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Offseason In Review: Dallas Mavericks

November 25th, 2013 at 8:37pm CST by Zachary Links

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

Trades

  • Acquired the No. 16 pick in 2013, the Nets’ 2014 second-round pick, and the Celtics’ own 2014 second-round pick from the Celtics in exchange for the No. 13 pick in 2013.
  • Acquired the No. 18 pick in 2013 from the Hawks in exchange for the No. 16 pick in 2013, the No. 44 pick in 2013, and Jared Cunningham.
  • Acquired the No. 43 pick in 2013 from the Sixers in exchange for the Nets’ 2014 second-round pick.
  • Acquired a fully unprotected 2016 second-round pick from the Grizzlies in exchange for the rights to Nick Calathes. The Mavs had already acquired that 2016 second-rounder, but it had previously been top-55 protected.

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

  • None

Last summer, the Mavericks put their eggs in the Deron Williams basket and came away with very little.  This time around, the Mavericks missed out on their top two targets but had a much better backup plan.  Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki appreciates Mark Cuban & Co’s contingency plan.

“I figured last year we signed nine one-year deals so we figured there’s going to be another big turnaround again,” Nowitzki told Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld. “This year, we didn’t go for nine one-year deals. We brought Monta [Ellis] in for [three] years, and [Jose] Calderon for four years, we signed some long-term deals, so that’s going to be our backcourt for a while. I like it. They’re smart, we can play, we got some playmakers, some passers, some shooters, and it’s been going pretty good, but we got to be better defensively if we really want to win big games in a row.”

The Mavericks watched Dwight Howard go to the other Texas team in the running and had no shot at Chris Paul once Doc Rivers came aboard in L.A.  In theory, the Mavs could have pulled something similar to what they did in the summer of 2012 – load up on one-year deals.  That would have given them money to spend in the free agent frenzy of 2014, but that wouldn’t have made much sense for them.  Mavericks fans have gotten pretty used to winning and owner Mark Cuban isn’t known for his patience.  Star forward Dirk Nowitzki isn’t getting any younger and while he’s synonymous with the Mavs franchise, he might not have stuck around beyond this season with another trip to the lottery.  And good luck convincing Carmelo Anthony and the rest of the elite free agent crop to sign up for four years with a non-contending club.  The Mavs knew that their one and only option this summer was to be aggressive.

Ellis is thrilled to be with the Mavericks, but he might be even happier to be out of Milwaukee.  The athletic guard won’t be starving with his three-year, ~$25MM deal, but he turned down an $11MM player option from the Bucks to hit the open market and later turned down Milwaukee’s three-year, $36MM extension offer.  The deal includes a player option on year three and if his play early on in 2013/14 is indicative of what is to come, then he’ll likely turn the option down.  Through 14 games, Ellis is averaging a career-high 23.6 PPG with 5.4 APG off of 49.4% shooting from the floor.  The 28-year-old has been an NBA notable for years, but he’s never been this effective – Ellis’s PER of 20.46 is the very best of his career.

He’s joined in the backcourt by the almost equally thrilling Jose Calderon.  Unlike Ellis, Calderon was willing to stay in the NBA’s Central Division.  There was mutual interest between Calderon and the Pistons in a reunion, but agent Mark Bartelstein said that things didn’t come together because of timing.  It turns out that the Pistons were waiting on Josh Smith, but Calderon did alright for himself with his four-year, $29MM deal.  It’s possible that he could have held out for a higher average annual value, but a four-year pact for a 32-year-old is nothing to sneeze at.  With Calderon, the Mavericks locked down one of the league’s most creative distributors, something that they sorely needed.  Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo were both shoot-first guards and one could argue that they were both out to pad their own stat sheets as they looked ahead to free agency.  Cuban has said many times that players in their contract years will play harder than guys with security.  The playing style of Collison and Mayo last season pokes a sizable hole in that theory.

The Mavs watched several players go elsewhere this summer, but they retained athletic forward Brandan Wright with a two-year, $10MM pact.  Wright, 26, had the best year of his career in Dallas last season, averaging 8.5 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 18 minutes per contest.  The forward is still recovering from a fracture in his left shoulder suffered during training camp, but he’ll help bolster the Dallas frontline when he returns.

Wright’s ETA is still up in the air, but he’ll be back on the floor before Devin Harris.  Harris initially agreed to a three-year, $9MM deal to return to Dallas, the place where he began his career and looked to be on his way to becoming a first-tier point guard.  However, the deal was nixed shortly thereafter when it was learned that the guard had to undergo toe surgery.  Ultimately, the two sides restructured the deal to a one-year pact for the veteran’s minimum and Dallas hopes to see Harris back on the hardwood before Christmas.  After being traded to the Nets for Jason Kidd in 2007/08, it was all downhill.  Stints in Utah and Atlanta didn’t help him resurrect his value, but a strong, healthy year with the Mavs can net him a better deal next summer.  While Harris is on the mend, Dallas finally has rookie guard Shane Larkin in the fold and he’ll help support the club’s veteran backcourt off the bench.

GM Donnie Nelson and company have been high on Samuel Dalembert for years, believing him to be an ideal fit with power forward Dirk Nowitzki.  This summer, they made it a reality.  Dalembert came into this season averaging 2.6 blocks per 36 minutes for his career and he figures to see more burn in Dallas than he did in Milwaukee last season.

The Mavs’ pickups of Wayne Ellington and Israeli guard Gal Mekel got a decent amount of attention this offseason, but the club’s signing of former Spurs forward DeJuan Blair for the minimum might prove to be one of their smartest additions.  Blair was frustrated with his inconsistent playing time in San Antonio – he was virtually forgotten during the postseason – but he looks to have found a more comfortable home in another part of Texas.

While other clubs are trying desperately to position themselves for the best free agent class and draft class in recent memory, the Mavericks pounced this offseason and gave themselves a chance to do some damage in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.  This Dallas team won’t reach the same heights as the 2010/11 incarnation, but they’re on the right track.

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Offseason In Review: Houston Rockets

November 24th, 2013 at 10:32am CST by Chuck Myron

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

Trades

  • Acquired the rights to Kostas Papanikolaou, the rights to Marko Todorovic, the Timberwolves’ 2015 second-round pick, and the Trail Blazers’ own 2017 second-round pick from the Blazers in exchange for Thomas Robinson.
  • Acquired a 2014 second-round pick (31-55 protected) from the Sixers in exchange for Royce White, Furkan Aldemir and cash.

Draft Picks

  • Isaiah Canaan (Round 2, 34th overall). Signed via cap space for three years, $2.33MM. Third year is 80% guaranteed.

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

In the summer of 2012, the Rockets appeared adrift, ready to hit bottom after three straight ninth-place finishes in the Western Conference. GM Daryl Morey had to prove he was worthy of keeping his job, and he did so with a bang in October 2012, trading for James Harden, who blossomed into an All-NBA player. Snagging one superstar made Houston a more attractive destination for others, and the team aimed for the greatest prizes in this year’s free agent class, pursuing Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, and making a push to team Howard with former AAU teammate Josh Smith.

Luring Paul away from the Clippers was a long shot at best, and the task of either clearing enough cap space for both Howard and Smith or working a sign-and-trade with the Hawks proved too difficult. It was much easier to simply pry Howard from the Lakers, and the Rockets emerged as front runners for the center long before free agency began. Howard’s decision-making is notoriously difficult to predict, and in early July he met with the Hawks, Mavericks, Warriors and Lakers in addition to the Rockets. His choice to ultimately sign with the Rockets lifted Houston into title contention less than 12 months after the team possessed a roster that might have finished with the league’s worst record in 2012/13.

The signing prompted Morey to ask Mavs owner Mark Cuban if he’d be interested in trading Dirk Nowitzki, and while Cuban thinks Morey’s inquiry might have been more of a taunt than a serious request, it demonstrates a brazen attitude that helped the GM outfox his rivals. That daring approach extends throughout Morey’s roster-building techniques, as demonstrated by his decision to waive Aaron Brooks and decline the team option on Francisco Garcia as part of the effort to cap clear space for Howard. Brooks and Garcia were clearly players Morey still wanted, and he managed to re-sign them to minimum-salary deals, even after taking the additional step of renouncing Garcia’s Bird rights. It was a risk that paid dividends, as so many have for Morey over the past year.

Morey pulled off another escape when he appeared to have backed himself into a corner at the end of preseason. The Rockets had four rotation-caliber players without fully guaranteed deals, and just two roster spots to accommodate them. Marcus Camby‘s injury allowed the team to cut his fully guaranteed deal instead, and while it’s never ideal to pay someone a full season’s salary when he’s not on the roster, the move let the team keep three of those four capable players without full guarantees. Reggie Williams, a three-point shooter whose numbers were in decline, was the only casualty, while Patrick Beverley, Greg Smith and offseason signee Ronnie Brewer remained. Camby is hanging around the Rockets while he recovers, and the possibility remains for the veteran center to rejoin the team if a roster spot opens.

Perhaps the most dangerous move Morey made as he opened cap room for Howard was trading Thomas Robinson, the fifth overall pick from the 2012 draft. The Rockets snagged him at the trade deadline this past February, and though he didn’t make an outsized impact, Robinson was nonetheless impressive on the boards in limited minutes. He averaged 11.2 rebounds per 36 minutes during his half season with the Rockets, a tempting number for the Trail Blazers, who poached him from the Rockets for the pittance of two second-round picks and a pair of draft-and-stash players. Robinson could develop into a force at power forward, the very position where Houston looks weakest.

Morey also cut ties with another 2012 first-rounder, sending troubled Royce White to the Sixers for a late second-round pick. Morey thought of White as a top-five talent when he drafted him, gambling that his psychological challenges wouldn’t manifest as a roadblock. The Rockets had no such luck, as White failed to appear in any regular season games for Houston while he held out for special mental health stipulations in his standard rookie contract. Morey had to attach European prospect Furkan Aldemir and cash to entice former Rockets executive and new Sixers GM Sam Hinkie into taking his own chance on White. Hinkie’s presence in Philadelphia allowed Morey the opportunity to unload one of his mistakes, but Morey’s former assistant also drove a hard bargain, demonstrating how one cog in Houston’s operation is now working against the team.

Howard is the only one of Houston’s free agent signees from this past summer whom the team will pay more than the $1.266MM minimum salary it’s dishing out to Garcia this season. There are bargains, like a rejuvenated Omri Casspi, within that group, but it’s the low-cost, high-reward signings that Morey made in previous years that allow the team to be more than just the Harden-and-Howard show. Beverley and Chandler Parsons make up two-fifths of the starting lineup, and they’ll earn just slightly more than $1.7MM combined this season. Morey helped himself in signing unheralded players to three-year, mostly non-guaranteed deals that allow the team to cut ties with those who don’t pan out and gain full Bird rights for those who do. Still, it will be a challenge to keep the team’s supporting cast together once Parsons, Beverley and others hit finally free agency with Howard and Harden clogging the team’s books on their max contracts.

That conundrum awaits on the horizon, but a more pressing concern is what the Howard signing has done to the psyche of Omer Asik, who’s reportedly been making weekly trade requests since Howard arrived. Notwithstanding an ill-fated attempt to pair Howard and Asik in the starting lineup, the arrival of Howard displaced Asik and turned last year’s starting center into an overpaid backup with a sullen attitude. Morey is at work trying to trade Asik, but the Turkish center’s demands and nearly $15MM balloon payment next season will make it more difficult than it might otherwise be to find a home for the 7’0″ top-flight defensive stopper. The challenge is just one of many ripple effects of the Howard acquisition that make it as much of a risk as any transaction Morey has made. The contract itself prompts questions, too, since there’s no guarantee Howard will be worth the $87.6MM he’ll make over four seasons. Morey might not fit the stereotype of the classic Texas gambler from the Old West, but his moves suggest he plays the part well. The Rockets can only hope he doesn’t go bust.

Luke Adams contributed to this post. 

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Offseason In Review: Sacramento Kings

November 23rd, 2013 at 3:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

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

Trades

  • Acquired Greivis Vasquez from the Pelicans, along with the Knicks’ 2016 second-round pick (31-37 protected) from the Blazers and the rights to swap 2018 second-round picks with the Blazers, in exchange for Tyreke Evans (signed-and-traded to the Pelicans).
  • Acquired Luc Mbah a Moute from the Bucks in exchange for a 2016 second-round pick (more favorable of Pelicans’ and Kings’ picks) and the right to swap 2019 second-round picks.

Draft Picks

  • Ben McLemore (Round 1, 7th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
  • Ray McCallum (Round 2, 36th overall). Signed via cap space for three years, $2.29MM. Third year is non-guaranteed.

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

There isn’t much the Kings could have done this summer to turn off their fans. All that mattered to many in Sacramento was that the Kings weren’t headed to Seattle. The battle to keep the team in town had drawn more headlines than the team’s uninspiring play, and just as it seemed the team was gone, a new ownership group emerged and won NBA approval over the Seattle investors who’d already struck a deal with the Maloof family. New principal owner Vivek Ranadive quickly made his mark, installing Michael Malone as the new coach even before he replaced longtime GM Geoff Petrie with then-Nuggets executive Pete D’Alessandro. It was odd to see the team hire a coach a couple of weeks before bringing a new GM aboard, but it spared D’Alessandro one task among the many he has as he reshapes the roster.

The first decision D’Alessandro made might have been the easiest, as one of the presumptive top six picks in the draft fell to the Kings at No. 7. Ben McLemore is truly a shooting guard, as witnessed by his 42% accuracy from behind the arc during his lone season at Kansas. Outside shooting wasn’t really a need for a team that finished 11th in both three-point accuracy and three-pointers made last season, but there was no reason for the Kings, who won just 28 games in 2012/13, to pass up the most capable player remaining on the board. He averaged 5.2 rebounds per game at Kansas in spite of his 6’5″ frame, and that will come in handy for the Kings, who were 25th in total rebounds last season.

McLemore’s arrival didn’t bode well for the return of incumbent shooting guard Tyreke Evans, and indeed the fourth pick from 2009 wasn’t long for Sacramento. D’Alessandro sent Evans to New Orleans as part of a three-way deal that netted point guard Greivis Vasquez. The Pelicans had extended an offer sheet to Evans while the Kings made a lucrative play for Andre Iguodala, who was hesitant to sign with a non-contender before D’Alessandro hastily withdrew the team’s offer to the ex-Nugget. That seemed at the time to be a signal that the Kings were preparing to match the Pelicans’ offer to Evans, but instead D’Alessandro used a small portion of the cap space that would have gone to Iguodala to absorb Vasquez’s rookie contract. That left plenty of money to go after other targets.

Ranadive and Malone were both involved with the Warriors last season, and the Kings took on an even stronger Golden State feel when they poached free agent Carl Landry from their Northern California rivals. The Kings exercised their superior financial flexibility to outbid the Clippers, who were also in pursuit, and give the power forward more than the Warriors could. I’m not sure any other teams would have spent quite as freely to land the 30-year-old even if they had the means. Landry will see a guaranteed $6.5MM each season through 2016/17, quite a commitment for a player who’s never been a full-time starter or a serious contender for Sixth Man of the Year.

By contrast, Luc Mbah a Moute spent most of the last five seasons as the starter at small forward for the Bucks. He’s on a contract that owes him slightly less than $9MM for this season and next, but Milwaukee was willing to give him up for just a pair of second-round picks. The five-year veteran isn’t seeing heavy minutes to start the season, but Mbah a Moute and his 7’1″ wingspan could provide the team with a relatively inexpensive way to improve its ability to stop opposing teams. The Kings gave up 108.6 points per 100 possessions last season, the 29th worst mark in the league.

The Kings were even worse when DeMarcus Cousins was on the floor, per NBA.com. That didn’t stop the team from going all-in with the hot-tempered former fifth overall pick, giving him a four-year, maximum-salary extension a month before the October 31st deadline to do so. D’Alessandro and company were willing to go even farther and give Cousins a fifth year on the deal, which would have made him the team’s designated player, but the 6’11” center preferred the shorter arrangement. Cousins has plenty of talent, as his scoring (17.1) and rebounding (9.9) averages last season attest, but the Kings are gambling that he can improve defensively and achieve the sort of dominance at his position that would make him the centerpiece of any contender. He’s shown glimpses of his capability of attaining that status, and while that alone makes him a commodity, there are plenty of doubts about whether he has the focus and drive necessary to fulfill his promise. There’s at least one executive from a rival team who believes the Kings might look to trade Cousins if he doesn’t show progress this season, but the decision to give him a max contract will likely be the defining move for the Kings’ new regime for years to come.

The Cousins deal overshadowed extension talks with Vasquez, who finished third in the league in assists per game as part of a breakthrough performance last season. The Kings looked past the defensive shortcomings of Cousins, but Vasquez’s inability to stop opponents surely played a role in the team’s decision not to extend the point guard’s deal. The 26-year-old also turned the ball over plenty last season, and it seemed that the Kings weren’t convinced that he’s the sort of top-flight point guard that last year’s assist numbers suggest, since he had to battle Isaiah Thomas in preseason for a starting job. Still, the team reportedly plans to match any offers he gets in restricted free agency next summer, so perhaps D’Alessandro simply didn’t want to bid against himself.

The Kings, unlike every other team in the NBA except the Wizards, had a third player eligible for a rookie scale extension, and while there were talks with Patrick Patterson, D’Alessandro passed on a deal with him, too. Yet the most galvanizing choice the Kings front office made at the Halloween deadline was turning down Jimmer Fredette‘s 2014/15 option, which will make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. D’Alessandro called it an “agonizing” decision, but the former BYU sharpshooter has yet to give the NBA a taste of the scoring touch that made him a star in college and convinced Petrie to use the 10th overall pick on him in 2011. Fredette draws frequent mention as a trade candidate, and the ability to offer him to other teams as an expiring contract probably played into D’Alessandro’s decision not to pick up the option.

A trade of some sort appears to be on the horizon for Sacramento, whether it involves Fredette or someone else, since the team has reportedly advanced past preliminary talks with multiple other clubs. The Kings are aggressively seeking young prospects and draft picks in exchange for their veterans, and the front office wants to do a deal well in advance of the trade deadline in February. D’Alessandro knows he doesn’t have a finished product, and he probably won’t even after his next move. The jubilation over the team remaining in Sacramento won’t last forever, and the Kings face a long climb after years of losing and failed lottery picks. D’Alessandro has made Cousins the face of the franchise, proverbial warts and all, but fans might not recognize the rest of the team before too long.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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Offseason In Review: Utah Jazz

November 23rd, 2013 at 10:50am CST by Zachary Links

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

Trades

  • Acquired the No. 9 pick in 2013 from the Timberwolves in exchange for the No. 14 pick in 2013 and the No. 21 pick in 2013.
  • Acquired the No. 27 pick in 2013 from the Nuggets in exchange for the No. 46 pick in 2013 and cash.
  • Acquired the No. 47 pick in 2013 from the Hawks in exchange for the Nets’ 2015 second-round pick.
  • Acquired Andris Biedrins, Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, a 2014 first-round pick, a 2017 first-round pick, a 2016 second-round pick, a 2017 second-round pick, and cash from the Warriors, as well as a 2018 second-round pick from the Nuggets, in exchange for Randy Foye (signed-and-traded to Nuggets) and Kevin Murphy (to Warriors).

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Sometimes, you gotta take a step back to move forward.  At least, the Jazz hope that’s true.  After finishing with a .500 record last season, the Jazz realized that they were in the NBA’s dreaded middle ground.  They had enough talent to be in the mix for one of the final playoff spots in the West but their upside was somewhat limited.  This summer, the Jazz decided to build around their youth and position themselves for the future.  It’s a plan that we could praise in next year’s Offseason In Review, but it’s not going to be pretty in the interim.

All season long, fans wondered which big man the Jazz would re-sign: Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap.  The correct answer: neither.  Utah allowed Jefferson to sign a hefty three-year, $40.5MM deal with the Bobcats while watching Millsap sign a two-year, $19MM pact with the Hawks.  Re-signing one (or both) players would have put Utah in the pre-season Mavericks/Pelicans/Blazers/Lakers group of teams fighting for one of the final seeds.  Instead, the Jazz decided to let both walk and give those minutes to Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter in order to help them develop.

The Jazz made their intentions for the 2013/14 season perfectly clear in July when they agreed to take on Andris Biedrins, Richard Jefferson, and Brandon Rush from the Warriors for a boatload of draft picks.  That haul of two first-round picks (2014 and 2017 from Warriors), three second-round picks (2016 and 2017 from Warriors, 2018 from Nuggets) makes the $24MM in additional salary worthwhile for the rebuilding Jazz.  The key, of course, is that all three deals have just one year remaining.  Utah will go into the free agent frenzy of 2014 with just ~$27MM in commitments, a number that should give them more breathing room than just about anyone.

In the meantime, the Jazz are left with floor plans on a four-story mansion hanging in the living room of their small one-bedroom apartment.  Jefferson, once a key cog on the Nets’ back-to-back Finals teams, is a shell of his former self and hasn’t averaged double digit points since the 2010/11 season he spent with San Antonio.  Biedrins has regressed even further with averages of 2.9 PPG and 5.3 RPG across the last four (injury riddled) seasons.  Rush should prove to be an improvement at the starting small forward position over Marvin Williams, but he’ll have to get back on the court first.  Since playing ten minutes against the Nets on November 5th, Rush has yet to appear in another game.  He says that he has more-or-less recovered from his torn ACL, but at this stage, he has a mental block that is keeping him from playing with comfort and confidence.

But enough about this tiny one bedroom with those horrible, noisy neighbors upstairs.  Let’s talk mansion.  The Jazz used their No. 14 and No. 21 picks in the June draft to trade up and grab Michigan guard Trey Burke.  In a draft that could prove to be chock full of duds (just ask Cavs fans how they feel about top pick Anthony Bennett right now), Burke looks like he could be a rather solid point guard.  The 20-year-old boasts tremendous passing ability and has a knack for finding the open man in traffic.  He also knows how to keep command of the basketball with his high-level ball handling and he vaulted up the draft board in part because he was able to cut down on turnovers from his freshman to sophomore year.  Burke completes the triple threat profile with his shooting ability and has solid range from outside.  Even though eight players were taken ahead of him in the 2013 draft, it wouldn’t be surprise at all for him to stand as one of the three best talents in the class five years from now.  In addition to Burke, the Jazz also picked up French center Rudy Gobert towards the end of the first round.  Gobert is raw, but he has the size and defensive aptitude to develop into a solid rotation piece.

After moving on from Millsap/Jefferson, the Jazz locked up Derrick Favors, whom they hope will be a key part of their future.  Utah’s four-year, $49MM deal may seem like a lot on the surface, but at the time of the signing, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports spoke with league execs who said that they would be willing to give him something in the range of $13MM per season.  Frankly, the deal could turn out to be quite a bargain if Favors progresses as they hope he will.  The Jazz were also hoping to hammer something out with Gordon Hayward before the Halloween deadline but it wasn’t meant to be.  Hayward is now set to hit restricted free agency in the summer, but the Jazz might also be open to moving him before the All-Star break.

In the Riggin’ For Wiggins chase, the Jazz might have a leg up on everyone.  It might not be easy to watch, but Utah has decided to have something of a growing pain year to see what they have in Burke, Hayward, Favors, Kanter, and Alec Burks.  This time next year, the Jazz could look like the smartest team in the league.  For now, they’ll have to make do in their cramped bachelor pad.

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Offseason In Review: San Antonio Spurs

November 22nd, 2013 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

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

Trades

  • None

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Coming off a season in which they came within a miracle Ray Allen three-pointer of a title, the Spurs had the opportunity to go in a couple different directions this summer. The direction San Antonio ultimately chose was likely the safer of its two potential courses, and was certainly the less exciting option. But given the flexibility afforded to the Spurs heading into the offseason, that decision must not have come easy.

With Manu Ginobili‘s and Tiago Splitter‘s contracts set to expire and Matt Bonner‘s 2013/14 salary only partially guaranteed, the Spurs had less than $40MM in guaranteed salary committed to the roster for this season. If the club had let Ginobili, Splitter, and Bonner walk, it would have created nearly enough cap space to make a maximum offer to Dwight Howard — that’s why we heard a little offseason speculation that San Antonio could get involved in those sweepstakes.

Even if they chose not to pursue Howard, the Spurs could have used that chunk of potential cap room to sign an impact player. Al Jefferson, for instance, has long been considered a possible target for the Spurs. Signing him to an annual salary of $12-13MM would still have left the team some money to add another complementary player or two. The same could be said for Josh Smith, another player who signed for about that amount and may have been a fit with the Spurs.

For a team whose window is perpetually thought to be closing, the opportunity to replace a declining veteran like Ginobili with a younger star must have been tempting. Losing Splitter would have been a tough pill to swallow, but at age 28, the Brazilian big man is unlikely to continue improving much, and isn’t exactly a future Hall-of-Famer.

Still, while pundits may be ready to dub the Spurs “too old” every October, last year’s Finals are proof that the veteran team isn’t over the hill quite yet. Ginobili is slowing down, but Tony Parker remains one of the league’s best point guards, and Tim Duncan was as productive as ever in 2012/13. Throw in the fact that Kawhi Leonard emerged in the postseason as one of the NBA’s rising stars, and it’s easy to see why the Spurs decided to stay the course for another year or two.

Staying the course meant bringing back Ginobili, Splitter, and Bonner rather than claiming that potential cap space. Ginobili, who never seemed likely to sign anywhere else, inked a two-year deal worth $14.5MM. Splitter drew more interest from rival teams, reportedly receiving a four-year, $36MM offer from the Trail Blazers, which the Spurs were willing to match. I’d expected Ginobili to receive a salary in the neighborhood of the mid-level, so that extra $1-2MM annually is easy enough to swallow. As for Splitter, even if we’ve seen his best, an annual salary of $9MM is a reasonable rate for a productive big man — it’s a tradable contract and compares favorably to recent deals for players like JaVale McGee and DeAndre Jordan.

By the time those three Spurs were back on the books, San Antonio’s cap room had vanished, but the club still had its mid-level exception available, which it used to add a pair of players. Jeff Pendergraph, who became Jeff Ayres after signing with the team, will add some depth to the frontcourt, but Marco Belinelli was the more notable signee. It’s still very early in the year, so we can’t necessarily expect Belinelli to maintain his career-high shooting percentages and PER all season, but he looks like a great fit in San Antonio. He should make for a great option when Ginobili is struggling, or when the team needs a shooter besides Danny Green.

At some point, the Spurs will move on from the Duncan/Parker/Ginobili era and get younger, but it looks like we’re still a couple years away from that reality. The four-year deal signed by Splitter ensures that he’s the only Spur on the books long-term, with every other player’s deal set to expire by 2015. As such, I expect we’ll see the current core take two more runs at a title – this season and next – before the team once again finds itself at the crossroads it faced this summer. In 2013, it made sense to bring the whole gang back. By 2015, San Antonio may finally be headed in another direction.

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Offseason In Review: Golden State Warriors

November 20th, 2013 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

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

Trades

  • Acquired Malcolm Lee and the No. 26 pick in 2013 from the Timberwolves in exchange for a 2014 second-round pick and $1.6MM in cash.
  • Acquired the No. 29 pick in 2013 and $1MM in cash from the Thunder in exchange for the No. 26 pick in 2013.
  • Acquired the No. 30 pick in 2013 from the Suns in exchange for Malcolm Lee and the No. 29 pick in 2013.
  • Acquired Andre Iguodala from the Nuggets and Kevin Murphy from the Jazz in exchange for a 2018 second-round pick (to Nuggets), along with Andris Biedrins, Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, a 2014 first-round pick, a 2017 first-round pick, a 2016 second-round pick, a 2017 second-round pick, and cash (all to Jazz). Iguodala was signed-and-traded for four years, $48MM. Murphy was subsequently waived.

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Two Western teams saw their 2012/13 seasons come to an end in the second round of the postseason this past spring. For the Thunder, whose offseason we covered yesterday, the end result was viewed as a disappointment, though perhaps an inevitable one following Russell Westbrook‘s season-ending injury. The Warriors, on the other hand, exceeded virtually everyone’s expectations by giving the eventual Western champs (the Spurs) a run for their money. While the club fell well short of a title, it’s hard to consider ’12/13 anything but a success for Golden State.

There are a number of ways the Warriors’ front office could have handled that unexpected success. Many teams would have been content to bring back virtually the same roster, tweaking the edges here and there in hopes that minor upgrades would be enough to take the next step. But GM Bob Myers and the Warriors certainly didn’t play it safe this summer, opting instead to pursue a pair of the top free agents on the market.

Of course, heading into July, the Warriors’ ability to go after marquee free agents was limited by the team’s cap situation. There was already about $70MM in salary on the Warriors’ books for 2013/14, meaning that they wouldn’t even be able to retain players like Jarrett Jack or Carl Landry without going well into luxury tax territory. In order to make a run at anyone significant, the team needed to clear at least two of its four major contracts: The expiring deals for Andrew Bogut, Andris Biedrins, and Richard Jefferson, and David Lee‘s long-term contract.

While I wasn’t privy to the thinking of the Warriors’ front office, I have to imagine that the moves the club made on draft night influenced the subsequent decision to trade away multiple first-round picks. In a series of three draft-day deals, Golden State managed to essentially buy the 30th overall pick for the modest price of $600K. It may not always be that simple for the Warriors to trade their way into the draft, but it still likely helped convince Myers and Co. that giving up future first-rounders expected to fall in the 20s wasn’t the end of the world.

So the Warriors did just that, striking an agreement with the Jazz that saw Golden State offload more than $24MM in expiring contracts (Jefferson, Biedrins, and Brandon Rush), along with four draft picks — two first-rounders and two second-rounders. The move didn’t give the team the necessary cap space to sign guys like Dwight Howard and/or Andre Iguodala outright, but it created the flexibility to negotiate sign-and-trades for both players.

Golden State’s pursuit of Howard ultimately fell short, though owner Joe Lacob revealed in October that the club came “a lot closer than people realize” to landing D12. Iguodala, meanwhile, agreed to sign with the Warriors, and the team eventually managed to work him into the previously negotiated swap with the Jazz, turning it into a three-way trade with the Nuggets.

The addition of Iguodala made perfect sense for the Warriors, who were resigned to losing Jack and Landry by that point. Iguodala doesn’t technically share a position with either departed free agent, but like Jack, he can bring the ball up the floor, and his ability to play the three could allow Harrison Barnes to play more significant minutes at the four, helping to replace Landry’s production. The former Sixer and Nugget looks like an ideal fit in Golden State, where he’ll be surrounded with so many scorers that he’ll only be expected to help facilitate, rebound, and defend. Any offense he provides will just be a bonus.

With Jack and Landry on the way out, the Warriors attempted to further shore up the point guard position and the frontcourt by using their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions to the fullest. Golden State used its MLE to land Marreese Speights and Toney Douglas, and its BAE to sign Jermaine O’Neal. None of those players will contend for Sixth Man of the Year like Jack did, but they should all be productive contributors off the bench. Given the injury histories of starters like Stephen Curry and Bogut, those bench players could ultimately play very important roles before the season is over.

Speaking of Bogut, the Warriors’ most questionable move of the offseason came right at the end, when the team locked its starting center up to a three-year extension worth $36MM (plus incentives). If the Australian stays healthy all season and plays like his old self, the extension will look prudent, as Curry’s did a year ago. But it’s been a long time since Bogut played a full season, and if he’s not past his prime yet, he certainly will be by the end of his new contract. The Warriors may not have had many other options at center next summer, but the deal still looks a little too risky for my liking.

Nonetheless, the riskiness of Bogut’s extension seems to fall in line with Golden State’s overall offseason approach. This is an aggressive and creative front office, one that wasn’t content to stand pat and only make minor adjustments to the roster. Armed with a mix of expensive and inexpensive contracts, along with multiple trade exceptions, the club could still have a trick or two up its sleeve. But for now it’s up to the current core to make the team’s bold offseason look good by building on the promise shown by last year’s squad.

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Offseason In Review: Phoenix Suns

November 19th, 2013 at 6:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

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

Trades

Draft Picks

  • Alex Len (Round 1, 5th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
  • Archie Goodwin (Round 1, 29th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
  • Alex Oriakhi (Round 2, 57th overall). Playing overseas.

Camp Invitees

  • James Nunnally

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

Just call him Trader Ryan. New Suns GM Ryan McDonough aggressively used the trade market to set the club’s sights on the future, somehow managing to turn spare parts from a roster that finished with just 25 wins last season into two potential 2014 first-round picks and an intriguing young point guard. That’s on top of protected first-rounders for 2014 and 2015 coming their way from previous trades and Phoenix’s own picks. The Suns could have as many as six first-round picks in the next two drafts, including four for the ballyhooed 2014 class. All of it represents a tantalizing opportunity for the franchise to return to title contention within a few years, but the most significant change McDonough has brought about so far is a sharp focus on the future at the cost of wins in the near-term. The relative safety of the first-year honeymoon for a new executive no doubt plays a role in his willingness for the team to take its lumps this season. Still, predecessor Lance Blanks never seemed to fully embrace rebuilding as he tried to squeeze as much as he could out of an aging Steve Nash before last season’s effort to remain competitive without the two-time MVP fell flat.

“Future” is the keyword for the team, even as the Suns reconnected with a part of their past in hiring Jazz assistant Jeff Hornacek as head coach, replacing interim boss Lindsey Hunter. Hornacek had the misfortune of seeing his six-year playing tenure with the Suns end with a trade to the Sixers for Charles Barkley just before the franchise’s most successful season, but two decades later, he’s probably much more content with Phoenix’s trades this time around. The talent that exited wasn’t likely to help Hornacek win much this year, and with the promise of better days ahead and a front office that seems content to sacrifice the present, there’s not much pressure on the first-year coach for now.

The opposite is true for the team’s new point guard. The team and Eric Bledsoe failed to reach an agreement on a rookie scale contract extension before the October 31st deadline, setting him up for restricted free agency next summer. Bledsoe has never been a full-time starter in the NBA, and that surely weighed heavily on the team as it decided to pass on the extension. Bledsoe must prove that he’s capable of sustaining impressive per-minute numbers, which included leading all NBA guards in blocks per minute last season, per Basketball-Reference. He also finished fifth among guards in steals per minute in 2012/13, and while both rates are down to start this season, his offensive efficiency is way up, as he’s averaging more than 20 points and nearly seven assists with a 23.9 PER. It’s something of a double-edged sword for the Suns, who may rue the chance to lock Bledsoe up at a discount if he proves capable of producing at both ends, but Phoenix nonetheless has the ability to match any other team’s offer and plenty of cap space next summer. Waiting on a new contract for the 23-year-old seems a worthwhile gamble, and the price of Jared Dudley and a second-round draft pick that the team paid to acquire him from the Clippers seems a pittance.

McDonough and the Suns made the cost of bringing Bledsoe aboard seem even lower once they shipped Caron Butler’s $8MM contract off in another trade to a Bucks team that, like the Suns in 2012, is intent on rebuilding and remaining competitive at the same time. Neither Viacheslav Kravtsov nor Ish Smith may be of much benefit to the Suns, but the more than $5.5MM difference between their combined salaries and what Butler is making gave the Suns a savings that makes up for the majority of the rest of Michael Beasley’s contract. Thus, the Suns saw fit to part with one of their mistakes from 2012’s ill-fated attempt to compete and a player who once more ran afoul of the law this past summer. They waived Beasley, convincing him to give up $2MM of his guaranteed $9MM, and used the stretch provision to spread the remaining $7MM over four seasons. Beasley will remain a slight hit on the team’s books through 2016/17, but perhaps most importantly, the Suns excised a player they felt had failed to live up to their “standards of personal and professional conduct.”

Luis Scola engendered no such rebukes as he left Phoenix, and the Suns turned the player they claimed off amnesty waivers in 2012 into new starting center Miles Plumlee, a once-again useful wing player in Gerald Green, and one of its store of 2014 first-round picks. The selection the Suns picked up in this trade with Indiana might be the least valuable first-rounder in the team’s stable, since Scola figures to help the Pacers pile up wins this year, so Plumlee might be the gem of the deal for Phoenix. He’s one year removed from having been the 26th overall pick in 2012, and after the first nine starts of his career, he’s sixth in the league in blocks per game and 15th in rebounds per contest this season. The excitement over his ability greased the skids for the latest of McDonough’s swaps, as he sent Marcin Gortat, last year’s starting center, to Washington for yet another 2014 first-round pick and the injured Emeka Okafor.

Trading a serviceable starting center for a draft pick and a player on an expiring deal who might not be healthy enough to play at all this season would have been anathema under Blanks. Yet it’s a quintessential McDonough move that frees up playing time for a promising young player, doesn’t involve a significant financial commitment, and allows for the distinct possibility that the Suns may have multiple lottery picks among their haul of 2014 first-rounders. If the Wizards miss the playoffs but only narrowly so, the Suns could wind up with that lottery pick in addition to their own, which seems destined to be a lottery selection despite Phoenix’s on-court success early this season. There’s even a chance the Suns could have three lottery picks, though their pick from a previous trade with the Timberwolves would have to fall precisely at No. 14 for that to happen.

There’s so much talk of the draft picks coming Phoenix’s way that it’s easy to forget that the Suns already have the No. 5 selection from this past June’s draft. Injury has limited Alex Len to just 21 minutes so far in his NBA career, but he drew mention as a possible No. 1 overall pick before left ankle surgery knocked him out of predraft workouts. The former Maryland Terrapin is a raw talent, but a year ago he was putting up 23 points and 12 rebounds in a game against reputed defensive whiz Nerlens Noel, an even stronger candidate for the No. 1 overall spot in spite of his own injury. The Suns could face a dilemma if Plumlee sustains his performance and Len comes back to fulfill his potential, but having two promising young centers is a much more desirable problem than having none, and McDonough has already proven a willing and creative orchestrator of trades.

So much of what McDonough has done has seemingly been aimed at undoing what Blanks did last year. The use of the 13th overall pick in 2012 on Kendall Marshall was another of the ex-GM’s moves that went bust, and McDonough offloaded the point guard in the Gortat trade while using one of his other swaps to find a more successful young point guard in Bledsoe to replace him. The contrast between McDonough and Blanks shows up even in the methods they used to make their transactions. McDonough only signed one player who remains on the roster, in contrast to his five trades. Blanks wasn’t averse to a swap, making a pair in the summer of 2012, but he signed seven free agents for the team’s 2012/13 opening-night roster. Goran Dragic is the only one of those seven who remains, and executives from other teams suspect he’ll be the next player McDonough trades away. Trades are fun, but they’re not nearly as enjoyable for Suns fans as playoff victories are. McDonough has set the team up for the opportunity to once more have a winning team in a few years, but he’ll have to prove as skilled at the draft as he is at trades for that on-court success to come about.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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Offseason In Review: Oklahoma City Thunder

November 19th, 2013 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

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

Trades

  • Acquired the No. 26 pick in 2013 from the Warriors in exchange for the No. 29 pick in 2013 and $1MM in cash.
  • Acquired the No. 40 pick in 2013 from the Trail Blazers in exchange for cash.
  • Acquired the rights to Szymon Szewczyk from the Bucks in exchange for Kevin Martin (signed-and-traded to Timberwolves) and cash (to Timberwolves).

Draft Picks

  • Steven Adams (Round 1, 12th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
  • Andre Roberson (Round 1, 26th overall). Signed via rookie exception. Earning 80% of rookie scale amount in rookie season, and 120% thereafter.
  • Alex Abrines (Round 2, 32nd overall). Playing overseas.
  • Grant Jerrett (Round 2, 40th overall). Playing in D-League.

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

There was a perception that the Thunder took a step back last season after reaching the NBA Finals in 2012. That idea is a little unfair — Oklahoma City still racked up 60 wins, good for the top seed in the West, and would have been favored against Memphis in round two with a healthy Russell Westbrook. Losing James Harden prior to opening night a year ago may have meant taking a step back in terms of overall talent on the roster, but the Thunder are still a loaded team, with two elite players in Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

The belief that the Thunder had fallen behind other Western Conference contenders only gained traction this offseason, based on the club’s relative inactivity. And while it’s true that OKC’s presence on the free agent and trade market was virtually nonexistent, that’s not necessarily the worst thing for a team coming off back-to-back seasons with a .700+ winning percentage. Like the Bulls, the Thunder could look forward to having a star point guard return to their lineup. And unlike many title contenders, OKC tweaked the edges of its roster by continuing to add talent through the draft.

When the Thunder traded Harden last October, the club had two major goals: Maintaining financial flexibility and adding young, controllable talent. Even without a new, expensive contract for Harden, the team’s cap flexibility was limited this summer. There was already so much money committed to salaries for 2013/14 that OKC couldn’t make a serious run at a shooter like Dorell Wright — the free agent wing reportedly received his choice of one- or two-year offers from the Thunder before opting for the Trail Blazers instead. OKC eventually settled for Ryan Gomes on a non-guaranteed contract.

While the Thunder’s proximity to the tax limited its options in free agency, the draft picks and young players acquired in that Harden deal represented the team’s best chance to upgrade the roster. In addition to using its own late-first round pick (traded up from No. 29 to 26) to select Andre Roberson, Oklahoma City used one of the first-rounders obtained from Houston to select big man Steven Adams, who has looked better than expected in the early going.

In addition to Roberson and Adams, 2012 draftees Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III appear poised to take on bigger roles after spending good chunks of last season in the D-League. While the duo’s frequent D-League assignments had some observers eager to write them off as busts, it looked to me like their time with the Tulsa 66ers was always part of OKC’s developmental plan. With Kevin Martin playing significant minutes in 2012/13, it made more sense for Lamb to get more frequent minutes and a more prominent role under the Thunder’s hand-picked coaches in Tulsa rather than sitting on the bench in Oklahoma City.

Of course, even with youngsters like Lamb, Adams, and Reggie Jackson expected to become a major part of the Thunder’s rotation, the team was reluctant to part with its veteran insurance. OKC’s apparent infatuation with Derek Fisher resulted in another guaranteed one-year deal worth the minimum salary. It’s not a major investment, and Fisher certainly isn’t the de facto coach that Juwan Howard has been in Miami in recent years. But presumably the Thunder would prefer to rely on the veteran point guard more for leadership than for crucial minutes in the spring.

Similarly, the Thunder continued to hang on to Kendrick Perkins, despite the team’s cap restrictions and Perkins’ dwindling usefulness. Amnestying Perkins would have allowed OKC to make a bigger offer to a mid-level-type shooter like Wright without worry of tax penalties. However, the cost-conscious Thunder seem reluctant to pay Perkins to play elsewhere, particularly if there’s a chance he could come back to haunt them for another Western team in the postseason. Personally, I’m unconvinced that Perkins still has the ability to make OKC seriously regret losing him, but perhaps ownership wasn’t comfortable with waiving him via amnesty.

The summer of 2013 probably isn’t one Thunder fans will be wistfully recalling years down the road. OKC didn’t land a huge free agent like the Clippers (Chris Paul) and Rockets (Dwight Howard), or pull off a big sign-and-trade like the Warriors (Andre Iguodala) and Timberwolves (Martin). The team didn’t even use the mid-level exception to add useful veterans like the Spurs (Marco Belinelli, Jeff Ayres). But by keeping their core intact and continuing to add complementary young pieces around their stars, the Thunder are ensuring they’re still very much a part of the championship conversation, and should remain a part of it for the next few years.

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Offseason In Review: Detroit Pistons

November 17th, 2013 at 3:46pm CST by Zachary Links

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

Trades

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

  • None

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

No one can accuse Joe Dumarsof being boring.  After turning in a combined 54 wins across the last two seasons, Dumars did more than just relieve coach Lawrence Frank of his job, he overhauled the entire roster.

The Pistons got the shakeup started when they inked Josh Smith to a four-year, $54MM deal that could escalate to $56MM in total if he hits on certain bonuses.  Smith was arguably the top prize to be had on the open market after Chris Paul and Dwight Howard came off the board, and neither one of those elite guys were going to give a team in a four-year playoff drought any real consideration.  In Smith, the Pistons get a high-flying forward who can change the game on either side of the floor.  The $56MM price tag isn’t chump change, but it’s far less than the max contract that Smith spent all season clamoring for.  The discounted rate – if you can call a guaranteed average annual value of $13MM a “discount” – is due to two main factors.  First, Smith had something of a down year in 2012/13 on the heels of a career season in 2011/12.  Secondly, with all due respect to Smith, he was never really in the max contract conversation anyway.  The market for Smith also didn’t grow in the way that he or agent Wallace Prather would have hoped.  The Warriors were fans, but they bowed out of the process when they landed Andre Iguodala.  Atlanta had some interest in retaining Smith, but the club couldn’t have been thrilled with the forward openly complaining throughout the season and that probably played a role when it came time to negotiate.  The Celtics also put their toe in the water, but they went in a very different direction this summer.  At any rate, Detroit got a real two-way threat in Smith and it didn’t take long for them to pair him with another disgruntled star player.

In late July, the Pistons struck a deal with the Bucks to land Brandon Jennings via a sign-and-trade deal.  Detroit gave up guard Brandon Knight (plus Viacheslav Kravtsov and Khris Middleton) to get Jennings, who they inked to a three-year, ~$25MM pact.  Giving up Knight wasn’t easy for Dumars & Co. – he’s a talented young guard in his own right who has the killer work ethic to realize his potential.  While some say that Jennings doesn’t have the greatest attitude in the world, he offers freakish athleticism at a premium position.  Even though Jennings recanted his comments about not wanting to re-sign in Milwaukee, it’s safe to assume that he’s happy to be moving on to a new club.  The Pistons hope that a change of scenery will suit Jennings well and it is very possible that the 24-year-old can blossom into a first-tier point guard in the Association.  In Jennings’ defense, he spent the first four years of his NBA career under Scott Skiles, a coach who could probably rile Mother Teresa up.

In Detroit, Jennings and Smith will be playing under longtime NBA coach Maurice Cheeks.  Cheeks found success for a time as the Blazers’ head man, but he was fired by the 76ers at the quarter-mark of the 2008/09 season after back-to-back losing seasons.  Cheeks probably wasn’t the sexiest choice for the job and some Pistons fans probably would have preferred finalist Nate McMillan or would have liked to see Brian Shaw get an interview for the gig, but Cheeks has the experience to command respect from the Pistons’ older and younger players.

Speaking of youth, the Pistons are quite excited about No. 8 overall pick Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.  This wasn’t the strongest draft class, in fact, it could prove to be one of the weakest ones of the last decade, but the Georgia product made a strong impression on a number of teams heading into June.  The two-guard offers a sweet shooting stroke on offense and is also a tenacious defender.  No one expects him to develop Allen Iverson-style handles, but he’ll have to improve his ball-handling to avoid getting stripped at the next level.  If he gets that figured out, KCP should have a bright future in the league, even if he’s not destined for superstardom.  Early on in the season, the 20-year-old is already seeing considerable minutes in the Pistons’ rotation.

Aside from Smith and Jennings, the Pistons made a few other notable signings.  Dumars brought back fan favorite Chauncey Billups to Detroit and it only cost him a two-year, $5.5MM deal (year two is a team option) and an apology.  Billups was still a little sore over the 2008 trade that shipped him to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson, but that’s all water under the bridge as the veteran guard is back with the team that he won a championship ring with.  The deal was somewhat surprising since Billups also had interest from contenders like the Nets and Spurs.  The Pistons also inked Gigi Datome to a two-year deal, beating out multiple teams with serious interest in the Italian import.  Datome’s agent claims that he had more money on the table from other clubs – the Celtics, Bucks, Rockets, Suns, Spurs, and Grizzlies were among his suitors – the Pistons offered him the best opportunity.

Will Bynum is back with the club on a two-year deal, but other notable free agents weren’t retained by Detroit.  Speedy guard Jose Calderon wound up signing with the Mavericks in mid-July and agent Mark Bartelstein chalked up his departure to a matter of “timing,” even though there was interest on both sides.  Looking back on it, it seems likely that Dumars had a feeling he could swing an S&T deal for Jennings and didn’t want to tie up cash (or playing time) in another guard.  Jason Maxiell, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with Detroit, was not asked back before he took a 50% pay drop to sign with the Magic.  The PIstons did have some interest in retaining veteran forward Corey Maggette, but he wound up signing a non-guaranteed deal with the Spurs in late September and getting cut weeks later.

While several non-contending clubs are banking on building through the talent-rich 2014 Draft or spending big bucks in next summer’s free agent frenzy, the Pistons seized the opportunity to take a big step forward this past offseason.  It’s hard to see this Detroit team getting a home-court advantage playoff spot in 2013/14, but they can certainly make some noise in the East and set themselves up to contend the following season.  Even after dropping big bucks on Smith and giving Jennings a nice chunk of change as well, they’re projected to have $20MM of breathing room in the summer of 2014.  Championship caliber Deeeeee-troit basketball isn’t quite back yet, but it might not be far away.

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Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Lakers

November 17th, 2013 at 12:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

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

Trades

  • None

Draft Picks

Camp Invitees

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

  • None

It was perhaps the most difficult summer for Lakers fans since the team’s nearly annual Finals defeats to the Celtics in the 1960s. Dwight Howard turned his back on the chance to join the pantheon of legendary purple-and-gold centers, bolting for the Rockets and leaving the Lakers without much flexibility to replace him. L.A. was still over the cap even without Howard, meaning the team was stuck with only cap exception money to add to the roster, barring a major trade or a nearly unthinkable amnesty of Kobe Bryant. The Kobe amnesty might have become a possibility if the Lakers had landed Howard as well as Chris Paul, but the team had no such luck on the free agent market, and Bryant remains as much a part of the franchise as ever. There wasn’t any significant offseason trade chatter involving Pau Gasol, once a fixture on the trade market, or Steve Nash, so it was a summer for GM Mitch Kupchak to make the best of a picked-over market of free agent leftovers.

The Lakers did cut ties with one member of their last championship squad, using the amnesty clause to remove Metta World Peace from their books instead of Bryant. Subtracting World Peace’s $7.7MM salary for 2013/14 saved the Lakers a much greater sum in luxury taxes, but it didn’t take them under the cap the way shedding Bryant’s $30.5MM cap figure might have. The 34-year-old World Peace isn’t the player he once was, but he experienced no significant drop-off in production last season while playing 33.7 minutes per game. The move was one of austerity more than any other motivation, a rarity for the high-rolling Lakers. Still, there’s no reason to spend extra cash to keep a player on the downside of his career during a season in which championship hopes aren’t realistic.

Kupchak committed his mini mid-level exception to a center who could replace Howard, bringing former Clipper Chris Kaman back to Los Angeles after a season in which he’d been disgruntled under coach Rick Carlisle in Dallas. Kaman had signed with the Mavs on a one-year, $8MM deal, and was one of the top centers on the 2012 free agent market. That makes the 31-year-old a potential bargain for the Lakers after Carlisle limited Kaman to the fewest minutes per night of his career last season. It was nonetheless odd to see the Lakers allocate their largest chunk of free agent money to a big man who could recreate the problems Howard and Gasol had fitting together under coach Mike D’Antoni, who prefers small-ball. Kaman is seeing even less playing time for the Lakers so far this year than he did with Dallas, so it appears D’Antoni’s solution is simply to keep Kaman out of Gasol’s way, limiting the effect of Kupchak’s greatest summer expenditure.

Kupchak used the minimum-salary exception on every other signee this offseason, save for yet another center. He used the team’s Non-Bird rights on fan favorite Robert Sacre to exceed the minimum-salary exception’s two-year limit and give the 7-footer a three-year deal. Sacre won’t make any more than the minimum salary in any of the three seasons, but the team will have him under control until 2016 should he develop into more than the third-stringer he is. It’s somewhat surprising that Sacre’s salary is guaranteed for this season and next, since the Lakers have long been clearing their 2014/15 payroll for a shot at a splashy summer of 2014, but the less-than-$1MM cap hit wouldn’t be much of a dent in the team’s flexibility.

Kupchak may have put another chip in the team’s cap room for next summer with his deal for Nick Young. The Southern California native and former USC Trojan has a player option for next year in his minimum-salary contract. Young, like Kaman, signed a much more lucrative one-year deal in 2012, inking with the Sixers for $5.6MM. The 28-year-old shooting guard also saw a reduction in minutes last season, the third straight year in which his three-point percentage declined. Still, he was a respectable 35.7% from behind the arc in 23.9 minutes per game last season, and the double-figure scorer could have commanded more than the minimum. The lure of playing close to home and his friendship with fellow Lakers offseason signee Jordan Farmar was enough for Young to sacrifice dollars for comfort.

The best bargain Kupchak came across might have been one of the team’s final signees of the summer. Xavier Henry came to camp on no more than a non-guaranteed invitation, and with his NBA career teetering on the brink of extinction, he suddenly delivered on the promise that made him the 12th overall pick in 2010. Henry went for 29 points in a preseason game, and delivered more of the same with a 22-point performance off the bench in an upset of the Clippers on opening night. He’s earned a couple of starts, but he has yet to score 20 points again, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll drift back into his doldrums or if the Lakers stumbled upon a true find.

Henry’s story is somewhat reminiscent of Earl Clark‘s from last season. Clark, another former lottery pick, had his best season by far in 2012/13 with the Lakers after injuries to others pressed him into duty. The Lakers had interest in re-signing the versatile forward, but the Cavs offered him a two-year, $8.5MM contract that was about twice what I figured he was worth. The Lakers had full Bird Rights on the 25-year-old, but they weren’t about to overpay him so steeply when it would have meant millions more in tax penalties.

Of more significance is how much the Lakers will shell out for Bryant now that co-owner and executive VP Jim Buss says the team has begun extension talks with the star and agent Rob Pelinka. Bryant has expressed reticence about taking a significant pay cut from his $30MM salary this year. He could make as much as $32.7MM next season, but doing so would limit the team’s ability to surround him with marquee free agent talent. Much hinges on how well Bryant performs this season once he returns from injury, but Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pegs Bryant’s annual salary for the next two or three years at around $15MM. The negotiations with Bryant will be the keystone for the team’s long-awaited summer of 2014. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other juicy targets are on the horizon, with the promise of more glory in Lakerland. For now, and for this past summer, the keyword has been patience, and the team must be willing to continue down the path of sacrifice this year and resist sacrificing a bright future to salvage a lackluster present.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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