- Within a larger article on LeBron James‘ free agency, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer touches on the Kawhi Leonard situation in San Antonio. O’Connor says he has heard from multiple NBA executives that if the Spurs decide to make Leonard available, they wouldn’t trade him for anything less than a “grand-slam offer.”
Two days after the Kings announced details on the new Sacramento Summer League, the Jazz have followed suit, issuing a press release with information on the 2018 Utah Summer League.
In past years, Utah and Orlando have hosted small Summer Leagues that precede the main event in Las Vegas. The Orlando Summer League is no more, and all 30 NBA teams will participate in the Vegas Summer League for the first time ever in 2018. However, Utah’s smaller event – along with the new California Classic Summer League in Sacramento – will still take place.
The Jazz and Spurs will return for this year’s Utah Summer League at the Vivint Smart Home Arena, with the Hawks and Grizzlies joining the mix as newcomers. Like the Sacramento Summer League, Utah’s event will take place from July 2-5, with no games scheduled for Independence Day.
[RELATED: Kings Announce Sacramento Summer League Schedule]
The Jazz will face the Spurs on July 2, the Grizzlies on July 3, and the Hawks on July 5, with the remaining two teams facing each other on each of those three days.
Summer League rosters typically feature newly-drafted players, so some top prospects figure to be on display during that first week of July in Utah — the Hawks have the No. 3 overall selection in this year’s draft, while the Grizzlies pick fourth overall.
Mike Budenholzer isn’t the only head coaching candidate who will get a second meeting with the Bucks today. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), Spurs assistant Ettore Messina will also meet with the Bucks today in New York. Both interviews will include team ownership, Wojnarowski notes.
[RELATED: 2018 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
Messina, a longtime coach overseas, was hired by the Spurs in 2014 following his second stint as CSKA Moscow’s head coach. While San Antonio has no shortage of well-regarded assistants, it was Messina who took over as the club’s head coach in the playoffs last month, following the death of Gregg Popovich‘s wife Erin.
Messina also received consideration from the Hornets this spring for their head coaching job, but Charlotte ultimately opted for another Spurs assistant, James Borrego. The Bucks, who also met with Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, had planned to interview Borrego during their first round of meetings before the Hornets hired him.
Besides Messina, Hammon, and Budenholzer, Milwaukee’s first round of interviewees included Joe Prunty, Steve Clifford, Monty Williams, David Blatt, and Jay Larranaga. So far, Budenholzer and Messina are the only known finalists who will meet with team ownership.
It may be the end of an era in San Antonio, with Tony Parker headed for free agency and Manu Ginobili uncertain about playing another season. More troubling for the Spurs was Kawhi Leonard‘s 2017/18 season, which saw him appear in just nine games due to a lingering quad injury and has resulted in some apparent tension between the franchise and the superstar’s camp. While Parker’s and Ginobili’s futures in San Antonio are up in the air, resolving the Leonard situation will be the Spurs’ top priority this summer.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Spurs financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2018:
Guaranteed Salary
- LaMarcus Aldridge ($22,347,015)
- Kawhi Leonard ($20,099,189)
- Pau Gasol ($16,800,000)
- Patty Mills ($11,571,429)
- Manu Ginobili ($2,500,000)
- Tim Duncan ($1,881,250) — Waived via stretch provision
- Derrick White ($1,667,160)
- Dejounte Murray ($1,544,951)
- Total: $78,410,994
Player Options
- Danny Green ($10,000,000): Bird rights
- Rudy Gay ($8,826,300): Non-Bird rights
- Joffrey Lauvergne ($1,656,092): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $20,482,392
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Brandon Paul ($1,378,242)1
- Total: $1,378,242
Restricted Free Agents
- Kyle Anderson ($4,749,591 qualifying offer / $6,455,112 cap hold): Bird rights
- Davis Bertans ($1,699,698 qualifying offer / $1,699,698 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Bryn Forbes ($1,699,698 qualifying offer / $1,699,698 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Total: $9,854,508
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Tony Parker ($23,179,689): Bird rights
- No. 18 overall pick ($2,337,014)
- Nikola Milutinov ($1,689,080)2
- Total: $27,205,783
Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000
Projected Cap Room: $11,302,947
- With so many player options and free agents to consider, the Spurs’ projected cap room could change significantly – or disappear altogether – depending on who returns and who leaves. For our projection, we’ve counted the Spurs’ seven guaranteed contracts, the cap holds for Anderson and the team’s first-round pick, and cap charges for three empty roster spots. The result is a total team salary of $89,697,053.
- That projection assumes that Green, Gay, and Lauvergne will all opt out, Paul will be waived, and all non-Anderson free agents – including Parker – will be renounced. That may not be realistic. If a couple of those players are back, the Spurs’ cap room figures to dissipate quickly.
Footnotes:
- Paul’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after August 1.
- Milutinov was the Spurs’ 26th overall pick in 2015, meaning his cap hold is equal to the rookie scale amount for this year’s No. 26 pick. That cap hold will be removed when it’s officially determined that Milutinov won’t sign with the Spurs for 2018/19.
Note: Rookie scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon will become the first woman to interview for an NBA head coaching job next week when she meets with the Bucks. While the former WNBA star only has four years as an assistant coach to her credit, many feel she has gained traction to be a serious head coaching candidate, Ansar Khan of MLive.com writes.
The 41-year-old Hammon has garnered support across the league. This week, European legend Pau Gasol, who has played with the Spurs under Hammon the past several seasons, penned a letter for The Players’ Tribune in support of Hammon. It remains to be seen if Hammon lands a job this summer but the progress she has already made only increases the likelihood in the future.
Luxury tax concerns won’t scare the Sixers away from chasing elite talent this summer, relays Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
LeBron James tops the list of targets and is rumored to be considering Philadelphia as a possible destination. GM Brian Colangelo estimates the team will have about $25MM in cap room, but more could be opened to meet James’ demand for a maximum deal starting around $35MM a year.
“I think the bar is very high for us in terms of who we are going to put on this team,” said Sixers co-managing partner Josh Harris. “But on the other hand, for a certain small number of players, like we are going to go after them hard. People have asked me about the luxury tax. I don’t have any problem spending for good players.”
Pompey shares a few other notes about the Sixers’ offseason:
- The franchise is planning to pursue Oklahoma City’s Paul George as well as James. George has expressed a desire to play in Los Angeles, but could be swayed by the young talent in place in Philadelphia. His defense and outside shooting would make him an attractive fit alongside Ben Simmons.
- The Sixers will make a play for Spurs star Kawhi Leonard if he becomes available in trade. Leonard has a good relationship with coach Brett Brown, but Pompey cites the risk of trading for him without a guarantee that he will sign an extension. Leonard can opt out of a $20.1MM salary next summer.
- Creating room for a max contract means renouncing the rights to free agents J.J. Redick, Amir Johnson, Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. The Sixers could try to bring them back with the mid-level exception and minimum contracts, but they may all get better offers elsewhere. Redick signed a one-year, $23MM deal to come to Philadelphia last summer and is probably seeking a longer arrangement at age 33. Pompey expects him to get an offer in the $12MM to $15MM range. Johnson, 31, will also be searching for a long-term contract.
Tony Parker, who will hit unrestricted free agency in July, has a goal of playing 20 seasons in the league and he’ll look to check that accomplishment off his list regardless of whether or not he spends the rest of his career with the Spurs.
“It is not yet sure that I’ll stay with the Spurs,” Parker said (via Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com). “I am open to all proposals. I would like to make my entire career in San Antonio. The sport remains a business, and we will have to make choices. “
Parker previously indicated that he’s alright with coming off the bench for the Spurs should he return to the team. He was the starter for nearly all of his 17-year tenure in San Antonio before Dejounte Murray took over the gig to begin the 2018 calendar year.
The veteran only suited up for 55 games this past season, posting career-worst marks in points (7.7) and assists (3.5) per game. Part of the decline can be attributed to age and part of it may be health. Parker tore his quadriceps tendon during the 2016/17 and Wright notes that it typically takes two years to recover from that kind of ailment.
“I’m almost back to 100 percent,” Parker said. “There are ups and downs, times when we’re not feeling well. It takes time, and this summer it’s going to be important to do some rehabilitation. We’re always better the second season.”
The veteran point guard made $15.4MM this past season, though it’s unlikely to come anywhere close to that annual figure on his next deal. Spurs GM R.C. Buford told Wright that the team will make a decision on Parker when it comes time too.
“I have been 17 years with the Spurs. I would always be nostalgic, but it’s not the end of the world if I change my club,” Parker said. “I say two or three years more [I can play if] I can go somewhere else, I’m 50-50. I do not see myself outside of basketball yet. I want to stay three more years to do the 20 seasons.”
Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki are the only players in NBA history to play at least 20 seasons with one franchise.
Despite a tumultuous regular season, highlighted by a persistent quadriceps injury, the Spurs are brushing off trade interest in Kawhi Leonard and hope to repair the relationship between both sides, Ken Berger of Bleacher Report writes in an in-depth feature.
Leonard appeared in just nine games this season as he dealt with a right quadriceps injury. He was absent from the team during the first round of the postseason, where the Spurs lost to the Warriors in five games. With Leonard set to hit unrestricted free agency after next season, it seems plausible for San Antonio to consider shopping its superstar — after a troublesome season — to get something of value in return.
Berger quotes several executives who believe Leonard wants out of San Antonio and that the Spurs would be smart to deal him now. The team also does not like the idea of its best player seeking outside medical help, which he did for most of the season in an effort to return. However, Berger also points to the last offseason when LaMarcus Aldridge, after a disappointing season, wanted out of San Antonio. Berger reported that Aldridge even reached out to former teammate Damian Lillard about possibly returning to Portland.
Head coach Gregg Popovich took control and mended the situation; Aldridge ended up signing an extension and enjoyed his best season with the Spurs.
“You can never say done because everybody thought that the Aldridge thing was over and that there was no chance to salvage that,” a person with knowledge of the situation said. “Pop went in and smoothed it over. You can’t underestimate the power of the Pop in these situations.”
Leonard, 26, remains an elite player with a third-place Most Valuable Player finish and two Defensive Player of the Year awards on his resume. It’s possible the Spurs change direction but for now, the team wants to repair the rift.
5:10pm: The Hornets made the signing official with a press release.
4:41pm: Borrego’s deal with the Hornets will be for four years, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
3:27pm: The Hornets have officially finalized contract terms with James Borrego and hired him as their new head coach, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. While the team has yet to issue an announcement of its own, that should happen soon. 
Borrego began his NBA coaching career with the Spurs, spending seven seasons with the team from 2003 to 2010 before joining the Pelicans (then-Hornets) for two years and the Magic for three. He returned to San Antonio in 2015. Primarily an assistant over the course of his career, Borrego earned his lone head coaching experience in 2015 in Orlando, leading the Magic to a 10-20 record as Jacque Vaughn‘s interim replacement.
Despite his limited experience leading a team, Borrego’s years working under Gregg Popovich made him a popular coaching candidate this offseason. Borrego interviewed with the Knicks and Suns before they decided to hire David Fizdale and Igor Kokoskov, respectively. He also received reported interest from the Hawks, and had been scheduled to interview with the Bucks up until he reached a deal with Hornets.
Borrego will take over for Steve Clifford in Charlotte. Clifford, who was fired shortly after the 2017/18 regular season ended, had been the NBA’s seventh-longest-tenured head coach. He led the Hornets to a 196-214 record (.478) and a pair of playoff berths during his five years on the sidelines.
With a new head coach in place in Charlotte, there are now four teams conducting active coaching searches: the Hawks, Pistons, Bucks, and Magic.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Spurs worked out Seton Hall big man Angel Delgado on Wednesday, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. San Antonio also worked out Missouri’s Jontay Porter today, according to Aaron Reiss of The Kansas City Star (Twitter link).