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Pacific Notes: Bogut, Kobe, Tyler, Suns

October 28th, 2013 at 3:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Let’s round up a few Monday items out of the Pacific Division….

  • Grantland’s Zach Lowe examines last Friday’s two big deals, the Wizards‘ acquisition of Marcin Gortat  and the Warriors‘ extension for Andrew Bogut. In Lowe’s view, the Suns made out very well in the Gortat swap, which looks like the result of a win-now mandate for Washington. Meanwhile, Lowe considers Bogut’s deal a risky one for Golden State, but hopes it works out, since the league is better off with the former first overall pick healthy.
  • Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News goes in-depth on Bogut’s new contract and the Warriors‘ long-term cap situation, reporting some new details on the agreement with Bogut. According to Kawakami, there is no trade kicker included in Bogut’s extension, which features up to 15% in unlikely bonuses in each season.
  • In his latest piece for SBNation.com, Tom Ziller examines Jim Buss’ comments on Kobe Bryant‘s contract situation and attempts to identify Buss’ motives.
  • After cutting him last week, the Knicks are trying to obtain Jeremy Tyler‘s D-League rights from Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Tyler, who is rehabbing a foot injury, is free to sign with any NBA team, but can’t join a D-League team besides Santa Cruz unless the Warriors agree to a deal to relinquish his rights.
  • Dionte Christmas, Ishmael Smith, and Viacheslav Kravtsov, who earned spots on the Suns‘ opening night roster, have learned not to take having an NBA job for granted, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details.
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Pacific Notes: Dragic, Bogut, Kings, Iguodala

October 27th, 2013 at 2:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

Many around the NBA believe Goran Dragic will be the next player the Suns trade away after Friday’s Marcin Gortat deal, but Phoenix GM Ryan McDonough insists that won’t be the case, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic notes. “He’s a good player on a good contract and a great guy,” McDonough said. “So, no, we’re not looking to move Goran Dragic.” Andrew Bogut is another player who probably won’t be traded this year now that he’s signed his extension, and he’s glad to stick around the Warriors, as we explain amid our look around the Pacific:

  • Andrew Bogut understands he could have snagged a better payday if he had held off on an extension and performed well this season, but he tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he didn’t want to play the season as a trade candidate on an expiring contract. Bogut says he’s put his anger about the Warriors‘ pursuit of Dwight Howard behind him and encourages his teammates to take discounts on their next deals so the team can stay together.
  • The Kings face a Thursday deadline for decisions on Jimmer Fredette‘s fourth-year option and extensions for Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson, and GM Pete D’Alessandro remains circumspect, observes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “We’re still looking at things and evaluating before making a decision. … I think there’s some spirited conversations going on about all the guys near the deadline,” D’Alessandro said.
  • The moves that D’Alessandro and company have made so far during their brief tenure aren’t above reproach, but the key is whether their long-term investment in DeMarcus Cousins works out, The Bee’s Ailene Voisin opines.
  • Carl Landry should be out a few more months with his hip injury, so camp invitee Hamady N’Diaye could remain with the Kings for a while, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
  • Andre Iguodala‘s arrival to Golden State raises the expectations for the Warriors, as Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle examines.
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Odds & Ends: Tinsley, Durant, 76ers, Bogut

October 26th, 2013 at 10:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Only three players who remained unsigned this month started more games for their team last year than the 32 that Jamaal Tinsley started for the Jazz, who finally re-signed him to a minimum-salary contract this week. The point guard still didn’t get anxious as he stayed at home without a contract this fall.

“Not at all,” Tinsley said to Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune. “I’ve been through way tougher things in my life than this. I’m blessed to get the opportunity to play basketball. I’d do this for free. I’ve been running up and down the court the last four (or) five months without a job. … So it wasn’t frustrating.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote this week that the Thunder “would be wise not to relax” about Durant’s willingness to remain in OKC when his contract ends in 2016, and Durant tells Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman that he’s not sure what his future holds.
  • Thaddeus Young hopes he remains with the Sixers, the only NBA team he’s ever played for, but he understands the team is in flux and could trade him or teammates Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes this season, as Tom Moore of The Intelligencer observes. “There definitely is some talk,” Young said. “At the end of the day, it’s a business. If they see fit to trade one of us, two of us or all three of us, we have to pack up and go. It’s still a job. We have to remain calm and we can’t be mad.”
  • Whether or not Young stays, the Sixers roster will almost certainly change during the season, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. GM Sam Hinkie acknowledges that plenty of work remains to turn the team into an elite organization.
  • Kevin Pelton figures Andrew Bogut will be healthy for most of the three years of his extension, but he still thinks the Warriors absorb more financial risk than Bogut does, arguing in an Insider piece for ESPN.com that the team should have waited until he hit free agency to do a deal.
  • Pelton mentions the Mavericks as a potential suitor for Bogut had he become a free agent, and Warriors brass indeed perceived the Mavs as a threat, just as they saw the Bobcats as a rival for Stephen Curry, tweets Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group.
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Fallout From Andrew Bogut’s Extension

October 26th, 2013 at 1:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Warriors took a risk Friday, committing eight-figure salaries through 2017 to Andrew Bogut, who’s played just 44 regular season games over the past two seasons because of multiple injuries. It’s a foray into the unknown that GM Bob Myers appears comfortable with.

“Taking a cue from (co-owner) Joe Lacob, when we see something we like, we try to keep it,” Myers said. “We don’t want it to hit the market. I think that was the same we felt in regards to Steph (Curry). This was an asset we didn’t want to lose. So if it meant betting on our player, we were willing to do that. … Maybe it’s a philosophy of the organization.”

Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group passes along that quote and plenty more in a pair of pieces on the extension. We’ll cover the highlights from those, as well as reaction from others to Golden State’s gamble:

  • Thompson pegs the maximum amount Bogut can earn at $41.4MM, and estimates his base salary as $12.9MM for 2014/15, $12MM in ’15/’16, and $11.1MM in ’16/’17. Those numbers are lower than the ones previously reported. The extension is still worth much more than $10MM a year, a threshold that Bogut found important to surpass, according to Thompson.
  • Still, a three-year, $30MM deal wouldn’t have been acceptable to Bogut, as fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Tim Kawakami hears. The extension didn’t come cheaply for the Warriors, but the team made the right move in locking him up long-term, Kawakami opines.
  • Bogut believes he can attain his incentives, triggered each season if he plays 65 games and makes either the All-Star Game, one of the All-Defensive or All-NBA teams, or is named Defensive Player of the Year. “We came up with a number that was fair for both parties,” Bogut said, according to Thompson. “Obviously, I gave up a little bit now from what we could’ve gotten in the offseason. If you can walk in a straight line and chew gum, there is a premium on 7-footers in the league. I knew that. But I’ve enjoyed my time in the Bay here … so once we came to some common ground, it was a no-brainer for me.”
  • The Warriors told Bogut at the end of last season that they wanted to sign him to an extension, and Bogut set Friday as the deadline to come to a deal, Thompson writes. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle provides detail on how negotiations for the extension got started.
  • Bogut sacrificed money in the deal to allow the team to preserve cash for Klay Thompson, who’s extension-eligible next summer, Marcus Thompson tweets.
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Warriors Sign Andrew Bogut To Extension

October 25th, 2013 at 8:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:08pm: The Warriors have officially announced the extension, via press release.

6:32pm: The Warriors and Andrew Bogut have reached agreement on a contract extension, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher tweets. It’s a three-year deal for approximately $42MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The team has a press conference scheduled for 8pm Central time, presumably to announce the pact.

The base salary is $36MM, reports USA Today’s Sam Amick (on Twitter). The rest is salary Bogut can unlock via incentive clauses, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Bogut can trigger the incentives if he plays in at least 65 games each season and win league honors, such as selection to the All-Star Game, All-Defensive Teams or the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Amick writes. The oft-injured center said earlier this month, shortly after he and agent David Bauman of the Lagardere Unlimited firm began talks with the Warriors, that he’d be willing to agree to incentives related to the number of games he plays. If Bogut can stay healthy and perform like a top-five or top-seven center in the league, he’s likely to get the full amount of his deal, Wojnarowski says (Twitter link).

Bogut said multiple Western Conference teams had already inquired about his plans for free agency, which he was set to hit after this season, when he’s due $14MM under what would have been the final year of his contract under its initial terms. Veterans rarely ink extensions, since they’re limited to three years instead of the four or five years they can get on the open market. Bogut, who’s played just 44 regular season games the past two seasons, took the unusual step, cashing in while the Warriors and other teams still value his ability.

Bogut’s deal starts at $14MM in 2014/15, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, with declining salaries in the remaining two seasons (Twitter link). That will give the Warriors added flexibility as Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes approach eligibility for extensions of their own, and reduce the team’s commitment to Bogut past his 30th birthday. A $14MM salary next season for Bogut would give the team about $65MM in commitments for next season, well above the projected $62.1MM cap but with plenty of wiggle room under the tax line.

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Western Notes: Wolves, Bogut, Blazers, D12

October 18th, 2013 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Let’s round up a few Friday items out of the Western Conference….

  • The Timberwolves have internally discussed the possibility of signing Hedo Turkoglu if he’s waived or bought out by the Magic, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (via Twitter). However, Wolfson adds that it sounds more like due diligence than anything serious.
  • Andrew Bogut exited the Warriors‘ game today in China early with back spasms, but head coach Mark Jackson said he’s not concerned, and that Bogut wanted to check back in (Twitter link via LetsGoWarriors.com). While it doesn’t sound like an issue that should significantly impact extension negotiations between the two sides, it may give the team some pause.
  • After shoring up their bench this offseason, this incarnation of the Trail Blazers is “officially on the clock,” writes Kevin Arnovitz in an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com. As GM Neil Olshey acknowledges, whether or not the Blazers have a successful season will dictate whether the club stays its current course or aggressively attempts to retool the roster.
  • Dwight Howard spoke to Sam Amick of USA Today at length about his decision to sign with the Rockets this summer, and a Dark Knight Rises scene that inspired him.
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Pacific Rumors: Wayns, Bogut, Suns, Kings

October 17th, 2013 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The left knee injury sustained by Maalik Wayns may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the young guard, who had been vying for a roster spot with the Clippers. As Steve Perrin of Clips Nation explains, players on non-guaranteed, non-summer contracts who suffer an on-court injury can’t be released while they’re recovering, or else their deals will become guaranteed.

As such, Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld tweets that Wayns now looks like a lock to make L.A.’s opening night roster. Wayns’ deal was already set to become fully guaranteed if he wasn’t waived on or before December 1st, so assuming his recovery extends into December, it appears he’ll earn a full salary for 2013/14.

Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:

  • Grantland’s Zach Lowe takes an in-depth look at Andrew Bogut‘s extension talks with the Warriors, noting that it’s very hard to pin down Bogut’s value, not just in terms of annual salary, but also on the trade market. Lowe attempts to brainstorm a few trade possibilities involving Bogut, but writes that the Warriors aren’t open to deals that would include Klay Thompson as a sweetener.
  • Asked by Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News for a comment on the Bogut extension talks, Warriors owner Joe Lacob was fairly noncommittal, but said the team likes him “a lot,” and that he hopes Bogut remains in Golden State “for a long time.”
  • Suns coach Jeff Hornacek spoke to Matt Peterson of Suns.com about the tough decisions ahead for a team that needs to cut its roster down from 18 players. Phoenix is also the only NBA team currently carrying more than 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, meaning at least one of the players released before opening night will still get paid.
  • The Kings have one potential opening on their roster, and while the team is still weighing its options, Hamady N’Diaye has a chance to grab that spot, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “I’m not sure what [GM] Pete D’Alessandro‘s plan for that last spot is right now,” said coach Michael Malone. “But I think ‘H,’ as we call him, has done a lot to showcase his abilities as to why he should be on this team.”
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Western Notes: Leonard, Bogut, Holiday

October 16th, 2013 at 7:14pm CST by Michael Pina

A few note from around the Western Conference.

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Pacific Notes: Bogut, Kobe, Kings, Suns

October 16th, 2013 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran contract extensions are rare in today’s NBA, but as we heard overnight, the Warriors and Andrew Bogut have opened discussions on a new deal for the Golden State big man, and could reach an agreement within the next few weeks. In his latest piece for SBNation.com, Tom Ziller questions why Bogut or the Warriors would feel compelled to get something done so soon.

Bogut suggested in his interview with Scott Howard-Cooper that multiple Western teams have already asked his agent about his free agent plans, which shows that he should draw interest next summer. As for Golden State, it may be in the team’s best interest to wait to get more than 44 games out of its injury-plagued center before committing to him long-term.

As we wait to see how negotiations between Bogut and the Warriors play out, let’s check out a few other items from around the Pacific Division….

  • Sean Deveney of the Sporting News wonders whether Kobe Bryant will take a pay cut to help the Lakers next summer, breaking down several scenarios for how Kobe’s free agency could play out.
  • A new Sacramento citizens’ group was formed yesterday to combat the proposed $258MM public subsidy for a new Kings arena, reports Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee. According to Kasler, the new group, Voters for a Fair Arena Deal, has taken pains to separate itself from the original effort launched by Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork, which received support from Chris Hansen.
  • The working relationship between Alvin Gentry and the Suns came to an abrupt end back in January, but as Bob Young of the Arizona Republic writes, both parties appear to be better off after parting ways.
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Warriors, Andrew Bogut Discussing Extension

October 16th, 2013 at 12:11am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors and Andrew Bogut have opened talks on a new contract that would extend his current deal beyond 2014, the veteran center confirmed to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Howard-Cooper reports that agent David Bauman began discussing an extension for Bogut with the Warriors’ front office last week.

While Bogut will be eligible to sign an extension at any point during the season, the two sides expect to reach some sort of resolution in the near future. According to Howard-Cooper, Bogut will either ink a new deal within the next few weeks or prepare to hit unrestricted free agency next summer, since neither the team nor player wants the situation to become a distraction during the regular season.

As an extension-eligible veteran, Bogut could sign a contract for up to four years, though that number includes the current season. If he and the Warriors worked something out, it would likely add three new years to his expiring deal, which will pay him $14MM in 2013/14. It isn’t clear what sort of salary is being discussed, but Bogut suggests to Howard-Cooper that the two sides are at least in the same ballpark.

“[The Warriors’ initial numbers] weren’t insulting,” Bogut said. “But they weren’t what I’m looking for. Nothing concrete has been actually formally written up. We’ve just been going back and forth, but nothing too crazy.”

According to Howard-Cooper, Bogut is also willing to accept a deal that includes incentives based on games played, which could be crucial for Golden State, given the 28-year-old’s injury history. That doesn’t mean that Bogut is open to a deal that’s heavily non-guaranteed, however.

“Would I do things to the extent that Andrew Bynum’s done with his contract?” Bogut asked. “Hell no. The clauses that he has, there’s no chance I would sign a contract. But basically having game incentives – whatever the number is, 60, 70, whatever it is – I have no problem. I think that’s only fair.”

Both the Warriors and Bogut would like to reach an agreement sooner rather than the later, as Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News tweets. However, Bogut tells Howard-Cooper that he hasn’t forgotten that the team tried to acquire Dwight Howard this past summer. While the Australian doesn’t necessarily hold the Warriors’ pursuit of an All-Star center against them, he also recognizes that he has to keep his own interests in mind as well, adding, “If I do become a free agent, I’m going do what I can to do what’s best for myself.”

When I examined Bogut as an extension candidate earlier this month, I suggested that signing the big man for an additional three years at around $10MM annually could work for Golden State. Kawakami speculates (via Twitter) that something in the neighborhood of $36MM for three years might make sense for both sides, with guaranteed money and incentives to be negotiated. I predicted that Bogut would ultimately hit free agency next summer, so we’ll have to keep an eye on the situation over the next few weeks to see if I’m proven wrong.

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