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Spurs Rumors: Popovich, Roster, Aldridge, DeRozan

August 31st, 2020 at 11:41am CST by Luke Adams

As rumors continue to swirl about the possibility that the Nets will make a run at longtime San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich, Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said that his team is operating under the assumption that Popovich will be returning for the 2020/21 season, writes Jabari Young of CNBC.com.

“I don’t know if he’s told (Spurs general manager) Brian (Wright) any differently,” Buford said. “Pop’s shown nothing other than how we’re going to build our team for next year.”

Popovich is easily the NBA’s current longest-tenured head coach and seems likely to return to the Spurs for at least one more year. However, he’s also the league’s oldest coach at age 71, so the club can’t count on him to remain in his current role indefinitely. Still, Buford is confident that Popovich’s influence will linger even after he eventually leaves the franchise.

“Pop’s vision will be in play long after his presence,” Buford said, per Young. “That doesn’t mean it’ll be him in there making those decisions, but we’ve all learned together, and you’re not going to step away from a values-based, team-building aspect that focuses on culture and coming to work every day and working on it.”

Here’s more from Young on the Spurs:

  • Asked about the Spurs’ roster direction, Wright expressed that he likes the team’s mix of veterans and younger players, while Buford said San Antonio will continue to address its roster “optimistically and opportunistically,” according to Young. “I think having the ability to develop young talent and flexibility to be opportunistic is going to be what we’re going to continue to do,” Buford said.
  • According to Young, the Spurs were rumored to be shopping LaMarcus Aldridge near this season’s trade deadline, but rival executives believe the club’s asking price was too high. “(The Spurs) overplayed their hand thinking they were supposed to get some giant package for him,” one NBA executive told CNBC.
  • Within Young’s article on the Spurs, he observes that DeMar DeRozan will likely decide to pick up his 2020/21 player option. While that sounds more like informed speculation than a firm report, it’s still worth noting, since Young suggested during the winter that DeRozan may be unhappy in San Antonio and another report around the same time indicated he’d likely opt out if he’s not extended. That was before the coronavirus pandemic changed the NBA landscape, however.
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Western Notes: Collins, Dort, DeRozan, James

August 17th, 2020 at 8:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers will be down a starter for Game 1 of their first-round series against the top-seeded Lakers on Tuesday. Power forward Zach Collins will sit out due to left ankle inflammation, Marc J. Spears of ESPN tweets. Wenyen Gabriel will start in Collins’ place.

Collins, who missed most of the season after undergoing left shoulder surgery, appeared in all eight of the seeding games for the Trail Blazers. He averaged 6.3 PPG and 7.1 RPG in those outings.

We have more from around the Western Conference:

  • Thunder wing Luguentz Dort is unlikely to play in their opener against Houston on Tuesday due to a knee sprain, Royce Young of ESPN tweets. However, head coach Billy Donovan said Dort is progressing well, which suggests the rookie will play in the series. Dort was injured against Miami on Wednesday. He could be a key defensive factor against the small-ball Rockets.
  • DeMar DeRozan and the Spurs have some tough decisions to make regarding his future, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes. DeRozan must decide by October 13 whether to exercise his $27.7MM option for next season. That won’t necessarily mean DeRozan will remain with the club. He could get traded, whether or not he opts it. The club could also work out an extension with DeRozan or decide during next season whether to extend or trade him if he opts in.
  • Lakers superstar LeBron James believes this will be his most difficult playoff run, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. James sees a number of challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic and the league being forced to play in a neutral venue. “As far as me locking in on an opponent and individuals, that hasn’t changed. What’s different is this is the environment, not home,” he said. “Not with my family, not in my own bed, I’m not in our own practice facility. I’m not preparing to be at Staples [Center] tomorrow with our fans. I’m not with a lot of things that’s essential to my everyday regimen.”
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Western Notes: DeRozan, Payne, Booker, J.R. Smith

August 12th, 2020 at 9:37pm CST by Jovan Alford

After the Spurs‘ victory on Tuesday night over the Rockets, veteran guard DeMar DeRozan was asked about his future with the organization. The 31-year-old guard has a $27.7MM player option for the 2020/21 season.

The former first-round pick did not go into much detail about his future with the Spurs and instead focused on the current task at hand.

“My mindset is always, I am here, I am living in the moment and continue to build with these (young) guys,” he said (h/t Tom Osborn of the San-Antonio Express-News). “I am just trying to go out there and get us to a playoff spot.”

Back in March, one report suggested that the 31-year-old guard was not happy about his situation with the Spurs. However, his $27.7MM option will be tough to pass up in what may be a limited free agent market.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

  • Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype examined how recently-signed combo guard Cameron Payne has helped the undefeated Suns in the bubble. In the seeding games, Payne is averaging 10.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 3.2 APG. He is also shooting an astonishing 50 percent from three-point range. Kalbrosky points out that Payne’s ability to create his own shot as of the reasons for his success on the court.
  • All-Star guard Devin Booker has the Suns on the cusp of making the playoffs for the first time since 2010, writes Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. Booker understands the magnitude of Thursday’s game and is looking forward to the challenge. “I know it’s a different format than what it’d be usually, but we can feel the energy,” he said. “We can feel the hype of the game. I’m looking forward to it.” For the Suns to get into the play-in game, they need to beat the Mavs and hope that either Memphis or Portland loses.
  • Lakers guard J.R. Smith spoke at length about his road back to the NBA with Kyle Goon of the Southern California NewsGroup. The 34-year-old sharpshooter discussed the role his father, Earl Smith Jr. played in getting him back to the league. “If you ain’t gonna play, now you gotta find something to do,” Earl said he told J.R. “I thought, ‘Get your ass in shape, go to L.A. Do your thing.” Smith has not played often in the team’s seeding games in Orlando but could be a key player in the postseason.
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DeRozan Isn’t Dwelling On Potential Free Agency

July 20th, 2020 at 6:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

DeMar DeRozan could be one of the top unrestricted free agents on the market this offseason if he opts out of the final year of his contract. The veteran Spurs shooting guard didn’t tip his hand on Monday during a video press conference, saying he hasn’t been thinking about his situation, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News reports.

DeRozan would have to leave approximately $27.7MM on the table to opt out. A report surfaced during the week play was halted in March that DeRozan intended to opt out unless he was able to reach an extension agreement.

DeRozan said from the Orlando campus that he’s only focused on the league restart.

“I haven’t thought about it,” DeRozan said. “With everything that’s going on, it’s hard to even know what tomorrow is going to bring, honestly. So, you’ve got to worry about the moment that you are in. I told myself that throughout this whole process, through everything, I am going to take it day by day.”

Due to the financial issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s fair to assume that DeRozan might more inclined to stay put. Only a handful of teams will have significant salary cap space and most of those teams are in rebuilding mode.

DeRozan, who turns 31 next month, is averaging 22.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 5.6 APG. He’s also shooting a career-high 52.6% from the field, though his impact beyond the arc is minimal — he’s only attempted 30 3-pointers, making eight of them.

He signed a five-year, $139MM contract with Toronto in 2016 before being traded to San Antonio in 2018.

The Spurs enter the seeding round four games behind Memphis, which currently holds the final Western Conference playoff spot. San Antonio won’t have its other star, LaMarcus Aldridge (shoulder), in action in Orlando. Trey Lyles (appendectomy) is also out for the remainder of the season.

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Batum, DeRozan Among Players With Earlier Option Decision Deadlines

June 26th, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Most veterans who have player options in their contracts for the 2020/21 season will have an October 17 deadline to either exercise or decline that option. That Saturday represents the second-last day of the 2019/20 league year under the NBA’s new calendar, meaning it would coincide in a normal year with June 29, the usual player option decision deadline.

However, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, some of the players who have to make option decisions for 2020/21 have slightly earlier deadlines. For instance, if the Spurs don’t make the postseason, DeMar DeRozan will be required to make his decision within seven days of the team’s last game, per Marks.

The full list of player options for ’20/21 can be found on our free agents page, but here are the options which must be exercised or declined before October 17, according to Marks:

The rest of this season’s player option decisions must be made by October 17, a deadline that applies to nearly every team option for 2020/21 as well. The only team options with earlier decision dates are minimum-salary ones for Deonte Burton (Thunder) and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Pistons), which are due by October 15, per Marks.

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New Dates Set For Option Decisions, Salary Guarantees, More

June 23rd, 2020 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

As part of the revised Collective Bargaining Agreement terms that the NBA and NBPA have agreed to, a series of option decision deadlines, salary guarantee dates, and other offseason dates and deadlines have been pushed back.

We don’t yet have a full list that outlines how every date and deadline will be adjusted, but in cases where a deadline fell slightly before or after the start of the 2020/21 league year, those dates have been pushed back to coincide with the new start date for the league year, which will begin on October 19 rather than July 1.

For instance, as Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets, player option decisions for Gordon Hayward (Celtics), DeMar DeRozan (Spurs), Mike Conley (Jazz), and Andre Drummond (Cavaliers) will now be due on October 17 instead of June 29. Lakers big man Anthony Davis will have to decide on his 2020/21 player option by October 14, one day after a potential NBA Finals Game 7, Charania adds.

[RELATED: Re-Examining NBA Player Options For 2020/21]

Meanwhile, the salary guarantee date for four Knicks veterans – Reggie Bullock, Taj Gibson, Wayne Ellington, and Elfrid Payton – who currently have $1MM partial guarantees for 2020/21 will be October 17 at 3:00pm eastern time, rather than on June 28, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Additionally, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) reported over the weekend, traded player exceptions that were set to expire in early July will have their expiry dates moved to corresponding dates in October. For example, since the free agency moratorium will now expire on October 23 instead of July 6, the Warriors‘ $17.2MM TPE that would have expired on July 7 will instead do so on October 24.

[RELATED: Outstanding NBA Trade Exceptions]

There are other deadlines that figure to be closely tied to the new league year as well. For instance, the deadline to tender a qualifying offer to a potential restricted free agent will likely be on October 17 rather than June 29.

Some date adjustments may be trickier to determine and will require further clarification. For instance, some players had been scheduled to receive full or partial guarantees if they remained under contract through August 1. That date may simply be shifted to November 19, one month after the ’20/21 league year begins. But the NBA has proposed opening training camps for next season on November 10, complicating that timeline.

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And-Ones: Ujiri, DeRozan, Tomjanovich, Bates

April 15th, 2020 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

While he’s on good terms now with former Raptors head coach Dwane Casey after firing him in 2018, Toronto’s president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri admitted to TNT’s Ernie Johnson this week that he hasn’t been able to mend fences in the same way with DeMar DeRozan. Ujiri shipped the longtime Raptors shooting guard to San Antonio in a 2018 blockbuster that sent Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.

“With Casey, it has gotten so much better now with his family and him. With DeMar there is still plenty of work to be done,” Ujiri said, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “But, by the grace of God, it will all get better. We have to continue to make these decisions that are tough. But that’s the business of basketball, and the position that we are in.”

While recognizing that the NBA is a business, Ujiri said that making significant changes to a coaching staff or roster isn’t easy, especially when it means parting ways with someone he has gotten close to. “You feel it in your heart,” Ujiri said, per Bontemps.

“I always say that the two hardest things in our world, in our business, is trading a player and then when a player leaves, if a player leaves in free agency,” Ujiri said. “And it’s hard on both sides. When a player is traded, it is hard on the player side, and when a player leaves, like us (with Leonard last summer), it is hard on that side. I’ve experienced all of it, from wonderful people.”

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • In a conversation with Michael Lee of The Athletic, former Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich revisited some of the highlights – and lowlights – of his career and expressed gratitude at being elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month. “I had been through the phone calls several times and got the, ‘Sorry, not this year.’ And it was so good to hear them say, ‘Rudy, you’re in,'” Tomjanovich said. “Still getting use to it. Still bouncing on a cloud. I feel really good about it.”
  • After Emoni Bates became the first high-school sophomore to win the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Jared Weiss of The Athletic explores the 16-year-old phenom’s game and explains why NBA scouts are excited for his growth trajectory.
  • In the second installment of his breakdown of 2020’s free agent class for wings, Danny Leroux of The Athletic singles out Heat swingman Derrick Jones Jr. as one of the more intriguing options who will be available, since it’s rare for an established rotation player to reach unrestricted free agency at such a young age — Jones turned 23 in February.
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Community Shootaround: DeMar DeRozan’s Future

April 3rd, 2020 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The odds of the NBA finishing the full remainder of its 2019/20 regular season are essentially zero, which means the chances of the Spurs overcoming a four-game deficit in the standings and extending their playoff streak to 23 consecutive years are on life support as well. Even if the NBA is able to hold a postseason in 2020, San Antonio almost certainly won’t be a part of it, so the team may feel more pressure than usual to shake things up in the offseason.

One key storyline to watch after the season ends will be DeMar DeRozan‘s future. He holds a $27.7MM player option for the 2020/21 campaign, and with little league-wide cap room available, his best bet may be simply to pick it up. As John Hollinger of The Athletic wrote this week, the veteran guard would have a better shot at a big payday in the summer of 2021.

It’s not clear whether DeRozan is leaning in that direction though. A March 11 report from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports suggested the Spurs’ leading scorer plans to opt out of his contract in the offseason if he and the team don’t agree to a contract extension. The timing of that report is important though — it surfaced mere hours before news of Rudy Gobert‘s positive coronavirus test broke and the NBA landscape was thrown into disarray.

Given all the revenue the NBA projects to lose as a result of its stoppage – and given how that lost revenue may impact the salary cap – it would make sense if DeRozan re-evaluates his position and decides that opting in and securing a $27.7MM guarantee is the right move for next season.

There are other factors in play here though. For one, we don’t know for sure how much DeRozan actually likes playing in San Antonio. During a March radio appearance on ESPN San Antonio (audio link), Jabari Young of CNBC – who previously covered the Spurs for the San Antonio Express-News and The Athletic – asserted that the 30-year-old wasn’t thrilled with his current situation.

“I don’t have to sugarcoat anything: DeMar DeRozan is not happy in San Antonio,” Young said, per Jeff Garcia of Spurs Zone. “The offense is not running as smoothly as one should think with a guy like him in the lineup. There are problems there. You have to decide if you’re going to take that money (and) come back to a situation that’s just not suitable.”

As Garcia observes, shortly after that ESPN San Antonio segment, DeRozan tweeted, “Who comes up with this s–t?” in an apparent reference to Young’s comments. Young followed up by publishing a long Twitter thread in which he highlighted his previous Spurs-related scoops and stood by his reporting.

Even if Young is right that DeRozan isn’t happy in San Antonio, the extent of that unhappiness is unclear — being frustrated with this season’s results and wanting out as soon as possible are two very different things. If DeRozan’s stance is closer to the former than the latter, he won’t be looking for an escape hatch at any cost in the offseason.

While DeRozan’s player option will give him a degree of power over whether or not he continues his career with the Spurs, the team could have a significant say too. San Antonio has typically been open to extensions for its veteran players in recent years and could go down a similar path with DeRozan, who is coming off one of the most efficient and productive offensive seasons of his career.

However, despite his impressive scoring and play-making, DeRozan remains a below-average defender. The Spurs’ 113.9 defensive rating with DeRozan on the court this season was noticeably worse than the team’s 106.7 mark when he sat. Overall, the Spurs had a negative net rating in DeRozan’s minutes and a positive rating while he was on the bench. Even if he opts in for 2020/21, perhaps San Antonio decides to make him available on the trade market in the hopes of retooling its roster and going a little younger.

What do you think? What does the future hold for DeRozan and the Spurs? Should either side be pursuing an extension? Will DeRozan pick up his player option for 2020/21? If he does, should San Antonio shop him? If he doesn’t, which teams could be fits in free agency?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

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Western Notes: Johnson, LeBron, Aldridge, DeRozan

March 24th, 2020 at 9:24pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Cameron Johnson, who was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2019 draft, should see an increased role next season in Phoenix, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic contends. The Suns rookie had made 91 three-pointers in 49 games and his progression may allow the franchise to focus on other position as it looks to upgrade the roster this summer.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • Lakers star LeBron James is being sued by a photographer for posting content on his social media pages without permission, as I detailed on Heavy.com. The photojournalist captured a picture of James dunking on Meyers Leonard earlier in the season.
  • Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News examines LaMarcus Aldridge‘s season and wonders if the 34-year-old big man has a lengthy future with the Spurs. Aldridge has one year and $24MM left on his deal after this season.
  • DeMar DeRozan‘s future with the Spurs isn’t certain either, as McDonald writes in a separate piece. The shooting guard is expected to decline his player option for next season and seek a long-term contract—either with San Antonio or another club.
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Spurs’ DeRozan To Opt Out If Not Extended?

March 11th, 2020 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

Spurs swingman DeMar DeRozan intends to opt out of his contract this summer if he and the team don’t reach a contract extension by the end of June, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

DeRozan, whose player option for 2020/21 is worth $27,739,975, must make a decision on that extension by June 29, per Basketball Insiders. DeRozan and the Spurs have until June 30 to agree to terms on a veteran contract extension.

DeRozan is having one of the best years of his NBA career, averaging 22.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 5.6 APG in 61 games (34.3 MPG). His .526 FG% is easily a career high. However, there are a few factors working against him as he nears potential free agency.

Among those factors: DeRozan will be entering his age-31 season in the fall; his mid-range game is out of sync with most teams’ offensive approaches; and he and LaMarcus Aldridge appear unlikely to lead the Spurs to a playoff spot this spring. On top of that, San Antonio has actually been better without DeRozan on the court (+1.0 net rating) than when he plays (-2.7).

This year’s league-wide salary cap situation is also a point in favor of DeRozan picking up his option. Only a handful of teams will have significant cap room available, and most of those clubs are in the process of rebuilding, reducing the odds that they’ll want to invest heavily in a veteran player like DeRozan.

Still, it’s possible this offseason will represent DeRozan’s best chance at one last lucrative long-term deal — he could comfortably exceed the amount of that $27.7MM option on a multiyear contract, even if he doesn’t match that salary in ’20/21. If he doesn’t reach an extension with the Spurs and opts out, that wouldn’t close the door on a possible return to San Antonio, according to Haynes, who adds that the Knicks are among the teams expected to be interested in the former ninth overall pick. A sign-and-trade to an over-the-cap club could also be an option for DeRozan.

If DeRozan doesn’t sign an extension with the Spurs, I imagine he wouldn’t opt out unless he has a solid Plan B lined up, like Al Horford did last June when he declined his $30MM+ player option with Boston. For his part, the Spurs’ leading scorer downplayed Haynes’ report when he was asked about it on Tuesday night, as Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio-Express News writes.

“Who reported it? Did my Mama say it?,” DeRozan said. “Don’t listen to it then.”

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