Shabazz Napier Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Dragic, Napier, Smith, Holiday

October 7th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Goran Dragic has a new five-year deal worth more than $85MM with the Heat, and he also has more responsibility and a stronger roster around him than ever before, notes Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post. Dragic only has played in one NBA postseason, but odds are that’ll change by this spring.

“There’s definitely more pressure now,” Dragic said to Lieser. “You need to show people that you’re worth that money. I know I have my spot, but you need to prove to everybody that you deserve it. There’s pressure, and you need to deal with it. I can do that.”

See more on an ex-Heat point guard amid the latest from the Southeast Division:

Shabazz Napier likes his new surroundings with the Magic and wasn’t surprised when the Heat traded him in the offseason, observes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. “During the summer you hear lot of rumors. What actually happened, I wasn’t too surprised at all. If it hit me where I didn’t know about it, then I’d be surprised,” Napier said. “But I kind of had a feeling they kind of needed to get some trades off. I sensed it because I have a great agent [Rob Pelinka], not because I felt they wanted me to get out of there. It’s just sometimes it’s business. They needed extra money and they didn’t need the luxury tax and what not.”
The Sixers made Ish Smith an offer to return, and the Kings and Suns offered him deals, too, before he instead signed with the Wizards, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers seem like they could have used him, but Smith faces long odds to stick for opening night in Washington, since he has a non-guaranteed deal on a roster with 15 fully guaranteed contracts, Pompey writes.
Justin Holiday, one of the few members of the Warriors championship team to depart Golden State this summer, is hoping to follow in DeMarre Carroll‘s footsteps as an under-the-radar signee who blossoms with the Hawks, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders details. Holiday’s two-year deal with Atlanta is for the minimum salary, as Basketball Insiders scribe Eric Pincus shows. “The main thing that appealed to me was how the team played,” Holiday said. “Just how coach [Mike Budenholzer] goes about doing things here. I guess DeMarre leaving, obviously that made it available for me to come. So that has to be a big reason why I’m here, but I guess I didn’t focus as much on him not being here. I just think the way they do things here is the main reason why I felt like this was a good place for me to come.”

Southeast Notes: Richardson, Heat, Napier

September 24th, 2015 at 10:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

It was concerns regarding his long-term health that led Jason Richardson to call it a career and retire, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports writes. “I didn’t want to limp the rest of my life,” Richardson told Spears. “I still have my whole life in front of me, God willing. I sat alone at a park in Atlanta thinking and no one said anything to me because they didn’t recognize me since I just got there. I talked to my wife for an hour on the phone and then I sat for five hours thinking while listening to music before deciding that retiring was the right thing to do.” The 34-year-old had signed a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Hawks for the league minimum back in August. “I worked hard and had love and passion for the game,” Richardson added. “But I didn’t want to be that guy who was just there collecting a paycheck.”

Here’s more out of the Southeast Division:

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is excited about the team’s offseason additions of Amar’e Stoudemire and Gerald Green, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays. “If you had told me a year ago we would have an opportunity to sign both those players, I would have said that’s not realistic,” Spoelstra said. “We recruited Amar’e in 2010 and were fans of his game back then. His game has evolved and he has found a niche and a role the last couple of years we definitely can take advantage of. Gerald Green is an explosive player. Those type of game changing players are tough to find in this league. He has been very committed to get to know us and also be in a great shape. To be part of a championship culture and a team with high expectations. I told him you put on this jersey, there are different expectations. He loves the challenge of that.”
Point guard Shabazz Napier, whom the Magic acquired from Miami back in July, is expected to be the team’s third point guard behind Elfrid Payton and C.J. Watson, but the hope is that he can be developed into a future asset, Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel writes.
The Magic are pleased with the progress they have seen from Payton, who is entering his second season in the league, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel relays. When asked about the young guard’s outside shooting, coach Scott Skiles said, “It’s better. He’s put in a lot of time. He’s dedicated himself to it. Obviously, it doesn’t stop just because the season starts. Elfrid’s a talented guy. He’s still a young player. It’s a tough position to learn. Generally, guys aren’t totally polished at that in their second year in the NBA. But as I said before, ‘progress, not perfection.’ We just want him to continue to make progress, and we’re really high on him.“

Latest On Potential Heat Trades, Mario Chalmers

August 26th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat expect to keep Mario Chalmers until at least the start of training camp, and owner Micky Arison has made no demand that the team shed salary, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The prospect of trading for Jamal Crawford, an idea the Heat reportedly raised in talks with the Clippers nearly two months ago, “can’t be ruled out,” but Miami is satisfied with its depth on the perimeter, Jackson writes. The Heat are still willing to trade Chris Andersen, but the market for him has been soft, Jackson hears from a higher-up who’s been in contact with the Heat, and no evidence suggests the Clippers are interested in him as part of a swap involving Crawford, Jackson adds.

The Heat would still prefer to offload salary and haven’t ruled out trading Chalmers, set to make a guaranteed $4.3MM in the final season of his contract this year, as soon as October, according to Jackson. The point guard hasn’t given indications that he’s expecting to be traded, and team president Pat Riley denied reports around draft time indicating that the team was shopping Chalmers and Andersen. Grantland’s Zach Lowe nonetheless heard a couple of weeks later that Chalmers and Andersen were available “for nothing.” Andersen didn’t seem concerned about the rumors when he made a public appearance earlier this week, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel chronicles.

An opposing GM told Jackson in mid-July that Chalmers and Shabazz Napier were the players the Heat were shopping the most aggressively, and Miami dealt Napier to the Magic later that month for no salary in return. That, plus the swap that sent Zoran Dragic to the Celtics with no other salary involved, helped Miami lower its payroll, though the Heat still have about $90.4MM in guaranteed salary, which puts them about $5.66MM above the $84.74MM luxury tax threshold. The Heat would have to pay repeat-offender tax penalties if they’re still above the tax line on the final day of the regular season. Miami only has 12 players on fully guaranteed deals, and if they keep Hassan Whiteside on his partially guaranteed contract but get rid of everyone else, they’d have a tax bill of roughly $16.3MM. Jackson estimates the tax bill at around $23MM, though that appears to include some of the non-guaranteed contracts.

Do you think the Heat will move below the luxury tax line this season? If so, how do you think they’ll manage to do it? Leave a comment to tell us.

Southeast Notes: Scott, Ennis, Napier

July 30th, 2015 at 9:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

Hawks power forward Mike Scott is facing felony drug charges following an arrest this morning, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Police say they found Scott and his brother in possession of marijuana and MDMA, aka ecstasy or Molly. Scott’s salary of more than $3.333MM is fully guaranteed for this season, with a similar figure non-guaranteed for 2016/17. Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:

James Ennis feels confident that he’ll earn his way onto the Heat‘s regular season roster, agent Scott Nichols told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, explaining why he and the Heat decided to nix the clause in Ennis’ contract that would have triggered a 50% partial guarantee on his minimum salary if he remained on the team through Saturday. The move keeps the Heat from having to decide on a $422,530 chunk of salary this weekend, a prospect that may well have spurred the team to cut him, and it also moves up the date on which Ennis’ salary becomes fully guaranteed from December 1st to opening night, Jackson notes.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel still doesn’t see Miami’s 2014 draft-night acquisition of Shabazz Napier as a mistake, even after the Heat traded Napier to the Magic following a so-so rookie year, as Winderman writes in his mailbag column. He heard from one scout that Napier nearly was one of the first 15 picks in the draft. This summer, the Heat had luxury tax concerns and better options at point guard, and that’s what led to the trade with Orlando, Winderman argues. That casts a different light on Napier than that from when an NBA GM told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that the Heat had simply concluded prior to the trade that the point guard “was not good enough”
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist leads a list of intriguing second-tier 2016 free agents that Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com compiles in an Insider-only piece. The elite defense of the 21-year-old Hornets small forward makes it such that he’ll be a valuable starter for years to come if he can merely become an average offensive player, Pelton argues.

Florida Notes: Napier, Johnson, Richardson

July 29th, 2015 at 11:29am CST by Chuck Myron

This past spring was the first without either the Heat or the Magic in the playoffs since 1993. Florida figures to have at least one postseason representative this coming season, with Chris Bosh set to return from the blood clot ailment that prematurely ended last season, and Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade, each of whom signed new deals, will be back, too. The outlook is murkier for the Magic, but they added No. 5 overall pick Mario Hezonja and re-signed Tobias Harris. Here’s the latest from the Sunshine State, where both teams hooked up on a trade earlier this week:

One GM who spoke with the Heat told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that the team simply concluded that Shabazz Napier “was not good enough” before trading him to the Magic for a draft pick that represents a virtual non-asset. The GM cited a lack of height, quickness and shooting skill.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel believes the Napier trade had more to do with the Heat‘s belief in Tyler Johnson and second-round pick Josh Richardson than tax concerns. The Heat didn’t really affect their store of talent with the deals that sent out Napier and Zoran Dragic, but trading Mario Chalmers or Chris Andersen would represent a true on-court sacrifice in the name of tax savings, as Winderman surmises in a separate mailbag column. Still, bringing back Mike Miller, should the Trail Blazers let him go as seems likely, wouldn’t be a significant help, Winderman opines.
The Magic have reached a turning point, and even though they missed out on luring Paul Millsap from the Hawks this month, their roster now is better than at any point since the Dwight Howard trade three years ago, as Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders argues.

Heat Rumors: Trades, Dragic, Richardson

July 27th, 2015 at 12:47pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat have been busy today, formally announcing trades that sent Shabazz Napier to the Magic and Zoran Dragic to the Celtics. They reportedly remain in pursuit of a deal that would take Mario Chalmers and his $4.3MM off their hands as they seek to avoid paying repeat-offender tax penalties. Here’s the latest from South Beach:

The amount of cash going from the Heat to the Celtics in the Dragic trade is $1.5MM, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. The Suns had paid the rest of his more than $1.706MM salary as a signing bonus last year. Miami will have $1.9MM left to spend in trades, while the Celtics, who took in cash as part of the Perry Jones III trade, too, only have $400K left that they can receive, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter links).
The 2019 second-round pick that the Celtics owe the Heat as part of the Dragic deal is top-55 protected, so Miami is unlikely to ever actually receive the selection, Himmelsbach reports in the same piece.
The Heat let No. 40 pick Josh Richardson know last week that they think he’s an NBA-caliber player and that they were doing what they could to find room on the roster for him, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (All Twitter links). The Dragic and Napier trades give the team 15 players, Jackson notes, speculating that Miami will release Henry Walker before his non-guaranteed salary becomes partially guaranteed for $100K on Saturday, a move that would open a spot for Richardson. Still, the roster remains fluid, so Jackson wouldn’t dismiss the idea that Walker will still be with Miami.

Magic Acquire Shabazz Napier

July 27th, 2015 at 11:46am CST by ChrisCrouse

NBA: Preseason-Orlando Magic at Miami Heat

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

MONDAY, 11:46am: The trade is official, both teams announced via press release. It’s a 2016 second-rounder going to Miami. Orlando receives cash in addition to Napier.

2:52pm: The deal is expected to be formally announced Monday, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The second-round pick is heavily protected, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The Magic will keep the pick unless they have a top five record next season.

SUNDAY, 12:23pm: The Magic will acquire Shabazz Napier from the Heat, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Heat will receive a protected future second-round pick, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

Miami was aggressively trying to deal Napier in addition to Mario Chalmers because of luxury tax concerns, according to previous reports. Napier set to make roughly $1.3MM this season and has a team option on his salary for the 2016/17 season. Thus, the deal as reported will allow the Heat to create a trade exception worth $1,294,440, the precise value of Napier’s salary this season.

Orlando will now have 10 players on its roster who were drafted since 2011 with four players coming via trade, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link). Napier will presumably be the team’s third string point guard behind 2015 rookie of the year candidate Elfrid Payton and new addition C.J. Watson.

Napier was reportedly a favorite of LeBron James, and his addition to the Heat last summer seemed like a play to retain the four-time MVP, who instead returned to Cleveland. Miami came away with Napier’s rights in a 2014 draft-night deal with Charlotte, which used the No. 24 pick to take the point guard last year. Miami gave Napier 10 starts, and he averaged 19.8 minutes per game, but he played in only one game after March 9th as he battled a sports hernia that ultimately ended his season prematurely.

Reactions To Shabazz Napier Trade

July 26th, 2015 at 7:13pm CST by Will Joseph

Earlier today, the Magic agreed to acquire Shabazz Napier from the Heat in exchange for a protected future second-round pick. The only way the Heat will get the Magic’s second-round pick in 2016 will be if Orlando finishes with one of the NBA’s five best records during the 2015-16 regular season. If the Magic’s second-round pick falls anywhere from 31st overall through 55th overall, the Magic would keep the pick. Miami wanted to deal Napier because of luxury tax concerns, according to previous reports. Napier is set to make about $1.3MM this season and has a team option on his salary for the 2016/17 season. Therefore, the reported deal will allow the Heat to create a trade exception worth $1,294,440, the precise value of Napier’s salary this season.

Here are some reactions from around the industry to the move:

Dealing Napier could be a sign that the Heat is keeping guard Mario Chalmers, who Miami has reportedly been shopping, Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald writes. It’s still very possible Miami trades Chalmers, however, Goodman adds, because he is owed $4.3MM next season.
With Napier gone, Heat fans will have one less reminder of LeBron James, Goodman adds in the same piece. James pushed for the team to draft Napier, who mostly struggled as a rookie. The fact Miami was willing to trade Napier to a division rival means that the team does not view the guard as much of a threat, Goodman concludes.
From the Magic’s point of view, the deal is a good one because there is no risk involved, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes. The Magic benefit because they will acquire a young player with upside, Robbins adds.
In the same piece, Robbins points out that Napier’s arrival might very well be bad news for Keith Appling, who the Magic agreed to sign last week to a two-year deal that includes a small guarantee. The contract will give Appling a chance to participate in the Magic’s training camp, but Napier’s presence likely will make it difficult for Appling to make the regular-season roster, Robbins writes.
The trade has a lot to do with the Heat’s depth chart, considering Miami also has Josh Richardson and Tyler Johnson as guards, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). The Heat could save more than $4MM with the deal, but that only would be the case if the team chooses to carry only 14 players, Winderman tweets.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Richardson, Taylor, Bynum

July 19th, 2015 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Faced with a luxury tax problem, the Heat have been aggressively trying to deal Mario Chalmers and Shabazz Napier, reports Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. An unidentified GM from another team said Miami’s preference is to deal Chalmers because he is due to make $4.3MM next season. Miami would reportedly settle for a second-round pick — or even less — to get Chalmers’ salary off its books. The GM adds that Chris Andersen is another candidate to be dealt, although the center has not been offered to the GM’s team. He also says the Heat are not trying to trade Josh McRoberts.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Miami will make an offer to Josh Richardson to keep his rights, but may encourage the rookie guard to play overseas, Jackson writes in the same story. Richardson will have to choose whether to seek a spot with a foreign club or try to make the Heat’s roster in training camp. Richardson hasn’t decided if he is willing to spend a year overseas, saying the NBA “has always been my dream; nobody wants to play anywhere else.” The Heat currently have 17 players under contract, stacking the odds against Richardson earning a roster spot.
Former Hornet Jeffery Taylor has been offered a two-year contract by Maccabi of the Israeli Premier League, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Pick termed the situation a “done deal” if Taylor agrees. Last month, the Hornets decided not to extend a qualifying offer to Taylor, making him an unrestricted free agent. He spent three years in Charlotte, although his second season was cut short by an Achilles tear and the third was interrupted by a 24-game suspension imposed by the league.
Barcelona may offer a contract to former Wizards guard Will Bynum, according to Enea Trapani of Sportando. Bynum spent most of the 2014/15 season in China, but signed with Washington late in the year and appeared in seven games.

Lowe’s Latest: Heat, West, Aldridge, Suns

July 7th, 2015 at 12:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat have “put out Shabazz Napier feelers” as they seek to maximize their cap flexibility for the summer of 2016, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes within a larger column on free agency. Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen are available “for nothing,” Lowe adds, presumably meaning that the Heat continue to place a priority on clearing their salaries in an effort to avoid repeat-offender luxury tax penalties. Heat president Pat Riley denied a report last month that the team was shopping the pair, who are set to make a combined $9.3MM this coming season, but it sounds as if Miami is at least open to the idea of moving them if another team comes forward with an offer. Miami could simply decline its 2016/17 team option on Napier, worth about $1.35MM, but the team presumably wants to extract more value than that out of last year’s 24th overall pick. Lowe dishes plenty more in his latest must-read column, and we’ll pass along some of the highlights:

David West turned down an extra $4MM or so from the Wizards and about an extra $2MM from the Warriors when he reportedly agreed to sign for the minimum salary with the Spurs, several league sources tell Lowe. That signals that Washington would have spent its $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level and Golden State would have used its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level instead of committing part of it to Leandro Barbosa.
The Nuggets tried before the draft to trade the lottery protected 2016 first-round pick it acquired from the Blazers in the Arron Afflalo trade in February, but no one bit, out of fear that the Blazers would lose LaMarcus Aldridge and miss the playoffs two years in a row, Lowe hears. If Portland doesn’t qualify for the postseason in 2016 or 2017, the first-rounder turns into two second-rounders, as RealGM notes.
Aldridge’s interest in the Lakers was serious as free agency began, several sources told Lowe. He took two meetings with the team after the first one apparently didn’t focus enough on basketball for his liking.
Suns owner Robert Sarver is impatient with his team’s playoff drought and has made it clear to the front office that he wants them to be aggressive in free agency, Lowe reports. That explains Phoenix’s pursuit of Aldridge, which had the Suns seemingly co-favorites with the Spurs at one point.
The best information so far indicates that DeMar DeRozan and Chandler Parsons will opt out next summer, Lowe writes, though it’s early.
George Karl loved coaching Kosta Koufos when they were together with the Nuggets, according to Lowe, so Sacramento’s agreement to sign the center leaves the Grantland columnist with the impression that Karl indeed has some degree of sway over Kings personnel.