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Parker: Kawhi Leonard Could Return In 2-3 Weeks

November 27th, 2017 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran point guard Tony Parker is set to return to action on Monday night for the Spurs, but the team is still without its MVP, Kawhi Leonard, who continues to recover from quadriceps tendinopathy. As Michael C. Wright of ESPN relays, Parker worked out with Leonard during his own rehab process, and estimates that his teammate will return in two or three weeks.

“He looked great,” Parker said of Leonard. “I was like, ‘Oh, he’s good. I forgot that he was that good.’ Yeah, [he’s] close. It’s still going to be a process. Still, the Spurs aren’t going to take [any] risks. It’s still going to be, like I said, a couple of weeks, three weeks. They’re not going to take any risks. But he’s looking good so far.”

As Parker himself notes, the Spurs won’t take any chances with Leonard. Even without the star forward, San Antonio has a 12-7 record so far this season, good for third in the Western Conference. As such, Parker’s projected timeline for Leonard’s return may not line up with the Spurs’ own timeline. Still, it’s encouraging to hear from Parker that Leonard is close to looking like his old self, particularly since other recent updates from the team on the veteran forward haven’t been as encouraging.

Leonard, who finished third in MVP voting last season, finished the year with 25.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1.8 SPG. His season was cut short when he re-injured his ankle in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Warriors.

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Spurs "Perplexed" By Leonard's Slow Recovery

November 26th, 2017 at 4:15pm CST by Arthur Hill
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Tony Parker Plans To Return Monday

November 26th, 2017 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Spurs point guard Tony Parker, who hasn’t played since the Western Conference semifinals, plans to make his season debut Monday against the Mavericks, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.

Parker ruptured a left quadriceps tendon in last year’s playoffs and was projected to be out of action until January. He has been ahead of schedule with his rehab and recently made a couple of trips to the G League to help with the process.

The 35-year-old is in his 17th NBA season after coming to San Antonio as a second-round pick in 2001. He has remained a productive player late in his career, averaging 10.1 points and 4.5 assists in 63 games last season.

Patty Mills and Dejounte Murray have been sharing point guard duties for the Spurs while Parker was sidelined.

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25 Players Still On Non-Guaranteed 2017/18 Salaries

November 23rd, 2017 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

There are 25 players around the NBA playing on 2017/18 salaries that aren’t yet fully guaranteed. While having those salaries guaranteed will be a mere formality for some players, others may be at risk of losing their roster spot with decision day nearing. If teams keep non-guaranteed players under contract beyond January 7, their salaries will become guaranteed for the season on January 10, so clubs still have more than a month to decide whether to lock in these players’ full-season salaries.

Listed below is the team-by-team breakdown of the players who are still on non-guaranteed salaries or partially guaranteed salaries. Unless otherwise indicated, each of these players is set to earn the minimum. Partial guarantees are noted if they exceed a player’s prorated salary to date. Any teams not listed below are only carrying players with fully guaranteed salaries.

Atlanta HawksLuke Babbitt vertical

Brooklyn Nets

Charlotte Hornets

Chicago Bulls

Dallas Mavericks

Detroit Pistons

  • Eric Moreland: Partial guarantee of $1,000,000.
    • Full salary: $1,739,333

Houston Rockets

Indiana Pacers

Los Angeles Lakers

Milwaukee Bucks

Minnesota Timberwolves

New York Knicks

Oklahoma City Thunder

Orlando Magic

Philadelphia 76ersRichaun Holmes vertical

Phoenix Suns

San Antonio Spurs

Toronto Raptors

Utah Jazz

Washington Wizards

  • Sheldon Mac
    • Note: Mac is recovering from a torn Achilles and will continue to be paid his full-season salary until he’s cleared to return.

To keep tabs on these 25 players over the next several weeks, be sure to check back on our regularly-updated lists of salary guarantee dates and of non-guaranteed contracts.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images and USA Today Sports Images. Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

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Popovich Comments On Injuries To Leonard, Parker

November 22nd, 2017 at 9:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nerlens Noel will regret turning down the Mavericks‘ four-year, $72MM offer this summer, states Newy Scruggs in a chat for The Dallas Morning News. Scruggs contends Noel is not viewed as a hard worker by the organization, which has lowered his standing with coach Rick Carlisle. Noel has slipped into a reserve role, starting just six of the 17 games he has played this season.

Noel was hoping for a maximum offer, either from the Mavs or another team, when he entered restricted free agency in July. But nothing in that neighborhood materialized and Noel opted to accept Dallas’ $4,187,598 qualifying offer and try his luck as an unrestricted free agent next year. Scruggs said he expects Noel to be traded before the February deadline.

There’s more NBA news from the Lone Star State:

  • Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters he has never seen an injury like the one that is keeping Kawhi Leonard out of action, relays Michael C. Wright of ESPN. Leonard is dealing with quadriceps tendinopathy, which has prevented him from taking the court all season, even in practice, and there’s still no definitive timetable for his return. Popovich had better news about Tony Parker, who also has a quadriceps injury that dates back to last season’s Western Conference semifinals. Parker has said he hopes to return in November, and it sounds like that may be possible. “For real, sooner than later,” Popovich said tonight. “And I’m serious. I’m being honest.” 
  • Leonard’s injury has created an opportunity for fourth-year swingman Kyle Anderson, who is getting serious minutes for the first time in his career. Anderson has started all 18 games, and Popovich plans to keep him in the rotation even when Leonard returns, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “When Kawhi does come back, I’ve got some figuring out to do,” Popovich said. “[Anderson] should still be on the court, somehow or another.”
  • After signing a two-way deal with the Rockets last month, Briante Weber is eager to make the most of his latest shot at the NBA, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Weber, the leading scorer for Houston’s G League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, was called up to the Rockets today for the first time since joining the organization. He previously played for the Grizzlies, Heat, Warriors and Hornets, but never spent more than 13 games with any of those teams. “I’ve been prepared,” Weber said. “It’s just about the opportunity. That’s all it’s about, me taking advantage of the opportunity when I get in. I’ve always been prepared. It’s just basketball.”
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Florida Notes: Gay, Whiteside, Magic, Augustin

November 19th, 2017 at 10:27am CST by Arthur Hill

Rudy Gay might have been a better free agent target for the Heat than Kelly Olynyk, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. In response to a reader’s question, Winderman notes that Gay was rehabbing from his Achilles injury in Florida and expressed interest in coming to Miami before winding up in San Antonio. Gay got a little more than $17MM over two years, with about $8.8MM of that as a player option for next season. Olynyk received $46MM over four years from the Heat.

Gay would have given Miami a proven alternative at small forward when Rodney McGruder was lost to a left tibia stress fracture. The Heat couldn’t have known in July that McGruder would be unavailable, but Winderman says depth at that position would have been desirable if the plan all along was to move Justise Winslow to power forward. Gay is averaging 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds through 16 games with the Spurs, while Olynyk is putting up 9.2 points and 5.5 boards in 15 games.

There’s more this morning from the Sunshine State:

  • In the same piece, Winderman questions whether the Heat will be willing to make another max offer to Hassan Whiteside if he opts out of his current deal after next season. As small-ball continues to spread throughout the league, some teams are re-evaluating the worth of traditional centers. Whiteside will have an early-termination option on his salary of slightly more than $27MM for 2019/20.
  • After being one of the league’s early-season surprises, the Magic already face a crossroads to their season after Saturday’s 40-point loss to the Jazz, writes Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando came out of the gate at 6-2, but is back at .500 after dropping four straight games. Coach Frank Vogel hinted that changes might be on the way and called last night’s performance “unacceptable,” a sentiment shared by many of the players. “I think we lost what made us good at the beginning of the season: playing together, having fun out there, enjoying the game,” Nikola Vucevic said. “Over-dribbling, over-trying to get stuff instead of just playing simple basketball, like we did earlier in the year, it just affects us little by little. It just takes away from our energy. It’s like it’s taking little bites [out of us]. By the end of the game, there was no energy left.”
  • The Magic got some good news Saturday with the return of veteran guard D.J. Augustin. An important part of Orlando’s surprising early-season success, Augustin missed seven games with a hamstring injury. He was held scoreless in 17 minutes yesterday, but was averaging 8.3 points and 5.1 assists through his first eight games and shooting 39% from 3-point range.
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2018 Salary Cap Outlook: Southwest Division

November 17th, 2017 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA rosters will undergo some changes over the course of the 2017/18 season, particularly around the trade deadline, and those changes may have an impact on teams’ cap sheets for future seasons. Based on the NBA’s current rosters, however, we can identify which teams are most and least likely to have cap room in the summer of 2018, which will dictate the type of moves those clubs can make in the offseason.

We’re taking a closer look at each of the NBA’s 30 teams by division this week. Today, we’re finishing up our series with the Southwest division. With the help of salary information compiled by Basketball Insiders, here’s how the summer of 2018 is shaping up for the five Southwest teams:

Memphis GrizzliesMarc Gasol vertical
Guaranteed 2018/19 team salary: $101,105,736
Projection: Over the cap

Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons, and Marc Gasol will earn a combined $78MM+ in 2018/19, so unless the Grizzlies trade one of those players, the team is extremely unlikely to create any meaningful cap space. If Memphis struggles and misses the playoffs this season, I could see trade rumors surrounding Gasol begin to intensify, but for now, we’re assuming the Grizzlies will begin the 2018 offseason over the projected $101MM salary cap.

New Orleans Pelicans
Guaranteed 2018/19 team salary: $91,577,138
Projection: Over the cap

With nearly $92MM committed to just seven players, the Pelicans would need to account for cap charges for five empty roster spots. Once those cap charges are added to team salary, New Orleans is left with about $5MM in potential cap room, which is less than the value of the mid-level exception. So even if the Pelicans don’t end up keeping DeMarcus Cousins‘ cap hold on their books to try to re-sign him, they’ll likely function as an over-the-cap club.

San Antonio Spurs
Guaranteed 2018/19 team salary: $78,410,994
Projection: Up to approximately $18MM in cap room

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Spurs ultimately don’t have any cap room at their disposal for 2018. The team has three veterans holding player options, in Danny Green ($10MM), Rudy Gay ($8.8MM), and Joffrey Lauvergne ($1.7MM), as well as three potential restricted free agents (Kyle Anderson, Davis Bertans, and Bryn Forbes).

It’s entirely possible that all three of those players with options turn them down, and it’s also within reason that the Spurs will let their RFAs go. Still, I’d expect at least two or three of those six players to remain in San Antonio. And if guys like Green and Gay are among those returnees, either on their options or on new contracts, then the Spurs’ cap space will evaporate in a hurry.

Houston Rockets
Guaranteed 2018/19 team salary: $78,123,448
Projection: Up to approximately $18MM in cap room

Like the Spurs, the Rockets could create a modest amount of cap room by parting ways with all their potential free agents, but the more likely scenario will see them stay over the cap. Chris Paul, Clint Capela, and Trevor Ariza will be among the most coveted free agents in the NBA, and re-signing even one of the three would likely take Houston over the cap, or close to it. Re-signing two, or all three, could push Houston into luxury-tax territory.

Dallas Mavericks
Guaranteed 2018/19 team salary: $41,269,318
Projection: Up to approximately $35MM in cap room

Based on their current team salary projections for 2018/19, the Mavericks could theoretically create up to $53MM in cap space. However, that’s probably an unrealistic estimate, since it doesn’t include Wesley Matthews‘ $18.6MM player option.

The 31-year-old guard has failed to make more than 40% of his field goal attempts in any of his three seasons with the Mavs, and his .359 FG% so far this season is his worst mark yet. He’s also averaging just 11.2 PPG despite playing 34.6 minutes per contest. Simply put, Matthews isn’t going to find an $18MM salary on the open market if he turns down his option.

As such, our projection for the Mavs assumes that Matthews will exercise that option, which still leaves Dallas with about $35MM in cap room. That would be more than enough to bring back Seth Curry and Dirk Nowitzki – if he doesn’t retire – and still have space left over.

Previously:

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Popovich: Kawhi Will Return 'Sooner Than Later'

November 14th, 2017 at 9:23pm CST by marksuleymanov

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said injured superstar Kawhi Leonard is “gonna be back sooner rather than later” as he recovers from a right quadriceps injury, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes. Leonard has not played this season due to the injury but the Spurs have performed well — they currently sit in third place in the Western Conference with a 9-5 record.

San Antonio has relied heavily on role players while Leonard recovers. Popovich explained the Spurs’ need to operate as if Leonard does not exist because other teams will not feel sorry for their temporary loss. Thus far, at least, the team has made good on that goal.

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Tony Parker Could Be Back By The End Of November

November 11th, 2017 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • The Spurs will have Tony Parker back soon, according to a post by Michael C. Wright on ESPN Now. Coach Gregg Popovich said his point guard continues to make progress in rehab, and Parker has expressed hope that he will be cleared to play by the end of November. He was originally expected to be out of action until January after rupturing a left quadriceps tendon during the Western Conference semifinals.
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Cavaliers Have ‘Strong Interest’ In Greg Monroe

November 11th, 2017 at 4:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

With a shortage of big men, the Cavaliers have turned their attention toward Greg Monroe and are considering an offer to the Suns, according to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.

The veteran power forward/center was shipped from Milwaukee to Phoenix this week as part of the Eric Bledsoe trade. The Suns reportedly don’t have any long-term plans for Monroe and would consider a buyout if they can’t move him in another deal.

The 27-year-old is in the final year of his contract with a $17.8MM salary. In addition to providing an inside presence, Monroe is a “team-first player,” according to Amico, who would be willing to sacrifice his stats for the chance to rejoin a contender.

Monroe appeared in just five games with the Bucks before the deal and had his minutes cut sharply to 15.8 per night. However, he is a proven scorer and rebounder who averaged 11.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in 81 games last season, then raised those numbers to 13.2 and 7.3 in the playoffs.

The Cavaliers need inside help after losing starting center Tristan Thompson to a strained left calf in a November 1 game. He was projected to miss three to four weeks, which puts him out for most of the month.

It’s not clear what the Suns might ask in return for Monroe, but Iman Shumpert [$10,337,079] and Channing Frye [$7,420,912] provide an almost perfect salary match. Shumpert, who was on the trading block throughout the offseason, has a player option for next year worth slightly more than $11MM, while Frye, who spent three seasons with Phoenix early in his career, has an expiring deal.

Amico adds that the Spurs and Nuggets have also expressed interest in Monroe.

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