Offseason In Review

2019 Offseason In Review: Denver Nuggets

October 25th, 2019 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2019 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 2019/20 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Denver Nuggets.

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- None
Two-way contracts:
- Bol Bol
- Tyler Cook (Waived)
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- PJ Dozier: One year, minimum salary (Converted to two-way contract).
- Jorge Gutierrez: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Elijah Millsap: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Tyler Zeller: One year, minimum salary (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the draft rights to Bol Bol (No. 44 pick) from the Heat in exchange for either the Nuggets’ or Sixers’ second-round pick (whichever is least favorable) and cash ($1.2MM).
Acquired Jerami Grant from the Thunder in exchange for the Nuggets’ 2020 first-round pick (top-10 protected)

Draft picks:

2-44: Bol Bol — Signed to two-way contract.

Draft-and-stash signings:

Vlatko Cancar (2017 draft; No. 49 pick) — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using mid-level exception.

Contract extensions:

Jamal Murray: Five years, 25% maximum salary. Projected value of $168,200,000. Starting salary can be worth up to 30% of the cap if Murray earns All-NBA honors in 2020 (full details). Starts in 2020/21; runs through 2024/25.

Departing players:

Brandon Goodwin (two-way)
Trey Lyles
Tyler Lydon
Isaiah Thomas
Thomas Welsh (two-way; waived)

Other offseason news:

Retained Tim Connelly as president of basketball operations after Wizards pursued Connelly.
Exercised 2020/21 rookie scale team option on Michael Porter Jr.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Currently about $979K below the tax line.
Carrying approximately $131.65MM in guaranteed salary.
$4.82MM of taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($898K used on Vlatko Cancar).

Story of the summer:

After improbably finishing at the bottom of the Northwest in 2017/18 despite winning 46 games, the Nuggets were the division winners in 2018/19, earning the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed with a 54-28 record. The club then followed up its regular season performance by winning its first playoff series in a decade.

Nikola Jokic was the driving force behind Denver’s success, earning a spot on the All-NBA First Team, but it was the Nuggets’ depth that helped set them apart from many of the other contenders in the conference.

Ten players averaged 19 or more minutes per game for the Nuggets in 2018/19, and all 10 of those players remained under contract for ’19/20. While many of their Western rivals drastically transformed their rosters, continuity was key for the Nuggets, who retained a dozen players in total from last year’s end-of-season squad. As we detailed earlier this week, no team in the West brought back more players than Denver.

Continuity isn’t inherently a good thing. A front office won’t be praised for keeping together an aging roster that just won 35 games. But in Denver, the approach makes a lot of sense.

Jokic is still just 24 years old. Jamal Murray, the second option on offense, is 22. Gary Harris is 25. Rotation players like Malik Beasley, Monte Morris, and Torrey Craig are coming off breakthrough seasons and still have plenty of room to grow. And 21-year-old forward Michael Porter Jr., the 2018 lottery pick who missed his entire rookie season due to injuries, is now ready to contribute.

With so many promising young players still on the rise, the Nuggets can realistically count on improvements from within to keep them near the top of the standings in the West. And if they want to go out and make a splash, all those young prospects – and available future draft picks – give them the ammo to do so.

The Nuggets may not have made many changes to their roster this offseason, but they didn’t need to.

Key offseason losses:

The Nuggets let a pair of power forwards, Trey Lyles and Tyler Lydon, walk in free agency. It may be hard for fans in Denver to remember Lyles and Lydon as more than the two players the team received in exchange for the draft pick that became Donovan Mitchell in 2017, but Lyles at least looked like a quality rotation player in his first year in Denver in 2017/18.

In that season, Lyles averaged a career-best 9.9 PPG on .491/.381/.706 shooting as a stretch four off the bench. However, his efficiency declined significantly last season, as he made just 25.5% of his three-pointers and saw his minutes cut back. With Lyles struggling and Lydon still not proving he was capable of handling regular minutes, it made sense that the team moved on and looked elsewhere for reinforcements at power forward.

The Nuggets also lost Isaiah Thomas in the offseason after the veteran point guard was limited to just 12 games due to injury issues. Signing Thomas to a minimum-salary contract in the 2018 offseason was a worthwhile gamble, but Denver ultimately didn’t need him that much even when he got healthy, given the emergence of Morris. Re-signing him this summer never made sense.

Key offseason additions:

Sending Wilson Chandler to the Sixers in 2018 cost the Nuggets a second-round pick and a separate second-round pick swap at the time. A year later though, the traded player exception created in that deal paved the way for Denver to make a savvy deal with a division rival, acquiring Jerami Grant from the Thunder in exchange for a first-round pick.

Oklahoma City’s trades involving Paul George and Russell Westbrook overshadowed the Grant deal, for good reason, but the veteran forward was an ideal frontcourt addition for a Nuggets team that parted ways with Lyles and Lydon. Grant showed off an improved three-point shot in 2018/19, knocking down 39.2% of his attempts. He also has the defensive versatility to match up with wings on the perimeter while holding his own against big men down low.

Even with Lyles struggling last season, the Nuggets had some frontcourt players who could shoot from outside — Paul Millsap and Juan Hernangomez each made 36.5% of their three-point tries. But neither player let it fly as often as Grant, and neither player has the positional flexibility that Grant does. The ex-Thunder forward should make Denver an even more dangerous team.

The Nuggets’ other offseason additions all have question marks and may not contribute a whole lot right away. Bol Bol was once considered a potential lottery pick, but injuries dropped him to the second round, and he won’t even start the season on the Nuggets’ standard roster, having signed a two-way deal.

Vlatko Cancar, the team’s second-round pick in 2017, signed this summer after being stashed overseas for a couple years, but I expect him to see some time in the G League too.

Finally, Porter isn’t technically a new addition, but practically speaking, he’ll be another weapon that head coach Michael Malone didn’t have at his disposal a year ago. Like Bol, Porter was projected to be drafted higher before health questions impacted his stock, and like Bol, he has the potential to be an impact player if he avoids the injured list and puts it all together. It’ll be worth watching to see how often he ultimately becomes a fixture in the Nuggets’ crowded rotation.

Outlook for 2019/20:

The Nuggets didn’t make major headlines this offseason, but they enter the 2019/20 season with one of the deepest, most talented rosters in the NBA. They look like a lock for a postseason berth and a strong contender for one of the Western Conference’s top seeds — I had them at No. 1 in our preseason predictions.

While the Nuggets should have a huge regular season, this will be a pivotal year for evaluating their playoff ceiling. Beyond Jokic, Denver doesn’t have quite as much star power as their rival contenders in the West, so if Murray doesn’t show soon that he’s capable of developing into an All-Star caliber player, the team may have to start thinking seriously about how to acquire that sort of star in a trade.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Brooklyn Nets

October 24th, 2019 at 5:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Kevin Durant: Four years, maximum salary ($164.26MM). Fourth-year player option. Acquired via sign-and-trade.
- Kyrie Irving: Four years, $136.49MM. Fourth-year player option. Includes unlikely incentives. Signed using cap room.
- DeAndre Jordan: Four years, $39.96MM. Signed using cap room.
- Garrett Temple: Two years, $9.77MM. Second-year team option. Signed using room exception.
- David Nwaba: Two years, minimum salary. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Theo Pinson: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Wilson Chandler: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Henry Ellenson
- Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Deng Adel: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Devin Cannady: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- John Egbunu: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- C.J. Massinburg: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Lance Thomas: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- C.J. Williams: One year, minimum salary (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the Sixers’ 2020 first-round pick (top-14 protected) and the draft rights to Jaylen Hands (No. 56 pick) from the Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to Mfiondu Kabengele (No. 27 pick).
Acquired Taurean Prince and the Hawks’ 2021 second-round pick from the Hawks in exchange for Allen Crabbe, the draft rights to Nickeil Alexander-Walker (No. 17 pick), and the Nets’ 2020 first-round pick (top-14 protected).
Acquired the draft rights to Aaron White and the draft rights to Nemanja Dangubic in a three-team trade with the Spurs and Wizards in exchange for DeMarre Carroll (sign-and-trade; to Spurs).
Acquired Kevin Durant (sign-and-trade) and the Warriors’ 2020 first-round pick (top-20 protected) from the Warriors in exchange for D’Angelo Russell (sign-and-trade), Treveon Graham, and Shabazz Napier.

Draft picks:

2-31: Nicolas Claxton — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Fully guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
2-56: Jaylen Hands — Signed G League contract.

Contract extensions:

Caris LeVert: Three years, $52.5MM. Starts in 2020/21; runs through 2022/23.
Taurean Prince: Two years, $25.3MM. Includes $3.7MM in incentives. Starts in 2020/21; runs through 2021/22.

Departing players:

DeMarre Carroll
Allen Crabbe
Ed Davis
Jared Dudley
Treveon Graham
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Shabazz Napier
D’Angelo Russell
Alan Williams (two-way)

Other offseason news:

Kevin Durant expected to miss entire season due to Achilles tear.
Joseph Tsai finalized purchase of Nets from Mikhail Prokhorov.
CEO Brett Yormark stepped down; David Levy named new CEO.
Wilson Chandler suspended 25 games for failed PED test.
Rodions Kurucs arrested for alleged domestic incident.
Lost Trajan Langdon from front office; lost Gianluca Pascucci from front office.
Hired Jeff Peterson as assistant GM; hired Andy Birdsong as assistant GM; hired J.R. Holden as director of player personnel.
Lost assistant coach Chris Fleming to Bulls.
Named Tiago Splitter player development coach.
Hired Shaun Fein as head coach of G League affiliate (Long Island Nets).
Exercised 2020/21 rookie scale options on Jarrett Allen, Dzanan Musa.

Salary cap situation:

Used cap space; now over the cap.
Hard-capped.
Carrying approximately $126.08MM in guaranteed salary.
No exceptions available.

Story of the summer:

The fact that the Nets somehow weren’t the only team this summer that acquired two of the top 10 players on last season’s All-NBA rosters shouldn’t diminish what they were able to accomplish.

Sure, the Clippers may have “won” the offseason by signing Kawhi Leonard and trading for Paul George, but few clubs in NBA history have had a more successful free agent period than the 2019 Nets, who landed both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

While the Nets may never match up with the Knicks in terms of their arena, brand, and history, they’ve clearly surpassed their New York rivals on the court and in the front office in recent years. It had to feel good for Brooklyn to secure commitments from two superstars with NBA championships on their résumés at the same time the Knicks were sending out a statement acknowledging their fans’ disappointment and insisting they were still upbeat about their rebuilding plans.

Once the free agency celebration died down and the hangover wore off, a clear-eyed look at the Nets’ roster did leave us with some questions.

With Irving replacing All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell and Durant not expected to play in 2019/20, how much better can the Nets actually be this season? Would bringing in DeAndre Jordan along with his two friends Irving and Durant interfere with the development of up-and-coming big man Jarrett Allen? And even when Durant is recovered from his torn Achilles and ready to return, will he ever be the same player he was before the injury?

As we mulled over those questions, the Nets’ offseason took a turn for the worse, as newly-signed forward Wilson Chandler was suspended for 25 games for violating the NBA’s PED policy and second-year forward Rodions Kurucs faced accusations of domestic violence.

Those developments put a bit of a damper on what should have been a victory lap for the Nets, and Durant’s absence means the team likely won’t to get to fully reap the rewards of its free agency success until the 2020/21 season.

Still, the franchise deserves kudos for the way it has reshaped its roster. After all, it feels like just yesterday that the 2015/16 Nets completed a 21-61 season with no promising young prospects on the roster and no lottery draft picks on the horizon due to that infamously lopsided trade with the Celtics.

Brooklyn still hasn’t drafted a player in the lottery since then, but general manager Sean Marks and company put together a core – and built a culture – that two of the NBA’s top players wanted to be a part of. It should be a long time before the franchise endures another 21-61 season.

Key offseason losses:

When it became clear that Irving and Durant were heading to Brooklyn, the Nets essentially had no choice but to move on from Russell, who would have been impossible to retain in restricted free agency. It had to be a bittersweet turn of events for the Nets, who acquired Russell as a distressed asset in 2017 and saw him evolve into one of the Eastern Conference’s best point guards.

The 2018/19 season was Russell’s best as a scorer (21.1 PPG), shooter (.369 3PT%), and play-maker (7.0 APG), though he had trouble scoring efficiently in the playoffs when he faced increased defensive pressure. Irving, one of the league’s best shot creators, will be an upgrade in that area.

None of the other players the Nets lost in the offseason were stars, but DeMarre Carroll, Ed Davis, Jared Dudley, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson were all rotation pieces. So were Allen Crabbe, Shabazz Napier, and Treveon Graham, when they were healthy.

It’ll be interesting to see how all that turnover among the Nets’ supporting players affects the team’s win-loss record in 2019/20. Only a handful of teams had less roster continuity from the end of last season to the start of this season than Brooklyn, and players like Carroll, Davis, Dudley were the kind of hard-nosed veteran glue guys who thrive in complementary roles, even if their numbers don’t jump off the page.

The Nets will also have plenty of outside shooting to replace as a result of their offseason departures. Russell led the team in three-pointers per game, while Crabbe, Carroll, Napier, Graham, and Dudley all ranked in the top nine in that category.

Key offseason additions:

If he were healthy, Durant wouldn’t have just been the Nets’ most important offseason acquisition — he would’ve been up there with Leonard and Anthony Davis as the most impactful additions made by any team this summer. Due to his injury situation though, Durant will essentially become a 2020 offseason addition for the Nets unless his rehab process moves much quicker than anticipated.

That leaves Irving as Brooklyn’s top offseason signing, and he’s certainly worthy of that title. Things went south in Boston for Irving last season due to chemistry issues, but his first year with the Celtics was a success and he’ll likely be on his best behavior in Brooklyn to shake the problematic reputation he earned last year.

All that off-court drama in Boston overshadowed just how good Kyrie can be on the court — he averaged 23.8 PPG on .487/.401/.873 shooting in 67 games last season, with new career highs in APG (6.9) and RPG (5.0). His 50-point outburst in his first regular-season game as a Net showed he’s ready to pick up right where he left off.

Irving and Durant are joined by Jordan, whom the Knicks carried through the end of the season in 2018/19 in the hopes that he’d help recruit his friends to New York — that plan technically worked, albeit not how the Knicks envisioned.

A four-year, $40MM investment in the veteran center is a little scary if the Nets get the version of Jordan we saw in Dallas and New York last season. If he’s rejuvenated by playing in Brooklyn, Jordan probably still has a few effective years as an above-average rebounder and rim protector left in him, but there’s a risk that contract could become a negative asset before it’s over.

The Nets used their room exception to bring aboard Garrett Temple, who has been a solid three-and-D contributor in recent years. He’ll likely play some of the minutes that guys like Carroll, Crabbe, and Dudley got last season.

Other candidates for those minutes includes Taurean Prince, a reliable three-point shooter who signed a contract extension with the Nets before his first regular season game with the team, and Chandler, once he returns from his 25-game suspension. Brooklyn will be eligible to add a 16th man after for 20 games during that ban, as Chandler can be moved off the active roster after five games.

David Nwaba, Theo Pinson, and Nicolas Claxton round out the Nets’ notable offseason additions, though I don’t expect Pinson or Claxton to see regular minutes.

Outlook for 2019/20:

While it’s disappointing that we likely won’t see Durant suit up for the Nets until the 2020/21 season, it also lowers the stakes for the team in 2019/20 to some extent. If Brooklyn falls short of expectations this season, the team can rest assured that things will get better once it can add one of the best basketball players in the world to its lineup.

Still, no one in Brooklyn wants to see a worst-case scenario play out this season — especially since post-Achilles-tear KD may not be the cure-all that Warriors-era KD would have been.

After winning 42 games and earning a playoff spot in 2018/19, the Nets will count on increasing that number and returning to the postseason next spring, positioning themselves to ascend to bona fide contending status once Durant gets healthy.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Indiana Pacers

October 23rd, 2019 at 5:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Malcolm Brogdon: Four years, $85MM. Acquired via sign-and-trade using cap room.
- Jeremy Lamb: Three years, $31.5MM. Signed using cap room.
- T.J. McConnell: Two years, $7MM. Second year partially guaranteed ($1MM). Signed using cap room.
- Edmond Sumner: Three years, $6.48MM. Third-year team option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- Justin Holiday: One year, $4.77MM. Signed using room exception.
- JaKarr Sampson: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Brian Bowen
- Naz Mitrou-Long
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Amida Brimah: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Jakeenan Gant: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Stephan Hicks: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Walt Lemon Jr.: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- C.J. Wilcox: One year, minimum salary (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the Jazz’s 2021 second-round pick and cash ($1MM) from the Jazz in exchange for the draft rights to Jarrell Brantley (No. 50 pick).
Acqu ired T.J. Warren, the Heat’s 2022 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2025 second-round pick, and the Heat’s 2026 second-round pick in a three-team trade with the Heat and Suns in exchange for cash ($1.1MM; to Suns).
Acquired Malcolm Brogdon (sign-and-trade) from the Bucks in exchange for the Pacers’ 2020 first-round pick (top-14 protected), the Pacers’ 2021 second-round pick, and the Pacers’ 2025 second-round pick.
- Note: The Pacers’ 2021 second-round pick will convey one year after the Pacers’ 2020 second-round pick (traded to Nets; 45-60 protected through 2022; unprotected in 2023) conveys.

Draft picks:

1-18: Goga Bitadze — Signed to rookie contract.

Contract extensions:

Domantas Sabonis: Four years, $74.9MM. Includes $10.4MM in incentives. Starts in 2020/21; runs through 2023/24.

Departing players:

Bojan Bogdanovic
Darren Collison (retired)
Tyreke Evans (dismissed, disqualified from NBA)
Cory Joseph
Wesley Matthews
Kyle O’Quinn
Davon Reed (two-way)
Thaddeus Young

Other offseason news:

Reached 25-year deal to remain in Indianapolis.
Victor Oladipo continues to rehab torn quad tendon; out to start season.
Exercised 2020/21 options on Aaron Holiday, T.J. Leaf.

Salary cap situation:

Used cap space; now over the cap.
Hard-capped.
Carrying approximately $114.59MM in guaranteed salary.
No exceptions available.

Story of the summer:

The Pacers entered the offseason at an interesting crossroads. While franchise cornerstones like Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner, and Domantas Sabonis remained under contract, most of the rest of the team’s rotation headed to free agency this summer. Of the seven players who played the most minutes for Indiana in 2018/19, five were unrestricted free agents.

Re-signing most of those players would’ve been the safe move. After all, the Pacers were comfortably a top-five team in the East last season, and their ceiling could get even higher once Oladipo gets healthy, as Turner and Sabonis continue to improve.

Instead though, not one of those five key free agents returned to the Pacers on a new deal. In some cases, there was good reason for that — Darren Collison announced his retirement, while Tyreke Evans was dismissed and disqualified from the NBA for at least two years as a result of a drug violation. But it was still a little surprising to see so much turnover in Indiana.

The Pacers did well to fill out their roster around their top players through a series of free agent signings and trades, but there’s still a degree of uncertainty surrounding the franchise heading into the 2019/20 season.

Can Malcolm Brogdon carry the ball-handling load with Oladipo out? Will a starting frontcourt duo of Turner and Sabonis have its ups and downs? And just when will Oladipo be ready to return?

This is a well-coached team that still has plenty of talent on its roster, but with so many reliable veterans no longer in the mix, there will be a lot riding on the players the Pacers brought in to replace them.

Key offseason losses:

While neither player was a star, Collison and Cory Joseph had performed admirably handling point guard duties for the Pacers for the past two seasons. Collison, the starter, knocked down 43.9% of his three-point attempts in his two years as a Pacer, and distributed the ball well, averaging a career-high 6.0 assists per game in 2018/19. Those numbers made it all the more surprising that he decided to call it a career in June at the age of 31.

Joseph, meanwhile, was one of the only NBA players to appear in all 82 games in each of the last two seasons, and has been one of the league’s most reliable backup point guards during that stretch, particularly on the defensive end. His play earned him a three-year, $37MM+ deal from the Kings which Indiana was presumably unwilling to match.

The Pacers’ frontcourt losses were perhaps even more impactful, as Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young both departed in free agency, securing nice paydays in Utah and Chicago respectively. Bogdanovic was perhaps overextended down the stretch and in the postseason as Indiana’s go-to play-maker with Oladipo out, but he still enjoyed a career year, establishing new career highs in PPG (18.0), FG% (.497), and 3PT% (.425), among other categories.

As for Young, he had been a nice fit as the Pacers’ starting power forward over the last three years. His offensive numbers were modest (11.8 PPG on .513/.346/.597 shooting), but his versatility and toughness were a major asset on defense — he had the athleticism to guard scorers on the perimeter and the length to challenge them inside as well.

Evans was inconsistent during his lone season as a Pacer, though he was one of the club’s few players capable of creating his own shot on offense. Indiana may miss Wesley Matthews more — he provided the team with some much-needed floor spacing after Oladipo went down.

Key offseason additions:

The Pacers made a splash early in free agency this year, agreeing to a sign-and-trade deal with the division-rival Bucks for Brogdon. Besides costing Indiana a lottery-protected first-round pick and a pair of future second-rounders, Brogdon also represents the biggest free agent expenditure in team history, on a four-year, $85MM deal.

At times last season, Brogdon looked like the second-best player on a 60-win team, so it’s no surprise that he did well on the open market. The two big questions facing him this season will be whether he can stay healthy (he has a history of foot problems) and whether he can maintain anything close to his .505/.426/.928 shooting line as his usage rate increases.

The Pacers’ trade for T.J. Warren was one of the most widely praised deals of the summer. Considering the team also secured three second-round picks in addition to Warren in exchange for just $1.1MM in cash, that move has to be considered a big win even if the veteran forward is a disappointment in Indiana. His offensive numbers for Phoenix were certainly promising, but scoring empty points for a lottery team is different than playing a key role on a playoff contender. Indiana will want to see improvements from him on the defensive end of the court.

Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday will also join the Pacers on the wing, having signed as free agents. Lamb, who was Charlotte’s second-leading scorer last season with a 15.3 PPG, was a nice pickup, though Holiday’s one-year, $4.77MM deal makes him the more low-risk addition of the two. Indiana will want to see Holiday improve upon the .378 FG% he posted over the last two years in Chicago and Memphis.

Finally, one of the Pacers’ most interesting additions of the offseason came on draft night, when the club used its first-round pick to nab big man Goga Bitadze. His skill set seemingly overlaps with Sabonis’ and Turner’s, which immediately led to trade speculation, but the Pacers have said they simply targeted the best player available. Plus, if Sabonis and Turner are both starting, Bitadze makes sense as a depth piece. If he develops quickly and proves he deserves regular minutes, it will be interesting to see how the Pacers handle their potential frontcourt logjam.

Outlook for 2019/20:

While they flew under the radar to some extent during a wild 2019 offseason, the Pacers underwent some significant roster changes and have an interesting season ahead of them. It’s not out of the question that Indiana finishes as high as No. 3 in the Eastern Conference. It also wouldn’t be a total shock if the club misses the postseason altogether.

Oladipo’s recovery timetable – and how he looks upon returning – will go a long way toward determining where the Pacers finish in 2019/20, but even without the former All-NBA guard in the lineup, this team should have enough talent to hang onto a playoff seed. The safe bet is that Indiana ultimately lands somewhere in the 5-7 range in the East.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Oklahoma City Thunder

October 19th, 2019 at 5:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Justin Patton: Three years, minimum salary. First year partially guaranteed ($700K). Second year non-guaranteed. Third-year team option. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Mike Muscala: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Nerlens Noel: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Luguentz Dort
- Devon Hall
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Sedrick Barefield: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Markel Brown: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Vince Edwards: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Abdul Gaddy: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Myke Henry: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Kadeem Jack: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Eric Moreland: One year, minimum salary (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the draft rights to Darius Bazley (No. 23 pick) and the Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick from the Grizzlies in exchange for the draft rights to Brandon Clarke (No. 21 pick).
Acquired the Nuggets’ 2020 first-round pick (top-10 protected) from the Nuggets in exchange for Jerami Grant.
Acquired Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Heat’s 2021 first-round pick (unprotected), the Clippers’ 2022 first-round pick (unprotected), the Heat’s 2023 first round pick (top-14 protected), the Clippers’ 2024 first-round pick (unprotected), the Clippers’ 2026 first-round pick (unprotected), and the right to swap first-round picks with the Clippers in both 2023 and 2025 from the Clippers in exchange for Paul George.
Acquired Chris Paul, the Rockets’ 2024 first-round pick (top-four protected), the Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected), the right to swap 2021 first-round picks (top-four protected), the right to swap 2025 first-round picks (top-10 protected), and conditional cash ($1MM) from the Rockets in exchange for Russell Westbrook.
- Note: The Rockets would only owe the Thunder $1MM (and a 2026 second-round pick) if the 2026 first-round pick falls in the top four.

Draft picks:

1-23: Darius Bazley — Signed to rookie contract.

Draft-and-stash signings:

Devon Hall (2018 draft; No. 53 pick) — Signed to two-way contract.

Departing players:

Jawun Evans (two-way)
Raymond Felton
Paul George
Jerami Grant
Donte Grantham (two-way; waived)
Markieff Morris
Patrick Patterson (bought out and stretched)
Russell Westbrook

Other offseason news:

Lost assistant coaches Darko Rajakovic, Bob Beyer, and Mark Bryant.
Hired Brian Keefe, David Akinyooye, Dave Bliss, Mark Daigneault, and Mike Wilks as assistant coaches.
Named Grant Gibbs head coach of G League affiliate (Oklahoma City Blue); named Eric Maynor assistant coach for G League affiliate.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Over tax line by approximately $921K.
Carrying approximately $132.46MM in guaranteed salary.
$4.1MM of taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($1.62MM used on Justin Patton).

Story of the summer:

In a span of one week in July, the Thunder’s long-term outlook was flipped on its head, due primarily to a free agency decision made by a player who was neither leaving nor joining the franchise: Kawhi Leonard.

When the free agent period opened on June 30, the Thunder immediately pursued and agreed to deals with low-cost veterans like Mike Muscala and Alec Burks, a signal that the club was focused on filling out its roster with complementary role players around its stars. However, around that same time, Leonard – the top free agent on the market – was convincing Thunder forward Paul George to request a trade to the Clippers, which would allow the two superstars to team up in their hometown of Los Angeles.

The Thunder, presumably recognizing that this was their best chance to maximize George’s value before he went public with his desire to leave Oklahoma City, acquiesced to his trade demand and extracted a massive haul from the Clippers.

At that point, reloading around Russell Westbrook was a still a possibility, but with so many free agents and trade targets already off the market, it would have been a tall task for OKC to acquire the pieces necessary to contend in 2019/20.

Instead, general manager Sam Presti and the front office dove headfirst into the rebuild, acquiring several more first-round draft picks by sending Westbrook to Houston and forward Jerami Grant to Denver. However, that was about as far as the Thunder could get on the trade market, since veterans like Chris Paul and Steven Adams have oversized contracts that will make them difficult to move for positive value.

That leaves the club in a tough spot. With players like Paul, Adams, Danilo Gallinari, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way, this is a roster capable of winning some games. But the best thing for the Thunder’s rebuild might be to slide even further down the standings in order to secure a top pick in next year’s draft.

It will be fascinating to see if the Thunder are aggressive in their efforts to further shake up their roster and launch a genuine, full-scale rebuild over the course of the 2019/20 season. Given the veteran talent already on the roster and all the assets the club could dangle in search of upgrades, the front office may feel as if fully bottoming out is unnecessary and instead opt for a brief retooling period.

Key offseason losses:

It’s hard to know where to start here. On one hand, George was a top-three MVP finalist in 2018/19 after emerging as one of the NBA’s very best two-way players. He’s a fearsome perimeter defender who averaged a league-high 2.2 steals per game last season and is often tasked with guarding an opponent’s top scorer.

George is also an elite scorer himself, posting a career-high 28.0 PPG with 292 three-pointers, the fifth-best single-season total in NBA history. He even showed off his play-making skills for the Thunder, matching his career high with 4.1 APG.

Somehow though, George may not have been the most difficult loss for the Thunder this summer. While his two-year stint in Oklahoma City was impressive, it pales in comparison to Westbrook’s 11-year run with the franchise, which included eight All-NBA nods. A longtime fan favorite in OKC, Westbrook’s legend only grew when he signed a contract extension, won an MVP award, and improbably averaged a triple-double for three straight years following Kevin Durant‘s departure in 2016.

Following George’s move to L.A., Westbrook reportedly expressed interest in a trade, but it was hard to blame him at that point, and it won’t be held against him — he’ll be known in Oklahoma City as the star who stayed, while KD will be remembered as the one who left.

Westbrook has taken some criticism in recent years for his poor shooting numbers and his tendency to dominate the ball, and it’s fair to wonder if the Thunder’s offense will look a little looser and more free-flowing now that he’s gone. Still, his willingness to relentlessly attack his man and get to the net put immense pressure on opposing defenses on a nightly basis and will be hard to replicate.

For some other teams, losing a player like Grant would be the top story of the summer, but for the Thunder, he’s almost an afterthought. The team did well to get a first-round pick – even a late one – for him, but Grant’s contributions shouldn’t be underrated. The 25-year-old emerged last season as a versatile frontcourt player who could guard multiple positions and knocked down 39.2% of his three-point attempts.

None of the other departing Thunder players will be missed nearly as much as those three. Raymond Felton was approaching the end of the line last season and health issues prevented Markieff Morris from being his usual productive self down the stretch.

Patrick Patterson, who was signed in 2017 to be OKC’s go-to stretch four, never really produced consistently like the team had hoped; he was bought out this summer.

Key offseason additions:

Gilgeous-Alexander was one of the most impressive first-year players in the NBA last season, substantially increasing his stock over the course of the year and narrowly missing a spot on the All-NBA First Team. Even though the Thunder didn’t necessarily want to trade George, acquiring SGA in the deal was a big win.

It’s possible the young point guard will even end up being better than any player drafted with all those first-round picks OKC acquired from the Clippers. One former executive told Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors in May that Gilgeous-Alexander would have been a strong candidate for the No. 2 pick behind Zion Williamson if he were in the 2019 draft class.

Getting Gallinari from the Clippers was a nice bonus too. His main purpose in the deal was to be a big-money expiring contract for matching purposes, but the Italian forward is coming off perhaps the best season of his 10-year NBA career. He averaged 19.8 PPG on .463/.433/.904 shooting in 68 games. Unfortunately, those 68 games were the most he has played in a single season since 2012/13. Health is always a concern for Gallinari. If he stays off the injured list though, there’s no reason he shouldn’t have another big year in 2019/20.

Gallinari and Paul will both be mentioned in trade rumors up until the deadline – or until they’re moved – but as long as CP3 remains under contract with the Thunder, he’ll be the floor general on offense and a mentor for SGA. The future Hall-of-Famer isn’t the same player at age 34 that he was in his prime, but he was at his best last season in Houston when he wasn’t sharing the floor – and the ball – with James Harden. He’ll be motivated to prove that he’s still an impact player and that he still has value, even on a pricey three-year, $124MM contract.

Muscala got the full-court press from the Thunder front office early in the free agent period when they viewed him as one of the top priorities of the summer, an idea that seemed somewhat comical a few days later. He’ll look to help the team space the floor on offense.

Finally, the Thunder made an interesting choice with their first-round pick, nabbing former New Balance intern Darius Bazley, who took an unusual path to the league. Given how little we saw of Bazley leading up to the draft, it’s hard to predict what sort of player he can become, but if he delivers on his potential, he’ll immediately become one of the key long-term building blocks for the organization.

Outlook for 2019/20:

There’s enough talent on this Thunder roster for the team to be competitive this season. However, there are some depth concerns, and some of the team’s talent overlaps — for instance, three of the club’s best players are point guards (Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder). Plus, if the front office moves another veteran or two, a comfortable lottery finish is all but assured.

With upwards of eight or nine extra first-round picks in hand over the next seven years, the long-term future in Oklahoma City looks promising — or at least as promising as is realistically possible after losing two All-NBA players. But it’s hard to figure out what the Thunder’s short-term future looks like until we get a sense of how long players Paul, Gallinari, and Adams will remain in OKC.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Orlando Magic

October 18th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Nikola Vucevic: Four years, $100MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Terrence Ross: Four years, $50MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Al-Farouq Aminu: Three years, $29.16MM. Third-year player option. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Khem Birch: Two years, $6MM. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- Michael Carter-Williams: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Amile Jefferson
- Josh Magette
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Jon Davis: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Isaac Humphries: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- DaQuan Jeffries: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- B.J. Johnson: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Vic Law: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Hassani Gravett: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the Lakers’ 2020 second-round pick and cash ($2,226,778) from the Lakers in exchange for the draft rights to Talen Horton-Tucker (No. 46 pick).

Draft picks:

1-16: Chuma Okeke — Signing G League contract; will sign rookie contract in 2020.

Departing players:

Troy Caupain (two-way)
Jerian Grant
Jarell Martin
Timofey Mozgov (waived and stretched)

Other offseason news:

Exercised 2020/21 rookie scale options on Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac, and Mohamed Bamba.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Hard-capped.
Carrying approximately $128.83MM in guaranteed salary.
Full bi-annual exception ($3.62MM) still available.

Story of the summer:

After enduring six consecutive seasons of 47+ losses, the Magic turned things around in 2018/19. Fueled by one of the NBA’s best defenses, Orlando finished the season on a 22-9 run to claim the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.

While it was encouraging step for the franchise, it’s not as if Orlando was a serious contender once the playoffs arrived. So it was somewhat surprising when the Magic essentially doubled down on their current roster this summer, locking up Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross to $100MM and $50MM contracts, respectively, and re-signing role players like Khem Birch and Michael Carter-Williams.

The Magic’s approach to the offseason could be interpreted as a sign that they didn’t have enough confidence in their young players to let go of their veterans. It was widely speculated, for instance, that picking Mohamed Bamba with the No. 6 overall pick in 2018 would help pave the way for Orlando to let Vucevic walk. Instead, the team gave its All-Star center a four-year deal worth $25MM annually, creating some uncertainty about where Bamba stands.

But there’s another way to interpret the Magic’s roster moves and what they mean for the team’s young players. After all, the team wasn’t willing to go all-in on a roster that won 42 games in the hopes that it will produce more 42-win seasons — Orlando’s front office thinks this group is capable of getting better.

It’s hard to imagine vets like Vucevic and Ross increasing their production much beyond what they’re providing now, so that internal improvement will have to come from the team’s young players. Bamba can get better. So can forwards Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon. And if the Magic can get anything out of former No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz, that’d just be a bonus.

It’s fair to question how the Magic will handle their rotation if all those youngsters prove they’re capable of taking on major roles, but that’s the kind of good problem that the team would welcome. For now, Orlando’s veterans should help increase the club’s floor, while the ongoing development of the young players will determine how high its ceiling can be.

Key offseason losses:

The Magic’s roster arguably underwent the fewest changes of any NBA team’s this offseason. Technically, the team did lose one rotation player, but Jerian Grant had been removed from the backup point guard job by the halfway point of the 2019/20, so that hardly counts. Grant, who shot just 39.2% from the field through December last season, hasn’t caught on with a new NBA team as a free agent.

The other two departures from the NBA roster were Jarell Martin and Timofey Mozgov. Martin appeared in 42 games last season, but mostly played in garbage time. As for Mozgov, he had a far greater impact on the cap than on the court for Orlando. While the veteran center didn’t play a single game as a member of the Magic, the club was forced to stretch his 2019/20 cap hit to stay below the luxury-tax line, and will carry a $5.57MM annual charge for Mozgov through the 2021/22 season.

Key offseason additions:

Only two NBA teams used the full, non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign a single player this offseason. Of those two teams, Orlando was the only one that also gave its MLE signee the maximum annual raise (5%), resulting in a three-year deal worth north of $29MM for Al-Farouq Aminu.

In theory, the Magic’s decision to use its mid-level exception to bring in a reliable veteran free agent was a good one. After all, with all the club’s top free agents getting new deals, the MLE was the best tool Orlando had available to upgrade its roster immediately.

Still, zeroing in on Aminu as the player to use that exception on is an interesting decision. I’m withholding judgment until we see how it works, but the Magic’s strength last season was their defense — their weakness was offensive shot creation and play-making. In Aminu, Orlando gets a versatile defender whose offensive game is limited, meaning the club is essentially doubling down on its strengths without necessarily addressing its offensive limitations.

Aminu can at least make three-point shots, having knocked down 35.3% of his attempts over the last four years in Portland. But if he’s spending time in the frontcourt next to players like Gordon or Isaac, those guys will have to look for their offense a little more often.

The Magic didn’t really make any other additions to their roster this summer, as 16th overall pick Chuma Okeke is still recovering from an ACL tear and isn’t expected to sign his first NBA contract until the 2020 offseason. However, we can probably count Fultz as a new acquisition, since he has yet to make his NBA debut.

Even if the former Sixer stays healthy, I think there will be some growing pains in what would be his first full season. But the Magic won’t ask him to do a lot, and he’s capable of impacting a game with his defense and his ability to get to the rim, even if his jump shot isn’t completely fixed. A healthy and effective Fultz could go a long way toward giving this organization some of the play-making it desperately needs on offense.

Outlook for 2019/20:

Based on how similar this Magic team looks to last season’s squad, their outlook for 2019/20 essentially comes down to two questions. Do you believe in what Orlando did in the second half last season? And do you believe in this roster’s ability to improve from within?

While I don’t expect the Magic to maintain the 23-9 pace they played at to finish last season, I’m a believer in their ability to be one of the NBA’s best defenses again. And I’m a believer in the upside of players like Gordon and Isaac.

Orlando probably can’t become a legit contender without some added offensive punch, but this looks to me like a team that’s fully capable of winning more games than it did a year ago and making it back to the playoffs in the East.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: San Antonio Spurs

October 17th, 2019 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Rudy Gay: Two years, $29MM. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- DeMarre Carroll: Three years, $20.65MM. Third year partially guaranteed ($1.35MM). Acquired via sign-and-trade.
- Trey Lyles: Two years, $11MM. Signed using mid-level exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Quinndary Weatherspoon
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Daulton Hommes: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Galen Robinson Jr.: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Kenny Williams: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Matt Farrell: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).
- Dedric Lawson: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).
- Jeff Ledbetter: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired DeMarre Carroll (via sign-and-trade) in a three-team trade with the Wizards and Nets in exchange for Davis Bertans (to Wizards) and the draft rights to Nemanja Dangubic (to Nets).

Draft picks:

1-19: Luka Samanic — Signed to rookie contract.
1-29: Keldon Johnson — Signed to rookie contract.
2-49: Quinndary Weatherspoon — Signed to two-way contract.

Departing players:

Davis Bertans
Dante Cunningham
Ben Moore (two-way)
Donatas Motiejunas
Quincy Pondexter

Other offseason news:

Reportedly agreed to three-year contract with head coach Gregg Popovich.
Promoted R.C. Buford to CEO, Brian Wright to general manager.
Hired Tim Duncan as assistant coach.
Lost assistant coach Ettore Messina; lost assistant coach Ime Udoka.
Contract agreement with Marcus Morris fell through.
Named Landry Fields general manager of G League affiliate (Austin Spurs).
Lost director of player personnel Andy Birdsong to Nets.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Hard-capped.
Carrying approximately $123.81MM in guaranteed salary.
$3.76MM of mid-level exception still available (used $5.5MM on Trey Lyles).

Story of the summer:

The last time the Spurs won the NBA Finals in 2014, their roster featured Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Kawhi Leonard. By the time the 2018/19 season got underway, none of those players were still Spurs — Duncan and Ginobili had retired, while Parker and Leonard were playing for new teams.

Despite the exodus of future Hall-of-Famers, the Spurs have managed to keep extending their record-setting streak of postseason appearances. San Antonio has now appeared in the playoffs in 22 consecutive years – and 29 of the last 30 – as the front office has displayed an impressive ability to consistently retool its roster while Gregg Popovich continues to get the most out of every group.

The upside of the Spurs’ current roster may be limited. The team’s 48 and 47 wins in the last two seasons are its lowest marks of the last 20 years, and DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge are players who thrive in the mid-range, making them odd fits in a modern NBA which prioritizes outside shooting.

However, the Spurs are quietly accumulating young talent around their de facto stars, with Dejounte Murray and Derrick White on the verge of breakout seasons, Lonnie Walker primed for a larger role, and two more first-round picks (Luka Samanic and Keldon Johnson) joining the mix. The new core the Spurs are building might be capable of keeping the team in the playoff picture even if and when DeRozan and Aldridge move on.

For now, those veteran stars are still the focal points of San Antonio’s attack. But ongoing development from the team’s up-and-coming youngsters and contributions from a handful of solid role players will be crucial as the club looks to make its 23rd consecutive playoff appearance.

Key offseason losses:

The Spurs’ biggest offseason loss was one that didn’t need to happen. When Markieff Morris reached an agreement to sign a two-year, $19MM deal with San Antonio using the team’s mid level exception, the front office had to find a way to acquire DeMarre Carroll – who had already agreed to a two-year deal – without using its MLE.

The Spurs’ solution? Tacking a third year onto Carroll’s contract to make him eligible to be signed-and-traded, then sending Davis Bertans to the Wizards in a three-team deal that allowed them to match Carroll’s incoming salary. However, after that trade was completed, Morris pulled out of his agreed-upon deal with San Antonio, meaning the team essentially moved Bertans for nothing.

The Latvian power forward won’t be the difference between the Spurs competing or not competing for a title this season, but he had emerged as a key contributor off the bench in 2018/19, averaging 8.0 PPG with a .429 3PT% in 21.5 minutes per contest. Having a frontcourt player with the ability to let it fly from just about anywhere on the court was a huge boon to the Spurs’ second unit, so it’s no surprise that Popovich expressed frustration with how that situation played out, telling reporters that “we hated losing” Bertans.

The Spurs’ other departing players were lesser contributors. Dante Cunningham and Quincy Pondexter appeared in 64 and 53 games, respectively, but didn’t make much of an impact and have yet to find new NBA homes. Donatas Motiejunas also finished the season in San Antonio, but didn’t play much and returned overseas this summer.

Key offseason additions:

As noted above, Carroll was one of the only veteran additions made by the Spurs this offseason, joining the team in a sign-and-trade deal for Bertans. Carroll may end up playing a similar role to the one Bertans did, since power forward has become his primary position in recent years.

The 33-year-old won’t knock down three-pointers with quite the same accuracy as Bertans, but he has a career rate of 36.0% from beyond the arc and he has attempted at least 4.3 per game in each of the last five seasons. He also provides a little more versatility on the defensive end of the court, giving the Spurs another option to guard wings and combo forwards.

Since the Spurs didn’t end up needing their mid-level exception to sign Carroll (or Morris), the team used more than half of it to sign Trey Lyles, another forward who can help fill the roles that Bertans and Cunningham occupied.

Lyles had a breakout season in 2017/18 in Denver, averaging 9.9 PPG with a .381 3PT%, but he took a major step back in 2018/19, with those numbers dipping to 8.5 PPG and an ugly .255 3PT%. San Antonio will obviously be hoping he can recapture his form from two years ago.

While the Spurs don’t typically ask their rookies to play big minutes, the arrivals of first-round picks Samanic and Johnson are still worth noting. I expect they’ll see plenty of time with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate.

Finally, even though he’s not technically a new addition to the roster, Murray may end up being the most important “acquisition” for the Spurs this offseason. The young guard appeared to be on the verge of taking a big step forward a year ago, but a torn ACL prematurely ended his season. Given how excited the Spurs were about him in the fall of 2018, it’ll be interesting to see if he can emerge as one of the club’s best players this season or if it takes him a little extra time to get back up to speed.

Outlook for 2019/20:

In a competitive Western Conference, it has been tempting over the last couple years to predict that the Spurs’ lengthy postseason streak will come to an end. However, I wouldn’t bet on that happening in 2019/20.

DeRozan and Aldridge are still capable of leading the way, and the Spurs have compiled a growing collection of reliable supporting players to fill out the roster around them. This club is deeper and more talented than it may appear on the surface, and as long as Popovich remains on the sidelines – and he’s not talking as if this will be his final season – the Spurs are always capable of outperforming preseason expectations.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Detroit Pistons

October 15th, 2019 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Derrick Rose: Two years, $15MM. Signed using mid-level exception.
- Markieff Morris: Two years, $6.56MM. Second-year player option. Signed using bi-annual exception.
- Tim Frazier: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Joe Johnson: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($220K). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Jordan Bone
- Louis King
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Donta Hall: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Todd Withers: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).

Trades:

Acquired Tony Snell and the draft rights to Kevin Porter Jr. (No. 30 pick) from the Bucks in exchange for Jon Leuer.
Acquired the Jazz’s 2020 second-round pick, the Trail Blazers’ 2021 second-round pick, the Trail Blazers’ 2023 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected), and cash ($5MM) from the Cavaliers in exchange for the draft rights to Kevin Porter Jr. (No. 30 pick).
Acquired the draft rights to Deividas Sirvydis (No. 37 pick) from the Mavericks in exchange for the draft rights to Isaiah Roby (No. 45 pick), the Jazz’s 2020 second-round pick, and the Trail Blazers’ 2021 second-round pick.
Acquired the draft rights to Jordan Bone (No. 57 pick) from the Sixers in exchange for the Heat’s 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected) and cash ($2MM).

Draft picks:

1-15: Sekou Doumbouya — Signed to rookie contract.
2-37: Deividas Sirvydis — Will play overseas.
2-55: Jordan Bone — Signed to two-way contract.

Waiver claims:

Christian Wood (from Pelicans): One year, minimum salary contract. Claimed using minimum salary exception.

Departing players:

Jose Calderon
Wayne Ellington
Jon Leuer
Kalin Lucas (two-way)
Zaza Pachulia
Glenn Robinson III (declined team option)
Ish Smith
Isaiah Whitehead (two-way)

Other offseason news:

Agreement with Michael Beasley fell through.
Lost executive Sachin Gupta to Timberwolves.
Hired Donnie Tyndall as head coach of G League affiliate (Grand Rapids Drive).
Announced plan to move G League team to downtown Detroit in 2021/22.
Opened new $90MM training facility and corporate headquarters in downtown Detroit.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Hard-capped.
Carrying approximately $130.98MM in guaranteed salary.
$1.94MM of mid-level exception still available (used $7.32MM on Derrick Rose).
$423K of bi-annual exception still available (used $3.2MM on Markieff Morris).
Two traded player exceptions available; largest TPE ($2.5MM) expires 2/6/20.

Story of the summer:

Since acquiring Blake Griffin prior to the 2018 trade deadline, the Pistons have had little flexibility to make changes to the supporting cast around their new star player. Griffin’s massive contract restricts Detroit’s maneuverability to some extent, but the veteran forward earned his pay check in 2018/19, putting up some of the best numbers of his career and finding his way back onto the All-Star and All-NBA teams for the first time since 2015.

It’s the Pistons’ other highly-priced players who have hampered the team’s flexibility to a greater extent. Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson will earn a combined $45MM+ during the 2019/20 season, joining Griffin to form a de facto “Big Three” in Detroit. But you could make a case that Drummond isn’t among the NBA’s 10 best centers, while Jackson isn’t one of the league’s best 15 point guards.

Drummond and Jackson are probably more valuable to the Pistons than they would be as trade chips, so the club once again stuck with both players through the 2019 offseason. But with their contracts – and Griffin’s – still on the books, Detroit’s ability to make meaningful upgrades to other parts of the roster was limited.

The Pistons did manage to move Jon Leuer‘s oversized contract, but only to acquire another pricey role player in Tony Snell. The team also made use of its mid-level and bi-annual exceptions to bring in Derrick Rose and Markieff Morris. Rose is a former MVP and had a strong bounce-back season in 2018/19, but has had trouble staying healthy in recent years. Injuries were an issue for Morris last season too.

Given their lack of cap room, the Pistons probably did about as well as they could to add high-upside veterans to the mix this offseason. But the team still doesn’t look like an upper-echelon contender in the Eastern Conference and may need to make more drastic changes to its roster in the future to realistically jump into that tier.

Key offseason losses:

Most veterans who sign with new teams during buyout season aren’t expected to play major minutes, but that wasn’t the case for Wayne Ellington, who was thrust into a starting role after joining the Pistons in February. His 12.0 PPG and 27.3 MPG in 28 games with Detroit would have been full-season career highs — his 7.8 three-point attempts per game would’ve been too. The Pistons benefited from both the volume and accuracy of Ellington’s three-point shot, and will have to find ways to replace it in 2019/20.

Ish Smith was an important part of Detroit’s roster over the last three seasons, backing up Jackson at the point and stepping in as the starter when Jackson was on the shelf. His speed and ability to break down defenses made him a particularly valuable asset on offense, though he regressed last season to his modest career efficiency rates after posting a career-best .486 FG% in 2017/18.

Jose Calderon and Zaza Pachulia spent a single season in Detroit, providing some veteran leadership but not a whole lot else — neither player averaged more than 13 minutes per contest.

Leuer and Glenn Robinson III also departed after injury-plagued stints with the Pistons.

Key offseason additions:

Assuming he stays healthy, Rose should be an upgrade over Smith in the backcourt. The two point guards have similar skill sets, but Rose is a more talented scorer and flashed an improved three-point shot in 2018/19, making 37.0% of his attempts for the Timberwolves.

Of course, health is the big “if” for the former Bull. His games-played totals for the last six seasons are 10, 51, 66, 64, 25, and 51. However, he also averaged more than 27 minutes per game in five of those six seasons. The Pistons may have the personnel to keep Rose fresher by playing him in shorter spurts, using another newly-acquired point guard, third-stringer Tim Frazier, to spell both Jackson and Rose occasionally. Frasier isn’t an impact player, but he averaged 4.2 APG and shot 36.6% from beyond the arc last season.

Although a neck injury sapped Morris of his abilities during the 2018/19 campaign, he’s only a year removed from shooting .480/.367/.820 in 73 games for the Wizards. At just $3.2MM, he’s a worthwhile gamble for the Pistons.

Speaking of worthwhile gambles, the Pistons got a pleasant surprise on draft night when forward Sekou Doumbouya fell to them at No. 15. Doumbouya, the youngest player in the NBA, probably won’t make an immediate impact, but he’s the sort of raw, high-upside prospect that playoff teams generally have a difficult time acquiring in the draft. While power forward is probably his natural position, he projects as an uber-versatile defender who can guard three or four positions.

Christian Wood and Joe Johnson also joined the Pistons this summer and are ostensibly competing for the last spot on the roster, though it’s possible the club will find a way to keep both. If Detroit is forced to choose between the two, it will be interesting to see whether the team prioritizes the reliable but limited veteran (Johnson) or the inconsistent but talented youngster (Wood).

Outlook for 2019/20:

The Pistons finished the 2018/19 season with a 41-41 record, which feels about right for this group. In Griffin, Detroit has an impact player capable of singlehandedly elevating the team’s ceiling, but there’s just not enough talent on the rest of the roster to consider it a true contender, even in the Eastern Conference.

Dwane Casey is a talented coach, especially in the regular season, and if the Pistons can get a breakout season from a player like Luke Kennard, it would go a long way toward helping the club secure another playoff berth in 2020. But I have an easier time imagining the Pistons slipping out of the playoff picture and into the lottery than I do picturing them winning a series in the postseason.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Sacramento Kings

October 14th, 2019 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Harrison Barnes: Four years, $85MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Dewayne Dedmon: Three years, $40MM. Third year partially guaranteed ($1MM). Signed using cap room.
- Cory Joseph: Three years, $37.2MM. Third year partially guaranteed ($4MM). Signed using cap room.
- Trevor Ariza: Two years, $25MM. Second year partially guaranteed ($1.8MM). Signed using cap room.
- Richaun Holmes: Two years, $9.77MM. Signed using room exception.
- Tyler Lydon: Two years, minimum salary. First year partially guaranteed ($50K). Second year non-guaranteed.
- Hollis Thompson: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed.
- Tyler Ulis: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed.
Two-way contracts:
- Kyle Guy
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Eric Mika: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).
- Isaiah Pineiro: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the draft rights to Kyle Guy (No. 55 pick) and cash ($1MM) from the Knicks in exchange for the draft rights to Ignas Brazdeikis (No. 47 pick).

Draft picks:

2-40: Justin James — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
2-55: Kyle Guy — Signed to two-way contract.
2-60: Vanja Marinkovic — Will play overseas.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Fired head coach Dave Joerger.
Hired Luke Walton as new head coach.
Walton investigated, cleared on sexual assault allegations.
Hired Igor Kokoskov as assistant coach; hired Lindsey Harding as assistant coach; hired Stacey Augmon as assistant coach; hired Bob Beyer as assistant coach.
Signed general manager Vlade Divac to contract extension.
Hired Joe Dumars as special advisor.
Fired assistant GM Brandon Williams.

Salary cap situation:

Used cap space; now over the cap.
Carrying approximately $112.46MM in guaranteed salary.
No exceptions available.

Story of the summer:

No lottery team had a more encouraging 2018/19 season than the Kings, whose 39 wins were the franchise’s highest total since the 2005/06 campaign. Despite ultimately falling nine games short of a playoff spot, Sacramento was in contention for the No. 8 seed for most of the year and saw several encouraging signs from its young roster.

Buddy Hield made a persuasive case to be considered the NBA’s best high-volume shooter outside of Golden State (his 278 made three-pointers in a single season ranked third all-time among players not named Stephen Curry). Marvin Bagley III showed why the Kings’ decision to pass on Luka Doncic might not go down as a major gaffe. Harry Giles got healthy and made his NBA debut. And most importantly, De’Aaron Fox enjoyed a breakout season in which he flashed All-NBA upside.

On the heels of that promising season, the Kings entered the summer of 2019 with a ton of cap flexibility. However, the team also recognized that keeping its young core intact would mean retaining some of that cap flexibility for the next year or two, when players like Hield, Bogdanovic, and Fox are up for new contracts.

As such, the Kings didn’t go all-in on a single maximum-salary player, and mostly avoided long-term investments. Although they signed four veteran free agents to contracts exceeding $10MM per year, only one of those four – Harrison Barnes – received more than two fully guaranteed seasons.

That approach to summer spending was probably a necessary one — after all, superstar free agents didn’t enter the offseason with Sacramento atop their wish list. But it was also a savvy one. Those veteran signings could help the Kings take another step forward in 2019/20 without compromising their ability to retain the players who are most responsible for helping take them take their first big step forward in ’18/19.

Key offseason losses:

Willie Cauley-Stein started all but one game for the Kings last season, averaging 11.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 2.4 APG. A 25-year-old center posting those numbers would normally be the type of player a young, up-and-coming club would want to keep around, but both the team and player seemed eager for a fresh start by the time Cauley-Stein reached free agency.

Sacramento did tender Cauley-Stein a $6.3MM qualifying offer before the free agent period got underway, making him restricted and suggesting the team was willing to pay a modest price to keep him around. However, the Kings later withdrew that QO and Cauley-Stein accepted a deal worth $4.5MM over two years from the Warriors, an indication that he wanted a change of scenery more than he wanted to maximize his payday.

None of the Kings’ other departures represented a significant loss. Kosta Koufos spent the last four years with the organization, but saw his minutes cut back substantially in 2018/19 and will play in Russia next season.

Midseason addition Corey Brewer injected some energy off the bench to the Kings’ rotation, but was merely a stopgap solution on the wing. Alec Burks, also acquired during the season, played even less than Brewer and didn’t factor into Sacramento’s future plans.

The Kings’ decision to waive guard Frank Mason was a minor surprise, since he was the 34th overall pick just two years ago. However, he took a step back in his sophomore year, shooting a dismal 14-of-64 (21.9%) from beyond the three-point arc, and no longer had a place in the club’s increasingly crowded backcourt.

Key offseason additions:

During the last week of June, ESPN’s Zach Lowe referred to Dewayne Dedmon as “sneakily the most coveted under-the-radar free agent in the league.” The price the Kings ultimately paid to land the veteran center ($40MM for three years, albeit with a non-guaranteed third season) suggests that he wasn’t flying too far under the radar after all. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a solid addition to Sacramento’s frontcourt.

While Dedmon’s numbers don’t jump off the page, his skill set is more varied now than it was in even two or three years ago — in Atlanta last season, he averaged more than one block, one steal, and one three-pointer per game.

In Cory Joseph, the Kings added a backup veteran point guard who showed in Indiana that he could reliably run a second unit and be a good fit alongside his team’s starting point guard. The price – three years, $37MM – was a little higher than you’d like, but Joseph is solid enough to assume the reins if Fox has to miss any time. And I’d expect to see Sacramento use some lineups that feature both Fox and Joseph.

The Kings added depth up front by inking veteran free agents Trevor Ariza and Richaun Holmes. At age 34, Ariza may not be the sort of invaluable three-and-D piece he once was, and it’s unclear how much Holmes will play in a frontcourt that already features Bagley, Giles, Dedmon, and Nemanja Bjelica. Still, Sacramento shouldn’t have depth issues this season with guys like Ariza and Holmes coming off the bench.

Of course, the Kings made a notable change off the court this spring too, firing head coach Dave Joerger and hiring Luke Walton to take his place. Joerger improved the team’s record by 12 games last season and Walton faced a sexual assault allegation almost immediately after he was hired by Sacramento, so it’s tempting to look at that coaching change as an unforced error by one of the NBA’s most reliably dysfunctional franchises.

However, by all accounts, Joerger rubbed some executives and players the wrong way in Sacramento. And Walton, who has been cleared by the league in their investigation of those sexual assault allegations, seemed to have the young Lakers on the right track before his job description changed upon LeBron James‘ arrival last season. It’s fair to withhold judgment and see how this change works out for the Kings before criticizing them for it.

Outlook for 2019/20:

When a young, exciting team like the Kings makes the leap from bottom-five team in the conference to borderline playoff contender, it’s tempting to pencil them in for another jump the following year. After all, young players like Fox and Bagley should only get better, and the veterans added by the Kings in free agency will help create a deeper and more stable rotation in 2019/20.

I’d like to see the Kings make that next jump and earn a playoff spot this spring, but a young club’s climb up the conference standings isn’t always linear. It won’t be easy to crack the top eight in the West this season, and if Sacramento once again falls outside that group, the season shouldn’t be considered a failure.

Fox and Bagley are still 21 and 20 years old, respectively, and as long as they continue to improve this season, there’s plenty of reason for long-term optimism in Sacramento, no matter how the short-term battle to snap the team’s 13-year postseason drought plays out.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Charlotte Hornets

October 12th, 2019 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Terry Rozier: Three years, $56.7MM. Acquired via sign-and-trade.
Two-way contracts:
- Robert Franks
- Ahmed Hill
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Joe Chealey: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Caleb Martin: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Josh Perkins: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Kobi Simmons: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Thomas Welsh: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).

Trades:

Acquired Terry Rozier (sign-and-trade) and the Celtics’ 2020 second-round pick (top-53 protected) from the Celtics in exchange for Kemba Walker (sign-and-trade) and either the Nets’ or Knicks’ 2020 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable).

Draft picks:

1-12: PJ Washington — Signed to rookie contract.
2-36: Cody Martin — Signed to three-year, $4.47MM contract. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using mid-level exception.
2-52: Jalen McDaniels — Signed to one-year, minimum-salary contract. Non-guaranteed. Exhibit 10.

Departing players:

Frank Kaminsky
Jeremy Lamb
Shelvin Mack
J.P. Macura (two-way)
Tony Parker (Retired; waived)
Kemba Walker

Other offseason news:

Tony Parker announced his retirement.
Michael Jordan sold part of the franchise to minority stakeholders.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist underwent groin surgery.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap.
Hard-capped.
Carrying approximately $122.44MM in guaranteed salary.
$8.08MM of mid-level exception still available (used $1.17MM on Cody Martin).
Full bi-annual exception ($3.62MM) still available.

Story of the summer:

The Hornets entered the 2019 offseason in a no-win situation, forced to decide between two unfavorable paths.

Re-signing franchise player Kemba Walker would have meant investing between $30-40MM per year in a long-term contract for a point guard who turns 30 years old in the spring. It would have meant either pushing team salary into tax territory for the 2019/20 season or sneaking below the tax line by attaching assets to unwanted contracts in trades. And it would have meant essentially doubling down on a core that had missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons.

On the other hand, letting Walker go would mean losing the only All-Star on the roster and not getting anything back for him or gaining the cap flexibility necessary to replace him in any meaningful way. The team’s cap would still be overloaded with lucrative contracts for unspectacular veterans with no real way to get out from under those contracts for another year or two.

Once it became clear that Walker wasn’t interested in sticking around for the terms the Hornets were offering (reportedly about $160MM for five years), president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak attempted to thread the needle between those two unfavorable outcomes by working out a sign-and-trade with the Celtics to get something back for his All-NBA point guard. The result was a three-year, $56MM+ investment in Terry Rozier, who has started 30 career games and has never made more than 39.5% of his field goal attempts in a single season.

An optimist might argue that the Hornets were at least able to get something back for Walker, pointing to Rozier’s impressive 2018 playoff run as proof that he’s capable of more than he showed during a mediocre 2018/19 season. The glass-half-empty argument would be that Rozier wasn’t worth a $56MM investment and will simply become the latest overpaid Hornet, hampering the team’s ability to clear its cap sheet in 2020 and/or 2021.

No matter how the Hornets’ commitment to Rozier plays out, it’s clear that the franchise is entering a new era, one that might get worse before it gets better. Walker’s departure this summer signaled that a full-scale rebuild is on the way.

Key offseason losses:

Having spent the first eight years of his NBA career in Charlotte, Walker leaves the Hornets as the organization’s all-time leader in points, three-pointers, minutes played, and a handful of other categories. He played his best ball in recent years, earning All-Star nods in each of the last three seasons and making his first All-NBA team in 2019.

That All-NBA nod may actually have helped cement his departure from Charlotte, as it made him eligible for an extra $31MM+ over the course of a five-year, maximum-salary contract. The Hornets weren’t willing to go nearly that high, with Kupchak suggesting in an interview this offseason that the team was “blindsided” by Walker qualifying for the super-max based on the preparations they’d made heading into the season.

Would the Hornets and Walker have been any more likely to work something out if he hadn’t qualified for the super-max? Maybe not. But it’s still a question that might linger for the next few years, especially if Kemba thrives in Boston and the Hornets’ rebuild comes along slowly.

While the loss of Walker was the story of the summer in Charlotte, Jeremy Lamb‘s departure shouldn’t be understated. He was the club’s second-best player for much of last season, averaging a career-high 15.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG and becoming a fixture in the starting lineup for the first time in his career. He’ll be missed on the wing.

Tony Parker‘s and Frank Kaminsky‘s exits from Charlotte are also worth noting. Parker provided veteran stability behind Walker at the point last season, though of course he was no longer the same player he was in his prime with the Spurs. Years from now, his one year in Charlotte might be remembered like Hakeem Olajuwon‘s time with Toronto or Patrick Ewing‘s stops in Seattle and Orlando.

Kaminsky had a longer stay with the Hornets, but his on-court contributions were modest relative to the expectations he faced entering the NBA as the ninth overall pick in 2015. Hornets fans may be left wondering what the roster would look like today if the team had accepted the Celtics’ offer of four first-rounders for that No. 9 pick in ’15 instead of using it to draft Kaminsky.

Key offseason additions:

As noted above, the best stretch of Rozier’s career came during the 2018 postseason, when the Celtics came within one game of the NBA Finals without star point guard Kyrie Irving. In that 19-game playoff run, Rozier averaged 16.5 PPG, 5.7 APG, and 5.3 RPG while starting every game and playing a team-high 36.6 minutes per contest. He even made 40.6% of his field goal attempts, topping his career-high regular season mark.

In Charlotte, without any legit competition for the starting point guard job, Rozier will get the chance to show that performance was for real. I’m not convinced he can be an above-average NBA starter, but the Hornets are pot-committed to their bet on the former Celtic and will give him every opportunity to succeed.

Besides Rozier, the Hornets’ most notable incoming players are rookies, led by lottery pick PJ Washington. The versatile forward out of Kentucky may not become a star, but like 2018 first-rounder Miles Bridges, he has a high floor and could be ready for a regular role sooner rather than later. He has the skill set necessary to make an impact on both ends of the court.

Cody Martin, the 36th overall pick in this year’s draft, will also battle for minutes in Charlotte this year, but it doesn’t seem as if No. 52 selection Jalen McDaniels is a big part of the club’s long-term plans. He was the last unsigned pick from this year’s draft – with the exception of players who agreed to spend the season overseas or in the G League – and isn’t a lock to make the regular season roster.

Outlook for 2019/20:

Even with an All-NBA point guard in their backcourt, the Hornets weren’t a playoff team. Now that they’ve lost that All-NBA point guard without making many other changes to the roster, it’s not a real surprise that oddsmakers are projecting them to have the league’s worst record in 2019/20.

That’s not to say the Hornets can’t exceed expectations. Maybe getting out of Boston and having a starting job will buoy Rozier to a career year. Maybe young players like Washington, Bridges, and Malik Monk prove they’re capable of being immediate contributors and long-term building blocks. Maybe some of the Hornets’ veterans on expiring contracts play well and allow the club to flip them for positive value at the deadline.

Still, it’s hard to envision a path to playoff contention for this Charlotte squad. This roster will likely have to be torn down further before it can be built back up.

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

2019 Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Lakers

October 9th, 2019 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Signings:

Standard contracts:
- Danny Green: Two years, $30MM. Signed using cap room.
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Two years, $16.58MM. Second-year player option. 15% trade kicker. Re-signed using cap room.
- Avery Bradley: Two years, $9.77MM. Second-year player option. Signed using room exception.
- JaVale McGee: Two years, $8.2MM. Second-year player option. Re-signed using cap room.
- Quinn Cook: Two years, $6MM. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
- Alex Caruso: Two years, $5.5MM. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- DeMarcus Cousins: One year, $3.5MM. Signed using cap room.
- Rajon Rondo: Two years, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
- Troy Daniels: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Jared Dudley: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Two-way contracts:
- Zach Norvell Jr.
Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Devontae Cacok: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Dwight Howard: One year, minimum salary.
- Demetrius Jackson: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- David Stockton: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10).
- Jordan Caroline: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).
- Aric Holman: One year, minimum salary (Exhibit 10) (Waived).

Trades:

Acquired the draft rights to Talen Horton-Tucker (No. 46 pick) from the Magic in exchange for the Lakers’ 2020 second-round pick and cash ($2,226,778).
Acquired Anthony Davis in a three-team trade with the Pelicans and Wizards in exchange for Lonzo Ball (to Pelicans), Brandon Ingram (to Pelicans), Josh Hart (to Pelicans), the draft rights to De’Andre Hunter (No. 4 pick; to Pelicans), the Lakers’ 2021 first-round pick (9-30 protected; unprotected in 2022; to Pelicans), the Lakers’ 2024 first-round pick (unprotected; to Pelicans), the right to swap 2023 first-round picks with the Lakers (to Pelicans), cash ($1MM; to Pelicans), Moritz Wagner (to Wizards), Isaac Bonga (to Wizards), Jemerrio Jones (to Wizards), and the Lakers’ 2022 second-round pick (to Wizards).

Draft picks:

2-46: Talen Horton-Tucker — Signed to two-year, minimum salary contract. Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.

Waiver claims:

Kostas Antetokounmpo (from Mavericks): One year, two-way contract. Claimed as two-way player.

Departing players:

Lonzo Ball
Isaac Bonga
Reggie Bullock
Tyson Chandler
Josh Hart
Brandon Ingram
Jemerrio Jones
Mike Muscala
Lance Stephenson
Moritz Wagner
Johnathan Williams (two-way)

Other offseason news:

Magic Johnson stepped down as president of basketball operations; no replacement hired.
Parted ways with head coach Luke Walton.
Hired Frank Vogel as head coach.
Hired Jason Kidd as assistant coach; hired Lionel Hollins as assistant coach; hired Phil Handy as assistant coach.
DeMarcus Cousins suffered torn ACL.
Arrest warrant issued for Cousins following alleged domestic incident.
Kyle Kuzma recovering from stress reaction in foot.

Salary cap situation:

Used cap space; now over the cap.
Carrying approximately $118.95MM in guaranteed salary.
$1.75MM disabled player exception available (expires 3/10/20).

Story of the summer:

Leave it to the Lakers to pack about four offseasons’ worth of drama into a single summer. The franchise was at the center of many of the offseason’s biggest stories, experiencing some of the highest highs and lowest lows of any NBA team in June and July.

The club made one of the biggest trades in recent NBA history when it acquired Anthony Davis from the Pelicans in a blockbuster deal that saw the Lakers surrender six players, four draft picks (including three first-rounders), a pick swap, and cash. It was a huge price to pay, but Davis’ ceiling is “best basketball player in the world” and all indications point to him re-upping in Los Angeles when his current contract expires, so for now it’s hard not to call the deal a major win for the organization.

While there were still a handful of details to sort out on the Davis trade, a tentative agreement with the Pelicans was in place on June 15, less than 48 hours after the NBA Finals ended, making it one of the first moves completed this offseason. By the time June 30 finally rolled around, it was practically old news, and the Lakers had their sights set on another All-NBA target: Kawhi Leonard.

As the rest of the league’s top free agents came off the board during a 24-hour window at the start of free agency, Leonard took his time, meeting with the Lakers, Clippers, and Raptors over the course of the week and finally making his decision on the night of July 5. Despite rumblings all week that the Lakers might be the leading contender for the Finals MVP, Kawhi ultimately chose to join L.A.’s other team, giving the Clippers a rare chance to gloat at the expense of their Staples Center cohabitants — and leaving the Lakers scrambling to use their cap room on the few quality role players who remained unsigned.

After failing to secure perhaps the most talented Big Three in NBA history, the Lakers filled out their roster primarily with veteran free agents, earning mixed reviews on some of those signings. One of those newly-signed players is already on the shelf for the entire 2019/20 season, as DeMarcus Cousins suffered a torn ACL.

Still, from the moment the Lakers agreed to acquire Davis in June, any other successes the team enjoyed in the offseason were just a cherry on top of that sundae. After a disappointing 2018/19 campaign and a tumultuous spring which saw Magic Johnson abruptly resign from his president of basketball operations job, GM Rob Pelinka managed to get LeBron James a superstar running mate, adding championship upside to the roster.

Key offseason losses:

Having watched D’Angelo Russell become an All-Star in Brooklyn, the Lakers will have to hope that 2016’s and 2017’s second overall picks don’t follow the same career trajectory as 2015’s No. 2 pick. Of course, if Davis can help deliver the team a title, Brandon Ingram‘s and Lonzo Ball‘s play in New Orleans may be irrelevant from the Lakers’ perspective, but it will still be fascinating to see how the duo looks away from Los Angeles.

Ingram was enjoying the best run of his career before he was diagnosed with a blood clot, averaging 22.5 PPG on .558/.406/.748 shooting in his previous 17 games. Ball, meanwhile, missed at least 30 games in each of his first two NBA seasons due to injuries and still hasn’t proven he can shoot the ball with any consistency, but has had a few moments of brilliance. The two players are entering their age-22 seasons, so there’s still time for them to deliver on the star potential they exhibited as draft prospects.

Josh Hart struggled in his sophomore season and Moritz Wagner and Isaac Bonga didn’t show a whole lot as rookies, so their departures shouldn’t shake up the Lakers’ rotation. They’re three more under-25 prospects whom the team will no longer have to worry about developing as a result of the AD blockbuster.

Elsewhere, veteran free agents Reggie Bullock, Tyson Chandler, Mike Muscala, and Lance Stephenson all departed after spending no more than a single season with the Lakers. Chandler stabilized the Lakers’ frontcourt upon his arrival early last season, but had his minutes reduced in the second half. Stephenson didn’t have a bad season, but was no longer an ideal fit in 2019/20 as the Lakers focused more on shooters than play-makers to surround James and Davis.

Meanwhile, Bullock saw his numbers slip after arriving in a pre-deadline trade, while Muscala, unfortunately, may be best remembered by Lakers fans as the underwhelming return in the Ivica Zubac trade.

Key offseason additions:

Davis’ reputation was sullied to some extent by the way his tenure in New Orleans ended, but he arrives in Los Angeles determined to put that saga behind him and to prove he should be perennially included in the MVP conversation.

He certainly has the skill set to win an MVP award — he has averaged 27.5 PPG and 11.6 RPG over the last three years, and filled up the box score by averaging 2.7 APG, 2.4 BPG, 1.4 SPG, and even 0.7 3PG during that stretch. The Lakers will simply have to figure out how to maximize the talent on their roster now that their three best players – James, Davis, and Kyle Kuzma – are all power forwards.

After missing out on Leonard, the Lakers moved quickly to sign his longtime teammate Danny Green to a lucrative two-year contract, which was a savvy move. At age 32, Green may be slowing down a little, but he has championship experience and is the sort of capable two-way wing the Lakers badly needed. He’ll help the team spread the floor on offense and can more than hold his own on the defensive end.

Speaking of defense, Avery Bradley should help improve the Lakers’ backcourt on that end of the court too. Once considered one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, Bradley hasn’t looked like his old self over the last couple seasons, but if he’s healthy, he could be a free agency steal. The club raved about his performance in camp this fall.

Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels, and Jared Dudley are among the newly-added veterans who will help fill out L.A.’s rotation. I especially liked the addition of Dudley, whose value extends beyond his modest per-game numbers.

Finally, the signing of Cousins for $3.5MM was a low-risk play, which is good, since he likely won’t suit up at all for the Lakers. Following his ACL injury, the club signed Dwight Howard to take his place on an even lower-cost, lower-risk deal — Howard’s minimum-salary contract is fully non-guaranteed.

By all accounts, Howard – who spoke after his signing about his willingness to accept any role asked of him – has been a consummate professional for the Lakers so far and looks ready to back up his comments on no longer needing to play significant minutes.

Outlook for 2019/20:

It’s difficult to get a read on the Lakers heading into the 2019/20 season. Any team with James and Davis should be taken seriously as a title contender, but there was a lot of turnover on the roster, which could create continuity issues. And it remains to be seen how the club will handle its rotation and its crunch-time lineups.

If new head coach Frank Vogel can figure things out quickly and the positional overlap of James, Davis, and Kuzma doesn’t hurt the team, it’s easy to imagine the Lakers competing for the No. 1 seed. On the other hand, if there are growing pains that extend well into the season or if LeBron or AD misses significant time with an injury, it’s not out of the question that the club will have to fight just to make the playoffs.

I expect the Lakers to snap their six-season playoff drought, and as long as they stay healthy, they look like a good bet to win at least one postseason series. How far they can go beyond that may come down to how much they get out of the supporting cast around James and Davis.

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

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