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Groups Revealed For 2024 NBA Cup

July 12th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The NBA has announced the five-team groups for this year’s in-season tournament, now renamed the Emirates NBA Cup, the league announced in a release on Friday (Twitter link).

Like last year, there are six groups — three each from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference — and each conference was split into five groups based on last year’s standings. One team was selected at random from each group to determine the group round matchups.

The results are:

West Group A: Timberwolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets and Trail Blazers
West Group B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Spurs
West Group C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies
East Group A: Knicks, Magic, Sixers, Nets and Hornets
East Group B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors and Pistons
East Group C: Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, Hawks and Wizards

The NBA Cup begins with group play, which runs from Nov. 12 to Dec. 3. Each team plays one game against each of the four opponents in its group. The NBA released a matchup matrix to help fans follow along (Twitter link).

Just like last season, the winner of each group advances to a knockout round alongside the team with the best record in each conference that didn’t win a group. The semifinals and finals will again be played in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Last year, the Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament over the Pacers. LeBron James was named the tournament MVP after dropping 24 points in the title game.

The full game and broadcast schedule for group play will be announced next month.

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Fields, Murray, Hawks, Magic

July 12th, 2024 at 1:28pm CST by Rory Maher

Australian swingman Josh Green told Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer that he was asleep when his agents phoned him around 3:00 am to inform him he was being traded to the Hornets.

The 23-year-old, who is on the Australian national team that will compete in the Paris Olympics, was sent to Charlotte from Dallas in the six-team mega-deal that saw Klay Thompson land with the Mavs. He says he’s “super excited” for a fresh start.

“It’s such a young team and they play at a fast pace,” Green said, “and I think I’m able to thrive in transition, being able to pick up the ball and play defense and just continue to grow my game. I’m still a young guy and it gets fun to be around older guys in Dallas and learn from them, and take that to Charlotte and just come in with a winning mindset, and, yeah, be ready to go.”

Here’s more from the Southeast:

Boone also recently spoke to the Hornets‘ 2024 draft picks, Tidjane Salaun (No. 6 overall) and KJ Simpson (No. 42). French forward Salaun, who doesn’t turn 19 until next month, says he didn’t watch the NBA growing up as he didn’t think he’d make it to the league. He says being a lottery pick is a surreal experience. “Yeah, it’s weird. Yes.” Salaun told Boone. “For sure because before I became a professional I was in (France) with my teammates, some guys we go to school every day without crowds. And now I have some fans … just all of this is crazy. Just to have a practice facility … I have a practice facility that’s different than the arena. Everything, everything. The weight room. They have many things to be the best possible and in shape.” Simpson, meanwhile is nursing a hamstring strain that will sideline him for all of Las Vegas Summer League, but he’s still actively involved on the sidelines, encouraging teammates and analyzing film. The 6’0″ guard, who is on a two-way contract, says he wants to hone his decision-making and defensive skills, according to Boone.
Hawks GM Landry Fields says it was a tough choice to trade Dejounte Murray, but ultimately it was a necessary one, per Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was a hard decision,” Fields said. “It was challenging. We knew that where we ultimately want to be was gonna require some challenging decisions. Just not being at that point, currently, where we felt like we can continue on with what we have. So wanted to reshape some things and this is an unfortunate part of the of the business. Dejounte is a fantastic player. … But we’re also very excited about the guys that we got back, got a few assets with it, too, which are going to be helpful for us to continue to build, so I wish him nothing but the best. He and his family have been great with us.” Fields also acknowledged Atlanta is facing a “roster crunch” after acquiring four players for one in the deal. The Hawks have 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts now that Vit Krejci‘s four-year deal is official, plus Bruno Fernando on a non-guaranteed contract with a early guarantee date of August 1.
In a subscriber-only story for The Orlando Sentinel, Jason Beede lists five things to watch for the Magic heading into Las Vegas Summer League, including second-year guard Anthony Black‘s growth as a leader. As Beede writes, Orlando’s Summer League squad features recent first-rounders in Black, Jett Howard, and Tristan Da Silva, plus a handful of former NBA veterans trying to make it back in the league (such as Jarrett Culver and Theo Maledon).

Eastern Notes: Fernandez, Fernando, Trent, Jokubaitis, Magic

July 10th, 2024 at 12:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets agreed to trade Mikal Bridges just two months after they hired Jordi Fernandez, but Brooklyn’s new head coach said he wasn’t caught off guard by that move. As Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes, moving Bridges was a scenario that had been discussed with Fernandez before he took the job.

“We know that we wanted to do something sustainable and we wanted to win and build something very special. There were different avenues to do it, and this was a possible one,” Fernandez said. “We just couldn’t control if something (big came), what other teams would offer, so we’d just have to sit and wait. And (general manager Sean Marks) had his different avenues to get there. When the opportunity presented itself, he called me. I knew before it came out to the media, and I was very excited because I know how the NBA works and I know how good you can get when you have assets, flexibility and so and so forth. So I’m just very excited.”

Marks also confirmed that he and Fernandez talked about the possibility of a Bridges trade, explaining that he wanted to make sure the head coach knew what he was getting into when he accepted the Nets’ offer.

“It’s very important to be upfront when you’re hiring a coach — or any staff member for that matter — for them to know there’s a variety of different pathways we can go down,” Marks said. “We knew the flexibility that we had in terms of the roster, the cap, the salaries that we have, this (outcome) could be one of them. We’re not going to shy away from that. So, he knew well ahead that this was an avenue that we could be going down and has bought in completely.”

Here are a few more notes from around the Eastern Conference:

Having already pushed back his salary guarantee date from June 29 to July 10, the Hawks are talking to Bruno Fernando‘s camp about postponing that deadline again, tweets Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Fernando has some incentive to give Atlanta more time with that decision if it increases his odds of remaining on the roster and earning his full $2.72MM salary for 2024/25.
Following up on reporting that suggested the Raptors had been willing to offer free agent wing Gary Trent Jr. a deal worth $15MM per year when their negotiating window first opened, Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link) clarifies that most conversations the team had about Trent were internal. The front office discussed potential contract frameworks rather than formally putting an offer on the table, Grange says, adding that the Raptors told Trent’s camp after the draft that they were going in a different direction.
Knicks draft-and-stash prospect Rokas Jokubaitis, the No. 34 overall pick in 2021, will be with New York’s Summer League team this month for the first time in three years, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Jokubaitis, who is under contract with Barcelona for one more season, would have been unavailable for Summer League if Lithuania had qualified for the Olympics, but the Lithuanians fell to Puerto Rico in the qualifying tournament final on Sunday.
The Magic have quietly aced the offseason, according to Michael Pina of The Ringer, who wonders if Orlando is capable of becoming next season’s version of the 2023/24 Thunder and making the leap from solid team to one of the best in the conference.

Contract Details: George, Martin, Wiseman, Isaac, Hield, More

July 8th, 2024 at 6:49am CST by Luke Adams

Following the end of the July moratorium on Saturday, teams wasted no time in officially finalizing many of the contracts they’d agreed to up until that point.

Now that those contracts have been completed, we have the official details on many of them. Here, via several reporters – including Keith Smith of Spotrac, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, and cap expert Yossi Gozlan – as well as our own sources, are some of those notable details:

Players with trade kickers:

Lakers forward LeBron James (15%), Knicks forward OG Anunoby (15%), Sixers forward Paul George (15%), Sixers forward Caleb Martin (15%), Mavericks sharpshooter Klay Thompson (15%), and Mavericks forward Naji Marshall (5%) received trade kickers on their new free agent deals, while Celtics guard Derrick White (15%) got one on his contract extension.

As an aside, James’ exact starting salary in 2024/25 is $48,728,845, which is $1,258,873 below the maximum he could have earned.

Players who waived their right to veto a trade:

A player who re-signs with his team on a one-year contract (or two-year contract with a second-year option) is typically awarded the right to veto a trade, but has the option to waive that option.

Heat center Thomas Bryant, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday, Raptors wing Garrett Temple, and Magic teammates Gary Harris and Moritz Wagner all surrendered their right to veto a trade in 2024/25 and could be moved freely.

Unlikely incentives:

Nets center Nic Claxton ($97MM base + $3MM incentives), Pacers forward Obi Toppin ($58MM +$2MM), Suns forward Royce O’Neale ($42MM +$2MM), and Sixers forward Martin ($35,040,704 + $5,256,106) are among the players whose contracts include unlikely bonuses that would boost the total guaranteed salary if those incentives are reached.

As cap expert Albert Nahmad observes, the structure of Martin’s contract helped the 76ers maximize their cap room, since his unlikely incentives don’t count toward the cap once he signs.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Martin’s “unlikely” incentives are easier to earn than a typical player’s incentives would be — I don’t expect them to be for making an All-Star team or anything like that. An incentive is considered unlikely for cap purposes if the player wouldn’t have met the criteria the year before. For example, as Nahmad suggests, a bonus related to Martin making 24 or more starts would be considered unlikely because he started 23 games last season. Martin’s bonuses – considered “unlikely” for cap purposes but perhaps “likely” to be earned in reality – could have served as a way to strengthen the Sixers’ offer without sacrificing that extra cap room.

It’s also worth noting that a player’s unlikely incentives can’t exceed 15% of his guaranteed base salary, and Martin’s $5,256,106 in incentives represent exactly 15% of his overall $35,040,704 salary.

Partial or non-guarantees and options:

James Wiseman‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Pacers is guaranteed for $500K in year one, with a team option for 2025/26. That team option would be guaranteed for $569,041 if exercised (ie. the same percentage as his first-year salary).

Luka Garza got a similarly structured two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Timberwolves, except his first year is fully guaranteed prior to his second-year team option. That 2025/26 option would be guaranteed if picked up.

As previously reported, Isaiah Hartenstein‘s three-year, $87MM deal with the Thunder includes a team option for 2026/27. It’s worth $28.5MM, with $58.5MM in guaranteed money across the first two seasons.

Magic teammates Harris ($7.5MM) and Wagner ($11MM) each have second-year team options on their two-year deals.

The Rockets used their full bi-annual exception to give Holiday a two-year deal worth $9,569,400 that includes a second-year team option ($4,901,400).

Neemias Queta‘s three-year, minimum-salary contract with the Celtics is fully guaranteed in year one with a partial guarantee of exactly 50% ($1,174,789 of $2,349,578) in year two, plus a third-year team option for 2026/27. The third-year option ($2,667,944) would be guaranteed for 50% ($1,333,972) if exercised. Since his minimum deal covers more than two years, a team wouldn’t be able to acquire Queta via the minimum salary exception if he’s traded down the road.

Jonathan Isaac‘s new long-term deal with the Magic is partially guaranteed ($8MM of $14MM) in 2026/27, with non-guaranteed salaries of $14.5MM in 2027/28 and $15MM in 2028/29. However, each of those salaries would become fully guaranteed if Isaac plays at least 52 games in the prior season. For instance, if Isaac were to appear in 54 games in 2026/27, his $14.5MM salary for ’27/28 would be fully guaranteed.

Sign-and-trade contracts:

Interestingly, Kyle Anderson‘s and Buddy Hield‘s new contracts with the Warriors have the exact same salaries for the first three seasons: $8,780,488, $9,219,512, and $9,658,536. Anderson’s three-year deal is fully guaranteed for the first two years and non-guaranteed in year three.

As for Hield, his four-year contract is fully guaranteed for the first two years, with a partial guarantee of $3MM for year three. His fourth year is a $10,097,560 player option that would be partially guaranteed for $3,136,364 if exercised.

Klay Thompson’s three-year contract with the Mavericks comes in at exactly $50MM, as reported — it starts at $15,873,016 and features 5% annual raises.

Jonas Valanciunas‘ three-year contract with the Wizards is worth $30,295,000 in total, beginning at $9.9MM (which is the amount of the trade exception generated for the Pelicans). It’s fully guaranteed for the first two seasons and non-guaranteed in year three.

Cody Zeller got a three-year, $11,025,000 deal in the sign-and-trade that sent him from New Orleans to the Hawks. The first year is guaranteed for $3.5MM, with two non-guaranteed seasons after that.

Finally, as part of the Mikal Bridges trade, new Nets guard Shake Milton got a three-year, $9,162,405 contract that has a guaranteed first-year salary of $2,875,000, with two non-guaranteed years after that ($3MM in 2025/26 and $3,287,406 in ’26/27). His teammate Mamadi Diakite, who was also sent to Brooklyn in the trade, had his $2,273,252 salary partially guaranteed for $1,392,150.

Milton’s $2,875,000 salary, Diakite’s $1,392,150 partial guarantee, and Bojan Bogdanovic‘s $19,032,850 salary add up to $23.3MM, which is equivalent to Bridges’ salary — the exact amount of outgoing salary the Knicks needed to send to avoid being hard-capped at the first tax apron.

Southeast Notes: KCP, Fultz, Okeke, Ware, Highsmith, McGowens, Wizards

July 6th, 2024 at 8:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic‘s promising future played an important role in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s decision to join the team in free agency, tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Caldwell-Pope won titles with the Nuggets in 2023 and the Lakers in 2020, and he likes his chances to pick up a third ring in Orlando.

“I’m always chasing the championship,” Caldwell-Pope said. “… Seeing their progress, they just made it to the playoffs, taking Cleveland to a Game 7. That was enough for me. They got a little bit of a taste of that pressure and what it takes to make it past the first round. I’m just excited to be a part of it.”

Caldwell-Pope will become a veteran leader on a team that has amassed an impressive collection of young talent over the last few drafts. He’s looking forward to playing alongside Paolo Banchero, who became an All-Star in his second NBA season.

“His knowledge of the game,” Caldwell-Pope responded when asked what stands out about Banchero. “Him being patient in certain situations, making plays for his teammates to get his teammates involved. Being so much of a little bit of a leader that I’ve seen from him.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Magic renounced their free agent rights to Markelle Fultz and Chuma Okeke to clear up cap room for other moves, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Both players are still eligible to sign new contracts with Orlando.
The Heat want rookie center Kel’el Ware to gain weight before the start of the season, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). The first-round pick weighed in at 230 pounds when he arrived at Summer League camp, and he said the team would prefer him to be between 240 and 245.
Free agent forward Haywood Highsmith still has interest in returning to the Heat, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The Sixers were considered a potential landing spot for Highsmith, Chiang adds, but that seems less likely after Philadelphia signed Caleb Martin.
Bryce McGowens, who was waived earlier today, will continue to be part of the Hornets‘ Summer League team, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
Brown University assistant coach T.J. Sorrentine was thrilled to get the chance to join Brian Keefe‘s staff with the Wizards, relays Bill Koch of The Providence Journal. “My family was happy. I was in a great spot,” Sorrentine said. “But going through a day with coach Keefe and meeting with people, I left here and I called my wife (Emily) and I was like, ‘Man, it’s going to be really hard to come back to college.’ This was a unique opportunity. That’s when I knew it was time to go. I was ready. I’m going to take full advantage of this opportunity.” Adam Caporn, director of development with the Nets’ coaching staff, has also accepted a job with Washington, according to NetsDaily (Twitter link). Caporn’s hiring had been anticipated.

Magic Renegotiate, Extend Jonathan Isaac’s Contract

July 6th, 2024 at 4:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: The renegotiation and extension of Isaac’s contract is now official, the Magic announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), Orlando bumped up Isaac’s salary to $25MM this season. That figure will be fully guaranteed, as will his $15MM salary in 2025/26. His $14.5MM salary in ’26/27 will be partially guaranteed for $8MM, while the last two years ($15MM and $14.5MM, respectively) will be non-guaranteed.

In total, it appears the forward received $66.6MM in new money and $84MM overall (including his original $17.4MM salary for the coming season). Of that $84MM, $48MM is guaranteed.

JULY 2: The Magic have agreed to renegotiate and extend Jonathan Isaac‘s contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that the deal will be for five years and $84MM.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports first reported on Monday that the Magic were exploring a renegotiation and extension for the veteran forward.

Isaac had a non-guaranteed $17.4MM salary for next season, which was due to be fully guaranteed in January, so his new deal likely includes $66MM+ in new money.

The breakdown for the deal hasn’t been made public yet, but a team is permitted to use cap room to renegotiate a contract in order to give a player a current-year raise and Orlando has a chunk of room left over following a series of free agent agreements with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Moritz Wagner, Goga Bitadze, and Gary Harris.

The Magic could reduce Isaac’s salary by up to 40% in the first year of an extension, so it looks like they’ll essentially give him a bonus this season in order to lock him up to a more team-friendly (possibly descending) deal beginning in 2025/26.

The No. 6 pick of the 2017 draft, Isaac missed two seasons and most of the 2022/23 campaign while recovering from a torn ACL. He appeared in 58 games last season and averaged 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks to help Orlando reach the playoffs. He also appeared in seven postseason contests, including three starts, while averaging 6.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.

A talented, versatile defender, Isaac will once again back up at the power forward spot and can also slide over to the center position.

It’s unclear whether or not Isaac’s new extension will include injury-related language protecting the team like his current deal did, but it at least seems unlikely that all four years will be fully guaranteed.

Magic’s Franz Wagner Signs Five-Year Max Extension

July 6th, 2024 at 1:52pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 6: Wagner’s maximum-salary extension is now official, according to a press release from the Magic (Twitter link).

JULY 5: The Magic are signing Franz Wagner to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (via Twitter). It will be the biggest contract in franchise history.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms that Wagner’s extension, which will begin in 2025/26, contains Rose rule language. Wagner would need to win MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or make an All-NBA team in 2024/25 in order to earn a starting salary worth 30% of the ’25/26 salary cap instead of 25%.

Assuming the salary cap rises by 10% in ’25/26, Wagner will earn at least $224MM from 2025-30, with the potential to make about $269MM. ESPN’s Bobby Marks has a year-by-year breakdown of the projected extension (Twitter link).

The No. 8 overall pick of the 2021 draft after two college seasons at Michigan, Wagner has started every game in which he’s appeared for Orlando over his first three NBA seasons. The 22-year-old German posted career highs in several statistics in 2023/24, including points (19.7), rebounds (5.3), assists (3.7) and steals per game (1.1).

In addition to his two-way versatility, the 6’10” forward has been quite durable to this point in his career, only missing 15 of a possible 246 regular season games. Wagner won a gold medal with Germany at last summer’s World Cup and was on the team’s preliminary roster ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which open in late July. He called the chance to play in the Olympics “a dream come true.”

Wagner is the second player to agree to a rookie scale extension this summer, joining Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, who will also be signing a five-year max deal featuring Rose rule language. Pistons guard Cade Cunningham is also expected to sign a max extension, but the deal has yet to be finalized.

Wagner will earn just over $7MM next season in the final campaign of his rookie scale contract.

Magic Sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope To Three-Year Contract

July 6th, 2024 at 12:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 6: Caldwell-Pope has officially signed with the Magic, the team confirmed today in a press release (Twitter link).

“We are thrilled to add a player like Kentavious to our roster,” team president Jeff Weltman said in a statement. “He is not only an outstanding defender and an excellent shooter, he brings high character and a championship pedigree to our backcourt. We’re very excited to welcome Kentavious to the Orlando Magic family.”

JUNE 30: The Magic are set to sign free agent wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three-year contract, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link). The deal will be worth $66MM, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), and it includes a player option for the final season, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Caldwell-Pope is one of the top prizes in the 2024 free agent class after playing an important role for the Nuggets over the past two years and helping to spark the team’s 2023 title run. His blend of defense and outside shooting makes him a perfect fit in Orlando.

Denver would have preferred to keep its starting lineup intact, but other financial commitments made it difficult to retain Caldwell-Pope. Bennett Durando of The Denver Post p0ints out (via Twitter) that the $22MM annual salary Caldwell-Pope received from Orlando would have pushed the Nuggets into the second apron if they had given him that much.

However, Tony Jones of The Athletic hears that Denver made a three-year offer at close to the amount that Caldwell-Pope received from the Magic (Twitter link).

Speaking to reporters after the first night of the draft on Wednesday, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth seemed resigned to the fact that Caldwell-Pope was likely leaving.

“I think when you look at some of the teams that have been good in the past, they have to find a way to replace fourth, fifth starters, sixth men off the bench and still keep rolling,” Booth said. “… I think if (Christian Braun) has to step into the starting lineup, I think we’ll be OK, if KCP doesn’t return.”

Caldwell-Pope is joining a Magic team loaded with young talent that just made its first playoff appearance in four years. He will presumably start alongside Jalen Suggs in the backcourt and will provide a three-point shooting threat that the team has lacked. Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer notes (via Twitter) that Orlando ranked 29th in three-point attempts and 24th in three-point percentage this season. Caldwell-Pope is a career 36.9% shooter from long-distance and connected at 40.6% this year.

The Magic’s agreement with KCP ends the Sixers’ hopes of finding a way to add both Paul George and Caldwell-Pope to a vastly revamped roster.

Magic, Tristan Da Silva Finalize Rookie Scale Contract

July 6th, 2024 at 11:36am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Magic have officially signed 2024 No. 18 overall pick Tristan Da Silva to his rookie scale contract, according to a team release (Twitter link).

A four-year player at Colorado, Da Silva averaged 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 49.3% from the field and 38.6% from deep across 124 career collegiate games. In his senior season, he averaged 16.0 points and shot 39.5% from deep as a 6’8″ forward.

Da Silva has a chance to immediately contribute as a rookie even on a competitive team like the Magic, adding much-needed spacing to Orlando’s bench.

As the No. 18 overall pick in the draft, Da Silva will have a first-year salary of about $3.63MM and will earn $17.57MM over four years if he’s signed to the maximum 120% of the rookie scale. That hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s rare for a player to take less than 120%.

Thunder Sign Isaiah Hartenstein To Three-Year Deal

July 6th, 2024 at 11:20am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: With the July moratorium over, the Thunder have officially signed Hartenstein, the team confirmed in a press release.

JULY 1: Free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein is headed back west, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Hartenstein and the Thunder are in agreement on a three-year contract worth $87MM.

Hartenstein, who began his NBA career in Houston in 2018 and had a breakout year with the Clippers in 2021/22, has spent the past two seasons in New York, primarily serving as Mitchell Robinson‘s backup at the five. However, when Robinson went down with an ankle injury midway through the ’23/24 season, Hartenstein entered the starting lineup and acquitted himself extremely well.

In 75 regular season games (49 starts), Hartenstein averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 25.3 minutes per contest, making 64.4% of his shots from the floor and playing solid defense. He continued to start for the Knicks in the playoffs, where he registered 8.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 3.5 APG in 29.8 MPG.

Although the Knicks wanted to retain Hartenstein, they were limited to a maximum offer of approximately $72.5MM over four years, since they only held his Early Bird rights, which allowed for a raise of up to 75% on his $9.25MM cap hit from 2023/24.

New York put that offer on the table for the 26-year-old, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms (via Twitter). The Thunder blew it out of the water by comfortably exceeding the total value of the Knicks’ best offer across just three years instead of four, though Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link) hears that the frontloaded contract won’t be guaranteed in the final season.

Rookie of the Year runner-up Chet Holmgren was the Thunder’s starting center last season and excelled in that role. However, Holmgren lacks the bulk to match up physically with some of the NBA’s bigger centers, and Oklahoma City was among the worst-performing teams on the boards, ranking 28th in rebounding percentage (48.4%).

Hartenstein will help out in both areas while also giving the Thunder another rim protector and a talented frontcourt passer. On top of that, he’ll be a crucial insurance policy at the five in the event of an injury. While Holmgren didn’t miss a game in 2023/24, he sat out his entire rookie season in ’22/23 due to foot surgery.

Their deal with Hartenstein is the latest move in an impressive offseason for the Thunder, who kicked off their summer by trading ill-fitting guard Josh Giddey to Chicago in exchange for three-and-D ace Alex Caruso. OKC will use the rest of its cap room to sign Hartenstein, then will go over the cap to complete reported long-term agreements with Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins.

The Knicks, meanwhile, will be in the market for a center. Robinson and Jericho Sims remain under contract in New York, but with Hartenstein gone and Precious Achiuwa in unrestricted free agency, the team will need to add at least one big man.

Magic big man Goga Bitadze has been mentioned as a possible target for the Knicks, but Begley (Twitter video link) hears that Bitadze has an offer on the table from Orlando that New York likely won’t be able to top. The Magic had been mentioned as a possible Hartenstein suitor, so presumably they’re more likely to bring back Bitadze with Hartenstein off the board.