Hoops Rumors Originals

2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Atlanta Hawks

September 8th, 2021 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves, examine what still needs to be done before opening night, and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Atlanta Hawks.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 10 deals aren’t included here.

John Collins: Five years, $125MM. Fifth-year player option. Re-signed as restricted free agent using Bird rights.
Lou Williams: One year, $5MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Gorgui Dieng: One year, $4MM. Signed using mid-level exception.
Solomon Hill: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Skylar Mays: Two-way contract. Accepted two-way qualifying offer as restricted free agent.

Trades:

Acquired Delon Wright from the Kings in a three-team trade in exchange for Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando, and the Trail Blazers’ 2023 second-round pick (all sent to Celtics).

Draft picks:

1-20: Jalen Johnson
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $12,888,585).
2-48: Sharife Cooper
- Signed to two-way contract.

Contract extensions:

Trae Young: Five years, maximum salary. Projected value of $172,500,000. Projected value can increase to $207,060,000 if Young earns All-NBA honors in 2022. Includes fifth-year player option and 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2022/23.
Clint Capela: Two years, $42,881,280 (base value). Includes $4MM in incentives. Starts in 2023/24.

Departing players:

Other offseason news:

Retained Nate McMillan as their permanent head coach.
Onyeka Okongwu underwent shoulder surgery and will miss the start of the 2021/22 season.
Added Joe Prunty, Jamelle McMillan, and Nick Van Exel to coaching staff; Melvin Hunt and Marlon Garnett departed coaching staff.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap and below the tax line.
Carrying approximately $133.1MM in salary.
$5,536,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($4MM used on Gorgui Dieng).
Full bi-annual exception ($3,732,000) still available.
One traded player exception ($1,782,621) available.

Lingering preseason issues:

The Hawks have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, so they could still add a 15th man.
Kevin Huerter is eligible for a rookie scale contract extension until October 18.
Delon Wright is eligible for a veteran contract extension all season (extend-and-trade limitations are in place until December).

The Hawks’ offseason:

A year ago, the Hawks’ offseason priority was using their significant cap room to add veteran players capable of complementing the team’s young core. Not all of those signings were successful (Kris Dunn and Rajon Rondo didn’t last long in Atlanta), but the approach paid off as a whole, as the team made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

This time around, the Hawks’ offseason focus wasn’t on continuing to add outside talent to the roster, but rather on retaining the franchise’s most important pieces for the long term.

First and foremost, this meant locking up leading scorer Trae Young to a rookie scale extension. The Hawks offered Young a five-year, maximum-salary deal as soon as they were allowed to do so, and now have the former No. 5 overall pick under team control through at least 2026.

Shortly after reaching a deal with Young, Atlanta agreed to terms with John Collins on a five-year deal. That negotiation was trickier — Young was still a year away from free agency, but Collins became a restricted free agent this summer, meaning he could’ve sought an offer sheet from a rival suitor. And while the negotiations with Young essentially amounted to handing over a blank check, the Collins talks revolved around finding a number below the maximum that satisfied both sides.

That number ended up being $25MM per year, which looks like a fair price for a versatile frontcourt player who is a force on offense and still has room to grow on defense. The Hawks left those negotiations happy that they locked in Collins for less than the max, while the fifth-year player option in his new contract will allow the big man to hit the open market again at age 27, when he could be in line for an even bigger payday.

Having secured Young and Collins to long-term deals near the start of free agency, the Hawks waited a few weeks before working out an extension with big man Clint Capela as well. Teams around the NBA aren’t investing in the center position like they used to, but some players are still worthy of big-money commitments, and Capela showed in 2020/21 that he fits that bill — he anchored Atlanta’s defense and finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Tacking on two more years to the two left on Capela’s current contract was a good bit of business for the Hawks, who now have the center on the books for about $83.7MM over the next four years (various incentives could slightly shift that total in one direction or the other).

The Hawks’ final key retention wasn’t a player at all — it was head coach Nate McMillan. The team’s trajectory changed significantly midway through the 2020/21 season when McMillan replaced Lloyd Pierce on the sidelines. The veteran coach led Atlanta to a 27-11 record the rest of the way and won two playoff series, showing that his lack of postseason success in four years in Indiana didn’t mean he couldn’t win in the playoffs.

There was never any doubt that the Hawks would offer McMillan the permanent job at season’s end — luckily for the franchise, he accepted that offer rather than exploring the open market, where he surely would’ve received plenty of interest from a few of the seven teams seeking new coaches.

While re-signing and extending their in-house talent was the primary focus of the Hawks’ offseason, their work around the edges of the roster shouldn’t be overlooked. Atlanta is hoping Delon Wright can give the team the kind of backcourt production that Rondo and Dunn didn’t — Wright is a versatile defender who is capable of getting to the basket and taking some ball-handling pressure off of Young.

The free agent addition of Gorgui Dieng was another solid move by president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk and his front office. Dieng wasn’t a great value on his previous contract (four years, $63MM), but at one year and $4MM, he should provide a solid return on investment — especially with Onyeka Okongwu expected to miss the start of the season while he recovers from shoulder surgery.

The Hawks’ upcoming season:

Expecting the Hawks to return to the Eastern Conference Finals may be overly optimistic. Milwaukee and Brooklyn are probably the two best teams in the East, while Miami, Boston, Indiana, New York, and others will be looking to claim places in the upper tier.

Still, even if the Hawks don’t make another deep playoff run in 2022, we shouldn’t necessarily count on a significant amount of regression. Atlanta was successful in 2020/21 despite missing key players like De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish for virtually all of the second half of the season, and Bogdan Bogdanovic for a big chunk of the first half. Young and Collins have room to continue improving, and this will be the team’s first full season under McMillan.

I think the Hawks are still one move away from legitimate title contention, but this is a deep, talented team capable of competing for a top-four seed in the East and making some noise in the postseason again.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.

How Players Who Declined Options Fared In Free Agency

September 7th, 2021 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the 16 veterans who had player options on their contracts for the 2021/22 season, seven picked up those options, forgoing free agency for another year of security. However, that leaves nine players who opted out and reached the free agent market.

For some players, that decision was an easy one. For instance, Norman Powell was long believed to be in line for a multiyear deal in the range of $15-20MM per year, so exercising his $11.6MM player option never would’ve made any sense.

The decision wasn’t so easy for every player who opted out though. Now that we’re five weeks into free agency, we want to look back on those decisions to see if they paid off for the nine players who opted out.

Let’s dive in…

The biggest wins:

Kawhi Leonard
- Option: $36,016,200 (Clippers)
- New contract: Four years, $176,265,152 (Clippers)
Norman Powell
- Option: $11,615,328 (Trail Blazers)
- New contract: Five years, $90,000,000 (Trail Blazers)
Spencer Dinwiddie
- Option: $12,302,496 (Nets)
- New contract: Three years, $54,000,000 (Wizards)
  - Note: Deal includes $8MM in incentives; third year partially guaranteed.

Leonard, Powell, and Dinwiddie all secured raises for the 2021/22 season and increased their overall guarantees exponentially. Leonard tacked on an extra $140MM in guaranteed money, while Powell’s new overall guarantee is nearly eight times more than his option salary.

Dinwiddie’s new contract isn’t quite as favorable as the other two, but it’s still a major win for a player who missed nearly the entire 2020/21 season due to an ACL tear. Even in a worst-case scenario, Dinwiddie will earn $45MM in guaranteed money. He can ensure his third-year salary becomes fully guaranteed by appearing in at least 50 games in each of the next two seasons, and he has the ability to earn even more in incentives.

A solid win:

Chris Paul
- Option: $44,211,146 (Suns)
- New contract: Four years, $120,000,000 (Suns)
  - Note: Deal includes $75MM in guaranteed money. Third year is partially guaranteed; fourth year is non-guaranteed.

If you want to move Paul to the “biggest wins” group, I wouldn’t argue with that. After all, he increased his overall guarantee by more than $30MM, which is no small feat for a player hitting free agency at age 36.

I’m separating him into his own group because his 2021/22 salary was reduced by more than $13MM as part of his new deal, and I think it’s possible he could’ve gotten more than $30MM in guaranteed money on his next deal if he had simply picked up his option and hit free agency next year.

I certainly don’t blame him for going this route though, given his injury history. And if he continues to play at a high level, the Suns will probably want to keep him for the third year of the deal, which would increase his overall guarantee on this contract to $90MM.

Minor wins:

Will Barton
- Option: $14,669,642 (Nuggets)
- New contract: Two years, $30,000,000 (Nuggets)
  - Note: Deal includes $2MM in incentives.
JaMychal Green
- Option: $7,559,748 (Nuggets)
- New contract: Two years, $16,400,000 (Nuggets)
  - Note: Deal includes $400K in incentives.
Bobby Portis
- Option: $3,804,150 (Bucks)
- New contract: Two years, $8,912,580 (Bucks)
Bryn Forbes
- Option: $2,454,002 (Bucks)
- New contract: One year, $4,500,000 (Spurs)

The Nuggets took a similar approach to their negotiations with Barton and Green — Denver gave each player a small raise this year, plus a second guaranteed season (Green’s second year is a player option).

The Bucks went that route with Portis too, giving him the biggest raise they could offer using his Non-Bird rights and including a second-year player option on his new deal.

You could make a case that Forbes is a big winner for nearly doubling his 2021/22 salary, but without any future years tacked onto that deal (and given the relatively small salaries involved), I’m classifying it as a modest victory.

The jury’s still out:

Isaiah Hartenstein
- Option: $1,762,796 (Cavaliers)
- New contract: TBD

Hartenstein is the only one of these nine players who remains unsigned. Based on his solid play with the Cavs down the stretch, turning down his minimum-salary player option seemed like a reasonable bet at the time, but it now looks like he might’ve been better off taking the guaranteed money.

While he’ll probably be signed at some point in the coming weeks, Hartenstein isn’t a lock for a fully guaranteed deal. And even if he gets a guaranteed one-year, minimum-salary contract, it’ll be worth slightly less ($1,729,217) than the option he declined, due to the league’s minimum-salary rules.

Decisions On 2022/23 Rookie Scale Team Options

September 7th, 2021 at 8:37am CST by Luke Adams

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.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Community Shootaround: 2022 NBA MVP

September 6th, 2021 at 7:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Injury issues may have factored into the MVP race more than usual during the pandemic-shortened 2020/21 season, when Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic remained healthier than several other All-NBA talents en route to earning his first MVP award.

Regardless, Jokic turned in an incredible and worthy MVP season. The three-time All-Star center played in all 72 regular season games and averaged an eye-popping 26.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 8.3 APG, on .566/.388/.868 shooting splits, for a Denver team that finished third in the crowded Western Conference with a solid 47-25 record. Can the 25-year-old superstar repeat as the MVP for the 2022 season?

Sixers center Joel Embiid, Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (the eventual 2021 Finals MVP), and Suns point guard Chris Paul rounded out the list of the top five players receiving the most votes. Prior to incurring significant mid-season injuries, Embiid and Lakers forward LeBron James, a four-time winner, appeared to be the frontrunners for the award last year, alongside eventual victor Jokic.

Antetokounmpo has already won the award twice, in 2019 and 2020. As the best player on the reigning champion Bucks, the 26-year-old appears likely to vie for the honor again next year. Curry was also a back-to-back winner, in 2015 and 2016.

Through the first month of the 2020/21 NBA season, there was a different MVP favorite among media members. Nets All-Star Kevin Durant enjoyed a terrific comeback year in 2020/21 after an Achilles tear kept him sidelined for the entire 2019/20 season. Injuries and load maintenance limited Durant to just 35 regular season games with Brooklyn, however. He certainly looked like the best player on the planet during the Nets’ injury-impeded 2021 playoff run, plus a subsequent march to his third Olympic gold medal with Team USA. The 32-year-old was previously the 2014 MVP while with the Thunder.

Durant’s All-Star teammate James Harden, the 2018 MVP, is normally quite durable, but he missed an unusual amount of time last year with a nagging quad injury. Given that the Nets will field perhaps the most loaded roster in the NBA between Durant, Harden, All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, and significant depth, one of Durant or Harden seems like a very viable MVP candidate next year.

With 2021/22 returning to an 82-game schedule amidst a much-lengthier turnaround time between seasons than last year, it appears likely that many veteran All-Stars will again be in the running for MVP honors. The aforementioned players all seem like safe bets to be in the mix for the award again this season, assuming good health. James and Paul, the two oldest players among that group, could see their MVP chances hampered by minutes management.

Beyond these usual suspects, other players may find their way into the MVP conversation. Depending on team record and player health, Lakers big man Anthony Davis, Suns shooting guard Devin Booker, Hawks point guard Trae Young, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and center Rudy Gobert, Heat swingman Jimmy Butler and center Bam Adebayo, Clippers forward Paul George, Knicks forward Julius Randle, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard and Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic all seem like fringe candidates for MVP consideration.

The crowded Eastern Conference could also see a surprise MVP contender (or, at least, a conceivable top-five finisher in media voting) emerge from several teams hoping to vault up the standings, thanks to active offseasons. Bulls All-Star guard Zach LaVine, Celtics All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and Pacers All-Star center Domantas Sabonis seem positioned to benefit the most from their teams’ summer makeovers, should those changes lead to top-four conference finishes for any of their clubs. In the case of the Pacers, the biggest personnel upgrade may have been on the bench, where the team added longtime Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle to replace one-year Indiana coach Nate Bjorkgren.

We want to hear what you think! Which of these players we mentioned is your way-too-early favorite to win the 2021/22 MVP award? Which young All-Star could move into being a top-five MVP vote-getter for the first time? Is there anyone we haven’t mentioned that you think could work their way into the conversation? Weigh in below in our comments section!

Longest-Tenured NBA GMs/Presidents

September 6th, 2021 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

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:

Gregg Popovich, Spurs (president): May 31, 1994
- Brian Wright holds the general manager title, but Popovich ultimately has final say.
Pat Riley, Heat (president): September 2, 1995
Sam Presti, Thunder (GM/executive VP): June 7, 2007
Bob Myers, Warriors (GM/president): April 24, 2012
Neil Olshey, Trail Blazers (president): June 4, 2012
Masai Ujiri, Raptors (president): May 31, 2013
Tim Connelly, Nuggets (president): June 17, 2013
Sean Marks, Nets (GM): February 18, 2016
Kevin Pritchard, Pacers (president): May 1, 2017
Jeff Weltman, Magic (president): May 22, 2017
Travis Schlenk, Hawks (president): May 25, 2017
Jon Horst, Bucks (GM): June 16, 2017
Koby Altman, Cavaliers (GM): June 19, 2017
Lawrence Frank, Clippers (president): August 4, 2017
Mitch Kupchak, Hornets (GM/president): April 8, 2018
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.
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.
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.
Zach Kleiman, Grizzlies (executive VP): April 11, 2019
David Griffin, Pelicans (executive VP): April 17, 2019
Gersson Rosas, Timberwolves (president): May 3, 2019
Leon Rose, Knicks (president): March 2, 2020
Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls (executive VP): April 13, 2020
Troy Weaver, Pistons (GM): June 18, 2020
Monte McNair, Kings (GM): September 17, 2020
Rafael Stone, Rockets (GM): October 15, 2020
Daryl Morey, Sixers (president): November 2, 2020
Brad Stevens, Celtics (president): June 2, 2021
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.
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.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

2022 NBA Free Agents By Team

September 6th, 2021 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2022 free agents by team is below. These are players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2021/22 season.

Restricted free agents are marked with (RFA).

This list will continue to be updated throughout the 2022 offseason, so be sure to use it and our list of 2022 free agents by position/type as points of reference.

Both lists can be found anytime under “Hoops Rumors Features” on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Free Agent Lists” section of our mobile menu. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

Updated 10-16-22 (7:38am CT)
Note: No longer being updated as of the start of the 2022/23 regular season.

Atlanta Hawks

Lou Williams

Boston Celtics

None

Dallas Mavericks

None

Denver Nuggets

DeMarcus Cousins

Detroit Pistons

None

Golden State Warriors

None

Houston Rockets

None

Indiana Pacers

Lance Stephenson

Los Angeles Clippers

Rodney Hood

Los Angeles Lakers

Memphis Grizzlies

None

Miami Heat

None

Milwaukee Bucks

None

Minnesota Timberwolves

Greg Monroe

New Orleans Pelicans

Tony Snell
Gary Clark (two-way UFA)

New York Knicks

None

Oklahoma City Thunder

Melvin Frazier (two-way UFA)

Orlando Magic

None

Philadelphia 76ers

Paul Millsap

Phoenix Suns

Elfrid Payton

Portland Trail Blazers

Ben McLemore
Keljin Blevins (two-way UFA)

Sacramento Kings

Jeremy Lamb

San Antonio Spurs

None

Toronto Raptors

None

Utah Jazz

Hassan Whiteside

Washington Wizards

None

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

NBA G League Affiliations For 2021/22 Season

September 6th, 2021 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

After an abridged 2020/21 season that only included 18 of the league’s 28 teams, the NBA G League is expected to get back to normal in 2021/22. And for the first time, the league appears on track to feature 30 franchises.

That doesn’t mean that all 30 NBA teams will have a G League affiliate of their own, however. While 28 NBAGL franchises have relationships with NBA squads, the other two are independent, without affiliations.

One of those two is the G League Ignite, which debuted last season. The Ignite is the NBAGL’s developmental program for top prospects coming out of high school. About half the roster is made up of those prospects, while the other half is made up of veterans who will serve as mentors to those up-and-coming teenagers.

The other unaffiliated G League franchise will be the Capitanes Ciudad De Mexico, the NBAGL’s first franchise based in Mexico.

The G League actually still hasn’t officially announced that the Capitanes – based in Mexico City – will be part of the 2021/22 season and doesn’t mention the club in the list of teams on its official website. However, Shams Charania reported in May that the Capitanes would be joining the G League for the ’21/22 campaign, and the team has said so as well. The NBA may still be working through COVID-related logistical issues before formally confirming the Capitanes’ inaugural NBAGL season.

[UPDATE: G League’s Mexico City Team To Play In U.S. In 2021/22]

Besides the Ignite and Capitanes, there are expected to be 28 more teams taking part in the G League’s 2021/22 season, all affiliated with NBA teams. Those affiliations are as follows:

Atlanta Hawks: College Park Skyhawks
Boston Celtics: Maine Celtics
- New name (formerly Maine Red Claws).
Brooklyn Nets: Long Island Nets
Charlotte Hornets: Greensboro Swarm
Chicago Bulls: Windy City Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers: Cleveland Charge
- New name (formerly Canton Charge).
Dallas Mavericks: Texas Legends
Denver Nuggets: Grand Rapids Gold
- New affiliation, name (formerly Grand Rapids Drive, affiliated with Pistons).
Detroit Pistons: Motor City Cruise
- New affiliation, name, location (formerly Northern Arizona Suns, affiliated with Suns).
Golden State Warriors: Santa Cruz Warriors
Houston Rockets: Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Indiana Pacers: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Los Angeles Clippers: Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario
Los Angeles Lakers: South Bay Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies: Memphis Hustle
Miami Heat: Sioux Falls Skyforce
Milwaukee Bucks: Wisconsin Herd
Minnesota Timberwolves: Iowa Wolves
New Orleans Pelicans: Birmingham Squadron
- New name, location (formerly Erie BayHawks).
New York Knicks: Westchester Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder: Oklahoma City Blue
Orlando Magic: Lakeland Magic
Philadelphia 76ers: Delaware Blue Coats
Sacramento Kings: Stockton Kings
San Antonio Spurs: Austin Spurs
Toronto Raptors: Raptors 905
Utah Jazz: Salt Lake City Stars
Washington Wizards: Capital City Go-Go

Of those 28 G League teams, 26 are fully owned and operated by their NBA partners. Only the Rockets and Nuggets have “hybrid” affiliations with their G League teams, meaning they manage and fund the basketball operations while local ownership maintains the control of the business and its community relations.

The two teams without NBAGL affiliates are the Trail Blazers and Suns. As noted above, Phoenix actually had its own G League team – the Northern Arizona Suns – but sold the club to the Pistons, who have relocated it to Detroit and rebranded it as the Motor City Cruise. Portland, meanwhile, has long been one of the few NBA teams without an NBAGL affiliate.

The Blazers and Suns are still permitted to send players to another team’s G League affiliate during the season via the flexible assignment rule, but won’t have much say in how those players are used or developed at the NBAGL level.

Hoops Rumors’ 2021 NBA Free Agent Tracker

September 5th, 2021 at 5:19pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Mid-Level, Bi-Annual Projections For 2022/23

September 5th, 2021 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

[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.

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

Mid-Level Exception

Year	Standard MLE	Taxpayer MLE	Room MLE
2022/23	$10,095,000	$6,149,000	$5,198,000
2023/24	$10,599,750	$6,456,450	$5,457,900
2024/25	$11,104,500	$6,763,900	–
2025/26	$11,609,250	–	–
Total	$43,408,500	$19,369,350	$10,655,900

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.

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

Year	BAE Value
2022/23	$3,951,000
2023/24	$4,148,550
Total	$8,099,550

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.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Community Shootaround: 2022 Rookie Of The Year

September 5th, 2021 at 2:31pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With a star-studded NBA draft and the 2021 Summer League in our rear view, it’s high time for a still-way-too-early Rookie Of The Year Community Shootaround! The three top picks this season are widely considered to be the players with brightest long-term futures in the NBA, but that doesn’t preclude someone else from swooping in for 2021/22 Rookie Of The Year award honors.

Top pick Cade Cunningham, selected by the Pistons out of Oklahoma State, is a lead ball-handler with the size of a forward (6’8″), beloved by scouts for his shooting ability and passing acumen.

Long-term, the Rockets are hoping No. 2 selection Jalen Green can replace ex-Houston All-Star James Harden as an All-NBA caliber shooting guard with a versatile offensive portfolio. Green opted to spend his post-high school season with the NBA’s G League Ignite rather than in a collegiate program. How much Green produces during his inaugural NBA season remains an open question, though he at least will see plenty of looks for a presumably lottery-bound Houston team.

Though the Cavaliers frontcourt is crowded between $100MM man Jarrett Allen, pricey former All-Star Kevin Love (owed $60.2MM over the next two seasons), and new addition Lauri Markkanen (signed to a four-year, $67MM deal), exciting USC big man Evan Mobley, the third pick in the draft, is a good bet to get major rotation minutes.

The top five selections were rounded out by two other intriguing prospects this season. 6’8″ FSU forward Scottie Barnes, selected with the No. 4 pick, will join a seasoned Raptors team loaded with forward depth and should have ample time to develop as a bench player.

The Magic chose 6’4″ Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs with the fifth pick in the draft, and subsequently added 6’9″ swingman Franz Wagner with the No. 8 pick. Suggs should receive significant scoring opportunities on an Orlando team not expected to compete for the playoffs.

The Thunder drafted 6’8″ guard Josh Giddey from NBL club the Adelaide 36ers with the sixth pick in the draft. The Thunder appear poised to continue their rebuilding project in Oklahoma City after trading away Chris Paul to the Suns during the summer of 2020, and as such should be able to find extended playing time for Giddey.

New Warriors lottery selections Jonathan Kuminga (the No. 7 pick), a 6’8″ forward out of the G League Ignite, and Moses Moody (the No. 14 pick), a 6’6″ guard out of Arkansas, are likely in line for smaller roles on a club trying to return to title contention this year, though of course that could change should Golden State opt to move them for veteran depth during the season.

6’2″ Kings guard Davion Mitchell, chosen with the ninth pick out of Baylor, will likely begin the 2021/22 season in a reserve role behind incumbent backcourt starters De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, but after proving he could score in bunches during the 2021 Las Vegas Summer League (where he was named co-MVP), it seems clear he’ll get plenty of run for Sacramento. Mitchell averaged 10.8 PPG, 5.8 APG and 1.4 RPG.

Grizzlies forward Ziaire Williams, Hornets guard James Bouknight, Spurs guard Joshua Primo, and Pacers guard Chris Duarte rounded out the lottery picks this season. All will suit up for teams who appear hopeful to at least qualify for the play-in tournament.

Beyond the lottery, Mitchell’s Summer League co-MVP Cameron Thomas, who averaged 27 PPG, 2 APG, 1.75 RPG, and 1.25 SPG, may yet carve out a role for himself on a star-studded Nets team hoping to compete for a title. That said, it’s tough to see the 6’4″ LSU alum getting enough touches in the backcourt, playing behind two All-Stars, to warrant Rookie Of The Year consideration.

Wizards rookie swingman Corey Kispert, Rockets rookie forward Alperen Sengun and Pelicans rookie wing Trey Murphy III also look like contenders to log serious minutes this season.

We want to hear what you think! Who among these contenders is your pick to win Rookie Of The Year honors for the 2021/22 season? Will anyone else we haven’t mentioned sneak in to the conversation? Please weigh in with your own early predictions in the comments section below.

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