- The Bulls and Kings worked out a three-team deal in which DeMar DeRozan will head to Sacramento in a sign-and-trade. Chicago attempted to trade another starter to the Kings before the DeRozan deal materialized, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The two teams held trade talks centered on Zach LaVine. The Bulls will continue their efforts to trade LaVine and they now have two second-round picks coming in the DeRozan deal to help facilitate a potential trade.
DeMar DeRozan is headed from the Bulls to the Kings in a three-team deal that also includes the Spurs, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). San Antonio will receive Harrison Barnes, while Chicago will get Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash. In addition, the Spurs will get an unprotected pick swap from Sacramento in 2031.
The deal is a sign-and-trade for DeRozan, who ranked sixth on our list of the top 50 free agents for this summer. His new contract will be worth approximately $76MM over three years, according to Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link), who adds that the first two seasons are fully guaranteed with a partial guarantee for the final year.
The contract includes $49MM in guaranteed money over the first two seasons, per Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link). It also features bonuses for being named an All-Star, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
The trade leaves the Kings hard capped at the $178.1MM first apron, per cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). They’re about $5.8MM beneath the $170.8MM luxury tax with 12 players under contract. Gozlan points out that Sacramento can add two more players to its roster without going into tax territory, but using most of its remaining $12.8MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception will push the team over the threshold.
Sacramento will also create a $5.9MM trade exception in the deal, Gozlan adds.
The Kings were heavily pursing DeRozan, who traveled to Sacramento for a meeting today with team officials. The 34-year-old forward was extremely productive during his three seasons in Chicago, averaging 25.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists and finishing near the top in the Clutch Player of the Year balloting the past two seasons.
The six-time All-Star will now team with De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray on what should be one of the league’s most exciting offenses. The Kings will be counting on that group to lead them back to the playoffs after being eliminated in the play-in tournament last season.
Parting with DeRozan is the latest step in an offseason roster shakeup in Chicago, which has already traded Alex Caruso and lost Andre Drummond in free agency. The Bulls are shifting to a younger and less expensive roster in hopes of eventually rebuilding into a more competitive team.
Duarte, a 27-year-old swingman with three years of NBA experience, is the latest addition, but it’s uncertain how large his role will be. He appeared in 59 games with Sacramento last season, but averaged just 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per night. Duarte is under contract for one more season at $5.9MM and is eligible for an extension through October 21. Chicago will create a $17.6MM trade exception in the deal, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
Barnes joins Chris Paul as veteran offseason additions in San Antonio. The 32-year-old is extremely durable, playing in all 82 games the past two seasons. He can handle either forward spot and he figures to get plenty of open looks alongside Paul and Victor Wembanyama. Barnes averaged 12.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists last season with .474/.387/.801 shooting stats.
The Spurs will use their cap space to absorb Barnes’ $18MM salary for the upcoming season, Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps write in a full story on the trade. Barnes will make $19MM in 2025/26 before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Barnes’s contract includes a $3.7MM trade kicker that Sacramento will be responsible for, Marks adds (Twitter link), broken up into $1.85MM for each of the next two seasons. That number could be negotiated down, but only with Barnes’ consent.
San Antonio will likely need to make one or two minor cost-cutting moves (they have Charles Bassey and Julian Champagnie on non-guaranteed contracts) in order to accommodate both Barnes and Paul.
3:35pm: After officially waiving three players to create additional cap room, the Hornets have completed their trade for Graham and New Orleans’ 2025 second-round pick, per a team release. They sent out cash to San Antonio and immediately waived Graham, as expected.
2:26pm: The Hornets will receive New Orleans’ 2025 second-round pick in the deal, while the Spurs receive cash, sources tell Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
12:41pm: The Spurs are trading Devonte’ Graham and a second-round draft pick to the Hornets, one of the veteran guard’s former teams, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Graham won’t be back in Charlotte for long, though. According to Wojnarowski, the Hornets plan to waive Graham, making him an unrestricted free agent. The guard’s $12.65MM is partially guaranteed for $2.85MM, so Charlotte will have to take his fully salary into its cap room but will only end up on the hook for $2.85MM.
The 6’1″ Kansas alum, 29, played sparingly with the Spurs last season, averaging just 5.0 points per game on a .352/.301/.813 shooting line. He appeared in just 23 contests, logging 13.6 minutes per night.
Graham kicked off his NBA career with the Hornets, for whom he played from 2018-21. He spent 2021/22 and part of ’22/23 with the Pelicans before being traded to San Antonio midway through that season. During his best year, 2019/20, Graham finished fifth in Most Improved Player voting, averaging 18.2 points, 7.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Twitter), this deal will give San Antonio some additional cap relief — the team now projects to have up to about $19MM in cap space.
As Gozlan notes, the Spurs could theoretically take back the mid-sized contract of a veteran wing like Harrison Barnes or Kevin Huerter to help orchestrate a three-team sign-and-trade with the Bulls and Kings to send All-Star wing DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento. San Antonio likely has something specific up its sleeve that will require a bit of extra breathing room below the cap, since Graham’s $2.85MM partial guarantee was pretty minimal.
The Hornets are reportedly waiving Davis Bertans in order to open up the cap room necessary to take on Graham’s salary.
JULY 6: The Bulls have officially re-signed Williams, the team confirmed today in a press release.
JUNE 29: Free agent forward Patrick Williams will re-sign with the Bulls for $90MM over five years, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The fifth season will be a player option, tweets Jamal Collier of ESPN.
Williams, 22, was expected to be a cornerstone of the franchise when Chicago selected him with the fourth pick in the 2020 draft. He hasn’t lived up to that billing due to injuries and inconsistent play, but executive Arturas Karnisovas decided to make keeping him a priority as part of his effort to build a younger and more athletic roster.
Williams received a $12.97MM qualifying offer this week, making him a restricted free agent. That means the Bulls could have matched any offer he received, but they opted to bypass that possibility by negotiating a new deal before free agency begins Sunday evening.
A stress reaction in Williams’ left foot cut short his season and forced him to undergo surgery in February. He averaged 10.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 43 games, but he wasn’t able to play after January 25.
A report this week indicated that the Bulls were optimistic about their chances of working out a new contract with Williams. The Thunder were believed to be among the teams that had interest in pursuing him.
Williams will get a healthy raise after earning $9.8MM this season in the final year of his rookie contract. When he and the Bulls discussed a possible rookie scale extension last fall, the forward turned down a four-year, $64MM offer and was believed to be seeking something closer to De’Andre Hunter‘s contract (four years, $90MM), per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. This new deal represents a compromise for the two sides.
Free agent forward DeMar DeRozan and his representation are traveling to Sacramento to meet with the Kings, according to reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter links).
It’s the latest signal that there’s serious mutual interest between DeRozan and the Kings, as multiple recent reports have indicated. James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link) says there’s “positive momentum” between the two sides, with the in-person meeting giving them a chance to potentially seal the deal.
The Kings don’t have the cap room necessary to sign DeRozan, who’s seeking a salary above the full mid-level exception ($12.9MM), but the Bulls are reportedly willing to work with Sacramento or another team on a sign-and-trade deal to get DeRozan a higher salary. Still, Chicago isn’t far below the luxury tax line and doesn’t want to take on much salary in the transaction, so the two teams need a third club to serve as a facilitator and take on a contract or two from the Kings.
Reporting earlier in the day indicated that San Antonio appear to be emerging as that facilitator, and the Spurs‘ trade agreement with the Hornets – in which they’ll move off of Devonte’ Graham‘s $2.85MM partial guarantee – is a signal that they’re opening up cap room for a specific move.
While Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter have been mentioned most frequently as trade candidates for the Kings, they’re not the only players who could serve as outgoing salary-matching pieces in a sign-and-trade for DeRozan. A package of Trey Lyles‘ and Chris Duarte‘s expiring contracts could theoretically work, for instance, if DeRozan’s starting salary is in the $20MM range. To accommodate a higher salary, at least one of Barnes or Huerter would likely need to be included.
Of course, even if the Kings, Bulls, and Spurs have an idea of what a three-team trade agreement would look like, Sacramento would still need to secure DeRozan’s commitment, which is presumably the goal of this weekend’s meeting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
JULY 6: Sanogo has officially signed his two-way contract with the Bulls, per a team press release.
JULY 3: After spending the 2023/24 season on a two-way contract with the Bulls, forward/center Adama Sanogo has agreed to return to Chicago on a new two-way deal, reports Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).
Sanogo, who won a national championship with UConn in 2023, declared for the draft as an early entrant that spring. While he wasn’t selected on draft night, he quickly caught on with the Bulls, signing a two-way contract last July.
Sanogo appeared in just nine games at the NBA level as a rookie, but he was productive in his limited action, racking up 36 points and 36 rebounds in 66 total minutes. He also played well in the G League, averaging a double-double (20.4 points, 12.0 rebounds) in just 29.2 minutes per game across 45 total appearances for the Windy City Bulls. He earned a spot on both the NBAGL All-Rookie Team and the All-NBAGL Third Team.
The Bulls issued a qualifying offer to Sanogo last week, making him a restricted free agent. That QO was equivalent to another one-year, two-way contract, so the 22-year-old will likely just accept that offer.
Once Sanogo officially signs, Chicago will have two of its three two-way slots filled, with Andrew Funk‘s deal from February having carried over for a second season.