Tag: Nene

Today in 2017: Nene’s perfect game leads Rockets to road playoff win

Nene scored 28 points on 12-of-12 shooting, which tied the all-time record for most made shots without a miss in NBA playoff history.

On this day in 2017, veteran backup center Nene had 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Houston Rockets held off the host Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series.

Nene scored his 28 points on 12-of-12 shooting, which tied the all-time record for most made shots without a miss in NBA playoff history. He joined Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain as the only NBA players to tally 20+ points and 10+ rebounds on 100% FG in a playoff game.

Houston rallied to a 113-109 victory (box score) behind a decisive 40-32 edge in the fourth quarter, giving the Rockets a 3-1 series lead.

Had the Thunder won, it would have tied the series and effectively made it a best-of-three contest. Instead, the Rockets grabbed a commanding lead and closed out the April 2017 series at home in Game 5.

Thunder guard and eventual 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook had 35 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists, while Houston’s backcourt of James Harden and Pat Beverley combined for just 22 points on 24.1% shooting.

Starting center Clint Capela registered a -25 in the plus/minus in his 18 minutes, and he was largely outplayed by Thunder big man Steven Adams — who had 18 points (80% FG) and seven rebounds.

But head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s three-man bench of Nene and reserve guards Eric Gordon and Lou Williams saved the day. Gordon and Williams each scored 18 points, while Nene had a historically efficient showing and was a game-high +24 in his 25 minutes.

The 2016-17 Rockets, who finished the regular season with a 55-27 record and as the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed for the playoffs, advanced to the second round before bowing out in six games to No. 2 San Antonio. Nene suffered a season-ending adductor tear in Game 4, and Houston then lost the next two games without him.

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Analyzing every deal from 2020 NBA trade deadline with Ben Golliver

Alex Kennedy and Ben Golliver break down every deal from the 2020 NBA trade deadline, the biggest winners/losers, possible buyouts and more.

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On this episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, Alex Kennedy is joined by Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. They break down every deal from the 2020 NBA trade deadline, the biggest winners and losers, possible buyout candidates and more. Time-stamps are below!

1:35: Alex and Ben discuss their biggest winners of the deadline.

5:12: Alex and Ben discuss their biggest losers of the deadline.

7:55: Did the Golden State Warriors make the right move trading D’Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins and a top-three protected 2021 first-round pick? Alex and Ben debate whether Golden State should’ve waited to see if a better offer emerged over the offseason, what to expect from Minnesota’s new-look team and more.

13:50: Breaking down the three-team deal that sends Marcus Morris to the Los Angeles Clippers. How much better does Morris make them? And what does this deal mean for the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards?

16:05: Alex and Ben discuss Darren Collison’s options if he decides to make an NBA comeback. If you were Collison, would you sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers or another team (such as the Denver Nuggets or Philadelphia 76ers, who have shown interest in him)?

20:15: The Cleveland Cavaliers added Andre Drummond and they didn’t have to give up very much to the Detroit Pistons. Alex and Ben discuss the trade, why they like the move for Cleveland and what Detroit was thinking. They also talk about what this trade says about the evolution of the NBA.

25:10: Alex and Ben discuss the four-team, 12-player trade between the Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. They break down Atlanta’s acquisition of Clint Capela, Houston’s addition of Robert Covington and the Rockets’ decision to go super small.

32:45: The Miami Heat acquired Andre Iguodala in a three-team deal with the Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves, parting ways with Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson. The Heat also added Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill from the deal. Alex and Ben discuss Iguodala’s fit in Miami and the two-year, $30 million extension he signed with the Heat, as well as Memphis’ return for the 36-year-old.

37:25: Alex and Ben rattle off the remainder of minor deals that went down before the deadline and discuss their significance.

39:25: After the trade deadline, focus shifts to the buyout market. Alex and Ben talk about a number of veterans who could potentially be bought out and what kind of impact they could make on a contending team.

In Clint Capela trade, Rockets to acquire Robert Covington

Best known for his defense, 6-foot-7 forward Robert Covington is on his way to Houston in a trade sending center Clint Capela to Atlanta.

In news that broke late Tuesday night, the Houston Rockets agreed to acquire forward Robert Covington and reserve big man Jordan Bell from the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with a second-round draft pick.

As part of a four-way trade, the Rockets are sending starting center Clint Capela to Atlanta and their 2020 first-round draft pick to Denver, along with injured reserves Gerald Green (to Denver) and Nene (to Atlanta).

The complex deal was agreed to over a day before the NBA’s trade deadline for the 2019-20 season, which is at 2 p.m. Central time on Thursday. It’s certainly feasible that Houston could make another move by that time, since the Rockets now have two open roster spots.

Best known for his defense, Covington is averaging 12.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 29.4 minutes per game this season. The lanky 6-foot-7 forward, who is shooting 43.5% from the field and 34.6% on 3-pointers, offers the defensive versatility to guard several positions.

The 29-year-old is signed through the 2021-22 season at an average salary of approximately $12 million. Per several reports, Covington has been a trade target of the Rockets for months.

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The Rockets selected Capela in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft. Now in his sixth season — all with the Rockets — the 25-year-old is averaging 13.9 points (62.9% shooting) and 13.8 rebounds per game, with that rebounding total ranking fourth in the league.

Despite the gaudy individual numbers, though, the Rockets are 10-1 (.909) in games that Capela has not played in the 2019-20 season due to injury or illness. Specifically, the Rockets have had a far superior rating on offense when not utilizing a traditional center.

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That seems to have prompted GM Daryl Morey to reallocate his team’s salary resources, with Capela’s slot of more than $16 million going to a more versatile forward in Covington and a cheaper center.

To that end, the Rockets had reportedly sought to bring in both a wing player and a replacement center for Capela as part of their planned transactions leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline. Since they are not acquiring a proven center in this deal, it could signal that another trade or an eventual buyout signing is in the works for that purpose.

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The Rockets (32-18) have won six of their last eight games overall, with the last four wins without Capela. They’re in the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference playoff race and just a half-game back of No. 4 Utah (32-17).

But with a stated mission of winning the 2020 NBA title, their sights are much higher than their current standings placement. Morey’s hope is that the acquisition of Covington can move them closer to that ultimate goal.

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Window officially opens for Rockets to trade Nene’s contract

As of Wednesday, Jan. 15, Nene is eligible to be traded by the Houston Rockets. Here’s a look at why he almost certainly will be.

As of Wednesday, the Houston Rockets are officially able to trade veteran center Nene — which they likely will do by the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

Unlike most offseason signings, who became trade eligible on Dec. 15, Nene was re-signed to his $2.6-million contract for this season with Bird rights. This meant that he could not be traded until Jan. 15, 2020.

Over the last three seasons with the Rockets, the 37-year-old Nene has averaged 6.8 points (58.6% shooting) and 3.6 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game as the team’s backup center.

There are several reasons why a trade appears inevitable. For starters, the Rockets are currently above the NBA’s luxury-tax line, and it seems unlikely that Houston would pay extra payments on a player who has yet to even play a single game for them this season.

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Nene has been away from the team with what the Rockets have called a chronic strain to his left adductor, and even if he was healthy and available, he’d be fourth on the team’s depth chart at center behind Clint Capela, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Tyson Chandler.

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In other words, it’s extremely unlikely that the Rockets will make tax payments and keep a roster spot occupied for a player who isn’t in a position to make any major contributions to the team.

There’s also the matter of Nene’s contract, which was clearly drawn up with trade considerations in mind. Though the NBA lowered the deal’s outgoing trade value due to the controversial bonus structure, his $2.6-million salary is still potentially useful, even at that base rate.

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That’s because the Rockets don’t have much in the way of “filler” salaries to make the math work on potential trades to upgrade their team. With Houston well above the league’s 2019-20 salary cap, they have to send out close to as much money in trades as they take in to make them permissible under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Of the team’s larger salaries, most seem to be indispensable pieces to their title chances, and Eric Gordon isn’t eligible to be dealt this season at all after signing a contract extension in September. That prevents any trades for six months, and that period runs beyond the Feb. 6 deadline.

Even among the smaller salaries, guards Austin Rivers and Gerald Green have veto power on potential trades, since they were re-signed using Early Bird rights to one-year deals. That rule doesn’t apply to Nene, since there is a second-year option on his current contract.

Thus, Nene is one of the most tradable salaries the team has — both from a math perspective, and his lack of importance to their success.

Finally, there’s the matter of that second-year option for the 2020-21 season, which kicks in as fully guaranteed if Nene isn’t waived by Feb. 15.

In other words, even if the Rockets did somehow see a scenario where Nene could help the current team, it’s extremely unlikely that they would want to guarantee his contract for next season at 38 years old.

Thus, if they’re going to move on from Nene by mid-February no matter what, there are more advantages to a trade than a release.

In a perfect world, Nene’s salary could be used to help match salaries on a deal that brings in an upgrade to the current rotation. That obviously couldn’t happen if he had been released earlier in the season.

But even if a move for a rotation upgrade isn’t in the cards, it’s still financially advantageous from a tax perspective to dump Nene to another team and let them release him, instead of the Rockets.

This is what GM Daryl Morey did in January 2019 with a pair of deals sending Carmelo Anthony and Michael Carter-Williams to Chicago, where they were subsequently released.

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The Rockets do still have the majority of their $5.6-million annual cash allotment, which is not taxed, to incentivize another team to help them out in such a scenario. That’s what helped enable the Anthony and Carter-Williams trades with the Bulls a year ago.

In Nene’s case, whether it’s a straight salary dump to try and avoid the luxury tax altogether or part of a larger deal for a rotation upgrade, the reality is that a deal is almost certainly coming. Jan. 15 opened the window, and now Morey has just over three weeks until the deadline on Thursday, Feb. 6 to figure out the best course of action.

The safe bet is on a deal coming to fruition in the final week, with Morey and the Rockets keeping their options open on whether Nene can potentially be used for more than merely tax savings. Waiting would also lower the remaining salary owed from the team acquiring Nene, which could in turn reduce the cash payments needed to facilitate a deal.

The bottom line: Nene trade season is officially underway in Houston.

 

Rockets luxury tax update after waiving Ryan Anderson

The Rockets are now carrying fourteen players on the roster. If they finish the season with the exact same roster, they would be $178,984 above the luxury tax for a tax payment of $268,476.

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The Houston Rockets waived forward Ryan Anderson on Monday. He only appeared in two games and did not play after Nov. 3.

Anderson was only guaranteed $500,000 after making the team’s opening night roster. The Rockets could have kept Anderson for four more days before his salary would’ve exceeded his guarantee, but they decided to part ways with him now.

The Rockets are now carrying 14 players on the roster. If they finish the season with the exact same roster, they would be $178,984 above the luxury tax for a tax payment of $268,476.

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The Rockets can get below the tax by trading some of their minimum-salaried players by the deadline and then signing new players on pro-rated deals. This was a practice they engaged in last season in order to completely avoid the luxury tax.

Nene, who was signed in order to be used as trade fodder, is widely expected to be traded once trade-eligible on January 15, 2020.

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One factor that can complicate the Rockets pursuit of avoiding the luxury tax is if Clint Capela earns some or all of his incentives. He has three incentives that can boost his salary by up to $2 million. Right now, he is on a rebounding tear and is on pace to have at least a 30 percent defensive rebounding percentage (currently at 33 percent per Basketball-Reference), which would give him an extra $500,000. He also must play at least 2,000 minutes to meet the criteria.

Two-way player Chris Clemons, who is in the rotation after playing in eight of the team’s last nine games, is a candidate for the 15th roster spot. The Rockets could run out his two-way clock and then convert him onto the regular roster with a prorated minimum salary.

The Rockets could trade both Nene and Gerald Green and have about $4 million in space below the tax. That should be plenty to work with for converting Clemons onto the regular-season roster, filling minimum roster requirements with 10-day contracts, and ultimately signing free agents to rest-of-season contracts while leaving some room for Capela’s potential incentives.

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