Jonathan Isaac Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Salary Shortfall, Maker, Isaac, Diversity

April 16th, 2016 at 5:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

An NBA memo says teams had an estimated $93MM shortfall in player salaries this season, writes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, players must receive 49% to 51% of basketball-related income. The league will finalize a full audit of revenue and expenses in July to determine the exact amount they will receive. The memo projects a $375MM shortfall for next season, which averages about $12.5MM per team. Also for next season, the league expects a $92MM salary cap and a $111MM luxury tax threshold. The salary floor, which is the 90% of the cap that teams are obligated to pay to players, would be set at $82.8MM. For 2017/18, the salary cap is expected to be $107MM with the luxury tax threshold set at $127MM. Seven teams are expected to pay $121MM in luxury taxes this season, with half of that earmarked for the revenue-sharing plan. The other half will be split by franchises under the $84.7MM tax threshold, giving them approximately $2.6MM per team.

There’s more from the basketball world:

The loophole that allowed Thon Maker to become eligible for this year’s draft may inspire future prospects to try the same thing, writes Jeff Eisenberg of The Dagger. Maker, 19, qualified for the draft because he graduated from high school in Canada in 2015, meeting both the age requirement and the rule that a year must have passed since a player’s graduating class.
Jonathan Isaac, who will be a freshman at Florida State in the fall, is no longer looking at this year’s draft, relays Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The 6’10” power forward worked out for NBA scouts this week, but is focused on playing for the Seminoles. There were reports in February that Isaac was thinking of trying to go straight to the NBA from IMG Academy. He is 19 and is a year beyond his graduating class, but he wouldn’t be draft-eligible because he doesn’t have a diploma. Isaac is ranked 13th in the 2017 mock draft by DraftExpress.
Front-office diversity was among the topics addressed at the NBA board of governors meeting this week, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Oris Stuart, the league’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, made a presentation on the benefits of diversity in management. The league is putting together a Basketball Operations Associates Program for ex-players and others who want to pursue front-office careers.

And-Ones: Isaac, Cordinier, Free Agents

February 11th, 2016 at 10:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

High school phenom Jonathan Isaac, who is ranked among the top 10 prospects in the nation, intends to explore the idea of declaring for the 2016 NBA draft directly from prep school, Pete Thamel of SI.com writes. Isaac told Thamel that he could look to take advantage of a new rule that allows prospects to enter the NBA draft and return to college if they aren’t satisfied with their projected draft position., Thamel adds. The new rule allows Isaac to participate in the NBA draft combine, hold an NBA workout and pull out of the draft without compromising his amateur standing at Florida State where he’s signed to play next season, the SI scribe notes.

Here’s more from around the league:

French shooting guard prospect Isaia Cordinier appears to be a strong candidate to be a first round pick if he enters this year’s NBA Draft, opines Jonathan Givony of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The 19-year-old is likely to declare for the draft, though he will retain the right to withdraw his name if he doesn’t feel good about his prospects, Givony adds. The flexibility of his situation will certainly help his stock because an NBA team can opt to pick Cordinier and “stash” him in Europe for another year or two, which could be a major selling point for a franchise that has multiple draft picks and limited roster spots to utilize for 2016/17, the Vertical scribe concludes. Cordinier is currently projected as the No. 25 overall pick this June, according to DraftExpress.
The rookies whose performances have been the most pleasantly surprising this season for their respective teams are the Pacers‘ Myles Turner, Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets and Sixers point guard T.J. McConnell, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton opine in their look at the league’s first-year players (Insider subscription required).
The free agent class for the summer of 2017 will be loaded with superstar point guards, including Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry, Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders notes in his free agent primer.
Florida State freshman shooting guard Malik Beasley has worked his way onto NBA teams’ radars and is currently projected to be a mid to late first-rounder if he enters this year’s NBA Draft, Mike Schmitz of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports writes in his look at the prospect. Despite his strong play this season, Beasley is still likely a year away from being able to contribute in the NBA as a rotation player, though his potential will probably influence an NBA club to take a gamble on him this June, Schmitz concludes.