averages about 90,000 miles of total travel, noting that the regular season mark comes in significantly higher at 130,000 miles.

Of course changing the playoff structure would likely mean that the league would be obligated to balance the regular season schedule between conferences, too, something the league estimates would add an additional 150,000 miles of travel between October and April.

That doesn’t mean that it couldn’t still be worth it. Mavs owner Mark Cuban doesn’t see the problem (h/t Kurt Helin of NBC Sports), arguing that the league’s smartest decision in the past decade was to extend the season to allow for more time off between games. Playoff schedules, he says, could be similarly optimized when necessary.

Our question for Hoops Rumors readers, then, is what they think of the debate? Would the NBA benefit from ditching the current format in order to accommodate 1-16 seeding irrespective of conferences?

Let your voice be heard.

*Since this tweet, Dwight Howard has committed to the Wizards, so technically two.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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