Tag: Buyout

USA TODAY Sports deems Billy Napier college football’s most overpaid HC

USA TODAY Sports’ annual college football head coach salary report is out, and experts conclude that Billy Napier is the most overpaid coach in 2024.

Florida head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] is on top of USA TODAY Sports’ list of the most overpaid head coaches in the country.

At the midway point of Year 3 under Napier, the Gators are 14-17 overall and could be headed for a third-straight losing season. Napier is set to earn $7,370,000 this year, according to USA TODAY Sports’ annual analysis of coaches’ compensation, and the math works out to about $1 million per win so far.

Those kinds of results are not acceptable at the University of Florida and usually mean a change is coming. Many believe this will be Napier’s last season with the Gators, which shifts the focus to buyout numbers.

To fire Napier without cause — no, losing a bunch of games in the SEC is not enough to fire someone with cause — it would cost Florida $26,704,167. Keep in mind that Florida would also have to fork over some big bucks to find a suitable replacement for Napier, but that’s never stopped the boosters in the past. After all, this is the SEC — where “it just means more.”

It appears the only path for Napier to save his job is beating the two remaining unranked opponents on the schedule — Florida State and Kentucky — and pulling off an upset against Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss or Texas to reach bowl eligibility. Even then, the athletic department could decide to move on.

Other overpaid head coaches

Napier isn’t the only SEC head coach on this list. Second-year Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is right behind him after starting off 2-4 following a losing 2023 season.

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is third on the list, and there’s a clear trend developing. Napier had success at Louisiana, Freeze thrived at Liberty and Fickell made the College Football Playoff with Cincinnati. All three have struggled to duplicate that success in a major conference.

Fourth on the list is Florida State’s Mike Norvell, who is coming off an undefeated regular season. It’s shocking to think that a team can go 12-0 and have a coach on the hot seat one year later, but Florida State has been cursed since missing the College Football Playoff last year.

Georgia demolished them by 60 points in the Orange and Bowl, and Florida State would have to win out to even reach bowl eligibility in 2024 after starting the year 1-5. However, moving on from Norvell appears unlikely with a $63.8 million buyout.

Rounding out the group is former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Before Dilfer took over, UAB was one of the top Group of Five programs in the country, but the Blazers are 5-13 since.

“The former Super Bowl-winning quarterback will go down as one of the worst hires of the decade,” said USA TODAY’s Paul Myerbeg.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

How the Boston Celtics can still improve their roster

The field of prospects is not especially deep, but there are players who were let go in the thick of the trade deadline action who can still help the Celtics’ rotation.

With the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, attention to how the Boston Celtics and the rest of the league shifts to the players on the buyout market for ways those ball clubs can get better.

The field of prospects is not especially deep, but there are players who were let go in the thick of the trade deadline action who can still help the Celtics’ rotation. With one open roster spot on the regular roster, Boston will have to take care with the player they bring on. And they may choose to elevate a two way player instead, but unlike trades, any move they make will have to have mutual interest involved to get the contract signed.

So who makes sense for the Celtics, who also might want to play for Boston? The hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast took a deep dive into the available options.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Can Danilo Gallinari help the Boston Celtics win a championship?

Should the Boston Celtics attempt to acquire Danilo Gallinari via the buy-out market.

Despite making two trades around the NBA trade deadline, the Boston Celtics still have an open roster spot. As such, they’re expected to be potential players in the buy-out market as they look to add one final piece to a potential championship puzzle. Of course, whoever the Celtics add will likely need to be willing to accept a bench role within the rotation.

Boston has arguably the most talented top-8 rotation in the NBA. Any veteran that is added off the buy-out market will be seen as injury insurance for the remainder of the season.

According to the Green With Envy podcast, that veteran addition could be Danilo Gallinari. The veteran forward is currently a free agent after being waived by the Detroit Pistons. He has unfinished business with the Celtics after he tore his ACL shortly after signing with the franchise in 2022.

Despite his advancing age, Gallinari is still a legitimate floor space and a reliable stationary shooter. However, his defensive limitations could be a concern for Celtics fans.

You can see the full debate regarding a potential Gallinari addition by clicking on the embedded link above.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Who are the best Boston Celtics buyout candidates for their open 15th roster spot?

Or would it make more sense to elevate one of their two way players?

The Boston Celtics have an open roster spot for their 15-man regular season roster after the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline that saw them deal for backup Memphis Grizzlies big man Xavier Tillman, Sr. and Philadelphia 76ers reserve wing Jaden Springer.

What should they do with it? The Celtics could elevate one of their two way players like Neemias Queta or JD Davison to a full roster spot to have them available in the postseason. They could also pursue players who were bought out on contracts below the full midlevel exception, like Victor Oladipo, Danuel House, Danilo Gallinari, or any of several others.

The hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” podcast took a deep dive into Boston’s remaining options for its open 15th roster spot on a recent episode.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear what they had to say.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Might a reunion with Danilo Gallinari be on the table for the Boston Celtics?

There are rumbles Boston could be interested in a do-over.

The Boston Celtics purposefully left a roster spot open for their 15-man regular season roster at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline. Planning to survey the options available among players bought out this season, they also face some barriers there.

Such candidates must have made less than the $12.4 million full midlevel exception to be eligible to sign with the Celtics, per the terms of the league’s new collective bargaining agreement. And though there is a solid supply of such candidates, would it make sense for Boston to reach out to an alum who never actually played for them?

We are talking about former Washington Wizards big man Danilo Gallinari, who had signed with Boston previously, but never suited up for the team after an injury in the 2022 offseason.

Per recent reporting from NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin, the Celtics “have some level of interest” in a reunion, along with the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s unclear how interested either party actually would be in making that reunion happen, but it’d be a good narrative at least.

Gallo has said in the past he holds no ill feelings towards Boston for dealing him away, but that could be PR on his part. And Boston may want an option who is better than Gallinari is at this stage of his career.

But if they want a big to bomb away from the corner, the Italian forward is eligible to sign with the club again.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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5 potential players the Celtics could look to add after the trade deadline

What will the Celtics do with their 15th roster spot?

The Boston Celtics may have swung two deals ahead of the 2024 NBA trade deadline, but that doesn’t mean the team is done making moves. At the time of this writing, the club still has an open 15th roster spot. The free agent pool for Boston to select from has some intriguing names, and more players are expected to be bought out of their current contracts in the next few days.

There are some limitations. Because Boston is above the first apron of the salary cap in the new CBA, the Celtics cannot sign a player who made more than the non-taxpayer midlevel exception on their original contract prior to a buyout. That means Boston can only add players who made $12.4 million or less in annual salary.

With that caveat in place, let’s take a look at some of the most intriguing names the Celtics could target.

2024 NBA buyout season: Who are the candidates?

If your team was not willing or able to complete a deal in time for trade deadline, the good news is that the trade deadline is not a roster deadline. Waivings, signings and waiver claims can be made up to and including the last day of the regular …

If your team was not willing or able to complete a deal in time for trade deadline, the good news is that the trade deadline is not a roster deadline. Waivings, signings and waiver claims can be made up to and including the last day of the regular season, and some of the players who have been traded as financial filler in deals – or who were not dealt when they were expected to be – might now be bought out of their incumbent contracts and hitting the free agency market in the springtime. Indeed, some already have been.

This is an annual cycle, and in the past, it has made for some significant moves. A particularly strong recent example was the case of Markieff Morris, who posted 19 points in Game 3 of the 2020 NBA Finals having been bought out by the Detroit Pistons only a few weeks prior, with others such as Boris Diaw (San Antonio, 2012), Peja Stojakovic (Dallas Mavericks, 2011) and the combination of Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli (Philadelphia 76ers, 2018) also being impactful players in their short stays.

Developments in the Collective Bargaining Agreement have tempered the potential impact slightly. Galvanized by the absurdity of the Boston Celtics trading Gary Payton in 2005 only to re-sign him a week later, the 2005 CBA saw a rule implemented which ensured that a player could not return to the team that traded him for a period of 30 days; however, after the Cleveland Cavaliers salary-dumped Zydrunas Ilgauskas in 2010 only to immediately re-sign him after that period, the 2011 CBA modified the rule to make it so that a cannot reacquire a player it traded away during the same season.

In the latest CBA, prohibitions go even further. Teams that are above the first tax apron cannot sign players whose previous salary was more than the amount of the Non-Taxpayer MLE or $12,405,000, which puts the kybosh on many of the moves that fans of the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, L.A. Clippers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns may be hoping for. The rich can only get slightly richer, and the player’s current salaries are important now in a way they were not before.

Nevertheless, there are always available players, and always interested teams. Here are some of the players expected to be in the buyout market over the coming weeks.

Should the Boston Celtics consider pursuing new free agent Danuel House?

Currently, the stars don’t seem aligned, but that could change.

On any NBA trade deadline, there are always roster crunch casualties who are good players who find themselves cut by their current team in order to make room for new, better players who have been dealt to their ball club.

And such is the case at the league’s 2024 trade deadline, with veteran Philadelphia 76ers wing Danuel House. Having been cut to make room for a buyout candidate, presumably Philadelphia native Kyle Lowry if he is cut after having been dealt to the Charlotte Hornets earlier this month, House is now a free agent himself.

The Boston Celtics are among teams who could use some additional veteran wing depth; should they try to sign the 30-year-old, 6-foot-6 wing?

If they did, they would need their last open a roster spot.

House’s 3-point shot (30.0% this season) has not been great, but as a career 35.% shot from deep who has put up 4.2 points and 1.7 boards per game with the 76ers this season, a world where adding House for additional wing depth could make sense.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Would Kyle Lowry make sense as a buyout candidate signing for the Chicago Bulls?

DeMar DeRozan doesn’t seem opposed to the idea.

Would former Miami Heat and now Charlotte Hornets veteran point guard Kyle Lowry make sense as a buyout candidate signing for the Chicago Bulls? To Bulls veteran DeMar DeRozan, the first thing on his mind when he heard his friend had been dealt was to reach out. “For me, it flips to being there for him more so as a friend. Basketball kind of goes out the window,” said DeRozan via NBC Sports Chicago’s KC Johnson.

“Even last night, I just texted him before I went to sleep and asked him how he was feeling mentally,” added the Chicago wing. “That’s all I care about first.”

Still, when pressed on his potential fit with Chicago, DeRozan didn’t hesitate to answer. “Kyle would fit anywhere where I’m at,” he replied with a smile.

Would he put some pressure on the front office if it were a possibility? “If it was asked of me, whether from him if that was something he wanted to do (or management), for sure,” he clarified.

“Why not? That’s one of my closest friends, one of the smartest players I’ve played with since I have been in the league.”

There have been plenty of worse moves to keep a potential free agent happy.

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Haynes: Celtics looking to improve, but small deals, buyout market likely focus

A cautious approach to both trades and buyouts seems a prudent approach for a team that needs very little.

According to Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, if the Boston Celtics do make a move ahead of the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline, expect it to be a smaller one, with the team’s focus also trained on the league’s buyout market. Speaking in a recent B/R video, Haynes shared via Heavy’s Matt John that while the Celtics are “always looking, trying to find ways to improve,” that “Boston has a roster that they feel very comfortable with.”

Even still, per the B/R reporter, “they’re going to be a team for sure that’s going to look at the buyout market and see who unloads there and see if there’s any good fits.”

“A team like Boston, if they do make a trade by the deadline, it’ll be probably a trade that would help them around the edges,” shared Haynes. “I don’t see any robust moves being made by the Celtics.”

While that might be a bit of a letdown to the team’s fans who are forever addicted to the possibility of trade deadline fireworks, when you have a club with the best record in the league, even marginal moves can do as much harm as help if not the right fit.

So with that in mind, a cautious approach to both trades and buyouts seems a prudent approach for a team that needs very little more save perhaps some forward and frontcourt depth that might be able to be addressed in one player.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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