Hoops Rumors Originals

With the NBA set to return to its usual schedule for the start of the 2021/22 regular season, the deadline for decisions on third- and fourth-year team options for players on rookie scale contracts is back to its usual date at the end of October. Actually, because October 31 falls on a Sunday this year, the deadline will be on the Monday (November 1).

All the players whose options will be exercised or declined by November 1 are already under contract for the 2021/22 season. Their teams will have to make a decision on whether they want to lock in those players’ contracts beyond the coming season, picking up or turning down team options for the 2022/23 campaign.

For players who signed their rookie scale contracts in 2019 and have already been in the NBA for two years, teams must decide on fourth-year options for 2022/23. For players who just signed their rookie deals last year and only have one season of NBA experience under their belts, teams will already be faced with a decision on third-year options for ’22/23.

In many cases, these decisions aren’t hard ones. Rookie scale salaries are affordable enough that it usually makes sense to exercise most of these team options, even if a player isn’t a key cog on the roster. And for those players who do have a significant role on a team’s roster, the decision is even easier — it’s not as if the Hornets will consider turning down their option on LaMelo Ball, for instance.

Still, we’ll wait for a trusted reporter, the NBA, a player (or his agent), or a team itself to confirm that an option is indeed being exercised or declined, and we’ll track that news in this space.

Listed below are all the rookie scale decisions for 2022/23 team options that clubs must make by November 1. This list will be updated throughout the rest of the month as teams’ decisions are reported and announced. The salary figures listed here reflect the cap hits for each team.

Here are the NBA’s rookie scale team option decisions for 2022/23 salaries:

Atlanta Hawks

• De’Andre Hunter (fourth year, $9,835,881): Exercised
• Onyeka Okongwu (third year, $6,395,160): Exercised
• Cam Reddish (fourth year, $5,954,454): Exercised

Boston Celtics

• Romeo Langford (fourth year, $5,634,257): Exercised
• Grant Williams (fourth year, $4,306,281): Exercised
• Aaron Nesmith (third year, $3,804,360): Exercised
• Payton Pritchard (third year, $2,239,200): Exercised

Brooklyn Nets

• None

Charlotte Hornets

• LaMelo Ball (third year, $8,623,920): Exercised
• P.J. Washington (fourth year, $5,808,435): Exercised

Chicago Bulls

• Patrick Williams (third year, $7,775,400): Exercised
• Coby White (fourth year, $7,413,955): Exercised

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Darius Garland (fourth year, $8,920,795): Exercised
• Isaac Okoro (third year, $7,040,880): Exercised
• Dylan Windler (fourth year, $4,037,278): Exercised

Dallas Mavericks

• Josh Green (third year, $3,098,400): Exercised

Denver Nuggets

• Zeke Nnaji (third year, $2,617,800): Exercised

Detroit Pistons

• Killian Hayes (third year, $5,837,760): Exercised
• Isaiah Stewart (third year, $3,433,320): Exercised
• Saddiq Bey (third year, $2,959,080): Exercised

Golden State Warriors

• James Wiseman (third year, $9,603,360): Exercised
• Jordan Poole (fourth year, $3,901,399): Exercised

Houston Rockets

• Sekou Doumbouya (fourth year, $5,539,771): Waived
• Kevin Porter Jr. (fourth year, $3,217,631): Exercised

Indiana Pacers

• Goga Bitadze (fourth year, $4,765,339): Exercised

Los Angeles Clippers

• None

Los Angeles Lakers

• None

Memphis Grizzlies

• Ja Morant (fourth year, $12,119,440): Exercised
• Jarrett Culver (fourth year, $8,109,063): Will be declined
• Brandon Clarke (fourth year, $4,343,920): Exercised
• Desmond Bane (third year, $2,130,240): Exercised

Miami Heat

• Tyler Herro (fourth year, $5,722,116): Exercised

Milwaukee Bucks

• None

Minnesota Timberwolves

• Anthony Edwards (third year, $10,733,400): Exercised
• Jaden McDaniels (third year, $2,161,440): Exercised

New Orleans Pelicans

• Zion Williamson (fourth year, $13,534,817): Exercised
• Jaxson Hayes (fourth year, $6,803,012): Exercised
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker (fourth year, $5,009,633): Exercised
• Kira Lewis (third year, $4,004,280): Exercised

New York Knicks

• RJ Barrett (fourth year, $10,900,635): Exercised
• Obi Toppin (third year, $5,348,280): Exercised
• Immanuel Quickley (third year, $2,316,240): Exercised

Oklahoma City Thunder

• Darius Bazley (fourth year, $4,264,629): Exercised
• Ty Jerome (fourth year, $4,220,057): Exercised
• Aleksej Pokusevski (third year, $3,261,480): Exercised

Orlando Magic

• Cole Anthony (third year, $3,613,680): Exercised
• Chuma Okeke (third year, $3,433,320): Exercised
• R.J. Hampton (third year, $2,412,840): Exercised

Philadelphia 76ers

• Matisse Thybulle (fourth year, $4,379,527): Exercised
• Tyrese Maxey (third year, $2,726,880): Exercised

Phoenix Suns

• Cameron Johnson (fourth year, $5,887,899): Exercised
• Jalen Smith (third year, $4,670,160): Will be declined

Portland Trail Blazers

• Nassir Little (fourth year, $4,171,548): Exercised

Sacramento Kings

• Tyrese Haliburton (third year, $4,215,120): Exercised

San Antonio Spurs

• Luka Samanic (fourth year, $4,556,983): Waived
• Devin Vassell (third year, $4,437,000): Exercised
• Keldon Johnson (fourth year, $3,873,025): Exercised

Toronto Raptors

• Precious Achiuwa (third year, $2,840,160): Exercised
• Malachi Flynn (third year, $2,145,720): Exercised

Utah Jazz

• Udoka Azubuike (third year, $2,174,880): Exercised

Washington Wizards

• Rui Hachimura (fourth year, $6,263,188): Exercised
• Deni Avdija (third year, $4,916,160): Exercised

Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

As is the case in the NBA’s head coaching ranks, a number of long-tenured heads of basketball operations have been replaced in 2021, a result of some offseason front office shakeups.

Since we put together last offseason’s list of the league’s longest-tenured heads of basketball operations, Danny Ainge and Donnie Nelson, who had been with their respective teams for over 15 years, have left those franchises. As such, it’s time to update our list.

Although only one person holds a team’s head coaching job, that same team could carry a variety of front office executives with titles like general manager, president of basketball operations, or executive VP of basketball operations. In some cases, it’s not always which clear which executive should be considered the club’s head of basketball operations, or which one has the ultimate final say on roster decisions. That distinction becomes even more nebulous when taking into account team ownership.

For our list of the longest-tenured GMs/presidents in the NBA, we’ve done our best to identify the top exec in each front office, but if a situation isn’t entirely clear-cut, we’ve made a note below.

Here’s the list of the NBA’s longest-tenured heads of basketball operations, along with their respective titles and the dates they were hired or promoted:

1. Gregg Popovich, Spurs (president): May 31, 1994
   • Brian Wright holds the general manager title, but Popovich ultimately has final say.
2. Pat Riley, Heat (president): September 2, 1995
3. Sam Presti, Thunder (GM/executive VP): June 7, 2007
4. Bob Myers, Warriors (GM/president): April 24, 2012
5. Neil Olshey, Trail Blazers (president): June 4, 2012
6. Masai Ujiri, Raptors (president): May 31, 2013
7. Tim Connelly, Nuggets (president): June 17, 2013
8. Sean Marks, Nets (GM): February 18, 2016
9. Kevin Pritchard, Pacers (president): May 1, 2017
10. Jeff Weltman, Magic (president): May 22, 2017
11. Travis Schlenk, Hawks (president): May 25, 2017
12. Jon Horst, Bucks (GM): June 16, 2017
13. Koby Altman, Cavaliers (GM): June 19, 2017
14. Lawrence Frank, Clippers (president): August 4, 2017
15. Mitch Kupchak, Hornets (GM/president): April 8, 2018
16. Tommy Sheppard, Wizards (GM): April 2, 2019
    • Sheppard assumed the job on an interim basis on April 2, 2019. He was named the permanent GM on July 22, 2019.
17. Rob Pelinka, Lakers (GM/VP): April 9, 2019
    • Pelinka has been the Lakers’ GM since February 2017, but was below Magic Johnson in the front office hierarchy until Johnson resigned on April 9, 2019.
18. James Jones, Suns (GM): April 11, 2019
    • Jones began serving as the Suns’ co-interim GM alongside Trevor Bukstein in October 2018, but was named the lone, permanent head of basketball operations on April 11, 2019.
19. Zach Kleiman, Grizzlies (executive VP): April 11, 2019
20. David Griffin, Pelicans (executive VP): April 17, 2019
21. Gersson Rosas, Timberwolves (president): May 3, 2019
22. Leon Rose, Knicks (president): March 2, 2020
23. Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls (executive VP): April 13, 2020
24. Troy Weaver, Pistons (GM): June 18, 2020
25. Monte McNair, Kings (GM): September 17, 2020
26. Rafael Stone, Rockets (GM): October 15, 2020
27. Daryl Morey, Sixers (president): November 2, 2020
28. Brad Stevens, Celtics (president): June 2, 2021
29. Justin Zanik, Jazz (GM): June 27, 2021
    • Zanik has been in the Jazz’s front office since September 2017 and has been the team’s GM since May 2019, but was below Dennis Lindsey in the front office hierarchy until Lindsey was reassigned to an advisory role on June 27, 2021.
30. Nico Harrison (GM/president): June 28, 2021
    • Owner Mark Cuban is also heavily involved in basketball decisions and ultimately has final say.

Information from Basketball-Reference was used in the creation of this post.

With the NBA’s 2021 free agent period into its second month and nearly all of this year’s most interesting names off the board, Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep track of which players are heading to which teams this fall.

To this end, we present our Free Agent Tracker, a tool we’ve maintained each year since our inception in 2012. Using our tracker, you can quickly look up deals, sorting by team, position, free agent type, and a handful of other variables.

A few notes on the tracker:

• Some of the information you’ll find in the tracker will reflect tentative agreements, rather than finalized deals. As signings become official, we’ll continue to update and modify the data as needed.
• Similarly, contract years and dollars will be based on what’s been reported to date, so in many cases those amounts will be approximations rather than official figures. Salaries aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed either.
• Players reported to be joining teams on training camp/Exhibit 10 contracts won’t be added to the tracker until those signings are official, since those deals are more likely to fall through and some will end up being procedural moves that aren’t completed until the preseason.
• A restricted free agent who signs an offer sheet won’t be included in the tracker right away. We’ll wait to hear whether the player’s original team will match or pass on that offer sheet before we update our tracker in order to avoid any confusion.
• If you’re viewing the tracker on our mobile site, be sure to turn your phone sideways to see more details.

Our 2021 Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” and it’s also under the “Tools” menu atop the site. On our mobile site, it can be found in our menu under “Free Agent Lists.”

The tracker will be updated throughout the offseason, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.

Our lists of free agents by position/type and by team break down the players who have yet to reach contract agreements.

[UPDATE: The NBA has updated its salary cap projection for 2022/23. Our new MLE/BAE projections for ’22/23 can be found here.]

Under the NBA’s previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, the values of various salary cap exceptions like the mid-level and bi-annual were established years in advance, but the league’s current CBA tweaked how those exceptions are calculated.

Rather than being determined ahead of time, the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions – along with several other cap-related figures and exceptions – are dependent on the movement of the salary cap from year to year. If the cap increases by 5% from one league year to the next, the exceptions increase by the same rate.

As such, we don’t know yet exactly what those exceptions will be worth in 2022/23, but we can make an educated estimate. When the NBA updated its salary cap estimates in August, the league projected a $119MM cap for the ’22/23 season.

[RELATED: Maximum Salary Projections For 2022/23]

Based on a $119MM cap, here’s what the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions would look like in 2022/23:

Mid-Level Exception

The standard mid-level exception is available to over-the-cap teams that haven’t dipped below the cap to use room and don’t go over the tax apron. It can run for up to four years, with 5% annual raises. Once a team uses the standard/non-taxpayer MLE, that team is hard-capped at the tax apron for the rest of the league year.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Mid-Level Exception]

The taxpayer mid-level exception is for in-the-tax teams, or teams that want the flexibility to surpass the tax apron later. It can run for up to three years, with 5% annual raises.

The room exception is for teams that go under the cap and use their space. Once they’ve used all their cap room, they can use this version of the mid-level exception, which runs for up to two years with 5% annual raises.

Bi-Annual Exception

The bi-annual exception – which can be used for contracts up to two years, with a 5% raise after year one – is only available to teams that are over the cap and under the tax apron.

It can also only be used once every two years, which will disqualify the Mavericks from using it in 2022/23 — so far, Dallas is the only team to use its BAE in 2021/22.