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Community Shootaround: More Compelling Eastern Conference Semifinal

April 25th, 2019 at 7:23pm CST by clarkcrum

The Eastern Conference semifinals are set and NBA fans have a great weekend to look forward to, with the 76ers traveling north of the border to take on the Raptors this Saturday followed by the Celtics traveling to Milwaukee to face the top-seeded Bucks on Sunday afternoon.

The Bucks took two out of three from the Celts during the regular season, with the Bucks winning on their home floor and the teams splitting the two games played in Boston. Both teams are coming off impressive sweeps – of the Pacers (albeit without Victor Oladipo) and Pistons – and will now face off against a more even-matched opponent.

The Bucks lost to the Celtics in last year’s postseason, falling in Game 7 to a Celtics team led by Terry Rozier, Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum. Both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are now back in the fold, but the Bucks are also a much better team this season behind MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo and new head coach Mike Budenholzer.

On the other side of the bracket, the Sixers and Raptors will face each other in the postseason for the first time since 2001, when the Sixers and Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson pulled out the series win in Game 7 despite a stellar performance from an in-his-prime Vince Carter. The Sixers are looking to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since that season, while the Raptors are looking for the first conference championship in franchise history.

The two-seeded Raptors won the regular season series between the teams 3-1, with Toronto winning both games at Scotiabank Arena and the Sixers splitting their home games at Wells Fargo Center. Both teams have new faces this postseason, with the Raptors adding Kawhi Leonard this summer and the Sixers trading for starters Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris during the 2018/19 season.

So, based on the above and any other factors you may consider, which match-up do you think will be the most compelling? Will either or both series go the full seven games? Will there be a sweep? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Poll: Which Team Wins The Eastern Conference?

April 23rd, 2019 at 11:24pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Eastern Conference semifinal matchups are set and after enduring four underwhelming first-round battles, NBA fans will be blessed with two thrilling series.

The Bucks will take on the Celtics, having lost to Boston in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s second trip to the postseason last spring. This Milwaukee team features an improved supporting cast, a new coach, and an advanced version of The Greek Freak.

Boston’s squad also will have new faces, as Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward did not play in the franchise’s 4-3 series win over Milwaukee. The Celtics will likely be without Marcus Smart, though the Bucks aren’t fully healthy either with Malcolm Brogdon still sidelined.

The Sixers and Raptors will face-off on the other side of the Eastern Conference bracket and both sides feature varying degrees of unfamiliarity.

Kawhi Leonard (22 games) and Kyle Lowry (17) each missed significant time for Toronto in 2018/19. Including the Raptors’ five postseason games, the pair has suited up together in a total of 48 games. The Raptors made a shrewd addition in Marc Gasol, but they didn’t initially commit to inserting him in the starting lineup and it further complicated their continuity.

The Raptors have put out the Gasol-Leonard-Lowry-Danny Green–Pascal Siakam starting five on just 14 occasions this season (including the postseason), though the group played together in five other contests in which Gasol came off the bench.

The Sixers also have just 14 games with their starting five taking the court at tip-off — Philadelphia’s five has just 168 minutes of action together compared to Toronto’s which has 257.

Which team do you think will advance in each of the next two rounds and represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals?

Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

How Much Will Playoff Success Sway Kawhi Leonard?

April 20th, 2019 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times examines how much the Raptors‘ fortunes in the playoffs will matter to Kawhi Leonard this summer when he decides whether to stay in Toronto.

Free Agent Stock Watch 2019: Eastern Conference

April 19th, 2019 at 7:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Every week, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents next offseason. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. With the playoffs underway, we turn our attention to the Eastern Conference:

Michael Carter-Williams, Magic, 27, PG (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $60K deal in 2019
Carter-Williams was scrounging for work six weeks ago after getting traded from Houston to Chicago in early January and then immediately getting waived. The former Rookie of the Year had to settle for 10-day contracts with Orlando before he was signed for the remainder of the season. Not only did he help the Magic reach the playoffs, he’s been one of their main cogs off the bench against Toronto. He posted 10 points, five rebounds and two assists in Orlando’s Game One upset. Carter-Williams has played well enough to receive offers commensurate to other veteran backup point guards.

Glenn Robinson III, Pistons, 25, SF (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $8.35MM deal in 2018
With Blake Griffin sidelined by a knee in the first two games against Milwaukee, Robinson got one last chance to convince the Pistons that they should exercise their $4.3MM option on him for next season. Robinson has been utilized as an undersized power forward in the series but his perimeter shooting woes have continued. After shooting just 29% from deep and falling out of Dwane Casey‘s rotation during the regular season, Robinson has made just one of his eight 3-point attempts in the first two games. Robinson will assuredly return to the free agent market this summer.

Pat Connaughton, Bucks, 26, SG (Up) — Signed to a two-year, $3.36MM deal in 2018
Connaughton’s modest salary of $1.723MM for next season becomes guaranteed if he’s still on the roster July 1st. That already seemed like a good bet heading into the postseason; now it’s a no-brainer. He’s taken advantage of an expanded role with Malcolm Brogdon and Tony Snell sidelined by injuries. Connaughton has been a difference-maker against Detroit, averaging 14.0 PPG on 73.4% shooting and 8.5 RPG in 29.5 MPG. He also recorded four blocks on perimeter shooters in Game Two. He’ll be one of the league’s best bargains next season.

Jeremy Lin, Raptors, 30, PG (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $487K deal in 2019
Lin chose the Raptors after agreeing to a buyout with the Hawks in mid-February. The expectation was that he would bolster the playoff rotation behind Kyle Lowry. But Lin has had trouble finding his footing in Toronto and with Fred VanVleet healthy, he has been the odd man out in the postseason. He never left the bench in the Game One loss to Orlando and played four meaningless minutes in Game Two. Lin should still find work this summer but he’ll likely have to settle for something close to the veteran’s minimum.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA Teams That Can’t Trade/Acquire Cash Until July

April 17th, 2019 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

During each NBA league year, teams face limits on the amount of cash they can send out and receive in trades. Once they reach those limits, they’re no longer permitted to include cash in a deal until the following league year.

For the 2018/19 NBA season, the limit is $5,243,000. The limits on sending and receiving cash are separate and aren’t dependent on one another, so if a team has sent out $5,243,000 in trades and also received $5,243,000 in separate deals, they don’t have a clean slate — they’ve reached both limits for the season.

Thanks to reporting by cap experts like Bobby Marks, Eric Pincus, and Albert Nahmad, we’ve been able to keep tabs on the cash sent and received in trades by teams during the 2018/19 NBA league year, so we have a pretty clear idea of each club’s flexibility heading into the draft.

Being able to send or receive cash on draft day is particularly useful, since it can provide a simple means of acquiring – or moving – a second-round pick. A year ago, five of the trades agreed upon in June that featured 2018 draft picks included cash.

Of course, three of those five trades weren’t actually completed until July, which highlights a simple way to work around these restrictions. A team that can’t send or receive cash at this year’s draft could still technically agree to a deal involving cash, then officially finalize it sometime after July 1, when the cash limits reset for the 2019/20 league year.

Still, the 2018/19 restrictions are worth noting, since in some cases a player’s changing cap figure or contract status can make it impossible to wait until July to make a trade official.

With that in mind, here are some of the limitations facing teams until July 1:

Ineligible to receive cash:

Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Toronto Raptors

The Hornets reached their limit less than a week until the 2018/19 league year, having received $5MM from the Nets in their Dwight Howard trade and $243K from the Thunder in a deal involving Hamidou Diallo.

As for the Bulls, they reached their yearly limit in three separate transactions, acquiring approximately $2.63MM in a pair of swaps with the Rockets involving Michael Carter-Williams and Carmelo Anthony. Chicago then received another $2.61MM from the Thunder in a Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot salary dump.

Based on the reported figures for the Raptors ($5MM from the Spurs in the Kawhi Leonard blockbuster, plus $110K apiece from the Sixers and Nets in deadline deals), they could technically acquire another $23K. However, $110K is the minimum amount of cash a team can include in a trade this season, so Toronto can’t actually acquire any more.

Outside of these three teams, every NBA club is eligible to acquire at least $2MM before July. The Magic ($2,226,778), Sixers ($2,743,000), Mavericks ($3,148,049), and Hawks ($3,187,090) are most limited.

Ineligible to send cash:

None

No NBA teams have reached their limits for sending out cash this season, though some are close.

The Nets ($243,000) and Spurs ($243,000) can barely trade any cash after sending out $5MM in deals last July. The Thunder ($411,294) and Rockets ($565,513) are also nearly tapped out, having made a handful of moves aimed at reducing – or in Houston’s case, eliminating – their luxury tax bills.

The Wizards ($2,365,456), Grizzlies ($2,660,069), and Celtics ($2,737,090) are also somewhat limited in their ability to trade cash, but no other teams have less than $3MM available.

Injury Updates: Mirotic, Griffin, Anunoby, Oladipo

April 13th, 2019 at 9:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nikola Mirotic has only played 14 games since the Bucks traded for him in February, but the club expects him to be ready for its playoff opener against the Pistons tomorrow, relays Malika Andrews of ESPN. Mirotic, who has been sidelined for nearly a month with a broken left thumb, was able to participate in a full practice Friday and a non-contact workout today, both times with the thumb lightly taped.

“Not much soreness, as we expected,” he said. “I should be ready to go.”

Mirotic moved into the starting lineup three games before getting hurt, replacing injured guard Malcolm Brogdon. Sterling Brown has been starting in Mirotic’s absence.

“Niko has been traveling with us,” Eric Bledsoe said. “He has been around practice. We have been feeling his energy. Him just being around has been big for us. I think he’s doing pretty good.”

There are more injury updates to pass along:

The Pistons aren’t sure if Blake Griffin‘s sore left knee will allow him to be ready for Game 1, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Griffin offered no clues after today’s practice as the team prepared to fly to Milwaukee. “We’re taking this day by day,” he said. “I’m not looking forward to a day that’s not here right now in front of me. I’ll sit with our training staff and whoever else needs to be in on that decision and make that each day.” Griffin sat out four of Detroit’s final seven games as the team was battling for a playoff spot. He was limited to riding an exercise bike during today’s practice.
On top of their loss to the Magic today, the Raptors got some bad health news about OG Anunoby, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Originally projected to miss at least two weeks after an emergency appendectomy on Thursday, Anunoby may now be sidelined until the Eastern Conference Finals.
There’s no chance he’ll return for the playoffs, but the Pacers are encouraged by the progress Victor Oladipo has made since suffering a ruptured quad tendon in January, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic. Oladipo has been in Miami since the injury and is reportedly doing “really well.” He will see a doctor in a few days and hopes to be in Indiana for Games 3 and 4 of the Pacers’ playoff series.

OG Anunoby Expected To Miss At Least Two Weeks

April 12th, 2019 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors forward OG Anunoby underwent an emergency appendectomy on Thursday night after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis, the team announced in a press release.

The Raptors didn’t provide any sort of timetable for Anunoby’s recovery, simply indicating that there’s no timeline for his return and his condition “will be updated as appropriate.” However, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets that the young forward is expected to be sidelined for at least two weeks.

The Raptors’ first-round series against the Magic is scheduled to conclude on April 27, if seven games are necessary, so it’s safe to assume that Toronto won’t be counting on having Anunoby available at all vs. Orlando.

With Anunoby and Patrick McCaw sidelined, it will be interesting to see how the Raptors fill the back end of their playoff rotation. Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, and Marc Gasol are expected to start, with Fred VanVleet, Serge Ibaka, and Norman Powell contributing off the bench.

Unless the team plans to roll with an eight-man rotation, Jeremy Lin and/or Jodie Meeks could see regular minutes. Based on his initial recovery timeline, it’s possible McCaw will also be available at some point in round one.

Grizzlies’ C.J. Miles Opts In For 2019/20

April 12th, 2019 at 11:22am CST by Luke Adams

Grizzlies sharpshooter C.J. Miles has exercised the player option on his contract for the 2019/20 season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Miles had informed Peter Edmiston of The Athletic (Twitter link) on Thursday that he intended to opt in.

The decision locks in Miles’ $8,730,158 salary for next season, putting him on track to reach unrestricted free agency in 2020.

Miles’ decision doesn’t come as a surprise, since the 32-year-old struggled mightily in 2018/19, turning in his worst season in a decade. He’s also not healthy at the moment, having been ruled out for the season last month due to a stress reaction in his left foot.

The 14-year veteran, who started the season with the Raptors, was sent to the Grizzlies as part of the package for Marc Gasol in February. In total, Miles appeared in 53 games (16.2 MPG) for Memphis and Toronto, averaging just 6.4 PPG on .360/.330/.828 shooting. In his previous six seasons entering this year, he had averaged 11.2 PPG and shot 37.5% on three-pointers.

Depending on which direction the Grizzlies go this summer, it’s possible the club will look to move on from Miles via trade or buyout. If he returns to Memphis, the veteran swingman will look to compete for minutes on the wing.

With Miles’ $8.7MM+ salary locked in, the Grizzlies now have approximately $86.6MM in guaranteed money on their books for next season, per Basketball Insiders. Given that Jonas Valanciunas looks like a decent bet to pick up his $17.62MM player option as well, Memphis projects to be an over-the-cap team this offseason, barring cost-cutting moves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Five Teams Finish 2018/19 Season In Tax Territory

April 11th, 2019 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

With the exception of bonuses that could still be earned – or missed – in the postseason, 2018/19 NBA team salaries are now frozen for luxury-tax purposes, ESPN’s Bobby Marks observes. That means that five teams will finish the ’18/19 season as taxpayers.

Here are those five teams, along with approximations of their projected luxury tax bills, per Marks:

Oklahoma City Thunder: $61.6MM
Golden State Warriors: $51.5MM
Toronto Raptors: $21.4MM
Portland Trail Blazers: $15.1MM
Boston Celtics: $3.9MM

While the Warriors‘ payroll is actually slightly higher than Oklahoma City’s, the Thunder met the repeater tax criteria, since they also paid the tax in 2015, 2016, and 2018. As a result, they’re subject to more punitive penalties, as we outline in our glossary entry on the luxury tax. The standard penalties for taxpaying teams start at $1.50 per dollar and increase from there; the repeater penalties start at $2.50 per dollar.

Golden State will meet the repeater criteria next season if they’re in the tax again, since they’ll have paid the tax in 2016, 2018, and 2019. Teams qualify as repeat offenders when they’ve finished in the tax in three of the previous four seasons.

The figures listed above are subject to change. For instance, Kyle Lowry has three separate $500K bonuses that he could still receive, depending on how far the Raptors advance in the playoffs. If he earns any of those, they’d be added to Toronto’s payroll and would in turn increase the club’s tax bill.

Since half of the luxury tax penalty money is reallocated to the teams that finished out of the tax, those non-tax clubs are in line for payouts of approximately $3.1MM, per Marks.

The Heat, Wizards, and Rockets made in-season transactions to get out of tax territory and will now receive $3.1MM from the tax pool. Other clubs, such as the Grizzlies, Knicks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, and Bucks, managed to keep their team salaries just below the $123.73MM tax threshold throughout the league year.

Atlantic Notes: Leonard, Smart, Embiid

April 10th, 2019 at 7:25pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kawhi Leonard played in only 60 games this season due to a team maintaince plan designed to preserve his health. He’s happy with how the Raptors have managed him in what could be his only season in Toronto.

“We did a great job just attacking the [injury] problem in the beginning during training camp,” Leonard said, as Ryan Wolstat of Toronto Sun tweets.“Laying out the schedule. I feel good. I wasn’t as healthy as I wanted to be this year, but, I couldn’t say I would have this type of season in the beginning of the year the way things started, the way I felt.

“I’m happy. We’re second place. We’ve got an opportunity to get where we want to get to.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Marcus Smart has suffered a torn left oblique and could miss the first two rounds of the playoffs, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports. The Celtics host the Pacers in the Eastern Conference’s 4-5 matchup.
Sixers GM Elton Brand said he’s “optimistic” that Joel Embiid will be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs, as NBC Sports’ Serena Winters relays (Twitter link). Including Philadelphia’s finale vs. the Bulls, Embiid has missed five of the team’s last seven games as a result of knee soreness and the staff’s management plan and it’s possible that the big man could sit in the
Jonathan Gibson‘s deal with the Celtics is only for the remainder of the season, per Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Gibson signed with Boston on Tuesday and didn’t see action in the team’s final game of the year.