- After playing the 2016/17 campaign at 200 pounds, Damian Lillard has dropped down to 190. The Trail Blazers star has adopted a vegan diet, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes.
When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.
When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.
However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.
While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.
For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.
This week, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.
Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Northwest teams:
Denver Nuggets
- Sani Becirovic, G (2003; No. 46): Retired.
- Xue Yuyang, F/C (2003; No. 57): Retired.
- Izzet Turkyilmaz, F/C (2012; No. 50): Last played in Croatia.
- Nikola Radicevic, G (2015; No. 57): Playing in Serbia.
- Petr Cornelie, F (2016; No. 53): Playing in France.
- Vlatko Cancar, F (2017; No. 49): Playing in Serbia.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Lior Eliyahu, F (2006; No. 44): Playing in Israel.
- Henk Norel, C (2009; No. 47): Playing in Spain.
- Paulao Prestes, C (2010; No. 45): Last played in Brazil.
- Bojan Dubljevic, F/C (2013; No. 59): Playing in Spain.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Abdul Shamsid-Deen, C (1990; No. 53): Retired.
- Sofoklis Schortsanitis, C (2003; No. 34): Last played in Greece.
- Szymon Szewczyk, F/C (2003; No. 35): Playing in Poland.
- Paccelis Morlende, G (2003; No. 50): Last played in France.
- Yotam Halperin, G (2006; No. 53): Playing in Israel.
- DeVon Hardin, C (2008; No. 50): Retired.
Portland Trail Blazers
- Marcelo Nicola, F (1993; No. 50): Retired.
- Doron Sheffer, G (1996; No. 36): Retired.
- Federico Kammerichs, F/C (2002; No. 51): Retired.
- Nedzad Sinanovic, C (2003; No. 54): Retired.
- Daniel Diez, F (2015; No. 54): Playing in Spain.
Utah Jazz
- Peter Fehse, F (2002; No. 49): Retired.
- Mario Austin, F/C (2003; No. 36): Retired.
- Ante Tomic, C (2008; No. 44): Playing in Spain.
- Shan Foster, G/F (2008; No. 51): Retired.
- Nigel Williams-Goss, G (2017; No. 55): Playing in Serbia.
Previously:
Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
The Trail Blazers have decided not to waive Pat Connaughton today, which will ensure that his 2017/18 salary becomes fully guaranteed, reports Jason Quick of CSNNW.com. Connaughton will now be on track to earn his full $1,471,382 minimum salary for the coming season.
Connaughton, 24, has spent the last two seasons in Portland after joining the Blazers in a draft-day trade in 2015. The 6’5″ shooting guard hasn’t become a regular rotation player for the Blazers so far, but has appeared in 73 regular season games for the club. He has played just 6.3 MPG in those contests, averaging 1.8 PPG and 1.2 RPG.
The original guarantee deadline for Connaughton was July 25, but he and the team agreed last month to push it back to August 31 to create a little more flexibility for the Blazers. Having waived Andrew Nicholson on Wednesday, the Blazers only had 13 players left on guaranteed contracts — that number will increase to 14 with Connaughton remaining on the roster.
With a decision made on Connaughton, all the players who had guarantee deadlines on their contracts in June, July, or August have now either been waived or received their guarantees, as our tracker details.
As expected, the Trail Blazers have waived Andrew Nicholson from their roster, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. According to Wojnarowski, Portland will use the stretch provision on Nicholson, spreading out his remaining salary across the next seven years. The Blazers confirmed this afternoon that Nicholson has been waived (Twitter link).
Nicholson, 27, was a beneficiary of the 2016 salary cap spike, having inked a four-year, $26MM contract with the Wizards during free agency last summer. After signing that deal, Nicholson endured his worst season as a pro, appearing in just 28 games for Washington and averaging 2.5 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 8.3 minutes per contest.
Nicholson was included as a salary dump in a deadline deal with the Nets in February, and ultimately finished the 2016/17 season with averages of 2.6 PPG and 1.6 RPG to go along with a .387 FG% in 38 games. Those numbers were all career worsts.
Earlier this offseason, Nicholson was once again included in a trade as a salary dump, making his way from the Nets to the Trail Blazers in the swap that sent Allen Crabbe to Brooklyn. Reports at the time indicated that Portland would waive and stretch Nicholson, but the team didn’t make it official for more than a month.
As we detailed earlier today, waiving Nicholson before the end of August allows the Blazers to reduce his 2017/18 cap hit by more than $3.5MM, which also slashes the club’s projected year-end luxury tax bill by more than $5MM. Nicholson will now count against Portland’s cap for about $2.844MM for the next seven seasons.
Once he clears waivers, Nicholson will be free to sign with any NBA team except for the Blazers or Nets.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Thursday, August 31 represents the deadline for teams to exercise the stretch provision on 2017/18 salary, meaning clubs have just over 24 more hours to waive players whose ’17/18 salaries they’re hoping to stretch.
The stretch provision is a CBA rule that allows teams to stretch a waived player’s remaining guaranteed salary across multiple seasons. From July 1 to August 31, the rule dictates that a team can pay out the player’s salary over twice the number of years remaining on his contract, plus one. For instance, a contract with three years left on it could be stretched out over seven years. After August 31, only future years on the contract can be stretched in that manner — so for that three-year contract, the current-season salary would stay as is, while the remaining two seasons could be stretched across five years.
As a point of reference, here’s what Andrew Nicholson‘s contract with the Trail Blazers looks like in its current form, along with the new salary figures based on that deal being stretched before or after August 31:
| Year | Current contract | Stretched by August 31 | Stretched after August 31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | $6,362,998 | $2,844,429 | $6,362,998 |
| 2018/19 | $6,637,002 | $2,844,429 | $2,709,601 |
| 2019/20 | $6,911,007 | $2,844,429 | $2,709,602 |
| 2020/21 | – | $2,844,430 | $2,709,602 |
| 2021/22 | – | $2,844,430 | $2,709,602 |
| 2022/23 | – | $2,844,430 | $2,709,602 |
| 2023/24 | – | $2,844,430 |
As our chart shows, if the Blazers wait until September to waive and stretch Nicholson, they would take on a lower annual cap hit after 2017/18 and those cap charges would end a year earlier. However, Portland is widely expected to stretch Nicholson by August 31 in order to reduce his current-year cap hit. The Blazers are currently several million dollars into tax territory, and reducing Nicholson’s 2017/18 cap charge by $3.5MM+ would significantly reduce the club’s projected tax bill, even if it hurts Portland a little more in future seasons.
While Nicholson is a good bet to be waived this week (update: he has been waived), we shouldn’t necessarily expect a flurry of action by Thursday, since most teams aren’t in a situation like the Blazers. Still, we could see a move from clubs that have an expendable player and want to either reduce their tax bill or create more breathing room below the cap or tax line.
The Bucks look like another prime candidate to make a move by Thursday. It doesn’t appear that Spencer Hawes will be a major part of the club’s plans for 2017/18, and Milwaukee is currently slightly over the tax line. Waiving Hawes and stretching the final year of his contract (worth $6,021,175) across the next three years would get the Bucks out of tax territory and would create a little more flexibility to add a player or two, if needed.
Nicholson and Hawes were two of the five players who I identified earlier this month as candidates to be waived and stretched by August 31, and I think they’re easily the strongest candidates on that list. Stay tuned through Thursday to see if they’re cut, and to find out if other players hit the waiver wire before the August 31 deadline.
The Trail Blazers have agreed to a contract extension for Neil Olshey that will keep the president of basketball operations under team control through 2021, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, Portland will exercise its two remaining options on Olshey’s contract to lock him up through 2020, and the two sides added an extra year to his deal on top of that.
Olshey, who has been the head of basketball operations in Portland since 2012, joined the Blazers after spending multiple seasons with the Clippers as their GM and VP of basketball ops. Since Olshey took over in Portland, the Blazers have compiled a 223-187 (.544) regular season record, earning playoff berths in four of his five seasons.
While some of Olshey’s moves in the summer of 2016 – including signing Evan Turner and extending Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard to lucrative long-term deals – received criticism, he has done well overall during his time with the Blazers. Olshey drafted Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum during his first two years with the franchise, and more recently acquired Jusuf Nurkic and a first-round pick in a seemingly lopsided deal with the Nuggets.
The Hawks had interest in interviewing Olshey for their GM job earlier this offseason, but were denied permission by Portland, says Wojnarowski.
According to Basketball Insiders’ data, the Blazers are carrying $124MM+ in guaranteed team salary for 2017/18 and have $114MM+ in guarantees on the books for 2018/19, even without taking a potential Nurkic extension into account. As such, Olshey will have his work cut out for him as he looks to continue building the Blazers’ roster into a title contender.
As Doug McDermott prepares for his first full season with the Thunder, he knows that he will have to improve, writes Nick Gallo of NBA.com. “I try to add something each summer because I don’t want to stay the same player,” McDermott said. “I feel like I can still get a lot better.”
McDermott will need to be a more dynamic threat. The forward must take better advantage of post-up opportunities, as he did in high school and college. “I’m just more than a spot-up shooter. I know I can move without the ball, and I think that just puts more pressure on them, and it can open up more things for everyone out there,” McDermott explained.
“The way the league is trending, it’s getting smaller with a lot of small ball and guys that can really spread the floor regardless of their position. I feel like I’m just a basketball player,” McDermott added. “I’m excited after talking with Coach Donovan. We’ve got a great facility here, and it’s a great city, too, so I plan on bouncing around a little bit, having some fun, but also coming here ready to work.”
Here’s more from the Northwest division:
- Of all the teams trading for superstar players this offseason, the Thunder gave up the least in return, argues Berry Tramel of NewsOK.com. Tramel looks at the Paul George trade, as well as the deals involving Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, and Kyrie Irving, and the scribe pronounces that the Thunder traded away the least value.
- Mike Jensen of Philly.com profiles Nuggets veteran point guard Jameer Nelson, focusing on what it takes to thrive in the NBA at Nelson’s advanced age of 35 years old. Nelson’s boxing training has helped him stay in peak physical condition. “He’s in better shape than the first five years I trained him,’’ Nelson’s trainer said, adding that Nelson picked up boxing part “like it was walking.”
- The Trail Blazers have named Jesse Ellis the new Director of Player Health and Performance. “The addition of Jesse is another step toward developing the finest health and performance staff in the NBA,” said general manager Neil Olshey.
- The Trail Blazers have named Jesse Elis their new director of player health and performance, Mike Richman of the Oregonian writes. Elis will replace Chris Stackpole who had held the position for the past four years.
NBA teams have about two more weeks to apply the stretch provision to the 2017/18 cap hits for players they waive. After August 31, teams will no longer be eligible to stretch salaries for the coming season, and the stretch provision will only apply to future seasons on a player’s contract.
The stretch provision is a CBA rule that allows teams to stretch a player’s remaining salary across additional seasons. For July and August, the rule dictates that a team can pay out the player’s salary over twice the number of years remaining on his contract, plus one. So a contract with three years left on it could be stretched out over seven years. After August 31, only the future years on the contract can be stretched in that manner.
In practical terms, here’s what that means for a player who is earning $6MM in each of the next two years ($12MM total):
| Year | Current contract | Stretched by August 31 | Stretched after August 31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | $6,000,000 | $2,400,000 | $6,000,000 |
| 2018/19 | $6,000,000 | $2,400,000 | $2,000,000 |
| 2019/20 | – | $2,400,000 | $2,000,000 |
| 2020/21 | – | $2,400,000 | $2,000,000 |
| 2021/22 | – | $2,400,000 |
In some cases, it can be advantageous to wait until September to waive a player and use the stretch provision. If a team isn’t close to the tax line and can’t clear additional cap room by stretching a player’s current-year salary, it may make more sense to be patient, since that extra immediate cap room wouldn’t be useful.
However, there are several teams around the NBA who may be motivated to waive and stretch players prior to that August 31 deadline. Here are five stretch provision candidates to keep an eye on during the next couple weeks:
While the Rockets remain Carmelo Anthony‘s supposed primary destination, the Trail Blazers have done well to establish themselves as a suitable alternative, Cody Sharrett of the team’s official site writes.
Sharrett cites comments made by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski in a recent radio interview (~25:00 mark), suggesting the Trail Blazers could, theoretically at least, be a good landing spot for the veteran.
“The [Trail Blazers] are an interesting team in this because C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard have done a really good of recruiting Carmelo,” Wojnarowkski said. “They’ve been on him.”
The scribe notes that Anthony’s feelings about McCollum, Lillard or the Trail Blazers are ultimately inconsequential if the club can’t put together a package of assets that appeals to the Knicks.
“But if they could, then the [Trail Blazers] are a sleeper team in this to get Carmelo to waive his no-trade because I’m told they’ve piqued Carmelo’s interest at the very least,” Wojnarowski added.