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Pacific Notes: Green, Jordan, Bledsoe

December 27th, 2015 at 9:03am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Warriors own a record of 28-1 and a major reason for the team’s success is the play of Draymond Green. While Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson receive much of the attention, Green, who re-signed with Golden State for $82MM over the five years, is the team’s most valuable player, Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post argues. The Michigan State product is averaging 14.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.1 assists to go along with 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game this season.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • The Lakers understood that landing DeAndre Jordan was considered a longshot, but they believed that signing the big man would have turned around the franchise’s fortunes,  Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times writes. “We just talked to [Jordan] about what this organization has achieved. It’s all about championships here,” coach Byron Scott said. “Basically, it [would have been] a fresh start for him … with some young talent. Kind of help them guys develop and hopefully when we get a couple other guys to go along with him, that we would have been a team that could definitely vie for a championship.”
  • Scott added that the team plans to make next year’s meetings with free agents more about basketball, Bresnahan writes in the same piece. “I guess this summer we’ll sit down and talk about our approach as far as the guys that we’ll target this year. But that’s seven, eight months away,” Scott said.
  • Eric Bledsoe, who was the subject of trade chatter during the offseason, has improved in many areas this season and Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders believes he should be considered a top-tier point guard. Bledsoe is averaging 20.4 points, 6.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while sporting a 20.9 player efficiency rating.
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Los Angeles Notes: Smith, Free Agents, Russell

December 26th, 2015 at 10:21am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers have whiffed on signing big name free agents over the past few years, but Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers still believes the franchise is a prime destination for players, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. “I think they’re always going to be an option,” Rivers told Holmes. “I think the two teams in L.A. will always be an option for everyone else. You see the traffic every day, right? People like living here. Really. Despite the taxes, they still like living here. It tells you something, and the Lakers have a ton of money. So I think they’re a free agent destination for a lot of people.”

When asked about the Lakers’ recent history of coming up empty in free agency, Rivers said, “First of all, a lot of guys don’t leave at the end of the day. Not as many as you’d think would leave. A lot of them don’t. Some change their mind, which is terrific. It’s tough. It’s tough getting guys. But they’ll end up doing it right, eventually. They just have too much money. And they’re in L.A.”

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

  • Josh Smith has had difficulty cracking Rivers’ rotation with the Clippers and admits that while he’s not pleased with his current amount of playing time, he is striving to remain upbeat, Robert Morales of The Long Beach Press-Telegram relays. “I’ve had my ups and downs, but for the most part I’m a positive individual,” said Smith. “There aren’t a lot of things that can keep me down. When I feel myself getting into the slumps, I just think about my kids, my wife; my father is out here with me. A lot of that takes the weight off my shoulders, getting myself into a place where negativity doesn’t sink in.” The combo forward is currently averaging 14.6 minutes per contest on the season, which is well shy of his previous career-low of 25.5 minutes per appearance.
  • Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell has argued that increased playing time and freedom in the team’s offense would hasten his development, a notion that his coach, Byron Scott, disagrees with, noting that Russell has to earn any extra minutes, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “If I let him run the show, you would have four other guys pretty [ticked] off every time they’re down the floor,” said Scott, who also noted that Russell looks more for his shot off pick-and-rolls than running the offense. “I want this to be more collective. Then, everybody can try to touch the ball and everybody feels a part of scoring.”
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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Gilbert Arenas Provision

December 25th, 2015 at 11:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Gilbert Arenas hasn’t played in the NBA since 2012, but the Mavericks and especially the Lakers are liable to owe him a debt of gratitude this summer. Jordan Clarkson has been a revelation in the two seasons since the Lakers made him the 46th overall pick, and Dwight Powell, the player drafted immediately before him, has emerged as a promising part of the Dallas rotation this season, averaging 11.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. The problem for their respective teams is that they’re due for restricted free agency this summer and their teams only have Early Bird rights on them, meaning, unless they clear cap space, they’ll be unable to exceed the cap to re-sign them for more than the NBA’s average salary. The situation would ostensibly leave the Lakers and Mavs vulnerable to losing assets to another team, but that’s where Arenas comes in.

The NBA introduced the Gilbert Arenas provision in the 2005 collective bargaining agreement as a way to help teams to retain their young restricted free agents who aren’t coming off rookie scale contracts. The name of the rule stems from 2003, when the Warriors had only Early Bird rights on Arenas as he entered free agency and signed an offer sheet with the Wizards starting at about $8.5MM. Because Golden State could only offer Arenas a first-year salary of about $4.9MM using the Early Bird exception, the Warriors were unable to match the offer sheet and lost Arenas to Washington.

The Arenas provision limits the first-year salary that teams can offer restricted free agents who have only been in the league for one or two years. The starting salary for an offer sheet can’t exceed the amount of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, which allows the player’s original team to use either the mid-level or Early Bird rights to match it. Otherwise, a team without the necessary cap space would be powerless to keep its player, like the Warriors were with Arenas.

An offer sheet from another team can still have an average annual salary that exceeds the non-taxpayer’s mid-level, however. The annual raises are limited to 4.5% between years one and two, and 4.1% between years three and four, but a significant raise can be included between the second and third years of the offer. A team’s cap space and leaguewide maximum-salary limits dictate the average annual salary for the entire contract, since the average salary still has to fit under the cap and a player can’t make more than the max. Let’s use Clarkson as an example to see how the Arenas provision functions.

Clarkson under normal circumstances would be eligible for a maximum-salary deal that starts at a projected $20.4MM next season. Offer sheets in such a circumstance could cover four years with 4.5% raises, so the total value of the contract would be $87.108MM, based on that $20.4MM projection. However, the Arenas provision reduces the total value an offer sheet could cover to $56,893,260, again based on that $20.4MM max projection. Clarkson couldn’t make more than the mid-level in the first season and a 4.5% raise on the mid-level in the second season, and he’d be limited in year three — the year that the Arenas provision allows a massive raise — to no more than he could make in year three on a standard offer sheet. Here’s how the maximum Arenas provision offer sheet to Clarkson would break down:

  • Year 1 — $5,628,000
  • Year 2 — $5,881,260
  • Year 3 — $22,236,000
  • Year 4 — $23,148,000
  • Total — $56,893,260

A few additional restrictions apply on such offers, since teams have to promise the full value of the mid-level and a 4.5% raise for year two in order to give the massive jump in salary between years two and three. Such an offer has to be fully guaranteed, and no bonuses are allowed.

The Lakers, with Clarkson’s Early Bird rights, are limited to offering him a contract with a starting salary of no more than 4.5% greater than this season’s average salary. That means it would start at roughly $6MM. The raises couldn’t exceed 7.5%, and it could run only four seasons.

  • Year 1 — $6,000,000
  • Year 2 — $6,450,000
  • Year 3 — $6,900,000
  • Year 4 — $7,350,000
  • Total — $26,700,000

However, if the Lakers clear cap space, as they’ll likely be capable of doing this summer, they would be allowed to offer Clarkson a full maximum-salary deal that’s not subject to the Arenas provision rules. As with standard free agents, the incumbent team can offer an extra year and 7.5% raises. So, the Lakers could give Clarkson an offer like this, based on the $20.4MM max projection:

  • Year 1 — $20,400,000
  • Year 2 — $21,930,000
  • Year 3 — $23,460,000
  • Year 4 — $24,990,000
  • Year 5 — $26,520,000
  • Total — $117,300,000

Clarkson shouldn’t wait around for that sort of offer, since the Lakers have no incentive to give him a contract more than twice the value of what any other team could. It would behoove them to either offer him a deal in line with what another team could give or, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times argues, simply wait for him to sign an offer sheet with another team and match it. If the Lakers gave Clarkson a deal worth $56,893,260, the salaries — and the associated cap hits — would be spread out conventionally, with raises of no more than 7.5% from season to season. If the Lakers matched an offer sheet from another team, Clarkson’s salaries and cap hits would be back-loaded as in the first example above. That would perhaps be burdensome in years three or four, but having Clarkson at between $5MM and $6MM the next two seasons would represent a bargain that would give the Lakers added cap flexibility.

Because the first-year salary of the offer sheet doesn’t exceed the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the Lakers could stay over the cap and use their mid-level exception to match it, even though that large a third-year raise wouldn’t typically be permitted when using the mid-level. If the Lakers chose not to match, the cap hits for Clarkson’s new team would be spread out in equal fourths of $56,893,260, even though he’d receive paychecks based on the back-loaded scale.

Of course, just because a club is given the opportunity to use the Arenas provision to keep its restricted free agent doesn’t mean it will necessarily have the means. Here are a few situations in which the Arenas provision wouldn’t help a team keep its restricted free agent:

  • If the team only had the taxpayer mid-level exception or room exception available, it would be unable to match an offer sheet for a Non-Bird free agent if the starting salary exceeded the taxpayer mid-level or room exception amount.
  • If the team used its mid-level exception on another player, it would be unable to match an offer sheet for a Non-Bird free agent. A team could use Early Bird rights to match if they have them, however.
  • If the player has three years of NBA experience, the Arenas provision would not apply — only players with one or two years in the league are eligible.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post. An earlier version of this post appeared on May 9th, 2012, written by Luke Adams.

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Pacific Notes: Curry, Nance Jr., Kerr

December 23rd, 2015 at 7:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers rookie Larry Nance Jr. has impressed the team’s coaching staff with his work ethic and versatility, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “Well, the one thing that Larry does for us is gives us a guy who is going to play the right way every single time on the basketball court,” coach Byron Scott said. “He’s never trying to play outside the box. He’s going to give you everything he’s got. He’s got great athleticism. But he works his butt off, he plays extremely hard. Trying to get him to take open shots when he has them. He’s been reluctant at times to do that. But he’s been one of those guys that just does everything that you want him to do.“

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Kings coach George Karl has settled on the primary eight players in his rotation, but he would still like to find extra minutes for combo guard Seth Curry, who has been solid during his limited playing time this season, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. When asked how he can get Curry on the court more consistently, Karl responded, “That’s a tough question. Every morning, [the coaches] talk about playing more players, but when you get into the nature of the game, it is my instincts. … None of my ones, twos or threes are playing poorly, so there’s no reason to take minutes from anybody. I hope Seth is patient, and I think sometimes experimenting at home is easier to do than on the road.”
  • Despite the excellent job done by interim coach Luke Walton, the Warriors need Steve Kerr to return if they hope to repeat as NBA champions, an assessment that star point guard Stephen Curry agrees with, Mark Purdy of The San Jose Mercury News writes. “He just has a way of refocusing guys,” Curry said of Kerr. “And that’s whether it’s in the middle of the game or day to day at practice. Even if we’re playing well or winning games or not, there’s always something we can work on. And he presents it in a way that kind of fuels us as opposed to, like, calling guys out. … There’s a subtle or joking way he gets his point across that we appreciate.“
  • The Lakers have recalled Ryan Kelly and Tarik Black from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This was the second stint with the D-Fenders on the season for both players.
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Western Notes: Bryant, McGee, Speights

December 21st, 2015 at 9:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kobe Bryant will not continue his career in Europe following his retirement from the NBA after this season, as he said in a conference call and as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register relays. The Lakers swingman doesn’t think he could endure the rigors of another season, so he has ruled out that option, Oram continues. “I would have loved to play overseas for a season,” Bryant said. “But it’s not going to happen. … My body won’t let me.” Bryant reiterated his desire to play for USA Basketball in the Summer Olympics next summer, Oram adds.

In other news around the Western Conference:

  • JaVale McGee is gradually carving out a rotation spot with the Mavericks, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reports. McGee is still trying to get in top shape and wants to shed another 10-15 pounds, MacMahon continues. The backup center had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 18 minutes against the Grizzlies on Friday, a sign that he’s making progress, MacMahon adds. “He’s got really unusual length for a guy like that and he’s got great athleticism, too,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told the team’s media. “Look, he’s worked hard. It’s taken a while. We’ve got to be a little bit careful about how long we play him in terms of stretches of minutes.”
  • Marreese Speights hasn’t been as efficient as he was last season, and if he doesn’t turn that around, the Warriors will look for another stretch four, posits Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com. Golden State is studying the trade market, Poole writes, though it’s unclear if the team is looking into deals involving Speights.
  • The Spurs recalled point guard Ray McCallum from their D-League affiliate in Austin, the team’s website reports. McCallum has appeared in four D-League games, as well as 12 games with San Antonio.
  • The Thunder recalled small forward Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate on Monday, according to the team’s website. Huestis, who is still looking to make his NBA debut, has started 10 games with Oklahoma City Blue, averaging 10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 32.8 minutes.
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Western Notes: Bonner, Lakers, Gasol

December 20th, 2015 at 7:16pm CST by Will Joseph

Longtime Spurs power forward Matt Bonner has no plans to retire after this season as long as there is still interest in him, Jabari Young of the San Antonio News-Express relays. Bonner is 35 and re-signed with the Spurs in July for one year at the veteran’s minimum. Bonner was reportedly thinking about retirement last spring, though he said last year that he wanted to play for several more seasons. Bonner told Young that he would like to retire as a member of the Spurs, however.

“The Spurs are my first option every summer, which is terrible business on my end to put that out there,” Bonner said. “I’m not negotiating for max deals. I’m basically a vet minimum guy, unless someone out there wants to pay me a lot more money.”

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

  • Ed Davis, who signed a three-year, $20MM deal with the Blazers in July after spending last season with the Lakers, told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that the biggest difference between the two franchises is Portland operates with more stability and with more of a long-term plan (Twitter link).
  • Lakers coach Byron Scott believes the development and performance of some of the Lakers’ core young players such as D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson will help lure free agents to the team in the future, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register relays. “They’ll see that we have three young guys that, from day one to game 82, have shown big-time improvement,” Scott said. “And if they can continue to improve that way, then the future’s pretty bright.”
  • Marc Gasol told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com in a wide-ranging and entertaining Q&A that he didn’t know he would ink the new five-year max deal with the Grizzlies that he signed in July until last season was completed. “Just because I didn’t put that much time into it,” Gasol said. “You have to look at things from afar and get perspective on things. That’s when you know. So that’s what we did. We flew back, we went away from basketball for a little bit, and it just kind of happened.”
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Pacific Notes: Brown, Durant, Suns, Walton

December 20th, 2015 at 1:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Seventeen career NBA minutes weren’t enough to prepare Lakers rookie Anthony Brown for the task of guarding Kevin Durant Saturday, writes Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. With Kobe Bryant out with a sore shoulder, the task of checking Durant fell to the second-round pick out of Stanford. The Thunder star gave Brown a tough NBA lesson, torching him for 14 first-quarter points on the way to a 22-point night and a 40-point blowout victory. “He’s 7 feet and handles like he’s 6’2″,” Brown said of Durant after the game.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Durant’s free agency is sure to be among the top stories of the 2016 offseason, and the Lakers are expected to be one of the primary suitors, according to Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. L.A. has had little success in attracting top-shelf free agents over the past two seasons, but GM Mitch Kupchak is hoping young players like Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell will get Durant’s attention. “We have to develop our core players,” Kupchak said. “When you’re recruiting a veteran free agent, especially a free agent that may have to take less money to come to your city, they want to know who they’re going to play with.”
  • The Suns have been successful when they have offseason free agent addition Tyson Chandler and Alex Len both available to share the minutes at center, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix is 7-1 when they combine for 45 minutes, but injuries and illness have often kept Chandler out of the lineup.
  • Warriors interim coach Luke Walton tells Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that he hasn’t gotten much advice from his Hall of Fame father Bill during Golden State’s 26-1 start. “We email and text, but he’s more in a supportive role,” the coach said. “He loves the way we play. It reminds him of some of his old teams, and he’s proud. But that’s pretty much where that conversation ends.”
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And-Ones: Holmes, D-League, Butler

December 18th, 2015 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kings coach George Karl says that he had spoken with small forward Caron Butler weeks ago about his decreased playing time, and he cited the solid play of Omri Casspi as the primary reason for the change, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee relays in a series of tweets. The coach thinks of Butler as insurance at small forward, and he is aware that the veteran has spoken to team executive Vlade Divac about the situation, Jones notes. Jones also relays that all indications still point to the team trading Butler, as was reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com earlier this week.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Lakers camp cut Jonathan Holmes underwent surgery today to repair a torn labrum and he is expected to require approximately five months of recovery time, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays in a series of tweets. Holmes had suffered a dislocated right shoulder during the preseason and as a result Los Angeles will be on the hook for his entire salary of $525,093 for the 2015/16 campaign, not just his partial guarantee of $100K, Pincus notes. The combo forward is expected to be ready for action in time for summer league play, the Basketball Insiders scribe adds.
  • Front office officials have been unusually reluctant to talk trades recently because so many teams are so close together in the standings, giving rise to playoff hopes around the league, an NBA GM said to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
  • The Mavericks have reassigned center Salah Mejri and swingman Justin Anderson to the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays (on Twitter). This will be the fourth jaunt to the D-League on the season for both players.
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Los Angeles Notes: Randle, Wilcox, Brown

December 18th, 2015 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite being a major part of the Lakers‘ future, coach Byron Scott has been utilizing Julius Randle primarily as a reserve, a strategy that the second year player has had to come to accept, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “I don’t make decisions with playing time,” said Randle. “The thing that I always tell you guys is I control what I can and I go out there and play hard. I let our coaches decide who’s in and who’s not.” The shift to the bench has yielded mixed results for the power forward, with Randle struggling to find the basket with his shots, but he insists he won’t be discouraged by his recent difficulties, Medina adds. “You guys [media members] were asking if I was discouraged about the shots I was missing,” Randle said regarding his recent slump. “I’m getting those same shots I’m making. I’m never going to get discouraged.”

Here’s more from L.A.:

  • When the Clippers want to assign C.J. Wilcox to the D-League, they start down the list of teams with affiliates and place calls to see whether any of them will promise to give him enough minutes while on assignment, and whoever says “yes” first gets him, Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers said, according to Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. The Clippers, who don’t have an affiliate, have sent Wilcox to the D-League teams of the Suns and Cavs so far this season.
  • Despite only appearing in five games thus far this season, Lakers small forward Anthony Brown is encouraged by what he is able to glean sitting on the sideline, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. “It’s encouraging,” Brown said. “You can learn a lot, not only sitting, but when guys come off the bench, you can talk to them, pick their brain. It’s pretty good. It’s one thing to be behind the bench, but it’s another to be able to see everything that’s going on. In some ways you’re kind of an assistant coach in terms of being able to watch and learn what to do and what not to do.“
  • The Lakers have assigned Ryan Kelly and Tarik Black to their D-League affiliate, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter). This will be the second assignment to the D-Fenders for both players this season.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Central Notes: Jennings, Ellis, Bucks

December 17th, 2015 at 9:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Brandon Jennings plans to return to the lineup for the Pistons on December 29th in a game against the Knicks in New York, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link), but Jennings said Wednesday that an 80% chance exists that he plays on D-League assignment first, notes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has appeared to publicly encourage Jennings to accept a D-League assignment, which would require both Jennings and the union to consent because he has more than two years of experience, but the point guard appears willing.

“I don’t care. I just want to play, man. I just want to get out there and hoop and see where it’s at,” Jennings said, according to Ellis.

A D-League trip for Jennings would represent the fifth time this season that a veteran player and the union have given the OK to a D-League trip. That happened with three Sixers, as I noted earlier this month, and this past weekend with Jeremy Evans of the Mavericks. See more from the Central Division:

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