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2024 NBA Free Agency Primer

June 30th, 2024 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

While teams have been permitted to negotiate with their own free agents since the day after the end of the NBA Finals, the league’s 2024 free agency period officially begins on Sunday at 5:00 pm central time. Several contract agreements have been reported during the last week or two, but that number will significant increase beginning on Sunday evening.

Here are a few links to prepare you for one of the most exciting days on the NBA calendar:

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2024 NBA Qualifying Offer Recap

June 30th, 2024 at 8:13am CST by Luke Adams

Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order for a team to make a player a restricted free agent, it must extend a qualifying offer to him. The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s previous contract status.

A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s current team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then has the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club. If a player doesn’t receive a qualifying offer, he becomes an unrestricted free agent and is free to sign with any team — his previous club is given no formal opportunity to match.

You can read more about qualifying offers here.

Listed below are the details on which players did and didn’t receive qualifying offers this summer. Our list is based on various reports and team announcements leading up to the June 29 deadline, along with confirmation from RealGM’s official NBA transactions log.

It’s possible that one or two qualifying offers slipped through the cracks and will be reported later today before free agency officially gets underway — if so, we’ll update this list.

For now though, this is what the qualifying offer landscape looks like. The players who received QOs will be restricted free agents, while the players who didn’t will be unrestricted. We’ve updated our free agents lists by position and by team to reflect the changes.

Received qualifying offers:

Players on standard contracts:

Note: Qualifying offers marked with an asterisk (*) are based on a projected $141MM salary cap and would increase or decrease if the cap comes in higher or lower than that.

Players on two-way contracts:

Note: Qualifying offers for two-way players are one-year, two-way contracts with a guarantee of approximately $78K unless otherwise indicated.

Did not receive qualifying offers:

Players on standard contracts:

Players on two-way contracts:

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Traded Player Exception

June 28th, 2024 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

Relying on the trade machine at ESPN or Spotrac is probably the simplest way for NBA fans to verify whether or not a trade will work under league rules, but it’s a worthwhile exercise to examine and understand the primary tool in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement that determines a trade’s viability — the traded player exception.

Teams with the cap room necessary to make a trade work don’t need to abide by traded player exception rules. However, if a team makes a deal that will leave its total salary more than $250K above the salary cap, the club can use a traded player exception to ensure the trade is legal under CBA guidelines.

There are two different types of traded player exceptions used in NBA deals. One applies to simultaneous trades, while the other applies to non-simultaneous deals.

In a simultaneous trade, a team can send out one or more players and can acquire more salary than it gives up. In a non-simultaneous trade, only a single player can be dealt, and the team has a year to take back the equivalent of that player’s salary (plus $250K for non-tax apron teams).

Let’s look into each scenario in greater detail….

Simultaneous:

In a simultaneous trade, different rules apply to teams whose salaries are below the first tax apron and those whose salaries are above the apron. A non-apron team can trade one or more players and take back….

  1. 200% of the outgoing salary (plus $250K), for any amount up to $7,500,000.
  2. The outgoing salary plus $7.5MM, for any amount between $7,500,001 and $29,000,000.
  3. 125% of the outgoing salary (plus $250K), for any amount above $29,000,000.

Here’s a recent example of these rules in effect:

In January, the Pacers traded Bruce Brown, Kira Lewis, and Jordan Nwora to the Raptors in exchange for Pascal Siakam.

Brown was earning $22,000,000 in 2023/24, so if Indiana had traded him on his own, the team could have taken back $29,500,000 (his salary, plus $7.5MM). However, that wouldn’t have been enough to cover Siakam’s salary of $37,893,408.

By adding Lewis ($5,722,116) and Nwora ($3,000,000) to their trade package, the Pacers sent out a total of $30,722,116. The third rule listed above applies to that figure, meaning Indiana was able to take back 125% of the outgoing amount (plus $250K), for $38,652,645 in total — that was enough to cover Siakam’s salary, making the trade legal.

For apron teams, the traded player exception rules for a simultaneous trade are simpler, but far more restrictive. A team whose salary is over either tax apron can take back no more than 100% of the outgoing salary, no matter how much – or how little – outgoing salary is involved.

That means that if the Suns, who project to be a second-apron team in 2024/25, want to trade Nassir Little, they’ll be ineligible to take back a player earning even one dollar more than his $6,750,000 salary for next season.

A team’s position relative to the apron at the conclusion of the transaction dictates which set of rules they have to be abide by. For instance, a team whose salary sits just $2MM below the first tax apron can’t trade a $5MM player for a $10MM player, since that deal would push its salary above the apron. However, a team whose salary is $10MM below the apron could make that move.

In simultaneous transactions, the traded player exception is used to instantly complete the deal, leaving no lingering loose ends. This form of the traded player exception isn’t what we’re talking about if we say a team “has a trade exception” available to use. Those outstanding trade exceptions come as a result of non-simultaneous deals.

Non-simultaneous:

In non-simultaneous deals, a team can trade away a single player without immediately taking salary back in return. The team then has up to one year in which it can acquire one or more players whose combined salaries amount to no more than the traded player’s salary (plus $250K for non-apron teams).

For instance, when the Nets sent Joe Harris to the Pistons along with a pair of second-round picks last offseason, they didn’t take any salary back. That was a non-simultaneous trade from Brooklyn’s perspective, allowing the team to create a traded player exception worth Harris’ salary ($19,928,571).

The Nets subsequently had a year to use that exception to acquire one or more players whose salaries total up to $20,178,571 (Harris’ salary, plus $250K). They used a portion of it to acquire Thaddeus Young and his $8MM salary in a deal with the Raptors, leaving approximately $12MM left over. Trade exceptions expire after a year if they haven’t been used in full — the remainder of that one will expire on July 8.

A team can acquire one or more players as part of a non-simultaneous trade. For example, when the Knicks completed their OG Anunoby trade with the Raptors in December, they sent out RJ Barrett and his $23,883,929 salary, creating a non-simultaneous trade exception worth that amount and immediately taking Anunoby’s $18,642,857 salary into it. That reduced the value of the trade exception to $5,241,072.

A team can create a non-simultaneous trade exception regardless of whether its salary is under or over the tax aprons. If the Suns were to trade the aforementioned Little this offseason for a player earning $3.75MM, they would create a non-simultaneous trade exception worth $3MM and would have one year to use it.

Putting the two together:

When evaluating an NBA trade, it’s worth remembering that two teams can view the deal entirely differently and that they’re allowed to divide a single trade into multiple parts to maximize their flexibility. For example, one team could consider a trade simultaneous, while the other team breaks the transaction down into two separate trades, one simultaneous and one non-simultaneous.

Let’s take a look at a recent real-life example, examining the Anunoby trade mentioned above between the Knicks and Raptors.

From the Knicks’ perspective, the trade broke down as follows:

  • Traded Immanuel Quickley ($4,171,548) for Precious Achiuwa ($4,379,527) and Malachi Flynn ($3,873,025).
    • This trade is a simultaneous one for the Knicks, who were operating below both aprons, allowing them to take back up to 200% of Quickley’s salary, plus $250K. That figure works out to $8,593,096; Achiuwa and Flynn were earning a combined $8,252,552, making them a fit.
  • Traded RJ Barrett ($23,883,929) for OG Anunoby ($18,642,857).
    • This is a non-simultaneous trade, with the Knicks essentially creating a $23.88MM trade exception for Barrett’s outgoing salary and immediately taking Anunoby into it. As noted above, New York has until December 30, 2024 to use the remaining $5,241,072 on the exception.

Here’s how it looked from the Raptors’ perspective:

  • Traded OG Anunoby ($18,642,857) for RJ Barrett ($23,883,929).
    • In a simultaneous trade of Anunoby, the Raptors (also a non-apron team) were permitted to take back $26,142,857, which is the full amount of his salary, plus $7.5MM. That’s enough to cover Barrett’s $23.88MM salary, but not enough to take on Quickley too, since he was earning more than the $2,258,928 gap between Barrett’s salary and the amount Toronto could take back for Anunoby.
  • Traded Malachi Flynn ($3,873,025) for Immanuel Quickley ($4,171,548).
    • Because they couldn’t use Anunoby to acquire both Barrett and Quickley, the Raptors had to use Flynn’s outgoing salary in a simultaneous trade to take on Quickley. Toronto could have taken back up to $7,996,050 in salary for Flynn (200% of his salary, plus $250K), so Quickley is an easy fit.
  • Traded Precious Achiuwa ($4,379,527) for “nothing.”
    • Because Achiuwa’s salary wasn’t required for matching purposes, the Raptors moved him to the Knicks in a non-simultaneous trade, from their perspective, generating a trade exception worth his salary that they have until December 30, 2024 to use. They later used a $3MM chunk of that exception in a trade with the Pacers to take on Jordan Nwora. It’s worth noting that either Flynn or Achiuwa could have matched Quickley’s incoming salary, but teams will always use the smaller salary for matching purposes in that scenario, creating the trade exception with the bigger salary.

When a team can’t use a traded player exception:

Under the league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams above the first or second tax apron face additional restrictions related to traded player exceptions, besides not being able to take back more salary than they send out.

A team is not permitted to use a (non-simultaneous) traded player exception created during the previous offseason or regular season if its team salary will be above the first tax apron upon the conclusion of the deal. Using a TPE created during the prior year will hard-cap the team at the first tax apron for the subsequent season.

For instance, the Rockets used a trade exception they created in last October’s Kevin Porter trade to acquire AJ Griffin from the Hawks on Thursday. That means Houston’s team salary will be hard-capped at the first apron for the 2024/25 league year. If the Rockets had been operating above the first apron, that deal wouldn’t have been permitted as constructed.

Apron teams are still allowed to use newly created trade exceptions. Circling back once more to the Suns/Little example outlined above, if Phoenix traded Little today for a player earning $3.75MM, the team would be able to use the $3MM TPE generated in that deal for the rest of the offseason or ’24/25 regular season.

But the Suns can’t currently use any of the three trade exceptions they generated in July and September of 2023. If Phoenix were to move below the first tax apron during the 2024/25 league year, those exceptions would become “unfrozen” (assuming they haven’t expired) and could be used.

Here are a couple additional restrictions that apron teams face related to trade exceptions:

  • A team is not permitted to aggregate two or more player salaries for matching purposes if that team will be above the second tax apron upon the conclusion of the deal. We have many more details on salary aggregation in a separate glossary entry.
  • A team is not permitted to take back salary using a signed-and-traded player as the outgoing matching piece if that team will be above the second tax apron upon the conclusion of the deal. If a team creates a (non-simultaneous) traded player exception by sending out a player via sign-and-trade, that exception can’t be used if the team will be above the second tax apron at the conclusion of the transaction.

More notes on traded player exceptions:

  • A team’s outgoing salary for matching purposes is the guaranteed salary rather than the total salary. For example, a player with a $2MM partial guarantee on a $10MM salary would only count for $2MM for salary-matching purposes for the team trading him (the team acquiring him would still have to account for him as $10MM in incoming salary). Between the end of a team’s season and June 30, the outgoing salary for a traded player is the lesser of his full current-season salary and his guaranteed salary for the next season. We have more details on this rule in a separate glossary entry.
  • Trade exceptions created in non-simultaneous trades can’t be combined with one another, with other exceptions, or with a player’s salary; they can’t be used to sign a free agent (except in a sign-and-trade); and they can’t be traded outright to another team. However, they can be used to claim a player off waivers.
  • The salary in a sign-and-trade can sometimes be subject to base year compensation rules. In that case, the player’s outgoing salary for trade purposes is either his previous salary or 50% of his new salary, whichever is greater. For instance, when the Heat signed-and-traded Max Strus to the Cavaliers last summer, Strus’ incoming salary from Cleveland’s perspective was $14,487,684, but his outgoing salary from Miami’s perspective was just $7,243,842.
  • Teams that are under the cap before a trade and go over the cap as a result of the trade can’t create a trade exception as a result of that deal.
  • Players signed using the minimum salary exception can also be acquired using the minimum salary exception in a trade, so matching their salary using a traded player exception is not required. A tax apron team is permitted to acquire a player using the minimum salary exception without matching salaries.
  • For salary-matching purposes, future draft picks or the draft rights to an unsigned player aren’t taken into consideration. Neither is cash, which can be sent out in a trade by teams below the second apron.
  • Teams will be permitted to use the non-taxpayer mid-level, room, and bi-annual exceptions as de facto trade exceptions beginning in 2024/25. For instance, a club could trade for a player earning $10MM using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

The traded player exception is one of the CBA’s more complicated tools and can make it challenging for over-the-cap teams to navigate the trade market. It’s undoubtedly simpler to use an online trade machine to determine whether a deal is legal, but examining the rules and figuring out exactly how a blockbuster trade breaks down can provide rewarding insight into an NBA club’s management of its cap.

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 previous years.

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2024 NBA Offseason Trades

June 27th, 2024 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

As we did with last year’s offseason trades and the in-season swaps from 2023/24, Hoops Rumors will be keeping track of all of the trades made this offseason, right up until the start of the 2024/25 season, updating this post with each transaction.

Trades are listed here in reverse chronological order, with the latest on top. So, if a player has been traded multiple times, the first team listed as having acquired him is the one that ended up with him. If a trade has not yet been formally finalized, it will be listed in italics. The terms or structures of those deals could still change before they’re officially completed.

For our full story on each trade, click on the date above it. For more information on the specific conditions dictating if and when draft picks involved in these deals will actually change hands, be sure to check out RealGM.com’s breakdown of the details on traded picks.

We’ll continue to update this list with the latest specific details on picks and other compensation, as they’re reported.

Here’s the full list of the NBA’s 2024 offseason trades:

2024/25 League Year

October 15

  • Spurs acquire Jalen McDaniels, the Kings’ 2031 second-round pick, and cash ($1MM).
  • Kings acquire the Bulls’ 2025 second-round pick (top-55 protected).

October 2

July 29

July 19

July 18

  • Clippers acquire Kris Dunn (sign-and-trade).
  • Jazz acquire 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).

July 8

  • Kings acquire DeMar DeRozan (sign-and-trade).
  • Bulls acquire Chris Duarte, RaiQuan Gray (two-way), the Kings’ 2025 second-round pick, the Kings’ 2028 second-round pick, and cash (from Kings).
  • Spurs acquire Harrison Barnes and the right to swap their own 2031 first-round pick for the Kings’ 2031 first-round pick.

July 6

  • Mavericks acquire Klay Thompson (sign-and-trade) and either the Nuggets’ or Sixers’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable; from Hornets/Nuggets).
  • Warriors acquire Kyle Anderson (sign-and-trade) and Buddy Hield (sign-and-trade).
  • Hornets acquire Josh Green, Reggie Jackson, the Nuggets’ 2029 second-round pick, and the Nuggets’ 2030 second-round pick.
  • Timberwolves acquire either the Nuggets’ or Sixers’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Hornets/Nuggets), the right to swap their own 2031 second-round pick for the Warriors’ 2031 second-round pick, and cash (from Warriors).
  • Sixers acquire the Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick.
  • Nuggets acquire cash (from Hornets).

July 6

  • Knicks acquire Mikal Bridges, Keita Bates-Diop, the draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet, and either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Magic’s 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
  • Nets acquire Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton (sign-and-trade), Mamadi Diakite, the Knicks’ 2025 first-round pick, the Bucks’ 2025 first-round pick (top-four protected), the Knicks’ 2027 first-round pick, the Knicks’ 2029 first-round pick, the Knicks’ 2031 first-round pick, the right to swap a 2028 first-round pick (their own or the Suns’; whichever is most favorable) for the Knicks’ 2028 first-round pick, and the Nets’ 2025 second-round pick.

July 6

July 6

  • Pistons acquire Wendell Moore and the draft rights to Bobi Klintman (No. 37 pick).
  • Grizzlies acquire the draft rights to Cam Spencer (No. 53 pick).
  • Raptors acquire the draft rights to Ulrich Chomche (No. 57 pick).
  • Timberwolves acquire the Grizzlies’ 2030 second-round pick (top-50 protected) and cash ($1MM; from Raptors).

July 6

  • Hornets acquire Devonte’ Graham and the Pelicans’ 2025 second-round pick.
  • Spurs acquire cash ($110K).

July 6

  • Wizards acquire Jonas Valanciunas (sign-and-trade).
  • Pelicans acquire the Bulls’ 2027 second-round pick (top-50 protected).

July 6

  • Trail Blazers acquire Deni Avdija.
  • Wizards acquire 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.

July 6

  • Warriors acquire the draft rights to Quinten Post (No. 52 pick).
  • Trail Blazers acquire cash.

July 6

  • Pacers acquire the draft rights to Johnny Furphy (No. 35 pick).
  • Spurs acquire the draft rights to Juan Nunez (No. 36 pick) and cash ($1MM).

July 6

  • Pistons acquire Tim Hardaway Jr., the Raptors’ 2025 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2028 second-round pick, and either the Clippers’ or Hornets’ 2028 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
  • Mavericks acquire Quentin Grimes.

2023/24 League Year

June 28

June 27

  • Suns acquire the draft rights to Oso Ighodaro (No. 40 pick).
  • Knicks acquire the draft rights to Kevin McCullar (No. 56 pick) and the Celtics’ 2028 second-round pick (top-45 protected).

June 27

  • Thunder acquire the draft rights to Ajay Mitchell (No. 38 pick).
  • Knicks acquire the draft rights to Oso Ighodaro (No. 40 pick) and cash ($500K).

June 27

  • Thunder acquire the draft rights to Oso Ighodaro (No. 40 pick).
  • Trail Blazers acquire the draft rights to Quinten Post (No. 52 pick) and cash.

June 27

June 27

June 27

  • Pelicans acquire the draft rights to Antonio Reeves (No. 47 pick).
  • Magic acquire the right to swap their own 2030 second-round pick with the Pelicans’ 2030 second-round pick and the right to swap their own 2031 second-round pick with the Pelicans’ 2031 second-round pick.

June 27

June 27

  • Knicks acquire the draft rights to Tyler Kolek (No. 34 pick).
  • Trail Blazers acquire the Timberwolves’ 2027 second-round pick; either the Pacers’ or Wizards’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable); and the Knicks’ 2030 second-round pick.

June 27

  • Thunder acquire the draft rights to Dillon Jones (No. 26 pick).
  • Knicks acquire either the Celtics’ or Grizzlies’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable); the Warriors’ 2026 second-round pick; the Timberwolves’ 2027 second-round pick; either the Thunder’s, Rockets’, Heat’s, or Pacers’ 2027 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable), and either the Thunder’s, Rockets’, Heat’s, or Pacers’ 2027 second-round pick (whichever is third-most favorable).

June 27

  • Wizards acquire the draft rights to Kyshawn George (No. 24 pick).
  • Knicks acquire the draft rights to Dillon Jones (No. 26 pick) and the No. 51 pick in the 2024 draft.

June 26

  • Nuggets acquire the draft rights to DaRon Holmes (No. 22 pick).
  • Suns acquire the draft rights to Ryan Dunn (No. 28 pick), the No. 56 pick in the 2024 draft, the Nuggets’ 2026 second-round pick, and the Nuggets’ 2031 second-round pick.

June 26

  • Timberwolves acquire the draft rights to Rob Dillingham (No. 8 pick).
  • Spurs acquire the Timberwolves’ 2031 first-round pick and the right to swap their 2030 first-round pick for the Timberwolves’ 2030 first-round pick (top-one protected).

June 26

  • Nets acquire their own 2026 first-round pick and control of their own 2025 first-round pick (negating the Rockets’ right to swap either their own 2025 first-rounder or the Thunder’s 2025 first-rounder for Brooklyn’s pick).
    • Note: The Nets’ 2026 first-round pick was previously traded to the Rockets.
  • Rockets acquire the Suns’ 2027 first-round pick; either the Mavericks’ or the Suns’ 2029 first-round pick (whichever is more favorable); the right to swap either their own 2025 first-round pick or the Thunder’s 2025 first-round pick for the Suns’ 2025 first-round pick; and the right to swap their own 2029 first-round pick for either the Mavericks’ or Suns’ 2029 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).

June 21

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Community Shootaround: 2024 First Round Draft Results

June 26th, 2024 at 11:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The first round of the 2024 draft is now in the books. The full results of the day can be viewed right here.

Three French players were selected with the first six picks of the draft. The Hawks selected forward Zaccharie Risacher with the top pick, the Wizards drafted power forward/center Alexandre Sarr with the No. 2 selection, and the Hornets added forward Tidjane Salaun at No. 6.

All told, four French players were selected in the first round. Swingman Pacome Dadiet was drafted with the No. 25 pick by the Knicks.

Two players apiece were selected from Kentucky, UConn and Colorado in the first round.

It proved to be a fairly active night from a trade perspective. The Wizards and Trail Blazers kicked off the festivities with a pre-draft trade agreement that sent Washington the No. 14 pick, its second lottery selection. Portland was able to get out of tax territory by moving off the expiring contract of veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon, while acquiring 23-year-old small forward Deni Avdija. The Wizards would go on to select Pittsburgh guard Carlton Carrington.

Washington made a second trade later in the first round, moving up in a deal with the Knicks to select Miami guard Kyshawn George using the No. 24 pick. New York, meanwhile, later shipped the No. 26 selection to the Thunder in exchange for five future second-rounders.

The Spurs flipped the No. 8 pick to the Timberwolves in exchange for Minnesota’s unprotected 2031 first-rounder and a top-one protected 2030 pick swap. The Timberwolves used the pick on Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham. Fresh off a run to the Western Conference Finals, Minnesota is able to add a blue-chip young lottery talent under team control.

The 2023 champion Nuggets offloaded three second-round picks and the No. 28 selection this year to acquire Dayton forward DaRon Holmes.

When it comes to potential draft steals beyond the lottery, the Lakers nabbed a potential keeper in sharpshooter Dalton Knecht out of Tennessee, who had been projected as a lottery selection before slipping on draft night.

The Trail Blazers’ selection of UConn big man Donovan Clingan at No. 7 was one of the night’s most interest selections, since it raises questions about Portland’s plans going forward for centers Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams. The Grizzlies were another team to use a top-10 pick on a center, adding some size to their frontcourt by nabbing Zach Edey at No. 9.

The draft continues on Thursday afternoon, with pick Nos. 31-58.

We want to hear from you. Who was the steal of the first round? Which team made the most questionable move? Who won the day?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

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Hoops Rumors’ 2024 NBA Offseason Previews By Team

June 25th, 2024 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

In advance of the NBA’s 2024 draft and free agent period, Hoops Rumors has previewed the coming offseason for all 30 teams, looking at their salary cap situations and the roster decisions they’ll have to make this summer.

All 30 of our Offseason Preview articles are linked below, sorted by conference and division.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

Central

Southeast

Western Conference

Northwest

Pacific

Southwest

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2024 NBA Offseason Preview: Boston Celtics

June 24th, 2024 at 10:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Until a team wins a championship once, there will be skepticism about their ability to do it at all. That’s why the Nuggets were considered the title favorites by many NBA fans for most of the 2023/24 season after we saw them claim the Larry O’Brien trophy in ’22/23. But with the benefit of hindsight, it seems pretty clear that the Celtics were the league’s best team from start to finish this past season.

After adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to an already formidable core led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics opened the campaign by winning their first five games and 26 of their first 32. They held the No. 1 seed in the East for all but six of the 174 days in the regular season, and never relinquished that top spot after November 14. Their net rating of +11.7 was the third-best mark in NBA history and was 6.8 points per 100 possessions better than any other team in the East. Their 64-18 regular season record was the best in the NBA by seven games — and the best in the East by 14 games.

The Celtics suffered a surprising loss at home to a Heat team without Jimmy Butler in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs, raising some concerns that the postseason struggles which reared their heads in recent seasons might resurface this spring. But Boston quickly shut down those questions by reeling off 14 wins in their next 15 games despite missing Porzingis due a calf strain for most of those contests.

Following one more blip in an otherwise dominant playoff run (a 38-point loss to Dallas in Game 4), the Celtics won Game 5 of the NBA Finals at home in Boston, securing their record-setting 18th championship — it was the team’s first since 2008 and the first for Brown and Tatum, who had previously made it to one NBA Finals and multiple Eastern Conference finals without getting over the hump.

Brown, Tatum, and these Celtics have gotten the monkey on their backs with this championship, but it’ll be replaced with a target for the 2024/25 season — the NBA’s other 29 clubs know that Boston is the team to beat, especially since the Celtics are set up to keep their core intact for at least next season and potentially more years beyond that.

Brown and Holiday are already on long-term deals and Tatum will soon join them. Porzingis also has multiple years left on his contract, leaving Derrick White as the only member of the league’s best starting five who will enter 2024/25 on an expiring deal. It’s safe to assume an extension for White will be among the top offseason priorities in Boston. What else will be on the itinerary for the Celtics this summer? Let’s dive in…

The Celtics’ Offseason Plan

In addition to having their entire starting lineup under contract for 2024/25, the Celtics won’t have to worry about their top three reserves — Al Horford has one more year left on his deal, Payton Pritchard has a team-friendly four-year extension going into effect this summer, and Sam Hauser has a minimum-salary team option for next season.

Pritchard is locked in for a while and the Celtics can go year by year with Horford if he wants to play beyond next season, but the team may need to address Hauser’s contract this summer. Exercising his team option would make him a bargain for one more year, but would put him on track to hit unrestricted free agency in 2025. Declining Hauser’s option would allow the Celtics to control his restricted free agency this summer but would mean paying significantly more than the minimum for him in ’24/25 (especially after accounting for the accompanying tax penalties).

The best-case scenario for Boston would be to pick up Hauser’s inexpensive option and sign him to a longer-term extension that goes into effect in 2025/26 in order to ensure he doesn’t hit the open market a year from now. The 26-year-old has made at least 41.8% of his three-point attempts in all three of his NBA seasons and isn’t a sieve on defense, so he’s a valuable role player, and as long as they remain over the second tax apron, the Celtics won’t be in position to add an equivalent replacement if they lose him.

Beyond those top eight players, the Celtics have 2024 deadline acquisition Jaden Springer and 2023 draftee Jordan Walsh on guaranteed contracts. Boston gave up a second-round pick to acquire Springer, a talented perimeter defender who has yet to show much on offense in his three NBA seasons, and used a high second-rounder (No. 38 overall) to select Walsh, who played just nine NBA games as a rookie. They haven’t shown yet that they can be reliable rotation players, but they’re still just 21 and 20 years old, respectively — the C’s will likely be patient with them.

That leaves five open spots on Boston’s 15-man roster for next season. I expect the Celtics to carry just 14 men into the regular season to maintain flexibility for a possible in-season addition and to save a little money toward the end-of-season tax bill, so let’s say there are four other spots to fill.

One of those openings will likely be taken by a rookie. The Celtics control the No. 30 pick in this year’s draft, which is a good spot to be in from a financial perspective. They’ll either get the least expensive first-rounder of 2024 or will trade down for a second-rounder who will have an even more modest cap hit. In either case, the player will be on a cost-controlled contract for the next three or four years. Boston should have its choice in that range between a more seasoned prospect who could potentially contribute in his rookie season and a higher-upside play who might take some time to develop.

The Celtics’ free agents include Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, Svi Mykhailiuk, Oshae Brissett (who is expected to decline his player option), and Neemias Queta (who has a team option). I imagine Boston would welcome back both Kornet and Tillman if they’re willing to sign for the minimum. The team, which will hold both players’ Bird rights, may even be prepared to go higher than that to bring them back.

Porzingis and Horford will handle most of the minutes at center when they’re healthy, but it would be a surprise if either one played 70+ regular season games. Even when they’re healthy, the Celtics will want to manage their minutes, so it will behoove the club to have effective backup fives who won’t bristle at receiving inconsistent minutes. Of the two free agent bigs, I’d view Kornet as more likely to return, since I expect Tillman to draw interest from teams looking to spend their bi-annual exception or split up their mid-level exception.

While Brissett and Mykhailiuk didn’t play much, having reliable depth on the wing to call upon when needed was important. If one or both players seek out situations where they might get a chance to play more, the Celtics will return to the minimum-salary market in search of potential bargains. Cedi Osman is one hypothetical target I like quite a bit, but he’d have to be willing to accept a pay cut and a possible role reduction to chase a title.

The offseason plan I’ve outlined so far doesn’t feature much excitement or many roster changes. Maybe I’m wrong about that, given Brad Stevens‘ history of deal-making. But the second apron places real restrictions on what teams are able to do — neither the Porzingis deal nor the Holiday acquisition from last offseason would be at all possible for the Celtics under the new rules, which restrict second-apron teams from aggregating player salaries and from taking back more salary in trades than they send out. Plus, Stevens and the front office should feel less compelled to take big swings now that they know this team is capable of winning a championship.

As a result, the biggest deals of the Celtics’ offseason could be contract extensions. Tatum is now eligible to sign a five-year super-max extension that will begin in 2025/26 and projects to be worth an eye-popping $314.9MM (assuming a $141MM cap in ’24/25 and a 10% increase the following year). It’s safe to assume Boston will put that deal on the table and that Tatum will sign it, surpassing his teammate Brown for the biggest projected contract in league history.

It may not be quite so simple to lock up White, whose maximum four-year extension would be worth approximately $126MM. That’s a fair offer and he may well accept it, but after playing such a crucial role on this year’s title team and earning his second consecutive All-Defensive nod, the veteran guard would also be justified in believing that a bigger payday could be out there if he waits until the end of his current contract in 2025 to test the market. I expect the Celtics to do all they can to get White to sign this offseason, including perhaps adding a fourth-year player option in their offer.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

Team Options

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

Note: Because he has finished each of the past two seasons on a two-way contract with the Celtics, Davison’s qualifying offer would be worth his minimum salary (projected to be $2,093,637). It would include a small partial guarantee.

Draft Picks

  • No. 30 overall pick ($2,501,640 cap hold)
  • No. 54 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • Total (cap holds): $2,501,640

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Sam Hauser (veteran)
    • Team option must be exercised.
  • Jaden Springer (rookie scale)
  • Jayson Tatum (veteran; super-max)
  • Xavier Tillman (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible until June 30.
  • Derrick White (veteran)

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these players are eligible for extensions beginning in July.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for these players are on the Celtics’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

Note: The Celtics project to operate over the cap and over the second tax apron. That means they won’t have access to the mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception, or any of their three existing trade exceptions. If they were to dip below the second apron, they would gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,183,000).

  • None
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2024 NBA Offseason Preview: Dallas Mavericks

June 24th, 2024 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

After winning Kyrie Irving‘s debut on February 8, 2023, the Mavericks had a 30-26 record and held the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Over the next two months, however, Dallas lost 18 of 26 contests to wrap up the 2022/23 season, free-falling down the standings to 11th place and missing out on not just the playoffs but the play-in tournament too.

It was an inauspicious start for the star backcourt duo of Irving and Luka Doncic, who struggled to share the ball effectively in crunch-time situations (10 of those 18 losses down the stretch came by five points or less). Crucially though, on the heels of a turbulent stay in Brooklyn, Irving earned rave reviews for his locker room presence and leadership during his first few months in Dallas, inspiring confidence that with more time to practice and play together, he and Doncic would figure things out on the court.

Buoyed by better chemistry between Doncic and Irving and the addition of rookie center Dereck Lively, whom the Mavericks were able to draft due to their late-season slide in ’22/23 (their first-round pick was top-10 protected), the team once again had a solid first half in ’23/24 and entered trade-deadline day with a 28-23 record. And once again, Dallas had an eventful deadline, acquiring P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford in separate deals by sending out two of just three future first-round picks that changed hands league-wide on February 8.

Washington and Gafford certainly didn’t bring the kind of star power to the franchise that Irving had a year earlier, but the two role players also didn’t require the adjustment period that Kyrie had in 2023 — they were perfect fits in Dallas from day one. Instead of slumping down the stretch, the Mavs took off, going on a 22-9 run from deadline day through the regular season finale and moving up in the standings from No. 8 to No. 5.

While the Mavericks didn’t enter the playoffs as favorites to come out of the West, they quickly made it clear that their second-half surge was no fluke, dispatching the No. 4 Clippers in round one, knocking off the top-seeded Thunder in round two, and then making quick work of the favored Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, winning three games in Minnesota en route to a 4-1 series victory.

The Mavericks’ run ended in the NBA Finals against a dominant Celtics team that won 64 regular season games and went 16-3 in the postseason, but Dallas was playing with house money by that point. If you’d told anyone in the organization before the season began that the Mavs would follow up their 38-win dud of a 2022/23 season with an appearance in the NBA Finals a year later, they would’ve taken that outcome in a heartbeat.

The expectations will be higher in Dallas going forward, and after falling short of a championship this spring, the Mavs will have to figure out how to get back to the NBA Finals — and how to put themselves in a better position to win it all once they get there.

Head of basketball operations Nico Harrison has done a good job so far adding complementary pieces around his franchise player (Doncic) and raising the ceiling of this roster, but there are still areas that could use an upgrade. With no cap room this offseason and their collection of future draft picks somewhat depleted, the Mavs may need to get creative to keep getting better.

The Mavericks’ Offseason Plan

In his end-of-season press conference, Harrison expressed confidence that the Mavs’ core doesn’t require any major changes, telling reporters, “If you look at our top seven or eight players that really played. I don’t see anything happening with that.”

Doncic, Irving, and Lively certainly aren’t going anywhere, and it’s safe to assume Washington and Gafford will be back after helping turn the team into a legitimate contender after the trade deadline. After that though, I’m not sure I’d write any names in pen for next year’s roster.

Beyond those five players, Josh Green and Maxi Kleber are the best bets to be back. Green, who signed a three-year rookie scale extension prior to the start of the season, battled some health issues but once again had a solid year, knocking down 38.5% of his three-pointers, handing out a career-high 2.3 assists per game, and providing solid, versatile defense on the wing. Kleber also had an injury-plagued season, appearing in just 43 contests, but continued to be a very useful frontcourt role player when available — he’s not as athletic as Lively or Gafford and won’t show up on many highlight reels, but the German big man is a versatile defender who can hit a three-pointer.

We’ve mentioned seven of Dallas’ eight highest-paid players so far. The one in that group who is least likely to return is Tim Hardaway Jr. The veteran wing, who came over from New York in the Kristaps Porzingis trade in January 2019, is one of the longest-tenured Mavericks, but his 26.8 minutes per game in 2023/24 represented his lowest average since he arrived in Dallas and his .353 3PT% was below his career rate. Hardaway battled an ankle injury in the playoffs and wasn’t used much even when he was healthy, logging just 12.7 MPG in 14 postseason appearances.

Between Hardaway’s declining role and his expiring contract (worth approximately $16.2MM), he’s the team’s most obvious trade candidate entering the summer. Any major deal – whether it’s to acquire another impact player or to create extra cap flexibility – seems almost certain to include the 32-year-old.

The Mavs aren’t loaded with tradable draft assets after having given up their 2027 first-round pick for Washington and their 2029 first-rounder for Irving. But they still have the ability to move both their 2025 and 2031 first-round picks if they make them unprotected (neither one is eligible to be pushed back a year due to the Stepien rule and the seven-year rule). They could also sweeten a potential trade offer by including one or both of Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Jaden Hardy, two youngsters who will be 22 in July and who have flashed upside early in their NBA careers.

It’s certainly possible that Dallas will make an effort to acquire another high-caliber starter together using a package that includes Hardaway, one or both of their remaining first-round picks, and one of both of those prospects. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Mavs look to make a smaller, cost-cutting move that turns Hardaway into a less expensive rotation piece.

For instance, a deal with the Hornets for wing Cody Martin ($8.1MM) would be legal whether or not Charlotte operates under the cap — perhaps Dallas could entice the Hornets to take on that extra salary by attaching a second-round pick or two to Hardaway. That’s just one example. There could be other teams willing to make a similar move, especially since Hardaway is still capable of providing decent rotation minutes.

The thinking here is that the Mavericks probably won’t be in position to re-sign Derrick Jones unless they trim their payroll a little. They project to operate over the tax line and possibly right around the first tax apron, which means that their only options for re-signing Jones are to offer him a Non-Bird raise (20% above his minimum salary) or to give him the full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.18MM). Rival suitors, who would likely be eager to poach the Western champions’ starting small forward and top perimeter defender, would easily be able to top either offer.

However, if Dallas can create a little extra breathing room below the first apron, they’d be able to use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception – potentially as much as the full non-taxpayer mid-level of $12.86MM – to make a more competitive bid for Jones.

Spending more than $5.18MM of the MLE would hard-cap team salary for 2024/25 at the first apron (around $178.7MM), and Dallas already projects to have about $173.7MM counting toward the apron for 12 players, assuming Dante Exum‘s $3.15MM non-guaranteed salary is retained. So swapping out Hardaway for a player making half as much money would put the Mavs in a far better position to re-sign Jones. Veteran Dallas-area reporter Marc Stein has suggested that moving Hardaway is a “key element” of the club’s plan to keep Jones.

While sending out Hardaway in what’s essentially a salary dump would take a key salary-matching piece off the table for the Mavs’ next big trade, the team still has several mid-sized contracts on its books that could be used in such a deal. Kleber, Green, Gafford, and Washington are all earning in the $11-16MM range and are under contract for multiple seasons. Jones could join that group if Dallas is able to free up the non-taxpayer MLE to give him a new contract.

When asked after the Mavs’ season how the team will get better going forward, Harrison spoke about wanting each of his players to improve by “10 to 15 percent.” That suggests to me that he’s willing to be patient and to see how the current group does with a full training camp together rather than going out and immediately taking another big swing this summer. There will be non-Hardaway contracts to use in a bigger trade down the road if the front office eventually determines that’s what’s needed to get Dallas over the hump.

Further down on the offseason to-do list, there are five Mavericks who will be extension-eligible before the season begins, but Hardaway isn’t a candidate for a new deal from Dallas and there should be no rush to extend either Gafford or Kleber, who each have two guaranteed years left on their current contracts.

Hardy is a potential extension candidate, but again, there’s probably not a lot of urgency to get something done right away unless he’s willing to give the Mavs a team-friendly rate — he’ll be extension-eligible all season long, and if he doesn’t get a new deal, the club will have plenty of leverage next summer when he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency.

That leaves Doncic, who is a lock to get a huge new maximum-salary extension from the Mavericks. However, it won’t happen this summer. The superstar guard met the performance criteria for a super-max extension (which will start at 35% of the cap instead of 30%) this spring by making his second consecutive All-NBA team, but he only has six years of NBA service. A player must have seven to sign a super-max extension, so while Doncic is technically eligible to sign an extension this offseason, he won’t be eligible to sign that more lucrative super-max contract until July 2025.

The Mavs would obviously like to get Doncic locked up long-term as soon as possible, but they can at least feel pretty confident that the 25-year-old will be ready and willing to sign on the dotted line in 2025. Following a sub-.500 season in 2022/23, another disappointing result in ’23/24 might have prompted Doncic to question his ability to win in Dallas. This year’s success should assuage any doubts he may have had.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Dante Exum ($3,150,000)
    • Exum’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 29.
  • A.J. Lawson ($2,120,693)
  • Jaden Hardy ($1,619,699)
    • Partial guarantee. Rest of salary noted above; Hardy’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 30.
  • Alex Fudge (two-way)
  • Total: $6,890,392

Dead/Retained Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 58 overall pick (no cap hold)

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Luka Doncic (veteran)
  • Daniel Gafford (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible as of October 1.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. (veteran)
  • Jaden Hardy (veteran)
  • Maxi Kleber (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible as of September 8.

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these players are eligible for extensions beginning in July.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for these players are on the Mavericks’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

Note: The Mavericks project to operate over the cap and either at or above the first tax apron. If they move below the first apron, they would gain access to the bi-annual exception ($4,681,000) and the full mid-level exception ($12,859,000) instead of the taxpayer mid-level exception and would regain access to their two trade exceptions (the largest of which is worth $4,953,980 and expires on July 8). If they surpass the second tax apron, they would lose access to the taxpayer MLE.

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,183,000
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2024 NBA Offseason Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves

June 23rd, 2024 at 7:30pm CST by Luke Adams

A year ago at this time, the Timberwolves‘ 2022 trade for Rudy Gobert was widely viewed as an unmitigated disaster and a cautionary tale for teams who were considering the idea of selling the farm for a single player.

That blockbuster deal cost Minnesota three solid rotation pieces (Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, and Jarred Vanderbilt), a young center who had a terrific rookie season with his new team in 2022/23 (Walker Kessler), the 2023 draft pick that became Keyonte George, and four more future draft assets, including two unprotected first-round picks, a top-five protected first-rounder, and an unprotected first-round swap.

In their first season with Gobert, the Timberwolves took a step back, winning just 42 games after posting a 46-36 record in 2021/22, and the three-time Defensive Player of the Year struggled to adapt to his new situation. When the 2023 offseason got underway, there were myriad calls from pundits and fans for Minnesota to break up its frontcourt by trading either Gobert or (more likely) Karl-Anthony Towns.

What a difference a year makes.

Instead of dismantling their core, the Wolves chose to stand relatively pat last summer, betting they’d be just fine with better health from Towns, more acclimation time for Gobert, another year of growth for rising star Anthony Edwards, and the stabilizing influence of 2023 deadline addition Mike Conley. They were right.

The Wolves’ 56-26 record was just one game off the top mark in the Western Conference, and Gobert looked far more comfortable in his second year in Minnesota, as he anchored a unit that posted the NBA’s best defensive rating (108.4) and won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award.

After passing their regular season test with flying colors, the Wolves entered the playoffs looking for their first postseason series victory since 2004. Not only did they get it, but they made it look easy, sweeping Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Suns out of round one. For good measure, Minnesota followed up that dominant first-round showing by knocking off the defending champions in round two, eliminating the division-rival Nuggets in a hard-fought seven-game series.

A dream season to that point ended on a sour note, however. Despite entering the Western Conference finals as the higher seed and a heavy favorite against Dallas, Minnesota had no answer for the firepower of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, dropping three games at home to the Mavericks en route to a 4-1 series loss.

While it was a disappointing finish, the season was a major success overall for the Wolves, as Edwards’ ascension to stardom and their dominant defensive play provided reason to believe that more lengthy postseason runs are possible in the coming years. The challenge now will be keeping the core intact as the cost of the roster gets higher and billionaires battle over control of the franchise.

Edwards, Towns, and All-Defensive wing Jaden McDaniels will all get huge raises this summer, pushing team salary over the second tax apron, while longtime owner Glen Taylor and the new prospective ownership group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez head to arbitration in an effort to determine who will ultimately be the club’s majority stakeholder.

This is a roster capable of contending for a title and worth paying a hefty luxury tax bill. But operating over the second apron will restrict the front office’s ability to make additional moves, and not knowing who will be on the hook for those tax bills raises concerns about the sustainability of such a high payroll.

The Timberwolves’ Offseason Plan

Let’s start with the cap situation. Towns, Gobert, and Edwards are now all on maximum-salary contracts that will be worth between $42-50MM in 2024/25, so that trio alone will take up nearly the entire $141MM cap. Throw in McDaniels at $23MM, Naz Reid at $14MM, Conley at $10MM, and this roster gets expensive in a real hurry.

The second apron is projected to be $189.5MM; Minnesota’s nine players on guaranteed contracts are owed a combined $191MM, and that doesn’t account for the cap hit for the team’s first-round pick ($2.55MM) or new contracts for free agents like Kyle Anderson, Monte Morris, and Jordan McLaughlin. If no cost-cutting moves are made, team salary will likely end up north of $200MM, with a luxury tax penalty of at least $75MM, and those are relatively conservative estimates.

There are some teams who wouldn’t bat an eye at those figures, especially for a roster capable of vying for a title. The Clippers reportedly paid $142MM+ in taxes this season for a team that didn’t make the second round of the playoffs; the Warriors were on the hook for $177MM in tax penalties for a club that didn’t even make the playoffs.

But the Wolves under Taylor have never been eager to surpass the luxury tax line, having not paid a tax bill larger than $1MM in two decades. And it’s unclear if Lore and Rodriguez would be big spenders either, given that they’ve repeatedly had to raise capital during the process of buying into the franchise and had reportedly projected a payroll decrease for 2024/25 (though that’s said to be a common practice that doesn’t preclude subsequent revisions).

Towns would be the player to watch if the Wolves decide they need to clean up their cap situation. He’s one of the best frontcourt shooters in NBA history, but he has become a second option on offense due to Edwards’ emergence, and he isn’t a valuable asset on defense — playing him next to Gobert is a challenge in certain matchups, since neither big man is at his best when he’s chasing forwards or wings out on the perimeter.

Towns’ $49.35MM cap hit in 2024/25 will also be the highest for any Minnesota player, and the team has a bench player capable of replacing him in the starting five if necessary — Reid isn’t KAT, but the NBA’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year is coming off his best season and is making a fraction of Towns’ salary.

Still, all the reasons that make Towns the most likely odd man out among the team’s highest-paid players would work against the Wolves if they placed him on the trade block. His four-year, maximum-salary contract will be onerous and impractical for many clubs to carry under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and any trade partner would need to be in position to surround him with the right personnel. Plus, the Wolves won’t just be looking to dump Towns’ salary — they’d want to get back quality rotation players who come in at a much lower price point. It’ll be a challenge.

My bet is the Wolves won’t do anything too drastic this summer. We saw a year ago that Tim Connelly and his front office are willing to be patient to give a talented roster time to jell, and for most of the season, the current group worked just fine together. As for ownership, that standoff seems unlikely to be resolved within the next few weeks, and as long as Taylor maintains majority control, I doubt he’ll want to take the PR flack that would ensue if he slashed salary after the team’s best season in 20 years.

If no big moves are in the cards, it could be a pretty quiet summer in Minnesota, with the priority being to build depth beyond a top seven of Edwards, Towns, Gobert, McDaniels, Conley, Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. As a second-apron team, the Wolves won’t have any form of mid-level or bi-annual exception available and won’t be able to aggregate salaries in trades, limiting their options.

Wendell Moore, Leonard Miller, and Josh Minott have contracts for next season (Minott’s salary is non-guaranteed), and I’d expect Miller and Minott to be back, since their cap hits will come in below the two-year veteran’s minimum. But Moore is slightly pricier and has barely played in his first two seasons, so he’s a trade candidate unless the Wolves remain bullish on his upside.

If two of those three youngsters return, that would leave at least five open roster spots for Minnesota to fill. I imagine the team would welcome back Anderson, Morris, and/or McLaughlin if they’re willing to accept minimum-salary deals, but Anderson and Morris, at least, should have stronger offers — McLaughlin might too. The Wolves have the Bird rights necessary to make any of those players competitive offers, but it would cost exponentially more than just the player’s salary, given how far into the tax the club will be.

Minnesota also controls the 27th and 37th picks in this year’s draft, putting the team in position to add a couple more low-cost prospects to the roster. But if Anderson and Morris depart, the front office will likely head to the free agent market on the lookout for at least a couple veterans capable of playing rotation minutes, especially in the backcourt and on the wing. Kyle Lowry, Cameron Payne, Alec Burks, Lonnie Walker, and Justin Holiday are some of the free agents who might be available for the minimum and who could be fits on the Wolves’ roster.

Gobert is the only notable extension candidate to monitor this offseason, as he’ll be eligible to reach free agency as early as next summer if he declines a 2025/26 player option. He’ll remain extension-eligible even after the regular season begins though, so the Wolves shouldn’t feel urgency to get anything done by opening night.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Josh Minott ($2,019,699)
    • Minott’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 28.
  • Jaylen Clark (two-way)
  • Total: $2,019,699

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • Luka Garza ($2,368,944 qualifying offer / $2,368,944 cap hold): Bird rights
  • Total (cap holds): $2,368,944

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 27 overall pick ($2,554,200 cap hold)
  • No. 37 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • Total (cap holds): $2,554,200

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Rudy Gobert (veteran)
  • Jordan McLaughlin (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible until June 30.
  • Josh Minott (veteran)
  • Monte Morris (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible until June 30.

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these players are eligible for extensions beginning in July.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for these players are on the Timberwolves’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

Note: The Timberwolves project to operate over the cap and over the second tax apron. That means they won’t have access to the mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception, or their trade exception worth $4MM. If they move below the second apron, they would gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,183,000). If they operate below both aprons, they could access the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12,859,000), the bi-annual exception ($4,681,0001), and their trade exception.

  • None
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2024 NBA Offseason Preview: Indiana Pacers

June 22nd, 2024 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

While their regular season success was overlooked to some extent due to more significant jumps in the standings in 2023/24 by Oklahoma City, Minnesota, and Orlando, you could make a case that no NBA team exceeded preseason expectations from start to finish by a greater margin than the Pacers.

After winning 25 games in 2021/22 and 35 in ’22/23, Indiana was projected to take another modest step forward in ’23/24 — oddsmakers had their over/under set at 38.5 wins. However, propelled by a high-flying offense led by star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers didn’t spend a single day below .500 all season, finishing the year with a 47-35 record and a top-six playoff spot in the East. They knocked off the No. 3 Bucks and No. 2 Knicks in the postseason before falling to the eventual champion Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.

Indiana likely wouldn’t have been one of the last four teams standing if not for some injury luck in the playoffs. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan Bogdanovic were some of the opposing players who missed most or all of their playoff series vs. Indiana.

Still, the Pacers beat the teams in front of them in the first two rounds, then played the Celtics about as competitively as a team on the losing end of a sweep can, dropping one game in overtime and two more (without Haliburton) by a single basket. They likely won’t enter the 2024/25 season as a favorite to return to the Eastern finals, but this is a good team that doesn’t appear to have reached its ceiling yet.

To continue getting better, the Pacers may have to rely mostly on internal improvement and tweaks around the margins. Haliburton’s All-NBA season means his maximum-salary rookie scale extension will begin at 30% of the 2024/25 cap (instead of 25%) and the club has already committed to a similar max deal for free agent forward Pascal Siakam. Those two contracts will occupy a substantial chunk of Indiana’s cap room for the next few years, and the club gave up a handful of first-round picks in order to acquire Siakam from Toronto in the first place.

That doesn’t mean the Pacers have no paths to making upgrades though — two of the three first-rounders they gave up for Siakam were 2024 picks, so they still have future draft assets available to offer up in trade talks. And even with max deals for Haliburton and Siakam set to hit the books, the team isn’t quite up against the luxury tax line yet. There’s room to maneuver here, even as the ongoing development of young players like Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Jarace Walker, and Ben Sheppard offers hope of growth from within.

The Pacers’ Offseason Plan

As noted above, the Pacers have already taken care of the No. 1 item on their summer to-do list. They became the first team to take advantage of the NBA’s new rules allowing clubs to negotiate with their own free agents beginning one day after the end of the NBA Finals, quickly coming to terms on a reported four-year, maximum-salary deal with Siakam.

There are a couple caveats to keep in mind here. First, that deal can’t be officially signed until July 6, so it’s technically possible for it to fall apart before then, but that’s extremely unlikely. Siakam has seemed to genuinely enjoy his time with his new team, and the Pacers acquired him knowing they would probably have to go up to the max to retain him beyond 2023/24. He did nothing during his half-season in Indiana to dissuade them from making that offer, leading the team in scoring and rebounding in both the regular season and the playoffs.

Second, while Siakam’s new deal has been reported as a four-year max, we won’t know all the specific details of that deal until it’s official. Are all four seasons fully guaranteed? Are the base salaries technically slightly below the max, with incentives available to max it out? Is there an option on year four?

The answers to these questions will go a long way toward determining just how much risk the contract carries in the back half (Siakam will be 34 when it expires), but regardless, it’s a deal the Pacers had to make. Indiana isn’t a free agent destination, so when the team finds itself in a position to lock up a two-time All-NBA forward for the foreseeable future, it has to take advantage of that opportunity.

With Siakam taken care of, the Pacers have just about all of their rotation players under contract for 2024/25, but there are a couple exceptions. Reserve forward Obi Toppin is eligible for restricted free agency this summer, while backup big man Jalen Smith holds a $5.4MM player option that he may decline. Of the players who finished the season on the roster, Toppin and Smith ranked seventh and ninth, respectively, in minutes per game.

Accounting for Siakam’s new contract and T.J. McConnell‘s full salary (it’s partially guaranteed for now), the Pacers are already on the hook for about $149.4MM for 10 players, which doesn’t include new contracts for either Toppin or Smith. I imagine ownership would prefer to stay below the projected luxury tax line of $171.3MM if possible — that means it could be a tight fit to retain both Toppin and Smith and then fill out the rest of the roster.

On the surface, Toppin looks like the logical keeper if the Pacers have to decide between the two. The former lottery pick thrived in the team’s up-tempo offense, settling into a role off the bench as an efficient scorer and rebounder (and even a shooter — his .403 3PT% was a career high). He was a key part of the postseason rotation, while Smith was barely used in the playoffs.

But the equation won’t necessarily be that simple. While Toppin’s qualifying offer is worth about $7.7MM, there may be a team willing to give him a deal that starts in the neighborhood of the full mid-level ($12.9MM) or even a little higher than that — matching such an offer could force the Pacers to go over the tax line. Plus, if Smith ultimately gets a sense that he’s better off picking up his player option than testing the open market, he can lock in his $5.4MM cap hit without the club having any real agency in the decision, which would make it trickier to re-sign Toppin and stay out of the tax.

Of course, it’s worth stressing that there are no rules preventing the Pacers from signing both players to new contracts. Maybe ownership will be comfortable paying a small tax bill for a roster coming off an Eastern Conference finals appearance. If Toppin’s price comes in lower than expected, perhaps they could even squeeze both players and two or three more in below the tax line. A trade that reduces salary elsewhere on the roster would also be an option.

One additional factor that should help the Pacers navigate the tax line and the aprons? The team holds three 2024 second-round picks, at Nos. 36, 49, and 50. I wouldn’t necessarily expect Indiana to use all three picks on players who will immediately sign standard contracts, but adding one or two of them to the 15-man roster would make sense financially — a minimum-salary free agent would count for about $2.09MM for cap and tax purposes, whereas a second-round pick will likely count for just $1.16MM.

Gaining that bit of extra financial wiggle room with a couple roster spots could end up coming in handy, and Indiana’s scouting department showed with its Sheppard pick at No. 26 in last year’s draft that it can find players further down the draft board who are capable of contributing right away (during the playoffs, Sheppard averaged 19.7 MPG and started two games).

The Pacers will also have contract extension decisions to make in 2024/25 for a pair of players who look more valuable than ever coming off the team’s extended playoff run.

Myles Turner was considered a trade candidate for years and appeared to be on the outs in Indiana back in 2022 when the club signed Deandre Ayton to a maximum-salary offer sheet, while McConnell began the 2023/24 season out of the rotation. But both players were huge parts of the Pacers’ success in ’23/24, with Turner averaging 17.0 points per game on .517/.453/.760 shooting in 17 playoff starts, while McConnell averaged 11.8 PPG and 5.1 APG off the bench in those 17 games.

Turner won’t become extension-eligible until midway through the season, but McConnell could be signed to a new deal beginning in July.

It will be interesting to see what the price point is for Turner, who has never been viewed as a star but is that rare form of center who can both capably protect the rim and hit three-pointers. He’ll earn $19.9MM in the final year of his current contract in 2024/25 and it’s safe to assume he’ll be seeking a raise on his next deal. I expect his camp to keep a close eye on what Nic Claxton gets in free agency — if Claxton signs for upwards of $25MM per year, Turner’s reps could make a case for an even larger payday for their client by arguing that he makes a similar impact to Claxton on defense and is more versatile offensively.

McConnell, 32, is four years older than Turner, plays a lesser role, and will make $9.3MM in ’24/25. His next deal won’t be as lucrative as his teammate’s, but there’s no reason to count on him taking a pay cut. The pesky 6’1″ guard is coming off perhaps the best two-year stretch of his career, having averaged 9.4 PPG, 5.4 APG, and 2.9 RPG on .550/.427/.823 shooting since the start of the 2022/23 season. He’s a Rick Carlisle favorite and has shown how useful he can be on a winning team.

If the Pacers aren’t comfortable with how the initial extension negotiations go with McConnell, they can afford to be patient. He’ll be extension-eligible for the entire 2024/25 league year, up until June 30, so there’s plenty of time to get something done. The window for Turner is a little smaller, since he won’t become extension-eligible until January 30.

It’s worth noting that Indiana traded Buddy Hield in a contract year a few months ago when it became clear that he and the club weren’t going to agree to terms on an extension. I don’t think the Pacers will want to move Turner or McConnell, but it’s a possibility worth monitoring if one or both players don’t have a deal in place before February’s trade deadline.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • T.J. McConnell ($4,300,000)
    • Partial guarantee. Rest of salary noted above. McConnell’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 28.
  • Kendall Brown ($2,120,693)
  • Total: $6,420,693

Dead/Retained Salary

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • Obi Toppin ($7,744,600 qualifying offer / $20,409,036 cap hold): Bird rights
  • Total (cap holds): $20,409,036

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 36 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • No. 49 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • No. 50 overall pick (no cap hold)

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Isaiah Jackson (rookie scale)
  • T.J. McConnell (veteran)
  • Doug McDermott (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible until June 30.
  • Andrew Nembhard (veteran)
  • Pascal Siakam (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible until June 30.
  • Jalen Smith (veteran)
    • Player option must be exercised.

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these players are eligible for extensions beginning in July.

Unrestricted Free Agents

  • Pascal Siakam ($42,300,000 cap hold): Bird rights
    • Siakam’s cap hold will be his maximum salary (30% of the 2024/25 cap).
  • Doug McDermott ($21,000,000 cap hold): Bird rights
  • James Johnson ($2,093,637 cap hold): Early Bird rights
  • Total (cap holds): $65,393,637

Other Cap Holds

  • Gabe York ($1,867,722 cap hold)
  • Total (cap holds): $1,867,722

Note: The cap hold for York is on the Pacers’ books from a prior season because he hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

Note: The Pacers project to operate under the cap and under the first tax apron. If they approach or exceed the first apron, they would lose access to the full mid-level exception and bi-annual exception and would gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,183,000).

  • Non-taxpayer mid-level exception: $12,859,000
  • Bi-annual exception: $4,681,000
  • Trade exception: $159,471

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, trade exceptions don’t expire before the regular season begins.

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