Avery Bradley

Northwest Notes: Thunder, Favors, Timberwolves

February 4th, 2018 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder have until Thursday to decide which direction they want to take for the rest of the season, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. Andre Roberson‘s season-ending injury leaves them with little chance of beating the Warriors or Rockets in the playoffs, Horne adds, as he examines the organization’s options before the trade deadline.

First-round picks have become increasingly valuable, but the Thunder have already dealt away their first-rounders for this year and 2020. League rules prevent teams from trading future first-round picks in consecutive years, so the earliest one OKC can offer is for 2022. Horne speculates that in lieu of draft picks, the organization may have to part with a young player such as Terrance Ferguson.

The Thunder are also limited in the buyout market because they can only offer the $2.3MM veteran’s minimum. Oklahoma City is over the cap and spent its $5.2MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception to acquire Patrick Patterson.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Clippers guard Avery Bradley has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Roberson, but the Thunder have many options, according to Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. The Bulls may waive Tony Allen, who was acquired from the Pelicans this week, and he would be a low-cost option who could help replace Roberson’s defensive prowess at the wing. Other possibilities Dawson suggests are Atlanta’s Marco Belinelli, Memphis’ Tyreke Evans, Utah’s Rodney Hood and Orlando’s Jonathon Simmons.
Jazz forward Derrick Favors hasn’t been distracted by hearing his name in trade rumors, relays Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Favors has been playing well, averaging 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per night, but he is headed for free agency and Utah may want to get some value now rather than risk losing him for nothing. “I’ve just cleared my mind, and now I’m having a lot more fun,” Favors said. “I’m playing. I’m not worried about scoring, or about minutes. I’m just going out there and hooping. So just playing basketball and not worrying about other stuff, that’s helped me a lot.”
Shabazz Muhammad, who has asked the Timberwolves to trade or release him, doesn’t have much value in a potential deal, writes Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. Zgoda identifies Minnesota’s main assets as Nemanja Bjelica and Justin Patton, but says the team may be reluctant to part with either one. Gorgui Dieng‘s $16MM salary could be useful in landing another star, and the Wolves can offer Cole Aldrich‘s deal, which is only guaranteed for a little more than $2MM for next season until June 20.

Clippers Notes: Jordan, Bradley, Rivers, Harris

February 3rd, 2018 at 9:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Trail Blazers contacted the Clippers about DeAndre Jordan but never made a formal offer, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. His story corroborates a recent report from Marc Stein of The New York Times that the Blazers are among the teams with interest in the 29-year-old center.

L.A. is hoping to get a first-round pick, financial flexibility and young talent in any deal for Jordan, league sources tell Turner. That would be a package similar to what they received when they sent Blake Griffin to Detroit earlier this week. The same sources say teams are reluctant to trade for Jordan without assurances that he won’t opt out of his $24.1MM salary for next season and that he is willing to sign a long-term extension.

Jordan, who is averaging 11.8 points and 14.9 rebounds, would bring a huge defensive presence to Portland. Finding an acceptable match for his $22.6MM deal wouldn’t be easy for the Blazers, whose roster is filled with expensive, long-term contracts, though they do own all of their future first-rounders.

There’s more Clippers news out of Los Angeles:

Avery Bradley, who played his first game for the Clippers today, understands he may not be with the organization very long, Turner relays in the same story. Bradley, who was part of the package L.A. received for Griffin, has been mentioned in several trade rumors, with the Thunder seeming especially interested. “That’s part of the business,” he said. “I don’t worry about it. I went from Boston to Detroit and now I’m here. This is my focus here. I try to control what I can control. All I can control is going out there and playing hard and trying to get wins for the Clippers.”
The team is hoping Austin Rivers can return during a four-game road trip that begins Friday, Turner adds. He has been sidelined since December 29 with an injured right ankle. “We’re hoping for the road trip that he can play,” coach Doc Rivers said. “So that’s good news.”
Tobias Harris made an impact in his Clippers debut today, scoring 24 points in a win over the Bulls, Turner writes in a separate story. Also part of the Griffin deal, Harris had just two practices and a morning walk-through to get used to his new surroundings. “I was excited just to get out there with my new teammates,” he said. “It felt good to just go out and play. Obviously I’ll be a little bit more acclimated coming up.”

Thunder Interested In Avery Bradley

February 3rd, 2018 at 1:36pm CST by clarkcrum

In the wake of losing All-NBA defender Andre Roberson to a ruptured left patellar tendon for the remainder of the 2017/18 season, the Thunder are interested in trading for newly-acquired Clippers guard Avery Bradley, reports Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.

Bradley, who is in the final year of his contract, likely doesn’t fit into the Clippers’ long-term plans, and Oklahoma City appears interested in taking advantage of a potential deal as a result.

Long considered an elite man-to-man defender in this league, Bradley would be able to step in for Roberson admirably, while at the same time giving the Thunder an upgrade on the offensive side of the ball, where Bradley is a career 36.8 percent shooter from long range (Roberson’s career three-point percentage is 25.7%).

Despite the Thunder’s interest, however, it’s difficult to envision a plausible scenario in which a potential trade would occur. The Clippers are building for the future and the Thunder don’t have a first-round pick to trade until 2022 at the earliest.

Also, Bradley is making $8.8MM this season and the Thunder’s best pieces for salary-matching purposes include some combination of Alex Abrines, Patrick Patterson, and Kyle Singler, none of whom are on an expiring deal or overly productive.

The Thunder would likely have to throw promising rookie Terrance Ferguson into any plausible deal in order to realistically pique the Clippers’ interest, and the Thunder are thus far unwilling to do so, per Bontemps.

Celtics Notes: Bradley, L. Williams, Trade Targets

January 31st, 2018 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

This week’s blockbuster Blake Griffin trade didn’t include the Celtics, but it may have a ripple effect that’s felt in Boston, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston.

As Blakely points out, the Clippers currently owe the Celtics their 2019 first-round pick, which is lottery-protected in 2019 and again in 2020. The Griffin deal and any upcoming moves that the Clippers make to reshape their roster figure to have an impact on whether the Celtics will actually be able to get their hands on that first-rounder in ’19 or ’20 — L.A. would need to be a playoff team for the pick to change hands. If the Clips land in the lottery both years, Boston would instead receive a 2022 second-round pick.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether the arrival of Avery Bradley in Los Angeles will make the Clippers any more willing to trade Lou Williams. But if the Clips are ready to make a move, the Celtics would be a logical trade partner, writes Blakely. Boston has a disabled player exception that would fit Williams’ salary, some extra draft picks, and a need for a reliable second scorer to complement Kyrie Irving.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

While Lou Williams is a possible trade target for the Celtics, the team can’t go after Avery Bradley. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, the only way Boston could reacquire the former Celtic this season would be if he’s bought out by the Clippers, which almost certainly won’t happen. The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement prevents a team from trading a player during an offseason, then reacquiring him before the end of the subsequent season.
Speaking of Marks, he takes an in-depth look at the Celtics’ trade deadline options in an Insider-only piece at ESPN.com. Marks suggests that if Boston wants to add a big man, Robin Lopez is a potential trade target, and Greg Monroe is worth monitoring as a possible buyout candidate.
The devastating ankle injury suffered on opening night by Gordon Hayward could easily have derailed the Celtics’ season, but the team has responded admirably to that setback, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “I do think it’s a testament to the mental makeup of our group,” said head coach Brad Stevens. “They really believe in each other. They are willing to pick up for one another. I’ve talked about the hardest roles in this league is when you don’t know if you’re going to play or not and your number is called. A lot of guys on our team’s number was called a lot earlier than they thought. They really helped put us in the position that we are in.”

Knicks Notes: Porzingis, Bradley, Jack

January 30th, 2018 at 4:58pm CST by Austin Kent

The Knicks have fallen out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture thanks to a recent slide but star forward Kristaps Porzingis would still prefer the team to make a push to sneak back in, Ian Begley of ESPN writes.

Porzingis, averaging 23.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in his third season, says that he’s eager to gain playoff experience but concedes that the team’s decision is out of his control.

“I don’t think it’s healthy for any player to have [tanking] in their minds,” Porzingis said. “Whatever happens, you give your all on the court and if it doesn’t work out and you can’t win games then something else good might happen and you have that. But as a player your mindset has to be going out and giving 110 percent and live with the results.”

There’s more out of the Big Apple today:

It appears as though the Knicks contacted the Pistons about Avery Bradley prior to his being sent to the Clippers, Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press writes.
There’s a case to be made for the Knicks offering Jarrett Jack to a contender at the deadline but the veteran point guard would rather remain with New York, a team he thinks can possibly claw back into the postseason picture, Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes.
The Knicks are looking for a way to clear their books of Joakim Noah‘s contract, especially after a heated exchange between the player and head coach Jeff Hornacek. Ian Begley and Bobby Marks of ESPN recently wrote about the options that New York actually has available to them.

Cap Details On Blake Griffin Blockbuster

January 30th, 2018 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

The blockbuster trade that sends Blake Griffin from Los Angeles to Detroit is now official. The deal will significantly shape the futures of both the Clippers and Pistons, so there are countless aspects of it worth discussing. We’re going to use this space to focus on a few minor details, as we examine the salary cap minutiae involved in the trade.

Let’s dive in…

Three trade exceptions created:

Even in a trade where each team sends out and receives the same number of players, the deal can be structured in ways that are designed to create traded player exceptions.

[RELATED: Outstanding NBA Trade Exceptions]

The trade rules in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement allow teams to take back 125% of their outgoing salary (plus $100K) in a trade when the outgoing salary exceeds $19,600,000. So from the Clippers‘ perspective, sending out Griffin’s $29,512,900 salary allowed the team to comfortably take on the $31,808,989 in combined salary for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, and Boban Marjanovic.

Since the inclusions of Willie Reed and Brice Johnson weren’t actually required for salary-matching purposes, those players were essentially traded for “nothing” from the Clippers’ point of view. That means that L.A. can create two trade exceptions, one worth Reed’s salary ($1,471,382) and one worth Johnson’s salary ($1,331,160). Those TPEs are pretty modest, so they may end up going unused, but they’ll be available for a year.

As for the Pistons, they’ll structure the trade a little differently. Combining Harris’ $16,000,000 salary with Bradley’s $8,808,989 cap hit would allow the team to take back up to $31,111,236 (125% plus $100K). Griffin’s $29,727,900 cap charge and Johnson’s $1,331,160 cap charge add up to $31,059,060 — success! As for Reed, the Pistons don’t need to worry about matching his incoming salary since he’s on a one-year, minimum salary contract — that means Detroit can take him on using the minimum salary exception, which can be used to sign players or to acquire them in trades.

That leaves Marjanovic, whose inclusion wasn’t required for salary-matching purposes from the Pistons’ perspective. As such, Detroit can create a trade exception worth Marjanovic’s $7,000,000 salary. That TPE is a little more interesting, especially since the Pistons figure to be well over the cap for the next year. They’ll have until January 29, 2019 to use it.

(Note: The Clippers could technically create another trade exception worth $4,703,911 in this deal. However, doing so would mean sacrificing the $7,273,631 TPE they acquired in last June’s Chris Paul trade. If they went that route, they’d essentially be extending the exception’s availability by seven extra months, but reducing its value by nearly $2.6MM. ESPN’s Bobby Marks suggests (via Twitter) they won’t do that.)

Blake gets a bonus:

If you were following closely above, you’ll have noticed that I listed two different amounts for Griffin’s 2017/18 salary. That’s because his contract included a trade kicker, which allows him to collect a modest bonus as a result of Monday’s swap.

Griffin’s trade kicker was worth 15% of his contract, but his bonus will ultimately be far less than that. A trade bonus can’t increase a player’s salary beyond the maximum salary, which for Griffin this season is $29,727,900. The longtime Clipper had been earning just $215,000 below that max, so that will be the amount of his bonus, applied annually for the next four years, for a total of $860,000. The bonus isn’t applied to the fifth year of his contract, since it’s a player option.

For salary-matching purposes, as calculated above, the Clippers used Griffin’s old cap hit ($29,512,900), while the Pistons had to use his new one ($29,727,900).

Clippers create cap flexibility; Pistons sacrifice it

Because Griffin’s contract still has four years and $142MM+ left on it after this season, the long-term salary cap outlook for each team involved in this deal has been altered drastically. Harris and Marjanovic remain under contract through 2018/19, so the deal won’t have a major impact on potential 2018 cap room (though the Clippers did create a bit more flexibility by acquiring Bradley’s expiring deal).

Instead, the summer of 2019 looks like the one to watch for now. Griffin is set to earn $34,449,964 in 2019/20, while the Harris, Marjanovic, and Bradley contracts will all have expired by that offseason. In other words, the Clippers created enough extra potential 2019 cap room to sign nearly any player in the NBA. Currently, Danilo Gallinari‘s $22,615,559 salary is the only guaranteed money on L.A.’s cap for ’19/20.

As for the Pistons, they may flirt with the luxury tax again in 2018/19, since the deal leaves them with $111,974,245 in guaranteed money already on their books. And assuming rookie scale options for Luke Kennard and Henry Ellenson are exercised, the Pistons already have $108,487,008 on their cap for 2019/20. Barring major changes, the team won’t have a chance to use cap space anytime soon.

Both teams avoid the tax

A deal of this magnitude wasn’t easy for either team, given their proximity to the luxury tax line. The Pistons entered Monday within about $2-3MM of the tax threshold of $119,266,000; the Clippers were even closer. As such, the incoming and outgoing 2017/18 salary for each team had to be nearly identical to allow them to avoid going into tax territory. They were able to do just that, with the Clips sending out a total of $32,315,442 and receiving $31,808,989.

The Clippers are now about $629K below the tax line, per Bobby Marks, which gives the team the ability to fill its 15th roster spot down the stretch without becoming a taxpayer. The club’s razor-thin margins illustrate why Reed and Johnson had to be included in the trade — taking out either player would have put L.A. over the tax line.

Avery Bradley still a trade candidate?

It remains to be seen what the Clippers’ plan is for Bradley, who is the only key player involved in this deal who will reach free agency this summer (Reed and Johnson are also on expiring contracts, but aren’t major pieces in this trade). Bradley’s Bird rights will go along with him to Los Angeles, so the Clips would have the ability to offer the veteran guard any amount up to the max without having to earmark cap room for such a deal.

However, if the Clippers don’t view Bradley as a long-term building block, it’s also possible he could be moved again before the February 8 trade deadline. CBA rules prevent L.A. from aggregating Bradley’s salary with another player’s salary to accommodate a trade within the next two months, but he’s eligible to be traded on his own. The Clips are known to be exploring possible trades involving DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams, so it will be interesting to see if Bradley’s name comes up in those discussions too.

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

Clippers Trade Blake Griffin To Pistons

January 29th, 2018 at 11:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

11:46pm: The trade is now official, according to a press release issued by the Pistons.

“We are serious about winning, and this is a major move to improve our team,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “Blake Griffin is one of the NBA’s elite players, and when you get an opportunity to add that kind of talent, you take it. … He is a great fit for our team and will bring a combination of toughness and athleticism that will elevate our team and excite our fans.”

5:20pm: The Clippers have agreed to trade star power forward Blake Griffin to the Pistons in a multi-player deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Detroit will ship forward Tobias Harris, shooting guard Avery Bradley, center Boban Marjanovic, a first-round pick and a second-round draft pick to the Clippers, Wojnarowski adds, citing league sources.

Forward Brice Johnson and center Willie Reed are also heading to Detroit, Wojnarowski adds in another tweet.

Detroit’s 2018 first-round pick is protected if it’s a top-four selection, according to Wojnarowski; It has the same protection for the next two drafts, then goes unprotected in 2021. The second-round pick in the trade will come in the 2019 draft (Twitter link).

The Pistons, long rumored to be active on the trade market, have been trying to shake up their team while nosediving down the Eastern Conference standings. They have lost eight in a row and now sit in the ninth spot in the East. Wojnarowski had reported just hours ago that Detroit was shopping Bradley and his expiring contract.

Griffin re-signed with the Clippers on a five-year max deal over the summer, so the Pistons are taking on an enormous salary commitment in order to pair him with current franchise player Andre Drummond. Griffin is making $29.5MM this season and he’ll be due another $141.6MM over the next four years, though the final year of the contract includes a player option.

The longtime Clipper will also receive a $860K trade bonus spread over the next four seasons, salary-cap expert Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. The Griffin trade bonus is not voided because his current salary is slightly below the max, Marks adds.

The Clippers are in the playoff hunt at 25-24, so dealing Griffin certainly signals a change in the franchise’s long-term direction. It’s possible that this will be the first of multiple moves for the Clippers, since players like DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams have also been considered potential trade candidates.

Aside from Drummond, who is making approximately $23.8MM this season, Harris and Reggie Jackson are Detroit’s highest-paid players at $16MM this season. Bradley is making $8.8MM and Marjanovic is pulling in $7MM this season. Johnson is earning approximately $1.3MM and Reed has a $1MM contract this season.

Both teams are hard-capped and near the luxury-tax line, as Marks notes in a tweet, so it was crucial that each team sent and received about the same amount of money.

The Clippers will get cap relief in the long run as the contracts of Harris and Marjanovic expire after the 2018/19 season. Once this deal is finalized, Danilo Gallinari‘s contract will represent the only guaranteed money on L.A.’s cap beyond 2019.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Reaction To The Blake Griffin Trade

January 29th, 2018 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons and Clippers agreed to the biggest blockbuster trade of the season on Monday, with star forward Blake Griffin as the centerpiece.

Here’s how some top columnists from around the country view the deal:

Acquiring Griffin is more likely to be the beginning of the end for Stan Van Gundy’s regime with the Pistons than it is to turn the franchise around, Kelvin Pelton of ESPN opines. Detroit will hard-pressed to make any moves after the season because Griffin’s contact will push the team close to the luxury-tax line, Pelton points out. The Pistons also weakened themselves at the wing spots by trading Avery Bradley, while the Clippers added another quality starter with an affordable contract in Tobias Harris, Pelton continues. Trading Griffin also gives the Clippers a better chance at creating max cap space next summer to pursue top free agents, though trading a star player at the beginning of a long-term deal won’t help the Clips build trust with those free agents, Pelton adds.
The Clippers have positioned themselves to be major players in the 2019 free agent market, according to Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Kevin Love and Kemba Walker could be available and the team will have just one guaranteed contract on the books for the 2019/20 season, Bontemps notes. LeBron James and Paul George could also be available if they sign one-year deals with their current squads, Bontemps adds.
The Pistons paid a king’s ransom for Griffin and it’s unlikely to work out in their favor, Sean Deveney of the Sporting News opines. Griffin’s injury history is a major concern, particularly his left knee issues, and he has missed one-third of his team’s games since the 2013-14 season, Deveney notes. He’s also a questionable fit next to Andre Drummond, since Griffin is a subpar three-point shooter and has also struggled with his mid-range game this season.
Detroit hasn’t landed a big-time free agent since Chauncey Billups in 2002, so the Pistons can only acquire an All-Star talent through trades, according to Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The Pistons need Griffin to make the playoffs, while the first-rounder is the biggest piece the Clippers landed. That likely gives L.A. two first-rounders in the next draft during a time when picks are highly coveted, the USA Today duo adds.
The Clippers clearly seem to believe they can make a serious run at LeBron James when he enters free agency in July and this trade will facilitate that goal, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Potential trades involving DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams will be aimed in helping them in that quest, Stein adds.

Pistons Make Avery Bradley Available In Trade Talks

January 29th, 2018 at 8:58am CST by Luke Adams

8:58am: The Lakers offered Jordan Clarkson in one version of a potential Bradley trade, according to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link), who isn’t sure if those discussions will go anywhere. Bradley and his expiring contract would make some sense as a target for the Lakers, who are looking to create major cap flexibility for the summer of 2018.

8:45am: Less than seven months after acquiring him from the Celtics, the Pistons have made Avery Bradley available in trade discussions, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Bradley will be a free agent at season’s end.

According to Wojnarowski, the asking price for Bradley is “significant,” since the Pistons initially traded for him in the hopes of locking him up to a long-term deal this summer. However, the team doesn’t want to risk losing him for nothing.

Detroit, currently three games out of the No. 8 seed in the East, has been one of the NBA’s most aggressive clubs when it comes to exploring the trade market and seeking out potential upgrades. Even as the Pistons have slipped out of the playoff picture, they’re not planning on a fire sale, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News, who tweets that the club is gauging Bradley’s value and “seeing what’s out there.”

Bradley, 27, has struggled a little with his shot this season, as his .409 FG% is his worst mark since 2012/13. However, he’s still knocking down 38.1% of his three-point attempts, and is contributing 15.0 PPG to go along with solid perimeter defense.

Bradley, who has a cap charge of approximately $8.8MM this season, will be unrestricted – rather than restricted – as a free agent this offseason, which may limit his value for potential suitors. Still, a club that trades for the veteran guard would acquire his Bird rights, which could come in handy in July, since few teams are projected to have significant cap room. Bird rights allow a club to re-sign a player without using cap space, and Wojnarowski suggests that Bradley could command upwards of $20MM annually as a free agent.

Pistons Notes: Trades, Tolliver, Bradley

January 17th, 2018 at 10:23pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Pistons continue to evaluate trade opportunities and with the injuries piling up, it’s easy to understand why.

Reggie Jackson, who is expected to return after the All-Star break, remains out of the lineup with an ankle ailment. Stanley Johnson‘s hip is sidelining him, and Luke Kennard and Avery Bradley are both dealing with nagging injuries too.

Detroit began the season with 14 wins in its first 20 games, but it hasn’t enjoyed as much success lately — the team is currently clinging to the conference’s eighth seed with a record of 22-21. Still, there is no sense of urgency in making a transaction and the earlier-than-usual trade deadline isn’t causing any major changes to the team’s strategy.

“I don’t think [the volume of trade discussions] picked up any more,” coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said (via Rod Beard of the Detroit News). “[GM Jeff Bowers is] always talking to people and people are calling. I don’t think it’s changed a whole lot.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

The Pistons used their bi-annual exception to bring Anthony Tolliver aboard this past summer and the veteran has contributed more than expected, Beard notes in the same piece. On a one-year, $3.3MM deal, Tolliver may hold decent trade value and the scribe wonders if the power forward will be dangled as a “sweetener” in a bigger deal.
Bradley, who played through a groin injury tonight against Toronto, will see a specialist on Thursday about the ailment, Beard relays on Twitter. The shooting guard will be a free agent at the end of the season.

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