Brooklyn Nets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets, Knicks Officially Complete Mikal Bridges Trade

July 6th, 2024 at 8:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have officially acquired star forward Mikal Bridges from the Nets, the teams announced today in a pair of press releases.

“We are thrilled to add a player of Mikal’s caliber to the Knicks family. His ability to score, shoot and defend at an elite level will add to a team that continues to grow,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement. “Not only does he demonstrate excellence on the court but Mikal’s strength of character, diligence and dedication to the game of basketball are vital to the culture we continue to build in New York.”

The two clubs reached an initial agreement on June 25, then finalized an expanded version of the deal on Thursday to allow the Knicks to avoid becoming hard-capped at the first tax apron ($178.1MM). New York will instead be hard-capped at the second apron ($188.9MM).

The final terms are as follows:

Knicks acquire Bridges, Keita Bates-Diop, the draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet, and either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Magic’s 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
Nets acquire Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton (sign-and-trade), Mamadi Diakite, the Knicks’ 2025 first-round pick, the Bucks’ 2025 first-round pick (top-four protected), the Knicks’ 2027 first-round pick, the Knicks’ 2029 first-round pick, the Knicks’ 2031 first-round pick, the right to swap a 2028 first-round pick for the Knicks’ 2028 first-round pick, and the Nets’ 2025 second-round pick.

The addition of Vaulet’s rights is new, and we now have the details on the draft pick headed to New York in the deal, but otherwise these are the terms that had been previously reported.

Milton’s new three-year contract is worth $9.16MM in total, with a $2.86MM guaranteed salary in year one, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. Brooklyn will be hard-capped at the first apron in 2024/25 as a result of acquiring him via sign-and-trade.

The Nets almost certainly used existing traded player exceptions to take on their incoming players, which means they’ll generate a sizable new TPE worth Bridges’ outgoing salary ($23.3MM). They’ll have one year to use it.

For more details on one of the summer’s biggest trades, be sure to check out our original stories on the agreement.

Nets Re-Sign Nic Claxton On Four-Year Deal

July 6th, 2024 at 12:14pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The Nets have officially re-signed Claxton, the team announced today in a press release.

“We are thrilled to have Nic remain in Brooklyn as a core player for our team going forward,” general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Nic has made strides in his game in each of his first five seasons, developing into one of the top defenders in the league. With his outstanding work ethic and dedication, we know that Nic will continue to be relentless in his efforts to maximize his talents and expand his game. Off the court, Nic and his family have embraced being a part of the Brooklyn community and we look forward to the impact he will continue to have on our borough.”

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), Claxton’s contract will start at $27.6MM and descend from there. It’ll feature $97MM in guaranteed money, with another $3MM in potential bonuses.

JUNE 26: Free agent center Nic Claxton intends to sign a four-year, $100MM contract to remain with the Nets, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), the deal will include $96MM in guaranteed money. The signing can be made official after the moratorium period ends on July 6.

Claxton, the 31st overall pick in the 2019 draft, spent his first three seasons in Brooklyn in a modest reserve role before signing a two-year contract worth $17.25MM (plus incentives) in 2022. He has since been the Nets’ full-time starting center, averaging 12.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 2.0 assists per game with a .667 FG% in 147 games over the past two seasons (29.8 MPG), earning himself a significantly larger payday.

While a $25MM annual salary for Claxton may raise eyebrows, the 25-year-old has established himself as a real defensive asset — he earned Defensive Player of the Year votes in 2023 and was referred to as a future Defensive Player of the Year by his new head coach, Jordi Fernandez. He’s also arguably the top free agent center on the market this summer, ahead of bigs like Isaiah Hartenstein and Jonas Valanciunas.

Jarrett Allen, who signed a five-year, $100MM deal with the Cavaliers in 2021, was presumably a point of reference for Claxton. At the time Allen received that contract, his NBA résumé was similar to Claxton’s and his $20MM annual average salary represented just under 18% of the 2021/22 cap. A $25MM annual salary for Claxton will come in at nearly the exact same percentage of the ’24/25 cap.

The Pelicans and other teams around the NBA were said to have interest in Claxton as a potential sign-and-trade target or cap-room signing, but a return to Brooklyn has always been the most likely outcome, even after the team seemingly pivoted to a rebuild by agreeing to trade Mikal Bridges. A report earlier today indicated that the Nets were still focused on retaining their starting center.

Claxton had been the No. 8 player on our list of 2024’s top 50 free agents. He’s the fourth player in the top 10 of that list to reach a contract agreement during the new exclusive negotiating window allowing teams to talk to their own free agents between the end of the NBA Finals and June 30.

Trade Rumors: DeRozan, Kings, Lakers, Grant, Cavs, Finney-Smith, Okoro, More

July 5th, 2024 at 11:05pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Kings are among the teams believed to have some interest in Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, there has been a growing sense entering the weekend that Sacramento is more focused on free agent forward DeMar DeRozan, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Earlier reporting from Adrian Wojnarowski named the Kings as a legitimate suitor for DeRozan, who would need to be acquired via sign-and-trade, with a third team likely taking on salary from Sacramento in the deal.

Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link) confirms there’s “mutual interest” between DeRozan and the Kings, while James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link) confirms Sacramento has talked to the Bulls about a sign-and-trade and suggests that a third team has been “lined up.”

However, there continues to be competition from rival suitors for the 34-year-old’s services, Ham adds. As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, it also won’t be easy to construct a three-team trade that gets DeRozan the type of salary he wants, ensures the Bulls don’t take back much money, and has the Kings sending out enough assets to Chicago and a third team to incentivize them to make the deal.

Although there are other teams who could open up a little cap room, Detroit and Utah are the only two teams with significant space still available, and the Pistons are rumored to be keeping their room open for trade opportunities, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Chicago and Sacramento have been talking to Detroit in relation to a possible DeRozan deal.

Here are a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA:

The Trail Blazers and Lakers have had conversations about Jerami Grant, but if the Blazers are going to send him to Los Angeles, they’d want both of the future first-round picks the Lakers can trade (2029 and 2031), along with matching salaries, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. The Lakers have been unwilling to meet that price and Portland isn’t in any rush to move its top forward, so the talks haven’t gotten far, Highkin writes, noting that – outside of Rui Hachimura – the Blazers wouldn’t have much interest in the players L.A. could put in a package for Grant.
After Zach Lowe reported earlier today that Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith is a possible trade target to watch for the Cavaliers, Scotto confirms that Cleveland likes Finney-Smith and has monitored him since Brooklyn acquired him in 2023. Scotto adds that Cavs restricted free agent Isaac Okoro is viewed as a potential sign-and-trade candidate (in general, not specifically for Finney-Smith).
Nuggets forward/center Zeke Nnaji and Sixers free agent KJ Martin are two trade candidates to keep an eye on, according to Scotto. Nnaji is beginning a four-year, $32MM contract after not playing a regular role in Denver last season, so his value on the market would be limited. As for Martin, his small cap hold could allow the Sixers to get creative by signing-and-trading him in order to take back more salary than they would be able to accommodate with the cap room they’ll have left over once their major signings are complete.
Speaking of the Sixers, they’re on track to add Paul George as a straight free agent signing rather than in a sign-and-trade, according to Marc Stein at Substack. That comes as no surprise, since acquiring George via sign-and-trade would hard-cap Philadelphia at the first tax apron, potentially limiting the team’s flexibility for the rest of 2024/25.

Scotto’s Latest: Beasley, Hield, Nuggets, Martin, Pelicans, Mavs, Cavs

July 5th, 2024 at 10:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Coming off a season in which he made a career-high 41.3% of his three-point attempts, free agent swingman Malik Beasley was considered the Mavericks‘ Plan B for outside shooting help if they were unable to land Klay Thompson, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

With Dallas no longer in the mix for Beasley, the 27-year-old sharpshooter is receiving interest from the Pelicans, who like the idea of having him stretching the floor alongside Zion Williamson, league sources tell Scotto.

Meanwhile, the Pistons “flirted” with potentially offering Buddy Hield a one-year contract and have considered doing the same for Beasley, Scotto writes, but for now Detroit wants to keep its salary cap space open for trade purposes, since the team is well positioned to take on an unwanted contract or two and receive draft assets for its trouble.

Here’s more from Scotto:

The Nuggets and Heat were among the teams to express interest in Hield before he agreed to join the Warriors, per Scotto. However, neither team could realistically match the $8.7MM starting salary Hield got from Golden State. Denver is shopping in free agency with its $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception in the hopes of adding a player who can help fill the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope-sized hole in the team’s rotation, Scotto notes.
When he declined his $7.1MM player option with Miami, Caleb Martin was hoping for a deal worth at least the full mid-level exception ($12.9MM) and possibly more than that, sources tell HoopsHype, but nothing has materialized so far. The Sixers are among the teams with interest in Martin, but his asking price would have to drop for that to be realistic, according to Scotto.
While the Pelicans continue to peruse the trade market for centers – with Wendell Carter of the Magic among the targets on their radar – veteran big man Daniel Theis has been linked to New Orleans as a possible cheaper option in free agency, Scotto writes.
The Mavericks, in the market for one more guard, have considered a possible reunion with Spencer Dinwiddie or Dennis Smith Jr., according to Scotto, who hears that Malachi Flynn is another playing Dallas is considering if Dinwiddie and Smith end up elsewhere.
Johnnie Bryant (Knicks), Jared Dudley (Mavericks), and Trevor Hendry (Nets) are among the coaches the Cavaliers are eyeing as possible assistants for Kenny Atkinson‘s staff, Scotto reports. Bryant was close with Donovan Mitchell from their days in Utah together, while Dudley and Hendry were with Atkinson in Brooklyn (Dudley as a player, Hendry as a staffer).

And-Ones: Team USA, Bonuses, Summer League, Draft, Tavares

July 5th, 2024 at 7:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The members of the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Paris this summer have arrived in Las Vegas, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Team USA will hold a pre-Olympic camp in Vegas from July 6-8 and will be joined by a 15-man Select Team for scrimmaging purposes.

Led by LeBron James (two Olympic gold medals, 20 All-Star berths) and Kevin Durant (three gold medals, 14 All-Star berths), the 12-man Olympic roster is as formidable as any team USA Basketball has fielded in the 21st century, with 84 combined All-Star nods. It will make picking a starting lineup a challenging task for head coach Steve Kerr.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Kerr said on Friday, per Reynolds. “I’m guessing that all 12 players on this roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday. So, how do you pick five out of 12? The idea is, you find combinations that click, and you find two-way lineups that can be effective at both ends. Our big job in Las Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit and to just ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who’s playing.”

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

Expect NBA teams to include unlikely incentives less frequently in player contracts going forward, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Those unlikely bonuses don’t count against the cap if they’re not earned, but they do count when determining a team’s position relative to the tax aprons, giving high-spending teams less wiggle room below those aprons. For instance, the Heat – who are operating in between the first and second aprons – would presumably prefer not to have to account for the $1.5MM unlikely bonus Tyler Herro would earn for winning Defensive Player of the Year.
With the Bulls, Magic, Nets, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, and Hawks among the teams announcing their Summer League rosters on Friday, Brett Siegel of Clutch Points has updated his tracker of the Summer League squads from around the NBA.
While no concrete decisions have been made yet about next year’s draft schedule, the expectation is that the NBA will want the second round (ie. the second day) to start in the evening instead of the afternoon, Marc Stein writes at his Substack. The second day of the 2024 draft began at 4:00 pm Eastern time on June 27 so as not to compete with the U.S. presidential debate that was scheduled for that evening.
There had been some speculation in the spring that Walter Tavares might try to make an NBA comeback this summer, but the former Hawks and Cavaliers big man – who has been a star in Europe since 2017 – won’t be going anywhere, having signed a five-year contract with Real Madrid, the Spanish team announced in a press release. The all-time EuroLeague blocks leader, Tavares has won a pair of EuroLeague championships with Madrid in 2018 and 2023.

Trade Rumors: Markkanen, DeRozan, Young, Cavaliers

July 5th, 2024 at 4:09pm CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz continue to listen to trade offers for Lauri Markkanen, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (subscriber link), who hears from sources who say the Heat are among the teams interested in the star forward.

As Lowe writes, Markkanen’s situation is complicated because he’s on a below-market contract that will pay him $18MM in 2024/25, which is the final season of his contract. That makes a standard contract extension – which can’t start above 40% of his current salary – unlikely. Rival teams may not be willing to give up a major haul of assets with no guarantees that the 27-year-old would stick around beyond next season.

Utah could potentially get more value in return for Markkanen in several months if the team renegotiates and then extends his contract. However, that scenario is also tricky.

As Marc Stein details (Substack link), Markkanen becomes eligible for a renegotiation and extension on August 6, but he won’t be trade-eligible for six months if he signs a new deal. That means if he signs the extension on the first day he’s eligible to, he would only be eligible to be traded for one day during the season: February 6, the day of the deadline. If the extension is signed on August 7 (or later), Markkanen would not be eligible to traded during the upcoming season.

While it’s not surprising that the Heat have shown interest in the Finnish star, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald casts doubt (via Twitter) on the feasibility of the team actually acquiring him. As Jackson notes, Utah has placed a high asking price in previous talks with Miami, which lacks future first-round picks to offer.

One team interested in Markkanen seems confident that he’ll eventually be traded, per Stein. Utah’s own 2025 first-round pick is top-10 protected, so the Jazz could be incentivized to tank ahead of a strong draft class. Utah has also struggled to acquire a second star to build the roster around him.

Here are some more trade rumors from around the NBA:

The Kings appear to be the frontrunner to acquire DeMar DeRozan in a sign-and-trade with the Bulls, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who made the comments on SportsCenter (Twitter video link; hat tip to RealGM). However, Wojnarowski said a third team would likely to be need to be involved to absorb salaries, as Chicago is reluctant to add to its payroll. A six-time All-Star, DeRozan remains the top free agent left on the market.
According to Lowe, the trade market for Hawks point guard Trae Young “is as chilly as it has ever been.” Sources tell Lowe that the Spurs and Lakers — two teams linked to Young — haven’t expressed much recent interest in the three-time All-Star. Lowe says San Antonio appears unmotivated to help Atlanta regain control of its own first-round picks in a deal for Young.
Lowe hears rumors of Darius Garland potentially requesting a trade from the Cavaliers following Donovan Mitchell‘s extension have “quieted,” which confirms a report from his ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst. According to Lowe’s sources, the Cavs are still on the hunt for a 3-and-D wing, with Nets forwards Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith worth monitoring, though Cleveland only has one tradable first-round pick (2031). Stein has also heard that center Jarrett Allen will likely be difficult to acquire after Kenny Atkinson was hired as head coach, which means the Cavs could have the same core together entering next season.

Eastern Notes: LaVine, Maxey, Vezenkov, Knicks, Prince

July 4th, 2024 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Bulls continue to explore the trade market for a possible Zach LaVine deal, agent Rich Paul wants it known that his client is handling the situation professionally and isn’t agitating for a move or taking issue with the team’s actions, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

“I want to make this clean and clear: This whole idea that Zach has been anything but professional in this situation is false,” Paul told Johnson over the phone. “This guy has played hurt. He has represented the franchise with class. A lot has taken place during his time with the Bulls and he’s taken the high road every time. Does every player get frustrated at times? Yes. But Zach has been the ultimate professional and deserves better. The Bulls have business to do. And we’re letting them handle their business.”

LaVine’s trade value is at an all-time low, primarily due to his contract — the three years and $138MM left on his deal look especially onerous in the NBA’s tax apron era. He’s also coming off foot surgery that ended his season in January, but Johnson reports that LaVine is healthy and going through his typical offseason routine after having beaten the estimated recovery timeline of four-to-six months following his procedure.

The Bulls have presented “upwards of 15” LaVine trade proposals to various teams this offseason, according to Johnson, who hears that the Kings and Golden State have shown the most interest in the two-time All-Star. However, the Warriors‘ imminent additions of De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, and Kyle Anderson probably signal that they’re going in a different direction, Johnson acknowledges.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Speaking to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey said management is “doing a good job so far” in free agency adding players who will help the team win, adding that he was happy his willingness to wait a year for his own long-term contract helped Philadelphia open up enough cap room to land Paul George. “When we talked about it last year, it’s a trust thing,” Maxey said. “I trusted (the front office), and I feel like it worked out for us so far. It’s a cool deal. I wasn’t too worried about it.”
Rumors about a possible return to Europe continue to swirl around Sasha Vezenkov. According to Michalis Stefanou of Eurohoops, Vezenkov and his former EuroLeague team Olympiacos have agreed in principle on a lucrative long-term deal, but the 28-year-old forward remains under contract with the Raptors (with a $6.66MM cap hit in 2024/25), so his return to Greece would likely be contingent on negotiating a buyout with Toronto. Recent reporting indicated the Raptors expect Vezenkov to be with them in camp in the fall.
Ever since they agreed to an early version of the Mikal Bridges trade last week, the Knicks sought to expand it, making it clear to the Nets that they’d eventually circle back with more details, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. Now that New York has amended the Bridges deal to ensure its hard cap is at the second apron instead of the first apron, Katz explores what’s next for the team, suggesting that re-signing Precious Achiuwa and adding another player using the taxpayer mid-level exception should be doable, assuming Achiuwa’s price is modest enough.
Following up on news that the Bucks have agreed to sign Taurean Prince, Eric Nehm of The Athletic considers what the veteran forward will bring to Milwaukee, opining that Prince looks like a good fit for the roster and should see regular minutes next season.

Knicks, Nets Expanding Bridges Trade To Include Milton, Diakite, Bates-Diop

July 4th, 2024 at 11:18am CST by Rory Maher

The Knicks intend to sign-and-trade Shake Milton to the Nets as part of the blockbuster trade that will send Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn to New York, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Milton will receive a three-year, $9MM contract, but only the first season is guaranteed.

New York will also be including Mamadi Diakite in the trade, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Knicks have been looking for ways to add salary to the original framework to avoid being hard-capped at the first tax apron ($178.1MM), Katz notes. By aggregating salaries, the Knicks will instead be hard-capped at the second apron ($188.9MM).

The Nets will be sending the Knicks Keita Bates-Diop as part of the expanded deal, per Charania.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan explains (Twitter links), the Knicks can give Milton a $3.1MM salary for 2024/25 using his Non-Bird rights. They will also be partially guaranteeing Diakite’s contract, which is currently non-guaranteed, to make the math work to get to at least $23.3MM in outgoing salary (the equivalent of Bridges’ 2024/25 cap hit). Sending out less outgoing salary than Bridges’ incoming figure would’ve hard-capped New York at the first apron.

Teams aren’t permitted to aggregate two or more minimum-salary contracts in a trade for matching purposes during the offseason. Diakite is on a minimum deal, but Milton will be earning 20% above his minimum salary, allowing the Knicks to avoid that trade restriction.

The Knicks will not have to account for Bates-Diop’s incoming salary for matching purposes because he fits into the minimum-salary exception.

After the trade, Gozlan projects the Knicks to have approximately $172MM in salary committed to 11 players. That means they’ll be about $16.9MM below the second apron, giving the team the financial flexibility to use the taxpayer mid-level exception and potentially re-sign Precious Achiuwa, who is an unrestricted free agent.

Here’s a rundown of the full trade, at least what has been reported thus far:

Knicks to acquire Mikal Bridges, Keita Bates-Diop and a 2026 second-round pick.
Nets to acquire Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton (sign-and-trade), Mamadi Diakite, the Knicks’ 2025 first-round pick, the Bucks’ 2025 first-round pick (top-four protected), the Knicks’ 2027 first-round pick, the Knicks’ 2029 first-round pick, the Knicks’ 2031 first-round pick, the right to swap a 2028 first-round pick for the Knicks’ 2028 first-round pick, and the Nets’ 2025 second-round pick.

According to Gozlan, the Nets will create a $23.3MM trade exception (Bridges’ salary) if they absorb Bodganovic’s salary into an existing TPE worth $20.3MM (Twitter link). Using an exception from a previous season hard-caps a team at the first apron, but so does acquiring a player via sign-and-trade (Milton), so it seems safe to assume Brooklyn will use that preexisting TPE on Bogdanovic.

Milton, 27, was a productive bench player for Philadelphia for several seasons before signing with Minnesota last summer. The Wolves traded him to the Pistons before the February deadline, and he was subsequently waived, later signing a rest-of-season deal with the Knicks in early March as a free agent. He only appeared in four regular season games with New York.

Diakite, also 27, has bounced around the NBA over the course of his four seasons, suiting up for the Bucks, Thunder, Cavaliers, Spurs and Knicks on a variety of different contracts.

Bates-Diop, 28, has played for the Wolves, Nuggets, Spurs, Suns and Nets over the course of his seven years in the NBA. He exercised his player option for ’24/25 last month.

Eastern Notes: Cavs, Ott, Nets, Celtics, Hawks

July 3rd, 2024 at 11:21pm CST by Luke Adams

After spending the past two seasons as a Lakers assistant, Jordan Ott has agreed to join Kenny Atkinson‘s coaching staff with the Cavaliers, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Ott, who previously worked under Atkinson in Brooklyn, interviewed for Charlotte’s head coaching position this spring. According to Wojnarowski, Ott was a finalist in that process before the Hornets ultimately chose Charles Lee.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first reported that Ott was expected to land in Cleveland as an assistant if the Cavs decided to hire Atkinson.

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

Agents and league executives who have spoken to Brian Lewis of The New York Post don’t expect the Nets to opt for an extended rebuilding process that would see them slowly stockpile draft assets and sacrifice their projected 2025 cap room by taking on unwanted multiyear contracts. According to Lewis, the team is considered more likely to hang onto its biggest expiring contracts – including Ben Simmons‘ – and to pursue roster upgrades a year from now when could have upwards of $80MM in cap space.
Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a wide-ranging look at the Knicks‘ free agent and trade options to add a backup center, suggesting that Precious Achiuwa might be the top free agent candidate to end up in New York, even though he’s not the sort of “conventional” shot blocker and rim protector that head coach Tom Thibodeau would prefer.
In a pair of stories for MassLive.com, Brian Robb examines what the Derrick White contract extension means for the Celtics going forward – from both a roster and cap perspective – and notes that Boston will have a couple holes to fill on its coaching staff after the Hornets announced that former Blaine Mueller and Jermaine Bucknor are joining Charles Lee in Charlotte. Mueller coached the Maine Celtics last season, while Bucknor was a player development coach in Boston. Another Celtics assistant, Sam Cassell, was “heavily targeted” by rival teams seeking an experienced assistant, but appears likely to remain in Boston, Robb adds.
The Hawks are being sued by longtime executive and former team president Robert “Bob” Williams, who has accused the team of breach of contract and claims he’s owed a $660K bonus. Rosie Manins of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the details in a subscriber-only story.

FA/Trade Rumors: Sixers, Heat, DeRozan, Warriors, Markkanen, Lakers, More

July 3rd, 2024 at 2:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Signs are pointing toward Paul Reed being traded or waived rather than returning to the Sixers, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who notes that waiving Reed or using his pseudo-expiring $7.7MM contract as a trade chip would allow the team to maximize its cap room. Pompey adds that Philadelphia has had discussions with free agent forward Haywood Highsmith, while Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets that the 76ers have also “poked around” on Caleb Martin.

Although the Heat remain in the mix for both of their free agents and could technically make Martin and Highsmith big offers, they’ve told people they don’t intend to surpass the second tax apron due to the roster-building restrictions that second-apron teams face, says Jackson (Twitter link). That limits Miami’s ability to make a competitive offer to either player.

Despite the Heat’s financial restrictions, Jovan Buha of The Athletic has heard from league sources that Miami is viewed as the “slight” favorite to land DeMar DeRozan. The team doesn’t have the spending flexibility to make it work without additional moves, but DeRozan likes the idea of playing for the Heat and the two sides have remained in touch, tweets Jackson.

Here are a few more rumors and notes related to the trade and free agent markets:

The Warriors and Spurs are considered the most serious suitors for Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (video link), who says Golden State has been the most aggressive team in its pursuit of Markkanen.
Appearing on SportsCenter on ESPN (Twitter video link), Adrian Wojnarowski said the Lakers aren’t interested in using their tradable draft picks just to move off contracts, but would be open to including draft assets for a quality player. However, they’re not pursuing a deal for a high-salary impact player, since they’re skeptical the three-star model is feasible under the new CBA, Wojnarowski explains.
While a report on Monday suggested the Nets are open to reuniting with Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell, sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post that’s not expected to happen.
In an appearance on Sactown Sports 1140 (YouTube link), Sam Amick of The Athletic said that he’s skeptical the Kings will land Markkanen or Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, noting that Sacramento still appears to be taking a hard line in its desire to keep Keegan Murray off the table in trade talks. “I don’t know how long the list of guys is that they would give Keegan up for, but it’s not anybody currently available on the market,” Amick said.