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Free Agent Stock Watch: Southeast Division

For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this offseason. We consider whether their stock is rising or falling due to their performance and other factors. Today, we’re focusing on a handful of Southeast players.


P.J. Tucker, F, Heat

2021/22: $7MM
2022/23: $7.35MM player option
Stock: Up ⬆️

Tucker will turn 37 years old in May, and there aren’t many non-stars in the NBA who could realistically turn down a $7.35MM guarantee at that age. Tucker might be in position to do so though. He has been everything the Heat hoped for this season, starting 56 games, playing stellar defense, and knocking down a career-high 44.9% of his three-point attempts. If that performance carries over to the postseason and he plays a key role in a deep playoff run, Tucker could realistically command one more multiyear contract this summer.

Mohamed Bamba, C, Magic

2021/22: $7.57MM
2022/23: RFA
Stock: Up ⬆️

Entering 2021/22, Bamba was facing a make-or-break year. He had battled injuries and failed to take major steps forward in his first three seasons after being drafted sixth overall in 2018. If this season had resembled his first three, he would’ve been hard-pressed to find more than a minimum-salary deal during his upcoming free agency.

Bamba has responded to the challenge, starting 52 games so far for a rebuilding Magic team and establishing new career highs in PPG (10.2), RPG (7.9), BPG (1.8), and MPG (26.1), among other categories. While he hasn’t yet reached the level that some envisioned when he was drafted, his ability to protect the rim and hit the occasional three-pointer (34.5% on 3.6 attempts per game) should make him a popular target for teams in need of a center this offseason.

Bamba will be a restricted free agent if Orlando extends him a $10.1MM qualifying offer. I expect the Magic will do so unless they don’t see Bamba as part of their future.

Thomas Bryant, C, Wizards

2021/22: $8.67MM
2022/23: UFA
Stock: Down ⬇️

Bryant hasn’t been bad since returning to action following his recovery from a torn ACL, but he hasn’t been the same player he was prior to the injury in 2019-21, when he averaged 13.4 PPG and 7.0 RPG with a .411 3PT%.

The Wizards have a -11.7 net rating when Bryant plays this season, compared to a -1.2 mark when he doesn’t. And there’s no guarantee he’ll see consistent minutes the rest of the way if Kristaps Porzingis stays healthy — Bryant was a DNP-CD in Porzingis’ Wizards debut on Sunday.

Gorgui Dieng, F/C, Hawks

2021/22: $4MM
2022/23: UFA
Stock: Down ⬇️

The Hawks presumably envisioned Dieng being a regular part of the frontcourt rotation when they used part of their mid-level exception to sign him last summer. And for a while, he was.

Dieng played in 28 of Atlanta’s first 33 games, but following a stint in the health and safety protocols and the emergence of Onyeka Okongwu, his role has all but disappeared. Dieng has only appeared in 12 of the team’s last 30 games, logging more than eight minutes just three times during that stretch. At this point, it’s hard to imagine the 32-year-old getting another offer above the minimum this summer.

Cody Martin, G/F, Hornets

2021/22: $1.78MM
2022/23: RFA
Stock: Up ⬆️

Cody’s twin brother Caleb Martin has gotten more press for his breakout year in Miami, but Cody has also taken his game to another level this season. He has averaged career highs virtually across the board, putting up 8.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.3 SPG and a .465/.406/.692 shooting line while playing an important role in Charlotte’s rotation.

While he’s probably not in line for a massive payday, Cody has assured himself of a qualifying offer (it’ll likely be worth $2.23MM) and should have some leverage to negotiate a multiyear deal with the Hornets, who won’t want to lose him in unrestricted free agency in 2023.

Projected NBA Minimum Salaries For 2022/23

The NBA’s minimum salary is one of several figures that changes from year to year at the same rate as the league’s salary cap. If the cap increases by 5% from one season to the next, the minimum salary will rise by the same amount.

That means that even though we don’t know yet exactly where the minimum salaries will end up for the 2022/23 season, we can make an educated estimate. When the NBA released its latest salary cap estimate, the league projected a $123,655,000 cap for the ’22/23 season. That’s approximately a 10% increase on this season’s cap, so the minimum salaries will increase at the same rate.

[RELATED: NBA Minimum Salaries For 2021/22]

A player’s minimum salary is determined in part by how much NBA experience he has — a veteran who has 10+ seasons under his belt is eligible for a significantly higher minimum salary than a rookie would be. Based on the current 2022/23 cap estimate, next year’s rookie minimum salary will surpass the $1MM threshold for the first time, while the minimum for a veteran with 10+ years of service will approach $3MM.

Here are the current minimum salary projections for the 2022/23 season, based on a $123,655,000 cap:

Years of Experience Salary
0 $1,017,781
1 $1,637,966
2 $1,836,090
3 $1,902,133
4 $1,968,175
5 $2,133,278
6 $2,298,385
7 $2,463,490
8 $2,628,597
9 $2,641,682
10+ $2,905,851

We’ll update these figures later this year once the NBA officially sets the salary cap for the 2022/23 season.

We previously published projections for next season’s maximum salaries and mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, based on a $122MM cap.

Poll: How Will Lakers’ Season End?

The Lakers made no progress on Thursday night toward turning their season around, suffering a blowout loss to the rival Clippers. It extended their losing streak to four games, dropped their record to 27-35, and left guard Russell Westbrook looking for answers once again.

“My role and what I’m doing has changed every single night,” Westbrook said after the game, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “So I’m just trying to figure that out as I’m playing and to be able to benefit and help my team.

“But my expectations are still the same. I’m not a quitter. It’s not in my genes. I don’t quit, regardless of what the hell is going on. I’m going to fight to the end, and if it don’t work, that’s cool, too. I can live with the results. But I’m never going to give up or give in because of a little struggle that’s happening this time of the year.

While Westbrook’s struggles are hardly the only reason the Lakers have had such a disappointing season, he hasn’t fit in like the team had hoped and has faced criticism for months. Asked on Thursday if the Lakers have discussed the possibility of bringing Westbrook off the bench to change things up, head coach Frank Vogel replied, “We’ve talked about everything.”

Within his report on the Lakers’ situation earlier this week, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report wrote that Vogel’s staff has never “seriously broached” the idea of having Westbrook come off the bench to the former MVP, adding that Westbrook likely wouldn’t entertain the idea. But these are desperate times for the Lakers, and Vogel’s comments on Thursday indicate it hasn’t been ruled out.

With just 20 games left in the Lakers’ season, time is running out to right the ship. With that in mind, we want to know whether you still have any faith left in this L.A. team.

At 27-35, the Lakers hold the No. 9 seed in the West, a full nine games back of the No. 6 Nuggets. They’re one game up on the No. 10 Pelicans and two games ahead of the No. 11 Trail Blazers. The Spurs (3.5 games back) and Kings (4.5 games back) are also lurking, but aren’t serious threats to the Lakers at this point.

Given the lack of serious competition outside of the West’s top 10 seeds, it still looks like a reasonably safe bet that the Lakers will qualify for the play-in tournament. But earning a playoff spot outright by finishing as a top-six team will be virtually impossible, and even finishing in the top eight looks increasingly unlikely, since they’re 5.5 games back of the No. 8 Clippers. If they finish ninth or 10th in the West, they’d have to win two play-in games to even make it to the playoffs.

As a reminder, the winner of the play-in game between the seventh and eight teams earns the No. 7 seed, while the loser of that game plays the winner of the matchup between the ninth and tenth teams for the No. 8 seed. That means the Lakers might have to beat, say, the Pelicans and then the Clippers (or Timberwolves) to even claim the No. 8 seed. At that point, they’d be in line for a matchup against a top-seeded Suns team that eliminated them from the playoffs last year.

Based on how the Lakers have looked lately, I’m growing more and more skeptical that we’ll even see them in the playoffs, whether or not they have Anthony Davis back for the play-in tournament. But we want to know what you think.

How do you see the Lakers’ season ending? Do they still have a chance to make a playoff run? Should they already be looking toward 2022/23?

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

Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2021/22

The 2021/22 NBA season will be a record-setting one for luxury tax payments.

According to data from Albert Nahmad of HeatHoops.com and Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype, the league’s previous single-year record for total luxury tax payments was $173.3MM, back in 2002/03.

This season, the Warriors‘ tax penalties alone will nearly match that league-wide record. And they’ll be joined by six other projected taxpayers whose combined end-of-season bills would eclipse the previous record even without Golden State’s help.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Luxury Tax Penalties]

In the space below, we’ve done our best to ballpark the current tax bill for each of this season’s seven projected taxpayers. These numbers may end up looking slightly different after the season, since it can be tricky to pin down the precise amount of a tax bill during the season.

Earned and unearned incentives in certain players’ contracts can affect eventual tax payments, and not all of the criteria for those incentives are public. Even the incentives that are known may not have been decided yet — for instance, Nets guard Kyrie Irving will earn a $137,500 bonus if he makes at least 88.5% of his free throws this season. He’s currently at 91.9%, but has only had 62 attempts, so it remains possible his free throw rate will dip below 88.5%, costing him that bonus and reducing Brooklyn’s tax bill.

Additionally, even after the trade deadline, a team’s tax bill remains fluid due to possible forthcoming roster moves, suspensions, and a handful of other factors. The Sixers‘ projected tax bill just increased last night when they officially signed DeAndre Jordan to a rest-of-season contract.

With all that in mind, here are the current projected penalties for this season’s probable taxpayers, based on our math, along with salary data from Spotrac and Basketball Insiders:

  1. Golden State Warriors: $170.3MM
  2. Brooklyn Nets: $97.0MM
  3. Los Angeles Clippers: $82.5MM
  4. Milwaukee Bucks: $56.5MM
  5. Los Angeles Lakers: $45.0MM
  6. Utah Jazz: $18.8MM
  7. Philadelphia 76ers: $13.9MM

In total, these seven teams project to owe a staggering $484MM in luxury tax payments.

Half of that total will be dispersed to the league’s non-taxpayers, which means that 23 teams should be in line to split a pot of about $242MM. That would work out to a payment of approximately $10.5MM for each of those 23 non-taxpayers.

These numbers make it more obvious why a team like the Celtics made a concerted effort to get out of luxury tax territory at the trade deadline. A tax bill of $2MM or so wouldn’t break the bank for Boston’s ownership group, but the C’s generated more than just $2MM in savings by ducking below the tax line — they’re now in line to be one of those 23 teams that receives a $10MM+ windfall.

It’s worth noting too that the Warriors are the only one of these seven projected taxpayers who will be subjected to “repeater” penalties this season, so it’s not as if those more punitive repeater penalties are fueling this year’s record-setting totals. Even without the repeater penalties, the Dubs would still owe approximately $131.1MM in taxes.

Players Who Have Spent The Most Time This Season On 10-Day Deals

It has been a record-setting season for the 10-day contract, which got more use than ever this winter as teams missing players due to COVID-19 scrambled to add multiple replacements at a time using the league’s newly-updated hardship provision.

By our count, an unprecedented 118 players have signed at least a single 10-day deal this season, and many of those players received more than one. Because hardship deals didn’t count toward the usual limit of two 10-day contracts per season with a single team, a handful of players even inked three or four 10-day pacts with the same team.

While no players were able to match or exceed the NBA’s rookie minimum salary on 10-day deals alone, a handful of players signed so many 10-day contracts that they earned a salary comparable to a two-way player.

[RELATED: Salaries For 10-Day Contracts In 2021/22]

With the help of our 10-day contract tracker, here’s a look at some of the players that have spent the most time this season on 10-day deals:


Chris Silva

  • Total 10-day contracts: 5
  • Days spent on 10-day contracts: 50
  • Teams: Heat (x4), Timberwolves
  • Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $479,650

One of two players who has signed four 10-day contracts with the same team this season, Silva might not be done yet — all four of his 10-day deals with the Heat were completed using the hardship provision, which means he could still sign one or two more standard 10-days with the team before the end of the season. Miami has an open roster spot, so it’s not out of the question.

Even if he doesn’t sign another 10-day contract this season, Silva’s earnings have already exceeded the base salary for a player on a two-way deal ($462,629).

Lance Stephenson

  • Total 10-day contracts: 5
  • Days spent on 10-day contracts: 43
  • Teams: Pacers (x4), Hawks
  • Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $690,095

One of Stephenson’s 10-day hardship deals with the Pacers was terminated after just three days so that he could sign a standard 10-day contract in order to remain on the active roster. As a result, he didn’t spend quite as many days as Silva as a 10-day player this season.

Still, Stephenson is one of just two players to have signed five 10-day contracts this year, and no player has earned more money via 10-day deals than he has this season. Stephenson also parlayed those four short-term commitments from Indiana into a rest-of-season deal.


Stanley Johnson

  • Total 10-day contracts: 4
  • Days spent on 10-day contracts: 40
  • Teams: Lakers (x3), Bulls
  • Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $480,332

Danuel House

  • Total 10-day contracts: 4
  • Days spent on 10-day contracts: 40
  • Teams: Jazz (x3), Knicks
  • Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $445,828

Wenyen Gabriel

  • Total 10-day contracts: 4
  • Days spent on 10-day contracts: 40
  • Teams: Clippers (x2), Nets, Pelicans
  • Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $383,720

There are five NBA players who have signed at least four 10-day contracts so far this season, with Johnson, House, and Gabriel joining Silva and Stephenson.

Johnson and House took very similar paths. Both players signed a single hardship 10-day contract with one team in December (the Bulls for Johnson and the Knicks for House), but didn’t get a chance to make a real impression for that team — Johnson was almost immediately placed in the COVID-19 protocols himself, while House logged just three total minutes for New York. Both players subsequently caught on with new clubs, signing a hardship 10-day contract and then a pair of standard 10-days before finalizing a full-season agreement.

Gabriel, meanwhile, has bounced around the NBA a little more this season, signing a total of four 10-day hardship deals with three separate teams. He didn’t earn a rest-of-season commitment from any of them, but eventually landed with the Lakers on a two-way contract.


Players who have signed three 10-day contracts this season:

* Chriss, Cousins, Diakite, and Jackson each had one of their 10-day contracts terminated early, so they’ve technically spent fewer than 30 days on 10-day deals this season.

^ The third 10-day contracts for Frazier, Thomas, and Wilson are still active.

# Highsmith’s third 10-day contract is still active. Additionally, his second deal was technically an 11-day contract since it ran through the All-Star break and needed to cover a minimum of three games.

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Luxury Tax Penalties

Although some NBA teams can become hard-capped during a given league year if they use specific exceptions or make certain transactions, the league doesn’t have a set hard cap for all teams. In addition to its soft cap though, the league does have a luxury tax threshold, which serves to discourage excessive spending. When a team’s total salary ends up over that line at season’s end, the NBA charges a tax for every extra dollar the club spends.

The formula to determine the luxury tax line is a complicated one, related to the NBA’s projected basketball related income (BRI) and projected benefits. Generally though, it comes in around 20-22% above the salary cap line. For instance, in 2021/22, the league’s salary cap is set at $112,414,000, while the luxury tax threshold is at $136,606,000. So any team whose total ’21/22 salary exceeds $136,606,000 on the last day of the regular season is subject to a tax bill.

The NBA’s luxury tax system is set up so that the penalties become more punitive if teams go further beyond the tax line. Here’s what those penalties look like:

  • $0-5MM above tax line: $1.50 per dollar (up to $7.5MM).
  • $5-10MM above tax line: $1.75 per dollar (up to $8.75MM).
  • $10-15MM above tax line: $2.50 per dollar (up to $12.5MM).
  • $15-20MM above tax line: $3.25 per dollar (up to $16.25MM).
  • For every additional $5MM above tax line beyond $20MM, rates increase by $0.50 per dollar.
    • Note: This would mean $3.75 per dollar for amounts between $20-25MM, $4.25 for $25-30MM, etc.

For example, if a team is over the tax by $12MM, its tax bill would be $21.25MM: $7.5MM for the first $5MM over the tax, $8.75MM for the $5-10MM bracket, then $5MM for the final increment in the $10-15MM bracket.

While these are the rates that apply to most taxpayers – including the Clippers, Nets, Bucks, Lakers, Jazz, and Sixers this season – a team can become subject to a more punitive “repeater” penalty if it paid the tax in three of the previous four seasons.

This scenario currently applies to Golden State — the Warriors were a taxpaying club in 2018, 2019, and 2021, which means they’ll be a repeat offender this season. The Thunder, who were taxpayers in 2018, 2019, and 2020, would also be subject to the repeater tax this season, but they’re far, far below the tax line.

Here are the penalties that apply to repeat taxpayers:

  • $0-5MM above tax line: $2.50 per dollar (up to $12.5MM).
  • $5-10MM above tax line: $2.75 per dollar (up to $13.75MM).
  • $10-15MM above tax line: $3.50 per dollar (up to $17.5MM).
  • $15-20MM above tax line: $4.25 per dollar (up to $21.25MM).
  • For every additional $5MM above tax line beyond $20MM, rates increase by $0.50 per dollar
    • Note: This would mean $4.75 per dollar for amounts between $20-25MM, $5.25 for $25-30MM, etc.

If the hypothetical team we described in our first example, over the tax by $12MM, was a repeat taxpayer, its bill would increase to $33.25MM.

Generally speaking, luxury tax penalties are calculated by determining a team’s total cap hits at the end of the regular season. So a team that starts the year above the tax line could get under it before the end of the season by completing trades or buyouts. The Celtics did just that this season, slipping below the luxury tax threshold at the trade deadline by completing a series of deals that reduced their overall team salary.

It’s also worth noting that team salary for tax purposes is calculated slightly differently than it is for cap purposes. Here are a few of the adjustments made at season’s end before a team’s tax bill is calculated:

  • Cap holds and exceptions are ignored.
  • “Likely” bonuses that weren’t earned are removed from team salary; “unlikely” bonuses that were earned are added to team salary.
  • If a player with a trade bonus is acquired after the final regular season game, that trade bonus is added to team salary.
  • If a player with 0-1 years of NBA experience signed a minimum-salary free agent contract, the minimum-salary cap charge for a two-year veteran is used in place of that player’s cap charge.
    • Note: This only applies to free agents, not drafted players. For example, Clippers rookie Brandon Boston Jr. (second-round pick) and Lakers rookie Austin Reaves (UDFA) are each earning $925,258 in 2021/22. Boston will count for $925,258 for tax purposes, while Reaves will count for $1,669,178.

So let’s say that five teams finish the season owing a total of $50MM in taxes. Where does that money go? Currently, the NBA splits it 50/50 — half of it is used for “league purposes,” while the other half is distributed to non-taxpaying teams in equal shares. In that scenario, the 25 non-taxpaying teams would receive $1MM apiece.

As cap expert Larry Coon explains in his CBA FAQ, “league purposes” essentially covers any purpose the NBA deems appropriate, including giving the money back to teams. In recent years, the NBA has used that money as a funding source for its revenue sharing program. Coon also notes that the CBA technically allows up to 50% of tax money to be distributed to non-taxpaying teams, but there’s no obligation for that to happen — in other words, the NBA could decide to use 100% of the tax money for “league purposes.”


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

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012, 2018, and 2020.

Players Waived After Tuesday Won’t Be Playoff-Eligible

In order to retain his postseason eligibility for a new NBA team, a player must be waived on or before March 1. That means that any player who remains on an NBA roster after today won’t be eligible to suit up in the playoffs for a new team, though there’s at least one key exception to that general rule.

A player who is currently on a 10-day contract – or who signs one in March – will retain his playoff eligibility going forward. For instance, once Willie Cauley-Stein‘s 10-day deal with the Sixers expires this weekend, he’d still be able to re-sign with Philadelphia or join a new team and be eligible to play in the postseason, since he’s not being placed on waivers after March 1.

Here’s the list of players currently on 10-day contracts who will retain their playoff eligibility when their current deals expire:

It’s also worth clarifying that a player doesn’t have to sign with a new team by March 1 to be playoff-eligible — he simply has to be placed on waivers by 11:59 pm ET on Tuesday. As long as a player who fits that bill signs with a new team by the final day of the regular season (April 10), he can play in the postseason.

The buyout market in 2022 hasn’t featured as many notable names as it has in some recent years, but we’ve still seen a handful of potential rotation players become available since the trade deadline. Goran Dragic, Tristan Thompson, Tomas Satoransky, Jevon Carter, DeAndre’ Bembry, and D.J. Augustin are among the veterans who have been waived since February 10 and who have since found new teams.

All of those players will be playoff-eligible for their new clubs, but anyone on a standard contract who is waived after Tuesday won’t be. We know that the Lakers will officially release DeAndre Jordan today — we’ll keep an eye out for any other veterans who might hit waivers in the next 15 hours or so.

2022’s Most Valuable Traded Second-Round Picks

Fans of lottery-bound NBA teams will be keeping a close on the league’s reverse standings down the stretch because of the effect they’ll have on the draft order and lottery odds for the 2022 first round.

However, it’s not just the first round of the draft that’s worth keeping an eye on. Those reverse standings will also dictate the order of the draft’s second round, and an early second-round pick can be nearly as valuable as a first-rounder.

Traded first-round selections will ultimately be more valuable than any second-rounder, but it’s still worth taking a closer look at some traded 2022 second-rounders that project to be quality picks.

[RELATED: Traded Second-Round Picks For 2022 NBA Draft]

Here are a few of those traded picks:


From: Detroit Pistons
To: Toronto Raptors
Current projection: No. 32

Back in 2018, the Bulls gained the right to swap 2022 second-round picks with Detroit in a trade involving Jameer Nelson. Chicago eventually transferred that right to San Antonio as part of last summer’s DeMar DeRozan‘s sign-and-trade, and the Spurs transferred it to Toronto as part of the Thaddeus Young/Goran Dragic trade at this month’s deadline.

The Pistons are currently on track to finish the season with a bottom-three record, so the Raptors are a good bet to be picking the No. 31-33 range this June.


From: Houston Rockets
To: Indiana Pacers
Current projection: No. 33

The Cavaliers first acquired Houston’s 2022 second-round pick in a 2019 deadline deal involving Alec Burks and Iman Shumpert, then sent it to Indiana this month in the Caris LeVert trade.

Like the Pistons, the Rockets comfortably hold a bottom-three spot in the NBA right now, so the Pacers will likely have a top-three pick in the second round of the 2022 draft to aid their retooling efforts.


From: Indiana Pacers
To: Orlando Magic
Current projection: No. 35

Although the Pacers control Houston’s second-rounder, they won’t have a second pick near the top of the round, having traded away their own 2022 second-rounder to Milwaukee in their 2019 sign-and-trade deal for Malcolm Brogdon. The Bucks flipped that pick to Orlando during the 2020 draft in a package for the No. 45 pick in the ’20 draft, which they used to select Jordan Nwora.

The Magic’s own 2022 second-rounder currently projects to be the No. 31 pick, so Orlando could control two of the top five picks in the second round this year.


From: San Antonio Spurs
To: Cleveland Cavaliers
Current projection: No. 37

The Spurs traded their 2022 second-round selection to Utah all the way back in 2016 as part of a Boris Diaw salary dump. The Jazz controlled that pick up until December 2019, when they flipped it to Cleveland as part of their deal for Jordan Clarkson — the Cavaliers have held it since then.

The Cavs have traded away their own 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected), so San Antonio’s second-rounder could end up being the best pick Cleveland owns in this year’s draft.

Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year Frontrunner

Suns head coach Monty Williams is currently the favorite to be named the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2022, according to the oddsmakers at Bovada and BetOnline. With a 49-10 record, Phoenix has been 6.5 games better than any other team in the league this season, so Williams certainly has a strong case for the award.

Still, he’s hardly the only coach who is a viable candidate to be named Coach of the Year, especially if the Suns stumble at all during Chris Paul‘s absence in the next few weeks. Based on current betting odds, Bovada and BetOnline both view J.B. Bickerstaff, Taylor Jenkins, and Billy Donovan as the coaches besides Williams who are the strongest contenders for the award.

The Coach of the Year vote often comes down to which team exceeded its preseason expectations most significantly, especially if that club dealt with injuries or other adversity. With that in mind, Bickerstaff should be a popular pick. His Cavaliers are 35-24 despite losing Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio to season-ending knee injuries and having several other rotation players deal with various health ailments. Cleveland was widely viewed as a lottery team entering 2021/22.

Jenkins’ Grizzlies have also blown away the expectations fans and league observers had for them in the fall. Projected to be roughly a .500 team after sneaking into the playoffs a year ago, Memphis has already reached 41 victories in just 61 games and comfortably holds a top-three spot in the West. While Ja Morant has emerged as a bona fide star, the team’s supporting cast isn’t exactly loaded with household names, which may earn Jenkins some extra votes this spring.

Finally, Donovan’s Bulls were considered a fringe playoff team by oddsmakers last fall — their over/under figure of 42.5 wins was tied with Indiana and New York for seventh in the East. The club has been impacted by injuries throughout the season and was one of the teams hit hardest by COVID-19 in the winter, but still holds the conference’s top seed with a 39-21 record.

Erik Spoelstra of the Heat, Steve Kerr of the Warriors, Doc Rivers of the Sixers, and Chris Finch of the Timberwolves are among the others who could merit Coach of the Year consideration, especially with strong late-season finishes.

We want to know what you think. Is Williams the right pick for Coach of the Year at this point, or do you view Bickerstaff, Jenkins, Donovan, or someone else as a stronger candidate? If the season ended today, who do you think would – and should – win the award?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Lottery Teams

There will be plenty of attention over the next two months regarding the race for the top seeds in each conference. Several other teams will be aiming for one of the three bottom seeds.

While the lottery odds were changed a few years ago, it hasn’t discouraged tanking. The teams that finish with the three worst records have a 14 percent chance of getting the top pick.

That strategy paid off for the Pistons last season, as they rested several starters in the final weeks of the season and wound up with the second-worst mark. They won the lottery and drafted the consensus top pick, Cade Cunningham.

The Rockets, who lost their way to the worst record, still got the second pick and chose Jalen Green.

Lo and behold, those same two teams are well-positioned for a top-three pick again this year, though there’s more mystery which player will go No. 1. Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga Chet Holmgren and Duke’s Paolo Banchero are currently the top candidates.

The Magic entered the All-Star break with the worst record, with the Pistons and Rockets just “behind” them in the race for the bottom. However, another team or two could crash the tanking party. The Thunder, Pacers, Kings, Pelicans and Spurs have also won fewer than 40 percent of their games, though New Orleans must convey its pick to the Trail Blazers if it’s between No. 5 and No. 14.

Speaking of the retooling Blazers, it’s conceivable they could go on a long losing streak, though with 25 wins in the bank it would difficult to drop near the bottom. The Pacers, who also went into rebuild mode, could be another prime candidate for a nosedive.

That leads us to our question of the day: Which three teams do you foresee finishing with the worst records this season and gaining the best lottery odds?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.