The Bulls took point guard Lonzo Ball off the trade market when they reached an agreement on a two-year, $20MM extension, which was finalized on Friday. The Warriors completed a two-year, maximum-salary extension with Jimmy Butler as part of the trade that sent him from Miami to Golden State. And the Raptors locked up Brandon Ingram to a new three-year, $120MM deal shortly after acquiring him from New Orleans.

Among the players who entered the month eligible for veteran extensions, Ball, Butler, and Ingram were three of the top candidates to sign new contracts. But even with that trio off the board, there are more than two dozen players eligible for veteran extensions up until June 30.

Not all of those players should be considered legitimate candidates for new deals. For instance, I wouldn't hold my breath on P.J. Tucker signing an extension with the Raptors or the Nets getting a new deal done with Bojan Bogdanovic. Still, there are a number of extension candidates worth keeping an eye on in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Let's take a closer look at those players to watch...

Dorian Finney-Smith (Lakers)

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As the dust settles and we look forward to several impact players debuting with their new teams in the coming days, we want to dig a little deeper on this week's deals, taking a closer look at certain trends, below-the-radar details, and cap-related minutiae that caught our attention.

Let's dive in...

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Luka Doncic, a reigning MVP finalist who has made the All-NBA First Team five years in a row, has been sent to the Lakers along with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, with 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis headed to the Mavericks alongside Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick.

Utah also got involved in the deal, taking on Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers and getting a future second-round pick from both Dallas and L.A.

Much has already been written - and will continue to be written - about why each team (especially Dallas) felt motivated to make this move. Today, while we're still reeling from the news, we want to dig into the nitty-gritty of the trade, exploring how it works from a cap perspective, examining how it impacts Doncic's future earnings, and considering what the Lakers and Mavs do next to follow this up.

Let's dive in...

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Entering the fall, it seemed likely that the Pistons, coming off a franchise-worst 14-68 season, would remain deep in rebuilding mode in 2024/25, but that hasn't been the case through the first half of the season. A resurgent Detroit team has gotten off to a 23-21 start and currently holds the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. If the season ended today, the Pistons would control a guaranteed playoff spot.

If the Pistons were clearly lottery-bound again, it would make sense to use their cap room to take on teams' unwanted contracts with assets (draft picks, cash, and/or prospects) attached. But given their spot in the standings, there has been speculation that the front office will instead look to acquire a player (or players) who could help the team right away.

Since Jaden Ivey, the Pistons' starting shooting guard and primary backup point guard, went down on New Year's Day with a broken fibula, that speculation has centered around the idea of Detroit adding another ball-handler and play-maker. But many of the options linked to the team don't make a lot of sense to me.

Pricey veteran stars like Bradley Beal or Zach LaVine, for instance, would be more logical fits if they were on expiring contracts, but I can't imagine the Pistons want to take on their oversized deals for two seasons beyond this one, especially since they'd likely have to send out multiple rotation players to make the money work. Their $14MM in cap room can't accommodate a maximum-salary player without that outgoing salary.

Ivey hasn't even been ruled out for the rest of this season and certainly should be back on the court by the fall -- having a player like Beal or LaVine on next year's roster alongside Ivey and Cade Cunningham doesn't strike me as the best move for the duo's development together, which was trending in such a good direction prior to Ivey's injury.

A smaller deal to upgrade the backcourt might make sense. Bulls guard Coby White stands out to me as a better fit than those max-salary stars, given his cap hit ($12MM), his shorter-term deal (he's an unrestricted free agent in 2026), and the fact that he's gotten accustomed to playing both backcourt positions in Chicago.

But the Bulls would presumably seek at least a first-round pick for White, and the Pistons already owe their 2025 first-rounder to Minnesota. It's not like Detroit is one player away from legitimate contention, so it's still too early in the rebuilding process to be parting with another first-rounder unless it's in a deal that nets the team a star.

In my view, the logical path for the Pistons at this season's deadline is a more conservative approach that sees them continue to stockpile assets while also maintaining cap flexibility beyond this season and acquiring a player or two who could help fill the hole created by Ivey's injury for the rest of 2024/25.

Here's my suggestion for how the Pistons should use their cap room at the deadline:

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The race for one of the final spots on an All-NBA Third Team isn't one many fans will be watching closely, but it's extremely meaningful for certain players who have the ability to increase the value of their next contract by tens of millions of dollars by earning All-NBA honors this season.

With that in mind, we're taking a closer look today at which star players have already been eliminated from qualifying for 2025 end-of-season awards and which All-NBA candidates have big-time money on the line depending on whether or not they make the cut.

Let's dive in...

The players affected by the 65-game rule

This is the second season in which a player must appear in at least 65 games to qualify for end-of-season award consideration. The rule had an impact in its first season on players like Donovan Mitchell, who averaged 26.6 points and 6.1 assists per game for the 48-win Cavaliers, but only appeared in 55 contests. In past seasons, Mitchell would've received All-NBA votes and possibly earned a spot. In 2024, he wasn't on the ballot.

Several star players will find themselves in a similar boat this season. If we look at the 49 players who have made an All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three years, we can already rule out eight of them for this year's All-NBA squads due to the 65-game rule. The following players from that group have missed too many games to qualify for end-of-season awards:

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In the meantime, we're taking a closer look at a handful of cap-related topics that have been on our minds, including a scenario in which the Bucks aren't subject to second-apron restrictions, an under-the-radar team to watch as a deadline seller, and why cap room projections for the Nets are a little all over the place.

Let's dive in...

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Butler is 35 years old. He has aggressively pushed for trades multiple times over the course of his NBA career. He hasn't played more than 65 games in a season since 2016/17. He's earning $48.8MM this season and will be seeking another significant payday this summer.

On top of that, his team, Miami, is prohibited from taking back more salary than it sends out in any deal, which will complicate the Heat's ability to work something out with certain potential trade partners.

Still, when he's healthy and committed, Butler is an All-NBA caliber talent. And given how messy the situation in Miami has gotten, it's hard right now to envision a scenario in which he returns to the Heat and finishes out the season.

A trade seems to be the most likely outcome, so we're going to dig in today on what a Butler trade might look like, running through all 29 other NBA teams to determine whether or not they could be a fit.

Let's dive in...

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There were 24 players on that list before the Timberwolves waived PJ Dozier on Saturday. Because Dozier's contract included a $1MM partial guarantee for 2024/25, there was little incentive for Minnesota to release him earlier in the season -- since that $1MM guarantee represented nearly 67/174ths of his full $2,613,120 salary, the Wolves would've taken on on $1MM in dead money whether Dozier was cut on the first day of the season or the 60th day.

But once the 67-day mark passed, Dozier's cap hit continued to increase beyond the initial $1MM guarantee and the Wolves decided they didn't want to continue paying him. It's likely no coincidence that he was cut on the 68th day of the season.

Minnesota is far from the only team that will have a decision to make on a non-guaranteed salary in the coming days. Let's take a closer look at which players on non-guaranteed deals should be safe and which ones are in more danger of being waived by Jan. 7.

Brooklyn Nets

• Keon Johnson
• Jalen Wilson

As their trades sending out Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith have clearly signaled, the Nets are fully in rebuilding mode, so my first instinct is to assume they'll be inclined to hang onto players like Johnson and Wilson, both of whom have been regular parts of the rotation as of late (in Friday's loss to San Antonio, they both started and played at least 37 minutes).

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That series of moves, along with the upcoming 10-day contract window and some trade rumors involving Michael Porter Jr., have us considering a few specific elements of the NBA's salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement. We're rounding up our thoughts up below, discussing the Nets' trade, Porter's contract, the Pistons' cap machinations, and more.

Let's dive in...

How the Nets acquired De'Anthony Melton

When the Nets sent out Dennis Schröder ($13,025,250 cap hit) for De'Anthony Melton ($12,822,000) in their trade with the Warriors, there were three ways Brooklyn could have taken on Melton's salary:

1. Using their existing $23,300,000 traded player exception created in July's Mikal Bridges deal.
2. Using the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
3. Using Schröder's outgoing salary for matching purposes.

Using the Bridges exception wouldn't have made a ton of sense. It would have left the Nets with trade exceptions worth $10,274,750 (the amount left on the Bridges TPE) and a $13,025,250 (Schröder's outgoing salary). Since exceptions can't be combined, those separate TPEs wouldn't have been as valuable as simply having the original $23.3MM exception, which will allow the team to take back a more significant salary.

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