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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Phoenix Suns

June 1st, 2023 at 7:58pm CST by Rory Maher

The Suns won between 19 and 24 games in the four seasons prior to hiring Monty Williams as head coach in 2019. They had missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons.

After going 26-39 to start the 2019/20 season, the Suns reeled off eight straight victories in the Orlando bubble, a positive sign of things to come. Instead of running back the same group, they decided to shake up the roster, trading for future Hall of Famer Chris Paul, a move that paid immediate dividends.

Phoenix had a remarkable turnaround in ’20/21, snapping its 10-year playoff drought by going 51-21 and making a surprise run to the NBA Finals, ultimately losing in six games to the Bucks. In ’21/22, the Suns held the NBA’s top record at 64-18, but had a meltdown in their second-round loss to Dallas, getting blown out at home in Game 7.

The Suns contemplated dealing for Kevin Durant last summer following that playoff ouster, but decided to stand pat, matching a maximum-salary offer sheet for former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton. But Paul, who is now 38, got injured shortly after the ’22/23 season started and his play declined. Forward Cameron Johnson tore his meniscus as well. They seemed quite far away from making it back to the Finals again, sitting with a 30-26 record entering the trade deadline.

New owner Mat Ishbia pushed hard to go all-in for Durant once the superstar forward reissued his trade request in February. One report said president of basketball operations James Jones was reluctant to include Mikal Bridges in the deal, but ultimately relented.

Durant, 34, injured his ankle shortly after the move to Phoenix and the club didn’t have much time to integrate him into the lineup before the playoffs. Injuries to Ayton and Paul played a factor in another second-round exit, this time at the hands of the Nuggets, who were clearly the better team when Devin Booker wasn’t completely unstoppable.

The second consecutive playoff elimination blowout at home led to the Suns firing Williams, who had just won Coach of the Year in 2022. The Suns will also reportedly be exploring the trade markets for Ayton and Paul this summer in an effort to bring their first NBA championship trophy to Phoenix.

The Suns’ Offseason Plan

Hiring a new head coach is the first order of business, and three finalists reportedly remain: former Sixers coach Doc Rivers, former Lakers coach Frank Vogel, and Suns assistant Kevin Young, who is said to have the backing of several players, including Booker.

Trading away Bridges, Johnson, Jae Crowder (who sat out the season until he was dealt), four unprotected first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap for Durant means the Suns don’t have a ton of moveable assets. It will be difficult to improve the roster around Booker and Durant.

I have a difficult time envisioning a robust market for Ayton. When engaged, he’s a very talented player with soft touch around the rim who is a plus rebounder and defender. The problem is the caveat — when engaged. Far too often Ayton looked downright disinterested over the past couple seasons, even in the biggest moments. His lack of effort during the playoffs was glaring.

Maybe certain teams would view him as a bounce-back candidate, but even when he’s at his best, I’m not sure he’s worth a max contract. Despite an impressive physical profile, the 24-year-old has always been much more finesse than brawn on offense, rarely drawing fouls or effectively posting up smaller players like you’d expect.

While Ayton might hold some appeal, I have an even harder time seeing which team would be interested in paying Paul $30.8MM next season. The Suns don’t have any tradable first-round picks to dump his salary, either.

If they fully guarantee the salaries of Paul and Cameron Payne, the Suns will be over the projected $162MM luxury tax line with only six players under contract (Durant, Booker, Ayton and Landry Shamet are the others, for a total of $163.7MM).

I would be a little surprised if Phoenix didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Jock Landale in order to make him a restricted free agent. The QO is close to the minimum ($2.2MM), and his grit and toughness were on display in the playoffs against the Nuggets. The Australian center has spoken about wanting to stay with the Suns long term.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume Landale simply accepts his QO and he doesn’t get a raise or sign a long-term deal. That would leave the Suns with seven players under contract at $165.9MM. The entire rest of the roster is in flux, as they have eight potential free agents (nine including two-way guard Saben Lee).

The odds are extremely slim that the Suns will issue Darius Bazley a $6.2MM QO after he rarely played following a trade deadline salary dump. They could potentially try to bring him back on a minimum deal, but he’d become an unrestricted free agent and able to join any interested team in that scenario.

I don’t have a great sense of what the team might do with Ish Wainright‘s minimum-salary team option, and having Non-Bird rights on Damion Lee, Josh Okogie, Terrence Ross and T.J. Warren limits what the Suns can offer any of those veterans, assuming there’s mutual interest in a reunion. I don’t expect Bismack Biyombo to get more than another minimum deal, whether it be from Phoenix or a different club.

The one player the Suns can pay and probably want to bring back is forward Torrey Craig, who had a solid season filling in as a starter for much of the season due to injuries. He averaged 7.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG and shot 39.5% from three while playing solid defense in 79 games (60 starts, 24.7 MPG). The 32-year-old made $5.1MM in the final year of his contract and I think he could get at least that much again on the open market.

Let’s say the Suns re-sign Craig to a three-year, $18MM deal, with a $6MM salary each season. That would put their payroll for ’23/24 at $171.9MM with eight players under contract. If they fill out the remainder of the standard roster (14 players instead of 15) with minimum-salary deals at a value of $2MM each, their team salary would be $183.9MM.

Starting July 1, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will take effect, and with it the introduction of a second tax apron. In the above scenario, the Suns would be nearly $22MM over the tax line; the second apron is at $17.5MM. It is very restrictive, though it isn’t clear how many of the changes would occur immediately, as some will reportedly be phased in over a few seasons.

They could dip under the second apron by salary-dumping Landry Shamet, who is owed $33MM over the next three seasons. That wouldn’t make them better in the short term though, and the goal is to win right now while Durant is still playing at a very high level and Booker is in his prime.

There is a highly unlikely — but not impossible — scenario in which the Suns trade Ayton to a team with cap room, shed Paul’s salary (maybe with a pick swap or two and some second-rounders?), and operate as a cap room team themselves. If they renounced all their free agent cap holds except Landale, they could have about $27MM to spend on external free agents.

That seems like a pretty drastic move given the team’s desire to contend, but it could still technically be an option if the Suns are set on avoiding the tax while trying to sign someone like Fred VanVleet without having to worry about a sign-and-trade, which is the only way they could acquire him presently. I’m also not even sure $27MM is enough to sign VanVleet — I wouldn’t be shocked if he got $30-35MM annually.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Chris Paul ($15,000,000)
    • Note: Partial guarantee. Paul’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 28.
  • Cameron Payne ($4,500,000)
    • Note: Partial guarantee. Payne’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 29.
  • Total: $19,500,000

Restricted Free Agents

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 52 overall (no cap hold)

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Chris Paul (veteran)
  • Cameron Payne (veteran)

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for Payton and Lundberg remain on the Suns’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,000,000
  • Trade exception: $4,975,371

Note: The Suns may not have access to any form of mid-level exception next season if certain new rules related to the second tax apron go into effect immediately and their team salary is above that second apron. The Suns would gain access to the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception if their team salary remains below both tax aprons.

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Poll: Which Team Will Win 2023 NBA Finals?

June 1st, 2023 at 9:38am CST by Luke Adams

The 2023 NBA Finals, which tip off on Thursday night, will pit the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference against the No. 8 seed in the East, but the matchup may not be as lopsided as their places in the standings suggest.

Despite finishing the regular season as the West’s top team, the Nuggets weren’t considered a powerhouse entering the playoffs. They lost 10 of 17 games down the stretch in March and April and had only the sixth-best net rating in the NBA (+3.3) during the season. They also didn’t have a recent history of deep playoff runs, coming off a first-round elimination in 2022 and having made it beyond the second round just once in the Nikola Jokic era.

Denver has been the most dominant team of the postseason though, winning 12 of 15 games and posting a playoff-best +8.0 net rating during a run that saw them eliminate stars like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Anthony Edwards.

The Heat, meanwhile, battled injuries and inconsistency all season long, winning just 44 games and losing their first play-in game (to Atlanta) before completing a comeback victory over Chicago to claim the East’s final postseason berth. An early playoff exit appeared likely at that point, especially after sharpshooter Tyler Herro broke his hand in Game 1 of round one.

Instead, the Heat knocked off the title-favorite Bucks in five games, dispatched the Knicks in six games, and held off the No. 2 Celtics in a seven-game Eastern Conference Finals. Miami, whose +4.6 postseason net rating is second among all playoff clubs, has looked more like the team that came within one basket of making the NBA Finals in 2022 than the one that endured an up-and-down regular season.

The Heat may be a No. 8 seed – only the second in NBA history to make the Finals – but this is a battle-tested group that has significantly outperformed its regular season record and has plenty of playoff experience.

The Nuggets, who haven’t lost in Denver during the postseason and have looked like the NBA’s best team since the regular season ended, will have home-court advantage and enter the Finals as major favorites — BetOnline.ag has their odds to win the series at -405, with Miami listed as a +325 underdog.

Denver is also the popular pick among experts. John Hollinger of The Athletic laid out his reasoning for taking the Nuggets in six games, while a scout, a coach, and an executive who spoke anonymously to Sam Amick, Darnell Mayberry, and Josh Robbins of The Athletic all picked Denver in six too.

Over at ESPN, the Heat got a little more support, but 12 of 16 NBA reporters and analysts still chose the Nuggets to win the series, with only four – Bobby Marks, Israel Gutierrez, Nick DePaula, and Jorge Sedano – taking Miami.

The fact that the Nuggets are widely expected to come out on top will mean little to the Heat, who were considered even longer shots to beat Milwaukee or Boston. The Bucks were a -1200 betting favorite over Miami at the start of their series, while the Celtics were at -550.

With Game 1 set to tip off in a matter of hours, we want to get your predictions for this year’s NBA Finals. Will the Heat complete their improbable run and become the first No. 8 seed in league history to win a championship, or will Jokic lead the Nuggets to their first ever title?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Memphis Grizzlies

May 31st, 2023 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies were an ascendant team entering the 2022/23 season, having steadily increased their winning percentage from .268 to .683 over the course of the previous five years. Coming off a 56-win showing and their first playoff series win since 2015, the young club was looking to avoid regression and take another step toward title contention.

Memphis did win 51 games in ’22/23, the second-highest total in the Western Conference, but you might be hard-pressed to find many NBA observers willing to call the team’s season a success.

Franchise player Ja Morant, who signed a five-year, maximum-salary extension last summer, began to make more headlines for his troubling behavior off the court than his highlight-reel plays on it, culminating in an eight-game suspension after he flashed a gun at a Colorado strip club during an Instagram Live stream.

Dillon Brooks, whose fiery playing style and penchant for talking trash had come to epitomize the brash attitude of the young Grizzlies, earned a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team. However, his offensive game declined; he earned multiple suspensions for technical and flagrant fouls; and he chose the wrong moments to needle opposing players.

The Grizzlies were quickly eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the seventh-seeded Lakers, with LeBron James responding to Brooks’ barbs after a Game 2 Memphis win by leading L.A. to three wins in the next four games, including a 40-point trouncing in a decisive Game 6.

Since the Grizzlies’ season ended, Morant has been indefinitely suspended again following another problematic Instagram Live video, while one report indicated that Brooks won’t be re-signed “under any circumstances.” In Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., the franchise still has a pair of core players untouched by controversy, but Morant’s off-court actions and Brooks’ impending departure create significant uncertainty for the team heading into an important summer.

The Grizzlies’ Offseason Plan

With 13 players on guaranteed contracts for 2023/24, the Grizzlies likely won’t be looking to overhaul their roster or make major changes to their core. But roster tweaks are coming, and Memphis will have work to do with a pair of its cornerstone players – Bane and Morant – this summer.

Let’s start with Bane, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension beginning on July 1, the week after he turns 25. Bane has made 42.5% of his three-pointers since entering the NBA and has continued to improve as an all-around scorer and distributor, averaging a career-best 21.5 PPG and 4.4 APG this past season. He’s not an elite defender, but he’s no slouch on that end of the floor either, having taken on challenging perimeter assignments when Brooks missed games.

After players like Tyler Herro and Jordan Poole signed rookie scale extensions worth at least $30MM annually last offseason, it’s safe to assume Bane will at least match – and almost certainly exceed – their deals. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Grizzlies put a maximum-salary offer on the table. Memphis isn’t a traditional free agent destination, so the team has to take care of the players it spends years developing, and there’s probably no need to nickel-and-dime one of the club’s rising stars when there are so many question marks surrounding another one.

While the Grizzlies’ offseason business with Bane is standard basketball fare, their approach with Morant will be trickier to map out. As disappointed as the team must be to watch the former No. 2 overall pick make bad decisions off the court, he’s under contract for the next five seasons and remains a major part of Memphis’ future.

The franchise has to hope that the series of incidents within the last year will serve as a wake-up call for the All-Star guard and offer him all the tools and guidance he may need to keep on the straight and narrow. Morant hasn’t faced any criminal charges, so if he avoids trouble going forward, there’s no reason he can’t put the last year behind him and enjoy a long, successful NBA career.

Even with so many players locked in for next season and optimism that the trio of Morant, Bane, and Jackson can continue to get better, the Grizzlies will need to address certain areas of the roster, starting with the hole in the rotation that Brooks’ imminent departure will create.

Brooks’ questionable shot selection and inability to consistently make those shots hurt Memphis’ offense, but he’s a strong, physical defender whose willingness to match up with an opponent’s top perimeter scorer each and every night took the pressure off players like Morant and Bane. It’s virtually impossible to find someone on the free agent market who can play that kind of defense and be a positive on offense for $12.2MM, which is the projected value of the Grizzlies’ mid-level exception (Brooks made $11.4MM last season).

In recent years, the Grizzlies have put their faith in the front office’s ability to draft and develop young players, letting non-core veterans walk in free agency or trading them once they get a bit too expensive for the team’s liking. It will be interesting to see if the team adjusts that philosophy at all this summer after losing Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton a year ago.

If they’re willing to more actively pursue veteran help, the Grizzlies are in position to head to the trade market to seek out an upgrade on Brooks. Armed with all of their own future first-round draft picks, the Warriors’ 2024 first-rounder, and a collection of inexpensive young players, Memphis has the assets to make a play for a higher-end wing such as OG Anunoby.

It actually sounds like the Grizzlies actually attempted that sort of move at the trade deadline, with one report indicating they offered four first-round picks for Mikal Bridges. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough in February and the price for Bridges – if the Nets are even willing to listen – has likely only increased since then.

Still, Brooklyn would be a team worth calling, since a wing like Dorian Finney-Smith or Royce O’Neale could slot nicely into that Brooks’ starting spot. A sign-and-trade for Cameron Johnson would also be worth exploring, though Memphis would likely need to pay a significant price (in terms of both salary and trade assets) to pry him away from the Nets.

The Grizzlies have done a great job in the last five years building a lottery team into a legitimate contender, and if not for the Morant controversy and injuries to Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke this spring, perhaps they would have made a deeper postseason run. But with Brooks departing, Clarke likely to miss most or all of next season due to a torn Achilles, and Morant potentially facing another suspension to start 2023/24, the team will need to find ways to continue fortifying its roster if it wants to take another step toward a championship.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

  • None

Draft Picks

  • No. 25 overall ($2,585,040)
  • No. 45 overall (no cap hold)
  • No. 56 overall (no cap hold)
  • Total: $2,585,040

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Dillon Brooks (veteran)
  • Luke Kennard (veteran)
  • Xavier Tillman (veteran)
  • Desmond Bane (rookie scale)

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins. Brooks is only eligible until June 30.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap hold for Pons remains on the Grizzlies’ books from a prior season because it hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Mid-level exception: $12,220,600
  • Bi-annual exception: $4,448,000
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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Sacramento Kings

May 30th, 2023 at 8:26pm CST by Rory Maher

The Kings were the NBA’s best story in 2022/23, snapping their 16-year playoff drought by lighting the beam 48 times during the regular season en route to the No. 3 seed in the West.

Although I’m sure Sacramento was disappointed to lose its first-round series against the defending champion Warriors in seven games, it was still an incredible season based on the modest external expectations for the Kings. Going from 30 to 48 wins is a huge leap, and having one of the top fan bases in the league excited again is fantastic for the team and the city.

Next comes the tricky part. By no means am I diminishing what the Kings accomplished this season — if it was easy to make the playoffs, every team would do it every season. But from an organizational perspective, the hardest thing to do in the NBA is to go from a good team – which the Kings were this season – into a team capable of competing for championships.

The Kings’ Offseason Plan

The blueprint for the Kings to become an elite team already exits: Become their own version of the Nuggets. The reason I say that is because, while I do think Nikola Jokic is a better defender than he’s given credit for, he’s not a traditional rim protector, and neither is center Domantas Sabonis. In order for the Kings to be great with Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox as the their two best players, they need to maintain their top offense in the playoffs while becoming at least an average defense team.

That will be easier said than done. Sacramento had the top offense in the league during the regular season. In fact, the Kings posted the best offensive rating in league history (118.6). In seven games against Golden State, that figure dropped to 109.3, which ranked 12th out of 16 playoff teams. By contrast, their 24th-ranked regular season defense (116.0) improved to seventh of 16 in the postseason (111.6).

I’m not going to overreact – nor should Sacramento – to seven games of a team making the playoffs for the first time since George W. Bush was President of the United States. That should be stated up front. At least four Kings regulars — Fox, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray and Davion Mitchell — were making their postseason debuts. But it was kind of alarming how the series played out for certain players.

Sabonis averaged 19.1 PPG, a league-high 12.3 RPG, 7.1 APG and 2.9 TOV on .615/.373/.742 shooting in 79 regular season games (34.6 MPG), despite playing with a severe thumb injury since December. He averaged 16.4 PPG, 11.0 RPG, and 4.7 APG (3.7 TOV) on .495/.200/.571 shooting in seven playoff games (34.7 MPG), getting outplayed by Kevon Looney for prolonged stretches (Looney was fantastic, averaging 15.1 RPG in 30.1 MPG).

Kevin Huerter, who also had an excellent regular season (15.2 PPG on .485/.402/.725 shooting in 75 games), struggled mightily with his shot (9.1 PPG on .347/.205/.750 shooting). Harrison Barnes had either a neutral or negative plus/minus in six of the seven games, and didn’t play much at all in Games 6 and 7. The Kings were minus-9.5 per 100 possessions in 243 minutes with Sabonis on the court and plus-18.3 when he was off, for a preposterous net rating differential of minus-27.8. Barnes was minus-26.6.

The reason I bring this up is Sabonis is entering the final year of his contract, and Barnes, who turns 31 years old today, will be an unrestricted free agent.

The Kings can — and almost certainly will — offer Sabonis a contract extension with a starting salary of $30.8MM in ’24/25, 140% of his ’23/24 contract. I don’t think there’s much chance actually Sabonis signs it, however, after making third-team All-NBA this past season. He’ll be looking for a maximum deal, or something close to it.

He’s undoubtedly a great player. But is he worth a full max when he isn’t a transcendent offensive player like Jokic? I’m not sure how favorably rival teams would view such a deal, and that’s part of the reason why some people thought Indiana “won” the Sabonis-Tyrese Haliburton trade at the time it was made (Haliburton is entering the final year of his rookie contract and would be a restricted free agent if he doesn’t sign an extension, whereas Sabonis is four years older and would be an unrestricted free agent).

Fox will also be eligible for a veteran extension. He’s unlikely to accept an offer right now though because he could become eligible for a Designated Veteran extension (also known as the super-max) if he makes All-NBA again in one of the next two seasons.

Barnes is extension-eligible until the end of June. He’s coming off a four-plus season run with Sacramento, having averaged a combined 15.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 2.3 APG on .472/.387/.827 shooting (and a strong 61.1 true shooting percentage). Barnes, who won a championship with the Warriors in ’14/15 during his third season, has made $85MM over the past four seasons, which feels about right for a solid starter. I think he’ll get something close to that again on the open market, whether it be from Sacramento or another team.

The Kings can create nearly $24MM in cap room if they renounce all their cap holds, keep their first-round pick (No. 24 overall) and exercise their team option on Kessler Edwards, which I think is likely (he’s only on a minimum-salary deal). Could they find something better than Barnes, Terence Davis, Alex Len, Trey Lyles and Chimezie Metu with $24MM? Probably not.

I did say I wouldn’t overreact to one playoff series, and I think the safest choice is to re-sign Barnes. The veteran forward appeared in every game this season and has been quite durable throughout his career. The Kings also had great chemistry, and while a two-way wing is likely high on their wish list, every other team is looking for that too (and that’s partly why they drafted Murray, a first-team All-Rookie selection).

They could also retain Lyles, who has said he wants to return, and Metu or Len. I’m not sure how the team views Davis, but another guard who can reliably score would be a solid fit with how the Kings play.

Perhaps the Kings could get an infusion of production from Sasha Vezenkov, fresh off being named EuroLeague MVP. They exclusively control his NBA rights and can negotiate a deal with him after next month’s draft — he remains under contract with his current club, Olympiacos, but has buyout language in that deal.

Vezenkov averaged 17.6 PPG, 7.0 RPG and 1.9 APG on a highly efficient .546/.398/.857 shooting line in 33 EuroLeague games (28.7 MPG). It’s hard to say how his game would translate, but he has been shooting well for years. If the Kings want to offer him a three- or four-year deal, they’d have to use part of their mid-level exception, which they would lose in the unlikely event that they renounce their cap holds and become a cap room team.

There have been reports indicating the Kings might look to package their three draft picks (Nos. 24, 38 and 54) in a win-now move. The most likely outgoing piece from a salary perspective is center Richaun Holmes.

It’s remarkable how quickly things can change in the NBA. While the Sabonis trade has been mutually beneficial for the Kings and Pacers thus far, one player who did not benefit was Holmes. He was just coming off a career season in ’20/21 at age 27, averaging 14.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 1.6 BPG on 63.7% from the field and 79.4% from the line in 61 games (29.2 MPG). He then signed a four-year, $46.5MM contract to stay with Sacramento in 2021 — seemingly solid value for his production.

Instead, his value has cratered in part due to circumstances beyond his control, including a custody battle with serious allegations from his son’s mother (Holmes was later awarded custody and sued his ex). He actually had a good start to ’21/22 prior to that and had great lob chemistry with Haliburton, but his role was basically nonexistent after the Sabonis trade. That was the case again this season.

I do think there are teams Holmes could play well for, but it’s been a while since we’ve really seen him out there. Barnes could also be a sign-and-trade candidate if the Kings want to get aggressive. However, they owe a top-14 protected 2024 pick to Atlanta as part of the Huerter deal with lighter protections until ’26. That means Sacramento only has its ’23, ’28 and ’30 picks available for an all-in type move, which seems a little unlikely at this juncture.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • PJ Dozier ($2,413,304)
    • Note: Dozier’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 10.
  • Total: $2,413,304

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 24 overall ($2,693,160)
  • No. 38 overall (no cap hold)
  • No. 54 overall (no cap hold)
  • Total: $2,693,160

Extension-Eligible Players

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins. Barnes and Metu are only eligible until June 30.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for Lamb and Brewer remain on the Kings’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Mid-level exception: $12,220,600
  • Bi-annual exception: $4,448,000

Note: If the Kings go under the cap to use room, they’ll lose access to these exceptions and will gain access to the room exception.

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Designated Veteran Contract

May 30th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s maximum salary is determined by a player’s years of NBA experience. Players with between zero and six seasons under their belts are eligible for a starting salary worth up to 25% of the salary cap. That figures increases to 30% for players with seven to nine years of NBA experience, and to 35% for players with 10+ years of service.

However, there are certain scenarios in which a player can achieve a higher maximum salary than his years of service dictate. When a player who would normally qualify for the 30% max becomes eligible for a starting salary worth up to 35% of the cap before he gains 10+ years of NBA experience, he can sign a Designated Veteran contract, also known as a “super-max” deal.

A player who has seven or eight years of NBA service with one or two years left on his contract becomes eligible for a Designated Veteran contract if he meets the required performance criteria.

A Designated Veteran contract can also be signed by a player who is technically a free agent if he has eight or nine years of service and meets the required performance criteria.

However, a player can’t sign a Designated Veteran deal with a new team — only his current team. If he has been traded at any time since his first four years in the NBA, he becomes ineligible for such a deal. Players like Donovan Mitchell, Domantas Sabonis, and Lauri Markkanen are no longer eligible for that reason. Even if they meet the required performance criteria, the fact that they’ve been traded in recent years disqualifies them.

Speaking of that performance criteria, here’s what it looks like. At least one of the following must be a true for a player to be eligible for a Designated Veteran contract:

  • He was named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
  • He was named NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
  • He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.

Given the exclusivity of the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards, players who qualify for a Designated Veteran contract do so most often by earning All-NBA nods. For instance, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown became eligible for a super-max extension earlier this month when he was named to the All-NBA Second Team.

Brown and his Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum are the only players currently eligible to sign Designated Veteran contracts, and Brown is the only player who can do so during the 2023 offseason. Tatum has met the performance criteria but doesn’t have quite enough service time to sign a super-max extension, so he’ll have to wait until after the 2023/24 season.

As outlined above, if the Celtics were to trade Brown (or Tatum), he would no longer be super-max eligible.

Designated Veteran contracts are different than Designated Rookie contracts, which in turn are slightly different than Rose Rule deals. The Rose Rule allows players with fewer than seven years of NBA experience to qualify for contracts that begin at 30% of the cap instead of 25%, as we outline in a separate glossary entry.

Here are a few other rules related to Designated Veteran contracts:

  • Even if a player qualifies for a Designated Veteran contract, his team isn’t obligated to start its extension offer at 35% of the cap. The player is eligible for a salary up to that amount, but the exact amount is still a matter for the two sides to negotiate. For example, after becoming super-max eligible, Rudy Gobert signed a contract with the Jazz that began at just over 31% of the cap.
  • A Designated Veteran extension can’t exceed six years, including the number of years left on the player’s contract. So if a player signs a Designated Veteran extension when he has two years left on his current contract, he could tack on four new years to that deal.
  • A player signing a Designated Veteran contract as a free agent can’t sign for more than five years.
  • A Designated Veteran extension can only be signed between the end of the July moratorium and the last day before the start of the regular season.
  • If a player signs a Designated Veteran contract, he is ineligible to be traded for one year.
  • Under the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, a team wasn’t permitted to carry more than two players on Designated Veteran contracts at a time. However, that rule won’t carry over to the 2023 CBA.

Our list of the players who have signed Designated Veteran contracts since their inception in 2017 can be found right here.

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.

A previous version of this glossary entry was published in 2018.

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Community Shootaround: Nurse As Sixers’ Head Coach

May 29th, 2023 at 7:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Well, this ought to be interesting.

The Sixers are hiring former Raptors coach Nick Nurse as their head coach. Nurse and Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid will now pair together as the franchise looks to bring Philadelphia a long-awaited championship. The Sixers’ drought has reached 40 years and counting.

They have a history together as playoff foes. Toronto broke Philly’s hearts in the 2019 playoffs with Kawhi Leonard‘s basket that bounced four times on the rim proving to be the dagger. The Sixers had the KO punch last year during the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Nurse will also inherit a very talented young guard in Tyrese Maxey but the rest of the roster is in a state of flux. The Sixers could look to unload Tobias Harris, who is entering the final year of his contract. The bench figures to be revamped too, but the biggest offseason question is whether James Harden will decline his player option. Rumors have persisted for months that Harden wants to return to Houston.

Despite delivering a championship to the Raptors franchise, Nurse had a falling out with the front office. They felt he didn’t develop their bench players sufficiently and overworked his starters. There were also questions about accountability and his relationships with key players.

A fresh start for a talented coach could be the Sixers’ gain. That championship on his resume gives him immediate credibility.

It could also attract a top free agent such as Fred VanVleet, who tweeted out congratulations via an emoji after he heard the news.  VanVleet is expected to decline his player option so that he can enter the free agent market. He could be Harden’s replacement.

That brings us to our topic of the day: What do you think of Nick Nurse taking over as the Sixers’ head coach? Did the franchise make the right choice and do you feel Nurse can bring the franchise a long-awaited championship?

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

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Poll: Pistons’ Lottery Pick

May 28th, 2023 at 8:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The biggest loser during the draft lottery was the Pistons. After finishing with the worst record, they entered the lottery at the top of the list. They slid all the way down to the No. 5 spot after the lottery was conducted.

The Pistons under general manager Troy Weaver are at a crossroads. The roster has been totally revamped since Weaver, who is never hesitant to wheel and deal, took over. There are lots of young players dotting the roster but it’s uncertain just how well those pieces fit.

Detroit should be significantly better next season just based on the fact it will have 2021 No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham back in action. Cunningham missed virtually the entire season due to shin surgery.

The Pistons’ 2022 lottery picks, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, showed plenty of promise in their rookie campaign. Certainly, the team is excited by the prospect of Ivey and Cunningham playing together a full season with 2020 lottery pick Killian Hayes backing them up.

Detroit acquired Marvin Bagley and James Wiseman – No. 2 overall picks who were busts with their original teams – over the past two seasons. The Pistons also have two highly valued veterans in Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.

The franchise has to show major improvement next season to justify all the years of rebuilding. With the Pistons owing the Knicks a first-rounder, this could be the last time Detroit has a lottery pick in the near future.

There are a number of prospects to choose from at the No. 5 pick. Brandon Miller could theoretically slide down that far, though it’s a long shot. More likely, wings such as Cam Whitmore, Ausar Thompson and Anthony Black will be in play at that spot.

Weaver could shift gears and try to trade down in – or even out of – the first round for veteran help to give the Pistons a fighting chance to at least make the play-in tournament next season.

So what should the Pistons do with their first-rounder? Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in!

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Community Shootaround: Raptors’ Offseason

May 28th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Raptors find themselves at a significant crossroads this offseason, with a variety of decisions to make about the direction of their roster in the short- and long-term.

Toronto’s first priority, of course, is finding a new head coach. The club let Nick Nurse go after a five-year run, during which he led the franchise to its first-ever NBA title in 2019. He was named the league’s Coach of the Year in 2020.

More recently, the team finished the 2022/23 season with a 41-41 record and the ninth seed in the East. The Raptors were quickly ousted from the postseason by the Bulls in a play-in game.

Toronto has already interviewed several candidates for the opening, and is pondering several others, per our tracker. The Raptors have spoken with – or is expected to talk to – Bucks assistant Charles Lee, Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez, Suns assistant Kevin Young, Spurs assistant Mitch Johnson, Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic, former Nets head coach Steve Nash, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Nuggets assistant David Adelman, player-turned-ESPN analyst JJ Redick, and Virtus Bologna head coach Sergio Scariolo.

Toronto has also been linked to former Suns head coach Monty Williams, Williams’ former Phoenix assistant Patrick Mutombo, and Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse. While the club had informal conversations with Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, it is unlikely Hammon is ready to move on from her current gig just yet. The Raptors also spoke with Nurse’s former assistant coach, Adrian Griffin, though it has been reported that the Bucks plan to hire Griffin as their new head coach.

Nurse, meanwhile, is currently in the running to fill the head coaching vacancies of the Sixers or Suns.

At present, the Raptors are still fielding several veteran players from their championship run, including All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam, 2022 All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet, and 3-and-D swingman OG Anunoby. The team’s most important player, however, might be 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, who regressed a bit during his sophomore season. The 6’9″ forward out of Florida State didn’t evolve much as a ball-handler or scorer this year, while his defense plateaued.

In terms of potential free agents, center Jakob Poeltl will be unrestricted, while guards VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. both have player options for next season. Veteran reserve forward Thaddeus Young, who averaged just 14.7 MPG off the bench this year, has an $8MM contract for next season that is only partially guaranteed for $1MM. The direction the Raptors ultimately opt to take could dictate what the team decides to do with Young’s money, though he probably wouldn’t command nearly that much coin in free agency at this point.

Given that the NBA is poised to have a fairly light free agent class, especially in terms of guards, both VanVleet and Trent seem to be in line for lucrative new deals somewhere. VanVleet’s option for next season is worth $22.8MM, while Trent’s would pay a guaranteed $18.6MM, plus $250K in unlikely contract incentives. As an experienced championship playmaker in his NBA prime, VanVleet should have a robust market, while Trent is a solid veteran floor spacer. Would Toronto want to re-sign both players to new long-term contracts, or try to coordinate sign-and-trades for one or both?

The 29-year-old Siakam is in the final season of a four-year, $136.9MM maximum extension he signed with Toronto during the 2020 offseason, and is now eligible for his next extension.

Should Toronto opt to ultimately rebuild its roster and prioritize its youth, it would find plenty of suitors for the contracts of Siakam and Anunoby.

The Raptors have a late lottery pick, No. 13 in this year’s draft, at their disposal, with which team president Masai Ujiri can add more young talent under long-term team control. A deal to offload Siakam or Anunoby, or perhaps VanVleet in a sign-and-trade, could probably get Toronto an even better lottery selection this year.

Trying to simultaneously compete with veterans while also developing youth, in the form of Barnes and this new lottery pick, is a difficult line to thread. The Warriors have found some some success with their “two timelines” approach, though several of their young role players failed to take next steps in their growth this season. Toronto obviously has had mixed success thus far in this department. Would the club be open to trying again?

We want to know what you think. What should the Raptors do this offseason? Which head coach among their finalists should they hire? Should they build around Siakam and/or Barnes? Head to the comments section to share your thoughts.

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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Los Angeles Clippers

May 28th, 2023 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers‘ dual acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George during the 2019 offseason were supposed to make the franchise a perennial championship contender. And the team has entered virtually every training camp since then with title aspirations.

But the injury bug remains undefeated against this iteration of the Clippers. Neither Leonard nor George has played more than 57 games in a season since arriving in Los Angeles, and both players have missed crucial playoff games due to health issues.

Could this year’s Clippers have made a deep postseason run with a fully healthy roster? Maybe not. But it’s frustrating that we’ll never know for sure, since Leonard was sidelined two games into the first round due to a torn meniscus and George wasn’t able to suit up at all due to a knee injury of his own.

When Michael Winger, who left the Clippers this week after serving as the team’s general manager for the last six years, gave his first media interview after being hired by the Wizards, he said he still believes to his “core” that a team led by Leonard and George can win a championship if those two forwards stay healthy. There’s no indication that the rest of L.A.’s front office doesn’t share that view, which means there’s no reason to expect the team to break up the star duo this offseason.

Leonard and George are now both on the wrong side of 30, and the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will make it more difficult than ever for the league’s biggest-spending teams to fortify their rosters. The Clippers’ task this offseason will be to determine how best to capitalize on a championship window that may not be open for much longer.

The Clippers’ Offseason Plan

If we assume Leonard and George aren’t going anywhere, which seems like a relatively safe bet, the question this summer is how the Clippers will improve the roster around them.

Free agency likely won’t be a viable path. While it remains unclear just how many of the rules related to the new second tax apron will go into effect in 2023/24, it sounds like teams above that second apron likely won’t have access to the taxpayer mid-level exception this offseason. Sign-and-trades also aren’t an option for taxpayers, so the Clippers would be limited to the minimum salary exception on the free agent market.

That doesn’t mean they won’t be able to add a rotation player in free agency — there may be a productive veteran or two who wants to chase a title in Los Angeles and who would be willing to sign for the minimum. But that’s not something the Clippers can necessarily count on.

The draft probably won’t be a realistic avenue for roster upgrades either. The Clippers do have a first-round pick, but due to a swap, they own Milwaukee’s first-rounder rather than their own, so they’re picking at No. 30. It’s not impossible to find a quality rotation player, or even a future impact player, at that spot — just ask Jimmy Butler, Desmond Bane, Josh Hart, Kyle Anderson, and Kevon Looney. But it’s rare for a 30th overall pick to provide useful minutes as a rookie to a team with title aspirations.

That leaves the trade market, which is the Clippers’ best hope of meaningfully upgrading – or at least balancing – their roster this offseason. Six of the 10 L.A. players who have guaranteed salaries for 2023/24 are earning between $10.5MM and $18MM, making them ideal matching pieces. And while not all of those players are expendable, there’s certainly some positional overlap in the group, so the Clippers could afford to sacrifice a little depth in a deal for the right player.

Nicolas Batum and Robert Covington, both of whom will earn $11.7MM on expiring contracts next season, look like potential trade candidates. Batum’s playing time fluctuated over the course of the season, while Covington fell out of the rotation entirely for much of the year.

Marcus Morris ($18MM) is another player whose role was cut back down the stretch — he started 65 regular season games for the Clippers, but didn’t play at all during the last nine games of the regular season or the first two games of the playoffs.

The Clippers are unlikely to trade all three forwards, but it appears there aren’t enough minutes to go around for all of them, especially when Leonard and George are available.

What will the Clippers be looking for on the trade market? A play-making point guard who can knock down an outside shot would make sense with this roster. However, given the modest appeal of veterans like Morris, Batum, and Covington and the team’s lack of movable draft assets, the front office will have to keep its expectations in check. The Clippers aren’t a team that could realistically make a play for Damian Lillard, for instance.

A reunion with Chris Paul would be possible if the Clips want to pursue it — they have the sort of tradable players who should appeal to Phoenix, and the Suns’ asking price for Paul probably won’t be substantial. But adding CP3 to this group would make the Clippers even more susceptible to the injury bug. Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Lowry, and Terry Rozier are among the other veteran guards who would likely be within reach for L.A.

An upgrade at the center spot may also be something the Clippers explore on the trade market, but the team likes Ivica Zubac, and Mason Plumlee was a nice fit after being acquired at the trade deadline. The only issue is that Plumlee is a free agent — re-signing him to a market-value deal will push the Clippers’ tax bill higher and its team salary further over that second apron. It may be worth it though, especially if many of the restrictions on apron teams don’t go into effect for another year. If Plumlee walks, they’ll need to find a reliable big man to back up Zubac.

Los Angeles will also have to make a decision on Eric Gordon, whose $20.9MM salary for 2023/24 is non-guaranteed. Given the Clippers’ salary situation and Gordon’s age and declining usage, it may not be prudent to retain him at that price, but it’s not as simple as waiving him and re-signing him at a lower figure. The club would lose any form of Bird rights on Gordon if he’s cut, potentially ending the relationship unless he’s willing to accept a minimum-salary deal, which seems unlikely.

The Clippers are essentially in that situation now with Russell Westbrook, who played well after signing with the team on the buyout market. Because Westbrook signed a minimum-salary deal and L.A. only has his Non-Bird rights, the team can’t offer him a salary worth more than 20% above the minimum. There will almost certainly be bidders willing to offer more than that, so unless Westbrook is open to taking a discount to stick around, his days as a Clipper may be over.

Of course, while fortifying the roster is a priority in the short term, the Clippers can’t take their eyes off the future, which brings us back to the two star forwards. Leonard and George are both eligible for extensions this offseason and will be able to reach free agency in 2024 if they don’t sign new deals before then.

On one hand, if they don’t offer extensions to Leonard and George, the Clippers run the risk of alienating their two best players and could be setting themselves up to lose one or both of them for nothing a year from now. On the other hand, locking up Leonard and George to massive new long-term contracts that run through their mid-30s feels a bit reckless, given their respective injury histories.

It will be fascinating to see how the Clippers approach those contract discussions. For what it’s worth, both Leonard and George are Los Angeles natives who joined the Clippers in large part because they wanted to be back home, so they don’t fit the profile of stars who would be quick to seek a change of scenery if extension talks don’t go as planned this summer.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Eric Gordon ($20,917,902)
    • Gordon’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 28.
  • Brandon Boston Jr. ($1,836,096)
    • Boston’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 30.
  • Jason Preston ($1,836,096)
    • Preston’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 2.
  • Total: $24,590,094

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 30 overall ($2,377,560)
  • No. 48 overall (no cap hold)
  • Total: $2,377,560

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Brandon Boston Jr. (veteran)
  • Paul George (veteran)
  • Eric Gordon (veteran)
  • Terance Mann (veteran)
  • Marcus Morris (veteran)
  • Mason Plumlee (veteran)
  • Jason Preston (veteran)

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins. Plumlee is only eligible until June 30.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap hold for Hood remains on the Clippers’ books from a prior season because it hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,000,000
  • Trade exception: $2,134,843

Note: The Clippers may not have access to any form of mid-level exception next season if certain new rules related to the second tax apron go into effect immediately.

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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Milwaukee Bucks

May 27th, 2023 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

There is already proof of concept that Milwaukee’s core roster is a championship-caliber group, given that the team won the title two years ago. However, the past two seasons have ended in disappointment, with exits in the second and first round of the playoffs, respectively.

The Bucks were considered the favorites to win the championship again in ’22/23 after posting a league-high 58 wins and entering the Eastern Conference playoffs as the top overall seed. Instead, they lost a five-game first-round series against No. 8 Miami in embarrassing fashion, blowing double-digit fourth-quarter leads in Games 4 and 5 after Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a back injury.

Obviously, the two-time MVP missing two games — and most of a third — had an impact on the series. Antetokounmpo looked less than 100 percent once he did return. Still, the Heat were clearly the better, more composed team when it mattered most.

An injury to a key player was a major factor in Milwaukee’s 2022 playoff ouster too, as three-time All-Star Khris Middleton missed last spring’s entire seven-game series against Boston. But health luck always plays an important role in the championship race, and the Bucks had the third-most expensive roster in the NBA in ’22/23, with a projected tax payment of nearly $84MM, per Eric Pincus. Championships and pricey payrolls lead to high expectations, which is why head coach Mike Budenholzer was fired after five seasons at the helm.

While Antetokounmpo is only 28 years old and has shown no signs of slowing down from a production standpoint, his very physical playing style has contributed to him appearing in between 61 and 67 regular seasons games over the past four years. Figuring out the best way to optimize his prime with a newly restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement about to kick in is the biggest challenge the Bucks face going forward.

The Bucks’ Offseason Plan

The first order of business for Milwaukee this offseason has reportedly already been decided — Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin will be the new head coach after the Bucks interviewed a lengthy list of candidates. Antetokounmpo was said to be “intrigued” by Griffin and endorsed the former NBA wing, who doesn’t have head coaching experience but had an impressive interview.

Now that the coaching search is complete, the two most immediate concerns for the Bucks are figuring out what Middleton is going to do with his $40.4MM player option and working out a new contract with center Brook Lopez, who is an unrestricted free agent. The priority will likely be bringing back both players, since they don’t have a reasonable way to replace two of the top potential free agents on the market.

Let’s say Middleton picks up the option and the Bucks either extend or re-sign Lopez to a new deal with a starting value of $15MM in 2023/24. That would put Milwaukee’s payroll at $172.8MM with only eight players signed to standard contracts. The projected luxury tax line is $162MM.

In that scenario, even if the Bucks signed six players on minimum contracts to fill out the roster at an average of $2MM each (about the projection for a veteran with two years of experience), their payroll would be $184.8MM, which would be nearly $23MM over the tax line.

In the new CBA, which will kick in starting July 1, the NBA will implement a second tax apron that will be $17.5MM above the tax line. The second apron is essentially a pseudo-hard cap, because it is very punitive to the league’s biggest spenders.

Teams above the second apron will lose access to the taxpayer mid-level exception — the Bucks would have been ineligible to sign Joe Ingles with their taxpayer MLE last summer had the rule been in effect. There are several other prohibitive restrictions that will reportedly be phased in over the next two seasons — the full list can be found right here.

There are ways the Bucks could still avoid the apron. If Middleton is open to a new long-term contract with a lower starting value in ’23/24, that could help. Trading one of their mid-sized contracts (Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, Grayson Allen) would be an option.

Allen, who has averaged 10.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 1.9 APG on .441/.401/.881 shooting over the past four seasons with the Grizzlies and Bucks, seems like the most likely to be on the move, considering he was involved in plenty of trade rumors in ’22/23 and his contract will be expiring.

While it is absolutely beneficial to avoid the second tax apron long term, there’s nothing preventing the Bucks from re-signing their own free agents this offseason if ownership is still willing to foot the bill.

In addition to Lopez and Middleton, who was limited to 33 regular season games but had a strong playoff showing, guard Jevon Carter could become a free agent if he declines his $2.2MM player option in search of a pay raise, and Ingles, Jae Crowder, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Goran Dragic, Meyers Leonard and Wesley Matthews are all unrestricted FAs. That’s nine possible free agents. Needless to say, there could be roster turnover, even if it’s at the back end.

Although it might seem counterintuitive based on how the luxury tax works (increasing penalties), if the Bucks do bring back some of their free agents, they would actually be better off signing a few of them to deals above the minimum — if given permission from ownership. That would create more mid-sized contracts that could possibly be used as salary ballast in future trades, since the Bucks are unlikely to move any of their expensive core (Giannis, Middleton, Jrue Holiday). That’s assuming, of course, Middleton returns, which I do think is very likely — he and Giannis are the longest-tenured members of the team and have been instrumental in building the Bucks’ winning culture.

The Bucks only control one draft pick in 2023 — No. 58 overall, the final pick of the second round — and only have one tradable first-rounder (2029) due to obligations from other deals. They’ve also traded away five of their next six second-rounders after this season. As such, their movable draft equity is very limited for the time being.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 58 overall (no cap hold)

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Grayson Allen (veteran)
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo (veteran)
  • Jae Crowder (veteran)
  • Brook Lopez (veteran)
  • Khris Middleton (veteran)

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins. Crowder and Lopez are only eligible until June 30.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap hold for Teague remains on the Bucks’ books from a prior season because it hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,000,000

Note: The Bucks would gain access to the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception if their team salary remains below the tax apron. If their team salary exceeds the second tax apron, they would lose access to any form of the mid-level exception.

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