NBA Rumors Round-Up
NBA Rumors: Faried Unsure of Future in Denver
Updated15 Oct 2021
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Faried said he’s not worried about any of that. But he’s also not sure if he’ll be around at the start of next season.
“I don’t know, honestly,” Faried said. “I just don’t know. It’s the NBA. You can’t be too secure anywhere. I thought Nene was going to be a Nugget for the rest of his life, and he just got traded out of nowhere. That was the first big trade I ever saw in my life, and it baffled me because he was a great player here and he was here a long time. He finally bought his house out here and the next thing you know he was gone. You can never be too secure.”
A big reason why Faried is unsure if he’ll be in Denver next year is because he has seen his name surface in trade rumors repeatedly throughout the course of this season. The Nuggets talked to a number of teams about Faried prior to the February trade deadline, but they ultimately decided to hold onto the 24-year-old big man.
The Nuggets could decide to shop Faried again this offseason, especially if the team isn’t ready to give him the lucrative contract that he’ll be seeking in the near future.
Faried can sign an extension at the start of next season if the two sides are on the same page, or he can become a restricted free agent after the year (once the Nuggets extend a qualifying offer). But Denver already has $43,577,220 committed in guaranteed contracts for the 2015-16 season, and if they don’t feel that Faried is worth the big payday that he’ll likely command on the open market, they may decide to trade him before then.
This season, Faried has averaged 13.2 points and 8.2 rebounds while playing 26.6 minutes. The Nuggets are currently 33-44, which puts them in 11th place in the Western Conference.
The Sacramento Kings made an aggressive move midseason when they acquired Rudy Gay from the Toronto Raptors, and while the trade has not resulted in a ton of wins in the short-term, there are indications that Gay might be a big part of the Kings’ rebuilding plan going forward.
“I have to [keep a positive attitude], man,” Gay told Basketball Insiders. “No matter where I go, I have to be me and be the best me I can be. Honestly, I feel like I do that better here. The wins don’t really pan out like I like for them to, but I definitely feel comfortable here.”
As for the decision ahead of him, Gay has been careful not to allow himself to become a distraction for the rest of the team.
“Everything is a possibility,” Gay said of his future. “For right now, I just owe it to my teammates to finish the season out to the best of my ability and not comment too much. We have a lot of young guys that probably haven’t been a part of situations like this so I don’t think it’d be fair for me to be steering them one way or the other.”
There hasn’t been much talk about Gay’s impending free agency this season and now we know why. The small forward is keeping his lips sealed because he doesn’t want to become a distraction within the organization, especially since he’s surrounded by a bunch of young players who are still learning that the NBA is a business.
Gay has a tough decision to make this summer. He can opt in to the final year of his contract and make $19,317,326 next season, or he can opt out and secure a new long-term deal as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
If Gay opts out, his salary for next season won’t be anywhere close to $19.3 million, but he’ll have a new multi-year deal and he’ll make more money in the long run. It also gives him the opportunity to weigh his options, although it sounds like he likes the situation with the Kings.
Opting out now is also smart because he has played well in Sacramento and his stock is much higher now than it was when he was in Toronto. This season, Gay has averaged 20 points and six rebounds. However, it hasn’t translated into wins for the young Kings, who are just 27-50 this season.
Celtics center Joel Anthony has a $3.8 million player option this summer that he is expected to exercise, but he told the Globe he was unsure of his decision. “When the season’s over, I’ll talk with my agent and look to see what we’re going to do,” he said. Anthony has played little with the Celtics, primarily because he is new to the system and the club wanted to play Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk in the frontcourt. But Anthony could be a more useful asset next season when the Celtics move forward from rebuilding mode. He is the team’s lone legitimate center. “The team, obviously we haven’t had the success that we wanted on the court but off the court it’s been a great situation,” Anthony said. “You don’t always have that when teams are in this type of situation. That’s made it a lot easier being in a good locker room with a good group of guys.”
It would be a big mistake for Anthony to opt out of his contract, because it’s very unlikely he would get a $3.8 million salary or a multi-year deal on the free agent market. Anthony should opt in and collect his money for next season.
I’m sure the Celtics would love if Anthony decided to opt out, as it would be one less contract on the books for the rebuilding team, who have committed $44,705,225 in guaranteed contracts next season.
Anthony has barely played with the Celtics this season, appearing in just 17 games and averaging 4.8 minutes since being acquired by Boston in the three-team deal that also included the Miami HEAT and Golden State Warriors.
The fact that Anthony doesn’t have much of a role in Boston may make him tempted to opt out, but is it really worth turning down $3.8 million? No, especially when there’s no guarantee that he’d have a role elsewhere.
The 31-year-old should wait out this next season, do his best mentoring Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger, and then focus on free agency during the summer of 2015.
