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Western Notes: Irving, Clippers, Parker, Spurs, Smith Jr., Randolph

August 12th, 2017 at 2:00pm CST by Joshua Fischman

Kyrie Irving reportedly would like to play for the Clippers, relays Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype. While speaking with Alex Kennedy on the HoopsHype Podcast, Peter Vecsey said this about Irving:

“He loves L.A. and he’s been working out there a lot this summer. Do they have the assets they get him? I don’t see how. But they also have Jerry West and he’s been able to figure out before … the Lakers didn’t have the assets to get Shaq and he wheeled and dealed and figured out and they got him … he was able to get Kobe for Divac in the draft.”

Vecsey added that Irving does not have leverage and that a trade does not appear doable despite the disgruntled point guard’s reported preference to play for Doc Rivers in Los Angeles.

Here are some more notes from the Western Conference:

  • Spurs point guard Tony Parker expects to be back on the court in four to five months, reports Tom Orsborn of MySA.com. “It’s OK. It’s getting better and better,” Parker said regarding his recovery from the left quadriceps injury that cost him the last four games of the second round of the playoffs and the entire Western Conference Finals this past postseason. “I’m starting to run like a little bit. I’m walking pretty well. I think it’s still going to be a long process. It’s still going to take like another four or five months, but I am very happy with the progresses. I am advancing in my rehab.”
  • Sean Deveney of SportingNews writes that, despite the Spurs’ fairly quiet offseason thus far, the team could make some bigger moves in 2018. Deveney argues that what the Spurs may have planned down the line could make this offseason, which was marked by a continuation of the status quo, worth it for San Antonio basketball faithful.
  • The Mavericks‘ starting point guard position will be up for grabs in training camp, reports Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson further explained that Dennis Smith Jr. must put in the work to earn the job: “Those keys are earned. You know, it’s going to be an interesting training camp. I think Dennis is going to play for one of the best coaches in the NBA. That being said, I think internally you can’t help but be excited by the potential, but he wouldn’t want it any other way. Just knowing the character of Dennis and knowing his family and surrounding structure, he’s going to want to earn those minutes. He’s truly a winner in every sense of the word.”
  • Zach Randolph could be banned by the NBA if he is convicted of his felony marijuana charge, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Randolph’s former teammate O.J. Mayo was previously banned from the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.
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Poll: Which Pacific Team Had Best Offseason?

August 10th, 2017 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

It almost seems unfair that a team with a 67-15 record in the regular season and a 16-1 postseason mark could subsequently have one of the NBA’s offseasons too, but Golden State may have achieved that feat.

Heading into the summer, the Warriors knew Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant would be back, but none of the team’s other free agents were a lock to return. When the dust settled, the Dubs had re-signed virtually all their notable FAs, including Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia, David West, and JaVale McGee. The team even fortified its bench by adding Nick Young and Omri Casspi in free agency, and Jordan Bell in the draft.

While Golden State’s summer moves were impressive, some of their division rivals had very strong summers too. The Lakers, led by a new-look front office, drafted a potential franchise point guard in Lonzo Ball, dumped Timofey Mozgov‘s mega-contract, and improbably landed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency.

Meanwhile, the Kings – like the Lakers – certainly won’t challenge Golden State for Pacific supremacy right away, but Sacramento’s offseason’s moves featured an impressive mix of roster additions. Not only did the Kings sign a few veterans – George Hill, Zach Randolph, and Vince Carter – but the team also added several youngsters with big upside, including De’Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Justin Jackson, Harry Giles, and Frank Mason.

The Clippers suffered the biggest single-player loss of any Pacific team as Chris Paul headed to Houston, but L.A. recovered nicely to retool its roster. Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, and multiple young big men arrived in the CP3 trade, and the Clips managed to add potential starters like Danilo Gallinari and Euroleague star Milos Teodosic in free agency. The team also re-signed Blake Griffin when many NBA observers expected him to explore other options.

One of those teams that may have been eyeing Griffin was the Suns, but Phoenix ultimately opted to lay low and be patient with its rebuild rather than pursuing a top free agent. That made for a quiet summer, but it’s probably the right long-term move, and it’s not as if the Suns were totally inactive. The club landed one of the top players on its draft board in Josh Jackson and re-signed free agent big man Alan Williams to a team-friendly three-year deal.

What do you think? Which Pacific team has had the best offseason so far? Weigh in below with your vote and then jump into the comment section to share your thoughts.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Previously:

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Clippers Notes: Reed, Prigioni, Wilcox

August 9th, 2017 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Neither Pablo Prigioni nor C.J. Wilcox currently has an NBA contract, with Prigioni transitioning to coaching and Wilcox having agreed to a two-way deal with the Trail Blazers. However, before Wilcox reached an agreement with Portland, it appeared he may reunite with Prigioni, who was his teammate with the Clippers during the 2015/16 season.

As international basketball reporter David Pick details (via Twitter), Prigioni – now the head coach of Baskonia in Spain – had been recruiting his former Clippers teammate in the hopes of signing him to a $500K contract. Wilcox will earn less than that on his new two-way deal, so remaining stateside and getting the opportunity to see a little NBA action was likely a key factor in his decision.

  • New Clippers center Willie Reed was charged on Sunday with misdemeanor domestic battery, but his wife has issued a statement through her attorney saying she doesn’t want to press charges against her husband, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “This incident has been totally blown out of proportion. I did not call the police and I did not ask anyone to call the police on my behalf. Willie is a good man and a great father. I have no intention of pressing charges and I have asked the authorities to immediately dismiss all charges against Willie,” Jasmine Reed said in her statement. Willie Reed’s arraignment is currently scheduled for September 8.
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Willie Reed's Arraignment Date Set

August 7th, 2017 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The arraignment hearing for Clippers center Willie Reed has been set for Sept. 8, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sen Sentinel tweets. Reed was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery over the weekend in Florida and booked in Miami-Dade County. Reed, who played for the Heat last season, signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Clippers last week.

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Three 2017 Free Agents Signed Five-Year Contracts

August 7th, 2017 at 3:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement is designed to give teams certain benefits when it comes to re-signing their own free agents. Many players who reach free agency, for instance, are permitted to get 8% annual raises from their own teams, while they can only get 5% raises from another team. More notably, Bird rights free agents can sign five-year contracts with their own teams, but can only go up to four years with other clubs.

In some cases, that extra year doesn’t make much of a difference. For instance, Gordon Hayward left Utah for Boston and signed a four-year contract with the Celtics, even though the Jazz likely would have been willing to do a five-year max.

Still, for at least a small handful of players, that five-year contract may have played a part in their decisions to return to their own teams. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, three free agents signed five-year deals this year, and all three of those contracts were worth at least $131MM. One was a maximum salary pact, and another was very close to the max.

Here are those five-year contracts, which will run through the 2021/22 season:

  • Stephen Curry (Warriors): Five years, $201,158,790 (maximum salary)
  • Blake Griffin (Clippers): Five years, $171,174,820 (fifth-year player option)
  • Jrue Holiday (Pelicans): Five years, $131,100,000 (fifth-year player option)

Curry was never a threat to leave Golden State, but Griffin and Holiday reportedly drew interest from several other teams. The Suns were believed to be eyeing Griffin, while Holiday was said to have received interest from the Mavericks, Knicks, and others. However, the fact that those players’ old teams were willing to offer five years likely made negotiations much simpler, since no rival suitor could offer that fifth year.

Although neither Griffin nor Holiday received the max from their respective teams, they’ll both earn more money over five years than any other team could have offered over four — Holiday’s deal is believed to include unlikely incentives that could increase its total value to $150MM.

Meanwhile, Griffin and Holiday also received fifth-year player options, which gives them a safety net for the summer of 2021. If they’re still playing at a high level at that point, it might make sense to opt out and sign a new, longer-term contract. If their production has slipped, or if they’re battling injuries, they’ll have the option of remaining in their current contract and collecting a big pay check in that fifth year.

The ability to offer an additional year to their own free agents hasn’t always prevented teams from losing top-tier players on the open market, but there are still a few instances where that fifth year seems to make a difference. In 2017, there may have only been a couple scenarios where that fifth year was a difference-maker, but the Clippers and Pelicans are likely happy that it remained written into the new CBA.

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NBA Teams Projected To Be 2017/18 Taxpayers

August 7th, 2017 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of 2016’s salary cap spike, the luxury tax line was higher than ever in 2016/17, and only two teams finished the season above it. The Clippers barely crossed over into taxpayer territory, while the Cavaliers blew past that threshold and were on the hook for a big tax bill.

In 2017/18, the salary cap increase was far more modest, and as a result, it appears that several more teams will finish the season as taxpayers, surpassing this year’s $119.266MM tax line. Teams have until the end of the ’17/18 regular season to adjust team salary in an effort to get back under the tax line, but most of those clubs will have little leverage if they try to dump salary, so it won’t be easy to cut costs.

Here’s an early look at the teams likely to finish 2017/18 as taxpayers:

Cleveland Cavaliers
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $139.73MM
No team is further over the tax line than the Cavaliers, and Cleveland will also qualify as a repeat taxpayer for the first time this year, making the penalties levied against the franchise more punitive. Currently, the Cavs’ projected tax bill is approaching $70MM, which explains why the team is interested in attaching an extra contract or two to Kyrie Irving in any trade.

Golden State Warriors
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $135.36MM
Last year’s dominant Warriors team actually didn’t have one of the more expensive rosters in the league, but that will change this time around, with several players signing lucrative new deals. The biggest raise belongs to Stephen Curry, who played out the final season of a four-year, $44MM deal in 2016/17, and will now start a five-year, $200MM+ pact.

Oklahoma City Thunder
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $125.99MM
Years ago, the Thunder decided to move on from James Harden when he and the team couldn’t agree to terms on an extension that would have created luxury-tax issues for the franchise. Now, Oklahoma City has the third-highest team salary in the NBA, and a projected tax bill that will exceed $10MM.

Portland Trail Blazers
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $124.25MM
The Trail Blazers managed to slash their projected tax bill significantly a couple weeks ago when they sent Allen Crabbe to the Nets for Andrew Nicholson. Assuming they eventually waive and stretch Nicholson’s contract, as expected, the pair of transactions will save the club upwards of $40MM in tax payments alone.

Washington Wizards
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $123.54MM
Going into tax territory was necessary if the Wizards wanted to match Otto Porter‘s offer sheet from the Nets and bring him back. Fortunately for the club, John Wall‘s new super-max extension won’t go into effect until 2019/20 — his current salary is far below the 2017/18 max, which will save the Wizards from paying more exorbitant tax penalties.

Milwaukee Bucks
Current guaranteed team salary (approximate): $119.38MM
The Bucks currently project to be over the tax threshold by a very small amount, and I’d be surprised if the team doesn’t make every effort to trim payroll and sneak below that line before the season is over. Milwaukee isn’t a big-market team, and the opportunity to be on the receiving end of the luxury tax – rather than the paying end – will be tantalizing.

Outside of the six teams listed above, a handful of other clubs are inching dangerously close to tax territory. Among them: The Clippers, whose estimated guaranteed team salary sits about $100K below the tax threshold; the Pelicans, who are less than $1MM below the tax line; and the Rockets, who only have about $114.75MM in guarantees, but are carrying several million more dollars in non-guaranteed contracts.

Salary information from ESPN, Basketball Insiders, and HeatHoops was used in the creation of this post.

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Willie Reed Charged With Domestic Battery

August 6th, 2017 at 9:02pm CST by Austin Kent

Recently acquired Clippers center Willie Reed was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. In addressing the incident, the NBA will call upon its new policy on domestic violence.

Incorporated in the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, active as of July 1, is a new protocol for investigating and dealing with such situations. While the league hasn’t specifically outlined predetermined punishments, the policy states that potential aggravating factors could influence the disciplinary action taken by the league.

To see the league’s full Policy on Domestic Violence, see Exhibit F of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (PDF hosted at NBPA’s website).

Two things listed as potentially aggravating factors include the player having prior allegations or convictions of prohibited conduct and the presence of a minor. Both apply in the case of Reed, as outlined in Winderman’s piece.

Reed, who played last season with the Heat, was booked in Miami-Dade on Sunday and was bailed out by former teammate Okaro White.

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Redick Turned Down Rockets, Nets Before Sixers Deal

August 5th, 2017 at 10:56am CST by marksuleymanov

Sharpshooter J.J. Redick was a highly sought after free agent offseason, garnering interest from several teams before signing a one-year, $23MM deal with the Sixers. Before signing that deal, however, Redick was considering a four-year deal from the Rockets before the length of the deal was shortened.

Speaking to Alex Kennedy of The HoopsHype Podcast, Redick revealed that Rockets ownership — possibly preoccupied with several other ongoing negotiations — altered their initial offer to the 33-year-old guard.

“They offered four [years] and then they went three. Daryl [Morey] always has a million things going on, like in A Beautiful Mind with all of the stuff written on the chalkboard,” Redick said (via HoopsHype). “I’m sure he had four or five deals out there [he was working on]. The day before free agency, I thought it was a four-year deal. Chris Paul and I talked for about 30 minutes the night before free agency started. I wanted to go there.”

However, a deal with Houston never materialized and while he also fielded a “respectable” multi-year deal from the Nets, Redick ended up joining a young Sixers team which features the first overall picks from the last two NBA drafts (Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons) and a hopefully healthy Joel Embiid.

After four productive seasons as the starting shooting guard for the Clippers, Redick will now provide a needed veteran presence with postseason and NBA Finals experience for Philadelphia. While the prospect of teaming with former Clippers teammate Paul and James Harden in Houston was enticing, Redick noted that playing for a Morey-led franchise may have come with more uncertainty than championship guarantees.

“[It didn’t work out] – some of it was numbers and some of it was other factors like relocating the family and – I hate to say this – but you never know with Daryl and how he operates,” Redick said. “A three-year deal could really be a six-month deal if you get dealt at the trade deadline for a superstar as part of a package of six.”

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L.A. Notes: Rivers, Clippers, Maggette, Lakers

August 5th, 2017 at 9:48am CST by marksuleymanov

After Friday’s announcement that Doc Rivers will surrender his front office role to solely focus on coaching, it was the crescendo to a tumultuous dual role for the NBA champion coach, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes.

Rivers, for four seasons, was tasked with both assembling a quality roster and then leading it to success on the court. As Oram writes, despite winning 50+ games each year with Rivers at the helm, the Clippers failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs. So, while Rivers is often viewed as one of the NBA’s elite head coaches, his career in the front office is “spotty,” Oram adds.

“Given final say on personnel moves, something Rivers coveted and chased all the way across the country to L.A., the career coach struggled annually to find the right mix of role players,” Oram writes about the man who led the 2007/08 Celtics to the NBA championship.

Despite the controversy that came with it, Rivers’ acquisition of his son, Austin Rivers, was a good move that yielded a quality role player for a team filled with superstar talent. Besides that, the obvious turmoil within the team became obvious, highlight by notable departures of J.J. Redick and Chris Paul this offseason. While Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan remain with the team, the direction of the Clippers with Lawrence Frank assuming Rivers’ former role and it will take a while before a prognosis on that move is available.

Read more about news surrounding the Los Angeles teams:

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Lawrence Frank Replaces Doc Rivers As Head Of Clippers’ Basketball Ops

August 4th, 2017 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers will no longer oversee the team’s basketball operations, owner Steve Ballmer tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, Clippers executive VP of basketball operations Lawrence Frank will assume control of the club’s basketball ops going forward.

Although Rivers will continue to have a “strong voice” in personnel and basketball matters, and will work closely with Frank, he’ll no longer have the title of president of basketball operations, and will instead focus primarily on coaching, as Wojnarowski details. Both Frank and Rivers will report directly to Ballmer. Rivers confirmed his re-assignment and endorsed the decision, as Bill Oram of The So Cal News Group tweets.

“I’ve owned the team for three years now, and I really better understand what an owner’s responsibility is — and it turns out that running a franchise and coaching are two enormous and different jobs,” Ballmer told Wojnarowski. “The notion that one person can fairly focus on them and give them all the attention they need isn’t the case. To be as good as we can be, to be a championship franchise, we need two functioning strong people building teams out beneath them. There needs to be a healthy discussion and debate with two strong, independent minded people.”

This is the second time this offseason that a team has removed a president of basketball operations title from its head coach, assigning those duties to someone else. The Hawks did the same thing with Mike Budenholzer before hiring Travis Schlenk to run the front office. With Budenholzer and Rivers focused on coaching again, only Gregg Popovich, Stan Van Gundy, and Tom Thibodeau hold dual roles as head coach and president of basketball ops for their respective clubs.

For Frank, it represents another step forward in what has become an interesting career path. A longtime assistant coach and head coach, Frank transitioned into a front office role with the Clippers last year, handling day-to-day operations for the franchise. He was impressive enough in that capacity that he’ll be charged with overseeing the entire department now, though Rivers – and presumably consultant Jerry West – will remain involved in the process.

“There are different relationships that a player needs to have with the coach and the front office,” Ballmer said. “Doc put Lawrence in charge of the non-coaching aspects of the front office last year, and he’s done a fantastic job. I want each of them to dig in and do what they do best. Lawrence has come on so strong in that role, and that has helped us go down this path.”

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