- Grizzlies’ second-year guard Dillon Brooks sees himself growing into a leadership role and plans to start laying those seeds during the upcoming season, as he told Peter Edmiston of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “For me, as a future leader, I need to connect with every single player somehow, someway, so you can get the best out of them,” Brooks said.
Like the Sixers, whose first-rounder Zhaire Smith underwent foot surgery on Thursday, the Grizzlies have been one of the NBA teams hit hardest by injuries in recent years, and are once again dealing with an injury to a young player as training camp nears.
Second-round pick Jevon Carter suffered a torn right thumb ligament while participating in a skills camp this week, a team source tells Peter Edmiston of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. According to Edmiston, the injury will require surgery, but the Grizzlies are confident that Carter will make a full recovery. While a timetable has yet to be provided, Edmiston suggests that – based on similar injuries to other NBA players – the rookie could still be ready to go by the start of the season.
Memphis will hope the injury doesn’t slow Carter’s development, since the club doesn’t have him under contract for long — because they used their full mid-level exception on Kyle Anderson, the Grizzlies could only ink the No. 32 overall pick to a two-year deal. Carter is the only player in the top 12 selections of round two who didn’t receive at least three years on his first NBA contract.
The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $101.869MM threshold once that room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit as well, with clubs like the Warriors, Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Raptors, and Wizards going well beyond that tax line this year.
The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows those clubs to build significant payrolls without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.
When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5.337MM) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.
When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron is set at a point approximately $6MM above the luxury tax line. For the 2018/19 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $129.817MM.
So far this year, nine teams have imposed a hard cap on themselves by using the bi-annual exception, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade. Listed below are those nine teams, along with how they created a hard cap.
Charlotte Hornets
- Used approximately $6MM of mid-level exception to sign Tony Parker and Devonte’ Graham.
Detroit Pistons
- Used approximately $5.75MM of mid-level exception to sign Glenn Robinson, Khyri Thomas, and Bruce Brown.
Los Angeles Clippers
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Luc Mbah a Moute and Mike Scott.
Memphis Grizzlies
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Kyle Anderson.
Milwaukee Bucks
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Ersan Ilyasova and Pat Connaughton.
- Used bi-annual exception to sign Brook Lopez.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Used approximately $6.59MM of mid-level exception to sign Anthony Tolliver and Keita Bates-Diop.
New Orleans Pelicans
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Julius Randle.
- Used bi-annual exception to sign Elfrid Payton.
New York Knicks
- Used approximately $8MM of mid-level exception to sign Mario Hezonja and Mitchell Robinson.
San Antonio Spurs
- Used approximately $6.99MM of mid-level exception to sign Marco Belinelli and Chimezie Metu.
- Used bi-annual exception to sign Dante Cunningham.
Currently, none of the hard-capped teams listed above have team salaries within $5MM of the tax apron, so that hard cap shouldn’t be a real issue for most of these clubs during the 2018/19 league year. However, that could change if any of these teams – particularly the Hornets or Pistons – makes additional free agent signings or takes on extra money in a trade at some point.
3:38pm: The Grizzlies have officially signed Mack, the team announced today in a press release.
1:58pm: The Grizzlies will sign free agent point guard Shelvin Mack to a one-year contract, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Wojnarowski first reported about two and a half weeks ago that the two sides were discussing a one-year deal.
Mack, who inked a two-year contract with Orlando in 2017, appeared in 69 games for the Magic last season, averaging 6.9 PPG, 3.9 APG, and 2.4 RPG in a backup point guard role. His salary for 2018/19 only included a small partial guarantee though, so the Magic waived him last month before they were on the hook for the full amount.
By signing Mack, the Grizzlies will add some veteran stability to their point guard depth chart behind Mike Conley, who is coming off a major foot injury. Andrew Harrison and Jevon Carter are Memphis’ other point guards, with Kobi Simmons also in the mix on a two-way deal.
Memphis doesn’t have its bi-annual exception available this season and already used its full mid-level exception on Kyle Anderson, so Mack will receive a minimum-salary deal, which will keep the Grizzlies’ team salary just below the tax line.
Assuming Mack’s contract is guaranteed, it’ll be the 15th guaranteed deal on the team’s books, plus Harrison’s non-guaranteed salary. The Grizzlies will have to trade or release at least one player before the regular season begins, with Harrison and Dakari Johnson among those most at risk.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has the best chance to win the Rookie of the Year award, according to an ESPN panel. Doncic will fill up the stat sheet and might wind up with the ball more often than second-year guard Dennis Smith Jr., according to Mike Schmitz. Top overall pick Deandre Ayton ranks second on the poll, with Schmitz noting that the Suns big man likely to get more playing time than any other rookie. Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Cavaliers point guard Collin Sexton and Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. round out the top five.
We have more from around the league:
- Retaining Paul George in free agency and dumping Carmelo Anthony‘s contract while receiving projected sixth man Dennis Schroder in return earned the Thunder the top spot on NBA.com’s David Aldridge’s offseason rankings. The rankings are based upon what teams have done during the offseason. The Lakers ranked No. 2 by virtue of signing LeBron James and handing out one-year contracts to other players, thus allowing them to be a force again in next year’s free agent market. The Nuggets gained the No. 3 spot by locking up Nikola Jokic and making trades that cleared roster spots and eased their luxury-tax situation.
- Forwards DJ Hogg (Texas A&M) and Malik Pope (San Diego State) and swingman BJ Johnson (LaSalle) are among the top 10 prospects at the G League Invitational, according to Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. The invitational takes place Sunday in Chicago and over a dozen of last year’s prospects received training camp invites afterward.
- The Warriors’ over-under odds for wins next season is 62.5, according to Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. The Celtics ranked second overall with a 57.5 over-under win total with the Rockets third at 54.5. The Hawks have the lowest projected win total at 23.5. The odds for each NBA team were passed along by ESPN’s Ben Fawkes.
Last month’s signing of Kyle Anderson will enable Mike Conley to adopt a different role for the Grizzlies this season, according to Peter Edmiston of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. A point guard throughout his 11-year career, Conley will be used off the ball more frequently and will be counted on to provide more scoring.
The Grizzlies are an interesting franchise to keep an eye on moving forward this season and beyond, as they are somewhat in a state of limbo – not quite rebuilding but not close to being a serious contender either – writes Mark Giannotto of The Commercial Appeal.
To be sure, Memphis had a relatively nice offseason. They drafted a potential future franchise cornerstone in Jaren Jackson, they signed Kyle Anderson to the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and traded for veteran guard Garrett Temple. By midseason, all three could possibly join Mike Conley and Marc Gasol in the Grizzlies’ starting lineup.
Yet, as Conley says, because of the new pieces learning to fit in and difficulty of the Western Conference, it may turn out to be an “awkward” year in Memphis.
“This season, expectations are still try to be that playoff team, that team that comes out and really makes it tough on everybody. But it is an awkward year with so many teams getting so much better [with] different acquisitions they made in the offseason.”
In addition to adding Jackson, Anderson, and Temple, the Grizzlies also traded away relative disappointments Ben McLemore, Deyonta Davis and Jarell Martin, while adding rookie Jevon Carter, a potential throwback-type player to the Grit ‘N’ Grind era.
Ultimately, it’s probably still going to be difficult for Memphis to make the playoffs in the West, even assuming a 22-win improvement from last year that would see Memphis literally double the amount of victories from a season ago. As such, a rebuild is probably closer to fruition than title contention.
As Giannotto notes, only seven players (not including Gasol’s player option) are signed beyond this season, and only rookie Dillon Brooks had a meaningful role on last year’s team. Accordingly, one would think that most teams would begin rebuilding this season. Only time will tell if the Grizzlies choosing to do otherwise was the right call.
- In the second part of his interview with Peter Edmiston of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, Grizzlies executive VP of basketball operations John Hollinger discusses the decision-making process in the front office, team ownership, expectations for 2018/19, and the club’s focus on player development. On Tuesday, we relayed several of Hollinger’s comments on the Grizzlies’ offseason moves.
After winning just 22 games in 2017/18, the Grizzlies entered the summer as a capped-out team with limited resources to make major upgrades. Still, the club made use of its lottery pick, the mid-level exception, and various trade assets in an effort to improve its roster and return to playoff contention for 2018/19.
Grizzlies executive vice president of basketball operations John Hollinger spoke to Peter Edmiston of The Memphis Commercial Appeal about the club’s offseason, addressing Memphis’ major personnel moves, the decision not to bring back Tyreke Evans, the team’s proximity to the tax line, and more.
The conversation is worth checking out in full, particularly for Grizzlies fans, but here are a few highlights from Hollinger:
On whether the Grizzlies’ achieved their primary offseason goals:
“People have this idea that you come in with a plan, when you really need about 20 or 30 different plans that are contingent on other things that may or may not happen. I’d say the outcome here was close to our best- or better-case scenario. We were able to get a player we really wanted (Jaren Jackson Jr.) with our pick, using our mid-level exception to get what we see as a long-term piece in Kyle Anderson. Those were two huge things for us, not just for the present but for the future of this team. I guess it’s too early to say whether we nailed those or not, but we feel pretty good about the outcomes we had from that. Those were probably the primary goals and we achieved them.”
On the Grizzlies’ decision not to trade Tyreke Evans at last year’s deadline because they planned to re-sign him:
“Hindsight is always 20-20. You make the best decision you can with the information you have at the time. We had no idea that MarShon Brooks was going to emerge as a potential bench scorer for us that could make it easier for us to go in a different direction and go after someone like Kyle with our mid-level.
“I look at it like it was a stock option. We knew there wasn’t a 100% chance we were going to be able to re-sign Tyreke. There was some percentage chance we had to estimate based on the factors in the market, and we had to weigh that relative to the return that we were looking at on trading him, which was likely to be pretty paltry.
“When you’re dealing with second-round picks in the 50s that end up on playoff teams, now you’re getting into a scenario where there’s been six rotation players picked in the last 10 years, so you’re getting into pretty low odds you can get anything out of that.”
On the impression Brooks made on the Grizzlies late in the 2017/18 season:
“There’s obviously an eye test element to this, because we’ve all seen people do things in April that aren’t necessarily replicable in November. But at the same time, these weren’t garbage games for our opponents on most nights. Minnesota’s fighting for a playoff spot, and he’s basically our go-to guy in the fourth quarter to help win that game. Utah, at Utah, is playing for seeding with their best players, an elite defensive team, and he’s getting buckets.”
On the Grizzlies’ team salary currently sitting narrowly below the tax line:
“We’re comfortable where we’re at, there may be one or two small moves still coming as we optimize things a bit, but I don’t really see any haymakers coming. I think we’re pretty happy with how our offseason has gone, and the types of guys we’ve brought in. The luxury tax dance is one I’m familiar with — this is my seventh season, and in six of them we’ve danced right up to the line, so this is not unfamiliar territory.”
Sixers forward Jonah Bolden has received the largest contract of any rookie second-round pick this summer, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The 36th player taken in the 2017 draft, Bolden spent a season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel before coming to the NBA. Philadelphia gave him a four-year, $7MM deal with a starting salary of $1.69MM, although the third and fourth seasons are non-guaranteed.
The Nets signed Rodions Kurucs to a similar arrangement, Pincus adds (Twitter link). The 40th pick in this year’s draft, Kurucs will make $1.62MM in his first year and has incentives that could bring the value of his four-year contract up to $6.96MM. The first three seasons are fully guaranteed.
Pincus passes on a few more details about deals signed this summer:
- Although Jevon Carter was taken 32nd overall, he signed for just the minimum salary over two seasons, less than others in his draft range (Twitter link). However, he received a full guarantee from the Grizzlies on both years. Jalen Brunson, taken at No. 33 by the Mavericks, makes more per season but is locked into a four-year deal (Twitter link). He will receive $1.23MM in his rookie year, with minimum salaries for the next three seasons. The first three years are fully guaranteed. Elie Okobo, the 31st pick, signed a four-year agreement with the Suns that will pay him $1.24MM in his first year, with three seasons at the minimum to follow. Only his first two years are guaranteed, and Phoenix has a team option on the final season (Twitter link).
- Among the two-way contracts handed out this summer, only four players signed multi-year deals. Kostas Antetokounmpo of the Mavericks, Billy Preston of the Cavaliers, Yuta Watanabe of the Grizzlies and Thomas Welsh of the Nuggets all have two-year agreements (Twitter link).
- The Clippers will pay Montrezl Harrell $6MM in each season of his two-year, $12MM deal (Twitter link).
- Celtics guard Marcus Smart has a base salary of $11.16MM in the first year of his new deal, but $500K of likely incentives place the cap hit at $11.66MM. The incentives remain in effect for each season of his four-year contract.