When K.J. McDaniels was selected 32nd overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, he was offered a four-year contract by the Philadelphia 76ers. On the surface, the contract looked pretty good for a second-round pick, whose contracts usually aren’t guaranteed and tend to come in right around the league minimum. The first two years were both guaranteed and above the minimum – a rarity outside the first round. However, the third and fourth years were both unguaranteed and for the league minimum. While this has become a classic move for 76ers General Manager Sam Hinkie, at the time it was a bit of a wild card play.
McDaniels responded with an even wilder play. He rejected the offer, instead choosing to sign a one-year, non-guaranteed contract, making him a restricted free agent after only one season in the NBA. Zach Lowe of Grantland called this “a negotiating loss for Philly, and a win for players who want control of their futures.”
The Interesting Case of K.J. McDaniels
McDaniels’ story only got better from there. After averaging 9.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 52 games for the 76ers, McDaniels was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Isaiah Canaan and a second-round pick. McDaniels appeared in 10 games for the Rockets off the bench before suffering an elbow fracture in the team’s last regular season game and missing the playoffs.
Despite not playing much for the Rockets, the team liked what they saw and on July 21, signed him to a three-year, $10 million contract. As Dan Devin of Yahoo Sports broke down McDaniels’ deal in more detail,
“The player option for Year 3 also affords McDaniels an opportunity to re-enter free agency again in the summer of 2017, when he’ll be just 24 years old and when the influx of revenue from the NBA’s new nine-year, $24 billion broadcast rights deal is expected to inflate the salary cap to an unprecedented $108 million.”
Simply put, McDaniels has signed a deal that will be ending right as he reaches his prime athletically, right as the salary cap increases to the highest in league history. A deal this unique doesn’t happen often in the NBA, but stories of a second-round pick (especially small forwards) becoming an NBA star have been occurring more recently.
The success of Chandler Parsons and Draymond Green, who have each made huge splashes in free agency recently (Parsons signed a three-year, $46 million contract with the Mavericks in 2014, and Green re-upped with the Golden State Warriors on July 9, signing a five-year, $82 contract), points to the talent that lurks in the early second round. All have had similar stories in that they were first-round talent that slipped to early in the second round, but while Parsons and Green solely played their way to bigger money, McDaniels and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, took a risk on McDaniels right from the jump.
The Rockets have made a flurry of moves this offseason to bring in perimeter players, re-signing Corey Brewer and Patrick Beverly, drafting Sam Dekker, signing journeyman shooter Marcus Thornton and trading for Ty Lawson. All of these moves, in addition to James Harden (who is pretty good at basketball as well), will mean that the rotation will be difficult to get into, and playing time hard to come by. Even so, McDaniels will be looking to sign his third contract at an age when most players are finishing up their first, and by that point should be looking to improve upon the numbers of his contract and sign a longer-term deal.
But don’t take that to mean he’s not happy to be back in H-Town. “I feel great. It’s about time we got it done and I’m just happy to be a part of such a great organization,” McDaniels said to the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen. “I felt like this was the right place for me because I’m loyal to the team. I have a great relationship with the players on the team. The city was great to me. I love the organization. I love the history behind the Rockets and the greats that played there. It’s just a blessing.”
McDaniels’ ability to bet on himself, and not accept whatever fate the team that drafted him decided, is intriguing and worth following down the road. Many will look to how he plays over the next few seasons to determine whether or not this type of negotiation works. Regardless, his story definitely gives hope to second-round picks everywhere, showing them they have more power than they think.
