- Knicks forward Lance Thomas is very impressed with draft picks Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson, Jordan Pandy of Newsday relays. Thomas expects both of them to make an impact in their rookie years. “You can just tell from the Summer League they were really going after it,” Thomas said. “Those guys were playing like they were playing for contracts even though they already have guarantees. I like to see that. I love the toughness, I love the grit, and that’s what it takes to survive in New York.”
When NBA teams sign undrafted free agents or second-round picks to contracts, those clubs need to have cap space or a mid-level exception available to lock up those players for longer than two years or to pay them more than the minimum salary.
While most teams make sure to earmark some cap room or a portion of their mid-level exception to use on those players – particularly second-rounders – that’s not always the case. The Grizzlies, for instance, used their entire mid-level exception on Kyle Anderson‘s offer sheet, meaning they could only sign 32nd overall pick Jevon Carter to a two-year, minimum-salary deal.
This offseason though, a new tool has come in handy in allowing teams to sign players to longer-term or more lucrative contracts than the minimum salary exception would allow, without having to use cap room or the mid-level exception to do it. The catch? Those players had to have finished the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the club.
When a player is on a two-way contract, a new kind of deal introduced in the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, he’s not technically on a club’s 15-man roster, but he accrues Bird rights just as a player on the roster would. That means that any player who finished last season on a two-way deal had Non-Bird rights this summer.
Non-Bird rights don’t allow teams to give players major raises — Non-Bird deals can only start at up to 120% of the player’s previous salary or 120% of his minimum salary, whichever is greater. However, they do allow for contracts of up to four years, which has paid off for some teams and players this summer.
Consider the case of Georges Niang, who was on a two-way contract with the Jazz last season. Buoyed by an impressive Summer League showing with Utah last month, Niang earned a three-year contract with the club. Typically, to go up to three years, the over-the-cap Jazz would have had to dip into their mid-level exception, but that wasn’t the case for Niang — his Non-Bird rights allowed for a three-year deal.
While Niang’s contract is only worth the minimum, Non-Bird rights do allow for slightly larger salaries, as noted above. For example, the Knicks re-signed former two-way player Luke Kornet to the maximum allowable salary using his Non-Bird rights. Instead of earning his minimum salary ($1,349,383), Kornet will make 120% of that amount ($1,619,260). Without his Non-Bird rights, New York would have had to use its mid-level or bi-annual exception to give Kornet that kind of raise.
Non-Bird rights haven’t paid off for every team with a two-way player who’s getting a promotion. For instance, the Nuggets moved Torrey Craig to their standard roster by giving him a new two-year, $4MM contract. Denver had to use part of its mid-level exception to complete that signing, since it exceeded the salary Craig could’ve earned with Non-Bird rights. The Nuggets did take advantage of the Non-Bird rules with their other two-way player though, giving Monte Morris a new three-year contract.
Two-way contracts remain in their relative infancy, so it’s interesting to see how teams are taking advantage of the rules surrounding them. Players like Niang, Kornet, and Morris are among the first group of two-way players to be promoted to standard contracts via Non-Bird rights, but they certainly won’t be the last.
Here’s the full list of two-way players whose teams have promoted them to standard contracts this offseason:
- Ryan Arcidiacono (Bulls)
- Jabari Bird (Celtics)
- Antonio Blakeney (Bulls)
- Torrey Craig (Nuggets)
- Derrick Jones (Heat)
- Luke Kornet (Knicks)
- Monte Morris (Nuggets)
- Georges Niang (Jazz)
Note: Jamel Artis, Danuel House, Daniel Hamilton, and Kadeem Allen have signed or agreed to standard NBA contracts with new teams after finishing last season on two-way deals.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Knicks’ brass is thrilled over coach David Fizdale’s five-day visit with star player Kristaps Porzingis in Latvia, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. The front office has been impressed by Fizdale’s ability to connect with the young players, Berman continues. No one in the Knicks’ front office visited Porzingis in Europe last summer and there were lingering concerns about his feelings toward the organization after his fallout with previous team president Phil Jackson, Berman adds.
- New Knicks coach David Fizdale met with star player Kristaps Porzingis in Latvia and appears to be building a strong relationship with the rehabbing power forward, Ian Begley of ESPN writes. Fizdale said he’s trying to keep Porzingis in the loop as he works his way back from knee surgery. “We’ve talked about his rehab. We’ve talked about how we want to play, our style of play,” Fizdale told Begley. “Talked a lot about the culture that we’re building. We want to make sure that he comes back strong and healthy and we don’t want to rush it. … I’ve tried to make sure that he’s – we’ve been in communication on every decision that we’ve made.”
- The current Knicks’ front office is not fully committed to signing two top-level free agents next summer and that could be a good thing, as Sean Deveney of the Sporting News explains. The Knicks would have to clear a lot of cap space to get into that position and would likely have to give up a lottery pick to move a bad contract, Deveney continues. With a young core that includes Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Knox and Frank Ntilikina, dumping a high pick to improve their free-agent market prospects sounds unwise, Deveney adds.
The Knicks have signed free agent guard Kadeem Allen to a contract, the club announced today (via Twitter). Michael Scotto of The Athletic first reported the agreement (via Twitter).
Allen, who was selected 53rd overall in the 2017 draft by the Celtics, spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with Boston, but was waived by the club earlier this month.
While he only played sparingly in 18 games for the C’s in 2017/18, Allen had a strong showing for the Maine Red Claws in the G League, averaging 17.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.9 APG, and 2.2 SPG in 34 contests. The 25-year-old was also named to the NBAGL All-Defensive team.
Terms of Allen’s new deal aren’t yet known, but a training camp contract with little to no guaranteed money seems likely. Having signed Noah Vonleh already this week, the Knicks now have 19 players under contract — 17 on NBA deals and two more on two-way pacts. Teams can carry up to 20 players on their rosters during the offseason.
5:25pm: Begley is now reporting that Vonleh signed a one-year, partially guaranteed deal (via Twitter).
3:16pm: The Knicks have officially issued a press release announcing their deal with Vonleh.
2:54pm: The Knicks are making another addition to their roster, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Noah Vonleh.
The ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh has appeared in 231 games (113 starts) during his first four NBA seasons, but hasn’t developed into the kind of impact player that the Hornets were hoping for when they used a lottery pick to nab him.
The former Indiana standout has been traded twice since entering the league, having been sent from Charlotte to Portland to Chicago. The Bulls didn’t tender him a qualifying offer earlier this summer, so he entered the open market on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent.
In 54 total games last season for the Trail Blazers and Bulls, Vonleh averaged 4.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 16.2 minutes per contest.
The addition of Vonleh is an interesting one for the Knicks, who already have 14 guaranteed salaries – plus Trey Burke‘s non-guaranteed deal – on their books for 2018/19. Burke played well down the stretch for New York last season and is unlikely to be waived, so players like Joakim Noah and Ron Baker appear to be release candidates unless the club trades someone else before the regular season begins.
While a minimum-salary deal seems likely for Vonleh, the Knicks do have their bi-annual exception available to make a slightly more lucrative offer if necessary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Point guard Travis Trice has signed a training-camp deal with the Bucks, Keith Smith of RealGM.com tweets.
Trice has played for Milwaukee’s summer-league squad the last two years. He averaged 8.8 PPG and 4.0 APG in five games this summer in Las Vegas. The 6’2” Trice was on the Knicks’ G League team last season and has also played overseas in Lebanon and Australia. He appeared in nine games for the Westchester Knicks and averaged 21.1 PPG and 6.4 APG in nine games while making over half of his 3-point atttempts.
Trice, 25, was undrafted in 2015 out of Michigan State.
The Bucks have Eric Bledsoe, Matthew Dellavedova and Brandon Jennings on their point guard depth chart, though Jennings’ salary for next season has not yet been guaranteed.
JULY 23: Beasley’s contract with the Lakers is now official, the team announced today in a press release.
“Michael adds another component of versatility to our deep roster,” GM Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “His length and ability to guard multiple positions, stretch the floor, play-make and create his own shot are all essential characteristics for us. Coming off one of the finest years of his career, we think Michael is poised to have a very exciting and strong season for us.”
JULY 20: Free agent forward Michael Beasley has agreed to a contract with the Lakers, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. It’s a one-year, $3.5MM contract, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN (Twitter link).
Los Angeles used a big chunk of its $4,449,000 room exception to get Beasley in the fold.
Exactly what kind of role Beasley will carve out is a big question mark. He’ll join a forward rotation of LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lance Stephenson. Luol Deng is still on the roster as well, though Los Angeles is trying to find a way to dump his contract.
Beasley fits in with a locker room already full of volatile personalities. Along with Stephenson, the Lakers have also signed two other players this summer who are no strangers to controversy, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee.
Beasley, still just 29, has bounced around the league since the Heat made him the second pick in the 2008 draft. He’s also played for the Timberwolves, Suns, Rockets and Bucks before a productive stint with the Knicks last season. He averaged 13.2 PPG, his highest total since posting a career-best 19.2 PPG with Minnesota in 2010/11. He also averaged 5.6 RPG and 1.7 APG while appearing in 74 contests, including 30 starts.
The Knicks lost interest in bringing back Beasley after signing former Magic forward Mario Hezonja.
- Allonzo Trier has an outside chance to gain a spot on the 15-man Knicks roster after a solid showing in summer-league action, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Trier, an undrafted guard out of Arizona, has a two-way contract but if he makes a strong impression in training camp, it could be converted to a standard contract. The Knicks waived forward Troy Williams this week, trimming their 15-man roster to the league limit, and could open up another spot if they waive Joakim Noah and utilize the stretch provision for the remaining money on his bloated deal.