Doug McDermott Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Forman, Ellenson, Evans, Kanter

August 27th, 2018 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls GM Gar Forman has done a good job of acquiring young talent but the hard part is yet to come, as Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times explains. Chicago will need to use its cap room and land at least one star player to become a major threat in the Eastern Conference, Cowley continues. Forman’s reputation around the league is shaky and he’s never been able to land such a player in his current position. That could eventually wreck this rebuilding project, Cowley concludes.

We have more from around the Central Division:

Pistons power forward Henry Ellenson is entering a pivotal year in his career, Ansar Khan of MLive.com notes. Ellenson is expected to his minutes increase under new coach Dwane Casey and Ellenson has been working diligently to become a stronger defender and improve his ball-handling. However, the third-year big man out of Marquette struggled with his new shooting motion during summer league games, particularly from long range, and that’s disconcerting, Khan adds.
Free agent additions Doug McDermott and Tyreke Evans, along with first-round pick Aaron Holiday, should facilitate the Pacers’ desire to increase their 3-point production, according to Greg Rappaport of Pacers.com. McDermott closed out last season in Dallas by making nearly 50% of his long-range attempts in the final 24 games, while Holiday posted solid 3-point percentages during his college career, Rappaport continues. Evans has improved his long-range shooting over the last three seasons and will be an upgrade over Lance Stephenson, Rappaport adds.
Knicks center Enes Kanter took a shot at the Bucks franchise and said he never considered joining them this summer, Royce Young of ESPN reports. Kanter posted a deer emoji on his Twitter account, then deleted it minutes later, the night before he decided to opt in and stay in New York. But Milwaukee was never on his radar. “I know I was not going to go to the Milwaukee Bucks. It’s the Milwaukee Bucks,” he told Young. “Unless they give you good, good money, then go, but you don’t leave New York for Milwaukee.”

Central Notes: LaVine, Pacers, Cavaliers, Calderon

July 10th, 2018 at 6:05pm CST by clarkcrum

Fresh off the Bulls officially matching the Kings’ fully guaranteed, four-year $78MM offer sheet to Zach LaVine, the 23-year-old combo guard says he is ready to prove all of the doubters wrong who wonder whether he is worth the nearly $80MM in guaranteed money that he will earn from the Bulls, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.

“I’m my hardest critic,” LaVine said Sunday during the Bulls’ summer league game against the Lakers in Las Vegas. “There’s nothing that any of you guys can say to me that I [don’t] take harder upon myself. I go back and critique my game every year. I’m used to people sleeping on me, and I’m also used to waking them up as well. I’m happy that I have this contract, and I’m happy that I have a little extra motivation to go out there and prove it to some people that don’t believe in me.”

“At the end of the day, I believe in myself, I believe in my work, and I’m going to show the city of Chicago it’s a good choice and I’m here to stay. I’m going to be their guy, and I’m ready to do whatever to help this team get back to that spot.”

And despite saying publicly that he was disappointed the Bulls hadn’t done more to lock him in as a restricted free agent when the free-agency period opened, LaVine backtracked from those comments after the deal with the Bulls became official, saying that he simply meant he never wanted to sign an offer sheet because he wanted to stay in Chicago so badly.

“I think a lot of that got taken out of context,” LaVine said. “The main thing that I wanted to get my point across was I wanted to just deal with Chicago. I never wanted to get [to] a point of [having to sign] an offer sheet. Regardless of whatever happened, I’m going to put that behind us. I’m happy as hell that I’m going to be able to play for the team that I want to play for.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

The Pacers found unexpected success this past season and the front office deserves credit for avoiding complacency, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com opines. Indiana brought in Kyle O’Quinn, Tyreke Evans, and Doug McDermott on mid-sized deals, all moves designed to help them compete in a now-weakened Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers, who are still searching for another assistant coach on head coach Tyronn Lue‘s bench, interviewed Warriors assistant coach Willie Green and Sixers assistant coach John Bryant recently, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Green has since re-upped with Golden State.
Because he signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract, Jose Calderon likely could have chosen to play wherever he wanted to this upcoming season, opines Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. But he ended up picking the Pistons simply because he believes they can be a good team. And although he’ll likely slot in behind Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith on the depth chart, it’s possible new coach Dwane Casey could play two point guards at the same time, thereby opening up playing time for Calderon.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

Pacers Sign Doug McDermott To Three-Year Deal

June 30th, 2018 at 11:00pm CST by Austin Kent

JULY 6: McDermott’s contract is now official, according to a press release from the Pacers. “In Doug’s case, we were looking for elite shooting, but we were also impressed with how he moves without the ball and his spot-up shooting,” said president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard.

JUNE 30: The Pacers have agreed to a three-year, $22MM deal with Doug McDermott, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The small forward comes off of a year split between the Knicks and the Mavs.

In McDermott, the Pacers will add a solid perimeter threat with size. The 6’8″ forward is a career .403 three-point shooter and posted a .494 average in 26 games with Dallas.

Despite his solid stint with the Mavericks, McDermott was not made a restricted free agent this summer. Dallas initially tendered a qualifying offer to the veteran sharpshooter, but withdrew it shortly thereafter, ensuring that McDermott would be unrestricted. The Mavs intended to use a significant chunk of cap room on DeAndre Jordan, and didn’t want to carry McDermott’s $10MM cap hold on their books.

McDermott will add valuable depth to Indiana’s rotation, slotting in behind starting three Bojan Bogdanovic. Meanwhile, the Pacers should still have cap room available to add another player or two.

Pacers May Pursue Doug McDermott, Joe Harris

June 30th, 2018 at 6:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

With Will Barton expected to re-sign in Denver, the Pacers will turn their attention to Doug McDermott and Joe Harris, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

McDermott, 26, became a free agent on Wednesday when the Mavericks withdrew their qualifying offer. He split this season between New York and Dallas, playing 26 games for the Mavs after a February trade and averaging 9.0 points per night while shooting 49% from 3-point range.

Harris, also 26, is coming off his best NBA season. He averaged 10.8 points and shot 42% on 3-pointers in 78 games for the Nets.

Mavericks Withdraw QO For Doug McDermott

June 27th, 2018 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Doug McDermott won’t become a restricted free agent on Sunday after all, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the Mavericks have withdrawn their qualifying offer to the four-year veteran.

It’s a quick turnaround for the Mavs, after we heard on Tuesday that the team had extended a qualifying offer to McDermott. According to Lowe, Dallas still has interest in retaining McDermott, but this decision will make the sharpshooter an unrestricted free agent. It will also clear extra cap room for the Mavs, since McDermott’s cap hold as a restricted free agent would have been worth nearly $9.9MM.

McDermott, 26, recorded 9.0 PPG on .478/.494/.857 shooting in 26 games with the Mavericks last season after coming over from New York in a deadline deal. While the former 11th overall pick has never averaged double-digit points in a season, he has been a reliable three-point threat since entering the league, making 40.3% of his outside attempts.

The Mavericks, who added Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson in last week’s draft, have been linked to a number of big men in free agency, including DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan, Julius Randle, and Clint Capela. If they decline Dirk Nowitzki‘s $5MM team option, as suggested by Tim MacMahon and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), the Mavs could get up to approximately $26MM in cap space, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Marks (Twitter link).

If Dallas requires all its available cap room to make a play for one of those bigs, it could offer the $4.4MM room exception to Nowitzki or McDermott. However, since the Mavs will no longer have the right of first refusal, the team won’t be able to stop McDermott from signing outright with another suitor.

Mavericks Extend Qualifying Offers To McDermott, Mejri

June 26th, 2018 at 9:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Mavericks have extended qualifying offers to Doug McDermott and Salah Mejri, Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW tweets. Both players will become restricted free agents.

McDermott’s qualifying is worth approximately $4.3MM. It would have been slightly over $4.5MM had he met the “starter criteria,” but since he did not, he’ll settle for the lower figure.

A player meets the criteria if he plays 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency. A player can also reach this distinction by averaging either of those marks in over the two seasons prior to hitting free agency.

McDermott only started 13 games in his entire career and he came up 232 minutes short of the 2,000 mark during the 2017/18 campaign. Teammate Yogi Ferrell, who also received a qualifying offer from the Mavs, met the starter criteria.

Mejri, whose offer is worth slightly over $1.8MM, did not meet the criteria after playing just 729 minutes this past season.

Mavs Notes: Nowitzki, Smith, McDermott, Rebuilding

April 15th, 2018 at 9:48pm CST by marksuleymanov

Dirk Nowitzki confirmed he will return to the Mavericks for his 21st season in 2018/19, while Dennis Smith Jr. will enter next season as an NBA sophomore. Despite being in different stages of their careers, Nowitzki and Smith both want to see the Mavericks return to relevance, per the Associated Press.

“I’ve been in a couple of arenas that are playoff teams, and I just witnessed the atmosphere,” Smith said. “I can only imagine how it is playoff time.”

Nowitzki has been part of numerous playoff teams in Dallas and helped lead the franchise to an NBA championship in 2011. In recent seasons, he has accepted that the Mavericks are in a rebuilding stage and contributed in any way possible. Still, he – along with the front office – wants to compete as soon as possible.

“We’re certainly hoping that we’re not in the early stages of a rebuild,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “We want to get through this as expeditiously as possible. But there’s no way you can skip steps.”

Check out more Mavericks notes below:

Doug McDermott joined the Mavericks in early February and played well, fulfilling the role of effective three-point shooter, as he has throughout his career. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes that McDermott, who could hit restricted free agency, would like to return and the feeling is mutual. “I hope so,” McDermott said of returning. “I loved my time here. I feel like I fit in right from the first game, and it just allowed me to be myself out there.
The Dallas Morning News looks at all of the Mavericks’ decisions heading into both restricted and unrestricted free agency, including what the future may hold for McDermott, Seth Curry, and Nerlens Noel.
The Mavericks are clearly still in the rebuilding phase and the fan base should get used to the team not being competitive, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News writes. Dallas will need a lot of work just get to the level of some of the Western Conference’s lower-seeded playoff teams, making a postseason run unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Potential 2018 RFAs Whose Qualifying Offers Will Be Impacted By Starter Criteria

April 10th, 2018 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s rookie scale, which dictates how much first-round picks earn during their first four NBA seasons, also dictates how much the qualifying offers will be worth for those players when they reach restricted free agency after year four. However, the value of those qualifying offers can fluctuate depending on whether or not a player has met the “starter criteria.”

Here’s how the starter criteria works: A player who is eligible for restricted free agency is considered to have met the starter criteria if he plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency. A player can also meet the criteria if he averages either of those marks in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency. For instance, if a player started 50 games in 2016/17 and 32 in 2017/18, he’d meet the starter criteria, since his average number of starts over the last two seasons is 41.

A player’s ability or inability to meet the starter criteria can affect the value of the qualifying offer he receives as a restricted free agent, as follows:

A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 15th overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the ninth overall pick would receive if he signed for 120% of the rookie scale.
A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to the amount the 21st overall pick would receive if he signed for 100% of the rookie scale.
For all other RFAs, the standard criteria determine the amounts of their qualifying offers.

Extending a qualifying offer to a player eligible for restricted free agency officially makes that player an RFA, ensuring that his team has the right of first refusal if he signs an offer sheet with another club. It also gives the player the option of signing that one-year QO.

Generally, the value of a restricted free agent’s qualifying offer isn’t hugely important, since very few RFAs accept those offers outright. There are exceptions though. Last offseason, for instance, both players who signed their one-year QOs – Suns center Alex Len and Mavericks center Nerlens Noel – failed to meet the starter criteria heading into restricted free agency, reducing the value of their QOs to approximately $4.2MM (from $6.4MM and $5.85MM, respectively). Had Len and Noel met the starter criteria and been eligible for those larger QOs, their free agencies could have played out differently.

Top-14 picks who failed to meet starter criteria:

With that in mind, let’s check in on how this year’s RFAs-to-be will be impacted by the starter criteria. Listed below are the former top-14 picks on track for restricted free agency who have not met the starter criteria. These players will be eligible for qualifying offers worth $4,333,931.

Jabari Parker (Bucks)
Dante Exum (Jazz)
Nik Stauskas (Nets)
Noah Vonleh (Bulls)
Doug McDermott (Mavericks)
Zach LaVine (Bulls)

No player was hit harder by missing out on the starter criteria than Parker, whose torn ACL made him fall short. If he’d stayed healthy, the former No. 2 overall pick likely would’ve been in line for a qualifying offer worth about $8.851MM. Instead, his QO will be worth less than half of that.

Major injuries also prevented Exum and LaVine from meeting the starter criteria, while Celtics guard Marcus Smart stayed just healthy enough to meet the necessary benchmarks — he totaled 4,013 minutes played over the last two seasons, barely averaging more than 2,000 per year.

First-round picks between 10-30 who met starter criteria:

The players listed below were picked between No. 10 and No. 30 in the 2014 draft and will meet the starter criteria. That will make each of them eligible for a qualifying offer worth $4,749,591.

Elfrid Payton (Suns)
Jusuf Nurkic (Trail Blazers)
Clint Capela (Rockets)
Kyle Anderson (Spurs)

Anderson is the biggest winner here, with his projected qualifying offer of $3.23MM set to increase by more than $1.5MM. However, Anderson, Capela, and Nurkic shouldn’t have any issue landing long-term deals, making the value of their QOs somewhat irrelevant. I wonder about Payton though — he didn’t exactly finish this season strong in Phoenix and could be a candidate to accept his increased QO.

Rodney Hood, the 23rd overall pick in 2014, can blame injury luck and lineup decisions for missing out on the starter criteria. He started 78 of 119 total games for Utah and Cleveland over the last two seasons, averaging 27.0 minutes per contest during that span. Without health issues, he almost certainly would’ve logged 82+ starts or 4,000+ minutes during those two years.

Second-round picks and UDFAs who met starter criteria:

Only one player falls into this group this year.

Yogi Ferrell (Mavericks)

Initially signed to a 10-day contract in 2017, Ferrell parlayed that audition into a multiyear deal and has become an integral part of the Mavericks‘ rotation this season. He has appeared in all 81 games for Dallas, averaging 28.1 minutes per contest — that’s good for 2,274 total minutes, boosting his qualifying offer from $1,699,698 to $2,919,204.

The rest of this year’s restricted free agents won’t have their projected qualifying offers impacted by the starter criteria.

Mavericks Notes: Noel, McDermott, Carlisle, Motley, Offseason Plans

April 8th, 2018 at 4:58pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Mavericks may have dodged a bullet when Nerlens Noel rejected the team’s four-year, $70MM offer last summer, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News writes. Noel will hit the open market this summer and the type of role and deal he will secure is up in the air.

Noel, still just 23 years old, was limited by injuries this season as he played in just 30 games. Noel averaged 4.4 PPG and 5.6 RPG. After his recent five-game suspension, Noel’s tenure in Dallas is likely over and Cowlishaw writes that while the talent is there, Noel will likely face a challenge to find a consistent role.

“I don’t see him as a starting center on a good team. He’s not enough of a post threat to scare anyone and he certainly can’t drift out to the perimeter and shoot 3’s like so many big men can in today’s league,” the scribe notes. “He’s a decent defender when he’s willing and not a lot beyond that.”

Check out more Mavericks news and notes below:

Doug McDermott is a more-than-capable three-point shooter, which makes it likely that the Mavericks will try to retain him beyond the current season. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News speculates that McDermott could search for a deal in the $6MM-$8MM range, which would be a fair deal for both him and the Mavericks.
Rick Carlisle will complete his 10th season as the Mavericks head coach amid a rebuilding phase. While it may be a frustrating process to coach a losing team, Carlisle thinks the team has made progress, Sefko writes in a separate story. “This is a challenge I have not taken on as a head coach. So from that standpoint, I welcome it,” he said. “And I understand that there’s going to be difficult periods. But we are making progress.”
With just a few games left, Carlisle gave an indication as to what the team’s rotation will look like, Mavs.com reporter Dwain Price tweets. “We know what the guys that have been playing heavy minutes all year can do. We want to see what (Kyle) Collinsworth and Jalen Jones and (Johnathan) Motley — of course — and these other guys can do. And Aaron Harrison,“ Carlisle said.
Sefko writes in another piece that the Mavericks are more likely to improve the team via free agency rather than the trade market.
The Mavericks’ sole focus for the rest of the season is to audition players for next season. Sefko writes that Johnathan Motley has impressed with his play recently and will be looked at as a potential player for next season.

Southwest Notes: Evans, McDermott, Randle, Rockets

February 11th, 2018 at 7:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Grizzlies‘ desire for a first-round pick and their insistence on not taking back unwanted salary were behind the failure to trade Tyreke Evans before the deadline, according to Chris Herrington of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Memphis is counting on using its $8.6MM mid-level exception to sign a free agent this summer and doesn’t want to get close to the luxury tax threshold. The team already has more than $101MM in committed salary for next season.

Herrington adds that GM Chris Wallace wanted a quality first-rounder in exchange for Evans, rather than multiple second-rounders, because the roster is already stuffed with young players. The Grizzlies were disappointed that the offers they got for Evans were no better than what they received for Courtney Lee two years ago.

Memphis won’t be able to offer Evans more than the MLE this offseason, but he may find that enticing as a way to build up Bird rights, which allow teams to exceed the cap to re-sign their own players. He doesn’t have them now because he joined the Grizzlies on a one-year contract, but he can get Early Bird rights if signs with Memphis for one more season or full Bird rights if he stays two more.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Mavericks see plenty of potential in Doug McDermott, who was acquired from the Knicks in a three-team trade Thursday, relays Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Coach Rick Carlisle wants to give McDermott more time at power forward, which was his position in college, rather than small forward, where he has mostly been used in the NBA. “I like what he was doing,” Carlisle said. “Offensively, he really is a guy you’ve got to pay attention to. Moves great off the ball. Really one of the quickest releases on his shot I’ve seen. There’s just a few guys who get rid of it that quick. I think he’s just a good mix with the guys that we have here.”
Lakers forward Julius Randle impressed Dallas fans with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Saturday’s game, Townsend notes in the same story. Randle, a Dallas native, will be a restricted free agent this summer and is reportedly on the Mavericks‘ radar. “I don’t care where it is,” Randle said about playing well in Dallas. “I’m just going to try to bring it every night, just be as consistent as possible.”
Carlisle is impressed with the collection of talent in Houston, where the Rockets are about to add Joe Johnson and Brandan Wright once they clear waivers, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “Two really potent signings this time of year,” Carlisle said. “Houston, they’re loading up. They’re right there. It’s an exciting time for them.