- If Michael Beasley was brought in specifically to replace Carmelo Anthony in the Knicks lineup, it’s news to him. The forward is eager to play alongside the 14-year veteran. “Listen, Carmelo’s been like my mentor,” Beasley told Steve Popper of USA Today. “If you watch my game, really watch my game, my jab series, all that, I’m literally just Carmelo on the left side of the floor. Like I’ve known Carmelo since I was 13 years old, one of my best friends, one of the best players I’ve ever met. Me and him are from the same area. I can’t wait to play with him.”
At this point in the NBA offseason, most free agents who remain on the open market will have to settle for minimum salary contracts, if they receive an NBA offer at all.
There are some exceptions, particularly on the restricted free agent market, where Mason Plumlee just signed a three-year, $41MM deal with the Nuggets. Within the last week or two though, we’ve seen top remaining unrestricted free agents like Shabazz Muhammad, Tony Allen, and Andrew Bogut settle for minimum salary contracts.
That’s good news for several teams who have used all their available cap room and/or exceptions and can only offer minimum salary contracts for the rest of the 2017/18 league year. They won’t necessarily be at a disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents if those players aren’t being offered more than the minimum by teams with the means to do so.
In some cases though, an inability to offer more than the minimum can handicap a team. Dante Cunningham‘s free agent decision this week reflects this — according to multiple reports, the deal Cunningham agreed to with the Pelicans is actually worth $2.3MM, which is more than his minimum salary of $2.1MM. While we haven’t seen the official terms of Cunningham’s new contract yet, it’s possible that the $200K difference was one reason Cunningham chose New Orleans over a suitor like the Timberwolves, who could only offer the minimum.
Teams with the flexibility to offer more than the minimum could also benefit later in the NBA season. For instance, if Dwyane Wade negotiates a buyout with the Bulls and considers which team to join as a free agent, the fact that the Heat have retained their $4.328MM room exception could be a factor — it would allow Miami to make a stronger offer than the Cavs could.
With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the teams that currently don’t have the ability to offer more than the minimum salary, which is $815,615 for a first-year player:
- Boston Celtics
- Detroit Pistons
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets: $350 of mid-level exception available
- Los Angeles Clippers: $774,770 of mid-level exception available
- Memphis Grizzlies: $1,440,385 of mid-level exception available, but will use at least $815,615 to sign Ivan Rabb.
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
Meanwhile, the following teams have less than $3.29MM (the value of the bi-annual exception) to offer to free agents:
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $2,549,143 of taxpayer mid-level exception available
- Utah Jazz: $1,128,000 of room exception available
- Washington Wizards: $1,902,000 of taxpayer mid-level exception available
Of course, just because a team has an exception available, that doesn’t mean the club will be eager to use it. Teams like the Bucks or Pelicans, for instance, still have various MLE and BAE exception money available, but their proximity to the luxury tax threshold will make them reluctant to offer more than the minimum salary to anyone the rest of the way.
For a full breakdown of how teams have used their mid-level, room, and bi-annual exceptions for the 2017/18 league year, be sure to check out our MLE tracker and BAE tracker.
It appears all but certain at this point that the Knicks will begin training camp with Carmelo Anthony still on their roster, but Anthony’s camp is holding out hope that the team can get a trade done before Monday, writes Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. According to Isola, Anthony and his family have “mentally” moved to Houston, having believed that the Knicks would get a deal done with the Rockets.
Unless the Knicks were bluffing all offseason about their unwillingness to take Ryan Anderson‘s contract in a trade with the Rockets, it doesn’t seem likely that the two teams will get a deal done in the coming days, so we’ll see what happens if and when Anthony has to report to camp with the Knicks.
The Knicks unveiled one of their latest signings, journeyman Michael Beasley, during a press conference at their Westchester training facility on Tuesday. Beasley, a former second overall pick from the 2008 draft class, is confident as he joins his fifth team in six seasons, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.
Beasley, 28, averaged 9.4 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 56 games (six starts) with the Bucks last season. It was Beasley’s first season playing more than 55 games since his 2012/13 campaign with the Suns. Beasley feels that if Carmelo Anthony stays, and the rest of the team performs up to expectations, the Knicks can be a “five, six seed” in the Eastern Conference.
“Tim Hardaway Jr., Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and myself — those are four guys that can score 25 points per game,’’ Beasley said. “Then you add in Lance Thomas, Kyle O’Quinn, Joakim Noah — let’s not forget about that All-Star,” Beasley said. “It’s up to us to put it together just like it was up to them last year. Whatever happened last year is what happened. But I’m here now, and I’m going to do everything I can to get everyone on the same page, even if that page is beating me up every day in practice.”
As we wait to see whether Beasley and the Knicks can deliver on his optimistic forecast, here are a few more Knicks notes:
- In a separate story, Berman of the New York Post, dubbing Beasley as a possible Anthony replacement, notes that Knicks assistant coach Kurt Rambis played a role in bringing Beasley to New York. Beasley played under Rambis in Minnesota, and he confirmed that his former coach “had a lot to do” with him joining the Knicks, per ESPN’s Ian Begley (Twitter link).
- After missing most of the last two seasons, 13-year veteran Jarrett Jack signed a deal with the Knicks last week. As Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes that the veteran likes the Knicks’ 2017 first-round pick, Frank Ntilikina. “He’s a solid kid, man,” Jack said. “Really, really can play. Really long arms, really active defensively. Great size. Just looking forward to giving him all the game that I’ve gotten over these 13 years.”
- Berman of The New York Post writes that early indications are that the triangle offense may be a thing of the past, as expected after Phil Jackson‘s departure. The aforementioned Jack, who spoke to reporters about his experience at voluntary workouts, said that coach Jeff Hornacek has not mentioned the offensive scheme once.
- Whether Anthony stays or traded elsewhere, his Knicks future is a no-win situation, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst have published an expansive and well-researched report on NBA teams’ finances, providing details on the league’s revenue sharing system, the impact from national and local television deals, and how a lack of net income for NBA franchises could push the league toward considering relocation or expansion.
The report is wide-ranging and detailed, so we’re going to tackle it by dividing it up into several sections, but it’s certainly worth reading in full to get a better picture of whether things stand in the NBA. Let’s dive in…
Which teams are losing money?
- Nine teams reportedly lost money last season, even after revenue sharing. Those clubs were the Hawks, Nets, Pistons, Grizzlies, Magic, Wizards, Bucks, Cavaliers, and Spurs. The latter two teams – Cleveland and San Antonio – initially came out ahead, but paid into the league’s revenue sharing program, pushing them into the red.
- Meanwhile, the Hornets, Kings, Pacers, Pelicans, Suns, Timberwolves, and Trail Blazers also would have lost money based on net income if not for revenue sharing, according to Lowe and Windhorst.
- As a league, the NBA is still doing very well — the overall net income for the 30 teams combined was $530MM, per ESPN. That number also only takes into account basketball income, and doesn’t include income generated via non-basketball events for teams that own their arenas.
- The players’ union and its economists have long been skeptical of NBA teams’ bookkeeping, alleging that clubs are using techniques to make themselves appear less profitable than they actually are, Windhorst and Lowe note. The union has the power to conduct its own audit of several teams per season, and it has begun to take advantage of that power — according to ESPN, the union audited five teams last season, and the new CBA will allow up to 10 teams to be audited going forward.
How does the gap between large and small market teams impact income?
- Even after paying $49MM in revenue sharing, the Lakers finished the 2016/17 with a $115MM profit in terms of net income, per ESPN. That was the highest profit in the NBA, ahead of the second-place Warriors, and could be attributed in large part to the $149MM the Lakers received from their huge local media rights deals.
- On the other end of the spectrum, the Grizzlies earned a league-low $9.4MM in local media rights, which significantly affected their bottom line — even after receiving $32MM in revenue sharing, Memphis lost money for the season. The Grizzlies will start a new TV deal this year that should help boost their revenue, but it still won’t come anywhere close to matching deals like the Lakers‘.
- The biggest local TV deals help drive up the NBA’s salary cap, with teams like the Lakers and Knicks earning in excess of $100MM from their media agreements. According to the ESPN report, the Knicks made $10MM more on their TV deal than the six lowest-earning teams combined.
- As one owner explained to ESPN, “National revenues drive up the cap, but local revenues are needed to keep up with player salaries. If a team can’t generate enough local revenues, they lose money.”
- Playoff revenue from a big-market team like the Warriors also helps push up the salary cap. Sources tell Lowe and Windhorst that Golden State made about $44.3MM in net income from just nine home playoff games last season, more than doubling the playoff revenue of the next-best team (the Cavaliers at about $20MM).
How is revenue sharing affecting teams’ earnings?
- Ten teams paid into the NBA’s revenue sharing system in 2016/17, with 15 teams receiving that money. The Sixers, Raptors, Nets, Heat, and Mavericks neither paid nor received any revenue sharing money. Four teams – the Warriors, Lakers, Bulls, and Knicks – accounted for $144MM of the total $201MM paid in revenue sharing.
- While there’s general agreement throughout the NBA that revenue sharing is working as intended, some teams have “bristled about the current scale of monetary redistribution,” according to ESPN. “The need for revenue sharing was supposed to be for special circumstances, not permanent subsidies,” one large-market team owner said.
- The Grizzlies, Hornets, Pacers, Bucks, and Jazz have each received at least $15MM apiece in each of the last four years via revenue sharing.
- However, not all small-market teams receive revenue-sharing money — if a team outperforms its expectations based on market size, it forfeits its right to that money. For instance, the Thunder and Spurs have each paid into revenue sharing for the last six years.
Why might league-wide income issues lead to relocation or expansion?
- At least one team owner has raised the idea of expansion, since an expansion fee for a new franchise could exceed $1 billion and it wouldn’t be subject to splitting 50/50 with players. A $1 billion expansion fee split 30 ways would work out to $33MM+ per team.
- Meanwhile, larger-market teams who aren’t thrilled about their revenue-sharing fees have suggested that small-market clubs losing money every year should consider relocating to bigger markets, sources tell ESPN.
- As Lowe and Windhorst observe, the Pistons – who lost more money than any other team last season – are undergoing a relocation of sorts, moving from the suburbs to downtown Detroit, in the hopes that the move will help boost revenue.
What are the next steps? Are changes coming?
- The gap between the most and least profitable NBA teams is expected to be addressed at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting next week, per Lowe and Windhorst. Team owners have scheduled a half-day review of the league’s revenue sharing system.
- Obviously, large- and small-market teams view the issue differently. While some large-market teams have complained about the revenue sharing system, they’re outnumbered, with smaller-market teams pushing those more successful clubs to share more of their profits, according to ESPN.
- Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen is one of the loudest voices pushing for more “robust” revenue sharing, sources tell ESPN. Some team owners have argued that the system should ensure all teams make a profit, while one even suggested every team should be guaranteed a $20MM profit. There will be “pushback” on those ideas, Lowe and Windhorst note. “This is a club where everyone knows the rules when they buy in,” one owner said.
- On the other end of the spectrum, some teams have floated the idea of limiting the amount of revenue sharing money a team can receive if it has been taking payments for several consecutive years.
- Any change to the revenue sharing system that is formally proposed at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting would require a simple majority (16 votes to 14) to pass.
Carmelo Anthony‘s college coach says Phil Jackson should have traded the Knicks star before being fired in June, relays Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog. “I think in reality it would’ve been better if they let Phil make the trade and then got rid of him,” said Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. “Now the new guys are going to be held responsible for the deal and nobody’s going to give much up [for Anthony in a trade]. So they’re going to end up not getting a lot for him and it’s really because of what Phil did in poisoning the air.”
- In his latest mailbag, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton examines Anthony’s rating of 64th in the network’s list of top 100 players and explains why it’s justified. He shows that the Knicks forward’s usage and efficiency rates have declined steadily since 2012/13.
SEPTEMBER 15, 12:17pm: Jack has officially signed his one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Knicks, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
SEPTEMBER 14, 4:10pm: The Knicks have agreed on a deal with veteran point guard Jarrett Jack, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders writes. The deal is said to be a one-year, non-guaranteed pact.
We wrote just last week that the Knicks were in the market for a veteran point guard, supposedly considering a number of options ranging from Jack to Trey Burke and Archie Goodwin. Already rostered on the squad are Ramon Sessions and promising – but raw – lottery pick Frank Ntilikina.
Where Jack slots into the Knicks’ plans remains to be seen. The deal that Scotto reports is non-guaranteed, so it’s possible that the club will simply gauge Jack’s effectiveness through training camp. The 33-year-old has been ravaged by injuries since the first half of the 2015/16 season.
If Jack can establish himself as reliably healthy – a potentially significant “if” – he could potentially slot into the starting position ahead of Sessions, a career backup. If Jack ends up getting released, Sessions and second-year man Ron Baker could share the role until Ntilikina is ready to assume the top spot, which may not happen this season.
Through 12 seasons, including 343 starts, Jack has averaged 11.0 points and 4.5 assists per game. Aside from a two-game stint with the Pelicans last season, Jack’s last stint saw him post 12.2 and 5.4 across two seasons with the Nets.
With NBA training camps just a couple weeks away, most teams are putting the finishing touches on their respective rosters. In addition to having secured at least a dozen players on guaranteed contracts and perhaps a handful of camp invitees, each NBA club has also signed at least one player to a two-way contract.
As we explain in depth in our FAQ, two-way contracts – a new concept under the league’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement – allow NBA teams to carry two extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players spend most of their time with the club’s G League affiliate, but are eligible to join the NBA roster for up to 45 days per season, and remain under team control — they can’t be poached by rival franchises.
Teams have been signing players to two-way contracts since July, so we’re starting to get a better idea of what players on those deals will look like — some are late second-round draft picks; some are undrafted rookies; others are G League or international veterans, or former NBA players looking to work their way back into the league.
Every NBA club has signed at least one player to a two-way deal, but only half of those 30 clubs have filled both spots, meaning that there are still 15 two-way openings around the league. With the help of our two-way tracker, here’s a breakdown of the teams that still have an open two-way slot:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Dallas Mavericks
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Portland Trail Blazers
While the Suns and Jazz technically could be included on this list, they’ve reportedly reached agreements – with Alec Peters and Nate Wolters, respectively – to fill their second two-way slots, so unless those deals unexpectedly fall through, they won’t have any openings.
Although some of these two-way openings figure to be filled in advance of training camp, many of the clubs listed above have signed camp invitees to Exhibit 10 contracts, which can later be converted into two-way deals. So rather than signing someone new and waiving a camp invitee, a handful of teams may simply convert an Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way contract before the regular season begins.
Whether we’ll see it during the season remains uncertain, but Carmelo Anthony, James Harden and Chris Paul were all on the same team Monday. The three stars joined forces in a pickup game in New York, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, who links to some video of the event. Other NBA players such as Russell Westbrook, Enes Kanter, JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried were also involved, but the focus was on Anthony, Harden and Paul.
Anthony has made no secret of his desire to join the two All-Star guards in Houston, reportedly telling Knicks management that he will only waive his no-trade cause if he can join the Rockets. New York’s front office tried to accommodate him, but talks have slowed recently. The Rockets have been unable to find an additional team to facilitate a deal to the Knicks’ liking, and it appears Anthony may not be traded before training camps open in two weeks.
There’s more basketball news from New York City:
- ESPN’s Chris Herring examines whether Anthony should still be considered an elite player at age 33. He finished 64th in the network’s rankings of the top 100 NBA players that were released today, dropping 33 spots from a year ago. Anthony’s rating has been hurt by four straight non-playoff seasons, Herring explains, and the Knicks’ desire to trade him and build around Kristaps Porzingis.
- Knicks officials were very interested in today’s EuroBasket matchup that pitted Porzingis’ Latvia team against 18-year-old Luka Doncic and Slovenia, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. The Knicks have a large group of scouts and other representatives at the game and have a strong interest in Doncic, a 6’7″ forward who is considered among the top prospects for the 2018 draft.
- The Rockets sold for a record $2.2 billion last week, but the Knicks could easily top that if they ever hit the market, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN. One analyst has estimated the team’s worth at $3.5 billion.
- The Knicks are doing the right thing by rebuilding around young players, but there’s not much hope for the upcoming season, according to the staff at Basketball Insiders. In their season preview, all five writers forecast New York to finish fourth or fifth in the Atlantic Division.
- Earlier today, we passed along details on Charles Oakley‘s civil suit against James Dolan and MSG.
2.24pm: The Knicks have issued a response to Oakley’s suit, calling it “frivolous” and a way to get attention, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.
1:39pm: Former Knicks star Charles Oakley filed a civil suit today relating to his removal from Madison Square Garden in February, according to Victoria Bekiempis and Stephen Rex Brown of The New York Daily News. The suit accuses Knicks owner James Dolan and MSG of defamation and discrimination, saying they falsely smeared him as a drunk in the wake of the incident.
“One person who could not abide by Mr. Oakley’s refusal to meekly submit to people in positions of power was Defendant James Dolan,” the suit alleges. It also claims Dolan wouldn’t shake hands or make eye contact with Oakley, refused to invite him to fan appreciation gatherings and made him pay for tickets to games. Oakley was a frequent critic of Knicks management and had a strained relationship with Dolan before the public incident.
Their feud reached a boiling point February 8 when Dolan ordered security guards to remove Oakley from Madison Square Garden. Oakley resisted and claimed in the suit that he was “treated like a common criminal.” The clash was caught on camera and turned into a huge public relations fiasco for the team.
Oakley was arrested and charged with assault, but that was dropped in an August plea agreement that requires him to stay out of trouble for six months and avoid Madison Square Garden for a year. Dolan issued a lifetime ban from MSG for Oakley that was later rescinded and accused him of having a drinking problem.
“Dolan and MSG have caused irreparable harm to his name and career and discriminated against him based on the false perception that he is an alcoholic, all in a transparent attempt to denigrate his standing among Knicks fans,” the suit reads. “However, as he did throughout his playing career, Mr. Oakley has refused to walk to the bench in shame. Instead, holding his head up high, Mr. Oakley files this complaint to set the record straight.”
The suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court cites defamation, assault, battery, false imprisonment and abuse of process claims. Oakley is also suing under the Americans With Disabilities Act, along with city and state human rights laws, claiming Dolan and MSG denied him entrance to the Garden “based on their perception that he suffers from alcoholism, a disability.”