Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order for a team to make a player a restricted free agent, it must extend a qualifying offer to him. The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s previous contract status.
A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s current team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then has the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club. If a player doesn’t receive a qualifying offer, he becomes an unrestricted free agent and is free to sign with any team — his previous club is given no formal opportunity to match.
You can read more about qualifying offers here.
Listed below are the details on which players did and didn’t receive qualifying offers this summer. Our list is based on various reports and team announcements leading up to the June 29 deadline, along with confirmation from RealGM’s official NBA transactions log.
It’s possible that one or two qualifying offers slipped through the cracks and will be reported later today before free agency officially gets underway — if so, we’ll update this list.
For now though, this is what the qualifying offer landscape looks like. The players who received QOs will be restricted free agents, while the players who didn’t will be unrestricted. We’ve updated our free agents lists by position and by team to reflect the changes.
Received qualifying offers:
Players on standard contracts:
Note: Qualifying offers marked with an asterisk (*) are based on a projected $136,021,000 salary cap and would increase or decrease if the cap comes in higher or lower than that.
- Cameron Johnson, Nets ($8,486,620)
- P.J. Washington, Hornets ($8,486,620)
- Grant Williams, Celtics ($8,486,620)
- Miles Bridges, Hornets ($7,921,301)
- Rui Hachimura, Lakers ($7,744,600)
- Coby White, Bulls ($7,744,600)
- Matisse Thybulle, Trail Blazers ($6,275,862)
- Ayo Dosunmu, Bulls ($5,216,324)
- Herbert Jones, Pelicans ($5,216,324)
- Tre Jones, Spurs ($5,216,324)
- Paul Reed, Sixers ($2,292,354) *
- Jock Landale, Suns ($2,219,706) *
- Austin Reaves, Lakers ($2,219,706) *
Players on two-way contracts:
Note: Qualifying offers for two-way players are one-year, two-way contracts with a $50K guarantee unless otherwise indicated.
- Trent Forrest, Hawks
- JD Davison, Celtics
- Theo Maledon, Hornets
- Terry Taylor, Bulls
- Isaiah Mobley, Cavaliers
- Collin Gillespie, Nuggets
- Jack White, Nuggets
- Jared Rhoden, Pistons
- Ty Jerome, Warriors
- Note: Jerome’s qualifying offer is a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a partial guarantee.
- Nico Mannion, Warriors
- Note: Mannion hasn’t played in the NBA since 2021, but the Warriors issued him a qualifying offer in order to retain his RFA rights in case he returns to the league.
- Lester Quinones, Warriors
- Darius Days, Rockets
- Trevor Hudgins, Rockets
- Kendall Brown, Pacers
- Moussa Diabate, Clippers
- Jamal Cain, Heat
- Orlando Robinson, Heat
- A.J. Green, Bucks
- Luka Garza, Timberwolves
- Matt Ryan, Timberwolves
- Trevor Keels, Knicks
- Duane Washington Jr., Knicks
- Saben Lee, Suns
- Ibou Badji, Trail Blazers
- John Butler Jr., Trail Blazers
- Keon Ellis, Kings
- Neemias Queta, Kings
- Note: Queta’s qualifying offer is a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a partial guarantee.
- Dominick Barlow, Spurs
- Julian Champagnie, Spurs
- Jeff Dowtin, Raptors
- Ron Harper Jr., Raptors
- Johnny Juzang, Jazz
Did not receive qualifying offers:
Players on standard contracts:
- David Duke, Nets
- Dylan Windler, Cavaliers
- Anthony Lamb, Warriors
- Omer Yurtseven, Heat
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Timberwolves
- Nathan Knight, Timberwolves
- Jaxson Hayes, Pelicans
- Lindy Waters III, Thunder
- Admiral Schofield, Magic
- Darius Bazley, Suns
- Cam Reddish, Trail Blazers
- Romeo Langford, Spurs
- Sandro Mamukelashvili, Spurs
- Dalano Banton, Raptors
Players on two-way contracts:
Note: Some of the players listed below may not have been eligible for a qualifying offer due to the limited time they spent on a two-way contract.
- Mfiondu Kabengele, Celtics
- Dru Smith, Nets
- Mamadi Diakite, Cavaliers
- McKinley Wright IV, Mavericks
- Buddy Boeheim, Pistons
- Gabe York, Pacers
- Xavier Moon, Clippers
- Scotty Pippen Jr., Lakers
- Jared Butler, Thunder
- Olivier Sarr, Thunder
- Louis King, Sixers
- Mac McClung, Sixers
- Jay Huff, Wizards
Great recap, as always! Was Justin Lewis of the Bulls issued a QO? He got signed to a new 2 way contract in March. Didn’t see anything about it being a two year deal versus for the remainder of the season.
It wasn’t reported at the time, but I believe it’s a two-year deal.
Was going to ask about Justin Lewis as well. Spotrac had him down as a 1 year deal and now also have it done as him not getting the QO
Bobby Marks never listed him among the Bulls’ free agents for this offseason, and it seems unlikely that the Bulls would have signed an injured player in March unless they were getting him for more than the rest of the season.
I’m pretty confident he’s still under contract, but we should find out for sure in a day or two.
I notice he’s also on the Bulls summer league roster. Makes it more likely he’s either gotten the QO if he was on a 1 year deal or was on a 2 year deal the whole time. And less likely he was on a 1 year deal and did not recieve the QO