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2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Atlanta Hawks

April 27th, 2018 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

After making 10 straight appearances in the postseason, the Hawks recognized that streak was in danger of coming to an end and decided to lean into it with a full-fledged rebuild. As a result, Atlanta’s win total dipped by nearly 20 games in 2017/18, as the team finished with a 24-58 record, tied for the NBA’s third-worst mark. The Hawks should have cap flexibility going forward, but they’re still fully immersed in the rebuilding process, meaning they’re more likely to use cap room to accommodate bad contracts in trades than to make a splash in free agency.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Hawks 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

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

  • Mike Muscala ($9,500,000): Bird rights (if player option is declined)
  • Dewayne Dedmon ($8,280,000): Non-Bird rights (if player option is declined)
  • No. 4 overall pick ($5,864,636)4
  • No. 19 overall pick ($2,231,755)
  • No. 30 overall pick ($1,606,717)
  • Total: $27,483,008

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: $33,401,355

  • For our Hawks’ cap projection, we’re assuming that both Dedmon and Muscala decline their player options, which isn’t necessarily a lock (Dedmon appears more likely to opt out than Muscala). We’re also assuming the team waives all its non-guaranteed players and renounces its free agents, which is hardly a sure thing either.
  • In that scenario, the Hawks’ seven guaranteed contracts, three first-round picks, and two cap charges for empty roster spots result in a team salary of $67,598,645. That’s nearly enough to accommodate any maximum-salary free agent, though Atlanta is unlikely to be in the market for any players of that caliber.

Footnotes:

  1. Taylor’s salary becomes guaranteed for $300K after June 22, then fully guaranteed after July 27.
  2. Cavanaugh’s salary becomes guaranteed for $450K after May 15, then fully guaranteed after July 7.
  3. Cleveland’s exact contract details, including guarantee info, aren’t yet known.
  4. The Hawks are fourth in the draft lottery standings. They could end up picking anywhere from No. 1 ($8,095,595) to No. 7 ($4,403,246).

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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NFL Draft Day At ProFootballRumors.com

April 26th, 2018 at 2:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The 2018 NFL Draft is just hours away! This year’s draft is full of intrigue and you’ll want to stay tuned to Pro Football Rumors, whether you’re a hardcore football fan or just a casual observer.

With just hours to go, we still don’t know who the Browns will take with the No. 1 overall pick. For weeks, the Browns were closely linked with USC quarterback Sam Darnold or Wyoming QB Josh Allen, but more and more people in the football world are starting to believe that they’ll take the talented, yet undersized, Baker Mayfield instead. Meanwhile, Allen is in the midst of a controversy that could impact his draft stock.

With multiple possibilities at the top, the Giants (No. 2) and Jets (No. 3) are preparing for every possible scenario. The Giants have been widely connected to Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and are divided on this year’s top QB prospects, but it’s still entirely possible that they’ll use this opportunity to tab Eli Manning’s successor. The Jets had been wrestling with whether to take Mayfield or UCLA QB Josh Rosen, but they could have an opportunity to snag Darnold, which at one point seemed unthinkable. At the same time, Jets coaches are pushing the front office to take Allen, if he’s there.

This year’s draft is one of the most uncertain in recent memory and you’ll want to follow along every step of the way. To stay plugged in with up-to-the-minute updates, follow Pro Football Rumors on Twitter: @pfrumors.

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2018 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Dallas Mavericks

April 26th, 2018 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams

While rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. showed plenty of promise, the Mavericks’ rebuild didn’t take a meaningful step forward on the court in 2017/18, as the team slipped from 33 wins in 2016/17 to just 24 this season. Dallas will head into the 2018 offseason as one of the few teams armed with meaningful cap room, but it will probably take more than just a single free agent signing to make the club competitive again before Dirk Nowitzki calls it a career.

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

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

  • Nerlens Noel ($7,956,438): Bird rights
  • No. 3 overall pick ($6,504,619)4
  • Seth Curry ($3,936,933): Early Bird rights
  • Total: $18,397,990

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: $29,615,683

  • Our projection for the Mavericks includes the four players with guaranteed contracts, the tentative cap hold for their first-round pick, and Matthews’ player option, since he’s expected to pick it up. Throw in six cap charges for empty roster spots and the team’s projected salary is $71,384,298, leaving nearly $30MM to work with.
  • There are a few wild cards to consider here. The cap hold for that first-round pick could fluctuate by nearly $2MM either way depending on the Mavs’ lottery luck. I’m also not including Nowitzki’s $5MM team option — if Dallas wants to maximize its cap room, it could decline that option and ultimately bring back Dirk on a minimum-salary deal, if he’s open to that.
  • Creating the most possible cap room would also mean waiving non-guaranteed players like Finney-Smith and renouncing all the Mavs’ free agents, including McDermott, Curry, Ferrell, and Mejri. So in actuality, the Mavs could have far less space to work with, though it still should be enough to aggressively pursue a top restricted free agent.

Footnotes:

  1. Finney-Smith’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 5.
  2. Collinsworth’s exact contract details, including guarantee dates, aren’t yet known.
  3. Kleber’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 15.
  4. The Mavericks are third in the draft lottery standings. They could end up picking anywhere from No. 1 ($8,095,595) to No. 6 ($4,823,489).

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 and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Community Shootaround: Wolves’ Offseason Outlook

April 26th, 2018 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves became the latest NBA team to be eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night, dropping Game 5 in Houston and losing their series against the Rockets by a 4-1 margin. With that loss, the offseason is officially underway in Minnesota.

The Wolves’ season came to a disappointing and underwhelming end after the team slipped down to the No. 8 seed and only managed a single playoff win, but there were plenty of positives to take away from the 2017/18 campaign. For one, Minnesota snapped its 14-year postseason drought, earning its spot in the playoffs in dramatic fashion by beating Denver on the final day of the regular season.

“I told the players I’m very proud of what you did, to get out of the hole we were in to win 47 games,” head coach and president Tom Thibodeau said after Wednesday’s loss, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “To get into the playoffs after 14 years of not being in the playoffs, to do it in a very tight playoff race, to finish one game out of the fourth spot, it’s a major jump from where we were two years ago. … I’m very proud of what this team did. It was not easy and they fought like crazy to get it done.”

There are other reasons for optimism in Minnesota. Jimmy Butler‘s knee injury limited the team’s ceiling down the stretch and in the postseason, so the Wolves will be in a better position to make a deeper playoff run next spring if he’s healthy. Additionally, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns are still just 23 and 22 years old, respectively, so there’s room for continued growth from both of those former No. 1 overall picks.

Still, there are some possible areas for concern. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks and The Athletic’s Danny Leroux detail in separate pieces (subscriptions required for both), the Timberwolves’ roster is starting to get expensive, particularly with Towns up for a maximum-salary extension this summer.

Minnesota will have Towns on his modest rookie contract for one more year, but the team already has $110MM on the books for 2018/19, so its ability to spend in free agency will be very limited. The team’s cap sheet for 2019/20 is slightly cleaner for now, but adding new max deals for Towns and Butler would change that equation quickly, potentially putting the Wolves into tax territory and leaving little flexibility for upgrades.

The growing cost of the Timberwolves’ roster mean that the team may have to count on veteran free agents to take discounts to join a potential contender, as owner Glen Taylor recently noted. In order for that to be a viable strategy though, the Wolves will have to convince those free agents of two things: First, that the club is capable of title contention with its current core, and second, that there will be worthwhile roles off the bench under Thibodeau, who notoriously leans heavily on his top six or seven players.

A more extreme approach to addressing the Wolves’ long-term cap outlook would be to make changes to the current core. In a column for The Star Tribune, Jim Souhan makes a case for trading Wiggins and fully committing to Butler, but that’s easier said than done. Wiggins, who is coming off underwhelming performances in Games 4 and 5 of the Houston series, will get expensive on July 1, when his five-year, maximum-salary extension takes effect. Moving a deal that big in terms of years and money can be done – as the Clippers showed with Blake Griffin – but it would be tricky.

As the Wolves’ offseason gets underway, we want to hear your thoughts on what’s next for the club. Do trades need to be made? Does Minnesota have to re-sign Nemanja Bjelica in restricted free agency? Does Wiggins’ new max deal have albatross potential, or will he make it a worthwhile investment? Is Thibodeau the right choice to continue coaching the team and making personnel decisions for the long term?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

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Poll: Should The Heat Trade Hassan Whiteside?

April 25th, 2018 at 7:23pm CST by clarkcrum

One season after going 41-41 and missing the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Bulls, the Heat improved by three games in 2017/18 and made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed with a record of 44-38.

However, the Heat were faced with a difficult first-round matchup against the red-hot Sixers, who finished the season 16-0 and, just last night, eliminated the Heat from the playoffs in five games. Earlier today, we asked for your thoughts on Miami’s offseason outlook with a Community Shootaround post. Now, we want to know specifically whether you believe the Heat should trade Hassan Whiteside.

With over 20% of the team’s guaranteed salary for next season owed to Whiteside, the Heat dangerously close to the luxury tax in 2018/19, Whiteside’s playing time dwindling dramatically in the later part of the regular season and into the postseason, and Whiteside’s publicly voiced displeasure with his new role, President Pat Riley may need to decide this summer whether Whiteside is worth the headache and, if not, whether he can find a suitable trade partner for the big man.

Unfortunately for the Heat, they do not have a first-round pick this summer to attach to Whiteside’s contract which may make it difficult to entice a team to take on his contract. However, the Heat do have their 2019 first-round selection to deal if they so choose. Regardless, assuming a deal is tenable, what do you think?

If you were Pat Riley, would you trade Hassan Whiteside or would you keep him with the hopes that he can return to his 2016/17 form? Vote below in our poll, then jump into the comment section to share your thoughts.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Community Shootaround: Heat’s Offseason Outlook

April 25th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat‘s season came to an end on Tuesday night, with a 104-91 loss in Philadelphia resulting in a 4-1 series win for the Sixers. Now that the 2017/18 campaign is officially in the books, Miami faces an important offseason ahead as the front office looks to find a way to turn the Heat from a solid playoff team into a legit contender.

The big summer decisions figure to start with Hassan Whiteside, Miami’s highest-paid player, who is owed a guaranteed $25MM+ salary in 2018/19 and has a $27MM+ player option for 2019/20. After averaging a career-high 32.6 minutes per game for the Heat in 2016/17, Whiteside saw just 25.3 MPG this season, and that number dipped further in the playoffs — he played only 15.4 MPG against the Sixers. As we relayed earlier today, Whiteside wasn’t thrilled with his declining playing time in the postseason.

“At least give me a chance to fight,” Whiteside said. “I can understand if I was playing 30 minutes and I played bad. At least give me a chance. … We played a style of play Coach (Erik Spoelstra) wanted. He wanted to utilize more spacing I guess in the playoffs, so that’s why he did it.”

Whiteside’s discontent with his role and the Heat’s success with Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo at center will create an interesting offseason predicament. Can Miami find a worthwhile trade involving Whiteside, or will the team have to find a way to keep him happy next season? For what it’s worth, at least one report suggests the Heat are expected to explore trade scenarios.

With Whiteside’s contract on the books, the Heat are currently carrying more than $116MM in guaranteed salary for 2018/19, making it virtually impossible to land an impact free agent. Considering Pat Riley has repeatedly made an effort to pursue star players in the past, the team’s inflexibility in terms of cap room presents another fascinating hurdle. To truly transform the roster or land an All-Star caliber player, Miami would almost certainly need to do so via trades, likely moving more than just Whiteside.

Tyler Johnson, whose salary jumps to $19MM+ in 2018/19, and Dion Waiters, who is coming off a season-ending ankle injury, would be trade candidates, though neither player will have significant value. In order to maximize their potential return, the Heat will have to be willing to discuss one or more their more valuable pieces, such as Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Olynyk, and Adebayo.

It also doesn’t help matters that Miami’s best shooter, Wayne Ellington, is an unrestricted free agent. He’s one of a small handful of Heat players eligible for free agency — another is Dwyane Wade, who would probably have to accept another minimum salary deal if he decides he wants to return for another season.

In a piece calling for major offseason roster changes, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald suggests that no Heat player should be untouchable this summer, and notes that Riley is “less likely than ever” to embark on an all-out rebuild. But we want to know what you think.

What’s the best path to contention for the Heat? Is there a realistic trade out there that could raise the club’s ceiling? What should Miami do with Whiteside? Which players on the roster are keepers?

Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts on the offseason outlook for the Heat!

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2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Memphis Grizzlies

April 25th, 2018 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

After heading into the fall with playoff aspirations, the Grizzlies had a disastrous 2017/18 season. Standout point guard Mike Conley only played in 12 games, while fellow max-salary veteran Chandler Parsons appeared in 36. The team’s other highest-paid player, Marc Gasol, remained healthy, but clashed with head coach David Fizdale, ultimately resulting in Fizdale’s ouster. All three of Memphis’ max players are still under contract next season, so there’s some optimism that the club could return to playoff contention with better health, but it will be an uphill climb following a 22-win season.

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

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Andrew Harrison ($1,544,951)
  • Omari Johnson ($1,378,242)2
  • Wayne Selden ($772,475) — Partial guarantee. Guaranteed portion noted above.1
  • Total: $3,695,668

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: None

  • Even before taking into account a cap hold for their lottery pick, the Grizzlies are over the projected cap with nearly $103MM in guaranteed contracts. Any path to cap room would involve major trades and/or cuts, so we can expect Memphis to be an over-the-cap club this summer, with the full mid-level exception available. The Grizzlies won’t have their bi-annual exception available this offseason after using it in 2017/18 to sign Evans.

Footnotes:

  1. Selden’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 10.
  2. Johnson’s exact contract details, including guarantee info, aren’t yet known.
  3. The Grizzlies are second in the draft lottery standings. They could end up picking anywhere from No. 1 ($8,095,595) to No. 5 ($5,310,672).

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 and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Community Shootaround: Philadelphia 76ers

April 24th, 2018 at 11:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers won their first playoff series since 2012, beating the Heat in five games and Dwyane Wade, who might have just played his last games in the league, called Philadelphia the future of the NBA.

The future may be now with the rest of the Eastern Conference contenders looking particularly vulnerable.

Boston, a team that’s one win away from meeting Philly in the second-round, is without Kyrie Irving. Toronto is locked in a duel with the Wizards in round-one and Cleveland looks as beatable as any LeBron James team in recent memory.

GM Bryan Colangelo deserves credit for making putting the right ancillary parts around the team’s major building blocks. He signed J.J. Redick last summer and brought in Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli late in the season to add lethal shooting and veteran presence to a young nucleus.

However, credit for the young nucleus belongs to Sam Hinkie. The architect of The Process put the franchise in position to have a championship-level ceiling by deciding mediocrity wasn’t enough. He also didn’t want a team that capped out at 50 wins. He wanted one that could compete yearly for a championship and the organization appears to be closing in on that goal.

With Ben Simmons in the fold, something that happened in part because of Hinkie’s final tanking campaign, the team has a perennial All-Star on board. If Joel Embiid can stay healthy, the team should have two of those. Add in great finds like Robert Covington and patient drafting, like the selection of Dario Saric, and you have a team with a nucleus that appears ready for a decade of dominance. Not to mention that the Sixers will likely add another top-10 pick over the next couple seasons as a result of Hinkie dealing away Michael Carter-Williams back in 2015 and fleecing the Kings later that year.

With the city of Philadelphia celebrating yet again after a first-round series win, tonight’s community shootaround is all about the Sixers.

How far do you see the Sixers going this postseason? Can this team win the Eastern Conference? Does Sam Hinkie deserve more credit than he’s currently getting? Should the organization invite him to ring the pre-game bell like they did with rapper Meek Mill in Game 5 of their first-round series? Will anyone notice that No.1 overall pick Markelle Fultz has only played nine minutes over the last four games?

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

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2018 NBA Draft Dates, Deadlines To Watch

April 24th, 2018 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2018 NBA draft has now passed, but news of those decisions continues to trickle in. Earlier today, Rob Dauster of NBC Sports reported that Wichita State forward Markis McDuffie is testing the draft waters, giving himself the option of withdrawing his name later in the process and returning to school for his senior year.

Until an official early entrant list is released, we may continue to hear about last-minute decisions like McDuffie’s. Still, for the most part, 2018’s initial early entrant list appears set. Now it’s time to look ahead to see which 2018 NBA draft dates and deadlines are up next. For instance, just how long will McDuffie have to decide whether or not to pull his name from this year’s draft pool?

Let’s run through the timeline…

April 27: Invites issued for draft combine

This one isn’t listed on the NBA’s official calendar of key offseason dates, but Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports reported last week (via Twitter) that combine invitations are expected to be sent out to prospects this Friday. That means we shouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out which players will be in attendance at next month’s event.

May 15: NBA draft lottery

The 2018 draft lottery will be conducted in Chicago on May 15, with the NBA moving up the event to ensure it takes place before the combine. That should give teams with lottery picks a better idea of which players they want to talk to and get a closer look at later in the week.

Pistons and Celtics fans will want to keep an eye on this year’s lottery just in case those clubs beat the odds and secure a top-three pick. Detroit will send its first-rounder to the Clippers unless it lands in the top three (2.5% chance), while the Sixers will get the Lakers‘ first-rounder unless it moves up to No. 2 or No. 3 in the lottery, in which case it’ll be sent to Boston (2.9% chance).

Otherwise, teams at the bottom of the NBA’s standings – like the Suns, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Hawks, and Magic – will have the most at stake on May 15.

The full pre-lottery draft order for 2018 can be found right here.

May 16-20: NBA draft combine

This five-day event, which also takes place in Chicago, allows NBA teams to get a first-hand look at many of this year’s top draft-eligible players (though perhaps not a handful of 2018’s very best prospects, since potential top-five picks don’t have much to gain by participating in the combine).

The combine will be particularly important for early entrants who have yet to hire an agent. The feedback they get at the combine could go a long way toward dictating whether they decide to keep their names in the draft or return to school for another year.

May 30: NCAA early entrant withdrawal deadline

College underclassmen who want to retain their NCAA eligibility will have to withdraw their names from the draft pool by May 30. NBA rules call for a later withdrawal deadline, but the NCAA has its own set of rules that say the deadline is 10 days after the combine.

As such, a college underclassmen could technically wait until after May 30 to withdraw from the draft and he would retain his NBA draft eligibility for a future year. However, he would forfeit his amateur status in that scenario, making him ineligible to return to his NCAA squad.

June 11: NBA early entrant withdrawal deadline

This is the NBA’s final deadline for early entrants to withdraw their names from the draft pool and retain their draft eligibility for a future year. By this point, we generally know whether an NCAA underclassman kept his name in the draft or not, but this is an important deadline for international players, who aren’t subject to the same restrictions as college players. We’ll likely hear about several international early entrants withdrawing from the draft during the days leading up to June 11.

June 21: NBA draft day

The most exciting few weeks of the NBA offseason unofficially get underway on draft day, which is often when the first major trades of the summer are completed and we get a sense of which direction certain teams are heading.

It’s also worth noting that the hours and days after the draft ends will be hugely important for many of this year’s draft-eligible prospects — a ton of players who aren’t selected with one of the 60 picks in the draft will reach agreements shortly thereafter to play for an NBA team’s Summer League squad, or even to attend training camp with a club.

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Follow ProFootballRumors.com For The Latest NFL Draft News

April 24th, 2018 at 1:58pm CST by Zachary Links

It’s NFL Draft week! The 2018 draft is full of intrigue and you’ll want to stay tuned to Pro Football Rumors for every update, whether you’re a casual or hardcore NFL fan.

The draft is hours away and we still don’t know who the No. 1 overall pick will be. Many believe the Browns will take either USC quarterback Sam Darnold or Wyoming QB Josh Allen with the top choice, but the latest word indicates that Oklahoma signal caller Baker Mayfield is in consideration. Cleveland could throw everyone an even bigger curve by taking Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at No. 1, which would truly throw the rest of the draft board in flux. The Browns have also made it known that they are willing to trade the first pick, so we could see a blockbuster deal involving a team desperate to find its future solution under center.

The uncertainty doesn’t stop there. The Giants, at No. 2, are reportedly enamored with Barkley and are divided on this year’s top QB prospects, so it’s unclear if they’ll follow through on their expected plan to draft Eli Manning’s successor. The Jets, meanwhile, are grappling with whether to select Mayfield or UCLA QB Josh Rosen, assuming both players fall to them. With so many questions regarding the top three picks, the possibilities are endless for how the remainder of the first round will shake out.

Over the next 48 hours, there will be a myriad of rumors regarding the NFL Draft, and Pro Football Rumors will help you separate the wheat from the chaff. To stay plugged in with up-to-the-minute updates, follow Pro Football Rumors on Twitter: @pfrumors.

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