Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hoops Rumors Originals

2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest Series

May 25th, 2018 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

As we approach the 2018 NBA draft and free agent period, Hoops Rumors has been examining each team’s cap situation, breaking down the guaranteed salaries, non-guaranteed salaries, options, free agents, and cap holds on the books for each of the league’s teams.

We’re also previewing each club’s offseason in more depth, but these salary cap digests provide a bare-bones look at where teams are at with their spending, how much cap room they figure to have this summer, and which players may not be safe, given their contract situations.

You can find the link to your favorite team’s offseason salary cap digest below. If we haven’t covered your team yet, we’ll be doing so within the next week. You can find this post anytime on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” or under “Features” in our mobile menu.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic

Central

Southeast

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Northwest

Pacific

Southwest

Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Hoops Rumors Glossary: July Moratorium

May 25th, 2018 at 10:25am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s annual free agent frenzy begins each July 1, and the league’s top available players rarely take more than three or four days to reach agreements with teams once the calendar turns to July. However, most of those deals can’t become official right away, due to a Collective Bargaining Agreement rule known as the July moratorium.

The July moratorium – which lasts from 12:01am eastern time on July 1 until 12:00pm on July 6 – essentially puts a freeze on most transactions for several days at the start of the new league year. NBA free agents are allowed to negotiate with clubs during the moratorium, and they can agree to terms on new contracts, but they are unable to officially sign new deals until the moratorium ends. The same goes for trades — two teams can agree to terms on a deal, but can’t formally put it through until at least July 6.

While nearly every agreement reached during the July moratorium eventually gets finalized, the unofficial nature of those initial deals can occasionally wreak havoc on the league’s free agent market. DeAndre Jordan‘s 2015 free agency was a perfect example of this. Jordan initially agreed to terms with the Mavericks during the July moratorium, but before the moratorium ended and the two sides could make it official, the Clippers changed Jordan’s mind and convinced him to re-sign with L.A.

Because Jordan and the Mavs had only reached an informal verbal agreement, there was nothing Dallas could do to stop him from reversing course during the moratorium. Still, this sort of about-face is rare, since it can result in fractured relationships between players, agents, and teams.

While most NBA transactions can’t be completed during the moratorium, there are a handful of exceptions to that rule. The following moves are allowed between July 1 and July 6:

  • A team can sign a first-round pick to his rookie scale contract.
  • A team can sign a player to a one- or two-year minimum salary contract.
  • A restricted free agent can sign a qualifying offer from his current team.
  • A restricted free agent can sign a maximum-salary contract with his current team.
  • A restricted free agent can sign an offer sheet with a new team; the 48-hour matching period would begin after the moratorium ends.
  • A team can sign a player to a two-way contract, convert a two-way contract into a standard NBA deal, or convert an Exhibit 10 deal into a two-way contract.
  • A team can waive a player or claim a player off waivers.
  • A second-round pick can accept a required tender (a one-year contract offer) from his current team.

Under the old Collective Bargaining Agreement, the NBA finalized the salary cap at some point during the July moratorium, and the new cap would take effect once the moratorium ended. However, the current CBA calls for the salary cap for the new league year to be set by the start of July, with the new figure going into effect immediately on July 1. This gives teams more clarity on exactly how much room they have available as they negotiate with free agents during the moratorium.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Five Key Offseason Questions: Memphis Grizzlies

May 24th, 2018 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Grizzlies projected to be a middle-of-the-pack team heading into the 2017/18 season, I wrote last September that there was little chance of the club bottoming out entirely as long as Mike Conley and Marc Gasol stayed healthy. But Conley didn’t stay healthy, appearing in just 12 games. And sure enough, the Grizzlies bottomed out without him, firing head coach David Fizdale and finishing with a 22-60 record, the NBA’s second-worst mark.

Conley and Gasol can still be a very productive duo, but they’re both getting older and health will remain a concern going forward. Of course, it goes without saying that the same caveat applies to the team’s other maximum-salary player, Chandler Parsons, who has appeared in just 70 games since signing with the Grizzlies two years ago.

Armed with a top-five pick and a few standout veterans, the Grizzlies could bounce back in 2018/19 if they have better health luck, but given the ages and injuries histories of their core players, it may be unrealistic to bank on that.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Is this the start of a rebuild or a blip on the radar?

The most favorable way to frame the Grizzlies’ 2017/18 season is to compare it what happened to the Spurs in 1996/97. After seven straight playoff appearances, San Antonio lost David Robinson for the season, went 20-62, nabbed Tim Duncan with the No. 1 pick in the draft, and immediately returned to title contention with Duncan and a healthy Robinson the following season. The Spurs won the NBA Finals two years later, and haven’t missed the postseason since.

Like those Spurs, the Grizzlies had earned seven consecutive playoff appearances prior to last season’s disaster. And with Conley on the way back, Memphis doesn’t view itself as a rebuilding club. The Grizzlies probably won’t follow in the Spurs’ footsteps by winning a title anytime soon, but they figure to focus on getting back into the playoffs immediately, which means we shouldn’t expect the team to sell off pieces this summer.

2. Will the Marc Gasol trade rumors start up again?

If the Grizzlies expect to rebound rather than rebuild, any Gasol trade rumors that surface in the coming months figure to be shot down just like the ones during the season were. Still, this is an issue that could extend into the regular season if Memphis doesn’t get off to a good start.

Gasol’s contract calls for a $24MM+ salary in 2018/19, with a $25.5MM+ player option for 2019/20. That’s a high price tag, but it’s one that plenty of teams would be interested in taking on. The Heat, for instance, would likely jump at the chance to swap their similarly-priced center, Hassan Whiteside, for Gasol.

The Grizzlies don’t have a ton of appealing trade assets under team control, so if they do decide to take a step back and rework their roster at some point within the next year or so, shopping Gasol may represent their best chance to pick up young players or picks. His status will be worth watching.

Read more

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Toronto Raptors

May 24th, 2018 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors parted with several veterans during the 2017 offseason, relying on young players to take their spots in the rotation. That approach was a massive success, as Toronto’s five-man bench unit evolved into one of the NBA’s best. However, the team found itself in a familiar spot this spring, swept out of the playoffs by the Cavaliers for a second straight year. Now the cap-strapped Raps will have to try once again to figure out a way to improve their roster’s postseason ceiling.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Raptors financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2018:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: None

  • The Raptors have more than $126MM in guaranteed salaries on their books before even accounting for a raise for VanVleet. Ownership would likely be willing to foot a luxury tax bill for a title contender, but after a second consecutive second-round playoff exit, the Raps can’t afford to just run things back with the same group. Toronto may look to move a contract or two to cut costs this summer.

Footnotes:

  1. McKinnie’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 20.

Note: 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 was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Retweet 4 Share 0 Send via email0

Five Key Offseason Questions: Atlanta Hawks

May 23rd, 2018 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

After peaking with a 60-win performance in 2013/14, the Hawks were trending in the wrong direction when new general manager Travis Schlenk assumed the reins last summer. Schlenk decided to accelerate the club’s gradual decline, allowing Paul Millsap and several other veterans to depart in free agency or trades.

The Hawks’ plan to bottom out worked — the team finished with a 24-58 record and got a little luck in the draft lottery, snagging a top-three pick. After effectively tearing things down during his first year in Atlanta, Schlenk will now be under pressure to start building the Hawks back up.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Is Dennis Schroder on the trade block?

The 2017/18 Hawks were short on star power, with Schroder representing the closest thing the team had to a star player. The 24-year-old comfortably led the team in scoring (19.4 PPG) and assists (6.2 APG), establishing new career highs in both categories.

However, there are signs that Schroder may not be a part of the next playoff team in Atlanta. He’s currently dealing with legal trouble, having been arrested on a battery charge last fall, and there are have been rumblings that he’s not exactly a positive locker room influence. Most recently, Schroder made comments suggesting that he wouldn’t mind being traded by the Hawks.

Reports as of last week indicated that neither Schroder nor his agent had formally asked the Hawks to explore possible trades, but given the mounting red flags and the fact that the new front office didn’t draft Schroder or sign him to his current extension, it’s possible that Schlenk and company aren’t married to the point guard long term. It will be worth watching to see whether Schroder’s name pops up in trade rumors this offseason.

2. What’s the timeline for the rebuild?

Schroder should just be entering his prime and is under contract at a reasonable rate of $15.5MM annually through 2021, making him a seemingly ideal cornerstone piece for a rebuild. So if Atlanta does explore trading Schroder, it’s fair to ask what sort of timeline the franchise envisions for its rebuild.

Outside of Schroder, there aren’t many promising young building blocks on the Hawks’ roster. John Collins and Taurean Prince certainly qualify, but they’re unlikely to develop into franchise-type players or perennial All-Stars.

So how might Atlanta find one or two of those players with franchise-changing potential? This year’s No. 3 pick is one tool available, though if the team is preparing for a slow rebuilding process, it might not be the last time the Hawks head into the draft with a top-five pick.

The free agent market is another potential path for the franchise, but even with $30MM+ in cap room this summer, I don’t expect Atlanta to be in the mix for top-tier free agents. The Hawks don’t seem to be eager to speed up their rebuild, so they’re probably at least a year or two away from making a serious run at veteran difference-makers in free agency.

Read more

Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Philadelphia 76ers

May 23rd, 2018 at 10:49am CST by Luke Adams

After compiling a 75-253 (.229) record during Brett Brown‘s first four seasons in Philadelphia, the Sixers would have considered it a success to crack .500 and sneak into the playoffs in 2017/18. Instead, the club surpassed expectations by racking up 52 wins, earning the No. 3 seed in the East, and winning a playoff series, as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons established themselves as NBA stars. With cap room to spare this summer, Philadelphia has the opportunity to add another major piece to its ultra-talented core.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Sixers financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2018:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: $25,195,100

  • Our cap projection for the Sixers includes their nine guaranteed contracts, team options for Holmes and McConnell, and the cap holds for their two first-round picks. It adds up to a total team salary of $75,804,900.
  • That cap projection involves renouncing all their own free agents – including Redick – and still doesn’t leave the 76ers with enough cap space for potential targets like LeBron James ($35.35MM) or Paul George ($30.3MM). Still, there are ways for the team to carve out more room. For instance, if they were to eliminate the cap charges for Bayless and their two first-round picks via trades (or draft-and-stash picks), the Sixers would have approximately $37.3MM in space.

Footnotes:

  1. Embiid will have a maximum salary worth 25% of the salary cap. This projected max salary is based on a $101MM cap, but it could be higher or lower depending on where the cap lands.
  2. Holmes’ salary will remain non-guaranteed after his option is exercised.
  3. McConnell’s salary will remain non-guaranteed after his option is exercised.
  4. Pasecniks was the Sixers’ 25th overall pick in 2017, meaning his cap hold is equal to the rookie scale amount for this year’s No. 25 pick. That cap hold will be removed if it’s officially determined that Pasecniks won’t sign with the Sixers for 2018/19.

Note: 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 was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

Poll: 2018 NBA Finals Matchup

May 23rd, 2018 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers faced a significant uphill battle in the Eastern Conference Finals after falling behind 2-0, and the Rockets looked to be on life support in the Western Conference Finals after being blown out in Golden State in Game 3. However, after Houston’s dramatic win on Tuesday night, both series are all tied at two games apiece, guaranteeing we’ll get a couple Game Sixes, and perhaps even a Game Seven or two.

With both Conference Finals having essentially become best-of-three series, the next several days should be fascinating. Coming into the third round, a Warriors/Cavaliers rematch in the Finals was widely expected, and oddsmakers are still forecasting that outcome. Sports betting site Bovada.lv currently lists both Golden State and Cleveland as 2-to-1 favorites.

Still, despite being favored, neither the Warriors nor the Cavs has home court advantage, which could be an important factor. Historically, in best-of-seven series that are tied after four games, the team with the home court edge wins 80% of the time, per Dan Feldman of NBC Sports (Twitter link).

The Rockets and Celtics have been particularly effective at home this year. No team posted a better regular-season home record than Houston’s 34-7 mark, and the Rockets are 6-2 in the postseason at the Toyota Center. As for the Celtics, they’ve yet to lose in Boston during the playoffs, reeling off nine straight home wins.

What do you think? Will either the Rockets or Celtics prevent a fourth straight Warriors/Cavaliers showdown in the 2018 NBA Finals? Which two teams do you expect to continue playing into June?

Vote in our poll, then jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts on the Conference Finals!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Offseason Trade Restrictions

May 22nd, 2018 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

While the NBA’s offseason trade market generally doesn’t officially swing into gear until after the NBA Finals end, teams can technically begin making deals after they’re eliminated from the playoffs. That means all 26 clubs that aren’t taking part in the Conference Finals are eligible to make trades now, if they so choose.

As teams weigh potential summer trades, they’ll have to take into account a few groups of players whose trade eligibility – or lack thereof – may impact possible deals. While most players under contract through the summer are eligible to be moved, there are some exceptions. Here are the players who can’t be dealt for part or all of the offseason due to various trade rules:

Pending free agents

Players whose contracts will expire on June 30 can’t be traded prior to that date. Beginning in July, they can be moved in sign-and-trade deals, but those are rare. Once a 2018 free agent officially signs a new contract, he is ineligible to be traded until at least December 15, and perhaps even later than that if he meets certain criteria.

Player with options

Players who have team or player options for 2018/19 can’t be traded before those option decisions are made. In other words, a club can’t acquire a player with a team option in June, then decline that option before the end of the month as a way to create cap room.

However, a player who has an option year for ’18/19 on his contract technically can be traded, either before or after the new league year begins on July 1. As part of the deal though, his option would need to be exercised. That’s what happened last year with Chris Paul, for instance, when he was sent from Los Angeles to Houston.

So if the Clippers want to trade DeAndre Jordan this summer, they’d have to rely on him exercising his player option for next season. If he turns down that option, he can’t be moved prior to June 30, and could only be moved in a sign-and-trade in July, significantly reducing the odds of a deal.

Recently signed players

The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t allow a team to trade a player within three months of signing him. So a player who signed with a team on February 23 still isn’t eligible to be dealt, as of today. Here are the players who signed multiyear contracts near the end of the 2017/18 season and aren’t yet eligible to be traded, along with dates representing the end of their three-month windows:

Players who received Designated Veteran Extensions

Rookie scale extensions and standard veteran extensions impose some trade restrictions on players, but the Designated Veteran Extension takes those restrictions to another level by preventing its recipients from being traded for one full calendar year. That means anyone who signs such a deal this summer – say, Kawhi Leonard – wouldn’t be able to be traded for 12 months.

The following players, who signed the first handful of DVEs under the new CBA during the 2017 offseason, remain ineligible to be traded until the dates indicated:

Waiver claims

This restriction doesn’t apply to anyone yet, but players who are claimed off waivers during the offseason can’t be traded until the 30th day of the following season. That means a team claiming a player off waivers this summer won’t be eligible to trade that player until mid-November.

Recently signed draftees

Recently drafted players are often dealt on draft night before they’ve officially signed their first NBA contracts, since there are no restrictions limiting a team’s ability to trade a player’s draft rights. However, once the player officially signs his rookie contract, he can’t be moved for a full month (30 days).

Retweet 8 Share 0 Send via email0

2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Portland Trail Blazers

May 22nd, 2018 at 10:01am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers were hardly alone in spending extravagantly during the 2016 offseason, but their investments – C.J. McCollum, Evan Turner, Maurice Harkless, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe – have proven particularly onerous. Those aren’t all bad deals, and Crabbe has since been traded, but the Blazers’ big contracts have hamstrung the team’s ability to keep upgrading the roster. That issue figures to continue plaguing Portland this offseason, as the club has little cap flexibility.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Trail Blazers financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2018:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: None

  • With over $110MM in guaranteed contracts already on their books for 2018/19, the Blazers have no viable path to cap room, barring multiple trades and/or cuts. In fact, with only eight players accounting for that $110MM+, Portland could easily approach or surpass the tax line once the team’s roster fills out — especially if Nurkic is re-signed.

Footnotes:

  1. Baldwin’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 19.
  2. Layman’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after June 30.
  3. Papagiannis’ salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 19.

Note: 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 was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Best Seasons Of All Time

May 21st, 2018 at 10:01pm CST by ChrisCrouse

NBA Twitter is a beautiful place where entertainment and debate reign, and great ideas can be found. Recently, the team at NBAMath organized a #TimeMachineDraft in which 30 personalities from around NBA Twitter selected an ultimate roster comprised of individual seasons from NBA greats. Let’s take a look at the top 15 picks:

1. 1988/89 Michael Jordan (Bryant Knox of Bleacher Report).

2. 2012/13 LeBron James (B/R’s Andrew Bailey).

Who else was going to be selected in the top two? The Jordan-LBJ debate has been going on for several seasons now and with James showing no signs of slowing down, it’ll likely continue for quite some time. I wouldn’t determine whether GoodFellas or The Departed is the better film without seeing how each movie ended. With LBJ still playing at a high-level, I’m not ready to pick between the two.

3. 1971/72 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Former Bulls beat writer Sean Highkin).

4. 1986/87 Magic Johnson (HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky).

5. 2015/16 Stephen Curry (CBS Sport’s Adi Joseph).

You could talk me into these three in any order, though if I were picking third, I might pull the trigger on Curry, a player who looked like his 2015 self during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals this week.

6. 1999-00 Shaquille O’Neal (T.J. McBride of Mile High Sports).

This pick might be too low or just right. Does this theoretical league play 82 games? When you pick a player, do you get him in peak form or how he looked prior to opening night of a given season? That might influence my pick in this spot. However, if we’re taking a Shaq season, this is probably the best one.

7. 1985/86 Larry Bird (NBAMath’s Coach Adam Spinella).

8. 1993/94 Hakeem Olajuwon (RotoBaller’s Justin Carter).

9. 1963/64 Wilt Chamberlain (NBAMath’s Tony East).

It would be fantastic to see each of these Hall-of-Famers play against each other in their respective primes. Also, can you image any of these players floor, surrounded by the long-range shooting in today’s game?

10. 2002/03 Tim Duncan ( The Score’s Chris Walder).

11. 2013/14 Kevin Durant (B/R’s Tyler Conway).

Two very underrated seasons. Not sure which moment was more emotional for basketball fans: Durant making his MVP speech or Popovich speaking about Duncan after the big man retired.

12. 2003/04 Kevin Garnett (NBAMath’s Tom Rende).

13. 2008/09 Chris Paul (B/R’s Dan Favale).

Two players who have had heard their fair share of criticism. Add being partially responsible for Durant’s signing in Golden State to their haters’ lists.

14. 1993/94 David Robinson (HoopsHype’s Alex Kennedy).

15. 2016/17 Kawhi Leonard (Nylon Calculus’ Krishna Narsu).

Leonard was my selection for the 2016/17 MVP award after putting up a great, efficient season. Russell Westbrook – whose 2016/17 campaign was also selected in the first round of this Twitter draft – won the actual award after averaging a triple-double for the season.

I’m not sure I’d take a player who took over 2,000 shots and committed 438 turnovers in a season with my top pick in this kind of draft, but then again Westbrook provided special moments over and over again during his lone MVP campaign.

So tonight’s Community Shootaround is all about which player had the best NBA season in history and which ones are severely underrated.

Think 2006/07 Dirk Nowitzki should have gone higher in the draft? How about a season from Kobe Bryant? What about Charles Barkley, Anthony Davis or Grant Hill?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

Retweet 1 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts