Charlotte Hornets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Lillard, Coulibaly, Washington, Williams, McClung

September 14th, 2023 at 5:03pm CST by Tristan Tucker

While the Heat continue to explore options to acquire star guard Damian Lillard from the Trail Blazers, the NBA eliminated one potential option that could have led to Portland delaying a trade, notes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

As part of the league’s ruling that healthy star players can’t sit out from games, the NBA also prohibited teams from making any long-term shutdown “when a star player stops participating in games or plays in a materially reduced role in circumstances affecting the integrity of the game.”

As Jackson notes, ESPN’s Bobby Marks said the rule specifically precludes Lillard and Portland from mutually agreeing for the seven-time All-Star to stay away from the team while it works on a trade. A punishment for disregarding the rule would involve significant fines, per Marks.

While it’s unclear whether either party was exploring that as an option, it won’t be possible anymore. This is advantageous for the Heat, writes Jackson, who says that Portland must decide whether to play Lillard and risk possible injury, which would diminish his value.

There are still a handful of notable free agent point guards available if the Heat don’t get Lillard, such as the recently released Cameron Payne, but the Heat haven’t been actively pursuing one, Jackson writes. According to Jackson’s source, the Heat could look at options that involve Tyler Herro or Josh Richardson as the starting primary ball-handler if the team is unable to land the star guard.

Of the available free agent point guards, Goran Dragic is a veteran option who spent 2015-21 in Miami. Jackson writes that Dragic has interest in joining the Heat.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Wizards rookie wing Bilal Coulibaly was one of the 2023 draft’s biggest risers, culminating in him being selected with the No. 7 overall pick. Josh Robbins of The Athletic spoke to three anonymous NBA scouts about Coulibaly, who spent part of the last year playing alongside No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama. The scouts agreed that athleticism and an impressive defensive toolbox and instincts are among Coulibaly’s strengths, while his shooting and physicality are improvement points. However, all scouts appeared to be high on the 19-year-old’s upside. “The sky’s the limit for him,” one anonymous scout said to Robbins.
Hornets forward P.J. Washington re-signed with Charlotte on a three-year, $46.5MM deal in August, nearly two months after free agency began. While there was some speculation about whether Washington would ultimately return to the Queen City, the 25-year-old forward sounds relieved to be back with the Hornets. “It means the world to me,” Washington said in a video posted by the Hornets social media team (Twitter link). “Obviously, back in 2019, Charlotte took a chance on me and I’m just blessed to be in the position I am today.”
The Magic announced they signed Brandon Williams and Mac McClung to Exhibit 10 deals on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Orlando’s G League affiliate Osceola Magic acquired the returning player rights to both Williams and McClung. If an Exhibit 10 player is waived by an NBA club before the season begins and spends at least 60 days with that team’s G League affiliate, he can earn a bonus worth up to $75K. This week’s G League trades assure that Williams and McClung can suit up for Osceola this season if and when they are waived by Orlando. Williams was acquired from the College Park Skyhawks in exchange for Joel Ayayi, Robert Baker II and a 2023 G League first-round pick, per the Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede (Twitter link), while McClung was acquired from the Delaware Blue Coats in exchange for the rights to Jeff Dowtin and a 2024 G League second-round pick (Twitter link).

Super-Max Candidates To Watch In 2023/24

September 14th, 2023 at 7:30am CST by Luke Adams

Note: This is an updated version of an article that was sent exclusively to our Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers in June. Click here for more information on Trade Rumors Front Office.

The NBA’s Designated Veteran rule, as we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, allows players to qualify for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap before they gain the required NBA service time.

Typically, a player is ineligible to receive a maximum contract that starts at 35% of the cap until he has at least 10 years of experience, but the Designated Veteran rule gives a player with between seven and nine years of experience the opportunity to do so if he meets certain performance criteria. This has become colloquially known as signing a “super-max” deal.

The performance criteria are as follows (only one of the following must be true):

The player was named to an All-NBA team and/or was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
The player was named the NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.

Since the NBA introduced the concept of the Designated Veteran contract in 2017, 12 players have signed them across seven offseasons. Celtics wing Jaylen Brown became the latest player to join that group this summer when he signed a five-year super-max deal that could become the NBA’s first $300MM contract.

Brown will be the only player who signs such a contract this offseason, but it’s worth taking a peek down the road to see which players are the best candidates to join the list of super-max recipients in 2024 and 2025.

We can start by penciling in another Celtic, Jayson Tatum, for 2024. Although he doesn’t yet have enough years of NBA service to sign a Designated Veteran extension, Tatum met the performance criteria in the spring by earning his second consecutive All-NBA berth.

That means that even if he doesn’t make an All-NBA team in 2024, he’ll have received an All-NBA nod in two of the previous three seasons when he meets the service time criteria next summer, making him super-max eligible. It seems likely the Celtics will offer him a Designated Veteran extension at that time.

Here are some other candidates to watch during the 2023/24 season:

2024

Bam Adebayo (Heat)
De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
Pascal Siakam (Raptors)

Because a player become ineligible for a Designated Veteran extension if he’s traded after his first four years in the NBA, prime candidates like Donovan Mitchell and Domantas Sabonis won’t be able to qualify. Still, there’s an intriguing group of candidates in play for next summer.

Ingram, Murray, and Siakam, members of the 2016 draft class, would have become super-max eligible if they had made an All-NBA team this year. They’ll get another chance in 2024.

Ingram averaged a career-best 24.7 points and 5.8 assists per night in 2022/23, but injuries limited him to just 45 games. While he’s not one of the best 15 players in the NBA, it’s not impossible to imagine the 26-year-old earning an All-NBA spot if he stays healthy and helps lead the Pelicans to a top-four seed in the West. He’s probably a long shot, but we can’t rule him out entirely.

Murray was making his way back from an ACL tear last season, which meant he was subject to load management and wasn’t necessarily at his best from day one. But his postseason performance – 26.1 points per game on .473/.396/.926 shooting en route to a championship – served as a reminder that he has All-NBA upside.

Siakam made the All-NBA Second Team in 2020 and the Third Team in 2022 and received some votes in 2023. However, he still needs one more All-NBA nod in 2024 to become eligible for a Designated Veteran deal. He’ll be a candidate to watch as long as he remains in Toronto for the 2023/24 season. A trade – which would make him ineligible – still looms as a possibility.

Adebayo and Fox are 2017 draftees with just six years of NBA experience, which means that Fox didn’t meet the Designated Veteran performance criteria by earning All-NBA honors in May — he’ll need to do it again in 2024 to qualify for a super-max deal. His performance this past year showed that he’s capable of it.

Adebayo’s path to an All-NBA berth is complicated by the fact that the All-NBA teams will become positionless beginning in 2024. That means voters won’t necessarily have to choose three centers, which may reduce his odds of making the cut.

Still, the field of All-NBA candidates may be more wide open than usual in 2024, since the league is also requiring players to appear in at least 65 games in order to be eligible for one of the 15 spots. That means a player who misses a few weeks with an injury might be out of the running. If Ingram, Murray, Siakam, Fox, and Abebayo can stay healthy and play at least 65 times, their All-NBA odds will increase.

It’s worth noting too that being named Defensive Player of the Year is another way to qualify for a super-max. Adebayo has finished in the top five in voting for that award in each of the last four seasons and is a legitimate candidate to win it at some point.

2025

Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)

Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jackson were drafted in 2018 and have just five years of NBA experience, so they’re still two years away from having the service time required for a Designated Veteran contract — none of them would be able to sign a super-max extension until 2025. However, they all have an opportunity to meet the performance criteria in 2024.

Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander made up the All-NBA First Team backcourt in 2023, so if they make an All-NBA team again next year, they’ll have done so in at least two of the three years leading up to the 2025 offseason.

As for Jackson, he missed out on All-NBA honors in 2023, but was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. It’s a tall order, but if he can win a second DPOY award in either of the next two seasons, he’ll make himself eligible to sign a super-max contract in 2025.

The rookie scale extension recipients

LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)

Ball, Edwards, and Haliburton have all signed five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extensions this offseason that project to start at 25% of the 2024/25 cap. If we assume the cap will rise by the maximum allowable 10%, those deals would be worth just shy of $217MM.

However, all three extensions include Rose Rule language. This is another form of the super-max — we can call it the “mini” super-max, paradoxical as that may sound. Unlike a player who signs a Designated Veteran contract, which starts at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, a player who meets the Rose Rule criteria can receive a starting salary worth 30% of the cap rather than 25%.

The performance criteria for a Rose Rule salary increase are essentially the exact same as for a Designated Veteran bump, but must be achieved by the end of the player’s four-year rookie contract. That means Ball, Edwards, and Haliburton would have to make the All-NBA team in 2024 in order to increase the projected value of their respective extensions to $260MM over five years — an All-NBA berth in 2025 or 2026 would be too late.

Each of these three players has an All-Star berth under his belt, so making the leap to All-NBA certainly isn’t inconceivable. Edwards may be the best bet of the three to qualify for the mini super-max, but if Ball and Haliburton can lead their teams to playoff spots, they’d certainly have a case.

Scotto’s Latest: Bufkin, Wizards, Payton, Las Vegas

September 13th, 2023 at 9:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks tried to trade for Raptors forward Pascal Siakam this summer, but they weren’t willing to part with first-round pick Kobe Bufkin, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Atlanta’s offers focused on De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin and draft picks, but Bufkin wasn’t included, sources tell Scotto.

Toronto considered selecting Bufkin with the 13th pick before opting for Gradey Dick, Scotto adds. He also hears that Hawks coach Quin Snyder is a huge proponent of Bufkin, who is coming off an impressive sophomore season at Michigan.

Scotto notes that Atlanta’s options will expand when Bogdan Bogdanovic becomes trade-eligible on Saturday. The veteran swingman, who was named to the All-Star 5 at the World Cup, is under contract for $68MM over the next four years, including a $16MM team option for 2026/27.

Scotto offers more inside information from around the league:

The Wizards aren’t looking to make a move right away, but they expect to get trade offers for Danilo Gallinari, Landry Shamet and Delon Wright. Scotto points out that Gallinari at $6.8MM and Wright at $8.2MM both have expiring contracts. Shamet is signed for three more years, but his only guaranteed money is $10.25MM for 2023/24. Sources tell Scotto that Gallinari hasn’t engaged in buyout talks with the Wizards and is focused on making a comeback after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. The Hornets considered making a trade offer for Wright before targeting Frank Ntilikina instead, Scotto adds, and league executives told him that Washington could probably get a second-round pick or two in exchange for the veteran guard.
Elfrid Payton recently had workouts with the Timberwolves and Hornets, sources told Scotto. Payton spent part of last season in the G League, then signed to play in Puerto Rico in late March. He hasn’t been in the NBA since playing 50 games with the Suns during the 2021/22 season.
When Las Vegas hosts the semifinals and finals of the in-season tournament in December, the response could go a long way toward securing an expansion team for the city, multiple executives told Scotto. The NBA has been expanding its presence in Las Vegas in recent years with the annual Summer League and the G League Showcase. Seattle and Las Vegas are widely considered the leading contenders for the next round of expansion.

The NBA Teams Best Positioned To Make Waiver Claims

September 12th, 2023 at 8:08am CST by Luke Adams

In order to claim a player off waivers, an NBA team must be able to fit the player’s current-year salary into either cap room, a traded player exception, or – if the player is in the final year of his contract – a disabled player exception.

This rule doesn’t apply if the waived player is on a one- or two-year minimum-salary contract. In that case, any team can claim him using the minimum salary exception.

Waiver claims aren’t particularly common in the NBA, and claims involving players earning more than the minimum salary are even less frequent. Still, it’s worth knowing which teams have the most flexibility to make waiver claims in case an intriguing player on a reasonable contract hits the wire.

On Monday, for instance, the Spurs waived veteran point guard Cameron Payne, who is on an expiring $6.5MM deal. Payne has played well in Phoenix over the last four seasons, averaging 9.8 points and 4.2 assists in 20.2 minutes per game across 174 appearances, with a .434/.384/.833 shooting line. That’s pretty solid production for the price.

In all likelihood, Payne will pass through waivers unclaimed and sign for less than $6.5MM with a new team, but there will be teams around the NBA that at least consider making a claim. The Grizzlies should be one of them, in the view of John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), who notes that Memphis could use another point guard and has a trade exception large enough for the team to take on Payne’s salary without getting too close to the tax line.

Memphis is one of nine teams with the ability to claim Payne off waivers. Here’s the full list, along with the value of their biggest trade exception (unless otherwise noted):

Atlanta Hawks: $23,019,560
Brooklyn Nets: $19,928,571
Washington Wizards: $12,354,400
Chicago Bulls: $10,232,559
- Note: This is the amount of the Bulls’ disabled player exception, not a trade exception, so the team could only use it to claim a player on an expiring contract.
Miami Heat: $9,450,000
Portland Trail Blazers: $8,300,000
Indiana Pacers: $7,493,593
- Note: This is the maximum amount of cap room the Pacers could create by renouncing the cap holds for their remaining free agents.
Memphis Grizzlies: $7,492,540
New York Knicks: $6,803,012

Many of these teams wouldn’t have interest in a point guard like Payne and wouldn’t necessarily be in position to add another $6.5MM in salary to their books. Claiming Payne would put the Bulls into luxury tax territory, for instance. These are simply the clubs capable of placing a claim if they so choose.

A total of 10 other teams have the ability to claim non-minimum players off waivers, but wouldn’t be able to take on Payne specifically:

Phoenix Suns: $6,500,000
- Note: The Suns’ trade exception is technically large enough to take on Payne, but they’re ineligible to claim him after trading him to San Antonio.
Boston Celtics: $6,202,500
Orlando Magic: $5,056,771
- Note: This is the maximum amount of cap room the Magic could create by renouncing the cap holds for their remaining free agents.
Dallas Mavericks: $4,953,980
Minnesota Timberwolves: $3,688,117
Los Angeles Lakers: $2,700,000
Philadelphia 76ers: $2,448,846
Golden State Warriors: $2,337,720
Denver Nuggets: $2,201,520
Charlotte Hornets: $1,930,681

Even though the Hornets‘ largest trade exception is less than the minimum salary for a two-year veteran ($2,019,706), it could still come in handy for claiming certain younger players on non-minimum deals.

For example, if the Thunder – facing a roster crunch – were to waive Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who is earning $1.9MM in the third year of a four-year contract, Charlotte would be able to claim him using its trade exception. A club with only the minimum salary exception available wouldn’t be in position to place a claim on Robinson-Earl.

Here are the 11 teams without a TPE, DPE, or cap room available to claim a player earning more than the minimum:

Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Milwaukee Bucks
New Orleans Pelicans
Oklahoma City Thunder
Toronto Raptors
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz

And-Ones: Parker, Team Assets, 2024 FAs, Pelicans, Hornets

September 8th, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

2014 lottery pick and veteran NBA forward Jabari Parker sat down for an extensive conversation with Julian Phillip of Mundo Deportivo about his new pro club, FC Barcelona. When asked if he felt that Barcelona could hold its own against teams in his former league, Parker was effusive in his praise.

“Definitely,” Parker said. “Because we have, essentially, three guys who aren’t just NBA players but main guys. Myself, Sato [Tomas Satoransky] and Willy [Hernangomez], and the experience is there because we’ve been playing professionally for a long time.”

A 6’8″ forward out of Duke, Parker hasn’t suited up for an NBA team since the 2021/22 season, which he split between the Kings and Celtics. As a deep-bench reserve, he averaged 5.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 0.8 APG in just 13 total games.

Parker told Phillip that he intends to focus on how he can help his new club in Spain rather than how he can use the opportunity as a springboard to get back to the NBA.

“I just want to be here,” Parker said. “My most important thing is not skipping steps. And I signed here with the intention of giving my all. I think being in the moment is very important for me.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

The Thunder and Spurs, both of whom possess a variety of draft picks in addition to burgeoning young talent, occupy the top two slots in a fresh ranking of team assets, courtesy of HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan. Gozlan took stock of all 30 franchises’ rosters and future draft picks in making his list.
The fates of aging future Hall of Famers like Lakers small forward LeBron James and Sixers guard James Harden are among some of the top potential 2024 free agent storylines to watch, opines Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. James, who turns 39 in December, has a player option for 2024/25, while Harden is in the final season of his deal with Philadelphia. Harden, of course, is pushing to be dealt elsewhere this year.
The G League affiliates of the Pelicans and Hornets have completed a minor trade. The Pelicans’ affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, has shipped out shooting guard John Petty Jr. and next year’s first-round NBGL draft pick to the Hornets’ affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, for the returning player rights to point guard Jalen Crutcher, per a Swarm tweet.

Hornets Sign Jaylen Sims, Three Others

September 8th, 2023 at 7:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have officially signed four players, the team announced this week in a press release. While the Hornets didn’t reveal the terms of the deals in their release, Jaylen Sims, Tre Scott, Nathan Mensah, and Angelo Allegri all received Exhibit 10 contracts, Hoops Rumors can confirm.

Sims, who went undrafted out of UNC Wilmington in 2022, spent training camp last fall with the Hornets, then was waived at the end of the preseason. The 6’6″ wing spent his rookie year with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate, averaging 10.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists 25.3 minutes per night across 39 Showcase Cup and regular season games.

Sims is the only one of Charlotte’s new additions whose deal wasn’t previously reported. Scott reached an agreement with the team in August, while Mensah and Allegri agreed to terms with the Hornets right after June’s draft.

Scott appeared in two NBA games for Cleveland during the 2021/22 season but has primarily played in the G League and overseas since going undrafted out of Cincinnati in 2020. Mensah and Allegri went undrafted this June out of San Diego State and Eastern Washington, respectively. Mensah was a two-time Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year with the Aztecs.

The Hornets now have a full 21-man offseason roster. Their squad features 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, one (Frank Ntilikina) with a partial guarantee, one (JT Thor) on a non-guaranteed deal, a pair on two-way contracts, and four on Exhibit 10 pacts.

Charlotte also reportedly reached an agreement on a non-guaranteed contract with R.J. Hunter. The club will have to make a cut at some point if it still intends to complete that deal — if the signing is just for G League purposes, it may not happen until sometime in October.

Sims, Scott, Mensah, and Allegri will likely all end up being waived and reporting to the Swarm for the start of the NBAGL season. Spending at least 60 days with the Hornets’ G League affiliate would allow each player to earn a bonus worth up to $75K.

It’s worth noting, since Charlotte has one two-way slot available, that Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted into two-way deals anytime prior to the first day of the regular season. However, the Hornets still have a two-way qualifying offer on the table to Theo Maledon, so they may envision him being the one to eventually fill that opening.

Eastern Notes: Washington, Bryant, Heat, Pistons, Mykhailiuk

September 6th, 2023 at 8:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Following a press conference to talk about his new three-year contract, Hornets forward P.J. Washington gave an exclusive interview to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

Washington, who was the last standard restricted free agent left on the board, said he was relieved to finally re-sign with Charlotte, nearly two full months after free agency opened at the end of June. He also touched on Miles Bridges‘ return, playing under head coach Steve Clifford, rookie additions Brandon Miller and Nick Smith, and what he’s been working to improve on this offseason, among other topics.

As far as the team’s goal, Washington says the Hornets are focused on something he has yet to achieve in his four-year career — making the playoffs.

“That’s the main focus for us,” Washington told Boone. “Since I’ve been here I haven’t been in the playoffs at all. So I want to get a taste of that. I want to see how it feels, and I want to eventually win in the playoffs. I think we have a good coaching staff, we have a good front office, we have good players. So, I think we have everything it takes to be there. It’s just about us being consistent each and every day and trying, but we have to fight and make it happen.”

Here’s more from the East:

Veteran center Thomas Bryant says he prioritized the Heat in free agency because “they really wanted me,” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. A skilled scorer, Bryant thinks his offensive versatility will help Miami. “I feel like I can help this team based on what I’ve seen as an interior presence, interior scoring, my versatility out there to be able to shoot the three and make mid-range jump shots and score at the rim,” Bryant said. “But I feel like the versatility that I will bring to the table will really help the team in a great way.” Bryant, who signed a two-year deal with the Heat that includes a player option, will be competing for backup center minutes, Chiang notes.
The Heat have a full 21-man offseason roster at the moment, but five players are on Exhibit 10 training camp deals, three are on two-way deals, and Orlando Robinson‘s contract is only partially guaranteed for $75K. In practical terms, that means the Heat only have 12 players with guaranteed standard contracts. Assuming Robinson makes the roster out of camp, Miami will still need to add at least one player to its standard regular season roster, Chiang adds in the same article. As Chiang writes, in the new CBA teams can carry fewer than 14 players on standard deals for a total of 28 days in a season, and only up to 14 consecutively.
The Pistons have an intriguing blend of youth combined with veterans who can shoot. While the young core gains more experience, Detroit’s depth should provide new head coach Monty Williams plenty of options ahead of training camp, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
Svi Mykhailiuk recently signed a one-year deal with the Celtics that — for now — is partially guaranteed at $200K. Jared Weiss of The Athletic examines what the veteran wing might provide for Boston, writing that Mykhailiuk is a talented if inconsistent offensive player who has some defensive limitations. Still, his size, shooting and complementary play-making could be useful off the bench, according to Weiss.

Hornets Unlikely To Add More Guaranteed Deals

September 5th, 2023 at 7:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets are unlikely to add more players on guaranteed contracts before the season begins, according to general manager Mitch Kupchak, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets.

After coming to terms with restricted free agent P.J. Washington, the Hornets have 13 players on fully guaranteed deals, plus another (Frank Ntilikina) on a partial guarantee. JT Thor has a non-guaranteed contract for the upcoming season.

Contract Details: Mykhailiuk, Harrison, Washington, More

September 5th, 2023 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The contract that Svi Mykhailiuk signed with the Celtics is a one-year, minimum-salary deal that is partially guaranteed for $200K, Hoops Rumors has learned. If Mykhailiuk remains under contract through at least the start of the regular season, his partial guarantee would increase to 50% of his $2,346,614 salary, which works out to $1,173,307. He’d be assured of his full salary for 2023/24 if he isn’t waived on or before January 7.

Here are more details on a few recently signed contracts:

Shaquille Harrison‘s contract with the Grizzlies is a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal, Hoops Rumors has learned. While there has been some speculation that Harrison could fill the extra roster spot Memphis will create after the first five games of the season (when Ja Morant can be moved to the suspended list), he seems unlikely to make the opening-night roster. So if the Grizzlies want to have him fill that spot, Harrison would likely be waived and then re-signed.
As previously reported, P.J. Washington‘s contract with the Hornets is worth exactly $46.5MM, with $1.5MM in total incentives ($500K per year). It’s fully guaranteed with no options. Since his bonuses are considered unlikely, Washington’s first-year cap hit is $16,847,826; he’ll make a base salary of $15.5MM in year two and $14,152,174 in year three.
The two-way contracts recently signed by GG Jackson (Grizzlies) and TyTy Washington (Bucks) are each just for one year, so both players will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2024.

And-Ones: Executives, Value Deals, Super-Max, Milestones

September 1st, 2023 at 10:03pm CST by Rory Maher

Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports recently ranked 25 of the NBA’s top decision-makers in terms of how successful they’ve been at drafting, making trades, and signing free agents over the course of their respective careers. The other five lead executives were not evaluated due to a small sample size.

As Rohrbach writes, with how his system is set up, having a high score over a long career is more impressive than an executive who performed similarly with fewer years of experience. Still, there’s an obvious caveat: his evaluation process is subjective.

Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison is ranked No. 25, followed by Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak and Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas. The top three executives in Rohrbach’s system are Jazz CEO Danny Ainge (No. 1), Raptors president Masai Ujiri, and Spurs GM Brian Wright.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype created three all-contract-value teams comprised of players at each of the five positions. Players on rookie deals and those with maximum salaries were excluded from consideration. Gozlan’s first team features four members of the United States’ World Cup roster — Jalen Brunson, Austin Reaves, Mikal Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen takes the final spot.
Signing players to a Designated Veteran contract, also known as the “super-max,” is a polarizing topic among NBA executives, according to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “Super-max isn’t a guarantee of the result you’re looking for,” one general manager told Heavy Sports. “Just because you qualify doesn’t make you that guy. Inflated contracts are even harder to move. The additional penalties in the new CBA should slow the roll of everybody giving out a super-max deal the first time a guy qualifies for it. Just because a guy qualifies for it doesn’t necessarily make him entitled to it. That’s become the issue in the league. If you’re going to call yourself a franchise-level player, which is what I think the super-max number says, you’ve got to have more than just putting up numbers.”
ESPN.com lists some noteworthy milestones and anniversaries to watch for the 2023/24 season, noting that Lakers superstar LeBron James is on track to surpass 40,000 career points if he maintains his stellar production and stays healthy. James became the league’s all-time leading scorer last season.