Tag: 2020 free agency

News: Aikman thinks directionless Cowboys now capable of playoff run

Also, looking at Dallas’s playoff chances and possible opponents, what sparked the defense’s turnaround, and key injury updates.

Plenty of news in Cowboys Nation as the team prepares to close out the 2020 regular season with an early-2021 date in New York. Dallas can still make the postseason with a win and help, although their chances of going on to compete for the Lombardi Trophy are statistically infinitesimal. But even one of the franchise’s all-time legends agrees there is hope, and that’s something that seemed lost just a few weeks ago.

The Giants know the Cowboys are different bunch now, and their head coach breaks down the ways. A seemingly healthy Ezekiel Elliott could be looking at another 1,000-yard season, and some are already looking ahead to the Cowboys’ possible opponent in a wild-card round. Whatever happens, there will be decisions to be made: about fifth-year options on rookie contracts, about Andy Dalton’s future, about Mike Nolan and the Dallas defense that has only just recently come alive… and about the franchise tag of one Rayne Dakota Prescott. All that, and a Cowboys legend blows out the candles on another birthday cake. Here’s the News and Notes.

Rockets announce signing of four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins

Cousins is one of only 11 players in NBA history with career averages of at least 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.

With training camp for the 2020-21 season set to begin in Houston and other NBA cities, the Rockets on Tuesday officially announced the much-anticipated addition of four-time All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins.

Now 30 years old, Cousins is on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract as he works to prove his health after a series of major leg injuries. He only played in 30 regular-season games over the last two years, combined.

If he’s finally healthy, though, Cousins’ career production could make that deal a major bargain for the Rockets. From the team’s press release:

Cousins (6-10, 270) was originally the fifth overall pick by Sacramento in the 2010 NBA Draft. The four-time All-Star appeared in 565 career games with 543 starts while averaging 21.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.42 steals, and 1.23 blocks. Cousins earned All-NBA Second Team honors in both 2014-15 and 2015-16.

He is one of 11 players in NBA history with career averages of at least 20.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, and 3.0 apg. Since steals and blocks became an official statistic in 1973-74, Hall of Famer Bob Lanier is the only other player with career averages of at least 20.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.00 spg, and 1.00 bpg (Lanier played three seasons prior to steals and blocks being tracked).

Cousins last played for Golden State during the 2019 NBA Finals and averaged 16.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.5 bpg in 25.7 mpg for the Warriors in the 2018-19 regular season. He is the only player in NBA history to have averaged at least 15.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 3.0 apg in fewer than 27.0 mpg in a single season.

When group work at training camp begins on Sunday, Dec. 6, Cousins should initially slide in as Houston’s backup center to Christian Wood. But if Cousins proves to be healthy — and early indications seem to be positive — there is clearly room for his role with the Rockets to grow.

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Report: Rockets signing veteran guard Jerian Grant for one season

Over five NBA seasons, Grant has averaged 6.1 points and 2.9 assists in 17.9 minutes per game. He was a first-round pick in the 2015 draft.

The Houston Rockets are signing veteran guard Jerian Grant to a one-year contract, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Grant was the No. 19 overall pick in the 2015 draft after playing four seasons in college at Notre Dame. Now 28 years old, the 6-foot-4 guard has averaged 6.1 points (32.3% on 3-pointers) and 2.9 assists in 17.9 minutes per game over his five seasons to date in the NBA.

Grant’s 2019-20 season was limited to just six games. In two of his last three years with a larger sample, he shot 36.4% and 36.6% on 3-pointers.

Grant has plenty of family connections to the NBA, per Feigen:

Grant’s brother, Jerami, signed with the Pistons last week after a breakthrough season with the Nuggets. They are the son of former NBA player Harvey Grant and nephews of former Bulls and Magic star Horace Grant.

The Rockets will be Grant’s fifth NBA franchise, joining the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, and Washington Wizards.

In Houston, Grant will attempt to earn a roster spot with a strong showing in the team’s upcoming training camp for the 2020-21 season. The team’s hope is for Grant to potentially replace Austin Rivers as a reserve guard behind All-Star starters Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Like Rivers, Grant should bring capable ball-handling ability and defensive length to the role, along with a solid (but not great) shot from 3-point range.

Financial terms of the one-year contract were not disclosed, but with the Rockets subject to a hard salary cap after the sign-and-trade acquisition of Christian Wood, it’s almost certainly a veteran’s minimum salary. The question is how much money (if any) in the deal is guaranteed.

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New Rockets center DeMarcus Cousins reportedly ‘looks terrific’

“What I’ve heard is he looks terrific in his physicals and did a great job in his rehab,” per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

New Rockets center DeMarcus Cousins is in strong physical shape, per longtime beat writer Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“What I’ve heard is he looks terrific in his physicals and did a great job in his rehab,” Feigen told Michael Scotto on the HoopsHype podcast.

“Physically, he’s good to go,” Feigen told Scotto. “He looks thin. He’s obviously been working hard. He looks terrific.”

Prior to signing a non-guaranteed contract for one season with the Rockets, Cousins reportedly worked out for the team early last week. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, that workout in Houston “impressed the organization, quelling any health concerns.”

“He’s as hungry as ever,” Haynes tweeted of Cousins, who previously played for Sacramento, New Orleans and Golden State.

Health is the clear storyline to watch with Cousins. Now 30 years old, the 6-foot-10, 270-pound center made the Western Conference All-Star team in four straight years from 2015 through 2018. A powerful yet agile big man, Cousins has averaged 21.2 points (46.1% FG) and 10.9 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game over his nine NBA seasons.

Yet, Cousins was available for a limited investment due to continued bad luck with injuries. He tore his Achilles midway through the 2017-18 season, which also cut short his availability for the 2018-19 year. Then, after signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in July 2019, he tore the ACL in his knee during offseason workouts and missed all of 2019-20.

It certainly sounds as if Cousins is healthy and ready for the 2020-21 season, but questions linger as to how much of the big man’s prior All-Star form can be recaptured after a series of brutal leg injuries.

From Houston’s perspective, though, it’s a low-risk, high-reward transaction. With newcomer Christian Wood set to start at center, Cousins can begin the 2020-21 season — assuming he makes the roster out of training camp, of course — with limited backup minutes, allowing the four-time All-Star to ease his way back in. And if Cousins proves worthy of more minutes than expected, that’s a good “problem” to have.

At 6 feet, 10 inches and roughly 220 pounds, Wood is certainly athletic enough to play at power forward in larger lineups alongside Cousins, should “Boogie” earn additional minutes. Both Wood and Cousins have shown an ability to hit 3-pointers, so the floor would still be spaced.

NBA training camps for the 2020-21 season open Tuesday, Dec. 1.

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Rockets announce signings of big man Bruno Caboclo, three others

In Thursday’s release, Houston also confirmed its contracts with Jae’Sean Tate, Sterling Brown, and a two-way deal with rookie Mason Jones.

A day after Bruno Caboclo said he had a contract offer from the Houston Rockets, the 25-year-old big man has officially signed it.

“Caboclo (6-9, 218) was originally acquired via trade from Memphis on Feb. 6, 2020 and appeared in eight games for the Rockets over the remainder of the season,” the team said in its announcement. “The Brazilian native was the 20th overall pick by Toronto in the 2014 NBA Draft and has appeared in 99 career games. In 2018-19, Caboclo averaged career-highs of 8.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists for the Grizzlies.”

Financial terms weren’t disclosed by the team, but Caboclo said Wednesday that the contract was for two years at the NBA’s minimum salary, with the second (for the 2021-22 season) as a team option.

Caboclo, who is 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-7 wingspan, played only sparingly after being acquired by Houston at the February trade deadline. The athletic big man was also limited by a knee injury upon his arrival.

However, the Rockets did express optimism about his long-term future, and Caboclo could have a better opportunity to make an impact by being with the team at the outset of training camp. Caboclo should slot into the 2020-21 depth chart as a backup option in the frontcourt behind veterans such as Christian Wood, P.J. Tucker, and DeMarcus Cousins.

Caboclo shot 36.9% on 3-pointers in the 2018-19 season, and that form could make him useful as a “stretch big” in the five-out offense desired by new Houston coach Stephen Silas.

In addition to the signing of Caboclo, the Rockets also formalized their recent contract agreements with guard Sterling Brown, forward Jae’Sean Tate, and rookie guard Mason Jones (on a two-way deal).

As of midday Thursday, Cousins was the only remaining acquisition whose free agency agreement with the Rockets had yet to be made official. With training camp for the 2020-21 season set to begin next Tuesday, Dec. 1, all agreements should be finalized in relatively short order.

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Rockets expected to try to re-sign Jeff Green in free agency

“Among their own free agents, the Rockets are expected to seek to bring back center/forward Jeff Green,” Jonathan Feigen writes.

The Rockets are likely to make an attempt at re-signing veteran big man Jeff Green once the NBA’s 2020 free agency period opens on Friday, per longtime beat writer Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“Among their own free agents, the Rockets are expected to seek to bring back center/forward Jeff Green,” Feigen writes.

Green averaged 12.2 points (56.4% FG) and 2.9 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game with the Rockets last season. He frequently played at center in Mike D’Antoni’s smaller lineups, though if retained, he could also be an option at power forward if new coach Stephen Silas opts to play bigger.

Because Green has only played in Houston for one season, the Rockets do not have any Bird or “Early Bird” rights to retain him. Effectively, they will be on a level financial playing field with other contenders, some of whom are expected to show interest in the 34-year-old.

Though Houston is above the league’s salary cap, the Rockets do have various exceptions that could theoretically be used on Green (as do other teams). However, using one of those (or part) on Green could be prohibitive to the team’s chances at luring any external upgrades. As such, the Rockets could be hoping to sign him at the minimum salary.

Before Houston signed Green to a one-year minimum contract in late February, the 6-foot-8 big man was left unsigned by any team for almost two months. What remains to be seen is whether Green’s performance late in the season (including the playoffs) turned enough heads to lift his value from being unsigned for weeks to potentially getting large offers. The answer could come once free agency opens at 5:00 p.m. Central.

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Rockets exercise team option to retain David Nwaba for next season

The veteran swingman has reportedly “looked good” in offseason workouts, and he could be a rotation piece for Houston in 2020-21.

As expected, the Houston Rockets are exercising guard David Nwaba’s $1.8-million team option for the 2020-21 NBA season.

The news was first reported Thursday by Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The 27-year-old swingman was signed by the Rockets in June, though he has yet to play for the franchise. Nwaba tore his Achilles last December while with the Nets, so the signing was a two-year deal — with Houston not anticipating his contributions until the second season.

Here’s what former Rockets GM Daryl Morey said about Nwaba shortly after the signing, which occurred late in the 2019-20 season:

David, we think has really good potential. And obviously, you saw the deal had both this year and a future component.

You guys have a good sense of how we’re playing now, and the kinds of players we need for that style. We are fully committed to that. David Nwaba, we think fits that very well.

Because the 2020-21 season isn’t starting until late December (due to the delay of 2019-20 from COVID-19), Nwaba will have had about a full calendar year to recover from the Achilles injury. That could make him much more of a factor for the Rockets than he would’ve normally been, had the season started in its usual time frame of late October.

As a 6-foot-5 guard with a long seven-foot wingspan, Nwaba has been best known over his career for athleticism and perimeter defense.

But in 20 games of the 2019-20 season prior to his Achilles injury, Nwaba showed renewed promise as a shooter by making a career-high 42.9% on 3-pointers. In his first three NBA seasons from 2016-17 through 2018-19, Nwaba had shot just 32.6% from 3-point range.

Per Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Rockets see Nwaba as potentially a “key rotational piece” after having looked good in offseason workouts.

In all, Nwaba has played in 161 games over parts of four NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and most recently the Brooklyn Nets. For his career, Nwaba — who went undrafted in 2016 after his third and final college season — has averaged 6.9 points (49.2% FG) and 3.7 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game.

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As expected, Rockets guard Austin Rivers opts out to enter free agency

The Rockets have Early Bird rights on the 28-year-old, which gives them a potential path to retain Rivers, if he’s in their plans.

As he hinted at in comments last week, veteran guard Austin Rivers is opting out of his contract with the Rockets to become a free agent.

The official news was broken Thursday by ESPN’s Marc J. Spears, just over 24 hours in advance of Friday’s start to free agency at 5:00 p.m. Central. It does not mean that Rivers is necessarily leaving Houston.

For the past two seasons, Rivers has been a key backup behind the All-Star duo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook (formerly Chris Paul).

Here’s what the 28-year-old said on a recent podcast:

I definitely want to… probably be out there on the market, and just see what else is out there. But I love Houston. Houston’s still one of my main options. That’s a team I loved playing for. But there’s other teams out there that you want to look at. You owe it to yourself to at least see the best situation.

The move was largely expected for financial reasons, since Rivers took a perceived discount to play for the NBA’s minimum salary last season. Since Rivers has now played in Houston for two seasons, Houston can theoretically use the “Early Bird” salary cap exception to retain him.

With the Early Bird exception, a team can re-sign its own free agent for the greater of up to 175% of his salary in the previous season, or 105% of the league’s average salary in the prior season. A year ago, the Rockets did not have any additional rights to retain Rivers, since he had only been with the team for one season at that time. Thus, the minimum bid was the best they could realistically do in 2019. That’s not the case today, which is why Rivers could be hoping for a greater payday.

The question is whether the Rockets will deem Rivers as worthy of going closer to the team’s expected hard salary cap to keep him. If Rivers’ asking price is too high, they may search for a cheaper replacement, since he’s a solid rotation piece but probably not an essential one.

In two seasons with the Rockets, Rivers has averaged 8.7 points (34.0% on 3-pointers) and 2.3 assists in 25.6 minutes per game. The 6-foot-4 guard has also been valued off the bench for his on-ball defense.

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Trade analysis: Assets the Rockets acquired for Robert Covington

With Trevor Ariza and Portland’s 2020 draft pick redirected to Detroit, here’s what the Rockets ultimately acquired for Robert Covington.

Late Monday, the Houston Rockets agreed to trade frontcourt starter Robert Covington to Portland for Trevor Ariza, the No. 16 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, and a protected first-round selection in the 2021 draft.

On Wednesday, the Rockets then traded two of those three assets (Ariza and the No. 16 pick) to Detroit for another protected 2021 first rounder.

By dumping Ariza’s salary slot of over $12 million (comparable to what Covington made), Houston dips beneath the luxury tax “apron” level by enough to use the full mid-level exception (MLE) in free agency, which is worth ~$9.3 million in starting salary. Using the full MLE implements a hard salary cap at the $138.9 million “apron” for team payroll.

Had Houston kept Ariza or Covington, they would have been limited to the smaller “taxpayer” MLE (~$5.7 million), since using the full MLE would have then pushed their total payroll above the hard cap. The Rockets reportedly believe that they can sign a “significantly better player” in free agency with the full MLE than with the smaller version.

The Rockets will also generate a $12.8-million traded player exception (TPE) in the deal, since Ariza is being absorbed into cap space by Detroit. However, Houston probably can’t use the full TPE and the larger MLE this offseason, since using both would likely exceed the hard cap.

Depending on future moves made by Rockets GM Rafael Stone that might alter team payroll, that TPE could potentially prove useful down the line. (The TPE will last until an equivalent point in the 2021 offseason.) Or it could be used in the interim, but in a smaller amount.

In essence, by combining all the trades and implications for free agency, here’s what the Rockets got in exchange for Covington — regarded around the NBA as of their best and most versatile defenders.

Going out:

— Robert Covington (30 years old; 11.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.2 blocks per game last season)

Coming in:

— Ability to use full MLE ($9.3M) instead of taxpayer MLE ($5.7M)
— 2021 Portland first-round pick (Top 14 protected in 2021, unclear beyond then)
— 2021 Detroit first-round pick (Top 16 protected in 2021-2024; Top 10 protected in 2025-2026; Top 9 protected in 2027; multiple second-round picks if still not conveyed then)
— $12.8M TPE until late 2021 (While Houston may not be able to use the full amount in tandem with the larger MLE, at least for now, there are other benefits.)

While both of the protected future first-round picks via Portland and Detroit are likely to convey to Houston at some point, the most likely scenario is that they will come in the middle of the round.

The Rockets reportedly believe those future picks could have more value in trade talks around the league, as opposed to a prospect that has already been selected (i.e. had they kept No. 16 or acquired another 2020 pick), per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Basically, the Rockets gave up the certainty of Covington for the upside of being able to spend more aggressively in free agency, along with the value of those two future picks on the trade market. (Or, if the Rockets eventually trade James Harden, perhaps they keep those picks and use them to kick off their own rebuilding effort.)

Is that a worthwhile move? It depends on who the Rockets sign in free agency and what happens with those future picks. In short, stay tuned.

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Lowe: Boston Celtics could be looking to use 2020 picks to add star

The Boston Celtics have reportedly looked into using their three 2020 first round picks to draft an established star.

It appears as if the Boston Celtics are going into the 2020 NBA draft without a plan.

More correctly, it seems they could be going into it with several.

Fresh on the heels of news the Celtics are trying to see where their three 2020 first-round picks will land them in the draft in an effort to move up, we are hearing word that Boston may also be surveying the market for a player to use their three 2020 picks to trade for.

Writing in a new column surveying the 2020-21 offseason, ESPN’s Zach Lowe spilled a little tea.

If you can call news a contending team is exploring every option to improve “tea” in the proverbial sense, that is.

Lowe confirms the rumors that Boston is trying to move up in the draft through his own sources, and more interestingly reveals the team ” has also sniffed around using picks to acquire a solid veteran.” But who might such a player be?

With the New Orleans Pelicans shopping guard Jrue Holiday while the Oklahoma City Thunder do the same with Chris Paul and rumbles Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker wants out of his current club, it’s not hard to let the imagination run wild.

But with so many teams believing this the moment to go all-in, there’s a limited supply of the sort of player it might be worth moving all — or even some — of those three firsts for.

Lowe lists Cleveland Cavaliers big man Larry Nance as a popular target among teams looking to bolster contention rosters, and fellow Thunder guard Dennis Schroeder as another to go along with more popular, high profile targets like teammates Danilo Gallinari and Paul.

Whatever way Boston’s front office decides to take, with the draft arriving on Nov. 18th and the lifting of the free agency moratorium soon after, the actual plans of the team will begin to take shape soon.

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