Antoine Walker was (half) right
October 2nd, 2014
Throughout his playing career, Antoine Walker was always something of an object of ridicule. Rightly or wrongly, this happened.
The fearsome, unrelenting uniqueness of watching him play was precisely why. For all his talent, particularly his prodigious handling and passing skills for a big man, Walker became best known for shooting three pointers.
More specifically, he became best known for not shooting three pointers very well, yet doing it anyway.
Toine was not a Josh Smith-like shooter out there. …
How Agents Make Money Out Of Rookie Contracts
September 26th, 2014
(originally posted elsewhere)
The general rule for agents is that their earnings off of negotiated player contracts are capped at 4% of the player’s salary. Indeed, 4% is an assumed amount unless otherwise agreed upon, as outlined in section 3(B) of the Standard Player Agent Contract:
If the Player receives compensation in excess of the minimum compensation applicable under the CBA for one or more playing seasons, the Agent shall receive a fee of four percent (4%) of the compensation
…
San Antonio Spurs Sign Josh Davis
August 26th, 2014
The San Antonio Spurs have signed Josh Davis, last of San Diego State, to a multi-year contract. The amount of guaranteed money is not yet known.
Davis graduated from San Diego State last season after transferring in from Tulane, where he had spent the previous two seasons after spending his freshman campaign at North Carolina State. The 6’8 athletic forward saw his offensive game regress significantly last season, down to 7.7 points per game from 17.6, shooting only 45.5% from …
Boston Celtics Sign Rodney McGruder And Christian Watford
August 20th, 2014
The Boston Celtics today signed Rodney McGruder and Christian Watford to one year contracts. The levels of guarantee are not yet known, but are expected to be either nominal or nil.
Watford, a jump shooting combo forward, attended summer league this year with both the Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors, averaging 8.5 points in two games for Detroit. He has spent the one year of his professional career thus far in Israel. McGruder meanwhile did not appear in summer …
Sorry guys, Carmelo Anthony did not get $62 million in advance
August 16th, 2014
(originally posted elsewhere)
For the most part, NBA players are paid on the first and fifteenth of every month, with a standard of 24 paydays per calendar year. Players earning more than the minimum can agree to 12 payments over six months or 36 payments over eighteen months, yet the norm is the norm.
There is room for some further deviation from these standards. Players can receive both advances on their salary, and receive loans from their teams.
There is …
Jusuf Nurkic revisited
August 7th, 2014
This post from yesterday talks about how Nuggets draftee Jusuf Nurkic was set to receive less than 120% of the rookie scale, the customary amount. And in doing so, it was mentioned that he would be the highest first-round pick to ever do so.
Not quite. It turns out this is a misreporting on my part. Nurkic will receive less than the salary of the 120% rookie scale amount, but he will count on the cap for the 120% amount. …
Without looking, guess which first-round draft pick didn’t get the full 120% of the rookie scale this year
August 4th, 2014
Answer after the jump.
(this is the jump)
The answer is Jusuf Nurkic of the Denver Nuggets. His contract calls for 108% of the scale in year one ($1,562,680), 107% in year two ($1,642,000), and then 120% in years three and four ($1,921,320 and $2,947,300 respecitvely). That adds him to an exclusive and small club of non-120%ers, including Raul Lopez, George Hill, Ian Mahinmi, James Anderson, Sergio Rodriguez, MarShon Brooks, and probably some others. It is believed that Nurkic, a …
30 Offseason Reviews In 30ish Days: Atlanta Hawks
August 4th, 2014
Completed transactions:
Draft night: Drafted Adreian Payne (15th, signed) and Walter Tavares (43rd, unsigned). Acquired the rights to Lamar Patterson (48th, unsigned) for a future second round pick.
30th June: Traded Lou Williams and the rights to Lucas Nogueira to Toronto in exchange for John Salmons.
10th July: Waived John Salmons.
15th July: Acquired Thabo Sefolosha via sign and trade (three years, $12 million) along with cash and the draft rights to Giorgis Printezis in exchange for the draft rights
…
Josh Huestis’s D-League adventure, a misplaced exercise in loyalty
July 23rd, 2014
(originally published elsewhere)
A few days ago, Darnell Mayberry broke the story that Oklahoma City Thunder draft pick Josh Huestis might spend next year in the D-League, collecting a mere $25,000 or so salary, rather than sign in the NBA. This would be groundbreaking, not as the first first rounder to not sign immediately in the NBA (this happens quite often), but as the first to do so who instead signs in the D-League.
It also makes absolutely no …
The Following Players Are Untradeable
July 21st, 2014
‘Traditional’ no-trade clauses in the NBA are possible, but rare, with only six of them currently in existence. They belong to Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, the latter three all getting one in the contracts they signed this summer. These vetos apply to any trades throughout the life of the contract, and are not lost if one trade goes through – Garnett, for example, keeps his no-trade clause for any future trades
…
What Is A Cap Hold And Why Does It Matter?
July 20th, 2014
The calculation of a team’s cap space would, you would hope, be as easy as looking at their owed contracts to both current and waive players, and subtracting it from the salary cap amount for that year.
Nope, not close.
There are a few extra things that go into the determination of a team’s “team salary” amount, and by association that team salary amount’s proximity to the salary cap thresholds. And of these extra things, the most important, obvious and …
The amount of cap room teams have remaining
July 17th, 2014
The bulk of free agency is behind us, maybe, but we’re far from done. There follows a look at how much cap space NBA teams still have outstanding, which, with the exception of the occasions I blatantly do the opposite, will be presented without analysis as to how the situation came about.
All the teams that have cap space, or have had cap space this offseason, are included in the list. That is a total of fifteen teams and half …
“Consideration In Trades And Trade Structure” – a league instruction manual
July 11th, 2014
At the end of the July Moratorium each year, the league sends out a memo containing all of the findings from the audit it conducted during it. That audit is what the moratorium period is for – the moratorium is one long end-of-season book-keep in which it crunches all the numbers related to revenue, BRI, escrow, tax and the like, and makes determinations on both the past and the future. That memo generally filters through to the mainstream media – …
Complete History Of NBA Luxury Tax Payments, 2001-2014
July 10th, 2014
This website and its sole proprietor keep a spreadsheet containing to-the-dollar information on all luxury tax paid to date, updated annually. Here is the latest update.
In the 13 seasons since the luxury tax was created, it has been applicable in eleven seasons; in those eleven seasons, 24 NBA franchises have paid over $1 billion in payroll excess. The exact details can be found here.
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(Sorted alphabetically – click to enhance.) |
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(Sorted by expenditure – click to enhance.) |
(Orange cells …
2014 Summer League rosters – Miami
July 7th, 2014
Ivan Aska – Murray State graduate Aska has played two professional seasons, splitting last one between Greece and Puerto Rico. He averaged 15.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 fouls in 29.9 minutes per game for Ikaros, then averaged 6.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 fouls in 13.8 minutes per game for Santurce. The 6’7 power forward never really developed at Murray State, saved for an improved free throw stroke he has subsequently lost again, but he brings plenty of athleticism …
How Chicago Can Get Carmelo
July 7th, 2014
(originally published elsewhere)
Pretend for a minute that Carmelo Anthony chooses the Bulls. It’s possible until it isn’t.
Pretend for a minute that he wants more than they can pay him in free agency. Considering that their best free agency offers would top out at a starting salary of $15 million barring a significant weakening of the roster elsewhere, and that other teams are offering an unconditional max, and this seems a reasonable belief. To join Chicago for an amount …
2014 Summer League rosters – Detroit
July 6th, 2014
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – It was a bit of a nothing season for KCP, who was given plenty of opportunity to succeed (80 games, 41 starts, 19.8 mpg) and simply didn’t. He averaged only 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game, shooting 39.6% from the field and 31.9% from three, looking very awkward on the offensive end of the court. Caldwell-Pope faired better defensively, given plenty of big matchups (especially at the start of the season) and using his …
2014 Summer League rosters – Boston
July 6th, 2014
O.D. Anosike – Anosike played in summer league last year with the Nuggets, then split last year between Italy and France. He started in Italy with Pesaro, and averaged 14.3 points and a league leading 13.1 rebounds in 35 minutes per game. He then bought himself out of his contract in May and finished the season with Strasbourg, where he did little in six games, averaging only 4.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 19 minutes per game. The 6’7 Anosike …
2014 Summer League rosters – Indiana
July 6th, 2014
Lavoy Allen – Allen was the third part of the Danny Granger/Evan Turner trade, but has barely improved in three years. He is still one of the most inefficient scorers in the league – he can hit a mid-range shot, but he only takes them, and there’s nothing efficient about a mid range jump shot. You have to hit 50% of them just to score a point per possession, with very few foul shots in the process, and …
2014 Summer League rosters: Philadelphia
July 5th, 2014
Nerlens Noel – Noel will be the best player from the 2013 draft, barring more significant injuries. There is no reason why this as-near-as-is 7 footer with wingspan, athleticism, instincts, anticipation, body control and hustle should not average 10 points and 3 blocks per game at his peak. The offensive end is less certain, as is the fit alongside Joel Embiid, but that’s all stuff that can be worked out down the right. As of right now, the Sixers …
2014 Summer League Rosters – Orlando
July 4th, 2014
Kadeem Batts – Batts is somewhere in between Mike Davis and Mike Scott. He is a wiry strong finesse power forward whose game is based around the mid-range jump shot and who rarely creates. Be it through the pick and pop, the pick-and-roll, cuts to the basket or through running the court in transition, Batts generally only finishes looks others or opportunity created for him. Even when he posts, it is normally only to a jump shot. He has …
2014 Summer League rosters – Houston
July 2nd, 2014
Miro Bilan – The 6’11 Bilan turns 25 later this month, yet this is his first foray into the NBA. He has long been on the radar of clubs around the world, appearing in European championships at various age levels, and finally cracking the Croatian national team this past season. Bilan has never really broken out, however, merely making steady improvements to his game year on year. A brief spell in the EuroLeague in 2012/13 coupled with a longer spell …
The Louis Williams/Lucas Nogueira Trade
June 28th, 2014
(originally published elsewhere)
In a trade agreed to last night, and perhaps already to have been made official by the time this sentence is finished, the Toronto Raptors agreed to trade John Salmons and his partially guaranteed contract to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Louis Williams and the draft rights to Lucas Nogueira.
Toronto were previously on the cusp of trading Salmons to Memphis on draft night, along with the #37 pick, in exchange for Tayshaun Prince and the …
The fourth and probably final part of the Tim Duncan/Zach Randolph contract saga
June 24th, 2014
Further to this, this and most recently this.
In the last update, I explained how Tim Duncan had had his contract modified, but Zach Randolph had not. And yet what I could not explain was why Tim Duncan had had his contract modified, but Zach Randolph had not. Was it because simply no one had noticed, or because of some other technicality I could not otherwise foresee that made the otherwise identical situations different? Couldn’t say.
Can now, …
Tampering, What It Is, And How Not To Not Quite Do It
June 22nd, 2014
(originally published elsewhere)
A report from the Chicago Sun Times’s Joe Cowley is currently doing the rounds, providing as it does an intriguing look into the conduct of Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, and a fresh perspective on the comprehensively documented possibility of Carmelo Anthony joining the Chicago Bulls.
The report focuses on Thibodeau, and his garnering of background knowledge on Anthony from those connected with him in the past. This is a perfectly acceptable and normal thing to …