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Reported Camp Deals That Still Aren’t Official

October 7th, 2024 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

As we noted when we passed along word earlier today that the Pistons have officially signed Aaron Estrada to an Exhibit 10 contract, that signing was initially reported months earlier — 101 days ago, to be specific.

That’s not an uncommon pattern during the offseason, especially if an agreement between a team and a player is an Exhibit 10 deal primarily designed to secure the player’s G League rights and/or to ensure he’ll receive a bonus by spending at least 60 days with the club’s NBAGL affiliate. The two sides could agree to terms relatively early in the offseason but be in no rush to officially complete that deal until the fall.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Exhibit 10 Contract]

That’s likely what’s happening with Estrada. If the Pistons intended to have him vie for a spot on their 18-man regular season roster, they probably would’ve brought him to training camp last week and given him every opportunity to compete in those practices and scrimmages. So his deal is presumably more about his G League rights and his Exhibit 10 bonus.

Estrada won’t be the last Exhibit 10 recipient to join an NBA team this fall. Those signings will continue all the way up until October 19, which is the last day that a player on a non-guaranteed contract can be waived without counting against a team’s salary cap for the 2024/25 season.

With that in mind, here are several of the non-guaranteed training camp contracts reported over the course of the offseason that have not yet been finalized but still could be completed within the next couple weeks:

It’s entirely possible that one or more of these deals was reported erroneously or has since fallen through. That usually happens at least a handful of times every year.

But in all likelihood, most or all of these signings will still be completed by October 19. We haven’t seen any reporting indicating they’ll no longer happen. And in some cases, the teams’ G League affiliates have acquired the returning rights for these players, signaling that those players remain very much in those teams’ plans.

We’ll be keeping an eye out in the coming days and weeks to see if these moves are announced by teams or if they show up in the NBA’s transaction logs. If they don’t happen before opening night, it’s safe to assume they’re not going to get done after all.

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Community Shootaround: Knicks’ Blockbuster Deals

October 6th, 2024 at 8:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

No team made more noise than the Knicks this offseason.

They could have been content to re-sign top free agent OG Anunoby and basically run it back with the same core that carried them to the Eastern Conference semifinals. They were decimated by injuries as the playoffs wore on but still took the Pacers to the limit in their series.

New York did indeed lock up Anunoby, though the price tag was a whopping $212.5MM for five years (including a player option). The Knicks lost another key free agent in Isaiah Hartenstein.

Around the same time, they pulled off what seemed like the biggest shocker of the offseason, agreeing to give up five future first-round picks, among other assets, for Nets forward Mikal Bridges.

Jalen Brunson soon did the Knicks a favor by signing a $156.5MM extension, rather than waiting until next offseason when he could have gotten an even bigger payday.

As training camp approached, the biggest question seemed to be whether Julius Randle would play more at center until Mitchell Robinson returned from left foot surgery. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Knicks pulled off another blockbuster, sending Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Timberwolves as part of a package for Karl-Anthony Towns. New York also surrendered another first-round pick and two second-rounders as part of the three-team deal.

Towns’ $220MM super-max extension kicks in this season, weighing down the Knicks’ long-term cap sheet. He’s undeniably one of the most talented and accomplished big men in the league. However, he has been affected by a variety of injuries since 2019, so the Knicks are taking on a huge gamble that he stays healthy and productive in the postseason.

Overall, New York’s starting unit is formidable with Towns, Josh Hart, Anunoby, Bridges and Brunson. Their offense is much more versatile with the additions of Towns and Bridges, though their three-point shooting could take a hit with the loss of DiVincenzo.

There appears to be enough backcourt depth with the likes of Miles McBride, Cameron Payne, Tyler Kolek and Landry Shamet. The frontcourt depth has been depleted by the flurry of moves and that could be an ongoing concern.

That brings up to today’s topic: Do you think the Knicks’ offseason acquistions of Bridges and Towns can deliver a championship to New York? Or will they fall short of that goal and ultimately regret going all-in and mortgaging their future?

Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.

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Oldest, Youngest Players On NBA Rosters For 2024/25

October 5th, 2024 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

For a second straight fall, Lakers star LeBron James will enter the NBA season as the league’s oldest player.

James will turn 40 before the calendar year is over, making him the only active NBA player in his 40s — and the first one since longtime Heat big man Udonis Haslem retired a year ago.

It’s an impressive feat, given the high level James is still performing at. Most of the other names on our list of the 10 oldest players on NBA training camp rosters are role players at this stage of their careers. A handful of them will spend much of their time this season sitting on their respective teams’ benches and providing “veteran leadership.” LeBron is the only one still supplying star-level production.

While this group doesn’t feature a ton of star power beyond James, that could change in the not-too-distant future — Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are among the NBA players born in 1988 who could find their way onto this list in the next year or two as some older vets call it a career.

It’s also worth noting that this list is subject to change. Maybe a veteran like Wesley Matthews finds a new NBA home by opening night. Maybe one of these players will be cut in the coming weeks — I wouldn’t expect that to happen, but it’s worth noting that a couple of the veterans listed below don’t have fully guaranteed salaries.

For now, here’s the list of the oldest players in the league heading into the 2024/25 NBA season:

  1. LeBron James, Lakers (born 12/30/1984)
  2. P.J. Tucker, Clippers (born 5/5/1985)
  3. Chris Paul, Spurs (born 5/6/1985)
  4. Taj Gibson, Hornets (born 6/24/1985) *
  5. Kyle Lowry, Sixers (born 3/25/1986)
  6. Garrett Temple, Raptors (born 5/8/1986)
  7. Al Horford, Celtics (born 6/3/1986)
  8. Jeff Green, Rockets (born 8/28/1986)
  9. James Johnson, Pacers (born 2/20/1987) *
  10. Joe Ingles, Timberwolves (born 10/2/1987)

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

On the opposite end of the spectrum, nine of this year’s 10 youngest NBA players were selected in the 2024 draft, while the 10th was an undrafted free agent.

The Wizards and Clippers each have two players on this list. That’s not a shock for a Washington team that’s in the midst of a thorough rebuild and is willing to be patient as it looks to develop long-term cornerstones. It’s a little more surprising for a Clippers team that has been one of the league’s oldest in recent years, but it’s perhaps a signal of the club’s changing priorities following the offseason loss of Paul George.

Here are the 10 youngest players currently on NBA rosters:

  1. Ulrich Chomche, Raptors (born 12/30/2005) *
  2. Tidjane Salaun, Hornets (born 8/10/2005)
    Nikola Topic, Thunder (born 8/10/2005)
  3. Pacome Dadiet, Knicks (born 7/27/2005)
  4. Cam Christie, Clippers (born 7/24/2005)
  5. Carlton Carrington, Wizards (born 7/21/2005)
  6. Ron Holland, Pistons (born 7/7/2005)
  7. Alex Sarr, Wizards (born 4/26/2005)
  8. Zaccharie Risacher, Hawks (born 4/8/2005)
  9. Trentyn Flowers, Clippers (born 3/8/2005) *

Note: Players marked with an asterisk (*) are on two-way contracts.

Only 11 players currently on NBA rosters were born in 2005 — the 11th is Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham, whose birthday is January 4.

That means last year’s youngest player, Grizzlies forward GG Jackson, just narrowly missed making the cut for a second straight year. He won’t turn 20 until December 17.

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NBA Roster, Contract Deadlines To Watch In October

October 2nd, 2024 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

After a couple quiet months around the NBA, October is full of important deadlines for roster and contract decisions. Here’s our round-up of the dates to keep an eye on this month:

Regular season roster decisions

The 2024/25 regular season tips off on Tuesday, October 22, which means teams must set their rosters for the season by 4:00 pm Central time on Monday, October 21. To be in accordance with regular season roster limits, a team must be carrying no more than 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

While teams have until Oct. 23 to set their their regular season rosters, many clubs will make their final cuts on or before Saturday, October 19. That’s the final day that a team can waive a player on a non-guaranteed contract and avoid paying any of his salary.

[RELATED: 2024/25 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team]

Because a player gets paid for the time he spends on waivers, a player who is cut on Monday, Oct. 21 wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, Oct. 23, the second day of the regular season. That means that even if his contract is non-guaranteed, he’d earn two days’ worth of his salary.

Teams who intend to waive players with partially or fully guaranteed salaries are in better position to wait until the Monday before the regular season begins. For instance, if the Pacers decide to cut James Johnson, who has a $750K partial guarantee, it wouldn’t matter if they do so on October 19 or 21 — he’d receive his $750K either way.

However, if the Pacers want to waive Cole Swider, whose salary is entirely non-guaranteed, they’d likely do so on the Saturday. Waiting until the Monday would mean paying him $23,994 (2/174ths of his $2,087,519 salary).

Two-way contract conversions

A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can have his deal converted into a two-way contract, but only up until Monday, October 21, the day before the regular season begins.

If a player on an Exhibit 10 contract remains on his team’s roster through that Monday without being converted to a two-way, his Exhibit 10 deal would become a standard non-guaranteed contract.

Since most players on Exhibit 10 contracts will be waived on or before October 19, it’s worth keeping tabs on which of them hang onto their roster spots through that Saturday — those players will be good bets to have their deals converted into two-ways or perhaps even to claim a 15-man roster spot.

Contract extensions

The deadline for a player to sign a rookie scale extension is Monday, October 21 at 5:00 pm Central time.

As of today, four of the 24 players who were eligible for a rookie scale extension entering the offseason have signed one, leaving 20 players who still may be seeking new deals that would keep them off the 2024 free agent market.

Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Pelicans wing Trey Murphy, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, and Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga are a few of the notable rookie scale extension candidates to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

It’s a safe bet that several players eligible for rookie scale extensions will sign them — in each of the past four offseasons (2020 through 2023), at least 10 players have done so, with a record-setting 14 rookie scale extensions signed a year ago.

As for veteran extension candidates, a player who is extension-eligible and who is in the final year of his current contract can sign an extension at any time before or after the regular season begins, all the way up until June 30, 2025.

However, a player who is eligible for a veteran extension but who is not in a contract year will only be eligible to sign a new deal up until Monday, October 21.

For instance, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram will remain eligible to sign a veteran extension even after the regular season begins, since he’s in the last year of his current contract. But Suns forward Kevin Durant, who has two guaranteed years left, can only sign an extension up until Oct. 21. After that, he’ll become ineligible to sign a new deal until next summer.

An extension-eligible veteran who holds an option for 2025/26 will remain extension-eligible after the season begins as long as his option is declined as part of any extension agreement, with his new contract beginning in ’25/26. A player like Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon would fit this bill.

Salary guarantee dates

The league-wide salary guarantee date to watch is January 7, 2025. A player on a non-guaranteed contract who isn’t waived by that date and doesn’t clear waivers before January 10 will have his 2024/25 salary become fully guaranteed.

However, certain players have contracts that call for them to receive partial or full guarantees at the start of the regular season. Our list of early salary guarantee dates shows which players fall into that boat on Tuesday, October 22, including Raptors center Bruno Fernando and Trail Blazers guard Dalano Banton, among others.

Rookie scale team option decisions

A team that wants to exercise its 2025/26 third- or fourth-year option on a player on a rookie contract must do so on or before Tuesday, October 31.

As our tracker shows, the Bulls and Heat have already made their option decisions, while the Celtics, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Sixers, and Suns don’t have any to make. But the NBA’s other 22 teams will have to pick up or turn down those rookie scale team options for ’25/26 in the coming weeks.

A team that retains a player without exercising his 2025/26 option would put that player on track for unrestricted free agency next offseason. At that point, his team wouldn’t be able to offer him a salary higher than what his option would have been worth, though rival suitors could offer him more than that.

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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Utah Jazz

October 1st, 2024 at 7:00am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Utah Jazz.

This is the final installment of our Offseason Check-In series. All 30 articles can be found here.

Free agent signings

  • Svi Mykhailiuk: Four years, $15,050,000. Second and third years non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option. Signed using cap room.
  • Johnny Juzang: Four years, $11,425,252. Second, third, and fourth years non-guaranteed. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
  • Drew Eubanks: Two years, $9,750,000. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
  • Patty Mills: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Max Abmas: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Taevion Kinsey: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Isaiah Wong: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Keshawn Justice: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Justice was subsequently waived.
  • Dane Goodwin: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Goodwin was subsequently waived.
  • Babacar Sane: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Sane was subsequently waived.

Trades

  • Acquired Russell Westbrook, the right to swap their own 2030 second-round pick for the Clippers’ 2030 second-round pick, the draft rights to Balsa Koprivica, and cash ($4.3MM) from the Clippers in exchange for Kris Dunn (sign-and-trade).
    • Note: Westbrook was subsequently bought out.

Draft picks

  • 1-10: Cody Williams
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $24,897,090).
  • 1-29: Isaiah Collier
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $12,903,788).
  • 2-32: Kyle Filipowski
    • Signed to four-year, $12,000,000 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

Salary cap situation

  • Went below the cap to use room.
  • Now operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
  • Carrying approximately $144.8MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Full room exception ($8MM) available.

The offseason so far

Two days after the Jazz’s season ended in April, CEO Danny Ainge vowed that the team was prepared to go “big-game hunting” this offseason after finishing below .500 in back-to-back years.

It was an assertion that was met with some skepticism. After all, despite Utah’s consecutive seasons in the lottery, the team hadn’t drafted higher than ninth overall since its rebuild began, and while the front office was able to add some promising young prospects in the 2023 and 2024 drafts, none of them looks like the sort of franchise centerpiece the Jazz can build around for years to come.

It wasn’t a huge surprise then when reports indicated in July that the Jazz’s offseason efforts to acquire an impact player – such as Mikal Bridges – on the trade market had come up short. Giving up five first-round picks for Bridges was a logical next step for the Knicks, who were within a single win of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in the spring and presumably considered themselves just a piece or two away from becoming true championship contenders.

Surrendering that sort of package for a player without an All-Star berth on his résumé would have made less sense for the Jazz, who would have been a playoff contender with Bridges on their roster but still wouldn’t have had enough talent to hang with the Western Conference’s very best teams.

It’s also hard to imagine Ainge – whose trades selling off the likes of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rudy Gobert are among the defining moves of his executive career – finding himself on the other end of that sort of deal, which would’ve put a major dent in the Jazz’s stash of future draft assets without making them an elite team.

The biggest decision of Utah’s offseason ultimately wasn’t whether or not to meet the substantial asking price for a trade target like Bridges — it was whether or not to turn star forward Lauri Markkanen into one of those trade chips himself.

Markkanen’s situation this summer was an unusual and complex one. He was in the final year of a contract that was so far below his market value that any over-the-cap team acquiring him would’ve been unable to extend him prior to free agency, since they wouldn’t have been able to offer him more than a 40% raise on his expiring $18MM salary.

The only way to circumvent that restriction was to renegotiate (ie. increase) Markkanen’s 2024/25 salary, then to extend him off that new number. But cap room is required for a renegotiation, and the Jazz were one of the only teams with significant cap room available this summer. Renegotiating and extending Markkanen would have made him a more attractive trade chip for Utah, but it also would have made him ineligible to be dealt for six months.

Markkanen became renegotiation-eligible on August 6. He and the Jazz finalized a renegotiation and extension on August 7, ensuring that he won’t become eligible to be traded until February 7, one day after this season’s deadline.

Utah’s willingness to wait that extra day and still give Markkanen as much money as they possibly could on a long-term, maximum-salary contract signaled the team was comfortable with the idea of keeping the 2023 All-Star on its roster for at least the 2024/25 season. And the comments made publicly by both sides – at the time of the deal and since then – suggest they’re committed to continuing their relationship well beyond that, so we shouldn’t necessarily expect Markkanen to hit the trade block during the 2025 offseason.

The Jazz’s decision not to trade Markkanen is an understandable one. They’ve already been rebuilding for two years — moving Markkanen would’ve extended the process by at least a couple more seasons. And without the inability to extend him before trading him, they would’ve had to move him on an expiring contract, limiting their ability to maximize the return.

Still, a Markkanen trade would’ve clearly defined the Jazz’s direction, essentially guaranteeing that they’d retain the top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick they owe the Thunder and making them one of the leaders in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. With Markkanen on the roster, it’s possible the club will end up in the range of 30-40 wins for a third straight season, not quite good enough to earn a play-in spot and not quite bad enough to have a great shot at a franchise-changing player in the draft lottery.

The Markkanen extension was the most impactful move of a Jazz offseason that didn’t see them commit more than one guaranteed season to any other veteran signee. Svi Mykhailiuk, Johnny Juzang, Drew Eubanks, and Patty Mills all inked free agent contracts with the club, but none of them will earn more than $5MM in 2024/25 and all four could be off Utah’s books by ’25/26 if they don’t impress this season.

The most noteworthy offseason roster additions came in the draft, which saw the Jazz select three players in the top 32: Cody Williams at No. 10, Isaiah Collier at No. 29, and Kyle Filipowski at No. 32.

Williams holds real intrigue as a three-and-D wing if he can increase his shot volume without his percentage dropping off, while the Collier and Filipowski picks saw Utah roll the dice on a pair of prospects who dropped further than initially projected. At one point, both Collier and Filipowski were considered potential lottery selections.

Given that the Jazz’s front office will likely want to hang onto their top-10 protected first-round pick for 2025, I expect we’ll see this year’s crop of rookies and the 2023 first-rounders – Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George, and Brice Sensabaugh – get plenty of run this season.

Up next

The Jazz are carrying 15 players on guaranteed contracts and none of them seem likely to be waived before the season begins, so the opening night roster decisions look pretty straightforward.

It’s always possible Utah will swap out one of its two-way players for someone new, but those three roster spots are occupied for now too.

Meanwhile, just two Jazz players are extension-eligible before the regular season begins: John Collins and Collin Sexton. I wouldn’t count on either veteran getting a new deal with two years left on his current contract, but Sexton is the better candidate of the two — I could envision a scenario in which he remains in Utah beyond his existing deal, whereas that’s harder to imagine for Collins.

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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Washington Wizards

September 30th, 2024 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Washington Wizards.

Free agent signings

  • Jonas Valanciunas: Three years, $30,295,000. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Pelicans.
  • Saddiq Bey: Three years, $19,000,000. Includes an additional $1MM in unlikely incentives. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Anthony Gill: Two years, minimum salary ($4,784,366). Second year non-guaranteed. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Leaky Black: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Kira Lewis: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jaylen Nowell: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired the draft rights to Kyshawn George (No. 24 pick) from the Knicks in exchange for the draft rights to Dillon Jones (No. 26 pick) and the No. 51 pick in the 2024 draft.
  • Acquired Malcolm Brogdon; the draft rights to Carlton Carrington (No. 14 pick); either the Trail Blazers’, Celtics’, or Bucks’ 2029 first-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable); the Warriors’ 2028 second-round pick; and the Trail Blazers’ 2030 second-round pick from the Trail Blazers in exchange for Deni Avdija.
  • Acquired Jonas Valanciunas (sign-and-trade) from the Pelicans in exchange for the Bulls’ 2027 second-round pick (top-50 protected).

Draft picks

  • 1-2: Alex Sarr
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $51,036,398).
  • 1-14: Carlton Carrington
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $21,290,769).
  • 1-24: Kyshawn George
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $14,336,172).

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
  • Carrying approximately $161.1MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $178,132,000.
  • Approximately $6.4MM of non-taxpayer mid-level exception available; full bi-annual exception ($4.7MM) available.
  • Two traded player exceptions available (largest worth $12,402,000).

The offseason so far

When a new front office takes over an NBA team’s basketball operations department, that new group often has little attachment to the club’s incumbent players and looks to gradually fill the roster with its own guys. That’s especially true when the team is in rebuilding mode.

So while I didn’t necessarily expect the Wizards to move Deni Avdija this offseason, it wasn’t a huge surprise that top decision-makers Michael Winger and Will Dawkins decided to capitalize on Avdija’s career year in 2023/24 by cashing in on a player drafted by the previous regime whose value was at an all-time high.

We knew, based on reporting in the spring, that the Wizards, armed with the second and 26th overall selections in June’s draft, were looking to continue stockpiling picks — and specifically to add a third first-rounder for 2024. The Avdija deal helped them do just that. By sending the ascendant forward to Portland and taking on Malcolm Brogdon‘s $22.5MM expiring contract to help the Blazers get out of tax territory, Washington added two future second-round selections and a pair of first-rounders, including this year’s No. 14 overall pick.

It was a savvy trade by the Wizards, who may be able to flip Brogdon later this season for something of value. The veteran guard wasn’t a fit in a crowded Portland backcourt on a team with financial concerns, but he’s a career 39.1% three-point shooter who is just two years removed from winning a Sixth Man of the Year award. If he’s healthy, Brogdon should appeal to teams looking for backcourt help at this year’s trade deadline.

Using the No. 14 pick from that deal, the Wizards selected Pittsburgh guard Carlton Carrington, who flashed intriguing potential at the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 15.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in his five outings. Carrington joins No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr and No. 24 selection Kyshawn George (the Wizards gave up their No. 51 pick to move up two spots from No. 26 for George) to make up Washington’s 2024/25 rookie class.

Sarr was considered by several experts to be the top prospect in this year’s draft, and while he didn’t exactly light it up in Vegas like Carrington did (Sarr made just 9-of-47 shots from the field, or 19.1%), the rangy 19-year-old center has the potential to be a long-term defensive anchor in D.C.

At age 20, George is actually the oldest of the Wizards’ three first-rounders, but like Carrington, he was a one-and-done college player who is still very early in his developmental process. The 6’7″ swingman showed off an effective outside shot (.408 3PT%) during his freshman year at Miami and could become a solid shooter and play-maker on the wing, though he’s unlikely to make a significant impact as a rookie.

Having added three youngsters as potential long-term building blocks, the Wizards spent the rest of their offseason focused on filling out their roster with veteran contributors who could make life a little easier for those prospects.

Most notably, the team worked out a sign-and-trade deal with New Orleans to add veteran center Jonas Valanciunas on a three-year contract worth about $10MM annually. Having a steady vet like Valanciunas at the five will allow Washington to take things slow with Sarr. I wouldn’t expect Valanciunas to be part of the Wizards’ next playoff team, but he’s a perfectly fine stopgap starter, and his contract is team-friendly enough to make him a potential trade chip — LeBron James and the Lakers were said to have interest in him this summer, so that could be something worth revisiting down the road.

The Wizards further fortified their frontcourt by bringing back Richaun Holmes on a two-year, $25.9MM extension. It may look like an odd move on the surface for a player who hasn’t logged significant minutes over the past two seasons, but Holmes’ new deal (which begins in 2024/25) replaces a $12.88MM player option and is almost entirely non-guaranteed in year two.

In other words, the Wizards are essentially paying Holmes the same total salary they would have if he’d simply picked up that option, but now he has a slightly lower year-one cap hit and what amounts to a team option for 2025/26. I wouldn’t expect that ’25/26 salary to become guaranteed, but if he recaptures his 2019-21 form, you never know. At the very least, it gives Washington more flexibility with the big man going forward.

The Wizards’ other unorthodox summer signing was to bring in former Pistons and Hawks forward Saddiq Bey on a three-year contract worth $19MM (plus another $1MM in incentives). Bey will likely miss most or all of the 2024/25 season while recovering from an ACL tear, which is perfectly fine with a Washington team not interested in pushing for a playoff spot right away.

Assuming Bey is back to 100% for the start of the ’25/26 campaign, he could be a bargain on the wing in the final two years of his contract — while he had a down year before the injury last season, the former first-rounder showed off a promising three-and-D skill set early in his career.

Up next

The Wizards are carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, but have some others on non-guaranteed deals who could make cases for roster spots in training camp and during the preseason. Jared Butler, who spent last season on the roster, is in that mix, as are Exhibit 10 camp invitees Kira Lewis, Jaylen Nowell, and Leaky Black.

While Exhibit 10 signees are often simply ticketed for the G League, Lewis and Nowell have several years of NBA experience under their belts and are no longer eligible for two-way deals, so I could see them getting consideration for a 15-man spot.

Patrick Baldwin, a former first-round pick who has played limited minutes across 69 total appearances in his two NBA seasons, could be the odd man out if one of the 15 players on guaranteed deals doesn’t make the team. Another 2022 first-rounder, Johnny Davis, also has an underwhelming NBA résumé so far, though he at least played well in Vegas in July, whereas Baldwin’s Summer League performance was inconsistent.

The Wizards do have a two-way slot available as well — Black is the only camp invitee who could be directly converted to fill it, but the team could look outside of the organization. Butler would also be eligible, though he’d have to be waived and re-signed.

Corey Kispert isn’t the only Wizard who is extension-eligible this fall, but he’s probably the only legitimate candidate for a new deal. He and the team have until October 21 to attempt to work out a rookie scale extension.

Kispert has steadily improved over the course of his three NBA seasons, having made 40.2% of his three-point attempts over the past two years. He’s the sort of player who would fit nicely on a lot of teams and who could generate real interest if he reaches free agency in 2025, so it would be in the Wizards’ best interest to lock him up now if they can get him at a reasonable price.

It’s worth noting that Kispert is another player who was drafted by the previous front office, which may reduce the odds of the two sides reaching a deal in the coming weeks. But like Avdija, who signed a rookie scale extension last fall, Kispert would be a valuable trade chip down the road if he’s on a favorable long-term contract and the Wizards ultimately decide he’s not in their plans.

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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: San Antonio Spurs

September 29th, 2024 at 8:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the San Antonio Spurs.

Free agent signings

  • Chris Paul: One year, $10,460,000. Includes an additional $1,568,999 in unlikely incentives. Signed using cap room.
  • Charles Bassey: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Sandro Mamukelashvili: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Brandon Boston Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Malachi Flynn: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Nathan Mensah: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Riley Minix: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jameer Nelson Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Nelson was subsequently waived.

Trades

  • Acquired the Timberwolves’ 2031 first-round pick and the right to swap 2030 first-round picks with the Timberwolves (top-one protected) in exchange for the draft rights to Rob Dillingham (No. 8 pick).
  • Acquired the draft rights to Juan Nunez (No. 36 pick) and cash in exchange for the draft rights to Johnny Furphy (No. 35 pick).
  • Acquired cash from the Hornets in exchange for Devonte’ Graham and the Pelicans’ 2025 second-round pick.
  • Acquired Harrison Barnes and the right to swap 2031 first-round picks with the Kings in a three-team trade in exchange for RaiQuan Gray (two-way; to Bulls).

Draft picks

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

Salary cap situation

  • Went below the cap to use room.
  • Now operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
  • Carrying approximately $145MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Full room exception ($8MM) available.

The offseason so far

After earning All-NBA votes and finishing as the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year award as a 20-year-old rookie, Victor Wembanyama is on a trajectory to become one of the league’s very best players sooner rather than later. However, the Spurs made it clear with their offseason moves that they won’t rush the process of building a contending team around him.

Rather than going all-in on win-now pieces or taking an extreme long-term view by surrounding Wembanyama with several more young prospects, San Antonio split the difference. The team entered June’s draft armed with a pair of picks in the top eight, but only kept the first of the two, using it to select guard Stephon Castle fourth overall and then sending the No. 8 pick to Minnesota in exchange for two far-off draft assets — an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a top-one protected pick swap in 2030.

It’s a risky move, given the wide range of outcomes for those two assets. It’s entirely possible that the ’31 pick ends up in the 20s and the ’30 swap doesn’t get used at all.

But the logic behind the move makes sense. The 2024 draft class wasn’t particularly loaded, so that No. 8 pick was unlikely to produce a star; the Wolves – given their cap situation – are a team whose long-term sustainability is worth betting against; and the Spurs don’t necessarily need to bet on those picks to land in the top halves of the 2030 and 2031 drafts, since they could use them as trade chips well before that in order to add players who will complement Wembanyama as he enters his prime.

Adding two rookies to a young roster also might not have the been the best approach for optimizing Wembanyama’s development, which was certainly a consideration for the Spurs this offseason. That’s a key reason why the team used essentially all of its available cap room to bring in a pair of veterans: Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes.

Paul, who was waived by the Warriors so they could avoid guaranteeing his $30MM salary for 2024/25, ended up signing with San Antonio for about a third of that amount. The future Hall of Famer could have chosen to join one of any number of teams closer to title contention, but the opportunity to play for head coach Gregg Popovich and alongside a young phenom like Wembanyama made the Spurs an appealing option.

Wembanyama spent much of his rookie year playing next to “point guards” like Jeremy Sochan and Malaki Branham before veteran Tre Jones was eventually reinserted into the starting lineup. Sochan and Branham are promising young players, but they’re not point guards, as last year’s experimentation confirmed. Wembanyama was most effective offensively with Jones on the court, and should benefit tremendously from having either Jones or Paul running the offense in his second year.

Barnes won’t necessarily have the same sort of direct impact on Wembanyama’s on-court production, but the forward is a solid defender who should help make the big man’s life a little easier on that end of the floor. Wembanyama should also reap the benefits of Barnes’ and Paul’s knowledge and experience — the two veterans have a combined 31 NBA seasons and three Olympic gold medals under their belts, and Barnes has won a championship.

Outside of bringing back reserve free agent centers Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili, the Spurs didn’t make any other moves of note this summer, but they’re well stocked with future draft picks that will put them in position to continue adding talent to this core, either by drafting players or using those picks as trade pieces.

Up next

With 15 players on standard guaranteed contracts and no players eligible for contract extensions, the Spurs are unlikely to have a particularly active October.

They’re only carrying a pair of players on two-way deals right now, so they have a decision to make on who will fill the third slot. Brandon Boston, Nathan Mensah, and Riley Minix are on the roster on Exhibit 10 contracts and could be candidates to have those deals converted to two-ways. Boston is probably the best candidate of the bunch if San Antonio wants a player capable of competing for minutes — he has appeared in 105 regular season games over the past three seasons for the Clippers.

The Spurs could also look outside the organization to fill that slot, either with a current free agent or with a player on another team’s roster who gets waived before the season begins.

It’s also worth noting that the Spurs are one of the few teams with a ton of flexibility below the luxury tax line, so they’re a good candidate to help accommodate a trade between two cap-strapped clubs, like the Hornets are doing in the Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster.

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Towns Trade Will Limit Knicks’ Flexibility Under Hard Cap

September 28th, 2024 at 8:34am CST by Luke Adams

Exactly one year after the Bucks, Trail Blazers, and Suns completed a blockbuster trade involving Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, and Deandre Ayton, the Knicks and Timberwolves – with the help of the Hornets – were on the verge of finalizing a blockbuster of their own on Friday.

According to reports, Karl-Anthony Towns is headed to New York in exchange for a package that includes Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, and a protected first-round pick.

Our full story includes more details and analysis on the pending trade, but I want to focus here on what the deal will mean for the Knicks from a cap perspective in 2024/25.

Remember, the Knicks are already operating above the first tax apron and hard-capped themselves at the second apron in July by aggregating salaries in order to acquire Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn. A team that aggregates salaries in a trade isn’t permitted to surpass the second apron line of $188,931,000 for the rest of the 2024/25 league year.

Meanwhile, a club operating over the first apron can’t take back more salary than it sends out in a trade, which means the Knicks need to get to at least $49,205,800 in outgoing salary — that’s Towns’ cap hit for ’24/25.

So far, we know New York is sending Randle ($28,939,680), DiVincenzo ($11,445,000), and Bates-Diop ($2,654,644) to Minnesota. That works out to $43,039,324, meaning the Knicks need to add another $6,166,476 to the deal.

They’ll get about halfway there by signing-and-trading DaQuan Jeffries to Charlotte. His new contract will reportedly start in the neighborhood of $3MM, leaving the Knicks with another $3MM-ish to send out for matching purposes.

Bobby Marks of ESPN reported on Friday night (via Twitter) that Miles McBride isn’t being included in the Knicks’ package. The club also can’t add any more minimum-salary players to its package due to a rule that prevents teams from aggregating multiple minimum-salary contracts in bigger deals during the offseason. And it seems relatively safe to assume that key rotation players like Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson aren’t being included or else that would have been reported already.

That leaves two options for the Knicks. They can get to the necessary salary-matching threshold by also sending out rookies Tyler Kolek ($2.09MM) and Pacome Dadiet ($1.81MM). But the preferred solution would be to sign-and-trade another player to the Hornets or another team, giving that player a salary in the $3MM range.

The Knicks still have cap holds on their books for Charlie Brown and Duane Washington, who both finished last season on two-way contracts with the team. Washington is playing for KK Partizan in Serbia, so Brown is the more logical sign-and-trade candidate.

Using his Non-Bird rights, the Knicks could give Brown a starting salary worth up to $2,685,229, which means Jeffries’ starting salary would need to be $3,481,247 in order for the club to reach the required outgoing salary total. In theory, that’s doable, since New York holds Jeffries’ Early Bird rights. However, base year compensation rules would apply to Jeffries in that scenario, meaning his full salary wouldn’t count for matching purposes.

In order to reach the matching threshold using Jeffries and Brown, the Knicks would have to bump Jeffries’ first-year salary all the way up to $6,962,494 — under BYC rules, his outgoing salary would count for 50% of that amount ($3,481,247).

But since Jeffries’ first-year salary was reported to be in the $3MM range, the plan may be to sign-and-trade him at that lower figure ($2,910,484 would work without triggering BYC rules) and add one more player to the package. Maybe it’ll be Kolek or Dadiet, or maybe the Knicks will figure out a way to extract Washington from his contract with Partizan in order to sign-and-trade him too. We’ll see.

The Hornets, meanwhile, are in position to take on Jeffries – and maybe Brown as well – without sending back any salary using their $8MM room exception. They would be the first team to take advantage of the new rules allowing teams to use certain exceptions (the non-taxpayer mid-level, the room, and the bi-annual) to acquire salary in a trade.

If we assume the trade is completed using Randle, DiVincenzo, Bates-Diop, and signed-and-traded players, the Knicks would be left with $185,351,521 in total salary for just 12 players. Their hard cap for the season is $188,931,000. That leaves just $3,579,479 in wiggle room, which is a bit of an issue.

The cap hit for any veteran free agent signing, including camp invitees like Marcus Morris, Landry Shamet, and Chuma Okeke, is $2,087,519. Rookies or players with just one year of experience can have smaller minimum-salary cap hits, but they still count for tax and apron purposes as $2,087,519 players. That “tax variance” rule is meant to prevent teams from passing over veteran free agents in favor of younger ones solely for financial reasons.

Carrying two minimum-salary free agents into the regular season would cost over $4MM for apron purposes, pushing the Knicks above their hard cap. So that won’t be possible unless the team makes another salary-shedding trade that would cost them a rotation player. There’s no indication that’s the plan.

The Knicks could start the season with just 13 players on standard contracts, but they’d only be allowed to do that for up to two weeks before being required to add a 14th man.

So what are their options for that 14th roster spot? Again, assuming they don’t make another cost-cutting trade, the only real possibility for the Knicks would be to sign or convert a former second-round pick to a standard contract. Since the tax variance rule only applies to free agents, a Knicks second-round pick who signs a minimum-salary deal would count as $1,157,153 for cap, tax, and apron purposes.

New York holds the draft rights to a ton of non-NBA players, but the most viable NBA options on that list, including Mathias Lessort and Rokas Jokubaitis, are already under contract with teams in other professional leagues.

That means the more likely path for the Knicks, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, is to convert one of their current two-way players to a standard contract. Kevin McCullar and Ariel Hukporti both signed their two-way deals after being drafted by New York, so either player would be a candidate for a promotion. Jacob Toppin wouldn’t be, since he signed his two-way contract as a free agent, meaning the tax variance rule would apply to him.

Let’s say the Knicks complete the Towns trade as we outlined above, retain either Morris, Shamet, or Okeke to start the season, then promote McCullar or Hukporti to a standard contract 14 days into the season. In that scenario, the team’s salary would be right around $188.5MM for 14 players, giving them approximately $428K in wiggle room below their hard cap for the rest of the season.

The Knicks’ ability to make in-season moves, including adding a 15th man, would be severely limited in that scenario. But their roster would be legal, which is the primary concern at this point.

New York could generate slightly more breathing room below the second apron hard cap by including either Kolek or Dadiet in their package for Towns, then promoting both McCullar and Hukporti to the standard roster on minimum deals.

As was the case with the Bridges trade earlier this summer, early reporting has let us know the most significant pieces in this deal, but there are still some intriguing loose ends to be tied off in order to make it work.

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Pre-Camp Roster Snapshot: Southwest Division

September 25th, 2024 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is in the process of taking a closer look at each NBA team’s current roster situation, evaluating which clubs still have some moves to make and which ones seem most prepared for training camp to begin.

This series is meant to provide a snapshot of each team’s roster at this time, so these articles won’t be updated in the coming weeks as more signings, trades, and/or cuts are made. You can follow our roster counts page to keep tabs on teams’ open spots as opening night nears.

We’re wrapping up our pre-camp Roster Snapshot series today with the Southwest Division. Let’s dive in…

Dallas Mavericks

Although Morris’ salary isn’t guaranteed, I’d expect him to fill the 15th spot on the Mavericks‘ opening night roster. His non-guaranteed contract should give them some additional flexibility during the season — for instance, they could waive him ahead of the January 7 league-wide guarantee date, re-sign him to a couple 10-day contracts, then bring him back on a rest-of-season deal after February 6 once they know they won’t need that 15th roster spot for a trade acquisition.

With one two-way slot still available, the Mavs could hold a camp competition for that opening. In addition to their three Exhibit 10 players, Lawson would also be two-way-eligible, though he’d have to be waived and re-signed rather than directly converted.

Houston Rockets

After buying out AJ Griffin, the Rockets have an open spot on their projected 15-man standard regular season roster. They’re well below the luxury tax line, so they’d have no issue carrying a 15th man on a minimum-salary contract (or even something more lucrative than that, if they so choose). Still, with so many players on the roster who have a case for rotation minutes, Houston may not be in a rush to fill that spot by adding someone who won’t play.

Even though the Rockets’ three two-way slots are currently occupied, I’d expect Hinton and/or Samuels to receive consideration for a two-way deal if they impress in camp. Houston also has room on their roster to bring two more players to camp.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies opened up a pair of standard roster spots within the last month by waiving Mamadi Diakite and Derrick Rose. Because they stretched Diakite’s partial guarantee and got Rose to agree to give up his full salary, they’re nearly $6MM below the luxury tax line, giving them more than enough breathing room to carry a full 15-man roster into the season if they want to.

I’d expect Memphis to peruse the free agent market for a 14th man, but it’s worth noting that Pippen – who played a rotation role for much of last season – is a strong candidate to be promoted from his two-way contract to the standard roster sooner or later. If that happens before the season, there would be an opening for one of the Grizzlies’ Exhibit 10 signees to have his contract converted to a two-way deal.

Like Houston, Memphis has enough room on its 21-man preseason roster to bring two more players to camp.

New Orleans Pelicans

Alvarado is a lock to make the roster, and the Pelicans – who never pay the tax – are already hovering a little above the luxury tax line, so I’d bet on them leaving their 15th roster spot open to start the season in order to save some money.

The only wild card there could be if the team makes a preseason trade. I wouldn’t necessarily count on that, but New Orleans remains on the lookout for a starting-caliber center and Brandon Ingram‘s future with the team is still in question.

After signing and waiving Galen Robinson Jr. on Tuesday, the Pelicans have an open spot on their 21-man roster to finalize Payton’s deal, though they may rotate other players in and out of that spot before camp begins next week for G League/Exhibit 10 bonus purposes.

San Antonio Spurs

Barring a preseason trade, the Spurs‘ projected standard roster looks set with their current 15 players on guaranteed contracts.

It’s unclear whether there will be an open competition for the final two-way contract or if San Antonio has someone specific in mind for it. Boston would be a good candidate — he has over 100 games of NBA regular season experience on his résumé and has one more year of two-way eligibility left. Flynn, on the other hand, is ineligible for a two-way deal.

I’d expect the Spurs to cut Minix or Nelson at some point in the coming days to make room for Mensah, though it’s possible his Exhibit 10 deal won’t be completed until later in October.

Previously:

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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Philadelphia 76ers

September 24th, 2024 at 3:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Philadelphia 76ers.

Free agent signings

  • Paul George: Four years, maximum salary ($211,584,940). Includes fourth-year player option and 15% trade kicker. Signed using cap room.
  • Tyrese Maxey: Five years, maximum salary ($203,852,600). Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Caleb Martin: Four years, $35,040,704. Includes fourth-year player option, 15% trade kicker, and $5,256,106 in additional unlikely incentives. Signed using cap room.
  • Kelly Oubre: Two years, $16,365,150. Includes second-year player option. Re-signed using room exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • KJ Martin: Two years, $16,000,000. Second year non-guaranteed. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Andre Drummond: Two years, $10,000,000. Includes second-year player option. Signed using cap room.
  • Eric Gordon: Two years, minimum salary ($6,772,731). Includes second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Reggie Jackson: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Kyle Lowry: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Guerschon Yabusele: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jared Brownridge: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Brownridge was subsequently waived.
  • Max Fiedler: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Judah Mintz: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired the Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick from the Mavericks in a six-team trade in exchange for Buddy Hield (sign-and-trade; to Warriors).

Draft picks

  • 1-16: Jared McCain
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $19,448,588).
  • 2-41: Adem Bona
    • Signed to four-year, minimum salary contract ($7,895,796). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed ($977,689). Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

  • Signed Joel Embiid to a three-year, maximum-salary veteran extension that begins in 2026/27. Projected value of $192,907,008. Includes third-year player option.
  • Waived Paul Reed.

Salary cap situation

  • Went below the cap to use room.
  • Now operating over the cap ($140.6MM), over the luxury tax line ($170.8MM), and between the first tax apron ($178.1MM) and second tax apron ($188.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $181.5MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • No form of mid-level or bi-annual exception available.
  • No traded player exceptions available.

The offseason so far

It used to be relatively common for NBA teams to hoard cap room in the hopes of landing an All-NBA caliber player as a free agent. That’s famously how the Heat landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010. It’s how the Warriors were able to lure Kevin Durant to Golden State in 2016. And it’s how stars like Durant (Nets), Kyrie Irving (Nets), and Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) joined new teams in 2019.

Since 2019, however, with tweaks to the Collective Bargaining Agreement allowing veteran contract extensions to become more common than ever, it had become increasingly rare for star players to change teams as free agents. In recent years, players like Fred VanVleet (to the Rockets in 2023), pre-All-Star Jalen Brunson (Knicks in 2022), and post-prime Gordon Hayward (Hornets in 2020) were among the most prominent free agents to change teams via cap room.

All that is to say, when the Sixers decided during the 2023 offseason not to sign Tyrese Maxey to a rookie scale extension, telegraphing their intent to maximize their 2024 cap room in the hopes of landing a star, it was a risky play.

While the 76ers could offer a top free agent the opportunity to team up with Maxey and star center Joel Embiid in Philadelphia, they wouldn’t have the ability to outbid that star’s incumbent team for the right to sign him. It’s entirely possible that each of this year’s top six or seven free agents could have re-signed with their previous clubs, putting the Sixers in a position where they’d have to decide whether to splurge on a couple second-tier free agents like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Miles Bridges or perhaps target a high-priced trade candidate like Brandon Ingram or Zach LaVine.

Fortunately for the Sixers and their fans, it didn’t play out that way. While four of the top five free agents on our top-50 list (including Maxey) remained with their current teams, Philadelphia was able to secure a commitment from the fifth one – Paul George – after the forward’s negotiations with the Clippers soured.

Like Embiid, George hasn’t been a paragon of health during his prime seasons, having missed time in both the regular season and playoffs due to various injuries over the years, so it’s not as if the four-year, maximum-salary deal the Clippers gave him is risk-free.

But few players in the NBA would have been better fits alongside Maxey and Embiid than George, who is essentially the ideal version of the three-and-D archetype that has become so popular in the league in the last decade. He can handle the toughest wing assignments on defense while also sharing ball-handling and scoring responsibilities on offense with the 76ers’ two other stars.

Maxey’s willingness to wait on his new contract shouldn’t be overlooked or undersold. Keeping his modest $13MM cap hold on the books at the start of free agency instead of having him on the cap for $35MM+ put the Sixers in position to open up maximum-salary cap room for George. It all worked out for Maxey in the end, as he parlayed a Most Improved Player award in 2023/24 into a five-year, maximum-salary deal.

Would he have gotten that same contract if he had torn his ACL on opening night last fall and missed the entire season? Maybe, but it’s worth remembering that it wasn’t just the Sixers who took a risk by going the cap-space route — Maxey could have insisted on long-term security last summer, but by betting on himself and the team, he eventually got his max deal and a new All-Star running mate.

After signing George and Maxey to $200MM+ free agent contracts, the Sixers later extended Embiid on a maximum-salary deal that could pay him nearly $300MM over the next five seasons. Despite his injury history, it was presumably an easy decision for the front office, considering Embiid is a perennial MVP finalist if he’s healthy.

Having made such a huge investment in their three stars, the 76ers didn’t have a ton of flexibility to add complementary pieces around them, but they cleverly used every dollar of their leftover cap room to sign Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond, both of whom should play significant roles. Martin was a valuable two-way contributor in Miami in recent years, while Drummond has been one of the league’s best backup centers and is capable of stepping into the starting lineup if and when Embiid misses time.

Most of the rest of the Sixers signings – including Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, Kyle Lowry, Guerschon Yabusele, and second-round pick Adem Bona – were for the minimum. It’s unlikely that all of those players will become productive regular contributors, but the team did pretty well given its salary limitations.

Philadelphia also used its No. 16 overall pick to add rookie guard Jared McCain, its room exception to re-sign starting forward Kelly Oubre, and KJ Martin‘s Bird rights to re-sign him to a two-year, $16MM deal that’s only guaranteed for one season.

That price tag for Martin looks high on the surface, but it’s more about his value as a trade chip than what he’ll provide on the court. Outside of their three stars, no Sixers players are earning more than $8.15MM (Caleb Martin) in 2024/25, so having KJ Martin on a $7.98MM deal could make him a useful salary-matching piece in an in-season deal.

Up next

The Sixers are carrying 14 players on standard contracts, so they could add one more minimum-salary free agent to their roster before opening night if they don’t mind paying the accompanying tax penalty.

They’re approximately $4.6MM away from the second tax apron, but since they can’t take back more salary than they send out in a trade, they should be able to easily avoid surpassing that threshold during the season, even if they carry a 15th man.

It should be a fairly straightforward preseason in Philadelphia though, now that Embiid has signed his extension. Of the 14 players on standard deals, 13 have signed new contracts since July and the 14th (Ricky Council) is in the second year of his deal, so no one else is extension-eligible.

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