With teams filling out their rosters three weeks into NBA free agency, here's my analysis of the latest deals, including Gerald Green to the Celtics and moves by the Mavericks, Rockets, Pelicans, 76ers and Spurs:
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Boston Celtics
1. Signed guard Gerald Green to a reported one-year contract
2. Re-signed center Tyler Zeller to a reported two-year, $16 million contract
It's hard to believe 11 years have passed since the Celtics drafted Green with the 18th pick in the 2005 draft, which seemed like a steal at the time. After he showed some promise during two seasons in Boston, Green was sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the Kevin Garnett trade, and he has bounced among seven NBA teams and three more overseas since then, carving out what has become a lengthy career as a journeyman.
After losing Evan Turner, the Celtics had an opening for an experienced backup on the wing and a need for a shooter. I had touted the idea that Boston should make a run at J.R. Smith, but besides the potential chemistry issues after Smith injured Celtics forward Jae Crowder with a flagrant foul during the teams' 2015 playoff series, landing Smith was probably never realistic with the $12 million or so Boston could offer. At best, the Celtics would probably have provided Smith leverage to negotiate with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Beyond Smith, there was a big drop-off in the number of available wing shooters on the market. I've ranked Alan Anderson as the best of the bunch, but the difference between Anderson and Green is marginal at best, and Green came cheap, at the veteran's minimum, according to the Boston Globe.
Given his inconsistency season-to-season and even game-to-game, the Celtics are probably an ideal spot for Green because his role could grow or shrink depending on performance. Having drafted wings in the first round each of the past three years (first James Young, then R.J. Hunter and most recently Jaylen Brown at No. 3 overall the past June), Boston has plenty of alternatives should Green struggle.
Getting Green on a one-year deal also helps the Celtics preserve what easily could be max-level cap space next summer. The importance of maintaining that cap flexibility helps inform what Boston did with Zeller, a restricted free agent who was still unsigned after most teams finished their summer shopping. Zeller could have simply played this season for his $3.7 million qualifying offer.
Instead, the Celtics gave Zeller a two-year, $16 million deal with the second season non-guaranteed. That accomplishes a couple things. Presuming the guarantee date for Zeller's 2017-18 salary is at the end of June or in early July, the non-guaranteed second season gives Boston the chance to trade Zeller as part of a package for a star around the draft. It also allows the Celtics to trade Zeller this season without needing his consent, a requirement for players who accept the qualifying offer. Given that Boston wasn't likely to use its remaining cap space, that's a reasonable deal for both sides.
The Globe also reported that the Celtics are close to signing second-round picks Demetrius Jackson and Ben Bentil, with Jackson getting a guaranteed 2016-17 salary and Bentil a partial guarantee. That would put Boston at 16 players with full guarantees, along with Bentil and John Holland (non-guaranteed). Barring a trade between now and the end of training camp, the Celtics will have some tough decisions to make, and someone such as Young could end up the odd man out, despite first-round pedigree.
Dallas Mavericks
1. Signed guard Kyle Collinsworth to a two-year, minimum contract
The Mavericks added Collinsworth to a fierce battle for roster spots in training camp that will also include summer-league standout Jonathan Gibson, Argentinean Nicolas Brussino and former Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith. Collinsworth had an NCAA-record 12 triple-doubles during his career at BYU, but the NBA track record for players such as Collinsworth who finish college ball at age 24 is poor.
The bigger news this week was Dallas' increasing its deal with star forward Dirk Nowitzki to $50 million over the next two years, per ESPN's Marc Stein. That figure doesn't really matter this season, when the Mavericks will be over the cap but below the luxury tax. It could become important should Nowitzki decide to return for a 20th NBA season in 2017-18.
Having Nowitzki on the books for $25 million next summer would make Dallas unlikely to use cap space in free agency. At that point, the Mavericks would probably be better off staying over the cap and using Bird rights to re-sign free agents Andrew Bogut (full Bird) and Deron Williams (early Bird). Perhaps that has been the plan all along, but after everything Nowitzki sacrificed in the past, I'm surprised the two sides didn't include a player option for 2017-18 that would allow Nowitzki to re-sign for a smaller amount if Dallas could land a long-awaited star free agent next summer.
Of course, that still might be a possibility if Nowitzki decides to retire. In that scenario, Stein reports that $5 million of Nowitzki's 2017-18 salary is guaranteed. The Mavericks would presumably waive Nowitzki and stretch that amount if he retires, much like the San Antonio Spurs did with Tim Duncan this summer.
Houston Rockets
1. Signed center Chinanu Onuaku to a three-year, minimum contract
One of this summer's interesting trends has been how various teams have handled contracts for second-round picks, who aren't subject to the same scale contracts as first-round picks. A small raise over the minimum salary of $543,471 has become fairly standard.
Three second-round picks -- Michael Gbinije, A.J. Hammons and Georges Niang -- have gotten precisely $650,000, according to BasketballInsiders.com, with Portland's Jake Layman getting $600,000. The top two picks of the second round, Deyonta Davis (starting at $1.4 million) and Ivica Zubac (starting at $1.0 million), got even more, as did Tyler Ulis ($900,000-plus), Isaiah Whitehead ($1.1 million) and Stephen Zimmerman ($950,000).
By contrast, Onuaku took a straight minimum deal, with the tradeoff apparently being that all three years are fully guaranteed. Most of the players who got more than the minimum this year have non-guarantees in subsequent seasons. (Davis, whose full three-year deal is guaranteed, is a notable exception.)
Two other second-round picks, Patrick McCaw of the Golden State Warriors and Diamond Stone of the L.A. Clippers, received fully guaranteed, two-year contracts for the minimum (most teams over the cap can offer second-round picks without using an exception), which will make them subject to the Gilbert Arenas provision and possible candidates for backloaded contract offers if that rule continues unchanged in the next CBA.
It will be interesting to check back in three years and see which second-round contracts worked best for teams and players.
As for the Rockets, signing Onuaku was their last move before they went over the cap and officially signed Nenê using the room exception. Houston is now limited to offering the minimum salary to fill out its roster.
New Orleans Pelicans
1. Signed forward Alonzo Gee to a reported one-year, minimum contract
After a holdup while they figured out a contract for second-round pick Cheick Diallo (reportedly getting the same $650,000 as several other second-rounders), earlier this week the Pelicans officially signed all the free agents they'd agreed to terms with earlier in the month. That group included Gee, who opted out of his deal with New Orleans for the minimum salary, only to apparently subsequently re-sign for precisely the same amount.
Because of injuries, Gee started 38 games and averaged 22.4 minutes per game last season, a role in which he was stretched. With the players the Pelicans added this summer, along with a potential return from former starting small forward Quincy Pondexter, Gee should be a depth piece this season. I might prefer someone younger in that role, but the price is reasonable. With Gee under contract, New Orleans now has the 15 players who probably will be part of the roster.
Philadelphia 76ers
1. Signed guard Anthony Barber to a reported minimum deal
2. Signed guard Brandon Paul to a reported minimum deal
As I noted in discussing Philadelphia's remaining cap space, the most interesting part of these deals is that the 76ers don't have the roster space to sign both Barber and Paul because they already have 19 players under contract and are limited to 20 during the offseason. We aren't likely to see one or both of these deals become official until after Kendall Marshall's guarantee date, as he'll probably be cut before his 2016-17 salary guarantees.
With 13 guaranteed contracts and three players on non-guaranteed deals likely to make the roster (Robert Covington, T.J. McConnell and Hollis Thompson), the Sixers are presumably bringing Barber and Paul in to potentially be members of their D-League affiliate in Delaware after they are cut in training camp.
San Antonio Spurs
1. Signed forward Livio Jean-Charles, the No. 28 pick of the 2013 NBA draft, to a rookie scale contract
Drafted at age 19, Jean-Charles showed some promise playing in his native France. Alas, he tore his ACL shortly after the draft, and since his return, he hasn't really developed. His translated statistics from France don't suggest an NBA-caliber player, and Jean-Charles hasn't done much to change that impression during his appearances in summer league with the Spurs the past two years. I'd be surprised if he ever helps San Antonio.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, Jean-Charles is signing for rookie scale, though he would have been eligible to negotiate any kind of deal because he is three years removed from being drafted. From the reported $4.5 million figure, it appears Jean-Charles is getting less than the 120 percent of scale that is standard for first-round picks and possibly even less than scale. Teams are allowed to negotiate down to 80 percent of the rookie scale.