- After being named the G League MVP for 2021/22, Rockets two-way player Trevelin Queen also took home the Finals MVP award, averaging 34.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 3.5 APG on 56.1% shooting in a pair of Rio Grande Valley Vipers victories over the Delaware Blue Coats. Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle takes a closer look at Queen’s path to the NBA and explores what’s next for him. “I got emotional (signing a two-way contract earlier this season) because I’ve been waiting my whole life, but I just know there’s more work to do,” Queen said. “I know I can do more than the two-way, so I just want to let them know.”
- In a mailbag for The Athletic, Kelly Iko answers readers’ questions about the Rockets‘ long-term view of a Jalen Green/Kevin Porter Jr. backcourt, the prospects Houston should target with Brooklyn’s first-round pick, and which free agents might be of interest to the team.
The NBA’s rookie scale, which determines how much first-round picks earn during their first four NBA seasons, also dictates how much the qualifying offers will be worth for those players when they reach restricted free agency after year four. However, the value of those qualifying offers can fluctuate depending on whether or not a player has met the “starter criteria.”
Here’s how the starter criteria works in a typical year:
- A player who is eligible for restricted free agency is considered to have met the starter criteria if he plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency.
- A player can also meet the criteria if he averages either of those marks in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency. For instance, if a player started 50 games one year and 32 the next, he’d meet the starter criteria, since his average number of starts over the last two seasons is 41.
The thresholds for the starter criteria this year are a little different due to the truncated nature of the 2020/21 season. We outlined those tweaks at the start of the season.
A player’s ability or inability to meet the starter criteria can affect the value of the qualifying offer he receives as a restricted free agent, as follows:
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 15th overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the ninth overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 21st overall pick would receive if he signed for 100% of the rookie scale.
- For all other RFAs, the standard criteria determine the amounts of their qualifying offers.
Extending a qualifying offer to a player eligible for restricted free agency officially makes that player an RFA, ensuring that his team has the right of first refusal if he signs an offer sheet with another club. It also gives the player the option of signing that one-year QO.
Generally, the value of a restricted free agent’s qualifying offer isn’t hugely important, since very few RFAs accept those offers outright. There are exceptions though.
Last offseason, for instance, Bruce Brown met the starter criteria heading into restricted free agency, increasing the value of his qualifying offer to $4,736,102. The Nets decided to issue that qualifying offer and he accepted it. Had he fallen short of the starter criteria, Brown only would have been eligible for a qualifying offer worth around $2MM and his free agency could have played out very differently.
Top-14 picks who failed to meet starter criteria:
With all that in mind, let’s check in on how this year’s RFAs-to-be will be impacted by the starter criteria. Listed below are the former top-14 picks on track for restricted free agency who did not meet the starter criteria. These players will be eligible for qualifying offers worth $7,228,448.
- Marvin Bagley III (Pistons)
- Collin Sexton (Cavaliers)
- Kevin Knox (Hawks)
Seven of the 14 players selected with lottery picks in the 2018 draft signed rookie scale extensions in 2021, meaning they won’t have to worry about the value of their qualifying offers this offseason.
Of the other seven, the three players listed above failed to meet the criteria. Bagley is the biggest loser in the trio — his qualifying offer would’ve been worth approximately $14.76MM if he had met the starter criteria. Sexton’s would’ve been about $8.56MM, while Knox’s would’ve been $7.92MM.
Even with the amount of his qualifying offer lowered a little, Knox likely won’t receive a QO at all, making him an unrestricted free agent. Bagley and Sexton are much safer bets for QOs.
Top-14 picks Deandre Ayton (Suns) and Mohamed Bamba (Magic), each met the starter criteria, locking in their QO amounts at $16.42MM and $10.1MM, respectively. Miles Bridges (Hornets) also met the starter criteria, as detailed in the next section.
Jerome Robinson was the only top-14 pick from ’18 who was waived before completing his rookie contract — he’s no longer on an NBA roster and won’t be eligible for a qualifying offer this summer.
First-round picks between 10-30 who met starter criteria:
A player who fell into this category would see the amount of his qualifying offer increase to $7,921,300. Bridges, the No. 12 overall pick, was the only player to qualify.
As a result of meeting the starter criteria, Bridges’ qualifying offer will increase from about $7.46MM to $7.92MM, a modest bump. It shouldn’t change the outlook of his free agency, since he’ll almost certainly receive a lucrative long-term offer.
Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons looked like one of the best candidates to join Bridges in this group. He needed to make 41 starts this season for Portland, but only got to 30 before he was shut down for the season with a left knee injury. His qualifying offer will remain at $5.76MM, but that shouldn’t have a major impact on his free agency, since he’ll likely work out a multiyear deal with the Blazers.
Meanwhile, because Kings wing Donte DiVincenzo was a full-time starter for the Bucks in 2020/21, he only needed to make seven starts this season to meet the starter criteria. However, he ultimately started just once for Milwaukee and Sacramento, even when he was playing heavy minutes down the stretch for the Kings.
DiVincenzo’s qualifying offer will remain at $6.6MM, which actually could have a tangible effect on his free agency — if he doesn’t get a multiyear offer with a starting salary much higher than his qualifying offer, accepting the QO and reaching unrestricted free agency in 2023 may be DiVincenzo’s best option. Presumably, that’s why his camp reportedly wasn’t thrilled that he was still coming off the bench at the end of the season.
Second-round picks and UDFAs who met starter criteria:
The players listed below signed as second-round picks or undrafted free agents, but met the starter criteria and are now eligible for a qualifying offer worth $4,869,012.
Luguentz Dort (Thunder)- Jae’Sean Tate (Rockets)
Of course, it’s very possible neither Dort nor Tate will even become a free agent this summer, since their contracts both include team options for 2022/23.
The Thunder could decide to turn down Dort’s minimum-salary option for next season in order to make him a restricted free agent this year instead of an unrestricted free agent next year, but there’s no guarantee they’ll go that route. If they do, his QO would be worth $4.87MM instead of $2.22MM.
Meanwhile, there’s no incentive for the Rockets to decline Tate’s option, since he’ll still be eligible for restricted free agency in 2023, so the amount of his potential qualifying offer this summer will be rendered moot.
Among other second-round picks and undrafted free agents, Hornets wing Cody Martin (1,866 minutes), Clippers swingman Amir Coffey (30 starts), and Trail Blazers forward CJ Elleby (28 starts) are a few who were in the ballpark of the starter criteria, but none got there. Martin, Coffey, Elleby, and the rest of this year’s restricted free agents won’t have their projected qualifying offers impacted by the starter criteria.
Rockets guard Jalen Green and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes were named the Rookies of the Month for March/April in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the NBA announced on Monday (via Twitter).
Green got off to an up-and-down start this season but finished strong, averaging 22.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 3.2 APG on .484/.395/.763 shooting in 22 games in March and April. Barnes helped the Raptors secure the No. 5 seed in the East by putting up 16.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 4.0 APG on 50.5% shooting in his last 22 contests.
The NBA also announced its Coaches of the Month for March/April on Tuesday (Twitter link). Mavericks coach Jason Kidd won the Western award for a 16-5 run to the end of the season; Ime Udoka, whose Celtics finished with a 15-4 stretch, earned the honor in the East.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Veteran forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has signed with Atléticos de San Germán, the Puerto Rican club announced on Monday (via Twitter). A former NBA first-round pick, Hollis-Jefferson played for Brooklyn, Toronto, and Portland from 2015-21, but spent most of the 2021/22 season in Turkey with Beşiktaş.
- ESPN writers Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) ranked the NBA’s top 25 players under age 25 based on long-term potential, while The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III and Mike Vorkunov each picked a 15-man squad of under-age-25 players. Mavericks guard Luka Doncic topped ESPN’s list, followed by Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.
- Former NBA player and longtime Kings executive Wayne Cooper has passed away at age 65, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Cooper appeared in a total of 984 regular season games for Golden State, Utah, Dallas, Portland, and Denver from 1978-92, then served as Sacramento’s VP of basketball operations from 1997-2013.
John Wall ended up sitting out the entire 2021/22 season, as the Rockets‘ front office was unable to find a trade it liked involving the veteran point guard. However, general manager Rafael Stone is confident that won’t be the case again in 2022/23 as Wall enters the final year of a contract that will pay him more than $47MM next season.
“I think there’s a real market for John,” Stone said on Monday, per Kristie Rieken of The Associated Press. “I think we’ll find a deal that will work for him and for us, and if one doesn’t materialize, we’ll we’ll cross that bridge (of a possible buyout) if and when it occurs. But that that is not something he’s focused on, and is not something I’m focused on.”
While it’s possible there could be a small handful of teams interested in discussing a deal for Wall, the Rockets will be hard-pressed to get anything of value for him — even with just one year left on his contract, the 31-year-old has negative trade value due to his exorbitant cap hit.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Rockets point guard Kevin Porter Jr., who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, admitted he was thinking about his contract situation earlier in the 2021/22 season and believes it negatively impacted his play, as Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle relays. “At the beginning of the season, I kind of put too much pressure on myself thinking about that type of thing,” Porter said. “Once I eased my mind off of it, I started to play better. So I don’t really want to put no mind to it. I love Houston, and they love me, so I’m sure that I’ll be here for a minute.”
- The Rockets posted an NBA-worst record of 20-62 in 2021/22, but both Stone and head coach Stephen Silas believe the team’s young players improved over the course of the year. Although Silas acknowledged that Houston will still have a young team next season and won’t become a contender overnight, he suggested on Monday that his expectations will be higher. “We really started at zero this year with a lot of guys,” Silas said, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “So getting to the point where we played an 82-game season with these guys and their roles will be similar next year … we’ll still be starting at a much higher place than we were this season as far as understanding. (The Rockets will not be) so bland on both ends of the floor because there’ll be a much higher level of understanding when it comes to the young guys.”
- In a separate story for The Houston Chronicle, Feigen explores a number of offseason questions facing the Rockets, including whether Porter will be extended, what the team will do in the draft, and what will happen with Wall and some other veteran trade candidates on the roster. Feigen adds that Houston intends to bring back Silas for 2022/23, though he and the front office will have to be sure they remain on the same page with the rebuilding plan going forward.
While there was never any real doubt, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms that Rockets guard John Wall is going to exercise his player option for the 2022/23 season. That option is worth approximately $47.4MM, which is far more than Wall could realistically expect to earn next season if he were to opt out of his deal to become a free agent.
The Rockets were unable to work out a trade involving Wall last offseason or during the 2021/22 season, but will try again this summer, according to Scotto, who says Wall’s reps at Klutch Sports would likely engage in buyout talks with Houston if the club still can’t find a viable trade. Wall’s preference would be to have a role on a winning team, Scotto adds.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Appearing on the HoopsHype podcast with Scotto, Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire said he gets the sense from conversations with people around the league that there are still some off-court concerns with Christian Wood. The big man might be a better fit in a contender’s locker room with a clear veteran star and leader in place, per DuBose.
- Also on the HoopsHype podcast, Scotto noted that the Rockets are prioritizing cap room for 2023, which means that they may prefer to wait to lock up players like Jae’Sean Tate and Kevin Porter, who will be extension-eligible this offseason and could be long-term pieces.
- Jalen Green got off to a slow start this season, but his strong second-half play – including an ongoing streak of five straight games with 30+ points – bodes well for the Rockets’ rebuild, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who says there should be “no denying his status or stature” going forward.
- In an Insider-only article for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks previewed the Rockets’ offseason, touching on Porter’s case for an extension, Wall’s status, and what the team will do with Wood and Eric Gordon, among other topics.
- Within his own look ahead to the Rockets’ offseason at The Athletic, Iko says he’d be surprised if Wood is still with the team after next season’s trade deadline and suggests a team-friendly extension for Porter could be in the range of $10-14MM per year.
- In case you missed it, Rockets two-way player Trevelin Queen was named the G League MVP for 2021/22.
Shooting guard Trevelin Queen, who is on a two-way contract with the Rockets, has been named the NBA G League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2021/22 season, the league confirmed in a press release. Our JD Shaw was the first to report the news (via Twitter).
Queen signed a two-way deal with Houston in December, but has only appeared in 10 games with the NBA club this season. The 25-year-old saw more action in the G League, emerging as the go-to scorer for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers as the Rockets’ G League affiliate posted a 24-10 regular season record and claimed the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
In 19 NBAGL games, Queen averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and an eye-popping 3.3 steals in 35.0 minutes per contest, recording a shooting line of .480/.337/.796. It was his second season with the Vipers after going undrafted out of New Mexico State in 2020.
Queen beat out a pair of other players on NBA rosters – Pistons guard Saben Lee and Lakers two-way guard Mason Jones – in the G League’s MVP vote. Lee and Jones finished second and third, respectively.
Queen wasn’t the only member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to take home some hardware this week. The team’s head coach, Mahmoud Abdelfattah, was named the NBAGL Coach of the Year, while general manager Travis Stockbridge earned G League Executive of the Year honors.
Because Queen’s two-way contract doesn’t cover the 2022/23 season, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.
League insiders have increasingly mentioned the Hornets as a team that might have interest in trading for Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, writes Marc Stein at Substack.
Charlotte would only be interested in Westbrook in order to create long-term financial flexibility, and based on salary-matching rules, the team would have to send out roughly $38MM to acquire the former MVP. Stein points to Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier as contracts the team might want to move to accommodate a new deal for Miles Bridges this summer, plus the future max extension of LaMelo Ball.
Hayward has been very productive when healthy for Charlotte, but injuries have again been a concern. After appearing in 44 of 72 games last season, he’s played in 49 of 79 contests this season and is listed as doubtful for Thursday’s matchup with Orlando (Twitter link). Hayward will earn $30.075MM next season and $31.5MM in 2023/24.
Rozier has also been productive over the past few seasons. His four-year, $96.26MM extension starts next season, so he’ll be under contract through ’25/26.
Pairing Hayward or Rozier with Kelly Oubre could work as a framework of a deal, Stein says. He also notes that Hornets owner Michael Jordan has long admired Westbrook, although it isn’t known whether that would play a factor in a potential trade.
The Rockets remain the most logical trade partner for Westbrook due to John Wall‘s salary being a near-perfect match, but the Lakers might not find that any more palatable than they did previously, considering Houston was asking for a first-round pick, per Stein.
League sources tell Stein that the Lakers also haven’t ruled out using the waive-and-stretch provision on Westbrook’s contract, which would split his $47.06MM player option over three seasons with annual hits of $15.69MM. Going that route would take Los Angeles out of the luxury tax and make it much easier to retain Malik Monk; the team badly wants to bring him back, so it’s considered a viable possibility.
An offseason coaching change seems inevitable for the Lakers, who could see their hopes for the play-in tournament end as early as tonight, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
Sources tell Fischer that L.A. is expected to fire Frank Vogel after the end of the season. Vogel has reportedly been on the hot seat for some time, and only received a one-year contract extension last summer.
There will be a long list of potential replacements, but Fischer identifies Jazz coach Quin Snyder and Sixers coach Doc Rivers as the most intriguing names to watch. Marc Stein of Substack recently linked Snyder to the Lakers’ job, and possibly to the Spurs as well. Snyder responded by calling it “disrespectful” to the teams involved to discuss rumors while those coaching positions are filled.
Snyder was a Lakers assistant 10 years ago, and Utah may decide to make a coaching change of its own after a late-season slide, but Fischer cites skepticism around the league that he’ll wind up in Los Angeles. The feeling is that Snyder would prefer to wait for the San Antonio job, even if Gregg Popovich returns next season.
Rivers could become available if Philadelphia has an early playoff exit, and he would be considered by the Jazz as well, Fischer adds. Rivers had a long history in Boston with Utah CEO Danny Ainge.
Fischer has more news regarding the Lakers:
- Some rival teams have wondered if Anthony Davis might be available in a trade this summer, but multiple sources told Fischer that won’t be an option the Lakers seriously consider. Davis has been severely limited by injuries the past two years, playing 39 games so far this season and 36 in 2020/21, but L.A.’s front office still believes it has the makings of a championship contender when Davis and LeBron James are healthy.
- The Lakers will try again to trade Russell Westbrook, but they still may not have any options other than a deal with the Rockets for John Wall that would likely also cost them a future first-round pick. Talen Horton-Tucker, who Fischer said was nearly sent to the Raptors at the deadline in a three-way deal that would have included the Knicks, will also be on the market, along with Kendrick Nunn, who is expected to pick up his $5.25MM player option.
- Malik Monk was the Lakers’ best offseason signing, ranking third on the team in points scored and minutes played on a minimum-salary contract, but he may be somewhere else next season. L.A. only holds Non-Bird rights on Monk and will be limited to a contract that starts at the taxpayer mid-level exception, which is projected to be $6.4MM. Rival executives expect him to get offers with a starting salary as high as $10MM, says Fischer.
- Rockets rookie big man Alperen Sengun said he will play for the Turkish National Team at EuroBasket 2022 this summer, Adam Spolane of SportsRadio 610 tweets. Sengun plans to participate in Houston’s Summer League minicamp prior to playing in the international tournament.
- Rockets rookie Josh Christopher is growing into an increased role with the team, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle examines. Christopher has played over 15 minutes in seven straight games. He finished with 30 points and two steals against Minnesota on Sunday, shooting 11-of-14 from the floor.