Timberwolves Rumors

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Barton, Jokic, Westbrook

November 11th, 2018 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves are back to where they started before the first Jimmy Butler trade with a young nucleus built around Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, writes Chip Scoggins of The Star-Tribune. Coach/executive Tom Thibodeau changed the blueprint in Minnesota last year when he acquired Butler from the Bulls in hopes of finding a veteran leader who could vault the team to the top of the West. Now the Wolves are back to square one, only instead of having Zach LaVine, who was sent to Chicago in the Butler deal along with a draft pick that became Lauri Markkanen, their core will include Dario Saric and Robert Covington.

Thibodeau has reduced job security after the Butler incident, and Scoggins suggests his first move should be to try to repair relationships within the organization. He let Butler virtually run the team over the past two months — catering to his outrageous behavior in an effort to convince him to stay — which created dissension in the locker room that won’t be easy to erase.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Nuggets guard Will Barton is making progress in his rehab after surgery to repair core and hip muscle injuries, according to an Associated Press story. There’s still no timetable for his return, but Barton said he’s “getting stronger every day.” Team doctors planned to re-evaluate his progress six weeks after the October 23 procedure, so his comeback could start in early December. Barton said strengthening core muscles is the focus of his rehab work.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone defended center Nikola Jokic, who was fined $25K this week for using “derogatory and offensive language” in a postgame interview, relays Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “There’s so many things being said about this poor kid, and I understand some of it, but those of us who know him, like most people in this hallway, give the kid a break,” Malone said. “He made a mistake, he’s paying for it, get off his back a little bit. He’s a great kid. He loves everybody, and he meant no offense to anybody.”
The Thunder are citing progress for Russell Westbrook, who is recovering a a sprained left ankle he suffered in Monday’s game, writes Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman. With a packed schedule this week, OKC hasn’t had time to fit in a practice to fully evaluate Westbrook’s condition. “He’s got to get out there, he’s got to practice, move and cut and do those things, so that’s going to take a little bit of time,” coach Billy Donovan said at Saturday’s shootaround.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Thomas, Butler, Theis

November 11th, 2018 at 11:44am CST by Arthur Hill

Any dreams the Knicks may have had about teaming up Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving next season appear to be dead, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. The Sixers are considered likely to re-sign Butler to a long-term contract after acquiring him from Minnesota in a deal that should become official tomorrow. That follows Irving’s declaration last month that he intends to remain with the Celtics when he hits free agency.

Butler and Irving are friends and there was talk earlier this year that they might be interested in teaming up in New York, with Butler “liking” an Instagram comment that suggested such a move. New York would have needed to trade for one of them, then sign the other next summer. The Knicks were on the list of teams that Butler gave the Timberwolves when he first made his trade request, but they never seemed interested in making a deal.

The Knicks’ options to land a franchise-changing star in free agency are beginning to dwindle, Braziller notes, and their success may depend on getting Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard to consider New York.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Knicks forward Lance Thomas had been experiencing knee pain for weeks before deciding to have surgery on Thursday, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN. “Lance is our leader and we just [want to] get him back feeling good and get him back in that locker room with his voice,” coach David Fizdale said. Thomas will be re-evaluated in about a month, with Kevin Knox and Mario Hezonja expected to get more minutes while he’s sidelined. Fizdale may also use bigger lineups with Noah Vonleh at power forward (Twitter link).
Sixers center Joel Embiid got a positive report on Butler when he reached out to Timberwolves stars Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, relays Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Even though Butler clashed with both players during his time in Minnesota, they expect him to be a positive influence in Philadelphia. “They thought that he was going to be good for us,” Embiid said. “They thought that we were definitely going to get along. He wants to win. Wiggs told me that he thought that we were going to win the East for sure.”
Celtics center Daniel Theis, who has been sidelined with a plantar fascia tear since October 27, hopes to return next week, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston.

Behind The Scenes Of The Jimmy Butler Trade

November 11th, 2018 at 9:08am CST by Arthur Hill

After two months of trying to make a dysfunctional situation work with Jimmy Butler, the Timberwolves finally reached their breaking point after an 0-5 road trip, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

A combination of losing, economic concerns and the stress of not knowing from game to game if Butler was going to be available became too much for team officials. The Wolves, who left home with a .500 record but returned at 4-9, were worn down by the pressure that Butler has been applying since making his trade request two months ago.

Sources tell Krawczynski that coach/executive Tom Thibodeau, who had been resisting a trade while trying to convince Butler to stay, informed his coaching staff after the latest loss that a deal had to be made. Owner Glen Taylor stepped in Saturday and finalized the trade with the Sixers.

Minnesota had three offers to consider before pulling the trigger on the package that brought Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick from Philadelphia in exchange for Butler and injured center Justin Patton. Philadelphia made its latest offer on Wednesday, resuming discussions after a disappointing start to the season. The Rockets, who offered four first-round picks, never stopped pursuing Butler, while the Heat remained steadfast in their refusal to include Josh Richardson in any deal.

The schedule also factored into the timing of the Butler deal, Krawczynski adds. Attendance has plummeted as Wolves fans have grown tired of watching their team feud with its star player. The organization has been offering discounted ticket packages, but with 10 of its next 12 games at home, management wanted to resolve the situation to get paying customers back on their side.

There was also concern about the effect that the precedent that was being set for Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and any other young players who will eventually be free agents. Butler has been allowed to set the terms of the dispute without consequence, whether through provocative public statements about teammates and the front office, well-publicized confrontations at his first practice and day-to-day decisions on whether “general soreness” would keep him out of the lineup.

Players had grown tired of answering questions about Butler after every game, Krawczynski reports, and the situation had become too much of a distraction to continue. The Wolves finally decided the cumulative effect of dealing with Butler was too much and sent him away less than 18 months after he arrived.

Reactions To The Jimmy Butler Trade

November 10th, 2018 at 7:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jimmy Butler never meshed with two young stars in Minnesota, but he’ll have to make a similar situation work with the Sixers, writes Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Butler was abrasive with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, often questioning their toughness and their work ethic. Sielski believes the All-Star wing will have to take a different approach to be successful in Philadelphia.

The confrontations could be at least partially explained by Butler’s background, Sielski notes. He was picked 30th overall in 2011 and didn’t enter the league as a ready-made star like Towns and Wiggins or like the Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Butler’s attitude may endear him to fans, but it could lead to clashes with teammates, particularly Simmons, who has been known to pass up open jumpers and avoid contact late in games to avoid going to the foul line, where he is a 57% career shooter.

Coach Brett Brown talked about the need to add toughness after his team was eliminated from the playoffs last year. Butler brings plenty of that, Sielski adds, but some of his Sixers teammates may find it hard to adapt to the new atmosphere.

There’s more to pass along in the wake of today’s blockbuster:

The trade makes the Sixers better right away and still leaves the flexibility to improve in the future, states David Murphy of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who adds that it won’t take much roster tinkering to be able to offer another maximum contract next summer. Philadelphia will have about $22MM in available cap room after accounting for Butler, Simmons and Embiid, along with Markelle Fultz, Landry Shamet, Zhaire Smith and Jonah Bolden. Fultz will make $9,745,200 next season, so trading him and another young player could free up the roughly $11MM the Sixers will need for a max deal.
Butler now has all the advantages he could ask for and needs to prove he can fit in, according to Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated. The Sixers provide owners that are willing to spend, a forward-thinking and popular coach in Brown and proven talent already in place. Embiid and Simmons have the franchise set up for a long run as contenders, and Butler needs to settle into a role that doesn’t disrupt the chemistry that’s already in place.
The Sixers talked to the Cavaliers this summer about trading for Kyle Korver and still have interest in the 3-point specialist, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. The Knicks’ Courtney Lee is another possibility as Philadelphia looks for shooters after sending Dario Saric and Robert Covington to Minnesota. O’Connor suggests that the team may also wait for buyouts as it did last year when it picked up Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova.
There was a big change in the Sixers’ odds to capture the NBA title after news of the trade was announced, according to Ed Barkowitz of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The team moved to a 16-1 shot to win it all at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas after starting the day at 30-1.

Southeast Notes: Riley, Whiteside, M. Williams, Carter

November 10th, 2018 at 5:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat president Pat Riley told his players just before the season started that he was pulling out of trade talks with the Timberwolves involving Jimmy Butler, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Riley held a team meeting October 14 in which he acknowledged that negotiations had been going on and apologized to players whose names became public in trade rumors. That was just days after the teams nearly completed a deal that would have sent a package that included Josh Richardson and a protected first-round pick to Minnesota. However, Riley didn’t guarantee that negotiations with the Wolves wouldn’t resume.

Today’s trade that sent Butler to the Sixers eliminates that as a possibility. With about $130MM in salary, Miami is hovering above the $123.7MM luxury tax threshold and would face a $9.7MM tax payment if the team can’t trim $6.3MM by the end of the season. Riley said Thursday that the team isn’t currently active on the trade market, but tax concerns may change that before the February deadline.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who has reportedly been on the trade block for several months, is “changing his mindset to be great,” teammate Bam Adebayo tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Whiteside posted his best game in a long time Wednesday with 29 points, 20 rebounds and nine blocked shots. “I think a lot of people had written me off,” Whiteside said. “That’s fine. I don’t need anybody’s justification. But I feel like if I do those things for myself, it’ll put me in the conversation of being an All-Star, being defensive player of the year.”
Marvin Williams says the players were thrilled this summer when they learned that Tony Parker was leaving the Spurs to join the Hornets as a free agent, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. Parker brought championship experience to Charlotte, having won four titles in San Antonio. “He’s so willing to teach everyone and he’s very patient with all of us,” Williams said. “He’s obviously been in certain situations that a lot of us haven’t been able to experience yet, so that knowledge and that wisdom really helps us.”
Williams believes the way the game has changed in recent years has helped the Hawks‘ Vince Carter stay productive at age 41, relays Brendan Marks of The Charlotte Observer. Carter still displays his vertical leap on occasion, but he has prolonged his career with a deadly jump shot. “As the league has evolved, he’s almost benefited from it because he still can guard multiple positions, and he can still really shoot the lights out,” Williams said.

Latest On Jimmy Butler Trade To Philadelphia

November 10th, 2018 at 2:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves and Sixers agreed on Saturday to one of the biggest trades in recent years. Jimmy Butler is headed to Philadelphia, while Dario Saric and Robert Covington headline the package that Minnesota is receiving.

We have more news to pass along on this blockbuster:

Butler had shown an interest in Philadelphia long before Saturday. Butler scheduled a free agent meeting with the Sixers in 2015, when they were still in the early stages of building a contender, before he re-signed with the Bulls, Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated tweets.
If Butler agrees to a max contract with Philadelphia, Markelle Fultz‘s long-term prospects with the organization would be in serious doubt, Zach Lowe of ESPN tweets. There are plenty of other questions regarding how Fultz fits with core group that Philadelphia has assembled and the team’s brass will closely monitor how all the personalities mesh, Lowe adds. The top 2017 pick is averaging just 8.9 PPG and 3.6 APG in 24.3 MPG and will now have to compete with another All-Star for touches.
Minnesota avoided sending Butler to a Western Conference contender, one of the goals it set in trade talks involving the disgruntled swingman, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN notes (Twitter link). The Rockets had been mentioned prominently as a possible destination but even a package of four future first-round picks couldn’t entice the Timberwolves to send him to a conference rival. The Sixers became the most viable trade partner once the Heat pulled Josh Richardson out of trade discussions, Wojnarowski adds.
The Sixers were prepared to offer a similar package to the Spurs to acquire Kawhi Leonard this summer, Fischer reports in another tweet. Philadelphia was willing to give up Saric, Covington and a first-rounder to San Antonio before the Spurs opted to deal Leonard to the Raptors. The Spurs’ decision to decline the Sixers’ offer thus far seems like a wise move, considering Saric’s early shooting slump (30% from long range), Jabari Young of The Athletic tweets. Toronto’s package, with DeMar DeRozan as the centerpiece, has helped San Antonio get off to a 6-4 start despite a rash of injuries.
Buyout candidates will be even more intrigued to join the Sixers for the stretch run, Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype tweets. Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli joined Philadelphia in that fashion last season, Kennedy adds, and the incentive for players seeking a ring to hop on Philadelphia’s bandwagon has dramatically increased.
The Timberwolves considered three offers from different teams before picking the Sixers’ package, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets.
Philadelphia will likely move J.J. Redick back into the starting lineup because his 3-point shooting will be needed on the first unit, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets.
The earliest that Butler could make his Sixers debut, once the trade is finalized, is Wednesday against the Magic, Wojnarowski adds in another tweet.

Financial Impact Of Jimmy Butler Blockbuster

November 10th, 2018 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The blockbuster trade agreed upon today by the Sixers and Timberwolves that sends Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia will, of course, have massive on-court ramifications for both teams. However, it’s also worth taking a closer look at the deal from a financial perspective to see exactly how it worked, how it will impact the players involved, and how it will affect the Sixers’ and Timberwolves’ short- and long-term cap outlook.

Let’s dive right in and examine the financial implications of today’s mega-deal…

How salary-matching works in the trade:

Butler’s cap hit for the 2018/19 season is $20,445,779. In order to meet the salary-matching requirements to land Butler, the Sixers have to send out at least $15.45MM in salaries of their own, which means that Robert Covington ($10,464,092) and Dario Saric ($2,526,840) aren’t enough. That explains the inclusion of Jerryd Bayless ($8,575,916) in the deal.

With Bayless in the mix, his salary – combined with Covington’s – allows the Sixers to take back up to about $24MM, which is more than enough to acquire Butler and Justin Patton ($2,667,600) without even having to use Saric for salary-matching purposes. That means the 76ers will create a traded player exception worth Saric’s $2,526,840 salary. It will expire in a year.

From the Timberwolves’ perspective, Butler’s outgoing salary is big enough to absorb Covington’s, Saric’s, and Bayless’ without needing to use Patton for matching purposes. Because Patton – like Saric – was technically traded for “nothing,” Minnesota will create a trade exception worth $2,667,600, the amount of Patton’s salary.

The impact on Jimmy Butler’s potential earnings:

This trade won’t make Butler eligible to earn any more – or any less – money when he reaches free agency in 2019. However, it’s now the Sixers – rather than the Timberwolves – who will have the ability to offer him more years and more money than any other team, since his Bird rights will be traded along with him.

Based on a $109MM salary cap projection for 2019/20, Butler will be eligible for a five-year, maximum salary deal worth $189.66MM with the 76ers. If he signs with any other team, Butler’s projected maximum contract would be four years and $140.61MM. That’s certainly one reason why the Sixers are so optimistic that they can lock up the 29-year-old long-term.

Technically, Butler would be eligible to sign an in-season contract extension before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2019, but there would be strict limitations on such a deal and it wouldn’t make sense for him from a financial perspective.

How the deal affects the Timberwolves’ financial situation:

The difference between the incoming and outgoing salaries in this deal is very marginal. While Butler’s and Patton’s cap hits exceed Covington’s, Saric’s, and Bayless’ by about $1.55MM, Butler’s cap charge is inflated by a signing bonus that has already been paid, so the gap is even smaller than it appears. According to cap expert Albert Nahmad (Twitter link), the swap will only end up saving the Wolves – and costing the Sixers – about $170K this season.

The Wolves are less than $3MM from the luxury tax line this season, so a little extra breathing room doesn’t hurt, but the financial effects of this deal will really show up in future seasons. If things had gone well with Butler and he ended up re-signing in Minnesota, the club would almost certainly have crossed the tax line (which projects to land at $132MM) next season if it hadn’t found a way to dump salary elsewhere.

Instead, the added cap hits for Covington and Saric amount to far less than a max deal for Butler would have, and the Wolves have approximately $108.71MM committed to eight players for 2019/20, assuming Jeff Teague exercises his $19MM player option. That gives the club plenty of flexibility to fill out its roster without having to worry about the luxury tax, and the same goes for seasons beyond that.

Of course, as currently constructed, the Wolves won’t have any actual room under the cap to add another major piece to their roster in 2019. The team could keep looking for a Gorgui Dieng trade partner to try to create some space, but it’s more likely that Minnesota will simply enter next offseason as an over-the-cap team and use its mid-level exception in any foray into free agency.

How the deal affects the Sixers’ financial situation:

The Sixers had long been viewed as a potential major player in free agency during the summer of 2019. That could still happen, even with Butler in the mix.

Taking into account the guaranteed salaries for Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Zhaire Smith, Landry Shamet, and Jonah Bolden, along with cap holds for Butler and T.J. McConnell, Philadelphia projects to have slightly over $21MM in cap room in the offseason, based on a $109MM cap. That’s not enough for a maximum-salary free agent, but it’s enough to add another impact free agent without compromising the team’s ability to re-sign Butler.

In order for the Sixers to create enough room to go after another max free agent, they’d need to get to $32.7MM in cap room for a player with between 7-9 years of experience (like a Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson) or $38.15MM for a player with 10+ years of experience (such as Kevin Durant).

That seems like a long shot — even if the club renounced or traded everyone except for Simmons, Embiid, and Butler, that would only open up $34.64MM in space. Trading Fultz and Smith and renouncing McConnell could create just over $32.7MM in space, enough for certain max free agents.

If Butler decides he doesn’t want to re-sign in Philadelphia, the Sixers would obviously have much more flexibility — their projected cap room would jump from $21MM to nearly $51MM by removing Butler’s $30.67MM cap hold.

Looking ahead to the future, it will be fascinating to see how the Sixers fill out their roster around their three stars if they end up locking up Butler and Simmons to long-term max contracts. Based on current cap projections, Butler, Simmons, and Embiid would count for at least $94.36MM in 2020/21 if they all get max deals, and they’d only get more expensive in future seasons.

The impact on each team’s 15-man roster:

This trade will see the Timberwolves acquire three players and send out just two, which isn’t a problem since Minnesota had been carrying an open roster spot. As a result, the Wolves won’t have to waive anyone to accommodate their three incoming players.

Once the deal is completed, the Wolves will have 15 players on NBA contracts and the Sixers will have 14. If Minnesota wants to re-open a roster spot, Bayless could be a buyout candidate — he’s on an expiring contract and, as noted earlier, his inclusion in this swap is about matching salaries. I doubt Tom Thibodeau envisions a major role for him.

James Nunnally also only has a partial guarantee and hasn’t played much for the Wolves this year, so he could be the odd man out if the team wants to create a roster opening at some point.

As for the Sixers, there’s no need for them to make any additional roster moves right away. However, they’ll be in the market for some depth at some point after moving Covington and Saric, likely with an eye on shooting help. Their 15th roster spot is now open, but if they want to eventually add more than one player on the buyout market – like they did last season with Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova – Patton could be expendable. He’s recovering from his latest foot surgery and likely doesn’t have a future in Philadelphia.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Jimmy Butler Talks Trade Request, Minutes Restriction, Negativity

November 10th, 2018 at 9:00am CST by marksuleymanov

The Timberwolves are fresh off a 0-5 road trip, which dropped their season record to 4-9. The franchise seems to be in disarray as its top players are either struggling or embroiled in trade rumors. That starts and ends with Jimmy Butler.

Nearly two months since Butler’s trade request went public, he continues to suit up for a struggling Minnesota team that occupies 13th place in the Western Conference. Whether it’s the Heat, Clippers or Rockets, Butler has yet to be dealt despite the reported trade talks. At this juncture, he is a polarizing figure — playing when he wants and how he wants — for a struggling team.

In a wide-ranging, candid interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic (subscription required), Butler addressed the team’s recent struggles, his trade request, reports of his personal minutes restrictions and more.

You can check out some of the interview’s highlights below.

On hating to lose:

“I absolutely hate, hate to f*****g lose, and the way that we go about things sometimes isn’t the right way, myself included, and a lot of other people as well. I just think that, man, whenever you win, everything takes care of itself. But we’ve got to figure out a way to do that, man. No matter what, all I want to do is win. I don’t care what anybody says, any media outlet, anybody says as a person, the one thing they can’t say is that I don’t want to win.”

On whether he’s focused on being traded:

“Like I said, I don’t focus on it. I really don’t. If it happens, if something happens, something happens. If it don’t, I’ve still got to go out there and prove that I can hang with the best of them. That’s what I do every time I take the floor. I dap somebody up, and it’s like, ‘Yo, let’s battle tonight.'”

On whether or not negative backlash impacts him:

“Hell no. For what? I know who I am. These guys know who I am. If you know me, then you know the truth. If you don’t, then you write something for people to read. That’s why I laugh at everything that somebody tells me, ‘Did you read this? Did you read that?’ No, I don’t read it. Why don’t I read it? I don’t even have the time to read it, but if I did I wouldn’t because if you didn’t talk to me to write something, you’re just making stuff up. You’re going by what you think, what you’re assuming. I leave it at that. Read it. Believe what you want. But at the end of the day, if you’ve got a real question then just come up and ask me and see who I am as a person.”

On if he agreed to play a certain amount of minutes:

“Once again, nobody talked to me about nothing. That’s just stuff that’s being written. I haven’t talked about minutes with nobody. I just go out there and I just play. I get lost in the game, and I want to win, and I don’t even realize that it turns into 41. I wouldn’t realize if it was 48 because I’m just out there and I’m competing.”

On his prior comments that he shouldn’t have to play excessive minutes:

“Yeah, we’ve got f*****g guys who can play. We’ve got to instill confidence in everybody. I think my confidence is high enough. I want all my guys to be successful, man. I want all these guys to play. Is that a convo (with Thibodeau) that I’ve got to have? Yeah, and then everybody wants to talk about how the m**********r’s not healthy [he said of himself]. Well G**damn, we’re playing 41, 43, 44 (minutes per game), it takes a toll on top of all the work that I do that don’t nobody even see. We’ll fix it. We’ll do something. We’ll talk.”

Wolves Plan To Keep Occasionally Resting Butler

November 9th, 2018 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Jimmy Butler is expected to play for the Timberwolves tonight in Sacramento, but the team will continue to mix in occasional games of “scheduled rest” for the All-NBA swingman going forward as part of a jointly agreed-upon plan, league sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).

When Butler sat out last Wednesday’s game against Utah, reports indicated that it was related to his push for a trade. However, the Timberwolves cited “general soreness” and “precautionary rest” to explain his absence for that contest, as well as Sunday’s game in Portland, denying that had anything to do with his trade request.

Sources tell Stein (Twitter link) that the Timberwolves and Butler initially agreed to establish a “loose limit” of about 32 minutes per game coming into the season for the 29-year-old. With his minutes limited to some extent, Butler would get a chance to ease back in after missing training camp and the Wolves could minimize his injury risk as they sought a trade.

However, Butler has played at least 35 minutes in seven of his nine games so far, including 43 against the Lakers on Wednesday. With the competitive Butler and head coach Tom Thibodeau – who has historically given heavy minutes to his starters – apparently having trouble sticking to that initial plan, the rest games will provide the team another way to attempt to minimize Butler’s injury risk, Stein explains (Twitter link).

It’s not clear if the games Butler misses will follow any specific pattern. It’s safe to assume that back-to-backs are worth watching, but Minnesota will play on consecutive nights only once before December 30 — the Wolves visit Brooklyn on November 23 and host the Bulls on November 24.

NBA Super-Max Candidates To Watch In 2018/19

November 9th, 2018 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Designated Veteran Extension, as we explain our glossary entry on the subject, is a relatively new addition to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. It allows players with 7-9 years of experience, who would normally qualify for a maximum starting salary of 30% of the cap, to qualify for a “super-max” contract that starts at 35% of the cap, a level normally reserved players with 10+ years of experience.

A player who has seven or eight years of NBA service with one or two years left on his contract becomes eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension if he meets the required performance criteria and hasn’t been traded since his first four years in the league. A Designated Veteran contract can also be signed by a player who is technically a free agent if he has eight or nine years of service and meets the required criteria.

The performance criteria is as follows (only one of the following must be true):

The player was named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
The player was named the NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
The player was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.

With those criteria in mind, it’s worth keeping an eye on several players who could qualify for a super-max veteran contract with their play this season. Let’s dive in and examine a few of those guys…

Players who already qualify for a super-max contract:

Anthony Davis (Pelicans)

Davis can’t yet sign a Designated Veteran Extension, but his All-NBA appearances over the last two seasons have ensured that he’ll qualify, even if he somehow doesn’t earn another All-NBA nod in 2018/19.

As of next July, the Pelicans will be able to offer Davis a contract extension that tacks an additional five years onto his $27.09MM salary for 2019/20. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection for 2020/21 ($118MM), that five-year extension would be worth a staggering $239.54MM.

Players who could qualify for a super-max contract by meeting the criteria in 2018/19:

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Bradley Beal (Wizards)
Andre Drummond (Pistons)
Draymond Green (Warriors)
Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
Klay Thompson (Warriors)
Kemba Walker (Hornets)

Technically, any player who earns an All-NBA spot in 2018/19 and meets the contract criteria can qualify for a super-max, but the players listed above are probably the only legitimately viable candidates. And even in this group, guys like Beal and Drummond are a real stretch — if they were to improbably make an All-NBA team, their clubs still probably wouldn’t put Designated Veteran Extension offers on the table, since they’re not bona fide superstars.

Thompson and Walker will both be unrestricted free agents in 2019, so if they meet the DVE criteria, they’d be eligible for five-year contracts with their respective teams worth up to a projected $221.27MM. Lillard and Green are still under contract for at least one more year beyond this season, but they’d qualify for super-max extensions if they meet the criteria — Lillard could get an extra four years, while Green could get five.

A team can only give Designated Veteran Extensions to two players, so the Warriors wouldn’t be able to offer both Thompson and Green super-max contracts, since Stephen Curry already has one. On the plus side, Kevin Durant won’t figure into this equation for Golden State, since he has 10+ years of experience. A deal starting at 35% of the cap for Durant wouldn’t count toward the Dubs’ super-max limit.

Finally, while Antetokounmpo can qualify for a super-max by earning All-NBA honors this season, he wouldn’t actually be able to sign such a deal until 2020, since he’ll only have six years of experience at the end of the 2018/19 campaign. Essentially, he’d be in the same spot that Anthony Davis is in now.

Players who can no longer qualify for a super-max contract because they were traded:

Jimmy Butler (Timberwolves)
Kyrie Irving (Celtics)
Kawhi Leonard (Raptors)

Butler, Irving, and Leonard are probably more worthy of a super-max investment than most of the players in the above group, but they no longer qualify because they were traded while on their second contracts — Butler from the Bulls, Irving from the Cavaliers, and Leonard from the Spurs. They’ll need to reach 10 years of NBA experience before qualifying for a starting salary worth up to 35% of the cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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