- The Rockets held a predraft workout on Wednesday that included Mississippi guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, Washington guard Jalyen Nowell and Campbell guard Chris Clemons, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Houston does not currently own a pick in this year’s draft. Nowell is the highest-ranked prospect among the trio, as he’s ranked No. 87 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer believes his franchise can win an NBA championship before their co-tenants in Los Angeles and will look to add star talent this offseason. Marc Stein of the New York Times puts the “over/under” for superstars signed by the Clips this summer at one, as he writes in the mailbag section of his latest newsletter.
Stein adds that Kawhi Leonard is still the most likely superstar to join Ballmer’s team this summer. Los Angeles has a desirable situation for any star, and with their collection of draft picks and players on team-friendly deals, the Clippers could feasibly sign someone like Leonard and swing a deal that gives him a top running mate.
Stein has more in his latest newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights:
- One Western Conference scout told Stein that this year’s version of Steve Kerr‘s Warriors may not be as sharp as the teams in the past. “I just question the Warriors’ ability to continually focus,” the scout said. “It seems like nowadays they need to be punched in the mouth before they’re Golden State. They’re not just coming out on a mission and overwhelming teams. Maybe I will regret saying this, but I just don’t trust them like I used to.”
- The Warriors‘ familiarity with the Rockets may give them an advantage in a potential playoff rematch, another scout tells Stein. “Stylistically Houston is a very different team,” the scout said. “It takes most teams two games just to try to figure out how they want to deal with Harden. Golden State will already know. And with Ron Adams running the defense, they do a great job of changing it up and not letting Harden get a great rhythm.”
- The Thunder inked Russell Westbrook to a five-year, $200MM+ extension back in 2017. While the move will face some scrutiny as Westbrook ages, Stein reminds readers that the alternative to the extension was risking the former MVP walking out the door as Kevin Durant previously did.
Rockets center Clint Capela, who had one of his worst games of the season on Monday in Utah, tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com that he has been battling a pair of respiratory illnesses during the playoffs. According to Capela, he was diagnosed on Sunday with adenovirus and a klebsiella infection. He’s treating the illnesses with medication and eye drops, and isn’t expected to back to full health for another four or five days.
“It’s tough, man,” Capela told MacMahon. “Especially when I try to breathe, it’s hard. I’m just going to fight it the best that I can.”
If Capela is slowed again in Game 5, it could open the door a crack for a Jazz comeback, though the Rockets remain heavy favorites to finish off the series on Wednesday night, with or without a fully healthy center.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- As John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 clarifies (via Twitter), the Suns wouldn’t draft Ja Morant over Zion Williamson if they get the No. 1 pick. However, the Suns would be happy to select Morant at No. 2, and could explore trading up to No. 2 if they end up with a slightly lower pick, per Gambadoro. This doesn’t contradict a weekend report from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who cited sources that believe Phoenix may prefer to end up with Morant. Vecenie himself expressed skepticism that the team would pass on Williamson at No. 1.
- Clippers assistant general manager Trent Redden is in New Orleans this week, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. Nothing is official yet, but there have been whispers that the Pelicans plan to hire Redden as their new GM under David Griffin. Redden and Griffin have already met in New Orleans, reports Andrew Lopez of NOLA.com (via Twitter).
- The latest trip to Salt Lake City for Danuel House reflects how far he has come in the last four-and-a-half months, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The last time House was in Utah in early December, he was being waived from the Rockets‘ 15-man roster. He ultimately re-signed with the team on a two-way deal, then played his way back onto the 15-man squad before the end of the season. Now, he’s one of Houston’s must trusted reserves, having averaged 23.8 MPG in the first round.
Clippers GM Michael Winger has taken his name out of the running for a front office position in Minnesota, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Winger had been a candidate to fill the president of basketball operations role with the Timberwolves, but sources tell Krawczynski that he has elected to stay in L.A. and continue the work he started there. He was reluctant to leave an already competitive team that will have the cap room to offer at least one max contract this summer (Twitter link).
Winger has served as GM of the Clippers since 2017 and previously worked as an assistant GM to Sam Presti in Oklahoma City. The Wolves haven’t started formal interviews yet, so Winger didn’t have more than preliminary contact with them (Twitter link).
With one candidate off the list, Minnesota still appears to have a strong group to choose from, with ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups, Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas and Nuggets assistant GM Calvin Booth as the other reported candidates.
- The Rockets promoted key front office members to various positions this week, general manager Daryl Morey announced. Rafael Stone was promoted to Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Counsel, while Eli Witus was elevated to assistant general manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. Both will work closely with Morey on the draft, free agency and more.
During each NBA league year, teams face limits on the amount of cash they can send out and receive in trades. Once they reach those limits, they’re no longer permitted to include cash in a deal until the following league year.
For the 2018/19 NBA season, the limit is $5,243,000. The limits on sending and receiving cash are separate and aren’t dependent on one another, so if a team has sent out $5,243,000 in trades and also received $5,243,000 in separate deals, they don’t have a clean slate — they’ve reached both limits for the season.
Thanks to reporting by cap experts like Bobby Marks, Eric Pincus, and Albert Nahmad, we’ve been able to keep tabs on the cash sent and received in trades by teams during the 2018/19 NBA league year, so we have a pretty clear idea of each club’s flexibility heading into the draft.
Being able to send or receive cash on draft day is particularly useful, since it can provide a simple means of acquiring – or moving – a second-round pick. A year ago, five of the trades agreed upon in June that featured 2018 draft picks included cash.
Of course, three of those five trades weren’t actually completed until July, which highlights a simple way to work around these restrictions. A team that can’t send or receive cash at this year’s draft could still technically agree to a deal involving cash, then officially finalize it sometime after July 1, when the cash limits reset for the 2019/20 league year.
Still, the 2018/19 restrictions are worth noting, since in some cases a player’s changing cap figure or contract status can make it impossible to wait until July to make a trade official.
With that in mind, here are some of the limitations facing teams until July 1:
Ineligible to receive cash:
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Toronto Raptors
The Hornets reached their limit less than a week until the 2018/19 league year, having received $5MM from the Nets in their Dwight Howard trade and $243K from the Thunder in a deal involving Hamidou Diallo.
As for the Bulls, they reached their yearly limit in three separate transactions, acquiring approximately $2.63MM in a pair of swaps with the Rockets involving Michael Carter-Williams and Carmelo Anthony. Chicago then received another $2.61MM from the Thunder in a Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot salary dump.
Based on the reported figures for the Raptors ($5MM from the Spurs in the Kawhi Leonard blockbuster, plus $110K apiece from the Sixers and Nets in deadline deals), they could technically acquire another $23K. However, $110K is the minimum amount of cash a team can include in a trade this season, so Toronto can’t actually acquire any more.
Outside of these three teams, every NBA club is eligible to acquire at least $2MM before July. The Magic ($2,226,778), Sixers ($2,743,000), Mavericks ($3,148,049), and Hawks ($3,187,090) are most limited.
Ineligible to send cash:
- None
No NBA teams have reached their limits for sending out cash this season, though some are close.
The Nets ($243,000) and Spurs ($243,000) can barely trade any cash after sending out $5MM in deals last July. The Thunder ($411,294) and Rockets ($565,513) are also nearly tapped out, having made a handful of moves aimed at reducing – or in Houston’s case, eliminating – their luxury tax bills.
The Wizards ($2,365,456), Grizzlies ($2,660,069), and Celtics ($2,737,090) are also somewhat limited in their ability to trade cash, but no other teams have less than $3MM available.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka appears to be gaining more power inside of the team’s front office, Marc Stein of the New York Times writes in his weekly newsletter. The former agent is reportedly running Los Angeles’ search for a new head coach.
It’s curious that the team is searching for a coach before settling on an official head of basketball operations. Many organizations set up their front office structures prior to hiring a coach.
Stein provides more on the situation and passes along some additional nuggets in this week’s edition of the newsletter. Here are the highlights from his piece:
- There’s chatter within league circles that Sixers assistant coach Monty Williams’ candidacy for the Lakers‘ gig is as strong in part because some within the front office fear giving the job to Tyronn Lue would hand too much control to LeBron James. Williams met with Pelinka to discuss the position earlier today. Lue and Juwan Howard are among the other candidates rumored to be in contention for the position.
- The Sixers attempted to pry Warriors team president Bob Myers away from Golden State last offseason before deciding to promote Elton Brand to the role, Stein reports. Philadelphia also attempted to bring Rockets GM Daryl Morey to its front office.
- Morey’s recent contract extension from the Rockets is estimated to pay the executive in the neighborhood of $8MM annually, Stein hears. Magic Johnson‘s salary as the Lakers’ team president was estimated to be $10MM per year and Stein argues that Los Angeles could feasibly offer a candidate double that salary if they wanted to lure a prized rival executive.
- Stein writes that there is both “shock and relief” within the league that the Lakers haven’t attempted to poach a decorated rival executive, such as Myers, Spurs GM R.C. Buford, or Thunder GM Sam Presti.
2:59pm: The Timberwolves have also requested and been granted permission to speak to Rockets VP Gersson Rosas, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Rosas has also been linked to the Pelicans and Wizards this spring.
2:30pm: The Timberwolves have received permission to speak to Clippers general manager Michael Winger about a potential president of basketball operations role in Minnesota, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
It’s not clear when the meeting will take place, but Wolves owner Glen Taylor has targeted a short list of potential candidates to become the club’s head of basketball operations, and Winger appears to be emerging as one of the favorites in that group, as Wojnarowski tweets.
Taylor and the Wolves announced last Wednesday at the end of the regular season that they were formally launching a search for a new president of basketball operations. While general manager Scott Layden has been running the club’s front office for most of the season and may ultimately be retained, Minnesota wants to bring in someone who can oversee the team’s basketball operations, filling Tom Thibodeau‘s old role.
Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reported last week that the Wolves are targeting a strong communicator who places high value on the draft and player development.
For Winger, the Timberwolves’ position would represent a promotion, since he currently serves under head of basketball operations Lawrence Frank in Los Angeles. Before he was hired by the Clippers as their general manager in 2017, Winger worked in the Thunder’s front office as an assistant GM under Sam Presti.
The Pelicans have already interviewed several candidates, including former Cavs GM David Griffin, Warriors assistant GM Larry Harris, Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon, Rockets VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, and Wizards interim GM Tommy Sheppard.
- Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni, who had been hospitalized since Friday, has shown improvement and was released today, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. However, he will not coach the team tonight.
On January 16, Kenneth Faried – who had appeared in just 12 games and averaged fewer than 10 MPG for the Nets at that point – noticed something about Brooklyn’s opponent that night. As Zach Lowe of ESPN.com writes, the injury-plagued Rockets were starting P.J. Tucker at center while Faried once again got a DNP-CD for the Nets.
“(I remember thinking) ‘They are not even playing a big!'” Faried said to Lowe. “‘I could come here and play right away.’ It sucked [Clint] Capela was hurt, but it opened a door for me.”
League sources tell Lowe that Faried’s realization helped accelerate his buyout discussions with the Nets. The veteran big man ultimately made his debut for the Rockets just five days later and has been a fixture in the rotation since then. The 29-year-old has averaged 12.9 PPG and 8.2 RPG in 25 games (24.4 MPG) for Houston.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Michael Frazier‘s new contract with the Rockets isn’t just a rest-of-season deal, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the pact will run through 2020/21, though it’s unlikely to feature any guaranteed money beyond this season. Since it’s a three-year contract, the Rockets had to use a portion of their mid-level exception on it.
- When the Rockets signed Chris Chiozza last month, it appeared the team was putting itself in danger of surpassing the luxury-tax threshold if Clint Capela achieves certain incentives. However, a source tells David Weiner of ClutchFans.net (Twitter link) that the public tax figures for Houston are slightly off, and the Chiozza signing didn’t jeopardize the club’s standing below the tax. Presumably, Frazier’s deal didn’t either.
- It’s still not clear exactly which Rockets tax figures are off, but a couple cap experts offered up theories. Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights wonders if Gary Clark‘s converted two-way contract doesn’t count quite as highly for tax purposes as previously believed; Albert Nahmad (Twitter link) hypothesizes that perhaps the NBA made an accommodation for the Rockets after having held up their Carmelo Anthony trade for several days due to a federal holiday.