- The Rockets‘ addition of Thabo Sefolosha could come at the cost of Ben McLemore or Michael Frazier, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. Even though GM Daryl Morey has said he has the freedom to pay the luxury tax, Nahmad cautions that he won’t do it to keep an average player. Nahmad expects Houston to either start the season with the minimum of 14 players on its roster or possibly keep 15 with the intention to make a salary-cutting trade by the February deadline (Twitter link).
We’ll have to wait a little longer to find out what Rockets general manager Daryl Morey thinks about the joint ruling made by the NBA and NBPA on Nene‘s incentive-heavy contract, a ruling which will reduce his trade value and essentially invalidate some creative cap work by Houston’s front office.
Before that ruling was reported though, Morey sat down with Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle to answer some other questions about the Rockets’ offseason and the upcoming 2019/20 season.
Feigen’s Q&A with the team’s top decision-maker is worth checking out in full, but here are a few of Morey’s most interesting comments from the discussion:
On whether Morey believes the Rockets will enter the season as the Western Conference favorites:
“Yes. We’re favorites. But as usual, there is some very tough competition: Clippers, Lakers, Utah. Then I’d say people are probably underrating Golden State still. We have a healthy respect for them. But we go in shooting for the No. 1 seed.”
On whether or not the Rockets have a “load management” plan in mind for their stars:
“I think there is a good chance you’ll see some guys resting when healthy. It all depends on the context of the season. If we start 7-11 again, I don’t think there’ll be a lot of resting. We’ll be battling for the playoffs. Everything is contextual. We need at all times to be looking at the ultimate goal of wining a title and what is the best decision. That’s why we don’t like to have any hard and fast rules. I don’t think that’s pragmatic.”
On whether the Rockets are interested in working out a contract extension with P.J. Tucker, who has two years left on his current deal:
“We’re open to the concept of extensions early. We have done it with players in the past. Normally, it’s the James Harden-type players. We’re open to it. That said, I have found you don’t really get to an agreement with what both sides are looking at to how the extension can work realistically until you are one year out. I wouldn’t expect any other extension from us this year, mostly because everyone is signed for multiple years.
On whether the Rockets, who have 18 players under contract, will make more additions:
“We’re going to have 20 going into camp. We can only keep 17 (including players on two-way contracts). Right now, we have nine fully guaranteed. I think we do have more roster opportunity than any team in the league at least for the back end of the rotation or guys that might come in if we take an injury.”
On whether Rockets ownership is willing to pay the tax:
“I’ve been authorized to do what it takes to win a title. … I would expect we’ll be over the tax at some point.”
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have made a ruling on Nene‘s unusual new contract with the Rockets, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As we detailed last week, Nene’s two-year contract has a base value worth the minimum, but features over $7MM annually in likely bonuses that push the value of the deal to $10MM per year.
As Charania explains, Nene’s deal will essentially remain unchanged, but the $7MM+ in likely bonuses will be excluded in the event of a trade. In other words, he’d count for just $2.56MM in both outgoing and incoming salary for matching purposes, rather than being considered a $10MM outgoing piece.
According to Charania (via Twitter), who confirms that the Rockets had discussed a similar deal with Iman Shumpert, Nene will still have the opportunity to earn his bonuses, though the team figures to limit his playing time to avoid paying him significantly more money. In order to receive the full $10MM, Nene must appear in 40 games and his team must compile at least 52 wins.
Word first broke earlier today that the NBA was still weighing how to handle the contract. As we observed at the time,the league has the right to challenge deals that it believes violate the spirit of rules in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, even if those deals are technically legal based on what’s written in the CBA.
It’s a tough turn of events for the Rockets, who appeared to have found a creative way to maximize their flexibility for in-season deals, having generated a $10MM trade chip without being at risk of paying out the full $10MM. As a result of today’s ruling, that won’t be the case after all.
Because he signed a two-year contract, Nene will have a cap charge of $2.56MM rather than the $1.62MM cap hit he would have had if he’d signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract, pushing Houston closer to the tax. On a one-year deal, Nene would’ve had the right to veto trades.
Speaking to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta discussed his fondness for incentive-based contracts (“I believe that when you perform well you should make more money”), the possibility of an extension for P.J. Tucker (“It hasn’t come to my desk”), and a handful of other topics.
One of Fertitta’s most interesting comments was about replacing Chris Paul with Russell Westbrook. While he didn’t come right out and say it, the Rockets’ owner suggested that Westbrook will help increase Houston’s pace and perhaps complement Harden better both on and off the court.
“We used to be one of the top transition teams (in the league), and we’ve slowed down the last few years,” Fertitta said, alluding to the fact that the Rockets ranked 27th in pace last season after placing in the top five as recently as 2016/17. “And James and Russ go back a long ways in California, so they can talk to each other like brothers, you know, instead of one (player) thinking that he’s the mentor.”
Fertitta went on to clarify that he thinks Paul still has plenty left in the tank and will have a great season in Oklahoma City, but that Westbrook is “just a little bit better fit” for the way the Rockets want to play.
Here’s more out of Houston:
- In a separate recent interview, Fertitta spoke about the Rockets’ championship window essentially being open for the next four years or so. Kelly Iko of The Athletic looks back at the club’s offseason and examines whether Houston can reasonably expect to contend for a title during the next four seasons.
- The Rockets may shun the “load management” label, but team officials have a plan to take some of the scoring and play-making burden off of James Harden this season, according to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. As Beck notes, Houston’s goal is to keep Harden as fresh as possible for the postseason to ensure he’s still performing at an elite level in the spring.
- Within his feature on Harden, Beck spoke to the former MVP about the goals he still has for the rest of his NBA careers as he enters his 30s. “I still haven’t accomplished half of what I want to accomplish,” Harden said. “Like, multiple championships. I want to be one of those basketball players that you won’t forget. And obviously, we all remember the Kobes and the Jordans and the D-Wades and all those guys. I want to be in that same conversation, obviously, in championships and all that good stuff, and best shooting guards to ever play the game.”
- Earlier today, we passed along word that the NBA is still reviewing Nene‘s contract with the Rockets. The league is said to be discussing internally whether it should disapprove of the incentives in the agreement.
Veteran big man Nene officially signed his new contract with the Rockets back on September 6, but the NBA has yet to formally approve the deal, writes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link). Sources tell Marks that the league has been discussing internally whether it should disapprove of the incentives in the agreement, which create a $10MM trade chip despite the fact that Nene will likely only be paid about $2.56MM.
The NBA has the right to challenge deals that it believes violate the spirit of rules in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, even if those deals are technically legal based on what’s written in the CBA. While it seems unlikely that Nene’s deal would be nixed, it wouldn’t be surprising if the league looked to adjust the rules related to bonuses and incentives in the future to prevent teams from manipulating a player’s cap hit to such a significant extent.
In the meantime, Nene’s deal is hardly the only one signed this offseason heavy on bonus money. We’ve gone into detail on the incentives included in a handful of other contracts, such as the ones signed by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, but Marks has even more details on bonuses available to players around the NBA this year.
We won’t pass along every single note included in Marks’ article, but here are a few of the noteworthy new bonuses worth watching in 2019/20:
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can earn three separate $350K bonuses if he averages 1.85 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game this season with the Lakers. Caldwell-Pope’s new deal also includes a $163K bonus for being named to either All-Defensive team and a $50K bonus if the Lakers reach the Western Finals.
- Julius Randle‘s contract with the Knicks includes three separate $900K unlikely bonuses that he could earn if he makes the All-Star team, is named to an All-Defensive team, or makes the playoffs (and appears in at least 65 games).
- Tyus Jones‘ $9.258MM cap hit with the Grizzlies in 2019/20 includes an $858K bonus that has been deemed likely. Jones will earn the bonus if Memphis wins 33 games. If the rebuilding Grizzlies fall short of that mark, Jones’ cap hit for the season will dip to $8.4MM.
- Maxi Kleber‘s new contract with the Mavericks features a set of four unlikely bonuses that could be worth up to $475K in total. To earn them all, Kleber must make an All-Defensive team ($150K), make at least 80% of his free throws ($75K), make at least 40% of his three-pointers ($150K), and average more than nine rebounds per 36 minutes ($100K).
- Again, if you’re an ESPN Insider, be sure to check out Marks’ full story for more details on some of the more unusual incentives around the league.
1:41pm: Mbah a Moute, in a change of plans, won’t be attending the Rockets’ mini-camp in Vegas after all, tweets Iko.
12:13pm: A handful of the most noteworthy veteran free agents on the market will take part in the Rockets‘ upcoming mini-camp in Las Vegas, according to multiple reports. In a series of tweets, Kelly Iko and Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic reported that the following players will participate in the mini-camp:
With the exception of Jones, who has spent six seasons in the NBA, all of these players have more than a decade of NBA experience under their belts, which could make them good fits for a veteran Rockets team seeking depth as it looks to make a championship run this season.
[RELATED: Iman Shumpert turns down Rockets’ contract offer]
Although there’s some positional variety among the free agents who are participating in the Rockets’ mini-camp, it appears the team’s primary focus is on wings. Brewer, Mbah a Moute, Sefolosha, and Young all fit that bill. Mbah a Moute and Sefolosha, in particular, could be nice fits in Houston if they’re healthy, given their three-and-D abilities.
None of these veterans are currently under contract with the Rockets, who are carrying 18 players on their offseason roster. However, a strong showing at this week’s mini-camp could very well result in training camp invites for one or two of these veterans. Houston could bring even more of these players to camp if the team is willing to cut any of its current players to create extra spots on the 20-man roster.
No NBA team has fewer players on fully guaranteed deals than the Rockets, so a couple of the team’s regular season roster spots figure to be up for grabs in the preseason.
Free agent swingman Iman Shumpert has opted to decline a contract offer from the Rockets and won’t be attending the team’s mini-camp in Las Vegas this week, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Shumpert made this decision after “months of discussions.”
Shumpert, 29, is one of the most notable veteran free agents still on the market. The eight-year veteran, who has spent time with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Kings, and Rockets since entering the league, averaged 7.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.8 APG with a .374/.348/.800 shooting line last season in 62 total games for Sacramento and Houston.
It’s not clear what the Rockets’ offer to Shumpert looked like, but I can’t imagine it was particularly lucrative, since Houston is inching dangerously close to luxury tax territory. Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops offers an intriguing tidbit, tweeting that Shumpert is looking at other options because the Rockets “reneged on their initial promise” to him.
This is entirely my speculation, but I wonder if the deal the Rockets proposed to Shumpert shared some similarities with the incentive-packed one Nene signed. After all, it seems unlikely that a straightforward minimum-salary offer would’ve required “months of discussions.”
Shumpert has also been viewed as a possible sign-and-trade candidate if the Rockets decide to aggressively pursue a trade for Andre Iguodala, but nothing appears imminent on that front.
At this point in the offseason, the majority of the NBA’s teams are carrying either 13 or 14 players on guaranteed salaries. Teams will have to pare down their rosters to no more than 15 players on standard contracts once the regular season begins, so having 13 or 14 players on guaranteed deals now gives those clubs the flexibility to allow one or two non-guaranteed players to make the team — or to carry an open roster spot into opening night.
However, there are currently a dozen teams around the league carrying fewer than 13 guaranteed salaries or more than 14. With the help of our roster counts tool, here’s a look at those teams, with details on what they might be thinking as the 2019/20 season nears:
Fewer than 13 fully guaranteed salaries:
- Houston Rockets (10)
- Miami Heat (12)
- Toronto Raptors (12)
- Utah Jazz (12)
With only 10 players on fully guaranteed salaries, the Rockets may have some competition for their final few roster spots in training camp. For now Isaiah Hartenstein and Gary Clark – each of whom have partial guarantees – look like good bets to earn spots, with Ben McLemore perhaps the frontrunner for the 13th spot. Anthony Bennett, Chris Clemons, Michael Frazier, William McDowell-White, and Shamorie Ponds are candidates to fill out the roster, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Houston eventually acquires a veteran or two with its open spots.
[RELATED: 2019/20 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team]
Duncan Robinson‘s and Kendrick Nunn‘s partial guarantees put them in good position to earn the Heat‘s 13th and 14th roster spots. The hard-capped club won’t have room for a 15th player to start the season.
Royce O’Neale is a lock to make the Jazz, and Georges Niang seems like a safe bet too. William Howard and Stanton Kidd could be the prime contenders for the 15th spot if Utah wants a full roster.
For the Raptors, second-round pick Dewan Hernandez, veteran point guard Cameron Payne, and returning role players Chris Boucher and Malcolm Miller are the top candidates for the final two or three openings on the regular season roster.
More than 14 fully guaranteed salaries:
- Brooklyn Nets (15)
- Dallas Mavericks (15)
- Indiana Pacers (15)
- Memphis Grizzlies (15)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (15)
- New York Knicks (15)
- Phoenix Suns (15)
- San Antonio Spurs (15)
The Grizzlies were the only team carrying more than 15 guaranteed salaries, but a buyout agreement with Dwight Howard changed that. If they reach a similar deal – or find a trade – involving Andre Iguodala, their roster count would dip to 14 fully guaranteed contracts.
The Nets, Mavericks, Pacers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Suns, and Spurs could shake things up with roster moves before the season begins, particularly if any of those teams is impressed by a non-guaranteed camp invitee. But for now, their regular season rosters look pretty set with their 15 players on guaranteed salaries.
- Eric Gordon heard his name mentioned a few times in trade rumors as the Rockets tried to add another star, but he tells Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle that he always expected to remain with the team. The four-year extension he signed last week should solidify his place in Houston. “I know I’m valuable to this team,” Gordon said. “I think I’ve showed that. … I feel like I am going into my prime years. I can shoot, defend, be creative on offense. I have a lot to give.”
Rockets star James Harden expressed confidence that he and Russell Westbrook will get adjusted to playing with each other quickly this season, sharing his thoughts in a recent interview with Alex Shultz of GQ.com.
“I don’t really do a lot of interviews, so I actually don’t answer it that much,” Harden said when asked if the questioned about him and Westbrook irritate him. “The questions are usually the same, though: How are you and Russ going to fit in? It’s like, yo, we’ll figure it out. Everything isn’t necessarily going to be smooth at first, there are going to be ups and downs, and that’s part of an 82-game season. Hopefully by the end of the season, we’ve caught a rhythm and everybody is on the same page going into the playoffs. That’s all you can ask for.”
Harden and Westbrook, known as two talented, ball-dominate players, will play in the same backcourt for the first time since the 2011/12 season with Oklahoma City. The duo is eager to prove they can co-exist, with both players still seeking their first NBA championships.
“We’ve formed into the players that we want to be, in terms of superstar status,” Harden said. “We had opportunities to be at the top, at the peak; he won an MVP and I won an MVP. And there were conversations before, when me and Chris [Paul] joined the same team about whether it was going to work. We ended up with the best record in the NBA and were a game away from the Finals.
“It’s not like me and Russ were just teammates in Oklahoma City for three years. We’ve known each other since we were 10 years old. There’s a different kind of relationship and communication that we have, a different type of excitement that we have for each other. We don’t really care or pay attention to what other people say or think.”
There’s more out of the Western Conference today:
- New Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins is eager to lead his young team into a promising future, Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com writes. “So, for me, it’s that mentality of defining each day who we are,” Jenkins said as part of a larger quote. “We’re naturally and organically going to grow and not just have this set plan for how we’re going to be from Game 1 to 82. That excites me, because organically, we’re going to get to a really good spot with everything we’ve laid down already. We’ve hit the ground running, and Oct. 1 (first training camp practice) is rapidly approaching.”
- Jovan Buha of The Athletic examines what the other newcomers (not named Kawhi Leonard or Paul George) could bring to the Clippers this season. Buha discusses the talents of players such as Maurice Harkless, Rodney McGruder, Mfiondu Kabengele and more in his piece.
- PJ Dozier hopes to make a strong impression with the Nuggets in training camp this fall, Alex Labidou of Nuggets.com writes. “I love the city [of Denver], it’s a beautiful city,” Dozier said. “[I want to] continue to show that I belong and that I belong for a reason. I feel like I have a lot to show for — a lot to bring to the table. It’s just all about getting the opportunity and being prepared for it.”