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Atlantic Notes: White, Watford, Giles, Nets, Sixers

August 4th, 2023 at 5:44pm CST by Rory Maher

Speaking to Malika Andrews of ESPN on NBA Today (YouTube link), Celtics guard Derrick White discussed his changing role, the addition of Kristaps Porzingis, and being open to a contract extension, among other topics.

“You’re eligible for an extension at the end of September,” Andrews said. “You’re gonna have a what, three week window to negotiate that. Do you want to get a deal done before the season starts? Is that a goal of yours?”

“I love being here in Boston, it would be cool to get an extension,” White replied. “We’ll see what happens during that window. But I’ve loved my time in Boston so far and my focus right now is just on the season.”

The 29-year-old has two years remaining on his current contract, which will pay him $36.4MM+ through 2024/25. White’s deal has incentives — some likely, some unlikely — that could increase the total value.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

The signing of big man Trendon Watford is yet another indication that the Nets are embracing a youth movement this offseason, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. Brooklyn selected a pair of teenagers in the first round of the draft (Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead), a 22-year-old (Jalen Wilson) in the second round, and has signed free agents Dennis Smith Jr., Lonnie Walker, Darius Bazley and now Watford, all of whom are 25 years old or younger.
Free agent big man Harry Giles is holding a workout on Saturday in Miami and the Nets will be in attendance, agent Daniel Hazan tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). As Bondy notes, Giles is eligible for a two-way deal after a clause in the new CBA was named after the former first-round pick, who missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. Brooklyn holds one open two-way slot, as our tracker shows. Giles also held a workout in Las Vegas last month, with at least five teams in attendance.
In a subscriber-only story for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Gina Mizell explains how the Sixers will have the financial flexibility to reshape their roster next summer, despite James Harden‘s trade request hanging over the organization. Both Harden and Tobias Harris are on expiring contracts, Mizell writes, and the 76ers prioritized signing free agents to short-term contracts this offseason. Technically, only Joel Embiid is currently on a guaranteed contract in 2024/25, though P.J. Tucker is essentially a lock to pick up his $11.5MM player option.

Atlantic Notes: Harrell, Nets, Hart, Brown

August 3rd, 2023 at 10:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Although reserve big man Montrezl Harrell tore the ACL and medial meniscus in his right knee this summer, the Sixers intend to keep him on their roster, at least for the time being, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Though Pompey notes that Harrell, who inked a one-year, minimum-salary contract to return to the Sixers, most likely will not recuperate in time to play for the team in 2023/24, he believes retaining the former Sixth Man of the Year is the right play. Pompey suggests the Sixers could look to package his salary in a trade later.

Given that Harrell was the third or possibly fourth center on the club’s depth chart, he wasn’t likely to have played major minutes anyway. The 6’7″ vet averaged 5.6 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 2022/23, his lowest numbers since his 2015/16 rookie season.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Nets still have three roster spots – including one two-way slot – open ahead of training camp this fall, Net Income of Nets Daily writes. Net Income notes that the team still has its bi-annual exception and full mid-level exception at its disposal, and its $157MM in cumulative player salary puts it $9MM beneath the NBA’s $165MM luxury tax threshold. The free agent market at this point is a bit threadbare, so one wonders if Brooklyn would opt to use more than a veteran’s minimum on any of the still-available personnel.
Knicks swingman Josh Hart becomes extension-eligible on August 9, but as Fred Katz of The Athletic notes, that isn’t stopping him from partaking in Team USA during this month’s FIBA World Cup. Katz writes that the typical move these days for players with big money potentially on the line is to preserve their bodies and avoid possible offseason injuries until a deal is done, but Hart is happy to buck that trend. An extension of his current deal could net him, at most, a four-year contract worth up to $81.3MM.
Although he inked a new five-year, maximum-salary contract extension this offseason, All-Star Celtics wing Jaylen Brown still has one glaring issue in his game: protecting the ball. As Jared Weiss of The Athletic notes, Brown coughed up the ball 66 times during the 2023 playoffs, including eight incredibly costly turnovers in a Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals defeat against the Heat. Weiss takes a look at how Brown might be able to limit this particular problem going forward.

Atlantic Notes: Rajakovic, Randle, R. Williams

August 2nd, 2023 at 11:15pm CST by Rory Maher

In a fascinating profile, Eric Koreen of The Athletic details Darko Rajakovic‘s journey to becoming the Raptors‘ new head coach.

Rajakovic got his NBA start thanks to his relationship with Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti, first in the then-D-League and later with Oklahoma City. Presti met Rajakovic in Europe as a young executive with the Spurs, and was impressed by his attention to detail, passion and work ethic, Koreen writes.

“He’s fought himself all the way to this point,” Presti said. “I think there is a level of toughness that comes with that, to work that path the way that he did, to get to the point where he’s the head coach of an NBA team. I don’t know how you can’t respect that and also be extremely happy for him.”

As Koreen notes, one of Rajakovic’s strengths is his adaptability, which should come in handy with Toronto’s roster in a somewhat precarious position entering 2023/24. It’s an excellent article and I highly recommend it for those who subscribe to The Athletic.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Left ankle problems plagued Julius Randle to end last season, but the Knicks‘ All-NBA forward believes undergoing arthroscopic surgery a couple months ago may have been a blessing in disguise, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News relays. “Me and my trainer were just talking about this, we were talking about prime years,” Randle said Wednesday as a guest on The Shop Uninterrupted. “And I feel like your prime is when your mental and physical kind of meet. And physically I feel like this is going to be my best year. But mentally I feel like I’ve taken a tremendous step because I’ve had to slow all the way down. I wasn’t allowed to train.” Randle also said he drew inspiration from teammate Jalen Brunson due to the point guard’s diligence and focus, per Bondy.
What’s next for Robert Williams following the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis? The Celtics big man needs to become more aggressive offensively, dribble more often, and add a short-range jump shot to keep opposing defenses honest, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Of course, the biggest question mark surrounding Williams might not be his on-court play but rather his health, given that he has appeared in just 209 regular season games over his five NBA seasons, including 35 in ’23/24.
In case you missed it, the Knicks, Raptors and Celtics all officially made roster moves on Tuesday.

Gallinari Looking For Revenge After Trade

August 2nd, 2023 at 7:29pm CST by Rory Maher

Wizards forward Danilo Gallinari, who was acquired from Boston as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, says he’s looking forward to competing against the Celtics next season, according to Daniel Donabedian of Clutch Points. “I can’t wait to play against Boston,” Gallinari said on the Italian A Cresta Alta podcast. “When the schedule will be unveiled, I’ll put an X on the games we will play at Boston against the Celtics.” Gallinari grew up idolizing Celtics legend Larry Bird and hoped to win a title in Boston, but missed all of last season after tearing his ACL last year.

White-Porzingis Combo Could Lift Offensive Potential

August 1st, 2023 at 5:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With Derrick White the undisputed starting point man with the Celtics, The Athletic’s Jared Weiss breaks down how a pick-and-roll partnership between White and Kristaps Porzingis can unlock the team’s full offensive potential.

Celtics Waive Justin Champagnie

August 1st, 2023 at 4:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics have waived swingman Justin Champagnie, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Champagnie, 22, appeared in two regular season and four postseason games for Boston last season. The front office had a deadline today regarding Champagnie’s contract. He had a $50K guarantee if he remained on the roster through Tuesday.

Champagnie signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract in April but it was non-guaranteed for next season. By shedding Champagnie, the Celtics now have two openings on the 15-man roster.

He could benefit in the long run, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet notes (Twitter link). This frees him up to seek a two-way or camp deal where he could conceivably end up with more guaranteed money — the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus and the partial guarantee on a two-way contract are each worth $75K.

After going undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2021, the 6’6″ swingman inked a two-way deal with the Raptors for the 2021/22 season. The team brought him back aboard for 2022/23, but after he had appeared in just three games for Toronto, he was cut in December.

And-Ones: D. Rivers, M. Jackson, Bahamas, Shooting Tech, Contracts

July 31st, 2023 at 3:55pm CST by Rory Maher

After letting go of Jeff Van Gundy last month, ESPN/ABC has also laid off fellow analyst Mark Jackson, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. Jackson confirmed the news in an interview with Peter Vecsey, Marchand adds (via Twitter).

As Marchand writes, the new top NBA broadcast team at ESPN/ABC will be comprised of longtime play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, and Doris Burke, who is being promoted. The hiring of Rivers and promotion of Burke aren’t yet official, but they are “quickly moving in that direction,” according to Marchand.

Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald confirms Marchand’s reporting (via Twitter).

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

The Suns‘ Deandre Ayton and Eric Gordon, Pacers wing Buddy Hield, and Hornets big man Kai Jones are on the 2024 Olympic qualifying roster for the Bahamas, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape. The Bahamian national team will play its qualifying games in Argentina from August 14-20. “I’m excited to be back playing for Team Bahamas and to see how much the program has grown,” Ayton told Spears. “Can’t wait to play with my guys. It’s truly a special experience to compete with teammates – who are from where you’re from – with Bahamas on your chest.”
Tim MacMahon of ESPN details how Breakaway Data — a startup focused on the biomechanics of shooting — has partnered with Overtime Elite and Las Vegas Summer League to provide detailed breakdowns of each player’s shot. “I thought it was very informative,” Overtime Elite product Amen Thompson, drafted fourth overall by the Rockets, told ESPN. “Not everything works for everybody, but that [data] can’t really be a bad thing. It can only help to get as much information as possible. I felt like that’s what it gave us.”
Which players have inked the most lucrative contracts in NBA history? Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype provides the list. Jaylen Brown‘s new super-max extension with the Celtics is the current largest deal ever, Gozlan notes.

Atlantic Notes: Mazzulla, Bridges, Thibodeau, Rajaković

July 30th, 2023 at 1:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite moving 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and key reserve forward Grant Williams in separate summer trades, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla intends to employ similar defensive principles in 2023/24, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

Himmelsbach adds that newly acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis has always been a solid defender around the rim, and can aid Boston at that end of the floor, too.

“With Marcus gone, we don’t want our defensive identity to go out the door as well, so we have to really emphasize that at the start of training camp,” Mazzulla said. “I think what Kristaps can bring to us defensively, and the additions some of our other guys can bring to us defensively, I want to make sure that’s where we hang our hats this year.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

As the Nets’ No. 1 option, small forward Mikal Bridges is striving to hone his play-making this offseason, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link). “Yeah, you could do [drills] … but it’s more of a mindset, and having that mindset coming in and watching film,” Bridges said of how he intended to improve. “That’s the biggest thing, to have that mindset of playmaking.”
The 2023/24 Knicks roster has been constructed with an eye towards the preferences of head coach Tom Thibodeau, under whom the team has had its most success in years, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Braziller notes that the trade addition of Josh Hart and the signing of Donte DiVincenzo, two defensively versatile wings, plus the subtractions of talented-but-raw forwards Cam Reddish and Obi Toppin, all seem to be in line with Thibodeau’s ethos to team-building.
In an interview with Sportski zurnal (as translated by Eurohoops), new Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković explained how he has always had major goals in mind with regard to his coaching career. “Since the beginning of my coaching career, I have always been very ambitious, but at the same time I knew that a coaching career is not a 100-meter race, but a long marathon,” Rajaković said. “I have only just run half a marathon, I still have a long way to go. I am currently in my 27th year of coaching. of work and I hope that I will stay in coaching for as long as possible. I’m enjoying it and it’s nice.”

How 2024 Cap Increase Will Determine Value Of Brown’s Record-Setting Contract

July 29th, 2023 at 3:31pm CST by Luke Adams

When Jaylen Brown agreed to a five-year, super-max extension with the Celtics, it was widely reported to be a $304MM deal. That number is subject to change though, since the value of the contract will depend on the value of the NBA’s 2024/25 salary cap, which won’t be officially determined until next June.

Brown’s contract will start at 35% of the ’24/25 cap and will feature 8% annual raises after that.

The $304MM estimate for Brown’s super-max deal is based on a projected salary cap increase of 10%. The NBA and NBPA have agreed not to increase the cap by more than 10% per year in order to avoid a repeat of the 2016 offseason, when a 34.5% bump helped create a Warriors super-team and resulted in a number of regrettable contracts for other teams around the league.

With that ceiling in mind, a 10% cap increase next summer would represent a best-case scenario for Brown. But it’s also a realistic outcome — the cap has risen by 10% in each of the past two offseasons, so it’s forecasting it to happen again is certainly within reason.

If the cap were to increase 10% for 2024/25, Brown’s contract would look like this:

Year	Salary
2024/25	$52,368,050
2025/26	$56,557,494
2026/27	$60,746,938
2027/28	$64,936,382
2028/29	$69,125,826
Total	$303,734,690

Of course, the NBA hasn’t actually formally projected a 10% cap increase for 2024/25, so it’s a little early to lock in those figures for Brown.

If the cap were to instead increase by a more modest 5%, his deal would instead look like this:

Year	Salary
2024/25	$49,987,700
2025/26	$53,986,716
2026/27	$57,985,732
2027/28	$61,984,748
2028/29	$65,983,764
Total	$289,928,660

In either case, Brown’s contract would become the richest deal in NBA history, comfortably surpassing Nikola Jokic‘s five-year, $276,122,630 deal that begins in 2023/24. The only scenario in which Brown’s extension wouldn’t exceed Jokic’s is if the salary cap doesn’t increase at all in a year — then Brown’s deal would look exactly the same as Jokic’s.

A lot could happen in the next 11 months, but it would require very unusual circumstances for the cap not to rise at all. Since 2010, that has only happened amidst shortened seasons (due to a lockout and the COVID-19 pandemic). So we can confidently project Brown’s contract to be worth more than Jokic’s.

For what it’s worth, Brown won’t be the only player earning 35% of the cap in 2024/25. Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns also signed super-max contracts that will go into effect a year from now, and their deals will look exactly the same as Brown’s from 2024-28. The only reason those aren’t considered record-setting contracts in their own right is because they’ll cover four years instead of five, since Booker and Towns signed extensions with two years left on their respective contracts rather than just one.

Of course, even Brown’s record is unlikely to stand for long. With an in-season tournament being introduced later this year and a new media rights deal around the corner, the NBA’s revenue and salary cap will likely only continue to grow in the coming years.

Brown’s Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum, who met the super-max performance criteria this spring and will meet the service time criteria in 2024, is the best bet to be the next recipient of the richest contract in league history. If the cap increases by 10% next year and another 10% in 2025, this is what a super-max deal for Tatum could look like:

Year	Salary
2025/26	$57,604,750
2026/27	$62,213,130
2027/28	$66,821,510
2028/29	$71,429,890
2029/30	$76,038,270
Total	$334,107,550

How New CBA Has Impacted Summer Roster Moves

July 29th, 2023 at 9:23am CST by Luke Adams

The restrictions placed on teams above the second tax apron in the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement didn’t dissuade the Suns from further increasing their payroll in both the short and long term by acquiring Bradley Beal and his four-year, maximum-salary contract. However, the effects of the new CBA were felt by several of the league’s other top spenders, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, and Tim Bontemps outline in an Insider-only story.

Bontemps points out that the Clippers‘ decision to waive Eric Gordon before his 2023/24 cap hit became guaranteed saved the club $100MM+ in salary and tax penalties. Gordon ended up signing with the rival Suns, which wasn’t an ideal outcome for L.A.

The Celtics, meanwhile, were in position to keep Grant Williams at a fairly reasonable rate, but opted to sign-and-trade him to Dallas rather than bring him back on a four-year deal worth around $14MM per year.

The Warriors reduced their future financial commitments by trading Jordan Poole and his lucrative new four-year extension in a deal for Chris Paul, who is on a pseudo-expiring contract (his 2024/25 salary is non-guaranteed).

As Bontemps writes, forcing high-payroll teams to make difficult decisions on role players was exactly what the NBA intended when it introduced a more punitive second tax apron in the new CBA. Even the Suns, Bontemps notes, were impacted a little by those new rules, given that they opted to fill out their roster with minimum-salary players rather than using their Early Bird rights to re-sign some of their own free agents, like Torrey Craig and Jock Landale.

Here are a few more ways the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has influenced roster moves around the league this summer, per ESPN’s trio:

The new CBA requires teams to spend at least to the minimum salary floor (90% of the cap) before the regular season begins — if they don’t, they’ll forfeit a portion of their share of the end-of-season luxury tax payments (50% in 2023/24; the entire amount in future seasons). As a result, all eight teams that operated under the cap in July have already reached the minimum floor, as Bontemps and Marks observe. Free agents across the board didn’t necessarily reap the benefits of that change, since several teams used their cap room in other ways (trades, renegotiations, etc.), but Bruce Brown was one beneficiary, Pelton writes. The Pacers were able to get Brown on a short-term contract (two years with a second-year team option) by making him their highest-paid player ($22MM) for 2023/24.
The new second-round pick exception looks like a win for both teams and players. According to Marks, this year’s second-round picks have received a total of $47.1MM in guaranteed money so far, up from $36.4MM in 2022. And because the second-round exception requires a team option in either the third or fourth year, there’s no longer a risk for teams of losing a second-rounder to unrestricted free agency (the way the Mavericks lost Jalen Brunson).
The Kings and Thunder took advantage of the fact that the room exception for under-the-cap teams was upgraded to allow for a third year (instead of just two) and a much higher starting salary (it got a 30% bump, separate from its year-to-year increase). In past seasons, Sacramento and Oklahoma City wouldn’t have been able to sign Sasha Vezenkov and Vasilije Micic to three-year contracts worth between $6-8MM per year without using cap room (or the mid-level exception for over-the-cap teams) to do so. This year, they were able to use that cap space in other ways.
The Cavaliers and Rockets took advantage of more lenient salary-matching rules for non-taxpaying teams to give Max Strus and Dillon Brooks bigger starting salaries than they previously would have been eligible for based on the outgoing salaries involved in those sign-and-trade deals.
Hawks guard Dejounte Murray and Kings center Domantas Sabonis were the first two players who took advantage of the fact that veterans signing extensions can now receive a first-year raise up to 40% instead of 20%. It’s possible neither player would have agreed to an extension this offseason without that rule tweak. Knicks forward Josh Hart could be the next player to benefit from that change, according to Marks.