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Month: September 2024

Magic’s Banchero: ‘We’re Right There’ With East’s Top Clubs

August 16th, 2024 at 5:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Paolo Banchero believes the Magic should be in the conversation with the Eastern Conference’s top teams, he declared on ESPN’s First Take (hat tip to Dan Savage of NBA.com).

“We feel like we’re right there,” the Magic’s star forward said. “We’re right there with all those (elite teams in the East). I remember last year, we started the year off as a top-two, top-three seed and everybody thought it was a fluke. Everybody thought we were going to be a play-in team and drop out the top of the East. We finished strong and got the fifth seed and had a chance to really grab the two seed at the end of the season. We were right there last year.”

Orlando finished with a 47-35 regular-season mark and was eliminated by the Cavaliers in the opening round of the playoffs.

The best-of-seven series went the distance and Banchero showed why he’d been named an All-Star in February. He averaged 27.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game during the postseason.

Banchero viewed it as a learning experience.

“I learned how to kind of slow the game down in the playoffs,” he said. “The first two games of the series in Cleveland, I felt a little sped up. I turned the ball over a lot. From Games 1 and 2 to Game 3, I think that’s where I made that jump, that adjustment and started to really slow the game down. I started to be really intentional (and) pick my spots on the floor to score and play-make.

“I also learned that you have to be in elite shape – not only physically, but mentally (in order) to deal with a seven-game series. It’s fun to go against the same team over and over, but it’s also a huge challenge. I think that’s something I took and will definitely use for next year.”

The Magic should be a more dangerous playoff team with the addition of shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Orlando brought in the former Nuggets wing on a three-year, $66MM deal in one of the biggest free agent signings this summer.

“Getting KCP is going to help us a lot,” Banchero said. “That’s a guy that’s won two championships in the last five seasons. He’s been around some of the greatest (players) of all-time. So, he’s going to be able to come out and make a huge difference for us. (Also), we’re a really young team and getting that playoff experience (and) a top-five seed last year (gives us) a lot of momentum heading into next season.”

Banchero, who doesn’t turn 22 until November, has lived up to his billing as the top overall pick in 2022. Orlando surprised many people by picking Banchero at that spot after his one-and-done season with Duke.

He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer and it’s a lock that he’ll get a max offer from the Magic.

“Orlando took a chance on me when they drafted me, and I am forever grateful for that,” he said. “I give them my love and respect for that because nobody knew that I was going to go number one. I didn’t know I was going to go number one. So, they put the trust in me to take that chance and take me number one. After that, I felt like it was my job to help them reach heights that haven’t been reached in a long time … We’re trying to take (a huge) jump next year and keep taking it one level at a time.”

Banchero’s appearance on the ESPN show can be viewed here.

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Salary Cap Exceptions

August 16th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

There are a number of ways that NBA teams without salary cap space are able to add players. When we discuss trades and free agency at Hoops Rumors, we’ll often refer to these salary cap “exceptions.”

In case you’re wondering what exactly we mean when we mention a “Non-Bird exception” or a “bi-annual exception,” we’ve compiled a brief overview for reference. The NBA’s salary cap exceptions found in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement are listed below, along with links to more extensive glossary entries on each exception.

  • Bird Exception: If a player has been on the same team for three years (not necessarily full seasons), his team can re-sign him for up to the player’s maximum salary. Generally, a player who changes teams via trade retains his Bird rights, but he loses them if he signs with a new team as a free agent. A Bird player can sign for up to five years with maximum annual raises of 8%.
  • Early Bird Exception: If a player has been on the same team for two years (not necessarily full seasons), his team can re-sign him for up to 175% of his previous salary or 105% of the average player salary from the previous season, whichever is greater. Early Bird contracts must be for at least two seasons (no more than four), with maximum annual raises of 8%.
  • Non-Bird Exception: If a player finishes a season with a team without having earned Bird or Early Bird rights, his team can re-sign him for 120% of his previous salary, 120% of the applicable minimum salary, or – if he’s a restricted free agent – the amount of his qualifying offer. A Non-Bird player can sign for up to four years with maximum annual raises of 5%.
  • Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception: A team operating below the first tax apron can offer a player a contract for up to four years with maximum annual raises of 5% using the mid-level exception. The MLE amount for 2024/25 is $12,822,000; it will increase annually at the same rate as the salary cap. This exception, which can be used on one or multiple players, can also be used to acquire players via trade or waiver claim.
  • Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception: A team operating below the second tax apron can offer a player a contract for up to two years with a maximum second-year raise of 5% using the mid-level exception. The taxpayer MLE amount for 2024/25 is $5,168,000; it will increase annually at the same rate as the salary cap. This exception, which can be used on one or multiple players, can only be used to sign players, not to acquire them via trade or waiver claim.
  • Room Exception: If a team uses room under the cap to sign players, it forfeits its full mid-level exception and receives this exception, which isn’t available to teams above the cap. After using its cap room, a team can offer a player a contract for up to three years with maximum annual raises of 5%. The room exception amount for 2024/25 is $7,983,000; it will increase annually at the same rate as the salary cap. This exception, which can be used on one or multiple players, can also be used to acquire players via trade or waiver claim.
  • Bi-Annual Exception: A team can offer a player a contract for up to two years with a maximum raise of 5% using the bi-annual exception. However, it’s only available to teams that operate over the cap and below the first tax apron. The bi-annual exception amount for 2024/25 is $4,668,000; it will increase annually at the same rate as the salary cap. This exception, which can be used on one or multiple players, can also be used to acquire players via trade or waiver claim. As its name suggests, the bi-annual exception can only be used every other year.
  • Minimum Salary Exception: A team can offer a player a contract for up to two years worth the applicable minimum salary. A team can also use this exception to trade for minimum-salary players, as long as their contracts don’t cover more than two seasons and never included a salary above the minimum. There is no limit to the number of players a team can acquire using this exception.
  • Rookie Scale Exception: A team can sign its first-round draft picks for up to 120% of the rookie salary scale amount or as little as 80% of the rookie salary scale amount. The rookie salaries for 2024 first-round picks can be found right here. The rookie scale increases annually at the same rate as the salary cap.
  • Second-Round Pick Exception: A team can sign a second-round pick to a three- or four-year contract with a team option on the final year. A contract signed using the second-round exception can exceed the applicable rookie minimum in the first year (or the first two years, for a four-year deal), but not in the final two years. The details for second-round pick exception signings in 2024/25 can be found right here.
  • Disabled Player Exception: If a player suffers an injury deemed more likely than not to sideline him through the following June 15, a team can be granted this exception by the league. It can be used to sign a replacement player for one year, and is worth 50% of the disabled player’s salary or the amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, whichever is lesser. It can also be used to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim if he’s in the final year of his contract. This exception, which must be applied for between July 1 and January 15, can only be used once and is forfeited if not used by March 10 (or the next business day, if March 10 falls on a weekend).
  • Traded Player Exception: Any team can replace a traded player – or traded players – simultaneously (in the same transaction) with one or more players whose total salaries amount to no more than 100% of the outgoing salary. For teams operating below the tax aprons, the incoming value can increase to as high as 200% of the outgoing salary (plus $250K), depending on the amount of that salary. Alternately, both non-taxpaying and taxpaying teams can replace a traded player non-simultaneously (within one year) with one or more players whose total salaries amount to no more than 100% of the traded player’s salary.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012 and 2018.

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Early NBA Maximum Salary Projections For 2025/26

August 16th, 2024 at 2:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Although a number of big-money free agent contracts were completed over the summer, several of the most lucrative deals signed by players so far in 2024/25 have been contract extensions. And many of those extensions have been maximum-salary deals.

[RELATED: 2024/25 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]

Because those extensions won’t go into effect until at least the 2025/26 season and the NBA won’t finalize the ’25/26 salary cap until next summer, we can only ballpark what many of year’s maximum-salary contracts will look like based on the league’s latest cap estimates.

The NBA’s most recent projection for ’25/26 called for a $154,647,000 cap, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s maximum salaries. That would represent a 10% increase on this season’s cap, which is the maximum allowable increase for one year league year to the next.

Listed below are the early maximum-salary projections for 2025/26.

The first chart shows the maximum salaries for a player re-signing with his own team — a player’s previous club can offer five years instead of four, and 8% annual raises instead of 5% raises. The second chart shows the maximum salaries for a player signing with a new team.

A player’s maximum salary is generally determined by his years of NBA experience, so there’s a wide gap between potential earnings for younger and older players. Unless they qualify for a more lucrative extension by meeting certain performance criteria, players with no more than six years of NBA experience are limited to a starting salary worth up to 25% of the cap. For players with seven to nine years of experience, that number is 30%. For players with 10 or more years of experience, it’s 35%.

Here are the the early max-salary projections for 2025/26:

A player re-signing with his own team (8% annual raises, up to five years):

Year 6 years or less 7-9 years 10+ years
2025/26 $38,661,750 $46,394,100 $54,126,450
2026/27 $41,754,690 $50,105,628 $58,456,566
2027/28 $44,847,630 $53,817,156 $62,786,682
2028/29 $47,940,570 $57,528,684 $67,116,798
2029/30 $51,033,510 $61,240,212 $71,446,914
Total $224,238,150 $269,085,780 $313,933,410

The “6 years or less” column here is what the new extensions for Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner will look like if none of them make an All-NBA team in 2025. All four players have Rose Rule language in their contracts, however, and could move up to the 30% max column (“7-9 years”) if certain performance criteria are met.

The 30% max column will also apply to players who reach the free agent market next summer with between seven and nine years of NBA experience under their belts. That would be Brandon Ingram‘s maximum contract with his current team, for instance.

The third column (35%) will apply to the super-max extension signed by Celtics star Jayson Tatum or to a player with 10+ years of NBA service who reaches free agency next summer, such as Mavericks star Kyrie Irving.

A player signing with a new team (5% annual raises, up to four years):

Year 6 years or less 7-9 years 10+ years
2025/26 $38,661,750 $46,394,100 $54,126,450
2026/27 $40,594,838 $48,713,805 $56,832,773
2027/28 $42,527,925 $51,033,510 $59,539,095
2028/29 $44,461,013 $53,353,215 $62,245,418
Total $166,245,525 $199,494,630 $232,743,735

If a player changes teams as a free agent, he doesn’t have access to a fifth year or 8% raises. So if someone like Alperen Sengun were to sign an offer sheet with a new team next summer, his maximum contract would be a four-year deal projected to be worth just over $166MM.

If a veteran free agent with between seven and nine years of NBA experience – such as Ingram – wants to change teams in 2025, he would be able to sign a four-year contract worth up to a projected $199.5MM.

Irving or another veteran with 10+ years of experience would be able to earn up to $232.7MM across four years if they change teams as free agents in 2025.

Although it happened with Paul George during the 2024 offseason, it’s relatively rare for a player with that many years of experience to sign a four-year, maximum-salary contract with a new team, especially since some of those older stars (like LeBron James) would be ineligible to sign a four-year max deal due to the Over-38 rule.

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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Charlotte Hornets

August 16th, 2024 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Charlotte Hornets.

Free agent signings

  • Miles Bridges: Three years, $75,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Seth Curry: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Taj Gibson: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($1,082,270). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired Devonte’ Graham and the Pelicans’ 2025 second-round pick from the Spurs in exchange for cash.
    • Note: Graham was subsequently waived.
  • Acquired Josh Green, Reggie Jackson, the Nuggets’ 2029 second-round pick, and the Nuggets’ 2030 second-round pick from the Mavericks and Nuggets in a six-team trade in exchange for the Sixers’ 2025 second-round pick (to Mavericks or Timberwolves) and cash (to Nuggets).
    • Note: Jackson was subsequently bought out.

Draft picks

  • 1-6: Tidjane Salaun
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $34,035,472).
  • 2-42: KJ Simpson
    • Signed to two-year, two-way contract.

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

Salary cap situation

  • Went below the cap to use room.
  • Now operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
  • Carrying approximately $153.6MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $188,931,000.
  • Full room exception ($8MM) available.

The offseason so far

The Hornets only won 21 games in 2023/24, their lowest mark in over a decade, but there were a few positive developments over the course of the season – the first under their new ownership group – that may pay off for the franchise in the long run.

For one, last year’s No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller looks like a long-term building block and a future star. Charlotte also made a smart mid-season pivot, accepting the best offers on the trade market for veterans Terry Rozier, P.J. Washington, and Gordon Hayward, which netted the club several future draft assets. Finally, the team made a front office change in the spring, hiring Jeff Peterson to be its new head of basketball operations.

It will take some time before we can really evaluate several of the moves Peterson made during his first offseason at the helm. For instance, his head coaching hire looks like a good one — Charles Lee has received rave reviews for his work as an assistant. But first-time head coaches don’t come without risk, so it remains to be seen whether Lee’s transition to a lead role is a smooth one.

The biggest roster move the Hornets made this summer was re-signing forward Miles Bridges to a three-year, $75MM contract as an unrestricted free agent. That looks like a fair deal based on his on-court production, but Bridges’ history of domestic violence cases can’t be ignored. The hope in Charlotte is that Bridges’ past behavior is fully in the rear-view mirror and that he’ll be an upstanding citizen going forward, but you can certainly make a case that the Hornets never should have made that sort of investment to a player with those allegations on his record.

The Hornets’ 2024 lottery pick doesn’t come without risk either, albeit for entirely different reasons — Tidjane Salaun just turned 19 last week and isn’t considered likely to make an NBA impact as a rookie. Many people around the league were surprised Salaun was selected as high as No. 6, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo; ESPN’s Jonathan Givony describes him as a player who is “still just getting his feet wet at the highest levels.” That doesn’t mean Salaun won’t become an impact player down the road, but Charlotte will have to be patient with his development.

The Hornets operated under the cap this offseason, with Peterson using that room to accommodate a handful of salary dumps (Devonte’ Graham, Reggie Jackson, Josh Green) rather than pursuing outside free agents.

Graham and Jackson came with draft picks attached and were subsequently waived, whereas Green – a 23-year-old wing with a three-and-D skill set – projects to be a rotation player in Charlotte going forward. He’s under contract through the 2026/27 season.

Up next

The Hornets still have roster spots to fill before the regular season begins, with 14 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.

While the team could leave that 15th standard roster spot open to start the season, there’s no real reason not to fill it, given how far Charlotte’s team salary is from the luxury tax line. If the Hornets aren’t yet prepared to commit to a player for the full season, they could carry a 15th man with a non-guaranteed salary this fall.

Tre Mann, who was acquired from the Thunder at the 2024 trade deadline, is eligible for a rookie scale extension, while Cody Martin is eligible for a veteran extension. Martin isn’t a candidate for a new deal at this point, given his injury woes over the past two seasons, but Mann might be one worth watching — he made 28 starts for Charlotte down the stretch and played well (11.9 PPG, 5.2 APG, .453/.364/.759 shooting).

That’s a relatively small sample size, so the Hornets may prefer to wait another year on Mann and then negotiate a deal with him in restricted free agency next summer. But if they’re encouraged by how he looks in camp and if the price is right, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if the two sides worked something out sooner rather than later.

The Hornets are a team to watch on the trade market during the preseason and into the season, since they can afford to take on some salary and have shown in the last eight months that they’re happy to take on unwanted contracts in order to continue stockpiling draft assets.

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Clippers Preparing To Retain P.J. Tucker Into Regular Season?

August 16th, 2024 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers are preparing for the possibility that veteran forward P.J. Tucker will still be on their roster when the regular season begins, league sources tell Law Murray of The Athletic.

Tucker, who had a limited role in Los Angeles last season after arriving from Philadelphia in the James Harden trade, picked up his $11.54MM player option for the 2024/25 season in June.

Murray previously reported that L.A. was expected to part ways with the 13-year NBA veteran this offseason, either by trading or waiving him. However, moving Tucker’s expiring contract in a salary-dump trade would almost certainly require the Clippers to attach more valuable assets, given his negative trade value.

There aren’t many teams around the league who are in position to take on Tucker’s $11.54MM salary and the Clippers likely don’t feel as much urgency to move off the contract at this point, given that they’ve already used their bi-annual exception and most of their mid-level exception — removing Tucker’s deal from their books wouldn’t really create much practical spending flexibility.

While Murray suggests that a deal is unlikely to happen before training camp, Tucker remains a strong candidate to be moved at some point before the February trade deadline. His expiring salary could be used for matching purposes to help accommodate a mid-season move for the Clippers.

Tucker appeared in just 28 regular season games for Los Angeles in 2023/24, averaging 1.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per contest, and he wasn’t used until Game 5 of the club’s first-round playoff series vs. Dallas.

During his best years in Houston, Tucker was a tough, switchable frontcourt defender who had the quickness to guard out to the perimeter and the strength to match up against bigger players. He was also a threat to knock down corner threes on offense. Now 39 years old, the forward is no longer as effective a three-and-D contributor and doesn’t command serious attention from opposing defenses — he averaged just 1.6 shot attempts per game in 2023/24.

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Community Shootaround: Potential Rookie Of The Year Candidates

August 16th, 2024 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

As we relayed on Thursday, No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland recently expressed a desire to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 2024/25.

On the surface, Holland looks like a long shot for that honor. He just turned 19 years old and struggled last season as a member of the G League Ignite with his outside shot (.239 3PT%), overall scoring efficiency (.682 FT%), and turnovers (3.5 per game). The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag list Holland at +1800 for Rookie of the Year award, with 10 players ahead of him.

Still, it’s not an unreasonable goal for Holland. He should have an opportunity to earn minutes on the rebuilding Pistons, and this year’s Rookie of the Year race looks awfully wide open. A year ago, BetOnline.ag listed Victor Wembanyama as the overwhelming favorite (-150) for the award; this time around, the player with the best odds – Rockets guard Reed Sheppard – is at just +600.

Zaccharie Risacher of the Hawks and Alex Sarr of the Wizards were the top two picks in the 2024 draft, but neither player is expected to make the sort of immediate impact that Wembanyama – or even No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller – did. They’re listed as the third- and fourth-best bets for Rookie of the Year honors at +850 and +900, respectively.

Sheppard will have to earn minutes in a crowded Rockets rotation, but he showed during his lone college season at Kentucky that he’s capable of providing the sort of outside shooting Houston could use — he made a whopping 52.1% of his three-point attempts in 2023/24.

Grizzlies center Zach Edey, who has the second-best ROY odds at +650, could be a compelling candidate. It remains to be seen how he’ll adjust to the speed and athleticism at the NBA level, but he has a path to playing time in a Memphis frontcourt that no longer features Steven Adams or Xavier Tillman. He also spent four years playing college ball and should be more NBA-ready than many of his fellow lottery picks. Plus, the Grizzlies arguably have more upside in 2024/25 than any other lottery team, so if the team wins 50+ games, that could help Edey in the end-of-season vote.

Spurs guard Stephon Castle (+900), Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (+900), Lakers sharpshooter Dalton Knecht (+1100), Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham (+1200), Wizards guard Carlton Carrington (+1400), and Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (+1600) are some of the other first-year players viewed as Rookie of the Year candidates, but not all of them are locks to be in their teams’ rotations right away. Clingan, for instance, will have to battle Robert Williams and Duop Reath for minutes at center behind presumptive starter Deandre Ayton.

We want to know what you think. If you had to make a Rookie of the Year prediction today, which player would you feel most comfortable picking? Will there be several good contenders for the award or is there a particular rookie you expect to pull away from the pack?

Of the last 10 Rookie of the Year winners, five have been No. 1 overall picks and four others were selected in the top four. Will we deviate from that trend this year and get our first winner outside the top four since No. 36 overall pick Malcolm Brogdon won the 2017 award?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts on which of this year’s rookies will make the biggest first-year impact.

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And-Ones: Marquee Matchups, Cap Room, Spending, Most Improved Teams

August 16th, 2024 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA revealed its full schedule for the 2024/25 regular season on Thursday, and while there generally aren’t any surprises on that schedule (it’s not like the NFL, where a team plays fewer than half of the league’s other clubs), it’s still worth circling specific dates and marquee matchups.

Zach Harper of The Athletic, Chris Mannix of SI.com, and ESPN did just that, with Harper highlighting 35 games he’s looking forward to, Mannix naming 10 games to watch, and ESPN identifying 23 games not to miss.

Unsurprisingly, the Knicks/Celtics regular season opener (October 22), Paul George‘s return to Los Angeles with the Sixers (November 6), and Klay Thompson‘s return to Golden State with the Mavericks (Nov. 12) made all three lists.

The other two matchups that showed up on all three lists? Wizards at Hawks on Oct. 28 in the first regular season matchup between this year’s top two draft picks (Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr) and Spurs at Thunder on Oct. 30 in this season’s first Victor Wembanyama/Chet Holmgren showdown.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • A total of seven NBA teams operated under the cap and used room to make moves this offseason. As Keith Smith of Spotrac writes, those clubs used their cap space in very different ways, with some – like the Sixers and Thunder – making splashes in free agency, some (such as the Hornets) focusing on taking in salary in trades, and one (the Jazz) using most of its room to renegotiate a star player’s contract.
  • Which NBA teams have been the “cheapest” in recent years and which have been most willing to spend? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that questions, ranking each team by its spending from 2017-24 and considering whether clubs should have been willing to invest more on those rosters. The Warriors, Clippers, and Bucks have been the biggest spenders over the last seven years, while the Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets are at the other end of the list.
  • In a three-part series for The Athletic, David Aldridge ranks all 30 NBA clubs based on how much they improved their rosters with their offseason moves. Aldridge’s list, which is sorted by which teams improved most in the short term rather than which clubs made the “best” moves, features the Thunder, Sixers, and Magic at the top. Not coincidentally, those clubs made three of the summer’s biggest free agent signings, adding Isaiah Hartenstein, Paul George, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, respectively.
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Offseason Observations: Yabusele, MLEs, Draftees, Trade Vetos, Swap Rights

August 16th, 2024 at 7:18am CST by Luke Adams

With the Lauri Markkanen situation resolved, the Paris Olympics in the books, and NBA training camps still about a month-and-a-half away, we're entering the quietest portion of the 2024 offseason.

However, that doesn't mean there's nothing worth discussing.

Here are a few of the summer subplots I've been keeping an eye on, ranging from how Guerschon Yabusele's buyout with Real Madrid impacts a potential move to the NBA to the new ways in which teams are negotiating draft-pick swap rights in trades.

How Guerschon Yabusele's buyout works

A former NBA first-round pick who has been out of the league since 2019, Yabusele had an impressive showing for the French national team during the Olympics and suggested on social media after the Games that he'd welcome another opportunity stateside. However, reporting from Marc Stein indicated that Yabusele's buyout with Real Madrid is worth $2.5MM.

At least one report has stated Yabusele would be responsible for paying the majority of that $2.5MM buyout, while another has suggested an NBA team that signs him would be on the hook for the full amount. The truth depends on your perspective. Here's how it works:

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Western Notes: Kennard, Edwards, Wembanyama, KD, Blazers

August 15th, 2024 at 9:03pm CST by Luke Adams

After the Grizzlies turned down Luke Kennard‘s 2024/25 team option on June 29, the expectation was that he’d sign a new contract with the club. It took over a month, but the two sides eventually agreed to a one-year, $11MM deal, and Kennard said this week that returning to Memphis was always the plan, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“There are a lot of different conversations that go on throughout that process,” Kennard said. “I told (Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman) I want to be in Memphis. This is where I want to be. I’m excited with what they have built here over the last few years. I just wanted to be a small part of that.”

Family considerations factored into Kennard’s desire to remain with the Grizzlies, according to Cole, who notes that the 28-year-old is an Ohio native whose family isn’t too far from Memphis. Kennard and his wife also had a child in March, so he wasn’t eager to uproot them to move across the country.

“The fact that (family) can come see me anytime is such a big thing,” Kennard said. “Being closer to home plays a big factor. With the new baby and a wife at home, they love where we’re at and the city where we are. It’s been a great time so far. We’ve enjoyed Memphis a lot. We’re just glad we have at least another year.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

  • Anthony Edwards‘ Team USA experience at the 2023 World Cup ended without a medal, but the Timberwolves couldn’t have asked for a better set of circumstances for their young star this summer, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who details how Edwards played an important role for a gold-medal U.S. roster at the Olympics and got the chance to spend several weeks learning from three of the best NBA players of all-time in LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.
  • Rising Spurs star Victor Wembanyama didn’t get to spend as much time with Durant in Paris as Edwards did, but the reigning Rookie of the Year appreciated getting the opportunity to speak to the Suns forward following France’s loss to Team USA in the gold medal game. “Clearly, this is my personal childhood favorite,” Wembanyama said in an appearance on M6 (YouTube link; hat tip to Eurohoops). “He became my favorite player… I made it clear to him that I wanted to learn from him and perhaps steal one or two of his secret techniques.”
  • The Trail Blazers are parting ways with ROOT Sports and will be moving their games to an over-the-air network, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report, who says the details of the team’s TV broadcast plans for the 2024/25 season will be announced soon. It has become a bit of a trend for NBA teams to leave local regional sports networks in favor of over-the-air channels, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, with the Blazers joining Phoenix, Utah, and New Orleans as teams who have recently made that move.
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Suns CEO Bartelstein Talks Durant, Jones, Budenholzer, More

August 15th, 2024 at 8:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked during an extensive interview with PHNX Sports about Kevin Durant‘s future with the Suns, team CEO Josh Bartelstein reiterated the same message that he delivered to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic two weeks ago. While Bartelstein offered no guarantees that Durant will sign a contract extension before the season begins, he stressed that the relationship between the franchise and its star forward is in a very good place.

“He loves it here. We talk to Rich Kleiman, who’s his partner, all the time about the vision and what we’re building, and everyone’s really happy, and I think we’re gonna have a really really good year,” Bartelstein said. “And Kevin’s part of all the discussions about the vision for the team, all the stuff we’re doing on the court, off the court. So the fact that we have all that dialogue, there’s equity built into it. If you do those things, everything else will take care of itself.”

Bartelstein’s conversation with PHNX Sports covered a wide range of additional topics, including his day-to-day duties for the organization, his expectations for the Suns’ new G League affiliate, navigating the second apron, and much more.

The interview is worth checking out in full, especially for Suns fans, but here are a few of Bartelstein’s most noteworthy comments:

On unexpectedly landing Tyus Jones on a minimum-salary deal late in free agency:

“We pulled it out of the back pocket. I think it’s why relationships matter so much. His agent, Kevin Bradbury, and I are friendly, and there’s a balance of just checking in and knowing what’s going on. And (Suns general manager) James (Jones) and I would talk all the time about, ‘Hey, if we could get Tyus, it would be a home run.’ But the first 10 days of free agency, you’re kind of just sitting there and seeing how the market plays out. I think with the new rules and, like, the cap space, a lot of people got squeezed.

“So our first real meeting with Tyus and his agent Kevin was in Vegas during Summer League, and we had a nice drink and kind of talked about the role and vision, how it could be a perfect fit, but also just that they were gonna take their time and see how things played out. And from there, then we said, like, ‘Let’s go all in and recruit him, and the worst thing they can do is say no to us.’ But we went all in on recruiting him, from little gift bags to videos for their kids, to all the small details and showing the care factor.

“… Obviously if someone offers you way more money, like, that matters. But if it’s close or it’s on the margins, we think the community we have here, the relationships we have here, the concierge service we have here, we can really give ourselves an advantage, and it’s worked in getting some of these guys to pick us.”

On the impact he expects new head coach Mike Budenholzer to have on the team:

“He is awesome. I mean, he’s the real deal. We’ve become very, very close over the three months. It’s crazy it’s been that fast. He’s so detail-oriented. He thinks Phoenix Suns all day, every day, from the biggest things of where is Kevin gonna get the ball to the smallest things of how do we maximize our two-way guys’ days? Like, he’s just always thinking Suns basketball, and he’s a basketball savant. The way he uses players, the success he’s had, the wins, you’re talking about one of the best coaches in the NBA.

“And he’s a great person too. I think he’ll be great in the community. He’s so happy to be here that he can’t wait to get started. So just seeing how he thinks has been cool, about the things he values, how we want to play. We’ve had so many discussions. He was a huge part of the recruiting. I mean, Tyus Jones said it, Bud was a big part of why Tyus picked here. How Bud has gotten players paid, how Bud uses guys, how he optimizes them, so all of our free agents, all of our guys, Bud has a say in it, ’cause he’s the head coach and we’re really, really lucky to have him.”

On why the Suns are excited about 2024 draftees Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro:

“As good of a basketball player as (Dunn) is, he’s an amazing person. Like, he’s a really, really good young man, and he works his tail off. He’s always, always in the gym. And I think for us, that athleticism, size, defensive versatility — that’s what we need, right? Like, if you checked the box of what we’re missing, it’s him. It’s a lot to ask him to go play 20 minutes a game in year one, but we’re gonna develop him. He’ll have a lot of opportunities to play.

“And Oso is someone that came here twice to work out and we loved him. His passing, his play-making, incredibly high IQ. He’s today’s NBA big, and I think with Nurk (Jusuf Nurkic) and Mason (Plumlee), he’ll learn a ton too, ’cause they have a similar archetype player-wise.”

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