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2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Charlotte Hornets

May 4th, 2018 at 6:44pm CST by Luke Adams

After yo-yoing back and forth between the postseason and the lottery during Steve Clifford‘s first four years with the club, the Hornets failed to bounce back in Clifford’s fifth year, enduring a second straight 36-46 season. That disappointing outcome resulted in the ouster of both Clifford and GM Rich Cho, so Charlotte will head into the 2018/19 league year with a new management team and head coach in place as the club mulls its next moves.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Hornets 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 11 of their 14 current players still on guaranteed contracts next year, the Hornets don’t have a whole lot of flexibility. Adding those 11 salaries to the team’s cap hold for its lottery pick works out to a total team salary of $121,268,720, which is well above the cap and may be right around the tax line. While new GM Mitch Kupchak will almost certainly look to reduce that figure this summer, creating any short-term cap room is unlikely.

Footnotes:

  1. Stone’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after August 1.
  2. The Hornets are 11th in the draft lottery standings. They’ll likely have the No. 11 selection, but could end up picking as high as No. 1 ($8,095,595) and as low as No. 14 ($2,869,353).

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.

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Hoops Rumors’ 2018 NBA Award Picks: Most Improved Player

May 4th, 2018 at 4:06pm CST by Hoops Rumors

While the NBA won’t announce this year’s award winners until late in June, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards over the next two weeks.

The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our choices below, but we also want to know which players, coaches, and executives you think are most deserving of the hardware this season, so jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts.

We’re keeping things going today with the award for Most Improved Player. Here are our selections:

Clark Crum: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
This one is pretty easy for me. As I noted within my Executive of the Year pick, Oladipo had largely underperformed as a former No. 2 overall selection in the forgettable 2013 draft before this season. Almost everyone panned the Pacers’ trade for him. Yet, Oladipo came out this year and averaged career-highs in PPG (23.1), RPG (5.2), APG (4.3), FG% (.477), 3P% (.371), and SPG (2.4), a category in which he led the NBA. He may very well be named to both an All-NBA and NBA All-Defensive Team.

I also gave strong consideration to Clint Capela and Terry Rozier, while Montrezl Harrell and Spencer Dinwiddie improved mightily as well, but I ultimately couldn’t see anyone but Oladipo winning this award.

Chris Crouse: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
With Paul George no longer on the team, the Pacers headed into the season with low expectations, viewed by many as more likely to land a top–five pick than make the playoffs. However, Oladipo’s unprecedented improvement, going from fringe starter to All-NBA candidate, gave Indiana life. He carried the Pacers all season and his development makes him more worthy of this award than past recipients.

Arthur Hill: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
Even before he went head-to-head with LeBron James in the playoffs, Oladipo clearly established himself as the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Oladipo’s qualifications go beyond the impressive numbers, including a 7.2 PPG increase in his scoring average. He provided the Pacers with an All-Star level performer to take the place of Paul George and enabled the franchise to claim the fifth seed when many thought it would collapse. Not bad for a guy who has been traded the past two summers.

Dana Gauruder: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
The Magic traded away the second pick of the 2013 draft after three ho-hum seasons. The Thunder dealt him after one year to get Paul George, which could very well turn into a one-season rental. Given a lead dog role, Oladipo blossomed in Indiana, not only scoring 23.1 PPG but improving his shooting percentages in the process. Defensively, he doubled his steals rate. The Pacers have a star they can build around, one who doesn’t openly pine to play in Los Angeles.

Austin Kent: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
There are a number of players who made notable improvements this season but Oladipo is the clear–cut top choice for the award. He didn’t simply continue an upward trend that he’d been on for years — he completely changed his perception in the league.

There’s no denying that the former No. 2 overall pick’s value was throttled during his one year in Oklahoma City, but his first year as a Pacer exceeded even the most ambitious outlook one could have had for him out of the draft back in 2013.

Luke Adams: Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
While the qualifications for Most Improved Player can be confusing, Oladipo could very well be a unanimous pick this year for the reasons outlined above. So rather than restating his case, I’ll mention a few players whose improvement in 2017/18 also deserves recognition.

Jrue Holiday and Steven Adams elevated their games to another level this season, silencing doubts about their massive contracts. Fourth-year bigs Clint Capela and Aaron Gordon improved all around as they near restricted free agency, while Fred VanVleet, Jamal Murray, Jaylen Brown, and Domantas Sabonis are among the players who made impressive second-year leaps. E’Twaun Moore and Joe Ingles also deserve credit for becoming key starters after multiple seasons as solid bench players.

Who is your pick for Most Improved Player? Share your choices and your thoughts in the comment section below!

Previously:

Still to come next week:

  • Sixth Man of the Year
  • Rookie of the Year
  • Defensive Player of the Year
  • Most Valuable Player

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Los Angeles Lakers

May 3rd, 2018 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Since Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka assumed control of the Lakers’ front office early in 2017, they’ve been hoarding cap room for the summer of 2018, signing free agents to one-year contracts last offseason and acquiring players on expiring deals at the trade deadline. It’s not a lock that the Lakers use all that cap room on long-term signings this summer, but that will be one of several scenarios on the table for the franchise as it resumes its pursuit of star players.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Lakers 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: $48,084,682

  • A handful of wild cards will impact how much cap room the Lakers have – or need – this summer. Will they waive and stretch Deng? Will they re-sign Randle or any other free agents? Will they bring back players on non-guaranteed contracts? For our projection, we’ve assumed they keep all five players on guaranteed contracts along with cap holds for Randle, their first-round pick, and five empty roster spots. That results in a total team salary of $52,915,318.
  • If landing two star free agents looks like a realistic possibility, Los Angeles could create the room necessary for a pair of max contracts. For instance, by waiving and stretching Deng, renouncing Randle, and trading their first-round pick, the Lakers could create $70,423,432 in space. Ultimately, their approach to the offseason may be dictated by how their conversations with those top free agents go.

Footnotes:

  1. Ennis’ salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 5.
  2. Zubac’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after June 30.
  3. Bryant’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 5.

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.

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2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: New York Knicks

May 2nd, 2018 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

While their $72MM investment in Joakim Noah back in 2016 stands out as the Knicks’ worst use of cap room in recent years, the team’s use of its space in 2017 was also questionable — a massive offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr. ate up most of New York’s flexibility, and the club’s room exception went to Ron Baker. A year later, the Knicks won’t have as much money to spend, and that should be just fine. With Kristaps Porzingis‘ recovery from a torn ACL expected to sideline him for the start of the 2018/19 season, New York shouldn’t be focused on win-now moves in the coming months.

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

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: None

  • There are a number of variables in play when it comes to cap space for the Knicks. Our projection assumes that Kanter and Baker will pick up their player options and that the team will retain all 10 players currently under contract – including the non-guaranteed deals – along with its first-round pick. Combining all those cap hits would take team salary to almost exactly $101MM.
  • There are scenarios in which the Knicks could create room. Kanter opting out and not re-signing would remove $18.6MM+ from the team’s books, and waiving and stretching Noah would trim team salary by another $11MM or so. Still, I think the Knicks are more likely to make an effort to open up cap space in 2019 than in 2018.

Footnotes:

  1. Burke’s salary becomes guaranteed for $100K after July 10 and guaranteed for $400K after the first game of the 2018/19 regular season.
  2. Williams’ exact contract details, including guarantee info, aren’t yet known.
  3. The Knicks are ninth in the draft lottery standings. They could end up picking as high as No. 1 ($8,095,595) and as low as No. 12 ($3,179,248).

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.

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Hoops Rumors’ 2018 NBA Award Picks: Coach Of The Year

May 2nd, 2018 at 2:27pm CST by Hoops Rumors

While the NBA won’t announce this year’s award winners until late in June, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards over the next two weeks.

The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our choices below, but we also want to know which players, coaches, and executives you think are most deserving of the hardware this season, so jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts.

We’re keeping things going today with the award for Coach of the Year. Here are our selections:

Dana Gauruder: Brad Stevens (Celtics)
The Celtics designed their schemes around new acquisitions Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, then lost one of them the first game of season. The other went down in the second half of the campaign, yet the Celtics are still going strong. They’re always well-prepared and play consistently hard, regardless of who’s available on a given night.

Arthur Hill: Quin Snyder (Jazz)
It’s a virtual tie between Snyder and Indiana’s Nate McMillan, who both led their teams to the playoffs after losing franchise players. The Jazz appeared headed for a major rebuilding project after Gordon Hayward left for Boston, especially with George Hill and Boris Diaw also departing. Snyder put his trust in rookie Donovan Mitchell and the team survived an early injury to Rudy Gobert before tearing through the league in the second half of the season. McMillan worked similar magic with the Pacers, who could have collapsed after trading Paul George. Both coaches turned in award-worthy performances, but Snyder gets a bonus point for doing it in the tougher Western Conference.

Austin Kent: Dwane Casey (Raptors)
While there are a few coaches who have helped squeeze every ounce of talent out of their players, none are more deserving of Coach of the Year than Casey. The Raptors head coach inspired a team of veterans to adapt their games in order to stay competitive in this league — and not a moment too soon.

With a roster largely unchanged from last season, Casey helped the Raptors improve their offensive and defensive ratings while finishing with their best regular season record in franchise history. If that wasn’t enough, he did it while boosting the value of a suddenly vaunted second unit and modernizing Jonas Valanciunas‘ old-school game.

Clark Crum: Brad Stevens (Celtics)
The Celtics were expected to be where they are currently – in the playoffs and competing for the Eastern Conference crown – but the manner in which they got here is the reason Stevens should win this award. Prized free agent acquisition Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome ankle injury that ended his season in the first game of the year. Kyrie Irving played only 60 games and is now out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. Reserve Daniel Theis also suffered a season-ending injury. Moreover, important contributors like Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart missed significant time with injury.

Yet, Stevens somehow managed to parlay all of that discord into the fourth-best record in the NBA, relying on rookie Jayson Tatum, second-year rising star Jaylen Brown, and out-of-nowhere Terry Rozier as key cogs to the Celtics’ success. How? Defense. The Celtics led the NBA in defensive rating, leaning on Stevens’ defensive principles throughout the season while relying on different personnel to provide offensive firepower without Hayward and Irving.

Luke Adams: Quin Snyder (Jazz)
There’s no shortage of worthwhile candidates for the Coach of the Year award this season — I considered Dwane Casey, Brad Stevens, Brett Brown, Nate McMillan, Mike D’Antoni, and Alvin Gentry, among others, before eventually circling back to Snyder. The Jazz head coach got career-best performances from Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles, found a way to make the Rudy Gobert/Derrick Favors frontcourt work, and trusted Donovan Mitchell with the keys to Utah’s offense. He also seemed to get the most out of players whose potential hadn’t been maximized in other situations – such as Jae Crowder – and no Western team had a better defensive rating than Snyder’s Jazz.

Chris Crouse: Gregg Popovich (Spurs)
Popovich, who spent part of last offseason getting LaMarcus Aldridge to buy back into San Antonio’s system, gets my vote. The Spurs won 47 games this season while dealing with uncertainty, distractions, and decline from many of their veterans. Brad Stevens and Quin Snyder, who has looked like a man in need of a nap all season, both deserve immense credit. They both run complex schemes and had to integrate some major additions into their game plans this season. One of the two will likely win the award, but my vote will go to Popovich every year until someone drastically out-maneuvers the three-time Coach of the Year winner — that didn’t happen during the 2017/18 campaign.

Who is your pick for Coach of the Year? Share your choices and your thoughts in the comment section below!

Previously:

Still to come:

  • Most Improved Player
  • Sixth Man of the Year
  • Rookie of the Year
  • Defensive Player of the Year
  • Most Valuable Player

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2018 NBA Draft Lottery Odds

May 2nd, 2018 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s draft lottery is less than two weeks away, and the results of that event could significantly alter the course of multiple franchises. While we’ve already outlined what the draft order will look like heading into that night, we’ve yet to take a closer look at each club’s lottery odds, so we’ll do that today.

Let’s dive right in…

  1. Phoenix Suns
    • No. 1: 25.0%
    • No. 2: 21.5%
    • No. 3: 17.7%
    • No. 4: 35.8%
  2. Memphis Grizzlies
    • No. 1: 19.9%
    • No. 2: 18.8%
    • No. 3: 17.1%
    • No. 4: 31.9%
    • No. 5: 12.4%
  3. Dallas Mavericks
    • No. 1: 13.8%
    • No. 2: 14.2%
    • No. 3: 14.5%
    • No. 4: 23.8%
    • No. 5: 29.0%
    • No. 6: 4.5%
  4. Atlanta Hawks
    • No. 1: 13.7%
    • No. 2: 14.1%
    • No. 3: 14.5%
    • No. 4: 8.5%
    • No. 5: 32.3%
    • No. 6: 15.5%
    • No. 7: 1.3%
  5. Orlando Magic
    • No. 1: 8.8%
    • No. 2: 9.6%
    • No. 3: 10.6%
    • No. 5: 26.2%
    • No. 6: 35.9%
    • No. 7: 8.4%
    • No. 8: 0.4%
  6. Chicago Bulls
    • No. 1: 5.3%
    • No. 2: 6.0%
    • No. 3: 7.0%
    • No. 6: 44.0%
    • No. 7: 33.1%
    • No. 8: 4.5%
    • No. 9: 0.1%
  7. Sacramento Kings
    • No. 1: 5.3%
    • No. 2: 6.0%
    • No. 3: 7.0%
    • No. 7: 57.3%
    • No. 8: 22.6%
    • No. 9: 1.8%
    • No. 10: <0.1%
  8. Cleveland Cavaliers (from Nets)
    • No. 1: 2.8%
    • No. 2: 3.3%
    • No. 3: 3.9%
    • No. 8: 72.5%
    • No. 9: 16.8%
    • No. 10: 0.8%
    • No. 11: <0.1%
  9. New York Knicks
    • No. 1: 1.7%
    • No. 2: 2.0%
    • No. 3: 2.4%
    • No. 9: 81.3%
    • No. 10: 12.2%
    • No. 11: 0.4%
    • No. 12: <0.1%
  10. Philadelphia 76ers (from Lakers)
    • No. 1: 1.1%
    • No. 2: 1.3% (to Celtics)
    • No. 3: 1.6% (to Celtics)
    • No. 10: 87.0%
    • No. 11: 8.9%
    • No. 12: 0.2%
    • No. 13: <0.1%
  11. Charlotte Hornets
    • No. 1: 0.8%
    • No. 2: 0.9%
    • No. 3: 1.2%
    • No. 11: 90.8%
    • No. 12: 6.3%
    • No. 13: <0.1%
    • No. 14: <0.1%
  12. Los Angeles Clippers (from Pistons)
    • No. 1: 0.7% (to Pistons)
    • No. 2: 0.8% (to Pistons)
    • No. 3: 1.0% (to Pistons)
    • No. 12: 93.5%
    • No. 13: 3.9%
    • No. 14: <0.1%
  13. Los Angeles Clippers
    • No. 1: 0.6%
    • No. 2: 0.7%
    • No. 3: 0.9%
    • No. 13: 96.0%
    • No. 14: 1.8%
  14. Denver Nuggets
    • No. 1: 0.5%
    • No. 2: 0.6%
    • No. 3: 0.7%
    • No. 14: 98.2%

Note: Because odds are rounded to nearest tenth, they may not always add up to exactly 100.0%.

Information from LotteryBucket.com was used in the creation of this post.

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Free Agent Stock Watch 2018: Minnesota Timberwolves

May 1st, 2018 at 8:05pm CST by Austin Kent

The Timberwolves landed back in the NBA playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons this spring. That comes as no surprise, given that the club has finally paired its stockpile of young stars with a formidable, winning coach and a green light to spend.

The Wolves need not fret that they barely put a dent in the Rockets this postseason as they’ll be back in contention next season and for as long as Jimmy Butler is capable of leading the club’s offense, flanked by Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.

It’ll get mighty difficult to afford all three eventually but they won’t need to seriously contemplate how to make all the numbers work until the summer after this one.

Nemanja Bjelica, PF, 30 (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $12MM deal in 2015
The Timberwolves are in a much different position now than they were when they inked Bjelica as an international free agent, but the veteran has hung around in large part due to his presence in the locker room. Given that the Wolves already have so much of their 2018/19 payroll tied up in other players, don’t expect them to offer Bjelica much more than the minimum.

Aaron Brooks, PG, 33 (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $2MM deal in 2017
Brooks didn’t exactly take the league by storm in his tenth season but his role and value are clear; he’s a familiar insurance policy for former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. Brooks isn’t likely to have a long list of suitors so it’s well within reason that he ends up back in Minnesota on another veteran’s minimum deal late this offseason.

Jamal Crawford, SG, 38 (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $9MM deal in 2017Jamal Crawford of the Minnesota Timberwolves
Having made over $100MM over the course of his career, including $11MM from a team he didn’t even play for in 2017/18, Crawford won’t accept his $4.5MM player option for next season if he’s not perfectly content playing for Minnesota. I wouldn’t rule out the 38-year-old passing on a second season with the Wolves in order to close out his career as a killer reserve on a team with more realistic short-term title aspirations.

Marcus Georges-Hunt, SG, 24 (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $1MM deal in 2017
There won’t be significant pressure for the Wolves to bring back Georges-Hunt after a solid but modest first year in Minnesota, but they’ll need to fill out their lineup eventually and he’s a tough, defensive-minded player. Expect the club to keep its options open over the course of the offseason but don’t be surprised if the Wolves bring the familiar 24-year-old back on the cheap.

Amile Jefferson, PF, 25 (Up) – Signed to a one-year deal in 2018
The Wolves converted Jefferson’s two-way contract into a standard deal last month despite the fact that he never even suited up for the big league roster. Still, the team had a spot to spare and had no reason not to add the extra layer of depth heading into the postseason. Jefferson is a stud in the G League so the organization may be intrigued by his eventual fit with the parent club, but he won’t earn more than the minimum.

Derrick Rose, PG, 29 (Up) – Signed to a one-year deal in 2018
Prior to signing on with his former head coach late in the regular season, Rose’s value was at a career low. Fast forward two months later, however, and the wayward guard may have actually stumbled into an opportunity to salvage his career. Rose averaged 14.2 points per game for the Wolves in the postseason and could be a valuable rotation piece in the right situation. We’ve seen Rose flame out in a couple of wrong situations, so the fact that he’s found any sort of momentum reunited with Thibodeau and the rest of the Timberbulls bodes well for all involved. Rose didn’t do enough during the first six months of the season to warrant any more than another speculative one-year, minimum deal, but the postseason resurgence may have earned him one last run at meaningful minutes on a competent team.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Community Shootaround: Will Darius Bazley Create A Trend?

May 1st, 2018 at 5:44pm CST by clarkcrum

As we relayed back at the end of March, McDonald’s All-American Darius Bazley, projected to be a 2019 NBA lottery selection, will forgo his college eligibility and sign a G League contract when’s he eligible to do so this fall.

It’s been nearly 10 years since a player has entered the G League straight out of high school. In 2009, Latavious Williams entered the D-League at just 18 years of age, but as Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days writes, there were just 16 teams back then, of which a small few were even owned by NBA teams.

Next season, the G League is set to tip-off with a record 27 teams, most of which are owned and affiliated with an NBA franchise. Moreover, the league has been trending towards a youth movement for quite some time, with most G League teams filling their roster with undrafted rookies.

Given this infusion of youth, Johnson writes that Bazley’s decision is a watershed moment for the G League, opining that Bazley’s performance next season will determine whether or not other players choose to make a similar leap in future seasons.

Do you agree with Johnson? Do you believe that a successful stint in the G League by Bazley may encourage more high school stars to forgo college and enter the G League or will Bazley’s decision be an outlier regardless of how he handles next season? Could a poor performance hurt the G League’s reputation for developing players moving forward?

Please take to the comments section and let us know what you think.

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Hoops Rumors’ 2018 NBA Award Picks: Executive Of The Year

May 1st, 2018 at 4:08pm CST by Hoops Rumors

While the NBA won’t announce this year’s award winners until late in June, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards over the next two weeks.

The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our choices below, but we also want to know which players, coaches, and executives you think are most deserving of the hardware this season, so jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts.

We’re kicking things off today with the award for Executive of the Year. Here are our selections:

Clark Crum: Kevin Pritchard (Pacers)
Count me in as one of the many who believed the Thunder fleeced the Pacers last summer when they traded for Paul George and only got Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in return. George, 27, was a perennial All-Star and widely thought of as being one of the best two-way players in the NBA, while Oladipo, 25, had largely underperformed as a former No. 2 overall pick and Sabonis, 21, was still unproven.

Fast-forward 10 months later and Pritchard has made all of us doubters look like fools, as Oladipo was named an All-Star and largely outperformed George during the 2017/18 campaign, while Sabonis averaged 17.5 PPG in Indiana’s last four playoff games against the Cavaliers. Throw in the team-friendly offseason signings of starters Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic – whose non-guaranteed contracts for next season combined total only $20.5MM – and the trade for sixth-man Cory Joseph while giving up essentially nothing in return, and you end up with a team that improved its win total by six games after trading away its franchise cornerstone.

Dana Gauruder: Dennis Lindsey (Jazz)
Losing your best player in free agency usually sets back a franchise for years. The Jazz should have been an also-ran when Gordon Hayward bolted. Instead, Lindsey solved their long-standing point guard issue and made them a playoff team. Trading up for Donovan Mitchell turned out to be a master stroke and Ricky Rubio bridged the gap to the Mitchell era.

Austin Kent: Kevin Pritchard (Pacers)
The 2017/18 Pacers were a breath of fresh air in a barely habitable runaway tankathon and that’s why Pritchard gets my pick for Executive of the Year. Rather than kowtow to the presumed fate of small-market teams destined to lose a franchise player, Pritchard wheeled Paul George to Oklahoma City for an intriguing young big man and an underwhelming former No. 2 pick. We didn’t know it then, but Pritchard had a meaningful plan to continue competing despite the setback. Rather than pass the buck and settle for the safe choice of an ambiguous future draft choice, Pritchard brought home tangible assets. The gamble on Victor Oladipo was a massive success — if he isn’t already as capable as George ever was in a Pacers jersey, he’s definitely more marketable. Domantas Sabonis, on the precipice of his 22nd birthday, looks every bit as promising as he did during his rookie season.

Pritchard didn’t settle there. Even if you chalk the George deal up to a pleasant surprise, the freshly-minted executive doubled down on the strategy to fill the team’s roster with capable adult basketball players. Crazy, right? The acquisition of Cory Joseph was shrewd and the signings of Bojan Bogdanovic and Darren Collison reinforce the notion that the man at the helm in Indianapolis has had a singular plan all along: while half the NBA zigs their way to uninspired combinations of current and former superstars and the other zags their way into the sub-20-win cellar, the Pacers barrelled down the middle.

Arthur Hill: Danny Ainge (Celtics)
Not only did he win the Gordon Hayward sweepstakes and get Kyrie Irving from the Cavaliers, Ainge pulled off a spectacular draft-related trade that looks better with each passing day. Instead of making the safe move by taking Markelle Fultz with the top pick, Ainge sent it to Philadelphia in exchange for the No. 3 choice, which brought Jayson Tatum, and a future first-rounder, which will probably be Sacramento’s in 2019. The Celtics could have been the No. 1 seed in the East if not for injuries to Hayward and Irving, and they still have the ammunition to trade for a star like Kawhi Leonard if he becomes available, giving Ainge a shot to win this award again next year.

Chris Crouse: Daryl Morey (Rockets)
This season’s Executive of the Year’s race was Morey’s to lose ever since he crafted the deal to bring Chris Paul to Houston. The Rockets headed into the 2017 offseason as an over-the-cap team, meaning they had to adhere to salary-matching rules in trades. The problem was that the Rockets had so much of their cap tied up in cap holds, rather than players under contract, that they couldn’t get to Paul’s $24.2MM figure without being creative.

Sam Hinkie‘s mentor scoured the NBA earth to add the pieces needed to complete the Paul deal. He looked under Western Conference rocks to find the likes of DeAndre Liggins, Tim Quarterman, and Jarrod Uthoff, and navigated through the potential roster causalities of the Eastern Conference to bring in Darrun Hilliard, Shawn Long, and Ryan Kelly. In the end, he was able to make the transaction, leading many to marvel at his shrewdness. Calling what Morey did creative probably doesn’t give him enough credit; he should probably be considered the Michael Jordan (or LeBron James, depending on which way you lean) of NBA salary cap gymnastics.
Bringing in players is only part of an NBA GM’s job, as I mentioned when explaining my vote for Morey in last year’s Hoops Rumors’ Awards. Franchises must be able to accurately gauge what they already have in house. For the second consecutive summer, Morey showcased a marvelous understanding of his team’s roster. He maintained his trust in Clint Capela‘s development, which allowed the team to spend more resources on the perimeter. Adding Paul, P.J. Tucker, and Luc Mbah a Moute to an impressive core took the Rockets to new heights this season and Morey deserves recognition for his work.

Luke Adams: Danny Ainge (Celtics)
Ainge has taken plenty of criticism over the years for his apparent reluctance to roll the dice on potential blockbuster trades, but his 2017/18 moves vindicated that approach in spades. In signing Gordon Hayward, trading for Kyrie Irving, and flipping the No. 1 overall pick, Ainge swung for the fences to greater effect than than he ever did during his baseball days. The decision to hang onto young players like Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier also paid off in a major way for Ainge and the Celtics, who saw those youngsters – along with Jayson Tatum – enjoy breakout seasons. Under-the-radar additions like Shane Larkin and Daniel Theis were just the icing on the cake.

Who is your pick for Executive of the Year? Share your choices and your thoughts in the comment section below!

Up next: Coach of the Year.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Poll: Boston Celtics Vs. Philadelphia 76ers

May 1st, 2018 at 2:21pm CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we asked you to make your pick for the Eastern Conference Semifinal that pits the top-seeded Raptors against the LeBron James-led Cavaliers. As I noted in that story, the Warriors and Rockets are significant favorites to advance in the West, and Boston’s injury-plagued roster makes the Sixers a big favorite in the other Eastern series.

However, in Game 1 of that Celtics/Sixers series on Monday night, Boston certainly didn’t look like an underdog. The C’s controlled the game, racking up 17 three-pointers and giving the Sixers’ offense problems on the other end of the court. Led by Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier, and Al Horford, the Celtics won Game 1 in convincing fashion despite missing Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, and Daniel Theis.

Even after the Celtics’ Game 1 win, the Sixers are still favored by oddsmakers to win the series. In fact, the Celtics – up 1-0 in the series – are viewed as a longer shot to advance to the next round than the underdog Cavs are in the other Eastern Semifinal, which hasn’t yet started.

Those odds make sense — the Sixers may have been rusty after their long layoff between games, and we should expect point guard Ben Simmons to play better than he did in Game 1 (seven turnovers). Philadelphia probably won’t shoot 5-of-26 on three-pointers again either.

Still, the Celtics, led by Brad Stevens‘ inventive schemes, showed they won’t be pushovers. With Brown hoping to return soon and the C’s holding home court advantage for now, a long series looks like a distinct possibility.

What do you think? Will the Sixers bounce back and advance to the Eastern Finals, or will the Celtics build on Game 1’s win and maintain control of the series going forward?

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

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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