- Although David Griffin is running the show in the Pelicans‘ front office, new general manager Trajan Langdon will play a key role too. Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com takes an in-depth look at what Langdon brings to the franchise.
The Pelicans will have a tough time replacing Darius Miller‘s skill set from the current list of replacements on the roster, as William Guillory of The Athletic details. Miller suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon and is expected to miss the season.
Miller provides defensive length and the ability to guard either forward spot while spacing the floor offensively, Guillory notes. The Pelicans might give Josh Hart and E’Twaun Moore more minutes at the wing spot but their options at backup power forward are newcomer Nicolo Melli and Kenrich Williams, who is limited as a shooter and defender against quicker forwards.
The contract that Miller signed this offseason — two years and $14.25MM with the second year non-guaranteed — becomes a less attractive trade piece for the Pelicans, Guillory adds.
NBA teams have now completed the brunt of their offseason work, with the draft and free agency practically distant memories. Still, with training camps nearly a month away, many clubs around the league have at least one or two outstanding issues they’ve yet to address.
We’re in the midst of looking at all 30 NBA teams, separating them by division and checking in on a key outstanding question that each club still needs to answer before the 2019/20 regular season begins.
After focusing on the Atlantic, Southeast, and Central last week, we headed West and tackled the Northwest on Sunday. Today, we’re moving on to the Southwest. Let’s dive in…
Dallas Mavericks
Will the Mavericks move Courtney Lee‘s expiring contract?
Although the Mavericks had a solid summer, they didn’t make the sort of splash in free agency or on the trade market they might have hoped for. At this point in the offseason, a major roster addition is unlikely, but Dallas could still look to upgrade the squad with a trade involving Lee’s expiring contract.
Lee is earning $12,759,670 in 2019/20. The NBA’s trade rules would allow the Mavs to take back a player making up to $17,759,670 in a straight-up deal for the veteran swingman. Andre Iguodala is said to be one potential target on Dallas’ radar, but the Mavs and Grizzlies haven’t been able to agree on the draft compensation that would be involved in a Lee/Iguodala swap.
There are other players on expiring deals who might make sense as targets for Dallas, including a handful of veterans in Charlotte and Cleveland. The Mavs could also go after a player on a longer-term contract if they find a trade partner looking to create some extra 2020 cap flexibility.
If the Mavs don’t move Lee before the season begins, he’ll likely be involved in trade rumors again before the deadline.
Houston Rockets
How will the Rockets fill out their regular season roster?
No NBA team is currently carrying fewer players on non-guaranteed contracts than the Rockets. Only nine players on Houston’s roster have fully guaranteed salaries for the 2019/20 season. The team is required to carry at least 14 players in the regular season, so that leaves five potential openings on the roster.
Gary Clark and Isaiah Hartenstein are in good position to claim two of those spots. The Rockets have spent some time and energy developing both players, and they each have a partial guarantee worth north of $700K.
Even if we assume Clark and Hartenstein are locks to make the team though, that leaves at least three openings available for the likes of Ben McLemore, Anthony Bennett, Chris Clemons, Michael Frazier, Shamorie Ponds, William McDowell-White, and perhaps Terrence Jones.
It will be interesting to see whether Houston leans toward keeping veterans like McLemore and Jones or youngsters like Ponds and Clemons. I think the former scenario is more likely, but it also wouldn’t be at all surprising to see the team add a couple more players to the mix to compete for the regular season roster.
Memphis Grizzlies
What will the Grizzlies do with Andre Iguodala?
When the Grizzlies acquired Iguodala from the Warriors two months ago, he was essentially treated as a negative asset due to Golden State’s cap situation — the Dubs had to attach a future first-round pick and cash in order to move him. However, the Grizzlies reportedly believe Iguodala can be moved for positive value.
It would be extremely impressive if Memphis’ new management group could get a second first-round pick by flipping Iguodala, but that doesn’t seem all that realistic unless the team is willing to take on some unfavorable multiyear money.
If the Grizzlies have an offer on the table that would net them a second-round pick and a cheaper expiring contract (Iguodala is on the books for about $17.2MM), they should probably jump on it. It’s hard to imagine them getting better value at this time of year, and if Iguodala doesn’t want to be there, hanging onto him into the season could create some friction.
A buyout remains possible if Memphis doesn’t get any favorable trade offers and the former Finals MVP is willing to give up a chunk of his ’19/20 salary, but it seems as if the club would like to avoid that outcome.
New Orleans Pelicans
How will the Pelicans respond to a potential season-ending injury for Darius Miller?
Less than two months after signing a lucrative new contract to remain in New Orleans, Miller suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon that will likely sideline him for the entire 2019/20 season. It’s a tough blow for both the veteran forward and the Pelicans, who will have to lean even more heavily on newly-acquired J.J. Redick as the club’s primary outside threat.
Now that they’ll be without an important three-point shooter, we’ll see if the Pelicans’ approach to building the back of their roster is affected at all. Kenrich Williams may be more likely to earn one of the final two slots on the 15-man roster, given his potential to stretch the floor (he was a 39.5% three-point shooter in his final college season in 2017/18).
There are still some solid shooters on the free agent market too, if the Pelicans want to go in that direction. A veteran like Jodie Meeks or John Jenkins could be a fit, and it’s worth noting that new head of basketball operations David Griffin has a history with former Cavs guard J.R. Smith, who remains unsigned.
San Antonio Spurs
Will Dejounte Murray or DeMar DeRozan sign contract extensions?
Currently, no one on the Spurs‘ roster has a guaranteed contract beyond 2020/21. That could change this offseason though if the team locks up Murray to a rookie scale extension or DeRozan to a new veteran deal.
Murray looks to me like the stronger candidate for an extension, but an August report indicated that San Antonio hasn’t ruled out the possibility of offering DeRozan a maximum contract extension. The shooting guard would be eligible for a starting salary of up to about $33.3MM for the 2020/21 season, with annual raises increasing the value of the deal from there.
A new contract for Murray wouldn’t be nearly that expensive, and could be an intriguing gamble for the Spurs if the young guard is open to signing at a relatively team-friendly rate. Before he tore his ACL last fall, Murray was viewed as one of the NBA’s prime breakout candidates — San Antonio will be hoping that breakout season was just delayed by a year.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
After years of whiffing in free agency, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer writes that the Mavericks may have finally got it right this summer despite not signing rumored targets Kemba Walker or Al Horford.
The difference this time around? The Mavericks already had their stars in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, so supporting cast acquisitions like Delon Wright and Seth Curry made more sense than finally signing the big free agent fish.
And, with the NBA beginning to highlight more twosomes as opposed to threesomes like what the Heat did back in the early 2010s, Doncic (20) and Porzingis (24) could have the brightest future of any pairings because of their youth.
There’s more notes to pass along from the Southwest Division:
- Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian opines that the Dwight Howard buyout with the Grizzlies may have set a baseline amount for a potential Andre Iguodala buyout sometime before or during the 2019/20 season.
- In a player profile piece for the upcoming season, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News highlights how the aforementioned Wright could fit nicely alongside Doncic for the Mavericks.
- Speaking to Italian newspaper il Resto del Carlino (h/t to Sportando), Pelicans rookie forward Nicolo Melli spoke about his decision to leave Europe to come to the NBA. “(M)y agent Matteo Comellini sent me a message with the proposal made by the Pelicans. I felt a strong vibration. The same I had two years ago the first time I spoke with coach (Zeljko) Obradovic.” Melli says the choice to come to the NBA was never about money.
Pelicans forward Darius Miller underwent surgery on Thursday morning to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon, the team announced in a press release.
Although no recovery timetable was provided by the Pelicans, a torn Achilles typically sidelines an NBA player for at least a full season, so it seems unlikely that Miller will return to action for New Orleans in 2019/20.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews suggests (via Twitter) that Miller will began rehab work next week and is expected to miss seven or eight months. Even if he can make it back in exactly seven months – which is probably an optimistic forecast – that would put his return date at the end of March.
The injury is a devastating blow for both the Pelicans and Miller, who has averaged 8.0 PPG on .417/.388/.826 shooting in 151 games since returning to New Orleans in the summer of 2017. His absence will put more pressure on newly-added sharpshooter J.J. Redick to stretch the floor.
Fortunately for Miller, he received a nice payday as a free agent this offseason, signing a two-year, $14.25MM deal with the Pels. He’ll earn a $7.25MM salary in 2019/20, though his $7MM salary for 2020/21 is non-guaranteed and seems less likely to be picked up in the wake of today’s news.
If the Pelicans believe Miller’s injury will keep him out of action for the entire year, they could apply for a disabled player exception to sign a replacement. If approved, that exception would be worth $3.625MM, half of the 29-year-old’s salary. While the DPE would create some added cap flexibility for New Orleans, it wouldn’t allow the club to carry an extra player.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Before playing in Sunday’s BIG3 championship game, Joe Johnson will work out for the Sixers tomorrow, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Johnson is also expected to get workouts with the Clippers, Bucks and Nuggets, a source tells Spears.
The Pelicans are also keeping their eyes on Johnson, Spears adds (Twitter link). Head coach Alvin Gentry and executive VP David Griffin showed up for a first-hand look last week when the BIG3 was in New Orleans.
Johnson, 38, captured MVP honors in his first BIG3 season, the league announced Tuesday. He led the league in points, (a league-record 175), assists (31) and field goals (63) and was the only player to sink four 4-point shots.
Johnson’s performance created talk of a comeback after sitting out the entire 2018/19 season. His last NBA experience involved brief appearances during the Rockets‘ 2018 playoff run after splitting the year between Utah and Houston.
Interest in Johnson has been growing throughout the summer, writes Frank Isola of The Athletic. He shares a story from Celtics TV analyst Brian Scalabrine, who said he recently asked president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, “Do you know who should be in the NBA?” and Ainge responded, “Joe Johnson.”
Scalabrine adds that Johnson does yoga every day and is keeping himself in “excellent shape.”
“Joe Johnson will play a game in the NBA next season,” he said. “I guarantee it. If he wants to – and I think he does – he’ll be playing in an NBA game.”
The Sixers have a roster spot open if they decide to add Johnson, as we track in our Roster Counts. Philadelphia has 17 players under standard contracts (14 fully guaranteed), along with both two-way slots filled. The Clippers are in the same situation, while Milwaukee is already at the league limit of 20 and Denver has three openings.
The NBA G League conducted its 2019 expansion draft on Wednesday, allowing the latest iteration of the Erie BayHawks to acquire the rights to up to 14 players.
Erie has been a G League mainstay in recent years. However, after serving as the affiliate for the Atlanta Hawks last season, the BayHawks were relocated to College Park and renamed the Skyhawks. As such, the Erie BayHawks team that participated in today’s expansion draft is technically a new G League franchise — it’ll be the affiliate for the Pelicans in 2019/20.
[RELATED: NBA G League Affiliations For 2019/20 Season]
As Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days recently outlined, each of the G League’s other 27 teams were permitted to protect the rights for up to 12 players. Although the BayHawks could select up to 14 players in the expansion draft, they weren’t permitted to acquire more than two players from any one team.
Here are the 14 players whose rights were acquired by New Orleans’ G League affiliate, with each player’s previous NBAGL team noted in parentheses:
- Taylor Braun (South Bay Lakers)
- Trey Burke (Westchester Knicks)
- Quinton Chievous (Capital City Go-Go)
- Xavier Gibson (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
- Isaac Hamilton (Canton Charge)
- Isaiah Hartenstein (Grande Valley Vipers)
- Derrick Jones Jr. (Northern Arizona Suns)
- Scottie Lindsey (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Erik McCree (Lakeland Magic)
- Codi Miller-McIntyre (College Park Skyhawks)
- Xavier Silas (Iowa Wolves)
- Matt Williams Jr. (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Kyle Wiltjer (Canton Charge)
- Michael Young (Northern Arizona Suns)
Not all of the players whose rights the BayHawks acquired today will actually suit up for the team. In fact, many won’t.
Multiple players selected by Erie – Burke, Hartenstein, and Jones – are currently under contract with NBA teams and won’t be available to the BayHawks as long as they remain on those NBA deals. Other players will spend the 2019/20 season playing overseas.
However, if any of the players selected in today’s expansion draft sign contracts to play in the G League in ’19/20, the BayHawks will have their rights. Erie will hold each of these 14 players’ NBAGL rights for the next two seasons.
Attorneys for Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson contend that a Florida marketing company began recruiting him in January, three months before he declared for the NBA draft, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The charge is included in amendments to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in North Carolina in an attempt to terminate an agreement with Prime Sports Marketing.
The legal action alleges violations of North Carolina sports agent laws and comes in response to a June lawsuit filed in Florida by the company and its president, Gina Ford. She is seeking $100MM from Williamson and his current representatives, Creative Arts Agency, for “breach of contract.”
Williamson contends Ford and Prime Sports lacked proper certification from the NBPA and wasn’t registered in North Carolina. It also alleges fraudulent inducement and violations of North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic shares a portion of the suit that alleges Ford “approached Mr. Williamson’s family before and after basketball games, texted them repeatedly about a potential business relationship, and eventually met with Mr. Williamson and his family to discuss the prospect of entering into a marketing agent agreement.” It also claims she misrepresented her involvement with sprinter Usain Bolt.
This year’s No. 1 selection, Williamson signed a marketing deal with Prime Sports on April 20, five days after declaring for the draft. It included a clause preventing him from terminating the agreement for five years. Williamson’s family announced on May 31 that he was leaving the agency, and he later signed with CAA.
Williamson’s suit contends that Prime Sports isn’t registered to act as an agent in North Carolina or Florida and his agreement doesn’t contain “a conspicuous notice in boldface type in capital letters” informing him that he was forfeiting his college eligibility.
Top pick Zion Williamson of the Pelicans is considered the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award by his peers, but he’s not a clear-cut choice. The second pick in the draft, point guard Ja Morant of the Grizzlies, finished a close second in the voting. However, that might not be such a good thing for either player.
For the 11th time in 13 years, John Schuhmann of NBA.com got the opportunity to ask the NBA’s incoming crop of rookies a series of questions related to their fellow draftees.
Historically, the NBA rookies haven’t been soothsayers. They haven’t accurately identified a Rookie of the Year winner since Kevin Durant in 2007/08. Last season, Deandre Ayton and Collin Sexton were considered the co-favorites. Luka Doncic ended up winning the award with Trae Young finishing a solid second.
Here’s some of the highlights from the survey:
- Williamson got 35% of the vote for the Rookie of the Year prize, while Morant received 27% backing. No one else got more than 5%.
- Nuggets second-round pick Bol Bol and Cavaliers’ late first-rounder Kevin Porter Jr. were considered the steals of the draft, with each getting 19% of the vote.
- Two players stood out to their peers as being the best defenders in the draft — the Sixers’ Matisse Thybulle and the Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter. Thybulle collected 37% of the votes in that category, while Hunter received 29% backing.
- By a wide margin, Williamson was chosen as the most athletic rookie, garnering 87% of the votes. Morant was selected as the best ball-handler, receiving 40% of those votes.
- The Heat‘s Tyler Herro (33%) edged out the Kings’ Kyle Guy (29%) as the best shooter.
- LeBron James (38%) got the highest total in the ‘Favorite player in the league’ category with Kevin Durant (20%) finishing second.
- Former NBA point guard Greivis Vasquez, who played for six teams over the course of seven seasons from 2010-17, has been named the associate head coach of the Pelicans‘ new G League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Vasquez will work under Ryan Pannone, the head coach of the expansion Erie BayHawks.