- After Jalen Johnson, De’Andre Hunter, and Saddiq Bey each played at least 29 minutes in the Hawks’ regular season opener, head coach Quin Snyder stressed that he expects all three forwards to get regular playing time and that he doesn’t necessarily need to roll with just two of them at the expense of the third. “It’s not a binary question of Jalen or Saddiq,” Snyder said (Twitter link via Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks). “Maybe tonight will make that clear.”
Although a handful of players who didn’t sign rookie scale extensions prior to Monday’s deadline have insisted they won’t let their contract situations be a distraction during the 2023/24 season, Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu admitted on Tuesday that he’s happy to have gotten a deal done, since he didn’t want to have 2024 restricted free agency hanging over his head.
Okongwu signed a four-year, $62MM contract extension with the Hawks that doesn’t include any incentives or options.
“Definitely a stress relief because you know, you don’t want to have to go through all that next year,” Okongwu said, per Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Awesome. I love the guys here, coaching staff, my teammates. I wanted to stay here and do it with the guys. So I didn’t even want to do all that but now I can play basketball freely.”
Okongwu’s new deal will have a starting salary of $14MM in 2024/25, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), and will gradually increase from there, albeit not at the maximum rate of 8% per year.
The big man will eventually earn $16,880,000 in 2027/28, according to Marks, who notes that the deal is never projected to be worth more than 10.3% of the cap. That may turn out to be a team-friendly rate for a player who could eventually become Atlanta’s starting center.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Magic guard Cole Anthony offered a similar line of thinking to Okongwu’s in explaining why he was happy to sign a rookie scale extension of his own prior to Monday’s deadline (Twitter video link via Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel). “The main reason I really wanted to get this deal done is one, I obviously love it here and I really think we have a chance to build something,” Anthony said. “But for me… (to be able to) play the game stress-free. Do what I love, have fun, and just not have to worry about a looming contract. Just go out there and know I’m cool for a few more years and just hoop and have fun.”
- The Hawks are under pressure to take a step forward this season, according to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic, who notes that – after replacing Nate McMillan with Quin Snyder in February – another underwhelming year would result in changes that go beyond the head coach.
- While Bilal Coulibaly started four of the Wizards‘ preseason games, the team will take a more patient approach with its rookie forward in the regular season, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who observes that Coulibaly’s workload in Wednesday’s opener (23 minutes) is an indication of what’s to come for the 19-year-old — and may even be inflated due to garbage-time minutes. “He’s going to get some minutes,” head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said after the game. “We’re going to progress him slowly, yes. We’re not going to heap too much on him too soon. But his minutes will vary.”
- Wizards guard Tyus Jones is impressed with what he has seen so far from new teammate Jordan Poole, suggesting that the former Warrior is determined to take his game to new heights even after averaging 20+ points per game last season. “He’s just a worker. A worker, daily; he’s dedicated,” Jones said, per Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. “I don’t want to say he’s not happy, but he’s not happy with where he’s at in his development. He’s not satisfied.”
The Cavaliers and Isaac Okoro‘s representatives had “productive” talks ahead of Monday’s rookie scale extension deadline, but the two sides decided it was best to wait until next summer to address the forward’s contract situation, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Sources tell Fedor that the conversations about a new deal for Okoro were in the neighborhood of the deal signed by Mavericks wing Josh Green (three years, $41MM). However, the Cavaliers want to wait and see how the former lottery pick fits with this year’s roster following the offseason additions of Max Strus and Georges Niang, since he no longer projects to be a starter.
Speaking to Fedor on Wednesday, Okoro said he felt like he “should have gotten an extension” but that playing out his contract year won’t affect the way he approaches the season.
“Of course, I wanted an extension, but it happened the way it happened,” he said. “I love Cleveland. I love being here. I love being around the players, coaches, front office staff, trainers. Built great relationships. I don’t take it as a big deal.”
Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:
- Celtics big man Al Horford told reporters on Wednesday that he won’t be in the starting lineup when the team’s season tips off in New York tonight, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). That suggests Derrick White and Jrue Holiday will both start alongside Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis. For what it’s worth, head coach Joe Mazzulla said over the weekend that the Celtics will use multiple starting lineups this season, while Tatum said today that the team essentially has “six starters” (Twitter links via Jared Weiss of The Athletic and Bontemps).
- Hawks swingman Wesley Matthews underwent an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a mild right calf strain, the team announced today (Twitter link). According to the Hawks, Matthews will be reevaluated in two weeks, so he’ll miss at least Atlanta’s first seven games of the regular season.
- While Bulls forward Patrick Williams admitted on Monday that he would “obviously” like to have “a big contract,” he vowed that his lack of rookie scale extension won’t be a distraction at all this season, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “Anything personal in my life that I’ve been going through, any time I step between those four lines, it’s gone,” Williams said.
- Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca takes an in-depth look at the Raptors‘ roster, exploring the team’s cap and tax situation as well as potential next steps for Jeff Dowtin, who didn’t make the regular season cut.
An unusual number of players who were eligible to sign rookie scale extensions prior to Monday’s deadline inked new deals. A total of 14 players received rookie scale extensions in 2023, blowing away the previous single-year record of 11.
However, nearly half of the 27 eligible players didn’t sign a contract and thus will head to restricted free agency, if they are extended qualifying offers by their respective teams after the season. Otherwise, they’ll be unrestricted free agents next summer.
Perhaps the biggest name on the list is Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey, though that comes with an asterisk. The Sixers front office and Maxey mutually agreed to put off an extension so that Philadelphia could maximize its cap room next summer.
Immanuel Quickley and Patrick Williams are two of the other big-time names on the list who didn’t reach agreements with their teams. While the Knicks and Quickley’s reps — as well as the Bulls and Williams’ reps — held extension talks as the deadline neared, they couldn’t come to terms on the numbers.
Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn (Raptors), Saddiq Bey (Hawks), James Wiseman and Killian Hayes (Pistons), Kira Lewis (Pelicans), Chuma Okeke (Magic), Isaac Okoro (Cavaliers), Aleksej Pokusevski (Thunder) and Obi Toppin (Pacers) are the other eligible players who didn’t sign extensions.
A full list of the players who did, or did not, sign rookie scale extensions this offseason can be found here.
5:46pm: The deal is official, the Hawks have confirmed in a press release.
4:47pm: The Hawks have reached an extension agreement with center Onyeka Okongwu, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from agent Sam Goldfeder that the two sides are completing a four-year, $62MM deal.
Okongwu, who will turn 23 in December, was the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft. He has primarily come off the bench in his first three professional seasons, starting just 28 of 178 games for Atlanta.
However, Okongwu has gradually taken on a more significant role each year, setting new career highs in points (9.9), rebounds (7.2), and minutes (23.1) per game in 80 appearances in 2022/23 and posting impressive offensive rebounding numbers following the arrival of Quin Snyder, per Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). He projects to take on more responsibilities in the Hawks’ frontcourt this season with big man John Collins no longer on the roster.
While $15.5MM per year is a substantial price to pay for a reserve, it could turn out to be a bargain if Okongwu continues to improve and eventually replaces Clint Capela as Atlanta’s starting center. Capela’s name popped up in trade rumors this offseason and it wouldn’t be a surprise if that happens again in the coming months now that the team has made a long-term commitment to Okongwu.
His long-term contract agreement with the Hawks ensures that Okongwu becomes part of a record-setting class of rookie scale extension recipients in 2023. He’s the 14th players to agree to a rookie scale extension this year, blowing away the previous record of 11, which was set in 2021 and matched in 2022.
Hawks forward Saddiq Bey was also among the players eligible to sign a rookie scale extension by Monday’s 5:00 pm CT deadline, but he didn’t reach a deal with the team, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The five-year deal that Devin Vassell signed with San Antonio, which will be worth at least $135MM, plus incentives, threw a “grenade” into some other rookie scale extension negotiations around the NBA, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast.
However, even before word of Vassell’s extension broke, Lowe had heard that Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels was seeking a “large amount of money” on a potential new deal with Minnesota. Lowe believes that McDaniels is in position to command a significant payday.
“If I’m Jaden McDaniels, I’m saying, ‘That dude (Vassell) got ($135MM+) playing 38 games on a s—t team with no stakes?'” Lowe said. “‘I didn’t average 18-and-a-half (points) per game, but I shot it well from three. I’m already an All-Defense-level player. You guys – Minnesota, all you people I’m negotiating with, the brass – expressed outrage that I didn’t make an All-Defensive team, so you obviously agree that I’m one of the 10 best defensive players in the NBA.
“Yeah, I punched a wall, sorry. (But) I’m essential to your team in a critical two- or three-year period. I’m a winning three-and-D player, and watch me do a little bit more with the ball this year. Pay up. Pay up.'”
While Lowe thinks that McDaniels would be warranted in seeking an annual salary of at least $30MM per year, his ESPN colleague Bobby Marks suggested that an extension worth in the neighborhood of $134MM over five years (just below Vassell’s deal) might make sense for both the player and the team.
Here are a few more notes on possible extension candidates around the NBA:
- Bulls forward Patrick Williams, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension, is one player whose asking price may be influenced by Vassell’s new contract, according to Lowe. “I’m hearing Patrick Williams wants big numbers. Like, starts with a two and isn’t two-zero kind of stuff,” Lowe said, expressing skepticism that Chicago will go anywhere near that high for the forward. “… If that ends up being true and the Vassell deal ends up being the comp that his agents go to – which is what I would do if I were them – that’s a lot of cheese. Go to restricted free agency and get it.”
- Here’s what Lowe had to say on the Hawks‘ rookie scale extension negotiations with forward Saddiq Bey: “$18 to $20 (million per year) is an interesting conversation with Saddiq Bey, because it’s enough above the mid-level that he’s got to think about it. I’ve heard those negotiations have not been going great. I don’t think Atlanta’s gotten to that level yet.”
- Terance Mann, who is in the first season of a two-year, $22MM extension he signed with the Clippers in 2021, will be eligible to sign a new deal up until Monday, but he told reporters on Saturday that a preseason extension is “not happening” (Twitter link via Justin Russo). Mann will be extension-eligible again next offseason, so there’s no rush for either side to get something done now. Of course, it’s also worth noting that the 27-year-old – whose inclusion has been a sticking point in the James Harden trade talks between L.A. and Philadelphia – would be ineligible to be dealt this season if he signs an extension with a raise exceeding 5%.
- The Mavericks and wing Josh Green continue to discuss a possible rookie scale extension ahead of Monday’s deadline, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The Hawks have exercised their rookie scale team options for the 2024/25 season on forward Jalen Johnson and guard AJ Griffin, the team announced in a press release.
The moves had been expected, given the relatively modest cost of Johnson’s and Griffin’s ’24/25 option salaries. Johnson’s fourth-year option is worth $4,510,905, while Griffin will earn $3,889,920 in his third NBA season. Those salaries are now fully guaranteed.
Johnson, who will turn 22 in December, emerged as a regular rotation player for Atlanta in 2022/23, averaging 5.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 14.9 minutes per game across 70 appearances. He’s expected to take on a more prominent role this fall following the offseason trade of John Collins.
Exercising Johnson’s fourth-year option means the Hawks will have the ability to sign him to a rookie scale extension next summer. If he doesn’t sign a new deal at that point, the former Duke standout will become eligible for restricted free agency in 2025.
As for Griffin, he had a promising rookie year that saw him average 8.9 PPG on .465/.390/.894 shooting in 72 games (19.5 MPG). Another ex-Blue Devil, the 20-year-old has a fourth-year option worth $5,967,137 for the 2025/26 season — Atlanta will have to decide by next October 31 whether to pick it up.
The full list of 2024/25 rookie scale team options decisions can be found right here.
- Third-year forward Jalen Johnson has been one of the Hawks‘ most impressive players in training camp and the preseason, says Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required). Johnson improved defensively last season and has shown off his versatility on the offensive end this fall, Williams notes, averaging 4.0 assists per game in the preseason and making 60% of his three-point tries. After coming off the bench in 86 of his first 92 NBA games, Johnson is a good candidate to join Atlanta’s starting five this season — he has started three of four preseason contests.
OCTOBER 14: As expected, Singleton’s stint on Atlanta’s roster was short-lived. The Hawks issued a press release today announcing that he has been waived.
OCTOBER 13: The Hawks have signed rookie free agent guard David Singleton, the team announced today in a press release.
The agreement was reported shortly after June’s draft and is finally official, nearly four months later. According to that June report, Singleton’s contract is an Exhibit 10 deal.
Singleton, who went undrafted out of UCLA earlier this year, played with the Bruins for five seasons, making 43.4% of his three-pointers during that time. He averaged 9.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per contest across 37 appearances this past season, then joined the Hawks for Summer League, appearing in a couple games in Las Vegas.
The Hawks have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and three on two-way deals, so their roster appears pretty set for the regular season. That means Singleton will likely be waived in the coming days and then report to the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate. If he spends at least 60 days with the Skyhawks, he would receive an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $75K.
With the 2023/24 NBA regular season around the corner, we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.
With the help of the lines from a series of sports betting sites – including Bovada and BetOnline – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
In 2022/23, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’23/24?
We’ll keep our series going today with the Southeast Division…
Miami Heat
- 2022/23 record: 44-38
- Over/under for 2023/24: 46.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Atlanta Hawks
- 2022/23 record: 41-41
- Over/under for 2023/24: 42.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Wesley Matthews, Patty Mills, Kobe Bufkin, Mouhamed Gueye
- Lost: John Collins, Aaron Holiday, Vit Krejci, Tyrese Martin
Orlando Magic
- 2022/23 record: 34-48
- Over/under for 2023/24: 37.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Anthony Black, Jett Howard, Joe Ingles
- Lost: Bol Bol, Michael Carter-Williams
Charlotte Hornets
- 2022/23 record: 27-55
- Over/under for 2023/24: 31.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Nick Smith Jr., Frank Ntilikina
- Lost: Kelly Oubre, Dennis Smith Jr., Kai Jones, Kobi Simmons
Washington Wizards
- 2022/23 record: 35-47
- Over/under for 2023/24: 24.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Jordan Poole, Tyus Jones, Bilal Coulibaly, Landry Shamet, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, Patrick Baldwin, Ryan Rollins
- Note: The Wizards have 17 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so it’s possible not all of these additions will be on the regular season roster.
- Lost: Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, Monte Morris, Kendrick Nunn, Jordan Goodwin, Isaiah Todd
- Added: Jordan Poole, Tyus Jones, Bilal Coulibaly, Landry Shamet, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, Patrick Baldwin, Ryan Rollins
Previous voting results:
- Denver Nuggets (53.5 wins): Over (52.0%)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (44.5 wins): Over (53.1%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (44.5 wins): Under (53.6%)
- Utah Jazz (35.5 wins): Over (55.5%)
- Portland Trail Blazers (28.5 wins): Under (50.9%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (54.5 wins): Over (76.9%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (50.5 wins): Under (52.0%)
- Indiana Pacers (38.5 wins): Over (64.1%)
- Chicago Bulls (37.5 wins): Under (61.9%)
- Detroit Pistons (27.5 wins): Over (53.8%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (46.5 wins): Under (52.1%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (44.5 wins): Under (60.8%)
- Dallas Mavericks (44.5 wins): Under (50.3%)
- Houston Rockets (31.5 wins): Over (59.2%)
- San Antonio Spurs (28.5 wins): Over (54.4%)