December 30, 2013

Furthermore, an unnecessary part of the Gay deal saw them opt for Prince and Austin Daye over keeping Jose Calderon and his expiring deal. (Calderon eventually went to Detroit). Daye is already gone, while Prince will cost $7.7 million next season to perform like the backup-caliber player he now is. And in an underappreciated, but increasingly sore mistake, the team moved last year's first-round pick, Tony Wroten, to Philadelphia exchange only for a second rounder, then dealt another second rounder for the rights to Nick Calathes. Wroten, four years younger and considerably more athletic, is averaging 13.8 points and 3.6 assists per game as one of the league's best sixth men, where Calathes has struggled badly on his way to 2.8 points and 2.6 assists.

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November 6, 2013

Second-round picks are the new first-round picks. It is they which are used on reclamation projects (Thomas Robinson, already traded twice in his career, has yet to yield one), and for acquiring decent backups. Memphis acquired the rights to Wroten's replacement, Nick Calathes, from Dallas in exchange for a 2016 second-round pick. Milwaukee acquired a second-round pick as compensation for taking on Luke Ridnour as a part of the Kevin Martin trade. Sacramento acquired Luc Richard Mbah a Moute from Milwaukee in exchange for a 2016 second-round pick and the right to swap 2019 seconds, and at the last deadline, Marcus Morris, a useful player for Houston, yielded only a second-rounder, too.

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October 25, 2013

[O]n a more simplistic level, second-round picks simply cost less. In an era where so many more teams have cap room than in the recent past, this trend is developing further, and being pushed further down. Teams are selling second-round picks less because they are valued internally ever more, for multiple reasons, both in raw salary and luxury tax calculations.

Players with more than two years of NBA experience count as only a two-year veteran against both salary cap and luxury tax calculations if they are signed to only a one-year minimum salary contract. For this reason, they are almost always signed to that, and only rarely does a veteran on a minimum salary contract get a second year. Meanwhile, rookies and sophomores signed to the minimum count against the salary cap as their respective minimum salaries, but only against the cap.

For luxury tax calculations, any player signed as a free agent who earns less than the two-year veteran's minimum salary counts as the two-year veteran's minimum salary, unless he was drafted. If he was drafted, he counts only for what he was signed for. Simply put, you can't sign undrafted rookies instead of veterans to pinch some pennies on the luxury tax. You can, however, sign drafted ones. This, then, is where extra value from a late second-round pick can be found.

If you're faced with the choice between a fringe NBA veteran getting a roster spot, or your second-round pick, then any luxury tax concerns the team may have will play a factor in the decision. For example, Erik Murphy with Chicago has only a $250,000 guarantee on his $490,180 salary this season, yet he is surely extremely likely to survive the whole season, as a replacement player (whom the Bulls would likely have to sign just to meet the minimum roster size) will cost about double that.

An undrafted rookie signed to the rookie minimum would cost Chicago $490,180 in salary but $1,514,573 in luxury tax (Chicago currently resides in the $1.75-$1 tax bracket), plus the $250,000 in Murphy's guaranteed portion should he be waived. Murphy, a drafted rookie minimum, would in contrast cost only $857,815 in tax, the same in salary, and without the cost of the guaranteed portion of someone else. That is a saving of as-near-as-is $1 million. And that is significant.

This demonstrates the value of what the late second-round drafted status can offer to a team's luxury tax situation. And perhaps teams are recognizing this -- it is entirely possible that Nick Calathes, a second-round pick from 2009 acquired by Memphis from Dallas and signed to a minimum salary contract, was at least partially sought after for the third-string point guard role because of his price tag, rather than a veteran perhaps more behooving of a high playoff seed.

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April 2, 2011

Nick Calathes (45th pick, 2009)

- Calathes, seen here wearing an afro and touching up some young woman, is one of the best players on this list. Solid in a limited role at Panathinaikos last year, the team lost both Sarunas Jasikevicius and Vassilis Spanoulis over the summer; rather than bringing in another big name expensive point guard to replace them, the team instead just entrusted Calathes with a bigger role. Now the full time back-up to Dimitris Diamantidis, Calathes is averaging 7.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 18 minutes per game in Greek league play, shooting 50% from the field. Those numbers dip to 3.9 points and 1.1 assists in 13 mpg in Euroleague play, and the standard of play between the Euroleague and the Greek league is pretty substantial. Calathes has also not yet developed the three point shot he so badly needs. Nevertheless, try and find three other 21 year old point guards playing rotation minutes for one of Europe's very best teams.

Because of that, he might not be inclined to come over. 6'5 point guards without great athleticism or jumpshooting are better suited to Europe, especially if they have a Greek passport. Calathes probably could make it onto an NBA bench for a bit, much like Cedric Bozeman briefly did, but he needn't.

Chances of making the NBA expressed as an arbitrary percentage: 10%

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January 14, 2010

- Nick Calathes

Calathes is playing for Panathinaikos, where his Greek passport helps the team bypass rules in non-Greek players. He played quite a lot to begin the year backing up Vassilis Spanoulis, but has seen less time since Sarunas Jasikevicius returned from injury. On the season, Calathes (or Kalathis to the Greeks) averages 6.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in the Greek league, along with 4.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in the Euroleague. Those numbers might not look too good, but as the third string point guard on one of the world's best and deepest teams, they're pretty solid.

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