- The Suns don’t plan a major move even though they still have more than $13MM in cap space available and a roster spot to fill, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix is more than $3MM below the minimum team payroll of $84.73MM, which could help facilitate trades during the season. “I’d be surprised if we spent a lot of that cap space now or over the summertime,” said GM Ryan McDonough. “More likely, we’ll preserve most, if not all of it, and go into the season and look at either in-season signings or probably more likely in-season trades that are lopsided where we take back more money than we send out. There are a decent amount of advantages to operating as an under-the-cap team in terms of player aggregation and trades and things like that.”
- Leandro Barbosa‘s two-year contract with the Suns was reported to have a team option on its second year. Pincus clarifies that Barbosa’s 2017/18 salary, worth $4MM in total, is partially guaranteed for just $500K.
Traded player exceptions, which we’ve explained extensively in a Hoops Rumors glossary entry, are a tool that over-the-cap teams can use to complete trades. For mid-season deals, when most teams are at or over the salary cap, these exceptions are typically used and created frequently.
This summer, however, with the salary cap increasing by more than $24MM and most teams choosing to use cap room rather than staying over the cap, trade exceptions have become scarcer — and less useful. In order for teams to actually use their available cap room to take on salaries or to sign free agents, those exceptions must be renounced.
Heading into the 2016/17 league year, teams around the NBA held a total of 29 trade exceptions. After the new league year officially got underway and the moratorium ended, the majority of those TPEs were lost. In total, 22 of the 29 previously-existing traded player exceptions were renounced or expired.
Earlier this month, only the Clippers, Cavaliers, and Thunder still held any TPEs, with Cleveland hanging onto five of them, and L.A. and OKC holding one apiece. Over the last week or so, a few new trade exceptions have been created, but with so many teams still under the cap, the full list is much shorter than it has been in past years.
Here’s a breakdown of the newly-created TPEs:
Charlotte Hornets
Amount: $1,666,470
Expires: 7/12/17
How it was created: When the Grizzlies signed Troy Daniels away from the Hornets, they did so in a sign-and-trade deal, allowing Charlotte to create a TPE for half of Daniels’ $3,332,940 salary.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Amount: $1,333,420
Expires: 7/15/17
How it was created: The Cavaliers created this TPE worth Sasha Kaun‘s 2016/17 salary when they sent him to Philadelphia without receiving any NBA salary in return.
(Note: The Cavaliers also created a $4,803,750 trade exception by signing-and-trading Matthew Dellavedova to the Bucks, but immediately used that exception to acquire Mike Dunleavy.)
Los Angeles Clippers
Amount: $1,209,600
Expires: 7/15/17
How it was created: When the Clippers acquired Devyn Marble from the Magic for C.J. Wilcox, the team actually used its old $947,276 TPE (acquired in January’s Josh Smith trade) to absorb Marble’s salary, then created a new exception worth Wilcox’s salary.
The traded player exceptions listed above have been added to our full breakdown of the TPEs available around the league. That list no longer includes the $2,038,206 exception the Thunder created last summer when they sent Perry Jones III to the Celtics — that TPE expired on July 14.
Our full list of TPEs also no longer features the following exceptions, all of which were renounced earlier this month when these teams went under the cap (expiry date listed in parentheses):
- Atlanta Hawks: $947,276 (2/18/17)
- Brooklyn Nets: $2,170,465 (7/13/16)
- Chicago Bulls: $2,854,940 (2/18/17)
- Chicago Bulls: $947,276 (6/22/17)
- Denver Nuggets: $135,000 (2/18/17)
- Detroit Pistons: $6,270,000 (6/29/17)
- Golden State Warriors: $5,387,825 (7/27/16)
- Golden State Warriors: $3,197,170 (7/31/16)
- Memphis Grizzlies: $450,000 (2/18/17)
- Miami Heat: $1,706,250 (7/27/16)
- Miami Heat: $1,294,440 (7/27/16)
- Miami Heat: $2,129,535 (11/10/16)
- Miami Heat: $2,145,060 (2/16/17)
- Miami Heat: $845,059 (2/18/17)
- Miami Heat: $2,854,940 (2/18/17)
- Milwaukee Bucks: $5,200,000 (7/9/16)
- Milwaukee Bucks: $4,250,000 (7/9/16)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: $5,000,000 (7/12/16)
- New Orleans Pelicans: $102,217 (12/24/16)
- New York Knicks: $1,572,360 (6/22/17)
- Phoenix Suns: $578,651 (2/18/17)
Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
JULY 19, 2:01pm: The Suns have officially signed Barbosa, the team announced today (via Twitter).
JULY 6, 11:00pm: The deal includes a team option on the second year, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets.
10:54pm: The Suns have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Leandro Barbosa, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). The pact is worth $8MM over two-years, Wojnarowski adds. It’s unknown if the deal includes any options, be it player or team.
The 33-year-old makes his return to Phoenix, where he spent the first seven years of his career after being selected No. 28 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft. The veteran also made a brief 20-game pit stop with the franchise during the 2013/14 campaign.
Barbosa was a member of the Western Conference champion Warriors this past season, appearing in 68 games and averaging 6.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 15.9 minutes per contest. He shot .462/.355/.839 from the field on the year.
- The Suns have hired Marlon Garnett as an assistant coach/ player development coordinator, reports Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Garnett previously worked for the Spurs as a video coordinator.
- Alan Williams‘ Summer League performance could guarantee him a roster spot on the Suns, Matt Petersen of NBA.com speculates. The big man earned first team honors out in Vegas, pulling down 11.2 rebounds per game.
- The Suns‘ John Jenkins hopes he improved his chances to stay in the NBA by extending the guarantee date on his contract until October, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Jenkins, who was claimed off waivers from the Mavericks in February, is owed $1.05MM in 2016-17 and $1.18MM in 2017-18, but both years are non-guaranteed. “I’m good here,” Jenkins said. “I love the vision. I love the direction. When I heard [the extension] may happen, I wanted it to happen. My agent loved the idea.”
- The Suns are closing in on hiring Ty Ellis as the head coach of their D-League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, Marc Stein of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Ellis spent the 2015/16 campaign as an assistant on Phoenix’s D-League squad in Bakersfield.
Free agent point guard Ronnie Price appears headed to a new team, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, who reports (via Twitter) that Price has agreed to a two-year deal with an NBA club. The identity of that mystery team isn’t yet known, but Gambadoro clarifies (via Twitter) that Price won’t be returning to the Suns, who previously had interest in the veteran guard on a one-year contract.
Price, 33, hasn’t played for the same team in consecutive seasons since spending four years in Utah from 2007/08 to 2010/11, so his departure from Phoenix doesn’t come as a shock. Still, he had expressed optimism back in April about remaining a Sun, and a report earlier this month indicated that he was still on the team’s radar.
In 2015/16, Price established a new career high for playing time, appearing in 62 games and earning more than 1,200 minutes for the Suns — it was the first time in his 11-year career that he had cracked the 1,000-minute mark. His numbers in those 62 appearances were modest, however. For the season, Price averaged 5.3 PPG and 2.4 APG to go along with a shooting line of .384/.347/.756.
With Price not returning to Phoenix, the Suns may be preparing for second-round pick Tyler Ulis to have a role backing up Eric Bledsoe. As the team’s depth chart shows, Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Knight are among the other guards on the roster capable of handling the ball, though they also figure to see time at the two.
Despite losing two centers this summer, the Warriors haven’t reached out to Larry Sanders, writes Monte Poole of CSNBayArea. The former Bucks big man was an elite rim protector before he walked away from the game in December of 2014, citing anxiety and depression. Sanders is considering a comeback and sparked speculation on Saturday when he sent out two messages on Twitter: an image of a cavalier and a scene from a 1979 movie titled “The Warriors.” Golden State needs to find replacements for Andrew Bogut, who was traded to Dallas to create cap room for Kevin Durant, and Festus Ezeli, who signed with the Trail Blazers as a free agent.
There’s more news from the Pacific Division:
- The Kings are getting plenty of calls from teams interested in Rudy Gay, Kosta Koufos and Ben McLemore, tweets James Ham of CSNCalifornia. So far, they haven’t heard an offer they like.
- New Kings coach Dave Joerger doesn’t plan to coach any more summer league games, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Joerger said he started out in that role to set the tone for the rest of the staff.
- The Kings and Clippers are among the teams that worked out J.R. Smith‘s brother this weekend in Las Vegas, tweets Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. Chris Smith‘s only NBA experience came in two games with the Knicks in 2013.
- Ryan McDonough’s first plan for a quick turnaround in Phoenix didn’t work, so now he’s rebuilding through the draft, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. With two picks in the top eight, the Suns grabbed highly regarded power forward prospects Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. Their only free agent pickup so far this summer is veteran shooting guard Jared Dudley for $30MM over three years, a modest sum in this year’s market. “That’s certainly the most sustainable way to do it,” McDonough said about his draft strategy. “If you can draft those guys and have them under control for four years on the rookie scale and then have a bunch of advantages in terms of contract extensions and full Bird rights, that really helps.”
JULY 8th, 5:01pm: The Suns announced that the signing is official.
JULY 1st, 9:14pm: After spending four years in Phoenix earlier in his NBA career, Jared Dudley is returning to the Suns. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), the Suns and Dudley have reached an agreement on a three-year, $30MM deal. The pact will be fully guaranteed, tweets Michael Scotto of The Associated Press.
Dudley, who will turn 31 later this month, was one of the more talented outside shooters available in free agency this summer. For his career, Dudley has made more than 700 three-pointers, shooting at a 39.9% clip. He made 42.0% of his shots from downtown this past season for the Wizards, averaging at least one three-pointer per game for the seventh straight year.
While Washington reportedly had interest in re-signing Dudley, Phoenix’s primary competitors for the veteran’s services appeared to be the Nets and the Jazz. Brooklyn reportedly made a two-year, $18MM offer to Dudley, while Utah spoke to him multiple times.
For the Suns, Dudley will provide a young team with veteran leadership, and will help make up for some of the outside shooting that was lost when Mirza Teletovic reached an agreement with the Bucks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.