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NBA Salary Guarantee Dates For Summer 2017

April 25th, 2017 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

Nearly every NBA team has at least one player on their books with a non-guaranteed salary or a partially guaranteed salary for the 2017/18 season. In the majority of those cases, the team has the ability to waive the player and get off the hook for that entire salary before it becomes guaranteed. However, many of those decisions will be due well before next year’s regular season gets underway.

Below, we’ve broken down the upcoming salary guarantee dates for many players currently on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts for 2017/18. Not every player on a non-guaranteed deal is included here — if a player’s contract doesn’t include any early salary guarantee dates, and won’t become fully guaranteed until January 2018, we’ll look at his deal at a later date.

For now, we want to get a better idea of which teams will have to make decisions on salary guarantees during or before the free agent period. So if a player’s non-guaranteed contract becomes fully or partially guaranteed during the months of June, July, or August, that’s noted below.

When his deadline date passes, we’ll note below if a player was waived. If he remained on the roster, receiving his guarantee, that’s noted with a ✔️ symbol. However, since teams and players can agree to push back guarantee dates, we’ll wait for confirmation one way or the other on those guarantees — if a player simply remains on the roster, without any updates, we won’t necessarily assume his deal has become guaranteed.

With the help of contract information from The Vertical and Basketball Insiders, here are this summer’s upcoming salary guarantee dates by team:

Atlanta Hawks

  • Mike Dunleavy: $5,175,000 salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 1. Currently partially guaranteed ($1,662,500). (Waived)

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

  • Joe Harris: $1,524,305 salary becomes fully guaranteed after June 30. (✔️)
  • Sean Kilpatrick: $1,524,305 salary becomes fully guaranteed after June 30. (✔️)
  • Quincy Acy: $1,709,538 salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 16. (✔️)

Charlotte Hornets

Read more

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Weekly Mailbag: 4/17/17 – 4/23/17

April 23rd, 2017 at 11:43am 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. Here are this week’s inquiries:

Do the Pacers have any interest in adding Carmelo Anthony to help Paul George stay in Indiana? I will trade Thaddeus Young, Monta Ellis and a future first-round pick for Carmelo. — Jason Tom

The Knicks haven’t gotten any better offers that we’ve heard about, so let’s examine your proposal. Ellis’ trade value is down after a subpar year. Plus, he’s signed for $11.23MM for next season and has a player option worth $11.7MM for 2018/19. Young will make nearly $14.8MM next year and has an option worth nearly $13.8MM for the following season. But he’s only 28 and wouldn’t be a bad fit next to Kristaps Porzingis. The future first-rounder could carry some value if George leaves in free agency after next season. Substitute C.J. Miles (if he opts in) or Lavoy Allen for Ellis, and the Knicks might have some interest. Of course, the bigger question is whether Anthony would waive his no-trade clause to go to Indiana, and the answer is probably not, unless he becomes desperate to get out of New York.

If the Sixers get the Lakers’ pick at No. 4, which player would you go for? — Babyboy, via Twitter
This would be the worst-case scenario for the Lakers, and the best for the Sixers, who own L.A.’s pick if it falls out of the top three. It will also be an indication of how much Philadelphia believes in Ben Simmons running the point. Both Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com have Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball and Josh Jackson as their top three picks. That leaves De’Aaron Fox and Dennis Smith, both highly regarded point guards, along with international prospect Frank Ntilikina. The Sixers will also have their own pick later in the lottery, so it’s likely they would take the best player available at No. 4. Jayson Tatum is a possibility, but Malik Monk would fill a long-time need in the backcourt.

Is NBA expansion happening? Are the SuperSonics set to return? — Scott, via Twitter

The latest news on the Sonics is that the Los Angeles-based Oak View Group has a $564MM plan for renovations to KeyArena, the team’s former home. The project could be completed by October of 2020, in time to host an NBA or NHL team for the 2020/21 season. The 55-year-old arena is expected to be named a historic landmark this year, according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, which means its unique roof and other elements would have to be retained in any renovation. A committee will make a recommendation in June whether to renovate the arena or throw its support behind a new facility. The city is willing to invest to bring the SuperSoncis back, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver recognizes the value of the Seattle market. The only obstacle is that the league has no immediate or long-term plans for expansion. But when it happens, Seattle is almost guaranteed to get its team back.

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Hoops Rumors Originals: 4/15/17 – 4/22/17

April 22nd, 2017 at 1:00pm CST by Austin Kent

The Hoops Rumors team was busy pumping out original content this week and we’ve broken it all down for you here. Take a look at some of our favorite pieces and let us know what you think.

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NBA 2016/17 Dead Money By Team

April 21st, 2017 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

An NBA club’s team salary can generally be divided up into two parts — the salaries and bonuses that teams are paying to the players currently on their roster, and “dead money,” which represents cap hits for players no longer on the team.

Dead money can take a number of forms. It can represent the cap hit or buyout total for a player who was waived earlier in the season; it can be a cap hit for a player who was waived in a previous year, perhaps via the stretch provision; it can even be the cap hit for a 10-day contract that has expired.

It’s virtually impossible to avoid carrying at least a little dead money on your books, but a couple teams nearly did it in 2016/17 — the Jazz and Raptors each finished the regular season with less than $300K in dead money on their respective caps. Conversely, the Sixers led the way with more than $23MM in dead money on their books for this season.

A large or small amount of dead money on a team’s cap doesn’t necessarily signal good or bad cap management, but it can reflect a club’s cap situation. For instance, the Trail Blazers didn’t carry much dead money on their cap this season, but that’s because they couldn’t afford to — Portland finished the year less than $5K away from the tax line, so waiving anyone and adding to that dead money total could have created problems.

The Sixers, on the other hand, finished the season with plenty of cap room despite carrying more than $23MM in dead money. They were so far below the cap to start the year that they could afford to eat some salary and waive veterans like Andrew Bogut ($10.5MM+) and Carl Landry ($6.5MM) in order to add young players, without it hurting their bottom line.

While correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, it’s worth noting that only one of this year’s playoff teams (Indiana) was in the top 12 in the NBA in terms of dead money. Of the 18 teams that carried the least dead money, 15 made the postseason.

Listed below are the dead money figures on NBA teams’ caps in 2016/17. For more details on how these salaries break down, be sure to check out our Salary Cap Snapshots for ’16/17.

Most 2016/17 dead money by NBA team:

  1. Philadelphia 76ers: $23,486,925
  2. Brooklyn Nets: $17,986,178
  3. Phoenix Suns: $12,533,729
  4. Dallas Mavericks: $11,497,934
  5. Minnesota Timberwolves: $10,111,402
  6. Los Angeles Lakers: $8,564,524
  7. Indiana Pacers: $8,387,667
  8. Sacramento Kings: $7,807,829
  9. New Orleans Pelicans: $6,697,399
  10. New York Knicks: $6,017,749
  11. Detroit Pistons: $5,398,678
  12. Miami Heat: $5,296,896
  13. Oklahoma City Thunder: $4,358,585
  14. Denver Nuggets: $4,165,795
  15. San Antonio Spurs: $3,505,381
  16. Houston Rockets: $3,430,160
  17. Milwaukee Bucks: $3,128,117
  18. Atlanta Hawks: $2,634,954
  19. Memphis Grizzlies: $2,614,263
  20. Golden State Warriors: $2,473,745
  21. Portland Trail Blazers: $1,984,005
  22. Charlotte Hornets: $1,837,499
  23. Orlando Magic: $1,701,127
  24. Washington Wizards: $1,551,805
  25. Boston Celtics: $1,550,240
  26. Cleveland Cavaliers: $1,458,181
  27. Los Angeles Clippers: $1,412,964
  28. Chicago Bulls: $494,500
  29. Utah Jazz: $275,000
  30. Toronto Raptors: $206,500

Note: These figures are not official, but are based on reliable salary data from The Vertical and Basketball Insiders, as well as our own data.

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2017 NBA Award Picks: Most Valuable Player

April 21st, 2017 at 2:01pm CST by Hoops Rumors

With the 2016/17 NBA regular season in the books, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards. The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our selections 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 wrapping things up today with the award for Most Valuable Player. Here are our picks:

Arthur Hill: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)Russell Westbrook vertical
This has a chance to be one of the closest MVP votes ever. Westbrook and James Harden both turned in extraordinary seasons, and either could be a runaway winner in a normal year. The case for Harden is that the Rockets won more games than the Thunder (55 to 47) and Harden was more efficient. He led the league with 11.2 assists per game while averaging 29.1 points. His True Shooting numbers were better than Westbrook’s and he put up his numbers in fewer possessions. However, by averaging a triple double, Westbrook did something that hasn’t been accomplished in 55 seasons. He also displayed his value in the offseason, agreeing to an extension when it looked like the Thunder might crumble after losing Kevin Durant. Harden’s season was special, but Westbrook’s was historic. He’s the real MVP.

Austin Kent: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
I wasn’t entirely convinced that I would tip my hat in Westbrook’s direction until the final weeks of the season. At the end of the day however, there were three things that, together, made giving the award to anybody else troublesome. Had Westbrook only averaged a triple-double, I would have easily been able to justify giving the award to Harden, but he did so while also leading the league in scoring and minimizing the win differential between the two teams to just eight games.

The Rockets were a better team this season and Harden has been a certifiably MVP-worthy candidate, but Westbrook obliterating league history is more deserving of recognition. Even if Westbrook has a tendency to chase stats, is fortunate enough to play with big men who aren’t afraid to defer rebounds, and still barely topped a record set by somebody who didn’t even know he was setting a record in the first place, what he did is among the most impressive things our generation will ever see on a basketball court. Seriously, with the exception of a hypothetically stat-crazed Miami Heat-era LeBron James, I can’t think of a single player in the last 20 years who could pull off Westbrook’s accomplishment even if they were, like Westbrook, hellbent on doing exactly that.

We had a handful of players who made valid cases for the MVP award this year — that part isn’t up for debate. I’ve just decided to give the nod to the one who managed to make his case while simultaneously pulling off a feat that five years ago was virtually unimaginable.

Chris Crouse: Kawhi Leonard (Spurs)
Picking an MVP this year means splitting hairs. All are deserving, though only one can get the top vote. LeBron is the best player in the world, but his defense slipped this season and his numbers weren’t as impressive as some of the other candidates. Harden nearly averaged a triple-double, but he was overshadowed by Westbrook, who accomplished the feat.

Westbrook put up unbelievable stats, though it begs the question: is one star more valuable than another because of opportunity? His historic usage percentage (41.7%) allowed him to put up historic numbers. Westbrook took nearly 2,000 shots this year. Harden took 1,533, while James and Leonard put up roughly 1,300 apiece. Westbrook basically did what Drew Brees has been doing in the NFL over the last several seasons: achieve major statistical milestones as a result of opportunity without elevating his team to greatness. Brees hasn’t won the MVP award because voters realize it’s a passing league, and with the NBA trending toward high-pace-and-space style offenses, I think we’ll find that tremendous stats will become the new normal in this league.

Leonard didn’t put up gaudy stat lines as frequently as the other candidates, but he didn’t cost his team as many possessions either. Leonard had only 154 turnovers on the season. Westbrook gave the ball to the other team 438 times. Harden did it a league-worst 464 times. LBJ had 303 turnovers himself. And it’s not like Leonard had the ball that much less than some of the other candidates (Leonard had a 31.1 usage percentage, while Harden had 34.2 and James had 30.0). Having also factored in Leonard’s efficiency, Win Shares (he’s second in the league in WS per 48 minutes behind only Kevin Durant) and suffocating defense, I have to go with the San Antonio star in this extremely tight race for MVP.

Dana Gauruder: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
I can’t fault anyone who favors Harden. He also had a spectacular season after changing his role. What Westbrook did – averaging a triple-double – is mind-boggling in an era where star players routinely take nights off. The Thunder needed him to dominate virtually every night to make the playoffs and he delivered.

Luke Adams: Russell Westbrook (Thunder)
A common argument in the case for Harden over Westbrook is the fact that the Rockets exceeded their expectations in 2016/17 by a greater margin than the Thunder did. That’s true, but that’s only because expectations for Westbrook in Oklahoma City’s post-Durant era were sky high. We expected Westbrook to go on a rampage and put up massive numbers like he did during Durant’s absence in 2014/15 — we weren’t sure what to expect from Harden and the Rockets after a disastrous 2015/16 season.

The fact that Westbrook still managed to exceed our expectations this season is one reason why he deserves the Most Valuable Player award. He also made huge shots in clutch situations time after time, and managed to carry a roster that was dead-last in the NBA in outside shooting (.327 3PT%, including .321 for players besides Westbrook) to a No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. And, yeah, he averaged a triple-double too. Incredible seasons from Harden, Leonard, and LeBron made this decision a brutal one, but Westbrook deserves the MVP nod for a singular performance that we’ll remember for years to come.

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

Previously:
April 13: Executive of the Year
April 14: Coach of the Year
April 17: Most Improved Player
April 18: Sixth Man of the Year
April 19: Defensive Player of the Year
April 20: Rookie of the Year

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Poll Results: 2017 All-NBA Teams

April 21st, 2017 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

In an NBA season packed with incredible performances and remarkable statistical achievements, we wanted to let you make the call on which 15 players are most deserving of All-NBA recognition.

On Tuesday, we opened voting for the All-NBA First Team. We moved on to the Second Team on Wednesday, and then opened the polls for the Third Team on Thursday. The results of those polls are in, so let’s check them out.

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

Your top vote-getters in the final round of polling that didn’t quite earn spots on the Third Team: Damian Lillard (Blazers), Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers), Draymond Green (Warriors), Gordon Hayward (Jazz), DeMarcus Cousins (Kings/Pelicans), and Nikola Jokic (Nuggets).

My All-NBA choices would look pretty similar to yours, with a couple small changes here and there — I’d likely move Gobert up to the Second Team, and would find room for Green on the Second or Third Team, most likely at the expense of George. All in all though, I think when the official All-NBA selections are announced, they’ll look a lot like these teams.

What do you think? Do you disagree strongly with any of these choices? Expecting major discrepancies when the official All-NBA teams are announced? Let us know in the comments section!

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Poll: 2017 All-NBA Third Team

April 20th, 2017 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

In an NBA season packed with incredible performances and remarkable statistical achievements, we’re letting you decide which 15 players are most deserving of All-NBA recognition.

On Tuesday, we opened voting for the All-NBA First Team, and 24 hours later, we had clear answers for which five players you believe deserve spots on that team. On Wednesday, we published polls for the Second Team, and we have now have our five players for that squad too. In this case, the vote was a little closer, particularly at center, where Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert went down to the wire in the race for a spot on the Second Team.

Here are the voting results so far:

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

While your First Team choices consisted mostly of this year’s top MVP candidates, your Second Team picks were heavy on the best players from this year’s best teams — the NBA-leading Warriors got two spots on the Second Team, while Thomas, the top scorer from the East’s No. 1 team, earned one of the guard spots.

We’re moving on today to the All-NBA Third Team, so cast your votes below for the two guards, two forwards, and one center that you believe are most deserving of being named to that squad. You’ll have until about 12:00pm CT on Friday before we close this round of voting and round up the final results. You’ll also have the opportunity to select two players apiece in the guard and forward polls, so be sure to take advantage of that.

Who should be on the All-NBA Third Team?

Guards:

Note: This poll was reset after a top candidate was initially omitted. If you voted in our original poll, please feel free to re-submit your vote.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team guards.

Forwards:

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team forwards.

Center:

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team center.

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2017 NBA Award Picks: Rookie Of The Year

April 20th, 2017 at 1:11pm CST by Hoops Rumors

With the 2016/17 NBA regular season in the books, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards. The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our selections 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 Rookie of the Year. Here are our picks:

Chris Crouse: Malcolm Brogdon (Bucks)Malcolm Brogdon vertical
As a Philadelphia resident, I wanted to go with Joel Embiid. He’s clearly the most talented player in the rookie class and he was running away with this award while only playing half of the Sixers’ back-to-backs. However, a knee injury ended his season, limiting the big man to only 31 games and a total of 786 minutes. How many minutes would have been enough to win the award? 1,000? 1,500? I’m not sure, but part of being considered the best of the year is being available and the Cameroon native wasn’t.

Brogdon was there for a Milwaukee team that needed a contributor. He gave coach Jason Kidd a solid defender and a player who could be counted on. Dario Saric had a slightly higher scoring average, but he wasn’t nearly as efficient as the Virginia product and he didn’t help to elevate his team as Brogdon did with the Bucks. Brogdon’s 4.1 Win Shares is by far tops among all rookies (Willy Hernangomez was the only other rookie above 3.0). Despite having two local candidates, I can’t argue with The President’s numbers; he gets my vote.

Austin Kent: Joel Embiid (Sixers)
The efficiency and off-court high jinks are just two components of what makes Joel Embiid so special. A third component – and in my opinion the most important one – is the immediate impact he had on a Sixers culture that was so deep in the basement they may as well have been relegated to the D-League. Embiid stepped on the court in October and changed all that overnight. This isn’t a byproduct of desperation, wishful thinking, or confirmation bias — nobody here had anything resembling high hopes for the man who seemed easily more myth than reality, a borderline punchline before he’d even set foot on the court.

I like that Brogdon is a contributing role player on a playoff team and that Saric proved he can fill the stat sheet when half the Philly roster is away on sabbatical, but to me the Rookie of the Year award serves as a way of flagging the most exciting of the league’s latest batch of fresh faces. I’m not going to hold the fact that a company with no rational incentive to start risking a years-long process chose to play it safe and shut its best asset down prematurely.

Dana Gauruder: Malcolm Brogdon (Bucks)
If Embiid had played at least half the Sixers’ games, this would be a no-brainer. Saric put up good numbers on a bad team. Brogdon was a huge surprise, contributing right away and helping the Bucks get through the first half of the season without Khris Middleton.

Arthur Hill: Joel Embiid (Sixers)
The only argument to make against Embiid winning the award is that a cautious Sixers medical staff limited him to 31 games. Otherwise, he was the best scorer, rebounder, shot blocker and overall defender in his rookie class. Embiid’s numbers – 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game – tower over the field before taking into account that they were achieved on a minutes restriction. Adjust those on a 36-minute basis and they become 28.7, 11.1 and 3.5 — good enough to be considered for MVP, not just Rookie of the Year. Although it would be unprecedented to give a trophy to someone who played less than half a season, I’ll take 31 games of excellence over anyone else in the field.

Luke Adams: Malcolm Brogdon (Bucks)
A first-half Rookie of the Year award for Embiid and a second-half trophy for Saric would probably make the most sense, but since Rookie of the Year is a full-season award, Brogdon’s consistency and durability give him the edge. While he may not turn into as impressive a pro down the road as Embiid or Saric, Brogdon’s ability to step into a regular rotation role for a playoff team and hold his own (10.2 PPG, 4.2 APG, 1.1 SPG, .404 3PT%) makes him a worthy – albeit not particularly flashy – Rookie of the Year winner.

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

Previously:
April 13: Executive of the Year
April 14: Coach of the Year
April 17: Most Improved Player
April 18: Sixth Man of the Year
April 19: Defensive Player of the Year

Still to come:
April 21: Most Valuable Player

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Hoops Links Vol. 1: Unpopular Raptors, Kobe GIFs, More

April 20th, 2017 at 8:00am CST by Austin Kent

Welcome to Hoops Links. My name is Austin Kent. If you’re one of the many who realize that today is Thursday and not the weekend, you’ll already have noticed that we’re doing things a little bit differently here.

We love the NBA blogosphere. I may have personally mentioned it about a thousand times already. To prove it, we decided to change how we feature content that comes to us from bloggers across the internet.

What you’ll see below are 10 of our favorite original content pieces from around the internet. Some were user-submitted; some we went out and flagged ourselves because we enjoyed them so much.

I urge everybody reading this to make note of the next great article they read and send it to me for possible inclusion in next week’s Hoops Links post (even if that brilliant author is you).

You can get at me on Twitter 24/7 @AustinKent or send your tips to HoopsRumorsTips@Sports.ws. Obviously we don’t have room to include everything that gets sent our way, but unique, genuinely interesting content generally tends to find its way in front of an audience.

The Pistons played their last game in the Palace of Auburn Hills last week and Sports on Earth‘s Will Leitch was there to document it while enjoying a totally normal vacation to Michigan in April. If you’re looking for a nostalgia-soaked ode to the awkwardly suburban masterpiece, this isn’t it. Leitch’s account of the facility’s NBA finale is as emotionless and firmly entrenched in regular old depressing reality as the entire past decade has been for the Pistons organization.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Dancing Ushers.
Author: Will Leitch – @WilliamFLeitch
Link: Pistons’ last game at the Palace of Auburn Hills

Carmelo Anthony verticalIt wasn’t long ago when Carmelo Anthony‘s wife was in his ear convincing him to request a trade out of Denver to a bigger market. Now that the pair have split up, some are wondering if the Nuggets should make an effort to reacquired their former All-Star. Matthew Huff of Nugg Love says not to expect it. Or want it, really.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Cheerios
Author: Matthew Huff – @Huff_Melo7
Link: Carmelo Anthony should not return to Nuggets

The Raptors organization has made countless questionable additions over the course of the past two decades, but only a handful have stood the test of time as constant reminders of unadulterated disappointment. Over at Raptors HQ, Mitch Robson facilitated a 64-man tournament to determine which player was the least popular of them all. Nobody holds a grudge like a Raptors fan.
Rating: 9 out of 10 National Primo Pasta Endorsements
Author: Mitch Robson- @_MitchRobson
Link: The most unpopular Raptors of all time

There was a notable discrepancy in fouls calls between the Grizzlies and Spurs when the two collided for Game 2 of their first-round series this week and Memphis head coach David Fizdale wasn’t afraid to make a scene about it. The thing is, the Grizzlies actually do foul a lot. Especially when compared to San Antonio. Please forward all ire and thrown tomatoes at Michael Erler of Pounding the Rock and not me.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Warnings That Memphis Fans Shouldn’t Read This
Author: Michael Erler
Link: Grizzlies average more fouls than Spurs

We’ve all heard by now that Kobe Bryant obsessed over ways of stopping Allen Iverson. Anthony Irwin of Silver Screen and Roll has come through with the video evidence to show just what the Mamba might have learned whilst studying. Seeing the legends square off in their early twenties is a joy to watch, and not just because you will immediately get the NBA on NBC theme song stuck in your head.
Rating: 8 out of 10 CRT Television Sets
Author: Anthony Irwin – @AnthonyIrwinLA
Link: How Kobe Bryant defended Allen Iverson

There’s a fine line between modest transgression and outright corruption, and professional sports organizations would be wise to tread carefully to avoid either. Kenyon Redfoot of Unsung Zeroes recently wrote about how player agents should steer clear of compensating prospective clients to persuade them to sign with their agencies for fear of committing commercial bribery.
Rating: 6 out of 10 Bitter Realizations That I Retained Nothing From My Own Sport Law Lectures
Author: Kenyon Redfoot – @KenyonRedfoot
Link: Commercial bribery between NBA players and agents

Larry Bird verticalIn a matter of two years, the forecast for the Pacers franchise dimmed considerably. Chris Wooden of Sir Charles In Charge wonders if Larry Bird ruined things by making too many reactionary moves and not thinking about the big picture. Had Indiana retained Frank Vogel and George Hill, might the team stand a better chance of making its first-round matchup with the Cavaliers competitive?
Rating: 6 out of 10 Nate McMillan Playbooks
Author: Chris Wooden – @SDChrisWooden
Link: Larry Bird’s impact on Pacers

Consider David Fizdale‘s rant about the lack of respect his Grizzlies get from the officials an all-timer. So says Ball Don’t Lie‘s Kelly Dwyer, who breaks down the fiery post-conference monologue and the impact it’s already had. As Dwyer notes, Grizzlies players – appreciative of Fizdale’s lobbying on their behalf – agreed to pay their bench boss’s $30K fine.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Data
Author: Kelly Dwyer – @KDOnHoops
Link: David Fizdale’s post-game rant

It’s hard to determine whether the Celtics have been underachieving in the postseason or whether the Bulls have been punching above their weight — that’s part of what makes the NBA postseason so special. Andrew Tobolowsky of The Step Back argues that it could very well be a little bit of both.
Rating: 8 out of 10 Playoff Rondos
Author: Andrew Tobolowsky – @AndyTobo
Link: Bulls-Celtics series analysis

There are plenty of cases where player comparisons between draft prospects and existing NBAers don’t hold much weight, but that’s not the case with De’Aaron Fox. Kevin Rowley of The Sixers Sense explained how Fox fits the bill as another Elfrid Payton, and says that’s exactly why the Sixers should avoid the temptation to draft him this June.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Ping Pong Balls
Author: Kevin Rowley
Link: Sixers should not draft De’Aaron Fox

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2017 NBA Award Picks: Defensive Player Of The Year

April 19th, 2017 at 1:12pm CST by Luke Adams

With the 2016/17 NBA regular season in the books, we’re making our picks for the year’s major awards. The Hoops Rumors writing team has weighed in with our selections 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 Defensive Player of the Year. Here are our picks:

Arthur Hill: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)rudygobert vertical
Gobert is the league’s greatest shot-blocking force, averaging 2.6 per night, but he also has more mobility to cover pick-and-rolls than a traditional big man. He is the centerpiece of a Utah defense that is eight points better (per 100 possessions) when he is in the game. The Jazz were able to overcome a long string of injuries to win the Northwest title, and Gobert’s presence in the paint was a major reason why.

Austin Kent: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
There are a number of defensive metrics that tilt the Defensive Player of the Year conversation in Gobert’s direction, but the fact that his emergence as the unquestioned anchor of Utah’s defense corresponded perfectly with the Jazz emerging as a borderline elite team is what does it for me. It doesn’t matter what defensive schemes the Jazz run; it doesn’t even matter what team he suits up for; pick any randomly conceived set of circumstances, add a healthy Gobert in the middle, and suddenly life is impossibly hard for the 29 other teams in the league.

While you could trot out various numbers for a handful of solid candidates when debating who should win this award, I’ll take Gobert’s league-leading defensive win share mark and his 2.6 blocks per game. Imagine what that BPG mark would look like if opponents didn’t start game planning ways of avoiding the 7’1″ game-changer the second they saw the Jazz on their team schedule.

Chris Crouse: Draymond Green (Warriors)
What Green does on the floor is truly remarkable. There isn’t a position he can’t guard and you could compile an instructional coaching video purely off his help defense. Gobert is the best rim protector in the league, but Draymond’s ability to disrupt the opposition’s offense at any given spot on the floor is what makes him this season’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Dana Gauruder: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Utah defended the two-point shot better than any other team, mainly because it had the league’s top shot blocker anchoring the paint. Green and Kawhi Leonard are also worthy candidates, but the Jazz improved dramatically this season and a healthy Gobert (until the postseason) was a major factor.

Luke Adams: Draymond Green (Warriors)
I’ve gone back and forth between Green and Gobert, and the Jazz center is certainly a worthy choice. However, after the Warriors appeared to take a major step backwards last offseason in terms of interior defense by replacing rim-protecting rotation players like Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli with Zaza Pachulia and David West, Green’s play this season helped ensure that rim protection wasn’t an issue for Golden State after all. Green’s versatility – including his ability to switch onto virtually any player – gives him the slightest edge over Gobert and his interior dominance.

Who is your pick for Defensive Player of the Year? Share your choices and your thoughts in the comments section below!

Previously:
April 13: Executive of the Year
April 14: Coach of the Year
April 17: Most Improved Player
April 18: Sixth Man of the Year

Still to come:
April 20: Rookie of the Year
April 21: Most Valuable Player

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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