- Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr., who injured his wrist during Las Vegas Summer League play, is progressing well and is expected to resume full basketball activities in two weeks time, per an announcement by the team.
AUGUST 5: The Lakers have officially signed Huertas, the team announced today in a press release.
“Marcelo’s understanding of the game, unselfishness, and professionalism are assets to our team and he has an uncanny ability to change the pace of the game,” GM Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. “He’s fundamentally solid but also has a flair and excitement to his style of play, which makes him a fan favorite.”
Estimates from Bobby Marks of The Vertical and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders put the value of Huertas deal at about $1.6-1.7MM annually over two years.
JULY 7: The Lakers and restricted free agent Marcelo Huertas have agreed to a deal that will keep the point guard in Los Angeles, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. It’s a two-year pact, Wojnarowski notes, but the scribe does not relay the amount, nor what guarantees, if any, are included in the arrangement.
Los Angeles had tendered the 33-year-old a qualifying offer worth $1,074,636, which made Huertas a restricted free agent. He’ll be the the third-string point guard behind recently acquired Jose Calderon and 2015 lottery pick D’Angelo Russell, the scribe adds.
Huertas appeared in 53 games for the Lakers in 2015/16, averaging 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 16.4 minutes per outing. His shooting numbers on the campaign were .422/.262/.931.
Veteran NBA forward Metta World Peace will turn 37 this fall and he has already given some consideration to what he’ll do once his playing career is over, but he’s not ready to call it a career quite yet. Speaking to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, World Peace said he’s “absolutely” planning to play in 2016/17, adding that the NBA is “always on the front burner.”
“I’m waiting for teams. I can still play. I can play, it’s not even a question man,” World Peace said. “But, you know, sometimes you don’t get in the game, man. What are you going to do? I’m not going to be upset, I’m going to support. So if I don’t play, like this year on the Lakers I could have averaged 15 or 20 on the Lakers if I played, easily. But you know, I’ll be supportive [if I don’t play].”
The man formerly known as Ron Artest appeared in 35 games for the Lakers this past season, making five starts. He averaged 5.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG in those contests, averaging a dismal 31.1% from the floor. His stat line in Los Angeles makes it seem unlikely that he’ll get a guaranteed contract offer from an NBA team anytime soon, but the former first-round pick says he has been staying busy in the meantime, and hinted at what he’d like do once his playing career is officially over.
“Right now, I’m life coaching a lot of people that are in the NBA,” World Peace said to Begley. “I can’t say [who]. But I coach a couple players. But it’s not a thing where I’m going to hide and be that perfect mentor. I just give them the best advice I can and live my life accordingly. I’m doing that now and one day I would love to coach. The Lakers are tattooed in my heart. They gave me a second chance when everyone was down on me, they gave me a chance to win a ring. The city of Los Angeles, they put up with me.”
Over the course of the last week, we’ve been breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this summer.
These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.
Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.
With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Pacific division. Let’s dive in…
1. Los Angeles Lakers
- Total money committed: $186,000,000
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $186,000,000
- Largest expenditure: Luol Deng (four years, $72,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Timofey Mozgov (four years, $64,000,000)
- Jordan Clarkson (four years, $50,000,000)
- Notes:
- The Lakers have yet to finalize long-ago reported deals for Tarik Black and Marcelo Huertas. Based on estimated values for those contracts, they’ll likely total about $16MM+ combined, but we haven’t included them in the team’s totals for now.
2. Los Angeles Clippers
- Total money committed: $105,428,788
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $93,928,788
- Largest expenditure: Jamal Crawford (three years, $42,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Austin Rivers (three years, $35,475,000)
- Wesley Johnson (three years, $17,643,780)
- Luc Mbah a Moute (two years, $4,505,135)
- Marreese Speights (two years, minimum salary)
- Notes:
- Raymond Felton ($1,551,659), Brandon Bass ($1,551,659), and Alan Anderson ($1,315,448) will be paid $980,431 apiece by the Clippers, with the NBA on the hook for the rest of their minimum salaries.
- Crawford’s $14.5MM third-year salary is only guaranteed for $3MM, creating the gap between the Clippers’ total money and guaranteed money committed.
3. Sacramento Kings
- Total money committed: $77,525,625
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $60,525,625
- Largest expenditure: Arron Afflalo (two years, $25,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Garrett Temple (three years, $24,000,000)
- Anthony Tolliver (two years, $16,000,000)
- Matt Barnes (two years, $12,525,625)
- Notes:
- Afflalo and Tolliver only have small partial guarantees in the second years of their respective contracts. $1.5MM of Afflalo’s $12.5MM second-year salary is guaranteed, while $2MM of Tolliver’s $8MM second-year salary is guaranteed.
4. Golden State Warriors
- Total money committed: $61,094,229
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $61,094,229
- Largest expenditure: Kevin Durant (two years, $54,274,505)
- Other notable signings:
- Zaza Pachulia (one year, $2,898,000)
- David West (one year, minimum salary)
- Anderson Varejao (one year, minimum salary)
- Notes:
- The reported deals for JaVale McGee and Elliot Williams aren’t yet official and exact details on those contracts aren’t known, so they haven’t been included here.
- West ($1,551,659), Varejao ($1,551,659), and Ian Clark ($1,015,696) will be paid $980,431 apiece by the Warriors, with the NBA on the hook for the rest of their minimum salaries.
5. Phoenix Suns
- Total money committed: $38,000,000
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $34,500,000
- Largest expenditure: Jared Dudley (three years, $30,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Leandro Barbosa (two years, $8,000,000)
- Notes:
- The second year of Barbosa’s deal, worth $4MM, is only guaranteed for $500K, creating the gap between the Suns’ total money and guaranteed money committed.
DeMar DeRozan signed the second-largest free agent contract of 2016, but his foray into free agency flew somewhat under the radar — perhaps because it only lasted for a matter of hours. Although he admits to David Morrow of DefPen.com that the idea of joining his hometown Lakers was somewhat intriguing, DeRozan never took a meeting with a team besides the Raptors.
“It was tough,” DeRozan said of his free agency decision. “But at the same time, I know what I created in Toronto, and it was something I wanted to continue building.”
Here’s more on DeRozan’s free agency, along with a few other Raptors-related notes:
- DeRozan also spoke to Morrow about the stress of entering free agency: “You got everybody pulling at you, trying to give you a reason to come to their team, and it’s tough. Especially when you’ve been with one team for so long, you feel like you mold into that one team, that community. It’s tough.”
- Raptors point guard Delon Wright underwent arthroscopic surgery today to repair a labral tear in his right shoulder, the Raptors announced today (via Twitter). The 20th overall pick in last year’s draft, Wright didn’t see much NBA action in his rookie year, having spent a portion of the season in the D-League. His quest for a larger role in his second season will be put on hold while he recovers.
- The Raptors reportedly made an effort to trade for Serge Ibaka earlier this summer, but balked at Oklahoma City’s asking price, and Ibaka ultimately landed in Orlando. However, the big man will be a free agent in 2017, and Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes in his mailbag that Ibaka is “very much on [the Raptors’] minds” as a possible target next summer.
The Sixers, Nuggets, Nets, Thunder, and Lakers have the most cap room still available, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders details. In addition to those five clubs, the Timberwolves, Suns, Jazz, Celtics, Pacers, and Bucks also have some wiggle room remaining. While some of those clubs could use that cap space to try to sign a free agent like J.R. Smith or Lance Stephenson, I’d expect many of those teams to stay well below the cap throughout the year. Remaining $10-15MM below the cap would allow a team to accommodate a mid-season salary dump, potentially picking up a draft pick or two in the process.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Larry Sanders, who has been working out and is considering an NBA comeback, may be willing to play for a minumum-salary contract, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). It remains to be seen whether a team will take a flier on the former Bucks big man.
- Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders identifies a few players who will be under pressure to perform in 2016/17 due to big new free agent contracts or roles that changed as a result of other players’ deperatures.
- Former Louisville guard Russ Smith, who appeared in 15 games for the Grizzlies last season, has accepted a $1MM contract offer from Galatasaray, according to international basketball reporter David Pick (via Twitter). Mete Budak of Eurohoops pegs the former second-round pick’s salary at $850K, so the Turkish team may have included some bonuses in the deal.
- Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders explains why he thinks the NBA’s restricted free agency system has problems, and puts forth some suggestions to potentially improve it. Donatas Motiejunas of the Rockets is the only RFA still on the market this summer.
Over a month has passed since the 2016 NBA draft, and most of the 60 players selected in June – including first overall pick Ben Simmons – have been signed by their NBA teams, or have lined up overseas deals. Still, there are several players whose immediate futures have not yet been determined.
As our list of draft pick signings shows, there are still five first-rounders who have yet to either sign a contract with their NBA team or to strike a deal with an international club. Of those players, four were top-11 picks, so it’s likely just a matter of time until they sign their rookie-scale contracts. Only 15th overall pick Juan Hernangomez is a question mark — a recent report suggested he’d probably join the Nuggets immediately, but it’s not set in stone yet.
In the second round, eight of 30 draftees have unresolved situations, and many of those outcomes are more difficult to predict. Celtics draftee Abdel Nader, for instance, could end up signing with Boston, being joining the team’s D-League affiliate, or heading overseas as a draft-and-stash prospect.
We’ll pass along updates on 2016’s draft picks as they become available. For now, here’s the full list of players whose situation for the 2016/17 has yet to be resolved:
First Round:
- Los Angeles Lakers: Brandon Ingram, SF (Duke)
- Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown, SF (California)
- Milwaukee Bucks: Thon Maker, PF (HS)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Domantas Sabonis, PF/C (Gonzaga)
- Denver Nuggets: Juan Hernangomez, F (Estudiantes)
Second Round:
- Milwaukee Bucks: Malcolm Brogdon, SG (Virginia)
- Utah Jazz: Joel Bolomboy, PF (Weber State)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Kay Felder, PG (Oakland)
- Utah Jazz: Marcus Paige, PG (North Carolina)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Daniel Hamilton, SG (UConn)
- Boston Celtics: Abdel Nader, F (Iowa State)
- Sacramento Kings: Isaiah Cousins, SG (Oklahoma)
- Utah Jazz: Tyrone Wallace, PG (California)
- The Lakers have an “unnamed trade target” in mind, but the team would be willing to use its cap room to accommodate another Jose Calderon-esque salary dump, writes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Taking Calderon off the Bulls’ hands landed Los Angeles a pair of future draft picks.
Kevin Durant didn’t consider signing with the Lakers because the timing wasn’t right, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com passes along (Twitter links). “Nothing against the Lakers, but I already had my eyes set on who I wanted to talk to,” Durant said. “I really respect their team, but I just thought they were a couple years away from where I wanted to be.”
Jeanie Buss believes the Lakers‘ situation just wasn’t right for Kevin Durant, which is why he didn’t join the team in free agency, as she tells Hannah Storm of ESPN (video link). Buss added that she feels the free agents that Los Angeles did land will be able bring the franchise back to its historic level of play. The team added Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng in free agency this summer.
Here’s more from Los Angeles:
- The Lakers have reason for excitement because of how their young core performed during summer league, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com writes. The team believes they have several players on the summer league roster who will become contributors down the line.
- The biggest surprise from summer league may have been Ivica Zubac‘s game and the Lakers believes he has a chance to become a great player in the league, Baxter adds in the same piece. “He knows how to play,” assistant coach Theo Robertson said. “It’s hard to teach that size. He establishes good position. He has soft hands. He can do a variety of things, whether it’s pop out to the 3-point corner, hit those types of jump shots. I feel like he can be a percentage free throw shooter and he has good touch around the rim. He’s starting to feel more power and understand the level of physicality that it takes to be successful in this league.”
- Being part of a winning culture was a key factor in Wesley Johnson‘s decision to re-sign with the Clippers, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com writes. “Just being around those guys every day, getting to know them at practice, getting to know their families, I think that all factored in,” Johnson said. Johnson also added that his foot injury, which caused him to be limited toward the end of last season, is feeling “100% better.”