- Derrick White‘s four-year extension with the Spurs has a guaranteed base value of $70MM and is structured as an increasing deal with annual 8% raises, tweets Smith. There are $1.25MM per year in incentives, according to Hollinger: $500K for appearing in 70 games, $500K for making 185 three-pointers, and $250K for making an All-Defense team. White has only made 135 career three-pointers in three seasons, including 79 in 2019/20.
Seventeen teams have indicated that they plan to participate in the NBA G League bubble, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, who notes that the G League Ignite select team will be the 18th squad.
While we don’t yet have a full, official list of the teams participating in the G League bubble, Ridiculous Upside has done a good job passing along reports (including some of ours) and providing new details on which clubs are in and out. Their list includes 13 teams believed to be in, not counting the Ignite, as follows:
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers)
- Austin Spurs (Spurs)
- Canton Charge (Cavaliers)
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers)
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers)
- Lakeland Magic (Magic)
- Long Island Nets (Nets)
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies)
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder)
- Raptors 905 (Raptors)
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz)
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors)
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks)
G League expert Adam Johnson says the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets), Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves), and Erie BayHawks (Pelicans) are also expected to take part (Twitter link).
The G League reportedly asked for teams to volunteer to opt out, since bringing 29 franchises to the bubble wouldn’t have been logistically possible, so the clubs passing on the bubble aren’t necessarily doing so because they’re not interested in participating.
Teams opting out of the bubble who signed players to Exhibit 10 contracts before the season will be given the option to loan or “flex” those players to another G League team for the bubble and will be responsible for paying all expenses for those players, Givony explains.
The Wizards, for example, aren’t expected to have the Capital City Go-Go play in the bubble, but will likely use the Pelicans’ affiliate – the BayHawks – as their temporary affiliate for their former Exhibit 10 players, such as Caleb Homesley, Marlon Taylor, and Yoeli Childs, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
A G League draft would take place in January, according to Givony, who reports that players whose returning rights are held by non-bubble teams would temporarily be dispersed to other clubs in that draft. If non-bubble teams don’t want to “flex” their former Exhibit 10 players to G League teams participating in the bubble, those players will also enter the draft pool, says Givony.
Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reported earlier this week that the tentative start date for the G League season is February 8. Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link) shares a more detailed breakdown of the proposed timeline, which would see G League players and staffers begin an “at-home” quarantine period on January 13.
Givony confirms that teams participating in the bubble still expect to play a minimum of 12 games apiece (not including the playoffs), as was reported in November.
Finally, Givony reports that the G League is making adjustments to its roster rules to make it easier for NBA teams to recruit and sign veterans with five or more years of NBA experience. Each team will be able to designate an “NBA Vet Selection” who fits that bill, and won’t have to navigate the NBAGL’s complicated waiver process to add that player, per Givony.
As Johnson tweets, the rule will be a one-off for this season and will allow – for instance – the Warriors to add Jeremy Lin to their Santa Cruz affiliate, like they wanted to.
Now that the regular season is underway, no NBA team is carrying more than 17 players in total — 15 on standard contracts and two on two-way deals. However, not every team is making use of all 17 roster spots available to them.
Currently, 12 of the league’s 30 teams have at least one open roster spot, either on their regular roster or in their two-way slots.
Those dozen teams have different reasons for not carrying a 15th man on their standard roster. For some clubs, the decision is likely financially motivated, since an open roster spot means not having to pay an extra player.
Some teams may want to maintain the roster flexibility that an open roster provides — it can allow a club to act quickly and decisively in the event of an injury or a two-for-one trade opportunity.
A handful of teams actually can’t add a 15th man at this point, since they’re too close to their hard cap and won’t be able to fit another minimum-salary contract below that hard cap until later in the season.
With the G League season not yet underway, a healthy team may simply decide there’s no point in filling the 15th spot with a developmental player who won’t see any game action. That may also be the reason why some teams haven’t yet filled both their two-way contract slots.
Listed below, with the help of our roster counts breakdown, are the teams that aren’t carrying full rosters.
Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:
- Charlotte Hornets
- Houston Rockets *
- Los Angeles Clippers *
- Los Angeles Lakers *
- Milwaukee Bucks *
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs
- Utah Jazz
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes that the team can’t currently sign a 15th man due to the hard cap.
Teams with an open two-way slot:
- Detroit Pistons
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Trail Blazers
Though new Pelicans starting point guard Eric Bledsoe faces a tall task in replacing fan favorite guard Jrue Holiday, he still will prove a dependable starter for a New Orleans team with a good chance to at least qualify for a play-in game, as William Guillory of the Athletic details.
“The same role (Holiday) had here, I’m kind of in. But at the same time, I’ve still got to play my game,” Bledsoe said. “(My role is) defense, helping guys get better … trying to be a leader and going out there to help them win games.”
Guillory expects Bledsoe, a two-time All-Defensive Team selection who relies on a killer first step to score, to help lead a supercharged backcourt alongside Lonzo Ball. That tandem scored a combined 34 points on a 10-of-21 shooting from the floor tonight in a 113-99 defeat of the Raptors.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Ahead of the Spurs‘ 2020/21 season, John Hollinger of the Athletic previewed the club’s outlook. Hollinger notes that 30-something veterans LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay could control the ball for extended stretches of possessions, though the advanced age and short-term contracts of most of those players are increasingly at odds with the timeline for the team’s younger prospects.
- Rockets big man Bruno Caboclo agreed to push back the deadline for his 2020/21 salary to become fully guaranteed to February 27, 2021 (the league-wide deadline), according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). It had previously been scheduled to become guaranteed today.
- Now on his third team in three seasons, new Mavericks swingman Josh Richardson will be expected to guard the opposing team’s toughest perimeter players, according to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. Richardson has the length and speed to convincingly defend several positions.
- The Spurs signed guard Derrick White to a four-year, $73MM rookie scale extension prior to Monday’s deadline and White is brimming with optimism at the organization’s direction, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News writes. “I’m excited with the direction we’re going,” White said. “I’m excited to keep getting better and improving and getting back to where the Spurs should be. I’m excited to be here for that process.”
The Spurs have exercised their fourth-year team option on guard Lonnie Walker IV, as well as the third-year options on forwards Keldon Johnson and Luka Samanic, for the 2021/22 season, according to a team press release.
Walker will receive $4,447,896 during the 2021/22 campaign. Johnson will make $2.145MM and Samanic will get $2.96MM.
Walker, the 18th pick of the 2018 draft, appeared in 61 games last season and averaged 6.4 PPG and 1.1 APG in 16.2 MPG.
Johnson appeared in 17 games last season and averaged 9.1 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 17.7 MPG. He averaged 14.1 PPG in eight games during the Orlando restart. Johnson, a late first-round pick last year, also played 31 games for the G League Austin Spurs and averaged 20.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG.
Samanic, the 19th pick of the 2019 draft, appeared in three NBA games as a rookie. He also appeared in 33 games with the Austin Spurs, averaging 15.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG.
7:12pm: It’s official, according to a team press release.
5:08pm: The Spurs have reached an agreement on a four-year extension for guard Derrick White, agent Mike Lindeman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). It’ll be worth $73MM, per Wojnarowski.
San Antonio’s strong commitment to White comes after a season in which he was just a part-time starter. White averaged 11.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 3.5 APG in 24.7 MPG in his third year in the league. He started 20 of 68 games after starting 55 of 67 games in his second season.
However, the Spurs recently signaled their intentions of retaining the combo guard long term when coach Gregg Popovich remarked, “He’s somebody we plan on for the future.”
White was the 29th pick of the 2017 draft. The Spurs backcourt is now set for years to come as they signed Dejounte Murray to a four-year extension worth up to $70MM last year.
With several veteran players coming off the books after this season, San Antonio will still have plenty of cap flexibility next summer. Factoring in White’s cap hold, the Spurs only sacrificed $6MM in space for the 2021 offseason. San Antonio could still have $50MM in cap room even with White’s extension factored in, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
White is currently sidelined after undergoing left toe surgery this fall.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The 2020/21 NBA regular season will get underway on Tuesday, so it’s time to get serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
Of course, there are plenty of wild cards to take into account this season. For one, teams are scheduled to play 72 games instead of 82, so if you’re picking a team to win 41 games, you’re not just expecting them to be a .500 club — you’re projecting them to finish 10 games above .500. For each team’s over/under below, we’ve noted the record they’d have to achieve to finish “over” their projection, as a reminder.
It’s also worth noting that the coronavirus pandemic could cause some games to be canceled in 2020/21. We don’t want you to have to take possible cancellations into account when making your picks though, so don’t let that stop you from taking the “over.” If a team has a couple games canceled, we’ll adjust their over/under figure downward, so you’re essentially just projecting that team’s winning percentage.
We’ll wrap things up by heading to the Southwest…
Dallas Mavericks
- 2019/20 record: 43-32
- Over/under for 2020/21: 43.5 wins (44-28)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Mavericks poll.
New Orleans Pelicans
- 2019/20 record: 30-42
- Over/under for 2020/21: 36.5 wins (37-35)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Pelicans poll.
Houston Rockets
- 2019/20 record: 44-28
- Over/under for 2020/21: 35.5 wins (36-36)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Rockets poll.
Memphis Grizzlies
- 2019/20 record: 34-39
- Over/under for 2020/21: 32.5 wins (33-39)
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Desmond Bane, Xavier Tillman
- Lost: Josh Jackson, Anthony Tolliver, Marko Guduric
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Grizzlies poll.
San Antonio Spurs
- 2019/20 record: 32-39
- Over/under for 2020/21: 30.5 wins (31-41)
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Devin Vassell, Tre Jones
- Lost: Bryn Forbes, Marco Belinelli, Tyler Zeller, Chimezie Metu
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Spurs poll.
Previous voting results:
- Boston Celtics (45.5 wins): Over (66.3%)
- Brooklyn Nets (45.5 wins): Over (58.6%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (44.5 wins): Over (57.4%)
- Toronto Raptors (42.5 wins): Over (54.7%)
- New York Knicks (22.5 wins): Under (59.5%)
- Denver Nuggets (44.5 wins): Over (69.7%)
- Utah Jazz (42.5 wins): Over (59.9%)
- Portland Trail Blazers (41.5 wins): Over (70.1%)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (29.5 wins): Under (50.3%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (22.5 wins): Under (64.4%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (51.5 wins): Over (73.7%)
- Indiana Pacers (39.5 wins): Over (57.9%)
- Chicago Bulls (29.5 wins): Under (61.6%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (23.5 wins): Under (68.5%)
- Detroit Pistons (22.5 wins): Over (53.9%)
- Los Angeles Lakers (48.5 wins): Over (79.1%)
- Los Angeles Clippers (47.5 wins): Under (50.4%)
- Phoenix Suns (40.5 wins): Over (51.0%)
- Golden State Warriors (38.5 wins): Over (60.3%)
- Sacramento Kings (29.5 wins): Under (60.7%)
- Miami Heat (44.5 wins): Over (67.6%)
- Atlanta Hawks (36.5 wins): Over (58.0%)
- Washington Wizards (34.5 wins): Under (50.7%)
- Orlando Magic (31.5 wins): Under (73.5%)
- Charlotte Hornets (26.5 wins): Over (56.3%)
Spurs big man LaMarcus Aldridge is comfortable being a veteran presence with San Antonio, writes Tom Orbsorn of the San Antonio Express-News. A 15-year NBA veteran (and seven-time All Star), the 6’11” Aldridge will earn $24MM in his final year under contract.
“It’s fun,” Aldridge commented about his role among a young Spurs team. “They bring a lot of energy and a lot of spark. I’m just watching them learn and grow and take steps everyday in practice and games, and it’s been fun to watch. They’re just going to get better and better.”
Rookie guards Devin Vassell, drafted with the No. 11 pick out of Florida State, and Tre Jones, drafted with the No. 41 pick out of Duke, are the latest additions to the Spurs’ youth movement.
The Spurs have waived point guard London Perrantes, according to NBA.com’s transactions page. San Antonio’s roster is now at 14, along with a pair of two-way players.
Perrantes, who signed with the team Saturday, was believed to have an Exhibit 10 contract, which makes him eligible for a bonus of up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate. Perrantes finished last season with Capital City, which still owns his G League rights, so it appears the Austin Spurs would have to make a trade before he could join them.
Perrantes’ only NBA experience came during the 2017/18 season when he appeared in 14 games as a two-way player for the Cavaliers.