Suns News: The Offseason

[carey]

Looks like Bledsoe + 4 for Kyrie almost happened.
https://twitter.com/vincethepolack/status/879357043303469057

[Indy]

Wow.

[In2ition]

Do you think it's possible that these Bledsoe rumors were to throw off the scent of the Suns wanting Jackson? I mean, they put out that the camp was split on who they wanted, but we find out that they wanted Jackson all along and probably sabotaged the Celtics and perhaps was the one giving Jackson a promise. Also, they kept putting out the rumor that if they traded Bled, that they would draft Fox, which kept teams from moving up above them and/or kept them guessing as to their motives and interest. Idk, just wondering.

[Cap]

The fuck? Bleds+#4 for Kyrie+Frye? Why would we agree to that?

[carey]

A free agency primer by Arizona Sports: http://arizonasports.com/story/1158776/ ... t-to-know/

Expected NBA salary cap: $99 million

The NBA’s floor, cap and luxury tax thresholds will be set at the end of June.

Suns salary total: $65.9 million guaranteed, or $78.1 million including all non-guaranteed deals and qualifying offers extended.

Who’s a free agent?

Alex Len (restricted), Alan Williams (restricted) and Ronnie Price (unrestricted) are free agents. The Suns can extend qualifying offers to Len and Williams and must do so by June 29. It would be surprising if Phoenix did not make them restricted free agents considering the Suns are, by all appearances, not in the running to chase after a star player with the need to open up as much cap space as possible.

Len ($12 million), Williams ($1.7 million) and Price ($1.5 million) have holds against the Suns’ cap — unless the team lets them walk.

Under the new CBA, the Suns will have two days to match another team’s offer to Len or Williams if they sign an offer sheet.

Whose salaries are not guaranteed?

– Leandro Barbosa $4,000,000 ($500,000 guaranteed)
– Derrick Jones $1,312,611
– Elijah Millsap $1,524,305

Barbosa’s $4 million guarantees if Phoenix does not waive him by July 3. Jones and Millsap have their salaries fully guaranteed if they are on the team by Jan. 10, 2018.

A new moratorium

The NBA’s July free agency moratorium — the period where a free agent player and a team can negotiate a contract — runs July 1 through July 6. The agreements cannot be signed during that time.

[Split T]

Kyrie is percieved as a superstar. We probably would have been praised around the media and with national fans, but I don't think that would have been a good trade. Kyrie is a fantastic scorer, but a poor defender and a poor PG. Playing with LeBron has covered his deficiencies and allowed him to focus on what he does best. We wouldn't have that here. We'd have Kyrie and Booker taking turns playing iso ball and getting beat consistently on D.

[ShelC]

Kyrie is percieved as a superstar. We probably would have been praised around the media and with national fans, but I don't think that would have been a good trade. Kyrie is a fantastic scorer, but a poor defender and a poor PG. Playing with LeBron has covered his deficiencies and allowed him to focus on what he does best. We wouldn't have that here. We'd have Kyrie and Booker taking turns playing iso ball and getting beat consistently on D.

Agreed, especially with the last sentence. Also, consider there were rumblings about Kyrie's leadership and attitude when the Cavs were losing. Now you're taking him off a title contender, putting him in a rebuilding situation in the West. It could've become toxic.

I've always thought there could be a Kyrie-Bledsoe swap at some point. I love Kyrie's offensive ability but his defense is atrocious and I think he needs an alpha to hold him accountable.

[O_Gardino]

A free agency primer by Arizona Sports: http://arizonasports.com/story/1158776/ ... t-to-know/

Expected NBA salary cap: $99 million

The NBA’s floor, cap and luxury tax thresholds will be set at the end of June.

Suns salary total: $65.9 million guaranteed, or $78.1 million including all non-guaranteed deals and qualifying offers extended.

Who’s a free agent?

Alex Len (restricted), Alan Williams (restricted) and Ronnie Price (unrestricted) are free agents. The Suns can extend qualifying offers to Len and Williams and must do so by June 29. It would be surprising if Phoenix did not make them restricted free agents considering the Suns are, by all appearances, not in the running to chase after a star player with the need to open up as much cap space as possible.

Len ($12 million), Williams ($1.7 million) and Price ($1.5 million) have holds against the Suns’ cap — unless the team lets them walk.

Under the new CBA, the Suns will have two days to match another team’s offer to Len or Williams if they sign an offer sheet.

Whose salaries are not guaranteed?

– Leandro Barbosa $4,000,000 ($500,000 guaranteed)
– Derrick Jones $1,312,611
– Elijah Millsap $1,524,305

Barbosa’s $4 million guarantees if Phoenix does not waive him by July 3. Jones and Millsap have their salaries fully guaranteed if they are on the team by Jan. 10, 2018.

A new moratorium

The NBA’s July free agency moratorium — the period where a free agent player and a team can negotiate a contract — runs July 1 through July 6. The agreements cannot be signed during that time.

I assume this does not include our rookies? I believe 2nd round picks don't get guaranteed contracts. Is that right?

[O_Gardino]

This is relevant to our interests. It's an article on the new two-way contracts that players occupying the 16th and 17th roster spots must sign: https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2017/04/hoo ... racts.html

Who is eligible to sign a two-way contract?

Players with fewer than four years of NBA experience can sign a two-way contract with a team. However, teams cannot sign a player to a two-way contract for three seasons. The deals are limited to two years, and can’t include options.

Although two-way contracts can be for up to two years, a player who has three years of NBA experience can’t sign such a deal, since he’d have four years of service after the first season. As such, two-way contracts for players with three years of experience are limited to one year.

How do two-way contracts work for the teams signing them?

A team gets up to two roster slots for two-way contracts, and doesn’t need to use salary cap room or a cap exception to finalize those deals. They also don’t count against a team’s salary cap.

However, there are some limitations facing teams when they sign two-way contracts. For one, if a club wants to sign a player on an overseas roster to a two-way contract, the NBA team is not allowed to pay that player’s international buyout. Additionally, NBA teams can’t sign players to two-way contracts after January 15 of each season.

How much are players paid on two-way contracts?

Unlike the usual NBA and D-League contracts, two-way deals will vary in salary depending on whether a player is in the D-League or on an NBA assignment. When a player is in the NBA, he’ll receive the prorated portion of the minimum salary for a player with his years of experience. When a player is in the D-League, he’ll earn a prorated portion of a set D-League salary. For 2017/18, that figure is $75K. It will increase 3% annually, as follows:

Two-way contract salaries

Players on standard NBADL contracts currently earn no more than $26K annually, so two-way contracts will significantly increase the earning potential for some D-Leaguers, despite still falling well short of a full-season NBA minimum salary.

How much time can players on two-way contracts spend on NBA rosters?

If a player is on a two-way contract, he can spend no more than 45 regular-season days on an NBA roster. That doesn’t include time spent with an NBA team in training camp. It also doesn’t include time spent with an NBA team before the D-League season begins or after it ends. Still, it’s somewhat limiting.

Any day that a player on a two-way contract travels with the NBA team (including remaining with the team on the road), participates in workouts or practices, or is on the roster for a game counts toward those 45 days. If a team wants to keep its two-way player on the NBA roster for more than 45 games, it has to convert the player’s two-way deal into a standard NBA contract, after which he’d no longer count as a two-way player.

In a situation where a two-way contract is converted to a regular NBA deal, the typical 15-man roster rules would apply to that player. For instance, he could be assigned back to the D-League, but he’d continue to earn an NBA salary, since he’d no longer be a two-way player.

Additionally, a player on a two-way contract must have his deal converted to a standard NBA contract in order to participate in the postseason. A player on a two-way deal isn’t playoff-eligible.

Can players on two-way contracts be traded? What happens when their deals expire?

Players on two-way contracts can be included in trades. However, they can’t be dealt within 30 days of being signed, and their salaries don’t generate trade exceptions for NBA teams.

Additionally, players on two-way deals accrue Bird rights toward free agency. So, if a player spends two seasons with a team on a two-way contract, that team would have Early Bird rights to re-sign him when his contract expires.

Meanwhile, a two-way player whose contract expires will be eligible for restricted free agency if he spent at least 15 days on NBA assignment in the last season of his two-way contract. Otherwise, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.

How will two-way contracts affect NBA roster construction?

This remains to be seen, but we can probably make a few predictions about how teams will use two-way contracts. In some cases, clubs may attempt to convince second-round draft picks to sign two-way contracts, though player agents figure to push for NBA deals.

Undrafted free agents figure to be prime candidates for two-way deals. Each fall, many teams will invite a handful of undrafted rookies to training camp even though they don’t have a path to earning an NBA roster spot. Many of those players end up being waived and subsequently joining their team’s D-League affiliate. With two-way contracts, teams will have the opportunity to retain the NBA rights to a couple of those players rather than having to risk losing them in free agency.

For instance, last fall, Okaro White was one of several players waived by the Heat after he didn’t make the team’s regular-season roster. He headed to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s D-League squad, but could have been signed by any NBA team, since the Heat no longer held his NBA rights. Eventually, White earned another shot with the Heat, signing a pair of 10-day contracts in January before he was locked up for the rest of the season in February. Under the new CBA, Miami would have the opportunity to secure a player like White at the start of the season with a two-way contract, even if he wasn’t one of the 15 players to make the team’s NBA roster.

Two-way contracts should also be useful for teams that find themselves ravaged by injuries during the season. If a club has two or three rotation players on the shelf, that club could bring its two-way players to the NBA to provide some depth as its regulars get healthy.

Thanks for posting this. I had no idea about any of this.

So to recap, we can now have 17 players on the roster, and the last two guys are on these 2-way contracts? Does that mean we have to have 17 players? Seems to me our 2nd round picks can be on 2-ways and that leaves us a couple of spots for veteran leadership on the bench.

[carey]

So to recap, we can now have 17 players on the roster, and the last two guys are on these 2-way contracts? Does that mean we have to have 17 players? Seems to me our 2nd round picks can be on 2-ways and that leaves us a couple of spots for veteran leadership on the bench.

You're welcome. We have to actually be fairly strategic about who we sign to the 2-way deals for the 16th & 17th spot. They are only allowed to spend 45 days with the team including practice days or days where you just travel. I would expect to see a big guy and a smaller wing signed to those spots in case of injuries. For the first half of the season I think those players would spend most of their time with the NAZ.

[Cap]

Kyrie is percieved as a superstar. We probably would have been praised around the media and with national fans, but I don't think that would have been a good trade. Kyrie is a fantastic scorer, but a poor defender and a poor PG. Playing with LeBron has covered his deficiencies and allowed him to focus on what he does best. We wouldn't have that here. We'd have Kyrie and Booker taking turns playing iso ball and getting beat consistently on D.

"He was an All-Star in the East..."

[carey]

I assume this does not include our rookies? I believe 2nd round picks don't get guaranteed contracts. Is that right?

I'd have to verify his numbers. I don't know if he included Josh Jackson's cap hold or not. 2nd round picks don't automatically get guaranteed deals. However, you can sign them to one if you want like the Suns did with Tyler Ulis. We gave him a deal similar to a late 1st rounder. I could see the team doing the same with Davon Reed if they like him as much as they claim.

[Ring_Wanted]

Thanks for posting this. I had no idea about any of this.

So to recap, we can now have 17 players on the roster, and the last two guys are on these 2-way contracts? Does that mean we have to have 17 players? Seems to me our 2nd round picks can be on 2-ways and that leaves us a couple of spots for veteran leadership on the bench.

They can, but they shouldn't. If that kind of contract won't allow team options, you are keeping yourself from using the same technique applied to the likes of Parsons, Covington or our own Ulis. Why give a guy just two years, when you can control him on the cheap over four seasons using team options for the last two years.

And yeah, thanks Carey!

[Superbone]

Marquese Chriss Named to NBA All-Rookie Second Team

http://www.nba.com/suns/press-release/m ... 014&_p_c=1

[O_Gardino]

Thanks for clearing me up, dudes.

[Ring_Wanted]

Man this class was a mess.

[Cap]

Between Amare in 03 and Booker in 16, we went an awfully long time without any All-Rookie honorees. All the more remarkable considering we spent about half those years in the lottery.

[carey]

This is important, but I wish they'd stop calling it the 2nd half. It's only the 2nd half if you include the playoffs. For the rest it's like 30 games.

Chriss continued to elevate his game after the All-Star break, averaging 12.7 points on 49.8 percent shooting from the field and 36.0 percent from three-point range, 5.9 rebounds, a rookie-high 1.44 blocks and 0.92 steals during the season’s second half.

[carey]

It's nice to see Ulis got 10 votes as well.

[Indy]

It's nice to see Ulis got 10 votes as well.

Someone voted him to the first team... Has to be a Phoenix voter, right?