- There’s no disputing Shelvin Mack‘s track record of success, he suited up for the 60-win Hawks of 2014/15 and served a valuable role for the 2016/17 Jazz squad that climbed back to relevance. According to John Denton of Orlando’s official website, the former Butler Bulldog thinks that even the Magic can be winners in the immediate future.
Houston continues to be the preferred destination for Carmelo Anthony, but former Rockets coach and ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy doesn’t see the high-scoring forward as a “natural fit” for the team, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. Van Gundy, who still lives in Houston, believes the Rockets need to focus on defense in any future transactions. “I think they have a lot on their plate integrating [Chris] Paul and [James] Harden,” Van Gundy said. “They’re not going to be better offensively than they were last year. They were the second-best team in the league offensively. I thought they had defined roles everyone knew.”
Efforts to work out a four-team trade that would send Anthony to Houston are currently on hold as new Knicks GM Scott Perry hopes for a face-to-face meeting with his star player before proceeding. New York officials would like Anthony, who can block any deal with a no-trade clause, to expand the list of teams he is willing to join, which reportedly now just includes the Rockets and Cavaliers.
There’s more this morning from the Southwest Division:
- The Spurs never made a serious attempt to keep Jonathon Simmons, tweets Casey Keirnan of News 4 San Antonio. Simmons agreed to a three-year, $20MM deal with the Magic on Friday after the Spurs pulled his qualifying offer and made him an unrestricted free agent. Despite reports that San Antonio was trying to retain Simmons, the team never made him an offer apart from the QO, sources tell Keirnan.
- The Mavericks are taking an international approach to rebuilding their roster, notes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. This week’s signing of German star Maxi Kleber could give them as many as seven international players at training camp. Joining roster holdovers Dirk Nowitzki, J.J. Barea, Dwight Powell and Salah Mejri will be Kleber, Nico Brussino and Ding Yanyuhang. However, Brussino’s $1,312,611 salary for next season won’t be guaranteed until Thursday, so he may be somewhere else when camp opens. “You want good players, and it doesn’t matter where you find them,” said president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson. “There are players all over the world. It’s our job to know where they are.”
- After reaching an agreement Saturday with Rajon Rondo, the Pelicans plan to use him and fellow point guard Jrue Holiday as their backcourt starters, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Rondo’s friendship with former Kings teammate DeMarcus Cousins was a factor in choosing New Orleans, Spears indicates.
JULY 15, 12:34pm: The breakdown for Simmons’ deal is $6.3MM the first year, declining to $6MM and $5.7MM in the last two years of the contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The final year is partially guaranteed at $1MM, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
JULY 14th, 3:25pm: Simmons’ three-year deal is worth $20MM, according to Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). That should leave a little cap room for the Magic after they complete the signing.
2:42pm: The Magic have reached an agreement with Jonathon Simmons and will sign the free agent swingman to a three-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical. The deal will be fully guaranteed, tweets TNT’s David Aldridge. Because the Spurs withdrew their qualifying offer for Simmons on Thursday, Orlando can sign him outright as an unrestricted free agent.
A former undrafted free agent out of Houston, Simmons played a career-high 78 games for the Spurs last season, averaging 6.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG in part-time minutes for the club. Simmons also took on a larger role in the postseason, averaging 15.3 PPG and 3.3 APG in the Warriors’ four-game sweep of the Spurs and entering the starting lineup after Kawhi Leonard went down.
Simmons began the month as a restricted free agent, having received a modest qualifying offer from the Spurs. San Antonio was said to be preparing an offer in the range of $9MM annually for Simmons, but it’s not clear if that offer ever materialized. The Kings, Clippers, Knicks, and Timberwolves were among the teams that expressed interest in Simmons during his restricted free agency, but by the time the Spurs renounced his rights on Thursday, most of those clubs had used up all their cap room.
San Antonio’s decision to pull its qualifying offer before Thursday’s deadline was a bit of a surprise, but it reportedly came after a request from Simmons’ camp. Prior to renouncing Simmons, the Spurs were said to have explored a sign-and-trade scenario that would have sent him to Phoenix for Tyson Chandler, but San Antonio balked at taking on Chandler’s contract.
As for the Magic, they have been fairly quiet so far in free agency — outside of Shelvin Mack, no veteran free agents have signed with the team. Orlando’s new top decision-makers, Jeff Weltman and John Hammond, are known for their willingness to roll the dice on upside, however, and even though Simmons will turn 28 in September, he’s considered a player who has the potential to improve and play a larger role for a team. The Magic have about $8MM in cap room and could open up a little more by waiving non-guaranteed contracts, so it appears they’ll use most or all of that space to lock up Simmons.
Simmons’ path to the NBA was an unusual one. As detailed by Michael C. Wright in an excellent ESPN feature, the 6’6″ guard paid $150 back in 2013 to participate in an open D-League tryout. Less than four years later, he’s on the verge of finalizing his first huge NBA payday.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Hawks, Nets, Bucks, Knicks and Magic have all expressed interest in swingman Shabazz Muhammad, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The Bulls are on that list as well, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype. Muhammad became an unrestricted free agent last week when Minnesota pulled his qualifying offer to create enough cap room to sign Taj Gibson. He has been with the Wolves for all four of his NBA seasons and averaged 9.9 points in 78 games last year.
There’s more tonight on the free agent front:
- Jordan Farmar is hoping to return to the NBA and spoke to Lakers coach Luke Walton today about a possible opportunity, Kennedy relays (Twitter link). The 30-year-old point guard played two games for the Kings in November of last season.
- The Raptors have talked about making a play for former Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute, reports Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet (Twitter link).
- The Clippers and Timberwolves are both considering Tony Allen, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Coaches Doc Rivers in L.A. and Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota have connections with Allen from their time with the Celtics.
- Veteran point guard Beno Udrih is talking to several teams in Las Vegas, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Now 35, Udrih believes he can play for several more years. He got into 39 games with the Pistons last season.
- Former Baylor standout Royce O’Neale is considering several NBA offers, according to Kyler (Twitter link). The 24-year-old forward went undrafted in 2015 and has been playing in Lithuania, but he has an NBA opt-out in his contract through July 20th.
- The Magic signed Shelvin Mack to a two-year contract worth an even $6MM annually, but only $1MM is guaranteed in year two (Twitter link).
The Magic have waived C.J. Watson, the team confirmed today (Twitter link). Watson will become an unrestricted free agent later this week, assuming he clears waivers.
Per Basketball Insiders’ salary pages, Watson was set to earn $5MM in 2017/18, but only $1MM of that figure was guaranteed. The Magic would have been on the hook for the remaining $4MM if they’d kept the veteran point guard on their roster beyond today, but by cutting him, the team will only have to pay that $1MM — that amount could be stretched across three seasons, if the Magic so choose.
Watson, who has spent the last two seasons in Orlando, has seen his numbers drop off significantly since joining the franchise. In 95 total games with the Magic, the 33-year-old has recorded 4.5 PPG and 2.1 APG with a shooting line of .371/.301/.867. Prior to his time in Orlando, Watson was a .425/.383/.806 shooter for his career.
While Orlando didn’t announce the move until today, the writing was on the wall for Watson’s release when the team agreed to sign Shelvin Mack earlier in the free agent period.
The Magic currently have about $90.7MM in team salary on their books, which doesn’t account for cap holds and exceptions. If they’re operating as an under-the-cap team, the Magic would have about $8MM in space remaining.
We’re only on the 10th day of the NBA league year, but already, the number of teams with cap room still available is dwindling.
Clubs without cap room remaining could create space at some point — the Knicks, for instance, used the last of their cap room to finalize Tim Hardaway‘s offer sheet, but may try to clear salary by trading Carmelo Anthony and/or Courtney Lee. For now though, only a handful of teams have a useful amount of cap space left.
Those teams with cap room are listed below, along with an informal breakdown of what their situation looks like. Many deals haven’t yet been finalized, so these figures our based on our projections, with the help of information from Basketball Insiders and HeatHoops.
Teams with cap room remaining:
- Atlanta Hawks: With agreed-upon deals for Mike Muscala and Tyler Dorsey not yet official, the Hawks retain about $18-19MM in cap room. And that’s not counting whatever amount of money Jamal Crawford was willing to give up in his buyout, so that figure may creep a little higher.
- Brooklyn Nets: The Nets remain in a holding pattern with Otto Porter, but after he officially moves over to the Wizards’ books and Brooklyn completes its trade for DeMarre Carroll, the team should have about $16-17MM in cap room. The Nets could create a little more space by waiving one or more non-guaranteed players.
- Denver Nuggets: Once the Nuggets’ signing of Paul Millsap becomes official, the team won’t have much cap flexibility left, though that could change if Mike Miller is waived and/or Mason Plumlee is renounced. If both of those players remain on the cap, Denver will only have about $2MM in room. If they move on from both players, the Nuggets could get up to about $11MM+ in space.
- Indiana Pacers: Assuming the Pacers stretch Monta Ellis‘ salary, as has been reported, they should have in the neighborhood of $7-8MM in remaining cap room, even after finalizing the acquisitions of Darren Collison, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Cory Joseph.
- Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers have approximately $17MM in cap room left, though they’d have to renounce their remaining unrestricted free agents to make use of all that space.
- Orlando Magic: The Magic could have retained their exceptions and cap holds and stayed over the cap, but it looks like they’re operating under the cap, signing Shelvin Mack with room instead of the mid-level exception. Orlando doesn’t have much space available, but could get up to $8MM+ in room by waiving C.J. Watson, and could increase that number a little more by cutting other non-guaranteed players.
- Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers’ remaining cap room will depend on the exact numbers for J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson, but it figures to be in the neighborhood of $16-17MM.
- Phoenix Suns: Alex Len‘s $12MM+ cap hold is a significant factor in the Suns’ remaining cap room. If they were to renounce Len, the Suns could get up to about $23MM in room, with the ability to create even more by waiving non-guaranteed contracts. However, if they keep Len on the books, Phoenix’s cap room is below $11MM, and will be reduced further when Alan Williams‘ new deal becomes official.
- Sacramento Kings: Deals for George Hill, Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, and Bogdan Bogdanovic will use up most of the Kings’ space, but the team should still have room in the $8-10MM range after those signings become official.
Teams that went under the cap, but have used all (or virtually all) of their room:
- Boston Celtics
- Miami Heat
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
These teams went below the cap this summer to accommodate big-money moves. In some cases, those deals aren’t yet official, but when they’re finalized, they’ll eliminate any cap room these teams have left. A couple of these clubs have already committed their room exception to certain players, with the Celtics on track to sign Aron Baynes and the Wolves lining up a deal with Jamal Crawford.
Teams that are operating over the cap, but could create some cap room:
- Chicago Bulls
- Dallas Mavericks
- Utah Jazz
These teams are currently operating as over-the-cap clubs in order to retain their full mid-level, bi-annual, and trade exceptions, but there could be scenarios in which it makes more sense to renounce those exceptions and dip below the cap.
In the Bulls’ and Mavs’ cases, it would likely only happen if they don’t retain top RFAs (Nikola Mirotic and Nerlens Noel, respectively). Meanwhile, the Jazz could only create up to about $12MM in room if they were to waive their non-guaranteed contracts and wait to sign Joe Ingles.
Note: Items on Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic were edited after publication to adjust figures.
JULY 9, 12:22: The deal is official, according to a tweet from the Magic.
JULY 7, 6:51pm: The Magic are finalizing a deal with free agent guard Shelvin Mack, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The two-year pact is said to be worth $12MM, at an even $6MM per year (according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune).
In 55 games for the Jazz last season, Mack posted 7.8 points per game, a far cry from the 12.7 he put up in ten extra minutes the year prior.
Over the course of a six-year career, Mack has established himself as a solid backup guard capable of playing both the one and the two. In Orlando he’ll fit in well behind Elfrid Payton, perhaps sharing spot starter duties with D.J. Augustin.
The move could signal that C.J. Watson, the team’s other point guard option, could be waived in the coming days. Watson’s deal isn’t guaranteed for 2017/18 if Orlando waives him prior to July 10, as is laid out in our official NBA Salary Guarantee Dates list.
The Wizards will use their mid-level exception instead of their bi-annual exception to sign Jodie Meeks, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The change was made to avoid being hard-capped by the expected re-signing of Otto Porter. Meeks will still receive $7MM over two seasons; the money will just come from a different source (Twitter link). The Wizards still haven’t received the Nets’ offer sheet for Porter, adds J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic (Twitter link).
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Clippers, Warriors, Hawks, Sixers and Pacers all remain in the market for Heat back-up center Willie Reed, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. Miami also hopes to re-sign him.
- The Magic’s new management team is taking a cautious attitude toward rebuilding, relays Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando has been quiet during the first week of free agency, despite coming off a 29-53 season and having up to $15.1MM available to spend. “There’s a lot less money in the free-agent market this year than there was last year,” said Jeff Weltman, the team’s new president of basketball operations. “And so, the approach that we’ve taken is to kind of wait and see how some of that shakes out towards the next phase of free agency and see which players we may be able to get into discussions with at that point. But we’ve been touching base with a lot of guys and just kind of gauging the market.”
- The Hornets have promoted Buzz Peterson to assistant GM, the team announced on its website. A former standout at North Carolina and a head coach at five colleges, Peterson had been serving as the Hornets’ senior advisor to basketball operations. “He brings a wide breadth of basketball knowledge to the position, having been involved in the game at various levels for close to three decades,” said Charlotte GM Rich Cho. “I’m excited to be working more closely with Buzz in his new role and look forward to his continued contributions to our basketball team.”
The Magic have parted ways with the 41st overall pick from last year’s draft, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel, who tweets that the team has waived second-year center Stephen Zimmerman.
Zimmerman, 20, saw limited action during his rookie season in Orlando, averaging 1.2 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 19 games (5.7 MPG) for the club. The former UNLV big man had a more extensive role in 21 games for the Erie BayHawks, averaging 13.4 PPG and 8.9 RPG in the G League.
While teams are often inclined to stick with second-round projects for longer than just one year, the Magic are under new management this offseason, having hired Jeff Weltman and John Hammond to replace Rob Hennigan in the front office, so the new group didn’t have any particular attachment to Zimmerman.
Zimmerman’s contract also forced the team to make a decision on him this week — his minimum salary for 2017/18 was set to become fully guaranteed if he wasn’t cut by the end of the July moratorium. The Magic won’t be on the hook for any of that money now that they’ve waived him.