Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hoops Rumors Originals

Four Under-The-Radar Players To Watch For 2024/25

July 29th, 2024 at 8:18pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Rosters for the 2024/25 season are far from being set, but it’s never too early to try to predict some of next season’s happenings. When considering players who are primed for breakouts, draft picks who immediately became stars like Paolo Banchero and Victor Wembanyama come to mind, but several more players in a tier below that will emerge as rotation mainstays for the first time.

Think players like Sam Hauser of the Celtics. Hauser gradually crept up Boston’s rotation over the past three years, eventually becoming a part of the title core and earning himself an extension. Likewise, Miles McBride was a second-round pick who showed promise, but eventually broke out after the ’23/24 deadline for New York. Isaiah Joe of the Thunder is another example, while Vince Williams of the Grizzlies and Simone Fontecchio of the Pistons also broke onto the scene earlier this year.

With that said, here are four players I think could “break out” next season in the sense that they go from a fringe rotation piece to a reliable regular for a team.

Day’Ron Sharpe

This might be cheating a bit, since Sharpe appeared in 61 games last season and averaged 6.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. However, he managed to record those numbers in just 15.1 minutes per night, improving across the board for the Nets. I expect Sharpe to play more this season even though he’s still behind Nic Claxton in the rotation.

For starters, the Nets pivoted toward a rebuild this offseason after trading away Mikal Bridges. With Bridges gone and players like Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Bojan Bogdanovic and Dennis Schröder set up to be potential trade pieces, there should be more minutes to go around at some point in the season, at least in theory. That would put Sharpe, the No. 29 overall pick in 2021, in prime position to play more and continue to show off his improvement.

Sharpe is set to be a restricted free agent next offseason and, if he manages to continue to show linear growth, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him draw a bevy of suitors. If the Nets didn’t want to pay Sharpe after handing a contract to Claxton this offseason, Sharpe could draw interest at the deadline for a playoff team needing size or another young team looking for a mainstay.

Given his contract status, youth (heturns 23 this season), and team positioning, Sharpe seems like a solid candidate to “break out” for next season.

Max Christie

The Lakers have had a quiet offseason, with their only external additions being 2024 draftees Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. One move that flew under the radar was the long-term extension of Christie, a player who only played 14.1 minutes last season. While the 2022 No. 35 pick saw his responsibilities increase last season from his rookie year, he holds a career average of 3.8 points per game.

Clearly, the Lakers liked what they saw from the 21-year-old Christie, as they rewarded him with a $32MM deal. While he hasn’t played a ton at the NBA level, he holds solid upside as a three-and-D prospect. It was somewhat surprising, for my money, that a team with cap space didn’t try to price Christie out of the Lakers’ range.

The Lakers getting Christie back could be a huge win for a team that needs three-and-D players in their rotation. Given that the Lakers might still make a trade before the year and players ahead of him last year either fell out of favor or simply left in free agency, Christie seems like a lock for more minutes and production next season. He could have a key role for the Lakers in the final couple years of his contract if things play right.

Craig Porter Jr./Ricky Council IV

While Porter and Council are distinctly different players, both could improve and continue to work their way into the rotations of playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference, which is why they’re grouped together here.

Porter played more on a two-way contract last season before being promoted to a standard deal. He’s a small guard but has played well above his size both in college and in the pros. He works well as a secondary ball-handler and a solid defensive guard. While the Cavaliers still have three open roster spots and could add a player or two who may overtake Porter in the guard room, I could see him winning the ninth or 10th spot in the rotation and potentially being the club’s top backup lead guard.

Council didn’t play as much for the Sixers until the end of the season, but his high efficiency impressed the organization and they rewarded him with a standard contract.

While Philadelphia eventually re-signed Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre, Kyle Lowry and KJ Martin, I find it telling that the Council was just one of two players from last year’s roster who stayed on the roster throughout the entire offseason. His contract for next season is non-guaranteed, so they easily could have waived him if they felt someone else better fit his role. Martin and draft picks Jared McCain and Adem Bona might not play much next season, which has Council and Eric Gordon looking like the team’s only true bench wings off the bench.

While it’s not a lock Porter or Council make an impact on the rotation this year — let alone make it through their contracts being guaranteed at the league-wide date in 2025 — their organizations have shown they value each respective player. To me, Porter and Council are some of the more likely candidates to follow Hauser’s footsteps of developing for a couple seasons before breaking into a rotation.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Players Who Can Veto Trades In 2024/25

July 29th, 2024 at 12:02pm CST by Luke Adams

No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, since a player must meet a specific set of criteria in order to qualify for one. And even those players who become eligible may not have the leverage to demand a no-trade clause, which significantly limits a team’s flexibility in future trade negotiations.

To be eligible to negotiate a no-trade clause, a player must have at least eight years of NBA experience and has to have spent at least four years (not necessarily the most recent four years) with his current team. He also must be signing a free agent contract, rather than an extension.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: No-Trade Clause]

For the first time in seven seasons, multiple players will have no-trade clauses in their contracts during the 2024/25 league year. In addition to Bradley Beal, who got his no-trade clause when he signed his current contract in 2022, LeBron James negotiated a no-trade clause into his new deal with the Lakers.

The last time more than one player had an actual no-trade clause in his contract was in ’17/18, when three players – James (as a Cavalier), Dirk Nowitzki, and Carmelo Anthony – had them.

Although Beal and James are the only players who have explicit no-trade clauses in their current deals, there are several others who will have implicit no-trade clauses in 2024/25, giving them the ability to veto trades during the current league year.

A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection, unless he agrees to give up that protection when he inks his deal. That group doesn’t include players on two-way contracts, but it does include players who accept standard (non two-way) one-year qualifying offers.

A player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team also has the ability to veto a trade for a full calendar year.

With those criteria in mind, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the ’24/25 league year:

Players with a no-trade clause:

Players whose offer sheets were matched:

  • None

Players re-signing for one year (or two years, with a second-year player/team option):

Note: Players marked with an asterisk (*) are on non-guaranteed contracts.

If any player who re-signed for one year approves a trade during the 2024/25 league year, he’ll have Non-Bird rights at season’s end instead of Early Bird or full Bird rights.

Any player who approves a trade will retain his veto ability on his new team, and would have to consent to any subsequent deal during the 2024/25 season.

The following players were re-signed to one-year contracts (or two-year deals with an option year), but have agreed to forfeit their right to veto a trade in 2024/25:

Giving up the right to veto a trade was introduced as an option in the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Underrated Remaining Free Agents

July 28th, 2024 at 8:48pm CST by Tristan Tucker

For the most part, standard roster spots across the league have dried up with the bulk of the top free agents having decided their destinations earlier in July. And some of the teams that do have open roster spots seem to be maneuvering to bring back some of the bigger names remaining in free agency.

Take the Grizzlies for example, who salary dumped Ziaire Williams in a move that seems to be setting up a return for Luke Kennard, one of the top players still available. The Cavaliers have three open standard roster spots, but figure to fill one or more of them once Isaac Okoro‘s restricted free agency is resolved (whether they’re keeping flexibility for a sign-and-trade or simply plan to bring him back remains to be seen). The Knicks, likewise, are the most likely destination for Precious Achiuwa but could still execute a sign-and-trade.

[RELATED: Latest On Cavaliers RFA Isaac Okoro]

The remaining players on our top-50 list are Okoro (No. 20), Kennard (No. 29), Achiuwa (No. 37), Markelle Fultz (No. 43), Cedi Osman (No. 46) and Gordon Hayward (No. 49). While teams seem to have at least some level of plans in place for the top few remaining free agents, there are several others who have found recent success in the NBA and could help teams, but who appear to have been overlooked to this point.

A pair of Nets guards in Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr. are among the free agents who haven’t found new homes. Both are still relatively young and have shown promise in their careers. Smith, in particular, established himself as one of the better backcourt defenders in the league in his season with Charlotte in 2022/23, but he didn’t catch on for the long term. Walker has shown an ability to score in bunches and averaged 9.7 points in just 17.4 minutes last season (20.1 points per 36).

Likewise, Jordan Nwora is a young wing who can score in a pinch, but he hasn’t been brought back by the Raptors to this point. Though he’s shown flashes in Milwaukee, Indiana and Toronto, Nwora’s NBA future is unknown at this point. In 206 career appearances, the former No. 45 overall pick has averaged 7.6 points per game.

Talen Horton-Tucker made 11 starts for the Jazz last season and averaged 10.1 points and 3.5 assists per contest. While it’s possible the Jazz continue to develop the 23-year-old, there has been no indication so far that he remains in their plans.

Other young players like Omer Yurtseven, Dominick Barlow and Brandon Boston Jr. have had moments in the league, but none have found homes this offseason.

Davis Bertans feels likely to end up signing a deal with a contender, but his name hasn’t come up much in free agent conversations. Though he isn’t young, Bertans seemed to rehabilitate his value with Charlotte after averages 20.8 minutes last year after being acquired at the deadline, and he shot 37.5% from three on 6.3 attempts per game.

To be clear, the perceived lack of a market for the aforementioned players isn’t necessarily surprising. Tyus Jones and Gary Trent, though they reportedly passed on more lucrative offers, ended up only signing for the minimum. Teams are impacted by the CBA’s recent tax apron changes and a smaller-than-usual cap increase, resulting in a slower free agency this season.

Still, there’s always value to be found across professional basketball, and plenty of talented players are available to be signed by teams.

We want your input. Who do you think are the most underrated remaining free agents? Are there any players you feel are unfairly overlooked? Is there anyone we forgot?

Head to the comment section to let us know! We look forward to hearing your input.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Four NBA Restricted Free Agents Still Available

July 27th, 2024 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Nearly four weeks into the NBA’s 2024/25 league year, there are only four restricted free agents who have yet to reach agreements on new deals, including just one who is coming off a standard contract.

Here are the unsigned RFAs:

There are still a couple teams with cap room available, so one of those teams – the Pistons and Jazz – could make life difficult for the Cavaliers by giving Okoro an offer sheet in that $12-15MM range, but there has been no indication either club plans to do so. A sign-and-trade to an over-the-cap team is another possibility, and Fedor confirmed in a subscriber-only story for Cleveland.com that the Cavs have had talks with some possible trade partners about a deal, but it doesn’t sound like any real progress has been made on that front.

Barring a late-summer push from a new suitor, Okoro may ultimately have to decide whether he wants to earn a higher salary in 2024/25 and bet on himself again as an unrestricted free agent in 2025 or if he prefers the security of a multiyear deal that would pay him less in year one.

Okoro’s leverage is limited, but even his “worst-case” scenario would be a guaranteed $11.8MM salary for next season. Bates, Toppin, and Tshiebwe have far less leverage and a far less appealing set of choices.

Of the 15 players who received two-way qualifying offers this offseason, only one (Vit Krejci of the Hawks) has agreed to a standard contract. Two others had their QOs withdrawn, while nine have returned to their respective teams on new two-way deals. The odds are good that the final three – Bates, Toppin, and Tshiebwe – will eventually have to accept two-way contracts too.

The deadline for teams to unilaterally withdraw a qualifying offer to a restricted free agent passed on July 13, so Bates, Toppin, and Tshiebwe aren’t facing any sort of short-term deadline on whether or not to accept their two-way offers. They can afford to wait a little longer to make their decisions.

Still, even if they accept their respective qualifying offers, those one-year deals come with few assurances. A two-way player can earn a $578,577 salary over the course of the 2024/25 season, but a qualifying offer is only partially guaranteed for $77,500.

The Cavaliers currently have three open two-way slots, while the Knicks have two, so I think Bates and Toppin would be well-positioned to stick around into the regular season if they accept their QOs.

Tshiebwe’s outlook is less clear. Within the last 24 hours, the Pacers filled two of their three two-way openings by signing Quenton Jackson and Tristen Newton. Tshiebwe could take the third slot, but Indiana still has an unsigned second-round pick (Enrique Freeman) who may be the frontrunner for that final two-way, as Dustin Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star.

Tshiebwe was an All-NBA G League first-teamer and the G League Rookie of the Year this past season, so I expect he’d draw two-way interest from other teams if the Pacers determine they don’t have room for him.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Bucks’ Offseason Moves

July 25th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Entering the 2024 offseason, the Bucks were limited to signing veterans on minimum-salary contracts because they project to be over the second tax apron. Despite that very obvious constraint, they had still had an attractive situation for role players, with clear rotation minutes available at starting shooting guard, backup guard and backup forward for a team that won the title three years ago and has won the most regular season games in the NBA since 2019.

Milwaukee managed to sign Gary Trent Jr. (25 years old), Delon Wright (32) and Taurean Prince (30) on minimum deals, essentially replacing Malik Beasley (27), Patrick Beverley (36) and Jae Crowder (34) — clear upgrades at every position, both in terms of age and production.

While Trent will get most of the attention, and it is genuinely surprising he couldn’t find a better contract, I really like the addition of Wright. Anyone who watched him shut down Darius Garland — a very difficult player to stay in front of — a couple years ago in Atlanta’s play-in victory over Cleveland can attest to Wright’s ability to defend. He is consistently among the very best guards in the league defensively.

Wright earned between $7.8MM-$9.5MM annually from 2019-2024, so he also took a major pay cut by joining the Bucks — that was less surprising than Trent’s pay cut, however, given that Wright agreed to a buyout with Washington last season in order to sign with Miami for a prorated version of the minimum.

Wright has never been a particularly eager scorer, but the Bucks don’t need him to be — he just needs to hit enough shots to keep defenses honest. He is a solid rebounder, passer and play-maker who takes exceptionally good care of the ball — he had 119 assists and 14 turnovers in 2023/24, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 8.4-to-1. That was an outlier in part due to his low usage, but he was at 4.4-to-1 and 4.2-to-1 the previous two seasons, among the best marks in the league. Wright’s teams have consistently been better when he’s on the court, largely due to his defense.

Milwaukee desperately needed backcourt defense this summer to complement Damian Lillard, a poor defender who excels on the other end. They also needed younger legs and players who can shoot, which they acquired in Trent and Prince.

Trent is a little erratic on both ends of the court. His offensive value is tied to his ability to make shots, and he’s streaky; defensively, he’s not the best at moving his feet, but he’s not a turnstile like Beasley and he can create turnovers with steals, even if he can be prone to gambling. He isn’t a perfect player, but getting Trent on a minimum after he played pretty well earning $52MM over the past three seasons is incredible value.

One of the interesting things about the Bucks’ offseason was that they kept both of their 2024 draft picks — Nos. 23 and 33 — and used them to select players who were viewed to be more long-term prospects in AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith. An athletic but thin guard, the 19-year-old Johnson spent last season playing a limited role in Australia with the Illawarra Hawks, while Smith, a 6’11” forward who can space the floor, spent the ’23/24 campaign with the now-defunct G League Ignite.

The Bucks have been aggressive in trading draft picks for immediate upgrades for years. And given they’re trying to win right now, taking prospects who might need more time to develop is a little counterintuitive. However, Milwaukee also knows it needs to develop players internally to have a shot at remaining competitive with an aging core roster. A.J. Green, MarJon Beauchamp, Andre Jackson and Chris Livingston are among the other young players who will be looking to turn the corner in ’24/25.

Obviously, the Bucks’ postseason ceiling will depend on the health of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton. After they won that title in 2021, one of Antetokounmpo or Middleton has been injured in each of the past three playoffs; Lillard was also battling ailments in his first postseason with Milwaukee. Still, it’s hard to imagine Jon Horst and the rest of the front office having a more productive offseason than it did, given what its financial constraints.

It’s worth noting that veteran forwards Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Danilo Gallinari and Crowder remain unrestricted free agents. However, the Bucks have a full 18-man roster, making a return for any of them seemingly unlikely; Giannis’ older brother Thanasis has spent the past five seasons with Milwaukee but could miss the entire ’24/25 season due to a torn Achilles tendon.

We want to know what you think. What did you think of Milwaukee’s offseason moves? Will Trent, Wright and Prince prove to be difference-makers? Will the rookies or other young players emerge as regular contributors in 2024/25? Head to the comments to share your thoughts on the Bucks’ outlook for ’24/25.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Ten 2024 Draft Picks Have Yet To Sign NBA Contracts

July 24th, 2024 at 7:44am CST by Luke Adams

Of the 58 players who were selected in last month’s draft, 48 have signed their first NBA contracts since the start of July. As our tracker shows, the breakdown is as follows:

That leaves 10 players from the 2024 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Here are those players:

  1. Utah Jazz: Kyle Filipowski, F/C, Duke
  2. San Antonio Spurs: Juan Nunez, G, Ratiopharm Ulm
  3. Atlanta Hawks: Nikola Djurisic, G, Mega Basket
  4. San Antonio Spurs: Harrison Ingram, F, UNC
  5. Indiana Pacers: Tristen Newton, G, UConn
  6. Indiana Pacers: Enrique Freeman, F, Akron
  7. Dallas Mavericks: Melvin Ajinca, G, Saint-Quentin
  8. Golden State Warriors: Quinten Post, C, Boston College
  9. Boston Celtics: Anton Watson, F, Gonzaga
  10. New York Knicks: Kevin McCullar, G/F, Kansas

Of these 10 players, one has already signed a non-NBA contract — French team ASVEL Basket announced earlier this week that it has added Ajinca to its roster, so it appears he’ll become a draft-and-stash prospect, spending at least one season overseas before joining the Mavericks.

That’s likely the path Nunez will follow as well. While nothing is official yet, a report earlier this month stated that the Spanish point guard is expected to sign with Barcelona on a deal that will give him an NBA out during the 2025 offseason. The Spurs haven’t been operating as if they expect Nunez to be on their roster next season, having filled their 15-man roster with players on standard contracts.

Djurisic is the other international prospect in this group and his plans for 2024/25 remain unclear. He fractured his left foot during Summer League play and the injury is expected to sideline him until at least late September, putting him behind schedule in his offseason workouts.

The Hawks don’t appear to have room on their 15-man roster for Djurisic at this point (they have 15 players on guaranteed deals, plus Bruno Fernando on a non-guaranteed contract), though they do have a two-way slot open. We’ll see if the plan is to have Djurisic take that spot or if he’ll continue playing overseas for another season.

The Jazz have space on their 15-man roster for Filipowski and I expect him to sign a three- or four-year contract sooner or later. Completing that move would cut into Utah’s cap room a little, so the club will likely handle its other offseason business to make sure it doesn’t need that room for other purposes — Filipowski can be signed using the second-round exception whether team salary is over or under the cap. The Jazz also have yet to formally finalize reported deals with Drew Eubanks and Johnny Juzang, which is another sign they’re keeping all options open with their cap room.

The other six unsigned second-rounders – Ingram, Newton, Freeman, Post, Watson, and McCullar – all look to me like obvious candidates for two-way contracts. As we detailed on Tuesday, the Spurs, Pacers, and Knicks each have multiple open two-way slots, while the Celtics have one open spot, so there’s nothing standing in the way of their draftees filling those openings.

It’s worth noting that Indiana has two-way qualifying offers on the table for two players (Quenton Jackson and Oscar Tshiebwe), so there won’t be room for those two guys and Newton and Freeman on two-way deals. With 14 players on standard contracts, the Pacers could give one of those four players a 15-man spot if they want to retain all of them.

The Warriors, meanwhile, don’t currently have an open two-way slot for Post. One of their two-way players – Pat Spencer – is a carry-over from last season, so his grip on a two-way spot might be weaker than more recent signees like Reece Beekman and Daeqwon Plowden, but Spencer had a strong Summer League showing, so I’m not necessarily assuming Post will take his spot.

For what it’s worth, Post was born and raised in the Netherlands before playing college basketball in the U.S., so spending a season in Europe wouldn’t be a total curveball for him. Still, at age 24, he’s probably NBA-ready. A standard contract isn’t an option for Post for now, since the Warriors are right up against their first-apron hard cap and can’t afford to sign a 15th man. That could change if they make a trade, but for now, his best hope of opening the season with Golden State would be for the team to waive one of its two-way players.

While it’s rare for U.S.-born players to be stashed overseas, it’s not unheard of, so that’s also a possibility for some of the other unsigned players from the back half of the second round.

Another potential option would be signing a G League contract that allows the player’s NBA team to retain his rights while not dedicating an 18-man regular season roster spot to him. There’s often at least one player per draft class who takes that route. Mojave King did it in 2023, Gui Santos did it in 2022, and two Nets draftees (RaiQuan Gray and Marcus Zegarowski) did it in 2021. McCullar, a late pick who is still recovering from a knee injury he sustained at Kansas, might be a candidate for this path.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Checking In On Two-Way Contract Slots Around NBA

July 23rd, 2024 at 1:57pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams are each permitted to carry up to three players on two-way contracts, which means at any given time there could be a maximum of 90 players on two-way deals around the league.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Two-Way Contract]

Of course, while it’s common for the NBA-wide total to hover at or near 90 for much of the regular season, we’re only 23 days into the 2024/25 league year, so many teams have yet to fill all of their two-way slots.

Still, some clubs haven’t wasted much time in signing players to two-way contracts. At the moment, as our tracker shows, 62 of the 90 slots around the league are occupied and two more are spoken for — Spencer Jones has reportedly agreed to a deal with Denver and Jack McVeigh is reportedly signing with Houston.

We’re still about three months away from the 2024/25 regular season tipping off, and since two-way deals don’t affect a team’s cap situation, it won’t be a surprise if many teams rotate players in and out of those roster spots up until the season begins (and after that). But for the time being, there are just 26 open two-way slots across the league. Here’s the breakdown:

Teams with multiple open two-way slots

  • Brooklyn Nets (2)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers (3)
  • Indiana Pacers (3)
  • Los Angeles Clippers (2)
  • New York Knicks (2)
  • Orlando Magic (2)
  • San Antonio Spurs (2)

Some of these spots may already be spoken for. For instance, the Cavaliers (Emoni Bates), Pacers (Oscar Tshiebwe and Quenton Jackson) and Knicks (Jacob Toppin) still have two-way qualifying offers on the table to restricted free agents. If those players eventually accept those offers, they’ll be back with their respective clubs on new two-way contracts.

Some of these clubs – including the Pacers with Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman, the Knicks with Kevin McCullar, and the Spurs with Harrison Ingram – also have second-round picks from this year’s draft who look like logical candidates for two-way spots.

Still, with multiple openings, many of these teams are in position to identify Summer League standouts whom they want to bring to training camp. They could offer them two-way deals or could try to sign several players to Exhibit 10 contracts and create an open competition for two-way spots this fall.

Teams with one open two-way slot

  • Atlanta Hawks
  • Boston Celtics
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Detroit Pistons
  • New Orleans Pelicans
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • Utah Jazz
  • Washington Wizards

As with some of the teams above, there are a few cases here where there’s one obvious candidate to fill these two-way openings. It would make sense, for example, for the Celtics to sign No. 54 overall pick Anton Watson to a two-way deal.

That’s not the case for all of these openings though, so agents whose clients are seeking an 18-man roster spot will likely reach out to these clubs to see how they intend to use their third two-way contract slot.

Teams with no two-way openings

  • Chicago Bulls
  • Denver Nuggets
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Houston Rockets
  • Los Angeles Lakers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • Miami Heat
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Sacramento Kings
  • Toronto Raptors

In theory, these 13 teams are good to go for training camp. In actuality, I could see half of them making two-way changes by the start of October. The Heat, for instance, had some non-roster players on their Summer League team outperform their two-way players and have some decisions to make on which three players they want to bring to camp on two-way deals.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Where Will Tyus Jones Sign?

July 19th, 2024 at 10:17pm CST by Luke Adams

When we ranked the NBA’s top 50 free agents entering the 2024 offseason, point guard Tyus Jones came in at No. 15. As I wrote at the time, Jones had long been considered one of the league’s best backup guards but showed in 2023/24 that he was able to maintain his strong per-minute production in a starting role.

As the Wizards’ starting point guard, Jones established new career highs in field goal percentage (48.9%), three-point percentage (41.4%), points per game (12.0), and assists per game (7.3) while continuing to protect the ball better than just about anyone in the league. His 1.0 turnover per game in ’23/24 represented the worst mark of his career.

But nearly three weeks into free agency, Jones remains unsigned, with no clear path to matching or exceeding the $14MM salary he earned last season.

When John Hollinger of The Athletic examined Jones’ situation 10 days ago, he wrote, “(Jones) wants to be a starter and wants to do it for a team better than the Wizards, but he might have to settle for 50 percent of those goals.”

That dilemma could be one reason why the 28-year-old remains unsigned, but I’m not sure it tells the whole story. Even if Jones does settle for 50 percent of those goals, he may have to accept a pay cut too. There are few teams around the NBA with the ability to commit $14MM to a free agent, even via sign-and-trade. That includes the Wizards, who could technically re-sign Jones for $14MM (or more) using his Bird rights but are less than $10MM away from the luxury tax line and aren’t about to become a taxpayer for their current roster.

Many of the teams in need of a point guard when the offseason began have addressed the position with other moves. The Spurs signed Chris Paul. The Pelicans traded for Dejounte Murray. The Suns and Bucks, who needed reliable backups and could only offer minimum-salary deals, added Monte Morris and Delon Wright, respectively.

The Magic looked to me like a potential fit for Jones. Even once they’d used up all their cap space, they had the full room exception ($7.98MM) available. Jones could’ve provided a steady, veteran presence in a young backcourt that features promising young guards like Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black, and Cole Anthony but lacks a reliable distributor. However, the Magic – apparently not wanting to bring aboard a player who will take significant playing time away from their younger players – opted to sign veteran point guard Cory Joseph as their 15th man.

There are some other fits that could work for Jones, but many of those teams can only offer the veteran’s minimum, if that. The Heat, for example, could use a play-making guard like Jones to give them an alternative to score-first options like Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro, but Miami doesn’t want to surpass the second tax apron and currently doesn’t have enough flexibility below the second apron to sign a 15th man — even for the minimum.

The Kings are one interesting option. Sacramento has Jordan McLaughlin, Devin Carter, and Keon Ellis behind star point guard De’Aaron Fox, but McLaughlin may be better suited as a third option, Carter is a rookie who is recovering from shoulder surgery, and Ellis isn’t really a true point guard. Jones could make sense as Fox’s backup, but it would probably take a sign-and-trade to get him a reasonable salary and squeeze him in under the first tax apron. I expect the Kings will simply lean on McLaughlin and Malik Monk as ball-handlers when Fox is off the floor.

There are two teams with the cap room necessary to make Jones a strong offer, and both the Pistons and Jazz could theoretically benefit from having a veteran like him around to mentor their young guards (Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Marcus Sasser in Detroit; Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier in Utah).

But it’s unclear if Jones would start on either roster, and he’d be moving from one lottery team to another, which might not appeal much to him. If they want to be involved in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, the Pistons and Jazz also may not be eager to upgrade their current rosters any further by signing a solid rotation player like Jones.

It’s hard to find an obvious fit for Jones. There’s certainly no team out there that’s in position to contend, needs a starting point guard, and has the cap flexibility necessary to make him a strong offer. It’s unclear if there’s any club that meets even two of those three criteria.

We want to know what you think. Do you see a good match for Jones out there? Where do you think he ends up, and on what sort of contract?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2024/25

July 19th, 2024 at 6:12pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $140,588,000 threshold once their cap room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury tax line of $170,814,000 as well — the Suns, Timberwolves, and Celtics are among the clubs who project to have massive tax bills this season as a result of their spending.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows clubs like Phoenix, Minnesota, and Boston to build a significant payroll without violating NBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.

The league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement has carried over the hard cap rules from the 2017 CBA while also expanding them, adding new scenarios in which teams can face hard caps and creating a second salary level that certain teams can’t exceed.

We went into greater detail earlier this month on how teams become hard-capped, but here’s a brief rundown of the ways it can happen in 2024/25:

  1. A team becomes hard-capped at the first tax apron ($178,132,000) if it makes any of the following moves:
    • Acquires a player via sign-and-trade.
    • Uses more than the taxpayer portion (up to two years, with a starting salary of $5,168,000) of the mid-level exception to sign a player.
    • Uses any portion of the mid-level exception to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.
    • Uses any portion of the bi-annual exception to sign a player or to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.
    • Takes back more than 100% of the salary it sends out in a trade (when over the cap).
    • Uses a traded player exception generated during the previous offseason or regular season.
    • Signs a player who was waived during the regular season and whose pre-waiver salary was higher than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12,822,000).
  2. A team becomes hard-capped at the second tax apron ($188,931,000) if it makes any of the following moves:
    • Uses any portion of the mid-level exception to sign a player to a contract.
    • Aggregates two or more players in a trade for salary-matching purposes.
    • Sends out cash in a trade.
    • Sends out a player via sign-and-trade and uses that player’s outgoing salary to take back a contract (either in the same transaction or in a subsequent transaction via the resulting trade exception).

Given how many ways there are to create a hard cap, most clubs who don’t intend to operate over one of the two aprons will likely end up hard-capping themselves at one or the other.

Some teams will have to be hyper-aware of that hard cap when they consider any roster move for the rest of the season, but for others it’s just a technicality that won’t affect their plans in any meaningful way.

Listed below are the hard-capped teams for the 2024/25 league year, along with how they created a hard cap.

In some instances, a team made multiple roster moves that would have imposed a hard cap (e.g. acquired a player via sign-and-trade and used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception). Only the first of those transactions is noted below, though in some cases a team made two moves within a single transaction to create a hard cap, in which case each relevant move is mentioned.

Hard-capped at first tax apron

These teams will be prohibited from exceeding $178,132,000 in team salary.

Atlanta Hawks

Brooklyn Nets

Chicago Bulls

  • Used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Jalen Smith.

Dallas Mavericks

  • Used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Naji Marshall.

Golden State Warriors

Houston Rockets

Los Angeles Clippers

New Orleans Pelicans

Oklahoma City Thunder

Sacramento Kings

Toronto Raptors

Washington Wizards

Hard-capped at second tax apron

These teams will be prohibited from exceeding $188,931,000 in team salary.

Charlotte Hornets

  • Sent out cash in a trade.

Denver Nuggets

  • Used the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Dario Saric.

Indiana Pacers

  • Sent out cash in a trade.

New York Knicks

No hard cap

  • Boston Celtics
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Detroit Pistons
  • Los Angeles Lakers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • Miami Heat
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • Orlando Magic
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • San Antonio Spurs
  • Utah Jazz

This list, which figures to continue evolving, will be updated throughout the 2024/25 league year as necessary. It can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Rookie Scale

July 18th, 2024 at 6:08pm CST by Luke Adams

When a player like Zaccharie Risacher enters the NBA, his new team – in this case, the Hawks – can rest assured that there’s essentially no chance of him holding out for a larger contract. That’s because a first-round NBA draft pick is only eligible to sign a rookie scale contract, which limits his leverage and ensures that his draft slot will dictate how much he gets paid.

A rookie scale contract for first-rounders is always for two guaranteed seasons, with team options for the third and fourth seasons of the deal. The scale amount is strictly set by draft position for the first three years of the contract, with the amount of the fourth year determined by a percentage raise on the third-year salary, as RealGM’s rookie scale chart for 2024 picks shows.

Players are eligible to sign for as little as 80% or as much as 120% of the scale amount, though almost every player signs for the full 120%. Earlier this month, Knicks first-round pick Pacome Dadiet became the first player since 2019 to sign for just 80% of his rookie scale amount, and even that rate only applies to his rookie season — he’ll get the full 120% in years two through four.

[RELATED: Rookie Scale Salaries For 2024 First-Round Picks]

Under the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the rookie scale increases annually at the same rate as the salary cap. In other words, a 5% salary cap increase would mean a 5% increase to rookie scale salaries.

For the 2024/25 season, the first-year rookie scale amount for the first overall pick is $10,474,200. That number increases to $10,998,100 in year two and $11,521,700 in year three, with a 26.1% raise for year four and a 40% increase for a fifth-year qualifying offer. Risacher signed with the Hawks for 120% of that amount, meaning his contract looks like this:

Season Salary
2024/25 $12,569,040
2025/26 $13,197,720
2026/27 $13,826,040
2027/28 $17,434,636
2028/29 $24,408,490
  • Team option in italics
  • Qualifying offer in bold

The scale amounts and fourth- and fifth-year raises vary depending on draft position. Top picks earn the highest salaries, while late first-round picks get the most substantial bumps at the end of their contracts. For instance, the 30th overall pick gets an 80.5% raise between years three and four, with a qualifying offer increase of 60%.

Here are several more details relating to rookie scale contracts:

  • Only first-round picks are eligible for rookie scale contracts. Second-rounders can be signed using the second-round pick exception (or cap room or other exceptions).
  • A team doesn’t have to be under the cap to sign rookie scale contracts. Any team can give a first-rounder a full 120% rookie contract, regardless of its cap status.
  • Because 120% contracts are so common, the cap hold for a first-round pick is also 120% of the player’s rookie scale amount.
  • Bonuses can be included in rookie scale contracts as long as they don’t exceed 120% of the player’s rookie scale amount. It’s relatively common for teams to include likely incentives a player can earn for his participation in Summer League and offseason workout programs.
  • If a player hasn’t signed by January 10, his rookie scale amount begins to prorate downward each day for the remainder of the season until he signs. If there are 174 days in the regular season, the rookie scale amount would prorate downward by 1/174th per day.
  • Teams have until October 31 each year to make decisions on the team-option seasons in rookie scale contracts (or the next business day, if October 31 falls on a weekend). By October 31, 2024, teams will have to decide on the options for the 2025/26 season.
  • Players coming off rookie-scale contracts may be eligible for larger or smaller qualifying offers in their fifth year, based on whether or not they meet the “starter criteria.” We explain the starter criteria in greater detail here.
  • If a team signs a first-round pick within three years of drafting him, the rookie scale for the year in which he signs is used. For instance, Leandro Bolmaro was selected with the No. 23 overall pick in the 2020 draft but didn’t sign an NBA contract with the Timberwolves until the 2021 offseason. As a result, Bolmaro’s rookie scale contract was equivalent to what the No. 23 pick in the 2021 draft received.
  • If a first-round pick signs four or more years after being drafted and his team has cap room, he is eligible to receive a salary greater than 120% of his rookie scale amount. In practice, however, this essentially never happens.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012 and 2019.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts