Six Key Stories: 6/1/19 – 6/8/19

If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:

The Nets and Hawks agreed to a trade which will occur after the new league year begins. The deal will send Allen Crabbe, the player picked at No. 17 in this month’s draft, and a lottery-protected 2020 first-round pick to Atlanta in exchange for Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick. It allows the Nets to clear enough cap space to go after two maximum-salary free agents this offseason, assuming they renounce D’Angelo Russell‘s $21.1MM cap hold. As a result, Kyrie Irving is now being strongly linked to Brooklyn. The Hawks continue to acquire assets as a part of their rebuild, likely gaining two additional first-round picks in back-to-back years.

The Bucks signed general manager Jon Horst to a contract extension that will keep the executive in Milwaukee through the 2022/23 season. A frontrunner for this season’s executive of the year award, Horst has improved the Bucks from a middle-of-the-pack team to a legit championship contender. Financial details of the new deal aren’t yet known, but it should all but assuredly come with a significant raise, as Horst was the NBA’s lowest-paid general manager during his first two years on the job.

Mavericks’ big man Dwight Powell plans to pick up his player option for next season and sign a contract extension to stay in Dallas. An earlier report indicated that Powell would turn down his player option, but multiple outlets have since confirmed Powell’s plans to opt in and sign an extension. Exercising the option will earn Powell just short of $10.3MM next season, and the extension is reportedly planned for 2 or 3 additional seasons after next.

League executives largely expect the Sixers to make a maximum-salary offer to Jimmy Butler upon the opening of free agency on June 30. Butler is all but assured to turn down his player option for next season, making himself one of the more sought after players on the market. The Sixers can offer Butler a deal worth as much as $189.7MM over five years.

The Suns, long in pursuit of a higher caliber starting point guard to play alongside franchise cornerstone Devin Booker, are interested in free-agent point guards Cory Joseph, Patrick Beverley, Darren Collison, and T.J. McConnell. Phoenix is also reportedly open to trading the No. 6 overall pick in this month’s draft for the “right” veteran point guard. It’s unclear who that specific player or players may be, or if they even exist, but Mike Conley is a possibility if the Suns agree able to put together enough salary-matching pieces and other assets to interest the Grizzlies.

Veteran guard Vince Carter recently confirmed that he will be calling it quits after next season, his twenty-second in the NBA. A free-agent this summer, Carter found himself to be a production rotational piece for the Hawks this past season. For his illustrious career, Carter has averaged 17.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 3.2 APG with a .437/.374/.798 shooting line in 1,481 games.

Here are 10 more noteworthy headlines from the past week:

• While he’s sure to have interest from other suitors, the Hornets remain the “first priority” for Kemba Walker during free agency this summer.
• Potential Grizzlies head-coaching target Sarunas Jasikevicius may elect to stay in Lithuania over accepting an NBA-coaching gig.
• Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio does not expect to be back in Utah next season, saying that the Jazz have not made him a priority among other free agent pursuits.
• Former NBA guard Nando De Colo is considering leaving CSKA Moscow to return to the NBA next season.
• It’s still not a foregone conclusion that Anthony Davis will be traded, but new Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin has begun listening to inquiries on the perennial All-Star.
• Veteran free agents Marcus Morris (Knicks, Lakers, Kings, Clippers, and Bulls) (link) and All-Star D’Angelo Russell (Jazz, Magic, Wolves, and Pacers) (link) already have a list of potential suitors this offseason.
• Rockets forward P.J. Tucker is interesting in discussing a contract extension this offseason.
• The Wizards delay in hiring a new head of basketball operations may be linked to the team’s reported interest in Raptors president Masai Ujiri.
• Warriors’ minority owner Mark Stevens has been banned from the NBA for one year and fined $500K for pushing and directing obscenities toward Raptors’ point guard Kyle Lowry in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
• The Sixers are hiring longtime Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka as head coach Brett Brown‘s lead assistant in Philadelphia.