After two years of trying to earn an NBA job, Royce O’Neale broke through in a big way with the Jazz last season, writes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. After unexpectedly making the roster in training camp, O’Neale played in 69 games and was part of the rotation right through the playoffs. As he prepares for his second NBA season, O’Neale hasn’t changed his mindset of fighting to prove he belongs on the team.
NBA teams have now completed the brunt of their offseason work, with the draft and free agency practically distant memories. Still, with training camps more than a month away, most clubs around the league have at least one or two outstanding issues they’ve yet to address.
We’re in the midst of looking at all 30 NBA teams, separating them by division and checking in on the key outstanding question that each club still needs to answer before the 2018/19 regular season begins.
After focusing on the Atlantic, Central, and Southeast last week, we’ve moved to the Western Conference this week, starting with the Southwest and Pacific. Today, we’re finishing things off by focusing on the Northwest…
Denver Nuggets
Will the Nuggets sign Trey Lyles to a rookie scale extension?
The trade that sent Lyles to Denver won’t exactly go down as one of the great moves in Nuggets history, considering it cost the team the lottery pick that became Donovan Mitchell in last year’s draft. Still, don’t hold that against Lyles, who enjoyed a breakout year in 2017/18, establishing new career bests in PPG (9.9), RPG (4.8), FG% (.491), and 3PT% (.381) as one of the first players off Denver’s bench.
Lyles is eligible for a rookie scale extension up until October 15 this year, and while role players generally aren’t strong candidates for early deals of that nature, it’s a possibility worth considering for the Nuggets. Lyles is still just 22 years old, and if the club views him as one of its long-term building blocks, it could make sense to lock him up now before his role and his numbers increase further.
Unless they plan to exercise Paul Millsap‘s $30MM team option next summer, the Nuggets should have cap flexibility going forward, meaning a Lyles extension wouldn’t hamstring them. With Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris, and Will Barton already secured to long-term deals, the Nuggets will have to decide whether they want Lyles to join that group now, or if they’ll take their chances with him in restricted free agency in 2019.
Minnesota Timberwolves
When will the Timberwolves sign Karl-Anthony Towns to a rookie scale extension, and what will it look like?
In the case of the Timberwolves and Towns, the questions isn’t whether or not an extension is coming — it’s a matter of when it will happen, and what it will look like.
Fourth-year players who get offered maximum-salary rookie scale extensions don’t turn them down, and it sounds like an offer of that caliber is on the table for Towns. There’s no rush to finalize it. Last year, Andrew Wiggins didn’t sign his max deal with the Timberwolves until October 11, just days before the regular season got underway.
There may be a little more room for back-and-forth negotiations with Towns than there was with Wiggins, however. While Wiggins signed a standard 25% maximum-salary extension, Towns would be eligible for a starting salary worth up to 30% of the cap if he earns All-NBA honors again next season. His camp and the Wolves may have to spend some time figuring out whether he’ll receive that full 30% if he qualifies, or if there’s a compromise to be reached between 25-30%.
As our early maximum salary projections for 2019/20 show, the total difference between a five-year, 25% max contract and a five-year, 30% max contract figures to exceed $30MM, so the starting point of Towns’ next deal is an important detail for the two sides to work out.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Will the Thunder release Kyle Singler or attempt to trim additional salary?
The Thunder were able to reduce their team salary and their projected luxury tax bill significantly in the three-way trade that (briefly) sent Carmelo Anthony to Atlanta. Still, Oklahoma City’s total team salary remains just shy of $150MM, creating a potential tax bill of $93MM+. In total, the roster projects to cost nearly $243MM.
Team ownership probably wouldn’t mind cutting costs a little more, and Singler is the most logical release candidate. His $4,996,000 expiring salary can be stretched across three seasons if he’s waived by next Friday. In that scenario, assuming the Thunder leave their 15th roster spot open, stretching Singler would reduce the overall cost of the 2018/19 squad by $20MM, taking into account the reduction in team salary and tax.
Although waiving Singler is the most obvious path to trimming salary, it’s possible the Thunder have another move or two up their sleeves. It’s also possible that they’re satisfied with the cost-cutting moves they’ve already made, and are committed to the current roster. Time will tell.
Portland Trail Blazers
Who will the Trail Blazers sign to their two-way contract slots? Will it matter?
Many teams around the NBA used their new two-way contract slots to great effect last season, relying on those two-way players for significant roles and eventually promoting them to a spot on the 15-man roster. That wasn’t really the case in Portland.
C.J. Wilcox and Wade Baldwin signed two-way deals with the Trail Blazers before the season and barely saw any action all season for the NBA club. Wilcox didn’t play a single minute for the Blazers, while Baldwin appeared in just seven games. All but one of Baldwin’s seven appearances came late in the season after he had been signed to a standard NBA contract.
The Blazers are one of just three NBA teams without a G League affiliate of their own, which is one obstacle in the way of maximizing their two-way contracts. If they need an extra body on a given night, it’s not easy to simply transfer a two-way player from their nearby NBAGL squad to the NBA roster. Last year, for example, Baldwin spent most of his time in the G League with the Texas Legends, whose arena is over 2,000 miles away from the Moda Center in Portland.
Despite the impracticality of shuttling their two-way players back and forth between the NBA and the G League, the Blazers still figure to fill those slots at some point. When they do, it will be interesting to see if they once again favor players with some NBA experience, like Wilcox and Baldwin, rather than developmental prospects that they won’t actually have the opportunity to develop due to their lack of NBAGL affiliate.
Utah Jazz
Do the Jazz need to do… anything before the regular season begins?
It’s fitting that the last of the 30 teams we’ve examined in this series is the one that seemingly has no burning questions to answer before the regular season begins.
The Jazz have their 15-man roster for the regular season virtually set, with Royce O’Neale joining 14 players on guaranteed contracts. They’ve filled their two-way contract slots. They don’t have any extension candidates. They’re not in any trouble from a cap perspective. Their coaching staff and front office is stable. Even their forthcoming rookie scale option decisions for 2019/20 look like simple ones. The Jazz do have one spot on their 20-man offseason roster they could fill, but that’s not exactly a pressing issue.
While there may be some rotation battles to watch during training camp, Utah’s primary focus this fall will be staying healthy — after all, it was Rudy Gobert‘s injury issues that played a significant part in the team’s slow start (19-28) last season. Having finished the regular season on a 29-6 run and won a playoff series, the Jazz will be looking to carry that momentum into the 2018/19 season as they push for a top-three seed in a tough Western Conference.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Jazz have signed center Isaac Haas, according to the team’s website. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, though it will likely be a minimum salary arrangement.
Haas played for the Jazz in Summer League this past July. During his four Las Vegas games, he had a total of 15 points, 19 rebounds, and three blocks.
The rookie spent four years at Purdue where he earned All-Big Ten Third team honors during his senior season. In 139 collegiate games, Haas scored a total of 1,555 points and grabbed 643 rebounds.
After signing Haas, the Jazz have 19 players under contract, leaving one opening on their 20-man offseason roster.
- The Jazz franchise has become a haven for foreign-born players and coaches, Brad Rock of the Deseret News notes. The current roster includes Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Ricky Rubio, Raul Neto, Naz Mitrou-Long and Thabo Sefolosha and the team also recently hired the league’s first Greek assistant coach.
There may not be an NBA division more top-heavy than the Atlantic, where the Celtics, Raptors, and Sixers are all projected to win more than 50 games in 2018/19. However, the Atlantic also features the Nets and Knicks, who are widely expected to finish in the lottery.
In terms of top-to-bottom talent, the Northwest has a stronger case to be considered the NBA’s best division. Last season, four Northwest teams made the playoffs and a fifth missed the postseason by a single game. The five clubs finished the regular season separated by just three games, racking up between 46 and 49 wins apiece.
None of those Northwest clubs took a huge step backward this offseason, but there were no massive upgrades either, with many of the most significant roster moves in the division involving re-signing key free agents. As such, oddsmakers once again view the Northwest as a five-team race, with each of those five teams projected to finish above .500.
According to betting site Bodog.eu, the Thunder are consider the very slight favorites to win the Northwest, with an over/under of 49.5 wins for the season. However, the Jazz (49 wins) and Nuggets (47.5) are right behind them, with the Timberwolves (44.5), and Trail Blazers (42.5) within striking distance.
After we asked you on Monday to assess the top of the Atlantic standings for 2018/19, we’re shifting our focus today to the Northwest.
Will the Blazers repeat as division champions? Will the Thunder or Jazz take a step forward and win the Northwest? Or will the Nuggets or Timberwolves go from vying for the No. 8 seed in the West to battling for the division crown?
Vote below in our poll for the 2018/19 Northwest division winner, then head to the comment section to make your case for your pick.
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
However, Marc Stein of The New York Times is already reporting matchups for three of the Christmas Day games. The Celtics will play the Sixers, the Knicks will host the Bucks, and the new-look Lakers will travel to Oakland to take on the Warriors. Chris Haynes of ESPN is also reporting that the Jazz will host the Trail Blazers.
The NBA will be returning to Mexico City once again during the 2018/19 regular season, with the Magic set to play the Bulls and Jazz at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico on December 13 and December 15, respectively. Orlando announced the news today in a press release.
It will be the third consecutive season that the NBA has played two regular season games in Mexico City. In 2016/17, the Suns played a pair of games in Mexico, while the Nets did so during the 2017/18 season. In those cases though, Phoenix and Brooklyn gave up one home game apiece — both Mexico City games in 2018/19 will count as Magic home games, as John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com notes.
“Any time we have the opportunity to travel and represent the league internationally it is very attractive,” Magic CEO Alex Martins told Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. “It helps us to expand our brand in certain cities around the world. It certainly helps in relation to the promotion of our ownership’s interests in Amway, and that’s certainly the case with Mexico City as Mexico is a growing market for the Amway Corporation. So it’s a great brand-building opportunity for the Orlando Magic but also for the Amway Corporation.”
According to Robbins, Magic officials aren’t concerned about the Mexico City games general travel or rest issues for the team, since they believe the league has created a schedule that will allow for extra rest around that time. Martins also tells Robbins that the club won’t lose any revenue as a result of giving up two home games, and may even come out ahead.
The NBA projects to continue playing two games per year in Mexico City through at least the 2020/21 season, according to Orlando’s press release. This year’s games will mark the 27th and 28th games played in Mexico since 1992, and that figure will increase to 32 by ’20/21.
Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey doesn’t seem inclined to break up his smallish backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports notes. Olshey recently said he plans to keep his core group together, despite the team’s first-round flameout in the Western Conference playoffs last season. It might be wise to deal one of them for an impact forward but either Olshey has great faith in his guards or he’s tested the market and couldn’t find a worthwhile deal, Feldman adds.
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Hamidou Diallo feels a sense of relief after signing a contract with the Thunder but isn’t sure what kind of role he can carve out, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman reports. The second-round rookie shooting guard was acquired in a draft-night deal. “We haven’t even spoken about a role yet,” Diallo told Dawson. “We’re still playing pickup ball and stuff like that, still training. Guys are just coming in, veteran players, and trying to teach us as much as possible as early as possible.” Diallo, who received a three-year, $4MM contract, will compete with newcomers Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Abdel Nader for backup minutes.
- The Jazz brought back big man Ekpe Udoh because of his defense and positive attitude, according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. Udoh was signed by Utah last season because of his reputation as a strong defender and he lived up to that billing, posting an average of 1.2 blocks per game. He also showed a superior ability to guard on the perimeter during switches and pick-and-rolls, Jones continues. Udoh, who will serve as the team’s third center, never complained last season when his role diminished, Jones adds. Udoh had his $3.36MM salary guaranteed last month.
- Nuggets guard Isaiah Thomas had to settle for a one-year, $2MM contract in free agency but he’s determined to be a major bargain for his new team, as he told Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports. “This has been tough, but it was only a tough year because I wasn’t healthy. My job is to get as healthy as I possibly can and then show the world what I’m capable of doing,” he said.
When NBA teams sign undrafted free agents or second-round picks to contracts, those clubs need to have cap space or a mid-level exception available to lock up those players for longer than two years or to pay them more than the minimum salary.
While most teams make sure to earmark some cap room or a portion of their mid-level exception to use on those players – particularly second-rounders – that’s not always the case. The Grizzlies, for instance, used their entire mid-level exception on Kyle Anderson‘s offer sheet, meaning they could only sign 32nd overall pick Jevon Carter to a two-year, minimum-salary deal.
This offseason though, a new tool has come in handy in allowing teams to sign players to longer-term or more lucrative contracts than the minimum salary exception would allow, without having to use cap room or the mid-level exception to do it. The catch? Those players had to have finished the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the club.
When a player is on a two-way contract, a new kind of deal introduced in the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, he’s not technically on a club’s 15-man roster, but he accrues Bird rights just as a player on the roster would. That means that any player who finished last season on a two-way deal had Non-Bird rights this summer.
Non-Bird rights don’t allow teams to give players major raises — Non-Bird deals can only start at up to 120% of the player’s previous salary or 120% of his minimum salary, whichever is greater. However, they do allow for contracts of up to four years, which has paid off for some teams and players this summer.
Consider the case of Georges Niang, who was on a two-way contract with the Jazz last season. Buoyed by an impressive Summer League showing with Utah last month, Niang earned a three-year contract with the club. Typically, to go up to three years, the over-the-cap Jazz would have had to dip into their mid-level exception, but that wasn’t the case for Niang — his Non-Bird rights allowed for a three-year deal.
While Niang’s contract is only worth the minimum, Non-Bird rights do allow for slightly larger salaries, as noted above. For example, the Knicks re-signed former two-way player Luke Kornet to the maximum allowable salary using his Non-Bird rights. Instead of earning his minimum salary ($1,349,383), Kornet will make 120% of that amount ($1,619,260). Without his Non-Bird rights, New York would have had to use its mid-level or bi-annual exception to give Kornet that kind of raise.
Non-Bird rights haven’t paid off for every team with a two-way player who’s getting a promotion. For instance, the Nuggets moved Torrey Craig to their standard roster by giving him a new two-year, $4MM contract. Denver had to use part of its mid-level exception to complete that signing, since it exceeded the salary Craig could’ve earned with Non-Bird rights. The Nuggets did take advantage of the Non-Bird rules with their other two-way player though, giving Monte Morris a new three-year contract.
Two-way contracts remain in their relative infancy, so it’s interesting to see how teams are taking advantage of the rules surrounding them. Players like Niang, Kornet, and Morris are among the first group of two-way players to be promoted to standard contracts via Non-Bird rights, but they certainly won’t be the last.
Here’s the full list of two-way players whose teams have promoted them to standard contracts this offseason:
- Ryan Arcidiacono (Bulls)
- Jabari Bird (Celtics)
- Antonio Blakeney (Bulls)
- Torrey Craig (Nuggets)
- Derrick Jones (Heat)
- Luke Kornet (Knicks)
- Monte Morris (Nuggets)
- Georges Niang (Jazz)
Note: Jamel Artis, Danuel House, Daniel Hamilton, and Kadeem Allen have signed or agreed to standard NBA contracts with new teams after finishing last season on two-way deals.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
After he played well for them in the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues last month, the Jazz are reportedly interested in bringing Stanton Kidd to training camp. However, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Kidd remains under contract with Turkish team Darussafaka for another year and his deal doesn’t have an NBA out.
Carchia reports that the Jazz and Kidd’s camp are exploring ways to get him out of his deal overseas, but until that happens, Utah won’t be able to add the former Colorado State swingman to their offseason roster. If Kidd does come stateside, it’s not clear what sort of his contract he’d sign — Carchia suggests a two-way deal is a possibility, but Naz Mitrou-Long and Tyler Cavanaugh currently occupy the Jazz’s two-way contract slots.