Best and worst decisions on rookie contract options
— -- Tuesday was the deadline for NBA teams to exercise team options for 2018-19 for players entering the third or fourth seasons of their rookie contracts as first-round picks.
In this roundup, we'll look at some key decisions and what they mean for teams and players.
All deals listed alphabetically by team.
Chicago Bulls
Exercised team options for Kris Dunn, Jerian Grant, Cameron Payne, Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine.
The Bulls picked up all five of their team options, which was notable in two cases. Payne was ineffective last season before and after being traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to Chicago and has dealt with recurring injuries to his fifth metatarsal, so he was one of the players I identified as being? in danger of having his option declined.
Portis' option became a question mark after his punch during a practice altercation brutally injured teammate Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic has reportedly told the team he'd welcome a trade if Portis remains on the roster, and of the two players, Mirotic is the obvious keeper. Portis will likely be out of the rotation when Mirotic returns, with rookie Lauri Markkanen set to claim plenty of minutes at power forward. So declining Portis' option and moving on might have been prudent for the Bulls.
Presumably, part of Chicago's thinking is that the team will have plenty of cap space even with the options for Payne and Portis on the books -- more than $20 million, counting Zach LaVine's cap hold as a restricted free agent. Once the Bulls decided to keep Payne and Portis on the roster, it made sense for them to pick up both options.
Golden State Warriors
Exercised Damian Jones' team option. Declined to exercise Kevon Looney's team option.
Days after probably the best performance of his NBA career -- nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and five rebounds in 11 minutes filling in for Draymond Green after his ejection as the Warriors rallied to beat the Washington Wizards -- Looney had his fourth-year option declined. Ultimately, the $700,000 or so Looney will make more than the veterans minimum was too much for a Golden State team that would have paid several multiples that difference in luxury taxes.
By contrast, Jones' third-year option will probably come in right around the veterans minimum, so the Warriors were willing to exercise it despite Jones showing little in his limited NBA action. Given that Golden State will continue to pay the tax, he'll have to make progress to avoid the same fate as Looney next year.
LA Clippers
Exercised Sam Dekker's team option. Declined to exercise Brice Johnson's team option.
Johnson is one of just two 2016 draftees who had their third-year option declined, the other being Wade Baldwin, who was cut by the Memphis Grizzlies.
The former North Carolina star missed nearly two-thirds of his rookie season with a back injury, playing just three games total. Johnson played well at the NBA summer league in Las Vegas but a dismal preseason, including 1-of-9 3-point shooting, probably doomed him.
That surprises me. Johnson's salary ($1.5 million) wasn't a concern, so the Clippers apparently decided he simply isn't worth a roster spot. That continues a bad trend for the Clippers, who haven't gotten any production from the handful of first-round picks they've kept in the Doc Rivers era: Reggie Bullock, C.J. Wilcox and now Johnson.
Memphis Grizzlies
Exercised Jarell Martin's team option.
Give Martin the comeback player of the year award. After reportedly being told by the Grizzlies before training camp that he would be waived, he not only won a roster spot but has started in place of the injured JaMychal Green. Again, once Memphis kept Martin on the roster, picking up his option made sense -- and now he appears to have a future with the Grizzlies.
Milwaukee Bucks
Exercised Thon Maker's team option. Declined to exercise Rashad Vaughn's team option.
Vaughn was one of the league's least efficient scorers his first two seasons, posting a .398 true shooting percentage in 1,001 minutes as a rookie and improving marginally to .449 in 2016-17. Vaughn has actually posted a .656 true shooting percentage this season, but over 43 minutes that shouldn't change our expectations for him much.
Like many of the other teams that declined rookie options, the Bucks are dealing with the luxury tax, and Vaughn's $2.9 million salary could have been problematic for them. Barely 21, Vaughn is a reasonable second-draft candidate for another team next summer.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Declined to exercise Josh Huestis' team option.
After being stashed in the G League his first year as a pro, Huestis played just 86 minutes total during the first three seasons of his rookie contract. He has already nearly matched that total with 82 minutes in 2017-18, emerging as a part of Billy Donovan's rotation, so it's a little surprising the Thunder declined his option.
But Oklahoma City could be looking at a huge tax bill next season if Paul George re-signs and Carmelo Anthony picks up his $28 million player option, so the Thunder were understandably reluctant to commit to paying Huestis another year.
Orlando Magic
Declined to exercise Mario Hezonja's team option.
Orlando's latest (last?) attempt to find a role for Hezonja has seen him serve as a backup power forward at times this season in shooting-heavy lineups. Hezonja has at last made some 3s (5-of-8) but his usage rate has sunk to a career-low 15.9 percent of the Magic's plays while on the court. There's also a defensive price to be paid for playing Hezonja at the 4, and Orlando's minus-10.8 net rating with him on the court is the worst of any player on the team who has seen at least 30 minutes of action,? per NBA.com/Stats.
Hezonja has shown enough flashes of skill to think he merits an NBA roster spot next season. Still, paying him $5.2 million was impossible to justify at this point, and if Hezonja finds another home, it will surely be at a more reasonable salary.
Philadelphia 76ers
Exercised team options for Justin Anderson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. Declined to exercise Jahlil Okafor's team option.
No option decision drew more attention than that of the Sixers and Okafor, the first top-three pick to have an option declined since Anthony Bennett. It's clear at this point, with Okafor behind Joel Embiid, veteran Amir Johnson and the injured Richaun Holmes on the center depth chart that, whether by trade or buyout,? his time in Philadelphia is drawing to a conclusion.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Tuesday that the 76ers had been exploring Okafor trade possibilities before the deadline. In part, they surely wanted to gauge whether Okafor had more trade value as an expiring contract or with his $6.2 million option for 2018-19. That's a big number, and as I've noted in the past, the high salaries for top picks during the back half of their rookie contracts are one reason the second draft hasn't yielded as many hits in recent seasons. Okafor is a better gamble than plenty of young players on rosters, but Okafor at his salary may not be a better investment than a player who signs on for multiple seasons at the minimum with limited guarantees.
Remember that teams trade for contracts, not players, and Okafor at $5.4 million this season and his Bird rights this summer (though limited to offering the value of the declined option, $6.2 million) just isn't all that valuable. It's unlikely that changes with Okafor sitting on the bench, so the Sixers will probably have to lower their demands for Okafor in a trade or settle for getting only financial relief in a buyout. (Clearing additional cap space would allow them to offer more up-front money to forward Robert Covington in a possible renegotiation and extension, which Covington is eligible to sign starting Nov. 15.)
Given Philadelphia's desire to maximize cap space next summer, probably the last best opportunity to add a quality free agent to the team's young core, it's a tad surprising the 76ers picked up Anderson's option. He has played just 60 minutes off the bench this season. Still, the $2.5 million price tag is reasonable, and if the Sixers need additional cap space, they could probably move Anderson without much difficulty.
Washington Wizards
Declined to exercise Chris McCullough's team option.
Taking on McCullough was part of the price of the Wizards moving Andrew Nicholson's salary to the Brooklyn Nets at last year's trade deadline, a deal that also netted Washington three months of Bojan Bogdanovic's services and cost the Wizards their first-round pick.
Drafted while rehabbing a torn ACL suffered midway through his lone season at Syracuse, McCullough hasn't really developed, so declining his option was an easy call for a Wizards team that will likely pay the luxury tax. I wouldn't be surprised to see Washington deal McCullough and cash to a team with cap space before the trade deadline, cutting the Wizards' tax bill this season.
Related Stories
ABC News Live