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Offseason In Review

Offseason In Review: Philadelphia 76ers

October 3rd, 2016 at 4:59pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Philadelphia 76ers.

Free agent signings:

Draft-and-stash signings:

Camp invitees:

  • Cat Barber: Two years, minimum salary ($50K guaranteed)
  • Shawn Long: Two years, minimum salary ($65K guaranteed)
  • Brandon Paul: Two years, minimum salary ($155K guaranteed)
  • James Webb III: Two years, minimum salary (no guarantee)

Trades:

Draft picks:

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Check out our salary cap snapshot for the Philadelphia 76ers right here.

The 2016 offseason brought optimism to the city of Philadelphia. The Sixers won the NBA lottery and landed the franchise player they had been patiently waiting for. Now, after a three-year tanking spree in which the team won just 47 games, it will take a step forward in its quest to move up the standings and become a true title contender.Ben Simmons vertical

The Sixers will go as far as Ben Simmons will take them and he has the potential to achieve great things with this team. Simmons had an excellent Summer League and was the favorite to win the rookie of the year award before he fractured a bone in his right foot last week.

The city is numb to terrible basketball news, with Simmons’ injury representing the latest instance of a top draft pick being unable to take the court to begin his first NBA season. Nerlens Noel missed his rookie campaign because of a knee injury and Joel Embiid missed his first two seasons with a foot injury. “There is nobody, sadly, that’s had more experience dealing with injured draft picks than we have.” coach Brett Brown said to Comcast Sportsnet. “Over the course of time, you learn how to best deal with it. I have seen this every year I’ve been here.”

Simmons will likely undergo surgery and he is expected to miss three months of action following the procedure. Still, the team remains optimistic, as there is chatter about how Simmons’ extended absence will allow him to sit in a chair and re-make his jumpshot (hat tip to Jessica Camerato of CSN Philly).

The loss of Simmons will open up playing time for Dario Saric, as well as allow Joel Embiid to get more run at the power forward position. Embiid declared himself healthy toward the end of the summer and he has looked explosive in many of the videos of him working out, which he released on his Twitter feed. Like Simmons, Embiid has the potential to be the team’s franchise player. He could become one of the league’s best bigs or he could continue to struggle to stay on the court — no outcome would be particularly surprising for the Cameroon native.

Over the long term, Embiid should play center. However, he’ll likely spend much of his rookie campaign playing the four so the team can evaluate how he meshes as a frontcourt partner with either Jahlil Okafor or Noel. The team already knows the Noel-Okafor pairing doesn’t work. It was disastrous last season, as Philadelphia was outscored by 18.7 points per 100 possessions when the duo shared the floor together. That figure was the worst in the league for any pair of teammates that didn’t include Roy Hibbert (the Hibbert-Kobe Bryant combination was the worst in the league, followed by the Hibbert-Julius Randle combo).

There was speculation all summer suggesting Philadelphia would move one of its centers in a deal, but nothing materialized, which leaves a logjam at the center position. In the days leading up to training camp, Noel called the logjam “silly” and added that he doesn’t see “any way of it working.” While Noel didn’t demand a trade, I’ll speculate that he’s the player the Sixers will ship out, should they make a deal. With all three centers on their rookie deals, Philadelphia doesn’t necessarily have to make a trade right now, though Noel is currently eligible for an extension. President of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo insisted that the team isn’t in a rush to make any moves and it’s likely the the health of Embiid will dictate if and when a deal is made.

The atmosphere surrounding the team will be a little different this year after Colangelo added several veterans, something that pleases coach Brown. New addition Sergio Rodriguez, who has 10 years of professional basketball experience, has impressed the head coach thus far in camp. “He just has a real gift for understanding especially offensive tempo,” Brown said. Rodriguez will compete with new addition Jerryd Bayless for the team’s starting point guard position, but both players will see plenty of minutes and how they run the offense will be paramount to the development of the team’s young frontcourt.

The addition of a few veterans helps ensure that Brown will have a full rotation of NBA-caliber players at his disposal, something that the franchise hasn’t had for a few seasons. While those acquisitions are nice, they won’t help the team drastically improve in the win column. Philadelphia could have gambled on young talent with much more upside in free agency — Harrison Barnes was a feasible option, as I discussed in the team’s Offseason Outlook. Instead, Colangelo resisted throwing huge sums of money at non-stars, resulting in a conservative summer overall for the new administration.

The 2015/16 Sixers lost 39 games by 10 points or more and only managed to win a total of 10 games. The Colangelo administration responded to the historic campaign with an impressive, meticulous offseason that started with the drafting of Simmons. This season, Philly will likely be on the losing end of blowouts less often, and the club should be able to bring home somewhere between 20 and 30 wins. It may be a modest step forward, but the team looks to have a bright future, with a more defined direction than in previous years.

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

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Offseason In Review: Brooklyn Nets

October 2nd, 2016 at 11:34am CST by Eddie Scarito

Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Brooklyn Nets.

Free agent signings:

Camp invitees:

Trades:

Draft picks:

  • 1-20: Caris LeVert. Signed to rookie contract.
  • 2-42: Isaiah Whitehead. Signed for four years, $4.586MM. Third year non-guaranteed, fourth year team option.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Check out our salary cap snapshot for the Brooklyn Nets right here.

NBA: Brooklyn Nets-Media DayThe Nets have a truly daunting task ahead of them as the franchise tries to dig itself out of the tremendous hole it’s currently in. Brooklyn is, and will be, paying for past mistakes over the next few campaigns. Thanks to ill-advised trades that sacrificed the future for a shot at immediate glory and New York relevancy, the Nets will have to rely on development from within if the team hopes to improve on its dreadful 21 wins of a season ago.

Under normal circumstances, fans of the team could at least spend the 2016/17 season dreaming about a shot at landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft as the team bottoms out. Instead, it’s Celtics fans who will be watching the standings and praying Brooklyn ends up with the worst overall record in the league, since Boston holds the right to swap first-rounders with the Nets thanks to the 2013 trade that brought Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce into the fold.

Still, there is a sliver of hope in Brooklyn in the form of GM Sean Marks – who took over last season – and new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who brings with him enthusiasm, offensive acumen and his experience from working under Gregg Popovich disciple Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta. Say what you will about the Nets’ talent level, but if any coach can get the team to play hard and perform above expectations, Atkinson looks like that guy. It also appears that team owner Mikhail Prokhorov has learned his lesson and will afford the new regime the patience to rebuild the team the right way. That’s a luxury that former GM Billy King was never quite afforded by the Russian billionaire.

The team’s top player remains center Brook Lopez, a player who spent a good portion of last season as the subject of trade rumors. The situation with Lopez remains a tricky one for the franchise. Trading him away and plummeting further in the standings would bear no fruit on draft night since Boston is projected to be a playoff team this year. But hanging onto the big man, who is an injury risk, as well as only under contract through the 2017/18 season, isn’t necessarily the wise move either. If the Nets were able to land a solid package of draft picks and/or younger players who could contribute in exchange for the big man, it may be prudent to jump at the chance since the team isn’t likely to return to contention during his tenure.

Given that the Nets are not currently viewed as a desirable destination for upper-tier unrestricted free agents, Brooklyn tried to strike gold in the restricted free agent market this summer. Brooklyn tried to build itself a new backcourt by signing Tyler Johnson to a four-year, $50MM offer sheet and Allen Crabbe to one worth nearly $75MM over four years. Adding one or both players could have been a game-changer for the Nets’ future, but alas, both players’ respective teams matched the offers and Brooklyn was back to square one. While I’m not certain Johnson is worthy of that investment given his small sample size, Crabbe could have become a legitimate two-way star for the Nets. Despite not landing either player, Marks deserves some credit for working the market and making two bold offers in an effort to improve his club.

Having struck out in restricted free agency, Brooklyn went to plan B, signing Jeremy Lin to a three-year, $36MM pact. While Lin has never been able to live up to the hype that “Linsanity” generated during his brief stay with the Knicks, he is a solid player and citizen who will provide a stabilizing influence at a critical position on the floor. Given what the team’s backcourt depth chart looks like, Lin will see plenty of minutes and should put up solid numbers in Atkinson’s system. With the dramatic increase in the salary cap and his solid play for the Hornets last season (11.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 3.0 APG), nabbing Lin for approximately $12MM per year is an excellent value. He’s not the long-term answer at the one spot for the franchise, but Lin will give the team its money’s worth over the life of the pact.

One of the more puzzling moves the team made this summer, considering the Nets are not technically in rebuilding mode given the relative age of the team’s roster, was trading away Thaddeus Young on draft night to the Pacers for the No. 20 overall pick, which was used to select Michigan’s Caris LeVert. Young put up solid numbers during his time in Brooklyn, averaging 15.1 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 51.4% from the field in 2015/16. Those numbers will be difficult to replace and Young’s game seems like a solid fit in Atkinson’s system.

As for the player Brooklyn received in return, LeVert has suffered three foot fractures already during his young career, the latest of which will likely keep him out of action until close to mid-season. The Nets are extremely high on LeVert’s potential, but given the state of the franchise and its lack of draft picks the next two years, he represents a very risky acquisition. If LeVert can recover from his latest surgery and remain healthy, then nabbing the shooting guard will be considered a coup for the franchise. I’m just not sold on that coming to pass.

To fill out its roster, the team added a number of veteran players that it hopes can pay dividends this season. The most interesting of which is Trevor Booker, whose toughness and rebounding ability should play well with the fans in Brooklyn. Also joining the team is former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, who has reportedly looked good during training camp. If Atkinson can salvage Bennett’s career, the team will be all the better for it.

It will likely be a long season for the Nets and their fans, and it’s unreasonable to expect much improvement over last year’s win total. With a number of Eastern Conference squads fortifying their rosters over the offseason, there’s a very real chance that the Nets will end up with the worst record in the league. However, for the first time in what seems to be an eternity, Brooklyn appears to be moving in the right direction as a franchise. If Atkinson can work his magic and get this collection of players to perform above expectations, perceptions about the team may change and next summer’s free agents may indeed give serious consideration to coming to Brooklyn.

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

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Offseason In Review: Toronto Raptors

October 1st, 2016 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Toronto Raptors.

Free agent signings:

Camp invitees:

Trades:

  • None

Draft picks:

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

  • Named Jerry Stackhouse the head coach of Raptors 905, their D-League affiliate.
  • Signed president Masai Ujiri to a contract extension and promoted Jeff Weltman to general manager.
  • Extended qualifying offer to Nando De Colo to retain his NBA rights.

Check out our salary cap snapshot for the Toronto Raptors right here.

Toronto has not typically been a popular free agent destination since the Raptors entered the NBA in 1995, with top players often balking at the idea of moving to another country – a colder one, at that – to join a franchise that had won just a single playoff series over the course of two decades.DeMar DeRozan / Jonas Valanciunas / Kyle Lowry vertical

When the Raptors have splashed around in free agency, the moves have often been ill-advised — the team’s list of big-money signees over the years includes Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Kapono, Linas Kleiza, Rafer Alston, and Landry Fields. When HoopsHype named the top 10 free agent signings in franchise history earlier this year, a pair of solid but unspectacular role players, Jose Calderon and Anthony Parker, topped the list.

Taking that history into account, 2016 has been a massive year for the franchise, which won a seven-game postseason series for the first time in Raptors history, then won another one in the second round. After their most successful season ever, the Raptors also enjoyed one of their most successful offseasons, locking up free agent guard DeMar DeRozan to a five-year, $137.5MM deal, easily the largest contract in franchise history — not to mention one of the largest in NBA history.

DeRozan’s free agency came at a time in his career when previous Raptors stars have typically decided they no longer want to be in Toronto, and have taken their talents elsewhere in free agency (Chris Bosh) or pushed for a trade (Vince Carter). Lakers-related rumors swirled around DeRozan for months leading up to his free agency, but the Compton native never seriously considered signing with any team besides the Raptors, reaching an agreement with Toronto during the early-morning hours on July 1, shortly after negotiations began.

DeRozan’s decision to stick with the Raptors is a strong signal that the franchise has turned a corner under the leadership of team president Masai Ujiri, who received a new contract extension this summer. Even before DeRozan re-signed, Ujiri had shown signs of turning around the Raptors’ free agent fortunes, inking Cory Joseph and DeMarre Carroll to multiyear deals in 2015. While Carroll’s first year with the club was marred by health issues, both players looked like good fits when they were on the court.

Still, Joseph and Carroll have skill-sets that line up well with how modern NBA games are played, but it’s not clear if the same can be said of DeRozan. The 27-year-old is a career 28.3% shooter from long range, preferring to take the majority of his jump shots from just inside the arc. And while he increased his overall field goal percentage to 44.6% in 2015/16, his best mark in five years, the Raptors had nearly as high an offensive rating when he was off the court (106.7) as when he was on it (107.1) — and the club’s defensive rating was noticeably better when DeRozan was on the bench (99.4, compared to 104.1).

That’s not to say that the Raptors should have let DeRozan leave. He’s an extremely talented scorer who shoots a ton of free throws and who has been working to improve his three-point shot. Toronto’s cap situation also likely would have prevented the team from landing another star if they’d passed on DeRozan, and the optics of an All-Star player choosing to sign long-term with the Raptors are great for the franchise. Nonetheless, for a player who will make $27.5MM annually over the life of his contract though, DeRozan will have to keep tweaking and improving his game to make the deal a strong investment for the club.

If the Raptors hadn’t re-signed DeRozan, the team likely would have made a stronger effort to bring back Bismack Biyombo, who had a breakout postseason performance, particularly after Jonas Valanciunas went down with an ankle injury. Biyombo was a fan favorite in Toronto, but Ujiri was probably wise not to pay a premium for a couple impressive months. While Biyombo is still young and could continue to show improvement, he wasn’t going to be the starter in Toronto anytime soon, with Valanciunas under contract through at least 2019. The four-year, $68MM contract Biyombo received from Orlando would have been unpalatable for the Raptors.

In addition to Biyombo, the Raptors also lost veteran rotation players Luis Scola and James Johnson. Unlike Biyombo, both Scola and Johnson saw their roles significantly reduced in the playoffs, but the duo helped provide depth throughout the season, so the Raptors needed to identify replacements this summer.

The primary beneficiary of those departures will be new power forward Jared Sullinger, who figures to be Toronto’s starter at the four, with Patrick Patterson coming off the bench. The team signed Sullinger to a one-year contract using its mid-level exception after missing out on veteran free agent Pau Gasol, who signed with the Spurs.

Having averaged a career-high 8.3 rebounds per game in 2015/16, Sullinger will help out on the boards, but the Raptors also want him to be willing to take plenty of three-point attempts. Scola had made just 10 of his 60 career three-point shots prior to last season, but made over 40% of 161 tries in his lone season in Toronto. The Raps will hope to repeat that success with Sullinger, a career 27.6% shooter from long distance, encouraging him to attempt corner threes whenever he has the opportunity. If he can improve his marksmanship from outside, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to contribute on both ends of the court, helping to make up for the departures of both Biyombo and Scola.

The Raptors’ other two key additions are first-round rookies, as center Jakob Poeltl and power forward Pascal Siakam enter the mix. With a consensus top eight prospects in this year’s draft, the No. 9 spot, where the Raptors snagged Poeltl, was the first selection that was really up in the air. Toronto could’ve selected another big man like Domantas Sabonis at that spot, so it’ll be interesting to monitor Poeltl’s development to determine whether the team made the right call. The young center made nearly 66% of his shot attempts during his two years at Utah, showing the ability to score around the basket — while he may not begin the year as Valanciunas’ top backup at center, he could earn that role over the course of the season.

As for Siakam, he was viewed as a slight reach at No. 27, but the Raptors didn’t have a second-round selection, and they seem high on the young forward. Siakam is a high-motor, max-effort player, having averaged an eye-popping 11.6 RPG last season at New Mexico State. If he impresses during the preseason, I expect he’ll have some opportunities to earn regular season minutes, providing energy off the bench.

The Raptors already have a few young players, including former first-rounders Lucas Nogueira, Bruno Caboclo, and Delon Wright, who didn’t see the floor a whole lot last season, so it’s worth keeping an eye on how head coach Dwane Casey disperses playing time among the under-25 set. If newcomers like Poeltl and Siakam quickly usurp Nogueira and Caboclo in the pecking order, it may not be a great sign for the incumbents’ potential to become rotation players.

As they prepare to enter the 2016/17 season, these Raptors look awfully similar to last year’s version, with a few tweaks around the edges. While some observers expect the club to take a step back after winning a franchise-record 56 games a year ago, Toronto will have continuity on its side, and with young players like Valanciunas, Joseph, Terrence Ross, and Norman Powell still on the rise, there’s potential for some improvement from within.

Surpassing last year’s 56-win total might not be a realistic expectation, but the Raptors should remain a strong contender in the East, relying on veteran stars like DeRozan and Kyle Lowry to carry the load. More importantly for the franchise, the last several months have proven that Toronto can be a place where standout players want to play, and a place where they believe they can win. That shift in perception could be crucial for Ujiri and the Raptors going forward as they attempt to add a few more pieces to make the team a title contender.

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

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Offseason In Review: New York Knicks

September 30th, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the New York Knicks.

Free agent signings:

Draft-and-stash signings:

Camp invitees:

  • Ron Baker: One year, minimum salary ($75K guaranteed)
  • Chasson Randle: One year, minimum salary ($100K guaranteed)
  • J.P. Tokoto: One year, minimum salary ($100K guaranteed)

Trades:

Draft picks:

  • None

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Check out our salary cap snapshot for the New York Knicks right here.

The Knicks entered the offseason as a franchise at a crossroads, needing to choose between hitting the reset button and building around Kristaps Porzingis, or attempting to maximize Carmelo Anthony‘s few remaining productive seasons by adding veterans who could step in and contribute immediately.Derrick Rose vertical

Team president Phil Jackson chose the latter, adding a number of talented players who have the potential to help New York return to the postseason, but carry with them significant injury concerns. Are the Knicks a better team on paper than a season ago? Absolutely. But just how many games the team can expect to get out of the trio of Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings and Joakim Noah remains to be seen.

New York made its biggest strides as a team this summer by improving on its woeful backcourt of a season ago. The addition of Rose is a gamble that could pay off significantly for the team if the 27-year-old can remain healthy. This is obviously not a given, considering he has averaged just 33 games per season over the last five campaigns. Given his track record, not to mention the grind of back-to-back games that take a terrible toll on players, it isn’t realistic by any means to expect Rose to play in 82 contests. But if he can be a semblance of his former self for 60 to 65 games, which I believe is a realistic target, then Jackson’s gambit of acquiring him in a contract year may end up working in the short term.

With Rose as the starter, the Knicks will need depth at the point — not just in the event that disaster strikes, but to allow him to sit out the occasional game to rest. This is where things get a bit frightening for fans of the team. While I love the addition of Jennings, especially at the bargain price of $5MM for one year, he’s coming off of a ruptured Achilles tendon and is no sure bet to avoid sitting behind the bench in street clothes for stretches of the campaign. The only other point guard currently on the roster is undrafted rookie Chasson Randle, who is probably better suited to log minutes in Westchester for the team’s D-League affiliate this season than in Madison Square Garden. If the franchise is serious about making a playoff push this season, it should seriously consider signing Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole, the two top remaining free agents at the position. If Sasha Vujacic ends up becoming the fallback option as playmaker, ‘Melo may end up regretting not pushing for a trade this summer.

For the second summer in a row, Jackson added a shooting guard via free agency. Last year’s signing of Arron Afflalo failed miserably, with the team essentially pushing him out of MSG, shutting the doors, changing the locks and turning off lights once he opted out of his deal. Courtney Lee should be a much better fit for New York than Afflalo was, especially if new coach Jeff Hornacek is given free reign with the offense and not forced to stick with the triangle as his predecessors, Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis, were. Lee’s solid defense and three-point shooting will be a boon to the team, though inking the 30-year-old to a four-year, $48MM+ deal is a bit of a gamble given his career scoring average of 9.6 PPG.

Speaking of risks, the signing of Noah to a four-year, $72MM+ pact is perhaps the biggest roll of the dice this offseason for Jackson. There’s no denying that Noah, when healthy, can impact the game on both ends of the court. The 31-year-old is almost assuredly going to become a fan favorite in New York, but he has only averaged 63.5 games per season during his nine-year NBA career, and big men don’t generally grow more durable once they reach their 30s. This contract not only has the potential to become an albatross around the Knicks’ necks; it could negatively impact the development of Porzingis, whose best position may ultimately be at center. Anything that could have an adverse effect on the second-year player and potential superstar is a bad thing for the franchise.

It’s in no way a given, but if the majority of their players can remain healthy this season, the Knicks should improve upon the 32 wins they notched in 2015/16. Still, I’d be wary of expecting too drastic an improvement, as the eight seed and 40-42 wins seems like a favorable scenario for New York this year.

With Rose and Jennings each only signed for one year, it’s possible the franchise will find itself rebuilding and/or retooling in 2017. If that’s the case, Jackson needs to look in the mirror and ask himself if making the Knicks a borderline playoff contender this season was worth not tearing down the team and starting anew.

Of course, the Zen Master could be gone next summer, since he has the ability to opt out, leaving the cleanup to someone else. By that time, Anthony will be a another year past his prime and will hold less trade value than he did the past two seasons. It’s been 43 years since the Knicks won an NBA title, and it may be a few more years before fans have another legitimate shot at cheering for a champion.

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

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2015 Offseason In Review Series

December 1st, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Most of the NBA’s major offseason moves take place in July, but many significant transactions take place just as the season begins, as the Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson can attest. We at Hoops Rumors took a look at the full arc of the 2015 offseason, team by team, throughout November. The pieces linked below recapped and examined the offseason moves for each of the league’s 30 clubs, encompassing the June draft and going all the way up to the extensions and option decisions that took place in the season’s first week. If you missed any of our Offseason in Review posts, you can see them here, and this post will be linked on the sidebar under the “Featured Posts” menu.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Central Division

Southeast Division

Western Conference

Northwest Division

Pacific Division

Southwest Division

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Offseason In Review: Utah Jazz

November 30th, 2015 at 10:36pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Extensions

  • None

Trades

  • Acquired $1.5MM from the Trail Blazers in exchange for the draft rights to Daniel Diez, the 2015 No. 54 overall pick.

Waiver Claims

Draft Picks

  • Trey Lyles (Round 1, 12th overall). Signed via rookie exception to rookie scale contract.
  • Tibor Pleiss (Round 2, 2010, 31st overall). Signed via cap room for three years, $9MM. Third year is partially guaranteed for $500K.
  • Olivier Hanlan (Round 2, 42nd overall). Signed overseas.
  • Raul Neto (Round 2, 2013, 47th overall). Signed via cap room for three years, $2.9MM. Third year is non-guaranteed.

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

The Jazz began to look like a real contender over the second half of last season and one strategy entering the 2015 offseason would have been to make a major acquisition to take the team to the next level. However, Utah wasn’t going to take any shortcuts. Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin O’Connor and GM Dennis Lindsey have built the team’s foundation over the past several years and this summer was about supplementing the young core that the executive tamdem had already assembled.

Nov 30, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) dunks the ball during the first half against the Golden State Warriors at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Russ Isabella/USA TODAY Sports

The seeds of this team’s success were planted nearly five years ago when Utah traded Deron Williams to the Nets. In retrospect, the trade was an outstanding sell-high moment for the franchise and it provided an important building block for the future. Derrick Favors was the prize of the trade and he has developed into a force on both ends of the floor. The other pieces in the trade didn’t produce any significant building blocks, although one piece indirectly shaped the franchise going forward.

Enes Kanter, whom the Jazz took with the Nets’ first round pick in 2011, showed some promise with Utah, but after three and a half seasons, the Jazz gave up on the Kanter-Favors pairing and shipped Kanter to Oklahoma City. In return, the Jazz netted a few picks and the rights to Tibor Pleiss, whom the team signed to a three year, $9MM deal this offseason. Pleiss wasn’t expected to soak up major minutes, but he gives the team frontcourt depth in case of injuries.

The real value of the Kanter trade came in the form of minutes for Rudy Gobert, whose sudden emergence, as Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune told Hoops Rumors, no one saw coming. Once coach Quin Snyder inserted Gobert into the starting lineup, the team’s defense really started to hum. The success carried over this season, as Utah ranks third in the league in points allowed per game. Gobert is sixth in the league in rebounds thus far in the season with 10.8 per contest and second in the league in blocks with 2.77 per game.

The Jazz added another athletic big man when they used the No. 12 overall pick on Trey Lyles. The 6’10” Lyles, a power forward, often played out of position as a small forward at Kentucky, but the experience allowed him to develop a perimeter game, as Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors detailed in his Prospect Profile.  The 20-year-old has the length and frame to play both power forward and center and Snyder has given him run at the four and the five this season. He hasn’t seen many offensive opportunities thus far, scoring only 2.1 points in 8.5 minutes per game. The team isn’t really counting on him for production this season, as he’s viewed as more of a long-term project.

Utah was counting on Dante Exum to take the next step in his game, but the Australian tore the ACL in his left knee late in the summer and isn’t expected to play during the 2015/16 campaign. The Jazz didn’t respond to the Exum news with a major transaction, even though they had the cap room — nearly $7.27MM — to make a substantial offer to a free agent. Instead, they increased the roles of the players who were already in house. The Jazz inserted Raul Neto, who signed a three-year, $2.9MM deal with the team earlier in the offseason, into the starting lineup and he has impressed in 18.0 minutes per game this season. Neto is snatching 1.2 steals per game and the only point guard who ranks ahead of him in ESPN’s Real Defensive Plus/Minus is Kyle Lowry. Trey Burke is getting 21.5 minutes per game, but he’s improved since last season, shooting 44.9% from behind the arc while sporting a player efficiency rating of 15.8.

The play of Burke and Neto will be crucial this season, but the development of Alec Burks, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, will be key to the team’s success as well. Snyder has used Burks off the bench and at times as a de facto point guard this season and the Colorado product has meshed well with fellow wings Gordon Hayward, Joe Ingles and Rodney Hood. Burks is only dishing out 2.0 assists per game, but he’s scoring 15.1 points per game and shooting 39.5% from 3-point range, with a player efficiency rating of 16.2. If Burks can continue to progress on the defensive end and demonstrate that he can be proficient at both backcourt positions, his four-year, $42MM extension from the fall of 2014 will start to look like a bargain and the team will have serious sleeper potential.

The Jazz want to develop their core. They’re counting on Hayward, Hood, Burks, Favors and Gobert to take the next step together and form a contender in a loaded Western Conference. Development takes time. The franchise could have tried to accelerate the process this past summer by signing a few veterans or trading for an established talent. However, that’s not the front office’s current objective and a quiet offseason sounds like it was a solid plan for an up-and-coming team.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of it.

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Offseason In Review: Houston Rockets

November 28th, 2015 at 7:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Extensions

  • None

Trades

Waiver Claims

Draft Picks

  • Sam Dekker (Round 1, 18th overall). Signed via rookie scale exception to rookie scale contract.
  • Montrezl Harrell (Round 2, 32nd overall). Signed via mid-level exception for three years, $3.135MM.

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

The Rockets were having a wonderful offseason until something went wrong — they started playing games.

"Nov

Thomas B. Shea/USA TODAY Sports Images

After landing two projected first-round talents in the draft, re-signing nearly everyone from last year’s Western Conference finalists and dealing four spare parts for Ty Lawson, there were championship dreams in Houston. But the early-season reality has been far different. The Rockets have been plagued by a combination of poor shooting, poor defense and poor effort as they stumbled to an embarrassing start that led to the firing of coach Kevin McHale after 11 games.

“We just weren’t playing with any juice, with any rhythm,” McHale told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle after the move was announced. “We haven’t been able to get the problems solved. We probably had more meetings in the last six weeks than in my previous four years here. It wasn’t working.” 

But it was expected to work, especially after a summer that appeared to be successful in every phase. It started in late June with the draft, where the Rockets were pleasantly surprised with the two players who fell to them. Using the 18th overall pick, which they acquired from the Pelicans in the 2014 trade involving Omer Asik, Houston landed Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker, a 6’9″ sharpshooter out of Wisconsin who was ranked 20th by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and 16th by ESPN’s Chad Ford. With the second pick in the second round, acquired from the Knicks in a 2012 deal involving Marcus Camby, the Rockets selected Montrezl Harrell (ranked 24th by Givony, 17th by Ford), a bruising 6’8″ forward out of Louisville known for his tenacity and rebounding. Dekker is expected to be sidelined for about three months after undergoing back surgery November 20th, while Harrell has fallen out of the rotation lately but showed flashes of promise in early-season play.

“I’m very excited,” GM Daryl Morey said to Feigen after the draft. “We got two top-, top-, top-level winners in college on extremely good Wisconsin and Louisville teams.”

With their draft picks in hand, the Rockets set out to keep the core of last year’s Southwest Division champs. Point guard Patrick Beverley signed for $23MM over four years. Reserve swingman Corey Brewer received $23.4MM over three years. Reserve forward K.J. McDaniels, who saw little playing time after coming to Houston in a midseason trade with the Sixers, wound up with a three-year, $10MM deal in late July, and veteran guard Jason Terry, after considering an offer from the Pelicans, decided in late August to remain in Houston, agreeing to the veteran’s minimum of nearly $1.5MM for one year. The only rotation players from 2014/15 who didn’t return were Josh Smith, who accepted a veteran’s minimum contract with the Clippers, and Pablo Prigioni, who also joined the Clippers on a minimum deal after having been included in the Lawson trade and then having been waived by the Nuggets. The Rockets added one outside free agent in Marcus Thornton, who signed a one-year minimum-salary deal worth nearly $1.2MM in July.

Even with the success in other areas, the Lawson trade was supposed to be the centerpiece of the Rockets’ offseason. The seventh-year point guard averaged a career high in assists with 9.6 per game last season, and he was expected to be the second playmaker Houston needed to reduce the burden on James Harden. Not only did he seem like a perfect fit, but his price tag was low, brought down by off-court issues, like a pair of DUI arrests and skipping practice. In return, Houston sent Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Kostas Papanikolaou, Nick Johnson, cash considerations and a protected draft pick to Denver. The Nuggets subsequently waived all four players.

In one of the conditions of the deal, the Rockets got Lawson to agree to make his $13.2MM salary for the 2016/17 season — the final year of his contract — non-guaranteed. It’s a decision that may limit his time in Houston to one season, or possibly less. The fit the Rockets envisioned hasn’t worked out, and Lawson’s early-season numbers are down in nearly every category. Through 16 games, he is averaging 7.0 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 36% from the floor and 25% from 3-point range. He was pulled from the starting lineup when the Rockets made their coaching change and may be in danger of falling out of the rotation altogether with Beverley returning from injury this week.

The Rockets are dealing with the disconnect between a seemingly successful offseason and a nightmarish November. They’re currently getting nothing from Dekker and Harrell, the players they re-signed over the summer are off to slow starts and the addition of Lawson has been a disaster. A roster shakeup may be necessary to give new coach J.B. Bickerstaff any chance at leading the team back to the playoffs, which means the work Morey did over the offseason may not be complete.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of it.

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Offseason In Review: Sacramento Kings

November 28th, 2015 at 2:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Extensions

  • None

Trades

Waiver Claims

  • None

Draft Picks

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Steve Mitchell/USA Today Sports Images

Steve Mitchell/USA Today Sports Images

The Kings are rapidly becoming known more for their behind-the-scenes drama than for what the team accomplishes on the court. Head coach George Karl has seemingly been on the hot seat since being hired late last season, and this front office soap opera has made it difficult for the franchise to make any forward progress whatsoever. The team’s power structure has been in a perpetual state of flux, and the bulk of Sacramento’s offseason moves have raised more questions about the team’s future than providing much-needed answers.

Nine of the 15 players that began this season with the Kings were not on the roster when the 2014/15 campaign came to a close, which is a level of turnover only matched by the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference and is unmatched in the East. New vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac used the trade market, the draft and free agency to reconstitute 60% of his roster this summer, firmly placing his own stamp on the team, for better or for worse. It remains to be seen just how long Divac will be in power, with team owner Vivek Ranadive reportedly continuing to flirt with the idea of making a run at Kentucky head coach John Calipari. The Kings denied a report over the summer indicating that they reached out to Calipari, and Calipari has continually maintained that he isn’t interested in returning to the NBA, despite persistent rumors to the contrary.

Sacramento began reshaping its roster with a pair of trades that cleared salary cap room, but the team also raised some questions about its direction. Shipping young point guard Ray McCallum to the Spurs for a 2016 second-round pick isn’t a team-changing event, though it was a bit puzzling that the Kings would give up on such a young player who had little impact on their cap figure given that he makes the league minimum. McCallum can hit restricted free agency next summer, but he’s not likely to spark a bidding war, and in the event that he did, the team could have simply chosen not to match the offer and just let him walk.

The other trade that Divac engineered over the summer was even more troubling for me. The Kings dumped Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, and Nik Stauskas on the Sixers to clear the decks for a pursuit of point guard Rajon Rondo, swingman Wesley Matthews, and possibly Monta Ellis, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The team whiffed on both Matthews and Ellis, and while the players shipped to Philly are far from irreplaceable, the draft assets Sacramento gave up may very well become an issue. I also question the team moving on from Stauskas after just one season. While I don’t believe that “Sauce Castillo” will amount to much more than a reserve in the league, if that, it’s troubling to see a franchise giving up on a former lottery pick so quickly.

Sacramento may have missed out on Ellis and Matthews, and I do think that’s a good thing for the long term considering the size of Matthews’ deal with Dallas, and Ellis’ penchant for being a stat sheet player and little more. The team did manage to land Rondo, who has been a triple-double machine thus far in 2015/16. While Rondo has always shown the ability to contribute in multiple ways, it’s his history of being a difficult player to coach that is the major concern. Karl’s situation is already volatile, and the addition of Rondo could be akin to pouring gasoline on a blazing fire if things between him and the embattled coach were to turn sour. The Kings signed Rondo to a one-year pact, which mitigates much of the risk, but it also could serve to throw out any continuity developed if the playmaker departs as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The Kings made a number of interesting additions over the summer via the free agent market, including signing center Kosta Koufos, veteran swingman Caron Butler, combo forward Quincy Acy, and shooting guard Marco Belinelli. The additions of Belinelli and Koufos were solid moves, and both players bring talent and experience in much-needed areas for the team.

The only issues that I have with the Kings inking Koufos is that he may end up being a redundant piece if 2015 first-rounder Willie Cauley-Stein develops as expected, and I also think handing him a four-year pact is a bit of a risk based on his mediocre track record in the league thus far. But big men always seem to end up getting paid on the open market, and with the expected jump in the salary cap next season, giving Koufos approximately $8MM per season isn’t exorbitant, and that contract likely wouldn’t be a difficult one to move if the need arose. Speaking of Cauley-Stein, I love the selection of the former Kentucky big man, and his versatility and athleticism coupled with his defensive prowess make him an ideal running mate for DeMarcus Cousins.

But it still remains to be seen if Cousins will be with the organization for the long term. Cousins reportedly doesn’t trust Karl, and their relationship has been rumored to be beyond repair. The Kings haven’t admitted that they shopped the center, but Wojnarowski reported that they asked the Lakers for Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, the No. 2 pick that became D’Angelo Russell and other draft assets. Plus, Wojnarowski added that the Kings also wanted any team that would receive Cousins to also take on Landry, since traded to the Sixers. Such a high cost kept the Celtics from even asking about Cousins, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported.

The Kings’ offseason was one of mixed direction as they sacrificed a number of assets that could have helped them in the future for a shot at relevance this season. The problem is that the now doesn’t appear to be especially grand, and until the team’s power structure and coaching situation are solidified in some way, Sacramento will continue to flounder and fill up back page headlines with dysfunction. Turmoil seems to repeatedly stalk the Kings, and the moves they made this summer don’t bode well for the long-term future of the organization.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

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Offseason In Review: Oklahoma City Thunder

November 26th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Will Joseph

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Extensions

  • None

Trades

  • Acquired Charlotte’s 2016 second round pick (top-55 protected in 2016, unprotected in 2017) and Luke Ridnour from the Hornets in exchange for Jeremy Lamb.
  • Acquired the draft rights to Tomislav Zubcic from the Raptors in exchange for Ridnour and $250K.
  • Acquired Boston’s 2018 second round pick (top-55 protected) from the Celtics in exchange for Perry Jones III, Detroit’s 2019 second round pick, and $1.5MM.

Waiver Claims

  • None

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Mark D. Smith/USA Today Sports Images

Mark D. Smith/USA Today Sports Images

Unable to satisfy those in the organization who believed the Thunder should have at least one title by now, Oklahoma City replaced Scott Brooks with new coach Billy Donovan in a bold offseason move. The decision made sense to critics of Brooks because the team failed to make the playoffs and things seemed rather stagnant offensively. On the other hand, the timing of the coaching change was interesting because many supporters of Brooks pointed to the fact that health was a significant issue last season for the Thunder. Kevin Durant, most notably, missed 55 games and Russell Westbrook was out for 15.

The Thunder returned a talented nucleus and were without a glaring weakness on the roster heading into the offseason, so the coaching change was all about wanting a new leader with a new voice, in my opinion. Perhaps it will be what this team needs. It seemed inevitable for Donovan, who won two titles with Florida and is well-respected by players around the league, to land a job like this one, but his success will likely be measured by how well the Thunder perform in the postseason.

Assuming health doesn’t become a repeat issue for Oklahoma City, the Thunder seem poised for a deep run and should be in the championship mix. Durant and Westbrook still have several years left in their respective primes. Besides making a coaching splash, the Thunder didn’t do much in the offseason because they didn’t have to.

Of significance, however, the Thunder matched the Blazers’ $70MM, four-year offer sheet for then-restricted free agent Enes Kanter. Many fans and columnists asked if Kanter was worth the money and the common opinion was no. The deal nonetheless signaled the Thunder were all in. Kanter, a center who is adept at hitting elbow jumpers, is performing well and is currently averaging 12.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. The move was widely expected because Oklahoma City offered Kanter about $62MM, not much less than the max deal he ultimately wound up with, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). While critics pointed out his inconsistent defense, Kanter, 23, excelled after Oklahoma City acquired him from the Jazz. He averaged 15.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season with the Thunder and Jazz. The new deal for Kanter pushed the team far beyond the $84.74MM tax threshold at the time.

To help alleviate some of the financial hit, the Thunder traded Perry Jones III to the Celtics. They made the move with luxury tax savings in mind. It saved the Thunder about $7MM in combined salary and tax payments, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com. Oklahoma City did not acquire much in return (a protected 2018 second-round pick), but shedding Jones’ money was somewhat vital. Still, star power comes with a price and the Thunder currently have a payroll of $97,749,910, second-highest in the league. The Thunder also cut ties with Jeremy Lamb when they dealt him to the Hornets for Luke Ridnour and a conditional 2016 second round pick. The Thunder flipped Ridnour to the Raptors for the rights to draft-and-stash prospect Tomislav Zubcic. Oklahoma City also got to create a trade exception worth $2.75MM.

The Thunder didn’t quite stop at Kanter, though, as far as bringing guys back. Oklahoma City re-signed Kyle Singler to a deal worth nearly $25MM over five years. Singler, a reserve small forward, provides bench depth. Singler, 27, appeared in 26 games for the Thunder last season after being acquired by the Pistons at midseason, averaging 8.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 17.5 minutes per contest.

The good thing about not making the playoffs last season is that it enabled the Thunder to draft Cameron Payne as the No. 14 overall pick. Payne starred at mid-major Murray State, averaging 20.2 points and six assists per game. His rookie contract did little in terms of having an effect on the Thunder’s financial flexibility because the team was well over $70MM cap anyway. The Thunder make sense for Payne because he won’t be asked to do too much as a rookie, considering all the other talent on the team.

The Thunder had a mostly quiet offseason (aside from the hiring of Donovan and matching the offer for Kanter), but they could have benefited, in my opinion, from acquiring a defensive-minded shooting guard. Even with Donovan, a good defensive coach, guiding the team, the Thunder have still struggled to stop opponents, allowing 103.8 points per game (ninth-worst in the league).

Still, there is no doubt that the Thunder are a title contender if they remain healthy. They are gambling that their coaching change pays off in the postseason. After all, next summer should be far more interesting for an obvious reason: Durant is set to be a free agent. Playing with Westbrook and being on a title contender likely hold a lot of weight when it comes to Durant re-signing next summer, so it behooves the Thunder to have strong season.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of it.

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Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Clippers

November 25th, 2015 at 6:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Extensions

  • None

Trades

Waiver Claims

  • None

Draft Picks

  • Branden Dawson (Round 2, 56th overall). Signed via minimum salary exception to a two-year, $1.4MM deal.

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports Images

Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports Images

The Clippers’ offseason was an interesting one to say the least. The franchise seemingly lost one of its stars in DeAndre Jordan to the Mavericks only to have him make an eleventh hour about-face and return to Los Angeles. Shooting guard J.J. Redick had given the team a grade of “F” for its summer moves when all had seemed lost regarding Jordan. But once the ink was dry on the big man’s new four-year pact, Redick, like many of us, sang a different tune. “We had no cap space,” Redick said to Kenny Ducey of SI.com, “and we re-signed our best player that was a free agent, and we picked up Paul Pierce, Josh Smith, traded for Lance [Stephenson], Wes Johnson, Pablo Prigioni. We have 13 rotation players, so it’s definitely an A.” Well-said indeed, regardless of the team’s sluggish start to 2015/16.

Retaining Jordan was paramount if the franchise hoped to maintain its forward momentum as well as have a legitimate shot to contend in the Western Conference. With no first-round pick this year and a difficult salary cap situation to navigate, the Clippers would have had no means with which to adequately replace the 27-year-old for this season. While I could make the case against Jordan being worth a max salary deal, given the short window to contend in the NBA, the team absolutely had to hold onto him no matter what. Jordan’s contract will likely look better once the salary cap increases next summer, but regardless of whether this deal turns out to be an overpay or not, coach/executive Doc Rivers made the right call in retaining him.

Rivers had a number of difficult decisions to make this offseason, including a trade that could be a master stroke as easily as it could sink the team. That’s the acquisition of the mercurial Stephenson from the Hornets, who were all too happy to cut bait on their big free agent signing of a year ago. This deal was also a means for Rivers to erase one of his biggest mistakes from the summer of 2014, which was signing Spencer Hawes to a four-year, $23MM deal. The Hawes signing was a puzzler for me given the team’s far greater need at small forward as well as for backcourt depth, and Rivers was seemingly able to correct both errors with this trade.

Stephenson is a talented player whose versatility and toughness are certainly traits that the Clippers can use, but he also carries with him the reputation of being a disruptive force in the locker room and to overall team chemistry, which will be a concern going forward until Stephenson proves otherwise. The Clippers are not an especially hard-nosed team, and Stephenson’s physicality can certainly be a boon if the coaching staff can properly harness it. He’s not adept at moving without the ball, which could limit his effectiveness in the team’s offense. The swingman’s contract includes a team option for 2016/17, so Los Angeles could cut ties after the season without being on the hook for any funds, making a gamble on Stephenson a lower risk than it may have otherwise been.

The Clippers’ biggest weakness in the starting unit the last couple of seasons has been at the small forward spot. Matt Barnes manned the three for Los Angeles in 2014/15, averaging 10.4 points in 76 appearances, but his value was more as a defender than as a scorer, an imbalance that hurt the team on occasion. To address the offensive deficiency, Rivers went back to his past and brought in veteran Paul Pierce via a three-year free agent deal. Pierce is no longer the 18-20 points per game scorer that he was for Rivers’ Celtics teams, but he certainly knows how to perform in the clutch and his presence alone should improve the Clippers. The 38-year-old is definitely a liability on defense, and he’ll almost assuredly need to avoid back-to-back contests as the season wears on, but I still love what Pierce can bring to the club. Three years is far too long a contract for a player Pierce’s age, but the third season is partially guaranteed, which limits the team’s financial commitment somewhat.

Los Angeles suffered from a distinct lack of depth off its bench last season, a weakness that Rivers attacked via the free agent market with a series of low-cost signings of high-value reserve players. The team added Josh Smith, Pablo Prigioni, Wesley Johnson and Cole Aldrich via team-friendly contracts, and despite the trouble the Clippers have had finding rotations that work thus far this season, they are all moves I believe will pay off down the line.

One glaring weakness that the Clippers have is their lack of young talent, which also explains why the franchise is in a bind cap-wise. Success as an NBA club makes it difficult to add useful players via the draft. Blake Griffin is the only recent draftee of the team’s to find NBA success, and the Clippers selected him all the way back in 2009. Los Angeles did exercise its third-year rookie option on C.J. Wilcox, who was the 28th player taken in 2014. It wasn’t a given that Los Angeles would pick up the option, with the team having reportedly explored a deal that would have sent Wilcox and Jamal Crawford to Denver in exchange for Wilson Chandler in June. With Chandler suffering a season-ending hip injury, it would appear that the Clippers dodged a bullet not making such a swap.

The Clippers haven’t looked sharp to begin the season, which casts a pall over what I consider to have been a solid offseason for the team. Los Angeles isn’t the juggernaut that the front office hoped heading into the 2015/16 campaign, but it’s a long season, and Rivers’ summer moves still have plenty of time to pay off. While the results have been subpar thus far, I don’t fault what occurred over the offseason. But the franchise’s window to contend is dangerously close to being shut, so fans of the team had better hope things begin to turn around soon.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

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