NBA AM: After Being Swept, What Is Next?

The Sweeps Are In:  While the Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks avoided being swept, there were three other teams that were not so fortunate. While making the playoffs is often good financially for a team, failing to compete and win even a single game often is a bad sign that usually accompanies change. As some teams start clearing out lockers and calling it an offseason today, here are some things to watch from each situation.

New Orleans Pelicans

The message from ownership in New Orleans was make the postseason or else. The narrative all season was that if the team wasn’t in the postseason, there would be changes to the front office and the coaching staff. The team made the playoffs, but failing to win even a single game many not stop the inevitable. Current general manager Dell Demps and head coach Monty Williams have been on the job since 2010 and have amassed a 173-221 (.439) record – not exactly world beaters in the Western Conference.

It’s unclear where ownership falls on the current state of things, but as they say: once you start talking about divorce, one becomes almost inevitable.

The Pelicans also have a number of roster situations to consider. The first being persuading big man Anthony Davis to sign a maximum contract extension; that becomes harder if the franchise up ends itself with a coaching and management change. Davis is eligible to sign an early extension, which would start in 2016, or he can wait out the season and hit restricted free agency in 2016. Either way, his next deal will be based on the first year of the new NBA television contract so monetarily there is nothing gained from not doing a deal unless he wants to squeeze the organization a little.

Davis has repeatedly characterized his pending extension talks in a somewhat negative way, this week saying: “When that time comes, you are going have to deal with it and make tough decisions.” Not exactly the giddy-to-sign-on tone the Pelicans would hope he’d have when a potential $140 million is on the line.

The Pelicans also have two key would-be free agents, the biggest being center Omer Asik. The word is Asik would like to be back in New Orleans, but has every intention of shopping for his best deal so it will be up to New Orleans to pony up a real offer. Big men come at a premium and given how well Davis played off of Asik this season, it might foolish not to resign him. Asik finished the final year of his last contract with a cap value of $8.34 million, but was paid in cash a sum closer to $15 million because of how his original deal was structured with the Houston Rockets. Asik is expected to command something close to what Washington Wizards big man Marcin Gortat received this past summer – five years $60 million. It will be interesting to see if the Pelicans bite at that kind of price tag.

Norris Cole, who was acquired at the trade deadline, will likely be a restricted free agent assuming the Pelicans issue his $3.03 million qualifying offer. Cole is said to be looking for his big payday and a chance to have a more defined role, even if it means stepping backwards in the win-loss column. The Pelicans have been ravaged at the point guard spot with injuries over the last two seasons, so keeping Cole might matter; however, if the bidding on Cole gets north of $6-8 million, the Pelicans may have no choice but to pass.

The Pelicans have a couple of tradable players. Eric Gordon is likely picking up his player option worth $15.51 million for next season, the final one on his deal. As the trade deadline gets closer next season, that number is going to be mean increasingly less to an acquiring team and as Gordon proved in the playoffs, when he’s healthy he’s still a formidable player.

The Pelicans have never seemed to get the most out of guard Jrue Holiday and that might make him expendable in trade, especially if retaining Cole becomes a priority. Holiday has endured several serious injuries since landing in New Orleans that may or may not impact his return in trade.

The Pelicans are looking at roughly $61.16 million in contract commitments next year, which gives them a small amount of cap space to play with if they let Asik and potentially Cole walk. Making offseason trades is the most likely means to significantly improve the team.

It will be an interesting offseason for the Pelicans; there are a lot of items to attend to.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics were playing with house money in the postseason. They had won enough games to get in, but were in no way the battled-tested sort of team that could win a series; however, they made a couple of games in the series against the Cleveland Cavaliers a little closer than anyone would like. It’s unfortunate that the series ended in controversy, especially with Kevin Love and Kelly Olynyk getting tangled up on a 50-50 play that resulted in Love dislocating his shoulder. That will unfortunately mare what should be seen as an impressive season for a team that was supposed to be rebuilding.

The Celtics have some business to attend to, namely their own free agents and continuing to cull out the veterans on the roster.

Celtics forward Brandon Bass is arguably the biggest free agent of the bunch. He told Basketball Insiders’ Jessica Camerato last night that he’d like to be back, but hasn’t received any indications from the Celtics yet on where they view him. Celtics president Danny Ainge has said a few times this season that he’d like Bass back, but it’s time to do a new deal and we’ll see what the market offers Bass.

Forward Jonas Jerebko is in a similar boat, entering unrestricted free agency in July. The Celtics have said they would like to retain Jerebko too; however he is free to explore his options and unless the Celtics put a big number on the table, they may lose him to free agency.

The Celtics also have the option to restrict the free agency of Jae Crowder with a $1.1 million qualifying offer, something they are expected to do. Crowder may not command a huge contract this summer, but he will likely get a sizable raise over the $915,000 he earned last season. Word is the Dallas Mavericks may get into the bidding on Crowder so things may get interesting.

Gerald Wallace remains the lone veteran contract Boston would like to move and sources say the Celtics would be willing to part with one of the half dozen or so first-round draft picks they have amassed to move him this offseason. Wallace will be entering the final year of his contract and is owed $10.1 million.

The Celtics, as things stand today, have $45.67 in salary commitments next season, which could equate to roughly $21 million in cap space depending on how they manage their own free agents. One interesting thing to note is that Boston could seriously be in the mix for the aforementioned Love, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote yesterday.

The C’s are expected to be aggressive in free agency, so it will be interesting to see how hard they try and move off cap luggage and increase their usable cap space.

Toronto Raptors

Heartbreaking is the only way to describe the Raptors’ postseason. After a decent regular season that had its fair share of bumps, the Raptors simply failed to compete in the playoffs, leaving Raptors president Masai Ujiri with a lot of issues to ponder.

The Raptors turned away mid-season trades hoping that this group was as special as they seemed at times. However, when the pressure was applied, everything came apart.

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry is said to be nursing a sore back and without their All-Star point guard leading the way, the Raptors regressed in virtually every way, casting a huge cloud of doubt on the offseason.

The Raptors have several would-be free agents, the biggest being sixth man Lou Williams. Williams has said repeatedly that he wants to be back; however, with the Raptors needing to institute significant change, is Williams a priority? Williams was this season’s Sixth Man of the Year.

Reserves Landry Fields, Chuck Hayes and possibly Tyler Hansbrough are all expected to be renounced, leaving Amir Johnson as the last free agent to consider. Johnson has been solid for the Raptors, so this one may come down to price tag.

The Raptors have $49.04 million in firm salary commitments for next season, which could equate to roughly $19.94 million in useable cap space. Johnson has a cap hold worth $10.5 million while Williams has a hold of $8.17 million, so to get cap space both either need to sign for less than their hold or be renounced outright.

The bigger elephant in the room is the status of head coach Dwane Casey. He signed a three-year extension worth roughly $11.25 million last May that would carry him through the 2016-17 season; however, the final year of that deal is a team option. So in essence the Raptors owe Casey one more fully guaranteed year, which likely means his status as a head coach gets looked at too.

Like the Pelicans, the Raptors have some soul searching to do, mainly because the postseason exposed the numerous flaws of the team all in one neat little four-game package.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks staved off elimination and the dreaded sweep this weekend, but both face elimination in their respective Game 5 matchups. The Bucks return to Chicago tonight for an 8 p.m. tip off against the Bulls, while the Mavericks return to Houston on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. tip against the Rockets.

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